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

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 11




TEXAS----new execution date

Lubbock judge signs death warrant for Rosendo Rodriguez



Lubbock Judge Jim Bob Darnell issued Wednesday an order of execution for 
37-year-old Rosendo Rodriguez III, who was convicted and sentenced to death for 
the 2005 slaying of a pregnant woman whose body was stuffed inside a piece of 
luggage found at the Lubbock city landfill.

Darnell's order comes 2 weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear 
Rodriguez's appeal and sets a March 27 date for his execution by lethal 
injection.

Rodriguez, who became known as the "Suitcase killer," was convicted of the 2005 
beating and choking death of 29-year-old Summer Baldwin, who was 5 weeks 
pregnant. Her body was stuffed inside a piece of luggage found at the city 
landfill in Lubbock. Baldwin lived in Lubbock and Rodriguez was training here 
as a Marine reservist.

Court records show Rodriguez was linked to at least 5 other sexual assaults and 
to the disappearance of 16-year-old Joanna Rogers, who had been missing more 
than a year. He confessed to killing the teenager, whose body was also found in 
a suitcase in the Lubbock landfill.

Rodriguez is 1 of 3 Texas death row inmates convicted in Lubbock County.

Joe Franco Garza, who was convicted in the 1998 killing of Silbiano Rangel, is 
awaiting results of a post-conviction DNA testing filed in 2015, according to 
court records.

Brian Suniga, who was convicted in the 2011 slaying of David Rowser, is in the 
midst of appealing his death sentence.

(source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal)

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

DA will not seek death penalty in murder of Zoe Hastings



Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson will not be seeking the death 
penalty in the case of Antonio Cochran, charged with the murder of Zoe Hastings 
in 2015.

Police allege that Cochran kidnapped Hastings in her family's minivan from 
Walgreens on Garland Road and Peavy Drive, killed the teenager, then dumped her 
and the vehicle in a creek in Lake Highlands. Hastings was on her way to 
church.

Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said that the Cochran had an 
"intellectual disability," which makes him ineligible for the death penalty. On 
Friday, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office released the following 
statement:

"It came to our attention that the defendant may have had some intellectual 
challenges. As a result, we were pro-active in requesting the court's 
permission for an evaluation. Our expert's findings are such that the defendant 
does fit the current legal definition of a person with an intellectual 
disability. We are not seeking the death penalty in this case because the 
current law states an individual who has been diagnosed with an intellectual 
disability is not eligible for the death penalty. However, we remain committed 
to seeking justice on behalf of Zoe Hastings and her family."

WFAA discovered Cochran has an extensive criminal history in Bowie County that 
includes multiple felony arrests.

(source: WFAA TV news)

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

Former partners, jailers give testimony during punishment phase in Hudson 
capital murder trial



Prosecutors rested their case late Thursday afternoon after calling 8 witnesses 
during the 2nd full day of the punishment phase of a capital murder trial for 
an East Texas man facing the death penalty for killing multiple members of 2 
families in one night in November 2015.

William Mitchell Hudson, 35, of Tennessee Colony was indicted on 3 counts of 
capital murder in connection with the slayings of Thomas Kamp, 45; Austin Kamp, 
21; Nathan Kamp, 23; Kade Johnson, 6; Hannah Johnson, 40; and Carl Johnson, 76 
at a campsite in Anderson County. Jurors convicted Hudson of capital murder in 
less than 20 minutes Tuesday for killing Hannah Johnson and her father, Carl 
Johnson. The case was moved to Brazos County because of pre-trial publicity in 
Anderson County, which is more than 100 miles northeast of Bryan.

The Johnson and Kamp families met on Nov. 14, 2015, at a campsite on land in 
Anderson County that Thomas Kamp had recently purchased from a distant relative 
of Hudson's family, a transaction that Hudson reportedly was not happy about. 
Jurors convicted Hudson for shooting and beating to death Carl Johnson and his 
daughter, Hannah; prosecutors also argued that Hudson had shot and killed the 4 
others in the woods while they were looking for firewood, shortly before he had 
returned to the campsite to kill Hannah and Carl.

Jurors heard testimony Thursday from Suzanna Reed, one of Hudson's ex-wives, 
and from Amanda Hyden, Hudson's ex-girlfriend and mother of one of his 
children. Both women painted similar pictures of Hudson: a violent and erratic 
alcoholic.

Reed said Hudson had threatened to shoot himself, but had never threatened to 
shoot her, when he brought his guns out to demonstrate his commitment to 
suicide. Reed said Hudson hadn't drank much when they were dating, but started 
drinking heavily once they tied the knot. When Hudson got mad, Reed said, she 
could see "a rage" in his eyes.

Hyden said Hudson has put guns to her head and once put her in a headlock after 
she told him she wanted to leave him. She was able to escape after putting her 
keys between her fingers and punching him in the groin. Altogether, Hyden 
estimated Hudson threatened her life 10 to 15 times over the course of their 
relationship.

Reed said Hudson had threatened to cut her brake lines in the future -- when 
enough time had passed so authorities wouldn't suspect him -- and at one point 
threw a knife so hard into the ground that it stuck straight up. She said she 
had been scared of Hudson in the past, but wasn't now.

Hyden, who suffers from epilepsy, said she "had to drive everywhere we went 
because he was always drunk."

Both Hyden and Reed said they hadn't called the police when threatened because 
Hudson had warned them against involving the authorities.

"He told me that if I called the police he would shoot them when they came in," 
said Reed.

Hyden, meanwhile, said Hudson had told her that calling the police "wouldn't 
matter" because he knew all the cops, so Hyden never called because "it seemed 
like it was useless."

Hudson's tense relationships stretched beyond his significant others, the women 
said in their separate testimony. According to Reed, Hudson had a "strained 
relationship with his parents,"

"There was some animosity, maybe some resentment there," she said of his 
relationship with Mac and Crystal Hudson.

Multiple witnesses have portrayed Hudson in their testimony as narcissistic and 
prone to exaggeration. Hyden said part of this derived from his pride in his 
family.

"He liked to talk about how he was entitled to so many things because of his 
last name," she said.

Multiple jailers from the Anderson County Jail testified Thursday that Hudson 
had threatened or verbally abused them, though they could not recount an 
instance where he had physically harmed another inmate or member of the jail 
staff. Judith Skinner, former jailer at the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, 
said Hudson once attempted to strike her, but was unable to do so after she 
restrained him.

Prosecutors also played recordings of calls Hudson made to his mother and 
girlfriend from the county jail, where he can be heard repeatedly making 
threats toward the jail staff who had testified earlier Thursday morning.

In one call, Hudson asked his mother why he was considered a high-risk inmate, 
noting that he was in a solitary cell.

"They put me in isolation ... I didn't ask to come over here," Hudson said. 
"They've given me no chance in general population whatsoever."

In another phone call, Hudson said he would beat up a cellmate if he were asked 
to share a cell, so he could get back to being by himself. In multiple other 
calls, Hudson could be heard complaining to a girlfriend and his mother about 
various perceived infractions from jailers at the Anderson County Jail. Hudson 
can be heard in several calls threatening to kill or hurt other jail staff.

Under questioning from Hudson's attorneys, various witnesses on Thursday said 
Hudson had not carried out his violent threats -- aside from attempting to 
strike Skinner -- against jail staff or other inmates, but Aneshia Thompson, 
investigator with the district attorney's office, said Hudson had been in his 
own cell and had been restricted from interacting with inmates in general 
population.

Thursday's testimony ended with 2 members of the Johnson and Kamp families 
talking about the loved ones they lost in the Tennessee Colony massacre. 
Elizabeth Helena Johnson Vankirk, daughter of Carl Johnson, sister of Hannah 
Johnson and aunt of Kade Johnson, said she had begun to move on since the 
slayings, but "every time something comes up, it brings back the memories all 
over again."

The trial continues at 9 a.m. this morning, when defense attorneys will have 
the opportunity to present their case and call their own witnesses. They did 
not call any witnesses in the trial's guilt/innocence phase.

(source: theeagle.com)








VIRGINIA----obituary

Longtime Bedford County Judge William W. Sweeney presided over city annexation 
case, Soering trial



Ascending to a judgeship has been known to cause a spike in self-importance and 
the erosion of a sense of humor.

Judge William W. Sweeney, who died Nov. 5 at the age of 89, spent most of his 
33 years on the bench fighting against those inclinations.

"You have to be careful," Sweeney once told a reporter. "When you're a judge, 
people stand up when you walk into the courtroom. Lawyers laugh at your jokes, 
even when they're not funny. You can't let it go to your head."

Yet with Sweeney, by most accounts, it was never about him. It was about the 
law.

"A good judge," he said, "is like a good basketball referee. You should be 
almost invisible."

Phil Baker, who argued cases before Sweeney as a Bedford County assistant 
commonwealth's attorney, said: "He did what he had to do as a judge, and he 
made the decisions a judge has to make. Sometimes, though, I think it stayed 
with him."

Like the 3 times during his long tenure on the Bedford County Circuit Court 
bench when Sweeney had to sign off on death penalty convictions. Or the period 
in the mid-1970s when he served on a 3-judge panel created to rule on 
Lynchburg's attempted annexation of portions of Bedford, Campbell and Amherst 
counties - a decision, Sweeney later said, that brought out as much raw emotion 
as any criminal case.

Sweeney also faced some criticism when he declined to recuse himself from the 
double-murder trial of Jens Soering in 1990. He had attended Virginia Military 
Institute with the brother of Nancy Haysom, 1 of the victims, and had presided 
over the earlier trial of Elizabeth Haysom, who was convicted of being an 
accessory.

In his statement, Sweeney said: "The alleged offenses occurred in this 
jurisdiction. Therefore, it is my responsibility to try unless I am unable to 
give the defendant a fair trial. I have concluded that I can preside fairly in 
Jens Soering's trial."

Moreover, he added, Soering's fate would be determined by a jury, and the death 
penalty had been taken off the table in a deal to get the German citizen back 
from England. Thus, Sweeney's role would be more like the aforementioned 
basketball referee than that of a final decision-maker.

William P. Sweeney, the judge's father, had been a self-made man who ran the 
Duti-Duds Apparel company in Lynchburg and a tight ship at home for William and 
sisters Pat and Mary. Young William played football at E.C. Glass, ran track at 
VMI and then volunteered for the Army Airborne, where he made more than 30 
jumps.

His military service provided 1 of the stories Sweeney loved to tell about 
himself. Serving as the jumpmaster on 1 occasion, he mistakenly deployed his 
paratroopers not over the assigned target field but downtown Paducah, Kentucky.

"I got a little anxious and went out the door prematurely," he said, "and my 
men followed me. I was lucky enough to land in a schoolyard, but the others had 
to fend off church steeples and such. The fact that I wore pretty thick glasses 
never inspired much confidence in my men, anyway."

After his military service, Sweeney graduated from the University of Virginia 
Law School and then went to work for the law firm of Caskie, Frost, Davidson 
and Watts in Lynchburg. He eventually became president of the Lynchburg Bar, 
but he was still surprised when the General Assembly nominated him for the 
Bedford judgeship in 1965, following the death of Charles Burks. At 36, Sweeney 
became the youngest jurist in the state.

"Like most people, I didn't grow up wanting to be a judge," he said later. "It 
just sort of happens to you. It's something you can't control."

But Sweeney was eager for the challenge, and he had always preferred a judicial 
seat somewhere other than in his hometown of Lynchburg.

"You really don't like to shop and mingle and socialize with people who may one 
day come before you for one reason or another," he explained.

Sweeney was not the sort of judge inclined to wall himself away from the public 
for fear of being asked about a case. In so many ways, he was the 
quintessential well-to-do Lynchburger - an E.C. Glass graduate, a Sunday school 
teacher at Court Street United Methodist Church, a board member for the 
Salvation Army and Red Cross, a member of the intellectual Sphex Club, frequent 
mentor to young attorneys and an engaging public speaker. He regularly made the 
circuit of local churches at Easter to deliver a lecture on "The Trial of 
Jesus."

Sweeney's 1st Bedford case was hardly the stuff of high drama, and even may not 
have been reported in the newspaper. But the new judge took it seriously.

"It involved someone accused of not paying for a refrigerator," he said, "and I 
remember being very nervous. It may sound trivial now, but to the people 
involved in that case, it was the most important thing in the world at that 
moment."

The Soering trial was at the other end of the visibility spectrum, attracting 
media attention from as far away as Washington, Atlanta and Detroit (where 
Soering's father occupied a diplomatic post). It also was televised in its 
entirety via Lynchburg's Cable Channel 6, which then broadcast the day's 
testimony each evening, unedited, to an increasingly fascinated audience.

This was a contentious and complicated case, and the strain on Sweeney was 
enormous. Still, he managed to demonstrate his sense of humor in the midst of 
it.

Early in the trial, he had worn bright red socks on the bench, and the 
unblinking eye of the TV camera honed in on them. Sweeney's wife, Nada, teased 
him about it, which inspired him to write a whimsical poem. During a break from 
the trial, he called a group of reporters back into his chambers and read it to 
them.

Phil Baker got to see a different side of Sweeney when the judge took up 
mediation after his retirement in 1998.

"He loved doing that," Baker said, "and he was good at it. He was always a good 
listener."

Sweeney said he relished the opportunity to work collaboratively with 
individuals rather than having to pick winners and losers.

"A judge has to make decisions that only God should make," he said.

(source: Darrell Laurant, now retired, was a longtime columnist for The News & 
Advance. His book, "Even Here," chronicles the Soering trial along with several 
other high-profile criminal cases from Bedford County in the 1980s.----The News 
& Advance)








GEORGIA:

Ruling in Columbus' only pending death penalty case challenged



Attorneys for the man charged in Columbus' only pending death penalty case want 
the Georgia Supreme Court to review a local judge's ruling justifying the 
police search that followed Brandon David Conner's arrest on Aug. 21, 2014.

Conner earlier that night is alleged to have killed girlfriend Rosella "Mandy" 
Mitchell, 32, and their 6-month-old son, Dylan Ethan Conner, before setting 
their 1324 Winifred Lane home afire.

The fire was reported at 12:35 a.m. Around 1 a.m., Officer Jason Swails saw 
Conner's blue 2001 BMW turn from Wynnton Road onto Cedar Avenue, and park near 
Davis Broadcasting, where Conner worked. Conner then sat in the car for 10 
minutes, the officer said.

Because of recent business burglaries in the area, Swails found this 
suspicious, and decided to question Conner. He saw the suspect was shaking and 
sweating, and apparently had blood on him.

Conner told the officer he had just left work, which Swails didn't believe 
because he'd seen Conner turn off Wynnton Road and park. Conner then altered 
his story, claiming he'd left work to get some food, but changed his mind and 
returned, Swails said.

Swails arrested Conner for breaking a city law against lying to police. Because 
police routinely search suspects being detained, officers checked Conner's 
pockets, and found a bloody, yellow dishwashing glove, a bloody baby wipe, a 
cigarette lighter and an extended grill lighter.

Learning of the bodies found on Winifred Lane, they had Conner's BMW impounded, 
and got a warrant to search it. Inside they found a bag of bloody clothes, a 
bottle of bleach and a bent steak knife with blood on the handle, they said.

Defense attorneys William Kendrick and Mark Shelnutt argue all of that evidence 
now is inadmissible in Conner's trial because prosecutors missed a deadline to 
prove the city ordinance against lying to police actually exists.

Authenticating the law Conner was arrested for breaking is part of proving the 
murder case against him, as it led to his initial arrest, the police search of 
his clothes and car, and his subsequent statements to detectives investigating 
the homicides.

Defense objections

Kendrick and Shelnutt say the deadline to submit such evidence to Judge William 
Rumer was April 29, 2016. When the prosecution failed to meet that deadline, 
they filed a motion the following May 4, noting the omission, and sought to 
have the evidence suppressed.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly included a certified copy of the 
law in a brief filed June 20, 2016.

Rumer on Sept. 20, 2016, denied defense motions challenging the search and 
seizure of evidence against Conner. This past June 14, Rumer ruled the 
prosecution properly filed the certified copy of the law last year.

Because Conner, 38, is facing the death penalty, a Superior Court judge's 
rulings in dispute may be reviewed by the state Supreme Court, to avoid errors 
that could send the case back on appeal, after a conviction.

But Rumer on Sept. 19 told the defense he didn't think the review was 
warranted.

During a hearing Thursday, the judge said he had to weigh whether the issue was 
so critical as to warrant the delay an appeal would cause.

Kendrick argued that because Conner's facing death, his life merits the 45-day 
delay a Supreme Court review would take.

Rumer said he again would consider the defense argument and rule later.

A grand jury indicted Conner April 14, 2015, on charges of murder, aggravated 
battery, 1st-degree arson and using a knife to commit a crime. Authorities say 
he stabbed Michell repeatedly in the throat and torso. The nature of the 
infant's injuries has not been disclosed.

Arson investigators said a dog trained to find flammable liquids alerted to 3 
spots in the gutted Winifred Lane home where the fire is believed to have been 
set. They found a gas can in a closet.

2 trials, same time

So far Conner's trial remains set for Jan. 22 or Jan. 29, but District Attorney 
Julia Slater said she has filed notice of a scheduling conflict because of 
another prominent murder case scheduled for trial then:

Superior Court Judge Gil McBride had set an Oct. 30 trial date for 3 men 
charged in the 2016 triple-homicide of a grandmother, son and granddaughter in 
Columbus' Upatoi neighborhood, but defense attorneys on Oct. 23 argued they 
needed more time to prepare, so McBride moved it to Jan. 29.

Slater also is involved in that prosecution, and Shelnutt and Kendrick 
represent Raheam Gibson, 1 of the 3 suspects. The others are Rufus Burks, 
represented by Jennifer Curry, and Jervarceay Tapley, whose attorney is Shevon 
Sutcliffe Thomas.

The 3 are accused of killing Gloria Short, 54; her son Caleb Short, 17; and 
granddaughter Gianna Lindsey, 10; found dead in the Shorts' 3057 Bentley Drive 
home on Jan. 4, 2016.

Police said Gloria Short and her granddaughter were beaten and stabbed to 
death, and the son was fatally bludgeoned.

The defendants' 30-count indictment charges them with 10 counts each: 3 counts 
of malice or intentional murder; t3 counts of felony murder for homicides 
involving the felony of aggravated assault; 2 counts of auto theft; and 1 each 
of kidnapping and 1st-degree burglary.

Back in January 2016, Burks was only 15; Tapley was 17; and Gibson was 19. Now 
Burks is 17; Tapley is 19; and Gibson is 21.

(source: ledger-enquirer.com)








FLORIDA----execution

Death penalty witness: 'It's as though you are watching someone fall asleep'



A reporter who witnessed a death row execution this week has revealed exactly 
what the process entails. WARNING: Graphic.

Greg Angel is one of about 20 people staring through a glass window as 
convicted killer Patrick Hannon appears shackled to a bed on the other side.

The American CBS News reporter, based in Florida, has already witnessed the 
executions of 2 death row inmates. On Wednesday, his tally rose to 3 when he 
watched Hannon be put to death by chemical injection, in Florida State Prison.

Hannon was executed for the 1991 murders of Brandon Snider, 27 and Robert 
Carter, 28.

Nearly 3 decades later, family members of Carter and Snider gather in a small 
room, with a large window, to watch the man - who took the lives of those young 
men - lose his own life as ordered by the Florida Supreme Court.

Mr Angel was 1 of 4 members of the media invited to witness the execution in a 
bid to ensure a "humane process".

"It's seen that the media has a watchdog advocacy role and it's the reporters' 
job to ensure a lethal injection is carried out with an accurate record of 
events," Mr Angel told news.com.au.

Despite the nature of the assignment, it's not one that comes at a personal 
cost, according to the reporter.

"What I find most striking is how unaffected I am," he said.

"Many define an execution as a barbaric act, but it is veiled in the guise of a 
medical procedure. It is very anticlimactic: There are no violent physical 
reactions, one you may have with an execution by electrocution.

:"It's as though you are watching someone fall asleep, yet as you watch, you 
can see the sudden change in colour in the inmate's face.

"Their lips first appearing darker in colour, and then their face becoming an 
ashy white. That is the only real reminder that what you are watching is 
someone being put to death."

THE 'PREPARATION PHASE'

It's late afternoon on November 8, 2017 when a small media contingent, 
including Mr Angel, is piled into a van and driven to the middle of a 
razor-wired compound inside Florida State Prison.

The only items they are allowed to bring inside are 5 $1 notes - for vending 
machines - and ID. Inside, they are each given a manila envelope with a 
palm-sized notepad and 2 pencils.

About 3.5 hours later, the group is eventually escorted from a waiting room to 
the witness chamber where 18 people are already seated, "their gaze locked 
forward on the 4.5 x 12 foot reflective glass window".

"The black curtain is drawn and it's easy to see the reflections of their faces 
on the glass," Mr Angel says.

"We're not sure who is who specifically, but we do know they are the families 
of Robert Carter and Brandon Snider."

The tiny room is busy but silent "with the exception of the buzzing of the 
window-unit airconditioner".

"It buzzes as the clock keeps ticking," Mr Angel says.

At 8.36pm, the witnesses watch a dark curtain rise on the window - which 
doubles as a 1-way mirror - and reveals a sterilised white room on the other 
side.

"There is Patrick Hannon, a white man, 6'3", short, trimmed hair, and beard," 
Mr Angel says.

"He is tethered by thick leather straps to a gurney in the centre of the room.

"His body covered in a white sheet, with only his head, neck, and forearm 
exposed."

Hannon is already hooked up, via his forearm, to a machine that will pump 
lethal drugs into his body "just moments from now", according to Mr Angel.

"Hannon's head tilts up, his eyes shift left to right as he tries to assess the 
room," Mr Angel says.

"The only thing he sees, from his vantage point, is reflective glass. He has no 
way of seeing into the witness room, who is there."

Hannon delivers a final statement before the team warden announces: "With the 
preparation phase complete, the penalty phase will now begin."

THE 'PENALTY PHASE'

8.38pm "The lethal cocktail of drugs that will kill Hannon begins to be 
administered through an IV hooked to Hannon's forearm. Hannon's head is tilted 
forward, with a long stare at the glass. He rests his head, but only for a 
brief moment, before again tilting his head up again. His eyes moving back and 
forth, surveying the room the best he can."

8.39pm

"Hannon lays his head back on the gurney for the final time. His mouth is 
slightly open. His lips fluttering. His face will give the only clues to the 
process, this journey from life to death unfolding before our eyes. Hannon's 
hands are covered in a white glove-like fabric."

8.40pm

"There is minimal chest movement, but a few coughs or gasps for air. For the 
next minute, it remains constant, multiple coughs, but nothing alarming. Each 
person seems to have a different reaction."

8.42pm

"A few minutes after the process began, the warden approaches Hannon. The 
warden uses his finger to flick Hannon's eyes a few times. The warden then 
grabs Hannon by the shoulder and vigorously shakes him. This is the assessment 
to ensure Hannon is unconscious, to lessen any adverse pain or effect of the 
soon to be delivered lethal drugs.

In Florida lethal injections, there are 3 primary drugs used in the cocktail, 
administered in stages at various doses.

The Etomidate injection is used 1st, to ensure the inmate is unconscious. A 
round of Rocuronium Bromide is then used to relax the muscles, essentially to 
paralyse the inmate, and the 3rd and final and fatal drug is the Potassium 
Acetate. This is the drug that stops the heart."

8.44pm

"Satisfied Hannon is unconscious, the next round of drugs is administered, and 
the process continues in a typical anticlimactic fashion. There is little 
movement from Hannon. However, there is a change in colour in his face. I 
notice the 1st appearance of a darker colour in Hannon's lips; a sign of death 
setting in."

8.46pm

"Hannon's face appears to become more ashy white, his lips now even darker in 
colour than a few minutes before."

8.38pm

"We are now 10 minutes into the process. If all is going accordingly to how it 
should, we should be done in a few minutes. (Former death row inmate) Mark 
James Asay was pronounced dead 11 minutes after the process began. (Another 
former death row inmate) Michael Lambrix's lethal injection took 15 minutes."

8.50pm

"A tall, bald man, wearing a doctor's coat and stethoscope around his neck 
pulls open a curtain from behind the warden. The doctor walks into the 
execution chamber/room, and makes a quick right turn to approach Hannon's body. 
The doctor begins to perform a physical exam, using a flashlight to find signs 
of eye movement in Hannon's eyes. The doctor checks for any other signs of 
life, a pulse, breathing, anything. No signs of life are found.

The doctor mouths a few words to the warden, and exits through the curtained 
doorway where he came in. The warden reaches over and picks up the receiver of 
a beige phone on the wall, presumably telling the Governor's office that the 
execution has been completed.

The warden hangs ups, turns to the window where witnesses are on the other side 
and announces "The matter of State of Florida v Patrick Hannon was carried out 
at 8:50pm."

The black curtain then abruptly drops as quickly as it went up.

In 12 minutes, Hannon went from a condemned inmate on Florida's Death Row to a 
former existent being of Earth."

CBS News reporter Greg Angel told news.com.au he's not affected by watching 
death row inmates be executed.

'WATCHING THEM DIE DOESN'T AFFECT ME'

Mr Angel told news.com.au that his experiences watching death row executions 
haven't shaped his views on the death penalty.

"I believe it is a divisive issue, one that is up to society and government to 
determine the merits of," he said.

But he's adamant the executions he witnessed were carried out in an ethical and 
humane way.

"I can say through my observations, as lethal as the end result it, is does not 
appear from the outside looking in, to be a violent, painful, process," he 
said.

"There is no surge of physical response, no explosion of verbal cries.

"It is silent, and somewhat peaceful.

"A drastic difference in tone compared to the violent crimes these men are 
convicted of carrying out that put them on the gurney in the first place."

(source: news.com.au)

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

Prosecutors will seek death penalty in Key West murder case



Prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the Key West murder case in which a 
transgendered woman is accused of stomping and stabbing a man to death.

Justin Calhoun, 24, admitted to police she jammed a broken piece of furniture 
down the throat of Mark Brann, 67, and stomped on it and also stabbed him in 
both eyes with a pen, according to detectives.

"The murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel," State Attorney Dennis 
Ward said in a filing this week at the Monroe County Courthouse, giving reasons 
for seeking the death penalty if Calhoun is convicted of the crime.

Calhoun was also committing a robbery at the time of the killing, Ward says.

Brann was attacked early Aug. 14 inside his 1206 12th Street home in New Town, 
where Calhoun said she often stayed. The 2 had been having a sexual 
relationship, she told police.

Calhoun admitted to the attack, saying it started when she accused Brann of 
being a cannibal and Brann grabbed a gun which went off during a struggle, 
police said.

No one was shot but Calhoun then racked the pistol planning to shoot Brann with 
it but firearm jammed.

After stabbing Brann in the eyes, detectives said, she jammed a piece of wood 
down his throat and stomped on it, and then grabbed a dresser drawer and beat 
Brann about the head and throat with it.

"Calhoun admitted [she] went beyond self-defense," wrote Detective Jeffrey 
Dean, in the arrest affidavit.

Brann died the next day, having suffered severe head injuries.

Calhoun is also charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, possession of 
cocaine and possession of hydrocodone.

(source: flkeysnews.com)








OHIO----impending execution

Attorney says executing ill Ohio inmate could be a 'spectacle'



Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he won't spare the life of a condemned killer who 
has cited his poor health and tough upbringing in an attempt to avoid 
execution.

Kasich's decision came Thursday in the case of Alva Campbell, who was sentenced 
to die for fatally shooting 18-year-old Charles Dials after a 1997 carjacking.

The 69-year-old Campbell is scheduled for execution Nov. 15.

Federal public defender David Stebbins says attorneys had hoped Kasich would 
seriously consider Campbell's health problems and poor veins, which could 
affect the placement of an IV for lethal injection.

Stebbins said the result could be a spectacle of the 69-year-old Campbell being 
transported to the execution gurney in a wheelchair followed by difficulties 
finding a vein.

Campbell's attorneys say he uses a walker, relies on an external colostomy bag, 
requires 4 breathing treatments a day and may have lung cancer.

They also say Campbell was the product of a violent, dysfunctional and sexually 
abusive childhood.

Prosecutors say Campbell's health claims are ironic given he faked paralysis to 
escape court custody the day he killed Dials.

Stebbins said Campbell is an old and frail man who isn't a threat to anyone.

(source: Associated Press)