[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, ARK., MO., OKLA., NEB.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 3



OHIO:

Marchers to urge end to capital punishment


Beginning on Sunday morning, death penalty abolitionists from Ohio and other 
states will begin a seven-day, 83-mile walk from the Lucasville prison where 
Ohio conducts executions to the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, calling for an end 
to capital punishment.

Residents of local communities along the way are invited to evening programs in 
Portsmouth (October 3), Chillicothe (October 5), Circleville (October 7) and 
Columbus (October 9) for conversations about the death penalty and to hear 
special guests.

According to information from Ohioans to Stop Executions, special guests 
include Derrick Jamison, who was exonerated in 2005 after serving 20 years on 
Ohio's death row for a crime he did not commit; Terry Collins, who retired as 
Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections after 
witnessing 33 executions; Sam Reese Sheppard, whose father, Dr. Sam Sheppard, 
was wrongly convicted in the murder of Sam's mother in the infamous and as-yet 
unsolved 1954 Cleveland case which has inspired numerous books, television 
programs and movies; and Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, a Southern Baptist Minister who 
has engaged with death row prisoners in Texas and is the author of 7 books, 
including Jesus on Death Row, and Last Words from Texas: Meditations from the 
Execution Chamber.

In an interview with the News Watchman, Terry Collins, who will be speaking on 
October 5 at 7 p.m. at Community of Christ, 539 West Fifth Street, Chillicothe, 
mentioned that since his retirement from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation 
and Corrections, he has come out against the death penalty because he thinks 
Ohio has another option.

"And that option is life without without parole," he said. "In fact, there are 
currently over 500 people in the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections 
who are serving life without parole sentences."

In addition to that, Collins said that review of the death penalty in this 
state has shown that the likelihood of receiving a death sentence penalty 
depends on what county in which the offender is arrested as well as the 
socio-economic background of the offender.

"To me, the fairness of the whole system is at question, particularly when we 
have an option and that option is being used," he added.

Collins said that in his opinion the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, 
and he said that studies have shown that it is 10 to 12 times more expensive 
for a death penalty case than a sentence of life without parole or a life 
sentence.

He also mentioned the difficulty for victims of crimes when a death penalty 
case is brought back into court on appeals time and time again.

Collins indicated that he is a strong believer that those who violate the law 
should be punished but that he also believes in the option of life without 
parole over the death sentence.

He also said that he is concerned about the possibility that someone may be 
executed who is later found not to be guilty.

"I have personally walked people out of prison after years of incarceration who 
were found to be not guilty," he said. "If you make a mistake with a life 
without parole sentence, it can be corrected. If you make a mistake on a death 
sentence, it can't be."

He added that he does not have any reason to believe that any of the people 
whose executions he witnessed were not guilty, but he said that he had never 
had anyone say that they were not guilty.

He also spoke of Derrick Jamison, who sat on death row for 20 years before 
being exonerated.

"Today, he still struggles because of that 20 years that was taken away from 
his life," Collins said of him.

Additional information on the walk, including itinerary and local event 
details, can be found at 
http://walkagainstthedeathpenalty.footprintsforpeace.net/.

The event is jointly organized by Scioto Peace & Justice Fellowship of 
Reconciliation, Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center, Footprints for Peace, 
Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio, and Ohioans to Stop Executions.

(source: The News Watchman)






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 six 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 3 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: Malvern Daily Record)

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

5 plead not guilty in beating death of Fayetteville woman


5 people pleaded not guilty in Washington County Circuit Court Friday to 
charges related to a homicide in Fayetteville in August, when police say a 
24-year-old woman was held captive for hours and beaten to death by her husband 
and 4 friends.

Rebecca Lloyd, 36, John Christopher Davis, 27, and Mark Edward Chumley, 45, all 
of 433 S. Hill Ave., and Christopher Lee Treat and Desire Treat, both 29, of 
315 S. Block St., Apt. 15, are all charged with accomplice to capital murder.

The 5 are charged in the Aug. 19 killing of Victoria Annabeth Davis, 24, of 433 
S. Hill Ave. Police have said Davis was held captive for hours and beaten by 
her husband, John Christopher Davis, and the other 4 defendants who police 
identified as friends.

Police said Davis' death was "extremely violent." Several weapons were used in 
the beating, they said.

All 5 were given Dec. 15 trial dates. Accomplice to capital murder is 
punishable by either life in prison without parole or the death penalty. 
Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett said he has not decided whether to seek the 
death penalty in the case.

(source: arkansasonline.com)






MISSOURI----impending execution cancelled; death sentence overturned

Missouri Inmate Is Spared Death Sentence


A St. Louis-area man on death row for hiring someone to murder his former wife 
was spared execution on Friday when Missouri's staunchly pro-death penalty 
governor commuted his sentence to life without parole.

The move by Gov. Jay Nixon came just 4 days before the man, Kimber Edwards, was 
to become the 7th person executed this year in Missouri, which leads the nation 
in executions per capita for 2014 and 2015. Mr. Nixon has commuted just 1 other 
death sentence since he became governor in 2009. 20 inmates have been executed 
since then.

Lawyers for Mr. Edwards, 51, presented evidence that they said suggested he was 
innocent.

Orthell Wilson, the man who admitted to killing Mr. Edwards's former wife, 
Kimberly Cantrell, in 2000, signed an affidavit this year, saying that he had 
lied when he told the police that Mr. Edwards had hired him. Mr. Edwards had 
nothing to do with her death, Mr. Wilson said in the affidavit, but he lied to 
avoid getting the death penalty himself. He was actually in a secret 
relationship with Ms. Cantrell, and he shot her at her apartment in University 
City during an argument over his drug addiction, Mr. Wilson said.

When Samuel Hotchkiss, a member of Mr. Edwards's legal team, notified him over 
the phone of the commutation Friday afternoon, Mr. Edwards said something to 
the effect of "Praise the Lord or thank God," Mr. Hotchkiss said.

Mr. Edwards, who had been transferred to the execution cell on Thursday, was 
laughing with joy and was calm, Mr. Hotchkiss said.

Mr. Edwards had confessed to hiring someone to kill Ms. Cantrell, but he 
quickly recanted and argued during his trial that the confession was coerced. 
But Mr. Edwards, who is black, was convicted and sentenced to death in St. 
Louis County by a 12-member jury that was all white. The jury composition was 
brought up in an earlier appeal, which was rejected by the court.

Kent E. Gipson, the lead lawyer representing Mr. Edwards, said that the 
commutation was unexpected.

"I've been doing this a long time," Mr. Gipson said. "I've seen too many bad 
things happen to be very optimistic. But it's always good to have a victory."

Mr. Nixon's only other death sentence commutation was for Richard Clay in 2011. 
Mr. Clay had been convicted of committing a for-hire murder, but his lawyers 
argued that there was evidence pointing to his innocence.

As in Mr. Clay's case, Mr. Nixon gave no reason for the commutation, even going 
so far as to say in a statement that he still believed Mr. Edwards was guilty.

"This is a step not taken lightly," the governor said, "and only after 
significant consideration of the totality of the circumstances."

(source: New York Times)

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

Nixon's Commutation Cancels Execution Set for Next Week


Missouri will not be carrying out the execution next week of a man who was 
sentenced to death for hiring another man to kill his ex-wife 15-years ago.

Governor Jay Nixon has commuted the sentence of 51-year-old Kimber Edwards to 
life without parole.

Edwards had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday at the state 
prison in Bonne Terre.

Edwards' attorneys and anti-death penalty advocates cited recent statements by 
the man he was convicted of hiring to kill Kimberly Cantrell, Orthell Wilson, 
that he had acted alone and lied about Edwards' involvement to avoid the death 
penalty.

Cantrell was fatally shot in her University City Home August 22, 2000. Wilson 
is serving life in the state prison in Jefferson City for the murder.

Nixon, in his statement, however, does not suggest that he thinks Edwards is 
innocent.

"After a thorough review of the facts surrounding the murder of Kimberly 
Cantrell, I am convinced the evidence supports the jury's decision to convict 
Kimber Edwards of 1st-degree murder," wrote Nixon. "At the same time, however, 
I am using my authority under the Missouri Constitution to commute Edwards' 
sentence to life without the possibility of parole. This is a step not taken 
lightly, and only after significant consideration of the totality of the 
circumstances. With this decision, Kimber Edwards will remain in prison for the 
remainder of his life for this murder."

Missouri is next scheduled to carry out the execution of Ernest Lee Johnson, 
November 3.

(source: ozarksfirst.com)

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

Missouri governor commutes death sentence for Kimber Edwards


Kimber Edwards, who was convicted of hiring someone to kill his ex-wife in 
2000, had his death sentence commuted by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday, 
after a newspaper reported that the murderer now says he acted alone.

Edwards had been scheduled to die on Tuesday for his involvement in the death 
of Kimberly Cantrell.

In a statement, Nixon, a Democrat, said he was convinced that the evidence 
supports the decision to convict Edwards of 1st-degree murder, and that Edwards 
will remain in prison for the rest of his life.

"This is a step not taken lightly, and only after significant consideration of 
the totality of the circumstances," Nixon said.

Orthell Wilson, who had said Edwards hired him to kill Cantrell, has recently 
recanted his statement, telling a reporter that he had acted alone, according 
to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Edwards confessed to the crime, but said at his trial and ever since that he 
was innocent, the newspaper said. His lawyers say Edwards had a form of autism 
that could have made him vulnerable to aggressive interrogation techniques, and 
led to a false confession, the newspaper said.

A total of 22 people have been executed in the United States so far this year, 
including 6 in Missouri, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

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

Kimber Edwards Death Penalty Reduced by Governor Nixon


Kimber Edwards had been sentenced to death, which was scheduled for Oct. 6. 
Although it had been originally scheduled for May 12, an order granted the 
defense attorney a clemency request.

Edwards was convicted of hiring Orthell Wilson to kill his ex-wife, Kimberly 
Cantrell, in Aug. 2000. The convicted criminal, supposedly, had her killed so 
he would no longer have to pay child support. He had told the courts he was 
framed.

Wilson committed the murder and testified against Edwards at his trial. Wilson 
had made a deal with the district attorney for a life sentence in exchange for 
his testimony. Nonetheless, Wilson is now telling the media he only testified 
against this man to avoid the death penalty. Wilson states that he committed 
the murder on his own and was not paid.

According to Huffington Post, Edwards gave a compelling testimony, which 
supported his innocence. A jury, however, sentenced him to death, while Wilson, 
who committed the actual murder, was sentenced to life in prison.

Governor Nixon gave a statement on Oct.2 and he supports Edward's conviction of 
1st-degree murder. The governor said he reviewed the case files carefully. As 
governor, under the Missouri Constitution, Nixon has the authority to overrule 
the jury's decision to hand down a death sentence. His decision was to overrule 
the death penalty and instead granted him a life sentence without the 
possibility of parole. According to the governor, he did not come to this 
decision lightly. He carefully considered all of the evidence, as well as the 
circumstances surrounding the case before arriving at this difficult 
conclusion.

(source: guardianlv.com)






OKLAHOMA----stay of impending executions

Oklahoma halts 3 executions over drugs


3 impending executions in Oklahoma have been halted after prison officials 
nearly administered the wrong lethal injection drug to a death row inmate.

Richard Glossip's execution was delayed on Wednesday after officials discovered 
they did not have the correct drugs to perform the procedure.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt had requested the freeze on executions 
to give the state time to investigate.

The Oklahoma's highest criminal court agreed on Friday.

In addition to Glossip, the executions of inmates Benjamin Cole and John Grant 
have also been indefinitely delayed.

State prison officials said they were posted potassium acetate instead of 
potassium chloride, the third drug used in Oklahoma's lethal injection formula.

The court ordered the state to provide status reports every 30 days.

Executions have been delayed recently in the US amid problems buying drugs as 
many firms have refused to sell them.

The state has overhauled how it carries out the death penalty after the botched 
execution of Clayton Lockett in 2014. Lockett struggled and took more than 40 
minutes to die.

Typically, inmates become sedated and are declared dead within minutes.

Glossip's boss Barry Van Treese, the owner of the Oklahoma City motel, was 
beaten to death in 1997.

His colleague Justin Sneed was convicted of the killing but said Glossip had 
ordered him to carry it out.

Glossip and his family have maintained his innocence for nearly 20 years, 
saying that Sneed acted alone.

He was first convicted in 1998 but that was overturned in 2001, only for 
Glossip to be convicted again 3 years later.

In the most recent appeals, his lawyers said they had an affidavit from another 
inmate who said Sneed admitted to setting Glossip up.

British billionaire Richard Branson took out a full-page ad in The Oklahoman 
newspaper on Wednesday that argued Glossip is innocent.

Pope Francis had urged Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin to halt Glossip's 
execution. Ms Fallin said she did not have the authority to do so.

(source: BBC news)

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

Execution questions answered


Oklahoma's protocols called for potassium chloride to be used in the scheduled 
execution of death row inmate Richard Glossip, but the state received potassium 
acetate instead. The state's attorney general has asked a court to delay 
Glossip's rescheduled execution and others that have been set while a review is 
done on why the wrong drug came.

Here are some questions and answers about the drugs and Oklahoma's execution 
process:

Q: ARE POTASSIUM CHLORIDE AND POTASSIUM ACETATE ALIKE?

A: According to the National Institutes of Health, potassium acetate and 
potassium chloride can each be used in medical settings to treat low levels of 
potassium, restoring appropriate heart rhythms, blood pressure and kidney 
function. NIH does not describe the drugs' use in death penalty cases. 
Executioners use potassium chloride to stop an inmate's heart.

Dr. Alice Chen, an internal medicine specialist and executive director of 
Doctors for America, says the 2 drugs are not interchangeable.

"As with any other drug, people react to them in different ways," Chen said. 
"We're not certain what the dose should be, how different people would react to 
it in the cocktail."

But Robert Patton, Oklahoma's prisons director, told reporters Thursday that 
the state's drug supplier believed one drug could be swapped with the other. He 
refused to say who supplied the drug; state law keeps the information a secret.

"Contact was immediately made to the provider, whose professional opinion was 
that potassium acetate is medically interchangeable with potassium chloride at 
the same quantity," Patton said. "However, by the provider supplying us with 
potassium acetate, a legal ambiguity was created that needed to be cleared up 
before moving forward."

Q: HAS POTASSIUM ACETATE BEEN USED IN A U.S. EXECUTION?

A: No, according to Jen Moreno, a staff attorney with the Death Penalty Clinic 
at the at the University of California's Berkeley Law School.

"It's never been used, and actually doctors and pharmacologists we're talking 
to aren't super familiar with it," Moreno said. "It's not a very common drug it 
seems."

Q: WHAT'S ALLOWED UNDER OKLAHOMA'S EXECUTION PROTOCOLS?

A: Oklahoma has some leeway in the drugs it uses in lethal injections, giving 
Patton discretion as to which chemicals are used. The protocols include dosage 
guidelines for single-drug lethal injections of pentobarbital or sodium 
pentothal, along with dosages for a 3-drug protocol of midazolam, vecuronium 
bromide and potassium chloride. The protocols also allow for rocuronium or 
pancuronium bromide to be substituted for the 2nd drug. The protocols do not 
list an alternate for potassium chloride, which is the 3rd drug used.

Much attention has been paid to midazolam, a sedative that Oklahoma first used 
in the April 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett. That execution - which lasted 
more than 40 minutes - led to a lawsuit that ended up before the U.S. Supreme 
Court, which ruled in June that the use of midazolam is constitutional.

The protocol says the state must notify the inmate within 10 days of the 
execution which drugs will be used. In an Aug. 11 letter to Glossip's 
attorneys, the state said it planned to use midazolam, rocuronium bromide and 
potassium chloride in Glossip's execution and that the drugs "have been 
obtained." No explanation has been offered for why potassium acetate was made 
available instead. Patton on Thursday blamed the vendor.

Q: WHEN DID THE STATE FIND OUT IT HAD THE WRONG DRUG?

A: Patton said a sealed box from the drug supplier was opened about 1 p.m. CDT 
Wednesday, two hours before Glossip's scheduled execution. He said the prison 
system immediately reached out to the supplier and was told potassium acetate 
was a suitable substitute.

Patton said the department tried to obtain potassium chloride but determined it 
wouldn't have been able to obtain it in time to carry out Glossip's execution 
on Wednesday.

The U.S. Supreme Court, asked to rule on Glossip's appeal for more time to 
prove his claim of innocence, issued its denial shortly before Glossip's 
scheduled execution time of 3 p.m. CDT. Fallin issued her emergency stay around 
3:45 p.m.

(source: Associated Press)






NEBRASKA:

Murderer slices off penis to make it look like giant Egyptian serpent god


A convicted murderer has sliced off his penis to pay tribute to an Egyptian 
serpent god. Nikko Jenkins said he was told by Apophis - an ancient god who 
appeared as a giant snake - to make his member look like the reptile.

The lag, who murdered 4 people in a sick killing spree, needed 27 stitches 
after the painful procedure.

It comes a few months after Jenkins tried to slice his tongue like a snake and 
smeared the blood over his cell walls.

The 27-year-old has also carved 666 - the number of the Devil - and the word 
"Satan" into his head.

Officials are unsure how Jenkins, who is banned from shaving and is kept in a 
private cell, keeps getting hold of blades.

Marshall Lux said: "You really have to question how this keeps happening.

"Nobody seems to know exactly what he's got or how he's getting it. It's a 
mystery to me."

Jenkins is currently awaiting a death-penalty hearing for his killing spree in 
Omaha, Nebraska 2 years ago.

He brutally murdered Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and 
Andrea Kruger between August 11 and August 21 2013.

But the hearing has been delayed because Nebraska is set to hold a state-wide 
vote on whether to bring back the death penalty.

He cuts himself so he can "use the insanity defence" and "embarrass" officials 
at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, according to prosecutors.

(source: Daily Star)