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Thread: Washington Capital Punishment News

  1. #11
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    The Washington Supreme Court upheld the protocol for the one-drug cocktail in Washington in today's orders/opinions. They did not lift the stays due to their not being under their jurisdiction (other courts had entered the stays).

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/in...name=834741MAJ

  2. #12
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    Ex-girlfriends say man who killed wife, her daughter violent toward them

    Two former girlfriends of a man who killed his wife and her daughter testified at his death penalty trial that he was also violent toward them.

    One woman who dated him in high school told jurors that Gary Green stabbed and choked her, and the other said he choked and hit her while she was pregnant.

    Their testimony came on the first day of testimony in the punishment phase of the trial. The same jury that last week convicted Green, 39, will decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.

    Green killed his estranged wife, Lovetta Armstead, by stabbing her 28 times in the bathroom of her Dallas home. He then drowned her 6-year-old daughter, Jazzmen Montgomery, in the bathtub. He also forced Armstead's sons, then 9 and 12, to view the bodies, and he stabbed one of the boys.

    Green confessed on video to the brutal killings, which took place in south Oak Cliff in September 2009.

    On Monday, Jennifer Wheeler testified that after she broke up with him when she graduated from high school, he stabbed her in the chest. That attack took place in August 1989, a few months after they split, the woman testified.

    Wheeler said Green asked her for a ride one morning, forced her into the passenger seat and drove to a park. There, she said, he began choking her with his shoelaces.

    The woman said she was certain he was going to kill her. In a bid to save her life, she told Green, "I love you."

    She testified that she lost consciousness and awoke in a hospital. She had been stabbed between her breasts, was missing a tooth, had deep marks on her neck from the shoelaces and was black and blue.

    The whites of her eyes were red from broken blood vessels, according to photos shown in court of her injuries.

    Wheeler said she believed that professing her love saved her life and that Green was the one who drove her to the hospital.

    Green pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for attacking Wheeler. He also has an aggravated robbery conviction for robbing a grocery store after he was fired.

    Also Monday, a prison guard whom Green later briefly married testified that she quit her job because she fell in love with him. Belinda Lacy said she began visiting him in prison as his common-law wife after she left her job in the 1990s.

    They married after he was paroled in 2000and lived at his mother's house in Dallas County. But he soon stopped staying there and she returned to East Texas.

    When asked by attorneys why she fell in love with a prisoner, Lacy replied: "I liked the way he carried himself as a person." She said he was respectful.

    Another woman, Shulonda Ransom, who has two children with Green, testified that Green hit her and once choked her unconscious while she was pregnant.

    They met while both worked at Walmart. Ransom said she has learned that while Green was with her, he also got another woman pregnant.

    She left the house after she regained consciousness. When she came home, Green had left and taken everything in the house: furniture, clothes, diapers.

    "He didn't leave a spoon," she said. "I remember that day feeling like I wasn't anything to him."

    Testimony resumes today.

    http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...y.2ae22f9.html

  3. #13
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    WA Lege Day 30: Signature-gathering, death penalty, rape laws

    Hearings today run the gamut from rules covering collecting signatures on initiatives to abolishing the death penalty to eliminating the statute of limitations for child sexual assault.

    A morning hearing at the State Government Committee generated familiar testimony for and against a plan to requires signature gathering businesses to register with the state, paid signature gatherers to sign the back of their petitions and provide other information. The bill also would raise the filing fee from $5 to $50.

    An afternoon hearing in Senate Judiciary would abolish the death penalty in Washington, substituting life in prison without parole for cases that currently carry capital punishment.

    Also in the afternoon, the House Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Committee has a bill that would allow prosecution for first or second-degree rape of a minor. Rape of an adult could be prosecuted within 10 years if the crime is reported to police within a year of the attack, but would have to be prosecuted within the current three-year limit if the attack is not reported within a year of the attack.

    (source: Spokesman-Review)

  4. #14
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Lawmakers consider bill to abolish death penalty

    Lawmakers are considering a measure to abolish the death penalty, an effort that has failed in Washington state in recent years but which supporters hope will gain traction after other states have recently either issued moratoriums or outlawed it completely.

    The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Debbie Regala, of Tacoma, is set to receive a public hearing Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

    "We can keep the public safe with putting people in prison for the rest of their life, as opposed to the costly expense of executing them," she said.

    Regala also argued that the death penalty doesn't deter someone from committing a murder. She cites her own personal experience with the 1980 murder of her brother-in-law whose killer was never caught. Even if her relative's killer was charged, Regala said she wouldn't have wanted the assailant to face death.

    "It doesn't do anything to heal your grief," she said. "It doesn't bring the victim back."

    Fiscal documents from a similar bill last year showed that, not counting incarceration costs, a death penalty case runs about $1.2 million in state and local costs compared with $89,000 for a life-without-parole case.

    Lawmakers are in the midst of a 60-day legislative session where they are tasked with patching a projected $1 billion dollar shortfall.

    "It's always important and valuable for us to look at public policy and see if it's actually getting us the results that we want," Regala said. "When you're facing an economic crisis, you add an extra lens."

    Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire has not taken a position on the measure, said her spokeswoman, Karina Shagren.

    The death penalty is currently used by the federal government and 34 states, including Washington. Sixteen states have abolished it, with Illinois being the most recent last year. And while a death penalty statute is still on the books in Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber last year stopped a pending execution and declared no one would be executed during his time in office.

    "There is absolutely no question that there is a growing tide of public sentiment that the death penalty is economically and morally deficient," said Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. Carlyle sponsored a similar bill in the House but acknowledged he didn't have the support in the House to get a hearing. "The pressure is growing for Washington to design a more thoughtful approach."

    The last execution in Washington state was in September 2010, when Cal Coburn Brown died by lethal injection for the 1991 murder of a Seattle-area woman. He was the first Washington inmate executed since 2001, after spending nearly 17 years on death row.

    Since 1904, 78 men have been put to death in Washington. Eight men are on death row at the state penitentiary.

    Bills have been introduced in past years but have not garnered much support. In November, a coalition seeking to change the state's death penalty laws was formed called "Safe and Just Alternatives."

    "The death penalty is enormously expensive," said spokeswoman Mishi Faruquee. "Given the budget situation right now in Washington state, you can't be spending those resources on a broken system."

    A message left with the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys was not returned on Tuesday. Don Pierce, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, said his organization has never weighed in on the issue.

    "I suspect that our sheriffs and chiefs have mixed feelings on this," he said.

    Carlyle said that while it's unlikely the measure will pass this year, "there's a profound structural shift under way."

    "I'm hopeful that in the very near future, we may find we reach a tipping point of our ability to pass this legislation," he said.

    ---

    The death penalty abolition bills are Senate Bill 6283 and House Bill 2468.

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...writethru.html

  5. #15
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Washington officials reviewing execution ruling

    Washington state doesn't have any immediate plans to change its execution policy after a federal appeals court ruled that witnesses should have full viewing access to the process.

    The ruling struck down a portion of Idaho's regulations that prevented witnesses, including reporters, from watching executions until after catheters have been inserted into the veins of death row inmates. It could affect execution policies in three other Western states: Arizona, Montana and Washington.

    Washington Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis says the agency is working with the state Attorney General's office to review the ruling and doesn't have any immediate plans to change its policies.

    There are no executions scheduled in Washington. Seven men sit on Washington's death row.

    http://tdn.com/news/state-and-region...#ixzz1xdIpZHeP
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  6. #16
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    WA lawmakers consider bill to abolish death penalty

    An effort to abolish the death penalty has never gained traction in Washington state, but supporters of the endeavor are not giving up.

    This year's bill to overturn capital punishment, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Reuven Carlyle of Seattle, will receive a public hearing on Wednesday. It's co-sponsored by 20 other lawmakers, including one Republican, Rep. Maureen Walsh of Walla Walla.

    The death penalty is currently used by the federal government and 33 states, including Washington. Seventeen states have abolished it, with Connecticut being the most recent last year.

    Since 1904, 78 men have been put to death in Washington. Eight men are on death row at the state penitentiary.

    Bills to abolish the death penalty have been introduced in past years in Washington state but have not garnered much support.

    http://www.krem.com/news/WA-lawmaker...195387481.html

  7. #17
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    Wash. to increase execution access

    Washington state will allow witnesses to executions to see the entire process, including the insertion of intravenous catheters during a lethal injection.

    State officials told The Associated Press this week of a draft of a new witness protocol, which includes the use of television monitors to show the inmate entering the death chamber and being strapped down, as well as the insertion of the IVs, which had both previously been shielded from public view. The new technology has already been installed, and officials say the protocol will be finalized within the next week.

    The change is in response to a 2012 federal appeals court ruling that said all parts of an execution must be fully open to public witnesses. That ruling was sparked by a case brought by the AP and other news organizations who challenged Idaho's policy to shield the insertion of IV catheters from public view, in spite of a 2002 ruling from the same court that said every aspect of an execution should be open to witnesses.

    http://www.columbian.com/news/2014/j...cution-access/

  8. #18
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Washington governor halts death penalty

    Gov. Jay Inslee said Tuesday he was suspending the use of the death penalty in Washington state, announcing a move that he hopes will enable officials to "join a growing national conversation about capital punishment."

    The Democrat said he came to the decision after months of review, meetings with family members of victims, prosecutors and law enforcement.

    "There have been too many doubts raised about capital punishment, there are too many flaws in this system today," Inslee said at a news conference. "There is too much at stake to accept an imperfect system."

    Inslee said that the use of the death penalty is inconsistent and unequal. The governor's staff briefed lawmakers about the move on Monday night and Tuesday morning.

    Inslee's moratorium, which will be in place for as long as he is governor, means that if a death penalty case comes to his desk, he will issue a reprieve, which isn't a pardon and doesn't commute the sentences of those condemned to death.

    "During my term, we will not be executing people," said Inslee, who was elected in 2012. "Nobody is getting out of prison, period."

    Last year, Maryland abolished the death penalty, the 18th state to do so and the sixth in the last six years.

    Nine men await execution at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. The state Supreme Court just last month rejected a petition for release from death row inmate Jonathan Lee Gentry, sentenced for the murder of a 12-year-old girl in 1988. Gentry could be the first execution in the state since September 2010, when Cal Coburn Brown died by lethal injection for the 1991 murder of a Seattle-area woman. A federal stay had recently been lifted in Gentry's case, and a remaining state stay on his execution was expected to be lifted this month.

    The decision by the governor comes following a recent decision by the state Department of Corrections, which is in the process of changing its execution protocol to allow witnesses to executions to see the entire process, including the insertion of intravenous catheters during a lethal injection.

    The new witness protocol, currently a draft that is in its final stages of approval, includes the use of television monitors to show the inmate entering the death chamber and being strapped down, as well as the insertion of the IVs, which had both previously been shielded from public view.

    Through public disclosure requests, The Associated Press had sought information about any potential changes to the execution protocols. State corrections officials spoke with the AP about the new procedures late last month.

    The change is in response to a 2012 federal appeals court ruling that said all parts of an execution must be fully open to public witnesses. That ruling was sparked by a case brought by The AP and other news organizations who challenged Idaho's policy to shield the insertion of IV catheters from public view, in spite of a 2002 ruling from the same court that said every aspect of an execution should be open to witnesses.

    -- Associated Press

    STATES WITH THE DEATH PENALTY

    Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

    STATES THAT HAVE ABOLISHED THE DEATH PENALTY

    Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/nation-wo...-death-penalty
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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

  9. #19
    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
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    It's decisions like this and Colorado that make it more necessitated that the governor play limited rolls in capital punishment. All states should have a system like Texas where the parole board makes a recommendation and only the governor can intervene if the recommendation is favorable. Giving all this power to only one individual can be very detrimental to justice.

  10. #20
    lawandorder
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    So instead of taking one case at a time, reviewing the facts, making sure the right person was caught, and checking that no rights were violated, the Governor throws the baby out with the bath water. If he's against the death penalty that's fine. Come out and say why you're against it. But to hide behind claims of "flaws in the system" is playing politics. Which is the last thing you need when dealing with cases of this magnitude.

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