[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., NEB., COLO.

[Rick Halperin]

May 13



TEXAS:

Stage is set for death penalty case



Border Patrol Agent Javier Vega was fishing for gar with his family at their 
favorite spot.

But the family outing turned deadly when 2 would-be robbers approached him, his 
wife, children and parents, according to police.

Vega, a La Feria native, was drawing his gun when he was shot in the chest.

That was almost 4 years ago - Aug. 3, 2014.

Now, the 1st of 2 men accused of gunning him down is set to go on trial 
beginning Monday. Charged with capital murder and attempted capital murder, 
Gustavo Tijerina-Sandoval faces the death penalty if convicted.

The jury has been selected. If the defense has its way, jurors will be 
sequestered, which means they would stay together throughout the trial, even 
after hours. At the end of each day, they would be taken to a bus, which would 
take them to a hotel for the night.

State District Judge Migdalia Lopez hasn't yet ruled on that defense motion. 
But she has granted a defense motion requiring all law enforcement personnel to 
wear civilian clothing when testifying and barring them from wearing sidearms 
in the courtroom.

Tijerina, 34, of La Villa will be allowed to wear civilian clothing for court 
appearances and won't be shackled or otherwise restrained.

(source: Brownsville Herald)








VIRGINIA:

Court rejects appeal from Virginia death row inmate



A federal appeals court panel has upheld the death sentence of a Virginia 
inmate who ate his cellmate's breakfast then strangled him for complaining.

In a 2-1 ruling Tuesday, the panel upheld a district court's denial of Carlos 
David Caro's challenge of his death sentence.

The panel also rejected Caro's claim that the government violated his rights by 
withholding data about housing dangerous inmates at the government's Supermax 
prison in Colorado. The panel said that claim was procedurally barred after 
having been previously denied.

Caro was sentenced to death for the 2003 slaying of Robert Sandoval at the 
federal penitentiary in Lee County.

(source: Associated Press)








NEBRASKA:

DEA says Nebraska's purchase of lethal injection drugs was legal



A federal review of records related to Nebraska's purchase of lethal injection 
drugs found "nothing in violation of the law," an official with the Drug 
Enforcement Administration said late last week.

A DEA investigator made a March 19 on-site visit to the Nebraska State 
Penitentiary, which houses the execution chamber and stores lethal injection 
drugs. The review of records and drug inventories at the prison took place days 
after the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska called for an 
investigation into how state officials obtained the lethal drugs.

"Plain and simple, they're in compliance with Drug Enforcement Administration 
regulations," DEA Special Agent Matthew Barden of Omaha said in a phone 
interview late Friday afternoon.

In a March 12 letter to the DEA, the ACLU questioned whether prison officials 
had duped authorities into issuing a federal import permit by saying it was 
intended for a prison pharmacy located 4 miles away from the state pen. The 
ACLU also questioned whether Nebraska officials used a DEA permit issued to the 
prison clinic to purchase drugs from distributors who assumed they would be 
used for medical purposes.

"We did diligent research and presented important questions about these 
critical issues to the DEA. It is reassuring to know that the DEA took these 
allegations seriously and opened an investigation," said Danielle Conrad, 
executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska.

Questions about how the drugs were obtained stem from the refusal of state 
authorities to reveal information about the supplier. Such suppliers have been 
increasingly difficult for death penalty states to come by.

Major pharmaceutical manufacturers have policies prohibiting the sale of their 
drugs for executions. Pfizer sent a letter to Nebraska officials last year 
saying three of the four drugs the state intends to use in a lethal injection 
are on the company's restricted list and should be returned.

Officials with the Corrections Department and the office of Gov. Pete Ricketts 
have refused to say whether the state had obtained Pfizer drugs. The officials 
also have declined to release records identifying the drug supplier, which has 
prompted independent public records lawsuits filed by The World-Herald, the 
Lincoln Journal Star and the ACLU. Those lawsuits are set for a trial Monday in 
Lancaster County District Court.

(source: tribuneledgernews.com)








COLORADO:

El Paso County's 1st death penalty trial in a decade beginning Monday



After more than 2 months of jury selection, testimony in El Paso County's 1st 
death penalty trial in a decade is about to get underway.

Opening statements at the double-murder trial of former Fort Carson soldier 
Glen Law Galloway are expected to begin at 9 a.m. Monday.

His trial is expected to last 6 weeks - followed by several more weeks for a 
penalty phase should he be found guilty.

Galloway, 46, a 1-time helicopter mechanic who later worked for Atmel Corp., a 
Colorado Springs semiconductor manufacturer, faces multiple counts of 
first-degree murder in the May 2016 slayings of his ex-girlfriend, Janice Nam, 
and a homeless man named Marcus Anderson. The 2 were fatally shot on 
consecutive days in May 2016, several months after Galloway cut off an ankle 
monitor and went into hiding.

The case is expected to serve as a test of whether El Paso County prosecutors 
can succeed where others in Colorado have fallen short: Persuading a panel to 
impose death.

In 2015, 2 juries in a month rejected the death penalty, including the panel 
that convicted Aurora theater shooter James Holmes - a case that involved some 
of the same players involved in the Galloway prosecution, including Daniel 
King, chief trial deputy for the Colorado Public Defender's Office, and Senior 
Assistant Attorney General Dan Edwards.

King, alongside another Holmes attorney, Kristen Nelson, will be assisting 
Colorado Springs public defenders Kim Chalmers and Julian Rosielle in 
Galloway's defense. Edwards joins a trio of El Paso County prosecutors, Rachael 
Powell and veterans Reggy Short and Donna Billek.

Prosecutors previously sought the death of cop-killer Marco Lee in 2007, under 
then-District Attorney John Newsome, but Lee ended up pleading guilty in 
exchange for a life sentence.

District Attorney Dan May has previously declined to address why the office 
elected to pursue death against Galloway, citing a gag order in the case. The 
District Attorney's Office has since indicated that it is considering death 
penalty cases against at least 2 other local murder defendants, Diego Chacon 
and Marco Garcia-Bravo, who are charged in the execution slayings of 2 Coronado 
High School students over what authorities characterize as a gang hit.

Preparations for Galloway's trial include $50,000 worth of upgrades to the 
courtroom where he will be tried, including 2 new wall-mounted video monitors, 
a document reader and a "smart" podium capable of powering electronic devices.

Nearly 3,000 El Paso County residents were summoned to 4th Judicial District 
Court beginning March 5 to be considered for Galloway's panel, in what a jury 
commissioner described as the county's largest pool in memory.

That process spanned 8 weeks and wrapped up Thursday, leaving 112 candidates 
heading into group questioning.

A jury of 18, including 6 alternates, will hear evidence in the case.

(source: Colorado Springs Gazette)