[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IOWA, S.DAK., N.MEX., UTAH, ARIZ., WASH.

Wed Feb 7 08:25:42 CST 2018

Feb. 7

IOWA:

Senate committee to ponder capital punishment

Death-penalty proponents in the Iowa Senate are pushing for a limited deterrent 
aimed at protecting children, peace officers and communities from terrorist 
attacks or heinous acts of violence.

A 5-member Senate Judiciary subcommittee is slated to take up a measure next 
week that would reinstate capital punishment in situations where someone aged 
18 or older kidnaps, rapes and murders a minor, kills a peace officer in the 
line of duty or commits an intentional act in which 2 or more people are 
killed.

"My personal belief is that there are some instances out there of pure evil," 
said Republican Sen. Dan Dawson, a Council Bluffs peace officer who is a 
subcommittee member and supporter the bill. "Those people will always be evil, 
and we have to have a penalty for them to address those exceptional instances."

The bill calls for a 2-tiered process whereby an accused perpetrator deemed 
mentally competent is tried before a jury or judge. If convicted of a capital 
offense, a second, separate review would be conducted to determine if the 
person should be put to death via lethal injection.

The bill has enough votes to advance in the Senate but the overall fate of the 
death-penalty issue is uncertain, given that a broader reinstatement has 
stalled in the House.

In a related development Tuesday, the 4 bishops of Iowa voiced their opposition 
to the death penalty.

"We speak in opposition to the use of the death penalty in any form and to its 
possible reinstatement in Iowa," according to a joint statement from Dubuque 
Archbishop Michael Jackels, Davenport Bishop Thomas Zinkula, Sioux City Bishop 
R. Walker Nickless and Des Moines Bishop Richard Pates issued through the Iowa 
Catholic Conference.

(source: The Gazette)

SOUTH DAKOTA:

Death Penalty Bill Advances

As of last Friday, the 2018 Legislature has now finished 16 out of the 39 days 
scheduled for this year's session. South Dakota used to have a short session 
and a long session, but now the maximum allowed for all sessions is 40 days 
except for special sessions.

A week ago was the deadline for unlimited bill introduction but a limited 
number of bills could still be introduced. By Monday, Feb. 5, we should find 
out exactly how many bills have been introduced but I have heard that it is 
going to be a record high number. Then we will have to see whether we can get 
all of those bills heard and considered by the house of the legislature where 
they started by "cross-over" day, which is Feb. 23 this year.

This week was the annual South Dakota National Guard Dining Out, a formal 
banquet to which all of the legislators are invited. It is a dazzling display 
of formal military uniforms and gowns but it is also a serious opportunity to 
honor our South Dakota National Guardsmen and women. It was pointed out to us 
that of all the National Guard units in the entire United States who received 
Superior Unit awards last year, two-thirds of them were South Dakota units.

2 of the bills on which I was one of the prime sponsors have been passed by 1 
house and gone over to the other house.

HB 1123 forbids applying the death penalty to persons who are severely mentally 
ill. I worked with the prime sponsor in the House to make sure that it was very 
clearly written so that it would only apply to persons who can clearly 
demonstrate a history of severe mental illness. I testified in favor of this 
bill before the House Committee and was pleased to see that it passed the House 
on Friday. It will still have to be heard by a Senate Committee and on the 
floor of the Senate.

(source: Sen. Arthur Rusch R-District 17 (Vermillion) ---- YanktonDaiy Press & 
Dakotan)

NEW MEXICO:

Legislature should say no to death penalty bill

As a former volunteer chaplain on Virginia's death row, I strongly oppose HB 
155 and the attempt to bring back the death penalty to New Mexico. I write from 
personal experience that this terrible act of killing on the part of the state 
does not deter murder. It has never been possible to administer the death 
penalty without error or bias.

In fact, during my short tenure of 5 years, 1980 to 1985, 2 men out of 24 on 
Virginia's death row were found to be innocent after having been condemned to 
death--and a 3rd was exonerated a few years later. Moreover I deeply believe, 
based upon evidence, that of the 24 at least another 2 or 3 were not guilty of 
capital murder. That's coming close to an error rate of 25% on innocence, the 
highest standard.

By the time that "generation" of prisoners had gone through the system, six of 
them had their sentences commuted to life, primarily due to doubts about the 
legal handling of their cases.

But what about errors in trial procedure and judicial error at the national 
level? A study by the Columbia School of Law revealed that the appellate courts 
found judicial or trial error in 68% of death penalty cases and either threw 
them out or sent them back to the lower court for retrial or rehearing. Of 
these, 7% were found to be entirely innocent, 75% were sentenced to less than 
death, and 18% were resentenced to the death penalty.

New Mexico would be no better. Our state is already strapped for funds for 
criminal defense let alone other aspects of its criminal justice system. How 
could it possibly match with funds the resources of the government 
prosecutorial side? The end of the process is justice--not a statistical slap 
on the back. The death penalty takes enormous resources away from protecting 
our citizens from the very crimes it purports to defend us from. It costs far 
more than life imprisonment. And it drains funds that could go to police 
protection, drug treatment and prevention, alcoholism treatment and mental 
health--all of which are implicated in the crimes for which capital murder 
becomes a label.

Believe me, having worked to help men on death row take moral responsibility 
for their crimes so that they could die as moral souls before God, I know that 
they did not consider the possibility of the death penalty--not for one 
second--before committing their crimes. They were driven by other things, often 
drugs and mental illness, and the full range of human surges of emotion out of 
control. They did not calculate and thus did not consider consequences--least 
of all the odds that some prosecutor would opt for a capital murder charge 
versus a 1st degree charge without the death penalty for the same act.

Surveys of leading criminologists agree with my experiences. For example, in a 
2009 survey by the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 87% of 
criminologists agreed that the death penalty does not deter murder. 
Furthermore, states with the death penalty consistently have higher murder 
rates than those without it.

This bill is not about protecting our citizens or making us safe. It's about 
electioneering and political ambition.

Don't fall for it. Write your state legislator today and tell him or her to 
vote it down.

(source: Chuck Barrett worked as a professional in the D.C. Department of 
Corrections, the D.C. Pretrial Justice system, the ACLU National Prison 
Project, and was founder and director of the Community Justice Ministry of the 
National Capital Area during the 1970s and 1980s. He served as a volunteer 
chaplain on Virginia's death row from 1980 to 1985----Las Cruces Sun-News)

UTAH:

Utah lawmaker wants extensive study of death penalty costs vs. life without 
parole sentence

A state lawmaker wants a more in-depth study of how much it costs for capital 
punishment in Utah, and to determine whether it's cheaper to instead give a 
prisoner a life sentence.

House Bill 70 would request legislative auditors to do a study of death penalty 
costs, including the amount of money spent by law enforcement, courts and 
others when a defendant's execution is sought.

Legislative analysts in 2012 estimated that a death sentence and decades of 
appeals costs $1.6 million more than a life-without-parole sentence. But bill 
sponsor Rep. Stephen Handy, R-Layton, said that study was "very brief" and did 
not include many of the costs incurred by state and county personnel.

If HB70 passes, he said Tuesday during a House Law Enforcement and Criminal 
Justice Committee, it would likely mean auditors would study the issue in-depth 
for nine or 10 months.

"You can be pro [death penalty] or you can be con," he said Tuesday. "You don't 
have to worry about that. All we're talking about here is a fact-finding 
process."

A state lawmaker wants a more in-depth study of how much it costs for capital 
punishment in Utah, and to determine whether it's cheaper to instead give a 
prisoner a life sentence.

House Bill 70 would request legislative auditors to do a study of death penalty 
costs, including the amount of money spent by law enforcement, courts and 
others when a defendant???s execution is sought.

Legislative analysts in 2012 estimated that a death sentence and decades of 
appeals costs $1.6 million more than a life-without-parole sentence. But bill 
sponsor Rep. Stephen Handy, R-Layton, said that study was "very brief" and did 
not include many of the costs incurred by state and county personnel.

If HB70 passes, he said Tuesday during a House Law Enforcement and Criminal 
Justice Committee, it would likely mean auditors would study the issue in-depth 
for 9 or 10 months.

"You can be pro [death penalty] or you can be con," he said Tuesday. "You don't 
have to worry about that. All we're talking about here is a fact-finding 
process."

The bill passed out of the committee on Tuesday with little debate, and will 
now move forward for consideration by the entire House.

Handy proposed a similar bill last year to study death penalty costs, he said, 
but time ran out during the legislative session before it could be considered 
by state senators.

Utah legislators came close to abolishing the death penalty altogether in 2016 
- but the bill never reached the House floor before the midnight deadline on 
the last night of session.

(source: Salt Lake Tribune)

ARIZONA:

Trial Begins for Arizona Inmate Accused of Killing Cellmate

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for an Arizona inmate if he's found 
guilty of killing his cellmate in a Florence prison in 2011.

The Florence Reminder and Blade-Tribune reports the 1st-degree murder trial 
began Monday for Zachary Eggers, who is charged in the death of 25-year-old 
Jeremy Pompeneo.

Prosecutor Vince Goddard told the court that Eggers ambushed Pompeneo inside 
the cell, killing him after several punches and smashing his head into a wall.

Eggers' attorney Bret Huggins argued the death was not premeditated, noting 
there were no conflicts between the 2 men documented.

Eggers was serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 2005 of killing 
his parents near Douglas.

Pompeneo was also serving a life sentence after he was convicted of killing his 
girlfriend in 2006.

(source: Associated Press)

WASHINGTON:

Spokane Serial Killer Bob Yates Was Sentenced to Death Almost 20 Years Ago, 
Here's Why He's Still Alive

Serial killer Robert Lee "Bob" Yates committed some of the most gruesome 
murders Washington has ever seen. The quiet husband and father's 18 slayings 
were so horrible that he was sentenced to death. Yet, somehow, nearly 20 years 
after sentencing, he's still rotting away in Washington State Penitentiary.

Yates made a habit of picking up young female prostitutes in the "Skid Row" 
area of Spokane, WA, having sex with them, and then murdering them. He admitted 
he did this to 13 women from 1996 to 1998. All 13 women were found dumped 
around the rural town, with a precise gunshot wound to their head. This clearly 
pointed to Bob's history in the military, where he spent 18 years and won 
several medals of honor.

Yates was nearly caught when a woman he assaulted, shot, and robbed escaped him 
and went to police in 1998. 1 month later, he was asked for a DNA sample, but 
insisted that as a "family man," he couldn't oblige such an extreme request. 2 
years later in 2002, he was arrested in connection with another murder. At that 
time police searched his car, finding DNA evidence to link him to 12 more 
slayings.

Thanks to a plea bargain, Yates escaped the death penalty for the 13 murders, 
instead getting 408 years in prison. The death penalty finally came in 2002 
when he was charged with another 2 killings in Pierce County. He has also since 
confessed to 2 Walla Walla murders in 1975 and another in 1988 in Skagit 
County. Even with a grand total of 18 murders under his belt, Yates felt that 
he should not receive the lethal injection he was sentenced to. He has claimed 
that he's a necrophiliac, and it was the fault of his mental illness that he 
committed the crimes. Though his appeals keep failing, he is still alive thanks 
to the fact that Washington Governor Jay Inslee refuses to sign any death 
orders while he's in office. So here we are, nearly 20 years after Yates first 
went to prison, and he's still alive and well in jail.

(source: intouchweekely.com)