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Thread: Von Clark Davis - Ohio

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    Von Clark Davis - Ohio




    Summary of Offense:

    On December 12, 1983, Davis murdered his former girlfriend, 27-year-old Suzette Butler, outside the American Legion Post 520 in Hamilton. Davis shot Ms. Butler in the head at close range and continued to shoot her after she fell to the ground. At the time, Davis was on parole after serving prison time for murdering his wife.

    Davis was re-sentenced to death on September 10, 2009.

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    September 10, 2009

    Von Clark Davis gets death - again

    HAMILTON - It took less than an hour for a three-judge panel to send a twice-condemned Butler County killer back to Death Row for a third time on Thursday.

    "I hereby impose on defendant Von Clark Davis, the sentence of death," said Judge Andrew Nastoff, of Butler County Common Pleas Court.

    Davis, 62, did not flinch. An appeal is automatic in a death penalty case.

    Davis was first convicted of aggravated murder and got the death penalty in 1984 for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Suzette Butler, then 27.

    The slaying occurred 13 years after Davis had stabbed his wife, Ernestine, to death in front of their children. He had been out on parole for three years for that crime when he killed Butler.

    The Ohio Supreme Court has vacated death sentences for Davis twice because of mistakes at the trial level, but each time the sentencing court has sent him back to Death Row.

    Fonsea Butler, daughter of Suzette Butler, met with Davis privately after the sentence.

    Here is part of a written statement she said she read to Davis:

    "Please know that I'm ok. My family's ok. Suzette's 11-year-old grandson that she never got to meet is ok," she wrote.

    "I wish you peace in the midst of any storm you may encounter. But most of all, I pray that you have made your soul right with God."

    After three days of testimony, a three-judge panel started deliberating shortly after 4 p.m. Thursday to decide whether Davis should stay on Death Row or receive a life sentence with parole eligibility in either 20 or 30 years.

    The case landed back in common pleas court this week after a federal appeal court ruled that judges who heard the case twice in 25 years improperly excluded evidence about Davis' good prison behavior and other factors.

    Over three days, defense attorneys presented a string of witnesses on Davis' behalf, contending that the good in Davis, his family's love for him, a borderline personality disorder that triggered explosive behavior, and the likelihood that he would never be released on parole should be enough to get him off Death Row.

    Defense attorney Melynda Cook-Reich suggested that Nastoff and Judges Keith Spaeth and Charles Pater should impose a sentence of 30 years to life, even though he would then be eligible for parole in six years.

    A sentence of life without parole isn't possible because it was not available in 1984 when Davis was convicted.

    "No parole board...is going to release Von Clark Davis with his criminal history," Cook-Reich told the judges in closing arguments. "Thirty to life is natural death in prison instead of death by lethal injection."

    Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Oster argued that parole officials who testified this week couldn't guarantee that Davis would remain in prison for the rest of his life.

    "It's atypical for a person during their lifetime to have purposely killed two women. What's atypical in this case is that the aggravating circumstance outweighs all the typical things you would expect that have been presented to us in mitigation," Oster said.

    http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...107/909110350/

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    On October 22, 2013 the Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Von Clark Davis v. State of Ohio, Case no. 2011-0538

    This is the third time that the Ohio Supreme Court has considered the death sentence of Von Clark Davis for the 1983 murder of his estranged girlfriend, Suzette Butler, in Hamilton.

    Davis shot Butler multiple times in the head in front of several witnesses on the street on December 12, 1983.

    At his trial in 1984 in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, Davis waived his right to a jury trial. Because he had previously been convicted of second degree murder in 1971, he was charged in this case with the death penalty specification that this was a repeat murder. He was convicted by a three-judge panel of aggravated murder and sentenced by the judges to death. He appealed his conviction and sentence to the Twelfth District Court of Appeals, which upheld the verdict and sentence. The Ohio Supreme Court on appeal affirmed Davis’ conviction but reversed his death sentence on the grounds that the three-judge panel had improperly considered aggravating circumstances not permitted by statute during the penalty phase of the trial. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Butler County Court of Common Pleas, and the same three-judge panel conducted a new sentencing hearing and again sentenced Davis to death. This sentence was upheld by the Twelfth District and the Ohio Supreme Court.

    Later, in a separate habeas corpus action (which alleges unlawful imprisonment) initiated in federal court, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the trial court’s refusal to consider the presentation of additional mitigating evidence at the second sentencing hearing was in error and ordered that the case be remanded again for a third sentencing hearing. The original three judges on the case were unavailable by this time, and so three new judges were assigned for the new sentencing hearing. On September 10, 2009, the trial court again imposed a sentence of death on Davis, and this sentence was affirmed by the Twelfth District Court of Appeals.

    Davis has appealed this new sentencing to the Ohio Supreme Court. His attorneys make five arguments for why the court should vacate his death sentence and impose a life sentence. In the alternative, they ask that the case be sent back to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing with a jury.

    Among the arguments that Davis’s attorneys make:

    The trial court violated the Sixth and Eighth amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Davis’s right to due process by applying the original jury waiver Davis had made and not permitting him the opportunity at the resentencing hearing to have a jury.

    The three-judge panel erred in not considering and giving weight to certain mitigating evidence in the resentencing hearing.

    The trial court should not have applied a revised and amended sentencing statute (R.C. 2929.03) at the resentencing.

    A sentence of death in this case is inherently disproportionate and inappropriate. Davis’s attorneys argue that the trial court at resentencing did not give appropriate weight to the mitigating factors presented, including that Davis was forgiven by the daughter of one of his victims, that he was raised in a dysfunctional family setting that adversely impacted his personality development and mental health, that he has apologized and shown remorse, and that he has shown good behavior in prison, among other factors.

    Twenty-six years on death row constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of state, federal, and international law.

    Arguing for the state, attorneys from the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office respond that:

    Under established law, when someone who waived a jury trial is convicted of capital murder and the verdict was affirmed on direct appeal but the sentence was vacated, which required a new sentencing hearing, the defendant may not withdraw that original jury trial waiver.

    When a trial court finds certain specific evidence to be non-mitigating, the court is not required to assign weight to this evidence.

    Since the vacating of Davis’s sentence occurred after the effective date of the new criminal sentencing statute, the trial court properly resentenced him under this revised statute even though the crime and original trial occurred before the effective date of the statute.

    The trial court properly weighed the mitigating and aggravating factors in this case and correctly found that when combined the mitigating factors did not outweigh the aggravating factor that this was a repeat murder and therefore the death sentence was appropriate.

    To date, no Ohio precedent supports Davis’s argument that a lengthy stay on death row constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The state’s attorneys cite a Second District Court of Appeals case (State v. Chinn), which found that the inmate’s stay on death row did not violate the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. They also cite cases from other states and federal courts on this point.

    Contacts
    Representing Von Clark Davis: John P. Parker, 216.881.0900

    Representing the State of Ohio: Michael A. Oster, Butler County Prosecutor’s Office, 513.887.3474
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    Court again considers death penalty for Hamilton man

    Attorneys were in Columbus on Tuesday for oral arguments in a third appeal by Von Clark Davis to have his death sentence vacated or sent back to a Butler County court for a new hearing.

    Davis, 66, was first sentenced to death after he was found guilty in the 1983 shooting death of Suzette Butler, a 24-year-old single mother. At the time of Butler’s murder, Davis was on parole after spending 10 years behind bars for the 1971 murder of his wife, Ernestine Davis.

    The sentence was appealed and overturned twice, including in 2007 by the Sixth Circuit Court, which sent the case back for a third sentencing hearing.

    Davis was sentenced to death a third time by a three-judge panel in Butler County Common Pleas Court in September 2009.

    In the latest appeal, Davis’ attorneys argued his constitutional rights were violated by applying the original jury waiver and not permitting him the opportunity at the re-sentencing hearing to have a jury.

    Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Oster argued that under established law, when someone who has waived a jury trial is convicted of capital murder and the verdict is upheld, but sentence vacated, the defendant may not withdraw that original jury trial waiver.

    No timeline has been set for a ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court.

    http://www.journal-news.com/news/new...ilton-m/nbW4c/
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  5. #5
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    State v. Davis

    In today's opinions, the Ohio Supreme Court AFFIRMED the judgment of the court of appeals, affirming Davis’s sentence of death.

    In State v. Davis, the court rejected the third death-penalty appeal of a Butler County man convicted of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend in 1983.
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  6. #6
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    Article

    Killer’s death sentence upheld for third time

    The Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the third death-penalty appeal of a Butler County man convicted of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend in 1983.

    Von Clark Davis, 67, was first convicted of aggravated murder and received the death penalty in 1984 for the shooting death of his girlfriend, Suzette Butler, then 27.

    The slaying occurred 13 years after Davis had stabbed his wife, Ernestine, to death in front of their children. He had been out on parole for three years for that crime when he killed Butler.

    The Ohio Supreme Court had vacated death sentences for Davis twice because of mistakes at the trial level, but each time the sentencing court has sent him back to death row.

    The case landed back in Butler County Common Pleas Court in 2009 after a federal appeals court ruled that judges who heard the case twice in 25 years improperly excluded evidence about Davis' good prison behavior and other factors.

    http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news...pheld/8001477/
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    On March 2, 2015, the US Supreme Court DENIED Davis' certiorari petition. Justice Breyer dissented.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Ohio
    Case Nos.: (2011-0538)
    Decision Date: April 22, 2014
    Rehearing Denied: July 9, 2014

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/search.a...es/14-7426.htm

  8. #8
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court DENIED Davis' certiorari petition.

    Lower Ct: Court of Appeals of Ohio, Butler County
    Case Nos.: (CA2012-12-258)
    Decision Date: September 9, 2013
    Discretionary Court
    Decision Date: August 26, 2015

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/search.a...es/15-7140.htm

  9. #9
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    On June 3, 2016, Davis filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/oh...cv00495/194239

  10. #10
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    On March 29, 2021, Davis' habeas petition was denied by the Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/oh...cv00495/194239

    On April 29, 2021, Davis filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci...ts/ca6/21-3404
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