[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., NEB., COLO., ARIZ., NEV., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 12



OKLAHOMA----impending execution

Richard Glossip case: We can't be cavalier about death penalty


National attention is focused on the pending execution of Richard Glossip, and 
on his potential innocence. As a murder victim's family member, it has always 
bothered me that the victim and family seem to be a side note. Barry Van 
Treese, the victim in Glossip's case, was a victim of an awful crime. My heart, 
and that of my family, aches for his family.

And while I cannot speak for how his family feels, I certainly have every 
blessing to speak for mine.

My cousin was Debbie Carter, who in 1982 was raped and murdered. 5 years later, 
Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were convicted of the crime. Williamson 
received the death penalty. We had every reason to believe in the convictions. 
Over the years we suffered through numerous appeals and repeated findings of 
guilt.

Then my family was delivered a bombshell of information: DNA testing proved 
that Williamson and Fritz had been wrongfully convicted. We were shocked. 
Debbie's justice was being ripped away.

We eventually learned that Debbie's case was plagued with unreliable evidence. 
So what does wrongful conviction feel like from the perspective of the victim 
or victim's family? At first it looks like disbelief, and justice denied. We 
later felt a burden of guilt and shame for being led to support the near 
executions of innocent men.

I know very little about Glossip's case, or if he is truly guilty or innocent. 
Gov. Mary Fallin stated Glossip "had over 6,000 days to present new evidence," 
and her spokesman said that, "To say that Glossip has had his day in court is 
an understatement." In Debbie's case, too, years of trials, retrials and 
appeals had happened - but the guilty verdict still proved incorrect.

Looking at the evidence, there's no doubt Glossip might be innocent. But it's 
almost impossible to totally prove. Van Treese and his family deserve justice, 
but justice won't be served if Glossip is put to death and we find out too late 
that he is innocent of this crime.

I'm a native Oklahoman. I have had a family member who was brutally murdered, 
and I grew up believing the death penalty was fair and just. I still struggle 
with my desire for justice and what I know about wrongful convictions.

Regardless of how you feel about the death penalty, unless we're absolutely 
sure of Glossip's guilt, it actually threatens justice - and peace of mind - to 
make the leap to execute him.

We can't be cavalier when it comes to the subject of putting someone to death, 
and turn a blind eye to information that may make a difference.

(source: Christy Sheppard, The Oklahoman)

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

Is Oklahoma About to Execute an Innocent Man?


Dear Governor Mary Fallin:

We urge you to stay the execution of Richard Glossip so that deep concerns 
about his guilt can be addressed.

On September 16, unless you act, the State of Oklahoma will put Mr. Glossip to 
death for the murder of Barry Van Treese. Justin Sneed--who by his own 
admission beat Van Tresse to death with a baseball bat--will not meet that 
fate.

Why this stunning difference?

Sneed testified at Glossip's trial and said that Glossip persuaded him to do 
the killing. In return, Sneed was allowed to plead guilty and avoid a death 
sentence. Sneed's testimony is the only evidence that connects Glossip to this 
horrendous crime. There's no DNA evidence, no other forensic or physical 
evidence, no other witnesses. Just Sneed's word.

Did Sneed tell the truth? We don't know, but we do know that he told many lies 
in this case because his story changed many times.

When he was first questioned by detectives, Sneed said he didn't know anything 
about the murder. Then he said he didn't kill Mr. Van Treese. Then he admitted 
that he did but said it was an accident, he only meant to rob him and knock him 
out. Then, after the detectives told him that they didn't believe he acted 
alone, that they had Glossip in custody, and that it would be better for him if 
he gave them another name, Sneed finally said that Richard Glossip got him to 
kill Barry Van Treese. After getting what they were looking for, the police 
assured Sneed that this story would help him avoid the death penalty.

That last version led to a deal with the prosecution: Sneed--the admitted 
killer--testified against Glossip in exchange for a life sentence. As a result, 
Glossip faces death by lethal injection.

Why would anybody trust this testimony, given by a man like Sneed under the 
circumstances in which he gave it? But if Sneed was lying about Glossip's 
involvement -- as he unquestionably lied in his various contradictory 
statements--then Oklahoma is about to execute an innocent man.

The writers of this letter have a wide range of professional backgrounds and 
political perspectives. But we share a deep concern about the integrity of the 
criminal justice system in Oklahoma and throughout the United States. We are 
particularly concerned about the danger of executing an innocent man. Could 
that really happen? In the United States, in 2015?

Yes, it could. It almost certainly has happened--the cases of Cameron Todd 
Willingham and Carlos Deluna in Texas are troubling examples--and it may well 
happen again, perhaps as soon as September 16.

The National Registry of Exonerations lists 115 defendants who were sentenced 
to death and later exonerated and released after new evidence of innocence was 
discovered. Of those 115 innocent defendants who had been sentenced to death, 
29, a quarter of the total, were convicted after another person who was himself 
a suspect in the murder gave a confession that also implicated the innocent 
defendant.

Richards Glossip's case is a classic example. Faced with the prospect of 
execution, anybody would be tempted to lie and shift the blame to someone else 
if that's what it takes to stay alive. But Justin Sneed isn't just anybody. 
He's a man who beat another person to death for money and then lied about it to 
try to save his own skin.

Last year a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of 
Sciences estimated that 4.1 percent of defendants who are sentenced to death in 
the United States are innocent, one in 25 or more than 300 death-sentenced 
defendants since 1973. Most of them, like most of all defendants who are 
sentenced to death, have not been exonerated or executed. They remain in prison 
or have died of other causes.

But with that error rate among death sentences, there's no doubt that we have 
put innocent people to death. We don't know how many or who they all are, but 
it has happened.

We also don't know for sure whether Richard Glossip is innocent or guilty. That 
is precisely the problem.

If we keep executing defendants in cases like this, where the evidence of guilt 
is tenuous and untrustworthy, we will keep killing innocent people.

Oklahoma has come close to executing innocent defendants. Ron Williamson's 
story is well known from John Grisham's book, The Innocent Man. He came within 
5 days of execution. Fortunately, a federal judge ordered a new trial. 4 years 
later Williamson was exonerated by DNA tests--which also identified the real 
killer, who was later convicted of the murder.

Most cases like this are weeded out by the courts, usually before a death 
sentence is ever imposed. That might have happened here if Glossip's defense 
attorneys had made the problems in the case clear to the judge and jury, but 
they never did. As a result, a juror in Glossip's first trial recently came 
forward and said, "I feel that this situation needs to be looked at and at the 
VERY least given a 60 days stay to make for certain that all the stones are 
unturned and everything is looked at with a fine tooth comb."

Unfortunately, Governor, in this case you are the last state official with the 
power to prevent a deadly mistake.

Sincerely,

Sen. Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator for Oklahoma (2005-2015) and U.S. Representative 
for Oklahoma's Second Congressional District from (1995-2001)

Barry Switzer, Head Football Coach, The University of Oklahoma (1973-1988)

John W. Raley, Jr., U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Oklahoma (1990-1997)

Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project

Samuel Gross, Professor of Law, University of Michigan and Editor, National 
Registry of Exonerations

(source: Barry Scheck; Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Innocence Project)

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

Journalists, death penalty opponent among condemned inmate's requested 
execution witnesses


2 journalists and an outspoken death penalty opponent are among the execution 
witnesses for condemned Oklahoma inmate Richard Eugene Glossip.

State Department of Corrections records show Huffington Post reporter Kim 
Belleware and Sky News reporter Ian Woods are listed among 5 friends of Glossip 
authorized to witness his execution on Wednesday. Anti-death penalty advocate 
Sister Helen Prejean is designated as Glossip's clergy witness.

Belleware and Woods both say they were asked by Glossip to attend because of 
their coverage of his case. They will not be considered among the 5 media 
witnesses.

Department of Corrections policy provides 1 media spot to a reporter for The 
Associated Press and another to a media outlet from the city where the crime 
occurred. The remaining 3 media witnesses are selected by random drawing.

(source: Associated Press)

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

klahoma Inmate the Focus of Renewed Attention as Execution Date Nears


Richard E. Glossip was at the center of a major Supreme Court case this year, 
arguing along with 2 other men on Oklahoma's death row that the state's choice 
of lethal injection drugs could cause unconstitutional suffering.

The court rejected that claim in a 5-4 decision in June, clearing the way for 
Oklahoma to resume executions. Mr. Glossip's is the 1st; he is scheduled to die 
on Wednesday.

Now Mr. Glossip, 52, is again a focus of attention, this time over whether he 
is guilty of the arranged murder in 1997 of the owner of a run-down motel he 
was managing.

Mr. Glossip's supporters call his case a striking example of a repeating 
pattern in American capital punishment, in which a defendant receives 
inadequate legal representation early on and then, many years later, only as 
execution nears, higher-powered lawyers and civil rights groups become 
involved, raising important new issues at the 11th hour, when it may be too 
late.

The inmates who brought the case challenged the use of the sedative midazolam 
in executions, saying it did not reliably render the person unconscious.

Mr. Glossip has won the fervent backing of Sister Helen Prejean, the 
anti-death-penalty campaigner; the actress Susan Sarandon, who played Sister 
Helen in the film "Dead Man Walking"; and a new legal team, working pro bono, 
which says his conviction was marred by poor lawyering and unreliable, 
police-coached testimony.

In a drumbeat of media appearances, Mr. Glossip's supporters are calling on 
Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma to delay his execution for 60 days while they 
explore what they say is important new evidence that they released on Friday 
and will discuss in a news conference in Oklahoma City on Monday.

The victim, Barry Van Treese, was beaten to death with a baseball bat in a room 
at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City, a motel that he owned and Mr. Glossip 
managed.

Justin Sneed, a 19-year-old drifter with an 8th-grade education whom Mr. 
Glossip allowed to stay at the motel in return for maintenance work, admitted 
to the murder and is serving life without parole.

Mr. Sneed testified that Mr. Glossip had told him to kill Mr. Van Treese in 
return for thousands of dollars in motel receipts. Prosecutors said Mr. Glossip 
was a cunning figure who feared he was about to be fired for mismanagement and 
stealing motel revenues, and persuaded Mr. Sneed to commit the crime.

In the absence of any physical evidence against him, Mr. Glossip's conviction 
was largely based on Mr. Sneed's testimony. Mr. Glossip's lawyers noted that 
Mr. Sneed changed his story several times before he admitted to the murder, 
then made a deal to receive life in prison in return for implicating Mr. 
Glossip.

In a new report commissioned by the defense team and released on Friday, 
Richard A. Leo, an expert on police interrogations, said that based on 
transcripts of Mr. Sneed's questioning and testimony, officers had used 
techniques that were known to cause false confessions - like telling him he 
would be the scapegoat for the murder, planting the idea that Mr. Glossip was 
the mastermind and pressuring Mr. Sneed to say so.

The defense also released on Friday an affidavit from a former drug dealer who 
said he repeatedly sold methamphetamine to Mr. Sneed at the Best Budget Inn, 
that Mr. Sneed appeared to be addicted and that he paid for drugs with items he 
stole from cars and rooms in the motel.

Mr. Glossip's appeals to the state and federal Supreme Court have been 
exhausted. His last hope is for Governor Fallin, a Republican, to stay his 
execution while his lawyers work to persuade a judge, or the state board of 
pardon and parole, that significant new evidence warrants a new hearing or 
clemency.

"We are seriously racing against time, as you can imagine," said one of those 
lawyers, Donald R. Knight, from Colorado. "We're trying to do work that should 
have been done by trial lawyers a long time ago."

But Governor Fallin has rejected calls to intervene.

"His actions directly led to the brutal murder of a husband and a father of 
seven children," she said last month in a statement about Mr. Glossip, 
stressing that he had been convicted in 2 jury trials and lost multiple 
appeals. "The state of Oklahoma is prepared to hold him accountable for his 
crimes and move forward with his scheduled execution."

Barry C. Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project in New York, said there 
were serious "residual doubts" about Mr. Glossip's guilt. A number of cases in 
which those sentenced to death were later exonerated, he said, had similarly 
relied on witnesses who benefited from testimony.

Mr. Glossip was first found guilty and sentenced to death in 1998, but a state 
appeals court ordered a retrial because his defense lawyers had failed to 
cross-examine or investigate witnesses effectively.

He was again convicted and condemned in 2004, and the courts did not find 
evidence of deficiencies that would require a new appeal. But Mr. Knight said 
the new team had identified weaknesses with that 2nd defense as well.

By all accounts, Mr. Glossip's behavior on the day after the murder hurt his 
case.

He later admitted that Mr. Snead knocked on his door late that night and told 
him he had just killed Mr. Van Treese. He said he did not believe him at first 
and went back to sleep.

But he did not mention Mr. Sneed's statement to the police when they initially 
questioned him the next day, after Mr. Van Treese's wife reported him missing 
and his unlocked car was found across the street from the motel.

Mr. Sneed testified that he had taken about $4,000 from Mr. Van Treese's car 
and divided it with Mr. Glossip the next morning, and that Mr. Glossip had sent 
him to buy a hacksaw, trash bags and muriatic acid to help dispose of the body.

Mr. Glossip denied those accusations. In any event, Mr. Sneed fled on his 
skateboard, and Mr. Glossip was taken into custody after the body was 
discovered in the motel room the night after the murder. At that point, he did 
reveal what Mr. Sneed had told him.

Last year, in a mysterious twist, the pardon and parole board received an email 
that was purportedly written by Mr. Sneed's daughter, O'Ryan Justine Sneed. 
Pleading for clemency for what she called "an innocent man," she wrote that her 
father had told her that Mr. Glossip had not asked him to commit the murder. 
She said her father had considered recanting, but was afraid his plea deal 
would unravel and he would be sentenced to death himself.

But the daughter left no contact information, and so far no one has been able 
to find her or authenticate the email. Mr. Sneed has made no such statement 
himself.

The Glossip case reflects a common problem in capital punishment, Mr. Scheck 
said: a poor defense in the initial trial, which then limits the legal options 
in later appeals.

"What frequently happens in these capital cases is that the really good lawyers 
only get involved at the end, when it's too late," Mr. Scheck said.

Mr. Van Treese's family is convinced of Mr. Glossip's guilt and has thanked the 
governor for standing firm.

"Execution of Richard Glossip will not bring Barry back or lessen the empty 
hole left in the lives of those who loved Barry," family members said in a 
statement this week to The Tulsa World. "What it does provide is a sense that 
justice has been served."

(source: New York Times)

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

Group wants doctor's name in botched execution unsealed


A group of doctors have filed a brief in the federal court of appeals saying 
the doctor who oversaw Oklahoma's troubled execution should be named and be 
held accountable for any "professional errors." It's claim is the public should 
know which doctors are participating in executions and their role in them.

The amici curiae, of friend of the court, brief was filed by the Doctors for 
the Ethical Practice of Medicine.

At issue is a decision by the court to seal records that name the doctor who 
was the supervisor of the medical procedures during the execution of Clayton 
Lockett. The state wants to keep the name secret to protect the doctor from 
threats.

It all stems from a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Clayton Locket against 
the state, the prison warden, the director of the department of corrections and 
the doctor.

The group, through it's attorney Katherine Toomey, contends that medical ethics 
still apply to doctors assisting in executions and that withholding the name 
could keep professional groups from disciplining doctors who make mistakes 
during the procedure.

In this case, the group claims the doctor, referred to as "Dr. Doe", "failed 
repeatedly to locate a vein" for the IV injections of drugs, "improperly 
placed" the IV, causing Lockett to writhe in pain, before dying 43 minutes 
later.

The state contents the doctor wasn't engaging in a normal medical procedure and 
cannot be held responsible, according to its response. They also claim that his 
actions aren't "negligence" because the doctor has no patient relationship with 
the inmate.

The ACLU also filed suit, saying not releasing the name amounted to "prior 
restraint."

(source: okcfox.com)






NEBRASKA:

Death penalty supporters reach mark to get issue on 2016 ballot


The Nebraska Secretary of State's Office released preliminary totals Friday for 
petition signatures verified by county officials, indicating that the petition 
drive to overturn the repeal of the state's death penalty had met the threshold 
to get the issue on the November 2016 ballot.

As of Friday afternoon, officials at the county level had verified 65,171 of 
the nearly 166,000 signatures turned in by petition organizers.

County officials had rejected 9,154, or about 12 percent, of the 74,667 
signatures reviewed so far.

The number of registered voters in Nebraska at the petition deadline was 
1,138,825, according to the Secretary of State's Office. Organizers needed 
signatures from 5 percent of the state's registered voters, or 56,942 verified 
signatures, to put the issue on the ballot.

Reaching 10 % of registered voters, or 113,883 valid signatures, would prevent 
the legislation from going into effect until it can be voted on.

Both thresholds further require that the 5 % or 10 % mark be met in at least 38 
of the state's 93 counties.

In Lancaster County, Friday's report showed, 10,153 of 11,918 signatures 
gathered were verified, with 1,733 rejected.

Douglas County signatures totaled 9,194, with 8,300 of those verified.

Signatures and information are checked against voter registration records.

Lancaster County Election Commissioner Dave Shively said his staff has a lot of 
leeway on verifying those signatures, even when they are hard to read or have 
missing or wrong information.

"It's our responsibility to prove that they're not registered, not that they 
are registered," he said.

The Secretary of State's Office has not certified any of the count totals 
released Friday. Some counties are still verifying signatures, said Laura 
Strimple, communications director with the Secretary of State's Office.

Nebraska's death penalty was repealed by the Legislature in May with the 
passage of LB268. Lawmakers then voted 30-19 to override Gov. Pete Ricketts' 
veto of the bill.

(source: Journal Star)






COLORADO:

Mom in baby death lost custody of other kids


Before she was accused of child abuse in the death of her month-old daughter in 
Parachute, Phyllis Wyatt lost custody of her older children in California and 
once threatened to kill her family by burning her house down, according to a 
motion filed by the Ninth Judicial District Attorney's office.

The prosecution's motion was a response to an attempt by defense attorney Kathy 
Goudy to reduce Wyatt's bond, which was initially set at $300,000 and later 
reduced to $100,000. Citing Wyatt's flight from Colorado after her daughter's 
death, lack of local connections or employment, the severity of the charge and 
"history of mental illness," the District Attorney's Office opposed a further 
reduction in bond.

Wyatt and her partner Matthew Ogden's daughter, Sarah, died June 20 at Grand 
River Hospital in Rifle after emergency workers were called to their Parachute 
apartment. The case was ruled a homicide when an autopsy revealed 2 potentially 
fatal wounds - a skull fracture and liver injuries.

The couple fled and were arrested in Minnesota.

Ogden, 29, is being held without bond and faces charges of 1st-degree murder of 
a child by a person in a position of trust, a 1st-degree felony that could 
carry the death penalty. He also is charged with child abuse causing death, a 
2nd-degree felony; and 2 counts child abuse causing serious bodily injury, a 
3rd-degree felony.

Wyatt, 41, faces charges of criminally negligent child abuse causing death, a 
3rd-degree felony that carries a range of 4 to 12 years in prison.

"It appears that Colorado's marijuana laws and, also, her previous history with 
social services in California were a driving factor for the relocation" to 
Colorado from California, the prosecution motion said. "Defendant and Mr. Ogden 
were hoping that by coming to Colorado they would not immediately lose custody 
of the twins."

The arrest affidavits in the case say that Sarah woke up crying that night in 
June and Ogden grabbed her. Wyatt told authorities that she heard screaming and 
pounding sounds, but didn???t get out of bed.

Sarah's twin brother was unhurt and taken into protective custody.

When Wyatt, 41, appeared for her bond hearing on Friday morning, Goudy 
expressed reservations about discussing the issue in open court and pushed for 
the district attorney???s motion to be sealed. The DA's motion, she contended, 
contained private information carried over from a separate custody case for 
Sarah's twin brother.

Judge John Neiley agreed to discuss the matter in chambers, but ultimately 
denied the attempt to have the document sealed.

The bond hearing was subsequently rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Goudy later told the Post Independent that her next response will attempt to 
bring the District Attorney's assertions into context.

"I think there are some other sides, and that it's not as monstrous as it 
appears in that affidavit. She's charged with an omission - failure to protect 
- not an action that she took against the baby," she said. "They were in there 
monitoring this couples and these babies, and there was not a problem until, 
basically the night the baby died."

Specifically, she asserted that, while a cord blood test for the twins was 
positive for marijuana, Wyatt went off all other controlled psychotropic 
substance, prescription and otherwise, for the duration of her pregnancy.

Goudy she also addressed Wyatt's past loss of custody.

"It's not that she did something to them," she said. "I think it sometimes is a 
struggle for Amy to take care of Amy."

(source: Post Independent)






ARIZONA:

Suspected killer of Arizona girl wants death penalty removed


The man accused of strangling an 8-year-old girl in Bullhead City wants the 
prosecution to remove the death penalty in his upcoming trial.

Lawyers for Justin James Rector filed a motion Friday in Mohave County Superior 
Court.

Rector's attorneys say execution by lethal injection is cruel and unusual 
punishment and his constitutional rights to due process and a fair trial will 
be violated if prosecutors don't take the death penalty off the table.

County Attorney Matt Smith has already said he'll seek the death penalty if 
Rector is convicted.

The 27-year-old Rector is scheduled to stand trial in October 2016.

Rector is charged with first-degree murder stemming from the September 2014 
strangulation of Isabella "Bella" Grogan-Canella. Her body was found in a 
shallow grave near her home in Bullhead City.

(source: Associated Press)






NEVADA:

Judge denies several defense motions in Ammar Harris case


He's accused of opening fire on a car on the Las Vegas Strip and killing 3 
people.

Ammar Harris' murder trial is expected to start in about a month. On Friday, 
his attorneys were wrangling for position in the case.

Harris' attorneys argued the accused Strip shooter wouldn't be able to have a 
fair trial if cameras were allowed inside. When he was a free man, Harris was 
all about the camera. In a YouTube video he's seen counting stacks of money. In 
the courtroom Friday, it was a different view of the lens.

"This is a situation of the actual trial being a fair proceeding for Mr. 
Harris," said Thomas Ericcson, Harris' attorney.

Ericsson argued the presence of cameras could impact witnesses as they testify 
for the jury. As a result, they filed a motion to ban cameras.

"This is part of the public's right to know what occurs in the courtroom," 
Chief Deputy District Attorney David Stanton said.

Outside of this argument, Stanton left it up to Judge Kathleen Delaney to 
decide.

"The court does not find a compelling reason in this case to exclude cameras or 
media microphones in the courtroom," Delaney said.

Cameras will be allowed, but that was just the beginning of the defense's stack 
of motions to wrangle a better position in the trial. Seventeen motions in all 
were filed.

Many with the same outcome, motion denied. One involved preventing prosecutors 
from seeking the death penalty on the murder charges involving cab driver 
Michael Boldon and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmond. That was also denied.

Regardless of the outcome, Harris would have still been facing the death 
penalty for shooting and killing Ken Cherry Jr. while driving.

They're small legal battles before a trial that could mean life or death for 
Harris. The defense did win some arguments. The motions that were granted 
mainly dealt with evidence prosecutors will have to produce for the defense. 
Some of the motions are also expected to reemerge once the trial gets under 
way. The trial has been set to start Oct. 12.

(source: KSNV news)






CALIFORNIA:

Indio man could face death penalty in Coachella killing


Murder, kidnapping and arson charges were filed Friday against an Indio parolee 
accused of killing a Palm Desert man and leaving his body in a burning vehicle 
in Coachella last month.

Andrew John Muir, 27, also faces a special circumstance allegation of 
kidnapping in the commission of a murder, which makes him eligible for the 
death penalty if convicted.

The district attorney has yet to decide whether to seek capital punishment for 
Muir, who's scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon at the Larson Justice 
Center in Indio.

Muir was taken into custody Tuesday in the 46-200 block of Calhoun St., after 
deputies served search warrants at 4 locations in Indio and one in Coachella, 
Sgt. Walter Mendez said.

On Aug. 14 around 3:40 a.m., authorities responded to a car fire near the 
intersection of Dillon Road and Vista Del Norte in Coachella. Firefighters who 
doused the flames discovered the body of a man, later identified as 38-year-old 
Matthew Cupit of Palm Desert.

No other details, including the suspected motive or how Muir was linked to the 
killing, have been released.

(source: The Desert Sun)






USA:

On U.S. soil will Pope Francis (please) speak out against the death penalty?


On Aug. 25, Nicaraguan Bernardo Tercero sat alone in a small booth on death row 
in Livingston, Texas, talking through a phone receiver with loved ones on the 
other side of the glass, not knowing whether he would be killed the next day.

Later that afternoon, the execution was off like a switch. Defense attorneys 
had won a last-minute reprieve from the Texas courts by contending a key 
witness had given false testimony at Tercero's trial for the 1997 murder of 
Robert Berger. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Nicaraguan 
President Daniel Ortega claimed Tercero's rights had been violated and pleaded 
for clemency.

Putting people to death is a fraught business, and Tercero's case is no 
exception. But as executions in Texas continue apace - 10 so far this year - 
exonerations, botched executions and prosecutorial misconduct have gained 
widespread attention in the media. Numerous states have repealed the death 
penalty or established de facto moratoriums in recent years. And death 
sentences in Texas are actually markedly down (zero so far this year compared 
with 11 in 2014) - a phenomenon associated with the growing awareness of 
wrongful convictions.

Indeed, the movement to end the death penalty in the U.S. may be reaching 
critical mass. The debate is certainly on fire. In August, Nebraskans for the 
Death Penalty gathered enough signatures to block a legislative repeal of the 
death penalty, until it can be put to voters via referendum in 2016. And in 
California, a federal appeals court will review a finding that the death 
penalty there is arbitrarily applied, potentially commuting the sentences of 
over 740 prisoners.

Into this state of play steps Pope Francis with his Sept. 22-27 visit to the 
U.S. In pronouncements, the pope has taken an unequivocal stance against 
capital punishment, reiterating the church's opposition by focusing not only on 
biblical principles, but on the sociology of penal systems and the philosophy 
of justice. In October 2014, he called Christians and "people of good will" to 
struggle against the death penalty, "but also to improve prison conditions, out 
of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their liberty."

"Today the death penalty is inadmissible, no matter how serious the crime of 
the condemned," Pope Francis wrote in a March letter to the International 
Commission against the Death Penalty. "For a State of Law, the death penalty 
represents a failure, because it obliges it to kill in the name of justice," he 
continued.

Will Pope Francis speak out against the death penalty when he's here? And if 
so, could it be a turning point? His scheduled visit to the Curran-Fromhold 
Correctional facility in Philadelphia on Sept. 27 has some wondering - and 
hoping.

"We need Pope Francis to make a statement against the death penalty on our 
soil," said Karen Clifton, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Catholic 
Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty, which works with the 
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to advocate against the death penalty. 
"People in this country are not aware of where we fit into this practice, 
compared to the rest of the world. If Francis spoke out on this issue it would 
have an extraordinary impact. People - not just Catholics - will listen to him 
because he is seen as a world figure."

That the United States is an outlier when it comes to the death penalty 
worldwide is highlighted in Mario Marazziti's 13 Ways of Looking at the Death 
Penalty, a compact history of the death penalty and the global abolition 
movement, and an intimate portrait of injustices in the American system.

"The death penalty keeps America on the other side. Not of the ocean, but of a 
democracy that is capable of respecting life and human dignity no matter what," 
said Marazziti, a prominent member of Italian parliament and spokesperson for 
the Community of Sant'Egidio - the Catholic NGO and faith community which 
brokered peace accords in various African civil wars, and spearheaded the 
effort to get millions of signatures for the U.N. moratorium on the use of the 
death penalty.

The number of countries which have the death penalty, in law or practice, has 
been steadily decreasing since the post-World War II era. "What happens in the 
rest of the world matters for the United States," Marazziti said.

In his statements, the pope has made clear that for a society to be humane, 
justice is justice only if it is restorative, that is, without retaliation or 
revenge.

"Those who support the death penalty on a religious basis make the same 
terrible mistake of the fundamentalist Islamists that read the Koran under the 
bloody black flags of the Caliphate," said Marazziti, who worked side by side 
with Nelson Mandela to end the genocide in Burundi. "Retribution is a primitive 
stage of justice."

Clifton of Catholics Mobilizing Network has come to a similar conclusion: "So 
what is the death penalty about? It's vengeance. Vengeance is the only thing 
holding up the abolishment of the death penalty in this country."

"As a country we need to self-examine and understand what our true motives for 
the death penalty are. Francis can help us do that," Clifton said.

(source: Dani Clark is a writer and editor at an international development 
organization in Washington, D.C., and a member of the Community of 
Sant'Egidio----National Catholic Reporter)

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

'Next To Die' Project Aims To Make It Easier To Track Executions----The goal is 
to improve media coverage around capital punishment.


When an execution is reported on in the media, coverage typically peaks during 
the few days before and after it is carried out. But the coverage often fails 
to go into any depth.

In an effort to spur more comprehensive coverage of capital punishment, the 
Marshall Project -- a non-profit, non-partisan criminal justice-focused news 
organization -- has launched a new partnership with outlets in all 9 U.S. 
states that have executed people since 2013 plus Arkansas, which is planning to 
resume executions after a hiatus.

The project, called The Next to Die, offers a database that includes detailed 
information from the Death Penalty Information Center and participating media 
outlets about inmates facing execution in the U.S., as well as embeddable 
countdowns.

Currently featured prominently on the website is 51-year-old Richard Glossip, 
who is scheduled to be put to death on Sept. 16 in Oklahoma. Glossip has spent 
17 years on death row after being convicted of 1st-degree murder in 1998, 
though he maintains his innocence and has attracted high-profile supporters. 
Included in the information on Glossip is a link to a lengthy feature about his 
case from the Tulsa Frontier.

In an interview with the Nieman Lab's Justin Ellis, project managing editor 
Gabriel Dance explained that he anticipates the database could eventually be 
used to track patterns in U.S. executions, such as what types of people are 
sentenced to death or which district attorneys have high conviction rates in 
such cases. Another editor compared it to the work being done by other media 
partnerships like PolitiFact and Homicide Watch.

Ziva Branstetter, editor-in-chief at the Tulsa Frontier, a participating news 
startup, told Nieman she is optimistic the project will result in more thorough 
coverage.

"The state is sending someone to death -- this is the most severe action they 
can take," Branstetter told Nieman. "We should cover it all with the same 
attention, no matter the manpower."

(source: Joseph Erbentraut; Chicago Editor, The Huffington Post)

**********

New Initiative Tracks Upcoming Death Penalty Cases


A new partnership between The Marshall Project and several media properties 
will shed light on capital punishment in the United States with a project 
called The Next to Die. According to an email from The Marshall Project 
announcing the initiative:

In partnership with 5 newsrooms - The Tampa Bay Times, Houston Chronicle, Tulsa 
Frontier, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and AL.com - we have created the 1st 
comprehensive, up-to-date schedule of executions in the United States. 
Featuring real-time tracking of every upcoming execution, an embeddable, 
responsive widget, and profiles of the men and women scheduled to die, The Next 
to Die humanizes those on death row and shines a light on a lethal issue that 
is too often shrouded in secrecy.

The group has also compiled a database on the 1,414 executions in the United 
States since the Supreme Court lifted the suspension on executions in 1976.

Recent opinion polls have indicated the the public's feeling toward executions 
is changing and some states have placed a moratorium on them. In the 1980s and 
1990s a solid majority favored the death penalty, but a poll earlier this 
summer from Quinnipiac, showed that 48 % of people preferred life without 
parole for convicted murderers, compared to 43 % who preferred the death 
penalty.

The change in public sentiment can be attributed to several factors, but 
highly-publicized botched executions undoubtedly have played a role.

(source: bluenationreview.com)

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

Vt. man facing death penalty speaks in court


As prosecutors look to send a Vermont man back to death row, his defense will 
once again seek to invalidate the death penalty. Donald Fell's new trial is 
tentatively scheduled for next September, but hearings like Thursday's lay the 
groundwork for the prosecution and defense's cases. Fell spoke in court 
Thursday for the 1st time in years and likely the last time until the trial 
begins.

It's been a decade and a half since investigators first tied then-20-year-old 
Fell and an alleged accomplice to the murder of 3 Vermonters.


Fell allegedly kidnapped and murdered Terri King, 53, of North Clarendon. 
King's daughters Lori Hibbard and Karen Worcester are still fighting for 
justice.

"It's been 15 long years, it should've been over with long ago," said Hibbard.

Fell's case led a judge to rule the death penalty unconstitutional, in 2002. A 
higher court reversed that decision and a federal jury found him guilty of 
kidnapping and murder in 2005, placing him on death row. He remained there 
until last year when Judge William Sessions overturned the guilty verdict after 
evidence of juror misconduct emerged. Now, Fell is back in court facing a new 
trial and the same potential penalty-- execution.

"Today he looks like the guy who kidnapped and murdered my mother," said 
Hibbard.

While Kings' daughters plan on being at every court hearing in the leadup to a 
trial scheduled for next September, Fell likely won't. He told Judge Geoffrey 
Crawford the shackled ride from his Brooklyn prison to Vermont leaves him 
stressed and bruised. King's daughters aren't sympathetic.

"We feel uncomfortable and I'm sure my mother did for the 3 1/2 hour ride she 
took with him," said Hibbard.

Fell said he can't contribute while cuffed in court, but also rejected the 
opportunity to phone-in from prison. He ultimately received approval to stay in 
jail up to trial.

His attorneys said they plan on challenging the death penalty again both in the 
case and in general.

King's daughters know even if he's sentenced to death, the government is 
unlikely to ever execute Fell as it has only done so to three prisoners since 
the early 1960s. But that's the outcome they hope to see.

"I definitely am going to be there, front row," said Hibbard.

Fell never faced charges for the other 2 alleged murders because the federal 
case involving kidnapping takes precedence. He also faces accusations of trying 
to kill a fellow prisoner while on death row in Terre Haute, Indiana. There are 
no criminal charges, but he's being sued civilly by the alleged victim.

(source: Associated Press)