[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., OKLA., KAN.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 29



MISSOURI:

Supporters of death row inmate say he is innocent


Supporters of Missouri inmate Kimber Edwards say the state risks executing an 
innocent man if Edwards is put to death next week.

Edwards was convicted of hiring Orthell Wilson to kill his ex-wife, Kimberly 
Cantrell, in 2000. Prosecutors said Edwards wanted Cantrell dead so he didn't 
have to pay child support. Wilson was sentenced to life in prison after a plea 
deal in which he agreed to cooperate against Edwards.

Edwards' attorney, Jeremy Weis, and Tricia Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence 
Project say Wilson now says he lied to save himself from the death penalty. 
They say Edwards is autistic, and that played a role in a confession he now 
says was false.

(source: KTRS news)






OKLAHOMA----impending execution

Glossip's attorneys plan to appeal U.S. Supreme Court for stay of execution


While the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a death row inmate's plea 
for a stay, his attorneys say they will not stop fighting.

Richard Glossip is set to die on Wednesday, Sept.

Glossip was convicted of murder for the 1997 death of motel owner Barry Van 
Treese, though Glossip wasn't the actual killer.

The man who bludgeoned Van Treese to death, Justin Sneed, testified that 
Glossip hired him for the murder.

On Monday, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals denied Glossip's request for 
a stay of execution.

(source: bayoubuzz.com)

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

Divided Oklahoma Court Refuses To Halt Richard Glossip's Execution----The 
majority said "the legal principle of finality of judgment" trumps Glossip's 
claims of innocence.


A deeply divided Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals declined to halt again the 
upcoming execution of Richard Glossip, the Oklahoma inmate who was spared just 
hours before the state???s third execution attempt on Sept. 16.

In a pair of orders issued Monday, Glossip's execution was reconfirmed for 3 
p.m. Wednesday, in accord with a prior order where the court allowed for a 
2-week window "out of abundance of caution" to resolve other motions his 
attorneys filed a day before his original execution date.

One by one, the court declined those motions, which included requests to grant 
Glossip a new post-conviction hearing to consider fresh evidence his defense 
team said casts serious doubts on his murder conviction.

"After reviewing Glossip's succesive application and motions, we find that the 
law favors the principle of finality of judgment," Judge David B. Lewis wrote 
for the court. "Moreover, Glossip has not shown that failure of this Court to 
review his claims would result in a miscarriage of justice."

Glossip's attorneys said they expect to file a motion with the U.S. Supreme 
Court on Tuesday.

The court gave little credence to Glossip's claims that new circumstances 
called his guilt into question -- including evidence that the co-defendant and 
sole witness who testified against him, Justin Sneed, was not credible and that 
Glossip's previous defense counsel had been ineffective.

"This evidence merely builds on evidence previously presented to this Court," 
the court said.

With respect to Sneed -- Glossip's co-worker at the time of their boss' murder 
who secured a plea deal by implicating Glossip as the mastermind of the crime 
-- the court said his testimony was "sufficiently corroborated," that "no other 
trial witnesses have recanted their testimony" and that "Glossip has presented 
no credible evidence that the witnesses gave falsified testimony at trial."

Judge Robert Hudson, like Judge Lewis, was skeptical of the new evidence 
claims, characterizing the additional information advanced by Glossip's 
attorneys as "hearsay' that is "as dubious as that of a jailhouse informant."

But the orders caused division among the judges on the court, with all 5 judges 
writing separately to express their views on why Glossip should or shouldn't be 
granted a further reprieve from execution to consider the new evidence.

Presiding Judge Clancy Smith was the chief dissenter, calling the evidence in 
the case "tenuous at best" if Sneed in fact recanted earlier testimony 
implicating Glossip and rejecting the notion that finality trumps justice.

"While finality of judgment is important, the State has no interest in 
executing an actually innocent man," Smith said, and added he would have 
granted Glossip additional time to prove that Sneed had a change of heart.

Judge Arlene Johnson went even further, calling Glossip's trial "deeply flawed" 
and reiterating misgivings she expressed in 2007 when a "bare majority" of the 
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his murder conviction. She dissented 
from that decision as well.

"Because I believe Glossip did not receive a fair trial, I cannot join in the 
denial of this successive post-conviction application that further calls into 
doubt the fairness of the proceeding and the reliability of the result," 
Johnson wrote. Quoting from a U.S. Supreme Court case decided in 2014, she 
wrote that a sentence of death is "the gravest penalty our society may impose" 
and that those facing it "must have a fair opportunity to show that the 
Constitution prohibits their execution."

Glossip's defense gave the appellate court stacks of new evidence they said 
further weakened the case against him. Testimony from experts and witnesses 
backed the defense's claims that Sneed lied to police to save himself from a 
death sentence.

Newly revealed discrepancies in the medical examiner's hugely influential 
testimony raised further questions as to whether the jury at Glossip's retrial 
was misinformed, his attorneys said.

After Glossip's most recent execution date was put on hold 2 weeks ago, his 
federal defense attorney filed a preliminary injunction to prevent the state 
from executing Glossip using midazolam, a controversial sedative used in 
several of Oklahoma's previously botched lethal injections. Glossip should be 
executed with pentobarbital, a less risky drug used in states such as Texas, 
attorneys argued.

But on Wednesday, the petition was withdrawn. Dale Baich, Glossip's federal 
public defender, said they were unable to prove pentobarbital was available.

And in June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Oklahoma's use of midazolam is 
constitutional.

In a statement issued when Glossip's execution was first put on hold, Oklahoma 
Gov. Mary Fallin (R) said she'd abide by the the legal process.

Glossip was convicted in 2004 for the murder of motel owner Barry Van Treese. 
Sneed, the hotel handyman, confessed to beating Van Treese to death with a 
baseball bat but later secured a plea deal for life without parole in exchange 
for testimony against Glossip.

There was no physical evidence linking Glossip to the crime, and his defense 
has long criticized the state's decision to prosecute him based on the 
testimony of the admitted killer.

(source: Kim Bellware & Christian Farias, Huffington Post)

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

Nun pleads for the life of American man on death row


A nun in Oklahoma has made an emotional last ditch plea to save the life of a 
man on death row.

Richard Glossip faces execution after being convicted of murdering his boss, 
but he claims he has been framed.

The 52-year-old was sentenced to death on the basis of evidence from a 
colleague who said he ordered the murder.

This evidence meant the colleague was jailed and avoided the death penalty 
himself.

He has now lost a last-minute bid for a retrial to avoid his execution but a 
campaigning nun has intervened.

Sister Helen Prejean, a prominent campaigner against the death penalty, said if 
the execution goes ahead it is "very likely that Oklahoma will add the death of 
an innocent man to this record of mistakes".

Mr Glossip's lawyers claim they have a statement from a prisoner who claims to 
have overheard his colleague boast about implicating him.

There is now a chance for a last attempt to save him at the US Supreme Court.

Sister Prejean and Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon have made several 
appearances on US TV appealing for clemency.

"With the U.S. Supreme Court's recent refusal to look at the constitutionality 
of the death penalty, it falls on the people of Oklahoma to take a deeper look, 
not only into Glossip's case, which is greatly flawed with loopholes, but at 
the faults of our system of capital punishment," the nun said.

She added: "The outcry of the people is fair, people have a sense of justice - 
and they say 'well he's had these trials,' but then they say, you mean a man is 
going to his death on the word of a 19 year old kid, who was under threat of 
the death penalty himself, who saw a lawyer one time.

"He delivered to them what they needed to save his own life.

"There's not a fingerprint of Richard Glossip's on the money, there's no 
forensic evidence to corroborate what Sneed said.

"Solely on Sneed's testimony Richard Glossip is going to his death."

(source: premier.org.uk)

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

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to take up case of death row inmate 
convicted of killing 2


The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals is taking up the case of a death row 
inmate convicted of 1st-degree murder for the October 2009 killings of a 
Comanche County couple.

The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments by prosecution and defense 
attorneys Tuesday in the appeal of 35-year-old Mica Martinez, who was found 
guilty in the deaths of 64-year-old Carl Miller and 55-year-old Martha Faye 
Miller. The court will convene the hearing at the Oklahoma City University 
School of Law.

Prosecutors argued for the death penalty, alleging Martinez's crime was 
especially heinous and cruel. He was convicted of beating the couple to death 
at their home in Cache.

Defense attorneys are urging the court to reduce Martinez's sentence to life in 
prison. They say Martinez suffered from severe depression.

(source: Associated Press)






KANSAS:

Death penalty petition spending tops $900,000


A campaign to gather petition signatures to stop a repeal of the death penalty 
spent $903,000 over the summer, campaign finance reports show.

Nebraskans For the Death Penalty raised just over $913,000, 1/3 of it from Gov. 
Pete Ricketts and his father Joe Ricketts.

Nebraskans for Public Safety, the group that wants to see the repeal become 
law, collected about half the amount the pro-death penalty group brought in and 
spent a little more than $455,000 to oppose the referendum petition campaign.

In August, petition campaign organizers turned in nearly 167,000 signatures 
when it needed 113,883.

Earlier this month, the Secretary of State's Office reported that enough 
signatures had been both certified and verified to meet the 10 % threshold to 
put a hold on the repeal until a November 2016 vote.

In addition to the Ricketts family, funding to gather those signatures has come 
largely from monied donors and groups who contribute to Republican and 
conservative candidates and causes.

The campaign finance report, filed Monday afternoon with the Nebraska 
Accountability and Disclosure Commission, showed the group raised about 
$254,000 in the latest reporting period, which covered July 28 through Sept. 
21.

The Washington-based Judicial Crisis Network, led by chief counsel and policy 
director Carrie Severino, has paid for about one-third of the costs of the 
petition drive. It offered up another $100,000 this period, on top of earlier 
$200,000 contributions.

Ricketts said recently he had not contributed to the network.

Asked for a list of Nebraska contributors, Judicial Crisis Network officials 
responded:"We are ethically bound to protect the privacy rights of our 
supporters. To prevent any unwarranted inferences from being drawn, we do not 
confirm or deny questions about supporters and/or related information."

Officials said no matter where a person stands on the issue of the death 
penalty, "we can all agree that Nebraskans should have the ability to 
democratically express themselves on such a weighty matter. The Judicial Crisis 
Network supports this measure allowing Nebraskans to decide on the death 
penalty for themselves."

Other sizable contributions to Nebraskans for the Death Penalty in this period 
came from:

* Robert Mercer, $100,000. Mercer, of the hedge fund firm Renaissance 
Technologies in New York, is said to be a major contributor to Republican 
politics.

* C.L. Werner of Werner Enterprises, $25,000.

* Richard Uihlein, $10,000. Uihlein, a businessman from Lake Forest, Illinois, 
is a major contributor to conservative candidates and causes.

* State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston, and campaigns of Sens. John Kuehn of 
Heartwell, Lydia Brasch of Bancroft and Jim Smith of Papillion, $1,000 each.

Chris Peterson, campaign co-manager, said the challenge in the short-term will 
be raising additional funds to defend the petition drive from lawsuits.

"We know opponents are and will continue to be well-funded. So the committee's 
fundraising efforts continue with this in mind," he said.

Opponents to the petition campaign have filed 2 lawsuits in recent weeks.

Nebraskans for Public Safety filed a lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court 
on behalf of longtime death penalty opponents Christy and Richard Hargesheimer, 
questioning the validity of the petition process based on the belief that 
Ricketts' name was omitted from the list of sponsors even though he is the 
"primary initiating force" behind the petition.

A 2nd lawsuit, filed by Lyle Koenig, a private practice attorney in Gage 
County, alleges the ballot language prepared by Nebraska Attorney General Doug 
Peterson and Secretary of State John Gale is insufficient or unfair.

Nebraskans for Public Safety reported Monday collecting $461,579, but only 
about $10,500 in cash in the most current reporting period. In-kind 
contributions this period totaled about $17,500.

The largest single contributors to the organization have been the Protreus 
Action League, a social justice group out of Massachusetts, which gave 
$400,000, and philanthropist Richard Holland, a key Democratic contributor, who 
gave $20,000.

Equal Justice USA of Brooklyn, New York, has contributed in-kind staff time 
worth $12,500.

"Our campaign is proud to have garnered strong grassroots support over the 
summer in addition to national support from a very diverse set of donors," said 
Danielle Conrad, spokeswoman for Nebraskans for Public Safety. "Almost 300 
Nebraskans have added contributions large and small to help our campaign 
educate Nebraskans about why the death penalty is broken and belongs in our 
past."

She said the group has gotten a positive outpouring of support from 
conservative leaders, faith groups, victims??? families and traditional death 
penalty opponents, and has a growing list of more than 200 grassroots 
volunteers statewide.

"We will continue to raise funds aggressively in Nebraska and beyond to ensure 
we have the resources we need to share our positive message with Nebraska 
voters," Conrad said.

Nebraska's death penalty was repealed by the Legislature in May with the 
passage of LB268. Ricketts vetoed the bill, but lawmakers voted 30-19 to 
override that veto.

(source: Lincoln Journal Star)