[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., S.DAK., COLO., ARIZ., CALIF., USA

[Rick Halperin]

June 26



KANSAS:

Kansas abortion ruling prompts new attack on death penalty



A recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling declaring that the state constitution 
protects access to abortion opened the door to a new legal attack on the death 
penalty.

Attorneys for five of the 10 men on death row in Kansas argue that the abortion 
decision means the state's courts can enforce the broad guarantees of "life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in the Bill of Rights in the Kansas 
Constitution. The lawyers contend the convicted killers cannot be executed 
because capital punishment violates their "inalienable" right to life.

They include Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a white supremacist convicted of killing 
three people at two Jewish sites in the Kansas City area in 2014, and Jonathan 
and Reginald Carr, 2 brothers who, authorities said, forced 5 people to remove 
money from ATMs and have sex with one another before killing 4 of them in 
Wichita in 2000.

Defense attorneys launched the new legal attack on capital punishment in 
filings with the state Supreme Court in May, less than 2 weeks after the 
abortion decision. The justices took the claims seriously enough to order 
defense attorneys and prosecutors to file additional written arguments, with 
the last ones due in mid-November.

"It hasn't been argued under the Kansas Constitution, at least, not in the way 
we are presenting it in these cases," Meryl Carver-Allmond, an attorney for two 
of the men. "This is a new argument."

The Kansas Supreme Court's abortion ruling in April was the latest in a long 
list of decisions that have angered conservative Republicans in the 
GOP-controlled Legislature. It said the state's Bill of Rights grants a right 
to "personal autonomy" that includes access to abortion.

4 of the 7 justices were appointed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and 2 
by moderate Republican Gov. Bill Graves. The 7th, the only dissenter in the 
abortion case, was appointed by conservative GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.

Past decisions in capital murder cases also have sparked anger. Kansas' last 
legal executions were in 1965, by hanging, and the state enacted its current 
death penalty law in 1994.

The court has yet to rule in Miller's case. In 2014, the court overturned death 
sentences for the Carr brothers in two separate rulings. Those decisions helped 
fuel unsuccessful election campaigns in 2014 and 2016 to oust all but 
Brownback's appointee. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the rulings, sending 
the Carrs' cases back to the Kansas Supreme Court. The cases are pending.

Republican Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt told The Associated Press this 
week that the abortion decision "opened the door for a wide range of new 
litigation."

"There is a certain irony that a case regarding abortion is now being urged by 
some as a reason to upend the death penalty in Kansas," Schmidt said. "I think 
that's just the start, because this holding was so sweeping. I think it's not 
just going to be abortion."

In 2001, in its 1st ruling under the state's current death penalty law, the 
Kansas Supreme Court rejected an argument that the state constitution grants a 
right to life barring executions for crimes. Defense attorneys now argue that 
the abortion decision provides grounds for reconsidering that conclusion.

David Lowden, an assistant district attorney, argued in filings this month in 
the Carr brothers' cases that it remains a "vast legal reach" to argue that 
capital punishment violates the state constitution.

Jeffrey Jackson, a Washburn University of Topeka law professor, said the right 
to life has never been interpreted to include freedom from being executed for a 
capital crime.

"When you're trying your client from being executed, you find all the stuff. 
Your requirement is that you make all the arguments that you can credibly 
make," Jackson said. "I just think that this one's — it would not withstand 
scrutiny."

Richard Levy, a University of Kansas law professor, said the abortion ruling 
suggests the Kansas court might recognize rights for the state's residents that 
aren't recognized nationally. Levy said he has doubts that the Kansas Supreme 
Court would declare capital punishment violates the state constitution but 
added, "I don't think the argument is frivolous."

"I think it's more likely that the end result would be the death penalty is 
still constitutional but more safeguards have to be applied in Kansas than at 
the national level," Levy said.

(source: Associated Press)








SOUTH DAKOTA----new execution date

Judge grants execution warrant in 1992 Rapid City murder case



Charles Rhines learned Tuesday, June 25, that he is scheduled to be executed in 
early November, 27 years after he stabbed a former co-worker to death while 
burglarizing a Rapid City doughnut shop.

"This step was one big one for justice for Donnivan," Peggy Schaeffer, mother 
of murder victim Donnivan Schaeffer, said outside the Rapid City courtroom 
where a judge granted Rhines' warrant of execution. "It's just time."

Judge Robert Mandel granted the motion filed after listening to arguments by 
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg and defense lawyer John Murphy of 
Rapid City. Peggy and her husband, Ed, filled the courtroom with friends and 
family, while Rhines appeared on a TV screen via a video feed from the state 
prison in Sioux Falls.

A jury sentenced Rhines to die in 1993 after finding him guilty of premeditated 
1st-degree murder for killing Schaeffer, a 22-year-old from Black Hawk.

It's time to execute Rhines "for the sake of the family and for justice," 
Ravnsborg told Mandel during the hearing. Rhines "exhausted" all legal reasons 
— such as criminal appeals and petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court — that might 
prevent an execution once the high court rejected his case in April, Ravnsborg 
said, citing South Dakota Codified Law 23A-27A-31.

Ravnsborg also noted that Rhines has been challenging his case five years 
longer than his victim, who he "brutally killed," was alive for.

While the law allows a judge to issue the execution warrant, Murphy told Mandel 
it's "completely in your discretion" as to when you chose to do so.

Murphy said it would be unfair to issue the warrant while Rhines has two open 
lawsuits. Rhines is challenging the state's execution drug protocol at the 
state court in Minnehaha County. He's also arguing in the federal Eighth 
Circuit Court of Appeals that his constitutional rights were violated when he 
was denied access to mental health experts his lawyers retained to help with 
his clemency petition.

The federal appeals court is "obviously taking the actions very seriously" 
since it refused to expedite the hearing at Ravnsborg's request, Murphy said.

Rhines' challenge of the execution protocol is a "fairly routine procedure" for 
people on death row, Ravnsborg said after the hearing. Rhines' federal appeals 
were first denied by a South Dakota judge and doctors have found Rhines 
mentally competent "numerous times" before, during and after the trial, 
Ravnsborg said.

Mandel said he agreed with Murphy that he has discretion over when to issue the 
execution warrant, and he would delay issuing it — even after 27 years — if 
there was a reason to do so.

But there is "no legal reason to postpone the execution," Mandel said in 
granting the warrant, which calls for Rhines to be executed between Nov. 3 and 
9.

Peggy Schaeffer smiled and held a love one's hand after the announcement. 
Rhines, wearing a gray sweatshirt and sitting behind a desk in what appeared to 
be a classroom, appeared calm during the entire proceeding but looked slightly 
surprised after the warrant was granted.

Mandel considered the arguments of both lawyers and numerous courts have upheld 
Rhines' sentence, Peggy said after the hearing. She said she doesn't regret 
Rhines being sentenced to death rather than life in prison without parole. 
Plus, it was the jury's decision, not hers, she said.

"The judicial system does work if if you let it," Peggy said.

Peggy said she feels her son "besides me all the time" and thinks about what 
her son would have accomplished if he was still alive.

"I missed (having) a daughter-in-law, I missed grandchildren, my son misses his 
brother, my grandchildren miss an uncle and an aunt," she said.

"There's always that hole, always that chair at the table that's never filled" 
during holidays so the family lights a candle and places a rose on the table in 
honor of Donnivan's memory, Peggy said. "And he is there, we know it."

Rhines execution date and time will be chosen by the prison warden who then 
must notify the public at least 48 hours in advance, Ravnsborg said after the 
hearing.

Murphy did not immediately return a message asking if he plans to challenge the 
warrant of execution.

Rhines tried to appeal his case to the Supreme Court, but the high court 
declined to hear it. He argued his sentence is unconstitutional because jurors 
were homophobic and decided to sentence him to death rather than life in prison 
because they thought he would enjoy being in prison with other men. His lawyers 
said an original jury note and recent interviews with jurors show they were 
motivated by homophobia.

Journal archives show jurors found multiple aggravating factors — killing for 
money, killing a witness to a crime and killing with a depraved mind — in the 
murder when only one is required for the death penalty. Jurors who spoke with 
the Journal at the time said they discussed the aggravating factors and if they 
felt the Rhines deserved the death penalty. One woman said she thought about 
the images of Schaeffer — who was stabbed in the stomach, back and skull — and 
how awful it was.

Ravnsborg said the jury sentenced Rhines to death due to the "heinous nature" 
of the crime, not because they were homophobic, and that his homophobia 
argument didn't come until years after the trial.

The South Dakota and national ACLU asked Gov. Kristi Noem to grant Rhines 
clemency, but she said she agrees with the Board of Pardons and Paroles' 
decision to deny clemency and has no plans to stop his execution.

The most recent South Dakota execution took place in October 2018, when Rodney 
Berget was killed for murdering prison guard Ronald "R.J." Johnson in 2011.

(source: inforum.com)

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

Execution date set for Rapid City man guilty of 1992 murder



A man convicted of killing a former coworker at a Rapid City doughnut shop in 
1992 is scheduled to be executed this fall.

On Tuesday, Judge Robert Mandel issued a warrant of execution for Charles 
Russell Rhines, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg said in a statement.

“South Dakota has, historically, sought the death penalty only in the worst, 
most heinous cases,” Ravnsborg said. “Sadly, this is one of those cases.”

The execution will take place sometime between Nov. 3 and Nov. 9, Ravnsborg 
said. The exact date will be announced 2 days prior to the execution, per South 
Dakota law.

Rhines was convicted of premeditated 1st-degree murder in 1993 for the death of 
22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer, who was stabbed in the stomach, back and skull.

"This step was one big one for justice for Donnivan," Donnivan's mother Peggy 
Schaeffer said to the Rapid City Journal. "It's just time."

In May, the state of South Dakota filed a motion for a warrant of execution for 
Rhines, with Gov. Kristi Noem saying she agreed with the Board of Pardons and 
Paroles' decision to reject Rhines' application for clemency.

Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Rhines, who claimed 
the jury that convicted him was prejudiced against him because of the fact that 
he is gay.

The most recent person to be put to death in South Dakota was 56-year-old 
Rodney Berget in October 2018. Berget and another inmate, Eric Robert, murdered 
correctional officer Ron "R.J." Johnson in 2012 during a failed prison escape 
attempt. Robert was executed in 2012.

(source: Argus Leader)








COLORADO:

Colorado Springs killer of 3, with ties to murder of Kelsey Grammer's sister, 
dies while still incarcerated



The man convicted in a Colorado Springs killing spree in 1975, with ties to the 
rape and killing of actor Kelsey Grammer’s sister, died of natural causes 
Monday night at age 64, authorities reported.

Michael Corbett was sentenced to 2 life sentences and the death penalty for 3 
murders more than 40 years ago. He was spared execution because of changes in 
Colorado’s sentencing laws.

Corbett died in a Denver-area hospital while still incarcerated, the 4th 
Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

(source: The Gazette)








ARIZONA:

Prosecutor writes book on death penalty



Since 1910, more than 100 inmates have been put to death in Arizona, including 
a woman. The death penalty is controversial but, here in Arizona, it’s the law.

November 2000, Ron Geuder had just witnessed the execution of Don Miller, the 
man who shot his daughter in the head five times. The murder had been at the 
request of Anthony Luna, the father of Jenny Geuder’s child.

Her father said, “We miss Jenny very much, and we know this isn’t going to 
bring Jenny back, and this certainly is not bringing closure to our family. It 
brought closure to Don Miller.”

Don Miller spent 8 years on death row. He said he wanted to die. After the 
first appeal, he waived his rights to appeals after that.

Sandi Geuder chose not to witness the execution.

“I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that as a mom I’m there,” said 
Sandi Gueder.

Rick Unklesbay has been a prosecutor in Pima County for over three decades. He 
wrote a book “Arbitrary Death” A prosecutor’s perspective on the death penalty.

The book examines the monetary and emotional cost of capital punishment.

Unklesbay prosecuted Miller’s case and also witnessed the execution.

“We have people in Pima County that have been on Death Row since 1981,” he 
added.

He has tried over 100 1st degree murder cases. 20 were death penalty cases.

“If people knew how much the death penalty costs, what the delays were, how 
often they get reversed for technical reasons,” said Unklesbay. “People may 
have a different opinion whether they support it.”

The book he’s written this book profiled some of Tucson’s most brutal murders.

“The reason for the book was to give people an idea of how the system works and 
the frailties of it.”

Unklesbay says the cost per case runs in the millions of dollars because of the 
appeals process.

“Death row inmates are represented at least by 1 attorney, sometimes 2 
throughout the dependency of their 20-25 year appeals process,” said Unklesbay.

Take the case of Joe Lambright in 1980. He and 2 others kidnapped Sandy Owen. 
She was raped and repeatedly stabbed, her body left in the desert. Her remains 
were found a year later. Lambright was arrested in Texas. He was convicted and 
sentenced to die.

Thirty years later, “The ninth circuit court of appeals decided he should have 
a new sentencing trial,” said Unklesbay.

So in 2014, an older and frail looking Lambright went to trial before a jury. 
They couldn’t decide. It was a hung jury.

“It was so remote to them everything was old, all the witnesses had died in the 
meantime,” said Unklesbay.

Lambright was given life in prison and is now appealing that decision.

Scott Clabourne was convicted of brutally murdering U of A student Laura 
Webster the same year.

“He’s been convicted on death row for 38 years and he’s still appealing his 
sentence and conviction,” said Unklesbay.

Then there’s James Wallace in 1984. He viciously attacked and killed his 
ex-girlfriend and her 2 children. He told detectives he wanted to die, there 
was no trial and he was sentenced to death. The appeals process kicked in and 
every time it was the same story

“We spent 27 years, an untold amount of money. He was sentenced to death 4 
different times,” said Unklesbay.

Then in 2012, the Arizona Supreme Court said it just didn’t meet the death 
penalty statues.

“These were horrible, horrible murders and I often tell people, ” said 
Unklesbay, “if James Wallace doesn’t belong on death row, I don’t know who 
does.”

Ron and Sandi Gueder are at ease since Don Miller was put to death for the 
murder of their daughter, but now they are dealing with Anthony Luna, the 
father of their grandchild. Even though he masterminded the murder, he pleaded 
guilty to avoid the death penalty. He’s now up for parole, and once a year they 
participate in the hearing.

“It’s reliving it, and it’s writing a letter that just opens up that scab 
again. And explaining why he shouldn’t get out,” said Sandi Gueder.

Sandi Gueder has her own opinion of the death penalty.

“I still think there should be a time limit, only X number of appeals and 
that’s it. Because they didn’t give our loved one a chance to appeal what 
happened to them,” she added.

Unklesbay said there hasn’t been an execution in the last 5 years in Arizona. 
He said that’s because of the litigation about the drugs used to carry out the 
death penalty.

He added, a life sentence also costs money because taxpayers are responsible 
for feeding and clothing inmates for years, but the inmates get one appeal and 
that’s all.

The proceeds of Unklesbay’s book, Arbitrary Death, go entirely to help fund 
Homicide Survivors.

(source: KVOA news)








CALIFORNIA----new death sentence

Jury recommends death penalty for man who killed McStay family



A jury recommended the death penalty for the man who killed a California family 
of four and buried them in the Mojave Desert 9 years ago.

Charles Ray Merritt, 62, was found guilty earlier this month on 4 1st-degree 
murder charges in the deaths of Joseph and Summer McStay and their children 
Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3.

Jurors recommended life in prison for Merritt with no parole for the murder of 
Joseph Mc Stay, but they delivered t3 death penalty recommendations for the 
murders of his wife and their t2 children.

The family went missing in 2010. Their bodies were found in a shallow grave in 
the Mojave Desert in 2013, about 100 miles north of their San Diego home. They 
had died of blunt force trauma, according to police.

Merritt, a business associate of Joseph's, was arrested in 2014. Prosecutors 
say Merritt owed McStay more than $42,000.

The family's disappearance long puzzled investigators who said there were no 
signs of struggle at their Fallbrook home. Food had been left out and the dogs 
were home.

(source: CNN)

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

Sacramento Cop's Death Raises the Political Perils of Capital Punishment



Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert hasn't yet announced 
whether she'll seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing 
26-year-old Sacramento police Officer Tara O'Sullivan last week, but the 
slaying is a reminder that the politics of capital punishment can be 
politically fraught — even in solidly Democratic California.

Since the 1960s, the politics of capital punishment have at times ensnared some 
of the state's most storied politicians, including Gov. Pat Brown (who at the 
urging of his son issued a temporary stay for death row inmate Caryl Chessman) 
and Gov. Jerry Brown. The younger Brown saw his appointment of 
anti-death-penalty judges, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird, 
repudiated by voters after he completed his first two terms as governor. Jerry 
Brown's sister, Kathleen Brown, also struggled with her position on the death 
penalty, stumbling during her unsuccessful run for governor in 1994.

The question is, will Gov. Gavin Newsom, who issued a sweeping moratorium 
against executions in March, also pay a price for his opposition to the death 
penalty? Or, since he isn't on the ballot until 2022, will he be insulated from 
a backlash?

"He really is very, very good at seeing where political opinion is going to be 
a half an election cycle or a cycle and a half away, positioning himself as the 
brave one because he took that step," said Loyola Law School professor Jessica 
Levinson, referring to Newsom's early support for same sex-marriage and the 
legalization of recreational marijuana.

"It leaves the impression that it wasn’t popular at the time but he made the 
right decision anyway," Levinson added.

Sacramento police Officer O'Sullivan was allegedly shot and killed by Adel 
Ramos as she responded to reports of a domestic disturbance at a North 
Sacramento home on June 19. Schubert, the Sacramento County district attorney, 
is a strong proponent of capital punishment and was critical of Newsom when he 
halted executions in California.

"He essentially just kicked the victims to the curb," Schubert told KQED in 
April after the governor's decision.

She added, "I'm also bothered that the promise was made by the governor in 
running" that he would honor the will of voters, who had recently rejected a 
ballot measure to end capital punishment in California.

But Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in 
Sacramento, which supports the death penalty, thinks there could be a price to 
pay.

"Newsom's not running again until 2022 and two years is a lifetime in 
politics," Rushford said. And yet he sees support for capital punishment 
remaining steady, at least for crimes like killing a police officer.

Referring to Kamala Harris's first run for California attorney general in 2010, 
Rushford thought her Republican opponent, Los Angeles County District Attorney 
Steve Cooley, could have won that election "if he used her opposition to 
capital punishment to bludgeon her with. But he did not. That was the best 
thing going for him," Rushford said.

? A recent poll by Berkeley IGS found voters have very mixed feelings about the 
death penalty. While registered voters narrowly supported Newsom's ban on 
executions by 52-48%, a solid majority — 61% — oppose eliminating the death 
penalty altogether.

Berkeley IGS pollster Mark DiCamillo said while support for the death penalty 
has softened somewhat over time, Californians are inclined to keep the ultimate 
penalty for the worst crimes.

"The very heinous crimes are the ones the public has in mind for these special 
circumstances," DiCamillo said. "Cop killers would certainly be in that 
category."

When Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in March, he argued that "our 
death penalty system, by all measures, is a failure." He also cited ethical and 
fiscal issues that justified halting executions.

He won strong support from most fellow Democrats, including Assembly Speaker 
Anthony Rendon and Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), who 
applauded Newsom's "courage and conviction" in putting a halt to executions.

But not all Democrats agreed. Newly elected Orange County state Sen. Tom 
Umberg, a former prosecutor, was troubled by Newsom's decision.

"There are some criminals who are so depraved, who have committed such heinous 
crimes in the eyes of the law and the public, and who are guilty without a 
doubt, that they deserve the ultimate punishment," Umberg said.

Republicans were also quick to pile on. A group of five Republican state 
senators introduced a resolution condemning Newsom's action — a symbolic move 
that's gone nowhere in a chamber dominated by Democrats.

At the same time Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Marin) introduced a constitutional 
amendment, ACA12, to place before the voters yet again the question of whether 
to abolish the death penalty. The measure is in the Assembly Public Safety 
Committee, but there have been no hearings or votes and it will require 2/3 
support in both chambers to make it to the ballot in 2020.

But pollster DiCamillo isn't sure the public is ready to eliminate the death 
penalty, even in a presidential year. "It would also inject the death penalty 
into other races, including the presidential race," said DiCamillo.

"It could be used as a wedge issue in congressional races," he said, adding 
that "the death penalty might work against the interests of some Democrats to 
hold onto their seats in purple districts."

In 2016, 54% of voters rejected Proposition 62, which would have abolished the 
death penalty. And in the recent Berkeley IGS Poll, 53% of registered voters 
said they'd still oppose abolishing the death penalty and replacing it with a 
life sentence.

The long-term trend of opinion in California has been shifting against the 
death penalty. But the state is still very divided. The climate is shifting 
nationally as well, and many of the Democrats running for president say they 
oppose capital punishment, including Sen. Kamala Harris.

Taken together, it's unlikely that Newsom will pay the kind of price that cost 
Pat, Jerry and Kathleen Brown political support — or even the backlash Harris 
experienced after she declined to seek the death penalty for the killer of a 
San Francisco police officer in April 2004, just months into her tenure as San 
Francisco district attorney.

But the murder of a young police officer in Sacramento is a reminder of how 
quickly individual crimes can change the political atmosphere around the issues 
of policing and criminal justice.

(source: KQED news)








USA----impending/scheduled executions



With the execution of Marion Wilson Jr. in Georgia on June 20, the USA has now 
executed 1,500 condemned individuals since the death penalty was re-legalized 
on July 2, 1976 in the US Supreme Court Gregg v Georgia decision.

Gary Gilmore was the 1st person executed, in Utah, on January 17, 1977. Below 
is a list of further scheduled executions as the nation continues its shameful 
practice of state-sponsored killings.

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

1501------July 31-------------Ruben Gutierrez----------Texas

1502------Aug. 15-------------Dexter Johnson-----------Texas

1503-------Aug. 15------------Stephen West-------------Tennessee

1504-------Aug. 21------------Larry Swearingen---------Texas

1505-------Aug. 22------------Gary Ray Bowles---------Florida

1506-------Sept. 4------------Billy Crutsinger------------Texas

1507-------Sept. 10-----------Mark Anthony Soliz-------Texas

1508-------Sept. 12-----------Warren Henness-----------Ohio

1509-------Oct. 1-------------Russell Bucklew-----------Missouri

1510-------Oct. 2-------------Stephen Barbee------------Texas

1511-------Oct. 16------------Randall Mays-------------Texas

1512-------Nov. 3-9-----------Charles Rhines-----------South Dakota

(source: Rick Halperin)

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

Former UW graduate faces death penalty for murder



A former Stevens Point man and UW graduate could be put to death for killing a 
woman.

Jurors convicted Brendt Christensen of kidnapping and killing Yingying Zhang.

She was taken in June 2017 during a visit to the University of Illinois. Her 
body has not been found.

Today, a spokesman for her family said they still can’t imagine how to live 
without her.

“There is no language that can describe our pain and suffering,” said Zhidong 
Wang, an attorney and spokesman for the Zhang family. “We hope and believe that 
this trial will eventually bring justice to Yingying and us.”

Zhang’s family will ask jurors to recommend Christensen get the death penalty.

Sentencing is scheduled to begin July 8.

(source: WKOW news)