[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., OHIO, TENN., KAN., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 1



TEXAS----impending execution

Death Watch: After Appeal Denied, Death Row Inmate to Die----Claims of mental 
retardation did nothing to stop the state's next execution


Juan Martin Garcia goes to the gurney on Tuesday, Oct. 6, after 5 weeks in 
which the state of Texas didn't execute any inmates.

Garcia, 35, was arrested in Houston in Nov. 1998 after police pulled him over 
for driving with a broken headlight, and authorities found a .25 caliber pistol 
in his possession. He was released after the arrest, but apprehended a few days 
later after police tied Garcia's pistol to the Sept. 17, 1998, murder of Hugo 
Solano.

Court records indicate that Solano was murdered after a botched stickup that 
concluded with Garcia and an accomplice - Eleazar Mendoza - shooting and 
killing the man while he was sitting in his car. Both Garcia and Mendoza were 
charged with capital murder, but Mendoza had his charge reduced to aggravated 
assault in exchange for testifying against Garcia.

Garcia was convicted and sentenced to death in Feb. 2000. In Oct. 2001, the 
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his sentence. He submitted a petition 
for writ of habeas corpus to the state in Aug. 2001 and a federal petition in 
Sept. 2008, but he was unsuccessful in both attempts. His points - that he was 
the recipient of deficient counsel, a victim of PTSD as a result of his 
traumatic upbringing, and mentally retarded - did nothing to sway either court, 
largely because he did not have a solid case on the retardation claim, his most 
pressing argument. As his federal appeal noted, by 2008 he had acquired no 
records of any mental deficiencies, pointing only to grade school transcripts 
and anecdotal information gleaned from interviews to prove his case.

In June 2014 Garcia tried to appeal to the Supreme Court, but justices refused 
to hear his case. His attorney, David Dow, tells the Chronicle that Garcia has 
no outstanding appeals except for a plea for clemency. He'll be the 11th Texan 
executed this year, and 529th since the state's 1976 reinstatement of the death 
penalty. The state has plans to execute 3 more inmates - Licho Escamilla, 
Christopher Wilkins, and Julius Murphy - in the next month.

(source: Austin Chronicle)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Trial begins in death penalty case of White Oak shotgun slaying


Stephanie Pavlovic was asleep in bed with her boyfriend the morning of June 26, 
2013, less than 2 hours before she was to start her shift at Book Country 
Clearing House in McKeesport, when she awoke to a shotgun blast.

A man, standing between her bed and the doorway, fired four more times before 
fleeing the house on Versailles Avenue. When Ms. Pavlovic, who had curled into 
the fetal position and covered her head until the man left, got up, she 
realized part of her right hand had been shot off and ran to a neighbor's house 
for help.

Her boyfriend, Brian Cook, was dead.

Ms. Pavlovic was the 1st witness called by the prosecution to testify Wednesday 
in the opening day of the trial of Talon Perozich, 22, of White Oak. He is 
charged with criminal homicide and attempted homicide and related charges and 
could face the death penalty if found guilty of 1st-degree murder in the jury 
trial before Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski.

Deputy district attorney Janet R. Necessary told the jury during her opening 
statement that Perozich killed Mr. Cook because he owed him $230 for fronting 
Mr. Cook marijuana. She characterized Mr. Cook, who stayed home during the day 
to care for the couple's son, as a "small-time dealer," who also liked to smoke 
his own product.

4 days before Mr. Cook, 24, was killed, Ms. Necessary said, Perozich sent him a 
text message that said, "You trying to get me that [money] today?" That was the 
last communication between them.

During her testimony, Ms. Pavlovic told the jury that her hand was blown off by 
the shotgun, and that doctors rebuilt it. She has had four surgeries and is 
missing 2 fingers. Soft-spoken and quiet, Ms. Pavlovic maintained her composure 
throughout her testimony until she was asked to hold her hand up to show the 
jurors.

Although she initially told 911 she didn't know who shot her, Ms. Pavlovic 
later told a paramedic, "'Tell the police it was Talon,'" Ms. Necessary said. 
"She'd known him for years, been in high school with him, saw him the previous 
week."

When Ms. Pavlovic was interviewed by police, she admitted she did not see the 
shooter's face, but that she recognized his build and that he stood with a 
slouch. She also knew Perozich had a shotgun because he'd tried to sell it to 
Mr. Cook.

Adding to the prosecution's case, Ms. Necessary said, would be testimony from 
two of Perozich's friends, who told police they were with him that night before 
the shooting and went with him to Mr. Cook's house.

The 2 men, who have been given immunity for their testimony, told police that 
Perozich drove his mother's van to Mr. Cook's house, and that one of them 
remained in the vehicle while the other went with him into the house.

Ms. Necessary conceded to the jury that they would not have a lot of scientific 
evidence to consider in the case - although the spent shotgun shells were 
confirmed to have been fired from a weapon found by police in the woods nearby.

Defense attorney Lee Rothman told the jury during his opening that they must 
carefully listen to Ms. Pavlovic's testimony about how she identified his 
client.

"Don't use sympathy for Stephanie to judge her credibility," he said.

(source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)






VIRGINIA:

Court hearing on lethal injection drugs in execution of Virginia inmate is 
canceled


A scheduled court hearing for a Virginia inmate's challenge of the drugs the 
state plans to use to put him to death was canceled Wednesday, and an order 
temporarily blocking Alfredo Prieto's execution remained in place.

U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga had set a hearing in Alexandria for 2 
p.m. Thursday after Prieto's attorneys asked the court to stay the 
49-year-old's execution until officials disclose more information about the 
supply of pentobarbital that they obtained from Texas.

But the hearing was canceled late Wednesday after Trenga approved the state's 
request to transfer the case to Richmond. An order granted Wednesday that 
temporarily prevents the state from carrying out the execution remained in 
place.

The state had been planning to execute Prieto at 9 p.m. Thursday, but it was 
unclear whether that would happen. A spokesman for Attorney General Mark 
Herring said that the case has been assigned to Judge Henry Hudson but as of 
Wednesday evening no hearings had been scheduled. Hudson could rule on the 
matter without holding a hearing or throw out the case and lift the order.

Prieto's attorneys are seeking information about the supplier of the drugs, 
tests confirming its sterility and potency and documents showing that the drugs 
were properly handled.

The El Salvador native was on death row in California for raping and murdering 
a 15-year-old girl when DNA evidence linked him to the 1988 slaying of a young 
couple in Virginia. Authorities say he has been linked to several other murders 
in both states but he was never charged because he had already been sentenced 
to death.

Prieto's attorneys, Rob Lee and Elizabeth Peiffer, said the lack of information 
about the execution drugs puts the state at risk of carrying out a cruel and 
painful execution. Texas allows prison officials to shield where they get 
execution drugs and Prieto's attorneys say Virginia officials have not provided 
that information.

The Associated Press filed a public records request for the names of the 
manufacturers and the suppliers of the drugs, but the documents show only that 
the drugs were provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Texas prisons spokesman Jason Clark told AP last week that the 3 vials of 
pentobarbital given to Virginia were legally purchased from a compounding 
pharmacy, which he declined to name. Virginia will substitute the pentobarbital 
for midazolam that it intended to use because its supply of that sedative 
expires Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Corrections didn't immediately 
respond to a request for comment.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Richard Vorhis said in a letter to Peiffer on 
Tuesday that the drugs were legally acquired, tested and transported in an 
appropriate manner. He noted that Texas has successfully used the same compound 
in 24 executions over the past 2 years with no problems.

Pentobarbital is the 1st of 3 drugs that the state intends to use.

Mylan, the manufacturer of the rocuronium bromide - another drug that will be 
used - said the company sent several letters to Virginia officials when it 
learned about the drug's possible use and then demanded that the state return 
the product when it received no response.

Spokeswoman Nina Devlin said in a statement that the company is contractually 
restricting its distributors from distributing Mylan products, including 
rocuronium bromide, for use in lethal injection or for any other use outside of 
the approved labeling or applicable standards of care.

Pharmaceutical companies, under pressure from death penalty opponents, have 
stopped selling U.S. prisons drugs for lethal injections. So Texas and other 
states have turned to less regulated compounding pharmacies for made-to-order 
drugs, and like in this case, have sometimes turned to other states to acquire 
the necessary drugs.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Pope urges McAuliffe to spare Prieto one day before scheduled execution


Pope Francis's representatives in Washington wrote to Virginia Gov. Terry 
McAuliffe Wednesday, asking him to call off the looming execution of serial 
killer Alfred Prieto.

Prieto, 49, could be put to death as early as Thursday night, pending the 
outcome of a court hearing.

"The U.S. Apostolic Nuncio wrote a letter on behalf of the Holy Father to 
Governor McAuliffe, asking that Mr. Prieto not be executed," said Jeff Caruso, 
executive director of the Virginia Catholic Conference.

A spokesman for McAuliffe (D) confirmed that the governor received the letter 
but said he could not immediately provide a copy or any details of the letter, 
which was first reported by Washingtonian.

"We did receive a letter today," spokesman Brian Coy said.

McAuliffe, a Catholic who attended a White House greeting ceremony for the pope 
last week, has not always been in step with his church or party on the death 
penalty.

Although the Democratic base opposes capital punishment, McAuliffe supported it 
when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2009, according to news reports from 
the time. More recently, McAuliffe's office has said that he personally opposes 
the death penalty but would not let his personal feelings on keep him from 
upholding the law.

McAuliffe supported legislation this year intended to shield makers of lethal 
injection drugs from public pressure by exempting the companies' names from the 
state's open records laws.

On Monday, McAuliffe said he would not intervene to stop Prieto's execution - 
the 1st since McAuliffe to took office in January 2014.

As the Vatican sent its letter Wednesday, a federal judge in Alexandria issued 
a stay on the execution to allow defense lawyers to challenge the use of one of 
the 3 drugs that the state planned to use.

The execution had been scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday, and it was unclear if it 
might still be carried out at that time. U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga 
initially scheduled a hearing on the drug issue for Thursday afternoon in 
Alexandria, creating the possibility that the execution could proceed as 
scheduled Trenga ruled against Prieto.

But late Wednesday, at the state???s request, Trenga moved the case to 
Richmond, where attorneys on both sides work. No new judge or hearing date was 
immediately set, but federal judge in Richmond could convene a hearing on 
Thursday or decide the case solely on the briefs.

Michael Kelly, chief spokesman for Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D), said 
that Virginia officials would be prepared to carry out the execution Thursday 
night if there were no court order preventing it.

Prieto, 49, is facing lethal injection for the fatal 1988 shootings of Rachael 
A. Raver and Warren H. Fulton III outside of Reston. Authorities say they 
believe he killed nine people and raped four of them in a two-year span from 
1988 to 1990.

Pope Francis called for an end to the death penalty during his visit to the 
United States, which was scheduled to execute 6 death-row inmates in 5 states 
in the 2 weeks following his trip. The pope's representatives in Washington 
have sent letters to governors of other states, including Georgia and Oklahoma, 
asking that the inmates' lives be spared, according to news accounts.

(source: Washington Post)






OHIO:

Ohio bill puts limits on death-penalty evidence post trial


An Ohio Senate committee has approved a bill limiting the ability of condemned 
killers to gather post-trial evidence in death penalty cases.

The bill passed by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday would 
allow judges to deny requests for evidence gathering if it would annoy, 
embarrass or unduly burden the person from whom the evidence is sought.

Republican Sen. Bill Seitz of Cincinnati says the bill is an improvement over 
existing law that leaves the decision to allow post-trial evidence gathering up 
to judges.

Kari Underwood of the Ohio Public Defender's Office says such evidence limits 
are inappropriate in death penalty cases.

The bill also lifts page limits on petitions for inmates' post-trial challenges 
or in their appeals if those challenges are denied.

(source: Associated Press)






TENNESSEE:

Death row inmates oppressed by tyranny of the majority


In researching my latest book, "Slouching Toward Tyranny: Mass Incarceration, 
Death Sentences and Racism," I immersed myself in "Democracy in America" by 
Alexis de Tocqueville.

While generally regarded as the classic study of our democratic development, 
Chapter 15 of "Volume I: The Unlimited Power of the Majority" is often 
overlooked. This chapter came to mind as I studied Chancellor Claudia 
Bonnyman's decision in denying death row prisoners relief in the recent lethal 
injection case, West et al v. Schofield et al.

"When an individual or party is wronged in the United States, to whom can he 
apply for redress? If to public opinion, public opinion constitutes the 
majority; if to the legislature, it represents the majority and implicitly 
obeys it; if to the executive power, it is appointed by the majority and serves 
as a passive tool in its hands ... and in certain states even the judges are 
elected by the majority."

As Tocqueville notes, if there is a minority, where would they go to obtain 
relief when the majority chooses all three branches of government?

The death penalty in Tennessee illustrates this through an elected legislature, 
executive and judges. (The Tennessee Supreme Court, or TSC, is appointed by the 
governor and retained through election.)

Death row prisoners, who constitute the most despised minority in this state, 
would seem to have little chance if the majority decided to move against them. 
This dynamic, not matters of law, is precisely what happened in Bonnyman's 
court and through the machinations of the TSC when she ruled that lethal 
injection is constitutional.

In an extraordinary series of rulings, the TSC consistently denied death row 
counsels' reasonable requests:

1.The executioner is cloaked in secrecy and cannot be deposed or interviewed.

2.The compounder of the lethal drugs also is kept secret, and the process of 
making the drugs is beyond inquiry.

3.All attempts to delve into the execution protocol with in-depth questioning, 
beyond what could be gathered of Department of Correction officials on the 
witness stand, were prohibited.

4.Bonnyman was consistently overruled by the TSC whenever she upheld a motion 
of the lawyers for the condemned.

5.The case was fast-tracked by the TSC, and the chancellor was ordered to 
deliver an opinion in 30 days after the conclusion of the trial.

The Tennessee Supreme Court was responding to the pressure from the legislature 
to move on with executions in this state. Indeed, attempts were made by the 
legislature to usurp the governor's power and appoint TSC judges. The 
legislature and the governor were responding to the will of the majority, so 
the circle of influence was complete, just as Tocqueville described it.

It's time for Tennessee to reconsider the death penalty

Tocqueville terms this circle of oppression the "tyranny of the majority." This 
is precisely what we have with the death penalty in Tennessee.

It makes no difference that the lawyers for the condemned had expert witnesses 
who truly were the best in their field while the state had people with 
superficial knowledge.

Nor did it matter that the court record clearly reflects the inadequate 
training of those carrying out the execution or that Department of Correction 
officials did not even understand how the drug worked or what the shelf life 
was.

In short, the facts and evidence were not pertinent because the decision had 
been made by the 3 branches of government to expedite executions. It was a 
classic example of the tyranny of the majority at work.

(source: Joseph B. Ingle is a United Church of Christ minister who works with 
the condemned. He will discuss "Slouching Toward Tyranny: Mass Incarceration, 
Death Sentences and Racism" at the Southern Festival of Books on Oct. 9----The 
Tennessean)


KANSAS:

Exonerated death row inmate to speak at college


Curtis McCarty spent the better part of 20 years of his life thinking he would 
be executed for a murder he didn't commit.

Exonerated after it was shown a forensic chemist falsified evidence, McCarty 
now speaks out against the death penalty across the U.S. He will be speaking 
about his experiences in "Innocent and on Death Row: A Talk by Death Row 
Exoneree Curtis McCarty" from noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 7 in Mingenback Theatre on 
the campus of McPherson College.

McCarty is one of 155 individuals who have been sentenced to death and later 
exonerated of the crime since 1973. McCarty was wrongfully convicted in the 
murder of 18-year-old Pamela Willis and was imprisoned in Oklahoma after being 
sentenced to death.

The talk will be followed by an opportunity for questions.

McPherson College is hosting the event, which is sponsored by the Kansas 
Coalition Against the Death Penalty. The public is invited and encouraged to 
attend this free event.

(source: The Kansan)






CALIFORNIA----female faces death penalty

Death penalty sought for ex-wife accused of killing Exeter police officer


The Tulare County District Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty 
against Erika Sandoval, who allegedly shot and killed Exeter police officer 
Daniel Green, 31, her ex-husband and father of their 2-year-old son.

Sandoval, 26, was arrested 1 day after Green's body was found Feb. 6 in his 
home in Goshen. He had been shot several times, the Tulare County Sheriff's 
Department said.

Prosecutor David Alavezos said in open court Wednesday that the district 
attorney's office would seek the death penalty.

Charges against Sandoval include the special circumstance of lying in wait, 
which could result in the death penalty or life in prison without the 
possibility of parole.

No motive for the slaying has been stated by authorities, but Sandoval and 
Green had been sharing custody of the child. They had a contentious 
relationship and engaged in heated disputes about child custody, according to 
court records.

A trial is scheduled to be set Oct. 29. Sandoval is being held without bail.

(source: Fresno Bee)

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

California's New Death Row: Virginia----Spared in one state, a serial killer 
could be executed in another.


California has a new death row; it's called Virginia. Anti-death penalty 
advocates, federal judges, and defense attorneys have been so successful at 
blocking capital punishment in California that a San Quentin death row inmate 
has more to fear from being extradited for a capital murder to another state 
than seeing his sentence carried out here. There has been no execution in 
California since a federal judge effectively halted the practice in 2006.

Take serial killer Alfredo Prieto. In 2005, Prieto was on San Quentin's death 
row for the 1990 rape and murder of 15-year-old Yvette Woodruff in Riverside 
County, when DNA evidence linked him to 3 1988 murders in Virginia. Under Gov. 
Arnold Schwarzenegger, California sent Prieto to Virginia, where killers 
sentenced to death actually face the likelihood of execution. (Authorities say 
evidence links Prieto to 9 murders.) In 2010, a Virginia jury sentenced Prieto 
to death for the murder of Rachel Raver and Warren Fulton, both 22. Prieto is 
scheduled for lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in 
Virginia on Thursday night. Just 13 inmates have been executed in California 
since the death penalty resumed in 1978. Prieto will become the 2nd California 
death row prisoner to be executed in another state.

In Virginia, capital punishment opponents and defense attorneys rifled through 
their bag of tricks to shield Prieto from a jury verdict and sentence.

Over the past few years, death penalty opponents successfully have pressured 
major pharmaceutical companies to stop the manufacture of lethal injection 
drugs. The Obama administration played a role in that effort in 2011 when the 
Drug Enforcement Administration seized states' supplies of sodium thiopental on 
the grounds that the drug was not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. 
States since have had to hustle to find replacement drugs. Virginia obtained 
midazolam to use in its 3-drug lethal injection protocol, but the supply 
expired Wednesday. It looked as if Virginia would not be able to purchase new 
drugs, when Texas came to the rescue with a dose of pentobarbital, which it 
gets from a special compounding pharmacy not fully under the heel of the FDA.

May I note the irony in the Obama White House's (rightly) bemoaning the 
prospect of a government shutdown when it (wrongly) uses a federal agency to 
shut down states' enforcement of their own laws? "Whether a state is able to 
carry forward its death penalty law largely depends on the determination and 
leadership it has. Virginia has that determination to carry out its death 
penalty law," Georgetown adjunct law professor William Otis told me. California 
does not.

Prieto's attorneys have been busy, as well. They argue that Prieto, 49, has an 
intellectual disability - and they want Virginia to return him to California, 
where he could benefit from a "full and fair" assessment. They have no shame. 
In turning down the appeal, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the U.S. Court of 
Appeals for the 4th Circuit wrote that the bilingual Salvadoran national had 
been able to obtain driver's licenses in Virginia and California, operate power 
equipment, fly across the country, "arrange his own housing, negotiate the 
purchase of a car, and employ aliases to avoid detection." Prieto is scheduled 
for execution Oct. 1 for one reason: He also killed in Virginia.

(source: Debra Saunders, spectator.org)

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

Banning rampage suspect could face death penalty


Prosecutors Wednesday filed murder charges that could result in the death 
penalty against a Hemet man suspected in a bizarre and violent rampage that 
left 2 people dead and 3 others injured in Banning and Beaumont last weekend.

James Paul Diaz Jr., 34, is charged with 2 counts each of murder, attempted 
murder and child abuse, 3 counts of assault with a deadly weapon and 1 count of 
vandalism.

He also faces a special circumstances allegation of committing multiple 
murders, which makes him eligible for the death penalty should he be convicted 
in the deaths of Paul Lesh, 66, and Benjamin Johnson, 34.

The Riverside District Attorney's Office has also alleged 2 prior strike 
conditions against Diaz: 1 conviction in Riverside County in 1998 for shooting 
into an occupied home and a 2014 conviction in San Diego County for battery 
inflicting serious bodily injury.

The district attorney will decide later in the case whether to pursue capital 
punishment.

Diaz, who's being held without bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in 
Riverside, was scheduled to make his initial court appearance at the Southwest 
Justice Center in Murrieta Wednesday afternoon, but the hearing was postponed 
until Thursday.

The crime spree began at 11:36 a.m. Saturday, when Banning officers responded 
to a call of shots fired in the 700 block of East John Street, where 2 wounded 
men were found in a vehicle, according to Banning police Chief Alex Diaz, who 
is no relation to the suspect.

1 of the victims was dead by the time officers arrived. The 2nd man suffered 
minor injuries and was treated at a hospital, then released.

A witness told police the suspect was driving a white SUV.

At 11:43 a.m., officers received reports of a vehicle-to-vehicle shooting near 
the intersection of San Gorgonio Avenue and Nicolet Street. A motorist was 
treated at a hospital for minor injuries caused by broken window glass, police 
said. The suspect in that shooting was also described as driving a white SUV.

10 minutes later, officers responded to a report of an assault with a deadly 
weapon at a gas station at 22nd and Ramsey streets. Officers found a man who 
was sitting inside his parked car when he was set upon by an assailant who beat 
him using fists and a blunt object, according to police. The victim was treated 
at a hospital, then released.

Video at the scene showed a suspect driving a white SUV and fitting the 
description of the suspect in the earlier attacks, police said.

At 12:13 p.m., police were called to the 200 block of East Lincoln Street, 
where a vehicle had crashed into a wall outside a Banning city vehicle yard. 
Arriving officers found a man who had been shot to death inside the vehicle.

A description of the suspect and his SUV was disseminated to other law 
enforcement agencies, including Beaumont police, the California Highway Patrol 
and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Around 12:20 p.m., officers in Beaumont received a call that a man fitting the 
suspect's description was knocking on doors in the 700 block of American Street 
and asking where his children were.

5 minutes later, Beaumont police went to the 1300 block of Eighth Street in 
response to a report that a man broke a window and door handle on a vehicle 
occupied by a woman and her 2 children, the Banning police chief said. The 
woman told police the man continually asked if his children were inside the 
vehicle as well.

At 12:32 p.m., Beaumont officers spotted a white SUV fitting the description of 
the suspect vehicle in the area, conducted a high-risk traffic stop and took 
Diaz into custody. A weapon was found inside the SUV, police said.

(source: The Desert Sun)