[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, LA.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 5




TEXAS:

Death penalty system is archaic


Recently the Texas legal system issued 3 stays and stopped the executions of 
Robert Pruett, Jeffrey Wood and Rolando Ruiz Jr., who were scheduled to be 
executed inAugust.

Our legal system is trying to tell our politicans that they should wake up and 
take a hard look at our archaic death penalty system and fix the problem, i.e., 
abolish the death penalty and convert to life without parole.

Bill Richardson, then governor of New Mexico, signed a bill to abolish the 
death penalty in 2009 and was asked why. He replied that the death penalty 
system is very expensive and it does not work.

Ron Stone, McKinney

(source: Letter to the Editor, Dallas Morning News)






LOUISIANA:

Caddo DA taking office in new direction following death penalty firestorm


10 months ago, the new district attorney, James Stewart stepped into an office 
with a national reputation as blood thirsty.

>From 2010 to 2014, Caddo Parish put more people on death row than any other 
parish or county in the nation.

That was under his predecessors, Charles Scott, and then Dale Cox -- who took 
over when Scott died in 2015.

And just last summer, the Caddo Parish district attorney's office was burning 
in the national spotlight over how often it seeks the death penalty.

Cox stirred up a firestorm when he said to the New York Times, "We should kill 
more people." He transformed from an opponent of capital punishment, to one of 
the country's bluntest advocates for it.

"You have to understand he was not elected, he was selected," said Stewart. 
"And I think we have a different approach as to how we look at first-degree 
murder cases."

But Stewart says he's taking the parish into a new direction. He's decided not 
to seek the death penalty in most of the cases he inherited.

He reviewed every capital case pending before his office.

"I brought in a group of people who I thought were very objective. We operate 
under justice, and mercy with humility."

He's decided to move forward with just one: Grover Cannon, for murdering 
Shreveport police officer Thomas LaValley.

"We believe there's a great chance that a jury would give the defendant the 
death penalty, so we're going to seek the death penalty in that case," said 
Stewart.

The death penalty was dropped in 6 others.

Cox says his exposure to so many heinous crimes, changed his views on capital 
punishment. Stewart says it has its place, but he takes a much more measured 
approach.

He points to decades of appeals, the growing trend against capital punishment 
and the fact executions are on hold for at least 2 years because drugs aren't 
available for lethal injections.

"The death penalty is a very expensive process in terms of money, time and 
resources so we only want to use that for the worst cases," he said.

But what happened to the others?

We'll start with Stacey Blount, charged in the random kidnapping, robbery and 
brutal murder of Rose Coleman.

Stewart says his predecessors put that case on hold.

"That case was from 2012. It sat there for a reason, I can't tell you why," he 
said.

In April, Blount pleaded guilty and will serve life in prison without parole.

"We met with the family," said Stewart. "There were some members of the family 
who didn't necessarily agree with it, but they understood the reasons why we 
went forward and took the plea."

Louisiana hasn't executed a woman in more than 60 years. Stewart said he saw no 
reason Blount would be an exception.

"We felt a certain closure to the case was better," he said.

The next 3 cases are killings of small children and babies -- many spur of the 
moment crimes.

Kenneth Willis was accused of killing his baby son in 2007. His charge was 
reduced to 2nd-degree murder.

Tarika Wilson beat a 3-year old with an extension cord. She plead guilty in 
April and was sentenced to life without parole.

Gerderrick Davis is accused of beating his girlfriend's baby to death because 
he wouldn't stop crying. His charge was reduced to 2nd degree murder. He's 
awaiting trial.

"You may have a case particularly like shaking baby cases, which technically is 
a 1st-degree murder case, but we have to look at it factually on how it 
occurred," said Stewart.

Then there's the 2003 murder of Blanchard minister Julian Brandon. Robert 
Coleman and his girlfriend Brandy Holmes killed him during a vicious home 
invasion. His wife was also shot, but survived. She passed away 5 years after 
the crime.

"That case was tried twice, in fact it was tried 3 times," said Stewart.

Coleman was convicted twice, but each death sentence was overturned on appeal. 
Stewart said he expected Holmes to win a new trial, too. He let both plead to 
life in prison.

"We met with the family. And the family wanted to put closure on the case," he 
said.

Public criticism of Stewart has not been widespread, but he acknowledges it's 
been much more difficult for the families.

In one case we had a very large family and some members understood, others had 
some issues, but in the end they accepted that we had to make that decision," 
he said. "Some people want revenge, some people want retribution. What we are 
trying to do is seek justice and that's what we're here for, is justice."

Dr. Phillip Rozeman's has seen the death penalty system in 2 states, Louisiana 
and Texas.

"Texas has the capacity and the amount of resources that they're willing to 
spend on capital punishment cases exceeds that of Louisiana," he said. "That 
allows them to have no problems with getting the best attorneys to represent 
people that are being accused of a capital case....I think that allows for less 
appeals throughout the process. And I know that they try to afford people 
speedy trial."

His uncle, Isadore, was murdered during a robbery at his Shreveport jewelry 
store in 1983.

"My uncle was one of the kindest and gentlest people you'd ever meet," said Dr. 
Rozeman. "Someone held a gun to him and killed him at point blank range."

The case garnered national attention when Dale Cox released Glenn Ford, who 
spent 3 decades on death row for the crime. Evidence indicated he wasn't the 
actual killer.

2 brothers were later indicted, but Stewart's office dropped charges, saying 
the evidence was weak.

Dr. Rozeman won't criticize prosecutor's decision to drop the latest charges, 
although he maintains Ford was involved in killing his uncle.

He says his family has found healing over the years, thanks to the community 
and their faith.

"We found lots of angels that helped our family," he said. "We feel close as a 
family and feel that people are doing their best, that district attorneys are 
working to do the right thing, that the court system is doing the right thing, 
and that the law enforcement is protecting us. And that really is of solace 
when you see some of this violence and evil."

In 2011, tragedy struck the family again when Dr. Rozeman's son-in-law, Rev. 
Clint Dobson, was murdered at his Arlington, Texas church.

1 of the suspects, Steven Nelson, was put on death row in Texas.

Dr. Rozeman knows the death penalty can be a tough conversation for families.

"If someone does something as evil and egregious as that, they certainly should 
be considered for the strictest punishment that the state has," he said. So, 
whether it is capital punishment or life in prison without parole, it doesn't 
matter. But what really matters is that you get a sense.... of closure when 
someone does that to someone that you love."

The last time someone was executed in Louisiana was 2010. For a Caddo Parish 
case: 1988.

"We have a lot of cases on appeal that we are defending, who were given the 
death penalty. It takes a lot of resources," said Stewart. "Until the 
legislature and the governor can come up with a way to actually execute people 
that meets the constitutional standard, we're kind of at a standstill."

10 death penalty cases are still on appeal in Caddo Parish.

We also asked Stewart about the support his campaign got from George Soros, a 
liberal philanthropist from New York. Stewart says he never received pressure 
to back off on the death penalty.

(source: KTBS news)