[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., OKLA.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 4



KANSAS:

'This is how it's supposed to work'


21 years after Kansas re-enacted capital punishment for perpetrators of the 
state's most heinous crimes, the state has yet to execute anyone. It is unclear 
when an execution will take place and which - if any - of the 9 men sitting on 
"death row" will be the 1st to die.

Since 1994, Kansas juries have recommended death for 13 men convicted of 
capital murder.

4 have had their sentences changed - most in the wake of appellate court 
rulings that had a broader impact on the Kansas death penalty law. To date, the 
Kansas Supreme Court has not upheld any death sentences.

On Wednesday, for the 3rd time, the U.S. Supreme Court will review Kansas 
Supreme Court decisions to throw out death sentences. 2 of the 3 cases under 
question are those of Jonathan and Reginald Carr, brothers who nearly 15 years 
ago carried out one of the state's most notorious multiple murders.

Uncertainty over how long death-penalty sentences will take to carry out has 
left many wondering whether the law is working as intended.

Those in legal circles acknowledge the concern. But they say the law, even at 2 
decades old, is still too new and is too rarely used to have worked out all of 
the intricacies of getting a capital punishment inmate from conviction to the 
death chamber.

"When the state first enacts a death penalty, it takes a long time for them to 
get it right," said Jeffrey Jackson, Washburn University School of Law 
professor and former death penalty attorney for the Kansas Supreme Court.

"There's nothing broken about the Kansas system other than it's definitely not 
moving as fast as probably people envisioned. ... The Kansas statute is 
probably as good a death penalty that you're going to find."

The 1st case

Kansas is 1 of 31 states that have the death penalty, according to the Death 
Penalty Information Center. Since 1976 - the year the U.S. Supreme Court 
allowed capital punishment nationwide after striking it down 4 years earlier - 
1,416 people have been executed nationwide.

In Kansas, death is a possible punishment for capital murder. Prosecutors 
decide whether to seek it, but its imposition must be unanimously recommended 
by a jury. If it isn't, the defendant is sentenced to prison.

Every death sentence receives an automatic review by the Kansas Supreme Court.

The legal issues that have halted Kansas from carrying out an execution under 
its 3rd incarnation of a capital punishment law started not long after the 1st 
capital murder case was appealed. Since then, decisions in at least 3 other 
capital murder cases have influenced or changed the way death penalty trials 
are handled in Kansas.

Gary Kleypas received a death sentence for the 1996 rape and murder of 
Pittsburg State University student Carrie Williams. His appeal was heard and 
decided in 2001.

The question that arose from the Kleypas case centers on the same issue that 
has plagued most other death penalty cases in Kansas so far: whether the 
equation juries used to determine whether to recommend execution violated cruel 
and unusual punishment protections afforded under the Eighth Amendment to the 
U.S. Constitution.

The Kansas Supreme Court, in reviewing the Kleypas case, ruled 4-3 that the 
equation was flawed because it gave an unfair advantage to prosecutors, rather 
than favoring the defendant. They threw out his death sentence.

Death penalty cases essentially require 2 trials for a defendant.

In the 1st, a jury decides whether the defendant is guilty of capital murder.

In the 2nd, called the penalty phase, jurors are asked to weigh evidence for 
and against a death sentence. Evidence in support of death is called 
aggravating factors. Evidence that calls for leniency is called mitigating 
factors.

Jackson, the law professor, explained that in the Kleypas decision, "the big 
problem was over this weighing equation, because, in a tie, you get death."

"And it wasn't entirely clear whether or not that was constitutional."

The court suggested the remedy would be giving juries different instructions 
rather than rewriting the death penalty law. It sent Kleypas' case back to 
Crawford County District Court for a new sentencing proceeding.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, followed the court's direction and changed the 
instructions given to juries, Jackson said.

In 2008, Kleypas was again sentenced to death. He's now awaiting another 
appeal.

'Marathon, not a sprint'

3 years after the Kleypas decision, the Kansas Supreme Court scrutinized the 
weighing equation again - this time in an appeal of the death penalty case of 
Michael Marsh.

Marsh was convicted of fatally shooting a friend???s wife and then setting a 
fire that also killed her toddler in 1996. It was a Sedgwick County case.

In a 4-3 decision delivered in 2004, the Kansas Supreme Court said its ruling 
in Kleypas had been wrong. State legislators should have rewritten the state 
death penalty law, it said, rather than the courts giving juries different 
instructions.

The death penalty in Kansas was struck down.

"You had a situation then where you know all of a sudden all of the death 
penalty cases were theoretically not valid," Jackson said.

The state attorney general's office, in response, asked the U.S. Supreme Court 
to review the case.

In the meantime, appeals in other death penalty cases stopped, Sedgwick County 
District Attorney Marc Bennett said.

Then, in 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision upheld the Kansas death 
penalty law and ordered the Kansas Supreme Court to review Marsh's appeal 
again.

Marsh's case was eventually sent to Sedgwick County District Court for a new 
trial.

Before it got underway, he agreed to plead guilty to 2 counts of 1st-degree 
murder and was ordered to serve 2 consecutive life prison sentences.

Death penalty cases are "a marathon, not a sprint," Bennett said.

They require more time and intense legal scrutiny to resolve, he said, because, 
as the U.S. Supreme Court has held, "death is different" from other 
consequences.

Cases on hold again

In 2010, the Kansas Supreme Court made another decision that affected the 
future of the state's death penalty cases.

In response to an appeal by Gavin Scott, who was given a death sentence for the 
September 1996 shootings of a Goddard couple, the court said juries didn't have 
to unanimously agree on mitigating factors - the evidence against a death 
sentence - in a death penalty case.

The existence of aggravating factors, by contrast, has to be unanimously agreed 
upon by juries. That is the evidence prosecutors use to argue for a death 
sentence.

The decision, Jackson said, was influenced by an earlier U.S. Supreme Court 
decision delivered in a case from Maryland.

The justices tossed out Scott's death sentence and ordered a new sentencing 
proceeding.

Like Marsh, Scott pleaded guilty to 2 counts of 1st-degree murder after 
reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Then, in 2012, the Kansas Supreme Court threw out the capital murder conviction 
and death sentence of Scott Cheever, who shot and killed Greenwood County 
Sheriff Matt Samuels in 2005. It held in its decision that a court-ordered 
mental evaluation of Cheever used during the penalty phase of his trial 
violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Kansas death cases were on hold again when the Kansas attorney general asked 
the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision.

The Cheever ruling came in 2013.

"The United States Supreme Court decided that, in fact, you could use it (the 
mental evaluation), and so they sent that case back," Jackson said.

"Which kinds of brings us to 2014."

Carr, Gleason appeals

Last summer, in 2 separate rulings, the Kansas Supreme Court threw out the 
death sentences of Jonathan and Reginald Carr of Wichita and of Sidney Gleason, 
who was convicted of murdering a Barton County woman and her boyfriend in 2004 
to keep her from testifying against him in another criminal case.

The Carrs were convicted in 2002 of sexually assaulting, robbing and shooting 5 
Wichitans execution-style in a snow-covered soccer field at 29th Street North 
and Greenwich in December 2000.

4 of them - 29-year-old Aaron Sander, 27-year-old Brad Heyka, 26-year-old Jason 
Befort and 25-year-old Heather Muller - died. 1 woman survived and ran for 
help.

The Kansas Supreme Court's decision in Gleason's appeal, Jackson said, centered 
on the court's failure to tell jurors that mitigating factors don't have to be 
proven beyond a reasonable doubt, as aggravating factors do.

In the Carr decision, the Kansas Supreme Court held the same.

Justices also said the brothers' trials should have been separated during the 
penalty phase. They were tried together.

At the request of Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, the U.S. Supreme Court 
agreed to review the decisions in all 3 cases. Schmidt is asking for 
reinstatement of their death sentences.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Like twice before, the opinions ultimately handed down by the U.S. Supreme 
Court in Gleason's and the Carr brothers' cases are expected to cause a ripple 
effect.

The Kansas Supreme Court has already announced it was halting further action in 
the appeal of Cheever.

"My guess is, right now, there's not a lot of ink being pushed or spent on" 
appeals in death penalty cases, Bennett said.

"What happens in Carr and Gleason could affect the other cases in the state."

Death penalty's future

In 2012, death row inmates across the nation spent an average of 15.8 years 
awaiting execution, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Jonathan Carr, 35, and Reginald Carr, 37, have been on death row for nearly 13 
years.

They, like all of Kansas' death-row inmates, are still working through the 1st 
of 3 categories of appeals they can pursue.

Each new appellate ruling gives attorneys and judges a better idea of what to 
do when faced with a death-penalty case.

Attorneys say it's something of a trial-and-error process to find a workable 
formula for Kansas, which has one of the country's most restrictive 
death-penalty laws.

"The death penalty is unique in its finality," Bennett said. "There???s an 
interest in getting it (the trial) as close to perfect as possible."

In addition to the Carrs and Gleason, the Kansas Supreme Court has heard oral 
arguments in the appeal of 71-year-old John Robinson Sr., who killed women in 
Johnson County in 2000 and stored their bodies in barrels on his property. 
Arguments took place on March 24. An opinion is pending, said Lisa Taylor, 
court spokeswoman.

It has yet to hear oral arguments in appeals from:

--Douglas Belt, 53, who was convicted of decapitating a housekeeper in Sedgwick 
County in 2002

--Gary Kleypas, 59, for the 2nd death sentence that was imposed in 2008 for the 
Pittsburg State University student rape and murder

--Justin Thurber, 32, who sexually assaulted and killed a Cowley County college 
student in 2007

--James Kraig Kahler, 59, who killed 4 members of his family in Osage County in 
2009

Bennett said he expects the pace to quicken as appeals in more cases are heard 
by the Kansas Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the amount of time it has taken doesn't mean the system isn't 
working, he said.

"Just because something is not getting through doesn't mean we're not getting 
closer or we're not making progress," Bennett said.

"This is how it's supposed to work. It's not supposed to be an express lane to 
the death chamber."

Who is on Kansas' death row?

These inmates are facing death sentences in Kansas (with county and year of 
sentencing in parentheses). They are listed chronologically in order of when 
their crimes were committed.

Gary Kleypas (Crawford County, 2008): For the March 30, 1996, rape and murder 
of 20-year-old Carrie Williams, a Pittsburg State University student. The 
Kansas Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2001, but another jury 
condemned him to death again in 2008.

John E. Robinson Sr. (Johnson County, 2002): For the murders of Izabel Lewicka 
and Suzette Trouten, whose bodies were found in barrels on his property in 
rural Linn County. He was also sentenced to life in prison for killing Lisa 
Stasi, who disappeared in 1985 and was never found. Robinson pleaded guilty in 
Missouri to 5 killings, receiving sentences of life without parole for each.

Jonathan and Reginald Carr (Sedgwick County, 2002): For 4 shooting deaths in 
Wichita during a crime spree in December 2000. Found guilty of invading a home, 
sexually abusing the 5 residents, forcing them to withdraw money from ATMs, 
then shooting them in a soccer field. Killed were Jason Befort, Brad Heyka, 
Heather Muller and Aaron Sander. 1 woman survived to testify. They also were 
convicted of the 1st-degree murder of Ann Walenta 4 days earlier during an 
attempted robbery.

--Douglas Belt (Sedgwick County, 2004): For the June 25, 2002, sexual assault 
and decapitation of Lucille Gallegos in a vacant west Wichita apartment, where 
she was a housekeeper. Also convicted of attempted rape and aggravated arson.

--Sidney Gleason (Barton County, 2006): For the shooting deaths of Miki 
Martinez and her boyfriend, Darren Wornkey, on Feb. 24, 2004. Prosecutors said 
Gleason and his cousin Damian Thompson worried that Martinez would tell police 
about their involvement in the stabbing and robbery of a 76-year-old man.

--Scott Cheever (Greenwood County, 2007): For the January 2005 shooting of 
Sheriff Matt Samuels at a home near Virgil, where authorities also found a 
suspected methamphetamine lab. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned Cheever's 
conviction in 2012, saying his right against self-incrimination was violated by 
prosecutors who used a court-ordered mental evaluation from a different trial 
against him. A year later, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the decision, 
noting that Cheever's own expert raised the issue of whether methamphetamine 
use had damaged his brain. It ordered the Kansas court to review the case 
again.

--Justin Thurber (Cowley County, 2009): For the January 2007 abduction, sexual 
assault and killing of 19-year-old college student Jodi Sanderholm. Her body 
was found in a wooded area near where her car had been sunk in a lake.

--James Kraig Kahler (Osage County, 2011): For the November 2009 murders of his 
estranged wife, Karen Kahler; her grandmother, 89-year-old Dorothy Wight; and 
the Kahlers' daughters, Emily, 18, and Lauren, 16. Kahler was reportedly upset 
that his wife had allegedly taken a female lover and filed for divorce.

[sources: Wichita Eagle news archives; Kansas Department of Corrections]

Former Kansas death-row inmates

Since Kansas brought back capital punishment in July 1994, juries have 
condemned 13 men to death. Four later had their sentences changed. They are 
(with county and year of sentencing in parentheses):

Michael Marsh (Sedgwick County, 1998): Convicted of shooting and killing Marry 
Ane Pusch on June 17, 1996, and setting a fire that killed her 18-month-old 
daughter. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned Marsh's capital murder conviction 
and later ordered a new trial after the U.S. Supreme Court heard an appeal in 
the case. He agreed to plead guilty to 2 counts of 1st-degree murder and is 
serving 2 life prison sentences. Now 40, he's incarcerated at El Dorado 
Correctional Facility.

Gavin Scott (Sedgwick County, 2010): Convicted of the Sept. 13, 1996, shooting 
deaths of Doug and Beth Brittain in their rural Goddard home. The Kansas 
Supreme Court overturned Scott's death sentence, and he was resentenced to 2 
life prison terms for 2 counts of 1st-degree murder after reaching a plea 
agreement with prosecutors. Now 37, he's incarcerated at Lansing Correctional 
Facility.

--Stanley Elms (Sedgwick County, 2000): Convicted of capital murder in the May 
4, 1998, rape and killing of his neighbor Regina Gray. In 2004, Sedgwick County 
District Attorney Nola Foulston dropped his death penalty and agreed to let 
Elms serve life in prison if he halted an appeal accusing prosecutors of 
misconduct at his trial. He was resentenced to a "Hard 40" life in prison - no 
parole eligibility for 40 years. Now 39, he's in solitary confinement at the 
prison in Lansing.

--Phillip Cheatham Jr. (Shawnee County, 2015): Convicted of capital murder in 
the shooting deaths of Annette Roberson and Gloria Jones after he opened fire 
on a Topeka duplex in December 2003. A third woman played dead and survived 19 
gunshot wounds. In 2013, the Kansas Supreme Court threw out Cheatham's 
convictions over incompetent counsel and ordered a new trial. In his case, the 
constitutionality of the death penalty wasn't at issue. Cheatham avoided a 
death sentence a second time by pleading no contest earlier this year as jury 
selection was beginning for his 2nd trial. Now 42, he is incarcerated at the 
prison in Hutchinson and will be eligible for parole in 2028.

[sources: Wichita Eagle news archives, Kansas Department of Corrections]

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

Kansas death penalty and the U.S. Supreme Court


The Kansas Attorney General's Office has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review 
lower court decisions in death penalty cases 5 times, including the 3 scheduled 
for oral arguments Wednesday.

Kansas v. Michael Lee Marsh II (Sedgwick County, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 
04-1170). The state petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review this case in 
2005 after the Kansas Supreme Court found the Kansas death penalty was 
unconstitutional. The court agreed and in 2006 reversed, finding the death 
penalty law did not violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and 
unusual punishment. On remand, the Kansas Supreme Court ordered a new trial 
based on evidence excluded in the 1st trial. Before the 2nd trial, Marsh agreed 
to plead guilty and serve life in prison.

Kansas v. Scott D. Cheever (Greenwood County, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 
12-609). The state petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review this case in 
2012 after the Kansas Supreme Court reversed Cheever's conviction. The court 
agreed and in 2013 reversed the decision, finding the use of a court-ordered 
psychological exam did not violate Cheever's Fifth Amendment right against 
self-incrimination. The case was remanded to the Kansas Supreme Court. It is on 
hold pending an opinion in the Gleason and Carr cases.

Kansas v. Sidney J. Gleason (Barton County, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 
14-452). The state petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review this case in 
2014 after the Kansas Supreme Court vacated Gleason's death sentence. The court 
agreed, and oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.

Kansas v. Jonathan D. Carr (Sedgwick County, U.S. Supreme Court Case No. 
14-449) and Kansas v. Reginald Dexter Carr Jr. (Sedgwick County, U.S. Supreme 
Court Case No. 14-450). The state petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review 
these cases in 2014 after the Kansas Supreme Court vacated the death sentences 
for the Carrs, brothers who had a joint trial. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to 
review the cases, and oral arguments are scheduled for Wednesday.

[source: Kansas Attorney General's Office]

Capital crimes in Kansas

--Murder of a kidnapping victim held for ransom

--Killing of a kidnapping victim under 14 held for a sex crime

--Killing of a victim of rape, criminal sodomy and aggravated criminal sodomy 
or those attempted crimes

--Murder for hire or participation in a murder-for-hire scheme

--Killing of a prison or jail employee or inmate by a prison or jail inmate

--Murder of a law enforcement officer

--2 or more killings at once or killings "connected together or constituting 
parts of a common scheme"

In addition to returning a unanimous capital murder verdict, jurors must also 
unanimously find beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did at least one 
of the following things (called aggravating circumstances) to impose a death 
sentence:

--Prior felony conviction where great bodily harm, disfigurement, dismemberment 
or death was inflicted on a victim

--Knowingly or purposely killed or created a great risk of death for 2 or more 
people

--Killed to receive money or valuables for self or another

--Authorized or hired another to kill

--Killed to avoid or prevent arrest or prosecution

--Killed in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel manner, including 
stalking or criminal threats of a victim, torture, desecration of a victim's 
body indicating depravity, mental anguish or physical abuse of a victim

--Killed while serving a prison sentence for a felony at the time of the crime

--Murdered a witness in a criminal proceeding

Jurors can refuse to recommend a death penalty for, but not limited to, these 
reasons (called mitigating circumstances):

--The defendant has no or little prior criminal history

--The defendant was influenced by extreme mental or emotional disturbances or 
acted under extreme distress or was forced by another person

--A crime victim consented to or willingly participated in the conduct

--The defendant was an accomplice in the crime or had a minor role

--The defendant's age or mental capacity, or whether he or she was suffering 
from post-traumatic stress disorder

--Whether imprisonment would protect public safety

[source: 2014 Kansas statutes]

(source: kansas.com)

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

A history of capital punishment in Kansas through 1994


The Kansas Legislature brought back capital punishment in April 1994. Here's a 
brief history of the death penalty in the state leading up to that.

1861: Kansas becomes a state. Legislators enact the 1st death penalty law for 
people convicted of treason. 1st-degree murder is added the next year.

1861-70: 9 executions take place in Kansas under state authority.

1872: Under a new state law, governors are required to issue execution orders, 
but none do.

January 1907: Kansas abolishes capital punishment.

1935: Kansas reinstates the death penalty under Gov. Alf Landon. The method is 
hanging. Juries are given authority to authorize capital punishment.

1944: 1st execution under new capital punishment law. The state will carry out 
15 hangings under it.

1954-60: No executions take place in Kansas, except at the U.S. Army and Air 
Force Disciplinary Barracks. Gov. George Docking opposes the death penalty, 
saying, "I just don't like killing people."

1955: Legislators expand capital punishment include kidnappers who harm their 
victims. Legislators try unsuccessfully to change execution method to lethal 
gas.

1960: Docking loses his bid for re-election. He commutes the death sentences 
for 2 men on death row, Earl Wilson and Bobby Joe Spencer, to life in prison.

April 14, 1965: Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, made famous by Truman Capote's 
book "In Cold Blood," are hanged for the Nov. 15, 1959, quadruple murders of 
the Clutter family in Holcomb.

June 22, 1965: The last executions in Kansas take place. 2 AWOL soldiers, 
George Ronald York and James Douglas Latham, die for the 1961 murder of a 
Kansas railroad worker during a cross-country killing spree.

June 29, 1972: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the death penalty in a 5-4 
vote, saying its inconsistent application is unconstitutional and cruel and 
unusual punishment. Sentences of death row inmates nationwide are commuted.

July 2, 1976: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the death penalty itself 
doesn't automatically violate the Constitution. States are allowed to reinstate 
capital punishment if they make changes, including implementing a 2-phase trial 
and automatic appeals.

April 22, 1994: Kansas passes a new death penalty law permitting execution by 
lethal injection. Capital murder is the only death-eligible offense.

July 1, 1994: The death penalty takes effect in Kansas.

March 11, 1998: Gary Kleypas, who raped and killed 20-year-old Pittsburg State 
University student Carrie Williams, is given the death sentence. His case, as 
well as Kansas' other 8 death-row inmates, is still in appeals.

[Compiled using information from Kansas Historical Society, Wichita Eagle news 
archives and Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty]

--

Executed by state of Kansas

Here is a list of the legal executions carried out by the state of Kansas after 
legislators enacted its first death penalty law in 1861. All were men convicted 
of murder.

1. Feb. 12, 1863: Carl Horne, 35

2. Oct. 30, 1863: William Griffith, no age available

3. Dec. 29, 1865: John Hendley, no age available

4. Jan. 19, 1866: Ernest Wa-tee-cha, 26

5. Aug. 10, 1866: Ben Lewis, 26

6. Feb. 20, 1867: Martin W. Bates, 19

7. Nov. 15, 1867: Scott Holderman, 25

8. Sept. 18, 1868: Melvin E. Baughn, no age available

9. Aug. 9, 1870: William Dickson, 40

10. March 10, 1944: Ernest L. Hoefgen, 31

11. April 15, 1944: Fred L. Brady, 46

12. April 15, 1944: Clark B. Knox, 26

13. July 29, 1947: Cecil Tate, 22

14. July 29, 1947: George F. Gumtow, 21

15. May 6, 1950: George Miller, 60

16. April 6, 1951: Preston McBride, 25

17. Jan. 5, 1952: James Lammers, 27

18. May 21, 1954: Nathaniel Germany, 29

19. July 16, 1954: Merle William Martin, 44

20. Nov. 30, 1962: Lowell Lee Andrews, 22

21. April 14, 1965: Richard E. Hickock, 33

22. April 14, 1965: Perry E. Smith, 36

23. June 22, 1965: James D. Latham, 23

24. June 22, 1965: George R. York, 22

Kansas abolished capital punishment from 1907 to 1935. Nationwide, the death 
penalty was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 and allowed again in 
1976. Kansas enacted its 3rd death penalty law in 1994; no one has been 
executed since. Currently, 9 men are on death row.

(source: Wichita Eagle)






OKLAHOMA:

Death-penalty expert: State was 'blindsided by the DOC's failures' regarding 
execution drugs ---- Execution expert: AG's Office unaware of DOC's problems.


A little after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oklahoma Department of Corrections staff 
told Richard Glossip he was about to enter the Oklahoma State Penitentiary's 
death chamber area to await his death by lethal injection.

Glossip, who had already given the state his possessions and the evening before 
had eaten what he thought would be his final meal, was in an adjacent cell. A 
few minutes later, prison workers learned that there was no word from the U.S. 
Supreme Court about Glossip's appeals, so they told him the process was on 
hold.

He said he eventually covered himself with a sheet and got on the floor to wait 
for the Supreme Court's decision. The ruling denying his stay requests came 
down at 2:56 p.m., but he was never notified of it.

No one inside the facility talked to Glossip until just before 4 p.m. He was 
supposed to have been dead at that point by a combination of midazolam, a 
sedative; rocuronium bromide, a paralytic; and potassium chloride, which stops 
the heart.

The shock came when Gov. Mary Fallin issued an executive order granting him a 
37-day stay. However, it had nothing to do with Glossip's claims of innocence. 
Fallin's order stated the Department of Corrections had obtained potassium 
acetate rather than potassium chloride for the lethal injection.

Although potassium acetate is, according to medical professionals questioned by 
the state, medically interchangeable with potassium chloride, the fact that it 
is not listed in the Department of Corrections' 3-drug protocol created a 
"legal ambiguity," Fallin said.

Attorney General Scott Pruitt asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on 
Thursday to issue an indefinite stay of execution for Glossip, as well as for 
Benjamin Cole and John Grant, who were scheduled to die this month. The court 
unanimously decided to grant that request Friday and ordered the state to file 
a status report every 30 days about the case until the stay is dissolved.

Pruitt's office has opened an inquiry into the handling of Wednesday's 
scheduled execution. But the answers are limited as to how the Department of 
Corrections landed in a situation where it must again defend its execution 
policies.

State 'briefly considered' moving forward with execution

Fallin said Thursday that her office first received word of a possible issue 
with the lethal-injection drugs early Wednesday afternoon and that officials 
there discussed whether the DOC would be able to obtain the drug described in 
the protocol. Because the DOC reported that it was unable to do so in time, the 
governor eventually announced a stay "out of an abundance of caution."

But Alex Weintz, Fallin's spokesman, said a medical professional told DOC 
personnel that the drugs were identical in function and that the agency could 
therefore proceed with the execution.

"Given that advice, the state did briefly consider moving forward," Weintz said 
Friday. "The distinction between potassium chloride and potassium acetate is 
not important for any medical or scientific reason."

Its relevance, he said, is because of the "litigious nature" of the death 
penalty and the fact that DOC protocol specifically calls for potassium 
chloride. Weintz maintained the DOC followed protocol and notified other 
officials as soon as personnel realized there was an issue.

DOC Director Robert Patton told reporters Thursday that an execution team 
member discovered that the supplier had provided potassium acetate instead of 
potassium chloride when the sealed box containing drugs for Glossip's execution 
was opened about 1 p.m. Wednesday.

He said lethal-injection drugs must be delivered to the prison on the day of an 
execution because the DOC does not have a DEA license to store drugs. However, 
the DEA has only 1 of the 3 drugs - midazolam - classified as a controlled 
substance.

Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous 
Drugs Control, told the Tulsa World that if the DOC wants to keep a controlled 
substance on site outside of a prescription for an inmate, state and federal 
law would require that the agency obtain a license from his department as well 
as from the DEA. No DOC facility at this time has a license from his bureau for 
storing such a substance, he said.

"They do not need a license from OBN or DEA for (storing) the other 2 non-CDS 
drugs," Woodward said via email.

When asked about that issue Friday, DOC spokesman Alex Gerszewski said that 
"all of the drugs are brought to the facility at the same time for security 
purposes" and that the DOC does not obtain parts of the drug protocol 
separately.

An Aug. 11 letter from the Attorney General's office to Glossip's federal 
public defenders states that the office had confirmed with the DOC that it had 
obtained the necessary drugs for Glossip's, Cole's and Grant's executions. 
Gerszewski said that letter meant the supplier confirmed that it had the drugs, 
not that the DOC actually had them in its possession.

However, Dale Baich, one of Glossip's federal attorneys, disputed that claim 
and called it "an attempt to rewrite history." Baich is representing Glossip in 
the Glossip v. Gross case, which challenges the use of midazolam in executions.

"The attorney general wrote that the drugs 'have been obtained,'" Baich said of 
the letter. "He went on to write that the drugs were 'manufactured' and that 
'none of the drugs will expire prior to the current execution dates.' How could 
those representations be made if the DOC did not have the drugs?"

As for Weintz's statement indicating the state considered allowing Glossip's 
execution to proceed, Baich said it was "shocking" to learn that there was 
discussion about violating the protocol.

"The public is asked to take DOC at its word that it will follow the protocol 
when carrying out the ultimate punishment by the state," he said. "In light of 
previous statements by the state, how can the DOC be trusted?"

As of last week, potassium chloride is listed by the FDA as being in short 
supply in the United States. Patton said Thursday that the supplier had not 
notified the DOC beforehand that it was sending potassium acetate instead of 
potassium chloride, a practice he said is acceptable in the medicine industry.

As of Sunday, the DOC could not confirm whether the supplier's decision to 
provide an alternative drug is a result of the potassium chloride shortage.

The drugs intended for Wednesday's execution were turned over to the state 
Medical Examiner's Office, which will provide them to the Oklahoma State Bureau 
of Investigation for destruction, Gerszewski said.

Secrecy leads to mistakes, attorney and expert say

In 2011, Oklahoma lawmakers approved a law banning the release of information 
about participants in executions, including executioners and drug suppliers. 
Evidence of purchasing drugs and other equipment needed to carry out executions 
is also secret under the law, and petty cash is used to pay medical workers to 
further protect their identities.

But Baich and a death-penalty researcher told the Tulsa World such statutes 
take away the public's ability to prevent mistakes.

"It wasn't just Glossip and his lawyers and the public who were kept in the 
dark," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information 
Center. "The Attorney General's Office was blindsided by the DOC's failures. 
And the AG's Office in fact had made representations to the federal court on at 
least 2 occasions that potassium chloride was going to be used and there was 
going to be no deviation from the protocol."

The DOC's execution policy states that Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden Anita 
Trammell will ensure that "execution inventory and equipment checks" are 
completed 2 days ahead of an execution. The policy also requires the department 
to notify inmates 10 days in advance about which protocol will be used for 
their executions, though the policy also indicates that Patton has the 
discretion to modify the protocol.

When asked what the execution inventory entails, Gerszewski said Trammell makes 
sure items such as syringes are at the facility and that all other items 
required to carry out the execution are on hand.

Fallin's office issued a question-and-answer handout to media Thursday stating 
that same-day delivery of execution drugs does not violate protocol, because no 
timeline for obtaining chemicals and equipment is listed in the policy.

Dunham said potassium acetate has never been used in a U.S. execution and that 
the DOC's inability to store the drugs and test their quality beforehand is an 
"administrative failure."

"If you are going to be carrying out an execution, you have to have 
administrative procedures and protocols in place that will assure that you can 
examine what drugs you have, determine the right drugs and, if they are the 
right drugs, determine they are of sufficient purity and quality and efficacy 
that they won't produce a torturous execution," Dunham said.

Patton said during Thursday's news conference that he, not Trammell, is 
responsible for upholding the execution drug protocol and policy. Gerszewski 
said the H Unit section chief, who is tasked with applying approved procedures 
for death-row inmates on execution day, did his or her job as outlined.

When asked Thursday about efforts to obtain potassium chloride, Patton said the 
DOC will continue to search for a supply, but he added, "As of right now, I 
don't believe we have it."

Dunham said Wednesday's events provide "additional ammunition" to critics of 
the death penalty who allege states are incapable of carrying it out properly.

"There's no instance that I am aware of in which a state has waited so long and 
been so unprepared that it did not notice it had the wrong drugs until it was 
time to administer them," he said. "There's no clearer example I can think of 
of a state getting it wrong than Oklahoma not knowing until the execution is 
about to occur that it doesn't even have the right drugs."

Pruitt's office declined to comment further on the matter Friday but emphasized 
that his office will continue to look into the events leading up to Glossip's 
stay.

"The state owes it to the people of Oklahoma to ensure that, on their behalf, 
it can properly and lawfully administer the sentence of death imposed by juries 
for the most heinous crimes," he has said.

(source: Tulsa World)

***********

Last minute stay of executions raises questions


Mary Fallin lost this round of the pernicious game of Death Row Chicken.In this 
game that surrounds most executions, every branch that could do something about 
an execution pushes the others to go first. If no one blinks, the sentence of 
ultimate justice is carried out.

Fallin blinked Wednesday after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and the 
U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of execution to twice-convicted 
murderer Richard Glossip. The Oklahoma governor granted a 37-day stay after 
Glossip had enjoyed his 2nd last meal and witnesses were already seated and 
ready to see him die.

In a strange ruling, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals said the testimony 
of jailhouse witnesses isn't credible enough to warrant a new trial for Richard 
Glossip.Take that however you want, but Glossip, Kelly Gissendaner - who was 
the only woman on death row in Georgia before she was executed Tuesday - and 
Kimber Edwards on Missouri's death row all have been executed or face execution 
because of the testimony of someone who pointed the finger at them after 
committing the actual murder themselves.

Before his 2nd stay in 2 weeks, Glossip received support from a strange 
collection of celebrities. Susan Sarandon, Richard Branson, Sister Helen 
Prejean, Barry Switzer and Sen. Tom Coburn all asked courts and the governor to 
pardon the twice-convicted man.

Their concerns were obvious.

Glossip never killed anyone. He may have been guilty of murder because of his 
alleged involvement, but he never bludgeoned a man to death. The man who did is 
still alive because he took the stand as a witness against Glossip.

If you don't see injustice there, your rose colored glasses are dimming your 
view.

Gissendaner wasn't as fortunate. She was executed and no one in Georgia had any 
concerns about the lethal injection process. In less than a week, Missouri will 
be faced with the same decision in Edwards' case.

Fallin could have issued her stay 2 weeks ago instead of relying on the Court 
of Criminal Appeals to issue a 2-week delay to give attorneys time to present 
and verify possible new evidence that would clear Glossip.

When those 14-days passed and no court was willing to reconsider the case on 
legal grounds, Fallin stepped in to question the process - the same process 
that would have been used 2 weeks ago when she seemed ready to stand her ground 
and fight for the rights of the victim in the case.

After issuing the stay Wednesday, Fallin said, "My sincerest sympathies go out 
to the Van Treese family, who has waited so long to see justice done."

I have no problem with the death penalty when it is used on a person who we 
know is guilty of a heinous crime. But when any question exists, I am quick to 
let that convict spend the rest of his natural life in jail.

These cases where the person with blood literally on their hands escapes the 
death penalty while those who compelled or convinced them to do it face lethal 
injection are particularly troubling.

Oklahoma has been under scrutiny since the execution of Clayton Lockett went 
wrong. The fact that Glossip is facing a sentence more severe than the man who 
took Barry Van Treese's life is more evidence that the death penalty isn't 
appropriate in this case.

One of the biggest questions around the death penalty has historically been the 
decision as to whether it is cruel and unusual punishment as defined by 
constitutional law.

Glossip has eaten his last meal twice and was prepared for execution Wednesday 
before Fallin halted the process about an hour after it was to begin. 
Apparently the drugs being used in the process weren't made known to his 
attorneys or the Attorney General until just before the process started.

That is unthinkable.

With the problems the state has faced recently, you would think some discussion 
would take place before the inmate is prepared for execution.

There is nothing morally wrong with the death penalty, but clumsy, unjust use 
of it is repugnant.

Oklahoma officials should be ashamed.

(source: Kent Bush is publisher of Shawnee (Oklahoma) News-Star)

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

Court Denies Claremore Death Row Inmate's Sanity Challenge


"She's extremely frustrated that the state was unable to deliver closure to the 
Van Treese family", Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said Thursday. Prieto has 
appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and his attorneys have argued that he is 
intellectually disabled, which Virginia officials have disputed. "He said he 
was so happy that if he were put to death, he wouldn't be executed with people 
thinking he did it," Knight said.

In addition, the attorney general's office is specifically looking more in 
depth into the scheduled execution, and stays granted to Glossip.

In an error that could have been disastrous, Glossip would have been injected 
with potassium acetate rather than potassium chloride as part of Oklahoma's 
3-step lethal injection process, which involves first anesthetising the inmate, 
paralysing them with a 2nd drug which stops their ability to breathe, and 
finally inducing a heart attack with potassium chloride. Legal specialists said 
the judge resulted to provide the call for.

Attorneys for Alfredo Prieto filed an emergency motion Thursday about an hour 
before their client's scheduled 9 p.m. execution at a Virginia prison.

There are at least 2 ways executions can go wrong in a way that implicates 
constitutional protections.

The execution of Kelly Gissendaner in Georgia on Tuesday - which was delayed 
for 6 months after it was discovered that the sedative to be used in the 
state's protocol appeared uncharacteristically cloudy - is further evidence 
that when it comes to lethal injection, "it's just 1 problem after another", 
says Denno. His execution had been scheduled for Thursday, but a federal judge 
granted a temporary restraining order on Wednesday. At the same time, the 
Oklahoma Republican announced he is launching an inquiry into why the 
Department of Corrections did not have the correct drugs on hand for Richard 
Glossip's scheduled execution on Wednesday. "They want the drugs stored in 
places where drugs are usually stored, as opposed to in the McAlester prison, 
until the day of the execution", he said.

Hudson said Prieto's lawyers had not adequately shown that the drugs are 
unsafe.

"I think the Holy Father's request and the moral concerns that I and others 
have raised about the use of the death penalty in Oklahoma have presented the 
governor other reasonable perspectives on this hard issue", Oklahoma City 
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley told NCR in a statement.

Fallin on Wednesday reset Glossip's execution for November. 6, saying it would 
give the state enough time to determine whether potassium acetate is a suitable 
substitute, or to find a supply of potassium chloride.

The reason states are turning to midalozam is it is more hard to get lethal 
injection drugs.

The case was transferred to Richmond, and U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson 
is now the presiding judge.

The death row inmate was spared at the very last moment, after Oklahoma prison 
authorities realised the bad mistake they had made.

But the case has been transferred to a new judge in Richmond and it's uncertain 
what action he will take.

Oklahoma modified its loss of life compartment standards after a poor 
implementing in 2011 when you're nurses didn t make it to adequately position 
an Unit row on found guilty assassin Clayton Lockett, who is identified turning 
aching located on the demise compartment gurney.

(source: jewocity.com)