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

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 20



ARKANSAS:

Eyes on AR Supreme Court as Execution Date Nears


Bruce Ward and Don Davis are scheduled to die by lethal injection on Wednesday.

On Monday, the Arkansas Department of Correction laid out a timeline saying the 
executions will take place at 7:00 p.m. and at 8:00 p.m. at the Cummins Unit 
near the state's death row facility in Lincoln County.

"I think that it's time that we get on with it," said State Sen. David Sanders, 
R-Little Rock. "And I don't say that rejoicingly."

While Gov. Asa Hutchinson has set execution dates for 8 inmates, Circuit Judge 
Wendell Griffen issued a stay earlier this month.

It was requested by the inmates' lawyers who have filed a lawsuit over the 
state's death penalty law.

"These inmates should have their day in court," said Furonda Brasfield, 
Executive Director of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. 
"These issues should be fully litigated."

In a slew of motions filed late last week, lawyers representing inmates accused 
ADC of a "rush to execute the prisoners" pointing to what they say are "bona 
fide" legal challenges that still remain.

Lawyers with the Arkansas Attorney General's Office countered saying the state 
has been "embroiled in litigation" with prisoners filed to "delay the state 
from carrying out their death sentences."

The state also included in the filings redacted pictures of the lethal 
injection drugs.

Part of the prisoners' lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of a state law 
keeping the providers of the drugs secret.

"What we're witnessing at this point is a desire to kill at any cost," 
Brasfield said.

"I think it's a punishment we need," Sanders said of the death penalty. "I 
think it's a punishment that the people of Arkansas certainly support."

An ADC spokesperson said the agency is moving forward as if the executions will 
take place Wednesday.

That includes allowing the condemned prisoners to pick their last meal and 
provide the ability for family members of the victim to view the execution if 
they choose.

(source: arkansasmatters.com)

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

Perez-Lopez capital murder case reset


A capital murder trial for a Springdale man again was rescheduled Monday.

Juan Pablo Perez-Lopez's case was reset to Jan. 7 in Washington County Circuit 
Court. Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay will hear the case.

Perez-Lopez, 29, told police he stabbed Jesus Cecilio Villalobos, a Springdale 
auto mechanic, about 20 times Feb. 13, 2013, according to court records.

Motorists called Springdale police about 2 men fighting on Huntsville Avenue 
and said 1 of them had a knife and was riding away on a bicycle.

Police found Perez-Lopez on a bicycle with a knife and bloody hands, then found 
Villalobos, 48, in a parking lot with multiple stab wounds to his chest and his 
throat cut, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Perez-Lopez's trial is being delayed because results from a second mental 
evaluation to determine if he's fit to stand trial have not been received. An 
earlier examination at the Arkansas State Hospital found Perez-Lopez fit for 
trial.

Perez-Lopez has pleaded not guilty. He's being held in the Washington County 
jail without bond, which is typical in capital cases.

Perez-Lopez faces either life in prison without parole or the death penalty if 
convicted. Prosecutors haven't said whether they will seek the death penalty.

The case has been delayed numerous times to allow for evidence to be processed, 
a change in judges and for mental evaluations.

(source: nwaonline.com)






OKLAHOMA:

Moratorium of Oklahoma Execution Cases [legal analysis]


The State of Oklahoma has "administratively closed" the capital murder case 
against Richard Glossip, who was convicted for the 1997 death of Barry Van 
Treese in an Oklahoma City motel. The State effectively ended litigation on 
Friday, October 16 with an agreed dismissal, but it may resume as early as next 
year, subject to further review and multi-county grand jury investigation of 
the lethal injection process.

The Developing Case

Attorney General Scott Pruitt of the OAG announced on Friday:

As I have previously stated, my office is conducting a full and thorough 
investigation into all aspects of the Department of Corrections' handling of 
executions. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) granted the state's 
request for an indefinite stay of all scheduled executions."

The agreement places a hold on all executions in the state for an indefinite 
period. During this time the state will resume its investigation of the 
consistently botched use of an unauthorized cocktail of execution drugs, 
including the improper use of potassium acetate instead of the mandated 
3rd-step drug potassium chloride, which stops the heart. Potassium acetate was 
improperly used in the execution of Charles Warner in January, as revealed in a 
recently disclosed autopsy report.

Trichard glossip oklahoma executionhe execution drug scandal intensified upon 
disclosure of Warner's autopsy report because the improper drug cocktail was 
nearly used again to execute Glossip on September 30 - until prison officials 
discovered the mistake. This occurred just 2 hours before Glossip's 3rd 
appointment with death.

In the interest of "judicial economy and comity," according to the OAG???s 
legal documents filed in federal court in Glossip v. Gross, scheduled 
executions will be held in abeyance pending the outcome of the state's 
investigation and implementing the necessary changes to the execution drug 
protocol. Pruitt also commented,

My office does not plan to ask the court to set an execution date until the 
conclusion of its investigation. This makes it unnecessary at this time to 
litigate the legal questions at issue in Glossip v. Gross."

Dale Baich, Glossip's attoney, said in response to the OAG's decision,

We've always been concerned about transparency in the process of carrying out 
executions ... Hopefully these investigations that Oklahoma intends to pursue 
will get to the bottom of what went wrong over the last year."

Meanwhile, former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who is representing 
the state Department of Corrections (DOC), requested on Thursday that the state 
attorney general's multi-county grand jury quash subpoenas of prison records 
and depositions of his clients, including DOC director Robert Patton. Edmonson 
stated,

The most significant (reason) is there's been no allegation of a crime, and 
it???s beyond the jurisdiction of the multi-county grand jury. In my opinion, 
and I think the law supports that, that they can't just do a performance audit 
... There has to be an allegation of a crime. And I don't see one there."

The DOC hired Edmondson as an advisory attorney to provide legal counsel during 
the course of the investigation at the discounted rate of $300 per hour, 
pursuant to his attorney-client agreement. The next meeting of the grand jury 
will be convened on Tuesday, October 20.

3 appointments with death

During his 18 years on death row at the notorious "H" Block of McAlester's 
maximum security state prison, Glossip has adamantly maintained his actual 
innocence in a killing carried out alone by the motel's handyman, Justin Sneed, 
who testified against Glossip in exchange for a plea deal of life without 
parole to escape the death penalty. Glossip has been within hours of execution 
three times this year before finally winning a stay, due to the mixup of drugs 
in the lethal cocktail.

This year's bungled executions involving the wrong drug, potassium acetate, 
fall on the heels of the raging catastrophe following the torturous execution 
in April 2014 of Clayton Lockett. The execution was described as a "bloody 
mess" and like a "horror movie." It resulted from an incorrect insertion of the 
IV needle - subcutaneously rather than intravenously - and without the 
properly-sized needle and ultra-sound tracking machine. This resulted in 43 
minutes of agonizing pain for Lockett - he finally died due to the potassium 
chloride and cardiac arrest.

This breakthrough in a tense legal battle of Glossip's attorneys to save their 
client's life, and those of 3 other inmates scheduled to die, marks a decisive 
victory for opponents of the death penalty who may have won the battle - but 
have not yet won the war. The agreement postpones executions until as early as 
Spring of 2016 and possibly a year from now because of the benchmarks that the 
State must meet before any executions may be rescheduled.

In any event, executions will not be rescheduled until at least 150 days 
following the announcement of the State's conclusions in the extended 
investigation. Dale Baich, Glossip's attorney and a challenger of the State's 
protocol, said, "We agreed to stay the federal case until any investigations 
are completed and other benchmarks are met."

The U.S. Supreme Court in the Fall 2015 session will again take up review of 
the constitutionality of capital punishment in America. Another decision will 
decide whether the ultimate sentence meets society's standards of decency and 
whether there's any penological purpose in carrying out public executions.

And there's no more murder 1 cases, either ...

Following aNewDomain's careful review of criminal trial docket sheets in dozens 
of Oklahoma counties on the Oklahoma Supreme Court Network (OSCN), the court 
records show only 2 recently-filed murder 1 cases in recent months alleging a 
bill of particulars claiming aggravating circumstances to support imposition of 
the death penalty. These aggravators must be shown to be "death eligible." This 
was alleged in Glossip's case, and is labeled as such when the jury finds that 
the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel or that the defendant 
remains a continuing threat to society, among other factors.

>From dozens of death penalty cases making their way through the complex 
appellate process, the state has vastly curbed filing new capital cases. This 
is principally due to lack of funds and personnel.

The reduction of death penalty cases indicates a form of self-correcting 
mechanism in the criminal justice system - not reported in the mainstream media 
- that prosecutor's offices cannot afford to invest their limited human and 
economic resources to go the distance prosecuting death penalty cases in 
pursuit of executions against the "condemned and the damned," as referred to by 
the legendary criminal trial attorney, Clarence Darrow.

Since prosecutors have developed such growing reluctance to file murder 1 cases 
as "death eligible," given these practical considerations and the overall 
failure of the death penalty experiment, the conventional wisdom supports the 
conclusion that if the state "doesn't use it, they should lose it."

(source: Jim Kelly, anewdomain.net)






NEBRASKA:

Killing people is wrong; abolish the death penalty


Republican leadership in Nebraska got legislation introduced and passed to 
abolish the death penalty there. They made t3 telling arguments against capital 
punishment.

It wastes millions because it costs more than life without parole. It risks 
executing innocent people because convictions are rarely 100 % certain. It 
violates pro-life principles because pro-life advocates should not be about 
killing people.

Others point out that the death penalty is applied unfairly with regard to race 
and economic status. Only about 1 in 100 murders results in a death sentence, 
so those who do get the death penalty are usually poor people or people of 
color.

Perhaps we should all be telling state senators and representatives that it's 
time to stop killing people who kill people to show people that killing people 
is wrong.

Nathaniel Batchelder

Oklahoma City

(source: Letter to the Editor, Winfield (Kan.) Daily Courier)






NEVADA:

Man testifies against brother at death penalty trial


Robert Sitton's testimony could help determine whether his brother is sentenced 
to death.

Prosecutors say the siblings killed a 68-year-old man, viciously beating him 
with their fists and stomping on his back, leaving him to die inside his 
northwest valley home.

Robert Sitton, 38, quickly turned on his older brother and agreed to cooperate 
with authorities. He could be released from behind bars in as little as 5 
years.

Will Sitton, 52, faces the death penalty.

On Monday, almost 6 years to the day after Brian Haskell was killed in his 
northwest valley bedroom, the younger Sitton took the witness stand and 
described the killing in detail.

He said he received a call from his brother on Oct. 29, 2009 saying they would 
move Will Sitton's girlfriend, Jacquie Schafer, 51, out of the condominium 
where she was living with Haskell.

"My first instinct was I thought I was going to have to fight," Robert Sitton 
told jurors.

When they arrived at the complex near Rainbow and Oakey boulevards, Schafer had 
already packed some of her things. Will Sitton told his brother to put on a 
pair of mechanic's gloves.

They stood by Haskell's bedroom door, and listened to Haskell and Schafer talk. 
The younger Sitton said he checked to see if the door was locked just before 
his brother pushed it open.

Haskell was sitting on his bed in a robe and boxers.

Robert Sitton said his brother "squats down in front of him, and says, 'You got 
something coming,' and gave him a right hook to the eye."

Schafer started rifling through Haskell's room, retrieving $80 from a jacket 
pocket.

She also punched him in the face, nose, mouth and eye, claiming he had groped 
her in front of her daughter, Sitton testified.

The brothers then took turns attacking Haskell, who attempted to fight back, 
using their fists and stomping on his back until he stopped breathing. The 
younger Sitton admitted to punching Haskell "five or six times" in the face and 
holding his foot on Haskell's back. The trio stole his black Cadillac, 
flat-screen television, a few coins, cellphone, cigarettes and a bottle of Jack 
Daniels, according to his testimony.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Bluth asked why he decided to testify against his 
brother.

"It was just time to man up," he said. "I manned up and spoke the truth." The 
crime, he added, was "eating at my conscience."

He said he wouldn't have been involved in the killing if it weren't for his 
brother.

"I feel that I shouldn't have been there," the younger Sitton said. "I feel 
that he put me in a position that's between a rock and a hard place."

Will Sitton is on trial alongside Schafer, also known as Jackie Napoli. Both 
face a series of charges, including first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and 
conspiracy.

Defense lawyers for the 2 both tried to paint the younger Sitton as a liar. 
Immediately after the killing, he wanted to leave the state and escape 
prosecution. He admitted on the stand Monday that he lied in his initial 
statements to police. He said he was "blackout drunk" during the killing but 
remembers the violence in vivid detail.

"You initially wanted to flee," Schafer's attorney, Josh Tomsheck, asked 
Sitton. "You wanted to avoid responsibility?"

"Yes," he replied.

"You took great steps, by your own admission, to cover your own tracks because 
you wanted to get away with what you had done."

Through further questioning, attorney Christopher Oram, who represents the 
elder sibling, tried to show that Robert Sitton acted alone in the killing.

"Do you see, everything you've described, sir, only took one person?" Oram 
said. "You see that, don't you?"

Haskell's body was found about 2 weeks after the beating.

A jury could decide by next week whether Will Sitton should be executed.

Prosecutors say they are seeking capital punishment for Sitton in part because 
of his violent past. In Clark County, he has 3 felony and gross misdemeanor 
convictions dating back to 1994, according to court records. In each of those 
cases, sexual assault charges were pleaded down to lesser counts. Schafer faces 
life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In exchange for his testimony, Robert Sitton agreed to plead guilty to 
2nd-degree murder, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years to life, 
plus a mandatory additional 1 to 20 years because of the victim's age.

He has been incarcerated at the Clark County Detention Center since Nov. 2009, 
and could be released by 2020 if given the minimum sentence. After the trial, 
he hopes to serve the rest of his prison time in Oklahoma, where other family 
members live.

(source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)