[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., GA., OHIO, ARK., MO., ORE.

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 24



NORTH CAROLINA:

Alamance DA seeks death penalty against 2 of 4 Gone Fishing suspects



Shamar Ramel Holloway, 35, and Jimal Edward Jenkins, 28, could face the death 
penalty if they go to trial in the murder of a security guard at a North Church 
Street sweepstakes parlor in April.

The Alamance County District Attorney's Office announced its intention to seek 
the death penalty against those 2 defendants in the Gone Fishing robbery murder 
in so-called "Rule 24" hearings Monday, Oct. 22.

Prosecutors said they would not seek capital punishment against 2 other 
defendants in that case, Anthony Lamar Cason, 23, and Tanesha Annette Jeffries, 
24.

Michael Thomas Le, 25, was shot dead in the robbery of Gone Fishing 
Sweepstakes, 1365 N. Church St., Burlington, where he was a security guard.

Police responding to Gone Fishing Sweepstakes after 9 p.m. Sunday, April 8, 
found an employee and a patron suffering from head wounds, and Le suffering 
from a single gunshot wound. Le was pronounced dead upon arrival at Alamance 
Regional Medical Center, and the employee and patron were left with bruising 
and swelling to their heads.

On April 17, police caught up with Cason and Jenkins. Jeffries was arrested 
Friday, April 20. Burlington police arrested Holloway in High Point on April 25 
with the help of the State Bureau of Investigation, High Point and Greensboro 
police.

There are 141 people now on death row, according to the state Department of 
Public Safety. No one has been executed since 2006 partly because of 
cruel-and-unusual punishment arguments against the lethal-injection cocktail, 
and the state Medical Board objects to doctors participating in executions. It 
is widely considered a de facto moratorium.

This makes 5 pending death-penalty trials in Alamance County.

Sean Damion Castorina, 43, and Penny Michelle Dawson, 41, are accused of 
killing Harold D. Simpson, 84, in rural Caswell County in August 2017, then 
fleeing to Virginia where, according to the District Attorney's Office, they 
shot a woman and left her for dead. Ultimately they were arrested in Fergus 
Falls, Minn.

The oldest pending capital case is that of Cesar "Chilango" Torres Acevedo, 37, 
accused of setting Juan Mario Martinez Trujillo, 56, of Hillsborough on fire 
the evening of June 13, 2015, in an alleged drug dispute. Trujillo died the 
following Aug. 24 as a result of his injuries.

State law requires evidence of at least one of 11 aggravating factors in a 
murder case before prosecutors can pursue capital punishment, like committing 
the crime while incarcerated, or against a law-enforcement officer, or in the 
furtherance of a violent crime like rape, or for financial gain, or for an 
crime that was "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel."

(source: The Times-News)








GEORGIA:

Hearings in 1987 death penalty case re-trial set for this week



More than 200 motions have been filed in the lead-up to a hearing this week for 
Timothy Tyrone Foster, who is being re-tried on a murder charge in Floyd County 
Superior Court.

At a preliminary hearing in February, the 50-year-old entered a not guilty plea 
to charges of murder and burglary. At the same hearing, the state expressed its 
intent to seek the death penalty.

Foster was sentenced to death for the murder of retired school teacher Queen 
Madge White during a 1986 burglary at her home at Highland Circle - he was 18 
at the time. The 79-year-old woman had been hit in the head and face, breaking 
her jaw, and was molested before being strangled to death.

The re-trial was prompted by his 1987 murder conviction being overturned by the 
U.S. Supreme Court 2 years ago, on the grounds of black jurors being excluded 
from his original trial.

Then-district attorney Steve Lanier, who died this year, struck off all 4 black 
potential jurors before the trial. By filing an open records request for the 
prosecutors' trial notes, Foster's lawyers discovered notes from an 
investigator in the DA's office which the Supreme Court ruled pointed toward 
the specific exclusion of those jurors based on race.

On June 13, attorneys from the Georgia Public Defender Council representing 
Foster filed more than 100 motions. Earlier this month, the District Attorney's 
Office filed responses to counter each of the motions.

Included in the motions from the defense are calls for the indictment to be 
dismissed on the grounds of the makeup of the grand jury being 
unconstitutional; for the state to choose either malice murder or felony murder 
in charging Foster; and for the imposition of the death penalty and the use of 
lethal injection for the execution to be deemed unconstitutional. Another 
motion also seeks the barring of the death penalty as a possible sentencing 
outcome, on the basis it is "cruel and unjust."

The hearing is expected to last 2 days.

Foster is currently being held without bond in Floyd County Jail, which he was 
moved to from the state's death row in Jackson in March 2017.

(source: northwestgeorgianews.com)








OHIO:

Warren County man could face death penalty in sister's killing



The trial of a South Lebanon man who could face the death penalty if convicted 
of murdering his sister began Monday in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

Judges Joe Kirby, Donald Oda II and Robert Peeler, rather than a jury, will 
decide if Christopher Kirby, 38, should be sentenced to death for allegedly 
murdering his adoptive sister, Deborah Power, and badly beating her husband, 
Ronnie Power, at the home they shared with Kirby, his wife and children in 
South Lebanon.

"This is really a story about drugs," defense lawyer John Kaspar said during 
opening statements.

Kirby is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, murder, felonious 
assault, grand theft and tampering with evidence.

He is alleged to have committed these crimes in September 2017 to fund his and 
his wife's heroin habit after Deborah Power changed the password on her bank 
card.

In April, Jacqueline "Jackie" Kirby, 31, was sentenced to 3 years on probation 
for her part in the case and ordered her to enter the Women's Recovery Center, 
an outpatient substance abuse program in Xenia.

The trial, which is expected to last into next week, is scheduled to resume at 
9 a.m. today.

On Monday morning, Assistant County Prosecutor John Arnold said the extended 
family, all living in the South Lebanon home where the alleged crime occurred, 
relied on Social Security payments.

"The only source of income for the household was Social Security," Arnold said 
in his opening statement.

Arnold said prosecutors would show the 3-judge panel that Kirby should be 
sentenced to death for his crimes.

"While he presented part of the story, it's not the whole story," Kaspar told 
the judges in his opening statement.

Kaspar said the case would also demonstrate the poverty of their conditions and 
"the vital importance of a $290 check."

Prosecutors called the 911 operator who took the initial call from Kirby's 
8-year-old son after his parents had left in the Powers' truck, allegedly 
leaving Ronnie Power with a bad head wound and Deborah Power's body under 
blankets in a locked room.

A number of deputies were also called to begin to develop the chain of evidence 
designed to prove Kirby was guilty of the capital crime.

Testimony indicated that at the house, before being taken to the University of 
Cincinnati Hospital in West Chester, a bleeding Ronnie Power said he had fallen 
and hit his head.

The Kirbys were found later at the hospital in West Chester.

Testimony indicated they drove there after buying and using heroin in 
Cincinnati. Ronnie Power was initially treated at this hospital before being 
taken to another hospital.

The prosecutors also called a video expert to map the Kirbys' movements after 
leaving the house, and LCNB bank officials testified to show the bank card 
number had been changed after Deborah Power visited the bank about her 
overdrawn account.

Still, Deborah Power had not mounted a formal complaint or filed a police 
report against her adoptive brother or his wife.

"She was going to address it and I guess get back to me," Christina Harris, 
manager of the bank's South Lebanon branch, said.

The trial is to resume this morning and continue into next week.

(source: Dayton Daily News)

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

Ohio Supreme Court hears case of inmate who killed girlfriend's parents



The Ohio Supreme Court has set oral arguments in the case of a man convicted of 
killing his ex-girlfriend's parents with a sledgehammer 10 days after stabbing 
their daughter.

Shawn Ford Jr. was convicted by a Summit County jury in 2015 of aggravated 
murder and other charges in the slayings of Margaret and Jeffrey Schobert 2 
years earlier.

That same jury recommended the 24-year-old Ford receive the death penalty for 
killing Margaret Schobert, and the judge agreed.

Death penalty cases in Ohio are automatically appealed to the state Supreme 
Court, which has set arguments for Jan. 8.

Defense attorneys unsuccessfully argued that Ford's low IQ should have 
prevented the judge from sentencing their client to death.

(source: Associated Press)








ARKANSAS----jury rejects death penalty

Jury picks life sentence for Arkansas man convicted in death



An Arkansas man convicted in the torture, sexual assault and killing of a 
24-year-old woman has been spared the death penalty and sentenced instead to 
life in prison.

Mark Edward Chumley is 1 of 5 people accused in the 2015 killing of Victoria 
Annabeth Davis. Prosecutors say the group, which includes Davis' husband, 
sexually assaulted the woman and connected her body to a battery charger before 
beating her to death with baseball bats.

Witnesses testified that Chumley thought Davis was trying to implicate him on 
criminal charges.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that a jury convicted Chumley 
last week of capital murder and sentenced him Monday to life in prison. 
Chumley's attorneys had pleaded with jurors to spare his life, saying Chumley's 
choices were affected by long-term methamphetamine abuse.

(source: Associated Press)








MISSOURI:

Supreme Court Update- Bucklew vs. Precythe



On November 6th, the Supreme Court will take up the case of Russell Bucklew, 
whom the state of Missouri seeks to execute for the 1996 murder of Michael 
Sanders. In the current case, Bucklew doesn't contest his guilt, nor does he 
claim that Missouri's lethal-injection protocol is in itself "cruel and 
unusual." His is what lawyers call an "as applied" challenge. What that means 
is this: Though lethal injection may pass muster for most executions, he 
argues, in his individual case, because of his unusual physical condition, the 
injection will cause him intense and intolerable pain. He suffers from a rare 
medical condition call cavernous hemangioma. Since his blood vessels are 
affected, he says, those administering the drugs will probably have to use a 
lengthy and painful procedure called a "cutdown" before the drugs can be 
administered, prolonging the agony.

The Nov. 6 oral argument comes as executions across the country have gone awry, 
leading to potentially painful episodes for inmates. It’s more than the 
Constitution can tolerate, they've argued with little success. On October 17th 
a group of former executioners filed an amicus - or "friend of the court" - 
brief with the justices to share firsthand reflections on administering the 
ultimate punishment. You can read the brief from this unlikely group of allies 
here: http://src.bna.com/CwQ

They want the court "to consider not only the immorality of executing a man 
using cruel and unusual means, but also the harm to public servants who 
participate in such an act." They emphasize "the heavy burden that executions 
place on the people who must carry them out - a burden that becomes intolerable 
when, as here, there is a grave risk that a botched execution will result in 
excessive pain and suffering."

It leads some employees to substance abuse and to experience "symptoms of 
post-traumatic stress including depression, flashbacks, nightmares, pain with 
no known physical origin, and dissociative disorders." But the burden will be 
especially heavy if the state has its way here, they contend. There’s a 
"substantial probability that the process will be lengthy and will end only 
when Mr. Bucklew either suffocates or drowns in his own blood," the former 
officials warn. When an execution results "in unnecessary pain and suffering, 
the burden of participation becomes unbearable."

For more information on Russell Bucklew and other Missouri Death Row inmates 
visit: www.madpmo.org

(source: change.org)








OREGON:

Lawyer for MAX attack suspect will argue against death penalty----2 of the 
victims, 53-year-old Ricky John Best and 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin 
Namkai-Meche, were killed.



A pre-trial hearing for self-proclaimed white supremacist Jeremy Christian 
began Monday in which his attorney will argue against a potential death 
penalty.

On Monday, the closest Christian's defense lawyers got to arguing against the 
death penalty was a motion to disallow victim impact evidence and aggravating 
evidence in the penalty phase of the trial, should it come to that.

In the following days, the defense will argue that capital punishment is 
unconstitutional in Oregon, based on several principles, including that lethal 
injection can cause severe pain. The lawyer will also argue that Christian has 
mental health issues.

The hearing is expected to last 3 days. There are 51 items on the pretrial 
agenda, a majority brought by Christian's defense attorneys. The murder trial 
for Christian is set for June 2019.

Unlike past appearances, during Monday's hearing, Christian remained calm.

On May 26, 2017, Christian spewed hate speech at 2 black teenage girls on a MAX 
train in Portland, and then allegedly stabbed 3 men who stepped in to 
intervene.

2 of the victims, 53-year-old Ricky John Best and 23-year-old Taliesin Myrddin 
Namkai-Meche, were killed. The 3rd victim, 21-year-old Micah Fletcher, was 
wounded but survived.

Police say Christian confessed to the killings.

Before the fatal attack, Christian was arrested multiple times over a decade 
and a half. The day before the stabbings he was accused of throwing a bottle of 
Gatorade at a black woman on a MAX train.

Christian was also thrown out of an alt-right event in Portland in April 2017 
for making racist comments.

(source: KEZI news)