Rick Halperin
2018-09-08 14:38:25 UTC
September 8
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Repealing the Death Penalty in New Hampshire Is Personal
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that still puts people to death.
The Northeast region, and much of the nation, has recognized capital punishment
for what it is: a practice of a bygone era that is inherently unjust, often
racially charged, and has resulted in the torture of individuals put to death.
This could change for New Hampshire on Sept. 13, when state legislators have an
opportunity to override Gov. Chris Sununu's veto of a death penalty repeal
bill. This is the latest of a long line of legislative attempts at repeal in
the past decade. The trend is strongly in favor of repeal, and it is one that
crosses party lines.
The question for New Hampshire is not if, but when.
There are Republicans, Democrats, independents, and libertarians who support
repealing the death penalty, just as there are people in all these groups who
do not. You cannot assume an elected official's position based on that person's
party.
More than any other civil rights issue, the death penalty is personal for
elected officials, seen through the prisms of morality, faith, or specific
encounters with individual constituents. Many oppose it because it goes against
their religious beliefs. Others oppose it because it costs the state far more
money than life in prison. And some oppose it because an innocent person may be
put to death.
When the New Hampshire Senate voted to repeal the death penalty in March, 8
Democrats and 6 Republicans voted in favor of repeal. When the New Hampshire
House voted in April, 146 Democrats and 77 Republicans voted for repeal.
Because of Gov. Sununu's veto in June, the state's House and Senate will
reconvene on Sept. 13 and will have to override the veto with a 2/3 vote in
each chamber. As that vote approaches, the message that most resonates across
party lines, gender lines, and county lines is this: The death penalty is
inherently imperfect and that imperfection takes an enormous human toll.
We know for a fact that people are wrongfully sentenced to death in our nation.
We know this because over 160 people on death row have been exonerated. What's
more, the process of executing someone can result in torture, which is
unconstitutional. We know this from different experiences in different states,
no matter the method of execution. There is always the risk that a so-called
"humane" execution becomes cruel and unusual.
People are too often sentenced to death not because of the crime committed, but
because of a poor legal defense, because of their race, or because of the race
of the victim. A death sentence for a defendant often raises questions about
why someone in similar circumstances, sentenced by a different jury, received
life without parole instead. And regardless of how the death penalty is carried
out, state employees who conduct the execution often experience post-traumatic
stress disorder afterwards. This means that even an execution conducted without
error causes harm.
Our criminal justice system is not infallible. We know this. We also know that
society can function without the death penalty. Many states do. The
overwhelming number of countries across the globe do.
It is impossible to guarantee that the death penalty is only applied to the
guilty and only to those guilty of the most heinous crimes. It is also
impossible to guarantee a person won't be tortured while being killed by the
state. The only way to ensure that someone is never wrongfully sentenced to
death, wrongfully executed, or tortured during an execution is to repeal the
death penalty.
And that's the certainty the New Hampshire Legislature should provide on Sept.
13.
(source: Jeanne Hruska, Policy Director, ACLU of New Hampshire----aclu.org)
OHIO:
Convicted murderer Grate to be charged in Richland County; execution delayed
Richland County will pursue charges against convicted killer Shawn Grate,
Prosecutor Gary Bishop said Friday.
Grate, 42, was convicted in May of the aggravated murders of Stacey Stanley,
43, and Elizabeth Griffith, 29, at the end of a lengthy jury trial in Ashland.
The jury recommended the death penalty for Grate, and Ashland County Common
Pleas Judge Ron Forsthoefel agreed.
The judge set Grate's execution date for Thursday - 2 years to the day of his
arrest - but it will not happen for some time.
"He has to set a date as part of the sentencing," Ashland County Prosecutor
Chris Tunnell said. "It's the initial date. It never happens (that quickly)."
Tunnell said a notice of appeal has been filed.
"That stays everything," he said.
In Richland County, authorities said Grate confessed to killing Candice
Cunningham in June 2016. Her body was found behind the burned-out house at 1027
Park Avenue East in Madison Township in September 2016.
The fire had been deemed suspicious.
Mansfield police also have investigated Grate for a possible connection to the
death of Rebekah Leicy, whose body was found in an Ashland County woods in
2015.
The convicted killer also reportedly confessed to killing a woman in Marion
County between 2003 and 2005. She has not been identified.
Authorities say they believe Grate made his way from Richland County to Ashland
County in the summer of 2016.
His 1-man crime spree ended after he kidnapped a woman prosecutors identified
as Jane Doe. Grate raped her multiple times, but she managed to escape after
calling 911 with Grate's phone on Sept. 13, 2016.
After Doe's rescue and the apprehension of Grate, Police found the bodies of
Griffith and Stanley at a house at 363 Covert Court, just off downtown Ashland.
Both women had been strangled. The vacant house, where Grate had been
squatting, has since been demolished.
Grate is an inmate at Chillicothe Correctional Institution.
Mansfield News Journal)
**********************
Former public defender pursues Clayton man's death penalty appeal
A former Ohio public defender wants to try to persuade the Ohio Supreme Court
to reopen the death penalty appeal of a Clayton man.
Elizabeth Arrick, a lawyer based in Kentucky, filed a motion today to represent
Austin Myers, 23, formerly of Clayton, and sentenced to die for the murder of
Justin Back, 18, of Waynesville.
Myers was sentenced to death on Oct. 16, 2014, for Back's murder during a
robbery. Another Clayton man, Timothy Mosley, actually stabbed Back to death.
Myers and Mosley both were 19 years old then.
Myers was 19, the youngest on Ohio's death row, when he was sentenced to death
in 2014 in warren County.
The state's high court has rejected previous appeals of the sentence.
Arrick declined to comment on her decision to file to represent the indigent
Myers and motion for the court to reopen the case.
In the motion she claims the court needs to decide whether Myers was well
represented in his appeal.
"In addition, the appointment of counsel for the Application to Reopen is
currently contingent upon this Court determining that 'there is a genuine issue
as to whether the applicant was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel
on appeal,'" Arrick said in the motion.
Myers was represented by appointed counsel during the trial and appeals.
"There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on
the amount of money he has," Arrick added.
"To ensure adequate appellate review of his conviction and sentence, counsel
for Appellant Austin Gregory Myers requests that this Court issue an order
appointing counsel for the preparation and filing of his application for
reopening."
Arrick worked in the Office of the Ohio Public Defender in Columbus, as the
Assistant State Public Defender, Death Penalty Department from 2013 to 2017,
according her biography.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell could not be immediately reached for
comment.
(source: Dayton Daily News)
*********************
Stewart argues diversity crucial for Ohio Supreme Court
Judge Melody Stewart's journey to what she hopes will be a seat on Ohio's
highest court began with a love of music.
"We had Aretha Franklin, God bless her soul, and the Motown sound playing
through our house, but we also had Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin," the Cleveland
appellate judge said. "I'm a classically trained pianist. I was the only kid in
my neighborhood with a piano in the house that (my mother) got on an
installment plan." Despite getting a degree in music from the University of
Cincinnati, it wasn't Carnegie Hall that beckoned but rather health care,
academia, and, eventually, the courtroom.
"Music was the only thing I wanted to study coming out of high school," Judge
Stewart said. "I went to an all-girls, college-prep high school in
Cleveland...I never thought about how I would translate a music degree into
providing for myself."
She started reading the law books that a company executive/law student brought
into the health-care management office where she worked. That led to law
school, teaching law at schools like the University of Toledo, and ultimately
the bench of the Eighth District Court of Appeals for 12 years.
A Democrat and African American, Judge Stewart, 56, is running for what is now
an all-Republican, all-white Ohio Supreme Court opposite recently appointed
Justice Mary DeGenaro in the Nov. 6 election.
"The fact that I'm a Democrat and Democratic nominees have a hard time getting
elected (to the court), the fact that I'm African American and
African-Americans have a hard time getting elected, then to have my opponent
appointed so that she's technically an incumbent..., certainly made the race
more difficult for us," Judge Stewart said.
She argues that diversity is crucial for the court.
"My opponent is certainly qualified and competent but does not improve the
court in any respect," Judge Stewart said. "If anything, it may be more
detrimental to the court because it maintains the grave possibility of group
think.
"My election improves the court with diversity of background, diversity of
thought," she said. "Ohio is a very diverse state. We are urban, rural,
suburban, farming communities, technology, educational institutions, blue
collar, white collar, no collar. The highest level of the judiciary should be
more reflective of understanding those pockets in those communities."
Her current court, the Eighth District covering Cuyahoga County, is all
Democrat. But Judge Stewart noted that there are also all-Republican courts of
appeals elsewhere in the state. The difference, she said, is that the Supreme
Court is the last stop for justice for Ohio law.
Both candidates have been rated "highly recommended" by the Ohio State Bar
Association.
Until recently, she served on the bipartisan Ohio Criminal Justice
Recodification Committee that recommended reforms to criminal statutes that,
among other things, looked at whether the law sometimes over-criminalizes and
over-penalizes some conduct.
She chairs the state panel that sets rates paid to defense lawyers who handle
death penalty cases. Like her opponent, she has considered post-conviction
appeals of capital cases on the appellate bench but has never imposed a death
sentence.
The justice that Justice DeGenaro replaced, Democratic former Justice William
O'Neill, refused to set execution dates, arguing Ohio's death penalty is
unconstitutional.
Don't expect similar actions from Judge Stewart.
"Let's assume for the sake of argument that I was adamantly opposed to the
death penalty," she said. "That would not impact my work. The death penalty is
still the law of Ohio."
(source: Toledo Blade)
TENNESSEE:
Tennessee inmate's execution was torture, expert says in new court filing
Editor's note: Reporter Dave Boucher was 1 of 7 state-required media witnesses
at Irick's execution.
Billy Ray Irick felt searing pain akin to torture before he died in a Tennessee
prison in August, but steps taken before his execution blocked signs of
suffering, according to a doctor who reviewed information about the lethal
injection.
Dr. David Lubarsky's statement is included in a new court filing entered late
Thursday amid an ongoing legal challenge of Tennessee's lethal injection
protocol. He wrote that Irick "experienced the feeling of choking, drowning in
his own fluids, suffocating, being buried alive, and the burning sensation
caused by the injection of the potassium chloride."
The documents also state Tennessee failed to follow its own protocol during
Irick's execution, raising questions about whether executioners ever intended
to ensure Irick was unable to feel the pain caused by the 2nd and 3rd lethal
injection drugs.
Irick and 32 other death row inmates sued the state this year arguing that
Tennessee's new protocol for lethal injections would subject them to pain so
intense it would violate the U.S. Constitution. They questioned the use of
midazolam, the 1st of the 3 drugs the state administers during executions.
Lubarsky, a Florida doctor, testified for the inmates during a 2-week trial in
July. He said midazolam, which is supposed to render inmates unconscious and
unable to feel pain, doesn't work as intended. He said midazolam sedates
inmates but does not stop them from feeling the effects of the other 2 drugs,
vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
Lubarsky said statements from people who witnessed Irick's execution indicated
the midazolam failed to ensure Irick could not feel pain during his death.
Lubarsky and other medical experts are the backbone for the inmate's appeal.
The case is not about whether the death penalty is constitutional, attorneys
for the death row offenders wrote in the 390-word brief. It's about what the
deadly drugs do to a body, and whether Tennessee citizens should approve of
that likely tortuous outcome.
"This case is about whether it is constitutional to inject a human with a small
bottle of acid - which will destroy the lining of their lungs and cause them to
drown in blood - and then to inject them with a paralytic that will leave them
conscious but expressionless - unable to speak or scream - feeling as if they
are buried alive, and finally to stop their heart with an injection that will,
in their last minute of life, cause them to chemically burn alive," wrote
Kelley Henry and other federal public defenders working on behalf of the death
row inmates.
Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle agreed Lubarsky and other
experts were well qualified, but she rejected their arguments in ruling against
the inmates.
Lyle said whatever pain the inmates felt did not last long enough to count as
unconstitutional torture, a stance blasted by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya
Sotomayor in an opinion issued hours before Irick's death.
The remaining death row offenders continue to pursue their appeal of Lyle's
ruling even though no court stopped Irick's execution.
The Tennessee Department of Correction, represented by the Office of the
Tennessee Attorney General, argued it is following the law and using drugs
available to carry out the required punishment for death row offenders.
Department officials noted during trial that the U.S. Supreme Court previously
allowed executions using midazolam to proceed, arguing the usage is now case
law.
In the latest filing though, Henry and the other attorneys argue that case law
is not settled. They point to new and more expansive medical evidence,
presented to Lyle during the trial, that has never been considered by the full
Supreme Court.
They also blast the state's arguments in the new filing, writing: "Defendants'
repeated mantra, barely acceptable from a teenager, is that - 'all the other
states are doing it, so it must be ok.'"
Department spokeswoman Neysa Taylor declined to comment, citing the ongoing
litigation.
Executioners never prepared 2nd dose of midazolam, records show
The protocol for how the state puts an inmate to death is very specific.
It requires the state prepare primary and back-up syringes for each of the
drugs used in the lethal injection.
However, documents obtained by the inmates' attorneys show executioners did not
prepare a back-up dose of midazolam. The report says executioners only prepared
the one dose of midazolam used at 7:28 p.m., essentially the same time Irick's
execution began.
The protocol requires the executioner to inject the midazolam into a tube that
runs into the condemn's arm. After some time, the warden - who is in the
execution chamber - is required to check to see if the condemned is conscious.
If the condemned is not conscious, the state protocol requires injecting a 2nd
dose of midazolam.
Riverbend Maximum Security Institute Warden Tony Mays conducted the
consciousness check: He brushed Irick's eyelids, yelled his first name twice
and appeared to grab his shoulder. If he had determined Irick was conscious
though, it's unclear if the state could have or would have prepared another
midazolam syringe.
"If Mr. Irick had responded to the consciousness assessment or there had been
problems with the IV apparatus, the execution team would not have been prepared
to carry out the contingency procedures in the manual," Henry and the attorneys
write.
"Defendants' failure to follow the procedures in the manual indicates that the
protocol is meaningless for purposes of Defendants' carrying out an execution
and therefore creates a substantial risk of severe pain and suffering for
Plaintiffs," the document says.
Taping Irick's hands hid signs of pain, expert says
Throughout his statement, Lubarsky said witness statements from Irick's
execution supported the inmates' legal arguments. Lubarsky said he was
convinced "to a reasonable degree of medical certainty" that Irick was not
properly anesthetized during his execution. Any inmate not properly rendered
unconscious and insensate would feel the "torturous effects of the lethal
injection process," Lubarsky said.
Witnesses described Irick choking, snoring, gulping and gasping for air as the
drugs were administered. They also said he jolted and appeared to push against
the restraints at one point.
Lubarsky noted that Irick's hands were taped to the gurney during the
execution. His fingers were wrapped with a tape-like substance that prevented
movement and limited visibility of the majority of his hands.
Lubarksy said the tape blocked prison officials from seeing important signs
that Irick was aware of his surroundings throughout the execution.
"A trained observer knows that if a patient moves his fingers or hands that is
a clear indicator that they are not anesthetized," Lubarsky wrote. "The taping
of Mr. Irick's hands affirmatively prevented the Warden from observing an
important indicator that Mr. Irick was not anesthetized."
Tennessee courts denied all of Irick's legal requests and appear poised to do
the same ahead of the state's next execution.
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently evoked a rare legal move to set the
schedule for the lethal injection challenge within the Court of Appeals. The
schedule is condensed, leaving far less time for attorneys to prepare their
case compared toa typical appeal.
State Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee admonished her colleagues after they set
the schedule, calling it a "rocket docket" that jeopardized inmates' chances
for a fair trial.
In the new filing, attorneys ask the court to delay the appellate process.
Edmund Zagorksi, 63, is scheduled for execution on Oct. 11. He was convicted in
1984 of robbing and shooting John Dotson, of Hickman County, and Jimmy Porter,
of Dickson, before slitting their throats, according to Tennessean archives.
(source: USA Today)
LOUISIANA:
Bywater man accused of killing infant daughter ordered to Louisiana mental
hospital
Mark Hambrick, the Bywater man accused of killing his infant daughter last
year, believes he is Jesus and must be executed in 2019 to fulfill God's plan
of righting the wrong of slavery, a forensic psychiatrist said Friday.
Dr. Janet Johnson testified that Hambrick is under the sway of a "complex
delusional system" that must be treated before he can proceed to trial.
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Robin Pittman ordered Hambrick to
be sent to the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson for at least
90 days to have his competency restored.
Even if Hambrick is eventually ruled competent to stand trial, his defense team
could still argue that he was legally insane when he stabbed and suffocated his
18-month-old daughter last year.
Pittman's ruling came after the state Public Defender Board had said for
several months that it did not have the funds to supply Hambrick with a full
defense team.
Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, defendants facing capital punishment must
receive a team of at least 2 defense attorneys and 2 investigators.
2 attorneys from the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana finally
enrolled late last month to represent Hambrick.
Hambrick was charged with 1st-degree murder in February and potentially faces
the death penalty, despite relatives' fears that making it a capital case would
draw out the legal proceedings. The case might be expedited if prosecutors were
to rule out seeking the death penalty; they have not said what they intend to
do.
Police said Hambrick killed his daughter Amina at their home on Oct. 17.
Afterward, he allegedly told detectives that God had ordered him to do it so
that he could be killed and resurrected.
Johnson said Hambrick has repeated that claim during 2 examinations, in
February and on Friday morning. He is not on psychiatric medication, and his
symptoms were more pronounced this week, she said.
Johnson said Hambrick told her that he began hearing orders from God in August
2017 after the death of his father.
For 5 days before the killing, he walked around the city trying to resist a
voice telling him to kill his daughter, he told Johnson.
Hambrick sees signs in everything from the placement of chairs to the time he
wakes up from naps, she said. He realizes he must sound insane to other people.
Johnson said Hambrick's delusions are ornate and detailed. He hopes to be
killed next year because it marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the
1st slave ship at the English colony of Virginia in 1619.
Hambrick does not have a documented psychiatric history. However, Johnson said
she believes he is suffering from an unspecified psychosis.
"Mr. Hambrick is able to factually describe things that are going on. For
example, he has no problem telling you the job of a judge, what a jury does,
who does what in the courtroom," she said. "Rationally, though, he does not
appreciate what's going on, because he sees all of this as part of God's plan
to have him be killed so that he can be resurrected."
On cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Jason Napoli asked Johnson
what distinguishes Hambrick from other religious people.
"It's pervasive, it's extreme, it's not what's generally accepted," she
replied. "It is adversely affecting his life, and that's how we balance what's
psychotic and what is firmly held religious belief."
Napoli told the judge that Hambrick has taken a rational course for a guilty
man.
"What we're calling 'irrational' is simply his desire not to present a defense
to this, but rather his desire to plead guilty and leave the sentencing up to a
judge or a jury," Napoli said.
Defense lawyer Kerry Cuccia said that in Hambrick's current state, there is no
way he could assist the defense team as required by law.
"It's one thing for someone to choose not to present a defense. It's another
thing when a person chooses not to present a defense because God's telling him
to do it," he said.
(source: The New Orleans Advocate)
***************************
Louisiana's high court overturns child killer's conviction and death sentence;
orders new trial
The Louisiana Supreme Court has thrown out the guilty verdict and death penalty
sentence for a man convicted in the March 2010 slaying of a 12-year-old boy.
The high court overturned the12-member DeSoto Parish jury's April 2, 2014
unanimous decision to convict Brian Horn in the March 2010 death of Justin
Bloxom and remanded the case back to DeSoto Parish Court for a new trial.
Horn appealed his conviction and sentence with the Supreme Court in January,
citing some 70 errors.
A press release issued today from the Louisiana Supreme Court states:
"Finding merit in defendant's assignment of error asserting a violation of his
Sixth Amendment right to counsel, we vacate defendant's conviction and sentence
and remand this matter to the district court for a new trial. DEFENDANT'S
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE ARE VACATED; REMANDED TO THE DISTRICT COURT FOR A NEW
TRIAL"
(source: arklatexhomepage.com)
ARKANSAS:
Arkansas flouts the Supreme Court on mental exams in capital cases
The Constitution Project illuminates Arkansas's long refusal to allow
independent mental examinations of defendants in capital cases.
It so happens the Arkansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments in appeals of 2
somewhat related cases yesterday. From questioning, it seemed evident that
resistance to meaningful due process for such defendants continues on the part
of some justices. In the cases of Bruce Ward and Jack Green, their attorneys
are arguing that it's unconstitutional to leave to the prison director the
decison on whether they are mentally competent to be killed by the state.
The Constitution Project writes about mental exams before trial.
... the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly established that the government must
provide defendants facing the death penalty with "access to a mental health
expert who is sufficiently available to the defense and independent from the
prosecution to effectively 'assist in evaluation, preparation, and presentation
of the defense'" if they need such an expert and can't afford one.
It may seem a technical issue, but it assuredly is not. In short, the need for
expert assistance in a capital trial is so vital that anything less violates
the defendant's rights to counsel and a fair trial.
The need for expert assistance in a capital trial is so vital that anything
less violates the defendant's rights to counsel and a fair trial.
The simplest way for states to comply with this constitutional requirement - at
least for those defendants who cannot pay for their own experts - is to provide
a qualified expert who is specifically retained for the defense. The
overwhelming majority of jurisdictions take this straightforward approach.
But Arkansas is an outlier. For more than three decades, the state has flouted
the Court's directive and taken the position that a mental health exam by a
doctor at the state hospital, who may or may not respond to requests for
assistance from defense counsel, is sufficient to meet the demands of the
Constitution. A man on death row in Arkansas, Don Davis, has petitioned the
Supreme Court to end the state's practice of requiring the defense and
prosecution to share the same state mental health professional in death penalty
cases.
We like doing things the way we've always done them in Arkansas. That's why the
Davis case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court is important. (He's sentenced
to die for capital murder in 1991 in Benton County.)
For the truth to come out through the adversarial trial process, people who
can't afford their own independent mental health experts must be provided with
them. No defendant with financial means would voluntarily share their expert
with the prosecution. Because of his poverty, Arkansas insists that Mr. Davis
must take what the state will give him, even though his life depends on it. The
Court has rejected this argument before - and it should accept Mr. Davis's case
to say so again.
(source: Arkansas Times)
UTAH:
Sheriff says Millcreek woman's beating death is a 'horrific' domestic-violence
case. Now her husband could face the death penalty.
A Millcreek woman was beaten to death, struck at least 28 times with a crowbar,
and her teen daughter beaten and severely injured, according to charges filed
in what Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera called "one of the most horrific
domestic-violence cases I've seen."
Walter Eugene Brantzeg, 54, has been charged with 1 count of aggravated murder
(domestic violence), 1 count of attempted aggravated murder, 1 count of
aggravated burglary (domestic violence), and 1 count of cruelty to an animal,
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday.
The charges come after the death of Brantzeg's wife of 14 years, Valerie Sue
Brantzeg, on Aug. 22 in her west Millcreek apartment. Her 13-year-old daughter,
whose name has not been released, was severely injured in the same incident.
Gill said it's too early to say whether his office will seek the death penalty
against Walter Brantzeg. That decision will come after a preliminary hearing, a
date for which has not been set.
Valerie Brantzeg "did not deserve the treatment that she had," said her older
sister, Jeanne Long. At a press conference with Rivera and Gill, Long,
accompanied by relatives, described Valerie as "a good person" who "gave
everything that she had to her children."
"Valerie was an animal lover who took in strays," Long said. "She'd get up in
the middle of the night to feed them ...She gave them back when they were ready
for adoption. She gave the animals and her children more than she had
sometimes." Long also said her sister loved crafts "and was a fanatic about
M&Ms."
Fighting back tears, Long described how Valerie's husband "had her under
control ... We tried to get her out of the house, but he had enough control
that he would bring her back."
Family members are not releasing details on the extent of the 13-year-old's
injuries. "She's bouncing back. It's going to take her a long time," Long said.
Valerie Brantzeg's 2 daughters - an older sister was living away from her
mother when the homicide happened - "are going to be survivors," Long said.
"They're not victims. They will be survivors." Long said a bank account in
Valerie's name is being set up at Mountain America Credit Union.
Gill said Valerie Brantzeg had filed a temporary separation petition against
her husband in Salt Lake County Third District Court on July 31. On Aug. 16,
Gill said, she texted Walter Brantzeg to inform him she was seeking sole
custody of their 13-year-old daughter. According to the probable cause
statement issued by Gill's office, the daughter told police detectives that her
father had sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her if she told
anyone.
According to the statement, a Unified Police Department officer responded at
7:05 a.m. on Aug. 22 to Valerie Brantzeg's apartment at 3942 S. River Hollow
Road (about 700 West) in Millcreek. The officer found Valerie in the doorway,
"covered in blood and with severe head trauma." A state medical examiner noted
at least 28 separate blunt force injuries to her head. She died at the scene.
The officer then found Valerie's daughter. Her skull had been fractured, a
radiology examination later found, along with hemorrhages consistent with being
beaten.
At the entrance, the statement says, the officer found duct tape covering the
door's peephole on the outside, signs that the door had been forced open, a
smell of pepper spray, and a crowbar covered in blood.
Witnesses, Gill said, "could hear the screams from downstairs."
The statement said that when officers later interviewed the daughter, she said
Walter Brantzeg pushed his way into the apartment, sprayed the entrance with
pepper spray, and began hitting Valerie Brantzeg. The daughter said he hit both
her and her mother, telling the teen "if you want to be with your mom so bad,
be with her."
About 2 hours later, Walter Brantzeg was arrested in his car in a parking lot
in Murray, about 2 miles east of Valerie's apartment. Police tracked him by
pinging his cellphone while he was calling Salt Lake City TV stations. He was
arrested while talking to a news manager at FOX 13.
"During the call, Brantzeg confessed to killing his estranged wife over a
custody dispute, and also explained how he tried to kill his teenage daughter,"
Marc Sternfield, news director for FOX 13, said in an Aug. 22 email to The Salt
Lake Tribune. "The call ended when Brantzeg told our employee that police had
arrived to arrest him."
At Walter Brantzeg's residence, police detectives found a dead cat. In the
probable cause statement, Gill's office said Brantzeg told officers after his
arrest that "he killed his cat because nobody would be around to feed it." Gill
would not comment on whether the cat's death is a sign of premeditation before
Valerie Brantzeg's killing.
Rivera stressed the horrors of domestic violence and urged anyone living with
an abusive partner to get help.
"If you are in a situation where you may fear for your life, or not sure
whether a situation could turn violent, we want you to call us," Rivera said.
"We are here to help you. And we don't want something like this to happen
again."
Long, Valerie Brantzeg's sister, echoed that sentiment. "It's not worth your
life. It's not worth your children's lives. It's not worth the horror that we
as a family are going through right now," she said.
(source: Salt Lake Tribune)
ARIZONA----female, foreign national may face death penalty
Aussie mum 'facing US death penalty over alleged murder of stepdaughter'
An Australian mother is facing the death penalty in the US after being charged,
alongside her husband, with the alleged abuse and murder of her stepdaughter.
Lisa Cunningham, 43, and her husband Germayne Cunningham, 39, are accused of
torturing and neglecting 7-year-old Sanaa, Seven News reports.
A Maricopa County judge has reportedly ruled that Cunningham and her American
husband, who is a former policeman, could be eligible for the death penalty if
convicted.
According to the Phoenix Times newspaper, Sanaa died of pneumonia and
complications such as sepsis in February last year.
Prosecutors have since claimed in court that the accused couple used plastic
ties to restrain the young girl, forced her to wear a straight jacket and
shackles, and locked her either outside or in a laundry room.
The court reportedly heard that Sanaa suffered from schizophrenia and other
behavioural disorders.
"There were many warning signs with regard to her need for medical attention,"
Judge Michael Kemp said at the hearing, the publication reported.
"This was more than reckless behaviour. This was more than a failure to provide
care and it led to the child's death."
However, the defence have reportedly brought forward the young girl's autopsy
report, which is said to have been inconclusive on whether she was killed or
died by accident. The couple's lawyers claim they were trying to stop Sanaa
harming herself, news.com.au reports.
Cunningham was raised in Adelaide before moving to the US 20 years ago after
marrying an American serviceman, according to multiple reports.
She is the 1st Australian woman to face the death penalty in the US. She is
also the 1st ever, since the hanging of a man in California in the 1850s.
The hearing is now scheduled for October.
(source: startsat60.com)
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NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Repealing the Death Penalty in New Hampshire Is Personal
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that still puts people to death.
The Northeast region, and much of the nation, has recognized capital punishment
for what it is: a practice of a bygone era that is inherently unjust, often
racially charged, and has resulted in the torture of individuals put to death.
This could change for New Hampshire on Sept. 13, when state legislators have an
opportunity to override Gov. Chris Sununu's veto of a death penalty repeal
bill. This is the latest of a long line of legislative attempts at repeal in
the past decade. The trend is strongly in favor of repeal, and it is one that
crosses party lines.
The question for New Hampshire is not if, but when.
There are Republicans, Democrats, independents, and libertarians who support
repealing the death penalty, just as there are people in all these groups who
do not. You cannot assume an elected official's position based on that person's
party.
More than any other civil rights issue, the death penalty is personal for
elected officials, seen through the prisms of morality, faith, or specific
encounters with individual constituents. Many oppose it because it goes against
their religious beliefs. Others oppose it because it costs the state far more
money than life in prison. And some oppose it because an innocent person may be
put to death.
When the New Hampshire Senate voted to repeal the death penalty in March, 8
Democrats and 6 Republicans voted in favor of repeal. When the New Hampshire
House voted in April, 146 Democrats and 77 Republicans voted for repeal.
Because of Gov. Sununu's veto in June, the state's House and Senate will
reconvene on Sept. 13 and will have to override the veto with a 2/3 vote in
each chamber. As that vote approaches, the message that most resonates across
party lines, gender lines, and county lines is this: The death penalty is
inherently imperfect and that imperfection takes an enormous human toll.
We know for a fact that people are wrongfully sentenced to death in our nation.
We know this because over 160 people on death row have been exonerated. What's
more, the process of executing someone can result in torture, which is
unconstitutional. We know this from different experiences in different states,
no matter the method of execution. There is always the risk that a so-called
"humane" execution becomes cruel and unusual.
People are too often sentenced to death not because of the crime committed, but
because of a poor legal defense, because of their race, or because of the race
of the victim. A death sentence for a defendant often raises questions about
why someone in similar circumstances, sentenced by a different jury, received
life without parole instead. And regardless of how the death penalty is carried
out, state employees who conduct the execution often experience post-traumatic
stress disorder afterwards. This means that even an execution conducted without
error causes harm.
Our criminal justice system is not infallible. We know this. We also know that
society can function without the death penalty. Many states do. The
overwhelming number of countries across the globe do.
It is impossible to guarantee that the death penalty is only applied to the
guilty and only to those guilty of the most heinous crimes. It is also
impossible to guarantee a person won't be tortured while being killed by the
state. The only way to ensure that someone is never wrongfully sentenced to
death, wrongfully executed, or tortured during an execution is to repeal the
death penalty.
And that's the certainty the New Hampshire Legislature should provide on Sept.
13.
(source: Jeanne Hruska, Policy Director, ACLU of New Hampshire----aclu.org)
OHIO:
Convicted murderer Grate to be charged in Richland County; execution delayed
Richland County will pursue charges against convicted killer Shawn Grate,
Prosecutor Gary Bishop said Friday.
Grate, 42, was convicted in May of the aggravated murders of Stacey Stanley,
43, and Elizabeth Griffith, 29, at the end of a lengthy jury trial in Ashland.
The jury recommended the death penalty for Grate, and Ashland County Common
Pleas Judge Ron Forsthoefel agreed.
The judge set Grate's execution date for Thursday - 2 years to the day of his
arrest - but it will not happen for some time.
"He has to set a date as part of the sentencing," Ashland County Prosecutor
Chris Tunnell said. "It's the initial date. It never happens (that quickly)."
Tunnell said a notice of appeal has been filed.
"That stays everything," he said.
In Richland County, authorities said Grate confessed to killing Candice
Cunningham in June 2016. Her body was found behind the burned-out house at 1027
Park Avenue East in Madison Township in September 2016.
The fire had been deemed suspicious.
Mansfield police also have investigated Grate for a possible connection to the
death of Rebekah Leicy, whose body was found in an Ashland County woods in
2015.
The convicted killer also reportedly confessed to killing a woman in Marion
County between 2003 and 2005. She has not been identified.
Authorities say they believe Grate made his way from Richland County to Ashland
County in the summer of 2016.
His 1-man crime spree ended after he kidnapped a woman prosecutors identified
as Jane Doe. Grate raped her multiple times, but she managed to escape after
calling 911 with Grate's phone on Sept. 13, 2016.
After Doe's rescue and the apprehension of Grate, Police found the bodies of
Griffith and Stanley at a house at 363 Covert Court, just off downtown Ashland.
Both women had been strangled. The vacant house, where Grate had been
squatting, has since been demolished.
Grate is an inmate at Chillicothe Correctional Institution.
Mansfield News Journal)
**********************
Former public defender pursues Clayton man's death penalty appeal
A former Ohio public defender wants to try to persuade the Ohio Supreme Court
to reopen the death penalty appeal of a Clayton man.
Elizabeth Arrick, a lawyer based in Kentucky, filed a motion today to represent
Austin Myers, 23, formerly of Clayton, and sentenced to die for the murder of
Justin Back, 18, of Waynesville.
Myers was sentenced to death on Oct. 16, 2014, for Back's murder during a
robbery. Another Clayton man, Timothy Mosley, actually stabbed Back to death.
Myers and Mosley both were 19 years old then.
Myers was 19, the youngest on Ohio's death row, when he was sentenced to death
in 2014 in warren County.
The state's high court has rejected previous appeals of the sentence.
Arrick declined to comment on her decision to file to represent the indigent
Myers and motion for the court to reopen the case.
In the motion she claims the court needs to decide whether Myers was well
represented in his appeal.
"In addition, the appointment of counsel for the Application to Reopen is
currently contingent upon this Court determining that 'there is a genuine issue
as to whether the applicant was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel
on appeal,'" Arrick said in the motion.
Myers was represented by appointed counsel during the trial and appeals.
"There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on
the amount of money he has," Arrick added.
"To ensure adequate appellate review of his conviction and sentence, counsel
for Appellant Austin Gregory Myers requests that this Court issue an order
appointing counsel for the preparation and filing of his application for
reopening."
Arrick worked in the Office of the Ohio Public Defender in Columbus, as the
Assistant State Public Defender, Death Penalty Department from 2013 to 2017,
according her biography.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell could not be immediately reached for
comment.
(source: Dayton Daily News)
*********************
Stewart argues diversity crucial for Ohio Supreme Court
Judge Melody Stewart's journey to what she hopes will be a seat on Ohio's
highest court began with a love of music.
"We had Aretha Franklin, God bless her soul, and the Motown sound playing
through our house, but we also had Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin," the Cleveland
appellate judge said. "I'm a classically trained pianist. I was the only kid in
my neighborhood with a piano in the house that (my mother) got on an
installment plan." Despite getting a degree in music from the University of
Cincinnati, it wasn't Carnegie Hall that beckoned but rather health care,
academia, and, eventually, the courtroom.
"Music was the only thing I wanted to study coming out of high school," Judge
Stewart said. "I went to an all-girls, college-prep high school in
Cleveland...I never thought about how I would translate a music degree into
providing for myself."
She started reading the law books that a company executive/law student brought
into the health-care management office where she worked. That led to law
school, teaching law at schools like the University of Toledo, and ultimately
the bench of the Eighth District Court of Appeals for 12 years.
A Democrat and African American, Judge Stewart, 56, is running for what is now
an all-Republican, all-white Ohio Supreme Court opposite recently appointed
Justice Mary DeGenaro in the Nov. 6 election.
"The fact that I'm a Democrat and Democratic nominees have a hard time getting
elected (to the court), the fact that I'm African American and
African-Americans have a hard time getting elected, then to have my opponent
appointed so that she's technically an incumbent..., certainly made the race
more difficult for us," Judge Stewart said.
She argues that diversity is crucial for the court.
"My opponent is certainly qualified and competent but does not improve the
court in any respect," Judge Stewart said. "If anything, it may be more
detrimental to the court because it maintains the grave possibility of group
think.
"My election improves the court with diversity of background, diversity of
thought," she said. "Ohio is a very diverse state. We are urban, rural,
suburban, farming communities, technology, educational institutions, blue
collar, white collar, no collar. The highest level of the judiciary should be
more reflective of understanding those pockets in those communities."
Her current court, the Eighth District covering Cuyahoga County, is all
Democrat. But Judge Stewart noted that there are also all-Republican courts of
appeals elsewhere in the state. The difference, she said, is that the Supreme
Court is the last stop for justice for Ohio law.
Both candidates have been rated "highly recommended" by the Ohio State Bar
Association.
Until recently, she served on the bipartisan Ohio Criminal Justice
Recodification Committee that recommended reforms to criminal statutes that,
among other things, looked at whether the law sometimes over-criminalizes and
over-penalizes some conduct.
She chairs the state panel that sets rates paid to defense lawyers who handle
death penalty cases. Like her opponent, she has considered post-conviction
appeals of capital cases on the appellate bench but has never imposed a death
sentence.
The justice that Justice DeGenaro replaced, Democratic former Justice William
O'Neill, refused to set execution dates, arguing Ohio's death penalty is
unconstitutional.
Don't expect similar actions from Judge Stewart.
"Let's assume for the sake of argument that I was adamantly opposed to the
death penalty," she said. "That would not impact my work. The death penalty is
still the law of Ohio."
(source: Toledo Blade)
TENNESSEE:
Tennessee inmate's execution was torture, expert says in new court filing
Editor's note: Reporter Dave Boucher was 1 of 7 state-required media witnesses
at Irick's execution.
Billy Ray Irick felt searing pain akin to torture before he died in a Tennessee
prison in August, but steps taken before his execution blocked signs of
suffering, according to a doctor who reviewed information about the lethal
injection.
Dr. David Lubarsky's statement is included in a new court filing entered late
Thursday amid an ongoing legal challenge of Tennessee's lethal injection
protocol. He wrote that Irick "experienced the feeling of choking, drowning in
his own fluids, suffocating, being buried alive, and the burning sensation
caused by the injection of the potassium chloride."
The documents also state Tennessee failed to follow its own protocol during
Irick's execution, raising questions about whether executioners ever intended
to ensure Irick was unable to feel the pain caused by the 2nd and 3rd lethal
injection drugs.
Irick and 32 other death row inmates sued the state this year arguing that
Tennessee's new protocol for lethal injections would subject them to pain so
intense it would violate the U.S. Constitution. They questioned the use of
midazolam, the 1st of the 3 drugs the state administers during executions.
Lubarsky, a Florida doctor, testified for the inmates during a 2-week trial in
July. He said midazolam, which is supposed to render inmates unconscious and
unable to feel pain, doesn't work as intended. He said midazolam sedates
inmates but does not stop them from feeling the effects of the other 2 drugs,
vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
Lubarsky said statements from people who witnessed Irick's execution indicated
the midazolam failed to ensure Irick could not feel pain during his death.
Lubarsky and other medical experts are the backbone for the inmate's appeal.
The case is not about whether the death penalty is constitutional, attorneys
for the death row offenders wrote in the 390-word brief. It's about what the
deadly drugs do to a body, and whether Tennessee citizens should approve of
that likely tortuous outcome.
"This case is about whether it is constitutional to inject a human with a small
bottle of acid - which will destroy the lining of their lungs and cause them to
drown in blood - and then to inject them with a paralytic that will leave them
conscious but expressionless - unable to speak or scream - feeling as if they
are buried alive, and finally to stop their heart with an injection that will,
in their last minute of life, cause them to chemically burn alive," wrote
Kelley Henry and other federal public defenders working on behalf of the death
row inmates.
Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle agreed Lubarsky and other
experts were well qualified, but she rejected their arguments in ruling against
the inmates.
Lyle said whatever pain the inmates felt did not last long enough to count as
unconstitutional torture, a stance blasted by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya
Sotomayor in an opinion issued hours before Irick's death.
The remaining death row offenders continue to pursue their appeal of Lyle's
ruling even though no court stopped Irick's execution.
The Tennessee Department of Correction, represented by the Office of the
Tennessee Attorney General, argued it is following the law and using drugs
available to carry out the required punishment for death row offenders.
Department officials noted during trial that the U.S. Supreme Court previously
allowed executions using midazolam to proceed, arguing the usage is now case
law.
In the latest filing though, Henry and the other attorneys argue that case law
is not settled. They point to new and more expansive medical evidence,
presented to Lyle during the trial, that has never been considered by the full
Supreme Court.
They also blast the state's arguments in the new filing, writing: "Defendants'
repeated mantra, barely acceptable from a teenager, is that - 'all the other
states are doing it, so it must be ok.'"
Department spokeswoman Neysa Taylor declined to comment, citing the ongoing
litigation.
Executioners never prepared 2nd dose of midazolam, records show
The protocol for how the state puts an inmate to death is very specific.
It requires the state prepare primary and back-up syringes for each of the
drugs used in the lethal injection.
However, documents obtained by the inmates' attorneys show executioners did not
prepare a back-up dose of midazolam. The report says executioners only prepared
the one dose of midazolam used at 7:28 p.m., essentially the same time Irick's
execution began.
The protocol requires the executioner to inject the midazolam into a tube that
runs into the condemn's arm. After some time, the warden - who is in the
execution chamber - is required to check to see if the condemned is conscious.
If the condemned is not conscious, the state protocol requires injecting a 2nd
dose of midazolam.
Riverbend Maximum Security Institute Warden Tony Mays conducted the
consciousness check: He brushed Irick's eyelids, yelled his first name twice
and appeared to grab his shoulder. If he had determined Irick was conscious
though, it's unclear if the state could have or would have prepared another
midazolam syringe.
"If Mr. Irick had responded to the consciousness assessment or there had been
problems with the IV apparatus, the execution team would not have been prepared
to carry out the contingency procedures in the manual," Henry and the attorneys
write.
"Defendants' failure to follow the procedures in the manual indicates that the
protocol is meaningless for purposes of Defendants' carrying out an execution
and therefore creates a substantial risk of severe pain and suffering for
Plaintiffs," the document says.
Taping Irick's hands hid signs of pain, expert says
Throughout his statement, Lubarsky said witness statements from Irick's
execution supported the inmates' legal arguments. Lubarsky said he was
convinced "to a reasonable degree of medical certainty" that Irick was not
properly anesthetized during his execution. Any inmate not properly rendered
unconscious and insensate would feel the "torturous effects of the lethal
injection process," Lubarsky said.
Witnesses described Irick choking, snoring, gulping and gasping for air as the
drugs were administered. They also said he jolted and appeared to push against
the restraints at one point.
Lubarsky noted that Irick's hands were taped to the gurney during the
execution. His fingers were wrapped with a tape-like substance that prevented
movement and limited visibility of the majority of his hands.
Lubarksy said the tape blocked prison officials from seeing important signs
that Irick was aware of his surroundings throughout the execution.
"A trained observer knows that if a patient moves his fingers or hands that is
a clear indicator that they are not anesthetized," Lubarsky wrote. "The taping
of Mr. Irick's hands affirmatively prevented the Warden from observing an
important indicator that Mr. Irick was not anesthetized."
Tennessee courts denied all of Irick's legal requests and appear poised to do
the same ahead of the state's next execution.
The Tennessee Supreme Court recently evoked a rare legal move to set the
schedule for the lethal injection challenge within the Court of Appeals. The
schedule is condensed, leaving far less time for attorneys to prepare their
case compared toa typical appeal.
State Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee admonished her colleagues after they set
the schedule, calling it a "rocket docket" that jeopardized inmates' chances
for a fair trial.
In the new filing, attorneys ask the court to delay the appellate process.
Edmund Zagorksi, 63, is scheduled for execution on Oct. 11. He was convicted in
1984 of robbing and shooting John Dotson, of Hickman County, and Jimmy Porter,
of Dickson, before slitting their throats, according to Tennessean archives.
(source: USA Today)
LOUISIANA:
Bywater man accused of killing infant daughter ordered to Louisiana mental
hospital
Mark Hambrick, the Bywater man accused of killing his infant daughter last
year, believes he is Jesus and must be executed in 2019 to fulfill God's plan
of righting the wrong of slavery, a forensic psychiatrist said Friday.
Dr. Janet Johnson testified that Hambrick is under the sway of a "complex
delusional system" that must be treated before he can proceed to trial.
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Robin Pittman ordered Hambrick to
be sent to the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System in Jackson for at least
90 days to have his competency restored.
Even if Hambrick is eventually ruled competent to stand trial, his defense team
could still argue that he was legally insane when he stabbed and suffocated his
18-month-old daughter last year.
Pittman's ruling came after the state Public Defender Board had said for
several months that it did not have the funds to supply Hambrick with a full
defense team.
Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, defendants facing capital punishment must
receive a team of at least 2 defense attorneys and 2 investigators.
2 attorneys from the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana finally
enrolled late last month to represent Hambrick.
Hambrick was charged with 1st-degree murder in February and potentially faces
the death penalty, despite relatives' fears that making it a capital case would
draw out the legal proceedings. The case might be expedited if prosecutors were
to rule out seeking the death penalty; they have not said what they intend to
do.
Police said Hambrick killed his daughter Amina at their home on Oct. 17.
Afterward, he allegedly told detectives that God had ordered him to do it so
that he could be killed and resurrected.
Johnson said Hambrick has repeated that claim during 2 examinations, in
February and on Friday morning. He is not on psychiatric medication, and his
symptoms were more pronounced this week, she said.
Johnson said Hambrick told her that he began hearing orders from God in August
2017 after the death of his father.
For 5 days before the killing, he walked around the city trying to resist a
voice telling him to kill his daughter, he told Johnson.
Hambrick sees signs in everything from the placement of chairs to the time he
wakes up from naps, she said. He realizes he must sound insane to other people.
Johnson said Hambrick's delusions are ornate and detailed. He hopes to be
killed next year because it marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the
1st slave ship at the English colony of Virginia in 1619.
Hambrick does not have a documented psychiatric history. However, Johnson said
she believes he is suffering from an unspecified psychosis.
"Mr. Hambrick is able to factually describe things that are going on. For
example, he has no problem telling you the job of a judge, what a jury does,
who does what in the courtroom," she said. "Rationally, though, he does not
appreciate what's going on, because he sees all of this as part of God's plan
to have him be killed so that he can be resurrected."
On cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Jason Napoli asked Johnson
what distinguishes Hambrick from other religious people.
"It's pervasive, it's extreme, it's not what's generally accepted," she
replied. "It is adversely affecting his life, and that's how we balance what's
psychotic and what is firmly held religious belief."
Napoli told the judge that Hambrick has taken a rational course for a guilty
man.
"What we're calling 'irrational' is simply his desire not to present a defense
to this, but rather his desire to plead guilty and leave the sentencing up to a
judge or a jury," Napoli said.
Defense lawyer Kerry Cuccia said that in Hambrick's current state, there is no
way he could assist the defense team as required by law.
"It's one thing for someone to choose not to present a defense. It's another
thing when a person chooses not to present a defense because God's telling him
to do it," he said.
(source: The New Orleans Advocate)
***************************
Louisiana's high court overturns child killer's conviction and death sentence;
orders new trial
The Louisiana Supreme Court has thrown out the guilty verdict and death penalty
sentence for a man convicted in the March 2010 slaying of a 12-year-old boy.
The high court overturned the12-member DeSoto Parish jury's April 2, 2014
unanimous decision to convict Brian Horn in the March 2010 death of Justin
Bloxom and remanded the case back to DeSoto Parish Court for a new trial.
Horn appealed his conviction and sentence with the Supreme Court in January,
citing some 70 errors.
A press release issued today from the Louisiana Supreme Court states:
"Finding merit in defendant's assignment of error asserting a violation of his
Sixth Amendment right to counsel, we vacate defendant's conviction and sentence
and remand this matter to the district court for a new trial. DEFENDANT'S
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE ARE VACATED; REMANDED TO THE DISTRICT COURT FOR A NEW
TRIAL"
(source: arklatexhomepage.com)
ARKANSAS:
Arkansas flouts the Supreme Court on mental exams in capital cases
The Constitution Project illuminates Arkansas's long refusal to allow
independent mental examinations of defendants in capital cases.
It so happens the Arkansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments in appeals of 2
somewhat related cases yesterday. From questioning, it seemed evident that
resistance to meaningful due process for such defendants continues on the part
of some justices. In the cases of Bruce Ward and Jack Green, their attorneys
are arguing that it's unconstitutional to leave to the prison director the
decison on whether they are mentally competent to be killed by the state.
The Constitution Project writes about mental exams before trial.
... the U.S. Supreme Court has clearly established that the government must
provide defendants facing the death penalty with "access to a mental health
expert who is sufficiently available to the defense and independent from the
prosecution to effectively 'assist in evaluation, preparation, and presentation
of the defense'" if they need such an expert and can't afford one.
It may seem a technical issue, but it assuredly is not. In short, the need for
expert assistance in a capital trial is so vital that anything less violates
the defendant's rights to counsel and a fair trial.
The need for expert assistance in a capital trial is so vital that anything
less violates the defendant's rights to counsel and a fair trial.
The simplest way for states to comply with this constitutional requirement - at
least for those defendants who cannot pay for their own experts - is to provide
a qualified expert who is specifically retained for the defense. The
overwhelming majority of jurisdictions take this straightforward approach.
But Arkansas is an outlier. For more than three decades, the state has flouted
the Court's directive and taken the position that a mental health exam by a
doctor at the state hospital, who may or may not respond to requests for
assistance from defense counsel, is sufficient to meet the demands of the
Constitution. A man on death row in Arkansas, Don Davis, has petitioned the
Supreme Court to end the state's practice of requiring the defense and
prosecution to share the same state mental health professional in death penalty
cases.
We like doing things the way we've always done them in Arkansas. That's why the
Davis case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court is important. (He's sentenced
to die for capital murder in 1991 in Benton County.)
For the truth to come out through the adversarial trial process, people who
can't afford their own independent mental health experts must be provided with
them. No defendant with financial means would voluntarily share their expert
with the prosecution. Because of his poverty, Arkansas insists that Mr. Davis
must take what the state will give him, even though his life depends on it. The
Court has rejected this argument before - and it should accept Mr. Davis's case
to say so again.
(source: Arkansas Times)
UTAH:
Sheriff says Millcreek woman's beating death is a 'horrific' domestic-violence
case. Now her husband could face the death penalty.
A Millcreek woman was beaten to death, struck at least 28 times with a crowbar,
and her teen daughter beaten and severely injured, according to charges filed
in what Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera called "one of the most horrific
domestic-violence cases I've seen."
Walter Eugene Brantzeg, 54, has been charged with 1 count of aggravated murder
(domestic violence), 1 count of attempted aggravated murder, 1 count of
aggravated burglary (domestic violence), and 1 count of cruelty to an animal,
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday.
The charges come after the death of Brantzeg's wife of 14 years, Valerie Sue
Brantzeg, on Aug. 22 in her west Millcreek apartment. Her 13-year-old daughter,
whose name has not been released, was severely injured in the same incident.
Gill said it's too early to say whether his office will seek the death penalty
against Walter Brantzeg. That decision will come after a preliminary hearing, a
date for which has not been set.
Valerie Brantzeg "did not deserve the treatment that she had," said her older
sister, Jeanne Long. At a press conference with Rivera and Gill, Long,
accompanied by relatives, described Valerie as "a good person" who "gave
everything that she had to her children."
"Valerie was an animal lover who took in strays," Long said. "She'd get up in
the middle of the night to feed them ...She gave them back when they were ready
for adoption. She gave the animals and her children more than she had
sometimes." Long also said her sister loved crafts "and was a fanatic about
M&Ms."
Fighting back tears, Long described how Valerie's husband "had her under
control ... We tried to get her out of the house, but he had enough control
that he would bring her back."
Family members are not releasing details on the extent of the 13-year-old's
injuries. "She's bouncing back. It's going to take her a long time," Long said.
Valerie Brantzeg's 2 daughters - an older sister was living away from her
mother when the homicide happened - "are going to be survivors," Long said.
"They're not victims. They will be survivors." Long said a bank account in
Valerie's name is being set up at Mountain America Credit Union.
Gill said Valerie Brantzeg had filed a temporary separation petition against
her husband in Salt Lake County Third District Court on July 31. On Aug. 16,
Gill said, she texted Walter Brantzeg to inform him she was seeking sole
custody of their 13-year-old daughter. According to the probable cause
statement issued by Gill's office, the daughter told police detectives that her
father had sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her if she told
anyone.
According to the statement, a Unified Police Department officer responded at
7:05 a.m. on Aug. 22 to Valerie Brantzeg's apartment at 3942 S. River Hollow
Road (about 700 West) in Millcreek. The officer found Valerie in the doorway,
"covered in blood and with severe head trauma." A state medical examiner noted
at least 28 separate blunt force injuries to her head. She died at the scene.
The officer then found Valerie's daughter. Her skull had been fractured, a
radiology examination later found, along with hemorrhages consistent with being
beaten.
At the entrance, the statement says, the officer found duct tape covering the
door's peephole on the outside, signs that the door had been forced open, a
smell of pepper spray, and a crowbar covered in blood.
Witnesses, Gill said, "could hear the screams from downstairs."
The statement said that when officers later interviewed the daughter, she said
Walter Brantzeg pushed his way into the apartment, sprayed the entrance with
pepper spray, and began hitting Valerie Brantzeg. The daughter said he hit both
her and her mother, telling the teen "if you want to be with your mom so bad,
be with her."
About 2 hours later, Walter Brantzeg was arrested in his car in a parking lot
in Murray, about 2 miles east of Valerie's apartment. Police tracked him by
pinging his cellphone while he was calling Salt Lake City TV stations. He was
arrested while talking to a news manager at FOX 13.
"During the call, Brantzeg confessed to killing his estranged wife over a
custody dispute, and also explained how he tried to kill his teenage daughter,"
Marc Sternfield, news director for FOX 13, said in an Aug. 22 email to The Salt
Lake Tribune. "The call ended when Brantzeg told our employee that police had
arrived to arrest him."
At Walter Brantzeg's residence, police detectives found a dead cat. In the
probable cause statement, Gill's office said Brantzeg told officers after his
arrest that "he killed his cat because nobody would be around to feed it." Gill
would not comment on whether the cat's death is a sign of premeditation before
Valerie Brantzeg's killing.
Rivera stressed the horrors of domestic violence and urged anyone living with
an abusive partner to get help.
"If you are in a situation where you may fear for your life, or not sure
whether a situation could turn violent, we want you to call us," Rivera said.
"We are here to help you. And we don't want something like this to happen
again."
Long, Valerie Brantzeg's sister, echoed that sentiment. "It's not worth your
life. It's not worth your children's lives. It's not worth the horror that we
as a family are going through right now," she said.
(source: Salt Lake Tribune)
ARIZONA----female, foreign national may face death penalty
Aussie mum 'facing US death penalty over alleged murder of stepdaughter'
An Australian mother is facing the death penalty in the US after being charged,
alongside her husband, with the alleged abuse and murder of her stepdaughter.
Lisa Cunningham, 43, and her husband Germayne Cunningham, 39, are accused of
torturing and neglecting 7-year-old Sanaa, Seven News reports.
A Maricopa County judge has reportedly ruled that Cunningham and her American
husband, who is a former policeman, could be eligible for the death penalty if
convicted.
According to the Phoenix Times newspaper, Sanaa died of pneumonia and
complications such as sepsis in February last year.
Prosecutors have since claimed in court that the accused couple used plastic
ties to restrain the young girl, forced her to wear a straight jacket and
shackles, and locked her either outside or in a laundry room.
The court reportedly heard that Sanaa suffered from schizophrenia and other
behavioural disorders.
"There were many warning signs with regard to her need for medical attention,"
Judge Michael Kemp said at the hearing, the publication reported.
"This was more than reckless behaviour. This was more than a failure to provide
care and it led to the child's death."
However, the defence have reportedly brought forward the young girl's autopsy
report, which is said to have been inconclusive on whether she was killed or
died by accident. The couple's lawyers claim they were trying to stop Sanaa
harming herself, news.com.au reports.
Cunningham was raised in Adelaide before moving to the US 20 years ago after
marrying an American serviceman, according to multiple reports.
She is the 1st Australian woman to face the death penalty in the US. She is
also the 1st ever, since the hanging of a man in California in the 1850s.
The hearing is now scheduled for October.
(source: startsat60.com)
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