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Thread: Scott Forrest Collins - California

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    Scott Forrest Collins - California





    Facts of the Crime:

    Collins was found guilty of the January 23, 1992 murder of Fred D. Rose, 41, a construction supervisor who lived with his family in Valencia. He was abducted in Palmdale and forced to accompany his killer to the San Fernando Valley, where he was shot in the back of the head. In closing arguments the prosecution said that since the age of 16, Collins had been in and out of jail and always had a violent streak. Blaming a dysfunctional relationship with his mother, Collin’s lawyer, Bruce Hill, pleaded for a lenient sentence.

    Collins was sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on December 19, 1996.

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    May 28, 2010

    S.C. Says Jury Experiment in Death Penalty Case Was Proper

    The California Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death sentence imposed after a 1993 trial, rejecting the original trial judge’s conclusion that jurors conducted an improper experiment during deliberations.

    Justice Carol Corrigan, writing for the court, said jurors were properly acting on the evidence before them when they conducted their own tests in order to determine the trajectory at which a convicted killer fired at his victim.

    The high court upheld Scott Forrest Collins’ convictions and sentence on charges of first degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping for robbery, with special circumstances of kidnapping-murder and robbery-murder. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Howard Schwab, since retired, condemned Collins to die for the murder of Fred Rose, 41, a construction superintendent.

    Rose’s body was found in North Hollywood several hours after he failed to return from lunch to his jobsite in the Antelope Valley. Prosecutors said Collins, a multiple convicted felon who had been released on parole a month earlier, abducted Rose, used his ATM card to withdraw money from a bank, and then shot him in the back of the head and dumped the body.

    Collins and several others were arrested when the vehicle in which they were riding—Rose’s 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass—was involved in a crash in Kern County the day after the murder. Collins denied knowing anything about the car theft or the murder, but eventually told police that he had found the car—with keys, Rose’s wallet, and a card with his bank name and ATM PIN number written down on it inside—and taken it because he needed transportation to Bakersfield.

    1993 Trial

    After the jury returned its verdict in Collins’ 1993 trial, Judge Leon Kaplan—who is now retired—granted the defendant’s motion for a new penalty trial based on juror misconduct. Kaplan said the defendant’s right to be tried solely on the evidence had been violated because jurors had used a protractor and string during deliberations to show the trajectory of the fatal bullet.

    The judge also faulted a juror for using his home computer to make a diagram of the crime. The juror involved was a war veteran who said the diagram confirmed his belief that the victim was shot execution-style, which the prosecution argued as one of the reasons why the death penalty should be imposed.

    After granting the motion, Kaplan recused himself from any further proceedings, saying he could not continue because of what he characterized as “personal attacks on this court which have been ongoing and relentless” by then-Deputy District Attorney Lea Purwin D’Agostino. The prosecutor had accused him of making erroneous rulings motivated by an anti-death penalty bias.

    Further Proceedings

    The district attorney appealed the order granting a new trial, and the Court of Appeal reversed, sending the case back to the trial court for further proceedings. The case was reassigned to Schwab, who denied the automatic motion to modify the verdict and imposed sentence.

    According to a newspaper account of the sentencing, Schwab called the killing “a senseless, vicious murder,” saying Rose “was robbed and killed in a totally cold-blooded manner . . . exactly one month to the day that Mr. Collins was released from prison.’’

    Corrigan, writing for the high court, cited a series of cases dating back a century and explained that a jury room experiment is only improper if it involves matters extrinsic to the evidence presented in the courtroom.

    “Within the range discussed by Dr. Sherry [the pathologist who conducted the autopsy] and the variety of possible physical positions, jurors conducted a demonstration to evaluate alternatives that could have produced the downward trajectory of Rose’s wound,” the jurist wrote. “The jurors directed Juror C.C. to assume various positions. They specifically examined the prosecution’s theory that Rose was ‘executed’ while on his knees, and also considered whether Rose was shot while standing with his head tilted back. Their evaluation critically considered the evidence presented. It did not invade a new field.”

    Corrigan also said there was nothing improper about a juror making a diagram to confirm what his own experiences told him about the evidence.

    The justice reasoned:

    “...Juror G.B’s computer use was part of his individual contemplation of the evidence after the matter had been submitted to the jury.... The jury’s demonstration in the deliberation room was simply a ‘more critical examination’ of the evidence admitted....In neither situation did jurors receive extrinsic evidence. As a result, there was no basis for the trial court’s conclusion that jurors committed misconduct, and thus no basis for granting of a new penalty phase trial.”

    The case was argued in the Supreme Court by Deputy State Public Defender Kent Barkhurst of San Francisco for the defense and Deputy Attorney General Theresa A. Patterson of Los Angeles for the prosecution.

    The case is People v. Collins, 10 S.O.S. 2850.

    http://www.metnews.com/articles/2010/coll052810.htm

  3. #3
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    On October 3, 2013, Collins filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cal...v07334/573291/

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    Collins has two separate habeas petitions pending before the California Supreme Court at the moment.

    https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca....xTQCAgCg%3D%3D

    https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca....xSQCAgCg%3D%3D

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    California murder victim’s family appalled by Gascón push to drop killer’s death sentence

    By Michelle Ruiz
    Fox News

    California'a Scott Forrest Collins was 21 when he robbed and shot Fred Rose, a 41-year-old father of three, "execution-style" in January 1992. Now Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón wants a judge to vacate Collins' death sentence.

    The embattled DA is a staunch opponent of the death penalty but also facing a second recall petition after just over a year in office. He is now accused by Rose's family of pushing to resentence the convicted murderer to life without parole without properly informing them – and of handling the case like a defense attorney rather than a prosecutor.

    Collins had been out on parole for another armed robbery at the time of the attack, according to Rose’s daughter, and later allegedly sought to harm or intimidate witnesses and her family before trial.

    Rose's wife never remarried, according to their daughter, Heather Scott, who was 12 years old at the time of her father’s murder.

    She told Fox News Digital that her family feels abandoned by prosecutors in today's political climate.

    "My feeling was that the detectives and the police department, they sought justice, they wanted to know the truth," she said. "They wanted to make sure they had the right person, and they didn't stop until they felt confident that they had him behind bars."

    Back then, she added, the district attorney's office was her "advocate."

    "They fought for us, like you would fight for your own safety," she said

    The current DA's office, she said, "feels like they're fighting for the murderer."

    Attorneys for the family of Fred Rose have filed to give relatives a chance to voice their concerns before a judge at a resentencing hearing that Gascón's office requested last week.

    Scott said she asked Shelan Joseph, a longtime public defender who is now a deputy district attorney in Gascón’s office handling the resentencing push, about her reasoning for the request.

    "She went over lists and lists of good behavior that he had had in prison, which is wonderful, anyone wants redemption for someone like him," Scott said. "But it was an inappropriate place to communicate that information to our family, and she had already filed her decision when she was trying to convince me of this. It was finished. We're just political pawns."

    The request for resentencing serves to traumatize the victim’s family without having any practical effect on Collins, according to Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based trial attorney and former federal prosecutor, because California declared a moratorium on the death penalty and hasn’t carried out an execution in 15 years.

    "Now, victims of crime suffer even more by having to hire lawyers to assert their rights under Marsy’s Law and fight the same prosecutors who are supposed to have victim advocates doing this for them," he told Fox News Digital. "In this case, Rose’s daughter had to hire former District Attorney Steve Cooley to oppose Gascon’s resentencing recommendation, which reads exactly like a defense brief and not a prosecution filing."

    Lawyers for Rose’s family appear to have viewed the filing similarly.

    Cooley and Kathy Cady, another former Los Angeles prosecutor, filed a notice of appearance and assertion of victims’ rights in a county courthouse Feb. 17, two days after Gascón’s office filed a recommendation for resentencing.

    "The criminal justice system is designed to be an adversary system requiring a prosecutor and a defense attorney," they wrote. "The system does not work if there are two defense attorneys and no prosecutor."

    They added that victims have a right to expect officials to "properly and ethically perform their duties" and uphold their oaths of office.

    "When the evidence suggests that the District Attorney’s Office and the defense are in collusion, the court is the final and only gate keeper to ensure that justice is done and victims’ rights are upheld," Cooley and Cady wrote.

    Alex Bastian, special adviser to DA Gascón, said that the office was not seeking Collins’ release and added that a resentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. He also said Gascón has been consistently clear with his absolute opposition to the death penalty.

    "We’re not asking for his release, we’re asking that his sentence be commuted to life without the possibility of parole," he told Fox News Digital. "That is something that is I think important to note. We are not asking that he be resentenced to something that would put him in front of a parole board."

    In Joseph’s filing, she described Collins as a "youth" at the time of the murder. He was 21 years old – but Bastian noted that California penal code makes a distinction between youths and juveniles.

    Joseph also pointed out that the case involved the robbery and murder "of a single victim."

    "There were so many victims," Scott said in response to that line in the filing. "My whole family, we’re a family of victims."

    Rose's widow and three children moved out of state almost immediately after the murder to escape the pain and fearing for their safety, she said.

    Joseph argued that Collins experienced "hardship as a child" and had ADHD and possibly depression. He also began using drugs at alcohol at age 9. And she noted that Collins, who has been in prison for just shy of 30 years, "has not had any serious rule violations in more than 20 years."

    However, Scott said she was told by prosecutors in the 1990s that Collins had serious infractions in San Quentin State Prison.

    "He had no write-ups in 20 years, he’s gotten educated, he’s gotten himself a paralegal certificate and is involved in various activities," Bastian said.

    Under a provision called Marsy’s Law, victims of a crime and their next of kin have certain rights regarding court appearances – especially involving sentencing changes.

    Fred Roses’ mother, Doris Baker, had signed up for notifications but died in 2020, Scott said. According to Joseph’s filing, a victim advocate in Gascóns office named Efty Sharony tracked down and reached out Rose’s stepfather, Bob Baker, instead, as well as Rose’s widow, Sharon.

    The filing also stated Sharony left messages for two of Rose’s adult children, Justin and Amy, a claim their sister, Heather Scott, disputed in multiple conversations.
    Joseph wrote that Baker said it would be "acceptable" if Collins’ death sentence were overturned so long as he "did not get out of prison" – and claimed "he indicated that he did not want to come to court for a resentencing hearing."

    But in a court filing last Thursday, Baker, 80, invoked his right to be present.

    "While I understood Ms. Sharony to say that the defendant would spend the rest of his life in prison, I did not understand that the District Attorney’s Office was going to re-sentence the defendant," Baker wrote. "I was not asked whether I wanted to have my voice heard. I absolutely want to be heard on this important issue."

    Bastian said victim advocates in the DA’s office would continue to work with Rose’s family.

    "There’s no question the victim’s family in this case, as well as all families that have experienced victimization, are due our utmost respect and compassion, and we will continue to do all we can to provide trauma-informed services to victims and their families," he said.

    On Jan. 23, 1992, Fred Rose left his Palmdale office for lunch. He never returned. Collins kidnapped him at gunpoint, used his debit card to withdraw $200 just after 4 p.m. in Northbridge, almost 50 miles away, and shot him once in the head two hours later in North Hollywood.

    Three witnesses heard gunshots and saw Rose’s Oldsmobile leaving the area. At around 8:45, a jogger found Rose on the ground near train tracks in the neighborhood – but at first thought he was just drunk and didn’t call 911 until he passed him again on the run back and noticed the blood.

    He died the following day in the hospital. By then, Collins was more than 140 miles way in Bakersfield, hanging out at a friend’s house with Rose’s car. Collins and three others used the car in a gang-related shooting nearby, but no one was injured. They crashed and were taken into custody. The three others later testified that Collins admitted to the killing.

    Police found Rose’s wallet in the car as well as a bullet matching the one used to kill him and an empty shell casing. Collins became a convicted murderer on Sept. 30, 1993, and received a death sentence on Nov. 2 of that year. In 1996, after an appeal, he was sentenced to death once again, and that was affirmed after another appeal in 2010.

    Prior to killing Rose, Collins’ criminal history stretched back to the mid-1980s, when he was still a juvenile and allegedly started a fire with a Molotov cocktail. Court documents show he was also accused of stabbing a man in the back, carjacking a woman, attacking a Black 15-year-old while swinging a knife and yelling racial slurs, threatening a cellmate with a razor and kicking deputies who asked about the incident.

    Scott said her biggest fear is that if the death sentence is vacated, the sentence of life without parole could be resentenced down the line to life with parole and one day regain freedom.

    "If that was the intention there would have been something different than the commutation to life without the possibility of parole," Bastian said. "The reason the petition here is for life without the possibility of parole is because we believe that would be the appropriate outcome."

    Fox News' Sarah Rumpf contributed to this report.

    https://news.yahoo.com/california-mu...065927792.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    Family Urges Judge Not to Reverse Man's Death Sentence In NoHo Murder

    A widow and daughters of a man who was kidnapped, robbed and murdered are fighting the District Attorney's bid to vacate the death sentence

    By City News Service

    LOS ANGELES, CA — The widow and two daughters of a man who was kidnapped, robbed and murdered three decades ago urged a judge Wednesday to reject a request by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office to vacate his killer's death sentence and re-sentence him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    "I have lived 30 years in the peace that the state of California gave to me," Fred Rose's widow, Sharon, told Superior Court Judge William Ryan. "I have also lived 30 years without Fred. Every second of my life -- both practically and emotionally -- has been affected by that."

    She said anything short of denying the request to re-sentence former Palmdale resident Scott Forrest Collins "would be to victimize my family again," and urged the judge to "please take into account my wish that the request for re-sentencing not be granted."

    One of the victim's daughters, Heather Scott, told the judge that her father was taken from his three children when they were 14, 12 and 10, saying that Collins "took a few hundred dollars and my dad's life so he could buy beer and party."

    "Judge and jury decisions today matter. How can we ever rely on our system of justice if we allow a few people to overturn what were lawfully meant to be permanent sentences? What's to say Collins won't again be re-sentenced to something even less in the future?" she asked. "Our family unanimously wishes that Scott Collins' current sentence stand and not be reduced."

    In a written statement read in court on her behalf, another of the victim's daughters, Amy Rose, said, "Having my father killed as a teenager was horrifying. One of the only comforts I've carried with me over the years was knowing that the man responsible for murdering Dad was given the appropriate sentence for the crime he committed.

    "Over the last few months, knowing that his sentence could be changed has caused me many sleepless nights," she added.

    The judge -- who noted that he wasn't going to immediately decide on the request by the District Attorney's Office -- is set to hear July 19 from attorneys on the case.

    Collins, now 51, was sentenced to death in 1996 for the kidnapping, robbery and murder of Rose, a 42-year-old father of three who failed to return to his job at a Lancaster construction business after a lunch break. He was found lying next to railroad tracks in North Hollywood with a gunshot wound to the head on Jan. 23, 1992, and died the next day after being taken off life support, according to a May 2010 ruling from the California Supreme Court upholding his death sentence.

    Earlier that day, the victim's ATM card had been used to withdraw $200 from a Northridge bank and his gas station credit card was used to buy gas in North Hollywood the night of the shooting.

    Collins -- who had previously been convicted of armed robbery, assaults and possession of narcotics -- was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery and kidnapping. Jurors also found true the special circumstance allegations of murder during a kidnapping and murder during a robbery, along with an allegation that he personally used a firearm during the commission of the crimes.

    The same jury that found Collins guilty of Rose's slaying recommended that he be sentenced to death, but then-Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Leon Kaplan granted the defense's motion for a new penalty phase based on alleged juror misconduct and then recused himself from presiding over further proceedings in the case.

    An appellate court reversed the trial court's decision and reinstated the jury's verdict recommending that Collins be sentenced to death. The death sentence was imposed about three years later by Judge Howard Schwab.

    In its 2010 ruling upholding Collins' death sentence, Associate Justice Carol Corrigan noted that Collins claimed he took Rose's 1983 gray Oldsmobile Cutlass after seeing it parked on the side of Sierra Highway with the keys inside.

    In a court filing in February, Deputy District Attorney Shelan Joseph wrote that Collins "was only 21 years old at the time of the offense and he experienced hardship as a child, including the death of his father."

    Joseph's filing noted that the defendant's learning disabilities were "never adequately treated in school" and that he has engaged in "educational and work opportunities" since being moved to California Correctional Institution at Tehachapi under a voluntary program that allows condemned inmates with good behavior to transfer off death row. She described him as a "model prisoner."

    Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley and former Deputy District Attorney Kathleen Cady, who are representing the victim's family, wrote in a court filing in February that "any objective review of the case and procedural history would lead one to come to the conclusion that the people's recommendation for re-sentencing is a result of (District Attorney George) Gascón's policy that `A sentence of death is never an appropriate resolution in any case' and working backwards to have the ends justify the means."

    "When the evidence suggests that the District Attorney's Office and the defense are in collusion, the court is the final and only gate keeper to ensure that justice is done and victims' rights are upheld," Cooley and Cady -- who are both involved in an attempt to recall Gascón -- wrote in their filing.

    Last December, Gascón's office noted that death sentences are no longer being sought in murder cases in Los Angeles County and said post- conviction death penalty cases were being reviewed to determine if there is a meritorious legal reason to vacate an inmate's death sentence or to re-sentence them in the interest of justice, saying that five people had already been re- sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    https://patch.com/california/los-ang...ce-noho-murder
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

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  8. #8
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    I feel sorry for the victim's family.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  9. #9
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Me too. George Gascon is nothing but a coward.
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

  10. #10
    Senior Member CnCP Addict johncocacola's Avatar
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    There’s a new lawsuit to get the Gascon recall back on track, let’s hope it succeeds!

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