[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., DEL., FLA., OHIO, MO., NEB.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 1



TEXAS:

3 indicted in shooting death of 5-year-old girl asleep in bed


3 men accused in the murder of a 5-year-old girl were indicted by a Bexar 
County grand jury on Tuesday.

Abdi Abdi, 18, Murjan Abdi, 19, and Christian Lopez, 19, were formally indicted 
on capital murder charges.

Ana Garza was killed on June 1 when someone fired a gun into her home as she 
slept in her bed. She was hit in the head by a bullet and died several days 
later.

Previous police reports indicated the 3 named suspects and a 4th man went to 
the home and lured Ana's father out of the house.

When he realized the men had guns, he turned to run back inside the house as 
gunshots were fired. The Bexar County District Attorney's office said there is 
evidence to indicate the men planned to burglarize the residence.

3 men may face the death penalty if convicted in Garza's murder.

(source: news4sanantonio.com)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Whitehall murder suspect threatens to fire lawyer, then doesn't


Larry R. Yaw, facing the death penalty after being charged with beating a 
Whitehall Township man to death with a baseball bat, tried to fire his lawyer 
Wednesday morning.

"I've been misrepresented, lied to and I don't feel I have the adequate 
resources to defend myself where I am," Yaw told Lehigh County Judge Maria L. 
Dantos. "I move to fire him, he's done."

Yaw, 32, of Gilbertsville, Montgomery County is charged in the April 3 killing 
of Brian Frank, 44, in the in the 900 block of Third Street in Whitehall.

Yaw said he hasn't seen his court-appointed attorney, James Connell, to discuss 
his case since his formal arraignment in mid-June, the same day prosecutors 
said they would be seeking the death penalty.

In that time, Yaw has mailed several letters about his case to Connell, Dantos 
and the prosecutor's office. Also, from Lehigh County Jail, Yaw filed several 
motions, which were dismissed by Dantos because she said he has a lawyer who 
should be filing them. Some of the motions include a request to change the 
venue, permission to inspect the crime scene, and a petition to take a leave so 
he can hire a private investigator.

Though he was on vacation and then became ill, Connell told Dantos he has been 
working on the case, reviewing about 600 pages of evidence he obtained from 
Deputy District Attorney Michael T. Edwards.

"I can't babysit him," Connell said of Yaw. "He seems to want me at the prison 
every day and I can't do that."

Dantos told Yaw if he fires Connell, he has 2 options: hire his own attorney or 
represent himself.

At the end of the brief court hearing, Yaw remained with Connell, at least 
until the next pre-trial hearing scheduled for October. Dantos ordered that 
some of the evidence in the case is to be shared with Yaw. Connell said he 
would talk to Yaw before the next court hearing to discuss what motions to 
file.

Police say Yaw allegedly beat his 22-year-old girlfriend Chyanne Carwell and 
held her at gunpoint when he found out that she had slept with Frank on April 
2. Carwell told detectives that Yaw threatened to kill her and her father if 
she didn't take him to Frank's apartment.

They drove from Montgomery County to Frank's apartment in Whitehall just before 
8 a.m. on April 3. Yaw was carrying a handgun and aluminum baseball bat when he 
burst into the apartment, according to police.

Yaw first kicked in a bedroom door that turned out be Frank's roommate, police 
say. Yaw then went into Frank's bedroom and the roommate heard loud noises and 
Frank screaming in pain, according to police.

Yaw allegedly warned the roommate, "If you tell the cops I was here, I will be 
back for you."

After Yaw fled, police were called to the apartment and found Frank bleeding 
from the face and the back of his head, convulsing and in obvious pain. Frank 
was unable to speak and was taken to an area hospital where he died the next 
day.

Yaw forced his girlfriend to tell police that Frank had drugged and raped her, 
police say, but she later testified that Yaw forced her to make up the story.

Yaw is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, kidnapping 
and a firearms offense.

If nothing happens by the next court hearing, the trial will start the 1st week 
of January.

(source: The Morning Call)






DELAWARE:

Hearing set in case that led to overturning of death penalty


A judge has set a bail hearing for a murder suspect whose case led to 
Delaware's death penalty being overturned by the state Supreme Court.

After meeting with attorneys Tuesday, the judge scheduled a Sept. 16 bail 
hearing for Benjamin Rauf.

Rauf is charged in last year's drug-related killing of 27-year-old Shazim Uppal 
of Hockessin, a fellow Temple University law school graduate.

Prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty, but after a U.S. Supreme 
Court ruling regarding Florida's death penalty statute, the judge sought a 
state Supreme Court opinion on Delaware's law, which is similar to Florida's.

The justices said Delaware's law was unconstitutional because it allows judges 
too much discretion and doesn't require that a jury find unanimously and beyond 
a reasonable doubt that a defendant deserves execution.

(source: Associated Press)






FLORIDA:

Victims' families call for State Attorney's Office to halt death penalty


Dozens of homicide victims' families from across the country endorsed a letter 
Wednesday calling for the 4th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office to put a 
stop to the use of the death penalty in Duval County.

The letter, released by 2 national organizations that advocate for victims' 
families, blasted prosecutors for what it characterized as an overzealous 
pursuit of death sentences amid questions about the validity of Florida's 
death-penalty law.

It marks the latest salvo in a string of criticisms directed toward 
Jacksonville's criminal justice system. Duval County has come under national 
scrutiny following a blistering study from a Harvard Law group that concluded 
it led all Florida counties in death sentences despite having just 5 % of the 
state's population.

The letter also comes on the heels of the ouster of State Attorney Angela 
Corey, who was handily defeated by political newcomer Melissa Nelson in 
Tuesday's primary election.

Brian Hughes, Nelson's campaign spokesman, said it would be inappropriate to 
comment while Corey's still officially state attorney and since she hasn't 
reviewed the material. She previously said at a candidate forum that she would 
reserve the death penalty for only the most egregious cases.

Authors of the letter slammed the State Attorney's Office for not respecting 
the wishes of victims' families, specifically Darlene Farah, whose 20-year-old 
daughter Shelby was shot dead while complying with a robber at a Jacksonville 
Metro PCS store in 2013. Since then, Farah has been pleading for prosecutors to 
accept a guilty plea for life in prison and spare family the trial, lengthy 
appeal process and taxpayer expense.

Corey and her office have steadfastly declined to do so saying the brutality of 
the crime warranted death.

"Sadly, Duval County's use of the death penalty has too often caused further 
pain by forcing murder victims' families to endure a long, complex and 
error-prone legal process," the families wrote in the letter, which also was 
signed by Farah.

Of 3,000 counties nationwide, Duval is 1 of 16 that produced at least 5 death 
sentences from 2010 to 2015. In that same span, 1/4 of those who received the 
death penalty in Florida were sentenced in Duval County courtrooms. The county 
ranks No. 2 in the nation when it comes to imposing the death penalty, trailing 
only Maricopa County in Arizona.

Due to the uncertainty surrounding Florida's death-penalty law - which has been 
struck down twice as unconstitutional - it's the surviving families who pay the 
price when prosecutors decide to seek a death sentence, said Shari Silberstein, 
executive director for Equal Justice USA, which sent out the letter with Murder 
Victims' Families for Reconciliation.

State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Jackelyn Barnard said while the agency 
understands where the letter's authors are coming from, they do not speak for 
everyone.

"While we understand these 55 families, who are located across the country, 
have suffered greatly and are entitled to an opinion, these groups do not speak 
for the vast majority of victim family members we come in contact with who are 
in favor of the death penalty," the statement said. "In appropriate cases, a 
death-penalty notice is filed. A jury then determines if death is the 
appropriate sentence and the court decides whether a death sentence is imposed. 
As always, we will continue to follow the law and seek a death sentence in 
appropriate cases."

Rhodes' case, which initially ran into legal hurdles due to questions about 
whether he was fit to stand trial, has been placed on hold since the U.S. 
Supreme Court ruled that Florida's death-penalty procedures are invalid over 
the final decision being left in the hands of a judge, not a jury.

The state Legislature later overhauled those procedures, but the changes have 
since been met by legal challenges before the Florida Supreme Court.

(source: The Florida Times-Union)

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

Embattled 4th circuit public defender Matt Shirk drops primary battle against 
Charlie Cofer


In a landslide primary victory, former judge Charlie Cofer beat out incumbent 
Matt Shirk for the Repub of 4th Circuit Public Defender. Cofer beat Shirk about 
75 % to 25 % with some results still coming in.

The public defender's office serves defendants in Duval, Nassau and Clay 
counties that can't afford their own representation.

Before being elected to public defender, Charlie Cofer served under 4th Circuit 
Public defender Lou Frost for 18 years and was then appointed as a judge in 
1998, according to the Florida Times-Union. At a forum at the First Coast Tiger 
Bay Club, Cofer criticized Shirk, saying that the former public defender 
brought shame to the office.

Matt Shirk in office since January 2009 and was reelected again in 2012. Spent 
5 years in private practice and before that was an appointed assistant state 
attorney from 2000 to 2005.

In June of this year, the Florida Ethics Commission found probably cause that 
Shirk misused his position on three separate occasions, including the hiring of 
employees, consuming alcohol in a city building and revealing information about 
a client to a documentary film crew.

A report from a Harvard law school group also accused Shirk's office of doing a 
poor job defending clients charged with the death penalty. Duval County leads 
the state - and is 2nd in the nation - in imposing the death penalty on 
criminals over the last ten years.

Cofer moves on to the general election where he will face write-in candidate 
Roland Falcon.

(source: firstcoastnews.com)

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

One Of The Most Reviled Prosecutors In Florida Just Got Kicked Out Of 
Office----Prosecutor Angela Corey made a name locking up juveniles, securing 
death sentences and failing to get George Zimmerman convicted.


Angela Corey, the Florida prosecutor who presided over some the Fourth Judicial 
Circuit Court???s most controversial cases of the past several years, lost her 
bid for reelection Tuesday night bringing her 8-year tenure to an end.

Melissa Nelson emerged as the Republican primary winner, earning more than 64 % 
of the vote compared to Corey's 26 %. A 3rd challenger, Wes White, collected 
less than 10 %.

Corey's loss was cheered by defense lawyers, academics and even former 
prosecutors - many of whom had criticized her aggressive prosecution, 
particularly of juveniles.

"Corey's loss is an encouraging sign that the public will no longer tolerate 
overzealous and unprincipled criminal prosecutions, including women and 
children," Mary Anne Franks, a law professor at the University of Miami, said 
in a statement Tuesday.

Even musician John Legend, who cofounded the criminal justice reform campaign 
#FreeAmerica weighed in on the Fourth Judicial Circuit State's Attorney's race. 
In a statement, Legend said:

Prosecutors possess much of the power to end mass incarceration and to make our 
criminal justice system smarter and more just. They have the power to decide 
whether to charge or not, how to negotiate ?a plea deal, and whether or not to 
pursue the harshest punishment possible. ...Today the voters in Jacksonville 
and throughout Florida's 4th Judicial Circuit have decided that Angela Corey 
failed in that responsibility by aggressively seeking the death penalty and 
egregiously charging juveniles, particularly those of color, as adults. Her 
tactics have been rejected by her community, and we applaud the voters for 
rejecting them. This is a sign of positive things to come in our fight for a 
#FREEAMERICA.

Corey's 8-year tenure was full of controversial cases and a prosecution style 
critics described as overzealous.

Her jurisdiction included Clay, Duval and Nassau Counties and under her watch, 
Duval emerged as 1 of 16 outlier counties producing a disproportionate number 
of death sentences.

Corey personally boasted one of the highest rates of death sentences in the 
U.S. and has sentenced more people to death than any other prosecutor in 
Florida. Since 2008, she's cinched 24 death penalty convictions, 19 in Duval 
County cases. A former public defender noted Corey prosecuted cases other 
states attorneys "wouldn't touch."

"Corey's loss is an encouraging sign that the public will no longer tolerate 
overzealous and unprincipled criminal prosecutions." - Mary Anne Franks, 
University of Miami law professor

Tuesday's primary wasn't the first time Nelson, a 44-year-old corporate lawyer 
and former prosecutor, had faced off against Corey.

Nelson was part of the team that in 2013 defended 12-year-old Cristian 
Fernandez pro bono after Corey prosecuted him as an adult and charged him with 
the 1st-degree murder of his 2-year-old half-brother. Fernandez was accused of 
shoving the younger boy into a bookshelf, which caused head injuries that he 
died from days later.

Corey drew criticism for her decision to prosecute a juvenile so harshly - 
Fernandez was the youngest person ever to be charged as an adult with 
1st-degree murder in Jacksonville history. He eventually took a plea deal and 
will be released in 2018, when he's 19 years old.

At the time of the verdict, University of Miami law professor Tamara Lave, who 
followed the case, told the Florida Times-Union Fernandez should never have 
been charged with 1st-degree murder at his young age in the first place.

"The way the prosecution and police handled this was unpardonable," she said.

Corey faced similar rebuke for her decision to seek a 20-year sentence against 
Marissa Alexander, a mother who fired a warning shot at her abusive husband who 
had threatened to kill her.

Alexander rejected Corey's plea deal and was ultimately tried and sentenced to 
20 years after a jury convicted her in 12 minutes.

After her conviction was overturned, Corey re-filed the same charges with a 
60-year sentence. Corey was accused of being motivated by politics and racial 
bias in the case. Alexander was ultimately set free under the terms of a new 
plea deal that capped her sentence.

But perhaps none of Corey's cases drew as much attention as her prosecution of 
George Zimmerman, the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer accused of shooting 
17-year-old Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen.

Corey was appointed the special prosecutor in the Zimmerman case, but failed to 
get a conviction despite strong evidence Zimmerman was responsible for Martin's 
death. She was accused of overcharging Zimmerman with 2nd-degree murder rather 
than manslaughter, thus setting her office up to lose the case by posting a 
standard they surely couldn't meet.

Corey's ouster follows a growing trend of harsh "tough on crime" prosecutors 
losing their seats to more reform-minded candidates.

(source: Kim Bellware, Huffington Post)






OHIO:

Judge panels chosen for Hamilton death penalty cases


Attorneys and prosecutors were in court Wednesday for the random selection of 
3-judge panels to preside over the death penalty trials of 4 people accused of 
a murder-for-hire plot that killed 2 people in Hamilton.

Zachary Harris, 24, of Columbus, is charged with 2 counts of aggravated murder 
with a death penalty for the Aug. 3 Central Avenue drive-by shooting that 
killed Orlando Gilbert and Todd Berus.

Also facing death penalty charges are: Tony Patete, 23, of Newark, 2 counts of 
aggravated murder; Melinda Ann Gibby, 35, of Lancaster, 2 counts of aggravated 
murder; and Michael Grevious II, 23, of Maple Ave., Hamilton, 1 count of 
aggravated murder with a death penalty specification.

Ohio law allows defendants facing the death penalty to have their cases tried 
to a jury or a tribunal consisting of 3 judges. Because of the length of time 
required to try death penalty cases - especially 4 - the selection was done 
early so that schedules could be cleared in advance.

Indictments were handed down by a grand jury a couple weeks ago, and none of 
the defendants has yet waived their right to a jury trial.

A red tumbler with numbered balls representing each of Butler County's 6 Common 
Pleas judges were removed randomly by court personnel to determine the make up 
of each panel.

Judges selected for the Harris trial are: Jennifer McElfresh, Michael Oster and 
Judge Greg Stephens. Selected for Patete's trial are: Charles Pater, Noah 
Powers and Stephens. Selected for Gibby's trial are: Powers, Keith Spaeth and 
Stephens. Selected for Grevious' trial are: McElfresh, Craig Hedric and 
Stephens.

Stephens is the 3rd judge assigned to all of the panels because he was the 
judge assigned when the indictments were handed down.

All 4 defendants are being held in the Butler County Jail in lieu of $5 million 
bond.

Also charged in connection with the two shootings, but not facing the death 
penalty, are:

--Cornell McKennelly II, 37, of Franklin St., Hamilton, charged with murder for 
allegedly killing Kalif Goens at Doubles Bar just days before the Central 
Avenue shooting

--Mondale Goens, 21, of Maple Ave., Hamilton, charged with 2 counts of 
felonious assault, in the Doubles Bar shooting

--Rodrick Curtis Jr., North 7th Street, Hamilton, charged with felonious 
assault for the Doubles Bar shooting

--Cory Cook II, 23, 9th Street, Hamilton charged with felonious assault for the 
Doubles Bar shooting

Gun violence at the South Main Street bar on the city's west side killed Kalif 
Goens and injured 7 others, according to Butler County Prosecutor Michael 
Gmoser.

Days later, Gilbert and Berus were killed in a drive-by shooting along Central 
Avenue, which officials said was a murder for hire, according to the 
indictment.

(source: WHIO news)



MISSOURI:

Reporter Sues Over Missouri's Picks of Execution Witnesses


A reporter whose stories have been critical of Missouri's death penalty 
procedures sued the state's prisons chief Wednesday in federal court, accusing 
him of wrongly excluding him from being an execution witness.

The American Civil Liberties Union's lawsuit filed on behalf of Buzzfeed News 
reporter Christopher McDaniel asks a judge to block anyone other than 
Missouri's attorney general from serving as an execution witness until 
McDaniel's due-process claims are decided. None of the 25 Missouri death row 
inmates had been scheduled for execution as of Wednesday.

McDaniel, a former reporter for St. Louis public radio, applied in January 2014 
to witness a Missouri execution "to ensure that executions are carried out in a 
constitutional manner," according to the lawsuit. But McDaniel never got a 
response, and 17 executions have been carried out by the state since.

George Lombardi, who heads the state Department of Corrections, has "unfettered 
discretion" in deciding who, according to state law, may be among the at least 
"8 reputable citizens" to witness an execution, according to the lawsuit.

David Owen, a Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman, told The Associated 
Press by email that the department doesn't publicly discuss pending litigation. 
Neither Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, nor Scott Holste, 
a spokesman for the governor, responded to requests for comment.

The lawsuit contends that McDaniel's "unfavorable" reporting about the way 
Missouri executes prisoners may explain why he hasn't been allowed to witness 
an execution. McDaniel's stories since December 2013 have called into question 
such matters as how the state obtains its execution drugs and the state's 
method of giving condemned inmates sedatives before their executions.

State records obtained by the ACLU through a May 2014 public records request 
and eventual litigation showed that applicants to be execution witnesses were 
denied if they "expressed a desire to ensure that executions were carried out 
properly and constitutionally," the lawsuit alleges.

"Execution witnesses are an important check to ensure the department does not 
abuse its power. That check does not work when the department can choose to 
exclude anyone critical of its behavior," Tony Rothert, the ACLU of Missouri's 
legal chief, said in a statement.

Missouri has executed more prisoners than any state except Texas in recent 
years. It has executed 19 prisoners since November 2013, including 6 last year. 
The only one this year came in May, when 66-year-old Earl Forrest was put to 
death for the 2002 killings of 2 people in a drug dispute and a sheriff's 
deputy in a subsequent shootout.

(source: Associated Press)






NEBRASKA:

Panel discussion on death penalty scheduled Tuesday


A panel discussion on the death penalty is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday (Sept. 
6) at the Unitarian Church of Lincoln, 6300 A St.

Panelists will be: Christy Hargesheimer, the Amnesty International State Death 
Penalty Abolition coordinator for Nebraska; state Sen. Colby Coash, 27th 
Legislative District representative, who favors ending the death penalty; 
Randall Ritnour, one of the prosecutors in the Beatrice 6 trial, who now has 
his own law practice in Lincoln; and Leslie Seymore, a member of the American 
Civil Liberties Union Board of Directors for Nebraska and the state's 
representative on the National ACLU board. She is assistant director of the 
Fair Housing Center of Nebraska and Iowa.

The discussion will be hosted by the League of Women Voters of 
Lincoln-Lancaster County, the Nebraskans for Peace, and the National Social 
Workers Association of Nebraska.

(source: Lincoln Journal Star)