[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., LA., OHIO, ARIZ.

[Rick Halperin]

August 28




TEXAS:

Death row is not for mistakes


A "mistake."

This is how murder ("the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with 
malice aforethought") is defined in a recent column titled "U.S. Should Follow 
Pope's Leadership on the Death Penalty" by Anna Arceneaux, a senior staff 
attorney for the ACLU Capital Punishment Project. (The column was penned for 
InsideSources.com.)

Arceneaux, referencing the thoughts of a corrections officer, wrote "For the 
most part, he said, death row is made up of people who made one horrible, 
tragic mistake."

What is a "mistake" is the use of such political spin on the horrific and evil 
crimes that land a person on death row in Texas.

There are 4 people from the Amarillo-area (Potter and Randall counties) on 
death row in Texas.

One of them, a woman, has been on death row since 1996.

This is the description of the crime this individual committed (according to 
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice): "[The person] robbed and murdered an 
80-year-old white male in his home. The victim was struck with a hammer and 
stabbed nearly 60 times. The weapons used were: a paring knife, a butcher 
knife, a grapefruit knife and a fork. A lamp pole had been shoved more than 5 
inches down the victim's throat."

To categorize this crime as a "mistake" is an insult to the memory of the 
victim.

Such a flippant description of a horrible and violent crime makes it sound as 
if a person was killed as the result of someone driving drunk - as if a tragic 
accident occurred.

In the case of the aforementioned individual on death row, this was a willful 
act of evil that showed zero regard for human life.

Those who want to oppose the death penalty are certainly entitled to their 
opinions.

However, to gloss over the crimes people commit that result in the ultimate 
form of punishment by describing such crimes as simply a "mistake" detract from 
the seriousness of such crimes.

Capital punishment is reserved for those who commit the most heinous and 
despicable crimes. And with the advent of science (namely DNA evidence - when 
available) there is no doubt as to guilt or innocence.

The willful act of brutally killing another human being should be regarded as 
something more than a "mistake" - especially when justice is involved.

(source: Editorial, Amarillo Globe-News)






ALABAMA:

Dothan man previously given a death sentence has a new trial scheduled to begin 
this week


A Dothan man on death row will have a new trial in the Houston County court 
system.

Lameca Dechawn Turner was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death 
in Jan. 19, 2010. However, the case came back on appeal and a new trial will 
begin this week in Judge Michael Conaway's courtroom.

According to State's Attorney Russ Goodman, the jury selection should be 
completed by Monday and Goodman hopes opening arguments will begin Tuesday, 
Aug. 28.

"If Turner is found guilty of capital murder, the death sentence is no longer 
on table, by request of the victim's family," Goodman said.

Dothan police investigators charged Turner with capital murder in the death of 
Prakash Shah on April 20, 2004. Shah died after being shot during a robbery of 
the Southeast Mini Mart, located at Cottonwood Road and Third Avenue.

During Turner's previous trial, former Dothan Police Officer Frank Meredith 
stated Turner admitted he pulled the trigger in the fatal shooting, and that 
there was no evidence to show it was an accident.

On appeal, however, Turner argued that his case suffered irreparable damage 
when confessions of his nontestifying accomplices' were admitted into evidence 
through the testimony of the lead investigator. Turner argued he shot Shah by 
accident. The lead investigator testified that witness accounts indicated that 
Turner shot Shah after Shah grabbed a nearby phone to call police. Turner 
argued on appeal that introduction of the confessions violated Turner's 
Constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him.

The conviction was reversed and remanded back to court for a new trial.

Turner was 1 of the 3 people charged with murder in the shooting. If convicted 
Turner faces the possibility of life in prison without parole.

Turner's brother, Cordell Turner, pleaded guilty to his involvement in the 
murder and received a 99-year prison sentence. Turner's cousin, Ray Grace, was 
also convicted and was sentenced to life in prison.

The family of Prakash Shah is opposed to the death penalty on religious 
grounds.

(source: Dothan Eagle)






LOUISIANA:

Death penalty status quo a detriment


The last person executed in Louisiana was a volunteer - Gerald Bordelon. He 
waived his right to appeal and begged the state to end his life. Louisiana 
obliged. At the age of 47, Bordelon was executed by lethal injection.

Bordelon's unique "voluntary" execution was more than 8 years ago. It's been 
more than 16 years, however, since the Pelican State's last "nonvoluntary" 
execution.

Louisiana is unlikely to end its execution hiatus anytime soon. This is because 
the state lacks a legal execution method. Yet there are more than 70 
individuals currently languishing on Louisiana's death row, and more are being 
added each year. Meanwhile, taxpayers are footing the bill for capital 
punishment's significant costs.

These issues highlight the pervasive dysfunction present in Louisiana's death 
penalty system. The state sentences people to die; Louisianans cover the legal 
costs associated with capital punishment; but the condemned cannot be executed 
- they simply live out their lives on death row. The current state of affairs 
clearly merits a deeper legislative discussion, and while the Legislature has 
previously considered reforms, it has frequently opted to maintain the status 
quo.

As it currently stands, Louisiana's death penalty system is an arcane labyrinth 
of legal proceedings. While the state's criminal justice system generally 
includes legal safeguards intended to protect the rights of the accused, 
capital cases involve what's known as "super due process." These are additional 
safeguards that are beyond those required in ordinary criminal cases, and they 
are part of the reason why the death penalty is so expensive. Capital cases are 
subject to more pretrial motions, trials and appeals, and the cost of housing 
someone on death row is substantial as well. All of these added expenses can 
drain state coffers of millions of dollars.

While no one has ever conducted a thorough cost study in Louisiana, every state 
that has performed a comprehensive review of its system has discovered that the 
capital punishment program costs far more than life-without-parole, called LWOP 
- even when you factor in end-of-life health care. Studies in Maryland and 
North Carolina, for example, concluded that when compared to similar noncapital 
cases, each death penalty case easily costs around $1 million to $2 million 
more. Even though Louisiana does not currently execute the condemned, it's 
clear that the state is spending extraordinary sums to keep capital punishment 
on life support.

If Louisiana possessed a legal execution method and resumed executions, 
research suggests that its system would still suffer from serious flaws. The 
cost of capital punishment would continue to outweigh that of LWOP because the 
expensive, mandated legal proceedings - not the execution method - drive up the 
death penalty's expense. And despite the high price tag of the legal safeguards 
associated with capital cases, the prospect of accidentally killing an innocent 
person can never be fully eliminated.

This risk is especially worth noting in Louisiana. When considering all crimes, 
Louisiana currently has one of the nation's worst wrongful conviction records. 
This error rate, coupled with the death penalty's finality, spells serious 
trouble.

Louisiana's death penalty-specific numbers are even more troubling. The Pelican 
State has executed 28 inmates since 1983, but it has also wrongly convicted and 
released 11 individuals from death row. That's a poor record by any measure.

It's impossible to know how many innocent people are on Louisiana's death row 
today. However, a 2014 study estimates that nationwide, up to 4 % of 
individuals sentenced to die are not guilty. If Louisiana resumes executions, 
innocent lives could be at risk.

Regardless of these expenses and dangers, everyday Louisianans are not 
benefiting from capital punishment. An academic examination of all deterrence 
studies concluded that no credible evidence exists to show that the death 
penalty has any general deterrent value. In fact, the region that executes the 
most inmates - the South - consistently has higher murder rates than other 
regions. Capital punishment simply doesn't appear to affect homicide rates.

There are currently no less than 11 individuals awaiting trial for capital 
offenses in Louisiana. If prosecutors ultimately seek and obtain death 
sentences in those cases, this could spark an expensive, decades-long process 
in which there are no winners. Rather than pursuing these punishments and 
maintaining the death penalty's status quo, lawmakers should return to the 
drawing board.

There are 3 possible paths that legislators can take. They could work to resume 
executions. But they'd need to embrace the ever-present threat of executing an 
innocent person and the corresponding high costs. They could also attempt to 
reform the death penalty. But, as other states have discovered, every reform 
either makes capital punishment more expensive or riskier. These reforms never 
result in both a less expensive and safer system.

Lastly, lawmakers could replace the death penalty with a cheaper, less-risky 
maximum sentence that also protects the general public - LWOP. Objectively 
speaking, the answer seems clear.

(source: Guest Column, Marc Hyden----The Advocate)






OHIO:

Serial killer Anthony Kirkland 's sentencing is Tuesday. Will judge impose the 
death penalty?


A Hamilton County jury recommended the death penalty for serial killer Anthony 
Kirkland.

The question for Tuesday, when Kirkland is sentenced for raping, killing and 
burning the bodies of 2 teen girls, is: Will Common Pleas Judge Patrick 
Dinkelacker agree?

Dinkelacker can agree with the jury or impose a life sentence. Sentencing for 
Kirkland is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

During the trial, the Roman Catholic Church announced a new policy, opposing 
the death penalty in all cases. Dinkelacker is Catholic. County Prosecutor Joe 
Deters, who sought the death sentence and didn't back down after a post-trial 
rebuke by a priest who works for the Vatican.

Kirkland, 49, is being sentenced for murdering Casonya Crawford, 14, in 2006 
and Esme Kenney, 13, in 2009. He's already serving life prison terms for the 
deaths of Mary Jo Newton, 45 and Kimya Rolison, 25, both in 2006. Kirkland 
served a 16-year prison term for killing Leona Douglas, 28, in 1989.

Kirkland was released for from prison in the 1989 killing in 2003. He killed 
the 4 women and girls before police caught up to him in 2009 after he kidnapped 
and killed Esme near her Winton Hills home.

Kirkland was previously sentenced to death for killing the teenagers, but the 
Ohio Supreme Court overturned the sentence saying Deters' statements during 
closing arguments "were improper and substantially prejudicial" when he said 
Kirkland was already serving life prison terms and that Esme and Casonya's 
deaths should not be "freebies."

Deters sought the death penalty again, resulting in a 2-week hearing last month 
with a new jury. He argued, "The human carnage he committed is almost 
unimaginable, If you compare it to mitigating factors, it's not even a close 
call."

Kirkland's lawyers argued their client was physically, sexually and mentally 
abused as a child, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder that left him at 
times unaware of what he was doing. Their plea for Kirkland was life in prison.

Jurors disagreed, returning the death recommendation in 2 1/2 hours.

During the trial, Pope Francis announced a new teaching opposing the death 
penalty in all cases, reversing a policy that allowed it for the worst of the 
worst crimes.

Deters, who is Catholic, said the policy was misguided. He added, "My dear 
friends who are priests don't understand what we're dealing with. There is evil 
in this world and there comes a point where society needs to defend itself."

That prompted Rev. Paul Mueller, who attended St. Xavier High School with 
Deters and is now the vice director and superior of the Jesuit community at the 
Vatican Observatory outside Rome, to rebuke his former classmate in a letter.

He told Deters he was disappointed, embarrassed and scandalized that the 
prosecutor would openly defy the Catholic Church. He suggested Deters go to 
confession.

(source: Cincinnati Enquirer)






ARIZONA:

Judge Rules Ex-Phoenix Cop, Wife Eligible for Death Penalty; Locks Them Up


A Maricopa County judge ruled Monday that a former Phoenix cop and his 
Australian wife are eligible for the death penalty and ordered them to jail 
without bond in the murder case of the former police officer's 7-year-old 
daughter.

Sheriff's deputies cuffed the unemotional couple and led them out of sight into 
custody after an extraordinary two-day evidentiary hearing that tested the 
patience of the judge and previewed what a jury will hear if the case gets to 
trial.

Germayne Cunningham, who is 39, and his 43-year-old wife, Lisa, were indicted 
for the murder and abuse of his daughter Sanaa in 2017. The state is seeking 
the death penalty, and following Monday's action, was green-lighted to pursue 
it.

The case was bizarre from the beginning and continued that way.

Sanaa died of pneumonia and complications such as sepsis on February, 12. 2017. 
State welfare agents didn't report the death for months. A grand jury indicted 
the Cunninghams in December. Although they were late or absent for their 1st 
detention hearing, a judge allowed them to remain free.

Until Monday.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Kemp ruled that prosecutors had 
produced sufficient evidence to justify their plan to seek the death penalty 
and, consequently, to lock them up in county jail without bail until after the 
trial.

"There were many warning signs with regard to her need for medical attention," 
Kemp said. "This was more than reckless behavior. This was more than a failure 
to provide care and it led to the child's death."

Kemp's ruling capped 2 days of courtroom drama. A hearing that was scheduled 
for 30 minutes, and is routinely wrapped up sooner than that, needed testimony 
from the Goodyear police detective who led the investigation, plus legal 
arguments, topping 5 hours.

"We've already done a mini-trial," Kemp said earlier in the day Monday. "It 
must be the longest bond hearing in the history of Maricopa County Superior 
Court."

Much of that had to do with the complexity of the case.

Prosecutors charged the Cunninghams with 10 counts of felony child abuse and 1 
of murder. They noted how the couple restrained Sanaa with plastic ties, a 
makeshift straightjacket and shackles, forced her to wear diapers, locked her 
in a laundry room or outside and made her pick up dog feces with her bare 
hands.

"The defendants restrained this child until she developed pneumonia until she 
died," prosecutor Joshua Clark argued. On the day Sanaa died, she had been cold 
to the touch and unresponsive, drooling and unable to stand. The restraints, he 
said, made it impossible for Sanaa to expel infected fluid from her lungs.

"Neither defendant rushed the victim to the hospital for half a day," Clark 
added. "This was abuse that led to pneumonia that killed Sanaa."

But defense attorneys challenged the very basis of the case, arguing 
prosecutors never explained what the underlying crime was that led to the 
death.

"I don't even know what the theory of the case is," argued Eric Kessler, who is 
representing Germayne Cunningham. "It's difficult to defend against a theory 
that isn't being articulated."

Instead, he and Taylor Fox, representing Lisa Cunningham, put forward the idea 
that doctors had conflicting opinions about what killed Sanaa. They noted the 
autopsy was inconclusive as to whether the frail, badly scarred girl was killed 
or died by accident. Also, they pointed out that the Cunninghams called Sanaa's 
main doctor on a Friday, 2 days before the death, and were told to book an 
appointment on Monday.

Sanaa didn't last that long. She died about 4 hours after she was taken to 
hospital early that Sunday morning.

"The state hasn't explained: At what point in time should the Cunninghams have 
taken Sanaa to the emergency room?" Kessler said. "Hindsight is great." If you 
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Instead, he and Fox portrayed the couple as struggling as best they could to 
cope. Sanaa was afflicted by serious and rare illnesses for a girl her age, 
including schizophrenia, behavioral disorders that led to uncontrollable 
urinating, violence, and self-inflicted wounds. They did what they could to 
stop the girl hurting herself of her young siblings, defense attorneys said.

After the hearing, Lisa Cunningham, wearing a white sweater, slowly removed her 
jewelry and held her wrists out for the handcuffs. Germayne Cunningham, in a 
dark blue suit, remained seated as he was arrested. Neither spoke much, or 
exchanged words. Both looked forward as they were led away.

The hearing previewed the trial to come. Before that, the Cunninghams could 
return to court as Kemp reviews a defense motion to send the murder charge back 
to a grand jury for a 2nd opinion.

That hearing is scheduled for October.

(source: Sean Holstege is a freelance reporter with a 30-year career in print 
news----phoenixnewtimes.com)