[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., LA., OKLA., WYO., NEV., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 26



ALABAMA:

2 local capital murder trials set to begin Monday


Lawyers are expected to start jury selection this week in separate capital 
murder cases in 2 Wiregrass counties.

Attorneys Shaun McGhee and T.J. Haywood confirmed they will start jury 
selection Monday for their client 24-year-old Justice Jerrell Knight, who faces 
2 capital murder charges.

Dothan police arrested Knight in March 2012, and charged him with capital 
murder in the course of a robbery and capital murder in the course of a 
kidnapping. Knight has remained held at the Houston County Jail without bail 
pending trial since his arrest.

The trial is expected to be held in front of Circuit Court Judge Brad Mendheim 
at the Houston County Courthouse.

Knight was 1 of 2 people, to include 20-year-old Antwain Wingard, charged with 
capital murder in the killing of 24-year-old Jarvis Daffin on Feb. 3, 2012.

If convicted of either capital murder charge, Knight faces the possibility of 
death sentence or life in prison without parole. If convicted, Wingard will not 
face the death penalty because he was 16 years old at the time of the crime.

McGhee said the defense has asked for a suppression of evidence hearing, which 
will occur before jury selection starts.

District Attorney Doug Valeska was expected to serve as the lead prosecutor for 
the State of Alabama in the Houston County capital murder case.

Lawyers are also expected to start jury selection in a Dale County capital 
murder case filed against Frederick B. Hightower, 59, of Midland City.

Investigators with the Dale County Sheriff's Office arrested Hightower in May 
2014, and charged him with capital murder in the course of a robbery.

The arrest was a joint operation of the Dale County Sheriff's Office and the 
U.S. Marshal's Fugitive Task Force.

Authorities charged Hightower with the stabbing death of 72-year-old Billy Ray 
Jackson at his home on Friar Road in Midland City on Sept. 3, 2005.

Hightower has remained held at the Dale County Jail pending trial since his 
arrest. Records show Hightower will be represented by attorney Susan James.

Dale County District Attorney Kirke Adams confirmed lawyers are expected to 
start the jury selection in the case on Monday at the Dale County Courthouse.

If convicted of the capital murder robbery charge, Hightower faces the 
possibility of death or life in prison without parole.

(source: Dothan Eagle)






LOUISIANA:

The Death Penalty Election: A Louisiana Parish Is Ground Zero for the Capital 
Punishment Debate


In Caddo Parish, Louisiana, a white incumbent squares off against a black 
challenger, with a billionaire and right-wing provocateur looming in the 
shadows.

For a county of around 250,000 residents, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, has 
attracted an outsize share of attention of late: long-form articles in The New 
Yorker and the New York Times, a Super-PAC funded by billionaire George Soros, 
and Saturday's closely watched election for the office of district attorney, 
now headed for a runoff.

Why? Because of Dale Cox, Caddo Parish's interim district attorney (his 
predecessor was found dead in a Baton Rouge hotel of natural causes) and a 
Bible-quoting, revenge-seeking prosecutor who singlehandedly, and proudly, was 
responsible for a third of Louisiana's death row inmates - the vast majority of 
them African Americans.

Cox was not on the ballot; even Cox's fellow conservatives said that he had 
brought "bad press" to Caddo Parish - home to the last capital of the 
Confederacy, with a Confederate monument in front of the county courthouse, 
where lynchings used to be held. "Our community does not need any more 
controversy," Cox told the Shreveport Times, when he decided not to run.

That controversy has focused on a few of Cox's most notorious cases.

There's the murder conviction of Rodricus Crawford, which Cox secured despite 
thin evidence and racist appeals to the all-white jury. (Crawford was convicted 
of murdering his 1-year-old son; Rachel Aviv's long article in the New Yorker 
last summer suggested the death was likely an accident or a result of 
pneumonia.) Last Monday, a group of 100 religious leaders filed an amicus brief 
in Crawford's appeal, protesting Cox's use of Biblical quotations to support 
his argument for death.

Then there's the case of Glen Ford, another black man sent to death row by 
Caddo Parish. He spent 30 years on death row, much of it in solitary 
confinement, before a court declared him innocent in 2014. Ford died of lung 
cancer within a year of being released.

Cox defended the prosecution - on 60 Minutes, no less - and has said that 
Ford's heirs aren't entitled to compensation because Ford didn't tell police 
about the robbery which led to the murder he didn't commit.

At the same time, it's possible that Cox didn't run for office because he has 
his sights set higher. A bit like Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, Cox has already 
become a right-wing media celebrity precisely because the left-wing finds him 
so odious. He's justified the death penalty as an expression of "revenge;" he's 
said "we need to kill more people;" he's said of racism, "I don't get this 
discrimination business, I really don't." And he has a portrait of a 
Confederate general turned Ku Klux Klan leader hanging in his office.

So it's quite possible we have not heard the last of Dale Cox.

But he wasn't on the ballot. 6 other people were, including James Stewart, an 
African American judge who would represent a sea change from Cox and all he 
represents.

That, presumably, is why George Soros gave a quarter of a million dollars to a 
Louisiana Super PAC, which began running ads on Stewart's behalf.

The blowback was predictable. All 5 of the other candidates - joined by the 
parish's Republican party chairman and a local African American radio 
host???held a press conference on the courthouse steps to denounce Soros.

The 2 most important players in this race - billionaire George Soros and 
prosecutor Dale Cox - are not on the ballot.

"George Soros reflects an anti-American sentiment that does not reflect the 
values of Caddo Parish," said the Republican chairman, Louis Avallone.

Stewart, meanwhile, distanced himself from Soros.

"My campaign knows nothing about where the funding for this PAC comes from," he 
said. "Just like my campaign cannot force a PAC to stop a negative ad, my 
campaign cannot stop a positive ad."

Hardly a grateful embrace - but now that the results are in, it seems like the 
money must have helped, or at least didn't hurt. Stewart, who entered the race 
last, finished 1st with 42 % of the vote. His main Republican challenger, Dhu 
Thompson, finished 2nd with 35 %.

The 2 will now be headed for a runoff election.

Both are experienced prosecutors: Stewart served for 35 years as a prosecutor 
and a judge, and Thompson has served as a Caddo Parish prosecutor, leading the 
prosecution of a number of high profile cases.

But Thompson is essentially an incumbent, having worked for Cox as an assistant 
district attorney and having garnered the endorsements of the Republican Party 
of Louisiana. Announcing his candidacy, he said he would "keep Caddo Parish 
safe from violent criminals" - precisely the "law and order" messaging that, 
studies have shown, leads to over-prosecution and a bias toward convictions 
over fairness.

This is not to single out Thompson, or to taint him by association with Cox. 
But it is to say that Thompson represents the status quo, while Stewart 
represents a significant change in the Caddo Parish district attorney's office. 
Fairly or not, the election is largely a referendum on Cox and his 
race-tainted, law-and-order approach to criminal justice.

Which is why Soros has gotten involved in the first place: because this small 
Louisiana county has become a symbol of mass incarceration, the racialized 
nature of prosecutorial power, and capital punishment. There are other places 
in America where prosecutors exclude blacks from juries, prosecute blacks more 
severely than whites, and have a fondness for the death penalty. But Cox's 
statistics are so severe, and his comments so outrageous, that he has become a 
symbol of all of them.

In a sense, then, the 2 most important players in this race - Soros and Cox - 
are not on the ballot, but their competing visions of criminal justice are and 
now they're headed for a runoff.

(source: The Daily Beast)

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

Psychologists disagree on whether man accused of killing Beauregard Town woman 
in 2010 is mentally disabled


A difference of opinion between 2 psychologists who examined a Baton Rouge man 
accused in the 2010 home-invasion slaying of a single mother and wounding of 
her young daughter in Beauregard Town has thrown a monkey wrench into the 
state's plans to seek the death penalty.

Gina Manguno-Mire, a New Orleans psychologist hired by the state to evaluate 
Aramis Jackson, did so in August and concluded in an Oct. 12 report that he is 
not intellectually disabled.

But California psychologist Ricardo Weinstein, who was hired by the defense, 
interviewed the 25-year-old Jackson in December and wrote in a February report 
that he believes Jackson is indeed intellectually disabled.

The issue is critical to East Baton Rouge Parish prosecutors and Jackson's 
court-appointed attorneys alike because the U.S. Supreme Court has barred the 
execution of the intellectually disabled.

Jackson, who is charged with 1st-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 
42-year-old Alexandra Engler and attempted 1st-degree murder in the wounding of 
then-9-year-old Ariana Engler on Sept. 24, 2010, is scheduled to appear Nov. 9 
before state District Judge Tony Marabella.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys involved in the case say there are a number 
of ways the case could play out from this point forward.

One possible scenario is that both sides could reach an agreement that would 
resolve the issue of intellectual disability.

Another option would be to let the matter of Jackson's mental status ride and 
proceed to trial. If he was convicted, the jury would have to decide in the 
sentencing phase whether he is intellectually disabled.

A 3rd option would involve Marabella holding a pretrial hearing and then 
issuing a finding as to whether Jackson is intellectually disabled.

If the judge were to rule in the defense's favor and such a ruling withstood 
any appeal, the case would no longer be a capital murder case and Jackson would 
face an automatic sentence of life in prison if found guilty of 1st-degree 
murder.

If Marabella decided after a hearing that Jackson is not intellectually 
disabled and his decision survived any appeal, the case would continue as a 
capital case with the death penalty as a possible penalty in the event of a 
conviction.

Weinstein, who noted that Jackson attended up to the 7th grade in Baton Rouge, 
received special-education services and has fathered a child, concluded that 
his deficits in intellectual and adaptive functioning are developmental in 
nature and were present prior to the age of 18 - factors that must be found to 
support a determination of intellectual disability.

"It is my opinion to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty that Mr. 
Aramis Jackson fulfills the criteria for the diagnostic of Intellectual 
Developmental Disorder according to the Louisiana State statutory definition," 
he wrote in February.

Jackson's attorneys, David Price and Mario Guadamud, argue Jackson is therefore 
exempt from being sentenced to death if found guilty.

Manguno-Mire also found that Jackson has some significant intellectual 
limitations, but she said he is capable of taking care of his basic needs.

"Although his intellectual functioning was found to be significantly below 
average, the existing data do not suggest a diagnosis of intellectual 
disability," she wrote in her report filed into the court report Oct. 13.

Manguno-Mire's report revealed that Jackson was arrested for the 1st time at 
the age of 11 and that he was arrested nine times by the time he was 17.

He spent time at the Jetson Center for Youth on an aggravated 2nd-degree 
battery charge, her report states.

In the Beauregard Town case, witnesses identified Jackson as the person they 
saw in the area shortly after the crime carrying a gun and a large flat-screen 
television believed stolen from the Engler home on Beauregard Street, police 
have said.

Ariana Engler survived despite being shot multiple times.

(source: The Advocate)






OKLAHOMA:

Oklahomans give overwhelming support to death penalty, poll finds


A poll of 500 registered voters conducted last week by The Oklahoman in 
partnership with Cole Hargrave Snodgrass & Associates found that 67 % of 
Oklahomans support the death penalty, with 49 % expressing strong support.

"(The state) may have made a mistake, but I don't believe they should stop 
doing their duty to society ...," said Elizabeth Heath, 21, of Tulsa, a poll 
respondent who said she supports the death penalty and opposes the moratorium. 
"I do believe they need to have some safe walls, maybe more people checking 
they have the right drugs, but if it's scheduled that they are set to die at 
this particular time, I think it should be carried out."

But support for the death penalty in Oklahoma could be waning.

The poll found that 24 % oppose the death penalty, double the amount of those 
surveyed in a 2014 Tulsa World poll that found 74 % of Oklahomans supported the 
death penalty while only 12 % were in opposition.

A Gallup poll taken earlier this month found that while the majority of 
Americans, 61 %, still support the death penalty, that support is at a 40-year 
low. Of those polled by Gallup, 37 % opposed capital punishment. Support was at 
its highest in the mid-1990s, hovering just below 80 %, and steadily has fallen 
since. A Pew Research Center poll conducted in April showed support at 56 %, 
nationally.

Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a 
group that studies capital punishment in America, said the new polling doesn't 
surprise him considering that both Republicans and Democrats in Oklahoma tend 
to be more conservative than their counterparts nationwide.

"The data suggests to me that Oklahoma is going through the same kind of 
rethinking process that the rest of the country is," Dunham said, noting 
Oklahoma's support is comparable to the nation's in 2001 and is following the 
same downward trend.

1/2 of those polled in The Oklahoman's study also support the state's current 
moratorium on executions. 41 % oppose the moratorium.

Dunham said the suggests people are rethinking their position.

"It's something showing that individuals are concerned about a serious crisis 
in the state's ability to perform the administrative aspects of the death 
penalty," he said.

"You have people who are otherwise strong supporters of the death penalty 
calling for an administrative halt. We're at historic highs in opposition to 
the death penalty, and we're finding that among the individuals who previously 
said that they're unsure ... appear to be moving to the opposed category, in 
contrast with the 70s and 80s, when people who were undecided were inclined to 
move to supporting."

Dunham noted opposition has not been as high as today's since 1972, when the 
U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional.

Oklahoma's moratorium on executions was put in place earlier this month when 
the Court of Criminal Appeals granted a request from Attorney General Scott 
Pruitt to postpone indefinitely the state's three scheduled executions. Two 
weeks later, in a motion jointly filed with public defenders representing death 
row inmates and approved by a federal judge, Pruitt's office agreed to not set 
any executions dates until at least 150 days after a state investigation is 
complete.

The investigation stems from the most recent of several stumbles the state has 
experienced administering capital punishment.

On Sept. 30, a lethal drug mix-up halted the execution of Richard Glossip. 
Convicted of orchestrating the 1997 murder of his boss Barry Alan Van Treese, 
Glossip narrowly had escaped death just 2 weeks earlier, on Sept. 16, when new 
evidence his attorneys claimed supported his innocence was filed with a state 
court. Altogether, his death sentence has been postponed 4 times.

Glossip's Sept. 30 lethal injection was stopped by Gov. Mary Fallin two hours 
before it was set to begin after it was discovered the Oklahoma Department of 
Corrections had received the wrong 3rd drug in its 3-drug lethal cocktail. The 
state was not authorized to use that wrong drug, potassium acetate, because it 
is not allowed for use in the department's protocol. The Oklahoman later 
reported that Charles Warner, an inmate executed in January for the 1999 rape 
and murder of an 11-month-old girl, was executed using potassium acetate, 
according to the toxicology report in his autopsy.

That mistake followed last year's controversial execution of Clayton Lockett. 
Lockett's botched lethal injection was widely reported both in the U.S. and 
internationally after if took the state 43 minutes to execute him. A state 
investigation later concluded the needle used to set Lockett's IV was too 
small, causing the lethal drugs to pool in his muscle tissue, rather than enter 
his veins.

Bobby McGrew, 73, of Oklahoma City, one of those polled, said while he has 
always supported the death penalty, he thinks the state's current moratorium on 
executions is warranted. McGrew said if the state is going to perform 
executions, they must be done in a humane manner.

"It's kind of a 2-edged sword," he said. "We're killing him for killing 
somebody else, but I don't believe we need to kill him the same way he killed 
the other person. If you really look at it, that's what's happening."

Michael Ferguson, 43, of Norman, said he has always been against the death 
penalty. The state's recent problems administering executions has only 
emboldened his stance.

"Really, they've done a pretty bad job," Ferguson said. "Any time you're 
putting somebody to death and it's clear they are in pain and suffering, it's 
pretty much a bungled execution."

The poll found that 62 % of women and 73 % of men supported the death penalty, 
while 80 % of Republicans and 57 % of Democrats were in favor.

Support for capital punishment was stronger in rural areas, with 78 % of those 
polled favoring the death penalty and only 40 % favoring the moratorium. 
Meanwhile, only 56 % of those polled in the state's 2 major metropolitan areas, 
Oklahoma City and Tulsa, favored the death penalty while 58 % support the 
moratorium.

The only groups with a majority opposing the death penalty are Democrats with a 
favorable impression of President Barack Obama, 52 %, and self-described 
liberals, 51 %. Even among those groups, sizeable portions support the death 
penalty.

Newspaper readers are the least supportive of the death penalty, with 58 % in 
favor and 29 % opposed, while those getting their information from local 
television news are the most supportive with 73 % in favor and 20 opposed.

Support for the moratorium increases with age. Only 43 % of those under 45 
support the moratorium, while 54 % of those over 65 do so.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City said he was 
encouraged to see the increase in opposition to capital punishment. The 
Catholic church has taken a strong stance against the death penalty.

"Certainly, I think nationally there is a growing opposition to the use of the 
death penalty, and I'm not sure what the reasons might be nationally, but its 
interesting to see a same trend locally," he said. "It is perhaps linked to 
some of the media coverage of some of the mistakes made in administering lethal 
drugs, but it might be simply that people are questioning whether this is 
necessary and the best thing for our state."

(source: The Oklahoman)

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

Competency trial set for Oklahoman man in woman's beheading


A judge must decide if a man accused of beheading a co-worker at a food 
processing plant in suburban Oklahoma CIty is competent to contribute to his 
own defense on a 1st-degree murder charge.

Alton Nolen, 31, is charged in the knife attack at Vaughan Foods in Moore in 
September last year that killed his 54-year-old co-worker Colleen Hufford. 
Nolen is also charged with assaulty and battery with a deadly weapon in an 
attack on a 2nd colleague, 43-year-old Traci Johnson, who survived.

He has pleaded guilty to both charges. Prosecutors are seeking the death 
penalty.

Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley cannot set a trial date until she 
has determined whether Nolen has the mental capacity to participate in a trial.

To be convicted of a crime, federal law requires that a defendant is able to 
consult with his lawyer and understand the nature of the legal proceedings 
against him. Nolen's defense attorneys claim he is unable to help them prepare 
his defense and thus should not stand trial.

A rare non-jury competency trial is scheduled to begin Monday and could take up 
to 3 days. District Attorney Greg Mashburn said the competency trial will 
include psychological testimony from witnesses for both sides.

Joseph Thai, a professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, says 
determining a defendant's competence for trial is different from determining 
whether a defendant was insane at the time of the offense.

"Due process guarantees a fair trial, and a trial cannot be fair if the accused 
is incapable of assisting in his own defense," Thai said.

Psychological examinations of Nolen have been filed under seal in the case and 
defense attorneys have not said whether they plan to pursue an insanity defense 
if the case goes to trial.

Defense attorney Mitch Solomon did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Investigators said Nolen had just been suspended from Vaughan Foods when he 
walked into the company's administrative office and attacked Hufford with a 
large knife, severing her head. He then repeatedly stabbed Johnson before he 
was shot by Mark Vaughan, a reserve sheriff's deputy and the company's chief 
operating officer.

Authorities have said Nolen had recently converted to Islam and apparently 
uttered Arabic words during the attack. Mashburn has said Nolen had "some sort 
of infatuation with beheadings," but that the attack appeared to have more to 
do with his suspension than his religious conversion.

(source: Associated Press)






WYOMING:

Wyoming teen accused of killing Pryor couple appointed new attorney


A newly appointed federal defender will attempt to spare a Wyoming teenager 
accused of killing a Pryor couple in July from the death penalty.

New court filings show Jesus Deniz Mendoza, 18, will be represented by a new 
attorney who is practiced in capital cases.

The latest documents state that this double homicide case, which carries with 
it a 12-count indictment, qualifies Mendoza for the death penalty.

The recommended attorney is Donald Knight of Littleton, Colorado.

Mendoza is accused of fatally shooting Jason and Tana Shane after the couple 
attempted to give Mendoza a ride.

The couple's daughter escaped.

No word yet on a new trial date.

(source: KTVQ news)



NEVADA:

Closing arguments in Ammar Harris trial expected Monday


A triple murder case that created national news nearly 30 months ago when a 
car-to-car shootout erupted into a ball of explosion and flames at the busiest 
intersection on the Strip, will likely reach a verdict this week in a Las Vegas 
courtroom.

Closing arguments in the Ammar Harris murder trial are scheduled to begin at 
1:30 p.m. Monday before 12 jurors and Judge Kathleen Delaney at the Regional 
Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas.

Harris, a self-proclaimed pimp, could receive the death penalty if convicted. 
His defense called two witnesses to the stand last week, a casino valet manager 
and an expert on stress. It less than an hour, his defense effort in the 
February 2013 deaths was completed. His lawyers tried to make a claim that the 
shooting was in self-defense. Harris did not take the stand.

Prosecutors say Harris shot and killed Kenny "Clutch" Cherry Jr. after pulling 
alongside the victim's Maserati in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 21, 2013.

Cherry's car crashed into a taxi, causing an explosion that killed driver 
Michael Boldon and his passenger, Sandra Sutton-Wasmund of Maple Valley, Wash. 
The cars burned at the intersection of Flamingo and Las Vegas Boulevard, the 
busiest traffic location in the state.

A passenger in the Maserati suffered a minor gunshot wound and survived.

The testimony of a former Harris girlfriend indicated that Harris fired over 
her lap into Cherry's car. She said it was a case of mistaken identity, saying 
Cherry was not the same man that Harris had an altercation with at a club 
earlier in the morning.

Harris faces 3 counts of murder with use of a deadly weapon, 1 count of 
attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon, 2 counts of discharging a firearm 
into a vehicle, and 5 counts of discharging a firearm out of a vehicle.

If convicted, a penalty phase of the trial would be determined, possibly 
resulting in a death sentence.

Originally, officials expected up to 5 weeks of testimony, but the trial has 
taken less than 2 weeks.

(source: KSNV news)






CALIFORNIA:

Book in Common: 2 talks on criminal justice this week at Chico State


2 talks take place this week at Chico State University related to the Book in 
Common "Just Mercy."

Writer Bryan Stevenson has spent his legal career defending people on death row 
and locked up for life. Many of the stories are heartbreaking, including a man 
wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row, life sentences for children as 
young as 13 and cases of mentally ill people given the death sentence. The Book 
in Common takes place each year, and the community is asked to read the same 
book. A series of talks and/or other activities are held, and the author speaks 
at Chico State. Students at Chico State also will focus on the criminal justice 
system as the "Great Debate" program on campus.

Talk Monday afternoon

A panel discussion on the criminal justice system takes place from 4-5:30 p.m. 
in Performing Arts Center Room 144 at Chico State. The speakers and topics 
include:

-- Jon Caudill, criminal continuity among homicide offenders

-- Darin Haerle, adultification: sentencing youth into adulthood

-- Sarah Smith, patriarchy, paternalism, or just plain punishment?

-- Michael Coyle, sentencing in the age of the prison industrial complex

-- Doris Schartmueller, the U.S. Supreme Court and major sentencing decisions

-- Alan Gibson, constitutionality of the death penalty.

Tuesday lecture

The International Forum lecture, 4-5 p.m. in Ayres, 120, will be on "Justice 
and Mercy Across Religions." Speakers include Jason Clower, Daniel Veidlinger 
and Greg Cootsna, from comparative religions and humanities.

Other events

Nov. 6 is the Chico Great Debate on criminal justice issues, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. 
in City Plaza and the City Council Chambers.

Throughout the day, students from various communication studies classes will 
give presentations and conduct debates focused on criminal justice issues. The 
main debate in the evening focuses on the death penalty.

Dec. 7 will be a social justice fair, 1-4 p.m. in Trinity Commons at Chico 
State.

Students will display class projects focused on social justice issues.

April 19, author Stevenson will speak at Laxson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tickets 
are free in advance for students and can be purchases through Chico 
Performances, http://www.csuchico.edu/upe/performance

(source: chicoer.com)






USA:

Scalia's death penalty comments in a global perspective


Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's comments last week on the death 
penalty's future in the United States grabbed more than a few headlines, and it 
could signal a future where America joins a majority of nations that outlaw 
capital punishment.

Scalia is one of the most-vocal death penalty supporters on the Supreme Court, 
but he has publicly doubted the course of capital punishment cases in recent 
months.

In June, Scalia wrote a strong concurrence in Glossip v. Gross, a case about 
lethal injection protocols. He was upset with a dissent from Justice Stephen 
Breyer (with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joining) claiming that the death 
penalty was unconstitutional under the Constitution's Eighth Amendment 
prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.

"His argument is full of internal contradictions and (it must be said) 
gobbledy-gook," Scalia said about Breyer. "Capital punishment presents moral 
questions that philosophers, theologians, and statesmen have grappled with for 
millennia. The Framers of our Constitution disagreed bitterly on the matter. 
For that reason, they handled it the same way they handled many other 
controversial issues: they left it to the People to decide," Scalia argued.

But last week, in a speech at the University of Minnesota, people in the 
audience heard a candid Scalia speak about the death penalty's future in 
America.

Scalia said that the recent death penalty cases decided at the Supreme Court 
have made it "practically impossible to impose [the death penalty] but we have 
not formally held it to be unconstitutional" and he also said "it wouldn't 
surprise me if it did" become a thing of past in America.

Scalia's words have weight and court observers remember similar comments the 
Justice made about the future of same-sex marriage bans in 2003, more than a 
decade before the Court outlawed the bans this June.

In the landmark Lawrence v. Texas case, Scalia asked, "What justification could 
there possibly be for denying the benefits of marriage to homosexual couples?" 
as he questioned the logic used by Justice Anthony Kennedy in overturning a 
Texas statute that made it a crime for 2 persons of the same sex to engage in 
intimate sexual conduct.

If Justice Scalia is prescient, and the death penalty is held unconstitutional 
or becomes impossible to impose, the United States would join a majority of 
global nations that don't use capital punishment.

In his Glossip opinion, Justice Breyer noted that only 22 countries carried out 
executions in 2013, citing data from the International Commission Against Death 
Penalty Review.

"I note, however, that many nations - indeed, 95 of the 193 members of the 
United Nations - have formally abolished the death penalty and an additional 42 
have abolished it in practice," Breyer wrote.

But important exceptions remain. China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq performed 
more executions than the United States in 2014.

The issue of the United States executions received attention last month, when 
Pope Francis visited the east coast of the United States and told Congress that 
the death penalty should be abolished.

"I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every 
human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only 
benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes," Francis said in 
a speech at a joint meeting of the House and Senate, with several Supreme Court 
Justices also in attendance.

In the current term, the Supreme Court will hear at least three cases related 
to the Eight Amendment and procedures related to capital cases. And in the 
arguments heard in court so far, the deep division in the court over the issue 
was very public.

It's not expected the Court would rule on the death penalty's fate in the near 
future, but the issues of the Eighth Amendment and capital punishment will 
undoubtedly be among the most-discussed topics of the Court's current term.

(source: Scott Bomboy is the editor in chief of the National Constitution 
Center.)

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

One death doesn't make up for another


In a historic address last month before the U.S. Congress, Pope Francis called 
for the abolition of capital punishment. Pope Francis became the 1st pontiff to 
speak to a joint meeting of Congress. He said nothing can justify the use of 
capital punishment, and there is no "right" way to humanely kill another 
person. The Pope's position is not surprising, since he has long been an 
opponent of capital punishment and also has spoken out against life 
incarceration.

Capital punishment is legal in 31 states, with about 3,002 inmates awaiting 
execution. The majority of Americans favor capital punishment, and Catholics 
also favor it, though by slightly smaller numbers than the general public.

However, capital punishment is on the decline, with fewer executions and death 
sentences annually. Still, the U.S. remains among the world's leaders in 
capital punishment, according to Amnesty International. Recently, Supreme Court 
Justice Antonin Scalia said he wouldn't be surprised if the nation's highest 
court invalidated capital punishment, when he addressed the University of 
Minnesota Law School. He said the Supreme Court has increasingly made it 
difficult to impose the death penalty. Scalia is the court's longest-tenured 
justice in his 30th year of service.

Fundamentally, I have a problem with the death penalty, too. I always have had 
one, even when I was in law enforcement. When I was a rookie deputy sheriff, I 
made the mistake of openly expressing my opinion on the matter one day. A 
senior officer, upon hearing me articulate my reservations, became furious with 
me. He declared that if I didn't support the death penalty, I had no business 
in law enforcement.

I didn't change my views; however, I decided it was probably in my best 
interest to keep my beliefs to myself during my tenure working for the sheriff. 
I know other African-American law enforcement officers with views similar to 
mine. It appeared to me that white officers were more likely to support capital 
punishment compared to black officers.

An African-American friend of mine, Ronald Hampton, executive director of the 
National Black Police Association International Leadership Institute, agrees 
with me. He put it this way: "All the money that we spend on the death penalty 
every year, I can imagine what that money can be involved in, if we used it in 
education and training for police . investing in things that can make a 
difference in our community."

Hampton is a 23-year veteran of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. 
Fortunately, there are indications a lot of the old-school thinking and methods 
of policing are on their way out. Support for the death penalty among law 
enforcement is not what it once was. There is a progressive group of more than 
130 top law enforcement officials and prosecutors called Law Enforcement 
Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration. They are calling for fundamental 
changes in crime and punishment in the U.S.

"Police departments cannot be at war with the communities they serve," said Los 
Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck.

"The criminal justice system is not really broken. It's producing the results 
it was designed to produce, and those are the wrong results. We have to change 
the way we think about crime," said Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy.

Beck and McCarthy represent the new face of policing in the 21st century. This 
new attitude toward modern-day policing is also probably a clear sign that 
capital punishment will soon be a relic of the past.

The pope said, "Capital punishment does not render justice to the victims, but 
rather fosters vengeance."

Personal experience

It's hard not to agree with him. Murder is a radically different death 
experience for a family. I know firsthand. My youngest brother was murdered in 
2011. It was a senseless killing. A young man shot him in the back. My brother 
never saw it coming. The crime occurred in the District of Columbia, and my 
family chose me to represent them as the liaison to communicate with the Victim 
Witness Assistance Unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the prosecutors. 
Capital punishment was never a consideration by prosecutors, and if it had 
been, we were all in agreement that taking another life wasn't going to remedy 
our pain.

However, I realize family members of murder victims require a lot of healing, 
and I can certainly understand those who want vengeance. But unfortunately, 
some prosecutors skillfully use that retaliation for their political purposes.

Sadly, sometimes in their zeal for a high-profile conviction, they prosecute 
the wrong person. While an execution may signal the end of the criminal justice 
system's involvement in prosecuting the crime, it does not end the road of 
recovery for the victim's family. One cruel death cannot recompense for the 
loss of a loved one. That's all capital punishment does.

(source: Troy Williams is an independent management consultant. He can be heard 
on the "What's Going On" radio program on WIDU 1600 AM weekdays from 8 to 9 
a.m----Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer)

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

Gang Member Charged With 2000 Murder Of I-84 Motorist In Danbury


A Danbury man was indicted on federal murder charges in the death of a motorist 
on I-84 in 2000 in a case of mistaken identity as part of a gang-related 
incident, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut announced.

The 3 3-count indictment was returned Thursday, charging Alex Garcia, 37, with 
murder, assault and a firearms offense related to the Jan. 17, 2000, slaying of 
Mark Rebong in Danbury.

At 11:02 p.m. Jan. 17, 2000, Mark Rebong was discovered in the driver's seat of 
an idling vehicle near Exit 2 off I-84 in Danbury. He had had been shot once in 
the head and died.

The indictment alleges that Garcia, who was then a member of the Almighty Latin 
King and Queen Nation ("Latin Kings"), murdered. Rebong in order to maintain or 
increase his position in the Latin Kings and for pecuniary gain.

"In a tragic case of mistaken identity, Mark Rebong, who was neither a member 
of a gang nor engaged in any criminal activity, was shot and killed as he drove 
to work," said U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly. "I want to commend the dedicated law 
enforcement investigators for their relentless search for those responsible for 
this senseless murder.

"Although over 15 years have passed, the law enforcement team never forgot 
Mark. We hope that this indictment brings his family some small measure of 
solace."

The indictment charges Garcia with the murder in aid of racketeering of Rebong. 
If convicted, Garcia faces either a mandatory sentence of life in prison or the 
death penalty, should the government seek the death penalty.

The indictment also charges Garcia with assault resulting in serious bodily 
injury in aid of racketeering of Rebong. If convicted, he faces 20 years in 
prison.

On the charge of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence 
resulting in Rebong's death, Garcia faces either life in prison or the death 
penalty.

Garcia is currently in custody serving an unrelated state prison sentence.

The case was investigated by Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven District 
Office, the Danbury Police Department and the Connecticut State Police Western 
District Major Crime Squad, with assistance from the Connecticut Department of 
Correction and the Danbury State's Attorney's Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Lee Dayton.

(source: Daily Voice)