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Thread: Nicholas Cody Tate - Georgia Death Row

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    Nicholas Cody Tate - Georgia Death Row


    Katelyn, 3


    Chrissie Williams, 26


    Dustin Wade Tate


    Chad Everette Tate


    Nicholas Cody Tate


    Summary of Offense:

    Tate was sentenced to death in 2005 for the 2001 murder of Chrissie Williams and her three-year-old daughter Katelyn during an attempt to steal meth.

  2. #2
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    June 1, 2010

    Ga. top court upholds death sentence in slayings

    The Georgia Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the death sentences for a man who pleaded guilty to malice murder in the killings of a mother and her 3-year-old daughter.

    Lawyers for Nicholas Tate had asked the court to overturn his sentences for the 2001 killings of Chrissie Williams and her daughter, Katelyn, in Paulding County.

    Attorneys for Tate said the trial court failed to prove aggravating circumstances. They said even though Tate pleaded guilty to kidnapping and child molestation, the evidence was insufficient to support the plea.

    Tate was 21 at the time of the killings. His brothers Dustin Tate, 18 at the time and Chad, who was 15, received lesser sentences.

    (Source: The Associated Press)

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    In today's US Supreme Court orders, Tate's petition for a writ of certiorari was DENIED.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Execution date set

    A Paulding County judge has set an execution date for a man condemned to die for killing a mother and her 3-year-old daughter.

    Nicholas Cody Tate is to be executed by lethal injection between Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, according to an order signed Thursday by Chief Superior Court Judge Tonny Beavers. The Department of Corrections will set the actual time and date of Tate's execution.

    Tate was condemned to die for killing Chrissie Williams, who was found bound to a bed with handcuffs and duct tape and had been shot in the head. Her daughter, Katelyn, was found on the floor of another room, and her throat had been slit. The crimes occurred Dec. 11, 2001.

    Tate's case is highly unusual. His direct appeal was upheld in June 2010 by the Georgia Supreme Court, yet he has not challenged his conviction and sentence through a petition of habeas corpus, which is routine in most all death-penalty appeals. After direct appeals are exhausted, a condemned inmate then files his or her first habeas corpus petition in Butts County, home to Georgia's death row. If that fails, a habeas corpus petition is then filed in federal court.

    Tate pleaded guilty to the murders in 2005 and waived a trial by jury. After a sentencing hearing, the trial judge then sentenced Tate to death.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/exec...r-1301026.html

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    I guess we will find out in the next few days if Tate is going to volunteer.

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    A phone call to the Georgia Resource Center revealed they no longer represent Tate. An email to the Office of the Attorney General stated

    We haven’t been notified either way of Tate’s intentions. He has previously not wanted to pursue any of his appeals.

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    Senior Member Member Slayer's Avatar
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    I wonder if that means he's pulled the plug on himself?:confusion:

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    Ga. death row inmate refuses to file habeas appeal as his execution for 2001 killings nears

    Nicholas Cody Tate could delay his execution at the end of this month for years if he filed a new round of appeals. But his refusal to do so has made his death sentence for the murders of two people one of the fastest-moving in recent memory in Georgia.

    In the glacial-paced world of death penalty law, Tate's death sentence for the 2001 killings of a woman and her 3-year-old daughter moved through the appeals process quickly. That's because he refused to challenge his conviction and sentence by filing a habeas appeals in state or federal court.

    His current and former attorneys won't comment on why Tate, who is 31, won't let them file the appeal. But the transcript from a 2009 court hearing helps illuminate his thoughts on the process.

    "You caught me red-handed," he said during the hearing, when he waived his motion for a new trial. "None of my rights were violated ... I choose to waive any and all future appeals."

    A Paulding County judge last week cleared the way for his execution, and state officials on Tuesday scheduled the lethal injection for Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. Death penalty opponents say Tate's case highlights the problems with capital punishment.

    "The appeals process exists as a safeguard to protect the integrity of the judicial process," said Kathryn Hamoudah, who chairs Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "Proceeding without is tantamount to allowing state assisted suicide."

    According to court records, Nicholas Tate and two of his younger brothers, Dustin and Chad, purchased ammo, duct tape and knives at a local sporting goods store in December 2001 and then plotted to use the weapons to burglarize the home of Chrissie Williams, who they believed had a stash of drugs and money.

    When they arrived at the home, Chrissie's 3-year-old daughter Katelyn answered the door, and chaos ensued. The men tried to knock Chrissie out with a stun gun, but when she didn't lose consciousness they taped her mouth and eyes shut and handcuffed her hands to a bed.

    They moved Katelyn to another room, where Nicholas Tate removed her pajamas and sexually assaulted her. Nicholas Tate, who prosecutors say led the plot, ordered Chad to silence the girl because she recognized him. Chad Tate unsuccessfully tried to strangle her with a telephone cord, and he then used Nicholas' knife to slit her throat.

    Dustin Tate fled the house in fear. Nicholas Tate put a seat cushion over Chrissie's head as she lay bound to the bed, firing one shot through the pillow to kill her.

    The three brothers then fled Georgia and traveled to Mississippi where they captured a 23-year-old woman from a gas station where she worked and forced her into an SUV. The three later released the woman but kept her car as they sped toward Oklahoma.

    The Tate brothers abandoned their weapons at a motel and drove to El Reno, which is about 30 miles outside of Oklahoma City. They then contacted their parents in Dallas, Ga., who helped them negotiate their surrender to police.

    Nicholas Tate pleaded guilty to murder charges in November 2005 and was sentenced to death a month later. His brothers also admitted to committing the violence. They are serving life sentences in prison.

    Nicholas Tate filed a motion for a new trial in 2006, but three years later he had a change of heart. That's when he said he wanted to waive all future appeals, and a trial judge accepted his request, nothing that he was coherent and articulate.

    His attorneys went ahead with a direct appeal, asking the Georgia Supreme Court to overturn the sentence. Among the arguments they made was that the punishment was disproportionate because neither of his two brothers were sentenced to death.

    But the court's June 2010 ruling rejected that argument along with the others in upholding the death sentence. The court ruled that Chad Tate, who was 15 at the time of the killings, wasn't eligible for the death penalty and that Dustin Tate's life was spared because he was neither the killer nor the "driving force" behind the victims' deaths.

    http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor...ution-Georgia/

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    Georgia Department of Corrections
    Brian Owens, Commissioner

    Director of Public Affairs
    Joan Heath

    Contact: Office of Public Affairs (478) 992-5248

    STATE OF GEORGIA

    Execution Date Set For Paulding County Murderer

    Forsyth - The Paulding County Superior Court has ordered the execution of convicted murderer Nicholas Cody Tate. The Court ordered the Department to carry out the execution on a date between January 31, 2012 and February 7, 2012. Commissioner Brian Owens has set the date for January 31, 2012 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 7:00 p.m.

    Tate was convicted of the 2001 murder of Chrissie Williams and her 3-year-old daughter, Katelyn Williams. If executed, Tate will be the 30th inmate put to death by lethal injection.

    Media interested in a picture of Tate and a listing of his crimes may go to the Department of Corrections website (www.dcor.state.ga.us).

    http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/NewsRoom...es/120117.html

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    Condemned inmate's brother files appeals

    The brother of Paulding County killer Nicholas Cody Tate is asking state and federal judges to allow him to pursue appeals on his condemned brother's behalf.

    Tate, convicted of killing Chrissie Williams and her 3-year-old daughter Katelyn in 2001, is set to be executed by lethal injection at 7 p.m. on Jan. 31.

    In November 2005, Tate pleaded guilty to the crimes, waived a trial by jury and was sentenced to death by a Paulding judge after a sentencing hearing. Tate has since exhausted his automatic appeals, but he has yet to file his habeas corpus appeals, which are routine in capital cases.

    This week, Tate's younger brother, Dustin Wade Tate, who was a co-defendant in the case and serving a life sentence for the crimes, has filed motions in state and federal court to litigate final appeals on his brother's behalf.

    According to court filings, if a death-row inmate declines to pursue available appeals due to a mental disease or defect, another person who has a significant relationship with the condemned inmate can pursue them on his behalf. The filings cite an affidavits from mental health experts who say Nicholas Cody Tate was severely abused during his childhood and likely suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

    The state Attorney General's Office is asking for these filings to be dismissed. In a motion filed in Butts County Superior Court, state attorneys note that Tate was found competent to enter his guilty plea to the crimes and later said he wanted to waive his appeals. The office also suggested that a hearing could be held to determine whether Tate wishes to waive his habeas corpus appeals and said experts could be appointed to evaluate Tate's mental condition.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/cond...s-1308718.html

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