[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., GA., FLA., ARK., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

July 15



PENNSYLVANIA:

Death penalty sought for couple


The Elk County district attorney is pursuing the death penalty for a Ridgway 
boy's aunt and uncle.

Scott Murphy, 25, Ridgway, and Kristy Murphy, 35, Ridgway, are charged with 
homicide.

Police say they were in charge of O'Ryan Murphy, 5, in December when he died 
from trauma to the head.

Records show that DA Shawn McMahon filed notice on June 28 that seeks death due 
to aggravating circumstances.

If the Murphys were convicted, a jury would likely decide their punishment, 
according to court administrator Martha Masson.

(source: wearecentralpa.com)






GEORGIA----execution

Georgia executes John Wayne Conner for 1982 murder


Georgia has executed John Wayne Conner by lethal injection for the 1982 murder 
of J.T. White during a drunken fight over Conner's girlfriend.

Conner was put to death at 12:29 a.m. Friday - 34 years and 1 day after he was 
convicted in Telfair County. He is the 6th murderer executed in Georgia this 
year - a record for the 4 decades the current death penalty law has been in 
place.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay shortly before midnight, clearing the way 
for the lethal injection of pentobarbital. The punishment had been scheduled 
for 7 p.m. Thursday, but the appeals process was still playing out.

Conner ate his last meal after spending several hours earlier in the day with 3 
relatives, 3 friends, 2 members of the clergy and 4 from his legal team. At 3 
p.m. he was given a physical and then his wait began.

A federal court rejected an appeal from Conner's legal team Thursday afternoon. 
The Georgia Supreme Court said no to mercy Thursday morning, and the State 
Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency on Wednesday.

Conner, then 25, and White, 29, had spent the evening of Jan. 9, 1982, at a 
party but wanted to keep drinking once they returned to Conner's house in 
Milan.

They walked to a neighbor's house in search of a ride to the liquor store, but 
the neighbor refused.

Walking back to Conner's house, the 2 got into a fight because White said he 
wanted to have sex with Conner's girlfriend, Beverly Bates. Conner beat White 
with a quart bottle and an oak tree branch.

Conner quickly went home to get Bates so they could leave town. Planning to go 
to Gainesville, Conner and Bates stopped at the ditch where he had left White 
just to make sure he was dead. Conner beat him with a tree limb and then 
stabbed him with a stick.

Conner and Bates were arrested the next day in Butts County.

Conner's lawyers told the Parole Board and wrote in appeals to the court that 
Conner had learned to be violent from his father. Based on that they asked for 
mercy, arguing that evidence about his upbringing was not presented to the jury 
that sentenced him to death. They said Conner grew up in a household where 
there were stabbings, shootings, alcohol and drug use, and some sexual abuse. 
In the years since, they said, he has done well in prison and is reformed.

District Attorney Timothy Vaughn, the head prosecutor in Telfair County, 
reminded the board, however, that Conner had killed 3 people in 10 years, 
though he was sentenced to die for only 1 of them. At 15, Conner was convicted 
of manslaughter for fatally shooting another teenager, Randy Smith. Conner also 
was convicted of murdering another friend just months before he killed White; 
he was sentenced to life in prison for killing Jesse Smyth.

Conner becomes the 6th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Georgia 
and the 66th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979.

Conner becomes the 15th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the 
USA and the 1437th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 
1977.

(sources: myajc.com & Rick Halperin)






FLORIDA:

U.S. judge delays bail ruling in Spaniard's retrial for murder


A Florida judge on Thursday said he would decide in the coming days whether to 
grant bail to Spaniard Pablo Ibar, whose death sentence for a 1994 triple 
murder was vacated earlier this year by that state's Supreme Court.

Broward County Circuit Court Judge Raag Singhal said in the hearing that he 
would issue the ruling via "electronic order" in a period of between 24 hours 
and a week.

The judge also said that on Aug. 5 he would evaluate 2 motions filed by the 
defense: 1 to have the death sentence in Ibar's case declared in violation of 
the Florida Constitution and the other to suppress the testimony of a witness 
who identified the defendant as one of the perpetrators of the triple homicide.

One of Ibar's attorneys told EFE they were confident their client would be 
released while awaiting the retrial, but prosecutors oppose allowing Ibar to go 
free on bail, arguing that he would pose a risk to the community.

State prosecutors will once again seek the death penalty for Ibar, who has been 
behind bars for nearly 22 years, 15 of them on death row.

Nightclub owner Casimir "Butch Casey" Sucharski, 48, and models Sharon Anderson 
and Marie Rogers, both 25, were killed during a June 1994 home invasion in the 
South Florida city of Miramar.

The now-45-year-old Ibar was initially tried for the triple homicide along with 
co-defendant Seth Penalver in 1997, but a mistrial was declared.

Penalver was convicted 2 years later and sentenced to death, but that 
conviction was subsequently annulled and he was acquitted in a new trial in 
2012.

Ibar was convicted in 2000, but the Florida Supreme Court overturned that 
verdict by a 4-3 vote in February of this year based on, among other things, 
the fact that his DNA was not found on a T-shirt that was recovered from the 
murder scene and which one of the perpetrators had used to partially cover his 
face.

During much of Thursday's hearing, in which Ibar was very attentive and 
communicated frequently with his attorneys, the defense and prosecution argued 
over witness testimony, evidence and the Florida Supreme Court's Feb. 4 ruling.

(source: Fox News)






ARKANSAS:

Arkansas says death row inmates not entitled to new hearing


Government lawyers said Thursday that 8 death row inmates who lost a challenge 
to secrecy provisions within Arkansas' execution protocol aren't entitled to 
another review and that further filings by the prisoners would delay justice 
for victims and their families.

The Arkansas Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled against the inmates June 
23. Their lawyers subsequently asked justices to reconsider their decision, and 
requested stays of execution pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. 
Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Merritt wrote Thursday that justices not 
let the men cause additional delays.

Arkansas has not put a prisoner to death since 2005 due to various court 
challenges and its inability to obtain lethal drugs. Last summer, it obtained 
midazolam to render the inmates unconscious, vecuronium bromide as a paralytic 
and potassium chloride to stop the heart, but the paralytic expired as the 
inmates challenged whether it was proper to keep execution procedures secret.

Arkansas has since found a new supply of vecuronium bromide. But the clock is 
ticking again: The potassium chloride expires in January; the midazolam expires 
in April.

"The state is in a position to carry out, in a constitutional manner, the 
lawful death sentences in place against the prisoners," Merritt wrote. 
"Delaying ... would only serve to delay justice for the victims and their 
families, and would potentially result in the expiration of the state's 
remaining supply of the other drugs in the protocol."

The inmates argue that the Arkansas Constitution requires the release of 
detailed information about state expenditures and that legislators lacked the 
authority to change that. Merritt on Thursday pointed the justices back to 
their initial decision.

"At some point, endless litigation and creative litigation tactics must yield 
to the lawful imposition of society's considered punishment for the most 
heinous murders," she wrote. "We have reached that point."

Executions are on hold while the inmates' request is pending. State Supreme 
Court rulings don't take effect for 18 days or until after requests for new 
hearings are heard and dismissed. If the inmates' requests for stays and a 
rehearing are dismissed, the attorney general would certify to the governor 
whether the inmates have exhausted their appeals and are eligible for 
execution. The governor would then sign death warrants.

(source: Associated Press)






CALIFORNIA:

Woodland police make second arrest in fatal shooting


Police have made a second arrest in connection with the shooting death of a 
35-year-old Woodland man that occurred earlier this month.

Hernesto Jose Loza, 30, was taken into custody on murder and attempted murder 
charges during a vehicle stop at about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday, Woodland police Sgt. 
Brett Hancock announced Thursday.

According to Hancock, Loza is the brother of another suspect in the fatal 
shooting, Alejandro Loza Quezada, 33, who pleaded not guilty in Yolo Superior 
Court on Wednesday to murder and other charges that have him facing the death 
penalty.

Court records show Quezada has a troubled past as well, his criminal record 
dating back to at least 1999.

Both Loza and Quezada - who once lived in the Davis area but was staying in 
Woodland at the time of his arrest last week - stand accused of fatally 
shooting 35-year-old Geovanny Yabet Gomez during a July 1 vehicle chase in a 
residential neighborhood.

Which brother allegedly pulled the trigger, however, remains under 
investigation, Hancock said.

The murder count filed against Quezada carries a special-circumstance 
allegation that he carried out the shooting to further the activities of a 
criminal street gang - a charge that, if proven, qualifies him for either the 
death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Yolo County Deputy District Attorney Robin Johnson said in court Wednesday that 
her office has not determined whether it will seek capital punishment in the 
case.

The 8-page criminal complaint filed against Quezada also charges him with 
attempted murder - for a passenger in Gomez's vehicle who was shot and injured 
- shooting at an occupied vehicle, possession of a firearm by an ex-felon, drug 
possession and participation in criminal street gang activity.

Quezada also faces a case enhancement for serving a prior prison term for 
transportation of narcotics.

According to Yolo Superior Court records, Quezada was prosecuted as an adult in 
1999 on charges of kidnapping, attempted rape, assault and false imprisonment, 
eventually making a plea deal in which he admitted to false imprisonment and 
attempted rape counts.

Police arrested him again in 2005 for being a felon in possession of a firearm, 
carrying a concealed dagger and resisting arrest, a case in which he was 
sentenced to probation.

Court records show he violated that probation with subsequent arrests for 
driving with a suspended license in 2008 and transportation of marijuana for 
sales in 2009. After numerous court hearings his probation was revoked, and 
Judge David Reed sentenced him to state prison in 2012.

An online arrest report lists Quezada's address on Harvey Way in the Royal Oak 
manufactured home community - which is adjacent to South Davis but is within 
county jurisdiction - though Hancock said he has not lived there for several 
years.

A preliminary in the current homicide case is scheduled for July 27 before 
Judge Samuel McAdam.

Gomez's death occurred just 2 days after another shooting that killed Arnulfo 
Bermudez Jr., 31, though police have not confirmed whether the 2 homicides are 
connected.

No suspects have been arrested or publicly named in connection with Bermudez's 
death, which marked Woodland's 1st homicide since December.

Loza, meanwhile, is being held without bail at the Yolo County Jail, his court 
arraignment scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday.

(source: Davis Enterprise)