Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 11

Thread: Miguel Angel Padilla - Pennsylvania Death Row

  1. #1
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534

    Miguel Angel Padilla - Pennsylvania Death Row





    Facts of the Crime:

    Padilla, a Mexican citizen and illegal alien, was convicted of the August 28, 2005 killing of three people outside of a social club after his friend was not allowed in. Those who died were club owner Alfred Mignogna, Jr., club employee Fredrick Rickabaugh, Sr. and patron Stephen M. Heiss.

    Padilla was sentenced to death in Blair County on February 1, 2007.

  2. #2
    Guest
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    5,534
    August 30, 2010

    Anniversary of Triple Murder in Altoona

    A somber anniversary is being marked in Altoona.

    It was five years ago this weekend that a dispute outside the UVA Club in Altoona ended with gunfire and three people being murdered. Blair County District Attorney Rich Consiglio says this is the only triple homicide in Blair County as far as anyone can remember.

    The late night murders touched so many lives because two of the victims were well-known Altoona businessmen. Al Mingnogna was the owner of the club and a former Altoona High School teacher. Fred Richabaugh had long been the doorman at the club. The third victim, Stephen Heiss, was a prison guard and club patron who was caught in the gunfire when the club officials refused entry to Miguel Padilla.

    Padilla, who was an illegal immigrant living in Gallitzin, had already had several run-ins with the law. He has since been convicted of three counts of murder in connection with the UVA shootings and has been sentenced to death. That death penalty is currently under appeal in Pennsylvania as Padilla serves time on death row.

    http://wearecentralpa.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=202885

  3. #3
    JOgershok
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Guest View Post
    The third victim, Stephen Heiss, was a prison guard and club patron who was caught in the gunfire when the club officials refused entry to Miguel Padilla.

    http://wearecentralpa.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=202885
    Stephen Heiss was a corrections officer at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon, a member of the U.S. Army Reserves, and a former Marine. He served in Iraq.

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217

    Man's 3 Death Sentences Upheld

    The man convicted of killing three people in Altoona eight years ago will remain on death row. The State Supreme Court has upheld three death sentences for Miguel Padilla.

    Padilla shot and killed Al Mignogna, Fred Rickabaugh Sr., and Stephen Heiss outside the UVA Club. His appeal claimed he had ineffective counsel, he was an illegal alien and wasn't allowed to consult with the Mexican government, and that the evidence didn't support the death penalty.

    However, Blair County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Bernard says the State Supreme Court firmly dismissed all of Padilla's arguments.

    "They always have the right to ask the court for review. It's just that after a direct appeal comes back so strongly affirming the sentence of death, it will be difficult," she said.

    No one on death row in Pennsylvania has been executed since 1999

    http://www.wearecentralpa.com/story/...ukyOtXmWArZAww
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  5. #5
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    Padilla’s appeal rejected

    By Phil Ray
    The Altoona Mirror

    HOLLIDAYSBURG - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected a defense request to reargue an appeal for the death penalty for an Altoona man, Miguel A. Padilla, who is awaiting execution at the State Correctional Institution at Greene.

    The state's highest court in late October upheld Padilla's first- degree murder convictions and death penalties imposed by now-retired Blair County Judge Hiram A. Carpenter for the murders of three men at the United Veterans Association Club on Aug. 28, 2005.

    While the Supreme Court concluded the evidence that the 33-year-old Padilla killed the three men in a shooting spree following an argument at the after-hours club was "unquestionably sufficient" to establish his guilt, the imposition of the death penalty caused controversy among the justices because of a stipulation by Padilla's death penalty attorney that admitted he had committed the killings "while in the perpetration of a felony of a person not to possess or use a firearm."

    The prosecution contended Padilla illegally possessed a gun because he, as a native of Mexico, was an illegal immigrant.

    But Padilla's attorney, the late Ed Blanarik of Centre County, wanted to keep that information from the jury, according to the Supreme Court review of the case, and agreed to the stipulation.

    Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille stated in his opinion that the defense "apparently at all costs" did not want the jury to learn of Padilla's immigration status.

    Padilla had come to America as a young child with his mother and was raised with several siblings in Gallitzin.

    The out-of-county jury from Cumberland County found the gun issue one of four aggravating circumstances that served as the underpinning of the death sentences.

    At least one of the justices, Max Baer, suggested the case be sent back to Blair for a new sentencing hearing because, as he pointed out in a separate opinion, the possession of a fireman by an illegal immigrant was a misdemeanor, not a felony, and therefore was an "invalid aggravating circumstance."

    Despite the controversy, the death sentence was upheld, and that led to a defense request, filed with the Supreme Court on Nov. 12, to reargue the question.

    Blair County District Attorney Richard A. Consiglio opposed reargument.

    He contended that not only will Padilla and his defense team have the opportunity to raise their complaints during the post-conviction proceedings - the next step in the case - but also emphasized that the gun charge should stand because Padilla used the illegal weapon to commit several felonies: the murders of Alfred Mignogna, the owner of the UVA; Frederick Rickabaugh, a club employee, and Stephen Heiss, a patron.

    He defended the jury's decision in a brief filed on Dec. 2.

    Consiglio said Monday he was notified of the decision on Thursday.

    Padilla is represented by Philadelphia attorney J. Alexander Hershey and Robert Dunham of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, an organization that represents many death row inmates.

    According to court records, Dunham is working on behalf of the Mexican government.

    The defense is contending Padilla's death sentence "rested on misinformation of a constitutional magnitude."

    http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/co...d.html?nav=742

  6. #6
    Jan
    Guest
    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, Padilla's petition for writ of certiorari was DENIED.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District
    Case Nos.: (567, 568 CAP)
    Decision Date: October 31, 2013
    Rehearing Denied: December 17, 2013

  7. #7
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    13,014
    Pennsylvania death row inmate asks federal judge for stay of execution

    A Blair County man facing execution for three first-degree murder convictions asked a federal judge on Monday to stay his execution while he appeals his sentences.

    Miguel Padilla, 34, of Gallitzin plans a federal challenge of the constitutionality of his convictions and sentence, said the brief filed by Marshall Dayan, an assistant federal public defender who specializes in death penalty appeals.

    He's also asking for the court to appoint an attorney to handle his final appeal and waive his filing fees.

    Padilla's state appeals ran out in June when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his challenge of lower court decisions upholding his convictions.

    Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday signed the death certificate for Padilla.

    A Blair County jury in 2006 convicted the construction worker of killing three people at an Altoona social club after his friend was denied admittance. Padilla fatally shot Alfred Mignogna, 61, owner of the United Veterans Association Club, Fredrick Rickabaugh Sr., 59, the club doorman, and Shephen M. Heiss, 28, a club patron.

    The Mexican government tried to intervene in the state appeals because Padilla had been in the United States illegally since he was about 9 years old. The state Supreme Court in 2008 denied Mexico's petition.

    http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6...#ixzz3DQpaPjBh

    His petition is here.

  8. #8
    ProDP
    Guest
    Padilla’s execution has been stayed by the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
    Last edited by Heidi; 10-16-2014 at 11:51 AM. Reason: we don't post the opinions of the Forgivness Foundation

  9. #9
    Senior Member Frequent Poster stixfix69's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    377
    PA is like Cali...They have the DR inmates, but won't execute them....Weak sauce states when it comes to following through with the justice handed down....

  10. #10
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    20,875
    Judge reconsiders Padilla request

    By Kay Stephens
    Altoona Mirror

    HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Gallitzin man sentenced to death in the 2005 murder of three Altoona residents is again asking Blair County Court for money to hire a Spanish-speaking investigator for the pursuit of post-conviction appeals.

    Senior Judge Hiram A. Carpenter, who rejected Miguel Padilla’s request a year ago for an investigator at a cost of $10,000, said Monday that he would reconsider his ruling, as requested by defense attorney Laurence Shtasel of Philadelphia.

    While Carpenter made no promise of reaching a different conclusion, the judge acknowledged Shtasel’s arguments in pursuit of Padilla’s appeal.

    “You have made your points and I will take another look at it,” Carpenter said at the conclusion of oral arguments.

    A year ago, Carpenter concluded that the request for a Spanish-speaking investigator was unnecessary because the investigator would be looking for information already revealed during Padilla’s 2006 trial. The judge concluded that the request for hiring an investigator amounted to “a fishing expedition."

    Shtasel disagreed and suggested that without more investigation, he doesn’t have enough information to prepare a post-trial appeal on Padilla’s behalf.

    The defense attorney said he needs to know more about Padilla’s childhood, including the poverty Padilla experienced in Mexico and the sexual abuse he endured by an uncle.

    During the penalty phase of the 2006 trial, Padilla’s mother spoke of the poverty and sexual abuse.

    The mother’s testimony, however, made up 11 lines of a transcript exceeding 200 pages, Shtasel said.

    Former District Attorney Richard Consiglio told Carpenter that he should reject Shtasel’s request for a Spanish-speaking investigator who would travel to Mexico and explore Padilla’s childhood experiences.

    “All of this was brought out in great detail during the trial,” Consiglio said. “Are we supposed to write a book now?”

    Consiglio reminded Carpenter that the jury recognized three mitigating factors when weighing the death penalty for Padilla.

    One of the factors, Consiglio said, was that Padilla was under the extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the offenses. Two other factors — Padilla adjusted well to prison and his recognition as a good father — were insufficient to keep the jury from deciding on death as his punishment.

    For his ruling issued a year ago rejecting the request for an investigator, Carpenter questioned who the investigator would talk to. He pointed out that Padilla family members had testified during Padilla’s trial about their family life in Mexico before moving to California and later to Pennsylvania.

    Shtasel suggested that in Padilla’s native town of Colima, Mexico, the investigator could interview people who knew the Padilla family, in addition to uncles, cousins, teachers and Padilla’s father.

    “Without funding, we’re at an unfair disadvantage,” Shtasel told Carpenter on Monday.

    https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/l...dilla-request/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •