[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., FLA., OHIO, ILL., NEB., OKLA., IDAHO, CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 3



PENNSYLVANIA:

Krasner becomes Philly DA: 'A movement was sworn in today'



For the 1st time in his decades-long legal career, Larry Krasner is a 
prosecutor.

The 56-year-old lawyer - who built a reputation in Philadelphia by suing the 
government and by defending activists and protesters - was sworn in Tuesday as 
the city's district attorney, promising to bring sweeping changes to an office 
he described as "off the rails" during his campaign to lead it.

"A movement was sworn in today," Krasner said after taking the oath of office 
at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. "A movement for criminal justice 
reform that has swept Philadelphia ... and is sweeping the United States."

Once considered a radical addition to a field of former prosecutors and 
government officials, Krasner - who earned convincing victories in both the 
Democratic primary and the general election - takes on an influential post 
overseeing about 600 employees in one of the busiest prosecutor's offices in 
the nation.

He has promised to end use of the death penalty, seek to end use of cash bail, 
and reduce the number of people behind bars.

And he reiterated those goals during his inaugural address, saying he wanted to 
begin "trading jails - and death row - for schools," "trading jail cells 
occupied by people suffering from addiction for treatment and harm reduction," 
and "trading division between police and the communities they serve for unity 
and reconciliation."

His swearing-in highlighted an inauguration ceremony for several city positions 
that was attended by Mayor Kenney, members of City Council, and state and 
federal legislators and other elected officials.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Rhynhart - who, like Krasner, has said she is part of a new 
Democratic movement in a city long controlled by an old guard - took the oath 
of office as the new city controller, the 1st woman to hold the position. More 
than 20 Common Pleas and Municipal Court judges also were sworn in.

"Philadelphia is changing, and people want more from their government," 
Rhynhart said. "People want change."

Rhynhart, 43, who defeated incumbent Alan Butkovitz in the Democratic primary 
before securing a general election victory, vowed to use her role as the city's 
top fiscal manager to probe potential waste or mismanagement at agencies 
including the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which has been engulfed in 
scandal.

She also said she wanted to help diversify city government and help wash away 
the "mediocrity and corruption we see every day."

"We need to show the people of Philadelphia that our leaders will be just as 
good as the residents here," she said, drawing a laugh from the audience.

Still, it was Krasner who received the most enthusiastic response from the 
crowd. They rose to their feet as his wife, Common Pleas Judge Lisa M. Rau, 
swore him in. He placed his hand on a Bible held by their son, Nathan, 26. When 
the act was finished, some in the audience briefly chanted, "Lar-ry! Lar-ry!"

Kenney, in a line that led to cheers from those in the audience, said Krasner's 
background as a public defender and civil rights attorney made him "the right 
man for this job at the right time."

Krasner grew up in St. Louis, the son of a crime-fiction author and an 
evangelical Christian minister. He graduated from the University of Chicago and 
Stanford Law School, then worked in Philadelphia as a federal public defender 
before opening his own practice in 1993.

He was part of a team of lawyers who defended about 400 protesters arrested at 
the 2000 Republican National Convention, has represented Black Lives Matter 
activists, and has sued law enforcement or the government on behalf of clients 
75 times.

His candidacy - which was supported by liberal billionaire George Soros and was 
credited with pulling his competitors farther to the political left - rankled 
the police union. John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, 
was a frequent critic, and a group of former assistant district attorneys also 
raised concerns during the race.

But McNesby softened his rhetoric after Krasner's victory in the general 
election. And Krasner has said he is optimistic that the rank-and-file will 
support him and his agenda.

He assumes an office that has been plagued by turmoil in recent years. Former 
District Attorney Seth Williams pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges 
last year and resigned, leading to the appointment of interim District Attorney 
Kelley Hodge.

But the mood at the inauguration Tuesday was largely celebratory and divorced 
from such news. Krasner repeatedly addressed the crowd as "family," and he 
happily embraced his wife and applauded with the crowd after finishing his 
speech.

When practicing the swearing-in before the crowd arrived, Rau asked him how he 
was feeling. "Terrified," Krasner joked. "Just kidding."

Still, he may have quickly gotten a taste of life as an elected official. 
Almost as soon as the proceedings were over, a small group of Black Lives 
Matter protesters demanded that he make a statement about a fatal police 
shooting in East Germantown last month - and threatening to "shut down???"the 
city if he didn't.

Krasner, speaking briefly with reporters before leaving for a family lunch and 
then into the office, said he needed to evaluate the facts before drawing 
conclusions about any shootings by police.

(source: philly.com)








FLORIDA:

Man Charged With Beating Stepson to Death Over Cookie, Then Forcing Siblings to 
Sleep in Bed With Dead Body



A man in Florida has been charged with murdering his stepson - over a cookie.

Jack Junior Montgomery, 31, of Tampa was charged Sunday with felony 1st-degree 
murder for the killing of his 7-year-old stepson, Brice Russell. The family was 
living at the Masters Inn in Seffner, Florida, WFLA reported.

The child's mother, Donya Shenita Russell, left the boy and her other 3 sons 
with Montgomery to work a double shift. While alone with the children, 
Montgomery repeatedly punched and kicked the 7-year-old after he got out of bed 
to get a cookie, Assistant State Attorney Matthew Smith told the court.

"While she was out working, he chose to not only physically discipline this 
child himself, by not only repeatedly punching and throwing him on the ground 
but threatening bodily harm upon the 2 brothers if they did not partake and 
equally discipline him," Smith said.

The boy's brothers told investigators that they were forced to watch Montgomery 
hit him and were threatened with violence if they did not join him.

"[Montgomery] picked him up and flung him as described by the other brothers, 
helicopter across the hotel room into what's kind of a cabinet, where he hit 
headfirst. And ultimately caused his brain to bleed," Smith said.

An employee at the hotel said he called police after hearing loud shouting in a 
room, where a man was yelling "beat the kid" and "push the kid over there," 
WTVT reported, citing the arrest affidavit.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office responded to the call around 1 a.m. on 
Saturday to conduct a welfare search. Montgomery, who identified himself to 
officers as "Jack," said he was playing loud music and opened the door to show 
authorities the sleeping children. Prosecutors said Montgomery put Brice to 
sleep with the other children in the same bed, but officials think the child 
was dead by that time.

"Mr. Montgomery took the child, put him in bed and had the siblings sleep with 
him while Brice was dead that entire night," Smith said.

The next morning, Montgomery called 911 to report that his stepson was not 
breathing. Brice was pronounced dead at the scene.

The medical examiner's office said the boy's death was the result of homicidal 
violence. The investigation found that Montgomery had punched the child in the 
face, stomach and mouth.

Montgomery, who has a history of domestic violence and battery, could face the 
death penalty. He was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated child abuse 
in addition to murder. Montgomery is being held at the county jail on an 
$870,000 bond.

(source: newsweek.com)








OHIO:

Ohio lawmakers should keep the seriously mentally ill off death row: editorial



The Ohio General Assembly should pass a bipartisan bill forbidding Ohio to give 
a death sentence to someone convicted of aggravated murder - but also found to 
have a serious mental illness. He or she would instead be sentenced to life 
imprisonment, which is far more reasonable and compassionate.

Ohioans to Stop Executions and other death penalty opponents on Thursday called 
on Gov. John Kasich and state lawmakers to not resume executions next month and 
to pass legislation prohibiting death sentences for mentally ill murderers.

State Sens. John Ecklund, a Munson Township Republican, and Sandra Williams, a 
Cleveland Democrat, are lead sponsors of Senate Bill 40, which defines "serious 
mental illness" as schizophrenia; schizoaffective disorder; bipolar disorder; 
major depressive disorder; or delusional disorder."

Ohio already has a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity defense. But retired 
Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, a Republican, told the Senate 
Judiciary Committee that NGRI "often does not apply ... [when] individuals ... 
may know what they have done is wrong, but their delusional thinking may cause 
them to believe they are impervious to punishment or that some greater force 
compels them to act."

Under SB 40, if a court ruled that a defendant was ineligible for the death 
penalty due to a major mental illness, he or she would have to be sentenced to 
life imprisonment without parole; life imprisonment with parole eligibility 
after serving 25 or 30 full years in prison; or, in certain instances, an 
indefinite sentence of 30 years to life.

In December, according to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, 
there are 627 Ohio inmates serving life sentences without parole, while 140 
other inmates are on Ohio's death row. SB 40 would create a limited-time 
procedure -only during the first 365 days after the bill became law - for 
re-sentencing to a life sentence someone already sentenced to death, if that 
inmate could prove he or she had a serious mental disorder at the time of the 
crime.

According to the Legislative Service Commission, the Ecklund-Williams bill 
embodies one of 56 recommendations made by a death penalty task force 
commissioned by Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Greater 
Cleveland Republican. Senate Bill 40 is common-sense, bipartisan - and humane. 
The Senate and House should send it to Gov. John R. Kasich's desk - soon.

(source: editorial Board, Cleveland Plain Dealer)








ILLINOIS:

Former Death-Row Prisoner Exonerated in Illinois, Seized by ICE



Former Illinois death-row prisoner Gabriel Solache, a Mexican national whose 
death sentence was 1 of 157 commuted by Governor George Ryan in January 2003, 
was exonerated on December 21, 2017 after 20 years of wrongful imprisonment, 
but immediately seized by agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement Agency. Cook County prosecutors dropped charges against Solache and 
his co-defendant Arturo Reyes after Circuit Court Judge James Obbish overturned 
their convictions, finding that disgraced Chicago detective Reynaldo Guevara 
had told "bald-faced lies" under oath when he testified to having no memory of 
interrogating Solache and Reyes and denied having beaten false confessions out 
of the men. Reyes also was immediately arrested by ICE agents. Solache and 
Reyes were convicted in separate trials, and Solache was sentenced to death, 
for the 1998 stabbing deaths of Jacinta and Mariano Soto during a home robbery. 
No physical or biological evidence linked either man to the murder, but they 
were convicted based upon confessions they have long said were coerced by 
Guevara over the course of 3 days of interrogation in which they were denied 
their right to consular assistance by the Mexican government, deprived of 
sleep, and given little food or drink until they falsely implicated themselves. 
Solache's purported confession was written entirely in English by an assistant 
state attorney who did not speak Spanish. Solache did not speak or read English 
and said that Guevara never translated the written statement for Solache before 
getting him to sign it. Guevera has been accused of framing defendants of 
murder in 51 cases. According to Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful 
Convictions, Solache and Reyes are the 6th and 7th defendants freed in the last 
2 years as a result of misconduct by Guevara. To date, 9 defendants have been 
released in cases in which Guevara was alleged to have beaten them or coerced 
witnesses into providing false testimony. Solache is the 161st person wrongly 
convicted and sentenced to death in the United States to have been exonerated 
since 1973, and the 21st in Illinois. At least a dozen of those exonerations 
have involved misconduct by Chicago police, including 5 cases in which the 
notorious "Burge Squad" beat or tortured confessions out of innocent 
defendants. Aaron Patterson, Leroy Orange, Madison Hobley, and Stanley Howard - 
members of the "Death Row 10," who asserted that their convictions were the 
product of false confessions obtained as a result of police torture at the 
hands of notorious Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge - received full pardons 
by Governor Ryan. Ronald Kitchen, another member of the Death Row 10, was 
exonerated in July 2009. Among the tactics the "Burge Squad" employed to elicit 
confessions were shocking suspects in the genitals with cattle prods, beating 
suspects over the head with phonebooks, and pointing guns in the faces of 
minors.

(source: deathpenaltyinfo.org)








NEBRASKA:

John Dalton Jr. appears in court, prosecutors may seek death penalty



John Dalton Jr., 46, is being held without bond after appearing before a judge 
Tuesday morning.

Dalton Jr. is accused of killing his niece and parents before fleeing to 
Tennessee last month. He faces 1st-degree murder charges. Douglas County 
attorney Don Kleine says the death penalty is a possibility in this case 
depending on aggravating circumstances, like whether or not anyone was killed 
to conceal another crime.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31.

(source: KMTV news)



OKLAHOMA:

How Belfast Sky News reporter befriended death row killer - and why he believes 
he's innocent----Sky News reporter Ian Woods was present 3 times for Richard 
Glossip's scheduled, but aborted, executions. He has written a book on why he 
believes he's innocent



The phone call that Belfast-born Sky News reporter Ian Woods took as he waited 
for the arrival of Martin McGuinness' funeral cortege in Derry's City Cemetery 
came from another place associated with death thousands of miles away... on 
death row in Oklahoma.

And the man who was ringing him last March was a convicted killer who had been 
served a final pre-execution meal on 3 different nights, but who had been saved 
from the death penalty at the last minute on each occasion.

Woods' conversation with Richard Glossip in Derry was the last one he ever had 
with him.

Not because the death sentence was carried out, but because Glossip had decided 
to end all contact with the journalist who'd brought his story to millions of 
TV viewers around the world and not without personal cost.

To highlight what the newsman saw as the injustices perpetrated on an innocent 
man, Woods, who's built a journalistic career on the solid foundations of 
objectivity, put his impartiality aside as he became part of Glossip's story 
rather than just an observer.

Indeed, Woods was so close to the case that at the 3 scheduled, but aborted, 
executions, he was waiting to witness Glossip's death by lethal injection from 
the viewing gallery of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

And now Woods, who's from the Oldpark area, has written a book about the 
campaign for justice for Glossip, whom he once described as a friend before the 
American fell out with him - apparently because he was planning to write his 
own memoir.

Glossip had been found guilty of a 1997 murder largely on the evidence of a 
work colleague, Justin Sneed, who admitted carrying out the actual killing of 
their boss.

Motel owner, Barry Van Treese, was beaten to death with a baseball bat in room 
102 of his Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma.

19-year-old Sneed, the motel maintenance man, initially said he killed Van 
Treese during a botched robbery, but he later claimed that Glossip, the manager 
of the down-market establishment, paid him to carry out the murder.

In return for testifying at the trial against Glossip, Sneed was spared the 
death penalty and jailed instead for life.

But Glossip rejected a deal to plead guilty in return for a similar life 
sentence, saying he wasn't going to admit to a crime he didn't commit.

But even so, he was convicted of the murder and sentenced to die in a part of 
the US with a record for more executions than any other.

And it was as Glossip prepared to face an executioner for the 1st time that Ian 
Woods got involved.

He says he'd been working on a story about the overall US death penalty policy 
when he stumbled on Glossip's case, which he thought would be a perfect 
illustration of the arguments for and against. What Woods didn't realise, 
however, was that Glossip's death sentence would consume a large part of his 
life in the months to come.

He says: "I was caught up by the whole thing - more so than by any other story 
I have covered in 35 years in the media world."

Woods talked to other journalists who had interviewed Glossip and friends who 
knew him and who believed he was innocent.

Woods was invited to attend the 1st planned execution and, after a lot of 
soul-searching, agreed to go, thinking it would give him a unique perspective 
on capital punishment.

Yet this was a man who couldn't bear to watch as his own mother slipped away in 
a Belfast care home last year.

He says: "I couldn't witness my own mum dying and yet I was prepared to witness 
the death of Richard Glossip because I felt it was my duty to be there."

In the end, that 1st execution in Oklahoma was halted, but Woods was by now 
engrossed and one campaigner he met was Sister Helen Prejean, who is one of 
America's most famous opponents of capital punishment.

Her book about working with death row inmates was turned into the 1996 movie, 
Dead Man Walking, which won 3 Oscars for director Tim Robbins and actors Sean 
Penn and Susan Sarandon, who has also championed Glossip's cause.

Woods spoke to Glossip on the telephone before visiting him on death row.

And he quickly became convinced that he was innocent of murder, though he had 
stayed silent after he discovered what Sneed had done.

"I don't think that made Glossip guilty of murder, yet he was going to be 
executed, while the man who committed the actual killing was going to be 
spared," says Woods, who set about broadcasting stories on Sky and compiling 
podcasts about the case, as well as producing a documentary.

Woods says the trauma of the on-off executions only heightened Glossip's mental 
problems.

He says the reasons for stopping them have ranged from pharmaceutical companies 
refusing to allow their products to be used in the lethal injections to 
mistakes over which drugs were to be administered.

All of Oklahoma's scheduled executions have been on hold since the last 
execution of Richard Glossip was halted after officials noticed the error over 
the drugs.

But Woods says he's convinced that the authorities will still try to execute 
Glossip and it's unlikely that he will be there if it should ever happen, 
because the condemned man refuses to talk to him anymore.

Woods says the fall out seems to have focused on his book in which ITV Drama 
have already expressed an interest.

Woods adds:"Richard decided at a later stage that he wanted to write his own 
book and I said that was fine because mine was about the entire death penalty 
debate.

"He still wasn't happy with that, but the phone call I received when I was in 
Derry for the funeral was perfectly pleasant and Richard apologised, saying 
everything was cool between us again.

"But I never heard from him again"

Woods, who says he hopes the relationship can be repaired, admits that he is 
sympathetic to Glossip and doesn't want to see him executed.

"I've already said that on this occasion, if people are looking for an unbiased 
report, they should look for somebody else. I've held my hands up and said that 
I have stepped over the line, but I don't think that this should be happening 
to Richard Glossip.

"However, if someone were to come up with compelling evidence of Richard's 
guilt, I am not going to argue and say they're wrong," says Woods, who lived in 
the same street as Eamonn Holmes as a child.

After attending Belfast Royal Academy (BRA), he went to study at Warwick 
University, where the seeds for his journalistic career were sown.

He started in local radio in Coventry, before moving to the BBC, where he was 
the presenter of the regional news programme, East Midlands Today, for 5 years.

He joined Sky in 1995, first as a sports reporter and then as sports editor.

For several years, he covered every England football match at home and abroad, 
including the World Cup in 1998.

He returned to news reporting in 2001, and after spells in the United States 
and Afghanistan was appointed Sky News' US Correspondent based in Washington.

He has reported from all over the world, but he says he may return to live in 
Northern Ireland when his globetrotting days are done.

He's already a regular home-comer and not just for family visits, for he is 
also a member of the Green and White Army and he followed Northern Ireland to 
the Euros in France.

"That was brilliant.

"I loved every second of it," says Woods, who grew up as a Cliftonville fan in 
north Belfast.

"Those were the days when Cliftonville didn't have any great numbers of 
supporters. And Solitude really was Solitude.

"I remember playing at Solitude, but my football career ended when I went to 
BRA, where rugby was the game that we had to play."

Surviving Execution by Ian Woods, published by Atlantic Books, is out now in 
paperback, 8.75 pounds.

(source: Belfast Telegraph)








IDAHO:

County commissioners take stand against death penalty----Blaine is 1st county 
to pull out of state defense fund



The Blaine County commissioners took a local stance against the death penalty 
Tuesday, resolving to withdraw from Idaho's Capital Crimes Defense Fund in the 
hope of stymying county prosecutors from pursuing execution in capital cases.

Created by the Legislature in 1998, the fund covers costs of lengthy, expensive 
trials in which the death penalty is sought. All 44 counties in Idaho currently 
participate.

That may soon change, after Commissioner Larry Schoen surprised his colleagues 
by objecting to a joint powers agreement that would have recommitted Blaine 
County to the program.

"I have come to a decision as a commissioner, and as an individual, that I 
don't think capital punishment is appropriate anymore in the United States 
given the imperfections in our judicial system," Schoen said. "If our 
nonparticipation hamstrings the prosecuting attorney in pursuing the death 
penalty, I'm OK with that.

"This is a way for our county to say we don't support the death penalty, and 
that we don't support the prosecutor seeking it in Blaine County."

It wouldn't have cost the county anything to stay in the program. Last year, 
the fund did not seek any money from Blaine County.

But withdrawing gives a county government the rare opportunity to weigh in on a 
state issue: Though the death penalty is legal in Idaho, it is expensive to 
impose, and removing the insurance policy on its prosecution would choke 
funding and make a capital sentence practically impossible to pursue in local 
cases, Schoen said.

"To me, it's more than a political statement," Commissioner Angenie McCleary 
said. "This seems like an effective tool to curtail whether the death penalty 
is pursued in Blaine County."

The death penalty is rarely sought in Idaho, and even more seldom used.

Since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court lifted its de-facto moratorium on 
capital punishment, Idaho has executed 3 people, most recently in 2012. 
Currently, 8 inmates sit on death row; the most recent was sentenced in 2004.

In Blaine County's most high-profile case, neither the death penalty nor the 
state funding were available.

Former Bellevue resident Sarah Johnson was 16 - a minor - when she shot her 
parents in 2003. Johnson was found guilty in 2005, though appeals are still 
ongoing. The trial cost Blaine County $2 million, according to County Clerk 
JoLynn Drage. (The county paid for both the defense and prosecution in the 
case.) While the Capital Crimes Defense Fund can serve as insurance against 
pricey, protracted court battles, it also opens up access to the State 
Appellate Public Defender's Office, which dedicates 12 lawyers to cover the 
post-conviction counsel and costs of indigent defendants guilty of felonies 
after the first $10,000.

Last fall, Ada County voted to pull out of the fund before realizing how 
dependent it was on those services: In fiscal 2017, the office covered some 167 
appeals, providing work worth $568,000 that otherwise would have fallen to the 
county, according to a report from State Appellate Public Defender Eric 
Fredericksen. (Ada also has 2 death-row inmates in appeals, who accounted for 
roughly another $130,000.)

"We're a state-run office - the state funds us," Fredericksen said. "But, it 
ends up saving the counties a bunch of money, since they don't have to contract 
with lawyers to handle these appeals."

Contacted Tuesday afternoon, the Public Defender's Office couldn't say how many 
such cases it handled in Blaine County, though the number is likely much lower 
than Ada. But, over 4 separate appeals in the Sarah Johnson case, the office 
has covered $153,000 in defense costs that would have otherwise fallen to the 
county, Fredericksen said.

Faced with their own 6-figure bill, Ada's commissioners reversed course in 
November, re-enlisting with the fund.

Closing the discussion Tuesday, the board instructed Schoen to write a letter 
serving notice of the county's decision to leave.

"We have the purse-string power to determine where things go," Commissioner 
Jacob Greenberg said. "That may impact our relationship with other elected 
officials, but it's our prerogative.

"I'm hoping we can get the rest of the state behind us, though I doubt it. We 
may stand alone on this."

(source: Idaho Mountain Express)








CALIFORNIA:

Wiretapped calls lead to 4 alleged gang members possibly facing the death 
penalty



Last month's massive gang sweep of the West Side Crips criminal street gang in 
Bakersfield was prompted by the murder of 5-year-old Kason Guyton. While no 
charges have yet been filed in the child's homicide, investigators say another 
homicide *was* solved as a result of the multi agency investigation.

Police often say gang related homicides are hard to solve because it's so hard 
to get people to talk. In this case, the suspects themselves did all the 
talking.

It happened in the early hours of September 23. According to police informants, 
quote "the entire hood" was there celebrating a West Side Crip's birthday. The 
informant said more than 50 West Side Crips were in the parking lot outside 
Martini's Bar and Regency Bowling Alley on Real Road when a group of East Side 
Crips, including 50-year-old Edwin Smith, approached the West Siders. An 
argument ensued and gunfire erupted.

Bullets flew in every direction-going into cars and the roadway inn on Chester 
Lane. Smith was killed and three others wounded. It appears no one-including 
the victims-would tell police anything or give any names.

But 1 of the suspects now in custody, Danny Willis, did more than enough 
talking. According to reports, through wiretapping Willis's phone, police got 
the evidence they needed, as report say Willis implicated himself, Skylar 
Billings, Gary Pierson and Gary Clayton in the shooting. After police released 
a photo of one of the suspected shooters, Danny Willis was heard saying the man 
in the picture is Gary Pierson, and went onto say Pierson was so panicked he 
was contemplating suicide by cop.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the investigation are the calls where 
Willis talks about a family member of homicide victim Edwin Smith, who posted 
on Facebook claiming she knows who the shooters are. Numerous conversations 
show Willis was clearly concerned about what the poster knew. Coincidentally, 
the family member of the victim later told police she pretended to know who the 
shooters were on social media in an attempt to help gather information on the 
homicide.

The 4 defendants charged with first degree murder could face the death 
penalty-as the murder charges have a special circumstance of participating in a 
criminal street gang.

(source: kerngoldenempire.com)








USA:

Fell death penalty case back in court; 3-day hearing set this week



The judge in the federal death penalty case against Donald Fell has set a 3-day 
hearing this week to hear from lawyers about the reliability of statements from 
a deceased co-defendant who was labeled mentally ill and too impaired the night 
of their crime spree to remember what happened.

The government wants to use statements made to police by Robert Lee shortly 
after he and Fell were arrested that Fell was the ringleader and Lee a follower 
in the sentencing phase of Fell???s trial. Defense lawyers argue that shouldn't 
be permitted.

"Indeed, the picture that emerges of Lee is that he was so impaired that no 
rational person would place any stock in his ability to accurately and reliably 
perceive, recollect and recount that which is observed."

The defense also raised the Fifth Amendment right for a defendant to 
cross-examine witnesses, noting that can't happen with Lee, who died in prison 
while awaiting trial in 2001.

The hearing is set to take place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in federal 
court in Rutland before U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford.

Fell, 37, faces the death penalty for his alleged role in the November 2000 
carjacking and slaying of Teresca King, 53, of North Clarendon.

He had been sentenced to death following his conviction at a trial more than a 
decade ago. However, after Fell spent several years on federal death row in a 
Terra Haute, Indiana, prison, a Vermont judge threw out his conviction and 
sentence after revelations of juror misconduct.

As the case headed to a retrial, prosecutors this summer appealed a ruling by 
Crawford that barred Lee's statements from entering the sentencing phase of 
Fell's trial, if he is convicted again.

The federal appeals court recently sent the case back to Vermont for a further 
hearing and a ruling by Crawford on the "reliability" of Lee's statement.

"Because the district court in its initial ruling did not determine the 
reliability of each of the statements the government seeks to introduce at the 
sentence selection phase of the trial ... we find the current record 
insufficient for resolving the issue on appeal," the appeals court's order 
stated.

Fell's attorneys have argued in court filings that Lee's statement are 
"unreliable" based on several factors, including that Lee "had multiple mental 
disorders which predisposed him to a life of lying and acting violently all by 
himself, without any help from Fell."

Federal prosecutors say both physical evidence and witness testimony bolster 
the reliability of Lee's statements. "Lee's statements are closely corroborated 
by Fell's statements," prosecutors wrote in a filing.

Fell's attorney have submitted a list of more than a dozen witnesses they may 
call over the course of the hearing this week, including several law 
enforcement officers who interviewed Lee after his arrest.

The appeals court has asked Crawford to determine if the statements that 
prosecutors are seeking to use violate either the Federal Death Penalty Act or 
Fell's Fifth Amendment due process rights.

Neither Assistant U.S. Attorney William Darrow, a prosecutor in the case, nor 
Michael Burt, an attorney based in San Francisco who is representing Fell, 
could immediately be reached Tuesday for comment.

Fell and Lee, according to court records, were allegedly fleeing the slayings 
of Fell's mother, Debra Fell, and her friend Charles Conway in Rutland when 
they carjacked King in a downtown supermarket's parking lot in November 2000. 
King had just arrived in the parking lot as she was heading to work early that 
morning in the store's bakery.

Vermont doesn't have the death penalty. However, because King was beaten and 
killed in New York state after her abduction in Rutland, federal prosecutors 
took jurisdiction of the case and are seeking the death penalty for Fell.

A retrial for Fell had been set for last February. However, it was delayed when 
Fell's attorneys asked for more time to prepare.

A new trial date set for last September was then set and jury selection got 
underway, but Crawford ruled to exclude the statements from Lee, prompting 
prosecutors to appeal.

It's not clear when a new trial would take place.

Lee, who also faced federal capital charges, died in prison in 2001 before he 
could be tried.

(source: vtdigger.org)