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Thread: Louisiana Capital Punishment News

  1. #21
    Moderator MRBAM's Avatar
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    Question.....

    Over the last 2 weeks Moh has posted some additional details about many of the Louisiana DR prisoners murder cases and court status' - thanks Moh. My question from reading many of the updates is that most of the cases have seen no case progression often for many years up to a decade. Have the wheels of justice stopped in LA? Why are the federal side of cases seemingly taking so long?

    BAM

  2. #22
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    You're welcome, Mr. Bam. Your question is a darn good one and I'm not really sure why everything seems gummed up from top to bottom, from state to federal, in Louisiana. As you pointed out, a lot of the federal habeas cases are really moving at a snail's pace--indeed, at least one federal habeas case has gone on for nearly ten years. If cases actually were to make it to the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, then I think we'd be seeing a lot more executions since it's the same circuit that upholds most Texas and Mississippi cases that come before it. However, they simply haven't been getting to the Fifth Circuit.

    I have noticed one thing that may be holding up lots of these cases: there seem to be a great many Atkins claims. Plus, plenty of the state post-conviction petitions seem to be dragging on and on. Louisiana doesn't appear to have any time limits for judges to make decisions in those cases. So, perhaps those judges who are squeamish about the death penalty intentionally let cases languish. Nonetheless, it's odd that a state in the Deep South has executed only two murderers over the past ten years, especially when the Governor's a Republican and both houses of the Legislature have Republican majorities (and I'd imagine not a few conservative Democrats). You'd think the government could get it together on getting executions ramped up, as Arkansas, North Carolina and Florida currently seem to be in the process of doing.

  3. #23
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    5,000 criminals getting away with murder in New Orleans

    By Jeff Crouere
    Ringside Politics

    This past week has been a particularly violent one in New Orleans. A criminal court judge was carjacked; a couple was brutally assaulted in the heart of the Central Business District. Of course, there was another shootout on the Interstate. It marks the third time in the last few weeks there has been a gun battle on the congested roadway. If a commuter can make it to his car unharmed, then drive safely to the parking garage and finally be able to walk to work unmolested, it is a major accomplishment in the city of New Orleans.

    The city is still recovering from the brutal Mother’s Day second line parade shooting, in which 20 innocent people were shot. It was just another vicious assault in a city that specializes in horrific crime news.

    The beat goes on in the Murder Capital as the natives are too accustomed to such carnage to become continually outraged; however, negative national publicity will eventually start to interrupt the city’s brisk tourism business.

    There are multi-faceted reasons for the crime epidemic. Long term answers involve restoring the family unit, breaking the cycle of poverty and fixing a broken public school system. In the short term, citizens need to take action to fix a dysfunctional criminal justice system which features dangerously liberal judges, overworked prosecutors and understaffed police.

    A police department that recently boasted 1,700 officers now includes only 1,200 officers. As approximately 120 officers leave each year, the number of new recruits is slim to none.

    Mayor Mitch Landrieu says that it will cost $65 million to recruit and train another 300 officers. It would be wise to cut other areas of government and find these funds for it is money well spent. There is nothing more important to focus on than public safety; the most critical duty for any city leader.

    While the department hemorrhages, murders continue to accumulate in New Orleans. According to Irv Magri, President of the victim assistance organization, Crime Fighters of Louisiana, there have been approximately 5,000 murders in New Orleans in the last 20 years. Of those 5,000 murders, there has not been one case of true justice, for none of the killers have been executed.

    Capital punishment is legal in Louisiana, but practically non-existent in New Orleans. The last person sentenced to death in New Orleans was Michael Anderson, convicted of killing five people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. However, it was eventually overturned and Anderson was sentenced to life in prison. Thus, there has not been a successful death penalty conviction in New Orleans since 1997.

    For the most part, juries refuse to render the verdict and for those rare few who have been sentenced to death, there are endless appeals on death row. For example, vicious cop killers Antoinette Frank and Len Davis have spent almost two decades on death row.

    Capital punishment is just punishment for those who are convicted of first degree murder. If implemented, it would serve as a deterrent to potential murderers. Criminals would know there are consequences for their crimes. In addition, executions would save taxpayers millions of dollars as room, board, clothing and other amenities would not have to be paid for murderers to sit on death row for year after year.

    Despite thousands of murders throughout Louisiana during his term of Governor, only one person has been executed in the state during the tenure of Governor Bobby Jindal. Since being reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976, only 28 people have been executed in Louisiana, the nation’s most violent state.

    It is one very obvious reason why crime continues to plague the state, especially the city of New Orleans.

    http://wgno.com/2013/05/25/5000-crim...#ixzz2UNwaMyPc

  4. #24
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Federal lawsuit claims inmates endure extreme heat

    A New Orleans-based advocacy group has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Louisiana alleging inhumane conditions for death row inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

    Filed on behalf of three inmates, the lawsuit says the prisoners are forced to live in poorly-ventilated cells where average temperatures exceed 95 degrees during the summer. The suit says with Louisiana's humidity, the heat index along death row tiers routinely reaches "danger" and "extreme danger" zones.

    The Promise of Justice Initiative, a nonprofit group that advocates on behalf of indigent defendants, filed the lawsuit against the Department of Corrections, Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc and prison wardens Burl Cain and Angela Norwood.

    LeBlanc's spokeswoman, Pam Laborde, says the corrections department cannot comment on pending litigation, but will respond in court.

    http://www.wafb.com/story/22556822/f...e-extreme-heat
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  5. #25
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Louisiana releases execution protocol; inmate's lawyer calls it 'inadequate'

    By Lauren McGaughy
    The Times Picayune

    Louisiana corrections officials have released the state's execution protocol after a lawsuit brought by two death row inmates called for more transparency into the procedure. But the inmates' lawyers say details released by the state are spotty at best, and that the use of a new lethal drug is not fully explained.

    Until this month, the state's execution protocol was inaccessible by the public, including inmates and their attorneys. The protocol, obtained by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune on Friday, was released after two death row inmates filed suit against the state Corrections Department and Louisiana State Penitentiary, or Angola, to make public the documents.

    But, Michael Rubenstein, lawyer for inmate Jessie Hoffman, said the nearly 60-page document he received last week is "woefully inadequate." While it confirms previous court admissions that the state plans to switch to using a single drug in its lethal injections, it leaves out important details, he said.

    "The lethal injection protocol released by the Louisiana Department of Corrections this week fails to provide the most basic information about how it intends to carry out executions," Rubenstein said Friday.

    He pointed to gaps in how lethal drugs will be stored, overseen and administered, and who will have ultimate responsibility over the drugs. He also expressed concerns about the state's decision to switch from a three-drug cocktail to just one drug.

    "We still do not know whether any medical authorities were consulted regarding the incorporation of (pentobarbital); the original source or expiration date of the new drug; how the drug is to be administered; or the training of personnel who will implement the new procedure for the first time," Rubenstein said.

    Pentobarbital is a drug primarily used to treat seizures and insomnia. In large doses -- such as the 5 grams administered during execution -- the drug is lethal. Formerly, it was used primarily in euthanizing animals.

    When pentobarbital first began being used in cases of capital punishment, in Oklahoma in 2010, inmate advocacy groups expressed concerns with it being largely untested in large doses. Ohio was the first state to use it alone in March 2011, triggering an outcry from advocates.

    Louisiana has not yet used the single-drug formula. The last inmate to be executed in the state was in 2010, when the three-drug cocktail was still in use. The state decided to make the switch after supplies of sodium thiopental -- the starter drug in the cocktail -- began to run out.

    While Hoffman's execution is not yet scheduled, the other plaintiff in the case, Christopher Sepulvado, was scheduled to be executed on Ash Wednesday this year. But after he joined Hoffman's suit, the court ordered the state to delay his execution until the protocol was released.

    It is unclear whether the state will proceed with Sepulvado's execution now that the protocol has been released. Part of the attorneys' argument was based on concerns about the use of pentobarbital, its three-year expiration date, and who would be monitoring its storage -- three pieces of information not fully elucidated in the execution protocol.

    Pam LaBorde, public information officer for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, would not comment on the case Friday, citing "pending death penalty-related issues before the courts."

    In response, Rubenstein said he and his colleagues will "engage in a robust discovery process to uncover the truth" that begins with additional interrogations and documents requests.

    Hoffman was sentenced to death for the 1996 kidnapping, rape and killing of Mary "Molly" Elliott, an advertising executive in St. Tammany Parish. Sepulvado was convicted of the beating and fatal scalding of his 6-year-old stepson in Mansfield in 1992.

    http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/...rotocol_l.html

  6. #26
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    How hot is La. death row? Judge orders temps to be studied

    A federal judge has ordered temperature data be collected for 21 straight days in advance of an Aug. 5 trial of a lawsuit by three condemned killers who claim extreme heat indexes at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola amount to cruel and unusual punishment.

    The Advocate reports the suit, filed last month, alleges heat indexes on death row at the prison reached 172 degrees Fahrenheit last year and 195 degrees in 2011.

    Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson's order Tuesday came at the conclusion of a court hearing during which an attorney for the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections and the prison called the inmates' data "greatly exaggerated," "faulty" and "generally incompetent."

    http://www.wwltv.com/news/How-hot-is...214119901.html
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  7. #27
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    Trial begins in case claiming unhealthy conditions on death row

    How hot is too hot? Attorneys for three prisoners currently on death row at Angola State Penitentiary are arguing the men are being exposed to heat values that are unsafe.

    WAFB Chief Meteorologist Jay Grymes, who will be a witness in the trial, explained how the heat numbers work.

    "The heat index gives us a guideline as what the environmental conditions and particularly what the moisture is doing in terms of adding to the heat load on the body," said Grymes.

    In July, a court order was issued charging a third party to collect heat data from various areas at the prison. On Monday however, numerous witnesses testified that prison officials installed awnings after the court order was issued.

    "When someone who has exclusive control of that information then begins to manipulate that information or begin to make an attempt to manipulate information it's not relevant whether they meant to or not meant to, they had exclusive control of that stuff and we didn't and that's the issue with respect to the awnings," said plaintiff attorney Nilay Vora.

    Attorneys for the defense, or the state, chose not to speak to WAFB on camera but countered in court through examination the awnings did not cause a significant change in the data collected. The plaintiff attorneys say awnings or not the issue is that these prisoners face an increased health risk daily because they are kept in cells that are too hot for safe living.

    "At the end of the day that's what this comes down to we think we're going to make that case clearly and we're just looking forward to hearing what the judge's thoughts are on that," said plaintiff attorney Mercedes Montagnes.

    Monday's trial proceedings lasted about nine hours and Tuesday more witness testimony is expected before attorneys for the plaintiffs and the state close their cases. Court resumes at 8:30 a.m. at federal court in Baton Rouge

    http://www.wafb.com/story/23052914/t...ions-at-angola
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  8. #28
    Senior Member Member Johnya's Avatar
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    I've been to Louisiana many times and it is hot and very humid. The majority of the Angola prison is not air-conditioned. But wherever in the prison these inmates are housed, I'm sure there are correctional officers assigned to watch them and I haven't heard of a case where the COs are suing the DOC for improper work conditions. And the COs are required to wear uncomfortable work uniforms whereas the inmates can wear T-shirts, etc. I am sure these guys are uncomfortable, but I've heard of no adverse medical conditions, such as heat stroke, in regard to this suit. I've lived in the southern US my whole life. I've spent many summers (especially when I was young) without air conditioning. I can't find much sympathy in my heart for these inmates on this issue and think this lawsuit is a bit frivolous. (And I'm a liberal! LOL)

  9. #29
    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
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  10. #30
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    Warden says he 'messed up' on death row cooling

    The warden of the Louisiana State Penitentiary apologized to a federal judge Tuesday, acknowledging he tried to cool death row cells while court-ordered temperature monitoring was going on to determine if heat levels were unsafe.

    Burl Cain, warden at the Angola prison, said he made a mistake when he added temporary awnings on some of the death row cell blocks and tried to soak some of the buildings during temperature data collection.

    "We really messed up," Cain told U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson.

    Jackson had ordered collection of 21 days of temperature data in advance of the trial for a lawsuit claiming that three condemned killers are forced to live in dangerous heat conditions in the death row building, which has little climate control beyond window ventilation and fans.

    The judge said Cain's actions could have damaged the data collection.

    "The evidence may have been compromised due to your act," Jackson said during testimony on the trial's second day.

    Cain said that wasn't his intention. He said he thought he could use the improved temperature monitoring installed for the lawsuit to determine if remedial measures could help lower the heat for inmates, by comparing it to data in areas where those efforts weren't tried.

    "In our intention to do something good, we really violated the order," Cain said, taking responsibility for the decision.

    Cain said neither effort was successful at making a substantive difference, because the water pressure was too low to use the soaker hose on the concrete prison walls and the awnings didn't change the heat level.

    Jackson temporarily stopped questioning of Cain in the trial so that he could ask his own questions, all about the efforts prison officials took to alter the temperature on death row. He told Cain, warden of the prison for 18 years, that he may consider sanctions against him in a later court proceeding.

    The judge questioned why Cain ignored an email sent by the assistant warden who oversees death row reminding prison officials about evidence preservation for the case.

    He also asked Cain why the awnings were put up so quickly, erected by prisoners in the middle of the night. And he questioned why Cain didn't try awnings and other cooling measures when the inmates first filed complaints about the heat.

    "It was an honest mistake. I really apologize," Cain told the judge.

    Cain said he didn't tell Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc, also a defendant in the lawsuit, about the efforts until after the awnings were installed.

    The lawsuit was filed in June on behalf of condemned killers Elzie Ball, Nathaniel Code and James Magee, saying the south Louisiana heat conditions violated the death row inmates' constitutional right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment and federal law requiring reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.

    All three men have hypertension, along with other health conditions and have increased vulnerability to the heat, the lawsuit says. They testified over two days about heat that made them feel dizzy, light-headed and nauseous.

    "In the morning times, it feels like a sauna ... In the afternoon time, it turns into like an oven," Magee said Tuesday.

    Jackson didn't say when he would rule in the lawsuit, which was filed by the Promise of Justice Initiative, a New Orleans-based nonprofit group that advocates on behalf of indigent defendants.

    http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/0...#storylink=cpy
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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