[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, MASS., PENN., FLA., ALA., MISS., OHIO, NEB., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

April 14


TEXAS:

Why This Judge Dreads Execution Day----“I wondered whether the system I have 
been a part of for so long was, simply, barbaric.”


The execution was set for 6 p.m. I knew because I set the date and time myself.

With a little more than an hour to go, I sat alone by the phone in my office. 
More than three decades had passed since the defendant was first convicted of 
murdering a police officer. I had been the judge at his final trial, and now 
there was a chance I’d be called on to spare his life.

Higher courts and the Texas governor had already denied the man’s last-ditch 
appeals. His lawyers had tried to broker a deal with prosecutors to keep him 
alive, but that had failed, too. Now he was down to his last shot: The defense 
could present some new argument or evidence to convince me to intervene and 
stop the execution. If they did, I would have to make a life-or-death decision 
with essentially no time for research or discussion.

I waited. As the minutes passed, I felt a familiar sense of unease. In the 
years since I’d presided over his trial, the defendant had become a 
gray-haired, middle-aged man. He had put together a nearly flawless record 
helping other inmates. It was hard to see how he still constituted a violent 
threat to society, a requirement for death penalty cases in Texas. Now, barring 
a final legal maneuver, he would be erased from the Earth by a system in which 
I was a key participant.

I stared out the window, feeling jealous of folks headed home or to a happy 
hour. Eventually, the clock ticked to 6 pm. My phone never rang. I turned on 
the TV, and learned from the evening news that the execution had proceeded as 
planned.

As I left the office, I fell into a dark funk. Usually, I was proud and 
confident about my work as a judge, but a terrible feeling settled over me—the 
same feeling I had each time I was involved in a death penalty case. Sometimes 
I was able to rationalize that my role in the outcome of these cases was 
minimal. After all, jurors were the ones who weighed evidence and reached a 
lawful verdict. But other times I wondered whether the system I have been a 
part of for so long was, simply, barbaric.

I ran for office and took the oath knowing that the death penalty would be part 
of my job, whether I liked it or not. Each time I encountered a capital case — 
8 came before me during my 2 decades on the bench -
there would be at least one moment that brought my internal conflict starkly 
into focus. These moments are painfully fresh in my mind.

In my first death penalty trial, in 1998, the defendant had sexually assaulted 
and brutally slashed and stabbed a woman who had befriended him. The jury found 
him guilty of capital murder, but it was my duty to formally pronounce his 
sentence in open court. He displayed no emotion - during the trial, he’d only 
seemed interested in the crime scene and autopsy photos - and there was 
evidence he was a psychopath, that he felt no remorse. Still, after announcing 
his sentence, I felt an urgent need to drink and gulped 2 huge glasses of 
water.

I wondered: Is my throat dry, or am I trying to wash the words out of my mouth?

Years later, I had to sign the order setting a time for this man’s death—“by 
intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity 
sufficient to cause death and until such convict is dead”—and I remember 
staring at the paper, feeling strange and unnerved. Later, in my journal, I 
wrote about how I felt I was “invading God’s province.” I heard about another 
judge who placed a smiley face next to his signature on a death warrant. I 
couldn’t comprehend that attitude.

Writing in my journal helped me stay balanced and objective. Once, I wrote 
about a defendant who was facing the death penalty, “He was almost always 
seated with his head tilted slightly downward and his eyes staring downward 
into space.” During the trial, he had showed little emotion. But when it was 
time for me to say the required words pronouncing his death sentence, I looked 
him in the eye. As I wrote later, “I was struck by a sight I will never forget. 
He looked so small, helpless, pathetic. His eyes looked like those of the 
proverbial deer in the headlights. He had been convicted of being a brutal, 
sadistic killer, and it was hard to argue that he was not getting what he 
deserved—but at that moment, for an instant, I saw the other side of the man, 
the side his family loved.”

I continued: “If only we could execute the bad side and keep the good side 
alive.”

On another occasion, as an execution was approaching, I was visited by the 
defendant’s lawyers. The appeals had been exhausted; there was nothing they 
could do. They suggested we get together on the night of the execution. At 
first, I thought the idea was sick, demented, heartless - a social hour during 
an execution! But I knew these lawyers; they were compassionate, serious. We 
kept talking about the idea, and I realized they were dreading the execution as 
much as I was. They thought sharing the moment would make things a little less 
difficult. I joined them, and it was a therapeutic, somber evening. Far better 
than sitting alone in my office.

For some time, I had been thinking about retiring, but it was a moment of 
pronouncing a death sentence—and thinking “no more of these” — that finally 
made me decide to leave the bench, six years ago. Since then, I have felt a 
deep satisfaction and pride about my career, despite those terrible, 
uncomfortable moments.

I suppose they were the price I had to pay.

(source: Mike Lynch, a former judge in Texas District 167, retired in 
2012----themarshallproject.org)






MASSACHUSETTS:

Chris McCarthy: Death Penalty Needed for Cop Killers in Mass


Another police officer has been murdered in Massachusetts. Sean Gannon of the 
Yarmouth Police Department is dead and his alleged murderer is in custody.

The fact that Tom Latanowich, the alleged murderer of Officer Gannon, is still 
alive is a testimony to the professionalism of police officers in America. 
According to the anarchists and radicals, the police are the ones who are 
violent and out of control. Those of us in the less and less silent majority 
know it is the police who protect our lives and property, and carry a gun for a 
reason.

Officer Gannon, a New Bedford native and Bishop Stang graduate, was murdered 
because he decided to defend the life and liberty of the people in his 
community. He was killed because he represented law and order in the face of a 
person who didn't want law and order. The criminal who murdered Officer Gannon 
was going to murder any police officer he encountered. The criminal who shot 
this young officer in the head understood what too many take for granted or 
have forgotten. The police are there to serve and protect the public against 
the criminals who want to terrorize, rob, rape and otherwise victimize.

We need a death penalty in Massachusetts for the convicted killers of police 
officers, correction officers, and prosecutors. While those individuals 
employed in law enforcement are not more important than anyone else, they do 
serve as a canary in a mine shaft; if a person will kill an officer, they will 
certainly kill a civilian.

In the past, we have seen legislators file a bill to create a death penalty for 
killing a police officer in Massachusetts. This time it must be different.

The only way to accomplish this is for every city and town to file a local 
petition with the legislature in support of the death penalty for cop killers. 
Every local elected official needs to weigh in on this situation and explain 
their position.

I fully expect many to disagree with the death penalty, and I welcome their 
input on the matter. I am concerned with wrongful convictions, and it is a 
horrible tragedy on the level of what happened to Officer Gannon if an innocent 
person is executed. The advances in technology have helped to convict and 
vindicate defendants in Massachusetts, and that should be considered in this 
debate.

I want every local city councilor, mayor, and selectman to take a stand here on 
the importance of the lives of the men and woman who they employ to keep their 
citizens' lives and property safe.

Make a motion, see who seconds the motion, and call for the recorded vote.

Officer Gannon had the courage. Do you?

(source: Opinion; Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 
WBSM New Bedford----WBSM news)





PENNSYLVANIA:

DA seeks death penalty in Venango County murder case


A Venango County judge has determined that a high profile murder case may be a 
little too high profile. The attorneys are being prohibited from talking about 
the case.

The District Attorney is seeking a death penalty option for Richard Kennedy 
who, along with Amanda Cypher, is charged with beating and setting 25-year-old 
Tausha Baker on fire.

Baker's body was found when firefighters put out a small fire on Waterworks 
Road. Police believe that she was beaten in a home in Franklin then taken to a 
field to be set on fire.

The judge issued the gag order during a conference to update the status of the 
court case.

(source: yourerie.com)






FLORIDA:

State seeks death penalty in Jacksonville...


State Attorney Melissa Nelson intends to seek the death penalty for Adam 
Lawson, the 25-year-old ex-convict charged in the home invasion killing of 
beloved Jacksonville music teacher Deborah Liles.

Prosecutors notified Lawson of their plans Friday, a day after a Duval County 
grand jury indicted him on first-degree murder charges in the 62-year-old 
woman’s March 2017 beating death.

Liles' murder, which galvanized the community, is especially noteworthy because 
she was the victim of a break-in decades ago. In that case, she survived and 
helped send her attacker to prison for life.

“I can't see any other charge with what he made her face. He took her life and 
I think he set the terms for the value of his life when he did that," Michael 
Liles, the victim's husband, told News4Jax Friday.

Liles was the one who found his wife bludgeoned to death inside the kitchen of 
the couple's home in the Panama Park neighborhood March 23. Their house was 
ransacked. Her car was gone.

“For him to do that to somebody he didn’t know, that had no reason to have that 
level of hatred, it is unconscionable,” Liles said of his wife's killing.

Police found her stolen Buick LaCrosse two days later. It was ditched near 
Notter Avenue and Golfair Boulevard. Surveillance video led them to a mobile 
home park a few miles from the couple's home.

Based on that footage and a tip from a woman who spoke with Lawson after the 
killing, police searched the man's home. Inside, they said, they found a pair 
of shoes that had traces of blood on them.

Lawson, who was released from prison in 2016 after a six-year stint for 
burglary, was booked on charges of murder, armed burglary, grand theft auto and 
possession of a firearm by a felon.

Even though a year has ticked by since Michael Liles lost the love of his life, 
he's still coming to grips with the fact that she's gone. He said he would give 
anything to spend just one more day with her.

"We had 41 years together of as good of a relationship as you can have," he 
told News4Jax.

He's not alone. His wife meant the world to the couple's five children and nine 
grandchildren. She also was a fixture at San Jose Elementary, where she touched 
thousands of lives over the years.

While the ordeal has been devastating, Liles is glad his wife's case is moving 
forward. Now in charge of the Justice Coalition, a crime victims advocacy 
group, Liles knows families don't always get justice.

As executive director of that organization, Liles devotes his time and energy 
to helping other families of crime victims pick up the pieces after their lives 
have been upended by violence.

"There's no real way to celebrate somebody facing the death penalty because of 
what they did to your family. ... But at the same time, I think it is the only 
fair charge for him to face," he said.

Lawson is scheduled to appear in court next month. Liles said he and his family 
will be there. While the case is not expected to go to trial for at least 
another year, he's hopeful that someday he'll get closure.

"I would love for it to be over," he said. "I would."

(source: WJXT news)


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


Florida seeing steady decline in number of death sentences


Florida has been seeing a steady decline in the number of criminals sentenced 
to death. Currently, there are 347 inmates on death row, but only 96 have been 
put to death since 1979.

In fact, 2016 and 2017 saw a record low, with only 6 people sent to death row 
combined; a number far fewer than any single year since the death penalty was 
reinstated nearly 50 years ago.

Experts claim that a possible reason for these low numbers is the fact that 
jury convictions for death sentences have to be unanimous

Florida halted executions in January of 2016 after the U.S. Supreme Court 
claimed that the state’s sentencing process was unconstitutional, which led to 
the requirement of the unanimous jury vote.

Nationally, death sentences have dropped dramatically down 90 percent in the 
last 20 years.

Ingrid Delgado with the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops says that 
Floridians’ attitudes towards the death penalty is also changing.

"We're cautiously optimistic that the higher standard is going to continue to 
lower number of death sentences," Delgado said. "In general, we support an end 
to the use of the death penalty, as society can be kept safe with alternatives 
like life without parole."

However, experts say that the trend toward fewer death sentences isn’t likely 
to continue.

"It would not be unreasonable to anticipate that the numbers may increase again 
since the legislature has final responded to the U.S. Supreme Court," said Mark 
Schlakman, a human rights attorney.

There has already been 1 person sentenced to death in Florida since the start 
of 2018.

(source: WCTC news)





ALABAMA----impending execution

Alabama set to execute 83-year-old for pipe bomb murders


Alabama on Thursday is set to execute its oldest death row inmate, an 
83-year-old man convicted of mailing a deadly pipe bomb to a Birmingham judge 
in 1989.

Walter Moody was convicted of mailing the bomb that killed U.S. 11th Circuit 
Judge Robert Vance, 58, and seriously injured his wife, Helen, in the kitchen 
of their Mountain Brook home in December 1989. A similar bomb killed a Georgia 
civil rights attorney, Robert Robinson, at his Savannah law office the same 
month.

Moody was convicted in federal court in 1991 on 71 charges before an Alabama 
jury sentenced Moody to the death penalty in 1997.

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year declined to take up Moody's appeal, 
leading Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall to set an April 19 execution 
date. Moody on Thursday filed a stay of execution motion over jurisdiction 
issues.

Moody, who maintains his innocence in the case, has previously argued his 
federal sentence of 7 life terms plus 400 years should take precedent over the 
state's death penalty sentence, and that Alabama is holding him unlawfully.

"We’re fighting until we can’t fight anymore, and we appreciate that the courts 
are giving us an opportunity to be heard,” said Christine Freeman, executive 
director of the Middle District of Alabama Federal Defender Program.

Vance's son, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance, said the family doesn't 
plan to attend Moody's execution.

"I got closure in my life when Mr. Moody was convicted," Vance said. "I 
realized that he would never be in a position to hurt anyone else.That was the 
point that was most important to me. The execution coming up next week really, 
to me, doesn’t add anything to that. I’ve moved on, having gotten that peace of 
mind with the realization that he would no longer pose a danger to anyone."

The December 1991 explosions set off a massive federal investigation which 
found and disarmed two additional bombs at an Atlanta circuit court and Florida 
NAACP office, but also hit several dead ends.

Federal agents at first focused on Alabama salvage shop owner Robert O'Ferrell, 
who investigators believed owned the typewriter used by a letter writer 
claiming credit for the bombs.

Investigators ultimately linked Moody to the crimes through a 1972 bombing 
incident, in which Moody's then-wife Hazel was injured by a homemade bomb in 
their Georgia home. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for 
possessing the bomb.

Bob Vance still finds Moody's murky motive frustrating.

"When something like that happens, one of the first things that torments you 
is, 'Who would do this?' That question has been answered," Bob Vance said. "The 
2nd question is, 'Why?"

Investigators originally believed the bombings to be racially motivated. Vance, 
who was white, was politically active and progressive on civil rights issues, 
his son said.

Prosecutors later alleged Moody harbored an obsession over his 1972 conviction, 
and anger at the court system motivated Moody in the 1989 bombings. Moody hoped 
the civil rights links would throw investigators off his scent, prosecutors 
said.

"There wasn’t any real good reason why Moody targeted my dad," Vance said. 
"It’s always so frustrating when you think about it, it’s almost a random act 
of violence."

"I try to focus on my dad's life more than the circumstances surrounding my 
dad's death He was a one-of-a-kind, larger-than-life person in many respects," 
Bob Vance said. " … He was a special guy. He was a great dad. I miss him every 
day."

Moody's execution date is the fourth scheduled in Alabama this year. One 
execution has been carried out.

(source: Montgomery Advertiser)


MISSISSIPPI:

Court orders tests for inmate convicted of killing prison guard, reopening 
chance of execution


An inmate convicted of killing a prison guard must be re-evaluated to determine 
whether he is too intellectually disabled for the death penalty, the 
Mississippi Supreme Court said Thursday.

In a 5-4 ruling , justices ordered a fresh evaluation of Willie Russell, 
originally sentenced to death for stabbing and killing prison guard Argentra 
Cotton in 1989 at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The case will 
go before a Sunflower County Circuit Court judge, who will again be asked to 
decide whether Russell should be executed or spared.

Russell originally went to Parchman on convictions of robbery, kidnapping and 
escape after abducting a guard from the University of Mississippi Medical 
Center in Jackson and leading police on a high-speed chase in 1987. He was 
convicted of killing Cotton, had his death penalty set aside, and then was 
sentenced to death a 2nd time. He came within an hour of being put to death in 
1997 before a federal appeals court stopped the execution.

The current proceedings center on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that issued 
a broad ban on the death penalty for people with mental disabilities.

Sunflower County Circuit Judge Better Sanders set aside Russell’s death 
sentence in 2015. But the state Supreme Court found that Sanders should have 
agreed with the state’s position that it needed to administer additional tests 
before its experts could form an opinion.

Associate Justice James Maxwell wrote for the majority that “Russell was never 
evaluated on the specific criteria for intellectual disability,” set out by the 
U.S. Supreme Court.

Chief Justice William Waller Jr., dissenting on behalf of the four judges, said 
there had been enough testing and would have allowed Russell’s commutation to 
stand.

Two earlier intelligence tests showed Russell’s IQ was low enough that he 
shouldn’t be executed. Waller wrote there was no reason to administer a third 
test.

Waller’s dissent argued that a 2006 exam was only incomplete because of a need 
for outside information on Russell’s school and life history that the defense 
provided as part of the hearing before Sanders.

(source: Associated Press)




OHIO:

Potential jurors in Grate case answer questions about death penalty


Jury selection in the Shawn Grate capital murder case got more intimate Friday.

After 8 sessions with about 45 potential jurors at a time, groups of 6 answered 
individual questions from both sides.

Some of the questions dealt with exposure to pretrial publicity, but most 
pertained to feelings about the death penalty.

3 groups were called Friday, at 9 and 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

In the afternoon session, there were 5 men and 1 woman. One person at a time 
answered questions, while the others waited in the jury room.

They were given questionnaires they had already filled out as a reference.

Attorneys disagreed on one man in the afternoon session. He said Friday he was 
in favor of the death penalty, though not in every aggravated murder case.

Defense attorney Robert Whitney was not convinced. On the man's questionnaire, 
he said the death penalty should be imposed in all capital murder cases.

Whitney asked Ashland County Common Pleas Judge Ron Forsthoefel to excuse the 
man.

Michael McNamara, a special prosecutor helping the state, objected. He pointed 
out the man said he could follow the law and recommend imposing a life sentence 
if the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating circumstances.

In dismissing the potential juror, Forsthoefel agreed with Whitney, saying the 
man's questionnaire showed an "underlying bias."

Another potential juror was asked about being on social media. The judge told 
people in the jury pool to avoid Facebook, Instagram, etc.

The man in question made a post on Facebook on Thursday, though it had nothing 
to do with the Grate case.

"I totally misunderstood that," he said, adding it wouldn't happen again.

The last juror of the day said he had not been exposed to media coverage of the 
case.

"I have 5 children," he said. "I don't really have time for TV or newspapers."

He said most of what he had heard about the case came from his wife, who has 
not brought up the subject since he was summoned as a potential juror.

One man who didn't make the cut said he felt a bias.

"I don't think it would serve justice for me to be on the jury," he told the 
judge.

Before he was dismissed, the man said he believed the death penalty wasn't 
being used enough.

Forsthoefel ended up keeping four of the six people in the afternoon session. 
They are now death-penalty certified.

The next step is for them to come back, tentatively April 23, for consideration 
for the final jury.

Groups of 6 will continue to be called for most if not all of next week.

(source: Mansfield News Journal)

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


Death penalty sought in Easter house fire in Harrison Twp.; $1 million bond set


The death penalty is being sought against Shawn Albertson in the death of 
75-year-old Gerald Manns, who was found in the basement of his home on Easter.

The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday approved the charge of 
aggravated murder and aggravated burglary against Albertson, 48. He remains in 
the county jail on a $1 million bond.

Manns was found unconscious in the basement of his home in the 4200 block of 
Merrimac Avenue in Harrison Twp. His car had been stolen, his home burglarized 
and set on fire.

Manns was pulled from the home. He was pronounced dead at Miami Valley 
Hospital. The coroner’s office concluded he died as a result of the fire.

Albertson is due in court Thursday.

Nancy Dalton, 36, arrested at the same time as Albertson, is being detained in 
jail on drug charges.

Albertson and Dalton were booked into the jail about 12 hours after a neighbor 
first reported seeing smoke in the residence on that Sunday. Descriptions of 
the suspects from neighbors led to their apprehension.

“My neighbor across the street, their house, they had smoke rolling out the 
window,” one neighbor told a 911 dispatcher.

Manns’ empty driveway offered one of the first clues the fire was arson. 
Relatives noticed that his car and other belongings were missing. Sheriff’s 
detectives were called to the scene.

(source: WHIO news)


MISSOURI:

Appeals court to hear Columbia death penalty case


The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals next month will hear a case challenging a 
sentence of death by lethal injection in a Columbia murder case.

Ernest L. Johnson’s attorneys will argue his case May 16 in Omaha, according to 
online court records. Johnson was sentenced to death in 1995 for the murders of 
3 convenience store employees. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Johnson a 
last-minute stay of execution in November 2015. In his latest appeal, Johnson 
argued brain tissue lost during the removal of a brain tumor in 2008 could 
combine with the lethal injection drugs to cause a painful seizure. Johnson 
requested the use of lethal gas instead.

Johnson had his case dismissed last year by a district court judge who said he 
couldn’t prove that death by lethal injection would constitute cruel and 
unusual punishment.

(source: Columbia Daily Tribune)







NEBRASKA:

Nebraska Board to Decide Death Row Inmate's Clemency Hearing


Nebraska's longest-serving inmate on death row says he should be pardoned 
because he thinks state officials are either too lazy or incompetent to execute 
him.

The Nebraska Board of Pardons will decide Tuesday whether to grant Carey Dean 
Moore, 60, a hearing to consider his clemency request.

"Apparently they do not want to execute me, even though I haven't filed any 
appeals in over 10 years," Moore wrote in his pardon application.

Moore was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1979 shooting deaths of two 
Omaha cab drivers.

Courts stayed Moore's execution dates set in 2007 and 2011. Nebraska hasn't 
executed an inmate in more than 20 years.

The Pardons Board only commuted 2 death sentences over the past 6 decades. The 
board requires consent from 2 of its 3 members, who are Gov. Pete
Ricketts, Attorney General Doug Peterson and Secretary of State John Gale.

Both Ricketts and Peterson have supported the death penalty in the past.

Peterson requested an execution warrant from the Nebraska Supreme Court last 
week to carry out Moore's execution. The warrant gives state officials a 60-day 
window to set a date and complete the execution.

It's unclear when or if the state's high court would issue the warrant.

State officials also notified Moore in January of the drugs they intend to use 
for lethal injection.

(source: Associated Press)




CALIFORNIA:

Former Death Row inmate gets life in prison for…


A former death row inmate who more than 3 decades ago killed a man in Newport 
Beach was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Santa Ana jury last year convicted James Andrew Melton, 66, of 
special-circumstances murder for the 1981 killing of Antony Lial DeSousa, 
ending the third trial Melton had faced for the slaying.

Prosecutors say Melton used advertisements in gay magazines in order to meet 
rich, older men who he could rob. Prosecutors said that Melton – who had 2 rape 
convictions – met DeSousa, a 77-year-old retiree, through such an ad, robbed 
him and strangled him at his condo.

Melton has been behind bars since his 1981 arrest. In 1982, Melton was 
convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He spent more than a decade on 
death row at San Quentin State Prison, until a federal judge in 2007 ruled that 
he had been over-medicated by jail staff during his trial, preventing him from 
understanding the proceedings.

A 2014 retrial ended with jurors deadlocked 10-2 in favor of conviction. In the 
lead-up to his 3rd trial, prosecutors opted not to pursue the death penalty, 
partly because of the case’s age.

Melton’s attorney, Associate Defender Denise Gragg, unsuccessfully sought a new 
trial, after a court clerk reported hearing an alternate juror in Melton’s 
latest trial discussing the case with a manicurist at a Fountain Valley nail 
salon while the trial was still underway. A juror identified by the clerk 
initially denied being at the salon during the trial, but later said she 
realized she had indeed been at the salon after checking her credit-card 
records.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Gregg L. Prickett on Friday denied the 
motion for a new trial, noting that there was no indication that the alternate 
juror was biased against Melton, or that outside information about the case was 
passed to other jurors.

Melton’s lawyer wanted her client to at least have a chance at parole someday.

“He sits here before you as someone who has already suffered a punishment 
beyond (what) others who have committed this type of crime have suffered,” 
Gragg said.

However, Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy countered by telling the judge 
that thanks to Melton, DeSousa suffered an “extraordinarily violent and and 
vicious death. …

“For that, the appropriate punishment is life without the possibility of 
parole,” McGreevy said.

Melton did not speak prior to the sentencing. His only comment during the 
hearing was to answer, “Yes, yes your honor,” when the judge asked if he 
understood his right to appeal.

(source: Orange County Register)