[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, KY., TENN., NEB., N.MEX.

[Rick Halperin]

August 16



TEXAS:

Will a Texas law that overturns convictions based on bad science save this 
death row inmate?----The 2013 law was credited with stopping Robert Roberson's 
execution 2 years ago, and his conviction is now under review in county court.


Robert Roberson shuffled into a courtroom this week wearing a striped gray 
jumpsuit and handcuffs, his life once again hanging in the balance.

After 15 years on death row, his face has grown gaunt, and patches of dark hair 
shoot up from his balding head. But he has maintained during his time in prison 
that he didn't kill his sickly 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, though he was 
convicted of that crime.

He says that Nikki fell from the bed where they were sleeping in their home in 
this small East Texas town, and he awoke hours later to find her unresponsive. 
But as doctors and nurses struggled to revive her blue, limp body in the 
emergency room that morning, suspicions of child abuse quickly arose - they 
said a short fall wouldn't have caused such damage.

At his trial, doctors testified that her injuries were consistent with what is 
often referred to as "shaken baby syndrome," a now-questionably diagnosed 
condition his attorneys say helped jurors opt for the death penalty.

But instead of facing the state's death chamber - which he narrowly avoided 2 
years ago - Roberson was back in court Tuesday, again fighting against his 
conviction and for his life, thanks largely to a relatively new state law that 
allows courts to overturn a conviction when the scientific evidence that 
originally led to the verdict has since changed or been discredited.

"The only reason Mr. Roberson is still alive today is because the state of 
Texas passed a rather trailblazing statute," his attorney, Gretchen Sween, 
declared to the courtroom.

The law, often referred to as the "junk science law," was the 1st of its kind 
in the nation and passed with scant opposition in 2013. In pushing for its 
passage, state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, listed infant trauma as 
one of several examples of faulty science the bill was meant to target.

Since its passage, multiple death penalty cases have been sent back to court 
for further review, and it has been cited in cases like that of the "San 
Antonio 4," where women convicted on faulty sexual assault evidence were 
exonerated after nearly 15 years in prison.

In June 2016, Roberson became one of the first death row inmates to have his 
conviction set for reviewed under the law - a decision the Texas Court of 
Criminal Appeals made just days before his scheduled execution. The court was 
instructed to decide whether Roberson would have been convicted if new 
scientific evidence - like new views on fatal short-distance falls and shaken 
baby syndrome injuries - were available at his original trial.

In the last decade, experts have become divided on shaken baby syndrome, where 
an infant is killed from being violently shaken back and forth. Many doctors 
strongly stand by the diagnoses, but others, including the doctor who is first 
credited with observing the condition, think it is used too liberally in 
criminal cases - that deaths are labeled as murder without considering other 
possibilities and medical histories. The Washington Post reported in 2015 that 
16 shaken baby syndrome convictions had been overturned since 2001.

Roberson's attorneys argue in part that new scientific evidence has suggested 
it is impossible to shake a toddler to death without causing serious neck 
injuries, which Nikki did not have, and has linked the symptoms used to 
diagnose shaken baby syndrome to other conditions as well, including 
short-distance falls.

"There has been a tremendous amount of new scientific evidence," said Gary 
Udashen, board president of the Innocence Project of Texas. "Biomechanical 
engineering studies have shown that you can generate enough force from a 
short-distance fall to cause serious head injuries."

"A watershed moment"

Over time, science has become an increasingly present part of criminal 
proceedings, but it's always evolving - what may have been thought of as 
irrefutable scientific evidence 15 years ago could be balked at today. And 
scientific "experts" who testify in cases sometimes lack any true expertise.

The origins of the junk science law, and Roberson's renewed chance at an 
appeal, began to take form as the state's skepticism of forensic science grew 
with the science's prevalence - think DNA - and after several high-profile 
cases involving "bad science" emerged.

Perhaps the most well-known is the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, a Corsicana 
man executed in 2004 for the deaths of his 3 young daughters, despite 
scientists discrediting the earlier fire examination and finding no reason to 
call the house fire that killed his children arson.

But while state lawmakers passed other bills related to forensic science, like 
creating a statewide investigatory commission, it took several tries for the 
junk science law to make it out of the Capitol in Austin. Whitmire filed 
similar bills in 2009 and 2011, but neither piqued much interest, and some 
prosecutors said an already well-established appeals process made the bill 
unnecessary.

That changed with Neal Robbins and Cathy Henderson. Both were convicted in 
infant deaths after the medical examiners who testified at their trials later 
recanted their certainty that the deaths were homicides. But their appeals 
based on those recantations produced opposite results.

In 2011, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Robbins' appeal on the 
claim that his conviction and life sentence were based on bad scientific 
testimony - the medical examiner had changed her original conclusion that said 
his daughter's death could only be murder. Though she originally thought the 
child's injuries couldn't have been caused by the reported attempts at CPR, she 
later said her increased knowledge made her unable to determine a cause of 
death.

The next year, the same court tossed out Henderson's conviction and death 
sentence after scientific advancements conflicted with the medical examiner's 
original testimony that dropping a baby from her arms onto the floor couldn't 
have caused the fatal brain injury.

"In Robbins, this Court chose finality over accuracy; in Henderson we did the 
opposite, and in 2013, the Texas Legislature also chose accuracy over 
finality," wrote then-Judge Cathy Cochran in 2014 after the court, under the 
new law, overturned Robbins' conviction. He was released from prison in 2016.

Robbins' appellate attorney, Brian Wice, said the blowback from the court's 1st 
ruling created the support to eventually pass the bill.

"It was a watershed moment, not just in Texas but nationally, because Texas was 
really the 1st state to enact a provision that was able to unlock the 
courthouse door to defendants like Neal Robbins," he said.

Another delay of justice

For Roberson, the junk science law has extended his life, but it hasn't saved 
him yet. His court-ordered examination finally began in what was assumed to be 
at least a week-long hearing Tuesday. But it was again delayed after several 
hours when it was announced that long-lost evidence, including Nikki's brain 
scans, was suddenly found in the basement of the local district clerk's office.

Sween, his attorney, said in court that they ultimately want a new trial for 
Roberson, one that would include the changes in science on shaken baby syndrome 
and short-distance falls, as well as a deeper look into Nikki's previous 
illnesses and history of breathing problems. The child had previously suffered 
spells where she'd stop breathing and turn blue, and she had been at the 
hospital only days before with a violent illness that included a 104.5-degree 
temperature, according to court documents. The review is also looking at 
whether the original accusation that Roberson sexually assaulted Nikki, which 
was dropped mid-trial when the evidence couldn't be corroborated, affected his 
conviction. She said she's optimistic Roberson can be given a fair shot.

"All we have to do is show that the science that was presented at trial and the 
science that was available now ... has changed in ways that more likely than 
not, might have changed the jury's verdict," she said in court.

But the prosecution said it isn't conceding anything, saying in court that the 
evidence was "clear and convincing" that Roberson killed his daughter.

"The science has not changed as much as [Roberson's attorneys] say," said 
Anderson County Assistant District Attorney Scott Holden in his opening 
statement. "There was no explanation except for the intentional death of Nikki 
Curtis."

For now, Roberson's case is up in the air. With the discovery of the lost 
evidence Tuesday, the judge put it up to the county and Roberson's attorneys to 
let her know after they've properly evaluated it. After the court does 
reconvene again, the judge will make a recommendation to the Court of Criminal 
Appeals on whether a new trial should be granted, which the higher court can 
either order or reject.

Likely, it will be a lengthy delay, and the wait isn't welcome news for Nikki's 
older half-brother, Matthew Bowman. He still carries the weight of his sister's 
death and has no doubt that Roberson killed her. He was 4 when she died, and 
the 20-year-old sitting in the courtroom Tuesday was in visible anguish 
listening to Sween proclaim Roberson's innocence, often shaking his head with a 
clenched jaw. He shook and wiped tears from his eyes when an emergency room 
nurse on the witness stand described her lifeless body.

"I do believe that all the science that's coming up is B.S., and we shouldn't 
even be here right now," he said during a break outside the courtroom. "I think 
everything should have been done and taken care of a long time ago."

(source: The Texas Tribune)

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

There's a cruel truth about mercy in Texas


In the darkness of an execution chamber in the Walls Unit in Huntsville one 
night last month a moment of clarity shone through.

As inmate Chris Young died at the hands of the state on July 17, one thing, 
even in that dimly lit observation room bordering the actual execution chamber, 
was blazingly clear.

Mercy in Texas exists only for the few, the privileged, the white and the 
wealthy.

The truth is that the process of clemency in Texas is so random and isolated 
that it effectively does not exist. Pardon and commutation exist only if the 
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles executive clemency section votes to 
recommend relief to the governor, and the governor agrees. No one knows what 
rules board members follow because they are not published. No one knows what 
things move the board or fail to move it because it issues no opinions or 
statements. It keeps no records. It does not even publish minutes of members' 
discussions or debates. It has nothing to say to the world when members deny a 
recommendation to a soul hoping for life over death, for a pardon to forgive 
past mistakes or for a person hoping for a chance to go home. Nothing the board 
does, says or discusses, other than the final vote, is recorded.

Under our law, the governor can do nothing without a favorable recommendation, 
and no one in this state has any idea how to persuade the board because the 
members operate in complete secrecy behind closed doors. With due respect to 
those who say this is the way things are, this needs to change.

In contrast, on the same week in Ohio, Republican Gov. John Kasich commuted the 
death sentence of a condemned killer when some old documents in a file kept by 
the Ohio Board of Pardons and Paroles showed that Raymond Tibbetts had one of 
the most horrific childhoods imaginable. According to the records, discovered 
by a juror in the actual capital murder trial, Tibbetts had been tied to his 
bed, starved, beaten and burned at the hands of his parents. None of this was 
ever presented to the jury. Instead, the prosecution actually painted an 
apparently false picture of a normal childhood. While none of that information 
excused the crime, the juror who stepped forward stated that the jury would 
likely have voted differently on death had this information come out at trial.

So there you have it. Imagine a state where the grants of clemency and pardon 
actually function as they should. The records kept by the very Board of Pardons 
and Parole were used to correct an improper decision about imposing the death 
penalty. The state actually had a pardon and commutation system that worked. 
Mercy could actually be granted, and the public could see it work as it was 
meant to be, as a final safety net for a trial court and appellate system that 
all too often gets things wrong because it is made up of human beings.

In Texas, where our system is cloaked in mystery and outright refusal to open 
up, we can continue to deny mercy based upon race, religion, class, gender, 
laziness and whim. Yes, here, where we lead the nation in wrongful convictions 
and death sentences, we can continue to rest easy knowing that our broken 
system of clemency will continue to keep our mistakes in the courtroom locked 
away or buried deep in the ground. God bless the Texas clemency system. This is 
especially reassuring when one considers the recent report issued by the 
University of Houston Law Review, which shows that in death penalty cases in 
Harris County for the last 2 decades the reviewing trial judges simply rubber 
stamped the state's findings, effectively ending any meaningful review of the 
condemned in the biggest executioner in the country. In 95 % of the cases, the 
judges just asked where their pen was when the state came calling. Why worry 
about justice when we have such a well-oiled clemency review, right?

Texas needs an open, reviewable pardon and commutation process. It should 
require simple easy forms so that inmates can understand them, clear rules as 
to what factors the Board of Pardons and Paroles will consider when reviewing 
an application, open hearings, and written opinions issued by a Board that 
ought to have the guts to say why they let a man or woman die or rot away. 
Texans deserve no less.

(source: Opinion; Patrick McCann is a local death penalty attorney and a past 
President of the Harris County and Fort Bend criminal bar associations---- 
Houston Chronicle)





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

Will Death Penalty States, Including Texas, Adopt Fentanyl As Their Next 
Execution Drug----"The reason that the state moved toward fentanyl had nothing 
to do with the unique properties of the drug."


Tuesday, something happened in Nebraska that could represent a sharp change in 
direction for conversations about capital punishment. Carey Dean Moore, a 
60-year-old, convicted of killing 2 taxi drivers, was executed by the state. 
The event is notable for 2 reasons: this was the 1st execution in Nebraska 
since 1997, and the method of execution - the state used fentanyl to kill the 
condemned.

Fentanyl is the opioid blamed for thousands of deaths in an epidemic that's 
been sweeping the nation. This is the 1st time it has been used in a state 
execution. And that could have a lot of significance for the state of Texas, 
which has had difficulty finding drugs for use in executions.

Robert Dunham is executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center 
says it's not yet clear whether the execution was "botched" or not.

"One of the problems we have in watching the executions is that media witnesses 
don't get to see the whole thing," Dunham says. "We know from what the 
witnesses were able to observe that the execution took longer than expected."

Moore, the executed prisoner, coughed at some point during the execution 
process, and his face turned red and then purple. Dunham says the curtain came 
down before the 4th drug, potassium chloride, was administered, "which has been 
described as liquid fire." The drug is used to stop the condemned prisoner's 
heart.

Dunham says Nebraska's use of a 4-drug cocktail is also unique.

"No one's ever used 4 drugs before, and there is no real medical reason why you 
would use 4 drugs," he says.

Dunham says it's not known how long Moore was conscious, or whether he 
experienced pain before he died.

Dunham says it's not yet clear whether other states, including Texas, will move 
toward adopting fentanyl as an execution drug.

"The reason that the state moved toward fentanyl had nothing to do with the 
unique properties of the drug," Dunham says. "If the drug were something that 
was considered most appropriate for executions, we wouldn't have gone through 
1,300 lethal injections before somebody used it."

He says the lingering questions about how well the execution was handled make 
it unlikely fentanyl will immediately become the drug of choice in other 
states.

(source: Texas Standard)






KENTUCKY:

The last public hanging in America is a part of Owensboro history


It's a day that's not celebrated but one some say needs to be remembered.

The last public hanging in America took place 82 years ago in downtown 
Owensboro.

It's something that's not often talked about but is a part of not only local 
history, but national history as well.

It's hard for many to imagine someone being hanged in public, but in 1936 that 
was a legal form of execution and thousands from all across the country came to 
Owensboro to witness it firsthand.

Walking through downtown Owensboro today you'd see nothing but growth. There 
are new hotels, a new convention center, and the family-friendly Smothers Park. 
But, you'd never know that once you reach the stop sign at the corner of 
Elizabeth Street and Veterans Blvd that you were standing in the spot that put 
Owensboro on the front of every major newspaper in every major city.

"He was 22 years old. He was from somewhere in Virginia," recalls Keith 
Lawrence.

Lawrence, a veteran reporter for the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer has 
researched and many times written about the hanging of Rainey Bethea, a young 
man accused of raping and murdering an elderly woman.

"He confessed to it 2 or 3 times," said Lawrence.

Bethea was only convicted on the rape charge and was sentenced to death by 
hanging.

The execution immediately drew national headlines because the sheriff of 
Daviess County at the time was a woman.

"There were thousands of people that you could see throughout this area," said 
David Wolfe.

Wolfe has written a book, in part, about the hanging. He also leads historical 
tours of downtown Owensboro and is often asked about the events of that day.

"I figured they would hate this story and they actually don't. They want to 
hear it," said Wolfe of those taking his tour in Owensboro.

When Bethea was walked to the gallows around 5:30 a.m. he was surrounded by a 
crowd of up to 20,000 people. Some say it was a carnival-like atmosphere 
complete with hotdogs and drinks being sold.

Lawrence recalls once interviewing a downtown Owensboro restaurant owner who 
decided to join the crowd that morning.

"He walked over there to see it and said he was expecting to see this big, 
strapping guy. This guy looked like a little kid," said Lawrence. "He said, 'I 
just couldn't stay,' he said, I hung that man in my dreams for months."

The same could be said for that female sheriff, who Wolfe says, ended up 
watching the hanging from about a block away.

"In fact, when she got home her son was sitting on the steps, he was not 
allowed to go, and he said, 'Mom how was it and she said, it's horrific."

Bethea is buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Owensboro in an unmarked grave.

Lawrence said that was the last time a Daviess County jury has handed down a 
death penalty.

Death by hanging is still legal in 3 states, but the execution cannot be 
public.

(source: tristatehomepage.com)






TENNESSEE:

Prosecutor seeking the death penalty against 3 Rico suspects


3 certified gang members in Chattanooga may face the death penalty for their 
alleged crimes.

The Hamilton county district attorney general says he will seek the death 
penalty for Andre Grier, Courtney High, and Charles Shelton.

The 3 are accused of murdering a woman before she could testify in court 
against a gang member. Bianca Horton gave prosecutors a recorded statement 
about accused killer Cortez Sims, but she was killed before the trial began.

Sims was later convicted.

Horton's young daughter was paralyzed in the same shooting that took the life 
of Tabitha Bowman.

District Attorney Neal Pinkston used the RICO law, the Racketeer Influenced 
Corrupt Organizations Act, to indict a total of 54 people.

(source: WDEF news)

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

Judge blocks autopsy of rapist and child murderer who died by lethal injection 
in Tennessee's 1st execution in a decade because it 'goes against his Native 
American beliefs'


A Tennessee inmate who claims Native American heritage sued in court to block 
his autopsy on religious grounds 8 hours before he was executed by lethal 
injection last week.

Billy Ray Irick, who was convicted for the 1985 rape and murder of a 7-year-old 
girl, was the 1st inmate executed by the state in nearly a decade last 
Thursday.

Hours before he was led to the execution chamber, Irick filed suit to prevent 
authorities from conducting an autopsy.

His attorney said his Native American heritage forbade autopsies, which are 
tantamount to 'desecration,' according to The Tennessean.

A Nashville judge, Davidson County Chancellor Russell T. Perkins, issued an 
order temporarily blocking the autopsy.

'Mr. Irick expressed his Native American heritage and religious/spiritual 
beliefs in various ways, including art work/paintings of Native American themes 
and necklace and bead work,' Perkins wrote.

'Shortly before his death, Mr. Irick expressed his sincere religious belief 
that an autopsy would violate his religious belief.'

Irick, 59, who had spent more than 3 decades on death row, was put to death at 
the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Pronounced dead at 7:48pm local time, he became the 15th inmate executed this 
year in the United States and the 1st in Tennessee since 2009.

He was convicted of raping and strangling Paula Dyer in Knoxville.

Irick had been a boarder in the home where the girl lived with her mother, 
stepfather and siblings.

The lawyer representing the city of Nashville said that he would not challenge 
the order on behalf of the city's medical examiner.

The decision to temporarily halt the autopsies is a blow to anti-death penalty 
activists who hoped the coroner would confirm what they have suspected: that 
Irick was tortured to death.

During the execution, Irick was given 3 poisonous chemicals that were injected 
into his veins.

One minute after he said he was sorry for the horrific events of that night, 
his eyes closed, and the sounds of snoring and heavy breathing could be heard.

The subtle sounds gave way at 7.34pm to coughing, huffing and deep breaths.

An attendant began yelling 'Billy' and checked the inmate and grabbed his 
shoulder, but there didn't seem to be any reaction.

2 minutes later, Irick was not making any noise and began to turn dark purple.

In addition to legal challenges, since its last execution in 2009, Tennessee 
has had difficulties securing execution drugs including its previous chemical 
of choice, pentobarbital.

But none of those hurdles stopped the process for Irick, who was put to death 
on Thursday using a combination of midazolam, vecuronium bromid and potassium 
chloride injections, which stopped his heart.

In July Irick's attorney asked for the Tennessee Supreme Court to delay his 
execution once again amid a challenge to the state's lethal injection protocol. 
During the execution, Irick was given three poisonous chemicals that were 
injected into his veins.

For the 1st time, Tennessee used midazolam as a sedative, the muscle relaxer 
vecuronium bromid, and then potassium chloride to stop the heart.

At question is whether midazolam is effective in rendering someone unconscious 
and unable to feel pain from the other 2 drugs.

But Tennessee Supreme Court judges ruled Irick's attorney had failed to 
demonstrate a substantially less painful means to carry out the execution or 
that the drugs the state plans to use would cause the inmate to be tortured to 
death.

Federal public defender Kelley Henry had requested the US Supreme Court to 
delay his execution.

The Supreme Court, which rarely stays executions, denied the request.

Henry had asked Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to issue a temporary reprieve 
while the drugs are studied further.

But the governor quickly ruled it out, saying he would not intervene.

(source: dailymail.co.uk)






NEBRASKA:

Nebraska Catholic bishops invited all to pause to pray during execution


The state of Nebraska Aug. 14 executed its 1st death-row prisoner in 21 years, 
convicted murderer Carey Dean Moore, who was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. 
(CDT) at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.

Omaha Archbishop George J. Lucas and Bishops James D. Conley of Lincoln and 
Joseph G. Hanefeldt of Grand Island invited Catholics of the state and all 
people of goodwill to join them in silent prayer by pausing in their homes, 
schools and workplaces at 10 a.m. as the execution got underway.

Having expressed their opposition to the death penalty, the 3 Catholic bishops 
spent silent time in prayer for Moore's victims, Moore himself and an end to 
capital punishment in Nebraska.

The Omaha World-Herald daily newspaper reported that Moore, 60, had said he was 
ready to die. He was convicted of shooting and killing cab drivers Reuel Van 
Ness and Maynard Helgeland in the summer of 1979. He was sentenced to death in 
1980.

The state executed him with a 4-drug cocktail: diazepam, a tranquilizer; 
fentanyl citrate, a powerful synthetic opioid that can block breathing and 
knock out consciousness; cisatracurium besylate, a muscle relaxant; and 
potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

People across the state were invited to pray silently or pray the Divine Mercy 
Chaplet, said Tom Venzor, executive director of the Nebraska Catholic 
Conference, which represents the bishops' public policy concerns.

Prayer intentions included: The repose of the souls of the victims of violent 
crime, including Moore's victims; consolation and healing for families affected 
by violent crime; the repose of Moore's soul; and an end to the death penalty 
in Nebraska and a restoration of justice.

The bishops have consistently spoken out against the death penalty and praised 
Pope Francis' declaration Aug. 2 that "the death penalty is inadmissible 
because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person."

Pope Francis has ordered a revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church 
asserting that principle and committed the church to working toward abolition 
of the death penalty worldwide.

"As the state carries out its 1st execution in 21 years, we are deeply saddened 
for all involved, and we look to Jesus Christ for consolation and peace," 
Venzor said.

Nebraska became the 1st state to use fentanyl in an execution.

Prior to the execution, the Catholic Democrats of Nebraska hand-delivered a 
letter to Gov. Pete Ricketts urging him to reconsider his support for Moore's 
execution. The letter was signed by over 700 people, including Catholics and 
non-Catholics.

It said: "In supporting the overturning of the repeal of the death penalty in 
Nebraska in 2015, after you had ???thought about this and meditated on it and 
prayed on it and researched it,' you said, 'The Catholic Church does not 
preclude the use of the death penalty under certain circumstances: That guilt 
is determined and the crime is heinous.' Your assertion was, and remains, 
factually incorrect because it contradicts the catechism."

"We felt it was important to make a public letter available - even for just a 
few days - to both raise visibility on this issue and so that people could make 
their voices heard," said Ellen Moore, chair of the Catholic Democrats of 
Nebraska.

Hannah Cox, the national manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death 
Penalty, said in a statement that "the rest of the nation is actually 
abandoning the death penalty and conservatives are leading the way, just as 
they did in Nebraska in 2015 when the overwhelmingly Republican Legislature 
repealed capital punishment."

The Catholic Democrats' letter noted that Ricketts, a Catholic, spent $300,000 
of his own money to advocate for an overturning of the death penalty ban passed 
in Nebraska in 2015. He backed a ballot drive to reinstate capital punishment 
after lawmakers overrode his veto in 2015.

On Aug. 10, a federal judge denied a request by German pharmaceutical company 
Fresenius Kabi that the execution be temporarily postponed. Fresenius Kabi 
filed an immediate appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which 
upheld the judge's ruling Aug. 13.

The company, which objected to its potassium chloride drug being used in the 
execution, said it would not file for an additional review by the U.S. Supreme 
Court.

(source: cruxnow.com)






NEW MEXICO:

Inmate accused of murdering DOC staff member now in Pueblo court


An inmate accused of murdering Colorado Department of Corrections Sgt. Mary 
Ricard and wounding another officer during a Sept. 24, 2012, attack made his 
1st appearance in Pueblo District Court Wednesday on a change of venue.

Miguel Contreras-Perez, now 39, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to 
1st-degree murder in the stabbing death of Ricard, 55, at the Arkansas Valley 
prison in Ordway.

Contreras-Perez also faces charges of attempted 1st-degree murder and 
1st-degree assault in the attack on Sgt. Lori Gann, who survived. He also is 
charged with possession of contraband for allegedly having a knife and a razor 
blade.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty and the case has been mired down in 
legal maneuvering for the past 6 years, slowed by competency evaluations and 
changes in attorneys representing Contreras-Perez.

Currently, Denver attorney David Lane and members of his staff are representing 
Contreras-Perez, who is being held at the maximum-security Colorado State 
Penitentiary in Canon City.

Crowley County District Court Judge Michael Schiferl was overseeing the case 
and agreed to a change of venue, so Pueblo District Court Judge William 
Alexander now is presiding over the case.

Alexander on Wednesday told attorneys he will not schedule a trial until the 
sanity evaluation, scheduled to take place at the Colorado Mental Health 
Institute at Pueblo, is complete.

Alexander scheduled several hearings on pending motions, including a defense 
motion to suppress information on Contreras-Perez's El Paso County conviction 
for assault and kidnapping, which led to the 35-year to life sentence he is 
serving.

The death-penalty case is impacted by a pending motion to overturn that 
conviction in El Paso County. However, District Attorney James Bullock said he 
doesn't believe it is necessary to wait on the outcome of that hearing because 
it "could potentially push this case out another year."

Alexander set that motion to suppress hearing for Nov. 5-7.

Lane also filed a motion that challenges the constitutionality of the state's 
death penalty, which he said should be declared unconstitutional for failure to 
narrow aggravating factors. He said he wants to call out-of-state professors to 
testify.

Alexander requested a list of witnesses and a summary of what they will testify 
about.

"If it's about the law, the court can make a decision about the law, so I will 
decide if I should exclude them or not," Alexander said.

That motion is set to be heard Oct. 24-30.

Lane also filed a motion alleging 4 Department of Corrections employees filed 
false reports or falsified reports in connection with the case. A hearing on 
that motion is set for Nov. 8.

Alexander did reverse a ruling by Schiferl and said he is not going to allow 
jurors to ask questions during any portion of the trial, "based on the severity 
of the charges and the penalty."

Lane also informed Alexander that because Contreras-Perez is from El Salvador, 
the government of El Salvador has contacted him about the case and "there may 
be a time the (government's) counsel would want to address the court about this 
case."

The case involves hundreds of witnesses, 55,000 pages of evidence, hostile 
witnesses, El Salvadorian witnesses whom Lane fears may encounter difficulty 
getting into the U.S. to testify and other challenges.

Ricard's husband, Tim Ricard, told The Pueblo Chieftain on Wednesday that he 
has been to all but one court hearing over the past 6 years because "I feel I 
have to be there for her."

"We are all glad it moved so it will now go forward," he said.

Ricard's daughter, Katie Smith, said her mother was "a person who passionately 
cared about the inmates. She felt like she was not there to judge them but 
hopefully to teach them skills that would help them become productive members 
of society."

(source: The Pueblo Chieftain)