[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, MO., S. DAK., NEV., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 23



TEXAS:

Professor explains why Texas executes so many prisoners



If Harris County were its own state, it would have a more active death chamber 
than the entire rest of the country - except for the rest of Texas.

Of the 1,465 U.S. executions in the modern death penalty era, 125 have come 
from Harris County - roughly 8 %. The next-closest executioner is Dallas 
County, with 55 death sentences carried out since the Supreme Court reinstated 
the ultimate punishment in 1976.

Houston's reputation as ground zero for the death penalty, it seems, is 
well-earned - even though prosecutors here have been less apt to dole out 
capital sentences in recent years.

But while the numbers are stark, the reasons behind the Bayou City's apparent 
zeal for capital punishment are less apparent. It's not driven by public 
support for the practice. It's not driven by an unusually high crime rate or by 
especially heinous murders.

So what is it? What sets apart jurisdictions that frequently turn to capital 
punishment from those that don't?

That is one of the questions Frank Baumgartner and his co-authors explore in 
Deadly Justice, a numbers-heavy study of capital punishment released this 
month.

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill political science professor took 
some time this week to field questions from the Chronicle about his new book 
and its implications in the Houston area.

Houston Chronicle: So, Harris County is known as the capital of capital 
punishment - why is that? Are Houstonians just more supportive of it?

Frank Baumgartner: Well, actually I would say 2 things. We got data from a Rice 
University Houston-area poll and it turns out the public opinion in Houston is 
less supportive for the death penalty than in the rest of Texas. In general 
across the country we don't find any correlation between public opinion and 
executions, and the reason for that is that if you don't support capital 
punishment you're not allowed to sit on a jury.

The key driver in the system is the choices that district attorneys make, 
because they start the process and they get to pick and choose whether to seek 
death. Looking at all 3,000 counties in the U.S. there are just a few counties 
that have executed more than, say, 10 people - there's only 20 counties like 
that - and it's really astounding that there'd be so much concentration in a 
few jurisdictions. There's really no rhyme or reason to it.

Harris County has far more executions than any other county in the country.

HC: It's not that Houston has more horrific crimes?

FB: No, not at all.

I think it's something about a local culture that develops around the 
courthouse. Most counties never go there, but a few counties happen to 
scucessfully carry through to the end a death sentence - and then when the next 
really bad murder happens the prosecutors say, "Well this is just as bad as 
that one where we sought death so we kind of have to do it again this time."

HC: We hear a lot about botched executions - is this happening more than it 
used to - and why we aren't seeing these botched executions in Texas? Or is it 
just a matter of time?

FB: Lethal injection is a medicalized procedure but in most states no doctors 
are allowed to participate so I think it does lend itself to botches in a way 
that other methods like firing squad or hangings did not.

But Texas has a lot more practice. So there have been fewer botches in Texas 
because I think their teams in the corrections department are relatively in 
practice. In carrying out 400 or 500 hundreds executions they've just done it a 
lot more.

These charts show the average wait time before an execution is carried out in 
some of the nation's busiest death chambers.

HC: People always seem to express frustration over the length of the delays - 
sometimes it's 20 years. Is Texas an outlier in this or is this a pretty normal 
timeframe here?

FB: The average as of 2015 is about 20 years delay from crime to execution, so 
that's pretty shocking. There's three shockers. One is the extreme delay - 
that's 20 years in solitary confinement. So it's 20 years of harsh punishment 
followed by execution. The other shocker is that we only carry out 13 % of the 
death sentences. It's just astounding. And the 3rd shocker is that even when 
the governor signs a death warrant it's not usually carried out.

On average, those things are cancelled.

HC: So you've been looking at this for a while - how are the questions and 
discussion around the use of the death penalty changing?

FB: I think the biggest change was in the 1990s we started to pay serious 
attention to the concept of innocence and whether there might be innocent 
people on death row and whether we should celebrate it when we identify them 
and they're exonerated or if we should interpret that number as catastrophic.

I think the innocence argument has really shaken people's faith that you can 
count on the government to get it right every single time.

HC: One of the topics that comes up a lot now - and has been written about a 
lot - is one of your chapter titles: "Is the death penalty dying?" Is it?

FB: I think it's in a stranglehold.

I think the system is so tied up in knots, partly because of the concern of 
executing an innocent person. It's really hard to justify or have enthusiasm 
about a system so dysfunctional as the current modern death penalty, even if 
you're a prosecutor.

(source: Houston Chronicle)








FLORIDA:

Life in prison, not death, for Adam Matos, Pasco jury decides



The 12 men and women on Adam Matos' jury were chosen from a pool of nearly 300 
people in part for their responses to a single question: Could you condemn a 
stranger to death for a crime?

On Tuesday, the panel said "no" 4 times, recommending that Adam Matos instead 
serve life in prison for the brutal 2014 slayings of his ex-girlfriend, her 
parents and her new boyfriend.

It was far from a resounding "no." 10 jurors wanted Matos to be executed for 
the deaths of ex-girlfriend Megan Brown, her father, Gregory Brown, and her 
boyfriend Nick Leonard. And 11 jurors wanted Matos executed for the beating of 
Megan Brown's mother, Margaret Brown, who was bludgeoned repeatedly in the head 
with a hammer.

But a unanimous vote is required for a death sentence under Florida law.

When the jury left, the rage of the living filled the room.

"In my nightmares, I see him trembling and shaking to find and load his rifles, 
his hands shaking so much he's hardly able to get a shell into his gun to 
defend his family," said Gregory Brown's younger brother, Richard Brown. "To 
this day I can feel the helplessness and shock as the murders were unfolding in 
front of them."

He talked about the Brown family: Gregory, with his soft heart. Margaret, who 
had worked hard on the farm and was ready to spend time with her grandson. He 
wondered if Megan had been holding 4-year-old Tristan, the son she shared with 
Matos, when the bullets started flying.

Richard Brown pounded on the lectern as he described the beatings - "He used 
hammers to make hamburger out of human faces."

One after another, the family members spoke, telling of gaping holes in hearts. 
One spoke of sprinkling Holy Water on the blood pool in the garage.

The guilty verdicts came after three weeks of testimony, nearly 700 pieces of 
evidence and Matos' own confessions, including that he had committed the 
murders while his autistic son slept in another room.

The jurors took less than 3 hours to convict when the trial concluded Thursday. 
The minimum punishment state law allows for such a crime is life in prison 
without the possibility of parole.

After calling 13 friends and family members to testify in yesterday's 
sentencing hearing, Matos' defense attorney William Pura pointed to Matos, 
sitting stoically in an orange and white striped prison uniform, while 
addressing the jury 1 last time before deliberations Tuesday morning.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these are the clothes Adam Matos will wear for the rest 
of his life," Pura said. "He will be told what to eat and when to eat. He will 
be watched when he goes to the restroom or takes a shower. The only time he 
won't be watched is when he dies, and its up to you to determine if the moment 
of his death will be from a call from a higher being or from a call from our 
government."

Pura read passages from William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice describing 
those who show mercy as "twice blessed." He reminded them what Jesus Christ 
promised in his Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall 
receive mercy." He implored them to invoke the spirit of the "holiday season," 
and show mercy to a father whose actions were driven by instinct when faced 
with the possibility he could lose his son.

"Has there ever been a stronger bond than that between parent and child?" Pura 
asked the jury. "Is there anythign a prent would not do to save a child? Is 
there anythign more despairing to a parent than the prospect of losing a child? 
Can a parent ever be put in a more dire situation thatn that in which he 
believes he could have that child taken away from him?"

(source: Tampa Bay Times)








OHIO:

Man facing death penalty in Cleveland car lot killings drops attempt to 
represent himself at trial



The Cleveland man facing the death penalty in an slaying of a couple at their 
East Side car lot told a judge Tuesday that he no longer wants to represent 
himself at trial.

Joseph McAlpin, who is being jailed on $5 million bond on multiple counts of 
aggravated murder, said in court that he had decided not to represent himself 
after talking to his court-appointed attorneys, Fernando Mack and Joseph 
Pagano.

"I kind of think I'm going to back up off that one," McAlpin told Cuyahoga 
County Common Pleas Judge Brian J. Corrigan Tuesday morning.

McAlpin is accused of shooting and killing Michael Kuznik and Trina Tomola in 
April at the office of Mr. Cars II on East 185th Street. He then stole a bag of 
car keys, the business's surveillance equipment and 2 used cars from the lot.

Jerome Diggs Jr. and Andrew Keener, who stand accused of helping McAlpin, were 
indicted Monday on aggravated murder charges.

McAlpin made the initial request to represent himself during an October 
pre-trial hearing.

Corrigan ordered McAlpin to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to ensure that he 
was competent enough to represent himself, but McAlpin refused to cooperate 
with the order, Corrigan said in court Tuesday.

McAlpin told Corrigan that he made the request out of frustration because, 
after spending 5 months in jail, he said he has yet to see much of the evidence 
against him, including results from DNA tests that prosecutors say tied him to 
the killings.

"There's a lot of things that I don't understand that I wish to be answered," 
McAlpin said.

Corrigan ended the hearing after McAlpin dropped his request to represent 
himself.

McAlpin asked as a sheriff's deputy led him out of the courtroom if a trial 
date has been set.

"Not yet, we're too early," the judge replied.

(source: cleveland.com)








MISSOURI----new execution date

Execution date set for Missouri inmate with rare condition



dThe Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday set a March execution date for Russell 
Bucklew, a convicted killer who narrowly escaped execution 3 years ago because 
of a rare medical condition that raised the possibility that the lethal drug 
could cause him to suffer.

Bucklew, 49, is scheduled to die by injection March 20 for killing a man in 
1996 during a violent crime spree.

He was moments away from execution in May 2014 when the U.S. Supreme Court 
halted it and sent the case back to a lower federal court amid concerns about 
Bucklew's medical condition.

Bucklew suffers from cavernous hemangioma, a rare ailment that causes weakened 
and malformed blood vessels, as well as tumors in his nose and throat. His 
attorney, Cheryl Pilate, said Missouri's execution method could cause Bucklew's 
death to rise to the level of unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

"We believe that the setting of the date at this time is premature," Pilate 
said in a statement.

Loree Anne Paradise, spokeswoman for Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, 
said the execution date is "the subject of litigation" and declined comment on 
the merits of the case.

The Missouri attorney general's office did not immediately return an email 
message seeking comment.

In April 2014, Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett's vein collapsed, and he writhed 
on the gurney before dying of a heart attack more than 40 minutes after the 
start of the procedure.

Adding to the uncertainty in Missouri is the secretive process the state uses 
to obtain its execution drug. Big drug manufacturers prohibit use of their 
drugs in executions, so it is believed that Missouri and other states have 
turned to compound pharmacies. Missouri refuses to say how or where it gets the 
pentobarbital used in executions.

None of the 20 inmates executed since Missouri switched form a 3-drug protocol 
to pentobarbital in 2013 have shown obvious signs of pain or suffering.

Still, death penalty opponents say the secrecy makes it impossible to ensure 
the drugs couldn't cause an inmate to endure an agonizing death.

In March 1996, Bucklew was angry at his girlfriend, Stephanie Pruitt, for 
leaving him and moving in with Michael Sanders of Cape Girardeau. Bucklew 
tracked Pruitt down at Sanders' home and killed Sanders in front of Pruitt, her 
2 daughters and Sanders' 2 sons. He handcuffed and beat Pruitt, drove her to a 
secluded area and raped her.

After a state trooper spotted the car, Bucklew shot at the trooper but missed. 
Bucklew later escaped from jail, hid in the home of Pruitt's mother and beat 
her with a hammer.

(source: triblive.com)



SOUTH DAKOTA:

Judge: Court needs more time, evidence in death penalty case



A South Dakota judge says the court needs more time and evidence before 
deciding whether convicted prison guard killer Rodney Berget is mentally 
disabled, which would bar his execution.

The Argus Leader reports that attorneys made arguments Monday about Berget's 
mental capabilities and rights. Judge Doug Hoffman set another hearing for late 
January.

Berget and another inmate, Eric Robert, were convicted of killing guard Ronald 
Johnson in 2011. Robert was executed in 2012.

The state says that Berget doesn't have an intellectual disability. Berget had 
appealed his death penalty verdict but later withdrew it, clearing the way for 
his execution.

Berget's attorney, Eric Schulte, disagreed and told a judge last year that he 
wanted to evaluate Berget's mental capacity to determine if he was eligible for 
the death penalty.

(source: Associated Press)








NEVADA:

Nevada condemned inmate complain of death penalty delay



The Nevada death row inmate whose execution was postponed last week is 
complaining to a judge that he's suffering what he calls an open-ended and 
unnecessary delay.

State prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast said Tuesday that Scott Raymond Dozier 
was returned to suicide watch on Nov. 14, the day he had been scheduled to die 
by lethal injection at Ely State Prison.

Dozier turned 47 on Monday.

He has volunteered to die, and would become the 1st person executed in Nevada 
since 2006.

Court documents show that he sent a Nov. 13 letter asking Clark County District 
Court Judge Jennifer Togliatti to lift a stay of execution that she issued over 
concerns about the 3-drug cocktail that prison officials want to use.

The matter is now destined for review by the Nevada Supreme Court.

(source: Associated Press)








USA:

ISIS-loving terrorist Sayfullo Saipov will face death penalty raps in bike path 
attack



The man accused of killing 8 people in a Lower Manhattan terrorist attack has 
been charged in a 22-count indictment, officials said Tuesday.

Sayfullo Saipov, 29, faces 8 counts of murder in aid of racketeering in the 
gruesome truck attack along a bike path on Halloween.

He is also charged with 12 counts of attempted murder in aid of racketeering, 
and 1 count of providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, as 
well as 1 count of violence and destruction of a motor vehicle.

He could face the death penalty for 9 of these counts. Saipov was behind the 
wheel of a rental truck when he crossed into Manhattan from New Jersey over the 
George Washington Bridge, and then cruised south on the West Side Highway on 
Oct. 31, prosecutors said.

When Saipov reached Houston St., he steered the truck onto the bike lane and 
pedestrian path of the West Side Highway, court papers said.

He drove several blocks south, hitting "numerous" civilians along the way - 
eventually ramming into an occupied school bus near West and Chambers Sts.

Saipov then barreled out of the flatbed and waved a pellet and a paintball gun, 
chanting "Allahu Akbar," officials said.

An NYPD officer shot and restrained Saipov shortly thereafter. Cops found 2 
cell phones and a stun gun in his truck. One of the phones was filled with 
nearly 90 ISIS propaganda videos, the feds have said.

They also found a note near the truck with the phrases "No God but God and 
Muhammad is his Prophet" and "Islamic Supplication. It will endure" written in 
Arabic, prosecutors said.

Following his arrest, an unrepentant Saipov asked that the ISIS flag be 
displayed in his hospital room, according to court documents.

Saipov's lawyer could not immediately be reached. Saipov is due in court on 
Nov. 28, officials said.

(source: nydailynews.com)