[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., N.C., LA., OHIO, ILL., KY., MO., ORE., USA

[Rick Halperin]

March 14



VIRGINIA:

Virginia legislature approves bill reimplimenting electric chair


The Virginia General Assembly on Friday approved a bill [HB 815 materials] that 
will allow for the implementation of the electric chair if lethal injection 
drugs are not readily available. Virginia has faced issues with obtaining 
lethal injection drugs as some pharmaceutical companies have declined to supply 
the necessary materials. According to the new bill, the Virginia Department of 
Corrections must make "reasonable efforts" to obtain lethal injection materials 
before utilizing the electric chair. The bill will now be sent to Governor 
Terry McAuliffe desk to be signed or vetoed. Currently, Virgina has 7 inmates 
on death row.

Capital punishment remains a controversial issue in the US and worldwide. In 
February the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected a Georgia 
death row inmate's legal challenge to the death penalty. In January Mississippi 
Attorney General Jim Hood stated that he plans to ask lawmakers to approve the 
firing squad, electrocution or nitrogen gas as alternate methods of execution 
if the state prohibits lethal injection. The US Supreme Court in January ruled 
in Kansas v. Carr that a jury in a death penalty case does not need to be 
advised that mitigating factors, which can lessen the severity of a criminal 
act, do not need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt like aggravating 
factors.

(source: The Jurist)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Darryl Hunt, wrongly convicted of murder, found dead


Darryl Hunt, imprisoned for more than 19 years for a murder he did not commit, 
was found dead in a car in Winston-Salem early Sunday.

In 1984 at age 19, Hunt was charged with the rape and murder of a newspaper 
copy editor. The case was racially charged. Hunt was black and the murder 
victim was white.

Hunt spoke against the death penalty for years after his exoneration, 
exhibiting a calm that made an impression on friends and strangers.

He traversed the the state with People of Faith Against the Death Penalty and 
traveled overseas with the documentary "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," speaking 
about abolishing the death penalty and improving the justice system.

"I think everyone who saw Darryl speak was deeply moved by the resilience and 
kindness and gentleness with which he spoke," said Stephen Dear, executive 
director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.

In a statement, police said that officers received a call early Sunday of a 
person believed to be dead inside a car near the Wake Forest University campus. 
Officers found a man identified as Hunt, unresponsive inside the car.

Hunt had been diagnosed with cancer. A cause of death was not released.

At his original trial, Hunt was convicted of 1st-degree murder and barely 
escaped getting the death penalty. The conviction was overturned, and he was 
tried a 2nd time in Catawba County in 1990, and again he was convicted.

After 19 years in prison, Hunt was exonerated in February 2004 after DNA 
evidence led police to Willard Brown, who confessed to the killing. After he 
was exonerated, Hunt was pardoned by then-Gov. Mike Easley. He was awarded a 
settlement of more than $1.6 million in 2007 and founded the Darryl Hunt 
Project for Freedom and Justice, an advocacy group for the wrongfully 
convicted.

But Hunt was also haunted by his experiences, said those who knew him. He would 
use ATMs daily, not so much to get money but so he could create a time-stamped 
receipt and an image recording his location.

"Even after all this time - he still carries this kind of fear and anxiety," 
said Phoebe Zerwick, who in 2003 as a reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal, 
wrote an 8-part series on Hunt's case.

Zerwick now teaches at Wake Forest University and regularly asked Hunt to speak 
to classes. His last spoke to a group of her students in late January.

"Anybody I've ever met who has met him has been deeply touched by him," she 
said. "He's really moving to college students."

Mark Rabil is an attorney who represented Hunt from his 1st trial through to 
his civil settlement with Winston-Salem more than 2 decades later.

Rabil said he knew Hunt was innocent the first time they talked. "He was very 
open and trusting," Rabil said. "There didn't seem to be any question about 
it."

Rabil and Hunt recently traveled together to the University of Virginia for a 
program at its public policy school.

Hunt often talked about the problems of people released from prison, Rabil 
said. Hunt called it "homecoming."

The trauma of wrongful convictions, years in prison, and the responsibilities 
he took on after he was free wore Hunt down, Rabil said.

"In the long run, he eventually got the death penalty," Rabil said.

(source: News & Observer)






LOUISIANA:

Murder trial in beating death of child hits snag after public defender's office 
runs out of money


Landon Broussard's death penalty trial this summer could be delayed due to the 
ill-financed public defender's office, which canceled the contract of 
Broussard's lead counsel then accepted the resignation of his 2nd attorney.

More clarity on Broussard's 1st-degree murder trial in the November 2012 
killing of his girlfriend's little boy is expected later this month at a 
hearing before state District Judge Laurie Hulin.

G. Paul Marx, who heads up the 15th Judicial District's Indigent Defenders 
Office in Lafayette, said last week he might play a role in Broussard's 
defense. Criminal defense attorneys must be credentialed to represent 
defendants facing the death penalty.

"I think I'm going to have to be involved," Marx said Friday.

Broussard's lead attorney, Clay LeJeune, of Crowley, was 1 of 26 attorneys 
whose contracts were canceled in February after state funding to the 15th 
Judicial District's Indigent Defenders Office was slashed.

Broussard's 2nd attorney, Elliott Brown, resigned earlier this month to take a 
job in Baton Rouge. Brown worked for Marx in the Indigent Defenders Office, 
which in February either laid off or accepted the resignations of 9 attorneys 
and 2 social workers.

LeJeune, Brown and Assistant District Attorney William Babin were scheduled to 
argue pretrial motions at a March hearing. Last year, LeJeune filed 48 motions 
on Broussard's behalf before his trial that was scheduled to begin July 25. 
Some of the filings were to be considered at the hearing, which had been 
scheduled for March 23 and 24. Now it's unclear what, if anything, will be 
decided at the hearing.

LeJeune said he would drop by the courtroom on March 23.

"I'll make an appearance, but it'll be with no muscle," he said.

LeJeune and Brown were appointed to represent Broussard in the weeks after the 
now-24-year-old was arrested in the death of Julian Madera, the 3-year-son of 
Broussard's girlfriend, Laura Smith. Julian was pronounced dead after Broussard 
carried the boy's lifeless, naked body into Broussard's grandmother's home on 
Kaliste Saloom Road on Nov. 29, 2014.

Detectives said in police reports that Julian had suffered prolonged beatings: 
One of his ears was torn and his body was covered with bruises from beatings 
that occurred over time. A later examination and DNA profile linked Broussard 
to the boy's death. Broussard was charged with 1 count of raping the boy, a 
charge that Babin and the District Attorney's Office temporarily dismissed 
pending the murder trial.

Smith was convicted of cruelty to a juvenile for letting her son get abused. 
She is serving a 5-year sentence and is expected to testify at Broussard's 
trial.

Babin, the prosecutor, said last week that in light of the public defenders 
office's financial struggles and LeJeune and Brown pulling away from the case, 
he can't predict the immediate future of Broussard's criminal case.

He said he'll bring his stuffed satchel containing case files to the hearing 
March 23, where "We shall see what we shall see."

What's happening in the Broussard case is just one of the most visible 
consequences of a broke public defenders office, which now is without the 
resources to provide an attorney for every poor person accused of a crime.

Marx said there are almost 1,600 defendants in the 15th Judicial District - 
which includes Lafayette, Acadia and Vermilion parishes - who need attorneys 
experienced in criminal defense. Marx said he's had attorneys who normally 
practice the civil side of law volunteer to do criminal defense work.

Marx said while he appreciates those lawyers volunteering, rules prevent them 
from representing defendants accused of crimes. He also said 15th District 
judges do not plan to pluck attorneys from the rolls of lawyers in the 3 
parishes, which at one time was how indigent defendants were appointed counsel.

"The Louisiana Bar Association last year passed a resolution noting that 
criminal defense requires a more than casual knowledge of law and practice," 
Marx said in a statement this month. "The obligations of counsel are no less 
for clients who cannot afford their own attorney, so I do not want to ask 
lawyers or clients to bear the failure of our funding by risking licensure as 
attorneys or a person's right to counsel."

(source: The Advocate)






OHIO:

Death penalty under fire


It has been 11 years since Ohio dismissed all charges against Derrick Jamison, 
who spent nearly 20 years on death row for a crime he did not commit.

"I'm still in shock from being sentenced to die," said Jamison. "I'm the only 
survivor from this part of Ohio."

Jamison joined several speakers for a presentation to fight the death penalty 
at the St. Monica-St. George Parish Center Sunday.

There have been 156 exonerations since Oct. 13, 2015 from 26 states across the 
country, 9 of which came from Ohio, according to the Death Penalty Information 
Center.

Terry Collins, former Ohio Corrections chief, oversaw 33 executions and is now 
an advocate for the repeal of the death penalty.

"The fairness of the system has too many falsities," said Collins.

Collins said race plays a part - African Americans make up over 1/2 of Ohio's 
death row population.

Little to no representation is also a factor in some death row cases.

"I know some public defenders who go from one case to another," said Collins. 
"They don't have, quite frankly, enough time, they don't get paid hardly 
anything."

Collins also brought up the role correctional institutions play in psychiatric 
care.

"The prisons have become the new psychiatric hospitals," said Collins. "We were 
not made to deal with severe mental illness."

Collins said individuals in the prison go in and out of the system.

"It became a rotating door," said Collins. "What's frustrating to me is that 
when they leave the system, they fall in the cracks."

Approximately 1 out of every 5 inmates has a mental illness, according to the 
Treatment Advocacy Center.

"A lot of them guys on death row, they suffer from severe mental illness," said 
Jamison.

Collins voiced his opposition to sentencing those with mental illnesses to 
death row.

"There's no reason that we should ever try to put anybody to death in the state 
with a mental illness," said Collins.

1argument for the death penalty is cost effectiveness - the average price per 
inmate per year is around $24,000, according to Collins.

Despite this, he said the cost of the death penalty runs even steeper.

Increased staff, appeals and court stays are just some of the contributing 
factors.

"It costs their salary, their time in court, and this goes on for 15, 20 
years," said Collins, who finds the option of life in prison "much cheaper."

While standard cellblocks in Ohio have 2 working officers, the cellblock for 
death row requires 4 officers, not counting extra officers needed to escort 
inmates from their cell out to the recreation area.

The annual salary for a corrections officer in Ohio is roughly $17,000 a year, 
according to Collins.

"You start adding all those costs in, it's extremely more expensive," said 
Collins.

Despite his wrongful conviction, Jamison said he received no compensation after 
he was released.

"They gave me $75 and told me to go back into the world after I was gone 2 
decades," said Jamison.

During his time in prison, Jamison's mother passed away. "I looked up and the 
guards came to my door, and they told me that my mom had died," said Jamison.

As far as being bitter, Jamison said he doesn't look back on the past.

"I can't deal with anger," said Jamison. "I'm going to continue to fight 
against the death penalty because they're making too many mistakes."

Director of the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center Allison Reynolds-Berry 
encouraged those in attendance to take action by writing a letter to their 
state representative or by signing up for a pen pal program with individuals 
currently incarcerated.

(source: The News Record)






ILLINOIS:

Faith, Victims' Families and the Death Penalty


Faith, Victims' Families and the Death Penalty will be presented by Jeanne 
Bishop on Monday, March 14, 3 to 4:30 p.m., at Eden Theological Seminary - 
Wehril Chapel, 475 E. Lockwood Ave. in Webster Groves. Bishop lost her pregnant 
sister and her brother-in-law when they were murdered in their home in 1990. 
"Change of Heart: Justice, Mercy, and Making Peace with My Sister's Killer" is 
Bishop's account of her experiences following the death of her sister and her 
faith perspective on the death penalty. Bishop will share her story of how she 
came to oppose the death penalty. The event is free and open to the public.

(source: Webster-Kirkwood Times)




KENTUCKY:

Scottsville reacts to the death penalty in Timothy Madden murder case


The Scottsville community has been on an emotional roller coaster since 
November, with 4 murders occurring since then.

On Friday, the state announced they are going to seek the death penalty in the 
Timothy Madden murder case. The people of Scottsville say it's been rough.

"To understand it, to grasp it, you know. But I don't think anybody can grasp 
that," Terri Smith said.

Scottsville locals were hesitant to give their opinions on such a hard subject.

"It's against my Christian religion to put someone to death, for a wrong that 
he even had done," Valerie Vargo said.

Residents say they believe the state didn't have much of a choice, with how 
torn the community is.

"I think people would have been upset if they didn't. Of course there would be 
some that would be upset because they did," Smith added.

One resident says Timothy Madden still has to go to court and be proven guilty, 
but he deserves whatever punishment he gets, If Madden did commit the crime. 
But some punishments are too extreme.

"But to take his life in place of another, is just not right," Vargo said.

The people of Scottsville have many different views on this issue, but 1 
community member says they need to get back to 1 core value.

"And we need more love, if I had something to say today, it is love is what we 
need. Love for every family that's involved, for everybody in this community. 
And for people to come together and love one another," Keith Patrick said, of 
the East Willow Church of God.

Madden is set to appear back in court on July 13, 2016 at 1:30 pm for a Status 
Pretrial Conference for the murder of Gabbi Doolin.

Timothy Madden is being tried for the abduction, rape and murder of 7 year-old 
Gabbi Doolin on the campus of Allen-County Scottsville High School.

He was arrested less than a week after the murder and charged with the crime.

(source: WBKO news)






MISSOURI:

Senators favor Mo. executions


The Missouri Senate debated and, ultimately, let stand the death penalty.

The debate did not result because bleeding-heart liberals performed a coup on 
the Republican-dominated Senate. Republicans and Democrats alike sought the 
repeal - just not enough of them. Sen. Paul Wieland, R-Imperial, a city south 
of St. Louis, led the effort.

There are solid reason to reject the death penalty.

As a Catholic opposed to abortion, Wieland is among Christians who have a tough 
time saying they are pro-life and pro-death penalty.

Others take the position that the criminal justice system's views on 
convictions can change, but the death penalty is permanent. In 2012, Amnesty 
International and the Death Penalty Information Center reported that since 1973 
the U.S. justice system had to free 154 people on death row. If not for DNA and 
other factors, the state would have executed at least some of those inmates. 4 
of those men sat on Missouri's death row: Reginald Griffin, black, convicted in 
1983 and all charges dismissed in 2013; Joseph Amrine, black, convicted in 1986 
and freed in 2013; Eric Clemmons, black, convicted in 1987, and acquitted in 
2000; and Clarence Dexter Jr., white, convicted in 1991 and freed in 1999.

Another concern is that the death penalty is not issued equally. In a 2015 
Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty, Justice Stephen Breyer's comments 
included that evidence in the case showed race, gender and geography often are 
more influential than the severity of a crime when death is the sentence.

Many people support the death penalty, with this area's senator, David Pearce, 
and Sen. Mike Parson, a candidate for secretary of state, counted among them. A 
former sheriff, Parson told The Daily Star-Journal he has seen murder up close 
and the guilty should pay the highest price for their crimes.

"I understand what cold-blooded killers are because I've interviewed them, I've 
talked to them before and I understand. And you know more than likely they're 
going to go out and they're going to do it again. ... There are people that I 
truly believe do not belong in society, nor do I think locking them up forever 
is the right thing."

Missouri over the past 2 years has executed 16 people. The next man scheduled 
to die is Earl Mitchell Forrest, 66. Jurors found Forrest guilty of killing 
Dent County Deputy Sharon Jo Barnes and 2 other people, and of wounding the 
sheriff and another person, 13 years ago. Forrest faces death May 11.

The Missouri Senate for a moment considered the question of whether to continue 
executions.

Right or wrong, executions will continue.

One can only hope that everyone put to death is guilty.

(source: Opinion; The Daily Star-Journal)






OREGON:

Death Row chaplain speaking tonight


Florida death row chaplain Dale Recinella: "The Biblical Truth About America's 
Death Penalty,"

University of Portland's Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and 
American Culture will present "The Biblical Truth About America's Death 
Penalty," a lecture by Dale Recinella, on Monday, March 14, at 7:15 p.m., in 
Franz Hall Room 120 on campus, 5000 N. Willamette Blvd. The lecture is free and 
open to the public.

Recinella has served for 25 years as a spiritual counselor and Catholic 
correctional chaplain, ministering to men on Florida's death row. His talk will 
offer a riveting integration of Scripture, law, history, and theology from his 
books denouncing America's death penalty. Mr. Recinella's publications include 
The Biblical Truth About America's Death Penalty (2004), Now I Walk on Death 
Row: A Wall Street Finance Lawyer Stumbles into the Arms of a Loving God 
(2011), "Why American Catholics Must Say 'No' to the Death Penalty" in America, 
and a long-running column in The Florida Catholic. He practices law in Florida 
and has taught international law and business ethics at St. John's University 
at the Vatican (Oratorio) and at Temple University in Rome. In 1997 he was 
named a University of Notre Dame Exemplar for modeling faith and citizenship in 
action, received a Year 2000 Press Award from the Catholic Press Association, 
and was named Citizen Volunteer of the Year by the executive staff of Florida 
State Prison in 2013. He has appeared frequently on worldwide Vatican Radio and 
to audiences around the U.S. and in Europe.

This event is co-sponsored by the Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual 
Life and American Culture and Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. 
For ADA accommodations or further information contact the Garaventa Center at 
503-943-7702 or garaventa at up.edu, or visit sites.up.edu/garaventa.

(source: Oregon Faith Report)






USA:

Man who spent 39 years in prison confronts Clinton on death penalty


Hillary Clinton appeared deeply uncomfortable when confronted on her support 
for the death penalty by a man wrongfully imprisoned for 39 years.

In a powerful moment at Sunday night's Democratic town hall in Ohio, the former 
secretary of State fielded a question from Ricky Jackson, who was exonerated in 
2014 after spending most of his life in prison - including time on death row - 
for a murder he didn't commit.

Clinton grimaced as Jackson recounted his painful story and closed by asking 
her, "How can you still take your stance on the death penalty in light of what 
you know right now?"

The Democratic front-runner gave a halting answer, clearly still grappling with 
her heavily qualified position on the death penalty. Clinton says she still 
supports the death penalty, but only for extreme terrorism cases that end up 
under federal jurisdiction. Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders, opposes the death 
penalty in all circumstances.

"This is such a profoundly difficult question," Clinton told the audience at 
the town hall, televised by CNN.

"I have said I would breathe a sigh of relief if either the Supreme Court or 
the states themselves began to eliminate the death penalty.

"Where I end up is this," she said. "And maybe it's a distinction that is hard 
to support. ... The kind of crimes I'm thinking of are the bombing in Oklahoma 
City ... the plotters and the people who carried out the attacks on 9/11.

"But a very limited use of it in cases where there has been horrific mass 
killings. That's really the exception that I still am struggling with. And that 
would only be in the federal system.

"But what happened to you," she told Jackson, "is a travesty."

(source: The Hill)

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

Ted Cruz's Pastor Endorses Death Penalty for LGBTQ People Minutes Before 
Inviting the Candidate to the Stage


This is horrifying.

In a frightening new scene from the dystopian hellscape that is the 
presidential election, Ted Cruz's pastor calls for the execution of gays before 
calling the candidate to the stage. This is so troublingly bigoted, you might 
think that Cruz would immediately reject the idea, but, nope, no, he doesn't 
seem to have responded to any way other than implicitly condoning his pastor's 
hate.

(source: teenvogue.com)