Murder

LOUISIANA – Todd Wessinger – execution may 9, 2012 STAYED


Update 25 april source : http://www.ktbs.com

BATON ROUGE, La.

A federal judge in Baton Rouge has granted a temporary stay of execution for a man convicted in the 1995 slaying of two workers at a now-closed restaurant.
The Advocate reports Todd Wessinger was scheduled to be executed May 9 but U.S. District Judge James Brady granted the stay while he reviews arguments presented Wednesday by his attorneys, who asked for a permanent stay of the death penalty order.
Brady did not say when he would rule on the request.
Wessinger, a former dishwasher at a now-closed Calendar’s restaurant, was found guilty and sentenced to die by lethal injection for fatally shooting 27-year-old Stephanie Guzzardo and 46-year-old David Breakwell on Nov. 19, 1995.

 

acts from The Supreme court Louisiana

This case arises from the murder of two employees of Calendar’s Restaurant in Baton Rouge on Sunday, November 19, 1995, at approximately 9:30 a.m. The evidence shows that defendant, a former employee at Calendar’s, rode his bicycle tothe restaurant that morning armed with a .380 semi-automatic pistol. Mike Armentor, a bartender at the restaurant, saw defendant just outside of the restaurant, and they exchanged greetings. Immediately after entering the restaurant through a rear door, defendant shot Armentor twice inthe back. Although Armentor sustained severe abdominal injuries, he survived. Defendant then tried to shoot Alvin Ricks, a dishwasher, in the head, but the gun would not fire. As Ricks ran out of the restaurant, defendant attempted to shoot him in the leg, but the gun misfired. As he was running across the street to call 911, Ricks told Willie Grigsby, another employee of the restaurant who escaped the restaurant without being seen by defendant, that he had seen the perpetrator, and the perpetrator was Todd. Ricks also told the 911 operator that the perpetrator was Todd.

Stephanie Guzzardo, the manager on duty that morning, heard the commotion and called 911. Before she could speak to the operator, defendant entered the office, armed with the gun.  After a short exchange with Guzzardo, in which she begged for her life, defendant, after telling her to “shut up,” shot her through the heart. Guzzardo died approximately thirty seconds after being shot. Defendant then removed approximately $7000 from the office. Defendant next found David Breakwell, a cook at the restaurant who had been hiding in a cooler, and shot him as he begged for his life. Defendant then left the restaurant on his bicycle. EMS personnel arrived at the scene shortly there after, and Breakwell died en route to the hospital.

Defendant was eventually arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder. Testimony adduced at trial established that defendant had asked one of his friends to commit the robbery with him, and that he planned to leave no witnesses to the crime. Several people also testified that they had seen the defendant with large sums of money after the crime. The murderweapon was subsequently discovered, along with a pair of gloves worn during the crime, at an abandoned house across the street from defendant’s residence. One of defendant’s friends testified that defendant had asked him to remove the murder weapon from the abandoned house.
Defendant was convicted of two counts of first degree murder for the deaths of Breakwell and Guzzardo and sentenced to death. The jury found three aggravating circumstances:

(1) that defendant was engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of aggravated burglary orarmed robbery;

(2) that defendant knowingly created a risk of death or great bodily harm to more
than one person; and

(3) the offense was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner.

read full opinion

Update april 12, 2012  source :http://www.therepublic.com

Attorneys for convicted killer Todd Wessinger, who is scheduled to be executed May 9 for the 1995 slaying of two workers at a now-closed Baton Rouge restaurant, has asked a federal judge to reconsider his recent denial of a new trial or sentencing.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/HDLBlg ) Todd Wessinger’s attorneys also asked that his execution be stayed.

Wessinger’s attorneys want U.S. District Judge James Brady to hold an evidentiary hearing on Wessinger’s federal constitutional claims. The attorneys argued that Brady issued his ruling Feb. 22 without ever holding such a hearing.

Wessinger, a former dishwasher at the restaurant, was found guilty and sentenced to die by lethal injection for fatally shooting 27-year-old Stephanie Guzzardo and 46-year-old David Breakwel on Nov. 19, 1995.

“This Court’s actions throughout these proceedings led Mr. Wessinger to believe that evidentiary hearings would take place,” Wessinger’s current attorneys — Danalynn Recer, of The Gulf Region Advocacy Center in Houston; Soren Gisleson, of New Orleans; and federal public defender Rebecca Hudsmith, of Lafayette — contend in court filings.

Those attorneys electronically filed a motion Tuesday in federal court in Baton Rouge to alter or amend Brady’s judgment. A supporting memorandum was electronically filed Wednesday.

In February, Brady rejected a dozen claims raised by the Wessinger, 44, including allegation that his trial attorneys provided ineffective assistance during jury selection and the guilt and penalty phases of his 1997 trial in Baton Rouge.

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore III said Wednesday he believes the judge’s decision “was sound and based on the facts presented by the record.”

“It seems that the defense is arguing that everyone involved in this case did something wrong, including the defense lawyers, experts and the court — that is everyone but the defendant, who committed a particularly brutal murder,” Moore stated.

“I hope that the execution date will remain intact although I anticipate more filings on behalf of the defendant to upset the carrying out of the jury’s verdict,” he added.

Brady, who described the state’s evidence against Wessinger in the guilt phase as “overwhelming,” said in his ruling that Wessinger faults his attorneys’ penalty phase preparation for not probing further into his childhood and upbringing.

Wessinger contends such an investigation would have led to evidence of a physically and mentally abusive childhood, possible mental defects and an alienation from society that led him to believe he did not belong.

Brady ruled that Wessinger is not attacking the quality or thoroughness of the investigation but “does not like the way his story was spun for the jury.”

“This is a clear factual error inconsistent with the record which must be revisited,” Wessinger’s attorneys argue in their memorandum.

“At penalty phase, trial counsel generally painted a rosy picture of Mr. Wessinger as ‘a caring and present father, a brother who cared for his handicapped sister growing up, and a hard worker from a stable family.’ Because trial counsel had not hired a mitigation specialist nor conducted any independent life history investigation, the presentation was an incomplete and inaccurate view of Mr. Wessinger,” his current attorneys maintain.

“It is not the case, as this court suggests, that trial counsel conducted the investigation and made strategic choices about what to present,” Wessinger’s attorneys add.

Michael Parrish gets death penalty in ’09 double-murder


april 02. 2012  source : http://www.poconorecord.com

A Monroe County jury has sentenced Michael Parrish to death for the 2009 double-murder of his ex-girlfriend and infant son.

Parrish was convicted last week of fatally shooting Victoria Adams and Sidney Parrish at their apartment in Effort on the night of July 6, 2009.

Sitting between his attorneys, Parrish showed no emotion to the verdict, staring straight ahead and blinking his eyes every few seconds. Though his father and a former co-worker had testified earlier on his behalf, none of Parrish’s family or friends were present for the jury’s penalty phase verdict.

Parrish remained as stoic as ever, saying nothing as sheriff’s deputies led him from the courtroom after the verdict.

“I wanted him to get death and I’m glad he got it, but it still doesn’t bring my daughter and grandson back,” a tearful Kim Adams, mother of victim Victoria Adams and grandmother of baby victim Sidney Parrish, told reporters afterward as she left the courthouse with other family members. “Nothing can ever bring them back.”

The family thanked the police, District Attorney’s Office and county Victim-Witness Coordinator’s Office.

A somber Wieslaw Niemoczynski, the county public defender who with attorney Jim Gregor has been representing Parrish, called the verdict “very sobering.”

“The jury has spoken,” Niemoczynski said. “We’ll see what, if any, issues should be appealed and go from there.”

The jury deliberated for about three hours Monday before returning its sentence just after 8:30 p.m. Testimony began in the morning with Parrish’s father.

Parrish’s father, Joseph A. Parrish, was an alcoholic who was violent toward his mother, according to Deborah Belknap, defense litigation specialist.

The elder Parrish said Michael was 5 when his mother filed for divorce.

Michael Parrish, a former prison guard, became exposed to Nazi Germany through a class at his mother’s college, his father said.

At age 14, he went back to live with his father, where he continued his obsession, his father said. His father said Michael believed he was reincarnated as a Nazi SS officer and would stand at the shoreline waiting for a German U-boat to come in.

Belknap testified that Parrish was under stress, trying to keep his job, his car running and having a baby with a heart transplant who was taking 12 medications.

During the afternoon, witnesses for the defense said Parrish had traumatic events in his life at a critical vulnerable age. Out of that came a need for imposing control in any way he could. Diagnosed as obsessive compulsive, experts said Parrish gets uptight if things are messy or out of place.

RELATED STORIES

Texas – Anthony Bartee – execution – may 2, 2012 Stay granted


Picture of Offender

Sentenced to 10 years and 33 years for two counts of Aggravated Rape out of Bexar County.  Bartee was on parole when he committed the offense of capital murder described here.

Bartee was originally scheduled to be executed on February 28, 2012, even though DNA evidence collected at the crime scene had not been tested as ordered on at least two occasions by District Judge Mary Román. He received a reprieve on February 23, 2012 when Judge Román withdrew the execution warrant so that additional DNA testing could be conducted on strands of hair found in the hands of the victim, David Cook.  She also ordered the forensic lab to provide a detailed and comprehensive report to the court with an analysis of the results. Yet, before the testing occurred, Judge Román inexplicably set another execution date, for May 2, 2012.

According to Bartee’s attorneys, DNA testing was just conducted and indicated that hairs that were tested found in Cook’s hands belonged to Cook.  The jury never heard this evidence – and in fact wasn’t told about the hairs at all – which might have undermined the prosecution’s theory of the case that a violent struggle had ensued between Cook and his killer. Still, Judge Román entered the findings as unfavorable, opining that this evidence would not have made a difference in the outcome of the trial, had it been available to the jury. Under Article 64.05 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Bartee’s attorneys have the right to appeal the unfavorable findings. The fast-approaching execution date significantly impedes this right to due process, however.

In addition, there is still more evidence that has not been tested for DNA, including cigarette butts and at least three drinking glasses found at the crime scene. In 2010, the court ordered that all items that had not been tested be tested, but these items still have not been tested.

FACTS OF THE CRIME
from Texas Attorney General

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit described the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Cook as follows:

On 17 August 1996, the victim’s body was discovered by police and his family in his home in San Antonio, Texas. He had been shot twice in the head and stabbed in the shoulder. The bullet fragments at the scene were consistent with having been fired from a pistol owned by the victim. This pistol, and the victim’s red Harley Davidson motorcycle, were missing from his home.

At some point that summer, Bartee had asked an acquaintance to assist him in robbing and killing a neighbor, informing him this neighbor “had some gold [credit] cards and a motorcycle” that Bartee wanted. And, two days prior to the discovery of the victim’s body, Bartee had informed another acquaintance, Munoz, that he intended to “ace some white dude out”. Bartee unsuccessfully solicited both Munoz and several others to assist him in achieving this result. That same day, at nearly midnight, Bartee arrived at Munoz’[s] home, riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle and claiming to carry a gun. Several witnesses identified this motorcycle as being similar or identical to the victim’s.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 2, 1997, a Bexar County grand jury indicted Bartee for murdering David Cook.

On May 15, 1998, a Bexar County jury convicted Bartee of capital murder. After a separate punishment proceeding, Bartee was sentenced to death on May 19, 1998.

On May 3, 2000, Bartee’s conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas on direct appeal. Bartee did not appeal the state court’s decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. Instead, he filed an application for habeas corpus relief which was denied by the Court of Criminal Appeals on March 8, 2006.

On January 23, 2007, Bartee filed a motion for DNA testing in the 175th State District Court in Bexar County. On June 18, 2007, the district court granted Bartee’s motion and ordered that DNA tests be conducted on the crime scene evidence. After reviewing the test results, the court determined that the evidence did not exonerate Bartee because the DNA profiles developed from the blood and hair samples were consistent with the victim’s profile. Consequently, the convicting court rejected Bartee’s appeal and upheld the capital murder conviction. Bartee appealed the trial court’s finding to the Court of Criminal Appeals, but his appeal was dismissed as untimely on March 16, 2011.

On February 21, 2007, Bartee filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division. The federal court denied Bartee’s petition on August 6, 2008.

On July 31, 2009, the Fifth Circuit rejected Bartee’s appeal and affirmed the denial of habeas corpus relief by the district court.

Bartee filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court on November 23, 2009, but the Supreme Court denied certiorari review on March 22, 2010.

On April 20, 2011, Bartee file a second application for habeas corpus relief which was dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeals on September 14, 2011.

Convicted in the August 1996 robbery murder of a friend, Bartee was given a stay before his scheduled execution in February so that additional DNA testing could be done. When the May 2 date was announced, Bartee attorney David Dow sent the court a letter saying the new date should not have been set because DNA testing has not been done. Dow said no notice of a hearing for a new execution date was sent to him or Bartee.

unpublished docket  : opinion 2009

Click on the folder icons above for more case information.
Case Information:

Case Number: WR-63,381-01
Date Filed: 11/1/2005
Case Type: 11.071
Style: BARTEE, ANTHONY
v.:

Case Events:

  Date Event Type Description
View Event ORDER FILED 2/29/2012 ORDER FILED Habeas Corpus – Capital Death
View Event MISC DOCUMENT RECD 11/16/2011 MISC DOCUMENT RECD
View Event MOT FEDERAL APPT 3/31/2006 MOT FEDERAL APPT Habeas Corpus – Capital Death
View Event MOT FEDERAL APPT LETTER 3/20/2006 MOT FEDERAL APPT LETTER Habeas Corpus – Capital Death
View Event 11.071 WRIT DISP 3/8/2006 11.071 WRIT DISP Habeas Corpus – Capital Death
View Event WRIT SUBMITTED 2/23/2006 WRIT SUBMITTED Habeas Corpus – Capital Death
View Event 11.071 WRIT RECD 11/1/2005 11.071 WRIT RECD Habeas Corpus – Capital Death
View Event ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD 11/1/2005 ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD
View Event ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD 11/1/2005 ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD
View Event ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD 11/1/2005 ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD
View Event ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD 11/1/2005 ADDITIONAL VOLUME TO AN 11.071 WRIT RECORD

Calendars:

  Set Date Calendar Type Reason Set
View Party 3/8/2006 STORED WRIT STORED

Parties:

  Party Party Type
View Party BARTEE, ANTHONY BARTEE, ANTHONY Applicant (writs)/Appellant…
View Party BARTEE, ANTHONY BARTEE, ANTHONY Applicant

Court of Appeals Case Information:

COA Case Number:
COA Disposition:
Opinion Cite:
Court of Appeals District:

Trial Court Information:

Trial Court: 175th District Court
County: Bexar
Case Number: 1997CR1659-W1
Judge: MARY ROMAN
Court Reporter:

TULSA – Michael Selsor – execution – may 1, 2012 EXECUTED


File 60516

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On September 15, 1975, a U-Tote-M store in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was robbed. One of the store employees, Clayton Chandler, was shot to death and the other, Ina Morris, was shot and wounded. Selsor and Dodson were arrested for the robbery and shootings. Selsor was charged in state court with robbery with firearms in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 801; shooting with intent to kill in violation of 21 O.S.1971, § 652; and murder in the first degree in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.1. Dodson was charged with robbery with firearms, after former conviction of a felony in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 801; shooting with intent to kill, after former conviction of a felony in violation of 21 O.S.1971, § 652; and murder in the first degree in violation of 21 O.S.Supp.1973, § 701.1. Selsor and Dodson were tried together and were both jointly represented by the same two public defenders from the same office. One attorney conducted both defenses while the other attorney supervised that attorney. Selsor v. Kaiser, 22 F.3d 1029, 1031 (10th Cir.1994) (Selsor I ).

At trial Ina Morris, the U-Tote-M employee wounded in the robbery, testified about the ordeal. She stated that she had gone into the store’s walk-in cooler, and that while in there “[a] man walked up to the first window [of the cooler] and opened it up and looked at me.” State Tr. at 183. She said the man then walked around to the big walk-in door and pointed a revolver at her. Id. at 184, 186. He told her to get on her knees on the floor. Id. at 186. She testified that she “just looked at him” because she “couldn’t believe it.” Id. She said to the gunman “You’ve got to be kidding.” Id. The gunman then fired a shot at her, hitting her in the right shoulder. State Tr. at 187. She got down on her knees. The gunman told her that if she looked up he would kill her. Id. at 188. Three to five minutes later Morris raised her head and saw the gunman standing outside the window, holding both hands on the gun. Id. at 190-91. She then saw him pull the trigger and heard the bullets hit the window. She ducked. Id. at 191. She heard more than two bullets fired. Her body went numb. Id. at 192. She lay down and lost consciousness. She was wounded in her right shoulder, on the right side of the back of her head, on top of her head, underneath her jaw, in her back and in her neck. Id. at 199. Two bullets were left in her neck. Id. Morris regained consciousness approximately five to seven minutes later. State Tr. at 193. She walked north in the cooler and looked out to see Clayton Chandler lying on the floor of the U-Tote-M. Id. at 194. Mr. Chandler died as a result of his injuries.

Morris identified Dodson as the man who shot her. Id. at 204. She gave no testimony about seeing any assailant other than Dodson, nor did she testify that she heard any shots other than those from Dodson. She did state, however, that the door to the walk-in cooler was closed and that she heard the cooler fan, a noise she described as “[v]ery loud.” Id. at 189.

Ms. Morris was the only eyewitness to the crime and her testimony did not implicate Selsor. The evidence against Selsor instead was based on his and Dodson’s confessions as presented through the testimony of two police officers, Officer Evans, a major crimes investigator for the Santa Barbara, California Police Department, and Officer Roberts of the Tulsa Police Department.

Officer Evans testified that on September 22, 1975, he and a Sergeant Williams interviewed Dodson at the Santa Barbara Police Department. State Tr. at 238. Officer Evans testified that

[Dodson] stated that he and Mr. Selsor were driving a green ’67 Pontiac…. He stated that they had been together in this car on the evening of September 15th around 11:00 P.M. and had passed by this U-TOTE-M store which he thought was located at 66th and 33rd, in that vicinity. He stated that both of them were in the car as they passed by this store a couple of times and Mr. Dodson stated that he noticed that the traffic was light around the store and the outlying area and that there was a light fog or something. He then stated that they both were armed.

….

Q And, what did he say in that regard?

A Mr. Dodson was armed with a nine shot .22 caliber revolver, black and silver and Mr. Selsor was armed with a .22 automatic Lugger Blackhawk.

Q Now, did he say anything in regard to any plan concerning this matter on 33rd West Avenue other than what you have thus far related?

A Yes, he did.

Q What did he say in that regard?

A He stated that prior to entering the store in a conversation with Mr. Selsor there was discussion of taking these people out.

….

Q Did he ever indicate in the conversation what he meant by taking them out?

A Later in the conversation it was shown that taking them out meant killing them.

Q And, when you use the expression, taking these people out, did you know at the time he told you this who he had reference to?

A By name or incident?

Q Well, by perhaps position with the store?

A Yes, meaning the proprietors of the store.

source: http://federal-circuits.vlex.com

In January 1976, in the state district court for Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Petitioner and Richard Dodson, a codefendant, were tried jointly on charges of murder in the first degree–i.e., a homicide perpetrated in the commission of an armed robbery (felony murder), the underlying felony of armed robbery, and shooting with an intent to kill. Petitioner and Dodson were represented by the same counsel. Petitioner was convicted on all three counts and was sentenced to death on the murder charge, twenty-five years imprisonment on the armed robbery conviction, and twenty years imprisonment on the shooting with intent to kill charge. Dodson was acquitted on the murder charge, but convicted on the other two charges.

Petitioner’s convictions were affirmed on direct appeal by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, although the court modified Petitioner’s death sentence on the murder charge to life imprisonment, holding that Oklahoma’s death penalty statute was unconstitutional. See Selsor v. State, 562 P.2d 926 (Okla.Crim.App.1977). In his direct appeal, Petitioner alleged, inter alia, that the trial court erred in failing to either grant a severance of his trial from Dodson’s trial or appoint separate counsel. Petitioner did not raise a double jeopardy issue in his direct appeal.

In November 1978, Petitioner filed an application for post-conviction relief, Okla.Stat.Ann. tit. 22, Sec. 1080 (West 1986), in the state district court in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In that application the only issue Petitioner raised was that he had been denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel because the trial court refused to sever the trials or appoint separate counsel for Petitioner and Dodson. Petitioner did not raise a double jeopardy issue in this post-conviction application. The state district court denied Petitioner’s application in February 1980, and the denial was later affirmed by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in an unpublished order.

In July 1989, Petitioner filed a second application for post-conviction relief in the state district court in Tulsa, Oklahoma, alleging for the first time that he had been punished in violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment when he was convicted and sentenced for both the charge of felony murder and the underlying felony of armed robbery. The state district court denied that application on the ground that Petitioner failed to raise the double jeopardy claim in the trial court, on direct appeal, or in his first application for post-conviction relief; therefore, the court held, under Oklahoma law, the claim was waived. In an unpublished order, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the denial, holding that all issues previously ruled upon by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals were res judicata, and that Petitioner had waived all issues raised for the first time in his second petition for post-conviction relief. See Okla.Stat.Ann. tit. 22, Sec. 1086 (West 1986).

In October 1991, Petitioner, appearing pro se, filed the present petition for relief pursuant to Sec. 2254 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. In this petition, Petitioner raised the following two grounds for relief: (1) he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel because of his attorney’s conflict of interest–i.e., the same attorney represented both Petitioner and Dodson; and (2) the separate convictions and sentences for felony murder and the underlying felony–i.e., armed robbery, violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Respondent filed a motion to dismiss the petition for failure to exhaust state remedies as to Petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

On December 4, 1992, the district court denied Petitioner’s petition. The district court did not grant Respondent’s motion to dismiss for failure to exhaust. Instead, the district court addressed the merits of Petitioner’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim and concluded that Petitioner was not entitled to relief. The court also found that Petitioner was procedurally barred from raising his double jeopardy claim. Finally, the district court concluded that refusing to entertain Petitioner’s double jeopardy claim would not result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Petitioner appeals the district court’s denial of his petition.

In this court, Petitioner filed his initial brief pro se. Thereafter, we entered an order appointing the Federal Public Defender for the District of Colorado to represent Petitioner on appeal.1

I.

Petitioner first contends that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel because his trial counsel had a conflict of interest in that he represented both Petitioner and Dodson at trial. The district court apparently concluded that Petitioner had raised that particular issue in the state courts of Oklahoma and therefore had exhausted his state remedies.2 The district court rejected Petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on the merits, stating that Petitioner had not shown that any “conflict of interest,” resulting from trial counsel’s representation of both Petitioner and Dodson, had “actually affected” the “adequacy of [counsel’s] representation” of Petitioner.

Petitioner and Dodson were jointly represented at trial by two attorneys from the state public defender’s office, with one attorney conducting both defenses while the other attorney supervised that attorney. Petitioner and Dodson both entered pleas of not guilty. Prior to trial, counsel moved to sever the trials of Petitioner and Dodson, or appoint separate counsel for each, because of a possible conflict of interest. That motion was denied. On the day the case came up for trial, Dodson amended his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, at which time counsel again moved for separate trials, or separate counsel, which motion was again denied.

At trial, the prosecution called an eye witness to the robbery and shooting, who gave her account of events. The prosecution also introduced confessions from both Petitioner and Dodson.3 After the prosecution rested, both defendants invoked their constitutional right not to testify. The only witness called by either defendant was Dr. Rustico Dizon Garcia, a forensic psychiatrist, who had examined Dodson. Although he was called on Dodson’s behalf, the doctor testified that he had no opinion as to whether Dodson was legally sane, or insane, at the time of the robbery and murder.

In rejecting Petitioner’s claim, the district court relied on the Supreme Court’s decision in Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U.S. 335, 350, 100 S.Ct. 1708, 1719, 64 L.Ed.2d 333 (1980), in which the Court held that in order to demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must establish that an “actual conflict of interest adversely affected his lawyer’s performance.” We conclude the district court’s reliance on Cuyler’s “actual conflict” standard was misplaced.

In Cuyler the defendant brought a Sec. 2254 petition for habeas relief based, in part, on an allegation that his two trial attorneys represented potentially conflicting interests in their joint representation of the defendant and two codefendants. Id. at 337-38, 100 S.Ct. at 1712-13. The defendant in Cuyler, however, did not object to the joint representation at trial. Id. Because of the defendant’s failure to object at trial, Cuyler concluded that the trial court had no duty to inquire about the possibility of a conflict of interest. Id. at 347, 100 S.Ct. at 1716. The Court also held that the defendant could not establish a Sixth Amendment violation based on a showing of a mere possibility of a conflict of interest; rather, the defendant must demonstrate an actual conflict. Id. at 348, 100 S.Ct. at 1718. The Court in Cuyler announced this “actual conflict” standard, however, by stating, “[i]n order to establish a violation of the Sixth Amendment, a defendant who raised no objection at trial must demonstrate that an actual conflict of interest adversely affected his lawyer’s performance.” Id. (emphasis added). This language makes it clear that the Cuyler “actual conflict” standard applies only in those cases in which the defendant fails to raise a conflict of interest objection at trial. See Hamilton v. Ford, 969 F.2d 1006 (11th Cir.1992) (“Cuyler is limited to those cases in which a defendant raises no objection to joint representation at trial”), cert. denied, — U.S. —-, 113 S.Ct. 1625, 123 L.Ed.2d 183 (1993); see also United States v. Martin, 965 F.2d 839, 841 (10th Cir.1992) (applying Cuyler actual conflict standard “[b]ecause defendant failed to raise a Sixth Amendment objection at trial”); United States v. Bowie, 892 F.2d 1494, 1500 (10th Cir.1990) (same). Because in the instant case, Petitioner vigorously objected to the joint representation at trial, Cuyler is inapplicable.

We conclude that the instant case is controlled by the Supreme Court’s holding in Holloway v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 475, 98 S.Ct. 1173, 55 L.Ed.2d 426 (1978). In Holloway, one public defender represented three codefendants who were tried jointly. Id. at 477, 98 S.Ct. at 1175. Weeks before trial, counsel moved the court to appoint separate counsel for each defendant because “the defendants ha[d] stated to him that there is a possibility of a conflict of interest in each of their cases.” Id. After conducting a hearing on the motion, the court refused to appoint separate counsel. Id. Before the jury was empaneled, defense counsel renewed the motion for appointment of separate counsel, and again the court denied the motion. Id. at 478, 98 S.Ct. at 1175. Finally, at trial, after the prosecution had rested, defense counsel informed the court that all of the codefendants insisted on taking the stand, and as a result, he would be unable to represent all three because he could not effectively cross-examine any of them. Id. at 478-81, 98 S.Ct. at 1175-77. The court stated, inter alia, “[t]hat’s all right; let them testify. There is no conflict of interest.” Id. at 479, 98 S.Ct. at 1176. All three codefendants were eventually convicted. The Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the convictions on the basis that the record demonstrated no actual conflict of interest or prejudice. Id. at 481, 98 S.Ct. at 1177.

Without ever reaching the issue of whether there was an actual conflict of interest, the Supreme Court reversed the convictions. Id. at 484, 98 S.Ct. at 1178. The Holloway Court determined that because defense counsel timely objected to the joint representation at trial, the trial court erred in failing to “either appoint separate counsel, or to take adequate steps to ascertain whether the risk was too remote to warrant separate counsel.” Id. at 484, 98 S.Ct. at 1179. The Court determined that this failure deprived the defendants “of the guarantee of ‘assistance of counsel,’ ” id., and necessitated automatic reversal of the defendants’ convictions, id. at 487-91, 98 S.Ct. at 1180-82. Under the Holloway standard, the trial court’s failure to appoint separate counsel, or adequately inquire into the possibility of conflict, in the face of a timely objection by defense counsel, demonstrates ineffective assistance of counsel without a showing of actual conflict of interest. See id.; see also Hamilton, 969 F.2d at 1011 (“[W]hen defendants make timely objections to joint representation, they need not show an actual conflict of interest when a trial court fails to inquire adequately into the basis of the objection.”). In this situation, prejudice to the defendant is presumed. See 435 U.S. at 489, 98 S.Ct. at 1181 (“[P]rejudice is presumed regardless of whether it was independently shown.”); Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 348, 100 S.Ct. at 1718 (“But unless the trial court fails to afford [ ] an opportunity [to show that potential conflicts imperil his right to a fair trial], a reviewing court cannot presume that the possibility for conflict has resulted in ineffective assistance of counsel.”); see also United States v. Sutton, 794 F.2d 1415, 1419 (9th Cir.1986) (“Thus, whenever a trial court improperly requires joint representation over timely objection based on possible conflicting interests, prejudice is presumed and reversal is automatic.”).

Although Respondent does not raise the issue, we believe it is appropriate to state our conclusion that Holloway comports with the Supreme Court’s later holding in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 692, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2067, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). In Strickland, the Court held that to set aside a judgment based on ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must demonstrate prejudice. See id. at 668, 104 S.Ct. at 2052. The Court also stated that for purposes of conflict of interest, “[p]rejudice is presumed only if the defendant demonstrates that [ ] ‘an actual conflict of interest adversely affected his lawyer’s performance.’ ” 466 U.S. at 692, 104 S.Ct. at 2067 (quoting Cuyler, 446 U.S. at 348, 100 S.Ct. at 1718). Despite its restrictiveness, we do not interpret this language as evidencing an intention on the part of the Supreme Court to overrule its earlier pronouncement in Holloway that prejudice is presumed without a showing of actual conflict when a defendant makes a timely objection to joint representation and the trial court fails to inquire adequately into the basis of the objection. Strickland specifically stated that a “fairly rigid rule of presumed prejudice for conflicts of interest” is reasonable given the obligation of counsel to avoid conflicts and the “ability of trial courts to make early inquiry in certain situations likely to give rise to conflicts.” 466 U.S. at 692, 104 S.Ct. at 2067. Thus, Strickland’s requirement of a showing of actual conflict presupposes that trial courts conduct an appropriate inquiry when the defendant properly raises the issue. Holloway, however, addresses the situation where the trial court fails to make such inquiry in the face of the defendant’s timely objection. As a result, the Strickland rule requiring a defendant to demonstrate an actual conflict of interest in order to obtain a presumption of prejudice is inapplicable to a Holloway-type case. We therefore conclude the holding in Holloway–i.e., that prejudice is presumed when the trial court fails to either appoint separate counsel or make an adequate inquiry, in the face of the defendant’s timely objection–satisfies Strickland’s prejudice requirement without a showing of actual conflict.

Having determined that the district court applied the incorrect legal standard in the instant case, we remand for its reconsideration in light of Holloway. On remand, the district court must determine whether: (1) Petitioner’s objection at trial to the joint representation was timely, and, if so, (2) whether the trial court took “adequate steps to ascertain whether the risk [of a conflict of interest] was too remote to warrant separate counsel.” See Holloway, 435 U.S. at 484, 98 S.Ct. at 1178.

II.

Petitioner’s second ground for relief in his Sec. 2254 petition is that he was placed in double jeopardy by being punished both for felony murder and the underlying felony. The district court agreed that there was a double jeopardy violation, but held that since Petitioner had not raised the issue in his direct appeal or in his first post-conviction proceeding in the Oklahoma courts, he had procedurally defaulted the double jeopardy claim under Oklahoma law and was barred from raising the matter in a federal habeas corpus petition. The federal district court further held that Petitioner did not come within any exception to the procedural default rule and on this basis declined to consider the double jeopardy issue on its merits.

The parties agree that Petitioner was placed in double jeopardy by virtue of being punished for felony murder and the underlying felony. See Harris v. Oklahoma, 433 U.S. 682, 97 S.Ct. 2912, 53 L.Ed.2d 1054 (1977) (holding that when one defendant was convicted of felony murder based on his codefendant’s killing of a victim during the course of an armed robbery, the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment barred a separate prosecution of the defendant for the lesser crime of armed robbery); Castro v. State, 745 P.2d 394, 405 (Okla.Crim.App.1987) (holding that the defendant’s conviction and punishment for both robbery with a firearm and first degree felony murder, with the robbery serving as the underlying felony, violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 971 , 108 S.Ct. 1248, 99 L.Ed.2d 446 (1988). The parties also agree that Petitioner procedurally defaulted his double jeopardy claim. However, Respondent argues that Petitioner’s default bars him from raising the double jeopardy issue in federal court, while Petitioner argues that he meets one of the exceptions to the procedural default rule in that our failure to consider Petitioner’s double jeopardy claim would result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice.

The independent and adequate state ground doctrine bars federal habeas “when a state court declined to address a prisoner’s federal claims because the prisoner had failed to meet a state procedural requirement.” Coleman v. Thompson, 501 U.S. 722, —-, 111 S.Ct. 2546, 2554, 115 L.Ed.2d 640 (1991). “In all cases in which a state prisoner has defaulted his federal claims in state court pursuant to an independent and adequate state procedural rule, federal habeas review of the claims is barred unless the prisoner can demonstrate cause for the default and actual prejudice as a result of the alleged violation of federal law, or demonstrate that failure to consider the claims will result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice.” Id. at —-, 111 S.Ct. at 2565.

In Kuhlmann v. Wilson, 477 U.S. 436, 454, 106 S.Ct. 2616, 2627, 91 L.Ed.2d 364 (1986), the Supreme Court held that the fundamental miscarriage of justice exception applies when a prisoner “supplements his constitutional claim with a colorable showing of factual innocence.” (emphasis added). The fundamental miscarriage of justice exception provides for federal habeas relief where a constitutional violation “has probably resulted in the conviction of one who is actually innocent.” Murray v. Carrier, 477 U.S. 478, 496, 106 S.Ct. 2639, 2649, 91 L.Ed.2d 397 (1986) (emphasis added). In Sawyer v. Whitley, — U.S. —-, —- – —-, 112 S.Ct. 2514, 2519-20, 120 L.Ed.2d 269 (1992), the Court noted that the exception for actual innocence is narrow, and the concept is “easy to grasp” in the context of a noncapital case. The Sawyer Court characterized the prototypical example of actual innocence as the case where “the State has convicted the wrong person of the crime.” Id. at —-, 112 S.Ct. at 2519. The Court also emphasized that “the miscarriage of justice exception is concerned with actual as compared to legal innocence.” Id. at —-, 112 S.Ct. at 2519 (citing Smith v. Murray, 477 U.S. 527, 537, 106 S.Ct. 2661, 2668, 91 L.Ed.2d 434 (1986)).

In Steele v. Young, 11 F.3d 1518, 1522 (10th Cir.1993), we addressed the issue of whether a double jeopardy claim satisfies the fundamental miscarriage of justice exception, and concluded that, standing alone, it does not. We stated in Steele that a double jeopardy claim that is not supplemented by a claim of factual innocence bars federal habeas review. Id. We also noted that even if the petitioner prevailed on the merits of his double jeopardy claim he would not show factual innocence; rather, “[d]oing so would show only ‘legal innocence’ of part of his conviction.” Id. at 1522 n. 8 (citing Sawyer, — U.S. at —-, 112 S.Ct. at 2519).4

In a case strikingly similar to Petitioner’s case, the Eighth Circuit concluded that the petitioner’s double jeopardy claim was procedurally barred from federal habeas review. See Wallace v. Lockhart, 12 F.3d 823, 826-27 (1994). In Wallace, the petitioner and a codefendant were convicted in Arkansas state court of felony murder and the underlying felony of kidnapping. Id. at 825. In the codefendant’s petition for post-conviction relief, an Arkansas court overturned her kidnapping conviction as violative of the Double Jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment. Id. The petitioner subsequently filed a second petition for post-conviction relief raising the double jeopardy issue. Id. The Arkansas courts, however, refused to overturn the petitioner’s kidnapping conviction because the petitioner had failed to raise his double jeopardy claim until his second state petition for post-conviction relief. Id. The petitioner then sought federal habeas relief claiming, inter alia, that despite the procedural bar, the failure of the federal courts to entertain his petition would result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Id. at 826. The Eighth Circuit disagreed, concluding that because the petitioner did not claim factual innocence of the kidnapping offense, he failed to come within the fundamental miscarriage of justice exception. Id. at 827.

We conclude Petitioner has failed to demonstrate that our refusal to consider his double jeopardy claim would result in a fundamental miscarriage of justice. Petitioner’s claim is no different from that of the petitioner in Steele, and, because a three-judge panel cannot overrule circuit precedent, see O’Driscoll v. Hercules Inc., 12 F.3d 176, 178 n. 1 (10th Cir.1994), we are bound by Steele. Like the petitioner in Steele, Petitioner claims only that his double jeopardy rights were violated. Although Petitioner’s claim that he was placed in double jeopardy by virtue of being punished for felony murder and the underlying felony is meritorious, this shows only legal innocence, which the Supreme Court has held insufficient to establish a fundamental miscarriage of justice. See Sawyer, — U.S. at —-, 112 S.Ct. at 2519. Because Petitioner has failed to supplement his constitutional double jeopardy claim with a claim that he is factually innocent of the underlying armed robbery conviction, federal habeas review of his double jeopardy claim is barred. See Steele, 11 F.3d at 1522, 1522 n. 8; see also Wallace, 12 F.3d at 826-27.

We also reject Petitioner’s characterization of the issue such that because the Fifth Amendment prohibits multiple punishments for the same offense, he is actually innocent of the sentence he received for armed robbery.5 Petitioner cannot show actual innocence of the armed robbery sentence without also claiming actual innocence of the armed robbery itself. Petitioner cites various capital cases and habitual offender cases for the proposition that an individual can be actually innocent of a sentence and thereby come within the fundamental miscarriage of justice exception. See, e.g., Sawyer, — U.S. at —-, 112 S.Ct. at 2519 (exception applies to violations that have resulted in the imposition of death sentence upon one who is actually innocent of the death sentence); Smith, 477 U.S. at 537-38, 106 S.Ct. at 2667-68 (same); Mills v. Jordan, 979 F.2d 1273, 1279 (7th Cir.1992) (actual innocence exception applies to habitual offender proceedings, whether or not they involve the possibility of capital punishment). In both of these types of cases, a petitioner can demonstrate actual innocence of the sentence without showing factual innocence of the underlying conviction because the sentence requires a separate showing from the proof required to convict. See, e.g., Sawyer, — U.S. at —-, 112 S.Ct. at 2520 (under Louisiana law, one convicted of capital murder is not eligible for the death penalty unless the jury concludes that one of a list of statutory aggravating circumstances exists); Mills, 979 F.2d at 1279 (under Indiana law, one can be sentenced as an habitual offender if the state proves that he has accumulated two prior unrelated felony convictions). In a capital punishment case, the petitioner is actually innocent of the sentence if he can show factual innocence of the aggravating factors that render one eligible for the death sentence. Sawyer, — U.S. at —-, 112 S.Ct. at 2523. In a habitual offender case, the petitioner is actually innocent of the sentence if he can show he is innocent of the fact–i.e., the prior conviction–necessary to sentence him as an habitual offender. Mills, 979 F.2d at 1279. In any event, actual innocence of the sentence still requires a showing of factual innocence.

In the instant case, Petitioner is unable to show factual innocence of his armed robbery sentence. Unlike in a capital case or an habitual offender case, Petitioner’s conviction and sentence for armed robbery are inextricably intertwined. Once Petitioner was convicted of the armed robbery, he was eligible for the twenty-five year sentence without any showing of proof separate from the showing required to convict him. As a result, Petitioner cannot be actually innocent of the sentence unless he is actually innocent of the armed robbery itself. Because Petitioner makes no showing of actual innocence of the armed robbery, and because his double jeopardy claim merely demonstrates legal, as compared to actual innocence, Petitioner is not entitled to relief on this claim.

We AFFIRM the district court’s denial of Petitioner’s double jeopardy claim. As to Petitioner’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, we REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Update april 16  source : http://www.postcrescent.com

OKLAHOMA CITY (WTW) — An Oklahoma death row inmate’s plea for clemency was rejected Monday by the state Pardon and Parole, which voted 4-1 against commuting the inmate’s death penalty to life in prison without parole.

Michael Bascum Selsor, 56, apologized to family members of 55-year-old Clayton Chandler, the Tulsa convenience store clerk he was twice convicted of killing during a robbery 37 years ago, and reminded board members he had confessed to the crime.

“I didn’t pass the blame, I shared the shame,” he said during a brief appearance before the board via teleconference from the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

“Is it too late to say I’m sorry?” Selsor said. “I am truly sorry for the suffering and damage I have caused.”

Selsor said he knows he will die in prison and believes he could be a mentor and friend to young inmates facing lengthy sentences.

“I’ll try to be an example for the young guys,” Selsor said.

But Chandler’s daughters urged the board to not interfere with the death penalty a Tulsa County jury gave Selsor in 1998. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on May 1.

“I think it’s time to put this to rest,” said Debbie Huggins, who fought back tears as she and her sister, Cathy Durham, remembered their father and asked board members to deny Selsor’s request for clemency.

“When we were growing up, our dad was our best friend,” Huggins said.

“I was his little girl,” Durham said. She said her father’s death had denied him an opportunity to walk her down the aisle at her wedding and get to know his grandchildren.

Huggins said Selsor made a conscious choice when he entered the convenience store where her father worked and repeatedly shot him with a .22-caliber pistol on Sept. 15, 1975. Prosecutors say Chandler suffered eight bullet wounds.

“My daddy had no choice,” Huggins said.

After the women’s presentation, board Vice-Chairperson Marc Dreyer said he was sorry for their loss. Chandler’s widow, Anne Chandler, attended the clemency hearing but did not address the board.

Selsor’s attorney, Robert Nance, invoked Christian religious beliefs and cited biblical scriptures as he urged board members to commute Selsor’s death penalty.

“God can use those who have done evil to accomplish good,” Nance said. “Grace as I understand it is an unmerited gift from God. God does that because he loves us.”

Assistant Attorney General Robert Whittaker reminded board members that while Oklahoma law allows them to extend mercy, it also requires them to uphold lawful convictions and court judgments.

“The Pardon and Parole Board is not church,” Whittaker said.

Selsor was originally sentenced to death following a 1976 trial, but the U.S. Supreme Court later invalidated Oklahoma’s death penalty statute. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals modified Selsor’s sentence to life in prison.

But Selsor initiated a new round of appeals challenging his conviction and in April 1996, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out Selsor’s murder conviction as well as two other related convictions.

Selsor was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death a second time following a retrial. The same jury recommended Selsor serve a life term as an accessory to the shooting of Chandler’s co-worker, Ina Louise Morris, who survived multiple wounds inflicted by a co-defendant, Richard Eugene Dodson. In addition, the jury imposed a 20-year term for armed robbery.

Selsor and Dodson were arrested in Santa Barbara, Calif., a week after Chandler’s slaying. At the 1976 trial, a Santa Barbara police detective testified that Selsor admitted shooting Chandler during the robbery.

Dodson, now 71, was convicted of robbery and shooting with intent to kill and is serving a prison sentence of 50 to 199 years in prison.

U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/09/09-5180.pdf

U.S Supreme Court

No. 11-9886      *** CAPITAL CASE ***
Title:
In Re Michael Bascum Selsor, Petitioner
v.
Docketed: April 19, 2012
Linked with 11A997
~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings  and  Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apr 17 2012 Petition for writ of habeas corpus and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed.
Apr 17 2012 Application (11A997) for a stay of execution of sentence of death, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.

~~Name~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Address~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~Phone~~~
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Madeline S. Cohen Assistant Federal Public Defender (303) 294-7002
633 17th Street
Suite 1000
Denver, CO  80202
No. 11A300
Title:
Michael Bascum Selsor, Applicant
v.
Randall Workman, Warden, et al.
Docketed:
Linked with 11-7744
Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  Case Nos.: (09-5180)
~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings  and  Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sep 12 2011 Application (11A300) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from October 9, 2011 to December 8, 2011, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.
Sep 19 2011 Application (11A300) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until December 8, 2011.

~~Name~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Address~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~Phone~~~
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Madeline S. Cohen Assistant Federal Public Defender (303) 294-7002
633 17th Street
Suite 1000
Denver, CO  80202
Party name: Michael Bascum Selsor
No. 11-7744      *** CAPITAL CASE ***
Title:
Michael Bascum Selsor, Petitioner
v.
Randall Workman, Warden, et al.
Docketed: December 9, 2011
Linked with 11A300
Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  Case Nos.: (09-5180)
  Decision Date: May 2, 2011
  Rehearing Denied: July 11, 2011
~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings  and  Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sep 12 2011 Application (11A300) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from October 9, 2011 to December 8, 2011, submitted to Justice Sotomayor.
Sep 19 2011 Application (11A300) granted by Justice Sotomayor extending the time to file until December 8, 2011.
Dec 7 2011 Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due January 9, 2012)
Dec 29 2011 Brief amici curiae of Criminal and Constitutional Law Scholars filed.
Jan 9 2012 Brief of respondents Randall Workman, Warden, et al. in opposition filed.
Jan 19 2012 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of February 17, 2012.
Jan 20 2012 Reply of petitioner Michael Bascum Selsor filed. (Distributed)
Feb 21 2012 Petition DENIED.

FLORIDA – Carl Dausch – Judge sets date to decide on death sentence


march, 31 2012 source : http://www.dailycommercial.com

Dausch

A Sumter County judge has set a date to decide whether to approve the jury’s death recommendation given to a hitchhiker last year who stood trial on sexual battery and murder charges of a Lake Panasoffkee motorist.

Carl Dausch 53, of Indiana, will be sentenced April 26 at the Sumter County courthouse in the first-degree murder conviction in the 1987 death of Adrian Renard Mobley .

“I’m hoping everything will go as planned,” said prosecutor Pete Magrino, who started seeking the death penalty shortly after Dausch was brought back to Sumter County to face the charges.

A pre-sentencing hearing Tuesday included a letter submitted by Dausch’s daughter in support of her father’s character. Magrino said the court may give the letter some consideration but he doesn’t expect it to block the jury’s suggestion.

The hearing also comes after Judge William Hallman denied a list of motions by the defense in their arguments for a new trial.

The body of Mobley, 27, an electronics manager at the Walmart in Bushnell, was found stomped to death and hog-tied on July 15, 1987, off County Road 475 in Bushnell.

Mobley‘s legs were tied to his hands and arms behind him with a bed sheet. His jeans were partially pulled down.

And, Mobley‘s 1981 red Honda Accord and wallet were missing.

Sumter County Office sheriff’s detectives initially ran cold on the case. In 2004, a cigarette butt retrieved from the Honda was tested for DNA, which pointed to Dausch, an Indiana prison inmate at the time who was serving 60 years on an unrelated rape and battery convictions.

Magrino said DNA on anal swabs taken of the Mobley also linked Dausch to the crime.

The statue of limitations had run out for any robbery charges. But Dausch was indicted on murder and sexual battery charges. In December, a jury found Dausch guilty of murder, but downgraded the sexual battery charge to aggravated battery.

case  progress docket : read here 

CASE NUMBER FILE DATE CASE TYPE STATUS
602006CF000301XXAXFX
[06000301CFFA]
05/10/2006 Circuit Felony CASE OPEN
CHARGE SEQ# STATUTE STATUTE TEXT DATE PHASE
1 782041a1 MURDER FIRST DEGREE 12/13/2011 Court: Adjudicated Guilty
2 7840451a1 AGGRAVATED BATTERY GREAT BODILY HARM 12/13/2011 Court: Adjudicated Guilty
[DEFENDANT=DAUSCH, CARL ]
[JUDGE=HALLMAN, WILLIAM H III]
LAST DOCKET DATE=03/28/2012
[Court Events | Finance Info | Docket Info]
CHARGE SEQ#: 1     Offense Date:
07/15/1987
Trial Type:
Jury Trial
   INITIAL: Status Date:
08/18/2008
Action:
Charged
Statute / Text:
782041a1 / MURDER FIRST DEGREE
   PROSECUTOR: Decision Date:
05/10/2006
Action:
Filed
Statute / Text:
782041a1 / MURDER FIRST DEGREE
  COURT: Decision Date:
12/13/2011
Action:
Adjudicated Guilty
Statute / Text:
782041a1 / MURDER FIRST DEGREE
CHARGE SEQ#: 2     Offense Date:
07/15/1987
Trial Type:
Jury Trial
   INITIAL: Status Date:
08/18/2008
Action:
Charged
Statute / Text:
7940113 / SEXUAL BATTERY WITH DEADLY WEAPON
   PROSECUTOR: Decision Date:
05/10/2006
Action:
Filed
Statute / Text:
7940113 / SEXUAL BATTERY WITH DEADLY WEAPON
  COURT: Decision Date:
12/13/2011
Action:
Adjudicated Guilty
Statute / Text:
7840451a1 / AGGRAVATED BATTERY GREAT BODILY HARM

Florida – Craigslist killer sentenced to death


David Sparre sentenced

JACKSONVILLE, march 30, source :http://www.news4jax.com

A 20-year-old man convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of a 21-year-old Navy wife he met on Craigslist is sentenced to Florida’s death row.

Judge Elizabeth Senterfitt formally sentenced David Sparre to death for killing Tiara Pool by stabbing her 89 times.

Before the jury unanimously recommend the death penalty last month, Sparre went against the advice of his attorneys and waived his right for witnesses to testify on his behalf during the sentencing.

Because of Sparre’s request, the only testimony in the penalty phase were prosecutors only brought up three of Pool’s relatives for victim impact statements.

The judge said that by the defense not being able to bring up witnesses, Sparre eliminated more than 25 mitigating factors in his defense, ranging from his family’s troubles, such as abuse, to medical factors, such as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and attention deficit disorder.

“What’s going through my mind is, a flower has been plucked from our garden. That flower will never be there anymore, but I thank God that justice has taken place,” Hattie Roche, Pool’s grandmother, said after the jury recommended the death penalty. “It aches because we don’t know why this happened. But the only thing we can do is rally around those two little boys and be all that we can be to them, and know that Tiara is looking down on us.”

During the trial, prosecutors described what they called the ruthless and violent killing of Pool, a mother of two sons, in her Hodges Boulevard apartment in July 2010.

“Eighty-nine. Over 89 stab wounds or cuts made by that man when he brutally killed the young lady,” prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda said. “What killed this innocent young lady was major stab wounds to her back. She was cut across her neck, she was stabbed across her back numerous times, and she was left on her bedroom floor naked, left to die.”

Prosecutors said Pool posted an ad on Craigslist seeking friendship. They said Pool’s husband was out at sea, and they were having problems in their marriage. Prosecutors said Pool’s sons were out of town with her in-laws when she was killed.

Attorneys said Sparre, who was living in Georgia, responded to the online ad, and he and Pool text messaged each other for about a week until they finally met in Jacksonville.

Sparre told Pool he was visiting his grandmother, who had to go to St. Vincent’s Medical Center, prosecutors said. Surveillance video shows him walking around the hospital.

Prosecutors said the two met at the hospital, but eventually went back to Pool’s apartment. That’s where attorneys disagree on what led to her killing.

“He realized what had happened, and it was too late,” defense attorney Michael Bateh said. “He saw the body of Tiara Pool laying there in her own blood.”

Defense attorneys said Sparre and Pool were intimate, and when Sparre found out she was married, he blacked out and then found her dead, not realizing what he did.

Prosecutors said Sparre never blacked out. He not only killed her with her own kitchen knife, but stole some of her things before leaving and heading back to the hospital, prosecutors said. They said he even sold her PlayStation to a pawn shop in Georgia.

Police said it was four days until a concerned friend went to check on Pool and found her dead in her bedroom.

Quick Clicks

Oregon – High court again overturns death sentence – Robert Paul Langley Jr.


The Oregon Supreme Court, for the third time in two decades, has overturned a death sentence against Robert Paul Langley Jr. for a murder committed in 1987.

The decision announced Thursday sent the case back to Marion County Circuit Court for further proceedings. District Attorney Walt Beglau has not announced whether he will seek the death penalty for Langley.

Because four of the sitting justices have worked for the Oregon Department of Justice, which represents the state in death-penalty cases, they did not take part in Thursday’s decision. The three remaining justices were joined by a retired justice and a Court of Appeals judge to decide the case.

In essence, the justices decided that Langley was erroneously compelled to represent himself in court when he was sentenced to death again on Nov. 9, 2005.

Death sentences are automatically reviewed by the high court.

Langley, who now is 52, originally was tried in connection with two separate murders.

The body of Anne Gray, 39, was found buried in the backyard of Langley’s aunt in April 1988. Gray’s death dated back to Dec. 10, 1987.

On April 14, 1988, Larry Rockenbrant, 24, was killed and his body found buried in a cactus garden at Oregon State Hospital, where Langley lived while he took part in a program for mentally and emotionally disturbed prison inmates. Langley’s therapist consented to the cactus garden as a way to allow Langley to relax.

Langley was convicted of aggravated murder in separate trials in 1989 and sentenced to death.

The Supreme Court reversed the death sentences in 1992. It ruled that in Gray’s case, the jury was not allowed to hear mitigating evidence, and in Rockenbrant’s case, evidence from Gray’s murder was improperly admitted in the trial.

Langley was sentenced to death for a second time in a retrial for Gray’s murder. But in the Rockenbrant case, he was sentenced to life in prison with a 30-year minimum.

Upon appeal in 2000, the Supreme Court again reversed his death sentence, ruling that the jury failed to consider an option of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

After the case went through three circuit judges — Joseph Guimond, Terry Leggert and Joseph Ochoa, all now retired — Langley was sentenced to death for a third time in Marion County in 2005.

Langley had reshuffled his lawyers several times.

But the sentence came down only after Langley was required to represent himself in the proceeding without the court obtaining a valid waiver of his right to counsel. That self-representation occurred after Ochoa ruled that Langley’s other option was to accept representation by someone who Langley had complaints about — but Ochoa assumed those complaints were frivolous.

“That, too, was not a permissible choice,” said the court’s opinion, written by Justice Robert Durham.

“The record indicates that the court decided that defendant’s (Langley’s) refusal to make the offered choice entitled the court to make the choice itself in favor of compelled self-representation, rather than representation by counsel,” Durham wrote.

“That was (an) error. In our view, because submission of the choice to defendant was itself impermissible, defendant’s refusal to make the proposed choice was entirely proper. It follows that the trial court erred in requiring defendant to proceed to trial on the sentencing phase of a capital murder case without the assistance of legal counsel.”

Oregon Supreme Court   read the opinion ( media release) : click here 

Arkansas – Death-row inmate claims state withheld evidence


march 29, source :http://arkansasnews.com

LITTLE ROCK — A man sentenced to die for a 1997 double homicide in Little River County did not receive a fair trial because prosecutors withheld crucial evidence from the defense, an attorney for the man argued today before the state Supreme Court.

An attorney for the state said the outcome of the case would have been the same even if the state had provided the evidence.

The court heard oral arguments but did not immediately issue a ruling in an appeal by Timothy Lamont Howard, 42, who was convicted of two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Brian and Shanon Day. The three were friends and were all involved in using and selling illegal drugs, mainly methamphetamine, according to court filings.

Brian Day’s body was found in a U-Haul trailer in Ogden on Dec. 13, 1997, and his wife’s body was found in the closet of the couple’s home in Ashdown later the same day.

At Howard’s trial in December 1999, jurors heard a forensics expert testify that boots found 2 1/2 miles from the murder scene contained hairs that were a likely match with Howard, and that blood on the boots was a likely match with Brian Day.

Howard’s trial lawyer argued that Howard was in Texarkana when the murders occurred and that the boots had been used to frame Howard.

The state Supreme Court upheld Howard’s conviction in 2002, but federal public defender Scott Braden argued before the high court today that it should order a new trial, or in the alternative send the case back to Little River County Circuit Court for a new evidentiary hearing, because the defense has learned that the state withheld evidence that could have changed the outcome of the trial.

That evidence includes notes showing that errors occurred during the testing of DNA from the boots and that samples may have been contaminated. Braden said the state had those notes but did not provide them to the defense before the trial.

“There is no question here that there is a reasonable probability that the jury would have done something different” if the defense had been able to use those notes to try to impeach the DNA evidence, Braden argued.

Assistant Attorney General Lauren Heil argued that other evidence established that the boots were Howard’s, including testimony by Howard’s ex-wife that the boots looked like his.

Justice Robert Brown asked Heil if she thought that testimony was equivalent to testimony of a DNA match. She said she believed it was, in combination with Howard’s defense that the boots were used to frame him — a defense that she said required conceding that the boots were his.

Braden also argued that the state did not provide the defense with a police report detailing an incident of abuse that Howard suffered as a child. He said the defense could have used the report as evidence of Howard’s violent childhood during the penalty phase of the trial, and the jury could have considered Howard’s past a mitigating factor that weighed against imposing the death penalty.

Heil argued that Howard could have brought up the incident himself at his trial, but he did not.

“The defendant has an obligation to raise things within his own unique knowledge,” she said.

Heil also argued that the defense did not assert its claims in a timely manner, a charge that Braden denied.

The Supreme Court split on Howard’s previous appeal in 2002, ruling 4-3 to uphold his conviction. Only two of the justices who took part in that decision are still on the court: Chief Justice Jim Hannah and Justice Robert Brown, both of whom said then in dissenting opinions they would have overturned the conviction because of problems with the state’s case.

Justice Donald Corbin recused from hearing both appeals. Filling in for him today as a special appointed justice was Little Rock lawyer Ronald Hope.

Name Date Duration
NEW!! CR 00-803 Timothy Lamont Howard v. State of Arkansas, from Little River Circuit Mar 29, 2012 00h 53m Oral Argument

Case Caption:
TIMOTHY LAMONT HOWARD
V
STATE OF ARKANSAS

Timothy Lamont Howard (ACTIVE) Appellant’s counsel:
Dorcy Kyle Corbin – LEAD
Janice Wegener Vaughn – LEAD
Mac John Carder Jr – LEAD
Julie Brain – LEAD
Scott W. Braden – LEAD
Joshua R. Lee – LEAD
Conviction Information:
Convicted of: Capital Murder
Sentence: 000-00-000 (yyy-mm-ddd)
Sentence Type DEATH

State Of Arkansas (ACTIVE) Appellee’s counsel:
Attorney General – LEAD

Trial Court: Little River
Little River Circuit
Trial Court Number: CR-97-105
Trial Judge: Charles A. Yeargan

——- EVENT LISTING ——–
03/29/2012 Case Submitted – Orally Argued

03/29/2012 Supreme Court Votesheet Issued

03/29/2012 Supreme Court Oral Argument Issued for
REGULAR DOCKET scheduled for 03/29/12 at A.M. – ORAL Argument.
2/27/12 – Scott Braden and Josh Lee confirmed
2/27/12 – Lauren Heil confirmed

No. 02-6564 Status: DECIDED
Title: Timothy Lamont Howard, Petitioner
v.
Arkansas
Docketed: Lower Ct: Supreme Court of Arkansas
September 26, 2002 (CR00-803)
~~Date~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings and Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sep 25 2002 Petition for writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in
forma pauperis filed. (Response due October 26, 2002)
Oct 28 2002 Brief of respondent Arkansas in opposition filed.
Nov 7 2002 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of November 27, 2002
Dec 2 2002 Petition DENIED.
********************************************************

~~Name~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~Address~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~Phone~~~
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Jeffrey M. Rosenzweig 300 Spring Street 5013725247
Suite 310
Little Rock, AR 72201
Party name: Timothy L. Howard
Attorneys for Respondent:
Lauren E. Heil AG’s Ofc., 200 Tower Building 5016821309
323 Center Street
Little Rock, AR 72201
Party name: Arkansas

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, sourcehttp://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  sourcehttp://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

The Wrongful Conviction of David Thorne


David Thorne is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for allegedly hiring an acquaintance to kill the mother of his son, however, he never hired anyone nor did the acquaintance do the crime.
Sometime between the evening hours on March 31, 1999 and 12:00 p.m. on April 1, 1999, Yvonne Layne, a mother of 5, was murdered in her home with one solid and steady slit to her throat. 
David Thorne was convicted of complicity to aggravated murder/murder for hire on January 25, 2000 by a 12 person jury.
The police investigating the crime had tunnel vision throughout their investigation, narrowing in on David from the beginning. The investigators were unable to get David to confess, so instead they went after his acquaintance, Joseph Wilkes, who was barely 18 years of age and a high school dropout.  After a lengthy interrogation, during which they told Joseph that David was “next door ratting him out”, he confessed, utilizing the story that the police had fed to him to what the police were telling him happened. Joe took a plea deal and David went to trial.  Despite the lack of physical evidence of either Joe or David being at the scene and a poor police investigation, with very weak circumstantial evidence, an innocent man was convicted. (Read on – click to jump to Case Summary)