[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., LA., OHIO, IND., ARK., IDAHO

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 21




GEORGIA----impending execution

Killer soon to be executed wants high-calorie last meal----Keith Tharpe faces 
the death penalty for killing his sister-in-law and kidnapping and raping his 
estranged wife.



Keith Tharpe, who is scheduled to be executed next Tuesday, has requested 
high-calorie food for his last meal.

As is tradition, the Georgia Department of Corrections allowed Tharpe to plan 
the menu for the day of his execution.

Condemned inmates are allowed almost anything they want for their final meal. 
One exception, however, is alcohol, which was on the 2015 last-meal request of 
Marcus Ray Johnson, who wanted a 6-pack of beer.

Tharpe, 59, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, 27 
years and a day after he murdered his sister-in-law on a Jones County road.

If Tharpe is put to death, he will be the second man the state has executed 
this year. In 2016, Georgia carried out a record 9 executions.

Less than a month after Tharpe's wife had left him and their violent marriage 
in late summer 1990, he told her in a phone call that if she wanted to "play 
dirty," he would show her what dirty was.

On the morning of Sept. 25, 1990, Tharpe intercepted his estranged wife and 
Jaquelin Freeman - who was married to Tharpe's wife's brother - as they drrive 
to work.

He pulled in front of their car, blocking them, and pulled out the 29-year-old 
Freeman. Tharpe threw Freeman into a ditch and fired three times from a 
shotgun, reloading after each trigger pull.

Tharpe kidnapped his wife and later allegedly sexually assaulted her in the car 
on the side of the road in a nearby county. Tharpe was never tried for rape.

Tharpe was caught because he had driven his ex-wife to Macon to withdraw funds 
from her credit union. She called police instead.

Tharpe went on trial 3 months after the murder.

During the sentencing phase that came after the jury convicted him, 13 
witnesses - including his mother, sister, 2 of his daughters, and even the 
ex-wife he assaulted - described Tharpe as a good son, brother, father and 
husband who was emotionally distressed because his marriage was ending.

Though state and federal courts have upheld his conviction and death sentence, 
his lawyers still have an appeal pending that claims at least one juror had 
racist motives for voting for the death penalty. That juror, Barney Gattie, 
signed a statement for Tharpe's lawyers, confirming that he believed there were 
"good black folks" and people like Tharpe, whom he used a slur to describe.

But the state's lawyers said Gattie, who has since died, told them that he was 
drunk when he made that statement and didn't understand what he was signing.

That matter is pending before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

(source: Atlana Journal-Constitution)








LOUISIANA:

New state law could impact Baton Rouge double-slaying case



A state law that took effect in 2009 making it easier to subject serial killers 
to the death penalty could have a profound impact on Kenneth James Gleason, the 
Baton Rouge man who was booked Tuesday on 1st-degree murder counts in a pair of 
unrelated fatal shootings last week.

East Baton Rouge Parish prosecutors sought the change to the 1st-degree murder 
statute after reputed Baton Rouge serial killer Sean Vincent Gillis was 
convicted in 2008 of 1st-degree murder. The jury deadlocked on the death 
penalty, and Gillis was sentenced to life in prison.

1st-degree murder, which is punishable by death in capital cases, requires an 
aggravating circumstance, such as murdering someone while committing another 
crime like armed robbery or killing someone under the age of 12.

Prosecutors complained to state lawmakers after the Gillis trial that serial 
killers often murder without committing another aggravating crime.

Senate Bill 132, pushed by East Baton Rouge prosecutors and signed into law in 
2009 by then-Gov. Bobby Jindal, added another element that allows the state to 
seek capital murder charges "when the offender has a specific intent to kill or 
inflict great bodily harm and the offender has previously acted with a specific 
intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm that resulted in the killing or 1 
or more persons."

Authorities say Gillis confessed to killing 8 south Louisiana women between 
1994 and 2004. He was booked in 7 of those deaths.

"After Gillis we wanted to make sure that multiple killings in a sequential 
fashion would be an aggravating factor," East Baton Rouge Parish District 
Attorney Hillar Moore III, who took office in 2009, said Tuesday.

Former East Baton Rouge Parish First Assistant District Attorney Prem Burns, 
who prosecuted Gillis and helped push the change in state law, said Tuesday it 
was sorely needed so serial killers would not be rewarded for not committing an 
aggravating crime in addition to each individual murder.

"We needed a serial killer statute," she said. "A serial killer in and of 
itself needs to be a 1st-degree murder. This was so badly needed. I'm glad we 
have it."

Burns described the change in the law as a "new tool for victims and 
prosecutors."

Moore and Louisiana District Attorneys Association executive director Pete 
Adams said they are not aware of another case to date of the law being applied. 
But Moore said his office at this point intends to use it against Gleason, 23, 
if he is indicted on 1st-degree murder charges.

Gleason, who is white, is booked with 1st-degree murder in the killings of 
Donald Smart, 49, and Bruce Cofield, 59, both black men. Authorities have said 
the shootings may have been racially motivated.

Smart was shot Thursday night while walking on Alaska Street to work his 
overnight shift at Louie's Cafe, just off LSU's campus. Cofield was apparently 
homeless and frequently panhandled at the intersection where he was shot Sept. 
12 on Florida Street.

In the Gillis case, the aggravating crimes -- armed robbery and second-degree 
kidnapping -- accused him of taking, among other things, a black belt and 
earring backing from Donna Bennett Johnston, who was strangled and mutilated in 
2004. The belt was found in a broken-down van in Gillis' driveway, and the 
earring piece was discovered in the trunk of his car.

Even though Gillis was found guilty of 1st-degree murder in Johnston's slaying, 
his attorneys had argued that no one in their "right mind would kill somebody 
to get this belt." Prosecutor Prem Burns argued Gillis kept the belt with 
silver loops as a "trophy" and "souvenir."

Gillis' attorneys also argued that Johnston, a prostitute, likely willingly got 
into Gillis' car.

Burns said Tuesday that, even though the jury found Gillis guilty of 1st-degree 
murder, the hoops she had to jump through to prove his guilt may have left some 
on the jury wondering whether the crime was actually a 1st-degree murder.

"That was half the battle," she said of having to prove an aggravating factor.

Burns said former East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Doug Moreau and the 
late Cheney Joseph, a former prosecutor and LSU law professor, also were 
instrumental in securing the change to the 1st-degree murder statute.

Jeffery Lee Guillory, another Baton Rouge serial killer accused of committing 
murders in 1999, 2001 and 2002, was convicted in 2011 of 2nd-degree murder in 
one of those killings and sentenced to life in prison. He could not be 
prosecuted for 1st-degree murder because there were no aggravating 
circumstances, and because the crimes predated the 2009 law change.

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Dana Cummings, who prosecuted 
Guillory, said he definitely would have been prosecuted for 1st-degree murder 
and subjected to a possible death penalty if his crimes had occurred after the 
2009 legislation was signed into law.

Guillory was found guilty in the 2002 strangulation of Renee Newman in Baton 
Rouge.

(source: houmatoday.com)

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

White Baton Rouge Suspect Is Charged With Murder in Killings of 2 Black Men



The police in Baton Rouge, La., have charged a 23-year-old white man in the 
separate killings of 2 black men last week.

The suspect, Kenneth James Gleason, was charged on Tuesday with 2 counts of 1st 
degree murder in the killings of Bruce Cofield and Donald Smart, as well as 2 
counts of attempted 1st degree murder in an unrelated shooting, said Sergeant 
L'Jean McKneely, a spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Mr. Cofield was shot on Sept. 12, and Mr. Smart on Sept. 14. The men were 
killed in a similar manner, with a gunman first shooting from a vehicle and 
then exiting the car, standing over the victims and shooting multiple times, 
Mr. McKneely said.

The police, including Mr. McKneely, said last week that they believed that the 
killings may have been racially motivated. Mr. McKneeley said Tuesday that the 
explanation had not been ruled out, but that it was speculative and that Mr. 
Gleason still needed to be questioned.

The attempted murder charges stemmed from an episode on Sept. 11 in which a 
house close to where Mr. Gleason lives was shot at 3 times, Mr. McKneely said. 
2 people were in the house at the time. Neither was injured.

Mr. Gleason was arrested Saturday on unrelated drug charges - possession of 
marijuana and human growth hormones - and was questioned about the killings.

He posted $3,500 bail and was released Sunday, the police said. He was arrested 
again on Monday after being accused of petty theft.

Finally, on Tuesday, after the police had recovered DNA evidence from the shell 
casings at one of the crime scenes linked to Mr. Gleason, he was charged in the 
killings, Mr. McKneely said.

Baton Rouge's interim police chief, Johnny Dunnam, said at a news conference 
that Mr. Gleason would have likely killed again had he not been arrested. That 
would have further strained race relations in a community that was roiled by 
the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling, a black man, in 2016.

"He could have potentially created a tear in the fabric that holds this 
community together," Chief Dunnam said.

Hillar C. Moore III, the district attorney of East Baton Rouge, detailed the 
evidence against Mr. Gleason at length during the news conference. The case 
against him relied on his past purchases of guns and video evidence and witness 
accounts indicating that he had handled guns between the shootings. Mr. Moore 
said that it was "surely a potential death penalty case."

The crime lab had been fortunate to recover DNA evidence from the shell casings 
linking Mr. Gleason to the shootings, he added.

Mr. Cofield, 59, who the police believed was homeless, was shot to death at 
about 11 p.m. near the center of Baton Rouge. He was found dead in the street.

Mr. Smart, 49, was killed at about the same time 2 days later while walking to 
his job as a dishwasher at Louie's Cafe, a popular diner near the Louisiana 
State University campus in the southwest part of the city. The Advocate 
reported that he was married with 3 children.

The killing of Mr. Sterling by the police last summer led to sustained protests 
in Baton Rouge. In May, the Justice Department said that the police officers 
involved in that shooting would not face federal charges.

(source: New York Times)








OHIO:

Judge: Inmate drug reaction wasn't enough to stop execution



Descriptions of the repeated rising and falling of an inmate's stomach 
weren???t enough to stop his execution under current legal precedent governing 
lethal injection in Ohio, a federal judge said in explaining his decision not 
to intervene.

It was also likely too late to act by the time attorneys for inmate Gary Otte 
reached him by phone during the execution on Sept. 13, Judge Michael Merz said 
in a ruling on Saturday.

The description of Otte's reaction to the 1st execution drug was not enough to 
show he "was experiencing unconstitutionally severe pain," the judge said in a 
5-page ruling.

Otte, 45, was put to death for the 1992 murders of 2 people during robberies 
over 2 days in suburban Cleveland.

After the 1st drug was administered - the sedative midazolam - Otte's stomach 
rose and fell repeatedly over the next couple of minutes. It was similar to the 
rising and falling of inmates' stomachs and chests seen in past executions 
using a different drug, though Otte's movement appeared to go on longer.

Carol Wright, a federal public defender representing Otte, also said she saw 
tears on his face and he was clenching his hands, which indicated to her he was 
suffering.

When Otte's stomach began to rise and fall, Wright tried to leave the witness 
room in the death house at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility to call 
another attorney in a different part of the prison.

Wright said execution policy should have allowed her to leave right away. But a 
spokeswoman for the state's prison system said once Wright's identity and 
intentions were confirmed, she was allowed out.

Wright "is reporting that there were signs that Mr. Otte was conscious, crying, 
clenching of the hands, heaving at the stomach," Allen Bohnert, another federal 
public defender, told Merz by phone at 10:48 a.m. that morning, according to a 
transcript of his call to the judge. The execution began at 10:40 a.m.

After listening to the attorneys' descriptions of the execution, Merz declined 
to stop the procedure.

The descriptions weren't enough to override an appeals court ruling this past 
summer stating that the likelihood of pain after the injection of the sedative 
midazolam didn't violate the constitution, Merz said in the Sept. 16 ruling.

Immediately after the execution, Wright said attorneys will continue to 
challenge the use of midazolam. They said even at a massive dose of 500 
milligrams it won't render inmates so deeply unconscious that they won't feel 
pain from the two subsequent drugs, which paralyze inmates and stop their 
hearts.

The next execution is Nov. 15, when Ohio plans to put Alva Campbell to death 
for car-jacking and killing 18-year-old Charles Dials in 1997.

(source: therepublic.com)

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

Jurors seated in capital murder trial in Van Wert County



Jurors in the aggravated murder trial of Christopher Peters were seated Monday 
afternoon.

The 12 jurors and 2 alternates, along with attorneys and court officials, then 
traveled to the scene of the alleged crime in Delphos as what is expected to be 
a week-long trial with capital punishment implications got fully underway.

Peters, 27, of Delphos, is charged with aggravated murder in the death of 
15-month-old Hayden Ridinger on Nov. 15 at The Old Lincoln Inn, 24249 Lincoln 
Highway on the west edge of Delphos. If convicted, Peters could face the death 
penalty. He previously pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated murder; 
felonious assault, a 2nd-degree felony; and endangering children by abuse, a 
felony of the 2nd degree.

The mother of the victim, 24-year-old Valerie Dean, faces charges of 
involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with her son's 
death. The infant's body was found inside an apartment at 24249 Lincoln Highway 
in Van Wert County. Her case will be heard separately from that of Peters.

Judge Martin Burchfield is presiding over the trial, which is expected to last 
at least a week.

Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick is presenting the state's case against 
Peters as the special counsel appointed by Burchfield. He is being assisted by 
Van Wert County Prosecutor Eva Yarger. Lima attorney Bill Kluge is serving as 
the lead defense attorney, joined by fellow Lima attorney Bob Grzybowski.

During the jury selection process that ran throughout most of the day Monday, 
prospective jurors were questioned about their knowledge of the case, their 
views on the death penalty, and whether the fact that the victim in the case 
was an infant would cloud their decision-making process. Many potential jurors 
were excused after saying they believed they could not be fair and impartial in 
judging the facts of the case for various reasons.

By mid-afternoon Monday, 23 potential jurors had been selected to be part of 
the jury pool. Shortly after 3 p.m. a jury of 6 men and 6 women - along with 2 
alternates - was sworn in to get the trial underway.

Jurors will hear opening arguments from attorneys Tuesday morning.

(source: Norwalk Reflector)








INDIANA:

Prosecutors seek death penalty for suspect in stabbing death of 73-year-old 
Lebanon man



Boone County Prosecutor Todd Meyer said Wednesday that he will seek the death 
penalty for a teenager accused of fatally stabbing a 73-year-old man in his 
Lebanon home.

Zachariah B. Wright, 19, Lebanon, faces 23 charges in connection with the June 
18 slaying of Maxwell Foster and the assault of his wife, 68-year-old Sonja 
Foster.

Meyer said the community is still reeling from the brutal incident.

"The crimes this defendant is alleged to have committed are horrific and serve 
as everyone's worst nightmare," Meyer said in a written statement. "Being 
awakened in your home, in the middle of the night, to find an intruder standing 
over you armed with a knife.

"I have given this decision considerable thought and deliberation and, after 
meeting with the victim's family, presenting the case to the Indiana 
Prosecuting Attorney Council's capital litigation committee and after speaking 
with members of the Indiana attorney general's office. I have come to the 
conclusion that seeking the death sentence in this case is the right decision."

Meyer said Wright will remain in Boone County Jail without bond until his trial 
begins Dec. 4.

Wright faces 1 count each of murder, attempted murder, attempted rape, 
aggravated battery, criminal confinement, sexual battery, attempted arson, 
unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle, attempted burglary, obstruction of 
justice and false informing, as well as 3 counts of burglary and nine counts of 
theft.

Aggravating factors in Meyer's decision to seek the death penalty include the 
fact that Wright was on probation at the time of the murder and that he is 
suspected of also attempting to commit burglary, arson and rape during the 
commission of the murder.

"When someone commits this type of crime he should have to face the ultimate 
penalty, which, in the state of Indiana, is a sentence of death," Meyer said.

According to court documents, Wright fatally stabbed Foster and attempted to 
rape his wife before trying to set her nightgown on fire. Investigators believe 
Wright first broke into a nearby home on Pearl Street and stole two vests and a 
pickax.

Afterward, he broke into a vehicle and later stole a bicycle, which he rode to 
the Foster home on the 500 block of Dicks Street, Meyer said.

Officers found Maxwell Foster with an undetermined number of stab wounds, 
police said. Sonja Foster was assaulted once inside the home and again after 
she managed to escape the house. She eventually was able to escape and get help 
from a neighbor.

Police found a pair of jeans inside Wright's home covered in blood that later 
tested positive for the DNA of both Maxwell and Sonja Foster.

Wright has been charged in 6 other cases since July 2015, including theft, 
illegal consumption, burglary and criminal mischief, according to online court 
records.

(source: indystar.com)








ARKANSAS:

Arkansas judge: State must disclose execution drug details



Arkansas' intent to shield much of its execution procedure from public view 
took another hit Tuesday when a 2nd judge ruled that the state's prison system 
must disclose labels that will identify the manufacturer of a lethal injection 
drug.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Mackie Pierce told the Arkansas Department of 
Correction to give lawyer Steven Shults unredacted package inserts for recently 
acquired midazolam by Sept. 28. He said Arkansas' legislators had an 
opportunity to grant pharmaceutical companies secrecy in a 2015 execution law, 
but didn't.

"They know what manufacturers are," Pierce said. "They knew what the issues 
were. They left out a key word not once, but twice and maybe 3 times."

In April, Shults won a similar case concerning information about potassium 
chloride, another execution drug. The case is being appealed to the state 
Supreme Court, and Arkansas also plans to appeal Pierce's ruling.

As its previous midazolam supply approached its expiration date in April, 
Arkansas scheduled 8 executions and carried out 4. They were the state's 1st 
executions after a nearly 12-year delay caused, in part, by drug manufacturers 
saying they didn't want their life-saving products used to take inmates' lives. 
Arkansas and other states in turn made many of their death penalty procedures 
secret, believing that firms and individuals involved in executions might be 
targeted by protests if their assistance was noted - and that the privacy might 
make some willing to help.

In court papers filed ahead of Tuesday's hearing, Shults' lawyer said Arkansas 
has not had trouble finding enough drugs to execute 2 more inmates. 1 execution 
is set for Nov. 9.

"Despite using its expiring supply of midazolam as a reason to schedule a 
record eight executions in 11 days in April of this year, ADC miraculously 
found a supplier to sell it 40 more vials for $250.00 cash," lawyer Alec Gaines 
wrote. "It seems evident that ADC is overplaying the difficulty involved in 
obtaining its supply of execution drugs."

The Associated Press used product labels in 2015 to identify which drugs 
Arkansas would use in executions against their makers' will. Assistant Attorney 
General Jennifer Merritt told Pierce on Tuesday that some of the manufacturers 
had objected to the state's use of their drugs and that the state hoped to stop 
future disclosures.

She also said the "legislative intent" was to extend secrecy to manufacturers, 
but that the law "could have been more artfully crafted."

Arkansas recently acquired enough of the sedative midazolam to conduct 2 
executions, with Jack Greene set to die in 7 weeks. Shults previously went to 
court and won access to the package inserts for potassium chloride, an 
execution drug that stops the inmates' hearts.

Arkansas' 3rd execution drug is vecuronium bromide, which stops the inmates' 
lungs.

(source: swtimes.com)








IDAHO:

Jury selected in Coeur d'Alene to hear potential death penalty case of Jonathan 
Renfro



A jury finally was selected Thursday in Coeur d'Alene to hear the potential 
death penalty case against accused cop killer Jonathan D. Renfro.

Attorneys took 8 days to choose the panel from a group of 1,000 potential 
jurors, which is believed to be the biggest group of jurors called in Kootenai 
County history.

Opening arguments originally were set to start Thursday, but they instead will 
begin on Monday.

Renfro, 29, is charged with 1st-degree murder and several other charges in 
connection to the shooting death of Coeur d'Alene Police Sgt. Greg Moore.

Moore had responded to an area in northwest Coeur d'Alene in the early hours of 
May 5, 2015, and he encountered a suspect who shot him in the face, took 
Moore's gun and drove off in his police car.

Prosecutors later charged Renfro who, according to court records, not only 
admitted his involvement in the shooting but predicted he may have been 
targeting police.

"The defendant boasted that a bullet within the magazine was a 'cop killer' 
bullet," the motion states. "When asked about what he would do if stopped by 
law enforcement, the defendant claimed he would go down murdering police 
officers."

The case will be prosecuted by Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh and 
deputies David Robins and Jed Whitaker. The defense includes Twin Falls 
attorney Keith Roark, who was appointed to represent Renfro along with Deputy 
Kootenai County Public Defenders Jay Logsdon and Linda Payne.

Appearing last before First District Judge Lansing Haynes, attorneys said they 
expected the trial to last 6 to 8 weeks, but it was not clear whether that time 
frame included jury selection.

If the jury convicts Renfro of 1st-degree murder, it would then be asked in a 
separate hearing whether the defendant should also face the death penalty.

(source: spokesman.com)