[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., FLA., KY., MO., ARK., ID., NEV.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 12





NORTH CAROLINA:

Murder defendant served 13 years for 2003 killing----Relatives remember 2003 
Johnston County victim, reach out to Alamance family



1 defendant charged with 1st-degree murder in the death of Harold Dean Simpson, 
84, of Burlington was in prison for 2nd-degree murder at this time last year.

Sean Damion Castorina, 42, and Penny Michelle Dawson, 40, could face the death 
penalty in the killing of Simpson, whose body was found in late August in 
Caswell County. The pair allegedly then fled to Virginia, and shot a woman and 
left her for dead before they were arrested in Fergus Falls, Minn.

Castorina had been released from prison last December after serving 13 years 
for killing his boss.

In that case, Castorina was charged with shooting Sean Nichols, 27, after a 
disagreement over Castorina's paycheck. After the argument, the 2, who had been 
hunting buddies, went into the woods on an apparent hunting trip.

"It was one of those things where we knew who had done it right away," said 
Eric Davis, Nichols' brother-in-law. "They had had a small argument when 
[Castorina] came. looking for his paycheck. We cautioned Sean not to let his 
guard down."

"The last day I had seen my brother was the Saturday before Castorina killed 
him," said Christine Davis, Nichols' sister.

Davis recalled how the 2 men appeared to have left everything on good terms, 
but she "didn't have a good feeling."

Days later, Nichols went missing. While his family reported him missing, it was 
several more weeks until his body was found.

The only person who knew about the murder was Josh Harvey, 16 at the time and 
the brother of Castorina's then-girlfriend.

Harvey was allegedly present during the shooting and was said to have waited in 
Castorina's truck while Castorina and Nichols went hunting in Johnston County, 
Eric Davis said.

While hunting, Castorina shot Nichols in the back before shooting him again in 
the face.

"He covered the body and came back," Davis said. "He told the 16-year-old if he 
said anything, he would kill him."

Nichols' family called friends in an attempt to find Nichols. Davis claimed 
some of his friends went to see Castorina, who was "cool."

"The police went to interview him," Davis said. "They didn't really get the 
impression that we was nervous or lying."

According to Christine Davis, Harvey broke down and eventually led the cops to 
Nichols' body.

"He basically told the whole story to the police, and they went and found 
Castorina," Davis said.

Plea deal

Harvey was sentenced 3 to 5 years in prison for accessory to murder, while 
Castorina was sentenced to 16 years for 2nd-degree murder after a plea deal: 
Castorina pleaded to 2nd-degree murder, but since he was a 1st time offender, 
he served 13 years.

Castorina was released last December.

Upon his release, Nichols' family took it upon themselves to follow Castorina 
in an effort to see whether he would break the law again.

"We have been having to follow Sean Castorina on our own," Davis said.

In March, Davis learned, Burlington police charged Castorina with assault on a 
female and communicating threats, and his bond was set for $15,000. Christine 
Davis said the family tried to contact authorities to get Castorina back into 
jail, with no results.

Castorina was picked up again July 20, 2017, for a theft charge in Johnston 
County.

"He should never had gotten out," Christine Davis said. "We kept looking."

1 month later, the news came out that Castorina had been linked to Simpson's 
killing.

When Davis and his wife found out, they were shocked.

"We were never notified by victim services or parole or anything," Eric Davis 
said. "We had to find out on the Internet."

'It doesn't feel like justice'

Christine Davis expressed her desire to reach out to Simpson's family but knew 
she needed to wait. She eventually reached out to Heather Dunn, Simpson's 
granddaughter, on Facebook. The 2 families, including Simpson's son Robert 
Simpson, recently met to talk about their lost loved ones.

"They wanted to know more about what happened to my brother, what happened with 
court," Davis said. Dunn "kept getting upset. I know how she feels. I told her 
if she needs anything, call me."

Davis plans on staying in touch with the Simpson family and helping them 
through the trial.

Looking back, the Davis family expressed its sadness that another family had to 
go through the slaying of a loved one.

"I felt terrible that another family had to deal with the same stuff we did," 
Eric Davis said. "... We were hoping we could prevent this from happening to 
other people. It felt like we had lost in a way.

"We really feel for them, what they are going through," he added. "It is a long 
process. When you lose somebody, people think that you get justice, but even if 
you got the death penalty or life in prison, it doesn't bring that person back, 
and it doesn't feel like justice."

Christine Davis agreed but expressed anger at the justice system for letting 
Castorina out.

"I hate that this is happening," Davis said. "It shouldn't have happened. Our 
justice system needs to work better."

(source: thetimesnews.com)








FLORIDA:

Clemency gone missing from Florida's death row



ustice is supposed to be blind, but not as blind as the U.S. Supreme Court when 
it ruled in 1993 that a Texas death row prisoner - who claimed to be innocent, 
but had run out of appeals - should look to the governor to save his life.

"Executive clemency,"wrote Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is "the 'fail safe' 
in our criminal justice system."

But when it comes to the death penalty in Florida, the fail-safe has gone 
missing.

There hasn't been a death row commutation in Florida since 1983, the 1st year 
of Gov. Bob Graham's 2nd term.

Since Florida resumed executions in 1979, governors have put 95 people to death 
and spared only 6, all by Graham.

In at least 17 of those cases, advocates say grounds existed for commuting the 
sentence to life in prison. That's not "getting away" with anything, by the 
way. The only alternative to execution is life without parole.

In 4 of those cases, Florida juries had recommended life sentences, but were 
overruled by the judges. At least 2 of those put to death were insane, 
including 1 who believed he was being executed because he was Jesus. And 2 were 
Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

It's hard to understand what's happening because when it comes to open 
government, death row clemency is a black hole. Everything about the process is 
secret unless the governor or Cabinet chooses to hold a public hearing, which 
hasn't happened since the Jeb Bush administration.

There's no way to know whether the governor is receiving erroneous reports from 
his staff or from the Commission on Offender Review, which reviews clemency 
applications.

Neither is there a way to tell whether the governor even reads the files for 
himself.

Like his predecessors, Gov. Rick Scott routinely signs death warrants without 
saying why he denied clemency, other than that he found no reason. We asked his 
spokeswoman. She said: "His foremost concerns are consideration for the 
families of the victims and the finality of judgment."

Those final words say more than she may have realized. "Finality" is the mantra 
of appellate courts that have decided they've heard enough from a prisoner. Now 
it's the governor's mantra, too?

But what if the criminal justice system got it wrong?

It's not a hypothetical question. Florida leads the nation in death row 
exonerations, with 27. That means that in sentencing someone to death, the 
state has gotten it wrong 27 times.

Given that sobering statistic, you have to wonder how many innocent people may 
have been executed or remain on death row.

Gov. Scott has presided over 26 executions, more than any governor since they 
were resumed in 1979. The latest took place Wednesday, when Patrick Hannon was 
killed by chemical injection for his role in killing 2 Tampa men in 1991.

The governor's silence about his use of the ultimate punishment is an insult to 
the people of Florida. Nothing in government is as grave as the power to choose 
between life and death. He should be accountable for how he uses it. Does he 
read the letters sent him by families, attorneys or prisoners? Has he ever 
questioned the reports and requested more information? Has he ever had doubts?

It's not "soft on crime" for a governor to commute a death row sentence to life 
without parole. In many ways, life without hope is a fate worse than death.

Former governors understood this.

>From 1925 through 1964, the start of an unofficial nationwide moratorium, 
Florida governors commuted 55 of the 250 death sentences that came to their 
desks, a rate of 22 %. Every governor spared at least 1 in 5. 2 commuted nearly 
half.

The most famous instance was LeRoy Collins's 1956 decision to spare Walter Lee 
Irvin, a black man condemned for the alleged rape of a white woman in Lake 
County. In the aftermath, a posse killed a man who had been with Irvin that 
day. Irvin, along with 2 others, was badly beaten. Later, while being 
transported to jail, he was shot by a sheriff, but survived.

The Irvin commutation was used against Collins in his re-election campaign. He 
won.

"My conscience told me that this was a bad case, badly handled, badly tried, 
and now on this bad performance I was asked to take a man's life. My conscience 
would not let me do it," he said.

Collins was vindicated. The "Groveland 4" had been framed. This year, the 
Florida Legislature formally apologized for the injustice and asked Scott to 
pardon them posthumously. He has yet to say whether he will.

The Collins example deserves to be followed, not ignored.

Among the proposals filed by members of the Florida Constitution Revision 
Commission is one that would repeal the death penalty. This deserves serious 
consideration.

At a minimum, the commission should open the curtains on how governors use or 
don't use the power of clemency. Given how often Florida sends the wrong person 
to death row, we need, as Rehnquist said, a fail-safe backstop.

(source: Editorial, Sun Sentinel)








KENTUCKY:

Search warrants, court filings add details in Butler double homicide----Police 
investigating a 2016 double homicide in Butler County have been exploring the 
social media accounts of the four co-defendants and their online interactions 
with others.



Kentucky State Police obtained search warrants in October for information on 
the Facebook accounts of 7 people believed to have been associated with Charles 
Lindsey, Kayla Ford, Arlexis Kawai and Helen Rone. Those 4 have been charged in 
connection with the deaths of 2 people whose bodies were found Nov. 9, 2016, in 
a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria that had been set on fire in the 700 block of 
Region-Reedyville Road.

Lindsey, 33, of Roundhill, is charged with 2 counts of murder and 1 count each 
of 1st-degree arson and tampering with physical evidence. He could face the 
death penalty if convicted as charged.

Rone, 22, of Roundhill; Ford, 27, of Edmonton; and Kawai, 22, of Bowling Green, 
are each charged with 2 counts of complicity to murder, 2 counts of 
facilitation of murder and 1 count each of 1st-degree complicity to arson, 
1st-degree facilitation of arson and tampering with physical evidence.

Court records name the victims as Cory Hampton, 28, and Britany Tomes, 17. The 
car in which their bodies were found was registered to Hampton, according to 
court records.

Ford, Kawai and Rone are accused of following Lindsey as he drove from 
Roundhill to the scene of the double homicide and then drove him away from the 
scene.

Court records indicate Rone sent a picture of Hampton's car from her Facebook 
messenger account to Kawai's on the night before the double homicide and that 
Rone and Kawai also discussed "whether Hampton had money and/or drugs in his 
possession" that night, according to one of several motions for discovery filed 
in the case by Lindsey's attorney, Sam Lowe of the Department of Public 
Advocacy.

The search warrants obtained by police seek all information, uploaded photos 
and messages sent between Oct. 1, 2016, and Dec. 1, 2016, on the Facebook 
accounts of 7 people, 2 of whom Lindsey reportedly identified as being present 
at the scene of the homicides. None of those 7 people are charged with a crime 
in connection with the double homicide.

Police ascertained that the co-defendants and the victims had active Facebook 
accounts and "affiliations with 1 another through shared friends and/or wall 
postings."

Investigators sought search warrants for Facebook accounts belonging to Sherman 
Watkins, Tonia Flowers and Pete Strickland.

In affidavits supporting the request for warrants, KSP Detective Joshua Amos 
stated that Lindsey disclosed in a police interview that he believed Watkins 
and Strickland were "involved in the murders and/or present at the scene."

A search warrant granting access to a Facebook account for Jeffery Johnson was 
sought on the basis that Johnson knows how Hampton and Lindsey met.

"A review of defendant Lindsey's Facebook account reveals that in the days 
immediately preceding the murders there was communication between Lindsey and 
Johnson via Facebook," Amos stated in an affidavit.

Police sought access to Robert Flood's Facebook page because "Ford was using 
Flood's Facebook to communicate with Rone," Amos said in an affidavit.

Information on a Facebook page for Jason Bradley was sought by KSP because 
police found evidence that Bradley was angry at Hampton's involvement with 
Bradley's girlfriend, court records show.

Police also requested a search warrant for Sara Meyers' Facebook account 
because of evidence that Meyers spoke with Hampton via Facebook on the day 
before the double homicide, according to an affidavit for a search warrant.

Lindsey, Ford, Kawai and Rone are scheduled to appear Dec. 20 for a pretrial 
conference in Butler Circuit Court before Special Judge John Grise.

It is possible the judge will take up 2 motions filed in October by Lowe to 
prevent Lindsey's co-defendants from testifying at his trial.

Lowe said in his motion that Ford, Kawai and Rone gave statements to police 
about the incident, with each maintaining they did not see Lindsey kill the 2 
victims or set the Crown Victoria on fire.

The line of questioning pursued by police suggested to Lindsey's co-defedants 
that picking Lindsey up from the scene amounts to being complicit to murder, 
regardless of whether they knew what Lindsey was doing, Lowe argues.

"After it was suggested that they could be convicted of murder simply by 
picking (Lindsey) up, regardless of whether they knew what he did, they then 
each said that they picked up (the) defendant, saw nothing unusual and then at 
a later time he confessed to committing the murders," Lowe states in his 
motion.

The threat of being punished for murder for picking up Lindsey from the scene 
"calls into question whether they will honor their obligation to tell the 
truth" at a jury trial, according to Lowe.

In a separate motion, Lowe has requested that 2 interviews Lindsey gave to KSP 
not be admitted as evidence.

Lindsey was interviewed 4 times by police. Lowe is seeking to suppress the 
final 2 interviews, given Nov. 20, 2016, and Dec. 1, 2016, after Lindsey was 
arrested.

During the course of those interviews, Lindsey had a pending theft charge in 
Allen County that was unrelated to the Butler County case.

Lindsey had a different lawyer in the theft case, and Lowe claims there was no 
evidence that Lindsey and the other attorney had a "meaningful discussion ... 
concerning the consequences of waiving his right to remain silent."

Lowe argues that when a defendant in a pending criminal case discusses another 
case with law enforcement, that discussion will negatively affect the 1st case, 
in the form of a plea offer carrying a tougher penalty, revocation of bond or 
an attempt to introduce the facts from 1 pending case as evidence against the 
defendant in the other case.

"In order for an attorney who is representing a client on an active case to be 
effective counsel, the attorney must have knowledge that law enforcement wishes 
to interview a defendant on a subsequent case and thoroughly advise the client 
whether to speak or remain silent," Lowe said in the motion.

A list of items of evidence provided to the defense by Butler County 
Commonwealth's Attorney Blake Chambers takes up several pages in court filings 
and includes security camera footage from various locations, recordings of 
several police interviews, crime scene photos, Facebook records, state medical 
examiner's reports and reports from multiple fire departments.

(source: Bowling Green Daily News)








MISSOURI:

Missouri judge faces rare chance to impose death penalty



A southwest Missouri jury's inability to decide whether a man should be put to 
death for kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old girl sets up a rare situation 
where a judge will make that decision.

Circuit Judge Thomas Mountjoy is scheduled to announce Jan. 11 whether Craig 
Wood will get the death penalty or be sentenced to life in prison. Wood was 
convicted of kidnapping and killing Hailey Owen in Springfield in February 2014 
but the jury announced Monday that it couldn???t reach a unanimous decision on 
his sentence.

Missouri and Indiana are the only states where a judge can impose a death 
sentence, while other states follow the federal procedure that defendant is 
sentenced to life in prison if a jury can't reach a decision on the death 
penalty, The Springfield News-Leader reported. But in 2016, the U.S. Supreme 
Court ruled that only a jury, not a judge, can make that decision.

Robert Dunham, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information 
Center, said a judge-imposed sentence might contradict the Supreme Court 
ruling. He said if Mountjoy imposes the death penalty, the constitutionality of 
the process will "unquestionably" be challenged by Wood's attorneys during the 
appeal process.

But Wood's attorney Patrick Berrigan declined to comment on his legal strategy.

Berrigan, a public defender who handles only death penalty cases, said it's 
been more than 20 years since he had a case where a judge imposed the death 
sentence.

Judge Mountjoy did not respond to News-Leader requests asking if he has ever 
been in this situation before.

Dunham said Missouri jurors have not imposed a death sentence since 2013, but 
the state's hung jury procedure allowed judges to sentence a few men to death 
row in recent years. He did not have statistics on how many times that has 
happened in Missouri.

"It raises very serious questions about circumventing the will of the public," 
Dunham said. "Especially in a state where no jury has sentenced anyone to death 
for 5 years."

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

Judge rules against cameras in Hannibal man's murder trial



Cameras will not be allowed in the courtroom during the Timothy Brokes murder 
trial.

Judge Rachel Bringer Shepherd made the ruling Thursday saying it would 
"materially interfere with the rights of the parties to a fair trial."

The Herald-Whig's news-gathering partners at WGEM and Quincy TV station KHQA 
both asked the court to allow for cameras. The request also asked to allow 
reporters to post to social media in the courtroom and to stream the proceeding 
live.

Representatives for both TV stations made statements before Bringer Shepherd on 
Nov. 1. The request was opposed by Brokes' counsel.

Brokes, 36, has pleaded not guilty to charges of 1st-degree murder and armed 
criminal action in the Jan. 12, 2016, shooting death of Brittany S. Gauch, 30, 
and to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the 
shooting of her husband, Aaron M. Gauch, 32, the same day. Both were shot in 
Marion County.

Marion County Prosecuting Attorney David Clayton said in September that he will 
seek the death penalty against Brokes.

Brokes also is facing charges in Monroe County in connection with the shooting 
of a Monroe City police officer Jan. 13, 2016. He has pleaded not guilty to 
charges of assault on a law enforcement officer, armed criminal action and 
hindering prosecution of a felony in Monroe County Circuit Court.

He is scheduled to return to court Nov. 27 for a motion to suppress hearing. 
Brokes continues to be held in the Marion County Jail.

(source for both: Associated Press)








ARKANSAS:

Analysis: Halted Execution Deepens Conservative Ire at Court----The Arkansas 
Supreme Court's decision to halt another execution will only deepen the ire of 
conservatives at the court over death penalty cases, but it's too soon to tell 
what the political fallout will be.



The Arkansas Supreme Court's decision to halt another execution last week will 
only further the complaints lobbed by conservatives who say the court is 
denying closure to victims' families. But it's too soon to tell what the 
political fallout will be and whether it'll factor into any races next year.

Justices last week granted an emergency stay for Jack Greene, who had been 
sentenced to death in the 1991 killing of Sidney Burnett, while justices take 
up a case related to claims that the convicted murderer is severely mentally 
ill. It marked the 4th execution halted this year by the court, which spared 3 
of the 8 inmates Arkansas had planned to put to death before its supply of a 
lethal injection drug expired at the end of April.

The state's top attorney said she wouldn't appeal the order and vented 
frustration at the court over its 5-2 decision.

"With no written order or explanation provided, the Arkansas Supreme Court has 
once again delayed justice for the family of Sidney Burnett," Attorney General 
Leslie Rutledge said in a statement. "I will continue to fight for justice for 
Sidney Burnett and to give the Burnett family the closure they deserve."

The stay revived conservatives' criticism of the court, which grew in April 
when justices scaled back what had been an unprecedented plan to put 8 inmates 
to death over an 11-day period. Arkansas ultimately carried out 4 executions 
that month after 3 inmates were spared by the state high court and another by a 
federal judge.

"These guys committed heinous crimes. They have been convicted and convicted 
and convicted, and now we have what appears to be activism on our justices' 
side to basically re-victimize the families and victims," said Republican Sen. 
Bart Hester.

The criticism is striking for a court that has shifted to the right in recent 
elections. Outside groups and candidates spent more than $1.6 million last year 
on a pair of high court races that were among the most expensive and bitterly 
fought judicial campaigns in the state's history. Arkansas was among a number 
of states where conservative groups spent millions on such efforts.

As in April, part of the furor has focused on the lack of a detailed ruling 
elaborating on the court's reason for the stay. The court issued a 1-page 
decision granting Greene's request for a stay, the same approach taken when it 
halted three other executions in April. Greene's attorneys asked for the stay 
so they can appeal a lower court's decision to dismiss their challenge to an 
Arkansas law giving the state's top prison official authority to determine the 
inmate's mental competency.

"It's just troubling. I want to know the reason why we're delaying justice to 
these families so we can properly move forward," Republican Sen. Trent Garner 
said last week.

The ruling also came days after the court threw another new potential obstacle 
at efforts to continue executions, ruling that a 2015 law keeping secret the 
source of Arkansas' lethal injection drugs protected suppliers and sellers but 
not manufacturers. A New York company revealed last week as the maker of 
Arkansas' newly obtained supply of midazolam, 1 of 3 drugs used in the lethal 
injection process, said it didn't want its products used for executions and 
said it doesn't sell drugs for that purpose.

The 1st big test of whether there's any backlash over the stays will come next 
year, with 1 of the state's 7 Supreme Court seats on the ballot. Supreme Court 
Justice Courtney Goodson, whose seat is up next year, has not said whether 
she'll seek re-election. Goodson, who voted for the stays, lost her bid for 
chief justice last year after conservative groups blanketed the state with ads 
attacking her.

Poll numbers last week also showed just how much Arkansans' strong support of 
the death penalty contrasts with a national decline in recent years. 72 % of 
respondents in the University of Arkansas' annual Arkansas poll supported death 
penalty as a punishment for murder. The poll has a margin of error of plus or 
minus 3.5 % points.

"The average Arkansas voter on this core issue is just different from the 
average American voter," said Janine Parry, the director of the poll.

(source: Associated Press)








IDAHO:

Ada County's rift with association almost costs Boise-area taxpayers big bucks



Idaho's most populated county's plan to go it alone in hopes of saving money 
lasted only 2 days.

The Ada County Commission voted quickly and unanimously on Thursday to reverse 
its earlier decision to withdraw from Idaho's Capital Crimes Defense Fund and 
refuse to sign a joint powers agreement for criminal defense. It did so after 
learning that the move, rather than saving the money, would cost taxpayers 
hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The commissioners had decided to drop out of both of those along with its 
membership in the Idaho Association of Counties, and informed outgoing 
Association of Counties chief Dan Chadwick in a letter on Tuesday.

Then, the county got a disturbing call from the State Appellate Public 
Defender's office.

"They said we have 167 appeals we need to bring by," Tony Geddes, Ada County 
public defender, told the 3 commissioners on Thursday morning.

Withdrawing from the Capital Crimes Defense Fund, which the Legislature 
established in 1998, would remove Ada County's access to the services of the 
State Appellate Public Defender, whose office provides both felony appeals 
representation when county costs for an individual case exceed $10,000, and 
capital case representation. It was set up to save counties money. Typically, 
30 to 40 % of the office's work involves Ada County cases, according to the 
State Appellate Public Defender Eric Fredericksen.

Last year, the state-funded office spent nearly $700,000 on Ada County cases.

There also are 2 pending death penalty cases from Ada County that the SAPD's 
office is handling: The Erick Hall post-conviction appeals, involving Hall's 
rape and murder of 2 women in Ada County in 2002 and 2003; and the case of Azad 
Abdullah, who was convicted in 2004 of 1st-degree murder in the arson death of 
his wife, Angie.

The SAPD's work meets all constitutional standards for public defense. As a 
result, it was excluded from the ACLU lawsuit that's challenging Idaho's public 
defense system in counties across the state as constitutionally defective. The 
Idaho Association of Counties administers the fund.

"All 44 counties are participating in the fund," said Kelli Brassfield, the 
Idaho Association of Counties government affairs associate. The association 
administers the fund.

The Capital Crimes Defense Fund assesses counties fees using a formula based on 
population, but the fund had sufficient reserves that it didn't assess any fees 
this year or last year.

Ada Commissioner Jim Tibbs said the last time Ada County was assessed, the 
charge was $200,000.

"We are very frugal with the county's money," Tibbs said. "Nobody knew this was 
tied to the SAPD, and that you have to be a participant ... to even get the 
services of the SAPD."

Geddes told the commissioners their withdrawal from the fund caused a 
"kerfuffle."

"It's an obscure statute," he said. "Not everyone knows about it."

Geddes said the commissioners could make a "simple fix" by voting to "re-engage 
in the Capital Crimes Defense Fund and avoid losing the services of the state 
appellate public defender," adding, "There are a lot of people that would be 
very relieved."

Commission Chairman Dave Case said, "Including the 3 people on this side of the 
table," referring to the 3 county commissioners.

"The good news is that there were no serious problems caused as a result of 
it," Tibbs said after the commission voted to rejoin the defense fund. "We were 
able to catch the problem, and we're fixing it."

The Ada commissioners are sticking by their decision, however, to drop their 
membership in the Idaho Association of Counties, which also charges fees based 
on population, and would have charged Ada County nearly $44,000. All 44 
counties in Idaho have belonged to the association, which was formed in 1976 
and advocates for county issues at state Legislature, provides training and 
technical assistance, and coordinates numerous other programs.

"We don't really get much of anything out of it. It's mainly for the rural 
counties," Tibbs said. "We weren't getting the representation that we thought 
we deserved for the amount of money we're paying."

The Ada commissioners have decided to spend the money they otherwise would have 
spent on IAC dues on hiring their own lobbyists for the upcoming legislative 
session. They've hired Jeremy Chou and Ken McClure of Givens Pursley for 
$40,000.

(spokesman.com)








NEVADA:

Governors play a central role in Nevada's death penalty; group appealing to 
Sandoval to stop planned execution



The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada plans to deliver a petition to 
Gov. Brian Sandoval on Monday, asking him to urge the prisons director to 
refrain from using a lethal injection drug combination that's never before been 
used to carry out the death penalty.

Although there are a range of ways to stop an execution in Nevada, ACLU 
officials believe this is their best hope for staving off the ultimate 
punishment of inmate Scott Dozier, who has been convicted of 2 murders but 
voluntarily abandoned his appeals and is urging the state to carry out the 
penalty. The execution, originally scheduled for Tuesday, is on hold over 
concerns about the lethal injection method and now hinges on an order from the 
Nevada Supreme Court; it's unclear when that will come.

"Without more details about the state's plan, it is not clear if the execution 
will be humane or violate the Constitution," the ACLU said in its petition, 
which has several hundred signatures. "We need your help to get Governor 
Sandoval to stop this execution while so many questions remain about it."

With laws on the death penalty varying dramatically from state to state, 
governors play a central role in the practice. They can veto bills to abolish 
the practice and wield the power to call off an execution - wide authority that 
adds weight to the outcome of Nevada's 2018 gubernatorial election.

Sandoval, a former federal judge, included funds for a new execution chamber in 
his 2015 budget proposal and signaled his opposition to a death penalty 
abolition bill that emerged in the 2017 legislative session but was never 
brought up for a vote and died in committee. He said he supports the death 
penalty even though he's Catholic and some of his faith's leaders are adamantly 
against it; Pope Francis declared in October that the practice was "contrary to 
the Gospel."

"It's obviously difficult for me, I'm Catholic," Sandoval said in an interview 
with The Nevada Independent in late October. "But at the same time, I've always 
supported the death penalty, and the egregious circumstances whereby an 
operation of law, a jury of his peers has made that decision ... I support the 
Nevada law."

He's also expressed confidence in the lethal injection cocktail that the ACLU 
wants him to block.

"I don't know if I'd call it unknown," the governor said. "I've got to rely 
upon the expertise, the medical expertise, of the state medical officer, and 
based on his analysis and recommendations, he feels that it's going to work, so 
I trust his judgment."

A governor's role

An execution can be held off for a variety of reasons, most commonly as a 
conviction or sentence is appealed. It can also be stayed while a court 
investigates the offender's mental sanity or intellectual capacity, or if the 
inmate is pregnant.

But Nevada law also provides other routes.

The state Constitution empowers a governor to "grant reprieves for a period not 
exceeding sixty days dating from the time of conviction, for all offenses, 
except in cases of impeachment."

The ACLU, citing the minutes of a constitutional convention in 1864, interprets 
that language as granting the governor the chance to postpone the imposition of 
a sentence by up to 60 days at a time. The intent, according to framers' 
dialogue, was to allow time for a pardons board to convene and to avoid giving 
unfettered pardoning power to a single person.

The constitution lays out a more permanent process: The State Board of Pardons 
Commissioners, which includes Sandoval, Attorney General Adam Laxalt and all 7 
justices on the Nevada Supreme Court, can commute (reduce) a sentence. That 
happens if at least a majority of members vote to do so, and the governor must 
be among the group voting in the affirmative.

The board typically meets twice a year - most recently last week - and has wide 
latitude to reduce sentences or pardon people (nullify the consequences of the 
original conviction, such as loss of voting rights, loss of the right to bear 
arms, or occupational licensing restrictions). But while it's technically an 
option, observers say Dozier???s case has virtually no chance of ending up 
there.

"It's really the wrong vehicle," said Scott Coffee, a Clark County public 
defender who's been active on death penalty issues. "It's like trying to take a 
sailboat through the Mojave Desert."

For one, Nevada Administrative Code says the board won't consider applications 
for a commutation or pardon from someone sentenced to death unless they've 
exhausted all available judicial appeals. Dozier has voluntarily given up 
further appeals but could reverse course on that decision if he chooses.

2nd, there are timeline hurdles. A petition for a commutation must be turned in 
90 days before the Board of Pardons Commissioners meets; the next meeting is 
expected to be in May.

3rd, pardons and commutations are typically only handed down in extraordinary 
situations, such as when a prisoner has shown exceptional conduct or when 
there's been a drastic change in circumstances since conviction. A pardon 
granted last week to Fred Steese, for example, came after new evidence emerged 
in his murder case, and a lower court judge ruled he was actually innocent.

Commutations are rare: the board has historically received about 1,000 
petitions for commutation each year, grants hearings in about 20 cases a year 
and actually hands down a commutation in about half of those cases. Pardons, 
which are usually granted in cases where there's been a significant amount of 
time since the person was discharged, were handed down 11 times in 2016.

The governor retains significant power in the pardon and commutation process - 
he has discretion to remove any application from consideration by the board 
even if staff approve it for board review.

Only 1 death row inmate has been granted clemency by a Nevada governor since 
the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 - that was Thomas 
Nevius in 2002.

The pardons board, chaired by Gov. Kenny Guinn, unanimously commuted Nevius' 
sentence from death to life without parole after the U.S. Supreme Court banned 
executions of people with "mental retardation." Convicted of 2 murders, Nevius 
had been scheduled for execution 3 times but each instance was called off 
because of appeals.

Evidence of his disability was not properly provided during the trial phase, 
and several jurors said they wouldn???t have voted for execution had they seen 
it. According to an Associated Press article from the time of his pardon, 
Nevius, "whose lawyers said he knew something 'good' had occurred, murmured his 
thanks as officers led him away."

Where do Nevada governor hopefuls stand?

ADAM LAXALT:

Laxalt's campaign did not respond to requests for comment about his position on 
the death penalty.

But according to the Nevada Appeal, which interviewed Laxalt Monday at a Carson 
City restaurant during the candidate's statewide campaign launch tour, the 
perceived Republican frontrunner said he believes in the death penalty in spite 
of being a devout Catholic. The newspaper reported that he declined comment on 
the execution of Scott Dozier, noting that he's representing the state and 
handling legal action related to the execution.

Jordan Smith, one of Laxalt's subordinates, has been arguing in court on behalf 
of the Nevada Department of Corrections. The agency wants to use a 3-drug 
combination in the lethal injection that includes a paralytic, but Judge 
Jennifer Togliatti has barred the 3rd drug, citing a defense expert witness 
anesthesiologist who said it could mask signs that the other 2 drugs aren't 
working and lead to Dozier being conscious of a "horrifying" suffocation death.

The state, which stands by the original 3-drug cocktail plan, sought and 
received a stay of the execution so the Nevada Supreme Court can weigh in on 
the issue.

DAN SCHWARTZ:

The Republican state treasurer said he generally supports the death penalty.

"The death penalty is the state's ultimate punishment for a criminal 
defendant," he said in a statement. "Am I morally opposed to it? No. But its 
use depends on the facts and circumstances of each case."

CHRIS GIUNCHIGLIANI:

The Clark County commissioner, former state lawmaker and Democratic 
gubernatorial candidate is opposed to the death penalty and welcomes discussion 
of abolition.

"It's a tough debate, but it's worthwhile having that discussion," she said in 
an interview. "At some point, the cost to the taxpayer for all the appeals and 
the length of time and the individuals who have to be trained to make sure they 
get the right defense ... It's 20 years in some cases. So really what are we 
fighting over? The person should be in prison without the opportunity for 
parole. Make them have to think about what they did."

She said Nevada's independent streak explains some of the state's death penalty 
trends - it's had 12 executions in the past 40 years, far less than some states 
such as Texas but far from states that have had bans for more than 100 years.

"I do think Nevadans are pretty pragmatic as far as where they stand whether 
it's on this issue or education or whatnot," she said. "I don't think we should 
assume just because we're the West that we're always so far to the right or so 
far to the left as far as that's concerned. Texas wants to execute everybody."

"It was never a deterrent," she added. "Somebody that's going to be bad is 
going to be bad no matter what."

STEVE SISOLAK:

The Clark County Commission chairman and Democratic candidate is against the 
death penalty.

"I'm opposed to capital punishment," he said in a brief interview. "One, 
there's a cost factor associated with it that's significant. Two, I think there 
have been cases where it was proven that the wrong person was executed, and 3, 
that I don't think that I should play God in terms of determining who dies and 
who lives."

(source: The Nevada Independent)