[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., ALA., TENN., ARK., IDAHO, CALIF., WASH.

[Rick Halperin]

October 21




TEXAS:

Murder-for-hire suspect faces trial in plot against Dallas dentist slain in 
Uptown parking garage



A trial begins Monday for the suspected triggerman in a murder-for-hire plot 
that left a pediatric dentist dead in Uptown Dallas and made the woman accused 
of orchestrating the scheme an international fugitive.

Authorities say Kristopher Love was hired to rob Kendra Hatcher by Brenda 
Delgado, the jilted lover of the victim's boyfriend.

Hatcher, 35, was found dead Sept. 2, 2015, shot in the head in the parking 
garage of her Uptown apartment complex.

Love, 34, could face the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. Dallas 
County hasn't sent anyone to death row since 2013.

The suspect is likely the only person connected to Hatcher's death who could 
face the death penalty.

That's because Delgado fled the country shortly after the slaying and was 
captured in Mexico in April 2016. She is not eligible for capital punishment as 
part of the extradition agreement with Mexico.

The suspected getaway driver, 26-year-old Crystal Cortes, is also charged with 
capital murder, but the Dallas County district attorney's office has not filed 
to seek the death penalty in her case.

Prosecutors in Dallas County sought the death penalty twice last year: for a 
man who killed 3 people at a drug house and for Erbie Lee Bowser, a former Mavs 
ManiAAC who killed his girlfriend and estranged wife and both women's 
daughters.

Jurors deadlocked on whether Bowser should be put to death, and he received a 
sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

In the other case, jurors appeared deadlocked on punishment when Justin Pharez 
Smith took responsibility for his actions to spare his life. In 2013, 3 people 
were sent to death row by Dallas County jurors.

Hatcher, 35, was slain in September 2015. Police suspect her boyfriend's 
ex-girlfriend was involved in the murder plot, affidavits show. (Provided by 
family)

Across the state, juries have opted for capital punishment in just over 1/2 of 
the death penalty cases presented since 2015. Texas jurors have sent 4 people 
to death row this year but declined to condemn 2 others to death.

Kristin Houle, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death 
Penalty, said it's "disappointing" that the Dallas County district attorney 
continues to seek capital punishment.

"It also is troubling that all of the individuals for whom prosecutors in 
Dallas have sought the death penalty since 2012 are African-American, 
perpetuating concerns about racial bias in the application of capital 
punishment," Houle said in a written statement.

Dallas County prosecutors also plan to seek the death penalty against a man who 
was sent to death row once already.

Hector Medina was granted a new punishment trial by the Texas Court of Criminal 
Appeals last year. He was convicted in 2008 for killing his children in revenge 
after their mother left him.

Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson has said her office considers the 
death penalty on a case-by-case basis for the worst offenders.

Love, who has a lengthy criminal history in Tennessee, admitted to 
investigators that he was involved in the robbery of Hatcher, according to 
arrest affidavits.

Prosecutors have filed documents detailing Love's criminal history, dating to 
just before his 17th birthday.

Love has been convicted of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery and burglary 
of a building. Records show he has also fled police, failed to appear in court, 
stolen vehicles and possessed a weapon despite being a convicted felon.

In the months before Love was arrested in Hatcher's slaying, he was using 
drugs, "facilitating the offense of prostitution" and distributed "illegal 
substances," according to court records.

Love also has several tattoos "representing violent behavior," prosecutors 
wrote.

One of his tattoos says "1 MAN ARMY" over an image of an AK-47 surrounded by 
bullet holes. He is also tattooed with "Life or Death" and has an image of a 
revolver tattooed on his waist, court records show.

On the night of Hatcher's death, surveillance video captured an image of a 1996 
Jeep Cherokee leaving the garage at the Gables Park 17 apartments. The Jeep was 
linked to Delgado, who told police she had loaned the vehicle to Cortes, 
according to police records.

But Cortes told police that Delgado promised to pay her $500 for her role as 
the getaway driver in a robbery. Cortes said she drove a man she only knew as 
"Kris" to the garage. He got out of the Jeep, shot Hatcher and returned to the 
vehicle with 2 purses, records show.

Before the slaying, Cortes asked Love how much he was being paid to rob 
Hatcher, investigators say. He told her it was "none of her business," the 
records show.

After the shooting, Cortes said Love told her she and her son "would be next," 
records show.

Love was later linked to Delgado, and police found the murder weapon, a 
.40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol, under the front seat of his car, police say.

Authorities believe Delgado was jealous of Hatcher. The dentist had started 
dating Ricardo Paniagua in the months before her death.

Friends told The Dallas Morning News at the time that Delgado seemed obsessed 
with Paniagua, whom she dated for 2 years. Delgado was upset when she saw 
social media posts showing Paniagua had taken Hatcher to San Francisco, where 
his parents lived.

Many of Hatcher's posts are still online, showing the couple riding in a 
go-kart in San Francisco and on a tandem bike in Golden Gate Park.

There are photos of the smiling couple posted just days before Hatcher was 
killed.

After Hatcher's slaying, Paniagua closed his dermatology practice in Dallas to 
move to California, where he lives now.

(source: Dallas Morning News)








NORTH CAROLINA:

DA explains the process on whether to seek death penalty in trooper shooting



The decision on whether to seek the death penalty in the fatal shooting of 
Trooper Kevin Conner will be based on several factors, during which District 
Attorney Jon David is asking people for calm and to trust in the process.

"While many people are clamoring for immediate answers and swift justice, our 
system is designed to provide for a slow and deliberate process to ensure 
fairness," Jon David said in a news release. "Ultimately, our decision to seek 
the death penalty must rest on firm footing, both legally and factually, and 
speak throughout time."

Under North Carolina law, District Attorneys have the sole discretion to seek 
the death penalty when someone is charged with 1st degree murder. The State may 
do so only where there is the existence of one or more aggravating factors.

David said he will meet with several senior Assistant District Attorneys on his 
staff to scrupulously review the evidence and decide whether sufficient 
evidence exists to warrant a death penalty designation.

"In doing so, we will utilize the same process and procedure that we always 
employ in making a decision of this magnitude involving cases of 1st degree 
murder. If we believe the death penalty is appropriate, we will petition the 
court, which will make the final determination," David said.

Davis said his office must wait until the incident has been extensively 
investigated and all facts fully developed. He also wants to meet with Trooper 
Conner's family prior to making any decision and let them have a voice. His 
office has spoken with the family and agreed they would not meet until after 
the funeral.

Conner was shot twice early Wednesday morning during a traffic stop on HWY 701 
in Columbus County.

Investigators say Conner pulled over a white truck for speeding. The driver, 
Raheem Davis, 20, allegedly fired several shots and drove off, leading to a 
manhunt that ended in Fair Bluff.

Conner later died at the hospital.

Davis appeared in court Wednesday afternoon and was held without bond.

A funeral for Trooper Conner is being held on Sunday at South Columbus High 
School. The viewing is from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The funeral starts at 4 p.m.

(source: WWAY news)








ALABAMA:

Death penalty appeals could move somewhat faster in federal court



There are currently 18 death row appeals making their way through the U.S. 
District Court’s Middle District of Alabama. Little progress has been made on 
the appeals due to a shortage of district judges. However, with the recent 
addition of judges, the death row appeals are being granted expedited reviews 
and could take a quicker pace.

Below are summaries of 3 local cases that have seen some recent movement:

Jerry Devane Bryant

Bryant was convicted in 1998 of capital murder in the 1997 shooting death of 
Donald Hollis. Testimony at trial indicated Hollis and his cousin traveled to 
Dothan and encountered Bryant and another man. Both were strangers to Hollis, 
according to testimony. Hollis and his cousin invited the 2 men into their 
vehicle and cruised "the bottoms" in Dothan on Jan. 27, 1997.

At some point, the other 2 men separated from Bryant and Hollis. The next day, 
Hollis' cousin contacted police to inquire about Hollis. Authorities later 
found Hollis’ body off a road in Florida, but testimony indicated Hollis had 
been shot 3 times in the head at close range near Pettus Street in Dothan.

Bryant was charged with capital murder because police believe Hollis had been 
held against his will prior to the killing.

Attorneys for Bryant are challenging both the conviction and death penalty 
sentence. First, attorneys argue there is little to no evidence Hollis was held 
against his will and that Hollis was willingly with Bryant because he was 
seeking drugs and sex. The appeal further claims Bryant's indictment was 
inadequate because it did not spell out the aggravating circumstances that were 
being used to make his case a capital case, and that the court failed to 
approve special verdict forms for the jury to indicate the jurors signed off on 
the aggravating circumstances. The appeal also claims ineffective assistance of 
counsel.

James Earl Walker

Walker and co-defendant Rex Allen Beckworth were convicted for the Jan. 5, 
2000, killing of Bessie Lee Thweatt near Wicksburg. According to police reports 
and trial testimony, Walker and stepbrother Beckworth broke through Thweatt's 
dining room window with a cinder block to gain entry to her residence after 
disabling her security light and telephone lines. She was beaten severely and 
shot with a .22-caliber rifle. A trial witness testified Walker was the 
shooter.

The petition argues the state's witness who identified Walker as the trigger 
man may have had an ulterior motive to testify falsely against Walker and that 
defense counsel did not explore the witness' motives completely during cross 
examination, nor did they explore his history of "untruthfulness." The state's 
position in its response that all claims have been argued previously and are 
without merit.

Walker's federal appeal is relatively young (May 13, 2016) and cases are being 
taken in the order they were originally filed.

James Donald Yeomans

On January 20, 2000, a Geneva County grand jury indicted Yeomans on one count 
of murder committed during the course of a robbery and 3 counts of murder for 
killing 2 or more victims pursuant to 1 course of conduct, in connection with 
the deaths of his wife and parents; Jake Simmons, Julie Anil Yeomans, and 
Sylvia Lucinda Simmons.

A witness testified during trial that on Nov. 22, 1999, he left the house at 
6:30 a.m., leaving his parents, Julie, and her 3 children in the kitchen. He 
returned home at 11:30 a.m. to have lunch, and he noticed that a window on his 
mother's automobile had been broken. When he entered through the back door of 
the house he immediately noticed that a shotgun, which was usually kept in a 
bedroom closet, was lying across a chair in the den near the back door. As the 
witness walked into the house, he saw his mother's purse on the table, so he 
walked toward the living room to see whether anyone else was home. He then saw 
his mother just inside the living room doorway, covered in blood. His father 
was on the living room floor, also covered in blood. He left the house and 
drove to the police station; he had not seen the body of his sister, Julie.

Yeomans has already been unsuccessful on several appeals and the U.S. Supreme 
Court declined to hear his appeal in 2016.

In his most recent appeal filed in federal court, attorneys for Yeomans argue 
that trial counsel failed to develop his defenses of self-defense and mental 
disease or defect. They also argue he is intellectually disabled and ineligible 
for the death penalty and further argue that trial counsel should have moved 
the case from Geneva County due to pretrial publicity.

(source: al.com)








TENNESSEE:

Carter County man charged with 2017 murder of elderly woman up for death 
penalty----Trial moved to Jan. 2020



A Carter County man charged with the murder of an elderly woman is up for the 
death penalty, and recently saw his trial get moved to 2020.

Chad Benfield, 45, is currently being held in the Carter County Dention Center 
after being charged with the murder of 89-year old Mary Nolan in 2017 in the 
Stoney Creek Community. .

Benfield appeared in Carter County Criminal Court on Wednesday, Oct. 17, and 
saw his trial date get moved to Jan. 6, 2020. The court case is expected to 
last from Jan. 6-17.

Officials with the Carter County Criminal Court added that the motion hearing 
for Benfield is expected to take place March 26.

The state announced 2 months ago they will seek the death penalty against 
Benfield.

(source: WJHL news)








ARKANSAS:

Jury delivers verdict in Fayetteville murder trial



The jury in the Mark Chumley trial returned with a guilty verdict on Friday 
evening. Sentencing will begin Monday at 9:00 a.m.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The jury began deliberations Thursday in the murder trial of Chumley, and his 
involvement in the 2015 beating death of a Fayetteville woman, Victoria "Tori" 
Davis.

In closing arguments heard on Friday, Washington County Prosecuting Attorney 
Matt Durrett said that Chumley was the "ring leader" in organizing Davis' 
death.

Davis' body was found inside an abandoned home on property that belonged to 
Chumley. Police said she was beaten with baseball bats, sexually assaulted and 
electrocuted.

According to the autopsy report, Davis died from blunt force trauma.

On Thursday, the first 2 witnesses the prosecution called were members of the 
Fayetteville Police Department who described the scene where Davis' body was 
found and the evidence obtained.

The jury also heard some of the gruesome details of the murder from people who 
police identified as the other suspects in the cases including - Davis' husband 
John "Christopher" Davis, Desiree Treat and Chris Treat.

In court, the witnesses testified that Chumley had ordered them to beat and 
torture Victoria Davis. They said Chumley called Davis a "snitch" and that she 
was telling authorities lies about him.

On Friday, the prosecution played for the jury Chumley's recorded interview 
with Fayetteville Detective Garrett Levine. In it, Chumley told Levine that he 
was upset with Davis because she was trying to get a meth lab set up on his 
property and that she knew about the molestation of another young girl, but 
failed to report it. He told the detective that he took part in her beating, 
but didn't kill her.

Defense attorneys called a representative from the Arkansas State Crime Lab to 
the stand, who testified that Chumley's DNA was not found on the baseball bat 
submitted to evidence.

The defense admitted Chumley took part in beating Davis; however, told jurors 
that the role he played had been "exaggerated" by the prosecution, and that 
Chumley did not order her killed.

This was Chumley's 2nd trial on these charges. The original trial in May was 
declared a mistrial after a witness mentioned that Chumley was a convicted 
felon.

Chumley declined a plea deal of life in prison, choosing instead to proceed 
with the trial.

The state is seeking the death penalty.

(source: 4029tv.com)








IDAHO:

Prosecutors to seek death penalty in mass-stabbing case



After deliberating for nearly 2 months, prosecutors announced Thursday they 
will seek the death penalty in the case of Boise's mass stabbing suspect. Idaho 
Press reporter Tommy Simmons writes that prosecutors had 60 days from Aug. 28, 
when Timmy Kinner Jr., 30, stood silent in court, to decide if they wanted to 
pursue the death penalty against him.

"After careful consideration, we have concluded that pursuing the death penalty 
is appropriate in this case," Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts said in a 
statement. "It is important that we preserve the integrity of the case and let 
the criminal justice process take its course to ensure Mr. Kinner is afforded 
due process and receives a fair trial."

Kinner is charged with 13 crimes, including 1st-degree murder, in connection 
with the events of June 30, when police and prosecutors say he stabbed 9 people 
- all refugees, 6 of them children - at a Boise apartment complex. One of those 
children, Ruya Kadir, 3, died as a result of her injuries. You can read 
Simmons' full report here at idahopress.com.

(source: idahopress.com)








CALIFORNIA:

Not guilty plea for man accused of killing, robbing East Vista 
businessman----Accomplice wanted in East Village killing



An ex-con accused of killing the proprietor of an East Village 
flooring-materials store during a robbery pleaded not guilty Friday to a murder 
charge that could lead to the death penalty if he's convicted.

Kevin Eugene Cartwright, 51, was ordered held on $5 million bail in the death 
of 49-year-old Ghedeer "Tony'' Radda of El Cajon.

An accomplice, a woman wearing a purple wig, remains at large.

Cartwright faces a charge of murder with special circumstance allegations of 
murder during a robbery and murder during a burglary.

If the defendant is found guilty, District Attorney Summer Stephan will decide 
whether he will face life in prison without the possibility of parole or 
capital punishment.

Radda, a married father of 2 young children, was fatally shot at his Bottom 
Price Flooring store on G Street about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 10.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Greco called the attack on Radda "a 
calculated, violent and lethal ambush.''

Radda was lured into a back room by the woman in a purple wig, Greco said. 
Cartwright then allegedly came into the room, shot Radda multiple times and 
took money from the register, the prosecutor said.

Cartwright escaped on foot and the woman drove off in his car, according to 
Greco.

San Diego police released a security camera image of the woman and the 2nd 
robber, who wore a mask looking like an old woman's hair and wrinkled face.

Homicide detectives arrested Cartwright in El Cajon on Wednesday

Greco said Cartwright went to prison for 10 years for a series of 8 robberies 
in 1989 and was sent back to prison in 2005 after being convicted of possession 
of drugs.

He's due back in court on Oct. 24 for a bail review. A status conference was 
scheduled for Nov. 15.

Authorities have asked anyone with information on the female suspect to call 
Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

(source: San Diego Union-Tribune)








WASHINGTON:

Death penalty: What to do about the Supreme Court's decision



The state Supreme Court has done the wrong thing for all the right reasons.

The court's unanimous decision on Washington's use of capital punishment was 
dramatic but not surprising. The clock has been ticking on Washington’s death 
penalty law since King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng took the death penalty off 
the table for one of America's most prolific serial killers, 15 years ago. Gary 
Ridgway admitted to killing 49 women, mostly prostitutes and runaways, and 
probably murdered upwards of 70. The plea arrangement did close the books on 
dozens of open cases linked to the "Green River Killer," with family members of 
the victims approving the deal. But it also severely undermined the statute. 
Every lawyer defending a guilty killer cites Ridgway as a reason for keeping 
their client alive.

Since then the death penalty law has been suffered a thousand cuts: Court 
restrictions on how it could be carried out; defense claims that getting a 
death penalty charge varied by which county the defendant is charged in; the 
difficulty of getting juries in liberal counties to unanimously agree on the 
death penalty even after finding the defendants guilty of atrocious aggravated 
murders; the sheer expense of multiple appeals that easily exceeded the cost of 
a life sentence; and of course racial disproportionality, which drove the 
court's decision to strike down the sentences of all 8 death row inmates in 
Washington, 3 of whom are Black. And some smaller counties did duck some death 
penalty cases because of the severe drain it could impose on their modest 
budgets. For all the headlines we got about the death penalty being struck down 
statewide, the reality is that in more than half the state it has essentially 
been null and void for years.The Supreme Court's decision was the coup de gras.

So now what?

There won't be further court action. This case was about whether a state law 
squared with the state constitution and the court said "no." There probably 
won't be a bill in the Legislature, either. It would likely not receive a 
hearing because Democrats control both chambers and will continue doing so 
after the mid-term elections. If it did get out of committee, it wouldn't 
survive a floor vote, and if that somehow happened, the governor would swiftly 
veto it.

Current momentum is pushing Washington to become the 20th state to do away with 
the death penalty once and for all. That would be hailed as a step forward by 
the legal establishment, the news media, academia, one major political party 
and a growing fraction of the other, and much of the government.

There is only one way to restore the death penalty in Washington: an initiative 
by the people.

Some people forget that it was an initiative that revived the death penalty in 
the 1970s. But a new ballot measure must address the Supreme Court's concerns 
while focusing on the "worst of the worst" kind of killers. Here's 1 idea:

A new death penalty law should apply only to those convicted of the aggravated 
murder of a child (which usually means killing a child after making her or him 
suffer hideously). In those instances, the death penalty would be mandatory. No 
discretion in sentencing. The issue of racial bias in sentencing (where a UW 
study contended that juries were more likely to sentence African American 
killers to death than white ones) would be taken off the table.

Further, if a county prosecutor wished to charge a defendant with the 
aggravated murder of a child, the state would pick up the expenses of the 
trial. This would eliminate the reality that some defendants escaped a death 
sentence because prosecutors worried about the costs for their small county.

Those 3 changes - limiting the death penalty to the aggravated murder of a 
child, making the sentence mandatory upon conviction, and arranging for the 
state to handle the costs (probably $2 to $8 million dollars a year in a $49 
billion budget), would give Washington a simple, streamlined death penalty 
statute that reserves execution for those who enjoy watching children suffer 
before killing them.

Why not settle for life without parole? Consider Charles Campbell and Wesley 
Allen Dodd, both of whom were executed in the ’90s.

As I've written previously, in the mid-'70s, Campbell raped a Clearview woman 
he chose at random, Renae Wicklund, threatening to slash her baby's throat with 
a knife if she refused him. He was caught, convicted and sent away, but less 
than 8 years later arranged a prison furlough, returned back to Wicklund's home 
and attacked her as she lay sick in bed. He beat and tortured her, then he 
slashed her throat. When Wicklund's daughter, now 8, came home from school, 
Campbell attacked her in the living room, dragged her into her mother's bedroom 
and forced her to look at her mother's body. Then he slashed her throat. 
Campbell also killed a neighbor woman who came by to visit. Charles Campbell's 
own mother said he deserved execution.

It would have been an injustice not to execute that man. Why would we have let 
him live into old age, getting whatever sick enjoyment he might have found in 
reliving the sadistic attack on an 8-year-old girl?

Same for Westley Allan Dodd, who was hung 25 years ago for stabbing 2 boys to 
death after tying them to a tree and molesting them, and for raping and killing 
a 4-year-old boy he abducted in Oregon. Dodd at least had the integrity to 
plead guilty, admit his sentence was just and refuse to appeal it. He 
acknowledged molesting dozens of boys since the age of 13, and said that he 
would do it again if he had the chance.

Putting men like that to death doesn't diminish the value of life, it makes a 
statement about the value of innocent life, particularly that of a child. It is 
fair, proportional and just.

It could also restore a bargaining chip for prosecutors who might be trying to 
find the whereabouts of a missing child, an option that vanished because of 
last week's Court action.

Opponents of the death penalty say that people are now tilting against it. 
There's 1 way of finding out: Put an initiative on next year's ballot mandating 
the death penalty for men who torture and kill children. That's the only poll 
that matters.

(source: Opinion, John Carlson hosts a morning drive show on AM 570 KVI. He is 
a co-founder of the Washington Policy Center in Seattle----crosscut.com)