Rick Halperin
2018-09-30 14:12:33 UTC
September 30
MARYLAND:
Eastern Shore author to present true story of wrongful conviction in Frederick
on Monday
After serving 8 years in a Maryland prison for a murder he didn't commit,
Eastern Shore resident Kirk Bloodsworth was released and pardoned in 1993. New
testing tools led Bloodsworth to become the 1st convicted death row inmate to
be exonerated by DNA evidence.
The case set the stage for thousands of wrongfully convicted Americans to seek
and achieve exonerations of their own.
The author of a book about Bloodsworth's case and the investigation leading to
his release will appear at Frederick Community College on Monday.
Tim Junkin, author of "Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row
Inmate Exonerated by DNA Evidence," will appear at 7 p.m. Oct. 1. Junkin's book
is the 2018 Maryland Humanities Council's selection for the One Maryland One
Book program.
Junkin, who lives in Talbot County, practiced law for 30 years. He has written
2 other books set on the Eastern Shore. He started work on the book after
reading a newspaper story about Bloodsworth's case.
"Kirk was convicted of a rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in Baltimore
County. It was a horrible crime," Junkin said. "The whole community was up in
arms."
Junkin’s book follows Bloodsworth’s story, but also focuses on the
investigators who built the case against him.
"I try to look at this whole story from the perspective of the investigators
and how these very experienced people pointed to the wrong man. They became
absolutely convinced that this innocent person was guilty of horrific crimes,"
Junkin said. "One of the things that happened in this story is the authorities
relied on things that were not hard science, like psychological profiles and
composite drawings, and intuition. When you get away from hard science and
following the actual facts, and start relying on things that are squishy, you
run into real trouble. In this case, it led to catastrophe."
Although his book was published in 2004, he said, it raises important questions
about the U.S. criminal justice system.
"There have been 1,500 people from death row, and thousands of felons who
weren't on death row, exonerated," Junkin said. "We have a major catastrophe in
our criminal justice system right now."
Justice is the theme for the 2018 Maryland Humanities Council's One Maryland
One Read program. Program director Andrea Lewis, of the Maryland Humanities
Council, said the book was selected from hundreds of books releasing a call for
public suggestions.
Although the book is older, "it feels very timely," Lewis said. "Justice is a
part of our daily conversations these days."
Monday's event is a partnership between the council and Frederick County Public
Libraries and Frederick Community College.
"We're just always pleased to be able to bring authors to Frederick because
it's a community that is very connected to reading and supportive of the
opportunity to hear an author," she said.
Since his release, Bloodsworth has become a prominent advocate of criminal
justice reform. He was a program worker at The Justice Project and helped start
the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program, which provides grant
funding for post-conviction DNA evidence. He also lobbied to end Maryland's use
of the death penalty.
"He's made an amazing, positive force out of his life," Junkin said. "But they
would have killed him if they could have."
(source: fredericknewspost.com)
ALABAMA:
Alabama death row case among 1st facing US Supreme Court this term
It's the storm before the calm at the Supreme Court.
Americans watched Thursday's high court nomination hearing of Judge Brett
Kavanaugh with rapt attention. The televised spectacle was filled with
disturbing allegations of sexual assault and Kavanaugh's angry, emotional
denial.
On Monday, the court will begin its new term with the crack of the marshal's
gavel and not a camera in sight.
The term's start has been completely overshadowed by the tumult over
Kavanaugh's nomination.
Republicans had hoped to have Kavanaugh confirmed in time for the court's 1st
public meeting since late June, an addition that would cement conservative
control of the court.
Instead, there are only 8 justices on the bench for the 2nd time in 3 terms,
with a breakdown of 4 conservatives and 4 liberals. The court was down a member
in October 2016, too, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice
Neil Gorsuch joined the court in April 2017, after all but about a dozen cases
had been argued.
Vernon Madison, one of the state's longest serving inmates on death row, was
scheduled to be executed on Thursday at 6 p.m. He was convicted in 1985 of
killing Mobile police Cpl. Julius Schulte.
It's unclear how long the vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy's
retirement in July will last. Consideration of Kavanaugh's nomination by the
Senate has been delayed while the FBI undertakes an investigation of Christine
Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982.
An empty seat on the bench often forces a push for compromise and leads to a
less exciting caseload, mainly to avoid 4-4 splits between conservatives and
liberals.
The cases the court has agreed to hear so far this term look nothing like the
stream of high-profile disputes over President Donald Trump's travel ban,
partisan redistricting, union fees and a clash over religious objections to
same-sex marriage that the court heard last term.
"It's a time of transition for the Supreme Court," Solicitor General Noel
Francisco, the Trump administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, told a
Federalist Society meeting in Washington recently.
Kennedy won't be on the bench for the 1st time in more than 30 years, meaning
lawyers will not have to aim their arguments at attracting his swing vote. Now,
Chief Justice John Roberts probably will be the justice closest to the center
of the court, although he is far more conservative than Kennedy on most issues.
"All eyes ought to be on the chief justice," said Greg Garre, a solicitor
general during George W. Bush's presidency. Roberts' votes in favor of
President Barack Obama's signature domestic legislation, the Affordable Care
Act, show "he's willing to buck other conservatives on hot-button, high-profile
issues," Garre said.
In addition, even if Kavanaugh or another Trump nominee eventually joins the
court, Roberts' concern about the public's perception of the court might make
him unwilling to move the court too far, too fast in any direction, Garre said.
So far, the court has agreed to hear about 40 cases, and could add a few dozen
more to decide by the end of the term in June.
The very 1st case involves the federal government's designation of Louisiana
timberland as critical habitat for the endangered dusky gopher frog, though the
frog is found only in Mississippi.
It has been nearly 33 years since Mobile Police Cpl. Julius Schulte died in the
line of duty. With Vernon Madison facing an execution date for his murder on
Thursday, a fellow officer said that Schulte's legacy lives on. 2 cases
involving the death penalty will be argued in the 1st 2 months, including 1 on
Tuesday in which lawyers for Alabama death row inmate Vernon Madison argue he
shouldn't be executed because strokes and dementia have left him unable to
remember the details of the killing of a police officer in 1985. In November,
Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew says he shouldn't be subjected to execution by
lethal injection because he has a rare medical condition that could cause him
to choke on his own blood during an execution.
The court stopped both executions on the days they were supposed to take place,
which often suggests the inmate will prevail in the end. But Kennedy was a vote
for the inmates in both cases, and it's not clear there is a majority of 5
justices for either Madison or Bucklew.
The court will also take on issues including the detention of immigrants,
uranium mining in Virginia and the settlement of a class action lawsuit
involving Google where the settlement largely directed money to organizations
rather than search engine users.
Supreme Court terms often get off to a slow start, then roar to their finish.
Francisco, in his Federalist Society talk, suggested that could be the case
over the next few months.
"The real key to the coming term is what's in the pipeline," he said.
Lawsuits over the Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from
deportation, a new challenge to the health care law, anti-discrimination
protections for LGBT people, the Trump policy on transgender service members
and a new fight over partisan gerrymandering all are percolating in federal
courts and could reach the justices this term.
Another wild card is special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and
the possibility that he could try to force Trump to testify to a grand jury or,
perhaps less likely, indict him. The court has never directly addressed either
issue regarding a president.
(source: al.com)
MISSISSIPPI:
2 Mississippi police officers killed in shootout
2 Mississippi police officers were killed in a shootout early Saturday morning.
The Brookhaven officers, who were responding to a report of shots fired, were
identified as Patrolman James White, 35, and Cpl. Zach Moak, 31.
At a news conference Saturday, Police Chief Kenneth Collins described the two
officers as fallen heroes, "doing what officers often do for one another."
"They responded to the call and another was under fire, and that's when the
officer jumped in to help. They're both heroes," he said.
A suspect, Marquis Flowers, 25, who was wounded in the gunfire, is in custody
and was transported to a Jackson hospital. He is the only suspect involved,
although others have been questioned about the shooting, Mississippi Department
of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said at the news conference.
Brookhaven police received the call from a neighborhood about a mile north of
the Brookhaven high school at about 4:47 a.m. CDT. White responded to the
residence first, with Moak quickly behind him, the chief said.
Details of the shooting remain sparse. However, the chief said both officers
were wearing bulletproof vests and equipped with body cameras. Strain said the
Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, which is investigating the shooting, will
review any recording for additional details on what happened. Lincoln County
Coroner Clay McMorris was not immediately available for comment.
By mid-morning, investigators had sealed off the 3 roads leading to the
residence as residents looked on from their porches. Witnesses had different
recollections of what occurred. Some said they hadn't heard any gunshots in the
densely packed neighborhood. Another resident, who asked not to be identified,
said he did hear the shots and immediately jumped to the floor for safety.
Collins described the events that unfolded as something that could happen to
his officers anytime, anywhere.
"This was one of hundreds of calls we get on a day-to-day basis where this
doesn't happen," he said
Moak graduated from Enterprise Attendance Center in Lincoln County and studied
auto mechanics at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He began his career with
the Brookhaven Police Department in August 2015.
White had returned to work for the department in June 2015 after a stint with
the Monticello Police Department, about 20 miles east of Brookhaven.
The shooting deaths come 16 months after former Brookhaven officer turned
Lincoln County Deputy William Durr was killed in a shooting rampage that left
seven others dead as well. Willie Cory Godbolt, who was arrested May 28, 2017,
is awaiting trial. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The flag outside the city's police department was lowered to half-staff shortly
after the shooting.
"This is devastating for our community, especially given what has already
happened so recently," Brookhaven Mayor Joe Cox said.
"Our community is strong, and we'll pull together as a family. Our sympathies
go out to the families and we want them to know we'll be with them to support
them as they cope with this tragedy."
In a statement issued on Twitter, Gov. Phil Bryant asked for prayers "for the
family and loved ones of these fallen heroes."
(source: KREM news)
NEBRASKA:
Nebraska Supreme Court rejects appeal by one of the 'Boys Don't Cry' killers
The Nebraska Supreme Court has once again rejected an appeal by death row
inmate John Lotter, 1 of 2 men convicted in a triple homicide fictionalized in
the movie "Boys Don't Cry."
The court ruled Friday that Lotter's most recent appeal was filed too late,
missing a court-required deadline, and thus his appeal could not be considered.
Lotter, 47, and Marvin Nissen were sentenced to die for the 1993 slayings of
Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert and Phillip Devine at a rented farmhouse near
Humboldt.
The case gained national attention because 21-year-old Teena was a transgender
man, born Teena Brandon, who had dated a female friend of the 2 men. The case
inspired the 1999 film that won actress Hilary Swank an Academy Award.
Lotter has filed a series of unsuccessful appeals of his sentence and
conviction.
In his latest appeal, his attorney argued that state's death penalty law
violates a defendant's constitutional rights to a jury trial and due process
because it gives judges the final say when imposing death sentences. Juries,
his attorney argued, should make that call, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court
ruling.
Lotter's suit said his latest appeal should be considered despite missing the
deadline because of a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The State Supreme Court,
however, rejected that, stating that the ruling in Hurst v. Florida did not
establish "a new rule of law," thus did not provide an exception to the
deadline rule.
Last month, Nebraska had its first execution in 21 years. Carey Dean Moore was
put to death Aug. 14 for the 1979 slayings of 2 Omaha cab drivers.
(source: starherald.com)
COLORADO:
What, in all its secrecy, is Colorado's justice system hiding?
Colorado's judicial branch has spent a year stonewalling The Independent's
quest for court records, and I’m proud that we have stepped up our fight.
As Alex Burness reported Friday, our lawyers have petitioned the United States
Supreme Court to strike down a state court ruling denying The Independent
access to records in a death penalty case. That unprecedented decision shrouds
Colorado courts in secrecy and makes us the only state without a presumptive
First Amendment right for the press and public to scrutinize our justice
system.
The ruling must be reversed "because it is so clearly and dangerously wrong,"
our lawyers wrote in a 112-page petition that gives this court-record geek more
than a few goosebumps.
In the coming weeks, national news organizations and prominent legal scholars
will be filing friend-of-the-court briefs in support of our records battle.
They will argue that the Colorado Supreme Court ruling in June breached The
Independent's - and, therefore, the public's - First Amendment right to gather
information and have an informed review about the fairness of our state courts.
They'll warn about the dangers of leaving judicial power unchecked. They'll
spell out the chilling effect the ruling will have on journalists. And they'll
say that, without the ability to review court decisions, voters cannot make
informed choices about whether to retain or defrock judges.
They will argue the principle that is at stake here, the critical legal
underpinnings guaranteed a free people in a free society. That is what this
case is about. But I don't want to lose sight of how and why our fight for
these records began, or of the untold number of Coloradans entwined one way or
another in a justice system that sometimes loses sight of justice.
The story behind the case
Sir Mario Owens, 33, is 1 of 3 inmates on Colorado's death row. All 3 are black
- which is notable, given that African Americans make up less than 4 % of the
state's population. All were prosecuted by the 18th Judicial District
Attorney's office now run by George Brauchler.
That office won convictions against Owens for a 2004 murder, and for the 2005
murders of Javad Marshall Fields, the son of now state Sen. Rhonda Fields, and
his, fiancee, Vivian Wolfe. Marshall Fields was shot to death days before he
was scheduled to testify in Owens’ 2004 murder case. His killing landed Owens
his death sentence.
I don't know Owens, nor do I know much about his guilt or innocence other than
that, at his trial, there was no physical evidence or eyewitness testifying
against him.
But I do know that the DA's office cut corners in his capital case. And having
reported on that office under Brauchler’s watch and that of his predecessor,
Carol Chambers, I also know the extraordinary lengths to which it will go to
rack up a death sentence, even if it means sidestepping the rules.
In September 2017, 18th Judicial District Judge Christopher Munch found that
prosecutors engaged in several actions constituting prosecutorial misconduct,
including deliberately withholding evidence from Owens' defense team during his
trial and appeal. A prosecutor admitted that under Brauchler's watch the office
maintained a secret file on Owens's case that it didn't provide to the defense.
That file contained information about thousands of dollars - and even a car -
prosecutors gave to informant witnesses; a DA's office staffer threatening to
charge a witness with murder if he didn't testify against Owens; and special
plea deals and lesser sentences prosecutors offered key witnesses in exchange
for testifying.
Withholding evidence that could sway a jury against a guilty verdict amounts to
prosecutorial misconduct under the rules governing criminal law practice. It's
a reason to disqualify a case for death penalty eligibility under Colorado law.
Most judges presiding over capital cases expect extra care in evidence
disclosure because the defendants' lives are on the line.
But not Judge Munch. His finding that prosecutors intentionally suppressed
evidence didn't prompt him to overturn Owens' death sentence. Rather, he ruled
that Owens received a fair trial because the suppressed evidence, in his
estimation, likely would not have swayed the jury had it been presented. Munch
seems to have concluded that jurors would have put the same stock in the star
witnesses even if jurors had known about the money and gift cards those
witnesses were receiving from prosecutors and the threats they faced if they
didn't testify.
Munch's decision stunned legal experts who work on capital cases in Colorado
and nationwide. Even those in heavy death-penalty states like Texas, Louisiana
and Georgia told me they've never heard of a judge upholding a death sentence
in a case in which prosecutors deliberately withheld evidence.
Stonewalled
The judge's ruling raised enough red flags that I asked for 4 court records -
motion papers related to Owens' lawyers' request that Brauchler's office be
disqualified from the case, the transcript of the secret hearing about that
request, and Munch's order denying it.
But the district court wouldn't give me access. Those documents were sealed,
administrators told me. Buzz off.
Attorneys Steve Zansberg and Gregory Szewczyk of the law firm Ballard Spahr
have been working pro bono trying to unseal the records we sought. They've
argued that the First Amendment guarantees the right to inspect the judicial
documents, as virtually every higher court in the country has found. And
they've cited case law requiring a balance test in which a judge must show a
compelling government interest in sealing records that would outweigh that
First Amendment guarantee.
Judge Munch denied our request without meeting that balance test or bothering
to say why secrecy should trump our First Amendment access right.
Brauchler, in the meantime, fought hard to keep the documents from coming to
light. In an email to Zansberg last year, his deputy Rich Orman compared
categorizing the office's missteps as "prosecutorial misconduct" to making
salacious and unproven allegations in a private divorce case. "The District
Attorney believes that the court in this case has, and can continue to, limit
access to portions of its file that may become the vehicle for an improper
purpose, namely for the court file to improperly serve as a reservoir of
libelous statements for press consumption," Orman wrote.
Brauchler was running for governor at the time and didn't want his office's
shoddy record on a high-profile capital case scrutinized by the news media. So
his office sought layers upon layers of secrecy about the misconduct records to
the point of absurdity. It filed a response to The Independent's records
request that it asked Judge Munch to kept secret even from our attorneys. Our
lawyers then were expected to respond to whatever argument Brauchler's office
was making without being able to see what those arguments were.
The premise underlying Brauchler's approach was that the records in Owens' case
and in the records battle itself belonged to him rather than to the public,
which underwrites his office.
Even stranger than Brauchler's requests was that Judge Munch granted them,
allowing this blindfolded, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey legal process to continue
without offering a legal basis for keeping the records sealed.
The Independent filed an emergency petition with the Colorado Supreme Court
asking that Judge Munch be made to explain his decisions. As it happens, that
court, a year earlier, appointed Munch to Owens' case after taking the unusual
step of booting District Judge Gerald Rafferty off it. At that point, Rafferty
had presided over the case for more than 7 years and was just about to rule on
Owens' appeal.
In June, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld Munch's decision to keep
the records sealed. In an unprecedented opinion contradicting decades of case
law, Justice Melissa Hart wrote that the First Amendment right of “unfettered”
public access has no application to judicial records, ever, under any
circumstances.
But The Independent didn’t ask for “unfettered” access to court records. We
asked for four in one specific case. Hart and her colleagues refused to grant a
rehearing when our lawyers pointed out the error.
"If permitted to stand," our lawyers wrote in Friday's petition, "Colorado
Supreme Court's rejection of any such First Amendment right will impede the
functioning of the justice system, restrict the public's ability to monitor the
courts, and undermine public confidence in the judiciary."
Holding back
It's a longshot that the U.S. Supreme Court, itself currently the focus of an
historic level of scrutiny, will hear our case. The documents we sought in
Owens' death penalty case may remain shrouded in secrecy indefinitely. In a new
twist in the case, the state has now sealed the entire court file - boxes and
boxes of records - as if People vs. Sir Mario Owens never happened.
Yet Owens is still on death row in the maximum-security Colorado State
Penitentiary. If he’s executed, it will be without public scrutiny about
whether his trial and appeal were handled fairly. It will be in our names.
Brauchler, in the meantime, ended his gubernatorial bid last year to run
instead for attorney general, the state’s top law enforcement officer. On the
campaign trail, the Republican who rose to political prominence as Colorado's
most ardent death penalty proponent has promised "accountability and
transparency."
"I don't hold anything back," he told me during a 2016 interview. "If people
want information from me, I'm all into giving it to them."
If Brauchler becomes attorney general, and if the petition we filed Friday is
granted, his office would be representing Colorado before the U.S. Supreme
Court. In essence, he would be arguing to keep records related to misconduct in
his former office secret. The conflict of interest is stark.
Brauchler's Democratic attorney general opponent Phil Weiser has stayed mum on
the records fight and says he's reviewing The Independent's U.S. Supreme Court
petition.
"I'm concerned about public access to the court system and ensuring that our
system is as transparent as possible," he told me Friday.
The state Supreme Court ruling echoes far beyond the Owens case and could keep
records in any court case, either criminal or civil, under seal at judges'
whims. Denver Post reporter David Migoya has reported that Colorado's judiciary
already has sealed records in thousands of court cases without explanation.
Migoya's investigation has revealed that more than 6,700 cases on file in
Colorado courts don't appear in court records available to the public. He wrote
that "...someone could be arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced for a
crime in Colorado without anyone outside of law enforcement ever knowing who,
how, why or whether the process was fair."
In a column Friday in which he called Justice's Hart's opinion "sloppy and
dismissive," Denver Post Columnist Vincent Carroll wrote that "Colorado is now
a regressive outlier in terms of access to judicial documents, which is why The
Independent's latest move is so important."
We owe thanks to Zansberg and his colleagues at Ballard Spahr for the year of
tireless work they've put into this case free of cost to our nonprofit
newsroom. We're also grateful that The Denver Post, The Colorado Sun, and a few
dozen individual reporters, lawyers, civic leaders and watchdogs have heeded
our ask for help defraying some of the more than $12,000 in administrative
costs of filing Friday's U.S. Supreme Court petition. This records fight
affects us all, including the readers for whom we spend our time digging for
court records in the first place. It is that dig, most fundamentally, that is
the job of journalism.
More than a year into this records fight, the reasons the state judiciary has
dug in its heels on secrecy are as unclear to me as what exactly Brauchler has
fought so hard to keep from coming to light. Darkness breeds mistrust, even if
there's nothing in that darkness to doubt. As our lawyers quoted former Chief
Justice Warren Burger in our petition Friday, "People in an open society do not
demand infallibility from their institutions, but it is difficult for them to
accept what they are prohibited from observing."
(source: Susan Greene, Colorado Independent)
USA:
Prosecutor: Attorney general dropped death penalty
Federal prosecutors informed the court in 2015 they would seek the death
penalty against Donald Fell, for a 2nd time, but Christina Nolan, the U.S.
attorney for Vermont, said she had been directed in late August to take the
death penalty off the table.
Nolan spoke outside the Rutland federal courthouse after Fell, 38, was
sentenced to life in prison for causing the death of Terry King.
"The attorney general of the United States directed this outcome and authorized
this outcome. We are supporting the attorney general's authorization and
direction, of course," Nolan said.
Asked about why the decision was made, Nolan said federal prosecutors do not
discuss their deliberative process. However, she said her office had been
directed to remove its intent to seek the death penalty.
Nicole Navas Oxman, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Department of
Justice, said by email on Friday afternoon that the DOJ couldn’t comment.
She included a link to the federal "Justice Manual."
"The decision-making process preliminary to the attorney general's final
decision is confidential. Information concerning the deliberative process may
only be disclosed within the department and its investigative agencies as
necessary to assist the review and decision-making process," the manual said.
Nolan said the prosecutors in the Vermont office of the U.S. attorney had
"thought singularly about fighting for justice for Terry King and her family
and about the suffering of Terry King and her family for 18 years."
Nolan said she respected the opinion of Barbara Tuttle, King's sister, who
called the case a "total embarrassment to the federal justice system" but said
justice was "not a math problem."
"In terms of whether justice was done today, I defer to those who loved Terry
King, those who desperately want her back. I defer to the views of the people
of Vermont, the people of the country," she said.
Nolan said the "positive takeaways" from Friday's hearing were that Fell had
been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, taking a
"dangerous man" away from the general public and that the case had been brought
to a conclusion.
Nolan referenced Fell's mother, Debra Fell, and Charles Conway, her friend, who
Fell and his friend, Robert Lee, allegedly killed. Fell has never been charged
in connection with their deaths and Lee committed suicide while in prison
awaiting trial for King's death.
Nolan mentioned an inmate who Fell had attacked and hurt while in prison in
2012.
But Nolan primarily discussed King's family and what they went through from the
time that Fell was tried, sentenced to death, had his conviction overturned and
awaited a 2nd trial.
"This is an incredibly solemn day. This is not a good ending. There was never
going to be a good ending to this case because Terry King died in a brutal way,
a terrifying way, a senseless way. Her family is suffering unspeakable grief
and they have for 18 years and they will continue to suffer unspeakable grief,"
Nolan said.
A plea agreement in the Fell case has been discussed several times over the
years but was never reached because prosecutors were seeking a death penalty.
Nolan was asked what she would say to the family about the death penalty
delaying the case but later being withdrawn.
"All I can tell you is that my office fought for justice for the King family
for those entire 18 years and thought singularly about what she suffered, what
her family suffered and we tried to enforce the law of the United States and
achieve justice as best we could," she said.
Attorney Michael N. Burt, a member of the team representing Fell, said after
the hearing that Fell's attorneys would not make a statement.
Nolan talked about the legacy of the Fell case.
"I hope that Vermonters see, when you brutalize someone so senselessly - this
is a perfect stranger to (Fell and Lee) with a family who loved her, who was on
her way to work - when you commit an act of that kind of cruelty and depravity,
you will suffer - well, I'm not going to say the ultimate sentence because that
would be the death penalty, but life in prison is the next most serious. He
will never walk a free man again. I hope Vermonters will take some comfort in
that," she said.
(source: Rutland Herald)
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MARYLAND:
Eastern Shore author to present true story of wrongful conviction in Frederick
on Monday
After serving 8 years in a Maryland prison for a murder he didn't commit,
Eastern Shore resident Kirk Bloodsworth was released and pardoned in 1993. New
testing tools led Bloodsworth to become the 1st convicted death row inmate to
be exonerated by DNA evidence.
The case set the stage for thousands of wrongfully convicted Americans to seek
and achieve exonerations of their own.
The author of a book about Bloodsworth's case and the investigation leading to
his release will appear at Frederick Community College on Monday.
Tim Junkin, author of "Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row
Inmate Exonerated by DNA Evidence," will appear at 7 p.m. Oct. 1. Junkin's book
is the 2018 Maryland Humanities Council's selection for the One Maryland One
Book program.
Junkin, who lives in Talbot County, practiced law for 30 years. He has written
2 other books set on the Eastern Shore. He started work on the book after
reading a newspaper story about Bloodsworth's case.
"Kirk was convicted of a rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl in Baltimore
County. It was a horrible crime," Junkin said. "The whole community was up in
arms."
Junkin’s book follows Bloodsworth’s story, but also focuses on the
investigators who built the case against him.
"I try to look at this whole story from the perspective of the investigators
and how these very experienced people pointed to the wrong man. They became
absolutely convinced that this innocent person was guilty of horrific crimes,"
Junkin said. "One of the things that happened in this story is the authorities
relied on things that were not hard science, like psychological profiles and
composite drawings, and intuition. When you get away from hard science and
following the actual facts, and start relying on things that are squishy, you
run into real trouble. In this case, it led to catastrophe."
Although his book was published in 2004, he said, it raises important questions
about the U.S. criminal justice system.
"There have been 1,500 people from death row, and thousands of felons who
weren't on death row, exonerated," Junkin said. "We have a major catastrophe in
our criminal justice system right now."
Justice is the theme for the 2018 Maryland Humanities Council's One Maryland
One Read program. Program director Andrea Lewis, of the Maryland Humanities
Council, said the book was selected from hundreds of books releasing a call for
public suggestions.
Although the book is older, "it feels very timely," Lewis said. "Justice is a
part of our daily conversations these days."
Monday's event is a partnership between the council and Frederick County Public
Libraries and Frederick Community College.
"We're just always pleased to be able to bring authors to Frederick because
it's a community that is very connected to reading and supportive of the
opportunity to hear an author," she said.
Since his release, Bloodsworth has become a prominent advocate of criminal
justice reform. He was a program worker at The Justice Project and helped start
the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program, which provides grant
funding for post-conviction DNA evidence. He also lobbied to end Maryland's use
of the death penalty.
"He's made an amazing, positive force out of his life," Junkin said. "But they
would have killed him if they could have."
(source: fredericknewspost.com)
ALABAMA:
Alabama death row case among 1st facing US Supreme Court this term
It's the storm before the calm at the Supreme Court.
Americans watched Thursday's high court nomination hearing of Judge Brett
Kavanaugh with rapt attention. The televised spectacle was filled with
disturbing allegations of sexual assault and Kavanaugh's angry, emotional
denial.
On Monday, the court will begin its new term with the crack of the marshal's
gavel and not a camera in sight.
The term's start has been completely overshadowed by the tumult over
Kavanaugh's nomination.
Republicans had hoped to have Kavanaugh confirmed in time for the court's 1st
public meeting since late June, an addition that would cement conservative
control of the court.
Instead, there are only 8 justices on the bench for the 2nd time in 3 terms,
with a breakdown of 4 conservatives and 4 liberals. The court was down a member
in October 2016, too, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice
Neil Gorsuch joined the court in April 2017, after all but about a dozen cases
had been argued.
Vernon Madison, one of the state's longest serving inmates on death row, was
scheduled to be executed on Thursday at 6 p.m. He was convicted in 1985 of
killing Mobile police Cpl. Julius Schulte.
It's unclear how long the vacancy created by Justice Anthony Kennedy's
retirement in July will last. Consideration of Kavanaugh's nomination by the
Senate has been delayed while the FBI undertakes an investigation of Christine
Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982.
An empty seat on the bench often forces a push for compromise and leads to a
less exciting caseload, mainly to avoid 4-4 splits between conservatives and
liberals.
The cases the court has agreed to hear so far this term look nothing like the
stream of high-profile disputes over President Donald Trump's travel ban,
partisan redistricting, union fees and a clash over religious objections to
same-sex marriage that the court heard last term.
"It's a time of transition for the Supreme Court," Solicitor General Noel
Francisco, the Trump administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, told a
Federalist Society meeting in Washington recently.
Kennedy won't be on the bench for the 1st time in more than 30 years, meaning
lawyers will not have to aim their arguments at attracting his swing vote. Now,
Chief Justice John Roberts probably will be the justice closest to the center
of the court, although he is far more conservative than Kennedy on most issues.
"All eyes ought to be on the chief justice," said Greg Garre, a solicitor
general during George W. Bush's presidency. Roberts' votes in favor of
President Barack Obama's signature domestic legislation, the Affordable Care
Act, show "he's willing to buck other conservatives on hot-button, high-profile
issues," Garre said.
In addition, even if Kavanaugh or another Trump nominee eventually joins the
court, Roberts' concern about the public's perception of the court might make
him unwilling to move the court too far, too fast in any direction, Garre said.
So far, the court has agreed to hear about 40 cases, and could add a few dozen
more to decide by the end of the term in June.
The very 1st case involves the federal government's designation of Louisiana
timberland as critical habitat for the endangered dusky gopher frog, though the
frog is found only in Mississippi.
It has been nearly 33 years since Mobile Police Cpl. Julius Schulte died in the
line of duty. With Vernon Madison facing an execution date for his murder on
Thursday, a fellow officer said that Schulte's legacy lives on. 2 cases
involving the death penalty will be argued in the 1st 2 months, including 1 on
Tuesday in which lawyers for Alabama death row inmate Vernon Madison argue he
shouldn't be executed because strokes and dementia have left him unable to
remember the details of the killing of a police officer in 1985. In November,
Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew says he shouldn't be subjected to execution by
lethal injection because he has a rare medical condition that could cause him
to choke on his own blood during an execution.
The court stopped both executions on the days they were supposed to take place,
which often suggests the inmate will prevail in the end. But Kennedy was a vote
for the inmates in both cases, and it's not clear there is a majority of 5
justices for either Madison or Bucklew.
The court will also take on issues including the detention of immigrants,
uranium mining in Virginia and the settlement of a class action lawsuit
involving Google where the settlement largely directed money to organizations
rather than search engine users.
Supreme Court terms often get off to a slow start, then roar to their finish.
Francisco, in his Federalist Society talk, suggested that could be the case
over the next few months.
"The real key to the coming term is what's in the pipeline," he said.
Lawsuits over the Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from
deportation, a new challenge to the health care law, anti-discrimination
protections for LGBT people, the Trump policy on transgender service members
and a new fight over partisan gerrymandering all are percolating in federal
courts and could reach the justices this term.
Another wild card is special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and
the possibility that he could try to force Trump to testify to a grand jury or,
perhaps less likely, indict him. The court has never directly addressed either
issue regarding a president.
(source: al.com)
MISSISSIPPI:
2 Mississippi police officers killed in shootout
2 Mississippi police officers were killed in a shootout early Saturday morning.
The Brookhaven officers, who were responding to a report of shots fired, were
identified as Patrolman James White, 35, and Cpl. Zach Moak, 31.
At a news conference Saturday, Police Chief Kenneth Collins described the two
officers as fallen heroes, "doing what officers often do for one another."
"They responded to the call and another was under fire, and that's when the
officer jumped in to help. They're both heroes," he said.
A suspect, Marquis Flowers, 25, who was wounded in the gunfire, is in custody
and was transported to a Jackson hospital. He is the only suspect involved,
although others have been questioned about the shooting, Mississippi Department
of Public Safety spokesman Warren Strain said at the news conference.
Brookhaven police received the call from a neighborhood about a mile north of
the Brookhaven high school at about 4:47 a.m. CDT. White responded to the
residence first, with Moak quickly behind him, the chief said.
Details of the shooting remain sparse. However, the chief said both officers
were wearing bulletproof vests and equipped with body cameras. Strain said the
Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, which is investigating the shooting, will
review any recording for additional details on what happened. Lincoln County
Coroner Clay McMorris was not immediately available for comment.
By mid-morning, investigators had sealed off the 3 roads leading to the
residence as residents looked on from their porches. Witnesses had different
recollections of what occurred. Some said they hadn't heard any gunshots in the
densely packed neighborhood. Another resident, who asked not to be identified,
said he did hear the shots and immediately jumped to the floor for safety.
Collins described the events that unfolded as something that could happen to
his officers anytime, anywhere.
"This was one of hundreds of calls we get on a day-to-day basis where this
doesn't happen," he said
Moak graduated from Enterprise Attendance Center in Lincoln County and studied
auto mechanics at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He began his career with
the Brookhaven Police Department in August 2015.
White had returned to work for the department in June 2015 after a stint with
the Monticello Police Department, about 20 miles east of Brookhaven.
The shooting deaths come 16 months after former Brookhaven officer turned
Lincoln County Deputy William Durr was killed in a shooting rampage that left
seven others dead as well. Willie Cory Godbolt, who was arrested May 28, 2017,
is awaiting trial. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The flag outside the city's police department was lowered to half-staff shortly
after the shooting.
"This is devastating for our community, especially given what has already
happened so recently," Brookhaven Mayor Joe Cox said.
"Our community is strong, and we'll pull together as a family. Our sympathies
go out to the families and we want them to know we'll be with them to support
them as they cope with this tragedy."
In a statement issued on Twitter, Gov. Phil Bryant asked for prayers "for the
family and loved ones of these fallen heroes."
(source: KREM news)
NEBRASKA:
Nebraska Supreme Court rejects appeal by one of the 'Boys Don't Cry' killers
The Nebraska Supreme Court has once again rejected an appeal by death row
inmate John Lotter, 1 of 2 men convicted in a triple homicide fictionalized in
the movie "Boys Don't Cry."
The court ruled Friday that Lotter's most recent appeal was filed too late,
missing a court-required deadline, and thus his appeal could not be considered.
Lotter, 47, and Marvin Nissen were sentenced to die for the 1993 slayings of
Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert and Phillip Devine at a rented farmhouse near
Humboldt.
The case gained national attention because 21-year-old Teena was a transgender
man, born Teena Brandon, who had dated a female friend of the 2 men. The case
inspired the 1999 film that won actress Hilary Swank an Academy Award.
Lotter has filed a series of unsuccessful appeals of his sentence and
conviction.
In his latest appeal, his attorney argued that state's death penalty law
violates a defendant's constitutional rights to a jury trial and due process
because it gives judges the final say when imposing death sentences. Juries,
his attorney argued, should make that call, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court
ruling.
Lotter's suit said his latest appeal should be considered despite missing the
deadline because of a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The State Supreme Court,
however, rejected that, stating that the ruling in Hurst v. Florida did not
establish "a new rule of law," thus did not provide an exception to the
deadline rule.
Last month, Nebraska had its first execution in 21 years. Carey Dean Moore was
put to death Aug. 14 for the 1979 slayings of 2 Omaha cab drivers.
(source: starherald.com)
COLORADO:
What, in all its secrecy, is Colorado's justice system hiding?
Colorado's judicial branch has spent a year stonewalling The Independent's
quest for court records, and I’m proud that we have stepped up our fight.
As Alex Burness reported Friday, our lawyers have petitioned the United States
Supreme Court to strike down a state court ruling denying The Independent
access to records in a death penalty case. That unprecedented decision shrouds
Colorado courts in secrecy and makes us the only state without a presumptive
First Amendment right for the press and public to scrutinize our justice
system.
The ruling must be reversed "because it is so clearly and dangerously wrong,"
our lawyers wrote in a 112-page petition that gives this court-record geek more
than a few goosebumps.
In the coming weeks, national news organizations and prominent legal scholars
will be filing friend-of-the-court briefs in support of our records battle.
They will argue that the Colorado Supreme Court ruling in June breached The
Independent's - and, therefore, the public's - First Amendment right to gather
information and have an informed review about the fairness of our state courts.
They'll warn about the dangers of leaving judicial power unchecked. They'll
spell out the chilling effect the ruling will have on journalists. And they'll
say that, without the ability to review court decisions, voters cannot make
informed choices about whether to retain or defrock judges.
They will argue the principle that is at stake here, the critical legal
underpinnings guaranteed a free people in a free society. That is what this
case is about. But I don't want to lose sight of how and why our fight for
these records began, or of the untold number of Coloradans entwined one way or
another in a justice system that sometimes loses sight of justice.
The story behind the case
Sir Mario Owens, 33, is 1 of 3 inmates on Colorado's death row. All 3 are black
- which is notable, given that African Americans make up less than 4 % of the
state's population. All were prosecuted by the 18th Judicial District
Attorney's office now run by George Brauchler.
That office won convictions against Owens for a 2004 murder, and for the 2005
murders of Javad Marshall Fields, the son of now state Sen. Rhonda Fields, and
his, fiancee, Vivian Wolfe. Marshall Fields was shot to death days before he
was scheduled to testify in Owens’ 2004 murder case. His killing landed Owens
his death sentence.
I don't know Owens, nor do I know much about his guilt or innocence other than
that, at his trial, there was no physical evidence or eyewitness testifying
against him.
But I do know that the DA's office cut corners in his capital case. And having
reported on that office under Brauchler’s watch and that of his predecessor,
Carol Chambers, I also know the extraordinary lengths to which it will go to
rack up a death sentence, even if it means sidestepping the rules.
In September 2017, 18th Judicial District Judge Christopher Munch found that
prosecutors engaged in several actions constituting prosecutorial misconduct,
including deliberately withholding evidence from Owens' defense team during his
trial and appeal. A prosecutor admitted that under Brauchler's watch the office
maintained a secret file on Owens's case that it didn't provide to the defense.
That file contained information about thousands of dollars - and even a car -
prosecutors gave to informant witnesses; a DA's office staffer threatening to
charge a witness with murder if he didn't testify against Owens; and special
plea deals and lesser sentences prosecutors offered key witnesses in exchange
for testifying.
Withholding evidence that could sway a jury against a guilty verdict amounts to
prosecutorial misconduct under the rules governing criminal law practice. It's
a reason to disqualify a case for death penalty eligibility under Colorado law.
Most judges presiding over capital cases expect extra care in evidence
disclosure because the defendants' lives are on the line.
But not Judge Munch. His finding that prosecutors intentionally suppressed
evidence didn't prompt him to overturn Owens' death sentence. Rather, he ruled
that Owens received a fair trial because the suppressed evidence, in his
estimation, likely would not have swayed the jury had it been presented. Munch
seems to have concluded that jurors would have put the same stock in the star
witnesses even if jurors had known about the money and gift cards those
witnesses were receiving from prosecutors and the threats they faced if they
didn't testify.
Munch's decision stunned legal experts who work on capital cases in Colorado
and nationwide. Even those in heavy death-penalty states like Texas, Louisiana
and Georgia told me they've never heard of a judge upholding a death sentence
in a case in which prosecutors deliberately withheld evidence.
Stonewalled
The judge's ruling raised enough red flags that I asked for 4 court records -
motion papers related to Owens' lawyers' request that Brauchler's office be
disqualified from the case, the transcript of the secret hearing about that
request, and Munch's order denying it.
But the district court wouldn't give me access. Those documents were sealed,
administrators told me. Buzz off.
Attorneys Steve Zansberg and Gregory Szewczyk of the law firm Ballard Spahr
have been working pro bono trying to unseal the records we sought. They've
argued that the First Amendment guarantees the right to inspect the judicial
documents, as virtually every higher court in the country has found. And
they've cited case law requiring a balance test in which a judge must show a
compelling government interest in sealing records that would outweigh that
First Amendment guarantee.
Judge Munch denied our request without meeting that balance test or bothering
to say why secrecy should trump our First Amendment access right.
Brauchler, in the meantime, fought hard to keep the documents from coming to
light. In an email to Zansberg last year, his deputy Rich Orman compared
categorizing the office's missteps as "prosecutorial misconduct" to making
salacious and unproven allegations in a private divorce case. "The District
Attorney believes that the court in this case has, and can continue to, limit
access to portions of its file that may become the vehicle for an improper
purpose, namely for the court file to improperly serve as a reservoir of
libelous statements for press consumption," Orman wrote.
Brauchler was running for governor at the time and didn't want his office's
shoddy record on a high-profile capital case scrutinized by the news media. So
his office sought layers upon layers of secrecy about the misconduct records to
the point of absurdity. It filed a response to The Independent's records
request that it asked Judge Munch to kept secret even from our attorneys. Our
lawyers then were expected to respond to whatever argument Brauchler's office
was making without being able to see what those arguments were.
The premise underlying Brauchler's approach was that the records in Owens' case
and in the records battle itself belonged to him rather than to the public,
which underwrites his office.
Even stranger than Brauchler's requests was that Judge Munch granted them,
allowing this blindfolded, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey legal process to continue
without offering a legal basis for keeping the records sealed.
The Independent filed an emergency petition with the Colorado Supreme Court
asking that Judge Munch be made to explain his decisions. As it happens, that
court, a year earlier, appointed Munch to Owens' case after taking the unusual
step of booting District Judge Gerald Rafferty off it. At that point, Rafferty
had presided over the case for more than 7 years and was just about to rule on
Owens' appeal.
In June, the state Supreme Court unanimously upheld Munch's decision to keep
the records sealed. In an unprecedented opinion contradicting decades of case
law, Justice Melissa Hart wrote that the First Amendment right of “unfettered”
public access has no application to judicial records, ever, under any
circumstances.
But The Independent didn’t ask for “unfettered” access to court records. We
asked for four in one specific case. Hart and her colleagues refused to grant a
rehearing when our lawyers pointed out the error.
"If permitted to stand," our lawyers wrote in Friday's petition, "Colorado
Supreme Court's rejection of any such First Amendment right will impede the
functioning of the justice system, restrict the public's ability to monitor the
courts, and undermine public confidence in the judiciary."
Holding back
It's a longshot that the U.S. Supreme Court, itself currently the focus of an
historic level of scrutiny, will hear our case. The documents we sought in
Owens' death penalty case may remain shrouded in secrecy indefinitely. In a new
twist in the case, the state has now sealed the entire court file - boxes and
boxes of records - as if People vs. Sir Mario Owens never happened.
Yet Owens is still on death row in the maximum-security Colorado State
Penitentiary. If he’s executed, it will be without public scrutiny about
whether his trial and appeal were handled fairly. It will be in our names.
Brauchler, in the meantime, ended his gubernatorial bid last year to run
instead for attorney general, the state’s top law enforcement officer. On the
campaign trail, the Republican who rose to political prominence as Colorado's
most ardent death penalty proponent has promised "accountability and
transparency."
"I don't hold anything back," he told me during a 2016 interview. "If people
want information from me, I'm all into giving it to them."
If Brauchler becomes attorney general, and if the petition we filed Friday is
granted, his office would be representing Colorado before the U.S. Supreme
Court. In essence, he would be arguing to keep records related to misconduct in
his former office secret. The conflict of interest is stark.
Brauchler's Democratic attorney general opponent Phil Weiser has stayed mum on
the records fight and says he's reviewing The Independent's U.S. Supreme Court
petition.
"I'm concerned about public access to the court system and ensuring that our
system is as transparent as possible," he told me Friday.
The state Supreme Court ruling echoes far beyond the Owens case and could keep
records in any court case, either criminal or civil, under seal at judges'
whims. Denver Post reporter David Migoya has reported that Colorado's judiciary
already has sealed records in thousands of court cases without explanation.
Migoya's investigation has revealed that more than 6,700 cases on file in
Colorado courts don't appear in court records available to the public. He wrote
that "...someone could be arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced for a
crime in Colorado without anyone outside of law enforcement ever knowing who,
how, why or whether the process was fair."
In a column Friday in which he called Justice's Hart's opinion "sloppy and
dismissive," Denver Post Columnist Vincent Carroll wrote that "Colorado is now
a regressive outlier in terms of access to judicial documents, which is why The
Independent's latest move is so important."
We owe thanks to Zansberg and his colleagues at Ballard Spahr for the year of
tireless work they've put into this case free of cost to our nonprofit
newsroom. We're also grateful that The Denver Post, The Colorado Sun, and a few
dozen individual reporters, lawyers, civic leaders and watchdogs have heeded
our ask for help defraying some of the more than $12,000 in administrative
costs of filing Friday's U.S. Supreme Court petition. This records fight
affects us all, including the readers for whom we spend our time digging for
court records in the first place. It is that dig, most fundamentally, that is
the job of journalism.
More than a year into this records fight, the reasons the state judiciary has
dug in its heels on secrecy are as unclear to me as what exactly Brauchler has
fought so hard to keep from coming to light. Darkness breeds mistrust, even if
there's nothing in that darkness to doubt. As our lawyers quoted former Chief
Justice Warren Burger in our petition Friday, "People in an open society do not
demand infallibility from their institutions, but it is difficult for them to
accept what they are prohibited from observing."
(source: Susan Greene, Colorado Independent)
USA:
Prosecutor: Attorney general dropped death penalty
Federal prosecutors informed the court in 2015 they would seek the death
penalty against Donald Fell, for a 2nd time, but Christina Nolan, the U.S.
attorney for Vermont, said she had been directed in late August to take the
death penalty off the table.
Nolan spoke outside the Rutland federal courthouse after Fell, 38, was
sentenced to life in prison for causing the death of Terry King.
"The attorney general of the United States directed this outcome and authorized
this outcome. We are supporting the attorney general's authorization and
direction, of course," Nolan said.
Asked about why the decision was made, Nolan said federal prosecutors do not
discuss their deliberative process. However, she said her office had been
directed to remove its intent to seek the death penalty.
Nicole Navas Oxman, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Department of
Justice, said by email on Friday afternoon that the DOJ couldn’t comment.
She included a link to the federal "Justice Manual."
"The decision-making process preliminary to the attorney general's final
decision is confidential. Information concerning the deliberative process may
only be disclosed within the department and its investigative agencies as
necessary to assist the review and decision-making process," the manual said.
Nolan said the prosecutors in the Vermont office of the U.S. attorney had
"thought singularly about fighting for justice for Terry King and her family
and about the suffering of Terry King and her family for 18 years."
Nolan said she respected the opinion of Barbara Tuttle, King's sister, who
called the case a "total embarrassment to the federal justice system" but said
justice was "not a math problem."
"In terms of whether justice was done today, I defer to those who loved Terry
King, those who desperately want her back. I defer to the views of the people
of Vermont, the people of the country," she said.
Nolan said the "positive takeaways" from Friday's hearing were that Fell had
been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, taking a
"dangerous man" away from the general public and that the case had been brought
to a conclusion.
Nolan referenced Fell's mother, Debra Fell, and Charles Conway, her friend, who
Fell and his friend, Robert Lee, allegedly killed. Fell has never been charged
in connection with their deaths and Lee committed suicide while in prison
awaiting trial for King's death.
Nolan mentioned an inmate who Fell had attacked and hurt while in prison in
2012.
But Nolan primarily discussed King's family and what they went through from the
time that Fell was tried, sentenced to death, had his conviction overturned and
awaited a 2nd trial.
"This is an incredibly solemn day. This is not a good ending. There was never
going to be a good ending to this case because Terry King died in a brutal way,
a terrifying way, a senseless way. Her family is suffering unspeakable grief
and they have for 18 years and they will continue to suffer unspeakable grief,"
Nolan said.
A plea agreement in the Fell case has been discussed several times over the
years but was never reached because prosecutors were seeking a death penalty.
Nolan was asked what she would say to the family about the death penalty
delaying the case but later being withdrawn.
"All I can tell you is that my office fought for justice for the King family
for those entire 18 years and thought singularly about what she suffered, what
her family suffered and we tried to enforce the law of the United States and
achieve justice as best we could," she said.
Attorney Michael N. Burt, a member of the team representing Fell, said after
the hearing that Fell's attorneys would not make a statement.
Nolan talked about the legacy of the Fell case.
"I hope that Vermonters see, when you brutalize someone so senselessly - this
is a perfect stranger to (Fell and Lee) with a family who loved her, who was on
her way to work - when you commit an act of that kind of cruelty and depravity,
you will suffer - well, I'm not going to say the ultimate sentence because that
would be the death penalty, but life in prison is the next most serious. He
will never walk a free man again. I hope Vermonters will take some comfort in
that," she said.
(source: Rutland Herald)
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