[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., ALA., LA., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 27



FLORIDA:

Court overturns death sentence conviction in double homicide ---- Death row 
inmate Clemente Aguirre gets a reprieve from the Florida Supreme Court


The Florida Supreme Court today overturned the conviction and death sentence of 
Clemente Javier Aguirre, a prep chef at a Heathrow restaurant who was given the 
death penalty after being convicted of murdering his wheelchair-bound neighbor 
and her adult daughter in 2004.

The women lived in the trailer next door.

Their bodies were found inside. Carol Bareis, 68, had toppled from her 
wheelchair. Her daughter, Cheryl A. Williams, was found in a different room 
with 129 knife wounds.

Today's decision was a victory for the Innocence Project, which had joined the 
campaign to free Aguirre, and the office of Capital Collateral Regional 
Counsel, the public defenders who represent Florida death row inmates.

On appeal, defense lawyers had suggested that the real killer was a family 
member, the granddaughter of the woman in the wheelchair. Her name is Samantha 
Lee Williams, and she also lived in the trailer.

After Aguirre was sent to death row, experts identified 8 drops of her blood in 
the trailer. Immediately after the homicides, she told Seminole County deputies 
that she had argued with her mother the evening before and had stormed out and 
spent the night with her boyfriend.

Her mother and grandmother were alive when she left, she told deputies.

At a 2013 hearing, she testified that she sometimes flew into rages and was 
severely mentally ill. She had been Baker Acted - involuntarily detained while 
medical experts determined whether she was a threat to herself or others - 60 
times she testified.


She also admitted to breaking out every window of the trailer and to once 
cutting off part of her finger by accident when she jammed a knife into a 
table.

After Aguirre's conviction, on five occasions she told friends and neighbors 
that she killed her mother and grandmother, the Florida Supreme Court wrote.

She told one friend "that the demons had made her do it," the high court noted.

That and the new DNA findings, the Florida Supreme Court ruled, was evidence 
enough to justify a new trial.

Aguirre, 36, told deputies that he wandered into the murder scene before dawn 
that day, June 17, 2004, and discovered the bodies, checked them for signs of 
life then left.

Their blood was found on his shorts and shoes.

The 10-inch chef's knife that authorities say was used to kill both was found 
on the ground between Aguirre's yard and the victims'. It was part of a set 
used at the restaurant where Aguirre worked and had both victims' blood on it.

Aguirre told jurors that when he was inside, he saw it, picked it up and 
carried it outside.

His bloody clothes were found in a plastic bag on top of a nearby shed.

Aguirre, a native of Honduras who was in the country illegally, was convicted 
by a Seminole County jury on Feb. 28, 2006, two days after he had testified 
that he was innocent.

The jury recommended that he be put to death for both slayings. The panel voted 
7-5 for death in Williams' homicide and 9-3 in Bareis's. Circuit Judge O.H. 
Eaton Jr. imposed the death penalty in both cases.

(source: Orlando Sentinel)

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

Court overturns man's death sentence in Seminole County double 
homicide----Clemente Javier Aguirre sentenced to death for 2 murders will get 
new trial


A Honduran man on death row for a double murder in Seminole County will get a 
new trial based on new evidence, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin was convicted and sentenced to death in 2006 
for the 2004 murders of Cheryl Williams, 47, and Carol Bareis, 68, both of whom 
were stabbed to death in their home.

The victims, a mother and daughter, who lived in a mobile home next door to 
Aguirre.

Aguirre, an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, initially told authorities 
that he didn't know anything about the murders because he was in the U.S. 
illegally and didn't want to be deported.

He asked to talk to police again on the day he was initially questioned and 
said he found the bodies when he went into a home to get a beer, according to 
the Innocence Project of New York.

During Aguirre's trial, the jury recommended a death sentence for Williams' 
murder on a 7-5 vote and a 9-3 vote for Bareis' murder.

The court sentenced Aguirre to 2 death sentences with the jury's 
recommendations and life in prison on a burglary conviction.

Aguirre filed a post-conviction appeal in 2014, claiming that trial counsel was 
ineffective for failing to investigate other suspects, including Samantha 
Williams, the daughter of Cheryl Williams, and additional DNA evidence.

Justices said DNA tested after the trial showed that Samantha Williams' blood 
was at the scene where her mother and grandmother were found in 2004.

In his appeal to the Seminole County Circuit Court, Aguirre claimed that 
Samantha Williams confessed to killing her mother and grandmother. The court 
ruled Samantha Williams' statements inadmissible because they were made to a 
3rd party.

The Supreme Court on Thursday overruled the circuit court's denial of 
Aguirre???s post-conviction motions, making way for a new trial.

News 6 spoke to Aguirre's lawyer Maria DeLiberato, with Capital Collateral 
Regional Counsel about the Court's decision on Thursday.

The Capital Collateral Regional Counsel took on Aguirre's case in 2009 and 
received support from the Innocence Project of New York.

The number of officials and lawyers who backed the homicide case for a re-trial 
speaks to the significance of his case, DeLiberato said.

DeLiberato said she hadn't spoken with her client since the ruling, because of 
communication regulations in prison, but will tomorrow and assumes he has heard 
the good news.

The Florida Supreme Court on Oct. 14 ruled that a death sentence requires a 
unanimous jury vote, striking down a newly enacted law allowing a defendant to 
be sentenced to death if 10 out of 12 jurors recommend it.

The U.S. Supreme Court in January declared Florida's death penalty sentencing 
law unconstitutional. State legislators responded by overhauling the law.

There are 386 inmates on Florida's death row, according to the Florida 
Department of Corrections.

(source: clickorlando.com)






ALABAMA:

Judge orders convicted killer be put to death


A judge sentenced convicted killer Justice Knight to death Thursday following 
his recent convictions on capital murder charges.

"We got justice," said District Attorney Doug Valeska.

Knight, 25, of Dothan was among 2 men arrested in 2012 for shooting death of 
Jarvis Daffin whose body was dumped in a remote area of Henry County. 
Prosecutors say robbery was the motive.

"They took over $7,000 from him and left only 2 quarters behind. They left 
(Daffin) for the animals like he was trash," Valeska said.

Prosecutors say Knight wanted the money to purchase a vintage car.

Knight was found guilty last month on 3 counts of capital murder in connection 
with Daffin's death. Alabama law allows multiple capital murder charges related 
to a single death---in this case robbery and kidnapping were alleged as was 
murder.

The jury that convicted him later recommended the death sentence though Circuit 
Judge Brad Mendheim was not bound by the recommendation.

Defense Shaun McGee asked Mendheim to spare Knight's life and sentence him to 
life in prison without the possibility of parole. He pointed out that Knight 
was taken from his mother at birth because of her drug abuse issues, bounced 
between several foster homes, and has family including a child.

"We were disappointed and we will appeal this case," McGee said.

The punishment comes amid controversy over the way Alabama judges sentence in 
capital murder cases.

"We think eventually a federal court will declare the state's sentencing scheme 
unconstitutional," said T.J. Haywood, who is also a defense attorney for 
Knight.

Defendant Antwain "Duke" Wingard is awaiting trial.

(source: WTVY news)






LOUISIANA:

Jefferson DA seeks 2nd death penalty in 1 month - after 0 in 3 years


Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick Jr. said Thursday (Oct. 27) he 
will seek the death penalty for Joshua Every, accused of killing Raising Cane's 
restaurant manager Taylor Friloux during a Kenner robbery-turned-homicide. It 
marks the 2nd capital punishment case that Connick has announced in 2 weeks -- 
after 3 years without one.

On Oct. 12, Connick said he will seek the death penalty for Jerman Neveaux Jr., 
19, accused of fatally shooting Sheriff's Office detective David Michel Jr. 
after the deputy stopped Neveaux in Harvey. A witness told investigators that 
Neveaux continued firing while Michel was on the ground, and Connick has said 
the circumstances of the shooting "warrant the harshest penalty."

Until this month, however, the death penalty was an option Connick rarely used 
in 12 years, prosecuting only 4 capital punishment cases since 2004; 2 of those 
trials resulted in death sentences. By contrast, during his 1st 6 years in 
office beginning in 1997, Connick oversaw cases that sent 10 defendants to 
death row.

In 2009, Connick told The Times-Picayune that his office's view of capital 
punishment had evolved. He said prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges "have 
to do the perfect case" in 1st-degree murder cases, because of the high level 
of scrutiny during appeals.

"It has to be, in our opinion, the worst of the worst," Connick said then. "The 
facts of the case have to be heinous."

Here are the four capital punishment cases Connick's office prosecuted since 
2004, and their outcome, prior to the new cases this month:

2013: Matthew Flugence

Flugence was charged with 1st-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 6-year-old 
Ahlittia North. The girl was abducted from her mother's apartment in Harvey on 
July 13, 2013. Deputies discovered a pool of her blood behind a nearby 
apartment building and finally found her body 3 days later, wrapped in a 
plastic garbage bag and a blanket and stuffed in a garbage can that had been 
rolled to the curb. Flugence pleaded guilty in March to 1st-degree murder, in a 
plea agreement that netted him a life in prison sentence.

2005: Isaiah Doyle

Doyle was accused of carrying out a crime spree that included several West Bank 
robberies culminating with the Aug. 10, 2005, killing of Hwa Lee, 26, a clerk 
tending to the cash register in her parents' convenience store in Marrero. 
Doyle shot her point blank four times, prosecutors said. Doyle argued he was 
forced to participate in the crimes under threat of death by members of the 
Latin Kings street gang. Jurors convicted Doyle, and he was sentenced in 2011 
to death.

2005: Mark Cambre

Cambre was accused of killing retired New Orleans police officer Kelly Marrione 
during a botched armed robbery outside Marrione's home in Metairie on July 9, 
2003. A jury convicted Cambre as charged of 1st-degree murder in 2005, but 
jurors were unable to agree on whether to sentence him to death, so he was 
sentenced to life in prison.

2004: Dustin "Shorty" Dressner

Dressner, of Avondale, was charged with the June 6, 2002 murder of Paul 
Fasullo, co-owner of a Piggly Wiggly store in Gretna and the attempted murder 
of Fasullo's wife during a bloody home invasion in Marrero. Fasullo's wife, who 
was stabbed more than 20 times as she held the couple's 2-year-old daughter, 
survived. Dressner was sentenced to death in 2004.

(source: nola.com)

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

Jefferson Parish DA seeks death penalty for man charged in Raising Cane's 
murder


The man accused of killing a woman at a fast food restaurant during an armed 
robbery in Kenner will face the death penalty.

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office announced Thursday that a grand 
jury returned an indictment for 1st-degree murder against Joshua Every for the 
death of Taylor Friloux.

Friloux, 21, was a manager at a Raising Cane's restaurant in Kenner. She died 
from injuries she suffered during the robbery on June 29. Officials said she 
was stabbed numerous times.

"After meeting with Ms. Friloux's family and consulting with my staff, I have 
decided my office will seek the death penalty," District Attorney Paul D. 
Connick Jr. said.

The grand jury separately returned an 8-count indictment for offenses 
associated with the Raising Cane's incident:

-- Every, 23, of LaPlace, 2 counts of armed robbery, 1 count of conspiracy to 
commit armed robbery, false imprisonment with a dangerous weapon, witness 
intimidation and obstruction of justice;

-- Gregory Donald, Jr., 19, of Kenner, 2nd-degree murder of Ms. Friloux, 2 
counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, false imprisonment 
with a dangerous weapon, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice;

-- Mark Crocklen, Jr., 25, of LaPlace, 2nd-degree murder of Ms. Friloux, 2 
counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, false imprisonment 
with a dangerous weapon, witness intimidation and obstruction of justice;

-- Ariana Runner, 22, of Reserve, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and 
obstruction of justice.

(source: WDSU news)






OHIO:

Attorneys appeal Danny Lee Hill's trial decision


Attorneys for convicted killer Danny Lee Hill have filed an appeal of the 
decision of a visiting judge who earlier this month denied Hill's bid for a new 
trial.

The appeal, which was filed Tuesday in Common Pleas Court, has been assigned to 
the 11th District Court of Appeals.

Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove on Oct. 3 ruled that even though she had serious 
concerns about the scientific reliability of bite mark evidence, other evidence 
against the defendant was "more than sufficient to support Hill's conviction on 
aggravated murder and 3 death penalty specifications."

County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, in a written statement, said he is not 
commenting until the appeal process is completed.

Attempts to contact federal public defender Vicki Ruth Adams Werneke, one of 
Hill's attorneys, were unsuccessful Wednesday.

In January 1986, Hill was convicted by the 3-judge panel and later sentenced to 
death for his part in the Sept. 10, 1985, torture, rape and brutal attack on 
12-year-old Raymond Fife, who later died from his injuries. Hill's 
co-defendant, Timothy Combs, was 17 at the time of the killing and not eligible 
for the death penalty. Combs was sentenced to life in prison after being 
convicted by a jury in Portage County.

Fife's mother, Miriam Fife, said the appeal is not unexpected.

"This is one of these things that we have to go through," Fife said. "The thing 
I care about is that all the time, effort and money that we've spent on this 
process is to prove a point."

Cosgrove, in her written decision, said she spent extensive time reviewing 
everything in the Hill case, including videos of his interrogation with police 
following the murder. The judge also reviewed case law from Ohio as well as 
from other jurisdictions, including the testimony from a Dec. 21 evidentiary 
hearing on the defense motion to file a motion for new trial.

On June 7, Cosgrove ruled that Hill's attorneys could file a motion for a new 
trial. The judge said she based this decision in part on the testimony of 
Dennis Terez, a federal public defender who had testified about the complexity 
and protracted process to file a motion for new trial in state court. On June 
13, Hill's attorney filed a new motion for new trial, but Cosgrove noted the 
defense had "expanded the grounds" beyond the bite mark issue to include 
interrogation techniques used by police, the mental capacity claims and 
arguments regarding the admission of a stick found at the crime scene.

(source: Tribune Chronicle)