[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., CALIF., WASH., USA

[Rick Halperin]

March 31



KANSAS:

High court may reinstate death penalty



The nation's highest court agreed Monday to hear Kansas' appeal seeking to 
reinstate death sentences for 2 brothers convicted of robbing and forcing 4 
people engage in sex acts before being shot to death naked in a Wichita soccer 
field in 2000.

The U.S. Supreme Court also agreed to review a separate Kansas Supreme Court 
decision overturning the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a couple 
in Great Bend in 2004.

The justices said they will review the Kansas high court's rulings that threw 
out the sentences of Jonathan and Reginald Carr and Sidney Gleason. The Kansas 
court hasn't upheld a death sentence since a new capital punishment law was 
enacted in 1994. The state's last executions, by hanging, took place in 1965.

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider instructions given to jurors in the 
sentencing phase of capital trials about evidence favorable to the defendants, 
as well as whether sentencing the Carr brothers together violated their rights.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said the Carr case is "important 
to us, important to the victims, important to this community. In terms of legal 
importance, well, I guess that is in the eye of the beholder. The U.S. Supreme 
Court obviously thought it merited their attention."

But Sarah Johnson, an attorney with the state capital appellate defender's 
office who represents Gleason and Jonathan Carr, said they were "honestly a 
little surprised" that the court agreed to hear the cases.

"We don't think this is an issue that really is worthy of the U.S. Supreme 
Court's time and attention, but we are confident that once they get into it 
they will recognize that the Kansas Supreme Court acted well within its 
discretion," Johnson said.

The Kansas Supreme Court in July upheld one conviction of capital murder with 
respect to the Carr brothers, but overturned their death sentences. That same 
month, the court also upheld Gleason's conviction, but reversed his death 
sentence.

"We have carefully analyzed the opinions of the Kansas Supreme Court and we do 
not believe they have correctly applied the U.S. Constitution," Kansas Attorney 
General Derek Schmidt said in a written statement. "I am encouraged the U.S. 
Supreme Court has agreed to review the cases."

The brothers broke into a Wichita home in December 2000 and forced the 5 people 
there to have sex with each other and later to withdraw money from ATMs. The 2 
women were raped repeatedly before all 5 were taken to a snow-covered soccer 
field and shot. 4 of them - 29-year-old Aaron Sander, 27-year-old Brad Heyka, 
26-year-old Jason Befort and 25-year-old Heather Muller - died. 1 woman 
survived a gunshot wound to the head and ran naked through the snow to seek 
help.

Gleason was convicted for in the 2004 murders of Mikiala Martinez and her 
boyfriend, Darren Wornkey. She was a potential witness against Gleason in an 
earlier crime.

The cases will be argued in Washington in the fall.

(source: Hutchinson News)








CALIFORNIA:

California's death row faces no-vacancy situation



California's death row, the largest in the nation with newly condemned inmates 
added to the system every month but no one executed in almost a decade, has 
filled virtually to capacity as the state seeks money to build more cells for 
them.

As of last week, a total of 708 male inmates were confined to death row at San 
Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco, the only penitentiary authorized 
under state law to house men who are sentenced to death.

That tally represents 18 more than the prison is already budgeted to handle and 
just 7 fewer than its absolute maximum capacity, Department of Corrections and 
Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said on Monday.

Another 23 condemned California inmates are being housed elsewhere under 
special circumstances - about 1/2 on "out-to-court status" and the rest under 
long-term medical care or serving other sentences in other jurisdictions, she 
said.

If those inmates were to suddenly return to San Quentin, "they would be out of 
room," Thornton said.

One factor has been California's failure to execute anyone since 2006, even as 
the courts continue to sentence a growing number of convicted killers to death.

San Quentin anticipates a net increase of 13 death row inmates per year, based 
on a 6-year annual average of 20 new arrivals partially offset by condemned 
prisoners who either die while incarcerated or have their sentences overturned.

In recent months, according to the corrections department, San Quentin has 
averaged at least 2 new death row arrivals a month.

To deal with the crisis, California Governor Jerry Brown has asked state 
lawmakers to approve $3.2 million in special funding to furnish San Quentin 
with 97 additional death row cells.

Thornton said she did not know of any contingency plans for accommodating new 
arrivals if the number of condemned inmates suddenly exceeds space available.

Capital punishment has come under mounting criticism in California, where a 
federal judge ruled last year that the state's system for administering the 
death penalty is so long and drawn-out that it amounts to cruel and unusual 
punishment and is thus unconstitutional.

Another 20 condemned women are housed at a prison in Chowchilla, bringing 
California's total death row population to 751 - by far the largest of any 
state. Florida ranks No. 2, with just over 400 condemned inmates as of last 
October, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

(source: Reuters)

******************

California's Death Row, The Nation's Largest, Runs Out Of Room



The country's largest death row has run out of room.

As NPR member station KCRW reports, that's because a legal fight has meant that 
the state has not put an inmate to death in nearly a decade, leaving more than 
750 of them on death row in the state.

KCRW reports:

"Gov. Jerry Brown is asking the Legislature for more than $3 million to open 
100 new cells for condemned men at San Quentin Prison. The request is included 
in Brown's $113 billion budget proposal.

"The governor says prison officials should use cells that are opening up as 
lower level inmates are released under a new law passed by state voters last 
year. The majority of the money would go to increase staff, since condemned 
inmates require more security.

"The capital punishment system has been in limbo since a court invalidated the 
state's three-drug lethal injection system nearly a decade ago. No new 
protocols have been developed."

The Los Angeles Times reports that San Quentin's death row, which can 
accommodate 715 inmates, is currently just below capacity. But at the moment, 
23 other death row inmates are scattered across the California prison system.

The Times adds:

"The governor's budget proposal anticipates an average of 20 new arrivals on 
death row yearly. He proposes putting them in 97 cells on the 1st 2 tiers of 
the 5-tier South Block. A small portion of the funding would go to beef up 
security, including modifying showers so condemned inmates can be shackled as 
they bathe. The majority of the money would be spent to increase staff, and the 
expansion would begin in July.

"'Based on the critical nature of the bed shortage, it is not feasible to delay 
the approval and implementation of this proposal,' the governor's budget 
document states. If expansion is delayed, 'San Quentin would not have beds to 
accommodate the condemned should any return from court, outside medical 
facilities, or if SQ receives any newly condemned inmates.'"

(source: npr.org)








WASHINGTON:

Judge won't delay Carnation killer's penalty-phase trial



A judge on Monday denied a motion by the defense team for convicted killer 
Joseph McEnroe to delay the penalty phase of his trial that will determine if 
he is sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty for killing 6 people in 
Carnation in 2007.

Defense attorney William Prestia asked King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey 
Ramsdell to give them more time to prepare for the penalty phase trial, which 
is scheduled to begin Tuesday. Prestia said he and co-counsel Leo Hamaji needed 
more time to interview the 7 witnesses who will be called by the state.

Ramsdell denied their motion as well as a second to exclude the 7 witnesses 
from taking the stand.

The 7 witnesses - friends and family of the 6 victims - will be calledto the 
stand by Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott O'Toole after O'Toole and the defense 
give opening statements Tuesday morning. The jury will also view a memorial 
video of the 6 victims.

Last Wednesday, McEnroe, 36, was convicted of killing his former girlfriend's 
parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson; her brother and sister-in-law, Scott and 
Erica Anderson, and the younger couple's children, Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3. 
Jurors deliberated for about a day and a half before finding him guilty of 
6-counts of aggravated 1st-degree murder.

McEnroe is also expected to take the witness stand during the penalty phase of 
his trial. The defense is also expected to call his friends and family to 
testify on his behalf in hopes of winning leniency from the jury.

If the jury determines there are not enough mitigating factors to warrant a 
sentence of life in prison, McEnroe will be sentenced to death.

If the jury decides on a death sentence, McEnroe will be the 1st person 
condemned to death in King County since 2010, when Conner Schierman was 
convicted of killing a Kirkland family of 4.

(source: Seattle Times)






USA:

Prosecution rests its case against Boston Marathon bomber----Boy's clothing 
shown as prosecution rests case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev



Prosecutors rested their case against Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 
on Monday after jurors in his federal death penalty trial saw gruesome autopsy 
photos and heard a medical examiner describe the devastating injuries suffered 
by an 8-year-old boy killed in the 2013 terror attack.

But Tsarnaev's lawyers began their defense by quickly trying to show that his 
older brother was the mastermind of the plan to detonate pressure-cooker bombs 
near the finish line of the famous race.

One of the first witnesses called by the defense was a data analyst who said 
Tsarnaev's cellphone was being used in southeastern

Massachusetts - where he was attending college - while pressure cookers were 
being purchased north of Boston more than 2 months before the bombing. The 
analyst also testified that large quantities of BBs were purchased a little 
over a month before the attack in 2 Walmart stores in New Hampshire, at a time 
when Tsarnaev's cellphone was again being used near UMass-Dartmouth.

The defense has made it clear from the 1st day of testimony on March 4 - when 
his lawyer admitted he participated in the bombings - that their strategy is 
not to win an acquittal but to save Tsarnaev from the death penalty by arguing 
that his brother, Tamerlan, was largely responsible for the bombings.

Prosecutors ended their case on an emotional note. At least three jurors cried 
and wiped their eyes with tissues as they looked at photos of 8-year-old Martin 
Richard, who went to watch the marathon with his parents and siblings on April 
15, 2013, and was killed when the 2nd of 2 bombs exploded near the finish line.

The boy's parents watched somberly from the 2nd row of the courtroom. Bill 
Richard kept his arm around the shoulder of his wife, Denise, throughout the 
testimony.

Dr. Henry Nields, chief medical examiner for Massachusetts, said Martin 
received injuries to virtually every part of his body, including lacerations of 
his liver, left kidney and spleen, broken bones and 3rd-degree burns. His 
stomach was also ruptured.

Nields said he removed small nails, metal pellets, fragments of wood and black 
plastic from the boy's wounds. He also displayed the blood-stained, shredded 
clothing that Martin was wearing when the bomb exploded.

2 other people were killed and more than 260 were injured in the bombings. 
Prosecutors believe the brothers were seeking retaliation against the U.S. for 
wars in Muslim countries.

The 1st defense witness was Michelle Gamble, an FBI field photographer who 
testified earlier Monday for prosecutors, describing various photos and a video 
showing the scene of the 2nd blast both before and shortly after the 
explosions.

In one of the photos, Martin Richard, his sister and several other children 
stand on a metal barricade. Tsarnaev appears to be just a few feet behind 
Martin and his sister.

While cross-examining Gamble, Tsarnaev's lawyers showed other photographs with 
several people in between Tsarnaev and the children, an apparent attempt to 
show that Tsarnaev didn't purposefully target them with the bomb.

When the defense called Gamble as its first witness, Tsarnaev's lawyer, Miriam 
Conrad, asked her about a book titled "Wiring" that was found during a search 
of the Tsarnaev family's apartment in Cambridge. Gamble said the book was found 
under the living room couch.

Tsarnaev's lawyers have tried to show that he was not living in the apartment 
when the bombings occurred because he was attending college. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 
26, was living in the apartment with his wife and their young daughter.

During their case, prosecutors presented heart-wrenching testimony from 
survivors who lost legs in the bombings. A string of first responders described 
a chaotic mix of smoke, blood and screams just after the bombs went off.

The defense will try to show that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was more culpable in the 
attack and in the killing 3 days later of Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
police Officer Sean Collier.

The defense case is expected to be relatively short. Once that is complete, 
jurors will deliberate on whether Tsarnaev is guilty of the 30 federal charges 
against him related to the bombing, the killing of Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology police Officer Sean Collier 3 days later and a violent confrontation 
with police in Watertown.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during the Watertown confrontation. Dzhokhar 
Tsarnaev, then 19, was found more than 18 hours later hiding in a boat parked 
in a yard.

If the jury convicts Tsarnaev - an event that may be a foregone conclusion 
because of his admitted guilt - the trial will move on to the 2nd phase, when 
the same jury will hear more evidence to decide whether Tsarnaev should be put 
to death or should spend the rest of his life in prison.

During this 2nd phase of the trial, Tsarnaev's lawyers will present evidence of 
factors they believe mitigate his crimes, such as his age at the time and the 
influence of his older brother. The Tsarnaevs - ethnic Chechens - lived in the 
former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the volatile Dagestan region of Russia 
before moving to the U.S. with their parents and 2 sisters about a decade 
before the bombings.

Prosecutors will present evidence of aggravating factors, such as the brutality 
of the attack and the death of a child, to argue that Tsarnaev should be 
executed.

(source: WCVB news)

*************

Aurora theater shooting trial: James Holmes' parents speak against death 
penalty for mentally ill



With less than a month until opening statements in the Aurora movie theater 
shooting trial, the suspect's parents are speaking out against the death 
penalty.

Bob and Arlene Holmes recently spoke to the Del Mar Times in California - their 
first interview since the shooting that left 12 dead and 70 others injured in 
July of 2012.

James Holmes' parents said they feel guilty for not recognizing their son was 
mentally ill and needed treatment.

However, they say their son was never violent.

"We never owned a gun," Arlene Holmes said. "[He] showed no interest in guns."

Arlene Holmes added, "Because so many people like to blame the parents if a 
child is mentally ill, we have to reaffirm to ourselves every day that we were 
good parents and good people, and this still happened anyway."

Now they hope their son's life can be spared through a plea deal with 
prosecutors.

"I do not know why you want to pursue execution of a mentally ill man," Arlene 
Holmes said about the prosecutors. "But I pray for you, so that you will find 
peace in your life. I pray you will change your mind. Please stop this quest 
for death so you may focus on those who are alive."

Arlene Holmes spoke to the Times about a prayer book she wrote, called "When 
The Focus Shifts: The Prayer Book of Arlene Holmes."

The book is available now and Arlene Holmes said the proceeds will be donated 
to mental health services, not to her son's case.

In the book she prays for the victims daily - and by name.

Caren Teves, whose son Alex was killed in the theater, called Arlene Holmes' 
words an "insult to our son's memory and to our family," Yahoo News reported.

"I struggle to understand how this individual could possibly pray for, by name, 
the thousands upon thousands of innocent people who continue to be directly 
impacted by her son's evil, premeditated acts," she told Yahoo News.

Teves called the book "nothing more than a calculated attempt to influence 
members of the jury."

"Almost 3 years after Alex was executed in that theater, she has never even 
extended the decent act of a simple apology," Yahoo News quoted Teves as 
saying.

(source: thedenverchannel.com)

***************

Death penalty complication: Pharmacists group discourages providing execution 
drugs



The American Pharmacists Assn. on Monday adopted a policy that discourages its 
members from providing death penalty drugs.

The new guidelines could make it tough for death penalty states such as Texas 
that have been looking at made-to-order execution drugs from compounding 
pharmacies as the answer to a nationwide shortage of execution drugs.

The association's governing body approved the policy at a meeting in San Diego.

The group lacks the legal authority to bar compounding pharmacies from selling 
execution drugs. But its policies set ethical standards followed by 
pharmacists, just as the American Medical Assn. does for doctors.

Prisons have had to buy made-to-order execution drugs from compounding 
pharmacies in recent years because the pharmaceutical companies they used to 
buy their drugs from refuse to sell them for use in lethal injections after 
coming under pressure from death penalty opponents.

But now the compounded version is also difficult to come by, with most 
pharmacists reluctant to expose themselves to possible harassment by people who 
oppose the death penalty.

Texas' prison agency scrambled this month to find a supplier to replenish its 
inventory, then found a supply from a compounded pharmacy it would not 
identify. Also this month, an execution in Georgia was postponed when prison 
authorities questioned the appearance of the compounded pentobarbital they 
planned to use.

After a troubling use of a 2-drug method last year, Ohio said it would use 
compounded versions of either pentobarbital or sodium thiopental in the future, 
though it doesn't have supplies of either drug and hasn't said how it will 
obtain them. All executions scheduled this year were pushed to 2016 to give the 
state more time to find the drugs.

Others states are turning to alternative methods.

Tennessee has approved the use of the electric chair if lethal-injection drugs 
aren't available, and Utah has reinstated the firing squad as a backup method 
if it can't obtain the drugs. Oklahoma is considering legislation that would 
make it the 1st state to allow the use of nitrogen gas as an execution method.

(source: Associated Press)