[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C., OHIO, TENN., WASH.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 22



PENNSYLVANIA:

Accused family killer's death-penalty trial is Fulton, Franklin counties' 1st 
in 20 years



For the 1st time in almost 20 years, a death-penalty case is going to trial in 
Pennsylvania's 39th judicial district, this time out of Fulton County.

Anthony Lyn Hollenshead, 36, will be tried on 2 counts of criminal homicide 
starting Monday. Fulton County District Attorney Travis Kendall filed notice of 
"aggravating circumstances" in July 2015, making the case a death-penalty case.

Pennsylvania's 39th District, which includes Franklin and Fulton counties, has 
only seen 2 death-penalty cases in the last 25 years. Both came out of Franklin 
County, for homicides committed in the 1990s.

Hollenshead is accused of fatally shooting his wife and daughter, Laura 
Hollenshead and Jaedi Weed, respectively, with a 20-gauge shotgun at around 
midnight May 5, 2015, according to police.

Both women were found in front of their home in the 1200 block of Great Cove 
Road, in Big Cove Tannery.

During Hollenshead's preliminary hearing, troopers testified to the scene they 
found upon being called to the home. 2 girls, related but not identified by 
police, were home during the shooting.

Hollenshead allegedly admitted to police to shooting his wife and daughter, 
saying it happened after an argument, according to court documents.

Hollenshead was not at the home when police arrived, having fled, but later 
peacefully surrendered, according to police.

Read: Franklin County's drop in overdoses in 2017 is progress, but not 
'success'

Hollenshead was being held at Bedford County Jail while awaiting trial, 
according to online court records. He was denied bail after being charged with 
1st-degree homicide.

The only other cases that involved the death penalty in the district in the 
last 10 years were for Jeffrey Miles, Kevin Cleeves and Carl Varner. In each 
case, the death penalty was taken off the table before the cases went to trial.

Cleeves took a plea to first-degree murder in the 2012 deaths of his estranged 
wife, her boyfriend and the boyfriend's mother, to avoid the death penalty. 
Miles and Varner had the notice of aggravating circumstances withdrawn before 
their cases went to trial, but were both convicted of murder and are serving 
life sentences. Miles was convicted in 2013 and 2014, respectively, of the 
murders years earlier of Kristy Dawn Hoke and Angie Daley, while Varner was 
convicted with Jason Shauf in the 2012 death of Victor Hugo Campos-Olguin.

Fulton County currently has no inmates on death row, according to a report from 
the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf ordered a "moratorium" on death-penalty cases in 
2015, declaring that the system was flawed and needed to be addressed before 
death sentences could be carried out.

No cases in the 39th district, aside from Hollenshead, have been filed as 
death-penalty cases since the moratorium.

(source: publicopiniononline.com)








NORTH CAROLINA:

Death penalty or life? Sentencing phase begins in Donovan Richardson trial



The sentencing phase for the trial of Donovan Richardson, a man convicted 
Friday of 1st-degree murder in the deaths of 2 Fuquay-Varina seniors in 2014, 
is set to begin Monday.

Court will begin at the Wake County Justice Center at 9:30 a.m., and the 
arguments will be streamed live on WRAL.com.

A Wake County jury on Friday found Richardson guilty of murdering Arthur Lee 
Brown, 78, and David Eugene McKoy, 66, on July 19, 2014 at their home on Howard 
Road.

The sentencing phase of the trial will determine whether Richardson will face 
the death penalty or life in prison.

Richardson is 1 of 3 men accused in the crime.

Gregory Crawford pleaded guilty in May 2016 to charges of 1st-degree murder, 
robbery with a dangerous weapon and burglary in connection with the slayings. 
He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Kevin Britt was charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, robbery with a 
dangerous weapon and burglary. He has not been sentenced yet, but he did plead 
guilty to being an accessory to murder. He also testified against Richardson 
during his trial.

Jurors found Richardson guilty on all counts, which included 2 charges of 
1st-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and burglary.

Wake County has tried and failed to get the death penalty in 8 cases since 
2007, causing district attorneys to question its effectiveness, as fewer jurors 
are willing to give it.

The last person sentenced to death in Wake County was Byron Waring in 2007, who 
was convicted of 1st-degree murder for fatally stabbing Lauren Redman on Nov. 
8, 2005. The last time a North Carolina convict was put to death was in 2006.

There are currently 143 people on death row in North Carolina -- 140 men and 3 
women.

(source: WRAL news)








OHIO:

Death Penalty Documentary Includes Troubling Ohio Executio



A new documentary on the death penalty includes the work a federal public 
defender did on an Ohio execution that lasted 26 minutes while the inmate 
repeatedly gasped and snorted.

"The Penalty" tells 3 capital punishment-related stories. They include that of 
a recently exonerated death row inmate and a homicide victim's family trying to 
negotiate the legal system.

A 3rd story examines the 2014 execution of Dennis McGuire using a never tried 
2-drug process that Ohio has since abandoned.

The film follows federal public defender Allen Bohnert during his unsuccessful 
fight to stop McGuire's execution.

Screenings are scheduled in several Ohio cities beginning Monday to include 
Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus.

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

Lawyers: Firing squad must be option for condemned killer



Attorneys for a condemned killer whose execution was stopped last year after 25 
minutes of unsuccessful needle sticks are once again recommending the firing 
squad as an alternative.

The execution could also proceed if the state adopts a closely regulated lethal 
injection process that includes a headpiece to monitor the brain activity of 
death row inmate Alva Campbell and medicine to revive him if the lethal drugs 
don't work, attorneys said in a court filing earlier this month.

Without these measures, Campbell's execution would involve "a sure or very 
likely risk of serious harm in the form of severe, needless physical pain and 
suffering," Campbell's federal public defenders said in the Jan. 4 filing.

Campbell, 59, was sentenced to die for fatally shooting an 18-year-old man in a 
1997 carjacking.

The state unsuccessfully tried to execute Campbell on Nov. 15 in the state 
death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

After the Ohio prisons director stopped the execution, Republican Gov. John 
Kasich issued a reprieve and rescheduled the execution for June 2019.

Prison officials said 3 examinations found usable veins in Campbell's arms the 
day of and the day before the execution. But executioners weren't able to 
establish successful IV lines when it came time to put Campbell to death.

As a result, using a firing squad for Campbell must be an option, his attorneys 
argue.

A firing squad wouldn't cause severe suffering, doesn't require drugs Campbell 
might be allergic to or the need to find a vein. It also doesn't require the 
involvement of a doctor, the attorneys said in a 533-page filing.

A firing squad "virtually eliminates the unconstitutional lingering death and 
other severe physical and mental pain and suffering" that Campbell might suffer 
by injection, the attorneys said.

The Ohio Attorney General's Office wants Campbell's request tossed out, saying 
it's "beyond the borders of common sense."

"It would seem indisputable that a firing squad produces greater observable 
effects on the inmate than lethal injection," Jocelyn Lowe, an assistant 
attorney general, said in a Thursday filing.

She also called the proposal a "non-starter" since a judge previously said the 
firing squad is not an execution method recognized under Ohio law.

At least 2 U.S. states allow the firing squad, including Utah and Oklahoma, 
which permits it if other methods aren't available.

Campbell's attorneys argue lethal injection is permissible as long as his heart 
rate, blood pressure and breathing are continually monitored and drugs and 
equipment to revive him are on hand.

They say Campbell's health problems pose additional risks for a successful 
lethal injection. Campbell uses a walker, relies on an external colostomy bag, 
requires four breathing treatments a day and may have lung cancer.

During the November execution attempt, executioners provided Campbell a 
wedge-shaped pillow to help him breathe while he was put to death.

The state isn't obliged to resuscitate an inmate who's been administered the 
state's 3-drug lethal injection system, the state replied.

"Providing medical or resuscitative care would directly contravene the 
court-ordered death sentence," Lowe said.

Ohio's next execution is Feb. 13, when Raymond Tibbets is scheduled to die for 
killing a man at his home in Cincinnati. Tibbetts also received life 
imprisonment for fatally beating and stabbing the man's wife during an argument 
that same day over Tibbetts' crack cocaine habit.

(source for both: Associated Press)








TENNESSEE:

Severely mentally ill should not face death penalty for crimes



As a former federal prosecutor in East Tennessee, a federal magistrate judge 
and a current criminal defense practitioner, over the past 50 years I have 
witnessed first-hand the evolution of mental health issues as they are 
recognized by and applied to the criminal justice system.

On 2 occasions, I was appointed by the court to represent individuals who were 
convicted of first-degree murder. The crimes were horrific. Both individuals 
had a severe mental illness yet neither person's mental state was adequately 
taken into account at the trial level, and the result in both instances was a 
sentence of death. When, as in these examples, the defendant's mental state was 
not discovered by the appellate courts and not adequately addressed until years 
spent on death row, the sentences were eventually reduced to life behind bars. 
That was the good news. The bad news: The cost to taxpayers in Tennessee was 
enormous, and ultimately neither received adequate mental health treatment.

Thankfully, the tide is shifting toward recognizing that individuals who have 
been diagnosed with severe mental illnesses should be exempt from capital 
punishment. Today we have a better understanding of mental illness and better 
tools to diagnose its effects on the individual. As a result, national mental 
health organizations are in support of this reform. These include the National 
Alliance on Mental Illness, Mental Health America, the American Psychological 
Association and the American Psychiatric Association.

Legislative progress is being made. As reported by the American Bar 
Association, in 2016 and 2017, 8 different states introduced bills that would 
prohibit the death penalty for people with severe mental illness. In the prior 
40 years, only 5 states considered such exemptions. Several other states are in 
the process of exploring this same reform.

In a recently published commentary, former Ohio Democratic Gov. Bob Taft and 
former Indiana Republican Gov. Joe Kernan stated their support for reform: "For 
the very small number who do commit a capital crime while suffering from a 
severe mental disorder, current death penalty law does not adequately take the 
effect of their illnesses into account. ...The death penalty was not intended 
for people in the throes of severe delusions, living with schizophrenia or 
suffering from combat-related PTSD. These are not the blameworthy individuals 
whose executions can be justified."

Senate Bill 378 and House Bill 345, sentencing legislation now pending in 
Tennessee, specifically defines the elements of "severe mental illness" and 
provides for a pre-trial hearing by the court. Therefore, if the defendant 
prior to trial is adjudged to have a severe mental illness and then at trial is 
found guilty of 1st-degree murder, that defendant will not face the death 
penalty, but rather either imprisonment for life or life without parole. These 
individuals will still face punishment for their offenses, just not the 
ultimate punishment of death.

As someone who has been a practitioner in the criminal justice system for more 
than half a century, I believe this legislation is needed to keep pace with our 
current knowledge of mental illness. As Taft and Kernan concluded, a severe 
mental health exemption "would put an end to a practice that is not consistent 
with current knowledge about mental illness and fundamental principles of human 
decency."

National polling in 2015 found that 66 % of likely U.S. voters supported such 
an exemption. I congratulate those in our Legislature that have proposed this 
legislation. It is simply the right and just thing to do.

Please join me in supporting SB 378 and HB 345 this coming legislative session.

(source: Guest Columnist; W. Thomas Dillard is a Knoxville native who served as 
a lead federal prosecutor for East Tennessee for 14 years, a federal magistrate 
judge, court-appointed U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Tennessee and 
the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida under President Ronald 
Reagan. A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Dillard has served 
on the Tennessee Supreme Court's Rules Commission and the Tennessee Bar 
Association's Professional Standards Committee. Dillard has received the 
Knoxville Bar Association's Governor's Award and the Barrister's Law and 
Liberty Award----knoxnews.com)



WASHINGTON:

King County Prosecutor Calls For Repeal Of Death Penalty



The prosecutor of Washington's most populous county is calling for the repeal 
of the death penalty. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg plans to testify 
Monday in favor of a proposal to replace capital punishment with life without 
the possibility of parole.

Satterberg has previously called for a statewide referendum on the death 
penalty, but that idea has not gained traction. So now he's urging lawmakers to 
pass a repeal measure this year.

"I've come to the conclusion that our criminal justice system would actually be 
stronger without the death penalty," Satterberg said.

Satterberg, a Republican, said as a prosecutor he's struggled to administer the 
death penalty and has come to believe it's unnecessary.

"It's unnecessary for public safety, it's not a deterrent and frankly we don't 
do it very well," he said.

Satterberg noted that most counties in Washington can't afford to prosecute a 
death penalty case. He also doesn't believe it serves victims well. Instead, 
Satterberg said mandatory life without the possibility of parole is the best 
answer in aggravated murder cases.

A bill going before the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Monday would 
eliminate capital punishment in Washington and require that anyone convicted of 
aggravated 1st degree murder be sentenced to life without parole. It was 
introduced by Republican state Sen. Maureen Walsh at the request of Democratic 
Attorney General Bob Ferguson and has several Democratic co-sponsors.

Walsh represents Walla Walla, where the state penitentiary is located. It 
houses death row and the state's execution chamber.

In recent years, death penalty repeal bills have gotten a hearing in Olympia, 
but not a vote. Washington's current death penalty law was enacted in 1981. 
Since then, 5 death row inmates have been executed. The last was Cal Coburn 
Brown in 2010. He stabbed and strangled 21-year-old Holly Washa in 1991 in King 
County. Satterberg attended that execution.

In 2014, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee imposed a moratorium on executions in 
Washington. In 2016, Inslee issued a reprieve to Clark Richard Elmore, who 
raped and murdered his girlfriend's 14-year old daughter, Kristy Lynn Ohnstad, 
in 1995.

Currently, there are 8 people on death row in Washington, including Byron 
Eugene Scherf, who was already serving a life without parole sentence when he 
strangled to death correctional officer Jayme Biendl at the Monroe Correctional 
Complex in 2011.

Satterberg acknowledged a case like Biendl's makes a "good" argument for 
keeping the death penalty.

There's also the case of Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, who confessed to 
dozens of murders in exchange for a life sentence instead of the death penalty. 
Satterberg was chief of staff to then-King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng who 
made that deal with Ridgway's attorneys.

"Yeah, that leverage might be gone if the death penalty is gone," Satterberg 
said. "But, again, that's a unique situation and I don't think it's one that is 
so compelling that we should keep this program."

County prosecutors in Washington have not taken a position as a group on the 
repeal of the death penalty. However, they have called on lawmakers to put the 
issue to voters - something that hasn't happened since 1975.

(source: KUOW news)