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Thread: Alabama Capital Punishment News

  1. #21
    Admiral CnCP Legend JT's Avatar
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    It does raise the question of what is the point of having bifurcated capital murder trials if the sentencer is effectively able to do as he pleases. Alabama's wholly advisory system renders Gregg toothless even if a semi-plausible academic argument can be made to reconcile them. It might not be an issue were there not to be an appearance of arbitrariness fuelled, say Sotomayor and Breyer, by the trial judges' electoral concerns.
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  2. #22
    Moderator Dave from Florida's Avatar
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    Surprising that SCOTUS has not accepted a case like this to examine Spaziano.

  3. #23
    Admiral CnCP Legend JT's Avatar
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    I suspect it will happen eventually. Alabama's procedure clearly defenestrates the Gregg holding, and Alabama is one of only two states so to do.
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  4. #24
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    Attorney General Luther Strange seeks to quicken the pace of executions in Alabama

    MONTGOMERY, Alabama - Attorney General Luther Strange is seeking to accelerate the pace of death penalty appeals in Alabama, noting decades can go by before inmates see the execution chamber.

    Strange said a bill to streamline the death penalty appeals process will be a top priority for him in the upcoming legislative session.

    “It shouldn’t take decades through the appeals process to get justice for families,” Strange said in an interview.

    The attorney general said death penalty appeals in Alabama currently “seem endless with excessive delays that serve only to prolong pain and postpone justice for the victims of these heinous crimes.”

    Strange is announcing his legislative agenda today in a series of press conferences around the state.

    He is also backing proposals that would make it a capital offense to kill someone at a school or day care and also to give state law enforcement the power to do wiretaps during murder, drug and other certain investigations.

    Currently, a person given the death penalty has a series of direct appeals, first to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, and then to the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. After those are complete, the defendant can begin Rule 32 appeals, post-conviction appeals that look at other issues such as the trial lawyer's competence.

    The proposed legislation, dubbed The Fair Justice Act, would run both sets of appeals simultaneously. Capital defendants would be required to file Rule 32 petitions within 180 days of filing their first direct appeal.

    Strange said the proposal is similar to what Texas and Virginia have done.

    The average stay on the state’s death row has been nearly 16 years since the U.S reinstated the death penalty. However, the time between sentencing and execution is expected to increase since the inmates currently on death row have already been there an average of 13 years.

    The longest-serving death row inmate in Alabama has been there for 34 years. Arthur Lee Giles was sentenced to death in 1979 when he was 19 years old.

    The legislation is backed by district attorneys across the state.

    “The Fair Justice Act takes a comprehensive approach to streamlining the appeals process in death penalty cases so that family members of victims will not have to suffer for decades awaiting justice to be done,” St. Clair District Attorney Richard J. Minor said in a statement about the bill. Minor is president of the Alabama District Attorneys Association.

    Strange said the expedited process would not infringe on defendants’ rights.

    “You get the same level of appeals, but you do them on a dual track,” Strange said. The defendant would still have a round of federal appeals.

    But the proposal is expected to draw opposition from death penalty opponents and others who say it will get quicker executions but not necesarily better justice.

    The attorney general is also backing legislation:

    - To allow state law enforcement the ability to do wire taps for investigations into murder, kidnapping, child pornography, human trafficking, sex offenses involving children under 12, and felony drug offenses. Alabama law enforcement organizations currently do not have the ability to seek wiretaps, although police in many other states do. The wiretaps would have to be approved by the court.

    - To include murders at a school or day care in the list of crimes that can be prosecuted as a capital offenses.

    - To let prosecutors grant immunity and compel testimony from witnesses. Alabama is the only state that allows the witness to decline immunity and thus to withhold testimony, according to the attorney general’s office.

    The 2014 legislative session begins as Strange is seeking a second term as attorney general. The session begins Jan. 14.

    "We are proposing fair and sensible changes to make the system work better for everyone. We also send a clear message that we will not tolerate the slaughter of our children at schools, with changes in the law that specify it is a capital crime to murder them and others who are particularly vulnerable," Strange said.

    http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/01/alab...l_luthe_1.html
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  5. #25
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    Death penalty bills to start off on fast track in Alabama Legislature

    MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- An effort to shorten the appeal time in death penalty cases is hitting the fast track in the Alabama Legislature.

    The bill seeks to reduce the time between sentencing and execution by streamlining the appeals process. The House and Senate Judiciary Committees have scheduled a joint public hearing for Tuesday. Votes are expected as soon as Wednesday.

    "Waiting 20, 25 years is not justice," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Cam Ward, R-Alabaster.

    Backers of the bill say it is unfair to victims' families that decades can elapse between sentencing and execution. Defense lawyers say the shortened appeal window could result in the execution of innocent people.

    Currently, a person given the death penalty has a series of direct appeals, first to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, and then to the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. After those are complete, the defendant can begin Rule 32 appeals, post-conviction appeals that look at other issues such as the trial lawyer's competence.

    The proposed legislation, dubbed "The Fair Justice Act", would run both sets of appeals simultaneously. Capital defendants would be required to file Rule 32 petitions within 180 days of filing their first direct appeal. Death Row inmates could still make federal appeals.

    “You continue to have all of the same appeals that you have right now,” Ward said.

    "The man who killed my brother was on Death Row for over 30 years," said Janette Grantham, director of Victims of Crime and Leniency, which supports the bill.

    Coffee County Sheriff Neil Grantham was shot and killed in 1979 by a former prisoner as he arrived at the jail.

    "He assassinated him right there, and my brother was unarmed," Grantham said.

    Grantham said after decades of appeals her brother's killer had his sentence reduced to life in prison without parole. She would give only his prison ID number, because she says she will never speak his name.

    Grantham said years of appeals take a toll on the family.

    "It's horrible. What I always called it was the appeals nightmare. It just brings it all back and you had to relive it time and time again," Grantham said.

    But defense lawyers say the change could result in the execution of innocent people.

    "Everybody who has been exonerated required more time than this bill allows," said Bryan Stevenson, director of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative.

    The long delay between sentencing and execution is often caused because Death Row inmates can not find lawyers, he said.

    Defense lawyer Susan James said that while she is sympathetic to the pain of victims' families, the change would make it difficult for defendants to file Rule 32 appeals.

    "When the state is going to take a life following a capital murder conviction, there is just no margin for error," James said. Rule 32 issues often aren't identified until someone takes an independent review of the trial work.

    Stevenson predicted the bill would result in expensive litigation and delay instead of speeding up execution dates.

    "They are simply not going to be the lawyers to handle these cases,"

    Stevenson said he was concerned that lawmakers were rushing to a vote.

    "It's a very complicated piece of legislation. No one has had time to review it," he said.

    "It's almost as if they want to vote on it before anyone has figured out all the problems," Stevenson said.

    http://blog.al.com/wire/2014/01/deat...o_start_o.html

  6. #26
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    Death penalty appeal changes approved by Senate committee

    A Senate committee Wednesday approved legislation aimed at shortening the time taken during the appeals process in death penalty cases.

    The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7 to 1, with one abstention, to approve the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison. It now moves to the full Senate.

    The legislation focuses on two of the three phases of a death penalty appeal process. In the first, known as a direct appeal, issues and facts of the case are addressed. The direct appeals process is followed by a phase known as a Rule 32 process, where issues such as the effectiveness of counsel and access to evidence are raised. Both appeal processes can go as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, and under current state law, the first round of appeals must be exhausted before the second can begin.

    The proposal would put both the first and second rounds of appeals on a dual track process. If implemented, those convicted of a capital crime would have to file their Rule 32 petitions within 180 days of beginning the direct appeal process. In addition, a circuit court would have to rule on a Rule 32 appeal within 180 days of a direct appeal process being concluded.

    Family members of crime victims testified in a public hearing Tuesday that the long appeals process can force them to relive the traumas their relatives suffered Holtzclaw told the committee that most of those appealing the cases had been found guilty of their crimes.

    “We can’t lose sight of fact these people were found guilty in the jury process and condemned,” he said.

    Critics of the legislation said the state already provides inadequate counsel to death row inmates, and suggested the change in the appeals process would further burden a system straining to keep up. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said he feared that trying to assuage the pain of crime victims could lead to those wrongfully condemned being sent to the death chamber.

    “We’re willing to take out all these folks who may be innocent,” he said. “We’re willing to take them out to address what you just said.”

    http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...nate-committee
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  7. #27
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    AG Applauds Committee Approvals in Senate and House for Death Penalty Bills

    (MONTGOMERY) -- Attorney General Luther Strange announced that the two bills in the Fair Justice Act package Wednesday were approved by the Judiciary Committees of both the Alabama Senate and House of Representatives. He applauded the committees’ positive action and urged members of the Legislature to move forward in enacting these important measures.

    The Attorney General advocates this legislation to make death penalty appeals more efficient, while preserving and strengthening safeguards for fairness. He also wants to extend certain circumstances in which the death penalty can be applied, such as shootings at a school.

    “Death penalty appeals seem endless, with excessive delays that serve only to prolong pain and postpone justice for the victims of these heinous crimes,” said Attorney General Strange. “We are proposing fair and sensible changes to make the system work better for everyone. We also want to send a clear message that we will not tolerate attacks on children at schools, with changes in the law that specify it is a capital crime to murder them and others who are particularly vulnerable.”

    The Fair Justice Act was developed in coordination with the Alabama District Attorneys Association. There are two separate bills to amend different parts of the death penalty law, both of which are sponsored by Rep. Lynn Greer and Sen. Bill Holtzclaw.

    The first bill, HB 216 and SB 194, addresses the cumbersome and inefficient appeals process. Following a capital conviction, there is a period of “direct appeals” and only after these are fully completed—sometimes more than several years later—does the defendant begin the next round of appeals, which is a “Rule 32” petition for post-conviction relief. The Fair Justice Act requires capital defendants to file Rule 32 petitions within 180 days of filing their first direct appeal. Capital defendants would receive better representation by having their claims considered earlier in the process, and indigent defendants would be appointed counsel for the Rule 32 petition within 30 days of being sentenced. Finally, the Fair Justice Act calls for a final decision by the circuit court on the Rule 32 petition within 180 days after the direct appeal is completed. This act will make the appellate process more efficient while maintaining the same opportunities for court review and enhancing representation currently provided to death row defendants.

    The second bill, HB 218 and SB 193, provides important protections for schoolchildren and certain others who are particularly vulnerable by expanding classifications for killings that may be prosecuted as capital offenses. These offenses would now include the murder of any person on a school campus, any person in a day care or child care facility, anyone who is covered by a “protection from abuse” order when the murder was committed for intimidation or retaliation for the order, and any family member of law enforcement or a public official when the murder was intended for intimidation or retaliation against the officer or official. The Fair Justice Act also makes it an aggravating circumstance—a factor to be considered in determining whether to impose the death penalty—to murder a law enforcement officer when the officer is acting in the line of duty.

    “I am pleased that these bills are moving quickly through the Legislature and that both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees have taken our recommendations to make Alabama’s death penalty laws stronger, more efficient, and more just,” said Attorney General Strange. “I especially want to thank our sponsors, Sen. Bill Holtzclaw and Rep. Lynn Greer, for their outstanding leadership in moving this important legislation forward. I urge the Legislature to swiftly vote on and give final approval to these reforms.”

    http://www.wtvy.com/news/alabama/hea...241551741.html

  8. #28
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Madison County criminal court cases looming in 2014 include child deaths, capital murder trials

    By Brian Lawson
    on December 31, 2013 at 3:24 PM, updated January 01, 2014 at 1:04 AM

    HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Several of the high-profile criminal cases looming in 2014 in Madison County share the particularly grim trait that the victims involved are children.

    Three separate capital murder cases charge a parent in the death of their son or daughter and a fourth case alleges a child was sexually abused and the subject of child pornography at the hands of his father and the father's domestic partner.
    The cases are at various stages in the court system.
    Marc Stone, charged in the February strangulation and drowning deaths of his wife and 7-year-old son in south Huntsville, was indicted last month. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Stone and a tentative trial date could be set during a status conference in February.
    Desiree Childers, 27, also faces a capital murder charge in the drowning death of her 7-month-old daughter. Childers, who was just released on a $500,000 bond, had a preliminary hearing in November and her case is pending before a Madison County grand jury. Prosecutors have not said if they will seek the death penalty for Childers.
    The capital murder case of Maurice Antionne Cartwright in the death of his young son is also pending before a Madison County grand jury. Cartwright, 33, was originally charged with aggravated child abuse on May 1 following an emergency room visit where medical personnel allegedly found signs the child had been choked and suffered brain trauma. The child, Jeremyah Shoulders, died May 2.
    Two Huntsville men are set for a preliminary hearing Jan. 8 on an array of charges including sexual torture and aggravated child abuse centered around an alleged child pornography ring that involved the son of one of the two men charged.
    Earlier this month Madison County District Court Judge Alison Austin agreed to prosecutors' requests to require a $1 million cash bond for both Carl Philip Herold and his domestic partner Charles Dunnavant, in connection with numerous charges ranging from sodomy to Herold allowing his child to be depicted in child pornography.
    Prosecutors have said the case, which is being investigated by the FBI along with the Huntsville Police Department, also involves other defendants in other jurisdictions.
    In February an unusual murder case is set for trial Feb. 10 involving four defendants, each with his own attorney, who are charged in the death of Marlo Patton of Huntsville. Patton's body was found in Lincoln County, Tenn. in April 2012.
    The four men charged with killing Patton are Robert Eugene Davis, Jamie Ladae Kelly, Savontae Shoulders and Timothy Jabbar Smith. They were indicted on a multitude of charges, including murder, robbery and kidnapping. The indictments allege Patton, who was found partially clothed, died as a result of blunt force trauma and or asphyxiation.
    With four defendants set to go on trial, that will mean four defense attorneys involved in questioning and selecting potential jurors, four sets of defense opening statements, multiple attorneys questioning and cross-examining witnesses and four defense closing arguments.
    Letecia Maclin is set to go on trial for murder in March in the October 2011 stabbing death of Prinston Harkey. Harkey and Maclin knew each other and a dispute over money led Harkey to come inside Maclin's apartment. Maclin reportedly chased Harkey from the apartment and stabbed him multiple times.
    A capital murder trial is set for April 14, for a man and a woman charged in the Jan. 14 robbery and death of a Toney man whose body was found a day after his car was located in an area near Spragins Hollow Road.
    Randle Earl Hewlett and Mercedes Lynea Douglas are charged with capital murder in the death John Mark Allen of Toney.
    John Clayton Owens is set to go on trial in August on a capital murder charge in the death of his 91-year-old neighbor, Doris Richardson, in August 2011 on Bide-a-Wee Drive in Huntsville near Five Points. Owens, 30, is accused of burglary and strangling Richardson.
    Investigators said Owens told police he did burglarize the home, but denied the killing. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Owens.

    Updated at 1 a.m. Thursday noting prosecutors are seeking death penalty in Owens case.

    http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/12/...nal_court.html
    Last edited by Helen; 02-06-2014 at 06:31 PM.

  9. #29
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    Proposal would end Life-to-Death Sentence conversions when jury objects

    Alabama Senator Hank Sanders, D-Selma, has put forward a bill, Senate Bill 244, that would prevent a practice unique to Alabama known as "sentence conversion" in which a judge is allowed to override a jury recommendation of life without parole in favor of execution. It is currently pending committee action in the Alabama Senate.

    The practice of sentence conversions is only used in our state, and can be utilized by elected judges. Because of this and other facts, their use has recently come into the national spotlight.

    50 years ago, politics in Alabama was a different kind of ball game. With Southern Democrats still clinging to power in the heart of Dixie, the era of George Wallace's imperialistic style of governing was still upon us. Some politicians still active in the state today recall a time when the Governor would himself choose even the committees on which each state legislator would serve. Many would make the comparison to Huey P. Long, though Wallace would long deny he looked to the Louisiana populist's career for inspiration, if not for ideology. Appointing judges, too, had been, as in the rest of the nation, the job of each state's highest executive official, just as in the federal system, where the President, as he still does, appoints judges with the advice and consent of the Senate.

    However, because of the kneejerk anti-gubernatorial attitude that then arose from Dixiecrat infighting, power began to shift. The Office of the Governor, one can be assured, does not wield the influence it once did. The power, as the sentiment went, was to go to the people. So judges in Alabama were then thrown at the mercy of the public. And they still are. Like it or hate it, elections are Alabama's way of deciding who decides. Some say this leads to accountability to the people: positive accountability. Some, though, like Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor believe this accountability has led to unnecessary and arbitrary abuse.

    Last year, the United States Supreme Court recently denied to hear a death penalty case from Alabama involving Mario Woodward, who was convicted of killing a Montgomery police officer. In sentencing, the jury voted 9-3 to put Woodward behind bars for life. The judge, however, set aside the jury's decision and converted Woodward's sentence to the death penalty. Oddly enough, the judge does have the legal ability to do so.

    According to Sotomayor's opinion, in which she says she would have agreed to hear the case because of its seriousness, she details not only that Alabama is the only state in which judges have done so in the last decade, but that they do it more often than you might think. 98 times Alabama judges have set aside the verdicts of the jury in order to inflict the death penalty - compared to only 9 times in which a judge has converted a death sentence to life in prison. In addition, several of the juries had been unanimous in their life decision.

    And Sotomayor had no qualms in claiming that this is a direct result of judicial elections - judges more worried about being tough on crime than on principles of justice like trial by jury. She cites evidence of several judges who used these specific cases in campaign ads. One ad even went as far as to name the death row inmate in question. For example, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Harold See ran a 2000 campaign ad in which he hailed the life-to-death conversion as "fighting against minor technicalities."

    A former Supreme Court Justice has come out on the issue as well. Sandra Day O'Connor has labelled partisan judicial elections as "one of the issues the Founders fought against." Several of the judges in question were contacted by APR. None responded.

    The Alabama Political Reporter will have an eye on the proposal, Senate Bill 244, as the legislature convenes again beginning tomorrow. The bill will soon go before the Senate Committee on Criminal Law and Procedure for consideration.

    (Source: The Greene County Democrat)
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  10. #30
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    Alabama House approves execution drug secrecy bill

    The Alabama House of Representatives has approved a bill to keep the manufacturers and suppliers of lethal injection drugs confidential.

    Representatives voted 77-19 for the bill Thursday. It now moves to the Senate.

    The bill would prevent the state from having to disclose the names of drug providers during litigation over the death penalty.

    Republican Rep. Lynn Greer of Rogersville says the prison system is having difficulty obtaining the drugs because suppliers are faced with harassment and litigation from death penalty opponents. Greer said the state should protect them.

    Democratic Rep. Napoleon Bracy argues that companies making money by selling execution drugs to the state should be willing to have their identities disclosed.

    The director of the Death Penalty Information Center says about seven states have adopted similar laws.

    http://www.waaytv.com/ap/national/al...fc398129e.html
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