[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., LA., ARK., OKLA., ARIZ., WASH.

[Rick Halperin]

Nov. 27



FLORIDA:

Video tour of Florida's death row shows how inmates live as they await 
execution



A tour of Florida's death row reveals the sparest of 1-person cells, lined up 
along 1 side of narrow hallways where rows of prison bars form the wall on the 
opposite side.

The cells are meant as a final waypoint before the death chamber, with its 
white hospital gurney and window of glass for witnesses in an adjacent room.

The Florida Department of Corrections provided a video recording of death row 
in connection with a request from the Tampa Bay Times last month for 
information on dealing with contraband in the state prison system.

It is a view that few people outside the prison system ever see.

Inside these cells at the Union Correctional Institution near Raiford, and in a 
few more at adjacent facilities, some 345 people await execution.

One of them is Tommy Zeigler, the 2nd-longest serving death row inmate, who has 
proclaimed his innocence since he arrived more than 40 years ago and is the 
subject of "Blood and Truth," a 6-part series by staff writer Leonora LaPeter 
Anton appearing this week in the Times.

Since 1999, 51 people have been put to death in Florida by lethal injection. 
Jose Antonio Jimenez, who was convicted of killing a woman in Miami-Dade County 
in 1992, has an execution date set for Dec. 13.

A typical death row cell includes a thin mattress, a steel sink and toilet 
combination, a locker, and a small table for writing. An inmate spends an 
average of 23 hours a day inside the cells.

When a death warrant is signed, an inmate is moved to 1 of the "death watch" 
cells at Florida State Prison. The cells, adjacent to the execution chamber, 
are slightly larger than regular death row cells.

An ongoing federal lawsuit by 8 inmates challenges the constitutionality of the 
conditions on death row. Their time there ranges from 12 to 30 years and more - 
a situation they describe as "permanent solitary confinement."

(source: Tampa Bay Times)

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

Convicted in Lakeland triple murder, Johnathan Alcegaire concedes fight against 
death penalty



During a hearing Monday intended, in part, to offer evidence that might save 
his life, convicted murderer Johnathan Alcegaire said he wanted no part of it.

"I'm innocent and I had nothing to do with the crime that I have been convicted 
of, but yet my life is threatened to be taken away. So that puts me in a 
position that if my life is to be taken away or I'm to get a life sentence or 
the death penalty, or whatever it is, I'm not going to beg for my life. I'm not 
going to ask for mercy or anything like that," he told Circuit Judge Jalal Harb 
in an unsworn statement.

"It's wrong. If I was guilty, then please Lord, show me mercy," said Alcegaire, 
wearing a knit prayer cap in court, "But it's wrong. I had nothing to do with 
anything."

Alcegaire was found guilty by a jury in September for the home-invasion murders 
of three people in Lakeland and the attempted murder of a fourth, and is facing 
the death penalty after the same jurors voted unanimously to recommend that he 
die for the killings.

Although Harb must give great weight to the jury’s recommendation, the final 
decision on sentencing rests with him.

Monday's hearing was intended to give lawyers for the state and for Alcegaire 
an opportunity to present additional evidence for sparing his life or imposing 
the death penalty, but that didn't happen. Alcegaire's lawyers, David 
Carmichael and Kevin Kohl of Bartow, said he told them he had no interest in 
presenting testimony on his behalf.

"I don't want any mercy from anyone," Alcegaire said during Monday's hearing. 
"Through the grace of the Lord, and Sharia law, I'll be vindicated one day. One 
day I'll be free again, whether when I give up my last breath or my appeal. 
Either way I go, I don't want nothing else to do with the court."

Harb instructed Alcegaire's lawyers and Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace 
to file their written sentencing memorandums by Dec. 14, and he set sentencing 
for Jan. 4.

Alcegaire was the 1st of 4 Miami men to stand trial for the murders of a 
Lakeland man and 2 women who were gunned down during a predawn home invasion in 
January 2016. Polk County Sheriff's detectives said David Washington, 24, had 
just returned from Miami, where he had conducted drug transactions, when 3 
Miami men stormed into his house at 2314 Magnolia St. East.

During Alcegaire's trial, Felix Campos, 21, the lone survivor of the attack, 
testified that he played like he was dead after 1 of the men shot him in the 
face. Campos had told detectives he recognized the men from their previous 
meetings with Washington.

Campos told the jury he heard the assailants arguing with Washington, then 
heard a series of screams and gunshots, and heard them rummaging through the 
house before they left.

Detectives said the assailants took televisions and electronics, and staged the 
house to look like a robbery, according to reports.

Washington died in the attack, along with Stacy Branch, 31, and Angelica 
Castro, who had turned 23 two weeks earlier. The women had been sleeping and 
were gunned down in their bedrooms. Each of them was shot in the head.

Also charged with 3 counts of 1st-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy 
and armed robbery are Alcegaire's older brother, 38-year-old Andrew Joseph, 
whose case is scheduled for trial beginning Jan. 6, 2020, along with Jamaal 
John Smith, 27, and Tavaris Mack, 29, whose cases haven't been set for trial.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against each defendant.

Through Campos, detectives identified Alcegaire, Mack and Smith as the alleged 
assailants in the home-invasion, and Joseph as the alleged principal who 
orchestrated the crime, according to court records.

(source: The Lakeland Ledger)








LOUISIANA:

Accused Facebook Live killer gets attorneys in death-penalty case



After months of haggling, the man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend on 
Facebook Live will be represented by 2 death-penalty-qualified attorneys in his 
1st-degree murder trial.

Johnathan Robinson, 37, is accused in the April 12, 2018 death of Rannita 
Williams, as a horrified world watched him commit the crime and police stood 
helplessly outside trying to negotiate with him.

Earlier this month, the Baton Rouge Capital Conflict Office in Baton Rouge 
submitted a Motion to Enroll as council, promising to provide 2 
capital-certified attorneys, a mitigation specialist and investigator, to 
defend Robinson.

But it was a long-time coming.

At the time of his arrest, Robinson was charged with 2nd Degree murder in 
Williams' death, and the local public defender's office was assigned to 
represent him.

That all changed, however, when a Caddo Grand Jury upped the charge to 1st 
Degree Murder, and the Caddo District Attorney issued a "letter of intent to 
seek the death penalty." That meant Robinson could no longer be represented by 
the local public defender's office, as it does not represent death-penalty 
defendants.

Robinson's case was referred to the Louisiana Public Defender Board and it has 
been an uphill battle ever since, as the state board said it could not provide 
an attorney to represent Robinson due to budgetary issues.

The LPDB does not directly represent death penalty defendants, but is the 
umbrella that funds The Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana, The 
Louisiana Capital Assistance Center and the Baton Rouge Capital Conflict Office 
- the 3 501(c)(3) non-profit law firms that represent defendants facing the 
death penalty.

The state board said there was no money to take on Robinson's case at the time, 
though said he was No. 2 on the list of death-penalty defendants seeking 
representation. However, they also said Robinson could drop to No. 3, if an 
older death penalty case was overturned and sent back for a new trial.

But the Caddo Parish District Attorney's office wasn't buying it, and in an 
effort to get to the bottom of the issues the state board claimed it was 
facing, Caddo District Judge Ramona Emanuel ordered a Special Master be 
appointed to investigate the financial and manpower issues the State Board 
claims it has.

At the request of the prosecution prior to a hearing with the State Board in 
September, Emanuel issued an order asking the board provide a wide range of 
documents detailing funding death penalty cases, including the defendants 
represented, along with expenses related to their defense, along with 
attorneys, investigators, mental health specialists, expert witnesses, etc

But at the September hearing, prosecutors complained they had not received all 
the documents they requested. The State Board claimed many of the things 
requested could be found on line, and that others were protected by 
attorney/client privilege, and filed a motion to quash the order, which Emanuel 
denied, though she allowed the exception of attorney/client privileged 
information.

On Oct. 30, Emanuel asked each of the entities involved in the case - the State 
Public Defender Board, the Caddo Public Defender's office and the district 
attorney's office to each provide the names of 2 attorneys with forensic 
experience, in order to select a Special Master from that pool of 6.

The Special Master became moot, however, when the BRCCO filed their motion to 
enroll on Nov. 4.

(source: arklatexhomepage.com)








ARKANSAS----female to face death penalty

Death penalty sought for Arkansas woman accused of killing 8-year-old daughter, 
71-year-old mother



The state will seek the death penalty for a woman accused of murdering her 
8-year-old daughter and 71-year-old mother and trying to burn down their house 
last week, according to Garland County District Court documents.

Melissa "Missy" Ann Galey, 46, of Hot Springs appeared via video Monday 
afternoon in District Court and pleaded innocent to 2 counts of capital murder, 
punishable by the death penalty or life in prison without parole, and 1 count 
of criminal attempt to commit arson, punishable by up to 20 years.

Judge Meredith Switzer ruled at Monday's hearing that Galey would remain on 
zero bond with a felony review hearing set for Jan. 14. She also granted a 
defense motion for a gag order limiting pretrial publicity in the case. At that 
point, prosecutors indicated they would seek the death penalty in the case.

According to the probable cause affidavit released Monday, Hot Springs police 
responded about 7:25 a.m. Nov. 21 to a residence at 2208 Lakeshore Drive 
regarding a possible homicide. As they approached the glass front door, 
officers saw the body of a female child, later identified as Megan Galey, on 
her back just inside the doorway covered in blood from what appeared to be 
multiple stab or puncture wounds.

Officers found a second victim, an adult female later identified as Wanda Self, 
inside a rear bedroom. She was on her back, covered in blood, and appeared to 
have multiple stab or puncture wounds.

As police searched the residence, officers located Melissa Galey in the 
backyard emerging from underneath the residence. The affidavit said the area 
where Galey was found had "fresh char marks" as if it had been set on fire. 
Galey had blood "all over her clothing," according to the affidavit, and was 
detained and brought to the Police Department for questioning.

During an interview with Detective Mark Fallis, Galey admitted to killing her 
mother and daughter and attempting to set the house on fire during the 
incident, the affidavit said. She stated she had been planning the incident for 
approximately 1 week.

Sunshine Smith, who identified herself as a family friend, told The 
Sentinel-Record that Galey's oldest daughter had expressed concern for the 
safety of her younger sister, who was an elementary student in the Hot Springs 
School District.

Smith said Galey's oldest daughter came to her house the night before the 
incident and was concerned about her younger sister because her mother was 
claiming that the father of her children was Santa Claus, that she was going to 
end the world, and that the devil "had taken over."

Smith said they called state Child Protective Services.

Cpl. Joey Williams said Galey had no prior criminal history and that officers 
had never responded to the residence because of criminal activity. He said 
police believe Galey acted alone.

(source: arkansasonline.com)








OKLAHOMA:

US Supreme Court to hear Creek case Tuesday



One of the most closely watched Indian law cases in recent years will be heard 
at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday when the high court considers whether the 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation still has a reservation in eastern Oklahoma.

Carpenter v. Murphy pits the state of Oklahoma and the federal government 
against the Creeks and a confessed killer, Patrick Murphy, whose conviction was 
overturned by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court ruled that 
Murphy's crime occurred on the Creek reservation and that he should not have 
been tried in a state court.

The Supreme Court will hear an hour of arguments. Lisa Blatt, a private 
attorney hired by the state of Oklahoma, will have 20 minutes to make her case 
and U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco will argue the federal government's 
case for 10 minutes. Murphy's public defender, Patti Palmer Ghezzi, will argue 
the opposite side for 20 minutes and a Creek attorney, Riyaz Kanji, will argue 
for another 10.

Blatt and Francisco will tell justices that Congress effectively disbanded the 
Creek reservation in the early 20th century to make way for Oklahoma statehood, 
even if it never formally did so. Ghezzi and Kanji will argue that Congress 
never disestablished the Creek reservation and it therefore still exists.

"While Congress legislated many changes to Creek land and government, it did 
not legislate disestablishment," Ghezzi wrote in a September brief. "And by 
violating a treaty - even repeatedly - a party does not dissolve the treaty or 
the other party's remaining rights."

Of importance to the case is a 1984 Supreme Court ruling, Solem v. Bartlett, in 
which the court held that reservation boundaries cannot be diminished unless 
expressly done so by Congress. Other actions, such as opening lands up for 
white settlement, did not dismantle a reservation.

"Carpenter v. Murphy gives (the Supreme Court) an important opportunity to 
reinforce its longtime rule that only the United States Congress has the power 
to change a treaty with a tribe,” said Tim Purdon, a former U.S. attorney in 
North Dakota who supports the Creeks.

Precedent may not fit Oklahoma

The 10th Circuit relied on Solem when it found the Creek reservation still 
exists because Congress never expressly dismantled it. But the 10th Circuit's 
chief judge, Timothy Tymkovich, acknowledged that Solem's "square peg" may be 
"ill-suited for the round hole of Oklahoma statehood." He suggested the Supreme 
Court decide that.

"While allotment and statehood extinguished the physical borders of the Five 
Tribes' territories, Congress wiped away all jurisdictional borders by 
systematically dismantling the tribes' territorial sovereignty, leaving no 
vestige or other indicia of a reservation," Blatt wrote in July.

The state of Oklahoma, through Blatt, has made a series of bold predictions. A 
ruling in favor of Murphy would “plunge eastern Oklahoma into civil, criminal 
and regulatory turmoil," Blatt wrote over the summer. The Supreme Court risks 
"letting hundreds of violent criminals walk free" and "splitting Oklahoma in 
2," she wrote last month.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation considers such claims to be fearmongering.

For the man in the middle of it all, the outcome may be a matter of life and 
death. If the Creeks maintain a reservation, then Murphy was wrongly tried in 
state court for a crime that occurred on Indian land and therefore must be 
tried in federal court. He is seeking a retrial and resentencing to life in 
prison, rather than the death sentence he currently has.

Murphy's guilt is not in doubt. His attorney acknowledges he murdered and 
mutilated George Jacobs near the McIntosh County town of Henryetta in 1999. But 
Ghezzi contends the crime was the result of severe alcohol dependence. He was 
born with fetal alcohol syndrome, was bottle-fed beer as a child and drank more 
than 30 beers - Murphy contends the number was closer to 60 - on the day of the 
murder.

Murphy has since defeated his addiction to alcohol and become a model prisoner, 
even helping prison officials with day-to-day operations at Oklahoma State 
Penitentiary, his attorney says. As a result, the man at the center of a case 
that has far outgrown the bounds of his crime should be spared from the death 
penalty, his attorney argues.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue its opinion in the case during the 1st 
half of next year.

(source: The Oklahoman)








ARIZONA----female foreign national faces death penalty

Is Australian mum Lisa Cunningham guilty of murder----She is facing the death 
penalty.



Australian mum Lisa Cunningham sits alone in a cell inside Arizona’s toughest 
women's prison. She is charged with the alleged murder of her 7-year-old 
stepdaughter, Sanaa, and is facing the death penalty.

f found guilty, Cunningham could become the 1st Australian woman in US history 
to be executed.

It's one of the most perplexing murder cases in recent times and has the 
potential, some say, to damage Australian-US relations. Did Adelaide-born Lisa, 
43 - and her American husband, Germayne, 39 - kill Sanaa?

Speaking for the 1st time since she and Germayne were charged with murdering 
Sanaa, Lisa claims she did not kill her stepdaughter.

"There was no murder, there was no homicide," she told Seven Network's Sunday 
Night from the maximum-security Estrella Women's Jail. "She died from 
pneumonia."

Sanaa died on Feb. 12, 2017, with an autopsy finding her cause of death to be 
sepsis, possibly the result of acute bronchitis or her wounds. Prosecutors 
allege Lisa and Germayne neglected Sanaa, placing her in a straight-jacket and 
restraining her with zip ties.

They also allege a bone-deep cut on her foot was not properly treated.

Lisa denies Sanaa was zip-tied and says Sanaa was prescribed highly potent 
drugs to treat her acute schizophrenia that put the 7-year-old to sleep for up 
to 20 hours a day.

"[This is] certainly one of the worst cases of miscarriage of justice that I 
have experienced in my practice," Lisa's lawyer, Eric Kessler, told Sunday 
Night.

Life for the Cunninghams - Lisa, Germayne and their 6 children - took a turn in 
2016, when Sanaa was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia. "We watched her change 
from a perfectly normal, vibrant 6-year-old" to a child who forgot "how to do 
basic tasks like turn a door knob or open a water bottle, and we couldn't 
understand what was happening with her cognition," Lisa said.

The Phoenix, Arizona, family was struggling to deal with Sanaa's behaviour, 
which included tearing at her skin. The Cunninghams bought her eye goggles to 
wear at night to stop Sanaa from gouging her eyes.

"Sanaa would urinate and defecate on the floor, she would do it in her bedroom, 
she would do it in her bed," Kessler told Sunday Night. "She would do it 
wherever she could and then she would smear it."

In early 2017, Lisa was at her wit's end; she could see her stepdaughter was 
showing no signs of improvement. "We were jumping up and down saying 
something's wrong," Lisa told Sunday Night. "Her quality of life is changing, 
her behaviour is changing, her personality is changing."

A psychiatrist prescribed a powerful anti- psychotic drug called Risperdal 
,which caused Sanaa to become "zombie-like", Lisa says.

Kessler says that, according medical records, the doctor "didn't personally 
evaluate the child".

At this point, authorities were aware of Sanaa and her health struggles. Lisa 
claims the state of Arizona was in their house "for 10 months".

"They called the doctors, they knew what was going on, they supported us, 'Keep 
going, Lisa, don't give up, find treatment, find the right doctor, it's going 
to happen, you guys are going to bring this little girl back.'"

On Feb. 10, 2017, Lisa noticed Sanaa appeared to be coming down with the flu. 
At 1am on Feb. 12, Lisa discovered Sanaa unconscious in her bed and rushed her 
to hospital. But 5 hours later she was dead.

Quacy Smith, the lawyer for Sanaa's biological mother, Sylvia Norwood, and a 
former police officer, believes there is a strong case against Lisa and 
Germayne.

"I bet my right arm there is enough to convict them of something," he told 
Sunday Night.

Arizona is 1 of the 31 states in the US that has capital punishment. The last 
execution was of Joseph Rudolph Wood, in 2014, by lethal injection, which was 
widely described as "botched".

Kessler maintains his client is innocent.

"Lisa is not a criminal, she's a good mother," he told Sunday Night.

The trial is set for July, 2020.

(source: who.com.au)








WASHINGTON:

The Case Against the Death Penalty



In October, Washington became the 20th state to abolish the death penalty. 
Officials stated that people were sentenced arbitrarily, with race and zip code 
often being the determining factors in whether or not someone was sentenced. 
There is also no evidence to suggest that the death penalty is a deterrent to 
crime, which makes the vengeful punishment vengeful a potential violation of 
the Eighth Amendment. The most recent Gallup poll shows support for the death 
penalty at its lowest in 40 years.

Opposition has also pointed to a violation of medical ethics. There has been 
controversy in recent years about the drugs used during lethal injections. Due 
to botched executions and moral opposition, many pharmaceutical companies and 
doctors have refused to provide drugs or medical services.

The implementation of the death penalty is also at an all-time low. There were 
23 executions in the entire country in 2017, part of a downward trend beginning 
in the 1990s. This is partly due to the high cost of capital punishment trials 
and executions compared to life in prison. Delays, retrials, appeals, and 
reversals are largely responsible for driving the cost up, which averages $30 
million per execution. Many experts have recommended diverting the resources 
used for capital punishment trials and executions into crime prevention 
programs that have been proven to actually deter crime.

There are several states that have repeal campaigns currently being discussed 
and many others have not had any executions in the past 5 years. With its use 
dwindling and opposition growing, Washington may just be the latest to enact 
laws against capital punishment.

(source: millenialpolitics.co)