[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., KY., NEB., ARIZ., CALIF.
Rick Halperin
rhalperi at smu.edu
Thu Dec 6 09:31:44 CST 2018
December 6
TENNESSEE----impending execution
Clemency application: Death row inmate 'is not the worst of the worst'
Gov. Bill Haslam is reviewing a clemency application received last week, asking
him to commute the sentence of David Earl Miller to life in prison without
parole. Miller was convicted of beating to death Lee Standifer -- a woman he
was seeing – with a fireplace poker in 1981.
“David Miller accepts responsibility for the death of his friend,” Miller’s
attorney Stephen Kissinger writes in a 12-page letter to the governor.
Kissinger claims Miller had been suffering from “severe mental illness” at the
time of his crime, and that his mental state places him “far outside that group
of offenders who are the worst and for whom the death penalty is reserved."
Kissinger also argues the jury that convicted Miller in 1981 didn’t have the
benefit of a mental health expert to explain how mental illness may have
prompted Miller’s crime – something now afforded to “indigent, mentally ill”
defendants following a 1982 Supreme Court ruling. Kissinger argues, had the
jury heard from such an expert, Miller wouldn’t have been sentenced to death,
and may not have even been convicted of 1st-degree murder.
Haslam refused to grant clemency to either of the two death row inmates
executed so far during his governorship, though he granted a 10-day reprieve to
Edmund Zagorski so the state could have adequate time to prepare the electric
chair for its 1st use in 11 years.
Haslam’s prior refusals to grant clemency suggest an uphill battle for Miller,
who is the last inmate scheduled to be executed during Haslam's time as
governor.
Miller is scheduled to be executed in the electric chair Thursday at 7 p.m.
Miller is also asking the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay of execution to
address 2 separate legal issues. The high court declined to issue stays for
either of the 2 other inmates executed this year.
Miller’s clemency application to the governor argues that the “thousands of
traumas” Miller suffered as a child led to “brain damage, substance abuse,
disassociation and psychosis,” leading up to the killing of Standifer.
Kissinger says that Gov. Haslam is the “fail safe” in the state and federal
criminal justice system and is “the only person presently able to consider all
the facts and dispense mercy."
The application concludes: "David Miller is not the worst of the worst."
(source: WTVF news)
********************
Tennessee Plans to Electrocute Its 2nd Inmate in as Many Months
A Tennessee inmate is scheduled to become the 2nd person to die in the state’s
electric chair in as many months Thursday evening, nearly 2 decades after
Tennessee adopted lethal injection as its preferred method of execution.
Both David Earl Miller, 61, and Edmund Zagorski before him chose the electric
chair over lethal injection, a process that proponents said would be painless
and humane.
But the inmates argued in court that Tennessee’s current midazolam-based method
causes a prolonged and torturous death. They pointed to the August execution of
Billy Ray Irick, which took around 20 minutes during which he was observed
coughing and huffing before turning a dark purple.
Their case was thrown out, largely because a judge said they failed to prove
that a more humane alternative was available. Zagorski was executed Nov. 1.
In recent decades, states have moved away from the electric chair, and no state
now uses electrocution as its main execution method, said Robert Dunham. Dunham
is the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which
doesn’t take a stand on the death penalty but is critical of its application.
Georgia and Nebraska courts both have ruled the electric chair
unconstitutional, and about 2 decades ago it looked as though the U.S. Supreme
Court would weigh in on the issue. It agreed to hear a case out of Florida
after a series of botched executions there. But Florida adopted lethal
injection, and the case was dropped.
Dunham said he wasn’t aware of any state other than Tennessee where inmates
were choosing electrocution over lethal injection.
In Tennessee, inmates whose crimes were committed before 1999 can chose
electrocution over lethal injection. Zagorski’s execution was delayed about 3
weeks after he requested the electric chair amid a last-minute flurry of legal
maneuvers. The state initially refused his request until a federal court judge
ordered the state to comply.
Gov. Bill Haslam ordered a brief reprieve to “give all involved the time
necessary to carry out the sentence in an orderly and careful manner.”
The builder of Tennessee’s electric chair warned that it could malfunction, but
Zagorski’s execution seemed to be carried out without incident. It was only the
2nd time Tennessee had put an inmate to death in the electric chair since 1960.
The courts have said Miller can’t challenge the constitutionality of the
electric chair because he chose it, even though his attorneys have argued the
choice was coerced by the threat of something even worse.
Miller was convicted of killing 23-year-old Lee Standifer in 1981 in Knoxville.
Standifer was a mentally handicapped woman who had been on a date with Miller
the night she was repeatedly beaten, stabbed and then dragged into some woods.
Miller has spent 36 years on Tennessee’s death row, the longest of any inmate.
(source: time.com)
**********************
Death-row inmate awaiting word from court on stay of execution
A Tennessee death row inmate has selected a last meal as he awaits word on his
execution from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Tennessee Department of Correction says David Earl Miller will be served
the meal on Thursday afternoon.
The 61-year-old inmate is scheduled to die in the electric chair at 7 p.m. that
day.
Miller chose electrocution, as did Edmund Zagorski a month ago. They lost a
lawsuit claiming Tennessee’s midazolam-based lethal injection method causes a
prolonged and torturous death.
Miller still has 2 last-minute petitions asking the justices to halt his
execution.
He was convicted of killing a 23-year-old mentally handicapped woman in 1981 in
Knoxville. He has spent 36 years on death row, the longest of any Tennessee
inmate.
(source: Associated Press)
KENTUCKY:
Murder victims' family pushes for death penalty in Kentucky----It has been
decades since Sharon Vaughn McGeorge has been able to hug her father and she
hates that his killer's execution has been delayed.
10 years ago was the last time Kentucky executed a death row inmate. Now, a
judge who put executions on hold eight years ago, has the legal filings from
both sides that could lead to hearings or a ruling.
In the meantime, victim's families are left to wait and question justice. One
family spoke with WHAS11’s Chris Williams about the toll that years of
uncertainty takes on survivors of brutal killings.
“Dad wouldn’t want to see me like this,” said Sharon Vaughn McGeorge as she
cleaned the headstones of her father and uncle. “Me hurting and hating somebody
so bad.”
Her father, Rodney Vaughn and his brother Lynn were murdered in 1991 by
Kentucky’s most prolific killer. Her last memories of them are through the eyes
of a devastated child.
More than 200 miles away, behind the razor wire and granite walls of Eddyville
State Penitentiary lives Robert Foley, 62. His death row address is just feet
from the room that houses "Old Sparky" and the gurney used to execute
Kentucky's death row inmates.
The killings of the Vaughn brothers, and four other people in an unrelated
case, earned Foley 2 separate death sentences.
“When the legislators passed lethal injection, they wasn't trying to be kind to
us. The end results are the same electrocution or lethal injection,” Foley said
during a 1998 interview with former WHAS11 reporter Stephanie Collins.
Kentucky law had just changed, introducing lethal injection and, since Foley's
sentences came before March 31, 1998, he could choose between the chair or the
needle.
“I hadn't gave it any real thought, but it's nice to have that kind of choice.
If nothing else, like I said, more for my family than for myself,” Foley told
Collins.
According to Foley, he determined his fate with the flip of a medallion. He
chose lethal injection, but his date with the needle has been delayed due to a
judge’s stay on executions.
Some have questioned whether families of victims ever truly get resolution when
a judge hands down a death sentence.
It has been decades since Vaughn McGeorge has been able to hug her father and
she hates that Foley’s execution has been delayed. She describes her wait as
torture.
“I would love to be the one to push the button for him. That's how I feel about
it. To me, that IV is an easy way for him. That IV is not enough pain for him.
It couldn't come close to it. That IV is nothing of what he should feel,”
Vaughn McGeorge said.
Since Kentucky resumed executions in 1976, only three have had their sentences
carried out. The Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy said natural causes
claimed nine others before the executioner could act.
Vaughn McGeorge’s hope is that Kentucky will reinstate the death penalty soon
and she gets a front row seat at Foley’s execution.
“I will make sure he will split hell wide open,” Vaughn McGeorge said.
(source: WHAS-TV news)
NEBRASKA:
ACLU of Nebraska argues death penalty case in Supreme Court
The ACLU of Nebraska was back in court Wednesday, this time the state Supreme
Court, arguing its case on behalf of eight men on death row, challenging the
referendum that reinstated the death penalty in Nebraska.
And the state and attorneys representing individual defendants were there, too,
after they had been successful in Lancaster County District Court in getting
the lawsuit dismissed.
The lower court, when it dismissed the case, had agreed the plaintiffs'
arguments could be taken care of in post-conviction motions in their criminal
cases. Post-conviction motions are reviews by a court of convictions or
sentences to determine if any mistakes were made along the way.
That question also came up Wednesday with the Supreme Court.
Brian Stull, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU Capital Punishment Project,
said post-conviction relief is a "very narrow category of relief, available
only to remedy prejudicial constitutional violations."
This claim is not that, he said, but rather for relief of the uncertainty of
the plaintiffs not knowing whether they are subject to the death penalty or
not.
Stull argued the Legislature's repeal of Nebraska's death penalty became
effective Aug. 30, 2015, changing the punishments for the condemned men -
including Jose Sandoval, Roy Ellis, Jorge Galindo, Nikko Jenkins, John Lotter,
Raymond Mata, Marco Torres and Erick Vela - from death to life in prison. The
lower court erred in dismissing that complaint, he said.
The law was not suspended before it went into effect, he said, because the
signatures on the death penalty referendum to repeal the Legislature's action
were not counted and verified by the Secretary of State's office until Oct. 16,
2015. The law required that counting and verification to suspend the death
penalty, he argued.
The court asked Stull if, under his interpretation, it would ever be possible
to suspend a statute.
Yes, Stull said, but the requirement is onerous, as it should be, for
suspending a law.
Also under his interpretation, would it allow the secretary of state, who
oversees the referendum process, to drag his or her feet to prevent the
suspension of a law?
"That is possible," he said, but added: "I don't think the court should presume
the bad faith of the secretary of state."
Even with that, the ballot petitioners would have an opportunity in court to
get the state official to follow the law, although there is no time limit on
certification in the law.
Retroactive suspension of a law is unworkable, Stull told the court.
On the state side, Assistant Attorney General Ryan Post argued the death
penalty repeal was suspended and never took effect, because the referendum is
invoked when the signatures are filed.
He said the Constitution provides the procedure for how and when a referendum
is invoked, and his interpretation is that suspension happens prior to the act
taking effect.
Otherwise, he said, "it would place the ultimate decision on when a law was
suspended in the hands of 93 counties, as this court ... rightly recognized,
that could possibly drag their feet. And that would not facilitate the
referendum process and would be contrary to the Constitution."
Post also argued that because in this case the plaintiffs are challenging their
final criminal sentence, it should be done through post-conviction remedies,
not in this manner.
Danielle Conrad, executive director of ACLU of Nebraska, said in a news release
"The irreversible punishment of execution — the maximum and most solemn penalty
our government can mete out — is a process that requires our government to be
working fairly, even-handedly and transparently."
The case, she said, goes beyond the concerns of the ACLU clients in addressing
the respect for good and workable governance in the referendum process and the
Legislature’s ability to reform unduly harsh punishments in the thousands of
cases beyond the death penalty.
"Today’s argument concerns Nebraska’s ability to reflect on whether overly
harsh punishments are consistent with Nebraska values and effective criminal
justice policy," she said.
In 2016, Nebraska voters approved the referendum ballot question 61 % to 39 %,
reversing the Legislature's repeal of the death penalty and restoring capital
punishment in the state.
In August, the state executed condemned prisoner Carey Dean Moore. It has also
notified Sandoval of the drugs that would be used in his execution, but has not
issued a death warrant.
Sandoval was convicted with Galindo and Vela of shooting and killing Lisa
Bryant, Lola Elwood and Samuel Sun, all Norfolk; Jo Mausbach of Humphrey; and
Evonne Tuttle of Stanton in a 2002 botched bank robbery in Norfolk.
Lotter is now the man who has been on death row the longest, but he has
received no notification of lethal injection drugs to be used in his sentence.
(source: Lincoln Journal Star)
****************************
Nebraska's death penalty repeal was temporary, but it changed inmates'
sentences, ACLU argues
Was the State Legislature’s repeal of the death penalty in effect long enough
to give the members of Nebraska’s death row a new sentence of life in prison?
Yes, an attorney with a leading civil rights organization told the Nebraska
Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Brian Stull, a North Carolina-based lawyer with the American Civil Liberties
Union, told judges that the repeal went into effect on Aug. 30, 2015, and
wasn’t suspended until Oct. 16, when petition signatures were verified as
sufficient to force a voter referendum on the future of capital punishment.
“Because a repeal was in effect, my clients no longer face the death penalty,”
he said.
That was disputed by attorneys representing the state, Gov. Pete Ricketts and
sponsors of the referendum. They argued that a Lancaster County judge was
correct in dismissing the ACLU’s lawsuit 10 months ago. The repeal of the death
penalty never went into effect, they said, because, 4 days before it was to be
enacted, it was suspended when the referendum signatures were turned in.
Ryan Post of the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office also maintained that the
power to change final criminal sentences is reserved only for the State Pardons
Board.
“I don’t believe the Legislature can change the final sentences,” Post said.
“They can change sentences (only) going forward.”
Supreme Court judges, who will rule later on the case, had several questions
for the attorneys, who presented conflicting arguments on whether a law is
suspended when referendum petitions are turned in or later, when they are
verified as sufficient to force a vote.
Nebraska voters, by a large margin, restored the state’s death penalty at the
ballot box in 2016. A year later, the ACLU of Nebraska filed suit, seeking a
judgment that death row inmates’ sentences had been changed to life in prison
because the Legislature’s 2015 repeal had gone into effect, if only for a few
weeks. Lancaster County District Judge John Colburn rejected those arguments in
February, prompting an appeal and Wednesday’s oral arguments.
The ACLU had argued earlier this year that the planned execution in August of
death row inmate Carey Dean Moore should be postponed until their appeal was
decided. But that claim was rejected and the execution of Moore — the state’s
1st in 21 years — was carried out.
On Wednesday, Stull argued that if the Legislature lacks the power to change
sentences, that could prevent lawmakers from reforming overly harsh criminal
sentences. He added that allowing the mere submission of petitions — before
they are counted and verified — to suspend a law would frustrate the powers of
the Legislature.
He also argued that the case wasn’t about jurisdiction but about clarifying
that the death penalty repeal had gone into effect.
Post, meanwhile, said the signatures turned into the Nebraska Secretary of
State on Aug. 26, 2015, exceeded the requirement - more than 10 percent of
registered votes in the state - necessary to suspend the repeal of the death
penalty until voters decided. So the repeal never went into effect, he said.
“The only way we can read the state constitution,” he said, was that the repeal
was suspended “upon filing” of the petitions. There is no requirement that they
be verified first, Post said.
Attorney J.L. Spray, who represented the sponsors of the referendum to restore
the death penalty, said that changing the death row sentences to life in prison
would “frustrate, chill or destroy” the right of voters to override decisions
by the Legislature.
(source: Omaha World-Herald)
ARIZONA:
Mesa man, charged in 3 deaths, deemed mentally fit
A man charged with killing 3 people in burglaries in metro Phoenix nearly 6
years ago that ended with the victims' homes set on fire has been deemed by a
judge to be mentally fit to move forward with his criminal case.
Michael Lee Crane, of Mesa, faces murder, kidnapping and other charges in the
January 2012 killings of Bruce Gaudet at his Phoenix townhome and of Lawrence
and Glenna Shapiro at the couple's home in upscale suburb of Paradise Valley.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Superior Court Judge Warren Granville said in a ruling last week that Crane
wanted to plead guilty in the murder case in February 2017, but the judge held
off on resolving the case and instead ordered a mental health evaluation to
determine Crane's mental competency.
Crane had claimed he was Lucifer at a 2015 hearing over his mental competency
and was removed from the courtroom at several hearings after making obscene
statements to people inside the courtroom, according to court records.
It's unclear whether Crane intends to follow through on his earlier plans to
plead guilty in the killings. His attorney, Herman Alcantar, did not return
telephone messages seeking comment.
Granville wrote that there's no dispute that Crane, who earlier in the case had
refused to cooperate with his attorneys and tried unsuccessfully to represent
himself, is aware of the circumstances and nature of the court proceedings.
The judge said the only issue over Crane's mental fitness is whether his
failure to consult with his lawyers was the result of a mental disease or a
choice he made.
The latest ruling by Granville found Crane to be mentally fit to move forward
and repeatedly noted that Crane cooperated with court proceedings when he was
working toward a goal, such as making sure he could be excused from attending a
court hearing.
"This court's experience, over a long period of time and on many occasions,
reflects a calculating decision-making process rather than an impelled
compulsive behavior," Granville wrote.
Most of the litigation in the murder case over the past 21 months has focused
on Crane's mental fitness.
Crane, 38, is still awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in 2017 to
separate but related crimes that were carried out in the days after the 3
killings.
In that case, Crane pleaded guilty to burglary, attempted burglary, aggravated
assault and robbery charges in a February 2012 spree at several homes in metro
Phoenix.
Authorities say shoes recovered at an attempted burglary scene during the spree
had been stolen days earlier from Gaudet's home. They said Crane's DNA was
found on the shoes. Prosecutors say Crane was known for removing his shoes
before entering homes during burglaries.
Authorities say a gun used in the 3 killings was found in Crane's possession
when he was arrested in the separate crime spree.
In the killings, prosecutors say Crane bound and fatally shot the 3 victims at
their homes, stole their jewelry and other valuables, and torched their homes.
The Shapiros were killed 4 days after Gaudet.
Authorities have said Maricela Otilia Sanchez, 32, of Phoenix was found driving
Gaudet's SUV near Yuma on the same day he was killed. She has since pleaded
guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping in Gaudet's death.
Sanchez was sentenced to nearly 9 years in prison for the car theft, but is
awaiting sentencing on her murder and kidnapping convictions.
3 other people accused of possessing items stolen in both fatal burglaries have
since pleaded guilty to charges.
2 additional people also pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution for
suppressing evidence that authorities believed would have led to Crane.
(source: azcentral.com)
CALIFORNIA----2 death row inmates die
Probe of drugs in San Quentin death row; 2 inmates die in 2 days
An investigation is underway to determine how drugs made it to death row at San
Quentin State Prison, where 2 inmates died in their cells this week,
corrections officials said Wednesday.
Officials were awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine if the deaths
were related to drug use, according to a statement from the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The statement said health care staff is increasing outreach and education to
inmates about the dangers of drugs.
Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton declined to say what drugs were brought
into the prison.
Joseph A. Perez, Jr. from Contra Costa County died Tuesday at the prison, the
department said Wednesday.
Perez was found unresponsive in his cell at 9:11 p.m. Emergency lifesaving
measures were started immediately, but Perez was pronounced dead at 9:21 p.m.,
the department said.
Perez was sentenced to death in Contra Costa County on Jan. 25, 2002, for the
March 24, 1998, murder of Janet Daher, 46, who was strangled and stabbed in her
Lafayette home during a home-invasion robbery.
On Monday, Herminio “Spankio” Serna, 53, a gang member sentenced to death in
1997 for multiple murders in San Jose, died at the prison, according to the
department.
Serna was found unresponsive in his cell, the department said. Prison personnel
gave Serna CPR and called an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead about 8:35
p.m.
Since 1978, when California reinstated capital punishment, 79 condemned inmates
have died from natural causes, 25 have committed suicide, 13 have been executed
in California, 1 was executed in Missouri, 1 was executed in Virginia, 11 have
died from other causes and 4 – including Perez – are pending a cause of death.
There are currently 740 offenders on California’s death row.
****************
Man guilty of San Jose murders dies on San Quentin death row
A gang member sentenced to death in 1997 for multiple murders in San Jose died
at San Quentin State Prison on Monday, according to the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Herminio “Spankio” Serna, 53, was found unresponsive in his one-person cell on
death row, said CDCR spokeswoman Terry Thornton. Prison personnel gave Serna
CPR and called an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead about 8:35 p.m. A cause
of death is pending.
“The circumstances of his death are being investigated,” Thornton said.
Serna belonged to the notorious Northern California Latino prison gang Nuestra
Familia. During his trial, prosecutors said members wanted to control San
Jose’s drug trade and command respect on the streets, and to achieve those
goals, members killed associates who disobeyed orders and witnesses who
threatened to expose them.
Serna was sentenced to death by a Santa Clara County jury on Nov. 21, 1997, for
the murders of Esteban Guzman, Marcos Baca and Sheila Apodaca. His partners in
crime, 66-year-old James Trujeque and 53-year-old Bobby Lopez Jr., were also
sentenced to death that year for a series of gang-related murders in the San
Jose area.
Serna had been on death row since Nov. 26, 1997.
Since 1978, when California reinstated capital punishment, 79 condemned inmates
have died of natural causes, 24 have committed suicide, 15 have been executed,
11 have died of other causes and 3 — including Serna — are pending a cause of
death, according to the CDCR. There are currently 741 offenders on death row in
the state.
(source for both: Marin Independent Journal)
More information about the DeathPenalty
mailing list