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Thread: Isacc Creed Agee - Oregon

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    Isacc Creed Agee - Oregon




    Trial begins today for inmate accused of killing another inmate

    An Oregon State Penitentiary inmate accused of beating another inmate to death in 2008 is scheduled for trial today.

    Isacc C. Agee, 33, is accused of aggravated murder in the death of inmate Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez, 36, on Feb. 14, 2008.

    Barrantes-Vasquez died from repeated blows to the head.

    A co-defendant in the slaying, James Demetri Davenport, is serving life in prison without parole after pleading guilty in March 2010. Testing determined that Davenport was mildly mentally retarded and ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

    Agee has been in prison since 2005, when he was convicted on charges of attempted murder and assault, among other charges.

    Agee ran over a man, David Banks, with a pickup and beat him nearly to death in 2004. The man was on a walk in his northeast Salem neighborhood.

    Defense attorneys argued that Agee was extremely high on methamphetamine at the time.

    http://www.statesmanjournal.com/arti...ll|text|News|s

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    Salem inmate found guilty of murder, faces death penalty

    A jury has found a Salem inmate guilty in the murder of another prisoner on Valentine’s Day three years ago.

    Isacc Creed Agee, 33, now faces the death penalty.

    Marion County Circuit Judge Pamela Abernethy will preside during the penalty phase, which began Wednesday.

    The case remained in the penalty phrase as of Friday and was going to be picked up again with presentations of witnesses and evidence Monday.

    In the penalty phase, a jury will determine if certain factors exist to warrant the death penalty as a sentence. The jury’s other two potential decisions are life without parole or life with a 30-year minimum sentence.

    A 12-person jury found Agee guilty of one count of aggravated murder Tuesday for his role in the killing of inmate Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez.

    Oregon State Penitentiary corrections officers found James Demetri Davenport and Agee standing over Barrantes-Vasquez, who died in his cell in the early morning of Feb. 14, 2008. Davenport was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the killing.

    http://www.statesmanjournal.com/arti...news|text|News

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    Inmate murderer's fate rests with jury

    An Oregon State Penitentiary inmate convicted of killing another prisoner is waiting on a jury to decide whether he will spend his life in prison or die for the crime.

    Isacc Creed Agee, 33, is facing the death penalty in the slaying of Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez, 36, in his prison cell Feb. 14, 2008. A jury found Agee guilty of aggravated murder on May 10 and since has been hearing testimony in the penalty phase of trial.

    On Tuesday after closing arguments, Circuit Judge Pamela Abernethy instructed the eight-man, four-woman jury to determine Agee's sentence.

    According to Oregon law, a person convicted of aggravated murder faces a sentence of death, life in prison or life in prison with a minimum of 30 years.

    Prosecutors asked the jury to sentence Agee to death while defense attorneys have asked for life in prison. Marion County Deputy District Attorney Matt Kemmy and defense attorney Thomas Bostwick delivered the closing arguments.

    "Isacc Agee already was doing a 54-year sentence in prison when he killed Mr. Vasquez," Kemmy told the jury. "If the defendant gets anything less than the death penalty, he will have gotten away with murder."

    Holding up a picture of Barrantes-Vasquez, a native Costa Rican, Kemmy told jurors that the deceased was a man who had hopes and dreams, and who had the right to live his life.

    Kemmy told the jury that Agee killed Barrantes-Vasquez because the deceased man's life didn't matter to the accused.

    "I'm asking that Mr. Vasquez's life matter to you," he said. "Just because you didn't see or hear from his family in court, doesn't mean he wasn't loved."

    He then laid out the manner in which Agee and another inmate had "brutally killed" the Costa Rican, and said Agee would continue to be a threat to the public if he were to receive a sentence that included the possibility of parole.

    "His was a cold-blooded stabbing," Kemmy said. "He crushed Mr. Vasquez's skull over and over, while he begged for his life."

    During his closing argument, defense attorney Bostwick reminded the jury about the mental illnesses his client had been diagnosed with by mental health professionals, some of whom testified in the trial.

    "He's a 34-year-old man who, at best, thinks at the level of a 12-year-old," Bostwick told jurors. "He's not very bright and suffers from Fetal Alcohol exposure because his 16-year-old mother drank alcohol and did drugs. He was poisoned in his mother's womb."

    He said he wasn't trying to excuse his client's actions but wanted to remind the jury that circumstances beyond Agee's control had not given him the wherewithal to make good decisions.

    "He was born broken," Bostwick said. "He was out of his mind on drugs when he murdered (Barrantes-Vasquez)."

    He also asked the jury to consider all the people who cared about and tried to work with his client because he had been a child who never got nurturing from his parents.

    "He is what he is," Bostwick said. "His brain damage is no fault of his own. I'm asking you to please spare him from execution. Say no because he should not die."

    At the time of the prison murder, Agee was in custody on convictions including assault and attempted murder for running over another man, Harry David Banks, with a pickup truck and beating him nearly to death.

    Banks testified for the prosecution during the penalty phase, recounting the horror of his injuries and the recovery that has left his mobility limited.

    Banks remembers first hearing when Agee was suspected of killing Barrantes-Vasquez.

    "I was hoping I would never hear his name again," Banks said. "I wasn't surprised."

    The Salem man said his life has focused on moving past the 2004 attack.

    "It's been a long time since this happened and I've been living with this. ... We don't think about Mr. Agee. I don't dwell on him and I never have and I'm not going to start now."

    When asked last week about an appropriate sentence, Banks said he trusted the jury.

    "Whatever the jury comes up with, I will support their verdict," he said. "I didn't ever think I'd be back in this position with him. I hope this puts a period on the end of a long sentence for him."

    http://www.statesmanjournal.com/arti...news|text|News

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    Jury chooses death for Salem inmate who killed another prisoner

    A jury has determined an Oregon State Penitentiary inmate who killed another prisoner in 2008 should be sentenced to death.

    The 12-person jury said this afternoon Isacc Creed Agee, 33, will die for slaying Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez.

    The jury began deliberating Tuesday afternoon at the end of the penalty phase of trial. The same jurors found Agee guilty of aggravated murder on May 10.

    Agee, who wore blue denim jeans and shirt with orange Oregon Department of Corrections logos, didn’t show a reaction to the verdict. He was led from the courtroom by prison guards.

    Marion County Judge Pamela Abernethy, who will hand down the jury’s verdict, set the sentencing for another date.

    She commended the jurors for their work.

    “You did this with respect and due diligence,” she said. “I like to believe Mr. Agee was fairly tried by each of you.”

    Prison officials found Agee and another inmate beating Barrantes-Vasquez, 36, in his prison cell Feb. 14, 2008.

    Agee was in custody on convictions of attempted murder and assault at the time. He had hit a Salem man with a pickup and then beat the man causing him severe injuries.

    The judge said a counseling session is scheduled in June for jurors who endured the graphic trial.

    “You drop into a world of violence and graphic images that is not the norm … It has consequences,” Abernethy said.

    http://www.statesmanjournal.com/arti...yssey=nav|head

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    Inmate sentenced to death in 2008 prison slaying

    An Oregon State Penitentiary inmate has been formally sentenced to death for killing another inmate in 2008.

    Marion County Judge Pamela Abernethy on Tuesday sentenced Isacc Creed Agee, 33, to death. A jury had previously chosen the sentence after finding Agee guilty of aggravated murder on May 10.

    Agee and another prisoner beat Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez, 36, in his Oregon State Penitentiary prison cell Feb. 14, 2008.

    Barrantes-Vasquez entered the prison system in May 2003 to serve a 70-month sentence for a Multnomah County conviction of second-degree assault.

    Agee was in custody on convictions of attempted murder and assault. Agee had hit a Salem man with a pickup and then beat the man with a brick, causing him severe injuries.

    He is now the 37th person facing a death sentence in Oregon.

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    Oregon death row inmate's sentence overturned, ordered to get new hearing

    By Everton Bailey, Jr.
    The Oregonian

    The Oregon Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of a state prison inmate convicted of killing another inmate in 2008.

    Issac C. Agee, 38, was sentenced to death in Marion County Circuit Court in June 2011 for his role in the killing of 36-year-old inmate Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez at the Oregon State Penitentiary. The Supreme Court upheld Agee's aggravated murder conviction, but ordered a new hearing to consider if Agee is mentally disabled, which could disqualify him for the death penalty.

    Agee had been at the state prison in Salem since May 2005 serving 40 years for attempted murder, assault and unauthorized use of a vehicle. Three years later, Agee and cellmate James Davenport entered Barrantes-Vasquez's cell with a shank and a large chunk of cement in a mesh laundry bag when all the doors opened during breakfast time. The three were locked inside together when the doors closed.

    Agee stabbed Barrantes-Vasquez in the legs and torso 28 times while Davenport hit Barrantes-Vasquez in the head with the block. As prison staff waited for backup before opening the cell door, Davenport hit Barrantes-Vasquez about 20 times in the head with the block and Agee kicked Barrantes-Vasquez in the ribs and punched him in the chest. A state medical examiner determined Barrantes-Vasquez died from blunt force trauma to the head.

    Davenport pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in March 2010 and was sentenced to life in prison after it was determined that he had a mental disability.

    The Supreme Court found that the Circuit Court was wrong to conclude that Agee failed to meet his burden of proving he had a mental disability. The ruling was correct when it was made, but it was based on changing standards and so should now be re-evaluated, the Supreme Court said.

    Two expert defense witnesses — a forensic psychiatrist and an intellectual disability expert — should have been allowed to testify during the penalty phase of the case against Agee that they had diagnosed him with an intellectual disability, the Supreme Court said. They had been allowed to testify about Agee's intellectual deficits, but not about their specific diagnoses because it had already been determined in court that Agee wasn't mentally disabled.

    The Supreme Court also found that evidence related to Davenport receiving a life sentence was erroneously excluded during the penalty phase for Agee's case.

    Agee is among 35 inmates on death row in Oregon.

    http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-no...ate_needs.html

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    Man formerly on death row agrees to life sentence for Salem prison murder

    By Whitney Woodworth
    Salem Statesman Journal

    After spending a decade in and out of jail, waiting years on death row and having his death sentence overturned, a 41-year-old convicted murderer will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Isacc Agee, 41, agreed to waive his right to a jury sentencing Monday. His sentencing trial scheduled for September was canceled, and a sentencing date was set for January 2020.

    During the hearing, Marion County Judge Claudia Burton asked Agee a series of questions before accepting his waiver.

    Did he understand he was agreeing to waive his right to a jury sentencing?

    Agee, dressed in faded maroon prison scrubs and guarded by three corrections officers, said yes.

    She asked: Did he believe he would have the opportunity to get out prison, ever?

    Agee paused briefly before answering no.

    The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed Agee's conviction but overturned his death sentence in 2015 and ordered a new hearing to determine whether he is intellectually disabled.

    After speaking with Oregon State Police investigators and the victim's family, prosecutors decided against continuing to seek the death penalty.

    In February 2008, prison officials found Agee and another inmate beating Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez, 36, in his Oregon State Penitentiary prison cell.

    Agee was serving a 40-year sentence attempted murder and assault at the time.

    According to court records, in 2004, Agee hit a then-66-year-old Salem man with a pickup truck then beat him with a brick while high on meth. The man suffered a broken leg, jaw, shoulder and ankle, fractured eye sockets and crushed sinuses.

    While incarcerated, Agee and fellow inmate James Davenport wrapped a cement rock with cloth and beat Barrantes-Vasquez, a native Costa Rican, with it, also kicking the man. Shanks were found in the blood-spattered cell where the attack occurred.

    Davenport pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated murder in 2010. He was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea agreement after testing determined he was mildly mentally retarded and not eligible for the death penalty based on U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

    Following a 2011 trial so graphic that the judge scheduled counseling sessions for jurors, Agee was convicted of murdering Barrantes-Vasquez.

    "His was a cold-blooded stabbing," prosecutor Matt Kemmy said during sentencing closing arguments. "He crushed Mr. Vasquez's skull over and over, while he begged for his life."

    The jury deliberated for eight hours before determining that Agee should face the death penalty.

    He became one of five people on Oregon's death row convicted of killing an inmate.

    Agee had been in trouble with the law most of his adult life, with arrests for sex abuse, animal abuse, drug possession, assault, vehicle theft and menacing.

    Agee's attorneys argued against a death sentence, saying Agee had brain damage, fetal alcohol exposure, a drug addiction, a neglectful childhood and a low IQ.

    "He was born broken," defense attorney Thomas Bostwick said. "He was out of his mind on drugs when he murdered (Barrantes-Vasquez)."

    A 2016 study by Harvard Law School's Fair Punishment Project found that 25 percent of the people on Oregon's death row have evidence of intellectual disability or traumatic brain injury.

    The report said Agee has a psychotic disorder, suffers from partial fetal alcohol syndrome and has brain defects, a low IQ and the adaptive functioning equivalent to that of a 7-year-old child.

    Following an Atkins hearing to determine whether Agee had the mental capacity to be eligible for the death penalty, the court found the defense did not present sufficient evidence to prove he was intellectionally disabled.

    But in its 2015 decision, the Oregon Supreme Court remanded the case back to trial court for a new Atkins hearing to consider recent supreme court rulings and changes in how intellectual disabilities are diagnosed.

    In December, Marion County District Attorney officials said their decision not to seek the death penalty was based solely on their assessment of the four "penalty phase" questions in light of the Oregon Supreme Court's decision regarding evidence that would be admitted into future court proceedings.

    Jurors are required by state law to consider whether the defendant committed the murder deliberately, whether the defendant would present "future dangerousness" to society by committing violent acts in the future, whether their conduct was unreasonable in the response to provocation and whether they should receive a death sentence.

    All 12 jurors must answer yes to all four questions in order to sentence someone to death.

    The decision not to seek the death penalty was not based on prosecutors' ability to prevail in the new Atkins hearing, District Attorney Paige Clarkson said in a letter, adding:

    "This decision applies to this case only and is not representative of any change in the Marion County District Attorney's Office position on the application of the death penalty in any other present or future prosecution."

    https://statesmanjournal.com/story/n...er/1476262001/

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    Effect of new law: Former Salem death row inmate gets life sentence for prison murder

    By Whitney Woodworth
    The Salem Statesman-Journal

    A man once condemned to death row for murdering another inmate at a Salem prison has been resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Isacc Agee, 42, was convicted in 2011 of aggravated murder and given the death penalty by a Marion County jury for killing an inmate at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

    But after his sentence was overturned by the Oregon Supreme Court four years later, prosecutors elected not to pursue the death penalty.

    Agee waived his right to a jury sentencing in June. During the June hearing, he agreed to be sentenced for aggravated murder by Marion County Judge Claudia Burton.

    At the time, Agee's crime still qualified as aggravated murder.

    But a controversial bill passed by the Oregon Legislature during the 2019 session went on to drastically alter most pending, overturned and future aggravated murder cases in Oregon.

    On Monday, Burton sentenced Agee to life in prison for the lesser charge of first-degree murder.

    Prison inmate beaten to death

    In February 2008, prison officials found Agee and another inmate beating Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez, 36, in his Oregon State Penitentiary prison cell.

    Agee was serving a 40-year sentence for attempted murder and assault at the time.

    According to court records, in a 2004 random attack, Agee hit a then-66-year-old Salem man on his morning walk with a pickup truck then beat him with a brick while high on meth. The man suffered a broken leg, jaw, shoulder and ankle, fractured eye sockets and crushed sinuses.

    While incarcerated, Agee and fellow inmate James Davenport wrapped a cement rock with cloth and beat Barrantes-Vasquez, a native Costa Rican, with it, also kicking the man. Shanks were found in the blood-spattered cell where the attack occurred.

    Davenport pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated murder in 2010. He was sentenced to life in prison as part of a plea agreement after testing determined he was mildly mentally retarded and not eligible for the death penalty based on U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

    Following a 2011 trial so graphic that the judge scheduled counseling sessions for jurors, Agee was convicted of murdering Barrantes-Vasquez.

    "His was a cold-blooded stabbing," prosecutor Matthew Kemmy said during the 2011's sentencing closing arguments. "He crushed Mr. Vasquez's skull over and over, while he begged for his life."

    The jury deliberated for eight hours before determining that Agee should face the death penalty.

    He became one of five people on Oregon's death row convicted of killing an inmate.

    'Born broken'

    Agee had been in trouble with the law most of his adult life, with convictions for animal abuse, assault, vehicle theft and menacing.

    Agee's attorneys argued against a death sentence, saying Agee had brain damage, fetal alcohol exposure, a drug addiction, a neglectful childhood and a low IQ.

    "He was born broken," defense attorney Thomas Bostwick said. "He was out of his mind on drugs when he murdered (Barrantes-Vasquez)."

    A 2016 study by Harvard Law School's Fair Punishment Project found that 25% of the people on Oregon's death row have evidence of intellectual disability or traumatic brain injury.

    The report said Agee has a psychotic disorder, suffers from partial fetal alcohol syndrome and has brain defects, a low IQ and the adaptive functioning equivalent to that of a 7-year-old child.

    Following an Atkins hearing to determine whether Agee had the mental capacity to be eligible for the death penalty, the court found the defense did not present sufficient evidence to prove he was intellectually disabled.

    The Oregon Supreme Court affirmed Agee's conviction but overturned his death sentence in 2015 and ordered a new hearing to determine whether he is intellectually disabled.

    The court remanded the case back to trial court for a new Atkins hearing to consider recent supreme court rulings and changes in how intellectual disabilities are diagnosed.

    After speaking with Oregon State Police investigators and the victim's family, prosecutors decided against continuing to seek the death penalty.

    At the June hearing, Agee acknowledged that he would never have the opportunity to be released from prison.

    New law changes charge

    Agee was still scheduled to be sentenced for the aggravated charge when his attorney filed a motion to amend the judgment against him to first-degree murder instead of aggravated murder in light of the recently passed Senate Bill 1013.

    The bill, which was signed into law on Aug. 1, narrowed Oregon's use of the death penalty by whittling down the number of crimes that qualify as aggravated murder — the only offense punishable by death.

    Previously, about 20 circumstances made a homicide qualify as aggravated murder, including murder for hire, murdering multiple people, torturing before killing, murders committed in prison and murder during the course of a felony crime.

    Oregon legislators voted to limit these aggravating circumstances to only four: the terrorist killings of two or more people, the premeditated murder of police officers, murder committed in a prison or jail by someone who was already convicted of aggravated murder or first-degree murder and the premeditated murder of a child under the age of 14.

    The law was initially believed by many of its supporters and those that opposed it to not be "retroactive" and not impact murders committed before SB 1013 went into effect.

    A decision by the Oregon Department of Justice found the opposite was true.

    In an email to Oregon prosecutors, Oregon Department of Justice Solicitor General Benjamin Gutman said the new law would, in fact, impact pending and overturned cases.

    DOJ officials who had reviewed the then-pending legislation concluded that a new, narrower definition of aggravated murder in SB 1013 did apply to pending cases — including cases that have been sent back for new penalty or guilt phases, Gutman said.

    This "surprise" conclusion led to many aggravated murder cases, including that of a Keizer mother accused of killing her 12-year-old son and a serial killer who killed an inmate at the Salem prison, to be reduced to first-degree murder.

    Because Agee was imprisoned on an attempted aggravated murder charge at the time of the prison murder, his crime would not qualify as aggravated murder if committed today.

    Agee's defense team argued that the passage of SB 1013 meant Agee's conviction should be reclassified to first-degree murder.

    Prosecutors disagreed with the defense's interpretation of SB 1013 and argued that nothing in the new law required the court to change Agee's crime.

    "To say that the Legislature's 'intent' in passing SB 1013 was clear is absurd," prosecutor Katie Suver said in a response. "The state is unaware of any instance in Oregon's recent legislative past where a bill generated more media coverage and comments by legislators about the 'intent' of a bill than was generated by the passage of SB 1013 before its effective date."

    She said the legislative history of the bill was "replete" with claims from its proponents reassuring the public that it would not be applied retroactively.

    Suver pointed out that Agee's conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court.

    On Dec. 16, the court granted the defense's motion to reclassify Agee's conviction as first-degree murder.

    Kemmy said although the action didn't really impact Agee's case — the state had already decided to not seek the death penalty before SB 1013 was introduced in the legislature —the precedent of reclassifying the charge could impact future cases.

    "We're concerned about the ramifications —if that is in fact the way the courts are going to rule— what that means for everybody else coming off death row for resentencing," Kemmy said. "If their crime is reclassified as murder in the first-degree, then they simply would not be eligible for the state to attempt to seek death again."

    Defense claims remorse, anguish

    The facts of the crime and Agee's intellectual disabilities have been discussed extensively during the trial and on appeal, said defense attorneys Jeffrey Ellis and Ryan O'Connor in a sentencing memorandum.

    "What has not been discussed, largely because it has not been relevant until now, is Mr. Agee’s deep and abiding remorse for his role in the murder of Antonio Barrantes-Vasquez," they said.

    This remorse springs from the recognition of his responsibility for the murder and the pain and suffering his victim's family endured because of his actions, according to his attorneys.

    "Mr. Agee does not consider himself to be well-spoken," they said. "He has coped with the stress of trial proceedings by attempting to appear emotionless. However, his private anguish for his actions and their consequences as witnessed by counsel and those close to Mr. Agee speaks volumes."

    Agee's remorse has led him to try to improve himself and to contribute to the lives of those who care for him, his attorneys said.

    His friends, family and supporters filled one side of the courtroom gallery the day of his sentencing.

    "We love you, Ike," one person said after Burton sentenced Agee. "We are your team."

    Tearful and handcuff, Agee replied, "I love you, too."

    His wife, Tamera Agee, who he married in 2014 while incarcerated, said she hoped the sentence would make it easier for her and her husband to stay connected. She said she would continue to support him.

    "It's just the beginning," she said.

    His grandmother Melody Lawson said she was so happy Agee was off death row.

    "It's a miracle," she said. "One that I've been praying for."

    During his sentencing, Agee began reading an apology letter to the courtroom but struggled to finish.

    O'Connor continued reading his letter for him.

    "I wish I could take it all back," Agee said in the letter. "Anything I could say would never be enough. I'm sorry."

    O'Connor said he had represented Agee since 2011 and has seen him show "remarkable progress" during that time.

    "Mr. Agee’s efforts to strive for kindness and self-improvement obviously pale in comparison to the harm he has caused in this and in prior criminal cases," they said. "However, his desire for change is sincere."

    Although he cannot undo the harm he caused, "sorrow has led him to a better path," O'Connor said, adding:

    "That will not change the sentence this court imposes, but it is a hopeful postscript to this case."

    https://statesmanjournal.com/story/n...ty/2799436001/

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