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Thread: Brian Wayne Brookins - Georgia Death Row

  1. #1
    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    Brian Wayne Brookins - Georgia Death Row






    October 16, 2007

    Brookins sentenced to death

    By Hannah Marney
    The Union-Recorder

    A jury returned a death sentence Tuesday morning for Brian Duane Brookins for the murders of his wife Suzanne McDade Brookins and her 15-year-old daughter Samantha Giles.

    The sequestered Morgan County jury returned the sentence after deliberating eight hours during two days.

    Sheriff’s Deputy Lt. Scott Deason escorted 36-year-old Brookins from the Baldwin County courtroom immediately following Superior Court Judge Hugh V. Wingfield sentence to death for the double murder and the maximum sentences for the other charges of cruelty to children in the third degree, aggravated stalking, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

    Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee and deputies took Brookins to Georgia Diagnostics and Classification Prison in Jackson that houses death row inmates Tuesday afternoon.

    Brookins’ execution by lethal injection is set for between noon Nov. 14 and noon Nov. 21 this year.

    The number of appeals, including an automatic appeal, will take years, delaying the execution date.

    Steve McDade, older brother of Suzanne and a sergeant with the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, felt justice was served in the sentence.

    “There is a weight off my shoulders. They honored her memory by getting the only logical conclusion to the case — a death sentence,” McDade said. “The jury looked at the evidence and came to the only logical conclusion they could come to. I am very pleased. That is the only way justice could have been served.”

    McDade feels Brookins got equal justice to what he showed Suzanne and Sam.

    “He didn’t just murder them. He executed them. He got what he deserved,” McDade said.

    Sitting in the court every day of the nine-day trial was a struggle, McDade said.

    “Being in law enforcement helped me do the right thing,” McDade said.

    This is a tragedy that should have never happened to both the McDade and Brookins family, Mcdade said.

    “Both sides have lost,” McDade said.

    McDade expressed respect for the defense team’s professionalism and compassion for both families.

    “They did the best with what they had, but there was no other conclusion the jurors could come to,” McDade said.

    Deason told the jury a story that reassured them that they had done what the victim’s family wished.

    “At the time of the murder, Steve McDade was a sergeant on my shift. Steve told me that a few days after the murders, he returned to the crime scene, and he couldn’t bring himself to go in Suzanne’s house. He said it was nighttime when he was standing outside the residence, and he saw something on the ground. He didn’t know what it was, and he picked it up. It was a hair bow that had been in Suzanne’s hair. He said the hair bow had a bullet hole in it and had blood on it. Steve said for two years he has been attempting to try to wipe this blood off his hands. He said today when the jury rendered their verdict, he could finally get the blood off him, and getting some cleansing, getting some closure from this,” Deason said.

    Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Fred Bright believes justice has been served.

    “This case rocked the community. I believe the jury has spoken clearly by giving the ultimate penalty,” Bright said. “It was the community condemning Duane Brookins for his absolutely heinous killing of not just his wife but also the child, the 15-year-old girl who was running from him. The way he shot her in the back and a final execution shot in her head, I think it is the ultimate condemnation by the community to the defendant saying you crossed that line.”

    This is the beginning of the process, Bright said.

    “He will be on death row for awhile. I always tell the victim’s family that there will be endless appeals. Even though the judge set the execution date for a month from now, that is a formality,” Bright said.

    The automatic direct appeal to Georgia Supreme Court will take one to two years, Bright said.

    “It is a long appellant process. If you wanted a ballpark figure, it is at least 20 years of appeals,” Bright said.

    The most recent death penalty sentence from Baldwin County carried out in July was for John Washington Hightower, who murdered his wife and two stepdaughters in July 1987.

    Bright found it fascinating that Brookins never truly admitted to the murders even when he took the stand.

    “He admitted the gun was in his hand, he admitted he was pulling the trigger, but he could never bring himself to admitting what he and everybody else involved in this case knows, that he is the true killer,” Bright said. “He never said, ‘I killed Suzanne, I killed Samantha’. He never really said that.”

    Lead defense attorney Dennis Francis of the state Office of the Georgia Capital Defender expressed his disappointment in the sentence.

    “I think we should end the killing. We don’t need any more victims,” Francis said.

    Brookins was at peace because he was able to testify, Francis said.

    “All he wanted was a chance to tell his side. That’s it. After he got that he was at peace,” Francis said.

    The Brookins’ family is disappointed, Francis said.

    “I think they understand it is in the next step of the process,” Francis said. “There is still so much evidence of mental illness and sub-average intelligence that we may never see an actual execution.”

    Francis admitted it was a tough case.

    “There was nothing I could do to minimize the fact that he put a gun six inches away from Samantha’s head,” Francis said.

    http://www.unionrecorder.com/local/x....euj2lQ5U.dpuf

  2. #2
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    April 27, 2012

    Brookins will not receive new trial

    Convicted murderer Brian Duane Brookins' motion for a new trial was denied earlier this month.

    Superior Court Judge Hugh Wingfield denied the motion in an order issued April 10. Brookins was convicted of murdering his wife and stepdaughter in 2005.

    Brookins, who is defended by the Georgia Capital Defender's Office, started the appeals process after a motion was filed by the District Attorney's office in late 2010.

    The new trial motion was denied by Wingfield based on an assessment that the court, prosecution and the defense followed the law during the state's successful prosecution of Brookins.

    The long span of time from the beginning of the appeal to Wingfield's decision allowed for state appellate cases regarding a defense of guilt with mental retardation as an extenuating circumstance to be decided. The resulting legal rulings have no effect on Brookins' appeal and the appeals process is allowed to move forward.

    In 2005, Brookins shot and killed his wife Suzanne McDade Brookins in the front yard of their Merry Drive home. He then turned the gun on his 15-year-old stepdaughter as she attempted to run away, shooting her once in the head execution-style.

    Brookins' death penalty trial was moved to Morgan County where a sequestered jury found him guilty after nine-plus hours of overnight deliberations.

    Brookins is on Georgia's death row at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classifications Prison in Jackson along with 90 others facing death sentences.

    http://www.unionrecorder.com/archive...9467a3ad2.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

  3. #3
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Hearing slated in Brookins death penalty case

    The case of death row inmate Brian Duane Brookins was back again in Baldwin County Superior Court on Friday.

    One motion heard concerns a request for a new trial.

    Brookins was found guilty of shooting to death his wife, Suzzanne McDade Brookins, and his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Samantha Giles, on Oct. 15, 2006.

    Neither Brookins nor his attorney, Josh Moore, attended Friday's hearing before Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Brenda H. Trammel in-person. Moore joined in via Zoom teleconferencing, while Brookins listened by way of phone from prison.

    "Truly, I don't want this just for schedule purposes," Trammell told Brookins' defense attorney, Josh Moore. "I sat this down because it has just been sitting here."

    Trammell pointed out that she recently became involved in the case and that it had been sent to the Supreme Court, but it was sent back to the lower court because of motions filed by Moore on behalf of his client.

    Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit District Attorney T. Wright Barksdale III, along with District Attorney Chief Investigator Mark Robinson attended the hearing in-person.

    "We can address that judge," Moore said in reference to Trammell's question. "But there is another pending motion in this case as well. And we do want to be heard on that."

    Moore said it pertained to a supplemental amended motion for a new trial or motion to reconsider the denial for a new trial.

    The defense attorney said the motion for a new trial was filed back in November 2013, along with a request for a hearing.

    "I'm here ready to [hear] all of them," Trammell told Moore.

    Barksdale informed the court that the state was prepared to move forward with any hearings related to the Brookins case.

    "I'm making this call," Trammell said. "I took this one on because we've got to get it resolved."

    Moore said it was his understanding that Friday's meeting was for status conference purposes.

    "We're not prepared to present evidence on that, but we can be," Moore said. "Again, I understand the court's concern that we don't want to inject further delay in this case. We demanded a hearing back in '13 on this and we didn't get one."

    The judge quickly pointed out that she wasn't on the bench as a judge at that time.

    "I'm just letting the court know that there are substantive matters to address in this case, and we're not in a position to present evidence this morning — probably a significant amount of evidence ... I'm not comfortable waiving Mr. Brookins' appearance and having him try to listen to us on the telephone for a substantive hearing in a death penalty case," Moore said.

    Moore said he and his team had recently received notice that the docket was electronically available, and some of his team members had been online reviewing it.

    "We've talked with Ms. (Kimberly) Brown with the clerk's office who has been very helpful," Moore said. "It appears to our team that the record that's existent now is the same record that was transmitted by the court in 2012."

    Moore suggested a 30-day time frame in which he and his team could file a written report with the court and collaborate with the clerk's office.

    "We may be able to get everything resolved without intervention from the court," Moore said. "This is what we tried to do back in 2012."

    That matter could be resolved without the need of a hearing, he said.

    Moore said new evidence has developed since the motion for a new trial was first rejected by the state's High Court.

    He said it was his position that those matters need to be heard by the court.

    Trammell later set April 16 for the hearing. It will start at 10 a.m.

    The judge also informed a representative with the Georgia Department of Corrections that Brookins would need to appear at the upcoming hearing via live video and audio.

    A 12-person jury chosen from Morgan County heard testimony during the five-day trial in Baldwin County Superior Court in Milledgeville and later returned guilty verdicts against Brookins on charges of two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, one count of cruelty to children in the third degree, and one count each on aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

    Jurors deliberated just 90 minutes before finding Brookins guilty on each of those charges.

    The late Fred Bright, who was serving as district attorney of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit at the time of the trial, had sought the death penalty. Bright was assisted in the prosecution of the case by Stephen A. Bradley, who later became district attorney and who is now one of the five Superior Court judges in the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit.

    Just a few hours after jurors convicted Brookins, they reconvened for the penalty phase of the trial. They later unanimously agreed that Brookins should die for the crimes that he committed.

    The trial judge, Hugh V. Winfield IV, now retired, sentenced Brookins to die by lethal injection.

    Since the convictions on the multiple charges, Brookins has been housed on death row at the Georgia Diagnostic Prison near Jackson.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/hearing-s...165300781.html
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  4. #4
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Judge denies death row inmate a new trial

    The Union-Recorder

    Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Superior Court Chief Judge Brenda H.Trammell has denied a request from Georgia death row inmate Brian Duane Brookins for a new trial in the 2005 shooting deaths of his estranged wife and her 15-year-old daughter.

    The double-murder happened in Baldwin County.

    Brookins had sought a new trial since Nov. 13, 2013, following his convictions by a jury in Baldwin County Superior Court of killing Suzanne McDade Brookins and her teenage daughter, Samantha Giles.

    A jury found Brookins guilty on charges of murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated stalking, cruelty to children in the third degree, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. That same jury panel later deliberated his punishment — life in prison or the death penalty. They chose death.

    The case was prosecuted by the late District Attorney Fred Bright, who was assisted by Chief Assistant District Attorney Stephen A. Bradley, who now serves as a Superior Court judge within the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit.

    Brookins is one of several inmates still sitting on Georgia’s death row. He is an inmate at the Georgia Diagnostic Prison near Jackson in Butts County.

    He joined his most recent hearing in Baldwin County Superior Court via teleconferencing from a special room at the state prison due to safety concerns amid the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

    Trammell’s ruling denying Brookins a new trial was rendered June 24. It’s not the first time that Brookins has sought a new trial and been denied.

    The first time Brookins sought a new trial following his conviction was Nov. 8. 2007. That motion was denied on April 10, 2012.

    At that time, Brookins did not file a timely notice of appeal in the matter, so on June 6, 2012, an out of time appeal was granted by the trial judge.

    Then, on Nov. 13, 2013, Josh D. Moore, of the Georgia Capital Defender’s Office in Atlanta, who at that time became Brookins’ new attorney, filed a motion to reconsider the denial of his client’s motion for a new trial. Moore filed the motion contending there was newly discovered evidence in the case.

    “This motion asks for a reconsideration of the denial of his motion for new trial due to prosecutorial misconduct on essentially two bases,” Trammell wrote in her ruling.

    • The cross-examination of the defendant’s mental health expert by the Assistant District Attorney was improper, requiring the grant of a new trial for the defendant.
    • The District Attorney’s Office improperly withheld exculpatory information from the defendant concerning its expert witness, Dr. Thomas Sachy, in violation of Brady vs. Maryland, which requires the grant of a motion for new trial for the defendant.

    Trammell addressed each contention in her recent ruling.

    One of those contentions argued the cross-examination of the defendant’s mental health expert by the Assistant District Attorney (Bradley) was improper, requiring the grant of a new trial for the defendant.

    “The defendant contends that the cross-examination of the defendant’s expert by the prosecution was improper and entitles the defendant to a new trial in this matter,” Trammell said. “The cross examination at issue in the motion took place after Dr. Sachy was recalled by the defendant to testify in rebuttal in the trial.”

    During cross examination, Bradley asked Sachy about allegations made against him during the course of his contentious divorce.

    “Initially, the questions were posited, according to the district attorney, to show the bias of the expert against the state,” according to the ruling.

    At one point during questioning by Bradley, he asked about an investigation that had involved Sachy, which could have resulted in bias on his part against the prosecution, Trammell mentioned.

    “Dr. Sachy, however, in responding to the question, brought up numerous allegations his wife had made against him in his divorce action,” she said. “Dr. Sachy alleged illegal actions on her part, including that his wife had forged his name on a name change petition, and that the Jones County Sheriff’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office were complicit in covering up the illegal conduct.”

    In response to another question asked of Bradley at the time he was serving as chief assistant district attorney, Sachy brought up numerous other allegations that had been made against him. He also volunteered that he had submitted to a hair follicle test to determine whether or not he was using drugs.

    “He then generally accused the state and law enforcement of going so far as to cover up murders,” Trammell wrote.

    The allegations were followed upon by the prosecution team.

    “The assistant district attorney indicated that the questioning was to show the bias and leaning of the witness that was pro-defense and anti-state,” according to the ruling.

    Trammell said it was clear from the quoted provisions of the transcript that the witness had an animosity toward the prosecution.

    “The state had a right to delve into that animosity to determine the bias evitability of this witness,” Trammell said.

    She said that in this case, considering the allegations of Dr. Sachy, that there was a prejudice, as well as a desire, not to assist the state, but to portray the state in a negative light.

    “Dr. Sachy had a strong dislike and prejudice against the state, which the assistant district attorney had the right to inquire into,” Trammell said. “When Dr. Sachy contended that the state would do anything, including cover up murder, to sustain its case, the state had full reason to attack both the credibility and motivations, as well as the conclusions of the witness.”

    The judge further said the defendant in this matter opened the door to cross-examination of the state.

    “By his testimony, Dr. Sachy, the defense’s witness, invited the cross-examination of which the defendant now complains,” Trammell said. “The defendant contends that this questioning was prejudicial, requiring the grant of a new trial, but the state only confirmed, as volunteered by Dr. Sachy, that the matters inquired about were either not prosecuted, not substantiated or dismissed.”

    The judge also addressed another matter brought up by Moore during the June 3 hearing. During that hearing, the circuit’s new district attorney, T. Wright Barksdale III, along with Assistant District Attorney Tony A. May, and DA Chief Investigator Mark Robinson were there to represent the state.

    That particular matter, according to Moore, involved the district attorney’s office improperly withholding exculpatory information from the defendant concerning the expert testimony of Dr. Sachy.

    “Prior to cross-exmination of Dr. Sachy by the prosecution, the district attorney advised [the] defendant’s attorney, Dennis Francis, of the contents of the reports he now claims as Brady violations,” Trammell said. “In fact, the testimony at the hearing in this regard was that Mr. Francis was specifically put on notice that if Dr. Sachy was called for additional testimony that information would be used as potential impeachment evidence or evidence of Dr. Sachy’s bias.”

    Barksdale called Robinson to testify during the June hearing.

    Robinson recalled a conversation that Fred Bright, the district attorney during the Brookins trial, had with the former lead defense attorney, Dennis Francis.

    The chief investigator for the district attorney’s office said although the D.A.’s office didn’t have anything in their hands at the time, Bright had just learned about some incident reports and informed Francis of what he knew.

    “It was limited, but it was a summary of what he had found out,” Robinson told Barksdale. “And he told Mr. Francis the limited information that he knew. I was privy to that conversation.”

    Trammell said an affidavit filed by the defendant’s trial counsel in support of the current motion averred that he had not been aware of any of the substantive allegations against Dr. Sachy contained in the cross-examination material.

    “However, the testimony of Mr. Robinson indicates specifically that, while the documentation was not made available prior to the cross-examination, the substance of those allegations were provided to counsel,” Trammell said in her ruling.

    The defendant contends that the state had been made aware during cross-examination that the allegations against Dr. Sachy had been shown to be untrue, and that the person having made them was under investigation for forgery. The defendant also contended that the state had in its possession documentation establishing the same prior to the cross-examination that had not been turned over to the defense.

    Sachy pleaded guilty last month in the U.S. Middle District of Georgia Court to unlawfully prescribing opioids.

    Sachy, now 57, pleaded guilty one count of unlawful dispensation and distribution of controlled substances, specifically lisdexamfetamine, and oxycodone, according to a press release issued bo the U.S. Middle District of Georgia Court. The guilty plead was accepted by U.S. District Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self on Monday, June 21.

    Sachy faces up to 97 months in federal prison. He also has agreed to forfeit approximately $833,000 in currency and real property, including his medical office building.

    In the opinion of the defendant, such constituted a Brady violation, which necessitates the judge granting a new trial.

    Trammell explained that the Supreme Court’s Brady holding requires the state to disclose to the defendant evidence that is both favorable to the accused and material to guilt or punishment.

    https://www.unionrecorder.com/news/j...7e32bba4b.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."
    - 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

  5. #5
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Brookins death sentence upheld

    By 41 NBC Web News

    BALDWIN COUNTY, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — The State Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of murdering his wife and stepdaughter.

    Brian Duane Brookins was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2005 murders of his wife, Sandra Suzanne Brookins, and his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Samantha Rae Giles.

    A Baldwin County jury found Brookins guilty of several charges including felony murder. After the trial Brookins appealed claiming he was entitled to a verdict of guilty but intellectually disabled—a verdict that would have thrown out the death penalty.

    The state supreme court’s unanimous opinion stated that the death sentences imposed for the murders in this case are appropriate punishments within the meaning of Georgia law.

    https://www.41nbc.com/brookins-death-sentence-upheld/
    "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

  6. #6
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Why did it take 15 years for his direct appeal?
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

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  7. #7
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Distributed for conference 5/11/2023.

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search....5C22-6952.html
    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

  8. #8
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    In today's orders, the Supreme Court of the United States DENIED Brookins' petition for certiorari.

    Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Georgia
    Case Numbers: (S22P0556)
    Decision Date: October 4, 2022
    Rehearing Denied: November 2, 2022

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search....5C22-6952.html

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