[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, KY., MONT., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 19



TEXAS:

Conference held in Austin to abolish the death penalty


A group of Texans wanting to get rid of the penalty heard a different 
perspective on the act of executing someone during a conference Saturday in 
Austin.

The Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty brought together people who 
think it's unfair - and should go away.

The group invited journalists who have witnessed executions to explain why it's 
an important issue to discuss.

"Whether you're for it or against it, whether that coverage takes place is 
extremely important. I think that a lot of people who are advocates either for 
it or against it don't know the back story as far as what goes into the 
reporting on the death penalty, how sometimes the stories can be pretty dark, 
pretty looming, very graphic in a lot of ways," said Ryan Poppe.

Democratic lawmakers have filed bills in the Texas House and Senate to abolish 
it. However, Poppe says it will likely see the same fate as past bills to do 
the same.

It likely will not even come up for a vote.

(source: KXAN news)

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

Activists Want Texas' Death Penalty Abolished as Executions Decline


Data from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty shows fewer inmates 
were executed in 2016 than in 2015 - a trend the group says continues to go 
down.

"I think it's time to get rid of it," said Brian Stolarz, defense attorney.

Opponents of the death penalty say juries are becoming more aware of the risk 
of a wrongful conviction.

"We also see juries in cases demanding higher standards of evidence. There have 
been 157 people nationwide and 13 here in Texas who were wrongfully convicted 
and released from death row," said Kristin Houle, executive director of the 
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Defense attorneys say the political climate has changed and so have minds.

"We have a case with no physical evidence, no science at all in the case. Just 
witness interviews, witness statements and other things, and a man who was 
innocent was going to die," said Stolarz.

2 bills have been filed at the state capitol; 1 would get rid of the death 
penalty for people convicted under Texas' law of parties and the other would 
abolish the death penalty altogether.

Additionally, fewer prosecutors are seeking capital punishment "because they 
have the option of life in prison without parole and also because many of them 
don't want to burden their counties with the exorbitant expense of a death 
penalty trial," said Houle.

Some argue the state ought to practice restorative justice - where those 
convicted have a chance to repent and rehabilitate.

"Even people who have done bad things cannot be judged on that one bad thing 
alone. People are greater than the one bad thing they do," said Stolarz.

So far, 18 states plus DC have abolished the death penalty.

(source: twcnews.com)

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

Lawmaker wants state funds for death penalty attorneys


A Republican Texas lawmaker is trying to pass a bill that would create and fund 
a statewide office of appellate attorneys to represent death row inmates.

Last week, Rep. James White, R-Hillister, filed House Bill 1676 to create the 
Office of Capital Appellate Defender. The state-funded office would represent 
inmates sentenced to death who can't afford their own lawyer in their direct 
appeals to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals - the time when convicts can 
raise issues from their trial. Currently, the convicting court appoints an 
approved lawyer for this step of the appeals process and the prosecuting county 
pays the bill.

White, who represents 5 rural counties in East Texas, said the bill is one way 
to help struggling counties that have had to raise property taxes while dealing 
with unfunded state mandates, such as paying for indigent defense. And as 
chairman of the House Corrections Committee and representative of the district 
that houses most of Texas' death row inmates, he wants to ensure the state is 
being thorough when handing down the harshest penalty it can impose.

White has estimated the office would cost $500,000 a year, which could put the 
bill in jeopardy as lawmakers work to tighten the state???s budget for the 
coming biennium.

(source: The Texas Tribune)






GEORGIA:

Man gets new life sentence for killing officer 25 years ago


A man sent to death row 23 years ago for killing an Atlanta police officer has 
been given a new sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.

Atlanta-Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said in a news release 
Friday that 45-year-old Norris Speed agreed to the new punishment to avoid 
another possible death sentence during a new penalty hearing ordered by an 
appellate judge.

Speed was convicted in 1993 of malice murder in the December 1991 slaying of 
Atlanta officer Niles Johantgen. But an appeals judge threw out Speed's death 
sentence in 2010, ruling a sheriff's deputy gave improper advice to the trial 
jury.

At a hearing Thursday, prosecutors agreed not to seek a new death sentence for 
Speed if he would accept life without parole.

(source:Atlanta Journal Constitution)






FLORIDA:

.Man sentenced to death for burying model alive


The Brevard County Florida court handed a man death sentence after he was found 
guilty for the murder of Bahamian beauty queen Darice Knowles.

Knowles, a college student and pageant winner was buried alive and encased in 
concrete on a wooded lot in Cocoa. 10 out of 12 jurors recommended death 
penalty for Vahtiece Kirkman.

. Knowles, 22, came to Brevard County from the Bahamas in 2006 to study at 
Brevard Community College. Her boyfriend, Christopher Pratt, was involved in 
dealing illegal drugs, and he, along with Kirkman, became convinced that the 
young woman was talking to police about them.

. The prosecutors said, her death was at the hands of Pratt under the direction 
of Kirkman. The accused has also been convicted of kidnapping after she was 
reported missing by her family members. According to reports, Kirkman buried 
the woman alive under a mix of concrete and dirt with her hands and feet tied 
with a duct tape.

. Kirkman is already serving a life sentence for his role in the 2006 
robbery-related shooting death of 29-year-old Willie Parker in Cocoa. "Police 
cleared away more than an acre of land, using city work crews and heavy 
equipment to search for what would turn out to be Knowles' body. The former 
beauty queen is best remembered by everyone for her beautiful smile and 
positive approach towards life.

(source: indiatimes.com)

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

Thompson's attorney withdraws speedy trial rqeuest


After a circuit judge denied a request to take the death penalty off the table 
for a man who went on a killing spree, the man's defense attorney Friday 
withdrew her demand to move toward trial in the coming weeks.

Derrick Thompson, 43, faces 1 1st-degree murder charge in Bay County and two 
others in Santa Rosa County in in connection with a July 2014 killing spree. He 
was arrested shortly after he admitted killing a Santa Rosa County couple and 
former Bay County Sheriff's Office officer and nightclub owner, 66-year-old 
Allen Johnson, as a premeditated plot to further his prescription pill 
addiction. Thomspon's defense attorney, Kim Jewell, had been arguing that the 
death penalty law in Florida was non-existent, pending the change of procedure 
to comply with a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

However, Circuit Judge Hentz McClellan recently found the High Court's decision 
that a death sentence must be met by unanimous jury verdict does not preclude 
prosecutors from seeking the punishment in pending cases. When the attorneys 
met Friday before McClellan's court, Jewell withdrew her motion for a speedy 
trial, which would have had jurors seated in March.

The next court date in the case is scheduled for April 18.

(source: newsherald.com)






ALABAMA:

The weak sedative behind botched executions


Alabama liberal in death sentences State's death penalty statute, other factors 
contribute to large number of inmates sentenced to execution.

>From alleged botched executions in Oklahoma and Alabama to a split decision 
before the U.S. Supreme Court, a single sedative -- just 1 of the ingredients 
in a lethal cocktail -- defines much of the recent uncertainty around the 
American death penalty.

Midazolam was first introduced 4 decades ago. It's a common sedative used 
before minor dental or medical procedures, such as colonoscopies.

It's popular and inexpensive - $95 per 10mg wholesale. The World Health 
Organization lists it as one of the essential drugs needed for a basic 
health-care system.

But in the past four years midazolam also has been used in large doses - 100 mg 
to 500mg - for the darker and unhealthy purpose. Prison systems in Alabama and 
at least 5 other states have used it to sedate death row inmates to mask the 
pain of the drugs they are then given to stop their hearts and breathing.

Inmates in Alabama and other states say in lawsuits that midazolam's use 
amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. They say the drug isn't strong enough 
to block the burning pain caused by the other drugs. It has resulted in a 
half-dozen botched executions in Alabama and elsewhere, they claim.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, however, in a 5-4 decision declared midazolam's 
use in an Oklahoma case wasn't cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Sonia 
Sotomayor in a dissent wasn't convinced midazolam prevents pain and likened the 
risk to being "burned at the stake."

Despite the nation's top court saying it is okay for prisons to use midazolam, 
three states have now abandoned its use in recent months. Alabama isn't among 
them despite lawyers for two inmates who were executed last year with midazolam 
claiming those executions were botched.

The Alabama Attorney General's Office is now awaiting a decision by the Alabama 
Supreme Court to set an execution date for Robert Melson - the man convicted in 
the 1994 triple slayings of employees at a Popeye's restaurant in Gadsden. 
Melson's attorneys filed a motion to the Alabama Supreme Court on Feb. 8 urging 
them not to set any execution dates yet until the question of the 
constitutionality of the method of execution with the use of midazolam is 
resolved, particularly after the Dec. 8 execution of Ronald Bert Smith was 
"badly botched."

The Attorney General's Office declined to comment for this story.

The court document filed with the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this month 
seeks to have the court delay the setting of an execution date for Melson.

Prison systems in Alabama and other states began turning towards midazolam as 
an alternative to sedate inmates after drug manufacturers of sodium thiopental 
and pentobarbital began cutting off supplies because they didn't want their 
drugs associated with executions.

Alabama was caught by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration trying to bring 
in black market supplies, according to previous reports. The Alabama Department 
of Corrections also had no luck after contacting four other states to see if 
they could share their supplies, and also a few dozen pharmacies to see if they 
would compound pentobarbital.

The testimony is being presented to U.S. District Court Judge Keith Watkins in 
a trial of a lawsuit filed by Alabama death row inmate Tommy Arthur, who is 
challenging as cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th Amendment to the U.S. 
Constitution the state's new 3-drug lethal injection protocol.

So in 2014 Alabama announced it would substitute midazolam into its lethal 
injection cocktail.

What is midazolam?

"It is a class of sedative hypnotics known as benzodiazepine, the most famous 
of which is valium. ... It's (valium is) a close cousin," said David A. 
Lubarsky, chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and 
Pain Management at the University of Miami.

What is midazolam designed to do?

"It is intended to relieve anxiety and when used as part of an anesthetic to 
reduce the requirement of other drugs. But it is not indicated as a sole drug 
for an anesthetic state," Lubarsky said.

It can be used as a sedative for minor medical procedures but not for surgery 
or an execution, Lubarsky said.

What won't midazolam do?

"You can knock someone out you just can't do anything to them ... The thing 
with midazolam it does not depress your sensations sufficiently to allow you to 
do surgery," Lubarsky said.

"If there's movement the inmate's not asleep, or not sufficiently asleep," 
Lubarsky said. "Nobody moves if they are properly anesthetized with midazolam 
or any drug," he said.

Even during procedures such as colonoscopies midazolam is used in combination 
with another drug to knock the patients out, Lubarsky said.

Gasping for breath

In several executions over the past 4 years around the nation, witnesses have 
seen inmates struggle on the gurneys after being injected with midazolam and 
before being given the other drugs.

In the Dec. 8 execution in Alabama the inmate, Ronald Bert Smith, moved around 
for 13 minutes, appearing to gasp for breath, snort, and move his arms. A 
correctional officer performed two unconscious tests before the other lethal 
drugs were administered. Prison officials said the execution was conducted 
according to its protocol. It's unclear whether Smith was given more than the 
initial dose of 500 mg of midazolam during his struggle.

One of Smith's lawyers later called it a "botched" execution.

An awakening

Nobody moves if they are properly anesthetized with midazolam or any drug," Dr. 
David Lubarsky

The definition of being anesthetized is being insensate, unconscious, and 
immobile, said Lubarsky, who has testified in inmates' midazolam lawsuits 
around the country.

An inmate can get to sleep with midazolam, Lubarsky said. But a very high 
urgent tone, adrenaline surge, or pain can produce an awakening, he said.

"You just won't stay asleep in the face of a painful stimulus, which is why it 
(midazolam) is not indicated as a single drug for anesthesia because it doesn't 
work," Lubarsky said.

Lubarsky noted the July 23, 2014 execution of inmate Joseph Wood in Arizona 
that took nearly two hours. Wood was given a total of 760 grams of midazolam 
combined with narcotics on top of that.

"All these drugs that we give are balanced against the condition of the day," 
Lubarsky said. "Meaning if someone is hyper acute and hyperaware and has their 
adrenaline going because they are about to die they don't succumb to these 
drugs that are not complete anesthetics."

Not enough on its own

Midazolam has no place for use in executions, Lubarsky said. "You could concoct 
some regimen using midazolam that would be okay but only as part of a regimen 
and not as a sole drug," he said.

Before midazolam most states used pentobarbital or sodium thiopental as the 
sedative, which provide a deeper level of anesthesia, Lubarsky said. The 
problem with that drug was that it didn't last long enough to get an execution, 
he said.

After manufacturers began refusing to provide sodium thiopental and other drugs 
for executions, prisons turned to midazolam, which lasts a little longer than 
sodium thiopental but doesn't provide a level of anesthesia sufficiently deep 
at any point in time, he said.

"So it's complicated," Lubarsky said. "State correctional facilities are trying 
to simplify what it takes anesthesiologists years to learn and to execute 
flawlessly."

Paradoxical affect

Alabama inmates also have suggested that they also could have a "paradoxical" 
reaction to midazolam.

Lubarsky explained that a paradoxical reaction is where midazolam produces in 
the patient the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of sedation the person 
becomes excited, hyperactive and even combative, he said.

Doctors don't fully understand why that occurs, but it occurs with between 1 to 
11 % of people taking midazolam, Lubarsky said. It depends on personal 
characteristics, particularly those with sociopathic and violent tendencies, he 
said.

"I image imagine people who are being sentenced to death have all those 
characteristics," Lubarsky said.

Lubarsky said he is not a "die-hard" opponent to executions. But he said it 
should be done right. "We're not doing it right and it's important that we're 
better than the people we're trying to execute."

Move away from midazolam?

Alabama is among a half dozen states that have used midazolam in executions - 
either in combination with 2 or 3 other drugs, according to the Death Penalty 
Information Center. The other states are Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, Virginia and 
Arizona.

But in the past few months 3 of those states - Arizona, Ohio and Florida - have 
abandoned or are considering abandoning midazolam's use in executions.

In court actions in the past 3 months Ohio and Arizona have moved away from the 
use of midazolam and it appears Florida also is looking at a replacement for 
the drug. (what are the replacement options?)

A federal magistrate judge on Jan. 26 declared the use of a 3-drug cocktail - 
including midazolam - Ohio planned to use for executions is unconstitutional, 
according to Cleveland.com. "The Court concludes that use of midazolam as the 
1st drug in Ohio's present 3-drug protocol will create a 'substantial risk of 
serious harm' or an 'objectively intolerable risk of harm' as required by 
(Supreme Court precedent)," the judge wrote.

Arizona in December became the 1st to move away from the use of midazolam. In 
an agreement filed in December in an on-going federal lawsuit by a group of 
Arizona death row inmates the Arizona Department of Corrections agreed that it 
"will never again use midazolam, or any other benzodiazepine, as part of a drug 
protocol in a lethal injection execution."

Arizona's move away from midazolam began last summer when the state said it 
could no longer get a supply of the drug and suggested the prisoners' lawsuit 
was now moot. But attorneys for the prisoners, however, questioned what would 
happen if Arizona later obtained a supply of that drug and worked for a 
permanent agreement.

In December the Orlando Sentinel reported that records showed that Florida no 
longer has a supply of midazolam hydrochloride. Instead, the state has been 
purchasing the hypnotic drug etomidate as a replacement.

Alabama, however, has shown no sign that it plans to back off its current 
protocol. State prison officials have denied that either of Alabama's 2 
executions since the new lethal injection cocktail was put into place were 
botched. They say both went according to protocol and both inmates did not 
respond to consciousness tests after midazolam was administered, but before the 
other drugs were given.

Courts so far have denied the Alabama prisoners' midazolam claims. Some of the 
lawsuits also have been dismissed because judges ruled the Alabama prisoners 
did not suggest a less painful form of execution available to the state - a 
requirement when contesting methods of execution. The judges have rejected 
inmates' suggestions of firing squad, hanging and gas, saying those are not 
available under Alabama law.

Attorneys for death row inmate Robert Melson who may be next up on the gurney, 
however, say no executions should be allowed until the lawsuits challenging use 
of midazolam are settled.

"There are serious constitutional issues surrounding the method the State 
intends to use to carry out Mr. Melson's death sentence. Given the events of 
Ronald Smith's execution, it is premature to set an execution date for Mr. 
Melson when questions about the method used to carry out that sentence have not 
yet been resolved."

(source: al.com)






OHIO:

OR Man Faces Death Penalty For Setting Fire that Killed 2 Firefighters


An Oregon man has been charged with 2 aggravated murder counts for setting a 
fire in January of 2014 that killed 2 Toledo firefighters.

Ray Abou-Arab, 63, could receive the death penalty if Lucas County Common Pleas 
Court convicts him for allegedly setting a Magnolia Street building that he 
owned on fire, The Blade reported.Pvts. Stephen Machcinski, 42, and James 
"Jamie" Dickman, 31, died Jan. 26, 2014, while battling the North Toledo 
apartment fire. Private Machcinski was a 10-year veteran of the department. 
Private Dickman was a rookie to Toledo, responding to his 1st fire call. He 
previously served with the Perkins Township Fire Department.

The trial, slated to begin on April 3, could last 3 weeks or longer and will 
include a sentencing phase if Mr. Abou-Arab is found guilty.

Robert Miller, chief of the criminal division of the Lucas County Prosecutor's 
Office, revealed he plans to file a motion to have the jury brought to the 
scene of the alleged crime.

In April 2015, Toledo fire union officials and top department administrators 
were at odds over whether the decision to eliminate a full-time safety officer 
in 2012 had contributed to the deaths of the 2 firefighters.

"The leader of this department, Chief Santiago, for t2 years, had a flawed 
system," Local 92 President Jeff Romstadt told The Blade. "We brought it to his 
attention. ... He needs to be held accountable for the decisions he made that 
are contributing factors in 2 firefighters' deaths."

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health released a federal 
report that had outlined the deaths of Pvts. Stephen Machcinski and James 
"Jamie" Dickman.

Mr. Romstadt said the elimination of a full-time safety officer in 2012 made 
working conditions for Toledo firefighters unsafe.

Toledo fire Lt. Matthew Hertzfeld, a department spokesman, said the safety 
officer position was not eliminated, but changed and "enhanced."

(source: firehouse.com)


KENTUCKY:

Why the death penalty is a bad deal for Kentucky


Few people have given much thought to capital punishment. I confess that I 
hadn't either until, 20 years ago, I focused on the matter through a spiritual 
lens - and changed my position from supporter to opponent.

As a state legislator, I sponsored bills to abolish Kentucky's death penalty.

The path to abolition is steep and formidable - liberals tend to be allies, 
conservatives historically have supported the death penalty. Since Kentucky's 
General Assembly is now overwhelmingly conservative, how can we hope that the 
death penalty will be abolished and replaced with life without the possibility 
of parole?

We can hope because support for abolition is increasing, and not just as a 
result of spiritual insight. There are many reasons for both conservatives and 
liberals to abandon our death penalty system.

Mistakes can be made in a government program run by human beings, and mistakes 
have been made with the death penalty. Innocent people can and have been 
executed.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing. Clearly, everyone should agree 
that it's not worth sacrificing the innocent to kill the guilty. No one who 
values innocent life supports a state government program that can kill innocent 
people.

And, although it is counter-intuitive, taxpayers spend far more money on our 
system of capital punishment than we would if the death penalty were not an 
option.

Every study conducted in the United States has concluded that the death penalty 
system is far more costly than a criminal-justice system in which the maximum 
sentence is life without the possibility of parole.

Since 1976, Kentucky has prosecuted hundreds of capital cases, 97 of which 
resulted in a sentence of death. Of those, 51 have been reversed on appeal, in 
post-conviction or through clemency. 35 sentences related to 32 inmates are 
presently under challenge.

Of the 97 cases, 8 ended with the inmate's death of natural causes, while only 
3 ended in the inmates' execution.

So, the majority of death penalty cases are reversed on appeal, while taxpayers 
foot the entire bill for the cost of the trial and all appeals. Usually, the 
case results in a plea bargain that does not include execution - defeating the 
purpose of pursuing the death penalty in the 1st place.

Why is the death penalty a bad investment for Kentucky? After spending hundreds 
of millions of dollars on the death penalty since 1976, we are left with the 
following results:

-- The majority of those sentenced to death in Kentucky had their death 
sentences reversed by the courts.

-- In the majority of cases in which the death penalty was sought, judges and 
juries imposed sentences other than death.

-- Only 3 % of those sentenced to death actually die from execution.

Lady Justice is usually depicted wearing a blindfold, signifying objectivity. 
There should be no favor in meting out justice, no regard for power or 
weakness, money, or position. But the truth is, our death penalty doesn't meet 
this standard.

Most Kentucky counties don't use it. 2 murders committed under similar 
circumstances in bordering counties can result in 2 completely different 
sentences. To make matters worse, people of color and those in poverty are 
disproportionately sentenced to death rather than to life in prison.

Something is terribly wrong.

Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, has introduced House Bill 251. And Sen. Gerald 
Neal, D-Louisville, has introduced Senate Bill 131 with Sen. Julie Raque Adams, 
R-Louisville, as the primary cosponsor.

Both bills propose to limit the maximum punishment in Kentucky to life without 
the possibility of parole. Please call your representative and senator today 
and ask them to support abolition.

(source: Op-Ed; David Floyd, of Bardstown, is a retired Air Force officer who 
served 6 terms in the Kentucky House----Lexington Herald Leader)






MONTANA:

Montana examines death penalty after judge blocks executions


Montana legislators are taking another look at whether to abolish the death 
penalty after a judge blocked the state from carrying out executions because it 
has no access to a drug used in lethal injections.

Clergy, young conservative lawmakers and an exonerated Arizona death-row inmate 
urged the House Judiciary Committee on Monday to pass a bill abolishing the 
death penalty. The maximum penalty would become life in prison without parole, 
under the measure by Rep. Adam Hertz, R-Missoula.

"To kill a person for having killed a person seems to me to make no sense," 
said Bishop C. Franklin Brookhart Jr. of the Episcopal Church of Montana. 
"We're not in the business of vengeance - at least I hope we're not in the 
business of vengeance."

Bills to abolish the death penalty have been introduced and failed in every 
legislative session since 1999, which is as far back as the state Legislature's 
online bill-tracking archive goes. Death penalty opponents came closest in the 
last session 2 years ago, when the measure died on a 50-50 House vote.

If the bill to abolish the death penalty passes this year, Montana will become 
the sixth state since 2010 to either overturn or place a moratorium on 
executions. Montana is similar to other states that have recently overturned 
their death penalties: It carries out relatively few executions, and it has 
previously tried several times to abolish the law, said Death Penalty 
Information Center executive director Robert Dunham.

"I think Montana fits well within that pattern," Dunham said. "It does not 
aggressively carry out the death penalty."

Recently, more Republican lawmakers such as Hertz have been behind the 
abolition efforts in some states. They say the death penalty goes against their 
values that a person has a right to live from natural birth to natural death, 
and that housing death-row inmates and paying their court costs is too 
expensive.

"Some of us supported death penalty for years, but we've given a critical look 
at it," said Marc Hyden, an advocacy coordinator for the group Conservatives 
Concerned About the Death Penalty. "Many of us don't trust the government to 
deliver mail or fill potholes, so why would we trust them with a dangerous 
government program that metes out death to its citizens?"

Montana has executed three inmates by lethal injection since 1976, most 
recently in 2006. There are currently two inmates on death row, both of whom 
challenged the state's execution methods in a lawsuit that led to a Helena 
judge effectively blocking executions until an adequate drug can be found.

The state had used sodium pentothal as a barbiturate in its 2-drug lethal 
injection method, but that drug is no longer manufactured in the U.S. and it 
can't be imported. District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock ruled in October 2015 that 
the state's recommended substitute for sodium pentothal doesn't meet the 
requirements detailed in state law and could not be used in executions, leaving 
the state without an alternative drug to conduct executions.

Bill Comstock, a member of the Montana branch of the Conservatives Concerned 
About the Death Penalty, said the judge's ruling means Montana is now wasting 
money to house two death-row inmates who will likely never be executed. "We're 
essentially throwing away money for nothing," Comstock said.

The House Judiciary Committee did not take immediate action on the bill, though 
several lawmakers on the panel indicated their opposition. One, Rep. Lola 
Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, said she is not convinced that a convicted 
murderer who is sentenced to life won't eventually walk away from prison.

"We believe that person's going to leave prison in a body bag," 
Sheldon-Galloway said. "We have no guarantee here that that's going to happen."

(source: WHIO news)






USA:

Juror screening starts in Fell trial


The process of screening 600 potential jurors in the 2nd trial of Donald Fell 
has started, but arguments in the death-penalty trial are not expected until 
the end of March.

Federal prosecutors filed a motion Friday formally notifying both the court and 
Fell of its intent to seek the death penalty on both felony charges he is 
facing: carjacking with death resulting and kidnapping with death resulting.

Fell, 36, was tried and convicted in 2005 for carjacking Terry King, 53, of 
North Clarendon. He was sentenced to death in 2006, but the conviction was 
overturned because of juror misconduct.

A 2nd trial in the case was scheduled to start this month, but Jeff Eaton, 
court clerk for the federal courts in Vermont, said there are still several 
more weeks of jury selection remaining and that process won't start until Feb. 
27.

With choosing jurors expected to take 3 to 4 weeks, the trial is not expected 
to start until the end of March, Eaton said.

The court staff was not instructed to clear a specific amount of time for the 
trial, Eaton said, but potential jurors this week were told to expect the trial 
will last 2 to 3 months.

While Fell is awaiting trial in a case that involves the death of King in New 
York state, the case has its origins in Rutland.

Police say Fell killed his mother, Debra Fell, and her friend, Charles Conway, 
in Rutland, in November 2000.

Fell and his longtime friend, Robert Lee, then went to the parking lot of the 
Rutland Plaza Shopping Center to steal a car, police said. There, according to 
police, the men found King, who was going to work at the time, and took her 
car, according to police.

Fell is accused of taking King to New York, where police said he beat her to 
death while she begged for her life.

Fell and Lee were later arrested in Arkansas.

Lee died in prison in 2001 while his trial was still pending.

Fell's initial conviction was overturned after information came to light that 1 
of the jurors had done some independent investigation of the alleged crime 
scene and shared his conclusions with other jurors.

While the new trial is expected to start in a few weeks, a number of issues are 
pending before the court. A hearing is scheduled Feb. 24 on a variety of 
issues, including defense attorneys' requests to exclude "gruesome" photos of 
the scene of the homicide of King, photos of King while she was alive, or any 
testimony from law-enforcement officers that indicate Fell showed a lack of 
emotion or remorse after he was arrested.

The defense has also asked the court to limit the testimony that King's family 
can give if Fell is convicted and before he is sentenced.

Many of the filings leading up to the trial have focused on the argument from 
Fell's attorneys that the death penalty is not constitutional and shouldn't be 
allowed. There has not been a capital case in Vermont for about 60 years, but 
Fell's trial, based on the allegation that King was taken across state lines, 
is being prosecuted by the federal government, making it subject to the death 
penalty.

Other arguments made included a request to relocate the trial either out of 
state or elsewhere in Vermont. One argument made by Fell's attorneys was that 
it would be difficult to find enough jurors in the Rutland area who did not 
already have an opinion about the case, in part, because of the extensive media 
coverage.

Eaton said about 600 people had come to the court this week after receiving a 
summons to serve on the jury. He said those people filled out extensive jury 
questionnaires in a process which ended Friday and was not open to the public.

Interviews of individual people who might become jurors, which is a public 
process, is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27.

(source: Rutland Herald)