[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., FLA., ALA., MISS., NEB., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

March 23


PENNSYLVANIA:

Prosecutors to seek death penalty in slayings of Lancaster brothers


Prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty against 2 18-year-olds accused 
of killing 2 brothers in their Lancaster home.

The Lancaster County district attorney's office on Wednesday filed notices of 
intent to seek death sentences against Joshua M. Proper and Juan Cristo-Munoz.

Proper and Cristo-Munoz are charged with homicide, robbery, and burglary in the 
Feb. 19 killings of 61-year-old Leroy Kinsey and 62-year-old Richard Walton.

The notices cite 4 aggravating circumstances for jurors to consider at 
sentencing. The district attorney's office says Proper and Cristo-Munoz 
committed the killings while committing felonies of burglary and robbery, and 
the pair presented a grave risk of death to another person in the home. 
Prosecutors added that torture was involved in killing 1 of the brothers.

Proper admitted to investigators that he and Cristo-Munoz went to the brothers' 
home in the 600 block of Poplar Street to steal money. He said they got into 
the house through a 1st-floor window and encountered Kinsey in the living room 
before stabbing him in the chest, shoulder and neck, the criminal complaint 
states.

The 2 then went to the 2nd floor and came upon Walton in a front bedroom. 
Proper told police that Cristo-Munoz used a large sword to strike Walton's 
lower body and legs.

Authorities said a caretaker who lived in the home escaped and called 911 after 
hearing suspicious noises.

Responding officers found Proper and Cristo-Munoz hiding in the basement. They 
said the 2 had blood all over their clothing, Munoz had a knife in his 
sweatshirt pocket, and Proper had Kinsey's wallet.

Proper and Cristo-Munoz remain in Lancaster County Prison without bail. Both 
waived preliminary hearings last week.

Arraignment dates in Lancaster County Court are scheduled for April 13.

(source: ABC News)




FLORIDA:

The Question of Death, not Deserving.


You may kill a cop, you may kill a pregnant woman, but do you also then deserve 
to die?

Death Penalty A short exchange of bullets, a choice by the officer not to 
retreat, and the response on part of the perpetrator - follow, and then kill. 
The gunshot left ripples along the coast of Florida, resulting in a region-wide 
manhunt for one Markeith Lloyd, who fled the scene from a Walmart parking lot 
where he had shot and killed a police officer who was laying on the ground, 
wounded from a previous shot. The manhunt stretched into the night and onto the 
next day and throughout the following week, with civilians and police 
throughout the area on high alert in search of the gunman for 9 long days. 
Lloyd was already on the run, having spent the previous month skirting around 
authorities after killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend, injuring her brother and 
threatening several of her family members.  But this time he killed a police 
officer, and there were witnesses. Lloyd was now known to be dangerous, armed, 
and not afraid of acting again, or in public.

When Lloyd was found and captured on January 17, 2017, there was a wave of 
relief throughout the police force and the local civilian population. There was 
nationwide agreement echoing from the news cycle that the capture of Lloyd was 
a massive relief, and that the death penalty was imminent. What else could 
result from the brutal murder of an unarmed pregnant woman, followed by the 
murder of a wounded police officer, laying helplessly in a Walmart parking lot 
when Lloyd followed the fatal shot? Lloyd was clearly dangerous, and had no 
qualms about striking again if his own safety depended on it. The death 
penalty, it was decided, was by far the rightful course of action, and it was 
only a matter of time before that was to be enacted.

However, just 2 months later it was revealed that the death penalty was not in 
Lloyd's future after all. Orange Osceola County State Attorney Aramis Ayala 
revealed in a statement on March 17th that she would not be pursuing the death 
penalty for Lloyd, nor would she be pursuing capital punishment in any current 
or future case due to the current standards regarding the death penalty in 
Florida. Ayala cited a series of concerns, including question of benefits to 
public safety, to police officer safety, and economic concerns regarding the 
cost of execution in comparison to life imprisonment.

The news that the death penalty would not be pursued in the case of Lloyd upset 
many, causing a wide range of backlash against Ayala. However, Ayala is far 
from alone in her line of reasoning. In fact, use of the death penalty as a 
means of punishing criminals has dropped significantly nationwide as there is a 
scramble to find more ethical ways to execute charged criminals. Between the 
cost of executions, issues with the drugs that are typically used in executions 
being inaccessible and not entirely effective, and concerns regarding the best 
way for the death penalty to be enacted to begin with, many prosecutors are 
opting to fight for life imprisonment rather than bring the issue of a death 
penalty.

The line of reasoning here is that juries are more likely to accept a proposal 
for life imprisonment than they are to approve the death penalty right out. 
However, proponents for the death penalty continue to argue that charging life 
imprisonment puts unnecessary stress on the prison system, and creates undue 
mental stress on the prisoner, who will be kept in solitary confinement for the 
majority of their life sentence.

As charges of the death penalty continue to drop, questions regarding the most 
ethical and effective means of punishing crime and dissuading future offenders 
continues to be had. Whether or not the death penalty is the right course of 
action, the reality is that it is not the current course of action, even in 
cases as seemingly open-shut as that of Markeith Lloyd.

(source: Commentary, Doug Kaplan----orlando-politics.com)





ALABAMA:

Court appearance Friday for 4 young men charged with killing 2 men in 2015


Attorneys for Joseph Cowan, who is charged with capital murder in the shooting 
death of two Decatur men in May 2015, will ask a Morgan County Circuit Court 
judge Friday to take the death penalty off the table for their client.

Judge Jennifer Howell will consider a motion from Cowan’s attorneys to rule 
that the state’s capital murder sentencing scheme is unconstitutional or to bar 
the death penalty if he is convicted. Howell will hear other motions from 
Cowan’s defense team, along with several motions filed by co-defendants Cedric 
Cowan, Amani Goodwin and Cortez Mitchell at Friday’s 10 a.m. hearing.

Other motions Howell will consider include dismissing the indictment against 
Cedric Cowan for possible double jeopardy, throwing out Mitchell’s sworn 
statement to police, and for separate trials of the defendants.

Brian White, who is representing Joseph Cowan, said Alabama law allowing a 
judge to disregard a jury’s recommendation that a person convicted of capital 
murder be sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole and sentence 
the defendant to death is unconstitutional.

The motion leans heavily on the sentencing in a Florida capital murder case 
that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was unconstitutional because it allowed the 
judge to independently determine if the aggravating circumstances in a case 
warrant the death penalty.

“If the judge finds the aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors, 
then the judge can impose a sentence of death even if it contradicts the jury’s 
advisory verdict,” White and co-defense attorney Jake Watson said in their 
motion.

Florida since has changed its law to conform to the Supreme Court’s ruling. 
White said separate bills in the Alabama House and Senate are being considered 
that would give a jury the final decision of life or death in a capital murder 
case.

White said Alabama is the only state that allows “judicial override” by a judge 
in sentencing of a capital murder case.

“These are interesting times in death penalty litigation,” White said. “We may 
be arguing something that may take care of itself.”

Joe Lewis, a Morgan County assistant district attorney, said in a reply to 
Joseph Cowan’s motion that Alabama’s death sentence procedure is different than 
Florida’s because a jury here must find at least one aggravating factor to 
recommend the death penalty.

“The plain fact is, under present Alabama law, a trial judge may not issue a 
death sentence in a capital case without a unanimous finding of fact by a jury 
over and above the finding of guilt,” Lewis said in a court filing.

Joseph Cowan is the only defendant who could face execution if convicted of 
capital murder in the shooting deaths of Antonio Hernandez-Lopez in his 
Southwest Decatur home’s carport and Shane Davis, who was found dead in Wilson 
Morgan Park.

Joseph Cowan was 20, Goodwin was 17, and Cedric Cowan and Mitchell were both 16 
when the crimes occurred.

Cedric Cowan, Mitchell and Goodwin face either life in prison without the 
chance of parole or life in prison with the chance of parole after serving 30 
years, if convicted of capital murder. They are not eligible for the death 
penalty because they were juveniles when the crimes happened.

Howell in November denied youthful offender status to all four defendants. The 
maximum sentence for a youthful offender is three years in a juvenile facility.

Cedric Cowan’s attorneys filed a motion to have his indictment dismissed 
because he has been charged with multiple crimes under the same state law and 
from a single act. Cowan and the others are charged with 1 count each of 
capital murder and robbery for the death of Hernandez-Lopez, Davis, and for 
both Hernandez-Lopez and Davis.

“Because it charges him with multiple counts of capital murder arising out of a 
single killing, the indictment exposes Mr. Cowan to double jeopardy,” attorney 
Ed Blair said in the motion.

Cedric Cowan’s attorneys are also asking for a transcript, exhibits and other 
materials from the grand jury proceedings from which Cedric Cowan was indicted.

Mitchell’s attorney, Joe Propst, said he will ask Howell not to allow 
Mitchell’s “confession” to be used as evidence at trial.

“We intend to show that at the time he gave the statement he was not competent 
to understand and appreciate his Miranda warnings,” Propst said.

A psychologist will testify Friday about Mitchell’s mental capacity, Propst 
said. Mitchell has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by mental disease or 
defect to the charges against him.

Police previously testified Mitchell said in a signed statement that Joseph 
Cowan fatally shot Hernandez-Lopez and Davis. He also said in the statement 
that Cedric Cowan shot Hernandez-Lopez when the victim was lying on the ground.

The 4 defendants were last in court in December when they pleaded not guilty to 
all charges of an 11-count indictment against each. Goodwin and Mitchell also 
pleaded not guilty by mental disease or defect.

They are each charged with 3 counts of capital murder, 8 counts of 1st-degree 
robbery, and 1 charge each of shooting into an occupied dwelling and shooting 
into an unoccupied dwelling.

(source: Decatur Daily)





MISSISSIPPI:

Cruel & Unusual? The Death Penalty's Trials in Mississippi


Richard Jordan, then 29, needed money, so he drove to Gulfport, Miss., looking 
for it back in 1976. There, he called the Gulf National Bank, asked to speak 
with a loan officer and was directed to Charles Marter. Once he had Marter's 
name, Mississippi Supreme Court opinions say Jordan ended the call, then looked 
up Marter's address in a local phone book and went to his house. He entered the 
home pretending to be an employee of the electric company, then kidnapped 
Charles' wife, Edwina, who was there alone with her 3-year-old son. The toddler 
was still sleeping upstairs as Jordan forced Edwina to drive them into a 
deserted area of the DeSoto National Forest.

What happened next in the woods is disputed in court records, but either way, 
Jordan shot Edwina in the back of the head. Jordan's defense team claimed that 
Edwina tried to run away, and Jordan attempted to fire a warning shot and 
missed. The State of Mississippi argued that Jordan killed Edwina as she 
kneeled in front of him "execution style." The bullet, court records say, 
entered her skull at the lower right area of her brain and exited her left eye.

Jordan left her body in the woods and disposed of the murder weapon in the Big 
Biloxi River. He called Charles Marter, claiming his wife was alive and 
demanding a ransom of $25,000. Charles was supposed to drop off the money on 
the side of Highway 49 on a blue jacket that Jordan left there for him.

When Jordan went to collect the money, 2 officers were waiting to arrest him. 
He escaped, but police later caught him at a roadblock. He confessed to killing 
Edwina and told the officers where to find her body. Jordan was first convicted 
and sentenced to death in 1976, and has been waiting to die for about 40 years 
due to multiple sentencing trials and shifts in Mississippi's death sentencing 
law as well as subsequent legal challenges to the use of certain 
lethal-injection drugs in the state.

The now-70-year-old has been sentenced to death 4 times as well as had 5 
capital sentencing trials, litigation necessary because Mississippi law keeps 
changing. At one point, Jordan was sentenced to life in prison without parole - 
until the court determined that at the time, state law did not permit that 
sentence based on Jordan's case. Once the Legislature did change state law, 
Jordan asked for a life in prison sentence, but prosecutors decided to pursue 
the death penalty again instead.

The State might be able to kill Jordan and others on death row if an effort to 
change Mississippi's death-penalty law succeeds this legislative session. 
Still, litigation challenging several components of the state's 
lethal-injection procedures, including a drug the State plans to use, will 
likely keep the 46 inmates, by the state's public defender's count, on death 
row in limbo for the foreseeable future.

Time to 'Change the Language?'

The State of Mississippi is litigating legal challenges to the state's 
lethal-injection law directly. Mississippi last executed a prisoner in June 
2012, Mississippi Department of Corrections records posted online show.

Currently, Mississippi's method of execution is lethal injection with a 
cocktail of three drugs. State law describes its chosen form of the death 
penalty this way: "The manner of inflicting the punishment of death shall be by 
continuous intravenous administration of a lethal quantity of an ultra 
short-acting barbiturate or other similar drug in combination with a chemical 
paralytic agent until death is pronounced."

Mississippi has struggled in recent years to comply with this law, largely due 
to an inability to find those drugs listed in the statute, state officials say. 
In court records, the State claims it has struggled to obtain an "ultra 
short-acting barbiturate" or a "similar drug" to use in its place, and it is 
litigating challenges its proposed use of a drug called midazolam in its place.

In July 2015, the Mississippi Department of Corrections abruptly changed its 
lethal injection-protocol policies, claiming that it could not acquire 
pentobarbital, what was supposed to be the 1st drug in the 3-part series needed 
for executions. MDOC changed its protocol to include alternatives if it could 
not acquire the drug, including midazolam.

This change spurred the shift in focus in lethal-injection litigation for 
attorneys challenging the death penalty who argue that midazolam is not a 
substitute for pentobarbital, arguing among other things, that it's not in the 
same drug class. Midazolam is in the benzodiazepine drug class, while 
pentobarbital is in the barbiturate drug class that state law requires.

House Bill 638 would change this policy entirely. The language of the bill 
calls for "the sequential intravenous administration of a lethal quantity of 
the following combination of substances: an appropriate anesthetic or sedative, 
a chemical paralytic agent and potassium chloride, or other similarly effective 
substance."

Attorney General Jim Hood, the only statewide elected Democrat in Mississippi, 
has pursued the death penalty even in questionable cases, like that of Michele 
Byrom. He told reporters in January that the bill, which lawmakers also 
introduced in the 2016 legislative session before it died, is necessary for 
executions to resume.

"There's some language in there that says 'a fast-acting barbiturate,' and 
that's what we've been litigating all this time. ... Well, there are no more 
barbiturates out there that are fast-acting that are available for executions, 
so we want to take that out of there," Hood said at a press conference in 
January about his legislative priorities.

The legislation would also allow alternative methods of executions, including 
nitrogen hypoxia (death by inhaling lethal gas) and electrocution. Initially, 
Rep. Robert Foster, R-Hernando, had included firing squads as an alternative in 
the bill he authored. That version passed the House, but the Senate took the 
firing squads out.

Foster says lethal injection is the best option, and that the bill is broad 
enough to enable the state to continue to use the method to kill inmates. The 
State would only choose other methods like a gas chamber or firing squad if 
lethal injection is deemed illegal, he said.

"If lethal injection continues to be challenged in the courts, we'll go back 
and use some methods that have been used for decades," Foster told the Jackson 
Free Press. "I think firing squad would be just as good as any of them, I mean 
it gets the job done, and it definitely makes the message clear. It's pretty 
much foolproof - that's why I would prefer the Senate not (have) taken that 
out."

Rep. Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, invited conference on the bill, meaning he did not 
concur with the changes the Senate made to the bill. This means there's still a 
chance that the option to add firing squad as an alternative back into the 
bill. He told the Jackson Free Press that he is inclined to keep the 
legislation alive, but said he had not decided on specifics by press time.

Attorney General Hood seemed optimistic that the State would be able to begin 
executing inmates again in 2017 during a January press conference. "I think 
towards the end of the year, probably. I think it's teed up to (where) the 
courts need to move on (some cases)," Hood told reporters then.

Legal wrangling could stall that hope, however. The lethal-injection litigation 
saga has continued into the new year with new constitutional claims in federal 
court against Mississippi's lethal-injection law.

Stopping 'Botched Executions'

Mississippi's lethal-injection litigation nightmares are coming mainly from the 
MacArthur Justice Center in New Orleans where attorney James Craig, who 
represents several Mississippi inmates on death row, works. In September 2015, 
three inmates on death row, including Richard Jordan, filed a federal complaint 
against the state for violating their rights to due process and "to be free 
from cruel and unusual punishment" under the U.S. Constitution.

Lawyers amended this complaint just months after the Mississippi Department of 
Corrections changed its lethal-injection protocol that July to substitute a 
drug called midazolam as one of the three drugs in the series that creates the 
lethal injection. Midazolam, Craig and other attorneys allege, could create a 
substantial risk of harm to those on death row.

Attorney General Jim Hood asked the Legislature to pass House Bill 638 to help 
move the State's pending litigation around the death penalty forward.

The State denies that midazolam creates a risk and but does admit in court 
documents that "MDOC intends to use midazolam as the first drug in Plaintiffs' 
executions and that midazolam is classified as a benzodiazepine."

The legal challenge against midazolam relies on the question of whether or not 
it is really "a similar drug" to the increasingly hard-to-get barbiturates, 
which Mississippi law currently allows. Midazolam is a sedative considered a 
"benzodiazepine" drug class - not a "barbiturate." Lawyers and advocates 
against the death penalty - and against the use of midazolam - argue that 
midazolam is not a true anesthetic, therefore not guaranteeing that it will 
render a person unconscious, which is its purpose.

Oklahoma state employees used midazolam in the botched execution of Oklahoma 
inmate Clayton Lockett in 2014; the procedure took 40 minutes before he finally 
died of a heart attack.

Arizona and Ohio officials also used midazolam in two executions where 
prisoners "showed visible signs of pain before dying," as Newsweek reported.

The U.S. Supreme Court did not deem midazolam unconstitutional in a case from 
Oklahoma, leaving the potential for future litigation about the drug open, 
since its ruling only applied to the evidence that Oklahoma inmates presented. 
In its 2015 Glossip v. Gross ruling, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the 
prisoners failed to identify known and available alternative methods of 
executions that "entail(s) a lesser risk of pain." The 5-4 decision on June 29, 
2015, came down just a month before MDOC announced that it would change its 
death-penalty protocols to include midazolam.

If House Bill 638 becomes law, this legal question will be moot - because the 
new wording broadens the language, allowing the state to legally use midazolam. 
Attorney General Hood sent a statement to the Jackson Free Press about the 
current bill to change the state's death-penalty law.

"Because we cannot obtain the 1st drug in the 3-drug protocol and now are 
experiencing difficulty obtaining the second and third drugs, we have requested 
a change in the language on the types of drugs to be utilized, as well as 
alternative means," the statement said.

Advocates oppose the use of midazolam as well as the broad language in the 
bill, however. The ACLU of Mississippi, which opposes the death penalty 
generally, also opposes House Bill 638. Blake Feldman, one of the advocacy 
coordinators there, said midazolam is to blame for several botched executions - 
and that it is disturbing that state officials would want to use a drug that 
has been the root of problems elsewhere.

"We can't ignore that what this bill does is it very seriously increases the 
chances of a botched execution. ... The death penalty is a gross injustice, but 
a botched execution by the State paid for with tax dollars in our name is as 
bad as you can get," Feldman told the Jackson Free Press.

While Richard Jordan, Ricky Chase and Thomas Loden's midazolam complaint will 
be moot if House Bill 638 passes, the 3 death-row inmates will continue to 
challenge the use of a 3-drug lethal-injection procedure as unconstitutional.

That is, the state's legal problems over the death penalty are far from over.

Likely 'More Delay'

Craig and lawyers representing Jordan, Chase and Loden still allege that 
Mississippi's 3-drug protocol is unconstitutional. Craig said he was surprised 
that Mississippi's proposed legislation does not change its death penalty more 
drastically. States embracing the death penalty use lethal injection, but the 
majority that actually executed prisoners in 2016 used a single-drug lethal 
injection, often made up of a high dose of pentobarbital. That is the kind of 
drug that Mississippi claims it cannot get, saying it needs to use midazolam in 
its place.

If House Bill 638 becomes law, Craig said he expects to amend Jordan, Chase and 
Loden's complaint in federal court accordingly. Discovery materials in the case 
are due in September 2017, meaning the trial will likely not be held until 
2018, but amending that complaint could delay that litigation even longer and 
keep the 3 inmates alive until it is resolved. Craig said he could amend the 
complaint to add that nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution, both listed as 
alternative methods of execution in the proposed legislation, also violate his 
clients' constitutional right to no cruel or unusual punishment.

"I think we would end up bringing a different set of claims in Judge (Henry) 
Wingate's court. Assuming he doesn't immediately ban it, that's another almost 
year, 2 years delay to what's already going on right now," Craig said.

Judge Wingate himself was temporarily blocked from handling new cases last week 
after Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola directed court clerks to assign 
any new civil cases to 3 semi-retired judges instead of Wingate, the Associated 
Press reported. Wingate has a backlog of pending cases that need to be ruled on 
before he can take on any new cases.

Texas, Georgia and Missouri executed prisoners in 2016 using one-drug lethal 
injections that Craig says are more humane than the three-drug cocktail in 
Mississippi. He added that around 90 % of his legal claims against 
Mississippi's lethal injection procedure would be moot if the State moved to 
using a single-drug pentobarbital lethal injection.

State officials, including the attorney general, claim they have had trouble 
getting their hands on pentobarbital, however, but a recent public-records 
request by the MacArthur Center seems to challenge this.

MDOC released its lethal-injection drug inventory forms showing the state is in 
possession of midazolam - but does not have any other drugs necessary for the 
3-drug injection.

Additionally, MDOC said that no records exist showing "any and all efforts or 
attempts made by MDOC to acquire" any such drugs. That is, it is unclear how 
hard the State is working to get the additional drugs in order to proceed with 
executions.

The 'Alternative Methods'

Mississippi would be the 2nd state in the country to enact a method called 
nitrogen hypoxia if House Bill 638 becomes law. Rep. Foster, aware that the 
lethal-injection litigation is stalling the death penalty, added several other 
measures the State could carry out in lieu of the lethal injection. Originally 
his bill added nitrogen hypoxia (lethal gas), firing squad and electrocution in 
that order as alternatives to lethal injection - if that method is deemed 
unconstitutional.

Most states with the death penalty use lethal injection to execute people. 
Oklahoma, after all its negative lethal-injection headlines seems to be moving 
forward with a new method: nitrogen gas.

In 2015, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill to allow the state to use the 
method to execute its prisoners on death row, and last September, the attorney 
general there suggested that the state needs to develop a protocol for the new 
method, the Tulsa World reported.

The only hang-up for nitrogen hypoxia is that there are no reports of it ever 
being used to legally execute a human, the Associated Press reported in 2015. 
In May 2016, a grand jury in Oklahoma issued a report about what went wrong in 
another botched lethal-injection execution, and in that report, suggested that 
nitrogen gas could be a better alternative for the state to use, The Oklahoman 
reported.

Robert Dunham with the Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks death 
penalties and executions nationwide, confirmed that Mississippi would be the 
2nd state to add nitrogen hypoxia to state law. Dunham said no scientific 
evidence supports the method because it's never been done on humans before. Gas 
chambers that were previously used for the death penalty used different gas, 
usually cyanide, Dunham said. Hypoxia is sometimes used to put animals to 
death, but the American Veterinary Association guidelines say it is not 
appropriate for all species of mammals.

American Veterinary Medical Association developed guidelines in 2013 that 
describe hypoxia. "Some animals may exhibit motor activity or convulsions 
following loss of consciousness due to hypoxia; however, this is reflex 
activity and is not consciously perceived by the animal," it said. "In 
addition, methods based on hypoxia will not be appropriate for species that are 
tolerant of prolonged periods of hypoxemia."

Nitrogen hypoxia would most likely be subject to Eighth Amendment challenges 
for cruel and unusual punishment, Dunham said, as would electrocution. 
Tennessee lawmakers added the electric chair in 2014 as a back-up execution 
method, but courts there chose not to rule on if it is cruel or unusual 
punishment until the lethal injection method there is deemed unconstitutional. 
Mississippi switched from using an electric chair to a gas chamber to execute 
inmates on death row in the 1950s through the 1980s to kill 35 death-row 
inmates. In 1984, the Legislature first added lethal injection as an option, 
and then by 1998 removed the gas provision from state law.

'Let God Sort It Out'

While some lawmakers do not believe in the death penalty, based on how House 
and Senate members voted on the bill this session, most agree that the state 
needs to follow its own laws. Hood said in January that it is his job to 
enforce the law, and if the law is going to be changed, the Legislature will 
need to do that.

Based on the support for his firing-squad amendments in 2016 and this year, 
Rep. Foster says the House seems to be overwhelming for the death penalty in 
the state. House members passed his bill by a vote of 74-44 this session, and 
the Senate passed its amended version (with no firing squad) by a vote of 
38-13.

Foster said he is in favor of executing those who commit the most egregious 
crimes with undeniable evidence.

"When people do just horrible acts of evil, not crimes of passion, but just 
terrible acts of evil, then I do think (there should be a death penalty). It 
does save us money if we do it earlier than drag it out for 50 years, but it's 
not so much about the financial side," he told the Jackson Free Press.

"It just sets a precedent. I don't think it's right for them to be able to live 
their life out in jail and get three meals and have access to workout equipment 
and access to medical care potentially better than we're giving to some of our 
veterans in some cases, for the rest of their lives. ... I think we need to 
send them on for their final judgment at that point and let God sort it out."

Dunham said national public opinion is not on the Mississippi Legislature's 
side when it comes to alternative methods of execution. Public support for 
lethal injection as a method of execution is waning, but a majority still 
favors it, however, over the alternatives. A YouGov poll from 2015 shows that a 
majority of those polled about methods of execution including hanging, gas 
chambers, firing squads and the electric chair believe that they are all cruel 
and unusual. Dunham said Mississippians' support of those alternatives could 
lead national public opinion - and business development in the state - to 
suffer as a result.

"Even if the public in Mississippi thought that (alternatives) were OK, it's 
bad for business because it creates an image of the state as being barbaric," 
he said.

"That is not a good atmosphere for economic development."

Mississippi is 1 of 31 states that have a death penalty. The number of state 
executions nationally has declined in recent years. The Death Penalty 
Information Center reported 28 executions country-wide in 2015 and 20 in 2016. 
Other states use different lethal-injection protocols, some using single-drug 
injections, while others use 3-drug injections like Mississippi. Dunham said 
House Bill 638 signals Mississippi is in line with national trends with states 
dealing with how to execute its prisoners by legal injection when drugs they 
want are no longer available or just difficult to obtain.

"Some states are looking to change the chemicals that they use, but not the 
process," Dunham told the Jackson Free Press. "Others are looking to move from 
multiple to single drugs, and others are looking to back-up methods of 
execution."

An Exhausting Legal Process

A person sentenced to the death penalty technically gets a chance at one 
federal and one state appeal, but several inmates in the state were able to 
file additional petitions after Mississippi created the Office of Capital Post 
Conviction Counsel that did not, in some cases, raise the proper claims, 
leading to more litigation.

Andre de Gruy, the state public defender, said only about two of the 46 inmates 
on death row have exhausted their appeals outside of a lethal-injection claim, 
meaning the rest of inmates on death row are challenging their death sentences 
for other reasons.

"The vast majority of cases are not being held up because of this," de Gruy 
said.

Craig filed a separate post-conviction relief petition on Richard Jordan's 
behalf last summer. Because Jordan has had to wait 4 decades and is now 70, 
executing him should be considered "cruel and unusual punishment," the petition 
argues.

At one point, Jordan was eligible for an agreement to a sentence of life in 
prison without parole, but the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the "life" 
sentence was unlawful under law at the time of his crime. Craig argues that 
Jordan was at a disadvantage in court even in 1998 during his 5th sentencing 
trial.

"Jordan had to confront a jury that would, because of the deaths of (his) 
family members in the intervening years ... never experience the emotional 
force of testimony of those who loved him dearly," Jordan's latest petition to 
the Mississippi Supreme Court says. "In short, Jordan was denied the very type 
of evidence that routinely spells the difference between life and death in 
capital trials in Mississippi."

(source: jacksonfreepress.com)






NEBRASKA:

Chambers' new effort to repeal death penalty elicits emotional testimony before 
Nebraska Legislature


She spent what would have been her mother’s 52nd birthday asking Nebraska 
lawmakers not to stand in the way of executing her mother's killers.

Christine Tuttle urged members of the Legislature's Judiciary Committee on 
Wednesday to reject a bill that would pull their colleagues into yet another 
debate over abolishing the death penalty. Rather, listen to the 61 % of voters 
who went to the polls in November and reinstated capital punishment, she said.

Further, she told senators on the committee that they should feel ashamed for 
celebrating on the legislative floor 2 years ago when a different repeal bill 
passed. Her mother, Evonne Tuttle, was 1 of 5 people killed in the 2002 bank 
shooting in Norfolk.

"I watched you laugh and hug and high-5," she said. "You celebrated on the pain 
and sorrow of my family, and we have heard enough. This behavior hurt me and it 
angered me and it's not becoming of state senators, and I hope and pray that 
you do not make the same mistake again."

For State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, there was no mistake in championing the 
repeal, no shame in celebrating a victory that seemed unattainable in a 
conservative state like Nebraska. Instead, he only sounded resolved to take up 
the old battle once again.

"As long as I have breath in my body and I'm in this Legislature, I'm going to 
do what I think is right," Chambers said. "And I don't think the state should 
kill anybody."

Even as Chambers renewed the signature cause of his 4 decades in public office, 
some of his colleagues took another step to return capital punishment to 
viability. Members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee 
advanced Legislative Bill 661, which would allow the Department of Correctional 
Services to hide the identities of lethal injection suppliers.

Secrecy laws in other death penalty states are credited with making it easier 
to carry out executions. LB 661 has a priority designation, which means it 
almost certainly will be scheduled for floor debate this session.

Legislative Bill 446, Chambers’ repeal proposal, has not been prioritized. So 
even if the Judiciary Committee votes to advance it, the bill probably would 
not be debated before the session concludes June 2.

Despite losing last year's ballot referendum, about a dozen death penalty 
opponents lined up to testify in support of the Chambers bill.

They used familiar arguments: The death penalty costs the state more than life 
in prison; it does not significantly deter crime; it risks executing the wrong 
person; it conflicts with "pro-life" beliefs.

"I don't trust the government to deliver the mail on time or fix potholes. How 
could I trust them to make life-or-death decisions," said Matt Maly with 
Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty.

Mark Metcalf urged senators not to be deterred by the referendum vote, arguing 
that lawmakers who carefully studied and considered both sides of the argument 
gained a better understanding of the death penalty.

"It should not be surprising that our senators could be right about something 
and we the people could be wrong," he said.

Testifying against the bill was Assistant Attorney General Corey O'Brien, who 
said the death penalty is intentionally reserved for a small percentage of the 
most heinous killers.

Also speaking in opposition was Pierce County Sheriff Rick Eberhardt, who 
passed out photos and video of the celebratory scene in 2015 when the repeal 
bill passed. He said voters sent a clear message that Nebraska is a death 
penalty state and their elected officials should act accordingly.

The most compelling testimony was delivered by Tuttle, who described what it 
was like to see her mother on the bank surveillance video as 3 masked men 
walked in with guns.

"You want to yell, they're coming, but you can't," she said. "Before the 
robbery even starts, it's done and all 5 people are dead."

She listed the names of the others gunned down in less than a minute: Samuel 
Sun, Jo Mausbach, Lisa Bryant and Lola Elwood. The 3 gunmen are among the 10 
currently on death row.

And she gave a glimpse of the agonizing conversation she had that day with her 
2 young sisters.

"Has anyone ever told a 3- and 5-year-old that their mother is dead?" she 
asked. "The goodbye hugs and kisses that morning were the last they would ever 
receive from my mom."

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha and Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln apologized, 
saying any displays of emotion on the floor of the Legislature were not 
intended as an insult to the families of murder victims. Rather, they said the 
scene reflected the kind of outpouring that naturally follows any difficult 
struggle over an issue people care deeply about.

Pansing Brooks also said that she resented the implication by the sheriff that 
she and other death penalty opponents were being intentionally disrespectful.

And Chambers told the sheriff the story of a favorite nephew, the victim of an 
unsolved homicide. He told how death penalty supporters wanted to know if he 
felt differently about capital punishment after death had struck such a blow to 
his family.

No, he said he told them, he never for a moment felt differently.

(source: Omaha World-Herald)



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

Senator: Restoring Nebraska's Death Penalty Was Wrong


A Nebraska senator who fought for decades to abolish the death penalty is 
trying again, arguing that the statewide vote to reinstate capital punishment 
doesn't make it right.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha presented his repeal bill Wednesday to a 
legislative committee. It's unlikely to pass, but Chambers says a popular vote 
shouldn't decide issues such as capital punishment.

Lawmakers abolished the death penalty in 2015, overriding Gov. Pete Ricketts' 
veto. Death penalty supporters responded with a ballot petition drive partially 
financed by Ricketts. Voters overturned the Legislature's decision and restored 
the punishment in November.

Nebraska's corrections department recently changed its lethal injection 
protocol after years of failed attempts to obtain the necessary drugs. Another 
bill would let the state hide the identity of its suppliers.

(source: Associated Press)

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


Chambers Renews Effort to Abolish Nebraska's Death Penalty


Nebraska Senator Ernie Chambers, who fought for decades to abolish the death 
penalty in the state, is trying again.

Chambers says the statewide vote to reinstate capital punishment doesn’t make 
it right.

He presented his repeal bill Wednesday to a legislative committee.

It's unlikely to pass, but Chambers says a popular vote shouldn’t decide issues 
such as capital punishment.

Lawmakers abolished the death penalty in 2015, overriding Gov. Pete Ricketts' 
veto.

Death penalty supporters responded with a ballot petition drive partially 
financed by Ricketts and voters overturned the Legislature's decision and 
restored the punishment in November.

(source: KSCJ news)




CALIFORNIA:

Jury recommends death for serial killer convicted in Perris-area slayings


A jury recommended the death penalty Wednesday, March 22, for a Perris man 
convicted of 3 counts of murder in the random slayings of a man and 2 women in 
the Perris-Nuevo area.

David Rey Contreras, 29, is scheduled to return before Superior Court Judge 
John Monterosso on May 12 for his sentence, according to a release from 
Riverside County District Attorney spokesman John Hall.

Contreras on March 8 was found guilty of the 3 counts as well as enhancements 
for use of a knife in each incident. A special circumstance allegation that he 
committed multiple murders ultimately made him eligible for the death penalty.

During the penalty phase, the defense argued that mental illness played a role 
in the slayings and that unusual behavior Contreras had exhibited before and 
after the murders was the result of paranoid schizophrenia. They asked jurors 
to consider an absence of felony convictions prior to the slayings as well as 
Contreras' behavior at work and with family members as reasons he did not 
deserve a death sentence.

The prosecution argued that Contreras' viciously hunted down and killed people 
and that he knew what he was doing. The prosecution asked jurors not only 
consider the viciousness of the crimes toward the victims, but also how the 
slayings impacted the victims' family members.

The first victim, Jose Apreza, 53, of Perris took his dog out for a walk the 
morning of Dec. 29, 2012, and never returned. His wife reporting him missing, 
and he was found dead in a field near his home with roughly two dozen stab 
wounds.

Maria Gonzalez, 51, and her daughter, Consuelo Gonzalez, 25, also were on a 
walk near their home when they were stabbed repeatedly Feb. 4, 2013, on Central 
Avenue near Ramona Avenue in Nuevo.

When charges were filed in August 2013, then-Riverside County sheriff's 
homicide Lt. Joe Borja noted that the law enforcement definition for a serial 
killer is 3 victims or more.

(source: Press-Enterprise)