[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., GA., IND., KAN.

[Rick Halperin]

May 26



TEXAS:

Texas district attorney will seek death penalty for two men accused of 
murder----Villegas and Najera left body of Anna Villegas north of Loving



The 2 men accused of killing a 24-year-old Texas woman and leaving her body 
near Loving will face capital murder charges.

Juan Villegas, 30, and Carlos Najera, 43, were arrested Dec. 9, 2013 in Hobbs 
in connection with the death of Villegas' estranged wife, Anna Villegas.

The Gaines County District Attorney's office, in Texas, said that the state 
will seek the death penalty for both men if convicted by a jury.

A date for the trial has not been set the district attorney's office said.

Anna Villegas' body was found nude and bound on the Pecos River north of Loving 
on Potash Mines Road on Nov. 28, 2013 by a hunter. Anna Villegas was reportedly 
filing for divorce from Juan Villegas at the time of her death.

Anna Villegas was determined to have died from asphyxiation by the New Mexico 
Office of the Medical Investigator.

The case was investigated by the Eddy County Sheriff's Office, but both 
Villegas and Najera were extradited to Gaines County, Texas when detectives 
determined the kidnapping and death of Anna Villegas occurred in Seminole, 
Texas.

Juan Villegas appealed an extradition from New Mexico to Texas after his 
arrest, but was denied and transferred to Texas in 2014.

New Mexico does not have a death penalty sentence.

(source: Alamorgordo Daily News)








DELAWARE:

Blocking death penalty repeal bill is wrong



Blocking death bill is anti-democratic

On May 13, the Delaware House Judiciary Committee voted to block the death 
penalty repeal bill from being discussed on the House floor. This procedural 
stalemate is both undemocratic and unfair. We urge our Representatives to 
override that decision and allow the bill to move to the floor.

As members of the Delaware Human Relations Commission, we administer some of 
Delaware's anti-discrimination laws, including the Equal Accommodations Law and 
the Fair Housing Act. It is our job to increase public awareness of civil and 
human rights and promote amicable relationships among the various racial and 
cultural groups within our State.

The time has come to discuss the unjust and inequitable application of the 
death penalty in Delaware. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has noted that Delaware 
has the highest percentage of minorities on death row, at 78 %. Delaware's 
black population is only 21 %. And according to a Cornell University study, a 
black defendant who kills a white victim in Delaware is 6 times more likely to 
be sentenced to death than a black defendant who kills a black victim.

The death penalty is an unjust system, and it is time for all of the members of 
the House to talk about it. This bill deserves to be voted upon - up or down - 
by all of our legislators.

Misty Seemans

Delaware Human Relations Commission

Wilmington

(source: Letter to the Editor, The News Journal)








GEORGIA----female to face death penalty

Catoosa County judge hears motions in death penalty case



A woman accused of murdering a young mother to steal her newborn was in Catoosa 
County Superior Court Tuesday, May 26, as the judge heard motions in the death 
penalty case prior to trial later this year.

37-year-old Catherine Joann Goins of Hixson, Tenn., has been in jail for 245 
days after being brought back to Catoosa County on Sept. 24 and denied bond on 
charges of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, tampering with 
evidence, and possession of a firearm during commission of or attempt to commit 
a crime.

The arrest came 4 days after detectives concluded she lured 30-year-old Natalia 
Roberts and her children to a friend's house in Catoosa County and then shot 
and killed her on Friday, Sept. 19.

Tuesday's hearing consisted of motions to determine what specific testimony 
will be allowed in court during trial, more time for the new defense team to 
review the details of the case, and how Goins will be allowed to dress when 
facing the charges.

Goins also re-entered her plea of not guilty in the case.

Judge Ralph Van Pelt Jr. listened to more than a dozen motions filed by Goins' 
defense team of Jerilyn Bell and Crystal Bice.

The duo has yet to state whether they might file motions regarding Goins' 
mental state at the time the crime was committed.

Van Pelt ruled that Goins will be allowed to wear civilian clothes during the 
trial, and that both the defense and state will help put a security plan in 
place so that she will not have to be shackled during the proceedings.

Van Pelt also ruled that all investigative agencies are to preserve 
interview/investigation notes related to the trial, and that no evidence be 
destroyed while being tested and/or re-tested.

In addition to asking for all additional notes, reports, and recorded 
interviews by investigators, the defense asked for additional time so they can 
have ample time to review the case.

Initially, Goins was being represented by Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit 
lead public defender David Dunn, but the case was turned over to Capital 
Defender's Office in January after district attorney Herbert E. "Buzz" Franklin 
filed to seek the death penalty.

Both Bell and Bice have tried death penalty cases before.

The case falls under the Georgia's statue of crimes punishable by the death 
penalty, which is defined as "murder with aggravating circumstances; kidnapping 
with bodily injury or ransom when the victim dies; aircraft hijacking; and 
treason."

Van Pelt set an Oct. 30 deadline for the defense to file any more motions in 
the case before hearing them beginning Nov. 9.

To date, Goins' attorneys have not requested any bond in the case.

As was the case during an April hearing, a number of Natalia Roberts' friends 
and family were present for the hearing.

Background

Sheriff's deputies initially responded to the Smoketree Circle resident 
regarding a woman's claim that she'd shot an intruder in the house, but Catoosa 
County sheriff Gary Sisk later revealed that the incident was a cold-blooded 
murder rather than a defensive home shooting.

"We're calling it murder, because that's what it is," Sisk said. "She flat out 
murdered her."

According to Sisk, deputies responded to the scene on a call of an invasion and 
defensive shooting, but ultimately determined that Goins set up Roberts.

"She lured her there under the pretense of giving her some baby clothes for her 
newly born baby," Sisk explained. "Once at the residence, Natalia was going 
down a flight of stairs where Catherine Goins shot her in the back of the head 
with a .380-calibur handgun."

Sisk specified that Goins and Roberts had never met prior to the day of the 
shooting.

Sisk added that Goins was arrested Sept. 23, at approximately 7 p.m. at a 
residence in Marion County, Tennessee.

"She was arrested without incident by U.S. Marshals and the Marion County 
Sheriff's Office," Sisk said.

Sisk also said Goins attempted to clean up the scene before notifying Richards, 
who was at work at the time, about the shooting.

"She called the homeowner Tony Richards, and told him that she had shot someone 
in his house," Sisk explained. "Tony instructed her to hang up and call 911. 
Instead, Catherine Goins took Natalia???s two children that were at the 
residence, one 3 years old and one 3 weeks old, put them in her car and left 
the residence."

After learning of the shooting, Richards continued to talk to Goins on the 
phone after leaving work and attempted to calm her down while still trying to 
get her to call 911.

Sisk said Goins was not at the residence when Richards arrived home, and it was 
actually Richards who placed the 911 call at approximately 1:02 p.m.

Goins did, however, make it back to the residence before police showed up.

"She (Goins) did come back," Sisk said. "She was there when law enforcement 
arrived and we questioned her that night, but there was still a lot of 
information we needed to obtain."

When detectives began investigating the case, Goins claimed she was at the 
house and heard a noise within the home. She then went on to say that she heard 
a 2nd noise and immediately ran to the bedroom where she retrieved a gun and 
fired it at a "darkened shadow" in the area of the hallway.

Ultimately, it was determined that Goins committed murder with the plan of 
taking Roberts' newborn from her.

"Catherine Goins had been living a ruse that she was pregnant with her most 
recent boyfriend's baby, but he had recently learned that she was not pregnant 
and left her," Sisk explained. "Catherine Goins killed Natalia Roberts because 
she wanted her baby."

(source: northwestgeorgianews.com)

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

High Court to Consider Georgia Death Row Inmate Appeal



The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether prosecutors improperly singled out 
potential black jurors in notes and then excluded them all from the death 
penalty trial of a black Georgia man accused of murder.

The justices agreed Tuesday to hear the appeal of Timothy Foster, who was 
sentenced to death in 1987 after being convicted of murdering a 79-year-old 
white woman in Rome, Georgia.

Lawyers for Foster say prosecutors' notes obtained through an open records 
request show that the name of each potential black juror was highlighted and 
the word "black" was circled next to the race question on questionnaires for 
the black prospective jurors.

Georgia officials say prosecutors had race-neutral reasons for striking the 
potential jurors.

(source: Associated Press)








INDIANA:

Paula Cooper, once US's youngest death row inmate, dead in apparent suicide 
---- Indiana woman who was 16 when she was put on death row in 1986 had been 
released from prison 2 years ago after court set aside her death sentence



An Indiana woman who was once the nation's youngest person on death row but 
whose sentence was eventually commuted to a prison term was found dead in 
Indianapolis on Tuesday.

Indianapolis police said 45-year-old Paula Cooper was found dead of an 
apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound outside a residence on the city's 
north-west side. Cooper had been released from prison about 2 years ago, after 
the Indiana supreme court set aside her death sentence and gave her a 60-year 
prison term.

Cooper was 16 when she was sentenced to death in 1986 after confessing to her 
role in the murder of a 78-year-old Bible studies teacher the year before. 
Cooper admitted stabbing Ruth Pelke 33 times with a 12-inch butcher knife in a 
robbery that netted 4 youths $10 and an old car. Cooper was 15 at the time the 
crime was committed.

Her death sentence enraged human rights activists in the US and Europe and drew 
a plea for clemency from Pope John Paul II. In 1988, a priest delivered a 
petition to Indianapolis with more than 2 million signatures protesting 
Cooper's sentence.

Pelke's grandson, Bill Pelke, who organized opposition to the death penalty 
after his grandmother's killing, said he was devastated to learn of Cooper's 
death. He said he worked to help Cooper after realizing that's what his 
grandmother would have wanted.

"My grandmother would have been appalled she was on death row and that there 
was so much hate and anger and desire for her to die. I was convinced my 
grandmother would have had love and compassion for Paula and her family," he 
said in a telephone interview from Anchorage, Alaska, where he runs the 
Forgiveness Project, a charity that seeks to promote understanding and 
forgiveness.

Pelke said he visited with Cooper while she was in prison and had last spoke to 
her last August. He was expecting to hear from Cooper next month, when she was 
scheduled to be released from parole. He said she had expressed an interest in 
speaking for his organization.

"I have no idea what was going on in her life. I thought she was doing well 
from everything I had heard," he said. "I had hoped she would travel with us. 
She had always told me she wanted to help young people to avoid the pitfalls 
that she had fallen into. She said she knew she had done something terrible to 
society and she wanted to give back."

2 years after Cooper was sentenced to death, the US supreme court ruled in an 
unrelated case that those under 16 at the time of an offense couldn't receive 
the death penalty. The court said such sentences were cruel and unusual 
punishment and thus unconstitutional.

Indiana lawmakers later passed a law raising the minimum age limit for 
execution from 10 years to 16, and in 1988, the state's high court set aside 
Cooper's death sentence and ordered her to serve 60 years in prison.

Cooper's sentence was reduced due to her behavior in prison, where she earned a 
bachelor's degree. She was released from prison on 17 June 2013 after spending 
28 years behind bars.

(source: The Guardian)








KANSAS:

Kansas State study finds link between belief in pure evil, desire for death 
penalty----Study used fake newspaper articles about alleged murder in Kansas 
City



A new study co-authored by a Kansas State University psychology professor finds 
beliefs in the existence of pure evil influence opinions on capital punishment.

Donald Saucier, an associate professor of psychological sciences at K-State, is 
a co-author of "Demons are everywhere: The effects of belief in pure evil, 
demonization, and retribution on punishing criminal perpetrators," which 
appears in the scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences.

For the study, 212 psychology students read 1 of 2 articles which allegedly 
appeared in The Kansas City Star newspaper. The articles described a recent 
murder in Kansas City, Mo., by a man who then admitted to committing the crime 
to police.

Some students were shown an article in which the murderer, "Mr. Beatty," was 
described as stereotypically evil, taking joy from teasing and taunting area 
children and keeping to himself. Other students were shown an article in which 
the murderer was described in non-evil terms, as a typical family man who was 
looking forward to going camping in the near future. Both articles were 
fictitious.

"Reading about a stereotypically evil perpetrator increased perceptions of him 
as evil, recommendations for jail time, recommendations to not grant parole, 
and support for his execution," Saucier and co-author Russell Webster wrote.

However, for study participants who believed strongly in the existence of pure 
evil, details of the murderer's private life were inconsequential.

"If they believed in pure evil, it didn't matter the characteristics; they were 
more likely to support the death penalty or life in prison," Saucier explained 
in an email. "The belief in pure evil overrode our stereotypically evil 
person."

"Thus, the results indicate that the 'person' (i.e., people's preconceived 
beliefs about evil) had much more predictive value than the 'situation' (i.e., 
our manipulation of criminal evilness) in our study," the researchers wrote.

The reason for this, according to Saucier and Webster, is demonization. Strong 
believers in the existence of pure evil tend to demonize and dehumanize those 
they see as being evil, making it easier to justify capital punishment.

"Given their support for extreme violence and pre-emptive aggression ... it is 
reasonable that people who more strongly believe in pure evil possess stronger 
feelings about seeking retribution in general," the researchers wrote.

Such findings could have real-world applications, Saucier said, in 
understanding how judges and juries determine prison sentences or capital 
punishments for those convicted of the most heinous crimes.

"Thus, just portraying others as 'demons' can induce harsher reactions to 
perpetrators, regardless of any preconceived beliefs about good and evil," the 
researchers wrote.

Study participants had their demonization measured on a scale by noting their 
level of agreement with phrases such as, "I feel that everything would be 
better if Mr. Beatty simply ceased to exist, but not before he suffers a lot."

Saucier said life experiences are likely a stronger influence on beliefs in 
pure evil than religion. The researchers found that beliefs in pure evil didn't 
necessitate beliefs in pure good as they researched whether religious 
upbringings played a role in beliefs in pure evil.

"This belief may change based on traumas, victimization and the celebrations of 
human success in our life," Saucier said. "We think it's a dynamic variable and 
influences our social interaction and social perceptions."

Saucier said he will be conducting a follow-up study to determine how people 
who believe in pure evil and pure good would punish leaders of the Islamic 
State terrorist group.

(source: Topeka Capital-Journal)