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Thread: Missouri Capital Punishment News

  1. #1
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    Missouri Capital Punishment News

    A Senate committee passed a bill Monday granting judges and juries the power to sentence someone to death for forcibly raping or sodomizing a child younger than 12.

    The senators briefly considered two separate amendments -- one requiring DNA evidence and the other making the death penalty only applicable for prior sexual offenders -- but decided against creating a litmus test for a death sentence.

    The Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence passed the bill by a 6-1 vote, with Democratic Sen. Jolie Justus of Jackson County casting the lone vote of opposition.

    Gov. Matt Blunt, who stumped for the legislation earlier Monday in Springfield, called a violent sex crime against a child one of "the worst crimes that any criminal can commit."

    "I urge the General Assembly to send me legislation making the rape of a young child punishable by death," Blunt said on the south steps of the Greene County Historic Courthouse. "Those evil predators who rob our children of their youth and innocence deserve the most serious punishment that we can possibly deliver."

    Proponents say chances of the bill getting passed this legislative session are slim, but they're pushing it forward to the full Senate to get a debate going in before October, when the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on a similar law already on the books in Louisiana.

    In March, Blunt and 28 Republican lawmakers in Missouri filed a "friend of the court" brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging justices to uphold the law.

    Sen. Matt Bartle, chairman of the state Senate judiciary panel, said if the Louisiana law is upheld, legislatures across the country will have a "green light" to pass similar laws.

    Bartle said the public wants predators who commit especially heinous crimes against vulnerable children to pay the ultimate price.

    "It's the rape of the prepubescent child that society is saying 'we want the death penalty for that,'" said Bartle, a Republican from Lee's Summit.

    The Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Jack Goodman, R- Mount Vernon, would add the death penalty as an option, but also allow a sentence of life without parole for such convicts.

    Criminals convicted of raping or sodomizing a child are currently required to spend a minimum 30 years in prison, after the General Assembly toughened penalties for those crimes in 2006.

    Even that sentence is too lenient for certain crimes, Blunt said Monday, mentioning the case of Jeffery Dickson, the 36-year-old Springfield man accused of raping and sodomizing a seven-year-old girl before leaving her for dead in a burning house earlier this month.

    Controversy


    The Senate committee's passage of the bill Monday night came at a time of controversy regarding the death penalty itself.

    Some lawmakers want to temporarily halt executions, which had already been on hold in Missouri until Wednesday, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Kentucky's lethal injection process does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

    The Missouri Supreme Court has not yet set any execution dates in light of that ruling, but a House bill would put a three-year moratorium on executing inmates on death row while a study of the practice is conducted by a bipartisan commission.

    Given the polarizing nature of the death penalty debate, Blunt conceded the Senate bill might face hurdles making it to his desk.

    "It's certainly not a sure thing," he said. "If it doesn't happen this year, there will be yet another horrific crime where we all wonder why the death penalty's not available. "I guarantee it."

    Goodman -- who visited Springfield with Blunt earlier the day -- proposed an amendment to the legislation Monday night that would only allow the death penalty to be administered to prior sexual offenders. Bartle suggested requiring DNA evidence for the death penalty.

    Goodman said he proposed the substitute as a way to make the bill more viable for passage on the Senate and House floor. The prior conviction requirement was voted down after Goodman said he'd rather stick with the bill's original language.

    Sen. Chris Koster, D-Harrisonville, argued against making DNA evidence or a prior sexual offense a prerequisite for lethal injection.

    The former Cass County prosecutor cited a case he worked many years ago in which a man was drugging young girls and then video taping himself raping and performing oral sex on them in his home.

    "We had the tapes of him raping that he kept as trophies," said Koster, a former Republican running for attorney general this year.

    Koster said the man pleaded guilty. And even though police had no DNA evidence, Koster said the case merited the death penalty.

    Goodman, a Lawrence County attorney, agreed a DNA requirement is unnecessary.

    "I don't think a prosecutor today would ever ask for the death penalty unless we had DNA evidence involved," he said. "I don't think a jury would ever give a death penalty. I don't think a judge would give a death penalty without that evidence."

    Bartle noted the Louisiana case pending before the Supreme Court was decided without DNA evidence and the victim gave conflicting statements.

    Children's rights

    The Children's Bill of Courtroom Rights proposed by Rep. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, became unexpectedly intertwined with the death penalty debate Monday.

    The legislation, which passed the House on April 2, would grant child victims or witnesses to crimes the right to testify when they're most alert; have a person present to provide emotional support; hold a comfort item such as a stuffed animal; the right to understand the questions they're being asked and the right to testify without being badgered by an attorney.

    The Missouri Bar opposes the legislation. But many of the rules -- including modified oaths for children -- are already in case law in the Eastern District of the Federal Court of Appeals. The west side of the state does not have similar case law, Dixon said.

    Given the death penalty debate, Bartle said he had "grave constitutional concerns" about the additional rights for a child victim, especially in cases of forcible sexual abuse.

    Barbara Brown, executive director of the Child Advocacy Center in Springfield, testified in favor of Dixon's legislation. She spoke about a Greene County case in which a girl was testifying against her grandfather who she alleged had been raping her for years.

    Because the defense attorneys subpoenaed the girl's parents, they were not allowed to be in the courtroom to comfort her during the emotional testimony, Brown said, noting the case was later dropped.

    "When children lie, they almost always lie to cover up that it happened because they almost always love their accuser, or their abuser," she said.

    When Bartle asked Brown whether she thinks the death penalty should be applied in cases of child rape, she replied: "I am not for that."

    Bartle shot back: "Let me just tell you, it's coming."

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    Anesthesiologist joins Missouri’s execution team, violating ethical guidelines

    Despite the medical profession’s ethical guidelines against it, an anesthesiologist has joined the team that will carry out executions in Missouri.

    The doctor's presence on the team was revealed recently in a federal court case brought by several death row inmates concerning the qualifications and training of Missouri’s execution team members.

    With all the pieces of its execution team apparently in place, the state is now ready after a hiatus of 2½ years to once again execute condemned prisoners whenever the Missouri Supreme Court issues the order.

    The Missouri Department of Corrections will not reveal the doctor's name or specific role on the team.

    The doctor's identity also will not be provided to the attorneys representing the death row inmates in the federal case, although they will be given information about licensure and qualifications.

    Citing the ongoing litigation, attorneys for the death row inmates said they could not comment.

    Department of Corrections officials also declined to comment, except to say that the team's doctor and 2 nurses "will perform the duties assigned to them in the DOC's lethal injection protocol."

    Those duties include preparing the chemicals, inserting intravenous lines, monitoring the prisoner and supervising the injection of chemicals by corrections employees.

    All of those actions violate the American Medical Association's policy against physician participation in executions. The American Society of Anesthesiologists has adopted the AMA's stance.

    "It is a fundamental and unwavering principle that anesthesiologists, consistent with their ethical mandates, cannot use their art and skill to participate in an execution," the society stated in a brief it filed last year in the U.S. Supreme Court.

    The AMA first adopted its ethical stance in 1980. Its current policy states:

    "A physician, as a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so, should not be a participant in a legally authorized execution."

    But neither professional group has an official policy on capital punishment in general. The AMA policy states: "An individual's opinion on capital punishment is the personal moral decision of the individual."

    And neither group has the power to discipline a doctor who does not comply with the ethics policy.

    Physician participation in executions long has been controversial, with some arguing that the best way to ensure that inmates are put to death humanely is to have a highly-trained professional involved.

    "The good news is that if the anesthesiologist is qualified … such involvement should heighten the likelihood that lethal injections will be carried out humanely," said death penalty expert Deborah Denno, a professor at the Fordham University School of Law. "On the other hand, the anesthesiologist who has volunteered in Missouri is violating the ethical prohibitions of his or her profession, and attorneys should be entitled to investigate why such a physician would be willing to do that."

    The issue drew attention to Missouri in 2006 when the surgeon who previously oversaw the state's executions testified in another court case that he was dyslexic and sometimes transposed numbers.

    Identified in court as John Doe I, the doctor also admitted using only half the prescribed dose of anesthesia during the state's last execution in October 2005 without notifying corrections officials.

    (source: Kansas City Star)

  3. #3
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    The future of the death penalty

    Missouri has executed 67 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Only Texas, Virginia, Oklahoma, and Florida have carried out more death sentences since that time.

    Missouri did not put anyone to death until 1989, but executions reached an all time high in the state from 1990 to 1999. During that time, 40 prisoners were executed by lethal injection. Texas and Virginia were the only states to execute more prisoners in those 10 years.

    Death sentences reached their highest peak in Missouri in 1988, when 17 prisoners were condemned to die after being found guilty of 1st degree murder. In 1999, the state carried out nine executions, the most in Missouri since the death penalty was reinstated.

    "That is a reflection of where the death penalty was in the 90s," said Corinne Farrell, Communications and Education Director at the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. "Tons of people were being sentenced to death, and it was very popular."

    A stall in the process


    While Missouri has been a leader in executions over the past two decades, 15 other states have conducted more executions between 2009-2010.

    Since 2005, the state has carried out one death sentence. The decline stems from a 2006 case regarding the constitutionality of lethal injection, and a national moratorium, which put all executions on hold in 2008.

    In January 2006, a decision by the US District Court, based on the constitutionality of Missouri's execution procedure, placed a moratorium on all executions in the state.

    The case was filed by Michael Taylor who was to be put to death in 2006, but was given a stay of execution just minutes before the sentence was carried out.

    The decision by the court came after the surgeon, who prepared the three drugs for the lethal injection process, admitted to only using half of the set dosage of Thiopental, the first drug injected in the three-drug protocol, which puts the inmate to sleep.

    Doctors at the trial testified that without the proper dosage of Thiopental, the third drug, Potassium Chloride, would result in a painful death.

    Because the Department of Corrections did not have a written protocol for executions, Dr. "Doe 1" as he was referred to in the 2006 court document, felt he could use his own judgment for the execution procedure. Dr. "Doe 1" also admitted to being dyslexic.

    During the Taylor litigation, the district court determined Missouri's unwritten method of execution subjected condemned prisoners to an unconstitutional risk of pain and suffering and ordered the state to prepare a written protocol, according to the 2006 document.

    After the Missouri Department of Corrections installed a written protocol for its execution process in July 2006, the 8th Circuit Courts of the Appeals vacated their previous decision in June 2007.

    Shortly after, the US Supreme Court ordered a national moratorium, which put all executions on hold, to examine the three drug protocol in Kentucky.

    On April 16, 2008, the supreme court ruled that Kentucky's three-drug protocol for carrying out lethal injection did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment. As a result, the national moratorium was lifted.

    Only five states issued more death sentences than Missouri, which imposed six that year. Across the country there were only 111, bringing death sentences to an all time low.

    Missouri only issued one death sentence in 2007, during which the Taylor case was still going on.

    The Supreme Court decision did not bring the debate over lethal injection in Missouri to a close. Taylor and seven other inmates appealed to the courts again.

    According to the 2009 8th circuit court document, the inmates contended that Missouri's current execution protocol violated the 8th Amendment because the substantial risk of the protocol, and that it may be improperly administered by incompetent, or unqualified medical personnel.

    While a final decision was still being made in the case, Missouri executed its first inmate since 2005. Dennis Skillicorn became the 67th inmate to be put to death on May 20, 2009. Because Skillicorn was not a part of the current lawsuit, the process was allowed to take place.

    Reginald Clemens was scheduled to be executed in June 2009, but was given a stay because he was part of the case.

    On Nov. 10, 2009 the federal appeals court ruled against the inmates. Taylor said they would appeal that decision as well.

    While 61 inmates remain on Missouri death row, the state has not scheduled any executions for 2011, but Farrell believes its just a matter of time before executions resume in Missouri.

    Roderick Nunley was scheduled to die by lethal injection late last month but a Federal District Court issued a stay on Oct. 20 to decide if Nunley was entitled to a jury for sentencing. Missouri is appealing that stay.

    The Missouri Supreme Court says it will look into the case again in January.

    Jacquline Lapine, the Chief Public Information Officer at the Missouri Department of corrections, said the department would resume executions as soon as directed by the courts.

    Where the trend is heading

    The lethal injection debate has given anti death penalty supporters more reason for opposition, and public opinion polls show that there are less people in favor of the death penalty than there was in the mid-90s.

    A 2006 Gallup Poll found that the overall support for the death penalty was 65%, down from 80% in 1994.

    "We are seeing a diminishment in practice across the country on the death penalty," Sister Helen Prejean said. "I have not found in the last 20 years, that the American public is wedded to it."

    Prejean has accompanied 16 prisoners to their execution over the past two decades. For 20 years, her goal has been to get people to reflect on the death penalty, and ultimately, see it eliminated.

    Prejean points to statistics that show how states have conducted less executions in recent years. But, according to Farrell, no one is quite sure how long that trend will last.

    Missouri is one of several states that has had a decline in executions. From 2000 to 2009, execution rates in the state dropped 35% from 1990 to 1999.

    Not only has the state held less executions in the last decade, it has also given out fewer death sentences. 80 death sentences were given from 1990 to 1999. That number dropped to 28 from 2000 to 2008.

    Farrell believes the cost of seeking a death sentence and the length of time it takes for the sentence to be carried out, is making more prosecutors lean towards life without parole.

    "Some feel like it's not worth it because they will never actually see that sentence carried out," Farrell said.

    However, Chief Assistant for the Greene County Prosecutors Office, Dan Patterson feels differently.

    "I think the prosecutors make their decision based on the strength of their case, whether they can get a death sentence or not," Patterson said. "While the length of the appeals process, in terms of how long it takes, can be frustrating, I don't think that factors into the decision."

    http://www.drurymirror.com/life/the-...8445?pagereq=2

  4. #4
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    Missouri Death Penalty Timeline

    THE DEATH PENALTY IN MISSOURI: FIVE YEARS OF TWISTS AND TURNS

    Here is a chronology of key events surrounding the death penalty in Missouri since 2005.

    June 2005: Michael Taylor of Kansas City files Taylor v. Crawford challenging the method of his execution, lethal injection. Taylor claimed that the state's existing lethal injection procedure violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution by creating a substantial and unnecessary risk that he would suffer gratuitous pain. This would later turn into a class action lawsuit.

    October 2005: Marlin Gray, who was involved in the Chain of Rocks Bridge murders in 1991, becomes the last person to be executed before a federal court puts a hold on the process in Missouri.

    February 2006: Taylor is granted a stay of execution by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on the grounds that his death could be a cruel and unusual form of punishment under the Missouri execution system.

    April 2006: The second case challenging the constitutionality of the lethal injection in Missouri, Clemons v. Crawford, is filed in the U.S. District Court in St Louis.
    Death row inmates claim they will be subject to a painful death in violation of their Eighth Amendment right not to suffer cruel and unusual punishment.

    June 2006: A U.S. District Court judge in the Western District of Missouri places a hold on executions in the state following revelations in Taylor v. Crawford that the executions surgeon in charge of the lethal injection had prepared half the legal dose of the anesthetic in a number of executions, was dyslexic and performing executions without a written protocol or adequate supervision.

    Justice Fernando Gaitan orders a stay on all executions until the Missouri Department of Corrections can develop a formal written protocol that would meet a series of court requirements.

    July 2006: The Missouri Department of Corrections drafts a written protocol for lethal injection to address the problems of Taylor v. Crawford and the dyslexic executions surgeon as ordered by a Federal Court judge.

    June 2007: The Missouri Attorney General requests execution dates for death row inmates Roderick Nunley, Michael Taylor and Reginald Clemons, Richard Clay, Jeffrey Ferguson, William Rousan, Russell Bucklew, John Middleton and John Winfield.

    April 2008: The U.S. Supreme Court throws out Taylor v. Crawford, upholding Missouri's written protocol and ending the legal hold on executions.

    The Missouri Attorney General requests execution dates be set for Earl Ringo, Martin Link and Mark Christeson.

    June 2008: The Missouri Supreme Court sets a July execution for John Middleton.

    May 2009: The Missouri Supreme Court sets an execution for Dennis Skillicorn who is then executed in the same month, making him the only person to be executed in Missouri since 2005.

    The Missouri Supreme Court sets a June execution for Reginald Clemons.

    June 2009: The 8th District Court of Appeals in St. Louis stays Clemons' execution while Clemons vs. Crawford is being decided.

    January 2010: Missouri Attorney General requests execution dates for Allen Nicklasson and Joseph Franklin.

    June 2010: The U.S. Supreme Court throws out Clemons v. Crawford. The case claimed Missouri's past hiring of incompetent or unqualified execution team members, and failure to properly train them, posed constitutional problems.
    The Missouri Attorney General claims any uncertainty over the lethal injection in Missouri has been cleared up.

    August 2010: Missouri Supreme Court sets an October execution for Roderick Nunley.

    September 2010: Hospira, the only U.S. manufacturer of the lethal injection anesthetic sodium thiopental announces it is out of the drug until as late as March 2011 and states its opposition to the drug being used in lethal injections.

    October 2010: Roderick Nunley is granted a stay of execution because he was not tried by a jury.

    December 2010: The Missouri Supreme Court sets a January 12 execution for Richard Clay.

    http://www.columbiamissourian.com/st...alty-timeline/

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    What should Missouri do about its capital punishment problem?

    Missouri has enough drug supplies for 5 executions with the next execution scheduled for Feb. 9.

    Documents uncovered by the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri through a freedom of information request found that the Missouri Department of Corrections has a dwindling supply of sodium thiopental, an anesthetic that renders the condemned inmate unconscious. This drug is required in the state's execution protocol.

    Missouri currently has 12 prisoners on death row awaiting executions, and the drug supply expiration date is March 1, according to a document supplied to the state by the ACLU.

    Not only is the drug expiring on March 1, but also Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill., the drug's sole U.S. manufacturer, has blamed supplier issues for its inability to make the drug.

    (source: Columbia Missourian)

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    Judge Rejects Death Penalty Challenge

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A federal judge has rejected a challenge by Missouri prison inmates to the state's execution procedure. The inmates' lawsuit argued that Missouri does not get valid medical prescriptions for the drugs used to put prisoners to death. The lawsuit cited the state's use of non-medical personnel to administer the chemicals intravenously.

    In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey said the inmates' lawsuit failed to show actual harm to anyone. Missouri's execution process has been the subject of legal wrangling for several years.

    http://www.ktts.com/news/127889953.html

  7. #7
    I really was under the assumption that all litigation regarding the lethal injection issue was resolved in Missouri after the execution of Martin Link. I guess I was wrong.

  8. #8
    Banned TheKindExecutioner's Avatar
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    Well NOW it is so they can warm up the chamber! The question is WHEN is the next date?

  9. #9
    When the Missouri Supreme Court stops being soft and starts setting execution dates. About 3/4 of Missouri's death row inmates are elegible for execution anyway, it's just a matter of when they will act on the Attorney General's requests.

  10. #10
    Banned TheKindExecutioner's Avatar
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    How many requests has Atty General Chris Koster made? The Court has to respond with a date if Koster requests. Or in the worst case they have to respond!

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