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Thread: Harve Lamar Johnson - Pennsylvania Death Row

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    Harve Lamar Johnson - Pennsylvania Death Row


    Darisabel Baez




    Summary of Offense:

    Convicted for the April 6, 2008 fatal beating of two-year-old Darisabel Baez, the daughter of his girlfriend.

    Johnson was sentenced to death in York County on November 16, 2009.

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    November 6, 2009

    Jury gives Harve Johnson the death penalty

    Jurors deciding whether Harve L. Johnson should die for fatally beating 2-year-old Darisabel Baez spent much of last week hearing about the little girl's short, tragic life.

    On Monday, they were reminded of her suffering by senior prosecutor Tim Barker. He called her murder a 45- to 60-minute “heinous, cruel” attack that amounted to torture.

    But they also heard about another tragic childhood — that of the 28-year-old Johnson himself. Johnson wept as he listened to his mother, Cassandra Lloyd, and his sister, Heather Lloyd, describe his childhood as one of violence and homelessness due to his mother's ongoing drug addictions.

    Cassandra Lloyd, 53, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, whimpered and tears ran down her face as she was slowly led to the witness stand by defense attorney Ari Weitzman.

    She admitted she used alcohol and drugs — including crack cocaine and heroin — while pregnant with five of her six children, including Johnson.

    Until Johnson was about 7 years old, the two of them, along with his older brother Heath, were homeless “lots of times, for long times,” she said. “We lived in abandoned buildings, we lived in hallways,”

    http://yorkdispatch.inyork.com/yd/lo...050?source=rss

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    Pennsylvania v. Johnson

    Opinion Date: April 26, 2012

    Judge: Eakin

    Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

    Appellant Harve Johnson made a direct appeal to the Supreme Court nunc pro tunc following a jury's imposition of the death sentence for his conviction on first degree murder charges. At the penalty phase, the jury found two aggravating circumstances and one mitigating circumstance. The jury further found the aggravating circumstances outweighted the mitigating circumstance, and sentenced Appellant to death. Appellant raised fourteen issues on appeal, all implicating the admission of certain evidence and sufficiency of the admitted evidence presented at trial. Upon review, the Supreme Court determined the Commonwealth provided sufficient evidence to prove each element of first degree murder. Furthermore, the Court found no abuse of discretion by the trial court in admitting the evidence Appellant complained of at trial. Accordingly, the Court affirmed Appellant's conviction and sentence.
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    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, Johnson's petition for a writ of certiorari was DENIED.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District
    Case Nos.: (608 CAP)
    Decision Date: April 26, 2012
    Rehearing Denied: August 10, 2012
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    On June 20, 2013, Johnson filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/pen...cv01666/94589/

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    Execution warrant signed for man who killed Darisabel Baez in York

    Gov. Tom Corbett has signed a death warrant for the man who brutally beat 2-year-old Darisabel Baez to death in April 2008.

    In a trial that drove veteran police officers close to tears, a York County jury convicted Harve Johnson, the boyfriend of Darisabel's mother, of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death in November 2009.

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence in April 2012.

    Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Barker, who prosecuted Johnson, said Thursday, "The facts of the case support the sentence of death. We stand by the verdict and the death penalty for Harve Johnson."

    This is Johnson's first death warrant. He does have avenues of appeal remaining before his scheduled Sept. 10 execution at Rockview State Prison.

    Darisabel's mother, a medically sedated Neida Baez, testified at trial for the commonwealth. She pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for not intervening in the beating and was sentenced to five to 10 years in state prison.

    At trial, forensic pathologist Dr. Wayne Ross told the jury it took a minimum of 45 minutes for Johnson to inflict the more than 200 injuries on Darisabel. The jury viewed photographs, taken before and after her death, of the girl's swollen face and welt marks on her small body.

    Prosecutors and police believed Johnson beat the girl with his fists, a video game cord and her own hiking boot, the last led a waffle impression on her skin.

    Ross said Darisabel also had bruises to the back of her heart and liver, her right lung and adrenal gland and her pancreas. He also found her brain was swollen and surrounded by blood and evidence she had been choked.

    Johnson kept his head down and plugged his ears with his fingers during the medical testimony.

    During the penalty phase of the trial, Johnson's mother, Cassandra Lloyd, testified to her son's own abusive upbringing at her hands in Spanish Harlem, N.Y.

    Prosecutor Tim Barker countered by telling the jury that Johnson 's childhood was neither "an excuse nor an explanation" for Darisabel's brutal beating.

    "What happened to the defendant in childhood was appalling," he said. "But it does not mitigate what he did to Darisabel ."

    Johnson's warrant for the murder of Baez is the 27th execution warrant signed by Corbett.

    Executions in Pennsylvania are carried out by lethal injection.

    AT A GLANCE

    The crime: Harve Lamar Johnson, now 32, fatally beat 2-year-old Darisabel Baez, his girlfriend's daughter, with a video game cord, one of the girl's hiking boots and his fists on April 6, 2008, in the couple's apartment at 710 W. Philadelphia St., York. The girl died the next day at Hershey Medical Center.

    The trial: A York County jury convicted Johnson, then 28, of first-degree murder on Nov. 13, 2009, after four days of testimony, and sentenced him to death following a penalty hearing. Neida Elizabeth Baez, the girl's mother, previously pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for not intervening in Darisabel's behalf. She was sentenced to five to 10 years.

    What's next: Gov. Tom signed Johnson's death warrant today. He is scheduled for execution on Sept. 10, 2013.

    York County death row inmates

    The following 11 inmates are on death row for York County murders:

    Paul Gamboa-Taylor, for the May 18, 1991, hammer slayings of four family members: his wife, Valeria L. Gamboa-Taylor; their two children, Paul, 4, and Jasmine, 2; and another child, Lance Barshinger, 2. He received a life sentence for killing his mother-in-law, Donna M. Barshinger.

    Daniel Jacobs for the Feb. 10, 1992, stabbing death of his girlfriend, Tammy Lee Mock of York, and the drowning of their 7-month-old daughter, Holly Danielle Jacobs.

    Hubert Lester Michael Jr., for the July 12, 1993, abduction and shooting death of 16-year-old Trista Elizabeth Eng in the Dillsburg area.

    Mark Newtown Spotz, for the Feb. 2, 1995, shooting death of Penny Gunnet, 41, of New Salem, his third victim in a four-day crime spree through central and eastern Pennsylvania.

    John Amos Small was sentenced June 19, 1996, after being convicted of first-degree murder and attempted rape of 17-year-old Cheryl Smith, whose body was found in West Manheim Township in 1981.

    Kevin Brian Dowling, for the Oct. 20, 1997, shooting death of Jennifer Lynn Myers inside her art and frame shop just outside Spring Grove.

    Milton Montalvo and Noel Montalvo, for the April 19, 1998, stabbing deaths of Miriam Asencio-Cruz and Manuel Ramirez Santana, also known as Nelson Lugo, inside the Cruz's York apartment.

    Kevin Edward Mattison, for the Dec. 9, 2008, robbery and shooting of Christian Agosto, who died a week later.

    Hector Morales, for breaking into the York home of Ronald Simmons Jr., 42, in July 2009 and shooting him on the day Simmons was to testify against Morales in a drug trial.

    Harve Johnson, for the April 2008 beating death of 2-year-old Darisabel Baez.

    The York County District Attorney's Office has two more death penalty cases awaiting prosecution.

    http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_23685273...y-child-killer
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    Darisabel Baez's killer, like others with death warrants, has many appeals possible

    Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tim Barker does not expect Harve Johnson will meet his scheduled Sept. 10 execution date.

    Gov. Tom Corbett signed Johnson's death warrant -- the first for the man who fatally beat 2-year-old Darisabel Baez in April 2008 -- on Thursday.

    Among the other 10 men sent to death row from York County, eight have been there longer than Johnson and three have had multiple death warrants stayed.

    Barker said Johnson's next avenue of appeal should be his Post-Conviction Relief Act hearing, a boilerplate motion challenging the effectiveness of his defense attorney through trial. Filing that motion would result in an immediate stay, he said.

    Barker said that if the conviction survives that challenge, Johnson can appeal to the Pennsylvania appellate courts and then the federal courts.

    "Any attacks on ineffective counsel would be meritless," Barker said. "His attorneys vigorously defended him."

    But, Barker said, he expects there will be a stay because of the appeals available.

    No one has been executed in Pennsylvania since July 6, 1999. There are 190 men and three women on death row, according to the Department of Corrections.

    Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille went on record in 2011, criticizing what he described as the delay tactics and frivolous filings used by the Federal Defenders office, which also represents some of York County's death row inmates.

    Barker said that avenues of appeals for condemned inmates can "stretch out the process until it becomes frivolous."

    "It's unfair to the victims (and their families) and society in general," he said.

    Barker said the York County District Attorney's Office "stands by the verdict and death penalty" in Johnson's case.

    "A 2-year-old was tortured," he said. "The facts of the case support a sentence of death. This is definitely a capital case."

    At the penalty phase of Johnson's trial, his defense attorney, Ari Weitzman, said Johnson did not intend to torture Darisabel but that he "lost his mind and freaked out." Johnson's mother testifed that she beat him when he was a child, and Weitzman said Johnson's childhood had a bearing on what he did. He asked the jury to sentence Johnson to life without parole.

    "He's hardened, his heart has been ripped out so many stinking times," Weitzman said in court. "He came from a place none of us can understand. He's got hell ahead of him regardless of the verdict."

    The U.S. Supreme Court already has refused to hear Johnson's appeal in April after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and death sentence a year earlier.

    York County death-row inmates

    York County has 11 men on death row for first-degree murder convictions here:

    --- Paul Gamboa-Taylor, 53, for the May 18, 1991, hammer slayings of four family members: his wife, Valeria L. Gamboa-Taylor; their two children, Paul, 4, and Jasmine, 2; and another child, Lance Barshinger, 2. He pleaded guilty and received a life sentence for killing his mother-in-law, Donna M. Barshinger.

    Last court action: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the denial of his third request for post-conviction relief on May 29, 2013.

    --- Daniel Jacobs, 43, for the Feb. 10, 1992, stabbing death of his girlfriend, Tammy Lee Mock of York, and the drowning of their 7-month-old daughter, Holly Danielle Jacobs.

    Last court action: On Jan. 30, 2013, York County Judge Richard K. Renn ruled that Jacobs, pursuant to the Department of Welfare and the Department of Corrections, remains incompetent and that there is no treatment available that would render him competent. Jacobs remains incarcerated on a life sentence.

    --- Hubert Lester Michael Jr., 56, for the July 12, 1993, abduction and shooting death of 16-year-old Trista Elizabeth Eng in the Dillsburg area.

    Last court action: After coming within hours of execution on Nov. 8, 2012, Michael's execution was stayed and his appeal is before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Death warrants signed: 3.

    --- Mark Newton Spotz, 42, for the Feb. 2, 1995, shooting death of Penny Gunnet, 41, of New Salem, his third victim in a four-day crime spree through central and eastern Pennsylvania.

    Last court action: In a convoluted case where Spotz was convicted of killing three other people, including his brother, Spotz's York County case -- currently before the U.S. Middle District Court -- is under a stay pending court action in his Clearfield County case, which was used as an aggravating circumstance to seek the death penalty in York County. Death warrants signed: 6.

    --- John Amos Small, 53, was sentenced June 19, 1996, after being convicted of first-degree murder and rape of 17-year-old Cheryl Smith, whose body was found in West Manheim Township in 1981.

    Last court action: Currently on appeal before the U.S. Middle District Court. Death warrants signed: 3.

    --- Kevin Brian Dowling, 55, for the Oct. 20, 1997, shooting death of Jennifer Lynn Myers inside her art and frame shop just outside Spring Grove.

    Last court action: The U.S. Middle District Court lifted his stay of execution on Dec. 7, 2012. Lebanon County Sr. Judge Robert Eby struck Dowling's petitions to file an amended writ of habeas corpus and post-conviction relief in May. Eby ruled Dowling's case remains stayed until further action by the Middle District Court. Death warrants signed: 1.

    --- Brothers Milton Montalvo, 50, and Noel Montalvo, 48, for the April 19, 1998, stabbing deaths of Miriam Asencio-Cruz, Milton Montalvo's estranged common-law wife, and Manuel Ramirez Santana, also known as Nelson Lugo, inside the Cruz' York apartment.

    Last court action: Noel Montalvo has appealed York County court's denial of his post-conviction relief to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Milton Montalvo filed an amended post-conviction relief petition in York County court on July 26, 2012. Death warrants signed: Milton Montalvo, 1; Noel Montalvo, 1.

    --- Harve Johnson, 32, for the April 6, 2008 fatal beating of 2-year-old Darisabel Baez, his girlfriend's daughter.

    Last court action: Johnson's conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal by the state Supreme Court on April 26, 2012. Gov. Tom Corbett signed his first execution notice on July 18. He is scheduled for execution on Sept. 10. Death warrants signed: 1.

    --- Kevin Edward Mattison, 36, for the Dec. 9, 2008, robbery and execution shooting of Christian Agosto, who died a week later.

    Last court action: Mattison's direct appeal was argued before the state Supreme Court on Sept. 12, 2012. No decision has been issued.

    --- Hector Morales, 30, for breaking into the York home of Ronald Simmons Jr., 42, in July 2009 and shooting him on the day Simmons was to testify against Morales in a drug trial.

    Last court action: Morales' direct appeal was argued before the state Supreme Court on May 9, 2012. No decision has been issued.

    http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_23700241...h-warrants-has
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    Our take: Harve Johnson, accept your fate

    Assorted thoughts on the Darisabel Baez case and child abuse:

    Horrific killing: Any person of conscience ought to have, at the very least, mixed feelings about capital punishment.

    Even if you think it is appropriate for the state to execute killers, you should be concerned about fair trials, due process and robust opportunities for appeal - lest an innocent person be put to death.

    We've seen so many cases where people have been sentenced to death only to be proved innocent later. York County native Ray Krone is a perfect example.

    That said, some cases just cry out for such eye-for-an-eye justice, and the killing of Darisabel Baez is one of them.

    In 2008, Harve Lamar Johnson absolutely brutalized the 2-year-old girl in the York home he shared with Darisabel's mother.

    He inflicted injuries all over her tiny body that later killer her, and experts at trial asserted the beating took a minimum of 45 minutes - utter torture.

    At trial, Mr. Johnson bowed his head and covered his ears rather than see or hear the medical evidence. He couldn't even look at what he'd done to a little child.

    If any killer from York County deserves the death penalty - he does.

    This is not a case where there is much - or really any - reasonable doubt about guilt.

    Last week, Gov. Tom Corbett signed his death warrant.

    He is scheduled to be executed Sept. 10 at Rockview State Correctional Institution.

    The execution will likely be stayed. Mr. Johnson has many avenues of appeal left, and he is apparently planning to exercise them.

    He is due the due process he denied his victim.

    But few in this community would shed a tear were he to willingly accept such a fate.

    Report abuse: If there can be a "silver lining" from such a brutal killing as the one suffered by Darisabel Baez, it is that the case has helped awaken our community - rudely so.

    The nightmare the 2-year-old suffered made many realize the need to be more alert to signs of abuse.

    The Darisabel case, along with the Jerry Sandusky case, educated people about the importance of reporting suspicions or concerns - or even personally intervening in public if a child appears to in danger.

    We saw such a situation recently, where a bystander at Walmart saw what she thought was a man inappropriately touching a child in a shopping cart while her mother's back was turned. She did the right thing and spoke up.

    The suspect is innocent until proven guilty, but the episode is a good example of mustering the courage to intervene.

    And it does take courage.

    It can take even more courage to intervene in situations where you know the abuser or the abused - where there might be repercussions in circles of family and friends.

    But we must find that courage.

    Those who witness abuse but fail to act are nearly as guilty as the abuser.

    In the Darisabel case - that was literally so.

    Her mother is serving five to 10 years for her abject failure to protect her daughter from a monster.

    This editorial expresses the opinions of the York Daily Record/Sunday News Editorial Board:

    Sara Glines, publisher

    James McClure, editor

    Scott Fisher, editorial page editor

    Samantha Dellinger, graphic artist

    Jessica Sprenkle, assistant sports editor

    http://www.ydr.com/opinion/ci_237139...cept-your-fate
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Harve Johnson seeks stay of execution

    Scheduled for execution on Sept. 10, the man who killed 2-year-old Darisabel Baez filed for a stay Tuesday in York County Common Pleas Court.

    Harve Johnson, 32, was convicted of first-degree murder on Nov. 13, 2009 for the fatal April 2008 beating of his girlfriend's daughter. Gov. Tom Corbett signed his death warrant on July 18.

    This is Johnson's first death warrant and avenues of appeal remain open to him.

    This request for an emergency stay of execution also includes a motion for a post-conviction review of his trial and death sentence. The motion does not identify any alleged trial errors.

    According to court documents, Johnson does not at this time have an attorney but is requesting Michael Wiseman, a Philadelphia capital defense attorney, to represent him.

    Wiseman represented Johnson on his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and death sentence on April 26, 2012. Wiseman also signed the documents filed Tuesday in York County court.

    Much of the filing requesting the stay of execution and a post-conviction review is a boilerplate outline of a condemned inmate's constitutional rights.

    A Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) hearing focuses on the actions of the defense leading up to and during trial, and challenges whether the defense provided to the defendant was zealous and effective in its representation. A finding of ineffectiveness of counsel results in a new trial.

    In his concluding paragraph in the request for a stay, Wiseman states, "This court should not allow Mr. Johnson to be executed without a meaningful opportunity to investigate and develop claims for relief, and for those claims to be fully and fairly heard."

    Johnson's week-long trial ended with two hours of deliberation before the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.

    http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_23715253...stay-execution
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    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    The Timeline

    April 6, 2008 - York City Police officers rush to a second-floor apartment at 710 W. Philadelphia St. after county control sends out a dispatch for a 2-year-old in cardiac arrest.

    April 7, 2008 - Darisabel Baez, 2, dies at Hershey Medical Center from multiple blunt force trauma. Her mother's boyfriend, Harve Johnson, is arrested on murder charges and jailed without bail.

    Aug. 8, 2008 - The York County District Attorney's Office files an intent to seek the death penalty.

    Nov. 9, 2009 - Johnson is prosecuted for capital murder.

    Nov. 13, 2009 - A jury convicts Johnson of first-degree murder.

    Nov. 16, 2009 - The jury agrees on a sentence of death.

    April. 26, 2012 - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirms Johnson's conviction and death sentence on direct appeal.

    July 18, 2013 - Gov. Tom Corbett signs Johnson's first death warrant, scheduling execution for Sept. 10.

    July 23, 2013 - Johnson, through an attorney not yet appointed to represent him, files an emergency motion for a stay of execution and a post-conviction relief hearing.

    http://www.ydr.com/crime/ci_23715253...stay-execution
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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