[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., MISS., IND., OKLA.

[Rick Halperin]

March 30



ALABAMA:

Alabama's Death Penalty Needs to Go


Shannon Rae McKenzie had never heard of judicial override when she was summoned 
for jury duty back in 2010. During jury selection, McKenzie said, the defense 
and prosecution asked her whether she could "ever sentence a man to death." 
McKenzie said she could, and she was picked as a juror in the murder trial of 
Courtney Lockhart. Before the trial, McKenzie vaguely knew the story of the 
crime, because it had made national news. In 2008, Lockhart, a black Iraq war 
veteran, had abducted Lauren Burk, a white freshman at Auburn University, and 
forced her to strip naked at gunpoint while he drove her car. Burk jumped from 
the vehicle, Lockhart shot her, and she died soon after.

When McKenzie and the 11 other jurors unanimously agreed that Lockhart was 
guilty and deserved life in prison without the possibility of parole, McKenzie 
thought the trial was over. So when a friend called her a few months later to 
tell her the judge had overruled the jury's verdict and sentenced Lockhart to 
death, McKenzie was shocked. "I couldn't believe it. I didn't know that could 
happen," McKenzie said.

In January, the Supreme Court declared that Florida's practice of judicial 
override - which is similar to the Alabama law under which Lockhart was 
sentenced - was unconstitutional, because it violated a defendant's Sixth 
Amendment right to a jury by his or her peers. But, in Alabama, judicial 
override is still the law, and Lockhart and dozens of others, sentenced not by 
juries but judges, remain on death row. There are serious questions - even 
among judges in Alabama - of the constitutionality of the state's death penalty 
system, and a higher court will likely have to address it sooner or later. 
Until one does, juries in Alabama will continue to be asked to weigh the 
punishment of life without parole or death, only to have their decision 
readdressed and possibly changed by a judge. And more defendants may be 
sentenced to death not by a jury of their peers but by judges.

In its 8-1 ruling in Hurst v. Florida at the start of the year, the court wrote 
that the Constitution requires "a jury, not a judge, to find each fact 
necessary to impose a sentence of death." The Hurst decision was buttressed by 
the 2002 case, Ring v. Arizona, in which the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that 
Arizona's use of judicial override was unconstitutional. Only 2 states, Alabama 
and Delaware, have death penalty statutes similar to the one that the court 
struck down in Florida. While no one is currently on death row in Delaware due 
to judicial override, the state recently halted all capital trials and 
executions until the state Supreme Court can review the statute's 
constitutionality.

Alabama is a different story. Since 1981, judges in the state have overridden 
at least 101 life verdicts for the death penalty. (They've also switched 10 
death verdicts to life.) At least 40 people currently on death row in Alabama, 
including Lockhart, were sentenced to death not by a jury but by a judge. After 
the January ruling, the Alabama attorney general's office issued a statement 
saying that the Supreme Court's decision "does not affect Alabama's law" 
because Alabama juries specify the aggravating factors - like a murder being 
committed during a robbery, a rape, or a kidnapping - that might justify the 
sentence of death, even if they don't vote in favor of the death penalty in a 
given case. In its ruling, the Supreme Court struck down Florida's statute 
because it allowed judges to find these aggravating factors on their own 
without the jury's input and exposed defendants to greater punishments than 
authorized by the juries. In both states, though, after a jury's advisory 
verdict, a judge reweighs evidence - including pretrial investigations and a 
sentencing hearing where the jury is not present - and makes a final decision.

Since the Supreme Court struck down Florida's death penalty statute, some of 
Alabama's own judges have been questioning the practice of judicial override. 
At a January meeting of the Alabama Circuit Judges' Association, judges from 
the state's 67 counties were split on whether or not they should continue to 
hear capital cases until a decision is made on the law, while other judges 
argued that trials should proceed as before until the Supreme Court directly 
declares the statute unconstitutional. The judges agreed to form a committee to 
recommend and possibly help draft a new sentencing structure for the Alabama 
legislature.

One key problem with judicial override is that judges in Alabama face partisan 
elections every 6 years, which can come with public pressure to punish criminal 
defendants harshly. Judge Tommy Nail, the presiding criminal judge in Jefferson 
County, Alabama's most populous county, believes that the Supreme Court's 
ruling was "not exactly clear" in how its ruling should affect Alabama's 
statute and that, in theory, judicial override can work to correct improper 
verdicts. The problem, he argued, "comes in practical application because of 
the pressures and other things that we as human beings have to deal with." Nail 
clarified that "pressures" mean elections.

In Alabama, judges run in partisan elections every 6 years. And many judges I 
spoke with, like Nail, said there is pressure to appear tough on crime. "I am 
not saying that judges decide to [use override] because of elections, but I do 
know that the death penalty, being as popular as it is, is used all the time to 
promote an election," retired Judge Pam Baschab said. Baschab was on the bench 
for 20 years, and in 1995 she overrode a jury's verdict and sentenced a man to 
death. She remembers that the local district attorney was a big fan of media 
attention, and a capital murder trial in a small town in Alabama is big news.

"There was pressure on me. I knew that whatever my decision was [it] was going 
to be a big public thing, whatever I did, and the district attorney was pushing 
for the death penalty. He wanted me to do the override," Baschab remembered. "I 
don't believe in my heart of hearts, that that influenced me, but I can see how 
it could influence me, or anyone else."

Jeremy Armstrong has stood on both sides of this issue. For years, he was an 
assistant attorney general prosecuting death penalty cases. Now, Armstrong is a 
defense attorney and has tried more than 26 capital cases in Alabama. He 
defended Lockhart and originally doubted whether he could get a fair trial in 
rural Alabama because the case was heavily publicized and involved the murder 
of a beloved local college student. "[But] those 12 men and women on the jury 
in Lockhart's case proved me wrong," he told me. When the judge overrode the 
jury's verdict, Armstrong said, he was at a complete loss. Since there are no 
standards a judge must follow for overrides, Armstrong wondered what further 
evidence he could have presented and questioned his own future as a defense 
attorney.

Armstrong said he believes that when judges override, they "show contempt for 
those jurors.' I contacted all 12 jurors in Lockhart's trial to try to see how 
they felt being on the jury and having their verdict overridden. Aside from 
McKenzie, only 1 other juror agreed to speak to me, but she asked to remain 
anonymous. Like McKenzie, she and her family still live in the area, and she 
said the case has haunted her for years. "When I found out [the judge] 
overturned it, it was kind of like a slap in the face," she said of the judge's 
decision. "He knew that he was going to overturn that. I was kind of like, what 
were we there for?" The judge, Jacob A. Walker III, said he couldn't speak to 
me about this case since it's still in appeals.

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, Armstrong and other defense attorneys 
have started filing motions in current capital cases arguing that the judicial 
override portion of Alabama's death penalty is unconstitutional. Armstrong's 
filed his motion four times, but so far, no judge has ruled on it. Judge Nail 
said he has denied similar motions before him. Earlier this month, though, 
Judge Tracie Todd in Jefferson County ruled that in light of the Supreme 
Court's decision in Hurst, Alabama's death penalty statute is unconstitutional 
and cannot not be applied to the 4 capital cases before her. The state has 
appealed her ruling, and the attorney general has repeated his office's stance 
that Alabama's use of judicial override is not affected by the Supreme Court's 
ruling.

The reality is, though, that the practice of judicial override denies 
defendants of their constitutional right to trial by jury, explodes one of the 
tenets of democracy, and renders mute the voice of the people. For now at 
least, Alabama remains the only state where judges alone decide life or death.

(source: Ashley Cleek is a radio reporter and writer living in Birmingham, 
Alabama. She reports on legal issues for the podcast Life of the Law; 
slsate.com)






MISSISSIPPI:

The Hoods Are Gravely Wrong About Execution Secrecy, Firing Squads


Both Jim Hood and Joey Hood are wrong on the execution bill that is moving 
forward in the Mississippi Legislature.

Jim Hood, the attorney general, has long been regressive on death-penalty 
issues in general, despite overwhelming evidence that the procedure is not 
ordered fairly across both race and class lines. Not to mention, Mississippi 
has a long history of systemic corruption in our criminal-justice system that 
even leads to the prosecution and conviction of innocent people for rape and 
murder, such as in the case of Cedric Willis, who served 12 years in Parchman 
for murders he didn't commit.

The DA's office at the time did not present the full evidence that could have 
exonerated Willis much earlier, and one of those attorneys went on to first 
become a Hinds County judge and, later, to serve prison time in a bribery 
scandal involving his boss back when Willis was on trial. That is, the system 
was broken, and a man went to jail for murders he didn't commit. Fortunately, 
he wasn't executed.

More recently, Jackson Free Press reporting helped lead to Michelle Byrom 
getting off death row because her son had actually confessed to murdering her 
husband. In that case, Jim Hood opposed the re-opening of the case despite the 
strong implication that she could be innocent. Likewise, he has supported the 
questionable work of a past medical examiner in the state who helped convict a 
teenager for helping his sister murder her husband - a young man who later went 
free.

Even if one isn't morally opposed to the death penalty, there is ample evidence 
from those cases and many others that the State of Mississippi is not equipped 
to make wise decisions about who should be executed and who should not. If they 
are sent to prison for life, at least they are still alive if evidence is 
discovered to exonerate them.

The Hoods, though, want to make state executions as easy to do and as secret as 
possible. The Democrat and the Republican both support even allowing firing 
squads if the killer drug isn't available when the State is ready to kill 
someone.

To add public insult to injury, SB 2236 would also limit media access and hide 
the identities of the execution team and the death-drug supplier. The very fact 
that they want to hide these things to the public prove just how barbaric a 
practice the State is following on the citizens' behalf. They are turning state 
employees into executioners, who could even be guilty of killing innocent 
people, considering the state of Mississippi's criminal-justice system.

The secrecy is a clear violation of both the public's right to know, as well as 
the First Amendment rights of media to provide access and provide that 
information to the public. This is a very bad bill, and it will only land the 
State in court. Attorney General Hood should take the lead on rolling back 
these secret efforts, as well as make every effort to clean up the state's 
criminal-justice system before another execution occurs.

Nothing less is acceptable.

(source: Editorial Board, Jackson Free Press)






INDIANA:

Data: Number of Indiana Death Penalty Cases Has Declined In Past 5 Years


The Owen County Prosecutor says he hasn't decided whether to pursue the death 
penalty for the man accused of raping and killing 1-year-old Shaylyn Ammerman.

In order for a case to qualify for the death penalty, it must meet at least 1 
of 18 circumstances outlined by the General Assembly. 1 of those circumstances 
is murder of a child.

Assistant Executive Director of the Indiana Public Defender Council Paula Sites 
says fewer county prosecutors are pursuing capital punishment.

"We used to average between 25 and 40 death penalty cases filed each year 
throughout the state," Sites says. "Over the last 10 years our average is 
actually fewer than 2 per year."

Sites says one reason for the drop in death penalty cases could be the cost.

A 2010 report from the Legislative Services Agency found, on average, it costs 
more than 10 times as much to prosecute a death penalty case to its end than to 
try a life without parole case.

(source: WBAA news)

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

Fewer Indiana Prosecutors Pursuing Death Penalty


On average, just over 2 death penalty requests have been filed each year over 
the past 5 years.

In order to qualify for the death penalty, a case must meet one of 18 
circumstances outlined by the general assembly.

The Owen County Prosecutor says he hasn't decided whether to pursue the death 
penalty for the man accused of raping and killing 1-year-old Shaylyn Ammerman.

In order for a case to qualify for the death penalty, it must meet at least 1 
of 18 circumstances outlined by the general assembly. One of those 
circumstances is murder of a child.

The number of death penalty cases in Indiana has declined over the past 5 
years.

"We used to average between 25 and 40 death penalty cases filed each year 
throughout the state," says Assistant Executive Director of the Indiana Public 
Defender Council Paula Sites. "Over the last 10 years our average is actually 
fewer than 2 per year."

On average, the number of death penalty requests filed over the past few years 
has dropped.

Sites says 1 reason for the drop in death penalty cases could be the cost.

A 2010 report from the Legislative Services Agency found, on average, it costs 
more than 10 times as much to prosecute a death penalty case to the end than a 
life without parole case.

"Only about 1 in 5 death penalty cases that are filed actually result in a 
death sentence," Sites says. "The rest are usually resolved by plea agreement, 
most often with a sentence of life without parole."

Owen County Prosecutor Don VanDerMoere says he could make a decision on whether 
to pursue the death penalty in the Shaylyn Ammerman case within the next 2 
months.

The case could go to trial as early as August.

(source: indianapublicmedia.org)

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

Parolee charged in 7-Eleven stabbings, eligible for death penalty


A parolee was charged Tuesday in connection with the stabbings outside a 
7-Eleven store in Valley Village that left the general manager dead and his 
co-worker significant other critically wounded.

Hasaan Blunt, 42, who police believe is homeless, was charged with felony 
murder, felony attempted murder, 2 felony counts of 2nd degree robbery and 3 
misdemeanor counts of vandalism under $400 for slashing tires of 3 vehicles 
prior to the robbery and murder, said Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles 
County District Attorney's office. Blunt was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday 
but it was continued until April 28 at the Van Nuys Courthouse, he said.

The murder charge carries a special circumstance allegation of murder during 
the commission of a robbery, which makes Blunt eligible for the death penalty, 
Santiago said. Prosecutors have yet to determine whether they will seek the 
death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole as a maximum 
punishment. Blunt is being held without bail because it's a capital case, he 
said.

Longtime 7-Eleven general manager Washi Uddin Ahmed, 55, of North Hollywood was 
stabbed outside the convenience store in the 5300 block of Laurel Canyon 
Boulevard Friday by a man suspected of stealing a hot dog and a beer at about 
9:15 a.m. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Cedars-Sinai Medical 
Center, according to police and coroner's officials.

7-Eleven sales clerk Paulina Lopez, who walked outside the store to confront 
the suspect after he allegedly walked out without paying, was stabbed shortly 
before Ahmed was stabbed.

Surveillance video from the neighboring laundromat showed Lopez approaching the 
suspect in the 7-Eleven parking lot and taking merchandise from his hands 
before the man pulled out a knife.

Blunt had 3 prior convictions, including assault with a deadly weapon and 
battery causing serious injury, and was sentenced to state prison for 5 years 
in 1998. He was also sentenced for assault with a deadly weapon as a state 
prison inmate later that year, Santiago said.

Meanwhile, Ahmed's son created a GoFundMe account on Tuesday to help support 
his father's burial expenses. A date for the funeral had yet to be set, he 
said.

"Nobody was prepared to lose him this soon and the family could use some 
financial support to help with Washi's burial expenses," Ibtehaz Ahmed Utsay 
wrote.

Utsay, 22, added that due to his father's religious affiliation, "it is highly 
important that he is buried as soon as possible."

LAPD Detective Bob Dinlocker said Tuesday that they are trying to determine 
whether Ahmed and Lopez were married, or simply living together in the same 
apartment. The son, who previously said the 2 were unmarried, said Tuesday he 
was uncertain.

(source: Los Angeles Daily News)






OKLAHOMA:

Closed-door inquiry resumes in bungled Oklahoma executions


A grand jury looking into drug mix-ups during the last 2 scheduled lethal 
injections in Oklahoma resumed its closed-door investigation Tuesday and could 
issue a final report as early as this week.

The multicounty grand jury directed by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's 
office is scheduled to meet through Thursday in Oklahoma City. Grand jury 
proceedings are secret, and those subpoenaed to appear are admonished not to 
publicly discuss their testimony.

The panel is looking into how the wrong drug was used to execute an inmate in 
January 2015 and then delivered again to death row for a scheduled lethal 
injection in September that was halted just before the inmate was to die.

Pruitt said he won't request any execution dates for the 5 people so far on 
death row who have exhausted their appeals until at least 5 months after the 
grand jury investigation is complete and the results are made public.

Since Pruitt launched the investigation in October, three key state officials 
connected to Oklahoma's last several executions have resigned after showing up 
to testify - Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden Anita Trammell, former 
Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton, and Gov. Mary Fallin's 
general counsel, Steve Mullins.

None have said their resignations were connected to the probe, and Pruitt 
declined to discuss the topic during an interview with The Associated Press 
this month.

"I think it's best just to let the grand jury process finish, and then if those 
matters need to be addressed in a grand jury report, then they will be 
addressed," Pruitt said then.

Internal Department of Corrections emails regarding Patton's resignation show 
the chairman of the agency's governing board, Kevin Gross, edited a news 
release announcing Patton's departure to remove any reference to the grand jury 
investigation. The emails, first reported by Buzzfeed News, show Gross told an 
agency spokesman in a December email to delete from the release a statement 
about Patton's resignation having nothing to do with the grand jury.

"We can talk about the grand jury," Gross wrote in the email. "But I don't 
think drawing attention to it will prevent them from coming to the conclusion."

The final version of the statement announcing Patton's resignation made no 
reference to the grand jury probe.

Oklahoma ranks second only to Texas in the number of executions carried out 
since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States in 1976. The drug 
mix-ups followed a botched lethal injection in 2014 that left inmate Clayton 
Lockett writhing on the gurney and mumbling in an execution that Patton tried 
unsuccessfully to halt before Lockett died 43 minutes after the procedure 
began. An investigation later noted a faulty insertion of the intravenous line 
and lack of training of the execution team.

Meanwhile, former Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry announced this week that he will 
help lead a prominent group of Oklahomans in a comprehensive review over the 
next year on the state's use of the death penalty. Henry, a Democrat who 
oversaw dozens of executions during his 2 terms in office, will be joined as 
co-chair on the 12-member panel by retired Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Reta 
Strubhar and former U.S. Magistrate Judge Andy Lester.

That group plans to issue a report in early 2017.

(source: Associated Press)