[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., TENN., ILL., NEB., OKLA.

[Rick Halperin]

October 13



ALABAMA----new death sentence

Derrick Dearman sentenced to death for 2016 Citronelle slayings



Derrick Dearman, a man who killed 5 people and 1 unborn baby in killing spree 
in Citronelle, was sentenced to death Friday.

Dearman was found guilty during a trail trial and the jury recommended the 
death penalty.

A judge denied Dearmans plea of being 'mentally unfit.'

The killings, which took place in Aug. 2016 while Dearman was under the 
influence of meth. Dearman used an axe and a gun in the murders.

The bodies were found in a rural area outside Citronelle. Police said Dearman 
entered the home in the early hours of the morning and attacked the sleeping 
residents using an axe and a firearm.

(source: WEAR TV news)








TENNESSEE----impending execution

Stop Imminent Execution in Tennessee (USA: UA 183.18)



TENNESSEE MAN AT IMMINENT RISK OF EXECUTION



Edmund Zagorski has been on death row in Tennessee for over 30 years after 
allegedly receiving ineffective counsel. He was scheduled to be executed on 11 
October, using a 3-drug lethal injection. After challenges made through 
litigation, the state Governor issued a 10-day reprieve to allow for 
preparation of the execution.

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

* Halt Edmund Zagorski's execution and commute his death sentence.

Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of 
forwarding this one!

Contact this official by 21 October, 2018:

Governor Bill Haslam

600 Charlotte Avenue

First Floor

Nashville, Tennessee 37243

United States of America

Telephone: +1 615-741-2001

   Twitter: @BillHaslam

Facebook: @TeamHaslam

Salutation: Dear Governor

(source: Amnesty International USA)








ILLINOIS:

My voice was heard from death row



Stanley Howard was sentenced to Illinois' death row in 1987 based on a 
confession tortured from him by Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge's 
underlings. Held in an interrogation room for over 40 hours, Stanley was 
repeatedly punched and kicked, and had a typewriter bag put over his head to 
suffocate him.

In prison, Stanley, along with other police torture victims, formed the Death 
Row 10 and reached out to the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) for 
help. The CEDP agreed, and a deep bond developed as they worked together, from 
the inside and the outside, to try to win justice for these prisoners. CEDP 
members and other activists organized press conferences, protests and rallies, 
and Live from Death Row forums, where prisoners would speak to an audience via 
speakerphone. Stanley called in to many of these forums, and he was a columnist 
for the CEDP’s New Abolitionist newsletter.

As a result of the determined work of prisoners themselves, activists on the 
outside, lawyers and journalists, the death penalty in Illinois was exposed for 
its racism, unfairness and shocking errors. In 2003, Stanley was pardoned of 
the charge that landed him on death row by then-Gov. George Ryan as he commuted 
all death sentences. Unfortunately, Stanley remains in prison on another charge 
but hopes to be released soon. He has just finished a book called Tortured by 
Blue that is on its way to the printer.

Marlene Martin, the former national director of the CEDP, interviewed Stanley 
about the years working in the CEDP and what lessons and reflections might be 
important today.

IN the 2 decades that the Campaign to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) existed, 
what stood out to you as its accomplishments?

The CEDP was established when executions in America were at a high point since 
the death penalty was reintroduced.

It was also when politicians were fighting with each other trying to prove who 
among them was tougher on crime. This fight led to the elimination of many 
safeguards and protections so that it would be easier to convict and quicker to 
execute.

Through its organizing skills and activism, the CEDP was able to help change 
the landscape of the criminal justice system, taking it from the unjust 
tough-on-crime era to a path where even the staunchest Republicans are calling 
for reforms.

The CEDP was part of the push that forced Illinois Gov. George Ryan to openly 
admit that the death penalty was "broken" and filled with errors. His admission 
led to the first moratorium on capital punishment, the clearing out of 
Illinois’ death row and the eventual abolition of the death penalty in the 
state.

In what ways was the CEDP different from other groups you encountered in 
organizing against the death penalty?

I began working with the CEDP in 1998 when its national director, Marlene 
Martin, responded to one of the many letters I sent out from my cell on death 
row.

I was seeking assistance on a new idea I had to form what we called "the Death 
Row 10" - a group of prisoners on death row who had all been convicted after 
being tortured by Chicago police under the command of Jon Burge. She agreed to 
help us in any way she could.

Some of the CEDP members, including Joan Parkin, Alice Kim, Noreen McNulty, 
Julien Ball, Marlene and others, were also members of the International 
Socialist Organization. And in my opinion, what made them different than other 
anti-death penalty groups was their willingness to confront the so-called 
powers that be.

They weren't passive paper-pushers who sat in an office submissively until an 
execution was inevitable. They were proactive. They were hard-nosed activists 
who had no problem organizing our families and friends, or networking with 
other people and groups for rallies and protests.

And what I liked the most is they had no problem with face-to-face 
confrontations with police department officials, Chicago's Mayor Richard M. 
Daley, or Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine, and later Anita Alvarez. No 
one was off-limits from their opposition.

The CEDP came around at the time when we needed someone to think outside of the 
box and take our fight to the street - to the people. And their grassroots 
organizing was our number-one fighting tool. It was the main weapon that kept 
politicians and public officials back-peddling and running for cover.

What conclusions did you draw about how we need to organize against the 
criminal justice system and racism?

I can understand why some groups feel the need to organize among themselves, 
with African Americas separate from whites and others. Their fears and 
suspicions are real, but it must not serve as the reason to isolate your group 
from organizing with like-minded people and groups.

Our fight to expose the Chicago police torture scandal, the death penalty, and 
the broken, corrupt, racist criminal justice system involved people of all 
races - the human family - networking and fighting as one.


That's how people fought together to help abolish slavery and bring an end to 
Jim Crow, and that's how they stood on the front lines with my blood family to 
save my life when I was about to be lynched on Illinois' death row.

Our brothers and sisters who are carrying the torch and standing on the front 
lines today need to understand that in the era of Trump and Jeff Sessions, we 
need all hands on deck for battle. Nothing should divide our human family in 
the fight for political, social and economic justice - because divide is 
exactly what Trump is trying to do. We must stand and fight together.

I've been really motivated and inspired by those who are carrying the torch 
today. I've seen them standing and demanding justice for Trayvon Martin, Mike 
Brown, Laquan McDonald and so many others. And I can close my eyes and still 
hear all of them screaming as one: "Hands up, don't shoot," "I can't breathe" 
and "16 shots and a cover-up."

I saw a young white woman activist lose her life in Charlotteville, Virginia, 
standing up against white hatred. My days behind bars are soon coming to an 
end, and I will be marching and shouting in solidarity with you.

How did you, as an individual, change, learn, grow and develop as a result of 
being involved with the CEDP?

Working with the CEDP and members of the ISO was a crash course in activism for 
me. They opened my eyes to a lot of things I didn't know about or care about - 
causes that were bigger than my personal fight to save my life.

I saw people dying because they couldn't afford medication or health insurance. 
I saw how poor folks are housed and educated, compared to those at the top of 
the food chain. I saw how top 1 % robs the bottom 99 % out of most of the 
world's wealth without shame.

I saw million of children dying of starvation while only a few people together 
had hundreds of billions in wealth. I saw the injustices surrounding mass 
incarceration and how the school-to-prison pipeline worked. I saw the unjust 
and racist manner in which the death penalty was being ued in this country.

And I saw how this rigged system was being controlled by the same 2 political 
parties that drive this country into the ground, while the rich get richer (and 
all the tax breaks) and the poor get poorer.

The CEDP gave me the opportunity to use my voice to speak out from my cell on 
death row.

I was given my own column, called "Keeping It Real," in the CEDP's newsletter 
The New Abolitionist. And I participated in many "Live from Death Row" events, 
where I was able to call in and speak to audiences around the country about the 
death penalty, my life on death row and the Chicago police torture scandal.

I loved being able to interact with the audience, where they were able to ask 
me questions - most had a hard time believing that cops were torturing suspects 
in Chicago to obtain so-called confessions.

I grew and changed so much that when George W. Bush kicked off the war in Iraq 
in 2003, right after I was released from death row based on innocence, I 
started a group called "Prisoners Against the War" while I was in Statesville 
prison.

Working with the military resisters in New York City and ISO members Thomas 
Barton and Alan Stalzer, prisoners were able to send letters to the troops in 
Iraq and Afghanistan. We wanted them to know that we supported them 100 %, but 
were against the war and wanted them to come home safely.

I hated that warmongers were able to send our brothers and sisters, mothers and 
fathers, onto battlefields to kill each other when we're all part of the same 
human family.

I've been forever changed because I was taught that I have an obligation and 
duty to get in the fight. There will be no standing on the sidelines and hoping 
that things will get better - I had to get in the fight in some form or fashion 
to make it better.

Thanks for giving me this opportunity. I'll see you all on the front lines real 
soon.

(source: socialistworker.org)








NEBRASKA:

Lincoln Co. prosecutors seek death penalty in child abuse death



Lincoln County prosecutors on Thursday filed a Bill of Particulars to have a 
death penalty option, upon conviction, against 2 charged in the murder of a 
Lincoln County toddler.

The toddler's mother, Judith C. Danker, 19, and her reported boyfriend, 
Khristian T. Martzall, 27, both face a charge of murder in the 1st-degree, 
child abuse.

They are accused in the May death of Danker's son, Braxton, who prosecutors say 
suffered "horrendous" injuries.

Pottawatomie/Lincoln County First Assistant District Attorney Adam Panter said 
this was the worst case of child abuse he's ever seen.

The death penalty "is the the only true justice for Braxton," he said.

"Braxton spent his last days of life suffering," Panter said. "Both of them are 
responsible..."

Panter said filing the death penalty request, which outlines aggravating 
circumstances, such as the heinous nature of the crime, gives the jury an 
option choose whether the death penalty is a possible punishment for the 
defendants, if convicted.

The child lived with his mother and her boyfriend in Wellston, Panter said, and 
the mother was reportedly rushing the child to the closest Emergency Room in 
Edmond when an ambulance met them en route and transported the child, who died 
a short time later.

"The child had physical injuries all over his body," Panter said.

Panter called the injuries "horrendous," and said they included open sores all 
over the child’s body, including some that were gangrenous. The boy also was 
covered in bruises, he said, and also had a "serious head injury."

Both defendants, who remain jailed in Lincoln County, were initially scheduled 
for preliminary hearings on Thursday, but those have been re-scheduled for 
November.

(source: Pawhuska Capital-Journal)








OKLAHOMA:

Prosecutors seeking the death penalty in murder, kidnapping case



Prosecutors in Pontotoc County are seeking the death penalty against a 
19-year-old man accused in the kidnapping and murder of a 70-year-old woman.

In January of 2017, authorities say 19-year-old Kalup Born kidnapped 
70-year-old Brenda Carter from her home in Ada at knife-point. Investigators 
allege that Born stole Carter's car before crashing it into a creek.

According to a news release from the Pontotoc County District Attorney Paul 
Smith, the crash dropped Carter 12 to 15 feet onto a wet, rocky creek bed. 
Carter was left with severe injuries to her hip and pelvis.

Following the crash, investigators say Born left Carter there to die.

Ultimately, Carter was found and rushed to the hospital. However, she succumbed 
to her injuries almost five months after the incident.

Born also allegedly broke into 2 more homes and multiple cars before a final 
stop.

Pontotoc County Sheriff John Christian said Born then broke into and set 
another home on fire with an elderly couple inside. The couple survived, 
however their home was a total loss.

Now, Born is facing 11 counts including burglary, assault, kidnapping, larceny 
and murder.

Prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty in the case, but a current 
case pending in the United States Supreme Court may have implications on this 
case since Born was an enrolled tribal member when the crimes were allegedly 
committed.

Born's arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.

(source: KFOR news)