[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., N.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO

Wed Jan 24 08:33:52 CST 2018

Jan. 24

VIRGINIA:

Court hears death penalty appeal in police slaying

A federal appeals court has heard arguments in the case of a Virginia man 
sentenced to death for killing a police officer in 2005.

Thomas Porter was convicted of shooting Norfolk police Officer Stanley Reaves 3 
times in the head.

Porter testified he shot Reaves in self-defense because he feared for his life 
during an encounter with the officer. Prosecutors said Porter shot Reaves to 
avoid arrest.

Porter's lawyers say he was convicted and sentenced to death by a biased jury, 
citing a juror who failed to disclose that his brother was a deputy sheriff.

In arguments before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Jan. 23, Porter's 
lawyer said he is entitled to a hearing on his claim.

The state says there is no evidence the juror was biased.

(source: Associated Press)

NORTH CAROLINA:

Prosecutors: 'Not sympathy, not mercy, but justice' needed in double-murder 
sentence

Wake County prosecutors made an impassioned plea Tuesday that a double murderer 
deserves the death penalty because burglary and robbery for cash and guns were 
aggravating factors in the case.

"This case, I submit to you, is everyone's worst nightmare," Wake prosecutor 
Howard Cummings said. "You work hard. You raise your kids. You go home. You go 
to bed. You lock your house. You think your house is secure, but it's not. Is 
that enough? Is that not important enough?"

But defense attorney Richard Gammon countered that prosecutors were unable to 
present evidence showing that Donovan Jevonte Richardson was even in the 
Fuquay-Varina home when Arthur Lee Brown and David Eugene McKoy were shot and 
killed in summer 2014.

"He surely didn't kill Mr. McKoy," Gammon told jurors Tuesday in the sentencing 
phase of Richardson's trial. "I submit you had doubts that he was in the house 
and shot anyone."

Gammon also told the jury that if Richardson shot Brown, it was because he was 
under emotional duress after the shooting victim pointed a gun at him to ward 
off the home invaders.

"It's a tragic case," Gammon said, "but ladies and gentlemen, it's not a death 
penalty case."

Late Friday afternoon, the jury found Richardson, 24, guilty in the 1st-degree 
felony murders of Brown, a popular 74-year-old construction company owner, and 
McKoy, 66, Brown???s longtime friend and employee, during a nighttime burglary 
and robbery at Brown's Fuquay-Varina home.

North Carolina law defines a homicide as felony murder if it was committed in 
the act or attempted act of felony arson, rape, robbery, kidnapping, burglary 
or a felony committed with the use of a deadly weapon.

The jury also found Richardson guilty of 1st-degree burglary and conspiracy to 
commit burglary, along with 1st-degree robbery with a dangerous weapon and 
conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Under what is known as the felony-murder rule, Cummings and prosecutor Matt 
Lively were not required to prove that the shooting deaths of Brown and McKoy 
were premeditated or deliberate, but instead that Richardson, along with 2 
other men, intended to burglarize and rob Brown's home.

Prosecutors said Richardson and Gregory A. Crawford of Fuquay-Varina broke into 
the home in the early morning hours of July 18, 2014. Prosecutors think 
Richardson was armed with a .9 mm handgun when he shot and killed Brown. The 
homeowner tried to defend himself with a .38 revolver that he kept at his 
bedside. Prosecutors said Brown was struck by gunfire twice in the chest and 
once in the right hand. Crawford picked up the .38 revolver, went into a 2nd 
bedroom and shot McKoy between the eyes.

Crawford was sentenced to life in prison. A 3rd accomplice, Kevin Bernard 
Britt, waited outside in a vehicle for the burglars. Britt has not gone to 
trial but has been cooperating with the prosecution and could be sentenced to a 
minimum of 52 months in prison.

Gammon said Tuesday that Britt, who he called "an admitted liar," could be 
released from prison in about 17 months after spending about 3 1/2 years in 
jail awaiting trial.

On Tuesday, Cummings displayed an aerial view of the Howard Road neighborhood 
where Brown lived. He asked jurors to consider the impact the shootings had on 
the victims' families and the community.

"He was the man on the hill. The man that would give us jobs," Cummings said 
about Brown. "The pink top of that house was like a beacon."

McKoy, Cummings said, "was a simple man, who lived a simple life. He was not a 
Rhodes Scholar. Sometimes he would hitchhike to get to work or rode a bike. He 
worked hard everyday. He helped people. He loved his family. That is what 
importance is. That is what significance is."

Lively noted that the presence of Richardson's family may elicit mercy from the 
jury and prompt a sentence of life in prison. He said the case requires 
justice.

"Not sympathy, not mercy, but justice that speaks the truth," he said.

Joseph Zeszotarski, Gammon's co-counsel, pointed out that Richardson was 21 
when he was arrested.

"In youth, tragically, sometimes a person doesn't learn until it's too late," 
Zeszotarski said. "He's 24, looking at a life of literally a living hell. They 
call it life. It's not life. It's an existence."

Gammon agreed.

"Where's the mercy in that?" he asked the jurors.

The last time Wake County jurors imposed a death sentence was in 2007, when 
Bryan Lamar Waring was convicted for the 1st-degree murder of Lauren Redman, 
22, of Knightdale.

Redman's body was riddled with dozens of stab wounds on Nov. 8, 2005, after 
Waring showed up at her West Raleigh apartment to collect money he said she 
owed for drugs She died in a breezeway after being raped and stabbed.

Richardson's trial marks the 9th death-penalty case in Wake County since 2008. 
The previous 8 cases all ended in sentences of life without parole.

(source: newsobserver.com)

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

Jurors deliberating punishment in Donovan Richardson death penalty trial

After hearing closing arguments to decide if Donovan Richardson should be 
executed or spend the rest of his life in prison for a double murder in 2014, 
jurors were given the case shortly before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to begin their 
deliberations.

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. Richardson is 1 of 3 men accused in the crime. On Monday, prosecutors 
presented witnesses to testify how the murders shocked the neighborhood, while 
the defense put Richardson's sister-in-law on trial. She told the jury about 
Richardson's difficult upbringing.

But prosecutors argued Tuesday that Richardson deserves the death penalty.

"Arthur Brown was shot in his own bed, and he was hit twice in the heart," 
prosecutor Matt Lively said.

"This case I submit to you is everyone's worst nightmare," prosecutor Howard 
Cummings said. "You will be deciding as 12 jurors from this county what the 
conscience of this community is."

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.

Defense attorneys pointed out despite Richardson's conviction under the felony 
murder rule, another co-defendant, Greg Crawford, actually shot Brown's 
roommate, David McKoy.

"We know that Donovan Richardson did not shoot David McKoy, period," said 
defense attorney Rick Gammon. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is simply not a death 
penalty case. The state has not met its burden."

(source: WRAL news)

FLORIDA:

Florida DA seeks death penalty in Tampa serial killings

Florida prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for a 24-year-old man 
they say is responsible for randomly killing 4 people in a Tampa neighborhood 
will face the death penalty, according to news reports.

Howell Emanuel Donaldson III was charged with 1st-degree murder in the deaths 
of Benjamin Mitchell, 22; Monica Hoffa, 32; Anthony Naiboa, 20; and Ronald 
Felton, 60.

"The death penalty is for the worst of the worst, crimes that are far more 
egregious than the typical murder, and that's what we have here," Hillsborough 
State Attorney Andrew Warren said at a 10:30 a.m. news conference Tuesday, 
according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The 4 victims were shot dead in October and November, sparking a manhunt in the 
Seminole Heights neighborhood.

Donaldson was arrested Nov. 28 after he handed a coworker at McDonald's a bag 
with a pistol inside. The coworker then alerted police, who made the arrest.

The Tampa Police Department said that evidence later taken from the handgun 
connects it to all four murders, the Times reported.

During the news conference, Warren said that his office decided to pursue the 
death penalty due to several factors. He said that Donaldson killed 4 innocent 
people in a "cold, calculated and premeditated manner" and that there is no 
evidence showing he is mentally ill.

The defendant's parents, Rosita and Howell Donaldson Jr., face civil contempt 
charges because of their refusal to answer prosecutors' questions about their 
son, the Times reported.

(source: Palm Beach Post)

ALABAMA----impending execution

Alabama seeking approval for execution

Alabama death row inmate Vernon Madison's case was put before the U.S. Supreme 
Court Monday to get permission for Alabama to proceed with executing Madison.

However, his lawyers say Madison, 67, suffered strokes and dementia that leave 
him unable to remember killing a police officer decades ago and are asking for 
a stay of execution.

The Alabama attorney general's office asked the Supreme Court justices to 
reject Madison's request for a stay of his lethal injection scheduled for 
Thursday.

(source: Yellowhammer news)

OHIO----impending execution

Urgent Action: Ohio Prepares for Its First Execution of 2018 (USA: UA 13.18)

Raymond Tibbetts, aged 60, is due to be executed in Ohio on 13 February. His 
lawyers are urging the Governor to take account of mitigating evidence they say 
the clemency board failed to give proper weight to, and about which the jury 
was not fully informed.

TAKE ACTION

Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet:

Calling on Governor Kasich to stop the execution of Raymond Tibbetts and 
commute his death sentence;

Urging him to take full account of his appalling childhood, including details 
not heard by the trial jury, and of the high mitigating impact of this 
upbringing recognized by experts, a federal judge and a parole board member;

Explaining that you are not seeking to minimize the seriousness of the crimes 
or suffering caused

Contact below official by 13 February, 2018:

Governor John Kasich

Riffe Center, 30th Floor

77 South High Street

Columbus, OH 43215-6117

USA

Fax: +1 614 466 9354

Email (via website): 
http://www.governor.ohio.gov/Contact/ContacttheGovernor.aspx

Twitter: @JohnKasich

Salutation: Dear Governor

(source: Amnesty International USA)

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

Death Row Inmate Argues Ohio's Death Penalty Remains Unconstitutional

A convicted killer is claiming that since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down 
Florida???s capital punishment sentencing law in 2016, Ohio's death penalty law 
is now unconstitutional.

He claims the ruling that a jury must sentence a defendant to death makes 
Ohio's 2-part sentencing process illegal.

Maurice Mason was convicted of raping and killing Robin Dennis in Marion in 
1993. His attorney Kort Gatterdam told the Ohio Supreme Court that because 
juries recommend death sentences but judges then review and impose them, that 
makes Ohio's law unconstitutional.

"It's not simply saying that there can be no death penalty in Ohio. It's saying 
that the jury has to make the decision, and there has to be a rewrite of the 
statute."

But Marion County Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Collins said, while judges review 
jury recommendations, they can only lessen the penalty not increase it. He says 
that protects the offender.

"It's just, it's proper, and it is constitutional."

Mason's death sentence was overturned by a federal court; he's now challenging 
a new sentencing hearing.

(source: WKSU news)