[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IND., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 9



INDIANA:

Indiana judge lets death penalty appeal go to high court


A northern Indiana judge has ruled that a man who faces the death penalty can 
appeal claiming the state's death penalty law is unconstitutional.

The (Gary) Post-Tribune reports (http://trib.in/2iRdVd3 ) that a Lake County 
judge made the ruling Friday in the case of 45-year-old Darren Vann, who is 
charged in the deaths of 7 women. Last year Vann's attorneys made the argument 
in a case filing but a judge denied their claim. On Friday the attorneys asked 
the judge if they could appeal the ruling to the Indiana Supreme Court and the 
judge allowed it.

Officials with the Lake County prosecutor's office said they agree with the 
judge's ruling but don't object to the defense's appeal.

Lake County prosecutors requested the death penalty in Vann's case.

(source: Associated Press)

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

The rarity of the death penalty


It is alleged that Marcus Dansby, on Sept. 11, 2016, shot to death Consuela 
Arrington, 38, and 2 of her 3 children - Traeven Harris and Dajahiona 
Arrington, both 18, and attempted to murder the 3rd, Trinity Hairston, 14. 
Dansby had been the boyfriend of Dajahiona, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant with 
a son. When it was determined that the baby would have lived if his mother had 
not died, a 4th murder charge was added.

And now, Dansby is going to pay a price - perhaps the ultimate one. The Allen 
County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has requested to add the death penalty to 
his charges. Capital punishment is so rarely turned to that it is worth 
reflecting on how the state of Indiana handles it.

Dansby is only the 4th man in 20 years to face the death penalty here. 2 of the 
other 3 plea-bargained their charges down to life without parole. Joseph 
Corcoran, convicted of murdering his brother, James Corcoran, and three other 
men in 1988, is currently the only person sitting on death row courtesy of 
Allen County.

There are 2 main reasons for the rarity.

1 is that just plain old murder isn't enough to merit the death penalty in 
Indiana. It must be murder with 1 or more "aggravating circumstances," such as 
a murder committed during the commission of arson, a burglary, kidnapping or 
rape. Murder for hire would count, as would murder of a law enforcement 
officer. So would a murder if the victim were dismembered, burned or mutilated 
- or under the age of 12.

The other is the cost. A fiscal impact report by the nonpartisan Legislative 
Services Agency for the 2010 General Assembly found that the average cost of a 
death-penalty trial and direct appeal was more than $450,000, compared to 
$42,658 for a life-without-parole case.

We can take pride in the fact that Indiana is not promiscuous in its use of 
capital punishment. This state only executes real monsters, the worst of the 
worst. Or we can ask ourselves if there is really any point to keeping a 
penalty so rarely used that it can't possibly be a deterrent. Are we really 
seeking justice or just exacting revenge because we can?

That's a worthy subject for discussion. Legislators looking for a topic for a 
summer study sessions could do a lot worse.

(source: Editorial, News-Sentinel)






USA:

Dylann Roof does not testify in own defense, call witnesses as jury prepares to 
consider death penalty


Dylann Roof confirmed Monday he will not fight for his life as a jury prepares 
to decide whether he should be put to death for the racially motivated massacre 
at a South Carolina church.

Roof told U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel he would call no witnesses or 
testify in his own defense shortly after the government rested its case.

Both sides will have the opportunity to deliver closing remarks to the jury 
tomorrow before the 12-person panel begins deliberations.

Last month, the same jury found Roof, 22, guilty on all 33 counts stemming from 
the racially motivated massacre of 9 black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church.

Prosecutors called 25 witnesses over 4 days during the sentencing phase of 
trial. They also introduced excerpts from Roof's journal, in which he said he 
had shed no tears for the 9 victims of the June 2015 mass shooting.

Roof acted as his own lawyer during the sentencing phase and sought to keep out 
any evidence regarding his mental health or family history. He did not put on a 
defense.

(source: New York Daily News)