[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, KAN., NEV., USA

[Rick Halperin]

June 16



TEXAS:

Lubbock judge denies pre-trial motion to remove death penalty for James Holland 
case



A Lubbock judge has denied a pre-trial motion to remove the death penalty in 
the case of James Holland.

Holland is accused of the murder of his stepdaughter, 18-year-old Holly 
Jeffcoat, back in 2016.

Jeffcoat, a special needs student, was pregnant at the time.

The teen was found in her home, stabbed multiple times with her uterus cut out.

The motion, filed last week, asked 137th District Court Judge Trey McClendon to 
remove the death penalty as an option due to consideration of all evidence.

Holland's wife Deborah will also stand trial in Jeffcoat's murder.

(source: KCBD news)

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

Inmate who killed TCU prof loses appeal



A federal appeals court has rejected an appeal from a man on death row for the 
2004 suffocation of a retired TCU professor whose body was found in Oklahoma 
after she was abducted in Fort Worth.

Attorneys for Edward Lee Busby, argued unsuccessfully to the 5th u.S. Circuit 
Court of Appeals that Busby was mentally impaired, meaning he would be 
ineligible for execution, and had deficient legal help at his trial and in 
earlier appeals.

Busby was convited of the slaying of 77-year-old Laura Lee Crane, awho was 
abducted from a Fort Worth grocery story parking lot. He was arrested in 
Oklahoma City driving Crane's car and led authorities to her body in Oklahoma.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Brutal Killer's Capital Murder Trial Set for November in San Angelo



November 5, 2018. The 1st Monday in November. A man accused of participating in 
a brutal killing now has a court date after District Judge Barbara Walther 
instructed attorneys for 28-year-old Eric Martinez to share information they 
have gathered and begin preparing for a jury trial.

The unique part of Martinez' trial is that he is charged with Capital Murder, 
but the death penalty has been waived. If a jury finds Martinez guilty of 
Capital Murder, he will have an automatic sentence of life in prison without 
the possibility of parole.

Attorneys for Martinez were ordered by District Judge Walther to be prepared 
for a jury trial on Monday, November 5, 2018.

Martinez is accused of conspiring with 3 others in the murder of an eldery San 
Angelo Man in a home invasion. The 4 defendants are accused of killing 
69-year-old William Valdez while invading his home on August 31, 2015. The 
crime took place in the 500 block of N. Sellers St.

Those charged in the crime are Elisa Losoya, 28, Eric Martinez, 26, Fernando 
Lavaris, and Jonathan Marin, 26.

According to court documents, Losoya approached Guillermo Valdez, who lived 
with the victim at the house, telling him they needed to talk.

As Guillermo went back to the house and locked the door, the 4 broke into a 
glass door and threatened Valdez asking for money and not to call the police.

Valdez was shot in his left arm and taken to Shannon Medical Center, where he 
later died.

Late Thursday afternoon, Judge Walther set the final pretrial hearing for 
Martinez on October 9, 2018 with a pretrial on August 16 to work around defense 
and prosecution attorneys' court schedules.

(source: sanangelolive.com)








FLORIDA----female faces death penalty

State seeks death penalty for Miami mom whose baby died from scalding bath



A Homestead mother accused of killing her toddler in a burning-hot bath could 
face the death penalty after a grand jury indicted her for 1st-degree murder 
and aggravated child abuse.

Christina Hurt, shackled and in a jail jumpsuit, appeared in court Friday to 
plead not guilty as prosecutors announced the upgraded criminal charge in the 
January death of 1-year-old Ethan Cooley.

Hurt, who had a long and troubling history of abusing her children, is accused 
of refusing to take Ethan to a hospital after he suffered burns in the bath 
tub. She claimed to police that her 10-year-old daughter put Ethan in the hot 
bath, causing him "severe burns" and "peeling skin.

But Hurt did not seek medical help for the baby, instead calling friends to ask 
"about remedies on treating burn injuries," according to an arrest report. The 
child suffered overnight, throwing up, and became "lethargic" the next day as 
she took her other children to school ??? even bypassing Homestead Hospital, 
police said.

Neighbors and friends urged Hurt to call 911, but she "adamantly refused" for 
fear that child welfare authorities would take the boy from her. That morning, 
a neighbor called 911 after seeing the child had "become unresponsive," the 
report said.

Hurt was initially charged with aggravated child abuse and manslaughter. The 
latter charge was upgraded to 2nd-degree murder before prosecutors took the 
case to the grand jury on Wednesday.

Medical experts believe Ethan's injuries "were not consistent" with Hurt's 
story to police, leading a judge to approve a search warrant. In May, experts 
entered the property to do "additional measurements and tests" on the bathtub 
and water heater, according to the warrant.

Hurt was no stranger to Florida's Department of Children and Families.

Even before Ethan was born, she had twice lost custody of her 5 children.

The 1st time came in July 2014, when her then-3-year-old daughter was diagnosed 
with a skull fracture and a gash on her scalp. Hurt took the girl to school 
with a bow on her headcovering an oozing wound. The girl told authorities her 
mother pushed her off a bed when she wet the sheets. Hurt claimed the girl 
simply fell.

A judge eventually ordered Hurt's children returned to her, despite a 
recommendation from DCF that they remain under state care because of "Ms. 
Hurt's inability to safely care for and meet the needs of her children," 
according to state records.

But the children were taken away again in June 2015, after more reports of 
instability and abuse. A judge again ordered the children returned to Hurt in 
2017, although they remained under the supervision of DCF.

After Ethan's death in January, DCF completed an investigation that that entire 
child-welfare system failed Ethan, including a rookie therapist whose insisted 
Hurt be reunited with her children, abuse investigators and the Miami-Dade 
judge who allowed the kids to be returned to her.

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

'Terrorist Boyz' gang member faces death penalty after convictions for Miami 
murder spree



A North Miami man is facing the death penalty after a jury on Friday convicted 
him of taking part in a murder spree by a notorious street gang known as the 
Terrorist Boyz.

Jurors convicted Frantyz Jean-Marie, 35, after nearly seven weeks of trial 
testimony from police detectives, eyewitnesses and former gang members turned 
state witnesses.

He was convicted of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, and acquitted of 2 others. 
Jean-Marie was also convicted of 4 counts of attempted murder, plus conspiracy 
and racketeering. The verdict was announced under heavy security.

The same 12-person jury will reconvene in the coming months and will be asked 
to decide if Jean-Marie should be put to death, or face life in prison. Under 
recently enacted Florida law, jurors must be unanimous in imposing the death 
penalty.

Over the weeks, prosecutors outlined the rise of the gang, which culminated in 
months of violence that rocked North Miami-Dade in 2002. In all, detectives 
believe, the Terrorist Boyz gang was responsible for at least 12 killings and 
dozens of shootings, although gang members have been charged in only 9 murders.

Among those killed: a man the gang suspected of urinating on the flowers on the 
grave of one gang member's murdered brother; a 13-year-old boy shot dead while 
riding his bicycle home; and Gertrude LeFleur, a pregnant woman who identified 
the gang's ringleader as the man who robbed her.

"24 crime scenes ... some of the most violent murders imaginable," prosecutor 
Joshua Weintraub told jurors during closing arguments on Monday.

Those indicted in 2008 were Johnny Charles, also known as the ''Angel of 
Death,'' and Benson Cadet, Max Daniel, Robert St. Germain and Jean-Marie. St. 
Germain pleaded guilty 2 years ago and agreed to a 12-year prison sentence. The 
others are awaiting trial.

Defense attorneys shifted the blame to the gang members who flipped against 
Jean-Marie.

Frantzy Jean-Marie, a reputed member of the Terrorist Boyz gang in North Miami, 
was convicted of murder and now faces the death penalty.

(source for both: miamiherald.com)








OHIO----new execution date

The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the death penalty for Austin Myers, 23, of 
Clayton, for the murder of Justin Back, 18, in January 2014.----Execution date 
set for 23-year-old Clayton man in Warren County case

A former Northmont High School student is to be executed on July 20, 2022 for 
the murder of a Warren County man.

The Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the death penalty for Austin Myers, 23, of 
Clayton, in the death of Justin Back, 18, in January 2014, according to a 
decision published today.

Myers was sentenced to death for Back's murder during a robbery at Back's home 
outside Waynesville. The sentence came although another Clayton man, Timothy 
Mosley - like Myers, 19 years old at the time - actually stabbed Back to death.

Back was 18 at the time, a 2013 Waynesville High School graduate about to enter 
the U.S. Navy.

(source: WHIO news)

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

Urgent Action: CALL ON OHIO GOVERNOR TO STOP EXECUTION (USA: 116.18)



Robert Van Hook is due to be executed in Ohio on 18 July. He has been on death 
row for 33 years for a murder committed in 1985. The parole board has voted 
against clemency. The governor is not bound by their recommendation and can 
stop this execution.

TAKE ACTION

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

Opposing the execution of Robert Van Hook, and calling for his death sentence 
to be commuted;

Noting that the trial court did not hear the full mitigating evidence of the 
defendant's abusive and dysfunctional upbringing and the impact that this had 
on his life, mental condition and conduct;

Explaining that you are not seeking to excuse violent crime or to downplay the 
suffering caused.

Contact this official by 18 July, 2018:

Governor John Kasich,

Riffe Center, 30th Floor,

77 South High St.

Columbus, OH 43215-6117, USA

Email: www.governor.ohio.gov/Contact/ContacttheGovernor.aspx Twitter: 
@JohnKasich

Salutation: Dear Governor

(source: Amnesty International USA)








KANSAS:

Thurber conviction upheld, sent back down for resentencing



The Kansas Supreme Court handed down a bit of a split decision in a 
death-penalty case on Friday.

"The Justin Thurber case involves a conviction for murder with the imposition 
of the death penalty," said Lumen "Lou" Mulligan. Mulligan is the Director of 
the Shook, Hardy & Bacon Center for Excellence in Advocacy at the University of 
Kansas. "The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, meaning that he's 
guilty. Kansas law requires them to look at the imposition of the death penalty 
as opposed to life in prison as a separate question."

The U.S. Supreme Court and the Kansas legislature both had an impact on the 
state high court's decision Friday.

"The Kansas Supreme Court was faced with 2 U.S. Supreme Court decisions," said 
Mulligan. "A case called Moore v. Texas and a case called Hall v. Florida, as 
well as a change in Kansas statutory law made by the legislature back in 2016. 
Those 2 Supreme Court cases and the legislative change have to do with imposing 
the death penalty on someone with mental disabilities. The United States 
Supreme Court has held that you may not impose the death penalty on someone 
with a mental disability. These 2 newer U.S. Supreme Court cases as well as 
Kansas statutory law change how you determine whether someone has a mental 
disability."

Therefore, the case was sent back down for further argument reflecting the new 
information to decide if Thurber is mentally disabled or not. No timeline has 
been set for the next action in the case.

(source: Nick Gosnell is the News Director for WIBW News and the Kansas 
Information Network)

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

Jodi Sanderholm killer's death sentence postponed



The Kansas Supreme Court has postponed the death sentence for the 34-year-old 
man who abducted and killed Jodi Sanderholm more than a decade ago.

In its decision, released Friday, the Court upheld the capital murder and 
aggravated kidnapping verdicts against Justin Thurber. However, the Justices 
postponed the death sentence imposed by the jury.

The state high court ruled the district court must reconsider Thurber's claim 
he is intellectually disabled using the current legal standards. The U.S. 
Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute defendants with 
even mild developmental disabilities.

"We feel compelled to point out the problems we identify on the intellectual 
disability determination were not of the district court's making," wrote 
Justice Dan Biles for the court. "That court was operating under now outdated 
state statutes and federal caselaw."

In the 126-page majority decision, Justice Dan Biles said the court had no 
choice but to reconsider intellectual disability because new rules for criminal 
prosecutions typically apply to cases on direct review.

Justice Eric Rosen dissented arguing the changes in law about Thurber's 
intellectual disability do not require a new district court ruling.

In a separate dissent, Justice Lee A. Johnson stated there were other 
guilt-phase errors in addition to the ones found by the majority. He contended 
a new district court ruling on intellectual disability is unnecessary because 
the death penalty cannot be applied to Thurber under the Kansas Constitution 
Bill of Rights and due to the problems with the intellectual disability 
statutes. And he argued that, in making the new ruling, the district court 
should not be limited to determining whether Thurber was intellectually 
disabled at the time he first made the claim.

(source: WIBW news)








NEVADA----death row inmate dies

Convict dies in Nevada prison 34 years after landing on death row



A 4-time convicted murderer died inside of a Nevada prison Friday, more than 30 
years after he was first sentenced to die for strangling an escort.

Although Thomas Wayne Crump, 78, confessed to the killings of 7 people, 
attempted killings of 7 others and numerous robberies, assaults and 
kidnappings, he never felt any remorse.

"I'm not making any excuses. I don't feel compassion for the victims or 
anything that I've ever done," Crump told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a May 
1984 jailhouse interview shortly after his sentencing. "Why? I don't know. I 
have no idea. I've searched for that 'why' for so many years."

And for those he attempted to kill, the newspaper reported, he would have 
"finished the job" if he had known they survived his attacks.

On May 2, 1984, he was sentenced to death. He told Review-Journal reporter Kent 
Lauer that he had hoped death by lethal injection would put an end to his rage. 
But he was granted multiple stays of execution and survived another 34 years, 1 
month and 13 days until 5:15 a.m. Friday, when he died at a medical facility 
inside Northern Nevada Correction Center in Carson City.

He was on death row for 3 decades after a jury of 7 women and 5 men convicted 
him of 1st-degree murder on April 26, 1984, for the death of 26-year-old Jodie 
Jameson.

(source: Las Vegas Review-Journal)








USA----book review

65 years on, revisiting the Rosenbergs----Protests to save Ethel and Julius 
Rosenberg from execution on spying charges 65 years ago fell on deaf ears. 
Maggie Gruner talks to Lori Clune, author of a new book on the subject



Mass protests in London failed to avert one of the Cold War's most 
controversial events - the execution 65 years ago this month of Ethel and 
Julius Rosenberg for conspiracy to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.

Attempts to save the couple included thousands picketing the US embassy, 
threats to disrupt the Queen's coronation and a last-ditch appeal to Winston 
Churchill.

But the Rosenbergs, who had 2 young sons, were sent to the electric chair on 
June 19, 1953.

With the anniversary looming and fear and distrust surrounding current 
US-Russian relations - President Trump tweeted recently that "our relationship 
with Russia is worse now than it has ever been" - Lori Clune's compelling book 
Executing the Rosenbergs: Death and Diplomacy in a Cold War World is 
particularly timely.

She writes that the Rosenberg case remains "emblematic of the tragic 
consequences that result when actions are driven by paranoia and fear".

Newly unearthed documents revealing global protest at the case are the basis 
for the book. The previously "hidden" files were discovered in 2 boxes after 
Lori probed US State Department archives.

Material from more than 80 cities and 48 countries around the world includes 
newspaper cuttings, petitions and detailed correspondence from embassies.

The Rosenbergs were arrested in 1950 for allegedly passing information about 
the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

Lori asserts that while few today do not acknowledge that Julius Rosenberg 
engaged in espionage, Ethel likely did no active spying of her own. Executing 
her was "the cruel, unjust act of a terrified nation".

The case imprinted itself on popular culture. For example, Sylvia Plath, who 
lived, and killed herself, in Fitzroy Road, Primrose Hill, "had the protagonist 
Esther Greenwood, in her 1963 novel The Bell Jar, obsessed with the 
executions".

On the morning of the executions Plath, then living in New York, wrote in her 
diary: "There is no yelling, no horror, no great rebellion. That's the 
appalling thing."

Lori, associate professor of history at California State University, Fresno, 
writes that the majority of Americans considered "the 2 Communist spies who 
prompted the Korean War got what they deserved".

International opinion vehemently disagreed. Letters, telegrams and petitions 
arguing that the death penalty was too severe began to "overwhelm" the US 
embassy in Grosvenor Square. Although there were no reports that threats to 
disrupt the Queen's coronation materialised, in her 1st post-coronation 
excursion she was greeted by a giant banner on the 1666 Great Fire of London 
monument that read: "Save the Rosenbergs."

Her chaplain, the Rev Charles E. Raven, protested that the verdict was 
"savage", underlining the conviction that America was becoming "hysterical in 
its dread of communism".

As the executions approached protesters from across England converged on the 
American embassy. Thousands picketed. Members of the London Save the Rosenbergs 
Committee begged prime minister Winston Churchill to call President Eisenhower 
immediately and advise clemency for the condemned couple. But Churchill's reply 
was: "It is not within my duty or my power to intervene in this matter."

America often dismissed overseas protests as communist inspired.

On 1 diplomatic cable (from the American embassy in Buenos Aires) someone from 
the State Department scribbled: "Protests in the Rosenberg case are not been 
(sic) dignified by a reply."

The book says we may never know why the documents it draws on were hidden. We 
might guess it was to bury evidence tarnishing the nation's reputation.

Lori Clune told Review she was surprised at the "often derogatory way in which 
American diplomats referred to protesters overseas. A few examples: "Dirty"... 
"just some housewives"... "mostly unkempt, probably Commies.'"

Her book says it would be incorrect to deduce that officials did not care about 
winning hearts and minds around the world.

So why did their reactions appear to suggest they didn't care?

She said: "Fear, even justified terror of nuclear annihilation, is... 
irrational. Fear clouded the judgment of government officials. Most officials 
also could not fathom why protesters misunderstood that executing the 
Rosenbergs would make the world safer."

There's still "a climate of fear surrounding US /Russian relations," she said. 
"While I do not see this as a new Cold War - the world is less binary than it 
was in the 1950s - we are living in dangerous and unstable times. The Doomsday 
Clock is currently set at 2 minutes to midnight, the same threatening level 
last reached in 1953, the year of the Rosenberg executions. I think some of the 
lessons of the Cold War, of coalition building, nuanced diplomacy, and 
restraint in foreign intervention, are more important now than ever."

Executing the Rosenbergs: Death and Diplomacy in a Cold War World. By Lori 
Clune. Oxford University Press

(source: islingtontribune.com)