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Thread: Rickey Dale Newman - Arkansas

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    Rickey Dale Newman - Arkansas




    Facts of the Crime:

    Convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death on June 10, 2002 for the February 7, 2001 mutilation death of Marie Cholette, 46, of Fort Worth, Texas, at a transient camp near Van Buren.

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    February 1, 2008

    FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) — Death row inmate Rickey Dale Newman wasn't mentally competent when he waived his right to appeal, and a petition challenging Newman's sentence can go forward even though it was filed more than a year late, a federal judge has ruled.

    Newman was convicted of capital murder for the mutilation death of Marie Cholette, 46, of Fort Worth, Texas, at a transient camp near Van Buren.

    "The hearing before this court shows sufficient (indications) that petitioner was not competent at the time he waived his state post-conviction appeals and his right to counsel to warrant equitable tolling of the habeas statute of limitations," the Jan. 24 order by U.S. District Judge Robert Dawson said. "Furthermore, the evidence shows that petitioner's probable incompetence continued to interfere with his pursuit of habeas relief."

    After his 2002 conviction, Newman wanted to waive his appeals, and the Arkansas Supreme Court allowed him to do so. He was to be executed July 26, 2005. But four days before that date, Assistant Public Defenders Julie Brain and Bruce Eddy obtained a stay of the execution.

    Newman then changed his mind and said in a hearing Aug. 8, 2005, that he wanted Brain and Eddy to pursue his appeals, which they did.

    The Arkansas attorney general's office challenged the petition, saying that it was filed 16 months after the deadline for Newman to appeal his conviction and sentence. Brain and Eddy argue that Newman was not mentally fit to waive his rights.

    "The evidence shows that petitioner continues to focus on his desire to end his life, regardless of any possibility of having his conviction overturned on review, although he has allowed his attorneys to proceed with his habeas petition based upon his relationship with one of his attorneys," Dawson's ruling said.

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    May 15, 2009

    An update on this one:

    With a handwritten note, a death row inmate has asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to dissolve his appeal.

    Rickey Dale Newman, now 51, was sentenced to death for the February 2001 murder of Marie Cholette.

    Cholette, 46, of Fort Worth had been found mutilated and wrapped in a sleeping bag in a transient camp on the outskirts of Van Buren.

    Newman admitted to her murder, and in a one-day trial in 2002 where he acted as his own attorney he asked to be executed. He was sentenced to die.

    Since then, Newman has waffled about whether he wants to be executed. He was scheduled for execution in July 2005 before he changed his mind and appealed his sentence.

    In a note received Monday by the Supreme Court, Newman wrote that he wants to withdraw his appeal.

    "I do not want this court on this case... no more," he wrote. "I know only my death is the only and right thing for me so please let me be put to death."

    In the note, Newman also wrote, "This is against my attorney Ms. Julie Brain [advice]."

    Brain is a federal public defender who has represented numerous death row inmates.

    Federal public defenders representing Newman have a policy of not commenting on ongoing death penalty cases.

    Newman's request was accepted as a submitted motion to the state's highest court and released Thursday. No immediate action was taken.

    Forty men are on Arkansas' death row, according to the Department of Correction Web site. The last inmate to be executed was Eric Nance in November 2005. Nance was convicted of murdering Julie Heath, 18, of Malvern in 1993.

    http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/259647/

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    May 29, 2009

    The Arkansas Supreme Court denied a request Thursday by a death row inmate to end his appeal and be executed.

    Rickey Dale Newman, now 51, was sentenced to death for the murder of Marie Cholette more than eight years ago.

    Earlier this month, he submitted a handwritten request to the state's highest court to withdraw his appeal, asking to be "put to death."

    Although the federal public defenders have a policy of not commenting on ongoing death penalty cases, Newman stated in his note that his request was against their advice.

    The unsigned order Thursday simply stated that the court denied Newman's request.

    Newman has changed his mind before. At his 2002 trial, he acted as his own attorney and asked to be executed. Three years later, he changed his mind and appealed his sentence.

    Cholette, 46, of Fort Worth, was found mutilated and wrapped in a sleeping bag in a homeless camp near Van Buren in February 2001. Newman has said he killed her.

    The last inmate to be executed in the state was Eric Nance in November 2005. Nance was convicted of murdering Julie Heath, 18, of Malvern in 1993.

    Executions in Arkansas were put on hold in November 2007 pending a federal challenge to lethal injection by two Kentucky inmates. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that lethal injection was constitutional in 2008.

    Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a law to bring the state's lethal-injection procedures in line with Kentucky's, likely paving the way for executions to resume in the state.

    Currently, no execution dates have been scheduled for any of the state's 40 inmates on death row in the Varner Supermax Unit in Lincoln County.

    http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/260717/

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    August 19, 2009

    Court rejects killer's effort to block appeals

    The Arkansas Supreme Court has denied or declared moot several motions by death row inmate Rickey Dale Newman in an effort to block appeals by his attorneys.

    The 46-year-old Newman was sentenced to death for the 2001 mutilation death of 46-year-old Marie Cholette of Fort Worth, Texas, at a transient camp near Van Buren.

    The court said Thursday that portions of Newman's motions refer to a petition not pending before the court and are therefore moot. The court also said Newman could not pursue his own motions while also relying on attorneys to represent him.

    The court in May denied Newman's motion to end his appeals. Newman said in a motion filed without his attorneys that his death "is the only and right thing" for him.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

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    November 6, 2009

    Justices say Ark. death row inmate can ask lower court to review his conviction

    The Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled that a death row inmate can ask a state court to rule that he was not competent to stand trial for the 2001 murder and mutilation of a woman.

    Justices on Thursday granted Rickey Dale Newman's request to reinvest jurisdiction to Crawford County Court, where he was sentenced to death in 2002 for the death of 46-year-old Marie Cholette at a Van Buren transient camp.

    Newman said that the doctor who said he was competent to stand trial later admitted in federal court that he made errors on the test. Newman also claimed that prosecutors withheld evidence in his case.

    The court in May denied Newman's motion to end his appeals. Newman said in a motion filed without his attorneys that his death "is the only and right thing" for him.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

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    May 3, 2010

    Court orders re-examination

    A hearing for death row inmate Rickey Dale Newman was held Wednesday in Crawford County Circuit Court to figure out how to carry out an Arkansas Supreme Court order to re-examine whether Newman was competent to stand trial for capital murder in 2002.

    The hearing, which lasted over an hour and was not attended by Newman, included an agreement between prosecutors, defense and the Arkansas State Hospital on the best way to determine if Newman was evaluated properly by State Hospital Dr. Charles Mallory in 2002.

    Crawford County Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune said federal courts have since discovered that Mallory could have used incorrect test data or testing procedures in his evaluation, possibly leading to an incorrect finding of competency.

    On Wednesday, Circuit Court Judge Gary R. Cottrell directed Newman's defense attorney, Julie Brain, to give any new expert findings to the state hospital, whose director, Henry Burris, attended the hearing. Cottrell asked Burris if new information would allow ASH to re-visit its finding of Newman as competent in 2002.

    "Competency is a here and now issue, so that would be difficult," said Burris, who added the hospital would nonetheless try and look at any new information, including court records since then, to find out if there was anything that would have changed the determination that in 2002, Newman was competent to stand trial.

    Cottrell thanked Burris, and asked him to let the court know if they needed to have another consultation or interview with Newman, and if they did, the court would decide if that should be allowed.

    Cottrell also allowed Brain to file a motion for further discovery in the case, although he told her to limit that motion to specific information she thinks has been withheld thus far from Newman's defense.

    "I want to avoid a fishing expedition," the judge said.

    Brain promised him it would be "the absolute antithesis of a fishing expedition."

    The 52-year-old Newman was sentenced to death in 2002 for the 2001 mutilation and murder of 46-year-old Marie Cholette at a transient camp in Van Buren. He is currently being held at the Varner Supermax Unit in Grady.

    Cottrell gave Brain 75 days for additional discovery. Referring to a future competency hearing for Newman that will be held in circuit court, he asked Brain how many witnesses she expected to bring and how long of a hearing he should plan for. Brain said she expected to call seven expert witnesses and 17 "lay witnesses," and that five days should be sufficient. Cottrell said the five-day hearing would probably need to be spread out over two weeks, since the court also has other functions to perform.

    After McCune and Brain agreed that Newman has a right to be present during the hearing, Cottrell said an order of transport would need to be prepared beforehand.

    http://www.pressargus.com/articles/2...s04_050110.txt

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    Inmate Personal Information
    DOB: 08/04/1957
    Race: White
    Gender: Male


    Crime and Trial Information
    * County of conviction: Crawford
    * Number of counts: One
    * Race of Victims: White
    * Gender of Victims: Female
    * Date of crime: 02/07/2001
    * Date of Sentencing: 06/10/2002


    Legal Status
    Current Proceedings:
    Writ of coram nobis; habeas petition filed in
    W.D. Ark. and stayed pending exhaustion of
    claims in state court


    Attorney
    Julie Brain


    Court Opinions
    Newman v. State, 84 S.W.3d 443 (Ark. 2002) (finding that Newman's pro se motion to waive
    appeals is moot); Newman v. State, 84 S.W.3d 43 (Ark. 2002) (denying motion of trial counsel
    to be relieved as appellate counsel); Newman v. State, 85 S.W.3d 883 (Ark. 2002) (granting trial
    counsel's motion for relief as appellate counsel); Newman v. State, 2003 WL 204501 (Ark. Jan.
    30, 2003) (denying Newman's pro se motion to dismiss mandatory review of judgment and
    sentence); Newman v. State, 106 S.W.3d 438 (Ark. 2003) (affirming conviction and sentence);
    State v. Newman, 132 S.W.3d 438 (Ark. 2003) (reversing dismissal of Rule 37 proceedings by
    circuit court and remanding for competency evaluation); State v. Newman, 159 S.W.3d 309
    (Ark. 2004) (affirming circuit court's finding that Mr. Newman competently and knowingly
    waived post‐conviction remedies); State v. Newman, 2004 WL 670668 (Ark. April 1, 2004)
    (denying Newman's pro se motion to waive further appeals); State v. Newman, 193 S.W.3d 737
    (Ark. 2004) (staying execution and ordering briefing on mental retardation claims); State v.
    Newman, 205 S.W.3d 795 (Ark. 2005); Newman v. Norris, 2006 WL 559326 (W.D. Ark. 2006)
    (granting Newman leave to conduct discovery); Newman v. Norris, 2008 WL 222689 (W.D. Ark.
    Jan. 24, 2008) (finding, after evidentiary hearing, that Newman's habeas petition was timely
    and the statute of limitations was equitably tolled due to Newman's mental incompetence
    when he waived his post‐conviction appeal); Newman v. Norris, 2008 WL 2937806 (W.D. Ark.
    July 23, 2008) (granting in part Newman's motion to expand the record in support of actual
    innocence claim in light of what was "discoverable" when Newman's competency was
    questionable and he had forbidden his attorney to present any form of defense); Newman v.
    Norris, 597 F.Supp.2d 890 (W.D. Ark. 2009) (dismissing habeas corpus in part); Newman v.
    Norris, 2009 WL 708496 (W.D. Ark. March 16, 2009) (denying reconsideration); Newman v.
    State, 2009 WL 5449212 (Ark. Nov. 5, 2009) (granting Newman's petition to reinvest
    jurisdiction in the circuit court to consider a petition for writ of error coram nobis).


    Legal Issues
    On petition to seek a writ of error coram nobis:
    (1) incompetency at trial
    (2) Brady violation
    Other claims:
    (1) actual innocence
    (2) mental retardation

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    Newman Case: Lawyer Says Defendant Refused To Cooperate

    Had Rickey Dale Newman kept his mouth shut and allowed a lawyer to represent him, he might not be sitting on death row, said former Crawford County Public Defender Bob Marquette.

    “I think there’s a strong chance it would have been very difficult for the state to convict him,” Marquette said.

    Marquette represented Newman for a short time after Newman was arraigned March 7, 2001, for capital murder in connection with the death of 46-year-old Marie Cholette, until then-Circuit Court Judge Floyd “Pete” Rogers ruled that Newman could represent himself.

    Although Rogers told Newman that Marquette would still be available to assist him, Marquette said Newman refused to cooperate.

    Marquette said Newman wouldn’t meet with a psychiatrist he hired to evaluate him.

    “I felt confident he would determine he (Newman) wasn’t competent, but he refused to cooperate,” Marquette said.

    Marquette said Newman also refused to allow him and fellow public defender Derek Barlow to pursue the possibility that a man investigators eliminated as a suspect might be the person who killed Cholette.

    “It got to the point we were so frustrated … we were doing things without his knowledge, trying to help him when he didn’t want help,” Marquette said.

    Newman also persisted in speaking to police without representation and wrote numerous letters to Rogers, investigators and the prosecuting attorney’s office insisting he was guilty and demanding the death penalty.

    Although Newman confessed, Marquette pointed out that Newman was able to provide details about the crime only after he’d been provided with police reports, crime-scene photos and other investigative materials.

    During his confession at trial, Newman’s account of the crime was still inconsistent with certain physical evidence.

    But Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune said it’s not uncommon for someone to embellish or omit details from a confession because sometimes they don’t want to say exactly what happened or they want to justify their actions.

    McCune believes Newman killed Cholette after she rejected his sexual advances, not because she claimed affiliation with a railroad gang to which Newman said he belonged, as he claimed in his confession and at trial.

    And if Newman is granted a new trial, McCune said he believes there is still evidence to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, although some witnesses have died, some evidence was lost — either by Van Buren police or the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory — and subsequent DNA testing proved a hair found on a glove owned by Newman didn’t belong to Cholette.

    McCune said DNA testing disproved a criminalist’s claim that the hair of the glove was “microscopically similar” to a sample taken from Cholette doesn’t hurt the state’s case against Newman.

    The same criminalist also testified that a hair found on the bedding where Cholette’s body was recovered is microscopically similar to a sample taken from Newman, but that evidence has been lost.

    McCune said the results of the DNA testing and lost hair don’t really hurt the state’s case because Cholette’s body was found in a “hobo camp” not her own, so finding hair and other DNA evidence that didn’t belong to Newman or Cholette isn’t surprising.

    The state still has crime-scene photos, Newman’s confessions and surveillance video that proves Newman was with Cholette, and the officers who worked the case are available to testify, McCune said.

    Although an upcoming hearing before Circuit Court Judge Gary Cottrell will focus on whether Newman was competent to stand trial in 2002, Federal Public Defender Julie Brain argued in a federal court filing that the available evidence points to Newman’s innocence.

    The evidence cited by Brain includes:

    • There was no blood found on clothes or boots that the state alleges Newman was wearing when Cholette was killed, although an associate medical examiner testified that Cholette was cut from her neck to her groin; her right carotid artery and jugular were severed; and her genitals were mutilated while she was still alive.

    • A boot print found in blood at the crime scene did not match Newman’s boots.

    • Witnesses who saw Newman not long after he allegedly mutilated Cholette reported nothing unusual about his demeanor or seeing blood on his clothing.

    • Although McCune argued Cholette’s murder was a sex crime, DNA testing proved that semen on a blanket covering Cholette’s body did not originate from Newman.

    • Newman claimed he got Cholette drunk and drugged her before killing her, a claim contradicted by a state expert.

    • Cholette told a witness shortly before her death that she was being harassed and sexually assaulted by two men he saw with her in a car outside the Crawford County Detention Center.

    • The state claimed that Cholette was killed inside the tent where she was found, and Newman claimed he killed her in the tent. But evidence actually proves she was killed elsewhere and moved to the tent.

    A report prepared by a defense crime-scene expert notes the minimal amount of blood found where Cholette’s body was recovered and leaves and debris on the back of her body and legs suggests she was on her back unclothed outside the tent when she was killed and her body then placed in the tent.

    McCune conceded it is possible Cholette was killed outside the tent and moved inside, but because her body wasn’t found until a week after she is believed to have died, it’s also possible that environmental factors account for the lack of blood.

    “It rained (for several days), and that could have washed the blood away,” McCune said.

    The defense also argues that Newman gave false confessions as a result of mental illness and an intellectual disability.

    Allison Redlich, a Delmar, N.Y., psychologist, said in a report prepared for the defense Newman’s case has classic elements of a false confession.

    • The confession is the only evidence against Newman.

    • He only provided any details of the crime after he was presented crime-scene photos, police reports and other evidence while he was acting as his own attorney.

    • His confession led to no new evidence.

    Ten years after Newman was arrested, Marquette said he’s not sure what to think about Newman’s mental state.

    “I don’t know if he’s just totally mentally incompetent or this is some kind of ploy on his part; I don’t know,” Marquette said.

    But Marquette said he’s has no doubt about Newman’s biggest fear if he’s tried again.

    “Rickey’s greatest fear is not that he’ll be executed, not that he’ll be found guilty; his greatest fear is that he’ll end up with life without parole and have to spend the rest of his life in prison. That’s his greatest fear and there’s a possibility that could happen,” Marquette said.

    There is also the possibility that Newman could win a new trial but refuse to cooperate with Brain.

    In a letter written to Cottrell late last year, Newman said he would cooperate with Brain, but he hopes she loses his case.

    When contacted for comment for this report, Brain said it is the policy of the Federal Public Defender’s Office to not comment on pending cases.

    http://www.swtimes.com/special_repor...cc4c002e0.html

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    Death row inmate will get competency hearing

    A competency hearing for death row inmate Rickey Dale Newman is scheduled to start today and stretch into next week as Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Gary R. Cottrell attempts to determine if Newman was competent to stand trial for capital murder.

    The hearing was originally scheduled for last November, but was continued in part because the Arkansas State Hospital had not yet decided if it could re-evaluate its 2002 finding that Newman was competent. Later that month, Dr. Clint Gray testified that he believed he could properly re-examine that finding.

    Federal courts have found that incorrect test data or procedures may have been used in Newman's 2002 evaluation, possibly leading to an incorrect finding of competency.

    Last month, Gray submitted his report to the court. The report finds that the 53-year-old Newman suffered from no mental illness and was competent to stand trial. Julie Brain, Newman's federal public defender, disagrees with that finding and cites reports from two defense experts to the contrary.

    Newman was convicted of capital murder in the slaying of 46-year-old Marie Cholette at a transient camp near Lee Creek in 2001.

    The Arkansas Supreme Court ordered the circuit court to look at the possibility that exculpatory evidence was withheld from Newman's defense team before his capital murder trial, in addition to the competency issue.

    Newman is currently being held at the Varner Supermax Unit in Gould, although a transport order has been issued to bring him to the hearing Thursday.

    http://www.pressargus.com/articles/2...s04_030911.txt

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