[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., OHIO, KY., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 23



GEORGIA----new execution date

Execution date set for Georgia man convicted in 1992 slaying


A Georgia death row inmate convicted of stealing checks from and then killing a 
friend os his mother is set to be put to death next month. Brian Keith Terrell, 
47, has been given an execution date for Dec. 8; it should be considered 
serious.

(sources: Atlanta Journal Constitution & Rick Halperin)






OHIO:

Prosecutors seek death penalty in Massillon murders----He is accused of killing 
47-year-old Kimberly Clupper and 23-year-old Kendra Carnes.


Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a man accused of fatally 
shooting 2 women this year in northeastern Ohio.

A Stark County grand jury has indicted Leeroy Rogers Sr. on aggravated murder, 
kidnapping and weapons-related charges.

The Canton Repository reports (http://bit.ly/1YmHBKY ) last week's indictment 
included factors that can lead to a death sentence if Rogers is convicted.

A message seeking comment was left Monday at Rogers' attorney's office.

The 58-year-old Rogers is accused of killing 47-year-old Kimberly Clupper, 
whose body was found April 11 in a Massillon park.

He also is accused of killing 23-year-old Kendra Carnes. Her body was 
discovered Aug. 5 in a creek.

Both women were shot in the head.

Massillon police say a gun used to kill the women was found in Rogers' home.


KENTUCKY:

Prosecutors plan to seek death penalty in case of murdered Richmond, Ky. police 
officer


Prosecutors in Madison County, Ky. say they will seek the death penalty for the 
man accused of killing Richmond Police Officer Daniel Ellis, according to the 
Madison County Circuit Clerk's Office. The death penalty will also be sought 
for the person accused of leading Officer Ellis into an ambush.

A total of 4 defendants went before a judge in Madison Circuit Court on Monday 
morning, according to WDRB partner WKYT.

The Commonwealth's Attorney informed the court it would seek the death penalty 
against Raleigh Sizemore, who authorities say shot Officer Ellis in the head on 
Nov. 4, as well as Gregory Ratliff. Authorities say Ratliff led Officer Ellis 
into his apartment and was aware Sizemore was waiting.

Ratliff has been charged with complicity to murder, 2 counts of attempted 
murder and complicity of unlawful imprisonment.

Rita Creech and Carl Banks each face robbery charges.

(source: WDRB news)






USA:

Are Last-Minute Death Penalty Delays Cruel And Unusual Punishment?


America's death penalty is under scrutiny after a series of botched executions, 
drug mix-ups and difficulty acquiring lethal injection drugs. Just last month, 
President Obama called certain parts of capital punishment "deeply troubling."

Some say long waits and repeated last-minute delays are tantamount to torture.

Friends and family of Richard Glossip gather around a cell phone outside the 
Oklahoma State Penitentiary, straining to listen to the death row inmate's 
voice over a tinny speaker.

Glossip was convicted for hiring another man to kill his boss in 1997. He was 
scheduled to die by lethal injection in September - but at the last minute, 
Glossip received a stay of execution.

Glossip didn't know why he wasn't dead yet until a TV reporter told him over 
the phone - the governor stopped the execution because the state had the wrong 
drug.

"That's just crazy," Glossip said.

His friends and family listening around the phone agree.

Twice in September, Richard Glossip ate his last meal and prepared himself for 
the execution chamber. Both times, his execution was stopped hours before he 
was supposed to die. The U.S. Supreme Court stopped a previous execution in 
January.

California's death row at San Quentin State Prison.

The 2-Way

Federal Appeals Court Upholds California's Deliberative Death Penalty Process

Last year, a federal judge ruled California's death penalty as 
unconstitutional, partially because of excessive delays. An appeals court 
overruled that decision recently on a technicality.

Other states are struggling to acquire execution drugs because pharmaceutical 
companies are refusing to supply them. Oklahoma, Montana, Arkansas and Ohio 
have all put executions on hold in the last month.

Standing outside the prison, Glossip's attorney Don Knight says repeatedly 
pulling his client back from the cusp of death at the last minute is cruel and 
unusual punishment.

"When you see torture, is it torture? It looks like torture. I would wish that 
they would stop torturing Mr. Glossip. I wish they would stop trying to kill 
Mr. Glossip," Knight says.

"Going through this repeatedly definitely has a tremendous emotional, 
psychological toll on an individual," John Blume, a Cornell law professor, 
says.

Blume used to represent death row inmates. He's seen them go through the 
process of preparing to die and says that eleventh hour delays aren't always 
welcome.

"Sometimes it's a relief, and sometimes the people almost feel like, well, I 
don't want to go through this again because it was so hard. And then the 
process begins again," Blume says.

Capital punishment advocates blame the lengthy delays on defense attorneys, who 
inundate the court system with appeals.

And Blume says the long wait times can also be tough on relatives of the 
victim.

"It's very hard, I think, on the surviving victim's family members who may or 
may not necessarily support the execution but believe the case is finally 
drawing to a close," he says.

Robert Dunham with the Death Penalty Information Center thinks repeated 
last-minute stays are torture. Still, he doesn't think the courts will ever do 
anything about it.

"When a stay of execution is the product of court proceedings, those are 
necessary proceedings. So yes, it is cruel but it's not unnecessarily cruel in 
the eyes of the courts," Dunham says.

Richard Glossip, the Oklahoma death row inmate, continues to maintain his 
innocence. Now he has several more months to make his case while the state 
investigates the drug mix-up that inadvertently spared his life.

(source: npr.org)