[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MASS., VA., OHIO, IND., NEB., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 19



MASSACHUSETTS:

Bill to reinstate capital punishment is back on Beacon Hill


With the recent filing of a proposed bill to reinstate capital punishment in 
Massachusetts, a sampling of opinions this month of Worcester County officials 
and leaders suggests divided views on the subject.

State Rep. James R. Miceli, D-Wilmington, filed the proposal - one of several 
he has put forward on the topic of the death penalty - to bring Massachusetts a 
law similar to one proposed by former Gov. Mitt Romney. In 2005, Mr. Romney 
sought to bring back the death penalty for crimes involving torture, terrorism 
and killings of police officers with convictions obtained by "conclusive 
scientific evidence." The proposal was rejected 100-53 in the House, according 
to reports in The Boston Globe.

Mr. Miceli offered a comparable bill in 2013, before the bombing at the Boston 
Marathon. The co-organizer of that attack, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, ultimately was 
sentenced in federal court to death.

Though some argue Mr. Miceli's bill doesn't appear to be gaining much traction 
this time around, Michael S. Hussey, attorney-in-charge of the Worcester office 
of the public defender's division and president of the Massachusetts 
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, submitted testimony last week saying 
he strongly opposes the idea. He said the MACDL has a history of opposing the 
death penalty because it is "fraught with the possibility of error."

Mr. Miceli argues the bill is one "arrow (the state) should have in its 
quiver," saying he believes the death penalty can be a deterrent to those 
seeking to carry out heinous crimes. Amnesty International reports, however, 
that 14 states without capital punishment in 2008 had homicide rates at or 
below the national rate.

Mr. Hussey said in his testimony that forensic data may not be strong enough to 
rightfully convict a suspect. He also pointed to the extreme costs of pursuing 
those cases. In 2003, the Death Penalty Information Center testified before the 
Massachusetts Joint Committee on Criminal Justice death that penalty trials 
take longer than other trials. A cost study at Duke University estimated they 
run 3 to 5 times as long as typical murder trials.

"Recent revelations about the problems with hair and bite mark analysis, as 
well as arson investigations, only highlight some of the problems inherent in 
ever-changing forensic standards," Mr. Hussey said. "The fact of the matter is 
that seeking a foolproof death penalty - free from human bias or error - is an 
impossible task. And once an execution has been carried out, there is no chance 
to rectify that fatal mistake."

The Death Penalty Information Center says as of July, 31 states had the death 
penalty. There have been 1,418 executions since 1976, including four in the 
Northeast. Amnesty International also reports that more than 2/3 of all 
countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice.

American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts Legislative Director Ann 
Lambert last week said the topic of reinstating the penalty in Massachusetts 
does not appear to be garnering a lot of attention, and her organization 
remains opposed to it.

3 local police chiefs, when reached by the Telegram & Gazette, said they would 
endorse a return of the death penalty, but with limitations and high standards 
in place - Leicester Chief James Hurley, Westboro Chief Alan R. Gordon and 
Auburn Chief Andrew J. Sluckis Jr. Chief Hurley pointed to the case of 
Leicester double murderer Marvin Cathey, who raped a 9-year-old girl in 1999 
before killing the child and her mother by asphyxiation and strangulation.

"I (personally) would support it for any murder that's committed with extreme 
cruelty or atrocity ... I also strongly support it in the murder of a police 
officer who is killed in the line of duty, and I apply that to all public 
safety (and emergency medical) responders," Chief Hurley said. "There has to be 
an extensive review of the case. I am a DNA person, and I believe strongly in 
that."

A. Wayne Sampson, former Shrewsbury police chief and executive director of the 
Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said the statewide organization 
does not have a formal position on the issue.

But Worcester activist and Black Lives Matter leader Julius Jones said he 
strongly opposes capital punishment because the system is biased heavily 
against people of color. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 
more than 75 % of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were 
white, even though nationally 50 % of murder victims generally are white.

"I think it (would be) another version of state-sanctioned violence that has 
been proven time and time again to frequently serve unjust death penalties," 
Mr. Jones said. "Mass incarceration in the U.S., especially in Massachusetts, 
disproportionately affects black and brown folks, and the death penalty, by 
extension, would disproportionately affect black and brown folks."

Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said he opposes the use of the 
death penalty, while Worcester County Sheriff Lewis G. Evangelidis said he is 
in favor of it, with limitations. Mr. Early said he has "seen mistakes made" in 
the judicial system and is comfortable knowing that a person locked in a 
maximum-security prison is suffering.

"Those cells can only really be described as hell on earth," Mr. Early said. 
"If you're in a society where you see mistakes made as a prosecutor, as an 
attorney, you have to pay attention to that because if you get it wrong, and 
the person is executed, there's no bringing them back."

Mr. Evangelidis said while some may look for proof beyond a reasonable doubt 
with their death penalty laws, he would support capital punishment for cases 
proven beyond "all doubt."

"Witnesses, confessions, video and other strong evidence - there has to be no 
question that a person committed the crime of capital offense," he said.

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and state Attorney General Maura Healey were 
unavailable for comment, but Ms. Healey has previously spoken against the use 
of the death penalty. State Sen. Michael O. Moore, D-Millbury, declined to 
comment for this article; the offices of Sens. Jennifer L. Flanagan, 
D-Leominster, and Ryan C. Fattman, R-Webster, did not return calls for comment.

The last execution in Massachusetts was in 1947. The Legislature abolished the 
law in 1984 and the closest the state came to restoring the death penalty was 
in 1997 when a bill was defeated by a single vote in the House shortly after 
the murder of a 10-year-old Cambridge boy, according to The Associated Press.

Bathsheba Spooner of Brookfield was the 1st woman executed under the U.S. 
judicial system. She was hanged with her teenage lover and 2 other men in 
Worcester before a crowd of thousands on July 2, 1778. Historians say Mrs. 
Spooner promised money to her 3 accomplices to beat her husband to death in 
that crime.

(source: Worcester Telegram)






VIRGINIA:

Study: Lawyers fighting harder for death-eligible clients


A law professor says a decline in death sentences in Virginia is at least 
partly due to more vigorous legal representation during the sentencing phase of 
capital murder trials.

Brandon Garrett of the University of Virginia released results of his study of 
Virginia's death penalty Monday.

Garrett compared the 21 capital murder trials since 2005 to a group of 20 such 
trials from 1996 to 2004. He found that the sentencing phase for the older 
group of trials averaged less than 2 days while the average for the more recent 
trials was 4 days. That's because defense lawyers are calling more witnesses 
than before to present evidence that could help their client.

More than 1/2 the recent trials resulted in life sentences - double the 
previous rate.

(source: Associated Press)






OHIO:


Trial begins Monday for man accused of killing Monroe woman

Just shy of 3 years after 87-year-old Barbara Howe's dead body was found in the 
back of her red Cadillac in a Middletown apartment complex, the trial of a man 
accused of killing the Monroe woman will begin today.

Charles Pater's Butler County Common Pleas courtroom will be packed with 
perspective jurors - 150 were requested for the selection pool - and spectators 
for the death penalty trial of Daniel French.

3 weeks have been scheduled for the trial, which includes the trial phase and 
if French, 56, is found guilty, the penalty phase to determine if he lives or 
dies. The trial may move faster after French's pleas to lower charges last week 
in a surprise move by the defense. French pleaded guilty to aggravated 
burglary, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a 
corpse.

The defense team said French was willing to plead guilty to the remaining 
charge of aggravated murder if he was given a sentence of life in prison 
without the possibility of parole. That offer was rejected by county Prosecutor 
Michael Gmoser who said a jury needed to make the determination.

The only charge left for the jury to decide is if French is guilty of 
aggravated murder. A chilling confession recorded by police in December when 
French was arrested at his Berea, Ky. home will be part of the evidence. In 
that confession, French admits to entering Howe's bungalow on Paxton Circle by 
using a ruse of being employed by Mount Retirement Community to check on a 
malfunctioning medical device. He then used a Taser on Howe, choked her, and 
slit her throat several times causing her to bleed to death, he confessed.

French said he took Howe's diamond ring, money and her purse and put Howe's 
body in the truck of her car, covered her with drain cleaner, peroxide and 
vacuum cleaner contents and drove the vehicle to a Middletown apartment complex 
and threw items, including the ring, out the window.

That confession will be played at the trial, leaving most to believe French 
will be found guilty. But, in the confession, French said he did not go to the 
residence on Oct. 29, 2012 to kill Barbara Howe, an element the prosecution 
will have to hammer home with the jury to get a death penalty consideration.

"Jury selection is always important at trial, but it is very important for this 
trial," Defense attorney Melynda Cook said.

The only witness listed by the defense for the trial is French and he may take 
the stand, Cook said. That is not the is not the norm in a death penalty trial. 
If the case goes a penalty phase, by law, French will have the opportunity to 
give an unsworn statement before the jury.

Also during that mitigation phase, if it happens, Cook said French's family 
member will testify.

The prosecution has listed 39 witnesses for testimony. They include members of 
French's family, including Wanda Allen, the sister he lived with in Kentucky 
and LeeAnn Ifcic, the sister he was living with in Monroe when he allegedly 
killed Howe, as well as his brother and son.

Crime scene photos, some of which are graphic, will be part of the evidence 
showing the details for the alleged crime. There are 103 total photos listed by 
the prosecution.

Last week, the courtroom heated up during a discussion about some of the those 
photos. The defense team deemed some photos repetitive or likely to inflame the 
jury.

"I have to prove identity to the jury with some something other than (French's) 
confession," Gmoser said in a raised voice. "We have to prove he wasn't lying."

Gmoser added the fact that vacuum cleaner debris was found on Howe's body is a 
detail only the real killer would know.

At one point, Pater said, "Mr. Gmoser I believe there is a lot of grand 
standing going on and I have had enough of it. Sit down and have a seat."

"Mr. Gmoser is not happy about (the guilty plea to lower charges) and wants to 
grandstand to the media that is here," Cook told the judge. "He want to try 
this case on all counts despite the fact we have entered guilty pleas."

Pater ruled several of the photos should be cropped to service the purposes of 
the prosecution and still not be inflammatory to the jury. He granted the 
defense's objection to 4 photos, but ruled in favor of the prosecution on the 
remaining photos.

If convicted of aggravated murder, the jury will consider punishment with the 
following choices: death, life in prison without the possibility of parole, 30 
years in prison to life and 25 years in prison to life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BARBARA HOWE TIMELINE

Oct. 27, 2012 - Barbara Howe, an 87-year-old active resident of Mount Pleasant 
Retirement Community in Monroe, was last seen alive.

Oct. 30, 2012 - Howe is reported missing to Monroe Police by her family.

Nov. 1, 2012 - Howe's body is found in the back of her red Cadillac parked in 
the lot of Woodridge Park East Apartments by Middletown Police Lt. Scott Reeve.

Nov. 2, 2012 - Howe's death ruled a homicide by the Butler County Coroner's 
Office.

Feb. 13, 2013 - Monroe police say Howe's 3.31-carat, oval-cut, diamond wedding 
ring that is missing could be a key in finding her killer.

Sept. 14, 2013 - Monroe Detective Gregg Myers tells the Journal-News there is a 
"person of interest" in the Howe homicide.

Nov. 1, 2013 - Monroe Detective Gregg Myers tells the Journal-News the 
investigation to find Howe's killer is "moving forward every day."

Dec. 10, 2014 - A Butler County grand jury hands down indictments for Daniel 
French, 56, of Berea, Ky., for the robbery and death of Howe. He is a former 
employee of Mount Pleasant Retirement Community where Howe lived. He was 
arrested without incident at his sister's home on Flat Gap Road Road. Butler 
County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser called the crime one of the most heinous he 
has seen in his career.

Dec. 15, 2014 - French waives extradition in Mount Vernon, Ky. In a district 
courtroom and is sent back to Butler County to stand trial.

Dec. 15, 2014 - Wanda Allen, French's sister, spoke exclusively with the 
Journal-News from her home on Flat Gap Road where French was living at the time 
of the arrest. Allen said her brother was asleep when police arrived and had a 
gun and a suicide note with him. Allen said her brother is a "very loving and 
kind person."

Dec. 16, 2014 - Prosecution files court documents outlining portions of the 
alleged case against French including a confession to police.

Jan. 7, 2015 - French arraigned on an updated indictment and ordered to be held 
without bond.

Jan. 9, 2015 - A bill of particulars in the French case offer more details of 
what prosecutors alleged happened when Howe was killed. According to the 
prosecution, French used s ruse of Howe's medical alert system not working to 
get in the Paxton Circle residence, used a Taser, choked her then slit her 
throat. After taking money, her purse and diamond ring, French put Howe in the 
trunk of her car and poured drain cleaner and vacuum cleaner debris on her. He 
then drove the car to Middletown and left it, according to the court documents.

March 2, 2015 - A Nov. 2 trial date is set by Butler County Common Pleas Judge 
Charles Pater for French. The capital murder case is scheduled for 3 weeks. The 
trial date was later moved up to Oct. 19.

June 29, 2015 - French's confession to Middletown Police Detective Rich Bush is 
played in court as part of a hearing to have the evidence suppressed at trial. 
French confesses to Howe's murder and says in the taped interview on Dec. 10 in 
the Rockcastle County Key. Jail, "I seen Ms. Howe's ghost, and I apologized."

July 8, 2015 - Judge Charles Pater rules French's confession will be permitted 
at trial.

Oct. 14, 2015 - French pleads guilty to lesser charges of aggravated burglary, 
aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse that 
are part of the crime. Offers to plead guilty of aggravated murder for the 
death of Barbara Howe with the sentence of life without the possibility of 
parole. County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser rejects the offer stating a jury 
should decide French's fate.

(source: Journal News)






INDIANA:

Sister Helen Prejean addresses opera, death penalty in lecture


Sister Helen Prejean, the author of "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of 
the Death Penalty," encouraged compassion and forgiveness in Sunday's lecture 
on capital punishment.

"We are all more than the worst act of our life," Prejean said.

Prejean's experience as the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, a convicted 
killer who was sentenced to death, is the subject of her book. The story is 
also the basis of the opera "Dead Man Walking," which had its Jacobs School of 
Music premiere Oct. 17 in the Musical Arts Center.

Prejean's lecture, which was held in the MAC, was a part of the "Dead Man 
Walking Lecture/Discussion Series" sponsored by the music school. It was also 
in affiliation with the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics: 
Community and Educational Programs.

Prejean is a nun in the Congregation of St. Joseph, and she is an advocate for 
the abolition of the death penalty.

Stuart Yoak, Executive Director of the Association for Practical and 
Professional Ethics, introduced Prejean.

"The book gives us a window into capital punishment and the process of 
state-sanctioned execution," Yoak said. "The book, the movie, the play and now 
the opera "Dead Man Walking" challenges our values and the ethical decisions 
that we make as individuals and as citizens of this country."

Prejean said she considers opera to be one of the strongest art forms because 
it takes the fullness of drama and music that takes people into parts of 
themselves they do not realize they had. "Dead Man Walking" takes the audience 
on an incredible journey, Prejean said.

"The aria of Sister Helen in the opera is my journey, and it's haunting," 
Prejean said. "I sing it in the shower."

One of the first parts of her journey was to open her eyes to injustice, she 
said.

"When we awaken to a deeper call of justice, it's always a gift," Prejean said.

When she became Sonnier's spiritual advisor she said she was "over her head."

The opera is important because it shows both sides of a relevant issue, she 
said, and it shows parts of life that most people may never see.

Part of the tragedy often overlooked is how a crime affects the family of the 
murderer, Prejean said.

Prejean said her opposition to the death penalty caused anger from victims' 
families.

She said she believes she deserved such a reaction, because she cannot blame 
them for wanting the accused murderer of a loved one to die. The anger of the 
victims' families is expressed in the opera.

"We see them in their anger, begging for the death penalty - they are waiting 
and waiting and waiting for the justice they are promised," Prejean said. "They 
suffer an ultimate loss, and they want an ultimate penalty."

In addition to counseling inmates on death row, Prejean is the founder of 
Survive, a group that provides support for the families of victims.

Prejean said the death penalty is "legalized revenge" and the system is broken.

"Death is not a necessary punishment, Prejean said, and the law cannot take 
care of all the complexities of life."

Rachel Evans, a doctoral student in vocal performance, performs the role of 
Prejean in the opera, and she met Prejean in person before the lecture. Evans 
said it was amazing to meet the person she portrays on stage, and, like 
Prejean, she does not believe in capital punishment.

"The performance is about more than just a good performance," Evans said. "It 
is about actually doing something important for the community."

(source: Indiana Daily Student)


NEBRASKA:

Right focus against death penalty


The hiring of talented Republican political strategists for the 
anti-death-penalty campaign promises to stimulate a substantive and needed 
public discussion on the issue.

The involvement of the GOP political experts makes clear that the debate does 
not split along partisan lines.

Those hired include Ryan Horn, who was campaign manager and media strategist 
for Jean Stothert, Republican mayor of Omaha; Jim Innocenzi, a media consultant 
who was part of the campaign teams for Govs. Kay Orr and Dave Heineman; and Dan 
Parsons, who has been a part of several GOP campaigns and conservative causes.

Horn was named 2013 campaign manager of the year by the American Association of 
Political Consultants.

Their involvement signals that the anti-death-penalty campaign will be focused 
where it needs to be for success.

The number of Republicans opposed to the death penalty is growing.

The vote in the Legislature in favor of replacing the death penalty with life 
in prison without possibility of parole confirmed the trend. More Republicans 
in the nonpartisan Legislature voted for repeal than Democrats.

As one Republican senator put it, he had always considered himself to be 
pro-death-penalty. But after he examined the evidence and his own conscience, 
he voted for repeal.

Many thoughtful Republicans will follow the same process when they are called 
to vote on repeal in 2016.

Horn was articulate in explaining some of the reasons why Republicans should be 
opposed to the death penalty.

"If you look at it from a conservative point of view, it's sort of the ultimate 
big government failure," Horn said. "Just from a purely practical standpoint, 
if we had this government program that was sucking millions of taxpayer dollars 
every year, and had done absolutely nothing in 19 years, you'd have to have a 
basic question about its effectiveness to continue."

Death penalty proponents try to counter that set of facts by calling for 
legislative changes to speed the appeal process. In reality that's not 
possible. Court rulings aimed at trying to make the death penalty fairer and 
error-free mean the appeal process is unavoidably complicated and 
time-consuming.

"The death penalty is broken, costly, and it offends the conscience of so many 
Nebraskans. Life in prison puts public safety first without compromising our 
moral or fiscal values," Horn says on the anti-death-penalty website Nebraskans 
for Public Safety (nebraskansforpublicsafety.org).

Many Republicans will arrive at the same conclusion. What's needed is a 
vigorous campaign that encourages them to take another look at the evidence and 
provides them with information. It looks like that sort of a campaign is taking 
shape.

(source: Editorial Board, Lincoln Journal Star)






USA:

The death penalty is not a cruel and unusual punishment


Asserting the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment is preposterous. 
The cruelty is in the vicious acts of the criminals who savagely and without 
remorse, murder innocent victims.

Cruelty forced the desperate attempt of one "lucky" survivor, who having been 
viciously raped, groped naked in a cold winter night, fleeing for her life and 
looking for help. Cruelty and mental torture lie in the anguish, bitterness and 
frustration of the murder victims' families, who wait years for justice and 
closure while their children's murderers slog through the seemingly endless 
appeal process. In the face of all this cruelty and tragic loss, and by 
comparison to the brutality inflicted by the convicted murderer, being put down 
like an animal hardly seems a sufficient punishment.

MARVIN A. BURRIS, Topeka

(source: Letter to the Editor, Topeka Capital Journal)