[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., OHIO, UTAH, WYO.

[Rick Halperin]

July 25



TEXAS:

Prosecutors to seek death penalty against accused serial killer of elderly 
people----Billy Chemirmir is linked to the deaths of 19 people, according to 
criminal court records and civil lawsuits.



Dallas County prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for a 46-year-old man 
charged with 12 murders of elderly women and linked to 7 other deaths of 
elderly people.

Billy Chemirmir, 46, is charged with 7 counts of capital murder in Dallas 
County and 5 counts of capital murder in Collin County, where he also faces 2 
counts of attempted capital murder.

Chemirmir is also accused of killing 7 other elderly people, according to 
lawsuits filed against an upscale senior living center.

The lawsuits allege Chemirmir posed as a maintenance worker at The 
Tradition-Prestonwood, where he killed and robbed 8 elderly women and one 
elderly man.

The suits say the senior living center failed to provide adequate security and 
hid Chemirmir's connection to the string of deaths.

In each death, excluding the death of 89-year-old Solomon Spring, the elderly 
women were found smothered in their homes.

In most of the cases, the deaths were initially deemed natural.

Chemirmir was arrested March 21, 2018, on a murder charge in the smothering 
death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris.

After his arrest, Chemirmir was also charged in Collin County with 2 counts of 
attempted capital murder in an attack of a 92-year-old woman the day before 
Harris was killed and the attack of a 93-year-old woman in October 2017.

Chemirmir has been indicted in the deaths of:

Phyllis Payne, 91, on May 14, 2016

Phoebe Perry, 94, on June 5, 2016

Norma French, 85, on Oct. 8, 2016

Doris Gleason, 92, on Oct. 29, 2016

Minnie Campbell, 83, on Oct. 31, 2017

Carolyn MacPhee, 81, on Dec. 31, 2017

Rosemary Curtis, 76, on Jan. 17, 2018

Mary Brooks on Jan. 31, 2018

Martha Williams, 80, on March 4, 2018

Miriam Nelson, 81, on March 9, 2018

Ann Conklin, 82, on March 18, 2018

Lu Thi Harris, 81, on March 20, 2018

He is linked through lawsuits to the deaths of:

Joyce Abramowitz, 82, on July 20, 2016

Juanita Purdy, 83, on July 31, 2016

Leah Corken, 83, on Aug. 19, 2016

Margaret White, 87, on Aug. 28, 2016

Solomon Spring, 89, on Oct. 2, 2016

Glenna Day, 87, on Oct. 15, 2016

Doris Wasserman, 90, on Dec. 23, 2017

(source: WFAA news)








FLORIDA:

Here’s Why Juries in Death Penalty Trials Might Not Be So Fair, Impartial After 
All



You have the right to a fair trial by a jury of your peers, but researchers 
argue your “peers” typically end up being mostly white.

Alisa Smith, Chair of the Department of Legal Studies at UCF, told Spectrum 
News that findings from the University of California in recent decades show 
African Americans are more likely to be disproportionately excluded from death 
penalty trials.

“You can’t exclude a juror based upon race, but you can exclude a juror based 
upon a belief or a perception that they can’t be fair and impartial,” Smith 
explained.

The findings show that as African Americans become more anti-death penalty, the 
likelihood of them being excluded in these trials as a juror increase.

The research is reflected in the triple-murder trial of Central Florida man 
Grant Amato, who is accused of killing his parents and brother. 10 people out 
of the 12 person jury are white, and the alternates are 3 white men.

The point of death qualification is to identify jurors who can be fair and 
impartial in deciding the ultimate punishment.

But Smith says it doesn’t always work that way.

“That question alone tends to bias a jury toward a group of individuals who are 
more likely to impose the death penalty,” she explained.

While there is no cookie-cutter solution, Smith argues that a potential 
solution is to have 2 separate juries — 1 for the trial and 1 for the penalty 
phase.

(source: baynews9.com)








ALABAMA:

Judge will decide Thursday if Lionel Francis should get death penalty for 
killing young daughter



A Madison County Circuit Judge will decide Thursday if Lionel Francis will get 
the death penalty for killing his 20-month-old daughter.

Francis, 37, was convicted in May of capital murder in the death of Alexandria 
Francis. The child was shot in May 2016 at the family’s home on Lockwood Court.

Francis didn’t testify at this trial, but he told police the shooting was an 
accident.

The prosecution’s case included testimony from a state medical examiner who 
said the nature of the child’s wound indicated the gun was pressed tightly to 
her forehead before he pulled the trigger.

The child’s mother, Ashley Ross testified she was changing her clothes, with 
her back to Francis and her daughter when she heard the shot fired.

Ross’s testimony shook the courtroom at Francis’ trial, as prosecutors played 
her anguished 911 call pleading for medical attention. The jury also heard her 
one phone conversation with Francis’ where she angrily dismissed his claims the 
shooting was an accident.

The jury deliberated about 3 hours before convicting Francis. The same jury 
later recommended, by an 11-1 vote that Francis receive the death penalty.

The final decision is with Circuit Judge Ruth Ann Hall.

The hearing is set to begin at 9 a.m.

(source: WHNT news)








OHIO:

Judge sends Cleveland man back to death row in 1984 rape and murder of nurse, 
despite reservations



A Common Pleas Court judge on Tuesday rejected an imprisoned Cleveland man’s 
challenge to his 1984 conviction and death sentence in the raping and killing 
of a nurse.

Judge Robert McClelland sent Anthony Apanovitch back to death row after the 
Ohio Supreme Court last year reversed his 2015 decision granting Apanovitch a 
new trial based on new DNA tests.

McClelland in a 5-page opinion expressed dismay that Apanovitch was sentenced 
to death based solely on circumstantial evidence presented during a trial that 
took place just 55 days after the crime and noted the record of the case 
against Apanovitch was “troubling.”

“It is difficult to be at the end of the line,” McClelland wrote. He said legal 
precedent and prior court rulings “leave this court with no other option than 
to deny the motion for new trial on the basis that the Defendant is unable to 
show a strong possibility that a new trial would end in a different result.”

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in a statement through a 
spokesman that Apanovitch belongs on death row.

“The gamesmanship has gone on for too long,” O’Malley said . “Putting him back 
on death row ends the agony of years of litigation that has tortured the 
victim’s family."

Apanovitch’s appellate attorney, Mark DeVan, did not immediately return a 
request for comment Wednesday.

Apanovitch has been on death row since he was convicted of the rape, burglary 
and murder of Mary Ann Flynn of Cleveland.

Flynn, a 33-year-old nurse, hired Apanovitch to paint her Archwood Drive home 
in the summer of 1984, according to records. He raped, beat and strangled her, 
prosecutors said. Flynn had previously told friends he had propositioned her 
and she was afraid of him.

Apanovitch repeatedly appealed his conviction and death sentence. As part of 
that process, prosecutors in 1991 discovered slides of DNA evidence collected 
from Flynn’s vagina and mouth that had been misplaced in the Cuyahoga County 
Coroner’s Office, court records said. The next year, the office sought to 
obtain a DNA sample from Apanovitch to test against the newly discovered 
slides. Apanovitch resisted the testing, arguing through his lawyers that the 
results would likely be inaccurate and that the chain of custody had been 
broken.

A federal court in 2006 ordered Apanovitch to give his DNA sample to 
prosecutors and testing revealed that Apanovitch was not a match for the DNA 
from Flynn’s vagina. But a forensic report and an expert hired by prosecutors 
found that Apanovitch was likely the source of the DNA in her mouth, according 
to court records.

In 2012, Apanovitch filed a motion for post-conviction relief over the results 
of the newly discovered test results.

McClelland held a 2015 hearing and acquitted Apanovitch of the vaginal rape 
charge, overturned his convictions on the other charges and ordered a new 
trial. Prosecutors appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, where a divided set of 
justices overturned the ruling and found that Ohio law barred McClelland from 
ruling on the post-conviction relief motion.

McClelland in his Tuesday order wrote he agreed with the dissenting opinion in 
the Ohio Supreme Court’s original ruling on direct appeal that the death 
penalty was inappropriate for Apanovitch, but he did not have the authority to 
alter that decision because he could not hold that Apanovitch would likely have 
prevailed at a new trial based on the DNA test results.

(source: cleveland.com)








UTAH:

Families of Eureka teens want accused killer to face death penalty



In 1 week, the man who's charged with murdering 2 Eureka teens and dumping 
their bodies into an abandoned mine will learn if he'll face the death penalty.

After Jerrod Baum pleaded not guilty on June 10, the clock started ticking for 
Utah County Attorney David Leavitt. He has 60 days to decide whether to seek 
the death penalty.

However, the families of Breezy Otteson and Riley Powell said they made up 
their minds a long time ago.

Otteson's aunt, Amanda Hunt, said she's still not sure what the Utah County 
Attorney will decide when it comes to the death penalty.

“There`s a lot of anxiety towards what`s going to happen. I think he`s torn. I 
think he`s torn on what decision he is to make and it`s a big decision to make. 
Both sides of it. Politically and personally,” Hunt said.

When the family met with him, they were clear about what they want.

“Being locked up, he`s been locked up. That`s what he likes,” Hunt said.

Calling Baum a career criminal, Hunt said he had his chance at rehabilitation.

“He`s been locked up...since he was 15. So, over half his life he`s been locked 
up so clearly institutionalizing him is not the answer,” said Hunt.

Police said he murdered Otteson and her boyfriend Riley Powell, throwing their 
bodies in an abandoned mine shaft. Prosecutors said Baum was angry because the 
couple had been visiting with his girlfriend.

“With the death penalty at least we know that one day his life will be taken 
from him for what he did in taking the kids` lives,” Hunt said.

Hunt said a death sentence will finally send Baum a message.

“Being on death row, you don`t get the luxuries that you get in general 
population. At least he can be isolated. He can then not have what he wants,” 
said Hunt.

Due to debate over the death penalty, Hunt started a poll on the Justice for 
Breezy and Riley Facebook page.

“There was a concern with a lack of support for the death penalty. The intent 
behind the poll was to get a gauge and see what people`s opinions were,” said 
Hunt.

Hoping a display of public support will gently push Leavitt to their side.

“Whatever decision is made, we`re going to support it. We may not like it,” 
Hunt said.

Leavitt has a press conference scheduled on July 31 to announce his decision.

(source: Fox News)




WYOMING:

Prosecutors can seek death penalty for Dale Eaton



The 10th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals said Wyoming prosecutors still have the 
opportunity to pursue the death penalty for murderer Dale Wayne Eaton.

This comes after a long battle over the course of more than 20 years for 
Wyoming's only death row inmate at the time.

Following his conviction in 2004 in the murder of Lisa Kimmel, Dale Eaton was a 
dead man walking... the only death row inmate in the Cowboy state at the time.

Twice Eaton successfully appealed delaying that death sentence and then in 
2015, a federal judge abolished Eaton's original death sentence in the 1988 
case.

This came following a ruling stating Eaton didn't get sufficient defense.

A state judge also ordered Eaton to undergo a mental health evaluation to 
determine if he was competent to face a new hearing or receive the death 
penalty.

A later ruling determined that Eaton had received inadequate representation 
from the Wyoming public defender's office.

That ruling blocked the state from holding another death-penalty hearing for 
Eaton while his federal appeals were pending.

Eaton's latest appeal argues the District Court erred in denying relief on the 
constitutional claims that implicate his convictions, refusing to modify the 
conditional writ to bar the state from conducting new death-penalty 
proceedings; and subsequently concluding the state didn't waive its right to 
pursue new death penalty proceedings by failing to timely comply with the 
conditional writ's requirements.

On Tuesday, the 10th Circuit Court affirmed the District Court's decision to 
pursue the death penalty.

(source: KULR news)