Rick Halperin
2018-09-20 13:28:10 UTC
September 20
TENNESSEE:
Attorney: TDOC Didn't Follow Execution Protocol----Attorneys representing more
than 30 death row inmates say the Tennessee Department of Corrections did
follow correct execution protocol during the execution of Billy Ray Irick.
Did the Tennessee Department of Correction have a backup plan ready in case
things went wrong during the execution of a death row inmate last month?
Attorneys for 32 other death row inmates say no, they did not.
It's the latest move to stop the state from using lethal injection to carry out
the death penalty, as another condemned inmate is set to be put to death in
less than a month.
The latest claim from attorneys representing 33 death row inmates is that
Tennessee Department of Correction officials didn't follow their own rule book
during the execution of Billy Ray Irick last month when it did not completely
prepare a backup set of lethal chemicals.
The attorneys made the argument based on a filled out "Chemical Preparation
Timesheet" it received from the TDOC after filing a Freedom of Information Act
request. On the sheet, while spaces next to the other lethal chemical names
listed the times of day the corresponding syringes were filled, a space next to
one of the chemicals in the backup lethal chemical set was filled with "not
used."
Attorneys for the death row inmates argue, had something gone wrong with the
first chemical they used -- Midazolam -- prison officials wouldn't have had a
backup set of Midazolam ready to go, to use instead.
NewsChannel 5 asked the Tennessee Department of Correction for their response
to the allegations in the lawsuit. They replied, "It would be improper for the
department to comment on the new legal filing due to the ongoing litigation."
(source: newschannel5.com)
OKLAHOMA:
Prosecutors will seek death penalty for Oklahoma City father charged with
killing 7-month-old son
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty as punishment for an Oklahoma City
father accused of killing his 7-month-old son and leaving the body in a trash
can.
Victor Manuel Minjarez told police he "bagged up" his son after watching the
baby take his last breath, an Oklahoma City police inspector testified
Wednesday during a preliminary hearing.
Minjarez, though, maintains his innocence, claiming the boy died after being
laid too close to a heater. However, the baby, Jody Minjarez, suffered blunt
force trauma to the head, a skull fracture and brain bleeding, the state
medical examiner reported.
Minjarez, 31, is charged with 1st-degree murder and desecrating a human corpse.
At the conclusion of Wednesday's hearing, Oklahoma County Special Judge Kathryn
Savage found enough evidence to send Minjarez's case to trial.
At trial, prosecutors will seek the death penalty on grounds that the victim's
death was heinous, atrocious or cruel and that Minjarez is a continuing threat
to society.
Minjarez was arrested March 7, just hours after authorities issued an Amber
Alert. Later that day, Oklahoma City police found the victim in a trash can
outside a vacant house where Minjarez had been hiding with his son.
That night, police inspector Robbie Benavides questioned Minjarez, who said his
son died about a week before.
Minjarez told the inspector he got into a physical fight with the boy's mother
on Feb. 19 at her home in Norman and then took the baby. Days later, Minjarez
sent a text message indicating the boy's mother "ain't ever going to see my son
again. I made sure of that," the inspector testified.
Minjarez told police he stayed at various locations before hiding at the vacant
house in Oklahoma City. The house was under construction, and no one was living
there at the time.
One cold night, Minjarez and his son were lying on a mattress inside the house.
The father said his son was getting sick so he found a heater and put it close
to the baby, the inspector told the judge.
Minjarez later woke up and found the baby with blisters all over his face. The
father said he rolled the baby over and fell back asleep. In the morning, he
found the child making "bubble noises," the inspector testified.
Minjarez said he heard his son say, "Dada," before the baby took his last
breath. The father then "smacked" his son a few times to try to wake him up,
the inspector told the judge.
Minjarez said he didn't call 911 because he knew he was wanted by the police.
The father admitted he then placed his son in the trash, the inspector
testified.
A police lieutenant who discovered the victim's body during a search of the
vacant house also testified Wednesday. The lieutenant said the victim had been
wrapped in a blanket and then was "double-bagged" in black trash bags. Police
found another black trash bag containing baby clothes.
Minjarez also was ordered to trial on a 2nd-degree burglary offense.
(source: newsok.com)
NEVADA:
Nevada high court cancels oral arguments in execution case
The Nevada Supreme Court has canceled plans for oral arguments this week on a
state request to quickly decide whether a twice-delayed execution of a
condemned inmate should go forward despite drugmakers' protests.
Chief Justice Michael Douglas' 4-sentence order canceling Friday's arguments in
Carson City takes the case off a fast-track and makes it unlikely the execution
can be rescheduled in November.
State attorneys have argued that drugs would begin expiring after that.
But Nevada's prisons pharmacy chief testified last week in Las Vegas the state
has stocks of drugs to carry out an execution into next year.
The order issued Tuesday slows a case involving Nevada and 15 other states with
capital punishment.
They're opposing a drugmakers' lawsuit to block Nevada from using their drugs
for a lethal injection.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Pinyon Pines case rekindles idea to provide true justice in murder cases
Murder in most civilized countries is defined as "the unlawful killing of
another human being, especially if committed with malice aforethought." In 31
states, a conviction of 1st-degree murder can mean a sentence of death. In the
remaining 19 states, the death sentence is illegal, leaving the options of life
in prison without possibility of parole, or a sentence which may offer an
eventual release back into society. Interestingly, the homicide rate is higher
in states in which execution is legal, than in states banning execution.
I thought about these vagaries as I followed the case of the Pinyon Pines
murders and co-defendants Robert Pape and Cristin Smith. Pape was found guilty
of second-degree murder in the slaying of Rebecca "Becky" Friedli, 18. Pape and
Smith were both found guilty of 1st-degree murder in the slayings of Becky
Friedli's mother and her boyfriend. While the death penalty is legal in
California, Pape and Smith were both sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole.
Knowing how the jurisprudence system works in our country, there may be a
series of appeals coming for one or both convicted parties. But appeals or not,
this case rekindled thoughts I have had about convicted murderers going back to
my days with ABC News and the Manson murders.
I was a young staff director for ABC News in Los Angeles at the time and had
never remotely experienced anything like the Manson atrocities. But when the
verdicts came in and the sentences were handed out, which were all basically
life sentences behind bars, (in some cases with the possibility of parole), I
remember thinking: is that punishment enough for taking a life? Multiple
lives?!
In the course of that thought process, an off-the-wall thought came to me - a
thought I've never shared with anyone ... until now. And let me say very
clearly, I am not a proponent of an eye for an eye. If death sentences stopped
murders, murder would have become obsolete many, many years ago.
That said, here is my unsolicited 2 cents in the matter. I maintain that no
punishment will ever fit the crime of taking another innocent person's life.
But I do think there is a fitting sentence that in my humble opinion, is better
than anything currently on the books. And it does not involve an eye for an
eye.
If someone is convicted of murder, or even manslaughter, I propose they be
sentenced to time behind bars, for whatever length of time the current law
dictates, with one additional element. In whatever prison cell they are to
spend their sentence, every wall of that cell should feature life-sized images
of the person or persons whose lives they took. In that way, every single day
and night of their life behind bars they would be forced to confront the
reality of their callous action.
For some hardened criminals without conscience or remorse, this may have
absolutely no negative effect. But for whatever percentage of the murdering
population might still have a semblance of conscience, having to face their
victims, day after day, night after night, would, I think, be infinitely more
punishing than mere incarceration with 3 meals a day and free medical coverage.
Of course, eliminating murder all together would be the ultimate cure. But
that's another story entirely.
(source: Opinion; Frank V. Furino is a former TV writer/producer, current board
member of SafeHouse of the Desert, and faculty member of the local Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute----The Desert Sun)
USA:
Accused killer Donald Fell to take plea deal, avoid death penalty
Nearly 20 years after he allegedly kidnapped and murdered a Vermont
grandmother, accused killer Donald Fell is changing his plea and will avoid the
death penalty.
Terry King, 53, was arriving for work at the Rutland Price Chopper in 2000 when
police say Donald Fell and Robert Lee carjacked her, drove her to New York and
killed her on the side of the road.
Fell was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005. But his federal conviction
was overturned due to juror misconduct and a new death penalty trial was set to
begin.
But now there is a plea deal that takes the death penalty off the table. Court
documents show Fell will plead guilty to 4 federal crimes, including carjacking
and kidnapping with death resulting. In exchange, he will spend the rest of his
life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A judge must still accept the agreement.
Fell's alleged accomplice, Robert Lee, never stood trial. He killed himself in
prison.
Fell and Lee were accused of two other murders that night. Police say before
kidnapping Terry King, the men murdered Fell's mother, Debra, and her friend,
Charles Conway in Rutland. But those killings took a back seat to King's murder
because the feds were charging the men in that case since they brought King
across state lines. The feds also had the death penalty to bargain with. The
state of Vermont does not have a death penalty.
(source: WCAX news)
************************
Why Were the Rosenbergs Executed?----Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the only
spies executed during the Cold War and some question whether their sentence was
fair.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were executed after having been found guilty of
conspiracy to commit espionage. The charges were in relation to the passing of
information about the American atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
Few death-penalty executions can equal the controversy created by the
electrocutions of spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953. Accused of
overseeing a spy network that stole American atomic secrets and handing those
over to the Soviet Union, the couple were the only spies executed during the
Cold War.
But were they guilty? For some, that has been in dispute for more than half a
century.
Julius Rosenberg was almost certainly guilty.
By most accounts, Julius Rosenberg was an enthusiastic Communist. His job at
the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories made him an enticing recruit for
Soviet spies, who approached him on Labor Day, 1942.
Late in 1944, Julius became a recruiter for the Russians and oversaw several
spies himself, including the one who would cause Julius' downfall: his
brother-in-law David Greenglass. Greenglass worked on the Manhattan Project at
the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
After the ring was uncovered, Greenglass was arrested on June 15, 1950. He
named his wife as a co-conspirator, along with Julius. Greenglass originally
denied his sister Ethel was involved, but later changed his story.
Ethel Rosenberg was arrested on the courthouse steps.
Soon after, the FBI raided the Rosenberg home and arrested Julius. Ethel was
later arrested while leaving a federal courthouse in New York City after
testifying she had no knowledge of espionage efforts. The FBI hoped her arrest
would force Julius to name names of other Communist sympathizers.
Greenglass later told New York Times journalist Sam Roberts that he had entered
into a deal with the government, implicating his sister in exchange for his
wife's immunity.
The Rosenbergs and Greenglass were all found guilty.
Sentencing guidelines gave the judge two choices for Julius and Ethel: 30 years
imprisonment or execution. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover suggested a 30-year
sentence for Ethel, believing she would eventually name names in jail.
But Judge Irving Kaufman chose death for both Rosenbergs. David Greenglass got
a 15-year sentence, serving just over 9 years.
The Rosenbergs were executed by electric on June 19, 1953, at Sing Sing Prison
in Ossining, New York.
(source: history.com)
_______________________________________________
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
TENNESSEE:
Attorney: TDOC Didn't Follow Execution Protocol----Attorneys representing more
than 30 death row inmates say the Tennessee Department of Corrections did
follow correct execution protocol during the execution of Billy Ray Irick.
Did the Tennessee Department of Correction have a backup plan ready in case
things went wrong during the execution of a death row inmate last month?
Attorneys for 32 other death row inmates say no, they did not.
It's the latest move to stop the state from using lethal injection to carry out
the death penalty, as another condemned inmate is set to be put to death in
less than a month.
The latest claim from attorneys representing 33 death row inmates is that
Tennessee Department of Correction officials didn't follow their own rule book
during the execution of Billy Ray Irick last month when it did not completely
prepare a backup set of lethal chemicals.
The attorneys made the argument based on a filled out "Chemical Preparation
Timesheet" it received from the TDOC after filing a Freedom of Information Act
request. On the sheet, while spaces next to the other lethal chemical names
listed the times of day the corresponding syringes were filled, a space next to
one of the chemicals in the backup lethal chemical set was filled with "not
used."
Attorneys for the death row inmates argue, had something gone wrong with the
first chemical they used -- Midazolam -- prison officials wouldn't have had a
backup set of Midazolam ready to go, to use instead.
NewsChannel 5 asked the Tennessee Department of Correction for their response
to the allegations in the lawsuit. They replied, "It would be improper for the
department to comment on the new legal filing due to the ongoing litigation."
(source: newschannel5.com)
OKLAHOMA:
Prosecutors will seek death penalty for Oklahoma City father charged with
killing 7-month-old son
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty as punishment for an Oklahoma City
father accused of killing his 7-month-old son and leaving the body in a trash
can.
Victor Manuel Minjarez told police he "bagged up" his son after watching the
baby take his last breath, an Oklahoma City police inspector testified
Wednesday during a preliminary hearing.
Minjarez, though, maintains his innocence, claiming the boy died after being
laid too close to a heater. However, the baby, Jody Minjarez, suffered blunt
force trauma to the head, a skull fracture and brain bleeding, the state
medical examiner reported.
Minjarez, 31, is charged with 1st-degree murder and desecrating a human corpse.
At the conclusion of Wednesday's hearing, Oklahoma County Special Judge Kathryn
Savage found enough evidence to send Minjarez's case to trial.
At trial, prosecutors will seek the death penalty on grounds that the victim's
death was heinous, atrocious or cruel and that Minjarez is a continuing threat
to society.
Minjarez was arrested March 7, just hours after authorities issued an Amber
Alert. Later that day, Oklahoma City police found the victim in a trash can
outside a vacant house where Minjarez had been hiding with his son.
That night, police inspector Robbie Benavides questioned Minjarez, who said his
son died about a week before.
Minjarez told the inspector he got into a physical fight with the boy's mother
on Feb. 19 at her home in Norman and then took the baby. Days later, Minjarez
sent a text message indicating the boy's mother "ain't ever going to see my son
again. I made sure of that," the inspector testified.
Minjarez told police he stayed at various locations before hiding at the vacant
house in Oklahoma City. The house was under construction, and no one was living
there at the time.
One cold night, Minjarez and his son were lying on a mattress inside the house.
The father said his son was getting sick so he found a heater and put it close
to the baby, the inspector told the judge.
Minjarez later woke up and found the baby with blisters all over his face. The
father said he rolled the baby over and fell back asleep. In the morning, he
found the child making "bubble noises," the inspector testified.
Minjarez said he heard his son say, "Dada," before the baby took his last
breath. The father then "smacked" his son a few times to try to wake him up,
the inspector told the judge.
Minjarez said he didn't call 911 because he knew he was wanted by the police.
The father admitted he then placed his son in the trash, the inspector
testified.
A police lieutenant who discovered the victim's body during a search of the
vacant house also testified Wednesday. The lieutenant said the victim had been
wrapped in a blanket and then was "double-bagged" in black trash bags. Police
found another black trash bag containing baby clothes.
Minjarez also was ordered to trial on a 2nd-degree burglary offense.
(source: newsok.com)
NEVADA:
Nevada high court cancels oral arguments in execution case
The Nevada Supreme Court has canceled plans for oral arguments this week on a
state request to quickly decide whether a twice-delayed execution of a
condemned inmate should go forward despite drugmakers' protests.
Chief Justice Michael Douglas' 4-sentence order canceling Friday's arguments in
Carson City takes the case off a fast-track and makes it unlikely the execution
can be rescheduled in November.
State attorneys have argued that drugs would begin expiring after that.
But Nevada's prisons pharmacy chief testified last week in Las Vegas the state
has stocks of drugs to carry out an execution into next year.
The order issued Tuesday slows a case involving Nevada and 15 other states with
capital punishment.
They're opposing a drugmakers' lawsuit to block Nevada from using their drugs
for a lethal injection.
(source: Associated Press)
CALIFORNIA:
Pinyon Pines case rekindles idea to provide true justice in murder cases
Murder in most civilized countries is defined as "the unlawful killing of
another human being, especially if committed with malice aforethought." In 31
states, a conviction of 1st-degree murder can mean a sentence of death. In the
remaining 19 states, the death sentence is illegal, leaving the options of life
in prison without possibility of parole, or a sentence which may offer an
eventual release back into society. Interestingly, the homicide rate is higher
in states in which execution is legal, than in states banning execution.
I thought about these vagaries as I followed the case of the Pinyon Pines
murders and co-defendants Robert Pape and Cristin Smith. Pape was found guilty
of second-degree murder in the slaying of Rebecca "Becky" Friedli, 18. Pape and
Smith were both found guilty of 1st-degree murder in the slayings of Becky
Friedli's mother and her boyfriend. While the death penalty is legal in
California, Pape and Smith were both sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole.
Knowing how the jurisprudence system works in our country, there may be a
series of appeals coming for one or both convicted parties. But appeals or not,
this case rekindled thoughts I have had about convicted murderers going back to
my days with ABC News and the Manson murders.
I was a young staff director for ABC News in Los Angeles at the time and had
never remotely experienced anything like the Manson atrocities. But when the
verdicts came in and the sentences were handed out, which were all basically
life sentences behind bars, (in some cases with the possibility of parole), I
remember thinking: is that punishment enough for taking a life? Multiple
lives?!
In the course of that thought process, an off-the-wall thought came to me - a
thought I've never shared with anyone ... until now. And let me say very
clearly, I am not a proponent of an eye for an eye. If death sentences stopped
murders, murder would have become obsolete many, many years ago.
That said, here is my unsolicited 2 cents in the matter. I maintain that no
punishment will ever fit the crime of taking another innocent person's life.
But I do think there is a fitting sentence that in my humble opinion, is better
than anything currently on the books. And it does not involve an eye for an
eye.
If someone is convicted of murder, or even manslaughter, I propose they be
sentenced to time behind bars, for whatever length of time the current law
dictates, with one additional element. In whatever prison cell they are to
spend their sentence, every wall of that cell should feature life-sized images
of the person or persons whose lives they took. In that way, every single day
and night of their life behind bars they would be forced to confront the
reality of their callous action.
For some hardened criminals without conscience or remorse, this may have
absolutely no negative effect. But for whatever percentage of the murdering
population might still have a semblance of conscience, having to face their
victims, day after day, night after night, would, I think, be infinitely more
punishing than mere incarceration with 3 meals a day and free medical coverage.
Of course, eliminating murder all together would be the ultimate cure. But
that's another story entirely.
(source: Opinion; Frank V. Furino is a former TV writer/producer, current board
member of SafeHouse of the Desert, and faculty member of the local Osher
Lifelong Learning Institute----The Desert Sun)
USA:
Accused killer Donald Fell to take plea deal, avoid death penalty
Nearly 20 years after he allegedly kidnapped and murdered a Vermont
grandmother, accused killer Donald Fell is changing his plea and will avoid the
death penalty.
Terry King, 53, was arriving for work at the Rutland Price Chopper in 2000 when
police say Donald Fell and Robert Lee carjacked her, drove her to New York and
killed her on the side of the road.
Fell was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005. But his federal conviction
was overturned due to juror misconduct and a new death penalty trial was set to
begin.
But now there is a plea deal that takes the death penalty off the table. Court
documents show Fell will plead guilty to 4 federal crimes, including carjacking
and kidnapping with death resulting. In exchange, he will spend the rest of his
life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A judge must still accept the agreement.
Fell's alleged accomplice, Robert Lee, never stood trial. He killed himself in
prison.
Fell and Lee were accused of two other murders that night. Police say before
kidnapping Terry King, the men murdered Fell's mother, Debra, and her friend,
Charles Conway in Rutland. But those killings took a back seat to King's murder
because the feds were charging the men in that case since they brought King
across state lines. The feds also had the death penalty to bargain with. The
state of Vermont does not have a death penalty.
(source: WCAX news)
************************
Why Were the Rosenbergs Executed?----Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were the only
spies executed during the Cold War and some question whether their sentence was
fair.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were executed after having been found guilty of
conspiracy to commit espionage. The charges were in relation to the passing of
information about the American atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.
Few death-penalty executions can equal the controversy created by the
electrocutions of spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1953. Accused of
overseeing a spy network that stole American atomic secrets and handing those
over to the Soviet Union, the couple were the only spies executed during the
Cold War.
But were they guilty? For some, that has been in dispute for more than half a
century.
Julius Rosenberg was almost certainly guilty.
By most accounts, Julius Rosenberg was an enthusiastic Communist. His job at
the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories made him an enticing recruit for
Soviet spies, who approached him on Labor Day, 1942.
Late in 1944, Julius became a recruiter for the Russians and oversaw several
spies himself, including the one who would cause Julius' downfall: his
brother-in-law David Greenglass. Greenglass worked on the Manhattan Project at
the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
After the ring was uncovered, Greenglass was arrested on June 15, 1950. He
named his wife as a co-conspirator, along with Julius. Greenglass originally
denied his sister Ethel was involved, but later changed his story.
Ethel Rosenberg was arrested on the courthouse steps.
Soon after, the FBI raided the Rosenberg home and arrested Julius. Ethel was
later arrested while leaving a federal courthouse in New York City after
testifying she had no knowledge of espionage efforts. The FBI hoped her arrest
would force Julius to name names of other Communist sympathizers.
Greenglass later told New York Times journalist Sam Roberts that he had entered
into a deal with the government, implicating his sister in exchange for his
wife's immunity.
The Rosenbergs and Greenglass were all found guilty.
Sentencing guidelines gave the judge two choices for Julius and Ethel: 30 years
imprisonment or execution. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover suggested a 30-year
sentence for Ethel, believing she would eventually name names in jail.
But Judge Irving Kaufman chose death for both Rosenbergs. David Greenglass got
a 15-year sentence, serving just over 9 years.
The Rosenbergs were executed by electric on June 19, 1953, at Sing Sing Prison
in Ossining, New York.
(source: history.com)
_______________________________________________
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