[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., TENN., ARIZ.

[Rick Halperin]

May 8




VIRGINIA:

Court rejects Virginia death row inmate's appeal


A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal of a Virginia death row inmate 
who killed 2 people during an escape.

William Morva's attorney argued before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in 
March that he was improperly denied a chance to show that he wouldn't do it 
again if spared the death penalty.

But a 3-judge panel of the court rejected his claims Thursday and affirmed the 
lower court's ruling.

Morva was in jail awaiting trial on attempted robbery charges in 2006 when he 
was taken to a Blacksburg hospital. He overpowered a deputy sheriff and used 
the deputy's pistol to fatally shoot an unarmed security guard. He fatally shot 
another deputy during a manhunt the next day.

Morva's attorney didn't immediately respond to a message Thursday. A date for 
execution has not been set.

(source: Associated Press)






TENNESSEE:

Memphis man sentenced to death for 3rd time in 1997 killing


A jury again sentenced Michael Rimmer to death Saturday in the killing of his 
former girlfriend, who disappeared 19 years ago from her job as a night clerk 
at a Memphis motel.

Rimmer, 50, was sentenced to death in 1998 and at a resentencing in 2004 in the 
killing of 45-year-old Ricci Ellsworth. A new trial was ordered in 2012 after a 
judge found Rimmer's defense counsel failed to effectively investigate the 
capital case.

Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich announced in 2014 that she 
would ask for a special prosecutor to handle the trial. Rachel Sobrero of the 
Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, andPam Anderson, of Davidson 
County, prosecuted the retrial.

Jurors on Friday convicted Rimmer of killing Ellsworth with premeditation and 
in perpetration of a robbery. He was also convicted of aggravated robbery.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Chris Craft told Rimmer he will be confined 
until all appeals have been exhausted and an execution date is set. He will be 
put to death by electrocution, or at his option, lethal injection, Craft said.

"May God have mercy on your soul," Craft said.

Ellsworth, a mother of 2, disappeared Feb. 8, 1997, from the Memphis Inn 
nearInterstate 40. Her blood and her ring were found at the scene, but her body 
has never been found.

"I wish I could tell you how much I loved her, still love her," her now 
deceased mother, Margie Floyd, testified previously. "And the horror that - she 
was such a sweet, generous person - that anyone would hate her that much. It 
had to be hate."

Rimmer asked his attorneys, Robert Parris and Paul Bruno, not to present any 
mitigating evidence on his behalf during the sentencing proceedings Saturday.

Sobrero told the jury about aggravating factors in the case, including that 
Rimmer was previously convicted of one or more violent felonies, not including 
the present charge.

Rimmer was convicted of raping Ellsworth in 1989. She forgave him and visited 
him in prison.

Rimmer had pleaded not guilty to killing Ellsworth, and Parris urged the jury 
to consider elements of the case that were missing. There was no body, murder 
weapon or identification of Rimmer at the scene by anyone, Parris said. 
Prosecutors presented evidence that DNA profiles from blood at the crime scene 
matched blood found in a car Rimmer was arrested in for speeding nearly a month 
after Ellsworth's disappearance.

Witnesses Roger Lescure and William Conaley testified Rimmer had threatened to 
kill Ellsworth.

Rimmer's attorneys emphasized the eyewitness identification of a man who saw 2 
people at the motel around the time of Ellsworth's disappearance with what 
appeared to be blood on their hands.

James Darnell picked out Billy Wayne Voyles Jr. from a photo spread, according 
to a police document. The document was not disclosed for Rimmer's 1998 death 
penalty trial or his resentencing in 2004.

Rimmer's 1998 counsel asked for exculpatory evidence from the prosecutor 
handling the case at the time, who responded the state was not aware of any.

Voyles was also picked out of a sketch released to the media.

Rimmer will get an automatic appeal to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals. 
If that court affirms the conviction and sentence, the Tennessee Supreme Court 
automatically reviews it.

Tennessee has executed 6 people since 1976, and the last execution was in 2009.

Five were executed by lethal injection, and in 2007 the state electrocuted 
convicted killer Daryl Holton. Holton chose the method.

(source: KTHV news)

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

View from death row


For more than 9 years I served as a mentor and volunteer on death row at 
Tennessee's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution at the request of 
then-chaplain Jerry Welborn.

Having a background in the music industry, I agreed to spend time with 
prisoners who had musical inclinations, and Michael Rimmer was one of them.

We would spend time either in groups or sometimes just alone talking about 
things like politics, cracking jokes and discussing commonplace family things. 
Working with Michael, both alone and in a group, I was able to gain insight 
into his life and character.

I came to understand that their situations may not always be as they seem. 2 
men with whom I became friends were eventually executed. Steve Henley and Cecil 
Johnson. I learned that, regardless of the accusations or convictions, these 
men are simply flawed humans - as are we all - and that the real truth of these 
(generally poor individuals unable to engage adequate representation) men's 
stories will rarely be told.

Knowing these men, yet not forgetting victims and their families, eventually 
brought me from one who once favored the death penalty to one who has now 
determined that it's not up to a flawed jurisprudence system to choose the time 
of their deaths.

DNA and the Innocence Project have conclusively proved that not all are guilty, 
and not all are appropriately sentenced.

(source: Letter to the Editor, Stephen Schaffer----Comercial Appeal)






ARIZONA:

Rector trial could be postponed: Appointment of required second defense lawyer 
delayed


A Superior Court judge on Friday postponed an evidentiary hearing to argue 
whether a Bullhead City man should face the death penalty.

Justin James Rector's attorney, Gerald Gavin, of Mesa, asked to postpone the 
Chronis hearing in his client's murder case because a co-counsel has not been 
assigned to the case. State law requires 2 defense attorneys in death penalty 
cases.

Rector, 27, is charged with 1st-degree murder, kidnapping, child abuse and 
abandonment of a dead body in the death of Isabella Grogan-Cannella on Sept. 2, 
2014.

Gavin said that a new co-counsel has been appointed but will not be available 
until June 25 after completion of the necessary training required to handle a 
death penalty case. Former co-counsel Ron Gilleo withdrew in February because 
of a conflict of interest with a potential witness.

Gavin also filed a motion to continue the Oct. 17 trial date because there 
hasn't been a co-counsel for several months, which is stalling the case. The 
trial is expected to take 10 weeks. A pre-trial hearing is set for Aug. 23.

Gavin also filed a motion for funds for a defense investigator. The 
investigator from the legal defender's office had to withdraw along with Gilleo 
because of the conflict. Gavin also said that he and a mitigation specialist 
have made significant progress in the case. He has filed numerous motions to 
avoid the case being overturned on appeal, which could double or triple the 
cost to the county.

"I want to do this case right the 1st time," Gavin said.

In a Chronis hearing, Deputy Mohave County Attorney Greg McPhillips will have 
to prove aggravating factors to seek the death penalty against Rector. 
McPhillips only needs to prove one of 14 aggravating factors. One factor is if 
the victim is under the age of 15. Grogan-Cannella was 8 years old at the time 
of her murder.

McPhillips said interviews will resume when a defense co-counsel is assigned to 
the case. The prosecutor also said a mental health exam still needs to be 
conducted.

Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen postponed the Chronis hearing to July 15. 
Rector is being held in county jail without bond. The motion to continue the 
trial and other motions are expected to be argued at the July 15 hearing.

(source: Mohave Daily News)