[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., S.C., OKLA., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 3



TEXAS:

Records: Man linked to Samantha Dean case charged with capital murder


A man police believe VonTrey Clark hired to kill Samantha Dean has been charged 
with capital murder in her death, a law enforcement official said.

Kevin Leo Watson, 31, had been in the Harris County Jail since April on an 
unrelated drug charge. Watson is 1 of 2 men that police believe former Austin 
police officer VonTrey Clark hired to kill Dean, according to court documents. 
The location of the other suspect, Freddie Lee Smith, 29, was unknown.

Police believe Watson is a longtime associate of Clark's. Investigators 
connected Watson and Smith to the case earlier through cellphone records of 
so-called burner phones that police suspect were used to coordinate Dean's 
killing. Police uncovered that link after tracking down Aaron Lamont Williams, 
another Clark associate who police say sent a threatening text message to an 
Austin police employee who knew Dean, court documents said.

While in the Bastrop County Jail in June, Williams told investigators that 
Clark had offered $5,000 for Dean's death to avoid paying child support for her 
unborn child. Watson and Smith committed the killing with Clark present, 
setting the scene up to look like a drug deal gone bad, according to court 
documents.

Williams, 32, was charged with retaliation in connection with the threatening 
text message. He was released from the jail in June, records showed.

Watson's girlfriend Kyla Fisk, 50, has also been connected to the case. Fisk 
was also still in the Harris County Jail on Thursday on a charge of tampering 
with evidence. Police believe she hid from investigators clothing that Watson 
wore during Dean's murder.

Earlier: The president of the Austin police union, who has so far been silent 
about the murder investigation involving one of his officers said prosecutors 
should consider the death penalty against VonTrey Clark if he is convicted in 
Samantha Dean's death.

In his first public comment about the case Thursday, Austin Police Association 
President Ken Casaday said "this whole ordeal has been very trying for the 
Austin Police Department and a tragedy for Samantha Dean's family. VonTrey 
Clark is our member and we hope he gets a fair trial, and if he is convicted, 
the state should consider the death penalty."

Clark was fired from the Austin police force in July. Dean was a crime victims 
counselor working for the Kyle Police Department.

Casaday's comments come after the former patrol officer returned to Texas late 
Wednesday in the custody of FBI agents and was handed over to Bastrop County 
officials. Federal and local law enforcement will publicly address the case at 
a planned news conference at the Bastrop County Sheriff's office at 1:30 p.m. 
Thursday.

(source: Austin American-Statesman)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Gov. Wolf made the right call on death penalty moratorium


When Gov. Tom Wolf put executions on hold in Pennsylvania, I joined many of my 
colleagues in publicly supporting this reasonable and appropriate action.

The state Senate's bipartisan Pennsylvania Advisory Committee and Task Force on 
Capital Punishment requested that no executions should take place until their 
study of the death penalty in Pennsylvania is complete.

Wolf was absolutely correct to ensure he has all the information and the 
committee's recommendations before proceeding with an execution.

In using his constitutional reprieve power to delay executions pending the 
outcome of the study, he followed the lead of numerous other governors - both 
Republican and Democrat - across the nation.

I have served as a Judge, prosecutor and public defender in Pennsylvania 
courtrooms, and I am strongly invested in making our system of justice work.

Like many of my colleagues, I am highly concerned about the fairness of the 
capital punishment system. There are multiple, serious problems with the death 
penalty in our Commonwealth as it functions now.

Even a cursory look at three issues reveals some of the problems. For example, 
the reversals of most death sentences, the poor compensation of public 
defenders in capital cases, and the racial bias in Pennsylvania's imposition of 
death sentences are all areas in dire need of improvement.

The ultimate horror would be the execution of an innocent person.

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the death penalty, information 
was shared by a deputy Philadelphia district attorney and a representative of 
the Death Penalty Information Center on the impact Gov. Tom Wolf's death 
penalty moratorium on capital cases making their way through the federal 
appeals process.

Of the more than 400 death sentences imposed in Pennsylvania since 1978, the 
majority have later been reversed on appeal, due to serious flaws or misconduct 
at trial. This rate of error is of great concern to many professionals in the 
criminal justice system.

Trials must be fair and reliable, but the reversals of so many death sentences 
prove that far too many individuals received unfair and unwarranted sentences 
of death. If we are to continue to have capital punishment, we must ensure that 
it is used fairly and without error.

When the poor are charged with a crime and cannot afford an attorney, they have 
a constitutional right to a lawyer, which must be paid for by the Commonwealth.

But Pennsylvania's capital public defenders are among the lowest-paid in the 
nation. In many cases, this leads to death penalty trials where the 
least-equipped, least-resourced attorneys represent people with the most at 
stake.

Our low pay scale can result in low-quality lawyering where only the highest 
standard fits the gravity of the possible sentence at hand ??? the taking of a 
human life by the state.

There is unquestionably an element of racial bias in the imposition of the 
death penalty. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Committee on Racial and Gender 
Bias in the Justice System found that our state was second only to Louisiana in 
the percentage of African Americans on death row.

The Death Penalty Information Center reports that as of April 1, 2015, 100 of 
the 184 men on death row in Pennsylvania are African American, and yet African 
Americans make up only about ten percent of Pennsylvania's population.

Disturbingly, the same Supreme Court Committee also found that "1/3 of the 
African American death-row inmates in Philadelphia County would have received 
life imprisonment if they had not been African American."

The death penalty is meant to exist as a punishment for only the "the worst of 
the worst" cases and offenders.

Even a preliminary look at how capital punishment is functioning in our state 
reveals that other factors - such as the quality of counsel assigned to those 
facing the death penalty and the race of the offender or victim - are far 
better barometers of whether death will be imposed. Such a reality is 
absolutely unacceptable.

There have already been innocent men exonerated from Pennsylvania's death row. 
There could potentially be others out there.

The ultimate horror for anyone involved in the criminal justice system would be 
the execution of an innocent person. It is essential that we do everything in 
our power to ensure that never happens. We need to assess the flaws in the 
system and analyze what could be done to address them.

The suspension of executions is an appropriate use of the executive power and 
is in line with recent actions taken by the governors of numerous other states.

If we are to have the penalty of death imposed on citizens by Pennsylvania, we 
should use every tool available to make capital punishment as fair as it can 
possibly be.

(source: Robert Cindrich is a former U.S. District Judge for the Western 
District of Pennsylvania and the former U.S. Attorney for Pennsylvania's 
Western District----pennlive.com)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Death penalty upheld for Wilmington man convicted of murder


A Superior Court judge has upheld the death penalty for a Wilmington man 
convicted of killing 3 people in 1996.

The ruling, handed down on Tuesday, denied Shan Carter's motion seeking a 
retrial based on new DNA evidence he claimed would exonerate him.

The court found the results of the post-conviction DNA testing -- which was a 
new method of testing old evidence -- only confirmed the pre-trial testing that 
the State has no physical evidence linking Carter to the crime.

The judge therefore ruled Carter's motion for a new trial be denied as the 
trial jury was aware of all the evidence the State possessed at the time of his 
conviction.

In December of 1996, Donald Brunson's body was found in a wooded area off Holly 
Shelter Road. An investigation revealed Brunson was kidnapped and killed after 
a home invasion and robbery.

A few months later, a shooting on Dawson Street rocked the Wilmington 
community. Tyrone Baker was targeted and shot multiple times, and 8-year-old 
Demetrius Greene was caught in the crossfire. Both of the victims died as a 
result of their injuries.

Shan Carter was taken into custody for the crimes a few days later. He was 
eventually charged with the murders of Greene, Baker, and Brunson and convicted 
of all 3.

He received life in prison for the Brunson murder. He received the death 
penalty for the murders of Baker and Greene.

"Shan Carter was convicted by 2 different New Hanover County Juries of killing 
3 people, including, a completely innocent child," said District Attorney Ben 
David. "The juries' 2 death sentences were appropriate nearly 15 years ago when 
I tried these cases and they are still appropriate today. We thank Judge Hooks 
for upholding the juries' verdicts and insuring that Shan Carter remains on 
death row."

(source: WECT news)






SOUTH CAROLINA:

Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty for Dylann Roof in Charleston Shootings


State prosecutors have said in court documents that they will seek the death 
penalty for Dylann S. Roof, who is charged with the racially motivated murders 
of 9 people in a church in Charleston, S.C., The Associated Press reported 
Thursday.

After the June 17 massacre of black ministers and parishioners at Emanuel 
African Methodist Episcopal Church, it emerged that the suspect, Mr. Roof, 21, 
who is white, had expressed white supremacist views and hatred of black people.

Mr. Roof has been indicted twice for the killings, in state court and in 
federal court, and each of those cases carries a possible death sentence. Until 
the court filing Thursday by Scarlett A. Wilson, the South Carolina state 
solicitor overseeing the case, neither set of prosecutors had said publicly 
whether they would seek to have him executed, but state officials, including 
Gov. Nikki R. Haley, have said emphatically that the case warrants the death 
penalty.

The documents said prosecutors would pursue the death penalty because more than 
2 people were killed, and that others' lives were put at risk, The A.P. 
reported.

According to the report, prosecutors said they intended to present evidence on 
Mr. Roof's mental state, adult and juvenile criminal record and other conduct, 
as well as his apparent lack of remorse for the killings.

A lone gunman walked into the historic church in downtown Charleston, and sat 
in a Bible study session for almost an hour before drawing a .45-caliber 
semiautomatic handgun, and shooting people ranging in age from 26 to 87.

The slaughter drew international attention, prompting debate about race and 
guns - all the more so for taking place in a city that was the center of the 
American slave trade and the flash point of the Civil War, and in a church 
closely identified with the abolition and civil rights movements.

Published pictures of Mr. Roof, 21, posing with the Confederate battle flag, 
also renewed debates about the use of that flag and other symbols of the Old 
South, and within days, both chambers of the South Carolina General Assembly 
voted to remove the banner from the State House grounds.

Mr. Roof indicated in federal court on July 31 that he wanted to plead guilty, 
but his lawyers said he could not make such a plea without knowing whether it 
could bring on the death penalty.

It remains unclear whether the federal or the state case against Mr. Roof will 
proceed first. Usually, when such cases overlap, the 2 sets of prosecutors 
reach an agreement between them on what order they will go in, but no such 
accord has been announced for Mr. Roof.

(source: New York Times)






OKLAHOMA----impending execution

Death penalty opponents urge governor to delay OSP execution


Family and supporters of a condemned Oklahoma death row inmate have delivered 
more than 250,000 online petitions to Oklahoma's governor, urging her to grant 
a 60-day stay of execution.

Richard Eugene Glossip is to be executed Sept. 16 for his role in the 1997 
beating death of a motel owner, but Glossip's supporters maintain he is 
innocent.

Glossip's case has received international attention since actress Susan 
Sarandon, who played a death penalty opponent in the movie "Dead Man Walking," 
took up his cause. The woman Sarandon portrayed in the movie, anti-death 
penalty advocate Sister Helen Prejean, helped deliver the petitions Thursday to 
Gov., Mary Fallin's office.

Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz says the governor is convinced of Glossip's guilt 
and that the state is planning to move forward with his execution.

(source: Associated Press)






USA:

Murder Victim Families Can Change President on Death Penalty


President Obama, according to his former law professor, Harvard's Charles 
Ogletree Jr., is close to opposing the death penalty. I've worked to abolish 
capital punishment for 31 years and would welcome his support.

Obama should advocate for the end of the federal death penalty and offer hope 
for possible reprieves to the 62 persons awaiting executions in federal 
prisons. The President's advocacy for abolition would furthermore send a 
powerful message to the 31 states, which still have the death penalty: its days 
are numbered.

Obama has held the death penalty should be reserved for the worst offenders, 
but concerns about racial bias in capital punishment's application may prompt 
the President to change his position.

I hope the fact persons who kill white persons are 3 to 6 more times more 
likely to receive death sentences compels Obama to conclude, like former 
Supreme Court Justice Blackmun, he "will no longer tinker with the machinery of 
death."

If, however, the President still needs persuasion to change his position on 
capital punishment, perhaps listening to the Journey of Hope members' stories 
will convince Obama to support abolition.

I serve on the Journey of Hope's board. Begun in 1993, and led by murder victim 
family members, this national organization conducts educational tours against 
the death penalty.

Beginning with a World Day Against the Death Penalty Conference in Dallas, the 
Journey will conduct a tour in Texas October 9 -25. These tours emphasize love, 
compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation to break the cycle of vengeance, 
death, and violence prevalent in our society. Journey members embraced their 
messages of hope through experiencing a family member's murder.

After 15-year-old African American Paula Cooper was sentenced to death for 
stabbing his beloved grandmother Ruth Pelke 33 times to death in May 1985, Bill 
Pelke, the Journey's President, thought the death penalty was justified.

However, the white crane operator from Indiana, while sitting atop his crane on 
morning in November 1986, was brought to tears, recalling his Nana preached 
Jesus' message of forgiveness to everyone she met.

Her example converted Pelke to become part of an international movement that 
spared Cooper's life in 1989, because she was a juvenile at the murder's time.

Emotion almost overcame Pelke when he re-told his story at the annual Fast and 
Vigil against the death penalty outside the Supreme Court in July. It was 1st 
time he spoke publicly about Cooper's recent suicide, a few days after the 
anniversary of Ruth's murder.

Although tragic death has cycled painfully full for him, Pelke still believes 
"love and compassion for all of humanity is the answer."

Also speaking that night, SueZann Bosler, faced unique challenges learning to 
forgive as Pelke has.

On December 22, 1986, Bosler was 24 and happy. She and her dad the Reverend 
Billy Bosler planned to travel to Indiana to meet her first niece and his 1st 
granddaughter. That day, she wanted to do some last-minute Christmas shopping.

As she got ready in her bedroom at the Church of the Brethren Parsonage in 
Opa-Locka, Florida, where her father was the pastor, Bosler heard strange moans 
from the living room.

When Bosler investigated, she discovered a man stabbing her dad. Bosler went to 
help her dad, and the man stabbed her in the head.

High on drugs, James Bernard Campbell stabbed Rev. Bosler 24 times to death, 
and Bosler 5 times. She only survived because she played dead, and several 
surgeries repaired her brain injuries.

As a preacher's kid, Bosler had been taught forgiveness was central to her 
faith, and she publicly forgave Campbell, while privately conceiving ways to 
hurt him.

5 1/2 years after the murder at a second sentencing hearing for Campbell, 
Bosler finally understood the depth of her forgiveness when she said, "James 
Bernard Campbell, I forgive you."

Her new understanding liberated Bosler. And despite a Judge's threat to cite 
her for contempt for objecting to the death penalty, the white hairdresser 
fought to save the life of the African American man who assaulted her and 
killed her dad.

June 13, 1997 Bosler considers her day of victory because that day a jury voted 
to spare Campbell's life.

As Bosler told her story that July night, her throat caught when she said it 
upset her when others implied her support for Campbell meant she didn't love 
her dad or cherish his memory.

She worked to end capital punishment to honor her dad, who opposed the death 
penalty, and whose favorite hymn was Let There Be Peace on Earth.

Bosler, Pelke and other Journey members re-live the worst experiences of their 
lives to show us the way to peace. Their heroic testimonies, I hope will 
convince the President to urge others to embrace the peace that comes from 
abolition.

(source: Chris Byrd; chrisbyrdwriting.com)