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Thread: Roy Lee Ward - Indiana Death Row

  1. #21
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    High court agrees to decide future of Indiana’s death penalty

    The Indiana Supreme Court will decide whether the state’s method of carrying out the death penalty can stand after the justices agreed to hold oral arguments in an appeal of the Indiana Court of Appeals ruling that voided the current death penalty protocol.

    The high court unanimously granted transfer to the case of Roy Ward v. Robert E. Carter, Jr., et al., 46S03-1709-PL-569, last week. In that case, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in June that the Department of Correction’s failure to enact new lethal-injection protocols under the Administrative Rules and Procedure Act, subject to public comment, made the death penalty protocol adopted in May 2014 “void and without effect.” That protocol included a three-drug cocktail that has not yet been used in any state or federal execution.

    “Finding the General Assembly has not exempted the DOC from ARPA and that the statutory definition of ‘rule’ clearly includes the DOC’s execution protocols, we reverse,” Judge John Baker wrote in the June opinion, referencing a previous dismissal of the case by the LaPorte Circuit Court.

    The appellate court’s ruling came after Roy Ward was sentenced to death for the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County. Ward, who was sentenced in 2007, is one of 12 people on death row in Indiana.

    At the time of the June 1 decision, a spokesman for Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said Hill’s office was disappointed with the decision. In its petition for review by the Supreme Court, the state argued the Court of Appeals panel “eschewed … legislative judgment and substituted its own.” Other legal experts said the decision left the future of the death penalty in Indiana in limbo. Oral arguments in the case have not yet been scheduled.

    The high court also agreed to hear the case of B.A. v. State of Indiana, 49S02-1709-JV-567, in which delinquency findings were upheld against a 13-year-old who threatened to bomb his school. The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled in March that because an in-school interrogation of 13-year-old B.A. was led by a school official, it did not trigger a Miranda warning, so the trial court did not err in admitting the statements the teenager made during that interrogation.

    Finally, the justices unanimously agreed to decide whether three counts of resisting law enforcement should be entered against a man who was convicted after a single incident.

    In Brian L. Paquette v. State of Indiana, 63S04-1709-CR-570, Brian Paquette crossed a median while fleeing police officers in his car and struck two vehicles carrying a total of four passengers, three of whom were killed. Paquette was convicted on three counts of resisting law enforcement – one for each of his victims – but the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed in June, finding only one incident of resisting law enforcement had occurred.

    The high court denied transfer to the case of Lucy Mundia v. Drendall Law Office, P.C., 71A05-1610-PL-2388, forcing a South Bend law firm to face a legal malpractice suit. Lucy Mundia filed a malpractice complaint against the Drendall Law Office after Stephen Drendall failed to file a tort claim notice on her behalf against the South Bend Police Department and St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office, which mistakenly released Mundia’s husband, Edward Mwuara, from jail.

    Mwuara had been arrested on suspicion of violating a protective order against Mundia’s 6-year-old daughter, Shirley, but authorities misspelled his name upon his arrest. Thus, when a deputy prosecutor checked the protective order registry under the misspelled name, she found no active order, so Mwuara was released. He then attacked Mundia and Shirley, fatally wounding the young girl.

    When Mundia brought her malpractice suit against the firm, Drendall claimed the police department and prosecutor’s office were immune under the Indiana Tort Claims Act, so she could not have succeeded on her claims against them even if he had filed the tort claim. The trial court agreed and granted summary judgment to Drendall, but the Indiana Court of Appeals found otherwise and ordered the case to continue to a malpractice trial. A divided Indiana Supreme Court agreed by denying transfer, though justices Mark Massa and Geoffrey Slaughter voted to grant transfer.

    The high court denied transfer to 21 other cases last week.

    http://www.theindianalawyer.com/arti...-death-penalty
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  2. #22
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    Indiana court weighs challenge to execution drug selection

    INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court is considering whether state prison officials can change execution drugs without going through a public review.

    The justices heard arguments Thursday in the challenge by death row inmate Roy Lee Ward, who was convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in southern Indiana's Spencer County.

    The state appeals court ruled in June that the Department of Correction didn't follow proper procedures in selecting a new three-drug combination in 2014.

    Ward's attorney, David Frank, argues such decisions should be subject to public oversight.

    Deputy Attorney General Stephen Creason says state law doesn't require the rulemaking process and would unduly delay executions.

    Indiana has 12 death row inmates but no executions are currently scheduled.

    The court didn't say when it would issue a ruling.

    http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/ne...g-12258218.php
    Last edited by Moh; 10-06-2017 at 11:28 AM. Reason: Didn't post article--only the link.

  3. #23
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Indiana Supreme Court rules against death row inmate

    By Fatima Hussein
    The Indianapolis Star

    Indiana's Supreme Court has ruled against death row inmate Roy Ward, stating that the process used to choose the state's new three-drug lethal injection cocktail complies with constitutional law.

    Ward challenged the state's lethal injection process, arguing there is a lack of oversight in who picks what is in the "drug cocktail" that would be used to execute him.

    The court ruled Tuesday that the Indiana Department of Correction can alter its lethal injection protocols without oversight because the internal procedures are "without the effect of law."

    In a unanimous nine-page decision written by Indiana Supreme Court Justice Christopher Goff, the court held that Ward's "constitutional claims necessarily fail."

    Goff was named to the court last June, replacing former Justice Robert Rucker.

    Ward's Fort Wayne attorney, David Frank, was not immediately available for comment.

    Goff pointed out that Ward did not raise an Eighth Amendment cruel-and-unusual punishment argument to the court.

    "His Indiana and federal constitutional claims cited only due process violations, which hinged upon whether the Department’s lethal injection protocol amounted to a rule subject to ARPA (Indiana's Administrative Rules and Procedures Act.)"

    In 2014, the Department of Correction chose a three-drug cocktail — including a drug called Brevital — that has not been used in any state or federal execution.

    The other two drugs are pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

    During oral arguments in October, Indiana Attorney General Chief Counsel Stephen Creason told the court that the DOC would not be using Brevital to execute prisoners.

    However, “the question going forward," Creason posed to the justices, "is what will the department need to do whenever it identifies a new execution procedure?"

    Ward, who was convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County, is one of 11 people on death row in Indiana. And of those 11, none has a scheduled execution date.

    The Indiana Court of Appeals sided with Ward in June, when the court ruled that the death penalty protocol adopted in May 2014 was unconstitutional and thus “void and without effect.”

    The Supreme Court unanimously decided in September 2017 to weigh in on the appeal.

    Supreme Court Justices Steven H. David and Geoffrey Slaughter were skeptical of Ward's claim.

    "The majority of states have not sided with your position," said Justice David to attorney David, referring to Ward's challenge to the process.

    Justice Slaughter questioned whether it was appropriate for the court to even hear the case when there is no set date for Ward to be executed by the state.

    Chief Justice Loretta Rush, however, said she wanted to look at legal precedent on the issue.

    "I look at Court of Appeals opinions and (rulings in) other states," she said, subsequently questioning why there is no set rules on choosing death penalty methods.

    She specifically wondered why the Department of Correction would have specific rules on such "mundane topics" as washing bed sheets, but not on the way it chooses a lethal injection drug.

    But the issue clearly is not going away, nor is the desire for prosecutors to seek the ultimate punishment.

    https://www.indystar.com/story/news/...ate/333651002/

  4. #24
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On October 1, 2018, the United States Supreme Court DENIED Ward's certiorari petition.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Indiana
    Case Numbers: (46S03-1709-PL-00569)
    Decision Date: February 13, 2018
    Rehearing Denied: April 23, 2018

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....c/18-5240.html

  5. #25
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    Roy Lee Ward files lawsuit to block death penalty in Indiana

    INDIANA (WFIE) - Another lawsuit has been filed by Roy Lee Ward.

    Ward was sentenced to death in 2002 for the brutal rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne of Spencer County.

    His conviction and sentence was overturned due to pre-trial publicity, but he was sentenced to death for a second time in 2007 after pleading guilty.

    Ward’s most recent lawsuit says the death penalty violates Indiana’s Constitution.

    It asks for a permanent injunction to stop Indiana from carrying out any executions.

    Ward previously sued Indiana over the newest lethal injection cocktail approved for the state. That suit claimed the decision making process didn’t follow the rules before adopting it.

    Indiana’s Supreme Court ruled against that suit.

    Right now, there are no scheduled dates for executions in Indiana, but there are 12 people on death row. One of them is being held in a prison out of state.

    The last person put to death in Indiana was Eric Wrinkles in 2009. He was 94th person executed according to records that go back to 1897. Indiana became a state in 1816.

    Hanging was the state’s first form of corporal punishment. That lasted until 1907. Electrocution was used until 1994.

    http://www.14news.com/2019/01/15/roy...nalty-indiana/
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  6. #26
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    Lawsuit challenges death penalty

    Claims capital punishment violates state constitution

    By JEFF MAYES
    The Herald-Argus

    MICHIGAN CITY — An inmate on death row at the Indiana State Prison has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction halting his unscheduled execution and claiming the state’s death penalty is unconstitutional.

    Fort Wayne attorney David Frank filed the suit last week on behalf of Roy Lee Ward, who was sentenced to death in 2001 for the rape and murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne in Spencer County.

    The suit, filed in La Porte Superior Court 2, names Gov. Eric Holcomb and Robert Carter Jr., commissioner of the Indiana Department of Corrections, as defendants. A similar motion, filed last year on behalf of murder suspect Marcus Dansby, is pending in Allen County

    Ward’s sentence was appealed all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, which upheld the death penalty in the case in 2012. However, a federal judge issued a stay of execution that same year, and no date has been set for execution by lethal injection at ISP.

    The suit claims the death penalty is “arbitrary and capricious, without legitimate penological end, offensive to evolving standards of decency, and unconstitutional.”

    It claims Indiana should follow the lead of other states in outlawing capital punishment. The state has not executed anyone since 2009, the complaint says, but still has nine inmates on death row, seven with an “active sentence of death.”

    The death sentence of Fredrick Baer was reversed, while Michael Overstreet was found incompetent to be executed, according to the suit. Those still under a death sentence include Ward, Joseph Corcoran, William Gibson, Eric Holmes, Kevin Isom, Benjamin Ritchie and Jeffrey Weisheit.

    It claims the death penalty violates the Indiana Constitution’s:

    n Article 1, Section 1 as it would “subject that individual to unequal punishment and alienate him from his constitutional right to life”

    n Article 1, Section 15, as it would “subject that individual to arbitrary, capricious, and unnecessary force and rigor offensive to evolving standards of decency”

    n Article 1, Section 16, which bans “cruel and unusual punishment”

    n Article 1, Section 18, which states the “penal code shall be founded on the principles or reformation, and not of vindictive justice.”

    It says the “only rationale for the death penalty is vindictiveness and vengeance,” claiming inmates on death row “cannot escape prison”; “will suffer physically and psychologically if executed”; and “cannot be rehabilitated if executed.”

    Another part of the suit questions the drugs the IDOC would use, saying the state “has not disclosed the substance or substances it intends to use to execute individuals.”

    The suit asks the court to declare capital punishment unconstitutional; issue a preliminary injunction against the state inflicting capital punishment; and issue a permanent injunction restraining the state from inflicting capital punishment. It also seeks attorney’s fees and costs.

    The lawsuit – Roy Ward v. Gov. Eric Holcomb, Robert Carter Jr. – has been assigned to Judge Richard Stalbrink. Court records show a telephonic attorney conference with the judge is scheduled for March 26.

    A similar motion was filed in October 2018 on behalf of Dansby, who is scheduled to stand trial in April on four counts of murder. When Allen County prosecutors said they intended to seek the death penalty, defense attorneys filed a motion asking the trial judge to declare the death penalty unconstitutional and bar prosecutors from seeking it.

    Their motion alleges “systemic defects in the administration of capital punishment” from pre-trial proceedings through federal review “violate due process, the right to a jury trial, and state and federal constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.”

    It claims “geography, quality of defense representation and race” disproportionately determine who is sentenced to death, not the severity of the crime.

    A separate motion seeks to bar the death penalty in Dansby’s case because of his age – he was 20 at the time of the murders for which he is charged.

    The IDOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a spokesman for the Attorney General’s office said they could not comment on pending litigation.

    If the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional, death sentences would be commuted to life sentences under a bill before the legislature. Senate Bill 301, introduced by state Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, would abolish the death penalty and commute sentences to life without parole.

    A lawsuit filed on behalf of a death row inmate at the Indiana State Prison includes some background on the death penalty in Indiana, and other states’ banning of the practive.

    Until 1913, Indiana used hanging as its method of execution, and 13 people were hanged. From 1914 to 1995, the state used electrocution, and 62 died in the electric chair. Since 1995, Indiana has used lethal injection, and 19 people have been executed in that manner.

    Lethal injection executions included Tommie J. Smith in 1996, and according to the suit, “State officers were physically unable to inject lethal substances into Mr. Smith’s arms due to the small size of his veins. A catheter was attempted to be inserted into Mr. Smith’s neck, twice, but the insertion was not successful. Finally, after forty-nine minutes of attempting to inject Mr. Smith, lethal substances were administered ... through his foot. Mr. Smith was pronounced dead twenty minutes later.”

    No one was executed in Indiana from 1961-81; 20 were executied from 1981-2009; and no one has been executed since. Indiana has never executed a woman.

    Wisconsin abolished capital punishment in 1853; Minnesota in 1911; Michigan in 1963; Iowa in 1965; Illinois in 2011; and the State of Washington in 2018.

    https://www.heraldargus.com/news/law...c4f4857da.html
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