[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., ARK., USA

[Rick Halperin]

March 25



TEXAS----impending execution

Hurst parents make video plea to Abbott to spare their son's murderer----Glenn 
and Judy Cherry are pleading that Governor Greg Abbott save the life of Paul 
Storey, one of the men who killed their son and was condemned to death.


What his jurors did not know after all the evidence was presented at his trial 
may have doomed death row inmate Paul Storey, according to a clemency petition 
filed Wednesday with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Storey, convicted in 2008 for the brutal execution-style murder of Jonas 
Cherry, is scheduled to die on April 12. Storey's lawyers, his family, and 
Cherry's parents are fighting to save Storey's life.

Cherry begged for his life during the crime, which took place about 8:45 a.m. 
Oct. 16, 2006. Storey and Mark Porter stood over Cherry, who pleaded: "Please! 
I gave you what you want. Don't hurt me!"

They refused and shot him twice in the head and twice in his legs. Cherry, who 
was approaching his 1st wedding anniversary, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Storey and Porter were convicted of capital murder, but only Storey got the 
death penalty. Porter got life without parole after making a deal with the 
Tarrant County district attorney's office.

If recent history is any guide, the chances that Storey's request for mercy 
will be granted are slim.

The reality is at this stage of the proceedings a clemency petition is just 
about the only thing a defendant can ask for. Mike Ware, Paul Storey's 
attorney.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has received 82 clemency applications in 
capital cases during the past 5 fiscal years and has recommended that none be 
granted. Neither Governor Rick Perry nor Greg Abbott have granted anyone 
clemency in a capital case during the past 5 fiscal years.

Texas also tends not to commute sentences for those convicted of crime. Out of 
the 551 commutation applications received during the past 5 fiscal years the 
board has recommended that 4 be granted and Abbott and Perry have granted none.

Perry and Abbott have not granted any emergency reprieves, conditional pardons, 
restorations of civil rights or pardons based on innocence during the past 5 
years, despite the hundreds of applications received by the board during that 
same time period.

The pardons board has recommended that only a few applications be considered 
during the past 5 fiscal years.

Despite the daunting statistics, Storey's advocates say they have hope that 
mercy will be granted in his case.

"Every case is unique and every case should be looked at that way," said Mike 
Ware, 1 of the attorneys representing Storey. "Hopefully we can persuade the 
board and the governor to look at this case as a unique case. The reality is at 
this stage of the proceedings a clemency petition is just about the only thing 
a defendant can ask for."

Storey's attorneys argue in his clemency petition that almost no one associated 
with his case wanted him to be executed. The Tarrant County District Attorney's 
Office offered Storey a life sentence which he refused and Glenn and Judy 
Cherry, the victim's parents, have made a video and sent a letter to state and 
local officials asking that his life be spared.

Storey's mother, Marilyn Shankle-Grant, said Storey told her that he would have 
had to admit to killing Cherry in order to be offered a life prison sentence 
and Storey maintained that he did not kill Cherry.

"Paul said he did not shoot Cherry in the head," Shankle-Grant said.

Misrepresentations

According to the petition, the views of Cherry's parents were misrepresented by 
prosecutors during the original trial.

The prosecution argued that all of Cherry's family and everyone who loved him 
believe that the death penalty is appropriate, the petition said. According to 
Storey's attorneys and advocates, that was not true then and that is not true 
now.

"Judith and Glenn Cherry did not want death for Mr. Storey," the petition 
states. "Unknown to the jury and contrary to the state's argument, they stood 
with the family members who pleaded for the jury to spare Mr. Storey's life."

Subsequent psychological testing also indicated that Storey was just barely 
functional intellectually.

A juror, Sven Berger, who deliberated on Storey's case, signed affidavits 
stating that had he known that the parents of the victim did not want Storey to 
receive the death penalty or had he known about Storey's diminished 
intellectual capacity, he would not have voted for the death penalty.

"I hope that everything works out for Paul," Berger said during an interview. 
"I felt kind of guilty. I still feel kind of guilty. The trial has never left 
my mind completely. And lately, I've thought about it a lot more."

(source: star-telegram.com)

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

2 jurors seated in Colone capital murder trial, but selection could take 
another month


Testimony is still a month away in the capital murder trial of Joseph Colone. 
That's because jury selection could take several weeks.

Colone, 38, is charged with the 2010 shooting deaths of Mary Hernandez and her 
daughter, Briana Goodman.

Investigators say it was a retaliation killing. They say Colone targeted 
Hernandez since she was a witness in a robbery case against him.

Jefferson County 252nd District Court Judge Raquel West brought in a pool of 
120 potential jurors, in anticipation that it would be difficult seating a jury 
for a death penalty case.

Friday was the first time attorneys were able to question potential jurors 
individually. Most of the questioning centered on how they feel about the death 
penalty.

It's a burden not many people find easy to carry. If jurors find Colone guilty, 
he'll either get life in prison without parole or death.

Lawyers told the potential jurors that if they convict Colone, they would not 
directly vote for the death penalty, they would answer 2 questions; Is the 
defendant a continuing threat? And are there any mitigating circumstances that 
would cause a reduced punishment.

One potential juror interviewed Friday said he had not slept in 4 days, since 
learning he might be selected to be on the jury. He ended up being dismissed.

But 2 were seated Friday. Eventually the jury will consist of 12 jurors and 2 
alternates.

The judge is bringing in 8 potential jurors a day - 4 in the mornings and 4 in 
the afternoon - until the panel is complete.

During jury selection, Colone sat by his lawyer, looking engaged in the 
process.

Testimony is scheduled to start April 25.

(source: KFDM news)






VIRGINIA----impending execution

Convicted Virginia killer, set to die, maintains his innocence


Virginia is set to carry out a death sentence for the first time under a new 
protocol that shields more of the execution from public view.

Ivan Teleguz, who was convicted in the murder of his former girlfriend, is 
scheduled to die April 25, 2017.

Prosecutors contend that Teleguz paid to have Stephanie Sipe, the mother of his 
young son, killed in 2001. They said he showed the assailants Sipe's 
Harrisonburg apartment, took them to Walmart to buy a fillet knife to use as 
the murder weapon and drove to Pennsylvania so he would have an alibi.

Teleguz has maintained his innocence, and 2 of the key witnesses against him 
have recanted. There is evidence to bolster the recantations that his lawyers 
say has never been heard in court.

Last October, the Supreme Court declined to take his case on the grounds that 
his original trial counsel was inadequate. Teleguz is now appealing again on 
the grounds that his claims of inadequate counsel have never gotten a full 
hearing. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has declined to 
delay Teleguz's execution for that appeal. Attorneys for Teleguz would like 
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) to issue a pardon or a commutation.

"Multiple witnesses have come forward that both his conviction and his death 
sentence are based on statements that they now admit to be lies," attorney 
Elizabeth Peiffer said. "Justice would not be served by his execution."

A British group that assists Europeans facing the death penalty in America has 
also worked extensively on behalf of Teleguz, who is originally from Ukraine.

If the execution goes forward, witnesses - who could include lawyers, family 
members of the victim and journalists - will not be able to see Teleguz until 
he is restrained and IV lines have been set. The change comes after the January 
execution of Ricky Gray, when administering the drugs took an unusually long 33 
minutes.

The ACLU of Virginia has pushed back against the policy change, expressing 
concern about transparency and asking McAuliffe to halt Teleguz's execution.

"Such secrecy makes it nearly impossible for the observers or the public to 
judge whether an execution constitutes cruel and unusual punishment because of 
the specific method of execution employed or the suffering it causes," Claire 
Guthrie Gastanaga, the state ACLU???s executive director, wrote in a letter to 
the governor.

McAuliffe's office did not respond to a request for comment.

But in recent court papers, Virginia's senior assistant attorney general, Alice 
T. Armstrong, wrote that Teleguz "has not identified any grave, unforeseen 
contingencies; only a desire to avoid the trial court's lawful judgment."

"More than a decade has passed since Teleguz's jury pronounced its moral 
judgment," she wrote. "The bereaved Sipe family is entitled to 'real 
finality.'"

Sipe was found dead in her apartment July 23, 2001, her throat slashed. Her 
2-year-old son was sitting in a bathtub in the next room, unharmed. It took 3 
years for investigators to charge Teleguz, who was convicted of hiring 2 men, 
Edward Gilkes and Michael Hetrick, to kill the mother of his child. Aleksey 
Safanov, an associate, testified that Teleguz was tired of paying child 
support.

Hetrick cut his own hand while struggling with Sipe. As he was leaving, he saw 
Sipe's young son in the bathtub. He turned off the water and left.

Safanov also testified that after the slaying, Teleguz complained that the 
killer had left his own blood at the scene. Safanov said that Teleguz offered 
him money to "eliminate" the 1st hired killer.

But after the 2006 conviction, Gilkes and Safanov recanted, writing that they 
had falsely implicated Teleguz under pressure from prosecutors. Safanov said he 
was promised a visa to stay in the country.

"I don't have any reason to lie about all of this anymore," Gilkes wrote in a 
deposition. "I feel bad about what I did to Teleguz."

But Gilkes refused to testify again after appointed counsel warned him that he 
was at risk of being tried for perjury or losing his plea agreement. Safanov, 
who was living in Kazakhstan, never appeared in court during the appeal. 
Hetrick maintained that he had been paid $2,000 by Teleguz to murder Sipe.

Attorneys for Teleguz argued that Hetrick, who had his own criminal background 
and history of threatening to stab women, was fed information by interrogators.

Teleguz's lawyers also argued that the trial was flawed because their client 
was implicated in a supposed Ephrata, Pa., killing that never occurred. Gilkes 
testified that he was with Teleguz in Ephrata one day when two men, apparently 
Russian, came up and said that if they weren't paid, another man would soon be 
killed. He said a man was killed in the town a few days later, and prosecutors 
referred to that case in arguing for the death penalty. But no such murder 
actually happened.

An appeals court deemed the recantations "unreliable" and upheld Teleguz's 
conviction.

"While Gilkes retracted his trial testimony implicating Teleguz, he failed to 
provide any explanation why he and Hetrick traveled to Harrisonburg to murder 
Sipe, who drove them there or how they ultimately located Sipe," U.S. District 
Judge James P. Jones wrote.

Teleguz's attorneys say that Sipe could have been killed because of drug 
dealing in her family and that both Gilkes and Hetrick were involved in drugs.

Teleguz is 1 of 6 men on death row in Virginia, all of whom committed their 
crimes over a decade ago. Like other states, Virginia has struggled with a 
shortage of drugs for executions. Gray was killed with a previously-unused 
cocktail of drugs that included midazolam, a sedative experts say is not strong 
enough to eliminate the pain of the other 2 drugs used.

(source: Washington Post)

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

Man indicted by Tazewell County Grand Jury facing death penalty


A Virginia man indicted by the Tazewell County Grand Jury on capital murder and 
robbery charges in connection with the December 2015 murder of a Richlands area 
woman is now facing the death penalty.

Barry Joe Coleman, 39, of Richlands, Va. has been indicted for capital 
murder-robbery, robbery of business, statutory burglary of building while armed 
with rape/rob/murder; abduction; solicit by ineligible person-violate 
18.2-308.2 (2)(M); Possession of a Schedule III drug; possession of controlled 
paraphernalia (misdemeanor); cruelty to animals; and possession of a firearm by 
a convicted felon-violent. The indictments handed down by the March session of 
the Tazewell County Grand Jury were released Friday.

Coleman was arrested in late December 2015 and charged on 1 count of capital 
murder and 1 count of robbery stemming from an incident which happened in the 
town of Richlands, Va. on Dec. 16, 2015. He has been charged with entering the 
office of Flanary Storage Buildings on Kents Ridge Road and robbing Nancy 
Carolyn Smith, 58, at knife point and subsequently taking her life, 
investigators with the Richlands Police Department said when he was arrested.

In Virginia, the charge of capital murder comes with the death penalty. The 
Virginia Code describes capital murder as the "willful, deliberate, and 
premeditated killing of any person" while committing crimes such as robbery, 
attempted robbery and abduction.

(source: Bluefield Daily Telegraph)






FLORIDA:

3 death sentences vacated in Orange County


Orange County prosecutors gave few answers Friday during the 1st death-penalty 
hearings since State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced that her office will no 
longer be seeking capital punishment for defendants.

During the hearings, 3 judges vacated the death sentences of 3 men who were 
sentenced to death years ago without unanimous jury decisions: Derrick McLean, 
Sean Smith and David Frances.

"Those will be assessed on a case-by-case basis," Assistant State Attorney Ken 
Nunnelley said Friday, when Judge Bob LeBlanc asked whether his office intends 
to seek the death penalty again for Frances.

Since the 3 men were sentenced, courts have ruled that Florida's former 
practice of requiring only a majority of jurors to recommend the death penalty 
is unconstitutional. Jurors now have to be unanimously in favor of sending 
defendants to death row.

Courts across the state have been vacating non-unanimous capital punishment 
sentences and preparing to give death-row inmates new proceedings in front of 
new juries, which will decide whether the defendants should be put to death or 
get life in prison.

But those proceedings require prosecutors, and it is not clear whether 
attorneys from Ayala's office will push again for capital punishment.

Ayala last week was vague about how her office will handle the cases of 10 
people sent to death row by non-unanimous juries.

"I have absolutely no guidance on that issue," Nunnelley said Friday, when 
Judge Julie O'Kane asked what his office plans to do in McLean's case.

In Smith's case, Judge Marc Lubet cautioned prosecutors not to wait too long to 
come to a decision. "I don't think I can allow the state to wait until the last 
minute," Lubet said.

All 3 cases are scheduled for another status hearing in early May.

McLean, now 39, was sentenced to death by a 9-3 jury vote for the murder of 
16-year-old Jahvon Thompson during a home invasion in 2004. When a neighbor 
heard noise coming from the home and came to ask the family to keep quiet, 
McLean shot him in the back. The neighbor survived.

Smith, who is also known as Dolan Darling and is now 40, was convicted of 
raping and murdering a 39-year-old woman named Grace Mlynarczyk in her 
apartment in 1996. A jury sent him to death row by a vote of 11-1 in 1998. At 
the time of the murder, Smith was 22 and a fugitive, having escaped from jail 
in the Bahamas.

Frances and his younger brother, Elvis Frances, were convicted of strangling 
41-year-old Helena Mills and her 17-year-old niece, Jo Anna Charles, in Mills' 
home in 2000. Mills' son, who was 13, found their bodies. David Frances, now 
36, was sentenced to death by a vote of 9-3 on one count and 10-2 on the other. 
His brother, who was 16 at the time of the murders, was sentenced to life in 
prison.

(source: Orlando Sentinel)

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

Retired judge to Ayala: Fight the governor's decision


When State Attorney Aramis Ayala announced her decision not to seek the death 
penalty in Orange and Osceola counties, the backlash was immediate and 
forceful. The governor got into the act by removing her from a pending 
1st-degree murder case and assigning another state attorney to prosecute it. 
This unprecedented act will have far-reaching effects on prosecutorial 
independence in Florida.

Florida's 20 state attorneys need to look carefully at this unconstitutional 
interference with a local prosecutor's discretion and not let their enthusiasm 
for the death penalty get in the way of the larger issue - prosecutorial 
independence. Approval or disapproval of Ayala's performance as a state 
attorney should be decided in the ballot box and not in the governor's office.

The courts have backed prosecutors' exercise of discretion in making charging 
decisions for many years. For instance, when a prosecutor decides to seek the 
death penalty, that decision is not reviewable by the courts. Neither is the 
decision not to seek the death penalty.

If the governor is allowed to micromanage charging decisions in criminal cases 
simply because he disagrees with the elected prosecutor's exercise of 
discretion, the door is open for the governor to intervene in other charging 
decisions as well, such as in political-corruption cases or cases involving his 
political opponents. Should the governor be allowed to intervene and remove a 
prosecutor whenever he disagrees with a prosecutor's decision in a particular 
case? The answer is clearly "no."

Unlike the federal justice system, the Florida justice system is decentralized, 
with locally elected, rather than appointed, prosecutors independently deciding 
how to proceed in criminal cases. The issue here is a vital one: Are local 
prosecutors truly independent from review by the executive department or should 
the Florida Constitution be ignored and be replaced by a different system?

Florida voters have traditionally been wary of a system of statewide law 
enforcement. Is justice now to come from Tallahassee?

Ayala has 2 choices at this point. She can, of course, do nothing and wait for 
the governor to take further action against her. Or she can mount a direct 
attack on the governor's order by filing suit in Tallahassee seeking to set 
aside the order.

You see, unlike the exercise of a prosecutor's discretion, the courts will have 
the last word on the validity of the governor's order. Florida's prosecutors 
need to encourage Ayala to challenge the order and join with her suit to 
re-establish prosecutorial independence.

(source: Commentary; Retired Judge O.H. Eaton Jr. was a circuit judge in 
Seminole and Brevard counties for 24 years. He presided over numerous 
death-penalty trials during his judicial career and wrote the book Florida 
trial judges use as a guide when trying capital cases----Orlando Sentinel)

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

Florida's First Black State Attorney Faces Death Threats After Refusing Death 
Penalty for Cop Killer


A battle over the death penalty is brewing in Florida, where Orange-Osceola 
State Attorney Aramis Ayala has announced her office will no longer seek the 
death penalty in any murder cases, including in the case of Markeith Loyd, who 
is accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and Orlando 
police officer Debra Clayton. Ayala's announcement sparked immediate backlash 
from the police union and Florida Governor Rick Scott, who called on her to 
recuse herself from the Loyd case. When she refused, Scott signed an executive 
order removing her from the case and reassigning it. Now Ayala, the 1st 
African-American state attorney in Florida history, has been receiving death 
threats, including from local government employees. We are joined by Angel 
Harris, assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: We end today's show in Florida, looking at the escalating battle 
over the death penalty. This month, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala 
announced her office will no longer seek the death penalty in any murder cases, 
including in the case of Markeith Loyd, who???s accused of murdering his 
pregnant ex-girlfriend, as well as Orlando police officer Debra Clayton. This 
is State Attorney Aramis Ayala.

ARAMIS AYALA: I would like to address how my office will be handling death 
penalty cases going forward. In just over a year, Florida's death penalty 
statute has twice been ruled unconstitutional. ... While I currently do have 
discretion to pursue death sentences, I have determined that doing so is not in 
the best interest of this community or the best interest of justice. After 
careful review and consideration of the new statute, under my administration, I 
will not be seeking death penalty in cases handled in my office. Let me be very 
clear, however: I will continue to hold people who do harm to this community 
accountable for their actions. I will do so in a way that is sensible, fair and 
just.

AMY GOODMAN: State Attorney Aramis Ayala's announcement sparked immediate 
backlash from the police union and the Florida governor, Rick Scott, who called 
on Ayala to recuse herself from the Loyd case. She refused. The governor then 
signed an executive order removing her from the case and reassigning it to 
another state attorney, Brad King. Ayala responded by filing a stay of the 
governor's order, arguing he does not have the right to remove her from the 
case.

In the meantime, Ayala, who is the 1st African-American state attorney in 
Florida history, began receiving death threats, including from local government 
employees. The assistant finance director of the Seminole County Clerk of 
Court's Office, Stan McCullars, wrote on Facebook, "Maybe she should get the 
death penalty. ... She should be tarred and feathered if not hung from a tree," 
unquote. McCullars resigned after issuing the threats. The Orlando Sentinel 
reports that from 1877 to 1950, more than 331 black people were lynched by 
whites in Florida - the most lynchings per capita of any state in the country.

For more, we go to Tampa, Florida, where we're joined by Angel Harris, 
assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Welcome to Democracy Now!, Angel. Can you talk about this case and the 
significance of State Attorney Ayala's stand?

ANGEL HARRIS: Absolutely. First off, thank you for having me. One, we, first, 
applaud her for standing up and saying that she will not continue to perpetuate 
a system that we know has many flaws. In her interview, she pointed out, one, 
it is not a benefit to society, nor does it promote public safety. 
Additionally, she says it's not a deterrent to crime. And I believe and agree 
with her on all of those things.

We also must look at the racial disparities of the death penalty. And I think 
it's very relevant when we're looking at the state of Florida and we look at 
not only how many individuals are on Florida's death row, but when we look at 
exonerations. There are a total of 157 exonerations from death row. So those 
are individuals who were sentenced to death, told they deserved to die, and 
then, years later, they were exonerated for various reasons. Of that 157, 52 % 
of those are African-American. When you look at Florida specifically, 26 of 
those 157 exonerees were from the state of Florida. Nearly 60 % of those are 
African-American.

So, when you add that on top of the already inherent shortcomings of the death 
penalty, it's not a surprise to me that she would make such an announcement, 
particularly when we look at the Hurst v. Florida case, that was recently in 
the Supreme Court, where the Supreme Court struck down the way that Florida is 
administering their death penalty. Formerly, Florida, a judge would make the 
decision, over the jury, about whether or not someone would get the death 
penalty. Florida lawmakers then changed that law to have nonunanimous juries. 
So, 10 to 2, a jury could give someone death. The Florida Supreme Court struck 
that down. So there has been a legal battle over the death penalty as it's 
administered in Florida. So, I think, in good conscience, she felt she could 
not do that.

And we really - it's ironic when you hear about her also receiving death 
threats, when you think about the legacy of lynchings in this country, and, as 
you stated, when you think about the legacy of lynchings in the state of 
Florida. At the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, we represented the Groveland Boys, 
who were accused of raping a white woman, and they were essentially called to 
be lynched during that time. And there is repeat history of black men in this 
country being lynched. Lynching was used as a form of social control, which is 
what the death penalty is being used for now. So it's time for us to really 
pull back the curtain and look at the shortcomings of the death penalty. It's 
not accomplishing what a lot of folks are being told that it's accomplishing.

AMY GOODMAN: Angel, critics say that Ayala is breaking the law by saying that 
she won't seek the death penalty. Is this true?

ANGEL HARRIS: No, absolutely not. A state attorney has the discretion to make 
that decision. There is mandatory death sentence - that is not an option in the 
United States any longer.

AMY GOODMAN: And - and - ANGEL HARRIS: So she - go ahead.

AMY GOODMAN: Very quickly, the difference between the response to the killing, 
his killing of the ex-girlfriend and the police officer? And we only have 15 
seconds.

ANGEL HARRIS: OK, sorry. Yes, I mean, I think that also shows another inherent 
shortcoming of the death penalty. It really depends on the victim. When there 
was the accusation that he killed his ex-girlfriend, there was not a manhunt. 
People weren't looking for him. People weren't calling for him to get the death 
penalty. But when there is the killing of a police officer, there is the 
calling of a death penalty. And so, it just shows that it's an arbitrary 
system, and not everyone who murders someone gets the death penalty. It's an 
arbitrary system.

AMY GOODMAN: Angel Harris, we're going to have to leave it there, and thank you 
so much for being with us.

(source: Democracy Now!)






ARKANSAS:

Ark. inmates make longshot bid to avoid double execution----The lawyer said the 
inmates had too little time to put together a meaningful clemency request after 
their death warrants were signed less than 4 weeks ago


2 Arkansas inmates scheduled for back-to-back lethal injections next month 
asked the parole board Friday to spare their lives, a longshot bid as the state 
prepares for an unprecedented four nights of double executions over a 10-day 
period.

While Texas has executed 8 people in a month - twice in 1997 - no state has 
executed that many prisoners in 10 days.

Stacey Johnson and a lawyer for Ledell Lee asked board members to recommend 
that Gov. Asa Hutchinson commute their sentences. Such efforts typically fail. 
The board is scheduled to deliberate Friday afternoon in Little Rock after 
hearing from relatives of the men's victims.

Of the 27 people executed in Arkansas since 1990, 20 had clemency requests 
rejected and the others didn't apply. Gov. Mike Huckabee commuted one man's 
sentence on his own after a reluctant juror stepped forward.

Johnson and Lee are set to die April 20. Other double executions are set for 
April 17, 24 and 27.

A key execution drug, the controversial sedative midazolam, expires three days 
after Kenneth Williams is set to go to the death chamber. Arkansas has had 
trouble obtaining the 3 lethal drugs it needs to put the men to death.

Friday's hearings were the 1st of 5 set over the coming week. Others are set 
Monday and next Friday.

"I'm about to lose my life for a crime I didn't commit," Johnson told the board 
at the Cummins Unit prison, not far from where he is to be put to death.

Lee's lawyer, Lee Short, said his client skipped the hearing with the belief 
that his due-process rights have been violated throughout the case.

"He's got a skepticism of any government hearing, and one that is 
well-founded," Short said.

The lawyer also complained that the inmates had too little time to put together 
a meaningful clemency request after their death warrants were signed less than 
4 weeks ago.

Johnson, 47, was condemned for the 1993 death of Carol Heath, who was beaten 
and strangled and had her throat slit. DNA evidence included a hair found on 
Carol Heath's body. A cigarette butt found in the pocket of a shirt left at a 
roadside park with Heath's blood on it also had Johnson's saliva on it.

Lee, 51, was sentenced to die for the 1993 death of Debra Reese, a neighbor who 
was beaten to death in her home with a tire iron that her husband had given her 
for protection. She was struck 36 times.

Parole board paperwork shows that Lee spells his first name "Ledell" but the 
Arkansas Department of Correction lists it as "Ledelle."

(source: Associated Press)

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

Family members of Arkansas murder victims appeal to board to reject clemency 
bids


Family members of murder victims spoke emotionally Friday, making appeals to 
the parole board just weeks before the scheduled executions of the victims' 
convicted killers.

Stacey Johnson, 47, and Ledell Lee, 51, are set to die April 20 after being 
convicted in the 1993 deaths of Carol Health and Debra Reese, respectively.

The parents and son of Debra Reese, who was beaten to death by Lee in her home 
with a tire iron given to her for protection by her husband, were among those 
who spoke Friday afternoon.

Reese's father and son each broke down into tears as they started speaking 
before the board.

"My mother was everything to me," Reese's son said. "When she was ripped from 
my life, it started a spiral that I almost didn't recover from, and my family 
has lived in the shadow of this event our entire lives."

"Let us step out of the shadow," he pleaded, adding that clemency would offer 
mercy to someone who showed none to his mother.

Holly Lodge Meyer, prosecuting attorney for the 16th Judicial District, said 
the full measure of punishment, referring to the death penalty, is the only 
punishment proportional to the conduct of Lee in Reese's killing.

"The outrage is still fresh, and I can tell you that the case before you is the 
worst that I have experienced," Meyer said, adding her confidence that "[Lee's] 
vileness and depravity knows no bounds."

Heath's family, including her sister, and the prosecutor on the case also spoke 
before the board Friday afternoon. A letter from the victim's daughter, Ashley 
Heath, was read aloud.

Assistant Attorney General Pamela Rumpz referenced Johnson's statements earlier 
in the day to the board, including a claim that he knew the victim. Johnson 
initially said he didn't know Heath.

"I believe that this an attempt to explain away some of the evidence that 
connects him to this murder," she said, adding that hair from the scene that 
matched Johnson's DNA "is the most important thing here."

Heath was beaten, strangled and had her throat slit while her 2 young children 
were at home.

Earlier in the day, the 2 inmates made their bids to the parole board to spare 
their lives, The Associated Press previously reported. Johnson told the board 
that he would lose his life for a crime that he did not commit.

Lee did not appear at Friday's clemency hearing. His attorney, Lee Short," 
cited "skepticism of any government hearing" as the reason for his absence.

(source: arkansasonline.com)






USA:

End the death penalty for mentally ill criminals


Legislators in 6 states - Indiana, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and 
Virginia - have proposed legislation to prohibit the death penalty for 
individuals with severe mental illness. As former governors of states that are 
grappling with this issue, we strongly support this effort to end an inhumane 
practice that fails to respect common standards of decency and comport with 
recommendations of mental-health experts.

The overwhelming majority of people with severe mental illness are not violent; 
in fact, they are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime. 
For the very small number who do commit a capital crime while suffering from a 
severe mental disorder, current death-penalty law does not adequately take the 
effects of their illness into account.

As a result, defendants with severe mental illness - such as schizophrenia, 
bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury - 
continue to be sentenced to death and executed. Last March, Texas executed Adam 
Ward, a man recognized as "diagnosed with bipolar disorder and placed on 
lithium as early as age 4," according to appellate court documents. And in 
2015, Georgia executed Andrew Brannan, a decorated Vietnam War veteran who also 
had a pronounced mental illness. He qualified for 100 % disability from the 
Department of Veterans Affairs because of his PTSD and bipolar disorder.

Although their grave illnesses do not excuse these defendants' crimes, we 
believe that life imprisonment without the possibility of parole would have 
been a more appropriate punishment. Illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar 
disorder are characterized by impairments that - when untreated - significantly 
affect one's ability to distinguish fact from reality, to make rational 
decisions or to react appropriately to events and other people. Under these 
conditions, the degree of culpability may not rise to the level of cold, 
unimpaired calculus that justifies the ultimate penalty.

In addition, people with severe mental illness are more vulnerable to being 
wrongfully accused and convicted. Research has shown that such people are 
overrepresented among cases of false confession because the conditions of their 
illness - such as proneness to confusion and a lack of assertiveness - may 
render them more vulnerable to interrogation techniques and impair their 
ability to invoke their constitutional rights.

Studies have also shown that death- penalty jurors often misunderstand mental 
illness, which is often viewed as an aggravating factor - that is, a reason to 
sentence someone to death - rather than as a mitigating factor, which is what 
it should be. The troubling consequence is that some defendants may end up on 
death row because of their mental illness.

The fact that the death penalty applies to those with mental illness also means 
that veterans with demonstrated PTSD may be executed. Even though most of the 
thousands of veterans struggling with PTSD do not commit the serious crimes 
that may be eligible for the death penalty, an estimated 10 % of the United 
States' death-row inmates are veterans - some of whom suffered from active and 
severe symptoms of PTSD at the time of their crime. These veterans have 
experienced trauma that few others have faced and have made a vital 
contribution to the safety of our country that deserves our recognition.

Legislation being considered on this topic varies by state, but each bill 
creates a case-by-case decision-making process - conducted by either a judge or 
jury - to determine if a defendant has a severe mental illness. Only those with 
the most serious diagnoses would qualify. The legislation has been endorsed by 
major state and national mental-health organizations, including the American 
Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association, as well as 
by faith groups, elected officials and former public safety officials.

The death penalty was not intended for people in the throes of severe 
delusions, living with schizophrenia or suffering from combat-related PTSD. 
These are not the blameworthy individuals whose executions can be justified.

We come from different political parties, but we join the majority of Americans 
- supporters and opponents of the death penalty alike - who believe it should 
not be imposed on defendants with such serious impairments. This is a fair, 
efficient and bipartisan reform that would put an end to a practice that is not 
consistent with current knowledge about mental illness and fundamental 
principles of human decency.

(source: Op-Ed; Bob Taft, a Republican, was governor of Ohio from 1999 to 2007. 
Joseph E. Kernan, a Democrat, was governor of Indiana from 2003 to 
2005----Washington Post)

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

Alaska man faces federal murder charges, death penalty


An Alaska man suspected of killing 2 people during a robbery has been indicted 
on murder charges by a federal grand jury and prosecutors say they may seek the 
death penalty.

John Pearl Smith II, 30, is charged with attempting to rob people he believed 
were trafficking in drugs, said Bryan Schroder, acting U.S. attorney for 
Alaska, at a press conference Thursday.

Smith in home invasion cases tried robbing people at gunpoint in September 2015 
and May 2016, Schroder said. Both were in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley north of 
Anchorage.

During his 3rd attempt, on June 5, Smith shot and killed Ben Gross, 43, and 
Crystal Denardi, 30, of Wasilla, Schroder said. Smith also wounded a man 
identified in the indictment by his initials, "R.B.", Schroder said.

The bodies of Gross and Denardi were found in a burned Wasilla home. Autopsy 
results showed they had been shot before the fire started.

Steve Wells, an Anchorage attorney appointed as one of Smith's public 
defenders, said he had anticipated the indictment.

???The decision as to whether to seek death or not has not been made, and it 
certainly is a possibility and at this point in time, we are reviewing all of 
our options to defend Mr. Smith to the best of our ability," he said. Smith, he 
said, is innocent until proven guilty.

"We look forward to the court process and working things out as we have a legal 
process," Wells said.

Smith has been in jail since shortly after the fatal shootings on charges of 
being a felon in possession of firearms. He faces 17 counts including 
interference with commerce by robbery, attempted drug possession, using a gun 
to commit murder and using a gun during drug trafficking.

Smith previously was convicted in state court of vehicle theft, robbery and 
burglary.

A decision to seek the death penalty is not made locally.

Under Justice Department protocol, Schroder said, a committee in Washington, 
D.C., reviews the case, hears from the defense and prepares a recommendation 
for the attorney general, who makes the final decision.

Right now the death penalty is just an option, Schroder said, but the 
indictment includes special findings could make Smith eligible. Smith committed 
murders after substantial planning and premeditation after being previously 
convicted of a robbery at gunpoint in 2006, according to the indictment.

The state of Alaska does not have a death penalty and has never executed a 
person.

The last 2 people executed in Alaska died during territorial days.

Austin Nelson, 24, and Eugene LaMoore, 42, both African-Americans, were 
convicted of the 1946 murder of a Juneau shopkeeper, said Anchorage attorney 
Averil Lerman, who is writing a book on the topic. Nelson was executed in 1948 
and LaMoore in 1950.

Lerman closely examined evidence and the defenses provided for the men. Their 
convictions were "more than questionable," she said.

The Territorial Legislature abolished capital punishment in 1957, 2 years 
before Alaska became a state. Attempts to reinstate capital punishment have 
failed.

(source: Associated Press)