[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., S.C., GA., FLA., ALA., MISS., OHIO, TENN., WYO., ID., USA

[Rick Halperin]

January 31



TEXAS----execution

30 years after killing a Houston police officer, Texas executes Robert 
Jennings----Jennings was put to death Wednesday for the 1988 murder of Elston 
Howard. The long sentence was complicated by constantly evolving death penalty 
laws.



Robert Jennings was on Texas’ death row for nearly 30 years. On Wednesday, the 
61-year-old was put to death in the nation’s 1st execution of 2019.

Jennings was sentenced to death in the 1988 murder of Houston police officer 
Elston Howard. According to court records, Jennings walked into an adult 
bookstore to rob it, and Howard was there arresting the store clerk for a 
municipal violation. The clerk testified that Howard had no time to even reach 
for his gun before Jennings shot him multiple times, killing him.

Less than an hour after his final appeals were rejected by the U.S. Supreme 
Court on Wednesday, Jennings was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital 
at 6:15 p.m. in the state's execution chamber in Huntsville. He was pronounced 
dead 18 minutes later. In his final words uttered strapped to a gurney, he told 
his friends and family it was "a nice journey."

"To the family of the police officer, I hope this finds you peace," he said. 
"... Enjoy life's moments because we never get them back."

The lengthy stretch of time between Jennings' 1989 sentencing and his execution 
shines a light on the complications that can arise during the appeals process 
in the face of constantly evolving death penalty law. In their last attempt to 
halt Jennings' execution, his lawyers zeroed in on changes in how death penalty 
juries weigh "mitigating evidence"— factors that can lessen the severity of the 
punishment that are largely based on the defendant's background, like an 
abusive childhood or intellectual disability.

An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court pointed out that, at the time of Jennings' 
trial, Texas juries were not told they could opt for a sentence of life in 
prison rather than death if they believed the defendant’s background or 
character warranted mercy — a key aspect of death penalty trials now.

Rather, the so-called "special issue" questions Texas juries were required to 
answer after finding someone guilty of capital murder asked them to determine 
whether the murder was deliberate or provoked — and whether the defendant was a 
potential future danger.

At the punishment portion of Jennings' 1989 murder trial, when the jury was 
supposed to answer those questions, the prosecution brought up Jennings’ long 
rap sheet — he had been to prison multiple times for aggravated robbery and had 
been released on parole only 2 months before Howard’s murder, according to 
court records. In his confession to police after his arrest, he also confessed 
to several other robberies in the 2-month span.

Meanwhile, Jennings’ lawyers only brought forth a Harris County jail chaplain, 
who said Jennings wasn’t “incorrigible,” in reference to potential danger 
posed. The jury also heard Jennings’ recorded confession, in which he admitted 
he had been drinking and using drugs and expressed remorse for the shooting.

But days before the trial, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in an unrelated 
case that a death penalty jury must be specifically directed to determine 
whether mitigating evidence warrants sparing the defendant from execution. In 
an attempt to address the ruling at the last minute, Jennings’ jurors were told 
after closing arguments to consider any mitigating evidence already introduced 
and, if they found it appropriate, to answer against the death penalty in one 
of the already-existing questions.

The jury was unconvinced, and Jennings was sentenced to death. It wasn’t until 
more than a decade later that the Supreme Court again took up the issue and 
determined that telling a jury to weigh mitigating evidence by overwriting an 
existing special issue is not constitutional.

Jennings’ lawyers have argued that the jury’s inability to properly weigh his 
drug use and how remorseful he was for Howard’s death warranted him a new trial 
with the new special issue questions, which now include a question on 
mitigating evidence. They also said if the trial counsel had known to raise 
other mitigating evidence, including mental deficits and a troubling childhood, 
the jury would have reached a different conclusion.

“It gets extremely complicated because the law evolves, and then the question 
is: Do new decisions get applied retroactively?” Randy Schaffer, one of 
Jennings’ lawyers, told The Texas Tribune Tuesday.

But not every death sentence handed down before juries were instructed to 
consider mitigating factors was tossed after the Supreme Court ruling.

Rather, the nation's highest court said it depended on the nature of the 
evidence presented at trial. Ultimately, the courts said Jennings’ remorse 
didn’t make the cut — although he did get one execution date taken off the 
calendar as a Texas court took up the issue in 2016.

Jennings’ lawyers argued against the court decisions by pointing to dozens of 
other capital murder cases that got new sentencing trials after the Supreme 
Court rulings. Specifically, they pointed to the case of Arthur Williams, 
another man who was sentenced to death for the murder of a Houston police 
officer under the old punishment standards and eventually re-sentenced to life 
in prison based largely on showing remorse for the killing.

"Both Williams and Jennings exhibited remorse after killing a police officer in 
Houston. They were convicted and sentenced to death in the same court," 
Schaffer wrote in a pending appeal before the Supreme Court. "However, they 
have been treated differently thereafter."

The state said in its response that the Supreme Court “has never held that 
remorse alone is sufficient to grant” a new punishment trial.

“In this case, Jennings' attorneys presented their limited evidence of remorse 
to the jury. And the jury rejected it,” wrote Texas Assistant Attorney General 
Ellen Stewart-Klein.

Complicating matters further, another appeal landed in front of the U.S. 
Supreme Court Tuesday, in which Jennings’ other lawyers faulted Schaffer, 
Jennings' longtime appellate lawyer, and his trial lawyers for “bad lawyering.” 
They argued that the trial lawyers were at fault for not calling for changes to 
the trial after the Supreme Court ruling on mitigation, instead blindly 
accepting improper jury instructions from the prosecution. And they said 
Schaffer, as the appellate lawyer, didn't properly raise the trial counsels' 
mistakes in the appeals process to get Jennings a new punishment trial.

The court rejected both appeals about 40 minutes before the 6 p.m. execution 
time. Jennings' execution was the first of the year in the state and nation, 
his death coming only 2 days after four Houston police officers were shot 
during a narcotics bust. Earlier this month, the Texas Court of Criminal 
Appeals stopped the execution of Blaine Milam based on changes to forensic 
science and death penalty law.

(source: The Texas Tribune)

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

Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----41

Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----559

Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #

42---------Feb. 28----------------Billy Wayne Coble-------560

43---------Mar. 28----------------Patrick Murphy----------561

44---------Apr. 11----------------Mark Robertson----------562

45---------Apr. 24----------------John King---------------563

46---------May 2------------------Dexter Johnson----------564

(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)








NORTH CAROLINA:

80-Year-Old Sentenced to Death Could Be Exonerated Soon



The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has agreed with The Duke Law 
Innocence Project's assertion that it's unlikely jurors would have convicted 
Charles Ray Finch of the 1976 murder of Richard "Shadow" Holloman if they had 
known about flaws in the police lineup and witness pressure from prosecutors.

The 3-judge ruling returned the case to the North Carolina-based federal court 
with a unanimous opinion that Jim Coleman, attorney for Finch and head of Duke 
University's Wrongful Conviction Clinic, says proves that past death penalty 
cases deserve a second look.

"On one of our principal issues, which is that the lineup from which Mr. Finch 
was identified was extremely suggestive,” he states, “the Court of Appeals 
agrees with that and held that it likely violated the Constitution."

Advocates say Finch narrowly escaped death. The investigation led to an 
eyewitness who admitted to being influenced by the prosecution.

After the conviction, Finch was sentenced to execution in the gas chamber on 
Oct. 4, 1976, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina's 
mandatory death penalty law was unconstitutional.

Kristin Collins, a spokeswoman for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, 
says Finch's case isn't the first time mistaken identity has led to sentences 
of death or life in prison.

"There are people still on death row today who are there largely because 1 
person identified them as the person they saw,” she points out. “Those were 
identifications that were often done in questionable ways before we had laws 
that tried to prevent mistaken identifications and actually wouldn't be legal 
according to today's standards."

Advocates say that if prosecutors look at the federal court's opinion and the 
evidence, litigation won't be necessary for Finch to be freed.

Coleman says since Finch has spent more than 42 years of his life in prison, he 
plans to approach North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein to help with the 
80-year-old's immediate release.

"Our intent is to now go to the attorney general to join us in asking the 
federal district court to grant the writ of habeas corpus, agree that the 
conviction violated the Constitution, and to immediately release Mr. Finch from 
prison," he states.

According to the center, 92 percent of cases were tried before 2008 reforms 
designed to prevent mistaken eyewitness identifications.

The new laws set strict standards for eyewitness lineup procedures.

(source: Antionette Kerr, Public News Service)








SOUTH CAROLINA:

SC senators resurrect bill to bring back the electric chair, add firing squad



S.C. senators revived a proposal Wednesday to bring back the electric chair for 
the state’s death row executions, as well as add firing squads as an execution 
option.

The bill passed the state Senate by a 26-13 vote, split mostly along party 
lines. It now heads to the S.C. House, where a similar proposal died last year.

Backed by Senate Republicans, the bill is an attempt to address the S.C. 
Corrections Department’s inability to carry out executions because it does not 
have the chemicals needed for lethal injections.

Drug companies won’t sell the state the chemicals, fearing legal challenges and 
bad publicity, said state Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, a supporter of the 
electrocution proposal.

Currently, the state’s 35 death row inmates can insist on lethal injection, 
effectively blocking their executions.

The bill would allow the Department of Corrections to electrocute death row 
inmates. But death row inmates could choose lethal injection, if available, or 
a firing squad, a proposal previously shot down by lawmakers.

“Inmates would have the absolute right to choose their method of execution 
among the two (electrocution or a firing squad), if lethal injection is not 
available,” Hembree said.

State Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, suggested adding firing squads, saying he 
wanted to give inmates more choices.

“It should be effective and fast and do the job, and that’s the problem with 
the electric chair,” Hutto said.

Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah allow the use of a firing squad if 
lethal-injection drugs are unavailable or held to be unconstitutional. Nine 
states, which have lethal injection as their primary execution method, also 
allow for electrocution.

Lethal injection is widely thought to be a more humane method of execution.

State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, who prosecuted serial killer Pee Wee 
Gaskins and other death penalty cases, described in graphic detail the 
procedures taken when Gaskins was electrocuted.

“Looking back on it 30 years later, I must admit I’m somewhat hesitant to go 
forward with that barbaric process,” Harpootlian said.

Wednesday’s debate also touched on the cost and effectiveness of the death 
penalty, and racial disparities in South Carolina’s criminal justice system.

Of the 282 S.C. inmates executed since 1912, 208 were African-American, The 
State previously reported. More than 1/2 of the state’s death row inmates now — 
19 of 35 — are black. African Americans make up about 1/3 of the state’s 
population.

“I am not against the death penalty in all instances,” said state Sen. Margie 
Bright Matthews, D-Colleton. “I am against electrocution as a means of 
administering the death penalty because I believe it is ... a cruel and unusual 
way.”

(source: thestate.com)








GEORGIA:

Metro Atlanta church may soon be listed on national list of hate groups



A new Gwinnett County church may soon be listed on a national list of hate 
groups.

Channel 2 Action News started investigating after a viewer tipped us off about 
the Strong Hold Baptist Church. Its pastor calls for the death penalty for 
gays, adulterers and others.

Channel 2’s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas spoke to the Southern 
Poverty Law Center, which says this is one of the most extremist church it's 
seen in Georgia.

The church itself is tiny, with around just 50 members, but because it posts 
sermons on YouTube, it has a far greater potential reach.

The minister told Thomas he simply preaches from the bible -- what God 
intended. Others say it's simply extreme and hateful.

(source: WSB TV news)








FLORIDA:

‘Sentence me to death row, please’



A man sentenced to death Monday by a Jackson County circuit judge received the 
sentence he wanted, according to two letters he wrote to the judge.

Rocky Ali Beamon was sentenced to death on a 1st-degree premeditated murder 
charge for the 2012 death of a fellow inmate in South Florida.

The letters were forwarded to the 1st Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s office, 
which will seek a second death penalty conviction for the Jan. 22, 2017, death 
of an inmate at Santa Rosa Correctional Institution. Nicholas Anderson, who was 
convicted of child molestation, was Beamon’s cellmate.

In the hand-printed letters, Beamon said he will continue his “job” of 
murdering sex offenders if his wishes aren’t granted.

“If you set me free, it’s blood on your hands,” Beamon said. “I’ll put it there 
I guarantee, or you can do what the evidence shows and sentence me to death 
row, please.

“I will continue to take lives until someone in here takes mine or I reach my 
goal, death row, so please send me there.”

Beamon, who claims to be writing of a “sound mind,” said killing sex offenders 
is his duty because he doesn’t like them. Beamon threatened to carve the 
judge’s name into his next victim’s body, and other gruesome details.

“If you don’t send me to death row, I vow to dedicate my next one to you,” he 
said.

The letters were sent to the office of Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson in 
the 14th Judicial Circuit.

Beamon stated in his letter received on May 4, 2018, that he accepted the death 
penalty being sought by the State attorney’s Office, adding that the four 
aggravating circumstances listed in his case were all true.

In a second letter received on Jan, 8, 2019, Beamon outlined the ghastly 
details about the murders he committed and the motive behind them.

“I guess I should be writing to ask for another chance or saying (expletive) 
like I’m really sorry for what I’ve done, but the truth is I’m not sorry,” 
Beamon said. ” ... It was the best feeling I’ve had in a long time.”

Bill Bishop, chief assistant attorney for Okaloosa County in the 1st Judicial 
Circuit, said in his 30-plus years of experience, it’s uncommon to receive 
letters like Beamon’s.

“I think what the letters just show is that defendant has no remorse 
whatsoever,” Bishop said.

Monday’s sentence stemmed from the 2012 murder of Beamon’s fellow inmate Bruce 
Hunsicker, who was also a registered sex offender and owed Beamon money.

Beamon watched Hunsicker for several days, learning his schedule before 
eventually choking him and stabbing him 80 times with a homemade shank in the 
shower of the prison dormitory.

In that letter, he described how he took pleasure in killing Hunsicker and 
prolonged his death for as long as possible so he would suffer.

Beamon entered a guilty plea to first-degree premeditated murder and waived his 
right to a jury trial for guilt and sentencing, according to the State 
Attorney’s Office.

Bishop said Beamon’s letters had an impact on his sentencing.

“It just shows the type of person Mr. Beamon is,” Bishop said.

At the time of Hunsicker’s murder, Beamon was serving a life sentence for the 
2005 convictions of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery. Beamon and his 
girlfriend bought drugs from a woman and smoked crack together. After deciding 
they wanted more drugs, Beamon hit the woman in the head with a piece of wood, 
tied her up and threw her into a shallow pond where she died.

He is currently being held at the Florida State Prison under close management 
in a single-man cell. Beamon has been removed from the general population due 
to committing acts that threaten the safety of others, threaten the security of 
the institution or demonstrate an inability to live in the general population, 
the Florida Department of Corrections said.

In his letters, Beamon stressed his desire to continue killing sex offenders.

“I’ll do my best to eliminate every single one until one of 3 things happens: 
(1) someone kills me, (2) I run out of people to kill, or (3) they put me where 
I can kill no more, death row,” Beamon said. “I’ve actually dreamed of the way 
I’ll kill my next victim.”

(source: Northwest Florida Daily News)

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

Man sentenced to death for murdering cellmate in prison



A man is sentenced to death in Jackson County for murdering his cellmate back 
in 2012.

According to the State Attorney's Office, Rocky Ali Beamon and Bruce Hunsicker 
were inmates at the Apalachee Correctional Institution in Sneads, Florida. They 
say Beamon confessed to chocking, stabbing, and killing Hunsicker in the shower 
area. He allegedly revealed that he did it because of Hunsicker's status as a 
sex offender, and he owed him money.

Beamon entered a guilty plea to 1st degree premeditated murder and waived his 
right to a jury trial for guilt and sentencing. A penalty phase judge trial was 
then held on December 17, 2018.

Beamon's criminal history, includes 2005 convictions for murder, kidnapping, 
and robbery in Hillsborough County for which Beamon was sentenced to life in 
prison.

Monday, January 28 a judge found that death was the appropriate sentence.

(source: WJHG news)








ALABAMA:

Prosecutors seek death penalty in cold case



Prosecutors will be seeking the death penalty against capital murder suspect 
Derrill Richard "Rick" Ennis in a cold case related to the 2006 disappearance 
of an Auburn woman.

Ennis appeared in court Wednesday afternoon at the Lee County Justice Center in 
Opelika for a status conference.

Prosecutors announced the decision to pursue the death penalty.

“There are many factors that go into this. Whether it is the nature of the 
crime that’s been alleged, the victim’s family; just a number of factors that 
we weigh in determining whether or not we want to seek the death penalty in a 
capital murder case,” Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes told the 
media Wednesday afternoon.

Ennis is facing charges of capital murder – burglary and capital murder – 
kidnapping in connection to the disappearance of 24-year-old Lori Ann 
Slesinski.

Slesinski was last seen on June 10, 2006, and reported missing by her mother 
days later on June 13. The next day, the young woman’s car was found on fire at 
the dead end of Dekalb Street in Auburn, according to records.

Ennis was an acquaintance of Slesinski and lived in Auburn, police said in an 
August 2018 news conference.

He was developed as a person of interest during the investigation and moved 
away from the Auburn area after he was questioned by police, reports said.

Ennis was taken into custody early August 2018 in Pilot, Montgomery County, 
Virginia, on grand jury indictments and was extradited back to Lee County later 
that month.

A tentative trial date is set for Feb. 24, 2020.

Ennis’ arrest and charges are the result of a 15-month, multi-agency 
investigation between the Auburn Police Division, The Alabama Law Enforcement 
Agency Cold Case Unit, and the Lee County District Attorney’s Office.

(source: Auburn-Opelika News)








MISSISSIPPI:

Man indicted in 1990 rape, slaying may face death penalty



Prosecutors may pursue the death penalty in a decades-old attack that left 2 
women dead in Starkville, Mississippi.

District Attorney Scott Colom tells The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal 
that prosecutors haven’t decided on capital punishment or life without parole 
for 52-year-old Michael Wayne Devaughn. A grand jury indicted Devaughn this 
week for capital murder in the slaying of 65-year-old Betty Jones and sexual 
assault for the rape of 81-year-old Kathryn Crigler, who died from her injuries 
in the 1990 attack.

Starkville detective Lt. Bill Lott sent suspect DNA last year to Parabon, a 
private genetics company, which searched public genealogy databases for 
potential relatives. That led to Devaughn, who was sitting in the Tishomingo 
County Jail on an unrelated drug charge. Police obtained his DNA and got their 
match.

(source: Associated Press)



OHIO:

Jury hears testimony to decide Elliott Kirkland's sentence





A jury now holds Elliott Kirkland’s fate in its hands, deciding whether to send 
the Lorain man to death row or recommend he spend what could amount to the rest 
of his life behind prison bars.

Testimony began Tuesday in the penalty phase of Kirkland’s trial.

Once it has heard all the evidence of aggravating and mitigating circumstances 
and factors in the penalty phase, the jury will be sequestered during its 
deliberations over Kirkland’s fate.

The maximum penalty is death, though if the jury does not recommend it, it will 
be up to Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Miraldi to choose between life 
without parole, or life with parole eligibility after 20, 25 or 30 years.

In her opening, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Laura Dezort told the jury 
that the crime was particularly heinous because Kirkland killed 38-year-old 
Jimmie Holland Jr. in the victim’s Lorain apartment on Aug. 29, 2016.

“It was the middle of the night, the victim was in his home and the defendant 
snuck in ... and ultimately killed” Holland, she said.

The jury on Jan. 24 found Kirkland guilty on 10 felony charges, including 
aggravated murder, for shooting Holland three times and killing him inside his 
apartment at Ninth Street and Lexington Avenue. Kirkland and several others 
believed Holland was a drug dealer with a large amount of cash on hand, while 
family members said Holland, a father of 4, was paid to test video games and 
never sold drugs.

Testimony Tuesday revealed that Kirkland was born in 1989 to a 16-year-old 
mother who did not raise him, turned to drugs and prostitution and developed 
schizophrenia after he was born. Kirkland never knew his biological father, who 
is believed to be a man from his mother’s neighborhood on Cleveland’s east side 
with 23 other children with various women, prosecutors and defense attorneys 
said.

Raised by his maternal grandmother, Paula Scranton, Kirkland lived in her 
government-subsidized housing project until he left — or was kicked out, 
depending on the point of view — at age 15. All the while, he was poor and was 
bullied and picked on by other African-American children for being 
light-skinned, his grandmother testified.

Kirkland joined a gang, had only 2 legitimate jobs between the age of 15 and 
28, both of which he lost due to his behavior — he allegedly sexually harassed 
a fellow restaurant worker he was supposed to be training and showed up drunk 
and nauseous at another job, prosecutors said — and frequently lied or 
manipulated those in his life.

“Over and over people tried to help him, and he refused to cooperate,” Dezort 
told the jury, saying Kirkland was the bully who threatened people and later 
turned to dealing drugs to make money. Court, mental health and school 
interventions did not work, she said.

“The defendant continued to do whatever he wanted to do,” Dezort told the jury.

Defense attorney David Doughten painted another picture: A child who had no 
chance given what life threw at him from a very young age, who missed a major 
chunk of kindergarten and repeated both first and fifth grade, according to 
testimony.

“Much of what the prosecutor said is factually accurate,” he told the jury, 
“but there’s more background to it.”

“Every day” was a struggle for survival in the King Kennedy projects where 
Kirkland grew up, Doughten said, from fights to poverty to drugs to sex crimes. 
He was bullied, but his grandmother testified that she told him: “Somebody hits 
you, hit ’em back!”

“It was survival,” Scranton testified. “That’s what they do in the projects, to 
see who’s the toughest, the hardest.”

She said while Kirkland did “OK” in school as a child, he probably only went 
after a teacher one time, an incident Assistant Prosecutor Tony Cillo asked her 
about, “because of something the teacher did.”

As for missing a lot of school — Kirkland missed 27 days in kindergarten alone, 
testimony showed — Scranton told Cillo that she tried her best, but: “You know 
the saying ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink?’”

“I take it Elliott’s the horse in this situation?” Cillo replied.

“No, he’s the human being, sweetie,” Scranton shot back.

Scranton also testified that she did not recall hearing that her former husband 
sexually abused Kirkland. During a quick break, she waved to Kirkland as he sat 
at the defense table, and he waved back.

Kirkland was so embarrassed of his mother’s descent into drugs and mental 
illness, Doughten and forensic neuropsychologist Dr. Galit Askenazi told the 
jury, that he frequently lied and told people she was dead when she was alive, 
just not involved in his life.

Kirkland “lied about things he was embarrassed about,” Askenazi testified, 
which is “very different from conning for any personal pleasure.”

Taken care of by his aunts and grandmother, Kirkland allegedly was sexually 
assaulted by his grandmother’s former husband at a young age and also possibly 
by his own mother and ended up fathering multiple children — 6 or 7 — with 4 or 
5 women. Kirkland only had consistent contact with two of those children, while 
there are some he has never met, according to Tuesday’s testimony.

In the 3 IQ tests he has taken since age 13, Kirkland scored a 68 (age 13), a 
74 (age 20) and another 74 (age 28), forensic psychologist Dr. Katie Connell 
testified.

Askenazi testified that in her evaluation of Kirkland, he was capable of 
learning but had no support, role models or money to help him succeed in life. 
He couldn’t pass the classes to get a GED, had limited employment potential, 
and has a “borderline intellectual disability,” she testified.

That didn’t stop him from lying about getting an associate degree from Ashland 
University, about being in a gang or not having depressive hallucinations, 
Askenazi testified.

“I’m not disagreeing (that) he’s prone to lying,” she testified. In Kirkland’s 
mind, he turned to dealing drugs because it was all he could do to support his 
family, Askenazi testified.

“It’s a choice as far as your environment allows you to make,” she said.

As testimony at trial showed, Kirkland “definitely would go out with a lot of 
women,” as he “takes pride in his sexual prowess.” That shows a kind of 
confidence, but Askenazi also testified that Kirkland has feelings of guilt, 
worthlessness and depression he can’t fake.

“No one is saying this isn’t a guy who hasn’t lied a lot of times,” she 
testified, “but he really wishes this wasn’t his life. He feels regret. He is 
remorseful for breaking the law, but he said he was just dealing with the life 
he was given.”

Because the Lorain County Justice Center is closed today and Thursday due to 
the weather, testimony in the penalty phase resumes in Miraldi’s courtroom at 9 
a.m. Friday.

(source: The Chronicle)








TENNESSEE:

Tennessee Supreme Court upholds death penalty for man who killed Bartlett 
couple



The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty for a Shelby County 
man twice convicted of killing a Bartlett couple at home in 2003.

In 2015, Henry Lee Jones was found guilty of premeditated murder and sentenced 
to death for killing Clarence and Lillian James. Jones' original conviction was 
reversed and the case was retried, which resulted in the same conviction and 
sentence.

The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Jones' 2nd conviction and sentence, 
sending the case to the the Tennessee Supreme Court, which is required to 
review all death penalty cases.

The Tennessee Supreme Court considered whether Jones was unconstitutionally 
denied his right to counsel, whether the trial court properly admitted former 
testimony of a witness when witness was unavailable, whether there was 
sufficient evidence to convict and whether the trial court erred by denying a 
mitigation expert.

The Tennessee Supreme Court ultimately upheld the conviction and sentence. An 
execution date has not been announced.

(source: wmcactionnews5.com)








WYOMING:

Capital punishment repeal passes 1st test in House



An effort to repeal Wyoming’s death penalty passed its 1st reading Wednesday 
afternoon in one of the most intense moments of this year’s session so far.

House Bill 145, sponsored by Rep. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, would eliminate 
capital punishment in Wyoming and replace it with a natural life sentence. The 
bill was able to make it through its first test on the House floor with 36 
representatives voting in favor.

(source: wyomingnews.com)

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

Wyoming is the closest it's ever been to repealing the death penalty



In one of the most personal and reflective hearings in the House of 
Representatives this year, lawmakers chose to forward a bill to repeal the 
state’s death penalty with an 8-vote majority on the bill’s 1st reading, 
bringing the state closer to repealing the death penalty than it has been at 
any point since it was reinstated more than 40 years ago.

While the bill still needs to pass two additional votes in the House to move on 
to the Senate, the 36 votes in support of the repeal mark the most serious 
chance to end the state’s death penalty since its 1976 reinstatement 
nationwide.

Wyoming is currently one of 31 states that still has a death penalty. However, 
it has not executed anyone since the early 1990s and currently has nobody on 
death row. Despite this, the state allocates nearly $1 million in public 
funding each year to a death penalty legal defense fund, which typically goes 
untouched.

Prior to the vote, the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Jared Olsen, R-Cheyenne, 
urged the House to look at the facts and think about what he described as a 
broken system of justice that has done nothing to affect the state’s homicide 
rate.

“This is the most silent I’ve seen the body all week,” he said after lawmakers 
concluded their comments. “You’re listening and contemplating, and that’s 
important. This is one of the most important decisions we’re going to make this 
week.”

“You have to decide if you want a system of retribution or not,” he said.

In emotional and sometimes personal testimony, members of the House shared 
their own experiences facing violence in their lives, as well as their own 
struggles grappling with how their morality and theological beliefs would shape 
their vote.

“I’ve thought of the theological argument and all that, but ... what really 
made me change my mind is that, on so many issues, I really don’t think the 
government is always right,” said Rep. Sue Wilson, R-Laramie, highlighting a 
number of the criminal justice reform bills the House has currently worked 
with.

Noting that she understood the pain families might feel to have a relative 
murdered or to be the victim of a heinous crime, she added, “I can’t imagine 
what it would be like to be an innocent person put to death by your 
government,” and said she would vote for the bill.

There were numerous lawmakers who spoke in opposition of the bill. Rep. Bill 
Pownall — a former Campbell County sheriff — opposed the repeal, saying that 
while the death penalty isn’t often used in Wyoming, a jury should have the 
option to punish crimes they deem worthy of death, a tool he firmly believes 
“is a deterrent” to crime. Others, like Rep. Shelly Duncan, R-Torrington, put 
personal beliefs aside, saying that when she was elected, she promised she 
would leave her religious and personal beliefs at the door.

Wednesday’s vote was a marked change from the fate that has befallen similar 
bills in recent years. A 2018 bill fell well short of the necessary votes 
needed for introduction, and a bill the year before failed to even make it out 
of committee.

This year, efforts to pass the bill were much more organized, with numerous 
interests working behind the scenes to get the bill past the House. Throughout 
the week, Randy Steidl — an exonerated death row inmate from Illinois who was 
wrongly sentenced for the 1986 murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads — was working 
members of the House to bring them around to an “aye” vote on the bill.

(source: trib.com)

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

Bill to repeal death penalty still alive in Wyoming Legislature



The Wyoming State Legislature has an opportunity to repeal the death penalty in 
Wyoming.

A former death row inmate, Randy Steidl, who was exonerated for his crimes 
after being wrongfully accused has been educating representatives on the 
benefits to repealing the death penalty. He said, "Harsh as death row was, I 
believe life without parole is far harsher. I think if you really want to 
punish a vicious killer, you put them in a cage the rest of their life and you 
make them think about the crimes they've committed."

His main points include the cost of keeping inmates on death row and appealing 
to the fact that life in prison is a more severe punishment than eventually 
being executed. Along with that, he believes Wyoming has a unique opportunity 
to pass a bill repealing the death penalty while there are no inmates on death 
row.

Currently Wyoming uses lethal injection as the means of executing those on 
death row. However, they will use lethal gas if injection is found 
unconstitutional. In 1992, Mark Hopkins was the last person executed in 
Wyoming.

The bill passed in its reading in the House of Representatives with 36 votes in 
favor of the bill.

To follow what is going on in the Legislature, go to wyoleg.gov.

(source: KGWN news)

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

Dear Editor:



We are writing to the Boomerang and Albany County legislators in support of 
House Bill 145 which will serve to repeal Wyoming's death penalty. There has 
been no person executed in Wyoming in many years, albeit may have been 
sentenced to life without parole. Jurors and the Judiciary as do we, find the 
death penalty unacceptable, ethically, as well as being an undue burden on the 
state's budget.

We ask that you pass on your belief to the Wyoming Legislature.

Sincerely,

Shirley Kingston, Sonya Moore, Cynthia Kelly, Lorinda Lindly, Pam Mathewson, 
Richelle Keinath and Martha Phenegar; Laramie

(source: Letter to the Editor, Laramie Boomerang)








IDAHO:

Judge orders partial release of Idaho lethal injection docs | Idaho Statesman



A judge has ordered the Idaho Department of Corrections to release some of the 
information that was redacted from thousands of pages of documents detailing 
the state's execution preparations and procedures — including the name of 1 
lethal injection drug provider — but prison officials may appeal the ruling.

Fourth District Court Judge Lynn Norton said Wednesday morning that she still 
needed to carefully review hundreds of additional documents before she can make 
a decision on the remaining redactions.

University of Idaho Professor Aliza Cover, who studies the death penalty, sued 
for access to the records under Idaho's Public Records Act after the Idaho 
Department of Correction largely denied her record request in 2017. She 
contends the public interest in understanding how the state performs capital 
punishment outweighs the Idaho Department of Correction's interest in keeping 
such matters secret.

But department officials contend that releasing the information could make 
future lethal injection drug suppliers refuse to sell the chemicals to Idaho, 
hindering the state's ability to carry out executions. IDOC attorneys also say 
releasing the names of execution team members and volunteers could put those 
people at risk.

(source: idahostatesman.com)








USA----countdown to nation's 1500th execution

With the execution of Robert Jennings in Texas on January 30, the USA has now 
executed 1,491 condemned individuals since the death penalty was relegalized on 
July 2, 1976 in the US Supreme Court Gregg v Georgia decision. Gary Gilmore was 
the first perons executed, in Utah, on January 17, 1977. Below is a list of 
scheduled executions as the nation approaches a terrible milestone of 1500 
execution in the modern era.

NOTE: The list is likely to change over the coming months as new execution 
dates are added and possible stays of execution occur.

1492-------Feb. 7-------------Dominique Ray------------Alabama

1493-------Feb. 28------------Billy Coble----------------Texas

1494-------Mar. 28------------Patrick Murphy------------Texas

1495-------Apr. 24------------John King------------------Texas

1496-------May 2--------------Dexter Johnson------------Texas

1497-------May 16-------------Donnie Johnson-----------Tennessee

1498-------May 29-------------Cleveland Jackson--------Ohio

1499-------July 10--------------Kareem Jackson----------Ohio

1500-------Aug. 14-------------Gregory Lott---------------Ohio

(source: Rick Halperin)