[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IND., MONT., NEV., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 6



INDIANA:

Death penalty sought in quadruple killing----Marcus D. Dansby faces 4 counts of 
murder, 1 count attempted murder


Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards will seek a death sentence for a man 
accused of the gruesome killings of 3 people and an unborn baby inside a 
south-side home in September.

The prosecutor's office on Thursday filed a motion to add an application for 
death sentence in its case against 20-year-old Marcus D. Dansby. A judge will 
consider the application Friday morning at a status hearing.

As it stands, Dansby faces four counts of murder in the deaths of 37-year-old 
Consuela Arrington; 18-year-old Traeven Harris; 18-year-old Dajahiona Arrington 
and her full-term baby, and another for attempted murder related in the 
shooting and stabbing of 14-year-old Trinity Hairston, all of Fort Wayne.

The charges stem from an incident that unfolded around 4 a.m. Sept. 11 inside a 
home at 3006 Holton Ave. There, police arrive to find the victims bodies 
stabbed and shot, and Dansby covered in blood, leaning over the couch, crying 
and asking for help, according to an affidavit. On him, police found a large 
blood-soaked knife with a broken handle, the affidavit said.

Police said that Dansby and Dajahiona Arrington had been in a relationship, but 
the pair had separated after the woman became pregnant with another man's 
child. A family member told investigators that Dansby had not been at the 
Holton Avenue home in months.

Until September, it would appear.

During an interview with police, Dansby immediately told an investigator, "I am 
still hearing gunshots," and reportedly asked, "Did anyone survive?" according 
to the affidavit. Dansby denied the killings, and told police that he saw a man 
with a knife and had attempted to offer first-aid to Harris, Hairston, and 
Consuela Arrington. He said he had not tried to call 911 because he did not 
have a cell phone. When police found a cell phone on him, he said the cell 
phone belonged to Consuela Arrington, according to the affidavit.

Dansby had cuts on his left hand and initially told police he did know where 
the cuts came from. Later he remembered "his cat scratched him," according to 
the affidavit.

Damion Arrington, the current caregiver for Trinity and the brother of Consuela 
Arrington, told NewsChannel 15 on Thursday that the family supports the 
decision of the prosecutor's office to seek the death penalty.

"We want to thank the Allen County Prosecutor's Office and the Fort Wayne 
Police Department for all of their hard work on this case," said Damion 
Arrington. "We want to thank our family and friends for their support during 
this very difficult time."

Dansby is being held in the Allen County Jail without bond ahead of his 
schedule Feb. 27 jury trial. In addition to the murder charges, he also faces a 
sentence enhancer for using a firearm in the commission of a violent offense.

The last death penalty sought in Allen County was against Simon Rios, who was 
convicted of killing his wife and 3 daughters in December 2005 at their Fort 
Wayne home, along with a 10-year-old neighbor girl. The death penalty was 
dropped, though, after the family raised objections for religious reasons. Rios 
was serving 5 life sentences for the killings when he killed himself in his 
jail cell at the Pendleton Correctional Facility in October 2008.

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

Defense attorney explains death penalty cases


The Allen County Prosecutor's Office is seeking the death penalty for the 1st 
time in more than a decade. Prosecutor Karen Richards wants the toughest 
penalty possible for 20-year-old Marcus Dansby, accused of killing 3 people and 
an unborn baby inside a home on Holton Avenue last September.

Dansby faces 4 counts of murder in the deaths of 37-year-old Consuela 
Arrington; 18-year-old Traeven Harris; 18-year-old Dajahiona Arrington and her 
full-term baby, and another for attempted murder related in the shooting and 
stabbing of 14-year-old Trinity Hairston, all of Fort Wayne.

Defense Attorney, Michelle Kraus said the quadruple homicide certainly 
qualifies for a death sentence by law, but with trends showing juries are more 
reluctant to give the death penalty, she is surprised by the move.

"It's one of those cases that you look at and say, 'if we don't file the death 
penalty on this case what kind of case will come around that we would?'" she 
said.

Kraus was the attorney for Simon Rios, who faced the death penalty for killing 
his wife, three daughters and a young girl who lived nearby in 2006. She said 
it could take years to prepare for trial and if sentenced to death it could 
take even longer for the execution.

Dansby is set to go to trial at the end of February, but now Kraus said that is 
unlikely. It would require months of preparation, hiring investigators, and 
mental evaluations.

"[The defense] would have to hire an investigator dedicated to learning 
everything about this man's life that there is," she said. "[To show] this is a 
person's life we ought to save."

Kraus said even the process of selecting a jury is more difficult and time 
consuming. Hundreds of potential jurors would be interviewed.

"Somebody who says, 'I would give anybody the death penalty is going to get 
kicked off,'" said Kraus. "Someone who says "I would never give the death 
penalty' is going to get kicked off."

Kraus said it's not often that jurors will agree to the death penalty. If 
Dansby is sentenced to death the victim's family would have to prepare for 
years of appeals, which would delay the execution.

"People who want the death penalty and believe death is the ultimate punishment 
will have to wait a long time before they get that," she said.

In the case of Simon Rios, Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards originally 
wanted the death penalty for the killing of his wife and 3 daughters, but the 
family didn't want that for religious reasons.

In exchange for the guilty plea, Rios' attorney asked for a sentence of life in 
prison without parole. The prosecutor's office agreed about a week before trial 
was set to get underway.

(source for both: WANE news)






MONTANA:

Abolition of the death penalty in Montana


Now is the time for a significant act of righteousness - the time to put the 
admonition "thou shalt not kill" into action.

We must act soon to permanently abolish the death penalty in Montana.

Relevant bills to do so will be introduced when the Montana Legislature 
convenes in January 2017. Our great state would be further distinguished by 
abolition of this archaic practice. The death penalty is not a large numerical 
issue in Montana, since, thank God, we have few on "death row."

It is, however, big to the few and to our moral/ethical conscience. The death 
penalty is on legal "hold" in Montana, as uncertainty about drugs for lethal 
injection has become and continues to be an issue.

The moral/ethical position against capital punishment: Abolish the death 
penalty because it is the right thing to do.

-- "Thou shalt not kill." We need to put this into action related to violence 
worldwide. In few instances do we have the power to control killing, but 
abolition of capital punishment is one such instance.

-- Mistakes are made in some cases. Infrequently, persons, who are later shown 
to be innocent, have been on death row awaiting execution. Some have, no doubt, 
been executed and later been proven innocent.

-- Family and loved ones of victims often favor life imprisonment over death 
and find solace in mercy.

-- The death penalty has not been a deterrent to crime, nor is there evidence 
that its abolition promotes or facilitates crime.

-- Is the person convicted and sentenced the same person who awaits execution, 
often many years after sentencing? Or has that person changed? It's a privilege 
given humankind to be able to change.

-- Spare the executioner the experience of executing. Imagine such a job.

Another position: Abolish the death penalty because it's the responsible thing 
to do.

It costs society more to carry out a death penalty sentence than to maintain a 
life sentence, in terms of monetary costs of appeals, etc. Anti-death penalty 
legislation proposes life in prison without possibility of parole. It would 
cost less.

Lethal injection is not the merciful means of killing envisioned. About 7 % of 
such executions are "botched." The availability of drugs used to kill has been 
an issue for some time, and recently the pharmaceutical company Pfizer refused 
to provide its drugs for lethal injection. This makes a statement.

Not unexpectedly, there are pros and cons about these points, but we have 
chosen the position that suits our individual moral consciences. See 
deathpenalty.procon.org for a 10-point argument.

Whatever your personal reasons, please support efforts to abolish capital 
punishment in Montana by writing to representatives of your district, simply 
stating your support for bills abolishing capital punishment.

If you want more information, please contact us. We'll try to help.

(source: Guest Column, Mary Darby and Blaise Favara----ravalalirepublic.com)






NEVADA:

Nevada Lawmakers Want To End Death Penalty


It's a hot button issue and it's going to come up during the 2017 Legislature.

81 men sit on death row in Nevada, and a new chamber was just built at Ely 
State Prison. But the last execution took place more than a decade ago.

State Senator Tick Segerblom wants to end the practice all together. He, with 
Assemblyman James Ohrenschall, is proposing a bill that would make the state's 
maximum punishment life in prison without parole.

"I don't think a society has the right to decide who is going to live or die," 
Segerblom said.

Besides the moral argument against the death penalty, Segerblom said money is 
also a factor. He said the state spends millions of dollars on death penalty 
cases, but no one is executed.

"It's really just a feel good issue for people to say 'We're going to kill 
someone because they did something bad,' but at the end of the day, we never do 
kill the person and we spend millions of dollars trying to get to the point 
where we could kill them but it never happens."

Besides the state and federal appeals that take up both time and money, the 
drugs to execute people are not available. Segerblom said the state spends 
millions of dollars to get prisons to the point where they can be executed but 
it is never going to happen.

Tod Story with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada agreed that the 
money spent on death penalty cases is far more than putting a prisoner away for 
life.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a state audit of the cost of death 
row versus life in prison showed it costs sometimes double for someone to be 
sentenced to death than to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Story said the argument against the death penalty goes beyond just the cost. He 
believes it is fundamentally about the society we want to be.

"I think the fundamental question comes down to whether we as a government, we 
as a people, we as a society, can take away someone's life," he said.

Supporters of the death penalty have said that it is a deterrent, arguing that 
people won't do something if they know they could face the death penalty for 
it.

For instance, Illinois is 1 of 18 states that has repealed its death penalty 
and the murder rate in Chicago has skyrocketed lately.

Both Story and Segerblom dismiss the argument that having a death penalty does 
anything to stop crime.

"There is no correlation between whether you have the death penalty, you don't 
have the death penalty as far as violent crime," Segerblom.

"We still have the death penalty here in Nevada and we had if not the highest, 
but one of the highest, murder rates here in Las Vegas last year," Story said, 
"We know that it is not a deterrent."

Segerblom is purposing the legislation when the Legislature meets in February, 
but he is not entirely sure it will pass or that the governor will sign it.

"I had a bill a couple of sessions ago just to ask to study the death penalty 
and the governor vetoed it," he said.

Story remains optimistic that Gov. Sandoval will sign it.

"I think anything is possible," he said, "I think the governor has indicated 
his willingness to entertain the idea."

(source: knpr.org)






CALIFORNIA----new female death sentence

Jury approves death penalty for convicted Alturas mass shooter Cherie 
Lash-Rhoades


The woman convicted in a 2014 mass shooting in Alturas will be sentenced to 
death, a jury decided Thursday.

A Placer County judge will go forward with the decision at a hearing in April.

Cherie Rhoades killed 4 people and injured 2 others on Feb. 20, 2014 inside the 
Cedarville Rancheria Tribal Office. At the time, Rhoades was about to be ousted 
as the tribal chairwoman.

Those killed were her nephew Glenn Colonico, her niece Angel Penn, her brother 
Rurik Davis and tribal administrator Sheila Russo.

Russo's husband told FOX40 that she had uncovered misused funds in the tribal 
books, which, in part, led to Rhoades being evicted. The shooting began during 
the eviction hearing.

Rhoades was ultimately convicted of 4 counts of 1st-degree murder and 2 counts 
of attempted murder, for shooting and stabbing 2 of her other nieces.

(source: KRCR Tv news)