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

[Rick Halperin]

Dec. 16



TEXAS:

Why Texas' 'death penalty capital of the world' stopped executing people



Since the Supreme Court legalized capital punishment in 1976, Harris County, 
Texas, has executed 126 people. That's more executions than every individual 
state in the union, barring Texas itself.

Harris County's executions account for 23 percent of the 545 people Texas has 
executed. On the national level, the state alone is responsible for more than a 
third of the 1,465 people put to death in the United States since 1976.

In 2017, however, the county known as the "death penalty capital of the world" 
and the "buckle of the American death belt" executed and sentenced to death a 
remarkable number of people: zero.

This is the 1st time since 1985 that Harris County did not execute any of its 
death row inmates, and the 3rd year in a row it did not sentence anyone to 
capital punishment either.

The remarkable statistic reflects a shift the nation is seeing as a whole.

"The practices that the Harris County District Attorney's Office is following 
are also significant because they reflect the growing movement in the United 
States toward reform prosecutors who have pledged to use the death penalty more 
sparingly if at all," said Robert Dunham, the director of the Death Penalty 
Information Center.

The city of Houston lies within the confines of Harris County, making it one of 
the most populous counties in the country - and recently it became one of the 
most diverse, with a 2012 Rice University report concluded that Houston has 
become the most diverse city in the country.

Under these new conditions, Kim Ogg ran in 2016 to become the county's district 
attorney as a reformist candidate who pledged to use the death penalty in a 
more judicious manner than her predecessors, though the longtime prosecutor 
didn't say she would abandon it altogether. Rather, Ogg said she would save it 
for the "worst of the worst" - such as serial killer Anthony Shore, who was 
rescheduled for execution next month.

But this year, Ogg appears to have held true to her promise of only pursuing 
the death penalty in what she deems the most extreme cases. It represents a 
break from a long pattern of Harris County prosecutors who pushed for the death 
penalty in nearly all capital cases.

"The overall idea of what makes us safer is changing," Ogg said. "We're 
reframing the issues. It's no longer the number of convictions or scalps on the 
wall. It's making sure the punishment meets the crime."

Ogg's approach has earned her recognition from experts, including those opposed 
to the use of capital punishment.

"She is a much more fair-minded prosecutor than we've seen in the past," said 
Kristin Houle, the executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the 
Death Penalty. "She's very deliberate in her approach to the issues and appears 
to listen to the concerns of the community. But I think there are still a lot 
of opportunities for further reform in Harris County."

But Ogg said she cannot alone take credit for the recent drop in executions. 
The trend precedes her slightly and can also be connected to better educated 
and more diverse jury pools, as well as Texas' new sentencing option of life 
without parole. The state also has a more skilled group of indigent defense 
lawyers who build up mitigating circumstances - such as an abusive childhood or 
mental illness - for an alleged murderer's crime.

Even a state like Texas might stop sentencing alleged killers to death in the 
near future. And that trend could well extend nationwide.

"We've seen a deepening decline in the death penalty since the year 2000, and 
some states fell faster than others," said University of Virginia law professor 
Brandon Garrett, who wrote "End of Its Rope: How Killing the Death Penalty Can 
Revive Criminal Justice." He added that the declines are steepest in counties 
that had sentenced the most people to death.

"Juries are turning away from it, prosecutors are turning away from it, so [the 
death penalty is] withering away on the vine whether courts or legislators 
decide to do anything about it," Garrett said.

As for Ogg, she only said that she represents modern-day Harris County, not the 
one made famous for the number of people it executed.

She said that her office still has more than 80 pending capital murder cases 
and she'll examine each one thoroughly to decide whether the death penalty is 
the most fitting punishment.

"With other sentencing options and with an increased knowledge of science and 
technology, Americans feel responsible as jurors in a way they didn't in the 
past because there's more information to be considered," she said. "So I think 
attitudes toward the death penalty are changing."

(source: NBC News)

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

It's Debatable: Should death penalty be used more often?



This week, Arnold Loewy and Charles Moster debate states' use of the death 
penalty. Moster is a former litigation attorney in the Ronald Reagan and George 
H.W. Bush presidential administrations who has offices in Lubbock, Amarillo, 
Midland/Odessa, Abilene and Georgetown, and Loewy is the George Killiam 
Professor of Law at Texas Tech School of Law.

Loewy: States eliminating capital punishment

Our topic for today is whether states that have eliminated the death penalty 
should re-establish it, and whether those who theoretically have it, but rarely 
if ever use it, should invoke it with greater frequency. For me, these are easy 
questions and the answer to both is clearly "no."

There are so many reasons that states have been eliminating capital punishment 
that I may not be able to name them all in the allotted space. First, in recent 
years without the benefit (or perhaps detriment) of the death penalty, the 
national murder rate has dropped precipitously. Second, a number of states, New 
Mexico for one, eliminated the death penalty because administering it was too 
costly. Some may be surprised to learn that caring for a prisoner for the 
duration of his life is less expensive than executing him, but the evidence is 
there to support that.

But what about good old-fashioned retribution, "an eye for an eye" and all that 
good stuff? Part of the problem is that we do not and constitutionally cannot 
execute all murderers. Those few states that have maintained capital punishment 
and even fewer that actually use it are limited to executing those, who 
theoretically are the worst of the worst. But that is not what happens. The 
major factors determining who is executed are the proclivities and 
proficiencies of the prosecutor, the race of the victim (those who kill whites 
are more likely to be executed than those who kill blacks), and finally, the 
race of the defendant (blacks are more likely to be executed than whites).

All of this would be bad enough if we always got the question of guilt or 
innocence right. But we don't. The reasons are well known and they include 
misidentification by an eye witness, a coerced and untruthful confession (yes, 
they do occur with alarming frequency), false testimony from an alleged 
jailhouse snitch seeking to curry favor with those who could reduce his 
sentence and junk science.

The last of these was responsible for the execution of a man from Texarkana, 
named Cameron Todd Willingham. Willingham was accused of murdering his three 
sleeping children by setting their house on fire while they slept, certainly a 
crime which had he committed it would be death penalty-worthy in a state like 
Texas that has the death penalty. The problem is that the forensic science, 
which was sufficient to persuade the jury that he was guilty, was later 
determined to be junk science. Although then-Gov. Rick Perry could have 
commuted the sentence, he did not and Willingham was executed. I am not saying 
that I know for sure that Willingham was innocent, but I do know for sure that 
there was no credible evidence to prove that this man who protested his 
innocence with his last breath was actually guilty.

Perhaps if there was some societal value to our killing people, we could 
tolerate the killing of a few who are innocent (although if it were someone I 
cared about, I might not feel so cavalier about it), but there isn't. People 
living in states without capital punishment feel vindicated when the killer of 
their loved one gets life without parole, whereas those in capital punishment 
states, (e.g., Texas) are more likely to feel cheated when their loved one's 
killer, as usually happens, does, does not get the death penalty.

Finally, most civilized democracies have rejected capital punishment 
completely. These countries frequently refuse to extradite a capital escapee to 
the United States because they refuse to be a part of a process in which an 
individual is at risk of being executed by a government.

So, with no meaningful deterrent value, haphazard, at best, retribution and the 
risk of executing an innocent person, it is no wonder that so many states have 
decided that it is no longer appropriate to saddle their taxpayers with the 
cost of continuing capital punishment.

Moster: Outraged by Manson's life term in prison

My stomach literally turned when it was reported that Charles Manson died of 
natural causes in Bakersfield, California, at age 83 while serving out his life 
sentence for the mass murders of 7 people, including actress Sharon Tate. The 
26-year-old Tate was due to give birth to a son in 2 weeks and pleaded, "Please 
don't kill me. I just want to have my baby." Tate was stabbed 16 times and died 
in a pool of blood along with her unborn child.

Manson never denied these heinous acts and never showed any remorse. Manson was 
originally sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life with the 
possibility of parole after California invalidated the state's death penalty 
statute in 1972.

I am outraged that Manson could live out the remainder of his life with 
excellent medical and dental care, lodging and 3 nutritious meals a day. I am 
quite certain that Professor Loewy would agree that Manson's benefit package 
was better than many hard-working Americans who fail to live out their 
actuarial life expectancy. This is a disgrace, plain and simple.

I firmly believe that states that have eliminated the death penalty should 
re-establish it and that it be administered with greater frequency. For the 
faint of heart, be forewarned that I have no problem whatsoever with an 
imperfect "death cocktail" causing extra suffering to these cold-blooded 
murderers on the way out or even a few extra twitches in the electric chair. 
These despicable monsters had no remorse for the pain they caused their victims 
and the lasting torture visited upon their families and loved ones.

The professor is correct that caring for a prisoner for the duration of his 
life may be less expensive than administering the death penalty. However, this 
cost likely results from the cycle of endless and futile appeals which 
overburden the legal system and tragically punish the victims by delaying the 
final (and deserved) act. As discussed in a prior debate segment, I would 
advocate that we eliminate the right of death penalty appeals in situations 
where the evidence is incontrovertible. Manson's case would be a perfect 
example where the evidence of the murderous rampage was indisputable, and the 
defendants admitted guilt. Certainly, the rapid administration of the death 
penalty would be less costly in these situations than fulfillment of a life 
sentence.

As to the professor's concern regarding erroneous convictions, we need to 
maintain and enhance safeguards in the current criminal justice system to allow 
for the use of post-conviction evidence, particularly DNA. For purposes of this 
discussion, I am advocating the reinstatement and administration of the death 
penalty in those cases where the evidence is without dispute and/or the 
defendant has admitted guilt. I see no logical or moral reason why justice 
should be delayed in these cases.

Finally, I would assert that retribution is sufficient legal justification for 
administering the death penalty. It is perfectly acceptable for society to 
determine that certain acts be punished by death without any need for 
elaboration.

Loewy: Which defendant gets term in prison, which is executed

Interestingly Moster's "stomach literally turned" at the thought of a 
life-termer having died of natural causes in a maximum security prison, but his 
stomach isn't bothered at all by the prospect of a state causing extra 
suffering to a sentient human being who has been convicted of murder in the 
process of killing him. Suffice it to say, I take our constitutional commitment 
to end cruel and unusual punishments more seriously than that.

Ironically, in successive paragraphs toward the end of his commentary, Moster 
advocates both reducing post-conviction remedies (perhaps a return to the bad 
old days where we arrested someone on Monday, tried him on Tuesday and hung him 
on Wednesday) and increasing them: "[W]e need to maintain and enhance 
safeguards in the current criminal justice system to allow for the use of 
post-conviction evidence, particularly DNA." The problem is ascertaining which 
defendant gets the benefit of the protective procedures and which one get 
summarily executed with Moster's shot of gratuitous pain for good measure.

To Moster, this is an easy question. He would say that "where the evidence is 
without dispute and/or the defendant has admitted guilt," he should be killed 
quickly and painfully. But how easy is that question? The very case that turned 
his stomach is way more complex than he would allow. With the exception of the 
testimony of the crazed killers and Manson's subsequent confession, we do not 
know that he was guilty.

Now just how reliable is this evidence? No prosecutor of whom I am aware would 
want to have to rely on the testimony of the crazed flower children who 
actually perpetrated the murder. Of course, all of the forensic evidence points 
to them, not Manson. As for Manson's admission, do we take the rants of a crazy 
man seriously? Ordinarily we would not. So, is the evidence all that 
"incontrovertible" or "without dispute?" I think not.

I am not saying that Manson was not guilty. I feel quite sure that he was. I am 
saying that the concept of incontrovertible evidence is not a meaningful one 
when someone???s life is at stake. For example, I am sure that in the 
Willingham case, the prosecutor might well have told the jury that we have 
incontrovertible scientific evidence that this fire was set intentionally. The 
DA would, of course, have had no way of knowing that a few years later this 
incontrovertible evidence would become controverted indeed.

In fact, the standard for proving guilt is, and for centuries has been, beyond 
a reasonable doubt. So, if the jury was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt 
they would not have convicted the defendant in the first place. Yet, based on 
the number of death row exonorees, mistakes have been made and innocent men 
have been sent to death row.

Perhaps some of the readership saw the 4 part mini-series on the Investigation 
Discovery channel called "Killing Richard Glossip," which is the story of 
Oklahoma's efforts to kill a man whose evidence of guilt is almost exclusively 
the word of the actual murderer who was spared the death penalty if he would 
testify against Glossip. Guess what, he did, and unlike the probably innocent 
man on death row, the actual killer is not facing execution. Ironically, 
Glossip was the primary plaintiff in the challenge to Oklahoma's method of 
execution.

Finally, Moster's love of the death penalty seems partially predicated on his 
belief of the pleasantness of life imprisonment in a maximum security prison. 
As he puts it: "I am outraged that Manson could live out the remainder of his 
life with excellent medical and dental care, lodging and 3 nutritious meals a 
day." One would think that he was being sent to a high-end Hyatt, Hilton or 
Marriott to live the remainder of his life in palatial splendor. Of course, no 
such thing happens. Prisons are very unpleasant places and contrary to Moster's 
supposition, I do not believe that Manson lived anywhere close to the standard 
of almost all hard-working Americans. O. Henry might have made a living writing 
about bums and drunkards who loved going to jail for a day to get a good hot 
meal, but that is not what Charles Manson endured or Richard Glossip endures on 
a daily basis.

Moster: Death appropriate to punish murderers

Contrary to the professor's rather ghoulish assertion, I do not have "a love 
for the death penalty." That said, it is a perfectly appropriate and just 
remedy to punish defendants who have been properly tried and convicted of 
murder. It is a bizarre world, indeed, when we are making excuses or 
justifications for the likes of Charles Manson whose conviction is questioned 
by the professor - "With the exception of the crazed killers and Manson's 
subsequent confession, we do not know that he was guilty." Did we hear 
professor Loewy correctly? This guy was the personification of evil incarnate 
and proudly proclaimed his role in the barbaric killings which shocked the 
nation and the world. We must stop being apologists for mass murders and focus 
on the rights of the victims who are truly the recipients of cruel and unusual 
punishment by witnessing the coddling and protection of cold-blooded killers.

I do not see any inconsistency between my insistence of the rapid application 
of the death penalty in specific cases where guilt is incontrovertible and the 
safeguard of defendants' rights in other situations. The 1st category would be 
applied to monsters just like Charles Manson, who displayed his murderous acts 
as a badge of honor along with the Nazi tattoo on his brow. In such instances, 
the evidence establishes incontrovertible guilt and is augmented by the 
defendants??? confession. Upon the conclusion of the sentencing process, that 
person should be put to death as quickly as the so-called cocktail can be 
prepared and dispensed.

In other cases which would likely represent the majority of murder convictions, 
the evidence is more attenuated and the possibility for legal error exists. 
There, all legal protections, including appeals, must be preserved. I would 
further allow for the expansive use of post-conviction evidence which could 
exonerate a defendant, including DNA evidence and/or information proving that 
prior evidence was tainted.

I agree with the professor that prison life is not akin to a high-end hotel, 
however, the analogy is inapposite. The "high-end result" that these killers 
are experiencing is the very ability to remain alive along with the creature 
comforts denied to many hard-working Americans. It is time for the 
reinstatement of the death penalty across the country and the adoption of 
procedures to expedite its rapid delivery.

(source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

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

Accused serial killer William Reece charged in death of 20-year-old Texas woman



A Texas man suspected in the cold-case killings of 2 women and 2 girls 20 years 
ago now faces 4 murder charges.

William Lewis Reece, charged in the deaths of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnston, 
17-year-old Jessica Cain and 12-year-old Laura Smither, has now been indicted 
for capital murder in the kidnapping and killing of 20-year-old Kelli Cox. Her 
remains were discovered outside Houston and identified last year.

Reece was already serving a 60-year prison sentence in Texas for kidnapping 
when he led police to graves where Cain and Cox's remains were found.

All 4 victims disappeared over a 4-month period in 1997. Smither was from 
Friendswood and Cain was from Tiki Island. Cox was from Denton, Texas, and 
Johnston was from Oklahoma.

Oklahoma prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty in the 
Johnston killing, and Reece has pleaded not guilty.

(source: ABC News)








FLORIDA:

Judge bars death penalty in Boca Raton case that could test state law



Setting up what could be the 1st-ever test of part of Florida's new death 
penalty laws, a Palm Beach County judge on Friday barred prosecutors from 
seeking a death sentence in a Boca Raton murder case from May because they 
missed a crucial filing deadline.

Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes' potential landmark ruling Friday in the case of 
Tashane Chantiloupe comes just days after his attorney noted a similarly missed 
deadline in an Osceola County murder case, which recently reignited a widely 
publicized death penalty feud between Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Orlando-area 
top prosecutor Aramis Ayala.

It has also triggered what could be months, if not years, of delays in the case 
as local prosecutors challenge a 45-day deadline Florida lawmakers imposed this 
past year for prosecutors to announce whether they will seek death sentences in 
new cases after defendants are arraigned. The rule was part of a drastic 
overhaul to Florida's death penalty system after the U.S. Supreme Court struck 
down the old process as unconstitutional.

Chantiloupe, accused of killing 34-year-old Agustus Byam because Byam had 
identified him as the shooter in a 2016 attempted murder case, was indicted and 
arraigned in August on 1st-degree murder charges after Boca Raton Police say 
they found his DNA on the murder weapon.

The 1st mention of the death penalty in court records came on Oct. 13, when 
Assistant Public Defender Joseph Walsh noted that 56 days had passed since 
Chantiloupe pleaded not guilty and preemptively asked Kastrenakes to keep 
prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. While the new laws allow 
prosecutors to revise an existing death penalty notice after 45 days, Walsh 
argued, it provided no exceptions for missing the filing deadline.

"When the statute is clear, as this statute is, the court must apply its 
meaning," Walsh wrote, adding that prosecutors' failure to quickly announce a 
death-penalty pursuit violates a public defender's client's rights to 
immediately have access to the proper attorneys and resources necessary for a 
fair defense.

3 days later, on Oct. 16, Assistant State Attorney Aleathea McRoberts filed a 
notice of Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg's intent to seek a 
death sentence against Chantiloupe, and added that the 14-day filing delay 
posed no harm to Chantiloupe's defense because she and Walsh had yet to begin 
the process of trading evidence in the case.

And in a later request for Kastrenakes to keep prosecutors' death-penalty 
pursuit alive, McRoberts said other states with similar filing deadlines, like 
Washington, allow prosecutors to file death penalty notices later "if good 
faith is shown."

"As an aside, if the legislature wished, it could have explicitly so stated in 
the statute that failure to file the Notice within 45 days prohibits the State 
from seeking the death penalty," McRoberts wrote, adding: "It did not do so and 
this Court should not re-write the statute as the defense suggests."

In a 7-page written ruling following his pronounced order in court Friday, 
Kastrenakes cited Montana, Nevada and New Mexico as other states where the law 
allows exceptions to death penalty notice deadlines, but added that Nevada's 
Supreme Court in particular ruled that prosecutors shouldn't be allowed to file 
a late notice because of a mere oversight.

In his ruling, which could set the precedent for other death-penalty cases, 
Kastrenakes agreed with McRoberts that allowing for the late filing would not 
have violated Chantiloupe's rights. But, after noting that his ruling in 
Chantiloupe's case is the 1st of its kind he knows of in the state, Kastrenakes 
said Florida laws provided no exceptions to the rule.

"This Court believes that it would be wise for the courts of Legislature to 
'read in' or proscribe a good faith exception to a delayed filing of the 
State's Notice to Seek Death, especially where the defendant suffers no 
prejudice, as herein. However, it is not for this Court to re-work, change or 
fashion laws plainly promulgated by the people," Kastrenakes wrote in a 
footnote to his ruling.

Until this past week, a similar test of the new law had been brewing in the 
case of Emerita Mapp, a 33-year-old woman accused of slitting the throats of 
Zackery Ganoe and Andrew Bickford after she robbed them at an Osceola County 
Days Inn. Although Bickford survived the April attack, Ganoe died of his wounds 
and authorities eventually charged Mapp with 1st-degree murder, a crime to 
which she pleaded not guilty in late August.

At the end of October, Ayala announced her office would be seeking the death 
penalty against Mapp, which would have made it the 1st death-penalty case her 
office pursued since March, when she made the controversial announcement that 
she would not be seeking the death penalty for cases in her circuit.

Gov. Scott responded by reassigning more than two dozen of her cases to 
prosecutors in Ocala and Ayala sued him over it, sparking a legal battle that 
ended up in Florida's Supreme Court. In September, Ayala walked back her death 
penalty ban and dropped a federal suit against Scott after the state's high 
court ruled against her.

Ayala said a death-penalty review panel she formed in the wake of the ruling 
decided that Mapp's case warranted a death sentence, but her filing in late 
October went well past the 45-day deadline. This prompted Gov. Scott's general 
counsel, Daniel Nordby, to send her a scathing letter earlier this month, 
saying the missed deadline at best "suggests negligence - and, at worst, 
willful disregard - in the faithful performance of the duties of your 
constitutional office."

"In any event, it is a clear disservice to the hardworking men and women of the 
law enforcement agencies in your circuit and to the crime victims and their 
families impacted by the offenses you are charged to prosecute," Nordby wore in 
the Dec. 4 letter. "They deserve better."

Ayala subsequently fought attempts from Mapp's defense to bar them from seeking 
the death penalty, and an Orlando judge had been set to hear arguments from 
both sides on the matter earlier this week.

But points became moot a week ago, when Mapp accepted a plea agreement for a 
life in prison sentence. Afterward, Ayala told The Orlando Sentinel that 
prosecutors had extended the life in prison plea offer to Mapp before the 
filing deadline had passed and had simply decided to honor the offer.

As for Chantiloupe, McRoberts made it clear in court Friday that she would be 
appealing Kastrenakes' decision. Kastrenakes set the next hearing in 
Chantiloupe's murder case in March, acknowledging that the case would not be 
able to go to trial until a higher court decides the appeal.

(source: Palm Beach Post)

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

Death penalty prosecution: How nearby districts compare to Orange-Osceola----6 
death notices filed in 5th Circuit, 3 in 7th Circuit , 4 in 18th Circuit



There has been a lot of finger-pointing between Gov. Rick Scott and 
Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala when it comes to the death penalty.

News 6 investigator Louis Bolden took a closer look at how neighboring judicial 
circuits compare to Ayala's rate of seeking capital punishment.

In March, Ayala announced her office would not seek capital punishment in any 
case prosecuted by her office. In response, Scott reassigned more than 
two-dozen potential death penalty cases to neighboring Fifth Judicial District 
State Attorney Brad King. Ayala unsuccessfully sued the governor, claiming he 
overstepped his authority by removing cases from her office.

After a legal battle with the governor and a Florida Supreme Court ruling in 
Scott's favor, Ayala formed a death penalty review panel. Seven prosecutors 
reviewed the facts of each first-degree murder case to determine if it warrants 
the death penalty and the panel had to be unanimous, according to Ayala.

News 6 legal analyst Steven Kramer said Ayala needed to set up a panel to 
regain credibility after initially saying her office would not seek the death 
penalty in any of its cases.

"From a practical legal perspective, this is probably a smart and sophisticated 
move, setting up this panel," Kramer said.

Since that change, the Ninth Judicial State Attorney's Office has filed 3 
"notices of intent to seek death," which is not far from the number of death 
notices filed in neighboring judicial circuits, records show.

In the 18th Judicial Circuit, which includes Brevard and Seminole counties the 
state attorney has filed four death notices. Three have been filed in the 
Seventh District of Flagler and Volusia, and six have been filed by King's 
office in the Fifth Circuit of Lake, Marion and Sumter counties.

For comparison, in the Fifth District of Lake, Marion and Sumter, there were 29 
murder-related arrests recorded last year, 19 murder arrests in the Seventh 
District of Flagler and Volusia, 80 murder arrests in the Ninth Judicial 
District of Orange and Osceola counties and 28 murder arrests in the 18th 
District of Brevard and Seminole counties, according to the 2016 Florida 
Department of Law Enforcement annual crime report.

According to the data, the districts with higher populations net more murder 
arrests, which could also mean more 1st-degree murder cases prosecuted by state 
attorneys.

Some of the death notices filed by King's office include cases reassigned by 
Scott from Ayala's office.

King and 18th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Phil Archer spoke to News 6 about 
how their offices determine to seek death in first-degree murder cases. Both 
said they meet with homicide prosecutors about potential capital punishment 
cases, but that they ultimately make the final decision whether their offices 
will seek the death penalty.

(source: WKMG news)








LOUISIANA----female to face death penalty

State will also seek death penalty for Ebony Sonnier



The State of Louisiana will seek the death penalty for Ebony Sonnier, the 
sister of Matthew Sonnier, for her alleged role in the murders of Kendrick 
Horn, Jeremy Norris and Latish White back in October in Rapides Parish.

Earlier this week, Matthew Sonnier pleaded "not guilty" to 3 counts of 1st 
degree murder, obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy, and carrying of a 
firearm by a convicted felon. He is being represented by Thomas Alonzo, a 
capital attorney in Lafayette.

Prosecutor Hugo Holland tells News Channel 5 that he will file the notice to 
seek the death penalty for Ebony Sonnier within the coming weeks. A notice to 
seek the death penalty for Matthew Sonnier has already been filed.

Holland will prosecute the case for Ebony Sonnier as well. There's no word yet 
on who her capital attorney will now be.

Matthew Sonnier's next court appearance is set for February.

(source: KALB news)








OHIO:

Attorney wants out of North Ridgeville murder case



A Parma man who could face the death penalty for the murder of a North 
Ridgeville man was arraigned Thursday, but there is now question of who will 
defend him in court.

John Rowan, 37, appeared in county Common Pleas Court for his arraignment on 
charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping, felonious assault, abuse of a corpse 
and other charges. Rowan pleaded not guilty to all counts on the 16-count 
indictment and asked to have legal counsel appointed.

Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook, who handled the arraignment and whose court the 
case was assigned, appointed defense attorney Kreig Brusnahan, who is state 
certified and on the Supreme Court's list as being a first-seat trial lawyer 
for capital cases. Nick Hanek, who was appointed to represent Rowan in the 
lower court, also was kept on as part of Rowan's legal representation.

After the indictment was read in full, Rowan - by way of his attorney - threw 
the judge a curveball.

"Mr. Rowan has indicated that he does not wish to waive his statutory time for 
speedy trial," Brusnahan said during the proceeding. "I will not accept an 
appointment knowing full well that there's no way that any effective counsel, 
or any reasonable counsel that is certified to do death penalty work, can 
possibly prepare for trial in such a serious matter in 90 days."

Brusnahan asked to be removed from the case.

"I certainly am not going to be able to prepare this case," Brusnahan said. "It 
would be borderline malpractice for me to tell you I could try this case in 90 
days."

Cook refused to remove Brusnahan from the case, though, saying he personally 
selected counsel to handle the case because of his "knowledge of their 
experience and reputation."

Cook scheduled a pretrial for 1:30 p.m. today to discuss the matter further.

"I want Mr. Rowan to have an opportunity to think this matter through, to 
perhaps talk a little further with his attorneys and to see if this is the 
decision he really wants to make. If it is, and he continues to express his 
desire to exercise his constitutional right to a speedy trial, we will 
accommodate him; we will find new counsel, if necessary. We'll get a hold of 
the state of Ohio's public defender's office, if necessary."

Jonathan Witmer-Rich, a professor of law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 
said finding a qualified attorney to represent Rowan for a trial that could 
take place in 30 days could be difficult.

"The defendant has a right to a speedy trial, both under the Ohio Speedy Trial 
Act and then Ohio and federal constitutions, so it's not like he's out of line 
for not waiving his right," Witmer-Rich said. "It is going to be difficult to 
find somebody to take the case, but they need to find somebody. That's not a 
right that you can just kind of ignore because it's a complicated case."

Witmer-Rich said he can understand why Brusnahan might be leery of taking on 
the case if Rowan sticks to that time mandate.

"Capital cases are always incredibly time-consuming," he said. "The standards 
for the amount of work you need to do to prepare are really very, very high. It 
always depends, of course, on the particular facts of the case. The 
expectations in death penalty cases are very high for defense counsel."

Rowan arrested in October for allegedly killing Harold Litten, 60. Litten was 
reported missing April 18 by family members and his employer when he failed to 
show up for work, according to North Ridgeville police.

Detectives found Litten's body in an outbuilding at his home at 5490 Jaycox 
Road, on May 26 during a prearranged search of the property after several 
previous searches of the home turned up nothing.

Cook also changed Rowan's bond, which was set at $2 million by the lower court, 
to there being no bond, saying that the lower court set the initial bond prior 
to the case being indicted as a death penalty-eligible case.

(source: The Chronicle-Telegram)

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

Death penalty abolishment in front of OH lawmakers, again



For the 4th time in a row, State Representative Nickie Antonio from Cuyahoga 
County has introduced legislation at the Statehouse that would abolish the 
death penalty.

Her 3 previous attempts have been relatively fruitless in starting a debate 
about the issue at the Statehouse.

This time Antonio is hoping for a deeper dialog with members of the House 
Criminal Justice Committee the bill has been assigned to.

As was the case last year, at least one Republican has already agreed to be a 
co-sponsor on the bill, but unlike abortion, capital punishment is not 
necessarily a partisan issue.

House Bill 389 was given its 1st hearing this week, and Antonio hopes it will 
receive at least 2 more; 1 for supporters of the measure and 1 for opponents.

Antonio says now is a perfect time for both sides to take another look at 
capital punishment, how it has been handled in recent years and the trends 
being seen nationally; given recent events connected to the topic.

It will be up to State Representative Nathan Manning from Lorain County near 
Cleveland whether the bill will receive any more hearings or if he plans to let 
it languish in committee for the next year.

Meanwhile, an attorney for Brian Golsby has filed a motion to put his trial on 
hold.

Golsby is accused of kidnapping, raping, and murdering Reagan Tokes, and faces 
the death penalty.

The argument is that if Antonio's bill passes into law then the prosecution 
could not seek the death penalty in the case, so he wants the judge to put it 
on hold until the bill can be resolved.

However, one does not simply resolve a piece of legislation, and it is possible 
that Antonio's bill just sits there in the House Criminal Justice Committee for 
the next 12 months without any more movement.

At the end of the session, on December 31, 2018, the bill could fulfill one 
kind of resolution by failing.

According to Golsby's attorney, the judge has not yet ruled on his motion.

Antonio had no idea her bill was cited in this motion to stay, and when told 
about it she chose not to discuss Golsby's case.

Antonio did say, "There are people who have committed monstrous, monstrous 
things; and they should be punished to the full extent of the law."

She says those people should spend the rest of their natural-born life in 
prison, where they will have to wake up every day and look at themselves in the 
mirror and wonder, 'what have I done.'

She hopes those individuals suffer for a great length of time wrestling with 
that guilt, and says law abiding citizens should not stoop to the criminal's 
level and kill; that they should take the high road instead.

She also says several victims' families support her efforts because of the 
emotional toll the lengthy and frequent appeals process takes on them.

"Nothing we do will ever bring back their loved one, but they could at least 
have closure knowing that they person who took their loved one away will spend 
the rest of their life behind bars." said Antonio.

(source: WCMH news)








ARKANSAS:

Arkansas Parole Board releases former death row inmate Timothy Howard



An Ashdown, Arkansas man is freed from death row after 2 decades of maintaining 
his innocence in the murder of a Little River County couple and attempted 
murder of their child.

Timothy Howard was released from prison 20 years to the day that Brian and 
Shannon Day were discovered at separate crime scenes.

Brian was shot and dumped inside a U-haul truck.

His wife, Shannon, was found strangled inside their home.

The couple's baby was found inside a duffle bag with a cord around his neck, 
injured but alive.

Howard was sentenced to 2 death sentences in 1999.

His convictions were thrown out in 2013.

Then in 2015, a new trial for Howard was ordered after the Arkansas Supreme 
Court ruled that the lab compromised DNA samples.

Prosecuting attorney Bryan Chesshir represented the case 18-years later, and 
says there shouldn't have been questions regarding DNA.

He says the evidence was irrefutable.

"The person who testified for the DNA testified that the only way it couldn't 
have been him was if it had been a sibling with identical DNA," said Chesshir.

In the second trial, Howard was convicted on lesser charges of second degree 
murder and attempted second degree murder and sentenced to 38 years in prison.

He was denied parole in 2015, but released last Wednesday after 20 years behind 
bars, where most of that time was spent on death row.

Howard is currently on maximum suspension, which requires employment, periodic 
drug testing, no association with the victim or the victim's family and 
obedience to a curfew.

(source: KTBS news)

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

Arkansas executed more people than all but 1 other state



23 people were executed last year, the 2nd-lowest number since 1991, according 
to a new report from the Death Penalty Information Center. Yet Arkansas bucked 
that trend. The state successfully killed 4 men in April, which ranks Arkansas 
only behind Texas in terms of the number of people executed. Texas killed 7 men 
in 2017. Florida and Alabama each executed 3 inmates on death row.

The report also notes that death penalty support is at the lowest level in 45 
years and that new death sentences (projected to be 39 for the year of 2017) 
are at "the 2nd lowest annual total since the U.S. Supreme Court declared the 
death penalty unconstitutional in 1972."

Arkansas also planned what would've been a 5th execution - and 9th planned for 
2017 - when, just 4 months after saying that the executions in April needed to 
be held closely together because of the expiration of the controversial 
sedative midazolam, the state acquired more of the drug. The planned killing of 
Jack Gordon Greene was also stayed, as the Arkansas Supreme Court continues to 
determine the constitutionality of the role of the Arkansas Department of 
Correction's director in determining mental competency to be executed.

As the report notes, many executions are planned that never happen: "States 
scheduled 81 executions in 2017, but 58 of them - more than 70 % - were never 
carried out."

Moving forward, there is still debate on whether or not the April executions 
were "botched." Media witnesses and lawyers said that the execution of Kenneth 
Williams, the last of the 4 men to be killed, lurched and convulsed - 
indicating an improper execution - but state officials said nothing went wrong.

The way media witnesses view executions and the design of lethal injection as a 
method (which includes a paralytic), as we've written about, makes it difficult 
to determine if pain is felt by prisoners during an execution.

(source: arktimes.com)