[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., S.C., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 25




TEXAS:

Texas judge apologizes for lynching comment about suspect in shooting of San 
Antonio cop


A Texas judge has apologized for writing "time for a tree and a rope" on 
Facebook about the black man accused of killing a San Antonio police officer.

Burnet County Judge James Oakley has since deleted the comment and issued a 
public apology Wednesday, according to the Austin American-Statesman. His 
remark has been harshly criticized on social media, many suggesting the 
allusion to lynching was racially motivated.

The San Antonio Police Department posted online Monday about the arrest of 
31-year-old Otis Tyrone McKane in the slaying of Detective Benjamin Marconi.

Marconi, a 20-year veteran of the department, was shot in the head during a 
traffic stop. Police say the shooter pulled up behind the Marconi's squad car, 
got out and walked over to the passenger side. The man then fired twice, 
killing 50-year-old Marconi.

Oakley shared the Police Department's Facebook post about McKane's arrest. In 
the comments, he wrote: "Time for a tree and a rope..."

The judge is the top elected official in Burnet County, which is near Austin. 
He was appointed by former Gov. Rick Perry to the board of the Texas Commission 
on Law Enforcement. His term expires next year. Oakley also serves on the board 
for the Pedernales Electric Cooperative and the Capital Area Council of 
Government's executive committee.

People have been posting reviews on the Burnet County Facebook page, calling 
Oakley's remark racist and inappropriate.

Oakley called his comment "indeed curt and harsh," the Statesman reported.

"What I should have posted, if anything, is a comment that more clearly 
reflects my opinion on the cowardly crime of the senseless murder of a law 
enforcement officer," he said in an email to the Statesman.

He said his view of McKane "is the same regardless of ethnicity." He also said 
he supports due process and the death penalty.

"I also support the death penalty in cases where the ultimate crime has been 
committed and there is clear and complete evidence and where all steps of the 
judicial process have been respected," Oakely wrote in the email. "I would also 
point out that I am an administrative judge and do not preside over criminal 
court."

(source: Dallas Morning News)

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

Court allows appeal in case of murdered Fort Worth mom, son----Stephen Dale 
Barbee is on death row after being condemned for the suffocations of 
34-year-old Lisa Underwood and her son, Jayden.


A federal appeals court is allowing Texas death row inmate Stephen Barbee to 
move forward with an appeal contending his trial attorney improperly told 
jurors that Barbee was responsible for the February 2005 slayings of his 
pregnant ex-girlfriend and her 7-year-old son at their Fort Worth home.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an appeals claim that Barbee's 
trial lawyer was deficient for making the comment to jurors and not having 
Barbee's permission to say it to jurors during closing arguments of the trial's 
punishment phase. The court rejected several other appeals claims but said 
Wednesday it took the action to resolve any doubts in a death penalty case.

The 49-year-old Barbee was condemned for the suffocations of 34-year-old Lisa 
Underwood and her son, Jayden.

(source: Associated Press)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Mifflin County's 2017 budget to raise taxes


With a dramatic increase in expenditures looming, the Mifflin County 
Commissioners on Wednesday unveiled their proposed county budget for 2017 with 
a tax increase totaling 1.75 mills.

Citing 2 huge expense-related activities that are on the horizon, the proposed 
spending plan will total $30,486,639, as opposed to the current year's budget 
which totaled $25,853,887. Commissioner Lisa Nancollas said the average 
property tax rate in the current budget is $541.50. With the tax increase, that 
average will rise to $608.10. As a comparison to normal every day purchases, 
Nancollas said the $5.55 average monthly increase is less than the price of a 
movie ticket, a Big Mac meal, a pack of cigarettes or 2 pounds of hamburger, 
among other things.

2 major increases in expenditures explored in detail Wednesday include a 
federally mandated requirement that the Mifflin County Correctional Facility be 
in compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) and the county's 
share of the cost of an upcoming death penalty criminal trial.

"All 3 of us worked very hard to develop the best budget for Mifflin County," 
Nancollas said. "These are trying times for Mifflin County. We have urgent 
issues. This is a difficult time with the proliferation of regulations."

Commissioner Stephen Dunkle said the federally mandated PREA compliance 
represents the biggest cost increase, noting that only 20 of Pennsylvania's 67 
counties are in compliance today. He said 1 of the main reasons for that is the 
enormous cost associated with compliance. "It's expensive to do and we have to 
foot that bill," he explained. "Why is it important to be in compliance? If 
we're not, the federal government begins deducting 5 % of federal grant money 
for prisons in the 1st year. If we're not compliant in the s2nd year, that goes 
to 10 % and so forth and so on. The federal government is putting down the 
hammer."

Dunkle said the county must be in compliance to continue housing prisoners from 
other counties, including Juniata; the board is expected to approve another 
2-year agreement with Juniata County at next week's voting meeting. Dunkle said 
in 2014, Mifflin County received $925,000 to house Juniata County inmates. That 
number fell slightly to $868,000 in 2015. This year through the end of 
September, the amount received totals $850,000.

"If you project that out for the next 3 months, that's $1,100,000 of income to 
help offset prison expenses," Dunkle reported. "Our contract with Juniata 
County expires at the end of this year. They put out requests for proposals 
from other counties, which was prudent on their part. It ended up our real 
competition was Centre County. Because of our rate and the travel distance 
being less, Juniata County decided to continue with us. But, Juniata County 
stipulated that we must become PREA compliant or they will no longer house 
their prisoners in our prison. We figured we might as well jump in and get it 
done so we can house prisoners from other counties with similar concerns."

One of the largest increases in cost will be the additional staffing PREA 
demands. Currently, the county averages 34 full-time corrections officers to 
oversee 163 inmates. Also, female and male inmates will have to be held 
separately, with plans being made to house all female prisoners in the county's 
annex building and moving work release prisoners to the correctional facility. 
In addition, the prison's surveillance video camera system will need to be 
seriously overhauled.

"Anywhere a prisoner goes you must have coverage by cameras," Dunkle said of 
the compliance regulations. Dunkle said the cost to replace and add cameras is 
going to be very substantial and one of the primary reasons we have to raise 
the taxes at this point."

Commissioner Kevin Kodish outlined the massive cost to the county for an 
upcoming capital murder trial in which two individuals are charged with double 
homicide and the state has decided to seek the death penalty. Those costs, 
Kodish noted, "are out of our control." Kodish said since the death penalty is 
being sought, the defendants are required to have death sentence certified 
counsel, of which there is only one in Mifflin County. Also, Kodish stated, "If 
the defendant doesn't have the means to pay, the county, the taxpayers, will 
need to take care of the cost. The county has to pay for all witnesses. If the 
judge sees fit to bring a jury in from out of town, those juries are 
sequestered. We'd have to pay for lodging and meals. The meter is running."

In summarizing the budget process, Nancollas said, "This has been particularly 
difficult. With what we have shown I hope you'll understand and see what we've 
gone through and what we've had to do to develop this budget."

Dunkle added, "One of the chief responsibilities of being a county commissioner 
is to administer the county. A major component of that is the levying of taxes. 
It would be irresponsible at this time with what we're facing not to step up 
and do what this job demands. We continue to look at cost savings, however, tax 
increases happen. This is only the 2nd increase since 2006 so it's not like 
taxes have increased yearly. We will continue to do our best."

Kodish said the commissioners are aware of and concerned about the situation of 
county residents.

"We're very limited in terms of choices," he stressed. "When we have this kind 
of major expense, we can't print money in the basement of the courthouse. If we 
make more personnel cuts we can't meet the needs of residents. I think we did 
all we can do at the present time. This is not what we wanted to do. We took a 
hard look at everything involved with this."

Nancollas said the proposed budget is currently on display at the county 
commissioners' office and invited interested citizens to go there to inspect 
it. Passage of the budget will be in December.

(source: The Sentinel)






SOUTH CAROLINA:

Appellate court agrees on throwing out SC death sentence


An appellate court says a South Carolina man should be released from death row 
because a prosecutor's "racially coded references" made a fair sentencing 
impossible.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a lower federal court 
was right to throw out the death sentence against Johnny O. Bennett.

Bennett has been on South Carolina's death row for 2 decades for the killing of 
a 24-year-old man, stabbed more than 60 times with a screwdriver. He was first 
sentenced to death in 1997, but that was overturned. A jury sentenced Bennett 
to death again in 2000.

In that 2nd trial, before an all-white jury, Solicitor Donnie Myers compared 
Bennett, who is black, to "King Kong on a bad day."

Myers didn't return a message seeking comment.

(source: Associated Press)






CALIFORNIA:

Attorney doubted mental competence of man accused of shooting mother, daughter 
in Downtown Long Beach


A defense attorney who previously represented an Oklahoma man accused of 
gunning down a 4-year-old girl and her mother in downtown Long Beach raised 
doubts about the man's mental competence during an unrelated court proceeding, 
according to court records.

A judge, however, disagreed, ruling in early November that 22-year-old Brandon 
Ivan Colbert was fit to stand trial on charges related to car theft in Los 
Angeles.

Colbert had been arrested and booked on those charges in August while Long 
Beach police still were searching for him in connection with the slayings of 
26-year-old Carina Mancera and her daughter, Jennabel Anaya.

Police have said they're still trying to find a motive for the Aug. 6 killings, 
but detectives now believe Colbert waited for Mancera and Anaya before firing 
on them with a shotgun as they returned to their apartment near Locust Avenue 
and Ninth Street after getting groceries. Police said Colbert took a bus to 
California from his home in Tulsa just days before the shooting.

Before Long Beach police zeroed in on Colbert as a suspect, Los Angeles police 
arrested him on Aug. 27. In court documents, prosecutors accuse Colbert of 
stealing a Range Rover SUV in Los Angeles on Aug. 8.

He pleaded not guilty to 4 felony counts related in the case, according to 
court records, but on Sept. 7, Colbert's public defender moved to suspend the 
proceedings because she doubted Colbert had the mental ability to help in his 
own defense.

It's unclear what prompted Colbert's public defender, Eleanor Schneir, to 
question his mental competence. She did not return a voicemail message asking 
about the topic.

The judge ruled on Nov. 4 that the criminal case could proceed against Colbert, 
but prosecutors dropped the charges 3 days later as he would soon face 2 counts 
of murder in the Long Beach case.

By that time, Long Beach police had homed in on a man, later identified as 
Colbert, by picking him out from surveillance footage that tied him to the 
shooting scene.

Authorities were on a nationwide manhunt for the man, whose name they didn???t 
know, until the Los Angeles County crime lab notified detectives on Oct. 31 
that DNA from the scene had matched Colbert, who was in county jail in 
connection with the car theft, police said.

Long Beach police took custody of Colbert on Nov. 6, and the Los Angeles County 
District Attorney's Office charged him Nov. 8 with 2 counts of murder and 1 
count of attempted murder in connection with the Long Beach shooting. After 
gunning down Mancera and Anaya, Colbert fired at Anaya's father, Luis Anaya, 
but missed, according to prosecutors.

Colbert's current public defender has so far not indicated any doubt in the 
defendant's mental abilities, according to court records.

Colbert is set to be arraigned on the charges Dec. 20. He's being held without 
bail and could face the death penalty if prosecutors choose to pursue it.

(source: Press-Telegram)