[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., OHIO, IOWA, COLO., N.MEX., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 10



FLORIDA:

State waits out death penalty legislation


The state dismissed a murder charge Monday against an inmate accused of beating 
his cellmate to death amid concerns about procedures used in the death penalty.

The Office of the State Attorney released a statement Monday saying it was 
deferring prosecution on a 1st-degree murder charge against Shawn Rogers, a 
Santa Rosa Correctional Institution inmate that was accused of killing his 
cellmate Ricky D. Martin in 2012.

The release said concerns raised about procedures used in death penalty cases 
was the primary reason for dismissing the case, but it also said the state will 
re-indict and again seek the death penalty once legislation has been reviewed.

State Attorney Bill Eddins said this is a particularly unique case, and there 
are few, if any, others he would consider a similar filing with.

Rogers already is serving a life without parole sentence for armed robbery, and 
was imprisoned for that crime when the death occurred. With no chance of him 
walking free with a deferred prosecution as he's still serving the other 
sentence, Eddins said it makes more sense to wait out the Florida Legislature's 
review of the death penalty before proceeding.

Some death-row inmates could get new sentences

A Nolle Pros filing means the case is dismissed, but it doesn't prohibit the 
state from again seeking prosecution in the future. With a death penalty 
procedure that Eddins said is currently 'muddled', the state will wait until 
lawmakers have ironed out the procedure before continuing with the murder case. 
Eddins said he expects that to happen in March or April.

"While we can technically still seek the death penalty, until that ruling is 
reissued and becomes final, it makes sense to wait," Eddins said.

The Nolle Prosequi filing is a tactic Eddins said has successfully been used 
previously in homicide cases locally, but it's not common.

The state sought the death penalty for Rogers when he pleaded guilty to the 
murder in 2015. Eddins said that as Rogers was already serving life in prison 
without parole for an unrelated offense, requesting a life sentence for 
Martin's death when Rogers already was serving one would in essence leave 
Rogers unpunished for the crime.

Rogers was originally charged with one count of 1st-degree premeditated murder 
and one count of kidnapping for the incident.

Reports said Rogers had an extensive history of violence prior to Martin's 
death, and had been involved in around 30 incidents at various correctional 
institutions between 2002-12.

A report by the Inspector General's Office about the March 30, 2012, murder 
said several inmates in nearby cells said the attack had been racially 
motivated.

Reports say Martin was found bleeding on the floor of the 2-man cell with 
extensive injuries to his head and face. Martin's hands and feet had been tied 
with strips of bed sheet, and his pants and underwear were down to his knees. 
Martin died of his injuries close to a week after being removed from life 
support at a Pensacola hospital.

A U.S. District Court case filed by Martin's family last March claims that the 
attack was a result of systemic failures in the correctional institution and at 
the state level. The suit alleges that Martin filed a grievance roughly 4 
months before his death asking to be placed in protective custody because he 
believed his life was threatened, but it wasn't approved.

The court documents also state that inmates reported the threats on Martin's 
life to prison officers, but no action was taken.

The District Court case filed by Martin's family is ongoing.

Once the state's murder charge is dismissed against Rogers, he will be returned 
to the Department of Corrections and will remain incarcerated on the robbery 
life sentence. He will not be released at any time.

(soruce: Pensacola News Journa;)






OHIO:

Ohio obtains hundreds of vials of lethal drugs


Ohio has obtained hundreds of vials of lethal injection drugs, allowing it to 
put a condemned child killer to death next month and conduct multiple 
executions after it, records show.

Inventory logs obtained by The Associated Press through a public records 
request show the state received supplies 3 times in September and October for 
the 1st drug used in the process, a sedative called midazolam that's been at 
the center of several lawsuits over lethal injection.

The records show the state obtained supplies twice in September and October for 
the second drug used in the process and three times in September for the t3rd 
drug.

The state has said the drugs it plans to use on the first 3 executions this 
year are standard drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, though it 
won't say where they came from. Attorneys for death row inmates have raised 
concerns the state may have to resort to drugs from compounding pharmacies, 
which produce specialty batches and aren???t subject to the same type of 
federal regulation as FDA-approved drugs.

Attorneys have been unable to identify the suppliers or producers because of 
the 2015 law and because recent federal court rulings bar them from obtaining 
the information through usual evidence channels.

The logs show the state could conceivably carry out dozens of executions with 
these supplies. What's unclear is the drugs' expiration dates - information not 
provided on the logs - which could control whether they're available for future 
executions.

JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Ohio prisons agency, declined to comment.

The state plans to execute Ronald Phillips on Feb. 15 for the 1993 rape and 
murder of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter in Akron. 7 other executions are 
also scheduled this year.

The logs obtained by the AP show:

-- The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction received 750 vials of 
midazolam on Sept. 9; 750 vials again on Oct. 3; and 100 vials on Oct. 27. That 
could be enough for as many as 40 executions.

-- The state received 150 vials of rocuronium bromide, a paralytic drug and 
the 2nd drug administered, on Sept. 9; and 80 vials of the drug on Sept. 30. 10 
of those vials would be enough for 1 execution.

-- The state received 12 vials of potassium chloride, a drug that stops the 
heart and the last drug administered, on Sept. 9; 12 vials on Sept. 23; and 150 
vials on Sept. 30. That could be enough for dozens of executions.

Ohio and other states have struggled to find legal supplies of execution drugs.

Drugmakers have by and large put their drugs off-limits for executions. Last 
year, Pfizer put 7 drugs off-limits, including the 3 drugs to be used by Ohio. 
But drugs like midazolam are widespread, found everywhere from dental offices 
to veterinary clinics, making it difficult to trace the origin.

Executions have been on hold in Ohio since January 2014, when Dennis McGuire 
gasped and snorted during the 26 minutes it took him to die, the longest 
execution since the state resumed putting prisoners to death in 1999.

The state used a 2-drug method with McGuire, starting with midazolam, its 1st 
use for executions in the country.

Attorneys challenging Ohio's new 3-drug method say midazolam is unlikely to 
relieve an inmate's pain. The drug, which is meant to sedate inmates, was also 
used in a problematic 2014 execution in Arizona. But last year, the U.S. 
Supreme Court upheld the use of midazolam in a case out of Oklahoma.

The state says the method is similar to Ohio's past execution process, which 
survived court challenges. State attorneys also say the Supreme Court ruling 
last year makes clear that the use of midazolam is allowable.

A trial challenging the state's execution method was wrapping up Monday in 
federal court in Dayton. Testifying for the state last week, a member of the 
execution team that put McGuire to death said he was puzzled by McGuire's 
reaction and "was wondering what was going on."

Another execution team member testified he didn't believe McGuire suffered.

(source: Associated Press)






IOWA:

Remember Iowa's history before seeking capital punishment


Whenever brutal murders happen in Iowa, there's often a call for a return to 
capital punishment. The ambush slayings of Des Moines Police Sgt. Tony Beminio 
and Urbandale Police Officer Justin Martin are the latest examples.

Iowa has had a long history with capital punishment, stretching over more than 
100 years, from the earliest days of settlement in the 1830s, to 1965 when the 
death penalty was repealed. 46 men were executed. There were no women.

As a group, these 46 committed some of the most gruesome murders Iowa has ever 
seen, killing children, police officers, wives, complete strangers and on and 
on.

I've looked closely at each case - and written a book about them - and have 
come away feeling that Iowans, overall, were relieved when capital punishment 
came to an end.

Did Iowa execute the insane? Yes, at least once.

In 1931, Joseph Altringer, a 23-year-old Dubuque sexual predator, was convicted 
of murdering 12-year-old Earl Robert Fuller whose body was found down near the 
Mississippi River in Dubuque. Altringer confessed after 15 hours of 
interrogation and was hanged on Nov. 6, 1931.

In the subsequent autopsy, Dr. Andrew Woods, head of the Iowa Psychopathic 
Hospital in Iowa City, wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association 
that "this prisoner was insane (from a seriously diseased brain, most likely 
from syphilis) and ought to have been confined in a hospital and not executed."

Did Iowa execute the developmentally disabled? Yes, it appears so, at least 
twice, in a single execution.

On March 29, 1946, Phillip Heincy, 72, and his son, William, 45, were hanged 
together for murdering Robert Raebel, a West Lake Okoboji resort owner.

Testimony showed that neither murderer knew much about the world around them. 
For instance, Philip Heincy hadn't gone to school much past the second grade, 
couldn't read or write, didn't know the significance of Easter or the Fourth of 
July, nor the number of months, or days, in a year. Their defense attorney told 
the jury the opportunities for the two "were limited because their intelligence 
did not permit them to get into proper society."

Did Iowa hang a man who had murdered as a juvenile? Yes, on May 13, 1892, 
16-year-old James Dooley murdered his aunt, Lucinda Coons, and his 10-year-old 
cousin, Nellie Coons, on a farm near Corning in Adams County. By the time 
Dooley was executed, he was 18.

Did those Iowans who probably knew capital punishment the best - prosecutors, 
judges, sheriffs, wardens - support it? It often didn't seem so.

Dubuque County Attorney John Duffy rued the day he won a murder conviction of 
Marlo Heinz in 1938 for killing his 6-year-old nephew David Fox. Duffy 
subsequently served in the Iowa Legislature and told his fellow legislators 
he'd been haunted by the conviction and execution ever since. "I don't think he 
(Heinz) got a fair trial and I am not proud of the role I had in his hanging," 
he said.

Pottawattamie County Judge John Tinley said, after overseeing the conviction 
and execution of Allen Wheaton in 1938, that $10,000 wouldn't be enough to 
bring him back to again perform his judicial duty as a witness to the 
execution.

Iowa's county sheriffs were required by law to carry out the hanging, a duty 
that just about caused Polk County Sheriff William Robb, also an ordained 
minister and pastor of the Urbandale Federated Church, to come unhinged. He 
executed 2 in 1922, Eugene Weeks 1st, and Orrie Cross 2 months later, for the 
murder of prominent Des Moines grocer George Fosdick. After the 1st hanging, 
people speculated the sheriff would resign before doing the second, but he held 
it together and was able to do what the law required.

And Iowa State Penitentiary Warden Percy Lainson talked about what it was like 
in the prison as an execution neared. "The hanging wasn't the bad part," he 
said. "It was waiting for days, then hours, that was bad."

Did Iowa find a fail-safe method for carrying out its executions? No, never.

The only method Iowa ever used was hanging and it often went awry. In 1858, the 
rope snapped, requiring William Hinkle to be hanged twice; in 1924, the rope 
snapped again, but this time, Roy Maupin was dead by the time he hit the floor; 
in 1941, Ivan Sullivan gasped for breath for about 10 minutes before doctors 
finally detected no pulse; in 1945, the rope severed the jugular vein of 
William Jarrett, allowing blood to spurt down his body. Some witnesses thought 
he'd been decapitated.

Iowa ended the death penalty in 1965. Gov. Harold Hughes was an outspoken foe 
of capital punishment, and repeal passed both houses of the Iowa Legislature 
easily. In the House, the vote was 89 to 29, with 7 Republicans joining 82 
Democrats in support. In the Senate, it passed 35 to 20, with six Republicans 
voting with 29 Democrats.

(source: DICK HAWS is a retired journalism professor at Iowa State 
University----Des Moines Register)






COLORADO:

New DA McCann says Denver is done with the death penalty


Denver is done with the death penalty. It dies as District Attorney Mitch 
Morrissey leaves office on Tuesday.

His successor, Democrat Beth McCann, sat down with Next, and said she'll make 
good on her campaign promise to remove Denver from the list of the few 
remaining judicial districts in the state to seek capital punishment.

"We are (done) under my administration," she said. "I don't think that the 
state should be in the business of killing people."

McCann believes life in prison gets the point of a punishment across, and "the 
millions and millions of dollars" the state spends on capital punishment cases 
can be saved to prosecute others.

Morrisey sought the death penalty once. It was for Dexter Lewis, who was found 
guilty of stabbing 5 people to death in a Fero's Bar.

Gary Davis is the only person put to death in Colorado since the Supreme Court 
reinstated it in 1976. Davis was put to death in 1997.

McCann is not looking to lead a statewide repeal of the death penalty, and she 
says she'd support a voter referendum on the issue, or repeal in the 
legislature.

Tuesday, 9NEWS will talk to McCann about how she plans to handle prosecution of 
police officers accused of breaking the law, and how her work as a gun control 
advocate will impact how she prosecutes gun crimes in Denver.

(source: 9NEWS)






NEW MEXICO:

GOP to revive death penalty proposal during session


The death penalty will again be an issue in the state Legislature when it 
reconvenes next week.

A capital punishment bill, sponsored by Rep. Monica Youngblood, R-Albuquerque, 
is identical to what was perhaps the most divisive piece of legislation in last 
fall's special session of the Legislature.

But unlike last year, Republicans - who lost control of the House in the 
November election - will have a much harder time getting a capital punishment 
bill to the House floor.

"It's my hope that people don't see it as a full reinstatement of the death 
penalty," Youngblood said Monday.

The state abolished the death penalty in 2009.

Youngblood said her bill, House Bill 72, targets "only the most heinous 
criminals, the ones that prey upon our children and our police officers."

Like last year's bill, which she co-sponsored, Youngblood's new bill would make 
murdering a law enforcement officer, corrections personnel or a child the only 
crimes that would be eligible for a death sentence.

Youngblood said polls show most New Mexicans favor capital punishment for 
certain crimes.

But Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, said Monday the death penalty is riddled 
with problems.

"There have been numerous examples around the country as well as in New Mexico 
of people who were sentenced to death later being exonerated," McQueen said. 
"And it's tremendously expensive. I believe it's a waste of resources. I'm 
hopeful this year we'll make short work of it."

Bringing back capital punishment would bring additional costs to a judicial 
system already strapped by the state's budget crunch.

Sen. Pete Campos, D-Las Vegas, in an opinion piece submitted to various news 
organizations, wrote, "New Mexico's courts face a funding crisis that threatens 
to undermine the judiciary's ability to protect our rights by delivering timely 
justice. ... The prosecution of criminal cases is being impaired. Some courts 
confront the possibility of dismissing cases because the state's public 
defender office lacks the staff and budget it needs to handle more cases."

A fiscal analysis by the Legislative Finance Committee of last year's death 
penalty bill said reinstating executions could cost the state up to $7.2 
million a year over a 3-year period.

"The cost to the judicial system to process one individual through the death 
penalty process, which historically has taken an average of 11 years, is about 
$105,000 per year," the report says. "The cost to incarcerate one individual on 
death row is $51,100 a year."

In the analysis, the Administrative Office of the Courts estimated that a death 
penalty jury trial would cost $12,000 to $17,000 more than a nondeath penalty 
case. More jury costs would be incurred because after finding someone guilty in 
a death penalty case, a jury would have to determine whether to impose capital 
punishment.

The report also said that in cases stemming from the 2007 Santa Rosa prison 
riot - in which prosecutors initially sought the death penalty for three 
inmates in the killing of a corrections officer - the state Public Defender's 
Office spent $474,600 on contract defense attorneys, $1 million on expert 
witnesses and $76,800 on other costs before trial. The total expense to the 
department was $1.6 million.

In that case, the state Supreme Court ruled that unless the Legislature 
appropriated funds in addition to the $1.1 million previously allocated for the 
case, the death penalty could not be imposed. The Legislature didn't approve 
those funds, so prosecutors dropped the death penalty from the case.

HB 72 includes a number of mitigating circumstances - such as the defendant's 
age, mental capacity and prior criminal record - that could be weighed by a 
jury in considering imposing the death penalty. Executions would not be allowed 
if the defendant suffers "intellectual disabilities." And if a condemned inmate 
is pregnant, the execution would be held until the baby is born.

At the end of October's special session, the House voted 36-30 along party 
lines to reinstate the death penalty, with Republicans in the majority. This 
followed a debate that started after midnight and ended just before 6 a.m. Many 
critics, including state religious leaders, blasted House leaders for holding 
the debate during the wee hours without any public notice. Hours later, the 
Senate voted to adjourn without considering the bill.

Last year was the 1st time that capital-punishment supporters made a serious 
effort to bring back the death penalty. The push came following several cases 
of police killings and child murders, including the rape and dismemberment of 
10-year-old Victoria Martens.

Democrats criticized the idea of considering the capital punishment bill during 
the special session, which originally was meant to deal with the state's budget 
crisis. Some said it was nothing but a political ploy for Republicans to use 
during the general election.

If so, that plan backfired. Republicans lost control of the House after 2 years 
of being the majority. Though Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's political team 
was successful in bringing down Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen 
- who opposed the death penalty bill - the GOP suffered a net loss in the 
Senate.

Between 1979 and 2007, when the death penalty was an option to prosecutors, 
there were more than 200 death penalty cases filed, but only 15 men sentenced 
to death and only 1 execution.

Though the death penalty was repealed in 2009, 2 inmates who previously were 
convicted for murders remain on death row. They are Timothy Allen, convicted in 
1995, and Robert Fry, convicted for a murder in 2000.

(source: The New Mexican)

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

New Mexico rekindles efforts to reinstate death penalty


A Republican state lawmaker in New Mexico is reviving efforts to reinstate the 
death penalty as an option for convicted killers of police, children and 
corrections officers.

Rep. Monica Youngblood of Albuquerque has pre-filed a bill that would bring 
back punishment by lethal injection to New Mexico. A spokesman for GOP Gov. 
Susana Martinez said Monday she supports the measure.

A similar bill was approved by the state's Republican-controlled House of 
Representatives in October during a special legislative session but never taken 
up by the Senate. Democrats retook majority control of the Legislature in 
November elections.

Last year's proposal became fodder for election-season mailers accusing 
Democratic candidates of being weak on crime. Leading Democratic lawmakers 
including Senate majority leader Peter Wirth say they are disinclined to take 
up the legislation.

(source: Associated Press)






USA:

120-day Delay Requested in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Death Penalty Appeal


As a 2nd man rejoins Massachusetts' short list of convicts sentenced to death, 
lawyers are reportedly seeking another delay in the appeals process that would 
spare the life of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dhzokar Tsarnaev.

The Boston Herald's Laurel Sweet reports Monday that the team appealing 
Tsarnaev's sentence is requesting another two-month delay to build their case.

Those arguments were initially due last October, but the team received a 
120-day delay at that time. They requested another today, according to Sweet.

Tsarnaev was sentenced to the death penalty in summer of 2015 for his role in 
the 2013 bombings that killed 3 people and injured 250 more. He also killed a 
police officer in the ensuing manhunt. The jury's unanimous decision followed 
14 hours of deliberation.

Also on Monday, convicted killer Gary Lee Sampson lost his 2nd bid to avoid 
death row. A jury added him back to a short list of federal convicts on death 
row and an even shorter list of people from Massachusetts receiving the 
sentence. The death penalty is illegal in Massachusetts, but both Sampson and 
Tsarnaev's cases are federal, and therefore an exception.

(source: Boston Patch)

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

Convicted killer Gary Lee Sampson sentenced to death


After a jury deliberated for more than 16 hours, admitted serial killer Gary 
Lee Sampson was sentenced to death for the murder of Jonathan Rizzo.

In addition, Sampson will receive an automatic life term for the murder of 
Philip McCloskey because the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict. It was 
Sampson's 2nd death penalty case following his 2001 killing spree.

Prior to the verdict, a mysterious letter included with the verdict forms by 1 
of the jurors added a new wrinkle to the case. Judge Leo T. Sorokin said the 
letter came to his attention through a question from the jury, who said a juror 
placed a letter in the packet after the jurors had all signed the verdict 
forms. It is unclear what the contents of the letter are, but Sampson defense 
attorney Michael Burt said the letter should be preserved for the record, 
including possible appeals.

Burt speculated the letter could be evidence of coercion, which assistant 
United States Attorney Zachary Hafer dismissed as speculation.

"Let's stop the speculation," Hafer said. "It could be evidence of coercion, it 
could be a juror sickened by the 20-day defense presentation."

Sorokin answered the question by reiterating instructions given to the jury 
prior to the start of deliberations and telling the jury they "speak through 
the verdict form." He later ruled that the letter would be preserved.

7 men and 5 women began deciding the life or death question last Thursday.

Sampson was sentenced to death in 2003 for the carjacking murder of Boston gas 
retiree Phillip McClosky, 69, and George Washington University sophomore 
Jonathan Rizzo, 19. Sampson was also convicted of killing Robert "Eli" Whitney, 
but because he was not carjacked, that particular killing is not punishable by 
death.

Attorneys for the Abington native argued a death sentence would be "redundant," 
saying Sampson has end-stage liver disease, type 2 diabetes, heart problems and 
hypertension. Burt said Sampson will likely be dead in less than 3 years 
anyway.

Sampson, 57, bears little resemblance to photos taken shortly after his arrest 
that show a physically fit individual with defined muscles showing as he wore a 
sleeveless shirt. The convicted killer is now balding and significantly 
overweight.

(source: Boston Herald)

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

Prosecutors rest death penalty case against Dylann Roof


After 4 days of testimony, prosecutors rested their death penalty case Monday 
against convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, calling more than 2 
dozen people during the trial's penalty phase.

Most of the testimony consisted of heartwarming stories about each of the 9 
people Roof killed in the 2015 attack at Emanuel AME Church. Witnesses also 
talked about the heartrending tales of loss in the wake of the deaths.

Roof, 22, was convicted last month on 33 federal charges, including hate crimes 
and obstruction of religion. The same jury that found him guilty has been back 
in court this month, tasked with deciding if he gets the death penalty or life 
in prison.

Jennifer Pinckney was the government's 1st witness, testifying about the life 
of her husband, church pastor and state Sen. Clementa Pinckney. She also spoke 
about the harrowing minutes she spent huddled underneath a desk with her 
youngest daughter as shots rang out in the next room, unsure if the shooter was 
coming her way.

Survivor Felicia Sanders, who also gave powerful testimony during the guilt 
phase of Roof's trial, wrapped up prosecutors' case at sentencing, talking 
about her creative, 26-year-old son, the youngest victim, and his commitment to 
his faith and Emanuel.

"That night they were getting basic instruction before leaving Earth," Sanders 
said. "I did not know that was going to be the life of them."

Roof is representing himself and has said he plans to call no witnesses in his 
own defense. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel says he expects jurors to begin 
deliberating as early as Tuesday.

(source: Associated Press)