[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., FLA., OKLA., USA

[Rick Halperin]

June 13



NORTH CAROLINA:

Deceased witness' testimony may be allowed in murder trial


The testimony of a deceased witness may be allowed, pending the judge's review.

The Pender County murder trial for Nashid Porter, 38, was rescheduled this week 
after presiding Judge Charles Henry had a death in his family, the StarNews of 
Wilmington reported.

The trial is now scheduled to begin Monday when Henry is planned to announce 
whether the testimony of the late Obediah Hester IV will be allowed.

Hester's body was found riddled with bullets in Duplin County while Porter was 
out on bail for the Pender County murder charge, The Daily News reported. 
Porter is accused of fatally shooting Brian Grant in Wilmington in 2012.

Porter was arrested in connection with Hester's death and District Attorney Ben 
David has asked Henry to allow the jury to hear about Porter's alleged 
involvement with Hester's shooting, the Star News reported.

The Sixth Amendment would typically make the testimony inadmissible in court 
because the defense will be unable to cross-examine Hester, but David argued 
that Porter - who is representing himself after firing four court-appointed 
attorneys - is the reason Hester won't be taking the stand, the Star News 
reported.

Henry said he'd likely rule in advance of the trial beginning, according to the 
Star News.

Porter will be tried in Duplin County for Hester's death and District Attorney 
Ernie Lee announced he would seek the death penalty, The Daily News reported. A 
trial date will be scheduled in Duplin County once the Pender County case has 
concluded.

Porter will be represented by Walter H. Paramore, of Jacksonville, in the 
Duplin County case and on May 20, The Daily News reported the Indigent Defense 
Services of Durham appointed Richard McNeil was appointed to serve as 
co-counsel.

(source: Jacksonville Daily News)






FLORIDA:

Islamic scholar says the government - not vigilantes - should have executed 
Orlando gays


Less than 3 months ago, Islamic scholar Farrokh Sekaleshfar gave a talk at the 
Husseini Islamic Center just outside Orlando where he said that the sentence 
for people who are found guilty of homosexuality should be death. Despite this, 
he is condemning Orlando shooter Omar Mateen for massacring 50 gay people in a 
club this weekend.

In an interview with Fusion, Sekaleshfar explained that even though he believes 
in the death penalty for homosexuals, he doesn't think that gives anyone the 
right to go out and massacre them at a nightclub. He also noted that four 
people need to witness a gay person having sex in order for them to be 
convicted of sodomy and sentenced to death.

"I never gave the call to a death sentence," he said, while claiming that his 
remarks had been taken out of context. "I was explaining what Islamic law - in 
a country whose people democratically desired Islamic law to be exercised - 
states in relation to NOT homosexuals, but rather in relation to when the act 
of anal copulation is executed in such an aforementioned public."

For the record, this is what Sekaleshfar had to say in late March about the 
proper Islamic penalties for homosexuality:

Death is the sentence. There's nothing to be embarrassed about this. Death is 
the sentence ... We have to have that compassion for people. With homosexuals, 
it's the same. Out of compassion, let's get rid of them now.

It's entirely possible that someone could hear this declaration and use it as 
justification to take it upon themselves to kill gay people - after all, if an 
Islamic scholar says "let's get rid of" gay people now, most people listening 
won't be attuned to the nuances of when it is or isn't purportedly 
"appropriate" to kill homosexuals just for being themselves. The easier path is 
to just say, "Killing homosexuals is wrong."

(source: rawstory.com)

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

Crucial Details Surface in 40-Year-Old Murder Case----Medill Justice Project 
investigation finds ballistics evidence raises new questions


Crucial details were overlooked in the 40-year-old Florida murder case 
involving a man sentenced to death row for killing 4 people found in a 
furniture store, according to a new Medill Justice Project investigation.

The team of students at Northwestern University's renowned investigative 
journalism center discovered ballistics evidence and conflicting accounts from 
key witnesses that raise new questions about the guilt of Tommy Zeigler. Now 
70, Zeigler was convicted in 1976 of the murders of his wife, her parents, and 
a furniture store customer on Christmas Eve near Orlando, Florida.

"The students' discoveries are remarkable and significantly challenge the 
conviction of a man facing the death penalty," said Alec Klein, director of The 
Medill Justice Project. Klein, a professor in the Medill School of Journalism, 
Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, oversaw the work of the 10 
undergraduate and graduate students as part of a class.

The new findings come at a critical time in Florida and across the country. In 
January, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida's death-penalty sentencing 
process, fueling the ongoing national debate. Meanwhile, a pending petition 
would release crime-scene evidence for new DNA testing in Zeigler's case.

Among The Medill Justice Project's findings:

-- Witnesses Ken and Linda Roach question Zeigler's guilt, but their accounts 
were never heard at trial. The Roaches said they heard 12 to 15 gunshots within 
4 seconds while driving by the furniture store, but authorities were not 
interested in hearing their story and wouldn't help them contact the defense 
attorneys. It would be virtually impossible for a single person to fire a 
non-automatic weapon so quickly, according to ballistics experts.

--Zeigler, who has maintained his innocence, was discovered at the crime scene 
with a gunshot wound in his lower torso. The prosecution argued the wound was 
self-inflicted to make Zeigler look like a robbery victim. But people rarely 
shoot themselves in such a vulnerable spot to cover up a crime, experts told 
The Medill Justice Project. Moreover, based on the angle of the bullet as it 
passed through his body, Zeigler would likely have had to use his non-dominant 
left hand to fire the weapon. Ballistics evidence suggests Zeigler would have 
had to shoot himself with the gun positioned away from his body, depriving him 
of the ability to stabilize the gun's muzzle against his torso.

-- The 2 key witnesses against Zeigler have changed their accounts over the 
years while details have disappeared, according to interviews with sources, 
police records, trial transcripts and other court documents, as well as 
investigative reports. About The Medill Justice Project

The Medill Justice Project, founded at Northwestern University in 1999, is an 
award-winning national investigative journalism center that examines 
potentially wrongful convictions, probes national systemic criminal justice 
issues and conducts groundbreaking research. As journalists, MJP advocates only 
for the truth.

(source: northwestern.edu)

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

Tommy Zeigler trial plagued by 'significant' problems, report says


An investigative journalism center on Monday published a critical probe of 
death-row inmate William "Tommy" Zeigler's 1976 trial, finding that evidence 
supporting his innocence went overlooked by authorities who investigated the 
quadruple murder inside his Winter Garden furniture store.

The new report by students at Northwestern University's Medill School of 
Journalism comes as a judge considers Zeigler's latest request for DNA testing, 
an attempt to prove he did not kill his wife, in-laws and a customer 40 years 
ago on Christmas Eve. It also adds to a growing body of work that questions 
Zeigler's conviction, including a television movie and a book.

In particular, the report examines new ballistic evidence and what would have 
been the testimony of two key witnesses who were never called to the trial. The 
students also interviewed Zeigler, now 70, three times at Union Correctional 
Institution near Raiford .

"The students' findings challenge, in many ways, the basic foundations of the 
entire prosecution," said Alec Klein, the professor who leads the 
award-winning, national investigative journalism center. "Given that a person's 
life is on the line here, facing the death penalty, I wonder how the court 
could justify not allowing Tommy Zeigler to go forward with the DNA testing."

The Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office has stood by Zeigler's conviction 
over the decades. Most recently, prosecutors opposed a pending request to have 
blood-stained clothing from the crime scene retested with more modern DNA 
techniques. At a March hearing, Assistant Kenneth Nunnelley cited 2 previous 
opinions from the Florida Supreme Court, which found that evidence about whose 
blood was on Zeigler's shirt wasn't enough to exonerate him.

Since Zeigler's 1976 trial, prosecutors have alleged Zeigler planned the 
murders because he wanted to claim his wife's insurance policies, and he shot 
himself in the stomach to make him seem like a victim too. Eunice Zeigler, her 
parents Perry and Virginia Edwards and store customer Charles Mays were killed. 
Zeigler argued they were attacked in a store robbery instigated by Mays.

The Medill report contends it's "practically unheard of" for a person seeking 
to cover up a crime to choose such a risky - even deadly - way. An analysis of 
the gunshot wound to Zeigler's lower torso shows he would have used his 
non-dominant left hand, based on the angle of the bullet, to shoot himself and 
did not press the muzzle to his body for stability. More often, cover-up 
attempts include shots to limbs, Klein said.

The report also zeroes in on 2 witnesses, Ken and Linda Roach, who said they 
drove by the store around the time of the masscre and heard 12 to 15 gunshots 
within four seconds. An expert interviewed in the story said it's "virtually 
impossible" for one person to fire a single person to fire a non-automatic 
weapon so quickly, lending more credibility to Zeigler's claim that he and his 
family were attacked by a group of people led by Mays.

The Roaches told Medill that authorites weren't intersted in their account and 
didn't tell them how to contact Zeigler's attorneys. One of Zeigler's trial 
attorneys brought up the Roach evidence in a 1986 appeal to a federal appellate 
court, which won Zeigler's a temporary stay from impending execution.

(source: Orlando Sentinel)






OKLAHOMA:

Lawton man's trial in deaths of father and brother restarts


A 2nd week of testimony has begun in the murder trial of a Lawton man in the 
deaths of his father and teenage brother.

The Comanche County District Court clerk's office says testimony resumed Monday 
morning in the trial of 20-year-old Thorsten Rushing.

Rushing has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit 
murder in the January 2014 shooting deaths of 50-year-old Uwe Rushing and 
14-year-old Stefan Rushing.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Witnesses have testified that Rushing wanted money from his father's life 
insurance policy.

2 co-defendants have pleaded guilty to murder in the case and are serving life 
in prison. 2 other co-defendants are in prison after pleading guilty to 
conspiracy and being accessories after the crime.

(source: Associated Press)






USA:

Judge Rules The Charleston Church Shooter Will Be Tried By A Jury----The court 
will not allow the accused Charleston shooter to have his case heard by a judge 
instead of a jury.


The judge presiding over Dylann Roof's federal death penalty trial has denied 
the accused Charleston shooter's request to have his case decided by a judge 
instead of a jury.

In his ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel said that because the 
government did not consent to waiving the trial by jury at either the evidence 
or sentencing phase he is denying Roof's request.

On Monday, the government filed its reply to Roof's request for a bench trial, 
stating that it would not give its consent to waiving the jury trial.

Jury selection in the case is slated to begin on November 7 and is expected to 
take up to a month. The court is considering calling 1,200 to 1,500 potential 
jurors from around the state to be considered to sit on the jury.

Roof is also scheduled to face charges brought by the state of South Carolina 
at a trial which is currently scheduled for January 2017. He faces the 
possibility of the death penalty in that case, too.

On the evening of June 17, 2015 Roof allegedly attended a Bible study at the 
Emanuel AME church and sat with the group for an hour before opening fire, 
killing 3 men and 6 women.

According to survivors of the attack, Roof told the African-American 
churchgoers, "You rape our women, and you're taking over our country, and you 
have to go."

In a court filing in May, the Department of Justice said Roof's racial 
motivation in the killings were a factor in the federal government's decision 
to pursue the death penalty.

Roof is represented by David Bruck, one the country's most notable and sought 
after trial lawyers for defendants facing the death penalty. He most recently 
represented Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in his federal death 
penalty trial last year.

(source: buzzfeed.com)