[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., FLA., ALA., MISS., OHIO

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 25



TEXAS:

State seeks death penalty for man accused of killing correctional officer


A man accused of killing a Texas Department of Criminal Justice officer was 
indicted for capital murder by a Jones County grand jury Friday, and according 
to Jones County District Attorney Joe Edd Boaz, the State will be seeking the 
death penalty.

TDCJ says Dillion Gage Compton, 22, killed Marianne Johnson on July 16. Johnson 
was found unresponsive near a kitchen at the French Robertson Unit in Abilene.

Leni Atkinson, Johnson's sister, said Compton was allowed to work with her in 
the kitchen alone.

???It's just disheartening to know that she died in just a vicious manner," 
Atkinson said.

According to the Special Prosecution Unit, Compton struck Johnson with a hard 
object or prevented her from breathing.

Atkinson said she hasn't been contacted by TDCJ since the incident occurred. 
She believes they should also be held accountable.

"As far as I'm concerned, no, I don't think TDCJ has done their due diligence 
in making this right for any of us," Atkinson said.

The assistant warden of the Robertson Unit was suspended for 7 days and placed 
on four months' probation because of the incident. One correctional officer and 
two food service managers were also fired.

However, Atkinson said more improvements need to be made to make the prison a 
safer working environment, including more staff, better training for 
correctional officers, and better pay.

"I have to leave it up to God and the justice system to make this all right," 
Atkinson said.

(soruce: KTXS news)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Death penalty case now scheduled for non-jury trial


A jury trial scheduled to begin next week for a Richland Township man charged 
with the 2015 murder of his girlfriend has been called off.

Instead, the case will be presented during a non-jury trial before Judge 
Patrick Kiniry beginning March 9.

"Whether we're presenting to a jury or a judge, our case doesn't change," 
Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan said.

David Leon Johnson, 37, is accused of strangling and stabbing 30-year-old 
Allison Vaughn in their Parkside Drive home in March 2015 after, police said, 
she refused to allow him to withdraw money from her bank account to purchase 
drugs.

An autopsy showed Vaughn died of massive and sudden blood loss from three stab 
wounds to her neck. Police said they discovered her body face-down on the 
living room floor, covered with a blanket, with duct tape over her mouth.

In July of the same year, Callihan filed notice to seek the death penalty in 
Johnson's case based on allegations that he had sex with Vaughn after she was 
deceased and eventually stole her bank card to withdraw money to buy crack 
cocaine.

This is the 1st case since Callihan took office in 2010 in which she has sought 
the death penalty.

Callihan said assistant public defenders Patricia Moore and Michael Filia first 
requested a non-jury trial in August. That requires consent from the 
Commonwealth.

In capital cases, jurors are typically sequestered and housed in hotels to 
prevent outside influences. Callihan said agreeing to a non-jury trial will 
save the county the cost of paying jurors and housing them.

"I'm always trying to be protective of our budget," she said, especially 
considering 6 other homicide cases on the court docket for the remainder of 
2017.

Johnson faces more than 20 charges including criminal homicide, aggravated 
assault, abuse of a corpse, theft, fraud and robbery.

Callihan said she and chief deputy district attorney Scott Lilly plan to call 
25 witnesses to support their case.

The trial will proceed just as a jury trial would, only Kiniry will decide and 
deliver the verdict. If he convicts Johnson, Kiniry will then be responsible 
for determining his sentence, with the death penalty still on the table.

Callihan said Vaughn's parents and other family members will testify as 
witnesses if Johnson is convicted and his case reaches the penalty phase.

(source: Tribune-Democrat)






VIRGINIA----new execution date

April 25 execution date set for Virginia man convicted of hiring someone to 
kill his ex-girlfriend


An execution date has been set for a man convicted of hiring someone to kill 
his former girlfriend, who was the mother of his child.

On Friday, the Rockingham County Circuit Court set April 25 as the date Ivan 
Teleguz will be executed. Teleguz was sentenced to death in 2006 for hiring men 
to kill Stephanie Sipe.

Lawyers for Teleguz said in a statement that they will submit a petition to 
Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, seeking clemency. The 38-year-old Teleguz 
maintains he is innocent.

Virginia's last execution was on Jan. 18.

(source: Associated Press)






FLORIDA:

Death sentence upheld for 1 of trio behind crime spree, murder in St. Augustine


He's 1 of 3 men involved in a multi-state crime spree that started with an 
escape from a Louisiana jail and included a murder in St. Augustine - and he 
will not get off death row.

The Florida Supreme Court has affirmed the convictions and death sentence for 
Quentin Truehill, who was charged with kidnapping and killing 29-year-old 
Vincent Binder. The trial took place in St. Johns County, where Binder's 
remains were found.

Truehill and 2 cell mates broke out in March 2010 after holding an officer 
hostage and attacking another with a shank. He was serving time for 
manslaughter in the shooting of a man at the time. The trio stole a truck that 
contained tools and knives, a truck that would ultimately be found in Miami 
with a large amount of evidence inside.

Arguments presented at trial show the 3 men stole a purse in Louisiana to fund 
part of the journey, then attacking a woman in Pensacola, severely injuring her 
and taking her money. In Tallahassee, they tried to rob a man, who got away, 
then stole a woman's purse, and - within hours of that - abducting Binder.

Binder's account was used for purchases across the state, including in Miami, 
where a teller became suspicious because the suspects were trying to withdraw 
$1,300 from Binder's account. The suspects had to ditch the truck, when they 
accidentally were locked out and couldn't find the keys. Police later found it 
with a smashed window, and a range of evidence inside.

Binder's decomposed body was found off I-95 in St. Augustine. Investigators 
believe he was killed in the field where he was found. Court records show 
Binder suffered multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head, as 
well as many defensive wounds.

Truehill was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury, but he had 6 
issues on appeal which were considered by the state's high court. The claims 
included that some jurors were improperly striken, that evidence of his other 
crimes should not have been introduced, that some of the actions by prosecutors 
should have warranted a new trial, and that the state's death penalty 
sentencing scheme is unconstitutional.

The Florida Supreme Court ruling rejected the appeals, with the strongest 
concern expressed during their analysis of a portion of the state's closing 
argument. The ruling says the prosecutor put a slide on the screen with a 
picture of the victim and a caption saying "The dead cannot cry out for 
justice. It is the duty of the living to do so for them". The prosecutor only 
got through reading the word for before the defense objected and the slide was 
quickly removed. The judge agreed that the move was an improper appeal to the 
jury's sympathy, but didn't issue any warning to the jury - believing that most 
didn't see the full slide or capture the statement because of how quickly the 
defense objected. The Florida Supreme Court says they "strenuously condemn such 
tactics", but agree that the incident was quick enough that it should not have 
greatly prejudiced jurors.

The ongoing dispute over Florida's death penalty sentencing law was also raised 
on appeal. More than a year ago, the law was struck down by the Supreme Court, 
because a judge was given some discretion. Florida lawmakers reworked the 
guidelines to make it a decision on the jury, but the Florida Supreme Court 
struck down the law, because it didn't require the jury to be unanimous. The 
new law is being crafted in the upcoming state legislative session, but the 
Florida Supreme Court ruling issued on Truehill's case Thursday says his death 
sentence stands regardless.

"We emphasize the unanimous jury recommendation of death. The unanimous jury 
recommendation of death provides this Court with the evidence necessary to 
conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have unanimously 
found that sufficient aggravating factors existed to impose the death penalty 
and that those aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating circumstances 
presented," the ruling says.

One of Truehill's co-conspirators, Kentrell Johnson, was found guilty of murder 
and sentenced to death. His case is pending appeal. The 3rd suspect, Peter 
Hughes, pleaded guilty to 1st degree murder and was sentenced to life without 
parole.

(source: WOKV news)

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

State to seek death penalty for Shows


Assistant state attorney Ashley Albright has filed the necessary paperwork to 
seek the death penalty for a 21-year-old Okeechobee man accused of killing a 
local mother of 4.

Assistant state attorney Don Richardson filed paperwork Tuesday, Feb. 21, 
indicating the state intends to seek the death penalty for Christopher William 
Shows.

Mr. Albright and Mr. Richardson will be prosecuting this case together.

Shows was arrested Dec. 16, 2016, and charged with the Dec. 12 slaying of 
Amanda Gayle Suarez in her N.W. Third Street home. Her husband, Mathew, was at 
work and 3 of the couple's 4 children were in school.

Mrs. Suarez was 25 years old when she was allegedly gunned down by Shows.

Shows, who was a pall bearer at the woman's funeral, was known to the family 
because he was dating a cousin to Mrs. Suarez.

After he had entered the home, Shows allegedly began making sexual advances 
toward the woman but she continually rebuffed him. The young man left the home 
and walked to his truck where he had a .22 caliber rifle, notes arrest reports.

Shows then entered the home again and when Mrs. Suarez tried to run he 
reportedly shot her once in the back of the head.

According to arrest reports, Shows then dragged the woman's lifeless body into 
the kitchen where he posed her in a crucifix position. He then had sex with the 
body, continue those reports.

Mr. Albright said Thursday, Feb. 23, he met with State Attorney Bruce Colton 
and received the go-ahead to seek the death penalty. This will be Mr. 
Albright's 5th death penalty case and Mr. Richardson's first.

He also explained how the state and federal supreme courts had been battling 
over Florida's death penalty statute.

A few months ago the Florida Supreme Court overturned the state's death statute 
that only required a majority vote from the jury. Then, the U.S. Supreme Court 
stepped in and said that was unconstitutional. That court then ruled the jury 
had to agree to put a defendant to death by a 10-2 vote.

Then Monday, Feb. 20, the state supreme court ruled a jury could recommend the 
death penalty if it was a unanimous 12-0 vote.

The final decision to put a defendant to death rests with the trial judge.

"They've always had the ability to do that," pointed out Mr. Albright.

He went on to explain that Shows will 1st have to be convicted of the charges 
on which he was indicted Feb. 14 by an Okeechobee County grand jury. He was 
indicted on charges of 1st degree murder with a firearm, burglary of a dwelling 
with an assault or battery while armed, abuse of a dead human body, petit theft 
and tampering with evidence.

If Shows is convicted, the jury will then deliberate on whether or not to 
recommend the death penalty. But, before they do that, the state will present 
aggravators to bolster its case while defense attorney Stanley Glen will offer 
up mitigators against that penalty.

While this is a different step in the trial process, Mr. Albright said jury 
selection in this type of case is also different because some jurors may be 
against putting someone to death by lethal injection.

When questioning prospective jurors, he said he will ask "death qualifier" 
questions which will allow him to choose those who "... would vote for the 
death penalty under appropriate circumstances.

"We ask specific questions," he added.

But jury selection is a long way off, and a trial date has yet to be slated.

(source: Okeechobee News)






ALABAMA:

How did Gary Drinkard survive 5 years on Alabama's death row? 'Silly little 
poems'


Writing "silly little poems" and living life through his pen pals saved Gary 
Drinkard's sanity while he was on death row.

Drinkard spent five years on Alabama's death row for the 1993 robbery and 
capital murder of a Decatur junkyard dealer. He was released from prison in 
2001 after being acquitted at retrial.

"I had to live in a fantasy land through a pen pal," the now-61-year-old told 
the audience during a speech at the University of North Alabama Friday evening. 
His pen pals lived in the Netherlands, England and Australia. "I would be 
living their lives with them through pictures and words."

Many of Alabama's death row inmates, Drinkard said, suffer from mental illness 
and some die by suicide.

But, he found a way to let go of the emotions and mental anguish as he sat in a 
small cell at Holman Correctional Facility for a crime he has maintained he did 
not commit.

"When I'd write those silly little poems, the anger and depression would go 
away," Drinkard said.

That anger and depression, he said, was heavily fueled by losing his marriage 
and missing out on 5 years of his children's lives. When he was sentenced to 
death, Drinkard told his wife to find someone else who could help her care for 
their children who then were 6, 9 and 16.

The crime

In August 1993, the body of 65-year-old Dalton Pace was found at his Decatur 
home, where he ran an automotive junkyard. About $2,000 was taken during the 
robbery and murder.

Drinkard was convicted in 1995 of the murder and robbery, based primarily on 
testimony by his half-sister and her common-law husband, who were facing 
unrelated charges. In exchange for their testimony, the charges were dropped 
against the half-sister and her husband.

Drinkard had been unable to afford an attorney. The ones appointed to him had 
little experience, particularly with capital cases, he said.

...death row changes people. I seen people down there that would never harm 
another person in their life.

Once on death row, Drinkard said, he began "writing to everybody he could get 
an address for and begging for help."

That help finally came when a defense team from the Southern Center for Human 
Rights began handling his appeal.

In 2001, Drinkard was granted a new trial. He was acquitted at retrial when the 
defense team presented evidence that Drinkard was home at the time of the 
killing and that a back injury he sustained would have prevented him from 
physically struggling with the victim.

Life before and after death row

Just before Drinkard's arrest, he signed up at Calhoun Community College to 
study sleep disorders, he said. Formerly a construction worker, he recently had 
won a workman's compensation claim because of injuries to his back and knee. It 
was time for a change of profession.

He lived a typical life -- 3 kids, a dog and cat, he said. But, he was an 
ex-convict, even before the death sentence.

He also wasn't opposed to the death penalty before he was sentenced to die. But 
now, he travels around the country speaking against the death penalty and other 
aspects of the criminal justice system that he perceives as failures. He's on 
the board of directors for the Witness to Innocence organization.

Shortly after his release, Drinkard began studying respiratory therapy in 
college. He completed prerequisites and was working his way through clinicals 
when he realized a man who previously had been to death row for capital murder 
would never get a job in a hospital.

He ended up "working with little old ladies in flower beds," performing 
landscaping work, he said. "I would've studied horticulture if I knew that 
would happen."

Eventually his nightmares about death row became so bad, he said, that he got 
on disability because he couldn't sleep at night to work during the day. He has 
not been compensated by Alabama for his time on death row.

He believes Alabama's system of electing judges and district attorneys 
contributes to the conviction and sentencing of innocent people to death.

Elected officials, he said, want to appear "tough on crime" to obtain 
re-election. Drinkard's comments mirrored those of Anthony Ray Hinton, another 
former death row inmate who spoke at UNA earlier this week. Both men spoke at 
the Alabama Regional Graduate Conference hosted by UNA because its focus this 
year is on confinement. Graduate students have studied prison literature as 
part of their focus on American literature.

"What kind of system do we have when innocent people can sit on death row for 
30 years?" Hinton said. "Justice should be one of the things that's 
colorblind."

Asked by a member of the UNA audience how the public can prevent wrongful 
convictions and sentences, Drinkard replied, "Don't vote for them idiots."

About the inmates he met on death row, Drinkard said, "Sure, most of them are 
guilty.

"But death row changes people," he continued. "I seen people down there that 
would never harm another person in their life. The organization, Witness to 
Innocence, we're trying to abolish the death penalty. But we're not asking 
nobody to turn them free because there's sick puppies there that needs to be 
there for the rest of their life."

Drinkard's issue with the death penalty, he said, is that execution doesn't 
really bring closure to victims' families.

Executions bring "vengeance," he said, while prison sentences bring "justice."

(source: al.com)






MISSISSIPPI:

No firing squad for Mississippi's death row inmates


Mississippi lawmakers have shot down the firing squad as a means of execution 
for death row inmates.

The change, by a state Senate committee, came after the lower chamber passed a 
proposal Feb. 8 that would have allowed death by nitrogen gas chamber, firing 
squad and electrocution as alternatives to the current method of lethal 
injection. The state legislature proposed the other options in case others are 
deemed unconstitutional or become unavailable.

"States have been having difficulty obtaining lethal injection drugs within the 
United States primarily because the American pharmaceutical manufacturers have 
uniformly said they don't want their medicines used in killing prisoners," said 
Robert Dunham, Director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

The options do not permit condemned prisoners to choose their execution method. 
The alternative methods are available only if the lethal injection is not 
available with gas chamber being the 2nd option and electrocution the last.

According to Dunham, other states have also turned to alternative ways to carry 
out death sentences. He notes Utah and Oklahoma have added death by firing 
squad as an alternate to lethal injection and Tennessee has authorized the use 
of the electric chair. Death by firing squad in Utah is only available to those 
sentenced to death prior to 2004. In all 31 states that allow the death 
penalty, the primary method for executions is lethal injection.

Dunham said he expects legal challenges to the most recent change in the 
proposed bill. The state currently faces legal challenges surrounding the drugs 
it uses for lethal injection executions. Opponents say the use of the drugs 
violate the U.S. Constitution.

The Magnolia State previously used the electric chair and gas chamber to 
execute violent criminals. Lethal injection became the state's sole means of 
execution in March of 1998, according to the Mississippi Department of 
Corrections. Mississippi's most recent execution was carried out in 2012 and 
there are currently 47 people on death row in the state.

The bill will now move to the full state senate for consideration and will have 
to be sent back the house for approval of the amended changes before being 
passed on to the governor.

(source: Associated Press)






OHIO:

Toward a better death penalty for Ohio


Death is different. The state answers "yes" to the question framed by Dan 
Malarcik, a defense attorney: "Do we deserve to kill?" As Stephanie Warsmith, a 
Beacon Journal staff writer, showed in a series of articles last weekend, 
different also means complicated. Prosecutors see an obligation under the law 
to pursue a death sentence, the state's elected representatives having approved 
capital punishment. Defense attorneys amplify doubt. Jurors must weigh the 
ghastly crime against the mitigating factors of a killer's past.

Who is the "worst of the worst"? What is closure? What if the state makes a 
mistake in concluding it deserves to kill?

As Warsmith pointed out, the Summit County prosecutor's office has brought 10 
death penalty cases since 2014. Just 1 has concluded with a death sentence. 
Jurors, here and across the state, increasingly have opted for life without 
parole, an alternative available the past decade. That trend has invited 
discussion about whether to continue with capital punishment, especially in 
view of the public expense, another part of death-is-different.

The complications have deepened as Ohio has struggled with its protocol for 
lethal injection, the most recent execution, 3 years ago, proving problematic. 
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will examine the state's 
latest combination of three drugs during a hearing early next month.

John Kasich recently rescheduled a set of executions, starting in May, allowing 
room for the courts to proceed. That signals a determination by the governor 
and state lawmakers to press ahead with the punishment. Why not, then, take 
advantage of the recommendations to improve the death penalty, advanced by a 
highly respected task force formed by Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor of the 
Ohio Supreme Court?

The task force worked for 3 years before issuing its report in April 2014. It 
proposed 56 improvements, many winning overwhelming approval from the panel, 
others more controversial. So far, state lawmakers have enacted a mere four, 
including that jurors receive written copies of their instructions from the 
judge.

In October 2015, the state Senate approved, 32-0, a handful of additional 
improvements. The legislation then stalled. Another bill would bar the 
execution of those suffering from severe mental illness at the time of the 
crime.

With executions on hold, the moment is ripe for following the lead of the task 
force, in particular, advancing recommendations that emerged with strong 
approval. For instance, the panel calls for setting up a state fund to cover 
the cost of capital punishment litigation. It proposes bolstering the office of 
the Ohio Public Defender and limiting the death penalty to cases that involve a 
DNA match, video or other such compelling evidence of the murder.

Death would be prohibited when the prosecution relies upon a jailhouse 
informant. An in-custody interrogation of a defendant would be presumed 
involuntary if it was not recorded.

No question, prosecutors on the task force opposed some of the recommendations. 
There is an argument for passing on the state attorney general reviewing and 
approving each death penalty case. Prosecutors are locally accountable. On the 
whole, the recommendations deserve the attention and action of lawmakers. If 
Ohio is going to have capital punishment, the state has an obligation to ensure 
that it is well conducted. Which is what the task force achieved.

(source: Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board)