UPCOMING EXECUTIONS 2012

ARIZONA – Arizona court approves fifth execution this year

June 12, 2012 Source : http://www.chron.com

Tuesday approved the execution of a death-row inmate who was spared from the death penalty last year after winning a last-minute delay from the nation’s highest court.

Daniel Wayne Cook, 50, is now scheduled for execution on Aug. 8 at the state prison in Florence.

Cook was sentenced to death for killing a 26-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, Carlos Cruz-Ramos, and a 16-year-old boy, Kevin Swaney, in 1987, after police say he tortured and raped them for hours in his apartment in Lake Havasu City in far western Arizona.

Cook had been scheduled for execution on April 5 of last year, but the U.S. Supreme Court granted him a last-minute stay to consider whether he had ineffective counsel during his post-conviction proceedings. They since have turned him down.

Mississippi Supreme Court sets execution date for Gary Carl Simmons Jr.- June 20

June 5, 2012 source : http://www.therepublic.com

JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Supreme Court set a June 20 execution date Tuesday for 49-year-old Gary Carl Simmons Jr.

The court set the date and granted Simmons’ request for in-person contact visits with a forensic psychologist and a neuropsychologist for the purpose of conducting mental health evaluations. His attorneys had argued that the mental evaluation was necessary because Simmons may have post-traumatic stress disorder or other illnesses and had suffered from abuse as a child.

Simmons was convicted for shooting and dismembering Jeffrey Wolfe, who was killed in August 1996 after going to Simmons’ Pascagoula home to collect on a drug debt.

Timothy Milano, Simmons’ co-defendant and the person authorities said shot Wolfe, was convicted on the same charges and sentenced to life in prison.

Simmons worked as a grocery store butcher when he and Milano were charged with killing Wolfe. Police said the pair kidnapped Wolfe and his female friend and later assaulted the woman and locked her in a box. Police later found parts of Wolfe’s dismembered body at Simmons’ house, in the yard and in a nearby bayou.

Simmons also argued his original lawyers were ineffective at trial and that he never later had lawyers good enough to point out shortcomings.

In addition, he argued his legal cause suffered in part because of ineffective assistance by Bob Ryan, formerly head of the state office meant to handle post-conviction appeals for people sentenced to death.

The state’s high court, however, denied Simmons’ request to challenge the performance of prior post-conviction counsel.

ARIZONA – Samuel Villegas Lopez – Execution June 27, 2012 – 10:00 a.m

June 27, 2012 Source : http://tucsoncitizen.com

The U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday denied death-row inmate Samuel Lopez’s final appeal, clearing the way for his execution at 10 a.m. today in Florence.

Lopez’s attorney, assistant federal public defender Kelley Henry, said there will be no other efforts to block his execution. Lopez, 49, was convicted in 1987 of raping and murdering Estefana Holmes in her Phoenix apartment. On Friday, the Arizona Supreme Court also denied a stay, and Arizona’s Board of Executive Clemency denied a commutation bid.

His execution will be the first in which witnesses will watch, via closed-circuit TV, the insertion of the catheters that deliver the fatal drug pentobarbital. Attorneys for inmates in prior executions condemned the practice of inserting catheters into the prisoners’ groins. Officials said the executioners had found it difficult to find suitable veins in the arms and legs.

In earlier executions, witnesses only saw the prisoner after the catheters had been inserted.

June 26, 2012 Source : http://www.azcentral.com

A death-row inmate set to be executed in Arizona on Wednesday has lost his last appeal, clearing the way for the lethal injection to proceed.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a request from Samuel Villegas Lopez to delay his execution to consider arguments that his trial attorneys were incompetent.

June 6, 2012 Source : http://www.azcentral.com

ll executions carried out in Arizona are witnessed by members of the public and the media. But the witnesses only see the condemned prisoner as he says his last words and lapses into unconsciousness.

During the next execution, scheduled for June 27, the witnesses also will be able to watch as executioners insert the intravenous catheters that deliver the deadly drug into the prisoner’s veins.

Just last week, a federal judge in Phoenix denied requests by defense attorneys and the media to witness those preparations. A federal judge in Idaho denied a similar request from the media Tuesday.

But in a letter Wednesday to death-row prisoner Samuel Lopez, who faces execution June 27, Arizona Corrections Director Charles Ryan said that witnesses to the execution –– who generally include five members of the media — will be allowed to watch his catheter insertion via closed-circuit television.

The location of the catheters has been an ongoing court issue in the past several executions. The Department of Corrections frequently claims that its medical staff for executions are unable to find suitable veins in the arms or legs of the condemned prisoners, prompting them to surgically insert a line into prisoners’ groin areas.

During a March execution, a condemned man asked to speak to his attorney before the execution as the medical staff repeatedly stuck him without finding a vein, eventually putting the line into the femoral vein in his groin. He was not allowed to speak to the attorney and instead communicated with him by code during his last words.

Ryan has previously refused to allow anyone to view the process.

In May, judges at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned why Arizona media had not expressed its First Amendment right to witness the procedure.

A 2009 decision by the 9th Circuit ruled that the public has a right to witness all aspects of an execution. Only California and Ohio have allowed it until now.

Nonetheless, the Arizona Department of Corrections fought the motion to allow attorneys into the room to see the catheters inserted. The First Amendment Coalition of Arizona also asked to witness, but a U.S. District Court judge in Phoenix denied their motions.

The attorneys filed an appeal in the 9th Circuit on Wednesday morning asking that a prisoner’s attorneys be allowed to watch the procedure in order to gather evidence, regardless of whether he or she is invited as a witness by the prisoner.

But also Wednesday, Lopez received a note from Ryan informing him that the executioners will be using a single drug, pentobarbital, to carry out his execution, and that he could make a final statement to the witnesses. However, he was told that his microphone would be cut off if he made offensive statements.

A Department of Corrections spokesman said the note to Lopez speaks for itself.

In the last paragraph, Ryan told Lopez that the closed-circuit monitors in the execution chamber will be turned on as the IVs are inserted before the execution, and that there will be a live microphone in the room so that the witnesses can hear what is said during the procedure.

“Over the past two years, ADC stopped illegally importing the execution drugs, switched to a one-drug protocol and now is making the execution process more transparent. These are steps in the right direction,” said Assistant Federal Public Defender Dale Baich, who will witness Lopez’s execution as his guest. “ADC now recognizes that the entire execution process can be transparent and, at the same time, the anonymity of the medical personnel who carry out the executions can be protected.”

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MISSISSIPPI – Michael Brawner – Execution – June 12 2012 6.00 p.m EXECUTED 6:18 P.M.

FACTS from Mississippi Court  NO. 2004-DR-00913-SCT

The following facts were taken from this Court’s opinion on direct appeal. In December 1997, Brawner married Barbara Craft, and in March 1998, their daughter, Paige, was born. Brawner and Barbara divorced in March 2001, she was awarded custody of Paige, and they lived with Barbara’s parents, Carl and Jane Craft, at their home in Tate County. Brawner also lived with the Crafts off and on during his marriage to Barbara.
3. At the time of the murders, Brawner was living with his girlfriend June Fillyaw, in an apartment in Southaven. According to Brawner, they were having financial difficulties, and on top of that, he had also been told by Barbara that she did not want him around Paige. He testified that pressure on him was building because nothing was going right.
4. On the day before the murders, Brawner left his apartment in Southaven at 3:00 a.m. and headed toward the Crafts’ house, about an hour away. He testified that he thought he might be able to borrow money from Carl, although in a prior statement he said he had planned to rob Carl. While waiting on the Craft’s front steps from approximately 4:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m., he took a 7-mm Ruger rifle out of Carl’s truck and emptied the bullets from it, because “he didn’t want to get shot.” A dog started barking, and Brawner hid until Carl went back inside, then ran away, thinking Carl might be getting a gun. He then drove back to his apartment.
5. Around noon the following day, April 25, 2001, Brawner again drove to the Crafts’ house, and knocked on the door, but no one was home. He then put on rubber gloves that he had purchased earlier that day, “took the slats out of the back door,” entered the house, and took a .22 rifle. He then went to Carl’s workplace and asked him if it would be OK to go out to the house to wait for Barbara and Paige so that he could see his daughter, to which Carl agreed.
6. Since Barbara and Paige did not return, Brawner decided to leave, and as he was doing so, Barbara, Paige, and Jane pulled into the drive. After a brief conversation with Jane and Barbara, Brawner became agitated and went to the truck and brought back the rifle that he had taken from the Crafts’ house earlier that day. Just as he told Barbara that she was not going to take Paige away from him, he saw Jane walking toward the bedroom and shot her with the rifle. He said he then shot Barbara as she was coming toward him, and went to where Jane had fallen and “put her out of her misery.” After this, he shot Barbara again and took Paige, who had witnessed the murders, to her bedroom and told her to watch TV. After Brawner determined that Paige would be able to identify him, and in his words, he “was just bent on killing,” he went back into the bedroom and shot his daughter twice, killing her. He then waited in the house until Carl came home from work, and when Carl walked through the door, Brawner shot and killed him.
7. Brawner stole approximately $300 from Carl’s wallet, Jane’s wedding ring, and foodstamps out of Barbara’s purse. He took Windex from the kitchen and attempted to wipe away any fingerprints he may have left. Brawner then returned to his apartment in Southaven, where he gave the stolen wedding ring to Fillyaw, asked her to marry him, and told her that he bought the ring at a pawn shop.

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MISSISSIPPI – Henry Curtis Jackson – Execution – June 5, 2012 at 6.pm EXECUTED 6.13 p.m

FACTS
2. Jackson murdered four children, two of his nieces and two of his nephews, in an attempt to steal money kept in his mother’s safe in her home.On the evening of November 1, 1990,Jackson’s mother, Martha, and four of her older grandchildren went to church. Martha’s daughter, Regina Jackson, stayed home with her two daughters, five-year-old Dominique whom Jackson murdered that night, two-year-old Shunterica whom Jackson murdered, and four other of their nieces and nephews, three-year-old Antonio whom Jackson murdered and twoyear-old Andrew whom Jackson murdered, and eleven-year-old Sarah and one-year-old Andrean who were severely injured during these murders but survived.

3. While Regina and the children were at the house watching television, Jackson parked his car two blocks away, walked to the house, and cut the outside telephone line. He then knocked on the door and was allowed inside. While inside, he picked up the phone and indicated it was not working. Regina headed to a neighbor’s house to place a call to check the phone. Before going very far, Jackson told Sarah to call Regina back. Regina came back in and, followed by her daughter Shunterica, sought Jackson in the kitchen. Jackson told Regina to take Shunterica back into the television room. She did so and upon her return to the kitchen Jackson grabbed her from behind. With one hand around her neck and one around her waist, he walked her down the hall to the boys’ room. He asked for her paycheck. Regina told him she had no money. Jackson then asked for the combination to his mother’s safe. When Regina said she did not know it, he pulled out knives and shoved them into her throat and waist. Regina yelled for eleven-year old Sarah, who came running and jumped on Jackson’s back. The three
struggled, during which Jackson told him that he had to kill them. Sarah begged him to just get the safe and leave.
4. Meanwhile, the smaller children had followed Sarah down the hall, and Jackson called them into the room where they obediently remained. He then took Regina into an adjacent room and tried to open the footlocker where he believed the combination to the safe was kept. Jackson then began stabbing Sarah in the neck, then took Regina and Sarah into the boys’ room where he tried to tie them up. Regina, who had already been stabbed several times, picked up some iron rods that Jackson had brought in from the bathroom, and started hitting him with them. Jackson then went and picked up the baby, one-year old Andrea, and used her as a shield. Regina relinquished the rods and let him tie her up with a belt. He stabbed her again in the neck.While Regina watched, Jackson picked up her daughter, two-year old Shunterica, by the hair, stabbed her, killed her, and laid her on a bed.

5. While Regina and Sarah were struggling to stay alive, Jackson started dragging the safe down the hall which awakened five-year old Dominique. Dominique came down the hall calling for her mother, at which time, as Regina testified, Jackson told Dominique that he loved her,but then stabbed her, killed her and threw her on the floor. After killing Dominique, Jackson
walked over to Regina and again shoved a knife in her neck. Regina then pretended she was dead.
6. Sarah tried to comfort her baby sister, Andrea, and told three-year old Antonio to run for help. Jackson called Antonio back. Regina had fainted by this time and Jackson was trying to wake her up. He then grabbed Sarah again and began stabbing her in the neck. After the knife broke off in her neck, he ran to the kitchen, retrieved another knife, stabbed her again and threw her on a bed. Sarah, too, then pretended she was dead. She heard Antonio yelling for help and saw Jackson kneeling over him. While Sarah did not actually see Jackson stabbing him, she testified that ” I saw his hand moving when he was over him. I didn’t see but I knew he was doing something cause my little brother was hollering.” She likewise did not witness the stabbing of two-year old Andrew, but when she saw him, “[h]e was on the bottom of the bed and his eyes were bulging and his mouth was wide open.” Sarah was able to jump from the bed and escapeout the front door. She hid behind a tree across the street and watched as Jackson came outside, looked around, and went back inside.
7. Upon Jackson’s last view of the room, Regina and Andrea appeared dead, and the four children, five-year-old Dominique, three-year-old Antonio, two-year-old Shunterica and twoyear-old Andrew, were all dead.
8. Shortly after the murders, Angelo Geens, Martha Jackson’s cousin and neighbor, returned to his home at about 8:30 p.m. Sarah ran to him from where she had been hiding and told him that Regina and the others were in the house and that her uncle Jackson had killed them all. Geens carried her into his house and called the police and an ambulance. Deputy Sheriff J.B. Henry and Deputies Tindall, Berdin and Fondren arrived at the scene and discovered the bodies of the four children. Leflore County Coroner James R. Hankins  pronounced the four children dead at the scene. From the house, the bodies of Shunterica,
Dominique, Andrew, and Antonio were sent to the Deputy State Medical Examiner for forensic pathology examinations.

Source :

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 98-DR-00708-SCT
HENRY CURTIS JACKSON, JR.
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

MISSISSIPPI – Miss. court sets execution dates for 2 of 3 men

May 24, 2012 Source : http://www.clarionledger.com

From left: Brawner, Simmons and Jackson

From left: Brawner, Simmons and Jackson / Miss. Dept. of Corrections

Mississippi will not execute three men on three consecutive days in June, after the state Supreme Court set execution dates a week apart for two men and declined to set a date for a third.

Attorney General Jim Hood’s office had asked earlier this month that justices set execution dates for Henry Curtis Jackson Jr., Gary Carl Simmons Jr. and Jan Michael Brawner on June 12, 13 and 14, respectively.

Justice David Chandler, joined by Justices James Kitchens and Leslie King, dissented, citing claims that Brawner’s case, in its early stages, was handled by a law clerk who hadn’t yet passed the bar exam.

“Because the issue of whether a non-lawyers purported representation of Brawner during critical stages of the proceedings never has been addressed by this court and the issue is now clearly before the court, we would allow Brawner to file a successive motion for post-conviction relief on this issue,” Chandler wrote.

  • Brawner, 34, was convicted of the 2001 killings of his 3-year-old daughter, ex-wife and former father-in-law and mother-in-law in Sarah, a Tate County community west of Senatobia.
  • Brawner went to his former in-laws’ home after learning that his former wife planned to stop him from seeing their child, trial testimony showed. He also had no money and contemplated robbing his former in-laws, according to testimony. Brawner admitted to the killings at trial and told a prosecutor he deserved death.
  • Jackson, 47, was convicted of stabbing two nieces and two nephews, ranging in age from 2 years to 5 years, at his mother’s home near Greenwood in 1990. He also was convicted of stabbing his adult sister and another niece, who both survived. Prosecutors said Jackson, 26 at the time, planned to steal his mother’s safe and kill the victims.

On Wednesday, the court set June 5 as the execution date for Jackson on an 8-0 vote. It also set a June 12 execution for Brawner on a 5-3 vote. Meanwhile, it ordered Hood’s office to reply to Simmons’ claims that his original lawyers were ineffective at trial and that he never later had lawyers good enough to point out shortcomings.

Current lawyers argue Simmons should get a chance to be resentenced because they have evidence that Simmons may have post-traumatic stress disorder or other mental illnesses and had suffered from abuse as a child. They’re also seeking a court order allowing access to an expert for a mental evaluation.

  • Simmons, 49, was convicted for shooting and dismembering Jeffrey Wolfe. Wolfe was killed in August 1996 after he went to Simmons’ Pascagoula home to collect on a drug debt, according to court records. Timothy Milano, Simmons’ co-defendant and the person authorities said shot Wolfe, was convicted on the same charges and sentenced to life in prison.
  • Simmons worked as a grocery store butcher when he and Milano were charged with killing Wolfe. Police said the pair kidnapped Wolfe and his female friend and later assaulted the woman and locked her in a box. Police found parts of Wolfe’s dismembered body at Simmons’ house, in the yard and in a nearby bayou.

Simmons and Brawner both said their legal causes suffered in part because of ineffective assistance by Bob Ryan, formerly head of the state office meant to handle post-conviction appeals for people sentenced to death. Five justices, though, said Brawner’s claims have already been litigated and that courts had decided against them.

ARIZONA – Motion denied to watch executions by injection

May 31, 2012 Source : http://www.azcentral.com

Despite strong language from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and a 2002 appeals-court ruling, a federal judge in Phoenix on Wednesday denied motions to allow attorneys and reporters to watch as executioners insert the catheters that carry the drugs used in lethal injections for condemned prisoners.

The Federal Public Defender’s Office in Phoenix and other defense attorneys have complained about the practices of the Arizona Department of Corrections in carrying out executions by lethal injection. Among the concerns are the qualifications of those who insert IV lines into the condemned prisoners and why they repeatedly fail to find suitable veins in the prisoner’s arms and must resort to a surgically installed catheter in the groin area.

On May 15, the day before death-row prisoner Samuel Lopez was to be executed for the 1986 murder of a Phoenix woman, his attorneys filed a motion with U.S. District Judge Neil Wake, asking to be allowed to witness the catheterization. Wake did not rule on the motion. But the subject had come up in oral arguments on May 14 in a last-ditch appeal to the 9th Circuit.

Of concern in that appeal was a March execution in which the condemned man was not allowed to speak to his attorney when prison staff was unable to find a suitable vein in his arm and instead inserted the catheter in his groin.

The appeals court refused to stop Lopez’s execution, but one of the judges questioned why the media had not insisted on being present when the lines were inserted. The state of Ohio and California allow such witnessing, and a 2002 9th Circuit opinion ruled that the public has a First Amendment right to witness all aspects of an execution.

Lopez subsequently received a reprieve from the Arizona Supreme Court until June 27 because of problems with the state clemency board.

A coalition of Arizona journalism groups took up the challenge and asked to become part of the lawsuit over the Corrections Department policies.

That same day, another group of journalists in Idaho filed its own lawsuit asking to witness the preparation process on First Amendment grounds.

But Wake denied the Arizona motions Wednesday, citing technicalities in the timing of the motion and saying that a First Amendment violation had not been properly claimed.

Dale Baich of the Federal Public Defender’s Office said his office had not yet decided how to proceed.

Dan Barr, an attorney who represents the Arizona journalists, said his options would be to wait for Baich to amend his motion or file a separate lawsuit to assert the journalists’ claims.

“The whole trick is bringing up the issue in the right form and the right time,” Barr said.

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IDAHO – UPDATE – Richard Leavitt – Execution June 12 – 10:00 a.m EXECUTED

Richard Leavitt

Richard Leavitt, 53, was pronounced dead at 10:25 a.m. at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.

He offered no final statement, and the only time he spoke was to decline to have his head covered. 

JUNE 12 8.00 a.m 

BOISE — Idaho Dept. of Corrections Director Brent Reinke spoke to members of the media in a short briefing prior to convicted murderer Richard Leavitt’s Tuesday execution.

Reinke addressing those gathered outside the Idaho Maximum Security Institution just after 8 a.m.

Idaho’s top prison official began by emphasizing the serious nature of the execution, saying prison staff “take no joy in this duty.”

Reinke went on to explain that preparations for the State’s second execution in the last seven months have seen few changes since the execution of Paul Ezra Rhoades in November 2011.

The prison chief also took several questions from reporters.

Reinke described Leavitt’s current mood as “resolved,” and said the convicted murderer had been meeting with family members throughout Monday night.

Reinke said Leavitt did not meet with a spiritual adviser.

Reinke also explained that Leavitt had been offered, and had subsequently taken several sedatives in preparation for his 10 a.m. execution.

Leavitt is also actively meeting with his attorney, and will continue to do so until the final minutes of his life, according to Reinke.

SCHEDULE OF EXECUTION

6 a.m. — Demonstration areas open

9:35 a.m. — Witnesses enter viewing rooms

10 a.m. — Warden reads death warrant to Leavitt and witnesses

10:03 a.m. — Warden asks Leavitt if he wishes to make final statement

10:10 a.m. — Lethal injection begins

10:35 a.m. — Warden declares execution complete

– Source: Idaho Department of Correction

June 11, 2012 Source : http://www.therepublic.com

BOISE, Idaho — Convicted killer Richard Leavitt was calm and spending what was expected to be his last full day alive meeting with his team of lawyers and a handful of approved visitors at his cell on Idaho’s death row, prison officials said Monday.

Leavitt, 53, is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday morning by lethal injection at Idaho Maximum Security Institution, south of Boise. He was convicted in 1985 for the brutal stabbing death of Danette Elg, a 31-year-old woman from Blackfoot.

Leavitt, along with members of his family, insists he didn’t commit the crime. But barring any last-minute reprieve from federal judges, Leavitt will be just the second Idaho inmate put to death in 17 years.

He was calm as he met with visitors and lawyers, state prisons spokesman Jeff Ray said.

Leavitt declined to disclose the identity of his approved visitors. Ray said Leavitt will have baked chicken, french fries and milk for his last meal.

Tuesday’s execution will be different in two ways from the execution last November of Paul Ezra Rhoades.

The state’s execution team will administer a single, lethal dose of pentobarbital, a drug used as a surgical sedative. Last fall, Rhoades was given a lethal injection of three chemicals.

If the execution goes forward, it will mark the first time state and media witnesses will view Idaho’s lethal injection process in its entirety. Last fall, witnesses were barred from seeing the execution team escort Rhoades into the chamber, strap him to a gurney and insert the IV catheters into his arms.

Prison officials had blocked that portion of the execution to protect the identity of the execution team members. But more than a dozen news organizations sued the state, alleging that the Idaho Department of Correction policy limiting access to an execution from start to finish violated the First Amendment and the public’s right to know.

The news groups, led by The Associated Press, sought to expand access to bring Idaho policies in line with a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled on a 2002 case that the public has a right to view executions in their entirety. The portion of the execution process blocked by Idaho prison officials has been subject to legal challenges by death row inmates nationwide, claiming the insertion of the catheters can be botched in a way that causes pain, other medical complications and raises questions about the dignity of the process.

On Friday, a three-judge panel from the San Francisco-based court sided with the news groups and ordered IDOC to modify its policy.

The same federal appeals court on Monday rejected two requests by Leavitt’s team of lawyers to rehear appeals in his case.

Late Monday, they U.S. Supreme Court rejected a motion Leavitt filed Sunday seeking a stay of the execution.

June 10, 2012 Source : http://www.kivitv.com

36 Hours before his scheduled execution, Richard Leavitt maintains his innocence 

For more than a quarter century Richard Leavitt has called Death Row home.

Leavitt is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday morning for the brutal July 1984 murder of 31-year-old Danette Elg of Blackfoot.

A jury convicted Leavitt of stabbing Elg 15 times and cutting out her sexual organs.

Leavitt never confessed to the murder. And, he tells Today’s 6 News and FOX 9 News at 9:00, he is innocent.

“They [the State of Idaho] are killing an innocent man,” Leavitt said.

Police linked Leavitt to Elg’s murder after finding the condemned killer’s blood on her underwear. However, Leavitt claims he had a nose bleed and used Elg’s clothing to wipe the blood.

“It was dark,” Leavitt said. “I didn’t know what I was grabbing if it was panties or a T-Shirt or a blanket…”

Leavitt claims Thelma Wilkins, who he says was Danette’s lover, killed her.

Police and prosecutors argue Leavitt led them to Danette’s body. But, Leavitt says he was one of several people at Elg’s home when Blackfoot Police discovered her mutilated body.

“We were all there when they broke into the house, not just me,” Leavitt said. “There were probably five or six or seven of us there. They called me back two or three hours later and asked if I could identify Danette. I wlaked into the house holding my breath, seen what I seen and said all I can say is that it looks like her hair.”

Over the decades, the Death Row inmate passed two polygraph tests.

But, every appeal at every level failed.

Leavitt’s execution is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday in Boise.

His attorneys are drafting one final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court which will be reviewed Monday.

June 8, 2012 Source : http://www.nwcn.com

Final preps underway for Leavitt execution

BOISE — On Tuesday, Richard Leavitt will be executed for the 1984 murder of Danette Elg in Blackfoot. The Idaho Department of Correction is making the final preparations for his death by lethal injection.

The maximum security prison is now in Incident Command Mode, which means heightened alert and heightened security. It will stay that way until after the execution.

Leavitt is in a cell in F Block, the same building that holds the execution chamber where he is scheduled to be put to death on Tuesday. He’s being monitored 24 hours a day by two officers.

“For an individual who’s looking at, what we’re looking at on Tuesday, he’s anxious but in fairly good spirits,” said Brent Reinke, the Director of the Department of Correction.

He says Leavitt has had regular visits from his attorney, but has not requested a spiritual advisor.

“Other than that, he’s been waiting and watching, and watching legal procedures, legal actions like we all have been,” said Reinke.

Leavitt is expected to have visitors through the night on Monday, his execution is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Tuesday.

Reinke says he’s expecting members of the victim’s family and Leavitt’s family to be there, but can’t yet say who or how many might be witnesses to the execution. A handful of law enforcement and government officials and some media will be allowed to witness the execution.

Leavitt will be allowed to make a statement, then given a single lethal injection.

“As we move forward, it will be the one drug of pentobarbital,” said Reinke.

This new protocol is a departure from the three injections of three different chemicals used in the past. The other chemicals became harder to obtain, and according to one lawyer representing death row inmates, the one injection reduces the risk of excruciating pain for the prisoner.

Reinke is also expecting protesters.

“This is a very polarizing event. So we’ll be having both pros and cons,” said Reinke. “We have lots, areas set aside for individuals who want to come out and express their freedom of speech.”

But Reinke says no matter how you feel about this man or the process, his department has a job to do on Tuesday.

“We want to make sure that this is carried out with as much professionalism, dignity, and respect as we possibly can,” said Reinke.

After the execution, Leavitt’s body will be handed over to the Ada County coroner.

Reinke also says the escort and medical teams have been training for this day for months, and their mental well being is one of his biggest priorities.

June 7, 2012 Source : AP

News organizations appeal Idaho execution case

BOISE, Idaho  — A legal challenge seeking full viewing access to Idaho executions will go before a federal appeals court Thursday, with The Associated Press and 16 other news organizations saying the process is unconstitutionally restrictive.

The lawsuit comes as lethal injections have drawn greater scrutiny, from whether the drugs are effective to whether the execution personnel are properly trained.

The news organizations filed a federal lawsuit last month seeking to strike the portion of Idaho’s regulations that prevent witnesses — including reporters acting as representatives of the public — from viewing executions until after catheters have been inserted into the veins of death row inmates.

The news organizations also asked a judge to prevent next week’s execution of Richard Leavitt from moving forward without the changes, but a federal judge denied that request Tuesday.

In his decision, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge said that while the news organizations had presented a strong case in arguing that the execution limits run afoul of freedom of the press provisions, the timing of the claim fell too close to Leavitt’s execution date and could cause a delay.

Lodge didn’t rule on the merits of the lawsuit, only denying the request for a preliminary injunction. The news organizations now are want the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse Lodge’s decision. The hearing is set for Thursday morning in Pasadena, Calif.

The hearing comes five days ahead of Leavitt’s scheduled execution. He was convicted of murder in the 1984 killing of Blackfoot resident Danette Elg.

In a brief filed in support their appeal, the news organizations argue the reasons given by the Idaho Department of Correction for closing a portion of the execution process do not pass constitutional muster.

The news organizations also took issue with Lodge’s finding that the lethal injection protocol could be altered in the future without harm to the parties involved.

Chuck Brown, an attorney for the news organizations, argued this represented a “profound event.”

“The lower court is essentially finding that a First Amendment right can be violated today as long as it is possible for First Amendment rights to be reasserted at some date in the future. Such a finding flies in the face of what our constitutional rights are all about,” Brown said in court documents.

Additionally, the news organizations targeted Lodge’s finding that their claim was filed too late and if granted could force a delay in Leavitt’s execution. The public has an interest in viewing the whole execution process, Lodge said, but it also has an interest in seeing the judgment enforced without disruption.

“Perhaps the department would need to reschedule the execution of Mr. Leavitt for a later date,” Brown said.

He added, “perhaps the department could simply draw open the curtains on the preparatory stage and proceed as scheduled with only minor adjustments.”

The news organizations have cited a 9th Circuit ruling in a 2002 California case that found every aspect of an execution should be open to witnesses, from the moment the condemned enters the death chamber to the final heartbeat. The ruling established what was expected of the nine Western states within the court’s jurisdiction.

The news organizations filed their case after talks were unsuccessful with prison officials, who took the position that the 2002 ruling was based on facts unique to California, Brown said, citing letters from Idaho correction director Brent Reinke.

Deputy Attorney General Michael S. Gilmore, on behalf of state officials, has asked the 9th Circuit to affirm Lodge’s ruling.

Gilmore said in court documents that the lower court reviewed the case “under applicable procedural and substantive law. It engaged in a reasoned, record-based analysis that weighed competing factors for and against a preliminary injunction in a measured, articulate manner.”

June 4, 2012  Source : http://www.kivitv.com

The attorney for death row inmate Richard Leavitt argued for a stay of execution today before the state supreme court.

Attorney David Nevin says the courts have changed procedures in the past year in ways that affect this case, and there are still significant issues that need to be heard before Leavitt’s scheduled execution in just over a week. The state says it’s just a stalling tactic. Attorney David Nevin says Leavitt should get a stay because of significant blood evidence that wasn’t heard during the first trial.

He says that issue is important enough the state should hear it before allowing next Tuesday’s execution.
Nevin says evidence existed to counter the prosecution’s key argument that blood from Leavitt and Danette Elg were mixed indicating they were spilled at the same time.

“It was the last argument by the prosecution who said it was conclusive proof of leavett’s guilt. Well the defense was in posession of a report by an expert that said they weren’t mixed,” says Nevin.

Nevin says the report was witheld for tactical reasons because the expert witness might also have provided other evidence harmful to Leavitt’s case. The prosecution says all this is just a stalling tactic to allow all sorts of last minute appeals.

“This rule, if we interpret it the way counsel would like us to would allow for third party top come along minutes before an execution, file a motion to cause a review and then we have to start over,” says assistant Attorney General LaMont Anderson.

Decisions from the court can sometimes take weeks, but in this case will likely be expedited because of the execution timeline.
Leavitt was convicted of murder in 1984 and his case has been going through the appeals process for the past 28 years.

The 9th circuit court will hear an appeal this thursday on whether Leavitt’s original counsel was ineffective.

June 1, 2012 Source : http://www.spokesman.com

The Idaho Supreme Court has set oral arguments for Monday at 3 p.m. on a series of last-minute issues raised by condemned murderer Richard Leavitt, who is scheduled to be executed June 12. Late yesterday, the high court dismissed a major filing by Leavitt’s attorneys, a petition to vacate the death warrant and conduct a new hearing. The remaining issues, including a notice of appeal first filed May 21 in Bingham County, will be argued on Monday.

The Supreme Court has posted a link here on its website to all the last-minute filings in the capital murder case, which also include federal court filings; you can read its Thursday order here. Leavitt’s death warrant was issued May 17 for the July 1984 murder and mutilation of Danette Elg in Blackfoot; his final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected on May 14. Idaho completed its first execution in 17 years in November, putting triple murderer Paul Ezra Rhoades to death by lethal injection.

May 25, 2012 Source : http://www.kboi2.com

BOISE, Idaho  — The attorney representing a death row inmate scheduled to die in two weeks says he has passed a polygraph test that proves he’s innocent.

Richard Albert Leavitt was convicted of the 1984 stabbing murder of Blackfoot resident Danette Elg. Proseuctors said he stabbed her repeatedly and then cut out her sexual organs. He is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on June 12.

But Leavitt has long maintained his innocence in the case, and now his attorney, David Nevin, is asking the federal court to accept a polygraph test as proof of that claim. Polygraph tests are typically not admissible as evidence in court.

Nevin is also asking for the court to allow DNA testing on some evidence from the crime scene. The judge has previously turned down the request, saying he doubted the “proposed testing would bring favorable results.”

But Nevin contends that it’s not possible to know what, if anything, the DNA testing will reveal until it’s completed. If the blood of a third person were found at the scene, that would be exculpatory, Nevin said.

“The state is rushing headlong into executing an innocent man. Surely it is not too much to ask that important evidence in the case be tested at no expense and no risk to the state,” Nevin wrote to the court.

He also said a renowned polygraph expert, Boise State University psychology professor Charles Honts, examined Leavitt and found him to be truthful when he denied involvement in Elg’s murder.

Honts asked Leavitt three questions, according to court documents: “Did you stab Danette Elg?“, “Did you remove Danette Elg’s internal genitals?” and “Were you present when Danette Elg was stabbed?”

Leavitt answered “no” to all three, according to the filing. Honts also found that Leavitt’s breathing, heart rate and other physiological signals were consistent with those expected when someone is telling the truth. Honts concluded that Leavitt’s answers had a high statistical possibility of being truthful.

“Mr. Leavitt’s passing the polygraph examination provides eloquent confirmation that he is not Danette Elg’s killer, and that he is, on the contrary, innocent,” wrote Nevin.

Leavitt was arrested after authorities discovered Elg’s body in her blood-spattered bedroom four days after her June 18, 1984 murder. Just a day or two before her death, Elg called 911 and reported a prowler had tried to enter her home. When police arrived they found signs of attempted entry but nothing else, and Elg told them she suspected Leavitt was the culprit.

Prosecutors also say that during the four days between Elg’s murder and the discovery of her body, Leavitt was exceedingly interested in her whereabouts, finally getting permission to enter the home with police who discovered the body.

Additionally, Leavitt’s blood was found in the bedroom. He later claimed that he’d gotten a nosebleed while in the room several days before Elg’s death.

And prosecutors claimed that one of the strangest elements of the murder — that Elg’s internal sexual organs were removed in a way that would be difficult to accomplish without some knowledge of anatomy — were explained when Leavitt’s ex-wife testified that during a hunting trip she had once found Leavitt removing the female sexual organs of a deer and playing with them.

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TEXAS – Bobby Lee Hines – Execution DELAYED

may 21, 2012 Source : http://www.chron.com

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — The execution of a man early next month for the slaying of a Dallas woman at her apartment more than 20 years ago has been delayed.

Dallas County prosecutors asked a judge to withdraw the June 6 execution date for 39-year-old Bobby Lee Hines because results of additional DNA testing in his case won’t be available by then. District Court Judge Don Adams in Dallas approved the request Friday.

Hines was convicted of the 1991 murder of 26-year-old Michelle Wendy Haupt. She was stabbed with an ice pick and strangled.

Hines was 19 at the time and on probation for a burglary conviction. He was staying with the apartment complex maintenance man who lived next door to the victim and had access to all the keys in the development.

IDAHO – Richard Leavitt – Execution – June 12 2012 10:00 a.m EXECUTED

Richard Leavitt, 53, was pronounced dead at 10:25 a.m. at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.

He offered no final statement, and the only time he spoke was to decline to have his head covered. 

Richard Leavitt

-Information taken from Idaho Attorney General’s Office

July 16, 1984: Danette Elg reported a prowling incident to the Blackfoot Police and identified Richard Leavitt as the prowler. Elg was acquainted with Leavitt, having met him through a mutual friend.

On or about July 17, 1984: Elg was murdered in her home. She had been attacked with a knife and sustained 15 separate stab and slash wounds. In addition, she had been sexually mutilated. Following her death, but before her body was discovered, Leavitt contacted the police and friends of Elg and expressed curiosity about her absence. Leavitt claimed that Elg’s co-workers and employer called him after she did not appear for work. These calls could not be confirmed.

July 21, 1984: After obtaining permission from Elg’s parents, Leavitt and Blackfoot police entered her home and discovered her body in a waterbed, which had also been slashed during the murder.

Sept. 25, 1985: A Bingham County jury found Leavitt guilty of first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to death by 7th District Judge H. Reynold George on Dec. 19, 1985.

April 23, 1986: George held an evidentiary hearing.

May 1, 1986: George denied Leavitt’s petition for post-conviction relief.

May 30, 1989: The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed Leavitt’s conviction, but sent the case back to district court for resentencing. The Idaho Supreme Court reversed the sentence, because the trial court failed to “detail any adequate consideration of the ‘mitigating factors’ considered, and whether or not the ‘mitigating circumstances’ outweigh the gravity of any ‘aggravating circumstance’ so as to make unjust the imposition of the death penalty.” The state appealed to the United States Supreme Court, but the court declined to hear the state’s appeal.

Dec. 21, 1989: George held a sentencing hearing.

Jan. 25, 1990: George sentenced Leavitt to death.

Nov. 27, 1991: The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence. Leavitt appealed to the United States Supreme Court, but the court declined to hear his appeal.

April 29, 1993: Leavitt filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in United States District Court for the District of Idaho.

Feb. 20, 1996: Leavitt filed an amended petition.

Sept. 6, 2000: U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill denied Leavitt’s claims and dismissed his habeas petition. Leavitt filed a motion asking the court to reconsider.

Dec. 14, 2000: Winmill granted habeas relief relating to jury instructions, and ordered the state to initiate new trial proceedings within 60 days or release Leavitt. The state and Leavitt, on different grounds, appealed Judge Winmill’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

June 14, 2004: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Winmill’s decision granting habeas relief and ordering a new trial and affirmed his decision denying all other trial claims. However, the 9th Circuit sent the case back to Judge Winmill for consideration of Leavitt’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel during his resentencing.

Leavitt twice petitioned the 9th Circuit for reconsideration. Both petitions were denied.

2005: Leavitt then appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to hear his appeal from the 9th Circuit decision.

Sept. 28, 2007: Winmill granted habeas relief relating to ineffective assistance of counsel. The state appealed to the 9th Circuit.

May 7, 2011: The 9th Circuit reversed Winmill’s decision, concluding that Leavitt was not entitled to habeas sentencing relief.

Sept. 13, 2011: The 9th Circuit denied Leavitt’s petition for rehearing.

Feb. 10, 2012: Leavitt filed an appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

May 14, 2012: U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Leavitt’s case.

May 17, 2012: 7th District Judge Jon Shindurling signs death warrant for Leavitt, who will likely be executed by lethal injection June 12, 2012.

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No. 11-8844

Richard A. Leavitt v. Arvon J. Arave, Warden

from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

See other cases from the Ninth Circuit.

Docket Entries

on May 14, 2012

Petition DENIED. (orders list)

on April 26, 2012

Reply of petitioner Richard A. Leavitt filed. (Distributed)

on April 11, 2012

Brief of respondent Arvon J. Arave, Warden in opposition filed.

on March 20, 2012

Order extending time to file response to petition to and including April 16, 2012.

on February 10, 2012

Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due March 16, 2012)

on December 1, 2011

Application (11A529) granted by Justice Kennedy extending the time to file until February 10, 2012.

on November 18, 2011

Application (11A529) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 12, 2011 to February 10, 2012, submitted to Justice Kennedy.

Parties

Richard A. Leavitt, Petitioner, represented byDavid Z. Nevin

Arvon J. Arave, Warden, Respondent, represented by L. LaMont Anderson

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 May 25, 2012 Source : http://www.kboi2.com

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The attorney representing a death row inmate scheduled to die in two weeks says he has passed a polygraph test that proves he’s innocent.

Richard Albert Leavitt was convicted of the 1984 stabbing murder of Blackfoot resident Danette Elg. Proseuctors said he stabbed her repeatedly and then cut out her sexual organs. He is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on June 12.

But Leavitt has long maintained his innocence in the case, and now his attorney, David Nevin, is asking the federal court to accept a polygraph test as proof of that claim. Polygraph tests are typically not admissible as evidence in court.

full article : click here 

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May 18, 2012 source : http://www.boiseweekly.com

Inmate 23081 has been moved to F Block of the Idaho State Correctional Institute in preparation for his scheduled execution, set for Tuesday, June 12.

Brent Reinke, director of Idaho’s Department of Correction, told Citydesk that inmate Richard Leavitt had a sense that his pending execution was coming.

“Absolutely. He was ready to be moved,” said Reinke. “For an individual at his stage in the legal process, he was resolved and knew what to expect. The warden did a very good job of communicating with him.”

Reinke said that prison officials also made some recommendations regarding other inmates on death row. Leavitt is one of 14 inmates on death row: 13 men and one woman.

“During last November’s execution process [leading up to the death of inmate Paul Ezra Rhoades], we tried very diligently to reach out to that population,” said Reinke. “The warden told me, ‘Look, you’ve gone a bit too far. Just back off a bit. It’s going to be OK. If they need help, they’re going to ask you for it.'”

Reinke confirmed that IDOC has opted to use a one-drug injection method for the execution, which is slated for 10 a.m., June 12. Two syringes, each containing 2.5 grams of pentobarbital, will be used, instead of the three-drug method that was used during the Rhoades execution in November.

Leavitt was convicted of the stabbing death of Danette Elg in her Blackfoot home in July 1985. She had been stabbed 15 times and sexually mutilated. Leavitt was convicted in September 1985, but spent the rest of his days appealing his conviction and sentence. His most-recent appeal, to the U.S. Supreme Court, was turned down this week. On Monday, the high court declined to hear his case.

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