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Executions


Donald Palmer - Ohio Execution - September 20, 2012




Summary of Offense: On May 8, 1989, Palmer murdered Charles Sponhaltz and Steven Vargo on County Road 2. Mr. Sponhaltz had an accident with the car that Palmer was a passenger in. Palmer got out of the car, approached Mr. Sponhaltz and shot him twice in the head. When Mr. Vargo, a passing motorist, stopped at the scene and got out of his car, Palmer shot him twice in the head. Palmer confessed to police.

Victim(s): Charles Sponhaltz and Steven Vargo

Time of Death: 10:35 a.m.

Manner of execution: Lethal Injection

Last Meal: Chipped ham, Velveeta cheese, 12 ounces of Helman's mayonnaise, two sliced fresh tomatoes, one loaf of wheat bread, one bag of ranch Doritos, two large bags of peanut M&Ms, one quart of hazelnut ice cream, one piece of plain cheesecake and six 20 ounce bottles of Coke.

Final Statement: "I want you to know I've carried you in my heart for years and years," Palmer told six women in the room who are the widows, daughters and a niece of the men he killed. "I'm so sorry for what I took from you ...I hope your pain and hurt die with me today."

Palmer also told the women that he knows the pain of losing a parent, a sibling and a child, and that he wished his execution could bring their loved ones back to them.

"I know it can't," he said. "I pray that you have good lives now. I'm sorry."


Robert Wayne Harris - Texas Execution - September 20, 2012



Summary of Offense: On March 20, 2000, Harris entered his former place of employment and began shooting co-workers. Harris had been fired three days prior to the shooting after exposing himself to two women. Five people were killed during the shooting.

Victims: Rhoda Wheeler, 45, assistant manager Augustin Villasenor, 36, manager Dennis Lee, 48, Benjamin Villasenor, 32, and Roberto Jimenez Jr., 15.

Harris was sentenced to death in October 2000.

Victim(s): Rhoda Wheeler, 45, assistant manager Augustin Villasenor, 36, manager Dennis Lee, 48, Benjamin Villasenor, 32, and Roberto Jimenez Jr., 15.

Time of Death: 6:43 p.m.

Manner of execution: Lethal Injection

Last Meal: Chicken patties, carrots, green beans, pinto beans, and mashed potatoes.

Final Statement: "I'm going home. I'm going home," Harris said. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. God bless, and the Texas Rangers, Texas Rangers."





Scheduled Executions


Cleve Foster - Texas Execution - September 25, 2012



A federal appeals court refused to stop next week's scheduled execution of a former Army recruiter convicted in the rape-slaying of a woman in Fort Worth more than 10 years ago.

Cleve Foster is set to die Tuesday in Huntsville for the death of a 30-year-old Sudanese woman known as Mary Pal. Her body was found in a Tarrant County ditch. She'd been shot in the head.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday rejected appeals to delay the punishment. Foster's lawyers contended he's innocent and had poor legal help at his trial and in earlier appeals. They say they'll now go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has stopped his execution three previous times.

A second man condemned for the slaying died of cancer in 2010.


Ronald Post - Ohio Execution - January 16, 2013



A condemned Ohio inmate who weighs at least 480 pounds wants his upcoming execution delayed, saying his weight could lead to a "torturous and lingering death."

Ronald Post, who shot and killed a hotel clerk in northern Ohio almost 30 years ago, said his weight, vein access, scar tissue and other medical problems raise the likelihood his executioners would encounter severe problems. He's also so big that the execution gurney might not hold him, lawyers for Post said in federal court papers filed Friday.[September 14, 2012]

"Indeed, given his unique physical and medical condition there is a substantial risk that any attempt to execute him will result in serious physical and psychological pain to him, as well as an execution involving a torturous and lingering death," the filing said.

Post, 53, is scheduled to die Jan. 16 for the 1983 shooting death of Helen Vantz in Elyria.



Death Row Inmate Deaths



Raymond Burgess - Georgia


A man who had been on death row for an infamous 1990 Douglas County “Golden Gun” murder has died of natural causes just months before he was scheduled to be executed.

Convicted murderer Raymond Burgess was taken “to a local area hospital for an unspecified health related issue where he was pronounced dead on Sept. 16th,” according to Georgia Department of Corrections Public Affairs Officer Gwendolyn Hogan. Hogan would not address information that Burgess had suffered a stroke.





Current Death Row Inmates


Peter Rogovich - Arizona


Attachment 265

A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected multiple challenges by an Arizona death-row inmate to his conviction for the 1992 murders of four people, including three who were killed in a Phoenix trailer-park “homicidal rampage.”

Pete Carl Rogovich, 46, confessed to the killings and other crimes when caught by police on March 15, 1992, after a lengthy car chase, according to court documents.

“I did it. I know it was wrong. I know I’ll burn in hell,” Rogovich reportedly told police.

He presented an insanity defense, but was convicted of all counts by an Arizona jury in a seven-day trial in May 1994.

In his latest round of appeals, Rogovich argued that his attorney at trial presented the insanity defense without his approval. He also claimed that his attorney failed to challenge prejudicial prosecution statements during closing arguments or to challenge the aggravating factors that led to the imposition of death penalty.

But a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals flatly rejected those arguments Tuesday, saying there is no law “requiring the defendant to consent on the record to an insanity defense.” It also upheld lower court rulings that Rogovich was adequately represented at trial.


Johnny Johnson - Missouri




A man sentenced to death for murdering a 6-year-old girl he abducted from her father's St. Louis County home is seeking a new trial, arguing his lawyers should have pursued a defense that he suffered from brain damage.

The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether to grant a new trial or sentencing hearing for Johnny Johnson in the July 2002 slaying of Casey Williamson.

Johnson admitted at his trial that he killed the girl. But his attorneys argued he did not qualify for the death penalty because mental illnesses made him incapable of acting with "cool reflection."

Johnson's current attorney argued Wednesday that the defense should have also hired a neuropsychologist to testify about Johnson's brain damage.


Randolph Moore - Nevada

The Nevada Supreme Court refused a rehearing for Randolph Moore, who argues he should not have been sentenced to death in the 1984 killing of a couple in Las Vegas.

Moore complained the court in a ruling in August overlooked his claim that one of the aggravating circumstances used to impose the death penalty was invalid.

The court on Thursday also refused to send the case back to District Court to consider what Moore believed was new favorable evidence in his behalf.

Moore and Dale Flanagan were sentenced to death for the shooting of Carl and Colleen Gordon.

Previously, the court overturned the first penalty hearing for Moore on grounds there was misconduct by the District Attorney’s Office. A second penalty hearing was also reversed.

The court in August refused to overturn the finding of the third penalty hearing that Moore should be put to death.


Charles Rhines - South Dakota

A circuit judge upheld the conviction and death sentence of Charles Russell Rhines for the 1992 slaying of a man during the burglary of a Rapid City doughnut shop, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said Wednesday.

Rhines was convicted in 1993 fatally stabbing 22-year-old Donnivan Schaeffer. Authorities contend that Schaeffer, a part-time employee at the doughnut shop, surprised Rhines during the March 1992 burglary.

The South Dakota Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Rhines' conviction in 1996, but Rhines filed secondary appeals that were tied up in state and federal courts.

In the secondary appeal filed in state court, Rhines argued South Dakota's death penalty law was unconstitutional. He also contended that prosecutors violated his rights, that the judge at his trial improperly dismissed a lawyer and that his defense layer was ineffective during his sentencing.

Jackley said the decision by Circuit Judge Thomas L. Trimble of Rapid City to uphold Rhines' conviction can still be reviewed on appeal by the South Dakota Supreme Court and federal courts.






New Death Sentences


Gregory Henderson - Alabama


David Cox Neal Sr. - Mississippi





Reversed/ New Trials/ Resentenced/ Released/ Commuted



Scott Cheever - Kansas




Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Monday that he will appeal the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision to overtun the conviction and death sentence of Scott Cheever in the 2005 murder of Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels.

“We have carefully analyzed the opinion of the Kansas Supreme Court overturning the capital murder conviction of Scott Cheever in the 2005 killing of Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels,” Schmidt said in a release. “We do not believe the court’s decision correctly reflects the requirements of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and therefore we will ask the United States Supreme Court to review the case.”

A Greenwood County jury found Cheever guilty in 2007 of capital murder of Samuels and recommended the death penalty be imposed. In August, the Kansas Supreme Court overturned Cheever’s conviction, citing constitutional violations and ordered a new trial in the case.

On Monday, Schmidt’s office filed a motion to recall the mandate of the Kansas Supreme Court and stay the proceedings while the U.S. Supreme Court considers the matter.






State By State Death Penalty News


Virginia

Richmond Circuit Court judge tossed out a lawsuit challenging lethal injection in Virginia.

The lawsuit by Alexandria lawyers Meghan Shapiro and Christopher Leibig claimed that executioners who inject condemned inmates with lethal doses of drugs are illegally practicing medicine, pharmacy and anesthesiology without licenses.

After hearing about a half-hour of legal arguments Wednesday, Judge Gregory Rupe commended the attorneys for what he described as an "imaginative" challenge. But he said he doesn't believe lethal injection is the practice of medicine.

Rupe sided with the Department of Corrections, which argued in court papers that an execution is not a medical procedure because the purpose is to end a life, not save one.

Shapiro said she and Leibig are considering an appeal.