Knock, Knock

News Update 5.31.07

North Carolina

Nothing to report.

Elsewhere

In Ohio, the brother of a murder victim is joining with the family of the man executed for the crime in calling for a stop to executions. Although Michael Manning supports the death penalty, he said that the execution he witnessed,

“…was cruel and unusual punishment, which is against the Constitution of the United States…we all heard [Clark] moaning and groaning…the executions should be temporarily halted until they come to grips with how to insert the needles for accuracy. I believe I counted 10 to 15 times that Clark was stuck with a needle, and I don’t know how many times there were after the curtain was closed.”

In Texas, a MySpace page has been set up on behalf of Patrick Knight, who is scheduled to be executed at the end of June. Mr. Knight isn’t asking for pen pals or calls to the Governor. All he wants is for people to send him jokes. Knight and the other inmates on death row will pick the best joke, which Knight will read as part of his last words.

Miracle Verdict in Greensboro

News Update 5.30.07

North Carolina

In Durham, a jury has begun its deliberations in the Todd Boggess murder trial. Boggess was once sentenced to death for the crime in question, but his conviction was overturned due to judge error.

In Greensboro, William James Schreiber given two life sentences in “miracle verdict.” Schreiber was convicted of murder last week in the deaths of his girlfriend and her infant daughter.

Elsewhere

In Texas, a key witness against Cathy Lynn Henderson has changed his mind. Henderson is scheduled to die on June 13, but the doctor who insisted at trial that the death was not an accident now says he can’t be sure.

The Onion has an interesting prediction for what the Supreme Court will decide in the Panetti case. (Satire alert)

Catching Up

News Update 5.29.07

North Carolina

From The Charlotte Observer, death penalty in legal limbo. (Note the poll to the right.)

From The News & Observer, doctor details execution procedure.

From WRAL, does the death penalty cost more than a life sentence?

A capital trial is starting in Wake County today.

Elsewhere

In Louisiana, state Supreme Court upholds death sentence for child rape, double dares SCOTUS to take them on.

In Ohio, the execution of Christopher Newton was severely botched. First it took the execution team an hour and a half to find suitable veins. Then, once the lethal drugs started to flow, Newton was seen to convulse, his chest heaving and his chin quivering. The warden told witnesses that Newton was snoring, which aside from being patently untrue would be physically impossible if the three-drug cocktail had worked as it was supposed to.

News from the General Assembly

Two death penalty-related bills have passed the N.C. House just in time to meet the crossover deadline, by which bills must be sent from one chamber to the other if they are to have any chance of becoming law this session.

The North Carolina Racial Justice Act passed this afternoon by a vote of 68 to 51.

The Proportionality Review bill also passed, but with an amendment.

It’s not clear what the amendment was, but you can read more about both bills generally here.

Lethal Injection Debate Continues

Representatives of five death row inmates got a rare opportunity today. Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison heard evidence from both sides of the debate about whether lethal injection causes unbearable pain, and if so, what should be done about it. When the Council of State considered the issue months ago, the Council refused to hear testimony or argument from the inmates’ side, and got information only from the Department of Corrections before approving the lethal injection protocol. Morrison’s job is to determine whether the Council should have listened to both sides, and whether the additional information would have made any difference.

There are early reports here, here, and here.

Highlights:
* An anesthesiology professor at UNC noted several flaws in the procedure
* A veterinarian said that he wouldn’t use this protocol to put animals to sleep
* A doctor present at recent executions said that he didn’t, and couldn’t, monitor inmates in the way the Department of Corrections told a federal court that he did

For its part, the Council of State said that it didn’t think its meeting was the “proper place” for these concerns to be heard.

Montgomery Attorneys Seek Gag Order on Police

News Update 05.18.07

North Carolina

The State has formally announced its intent to seek the death penalty against Demeatrius Montgomery, who is charged in the shootings of two Charlotte police officers. Montgomery’s attorneys are seeking a gag order to keep the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department from releasing false information to the public and tainting the jury pool.

Elsewhere

In Arkansas, there is new evidence in the case of the West Memphis Three. Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelly, and Jason Baldwin were convicted of the murders of three boys in 1993. Echols was sentenced to die, the other two received life sentences. The prosecution and defense met this week at the state crime lab to discuss DNA evidence that wasn’t available at the time of trial. Little information is available about the nature of this DNA, but one defense attorney called the meeting, “useful and productive.”

In Pennsylvania, Mumia Abu-Jamal’s attorneys put on evidence of systemic racial discrimination in jury selection by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. The prosecutor in Abu-Jamal’s case struck 74% of black jurors in the six capital trials he prosecuted in the years surrounding Abu-Jamal’s trial.

—
Updates will be sporadic over the next week.

Virtual Reality

News Update 5.17.07

North Carolina

For those watching Tim Hennis’s case, check here, here, and here.

Elsewhere

Click here to go on a virtual tour of California’s lethal injection facility. No, I’m not kidding.

In Tennessee, a federal judge has ordered that Philip Workman’s body be autopsied, despite Workman’s faith-based opposition to the procedure. (Workman was a Seventh Day Adventist.) It is likely that by the time the autopsy is performed, Workman’s body will have decomposed too much to yield any useful evidence.

DNA and Dirty Prosecutors

News Update 5.16.07

North Carolina

Timothy Hennis is back in court this morning, 22 years after he was first arrested for a triple murder near Fort Bragg. The case appears to turn on DNA evidence, but the exact nature of that evidence is as yet unknown. The Fayetteville Observer has a special report.

A judge has upheld the dismissal of ethics charges against former Union county prosecutors Kenneth Honeycutt and Scott Brewer stemming from the trial of Jonathan Hoffman. Hoffman was sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of a jewelry store owner. According to the article, the State Bar believes that,

Honeycutt agreed to reward (Johnell) Porter for his testimony at trial with immunity from state and federal prosecutions, money, and a reduction in his federal sentence. Porter said in a 2006 interview that he made up the testimony about Hoffman to get the deal.

Porter’s prison sentences were reduced by at least 15 years. He was not prosecuted for at least a dozen serious crimes in Charlotte. And he pocketed several thousand dollars in reward money.

The bar charged that Honeycutt and Brewer hid the deal from the jury, the trial judge and Hoffman’s lawyers, lied to Judge William Helms and concealed the deal by altering documents they gave to the judge.

The charges were dismissed, as death penalty supporters like to say, on a technicality.

Elsewhere

In New Jersey, Byron Halsey has been released from prison after nearly two decades behind bars. Halsey was wrongfully convicted – based on the testimony of the actual perpetrator – of the rape and murder of two children in 1988. As with North Carolina’s Darryl Hunt, the state sought death, and Mr. Halsey might well have been executed by now had the jury not decided to spare him. See what innocence looks like here.

Author John Grisham believes that the death penalty should be abolished. “I think the system is so badly flawed that all executions should be stopped. . . . Let’s start with the basic concept of a fair trial. We are so far away from that in every state in this country.” Grisham’s latest book tells the true story of Ron Williamson, who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to die in Oklahoma.

California has released its proposed new lethal injection protocol.

New Online Death Penalty Curriculum

News Update 5.15.07

North Carolina

Nothing to report.

Elsewhere

The Death Penalty Information Center has launched an exciting new project called Capital Punishment in Context. CPIC is a free online college-level curriculum anyone can use to gain a deeper understanding of the death penalty.

Capital Punishment in Context is designed to supplement a variety of college courses. It contains cases of individuals who were sentenced to death in the United States. Each case presents a narrative account of the individual’s crime, trial and punishment, along with guidelines for analysis, discussion and further research on issues raised by the case. The narratives are supplemented by resources such as original police reports from the homicide investigation and transcripts of witness’ testimony. After reading the case, you can further explore issues by following a series of links to additional information. Each case, with its related materials, opens a path through the criminal justice system.

Capital Punishment in Context contains video interviews with key figures in the case, such as attorneys, jurors and witnesses. There are also videos featuring legal experts, illuminating such complex subjects as the capital trial and appeals process. Along with the links to primary source materials, these videos add richness and depth to the cases.

In Tennessee, the state medical examiner’s office is still fighting Philip Workman’s family for custody of his body. According to the article, “The state medical examiner’s office has said it wants to perform the autopsy and obtain blood and other fluids from Workman’s body to confirm that the three-drug lethal injection cocktail was properly administered and did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment.” Isn’t it a little late to worry about the constitutionality of the execution when the inmate is already dead?

Information on yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Schriro v. Landrigan can be found here and here. In brief, the primary issue before the Court related to the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, but the issue gaining the most attention is whether a defendant, by voicing opposition to the presentation of mitigating evidence at trial, waives all later claims of ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to adequately investigate mitigation. Despite prior decisions that would indicate otherwise, five justices said yes.

Hearing Scheduled for Tim Hennis

News Update 5.14.07

North Carolina

As soon as this week, the Army could release information about why it has decided to try Tim Hennis for the 1985 murders of an airman’s wife and daughters. Hennis was originally convicted and sentenced to death for the killings in 1986, but his conviction was reversed and Hennis was found not guilty at a second trial. After his acquittal, Hennis went on to serve in the Gulf and retired from the Army in 2004. He was recalled to active duty in 2006 solely for the purpose of facing renewed murder charges. Double jeopardy does not apply between military and civilian courts. See also.

The heavily armed assault on a Wilmington apartment complex last week resulted in no arrests. Suspects were apprehended later, elsewhere, and without incident.

Some press on House Bill 533/Senate Bill 1075 which would prohibit the execution of the severely mentally ill and severely mentally disabled. Defendants could still be sentenced to life in prison, but would not be eligible for the death penalty if their condition made them unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct, to use rational judgment, or to conform their conduct to the law.

Elsewhere

Excerpts from the new lethal injection protocol established by Florida in the wake of the botched execution of Angel Diaz.

An AP interview with five men on Missouri’s death row. Each has his own view of his crime and his fate – interesting reading.

Last week, an Oklahoma judge ordered the release of Curtis E. McCarty, who was convicted and sentenced to death twice for a murder he did not commit. DNA evidence exonerated McCarty nearly 22 years after a police lab analyst falsified test results and hid or destroyed evidence to ensure his conviction. The prosecutor in the case, who has sent more people to death row than anyone else in America, has said that he believes it is worth executing an innocent person to maintain the institution of capital punishment. More here.

There will be a hearing this week for Pennsylvania’s Mumia Abu-Jamal, arguably America’s most famous death row inmate. The Third Circuit will consider whether to reverse a lower court’s decision to vacate Abu-Jamal’s death sentence, and will examine issues including whether the jury properly considered mitigating circumstances, unconstitutional racial discrimination in the selection of the jury, and possible judge bias.

In Wyoming, a federal judge heard the case of James Harlow, who was sentenced to death for the murder of a prison guard in 1997. The State refused to hand over the records of inmates who testified against Harlow, one of whom prison records showed suffered from “a grave mental illness” and communicated with an imaginary friend. “The trouble I have with all of this is that I have always believed that in this kind of trial, you play the cards face up, not face down,” U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer said. “And it looks like they did the opposite.”