[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., FLA., ALA., OHIO, W.VA., TENN.

[Rick Halperin]

June 6



TEXAS----stay of impending execution

June execution stayed for East Texas man claiming intellectual disability



An East Texas killer scheduled for execution in June won a stay Tuesday after 
his lawyers argued he may be too intellectually disabled to put to death.

Clifton Lamar Williams - who has an IQ in the mid-60s - was scheduled to die on 
June 21 for a 2005 slaying, when he robbed 93-year-old Cecilia Schneider before 
stabbing her and setting her body on fire.

Last month, the 34-year-old's lawyers filed court papers begging for relief 
based on a groundbreaking 2017 Supreme Court decision that upended how Texas 
determines intellectual disability.

In that earlier decision, the high court ruled in favor of condemned 
Houston-area killer Bobby Moore, finding that the state had used a dated method 
of figuring out who qualified as too mentally disabled to execute.

Under a more up-to-date standard, Williams' attorneys argued he shouldn't be 
eligible for the state's harshest punishment.

On Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decided to bounce Williams' 
case back to a lower court for a hearing to consider the condemned killer's 
mental capacity.

"We remand this application to the convicting court for a live hearing to 
further develop evidence and make a new recommendation to this Court on the 
issue of intellectual disability," the court wrote. "Applicant's motion to stay 
his execution is granted."

Early this year, the case sparked a spat between the current legal team - Seth 
Kretzer and Wes Volberding - and another team of lawyers who wanted to get 
involved. The other legal team accused Kretzer and Volberding of abandoning 
their client when they didn't visit the condemned man for 3 years.

But a judge slapped down the request to knock the 2 Texas lawyers on the case, 
despite Williams' hand-written request for a new legal team.

The Lone Star State has executed 6 men this year. With Williams' death date off 
the calendar, Danny Bible - a Houston-area serial killer now in a wheelchair - 
is the next man scheduled to die.

(source: Houston Chronicle)

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

Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----33

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----551

Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #

34---------June 27----------------Danny Bible-------------552

35---------July 17----------------Christopher Young-------553

36---------Aug. 30----------------Joseph Garcia-----------554

37---------Sept. 12---------------Ruben Gutierrez---------555

38---------Sept. 26---------------Troy Clark---------------556

39---------Sept. 27---------------Daniel Acker------------557

40---------Oct. 10----------------Juan Segundo------------558

41---------Oct. 24----------------Kwame Rockwell-------559

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)

***********************************----new death sentence//foreign national

Border Patrol agent's killer gets the death penalty



A jury has decided Gustavo Tijerina Sandoval deserves the death penalty for the 
2014 murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Tijerina Sandoval, 34, was convicted 
last week in the death of Javier Vega Jr., the border agent who was shot to 
death while fishing with family in a rural area near Harlingen.

On Aug. 3, 2014, Tijerina Sandoval and another man attempted to rob the Vega 
family at gunpoint, when Vega Jr., a veteran of the Marine Corps., pulled out 
his weapon. After a brief exchange of gunfire Vega Jr. was shot in the chest 
and died on the way to the hospital.

In addition to receiving the death penalty, Tijerina Sandoval was sentenced to 
life for attempted capital murder regarding the others in the Vega party. The 
Border Patrol agent's father, Javier Vega Sr., was shot in the back during the 
firefight.

Ismael Hernandez Vallejo, accused of being the 2nd man in the robbery attempt, 
also is charged with capital murder and attempted capital murder. He will be 
tried later this year and also faces the death penalty.

Both Tijerina Sandoval and Hernandez Vallejo are Mexican citizens who were in 
the United States illegally at the time of the attack on the Vega family.

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

Harris County killer taken off death row, given 2 life sentences----Michael 
Wayne Norris was resentenced to life in prison after decades on death row.



After more than 3 decades on death row, a Houston man convicted of killing his 
ex-girlfriend and her 2-year-old son was resentenced to life following a 
federal appeal over flawed jury instructions that failed to consider mitigating 
evidence.

Michael Wayne Norris last week became the 4th Harris County killer taken off 
death row under the tenure of District Attorney Kim Ogg. With a new plea deal 
in place, the 60-year-old will serve 2 back-to-back life sentences - 1 for each 
victim.

"We decided that justice could be served by making sure he never saw the light 
of day," said Tom Berg, the county's 1st assistant district attorney.

The complications of decades-old evidence, the uncertainty of going before a 
jury again, questions about Norris's future dangerousness, and the survivors' 
consent all factored in the decision not to seek death again.

"This is how this case should have resolved," said Norris's attorney, Allen 
Isbell. "It's taken 3 decades to get here, but I'm just glad that eventually it 
did."

The former truck driver had already served 1 prison term for murder when he was 
originally sentenced to die for the 1987 killing of Georgia Rollins and her 
infant son.

After years of appeals, his case was ultimately bounced back to a lower court 
in 2015 after Houston attorney Patrick McCann won him relief as one of the 
so-called "Penry cases" named for Johnny Paul Penry.

Penry - a former Texas death row inmate now serving multiple life sentences - 
was spared the ultimate punishment after his case twice went to the U.S. 
Supreme Court, netting a pair of decisions that touched on flawed jury 
instructions. During the punishment phase of a capital trial, the courts said, 
juries needed to be specifically instructed on the role of mitigating evidence.

"It's not enough that a defendant be permitted to present evidence that could 
spare his life," said Robert Dunham of the Death Penalty Information Center. 
"The jury has to know what it can do with that evidence."

As with the other Penry cases, Norris won a new punishment phase. Since life 
without parole wasn't an option when he was first sent to death row, he wasn't 
eligible for it the 2nd time around. Instead, prosecutors stacked 2 life 
sentences, then added in 3 20-year sentences for aggravated assault.

"From the very first, Mr. Norris wanted something that would enable him to stay 
in prison but not be on death row," Isbell said. "He owes Pat McCann his life."

The killings came hours after Rollins incurred her ex's wrath by telling him he 
couldn't take care of the child during church, according to court records. 
Norris stormed home angrily, then began calling Rollins repeatedly.

When she hung up on him time and again, Norris headed over to her apartment 
with a high-powered deer rifle.

Family members who were home at the time later testified that Norris appeared 
outside the victim's window, broke the glass and fired a shot into the woman's 
bedroom before climbing inside and firing again.

"I hate to do this Georgia, but I told you. I told you you couldn't mess me 
over," he reportedly said. "I told you you couldn't leave me."

Norris then opened fire at his ex, left and went to another room, then came 
back and continued shooting, according to court records. 4 shots - including 
the 1st one from outside the window - hit the child, though Norris later said 
he never intended to kill the boy.

Afterward, he came back to his mother's house in tears, then called his pastor 
before phoning police to turn himself in.

At the time of his original trial, a jury found him to be a future danger - one 
of the requirements for a death sentence in Texas. Since then, he hasn't caused 
problems in prison, the assistant district attorney said.

"If the guy has been in prison 30 years and behaved himself that's a pretty 
compelling argument against future dangerousness," Berg said. In deciding not 
to seek death again, prosecutors also considered the wishes of the surviving 
family members, who didn't necessarily want to deal with the stress of another 
long trial and subsequent appeals.

"What is essentially life without parole means closure," Berg said.

Since Ogg took office in 2017, she's seen 4 men removed from death row.

First, in June 2017, Robert Campbell was given a life sentence after courts 
decided he was too intellectually disabled to execute. Then in October, Duane 
Buck was resentenced to life in prison after a Supreme Court decision reversed 
his punishment in light of allegations of racist expert testimony.

The following month, Calvin Hunter was spared as well, over claims of false 
expert testimony.

"The whole climate in which we manage our capital cases and in which we 
evaluate our capital cases has changed," Berg said. "Cases in which might have 
thought death 30 years ago we might not today."

(source for both: mysanantonio.com)








DELAWARE:

Democratic candidates for Attorney General debate



Democratic candidates vying to be Delaware's next Attorney General answered 
questions in Wilmington Monday night, sponsored by the state Democratic Party.

Chris Johnson, Lakresha Roberts and Kathy Jennings sought to differentiate 
themselves during the 2-hour event at the Kingswood Community Center.

The trio staked out positions on issues like cash bail, legalizing marijuana 
and taking on Trump administration policies.

The 3 candidates present oppose reinstating the death penalty. But Roberts said 
she would hear a victim's family out.

"I'm very comfortable having a difficult conversation explaining to a family 
why I would not pursue the death penalty in a case," she said.

Johnson, who previously served as Gov. John Carney's deputy legal counsel, said 
he would not seek the death penalty in any case.

Jennings successfully prosecuted a serial killer in 1989 during her 
decades-long stint in Delaware's Department of Justice. But she said she 
doesn't believe the death penalty deters crime.

Johnson said he's usually described as far to the left, but believes his views 
reflect what many people believe.

"But I believe as Democrats, we just need to be solid on our foundation," he 
said. "So, I am just one of those Democrats, that I'm just upholding the values 
that the community wants and our national party is pushing for."

Despite 2 decades in the Delaware Department of Justice, Jennings rejects any 
suggestion she's the establishment Democrat in the race.

"I have sought change," she said. "I have made change happen. Did away with 
three strikes and get a life sentence law. I did away with consecutive 
sentencing where it was safe to do so."

A 4th Democratic candidate, Tim Mullaney, was unable to attend.

(source: delawarepublic.com)








FLORIDA:

Steven Hayward, convicted in 2005 killing of newspaper carrier in Fort Pierce, 
off death row



After spending nearly 11 years on death row, convicted killer Steven Douglas 
Hayward was sentenced last month to life in prison without parole.

Hayward was convicted and sentenced to death in June 2007 for robbing and 
shooting Daniel DeStefano, a 32-year-old Fort Pierce Tribune newspaper carrier. 
DeStefano was shot in the chest and thigh as he delivered newspapers to 
convenience stores along Avenue D in Fort Pierce about 4 a.m. Feb. 1, 2005.

The state's newest death penalty law, enacted in March 2017, requires a jury to 
reach 12-0 vote to recommend death.

Rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court retroactively 
invalidated death sentences that followed less-than-unanimous jury 
recommendations. It applies to those whose direct appeals were finalized after 
June 24, 2002.

Hayward's jury voted 8-4 for death in the sentencing phase.

Though prosecutors initially filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty 
again for Hayward, Chief Assistant State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl said in January 
he would instead abide by the family's wishes to not to go through another 
death penalty hearing.

Bakkedahl said even if a new jury voted unanimously for the death penalty, that 
merely is the 1st step in a 15-year process of appeals.

"The family couldn't quite go through the process again, and I didn't have the 
heart to force them," Bakkedahl said.

With all appeals resolved, Hayward was given the life sentence on May 16 by 
Circuit Judge James McCann, who had issued the original death sentence in 2007.

The hearing did give DeStafano's family members some closure.

Some of them, including DeStafano's fiancee, Renee Mancini, read their victim 
impact statements to the judge for the record.

New sentencing hearings have been ordered for dozens of Florida death row 
inmates.

Hayward was the 1st of 6 Treasure Coast cases for which the resentencing has 
been completed. The other cases aren't that far along, Bakkedahl said.

"Those that have been sent back (for new sentencing hearings), we've filed 
notices of intent to seek death," Bakkedahl said. "We will consult with the 
families in each of those, and then made a decision based on the facts, the new 
law and the family's wishes."

(source: tcpalm.com)








ALABAMA:

Jerry Jerome Smith sentenced to death for 5th time



A Houston County judge agrees with the recommendation of a jury and believes 
convicted murderer Jerry Jerome Smith should die for his crimes.


Smith was found guilty 20 years ago of shooting 3 people to death at what 
police term a drug house in Dothan. 4 times his death sentences were overturned 
on appeal.

Judge Michael Conaway on Tuesday again gave Smith the death penalty after a 
jury last month recommended the punishment even though he wasn't bound by the 
recommendation.

The case will return to appeals courts where defense attorneys and prosecutors 
agree there's a chance the death sentence will again be overturned.

(source: WTVY news)








OHIO:

Judge upholds death penalty recommendation in Youngstown beating death, arson



A Mahoning County Judge has passed final judgment, ruling that the 48-year-old 
man convicted of a 2015 Youngstown beating death and arson case should face the 
death penalty.

In court on Tuesday, Judge Maureen Sweeney upheld the jury's unanimous 
recommendation that Lance Hundley face the death penalty.

The same jury previously convicted Hundley of aggravated murder, attempted 
murder, felonious assault, and aggravated arson.

Prosecutors say Hundley attacked Huff at her home on Cleveland Street, beat her 
to death, and then set the home on fire to cover up the crime.

Officials say when Hundley encountered Huff's mother, Denise Johnson outside 
the home, he attacked her with a claw hammer.

Officers responding to calls for help removed an air conditioner from the back 
of the home and rescued Johnson.

After that rescue, they found Huff's body. Huff was confined to a wheelchair, 
unable to walk because she suffered from MS.

Police originally said Hundley was living in the home and was inside when 
police arrived. Hundley was arrested and was also taken to St. Elizabeth Health 
Center for injuries.

Erika had a 6-year-old daughter who was not in the home at the time of the 
fire.

Huff's family has filed a civil lawsuit against an ambulance provider and 2 
EMT's for alleged negligence on the night of Huff's death.

That lawsuit has been scheduled to continue later this year, after the 
conclusion of criminal proceedings against Hundley.

(source: WFMJ news)








WEST VIRGINIA:

West Virginia Senate candidate Patrick Morrisey supports the death penalty for 
drug dealers



Republican Senate nominee Patrick Morrisey, following in the footsteps of 
President Donald Trump, told the Washington Examiner Tuesday he is in full 
support of the death penalty for drug dealers.

"You can put me down for a resolute yes," Morrisey said.

Morrisey, who has served as West Virginia's attorney general since 2012 and is 
backed by the Senate Conservatives Fund and FreedomWorksPAC in his campaign for 
Senate, explained why he believes the death penalty is an appropriate 
punishment for drug dealers.

"You can count me very much all-in to make sure the death penalty applies to 
the drug traffickers that are knowingly and recklessly killing people in our 
society," he said.

As Conservative Review Senior Editor Daniel Horowitz has explained, the 
increase in drug trafficking in the United States is a direct result of the 
lack of border security enforcement. Because a large percentage of drug dealers 
are also illegal immigrants, treating drug dealership with the same seriousness 
as a petty crime encourages even more undocumented migrants to cross the 
border.

Morrisey said that when there "is specific intent on the part of an individual 
to distribute a product that you know is going to cause death," capital 
punishment is appropriate. West Virginia has the highest number of 
opioid-related deaths in the United States.

(source: conservativereview.com)




TENNESSEE:

Judge appoints new attorney in Howard Hawk Willis appeal



Despite an infamous death row inmate's desire to again represent himself as he 
seeks a new trial, a judge denied Howard Hawk Willis' request Tuesday.

Almost eight years after a jury convicted him, the double murderer returned to 
a Jonesborough courtroom. During Tuesday's court hearing, Judge Lisa Rice 
granted Willis' request to end his relationship with his current attorney, but 
denied his request to represent himself. Instead, she appointed him another 
lawyer.

Willis represented himself at trial after problems with multiple other 
attorneys. He's facing the death penalty for the 2002 murders of Samantha and 
Adam Chrismer.

Willis will return to court in November as he continues his quest for a new 
trial.

(source: WJHL news)