[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, MISS., LA.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 23



TEXAS:

9th District Court candidates discuss death penalty


With a decades-old capital murder case going back and forth in appeals that 
originated in the 9th state District Court, candidates gunning for the court's 
judge's seat weighed in on how they see the death penalty.

Eric Yollick, Kate Shipman Bihm and Phil Grant each said they would follow the 
law if a jury assesses death after a capital felony case.

But Bihm said while she would sign a death warrant for the condemned, it would 
be an occasion she takes seriously.

"It should be uncomfortable," Bihm said. "It's not a matter of whether I will 
feel comfortable with it. It's a matter of whether I will follow the law, and I 
will follow the law."

Yollick said death is, in some cases, a necessary punishment for those 
convicted of the most heinous crimes.

"The purpose of punishment primarily is to incapacitate people who are 
convicted so that they cannot commit crimes again," Yollick said. "The death 
penalty is an appropriate punishment when someone has committed a serious 
enough capital offense that they need to be incapacitated forever."

Grant said as judge, he'd help move death penalty cases through the appellate 
process faster. Each death penalty case has an automatic appeal, according to 
the District Attorney's Office.

"I think it's important in death penalty cases especially to move the 
post-conviction appellate processes that are mandated by law through the court 
system as efficiently as justice allows," Grant said. "... I will give death 
penalty cases and the appeals that result from death penalty cases docket 
priority so that we can be thorough, efficient and fair."

The 9th District Court is home to the Larry Swearingen case in which he was 
convicted of killing Melissa Trotter, an 18-year-old then-Montgomery College 
student who went missing Dec. 8, 1998. She was found dead in the Sam Houston 
National Forest north of Lake Conroe.

His case is currently awaiting action from the Court of Criminal Appeals.

(source: yourhoustonnews.com)






DELAWARE:

Death Penalty Repeal to Reach Delaware House of Representatives


A death penalty repeal bill that had been languishing in a House committee is 
headed to a vote by the full House next week after the committee chairman 
agreed to release it.

Judiciary Committee members voted 6-to-5 last May not to send the bill to the 
full House after it cleared the Senate on an 11-to-9 vote.

But committee chairman Rep. John Mitchell, D-Elsmere, who opposes repeal, said 
Thursday that he had signed it out of committee with an "unfavorable" 
endorsement, allowing the bill to move forward.

Rep. Sean Lynn, a Dover Democrat and chief House sponsor of the legislation, 
said he believes it has enough support to pass the House.

Democratic Gov. Jack Markell has said he would sign the measure if it reaches 
his desk.

(source: Associated Press)






FLORIDA:

Death row inmate's attorneys cite U.S. high court to delay execution


A U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Florida's death-penalty sentencing 
structure is a "tectonic shift" that should be applied retroactively to all 
inmates on death row, lawyers for a convicted murderer scheduled to be executed 
in February wrote in court documents filed Friday.

Lawyers for Cary Michael Lambrix, who has been on death row for more than three 
decades, have asked the Florida Supreme Court to halt his execution and allow a 
lower court to sort out whether the U.S. Supreme Court decision, in a case 
known as Hurst v. Florida, applies to Lambrix.

In an 8-1 decision this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Florida's 
method of using juries to recommend death sentences, but giving judges the 
power to impose the sentences, is an unconstitutional violation of the Sixth 
Amendment right to a trial by jury.

The decision focused on what are known as "aggravating" circumstances that must 
be found before defendants can be sentenced to death. A 2002 U.S. Supreme Court 
ruling, in a case known as Ring v. Arizona, requires that determination of such 
aggravating circumstances be made by juries, not judges.

The Jan. 12 ruling has "far-reaching effects on capital litigation in Florida," 
requiring more time to digest than is available under the current "expedited" 
court schedule prompted by the pending death warrant, signed by Gov. Rick Scott 
in November, Lambrix's lawyers argued Friday in a 106-page brief.

"Each passing day brings new understanding of what Hurst means and implies for 
capital proceedings in Florida - past, present and future. ... A full airing 
and judicious consideration of Hurst and its implications cannot and should not 
be under the exigencies of a death warrant," the lawyers wrote.

Attorney General Pam Bondi's lawyers argued earlier this week that the Hurst 
ruling should not affect Lambrix's case because his sentence came before the 
2002 decision in Ring v. Arizona.

Following the Hurst ruling, the state Supreme Court gave Lambrix's lawyers an 
extra 2 days - until Friday - to file a brief explaining its impact on his case 
and whether it applies retroactively to inmates already on death row.

The Florida Supreme Court has typically given inmates condemned to death a year 
to interpret death penalty decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court, 
Lambrix's lawyers objected, reiterating their request that state justices 
postpone his execution, scheduled for Feb. 11.

"Hurst requires a global paradigm shift in our understanding of the Sixth 
Amendment aspects of Florida's death penalty scheme. Hurst establishes that our 
most basic assumptions about the constitutional integrity of Florida's scheme 
were wrong. It necessarily opens up new approaches to understanding what is, 
and is not, unconstitutional in what remains of that scheme," the lawyers 
wrote.

Lambrix was convicted of killing Aleisha Bryant and Clarence Moore in Glades 
County in 1983. He met the couple at a LaBelle bar and invited the pair to his 
mobile home for a spaghetti dinner, documents say.

Lambrix went outside with Bryant and Moore individually, then returned to 
finish dinner with his girlfriend. Bryant's and Moore's bodies were found 
buried near Lambrix's mobile home.

Lambrix was originally scheduled to be executed in 1988, but the Florida 
Supreme Court issued a stay. A federal judge lifted the stay in 1992.

Lambrix has argued that his previous lawyers were ineffective, that he suffers 
from post-traumatic stress disorder and that the trial court erred in denying 
DNA tests for a tire iron, Bryant's clothing and a shirt wrapped around the 
tire iron. Lambrix contends that Moore sexually assaulted Bryant and killed her 
and that Lambrix killed Moore in self-defense.

A jury recommended that Lambrix be sentenced to death, and a judge imposed the 
death sentence under the process that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was 
unconstitutional, Lambrix's lawyers wrote.

The Florida Supreme Court should apply Hurst retroactively, as it did after a 
U.S. Supreme Court ruling about the constitutionality of juveniles being 
sentenced to life in prison, Lambrix's lawyers wrote. Last year, the Florida 
justices gave inmates who had been sentenced to life as juveniles two years to 
seek new sentences from trial courts.

(source: tbo.com)

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

End, don't mend, Florida's death penalty


It is time to abolish the death penalty in Florida as an outdated form of 
punishment that is arbitrarily applied, costs too much time and money, and 
fails to deter criminals or provide timely comfort to victims' families.

The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on whether a recent 
U.S. Supreme Court opinion that overturned the state's sentencing process in 
death penalty cases should apply to scores of death row inmates who already 
have been sentenced. Attorney General Pam Bondi and state lawmakers vow to 
overhaul the sentencing system, but the death penalty is not worth the trouble. 
It is time to abolish the death penalty in Florida as an outdated form of 
punishment that is arbitrarily applied, costs too much time and money, and 
fails to deter criminals or give timely comfort to victims' families.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida's death sentencing laws this month, 
ruling in an 8-1 decision that Florida's system was unconstitutional because it 
vests final authority in death cases in judges instead of juries. The Florida 
Supreme Court will visit a narrow issue in oral arguments on Feb. 2: whether 
the decision in Hurst vs. Florida should be applied retroactively to the 390 
inmates on death row. But there are much larger problems with the death penalty 
that cannot be resolved.

Here are 6 reasons Florida should end rather than fix the death penalty:

It's arbitrary. There are 31 states that allow the death penalty, but it is 
largely a punishment imposed by Southern states. Texas, Missouri and Georgia 
accounted for 86 % of all executions last year. In the past several years, 
Florida has ranked in the top 3 states for executions.

While some states have stopped executions entirely over the past decade, with 
some abolishing them outright, the arbitrary nature of who is sentenced to 
death has grown more obvious as it is meted out in a shrinking sliver of the 
country. In 2012, 59 counties - fewer than 2 % of all those nationwide - 
accounted for all death sentences imposed in the United States. That speaks to 
the political pressure of individual cases that locally elected prosecutors and 
judges face. It's a trend that promises to become more pronounced as the number 
of death sentences continues to drop to the lowest levels since the U.S. 
Supreme Court reinstated executions in 1976. Florida is on the wrong side of 
this trend.

It's expensive. The financial cost of bringing a capital case to trial is 
another example of how similar crimes can be treated differently because of 
outside factors. Studies show that death cases cost four times or more as much 
as cases where the death sentence is not an option. Prosecutors and defense 
attorneys are forced to hire experts, travel and spend huge amounts of time 
preparing for trial, consuming resources that state attorneys, public 
defenders, private lawyers and the police could better spend on other law 
enforcement efforts.

Death row inmates are also more expensive to house, and the appeals process can 
drag on for years, sapping even more public money and resources. The net effect 
is that states and local authorities must pick and choose, and in an era of 
tight government budgets, some defendants will benefit and some will lose 
merely on the basis of which jurisdictions can afford to prosecute a capital 
case.

Its value as a deterrent is questionable. Those on both sides of the death 
penalty deterrence argument claim that research validates their position. But a 
landmark study in 2012 by the National Research Council of the National 
Academies, whose members are chartered to advise the federal government on the 
sciences, technology and public health, concluded that research over the past 3 
decades "is not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, 
increases or has no effect on homicide rates." The academies found that the 
research to date was so fundamentally flawed that neither side could argue the 
deterrent effect.

The finding reinforces the argument by opponents that the death penalty is too 
compromised by delays, procedural error and bias to deter the criminal 
population.

It takes too long. The length of the average delay nationally between 
sentencing and death has increased significantly over time, from 11 years in 
2004 to 17 years today. Of the 28 people executed nationwide in 2015, 3 waited 
nearly 30 years or longer. In Florida, the 20 inmates executed from 2012 to 
last year spent, on average, nearly 25 years on death row.

It does not provide certain closure. The death penalty is also not a salve to 
the victims' families, who are forced the revisit the loss of a loved one 
multiple times over years of waiting for a final resolution. Trials in death 
cases involve 2 stages - a guilt phase and sentencing phase - meaning that 
victims must endure the heinous details of a murder over an extended period.

That is just the beginning. The appellate process adds years if not decades to 
a capital case, and victims looking for comfort and certainty are left in a 
painful limbo for an indeterminate time. The constant reprise of the tragedy 
makes it harder for them to recover, and it forces families to continually 
focus on the worst times of their lives.

It is not error-proof. Scores of people nationwide have been freed from death 
row after being wrongly convicted, revealing a troubled system that new 
advances in forensic science will continue to expose as vulnerable to error.

There is no shortage of factors that can contribute to wrongfully sending a 
person to death row, from mistaken witnesses and forced confessions to perjured 
testimony, incompetent defense attorneys and false or planted forensic 
evidence. Nearly 160 people sentenced to death have been exonerated since 1973 
- a figure that equals one of every 10 people executed nationwide since 1976.

Florida, which leads the nation in exonerations, at 26, should be working to 
improve its criminal justice system, not looking for ways to speed up 
executions or to patch its procedural flaws.

The death penalty is a relic of an earlier era that is increasingly avoided, 
marginalized geographically and takes decades to carry out. Rather than 
overhauling the sentencing system to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court, 
Florida should abolish the death penalty.

(source: Editorial, Tampa Bay Times)

***********

Colley decides to keep attorney without death penalty qualification


The man deputies said shot and killed his wife and her friend last summer was 
back in court Thursday.

The judge is sorting out some legal issues before James Colley Jr. heads to 
court to face a murder charge.

Police arrested Colley in Virginia last August, days after he allegedly shot 
and killed his estranged wife, Amanda Colley and her friend, Linda Dobbins at 
his wife's St. Johns County home.

Amanda Colley filed for a domestic violence injunction the month before, which 
Colley violated.

He had a hearing on the violation just before deputies said he shot and killed 
the women.

This latest hearing was to determine if Colley wanted to keep his attorney, 
knowing that he is not death penalty qualified. The judge told Colley if he 
said yes he wouldn't be able to appeal later.

Colley is charged with 1st degree murder and his latest court appearance wasn't 
as much about those charges, as it was about his attorney's ability to defend 
him against them.

Colley's attorney, Terry Shoemaker, spoke to News4Jax over the phone.

"The whole meaning of the hearing was just to make sure that JR understood that 
because I'm not death penalty qualified for the Florida statue that he cannot 
later use that as an appellate issue," Shoemaker said.

When a client is facing capital punishment in a Florida case, like Colley is, a 
lawyer has to meet qualifications to represent them.

Attorney Gene Nichols, not affiliated with the case, know all about those 
qualifications.

"It means having enough trials involving death penalty cases or in the 
alternative have been involved in enough high-profile cases understanding the 
nuances of expert testimony understand the nuances of forensic testimony to 
make sure that they are well qualified to represent a defendant," Nichols said.

Colley told the judge, despite Shoemaker's lack of qualifications, he'd keep 
his attorney.

"If the defendant loses and it comes back on appeal the State's position is 
going to be that the defendant waived his right to have somebody who met that 
requirement," Nichols said.

For now Colley moves forward with his current counsel, which could soon include 
another attorney with death penalty qualifications. Shoemaker is aware of this.

"That's been something we talked about since day 1 and that may be something 
that happens, but at this point we are not sure," Shoemaker said.

(source: news4jax.com)

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

Good Shepherd seeks light on death penalty


Mukweso Mwenene and Betty Serow sit quietly in a conference room at Good 
Shepherd Catholic Church on Thomasville Road. Across from them, Father Michael 
Foley smiles gently. There is a sense of peace in the room even as the 3 
parishioners consider a thing many Americans feel strongly about: whether a 
human being should be put to death for his actions.

That question, will be explored at the church Feb. 19 and 20 in a symposium 
titled "Human Rights and Religion - Dignity of the Individual and the Death 
Penalty." Opening with "Flowers in the Median," an adapted 1-act play about a 
man who killed a woman's daughter and her grandson and received her 
forgiveness, the meeting continues the next day with panel discussions by other 
parents whose children were victims, as well as an internationally-known roster 
of speakers: psychologists, prison chaplains, a police commissioner, as well as 
a man who himself spent 5 years on death row.

Father Foley, who speaks with a soft Irish brogue, reminds listeners in the 
room that this is Pope Francis' "Year of Mercy" and that we should "go to the 
periphery" ... seeking out those in need. He pointedly specifies that Catholic 
teaching calls for justice and accountability, but that "human life is sacred." 
When asked, he affirms that for Catholics, "a life in prison is preferable to 
putting another human being to death." Foley says, "Revenge is a burden, both 
financial for our system, but personal as well. One can never move on holding 
it inside."

Mwenene and Serow agree. They are among the organizers of this 3rd symposium at 
Good Shepherd Church addressing issues of Social Justice.

"3 years ago our meeting introduced a "guide" which is derived from Catholic 
Social Teaching," says Serow. "It includes advocacy for our planet; caring for 
the vulnerable; for workers; upholding marriage and family; working for the 
right to life; and enhancement of the brotherhood of all human beings."

Last year's symposium dealt with the problem of human trafficking.

"This year's conference on the death penalty is to bring facts, figures and 
personal experience into people's consciousness. And then to help them decide 
how to do something about it," says Serow.

How? Mwenene says, "As Catholics, we believe that change begins with prayer. 
That great good can be accomplished through prayer; through advocacy; and 
through direct action."

One who accepted the call to "direct action" is Good Shepherd parishioner, Dale 
Recinella, a guest speaker. Recinella is an international attorney and 
professor who gave up a lucrative and thriving law practice to devote himself 
full-time to a prison ministry that takes him to death row and the death 
chamber itself. His own story is one of transformation.

"The thing of it is - we must get beyond revenge," says Father Foley. "After 
the execution of someone, many studies have found that there is no relief for 
the survivors. That doesn't truly come until forgiveness had been given." In 
addition, he says, "Many people on death row have later been found to have been 
innocent. Once dead - an exoneration will never be possible."

Mwenene, who is originally from Africa, points to the example of Nelson Mandela 
in South Africa and his calls for Truth and Reconciliation, and to Rwanda, 
where great numbers were killed, but forgiveness was ultimately bestowed. 
"America can do this too," he says.

When asked for whom the February symposium on the Death Penalty is meant, Serow 
says that it may be most helpful for those who are undecided on the issue. "Our 
understanding is really a journey ... an evolutionary process about the way God 
works in our lives. It's about how justice and forgiveness can be a formula for 
peace, both without and within."

IF YOU GO

What: Human Rights and Religion - Dignity of the Individual and the Death 
Penalty

Where: Good Shepherd Catholic Church, Parish Center, 4665 Thomasville Road

When: 8:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Feb. 19; 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 20

Cost: Free

Death penalty numbers

Statistics from the Death Penalty Information Center:

--Florida has the highest number (26) of death row exonerations in the U.S.

--Florida has the second highest number (after California) of death row inmates

--Since 1976, Florida has executed 92 persons, the 4th greatest number in U.S.

--Estimated $51 million per year paid by Floridians to try to enforce the death 
penalty over and above the cost of seeking life in prison for same defendants.

--Never in the state of Florida has a white person been executed for killing an 
African American.

(source: Tallahassee Democrat)






OHIO:

Judge considers sanctions against prosecutors in Barberton triple-murder case


A Summit County judge will decide if she will impose sanctions against 
prosecutors in a death-penalty triple murder case.

Summit County Judge Amy Corrigall Jones set a hearing on the issue for Feb. 4.

Eric Hendon, 31, could face the death penalty if convicted of fatally shooting 
John Kohler, 42, and his 2 children, Ashley Carpenter, 18, and David Kohler 
Carpenter, 14 on Dec. 31, 2013.

His brother and co-defendant in the case, Michael Hendon, was convicted at 
trial and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors said during 
that trial Eric Hendon killed all 3.

The legal fight stems from records defense attorneys successfully sought after 
learning that prosecutors failed to provide them a diary entry in which 
surviving victim Rhonda Blankenship identified Michael Hendon as the shooter, 
rather than his brother Eric.

Defense attorneys Brian Pierce and Don Malarcik asked Corrigall Jones to impose 
one of the following sanctions: dismiss the case, dismiss the death-penalty 
specifications or prohibit Blankenship from testifying at the trial scheduled 
to begin Feb. 17.

In all of her statements before or since, she identified Eric Hendon as the 
shooter.

Blankenship turned in her diary entry as her official written statement to 
Barberton police. Prosecutors are required divulge all evidence in a criminal 
trial.

Defense attorneys successfully argued that more information was necessary to 
establish Blankenship's credibility as a witness, her state of mind at the time 
of her statements and her memory.

Blankenship survived but lost an eye after being shot and stabbed in the face.

Corrigall Jones ordered that Blankenship provide usernames and passwords to her 
various email and social media accounts. Corrigall Jones also ordered her 
mental health records be released to her.

The judge will review those records without divulging anything to attorneys in 
the case. She will decide if anything should be used in the case.

: Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Terri Burnside objected and said she 
believes the judge's order violates Blankenship's rights. Blankenship's 
attorney, Elizabeth Well of the Columbus-based Justice League, appealed 
Corrigall Jones' ruling.

"I've never seen anything like this in 22 years I've been doing this," Burnside 
said Friday during a hearing. "It's very disturbing."

Prosecutors said during a previous hearing that they were unable to subpoena 
Blankenship's email and social media passwords because they had to go through 
Well. They missed a deadline the judge set to provide the information.

Well has since delivered the computers and cellphones Blankenship used to 
communicate with others about the case, including a laptop computer she 
delivered to the judge on Friday.

Some of the mental health records were not turned over as of Friday.

Prosecutors on Friday filed their response to the request for sanctions. 
Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Daniel Sallerson wrote that defense 
attorneys sought to "harass and further injure the victim" by forcing her 
electronic devices and social media passwords to be divulged to the court.

He also wrote there is no legal standing for any of the sanctions to be imposed 
since they either have complied or are waiting for records to be delivered.

(source: cleveland.com)

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

Surviving victim hands over laptop to court in Eric Hendon's triple-murder case


The surviving victim in Eric Hendon's triple-murder case surrendered her laptop 
to a Summit County judge during a hearing Friday, but the fight over how much 
personal information the victim must provide in the case is far from over.

The attorney for Ronda Blankenship, who was shot and stabbed and lost an eye in 
the New Year's Eve 2013 incident at her boyfriend's Barberton home, provided 
Judge Amy Corrigall Jones with Blankenship's cellphone last week. At the 
request of defense attorneys, attorney Elizabeth Well handed over Blankenship's 
laptop Friday, telling the court it was the only other electronic device she is 
aware of that her client used to communicate about the incident.

As soon as Well handed over the computer, Assistant Prosecutor Teri Burnside, 
stood up, saying she "couldn't help herself."

"I ask the court to reconsider an order to violate this victim's rights to 
privacy," she said. "I've never seen anything like this in 27 years."

Brian Pierce, 1 of Hendon's 2 defense attorneys, however, said Blankenship's 
information will be reviewed privately by Jones to determine its relevancy, 
which helps to balance Blankenship's right to privacy with Hendon's right to 
due process.

The computer handoff was the latest in a strange, several-month battle between 
defense attorneys and prosecutors that began in October after defense attorneys 
discovered a journal entry by Blankenship that identified Michael Hendon, 
Eric's younger brother, as the main perpetrator in the incident.

This contradicted Blankenship's testimony during Michael Hendon's trial that 
pointed to Eric Hendon as the primary perpetrator. Michael Hendon was convicted 
of multiple counts of aggravated murder and was sentenced by Jones in September 
to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Eric Hendon's trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 17. He is facing the death 
penalty.

Since Blankenship's journal entry was discovered, Eric Hendon's attorneys have 
sought additional information from Blankenship, including any electronic 
devices she used to communicate about the case and her email and social-media 
passwords, to see whether she made any other potentially exculpatory statements 
regarding their client.

Blankenship, however, has her own attorney, Elizabeth Well from the Justice 
League of Ohio, a nonprofit group that provides legal assistance to crime 
victims in court proceedings. Well has filed an appeal in the Ninth District 
Court of Appeals that challenges Jones??? order for Blankenship???s personal 
items to be provided and has requested a stay from Jones pending the appellate 
court's ruling. She also asked Jones to quash the prosecutor's subpoenas.

Blankenship, who was ordered to be at Friday's hearing, didn't speak during the 
hearing and left immediately afterward. She was comforted during the proceeding 
by her aunt, Rita Breton. Asked if she wanted to comment, Blankenship said, "I 
just want to get out of here right now!" before hastily leaving.

Defense attorneys plan to have a computer expert make a forensic image of the 
items on Blankenship's computer. Jones said she will look over the computer 
material - as well as medical records also provided to the court - to see if it 
is relevant to the case. She has promised not to share any of the information 
with the attorneys without first having a hearing.

Pierce and Don Malarcik, Eric Hendon???s attorneys, have asked Jones to dismiss 
the case, remove the death-penalty specification or now allow Blankenship to 
testify at trial. They argue such sanctions are warranted because prosecutors 
withheld evidence in the case and have been uncooperative.

Assistant Prosecutor Dan Sallerson, however, filed a response Friday afternoon 
asking Jones to dismiss the request. He said it is baseless and argued the 
defense attorneys are trying to "create issues for appeal and/or somehow twist 
the State of Ohio's arm to dismiss a death specification."

(source: ohio.com)

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

Attorney asks for new jury pool for Logan County mom accused of killing kids


Attorneys for the woman accused of killing her 3 young sons in Logan County 
want the court to use driver's license records to pull a jury from rather than 
the traditional method of using voter rolls when she goes to trial this year.

Kort Gatterdam, one of Brittany Pilkington's 3 attorneys in her aggravated 
murder case, argued during a hearing in Logan County Common Pleas Court Friday 
that minorities and the poor are underrepresented in voter registration and 
that Pilkington is entitled to a diverse jury.

"There needs to be people from all different backgrounds," Gatterdam told Judge 
Mark S. O'Connor. "Ms. Pilkington has a right to a fair cross-section of her 
community."

The law allows a court to use either method or a combination of the 2.

Pilkington, 23, has pleaded not guilty to 3 counts of aggravated murder in the 
deaths of sons, 3-month-old Niall, 3-month-old Noah and Gavin, 4. Police say 
she confessed that she smothered all 3 at separate times over a 13-month 
period. She was arrested in August after Noah became the last to die.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Gatterdam said he would prefer the court use only driver's license records but 
he would agree to using a combination of both lists.

O'Connor said he wasn't opposed to it, necessarily, but pointed out that 
Montgomery County had once used Bureau of Motor Vehicles records for juries and 
eventually stopped the practice.

"The no-shows from the driver's lists were greater than the no-shows from the 
voters lists," O'Connor said.

He said he would get with the court's technical support staff to figure out how 
using both lists might work and that he would rule on the motion later.

Attorneys on both sides dealt with dozens of motions on Friday.

One of the motions to be addressed was a request from Pilkington's lawyers to 
remove Logan County Prosecutor William T. Goslee from the case because they 
said he improperly questioned her. But they withdrew their objection before the 
hearing, so Goslee will stay.

Much of the rest of the hearing centered around pre-trial publicity and the 
defense's wish to move the trial to another county even without first 
attempting to find an unbiased jury locally.

"The prejudice here is so great and the coverage is so saturating," Gatterdam 
said, "that in a small community like this that hasn't seen a death penalty 
case in years, and with the publicity of a purported confession, there is no 
ability to find a fair and impartial jury."

Logan County's chief assistant prosecutor, Eric Stewart, said there is no way 
to measure how notorious Pilkington is and whether public opinion has been 
tainted. That will be decided once jurors are questioned.

O'Connor didn't rule on the motion. but hinted that he may not be opposed to a 
move.

The judge also said he wants Pilkington to have a psychological evaluation to 
determine whether she is competent to stand trial. That has not yet been 
scheduled.

Gatterdam said he would prefer the court use only driver???s license records to 
pull prospective jurors from but he would agree to using a combination of both 
lists.

O'Connor said that Montgomery County had once used Bureau of Motor Vehicles 
records for juries but eventually stopped the practice.

"The no-shows from the driver's lists were greater than the no-shows from the 
voters lists," O'Connor said.

He said he would get with the court's technical support staff to figure out how 
using both lists might work and that he would rule on the motion later.

Both sides were in court today to deal with more than 40 motions pending in the 
capital case. Much of it was standard legal wrangling over language and 
evidence.

A prior hearing had been held to discuss Pilkington's lawyers' request to 
remove Logan County Prosecutor William T. Goslee from the case because they 
said he improperly questioned her. But they withdrew their objection today so 
Goslee will stay.

Much of the rest of the hearing centered around pre-trial publicity and the 
defense's wish to move the trial to another county even without first 
attempting to find an unbiased jury in Logan County.

"The prejudice here is so great and the coverage is so saturating," Gatterdam 
said. "that in a small community like this that hasn't seen a death penalty 
case in years and with the publicity of a purported confession there is no 
ability to find a fair and impartial jury."

Logan County's chief assistant prosecutor, Eric Stewart, said there is no way 
to yet measure how notorious Pilkington is and whether any of the news has 
tainted public opinion. That will be decided once jurors are questioned.

O'Connor didn't rule on the motion. but hinted that he may not be opposed to a 
move.

"This court has, prior to voir dire, moved a case before," he said. He noted, 
however, that moving the case to a bigger county with a larger jury pool, such 
as Columbus or Dayton, might not help because the coverage has been just as 
intense there.

Gatterdam said it doesn't carry the same weight in urban areas, though.

"Folks that live in the big city are used to crime. It permeates the local news 
every night," he said. "Coverage doesn't have the same impact."

Pilkington was in court today in street clothes for the first time and 
unshackled. No one addressed why, but defense attorneys often ask to allow it 
as they move closer to a death-penalty trial. Her mother and an aunt were there 
to support here.

The judge has said he wants Pilkington to have a psychological evaluation to 
determine whether she is competent to trial. That has not yet been scheduled.

(source: The Columbus Dispatch)






MISSISSIPPI:

Mississippi death row inmate gets new appeal over bailiff conduct----Bobby 
Batiste sentenced to death in 2009


The Mississippi Supreme Court said a death row inmate convicted of killing his 
roommate can file more appeals because jurors might have been improperly 
influenced by bailiffs in the trial court.

Bobby Batiste, a former Mississippi State University student, was sentenced to 
death in 2009 in Oktibbeha County. A jury convicted him of capital murder in 
the 2008 slaying of Andreas Galanis.

Prosecutors said Galanis died from a blow to the head after he and Batiste 
fought at their off-campus apartment when Galanis discovered money missing from 
his checking account. Court records show Batiste told police that Galanis 
attacked him first.

The state Supreme Court said Thursday that a juror filed an affidavit saying a 
bailiff told her the jury was all-white because black jurors wouldn't consider 
the death penalty.

(source: WAPT news)






LOUISIANA:

Derrick Todd Lee dies without revealing what happened to Mari Ann Fowler - West 
Baton Rouge investigators say the case of her disappearance remains open

In the end, all West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Mike Cazes was seeking from 
Baton Rouge serial killer Derrick Todd Lee was the location of Mari Ann 
Fowler's body.

But that wish was dashed Thursday morning when Lee died from natural causes at 
an area hospital.

For years, Cazes' investigators had Lee as their prime suspect in Fowler's 
disappearance and apparent abduction from a Port Allen-area shopping mall on 
La. 415 around 5:30 p.m. Christmas Eve 2002. But they never felt they had 
enough evidence to bring a case to prosecution.

Cazes and his investigators said Friday they had collected some tantalizing 
bits of evidence pointing to Lee but, in retrospect, nothing definitive that 
could prove a case in court:

- the fact that Gross Tete and St. Gabriel cell towers hit on Lee's cell phone 
in the general location of Fowler's disappearance the night she was abducted;

The West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office believes the 2 vehicles pictured in this 
still of a surveillance video, top right, belonged to Mari Ann Fowler and 
Derrick Todd Lee. The front grill of what investigators think was Lee's 
Chevrolet pickup truck can be seen in the parking lot. The wheels and body of 
Fowler's Mazda sedan are just above the truck. Investigators say some kind of 
struggle between two figures, not pictured, happens between the car and truck 
later in the videotape.

- a fake nail found at the scene of the abduction that turned up no DNA;

- the pickup truck Lee once owned that seemed, possibly, to match one visible 
in surveillance video from the night of Fowler's abduction, though the truck 
also had no DNA from Lee; or

- the fact that Lee sold a maroon Chevrolet pickup just days after sheriff's 
investigators disclosed in the media that they were looking for that kind of 
pickup in Fowler's case.

"We had a circumstantial case, at best," Bryan Doucet, sheriff's chief of 
detectives, said Friday.

Fowler, 65, was the wife of now deceased Elections Commissioner Jerry Fowler. 
Her apparent abduction came during the height of fear over the then-unknown 
serial killer at work in string of brutal murders of women in the Baton Rouge 
area. A special joint task force had already been formed and, 1 day before 
Fowler disappeared, authorities announced four slayings had been tied to the 
same DNA profile.

A former career education advocate and a former state secretary of education, 
Fowler was on her way to visit her husband at a Beaumont, Texas, federal prison 
for the holidays the night she disappeared. Jerry Fowler, who died in 2009, had 
been serving a 5-year prison sentence in a bribery and kickback scheme 
involving voting machines.

Sheriff's deputies searched for Mari Ann Fowler for 12 days after she 
disappeared, covering 500 miles. A court declared her legally dead in May 2004.

Lee was arrested a year earlier in Atlanta after he had been linked through DNA 
analysis to several slayings, though not Fowler's.

Well after Lee was convicted in two of those murders and received the death 
penalty in one of them - the 2002 slaying of Charlotte Murray Pace, 22, in 
Baton Rouge - Cazes said he would visit Lee as he waited on death row at 
Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for a sentence that would never be 
executed.

But even when Cazes said he promised not to prosecute Lee for Fowler's murder 
if Lee would just say where her body was so the sheriff could bring some the 
closure for Fowler's grandchildren, Lee not only would not relent but would 
also go into a tantrum.

"He would just go nuts," Cazes said. "He just he would like snap when I asked 
him that."

Lee, 47, of St. Francisville, was taken from Angola on Jan. 16 for an 
undisclosed medical condition.

State corrections officials have not released details about Lee's health 
problems, citing federal medical privacy laws.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office conducted Lee's autopsy Friday 
morning on behalf of the West Feliciana Parish Coroner's Office.

"At this point in our investigation, with the collected evidence, it is our 
belief that Mr. Lee passed from natural causes," West Feliciana Coroner Dr. 
Chaillie Daniel said in a statement Friday afternoon.

"We will continue to await final reports regarding post mortem examination."

Elizabeth Bourgeois, office manager for Daniel's medical practice, said the 
coroner told her it would likely take 2 to 3 weeks to get final pathology 
reports.

While John Pritchett, the son of Mari Ann Fowler, has few kind words for former 
Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade over his early role in the serial killer 
investigation, Pritchett said he believes Cazes and West Baton Rouge sheriff's 
investigators did the best they could in his mother's abduction.

But anger with Derrick Todd Lee burns fiercely in Pritchett over what he 
believes Lee did to his mother, him and his family.

Thoughts of the suffering his mom may have endured at Lee's hands, memories of 
Pritchett's last irritated call with his mom on Christmas Eve because she was 
going to visit his stepfather, Jerry Fowler, and not visiting friends with him, 
and the constant reminder that Pritchett has no grave to visit his mother in 
death, all haunt the 56-year-old to this day.

He said he harbors thoughts of wishing he had killed Lee himself and welcomed 
his death Thursday.

"I could care less about him or his family or anybody else. I have no sympathy, 
nothing for him or his family," said Pritchett, who works as a plant operator 
and lives in Brusly.

Pritchett said a friend said he was going to pray for him so Pritchett could 
find forgiveness for Lee and the burden in his heart could leave him.

"I just don't see it happening," Pritchett said. "Maybe I'm wrong for that. I 
got so much hate. I just don???t see it happening."

West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Capt. Kevin Cyrus said the surveillance video that 
captured the apparent abduction was shot from inside a liquor and tobacco store 
2 strip mall store locations away from the Subway restaurant Fowler had visited 
moments before she disappeared.

Fowler's Mazda and what investigators think was Lee's pickup can be seen parked 
outside through the liquor store's windows.

Though enhanced by the FBI, the VHS videotape shows, Cyrus said, some kind 
struggle of 2 people between the pickup and the Mazda after Fowler leaves the 
Subway. But Cyrus said it is hard to say if the figure is definitively Lee or 
if the pickup in the video is his.

At the scene, Cyrus said, detectives found Fowler's car and her purse and items 
from it, including the fake nail, thrown about in an open parking space where 
the surveillance appeared to show a struggle.

After Lee's arrest, detectives tracked Lee's former Chevy pickup to the current 
owner and searched it for DNA but found nothing, Cyrus said.

Cazes said the owner worked in construction, and mortar and sand in the truck 
hindered any chance for DNA.

"We'd like to say we did bring justice for her. We did everything we could 
trying to get it," Cazes said.

Cyrus and Doucet explained that sheriff's investigators also made a calculation 
through the years. With Lee already convicted and facing the death penalty, it 
did not make sense to bring a prosecution that could fail when they had what 
appeared to be time on their side. They held out, they said, that one day they 
might find a key link or even Fowler's body to tie Lee to her death.

Cyrus added that even with Lee's death, he has no regrets over that strategy 
because he would have wanted Lee convicted on Fowler's death and not on Lee's 
reputation from prior convictions.

Cyrus and Doucet said the case against Lee is not closed.

Land clearing for a new subdivision, high water in the swamp or hunters in the 
woods might one day find that conclusive link, Cyrus said.

"Until a body is found, no, it's still considered to me, in my professional 
opinion, an open case," he said.

(source: The Advocate)

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

80 inmates remain on Louisiana death row after passing of Derrick Todd Lee


With the death of Derrick Todd Lee, 80 individuals remain on death row in 
Louisiana.

A majority of those individuals were convicted in Caddo Parish. Fifteen 
convictions occurred in that parish. Meanwhile, 13 were convicted in East Baton 
Rouge.

Many of them have been on death row for decades, including Michael O. Perry and 
James E. Copeland, who have been there since 1986.

The extensive stays on death row are in part the result of lengthy appeals 
processes that often go to the federal level.

"These are costly endeavors, following these death penalty cases through," said 
Hillar Moore, District Attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish.

During his wait on death row for more than a decade, tax payers spent more than 
$200,000 to cover Derrick Todd Lee's prison expenses. The appeals process 
itself costs much more.

"You are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, possibly a million, 
particularly throughout the entire 25-year period of time," Moore said.

While the appeals process is important, because it serves as a safe-guard to 
protect innocent people, it can also be prolonged unnecessarily in Louisiana 
for several reasons, according to James Craig, co-director of the Roderick and 
Solange MacArthur Justice Center based in New Orleans.

Craig said part of the problem is defense teams are often overworked and 
overextended.

"If you've got 100 felonies that you're dealing with or more, and many more in 
some jurisdictions and then death penalty cases, the chance that you can get 
out and do the investigation that' s needed in your death penalty case. It's 
really just too much to ask," said Craig, who has defended people facing 
capital punishment in both Louisiana and Mississippi.

Frequently, defense attorneys may have to work several other cases while also 
working capital cases, according to Craig. As a result, investigations may 
suffer, leading to appeals.

"As a result, there's a lot of litigation about facts that should have been 
uncovered prior to trial and there have to be hearings about what the trial 
lawyers knew and why they didn't do the investigation that was required and 
quite often cases get reversed and have to be retried," he said. "Either we do 
these cases right when they're coming up to trial or we they have to be redone 
over and over again over the years."

By contrast, he said in Mississippi there is a program in place giving each 
death penalty case its own specialty lawyer, making rulings more airtight and 
in effect helping speed up the appeals process.

"As a result is now very rare for Mississippi cases to get reversed for an 
ineffective council," Craig said.

Craig said there are several options to fix this. For one, the state could 
pursue less death sentences, thereby not stretching attorneys quite so thin. 
Alternatively, the state could provide more funding to defense attorneys.

"They are given some state funded money, but the vast majority of the state 
public defender money comes from fines and fees on misdemeanor offenses, so 
it's a very uncertain source of income," Craig said.

(source: WAFB news)

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

Daigle murders call for death penalty


If ever there was a case calling for the death penalty it is the one against 
Kevin Daigle.

No matter what side of the fence you may sit on when it comes to the death 
penalty, as long as it is going to be on the books this case shouts for the 
ultimate punishment to be on the table.

Daigle is the 54-year-old man who is charged with the shooting death of Trooper 
Steven Vincent and Blake Brewer.

Last week, Daigle's lawyers filed a number of motions, including asking Judge 
Guy Bradberry to take the death penalty off the table.

Daigle is accused of shooting Vincent in the head with a shotgun on the morning 
of Aug. 24 as the trooper tried to help him after he drove a truck into a 
ditch.

That came after Daigle allegedly shot and killed Brewer hours before.

The shooting received state and national attention.

We feel that it is important to keep all possible forms of punishment open when 
it comes to this case. We don't know yet where all the evidence will lead, but 
it seems that the jury should be able to consider everything when it comes to 
the shooting of not only a law enforcement officer but 2 people.

However, shooting a police officer in cold blood is something that our society 
can never tolerate.

If so, then the entire system of justice is called into question. And if we 
don't stand behind the men and women who are there for us when we need them 
most, it becomes harder and harder for those who are called to this line of 
work to answer those calls.

They are there to protect us and serve us; the least we can do is stand up for 
them when it is time.

This is not about the guilt or innocence of one man. A jury will make that 
decision.

This is about allowing a system that allows for the death penalty as its 
ultimate punishment to keep it on the books.

If the people of Louisiana don't want to have capital punishment, then it is up 
to them and their elected officials to do away with it through the legal 
channels.

It is not up to lawyers in one case to circumvent that system, or the people 
for that matter, and have a judge take it off the books in one specific case.

If it is not going to be on the table in this instance, then when exactly would 
it?

This doesn't mean the jury can only deliver death as its sentence, just that it 
is up to the system to decide through the viewing of all the evidence to come 
up with the proper outcome.

We must trust the system that has been in place. We should not play politics in 
this instance.

It is important that we make sure those who put themselves in harm's way 
understand that we have their backs as much as they have ours.

We may not stand with them at the critical moment, but we should not abandon 
them either after they have made the ultimate sacrifice.

All we ask is that the law be followed. If it is to be changed in the future, 
fine, but for now, in this case, all legal options should be kept open.

And let the evidence lead the jury to the right conclusion. We can all stand by 
their decision.

(source: Opinion, The American Press)