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Thread: Henri Carity Broadway - Louisiana Death Row

  1. #1
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    Henri Carity Broadway - Louisiana Death Row


    Police officer Betty Smothers


    Henri Broadway


    Summary of Offense:

    Convicted and sentenced to death in the January 7, 1993 murder of Betty Smothers, a police officer for the Baton Rouge Police Department. She was ambushed during a robbery and shot multiple times.

    Broadway was sentenced to death in 1996.

    Kevan Brumfield was also sentenced to death in Smothers' murder. For more on Brumfield, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...evan+brumfield

  2. #2
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Fireworks fly during appeal for convicted cop killer

    BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - It may be one of the final steps for a man sentenced to death for killing a police officer, as his post-conviction appeal got underway Tuesday morning.

    Henri Broadway was convicted in 1996 of murdering Baton Rouge police officer Betty Smothers in the line of duty.

    Fireworks flew in Judge Mike Erwin's courtroom during proceedings.

    Broadway's current attorneys are trying to discredit his lawyers from the original trial in 1996.

    Lake Charles attorney Tom Lorenzi was called to the stand to discuss Broadway's counsel during that trial.

    Defense attorney Michelle Fournet tried to qualify Lorenzi as a death penalty expert, but Erwin would not go for it and denied Lorenzi's status.

    The move ignited a verbal fight.

    Despite numerous objections by Broadway's current attorneys, prosecutor Prem Burns continued questioning the witness.

    Erwin was trying to figure out if he would allow that to happen.

    Fournet actually stood up and said the proceedings that were going on were unfair.

    Erwin barked back that he didn't appreciate the comment and that he resented it.

    Smothers, the mother of former NFL star Warrick Dunn, was killed in 1993 while trying to make a bank deposit for a business.

    http://www.wafb.com/story/16046171/fireworks-fly-during-appeal-for-convicted-cop-killer


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  3. #3
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On December 11, 2017, Broadway filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/lo...7cv01753/53188

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    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Court: Jury's gambling no reason to overturn conviction in 1993 Baton Rouge police officer death

    Evidence that jurors bet on when the high-profile murder case would go to the jury isn’t enough to warrant a new trial for a man condemned to die in the 1993 ambush slaying of Baton Rouge police Cpl. Betty Smothers and the wounding of a grocery store manager she was escorting to a late-night bank deposit, Louisiana’s top court has said.

    In a state Supreme Court case settled Friday, Henri Broadway, 48, of Baton Rouge, also claimed unsuccessfully that the performance of his trial attorneys at the guilt and penalty phases of his 1995 trial was so bad that his conviction should be thrown out.

    Broadway's case has already moved to the federal court system. Sarah Ottinger, one of his current attorneys, said Broadway’s federal post-conviction application was filed Monday and states the same claims that were in the state application.

    In its ruling Friday, the Louisiana high court noted that a juror betting pool involved when the case would be handed over to the jury for its deliberation.

    “Broadway fails to show that this pool related in any way to the merits of the case or the outcome of either phase of trial,” the court stated in an unsigned decision. “Broadway fails to show that this bet influenced the jury in returning the verdicts.”

    Prosecutors had argued that the juror betting was “wholly innocuous,” but Broadway’s appellate attorneys alleged that the jury’s actions reflected the panel’s failure to appreciate the seriousness of its task — in violation of state and federal laws.

    Kimen Lee, the then-grocery store manager wounded in the attack, on Monday called the state Supreme Court’s ruling great news.

    “This has gone on far too long and has cost the state thousands of dollars,” she said. “It needs to be over for everyone involved.”

    East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said the decisions of state District Judge Mike Erwin, who rejected Broadway’s new trial request in 2016, and the state Supreme Court are well-founded.

    “The brutal murder of Baton Rouge Police Corporal Betty Smothers … will forever be sadly remembered by the Baton Rouge community; however, we remain committed to ensuring that justice will be served for Cpl. Smothers, her family, and our citizens,” Moore said in an email.

    Broadway is one of two Baton Rouge men who were convicted and sentenced to die in the fatal shooting, but Kevan Brumfield was resentenced to life in prison in 2016 after federal courts ruled he is intellectually disabled and therefore not eligible for the death penalty. Brumfield had spent 21 years on death row.

    The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of mentally disabled inmates.

    Brumfield, 45, was accused of firing the bullets that killed Smothers, 36, outside a Jefferson Highway bank Jan. 7, 1993. Smothers' six children include former Catholic High School, Florida State University and NFL running back Warrick Dunn, who was a senior at Catholic when his mother was killed.

    Broadway also fired into Smothers' police car and wounded Lee, whom Smothers was escorting to the bank as an off-duty officer to make a night deposit.

    Lee has said she was wounded by both men.

    The high court said it found no reason to reject Erwin’s 2016 ruling. The justices said Broadway confessed and added that there was “overwhelming evidence of his guilt.”

    Broadway contends that at least one juror would have voted for a life sentence if his trial attorneys had presented evidence of his difficult childhood.

    “It is not probable that a jury would find the omitted evidence of Broadway’s difficult childhood outweighed the aggravating factors that Broadway and his co-defendant, Kevan Brumfield, committed a cold-blooded murder of a police officer and attempted to kill and seriously injured a second victim, Kimen Lee, during the course of a planned armed robbery,” the state Supreme Court said.

    The court also said it is “unreasonable to conclude” that the penalty phase outcome would have been different “even with the omitted evidence of Broadway’s rough childhood."

    https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_ro...6abb19ccc.html

  5. #5
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Death row inmate convicted of killing BR football legend's mother denied request for clemency

    By WBRZ Staff

    BATON ROUGE - A death row inmate convicted of killing Betty Smothers — a BRPD officer and mother of six, including local football legend Warrick Dunn — was denied his chance at escaping the death penalty.

    The WBRZ Investigative Unit learned Monday that the Louisiana Board of Pardons refused Henri Broadway's request for clemency.

    During the hearing, Smothers' son Warrick Dunn told the board the impact from the loss of his mom lingers.

    "It's frustrating because people sacrifice their lives," Dunn said. "We let someone off death row and let them have clemency. Any individual in this country thinks that I can go around and shoot and kill people and their consequence is that they will spend the rest of their life in prison eating three meals a day."

    Smothers, a BRPD corporal, was killed in the ambush attack back in 1993. A second man implicated in the killing was previously sentenced to life in prison.

    It comes amid a push to clear out the more than 50 inmates on Louisiana's death row. Earlier this year, all of those inmates sent letters to Governor John Bel Edwards after he publicly acknowledged he was opposed to the death penalty.

    "I don't want innocent people to die or lose their life," Dunn said. "I'm all about that. But, in this case don't. Don't make me and my family suffer all these years. At 18 years old, I had to become a father and take care of my brothers and sisters."

    Despite support from some, the effort has been met with stiff opposition from prosecutors across the state and has so far yielded no successful clemency requests.

    Five people are still eligible for administrative hearings to determine if they will be eligible for a clemency hearing. One of the five, Todd Wessinger, is from Baton Rouge.

    https://www.wbrz.com/news/death-row-...-for-clemency/
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