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Thread: Brandon Anthony Micah Bernard - Federal Execution - December 10, 2020

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    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Brandon Anthony Micah Bernard - Federal Execution - December 10, 2020

    Summary of Offense:

    In June 2000, a federal jury in Waco, Texas convicted Brandon Bernard and Christopher Vialva of carjacking and the murder of an Iowa couple, Todd and Stacie Bagley, visiting central Texas. Both defendants were sentenced to death. Vialva was 19 years old at the time of his arrest, and Bernard was 18. Four younger teen-agers also pled guilty to federal charges relating to the crime.

    For more on Vialva, who was executed on September 24, 2020, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...ghlight=vialva

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    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    On June 16, 2003, the United States Supreme Court denied Bernard's direct appeal.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...es/02-8492.htm

    A 2255 (habeas corpus) motion for post-conviction relief is pending.

    Click on "Death Row" at

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On April 3, 2013, Bernard filed an appeal in the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals over the denial of his habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cir.../ca5/13-70013/

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    The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Bernard a Certificate of Appealability.

    http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions...-70013-CV0.pdf

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On October 20, 2014, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit DENIED Bernard's petition for en banc rehearing.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...es\14-8071.htm

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Bernard's petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
    Case Nos.: (13-70013)
    Decision Date: August 11, 2014
    Rehearing Denied: October 20, 2014

    Theoretically, Bernard's appeals are now exhausted. Unfortunately, litigation over the federal government's lethal-injection protocol has continued to be bogged down in the District of Columbia District Court since 2006.

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    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
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    Any idea the name of the lawsuit and the judge assigned to it? Haven't been able to find anything.
    Last edited by johncocacola; 01-19-2016 at 12:12 PM.

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    I believe it's Judge Richard Roberts and the lawsuit's got James Roane's name on it.

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    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Federal death row inmate challenges retired judge's fitness

    A federal death row inmate is asking that his death sentence be set aside because he alleges former U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. was "not functional" because of his drinking and "unfit" to preside over his trial and subsequent appeal process.

    Attorneys for Brandon Bernard, who has been on federal death row for 17 years, say in a 32-page motion filed Thursday that "exceptional circumstances" require that Bernard's death sentence be reviewed and vacated.

    Bernard, who was 19 at the time, and Christopher Vialva, who was 20, were convicted in Waco's federal court in June 2000 and sentenced to die in the deaths of Todd and Stacie Bagley, of Ottumwa, Iowa.

    Bernard was sentenced to death only in Stacie Bagley's death, while Vialva was sentenced to death in the murder of both the Bagleys, who were church youth ministers in Iowa.

    The motion asks U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel to vacate the death sentence or to order a hearing "so that evidence may be presented concerning former Judge Smith's unfitness, and how it affected all his decisions respecting Mr. Bernard."

    Smith, who ended his 32-year tenure as Waco's federal judge with his retirement in September 2016, did not return a phone message left with him Friday through a former staff member.

    The Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals formally reprimanded Smith in 2015 after finding he made "inappropriate and unwanted physical and nonphysical advances" toward a female courthouse staff member in his court chambers in 1998 and lied to investigators about the incident. While the council issued sanctions, including requiring counseling, it said the incident did not warrant impeachment.

    In a sworn statement given to investigators, the former clerk said Smith smelled of alcohol and had the appearance of someone who had been drinking.

    Smith, former chief judge of the Western District of Texas, also was suspended for one year from hearing any new criminal or civil cases filed after Dec. 3, 2015.

    The judicial council renewed its investigation into Smith after complaints surfaced that at least two more women had been mistreated by Smith in his chambers. His retirement ended the investigation.

    The motion was filed on Bernard's behalf by Robert C. Owen of the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, Illinois, and John R. Carpenter, an assistant federal public defender from Tacoma, Washington.

    The motion states that Smith had a "reputation for drinking" during the time of Bernard's trial, was reported to be "not functional" due to his drinking, and therefore, was "unfit" to preside over his trial.

    "Former Judge Smith's lack of functionality in a proceeding where Mr. Bernard's life hung in the balance is an additional 'extraordinary circumstance' that gives this court jurisdiction to hear this motion," the motion states.

    The motion also claims that Smith allowed Bernard's application for writ of habeas corpus to "languish" in his court for more than seven years before he finally acted on it and then misapplied the law.

    The former clerk who was groped by Smith testified that Smith's law clerk called her during this "time frame, complaining that Smith was 'not functioning,' was 'falling apart' and was unable even to get himself to the courthouse, adding that his condition had forced him to cancel court obligations," the motion alleges.

    "Given the Judicial Council's findings and the other allegations of serious impropriety, Walter's Smith's hurried departure from the bench is no surprise," the motion states. "But this story cannot end with Smith's eviction from the courthouse. This court has a vital role to play in repairing the damage for which Smith was responsible..."

    Bernard, Vialva and four Killeen teenagers were charged in the June 1999 carjacking of the Bagleys outside a Killeen convenience store. Two of the teens testified against Bernard and Vialva that they plotted to kidnap the couple and drove them around in the trunk of their car while trying to use their ATM cards.

    Trial testimony showed that Stacie Bagley read the Bible to her captors as she and her husband pleaded for their lives. Vialva shot them both and set the car on fire while Stacie Bagley was still alive, according to trial testimony.

    Former Texas attorney Ty Clevenger, who filed the federal complaint against Smith with the Judicial Council, also filed a complaint against former U.S. District Judge Harry Hudspeth, the chief judge at the time Smith groped the court clerk.

    The clerk testified in her statement that she informed Hudspeth about the abuse and he asked her what she wanted him to do about it and took no action.

    Hudspeth also has since retired.

    "The issues raised by Brandon Bernard go far beyond him or his co-defendants," Clevenger said Friday. "When judges cover up for one another, the impact can be enormous. You have to wonder how many other criminal defendants and civil parties were affected by Judge Smith's alcohol problems."

    http://www.wacotrib.com/news/federal...800375b61.html
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Sentencing hearing set in 1999 kidnap-murder case

    By TOMMY WITHERSPOON
    The Waco Tribune-Herald

    A federal judge has dismissed claims from two federal death row inmates who questioned the fitness of former U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. to preside over their 2000 trial in Waco. The judge also scheduled a re-sentencing hearing for one of the pair’s co-defendants who is serving a life term.

    U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel threw out a motion from Brandon Bernard and Christopher Vialva to vacate, set aside or correct their death penalties on allegations that Smith was “not functional” because of drinking and “unfit” to preside over their trials.

    Bernard, who was 19 at the time, and Vialva, who was 20, were convicted in Waco’s federal court in June 2000 and sentenced to death in the murders of Todd and Stacie Bagley, of Ottumwa, Iowa.

    Bernard was sentenced to death only in Stacie Bagley’s death, while Vialva was sentenced to death in the murder of both the Bagleys, who were church youth ministers in Iowa.

    Bernard, Vialva and four Killeen teenagers were charged in the June 1999 carjacking of the Bagleys outside a Killeen convenience store. Two of the teens testified against Bernard and Vialva that they plotted to kidnap the couple and drove them around in the trunk of their car while trying to use their ATM cards.

    Trial testimony showed that Stacie Bagley read the Bible to her captors as she and her husband pleaded for their lives. Vialva shot them both and set the car on fire while Stacie Bagley was still alive, according to trial testimony.

    Yeakel scheduled a sentencing hearing to start Feb. 5 in Austin for Tony Sparks, one of the four co-defendants in the case who went to trial with Bernard and Vialva and who was given a mandatory life sentence.

    In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal juvenile offenders could not be subjected to mandatory life terms. Four years later, the court made its ruling retroactive to those already serving time, paving the way for the new sentencing hearing for Sparks.

    Yeakel has set aside three days for the hearing, court officials said.

    Sparks, who was 16 at the time and certified to stand trial as an adult, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting carjacking resulting in death. A 15-year-old who was also certified to stand trial as an adult was sentenced to 5 years, and two 17-year-olds were sentenced to 20 years each.

    Sparks’ attorney, David Sergi, of San Marcos, said Sparks is a German citizen and he will ask the judge to give him “an appropriate” sentence so he can serve his time and move back to Germany, where his father is in the military.

    He said Sparks is serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado known as “supermax.”

    “This is one of those really unusual cases where going to supermax helped save his life,” Sergi said. “He needed to get away from all the noise going on in prison so he could focus on himself.”

    Sparks earned his GED in prison and has taken courses in psychology and the Peloponnesian war, Sergi said.

    The 32-page motion from Bernard and Vialva asked Yeakel to vacate the death sentences or to order a hearing “so that evidence may be presented concerning former Judge Smith’s unfitness, and how it affected all his decisions respecting” Bernard and Vialva.

    Smith retired under a cloud in September 2016, ending his 32-year tenure as Waco’s federal judge. He was stripped of hearing new cases for a year and required to go to counseling after the Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found he made “inappropriate and unwanted physical and nonphysical advances” toward a female courthouse staff member in his court chambers in 1998 and lied to investigators about the incident.

    In a sworn statement given to investigators, a former clerk said Smith smelled of alcohol and had the appearance of someone who had been drinking.

    The judicial council renewed its investigation into Smith after complaints surfaced that at least two more women had been subjected to Smith’s unwanted advances in his chambers. His retirement ended the investigation.

    http://www.wacotrib.com/news/courts_...9d56a2334.html

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