[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., S.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 13



TEXAS----stay of impending execution

Texas Appeals Court Stays Julius Murphy Execution


The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday stayed the execution of Julius 
Murphy, 36, which was set for Nov. 3, after his legal team presented claims of 
prosecutorial misconduct in his 1998 Bowie County capital murder trial. Murphy 
was convicted of killing a stranded motorist.

His attorneys, seeking access to the district attorney's files in the case, 
claimed in court filings Friday in Bowie County that prosecutors threatened and 
coerced witnesses to testify against Murphy. They filed similar claims in late 
September in a petition to the Court of Criminal Appeals, citing a new 
statement from a witness who testified against Murphy at his trial.

“Mr. Murphy’s conviction and death sentence were procured through prosecutorial 
misconduct. Jurors considered evidence from two key witnesses while the 
prosecution unlawfully concealed the fact that those witnesses were pressured 
into testifying with threats of prosecution and promised leniency if they 
testified," Cate Stetson, one of Murphy's attorneys, said in a statement. "And 
one of the witnesses has now identified Mr. Murphy’s co-defendant as the true 
shooter. We look forward to continuing to raise the constitutional infirmities 
underlying Mr. Murphy’s conviction and death sentence before the courts.”

Murphy was convicted of fatally shooting Jason Erie, a man who was stranded on 
the side of a road in Texarkana. In fall 1997, after helping Erie with his 
stalled vehicle, the 18-year-old Murphy robbed, shot and killed Erie, 
prosecutors argued at his trial.

Others present that day testified against Murphy, including his then-girlfriend 
and a friend from whom he supposedly borrowed the gun used in the killing.

But Murphy's trial lawyers were not told that two of those witnesses had been 
threatened with prosecution for murder or conspiracy if they did not testify to 
Murphy's guilt, his lawyers now claim. One has since recanted his testimony, 
saying Murphy was not the killer.

(source: Texas Tribune)

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


Texas court halts execution of inmate after questions raised on testimony


The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday halted the planned execution next 
month of a death row inmate whose lawyers argued he was sentenced to death 
based on tainted testimony from major witnesses.

The court stayed the Nov. 3 execution of Julius Murphy, without elaborating on 
its decision. Murphy, 36, was convicted in 1998 of fatally shooting Jason Erie 
in the head during a 1997 robbery.

Lawyers for Murphy asked the court last month to put the execution on hold, 
saying they had new evidence that pointed to evidence that prosecutors forced 
false testimony.

"Mr. Murphy’s conviction and death sentence were procured through prosecutorial 
misconduct," said Catherine Stetson, a lawyer for Murphy.

The Office of the Texas Attorney General was not immediately available for 
comment. It previously said Murphy was properly convicted.

Murphy's lawyers said prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of two 
witnesses, Javarrow Young and Christina Davis. The lawyers said they had sworn 
statements that show the two witnesses were unduly coerced into testimony and 
also provided false testimony.

The lawyers said Young was threatened with a murder charge if he did not 
testify against Murphy. In his new statement, Young said one of Murphy's 
co-defendants was the actual shooter.

The other witness was threatened with a conspiracy to commit murder charge if 
she did not testify, they said.

Lawyers for Murphy have tried unsuccessfully to halt the execution by arguing 
he was mentally disabled and that putting him to death would be unlawful.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Texas has 
executed 529 inmates, the most of any state.

The state has also instituted reforms in the judicial process in recent years 
designed to increase financing for public defenders and provide greater 
oversight of prosecutors.

(source: Reuters)



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



Texas Prepares for Execution of Licho Escamilla on October 14, 2015


Licho Escamilla's execution is scheduled to occur at 6 pm CDT, on Wednesday, 
October 14, 2015, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in 
Huntsville, Texas. 33-year-old Licho is convicted of the murder of 34-year-old 
off-duty Dallas police officer Christopher Kevin James on November 25, 2001, 
outside of a nightclub in Dallas, Texas. Licho has spent the last 12 years on 
Texas’ death row.

Licho alleges he grew up in an abusive home. Licho’s father testified that 
Licho’s personality drastically changed after the death of his mother, with 
whom he was close. Licho also started drinking after his mother’s death. At the 
age of 11, Licho was physically assaulted by two adult males at a party. They 
had mistaken Licho for another individual. Licho dropped out of school after 
the 8th grade. At the time of Christopher’s murder, Licho was wanted in 
connection with a killing earlier that month of a West Dallas man. Prior to his 
arrest, Licho had worked as a laborer.

On November 25, 2001, Christopher, along with three other off duty police 
officers were working security at a Dallas nightclub with a reputation for 
attacking danger. Around 2:45 am, a fight began near a valet stand.  When 
Christopher and other security officials attempted to break up the fight, Licho 
Escamilla pulled a gun from his waistband and began firing indiscriminately.

Senior Corporal Clarence Lockett was struck in the hand by a bullet. 
Christopher’s gun was struck by a bullet, disabling it. Christopher was also 
struck in the arm by another bullet. A Christopher lay on the ground, Escamilla 
approached him and shot him 3 times in the back of the head. Clarence survived 
his injuries and testified against Escamilla at his trial, which eventually 
resulted in a death sentence.

Other officers pursued Escamilla, exchanging fire. Escamilla was captured 
attempting to carjack a vehicle and taken to the hospital to be treated for a 
minor gun shot injury he received. While at the hospital, Escamilla was 
laughing and bragging about shooting a cop.

The Supreme Court of the United States has rejected a request for a stay of 
execution on Monday, October 5, 2015.

Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Christopher James. Please 
pray for strength for the family of Licho Escamilla.  Please pray that if Licho 
is innocent or lacks the mental competency to be executed, evidence will be 
presented prior to his execution. Please pray that Licho will come to find 
peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he has not already 
found one.

(source: theforgivenessfoundation.com)


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

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_scheduled_executions.html







Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----11

Executions in Texas:  Dec. 7, 1982----present-----529

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



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

13---------November 18--------------Raphael Holiday-------531

14---------January 20 (2016)-----Richard Masterson--------532
4
15---------January 27---------------James Freeman---------533

16---------February 16--------------Gustavo Garcia--------534

17---------March 9------------------Coy Wesbrook----------535

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)




NORTH CAROLINA:

Lawyer, professor to speak on death penalty at Rothermel lecture


Trial lawyer, professor, lecturer and author Michael Tigar will be the guest 
speaker for the Oct. 25 Rothermel Foundation lecture in New Bern.

Michael Tigar will be the speaker for the Rothermel lecture on Oct. 25.

Trial lawyer, professor, lecturer and author Michael Tigar will be the guest 
speaker for the Oct. 25 Rothermel Foundation lecture in New Bern.

Tigar, a professor emeritus at Duke University and American University 
Washington College of Law, will speak on the topic “Reason, Morality and the 
Death Penalty.”

The 2 p.m. lecture will be at First Presbyterian Church, 400 New St.

The Rothermel Foundation was originally funded in 1989 by a bequest from Amel 
Rothermel, a noted engineer from Iowa who moved to New Bern in the 1970s.

The endowment is administered as a fund of First Presbyterian Church of New 
Bern. It has a board of directors that includes members from Christ Episcopal 
Church, Centenary United Methodist Church, Garber United Methodist Church, St. 
Andrews Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church, Temp B’Nai Sholem and St. Paul 
Catholic Church.

Tigar has authored or co-authored 13 books, 3 plays, and scores of articles and 
essays. He has argued 7 cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, about 100 federal 
appeals, and has tried cases in all parts of the country in state and federal 
courts.

He has been the defense attorney for many controversial figures, including 
Lynne Stewart, who was charged with conspiracy and providing material support 
to terrorists; Terry Nichols, one of the Oklahoma City bombers; activist Angela 
Davis, charged with murder and kidnapping for involvement in the death of a 
judge; Chicano activist Kiko Martinez; and John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian-born 
immigrant accused of being the notorious Nazi concentration camp guard "Ivan 
the Terrible."

He is listed in the book “Great American Lawyers: An Encyclopedia.”

The lecture media sponsor is Public Radio East.

(source: New Bern Sun Journal)

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


Forsyth's O'Neill launches campaign to succeed Cooper as AG


A North Carolina district attorney said Monday that he's running for attorney 
general because he has the experience to handle the job.

"If you're going to be the top prosecutor in North Carolina, you should be an 
actual prosecutor. You should be qualified, tested and ready on Day One," 
Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill said.

He becomes the 2nd GOP candidate to enter the race. GOP state Sen. Buck Newton 
has already announced his candidacy.

4-term Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, is planning to run for governor 
next year, opening the post.

2 Democrats have said they're running for Cooper's seat: state Sen. Josh Stein 
and Fayetteville attorney Tim Dunn.

A Republican hasn't been elected as North Carolina's attorney general in more 
than 100 years. Cooper has been state government's highest ranking Democrat 
since Republican Pat McCrory became governor in 2013.

O'Neill has been Forsyth County district attorney since 2009, when then-Gov. 
Bev Perdue appointed him to serve out the term of a retiring prosecutor. He ran 
unopposed in 2010 and 2014.

He said he won't attack other candidates — even Cooper. Instead, he said he'd 
focus on his strengths as well as the issues.

One issue: fixing the long delays at the state's crime laboratory.

"It's unconscionable that prosecutors and defendants are waiting so long to get 
results back. That's one of the first items that I would attack," O'Neill said. 
"Secondly, I believe that the will of the people should be carried out ... 
especially when it comes to the death penalty."

As a prosecutor, he said he handled murders cases and that he'd "provide the 
resources, the manpower and the expertise of the AG's office" to move forward 
with the death penalty, which would "provide some closure to the families of 
murder victims."

The state hasn't carried out an execution since 2006 due to various legal 
appeals.

Newton, a Wilson attorney, has portrayed himself as one who would confront what 
many conservatives consider federal overreach while focusing on basics as the 
state's top lawyer and law enforcement officer.

Republicans and social conservatives have been unhappy with Cooper's decision 
to stop defending North Carolina's constitutional ban on gay marriage after a 
federal appeals court struck down Virginia's similar prohibition. The 
Legislature had to hire outside counsel to defend the constitutional amendment 
approved in 2012.

And McCrory — but not Cooper — entered a multistate lawsuit questioning 
President Barack Obama's decisions last fall to shield millions of additional 
immigrants from deportation without legislation. Newton said that if he were 
attorney general, he would have joined that lawsuit and "would have been able 
to defend the laws of this state."

(source: Associated Press)



SOUTH CAROLINA:

Officials: Death row inmate awaiting new sentence found dead


Officials say a death row inmate who was awaiting a new sentence after 
challenging his execution order has been found dead at a Ridgeville prison.

The Post and Courier (http://bit.ly/1GEpPJ0) reports 36-year-old Jesse Sapp 
died at the Lieber Correctional Institution. State prisons spokeswoman 
Stephanie Givens says officers found Sapp’s body in his cell on Sunday. The 
Dorchester County Coroner’s Office did not immediately confirm details of his 
death.

Solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who was fighting Sapp’s bid for a new sentence, says 
officials told her that the death was a suicide.

Sapp was convicted in the killing of state Trooper Jeff Johnson in 2002. Sapp’s 
attorneys successfully challenged his death sentence. A judge ordered a new 
sentencing phase due to mistakes by prosecutors in Sapp’s 2003 trial.

(source: Associated Press)




FLORIDA----impending execution

Florida plans to execute Jerry Correll at the end of this month


Jerry Correll, who was convicted for the 1985 stabbing to death his 5-year-old 
daughter, ex-wife, her sister and her mother in Orlando, has been sentenced by 
the state to die on Oct. 29.

Correll’s original execution date was set for February, but Correll received a 
stay from the Florida Supreme Court until the U.S. Supreme Court decided on the 
legality of midazolam, one of the three drugs used in the injection cocktail. 
After the Supreme Court upheld the use of midazolam in June, Attorney General 
Pam Bondi petitioned Florida’s highest court to vacate the stay, but her 
petition was rejected until a new hearing on his case. In September, the 9th 
Judicial rejected Correll's argument that the use of midazolam should be 
considered cruel and unusual punishment, clearing the way for the state to 
execute him.

Richard Glossip, the main plaintiff in the case the U.S. Supreme Court 
reviewed, was supposed to be executed by the state of Oklahoma last week, but 
his execution was called off after “last minute questions” from officials about 
the drugs they would use. Yesterday, The Oklahoman reported the state violated 
protocol by using the wrong drug to execute Charles Warner in January. If you 
recall from our story in July, Warner reportedly said during his execution, “My 
body is on fire.”

Oklahoma officials say they had been assured by a doctor and a pharmacist that 
potassium chloride, which they were supposed to use, is medically 
interchangeable with potassium acetate.

(source: Orlando Weekly)

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

Widow concerned as US Supreme Court reviews death penalty


The widow of a Fort Myers attorney buried alive 13 years ago is worried her 
husband’s killer won’t be put to death.

Mary Lehmann’s concerns come one day before the U.S. Supreme Court hears 
arguments about Florida’s death penalty.

At least 8 inmates from Southwest Florida sit on death row. They were all 
sentenced by a judge who ultimately decided their fate after being convicted of 
murder.

One of those inmates is Mark Twilegar, convicted in the murder of David Thomas. 
In 2002, investigators discovered Thomas’ body in his backyard after he had 
been shot and then buried alive.

“The idea that he would go free, or spend life in jail rather than punished the 
way I think he should be, breaks my heart and it makes me almost physically 
sick to think about it,” said Lehmann, Thomas’ widow. She says she thinks the 
death penalty is a fair punishment.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether the way Florida 
decides who gets the death penalty is unconstitutional. In Florida, juries only 
need a majority, not a unanimous vote, to recommend death.

“I’m not sure what the purpose of having a trial and a sentence is if, 'oh by 
the way, this doesn’t count anymore,'” said Lehman.

The death penalty case has put the trial for one of Collier County’s most 
gruesome murders on hold. Last month, a judge decided to see what the Supreme 
Court rules before Mesac Damas goes before a jury. Hamas is accused of 
slaughtering his wife and 5 children in their home 6 years ago.

Even though arguments will begin, the Supreme Court is not expected to make a 
decision until next year.

(source: Wink news)

***********

Pensacola case may reshape Florida death penalty


A brutal Pensacola  murder case may end up setting a new standard for how 
Florida handles the death penalty.

Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in the case of 
Timothy Hurst, a former fast food worker found guilty of tying up his manager 
in a Popeyes freezer and stabbing her to death. A jury recommended 7-5 that 
Hurst be executed, and a judge sentenced him to death. Now, Hurst is 
challenging the process as unconstitutional.

Florida is one of a few states where judges issue the death penalty and juries 
play a strictly advisory role. Florida is the only state where the jury doesn't 
have to be unanimous or explain what factors weighed in their decision.

The state's policy seems to go against a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that 
said juries should decide both when the death penalty will be imposed and what 
aggravating factors that make the death penalty appropriate. Hurst's attorneys 
argued that Florida policies violate the the Sixth or Eighth amendments.

"Of the 35 death penalty states, only Florida permits imposition of a death 
sentence without a jury concluding that either,1., at least one specified 
aggravating factor is present or ,2., that a death sentence is warranted," 
Hurst's attorney wrote. "Twenty seven of these states require both findings. 
Florida requires neither."

Hurst's counsel wrote that jurors recommended capital punishment by only the 
slimmest of margins and without any explanation of their votes. He said it's 
possible they weren't even considering the same aggravating factors.

"This possibility hardly inspires confidence that Florida has any clue what the 
jury's vote meant in this case," the document said. "The jury's vote gave no 
clear voice of the community that death was justified."

In 1998, Hurst was an employee at the Popeyes on Nine Mile Road. Witnesses 
testified Hurst bound his manager, 28-year-old Cynthia Harrison, with 
electrical tape, slashed her with a box cutter more than 60 times and left her 
body in a freezer.

Hurst was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2000, and a jury recommended 
death 11-1. Hurst won an appeal and re-sentencing because his counsel was not 
allowed to present evidence that Hurst may have a mental disability. He was 
sentenced to death again in 2012.

Public Defender Bruce Miller said the Supreme Court's ruling on the case could 
have far-reaching impacts on all the state's capital cases.

"In virtually every case where the state sought death, the defense counsel has 
routinely found Florida's sentencing is unconstitutional," Miller said. "It's 
overdue that the U.S. Supreme Court decided to take on this issue. Defense 
attorney's have been making this claim since 2002, and the legislature has 
refused to act."

(source: Pensacola News Journal)


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


Freed by Supreme Court, Pasco man walks off death row


More than 2 years after a Pasco County judge sentenced him to death row, Derral 
W. Hodgkins walked out of prison Monday under fewer restrictions than if he had 
never been convicted of murder.

Hodgkins, 56, is the beneficiary of a Florida Supreme Court decision in June 
that overturned his conviction for 1st-degree murder, finding that a jury had 
insufficient evidence to hold him responsible for the 2006 stabbing death of 
his former girlfriend. He will not have a new trial — he can't be prosecuted 
again for the same crime — nor will he spend a day on probation.

To prosecutors' chagrin, Hodgkins is a free man.

"It's very troubling," said Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe.

"I read the court's decision when it first came out, I read it again today, and 
intellectually, I have a hard time grasping what they're saying. Here, a fella 
gives multiple stories trying to match whatever the cops tell him the evidence 
is, obviously telling many lies along the way, and somehow that is considered 
reasonable and credible evidence."

When Hodgkins returns to Pasco, he will live under relatively few constraints.

Convicted in 1988 of kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old girl in Hillsborough 
County, he spent 17 years in prison before his release on lifetime probation. 
In 2013, when he was placed on death row, a judge terminated that probation and 
sentenced him to prison time, assuming probation made little sense for a man 
sentenced to death.

He also will benefit from timing. Although he was convicted of a violent sexual 
assault on a minor, Hodgkins is classified as a sexual offender, not a 
predator. His offense predates the creation of the predator category, which 
comes with a higher degree of scrutiny.

As a sex offender, Hodgkins will have to register with county law enforcement 
at least twice a year. And though he will be barred from living within 1,000 
feet of schools, playgrounds, day care centers or public parks, his neighbors 
will not be automatically notified when he moves onto their block, as they 
would for a predator.

"He's basically rejoining society," said attorney Bjorn Brunvand, who was 
assigned to defend Hodgkins in his 2011 murder trial. "I think the Supreme 
Court got it right. The evidence simply was insufficient."

Even in Florida, the state with the highest number of death row exonerations in 
the country, experts said Hodgkins' case is unusual.

"Typically, in most death row exonerations, a conviction is overturned and a 
new trial is ordered," said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death 
Penalty Information Center. "Here, the court said based on the evidence 
presented, he should have been acquitted."

In January 2011, Hodgkins' 1st trial ended in a mistrial when a state witness — 
a cell mate of Hodgkins' who testified that he had overheard him confess to the 
murder — let it slip that Hodgkins had been previously convicted of a crime. 
Prosecutors went to trial again without the jailhouse informant, confident that 
the presence of Hodgkin's DNA under the victim's fingernails would be 
sufficient to convince a jury of his guilt.

In addition to the DNA evidence, prosecutors said Hodgkins changed his story 
repeatedly. When Teresa Lodge, a 46-year-old Land O'Lakes cook, was found dead 
in her apartment, Hodgkins told investigators he hadn't seen her since 2004. 
Later, presented with the DNA evidence, he said he had been in Lodge's 
apartment 3 days before she died, when they had sex. That, he said, is how his 
skin got under her nails.

But the court's decision concluded the state had proved only that Hodgkins had 
contact with Lodge, not that he killed her. Prosecutors had said there were 
bloody skin cells under Lodge's nails, but a majority of the justices found the 
evidence didn't support that. Of the 18 fingerprints found in Lodge's 
apartment, none belonged to Hodgkins.

Jurors convicted Hodgkins of 1st-degree murder and recommended to send him to 
death row with a 7-5 vote.

"Everybody has been saying from the beginning, nobody could believe it, not the 
way it happened, not Teresa," said Hodgkins' oldest son, Wayne Hodgkins, who 
drove to the Union Correctional Institution on Monday to pick up his father. 
"He loved that girl."

(source: Tampa Bay Times)


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



Future of Florida's death penalty

Florida's death penalty doesn't require a unanimous vote


The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments that could end Florida's death 
penalty.

This comes just before former state attorney Harry Shorstein's push for the 
legislature to change the law, so someone can not be sentenced to death without 
a unanimous verdict.

Former state attorney Harry Shorstein says there needs to be changes to 
Florida's death penalty. He says most states require a 12-to-0 vote before 
sentencing convicts to death. He says 2 states require a super-majority vote of 
10-2. But Florida just requires a majority vote and not a unanimous verdict.

“We really need to be more in line with the constitution and with the country 
as a whole or we stand a chance of losing the death penalty in Florida,” said 
Former State Attorney Harry Shorstein.

Local Attorney, Rhonda Peoples-Waters, who’s not connected to any of the 
arguments for or against changing the death penalty, says in some cases the 
prosecution can argue for the death penalty if there are aggravating factors in 
the case.

“An abuse on the elderly or that the crime was so heinous and atrocious and 
cruel," said Peoples-Waters.

Peoples-Waters says unanimous verdicts present challenges for the defense in 
cases.

“The state's position is that it would be easier for them to be successful with 
a death penalty case because they don't have to have the jurors to be 
unanimous,” said Peoples-Waters.

Meantime Shorstein continues his push.

“If we don't we're creating potentially a tremendous amount of future 
litigation. On these cases who are on death row, but got to death row with less 
than a 12-0 vote. And that could be very very time consuming and expensive,” 
said Shorstein.

(source: news4jax,com)




ALABAMA:

Coalition seeks new trial for Alabama death row inmate


A group of religious leaders, attorneys and others plans to ask the Alabama 
Supreme Court for a new trial in the case of a death row inmate accused in the 
fatal shooting of a convenience store clerk.

A coalition including "Law and Order" star Sam Waterston, National Clergy 
Council President Rev. Rob Schenck and others said Monday they believe a new 
trial could lead to the exoneration of William Kuenzel, who was convicted in a 
1987 murder and robbery in Talladega County and has maintained his innocence 
for years.

"This is about an examination of new and compelling facts that will prove that 
one man did not commit this crime and it's time to go after the one that did." 
Schenck said at a news conference.

Critical evidence discovered in 2010 that could have cleared Kuenzel wasn't 
presented in court and was suppressed until long after his sentencing, 
Kuenzel's attorney David Kochman said.

Several issues including ineffective counsel and reliance on questionable 
witness testimony led to his conviction, Kochman and others have said.

Messages left with the Alabama Attorney General's Office weren't immediately 
returned Monday.

Kuenzel's roommate at the time, Harvey Venn, took a plea deal in the case and 
testified against Kuenzel, who rejected a plea deal. His attorneys said Venn 
initially implicated another man in the shooting during interviews with police 
and said Kuenzel wasn't at the scene.

Transcripts from grand jury testimony also revealed that the only other witness 
who testified during the trial that she saw Kuenzel at the shooting scene had 
told the grand jury she couldn't give detailed descriptions of the suspects.

Kuenzel's attorneys said Venn testified to owning a 12-gauge shotgun but 
actually owned a 16-gauge shotgun similar to the one the clerk was shot with. 
The attorneys said the gun wasn't presented as evidence in the trial and 
Kuenzel returned a 16-gauge shotgun he borrowed from a relative a day before 
the shooting.

Kuenzel's execution had been set for March but was blocked by the state supreme 
court. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals was set to consider Kuenzel's case 
about three weeks after his scheduled execution date. The state appeals court 
later rejected Kuenzel's appeal because it hadn't been filed in a timely 
manner.

"It's a situation in which an innocent man in a murder case can't get the facts 
of his case heard in court, isn't being allowed to show that he's innocent 
because of a technicality." Waterston said. "The world is awash in injustice. 
None of us can do everything but we can each do something."

Waterston said he got involved in the case after hearing Kuenzel's story from 
fellow "Law and Order" cast member Joanna Merlin, whose husband David Dretzin 
represented Kuenzel from 1992 until 2006 when he died in a car crash.

2 men facing the death penalty have been released from Alabama prisons this 
year after reviews of their trials and the evidence used against them. Another 
man facing a life sentence on a murder charge was released Oct. 2 after a 
review of fingerprint evidence exonerated him.

Kuenzel's cousin Linda Stanley said it's been frustrating to watch other 
condemned inmates be released, but called the show of support overwhelming.

"We always had hope, we'll never give up hope," she said. "This just makes it 
greater than what it was."

Kuenzel's advocates said they plan to ask the state supreme court to consider 
the case and will file an amicus brief on his behalf.

(source: Times Free Press)

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

Actor, lawyers, religious leaders speak in support of Alabama death row inmate


The state of Alabama is holding an innocent man on death row and refuses to 
hear evidence that might set him free.  That, according to lawyers, religious 
leaders and even a well known actor who spoke at a news conference in 
Birmingham on Monday morning.

William Kuenzel was sentenced to death for the 1987 robbery and murder of a 
Sylacauga convenience store clerk.  Kuenzel has always maintained his 
innocence, and 2 decades later after the murder, new evidence was found that 
many say would set him free.

In 2012, Kuenzel’s defense team uncovered new evidence that his roommate had a 
shotgun that could have been used in the killing, and that Kuenzel might not 
have been at the crime scene.

Monday, a group spoke at a news conference in Birmingham to shed light on the 
case.  Actor Sam Waterston, star of the TV series Law and Order, is among the 
group that plans to file a friend-of-the-court brief with the Alabama Supreme 
Court.

“This case isn’t about anybody’s feelings about capital punishment. It’s about 
an injustice done, being done, continuing to be done to an innocent man and the 
remedy is not to forget about it but to just look at the facts,” said 
Waterston.

Waterston previously filmed a movie in support of Kuenzel.  He and Kuenzel’s 
attorneys say crucial evidence was withheld by prosecutors during the trial and 
was only discovered, by accident, more than two decades after the conviction.

State courts have refused to hear the evidence because Kuenzel’s previous legal 
team missed the deadline to file the proper appeal.

Last December, the Alabama Supreme Court set Kuenzel’s execution for March 
2015.  In February, the court granted him a stay until further notice.

In July, Kuenzel lost an appeal before the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. 
He remains on death row at Holman Prison in Atmore.

(source: WHNT news)


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



Alabama man exonerated from death row advocates for other inmates

Actors, attorneys and religious leaders are asking the Alabama Supreme Court 
for a new trial for a man on death row.


Law and Order actresses and actors Joanna Merlin, Sam Waterston and several 
religious leaders come together to support a death row inmate whose story has 
captured the nation's attention.

Billy Kuenzel was sentenced in 1988 for the murder of Linda Jean Offord in 
Sylacauga. He's maintained his innocence for years.

While one death row inmate is fighting for his life in Alabama, another Alabama 
man remembers his own fight for freedom all too
well.Gary Drinkard spent nearly 6 years on death row before being exonerated.

"You tend to lose hope,” Drinkard said, "I started writing anybody and 
everybody I could get an address for'.

Finally, 8 years after he was arrested, Drinkard walked away from prison.

"Everybody in the court house was crying,” Drinkard said. “I think the judge 
even shed a couple tears. It was I guess just the happiest moment of my life."

Actresses, actors and religious leaders gathered in Birmingham Monday to try 
and give William Kuenzel that moment by asking the Alabama Supreme Court for a 
new trial.

"It's about getting a day in court for a man that was denied justice,” Law and 
Order actor Sam Waterston said.

Kuenzel was convicted in a 1987 murder and robbery in Talladega County and has 
argued his innocence for years.

"He was offered a shorter sentence if he would plead guilty and he refused,” 
said Law and Order SVU actress Joanna Merlin.

38 witnesses and 114 exhibits place Kuenzel at the crime scene and Kuenzel had 
the murder weapon in his possession.

Regardless of whether Kuenzel is guilty or not, Drinkard says his own 
experience on death row made him realize the death penalty is not the answer.

"It's not the solution,” Kuenzel said. “How can you tell people that killing is 
wrong when you actually pat people on the back for killing our citizens. You 
can't do it."

Kuenzel's attorney said evidence that could have cleared Kuenzel was suppressed 
until long after his sentencing. He said numerous issues including ineffective 
counsel and questionable witness testimony led to his conviction.

(source: WAFF news)





OHIO:

Law You Can Use: The nuts and bolts of death penalty appeals


Question: I have read about very old death penalty cases that are still being 
litigated. Why is that?

Answer: A defendant who has been convicted and sentenced to death can appeal 
the conviction and sentence in state court as well as federal court. These 
cases are very involved and it can take a long time to get through the 
different courts.

Q: Why is more than one appeal allowed?

A: The main reason for allowing multiple appeals is that the United States 
Supreme Court said, in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 289 (1972),“The unusual 
severity of death is manifested most clearly in its finality and enormity. 
Death, in these respects, is in a class by itself.”

When the sentence is the ultimate punishment, the defendant has a variety of 
opportunities to show why he or she should not be executed, especially if any 
errors occurred that violated the defendant’s constitutional rights.

Q: How does the appeal process work?

A: After a defendant is convicted and sentenced to death, the appeal process 
starts in state court with 2 appeals that start at the same time: a direct 
appeal and post-conviction appeal.

The direct appeal covers any error contained in the trial record, which 
includes documents filed with the trial court and the transcript from the 
trial. The direct appeal is filed directly with the Supreme Court of Ohio.

If the justices hand down an unfavorable decision on the direct appeal, the 
defendant can file another appeal with the Supreme Court of Ohio stating that 
the direct appeal attorneys were ineffective and should have raised additional 
issues in the brief.

Also, the defendant may file an application for “writ of certiorari,” 
petitioning the United States Supreme Court to review the case. The United 
States Supreme Court is not required to hear the case, and if it denies the 
writ of certiorari, then the Supreme Court of Ohio decision will stand.

If the defendant prevails before the Supreme Court of Ohio then relief is 
ordered, generally in the form of a new trial or a new sentencing hearing.

The post-conviction appeal pertains to any evidence discovered after, or 
omitted from, the pre-trial and trial proceedings. In the post-conviction 
litigation, the case is re-investigated to see if there is new information, or 
information that was available and should have been admitted into the trial, or 
witnesses relevant to the case who should have been heard at the time of trial. 
This would include any experts who may have opinions that should have been 
presented.

The defendant must file the post-conviction petition in the trial court and 
then can appeal to the county court of appeals and the Supreme Court of Ohio. 
If the defendant prevails in any post-conviction litigation, the court will 
order relief of some sort, most likely an evidentiary hearing (on a claim 
raised in the petition), a new trial or a new sentencing hearing.

The defendant who does not prevail at the state court level can pursue 
litigation in federal court.

Q: Is there more than 1 appeal allowed in federal court, too?

A: Yes. Usually, the defendant can file 2 appeals in federal court. The 
defendant first files a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the federal 
district court. The writ of habeas corpus generally directs the warden where 
the defendant is incarcerated to bring the defendant to court to justify the 
incarceration.

The Petition combines the issues raised in the different appeals in state 
court. If the defendant successfully argues that incarceration violates a 
constitutional right, then he or she is entitled to relief. If the defendant 
loses, he or she can appeal that decision to the Sixth Circuit Court of 
Appeals.

If the defendant loses that appeal, he or she can seek “relief” by filing an 
application for “writ of certiorari” with the United States Supreme Court. If 
the defendant prevails before the district court, the opposing party can appeal 
the decision to the Sixth Circuit and United States Supreme Court.

If the defendant ultimately prevails, then the court will award relief in the 
form of a new trial, a new sentencing hearing or any other relief the federal 
court finds appropriate.

Q: Is that the final avenue for litigation before an execution is scheduled?

A: Generally, yes. A defendant can try to file a successor (second) 
post-conviction petition or a delayed motion for new trial in the trial court, 
provided there is new evidence and issues to raise that were not raised 
previously.

If the defendant has no new evidence for a further appeal, then the state will 
likely ask the Supreme Court of Ohio to set an execution date for the 
defendant. If a date is scheduled, then the clemency process begins.

The clemency process may result in a full pardon, a sentence commutation, or a 
reprieve (a temporary postponement of an execution date). If clemency is 
denied, however, the execution will go forward.

(source: This “Law You Can Use” consumer information column was provided by the 
Ohio State Bar Association. It was prepared by Kathryn Sandford, an attorney 
with the Ohio Public Defender’s Office----The Logan Daily News)



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

U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Twinsburg cop killer's appeal--
U.S. Supreme Court lets Ohio Supreme Court's decision stand


Less than a year after the Ohio Supreme Court by a 4-3 vote upheld Ashford 
Lamar Thompson’s death sentence in the July 2008 murder of a Twinsburg police 
officer, the U.S. Supreme Court denied to hear Thompson’s appeal Oct. 5.

The Ohio Supreme Court on Oct. 29, 2014, affirmed Thompson’s death sentence, 
after he was convicted of aggravated murder in the July 13, 2008, shooting 
death of 33-year-old Twinsburg police officer Joshua Miktarian following a 
late-night traffic stop.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Thompson's petition for writ of certiorari, 
essentially allowing the Ohio Supreme Court's decision to stand.

To appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, one applies for a writ of certiorari, 
which the high court may grant at its discretion and only when at least three 
members believe that the case involves a sufficiently significant federal 
question in the public interest. By denying such a writ, the Supreme Court says 
it will let the lower court decision stand.

An execution date has not been set.

Thompson's legal counsel, Rachel Troutman, did not immediately return calls 
seeking comment.

Summit County assistant prosecutor Richard S. Kasay did not immediately return 
calls seeking comment.

Thompson was found guilty by a Summit County Court of Common Pleas jury June 
11, 2010, of 2 counts of aggravated murder, 1 count of escape, 2 counts of 
resisting arrest, 3 counts of tampering with evidence and 1 count of carrying a 
concealed weapon in the murder of the 11-year Twinsburg officer and Tallmadge 
resident.

The death sentence was handed down by Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge 
Elinore Marsh Stormer June 23, 2010, and Thompson filed for appeal July 26, 
2011.

The state filed a response brief Dec. 12, 2011, summarily rejecting each of the 
18 counts in Thompson’s appeal and concluding that the death penalty, among 
others, must be affirmed by the state’s high court.

Thompson’s execution was stayed by the state trial court Aug. 23, 2013, to 
await the appeal decision by the Ohio Supreme Court, which heard Thompson’s 
appeal of his death sentence April 8, 2014.

During oral arguments before the state’s high court in 2014, legal counsel for 
Thompson said his death sentence should be overturned due legal and procedural 
errors made during his trial, among other issues.

Prosecutors, however, cited comments made by Thompson at a bar before the 
shooting and other evidence in seeking affirmation of his death sentence.

In her decision, Justice Judith L. French wrote that the legal process 
instituting a death sentence was conducted in proper order, and the penalty was 
appropriate for the crime.

French ruled that the intentional way that Thompson shot Miktarian outweighed 
the offender’s arguments for mercy.

“The nature and circumstances of the crime do not support Thompson’s claims of 
panic,” French wrote.

In a dissent, Justice William O’Neill said evidence showed Thompson was 
confused and frightened after he was pulled over and mistakenly believed the 
officer was going to attack him.

Thompson, 31, remains on death row at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, 
more than 7 years after shooting and killing Miktarian.

(source: Twinsburg Bulletin)

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


Full appeal for death


Tyrone Noling has maintained his innocence for the past 25 years. He deserves a 
hearing on the full extent of the evidence in the 1990 murders of Bearnhardt 
and Cora Hartig in Atwater Township. Now the Ohio Supreme Court rightly has 
opened the door to that possibility. The court recently agreed to hear his 
challenge to a misguided state law that bars defendants in death-penalty cases 
from appealing a trial judge’s decision on post-conviction DNA testing.

In other cases, defendants take such challenges to the state appeals court. 
Then, the parties have the option of extending the matter to the Ohio Supreme 
Court. In capital cases, that intermediate step is not available, a barrier 
that gains significance because the high court takes so few cases.

Thus, defendants, and the rest of us, face the risk of an abbreviated appellate 
process. That is especially wrongheaded involving death-penalty cases, when the 
state must take particular care in avoiding the horrendous error of putting an 
innocent person to death.

Noling has resided on death row since his 1996 conviction in Portage County 
common pleas court. From the start, his arrest and conviction were problematic, 
and they have become more so during the intervening years. He and friends got 
the attention of authorities because of a series of small thefts and robberies. 
Yet the Portage sheriff at the time concluded that their suspected involvement 
in the Hartig murders “just didn’t fit.”

Only when the Portage prosecutor hired an investigator to “solve” the crime did 
Noling receive renewed attention. Consider that no physical evidence links 
Noling (or his friends) to the crime scene. Noling had a .25 caliber handgun, 
but it did not match the murder weapon. The principle witnesses in the trial 
have since recanted their testimony. Primitive DNA testing of a cigarette butt 
excluded Noling and the others.

Today, DNA testing is far more sophisticated, and it is such testing that 
Noling is seeking to conduct. His request comes in the context of evidence 
surfacing in recent years through the work of his attorneys about prosecutors 
withholding evidence at the trial concerning a credible alternative witness. If 
justice is the objective, it becomes an obligation to test the cigarette butt, 
plus the shell casings and ring boxes, to see whether the results identify the 
killer.

Worth adding is that the Ohio Supreme Court decision to hear the request came 
just days before the 11th District Ohio Court of Appeals upheld the ruling by 
Judge Marvin Shapiro a year ago that found Bob Gondor and Randy Resh innocent 
in the 1988 murder of Connie Nardi. The appeals court ruling represents a 
welcome step on the way to what Gondor and Resh deserve — compensation from the 
state for the 17 years they spent in prison, wrongfully convicted.

What their case and the Noling matter point to is something dark about the 
Portage County prosecutor’s office in that era. One disappointment has been 
seeing the current prosecutor throw obstacles in the way of Resh, Gondor and 
Noling. Two have won freedom. Now Tyrone Noling deserves a review of all the 
evidence, starting with crucial DNA testing.

(source: Editorial, Akron Beacon Journal)