[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., FLA., MO., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 3




NORTH CAROLINA:

On declining death sentences:



In North Carolina, 2018 may be remembered as the year the death penalty died.

The Durham-based Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL) reports that last 
year marks the 1st time in the state's modern history that North Carolina 
juries have not imposed a new death sentence for 2 years in a row. The 
reluctance of juries to impose the ultimate punishment in 2017 may have been a 
fluke, but a 2nd year without a death sentence shows that juries have all but 
given up on a penalty that has been unevenly imposed on the guilty and 
sometimes on the innocent.

"The death penalty in North Carolina has become a relic," said Gretchen Engel, 
CDPL's executive director. "Very few district attorneys seek death anymore and, 
when they do, juries reject it. The people of our state are speaking very 
clearly. We no longer need the death penalty to keep North Carolina safe."

High-profile killings still move prosecutors to seek the death penalty. In 
Robeson County, the retiring district attorney said that if he was continuing 
in office he would put the man accused of kidnapping and killing 13-year-old 
Hania Aguilar on trial for his life. ...

There were 3 capital trials in the state last year, but the juries in each case 
chose to impose life without parole instead of death sentences. The state's 
last execution was in 2006. Wake County, however, has been slow to give up on 
the costly and inherently unfair practice of seeking death for some accused 
killers and not for others. ...

20 states have outlawed the penalty entirely and only 8 states carried out an 
execution in 2018. Polls show that support for the death penalty has declined 
since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume in 1976. Americans 
recognize that it is applied unfairly and the claim that it's a deterrent has 
been roundly debunked.

Still, the consequences of the death penalty's previous popularity remain. 
North Carolina has 140 prisoners on death row, the 6th largest group in the 
nation. The arrests and trials that led to those sentences date mostly to the 
1990s, before reforms were passed to protect the innocent and provide for fair 
representation. The cases are rife with problems of procedure, racial bias and 
misconduct by authorities. North Carolina has had men on death row who were 
later found to be innocent. In one case, Henry McCollum spent more than 30 
years on North Carolina's death row before being exonerated by DNA evidence.

It's time for North Carolina to ban the death penalty and convert the sentences 
of all on death row.

(source: Editorial, News & Observer)








FLORIDA:

Supreme Court affirms 6 death sentences for Mesac Damas for murdering wife and 
5kids----Collier Circuit Judge Christine Greider sentenced Mesac Damas to death 
on Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. Damas had pleaded to guilty to killing his wife and 
children in 2009.



6 death sentences for 6 murders.

That's the official penalty for Mesac Damas, the Collier County man who 
confessed to killing his wife and 5 children in 2009.

Damas, 42, was sentenced in October 2017. Florida's Supreme Court affirmed the 
penalties last week and announced the opinion Wednesday.

The sentencing brought the case to a close after it had dragged on for more 
than 8 years amid seemingly endless delays.

Damas killed his wife, Guerline Dieu Damas, and their 5 young children — 
Michzach, 9, Marven, 6, Maven, 5, Megan, 3, and Morgan, 1 — slicing their 
throats with a filet knife in their North Naples town house.

He bent the blade in the attacks. At the time, Collier Sheriff Kevin Rambosk 
called the killings “the most horrific and violent event” in county history.

Damas fled to Port au Prince, Haiti, where he was born and raised. But 
authorities soon located him.

Florida law requires a direct appeal to the Florida Supreme Court following any 
death sentence, according to a state attorney's office news release. On his 
appeal, Damas claimed numerous errors that the Supreme Court ultimately found 
to be without merit, the release says.

In his appeal, Damas claims the court erred in declining his request for 
self-representation. He alleges the court improperly weighed factors that he 
considered repetitive, such as his child's age and his parental relationship to 
the young child.

His request for self-representation was denied because he refused to cooperate 
or even engage during court proceedings, according to the court's opinion.

Damas was "uncooperative" and refused to acknowledge whether he had a lawyer, 
the opinion document states. He interrupted and argued with the court, and 
refused to answer questions with "yes" or "no" responses.

Instead, he insisted he just wanted to plead guilty, the document states.

He also questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty, court records 
show. He claimed it violates the 8th amendment to the United States 
Constitution "because it is inherently cruel and unusual," the document states.

Because there has not been a statutory change in Florida law, which allows 
capital punishment, Damas' challenge failed, the opinion document states.

In the 38-page opinion, all 7 members of the court affirmed the sentences.

The opinion acknowledges his confession to a Naples Daily News reporter who 
asked him questions in Haiti as authorities detained him.

Throughout his jail time and court appearances, Damas maintained a focus on God 
and religion and spirits and demons — a tense mix of Evangelical Christianity 
and traditional Haitian Voodoo.

He was prone to courtroom outbursts, begging to be put to death and imploring a 
courtroom gallery to come to Jesus. He maintained that he was "possessed by 
demons" at the time of the crime.

Damas waived his right to a jury trial and pleaded guilty to all charges. The 
state attorney's office and the Dieu family aggressively pursued the death 
penalty.

He also had waived his right to have his attorneys present mitigating evidence 
in his favor. He had previously asked to represent himself, a request that was 
denied.

At his 2017 sentencing hearing, a judge asked him if he still wanted to waive 
his right to mitigating evidence.

He refused to speak. Instead, he wrote her a note.

“Go ahead, continue your work, may my blood be upon your shoulders.”

He signed the note “COG” — Child of God.

(source: Fort Myers News-Press)








MISSOURI:

New St. Louis County prosecutor fires some staff



St. Louis County's new prosecuting attorney is shaking up his staff and 
instituting new policies just 2 days into the job, his spokeswoman confirmed 
Wednesday, and a veteran assistant prosecutor who presented evidence to the 
grand jury after the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson is 
reportedly among those let go.

Former Ferguson Councilman Wesley Bell defeated 28-year incumbent Bob McCulloch 
in the August Democratic primary and ran unopposed in November. He was sworn in 
Tuesday, becoming the first-ever African-American to hold the office.

He wasted no time implementing some of his reformist agenda. Bell's office said 
Wednesday that they will no longer prosecute marijuana possession cases, among 
other changes.

McCulloch had a reputation as a hardline law-and-order prosecutor. Bell, 44, 
wants to change the cash bail system, opposes the death penalty and pledged to 
hold police officers accountable if they step out of line.

Bell's election victory was seen by many as a referendum on McCulloch's 
handling of the investigation of Darren Wilson, the white Ferguson officer who 
killed Brown, a black and unarmed 18-year-old, after they got into a scuffle on 
Aug. 9, 2014, setting off months of sometimes-violent protests.

McCulloch turned the case over to a grand jury, which decided in November 2014 
not to indict Wilson. Wilson resigned from the police force that same month.

Assistant prosecutor Kathi Alizadeh was largely responsible for presenting 
evidence to the grand jury. Critics accused prosecutors of swaying the jurors' 
decision. Ferguson erupted in renewed protests once the decision was announced.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Alizadeh was among those fired on 
Wednesday after 30 years working in the office, and that 2 other veteran 
prosecutors were suspended pending termination hearings. Alizadeh said Bell 
gave her a 2-page letter describing grounds for termination, but she declined 
to elaborate. She does not have listed phone numbers.

Bell's spokeswoman Josi Nielsen would say only that, "There have been some 
changes this morning and Mr. Bell wishes them all the best." She declined to 
say how many people were being let go or to confirm which prosecutors were 
among those leaving.

Last month, St. Louis County's assistant prosecutors and investigators voted to 
join the St. Louis Police Officers Association, a union known for its fierce 
and unyielding loyalty to officers. No reason for the vote was given, but some 
saw it as push-back against the incoming prosecutor.

Business manager Jeff Roorda said Wednesday that the union was "dismayed by the 
abrupt dismissal of these three veteran prosecutors without warning or apparent 
justification."

Nielsen said Bell has named Sam Alton, a former St. Louis city prosecutor, as 
chief of staff. Tim Swope, a former police chief for a cooperative of St. Louis 
County towns, was named director of operations.

(source: Associated Press)








CALIFORNIA:

Formal charges filed against man accused of killing Newman police officer



Stanislaus County prosecutors on Wednesday formally filed charges against 
Gustavo Perez Arriaga, who is accused of killing Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh 
during a traffic stop last week.

Authorities say Arriaga shot Singh when he pulled him over on suspicion of 
driving under the influence near the intersection of Merced Street and 
Eucalyptus in Newman.

Arriaga has been charged with murder, along with a special circumstances 
enhancement that makes the case eligible for the death penalty, according to 
the criminal complaint filed by the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s 
Office Wednesday morning.

It was unclear Wednesday morning whether prosecutors have decided to seek the 
death penalty against Arriaga. The criminal complaint against Arriaga also 
includes enhancements for allegedly using a gun in the Singh’s death and acting 
with premeditation.

The defendant’s arraignment hearing is scheduled Wednesday afternoon in 
Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Ricardo Cordova’s courtroom.

A 55-hour manhunt for Arriaga ended Friday morning, when he was found and 
arrested at a home near Bakersfield. 3 people accused of helping Arriaga evade 
capture also were arrested at the Bakersfield home and face accessory charges 
in Kern County. They are set for arraignment there later today.

4 people were arrested in Stanislaus County and charged with accessory. They 
made their 1st court appearance Monday.

Arriaga’s girlfriend Ana Leyde Cervantes, 30; his brothers Conrado Virgen 
Mendoza, 34, and Adrian Virgen, 25; and his co-worker Erik Razo Quiroz, 35, 
have pleaded not guilty to the felony accessory charge.

The four defendants, who remain in custody at the Stanislaus County Jail, are 
scheduled to return to court Wednesday afternoon for a pretrial hearing 
alongside Arriaga.

Arriaga has been held without bail at the Stanislaus County Jail since Friday. 
Authorities say Arriaga entered the country illegally, and he had 2 DUI arrests 
in the Madera-Chowchilla area.

Officials have said the 4 defendants accused of accessory in Stanislaus County 
also entered the country illegally. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
officials have lodged detainers on the 5 Stanislaus County defendants. That 
means ICE agents would be notified if any of them were to be released and given 
time to come to the jail to take custody of them.

(source: Modesto Bee)

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

But will Brown pardon as many on death row?



Re: “Pardon? Governor especially forgiving” (Page B1, Dec. 27):

Jerry Brown is to be complimented for his pardons. However, his being “the most 
forgiving” is questionable, considering what he could have done.

It is not merely the number of commutations, but their significance. Note that 
the article does not address “the most unforgiving” of sentences: the death 
penalty. There is precedence for governors commuting the sentences of all (en 
masse) on death row, and Brown still has that opportunity.

Brown, a former Catholic seminarian, should be particularly sensitive to this 
barbaric penalty, considering the biblical commandment against killing. He 
should be discerning about Pope Francis’ strong opposition to this fatal 
penalty, and the pope’s changes in the catechism on this subject. Prayers 
should be offered for a miracle before Jan. 7, 2019.

Henry P. Organ, Menlo Park

(source: Letter to the Editor, Mercury News)

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

Governor Jerry Brown should abolish death penalty as his final act----Capital 
punishment is barbaric, unfairly applied and unproven as an effective deterrent



It would be fitting if Jerry Brown’s final act as governor was granting 
clemency to California’s 740 death row inmates, leaving them with a life 
sentence without the possibility of parole.

The bold move is the right thing to do from a moral perspective. Capital 
punishment is a barbaric act that is unfairly applied and has not been proven 
to prevent crime any more than than the prospect of life in prison. It also 
costs California about $90,000 more a year to house death row inmates than it 
would cost to imprison the worst of the state’s inmates for life. That adds up 
to about $65 million a year, money that could be used to beef up law 
enforcement efforts to prevent crime, including homicides.

California should have become the first state to abolish the death penalty when 
it joined the union in 1850. That honor went to Wisconsin in 1857. Washington 
became the latest in a string of states to abandon capital punishment when its 
state Supreme Court in October unanimously struck down the death penalty as 
unconstitutional and “racially biased.”

Instead, California is aligned with 29 other states in engaging in a practice 
that is not used in any other Western nation. The state’s residents should be 
ashamed to share the values of countries that routinely abuse human rights, 
including China, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Brown has granted more pardons and commutations of sentences than any other 
governor in California history. On Christmas Eve, he handed out 143 pardons and 
131 commutations of sentences. The state Supreme Court denied 10 of Brown’s 
clemency actions, including nine for inmates who had committed homicides. But 
none of those prisoners had been on death row, which is reserved for the most 
heinous of crimes.

It should be especially troubling to Californians that a 2014 study by the 
prestigious National Academy of Sciences revealed that 4.1 % of defendants 
sentenced to death in the United States are innocent. The study’s authors 
called it a “conservative” estimate.

The Death Penalty Information Center tracks the number of men and women who 
have been found innocent and released from death rows in the United States. 
Since 1973, a total of 164 in 28 different states have been wrongly sentenced, 
including 5 from California.

The most recent California death row exoneration offers ample reason to end the 
death penalty.

A Kern County court on April 19 formally dismissed all charges against Vicente 
Benavides Figueroa, who had been sentenced to death in 1993 on charges that he 
had raped, sodomized and murdered his girlfriend’s 21-month-old daughter. 
Figueroa was freed after new evidence emerged that the girl had never been 
sexually assaulted and that the girl’s injuries were likely to have been caused 
from being hit by a car.

Californians have known for decades that Latinos and African-Americans are more 
prone to be sentenced to death. Studies show that black men are sentenced to 
death in California at a rate that is five times higher than their proportion 
of the population.

The state has not executed an inmate since 2006. The governor should abolish 
the death penalty altogether.

(source: Editorial, Mercury News)