[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., GA., ALA., LA., ARK.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 2



TEXAS:

Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----10

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----528

Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #

11---------October 6----------------Juan Garcia-----------529

12---------October 14---------------Licho Escamilla-------530

13---------November 3---------------Julius Murphy---------531

14---------November 18--------------Raphael Holiday-------532

15---------January 20 (2016)-----Richard Masterson--------533

16---------January 27---------------James Freeman---------534

17---------February 16--------------Gustavo Garcia--------535

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)






VIRGINIA:

Welch Could Get Death Penalty in Lyon Sisters Case


The charges against Lloyd Welch, Jr., accused of the 1975 murders of the Lyon 
sisters, make him eligible for the death penalty. Bedford County Commonwealth's 
Attorney Randy Krantz said he has not decided whether to seek the death penalty 
when Welch goes to trial.

A trial date is tentatively set for November 24, but is expected to be 
postponed. Krantz said he is ready to take the case to trial, but defense 
counsel was just appointed for Welch.

"I need an attorney", said Welch to Circuit Court Judge James Updike during his 
attorney advisement hearing Thursday. Updike determined Welch met the financial 
requirements for court appointed counsel.

Because Welch is charged with capital offenses, Updike was required by Virginia 
law to appoint 2 death penalty certified attorneys to represent Welch. Updike 
selected Roanoke attorneys Tony Anderson and Aaron Houchens. Houchens was 
present for the hearing and met privately with Welch after his client appeared 
before the judge.

Welch is charged with 2 counts of 1st degree felony murder, not capital murder.

"In 1975 the current or contemporary capital murder statues were not in place 
but there were certain forms of murder that carried the death penalty," 
explained Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Krantz. "So the distinction is somewhat 
of a semantic in that is he is charged with 1st degree murder that carries 
capital punishment but it's not under the statute we have today called capital 
murder."

Investigators believe Welch brought Sheila and Katherine Lyon to Taylor's 
Mountain in Thaxton in Spring 1975.

Welch is being held in the regional jail in Amherst County.

(source: WSET news)


GEORGIA:

What's next for anti-execution advocates


After Kelley Gissendaner's execution, many are calling now to end the death 
penalty in Georgia.

Reverend Ezekiel Holley led the way Tuesday in a rally to end the death penalty 
in Georgia and said even though Gissendaner was executed, he's not done 
fighting.

"I want to tell my community to become more involved more vocal, speak to the 
elected officials about this travesty," said Holley.

State representative Darrel Ealum said talking to legislators is exactly what 
advocates need to do.

"If you're going to make a change, it's got to start at the general assembly, 
it's got to start in Atlanta," said Ealum. "Someone's going to have to bring it 
to the attention of a representative, a state senator who is going to be 
willing to put it on the floor."

Ealum said advocates against the death penalty shouldn't let Gissendaner's 
execution feel like a defeat.

"This is not the end for those people who really disagree, they believe this 
was a wrong," said Ealum.

Reverend Holley agrees saying, "Kelly died, but that opened the flood gates. 
There are a number of other individuals in line to die by execution in the very 
near future."

With that in mind, representative Ealum said now is the time to speak up.

"The general assembly is going to be back in session in a short 3 months and it 
would be a great time to rally if that's what they wish to do," said Ealum.

Reverend Holley said he'll lead the charge and he won't give up.

"To me it's wrong and I will continue to protest against the death penalty and 
sooner or later one day Georgia will abolish the death penalty."

(source: WFXL news)






ALABAMA:

Alabama seeks execution date for man convicted in Homewood woman's slaying


The Alabama Attorney General's Office is seeking an execution date for death 
row inmate Christopher Brooks, who was convicted in the 1992 rape and murder of 
a Homewood woman.

Brooks has exhausted his direct appeals, according to the Attorney General's 
Sept. 24 motion to the Alabama Supreme Court. "As such, it is time for his 
death sentence to be carried out," the motion states.

Brooks' attorneys, in a response filed Wednesday, agree that Brooks' 
conventional appeals ended in March 2014 when the U.S. Supreme Court declined 
to review his case. But they argue there are still constitutional issues 
regarding Alabama's lethal injection procedure that still have not been 
resolved.

"We are surprised that the State has moved to set an execution date for Mr. 
Brooks, especially since the State agreed to a stay for Mr. Brooks in March and 
because the federal lethal injection litigation to decide the constitutionality 
of Alabama's protocol remains unresolved," said Leslie S. Smith, an attorney in 
the Capital Habeas Unit of the Federal Defenders Office in the Middle District 
of Alabama.

Brooks was convicted in 1993 of murder during the course of a rape, robbery, 
and burglary for killing Jo Deann Campbell. A jury recommended Brooks receive 
the death penalty and a judge sentenced him to death.

According to the appeal court records Campbell and Brooks had met while working 
as counselors at a camp in New York state. On Dec. 31, 1992, her body was found 
under the bed in the bedroom of her Homewood apartment. She had been bludgeoned 
to death, and was naked from the waist down.

DNA taken from semen found in the victim's body, a palm print on one of 
Campbell's ankles, and bloody fingerprints on her bedroom door were all linked 
to Brooks.

A friend of Brooks, who also was at the apartment, was not indicted on charges.

A spokesman for the Alabama Attorney General's Office on Thursday said the 
request to set an execution date for Brooks is the only such request pending 
for an Alabama death row inmate at this time.

Brooks and other death row inmates this spring had executions stayed pending 
the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the case of Oklahoma inmate Richard 
Glossip, who along with other inmates, challenged the constitutionality of the 
use of the sedative midazolam in Oklahoma's 3-drug execution protocol.

Alabama was among 13 states to file briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in support 
of Oklahoma's execution method, which is similar to their own methods.

An injection of 500 milligrams of midazolam hydrochloride is part of Alabama's 
new three-drug combination used for lethal injections. The other drugs are 600 
milligrams of rocuronium bromide to stop breathing, and 240 "milliequivalents" 
of potassium chloride to stop the heart.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, did not believe the arguments that 
the drug combination including midazolam was cruel and unusual punishment.

The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling is based on facts in the Oklahoma case, not on 
Alabama's 3-drug lethal injection protocol, Brooks' attorneys' argue in their 
response.

"The Supreme Court's opinion in Glossip affirmed a District Court ruling 
denying Glossip a preliminary injunction. That decision does not resolve or end 
the litigation in Glossip, does not resolve or end the litigation surrounding 
Alabama's execution protocol, and does not constitute a ruling on the 
constitutionality of Oklahoma or Alabama's execution protocol," Brooks' 
attorneys write.

Brooks will be filing a federal lawsuit challenging Alabama's method of 
execution, his attorneys also stated in their response.

But the Attorney General's Office argued in its motion that even if Brooks 
files a federal lawsuit, the Alabama Supreme Court should still set an 
execution date.

"If Brooks files a civil lawsuit challenging Alabama's method of execution, it 
will have no relation to the State's lawful criminal judgment," the AG's motion 
states.

The Attorney General's Office in July had asked a federal judge to dismiss 
lawsuits by seven other inmates challenging the state's lethal injection 
method.

Glossip was to have been executed Wednesday but it was postponed at the last 
minute by Oklahoma's governor over a question regarding the legality of 
substituting another drug for potassium chloride, CNN reported.

2 death row inmates were executed this week in other states.

(source: al.com)






LOUISIANA:

Judge upholds 1st-degree murder conviction of serial killer Daniel Blank


A state district judge upheld the 1st-degree conviction and death penalty 
sentence of River Parishes serial killer Daniel Blank in the 1997 murder of 
Lillian Philippe on Tuesday.

23rd Judicial District Judge Jessie LeBlanc rejected Blank's claims of an 
ineffective defense counsel calling it unconvincing and insufficient stating it 
is without merit.

Blank's attorneys claimed his conviction and sentence was unconstitutional 
because prosecutors withheld investigative reports that challenged the 
reliability of his confession to the murder as well as others. They also 
claimed his trail attorneys failed to do enough to exclude the use of the 
multiple-crime confession.

LeBlanc presided over a 5-day evidentiary hearing held at the Terrebonne Parish 
Courthouse in Houma in July because the original trial was also held there due 
to its publicity.

Blank, now 53, gave a 12-hour confession in November 1997 when he was found by 
a multi-agency task force at an auto shop in Onalaska, Texas. From St. James 
Parish, Blank lived in Sorrento at the time of multiple robberies and homicides 
of mostly elderly residents in St. James, St. John the Baptist and Ascension 
parishes.

The state Supreme Court upheld Blank's conviction in the April 9, 1997 botched 
burglary where Philippe was beaten to death in her home. Blank received 4 life 
sentences after being convicted in 4 other slayings following that trial.

(source: The Creole)

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

Death Penalty Sought Against Man Accused of Killing Trooper


A 54-year-old man accused of killing a Louisiana state trooper and his roommate 
in August has pleaded not guilty.

KPLC-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1KXt3s6 ) that Kevin Daigle entered his plea at 
a court hearing on Thursday. He faces the death penalty.

Daigle is accused of shooting his roommate, 54-year-old Blake Brewer and 
44-year-old Trooper Steven Vincent.

Daigle is charged with 1st-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder and possession of a 
weapon by a convicted felon. Prosecutors on Thursday added a charge of simple 
burglary of an inhabited dwelling, to which Daigle also pleaded not guilty.

District Attorney John DeRosier has said he will seek the death penalty for 
Daigle.

A trial date was set for Sept. 19, 2016.

(source: Associated Press)






ARKANSAS:

Arkansas Death Row Inmates Ask for Preliminary Injunction


An attorney for 8 Arkansas inmates scheduled to be put to death beginning later 
this month asked a judge Thursday to rule in their favor before the lawsuit 
alleging new death penalty procedures are unconstitutional goes to trial.

Attorney Jeff Rosenzweig filed motions in Pulaski County Circuit court saying 
the state has not adequately proven its case against allegations that the new 
secrecy law violates a previous settlement agreement the inmates have with the 
state. He said if a judge doesn't rule in their favor, he should grant a 
preliminary injunction to protect the inmates' lives.

"The prisoners respectfully request that this Court grant them a preliminary 
injunction that forbids the (Arkansas Department of Correction) from executing 
them pursuant to Act 1096 of 2015, or from using its Lethal Injection 
Procedure, until this Court has time to resolve this case on the merits," 
Rosenzweig wrote in one of the filings.

Arkansas intends to resume executions Oct. 21 after almost a decade. A new 
state law allows the department to keep the source of the drugs from the 
public, but Rosenzweig said Arkansas previously agreed to tell inmates the 
origin of the lethal drugs when they agreed to drop a part of a previous 
lawsuit challenging the state's lethal injection laws.

Rosenzweig filed an amended brief in the lawsuit late Monday night alleging the 
secrecy law was unconstitutional in at least 6 ways. Several of those 
objections have been tried in other state courts or in federal court and 
failed.

He said the Arkansas Constitution prohibits laws from being passed to undermine 
a contract. The Attorney General's Office agreed to the terms of the 
settlement, then "acted in bad faith" by working to help draft the new secrecy 
law, the attorneys argue.

Judd Deere, a spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, said the office 
is reviewing the filing and would not have further comment Thursday.

The lawsuit also calls the use of the specific drugs under the state protocol 
cruel and unusual punishment and argues that not allowing the inmates to 
research the manufacturers and the personnel involved in the execution - 
because of the secrecy law - denies them the right to determine whether the 
drugs will lead to cruel and unusual punishment.

A circuit court judge moved the hearing date for the inmates' lawsuit from Oct. 
23 to Oct. 7 earlier this week.

Midazolam, the sedative in Arkansas' 3-drug procedure, gained notoriety after 
being used during executions that took longer than expected last year in 
Missouri, Ohio and Oklahoma, though the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the drug's 
use in executions in June.

The Associated Press this month identified the three pharmaceutical companies 
that likely made Arkansas' execution drugs, all of which said they object to 
their drugs being used in executions. One of the companies has said it is 
pressing the Arkansas Department of Correction for information but hasn't heard 
back.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson scheduled the 8 inmates to be executed on 4 dates starting 
on Oct. 21, meaning all would be double executions if the courts don't 
intervene.

(source: Associated Press)