The Dubose Brothers death penalty trial continues this week in Jacksonville, and the liveblog has survived a legal challenge.

As posted last week, the Times-Union and Jacksonville.com are live-blogging the trial as it happens.  This is a great thing — a phenomenal way for those interested in death penalty matters to follow the case online when it’s not being telecast. 

Benefits of the Live Blogging

In fact, there is something unique about following the reporter’s blogging — you see things through the blogger’s vision, learning things that you might have otherwise not noticed.  The grandfather’s work uniform as he comes into the courtroom to take a seat in the back.  Things like that, things that bring home that human lives are on the line here. 

Additionally, there is the opportunity to make comments to the blog as things are occurring.  You can ask questions, make commentary, read other folk’s contributions.  Participate with the reporter as the trial moves along. 

LiveBlogging Ordered to Stop When Cameras in the Courtroom

Judge Haddock has set limits on live blogging by the media.  Blogging from the courtroom can happen only when the media isn’t using a camera (still or video).  Judge Haddock doesn’t like the blogging, the blogger is reporting that word from the bench is that the judge and the jurors are finding the reporter’s typing on a laptop "distracting."  

Distraction vs Intrusion

Distracting for some — but a great window into the proceedings that are going to decide whether or not these three young men will be sentenced with death for so many others.  Distraction and intrusion are not synonimous terms, and having the eyes of the world (via the WWW) on a room where the government is asking to kill three of its citizens is very important. 
 

Johnny Depp will appear this evening on CBS-TV’s 48 Hours, bringing attention to the West Memphis 3, fighting against the execution of Damion Echols. 

Please watch – it’s a major event for Mr. Depp to bring his celebrity power to this Death Penalty case, especially when everyone would expect Johnny Depp to be on a standard publicity campaign for his new Disney movie, "Alice in Wonderland" by Tim Burton.  I’m sure that all opponents to the death penalty are excited that a major celebrity like Johnny Depp has become involved here — and are respectful not only of his artistic abilities but his moral commitment, as well. 

The Dubose Brothers of Jacksonville – Similar Situation as the West Memphis 3

Meanwhile, here in Florida, the Dubose Brothers are in a similar situation as the West Memphis 3 with these three African-American brothers all facing the death penalty in the murder of an 8 year old in a drive-by shooting.  It is undisputed that the drive-by was intended for a drug dealer who had robbed the oldest brother.  It is also clear that these three brothers have suffered a lifetime of abuse and neglect. 

The State’s zealous prosecutor is aggressively fighting for all three brothers to be put to death.  The penalty phases of their trials will continue through the next two weeks, and is being live-blogged in a joint effort of the Times-Union and Jacksonville.com. 

This case is being tried in Jacksonville, and my non-profit defense support organization, Florida Capital Resource Center, is providing whatever assistance we can to the defense attorneys in this case. (For details on how burdensome it is to represent indigent defendants in death penalty cases here in Florida, please read the assorted posts here on this topic, as well as my ongoing series of articles published at JD Supra and elsewhere.) 

E-mailed Johnny Depp’s agent asking for help with the Dubose boys

Last week, Mr. Depp’s agent also got an email written by Terry Lenamon, personally, not officially from the FCRC nor from the law firm, asking for his help in the Dubose Brothers case, if he could he see his way clear to do so.  

Sure, sure — IT IS a lot to ask a celebrity who’s already filming a movie (the Tourist) with Angelina Jolie, promoting a major film like Alice in Wonderland, and already taking a stand with the West Memphis 3, but Johnny Depp is known to march to a different drummer, and go his own way.  

Couldn’t hurt to ask, you don’t ask, you don’t get …and when you’re a death-penalty criminal defense attorney, one thing you have to have a whole heck of a lotta HOPE.  Hope in justice, hope in mercy, hope in the compassion of men’s souls … because sometimes, setting in that chair in the courtroom, hanging onto HOPE is all you’ve got. 

Sincerest thanks to Mr. Depp for his efforts today.  We’ll be watching CBS tonight, hope you will be, too.

 

This week, Adam LIptak of the New York Times has taken the great light that is the New York Times, using it to shine into dark corners of corruption, and revealed as story that’s been talked about in defense circles are awhile.  And his efforts can’t be noticed without also pointing out the efforts of Texas Monthly’s editor Michael Hall, who started receiving letters from a Death Row inmate named Hood and took notice of them. 

However, it’s the New York Times that’s really helping spread this shocking story, better late than never.  We all need to know about this evildoing. 

Seems that over in Texas (yes, Texas), during a trial where a man was facing the sentence of death, the judge (Verna Sue Holland) was having an affair with the prosecutor (Thomas S. O’Connell, Jr.).  This love affair apparently went on for years, and was the subject of much courthouse gossip.

Imagine the stress this placed upon defense counsel for Charles Dean Hood, who was being tried in Judge Holland’s court for a capital offense.  Imagine their feelings now, since the United States Supreme Court has his petition for writ of cert  before it, with the amicus brief of "former judges, state officials and prosecutors" numbering 21 in all, filing their support of his petition as friends of the court. 

Charles Dean Hood sits today on Texas’ Death Row, having facing more than one last minute stay of execution already.  Judge Holland has retired.  The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to rule. 

Here’s a curious fact:  Judge Verna Sue Holland served for 16 years as a justice on the highest criminal court in Texas, their Court of Criminal Appeals.  You know the one.  That’s the same court that Sharon Keller presides over as Chief Justice today (at least for now). 

Johnny Depp is getting lots of media play due to his upcoming debut as the beloved Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s version of "Alice in Wonderland" next month. 

However, Johnny Depp won’t be talking movies this Saturday when he appears on CBS-TV’s "48 Hours. "  Instead, he’ll be adding the power of his fame to the fight to stop the execution of Damien Echols and to free the West Memphis 3. 

Good for Johnny Depp. 

There are those, like Depp, who believe the three boys (now men – it’s been 17 years) are innocent of the crimes.  There are others that argue it’s not a matter of guilt, it’s a matter of the system failing to follow proper protocols, and the need to correct improprieties that cannot be ignored. 

The "West Memphis 3" are Damion Echols, Jessie Misskelley, Jr., and Jason Baldwin, who were convicted of murdering three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, back in 1993.  Only Echols was sentenced to death; Baldwin got life imprisonment and Misskelley was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years. 

Other celebrities lending their support to the West Memphis 3 campaign include Wynona Ryder and Demi Lovato. 

Can celebrities really impact executions in this country?  Of course they can.

We can all look to the case of Georgia’s Troy Davis as an example.   Famous names lending their clout to the Free Troy Davis campaign include The Pope, Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and former President Jimmy Carter. 

Right now, a federal hearing is pending in the Troy Davis case, and there’s a big fight between the attorneys on why all the witnesses have recanted.  The state is implying witness tampering, and the defense lawyers have taken to the media, incensed at the implication.  Meanwhile, Davis’s execution by the State of Georgia remains stayed by federal order. 

Yesterday, the jury came back in the Kemar Johnston case.  They had already found Mr. Johnston guilty of murder, now they were deliberating whether or not Kemar Johnston should die as punishment for the crime. 

The jury recommended life in prison for Kemar Johnston.  In doing so, the jury voted AGAINST the death penalty in this case.

Mercy over judgment.  Mercy — it’s one of the clear themes of this blog, as is bringing attention to the variety of mitigating factors that come into play in every case where the sentence of death is at issue. 

We argued that there were mitigating factors in Kemar Johnston’s situation where it would be unjust to impose the death penalty.  Among the evidence presented, clinical psychologist Hyman Eisenstein testified that he found Kemar to suffer from brain damage.  Specifically, permanent damage to the frontal lobe had occurred which compromised Kemar’s ability to make decisions as well as his ability to grasp the consequences of what he might choose to do, or not do. 

Mitigating Factors and Aggravating Circumstances.  We’ve discussed the process of capital punishment imposition before, generally describing the prosecutor’s advancing of circumstances and the defense’s propounding of mitigation issues.  The sentencing phase of any capital trial follows set protocols established by statute.

The trial of Kemar Johnston brings this home as a prime example of how the sentencing phase works.  State attorneys argued four aggravating circumstances.  We argued 100 mitigating factors that should form a barrier between Kemar Johnston and execution by the State of Florida for the crimes of which he had been found guilty.

There are those that are all too ready to say that when one citizen takes a life, he should give his own in return.  However, an eye for an eye is not what our society considers as justice.

This was a 20 year old boy whose birthday celebration – fueled with drugs and alcohol — went horribly wrong and now, he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.   Judgment was had: the jury found him guilty of murder.

Mercy was then imposed.  A mentally challenged young man who is loved by many —so loved, that his sister, sobbing on the stand during the sentencing phase brought the entire courtroom to a halt as Kemar broke down, too — was spared from the penalty of death. 

A victory in this case, yes – but it’s also a victory in the fight against Capital Punishment. 

This is a victory for us all, not just for LenamonLaw (though we are celebrating this weekend).  Until the death penalty is removed as a legal alternative, the fight to keep the government from killing its citizens must be fought a case at a time, in courtrooms across the country, just like we did this month for Kemar Johnston.

We can only hope that our spouses, and our children, understand the contributions that they make to this fight in their sacrifices — and now, we’ll be taking a bit of time to focus upon them, sharing our appreciation for their efforts as part of this team. 

We’ve been following the melodrama surrounding Sharon Keller, Chief Justice of Texas’ highest criminal court since allegations that her acts caused the execution of Michael Richard to go forward back in 2007. For background, here are some of our posts giving the details on this horrifiic story:

Sept 2009 – Texas’ Chief Justice Keller’s Trial – Shocking Report from FactFinder

August 2009 – In Texas Justice Keller’s Trial, What if the US Supreme Court had ruled the other way?

April 2009 – Texas Chief Justice Sharon Keller’s Lesson to Us All About Due Process

Well, yesterday was the deadline for the Examiner (read that, "prosecutor") to file objections to the fact findings that a state district judge (Judge David Berchelmann of San Antonio) issued recently after a week long trial in August.  That judge simply didn’t find that she did anything that bad – that the public ridicule of Justice Keller was more than enough punishment. 

Lots of folk (including us) were SHOCKED at this response.  Now, thankfully, a clear and solid voice has come forth in the public record, as the Examiner files its case before the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct (which has the power to remove her from the bench). The entire filing is important reading, and we’re hopeful that you’ll take the time to go through the 38 pages that explains everything so well. 

And to be fair, Justice Keller has filed her formal response to this filing, and you might want to read that, too.  It’s the right thing to do, something that you’ll recall wasn’t allowed to Michael Richard on that fateful day he died at the hands of the State of Texas. 

The death vans that cruise around China, killing people for all sorts of crimes and then harvesting their organs for sale on the human organ black market, was so shocking to us when intern Sin-Ting Mary Liu described the efforts, that we posted a long series here, excerpts from her excellent work – complete with the footnotes — giving all the details on what was going on over there.

Here are the links:

In Depth Look at the Law: China’s Death Penalty – 1: The Death Vans and Black Market Organ Trade

In Depth Look at the Law: China’s Death Penalty -2: Truly Inhumane Killings Are Happening in China Under the Guise of Capital Punishment

In Depth Look at the Law: China’s Death Penalty – 3: Who are the Falun Gong? Why are they targeted for execution and organ harvesting?

Found: One Recent In-depth Article on the China Death Vans. Who’s Covering the Story? Tibet. And They’ve Researched Death Vans Back to the Nazis.

In Depth Look at the Law: China Death Vans and Harvesting Prisoner Organs for Profit

In Depth Look at the Law: China Death Vans and China’s Widespread Corruption – There is No Fairness in China’s Criminal Justice System

In Depth Look at the Law: Secrecy in China – Successfully Hiding the Truth About Executions for Profit from the World

Suddenly, News that China’s High Court is Setting Death Penalty Guidelines

Now, there’s news that China’s high court has called for mercy in death penalty cases — in fact, the Supreme People’s Court has issued guidelines for lower courts to follow.  They include instructions that the death penalty should be reserved for cases with "valid and ample evidence" of the particular crime committed. And only crimes that are "extremely serious" should warrant the penalty of death. Minors and elders should not be executed. 

Here’s Our Question: What’s Been Done About the Human Organ Harvesting?

We welcome the news that China’s highest judicial body is implementing guidelines for capital punishment and that MERCY is being recognized. However, the hidden agenda in all the Chinese executions didn’t appear to be the legal boundaries set by Chinese law so much as the tremendous amount of PROFIT that was available in the sale of human organs for transplant in the black market.

What’s being done about that horror?  And, without cutting the head off that snake, aren’t the sinister death vans just going to impose whatever crimes are within the guidelines to get the product that they’ve found so lucrative to sell worldwide?

 

 
Since this is a case where the State of Florida is seeking the Death Penalty, a second trial will began next month.  Jurors will return to the courtroom of Judge Tom Reese in this sentencing phase of the proceedings to decide whether or not Johnston should receive life imprisonment or the penalty of death. 
 
For those interested in the actual proceedings of a death penalty case, I am attaching here, from the public record, a transcript (.pdf) of the closing arguments in this case, given just before the jury began its deliberations. 
 
State of Florida v. Kemar Manley Johnston, Case No. 06-019906 B in the Circuit Court of the 20th Judicial Circuit in and for Lee County, Florida
 
 
Arguing for the State
Marie E. Doerr, Ass’t State Attorney
Robert Lee, Ass’t State Attorney (rebuttal)
 
Arguing for the Defendant
Terry Lenamon, Esq.

 

 

For over seven (7) years, D’Andre Bannister has sat behind the bars of a Florida jail cell, awaiting trial on the charges that he murdered his stepson.  That’s right.  He’s never been tried. 

This week, an evidentiary courtroom battle began on whether or not the State of Florida can now — today — seek the death penalty against D’Andre Bannister.  And whether or not Florida can seek capital punishment in this or any other case hinges upon one fact:  the score that the defendant achieves on a standardized IQ test. 

An IQ test score of 70 or less, and capital punishment is not an option.

The United States Supreme Court ruled in 2002 (Atkins v. Virginia) that those deemed "mentally retarded" cannot be executed, because this would be cruel and unusual punishment and therefore, unconstitutional.  Florida statutes have defined that circumstance to exist when IQ scores hit a maximum of 70.

Mr. Bannister’s fight this week, however, is not whether or not he’s had a speedy trial, but whether or not he’s eligible under the Atkins protection from a death penalty sentence.  Because what score D’Andre Bannister receives depends not only upon which test he’s taken, but also the year in which it was administered.

Experts are testifying regarding intelligence fluctuations over time, the accuracy of one test over another, and how the rigid structure and educational efforts of Mr. Bannister may have impacted his intelligence level over the past seven years.

Media reports are that D’Andre Bannister does not want to be considered "mentally retarded" (a label given in the language of the Atkins decision).  Whether or not he understands that his life is on the line based upon a test score is not so clear. 

The judge has spoken from the bench, however, and whatever the outcome of this fight — the case will be set for trial sometime this summer.  It’s already made the record books as being the longest delayed death penalty trial in Florida’s history.