In this issue, covering decisions from September 15th through the
28th, the sole Hot List case comes from the Eighth Circuit. In
Brown v. Luebbers
a split panel tosses a death sentence for the exclusion of mitigation
evidence in the penalty phase. Specifically, what was excluded
from evidence was a letter from the Petitioner's brother (then serving
in Operation Desert Shield) begging for mercy. Finding error under
Lockett v. Ohio, the panel grants penalty relief.
Other cases of special note include
Pennsylvania v. Cuevas
where the state supreme court holds that merely being a buyer doesn't
qualify as an aggravator under that state's murder in relationship to
drug activity aggravator. The Arizona Supreme Court in
Arizona v. Sansing
held that judge only sentencing in violation of Ring was harmless
in that case beyond a reasonable doubt. In what appears to have
been a highly racially charged trial, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
denied relief in Gavin v. Alabama on a large litany of claims relating
to the use of race to exclude people of color from serving on grand and
petit juries in the 9th Judicial District. The Nebraska Supreme Court in
Lotter v. Nebraska
has denied a request for DNA testing that may have teneded to exculpate
him.
Lastly, one of my first post-law school clients lost in the
Sixth Circuit on a grab bag of issues in
Bowling v. Parker
including suppression of evidence that another person may have committed
the crime.
From the US Supreme Court
three important cert grants are noted
. In Beard v. Banks the issue on which cert was granted consisted
of
whether the Supreme Court's decision in
Mills v. Maryland
constitutes a new rule of law under
Teague v. Lane
(the cert. petition is
here
.) In Smith v. Dretke the Court granted cert on the Fifth Circuit's
"nexus" requirement for Texas mitigation; specifically the question granted
cert was "Did the Court of Appeals misapply Penry v. Johnson, 532 U.S.
782 (2001), by imposing a requirement that evidence demonstrate a 'uniquely
severe permanent handicap' in order for a Texas capital murder defendant
to claim that a 'nullification' instruction was improper?" (the cert.
petition is
here
). In Yarborough v. Alavardo the Court granted cert on whether
a special standard determines whether juveniles are "in custody" for
purposes of Miranda v. Arizona (cert petition is
here
). (Thanks to SCOTUS
Blog
for the updates). The Focus section this week examines the
current crop of cert grants
.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have
agreed upon a compromise version
of the Innocence Protection Act which with a little luck will be
law in the next few months. The Judge presiding over the trial of Zacarias
Moussaoui has decided pn sanctions for the Government's refusal to allow
Moussaoui to
interview 3 al Qaeda witnesses
who may have exculpatory information: the Government can't seek
the death penalty (
order
/
motions
). (Thanks to
TalkLeft
for the updates).
Just quick note about a new law review article
entitled "Ideological Voting
on Federal Court of Appeals: A Preliminary Investigation
." The article concludes by looking at voting records in death penalty
cases that a judges political affiliation (or more precisely put, party
affiliation of the nominating president) has a direct correlation to the
probability that a judge will vote for death in a capital case with republicans
dramatically more likely to vote to kill than democrats. Interestingly,
party affiliation appears to have had no substantial effect in noncapital
criminal cases .
Please note my schedule between now and December 1 is hatefully hectic
between trials and personal engagements, please forgive any delays in
publication in advance. - karl
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following person's have been executed since the last edition:
September
26 Joseph Bates
North Carolina
Upcoming execution dates include.
October
3 Edward Hartman
North Carolina
9 David Larry Nelson
Alabama
20 John Clayton Smith
Missouri---volunteer
This edition (covering September 1 to September 14) leads off with
the Sixth Circuit's decision in
Frazier v. Huffman
. Examining the continuing obligation of counsel to investigate &
present mitigation evidence, both pre-trial and in post-conviction, the
Sixth Circuit holds trial counsel failed to adequately prepare for the penalty
phase. State post-conviction counsel failed to develop additional mitigation
evidence and the panel holds that additional evidence is procedurally defaulted.
The panel holds, however, the evidence of
brain impairment missed by trial counsel was sufficient strong to
warrant relief in light of that set of counsel's gamble to go with residual
doubt.
Other grants of relief
are note as well. A reversal is had in
Arizona v. Huerstel
as the trial court gave a jury impasse instruction before
the jury indicated it was indeed deadlocked. In
Fitzpatrick v. Florida
bad jury instructions relating to the definition of burglary forces
a reversal where the top count returned by the jury was a felony murder
conviction based on that burglary. The Ohio Supreme Court in
Ohio v. Williams
reverses as to sentence on a litany of errors including prosecutorial
misconduct, the erroneous jury instructions, and "the nearly total breakdown
of communication between Williams and his counsel."
Relief grants pursuant to Ring v. Arizona were noted in
Nebraska v. Mata
,
Arizona v. Cropper
, and
Arizona v. Ring
.
In the course of denying relief in
Hall v. Luebbers
the Eighth Circuit holds that Missouri, despite its best efforts,
is not an opt-in jurisdiction for purposes of the AEDPA. Most notably,
"Missouri's post-conviction appointment mechanism for prisoners under
a capital sentence fails to satisfy AEDPA's offer component, i.e., counsel
must be offered to all prisoners under a capital sentence." Note: the link
above leads to the opinion, oral arguments & briefs.
In light of time limitations, the Focus section will not run this
week. Assuming that I am not going out to trial in the coming week,
next week's edition should begin a look at the Supreme Court's upcoming
term..
As always, thanks for reading. - k
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following person's have been executed since the last edition:
September
10 Larry Hayes
Texas
12 Henry Hunt
North Carolina
In a cryptic stay order, citing a pending federal criminal investigation,Tennessee
Gov. Phil. Bredesen stayed the scheduled September 24 execution of Phillip
Workman.
September
10 Larry Hayes
Texas
12 Henry Hunt
North Carolina
24 Philip Workman
Tennessee
26 Joseph Bates
North Carolina
October
3 Edward Hartman
North Carolina
9 David Larry Nelson
Alabama
20 John Clayton Smith
Missouri---volunteer
The Hot List case of the week is the decision of the Ninth Circuit
sitting en banc, 8-3, in
Summerlin v. Stewart
. Summerlin holds that Ring v. Arizona is retroactive. The Summerlin
Court gave two alternative rationales for its holding in light of Teague.
The first holding was that as Ring is a rule of substantive criminal law
and not merely procedural. As a second, alternative basis, the Court held
that it comes within the second Teague exception. The Court's decision
effectively will mute a much thornier issue relating to judicial misconduct
(the trial judge being stoned during the sentencing). The case impacts
roughly 100 cases in the Ninth Circuit. This case is a strong cert candidate
as there now appears to be a split in the lower courts on the issue of retroactivity.
Judge Reinhardt's stunning concurrence is the topic of the "Focus Section"
this week. Due to the length of the quoted opinion, the Hot List section
follows the losing cases.
Two other notable wins are also reported below. The California
Supreme Court in
People v. Heard
vacated the imposition of death in light of a grossly deficient
llife/death jury qualification process In Clemons v. Alabama the Alabama
Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a remand on a mental retardation challenge
in light of Atkins v. Virginia.
In other news a new piece of scholarly literature examining the
interplay of execution dates and politics by Jeffrey Kubik and John Moran
of Syracuse University notes that executions, especially those of African-Americans,
noticeably rises during gubernatorial election years. Lethal Elections:
Gubernatorial Politics and the Timing of Executions, 46 The Journal of
Law & Economics 1 (2003). In a less scholarly piece, but perhaps more
intriguing, Mark Fuhrman, of O.J. Simpson fame, has written a book entitled
Death and Justice : An Expose of Oklahoma's Death Row that blasts the way
the death penalty is currently imposed and apparently concludes with calls
for a moratorium & gutting of the current practice of death penalty
prosecutions. Finally, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's latest edition
of "Death Row USA" notes a marked drop in the number of people currently
under a death sentence with only eight jurisdictions seeing an increase
in people's on the row, Alabama, Arizona, California, Missouri, Nevada, Oregon,
Virginia, and the Federal Government.
As always, thanks for reading & apologies for running a little
long. - k
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following person's have been executed since the last edition:
August
3 Paul Hill
Florida (volunteer)
Perry Austin's execution date (Sept. 8th) was withdrawn by the trial
court. He had waived his appeals and sought the date, but has now decided
to go forward with his habeas proceedings.
The following execution dates are believed to be serious:
September
10 Larry Hayes
Texas
12 Henry Hunt
North Carolina
24 Philip Workman
Tennessee
26 Joseph Bates
North Carolina
Leading off this edition is
State ex rel. Simmons v. Roper
. The Missouri Supreme Court in
Roper
vacated the death sentence of Christopher Simmons Tuesday
holding that the juvenile death penalty violates the 8th Amendment ban
against cruel and unusual punishment. Simmons was 17 at the time of the
murder for which he was sentenced to death. The case is a should read as
its logic readily extends to numerous other areas and is a good cert.
candidate.
Also in the lead off circle is the Fifth Circuit's unpublished opinion
in
Coble v. Cockrell
. The issue in
Coble
is whether or not to grant a Certificate of Appealability, or "COA,"
on the issue of the whether the "special questions" and jury instructions
gave a permissible vehicle to give effect to mitigation evidence.
Coble
was sentenced in the "notch" between Penry I and the post-Penry
amending of the Texas capital sentencing scheme. The Fifth Circuit's
opinion arguably has limited applicability to just these "notch" cases,
but the opinion gives an excellent analysis of what has to be proven in
that Court's opinion to meet the requirements of a "Penry claim," including
post-"notch" Penry type cases.
Two other cases are also noted as wins. The North Carolina Supreme
Court in
North Carolina v. Jones
, has reversed on penalty phase instructions that directed if the
jury found the defendant committed robbery with a dangerous weapon
it would also have found the pecuniary gain aggravating circumstance; the
Court held a reasonable jury could have found the former without finding
the latter. In
North Carolina v. Nobles
a Confrontation Clause violation was had when the state apparently
did nothing to compel a witness's live testimony but rather relied
on prior testimony.
In this week's notable lost category two cases from Kentucky and
one from Florida are noted. In
Hodge v. Kentucky
counsel for the condemned aggressively attacked the current "docket
control by execution date" mentality plaguing that state, most notably,
on the time limit imposed by execution warrant to file state post-conviction
petitions and the seeming denial of equal protection by shortening the
time to file a post-conviction petition. In
Parrish v. Kentucky
, a jury instruction that suggests death is the preferred penalty
phase result (a so-called "default for death" instruction) was bitterly
attacked in a terse dissent, portions of which are presented below.
Finally, in
Florida v. Knight n/k/a Muhammad
the Florida Supreme Court has reversed a trial court's grant of
relief, but appears to concede, albeit sub silentio, that Brady is applicable
to the penalty phase of a proceeding, a possible first for that Court.
In the other news of the week Nicholas Yarris has had his conviction
in Pennsylvania overturned due to DNA testing & the hard work of Peter
Goldberger; once the final order vacating the sentence is entered it be
Pennsylvania's first death row DNA exoneration. On Wednesday of this week
Patrick O. Kennedy in Louisiana was sentenced to death for the rape of his
8 year-old step daughter in one of the few capital child rape prosecutions
since Coker v. Georgia.
The Focus section this week looks at the ABA's Death Penalty Representation
Project and the ongoing need for pro bono counsel in capital cases.
In other developments two notable additions have been made to the
Capital Defense Weekly website. The first is a regular (I
would hate to say daily) "update blog" of the latest case law developments
at http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/update.htm. The second development
is a calendar covering various CLE training such as habeas and capital
defense training at http://www.capitaldefenseweekly.com/hot/month.php?user=admin&date=20030901.
Both additions are aimed at keeping information timely as my current schedule
does not permit getting out the weekly necessarily on a weekly schedule
& because I have missed several items (such as posting CLE notices
& such) that I probably shouldn't have.
As always, thanks for reading & apologies for running a little
long on this holiday weekend. - k
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following person's have been executed since the last edition:
August
22 Quentin Jones
North Carolina
The following execution dates are believed to be serious:
September
3
Paul Hill
Florida (volunteer)
8 Perry Austin
Texas
10 Larry Hayes
Texas
12 Henry Hunt
North Carolina
24 Philip Workman
Tennessee
26 Joseph Bates
North Carolina
Two cases in this edition (covering cases
decided August 4-18, 2003) are of national note. In
Tennessee v. Robinsonthe Tennessee
Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed on the trial court's failure to
charge certain lesser-included offenses. Remarkable in this decision, however,
is what the Court ordered next. In what the court appears to state
is a case of first impression for that Court, it barred the prosecution from
seeking the death penalty on remand due to intra-case "proportionality issues"
discussed at length in the excerpts provided below from that decision.
Spears v. Mullinis likewise
remarkable for the grant of relief on what is often pleaded as a "throw
away" garden variety claim. Specifically, a Tenth Circuit panel vacated
a death sentence for the introduction into evidence of rather gruesome photographs
depicting the decedent's numerous post-mortem stab wounds. This
decision is noteworthy as the state had argued at the penalty phase the
aggravator of heinous, atrocious and cruel.
Elsewhere the Fifth Circuit in
Guy v. Cockrell
ordered a remand to examine a claim of ineffective assistance of
counsel on whether the legal team's investigator had a conflict of
interest due to his involvement with the murder victim's mother and whether
failed to "investigate thoroughly" Guy's mitigation evidence as a result
of this alleged conflict. In
Deere v. Woodford
a remand has been ordered on the issue competency to stand trial
& plead guilty. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, although
it has yet to elucidate its rationale, granted a stay to Mark Robertson
on a "Penry" issue concerning the ability to present evidence in mitigation.
In a less happy development reminiscent of the darker days of the death
penalty's recent history, the Fourth Circuit en banc in
Rouse v. Leehas denied
all federal review to a capital habeas petitioner for filing his habeas
petition exactly one (1) day late.
Focus this week covers excerpts (courtesy of the Death Penalty Information
Center) of Judge Wolf's rather lengthy opinion in United States v. Sampson
on the risk of error in capital cases.
Please note that this week's edition was prepared using new software
and the formatting may appear "off" on some computer systems.
As always, thanks for reading and your continued work in the area of
capital defense. - k
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following person's have been executed since the last edition:
August
7 Tommy Fortenberry
Alabama
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Tuesday halted the scheduled
August 20th execution of Mark Robertson after his counsel, Randy
Schaffer, argued jurors should have been allowed to consider his troubled
childhood during sentencing. The execution of Ricky Lynn Lewis, also
in Texas, was stayed by a federal district court for unknown reasons at
this time. Both dates were considered serious. Congratulations to all counsel.
The following execution dates are believed to be serious:
August
22 Quentin Jones
North Carolina
September
3 Paul Hill
Florida (volunteer)
8 Perry Austin
Texas
10 Larry Hayes
Texas
12 Henry Hunt
North Carolina
24 Philip Workman
Tennessee
26 Joseph Bates
North Carolina
This edition, which covers July
21 to August 3, 2003, examines two cases of special note. The first is
the Fifth Circuit's decision in
Bigby v. Cockrell
. In a highly unusual move, the Fifth Circuit has granted relief
to a Texas death row inmate. The
Bigby
Court grants relief on a Penry II claim dealing with mitigation
in relation to the Texas special questions & in so doing lays out
a solid example of what counsel must do in order to get relief under this
type of claim in that Court.
The other decision is an equal surprise. In an unusual move
the Sixth Circuit in
Cooey II v. Bradshaw
has granted petitioner's request for initial hearing en banc during
a stay proceeding. At issue appears to be a claim that habeas counsel
incompetence impacted on the integrity of the initial habeas proceedings.
This unusual move and unusual issue will undoubtedly lead to further
analysis here once the final decision of the court sitting en banc is
handed down.
Finally, three other positive outcomes are noted. In
Pickens v. Oklahoma
, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has ordered a remand in
light of Atkins v. Virginia for a mental retardation hearing. In
Pennsylvania v. Williams the state supreme court has ordered a remand
in light the court below's apparent mishandling of petitioner's
claimed attempts to fire counsel & amend his PCRA petition. Finally,
in
Idaho v. Lovelace
a remand was ordered for a new sentencing in light of Ring
v. Arizona.
Of additional note is that Darnell Williams in Indiana has won a
stay to permit DNA testing. Joseph Amrine, who has spent the past 17 years
on Missouri's death row, has had all charges dropped and walked out of
jail. In Pennsylvania counsel for Nicholas James Yarris announced in a
press conference that three separate DNA tests exclude Yarris from the rape
and murder for which he was convicted and sent to death row.
The Focus section will not run this week.
As always, thanks for reading. - k
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following
person's have been executed since the last edition:
July
23 Cedric Ransom
Texas
24 Allen Janecka
Texas
24 Jackie Lee Willingham Oklahoma
29 Harold McElmurry III Oklahoma--volunteer
A stay
has been had in Ohio for Richard Cooey as the Sixth Circuit, en banc,
apparently believed it did not have sufficient time to adjudicate several
claims. Darnell Williams in Indiana have won a stay
to permit DNA testing. Jose Rivera has received a stay of his August
6th execution date, as well, relating to his mental retardation
claims. Congrats to all counsel.
The following execution dates are believed to be serious:
August
7 Ricky Lynn Lewis
Texas
7 Tommy Fortenberry Alabama
20 Mark Robertson
Texas
September
3 Paul Hill
Florida
8 Perry Austin
Texas
10 Larry Hayes
Texas
24 Philip Workman
Tennessee
This edition covers cases handed down from July 14, 2003 to July
21, 2003, two of which are of special note.
The first case is yet another example of a state supreme court wrestling
with Ring v. Arizona, this time the North Carolina Supreme Court in
North Carolina v. Hunt
. At issue in
Hunt
is whether Ring invalidates that state's so-called short-form indictment
in capital cases. Specifically, the North Carolina short form indictment
does not require, like some other jurisdictions, aggravators be set forth
in an indictment.
Hunt
holds that the failure to include such information relating to aggravators
is permissible under Ring. Those interested might want to see the collection
of pleadings & related materials assembled by Tim Ford of MacDonald,
Hoague & Bayless of Seattle as to many of the Ring challenges
at http://www.mhb.com/news.htm.
The other case is a noncapital case,
California v. Neal
.
Neal
has a very unusual set of factual circumstances, most notably the
use of non-Miranda interrogation. The police stated below that they
intentionally interrogated
Neal
even after he had invoked Miranda hoping to get a statement "[f]or
possible further impeachment at trial ... if [defendant] decided to testify."
The interrogating officer below went so far as to state that he was taught
to do so. Drawing a bright line the California Supreme Court in
no uncertain language noted that this was a growing practice nationally
& that it would not tolerate the intentional violation of Miranda for
any reason. A concurrence by Justice Baxter is among the strongest language
I have personally seen from an appellate court in some time relating to
police misconduct and is well worth the read.
This edition (covering June 30 through July 11, 2003) highlights
a single case as hot for the national reader. In
Nixon v. Florida
, the Florida Supreme Court re-examines the age old defense dilemma
of how much can counsel concede in closing. In a warning to trial
counsel everywhere, the
Nixon
Court reminds that counsel can not concede of guilt in closing without
the defendant's permission & to do such amounts to per se ineffective
assistance of counsel under United States v. Cronic.
Of special note for Texas litigators is
Valle v. Texas
. The
Valle
Court denies relief on a wide variety of currently "hot" Texas issues
& in the process reminds even the casual observer of Texas practice
why the law in the Lone Star state is so lethal. I should hasten
to note that the issues in
Valle
appeare sufficiently ripe that further action (either in this case
or a later case raising these issues) should be watched for possible cert.
by the United States Supreme Court. Also of special note for Texas practitioners
is Janet and Robert Morrow, In a Narrow Grave: Texas Punishment Law in
Capital Murder Cases, 43 S. Tex. L.R. 979 (2002) which covers much of the
same ground, as well as what Texas death penalty litigators need to know
& what needs to be done to preserve a client's claims. Finally,
where Texas is concerned, the Fifth Circuit in
Vickers v. Cockrell
shows its intransigence to the Supreme Court's decision relating
to Certificates of Appealability ("COA") in Miller-El by again conflating
merits review and the requirements for granting a COA.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has adopted new standard instructions
for criminal case,
In re Adoption of the 2003 Revisions
. Of special note is the modification of the penalty phase
"Allen charge" which appears to emphasize that if the jury deadlocks death
is off the table.
This week's Focus section covers of Alex Kotlowitz's New York
Times Magazine piece "
In the Face of Death
" from July 6, 2003. As one investigator told me following
reading the article "it explained to me why the mitigation investigation
is so important" by examining jurors reactions in an Indiana death penalty
case (Jeremy Gross) where guilt was not at issue. While other juror
studies and articles are available, Kotlowitz's article brings it
home in black and white, as well as provides some solid suggestions for
how to save a client's life.
Just a quick reminder, if you don't have Lexis, by typing in any
of the "Lexis" case identification numbers below at www.lexisone.com the
"Lexis" version of the case (without their proprietary headnotes found
only on their regular service) can be retrieved for free.
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following
person's have been executed since the last edition:
July
8 Robert Don Duckett Oklahoma
9 Christopher Black
Texas
9 Riley Noel
Arkansas
The following
execution dates are believed to be serious:
July
18 Joseph Bates
North Carolina
22 Bryan Toles
Oklahoma
23 Cedric Ransom
Texas
24 Allen Janecka
Texas
24 Jackie Lee Willingham Oklahoma
24 Richard Cooey
Ohio
29 Harold McElmurry III Oklahoma--volunteer
August
1 Darnell Williams
Indiana
6 Curtis Moore
Texas
6 Jose Rivera
Texas
7 Ricky Lynn Lewis
Texas
7 Tommy Fortenberry Alabama
20 Mark Robertson
Texas
This edition leads off with the Supreme Court's spectacular grant
of relief in
Wiggins v. Smith
. While no mere excerpting of Wiggins can do justice to the
importance of that decision, its reliance on the
ABA standards
for what competent counsel must do pursuant to their obligations
can not be underscored. This reliance is even more important in light
of the recent "racheting up" of the
ABA's standards
for what counsel must do in a capital case. Although other
cases may have obtained more ink in the mainstream media,
Wiggins
is arguably the one case this term of greatest import to any practitioner
with a capital case, at any level.
Joining
Wiggins
in the lead off cases this week is the Florida Supreme Court's decision
in
Marshall v. Florida
.
Marshall
matters for its grant of an evidentiary hearing on the issue of
juror misconduct. In the course of granting the hearing the Florida
Supreme Court rounds up the law of juror misconduct & offers a concrete
reason why counsel needs to investigate such claims.
In the lower courts, the Ninth Circuit handed an important victory
in
Rohan v. Gates
when it held a federal habeas proceeding should be stayed when the
petitioner becomes incompetent. The Ninth Circuit, likewise, in
Alcala v. Woodford
, granted relief on numerous issues including evidentiary matter
and ineffective assistance of counsel. In
Robbins v. Arkansas
the Arkansas Supreme Court, ordering state post-convictin proceedings
reopened citing, amongst other reasons, "it is now incumbent on the states
to do a comprehensive state-court review in all death cases in order
to eliminate the need for multiple federal habeas corpus proceedings."
The Mississippi Supreme Court in
Foster v. Mississippi
has set out that state's mental retardation standards. The
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in
Fitzgerald v. Hanson
, has held that the trial court erred in not allowing questioning,
amongst other claims, of whether "potential jurors, including
sitting jurors, would automatically impose the death penalty for malice
murder." The Missouri Supreme Court in
Missouri v. Barriner
held that the trial court improperly excluded hair comparison evidence
that tended to exonerated the accused.
The Supreme Court, not to be out done by the lower courts has issued
a litany of opinions that have placed a check on the power of the state.
In
Stogner v. California
, it ruled states may not extend the statute of limitations for certain
crimes without offending the Constitution's Ex-Post Facto Clause, Art.
I, section 10, cl. 1. In
Lawrence v. Texas
, in part relying on international law, held certaint intimate physical
relationships are a form of "liberty" protected by the Due Process Clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment. In
Nguyen v. United States
the Court reminds the lower judiciary Article IV territorial-court
judges do not have authority to decide appeals. In
Sell v. United States
, the court placed severe checks on the administration of psychotropic
drugs to render a petitioner competent.
A separate mailing relating to the "best of the death penalty web"
will be sent out in the next few days.
EXECUTION INFORMATION
The following
person's have been executed since the last edition:
June
11 Kia Johnson
Texas
13 Joseph Trueblood Indiana
18 Ernest Martin
Ohio
July
1 Lewis Gilbert II Oklahoma
2 Hilton Crawford Texas
Amongst
stays granted include the scheduled execution of Bobby Wayne Swisher in
Virginia. The execution was stayed by Virginia's governor to
allow Swisher's counsel to petition the Virginia Supreme Court over the
penalty phase verdict form, which resembles one the Court has thrown out
in a prior cases
The following execution dates are believed to be serious:
July
8 Robert Don Duckett Oklahoma
9 Christopher Black
Texas
9 Riley Noel
Arkansas
18 Joseph Bates
North Carolina
22 Bryan Toles
Oklahoma
23 Cedric Ransom
Texas
24 Allen Janecka
Texas
24 Jackie Lee Willingham Oklahoma
24 Richard Cooey
Ohio
29 Harold McElmurry III Oklahoma--volunteer
August
1 Darnell Williams
Indiana
6 Curtis Moore
Texas
6 Jose Rivera
Texas
7 Ricky Lynn Lewis
Texas
7 Tommy Fortenberry Alabama
20 Mark Robertson
Texas
