Rick Halperin
2018-10-08 03:39:02 UTC
October 7
TEXAS----stay of impending execution
Texas halts execution scheduled for man who raped and murdered Fort Worth girl,
says he's intellectually disabled
A Fort Worth man whose execution was scheduled for Wednesday has been granted a
stay after the Supreme Court ruled in a separate 2017 case that Texas'
standards for determining intellectual disability in death-row inmates are
outdated.
Juan Ramon Meza Segundo, 55, was set to die for the 1986 rape and murder of
11-year-old Vanessa Villas, found strangled in her Fort Worth home.
He removed a box fan from the girl's window and slipped in through the gap
while her three cousins slept and her mother ran errands, police said.
"I cried for about 10 years," Vanessa's mother, Rosa Maria Clarke, told The
Dallas Morning News in 2005. "Always, I wondered what happened to my little
girl."
DNA evidence at the scene linked the crime to Segundo, who was married to a
family friend and attended Vanessa's funeral. He was tried in Tarrant County in
2006.
Segundo was also linked to the rapes and strangling of 2 other local women in
1994 and 1995.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a 2016 appeal that argued that
Segundo's lawyers failed to develop evidence that he was intellectually
disabled, and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.
Supreme Court justices also refused to review the case in 2017.
Old standards used to gauge intellectual disability included the subject's
ability to lie convincingly, and their family's perception of their
capabilities.
Segundo's IQ consistently measured around 75, and he was unable to read a clock
or tell left from right, according to a Texas Tribune report.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
*******************
Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----37
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----555
Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #
38---------Oct. 24----------------Kwame Rockwell----------556
39---------Nov. 7-----------------Emanuel Kemp, Jr.-------557
40---------Nov. 14----------------Robert Ramos------------558
41---------Dec. 4-----------------Joseph Garcia-----------559
42---------Dec. 11----------------Alvin Braziel-----------560
43---------Jan. 15----------------Blaine Milam------------561
44---------Jan. 30----------------Robert Jennings---------562
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
TENNESSEE----impending execution
Juror In Zagorski Case Pleads For Life Without Parole Ahead Of Execution
With days until his scheduled execution, a juror who condemned Edmund Zagorski
to death says the convicted murderer's life should be spared.
Michael Poole served on the jury in 1986, before life without parole became an
option in Tennessee capital murder cases in 1995.
"We were instructed that if we were assured beyond any doubt that Mr. Zagorski
had done this crime, that he should be given the death penalty because that's
what the prosecution was actually seeking in this case," Poole told WPLN
Friday.
Poole says he had no doubt that Zagorski committed a double murder in 1983,
shooting and slitting the throats of a Hickman County logger and a bar owner
from Dickson. The men expected to buy 100 pounds of marijuana.
Poole says the jury's concern was making sure Zagorski could never be released
and potentially commit the same crime again. The small business owner from
Springfield says he's not entirely opposed to the death penalty but says
Zagorski doesn't deserve an execution.
"I don't feel that taking Mr. Zagorski's life some 35 years later is going to
really do anything to make this world a better place," he said.
Zagorski is set to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday at Riverbend
Maximum Security Prison. He asked Governor Bill Haslam for clemency based on
good behavior while in prison.
But on Friday, Haslam denied the request.
"While Zagorski has exhibited good behavior during his incarceration, that does
not undo the fact that he robbed and brutally murdered two men and attempted to
kill a police officer while on the run. Further, while juries today have the
option of imposing a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole in capital cases, the jury in Zagorski’s case heard the evidence at
trial and rendered a unanimous verdict in accordance with the law at the time
and their duty as jurors."
Haslam also noted the verdict in Zagorski's case has been upheld by 10 courts,
including the Tennessee and U.S. Supreme Courts.
In August, Haslam also declined to intervene in the execution of Billy Ray
Irick.
The Tennessee Supreme Court is expected to rule on an expedited case
challenging the state's lethal injection protocol in the coming days, which
could also have a bearing on Zagorski's fate. If not, his attorneys say they
will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay of execution.
(source: nashvillepublicradio.org)
NEBRASKA:
Nebraska county to seek state help paying $28.1M judgment
Residents of a small Nebraska county that owes $28.1 million to 6 people
wrongfully convicted of a 1985 rape and murder will seek a bailout from the
state now that their appeals are nearly exhausted, but some lawmakers aren't
interested in helping them avoid a big property tax increase.
Community leaders in Gage County plan to ask lawmakers and Gov. Pete Ricketts
for state funding or a loan to help pay the civil judgment owed to the former
inmates, known as the Beatrice 6. They served a combined 70 years in prison for
the slaying of 68-year-old Helen Wilson before being released a decade ago.
Gage County Supervisors voted last month to raise the county's property tax
levy by 11.76 cents per $100 of valuation, the highest they can go without
submitting the issue to voters. The higher tax will generate about $3.8 million
next year.
For the owner of a $150,000 home, the increase amounts to an extra $177 in
taxes annually. Land-rich farmers who have already seen their property taxes
soar would pay substantially more at a time when low grain prices have squeezed
their margins.
"If we continue on the path we're on with no assistance from the state, it will
drive at least some farmers to bankruptcy," said Greg Lauby, a former attorney
from Wymore who helped organize a group of residents to look for a solution.
"We have homeowners who are struggling to put food on their table and clothe
their children, and that's an amount that will make a difference."
The former inmates successfully sued Gage County after DNA evidence exonerated
them in 2008, and a federal appeals court upheld the judgment in June and
refused to postpone it for further appeals. That left county officials with few
options other than a longshot request for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider
the case or an uphill legal fight with their former insurer.
Jurors in the lawsuit found that some members of the group were coerced into
false confessions by authorities, who convinced them they had repressed
memories of the murder.
Some also struggled with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities and
agreed to plea deals after investigators told them they might face the death
penalty. Only 1 of the 6 Joseph White, maintained his innocence and went to
trial, but he was convicted based largely on the testimony of those who had
struck plea deals in exchange for lesser charges and lighter sentences.
Sen. Roy Baker, whose district includes Gage County, introduced two bills last
year that sought to address the problem - one that would have let the county
seek direct state reimbursement and another that would allow it to get a
low-interest state loan.
Neither bill advanced, in part because of their cost and the state's tax
revenue shortfall. Baker, who isn't seeking re-election, said he asked to have
the bills held in committee until the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled on the case. By the time the appeals court ruled, lawmakers had adjourned
for the year.
Baker said he doesn't think the reimbursement bill is likely to pass, but the
one that would allow Gage County to borrow money has "a sporting chance."
He said he's concerned the higher property tax will make voters less likely to
approve other measures, such as bond issues to build new schools.
Despite the push, any attempt to collect money from the state is likely to face
opposition from some lawmakers who have criticized how local officials handled
the case and the impact it had on those wrongfully convicted.
"This was strictly a county matter," said Sen. Ernie Chambers, of Omaha. "They
made their bed, now they have to sleep in it."
Chambers noted that the Beatrice 6 defendants' false confessions came after
they were threatened with the death penalty, yet Gage County voters
overwhelmingly supported a 2016 ballot measure to reinstate capital punishment
after the Legislature repealed it.
"They haven't learned a thing," Chambers said.
A spokesman for Ricketts did not answer emailed questions about whether the
governor would support state assistance for Gage County but said in a statement
that the administration "will continue to talk with the county about their
plans." Ricketts has made property taxes a top issue in his re-election
campaign.
Gage County Supervisor Myron Dorn said county officials approved the tax
increase because if they didn't, attorneys for the Beatrice Six would have
asked a federal judge to order it.
Dorn, who is running for Baker's seat in the Legislature, said the county board
is "aggressively looking at other options" to pay the debt, but hasn't come up
with concrete solutions. He said that, if elected, he'll introduce a bill next
year that would allow for state assistance.
"It would definitely help relieve some of the burden," Dorn said.
(source: Associated Press)
ARIZONA:
Judge to allow death penalty in serial killing case
The judge in a serial killing case against a former bus driver in Phoenix has
denied a request by his defense team to bar the death penalty because a
jailhouse video of the suspect was released to news media.
Superior Court Judge David Cunanan says there is "no basis" for the request
because anyone can ask for a public record, such as the video.
Aaron Juan Saucedo's defense lawyers have said in court papers that the release
of the video to The Arizona Republic and other news organizations violated
their client's constitutional right to bodily privacy.
Saucedo has pleaded not guilty to 1st-degree murder and other charges in
attacks that killed 9 people and wounded 2 others. He did not attend Friday's
hearing.
Cunanan scheduled a Dec. 3 status conference.
(source: Associated Press)
IDAHO:
Counsel: Age should halt death penalty
More irons are being added to the fire in a bid to remove the death penalty
from the 1st-degree murder case against Jacob Corban Coleman, according to 1st
District Court records.
Counsel for Coleman filed a 91-page motion Thursday arguing that he should not
pay the ultimate penalty for stabbing a Spokane Valley cab driver to death in
Kootenai due to his age. Coleman was 19 when he killed Gagandeep Singh inside
his minivan taxicab.
Coleman’s capital defense counsel, Eagle attorney R. Keith Roark, contends that
there is growing acceptance of scientific research here and abroad which holds
that human brains aren't fully developed until at least the age of 21 and the
8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees someone of Coleman's age at
the time of the crime cannot be executed or made to serve a life sentence
without possibility of parole.
Roark points out in the motion to strike the death penalty that there is a
national consensus which reflects that offenders under the age of 21 should not
be put to death. 23 states, in addition to the District of Columbia and 5 U.S.
territories, don’t execute offenders who are below that age. Roark said that
position is rooted in scientific research involving the role and development in
the brain's prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain which directs cognitive
behavior, decision making and personality.
The research holds that it's the last part of the brain to fully develop and
undergoes major neural reconstruction through the early 20s, according to
Roark. That research is supported by U.S. laws and mores which are pegged
around the age of 21 - alcohol consumption, gun ownership in some states and
car rentals.
"The age of 18 is not, and has never been, a true age of maturity and
adulthood. It was chosen for expedience. There is no principled reason to treat
those who are still immature as if they are fully developed adults," Roark said
in the motion.
The motion follows other motions to strike the death penalty. Those motions
argued that Coleman should not be put to death by lethal injection because
Idaho's methods would amount to cruel and unusual punishment and because
Coleman was never indicted by a grand jury for Singh's killing.
Coleman, now 20, is being held at the Bonner County Jail. His trial is
scheduled for this spring.
(source: Bonner County Daily Bee)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
DeathPenalty mailing list
***@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
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TEXAS----stay of impending execution
Texas halts execution scheduled for man who raped and murdered Fort Worth girl,
says he's intellectually disabled
A Fort Worth man whose execution was scheduled for Wednesday has been granted a
stay after the Supreme Court ruled in a separate 2017 case that Texas'
standards for determining intellectual disability in death-row inmates are
outdated.
Juan Ramon Meza Segundo, 55, was set to die for the 1986 rape and murder of
11-year-old Vanessa Villas, found strangled in her Fort Worth home.
He removed a box fan from the girl's window and slipped in through the gap
while her three cousins slept and her mother ran errands, police said.
"I cried for about 10 years," Vanessa's mother, Rosa Maria Clarke, told The
Dallas Morning News in 2005. "Always, I wondered what happened to my little
girl."
DNA evidence at the scene linked the crime to Segundo, who was married to a
family friend and attended Vanessa's funeral. He was tried in Tarrant County in
2006.
Segundo was also linked to the rapes and strangling of 2 other local women in
1994 and 1995.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a 2016 appeal that argued that
Segundo's lawyers failed to develop evidence that he was intellectually
disabled, and therefore ineligible for the death penalty.
Supreme Court justices also refused to review the case in 2017.
Old standards used to gauge intellectual disability included the subject's
ability to lie convincingly, and their family's perception of their
capabilities.
Segundo's IQ consistently measured around 75, and he was unable to read a clock
or tell left from right, according to a Texas Tribune report.
(source: Dallas Morning News)
*******************
Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----37
Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----555
Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. #
38---------Oct. 24----------------Kwame Rockwell----------556
39---------Nov. 7-----------------Emanuel Kemp, Jr.-------557
40---------Nov. 14----------------Robert Ramos------------558
41---------Dec. 4-----------------Joseph Garcia-----------559
42---------Dec. 11----------------Alvin Braziel-----------560
43---------Jan. 15----------------Blaine Milam------------561
44---------Jan. 30----------------Robert Jennings---------562
(sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin)
TENNESSEE----impending execution
Juror In Zagorski Case Pleads For Life Without Parole Ahead Of Execution
With days until his scheduled execution, a juror who condemned Edmund Zagorski
to death says the convicted murderer's life should be spared.
Michael Poole served on the jury in 1986, before life without parole became an
option in Tennessee capital murder cases in 1995.
"We were instructed that if we were assured beyond any doubt that Mr. Zagorski
had done this crime, that he should be given the death penalty because that's
what the prosecution was actually seeking in this case," Poole told WPLN
Friday.
Poole says he had no doubt that Zagorski committed a double murder in 1983,
shooting and slitting the throats of a Hickman County logger and a bar owner
from Dickson. The men expected to buy 100 pounds of marijuana.
Poole says the jury's concern was making sure Zagorski could never be released
and potentially commit the same crime again. The small business owner from
Springfield says he's not entirely opposed to the death penalty but says
Zagorski doesn't deserve an execution.
"I don't feel that taking Mr. Zagorski's life some 35 years later is going to
really do anything to make this world a better place," he said.
Zagorski is set to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday at Riverbend
Maximum Security Prison. He asked Governor Bill Haslam for clemency based on
good behavior while in prison.
But on Friday, Haslam denied the request.
"While Zagorski has exhibited good behavior during his incarceration, that does
not undo the fact that he robbed and brutally murdered two men and attempted to
kill a police officer while on the run. Further, while juries today have the
option of imposing a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole in capital cases, the jury in Zagorski’s case heard the evidence at
trial and rendered a unanimous verdict in accordance with the law at the time
and their duty as jurors."
Haslam also noted the verdict in Zagorski's case has been upheld by 10 courts,
including the Tennessee and U.S. Supreme Courts.
In August, Haslam also declined to intervene in the execution of Billy Ray
Irick.
The Tennessee Supreme Court is expected to rule on an expedited case
challenging the state's lethal injection protocol in the coming days, which
could also have a bearing on Zagorski's fate. If not, his attorneys say they
will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay of execution.
(source: nashvillepublicradio.org)
NEBRASKA:
Nebraska county to seek state help paying $28.1M judgment
Residents of a small Nebraska county that owes $28.1 million to 6 people
wrongfully convicted of a 1985 rape and murder will seek a bailout from the
state now that their appeals are nearly exhausted, but some lawmakers aren't
interested in helping them avoid a big property tax increase.
Community leaders in Gage County plan to ask lawmakers and Gov. Pete Ricketts
for state funding or a loan to help pay the civil judgment owed to the former
inmates, known as the Beatrice 6. They served a combined 70 years in prison for
the slaying of 68-year-old Helen Wilson before being released a decade ago.
Gage County Supervisors voted last month to raise the county's property tax
levy by 11.76 cents per $100 of valuation, the highest they can go without
submitting the issue to voters. The higher tax will generate about $3.8 million
next year.
For the owner of a $150,000 home, the increase amounts to an extra $177 in
taxes annually. Land-rich farmers who have already seen their property taxes
soar would pay substantially more at a time when low grain prices have squeezed
their margins.
"If we continue on the path we're on with no assistance from the state, it will
drive at least some farmers to bankruptcy," said Greg Lauby, a former attorney
from Wymore who helped organize a group of residents to look for a solution.
"We have homeowners who are struggling to put food on their table and clothe
their children, and that's an amount that will make a difference."
The former inmates successfully sued Gage County after DNA evidence exonerated
them in 2008, and a federal appeals court upheld the judgment in June and
refused to postpone it for further appeals. That left county officials with few
options other than a longshot request for the U.S. Supreme Court to consider
the case or an uphill legal fight with their former insurer.
Jurors in the lawsuit found that some members of the group were coerced into
false confessions by authorities, who convinced them they had repressed
memories of the murder.
Some also struggled with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities and
agreed to plea deals after investigators told them they might face the death
penalty. Only 1 of the 6 Joseph White, maintained his innocence and went to
trial, but he was convicted based largely on the testimony of those who had
struck plea deals in exchange for lesser charges and lighter sentences.
Sen. Roy Baker, whose district includes Gage County, introduced two bills last
year that sought to address the problem - one that would have let the county
seek direct state reimbursement and another that would allow it to get a
low-interest state loan.
Neither bill advanced, in part because of their cost and the state's tax
revenue shortfall. Baker, who isn't seeking re-election, said he asked to have
the bills held in committee until the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled on the case. By the time the appeals court ruled, lawmakers had adjourned
for the year.
Baker said he doesn't think the reimbursement bill is likely to pass, but the
one that would allow Gage County to borrow money has "a sporting chance."
He said he's concerned the higher property tax will make voters less likely to
approve other measures, such as bond issues to build new schools.
Despite the push, any attempt to collect money from the state is likely to face
opposition from some lawmakers who have criticized how local officials handled
the case and the impact it had on those wrongfully convicted.
"This was strictly a county matter," said Sen. Ernie Chambers, of Omaha. "They
made their bed, now they have to sleep in it."
Chambers noted that the Beatrice 6 defendants' false confessions came after
they were threatened with the death penalty, yet Gage County voters
overwhelmingly supported a 2016 ballot measure to reinstate capital punishment
after the Legislature repealed it.
"They haven't learned a thing," Chambers said.
A spokesman for Ricketts did not answer emailed questions about whether the
governor would support state assistance for Gage County but said in a statement
that the administration "will continue to talk with the county about their
plans." Ricketts has made property taxes a top issue in his re-election
campaign.
Gage County Supervisor Myron Dorn said county officials approved the tax
increase because if they didn't, attorneys for the Beatrice Six would have
asked a federal judge to order it.
Dorn, who is running for Baker's seat in the Legislature, said the county board
is "aggressively looking at other options" to pay the debt, but hasn't come up
with concrete solutions. He said that, if elected, he'll introduce a bill next
year that would allow for state assistance.
"It would definitely help relieve some of the burden," Dorn said.
(source: Associated Press)
ARIZONA:
Judge to allow death penalty in serial killing case
The judge in a serial killing case against a former bus driver in Phoenix has
denied a request by his defense team to bar the death penalty because a
jailhouse video of the suspect was released to news media.
Superior Court Judge David Cunanan says there is "no basis" for the request
because anyone can ask for a public record, such as the video.
Aaron Juan Saucedo's defense lawyers have said in court papers that the release
of the video to The Arizona Republic and other news organizations violated
their client's constitutional right to bodily privacy.
Saucedo has pleaded not guilty to 1st-degree murder and other charges in
attacks that killed 9 people and wounded 2 others. He did not attend Friday's
hearing.
Cunanan scheduled a Dec. 3 status conference.
(source: Associated Press)
IDAHO:
Counsel: Age should halt death penalty
More irons are being added to the fire in a bid to remove the death penalty
from the 1st-degree murder case against Jacob Corban Coleman, according to 1st
District Court records.
Counsel for Coleman filed a 91-page motion Thursday arguing that he should not
pay the ultimate penalty for stabbing a Spokane Valley cab driver to death in
Kootenai due to his age. Coleman was 19 when he killed Gagandeep Singh inside
his minivan taxicab.
Coleman’s capital defense counsel, Eagle attorney R. Keith Roark, contends that
there is growing acceptance of scientific research here and abroad which holds
that human brains aren't fully developed until at least the age of 21 and the
8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees someone of Coleman's age at
the time of the crime cannot be executed or made to serve a life sentence
without possibility of parole.
Roark points out in the motion to strike the death penalty that there is a
national consensus which reflects that offenders under the age of 21 should not
be put to death. 23 states, in addition to the District of Columbia and 5 U.S.
territories, don’t execute offenders who are below that age. Roark said that
position is rooted in scientific research involving the role and development in
the brain's prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain which directs cognitive
behavior, decision making and personality.
The research holds that it's the last part of the brain to fully develop and
undergoes major neural reconstruction through the early 20s, according to
Roark. That research is supported by U.S. laws and mores which are pegged
around the age of 21 - alcohol consumption, gun ownership in some states and
car rentals.
"The age of 18 is not, and has never been, a true age of maturity and
adulthood. It was chosen for expedience. There is no principled reason to treat
those who are still immature as if they are fully developed adults," Roark said
in the motion.
The motion follows other motions to strike the death penalty. Those motions
argued that Coleman should not be put to death by lethal injection because
Idaho's methods would amount to cruel and unusual punishment and because
Coleman was never indicted by a grand jury for Singh's killing.
Coleman, now 20, is being held at the Bonner County Jail. His trial is
scheduled for this spring.
(source: Bonner County Daily Bee)
_______________________________________________
A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu
DeathPenalty mailing list
***@lists.washlaw.edu
http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty
Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty