capitalpunishment

Is The Death Penalty Moral ?

Sentencing reforms need to be set in place preventing ‘permanent’ punishments. Sentencing needs to be derived from a ‘protect us from the bad elements’ point of view and not from a ‘pay them back for their nefarious deeds’ point of view.

When a law is created from a retribution or payback perspective, it violates the spirit of law and order, particularly, when a sentence option is death, having the wrong person or an aggressive prosecution and then doing something as ‘unacceptable’ as they did sounds like childish retribution and just doesn’t weigh in as making sense.

If you have the wrong person and you kill them, then heaven save us all. It could be you, me, any family member, friend or a complete stranger; it doesn’t matter because they are dead. This is dangerous to us all and why are we paying taxes to have a law like this if there is a potential that we can be easily killed by accidentor wrongly but legally. It doesn’t matter how rarely it might happen, death just doesn’t sound smart to me.

Again, if the prosecution believes that the person is guilty, their expert experience with the judicial system give them an advantage as well as increase the likelihood that an innocent person gets the death penalty.  I am not insinuating that prosecutors are evil, maybe, maybe not; the point is when the sentencing is so permanent it leaves NO room for mistakes. In this era of human rights I find it difficult that the most valuable right we have, the right to life, is not protected.

How can we punish someone for something we say is wrong and are abhorred by and then go and do the exact same thing to them ourselves, collectively, and feel justified in our actions.  We ignore the reality of it all by saying we are more humane and we would not be doing it if they did not make the choices they have chosen.  Then we sit down, contemplate, debate, and plan laws, voting on them and finally making a decision in the first degree of culpability to impose a death penalty.

If you say killing is wrong, then it’s wrong. Period.

Source : http://socyberty.com

ALABAMA – Mental retardation finding may save convicted Jefferson County murderer from death sentence

June 8, 2012 Source : http://blog.al.com

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — A Jefferson County murderer who served more than four years on Death Row then won a new trial and was reconvicted, may avoid a second death sentence after a state expert found he was mentally retarded, a hearing revealed today.

Esaw Jackson, 33, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007 for a shooting the year earlier in Ensley that killed a woman and a teenager and wounded the mother’s two teen children.

A Jefferson County jury also convicted him of capital murder in 2011, and recommended a sentence of death in a 10-2 vote.

Pre-sentence testing ordered by Circuit Judge Stephen Wallace, the judge in the current trial, determined Jackson had an IQ of 56, well below the normal legal threshold for mental retardation, which is a 70 IQ.

The U.S. Supreme Court has banned executing mentally retarded murderers.

In today’s hearing, prosecutor Mike Anderson asked for more time to obtain and examine Jackson’s school records for evidence of mental retardation, another indicator courts use to determine if the death penalty should be barred.

Wallace set a July 13 hearing, and said he wants to set the final sentencing after Anderson reports back.

If the assessment holds that Jackson is mentally retarded, “the sentence would have to be life without parole,” said one of Jackson’s lawyer, Erskine Mathis.

Judges in capital cases are not bound by the jury’s sentencing recommendation, but in most cases Alabama judges have overridden the jury’s recommendation of life without parole and imposed death instead.

Fewer than 10 percent of the judicial overrides have resulted in the lesser capital sentence, according to the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery.

Jackson was 27 when he fired a rifle at least 15 times into a car stopped at a traffic light on 19th Street and Avenue V. Killed were Pamela Montgomery, 42, and Milton Poole III, 16. Montgomery’s children, Shaniece Montgomery, then 19, and Denaris Montgomery, then 17, were wounded.

The jury in Jackson’s original trial also recommended death in a 10-2 vote, and then-Circuit Judge Gloria Bahakel sentenced him to death. The Alabama Supreme Court overturned his convictionand sentence in 2011, citing improper testimony in the 2007 trial.

Four years after watching his mother and best friend die, Denaris Montgomery committed a murder himself, and now is serving a 21-year prison term.

Exonerated death row inmate to speak in Colorado Springs – Juan Melendez

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

Rev. Roger Butts, organizer for Coloradans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. “And God forbid we execute an innocent person.”

Juan Melendez nearly became that person. After 17 years on death row in Florida for a 1983 murder — and several denied appeals — that state’s Supreme Court finally overturned his conviction when a key witness recanted his testimony. Ten years after his release, he’s bringing his story to Colorado Springs. On Sunday evening. Melendez will speak and respond to questions at First Congregational Church, 20 E. Saint Vrain St., at 6 p.m.

“The guy is just so incredibly inspiring,” says Rev. Butts. “I have a feeling that if I spent 17 years on death row, I’d be bitter, and angry, and mean, and just a recluse or something. But this guy is so unbelievably inspiring.”

His visit is sponsored by Coloradans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, who hope to pass legislation in 2013 to make Colorado the 18th state in the union to end capital punishment. For more information, contact Rev. Roger Butts at revrogerb@msn.com

Check out the trailer for Juan Melendez 6446, a documentary about Melendez’s perilous journey through capital punishment’s legal apparatus.

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CALIFORNIA – S.C. Upholds Death Sentence for Man Who Burned Woman to Death

june 8, 2012 Source : http://www.metnews.com/

The state Supreme Court yesterday unanimously upheld the death sentence for a man who killed his son’s mother by setting her afire in a Fontana pizza parlor parking lot.

The justices rejected claims by Howard Larcell Streeter that the trial judge abused his discretion by admitting evidence that may have had a significant emotional impact on the jury, including a tape of the victim screaming in pain for 20 minutes on her way to the hospital where she died.

San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Bob Krug sentenced Streeter to death in 1999 for the 1997 murder of Yolanda Buttler, 39.  Witnesses testified that Streeter sat in the parking lot waiting for Buttler, who was bringing their son to visit with him in the pizza parlor; her two older children were with her as well.

The two had recently ended a five-year relationship, which members of Buttler’s family said was violent. Buttler had recently obtained a restraining order against Streeter, who had been unsuccessfully seeking reconciliation.

After Buttler emerged from her car, witnesses said, Streeter poured gasoline over her from a can and dragged her back toward his car, from which he obtained a lighter and set the victim ablaze. Bystanders doused the fire with water and blankets, but the burns were so severe that paramedics could not locate a vein to administer pain medication.

Died in Hospital

Buttler succumbed to her wounds after 10 days in the hospital. Streeter, who was pursued by a bystander as he tried to leave the scene and was eventually arrested, was charged with first degree murder with special circumstances of lying in wait and torture.

Streeter admitted killed Buttler. But he denied that he planned the murder, saying he acted because he was distraught over the breakup and losing the opportunity to be with his son, and was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

A jury found him guilty and found both special-circumstance allegations to be true, but deadlocked as to penalty. A new jury was empaneled and voted to impose the death penalty.

On appeal, the defense argued that Krug should not have allowed the jury to hear the 20-minute tape. Given its offer to stipulate to the cause and manner of death, the defense contended, the admission of the tape was more prejudicial than probative.

Highly Probative

Justice Ming Chin, however, wrote for the high court that the tape was highly probative of whether Streeter intentionally caused the victim extreme pain, an element of the torture special circumstance to which the defense did not stipulate.

“In any event, the prosecution may not be compelled to accept a stipulation where the effect would be to deprive the state’s case of its persuasiveness and forcefulness,” Chin wrote, concluding that the evidence was no more sensational than was necessary to demonstrate what had occurred.

Chin went on to say that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to find that Buttler’s murder arose from a premeditated plan to cause her extreme pain and not from an“an unplanned, impulsive explosion of violence resulting from a fight that spun out of control” as the defense contended.

“Given defendant’s prior physical abuse of Yolanda, his attempts to control her by preventing communication with her family, his anger with Yolanda for leaving him and taking his child, and concealing her whereabouts, and the repeated threats against Yolanda’s family, the jury could have reasonably concluded that when defendant intentionally set Yolanda on fire as he had planned, he intended to cause Yolanda extreme pain and suffering as punishment or for revenge,” Chin wrote.

Flight Considered

Jurors could also consider the fact that he fled the scene, rather than attempting to help put the flames out, conduct more consistent with murderous intent than sudden rage, Chin said.

The justice agreed with the defense that Krug committed error when he instructed the jury that it could consider the defendant’s prior misdemeanor conviction for shooting into an occupied dwelling as an aggravating factor under Penal Code Sec. 190.3(c). But the error was certainly harmless, he said.

While Sec. 190.3(c) only applies to felony convictions, the jury was entitled to consider the underlying violent criminal conduct as an aggravating factor under Sec. 190.3(b), Chin explained. “The danger that the jury would assign significant additional aggravating weight to the fact of conviction was minimal,” the jurist said.

The case is People v. Streeter, 12 S.O.S. 2772.

FLORIDA – UCI and FSP Death Row Raiford – New Housing rules

June 8, 2012 Source : http://www.dc.state.fl.us/

New Housing Rules

In addition to Florida Administrative Code (FAC) Chapter 33 and FDC Procedures you will be expected to comply with these instructions. Failure to comply may result in the loss/suspension of privileges and/or disciplinary action. Your acknowledgement and compliance with these instructions will be an indication of positive adjustment and a benefit to you. Should you have any questions: contact a staff member within your unit for clarification. FAC Chapter 33 and FDC Procedures are available for checkout in each unit. Items checked out must be returned on the same shift as issued. Inmates will be responsible for lost or damaged items they have checked out.

1) Inmates will follow all orders given by an employee at any given time.

2) Inmates are to conduct themselves in a quiet and orderly manner at all times. There will be no yelling or loud talking from cell to cell, out of windows to inmates or staff. Additionally there will be no talking during counts of after lights out. Inmates are not permitted to yell to staff members to gain their attention unless there is true emergency.

3) Inmates are not permitted to talk or in any way attempt to communicate with other inmates while being escorted outside of their cells. This includes, but not limited to – showers/haircut, recreation, hearings, callouts/appointments and work/education assignments.

4) Inmates are not permitted to communicate or attempt to communicate to anyone outside of the housing unit to include those times when inmates are escorted outside the unit to participate in outdoor recreation, work details or call-outs/appointments. Any form of unauthorized communication to others (staff, visitors, or inmates) outside the unit in any manner is strictly prohibited.

5) You are required to wear a Class B uniform from 8:00am – 5:00pm Monday to Friday. The class B uniform consists of a tee shirt, blue pants or personal shorts (if you currently possess them). Anytime an inmate departs their cell they are to be dressed in Class A uniform, including approved footwear, unless directed otherwise by staff.

6) Bunks will be made each morning at 8:00am, excluding weekends and holidays, with a 6 (six) inch white collar and will remain in this fashion until 5:00pm. Anytime an inmate departs his/her cell on weekends or holidays the bunk will be made before departing the cell.

7) Inmates are to remain quiet when any staff member enters the wing. When a staff member passes by your cell, you may address staff at that time.

8) Inmates are not permitted to stand on toilets, bunks or sinks.

9) Mattresses, sheets, blankets, pillows/pillow cases and towels will not be placed on the floor at any time.

10) Inmates will perform scheduled cleaning of their cells as directed by staff and will be responsible for keeping cells clean and orderly at all times. Inmates will not write on, or in any manner deface cell walls, windows, floors, ceilings, doors/bars or any fixtures. No items are to be attached or affixed to any area within the cells. Towels and washcloths may be hung to dry on the wall hooks, provided for that purpose in each cell.

11) Inmates are not permitted to throw any trash out of their cells. Trash will be collected during scheduled cell cleaning and after the completion of each meal.

12) All state property will be returned in the same condition as when issued.

13) Inmates are not to pass any item from cell to cell or to any other inmate to include personal/or state property. The manufacture, possession or use of a rope or “fishing line” is prohibited.

14) All property will be stored in your locker or other approved storage location. All personal property in excess of what can be kept in the locker must be disposed of according to proper regulations.

15) All inmates are to come to the cell door and receive their food tray at meal times. The trays are to remain inside the cell until collected at the completion of each meal. Food items or trays will not be passed between cells. No food items, food trays, utensils, containers or condiments (except those items purchased from the canteen) will be stored in the cells at any time. Any issue with the meal being served will be addressed to the officer supervising the feeding of the meal and not inmate orderlies.

16) Death Row inmates will be allowed to possess and use “smokeless tobacco” products. They will not be allowed to possess any other type of tobacco.

17) All inmates are required to comply with Chapter 33-602-101, FAC to include maintaining hair and fingernails as outlined. Inmates will also shower and shave three times a week (unless exempt by medical pass) Showers are limited to ten (10) minutes maximum. Clippers will be used for shaving.

18) Inmates will proceed directly to the showers from their cells and return directly to their cell upon completion unless directed otherwise. You are permitted to take the following items to the shower: clean clothing, shower slides, towel, washcloth, and hygiene products.

19) Issuance and exchange of health and comfort items will be on a predetermined schedule within each unit.

20) You are not permitted to take anything (i.e. towels, books, papers, canteen items, etc) to the outdoor recreation yards. Inmates are permitted to talk to other inmates in the outdoor recreation areas if conversation can be conducted without loud talking or yelling. Inmates participating in outdoor recreation are not permitted to talk to inmates inside the housing unit or areas outside of the recreation area. Inmates will be permitted to remove outer shirt once inside the recreation yard, but t-shirts must be worn. Shorts may be worn while on the recreation yards.

21) Inmates are required to respond to health care staff during daily rounds, sick call, and weekly mental health rounds. Prior to health care staff entering the individual housing unit an officer will announce “Health care staff is now conducting rounds” If these rounds are after 5:00pm inmates will dress in at least Class “B” uniform until health care staff departs the housing unit.

22) Inmates with medical, mental health or dental non-emergencies will notify medical staff while making daily rounds; mental health staff during weekly rounds or submit an “inmate request” DC6-236. Over the counter medication may be requested from Close Management staff as needed.

23) Cells will be inspected for damage prior to your placement. Any noted deficiency will be listed on the “Cell Inspection” DC6-221 form and you will sign the form acknowledging your agreement with the inspection. Inmates will be held accountable for any deficiencies not previously noted on the DC6-221 during routine inspections or upon release.

24) In the event it becomes necessary to evacuate the housing unit inmates will follow all directions issued by staff and move from their assigned cells to the pre-designated assembly area in a quiet and orderly manner. Inmates will not attempt to retrieve any personal property prior to departure unless directed by staff.

MISSISSIPPI – UPDATE – Mississippi Supreme Court refuses Brawner reprieve

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

JACKSON — The Mississippi Supreme Court has denied a request to stay today’s execution of a Southaven man convicted of killing his 3-year-old daughter, his former wife and her parents.

The court’s decision on Monday capped a round of legal briefs filed in the case of 34-year-old Jan Michael Brawner, who is scheduled to die by injection at 6 tonight.

Brawner’s lawyer said he would file a petition this morning with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Brawner was sentenced to death for the April 25, 2001, shooting deaths of his daughter, Paige; his former wife, Barbara Craft; and her parents, Carl and Jane Craft. Brawner killed them in their Tate County home, stole about $300 and used his former mother-in-law’s wedding ring to propose to his girlfriend the same day, according to court records.

Brawner admitted to the killings. During the sentencing phase of his trial, he declined to have anyone testify on his behalf with mitigating testimony, which could have been used to sway jurors to spare his life.

“As far as life, I don’t feel that I deserve to live,” Brawner testified at the time.

Subsequent lawyers have argued that Brawner’s trial attorney did a poor job by not calling such mitigating witnesses as his mother and a psychiatrist, who could have testified about things that had happened to him in life.

Brawner’s lawyer, David Calder, had argued earlier Monday in a court filing that his client could be the first person executed in the U.S. on a tie vote of judges. The Mississippi Supreme Court voted 4-4 last week to deny a rehearing in the case. Justice Ann Lamar didn’t vote. She was district attorney in Tate County when the slayings occurred. By the time of the trial in April 2002, she was a Circuit Court judge, though she didn’t preside over the trial.

In court procedures, a tie vote usually means an earlier ruling stands.

Calder asked the justices to suspend court rules that prohibit people from asking a second time for a rehearing and to issue a stay of execution.

The court voted 4-3 against the motion to suspend the rules and against a stay of execution. Lamar and Chief Justice Bill Waller didn’t vote this time. A court spokeswoman said Waller was unable to attend Monday’s conference of justices. Waller voted to deny the rehearing last time.

Brawner went to his former in-laws’ home after learning his former wife planned to stop him from seeing their child. He gave conflicting statements to police and during testimony, saying at times he wanted to borrow money and at other times that he was going to rob his father-in-law.

Court records said he was waiting at the Crafts’ home when his former wife arrived with her mother and the child. After becoming agitated, he went to his car and got a rifle he had stolen from the house earlier in the day. He shot the former mother-in-law first, then his ex-wife. His daughter, Paige, watched the killings, court records said.

“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,” court records say. He shot and killed Carl Craft when he got home from work and stole his wallet and the ring.

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

A death row inmate is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to stay his execution scheduled for next Tuesday and grant him a new hearing.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in a 4-4 earlier this week not to allow a rehearing on previous arguments in the case of Jan Michael Brawner. Justice Ann Lamar didn’t participate.

In court procedures, a tie vote usually means an earlier ruling stands. However, Brawner’s lawyers argue there’s precedent in Mississippi that says a tie vote in death penalty cases should favor the condemned inmate.

Brawner claims his previous appeals lawyer didn’t do a good job and he wants an oral hearing on the matter.

Brawner, now 34, was convicted of the 2001 killings of his 3-year-old daughter, ex-wife and former father-in-law and mother-in-law Tate County.

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June 6, 2012 Source : http://www.fox40tv.com

JACKSON, Miss.  – The Mississippi Supreme Court won’t reconsider an appeal from an inmate scheduled for execution June 12.

Jan Michael Brawner argued his legal case suffered because of ineffective assistance by Bob Ryan, former head of the state office meant to handle post-conviction appeals for people sentenced to death.

Brawner, now 34, was convicted of the 2001 killings of his 3-year-old daughter, ex-wife and former father-in-law and mother-in-law the Tate County community of Sarah.

According to trial testimony, Brawner went to his former in-laws’ home after learning his former wife planned to stop him from seeing their child; he also had no money and contemplated robbing his former in-laws. Brawner admitted to the killings at trial and told a prosecutor he deserved death.

Justices ruled 4-4 Tuesday not to reconsider Brawner’s appeal.

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CALIFORNIA – Paroled felon gets death penalty in Riverside officer killing – Earl Elllis Green

June 5, 2012 Source : http://www.latimes.com

Earl Ellis GreenEarl Ellis Green looks over his shoulder after the jury ordered the death penalty in the shooting of Police Officer Ryan Bonaminio.
Riverside jurors ordered the death penalty Tuesday for Earl Ellis Green, who was convicted of fatally shooting Riverside Police Officer Ryan Bonaminio at point-blank range as the officer pleaded for his life.

After 3 1/2 hours of deliberations, the panel returned the decision, agreeing with prosecutors who argued that the penalty should fit the crime. The 46-year-old convicted felon, who was on parole at the time of the November 2010 killing, smiled as the jury announced the verdict, witnesses said.

“We are pleased with this verdict and the hard work done by this jury,” Dist. Atty. Paul Zellerbach said. “This case is a perfect example — the murder of a peace officer in the line of duty — why we need the death penalty and why it needs to be carried out.”

He said the death penalty was supported by the facts: “The officer was already rendered pretty much helpless, unconscious and defenseless when he was executed with his own gun.”

Despite the guilty verdict and death penalty decision by the jury, Bonaminio’s family said that nothing will bring back the officer, who was killed in a church parking lot after Green led Bonaminio on a foot chase through Riverside’s Fairmount Park.

Green, who remains in custody with no bail, is scheduled to return to the Hall of Justice in Riverside on June 25 to be sentenced by Judge Jean Leonard. He was found guilty last month of first-degree murder with special circumstances that made him subject to the death penalty.

During the trial, defense attorneys acknowledged that Green fired the shots that killed Bonaminio, but sought a conviction on a lesser charge that would not carry the death penalty.

Stephen J. McQueen, a homeless man who volunteered at the church, told the jury he saw the shooting unfold as he smoked a cigarette in the parking lot. Bonaminio, hands up, told the killer, “Don’t do it. Don’t do it,” McQueen testified.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Hestrin said during the trial that Green’s first two shots missed the officer. Green then walked up to Bonaminio, who was on his knees, and fired at the back of the officer’s head from a foot or so away, Hestrin said.

“His life and blood poured out of him,” Hestrin told the jury. “He died there, on the cold and dirty asphalt.”

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FLORIDA – How Florida’s Death Penalty Is Killing Us by Spencer Aronfeld

Spencer Aronfeld Spencer Aronfeld 

Florida Lawyer, Author of “Make It Your Own Law Firm” and Founder of Lawyers to the Rescue.

Since 1979 Florida has executed 72 human beings. Most spent more than a decade on death row waiting to be killed. According to the Florida Department of Corrections the average death row inmate is 44 years old at the time of his execution, while they were only 30 years of age at the time of the alleged offense that led to their conviction.

Florida also executes women. Judy Bunoano was the first woman Florida executed in 1998. She died in an electric chair. Currently there are four women on death row.

After Bunonano’s execution, Florida started offering lethal injections as an optional means. The executions are performed by an unnamed “private citizen” that gets paid $150.00 for each execution.

Tragically, not everyone who has been on Florida’s death row was actually guilty. In fact, Florida reverses more death sentences than any other state in the country, releasing 23 death row inmatesbased upon post-conviction evidence of their innocence.

Now is the time that Florida must reform its criminal justice system by taking a closer look at what Florida’s death penalty says about us as a civilization, as well as the 401 people who are currently on Florida’s death row. Some argue and believe that having Florida’s death penalty somehow discourages murder. Yet, the statistics tell another story. For instance, in 2010 the average murder rate in states with death penalties was 4.6 per 100,000 while the average murder rate for states without the death penalty was only 2.9 per 100,000.

Another serious problem is that Florida law does not currently require a jury to unanimously recommend a death sentence. In fact, of the 34 states currently allowing death sentences; Florida is the only state that permits juries to recommend it by a simple majority.

My experience and training as a board certified Florida civil trial lawyer has been to hold those accountable for the harm they cause people by their carelessness and greed. I find it hard to understand how Florida can take it upon itself to intentionally kill a person in the name of justice.

I believe that capital punishment is a barbaric and outdated form of brutality that must cease to exist. The death penalty does not prevent violent crime or encourage those intending to commit murder to move to another state. Rather, it teaches us that murder is justifiable when the murderer is the state itself.

Life is too precious. No man should be permitted to take the life of another under any circumstances. This includes Florida’s State paid $150.00 executioner. Criminals belong in jails not in electrocuted or lethally injected to death by those who think they are acting on our behalf.

As long as convicted death row inmates are found innocent no further executions should be permitted to take place in Florida.

Follow Spencer Aronfeld on Twitter: www.twitter.com/aronfeld

MISSISSIPPI- Henry Curtis JACKSON -Execution .- LAST HOURS- EXECUTED 6.13 pm

June 5, 2012 Execution of Henry Curtis Jackson
7:00 p.m. News Briefing

Parchman, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) today conducted the mandated execution of state inmate Henry Curtis Jackson. Inmate Jackson was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. MDOC Commissioner Christopher Epps said during a press conference following the execution that the evening signified the close of the Henry Curtis Jackson case. Jackson was sentenced to death in September 1991 for the crimes of four counts of capital murder of Shunterica Lonnett Jackson, Dominique Devro Jackson, Antonio Terrell
Jackson and Andrew Odutola Kuyoro, Jr. in Leflore County, Miss.“The State of Mississippi – Department of Corrections has carried out the mandated execution of death row inmate Henry Curtis Jackson,” said MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps. “Through the course of nearly 22 years, death row inmate Henry Curtis Jackson was afforded his day in court and in the finality, his conviction was upheld all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
“I ask that you join me in prayer for the families of Shunterica Lonnett Jackson, Dominique Devro Jackson, Antonio Terrell Jackson and Andrew Odutola Kuyoro, Jr. The entire MDOC family hopes you may now embark on the process of healing. Our prayers and thoughts are with you as you continue life’s journey,” said Epps. Epps concluded his comments by commending Deputy Commissioner of Institutions Emmitt Sparkman,  Mississippi State Penitentiary Superintendent Earnest Lee, Mississippi State Penitentiary security staff and the entire staff of the Mississippi Department of Corrections for their professionalism during the process.

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Henry “Curtis” Jackson Jr. was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. CDT Tuesday after receiving an injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, officials said.

Clad in a red prison jumpsuit as he lay strapped to a gurney, Jackson was asked if he wanted to make a statement.

“No, I don’t,” he responded as family members sat somberly in a nearby witness room.

4:45 p.m. News Briefing

Parchman, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) today briefed
members of the news media of death row Inmate Henry Curtis Jackson’s activities from
2:00 p.m. to approximately 4:45 p.m., including telephone calls and visits.
Inmate Jackson’s Collect Telephone Calls
Today, Tuesday, June 5, 2012
No phone calls.
Update to Inmate Jackson’s Visits
 Family visitors left Unit 17 at 3:00 p.m. In addition to previously mentioned
family members, Inmate Jackson’s wife, Ms. Jacqueline Jackson, did visit with
him.
 Attorneys Robert Davis, Jr. and David Voisin visited with Inmate Jackson from
3:00 p.m. until 3:30 p.m.
 Inmate Jackson’s spiritual advisors, Reverend James Cooper and MDOC
Chaplain Marvin Edwards, left Unit 17 at 4:00 p.m.
Activities of Inmate Jackson:
 Inmate Jackson ate none of the dinner offered to him.
 Inmate Jackson does not wish to take a shower and does not want a sedative.
 Inmate Jackson remains under observation. Officers have observed Inmate
Jackson as being very solemn.

Briefing 2.pm

Parchman, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) will hold three news  briefings today related to events surrounding the Tuesday, June 5, 2012 scheduled execution of death row Inmate Henry Curtis Jackson, MDOC #25585. The following is an update on Inmate Jackson’s recent visits and telephone calls, activities, last meal to be served, and the official list of execution witnesses.

Approved visitation list:
Jacqueline Jackson (wife)
Martha Jackson (mother)
Natasha Jackson (daughter)
Monique Johnson (daughter)
Shameeka Johnson (daughter)
Henry Jackson, III (son)
Darrius Story (son)
Regina Jackson (sister)
Fannie Barbara Payne (sister)
Pearl Jackson (sister)
Glenda Kuyoro (sister)
Gregory Jackson (brother)
Andrew Kuyoro (brother-in-law)
Robert Davis, Jr. (attorney)
David Voisin (attorney)
Reverend James Cooper
MDOC Chaplain Marvin Edwards

Visits with Inmate Henry Curtis Jackson
Monday, June 4, 2012
Robert Davis, Jr. (attorney)
David Voisin (attorney)
.
Visits today, thus far:
 Martha Jackson (mother)
 Natasha Jackson (daughter)
 Monique Johnson (daughter)
 Shameeka Johnson (daughter)
 Henry Jackson, III (son)
 Regina Jackson (sister)
 Fannie Barbara Payne (sister)
 Pearl Jackson (sister)
 Gregory Jackson (brother)

June 5, 2012
Activities of Jackson
 Inmate Jackson was transferred from Unit 29 to Unit 17 on Sunday at 6:00 p.m.
 This morning, at Unit 17, Inmate Jackson was offered breakfast, but ate nothing.
 Inmate Jackson was offered lunch today, but ate nothing.
 Inmate Jackson has access to a telephone to place unlimited collect calls to persons
on his approved telephone list. He will have access today, June 5th until 5:00 p.m.

Approved Telephone List
 Jacqueline Jackson (wife)
 Martha Jackson (mother)
 Natasha Jackson (daughter)
 Monique Johnson (daughter)
 Henry Jackson, III (son)
 Darrius Story (son)
 Regina Jackson (sister)
 Pearl Jackson (sister)
 Glenda Kuyoro (sister)
 David Voisin (attorney)
Inmate Jackson’s Collect Telephone Calls

Monday, June 4, 2012
Three phone calls to: Regina Jackson (sister)
One phone call to: Monique Johnson (daughter)
One phone call to: Pearl Jackson (sister)
One phone call to: Glenda Kuyoro (sister)
Today, June 5, 2012
Thus far today:
No phone calls thus far.
According to the MDOC correctional officers that are posted outside his cell, Inmate
Jackson is observed to be very talkative but somber.

Jackson’s Remains
Inmate Jackson has requested that his body be released to his brother, Gregory Jackson and
Century Funeral Home in Greenwood, Miss.

June 5, 2012
Last Meal
Inmate Jackson has requested no last meal, but will be offered the standard dinner meal.
Execution Witnesses
Spiritual Advisor(s) for the condemned Inmate Jackson requested Reverend James Cooper
and MDOC Chaplain Marvin Edwards as spiritual advisors to witness the execution.
Member(s) of the condemned’s family Inmate Jackson requested no family witness the execution.
Attorney(s) for the condemned Inmate Jackson requested no attorney witness the execution.
Member(s) of the victims’ family Regina Faye Jackson (Mother of Shunterica and Dominque Jackson)
Glenda Kuyoro (Mother of Andrew Kuyoro and Antonio Jackson)Andrew Kuyoro (Father of Andrew Kuyoro and Stepfather of Antonio Jackson)
Sheriffs Sheriff James Haywood, Sunflower County
Sheriff Harold Jones, Copiah County
Members of the Media

Jack M. Elliott
Associated Press
Jackson, MS
Jeffrey Hess
Mississippi Public Broadcasting
Jackson, MS
Charles Edward Smith
The Greenwood Commonwealth
Greenwood, MS
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MISSISSIPPI – Henry Curtis Jackson – Execution – June 5 Set a 6 p.m EXECUTED 6.13 PM

 

June 5, 2012 Source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Media kit (pdf) : click here 

Two women are asking Mississippi’s governor to spare their brother from execution, even though he killed four of their children, paralysed another and stabbed one of the sisters.

Henry ‘Curtis’ Jackson Jnr, 47, is scheduled to be executed today by lethal injection. 

He killed the four children, aged between two and five, during a rampage that started when he went to his mother’s home in Leflore County to take money from her safe on November 1, 1990.

His mother was at church that day, but Jackson’s adult sister, Regina Jackson, was at the home with her two daughters and four nieces and nephews.

Regina Jackson was stabbed five times. Her two daughters and two nephews were stabbed to death. Another niece was so severely injured that she was paraplegic until her recent death. 

Despite her loss and her injuries, Regina said she pleaded for her brother’s life when she met with Governor Phil Bryant yesterday.

She wrote Mr Bryant a letter last month asking for a reprieve, saying she didn’t want her brother to get out of prison and that she ‘just can’t take any more killing’.

She wrote: ‘As a mother who lost two babies, all I’m asking is that you not make me go through the killing of my brother.’

Mercy plea: Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has been approached by Jackson’s sisters, Regina and Glenda

She said that she had forgiven her brother over the years, adding: ‘If they kill him, they’re doing the same thing that he did. The dying is going to have to stop somewhere.’

Another sister, Glenda Kuyoro, and her husband Andrew also asked Mr Bryant to spare Jackson in a letter dated May 15.

Jackson’s attorney, Robert Davis Jnr, of Tupelo, filed a clemency request with Mr Bryant’s office last week.

Cliff Johnson, a Jackson attorney helping the sisters, said yesterday that the case was unusual because the victims were asking for clemency for the attacker.

He said: ‘Much is said about the importance of respecting the rights and wishes of victims and their families. This case raises a very important question: Are we committed to honoring the wishes of victims’ families when they ask for mercy, or do we hear those voices only when they ask for vengeance?’

Jackson has appealed the case over the years but hasn’t been successful. He has said he doesn’t remember stabbing the children, but testimony from his trial describes a horrific scene.

He cut the phone line before going in the house, according to the court record. Once inside, he demanded money and attacked his sister. One of the children tried to help, but he stabbed her, too.

At some point, Regina tried to fight him off with an iron rod, but he grabbed one of the children to use as a shield.

Regina testified at trial that she was in and out of consciousness after being tied up and stabbed in the neck, but she could hear her brother dragging a safe down a hall.

The noise woke up five-year-old Dominique, one of her daughters.

Court records state: ‘Regina testified that Jackson called Dominique to him, told her that he loved her, stabbed her, and tossed her body to the floor.

‘Jackson returned to Regina, stabbing her in the neck and twisting the knife, at which point she pretended to be dead until she heard him leave.’

Jackson turned himself in to police and confessed to some details. He was convicted and sentenced to death on four counts of capital murder after a trial in September 1991.

His mother, Martha Jackson, said yesterday that she had forgiven her son and planned to visit him before the execution.

She said: ‘If I don’t forgive him, God don’t forgive me.’

Mrs Jackson said she was not sure if she would watch the lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.

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