[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIF., WASH., USA

[Rick Halperin]

March 23



CALIFORNIA:

Already convicted of murdering 8 women, ex-Marine goes on trial for 5 
California killings



As Orange County detectives listened to an ex-Marine's confession to killing 8 
women, they struggled to understand why he chose to attack a Saddleback College 
student whose death marked the beginning of a decade of slayings.

"I guess it could have been anybody," replied Andrew Urdiales, who explained he 
had just seen the student walking back to her car.

2 decades after that confession, the convicted Illinois triple murderer now 
faces trial, which got underway Wednesday, for 5 killings in Orange, Riverside 
and San Diego counties. If he is once again convicted, the now-53-year-old 
serial killer faces the death penalty.

Urdiales shortly after his 1997 arrest confessed to killing 1 woman in Orange 
County while stationed as a Marine at Camp Pendleton, 4 women in Riverside and 
San Diego counties while stationed at Twenty-Nine Palms and three women in 
Chicago after leaving the military.

Opening statements in Urdiales' Orange County murder trial began with Deputy 
District Attorney Eric Scarbrough describing for a jury the 1986 killing of 
Robbin Brandley, whose body was left in a secluded Saddleback College parking 
lot after the aspiring broadcaster was stabbed 41 times.

Brandley had been working that night as an usher at a piano concert at the 
campus. Friends had dropped her off near her car, and were on their way back to 
check on her when a security guard came across her bloody body. Investigators 
ruled out a robbery or carjacking, since her purse and vehicle were left at the 
scene, and the case went cold.

Over the next 3 years, the bodies of several women with ties to prostitution 
were found in abandoned in secluded parts of Riverside and San Diego counties, 
each having been shot to death.

The body of Julie McGhee was found in a desolate, desert area in Riverside 
County. Months later, Mary Ann Wells was found in an industrial area in San 
Diego. A year later, Tammie Erwin was found in the desert in Riverside county. 
6 years later, Denise Maney was found deep in the desert in Riverside, her 
hands bound behind her back with leather straps.

Meanwhile, by 1996, investigators in Illinois investigating the deaths of 3 
women who had been killed and dumped in rivers or lakes learned that Urdiales 
had been pulled over in a small Indiana town with a revolver in his car.

Chicago detectives retrieved the gun from Indiana law enforcement, a week 
before it was set to be destroyed, and matched it to bullets found in the 
bodies of the 3 women killed in Illinois. Confronted with that information, 
Urdiales told the Chicago detectives that they may also want to talk to him 
about some people in California, Scarbrough told the jury.

In the subsequent interview with Orange County detectives, Urdiales recalled 
being drawn by the Saddleback college sign off the I-5 Freeway, parking at a 
mini-mall below the college and climbing up a hill in the dark, armed with a 
"hunting knife." He described stabbing Brandley over and over, the prosecutor 
said, and recalled how he stared into her face as he killed her.

"At that moment, when I'm stabbing her, there is nothing else in the world," 
Scarbrough quoted Urdiales as telling the investigators. "It is just me and 
her."

While prosecutors in California charged him in 1997, they had to wait until the 
trials in Illinois were completed before they could extradite him. He was 
transferred to California in 2011.

Urdiales' attorneys told jurors Wednesday that his actions were rash, rather 
than cold and calculated. Associate Defender Ken Morrison in his opening 
statements concentrated largely on what the defense attorney described as his 
client's difficult upbringing.

Urdiales was born with brain damage from Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, a 
result of his mother drinking during her pregnancy, as well as Tourettes 
Syndrome, Morrison said. His childhood in Chicago was marked by emotional, 
physical and psychological abuse, the defense attorney said, while his teen 
years in Burnham, Illinois saw him targeted for relentless harassment and 
attacks by his peers.

While Urdiales gave detailed confessions to police, Morrison noted that he 
seemed to dissociate himself when it came time for the actual killings, 
describing them in passive terms and at times saying his mind had gone blank.

"He never feels any sense of joy, satisfaction, no sense of thrill or any 
happiness," Morrison said of the feelings Urdiales described after the 
killings. "He describes feeling nothing at all. Things become quiet, peaceful, 
a sense of calm."

The 1st phase of Urdiales' trial will focus on whether he is guilty of the 5 
murders, as well as sentencing enhancements for lying in wait and for the 
previous murder convictions. If he is convicted of the 5 killings, a 2nd phase 
of the trial would determine whether he gets the death penalty or life in 
prison without the possibility of parole.

(soruce: mercurynews.com)








WASHINGTON:

Letter: Abolish the death penalty



I'm thinking it's necessary that I voice my profound disappointment in our 
state's recent handling of the bill to abolish capital punishment.

Senate Bill 6052, a proposal for the abolition of the death penalty with life 
in prison without parole serving as its alternative, garnered enough bipartisan 
support to pass the state Senate, only to be denied at the state House.

This is absurd. Capital punishment in Washington has been under a moratorium 
since 2014, and the state hasn't executed anyone since 2010, so why keep the 
death penalty? We still have in place, for at least another year, a practice 
that kills people.

Considering lethal injection is our state's preferred route when it comes to 
execution, I'm shocked that public outcry has been this quiet. Lethal injection 
at a brief glance is unconstitutional. It's a cocktail of muscle relaxants and 
drugs to put the subject into cardiac arrest. Sounds like a cruel and unusual 
punishment.

Being a high school student, debate with my peers over this practice's stay 
makes its way into conversation from time to time, and something I never forget 
to bring to light is the amount of people, wrongly convicted, sitting on death 
row.

So now, we have to twiddle our thumbs until the next bill, and when the bill 
rears its head, hope we have enough bipartisan support and make it through the 
House.

Should have just gotten it out of the way.

Jack Tronsdal

Mount Vernon

(source: Letter to the Editor, Skagit Valley Herald)








USA:

Catholic Group Critical Of Trump Plan Of Death Penalty For Drug Dealers



The Trump administration's call for increased use of the death penalty in 
drug-related crimes will not address the root causes of the opioid crisis, one 
Catholic advocate said Thursday.

"To suggest the use of the death penalty as a way to address the opioid 
epidemic ignores what we know to be true: the death penalty is a flawed and 
broken system of justice," said Krisanne Murphy, managing director of the 
Catholic Mobilizing Network, which opposes the death penalty and promotes 
restorative justice.

"The opioid epidemic is a public health crisis and it needs to be addressed as 
such. Suggesting the death penalty as a solution to the opioid epidemic is 
simply a distraction from dealing with the real problem," she told CNA.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration released a memo encouraging federal 
prosecutors to pursue the death penalty for drug traffickers in certain cases.

"The opioid epidemic has inflicted an unprecedented toll of addiction, 
suffering and death on communities throughout our nation," said Attorney 
General Jeff Sessions in a March 20 memo.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdoses 
claimed the lives of more than 64,000 Americans in 2016, and remains the 
leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50.

"To combat this deadly epidemic, federal prosecutors must consider every lawful 
tool at their disposal...this should also include the pursuit of capital 
punishment in appropriate cases," Sessions continued, saying "we cannot 
continue with business as usual."

Sessions listed several existing statutes which could warrant capital 
punishment, including racketeering activities, the use of a firearm resulting 
in death during a drug trafficking crime, murder in a continuing criminal 
enterprise, and dealing in extremely large quantities of drugs.

The push for tougher penalties is part of a 3-pronged plan to fight the drug 
abuse crisis within the nation. The plan also includes efforts to reduce demand 
for and over-prescription of opioids and cut off the supply of illegal drugs, 
as well as efforts to boost access to treatment for those affected by the 
opioid epidemic.

While the memo released by Sessions was met with controversy, it does not 
change what is currently allowable under federal law, Murphy said.

"The suggestion the Trump Administration put forth is nothing new and only 
reiterated what is currently on the books," she explained.

Particularly controversial is the recommendation for prosecutors to pursue the 
death penalty for "dealing in extremely large quantities of drugs." While 
federal statutes allow for capital punishment in such cases, the punishment has 
never before been pursued on these grounds, a Justice Department official said, 
according to CNN.

Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told 
CNA that the "U.S. Supreme Court has categorically stated that the death 
penalty is unconstitutional for crimes against individuals that do not result 
in death. That is unequivocal."

He pointed to a 1977 case, "Coker vs. Georgia," where the U.S. Supreme Court 
ruled the death penalty unconstitutional for a rape that did not result in 
death, and similarly overruled capital punishment in another Georgia kidnapping 
case.

"Prosecutors are to take a look at the law, which is the same as it has been, 
and pursue the death penalty when it's appropriate," he continued.

However, he noted the distinction between crimes against an individual versus 
crimes against the state.

Typically, Dunham said, crimes against an individual would be lower-level drug 
dealers, in which case, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that capital 
punishment would be unconstitutional if it is not a crime resulting in death.

In cases of higher-level drug dealing, which is typically international, most 
treaties and international law will not extradite an individual who may face 
the death penalty.

"The death penalty is clearly unconstitutional in respect to small-dealers, and 
it is ineffective with respect to international drug trafficking because no 
country will turn over any drug trafficker to the United States who may face 
the death penalty," Dunham said.

As a result, he does not believe the attorney general's memo will open the door 
to capital punishment being used for more non-murder crimes.

Ultimately, Murphy was critical of the use of the death penalty as an effective 
way to combat the growing opioid crisis within the U.S.

Instead, she suggested transferring the funds which would have been used for 
the death penalty toward supporting healthcare professionals who provide 
support and treatment for individuals impacted by drug use.

"Those suffering from addicting, their families, and their communities need 
healing and restoration," Murphy noted, saying, "the death penalty does not 
provide either."

"Solutions to any instance of harm must be restorative and allow for the 
flourishing of all people. We must seek resources for prevention, 
rehabilitation and treatment - not retribution and vengeance."

(source: Catholic News Agency)

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

Poll: Voters overwhelmingly oppose death penalty for drug dealers, say it won't 
stop opioid crisis



Although the Trump administration called on U.S. attorneys this week to 
consider using the death penalty in some drug-related cases, a new poll 
suggests that the vast majority of American voters oppose capital punishment 
for drug dealers and believe it will do little to stop the country's opioid 
abuse epidemic.

A Quinnipiac University national survey released Thursday found that while 58 % 
of American voters generally support the death penalty for individuals 
convicted of murder -- including 37 % who back it over the option of life 
imprisonment without parole -- they are less split when it comes to imposing 
the punishment on drug dealers tied to lethal overdoses.

7 in 10 respondents said the oppose they idea of using the death penalty on 
drug dealers, compared to 21 % who said they support capital punishment for 
certain drug-related crimes.

Members of Massachusetts' congressional delegation and other state leaders this 
week cautioned that the Trump administration's focus on law enforcement actions 
and strict criminal penalties "won't work" at reducing rates of opioid 
addiction, and instead called for the White Hose to prioritize treatment and 
behavioral health.

Opponents to President Donald Trump's plan to use the death penalty for drug 
dealers tied to overdose deaths included a majority of Republicans, 57 %; 
Democrats, 87 %; and independents, 69 %.

3/4 of voters, or 75 %, further said they do not believe imposing the death 
penalty on individuals convicted of certain drug-related crimes will help stop 
the opioid addiction crisis. Tim Malloy, the Quinnipiac University Poll's 
assistant director, said the results suggest that "despite what President 
Donald Trump says, neither Democrats nor Republicans have the stomach for 
executing drug dealers."

The poll, which surveyed nearly 1,300 voters via telephone from March 16 to 20, 
has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 % points.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions strongly encouraged U.S. attorneys this week to 
consider "every lawful tool at their disposal" to combat the national opioid 
abuse epidemic, including seeking the death penalty in some drug-related cases.

It's findings came just one day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a 
memo to federal prosecutors urging that they consider using "every tool at 
their disposal" to combat the opioid crisis, including the death penalty.

Trump announced his controversial plan to seek the death penalty against some 
drug offenders during a Monday stop at Manchester Community College in New 
Hampshire.

Such punishment, the president offered, is needed if the United States wants to 
get serious about reducing the number of opioid-related deaths.

"If we're not going to get tough on the drug dealers, they'll kill thousands of 
people and destroy so many peoples' lives," he told a crowd of invited guests. 
"We are just doing the wrong thing. We have got to get tough. This isn't about 
nice anymore ... this is about winning a very, very tough problem. If we don't 
get very tough on these dealers, that's not going to happen folks."

(source: masslive.com)