While You Were Out

Props to CDW for picking up a few NC stories DW failed to report while out of town.

The military has set an execution date for Pvt. Ronald Gray, who was sentenced to death at Fort Bragg in 1988 for a series of crimes in the Fayetteville area.  On December 12th, Gray will become the first person executed by the military since 1961.

CDW also provides a link to a follow-up article on the recent North Carolina Supreme Court hearing in one of the lethal injection cases.  Other links here.  No word on when a decision is expected.

James Ray Little Sentenced to Death

James Ray Little III became the 163rd resident of North Carolina’s death row last week.   Little, 22, was sentenced to death for the 2006 robbery-murder of Winston-Salem cab driver Bira Gueye.  Gueye was a Senegalese immigrant who used his wages to support sixteen people in his home country.

After four hours of deliberations, jurors found that Little had limited intelligence and a poor upbringing, and that he had not set out intending to kill.  They sentenced him to death because he had a prior felony record (larceny of a motor vehicle and larceny from a person), the murder was committed for financial gain, and because Little committed other crimes that same night.

Little’s is the first new death sentence in North Carolina in 2008.  The last person sentenced to death in North Carolina was Mario Phillips, whose sentence was handed down over a year ago.

Defense Rests in Fragging Trial

The defense rested yesterday in the military death penalty trial of Staff Sgt. Alberto Martinez.  Martinez is accused of killing two superior officers in Tikrit, Iraq in 2005.  The defense argued that the Army’s investigation of the murders was flawed, and that the crime scene may have been tampered with.

The prosecution is expected to continue with rebuttal evidence this morning at Fort Bragg.  If Martinez is found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

Mentally Retarded Man Removed from Death Row

More than five years after the US Supreme Court ruled that executing the mentally retarded violates the Constitution, another retarded man has been removed from North Carolina’s death row.  Clinton Smith, who was sentenced to die ten years ago for the poisoning death of his daughter, was resentenced to life in prison.  Smith is the 14th person removed from North Carolina’s death row due to mental retardation, and several other cases are still pending.

Smith’s attorneys say that he is innocent, and that they will keep fighting to win their client his freedom.  Clinton Smith cannot read or write, has an IQ below 70, and has significant impairments in everyday functioning.  Some say that being mentally retarded also means that Smith could not have come up with an elaborate plan to kill his family.  Furthermore, there are significant questions about whether the amount of poison found was sufficient to cause death, and whether the child’s mother was honest with police about what happened.

Of his client’s release from death row, one of Smith’s attorneys said, “We’re relieved , but we’re not joyful, because he still faces life without parole for a crime that he didn’t commit.”

NCSC to Hear Lethal Injection Arguments

The North Carolina Supreme Court will hear arguments this morning from the NC Medical Board and the Department of Correction in their ongoing lawsuit over the role of doctors in executions.  State law requires that a doctor be present during lethal injection, but the Board asserts that participation in executions violates a doctor’s oath to preserve life.  The DOC has sued to prevent the Board from sanctioning doctors who assist with executions.

The court is not expected to rule today, but its decision could end the moratorium on executions that has lasted since January 2007.  This litigation is separate from the Council of State litigation referenced here.

Media reports here, here, and here.

Executions – November 2008

6 -Elkie Taylor (TX)

12 -George Whitaker (TX)

13 -Denard Manns (TX)

18 – Eric Cathey (TX – stayed)

18 – Wayne Tompkins (FL – stayed)

19 – Rogelio Cannady (TX – stayed)

19 – Gregory Bryant-Bey (OH)

20 – Robert Hudson (TX)

21 – Marco Allen Chapman (KY – volunteer)

4th Circuit Denies Cole and Moseley

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied relief to Carl Moseley and Wade Cole.  Moseley hoped to receive a new trial because police concealed evidence that someone else may have been responsible for one of the murders for which he was convicted.  (opinion here)  Cole asserted that he is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for execution.  (opinion here)