[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., NEB., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

June 3



MISSOURI:

Man charged in 2-state rampage pleads not guilty in Missouri


A Mexican national charged with 5 shooting deaths pleaded not guilty to 
1st-degree murder in the death of a Missouri man.

KRCG-TV reports Pablo Serrano-Vitorino entered the plea Wednesday during a 
brief arraignment in Montgomery County Court.

Prosecutors allege Serrano-Vitorino shot 4 men to death in Kansas City, Kansas, 
March 7 and then fled to Missouri. They allege he shot and killed Randy Nordman 
the next day during a confrontation in Nordman's garage in New Florence.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Nathan Carroz has said he will seek the death 
penalty for Serrano-Vitorino in Nordman's death.

Serrano-Vitorino's next court appearance is scheduled Aug. 3.

He also is charged with 4 counts of 1st-degree murder in Kansas. Prosecutors 
haven't announced whether they will seek the death penalty in Kansas.

(source: Associated Press)






NEBRASKA:

Omaha man accused of killing 2 faces possibility of death penalty


An Omaha man now faces the possibility of the death penalty in the December 
killings of his estranged girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine has filed 4 aggravating circumstances that 
could lead to the death penalty against Dontevous D. Loyd.

Prosecutors say Loyd, 24, killed Destacia Straughn's 2-year-old daughter, 
Kenacia Amerson Straughn, and the 22-year-old Straughn at Straughn's townhouse 
near 108th and Ida Streets. He also is accused of trying to kill 3 other women 
at the townhouse. The 3 others survived.

The aggravators that prosecutors alleged: that Loyd killed to conceal a crime; 
that there were multiple slayings; that Loyd's actions posed a great risk to a 
number of others; and that he has a history of violent crime.

Authorities allege that Loyd hollered "no witnesses" as he opened fire on the 
women about 11 p.m. Dec. 6. Police allege he was upset at his estranged 
girlfriend over her earlier report that he had stolen her car.

Douglas County District Judge Greg Schatz tentatively set Loyd's trial for 
December.

(source: World-Herald)






CALIFORNIA----new death sentence

Jury recommends death penalty for Oakland double murderer


In the 1st capital case to come to trial in Alameda County in 4 years, a jury 
on Thursday recommended a death sentence for an Oakland man convicted of 
gunning down 2 people, 1 of them an 8-year-old girl at a sleepover.

Darnell Williams, 25, stared straight ahead as the Alameda County jury verdict 
against him was read shortly before 2 p.m. in an Oakland courtroom.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner will decide in September 
whether he agrees with the recommendation or a life sentence without the 
possibility of parole is more appropriate.

But after the court session, family members of the victims in the 2013 murders 
made their feelings clear.

Crewvonnia Jackson, 8-year-old victim Alaysha Carradine's aunt, said the 
verdict means "1 less monster" is on the streets.

Anthony Medearis II, the father of Williams' other victim, Anthony Medearis 
III, 22, said simply, "Justice is served." Medearis was an acquaintance of 
Williams who Williams tried to rob.

But Deborah Levy, one of Williams' defense attorneys, saw it differently. "The 
verdict made a tragedy even more tragic," she said.

The last death sentence in the county was for a 2005 case that was tried in 
2012. This is the 1st time since Alameda County District Attorney Nancy 
O'Malley took office in 2011 that she sought the death penalty.

"This defendant committed the most heinous of crimes," O'Malley said after the 
verdict. "The senseless and brutal slaying of 8-year-old Alaysha Carradine and 
murder of Anthony Medearis will forever devastate their loved ones. The 
children who survived the injuries inflicted by Williams will always live with 
the memories of the horror he inflicted," she said.

"When you execute a child and almost execute 2 others, and you go on a killing 
spree, this is about as heinous as we've seen."

Several jurors pointed to Williams' apparent disregard for the lives of Alaysha 
and Medearis as a reason for their decision. They said they also considered 
Williams' extensive criminal history and the escalation of his crimes, starting 
at an early age.

"Even in Santa Rita, awaiting this trial he got caught with a shank," said one 
juror, who didn't want to give her name. "There's no doubt what he would be 
doing with that."

Steve Clark, a former Santa Clara County prosecutor, said that Thursday's 
verdict could serve as a blueprint for the district attorney moving forward and 
justifies the decision to pursue the death penalty.

"A lot of people look at the death penalty as outdated. But the jury said no, 
the death penalty is warranted here."

Alaysha was at her friend's apartment on Wilson Avenue in East Oakland for a 
sleepover on July 17, 2013 when Williams rang the doorbell just after 11 p.m., 
gun in hand. Alaysha's 7-year-old friend asked, "Who is it?" before opening the 
door to a "barrage of gunfire," that hit the 3 children inside and a 
grandmother.

Alaysha was shot at the base of her neck and died 28 minutes later at a 
hospital. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, she told the paramedic, 
"I'm dead."

Prosecutors said Williams went to the apartment seeking revenge for the killing 
earlier the same day of his friend Jermaine Davis. He thought the ex-girlfriend 
of the man he believed killed Davis would be at the apartment that night and 
intended to shoot her.

"It's one of the saddest cases I've seen at OPD," said Oakland police Sgt. Rob 
Rosin, the lead investigator in the case, noting that he agreed with the 
penalty. "The severity of this particular crime sets it apart from the rest."

On Sept. 8, 2013, almost two months after Alaysha died, Medearis and Williams 
were involved in a dice game in Berkeley when Williams tried rob Medearis and 
the two argued. Williams believed Medearis was a "snitch" for giving police 
information. As they argued, Williams pulled out a gun. Medearis started to run 
away, screaming and begging for his life. Williams fired 15 bullets. Medearis 
was shot in the back and died on the sidewalk.

Williams' nephew was there at the time and was also hit in the face by a bullet 
fragment, but he survived.

Jackie Winters, the aunt of Anthony Medearis III, said after the verdict that 
she was hoping for life in prison without the possibility of parole because she 
wanted Williams to live in fear, constantly watching over his shoulder. She's 
still satisfied.

"We finally got closure. Anthony and Alaysha, they're at peace now," Winters 
said.

(source: eastbaytimes.com)






USA:

Hillary Clinton Supports Death Penalty For Dylann Roof----"She respects the 
Justice Department decision."


Hillary Clinton announced her support for the Department of Justice's decision 
to seek the death penalty for Dylann Roof.

Hillary Clinton supports the death penalty for Dylann Roof, the accused shooter 
of 9 parishioners at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, 
her campaign confirmed.

In the week since the Justice Department announced its decision to seek the 
death penalty in the Roof case, the former secretary of State had held off on 
weighing in. But in an email to The Huffington Post on Thursday, Clinton's top 
spokesman, Brian Fallon, said "she respects the Justice Department decision."

In coming out in support of the DOJ's move, Clinton has drawn a contrast 
between herself and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose campaign said he 
disagreed with the decision.

But the 2 candidates have never quite seen eye-to-eye on the issue of capital 
punishment. Sanders has steadfastly rejected its use on moral grounds and in 
the belief that it does little to actually deter crime. Clinton has said 
capital punishment should exist but be used only for the most heinous crimes. 
The shooting at Emanuel AME Church met her definition of heinous.

(source: Sam Stein, Senior Politics Editor, The Huffington Post)

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

Clinton's quiet support of the death penalty for Dylann Roof is a sign that the 
primary isn't over


Shortly before her heavily publicized speech on foreign policy -- a speech that 
was so certain to monopolize media attention that House Speaker Paul D. Ryan 
(R-Wis.) used it as cover for his endorsement of Donald Trump -- Hillary 
Clinton finally gave the Huffington Post an answer to a question on which the 
outlet had been pressing her.

Last week, the Justice Department announced that it would seek the death 
penalty for Dylann Roof, who is accused of shooting nine people at a church in 
Charleston, S.C., last June. Bernie Sanders's campaign quickly told the 
Huffington Post that he opposes the move because he opposes the death penalty. 
But Clinton hadn't taken a position one way or another until Thursday 
afternoon. At that point, right before the big speech, a spokesman told HuffPo 
that "she respects the Justice Department decision."

In other words, that she supports the use of the death penalty in the case.

That's out of step with the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Most 
Americans support the death penalty, even as support for the tactic has 
slipped. In the most recent General Social Survey, conducted in 2014, only 
"strong Democrats," "liberal" and "extremely liberal" respondents were more 
likely to oppose the death penalty than support it.

Put another way: The people who were least supportive of Clinton in the primary 
are the ones who likely will most disagree with this move.

It's natural to assume that this is perhaps a move back to the center, after 
being pulled to the left by Sanders for months. That after having essentially 
secured the Democratic nomination, she's now taking more 
general-election-electorate-friendly position on the death penalty that 
wouldn't have served her well in the primary.

But that's not the case. Clinton has long supported the death penalty. In a 
debate in New Hampshire in February, she made that point explicitly, saying 
that, particularly in federal terrorism cases, she thought the use of the 
punishment was appropriate. "I do for very limited, particularly heinous crimes 
believe it is an appropriate punishment," she said, "but I deeply disagree with 
the way that too many states are still implementing it. If it were possible to 
separate the federal from the state system by the Supreme Court, that would, I 
think, be an appropriate outcome."

That debate coincided with the feud between Sanders and Clinton over who was 
more progressive. On a number of issues, including the death penalty, she is 
clearly more centrist than Sanders, and has been since the campaign began.

So there's a flip side to the question. Why quietly announce approval of the 
Roof decision when it was bound to be blanketed by other coverage? Because of 
California.

A Field Poll conducted in January found that 60 % of Democrats in that state 
thought that the death penalty should be eliminated -- including 3/4 of 
"strongly liberal" respondents. Clinton has all but wrapped up the nomination, 
but would very much like to seal her inevitable delegate victory with a victory 
in the biggest, bluest state in the union next Tuesday. So although her 
position (a) isn't out of step with her past pronouncements and (b) wouldn't 
hurt her in a general election, it won't do her much good over the next 5 days.

Clinton is eager to move on to the general-election campaign. But her quiet 
acquiescence Thursday serves as a reminder that she can't do that entirely just 
yet.

(source: Philip Bump, Washington Post)