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Troy Davis, facing execution TODAY, seeks polygraph after denied clemancy

Mildred Gaddis — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:20:13 +0000

(CBS/AP) ATLANTA – A condemned Georgia inmate who has drawn supporters from an ex-president to the pope is set to be executed Wednesday after he lost what had been his most realistic chance at avoiding lethal injection.

Troy Davis was left with little to do Tuesday but wait to be executed for a murder he insists he did not commit after Georgia’s pardons board rejected his appeal for clemency. As his scheduled 7 p.m. Wednesday execution neared, his backers resorted to far-fetched measures. They asked prisons officials to let him take a polygraph test; urged prison workers to strike or call in sick; asked prosecutors to block the execution and they even considered a desperate appeal for White House intervention.

CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen described the denial of clemency as “routine.”

“Parole boards almost never grant clemency, so this is not a surprise,” Cohen said. “Now if Wednesday’s execution is going to be halted it’s going to have to come from the federal courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court in particular, which last week halted a Texas execution.”

Davis has gotten support from hundreds of thousands of people, including a former FBI director, former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI, and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave him an unusual opportunity to prove his innocence last year. State and federal courts, however, repeatedly upheld his conviction for the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard in Savannah when he was shot dead rushing to help a homeless man who was being attacked.

Davis’ attorneys say he was convicted based on flawed testimony that has been largely recanted by witnesses, but prosecutors and MacPhail’s relatives say they have no doubt the right man is being punished.

Georgia parole board hears last-ditch appeal from death-row inmate [VIDEO]

Mildred Gaddis — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:20:57 +0000

Atlanta (CNN) — Georgia’s parole board heard a last-minute appeal Monday by Troy Davis, who is set to die by lethal injection for the murder 22 years ago of a Savannah police officer.

Members of victim Mark MacPhail’s family also appeared at the parole board hearing to describe their loss, saying afterward they felt the panel listened to what they had to say.

A jury convicted Davis of murder in 1991, paving the way for his execution, which has been delayed three times and is now scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at a state prison in Jackson, Georgia.

In a statement, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles said it would not reach a decision in the case until Tuesday at the earliest.

Options for the board include commuting a death sentence to either life without parole or life with the possibility of parole, or denying clemency — which, in this case, would clear the way for Davis’ execution.

The panel also can delay the execution to continue its consideration of the case.

MacPhail, a police officer, died in 1989 after being shot three times.

Since Davis’ 1991 conviction, seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted or contradicted their testimony. There also have been questions about the physical evidence — and, according to some, the lack thereof — linking Davis to the killing.

Virginia Executes Mentally Disabled Woman

Mildred Gaddis — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:55:38 +0000

JARRATT, Va. — The first woman executed in the United States in five years was put to death in Virginia on Thursday for arranging the killings of her husband and a stepson over a $250,000 insurance payment.

Teresa Lewis, 41, died by injection at 9:13 p.m. Thursday, authorities said. She became the first woman executed in Virginia in nearly a century. Supporters and relatives of the victims watched her execution at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt.

Lewis enticed two men through sex, cash and a promised cut in an insurance policy to shoot her husband, Julian Clifton Lewis Jr., and his son, Charles, as they slept in October 2002. Both triggermen were sentenced to life in prison and one committed suicide in 2006.

Lewis appeared fearful, her jaw clenched, as she was escorted into the death chamber. She glanced tensely around at 14 assembled corrections officials before being bound to a gurney with heavy leather straps.

Moments before her execution, Lewis asked if her husband’s daughter was near.

Kathy Clifton, Lewis’ stepdaughter, was in an adjacent witness room blocked from the inmate’s view by a two-way mirror.

“I want Kathy to know that I love her and I’m very sorry,” Lewis said.

Then, as the drugs flowed into her body, her feet bobbed but she otherwise remained motionless. A guard lightly tapped her on the shoulder reassuringly as she slipped into death.

More than 7,300 appeals to stop the execution – the first of a woman in Virginia since 1912 – had been made to the governor in a state second only to Texas in the number of people it executes.

Texas held the most recent U.S. execution of a woman in 2005. Out of more than 1,200 people put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, only 11 have been women.

The 41-year-old woman, who defense attorneys said was borderline mentally disabled, had inspired other inmates by singing Christian hymns in prison. Her fate also had drawn appeals from the European Union, an indignant rebuke from Iran and the disgust of thousands of people.

The Lewis execution stirred an unusual amount of attention because of her gender, claims she lacked the intelligence to mastermind the killings and the post-conviction emergence of defense evidence that one of the triggermen manipulated her.

Lewis’ supporters also said she was a changed woman. They pointed to testimonials from former prison chaplains and inmates that Lewis comforted and inspired other inmates with her faith and the hymns and country gospel tunes she sang at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women where she was long held.

Hours before her execution, Lewis met with family, her spiritual adviser and supporters at the Greensville Correctional Center.

Her spiritual adviser, the Rev. Julie Perry, stood sobbing as she later witnessed the execution, clutching a religious book.

Throughout her life, a faith in God had been a seeming constant for Lewis – whether it was the prayer with her husband or her ministry behind bars.

But by her own admission, Lewis’ life has been marked by outrageous bouts of sex and betrayal even as she hewed to the trappings of Christianity.

“I was doing drugs, stealing, lying and having several affairs during my marriages,” Lewis wrote in a statement that was read at a prison religious service in August. “I went to church every Sunday, Friday and revivals but guess what? I didn’t open my Bible at home, only when I was at church.”

Her father said she ran off to get married, then later abandoned her children and ran off with her sister’s husband. Then she had an affair with her sister’s fiance while at the same time having an affair with another man.

Lewis’ life took a deadly turn after she married Julian, whom she met at a Danville textile factory in 2000. Two years later, his son Charles entered the U.S. Army Reserve. When he was called for active duty he obtained a $250,000 life insurance policy, naming his father the beneficiary and providing temptation for Teresa Lewis.

Both men would have to die for Lewis to receive the insurance payout.

She met at a Walmart with the two men who ultimately killed Julian Lewis and his son. Lewis began an affair with Matthew Shallenberger and later had sex with the other triggerman, Rodney Fuller. She also arranged sex with Fuller and her daughter, who was 16, in a parking lot.

On the night before Halloween in 2002, after she prayed with her husband, Lewis got out of bed, unlocked the door to their mobile home and put the couple’s pit bull in a bedroom so the animal wouldn’t interfere. Shallenberger and Fuller came in and shot both men several times with the shotguns Lewis had bought for them.

On a grassy knoll beside the correctional center, those opposed to the execution protested with signs and banners in the twilight Thursday. Critics said they were repulsed by Virginia’s killing of a woman.

“Tonight the death machine exterminated the beautiful childlike and loving spirit of Teresa Lewis,” said the condemned woman’s lawyer, James Rocap.

Texas held the most recent U.S. execution of a woman in 2005. Out of more than 1,200 people put to death since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, only 11 have been women.

Hours before her execution, Lewis met with family, her spiritual adviser and supporters at the Greensville Correctional Center.

Her spiritual adviser, the Rev. Julie Perry, stood sobbing as she later witnessed the execution, clutching a religious book.

Throughout her life, a faith in God had been a seeming constant for Lewis – whether it was the prayer with her husband or her ministry behind bars.

But by her own admission, Lewis’ life has been marked by outrageous bouts of sex and betrayal even as she hewed to the trappings of Christianity.

Both men would have to die for Lewis to receive the insurance payout.

“Tonight the death machine exterminated the beautiful childlike and loving spirit of Teresa Lewis,” said the condemned woman’s lawyer, James Rocap.

North Carolina Inmates Allege Bias, Challenge Death Sentences

Supreme Ct. Won’t Stop Execution Of Mentally Disabled Woman

Mildred Gaddis — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:46:33 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a stay of execution appeal from Teresa Lewis, scheduled to be the first woman executed in the United States in five years.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell previously rejected a clemency request from the death row inmate, who is set to die by injection Thursday evening.

Lewis, a 41-year-old grandmother, pleaded guilty to her part in the 2002 slayings of her husband and stepson in their rural home near Danville, Virginia, about 145 miles from Richmond. Two male co-conspirators — the triggermen — were given life in prison without parole.

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UPDATE: Father Charged With Son’s Execution

Mildred Gaddis — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:08:15 +0000

By Associated Press November 19, 2009 12:21 pm

UPDATE: Dad Charged In Son’s Execution

Neighbors Say Father Shot Son In Field

POSTED: Monday, November 16, 2009

UPDATED: 5:57 pm EST November 18, 2009

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — The family of slain 15-year-old Jamar Pinkney Jr. was overcome with emotions Wednesday as his father was led into court and arraigned on first-degree murder charges in his death.

Police said Jamar Pinkney Sr. forced his son, Jamar Pinkney Jr., to get naked and then he led him out of his mother’s Highland Park home Monday and shot him execution-style in the head in a nearby field.

Jamar Pinkney Sr. was charged with first-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison without chance for parole. He was also charged with three counts of felonious assault and felony firearm.

Highland Park Judge Bridgette Officer arraigned the 37-year-old on the charges Wednesday afternoon in 30th District Court. Jamar Pinkney Sr. pleaded guilty at the arraignment.

“In the event that there’s evidence that he did do this…that’s something that either a jury or a judge would have to take a good, hard look at,” said the defendant’s attorney, Corbett Edge O’Meara.

A judge ordered the father held without bond and set a preliminary examination for Dec. 1.

A 37-year-old father irate over hearing his 15-year-old son had sexual contact with a three-year-old girl made the teen strip at gunpoint, marched him to a vacant lot and shot him to death despite pleas from the boy and his mother, a relative said.

Michigan authorities filed a first-degree murder charge Wednesday against Jamar Pinkney Sr. in the shooting death Monday of Jamar Pinkney Jr. in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park.

Defense attorney Corbett O’Meara said prosecutors should consider evidence of the father’s state of mind over the sex abuse report.

“If something were to happen that would cause a reasonable person to lose control of himself, that is something the prosecution would have to take into account,” O’Meara said outside Highland Park District Court.

Tensions were high in the courtroom Wednesday as the handcuffed suspect was led into the room for the arraignment, which lasted less than a minute. “No, No, No,” one female relative cried before a police officer escorted her out.

Judge Brigette Officer entered a not guilty plea for Pinkney, who’s also charged with assault, and ordered him jailed without bond until a preliminary examination Dec. 1.

“This is something that’s hard to deal with for all the parties concerned, including the police,” police Chief Ted Caldwell said afterward. “Highland Park is a small city. These are people who have been members of the community for years.”

Caldwell said the sexual misconduct allegation that led to the confrontation wasn’t part of the police investigation.

The shooting happened Monday night in a vacant lot in the once-prosperous city of 16,000, where decay, abandonment, fires and demolition have eaten away at many of the sprawling homes. Highland Park recently exited years of state financial oversight.

Visitors built an impromptu memorial at the shooting site. Two votive candles sat amid 10 stuffed animals, including two white teddy bears with red hearts embroidered with, “I love you.”

The boy’s mother, Lazette Cherry, told The Detroit Free Press that her son told her he had improper sexual contact with the girl.

“I called and told his father. This isn’t something you sweep under the rug,” she said.

Cherry said the elder Pinkney arrived at the home with a gun, ordered his son to strip and marched him outside despite her protests.

“He got on his knees and begged, ‘No, Daddy, No,’ and he pulled the trigger,” Cherry said.

Cherry did not immediately respond to a message Wednesday from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Teen Dies, Relatives Say Dad Shot Him (Video)

Ms. Cryss — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:45:55 +0000

Published : Monday, 16 Nov 2009, 10:35 PM EST
Updated: Monday, 16 Nov 2009, 10:35 PM EST

By RONNIE DAHL
myFOXDetroit.com

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (myFOXDetroit.com) – A 15-year-old is gunned down outside his home. Jamar Pinkney, Junior’s life slowly slipped away in an empty Highland Park lot Monday afternoon. His aunt rushed to his side as he was dying.

“My nephew was laying on the ground, but he was begging and pleading… no, daddy, don’t do this,” said aunt Yolanda Cherry. “I was trying to make sure he stayed warm.”

Family members tell FOX 2 Jamar and his father had been arguing. They say his dad, Jamar Senior, ordered the teen out of his mother’s house on North Street, led him to the lot at gunpoint and then forced him to take off his clothes before shooting him.

“I didn’t know he was that kind of a father that he would… come and kill his own blood. He’s got to be sick,” said the teen’s grandfather.

Michigan State Police investigators spent much of the night combing the grassy area gathering evidence.

Relatives say after shooting his son, Jamar Senior simply got in his car and drove away, leaving behind his dying son and a shattered family.

“What ever my grandson did there was nothing in this world to take his life like he did. Shot him down on his knees after he hit him with that gun,” the grandfather said.

“For you to… make him strip down butt naked and make him get on his knees like that and then shoot him in back of head, it wasn’t worth it… Senseless,” Cherry said.

We’re told Jamar Senior is in police custody and being questioned. As for what this argument was all about, on that subject both the family nor police are not commenting.

Virginia Governor Will Not Stay Sniper Execution

People's Connection — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:35:50 +0000

By IAN URBINA - The New York Times

Published: November 10, 2009

WASHINGTON — Gov. Tim Kaine said Tuesday that he would not stay tonight’s scheduled execution of John Allen Muhammad, the man dubbed the “D.C. Sniper” whose murderous shooting spree in the Fall of 2002 left at least 10 dead.

In a written statement, Mr. Kaine said: “I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury and then imposed and affirmed by the courts. Accordingly, I decline to intervene.”

On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the case involving Mr. Muhammad, 48, who was sentenced to die for the killing of Dean H. Meyers, an engineer who was shot in the head at a gas station in Manassas, Va.

Mr. Meyers was one of 10 people killed in Maryland, Virginia and Washington over three weeks in October 2002. Mr. Muhammad’s accomplice, Lee B. Malvo, who was 17 at the time, was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The two are also suspected of fatal shootings in Alabama, Arizona and Louisiana.

The execution will bring to a close a case that has fixated the region ever since area residents were gunned down while doing the most mundane tasks, like shopping or pumping gas. The random nature of the shooting spree left people fearful and led many to remain indoors as much as possible to avoid becoming a target.

When the police announced that witnesses had reported having spotting white box trucks near the sniper shootings, the public became obsessed with the ubiquitous work vehicles and a sense of panic often beset anyone sitting at an intersection near the trucks. After a teenager was shot outside his Maryland school, local officials decided to keep schoolchildren inside at recess and they began drilling on duck-and-cover techniques.

Mr. Muhammad’s execution will also end a hard-fought legal battle.

His current lawyers lodged a last set of emergency appeals with the Supreme Court last week, arguing that Mr. Muhammad suffers from severe mental illness and brain damage, caused partly by childhood beatings. The lawyers have also argued that the case has moved too quickly.

While the Supreme Court did not comment in refusing to hear Mr. Muhammad’s appeal, three justices objected to the relative haste accompanying the execution.

Justice John Paul Stevens complained that “under our normal practice,” Mr. Muhammad’s petition for the court to take his case would have been discussed at the justices’ conference scheduled for Nov. 24. But because Virginia scheduled the execution for Tuesday, the judicial process was rushed, Justice Stevens said in a statement joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.

Justice Stevens wrote that he did not disagree with the majority’s decision to decline the case. However, in declining to stay the execution, he said, “we have allowed Virginia to truncate our deliberative process on a matter — involving a death row inmate — that demands the most careful attention.”

After Mr. Muhammad was sentenced to death in Virginia for shooting Mr. Meyers, Maryland prosecutors arranged to have him tried again for the six murders in Montgomery County. At that trial, Mr. Malvo, who is now 24, testified at length. Throughout both trials and a number of subsequent appeals, Mr. Muhammad continued to profess his innocence.

A soldier-turned-auto-mechanic, Mr. Muhammad held a deep grudge against his ex-wife and society. During the Maryland trial, Mr. Malvo testified that the aim of their shooting spree was to create havoc to cover for Mr. Muhammad’s plans to kidnap his three children.

The longer-term goal, Mr. Malvo said, was to extort law enforcement to stop the killing, after which Mr. Muhammad would take the money and move to Canada with Mr. Malvo and his three children. There, Mr. Malvo said, Mr. Muhammad planned to create a training ground for 140 young homeless men whom he would send out to wreak similar havoc and to “shut things down” in cities across the United States.

Although Governor Kaine has said in the past that he is personally opposed to the death penalty, he has allowed a number of executions to take place since he took office in 2006. Virginia has the nation’s second-busiest death chamber, behind Texas.

Prison officials said the execution process will begin around 8:30 p.m. at Greensville Correctional Center, a state prison in Jarratt, Virginia. An execution team will strap Mr. Muhammad to a gurney, attach him to a heart monitor and connect an intravenous catheter to each arm.

Prison officials will then open a curtain so witnesses in an adjoining room can watch the proceedings. Shortly after 9 p.m., the executioners will inject Mr. Muhammad with a series of chemicals, ending with a fatal dose of potassium chloride, according to prison officials.

Under Virginia law, a prisoner is allowed to choose the method by which he or she will be put to death — either lethal injection or the electric chair. Because Mr. Muhammad declined to select a method, by law he will receive a lethal injection.