[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., FLA., MISS., OHIO, TENN., ARK., UTAH, ARIZ., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 17


TEXAS----impending execution

Sugar Land man scheduled for execution after killing his family loses appeal



With barely a week to go before Texas death row inmate Thomas "Bart" Whitaker's 
scheduled execution, a state appeals court on Thursday denied the Sugar Land 
man's latest bid to avoid the state's harshest sentence.

Citing his record of good behavior on death row, attorneys argued that the 
condemned man who had his mother and brother killed no longer qualifies as a 
future danger, a key factor in death sentencing in Texas.

"Whitaker is not only not a future danger," his attorneys wrote, "he is not a 
present danger."

Houston-based defense team David Dow and Jeffrey Newberry argued that either he 
was never a danger to anyone outside his immediate family and thus not really a 
future danger or had experienced such a personal transformation that he was no 
longer a future danger.

"There can be no doubt but that Thomas Bartlett Whitaker's jurors were wrong 
when they found that he likely would commit acts of violence in the future," 
they wrote.

But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday turned down the appeal and 
request for a stay.

The 38-year-old was sent to death row in 2007 after a Ford Bend jury found him 
guilty of masterminding a plot to kill his family in hopes of snagging a $1 
million inheritance. Though Whitaker's mother Patricia and brother Kevin died 
in the 2003 attack, his father Kent survived and has since fervently argued 
against his son's death sentence.

"I have seen enough death - I don't want to see any more," he told the 
Chronicle earlier this week. "I'm going to have the last living member of my 
direct family taken from me by the State of Texas in the name of justice, and I 
just don't want that."

Currently a clemency petition bolstered by letters from teachers, friends, 
family and fellow death row inmates is pending before the Texas Board of 
Pardons and Paroles.

Whitaker is also involved in litigation over the state's lethal injection 
practices, though the Supreme Court is not scheduled to tackle the matter until 
Feb. 23 - 1 day after the scheduled execution.

(source: Houston Chronicle)








SOUTH CAROLINA:

3 SC brothers and cousin charged in double homicide, death penalty in play



4 South Carolina men, all related, have been arrested and charged for their 
roles in a double homicide.

3 brothers, and their cousin, were arrested by South Carolina Law Enforcement 
Division agents in connection to the Nov. 24, 2017 shooting deaths of cousins 
Joel Turner Jr., 44, and Steven A. Banks, 34, outside a bar in McCormick 
County.

Jesse Cashawn Freeman III, 22, of McCormick and Travis Rashad Freeman, 27, of 
Spartanburg and were arrested and charged with murder, according to SLED.

If convicted, each will face the maximum penalty of death, or a mandatory 
minimum sentence of 30 years to life in prison, SLED reported.

Shiquan Marquez Freeman, 25, and Devin Tyrone Crapps, 22, both of Spartanburg, 
were each charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

If convicted of the felony charge, each will face the maximum penalty of 15 
years in prison.

Travis Freeman and Jesse Freeman fatally shot Banks and Turner during a 
physical altercation in the parking lot of Sapp's Bar and Grill, according to 
an affidavit.

Shiquan Freeman and Crapps are charged with accessory because they fled the 
scene in the same vehicle as Travis and Jesse Freeman and failed to notify law 
enforcement about the crime, according to an affidavit.

SLED investigated the case at the request of the McCormick County Sheriff's 
Office.

(source: thestate.com)








FLORIDA:

Florida school shooting suspect will plead guilty if death penalty is not an 
option----If prosecutors agree to take the death penalty off the table, the 
suspect's attorney says he will plead guilty.



The suspect in the south Florida high school shooting will plead guilty in the 
massacre if the death penalty is taken off the table, the public defender's 
office said Friday.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, admitted he was behind the the 17 killings inside Marjory 
Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. His lawyers at the public 
defender's office say he is deeply troubled and remorseful over the shooting.

"I am overwhelmingly saddened that every system failed. The school system, the 
mental health system, DCF, law enforcement and the FBI," said Broward County 
Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office is representing Cruz.

"Because we failed to stop it, and we could have, we should not kill the person 
who behaved as we feared but ignored."

Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. Finkelstein said he is 
unsure if prosecutors will agree to the idea of pulling the death penalty off 
the table.

"I hope" they will, he said. "No road map here."

The State Attorney's Office for Broward County told the Miami Herald "it is way 
too early in the investigation to talk about the death penalty,"

Indeed, it would be highly unusual for a deal to form just 2 days after the 
shooting happened.

At Cruz's 1st appearance, Chief Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes told a 
judge the 19 year old was a "broken child" who "has endured a lot of emotional 
trauma in a short period of time."

She added the downward spiral started with this death of his mother in 
November.

Finkelstein said whatever happens with Cruz's future 1 thing remains clear: 
this tragedy has left an irreparable wound on his community.

"In the 40 years I have been in this courthouse, I have seen a lot of murder 
and mayhem but nothing is even in the same universe as this," he said. "This 
devastation has caused a permanent wound in the victims family's and the 
community. All of us will be forever changed."

(source: WTSP news)








MISSISSIPPI----new death sentence

Wilbanks sentenced to death for 2013 shooting



Wilbanks admitted his guilt to law enforcement during an interview in December 
2013; however, he decided to continue with a trial rather than change his plea 
and move directly to the sentencing phase.

Wilbanks showed little emotion as the verdict for the death penalty was read in 
court.

The murder took place on Dec. 17, 2013, in McClendon's apartment at 20B County 
Road 140 just off of College Hill Road in Oxford.

According to the state, Wilbanks, Joseph Lyons and Derrick Boone entered 
McClendon's apartment and Wilbanks shot him in the back of the head with a 
16-gauge shotgun while McClendon was doing dishes.

His body was found by Lafayette County Sheriff's Deputy Will Tidwell at 3:30 
a.m. on Dec. 18, 2013, after McClendon's mother, Paula, called the sheriff's 
department and requested someone check on her son after he didn't arrive at his 
home in Gulfport. McClendon was expected to arrive home for the holidays on 
Dec. 17.

According to testimony given by several law enforcement officers from the 
Lafayette County Sheriff's Department, after Wilbanks shot McClendon, the 3 men 
stole his 2004 Nissan along with clothing, electronics and textbooks.

Boone and Lyons previously pleaded guilty in exchange to have the death penalty 
taken off the table and are both serving life sentences without the possibility 
of parole. Wilbanks was not offered a plea deal.

Jury selection was held on Monday and the trial began and ended Tuesday with 
the jury finding Wilbanks guilty after deliberating for about 2 hours.

Law enforcement officials recounted the crime, but it was Wilbanks own 
testimony via a taped interview hours following the shooting that cinched the 
verdict.

Wilbanks admitted to shooting McClendon and that Lyons and Boone knew he was 
going to shoot him and "were OK with it." The 3 men then divvied up the items 
they stole from McClendon.

"I'm sorry I lied to you yesterday," Wilbanks told the investigators in the 
recording. "But now you got me, I'm telling you everything."

Wilbanks told investigators that the shotgun belonged to him and that he 
purchased it for $8 at a gun show in Hattiesburg where he lived before moving 
to Oxford.

Wilbanks said the plan was to kill McClendon so they could steal his money, 
credit cards and other belongings. He said he needed money for rent and bills 
but then later told investigators he had thought about killing "someone" a year 
before shooting McClendon.

Wilbanks testified that the 3 men walked over to McClendon's apartment and that 
he set the shotgun down outside McClendon's door.

After talking to McClendon for about 45 minutes, Wilbanks said Lyons went 
outside and brought the gun inside and handed it to Wilbanks, who then shot 
McClendon in the back of the head.

"He never saw it coming," Wilbanks said. "I didn't want him to suffer. I'm not 
bloodthirsty or anything."

The 3 stole McClendon's vehicle, which was found a few hours after the 
shooting, parked at the Chevron gas station on Highway 6. The car wouldn't 
start, so the 3 drove Boone's car to Walmart to buy a battery and to purchase 
items for their getaway trip. However, before they could return, the police had 
located the vehicle.

On Wednesday, 3 ministers who visit with Wilbanks once a week on different days 
testified that Wilbanks was now "saved" and held Bible studies at the Lafayette 
County Detention Center where he has been held awaiting trial since his arrest 
in 2013.

Because Wilbanks was sentenced to the death penalty, an appeal will be 
automatically filed by the circuit court on his behalf.

District Attorney Ben Creekmore said his office never has an expectation of 
what a jury might decide but is thankful that the jurors carefully examined the 
evidence and collectively came to an agreement on the verdict of guilty and in 
handing down the sentence.

"We feel we put on the proof that would justify a death penalty verdict," 
Creekmore said Thursday afternoon.

Creekmore said the conclusion of all 3 defendants' trials is a "relief" to 
McClendon's parents, Percy and Paula McClendon.

"We will continue to cherish the memory of Zach and forget the horrible way 
that he was treated by these men," Creekmore said. "Zach was a bright, young 
man who loved life and was a neighbor to everyone he met."

McClendon, a 1st-year graduate student from Gulfport, was pursuing a Master's 
of Business Administration at Ole Miss. Prior to attending Ole Miss, McClendon 
graduated from Williams College in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry.

He was an apprentice for an orthopedic surgeon at Tulane University while in 
college.

(source: The Oxford Eagle)








OHIO:

Ohio man could face death penalty in rape, murder case



An Ohio man charged with raping, torturing and killing a 24-year-old woman 
could face the death penalty if convicted.

A prosecutor announced a capital indictment Thursday against 53-year-old 
Anthony Pardon. He faces charges including aggravated murder, rape and 
kidnapping in the death of Rachael Anderson.

Anderson was found dead inside a closet at her Columbus home on Jan. 29, the 
day after her 24th birthday. Police have declined to release details of the 
attack but described it as torture.

Investigators say Pardon's DNA was found at the crime scene.

Pardon previously served 24 years in prison for a 1982 rape and attempted 
murder conviction. He is a registered sex offender.

Court records don't list an attorney for Pardon.

(source: Associated Press)








TENNESSEE:

Governor Bill Haslam: Don't Resume Executions in Tennessee



see: 
https://www.change.org/p/governor-bill-haslam-don-t-resume-executions-in-tennessee/share?utm_medium=email&utm_source=aa_sign_aaa&utm_campaign=255749&utm_content=&sfmc_tk=aOZbX8piP2%2fQfV4%2f6b%2fm8UuCfTbMCKWOujJnv4YM8vTiAiZSL3KLfOeaHmeW9Zkc&j=255749&sfmc_sub=10611289&l=32_HTML&u 
=46622553&mid=7233053&jb=281

The state of Tennessee is now planning to resume executions after almost a 
decade without one--despite the nearly deadly mistakes of sending 4 wrongfully 
convicted individuals to death row on 4 different occasions. These men spent 
decades fighting for their freedom and were finally released from prison. To 
date, over 160 people have been freed from death rows across the country when 
evidence of their innocence emerged - including me.

My name is Paul House. For 22 years, I sat on Tennessee's death row where I 
developed an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis for which I received no 
care. By the time of my release, I was bound to a wheelchair, experiencing 
significant challenges to my speech and movement. I remain in a wheelchair 
today and am cared for by my mother, Joyce.

The more we execute, the more likely it is that we will execute an innocent 
person. When a human life is at stake, there is simply no room for error. Sign 
this petition today???to urge Tennessee not to resume executions in the state.

After being released from prison in 2007 and with all charges against me 
finally dropped in 2009, my mother and I continue to work to prevent this from 
happening to anyone else, sharing my story with anyone who will listen.

The death penalty system is failing as it consistently proves to be 
ineffective, unfair, and inaccurate, while the public's approval of it as a 
means of achieving justice continues to decline. Even in cases of guilt, 
growing evidence suggests that the death penalty can prolong victims' families' 
pain and delay healing while appeals and reversals force them to relive their 
trauma again and again.

As someone who faced execution for a crime I didn't commit, I ask you to sign 
this petition, urging the state of Tennessee not to resume executions in order 
to prevent wrongful executions.

(source: change.org)








ARKANSAS:

Death Drug --What is midazolam? Lethal injection drug used for sedation on 
death row and in 2017 Arkansas executions----It has been the source of some 
controversy as several prisoners have taken some time to die and appeared to be 
in pain when midazolam was used



It is a drug that is used for people who have trouble sleeping and it can 
decrease anxiety.

But midazolam is also used to kill people on death row.

What is midazolam?

It is a drug that has been used in executions by lethal injection in certain 
states, combined with other drugs.

It has been used as part of a 3-drug cocktail.

The drug acts as a sedative to make the prisoner unconscious.

The other drugs then stop the lungs and heart working.

It has been the source of some controversy as several prisoners have taken some 
time to die and appeared to be in pain when midazolam was used.

Death penalty critics have argued midazolam is a sedative - not an anaesthetic 
- and the condemned would feel pain from the drugs that come next.

What happened in Arkansas in 2017?

The state of Arkansas wanted to carry out 8 executions in 10 days.

This was due to the supply of midazolam being due to expire.

4 of the prisoners were granted a stay of execution, but 4 were given the 
lethal injection.

Marcel Willilams, Lendell Lee, Jack Jones and Kenneth Williams all died in 
2017.

How many states still have the death penalty?

The death penalty is still legal in 31 states and illegal in 19 states.

The United States is the only Western country still applying the death penalty.

It was the 1st to develop lethal injections as a method of execution.

More than 2,900 are still on death row, with more than 1,400 having been 
executed.

What is Life and Death Row: The Mass Execution?

It is a documentary series about the historic number of executions scheduled in 
Arkansas of 8 men in 10 days.

The reason for this is to use up the state's supply of a lethal injection drug 
called midazolam before it expires.

The BBC speaks to the families of victims and those on death row in the lead up 
to the execution.

In the 1st episode we meet Johnson and his wife and stepdaughter.

They are doing all they can to stop the execution from taking place.

It airs on BBC2 on Sunday.

(source: The Sun)



UTAH:

Lawmaker to try to repeal the death penalty in Utah



A new bill in the Utah State Legislature seeks to end capital punishment in 
Utah.

House Bill 379, sponsored by Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, would put a 
moratorium on the death penalty.

"I think the proper time the proper path forward at this time, is to do away 
with the death penalty," he said in an interview Friday with FOX 13.

It would not impact the nine men currently on death row in Utah. Rep. Froerer 
said they had already had their crimes adjudicated, but he wanted a bill that 
was proactive.

HB379 is the 4th bill in the Utah State Legislature that deals with capital 
punishment. Senate Minority Whip Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, has a bill to 
expand it to include first responders; Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, has a bill 
to add a police officer dying in a chase as an aggravator; and Rep. Stephen 
Handy, R-Layton, has a bill to study the cost of the death penalty.

Recently, Utah's Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice produced its own 
study that found the state spent $40 million over the past 20 years on court 
and incarceration costs to execute 2 people.

"We really need to make the decision from a policy standpoint, is this a good 
use of taxpayer dollars?" Rep. Froerer asked.

Supporters of his bill are already coming forward.

"The death penalty does not promote justice, it promotes violence. As people of 
faith, we believe that justice and mercy walk hand-in-hand. Throughout 
religious teachings, we learn that mercy is the only true way to overcome 
evil," said Jean Hill, a government liaison for the Catholic Diocese of Salt 
Lake City.

Rep. Ray said he believes capital punishment in Utah is still necessary. He 
supported more study of the death penalty's cost, and said it may be more 
expensive to keep someone alive without parole. He said past efforts to repeal 
the death penalty have not fared well in the House.

"2 years ago, when the death penalty bill came over, it was dead on arrival in 
the House," he said.

(source: fox13now.com)








ARIZONA:

Arizona prosecutor drops death penalty in 2 murder cases



A prosecutor in northwest Arizona is abandoning pursuit of the death penalty 
against the suspects in 2 high-profile murder cases, citing cost.

Staff attorneys will instead seek convictions and life prison sentences for 
Justin Rector, 29, of Bullhead City and Darrell Ketchner, 59, of Kingman, said 
Mohave County attorney Matt Smith.

Ketchner faces 1st-degree murder, attempted murder and other charges for the 
July 4, 2009, stabbing death of 18 year-old Ariel Allison and the attempted 
murder of her mother, Jennifer Allison. The teen was stabbed to death, while 
her mom, mother of 3 of Ketchner's children, survived being shot in the head 
and stabbed.

Rector is charged in the September 2014 death of his former girlfriend's 
daughter, 8 year-old Bella Grogan-Cannella. The girl's body was found in a 
makeshift grave about a half-mile from her home.

County officials said more than $2.2 million has been spent on defense teams 
representing Ketchner and Rector. Neither case is even close to trial and it 
will be less expensive to prosecute them because mitigation and expert 
testimony will be limited if the death penalty is off the table.

"Everybody's looking to save money and these death penalty cases are extremely 
expensive," Smith said.

Bob Allison, grandfather of Ariel, said he and his family approved Smith's 
decision.

"We're OK with it because we want to protect the kids," Allison said, adding 
that his other grandchildren get teased and bullied at school because of 
publicity.

"It's a waste of money in my opinion and the end results are going to be the 
same."

(source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)








CALIFORNIA:

Prosecutors Will Seek Capital Punishment Against Felon Charged in Death of 
Whittier Police Officer, Relative



Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a felon and alleged gang member 
accused in the deaths of his own cousin and a Whittier police officer.

Michael Christopher Mejia, 27, smiled and appeared to blow a kiss as he walked 
into the Norwalk courtroom where the decision was read Friday by Los Angeles 
County Deputy District Attorney Garrett Dameron.

Mejia previously pleaded not guilty to 2 counts of murder and 1 count each of 
attempted murder, carjacking and possession of a firearm by a felon on Aug. 14, 
2017.

Friday's decision to seek capital punishment comes nearly a year after Whittier 
Police Department Officer Keith Boyer and Mejia's cousin Roy Torres lost their 
lives hours apart on Feb. 20, 2017.

Mejia is accused of fatally shooting his 47-year-old cousin in East Los Angeles 
early that morning. He then allegedly stole Torres' car and, about 3 hours 
later, crashed it into 2 other vehicles in Whittier.

When police responded to the crash, Mejia allegedly exited the car with a 
handgun and proceeded to shoot and kill 53-year-old Boyer and wound his 
partner, Patrick Hazell.

Boyer was a 27-year veteran of the Whittier Police Department, and the chief 
there described him as a "hero."

Mejia was on probation at the time of the shooting and had been released from 
Pelican Bay State Prison less than a year before.

Days before the incident, he was released from a 10-day jail sentence for 
violating the terms of his release, 1 of 5 such jail stays for the same 
violation, the Los Angeles Times reported.

He was sentenced to 2 years for grand theft auto in 2014 and 4 years for 
2nd-degree robbery in 2010.

At the time of his most recent arrest, authorities described him as a "known 
gang member," and prosecutors have filed a gang allegation against him. His 
2010 conviction included a sentencing enhancement for gang involvement.

The last entry Boyer scribbled in his police notebook while responding to the 
crash was "Michael Mejia, 1191, Winter Gardens," a reference to Mejia's gang, 
according to testimony presented last June during a preliminary hearing in the 
case, according to the Whittier Daily News.

Mejia is scheduled to return to court for pre-trial hearing on April 6, and 
prosecutors indicated a trial could begin in July.

(source: KTLA news)

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

Former death row inmate headed back to prison for life in 1984 killing of 
Redondo Beach woman



A 53-year-old man who has spent more than 3 decades in prison - including 2 on 
death row - for robbing and killing a Redondo Beach wife and mother during her 
shift at a Los Angeles International Airport cafeteria apparently will remain 
behind bars for the rest of his life following a Torrance jury's decision 
Friday.

Henry Earl Duncan stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as a Torrance 
Superior Court clerk announced that his jury found "true" a special 
circumstances allegation that alleged Duncan intended to kill 28-year-old 
Eileen De Baun during the 1984 robbery. It marked the 3rd time a jury had 
reached that conclusion. Judges, however, overturned the 2 previous decisions 
following appeals.

As a result, Duncan will be sentenced April 30 to spend the rest of his life in 
prison without the chance of parole, although his attorney said he again will 
file an appeal.

Derik De Baun, who was just 20 months old when Duncan murdered his mother, also 
showed no emotion as he sat in court to hear the verdict. Throughout his life, 
the killing has weighed heavily on his family members as the court and appeals 
process seemingly never ended.

"I felt a lot of relief," De Baun said. "I know it's not something my dad wants 
to hear. He wanted the death sentence to be carried out a long time ago. It's a 
consolation. I can take a consolation. It will be great to tell the rest of my 
family that he's never going to get out."

Friday's verdict was the latest development in a case that initially put Duncan 
on the state's death row in 1986 when a jury found him guilty of the robbery 
and murder. But twice since, appellate judges overturned parts of his 
conviction that resulted in his sentence. This time, De Baun said he hopes the 
courts will reject any more of Duncan's appeals.

"I can't say to the defense, 'Let's give it up and stop appealing,' but I hope 
that maybe I could say to any judge that would handle this that this has been 
dealt with three times already and, in each case, he has lost."

The long quest for justice began Nov. 13, 1984, when Duncan, a cashier at the 
Host cafeteria in the LAX Pan American Airlines terminal, stabbed Eileen De 
Baun - his boss - to death during a robbery that netted $2,400 from the night's 
receipts. The 28-year-old wife and mother of 20-month-old twin sons was found 
the next morning.

Police later tied the crime to Duncan, matching the patterns from the soles of 
shoes found under his bed to the bloody footprints left at the crime scene. His 
hands matched the bloody handprints, and a key to the cash box was discovered 
in his car.

Following a lengthy trial in Torrance Superior Court in 1986, Duncan was found 
guilty of 1st-degree murder and robbery. A special circumstances allegation 
that the crime was committed during a robbery made Duncan eligible for either a 
life prison term without the chance of parole or the death penalty. Jurors 
recommended the death penalty and a judge agreed.

The California Supreme Court upheld Duncan's conviction and sentence in 1991, 
but in 2008 the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that Duncan's 
lawyer, John Cheroske, did a poor job representing him. The federal court said 
that Cheroske, now a Compton Superior Court judge, had failed to argue before 
the jury that blood found on a cloth discovered under a first-aid kit in the 
restaurant office suggested an accomplice committed the actual killing.

The judges upheld Duncan's murder conviction, but ordered that the special 
circumstances allegation be retried. In 2010, another Torrance jury found the 
special circumstances allegation to be true, and Duncan was sent away to prison 
for life without parole. The District Attorney's Office, at the time, decided 
not to pursue the death penalty.

Duncan again appealed the sentence to the state 2nd District Court of Appeal in 
California, which again overturned the conviction for the special circumstance, 
prompting the need for another trial. Over the past 5 weeks, Deputy District 
Attorney Allyson Ostrowski presented the murder case to a new jury that was so 
grisly, Judge Edmund Clarke Jr. on Friday encouraged the panel to talk to 
friends to cope with it.

During the case, Deputy Public Defender Sam Leonard countered with the blood 
evidence in an effort to show somebody else had killed De Baun.

The jury took just a few hours to side with the prosecution, meaning Duncan 
will get a term of life without parole. Had the jury decided otherwise, Duncan 
would have been sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars. With all the time he 
has served in prison, that might have given him a chance at parole. A law 
signed 2 years ago by California Gov. Jerry Brown made it possible for 
thousands of inmates convicted of serious crimes committed when they were 18 to 
22 years old to earn a chance for release. Duncan was 22 when he killed De 
Baun.

Derik De Baun feared that outcome. His father, Don, his mother's sisters and 
other family members would have been devastated, he said.

"It's not about his fate, it's about how it affected everyone else," De Baun 
said. "I probably would have been very disappointed and it would have been very 
somber. I would have felt cheated."

De Baun stood in a court hallway Friday afternoon, preparing to call his family 
to tell them the news. De Baun said he plans to attend the sentencing in April, 
but might not speak about the affect the murder has had on his family as he has 
done before. He said he just wants Duncan to stop.

"He's (appealed) 3 times and it's not gone in his favor any time," De Baun 
said. "I want him to stop trying."

(source: Daily Breeze)