Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst ... 2345 LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 42

Thread: Brandon Michael Council - Federal Death Row

  1. #31
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    New Jersey, unfortunately
    Posts
    4,382
    I agree we need to curb recidivism. I'm all for retributive justice, but there needs to be a separate restorative justice system for certain cases.
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  2. #32
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Council found competent, death penalty trial to resume Tuesday

    By Tonya Brown
    WPDE News

    FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — The trial against Brandon Council will resume Tuesday morning after it was delayed after the judge granted a motion for a continuance finding reasonable cause for a competency hearing to be held.

    A competency hearing took place Monday morning. Council attended the hearing and sat next to his attorneys while dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit.

    Council's attorneys filed a motion last week saying Council "is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him unable to assist properly and rationally in his defense”.

    Council's lawyer, Bill Nettles, said Council was examined by two mental health doctors.

    "Over the weekend, Mr. Council was seen by a forensic psychologist and a forensic psychiatrist," said Nettles.

    He says both doctors found Council competent to stand trial.

    "We no longer believe Mr. Council is incompetent but competent to proceed in this case, " said Nettles.

    Chief Judge R. Bryan Harwell then issued a ruling.

    "Based on what is presented, I'm going to find that he is competent to proceed," said Harwell.

    Harwell heard another matter from attorneys with the federal government. They took issue with documentation presented to the court regarding Council's family members and mental health.

    "The defense appears to intend to present mental health conditions of many family members of the defendant," said Everett McMillan, federal prosecutor.

    McMillan argued Council's lawyers presented a genogram, or family tree, of Council's family's mental health history.

    "Family tree from defense expert that list a dozen or so relatives, along with their IQ and mental health diagnosis," said McMillan.

    McMillan added because these traits are inheritable, the jury may believe it's affected him.

    Nettles said their intention is to present proper biological history.

    "We are not going to present any testimony of Mr. Council of mental health diagnosis. None," said Nettles.

    Prosecutors said they'll file a motion with their concerns asking the judge to address them.

    The jury is expected to report back to court Tuesday morning when the defense will call their first witness.

    There's no word on if Council will take the stand.

    https://wpde.com/news/local/council-...resume-tuesday
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #33
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Federal jury reaches verdict in CresCom double-murder trial. Here’s what happens next

    By Alex Lang
    The Slate

    Florence - It took a federal jury less than 30 minutes of deliberation to find Brandon Council guilty of a double-murder and robbery at the Conway CresCom bank in August 2017.

    The jury handed down its verdict on Tuesday and immediately moved into the penalty phase, where the panel will decide if Council should be executed for his crime. If the jury opts against the death penalty, Council will spend the rest of his life in prison.

    “Katie Skeen and Donna Major died staring down the barrel of that man’s gun,” prosecutor Everett McMillian said in his closing argument.

    McMillian detailed the Aug. 21, 2017, crime, including showing pictures of Skeen and Major soon after they were shot. The images were displayed in the courtroom as some of Skeen’s and Major’s family looked away and started to cry. The same photos were on a monitor a foot away from Council.

    The prosecution also showed images from inside the 16th Avenue branch where Council entered and went to Major’s teller station.

    “He waits till her head was down,” McMillian said about Major. “She never saw the bullet coming.”

    Council then ran into Skeen’s office, where he shot her, before returning to Major and shooting her again as she was dying on the floor.

    In an interview with police, Council said he went into the bank intending to shoot those inside. He said he was basically homeless and hit rock-bottom before committing the robbery.

    “His actions were premeditated, they were deliberate and they were intentional,” McMillian said.

    Defense attorney Michael Meetze didn’t offer much of a rebuttal in his closing statement. He again admitted Council went into the bank and committed the murders and robbery. But, Meetze also described how Council told police in the interview he was “winging it.”

    “He was alone, he was desperate and he was on the run,” Meetze said.

    PENALTY PHASE

    The trial moved directly into the penalty phase after the jury — made up of eight women and four men — delivered its verdict.

    McMillian outlined what the government must prove for a death sentence. He discussed how the shooting involved intentional killing. He also described factors that made this murder worse, such as multiple people were killed and Council was escalating in his criminal activity.

    At one point in his statement, McMillian showed a picture of Council taken the day after the murders. Council is smiling and holding several bills in front of a white Mercedes he bought with money stolen from the bank.

    “The photo was taken so he could show it to girls he was trying to meet,” McMillian said.

    There is no clean slate for the second phase, McMillian said, and the jury could consider evidence from the first phase.

    “You will make the choice on how to hold the defendant accountable,” McMillian said.

    The prosecution also called a couple of Skeen’s and Major’s coworkers to the stand on Tuesday. Part of their testimony included reading a journal entry Major wrote on Aug. 21, hours before she was murdered.

    During the defense’s opening arguments, William Nettles talked at length about Council’s background as reasons why he should not be executed.

    “It’s an individual, moral, reasoned judgment each of you will have to make,” Nettles told the jury.

    Council served time in a North Carolina juvenile detention center that was riddled with violence and offered little help, Nettles said. Council’s family provided little support and his neighborhood became a haven for drugs.

    No matter how the jury rules, Nettles reminded them Council will never be free again.

    “He’ll die in prison. That’s a fact. He’ll never be released,” Nettles said. At his closing, he reiterated that point and said that’s what the defense was asking for as punishment. “We’re going to ask you in this case to be merciful.”

    https://www.thestate.com/news/state/...235392962.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #34
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    ‘Everybody knew each other’: Teary friends start death-penalty part of double-murder trial

    By Alex Lang
    Myrtle Beach Sun News

    Donna Major had no idea what fate held for her just hours after she started to journal about Aug. 21, 2017.

    “Today is the big solar eclipse,” Major wrote as she detailed her memories of the 1979 eclipse. She noted how the kids were ready for the 2017 eclipse, which would happen around 2 p.m. Major ended the entry speaking about the next eclipse in 30 years and what is now an ominous line.

    “I will be 94 if I am still alive,” Major wrote, “but probably not.”

    Hours after writing the entry, and about 60 minutes before the eclipse, Major and Katie Skeen were murdered inside the Conway CresCom bank. Her journal entry was read to a federal jury on Tuesday that is considering whether their killer, Brandon Council, should be sentenced to death.

    Two CresCom coworkers were the first people to take the stand as prosecutors detailed why Council should be executed. Tracy McClary, a security officer with the bank, testified she gave police an image from the bank’s security cameras showing Council. Police released that image to the media soon after the robbery.

    McClary also said the killing had a significant impact on other CresCom employees and some didn’t return to work after the incident.

    Days after the murder, McClary said the community provided support at the branch including painting messages on rocks that are still at the 16th Avenue branch.

    Cathy Lambert was one of four employees who worked at the CresCom along with Skeen and Major. She was not at the branch on Aug. 21. She cried during her testimony and was unable to read Major’s journal entry. She said someone called her to tell her about the robbery and “there were fatalities.”

    “Please just tell me ya’ll are OK,” Lambert texted both at 2:24 p.m.

    Lambert said she knew Skeen since she was a teenager and the two worked at the same bank. Skeen loved her two children and was trying to raise them properly, Lambert said.

    “I kind of watched her grow up,” Lambert said. “I kind of felt like her bank mom.”

    Major loved her grandchildren and to quilt. Lambert said the bank had few customers, which allowed the employees to know each other, even what they each had for dinner the previous night.

    “We were all family, it’s a small bank,” Lambert said, “and everybody knew each other.”

    https://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/ne...235436827.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #35
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Days leading up to Brandon Council’s arrest detailed during trial

    By Viraj Naik
    myhorrynews.com

    The days leading up to Brandon Council’s arrest in North Carolina, including the day of the deadly CresCom bank robbery in Conway, were detailed by testimony Thursday during his trial in federal court.

    A jury on Tuesday found Council guilty of two counts in relation to the robbery. The Wilson, North Carolina, man had been charged with gunning down Skeen and Donna Major during the incident that occurred Aug. 21, 2017. Major and Skeen both worked at the bank on 16th Avenue. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

    Mohan Patel, the general manager of an Economy Inn in Greenville, North Carolina, was the first of several witnesses the prosecution called to the stand Thursday.

    Video surveillance footage shown to the jury displayed Council at the hotel’s front desk and handing over money the evening of the murders. Patel testified Council rented a room there for two nights.

    Greenville native Brandon Black said the morning of Aug. 22, 2017, he went to a plasma center with his younger brother Jalen Vines.

    Once there, he said, Council — who he didn’t know — approached them, and offered $100 to get a car registered in one of their names that Council would pay for.

    Black wasn’t interested and went inside while his brother stayed outside and talked to Council. After donating plasma, Black noticed his brother had left and checked to see if he was OK.

    Vines told him he was fine and Black went to work. Around midnight, he went to a local hotel, where his brother, Council and two females (one being Vines' girlfriend) were.

    He said he could tell the people in the hotel room had been smoking marijuana.

    People in the room drank alcohol, smoked, played cards and watched the movie “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”

    After about an hour, he, his brother and his brother's girlfriend left while Council and the other female stayed.

    Vines also testified, speaking on how he went with Council to acquire the Mercedes-Benz from Pirate Auto Sales after meeting him at the nearby plasma center.

    Vines said Council gave him the $100 offered. After getting insurance for the vehicle, the two went to a pawn shop. Vines bought a video game controller and he said Council looked at some handguns and ammunition.

    They went to a GameStop, where Vines purchased some video games, and Walmart, where Council bought a necklace, before heading to a local mall.

    Outside the mall, Vines said he took a photo of Council to send to his girlfriend; she testified Thursday that Vines had asked her to find a friend for his cousin.

    The image that was shown to the jury showed Council smiling and holding cash while standing near the white Mercedes-Benz.

    That day, the two also went to a sporting goods store, where some ammunition was purchased.

    Vines said Council told him he had a gun and kept it for protection. They went by a store and Council bought a bottle of cognac.

    Also that day, the two of them talked about having a “trap house” where drugs could be sold.

    After picking up Vines’ girlfriend and a friend of hers, Council paid for more alcohol and cigars; some wraps were also bought, according to court testimony.

    The four of them went to Economy Inn.

    At one point, Vines went to see his grandmother in the hospital but later returned. His brother eventually hung out with the four in the hotel room.

    Surveillance footage was shown to the jury showing Council and others at the hotel.

    The next day, Vines said, he met with Council, who told him he’d had sex with the female who stayed with him. The two rode around with her.

    They went to a Super 8 hotel but couldn’t get a room. They also went to a store, where Council got a cellphone.

    They went to a Baymont hotel and were told they would have to wait until 3 p.m. to check in.

    Cops arrived at the parking lot and asked the two to put their hands up. Vines complied and Council ran, eventually being apprehended.

    Vines said during the brief period he hung out with him, Council was relaxed and calm, though they argued at times.

    Mike Connelly with the FBI testified once again, saying surveillance footage showed Vines and Council cleaning Skeen’s Chrysler that was at the hotel.

    During Thursday’s proceedings, the jury was also shown Council’s birth certificate, indicating he was 32 at the time of the murders.

    Council’s trial began last week in Florence. Now that Council has been convicted, the trial has reached the penalty phase, which gives the prosecution and defense another opportunity to present evidence. Jurors will consider different factors and are tasked with deciding whether Council is sentenced to either death or life in prison without the possibility of release.

    https://www.myhorrynews.com/news/day..._medium=social
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #36
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Defense rests in penalty phase of Brandon Council’s death penalty trial

    By Nia Watson and Brad Dickerson
    WMBF News

    FLORENCE, S.C. (WMBF) – The defense completed its case late Tuesday afternoon in the death penalty trial of Brandon Council.

    Council faces life in prison or death for the murders of Katie Skeen and Donna Major while robbing the Conway CresCom bank in 2017.

    His defense team wrapped up their case by focusing on his family’s history and treatment at a juvenile center. Most of the testimony came from a social work expert, Dr. Debra Gray.

    Gray said she spent more than 600 hours researching and interviewing people involved in Council’s life.

    She identified risk factors, that can prevent someone from living a healthy, productive life.

    Before Council’s grandmother, Betsy Spell, died she said his risk was at a minimum. But, afterward, Council found himself in a very unstable and dysfunctional environment.

    He started performing poorly in school. He ran the streets and got into drugs. Soon after, he was admitted to the Dobbs Training School when he was 13 years old.

    Gray said Council recalled being sexually assaulted and raped by male officers. He also admitted to having sex with his female caseworker.

    Gray said some of the staff members she spoke with admitted that some employees would lie and cover up students’ complaints.

    Prosecutors brought up the former JROTC instructor at the school as a rebuttal witness.

    He testified the staff was “very professional” and that every employee had to go through training on how to de-escalate situations.

    https://www.wmbfnews.com/2019/10/01/...penalty-trial/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #37
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Jury sentences Brandon Council to death for deadly CresCom Bank robbery

    By Brad Dickerson and Nia Watson
    WMBF News

    FLORENCE, S.C. – The same jury that found Brandon Council guilty of murdering two bank employees in Conway has now sentenced him to death for his crime.

    Jurors returned with that sentence Thursday morning after hearing additional testimony from witnesses over several days. Last week, Council was convicted of killing Donna Major and Katie Skeen during the 2017 robbery at the CresCom Bank.

    “It was an event that certainly ripped the fabric of our city because we’re very peaceful,” Conway Police Chief Dale Long said.

    The sentence came after hours of deliberations that were spread across two days starting Wednesday. The jurors deliberated for about four hours before being sent home. They returned Thursday morning and spent roughly two more hours discussing the case before coming to their decision.

    Jurors believed the evidence that Council intentionally killed two innocent women outweighed his traumatic childhood.

    “These were intentional and senseless murders,” prosecutor Nathan Williams said.

    “Everybody has some things in their past that they want to be considered and at the end of the day I believe this jury focused on what happened on August 21st,” prosecutor Everett McMillian said.

    The victims’ families said Council’s sentence won’t bring back their loved ones, but at least the man that took them away will suffer the same fate.

    “The events that happened on that day as you see as evidenced in court today is nothing that’s going to hold us back and we see the final verdict is that good have overcome evil,” Long said.

    After the sentence, one of Major’s daughter told Council how difficult the past three weeks have been for her family. Skeen’s mother told Council she will never forgive him, but that she doesn’t hate him.

    Overall, both prosecutors and the victims’ families believe the death penalty is the just sentence for the two women.

    As of Oct. 3, there are 38 people currently on death row in South Carolina who were convicted on state charges. Council was convicted on federal charges. There are currently more than 60 federal inmates on death row.

    The last person put to death in S.C. was Jeffrey Motts in May 2011 for the death of his cellmate.

    https://www.wmbfnews.com/2019/10/03/...-bank-robbery/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  8. #38
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Edited:

    State charges against convicted murderer Brandon Council to be dismissed, but could be refiled; Council on death row for federal conviction

    By myhorrynew.com

    The 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office plans to dismiss the state charges levied against convicted murderer Brandon Council, but prosecutors maintain they still have the opportunity to pursue that case if they want to.

    Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said he spoke with family members of the two women Council gunned down during the Aug. 21, 2017, robbery about the pros and cons of different options, and that the families support the decision.

    “They’re in total agreement,” he said.

    Apart from the federal case, Council has faced state charges of two counts of murder, armed robbery, entering a bank with intent to steal, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, sale or delivery of pistol to, and possession by, certain persons unlawful; stolen pistol, and grand larceny after being served warrants by the Conway Police Department.

    In a different case resulting in the death penalty, Dylann Roof — the white supremacist convicted of murdering nine black worshippers at a Charleston church in 2015 — was convicted in federal court and pleaded guilty to state murder charges.

    “We felt it was best in these circumstances … not to offer [Council] some sort of plea deal,” Richardson said.

    Richardson explained the state charges would be voided, but that Council could be re-indicted by an Horry County Grand Jury in the future. He said new warrants would not have to be obtained.

    Council is currently being held at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City, according to information from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

    https://www.myhorrynews.com/news/sta...6942afe02.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #39
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    On May 3, 2023, oral argument will be held in Council's direct appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

    https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/cal/int...y022023ric.pdf

  10. #40
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    The panel will be made up of Judges Wilkinson (Reagan), Agee (G.W. Bush) and Heytens (Biden).

    https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/cal/int...y022023ric.pdf

Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst ... 2345 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •