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

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 20



TEXAS:

Nueces County judges have more capital murder cases than capable lawyers to 
appoint


Nueces County has too many capital murder defendants and not enough defense 
lawyers.

When appointing lawyers to indigent defendants accused of the most serious 
offense, state district judges rely on approved attorneys to lead the defense.

But Nueces County has seen an uptick in capital murder defendants. Meanwhile, 
only 4 lawyers in the county are on the list of attorneys who can be "first 
chair," meaning they're the lead attorney on a case.

"I mean, we are out of attorneys," 347th District Judge Missy Medary said 
during a judges' meeting Wednesday.

Medary is the 5th administrative judicial region judge and maintains the 
attorney list for the 11-county area. More lawyers on the list are from more 
southern counties, including Hidalgo and Cameron. Judges may appoint those 
attorneys, but the costs for travel and lodging on top of the attorneys' pay 
would cost the county "a ton of money," Medary said.

A local lawyer may make tens of thousands of dollars off a single capital 
murder case, though it may take about 2 years to resolve either in a trial or a 
plea deal. A lead attorney is paid $200 per hour.

Judges are trying to entice more local lawyers to apply for the list. But it's 
a hard sell, said some of the lawyers who are on the list. Capital murder cases 
can decimate a solo practitioner's practice because of the volume of work.

"It's so time-consuming to do it right," said Jim Lawrence, who has been a 
defense attorney for decades.

Add to that the pressure of your client's life being on the line. In Texas, 
capital murder carries two punishment options: the death penalty or life in 
prison without parole.

"Dealing with a person's life is an emotional strain, to say the least," 
Lawrence said.

In 2016, Corpus Christi police charged 10 people with capital murder. Each one 
is entitled by law to a first and second chair lawyer, a private investigator 
and a mitigation expert. All but one defendant said they couldn't afford to 
hire an attorney and the county provided lawyers.

Nueces County has 6 lawyers on the list of approved second chair attorneys. 
Second chair attorneys are paid $150 per hour.

Defense lawyer Eric Perkins, who is approved to be a first chair attorney, said 
part of the problem is police and prosecutors charge suspects with capital 
murder in cases that - in some lawyers' opinion - don't rise to the level of 
capital murders. In some cases, the charge was downgraded to something less 
severe. But in the beginning, a judge has to appoint a lawyer approved to 
handle capital murder defenses.

Perkins was on the defense team who represented Daniel Garcia, who in 2014 
killed store clerk Mostafa "Ben" Bighamian during an attempted robbery. His 
co-defendants a man who wielded a knife in the store and a woman who drove the 
getaway car were charged with capital murder and appointed a multi-person 
defense team.

Garcia was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison but 
prosecutors dropped the charge against the others. Arturo Navarro pleaded 
guilty to murder in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence. Del Victoria 
Cavazos pleaded guilty to robbery and tampering with evidence for 20 years in 
prison.

There are multiple defendants in 3 killings last year. 2 men are charged with 
capital murder in the March 25 shooting of a couple in a car, 4 men are charged 
with the same offense in the Sept. 1 shooting at a gun shop, and 3 men face the 
same charges in the Dec. 18 shooting of an elderly man in his home.

"A case that is probably not a death penalty case is draining huge resources 
for no good reason," Perkins said.

(source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times)






PENNSYLVANIA:

Where does death penalty stand in Pennsylvania?


The Bucks County district attorney said the investigation into the Abington 
Township couple accused of raping and murdering 14-year-old Grace Packer is far 
from over.

"On its face, this case is obviously very, very heinous factually, but the 
aggravating factors that we have to consider are really really specific," said 
DA Matthew Weintraub.

Weintraub said the death penalty is a definite possibility for Grace's adoptive 
mother, Sara Packer, and her boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan.

The case has received national attention and immense public outcry for justice, 
but if the couple does receive the death penalty, will they actually be 
executed? Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said probably 
not.

"Essentially, it's been suspended by Gov. Wolf. Gov. Wolf has taken the 
position that the warrants will be signed, and they have been signed, but he 
immediately thereafter issues a reprieve," said Morganelli.

Morganelli said death warrants continue to be issued, like that of convicted 
Pittsburgh cop killer Richar Poplawski on Wednesday.

The governor will not stop giving reprieves until the Senate's Advisory 
Committee on Capital Punishment issues a report on the fairness of the death 
penalty. The study has been ongoing for 4 years.

Morganelli said long term, he believes because of a growing anti-capital 
punishment sentiment in the state, the death penalty will be repealed rather 
than enforced.

Meantime, Weintraub said the decision on whether the death penalty will be 
sought against Packer and Sullivan will be made after a series of court 
appearances later this year.

(source: WFMZ news)






VIRGINIA:

The 1st execution under Virginia's new drug secrecy laws didn't go as planned


Virginia's 1st execution in more than a year lasted 48 minutes, about 
half-an-hour longer than expected, raising questions about a controversial drug 
used in several botched cases of capital punishment.

After receiving a cocktail of lethal injection drugs Wednesday night, 
37-year-old Ricky Gray, convicted of murdering a Richmond family of 4 in 2006, 
was pronounced dead at 9:42 p.m. Corrections officials hid Gray from view 
behind a curtain for more than 30 minutes, raising questions about the process. 
The prison said Thursday the delay was due to difficulty finding a vein to 
place the intravenous line, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch. Gray was 
also heard breathing heavily and "snored loudly several times" after receiving 
the injection, the Associated Press reported.

Gray was sentenced to death after cutting the throats of a Richmond couple and 
their 9-year-old and 4-year-old daughters while high on PCP on New Year's Day 
2016.

In Gray's case, the Virginia Department of Corrections used midazolam, a drug 
at the center of the heated debate over the death penalty's constitutionality. 
Midazolam has been used in several high-profile botched executions, like Joseph 
Wood's. Prison officials injected Wood, who finally died after 2 hours, with 15 
times more lethal injection drugs than required.

Critics of midazolam equate its use to cruel and unusual punishment because of 
its questionable effectiveness in putting someone to sleep. Midazolam is used 
to sedate an inmate, followed by rocuronium bromide which stops their 
breathing, and then potassium chloride, which stops their heart.

While current Virginia law allows death row inmates to choose between death by 
electrocution and lethal injection, Gray appealed to the Supreme Court on 
Tuesday, requesting a stay of his execution based on the potential 
unconstitutionality of Virginia's drug secrecy laws. Passed in April 2016, the 
laws allows pharmacies - which Virginia's Department of Corrections hire to 
concoct the drugs - to conceal their identities. The Supreme Court, which 
upheld the constitutionality of midazolam for use in executions last year, 
declined to intervene. Gray's execution was the 1st under the new drug secrecy 
laws.

In 2016, The Associated Press filed a Freedom of Information Request and found 
that Virginia had paid $66,000 to an unnamed pharmacy for vials of midazolam 
and potassium chloride. That's 63 times more than what the state paid in 2015 
for the same drug package.

Prison officials in death penalty states have increasingly turned to midazolam 
amid a nationwide shortage of more traditional lethal injection drugs, caused, 
in part, by the refusal by European labs to export them to the U.S. to be used 
as a tool of capital punishment.

(source: vice.com)

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

Virginia Lawyers Want To Know Why Wednesday Night's Lethal Injection Took So 
Long----"Mr. Gray was observed turning his head from side to side a minute or 
more after the [Virginia Department of Corrections'] 'pinch test,'" attorneys 
for Ricky Gray said.


After another abnormally long execution using the controversial sedative 
midazolam - this one taking place in Virginia - the deceased inmate's attorneys 
are calling for an independent inquiry.

Late Wednesday, Virginia executed Ricky Gray for the 2006 murders of Bryan and 
Kathryn Harvey and their 2 daughters, 9-year-old Stella and 4-year-old Ruby.

Executioners took more than 30 minutes behind closed curtains to set IV lines 
in Gray.

"This is far longer than typical, and VDOC has been able to provide no 
plausible explanation for failure to insert the IV for such a delayed period of 
time," attorneys Rob Lee and Elizabeth Peiffer said in a statement. They added 
that Gray had no history of intravenous drug use.

Problems with IV access are not uncommon in executions. In 2014, Oklahoma 
officials misplaced an IV, resulting in a badly botched execution that lasted 
for 45 minutes with the inmate writhing on the gurney. Last year, BuzzFeed News 
examined Georgia's internal lethal injection timelines and found that 
executioners struggled to set IV lines - struggling for nearly an hour before 
one execution.

Once they were able to set the IV line, executioners started the lethal 
injection. After the inmate is injected with the sedative, the department of 
corrections pinches him to see if he responds to pain. If the inmate is awake 
or capable of feeling pain, the next 2 drugs, a paralytic and a drug that stops 
the heart, would be incredibly painful.

"Mr. Gray was observed turning his head from side to side a minute or more 
after the VDOC's 'pinch test,'" the attorneys said.

They said it could indicate he was reacting to suffocating, or it could show 
"that he was roused to consciousness by the introduction of a 'noxious 
stimuli.'"

"If Mr. Gray were conscious during the administration of either of the 2nd 2 
drugs, he would have suffered excruciating pain," they noted.

In a statement, Virginia Department of Corrections spokesperson Lisa Kinney 
said that the execution "was carried out in accordance with" the protocol, and 
that the "time needed to find a vein for IV insertion varies from person to 
person."

"Contrary to statements made to media by Mr. Gray's attorneys, Mr. Gray did not 
respond to the noxious stimuli test," Kinney said.

The ACLU weighed in to back the questions raised by Gray's attorneys, with a 
Virginia ACLU official saying on Thursday that the known facts "certainly 
suggest that something unusual happened" with Gray's execution.

"The ACLU of Virginia opposes the death penalty and seeks an end to its 
practice in Virginia," ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Claire Guthrie 
Gastanaga said in a statement. "Until that happens, however, the Commonwealth 
must, at a minimum, be fully accountable for the manner in which executions are 
done. The culture of secrecy must end."

Virginia is the 1st state known to have used a compounded version of midazolam. 
Unlike manufactured drugs, compounded drugs are regulated largely by the states 
and have a significantly higher failure rate.

Other states have relied on a manufactured version of the drug and have met 
with similar complications. Last month, Alabama's execution of Ronald Smith 
took more than 30 minutes with him heaving and coughing for about 13 minutes, 
according to 2 press witnesses. An Associated Press witness noted Smith 
"clenched his fists and raised his head during the early part of the 
procedure."

In Alabama's previous attempt using midazolam, 1 of the inmate's eyes were open 
during the procedure.

In recent months, 2 death penalty states - Arizona and Florida - removed 
midazolam from their execution protocols. Arizona has also agreed to never use 
the drug again. (source: Chris McDaniel is a death penalty reporter for 
BuzzFeed News)

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

Executed man's lawyers raise concerns about lethal injection----Attorneys for a 
convicted killer executed in Virginia say they're concerned his lethal 
injection caused a painful death


Attorneys for a convicted killer executed in Virginia for the brutal killings 
of a family in 2006 said Thursday that they are concerned that his lethal 
injection caused a painful death.

Ricky Gray was pronounced dead at 9:42 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a 3-drug 
injection for the slayings of 9-year-old Stella Harvey and her 4-year-old 
sister, Ruby. Gray killed the girls along with their parents, Bryan and Kathryn 
Harvey, at their Richmond home while the family was preparing to host a New 
Year's party.

The process of inserting an IV into Gray - which neither the public nor Gray's 
attorneys witnessed - took more than 30 minutes, which is longer than usual. 
Lisa Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, 
attributed the delay to difficulty finding a vein for the IV.

But Gray's attorneys said Thursday they didn't find that to be a "plausible 
explanation." They also questioned whether Gray was fully unconscious when the 
2nd or 3rd drugs were injected, noting that his head moved side to side after 
the so-called "pinch test."

"If Mr. Gray were conscious during the administration of either of the second 
two drugs, he would have suffered excruciating pain," his attorneys - Rob Lee, 
Jonathan Sheldon and Elizabeth Peiffer - said in a statement. They added that 
the circumstances around his execution raise "significant questions" about 
Virginia's lethal injection protocol.

Kinney did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking comment 
about the attorneys' concerns.

The 39-year-old inmate was put to death with the sedative midazolam, followed 
by rocuronium bromide to halt breathing, and potassium chloride, which stops 
the heart. Virginia obtained the midazolam and potassium chloride from a 
compounding pharmacy, whose identity is shielded from the public under Virginia 
law.

Gray's attorneys had argued that the drugs would cause him pain and suffering 
because midazolam cannot reliably render someone unconscious. They also argued 
that the state's plans to use compounded drugs magnified the risk of problems 
because compounding pharmacies are not as heavily regulated as traditional 
pharmacies.

Gray was brought into the execution chamber at 8:52 p.m. and a curtain was 
closed, shielding the public's view while officials placed an IV line and heart 
monitors. The curtain remained closed for 33 minutes before it was opened and 
the injection began. Gray's lawyers and other witnesses present for the 
execution said 33 minutes was unusually long.

During Virginia's last execution, the process took just under 15 minutes.

Gray's attorneys said prison staff had inspected his body and veins prior to 
the execution. He did not have a history of intravenous drug use or anything 
else that could have caused a problem, they said.

Once the execution began, Gray appeared to breathe heavily for several minutes. 
At 9:32, an official took off his shoes and touched Gray to ensure he was 
unconscious before injecting the 2nd drug. Shortly afterward, Gray's head moved 
from side to side before he stopped moving.

Gray's attorneys said they are concerned his head movement may suggest that he 
was roused to consciousness by the 2nd drug, which would have caused him to 
suffer "excruciating pain."

(source: Associated Press)






GEORGIA:

Catholic bishops call on Georgia district attorney to remove the death penalty 
from case involving murdered priest


3 Catholic bishops from Florida and Georgia will hold an 11 a.m. joint news 
conference on Tuesday, January 31, at the Richmond County Courthouse in 
Augusta.

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Bishop Gregory J. 
Hartmayer, OFM Conv. of the Diocese of Savannah, and Bishop Felipe J. Estevez 
of the Diocese of Saint Augustine are calling on Ashley Wright, district 
attorney for the Augusta Judicial Circuit, to reverse her decision to seek the 
death penalty in the case against Steven James Murray in the Superior Court of 
Burke County.

Steven Murray was indicted on May 25, 2016 by a Burke County Grand Jury for the 
April 11, 2016 killing of Father Rene Robert, a priest of the Diocese of Saint 
Augustine.

District Attorney Wright filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty 
citing 4 aggravating circumstances in the retired priest's murder including 
that it was committed during the commission of kidnapping with bodily injury 
and that it was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman in that it 
involved torture, depravity of mind, or an aggravated battery to the victim."

On May 26, Bishop Estevez wrote to Wright explaining that Father Robert left a 
signed and notarized 4-page "Declaration of Life" declaring that should he die 
as a result of a violent crime, he does not want the person or persons found 
guilty of homicide for his killing to be subject to or put in jeopardy of the 
death penalty under any circumstances, no matter how heinous their crime or how 
much he may have suffered.

Bishop Estevez did not receive a reply to his letter from Wright.

In a June 5, 2016 St. Augustine Record story, Wright gave the reporter no 
indication that the contents of the Declaration of Life would have much sway 
over her decision making.

"When I make a decision to seek a particular punishment it is based upon fact 
and law, and not based on public opinion or sentiment," she said.

In December, Bishop Estevez received signatures from more than 6,400 Catholics 
in his diocese asking that Father Rene's request in his "Declaration of Life" 
be honored by the Georgia courts. The collected signatures will be taken to 
Wright following the January 31 news conference.

Those interested in supporting the effort to remove the death penalty from the 
case against the accused of the murder of Fr. Robert are encouraged to attend 
the 11 a.m. January 31press conference outside the Richmond County Courthouse. 
For more information, contact Diocese of Savannah communications director 
Barbara King at 912-201-4051 or bdking at diosav.org. (source: 
southerncross.diosav.org)






FLORIDA:

BSO deputy's killer on death row gets new sentencing hearing


The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday overturned death sentences for 3 men, 
including a convicted killer of a Broward County Sheriff's deputy.

Lancelot Uriley Armstrong was convicted of killing John Greeney, a BSO deputy 
and Air Force veteran, during a 1990 armed robbery at a Church's Fried Chicken 
in Fort Lauderdale. The jury voted 9-3 to sentence him to death and gave 
another man involved in the armed robbery a life sentence.

Now, Armstrong, as well as Donald Otis Williams, convicted of kidnapping and 
murdering an 81-year-old woman in 2010, and William M. Kopsho, sentenced for 
killing his wife in 2000 after learning she was having an affair, will have new 
sentencing hearings.

It's possible they could still be sentenced to death, but they could also see 
their sentences commuted to life in prison.

Courts will empanel new juries to decide how to sentence each of these men, 
though they will not determine whether they are guilty, as their 1st-degree 
murder convictions have not been overturned.

If the Florida Legislature updates the state's death penalty laws to require a 
unanimous vote for a death sentence - as state Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Orlando, 
has proposed (SB 280) - then a vote of all 12 jurors could put them to death. 
Anything less would lead to a life sentence. (The state Supreme Court threw out 
Florida???s death penalty laws as unconstitutional last year because they did 
not require unanimous jury votes.)

By demanding new sentencing hearings in these cases, the court is putting into 
practice a Dec. 22 ruling that could lead to life sentences for some of the 
200-plus death row prisoners whose cases were finalized after a key U.S. 
Supreme Court ruling in 2002.

It's likely similar decisions will continue to trickle out of the court in the 
coming months.

In the December rulings, the justices decided that death sentences finalized 
after June 2002 were unconstitutional because they did not require a unanimous 
jury vote and because the judge could impose a death sentence without the 
jury's approval. It's a standard critics, including Senior Justice James Perry, 
have criticized as "arbitrary."

Older sentences still stand. The court affirmed 2 of them Thursday, as well, 
including the case of Stanley McCloud, convicted of killing his wife with a 
.357 magnum in front of their 2 young children.

(source: miamiherald.com)

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

Admitted Santa Rosa murderer looks to sidestep death penalty


A local man who admitted to killing a Santa Rosa County couple and a former 
local narcotics officer to feed his prescription pill addiction now is 
demanding a speedy trial before state lawmakers rework Florida's capital 
punishment procedures.

Derrick Ray Thompson, 43, filed a demand for a speedy trial Tuesday morning 
after almost 2 years of incarceration in connection with the deaths of the 3 
people. He is charged with 3 1st-degree murder charges stemming from July 2014, 
including the shooting death of a former Bay County Sheriff's officer and 
nightclub owner, 66-year-old Allen Johnson. Thompson faces the death penalty 
in2 circuit courts, but his case - like all other capital punishment cases in 
Florida - has been in limbo since the U.S. Supreme Court last year upended the 
state's death penalty procedures.


However, the move Tuesday signaled Thompson intends to push through a 
resolution in his cases sooner rather than later. The demand effectively would 
give the prosecution and court only 60 more days to prepare for trial. It's 
unclear if the death penalty phase could be postponed until state lawmakers can 
appease the high court.

Thompson did not appear in court for the hearing as he is currently being held 
in Santa Rosa County, where a similar motion has been filed. His defense 
attorney Kim Jewell appeared on his behalf to partially explain the sudden 
haste.

Prosecutor Larry Basford, chief deputy of the State Attorney's Office, did not 
immediately respond to the demand. Neither did Circuit Judge Hentz McClellan, 
who determined all parties should review the filing and meet again Thursday to 
discuss an outcome.

Police said Thompson, of Pensacola, confessed to all 3 homicides after his 
capture but later pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors in Santa Rosa County also are pursuing the death penalty for 
Thompson in connection with the fatal shootings of Milton residents Steven 
Zackowski, 60, and Debra Zackowski, 59. Prosecutors have said Thompson first 
will be tried in Santa Rosa County for their deaths. No trial dates have been 
set.

(source: Santa Rosa Press Gazette)

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

Court overturns 3 death sentences, including cop killer's


The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday overturned death sentences for 3 men, 
including a convicted cop killer.

Lancelot Uriley Armstrong was convicted of killing John Greeney, a Broward 
County sheriff's deputy and Air Force veteran, during a 1990 armed robbery at a 
Church's Fried Chicken in Fort Lauderdale. The jury voted 9-3 to sentence him 
to death and gave another man involved in the armed robbery a life sentence.

Now, Armstrong, as well as Donald Otis Williams, convicted of kidnapping and 
murdering an 81-year-old woman in 2010, and William M. Kopsho, sentenced for 
killing his wife in 2000 after learning she was having an affair, will have new 
sentencing hearings.

It's possible they could still be sentenced to death, but they could also see 
their sentences commuted to life in prison.

Courts will empanel new juries to decide how to sentence each of these men, 
though they will not determine whether they are guilty, as their first-degree 
murder convictions have not been overturned.

If the Florida Legislature updates the state's death penalty laws to require a 
unanimous vote for a death sentence -- as state Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Orlando, 
has proposed (SB 280) -- then a vote of all 12 jurors could put them to death. 
Anything less would lead to a life sentence. (The state Supreme Court threw out 
Florida's death penalty laws as unconstitutional last year because they did not 
require unanimous jury votes.)

By demanding new sentencing hearings in these cases, the court is putting into 
practice a Dec. 22 ruling that could lead to life sentences for some of the 
200-plus death-row prisoners whose cases were finalized after a key U.S. 
Supreme Court ruling in 2002.

It's likely similar decisions will continue to trickle out of the court in the 
coming months.

In the December rulings, the justices decided that death sentences finalized 
after June 2002 were unconstitutional because they did not require a unanimous 
jury vote and because the judge could impose a death sentence without the 
jury's approval. It's a standard critics, including Senior Justice James Perry, 
have criticized as "arbitrary."

Older sentences still stand. The court affirmed 2 of them Thursday, as well, 
including the case of Stanley McCloud, convicted of killing his wife with a 
.357 magnum in front of their 2 young children.

(source: Tampa Bay Times)






ALABAMA:

Insanity defense being pursued in Huntsville death penalty trial


Defense attorneys for a Huntsville man accused of fatally strangling his wife 
and young son are seeking to prove Stephen Marc Stone is not guilty by reason 
of insanity.

An independent expert hired by the defense found Stone, 37, is not competent to 
stand trial in the Feb. 24, 2013 deaths of Krista and Zachary Stone, according 
to Madison County Court records.

The attorneys said in court filings they are now asking for a court-ordered 
mental evaluation.

The death penalty trial is scheduled to begin March 6 in Madison County Circuit 
Court.

A paraplegic man who died in his daughter's arms and a 37-year-old fatally 
beaten by her boyfriend are among north Alabama's homicide victims for whom 
prosecutors hope to get justice in 2017.

Stone admitted to strangling his 32-year-old wife and 7-year-old son after an 
argument about his failure to return home from a visit with his parents, 
according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.

After killing his wife, Stone also strangled the boy and drowned him a bathtub 
to make sure he was dead, police have said. The bodies were found on the 
couple's bed with the boy wrapped in towels.

The defense attorneys are arguing the court must understand Stone's mental and 
emotional state before determining whether he's competent to stand trial.

"His competency is also important in determining whether the defendant is 
competent in assisting in his own defense," a defense motion reads.

A status hearing is set for Feb. 10 at 11 a.m.

(source: al.com)