Atwater Jury Selection to Start Feb. 22

Jury selection in the federal death penalty trial of Demario James Atwater is scheduled to begin later this month despite several outstanding issues.  Atwater is accused of the 2008 murder of UNC student body president Eve Carson.

The court has yet to rule on several motions, including a motion for change of venue due to the exceptional amount of media attention the case has received.  The court must also decide whether it will order police to release surveillance tapes of the squad car and interrogation room in which Atwater was held – tapes which may show that officers physically abused Atwater after taking him into custody.

Jury Selection Begins for Cooper

In Wake County, jury selection has begun in the trial of Samuel James Cooper.  Jury selection is expected to take at least a month because Cooper is charged with five murders.  He could face the death penalty if convicted.

State to Seek Death Against Hembree

Gaston County prosecutors have announced their intention to seek the death penalty against Danny Robbie Hembree, Jr.  Hembree is accused of killing two women last year and a third in 1992.

Interestingly, another man had been charged in the murder of the third woman, but prosecutor Locke Bell dropped the charges against him because he said that charging the second man would have made it difficult to seek the death penalty against Hembree (not because the second man was innocent).

Executions – February 2010

1 – Robert Lee McConnell (NV – stayed)

4 – Mark Brown (OH)

12 – Dale Wayne Eaton (WY – stayed)

16 – Martin Grossman (FL)

18 – Robert Bryant Melson (AL – stayed)

24 – Hank Skinner (TX)

Did Prosecutor’s Dirty Deal Lead to Wrongful Conviction?

In Forsyth County, a judge has ordered an evidentiary hearing to determine whether prosecutors offered immunity to a witness in exchange for testimony that put another man on death row – without revealing the deal to defense attorneys or the jury.

Errol Moses has been on death row since 1997, but has maintained that he is innocent of the drug-related killings of Ricky Griffin and Jacinto Dunkley.  The testimony of Casey McCree was the only evidence directly linking Moses to the shootings of Griffin and Dunkley.

The jury that convicted Mr. Moses and sentenced him to death was never told that prosecutors had an agreement with Mr. McCree that, in exchange for his testimony, he would not be charged with any crime related to his involvement in the killings.

The prosecutor involved in the case says that this sort of unofficial immunity-for-testimony exchange was “common practice” at the time of Moses’ trial.

A hearing date has not been set.

Deciding on Death in Onslow County

Prosecutors in Onslow County have announced that they will not seek the death penalty against Sirree Scales, who allegedly shot a 17-year-old to death in April of 2008.  Prosecutors have also elected not to seek death against Jarrell Wilson, a Marine who allegedly killed two people in July.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are holding off on whether to seek death for Soyer Moll, who is accused of killing his wife during a domestic dispute.

Montgomery Trial Set for July

The trial of Demeatrius Montgomery, who stands accused of killing two Charlotte-Mecklenburg County police officers, is scheduled to begin on July 12th.  Defense counsel asserts that Montgomery is incompetent to stand trial, while the prosecution insists that Montgomery is not a paranoid schizophrenic because he can use a telephone.

Hennis Trial Delayed Until April 2010 at Earliest

The military death penalty trial of Master Sergeant Timothy Hennis has been put off until sometime after March so that additional DNA testing can be completed.

Hennis has already been tried twice for the 1985 murders of Kathryn Eastburn and her children.  Although initially convicted and sentenced to death, Hennis was found not guilty at the second trial.  Hennis returned to the Army and retired in 2004, but was called back to duty to face the murder charges a third time in military court, where double jeopardy protections do not apply.

More details are here.

State to Seek Death Against Morris

Granville County prosecutors have announced their intention to seek the death penalty against Scott Morris.  His wife Kelly’s body was found in a wooded area last November.  On January 27, there will be a hearing at which prosecutors will summarize the evidence against Morris and their basis for seeking capital punishment.

OT – Conjoined Twins

From Slate, with assistance from DPIC’s Richard Dieter, a semi-answer to the burning question: If a Siamese twin commits murder, does his brother get punished too?

[Bonus question: What happens to brother B if brother A is sentenced to death?]