[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., OKLA., NEB., COLO., IDAHO, NEV.

[Rick Halperin]

July 7



KENTUCKY:

Kentucky Lawmakers Mull Changes To Death Penalty



Death penalty supporters and opponents both say that Kentucky's capital 
punishment system is too expensive, lengthy and in need of reform.

Kentucky has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 2010, but state 
prosecutors still pursue capital punishment in more than 50 cases every year.

During a legislative hearing on Friday, Louisville Republican Rep. Jason Nemes 
said that the death penalty needs to be sought only in the most extreme 
circumstances.

"We have human frailties and pressures: we elect our prosecutors, we elect our 
judges. That provides pressure to people," Nemes said.

"And sometimes that's not a good thing, especially when we're dealing with the 
mechanics of death."

There are 32 men and 1 woman on death row in Kentucky right now - 9 of the 
inmates were sentenced more than 30 years ago but have pursued lengthy appeals.

And all of those court costs add up. According to the Kentucky Department of 
Public Advocacy, death penalty prosecution, defense and court proceedings add 
up to about $10 million each year.

Damon Preston, Kentucky???s chief public advocate, says that pursuing the death 
penalty is inefficient because of how complicated the cases are and how rarely 
juries come back recommending the death penalty.

"They do have a mentality that this is for the worst of the worst, and Kentucky 
juries by and large are not returning death penalty verdicts," Preston said.

"When a person's life is on the line, courts look at that very carefully and 
that's why we have convictions reversed even if the person is otherwise guilty, 
they're entitled to a fair process."

Kentucky has put 3 people to death since the reinstatement of the death penalty 
in 1976.

The state's last execution was in 2008, when Marco Allen Chapman was put to 
death by lethal injection for stabbing and raping a woman and killing her 2 
children in Gallatin County in 2002.

Rep. John Blanton, a Republican from Salyersville, said that the state needs to 
find a way to speed up the appellate process to provide victims with closure.

"The problem is not the death sentence, the problem is the length of time we 
allow these people to look for everything under the sun, to nitpick and dot 
every "I" and cross every "t" to find something that allows them to get out of 
the death sentence for something that they did," Blanton said.

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd issued an injunction on Kentucky's 
death penalty in 2010 over concerns about whether lethal injection causes pain 
or suffering that would violate the state constitution.

Last month, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for 
the state to use an IQ test to determine if death row inmates are mentally 
competent, saying courts have to assess whether defendants are able to learn 
basic skills or adjust their behavior in order to sentenced them to death.

About 2/3 of Kentuckians support capital punishment, according to a Bluegrass 
Poll from 2013.

(source: WFPL news)

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

State looking at death penalty protocols



Kentucky has executed 163 people since 1910 but only one since 2008 and only 
three since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in 1976.

Currently there are 31 people - including 1 woman - on death row in Kentucky. 
On average, a person condemned to die in Kentucky spends more than 24 years on 
death row.

Department of Justice officials are re-writing regulations and protocols 
governing executions in the state in the wake of a court injunction which found 
existing protocols insufficient, according to Andrew English, General Counsel 
for the Justice Cabinet.

Courts have also recently ruled the state can no longer rely on a strict line 
of an I.Q. of 70 to determine whether the condemned are mentally capable of 
understanding the process.

English told the Interim Joint Judiciary Committee Friday the new regulations 
will address increased access to counsel for the condemned, moving from a 
2-drug protocol for administering the death penalty, and new guidelines to 
assess the mental capacity of the condemned prisoners.

"I feel confident the new regulations address the (courts') concerns," English 
said.

But the courts aren't the only ones concerned about the effectiveness, morality 
and efficiency of the death penalty. That was clear from lawmakers' questions 
and from testimony of others at Friday's committee meeting.

"We are not imposing it in fair and timely manner," said Sen. Ray Jones, 
D-Pikeville, who said while he has conflicts about the death penalty, he 
generally supports it for especially heinous crimes.

Chase Law School Professor Michael Mannheimer reviewed for the committee 
findings of an American Bar Association study of the death penalty in Kentucky 
which found a "high error rate in Kentucky" where 50 of 78 prisoners sentenced 
to death since 1976 had their convictions overturned because of trial error - a 
rate of 60 %.

Other findings by the ABA: Kentucky law also does not require the preservation 
of biological or DNA evidence through the actual execution of condemned 
prisoners; it does not require the recording of entire suspect interrogations; 
and a survey of jurors in capital cases found jurors often don???t understand 
jury instructions.

Mannheimer said the study also discovered that 10 of the 78 sentenced to death 
were represented by attorneys who were later disbarred.

In answer to those who say imprisoning violent offenders for life is more 
expensive than the death penalty, Kentucky's chief public advocate Damon 
Preston told lawmakers that most of the cost of capital cases occurs at the 
front end, at trial rather than on appeal or on death row.

But Commonwealth Attorneys Chris Cohron of Warren County and Brian Wright of 
Adair and Casey counties said prosecutors don't seek the death penalty 
capriciously.

Wright said prosecutors weigh the nature of the crime and the defendant's prior 
criminal record as well as input from law enforcement agencies.

"Ultimately, the decision falls on the judge after a jury of 12 people convicts 
the person of a crime and then 12 jurors find the death penalty is 
appropriate," Wright said.

Cohron said some crimes are so horrific they call for the death penalty, 
describing a case he prosecuted where a woman kidnapped a pregnant woman, 
killed her and removed the baby by performing a rudimentary C-section.

But even the lawmakers are divided on the issue - and not along party lines.

Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, a retired Kentucky State Police officer, 
said he remains a proponent of the death penalty and asked who advocates for 
the victims killed by perpetrators.

His Republican House colleague, Jason Nemes of Louisville and an attorney 
opposes the death penalty.

"Kentucky should get out of the business of killing its people - period," Nemes 
said. "We should end the death penalty and it can't come soon enough."

(source: Richmond Register)








OKLAHOMA:

ABC's "The Last Defense" examines Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones' case 
July 10, 17 & 24



The ABC documentary series, "The Last Defense," executive produced by Academy 
award winning actress Viola Davis, will air the 3 final episodes beginning 
Tuesday, July 10 at 9 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST). These episodes, 
directed by Amani Martin and produced by Gemma Jordan, focus on Oklahoma death 
row inmate Julius Jones.

The program premiered on ABC in June with an in-depth look at the case of 
Darlie Routier on Texas' death row.

Co-executive producers Davis and her husband Julius Tennon founded JuVee 
Productions in order to "give a voice to the voiceless through strong, 
impactful and culturally relevant narratives." The couple have partnered with 
XCON Productions and Lincoln Square Productions for this project.

According to Davis, the 7-part docu-series spotlights serious flaws in the 
American justice system - and in particular the high rate of exonerated death 
row inmates.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty states that since 1973, 156 
individuals have been exonerated from death row in the U.S. Ten of those are 
from Oklahoma.

Airing Tuesday, July 10, "JULIUS JONES: The Crime" will examine how in 1999, 
Jones, an African American 19-year-old former high school basketball state 
champion and star football player, was arrested days after a businessman was 
shot to death in Edmond, Oklahoma. At the time of the murder, Julius was a 
student at the University of Oklahoma on a partial academic scholarship, hoping 
to make the basketball team.

19 years later, this episode will feature Tommy Griffin, father of NBA 
superstar Blake Griffin, who coached Julius; along with interviews from Julius 
on death row who tells his version of events as federal public defenders Dale 
Baich and Amanda Bass retrace the steps that led to what they claim is a 
miscarriage of justice.

Vanessa Potkin of Lincoln Square Productions and attorney at the Innocence 
Project said, "We know through the exonerations cases that many types of 
evidence that are used in courts today to send people to death row, are 
unreliable."

"When you're facing an execution, and that execution is carried out, and we 
later find out that you're innocent... there's no undoing that wrongful 
conviction," Potkin added.

The world premiere of The Last Defense was held at the 2018 Tribeca Film 
Festival in New York City on April 27. The screening was followed by a panel 
discussion with executive producers Davis, Tennon, Christine Connor of XCON 
Productions, and Jones??? attorney Dale Baich.

"Participating on the panel was an opportunity to continue to talk about Julius 
and his wrongful conviction," Baich said. "The 1st hour of the Julius Jones 
story in the docu-series takes a look at Julius's background, the crime, and 
how Julius became a suspect and how he was taken into custody."

In Jones' case, his current attorneys believe that race and the juror's 
pre-conceived notions of him, were leading factors in the result of his trial.

"On April 25, 2017, the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission issued a 
report that detailed the numerous systemic flaws within Oklahoma's system of 
capital punishment," Amanda Bass, assistant federal public defender working on 
the Jones legal team, said in a statement sent to The City Sentinel:

"Appended to the report was a novel study about racially disparate capital 
sentencing outcomes in Oklahoma. This new study demonstrates the troubling fact 
that Julius was among those who, between 1990 and 2012, were statistically more 
likely to be sentenced to death in Oklahoma based on the race of their alleged 
victim alone," said Bass. "In this way, Julius's death sentence is unlawful 
under the Oklahoma and federal constitutions."

As reported by The City Sentinel, the referenced new study (now published in 
the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology - "Race and Death Sentencing for 
Oklahoma Homicides Committed Between 1990 and 2012") - documents patterns and 
practices in state death penalty cases that violate federal judicial 
precedents, specifically binding on lower courts, regarding constitutionally 
impermissible impact on black defendants.

Authors of the study are Michael L. Radelet (University of Colorado-Boulder), 
Susan Sharp (University of Oklahoma), and Glenn Pierce (Northeastern 
University).

Based on this report, Jones asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) 
on September 22, 2017 to consider whether or not his death sentence violated 
his rights under the Oklahoma and federal constitutions. However, that appeal 
was denied.

"The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals refused his request on the basis of a 
procedural technicality - yet another example of how that court puts form over 
substance even in cases where a human life hangs in the balance," Bass said. 
"Mr. Jones is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision and to 
direct the OCCA to give his constitutional claims full and fair consideration 
before sanctioning his execution."

In a supplement to a September 22, 2017 filing for Jones, one author of the 
study emphasized the information is both new (previously unavailable) and 
relevant to the Jones case. These points have been made anew in the writ of 
certiorari filing at the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to Baich, after rescheduling the Jones case for consideration 
fourteen times, the Supreme Court has carried it over for decision until the 
fall, at or around the time of the start of a new Supreme Court term.

"The 2nd and 3rd hours will explore police and prosecutorial misconduct in the 
case, racism in the criminal justice system, as well as during Julius's 
criminal proceedings, and raises serious questions about whether Julius was 
wrongfully convicted," Baich added.

In "JULIUS JONES: The Trial" (airing July 17) the State calls a witness, 
Christopher Jordan, who testifies he was there when Julius pulled the trigger. 
Julius and his family watched as his defense takes this last opportunity to 
save him, but there are missed opportunities to hear Julius' side of the story, 
and a critical piece of evidence is never shown to the jury.

As the clock is ticking for Julius, 2 witnesses have come forward in his favor 
since the conviction, and he now holds out hope thanks to his current lawyers.

Davis said 'The Last Defense' hopes to shine a light on these case 
discrepancies for viewers and potential jurors. "It's not a new light. It's 
just a light," said Davis. "A light where things have always been eschewed, 
it's just when we choose to see it."

Executive producer Aida Leisenring of Lincoln Square Productions said, "The 
more we're able to educate them about the DNA evidence and about informant 
testimony and how it has its flaws, the more their ears will perk up when they' 
re listening to those kinds of witnesses. And so, we hope to help on a mass 
level, as opposed to 1 person at a time"

In the final episode (July 24), "JULIUS JONES: The Fight" will show that as 
Jones presently waits on death row at the top of the state of Oklahoma's list 
of impending executions, his attorneys Bass and Baich are in a race to win a 
new trial as new evidence comes to light.

:After learning about Julius Jones' story on 'The Last Defense' and hearing 
directly from him, we are confident that when viewers see the final episode of 
his case, they will be shocked by the new information we have uncovered; 
information that his lawyers believe could ultimately compel the courts to 
revisit his case," said Executive Producer Gemma Jordan.

The 1st 4 episodes of "The Last Defense" examined the case of Darlie Routier, 
who has been on death row in Texas for over 20 years for the 1996 murder of her 
2 young sons, a crime she insists she did not commit. Forensic experts have 
disputed the results of the state's case.

The segments showed how Routier was discredited to the jury by the prosecution 
based on her appearance and misrepresented her behavior as opposed to 
presenting solid evidence.

Both Jones and Routier have always maintained their innocence.

Potkin said she hopes that after watching the segments viewers will "understand 
that just because you're convicted does not mean that you're guilty."

(source: The City Sentinel)








NEBRASKA----impending execution

Death penalty opponents voice concerns after execution date set for 
killer----"So many legal questions"



Opponents of the death penalty fear the next month will become a "media circus" 
as the state prepares for its first execution in over 2 decades.

On Thursday, the Nebraska Supreme Court set Aug. 14 as the execution date for 
condemned killer Carey Dean Moore, the longest-serving inmate on death row.

"What we're going to see here over the next six weeks, is a circus," Matt Maly, 
of Nebraskans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said.

Maly is concerned about how the state is moving forward with its 1st execution 
in 21 years and the 1st using lethal injection.

"There are so many legal questions surrounding this experimentation with drugs 
that have never been used before, and there is so much secrecy. They still 
haven't said where they got them (the drugs) from. We don't know what's going 
to happen. I think that's totally irresponsible," Maly said.

He believes the state is trying to have an execution before some of the 4 drugs 
that will be used in the execution expire.

"They are clearly rushing through to get it done," Maly said.

But in a statement, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said, ???Carey Dean 
Moore's death sentences have been final for 21 years. All subsequent court 
challenges have been exhausted. No stays of execution have been issued by any 
federal court. The Department of Correctional Services is prepared to carry out 
the court's order."

Moore, 60, was convicted in the 1979 deaths of Omaha cab drivers Maynard 
Helgeland and Reuel Van Ness.

He was sentenced to death in 1980.

Moore currently has no legal challenges pending.

A spokesperson for Gov. Pete Ricketts said, "The announcement by the Supreme 
Court is another step towards carrying out the sentences ordered by the court."

Maly is also concerned about what the scene will be like outside the 
Penitentiary during the execution.

Corrections officials have not indicated what time the execution will take 
place, but the state's last execution, in 1997 of Robert Williams, was carried 
out in midmorning to avoid partylike scenes that occurred during previous 
executions.

"People yelling at each other, some people cheering and some people quietly 
praying. It's sure to be quite a mess," Maly said.

On Friday, Nebraska Catholic Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Bishop James 
D. Conley of Lincoln, and Bishop Joseph G. Hanefeldt of Grand Island, issued a 
statement opposing the execution.

It said Nebraska has the opportunity to respond to an act of violence with an 
act of mercy.

"There is no doubt the state has the responsibility to administer just 
punishment. However, given our modern prison system, the execution of Carey 
Dean Moore is not necessary to fulfill justice and, for that reason, would 
undermine respect for human life," the statement said.

(source: KETV news)

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

Scheduled execution in Nebraska 'would undermine respect for human life'



Nebraska's bishops on Friday issued a statement opposing the execution of Carey 
Dean Moore, whose execution date has been set for Aug. 14.

"Our society has a pervasive culture of violence and death which can only be 
transformed by a counter-culture of justice and mercy," read a July 6 statement 
issued by Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, and 
Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt of Grand Island.

"Each time we consider applying capital punishment, Nebraska has an opportunity 
to respond to an act of violence with an act of mercy that does not endanger 
public safety or compromise the demands of justice."

"There is no doubt the state has the responsibility to administer just 
punishment," the bishops wrote. "However, given our modern prison system, the 
execution of Carey Dean Moore is not necessary to fulfill justice and, for that 
reason, would undermine respect for human life."

The bishops said that "We continue to offer our sincerest prayers for all 
victims and those affected by the heinous crimes of Mr. Moore, and we pray for 
his conversion of heart."

Nebraska has not executed a prisoner in 21 years, and capital punishment has 
been a contentious issue in the state's legislature in recent years.

Moore's execution date was set July 5 by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Moore, 60, 
has been on death row 38 years, the longest of the state's 12 death row 
inmates. He was sentenced for the 1979 murders of 2 cab drivers, Reuel Van 
Ness, Jr. and Maynard Helgeland.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Moore will be executed by injection of 
diazepam, fentanyl citrate, cisatracurium besylate, and potassium chloride. 
Moore's execution would be the 1st lethal injection in Nebraska; most recently, 
the state utilized the electric chair.

Nebraska's store of potassium chloride is due to expire at the end of August.

A district judge ruled in June that the state had to release records of its 
communications with the supplier of its lethal injection drugs, but the 
decision was appealed and there records remain private.

Moore has chosen not to appeal his execution.

Capital punishment was abolished by Nebraska's unicameral legislature in 2015, 
overriding a veto by Gov. Pete Ricketts. But state voters reinstated the 
practice 2016 in a ballot measure by a vote of about 61 %.

"We express our disappointment that the death penalty will be reinstated in 
Nebraska," Nebraska's 3 bishops said in a joint statement Nov. 9, 2016. "We 
will continue to call for the repeal of the death penalty when it is not 
absolutely necessary to protect the public safety."

********

Judge says attorneys for death-row inmate Lotter raised IQ issue too late



A district judge has rejected the latest challenge by death-row inmate John 
Lotter's attorneys who claimed that it would be unconstitutional to execute him 
because he functions intellectually as a child.

In an order Thursday, Richardson County District Judge Vicky Johnson said the 
claim is "time barred" because it was raised too late.

She also turned down an argument that Lotter's death sentence was changed to a 
life sentence by state lawmakers when they voted to abolish the death penalty 
in 2015.

5 days before the law was to have taken effect, Nebraskans for the Death 
Penalty turned in enough signatures to put it to a vote of the people.

Voters rejected the repeal in November 2016.

"The question then becomes, what is the status of Lotter's death sentences?" 
Johnson wrote in her order.

She found that, because the referendum petition was filed before LB268 was to 
have taken effect, LB268 did not change Lotter's death sentence.

As for the IQ issue, Johnson said the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized for 
more than 15 years that it is cruel and unusual punishment to execute an 
intellectually disabled person.

And, while Nebraska lawmakers enacted a statute barring it in 2013, the state's 
post-conviction act is limited to constitutional, not statutory, claims that 
would make a sentence void or voidable, she said.

Lotter, 47, has maintained his innocence in the Dec. 31, 1993, triple murder at 
a Humboldt farmhouse that inspired the 1999 movie "Boys Don't Cry."

A jury convicted him of 3 counts of 1st-degree murder. He's spent the past 22 
years on death row.

In a 60-page motion filed in March, Rebecca Woodman of the Death Penalty 
Litigation Clinic in Kansas City, Missouri, and 2 other attorneys representing 
Lotter raised numerous arguments, the newest among them that Lotter is 
ineligible for the death penalty given recent IQ testing.

The attorneys cited a landmark 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision forbidding the 
execution of people with intellectual disabilities.

In Nebraska, by law, an IQ of 70 or below is presumptive evidence of an 
intellectual disability.

Lotter's attorneys requested a hearing to present evidence from a clinical and 
forensic neuropsychologist from Encinitas, California, who evaluated Lotter 
last year and said he scored a 67 for general intellectual ability on the 
Woodcock-Johnson test, the equivalent IQ of an average 8-year-old.

Johnson denied the motion.

Defense attorneys are expected to appeal.

Lotter was sentenced to death for his role in the 1993 killings of Brandon 
Teena and 2 witnesses, Lisa Lambert and Philip DeVine. Thomas Nissen is serving 
life sentences for the part he played in the crime.

Nebraska's death row inmates

Jose Sandoval was convicted with Jorge Galindo and Erick Vela of shooting and 
killing Lisa Bryant, Lola Elwood, Samuel Sun, Jo Mausbach and Evonne Tuttle in 
a botched attempted bank robbery in Norfolk in 2002.

Patrick Schroeder was convicted of strangling his cellmate, Terry Berry, at 
Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in April 2017. At the time, Schroeder 
was serving a life sentence for beating Pawnee City farmer Kenny Albers to 
death and dumping his body in a well in 2006.

Nikko Jenkins was sentenced to Nebraska's death row on May 30, 2017, for 
committing four murders.

Carey Dean Moore arrived on death row June 20, 1980. Moore killed 2 Omaha cab 
drivers 5 days apart, Reuel Van Ness Jr. and Maynard Helgeland. Van Ness was 
shot during a robbery, with Moore's younger brother along, and Helgeland was 
shot 3 times, Moore has said, just to prove he could take a man's life all by 
himself.

John Lotter is on Nebraska's death row in Tecumseh. Lotter and Marvin Nissen 
were convicted of killing Teena Brandon, 21, of Lincoln, a transgender male who 
went by Brandon. They also killed Lisa Lambert, 24, and Phillip DeVine, 22, who 
lived in the same house as Brandon and witnessed the killing. Lotter has 
maintained his innocence.

Raymond Mata was convicted of killing and dismembering 3-year-old Adam Gomez, 
his former girlfriend's son, in 1999. Prosecutors said Mata fed parts of the 
boy's body to a dog, and kept some of his remains in the home to intimidate the 
boy's mother.

Arthur Gales was convicted of attempted murder in the severe beating of Judy 
Chandler and of raping and murdering Chandler's 13-year-old daughter, Latara, 
and killing her 7-year-old son, Tramar.

Jorge Galindo was convicted of shooting and killing Lisa Bryant, Lola Elwood, 
Samuel Sun, Jo Mausbach and Evonne Tuttle in a botched attempted bank robbery.

Erick Fernando Vela was convicted with Jorge Galindo and Jose Sandoval of 
shooting and killing Lisa Bryant, Lola Elwood, Samuel Sun, Jo Mausbach and 
Evonne Tuttle in a botched attempted bank robbery.

Marco Torres tortured and killed Edward Hall, 60, binding him with an 
electrical cord, gagging him with a bathrobe belt and shooting him 3 times. He 
then shot and killed Timothy Donohue, 48, who lived in a room upstairs in 
Hall's home.

(source: Lincoln Journal Star)








COLORADO:

Prosecutors seeking death penalty in gang-related killings of Coronado High 
students



El Paso County prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against the alleged 
shooters in the gang-related killings of two Coronado High School students.

The 4th Judicial District Attorney???s Office filed the required notices Friday 
in the 1st-degree murder cases against Diego Carlos Chacon, 20, and Marco 
Garcia-Bravo, 21, The Gazette has confirmed. They are accused of taking turns 
pulling the trigger in the March 2017 execution-style shootings of Derek Greer, 
15, and Natalie Cano-Partida, 16.

Prosecutors are expected to discuss their plans during hearings Monday before 
District Judge Larry E. Schwartz.

The filings comes days after a jury threw out the death penalty against 
double-murderer Glen Law Galloway in El Paso County's 1st capital case in a 
decade.

In the case of Galloway, 46, lead prosecutor Reggy Short said the office chose 
to pursue death because of Galloway's long history of flouting the law. That 
included going into hiding after a stalking conviction only to fatally shoot 
the victim, his ex-girlfriend Janice Nam, and a second person, Marcus Anderson, 
on consecutive days in May 2016.

The basis for pursuing the deaths of Chacon and Garcia-Bravo wasn't immediately 
clear. The lead prosecutor, Jim Bentley, couldn't be reached for comment.

Colorado law lays out 17 statutory aggravators that make murderers eligible for 
capital punishment, and requires that prosecutors prove at least 1.

At least 2 could apply in the teens' slayings. 1 is the intentional killing of 
a person who was abducted by the defendants. The other is the allegation that 
the defendants were "party to an agreement to kill another person" that 
resulted in deaths.

Authorities say Greer and Cano-Partida were abducted at gunpoint in Colorado 
Springs and later killed over suspicions that Cano-Partida had provided 
information to gang rivals.

10 people were arrested in the shocking crime, 5 of them charged with murder. 3 
of the murder suspects have since pleaded guilty to lesser charges under 
agreements that secure their testimony in court.

After a harrowing drive with their captors, Greer and Cano-Partida were forced 
at gunpoint into "execution position" and shot at close range on Old Pueblo 
Road near Fountain. Chacon is alleged to have shot Cano-Partida first, before 
handing his pistol to Garcia-Bravo, who is accused of shooting Greer.

Colorado's death penalty has long been steeped in controversy, and the move to 
seek the death against youthful defendants is expected to draw scrutiny.

The decision puts the El Paso County District Attorney's Office at odds with 
the American Bar Association, which issued guidelines in February asking that 
prosecutors refrain from pursuing the death penalty against anyone under 21 at 
the time of the crime.

The nonbinding recommendation cites the "growing medical consensus that key 
areas of the brain relevant to decision-making and judgment continue to develop 
into the early 20s." The ABA is a professional association that represents 
nearly 400,000 lawyers in the United States.

Prosecutors announced they were considering the death penalty against the pair 
when they were arraigned in April.

The statutory deadline to file the required notice falls on Monday.

The move is expected to delay the pair's back-to-back trials, currently 
scheduled in October.

(source: Colorado Sporings Gazette)








IDAHO:

Prosecutor weighing death penalty in Boise attack



Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts says a decision whether to seek the death 
penalty for a man charged in a mass stabbing in Boise last weekend will be made 
as soon as all evidence is reviewed.

On Monday, July 2, the Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Timmy 
Kinner with 1 count of 1st degree murder and 8 counts of aggravated battery -- 
in addition to a sentencing enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon -- in 
commission of a felony, in connection with the stabbing attack against 9 people 
in a northwest Boise apartment complex on Saturday, June 30. A 3-year-old girl 
died as a result of the attack.

Kinner is being held without bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on 
July 16, at 8:30 a.m. at the Ada County Courthouse.

In response to media inquiries regarding the death penalty, Bennetts stated,

"First-degree murder is an offense under Idaho law that is eligible for the 
death penalty. My office is working diligently to review all of the evidence in 
this case. The investigation is ongoing and law enforcement is working very 
hard to conduct a thorough investigation, compile all of the police reports and 
provide the completed investigation to my office.

"The decision of whether to seek the death penalty cannot be made until all of 
the facts, circumstances and statutory factors are considered and weighed 
pursuant to Idaho law. A decision regarding the death penalty will be made as 
soon as law enforcement completes the investigation, we have an opportunity to 
review all of the evidence and we consult with the victims and their families."

Bennetts added, "On behalf of my office, our thoughts continue to be with the 
victims and their families as well as with the first responders and with our 
entire community impacted by the events of Saturday evening."

(source: CNN)








NEVADA----impending execution

??? What you need to know about Nevada's plan to execute inmate Scott Dozier 
with fentanyl



A death penalty state is slugging it out with civil rights lawyers over the 
planned execution of a death row inmate. That's not so unusual.

Here's what is: That inmate, convicted murderer Scott Dozier, wants to die. And 
if that wasn't bizarre enough, the state of Nevada wants to execute Dozier on 
Wednesday using fentanyl - the synthetic opioid best known for helping to push 
the nationwide opioid epidemic out of control.

Not only has fentanyl never been used in a U.S. execution, but Nevada also 
hasn't executed an inmate in a dozen years. On Tuesday, just 1 week and a day 
before Dozier's planned execution, Nevada unveiled its new, 3-drug execution 
regimen. That protocol will include doses of midazolam, a controversial 
sedative deployed in several botched executions, fentanyl, and the paralytic 
drug cisatracurium.

Normally, such a protocol could trigger a years-long court battle. But since 
Dozier has "volunteered" to give up his appeals and face the execution chamber, 
in death penalty parlance, the fight over Dozier's future is almost at an end.

"They can put it out a week ahead of time because he???s not gonna challenge 
it," said Jen Moreno, a staff attorney for the University of California 
Berkeley's Death Penalty Clinic who specializes in lethal injection challenges. 
"They're getting away with things that they probably wouldn't get away with if 
he wasn't a volunteer."

(source: vice.com)

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

Urgent Action

  NEVADA RESCHEDULES FIRST EXECUTION SINCE 2006

The State of Nevada is set to carry out its first execution in 12 years. The 
execution - of a prisoner who has given up his appeals - is scheduled for 8pm 
on 11 July. Amnesty International is calling on Nevada not to resume 
executions.

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

* Expressing your opposition to the death penalty in all cases, and calling for 
a halt to all executions in Nevada;

* Noting that since Nevada last carried out an execution, six states in the USA 
have abolished the death penalty and a number of others have imposed 
moratoriums on executions, and another 22 countries have abolished the death 
penalty for all or ordinary crimes, with 142 countries now abolitionist in law 
or practice;

* Pointing to the repeated resolutions at the UN General Assembly calling for a 
moratorium on executions with a view to abolition of the death penalty.

Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of 
forwarding this one!

Contact this official by 11 July, 2018:

Governor Brian Sandoval

State Capitol Building

101 N. Carson Street

Carson City, NV 89701

USA

Email: http://gov.nv.gov/Contact/Email-the-Governor/

Fax: +1 775 684-5683

Salutation: Dear Governor

(source: Amnesty International USA)

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

Las Vegas man gets death sentence in killing of 2 in 2013



The jury took a little over an hour Friday to reach the ultimate sentence for 
murder.

"Death," District Judge Douglas Herndon read.

The culmination of the 3-week trial was summarized in 1 word that fell on a 
hushed Las Vegas courtroom.

Keith Barlow, 63, who was convicted last week in the shooting deaths of his 
ex-girlfriend, Danielle Woods, and her new boyfriend, Donnie Cobb, sat 
unmoving, his black, rectangular glasses sitting on his nose, his fingers 
cupping his chin.

Silently, the Las Vegas man stood up and waved to his family behind him. Tears 
streamed down their cheeks. His sister waved back.

Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo expressed gratitude after the verdict.

"We're very grateful for the jury to decide that Mr. Barlow had done enough in 
his life to earn him the ultimate punishment," he said.

Earlier, jurors heard closing arguments from prosecutors and defense attorneys.

"This is not rocket science," Barlow's attorney, Alzora Jackson, told the 
jurors. "Keith is a problem, and we have freely admitted a lot of the 
difficulties that he's had."

She asked jurors to consider giving him the lesser sentence of life without 
parole.

"You have given them their justice. You've convicted him. He's not getting away 
with anything," she said. "When has he ever gotten away with anything?"

Barlow was honorably discharged from the Army before he fell into addiction and 
was diagnosed with bipolar disorder while in prison, attorneys said. He'd 
attempted suicide in 1986 and had sought help for his mental illness from 
veterans facilities and Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services.

Barlow's sister, Linda Abercrombie, testified Friday that their dad was abusive 
toward their mother and had fathered 3 children with a second family he had in 
Alabama.

She detailed the moment she and her 2 younger siblings defended their mother 
when their father had her in a headlock.

Barlow jumped on his back, Abercrombie hit him, and their youngest sister was 
on his leg, biting him.

"Do you think Keith was angry?" Jackson asked.

"Absolutely," she answered. "My father was hitting him, and Keith hit him 
back," she testified.

Barlow also was bullied as a child, she said, so much so that one day he was 
kicked in the groin by a boy in the neighborhood.

"His crotch was full of blood," she testified.

Shortly after the incident, Barlow went into a psychiatric hospital for 
adolescents.

"He just became combative, out of control, difficult to manage," his sister 
said.

DiGiacomo urged jurors to choose capital punishment, citing a history of 
domestic violence against Woods dating back to 1997. His criminal history also 
showed a pattern of abuse that continued even after he was released from prison 
in the past , he said.

"He tried to kill 4 people and was successful with 2. That's who Mr. Barlow is. 
So when you go back there, ask yourself what is justice for someone like that," 
DiGiacomo asked jurors.

In February 2013, Woods called police after Barlow put a stun gun to her neck 
in an alley near the apartment she shared with Cobb. 2 hours later, officers 
were back at the apartment, where Woods, 37, and Cobb, 40, had been shot dead.

Throughout the trial, Woods' sister, nieces and best friend, Gloria Slack, had 
supported her.

"She was the glue to our family," Woods' sister, Elise Richard, said. "All of 
that's destroyed thanks to Keith Barlow."

Richard described Woods as a beautiful person, 1 of 12 children, the youngest 
of 6 girls. Independence Day was her favorite holiday, she said of her sister, 
who worked as a personal care attendant.

Richard said she hoped the death penalty would bring peace to both victims.

"We want to apologize to Donnie," she said. "He lost his life because he loved 
somebody. It's not just about Danielle. It's about Donnie Cobb."

After the verdict, family members filed out of the courtroom.

"Thank you, thank you," Woods' niece, Tamara Herron, said, looking up at the 
ceiling as she walked to the elevator.

Capital punishment in Nevada

Nevada's last execution took place in April 2006. The execution of Scott 
Dozier, who has waived his appeals, is scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ely 
State Prison.

(source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)