[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., LA., IND., NEB., IDAHO

[Rick Halperin]

July 14



GEORGIA:

Judge denies request for continuance in murder trial



Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Alison T. Burleson has denied a 
request from a defense attorney seeking a continuance in the upcoming death 
penalty murder trial of Ricky Dubose.

Attorney Nathaniel L. Studelska, with the Georgia Capital Defender’s Office, 
told the judge during a Wednesday pre-trial hearing that the defense will not 
be ready for trial Sept. 30.

“Judge, we’d just like to reiterate we do not expect to be ready for trial 
Sept. 30,” Studelska said.

Burleson quickly ruled from the bench and denied a continuance.

As it stands, Dubose will stand trial in Putnam County Superior Court on 
Monday, Sept. 30.

Earlier on Wednesday morning, Burleson heard from Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit 
District Attorney Stephen A. Bradley, as well as from Chief Assistant District 
Attorney Allison “Alley” Mauldin, along with lead Defense Attorney Gabrielle 
Amber Pittman related to other matters.

One such matter regarded various security measures that will be taken in the 
upcoming trial. Those security issues were discussed with the judge by Putnam 
County Sheriff Howard Sills.

Jury selection in that case will be conducted in Glynn County in the coastal 
area of Brunswick. The jurors chosen to hear the Dubose case will be 
transported to Putnam County for the trial.

Dubose, along with co-defendant Donnie Rowe, are accused in the murders of 
Georgia Department of Corrections Officers Sgt. Curtis Billue and Sgt. 
Christopher Monica during an escape from a state prison bus on the morning of 
June 13, 2017.

The 2 officers were shot to death with their own state-issued 9 mm handguns.

Both of the victims lived in Milledgeville and were assigned to the 
transportation hub at Baldwin State Prison near Milledgeville. On the morning 
they were shot to death, they were involved in transporting state prison 
inmates from Baldwin State Prison and Hancock State Prison near Sparta.

Dubose and Rowe escaped from the bus and then, one of them killed the officers 
before they both escaped from the prison bus and hijacked a motorist minutes 
later. The escaped inmates then traveled to Morgan County where they broke into 
a residence in Madison and stole a pickup truck. They drove to Tennessee where 
they committed a home invasion and stole a vehicle. After those crimes in 
Rutherford County, Tennessee, one of the inmates fired gunshots at deputies 
before the driver of the stolen vehicle wrecked and the inmates abandoned the 
vehicle for a nearby wooded area.

The escapees later tossed away the guns and surrendered and were taken into 
custody. They subsequently were returned to Georgia where they were charged 
with the murders and other crimes in connection with their escape.

Dubose and Rowe are being tried separately.

Rowe’s case, which is being presided over by Superior Court Judge Brenda H. 
Trammell, is slated for Oct. 28.

(source: Union-Recorder)








LOUISIANA----new death sentence

Jury sentences man to death for 2015 slaying of Louisiana State Policeman



A man who fatally shot a Louisiana State Tropper in 2015 was sentenced to death 
by a Lafayette Parish jury.

The 12-person jury on Saturday unanimously decided Kevin Daigle should be 
sentenced to the death penalty. In 2018, Louisiana voters amended the state 
constitution to prohibit non-unanimous verdicts in criminal cases.

Daigle, now 57, shot and killed Trooper Steven Vincent during a traffic stop 
near Bell City. The trial was moved to Lafayette Parish from Calcasieu Parish.

“The judgment is justice," said Calcasieu Parish District Attorney John 
DeRosier in a post-trial conference. "This gentleman is evil. He’s evil and he 
did an evil thing. And he deserves to pay the penalty that justice requires. 
And in that respect, he is the worst of the worst."

A judge will formally sentence Daigle in October. He was found guilty of 
1st-degree murder Tuesday after jurors debated for about 15 minutes.

During the trial, which lasted less than a week, jurors saw a dash-cam video 
from Vincent's patrol car. It showed Vincent try to help an intoxicated Daigle, 
who was in a truck on the side of the road, according to KPLC. The video showed 
Daigle shoot Vincent in the head, then stand above him and say, "oh, you're 
still alive? You're still going to die."

Several passers-by stopped and subdued Daigle while trying to help Vincent.

The video ended nearly an hour later when Vincent was airlifted to the 
hospital. State prosecutors argued Daigle understood the consequence of 
actions, despite his intoxication level.

The defense argued the opposite. Because of Daigle's intoxication level, he 
could not have made the decision to intentionally shoot Vincent. It showed 
jurors an hour-long video of Daigle in the backseat of a trooper's patrol car 
after he was arrested.

For a majority of the video, Daigle cannot be seen. But he can be heard 
screaming and beating on the patrol car. He first said he didn't have a weapon 
and he was going to sue the first responders.

He then pleaded to be let out and said: "What did I do? Don't I have the right 
to know?"

It ends when he was removed and taken to a hospital. There, his blood alcohol 
level was determined to be more than 2 times the legal limit.

(source: Lafayette Daily Advertiser)








INDIANA:

New sentencing set in 2004 central Indiana double slaying



A man convicted of killing a central Indiana woman and her 4-year-old daughter 
faces resentencing next month after federal courts threw out his death 
sentence.

Fredrick Baer is scheduled to go before a Madison County judge on Aug. 1. 
County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings tells The (Anderson) Herald Bulletin that he 
expects the 47-year-old Indianapolis man will be sentenced to life in prison 
without parole.

Baer was convicted in the 2004 slayings of 26-year-old Cory Clark and her 
daughter Jenna at their rural Madison County home about 25 miles northeast of 
Indianapolis.

A federal appeals court upheld Baer’s murder convictions but faulted his 
defense lawyers for failing to object to instructions that kept jurors from 
considering mitigating circumstances. Baer maintained he was under the 
influence of methamphetamine.

(source: The Republic)








NEBRASKA:

Nebraska Supreme Court ends bid for execution hearing by



Nebraska’s corrections director won’t have to testify before lawmakers about 
the state’s lethal injection protocol or how prison officials obtained the 
drugs used in an execution last year, the state’s top court ruled Friday.

The Nebraska Supreme Court sided with the state corrections department, which 
sought to block a subpoena from the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee that 
would have required corrections Director Scott Frakes to answer questions about 
his department’s lethal injection practices.

The Judiciary Committee ordered Frakes to appear at a public hearing last year, 
months before Nebraska executed its first inmate by lethal injection. Committee 
members issued the subpoena in response to a complaint from state Sen. Ernie 
Chambers, a death-penalty opponent who wanted to question Frakes under oath.

The court declared the issue moot because the committee’s membership has since 
changed. Most of the senators on the original committee aren’t in office now 
because they declined to seek re-election, lost their seat to challengers or 
were forced out by term limits.

“Even if we were to agree with the senators’ legal position, we could not grant 
the relief they seek,” the court wrote in its collective opinion. “This 
prevents this court from reaching the substantive issues raised by the 
parties.”

A spokesman for Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said state attorneys 
were pleased with the ruling and will continue to review it to see if any 
further steps are necessary. Peterson, a Republican, supports capital 
punishment, and officials in his office have said lawmakers didn’t consult them 
before they issued the subpoena to Frakes.

Chambers said he hadn’t yet read the opinion and wanted time to review it 
before commenting on it.

Peterson filed the lawsuit on the corrections department’s behalf, setting up a 
rare legal battle between the state’s legislative and executive branches. 
Frakes is an appointee of Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.

A Lancaster County district judge struck down the subpoena after the attorney 
general’s office challenged it in court, prompting an attorney for the senators 
to appeal the case to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

The attorney, Patrick Guinan, argued that the subpoena should have remained in 
force even though the committee’s membership changed.

(source: Associated Press)








IDAHO:

Judge: Boise mass stabbing suspect to continue psychiatric treatment



A judge has ordered that mass stabbing suspect Timmy Kinner will continue to 
receive psychiatric treatment at the Idaho Maximum Security Prison South of 
Boise for another 90 days.

Court documents state district Judge Nancy Baskin, following a mental 
competency hearing Thursday, has not made a definitive determination regarding 
Kinner's competency but the judge stated this week he continues to "lack the 
capacity to make informed decisions about his treatment."

Kinner, a 31-year-old transient from California, is charged with 1st-degree 
murder in the death of 3-year-old Ruya Kadir in Boise last summer.

Kinner is also facing several other charges, including 8 counts of aggravated 
assault.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

But before a jury can decide his guilt or innocence, the question of Kinner's 
mental competency to stand trial must be resolved. There is no insanity defense 
in Idaho.

And Judge Baskin's order this week states the Idaho Department of Correction 
will continue to provide the "prescribed involuntarily necessary treatment to 
restore the defendant's competency."

Kinner was first determined mentally incompetent to stand trial in January, a 
decision that was reaffirmed at a competency hearing in April.

And according to court documents, Kinner's competency will be reviewed at 
another closed hearing on August 1.

The judge has also issued a gag order in this high profile case so nobody 
involved with the case can talk about it publicly.

(source: idahonews.com)