[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., OHIO, TENN., MINN., COLO., WYO.

[Rick Halperin]

February 14




NORTH CAROLINA:

Adoptive parents of Erica Parsons, facing death penalty, due in court



The adoptive parents of Erica Parsons, accused of killing the girl in 2011, are 
due in court Thursday morning.

Thursday’s hearing could bring us one step closer to the trial for Casey and 
Sandy Parsons, who have been charged with 1st-degree murder. The couple is 
facing the death penalty in the high-profile case.

An autopsy found that 14-year-old Erica was abused, killed and her body hidden. 
Her remains were eventually recovered in 2016 in South Carolina -- more than 80 
miles from where she lived in Salisbury.

Thursday’s hearing is expected to focus on discovery and pre-trial motions. The 
prosecutor is expected to ask for a trial date to be set as well.

The judge overseeing the case previously granted defense attorneys more time to 
review evidence. Casey and Sandy Parsons are being represented by special 
public defenders experienced with death penalty cases.

The trial date would likely be set to begin early next year.

(source: WSOC news)








OHIO:

Ohio Man Pleads Not Guilty to Deputy Slaying Charges



A man who could face the death penalty if convicted pleaded not guilty 
Wednesday to charges he fatally shot an Ohio sheriff's deputy and tried to kill 
others during a standoff.

Wade Edward Winn, 23, was indicted this week on 2 counts of aggravated murder 
and 12 counts of attempted aggravated murder in Clermont County, just east of 
Cincinnati. Prosecutors have said Winn faked killing himself during a 12-hour 
standoff that began Feb. 2 at an apartment, then shot through a wall at 
deputies.

Clermont County deputy Bill Brewer died . Another officer was wounded in the 
leg.

Asked for his plea during Wednesday afternoon's arraignment, Winn replied: "Not 
guilty, your honor." Common Pleas Judge Anthony Brock ordered Winn held without 
bond and scheduled a Feb. 28 pretrial conference.

Brock said he would impose a gag order to limit pretrial publicity. He asked 
both sides to submit proposed wording for the order.

"Obviously, this is a very serious case, and this is a case that has great 
public interest," Brock said. Saying he wanted to disclose any facts that might 
raise questions about the court's impartiality, Brock cited a range of items 
including that he had contributed $20 to a fund to benefit the slain deputy's 
family and that he formerly regularly played basketball with one of the 
deputies who was shot at.

Earlier, he appointed Greg Meyers of the state public defender's office to lead 
Winn's defense after Clermont County public defenders cited possible conflicts 
of interest.

Winn spoke clearly as he answered the judge's questions about his rights, the 
charges against him and the potential penalties. The judge read each count of 
Tuesday's indictment to him along with death penalty specifications.

(source: Associated Press)








TENNESSEE:

Bill named for slain Tennessee cop would speed-up death sentence reviews



As Tennessee ramps up executions, the Republican-led Legislature is considering 
eliminating 1 state court's death sentence reviews.

Legislation named for fallen Dickson County Sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Baker would 
provide automatic state Supreme Court death penalty reviews, skipping 
Tennessee's Court of Criminal Appeals.

Prosecutors have said they're seeking death sentences for 2 people awaiting 
trial in Baker's May fatal shooting. His cruiser was set on fire with his body 
inside.

The bill's supporters include House Speaker Glen Casada and Senate Speaker 
Randy McNally, who said justice delayed 20 and 30 years isn't justice at all.

In 2017, a public defenders group estimated saving less than a year under the 
change.

Jeff Cherry of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which 
opposes the bill, said it's better to get the right result than a fast result.

(source: Associated Press)








MINNESOTA:

Attorneys of the Year: Douglas Tyrone Armstrong Death penalty Team



A team from Maslon LLP has earned a group Lawyer of the Year award for a 
12-year effort that has succeeded in removing a Texas prison inmate from death 
row.

The inmate, Douglas Tyrone Armstrong, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 
death in 2007, whereupon Maslon took up the case and began serving as 
Armstrong’s habeas counsel. Since then, the firm has committed thousands of 
attorney hours in an effort to provide the kind of legal assistance the man had 
not received previously.

Julian Zebot, a partner in the firm’s commercial-litigation group, said that 
the team quickly discovered that the Armstrong defense prior to the initial 
capital trial had been marked by serious deficiencies on the part of the 
court-appointed lawyer. In addition, the team uncovered new forensic evidence 
to support Armstrong’s claim of innocence.

The Maslon team thus filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, and in late 
2017, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated the death sentence and 
ordered a new trial. In March 2018, a trial court sentenced Armstrong to life 
imprisonment, but the Maslon team is continuing its fight for exoneration, 
appealing the conviction to the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Texas.

“I think I can speak for the team in saying that for a lot of us, it reinforced 
many of the reasons we decided to become lawyers in the first place—the 
opportunity to make a fundamental difference in our clients’ lives,” Zebot 
said. “This truly has been a team effort, and I couldn’t be more proud of my 
colleagues and partners here at Maslon for their dedication to this matter.”

(source: minnlawyer.com)








COLORADO:

Jared Polis Speaks With Colorado Matters



Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said Wednesday if lawmakers pass a proposal to end 
the state’s death penalty he’ll commute the sentence of convicted murderer 
Nathan Dunlap to life in prison.

“If the state, Republicans and Democrats, were to say, and I were to sign, a 
bill that said we no longer have the death penalty in Colorado … I would 
certainly take that as a strong indication that those who are currently on 
death row should have their sentences commuted to life in prison,” Polis said.

Dunlap was sentenced to death for murdering 4 people in Aurora in 1993. Polis’ 
predecessor, John Hickenlooper, favored the death penalty when he entered 
office but later changed his mind. As a result, he delayed Dunlap’s execution, 
but stopped short of commuting his sentence.

Because Democrats control both houses of the legislature, they could revoke the 
death penalty without Republican votes. However, Polis predicted the measure 
would win support from both sides of the aisle.

A death penalty bill is expected but hasn’t been introduced yet.

RW: Let's focus on criminal justice for a bit. A man who is sitting on death 
row, Nathan Dunlap, killed 4 people at an Aurora restaurant in 1993. Your 
predecessor, a fellow Democrat, John Hickenlooper, moved from favoring the 
death penalty to opposing it. And so he made sure Dunlap wasn't executed on his 
watch. But he did not go so far as to commute his sentence, saying he didn't 
want to foreclose on that possibility for a future governor. So the decision 
now rests on you. What will you do about Nathan Dunlap? JP: Well, what I have 
certainly said, during the campaign, is that if the legislature sends us a bill 
to eliminate the death penalty in Colorado, I would sign that bill. I think 
it's not cost effective, I think it's not an effective deterrent. And if the 
legislature were to abolish the death penalty, then I would strongly consider 
making sure that penalty that is no longer on the books in Colorado is not 
carried out for anybody who's in that process.

RW: That is to say, it's not just for those who might get serious sentences 
going forward, but you would apply that to those who had gotten capital 
sentences prior.

JP: Well, again, I don't know what exactly will be in the bill, but I would 
certainly view them together. If the State Republicans and Democrats were to 
say, and I were to sign a bill that said we no longer have the death penalty in 
Colorado, whether it's formally in the bill or not, I would certainly take that 
as a strong indication that those who are currently on death row should have 
their sentences commuted to life in prison.

RW: Though you wouldn't even need Republicans necessarily, because Democrats 
control both chambers.

JP: Well, it's always been a bipartisan issue. Obviously among the most 
outspoken opponents of the death penalty are the Catholic Church and many in 
the faith community.MO< RW: Do you think a bill like that will land on your 
desk this session? Or [crosstalk] ...

JP: Well you're asking me to prognosticate here?

RW: Or to tell me about conversations you've had.

JP: You know, I don't know Ryan. I'm not pundit. My job, it's clear to say 
where I stand. Please don't ask me to predict what the wonderful, thoughtful 
legislators on both sides on the aisle will get across the finish line.

RW: I only ask, thinking you might have been a part of conversations. I 
certainly don't expect you to have a crystal ball.

JP: And again, we're very clear about what we'll sign, and we try to, for bills 
that we don't like, we're also clear about those, and bills will be working 
their way through the process.

RW: More than 99 % of the state's prison beds are currently full. Projections 
call for thousands more prisoners to enter the system in coming years, but your 
budget doesn't call for construction of any new beds. Is that safe for the 
public?

JP: So we proposed a bed-neutral proposal with corrections, and we are very 
interested in this discussion of criminal justice reform. Meaning, right now, 
we have things that are dumped on our criminal justice system, that are often 
substance abuse issues, mental health issues, that are more costly for 
tax-payers to deal with on the criminal justice side. And also, frankly, less 
effective in keeping people safe and preventing recidivism. So we are proposing 
that we maintain a neutral number of beds, as we look at alternative treatment 
for folks that don't necessarily benefit from incarceration, and the public 
isn't made any safer.

RW: But that, too, sounds costly. Proper treatment, which often has to be long 
term and people fail and have to try again.

JP: There's the good news though, it absolutely costs money, but it still costs 
less than the cost of incarceration, which is about the highest cost form of 
intervention that the state can do. You know, it's $110, $120, $130 a day per 
inmate, very expensive.

RW: But can that be reflected in a year to year budget?

JP: We can begin to reflect those values in our budget, which we are, but it's 
certainly much more than a one year discussion.

(source: Colorado Public Radio)








WYOMING:

Death penalty repeal bill continues to move forward



A bill to repeal the death penalty in Wyoming cleared another important hurdle 
Wednesday, passing the Senate Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote.

Sponsored by Cheyenne Republican Rep. Jared Olsen, House Bill 145 has gone 
further than the past six legislative attempts to repeal the death penalty, 
spurred along not only by fiscal conservatives and members of the religious 
community, but advocates for criminal justice reform.

“We have an obligation to have a justice system that is blind and based on 
facts, and not based on what we wished it was or what it used to be,” said Sen. 
Brian Boner, R-Converse, a co-sponsor on the bill and a member of the 
committee.

Wednesday’s vote comes after the bill moved swiftly through the House of 
Representatives, a surprising development after years of failures. It will now 
be considered by the entire Senate.

Wyoming, which has not performed an execution since the early 1990s, is one of 
31 states where the death penalty is legal. Though no inmates currently sit on 
the state’s death row, nearly $1 million in public funding is set aside for a 
death penalty legal defense fund, according to a fiscal note attached to the 
bill. Typically, that money goes untouched.

But the state’s death penalty statutes create additional burdens on state 
government, law enforcement officials testified. Because a death penalty 
provision is still on the books, the state public defender’s office is required 
to train its attorneys every two years to handle death penalty cases, said 
State Public Defender Diane M. Lozano. She has to assign her 2 best attorneys 
to the case – as well as a fact investigator – every time a capital case arises 
in order to completely explore the potential that the death penalty could be 
considered cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. 
Constitution, she said.

Because of the resources involved in trying death penalty cases, public costs 
can often be steep, both fiscally and in time lost. Lozano, who has been 
involved in 11 death penalty cases since 1994, told the committee that a 
resentencing for a death penalty case once cost her office $2.1 million and – 
as long as the law remains on the books – there is always a fear that more than 
one case could completely deplete their budget.

The average death row inmate costs the Wyoming Department of Corrections 30 
percent more to incarcerate than a general population inmate, with an average 
stay of 17 years, said corrections department director Bob Lampert. And the 
length of time an inmate is on death row has steadily increased over the last 
40 years even in states like Texas, which is considered a “fast track” state 
for death sentences.

If the bill doesn’t pass, Lampert said his department would be asking for an 
update to the law anyway, as the chemicals needed for lethal injection 
executions outlined in statute are no longer carried by pharmacists, and local 
jurisdictions don’t have the numbers in their police forces needed to furnish 
staff for those executions.

Several people in attendance – including Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne and 
former San Diego police officer Vincent Krolikowski – argued that the death 
penalty can be used as a deterrent, or as another tool to use in order to 
coerce a plea or additional evidence out of an accused individual potentially 
facing death – something Lozano noted presents an “ethical quandary” for 
prosecutors.

Lampert previously spent seven years working as a prison warden in Texas, with 
involvement in 37 executions. Asked if, at any point in that time, he thought 
the death penalty was enough of a deterrent to prevent crime, Lampert said no – 
the people put to death, he said, were not thinking of the consequences when 
they were committing their crimes.

“None of them ever told me whether they ever thought about what they were about 
to do would have been something that would have resulted them in getting the 
death penalty,” said Lampert. “Obviously, that did not deter them. But they 
won’t have the opportunity to commit any more crimes, because those 37 
individuals are now dead.”

Rabbi Larry Moldo, one of several members of the religious community to testify 
Wednesday, had a simpler take.

“If God can’t create a deterrent for these heinous crimes,” he said, “why would 
we think man can do any better?”

(source: Casper Star-Tribune)

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

Death penalty repeal getting 1st serious debate in Wyoming



Repealing the death penalty is getting a serious look in Wyoming for the 1st 
time amid concern the sentencing option is expensive and may not deter crime.

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony on the proposal Wednesday before 
voting 4-0 to send the bill to the full Senate.

Proponents of repeal include Republican Sen. Brian Boner, who says Wyoming in 
effect has no functioning death penalty. Boner points out that Wyoming has put 
to death only 1 person in recent decades.

Republican Sen. Anthony Bouchard says that's a good argument for the death 
penalty. Bouchard says the threat of death can encourage criminals to divulge 
details of their crimes in hope of a lesser sentence.

Wyoming hasn't had an inmate on death row since 2014.

(source: Associated Press)

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

Legislators split on death penalty repeal



Sen. Hank Coe (Cody) doesn’t intend to help a death penalty repeal bill, which 
recently passed the House, do the same in the Senate.

“I am not in favor of repealing the death penalty,” he said.

Coe said Park County Prosecutor Bryan Skoric had called him to express similar 
feelings against the bill.

The House passed HB 145 on third reading 36-21. Rep. Sandy Newsome (Cody) voted 
in support of the bill while Rep. David Northrup (Powell) was absent.

The main argument in favor of the bill is that the death penalty is rarely 
used. There are no inmates in the state on death row and the last Wyoming 
execution took place in 1992.

That’s the argument Newsome agreed with.

“We haven’t used it since 1992 and we don’t have anyone on death row,” Newsome 
said. “When we do it’s very expensive because of litigation.”

A note attached to the bill says it would cost Wyoming approximately $750,000 
to sufficiently fund capital punishment activities in 2020.

The bill was brought to the House by Rep. Jared Olsen (Cheyenne).

It’s the same bill that fell 6 votes short of passing in 2018.

This year could be different, as it is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The bill would remove the death penalty from state law and make life without 
possibility of parole the stiffest punishment available.

(source: The Cody Enterprise)

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

Simpson letter: LWV supports death penalty repeal



Dear Editor:

The Wyoming League of Women Voters supports House Bill 145, “Death Penalty 
Repeal-2,” now in the Senate Judiciary Committee for these 5 reasons:

1. The Innocence Project has led to the exoneration of 364 prisoners 
nationwide, using DNA evidence. The state should not execute innocent people.

2. Death penalty trials and convictions are far more expensive than other 
cases. They take more attorneys, more research, more time, and have more 
appeals. In the end many people sentenced to death are not executed. The 
expense does not produce the promised goal.

3. At one time, people believed the death penalty was a deterrent to crime. 
Currently, experts disagree.

4. The death penalty is more commonly given to people of color than it is to 
whites, and they are more commonly executed. It is not equal justice.

5. The methods used are not consistently effective—people have been strangled, 
decapitated, incinerated, suffocated, or have bled to death. The state should 
not be torturing people.

Luckily Wyoming has avoided many of the problems of more populated states with 
death row inmates--Texas, Florida, or Illinois. We should ensure that we 
continue to do so.

For more information on the death penalty, visit Opposing Viewpoints at 
gowyld.net, accessible with your library card. A particularly striking argument 
is made in Rizer, Arthur, and Marc Hyden. “A Dying Shame: The state is not God, 
and the death penalty is not infallible.” The American Conservative, Nov.-Dec. 
2018, p. 47+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, 
https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A559832460/OVIC?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=OVIC&xid=7875838b. 
Accessed 8 Feb. 2019. Note how current the article is.

Contact your senator (www.wyoleg.gov) and urge them to support HB 145.

(source: Laramie Boomerang)