APRIL

Georgia – Daniel Greene – execution – april 19, 2012 7 p.m. CLEMENCY

april 10

Georgia Department of Corrections
Brian Owens, Commissioner

Director of Public Affairs
Joan Heath

Contact: Office of Public Affairs (478) 992-5248

STATE OF GEORGIA

For Immediate Release

Greene Execution Media Advisory

Forsyth – Condemned murderer Daniel Greene is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, 2012, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Greene was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of Bernard Walker.

last meal consisting of fried chicken, french fries, strawberry sundae and a soda.

Media witnesses for the execution are: Greg Bluestein, The Associated Press; Jim Mustian, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer; Joe Kovac, Macon Telegraph; Coreen Savitski, WMGT; and Randall Savage, WMAZ.

There have been 52 men executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. If executed, Greene will be the 30th inmate put to death by lethal injection. There are presently 96 men and one woman on death row in Georgia.

The Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison is located 45 minutes south of Atlanta off Interstate 75. From Atlanta, take exit 201 (Ga. Hwy. 36), turn left over the bridge and go approximately ¼ mile. The entrance to the prison is on the left. Media covering the execution will be allowed into the prison’s media staging area beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.

april 2, 2012  source : http://www.gfadp.org

A judge has signed an order scheduling the execution of a former high school football star from Taylor County for the week beginning April 19.
Daniel Greene was sentenced to death for the 1991 killing of 19-year-old Bernard Walker, who was trying to help a convenience store clerk who had been robbed and stabbed by Greene. The clerk survived.
Greene, a 6-foot 5-inch, 350-pound former high school football standout, was tried in Clayton County in 1992 because of pretrial publicity. He was convicted of other crimes in Houston and Macon counties.
After killing Walker, Greene later drove to the home of a Macon County couple who had previously employed him as a farm laborer. Greene burst into their home, got their car keys and then stabbed Willie and Donice Montgomery multiple times. The couple survived.
Greene then drove to another convenience store in Warner Robins and pulled a knife on the store attendant, who gave Greene money from the cash register. Greene stabbed her in the back of the shoulder before fleeing. He was later arrested at a relative’s home and confessed to the crimes in a videotaped interview, saying he needed money for crack cocaine, according to court records.
The Georgia Department of Corrections is soon expected to pick a date and time for Greene’s execution.

Georgia Department of Corrections
Brian Owens, Commissioner

Director of Public Affairs
Joan Heath

Contact: Office of Public Affairs (478) 992-5248

STATE OF GEORGIA

For Immediate Release

Greene Execution Media Advisory

Forsyth – The Taylor County Superior Court has ordered the execution of convicted murderer Daniel Greene. The Court ordered the Department to carry out the execution on a date between April 19, 2012 and April 26, 2012. Commissioner Brian Owens has set the date for April 19, 2012 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 7:00 p.m.

Greene was convicted of the 1991 murder of Bernard Walker. If executed, Greene will be the 30th inmate put to death by lethal injection.

Media interested in a picture of Greene and a listing of his crimes may go to the Department of Corrections website (www.dcor.state.ga.us).

Related articles
No. 11-8738      *** CAPITAL CASE ***
Title:
Daniel Greene, Petitioner
v.
Carl Humphrey, Warden
Docketed: February 10, 2012
Linked with 11A476
Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
  Case Nos.: (09-15723)
  Decision Date: June 28, 2011
  Rehearing Denied: August 22, 2011
~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings  and  Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nov 8 2011 Application (11A476) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from November 20, 2011 to January 19, 2012, submitted to Justice Thomas.
Nov 12 2011 Application (11A476) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until January 19, 2012.
Jan 19 2012 Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 12, 2012)
Feb 15 2012 Brief of respondent Carl Humphrey, Warden in opposition filed.
Feb 29 2012 Reply of petitioner Daniel Greene filed. (Distributed)
Mar 1 2012 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of March 16, 2012.
Mar 19 2012 Petition DENIED.
~~Name~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Address~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~Phone~~~
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Jeffrey L. Ertel Federal Defender Program, Inc. (404) 688-7530
    Counsel of Record 100 Peachtree Street, Suite 1700
Atlanta, GA  30303
jeff_ertel@fd.org
Party name: Daniel Greene
Attorneys for Respondent:
Sabrina D. Graham Assistant Attorney General (404) 656-7659
    Counsel of Record Office of the Attorney General
40 Capitol Square
Atlanta, GA  30334-1300

Georgia – Daniel Greene – Execution – april 19 – STAYED 90 DAYS

april 4, 2012 source : http://www.correctionsone.com

TAYLOR COUNTY, Ga. — An April 19 execution date has been set for a former high school football star from Taylor County.

Daniel Greene was sentenced to death for the 1991 killing of 19-year-old Bernard Walker, who was trying to come to the aid of a Suwanee Thrifty store clerk in Taylor County.

Greene had forced the clerk to give him $142 from the cash register before he took her to a back room and stabbed her. She survived, but Walker, whom Greene stabbed in the heart, died in the parking lot.

Greene, a 6-foot-5, 350-pound former high school football standout, was tried in Clayton County in 1992 because of pretrial publicity.

After killing Walker, Greene drove to the home of a Macon County couple who had previously employed him as a farm laborer. Greene burst into their home, took their car keys and then stabbed Willie and Donice Montgomery multiple times. The couple survived.

Greene then drove to another convenience store in Warner Robins and pulled a knife on the store attendant, who gave Greene money from the cash register. Greene stabbed her in the back of the shoulder before fleeing. He was later arrested at a relative’s home and confessed to the crimes in a videotaped interview, saying he needed money for crack cocaine, according to court records.

Late last week, a judge signed an order scheduling Greene’s execution for a seven-day period beginning April 19. On Monday, Department of Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens set the execution for April 19 at 7 p.m.

The execution is to be carried out at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Greene would be the 30th state inmate put to death by lethal injection.

Related articles

Utah – Michael Anthony Archuleta – execution april 5, 2012 (Stay likely)

   Michael Anthony Archuleta

Archuleta’s case

On October 25, 1988, Lance Conway Wood, newly released from the Utah State Prison, moved into the Cedar City two-bedroom apartment of his girlfriend, B. Stapely, and her roommate, P. Jones. Soon after, Michael Anthony Archuleta, also just released from prison, moved into the same apartment to be with his girlfriend, P. Jones. Wood and Archuleta had known each other in prison.

On November 21, 1988, Wood and Archuleta purchased soft drinks at a local convenience store. After adding whiskey to their drinks, the two men engaged in a conversation with Gordon Church, who was seated in his car in a nearby parking lot. Church drove Wood and Archuleta up and down Main Street and then up Cedar Canyon. After returning to Cedar City, Church left Wood and Archuleta at their apartment complex. Wood and Archuleta walked to the apartment of Anthony Sich, who lived above the apartment rented to Stapely and Jones. Wood told Sich that he was going into the mountains and asked if he could borrow a pair of gloves. Sich sent Wood to retrieve the gloves from his car, and while Wood was outside, Church returned and invited him and Archuleta to go for another drive.

Church drove Wood and Archuleta back to Cedar Canyon and pulled off the road. Wood and Archuleta exited the car first and began to walk down a path. Archuleta told Wood that he wanted to rob Church, and Wood acquiesced. Church overtook the two men, and the three continued walking up the trail. As the men started back down the trail toward the car, Archuleta grabbed Church and put a knife to his neck. Although Wood attempted to stop Archuleta by grabbing his arm, Archuleta made a surface cut on Church’s neck. Church broke free and ran, but Archuleta chased after and tackled him, again putting the knife to his neck and threatening to kill him. Archuleta cut Church’s throat again so that the two cuts formed an “X” on the front ofChurch’s neck. 

Archuleta bent Church forward over the hood of the car and, with the knife still at Church’s throat, had anal intercourse with him. At Church’s request, Archuleta used a condom. Archuleta then turned to Wood, who was standing by the trunk of the car, and asked if he “wanted any.” Wood declined. Archuleta went to the trunk of the car and opened it. He told Wood that he was looking for something with which he could bind Church. Wood removed a spare tire and a fan from the trunk, while Archuleta retrieved tire chains and battery cables. Wood remained at the rear of the car, while Archuleta returned to the front, where he wrapped the tire chains around Church. Archuleta also fastened the battery cable clamps to Church’s genitals. Wood maintained before and at trial that he removed the clamps from Church as soon as he realized what Archuleta had done.

Archuleta led Church to the rear of the car and forced him into the trunk. Wood and Archuleta replaced the spare tire and fan and drove to a truck stop near Cedar City where they purchased gas. They continued north on Interstate 15 until they reached the Dog Valley exit. They parked along a deserted dirt road where Archuleta told Wood, “You know we have to kill him.”

Archuleta removed Church from the trunk and attempted to kill him by breaking his neck. When that failed, Church suffered several blows to the head with a tire iron and a jack. The tire iron was then shoved and kicked so far into Church’s rectum that it pierced his liver. A state medical examiner testified that Church was killed by injuries to the head and skull due to a blunt force and internal injuries caused by the tire iron inserted into Church’s rectum.

Wood told police that he waited inside the car while Archuleta killed Church. Evidence adduced at trial, however, showed that Wood’s pants and jacket were splattered with blood in a cast-off pattern indicating that during the beating, Wood was within two or three feet of Church, and that Wood was facing Church when the blows were struck. A blood spot appeared on the back of Archuleta’s jacket, and Wood’s shoes bore a transfer or contact blood stain caused by contact with a bloody object. Investigators found strands of human hair consistent with Church’s hair wrapped around Wood’s shoelaces. The injuries to Church’s lower jaw were consistent with being kicked by someone wearing Wood’s shoes. Three paired lesions on Church’s back were caused by a dull-tipped instrument such as some red-handled side cutters found in the pocket of Wood’s jeans.

After Church died, Wood and Archuleta dragged his body to some nearby trees, where they covered it with branches. They swept their path with branches on the way back to the car to conceal any footprints. With Wood at the wheel, the pair again drove north on I-15. They abandoned Church’s car in Salt Lake City.

Wood called his friend C. Worsfold and asked if he and Archuleta could come to her apartment for a few minutes. When the men arrived at the apartment, Worsfold immediately noticed that Archuleta’s pants were caked with blood. Wood explained that they had been rabbit hunting the night before, their car had broken down, and they had hitchhiked to Salt Lake. The two men then went to a thrift store, where Archuleta bought some clean pants and repeated the rabbit hunting story to the store clerk.

Archuleta discarded his bloody jeans in a drainage ditch near the 45th South on-ramp to I-15 in Salt Lake County. He and Wood then went into a nearby Denny’s restaurant, where Wood left the gloves he had borrowed from Sich. After eating, the two hitchhiked as far as the Draper exit, where Archuleta pulled out Church’s wallet, scattered its contents, and handed the wallet to Wood. They next hitchhiked to Salem, where they visited Archuleta’s father. From there, they hitchhiked to Cedar City, arriving at about 11:30 p.m.

Wood immediately went upstairs to Sich’s apartment and told him about the murder. When Sich advised him to contact the police, Wood responded, “Maybe I could get some kind of federal protection.” Sich and Wood walked to a local convenience store, where Wood called B. Stapely, who was in Phoenix, and told her that Archuleta had killed someone. Stapely contacted John Graff, Wood’s parole officer, and told him to call Wood at the store. Graff called Wood and arranged to meet him at the convenience store. Just before Graff’s arrival with the police, Wood discarded Church’s wallet.

Wood and Sich accompanied Graff and a police officer to the corrections department office, where Wood recounted the events of the previous night.

The police arrested Archuleta for the murder and, after several interviews with Wood, also charged Wood with murder in the first degree, aggravated sexual assault, object rape, forcible sexual abuse, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, and possession of a stolen vehicle.

feb,22, 2012,  source :http://universe.byu.edu

A death row inmate is asking a Utah judge for a stay of an April 5 execution by firing squad while he pursues a review of his state conviction and sentence in the federal courts.

Attorneys for Michael Anthony Archuleta filed a notice of his intention to file a habeas corpus petition on Feb. 10 in Salt Lake City’s U.S. District Court. Such requests consider whether a person’s conviction and sentence are constitutional.

Court papers say Archuleta, 49, is entitled to a stay while federal courts review the case.

Archuleta has not previously appealed his 1989 capital conviction in the federal system. Five state court appeals have been rejected, however — the last in November.A state judge signed a death warrant on Feb. 8 for Archuleta’s execution. A federal judge has not yet set a date for a hearing. The case had been filed under seal until last week.Assistant Attorney General Tom Brunker on Tuesday told The Associated Press the state does not oppose a stay of Archuleta’s execution.

Court papers filed to date by Archuleta’s attorneys do not indicate what arguments they will mount in asking the federal court to consider the case.

feb 9 2012,  source :http://www.abc4.com

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – A judge has signed the execution warrant for Utah man on death row. Michael Archuleta was convicted for the brutal torture and murder of a homosexual man in 1989.

Archuleta was convicted and sentenced to death in 1989.

On Wednesday, Fourth Circuit Judge Donald Eyre ruled that Archuleta’s appeals to the U.S. and Utah supreme courts had been denied and that no state action prevented Archuleta’s execution.

The judge set Archuleta’s execution for April 5, 2012.

Archuleta had the option of choosing the manner of his execution. and picked a firing squad.

Court documents show that Archuleta and an accomplice kidnapped 28-year-old Gordon Ray Church, a Southern Utah University theater student who had confessed to being gay in 1988.

Court documents show that Archuleta and his accomplice put Church in a car trunk and drove to a remote Millard County area, where they attached jumper cables to Church’s testicles and shocked him with a car battery before raping him with a tire iron, beating him and burying him in a shallow grave.

Archuleta’s accomplice was given life sentence for his role in the murder.

news video : http://www.ksl.com

Supreme court of Utah

June 26, 1998

November 7, 2008 

November 22, 2011 

Alabama – Carey Dale Grayson – execution – april 12, 2012 DELAYED

source : Court of criminal appeals of alabama  november 1999

The trial court made the following findings of fact concerning the crime and the appellant’s participation in it:

“On the night of [February 21, 1994,] Vickie Deblieux, age 37, was dropped off by a friend on I-59 near Chattanooga, Tennessee, to hitchhike to her mother’s home in Louisiana.

“Four teenagers, the defendant ( Carey Dale Grayson), Kenny Loggins, Trace Duncan, and Louis Mangione, all who had been drinking alcohol and using drugs, saw her hitchhiking on I-59 at the Trussville exit in Jefferson County, Alabama. They offered to take her to Louisiana;  instead they took her to a wooded area, on the pretense of picking up another vehicle.“After arriving in this area, they all got out of the vehicle, and began to drink. The defendant, along with the others threw bottles at Ms. Deblieux, who began to run from them. They tackled her to the ground and began to kick her repeatedly all over her body. When they noticed that she was still alive, one of them stood on her throat, supported by the Defendant, until she gurgled blood and said ‘Okay, I’ll party,’ then died.

“They then put her body in the back of a pickup truck and took her and her luggage to Bald Rock Mountain, after removing her clothing and a ring, and they played with her body and then threw her off a cliff.

“They then went to a car wash in Pell City to wash the blood out of the truck.  After rummaging through her luggage, they hid the luggage in the woods.

“On their return to Birmingham, they took Mangione home and then returned to Bald Rock Mountain, where they began to mutilate the body by stabbing and cutting her 180 times, removing part of a lung, and removing her fingers and thumbs.

“The next morning defendant’s girlfriend found the three of them in Birmingham asleep in the truck all covered in mud and blood.   The defendant told her they got blood on them from a dog.

“On [February 26, 1994,] three rock climbers found Ms. Deblieux’s body and called the police.  Her body was taken to the medical examiner’s office.

“The medical examiner found the following injuries;  almost every bone in her skull was fractured, every bone in her face was fractured at least once, lacerations on the face over these fractures, a missing tooth, left eye was collapsed, right eye was hemorrhaged, tongue discolored, 180 stab wounds (postmortem), two large incisions in her chest, her left lung had been removed and all her fingers and both thumbs were cut off.

“The medical examiner opined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and that she was alive during the beating.

“All defendants were later arrested after Mangione began showing one of Ms. Deblieux’s fingers to friends.

“Defendant’s Case:

“Ralph Wiley, the defendant’s uncle testified that he was disabled because of a bipolar disorder, which is a prevalent disorder in the defendant’s family. That Defendant’s mother died when he was age three and his father has been married four or five times.  He had not been around defendant in many years.

“Dora Roper, the defendant’s second cousin testified that her mother had mental problems for which she had to be hospitalized.

“Jan Arnett, testified that she was defendant’s junior high school teacher when he was ages 13-16.   That he was hyperactive in class, not interested in school, and wouldn’t do classwork or homework․ She tried to get defendant’s father to help the defendant.   That defendant was not violent and knew right from wrong․

“Dr. Rebert, a forensic psychologist for the State of Alabama, Department of Mental Health, opined that the defendant at the time of the incident suffered from a mental disease or defect. She described this as a bipolar disorder and said he was in a manic state at the time of the incident;  however, he did know the difference between right and wrong and was able to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his acts.

“Dr. Goff, a private psychologist who opined that at the time of the incident the defendant suffered from a mental disease or defect, bipolar I disorder, which involves extreme mood swings. However, the defendant did know right from wrong but would not be able to respond to the rightness or wrongness of his acts.

“Jan Deblieux, the victim’s mother testified that she was not involved in a lawsuit filed by her daughter’s estranged husband.”

The record further indicates that, although the investigation originally involved suspects in Chattanooga because the victim was from that area, the investigation eventually led the police to the Jefferson County jail, where the appellant was incarcerated. He was interviewed by the police at the jail where he agreed to give a statement, indicating that “they were not hanging this case on him and [he wanted] to tell his side of the story.” The appellant then gave the following statement which was admitted at trial:

“Kenny, T.R., Louis and myself were all drinking very heavily when T.R. and Louis suggested that we get into a fight.  We left and went riding around and found a hitchhiker at I-59 exit in Trussville, Alabama. We picked her up and took her to the pipeline․  Medical Center East. We were all talking when she made a remark about killing us all when I threw a beer bottle at her, then Kenny hit her with his bottle, Louis hit her with his and T.R. with his.  After that she began to run when Kenny got her in the back of the head with another bottle, causing her to fall. We all ran over and began to kick her and hit her. When she stopped moving, Kenny saw she was still alive and stood on her throat [until] she died. Then we took her to Pell City and left the body. We then went to the car wash and washed out the bed of Kenny’s truck and we took Louis home. When we got back to my car, T.R. and Kenny asked me to show them the way to the body and I did.  When we got there, T.R. and Kenny began to mutilate the body by cutting off the fingers and cutting open the stomach. T.R. had found a bottle and shoved it into the [vagina] while Kenny took out her eyes. After this we dumped the body and left for T.R.’s house. Kenny and I returned to my car and we went ․ to Hardee’s in Chalkville and all three of us fell asleep in the truck, where Kenny’s girlfriend woke us up later that morning.”

Upon further questioning, by the authorities, the appellant made other statements concerning the details of the offense.  The appellant stated that while T.R. was standing on the victim’s throat, he placed his hands on the appellant for balance.  He further indicated that, when they dumped the victim’s clothes over the cliff, T.R. took some of the clothing and Kenny took a ring from the victim. The appellant indicated that he took nothing from her. The appellant was then asked why he and his accomplices had killed the victim;  the appellant responded that he did not know why they had killed her, “but it was not his problem.” The officer who took the appellant’s statement noted that he was very cooperative and that his attitude was “almost one of humor. He had a smile during the entire time we were speaking with him.”

The appellant argues that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to allow the defense to question a State’s witness concerning a civil suit involving the appellant, because, he says, this questioning would have tended to show the bias of the witness. Specifically, the appellant argues that he was improperly prevented from questioning the victim’s mother, Jan Deblieux, concerning a wrongful-death action that had been filed by the victim’s estranged husband against the Miller Brewing Company. The appellant argues that the suit was being brought by the decedent’s estate and that the decedent’s mother clearly had a financial interest in the civil suit, and allowing him to question her about it would prove her bias in seeing that the appellant was convicted.

The record indicates that the victim’s mother had testified during the State’s case-in-chief to establish that the victim was her daughter, and had also testified that, just before the offense, the victim had telephoned her, stating that she would be traveling home to Louisiana very shortly, by bus or by plane. The witness further testified that she never heard from her daughter after that conversation.  There after, during the appellant’s presentation of his defense, the victim’s mother was called as a witness. She was asked whether she knew an attorney who had been hired by her daughter’s estranged husband.  She stated that she had not met with the attorney, nor had she participated in hiring him. More over, when asked if she was “familiar with the nature of the lawsuit filed on behalf on the decedent,” the victim’s mother responded that she had received “a pack like this,” indicating a large stack of materials, but that she had “no idea what it means.”  The prosecutor objected to the questioning on the grounds of relevance and defense counsel asked to make a proffer as to what he expected the evidence to show.  The trial court then allowed defense counsel to make his statement outside the presence of the jury. Defense counsel stated that they sought to admit a certified copy of the complaint and other papers in the lawsuit as well as testimony concerning it, because the lawsuit sought to hold Miller Brewing Company responsible for the victim’s death, because the appellant and his accomplices were drinking Ice House beer to the point of intoxication which caused the death.   Thus, defense counsel argued that the lawsuit, filed by the ex-husband, portrayed the death as caused by intoxication rather than by the appellant’s “meanness” or as part of a satanic ritual, both of which were suggested as causes by the State’s evidence. Defense counsel stated that convicting the appellant would further the victim’s mother’s cause in her lawsuit and therefore affected her bias and credibility, because she had a financial interest in the outcome of the criminal case.

full article click here

april 09, 2012  source : http://www.therepublic.com

The scheduled Thursday execution of Alabama death row inmate Cary Dale Grayson has been delayed by the Alabama Supreme Court.

The Alabama Department of Corrections said the Supreme Court had stopped the execution Monday. Officials with the AlabamaAttorney General’s office could not be reached for comment on whether the state would appeal the decision. Last month the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the scheduled execution of death row inmate Tommy Arthur after his attorneys challenged a change that had been made to the drugs used in Alabamaexecutions.

Grayson was one of four teenagers convicted for the 1994 torture and murder of Vicki Lynn DeBlieux, who was hitchhiking on Interstate 59. She was beaten and her body was thrown off a cliff and later mutilated.

feb.24, 2012  source : http://www.dailyhome.com

A Birmingham man convicted of a 1994 murder that was discovered in St. Clair County received his execution date from the Alabama Supreme Court on Thursday.The court ordered that Carey Dale Grayson, now 37 years old, be executed by lethal injection on April 12 at Holman Prison in Atmore. Grayson is on death row for the Feb. 21, 1994, kidnapping and murder of Vicki Lynn Deblieux. Grayson was one of four men charged with torturing and killing Deblieux and throwing her body off Bald Rock Mountain, between Odenville and Pell City.

St. Clair County chief investigator Joe Sweatt said he remembers the case as “one of the most horrific murders” to ever occur in the area.

“It’s one I’ll always remember,” Sweatt said. “She was hitchhiking on I-59 back to Louisiana, back to her mother’s house.

“The murder actually happened in Jefferson County, and they dumped her body in St. Clair County. They actually mutilated the body … trying to make it hard to identify.”

Sweatt said he recalled that all four of the men involved were teenagers, and all were from the Birmingham area. Grayson, the oldest, was 19 at the time.

“The truck they hauled her body in, they went to Pell City to the car wash across from the high school and pressure washed the back of the truck and threw some of her belongings in the woods back there,” Sweatt said. “We signed petitions on them here in St. Clair, but we actually had to transfer them in Jefferson County. We had to certify them as adults and went through four separate trials.”

According to Sweatt, the three others involved in the crime were initially sentenced to death, but received life in prison without the possibility of parole.

ARIZONA – Thomas Arnold Kemp – execution – april 25

Inmate #099144

Summary of Offense:

On July 11, 1992, Kemp and Jeffrey Logan kidnapped Hector Juarez, 25. Kemp used the Juarez’s ATM card to withdraw $200. Kemp and Logan then drove Juarez to Silverbell mine northwest of Tucson, and either Kemp or Logan shot the him one or more times in the head.
Several days before this offense, Kemp had purchased a .380 semi-automatic handgun and told Logan that he needed money to pay bills, and was going to look for someone with money.

Case from court

On July 11, 1992, at approximately 11:15 p.m., Hector Juarez awoke when his fiancee, Jamie, returned from work to their residence at the Promontory Apartments in Tucson. A short time later, Juarez left to get something to eat. Jamie assumed he went to a nearby fast food restaurant. At around midnight, Jamie became concerned that Juarez had not come home and began to look forhim. She found both her car and his car in the parking lot. Her car, which Juarez had been driving, was unlocked and smelled of fast food; the insurance papers had been placed on the vehicle’s roof. After checking with Juarez’s brother and a friend, Jamie called the police. Two or three days before Juarez was abducted, Jeffery Logan, an escapee from a California honor farm, arrived in Tucson and met with Petitioner. On Friday, July 10, Logan went with Petitioner to a pawn shop and helped him buy a .380 semi-automatic handgun.Petitioner and Logan spent the next night driving around Tucson. At some time between 11:15 p.m. and midnight, Petitioner and Logan abducted Juarez from the parking area of his apartment complex

At midnight, Petitioner used Juarez’s ATM card and withdrew approximately $200. He then drove Juarez out to the Silverbell Mine area near Marana. Petitioner walked Juarez fifty to seventy feet from the truck, forced him to disrobe, and shot him in the
head twice.Petitioner then made two unsuccessful attempts to use Juarez’s ATM card in Tucson. The machine kept the card after the second attempt. Petitioner and Logan repainted Petitioner’s truck, drove to Flagstaff, and sold it. They bought another .380 semiautomatic handgun with the proceeds. While in Flagstaff, Petitioner and Logan met a man and woman who were traveling from California to Kansas. They abducted the couple and made them drive to Durango, Colorado; in a motel room there,Petitioner forced the man to disrobe and sexually assaulted him. Later, Petitioner, Logan, and the couple drove to Denver, where the couple escaped. Logan and Petitioner separated. Logan subsequently contacted the Tucson police about the murder of Juarez. He was arrested in Denver.With Logan’s help, the police located Juarez’s body.Later that day, the police arrested Petitioner at homeless shelter in Tucson. He was carrying the handgun purchased in Flagstaff and a pair of handcuffs. After having been read his Miranda rights,
Petitioner answered some questions before asking for a lawyer. He admitted that he purchased a handgun with Logan on July 10. He said that on the day of the abduction and homicide he was “cruising” through apartment complexes, possibly including the
Promontory Apartments. When confronted with the ATM photographs, he initially denied being the individual in the picture. After having been told that Logan was in custody and again having been shownthe photographs, Petitioner said, “I guess my life is over now.”

read more click here

april 9, 2012 source :http://www.abc15.com

PHOENIX – An Arizona inmate set to be executed this month for killing a Tucson college student after robbing him in 1992 has declined to seek mercy from the state’s clemency board.

Thomas Arnold Kemp, 63, is set to be executed by lethal injection at the state prison in Florence on April 25.

Daisy Kirkpatrick, an administrative assistant at the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency, told The Associated Press on Monday that Kemp recently declined to petition the board for a lighter sentence.

Kemp’s Tucson attorney, Tim Gabrielsen, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Every inmate executed in Arizona has the right to petition the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency to either reduce their sentence to life in prison or delay their execution for more legal wrangling.

No inmates in recent history have declined to seek mercy from the board.

This is not the first time Kemp has refused to argue for leniency for himself.

During his sentencing trial two decades ago, Kemp was supposed to explain to the court why he didn’t deserve the death penalty. Instead, he expressed his contempt for his victims, reporters who wrote about the story and the prosecutors on his case.

“I don’t show any mercy, and I am certainly not here to plead for mercy,” he said. “I spit on the law and all those who serve it.”

Kemp was sentenced to death for kidnapping 25-year-old Hector Soto Juarez from outside his Tucson apartment on July 11, 1992, and robbing him before taking him into a desert area, forcing him to undress and shooting him twice in the head.

Juarez had just left his apartment and fiancee to get food when Kemp and Jeffery Logan spotted him. They held him at gunpoint and used his debit card to withdraw $200 before driving him to the Silverbell Mine area near Marana, where Kemp killed Juarez.

The two men then went to Flagstaff, where they kidnapped a married couple traveling from California to Kansas and made them drive to Durango, Colo., where Kemp raped the man in a hotel room. Later, Kemp and Logan forced the couple to drive to Denver, where they escaped. Logan soon after separated from Kemp and called police about Juarez’s murder.

Logan led police to Juarez’s body, and Kemp was arrested.

Kemp has argued that his conviction was unfair because then-prosecutor Kenneth Peasley repeatedly told jurors that Kemp’s homosexuality was behind Juarez’s kidnapping and murder, and that the jury hadn’t been properly vetted for their feelings about gay men.

Kemp told the judge just before he was sentenced that he should have killed Logan when he had the chance and that he had no regrets.

“The so-called victim was not an American citizen and, therefore, was beneath my contempt,” he said and then referred to Juarez using a racial slur for Mexicans. “If more of them ended up dead, the rest of them would soon learn to stay in Mexico where they belong.”

Texas – Beunka Adams – execution – april 26 – EXECUTED

 Beunka Adams official website click here

Case from his official website

Beunka Adams is 29 years old today and is awaiting his execution at the Polunsky Unit, Livingston,Texas.

He has three children that he loves deeply.

Beunka Adams spends his days writing poetry or letters to his friend, creating artwork, working out and reading.

Beunka Adams also published a poetry book, named Delirium – A mind at death row.

In the beginning of October 2011 Beunka Adams’ final appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court, even though there are obvious flaws in Mr. Adams’ legal procedure, doubts about the fairness of his trial and also doubts about what really happened that unfortunate day of a robbery back in 2002 in Rusk, Texas, USA.

Beunka Adams has repeatedly expressed his deepest regrets for taking part in the robbery. Mr. Adams is the father of three children and a healthy young man that can be a great asset to society in the future.

Resume of the events:

Richard Cobb and Beunka Adams robbed a store and took three hostages, two women and one man. They drove the hostages to a field where one woman and one man were shot. The man tragically died from his injuries. The women survived.

Beunka Adams has never denied his involvement in the robbery which led to the murder of a man by his accomplice.

The crime: Beunka Adams tells his story 

It was an extremely transitional point in my life (more than I knew) at the time when thismost unfortunate incident occurred. Not long before I had been kicked out of Job Corps and lost every stitch of clothing I owned. I had reunited with my children’s mother after a
little over a month separation and was preparing what would have been our third homesince I was 14 or 15 years old. I was out of work and in the coming two weeks were my step-son and my daughters birthdays… (I tell you this not to trivialize the events that
followed but to show you what motivated me to involve myself in this situation.)So when my friend/co-defendant showed up while I was working on the house and asked me to help him rob a store – I agreed.

It was not planned but I didn’t assume there would be any real physical violence. I didnot even carry my own gun. I was suppose to just follow his lead and be a pair of eyes, but shit went bad from the moment we entered the store and it became obvious my friend had
not planned anything out. He mostly stopped talking and nearly froze at the register.It was noticed there was a customer in the store and my friend whispered that one of the cashiers was his neighbor and he believed she recognized him…At that point I knew we were caught and really my only concern was getting the money where it needed to be. My friend was not talking and I had no idea what to do, so it was decided to take everyone from the store to buy some time to think. Now this is when some of the first lies start to occur. At trial one of the victims said she told me: “I know you, don’t I?” and I said: “yes” and took of my mask. This is not exactly true. She said: “I know you, don’t I? Your girlfriend used to work at Brookshines.”. At the time I had long hair and realized she was mistaken me for a friend of mine, but we did know each other and well, so to calm the situation a bit I took off my mask. The other girlknew my co-defendant so we where caught anyway. I was not known to hurt people for no reason, Nicky and Kenneth knew that.
If you read the transcripts it is said that there was laughter and conversation in the car though Nicky contends she was laughing to keep herself from crying. “Fast forward time” we wound up in an open field outside town. I really did not know what to do next because my friend was not really talking to me and acting weird. First idea was to put all three into the trunk and leave the car in a parking lot to be found in a few hours but all three of them would not fit. Two got in and I along with Nicky left walking (with no weapon). Now it has never been revealed what we spoke about by her nor me and I will not do so in this missive… We wound up having sex. I admit when I later gave a statement I conceded to rape but it was because I knew Nicky was engaged to be married and she would say that and if I did not, those officers would not believe one word that came out my mouth! I will be more than willing to take a lie detector test on the fact I never threatened or forced her to have sex with me, that or any other facts I present.
The others were let back out and it was decided they would take off in one direction and we would go the other. I stopped them because the direction they were headed led deep into the woods and they’d never come to a house, road or anything. It is decided they stay put. I turned and started walking towards the car assuming my friend was doing the same but after a few steps I heard the first blast!

read the whole story (download pdf) click here

Legal documents  click here

Take Action

1. [sign petition]

Sign our petition to show your support for Beunka Adams and others wrongfully convicted. Read more.

2. [write officials]

Send e-mails and letters to those in power. Let them know what you think. Read more.

Governor Rick Perry: Stop Beunka Adams’ execution!

sign the petition click here

HUNTSVILLE (April 23, 2012)—Death row inmate Beunka Adams, 29, who was scheduled to receive a lethal injection this week for killing an East Texas man after robbing a convenience store, won a reprieve Monday from a federal judge.

april 13, 2012

Petitioner: Beunka Adams
Respondent: Rick Thaler, Director TDCJ-CID
Case Number: 5:2012cv00036
Filed: April 13, 2012
Court: Texas Eastern District Court
Office: Texarkana         Office
County: Cherokee
Nature of Suit: P. Petitions – Death Penalty
Cause: 28:2254
Jurisdiction: Federal Question
Jury Demanded By: None

december 2010, source: various

Beunka Adams is imprisoned on the Polunsky Unit of Texas death row for a crime that another man confessed to committing. He was convicted and sentenced to death at the age of 21. Beunka was involved in a robbery in which store employee, Kenneth Vandever, was shot and killed.

Beunka’s co-defendant, Richard Cobb, admitted to the killing in his trial. This information was suppressed at Beunka’s trial. His jury were told that he was the gunman and he was given the death penalty.

Beunka does not deny his guilt in participating in the robbery and he suffers huge remorse for what happened that night, but he is not a murderer and does not deserve to die for his crime!

His supporters say; “Beunka is indigent – he has no money to pay for a defence and his state-appointed defence attorney is overworked and unable to help him. We need to raise $150,000 to pay for a private lawyer and investigator to help save Beunka’s life”.

In 2007 Beunka’s attorney at appeal, Stephen Evans, presented ten points of error in his client’s criminal case. The court voted 9 to 0 that the objections held no merit. The court affirmed both the trial court’s judgment and the sentence of death.

Evidence presented in the court hearings alledged that on the night of the murder the men entered BDJ’s convenience store wearing masks and demanding money. One of them was armed with a shotgun.

Prosecutors say that after taking the money from the cash register it was said that they demanded the keys to a Cadillac parked outside. Two women employees of the store and Kenneth Vandever were forced the three into the car. After arriving at the secluded field, one female and Mr. Vandever were told to get into the trunk of the car. The prosecution says that the other female was taken away and sexually assaulted. Both women were wounded.

A supporter of Beunka Adams said; “criminals are punished in the name of justice. This sense of justice seems to have abandoned the scene of capital punishment. Even in the USA people who committed murder as a minor are put on death row, those without money cannot afford decent legal aid which almost immediately condemns them, and prisoners spend years and years on death row sometimes getting their execution postponed several times.

“People on death row go through years of isolation and uncertainty. This is when justice becomes torture”.

12/05/2007 source :http://www.tdcaa.com

An East Texas man condemned for a fatal shooting during an abduction and robbery at a convenience store lost an appeal Wednesday at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Richard Aaron Cobb was 18 when he was arrested along with a companion for the slaying of Kenneth Vandever in 2004. Vandever and two women were abducted from a store in Rusk. The three were taken to a field about 10 miles away near Alto, where one of the women was raped and all three were shot with a 20-gauge shotgun.

Vandever, 37, died of his injuries but the two women survived and testified against Cobb and his partner, Beunka Adams.

Both Cobb and Adams were convicted and sentenced to die. Records showed Cobb was on probation at the time for auto theft.

Vandever was described as mentally challenged after injuries in an auto accident left him with the mental capacity of a child.

Cobb’s conviction and sentence were upheld in January by the Court of Criminal Appeals. A subsequent appeal reviewed by the Austin-based court was rejected Wednesday.

The brief five-paragraph ruling from the appeals court upheld the recommendation of the trial court in Cherokee County, where a judge denied Cobb any legal relief after an evidentiary hearing.

Testimony showed Cobb fired the shot that killed Vandever, who frequented the store and would do things like take out the trash. Adams, then 20, was accused of shooting the two women who worked at the store. Adams’ conviction and sentence were affirmed by the court in June.

The men left the scene after believing the two women were dead, but the women were able to get up and run to houses nearby to get help. Adams and Cobb were arrested a few hours later in Jacksonville, about 25 miles to the north.

Both men still have appeals to pursue in the federal courts, and neither has an execution date.

Defense lawyers had argued at his trial that Cobb suffered abuse as a child and from fetal alcohol syndrome, the result of his mother drinking liquor while she was pregnant with him. Prosecutors presented witnesses who testified Cobb was able to tell the difference between right and wrong.

Executions in Texas, the nation’s most active death penalty state, and other states with capital punishment are on hold pending the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court review of lethal injection procedures. Arguments in that case, initiated by two death row inmates in Kentucky, are set for early next year and a decision is expected before summer.

No. 11-9359

Beunka Adams v. Texas

from the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas

Docket Entries

on March 13, 2012

Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due April 18, 2012)

Parties

Beunka Adams, Petitioner, represented byThomas Scott Smith



Related articles

Delaware – Shannon M. Johnson execution – april 20, 2012 – EXECUTED

Shannon M. Johnson Mug Shot

Shannon M. Johnson
DOB: 11/18/1983
Race: Black Gender: Male
Offense: Murder 1st
Sentenced to Death: 09/05/2008
Date of Offense: 09/24/2006

Update april 17, source : http://www.wboc.com

WILMINGTON,  The attorney for a Delaware death row inmate facing execution this week is asking a federal judge to reject an attempt by the convicted killer’s estranged sister to stop the execution.

Shannon M. Johnson has waived his right to further appeals of his conviction and death sentence and faces death by lethal injection early Friday.

But federal public defenders are trying for the second time to intervene in the case without Johnson’s consent.

They are arguing on behalf of Johnson’s sister that he is mentally incompetent and should not be executed.

But Johnson’s lawyer says in a letter to the court that she spoke with Johnson on Monday, and that he remains committed to proceeding with his execution.

Johnson was sentenced to death in 2008 for the September 2006 murder of a man who he found sitting in a car with Johnson’s former girlfriend. Johnson later shot the former girlfriend, but she survived.

march 14, 2012  source : http://www.necn.com

Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady ordered the April execution of Shannon Johnson after Johnson waived his right to a requirement that an execution be held no sooner than 90 days from the sentencing date.

Johnson was sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of Cameron Hamlin, 25, who was shot after Johnson found him sitting in a car with Johnson’s ex-girlfriend near downtown Wilmington. Johnson later shot the former girlfriend, but she survived.

After the state Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence in 2009, Johnson said he did not want to pursue any further appeals.

“The court system has prevailed here and we can start having closure here in the Hamlin family,” Vandrick Hamlin, the victim’s father, said after Wednesday’s brief sentencing hearing.

“I think the judge sent a message out to the thugs and killers that you will not get away with murder here in the city of Wilmington.”

After Johnson sought to waive all further appeals following the state Supreme Court’s decision, federal public defenders tried to intervene in his case without his consent, arguing that Johnson was incompetent because he was mentally disabled. After Brady refused to allow them to participate in a state court competency hearing, they defied her order to turn over their files on Johnson to state prosecutors and Johnson’s state court attorneys.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Sleet last year ordered the federal public defenders to turn over their files to state prosecutors and defense attorneys. He also voided their appointments to represent Johnson, declaring that they had misled the federal court into believing that they were acting with his knowledge and consent.

In a ruling last month in which she cited reports from several mental health experts, Brady declared that Johnson was not mentally disabled, was mentally competent to waive his right to further appeals, and that he understood the legal consequences of that decision.

Johnson’s defense attorney, Jennifer-Kate Aaronson, said after Wednesday’s hearing that he has been “steadfast” in his opposition to all further appeals.

“He fervently hopes no zealot files state or federal proceedings to override his competent decision,” she said.

The Facts  source : sentencing decision court (pdf)

Shannon Johnson, had a relationship with Lakeisha Truitt, from which was born a son. Ms. Truitt attempted to end the relationship on multiple occasions, because the Defendant was violent and unfaithful, and testified that she had not had a steady relationship with the Defendant for several years preceding the events that give rise to the charges in this matter. She did, however, continue to see the Defendant on some basis, including, but not limited to, effecting visitation with his son. From all appearances, Ms. Truitt had tried to move on with her life. She was a single mom, was employed, had purchased a home, and just prior to the initial incident in this case, began seeing another young man, Cameron Hamlin. By all accounts, Mr. Hamlin was a solid and sober individual, who had an interest in music, and was caring and thoughtful of his family. On September 24, 2006, Mr. Hamlin spent the night at Ms. Truitt’s home, and in the morning, was in the process of taking Ms. Truitt to her grandmother’s, where her son spent the night, and then was going to take his mother to church. The Defendant accosted the couple at a stop sign in his vehicle, and after some words were spoken, took out a gun and fired into Mr. Hamlin’s vehicle, killing him. Truitt was not injured in this incident. She ran to her grandmother’s, where she called the police, and reported the incident. Due to concern for her safety, she was advised not to go to her home until the Defendant was apprehended, but on November 10, 2006, she decided to go to her home and retrieve clothes for her son. On the way, she encountered one Rima Stewart, and had a brief conversation with her. As she was leaving her home, after having been there only a short time, the Defendant ran toward her car, brandishing a firearm, and fired several times, striking Ms. Truitt. To this day, a portion of one bullet remains lodged in her chest. The Defendant was later apprehended, and has been incarcerated since his arrest.

Statutory Aggravating Circumstance


The State alleged that the Defendant was previously convicted of a felony involving the use of, or threat of, force or violence upon another person, in this case, Rape in the Fourth Degree. To prove the Defendant’s prior conviction of the offense of Rape in the Fourth Degree, the State called the victim of that offense, Quana Thomas.Ms. Thomas testified that she had known the Defendant since she was of elementary school age, and that she saw him one day in the neighborhood and began talking with him regarding an incident involving a mutual friend, entering the Defendant’s car at some point in the conversation. During the conversation, the Defendant started the car, locked the doors and began to drive away. Ms. Thomas asked him where he was going, and asked to be let out of the car. The Defendant told her he had to take care of something and it would not take that long. He drove to an area near the Wilmington Hospital, at which time he stopped the car and began trying to kiss Ms. Thomas, who pushed him off her. She was 18, and seven to eight months pregnant at the time. Eventually he was able to pull her pants down and engage in vaginal intercourse with her. He told her the baby she was carrying should have been his. He then took her back to the neighborhood, and left her there. The Defendant was charged with Rape in the Second Degree and later entered a plea of guilty to a charge of Rape in the Fourth Degree. A certified copy of the
plea agreement was introduced as an exhibit.

September 5, 2008 Sentenced to death  read here

Convicted Killer Shannon Johnson Sentenced to Death Wilmington, DE – Today, Attorney General Beau Biden announced that Shannon M. Johnson, age 24 of Wilmington, was sentenced today by Judge M. Jane Brady to death by lethal injection plus 95 years
in prison.“Shannon Johnson is a threat to society. His conviction and today’s sentence ensures that justice will be served,” stated Attorney General Joseph R. Biden, III. “Victim and witness testimony was critically important to securing this conviction and I want to thank them for having the courage to come forward. Without their testimony a very dangerous person could be on the street.”
On September 24, 2006, Johnson shot and killed Cameron Hamlin in the City of Wilmington. On November 10, 2006, Johnson approached a car in Wilmington, driven by Lakeisha Truitt. He fired a gun at the car, smashed the driver’s side window, dragged her from the car, shot her, and fled the scene. Truitt was taken to the hospital, where she recovered. Johnson was arrested by Wilmington
Police on November 15, 2006. Johnson was convicted in New Castle County Superior Cour.

Feb 26, 2010 source : http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100226/NEWS01/2260348

WILMINGTON — Death row inmate Shannon M. Johnson appeared in court Thursday to demand an end to all his appeals to speed his execution date.

This follows a pattern that Johnson, 26, set after his 2008 trial when he told the judge, after he was convicted of the murder of
Cameron Hamlin, that he was not seeking mercy and wanted to be sentenced immediately — without a penalty hearing — even if that
meant the death penalty.Dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit Thursday, Johnson told Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady in a calm and cool tone that he wanted to waive any further appeals. He also wanted Brady to instruct the Delaware Federal Public Defender’s Office to drop the appeals it filed on his behalf in U.S. District Court and with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Johnson said attorneys with that office ignored his explicit instructions against filing appeals and asked Brady to prevent attorneys from that office from contacting him again.

Johnson said he told federal defenders, “I’d rather not waste your time” and that they should instead work on other cases. But he said
the attorney “then did everything I asked her not to do.”

Julie Brain, Johnson’s federal defender, declined to comment Thursday.
Johnson was not asked and did not explain why he was ending his appeals.

His attorney, Jennifer-Kate Aaronson, declined to comment on Johnson’s reasons, stating that to do so would violate attorney-
client privilege.

At that same hearing, Johnson’s other appellate attorney, James J. Haley Jr., asked Brady for permission to withdraw from the case,
stating in a motion that Johnson’s desire “to be executed as soon as possible” conflicted with his beliefs as a practicing Catholic.

Johnson said he did not object to Haley’s departure, and Brady dismissed him from the case.

Johnson, however, said he wanted Aaronson to continue to represent him, although he acknowledged that Aaronson too had advised him against ending his appeals.

Brady told Johnson that before she can accept his waiver, she must have him evaluated by a psychologist to make sure he is competent and that he fully understands the ramifications of his decision.

She said it will take about 60 days for a doctor to perform the evaluation and file a report, followed by an additional 30 days for
state prosecutors to respond to that report.

While this process could speed up Johnson’s execution by as much as a decade, Brady told Johnson the court would not act hastily.

“This will not be a fast process,” she said, and will not result in an execution being set next week or next month. “This is to make sure
you have time to reflect and that you are certain about your decision.”

Johnson was convicted two years ago of the Sept. 24, 2006, slaying of Cameron Hamlin. According to police and testimony, Johnson shot Hamlin after he found him sitting in a car in Wilmington with Johnson’s ex-girlfriend, who was also the mother of a child with
Johnson.

The ex-girlfriend escaped and was the only witness against Johnson in the homicide. Several weeks later, in November, Johnson tried to kill her by shooting her as she was getting into a car. She survived, and Johnson also was convicted of that shooting.

After the jury returned guilty verdicts, Johnson told the judge he wanted to be sentenced immediately, didn’t want to go through a
penalty hearing and would no longer cooperate with his attorneys. “I don’t need your mercy, the court’s mercy, none of that,” he told
Brady in March 2008. “If you want to sentence me to death … then let that be the case. All that other stuff, like, all that’s irrelevant.”

Deputy Attorney General Paul Wallace said after Thursday’s hearing that this is not the first time a death row inmate has waived his
appeals to hasten his date with the executioner.

No. 09-8949      *** CAPITAL CASE ***
Title:
Shannon Johnson, Petitioner
v.
Delaware
Docketed: February 4, 2010
Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Delaware
  Case Nos.: (434, 2008; 489, 2008)
  Decision Date: November 4, 2009
~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings  and  Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feb 2 2010 Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 8, 2010)
Mar 10 2010 Order extending time to file response to petition to and including June 7, 2010.
Apr 23 2010 Brief of respondent Delaware in opposition filed.
May 3 2010 Reply of petitioner Shannon Johnson filed.
May 5 2010 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 20, 2010.
May 24 2010 Petition DENIED.
~~Name~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Address~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~Phone~~~
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Julie Brain Chief, Capital Habeas Unit (302) 442-6545
Delaware Federal Public Defender
800 King Street
Suite 200
Wilmington, DE  19801
Julie Brain @fd.org
Party name: Shannon Johnson
Attorneys for Respondent:
Paul R. Wallace Chief of Appeals (302) 577-8500
    Counsel of Record Criminal Division
Delaware Department of Justice
820 N. French Street, 7th Floor
Wilmington, DE  19801
Paul.Wallace@state.de.us
Party name: Delaware

Gore’s attorneys file appeal with state Supreme Court

update april 6, source : http://news.smh.com.au

Serial killer’s letters speed up execution

Serial killer David Alan Gore is set to be executed sooner than he expected, in part because he could not stop bragging about raping and murdering four teenagers and two women in Florida three decades ago.

An author published the inmate’s grotesque letters, and a newspaper columnist and editorial board brought the case to the attention of Florida Governor Rick Scott. The Republican promptly signed the death warrant, even though more than 40 other men have been on death row longer.

Gore is set to die on April 12.

“Those letters are so disturbing and so insightful into who this person is,” said Pete Earley, who recently published some of the letters in his book Serial Killer Whisperer. “Gore, actually, he talked his way into the death chamber.”

Tony Ciaglia wrote to Gore and other serial killers on a whim after suffering a severe head injury as teenager, in an effort to better understand them.

He began exchanging letters with Gore about five years ago and received about 200 pages in all. Most in the book are too graphic to quote. In one, Gore described step-by-step how he and his cousin abducted two 14-year-old friends and sexually assaulted them.

“I drug both bodies into the woods where I disposed of them. Oh and you can believe, I collected hair. It took a couple days to recover from that. It was a perfect experience,” Gore wrote.

In another letter, Gore described his uncontrollable desire to kill.

“It’s sort of along the lines as being horny. You start getting horny and it just keeps building until you have to get some relief,” Gore wrote. “That is the same with the URGE to kill. It usually starts out slow and builds and you will take whatever chances necessary to satisfy it. And believe me, you constantly think about getting caught, but the rush is worth the risk.”

Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers columnist Russ Lemmon, who has written about the Gore case, published a column for a few Florida newspapers on the day the editorial board had an interview with the governor. They talked about the book.

The board asked Scott if he had considered signing Gore’s death warrant. The governor promised to look into it.

Meanwhile, letters poured into Scott’s office, many of them mentioning the prison correspondence.

“Pete Earley provides compelling evidence that David Gore relishes every detail of his heinous murders,” wrote Ralph Sexton, whose nephew was married to one of the women killed.

About a month after the editorial board meeting, Scott signed Gore’s death warrant.

Gore’s lawyers are now appealing, arguing in part that the governor’s decision to sign the warrant was unfairly influenced by the editorial board.

A spokeswoman for Scott said he had not read the book.

Ciaglia said Gore blamed him after the death warrant was signed. Ciaglia said he is opposed to the death penalty.

“I told him that I did not actively pursue it. That there’s a lot of people – because you did some really, really bad things – there’s a lot of people that hate you and they want to see you executed and they used these letters to get people’s attention as to the horrible crimes that you committed,” Ciaglia said.

“The only person you can blame is Gore himself,” Earley said. “His candour and his lack of compassion, empathy and remorse is stomach-churning.”

Update april 5, source : http://www.wptv.com

wptv_DAVID_ALLAN_GORE_20120228133951_JPG
If all goes as planned, Carl Elliott  and his extended family next Thursday will make a trip that has eluded them for nearly 30 years.

At 6 p.m., the 81-year-old plans to be sitting next to loved ones in a viewing area at Florida State Prison when a lethal cocktail is administered to the now 58-year-old serial killer who raped and killed Elliott’s 17-year-old daughter, Lynn, in Vero Beach in 1983. David Alan Gore, who picked up Lynn Elliott and a 14-year-old friend who were hitchhiking to the beach, later confessed to murdering five other women and received five life sentences.

“We’ve been patiently waiting for this after all these years. We miss her everyday,” Elliott said. “We’re ready to go up there and see it done.”

Whether Elliott and his family will finally see Gore die for murdering the teen now rests with the Florida Supreme Court.

And, thanks to a two-week-old U.S. Supreme Court decision, the options facing the state’s high court aren’t clear-cut. In arguments Wednesday, an attorney representing Gore urged justices not to make a snap judgment in his case.

“It effects not just Mr. Gore and not just Death Row inmates,” attorney Martin McClain said of the high court’s recent decision. It will impact hundreds of inmates who were convicted of far lesser crimes than murder, he said.

He urged the justices to stay Gore’s planned execution to give attorneys throughout the state the chance to weigh in on what one justice called a “troubling” ruling that allows inmates to return to court after their initial appeals to argue that their attorneys did a bad job. Since claims of ineffective assistance of counsel aren’t allowed until after a case goes through standard appeals, some claim the ruling could pave the way for court-appointed attorneys to represent prisoners after their initial appeals have been exhausted.

In Gore’s case, McClain argued, he had not just one bad attorney but two. Stuart attorney Robert Udell, who gained fame in Palm Beach County when he represented teacher-killer Nathaniel Brazill in 2001 and was subsequently disbarred for financial misdeeds, made numerous errors when he represented Gore in a 1992 resentencing hearing, McClain said. For instance, he failed to tell the jury about Gore’s alcohol, drug abuse and mental health problems or that chances were slim that he would ever be released if he received life in prison.

Another attorney, Andrew Graham, in 1999 argued that Udell’s incompetence caused a second jury to recommend Gore receive the death penalty instead of a life sentence. But Udell denied he was at fault. Udell blamed another attorney, Jerome Nickerson, who he claimed was the lead attorney during Gore’s resentencing. However, Graham never found Nickerson, who had moved out of state, which gave him little ammunition in the appeal that was rejected by the Florida Supreme Court in 2007.

As evidence of Graham’s incompetence, McClain said he was able to find Nickerson with a quick Google search. The discovery of Nickerson is new evidence that should, as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, give Gore another basis for appeal, he said.

Justices appeared less than enamored with McClain’s efforts to use the recent decision to spare Gore.

Justice Barbara Pariente said the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Arizona case involving convicted sex offender Luis Mariano Martinez is aimed at federal courts.

“It has everything to do with the nightmare that’s going to be created in the federal system,” she said of the opportunity for inmates to flood courts with appeals. “It has nothing to do with what states are forced to look at.”

Further, she said, McClain has had years to find Nickerson and lodge an appeal. McClain countered that, until the Martinez decision, he had no way to challenge Graham’s incompetence.

Justice Peggy Quince said “the language of Martinez is really troubling” and it appears the ruling is far-reaching.

Assistant Florida attorney general Celia Terenzio said there is no reason to delay Gore’s execution. Even if Udell or Graham didn’t represent Gore well, the Florida Supreme Court in 2007 said their actions didn’t spur the jury to recommend that he be sentenced to death. “There was no prejudice,” she said.

Further, she said, the Martinez decision is very narrow, applying to people whose appeals were blocked on procedural grounds. Gore has had numerous appeals since he was first sent to Death Row in 1984, including one for ineffective assistance of counsel, which was rejected. Also, she said, the high court didn’t say people have a constitutional right to be represented by an attorney in post-conviction appeals, only that in certain cases it may be necessary.

In death penalty cases, Florida always provides inmates with appellate lawyers for post-conviction appeals, she said.

Court-watchers said the decision facing the Florida Supreme Court’s is difficult.

“The Florida Supreme Court is going to have to look at this as a new ruling without any guidance for how it’s going

to be interpreted,” said attorney Michael Minerva, CEO of the Innocence Project of Florida. “The prudent thing to do would be to get additional time to figure out how it applies to Florida courts.”

Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center, agreed. “It wouldn’t be the first time an execution has been stayed because the Supreme Court surprises people with a decision.

Read more: click here

Update march 29  source :http://www.tcpalm.com

The state Supreme Court on Thursday granted a request by David Alan Gore to hold oral arguments Wednesday at 9 a.m. in the condemned man’s appeal of a court ruling that recently denied him a hearing.

Gore’s lawyers on Monday appealed to the Florida Supreme Court an order issued by Circuit Judge Dan L. Vaughn that denied the serial killer’s request for a hearing to present evidence related to legal claims raised in an effort to stop his April 12 execution.

Gore, 58, is under a death warrant Gov. Rick Scott signed Feb. 28 for the July 16, 1983, first-degree murder of Lynn Elliott, 17, of Vero Beach.

Gore’s legal claims center on allegations of having inadequate legal counsel during his post-conviction relief proceedings. He’s further claimed his execution should be stopped in part because the clemency process in his case was applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner in violation of his U.S. constitutional rights. Another claim alleged that because of the 28 years Gore has spent on death row, adding his execution to that punishment would constitute cruel and unusual punishment

Update march 28, source : http://www.tcpalm.c 

As gores’s execution nears, family of victim reflects on loss, changes

Mike and Nancy Byer left Florida in 1988 in search of a fresh start.

“I wanted to go where nobody knew me, and I didn’t know anybody,” Mike said.

Who could blame them?

Just five years earlier, their 14-year-old daughter, Barbara Ann, was killed by Fred Waterfield and David Alan Gore. Her friend, Angel LaVallee, also was killed.

Mike was the last person to see Barbie alive. She was standing outside a 7-Eleven in Orlando. (Mike was driving a service vehicle for his truck-repair business when he passed by the convenience store.)

Later, on the streets of Orlando, the teenage girls — who met while attending Howard Junior High School — would cross paths with Indian River County’s infamous serial killers.

“Gore and Waterfield were hunters,” Nancy said. “They went out for prey.”

Update march 21 source :http://www.tcpalm.com

Attorneys representing David Alan Gore on Wednesday filed papers with the state Supreme Court appealing a judge’s ruling denying the condemned serial killer a chance to present evidence in court in an effort to stop his execution April 12 at Florida State Prison.

Gore was condemned to death for the July 1983 shooting death of Vero Beach teenagerLynn Elliott. He also pleaded guilty in the murder of five other women in Indian River County between 1981 and 1983.

Appeal papers filed by defense attorneys John Abatecola and Linda McDermott ask the Florida Supreme Court to review Circuit Judge Dan L. Vaughn’s March 15 rulings, which rejected Gore’s request to hold an evidentiary hearing, and refused to set aside his sentence of death.

The Florida Supreme Court already has issued an expedited schedule in Gore’s case, setting a deadline of April 2 for legal briefs to be filed. Oral arguments, if required by the justices, will be held April 4 in Tallahassee.

read Gore’s case click here

Ohio – Mark Wayne Wiles – Execution – April 18, 2012 10 a.m – EXECUTED

Summary of Offense:

On August 7, 1985, Wiles murdered 15-year-old Mark Klima at a farmhouse in Rootstown. Mark’s parents owned the farm where Wiles had worked until January 1983. When Mark caught Wiles stealing valuables from the house, Wiles stabbed Mark 24 times and left the butcher knife buried in his back. Wiles fled to Georgia, but later confessed to authorities in Savannah, Georgia and detectives from Portage County, Ohio.

april 17, 2012 source : http://www.dispatchpolitics.com

Mark Wayne Wiles, the condemned killer from Portage County, arrived this morning at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in preparation for his execution tomorrow. He was transported from the Chillicothe Correctional Institution where Death Row is now located.

april 6, 2012, source :http://www.newsmax.com

Ohio will resume executions by lethal injection later this month, after blocking them for the past four months because of legal complaints that prison officials were not following the proper procedures.U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost denied a request by Mark Wayne Wiles to halt his execution, saying he trusts the state to “avoid the embarrassments” of the past, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Wiles’ execution is scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 18 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of Mark Klima, 15.
Frost blocked other executions in recent months because the state repeatedly “failed to follow through on its own execution protocol.” By clearing the way for Wiles’ execution, Frost likely opened up Ohio’s execution schedule, which has about one inmate a month scheduled for capital punishment through early 2014.
Even though he denied Wiles’ stay request, Frost still criticized the state’s failures when it comes to carrying out the death penalty.
“Ohio’s new procedures look good on paper,” he said. “The protocol is constitutional as written, and executions are lawful, but the problem has been Ohio’s repeated inability to do what it says it will do.”
Wiles, 49, had worked for Mark Klima’s parents until January 1983. He returned about two years later, and mark caught him stealing family valuables. Wiles stabbed the teenager 24 times with a butcher knife. He fled to Georgia, but eventually confessed to the murder.
Public defender Allen Bohnert, representing Wiles, said he is reviewing the ruling with the thought of a possible appeal.

Read more on Newsmax.com: Ohio Ready to Resume Lethal Injections
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama’s Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

march, 23  source http://www.ideastream.org

clemency be denied

audio mp3 click here

March, 16,

Mark Wiles sat in front of a window at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, wearing a T-shirt and looking directly into the camera.

For about two minutes, the man who stabbed a teenager to death on a Portage County horse farm tried to put into words the apology he said he’s been wanting to offer for more than 25 years.

“All these years, I’ve wanted to say to you that I’ve always been sorry for what I did to your son Mark (Klima),” Wiles said, directing the comments to the parents of the boy he killed in August 1985. “He was an innocent victim of my selfish needs. I truly am sorry for taking his life and causing you and so many others so much pain and loss.”

The image, part of a taped apology presented to the state parole board Thursday and earlier sent directly to the Klima family, stood in stark contrast to the picture of  Wiles painted by prosecutors: a “burglar of occupied homes” with a history of criminal behavior; “one of the most belligerent individuals” his high school principal had ever experienced; a man who tried to convince investigators that it was his 100-pound victim who threatened him with a knife.

“I can’t understand why they have to prolong (the case and the death penalty) so long when there’s a confession,” Charlie Klima, father of the murder victim, said in his own taped statement to the parole board. “He said he did it and he didn’t want to appeal it. I just don’t understand what the purpose of delaying it any longer or delaying it as long as it was. It just doesn’t make sense.”

He added, “I believe in the death penalty, and I think that he murdered our son and I think he should be executed….”

Wiles, 49, is scheduled for lethal injection next month, though it remains to be seen whether a federal judge will allow the state to resume executions, given the continuing legal battle over the constitutionality of Ohio’s death penalty protocols. A hearing on that issue is set for next week.

The parole board will offer its recommendation to Gov. John Kasich on March 23. The governor has final say on whether to grant clemency or allow the execution to take place as scheduled.

Members didn’t offer too many indications Thursday of the direction of their decision, though they did chastise Wiles’ attorneys for sending a copy of his taped apology directly to the murder victim’s family, calling the move insensitive.

The Klimas turned the tape over to prosecutors without watching it.

“I think after 26 years, an apology is kind of ridiculous,” Charlie Klima said in his taped statement to the board. “… I don’t have any interest in bringing back any more memories than has been (already) brought back in this situation.”

Wiles worked part time at Charlie and Carol Klima’s Shakespeare Acres in Rootstown from May 1982 until January 1983, when the family discovered about $200 missing from ransacked rooms of their home.

Wiles was the only other person on the property at the time; he left before being confronted.
Two years later, after serving time in prison for an unrelated burglary, Wiles returned to the farm, intent on stealing more money. He was caught in the act by Mark Klima, a straight-A student who had completed his freshman year of high school and who wanted to be a doctor.
Wiles subsequently stabbed the teen with a foot-long kitchen knife, stole $260 and fled the state. Five days later, he turned himself into police in Savannah, Ga., signed a confession and returned to Ohio.

Legal counsel for Wiles based their clemency request on Wiles’ admission of guilt, his remorse over the killing and his good behavior while in prison.

“Mark does not believe that he deserves mercy, but he wants to live,” said Vicki Werneke, a federal public defender. “… Mark is so consumed with remorse and regret. … Mark doesn’t offer any excuses for what he did.”

A neuropsychologist testified, via video, that a head injury stemming from a bar fight in the days before the murder could have affected Wiles’ behavior.

A psychologist said Wiles abused alcohol and drugs, displayed anti-social behavior and likely suffered a brain injury that affected his actions and thinking.
Former and current legal counsel described their interaction with Wiles during his trial and post-conviction proceedings, saying he was respectful but was so remorseful about the killing that he did little to avoid the death penalty.

And two sisters and a brother-in-law described Wiles’ emotionally stifling upbringing, the industrial explosion that killed their older brother and their mother’s untreated bipolar disorder.

“I need you to know that I am sorry,” Wiles said in his taped apology, adding later, “When I’m executed, honestly, I hope that in some way it eases some of the pain that I’ve caused.”
But Portage County Prosecutor Vic Vigluicci said Wiles didn’t take responsibility for the crime at the time, initially denying involvement and then attempting to blame the teen for pulling a knife.

The prosecutor showed images of the murdered boy and described, in detail, the fatal wounds Mark Klima received to his back, the defensive wounds he had on his forearms and the bruises and scrapes on this face and forehead.
mark

Prosecutors also said that Wiles had said he wasn’t drunk or high on the day of the crime. And they said a scan of Wiles’ brain days before the murder showed no damage or abnormalities.

Mark Klima’s parents were unable to appear before the parole board in person. Carol Klima recently suffered a stroke and has congestive heart failure. Her husband was at her side.
“We are a small family,” Virginia Klima Petrie, the murdered teen’s aunt, told the parole board in their place. “We don’t make a lot of noise. We live within our means and pay our taxes. We abide by the law. We are working members of our community. And we are the victims of a heinous murder of the only heir to the Klima family name.”

She added, “Enough is enough. … I beg you, let the parents of this murdered child have a moment of closure now before one of them dies. The family asks — no, we demand — justice now. Mark Wiles’ execution needs to be carried out as scheduled. Nothing else is acceptable.”

http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/5168007

march, 15

clemency hearing today

march, 9

Execution date nears for murderer of Rootstown teen 

Prison officials are moving ahead with plans to execute a Portage County man who murdered a Rootstown teen more than 25 years ago, despite delays on other executions this year after a judge raised questions about the state’s lethal injection protocol.

Mark Wiles will make his case for clemency before the state parole board next week in advance of his scheduled execution on April 18.

“We have not been made aware of any postponement for the Wiles execution,” said JoEllen Smith, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. “We are moving forward with our preparations.”

Whether Wiles makes the trip to the Death House at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility remains in question, however, as the state works to convince a federal judge that its execution procedures are constitutional.

Two executions were postponed after federal district Judge Gregory Frost ruled prison officials hadn’t followed their own written guidelines for executing an inmate late last year.

A hearing on the issues is scheduled for later this month, during which the state could present a revamped execution protocol. If it meets the judge’s approval, he could allow executions to take place as scheduled.

“The governor’s office at some point will approve a new protocol that DRC has been working on,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said. “Once they approve that protocol, we will present that to Judge Frost. … Judge Frost at that point will decide whatever he decides.”

There are executions scheduled in the state through January 2014, with Wiles next in line. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of 15-year-old Mark Klima.

Wiles worked part time at the Klima horse farm in Rootstown several years before the murder but left after the family discovered $200 was missing.

After serving part of a prison sentence for an unrelated burglary, Wiles returned to burglarize the home, and Mark Klima caught him in the act.

Wiles stabbed the teen, a straight-A student who had completed his freshman year of high school, with a kitchen knife 24 times, stole $260 and fled the state.

Five days later, Wiles turned himself into police in Savannah, Ga., and signed a confession.

His clemency hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday, March 15.

http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/5165691

Wiles was denied a COA in the 6th Circuit’s 4/14/09 orders/opinions.Opinion is here:http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions…9a0147p-06.pdf
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has set execution dates for a Cleveland man who killed his wife and brother-in-law and a northeast Ohio man who repeatedly stabbed a teen who interrupted a burglary.The dates announced Tuesday are some of the farthest in the future set in recent years by the court, which schedules when death row inmates die.The court set an April 18, 2012 execution date for 48-year-old Mark Wiles, who killed 15-year-old Mark Klima (KLEE’-muh) at a farmhouse in Portage County in 1985.The court also set a June 6, 2012 execution date for 52-year-old Abdul Awkal (ab-DUHL’ AW’-kuhl) of Cleveland, who killed estranged wife Latife Awkal (la-TEEFF’-eh AW’-kuhl) and brother-in-law Mahmoud Abdul-Aziz (MAKH’-mood ab-DUHL’-ah-ZEEZ’) in 1992, in a room in Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Domestic Relations Court.Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/art…#ixzz1PGW3mH7J
Execution is set for murderer of Rootstown teen The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday set an April 18, 2012 date for the execution of a death row inmate convicted in the August 1985 stabbing death of a 15-year-old Rootstown boy.Mark W. Wiles, 48, who has spent 25 years on Ohio’s death row, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection for the Aug. 7, 1985, murder of Mark Klima, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections website.Wiles had worked as a farmhand at the Klima family horse farm, Shakespeare Acres, three years prior to the murder. He was suspected of stealing money from the family during that time.After being convicted of an unrelated burglary and spending 18 months in prison, Wiles, then 22, broke into the Klima house looking for money. Mark Klima surprised him and was stabbed 13 times with a kitchen knife, which Wiles left sticking out of the boy’s back.Wiles fled the state with $260 stolen from the Klima residence, and later turned himself in to authorities in Savannah, Ga. He was tried in January 1986 by a panel of judges — Joseph Kainrad, Robert Kent and George Martin — and convicted of murder.Former Portage County Prosecutor John Plough prosecuted the case.The U.S. Supreme Court previously declined to hear Wiles’ appeal. He remains in the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown awaiting execution.A clemency hearing date has not been set, according to the ODRC.http://www.recordpub.com/news/article/5050800

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.

———————————————————————————————

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.

—————————————————————————————————————-

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

——————————————————————————————————-

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.

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