Rick Halperin
2018-11-03 16:14:18 UTC
Nov. 3
TEXAS----impending execution/foreign national
IACHR Urges the United States to Stay the Execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urges the United States
of America to stay the execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos, a Mexican citizen,
which is scheduled for November 14, 2018, in the state of Texas, and to grant
him effective relief. The United States is subject to the international
obligations derived from the Charter of the Organization of American States
(OAS) and the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man since it
joined the OAS in 1951. Accordingly, the IACHR urges the United States, and in
particular the state of Texas, to fully respect its international human rights
obligations.
On November 8, 2002, the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of
Roberto Moreno Ramos, requesting that the United States take measures to
preserve his life pending the Commission’s investigation of the allegations in
his petition.
The IACHR adopted Admissibility Report No. 61/03 on October 10, 2003. On
January 28, 2005, the Commission adopted Merits Report No. 1/05 in which it
concluded that the United States was responsible for violating the rights to
equality before the law, to due process of law, and to a fair trial in respect
of the criminal proceedings that led to the imposition of the death penalty
against Roberto Moreno Ramos. In that report, the IACHR concluded that should
the State execute him pursuant to the criminal proceedings at issue in the
case, it would commit a grave and irreparable violation of the fundamental
right to life guaranteed in Article I of the American Declaration. Further, the
IACHR recommended to the United States that it provide Roberto Moreno Ramos
with an effective remedy, including a new sentencing hearing in accordance with
the equality, due process, and fair trial protections established in the
American Declaration, including the right to competent legal representation.
Despite having made this recommendation in 2005, the State has not taken
actions to comply with it. The IACHR held a working meeting regarding Roberto
Moreno Ramos'case between the United States and the petitioner on October 2,
2018, during its 169th Period of Sessions in which the Commission called on the
State as a matter of urgency to halt his execution and to comply with the
recommendations of the IACHR.
The Inter-American Commission reminds the State that, in carrying out the
execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos, it would commit a grave and irreparable
violation of the fundamental right to life under Article I of the American
Declaration. Further, it would mean that the State has failed to comply with
the recommendations of the IACHR, an action which goes against the United
States’ international human rights obligations as an OAS Member State under the
OAS Charter and related instruments.
The Commission also urges the United States to comply with the non-repetition
measures recommended in the Merits Report. The United States should review its
laws, procedures, and practices to ensure that foreign nationals who are
arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial, or who are
detained in any other manner in the United States, are informed without delay
of their right to information on consular assistance and that, with the
person's approval, the appropriate consulate is informed without delay of the
foreign national's circumstances. Further, the United States should ensure that
defendants in capital proceedings are not denied the right to effective
recourse to a competent court or tribunal to challenge the competency of their
legal representation on the basis that the issue was not raised at an earlier
stage of the process against them.
The Inter-American Commission has dealt with the death penalty as a crucial
human rights challenge for decades. While a majority of the OAS Member States
has abolished capital punishment, a substantial minority retains it. The IACHR
reiterates the recommendation made in its report The Death Penalty in the
Inter-American Human Rights System: From Restrictions to Abolition, that States
impose a moratorium on executions as a step toward the gradual disappearance of
the death penalty.
In this sense, the Commission welcomes the abolishment of capital punishment in
the state of Washington on October 11, 2018 following a decision of the
Washington Supreme Court which ruled that the punishment was applied in an
arbitrary and racially biased manner. The decision resulted in the commutation
of the sentences of the 8 individuals currently on death row to life, and makes
the state of Washington the 20th state to ban the death penalty in the country.
This is a significant step, as the United States is currently the only OAS
Member State that is carrying out executions under the death penalty.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the
IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on
Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect
for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to
the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members
who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who
do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
(source: oas.org)
INDIANA:
Defense Lawyers Fight Indiana Man's Death Penalty Charges
Defense lawyers for a northeastern Indiana man awaiting trial in 4 slayings in
2016 say he shouldn't face death penalty charges in the case.
Lawyers for 23-year-old Marcus Dansby this week filed paperwork asking a judge
to throw out the death penalty as an option, saying Indiana's death penalty law
is unconstitutional. The Fort Wayne man was 20 years old at the time of the
killings and they say he was too young to get that possible punishment.
Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards has declined to discuss the Dansby case.
The trial is scheduled to start April 16
Dansby is charged in the fatal September 2016 shootings and stabbings of three
people in Fort Wayne, including his ex-girlfriend. Prosecutors filed 4 murder
charges because Dansby's ex-girlfriend was 8 months pregnant.
(source: WBIW news)
TENNESSEE:
After long hiatus, Tennessee could execute 3 this year
After 4 decades with only 6 executions, Tennessee is on schedule to execute 3
inmates this year.
Edmund Zagorski died in the electric chair Thursday night after a last minute
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was declined. His death followed that of Billy
Ray Irick's in August. David Earl Miller's execution is scheduled for Dec. 6.
The surge comes as legal challenges to the state's lethal injections protocols
have hit a wall, at least temporarily.
"As litigation plays out one state at a time, what we've seen is individual
states going on execution sprees," said Robert Dunham. He is the executive
director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which does not take a stand
on the death penalty but is critical of the way it is applied.
Zagorski, 63, had been on death row for 34 years and seen 3 execution dates
come and go before his Thursday electrocution. Miller, 61, has been on death
row 36 years.
At least 2 things have made executions rare in Tennessee. Stringent legal
protections for death penalty cases mean appeals can drag on through years,
even decades. But even after the appeals are exhausted, challenges to execution
methods have added more delays.
A U.S. Supreme Court 2015 decision made those challenges harder by requiring
inmates who object to one method of execution to show there is a readily
available alternative that is more humane.
That condition caused a lethal injection challenge by Zagorski and other
Tennessee inmates to fail last month. But it hasn't yet had a big effect
nationally, where the trend in executions is downward.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center there have been 20 executions
so far this year compared to 98 in 1999.
"Everyone says the dam is about to break and there's going to be a surge in
executions," Dunham said. "You would think that if lethal injection litigation
ends, you might see more executions. That could be the case, but it hasn't
happened yet."
One reason is that fewer people are being sentenced to death. Nationally there
has been an 85 % drop in death sentences since the 1990s, Dunham said. Also,
several states in recent years have either abolished capital punishment or
imposed moratoriums. Washington's Supreme Court struck down the death penalty
there just last month.
But national trends could not keep Zagorski from dying in the electric chair.
Kelley Henry, in the federal public defender's office in Nashville, fought for
years to keep Zagorski alive. On Thursday night, she served as a witness to his
death.
Henry was nodding, smiling and tapping her heart just before the execution.
Asked about her actions, Henry said afterward: "I told him when I put my hand
over my heart, that was me holding him in my heart."
She said Zagorski told her the last thing he wanted to see was her smiling
face, and so she made an effort to smile at him before a shroud was put over
his face. Then Henry quietly wiped away tears.
Zagorski was executed for murdering Jimmy Porter and John Dotson in 1983.
Prosecutors said he lured the 2 men into the woods with a promise to sell them
marijuana, then shot them, slit their throats and robbed them.
According to his rejected clemency petition, Zagorski reformed in prison, where
he never had a single disciplinary infraction and was well liked among the
staff.
Henry said the inmate told prison staff before the execution, "I don't want any
of you to have this on your conscience. You're doing your jobs and I'm all
good."
But Dotson's daughter, Kim Dotson Rochelle, told The Tennessean, Zagorski never
apologized to her family, even after he was strapped into the electric chair.
Zagorski's final words were, "Let's rock."
"He had no remorse for what he did. He was smiling just like he was when he was
caught," Rochelle wrote in a text message to The Tennessean Thursday night.
"That's why he got just what he deserved."
(source: The Associated Press)
******************
Shelby County Medical Examiner testifies at death penalty trial
Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was shot 8 times last year on a Parkway
Village street, and one of the bullets to his thigh pierced an artery killing
him, according to Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. Marco Ross.
Ross took the stand on Day 5 of the death penalty trial of Tremaine Wilbourn,
the man charged with shooting and killing Bolton.
Ross, who has been with the medical examiner’s office for 12 years, told the
court that retired Medical Examiner Karen Chancellor conducted the autopsy on
Bolton.
Ross referenced the 31-page autopsy report to explain to jurors the extent of
the injuries to Bolton. He said Bolton had gunshot wounds to numerous areas of
his body including his face, arms, legs, chest and hand.
“The manner of death was certified as a homicide and the cause of death was
multiple gunshot wounds,” Ross testified.
One of the bullets ripped across Bolton’s chin, fractured his jaw, knocked out
some of his teeth and then traveled to his left shoulder. This was a serious
and painful injury, but it was not the shot that killed him, Ross explained to
prosecutor Alanda Dwyer.
He said the bullet he labeled No. 6 caused the fatal injury to Bolton when it
entered the upper part of his left thigh, pierced a main artery, and lodged in
his spine.
“So if there was previous testimony that the defendant was seen pointing the
gun and backing away from Sean Bolton the trajectory of bullets 6 and 7 would
be consistent with Sean Bolton being on the ground when he was shot?” Dwyer
asked Ross.
Ross replied, “If he was in a face down position it would be consistent with
that scenario you described.”
Authorities said Wilbourn shot Bolton after the officer approached an illegally
parked Mercedes-Benz in the 4800 block of Summerlane in the area of Cottonwood
and South Perkins on Aug. 1, 2015.
The driver of the car fled after Bolton shined a spotlight in the car.
Wilbourn, who was a passenger, was being detained by Bolton when the two
scuffled.
Otagar Jones, a resident who lives on the street where the shooting happened,
testified earlier this week that he saw Wilbourn firing shots toward the
officer as he was backing away in the middle of the street.
Under cross examination, defense attorney Juni Ganguli quizzed the medical
examiner about the distance of the shots fired on the night Bolton was killed.
“Would you agree with me that there is no way to definitively tell where Sean
Bolton was and where Mr. Wilbourn was when the shoots were fired,” Ganguli
asked Ross.
Ross answered: “There are a number of different positions that are possible.”
Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich and Memphis Police Deputy
Chief Michael Shearin were in the courtroom to hear the medical examiner's
testimony. Neither spoke to the media as they left the courtroom.
The court also heard from Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent
Cervinia Braswell, who is a firearms expert. She testified that the bullets
that killed Bolton came from only 1 gun – a 9 mm – and not 2. Authorities did
not present the gun Wilbourn is accused of shooting Bolton with during court
proceedings on Friday.
Earlier Friday, jurors heard testimony from MPD crime scene officers and
forensic experts who testified about finding DNA evidence including
fingerprints that showed Wilbourn was at the scene the night of the shooting.
Memphis Crime Scene Sgt. Michael Coburn testified about processing the 2002
Mercedes-Benz that Wilbourn was a passenger in the night he is accused of
shooting and killing Bolton.
Christopher Sanders, a 21-year veteran with the Memphis Police Department,
testified he was working with the Crime Scene and was assigned to go to the
hospital to photograph and collect Bolton’s clothes and his equipment, which
included the officer’s Sig Sauer .40-caliber gun.
“Was the gun fully loaded?” prosecutor Dwyer asked Sanders.
He replied, “It was. It had not been fired.”
This ties into earlier testimony this week from neighbors on the street, who
said that they did not see Bolton fire his gun during his encounter with
Wilbourn. 2 witnesses testified they saw Wilbourn fire his gun.
Wilbourn fled after the shooting and carjacked a man less than a mile from
where Bolton was shot, authorities with MPD testified.
Memphis police officer W.D. Merritt testified Thursday that the 2002 Honda
Accord Wilbourn later pleaded guilty to carjacking was found by police at the
Bent Tree Apartments where the defendant’s girlfriend lived.
A video of the stolen car was shown to jurors and showed a Honda coming through
entrance of the complex in the 3400 block of Briar Place, off of Winchester.
Merritt testified that he took photographs inside the apartment and showed a
picture of Wilbourn that had been put on the refrigerator.
Wilbourn was not at the apartment when police went there the night of the
shooting on Aug. 1. He was not arrested until 2 days later when he turned
himself in to authorities at the federal building in Downtown Memphis.
U.S. Marshal Owen Woods said he took part in the search for Wilbourn. He
testified after Wilbourn turned himself that he patted him down and helped take
him into custody.
“I observed no injuries, he made no indication that he was hurt and made no
indication of that,” Woods said. He said Wilbourn went quietly with
authorities.
Jury selection began on Monday and the state has called 25 witnesses so far
during the trial.
The trial continues at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
(source: Daily Memphian)
COLORADO:
Where Colorado’s Governor Candidates Stand On Nathan Dunlap And The Death
Penalty
There’s a lot at stake in the race to be Colorado’s next governor, but for one
man it’s a literal life and death question.
Nathan Dunlap was sentenced to be executed for killing four people at a Chuck E
Cheese restaurant in 1993. When the moment came, Gov. John Hickenlooper halted
his execution to give him a temporary reprieve in 2013 — but didn’t grant
Dunlap clemency. He left it to the next governor to ultimately decide Dunlap’s
fate.
Democrat Congressman Jared Polis and Republican State Treasurer Walker
Stapleton have staked out opposite positions on the overall issue. Polis told
the Colorado Independent he would sign a bill to repeal the death penalty in
Colorado, calling it outdated, ineffective and costly. Stapleton supports the
death penalty.
In their final debate, moderated by The Denver Post and Channel 7 both
discussed how they would handle the Dunlap case.
Polis: “I have no problem following the current law. I don’t think it’s
appropriate to comment on a specific case when what I would do as governor is
review the case, talk to the victims, make an informed decision. I don’t think
it’s a type of decision, literally a life and death decision, that should be
politicized during a campaign.”
Stapleton: “I don’t believe it’s the role of the governor to re-adjudicate
something that’s been decided by a judge and a jury. It’s something that I
would have to do with a heavy heart. But I would have a period of time that
would study the most effective means of carrying out something that’s already
been decided by a judge and a jury and shouldn’t be re-adjudicated by a
governor.”
(source: Colorado Public Radio)
NEVADA:
Death penalty possible in killing of Vietnamese tour leaders
A convicted felon who was on probation when police say he entered a Las Vegas
Strip hotel room, killing 2 Vietnamese tour leaders and stealing jewelry, a
purse and a backpack could face a death penalty trial, a prosecutor said today.
Julius Damiano Deangilo Trotter, 31, pleaded not guilty to an indictment
charging him with murder, burglary and robbery in the stabbing deaths of Sang
Boi Nghia and Khoung Ba Le Nguyen.
Judge Douglas Herndon of Clark County District Court scheduled a Nov. 13
hearing after District Attorney Steve Wolfson asked for time to decide whether
to seek the death penalty.
Trotter's new court-appointed attorney, Thomas Ericsson, declined to comment
outside the court. Trotter is being held without bail.
Nghia, 38, owned a tour business in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Nguyen, 30,
was a tour employee. Police said they arrived in Las Vegas with a tour group
from Los Angeles and missed an excursion to the Grand Canyon on June 1, the day
their bodies were found in their room at the Circus Circus hotel.
Police later found the door latch to the room didn't work properly and a court
filing described a method in which would-be thieves walked hotel hallways
checking room doors to see if they'll push open.
Hotel owner MGM Resorts International said it was not clear if the door lock
was broken before or after Nghia and Nguyen were killed. Trotter was arrested
June 7 in Chino, Calif., after being chased by police.
Trotter pleaded guilty last year in Las Vegas and was sentenced to 5 years'
probation for felony resisting a police officer with a weapon.
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
Death-penalty Conway bank murder case now delayed for months. Here's why
The man accused of a double-murder at a Conway CresCom bank had his trial
delayed until September 2019 - almost a year later than federal prosecutors
wanted to try the case.
The move is a surprising change for the federal judge, who initially set
Brandon Council’s trial for January 2019, and stressed a desire to hear the
case at that time.
Council, of Wilson, NC, was indicted in September on charges of armed robbery
resulting in death, using a firearm in a violent crime that resulted in murder
and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is accused of shooting Kathryn
"Katie" Davis Skeen and Donna Major while robbing the CresCom Bank in Conway on
Aug. 21, 2017.
Both Skeen and Major worked at the bank.
Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
A suspect in the deadly Conway bank robbery, who police said was "armed and
dangerous," is now in custody, the Horry County Police Department said.
During an April hearing, federal prosecutors called for a trial that would have
taken place this month. They argued they were using a timeline similar to the
Dylann Roof case.
Defense attorneys strongly objected to that idea, saying it was too fast for a
death penalty case. At that time, they argued for an April 2019 hearing.
Judge Bryan Harwell split the difference between the 2 requests and set
Council's trial for January 2019. He also pressed attorneys on issues that
could possibly delay that date. Attorneys from both sides said they felt they
could have their work done before January, barring any new information.
Council's attorneys recently asked for a delay in the January trial date. They
argued that federal investigators recently turned over evidence, lawyers have
far to travel to interview witnesses, and attorneys need time to go over the
evidence.
As a result, Harwell ruled Wednesday that Council’s trial will be delayed until
September 2019.
Harwell also approved a new schedule for juror selection. Starting in May 2019,
questionnaires will go out to 2,000 potential jurors. The pool will be whittled
down over several months until a jury is found for the September trial date.
(source: myrtlebeachonline.com)
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TEXAS----impending execution/foreign national
IACHR Urges the United States to Stay the Execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urges the United States
of America to stay the execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos, a Mexican citizen,
which is scheduled for November 14, 2018, in the state of Texas, and to grant
him effective relief. The United States is subject to the international
obligations derived from the Charter of the Organization of American States
(OAS) and the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man since it
joined the OAS in 1951. Accordingly, the IACHR urges the United States, and in
particular the state of Texas, to fully respect its international human rights
obligations.
On November 8, 2002, the IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of
Roberto Moreno Ramos, requesting that the United States take measures to
preserve his life pending the Commission’s investigation of the allegations in
his petition.
The IACHR adopted Admissibility Report No. 61/03 on October 10, 2003. On
January 28, 2005, the Commission adopted Merits Report No. 1/05 in which it
concluded that the United States was responsible for violating the rights to
equality before the law, to due process of law, and to a fair trial in respect
of the criminal proceedings that led to the imposition of the death penalty
against Roberto Moreno Ramos. In that report, the IACHR concluded that should
the State execute him pursuant to the criminal proceedings at issue in the
case, it would commit a grave and irreparable violation of the fundamental
right to life guaranteed in Article I of the American Declaration. Further, the
IACHR recommended to the United States that it provide Roberto Moreno Ramos
with an effective remedy, including a new sentencing hearing in accordance with
the equality, due process, and fair trial protections established in the
American Declaration, including the right to competent legal representation.
Despite having made this recommendation in 2005, the State has not taken
actions to comply with it. The IACHR held a working meeting regarding Roberto
Moreno Ramos'case between the United States and the petitioner on October 2,
2018, during its 169th Period of Sessions in which the Commission called on the
State as a matter of urgency to halt his execution and to comply with the
recommendations of the IACHR.
The Inter-American Commission reminds the State that, in carrying out the
execution of Roberto Moreno Ramos, it would commit a grave and irreparable
violation of the fundamental right to life under Article I of the American
Declaration. Further, it would mean that the State has failed to comply with
the recommendations of the IACHR, an action which goes against the United
States’ international human rights obligations as an OAS Member State under the
OAS Charter and related instruments.
The Commission also urges the United States to comply with the non-repetition
measures recommended in the Merits Report. The United States should review its
laws, procedures, and practices to ensure that foreign nationals who are
arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial, or who are
detained in any other manner in the United States, are informed without delay
of their right to information on consular assistance and that, with the
person's approval, the appropriate consulate is informed without delay of the
foreign national's circumstances. Further, the United States should ensure that
defendants in capital proceedings are not denied the right to effective
recourse to a competent court or tribunal to challenge the competency of their
legal representation on the basis that the issue was not raised at an earlier
stage of the process against them.
The Inter-American Commission has dealt with the death penalty as a crucial
human rights challenge for decades. While a majority of the OAS Member States
has abolished capital punishment, a substantial minority retains it. The IACHR
reiterates the recommendation made in its report The Death Penalty in the
Inter-American Human Rights System: From Restrictions to Abolition, that States
impose a moratorium on executions as a step toward the gradual disappearance of
the death penalty.
In this sense, the Commission welcomes the abolishment of capital punishment in
the state of Washington on October 11, 2018 following a decision of the
Washington Supreme Court which ruled that the punishment was applied in an
arbitrary and racially biased manner. The decision resulted in the commutation
of the sentences of the 8 individuals currently on death row to life, and makes
the state of Washington the 20th state to ban the death penalty in the country.
This is a significant step, as the United States is currently the only OAS
Member State that is carrying out executions under the death penalty.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the
IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on
Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect
for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to
the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members
who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who
do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
(source: oas.org)
INDIANA:
Defense Lawyers Fight Indiana Man's Death Penalty Charges
Defense lawyers for a northeastern Indiana man awaiting trial in 4 slayings in
2016 say he shouldn't face death penalty charges in the case.
Lawyers for 23-year-old Marcus Dansby this week filed paperwork asking a judge
to throw out the death penalty as an option, saying Indiana's death penalty law
is unconstitutional. The Fort Wayne man was 20 years old at the time of the
killings and they say he was too young to get that possible punishment.
Allen County Prosecutor Karen Richards has declined to discuss the Dansby case.
The trial is scheduled to start April 16
Dansby is charged in the fatal September 2016 shootings and stabbings of three
people in Fort Wayne, including his ex-girlfriend. Prosecutors filed 4 murder
charges because Dansby's ex-girlfriend was 8 months pregnant.
(source: WBIW news)
TENNESSEE:
After long hiatus, Tennessee could execute 3 this year
After 4 decades with only 6 executions, Tennessee is on schedule to execute 3
inmates this year.
Edmund Zagorski died in the electric chair Thursday night after a last minute
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was declined. His death followed that of Billy
Ray Irick's in August. David Earl Miller's execution is scheduled for Dec. 6.
The surge comes as legal challenges to the state's lethal injections protocols
have hit a wall, at least temporarily.
"As litigation plays out one state at a time, what we've seen is individual
states going on execution sprees," said Robert Dunham. He is the executive
director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which does not take a stand
on the death penalty but is critical of the way it is applied.
Zagorski, 63, had been on death row for 34 years and seen 3 execution dates
come and go before his Thursday electrocution. Miller, 61, has been on death
row 36 years.
At least 2 things have made executions rare in Tennessee. Stringent legal
protections for death penalty cases mean appeals can drag on through years,
even decades. But even after the appeals are exhausted, challenges to execution
methods have added more delays.
A U.S. Supreme Court 2015 decision made those challenges harder by requiring
inmates who object to one method of execution to show there is a readily
available alternative that is more humane.
That condition caused a lethal injection challenge by Zagorski and other
Tennessee inmates to fail last month. But it hasn't yet had a big effect
nationally, where the trend in executions is downward.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center there have been 20 executions
so far this year compared to 98 in 1999.
"Everyone says the dam is about to break and there's going to be a surge in
executions," Dunham said. "You would think that if lethal injection litigation
ends, you might see more executions. That could be the case, but it hasn't
happened yet."
One reason is that fewer people are being sentenced to death. Nationally there
has been an 85 % drop in death sentences since the 1990s, Dunham said. Also,
several states in recent years have either abolished capital punishment or
imposed moratoriums. Washington's Supreme Court struck down the death penalty
there just last month.
But national trends could not keep Zagorski from dying in the electric chair.
Kelley Henry, in the federal public defender's office in Nashville, fought for
years to keep Zagorski alive. On Thursday night, she served as a witness to his
death.
Henry was nodding, smiling and tapping her heart just before the execution.
Asked about her actions, Henry said afterward: "I told him when I put my hand
over my heart, that was me holding him in my heart."
She said Zagorski told her the last thing he wanted to see was her smiling
face, and so she made an effort to smile at him before a shroud was put over
his face. Then Henry quietly wiped away tears.
Zagorski was executed for murdering Jimmy Porter and John Dotson in 1983.
Prosecutors said he lured the 2 men into the woods with a promise to sell them
marijuana, then shot them, slit their throats and robbed them.
According to his rejected clemency petition, Zagorski reformed in prison, where
he never had a single disciplinary infraction and was well liked among the
staff.
Henry said the inmate told prison staff before the execution, "I don't want any
of you to have this on your conscience. You're doing your jobs and I'm all
good."
But Dotson's daughter, Kim Dotson Rochelle, told The Tennessean, Zagorski never
apologized to her family, even after he was strapped into the electric chair.
Zagorski's final words were, "Let's rock."
"He had no remorse for what he did. He was smiling just like he was when he was
caught," Rochelle wrote in a text message to The Tennessean Thursday night.
"That's why he got just what he deserved."
(source: The Associated Press)
******************
Shelby County Medical Examiner testifies at death penalty trial
Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was shot 8 times last year on a Parkway
Village street, and one of the bullets to his thigh pierced an artery killing
him, according to Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. Marco Ross.
Ross took the stand on Day 5 of the death penalty trial of Tremaine Wilbourn,
the man charged with shooting and killing Bolton.
Ross, who has been with the medical examiner’s office for 12 years, told the
court that retired Medical Examiner Karen Chancellor conducted the autopsy on
Bolton.
Ross referenced the 31-page autopsy report to explain to jurors the extent of
the injuries to Bolton. He said Bolton had gunshot wounds to numerous areas of
his body including his face, arms, legs, chest and hand.
“The manner of death was certified as a homicide and the cause of death was
multiple gunshot wounds,” Ross testified.
One of the bullets ripped across Bolton’s chin, fractured his jaw, knocked out
some of his teeth and then traveled to his left shoulder. This was a serious
and painful injury, but it was not the shot that killed him, Ross explained to
prosecutor Alanda Dwyer.
He said the bullet he labeled No. 6 caused the fatal injury to Bolton when it
entered the upper part of his left thigh, pierced a main artery, and lodged in
his spine.
“So if there was previous testimony that the defendant was seen pointing the
gun and backing away from Sean Bolton the trajectory of bullets 6 and 7 would
be consistent with Sean Bolton being on the ground when he was shot?” Dwyer
asked Ross.
Ross replied, “If he was in a face down position it would be consistent with
that scenario you described.”
Authorities said Wilbourn shot Bolton after the officer approached an illegally
parked Mercedes-Benz in the 4800 block of Summerlane in the area of Cottonwood
and South Perkins on Aug. 1, 2015.
The driver of the car fled after Bolton shined a spotlight in the car.
Wilbourn, who was a passenger, was being detained by Bolton when the two
scuffled.
Otagar Jones, a resident who lives on the street where the shooting happened,
testified earlier this week that he saw Wilbourn firing shots toward the
officer as he was backing away in the middle of the street.
Under cross examination, defense attorney Juni Ganguli quizzed the medical
examiner about the distance of the shots fired on the night Bolton was killed.
“Would you agree with me that there is no way to definitively tell where Sean
Bolton was and where Mr. Wilbourn was when the shoots were fired,” Ganguli
asked Ross.
Ross answered: “There are a number of different positions that are possible.”
Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich and Memphis Police Deputy
Chief Michael Shearin were in the courtroom to hear the medical examiner's
testimony. Neither spoke to the media as they left the courtroom.
The court also heard from Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent
Cervinia Braswell, who is a firearms expert. She testified that the bullets
that killed Bolton came from only 1 gun – a 9 mm – and not 2. Authorities did
not present the gun Wilbourn is accused of shooting Bolton with during court
proceedings on Friday.
Earlier Friday, jurors heard testimony from MPD crime scene officers and
forensic experts who testified about finding DNA evidence including
fingerprints that showed Wilbourn was at the scene the night of the shooting.
Memphis Crime Scene Sgt. Michael Coburn testified about processing the 2002
Mercedes-Benz that Wilbourn was a passenger in the night he is accused of
shooting and killing Bolton.
Christopher Sanders, a 21-year veteran with the Memphis Police Department,
testified he was working with the Crime Scene and was assigned to go to the
hospital to photograph and collect Bolton’s clothes and his equipment, which
included the officer’s Sig Sauer .40-caliber gun.
“Was the gun fully loaded?” prosecutor Dwyer asked Sanders.
He replied, “It was. It had not been fired.”
This ties into earlier testimony this week from neighbors on the street, who
said that they did not see Bolton fire his gun during his encounter with
Wilbourn. 2 witnesses testified they saw Wilbourn fire his gun.
Wilbourn fled after the shooting and carjacked a man less than a mile from
where Bolton was shot, authorities with MPD testified.
Memphis police officer W.D. Merritt testified Thursday that the 2002 Honda
Accord Wilbourn later pleaded guilty to carjacking was found by police at the
Bent Tree Apartments where the defendant’s girlfriend lived.
A video of the stolen car was shown to jurors and showed a Honda coming through
entrance of the complex in the 3400 block of Briar Place, off of Winchester.
Merritt testified that he took photographs inside the apartment and showed a
picture of Wilbourn that had been put on the refrigerator.
Wilbourn was not at the apartment when police went there the night of the
shooting on Aug. 1. He was not arrested until 2 days later when he turned
himself in to authorities at the federal building in Downtown Memphis.
U.S. Marshal Owen Woods said he took part in the search for Wilbourn. He
testified after Wilbourn turned himself that he patted him down and helped take
him into custody.
“I observed no injuries, he made no indication that he was hurt and made no
indication of that,” Woods said. He said Wilbourn went quietly with
authorities.
Jury selection began on Monday and the state has called 25 witnesses so far
during the trial.
The trial continues at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
(source: Daily Memphian)
COLORADO:
Where Colorado’s Governor Candidates Stand On Nathan Dunlap And The Death
Penalty
There’s a lot at stake in the race to be Colorado’s next governor, but for one
man it’s a literal life and death question.
Nathan Dunlap was sentenced to be executed for killing four people at a Chuck E
Cheese restaurant in 1993. When the moment came, Gov. John Hickenlooper halted
his execution to give him a temporary reprieve in 2013 — but didn’t grant
Dunlap clemency. He left it to the next governor to ultimately decide Dunlap’s
fate.
Democrat Congressman Jared Polis and Republican State Treasurer Walker
Stapleton have staked out opposite positions on the overall issue. Polis told
the Colorado Independent he would sign a bill to repeal the death penalty in
Colorado, calling it outdated, ineffective and costly. Stapleton supports the
death penalty.
In their final debate, moderated by The Denver Post and Channel 7 both
discussed how they would handle the Dunlap case.
Polis: “I have no problem following the current law. I don’t think it’s
appropriate to comment on a specific case when what I would do as governor is
review the case, talk to the victims, make an informed decision. I don’t think
it’s a type of decision, literally a life and death decision, that should be
politicized during a campaign.”
Stapleton: “I don’t believe it’s the role of the governor to re-adjudicate
something that’s been decided by a judge and a jury. It’s something that I
would have to do with a heavy heart. But I would have a period of time that
would study the most effective means of carrying out something that’s already
been decided by a judge and a jury and shouldn’t be re-adjudicated by a
governor.”
(source: Colorado Public Radio)
NEVADA:
Death penalty possible in killing of Vietnamese tour leaders
A convicted felon who was on probation when police say he entered a Las Vegas
Strip hotel room, killing 2 Vietnamese tour leaders and stealing jewelry, a
purse and a backpack could face a death penalty trial, a prosecutor said today.
Julius Damiano Deangilo Trotter, 31, pleaded not guilty to an indictment
charging him with murder, burglary and robbery in the stabbing deaths of Sang
Boi Nghia and Khoung Ba Le Nguyen.
Judge Douglas Herndon of Clark County District Court scheduled a Nov. 13
hearing after District Attorney Steve Wolfson asked for time to decide whether
to seek the death penalty.
Trotter's new court-appointed attorney, Thomas Ericsson, declined to comment
outside the court. Trotter is being held without bail.
Nghia, 38, owned a tour business in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Nguyen, 30,
was a tour employee. Police said they arrived in Las Vegas with a tour group
from Los Angeles and missed an excursion to the Grand Canyon on June 1, the day
their bodies were found in their room at the Circus Circus hotel.
Police later found the door latch to the room didn't work properly and a court
filing described a method in which would-be thieves walked hotel hallways
checking room doors to see if they'll push open.
Hotel owner MGM Resorts International said it was not clear if the door lock
was broken before or after Nghia and Nguyen were killed. Trotter was arrested
June 7 in Chino, Calif., after being chased by police.
Trotter pleaded guilty last year in Las Vegas and was sentenced to 5 years'
probation for felony resisting a police officer with a weapon.
(source: Associated Press)
USA:
Death-penalty Conway bank murder case now delayed for months. Here's why
The man accused of a double-murder at a Conway CresCom bank had his trial
delayed until September 2019 - almost a year later than federal prosecutors
wanted to try the case.
The move is a surprising change for the federal judge, who initially set
Brandon Council’s trial for January 2019, and stressed a desire to hear the
case at that time.
Council, of Wilson, NC, was indicted in September on charges of armed robbery
resulting in death, using a firearm in a violent crime that resulted in murder
and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is accused of shooting Kathryn
"Katie" Davis Skeen and Donna Major while robbing the CresCom Bank in Conway on
Aug. 21, 2017.
Both Skeen and Major worked at the bank.
Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
A suspect in the deadly Conway bank robbery, who police said was "armed and
dangerous," is now in custody, the Horry County Police Department said.
During an April hearing, federal prosecutors called for a trial that would have
taken place this month. They argued they were using a timeline similar to the
Dylann Roof case.
Defense attorneys strongly objected to that idea, saying it was too fast for a
death penalty case. At that time, they argued for an April 2019 hearing.
Judge Bryan Harwell split the difference between the 2 requests and set
Council's trial for January 2019. He also pressed attorneys on issues that
could possibly delay that date. Attorneys from both sides said they felt they
could have their work done before January, barring any new information.
Council's attorneys recently asked for a delay in the January trial date. They
argued that federal investigators recently turned over evidence, lawyers have
far to travel to interview witnesses, and attorneys need time to go over the
evidence.
As a result, Harwell ruled Wednesday that Council’s trial will be delayed until
September 2019.
Harwell also approved a new schedule for juror selection. Starting in May 2019,
questionnaires will go out to 2,000 potential jurors. The pool will be whittled
down over several months until a jury is found for the September trial date.
(source: myrtlebeachonline.com)
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