[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, IND., ARK., COLO., ARIZ., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

March 8



OHIO:

Potential jurors considers death penalty in Sierah Joughin murder trial



Day 3 is over In the case of the people versus James Worley, the man accused of 
murdering Sierah jJoughin back in 2016.

As part of jury selection potential jurors went through individual questioning, 
many of the topics surrounding their beliefs on the death penalty.

The final 18 jurors will decide Worley's fate with 12 regular jurors and 6 
serving as alternates. Before that happens, it needs to be wheedled down from 
more than 200 people.

Several people were excused today because of their opinion on the death 
penalty. Judge Jeffery Robinson asking the following to a potential juror:

"Even though you're against the imposition of the death penalty would you be 
willing to follow the law and my instructions and consider the death penalty if 
appropriate in this case?" After a momentary pause the potential juror 
responded with " No based on my personal beliefs."

He was promptly excused.

Among several charges Worley is facing 2 counts of aggravated murder which both 
have death penalty specifications.

The trial is expected to begin on Monday.

(source: WNWO news)

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

Ohio court grants DNA testing results to condemned killer----Death row inmate 
Tyrone Noling was convicted of the 1990 double murder in Portage County in 
northeastern Ohio of Bearnhardt and Cora Hartig, both 81

The Ohio Supreme Court is allowing a condemned killer of 2 fuller access to DNA 
testing of a cigarette butt his attorneys say could determine his innocence.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-2 Tuesday in favor of providing Noling's attorneys 
the DNA profile from tests on the cigarette butt found at the scene.

Noling's attorneys argue the profile could help them match the DNA to other 
suspects.

Lead attorney Brian Howe said Tuesday that lawyers are continuing their efforts 
to exonerate Noling of a crime he didn't commit.

Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci says the cigarette butt's relevance 
has been repeatedly disproven.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Forensic scientist: Evidence muddies Ohio death penalty case



Death penalty opponents say prosecutors' theories in the case of a condemned 
Ohio killer set to die next month have been disproven by a forensic 
examination.

A report from Colorado-based Independent Forensic Services says a woman shot to 
death in the Toledo area in 1986 died only hours before her body was found, not 
days.

The company says its examination of the autopsy of Debra Ogle determined her 
corpse didn???t show signs of decomposition normal in a body outside for a few 
days.

Kevin Werner is executive director of Ohioans To Stop Executions. He said 
Wednesday that the conclusion raises numerous questions about the conviction of 
death row inmate William Montgomery, whose execution is set for April 11.

Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates says evidence shows Montgomery was Ogle's 
killer.

(source: Associated Press)








INDIANA:

Roadblocks attached to death penalty cases in Indiana



Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry has used it before.

He used the death penalty in cases when officers in Marion County were killed 
by a suspect.

In 2011, he used the death penalty cases in the case of Thomas Hardy, who later 
pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Indianapolis Metropolitan Police 
Department Officer David Moore.

Curry pulled it out again.

In 2014, he announced he would pursue the death penalty for Major Davis Jr., 
who later plead guilty in the murder of IMPD Officer Perry Renn.

Curry currently is pursuing the death penalty in Jason Brown's case. Brown is 
accused of shooting and killing Southport Police Department Lt. Aaron Allan on 
July 27.

This all comes at a critical time.

Boone County Prosecutor Todd Meyer is faced with whether or not he will use the 
death penalty in the Anthony Baumgardt case. Prosecutors on Wednesday formally 
charged Baumgardt with the murder of Boone County Deputy Jacob Pickett.

During his preliminary hearing, Baumgardt asked a judge if he could request the 
death penalty for himself.

Jack Crawford, an Indianapolis defense attorney who is not connected to the 
Baumgardt's case, made it clear that death penalty cases come with potential 
roadblocks.

"In reality, the death penalty case is very expensive and, for a county the 
size of Boone County, it could be a serious expenditure it can run $1 (million) 
to $2 million, and the state pays half the cost. The prosecutor will have to 
factor that in," Crawford said.

(source: WISH TV news)

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

Suspect in killing of Deputy Jacob Pickett asks whether he can seek the death 
penalty



After hearing the criminal charges against him and asking when he would be able 
to get a lawyer, Anthony Baumgardt asked one final question to cap a court 
hearing unlike any other the Boone County prosecutor had seen.

"Is the death penalty going to be seeked for this?" Baumgardt asked Judge Bruce 
Petit. When told that was still being determined, the 21-year-old asked, ???If 
I were to seek it out on my own, would that change anything? You know, enter my 
guilty plea now and seek the death penalty?

"I was just wondering my options, sir."

Charged with the murder of Boone County Deputy Jacob Pickett, Baumgardt 
appeared unfazed Wednesday by the penalties a guilty verdict could bring, 
including death.

On the way into the courthouse, he quickly said "nope" when asked whether he 
was sorry for what had occurred.

Is this is answer? Bill paves the way for unlicensed teachers in Indiana 
classrooms as answer to shortage

He said he had "no remorse" for what happened to the 34-year-old deputy, 
husband and father of 2 young children who with his K-9 was chasing Baumgardt 
moments before being shot.

Baumgardt told reporters Wednesday that he "didn't want to get bit by a dog."

Someone in Baumgardt's security detail, which was made up of more than a dozen 
officers and included Boone County Sheriff Mike Nielsen, said that the K-9 
wasn't just a dog. He was Pickett's partner, Brik.

"Well, I didn't want to get bit by Brik," Baumgardt flatly responded.

(source: Indianapolis Star)








ARKANSAS----new death sentence

Arkansas Man Sentenced to Death for Killing Wife, Daughter



A jury in west-central Arkansas has sentenced a man to death by lethal 
injection for the 2015 shooting deaths of his wife and daughter.

Eric Allen Reid, 57, was sentenced Tuesday in Garland County District Court. 
The decision came after Reid was convicted Friday on 2 counts of capital murder 
in the October 2015 deaths of his wife Laura Reid, 57, and older daughter Mary 
Ann Reid, 32, the Sentinel-Record reported .

The presiding judge told jurors they had to weight the aggravating factors 
against the mitigating factors to decide if Reid should be sentenced to death 
or life in prison without parole.

Aggravating factors were the state's argument that Reid knowingly killed more 
than one person and caused great risk of death to younger daughter Heather 
Reid, 20, who was struck in the arm by a bullet.

"If they had died at the hands of a stranger it would have been easier to deal 
with. I don't understand why my father did this to us," Heather Reid said. 
"There are so many scenarios where we didn't have to lose so much. It didn't 
have to happen this way."

Mitigating factors included the defense argument that Eric Reid was under 
extreme mental or emotional distress at the time, lacked the ability to 
understand his actions and has taken courses to improve while in jail.

But Reid was not mentally disturbed, "he was just mad," and that the distress 
cited by the defense such as financial problems and child rearing "are the same 
things all couples fight over," according to prosecutor Joe Graham.

Reid said he takes "full ownership" of the charges against him.

"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around what could have driven me to do what I 
did, but I've always accepted ownership of it," he said.

Reid's death sentence is the 2nd one to be handed down by a state court in 
Garland County since the 1950s, after the 2015 sentencing of Randy William Gay 
for the shooting death of a local woman.

(source: Associated Press)








COLORADO:

Jury selection to begin in El Paso County death-penalty case



El Paso County's 1st death-penalty trial in a decade officially begins Thursday 
with the weekslong process of picking a jury.

Although jury selection marks the start of trial for double-murder suspect Glen 
Law Galloway, it could be two months or more before opening statements are 
delivered, 4th Judicial District Judge Gregory Werner has estimated.

In preparation for the case, the county jury commissioner sent out 2,800 
summonses to county residents, in what's believed to be a local record. Still, 
the number pales in comparison with the 9,000 Denver-area residents called to a 
Centennial courthouse for the 2015 trial of Aurora theater shooter James 
Holmes.

In all, 1,200 people are expected to report for questioning over the next 2 
weeks - spanning 300 a day on Thursday and Friday and again on March 15 and 16.

On each of those days, 150 people will report in the morning and another 150 
will report for an afternoon session, said District Administrator Scott 
Sosebee.

Splitting the prospective jurors into groups of 150 should ease crowding, 
Sosebee said.

The courthouse routinely sees crowds of up to 300 potential jurors at a time on 
Monday and Tuesday mornings, he said.

On busy trial days, it's not uncommon for lines to stretch from the courthouse 
entrance to Tejon Avenue, where it occasionally doglegs all the way to Vermijo 
Street a half-block south as people wait to get in.

"We're actually expecting less crowds than we normally would on a high-volume 
jury day," Sosebee said. He predicted few problems getting prospective jurors 
into the courthouse, and said the court security team, which is overseen by the 
El Paso County Sheriff's Office, will decide its staffing based on how the 
crowds develop outside the courthouse.

Potential jurors will fill out questionnaires and be questioned in person by 
attorneys and the judge.

Galloway, who turned 46 last month, is accused in back-to-back killings in 2016 
of a homeless man, Marcus Anderson, and Galloway's ex-girlfriend, Janice Nam, 
whom he was forbidden to contact under a prior conviction for stalking. The 
case spurred a new law denying bond before sentencing for anyone convicted of 
felony stalking or being a habitual domestic violence offender.

The trial marks the first local death penalty case since cop killer Marco Lee 
averted a death penalty by pleading guilty to murder charges in 2008. He was 
sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 167 years.

(source: The Gazette)








ARIZONA:

The cost of death: Legal fees in Mohave County death penalty cases cost more 
than $1 million for each trial

At more than $1 million apiece, Mohave County's death penalty cases take their 
financial toll on local government revenues.

"Although each death penalty case is different in what is billed to the county 
for the defense of the accused, the Mohave County Attorney's Office costs are 
part of its normal operating budget," said County Attorney Matt Smith.

"For our office, there are no additional costs because they are part of our 
caseload," Smith said. "Where you run into additional costs is that the 
defendant gets 2 attorneys by law."

Working as a team, one attorney focuses on the guilt phase, looking at the 
evidence and trying to get a lesser charge included that is not a death penalty 
option such as 2nd degree murder or manslaughter.

The 2nd attorney is a mitigation specialist who looks at the defendant's 
background, childhood, past experiences, abuse or trauma, and medical or 
psychological records, anything that would go to the penalty phase if the 
accused is found guilty.

"Additionally, because it's a murder case there are a lot of witness 
interviews, and because there is so much on the line, the defense will call 
more expert witnesses than a normal case," Smith said. "They really want to 
turn over every possible stone looking for things."

Adding salt to the fiscal wound, Smith said, is the fact there are no attorneys 
in the public defender's or legal defender's office that are qualified to 
handle death penalty cases, forcing the county to contract out for those 
services.

According to Mohave County Indigent Defense Services, defense attorney fees are 
billed at $125 per hour for the 1st chair and $90 an hour for the 2nd.

"If the county could hire someone that is death qualified that would be the 
only way to save money," Smith said. "This wouldn't be easy to do because 
attorneys who are death qualified live in Phoenix and Tucson."

It's not unheard of in attracting them to Mohave County, it is "very" 
difficult, Smith added.

County officials realize that defending those accused of a capital office is an 
expensive endeavor.

Although death row inmate Darrell Bryant Ketchner's conviction on a 1st-degree 
murder charge was reversed in 2014, he will still serve 57 years for attempted 
1st-degree murder and 3 counts of aggravated assault.

If the county decides to retry Ketchner for 1st-degree murder it would add to 
the county's costs. To date, it has spent more than $3.5 million on Ketchner's 
defense.

In a separate Mohave County case, death row inmate Bobby Poyson's conviction 
was affirmed last month by a federal court, but his death sentence was 
overturned. The sentence could be reinstated by the Arizona Supreme Court or 
through a court proceeding at additional costs to the county.

Between fiscal year 2010 and 2018 the county has spent nearly $3.6 million on 
defending capitol cases.

Another aspect of the costs of a death penalty case involve the trial itself.

In a normal felony case, with an 8 person jury the court will call in 50 to 60 
people as potential jurors. For a case that involves a sentence of 30 years to 
life the jury pool could be as many as 90. For death penalty cases with a 12 
person jury, the county will call in 180.

Jurors are paid $12 per day plus 44.5 cents for mileage traveling to and from 
home.

The appeals process also triggers its own expense.

Along with the regular appeal process that could result in additional county 
expenditures under Rule 32 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, an 
appeal is automatically filed with the Arizona Supreme Court into a death row 
inmate's time in prison for several reasons that include ineffective assistance 
of counsel, newly discovered evidence or a substantive change of law.

If the appeal is successful, the case is remanded back to the trial court and 
the county would again become involved in the process and incur costs.

(source: Kingman Daily Miner)








CALIFORNIA:

California Supreme Court Affirms Death Sentence for Wife Killer



The California Supreme Court on Monday denied the appeal of a man accused of 
facilitating the murder of his wife and unborn son, keeping the former Marine 
on death row.

A Shasta County jury in 2001 convicted Todd Jesse Garton of 1st-degree murder 
and conspiracy for coordinating the contract killing of his pregnant wife, 
Carole Garton.

Prosecutors say Garton, 48, persuaded his friend that the order to kill his 
wife came from an international group of assassins she had worked with. Garton 
allegedly promised Norman Daniels $25,000 to carry out the hit.

The 2 had previously plotted the murder of an Oregon man but that conspiracy 
fell through. Garton told Daniels and others that he was a former Irish 
Republican Army member and accomplished assassin, backing up his claims with 
propaganda and instructions from a made-up organization he called "The 
Company."

After weeks of planning, Daniels fatally shot the pregnant woman 5 times at 
point-blank range in her bedroom in May 1998. The coroner's report says a 
bullet struck the 8-month-old fetus in the head.

After guilty verdicts in separate trials, Garton was given the death penalty 
while Daniels was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison.

In an automatic appeal to the state supreme court, Garton said he wasn't given 
a fair trial and that California's death penalty is unconstitutional. He said 
the court wrongly prohibited him from wearing his wedding ring during trial and 
that the testimony of Daniels and other accomplices should have been tossed 
out.

The 7-justice panel unanimously upheld Garton's death sentence, citing his 
prominent role in the murder plot.

According to prosecutors, Garton not only opened a $125,000 life insurance 
policy for his wife shortly before the murder, he also paid for the gun used by 
Daniels. Garton promised Daniels he could join the "The Company" if he carried 
out the contract.

Throughout the planning process, Garton sent "company" emails to Daniels and 
threatened Daniels' life.

"As Daniels opened the envelope, Garton told him that if he opened it, he would 
have to carry out the assigned killing or else be killed himself," the ruling 
states.

2 days after the murder, detectives recorded Garton telling Daniels in a phone 
call, "I'm going to get on the phone to the big boys and see what we can pull 
here," and, "I'll see whatever monies you had coming ... goes to your kid or 
family or something."

The supreme court did, however, overturn Garton's murder conspiracy charges 
from the failed Oregon murder plot, citing lack of territorial jurisdiction.

In a 4-3 ruling, the court ruled that "Garton's actions in California were 
insufficient to satisfy the overt act element of attempted murder."

(source: Courthouse News)