Henry Curtis Jackson - Mississippi Execution - June 05, 2012

[Guest]

Summary of Offense:

Jackson murdered four children, two of his nieces and two of his nephews, in an attempt to steal money kept in his mother’s safe in her home. On the evening of November 1, 1990, Jackson’s mother, Martha, and four of her older grandchildren went to church. Martha’s daughter, Regina Jackson, stayed home with her two daughters, five-year-old Dominique whom Jackson murdered that night, two-year-old Shunterica whom Jackson murdered, and four other of their nieces and nephews, three-year-old Antonio whom Jackson murdered and twoyear-old Andrew whom Jackson murdered, and eleven-year-old Sarah and one-year-old Andrea who were severely injured during these murders but survived.

[Moh]

On October 20, 2010, Jackson filed an appeal with the Fifth Circuit over the denial of his habeas petition in Federal District Court.

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cir.../ca5/10-70029/

[Heidi]

HENRY CURTIS JACKSON, JR., V CHRISTOPHER B EPPS

JACKSON, Miss. --

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by Mississippi death row inmate Henry Curtis Jackson Jr., sentenced to die for the slayings of two nieces and two nephews.

The children, ages 5 to 2, were stabbed to death in Jackson's mother's Leflore County home while she was at church on Nov. 1, 1990. He also was convicted of stabbing his adult sister and another niece, who survived.

Prosecutors said Jackson planned to steal his mother's safe and kill the victims.

On appeal, Jackson claimed he was denied his right to be present during all stages of the trial.

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, however, ruled Thursday that Jackson asked to leave the court at certain times and was advised of his rights.

http://www2.wjtv.com/news/2011/oct/1...te-ar-2556337/

[Heidi]

In today's United States Supreme Court orders Jackson's petition writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis is DENIED.

[Heidi]

Miss. seeks to execute 3 men in 1 week in June

Mississippi could execute men on three consecutive days in June.

Attorney General Jim Hood's office is asking the state Supreme Court to set execution dates for three men, one each on June 12, 13 and 14.

Hood's office made the request Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals of Henry Curtis Jackson Jr., Gary Carl Simmons Jr. and Jan Michael Brawner.

State law says that the state Supreme Court has to set an execution date within 30 days after appeals are exhausted. June 14 would be the 30th day after Monday's denial, if no other court intervenes.

Gov. Phil Bryant would also have the option to pardon the men or commute their sentences, although Bryant has vowed not to use the pardon power after former Gov. Haley Barbour caused an uproar by pardoning a large number of people at the end of his term.

Lawyers for Brawner are already seeking another appeal before the state Supreme Court, saying that his lawyers failed to present evidence showing mitigating factors against a death sentence, including a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Tara Booth, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, said that the state has never executed three people in one week, and said she didn't think the attorney general had ever requested three executions in one week. Booth said the department was capable of conducting three consecutive executions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

In March, Mississippi executed two men in one week. Larry Matthew Puckett was put to death on March 20 and William Mitchell was put to death on March 22. In May 2010, the state executed men on two consecutive days.

Mississippi has 53 people on death row, 51 men and two women. The pace of executions is picking up in Mississippi. If all three executions go forward, the state will have executed 21 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Of those, 11 will have been executed since 2010.

Jim Craig, a veteran defender of Mississippi death row inmates, said case law gives the state Supreme Court "wide discretion" in setting execution dates. He said he hopes the justices stretch out the dates.

"I hope our Court does not set three executions within the same week, or for that matter two weeks," Craig wrote in an email. "It would be unfair to the survivors of the victims, the family members of the prisoners, and the prisoners themselves to have their pain and loss minimized by an 'assembly line' series of executions. It would also unfairly compress the time for Gov. Bryant to consider clemency in each case."

In briefs filed with the state Supreme Court, the attorney general's office said Jackson should be executed first because his crime is the oldest, followed on June 13 by Simmons and lastly by Brawner on June 14 because his crime is the most recent.

Jackson, 47, was convicted of stabbing two nieces and two nephews, ranging in age from 2 years to 5 years, at his mother's home near Greenwood in 1990. He also was convicted of stabbing his adult sister and another niece, who both survived. Prosecutors said Jackson, who was 26 at the time, planned to steal his mother's safe and kill the victims when he went to the house that day asking for a cigarette and money. He was convicted and sentenced to death on four counts of capital murder after a trial in September 1991. The trial was held in Copiah County after Jackson's defense attorney requested a change of venue.

In 1998, the state Supreme Court ordered Leflore County to hire an appellate lawyer on Jackson's behalf. That precedent, and other counties ordered to incur such expense afterward, aided the creation of a statewide system of appeal lawyers

Simmons, 49, was convicted for shooting and dismembering Jeffrey Wolfe. Wolfe was killed in August 1996 after he came to Simmons' Pascagoula home to collect on a drug debt, according to court records. Timothy Milano, Simmons' co-defendant and the person authorities said shot Wolfe, was convicted on the same charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Simmons worked as a grocery store butcher when he and Milano were charged with killing Wolfe. Police said the pair kidnapped Wolfe and his female friend and later assaulted the woman and locked her in a box. Police found parts of Wolfe's dismembered body at Simmons' house, in the yard and at a nearby bayou.

Brawner, 34, was convicted of the 2001 killings of his 3-year-old daughter, ex-wife and former father-in-law and mother-in-law in Sarah, a rural Tate County community west of Senatobia.

Brawner went to the Craft home after learning that his former wife planned to stop him from seeing their child, trial testimony showed. He also had no money and contemplated robbing his former in-laws, who had loaned him money in the past, according to testimony. Brawner admitted to the killings at trial and told a prosecutor that he deserved death.

http://www.foxreno.com/news/ap/crime...in-june/nN5xS/

[Heidi]

3 condemned men ask Miss. high court to halt executions

Three men asked the Mississippi Supreme Court on Monday to stop them from being executed in June.

State Attorney General Jim Hood asked earlier this month that justices set execution dates for Henry Curtis Jackson Jr., Gary Carl Simmons Jr. and Jan Michael Brawner on June 12, 13 and 14, respectively.

Lawyers for Simmons and Brawner told the state court, in briefs filed Monday, that they should get fresh shots at proving earlier lawyers hadn't done enough to pass legal muster. Jackson's lawyer said he needs more time to prepare a petition asking to Gov. Phil Bryant to spare Jackson's life.

Simmons and Brawner both said their legal causes suffered in part because of ineffective assistance by Bob Ryan, formerly head of the state office meant to handle post-conviction appeals for people sentenced to death. Ryan's actions were previously an issue in the case of William Gerald Mitchell, who was executed earlier this year.

The state Supreme Court turned down appeals that touched on Ryan by votes of 7-2 and then 5-4.

Hood's office replied that Brawner's arguments all have been previously rejected, and that he shouldn't be allowed to restate them. He also noted that Brawner told his lawyer not to accept a plea bargain and not to put on mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his trial.

Simmons'current lawyers argue Simmons should get a chance to be resentenced because they have evidence that Simmons may have post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental illnesses and had suffered from abuse as a child.

Simmons, 49, was convicted for shooting and dismembering Jeffrey Wolfe in August 1996.

Jackson, 47, was convicted of stabbing two nieces and two nephews, ranging in age from 2 years to 5 years, at his mother's home near Greenwood in 1990. He also was convicted of stabbing his adult sister and another niece, who both survived. Prosecutors said Jackson, 26 at the time, planned to steal his mother's safe and kill the victims.

Hood hasn't yet replied to petitions filed by Simmons and Jackson.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article...text|FRONTPAGE

[Heidi]

Miss. court sets execution dates for 2 of 3 men

Mississippi will not execute three men on three consecutive days in June, after the state Supreme Court set execution dates a week apart for two men and declined to set a date for a third.

Attorney General Jim Hood’s office had asked earlier this month that justices set execution dates for Henry Curtis Jackson Jr., Gary Carl Simmons Jr. and Jan Michael Brawner on June 12, 13 and 14, respectively.

On Wednesday, the court set June 5 as the execution date for Jackson on an 8-0 vote. It also set a June 12 execution for Brawner on a 5-3 vote. Meanwhile, it ordered Hood’s office to reply to Simmons’ claims that his original lawyers were ineffective at trial and that he never later had lawyers good enough to point out shortcomings.

Current lawyers argue Simmons should get a chance to be resentenced because they have evidence that Simmons may have post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental illnesses and had suffered from abuse as a child. They’re also seeking a court order allowing access to an expert for a mental evaluation.

Simmons, 49, was convicted for shooting and dismembering Jeffrey Wolfe. Wolfe was killed in August 1996 after he went to Simmons’ Pascagoula home to collect on a drug debt, according to court records. Timothy Milano, Simmons’ co-defendant and the person authorities said shot Wolfe, was convicted on the same charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Simmons worked as a grocery store butcher when he and Milano were charged with killing Wolfe. Police said the pair kidnapped Wolfe and his female friend and later assaulted the woman and locked her in a box. Police found parts of Wolfe’s dismembered body at Simmons’ house, in the yard and in a nearby bayou.

Simmons and Brawner both said their legal causes suffered in part because of ineffective assistance by Bob Ryan, formerly head of the state office meant to handle post-conviction appeals for people sentenced to death. Five justices, though, said Brawner’s claims have already been litigated and that courts had decided against them.

Justice David Chandler, joined by Justices James Kitchens and Leslie King, dissented, citing claims that Brawner’s case, in its early stages, was handled by a law clerk who hadn’t yet passed the bar exam.

“Because the issue of whether a non-lawyers purported representation of Brawner during critical stages of the proceedings never has been addressed by this court and the issue is now clearly before the court, we would allow Brawner to file a successive motion for post-conviction relief on this issue,” Chandler wrote.

Brawner, 34, was convicted of the 2001 killings of his 3-year-old daughter, ex-wife and former father-in-law and mother-in-law in Sarah, a Tate County community west of Senatobia.

Brawner went to his former in-laws’ home after learning that his former wife planned to stop him from seeing their child, trial testimony showed. He also had no money and contemplated robbing his former in-laws, according to testimony. Brawner admitted to the killings at trial and told a prosecutor he deserved death.

Jackson, 47, was convicted of stabbing two nieces and two nephews, ranging in age from 2 years to 5 years, at his mother’s home near Greenwood in 1990. He also was convicted of stabbing his adult sister and another niece, who both survived. Prosecutors said Jackson, 26 at the time, planned to steal his mother’s safe and kill the victims.

http://www.clarionledger.com/article...news|text|Home

[Last Suppers]

This might be a superficial observation, but anyone who bears such a striking resemblance to a human Teletubby simply must be guilty.

[PITA]

This might be a superficial observation, but anyone who bears such a striking resemblance to a human Teletubby simply must be guilty.

Mr. Treadwell (aka 'Last Suppers'),why, in your opinion, would a person bearing a resemblance to a human Teletubby be guilty? Looks do not tell you anything about someone's guilt or innocence regarding criminal charges, only strong,convincing and reliable evidence relating to said charges does.

[allfourjacks]

While I agree with your serious approach to the mans ultimate demise, and I dont believe his looks have anything to do with his guilt either, I do think last supper was poking fun at a murderer in his last days on this earth. The evidence in this case speaks for itself and the man deserves what he has coming....chubby looks or not......P.S.......HE HAS HAD 20 YEARS TO LOOK LIKE A TELETUBBY