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Thread: Ray Jefferson Cromartie - Georgia Execution - November 13, 2019

  1. #11
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    In today's orders, the United States Supreme Court declined to review Cromartie's petition for certiorari.

    Lower court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
    Case Nos.: (17-12627)
    Decision date: January 3, 2018
    Rehearing denied: March 26, 2018
    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

  2. #12
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Motion for new trial, stay of execution filed in 1997 death penalty verdict

    By Patti Dozier
    The Thomasville Times-Enterprise

    THOMASVILLE — A death sentence was pronounced on Ray Jefferson Cromartie, then a Thomasville resident, in September 1997, when the 30-year-old defendant was found guilty of murdering a convenience store clerk during an 1994 armed robbery.

    After more than two decades on Georgia’s death row and exhaustion of years of appeals to the state’s and nation’s highest courts, Cromartie’s execution was imminent when a lawyer filed an extraordinary motion for a new trial and for post-conviction DNA testing.

    The motion, filed Dec. 28, 2018, in Thomas County Superior Court, also wants DNA testing performed on evidence in another case in which Cromartie was convicted — shooting a convenience store clerk who survived.

    The motion filed by Aren Adjoian of the Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Curtis Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, asks the court to grant a stay of execution and new sentencing.

    The motion requests DNA testing of evidence in the shooting death of Richard Slysz, a clerk at a West Jackson Street convenience store, as well as the aggravated battery of Dan Wilson at a North Madison Street convenience store.
    Cromartie also was found guilty in the Wilson case.

    “Advances in DNA technology now make it possible to develop DNA profiles from minute quantities of DNA evidence, and to ascribe weight to potential contributors to complex mixtures of DNA.

    This would not have been possible at the time of the trial in 1997,” the motion sates.

    It continues that new DNA processes make it possible to reliably test the murder weapon, fired cartridge casings collected from the two crime scenes and other physical evidence collected by investigators and retained by the court.

    The motion states that Dr. R. Thomas Libby, “a preeminent molecular geneticist and DNA expert,” concludes the following evidence potentially contains DNA evidence:

    • Shell casing collected at the Madison Street Deli crime scene.

    • Black knitted cap found near the Madison Street Deli crime scene, presumed to be the cap worn by the shooter in surveillance video.

    • Green hooded sweatshirt found near the Madison Street Deli crime scene, presumed to be the sweatshirt worn by the shooter in the surveillance video.

    • Two shell casings collected at the Junior Food Store crime scene.

    • Basic Lights cigarette pack found near the body of the deceased at the Junior Food Store.

    • Handle section of the Budweiser beer case found on the ground outside the Junior Food Store.

    • Two Budweiser beer cans found outside the Junior Food Store.

    • The .25-caliber Raven Arms pistol and magazine recovered from where Gary Young threw the firearm near train tracks between Cherokee Homes and the Jail-Justice Center.

    • Clothing recovered from suspects in the case, including Gary Young, Corey Clark, Thaddeus Lucas and Cromartie.

    • Cut portion of victim Slysz’s short sleeve with blood on it.

    The evidence is being held in boxes in the evidence locker at the Thomas County Superior Court clerk’s office — “as counsel has very recently confirmed.”

    “It’s not unusual for these motions to be filed right before possible executions,” said Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brad Shealy.

    Because Cromartie has been convicted, the burden is on the defense to reverse the verdict, Shealy said.

    “It’s just a delay tactic. ... Now he’s trying an extraordinary motion,” the district attorney said.

    Cromartie has always maintained that he did not shoot Slysz or Wilson, “and the identity of the shooter was a significant issue in the case.

    It is only by subjecting the evidence to DNA testing that (Mr.) Cromartie can demonstrate that he did not shoot the victims,” the motion states.

    The same gun was used in shootings at both businesses in April 1994, according to the document. The firearm was found on April 12, 1994, near railroad tracks between Cherokee Homes, a housing project, and the Jail-Justice Center.

    As Cromartie and co-conspirators ran from the West Jackson store after the clerk was fatally wounded, one of two packages of stolen beer ripped open, and several beers fell on the ground.

    The state presented evidence that a fingerprint found on a piece of the package was Cromartie’s, and a footprint in mud near the store was from Cromartie’s Adidas shoe, the motion states.

    Co-conspirators each received 25-year prison sentences for robbery. Before the 1997 trial, the then-district attorney offered Cromartie a plea deal to life in prison with the possibility of parole, which, at that time, would have resulted in parole eligibility after seven years.

    In Cromartie’s most recent appeal efforts, in January and March 2018, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied his appeals. On Dec. 3, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to review the lower court’s rulings.

    https://www.timesenterprise.com/news...6cffd4d90.html

  3. #13
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Thomas County judge hearing appeal for death row inmate

    By Noelani Mathews
    WCTV Eyewitness Sports

    This week, a Thomas County judge is hearing the appeal of a death row inmate.

    Ray Cromartie faces execution for a 1994 slaying in Thomasville.

    Cromartie is convicted of killing a store clerk during an armed robbery.

    Officials say Cromartie has been linked to two separate robberies, shooting store clerks both times, at stores on North Madison Street and West Jackson Street.

    The crimes shook the Thomasville Community.

    "It impacted the community to the point that they were really concerned about getting these two particular gentlemen off the street and bringing these robberies under control," said Melvin Johnson, who was lead Thomasville Police investigator at the time.

    The motion recently filed requests a new trial and post-conviction DNA testing.

    "Only after the Supreme Court denied cert in December of 2018 did he file this motion," explained District Attorney Brad Shealy, "So it appears to me that it's filed on purpose of delay."

    Cromartie's hearing finished by mid-afternoon on Monday.

    Due to the appeals process, the judge could have a verdict in about 30 days.

    Cromartie has filed several appeals since 2017. So far, all have been denied.

    https://www.wctv.tv/content/news/Tho...511748252.html
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  4. #14
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    So I'm guessing Cromartie will be next in GA if he loses this appeal.
    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

  5. #15
    Senior Member Member GASMANDIRTY's Avatar
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    Not necessarily, the reason for the appeals is to delay a death warrant. I think Tharpe will be next and soon than expected. Donnie Lance should follow than maybe Cromartie by the end if the year. By this time Meaders, Whatley, and Lance should be out of appeals. This is just my opinion.

  6. #16
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Judge denies death row inmate a new trial, DNA testing

    THOMASVILLE — The judge who presided at a Thomas County 1997 death penalty trial has denied the convicted defendant's motion for a new trial and DNA testing.

    Superior Court Judge Frank Horkan pronounced a death sentence on Ray Jefferson Cromartie, then a Thomasville resident, in September 1997, when the 30-year-old defendant was found guilty of murdering a convenience store clerk during an 1994 armed robbery.

    After more than two decades on Georgia's death row and exhaustion of years of appeals to the state's and nation's highest courts, Cromartie's execution was imminent when a lawyer filed an extraordinary motion for a new trial and for post-conviction DNA testing.

    The motion, filed Dec. 28, 2018, in Thomas County Superior Court, also wants DNA testing performed on evidence in another case in which Cromartie was convicted — shooting a convenience store clerk who survived.

    The motion requests DNA testing of evidence in the shooting death of Richard Slysz, a clerk at a West Jackson Street convenience store, as well as the aggravated battery of Dan Wilson at a North Madison Street convenience store.
    Cromartie also was found guilty in the Wilson case.

    “The daughter of the victim in this case has publicly asked for DNA testing to occur, as have hundreds of members of the Thomasville community," said Shawn Nolan, chief, Capital Habeas Unit, Federal Community Defender Office, in response to the denial.. "Forensic DNA testing is essential to the pursuit of the truth and justice and to prevent the potential execution of an innocent man. The state has the evidence in its possession; all we need to do is test it. We will appeal to other decision-makers to continue to seek DNA testing in order to get these vital questions answered before it's too late.”

    Co-conspirators each received 25-year prison sentences for robbery. Before the 1997 trial, the then-district attorney offered Cromartie a plea deal to life in prison with the possibility of parole, which, at that time, would have resulted in parole eligibility after seven years.

    In Cromartie's most recent appeal efforts, in January and in March 2018, a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied his appeals. On Dec. 3, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to review the lower court's rulings.
    Horkan's order — filed Monday in Thomas County Superior Court — states the court determines the defendant failed to establish necessary requirements to obtain requested DNA testing.

    Evidence is overwhelming proving Cromartie was the shooter at the Madison Street Deli where an employed was injured and the Junior Food Store on West Jackson Street where the clerk was murdered, the document states.

    "Given the tenuous link between the clothing and the crimes, the court finds defendant's proposed DNA results would not create a reasonable probability of an acquittal or of different verdict(s) in light of evidence in the case," Horkan wrote in his order.

    Cromartie avoided the risk of pre-trial DNA testing on some items that might implicate him in the crimes and waited until now to request the testing, the order stated.

    "At no point, as admitted by defendant, in the 24 years since he committed his crimes has he requested DNA testing," Horkan wrote. "So far, the only reason offered by defendant to excuse the delay in bringing this action are that: he has been busy litigating his state and federal habeas petitions; and the DNA testing methods he is requesting only became available in recent years.

    " ... In sum, defendant sat on his request until all other avenues were closed," the order continued. "And there is nothing in the record showing that defendant was precluded from requesting DNA testing in what could be considered a timely manner considering the facts and circumstances of this case."

    Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brad Shealy said if the state Supreme Court affirms Judge Horkan's decision, the state can move forward with Cromartie's execution.
    "I think it's clear Cromartie is guilty of what he was convicted of," Shealy said.

    https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...f8uMRWQZE7UZiz

  7. #17
    Senior Member Member GASMANDIRTY's Avatar
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    Ray Jefferson Cromartie has an excution date October 30, 2019. I guess Georgia will be starting up again.

  8. #18
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    I came to make sure I heard right about his execution date

  9. #19
    Senior Member Member GASMANDIRTY's Avatar
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    October 30, 2019, it's on the Georgia Department of Corrections website. I knew someone was close, I thought it would be Tharpe.
    Last edited by GASMANDIRTY; 10-16-2019 at 05:54 PM.

  10. #20
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Could you post the link to his X date, thanks.
    "How do you get drunk on death row?" - Werner Herzog

    "When we get fruit, we get the juice and water. I ferment for a week! It tastes like chalk, it's nasty" - Blaine Keith Milam #999558 Texas Death Row

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