Day: March 19, 2012

Update : Rob will


from freeRob Will (group-friends) (facebook)

CASE UPDATE: We had some success with the filing to the Court and been granted a Certificate of Appealability, which means we have something to work with going forward to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Thank you all for your Solidarity and Support for Rob. He is so appreciative!

Oklahoma – Garry Thomas Allen – Execution – April 12, 2012 STAYED


Summary of Offense:

Allen pleaded guilty in the 1986 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend Gail Titsworth in Oklahoma County. He was convicted in 1987. Titsworth had broken off the relationship with Allen three days before the killing and had sought a protective order. She was picking up her two sons at a child-care center when Allen shot her four times. He then struggled with a police officer and was shot in the head. Allen spent months in mental hospitals after his arrest to be treated for depression and his head injury. He was deemed competent at a 1987 hearing but won a new competency hearing in 1997 after the Supreme Court ruled that Oklahoma’s competency standards were too high. In the subsequent hearing, Allen was again ruled competent.

april 11, 2012 BREAKING NEWS 

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A federal judge in Oklahoma City has stayed the execution of an inmate who was diagnosed with schizophrenia but found sane by a jury that considered whether he was eligible for the death penalty.

Fifty-six-year-old Garry Allen is scheduled to die by injection on Thursday. Allen pleaded guilty to capital murder after being shot in the head during his November 1986 arrest. He killed 24-year-old Gail Titsworth, with whom he had children, outside a daycare where she had picked up her sons days after she moved away from Allen. An officer shot Allen after he tried to shoot the officer.

In 2005, the state Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 to commute Allen’s sentence to life in prison, but Gov. Mary Fallin had decided to allow the execution to proceed.

april 10, 2012 source http://muskogeephoenix.com

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Members of an anti-death penalty group said Monday they have little hope that Gov. Mary Fallin will commute the death sentence of an Oklahoma inmate scheduled to be executed Thursday.

Three members of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty met with Fallin’s general counsel, Steve Mullins, to urge the governor to reverse her decision to deny clemency for Garry Thomas Allen, 56.

Allen’s attorneys contend he was mentally impaired when he killed 24-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth, the mother of his two children, on Nov. 21, 1986, in Oklahoma City. They say he had been self-medicating for an underlying mental illness, and that his mental condition had worsened.

Coalition board member James T. Rowan said the group does not expect Fallin to change her mind about clemency. He said Mullins indicated during the meeting that Allen’s clemency request “was a close case.”

“I’m satisfied that the governor has gone through an exhausting process,” Rowan said.

A spokesman for Fallin, Alex Weintz, confirmed the group met with Mullins and discussed Allen’s case. Weintz said Fallin appreciated their input but that there was no change in the status of the case.

“The execution is still scheduled for Thursday,” Weintz said.

Fallin denied clemency for Allen on March 13, but the coalition asked her to reconsider based on the state Pardon and Parole Board’s 4-1 recommendation in 2005 that Allen’s death penalty on a first-degree murder conviction be commuted to like in prison.

“That is a very exceptional factor,” said Rex Friend, another coalition board member.

Allen was shot in the face during a struggle with police after Titsworth’s shooting death and his attorneys said he was not competent to enter a blind plea of guilty to the murder charge.

Former Gov. Brad Henry never acted on the board’s 2005 clemency recommendation for Allen because a Pittsburg County judge issued a stay of execution after a prison psychological exam determined Allen had developed mental problems on death row. The doctor’s report noted Allen had dementia caused by seizures, drug abuse and the gunshot wound.

A 12-member jury was impaneled in 2008 to determine Allen’s sanity. Jurors rejected Allen’s argument that he should not be put to death and decided he was sane enough to be executed.

Friend said Fallin went through a long and detailed process that included meetings with prosecution and defense attorneys in the case before she made her decision to deny the Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation. Rowan said Allen’s execution could still be blocked if prison officials believe he is not mentally competent.

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April 6, 2012 source :http://www.therepublic.com

OKLAHOMA CITY — As activists prepare to argue for clemency for a man scheduled to die next week, a death penalty expert said a blind guilty plea such as Garry Allen’s is unusual in Oklahomacapital murder cases.

Allen’s attorneys have argued that he was mentally impaired when he entered a blind guilty plea to a capital murder charge. Allen was shot in the head during his 1986 arrest, and he had a history of mental illness and alcohol abuse prior to the killing.

Activists on Monday plan to ask legal counsel for Gov. Mary Fallin to consider clemency for the 56-year-old man, who is scheduled to be executed Thursday.

Considering Allen’s apparent combination of mental illness and alcohol abuse, he shouldn’t have entered a blind guilty plea — a plea done in front of a judge without a deal — especially in a state where the death penalty is popular, said defense attorney James Rowan, a death penalty expert who does not represent Allen.

Allen has testified that he pleaded guilty to spare his family and his victim’s family from the ordeal of a trial.

His lawyers had argued he was not sane and therefore shouldn’t be executed, but in 2008, a jury said he was sane enough for the death penalty.

A personality test in Allen’s court file shows his “probable diagnosis is Schizophrenic Disorder, or Anxiety Disorder in a Paranoid Personality.” Allen, who had a history of substance abuse, had also testified that before the day of the killing, he got drunk whenever he could. Two hours after the killing, Allen’s blood-alcohol level was .27— more than three times the legal limit.

Considering Allen’s apparent combination of mental illness and alcohol abuse, he shouldn’t have entered a blind guilty plea — a plea done in front of a judge without a deal — especially in a state where the death penalty is popular, said defense attorney James Rowan, a death penalty expert who does not represent Allen.

Attorney Charles Hoffman, another expert on death penalty cases, said a blind guilty plea could be the result of the defendant’s insistence, “bad or lazy lawyering” or a strategy to argue the defendant acknowledged guilt when a conviction is sure to happen.

“Although entering a blind guilty plea in a death penalty case may sound like a very dumb thing to do, it really all depends on the facts of the case,” Hoffman said.

In the 42 capital murder cases that Rowan has tried, only two defendants entered blind guilty pleas — once because Rowan was “young and didn’t know any better.” In the other case, in 1989, a man killed five people in a multi-state spree, including a woman in an Ardmore, Okla., flower shop.

Rowan knew the case would be hard to win and decided to plead to the judge.

“It would almost be malpractice now to do it,” Rowan said. “Even if the defendant wanted to enter a guilty plea, I think you’d be almost incompetent to do that.”

In 2005, the Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 to recommend life without parole instead of execution for Allen, but Fallin has decided to proceed with the execution.

Fallin has said she and her legal team gave Allen’s case a thorough review, and she has no plans to change her decision.

Allen shot 42-year-old Lawanna Titsworth four days after she moved out of the home where she lived with Allen and their two sons, according to court documents. Titsworth and Allen had fought in the week before the shooting and he had tried to convince her to live with him again.

An officer in the area responded to a 911 call. Allen grabbed his gun and struggled with the officer, according to court documents. Allen tried to make the officer shoot himself by squeezing the officer’s finger on the trigger, but the officer got control of the gun and shot Allen in the face.

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March 14,2012

OKLAHOMA CITY

Governor Mary Fallin has denied clemency for Garry Thomas Allen, an Oklahoma death row inmate who killed the mother of his two children in 1986.

On February 9, 2012, Governor Fallin granted a stay of execution of thirty days from February 16, 2012, the date of the scheduled execution of Allen, in order for this office to thoroughly evaluate the recommendation of clemency by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.

The Governor met with the Federal Public Defender’s office, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office and the victim’s family about this case.

The Executive Order, Fallin states, “Having thoroughly reviewed the arguments and evidence presented in this case, I have determined that clemency should be denied, and that the sentence of death shall be carried out.”

The Governor has granted an additional twenty-six day stay thereby scheduling the execution on Thursday, April 12, 2012.

Allen was convicted for killing 42-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth on November 21, 1986, in Oklahoma City.

Read the full Executive Order HERE.

Article 5/4/08

Death row inmate deemed sane

A Pittsburg County jury has determined that a death row inmate is sane enough to be executed, but it’s uncertain when the punishment will be carried out.

On a 9 to 3 vote, a panel of 11 men and one woman rejected Garry Thomas Allen‘s argument that he shouldn’t be put to death for the fatal shooting of Lawanna Titsworth because he had become insane while in prison.

An Oklahoma County jury convicted the 52-year-old Allen of first-degree murder for gunning down in November 1986 outside an Oklahoma City daycare center. Titsworth had moved out of the home she shared with Allen and their 2 sons 4 days before her death.

According to court documents, the 2 were arguing when Allen reached into his sock, pulled out a revolver and shot her twice in the chest.

Titsworth got to her feet and ran toward the center, but Allen shoved her down some steps and shot her in the back twice.

An Oklahoma City police officer responding to the call tussled with Allen before shooting him in the face.

Prosecutors are now considering what to do next.

Okla. court dismisses death row inmate’s appeal

A condemned Oklahoma inmate who insists he is insane lost a legal challenge Thursday when an appeals court determined there is no procedure under state law to contest a jury’s finding that he is sane enough to be executed.

The Court of Criminal Appeals handed down the decision against Garry Thomas Allen, 55, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the Nov. 21, 1986, shooting death of 42-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth, the mother of Allen’s two children.

A district judge in Pittsburg County issued a stay one day before Allen scheduled execution in 2005 after a psychological examination at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary indicated Allen had developed mental problems while confined on death row. The U.S. Constitution forbids the execution of inmates who are insane or mentally incompetent.

According to state legal guidelines, a 12-member jury was impaneled in 2008 to determine Allen’s sanity. Jurors rejected Allen’s argument that he should not be put to death and decided he was sane enough to be executed.

Allen appealed, but in a six-page decision the appeals court concluded the appeal was not authorized by law and that there is no procedure to appeal a finding that a person facing execution is sane.

The decision, written by Vice Presiding Judge David Lewis of Lawton, says there is no federally mandated right to an appeal in Allen’s case and that the state Constitution does not mandate an appeal. In addition, the Legislature has not created a statutory appeal process for sanity proceedings, the appellate court said.

“It is, however, clear what the procedure should be when a person facing execution is found either insane or sane after a jury trial, and that procedure does not include an appeal to this court,” the ruling states.

Despite the decision, it remains unclear when Allen’s execution will be carried out. Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman Dianne Clay said attorneys plan to evaluate the decision before asking the appeals court to schedule a new execution date for Allen.

Allen’s attorney, Kristi Christopher of the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

An Oklahoma County jury sentenced Allen to death for shooting Titsworth in the parking lot of the Oklahoma City daycare center. She had moved out of the home she shared with Allen and their two sons four days earlier.

Court documents indicated the two were arguing when Allen reached into his sock, pulled out a revolver and shot Titsworth twice in the chest. Titsworth ran with a center employee toward the building, but Allen pushed the worker away, shoved Titsworth down some steps and shot her twice in the back at close range, records show.

A police officer responding to a 911 call tussled with Allen before shooting him in the face, according to court documents. Allen was hospitalized for about two months for treatment of injuries to his face, left eye and brain.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/2…#ixzz1fzv2kDVK

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The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has set a Feb. 16 execution date for a death row inmate who claims he is insane.

The court set the date Thursday for 55-year-old Garry Thomas Allen. Attorney General Scott Pruitt requested the date on Dec. 28 after a stay of execution for Allen was lifted by a Pittsburg County judge.

Allen was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the Nov. 21, 1986, shooting death of 42-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth. But Allen’s 2005 execution was stayed when prison officials reported he had developed mental problems on death row.

A 12-member jury was impaneled in 2008 to determine Allen’s sanity. Jurors rejected Allen’s argument that he should not be put to death and decided he was sane enough to be executed.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/stor…oma-Execution/

Garry Allen has epilepsy, which has apparently worsened during his time on death row. He has frequent seizures and doctors have said that he is so confused for periods after these seizures that he would not understand thereality of or reason for his impending execution. In 1993, Garry Allen’s IQ was measured at 111, above average. By 1999, it had dropped to 75.Doctors have reportedly put this down to his ongoing epileptic seizures combined with head injuries.

After having been presented with such evidence at a clemency hearing on 20 April 2005, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended by four votes to one that Governor Brad Henry commute Garry Allen’s death sentence to life imprisonment. An Assistant Attorney General, pursuing the executionfor the state, was quoted as saying that he believed that Garry Allen was faking his mental impairments: ”It is easier to act stupider than you are. It’s impossible to act smarter than you are. This guy now knows, play up my seizures, play down my IQ.”

http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpen…/msg02623.html

Governor considering death-row inmate’s case

A death-row inmate originally scheduled to be executed Thursday night will instead be put to death March 17 if the governor’s legal team decides against commuting the man’s sentence to life in prison.

Gov. Mary Fallin issued a 30-day stay last week to give her legal team more time to consider a 2005 clemency recommendation from the state Pardon and Parole Board for 55-year-old Garry Thomas Allen.

Allen had been scheduled to die for the 1986 murder of the mother of his two children. His attorneys have argued that he was mentally impaired when he killed 42-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth.

Allen’s current lawyer, Randy Bauman, declined to comment on the stay Thursday. Currie Ballard, a member of the pardon and parole board, said he could not comment on death-row cases.

http://www.kswo.com/story/16952220/g…w-inmates-case

Convicted killer Garry Thomas Allen will be executed April 12 after Gov. Mary Fallin issued an additional 26-day stay on Tuesday

Allen was set to be executed Saturday after the first 30-day stay expired for his case.

On Feb. 9, Gov. Fallin granted a 30-day stay of execution from the originally scheduled date of Feb. 16, in order to evaluate the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation of clemency.

The governor met with the Federal Public Defender’s office, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office and the victim’s family to review Allen’s case, and after examining the arguments and evidence presented, determined that clemency should be denied, and that the sentence of death shall be carried out, according to spokesman Alex Weintz.

Allen was sentenced to death for the 1986 murder of the mother of his two children, 42-year-old Lawanna Gail Titsworth.

Allen’s attorneys have argued that he was mentally impaired when he killed Titsworth in Oklahoma City. They said he had been self-medicating for an underlying mental illness, which had gotten worse. A police officer shot Allen in the face during a struggle after Allen shot his wife.

The pardon and parole board voted 4-1 in 2005 to recommend commuting Allen’s sentence to life in prison. But before then-Gov. Brad Henry had a chance to act on the recommendation, a Pittsburg County judge issued a stay after a prison psychological exam determined Allen had developed mental problems on death row. The doctor’s report noted Allen had dementia caused by seizures, drug abuse and his gunshot wound.

A 12-member jury was impaneled in 2008 to determine Allen’s sanity. Jurors rejected Allen’s argument that he should not be put to death and decided he was sane enough to be executed.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/artic…_0_Convic58229

It is filing day for Rob will !


For all those who support Robert Will, its the filing day, I think Rob did not get much sleep that night, I hope that finally justice removes the shit they have in their eyes, and that justice finally recognize his mistakes, that all these years is an innocent in the death row,when he should have to enjoy life. I cross my fingers so that finally he has a right judgment, a man handcuffed to the ground, can not grasp a gun and shot. That consideration be given confessions that were made by the real guilty. that all evidence of his innocence was finally held in consideration. I send all my positive thoughts for Rob.  I stand with U.

GUIDE TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES


In addition to the “Guide to Criminal Prosecutions in the United States” set forth below, http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousahttp://thomas.loc.gov/ and http://www.uscourts.gov/understand02/ provide general information about the United States and its legal system, including the courts.

The U.S. Department of  State oversees the first site, Info USA; and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts maintains the second site on behalf of the federal judiciary.  InfoUSA also provides links to State resources.

guide link  

Petition – HELP US FREE LEON BENSON THAT IS FALSELY IMPRISONED


  • Target: A Petition Demanding U.S Innocent Project to Represent the Innocence case of Leon Benson
  • Sponsored by: The Family of Leon Benson

HELP US FREE THE FALSELY IMPRISONED:

A Petition Demanding U.S Innocent Project

to Represent the Innocence case of Leon Benson

 

Greetings: Freedom Fighters & Humanitarians worldwide

We the few freedom fighters of the innocence case of Leon Benson in Indiana (U.S.A), have created this petition on his behalf, to finally compel at least one of the three renowned innocents projects (Illinois: Wrongful conviction center, Indiana & New York innocence projects) to represent him in his post-conviction relief (PCR) appeal.

Here in 2011, we & Leon have come to a cross-road in efforts to obtain his freedom. Presently he is pro se (his own lawyer) representing his PCR appeal in Marion Superior Court, Indianapolis, Indiana despite the ordinary difficulties he faces as a pro se prisoner (i.e. being held in solitary, where there limited access to the facilities law library, the phone and other tools and resources), the biggest challenge has been the psychopathic corruption of local Indiana law officials (i.e. the judge, prosecutor and attorneys sought for representation) and prison authorities (i.e. warder, guards, case managers, etc..) in undermining his righteous attempts to obtain justice & freedom by himself.

Read more about Leon’s case, plz sign the petition and share, thx

 

Florida – David Alan Gore Execution – April 12 , 2012 EXECUTED


Facts of the Crime:

David Gore and his cousin, Freddie Waterfield, picked up fourteen-year-old Regan Martin and seventeen-year-old Lynn Elliott, who were hitchhiking to the beach on July 26, 1983. Gore and his cousin drove the girls back to his house, took them to his bedroom, handcuffed them each, and then separated them. Gore cut Regan’s clothes off her and sexually assaulted her on three separate occasions. After Gore left Regan, she heard Gore tell Lynn that he would kill her if she did not shut up. Gore had told Regan to be quiet or he would kill her too. Gore then put Regan in a closet, where she heard two or three gunshots. When Gore returned, he put Regan in the attic, where she was later rescued by the police. A witness testified that a girl (Lynn) ran naked down the driveway of Gore’s home, and Gore, who was also naked, was chasing her. Gore caught Lynn and threw her to the ground, then dragged her to a tree and shot her twice in the head.

Resentenced to death on December 8, 1992.

Co-defendant information:
Regan Martin testified that she was “pretty sure” that Waterfield left Gore’s house, and she did not see or hear him after the girls arrived at Gore’s house. On July 25, 1984, Waterfield, for his involvement in the murder, was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment on one count of manslaughter.

execution day last hours : click here to read

More on Gore

Born in 1951, in Florida, David Gore resembled the stereotypical Southern redneck, weighing close to 275 pounds, and such a firearms fan that he studied gunsmithing in his free time. He also studied women, but in a different fashion. He lost one job as a gas station attendant after the owner found a peephole Gore had drilled between the men’s and women’s restrooms. Born in 1952, cousin Fred Waterfield was another product of Florida’s Indian River County. He was a high school football star whose bad temper and liking for violent sex made him and David seem like brothers. In 1976, they put their heads together and decided to combine their favorite sports by hunting women.

Their first attempts were embarrasing. Following a female motorist outside Yeehaw Junction, Fred flattened her tires with a rifle , but the intended victim escaped on foot. Later, the cousins followed another woman from Vero Beach to Miami, giving up the pursuit when she parked on a busy street. Their first successful rape took place near Vero Beach, and while the victim notified police, she later dropped the charges to avoid embarrassment in court. By early 1981, Gore was working days with his father as caretaker of a citrus grove, patrolling the streets after dark as an auxiliary sheriff’s deputy. Fred had moved north to Orlando, managing an automotive shop, but he made frequent visits home to Vero Beach. Together they recognized the potential of Gore’s situation, packing a badge by night, killing time in deserted orchards by day, and  Fred offered to pay cousin Dave $1,000 for each pretty girl he could find. It was an offer David could not refuse. In February 1981, David found 17-year-old Ying Hua Ling disembarking from a school bus, tricking her into his car with a flash of his badge. Driving her home, Gore “arrested” her mother and handcuffed his captives together, then phoning Waterfield in Orlando before he drove out to the orchard. Killing time while waiting for his cousin, David raped both victims, but Fred was more picky. Rejecting Mrs. Ling as too old, he tied the woman up in such a fashion that she choked herself to death while struggling against her bonds. He then raped and murdered the teenager, slipping David $400 and leaving him to get rid of the corpses alone in an orchard a mile from the Ling residence.
Five months later, on July 15, David made a trip to Round Island Park, looking for a blonde to fill his cousin’s latest order. Spotting a likely candidate in 35-year-old Judith Daley, Gore disabled her car, then played Good Samaritan, offering a lift to the nearest telephone. Once inside his pickup, Gore pulled out a pistol, cuffed his victim, and called cousin Fred on his way to the orchard. Waterfield was happier with this delivery, writing out a check for $1,500 after both men finished with their victim. Two years later, Gore would tell about Judith Daley’s fate, describing how he “fed her to the alligators” in a swamp ten miles west of Interstate Highway 95. A week later, Gore fell under suspicion when a local man reported that a deputy had stopped his teenage daughter on a rural highway, attempting to hold her “for questioning.” Stripped of his badge, David was arrested days later, when officers found him crouched in the back seat of a woman’s car outside a Vero Beach clinic armed with a pistol, handcuffs, and a police radio scanner. A jury deliberated for thirty minutes before convicting him of armed trespass, and he was sentenced to five years in prison. Turning down psychiatric treatment recommended by the court, he was paroled in March of 1983. 

A short time after Gore‘s release, his cousin moved back home to Vero Beach, and they took up where they left off. On May 20, they tried to abduct an Orlando prostitute at gunpoint, but she slipped away and left them empty-handed. The next day, they picked up two 14-year-old hitchhikers — Angelica Lavallee and Barbara Byer — raping both before Gore shot the girls to death. Byer’s body was dismembered, and buried in a shallow grave, while Levallee’s was dumped in a nearby canal.

On July 26, 1983, Vero Beach authorities received an emergency report of a nude man firing shots at a naked girl on a residential street. Surrounding the suspect house, owned by relatives of Gore, officers found a car in the driveway with fresh blood dripping from its trunk. Inside, the body of 17-year-old Lynn Elliott lay dead with a bullet in her skull. Outnumbered by the police, Gore surrendered, directing officers to the attic where a naked 14-year-old girl was tied to the rafters.

As the victim told police, she had been thumbing rides with Lynn Elliott when Gore and another man picked them up, flashing a pistol and driving them to the house, where they were stripped and raped repeatedly in separate rooms. Elliott had managed to free herself, escaping on foot with Gore in pursuit, but she had not been fast enough. Gore’s companion had left in the meantime, and detectives turned to their suspect in to find out who he was.

Gore cracked while in custody, describing crimes committed with his cousin. On January 21, 1985, Fred Waterfield was convicted in the Byer-Levallee murders, receiving two consecutive life terms with a specified minimum stint of 50 years before parole. Gore received the death penalty for his part in the crimes. Both are still currently incarcerated in Florida.

http://www.serialkillercalendar.com/DAVIDGORE.HTML

David Alan Gore – serial killer

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april 9, 2012, source :http://www.miamiherald.com

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court has refused to stay serial killer David Gore’s execution. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday.

The justices on Monday unanimously rejected several arguments by Gore’s lawyers.

That includes their contention a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision dealing with ineffective counsel applies to his case.

The state justices ruled that opinion appears to apply only to federal rather than state court proceedings.

One of Gore’s lawyers, Martin McClain, says the ruling will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and that other federal court options also are being considered.

Gore is to be executed for murdering a 17-year-old girl in Indian River County nearly 30 years ago. He also is serving life terms for killing five other girls or women.

march, 24  source : http://www.tcpalm.com

Letter: Letter writer misrepresents position on Gore‘s execution

In her March 24 letter, Diane DuBose could’ve made points about David Gore and the death penalty without misquoting and blatantly distorting several points in my March 18 letter.

I stated, “Although I’m against the death penalty, the David Gore case has made a mockery of the system.” Now, please pay attention, Ms. Dubose: Since Florida has the death penalty, Gore should’ve been executed a long time ago, whether I favor the death penalty or not. His living all these years made a mockery of the system. Are we clear now?

Hopefully DuBose will be much more responsible and much less emotional with future letters, and not misrepresent other viewpoints.

David Alan Gore case

• Articles and editorials about the case

• Photo galleries and videos

• Letter to Florida State Prison warden informing him of the death warrant signed for David Alan Gore

• Death warrant for David Alan Gore

• Judgment and sentence of David Alan Gore

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Article 7/30/10

Mother’s annual tribute to late daughter keeps light on serial killer

Every year, on July 26, Jeanne Elliott places a simple remembrance for her daughter in the Press Journal.

Lynn Elliott died on July 26, 1983.

She was 17.

There’s nothing to indicate how she died. Only longtime residents would know.

She was serial killer David Gore’s final victim.

Beverly Hilton explained in a letter to the editor what the name means to her.

“A memory that has stayed with me since I moved to Vero Beach in 1982 is the murder of 17-year-old Lynn Elliott,” she wrote. “A question that remains in my mind is why her killer, David Gore, is still alive. Exactly what does the death penalty mean?”

That letter to the editor appeared in the Press Journal eight years ago.

Gore, now 56, remains on Florida’s death row at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford.

A former auxiliary deputy with the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, Gore killed six women between February 1981 and July 1983.

Gore’s cousin, Fred Waterfield, was convicted of manslaughter in Lynn Elliott’s death. Waterfield, also at Raiford, is serving two consecutive life sentences for the murders of two teen girls, Barbara Ann Byer and Angelica LaVallee.

As longtime residents know, details of the gruesome Gore-Waterfield killings are hard to stomach. It’s almost unimaginable that something so heinous happened in the county.

Hilton has written multiple letters through the years — all but one in either late July or early August, coinciding with Jeanne Elliott’s remembrance in the Press Journal — to ask the same questions about Gore. According to our electronic library, she has written eight letters about Gore since 1999.

“It’s kind of one of my causes,” Hilton said Thursday. “I just thought it was terrible. He deprived her, and her family, of the joys of growing up, getting married and having a family. I have a daughter right around that same age, and I think, ‘If that would have been her … ’

“Why do they issue a death penalty? What does that really mean?”

Elliott said she appreciates Hilton’s letters to the editor.

“I thought about calling her several times, but I didn’t know if she would be receptive to that,” Elliott said.

Other members of the community have written similar letters to the editor.

An excerpt from Dr. James Copeland Jr.’s strongly worded letter in 2002:

“If the state doesn’t want to put him to death, then bring him back to Vero Beach for 24 hours and I am sure he will no longer be a problem.”

Contacted Thursday, Copeland, who is now retired, said he has written two letters to the editor — as well as personal letters to the last two governors, Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist — regarding Gore.

“Nothing’s happened,” Copeland said Thursday. “In my opinion, he should have been hung by his you-know-what.”

After Monday’s remembrance appeared in the Press Journal, a reader, Hank Parman, called and encouraged me to write about Gore avoiding his state-ordered execution.

“I’ve always felt bad over what happened,” he said. “That guy is still up there sucking up tax dollars. I thought he was going to be put away by now. And here we are, 27 years later.”

Jeanne Elliott, 67, wants to live long enough to see Gore executed.

“That would be the closure,” she said.

After Gore is executed, she said she will remove the words “Sail On Silver Girl” from the annual remembrance.

When asked what “Sail on Silver Girl” meant, Jeanne Elliott started crying.

It’s a line from the song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel.

Do a Google search and look up the lyrics to “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

Knowing what happened to Lynn Elliott, the “Sail on Silver Girl” part will tug at your heart.

sourcehttp://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jul/…er=yahoo_feeds

Article 9/7/10

Russ Lemmon: Aspiring film editor contemplates making documentary on Gore-Waterfield killings

It was one of those moments where you realize just how much time has passed.

When Michael Denninger told me his age (30), I did a quick calculation in my head.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “That means you were 3 years old when the last killing occurred.”

He nodded his head in agreement.

Which, from my perspective, makes what he is contemplating — a feature-length documentary about serial killers David Gore and Fred Waterfield — both fascinating and admirable.

Fascinating because he has no memory of, or any connection to, what happened. Admirable because he wants to undertake a substantial project like this.

Denninger, an aspiring film editor, has been engrossed in research since early August. The timing coincides with the columns I wrote about Jeanne Elliott’s annual memorial for her daughter, Lynn, who was the last victim.

He read “Innocent Prey” — the 1994 book by Bernie Ward — in just two days.

“I couldn’t put it down,” he said. “It’s definitely a page-turner, even 16 years after it was published.”

He also went to the Indian River County Main Library to look at old Press Journal articles from that era. He purchased a DVD of the television program “Crime Stories,” which featured the case.

He’s trying to come up with a new angle to tell the horrific story.

“Serial killers are fascinating to me as a psychology major (at Barry University) … but I can’t think of an angle to come from for the documentary,” he said. “I’m trying to think of something that would be unique and fresh.

“It is just something I’d like to do to honor the memories of the victims of these two monsters, but I can’t figure out how to do it properly. … It keeps bubbling up to the surface of my mind after I push it back down, so maybe I’ll think of some way to approach it eventually.”

As I told Denninger, I’d love to sit in on a brainstorming session. (Note: If you would be interested in participating in such an exercise, I’ll be happy to pass on your name and contact information.)

“You have to have a hook,” said Denninger, a video production specialist at Indian River State College. “You need something that people will talk about.”

Gore’s avoidance of the death penalty being carried out is one possibility.

The impact the killings had on a small community is another.

He’s also interested in the “familial aspect” — about how Waterfield supposedly manipulated his cousin, Gore.

In talking with Denninger, I described the feedback I received after the July 30 and Aug. 6 columns on the killings. I stated the obvious: The fact thatGore is still alive really sticks in the craw of this community.

Shining the light on that judicial travesty would be a winner in these parts, I told him. Whether it would have national appeal is unknown.

Denninger, a New York native, graduated from Sebastian River High School in 1998. He was in the school’s International Baccalaureate program.

The Gore-Waterfield killings meant little to him back then.

“I had heard stories about them in high school,” he said.

It was a movie during that same era — “Pulp Fiction” — that spurred his interest in becoming a film director.

“As soon as I saw that, I knew I wanted to make movies,” he said.

But his project would not resemble “Pulp Fiction” in any way.

“I wouldn’t want to fictionalize it,” he said. “I would want to do real-life interviews. It would have to be a documentary.”

Respecting the families of the victims would be of paramount importance, he said.

It’s just a matter of finding the right angle.

“He’s so meticulous, and he’s so smart,” said his wife, Heather. “Whatever he decides to do, it will be interesting.”

Bon voyage, Michael.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/sep/…er=yahoo_feeds

Old building stands as reminder to a painful part of Indian River County’s history

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. – It’s an ugly reminder of a terrible time in Vero Beach’s history.

The auto repair shop once operated by Fred Waterfield is now an abandoned, crumbing building.

Waterfield is in prison for the rest of his life.

His cousin, David Allan Gore, is awaiting execution on Florida’s Death Row.

It’s here, at the old auto repair shop on Oslo Road near 43rd Avenue, where investigators arrested Waterfield in 1983.

The arrest of Waterfield and Gore ended the cousins’ two-year crime spree which included the rape of seven women and murder of six.

Much has changed since 1983. Oslo Road is now four lanes instead of two. A Publix stands where there used to be woods. And many people who drive by the old building probably don’t know its history.

William Smith remembers that time well. A lifelong resident of Vero Beach, he’d like to see the building demolished.

“They couldn’t find anybody more ready to knock that thing over than I, just for what it stands for,” says Smith. “Why is it even there?”

Several people have offered to tear down the building. It should be demolished soon.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_…ty%27s-history
Case Information:

On 04/19/84, Gore filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court, citing the following errors: errors in voir dire, failing to suppress his confession, admission of two prejudicial photographs, juror interruption of defense’s closing argument, as well as other procedural matters. Gore challenged his death sentence on a number of grounds: failing to provide a list of aggravating circumstances prior to trial, error on jury penalty phase instructions, error in restricting closing arguments, and failure to prove the existence of certain aggravating circumstances. On 08/22/85, the FSC affirmed the conviction and imposition of the death penalty.

Gore filed a petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on 12/18/85 that was denied on 02/24/86.

Gore filed a 3.850 Motion with the Circuit Court on 02/24/88 that was denied on 04/19/88.

Gore filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the Florida Supreme Court on 04/04/88 and a 3.850 Motion Appeal on 04/22/88, citing numerous issues; however, only one was commented upon by the FSC: ineffective assistance of counsel in failing to present pertinent non-statutory mitigating evidence that his cousin, Waterfield, exerted an influence over Gore that mitigated his participation in the crime. On 08/18/88, the FSC denied the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and affirmed the Circuit Court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion.

Gore filed a federal Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the U.S. District Court on 02/14/89 that was granted and his death sentence was vacated.Gore raised seventeen issues, but the most important issue was the failure of the trial court to consider non-statutory mitigating evidence. As a result of this, the USDC held that a fundamental error had occurred.

The State filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals on 11/12/89, and on 05/29/91, the USCA affirmed the decision of the USDC.

The State then filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court on 10/18/91 that was denied on 01/21/92.

On 12/08/92, Gore was resentenced to death. The jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of 12-0.

On 12/15/92, Gore filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court, citing sixteen errors, nine of which were considered by the FSC: denial of challenges for cause in the jury selection process, misleading the jury to believe that parole was possible, improper finding of an aggravating circumstance (prior violent felony conviction), error in jury instructions, unproven aggravating circumstances (avoid arrest, HAC, CCP), admission of improper testimony from a prosecutor, improper admission of a police officer’s testimony, an unqualified judge to rule over a capital sentencing proceeding, and the resentencing violated a constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial. The FSC upheld the death sentence on 07/17/97.

On 07/14/98, Gore filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court that was denied on 10/05/98.

Gore filed a 3.850 Motion with the Circuit Court on 09/30/99 and amended on 01/08/02 and 11/22/02. The motion was denied on 06/14/04.

Gore filed a 3.850 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 07/23/04, and on 07/05/07, the FSC affirmed the denial of the motion. A mandate was issued on 09/26/07.

Gore filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the Florida Supreme Court on 04/28/05 that was denied on 07/05/07. The FSC issued a mandate on 09/26/07.

On 10/02/07, Gore filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the USDC Middle District that was transferred to the Southern District on 10/09/07. This petition was denied on 04/11/08.

On 07/07/08, Gore filed a Habeas Appeal in the United States Court of Appeals that was denied on 09/12/08.

On 11/28/07, Gore filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court that was denied on 02/19/08.

On 02/06/09, Gore filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court that was denied on 05/18/09

Editorial: The time for David Gore to die for his brutal crimes is long past due

August 9, 2011

David Gore has gamed Florida’s judicial system long enough.

It’s time for the state — and Gov. Rick Scott, in particular — to bring this sordid, tragic tale to an end.

Scott should sign the death warrant for Gore. Then Gore should be executed.

Gore killed six women in Indian River County between February 1981 and July 1983, and buried their bodies in the canal banks near Oslo Road. His victims — four of them teenagers — all were denied a future. In an instant, their families lost a loved one. (In the case of Gore’s first two victims — 17-year-old Ying Ling and her mother, Hisang Ling, 48 — the family lost two loved ones.)

Thankfully, Gore was caught and arrested in 1983, and sentenced to death in 1984. As part of a plea deal, he also was given five consecutive life sentences.

Ponder that for a moment: Gore was sentenced to death in 1984. This is 2011. He has been sitting on death row for 27 years.

Is this what passes for justice in our state?

In January 1989, Gov. Bob Martinez signed a death warrant for Gore. Two weeks later, U.S. District Judge Williams Hodges ordered a stay of execution 48 hours before he was to be put to death.

This was just one of many delays throughout the years that prolonged Gore’s execution.

Gore now has exhausted all of his appeals, according to the state Attorney General’s Office, and his fate is in the hands of Scott, who signed his first death warrant June 30, for the execution of Manuel Valle. Valle is slated to be executed Sept. 1.

The families of Gore’s victims — and countless other people in Indian River County and throughout our region who’ve grieved along with them — are looking to Scott to do the right thing and put David Alan Gore to death.

There never will be closure for the families of Gore’s victims. There can, however, be justice.

The time for Gore to die for his brutal crimes is long past due.

Letters for use in Gore’s clemency hearing due this week 

Serial killer David Gore can’t be executed until he receives a clemency hearing.

He’s a day closer to receiving one.

Sentenced to death 28 years ago, Gore — who killed six women in the early 1980s — has beaten the odds at the Union Correctional Institution in Raiford. The average length of stay on death row before execution is 12.91 years, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

The State Attorney General’s office recently contacted family and friends of Gore’s victims and asked them to write a letter describing how they have been impacted by the crime.

The letters will be included in the final report given to the Clemency Board, which includes Gov. Rick Scott and Cabinet members.

They were given a Feb. 1 deadline to submit the letters.

Carl and Jeanne Elliott — whose 17-year-old daughter, Lynn, was Gore’s final victim — collaborated on a one-page letter. (They divorced in 1986, three years after Lynn was killed, but they are working together to see that Gore is executed.)

Lisa Burford, one of Lynn’s classmates, also submitted a one-page letter.

She spent the first two paragraphs talking about her friendship with Lynn and the “what-ifs” that will never be answered.

In the third paragraph, Burford, 46, urged members of the Clemency Board to consider what Lynn never got to experience in life.

“I choose to also remind you of how her death impacted HER by sharing what she was never blessed to do, and how guilty I feel that I did,” she wrote. “She never graduated from college, got married, or felt the joy of motherhood. She never had the opportunity to start a career, or two.

“She never had the pleasure of lunching with her mother and sharing that she was getting married, expecting her firstborn, or buying a house. She never had the chance to do the everyday mundane tasks that many of us complain about, because she never had the chance to live!!”

I called Burford on Monday and asked her about the heartfelt letter.

“I’m not a huge proponent of the death penalty,” she said, “but there are situations where there is no other alternative — and this is one of them.”

With Wednesday’s deadline for the victim-impact letters looming, it’s anyone’s guess when the clemency hearing will be held. I tried without success to get anyone in Tallahassee to go on the record regarding a possible timeline.

No one would say if we’re talking days, weeks or months.

“It sounds like this case may well be in the final stages,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. “Typically, clemency hearings are done only close to an execution.”

In a Jan. 17 letter to the State Attorney General’s office, a representative from the Florida Parole Commission indicated the victim-impact letters needed to be received by Feb. 6 to be included in the final report to the governor.

So, the report could be in Scott’s hands as early as next week.

Pete Earley’s new book “The Serial Killer Whisperer” has turned a spotlight of sorts on Gore. The book includes letters written by the serial killer. It was the No. 1 best-seller in nonfiction again last week at the Vero Beach Book Center. (The store reports 70 copies have been sold.)

Burford, who lives in West Palm Beach, said she wants to see the death penalty carried out because Carl and Jeanne Elliott have waited so long for justice.

“Knowing the agony they went through, and knowing how they want the outcome to be, that’s why it’s very important for me,” the former Lisa Pyle said.

Several local residents — including Rick Lane, Beverly Hilton, Charles Searcy and Kim Massung — have written letters urging the governor to sign Gore’s death warrant. Lane says he continues to do it because of the respect he has for Carl Elliott, whom he worked with at the Sheriff’s Office.

Burford and Lynn Elliott met in sixth grade at what is now Gifford Middle School.

“She was from the beach side of Vero, and I was from the country side of Vero,” she said.

They have birthdays just one day apart. (“That’s a big deal when you’re 11,” she said.) She visits Lynn’s grave every year on Lynn’s birthday.

Perhaps this year she’ll have some good news to tell her.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/jan/…ores-clemency

  • Gov. Rick Scott has signed the warrant for David Alan Gore to be put to death for the 1983 rape and murder of a teenage girl on the Treasure Coast.
  • Gore’s execution is scheduled for April 12 at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison.
  • The death-row warrant is the fourth for Scott.

Earlier this year he signed the warrant for Robert Waterhouse, who was out on lifetime parole for second-degree murder in New York when he was convicted of killing of a St. Petersburg woman, Deborah Kammerer, in 1980.

Last year, Scott signed the death warrants for Oba Chandler, convicted of murdering a woman and her two daughters who were vacationing in Tampa from Ohio in 1989, and convicted cop killer Manuel Valle.

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/blo…avid-alan-gore

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/aug/…o-die-for-his/

Russ Lemmon: Gore’s execution date (April 12) circled on her calendar 

Lee Martin is planning to make the 7- to 8-hour drive from her Georgia home to Raiford to witness serial killer David Gore’s execution.

“I’m not going to miss it,” she said. “I want to see that man die.”

On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott signed Gore’s death warrant. The execution, by lethal injection, is scheduled for April 12 at the Florida State Prison.

Martin’s daughter, Regan, and Lynn Elliott were abducted by Gore and his cousin, Fred Waterfield, on July 26, 1983. Gore shot and killed Lynn, who was 17. Regan, 14, survived the ordeal.

Gore, now 58, killed six women in the early 1980s.

Lee Martin, 74, said she wants to be at the execution to show support for Jeanne Elliott, the mother of Lynn.

As of Tuesday, Regan Martin said she was undecided whether she would be attending.

“Whatever she decides is all right with me,” Lee Martin said.

Meanwhile, she described herself as “elated” over news about the governor signing Gore’s death warrant.

“I really wish I could have been there to see the look on his face when he was told April 12 was going to be his last day on earth,” Lee Martin said. “I would have given anything to see that look on his face.”

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/…r/?partner=RSS