[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.Y., VA., N.C., FLA.

[Rick Halperin]

March 22



TEXAS----impending execution

U.S. Supreme Court considering whether to spare Texas man from 
execution----Supreme Court weighs whether to exectute man


The U.S. Supreme Court was considering whether a Texas man who killed a city 
worker in 2005 should be spared from a lethal injection, as his lawyers argue 
that a ban on executing mentally impaired prisoners should be extended to him.

Adam Ward's attorneys say he's delusional and should not be put to death 
because of his mental illness. His execution is set for Tuesday evening and 
would be the 5th this year in Texas and 9th nationally.

Ward, 33, insists he was defending himself when he killed code enforcement 
officer Michael Walker, who was taking photos of junk piled outside the Ward 
family home in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas.

"Only time any shots were fired on my behalf was when I was matching force with 
force," Ward told The Associated Press last month from a visiting cage outside 
death row. "I wish it never happened but it did, and I have to live with what 
it is."

Evidence showed the 44-year-old Walker had a camera and cellphone but no 
weapon.

In a videotaped statement to police following his arrest, Ward said he believed 
Commerce officials long conspired against him and his father, described in 
court filings as a hoarder who had been in conflict with the city for years. 
Evidence showed the Ward family had been cited repeatedly for violating housing 
and zoning codes.

In their appeal to the high court, Ward's attorneys renewed arguments that he 
is mentally ill and contended his execution would be unconstitutional because 
of evolving sentiment against executing the mentally ill.

The justices have ruled that mentally impaired people, generally those with an 
IQ below 70, may not be executed. However, the court has said mentally ill 
prisoners may be executed if they understand they are about to be put to death 
and why they face the punishment.

State attorneys, who said evidence showed Ward's IQ as high as 123, said the 
late appeal did not raise a new issue, meaning it was improper and without 
merit. They also disputed claims of changing attitudes about executing the 
mentally ill.

Evidence of Ward's delusions, paranoia and bipolar disorder was presented at 
his 2007 trial and resurfaced in earlier unsuccessful appeals. The Supreme 
Court last October refused to review Ward's case.

"It's frustrating, tormenting, it's depressing," Dick Walker, the father of the 
man killed, said Monday. "I believe in appeals. I really do. ... It shouldn't 
drag on for almost 11 years."

Witnesses said Michael Walker was taking photos of the Ward property on June 
13, 2005, when he and Ward got into an argument.

Walker told Ward he was calling for assistance. Ward thought that meant police 
were on their way to kill him, Ward's lead trial attorney, Dennis Davis, said 
last week.

"Mr. Walker walked into a hornet's nest and didn't know it," Davis said.

Walker made the call and waited near the back of his truck. Ward went inside 
the house, emerged with a .45-calibre pistol and started firing. Walker was 
shot nine times.

"I think the only thing he was there for was harassment," Ward said from 
prison.

Dick Walker, an emergency medical technician when the shooting happened, was 
the first medic to arrive at the Ward property. He said he "had to intubate my 
own son on scene to save his life."

He said he's spent years "getting rid of my anger" and in the last year prayed 
to forgive Ward for the slaying. Still, he believes the punishment is 
justified.

"I do want him to get the sentence he was given by the jury, and he definitely 
deserves it," said Dick Walker, who planned to witness Ward's execution.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Wife of Van Cliburn pianist charged with capital murder in death of daughters


Police have charged the estranged wife of Van Cliburn piano competition winner 
Vadym Kholodenko with capital murder after she was found stabbed and her 
daughters were found dead last week in Benbrook, southwest of Fort Worth.

Authorities believe Sofya Tsygankova, 31, killed her daughters and stabbed 
herself before her husband was scheduled to pick up his children for a regular 
visit. She is recovering at a hospital, where she's being held in lieu of $2 
million bail, Benbrook police announced Monday.

"We have probable cause, reason to believe that she committed the homicides," 
Benbrook police Cmdr. David Babcock said, adding that police collected physical 
evidence at the scene.

Kholodenko, a Ukrainian pianist who performs with the Fort Worth Symphony 
Orchestra, called 911 Thursday morning after he found his daughters dead in 
their beds and their mother in an "extreme state of distress," police said.

Police said his daughters Nika Kholodenko, 5, and Michela Kholodenko, 1, had no 
visible signs of trauma. Initial autopsy reports came back inconclusive, and 
toxicology results were pending, Babcock said.

Babcock did not provide details about how they died, other than to say they 
suffered "homicidal violence."

Police said Tsygankova had been held at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth 
for a "mental evaluation" before she was arrested. They said she will be 
transported to the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department when she's medically 
cleared.

Police filed the cases with the Tarrant County district attorney's office on 
Monday. If convicted, Tsygankova could face the death penalty.

A spokeswoman for the district attorney's office said Monday it was "too early 
to comment."

Originally from Russia, Tsygankova worked as a professional pianist, like her 
husband, according to her bio. She's the sister of Russian dancer Anna 
Tsygankova, principal ballerina with the Dutch National Opera and Ballet.

She and Kholodenko had been married for five years when they separated last 
year and filed for divorce, court records show. The documents cite a "discord 
or conflict of personalities" as grounds for the divorce. No protective order 
had been requested.

Police said they had previously been called to the house, in the 6600 block of 
Waterwood Trail, near State Highway 183. But they declined to say what prompted 
those visits.

Kholodenko became a Van Cliburn gold medalist in 2013, clinching the $50,000 
award at age 26. The family moved to Texas the next year, the Fort Worth 
Star-Telegram reported.

The Cliburn Competition, one of the premier classical-music contests in the 
world, is held every 4 years in Fort Worth. The next competition will be in 
2017.

Kholodenko had been scheduled to perform with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra 
over the weekend, but was replaced at the last minute. He said in a statement 
last week that "the loss of my children will be with me forever."

"I feel the support of the Fort Worth community and all people who are sending 
me messages all over the world," he said. "Wherever I go after this tragedy my 
heart will stay with the people here of Fort Worth and my daughters will rest 
in this soil."

(source: Dallas Morning News)

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

U.S. Supreme Court refuses East Texas killer's death-row appeal


The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from an East Texas man 
on death row for killing 2 men days apart during a crime trek across the state 
more than 14 years ago.

The high court made no comment Monday in its decision on the appeal from 
32-year-old Clinton Lee Young.

The ruling upholds a federal appeals court's rejection last summer of arguments 
that Young had deficient legal help at his 2002 trial in Midland and that 
prosecutors improperly withheld evidence.

Young, from Ore City in Upshur County, was convicted and condemned for the 
November 2001 fatal shootings of Doyle Douglas in Longview and then Samuel 
Petrey a day or 2 later in a Midland oil field after carjacking him in 
Eastland, about 53 miles east of Abilene.

(source: Associated Press)






NEW YORK:

Murder of a child should be 1st-degree murder


Murdering a child under the age of 12 would become a 1st-degree murder in New 
York, a crime punishable by death, at least in theory, under a bill introduced 
Monday by state Sen. John DeFrancisco.

The state Senate passed a similar bill last year but it died in the Assembly 
without a vote.

1st-degree murder can result in a sentence of life in prison without parole. 
The death penalty is no longer legal in New York.

In 1977, New York's highest court effectively struck down the death penalty for 
the murder of a police officer or a correctional officer, and a 1984 ruling 
struck down capital punishment for murders committed by inmates serving life 
sentences, effectively abolishing New York's death penalty.

In 1995, then-Gov. George Pataki signed legislation reinstating the death 
penalty in New York, but that statute was declared unconstitutional by the New 
York Court of Appeals in 2004.

1st-degree murder, the most serious level of homicide in New York, is the 
charge now reserved for defendants accused of knowingly killing a police 
officer, corrections officer, judge, or firefighter.

(source: syracuse.com)






VIRGINIA----impending execution

Please Stop the April 13th Execution of Ivan Teleguz, an Innocent Man


An innocent man, Ivan Teleguz, is sitting on Virginia's death row for a crime 
he did not commit. The man who confessed to the murder of Stephanie Sipe is 
serving a life sentence, but the Commonwealth plans to execute Ivan on April 
13th unless Governor McAuliffe intervenes.

The Commonwealth of Virginia is about to execute an innocent man. We need to 
make sure Governor McAuliffe knows that there is too much evidence of Ivan's 
innocence to allow this execution to go ahead. Please join the call for the 
Governor to intervene.

The government's case against Ivan was based on false evidence. 3 men said that 
Ivan hired Stephanie's killer. But 2 of those men have since admitted that they 
lied in court - and sworn under oath that Ivan was not involved. The 3rd, 
Michael Hetrick, confessed to killing Stephanie. He was offered a deal that 
spared his own life in return for saying that Ivan hired him to commit the 
murder.

The prosecutor coerced the witnesses. The witnesses have sworn under oath that 
they gave false testimony at trial because of threats from the prosecutor and 
promises she made to improve their sentences.

The prosecution tried to influence the jury by saying Ivan was involved in a 
made-up murder. At trial, the prosecutor argued that Ivan should be sentenced 
to death because he was involved in another murder in Pennsylvania, and was 
highly dangerous. It was later revealed that the testimony about the murder and 
the prosecutor's argument were completely made up - the murder never even 
happened.

There is evidence that calls into question every part of the Commonwealth's 
case against Ivan. There is too much doubt for Governor McAuliffe to allow this 
execution to go ahead. Please help make sure he knows that The Commonwealth is 
about to execute an innocent man.

Please help save an innocent man. Join the call for Governor McAuliffe to 
intervene.

Visit ivansprayerforjustice.org to learn more about Ivan's case.

see: https://www.change.org/p/ivan-s-prayer-for-justice

(source: change.org)

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

Man pleads guilty to capital murder for 2011 killing in Halifax County


A man is facing the death penalty after admitting to killing an 84-year-old 
woman nearly 5 years ago in Halifax County.

James Lloyd Terry guilty pleaded guilty Monday to 5 charges in the murder of 
Charlotte Rice -- 2 counts of capital murder, 2 counts of sexual penetration, 
and one count of robbery.

Charlotte Rice was found dead in April 2011.The guilty plea was not part of a 
plea agreement.

Terry could receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility 
of parole.

Prosecutors presented multiple graphic photos of the crime scene. They 
explained how a neighbor found Terry in Mrs. Rice's home near South Boston that 
night.

After calling 911, police found Terry walking out the back door of her house.

It was a packed court room Monday and family members were very emotional.

"My emotions are everywhere. This has been a long 5 years. She did not deserve 
this," said the victim's niece, Judie Thompson. "You saw the pictures, it was 
so violent. She was such a wonderful lady."

Family members say Rice knew Terry. He was her next-door neighbor at a previous 
home.

A sentencing hearing for Terry is scheduled to begin May 31. It could last 4 
days.

(source: WDBJ news)

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

Terry pleads guilty to brutal murder of 84-year-old ---- Niece: 'I've been in 
court more than 60 times in the last 5 years. and if he can get the death 
penalty, it would be worth every second of it'


Judge Joel C. Cunningham will decide the fate of James Lloyd Terry, a 
44-year-old Halifax resident who pleaded guilty Monday in Halifax County 
Circuit Court to 2 counts of capital murder and 3 related charges in connection 
with the death of 84-year-old Charlotte Osborne Rice in April 2011.

Terry, clad in an orange jumpsuit, quietly nodded and answered "yes sir" to 
questions posed by Cunningham and admitted he was guilty of the capital murder 
of Rice while attempting to rob her; the capital murder of Rice while 
committing object sexual penetration; attempted robbery and 2 counts of object 
sexual penetration.

1 additional count of capital murder in the commission of object sexual 
penetration was dismissed pursuant to a court ruling on a previous defense 
motion, and another charge for burglary also was dismissed upon the 
commonwealth???s choosing.

Tears flowed freely from Judy Thompson, the niece of Rice, and a courtroom full 
of friends and family when Terry admitted to the crimes against Rice.

"It's nice to hear him say what we have always known, that he was guilty," said 
Thompson, who has sat in on every one of the more than 50 motions hearings in 
the 5 years since her aunt's death.

"It doesn't change the outcome at all, but at least he admitted to the truth.

"I've been in court more than 60 times in the last 5 years, and if he can get 
the death penalty, it would be worth every second of it."

Terry entered his plea of guilty to all these charges without the benefit of a 
plea agreement from the commonwealth, according to special prosectors R. Bryan 
Haskins, Michael J. Newman and Petra B. Haskins. Judge Cunningham will 
determine whether Terry receives the death penalty or life in prison without 
the possibility of parole.

Special Prosecutor Bryan Haskins in his summation of evidence said medical 
examiners would have been able to testify that in their opinion the cause of 
death of Charlotte Rice was repeated blunt trauma to the head.

Doctors observed and itemized 13 significant findings of injuries to Rice???s 
head, according to Haskins, some of them not one but multiple clusters of 
injuries, including multiple prominent facial fractures and fractures to her 
jawbone on both sides of her face.

6 major findings of injuries to Rice's neck were documented during the autopsy, 
as were 10 different areas of injury to Rice's legs, arms, hands and feet, 
primarily bruising and scraping injuries.

Finally, extensive evidence of violent sexual trauma was found and documented, 
caused by the forcible insertion of a blunt object, Haskins told the court, 
with the victim covered in her own blood, some of which was impact splatter 
blood caused by repeatedly striking someone while they were bleeding.

The clothing worn by Terry and a ring he wore on the night of Rice's death were 
confiscated, with officers also swabbing the defendant's genital area and 
hands.

A swab also was taken from Terry, as was a DNA sample from Rice.

A DNA profile obtained from blood found on the swabs taken of both Terry's 
right and left hand matched the DNA profile of Rice, and the DNA profile 
obtained from the ring matched the DNA profile of Rice.

Blood found on the outside front button area, the front right, back lower half 
and the inside of the left shoulder of the T-shirt taken from Terry matched the 
DNA profile of Rice, Haskins told the court.

Blood found in the swab taken from the defendant's genital area containing a 
mixture of DNA was found to be 5 trillion more times likely to be a mixture of 
DNA from the defendant and Rice than from a mixture of the defendant and an 
unknown Caucasian person, Hakins summarized.

Haskins entered into evidence 12 items that would have been the commonwealth's 
evidence should the case have gone to trial, including an eyewitness 
identification of Terry by neighbor Joe Taylor.

Taylor found it unusual that Rice's door was unlocked when he went to check on 
her shortly before 9 p.m. the night of the murder, Haskins told the court.

"As Joe was standing at the front door a black male backed partially out of 
what Joe knew to be Charlotte's bedroom," Haskins said.

"The male said something to Joe, who was too startled by the sudden appearance 
of this man to remember what was said."

Haskins told the court the man was nude from the waist up but could not tell if 
the male was wearing anything below the waist.

South Boston Police received a 911 call at 8:56 p.m., according to Haskins, and 
they arrived at the scene 1 minute and 26 seconds later, with the officers and 
Taylor observing a black male walking from behind Rice's residence in a 
southerly direction.

The special prosecutor continued, telling the court the officers caught up to 
the black male, who was wearing a white T-shirt which appeared to have blood on 
it.

One officer saw Rice lying on the floor of her bedroom and said, "she was hurt 
real bad," according to commonwealth evidence.

An EMT-trained employee of Regional One EMS doing a ride-along with one of the 
police officers went inside and found Rice lying on her side in her bedroom and 
discovered another neighbor kneeling over Rice and audibly praying for her.

According to the evidence proffered by Haskins, the EMT believed he felt a very 
weak pulse on the victim's wrist and heard one "agonal" breath from her but 
observed no more breathing.

Rice's purse was found in a chair in the bedroom, according to Haskins, and her 
wallet, which she normally kept in her purse, was unclasped but closed.

An empty bank money envelope was found on the floor beside the bed between the 
purse in the chair and the wallet on the bed.

Rice was wearing a "carelink" device when she was murdered but was not able to 
activate the device, according to Haskins.

In acknowledging the commonwealth's "significant evidence of Terry committing 
this crime," Matthew Engle, an attorney and law professor at the University of 
Virginia assigned to the capital defense team told the court Terry "has come to 
this courtroom to accept full responsibility for this crime.

Cunningham also noted the "substantial and overwhelming evidence" against 
Terry.

"I can say with a great deal of confidence Mrs. Rice was murdered in a terrible 
manner," said Cunningham In pronouncing Terry's guilt.

Thompson knows there's 1 last barrier to cross, a sentencing hearing set from 
May 31 through June 3, after which Cunningham is set to decide Terry's fate.

"It's something I did not want to give up on," said Thompson.

"I think when crimes are committed people get the verdict that they should get.

"I think it's not just important in this case, it's important to the community, 
it's important to the state, and it's important to the next crime that comes 
around.

"This could have been anybody's mother, it could have been anybody's aunt.

"It just happened to be my aunt. It was violent, it was heinous, and I just 
don't know what kind of animal can do things like that.

"Each time in court it's been the defense talking about him.

"Now, we can talk about her. She was a wonderful person, and she was a lady of 
simple means, nothing frivolous, very frugal.

"She had a way of making everybody feel as if they were the most special people 
in the world.

"She was such a nice person, and she did not deserve this."

(source: yourgv.com)






NORTH CAROLINA:

Defense tries to remove death penalty possibility in Hewitt case


Defense attorney Robert Campbell made several motions Monday before Catawba 
County Superior Court Judge Nathaniel J. Poovey on behalf of his client, 
Everette Porshau Hewitt.

Of these, 4 motions were attempts to remove the possibility of the death 
penalty being applied in the case of a guilty conviction.

Hewitt, 34, of Claremont, is charged with 3 felony counts of murder, 1 count of 
attempted murder, 1 felony count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to 
kill inflicting serious injury, 1 felony count of 1st degree burglary and 1 
felony count of robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Poovey denied 3 of the attempts to remove the death penalty. However, he 
decided that he would defer his ruling until Tuesday morning.

The basis of this particular motion lays in multiple violations on the part of 
the prosecution. Poovey earlier ruled that the District Attorney's Office had 
violated the rules for the discovery phase of the trial.

The defense had suggested a total of 7 different failures by the prosecution. 
Poovey denied only 2 of these.

The discovery phase of a trial is when the defense receives evidence gathered 
by the state.

Assistant District Attorney Shaun McGuiness acknowledged a few of the 
violations and pointed to the four delays the trial had previously. Police 
arrested Hewitt in 2011, and the trial is now scheduled for March 28.

"There were other cases that I turned to," McGuiness said in court.

Beyond the attempts to remove the possibility of the death penalty, the other 
motions focused on rules for the use of evidence, witnesses and jury selection. 
Campbell said to the court the motions were standard, and Poovey allowed them.

The prosecution said Monday they will be making motions.

There were only a few people attended the hearing, with a total of 10 people in 
the gallery at one point. One of these people was Beverly Canipe, sister of one 
of the victims, Connie Miller.

While Canipe does not plan to attend the jury selection, she does plan to be 
there every day of the trial arguments.

"The only thing I want is closure," Canipe said.

(source: Hickory Record)




FLORIDA:

Court Backs Use of New Law in Death Penalty Cases


Florida's new death penalty sentencing process should apply to prosecutions 
that were already underway when the new law took effect this month, a state 
appeals court ruled.

The Fifth District Court of Appeal also decided that a U.S. Supreme Court 
decision in Hurst v. Florida did not strike down the state's entire death 
penalty as unconstitutional, just the procedure for imposing death sentences.

But because the issues "involve questions of great public importance," the 
three-judge panel asked the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether the Hurst 
decision declared that the state's death penalty is unconstitutional and if the 
new law applies to cases already in the pipeline before the new sentencing 
process went into effect March 7.

In a Jan. 12 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court found Florida's system of giving 
judges rather than juries the power to impose death sentences was an 
unconstitutional violation of defendants' Sixth Amendment right to trial by 
jury.

The 8-1 U.S. Supreme Court decision dealt with the sentencing phase of death 
penalty cases after defendants are found guilty, and it focused on what are 
known as aggravating circumstances that must be determined before defendants 
can be sentenced to death. A 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Ring v. Arizona 
requires that determinations of such aggravating circumstances must be made by 
juries, not judges.

The ruling left Florida temporarily without a death penalty sentencing 
structure, prompting the Legislature to hurriedly pass a bill intended to fix 
the process. Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill this month, and it took effect 
immediately.

Under Florida's new law, juries will have to unanimously determine "the 
existence of at least 1 aggravating factor" before defendants can be eligible 
for death sentences. The law also requires at least 10 jurors to recommend the 
death penalty for the sentence to be imposed, and it did away with a feature of 
the old law that allowed judges to override juries' recommendations of life in 
prison instead of death.

The Florida Supreme Court, which indefinitely put on hold 2 executions after 
the Hurst ruling, has been grappling with how - or whether - to apply the 
ruling to inmates already on death row.

The ruling came in the consolidated cases of Larry Darnell Perry, accused of 
killing his 3-month-old son in 2013, and William Theodore Woodward, charged 
with murdering 2 neighbors in 2012.

State Discretion

After the Hurst decision, Perry and Woodward asked judges in their cases to bar 
prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. The judges agreed with defense 
attorneys who argued the state should not be allowed to pursue death sentences 
in their cases because there was no constitutionally permitted death penalty 
process in Florida at the time.

But the appellate court sided with the state, saying that blocking the death 
penalty "impermissibly invades" the discretion of the state to seek the 
sentence.

The appeals court also rejected arguments that the new sentencing law should 
not apply in the cases of Perry and Woodward because of a 1972 law that 
provides alternative sentences if the death penalty is deemed unconstitutional. 
The 1972 law, which required all death sentences to be converted to life 
imprisonment, came in response to a ruling in a case of Furman v. Georgia that 
resulted in a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty.

In the 10-page decision, Fifth District Judge Richard B. Orfinger wrote the 
Hurst ruling "struck the process of imposing a sentence of death, not the 
penalty itself."

Orfinger, joined by Judges Kerry I. Evander and F. Rand Wallis, also disagreed 
with the defense contention that the application of the new law to pending 
cases would amount to an ex post facto violation of both the Florida and U.S. 
constitutions.

That constitutional problem would only arise if the new law retroactively 
altered the definition of crimes or increased the punishment for the crimes, 
Orfinger noted.

While Florida's new law changes the process used to determine whether the death 
penalty will be imposed, it does not modify the punishment attached to 
1st-degree murder, Orfinger wrote.

"The new sentencing statute added no new element or functional equivalent of an 
element to 1st-degree murder. Hence, the changes to our capital sentencing 
procedures do not resemble the type of after-the-fact legislative evil 
contemplated by the ex post facto doctrine," he wrote.

(source: dailybusinessreview.com)

********

Victim's mom testifies for defense in store clerk killing----Judge denies 
motion to disqualify prosecutors in James Rhodes trial


The mother of a Metro PCS clerk gunned down in 2013 testified for the defense 
Monday at a pretrial hearing for the man accused of killing her daughter.

It was an emotional day for Darlene Farah and her son, Caleb Farah. They were 
called to testify because attorneys for James Rhodes, the man accused of 
shooting and killing 20-year-old Shelby Farah, want prosecutor Bernie de la 
Rionda off the case.

Farah said the day was hard, but it's another step in the process of getting 
the case over with and getting justice for her daughter, nearly 3 years after 
her death.

"To be honest with you, I feel good a little bit. I got a lot off my chest," 
Darlene Farah said.

Darlene Farah said she agrees with the defense's claim that the State 
Attorney's Office influenced Caleb Farah to support the death penalty for 
Rhodes by showing him the surveillance footage of the moment his sister was 
killed.

But Caleb Farah testified that no one made him watch the video. He said he was 
encouraged not to watch it, but he insisted.

After hearing both sides, Judge Tatiana Salvador denied the motion to 
disqualify the State Attorney's Office from the case.

"It's really insulting to say that somebody would go to that level and make 
these accusations that have no grounds at all," de la Rionda said. "We're very 
pleased with the court's ruling denying both of these motions."

The prosecutor said that although Darlene Farah is against the death penalty, 
he believes Rhodes should be held accountable for his actions.

"The law states that no matter what the victim's family feels -- and quite 
frankly 99 percent of the time they are in favor of the death penalty -- that 
never comes out in the court room, so it's irrelevant,??? de la Rionda said. 
"We are doing what we feel is appropriate based on the facts of the law. That's 
all we can rely on. Nevertheless, we are sympathetic to a victim's family. You 
have to be."

Darlene Farah said that despite her opposition to a death sentence, she doesn't 
want Rhodes to go unpunished.

"I don't feel sorry for him. He knew wrong from right when he committed the 
crime," she said. "Yes, it was premeditated, but 2 life sentences consecutive, 
plus 20 years, he'll be in there for the rest of his life."

Rhodes' trial, which was set to begin May 2, was also pushed back Monday 
because of new state legislation on the death penalty.

Salvador set Aug. 29 as the date for jury selection in the trial. The final 
pretrial date will be Aug. 22.

Earlier this month, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law a measure designed to fix 
the state's death penalty sentencing process after it was found 
unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The new law, which went into effect immediately, would require at least 10 
jurors to recommend death for the penalty to be imposed.

Darlene Farah wrote an opinion piece for Time magazine on the death penalty, 
titled "My Daughter's Killer Should Not Get the Death Penalty."

Rhodes is charged with 1st-degree murder in the killing of Shelby Farah during 
a robbery of a Brentwood cellphone store.

Police said that after several hours of questioning, Rhodes confessed.

Police said Farah was found dead after officers responded to a report of an 
armed robbery at the store on Main Street near 21st Street.

Police said Rhodes pointed a gun at the 20-year-old and demanded money. They 
said she cooperated and after she handed him the last bit of money, he fired 4 
rounds, killing her.

(source: news4jax.com)