Even after the trial, the convicted has 'rights', they will then file an appeal. Most of the time it's bullshit, but still it keeps your emotions running high waiting for the outcome.
Be prepared for the defense to try and make the victim seem as though it were their fault and that they are the criminal. Now, that should not be allowed, but the Judges let them do it.
I rely on my Parents of Murdered Children's group. I can call them anytime I need to talk and they know what I am going through because they have all experienced the same horrors I have.
I hope it all works out for you, don't see how the trial could go wrong. Get someone that you are comfortable talking to, it will help.
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Messages - JeffcoCitizen
on: September 14, 2012, 10:31:52 AM 1 Victims and Victim Related / Victim Issues / Re: Surviving court...
on: September 14, 2012, 10:22:30 AM 2 General Death Penalty / Stays of Execution / Re: Reginald Clemons - Missouri - Hearing may decide fate of Chain of Rocks case
Hearing may decide fate of man on Missouri's death row in Chain of Rocks case
Sept. 14, 2012
ST. LOUIS • One is dead, one is on parole and one is serving a life term, but the fourth man convicted of throwing two sisters to their deaths off the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge two decades ago still has the court's attention in his bid for freedom.
Lawyers for Reginald Clemons, 41, will make their case here next week to a judge appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to hear evidence and make recommendations on the claim he was wrongfully convicted.
The high court could do anything from leaving him on death row to throwing out his conviction.
The case has been watched by activists around the world, and is the primary focus of Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, its director, Laura Moye said Thursday. She plans to be at the hearing. The organization plans a rally for Clemons on Saturday.
"We were very struck by a long list of problems with the case, which to us was emblematic of the worst things that can happen in a death penalty," Moye said. She recited complaints about police misconduct, a lack of physical evidence and reliance on shaky witness testimony.
Not all of it will necessarily be a rehash of old issues.
A DNA test on evidence that might have been overlooked at the time of the trial may surface during what is expected to be a weeklong hearing at the Carnahan Courthouse downtown. What it shows has never been publicly revealed; lawyers in the case are under a gag order.
The case was especially riveting. Julie Kerry, 20, and Robin Kerry, 19, led a visiting cousin, Thomas Cummins, 19, to the unused span the night of April 5, 1991, to show him a poem they had scrawled there about peace and harmony. They encountered men who raped the women and forced all three into the Mississippi River. Only Cummins survived, and police initially discounted his story.
Detectives soon zeroed in on Clemons, Marlin Gray, Antonio Richardson and Daniel Winfrey. Evidence included a flashlight found on the bridge that was linked to Richardson, and Gray's possession of Cummins' watch.
Winfrey made a deal to testify in exchange for a 30-year term and has been paroled. The others were sentenced to death. Gray was executed; Richardson's penalty was changed to life without parole.
Clemons was just weeks away from execution in June 2009 when the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals blocked it. He then won a new review by the Missouri Supreme Court. It sees a number of appeals from death row inmates each year; most end up there twice. Clemons is receiving a rare third look through a "special master" process.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners was appointed 'special master" to hear the evidence.
Clemons' lawyer argues in court filings that new evidence warrants a review of claims that his client's confession, which he later recanted, was beaten out of him. They point to the $150,000 settlement Cummins received from police in 2005 on his own claim that he was coerced into falsely confessing before quickly retelling the version of events that ultimately held weight with police and the courts.
The lawyer, Josh Levine, also argues that Clemons was not given the same treatment as Richardson, whom he argues was more culpable in the state's version of events. Cummins testified that he saw Richardson push the girls from the bridge.
Levine declined to comment for this story, as did Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster's office, which is representing the state.
Levine is expected to challenge "rape kit" test results from the body of Julie Kerry and three other police lab reports that came to the attention of the attorney general's office two years ago.
Nobody has been able to say whether the evidence was presented to defense lawyers at the time of Clemons' 1993 trial, which would be required if it favored his acquittal. Prosecution and defense lawyers have since said they don't recall having seen it then.
Officials have said there was a public record of its existence starting the year after the trial but the defense is disputing that.
A 1991 lab report, which predated DNA testing, indicated the rape kit showed no seminal fluid or sperm. In addition, Gray's pants were tested, based on semen stains and a hair found on them.
All the evidence has since been tested for DNA, but Manners issued a gag order last year after the Post-Dispatch requested the results.
The method of detecting semen in a tissue sample has not changed in two decades, although DNA testing might offer other identification possibilities.
Even so, it's unclear whether new DNA evidence would matter. Clemons initially confessed to raping only Robin Kerry, whose body was never found. Julie Kerry's remains were found moderately decomposed, about 300 miles downstream, three weeks after the crime.
The jury convicted Clemons without physical evidence of rape, and the presence of someone else's DNA would not necessarily rule him out as one of the killers. If he had raped Julie Kerry, he still might not have left evidence.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/hearing-may-decide-fate-of-man-on-missouri-s-death/article_83e1cd4c-8654-584b-9c17-537beafb12b7.html
***********************
This just makes me sick to hear.
Sept. 14, 2012
ST. LOUIS • One is dead, one is on parole and one is serving a life term, but the fourth man convicted of throwing two sisters to their deaths off the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge two decades ago still has the court's attention in his bid for freedom.
Lawyers for Reginald Clemons, 41, will make their case here next week to a judge appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court to hear evidence and make recommendations on the claim he was wrongfully convicted.
The high court could do anything from leaving him on death row to throwing out his conviction.
The case has been watched by activists around the world, and is the primary focus of Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, its director, Laura Moye said Thursday. She plans to be at the hearing. The organization plans a rally for Clemons on Saturday.
"We were very struck by a long list of problems with the case, which to us was emblematic of the worst things that can happen in a death penalty," Moye said. She recited complaints about police misconduct, a lack of physical evidence and reliance on shaky witness testimony.
Not all of it will necessarily be a rehash of old issues.
A DNA test on evidence that might have been overlooked at the time of the trial may surface during what is expected to be a weeklong hearing at the Carnahan Courthouse downtown. What it shows has never been publicly revealed; lawyers in the case are under a gag order.
The case was especially riveting. Julie Kerry, 20, and Robin Kerry, 19, led a visiting cousin, Thomas Cummins, 19, to the unused span the night of April 5, 1991, to show him a poem they had scrawled there about peace and harmony. They encountered men who raped the women and forced all three into the Mississippi River. Only Cummins survived, and police initially discounted his story.
Detectives soon zeroed in on Clemons, Marlin Gray, Antonio Richardson and Daniel Winfrey. Evidence included a flashlight found on the bridge that was linked to Richardson, and Gray's possession of Cummins' watch.
Winfrey made a deal to testify in exchange for a 30-year term and has been paroled. The others were sentenced to death. Gray was executed; Richardson's penalty was changed to life without parole.
Clemons was just weeks away from execution in June 2009 when the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals blocked it. He then won a new review by the Missouri Supreme Court. It sees a number of appeals from death row inmates each year; most end up there twice. Clemons is receiving a rare third look through a "special master" process.
Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners was appointed 'special master" to hear the evidence.
Clemons' lawyer argues in court filings that new evidence warrants a review of claims that his client's confession, which he later recanted, was beaten out of him. They point to the $150,000 settlement Cummins received from police in 2005 on his own claim that he was coerced into falsely confessing before quickly retelling the version of events that ultimately held weight with police and the courts.
The lawyer, Josh Levine, also argues that Clemons was not given the same treatment as Richardson, whom he argues was more culpable in the state's version of events. Cummins testified that he saw Richardson push the girls from the bridge.
Levine declined to comment for this story, as did Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster's office, which is representing the state.
Levine is expected to challenge "rape kit" test results from the body of Julie Kerry and three other police lab reports that came to the attention of the attorney general's office two years ago.
Nobody has been able to say whether the evidence was presented to defense lawyers at the time of Clemons' 1993 trial, which would be required if it favored his acquittal. Prosecution and defense lawyers have since said they don't recall having seen it then.
Officials have said there was a public record of its existence starting the year after the trial but the defense is disputing that.
A 1991 lab report, which predated DNA testing, indicated the rape kit showed no seminal fluid or sperm. In addition, Gray's pants were tested, based on semen stains and a hair found on them.
All the evidence has since been tested for DNA, but Manners issued a gag order last year after the Post-Dispatch requested the results.
The method of detecting semen in a tissue sample has not changed in two decades, although DNA testing might offer other identification possibilities.
Even so, it's unclear whether new DNA evidence would matter. Clemons initially confessed to raping only Robin Kerry, whose body was never found. Julie Kerry's remains were found moderately decomposed, about 300 miles downstream, three weeks after the crime.
The jury convicted Clemons without physical evidence of rape, and the presence of someone else's DNA would not necessarily rule him out as one of the killers. If he had raped Julie Kerry, he still might not have left evidence.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/hearing-may-decide-fate-of-man-on-missouri-s-death/article_83e1cd4c-8654-584b-9c17-537beafb12b7.html
***********************
This just makes me sick to hear.
on: February 03, 2012, 10:58:10 PM 3 General Crime / Crime Debate and Discussion / Re: Johnnie Pulley convicted 2nd degree murder gets probation
This is one case that has always bothered me. He stalks this kid thinking he is someone else, then guns him down and gets probation. Makes me wonder what was wrong with this jury. I'm really surprised the judge allowed this too.
You'll probably never see this reply, however I can tell you what was "wrong" with the jury, as I was one of the twelve selected for this panel. I've read all of the posts above, and there was plenty about the situation that bothered me as well, like you I couldn't understand why Mr. Pulley would appeal the probation verdict that we decided. Anyway, as Mr. Pulley said in one of his appeals, we the jury had difficulty in convicting Mr. Pulley of murder for this case, however we did not have a huge choice in the matter. If we had been offered the chance to convict him of manslaughter instead, we probably would have, because the one thing we all had difficulty on agreeing on was whether Mr. Pulley in fact intended to commit murder. We could not in good conscience agree to his claim of self-defence because plain and simple he did not follow the legal definition of self-defense, he was not acting on an imminent attack or situation where he reasonably could expect to be attacked. If Brandon had been armed, then not only would this be a cut and dry case of self defense but we would've had to find Mr. Pulley completely innocent. The verdict of guilty on the murder but not guilty on the armed criminal action was in fact a compromise, we were having difficulty getting the votes to convict because the instructions we were given did not leave us a lot of room. Our instructions allowed us to convict on the murder charge without having to convict on the armed criminal action, however the reverse was not true, and while we did feel Mr. Pulley was guilty of the armed criminal action because of his actions, the only way to get a unanimous decision was to agree to "Not guilty" on the armed criminal action, which we believed actually carried a steeper penalty than the murder charge. Now, after reading the details of the court's decision on denying Mr. Pulley's appeal, I feel a bit better that we did indeed give the best verdict that we could under the circumstances. Mr. Pulley's act, while NOT legal, was understandable. We felt he really did believe that Brandon was the youth that had assaulted him previously, not to say the WE believed Brandon was guilty but that we believe that Mr. Pulley believed such. The area where Mr. Pulley went wrong legally speaking was when he used deadly force to detain Brandon. Legally speaking, even with a CCW permit, Mr. Pulley could only detain a person by applying deadly force if he was either in imminent danger of having equally deadly force used on him or at least had reasonable cause to believe that such threat existed, which in our opinion was not the case.
I think you would feel differently if this had been your loved one who was stalked for blocks and murdered in cold blood. After all the jury convicted him of 2nd degree murder a charge that can get a life sentence in Missouri. I don't understand why the jury didn't want him to serve time for the crime he committed. He murdered the wrong guy, but he still murdered and there was no insanity defense.
I guess I don't understand why the jury thought that Pulley was 'afraid' when he was the one who followed the youth for blocks and then pulled out a gun and shot him dead. The kid wasn't armed and witnesses say there was no fight.
on: February 02, 2012, 08:14:59 PM 4 General Crime / U.S. Crime Related News / Jury recommends death for man found guilty in Franklin County murder
Jury recommends death for man found guilty in Franklin County murder
February 2, 2012
Update: Jury recommends death penalty at 9:40 p.m. after five hours of deliberation. A judge will ultimately determine if Vernell Loggins Jr. gets life in prison or the death penalty. Sentencing is set for March 12.
UNION • A jury found a Pacific man guilty of first-degree murder in the killing and dismemberment of his girlfriend in 2009.
The jury of 11 women and one man returned their verdict against Vernell Loggins Jr., 39, this morning after deliberating about six hours Wednesday.
Jurors had the option to convict Loggins of second-degree murder, but they agreed with prosecutors, who said Loggins showed "cool reflection" and deliberation in the stabbing death of Stephanie Fields, 25.
David Kenyon, a public defender, had argued Fields was killed in the middle of a fight and that there was no deliberation.
The sentencing phase, in which the jury will decide whether to recommend the death penalty, began this morning after the verdict.
Maintenance workers found parts of Fields' body Nov. 3, 2009, in a trash can left next to a bin at the Monroe Woods Apartments north of Interstate 44 near the Pacific exit, where Loggins, a trucker, lived.
Jurors on Monday saw graphic photos of Fields' body stuffed into the trash can under ice cubes with the lid glued shut, and of cut marks made to her bones. Her head and forearms had been cut off and were not in the trash can.
Mary Case, chief medical examiner of St. Louis County who performed the autopsy on Fields, testified that Fields had been stabbed 25 times and that her killer had also tried to cut off her right leg. Fields also had suffered badly bruised buttocks not long before her death, Case said.
Bags recovered from the trash bin contained a label from a new trash can, three empty ice bags, Walmart receipts for the can, mail addressed to Loggins and glue.
Jurors also saw a video from the Walmart in Eureka that showed a man buying that type of trash can, Tide laundry detergent and carpet cleaner about 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2009. That man, who wore a Cardinals baseball hat, left in an SUV registered to Loggins, court documents say. A man wearing the same hat returned that evening to buy glue.
Fields' blood was found in every room of Loggins' apartment, even in the ceiling fan. A shower curtain found in a Dumpster was soaked in her blood as well and there was no shower curtain in Loggins' apartment when police searched it.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/jury-recommends-death-for-man-found-guilty-in-franklin-county/article_481290a6-4cf8-11e1-b7de-0019bb30f31a.html
February 2, 2012
Update: Jury recommends death penalty at 9:40 p.m. after five hours of deliberation. A judge will ultimately determine if Vernell Loggins Jr. gets life in prison or the death penalty. Sentencing is set for March 12.
UNION • A jury found a Pacific man guilty of first-degree murder in the killing and dismemberment of his girlfriend in 2009.
The jury of 11 women and one man returned their verdict against Vernell Loggins Jr., 39, this morning after deliberating about six hours Wednesday.
Jurors had the option to convict Loggins of second-degree murder, but they agreed with prosecutors, who said Loggins showed "cool reflection" and deliberation in the stabbing death of Stephanie Fields, 25.
David Kenyon, a public defender, had argued Fields was killed in the middle of a fight and that there was no deliberation.
The sentencing phase, in which the jury will decide whether to recommend the death penalty, began this morning after the verdict.
Maintenance workers found parts of Fields' body Nov. 3, 2009, in a trash can left next to a bin at the Monroe Woods Apartments north of Interstate 44 near the Pacific exit, where Loggins, a trucker, lived.
Jurors on Monday saw graphic photos of Fields' body stuffed into the trash can under ice cubes with the lid glued shut, and of cut marks made to her bones. Her head and forearms had been cut off and were not in the trash can.
Mary Case, chief medical examiner of St. Louis County who performed the autopsy on Fields, testified that Fields had been stabbed 25 times and that her killer had also tried to cut off her right leg. Fields also had suffered badly bruised buttocks not long before her death, Case said.
Bags recovered from the trash bin contained a label from a new trash can, three empty ice bags, Walmart receipts for the can, mail addressed to Loggins and glue.
Jurors also saw a video from the Walmart in Eureka that showed a man buying that type of trash can, Tide laundry detergent and carpet cleaner about 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2009. That man, who wore a Cardinals baseball hat, left in an SUV registered to Loggins, court documents say. A man wearing the same hat returned that evening to buy glue.
Fields' blood was found in every room of Loggins' apartment, even in the ceiling fan. A shower curtain found in a Dumpster was soaked in her blood as well and there was no shower curtain in Loggins' apartment when police searched it.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/jury-recommends-death-for-man-found-guilty-in-franklin-county/article_481290a6-4cf8-11e1-b7de-0019bb30f31a.html
on: December 10, 2011, 12:40:40 PM 5 General Death Penalty / U.S. Death Penalty Discussion / High court upholds Odenbaugh sentence
High court upholds Odenbaugh sentence
Dec. 10, 2011
The first-degree murder convictions and death sentence of a Bastrop man who gunned down his wife and mother-in-law with a 12-gauge shotgun and wounded his stepdaughter were affirmed by the Louisiana Supreme Court in an opinion released Tuesday, according to a news release from 4th District Assistant District Attorney Mike Ruddick.
Lee Roy Odenbaugh Jr., 47, was convicted by a Ouachita Parish jury in November 2008 on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder in the Dec. 2, 2006, shooting that occurred at the Odenbaugh residence in Bastrop. During the penalty phase, the jury decided Odenbaugh should die by lethal injection.
"We are extremely pleased with the decision. The Supreme Court unanimously found that the verdicts and sentences were proper," said Ruddick, who prosecuted the case along with Dion Young and Holly Jones.
Odenbaugh was accused in the shooting deaths of his wife, Sondra Porter-Odenbaugh, 39, and her mother, Jessie Porter, 58, and the wounding of his stepdaughter, Jessica Cooper, 22, at the Odenbaughs' mobile home on Summerlin Lane.
According to the news release, Odenbaugh had been in an argument with his family earlier in the day and left. Later he returned armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot his mother-in-law as she sat in her car. He then shot and wounded his stepdaughter as she ran from the automobile.
Odenbaugh then went into the trailer and shot and killed his wife.
He was captured after a high-speed chase through Morehouse Parish.
Odenbaugh's trial was moved to Ouachita Parish because of pretrial publicity in Morehouse Parish.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20111210/NEWS01/112100312
Dec. 10, 2011
The first-degree murder convictions and death sentence of a Bastrop man who gunned down his wife and mother-in-law with a 12-gauge shotgun and wounded his stepdaughter were affirmed by the Louisiana Supreme Court in an opinion released Tuesday, according to a news release from 4th District Assistant District Attorney Mike Ruddick.
Lee Roy Odenbaugh Jr., 47, was convicted by a Ouachita Parish jury in November 2008 on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder in the Dec. 2, 2006, shooting that occurred at the Odenbaugh residence in Bastrop. During the penalty phase, the jury decided Odenbaugh should die by lethal injection.
"We are extremely pleased with the decision. The Supreme Court unanimously found that the verdicts and sentences were proper," said Ruddick, who prosecuted the case along with Dion Young and Holly Jones.
Odenbaugh was accused in the shooting deaths of his wife, Sondra Porter-Odenbaugh, 39, and her mother, Jessie Porter, 58, and the wounding of his stepdaughter, Jessica Cooper, 22, at the Odenbaughs' mobile home on Summerlin Lane.
According to the news release, Odenbaugh had been in an argument with his family earlier in the day and left. Later he returned armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot his mother-in-law as she sat in her car. He then shot and wounded his stepdaughter as she ran from the automobile.
Odenbaugh then went into the trailer and shot and killed his wife.
He was captured after a high-speed chase through Morehouse Parish.
Odenbaugh's trial was moved to Ouachita Parish because of pretrial publicity in Morehouse Parish.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20111210/NEWS01/112100312
on: October 17, 2011, 09:51:11 PM 6 General Death Penalty / U.S. Death Penalty Discussion / Re: Gilbert Postelle Sentenced to Death in OK 2005 Quadruple Murder
ronivgw (+0/-0) JeffcoCitizen (+411/-1) - gil is a good person whos all heart In topic Today at 12:01:23 AM
Ronivgw, I think you might be in the wrong place. You need to go to MammasTalkin where you belong.
WE HAVE ANOTHER TROLL
Ronivgw, I think you might be in the wrong place. You need to go to MammasTalkin where you belong.
WE HAVE ANOTHER TROLL
on: October 17, 2011, 09:44:35 PM 7 Off Topic / Off Topic- News / Re: Memphis 3 Love Story?
Not only that, but he didn't even meet with his sister or mother who sat in a wheelchair outside of the courthouse waiting for him. The marriage will end as quickly as it began.
I do not think they are innocent. They claim to have evidence that will clear their names, but yet where is it? Why are they asking for a pardon if they have evidence that will prove they are innocent? Too many questions that go unanswered.
He lies during interviews too. He said that he has never been in trouble before. That is such bullshit! He's been institutionalized and threatened his parents and said that he liked to drink blood because it made him feel like GOD.
He claims that he never knew Misskelley, but yet all the interviews police had with his family and friends said he did hang out with Misskelley.
He claims Misskelley is retarded, but he is not. He's not the sharpest knife, but far from retarded.
They did not have alibis and his mother lied for him (that's why I think she is a piece of shit too). She said that he was never in trouble, but if you read the 500 files you will see differently and she was concerned about him 'being into devil worship'.
Those three men murdered three-eight-year-old little boys. They were sexually abused, tortured and murdered. They (Baldwin & Echols) even bragged about it.
All the media is going on is propaganda brought on by HBO and some celebrities who profit on murderbilia.
If there were some real journalists who would give them some hard questions and take them down to their last pair of shit stained underwear, but their not giving interviews to any of them.
I cannot stand their groupies either and Lorri Davis is one. She is probably sisters to MammasTalkin. Same kind of woman.
http://wm3truth.com/
I do not think they are innocent. They claim to have evidence that will clear their names, but yet where is it? Why are they asking for a pardon if they have evidence that will prove they are innocent? Too many questions that go unanswered.
He lies during interviews too. He said that he has never been in trouble before. That is such bullshit! He's been institutionalized and threatened his parents and said that he liked to drink blood because it made him feel like GOD.
He claims that he never knew Misskelley, but yet all the interviews police had with his family and friends said he did hang out with Misskelley.
He claims Misskelley is retarded, but he is not. He's not the sharpest knife, but far from retarded.
They did not have alibis and his mother lied for him (that's why I think she is a piece of shit too). She said that he was never in trouble, but if you read the 500 files you will see differently and she was concerned about him 'being into devil worship'.
Those three men murdered three-eight-year-old little boys. They were sexually abused, tortured and murdered. They (Baldwin & Echols) even bragged about it.
All the media is going on is propaganda brought on by HBO and some celebrities who profit on murderbilia.
If there were some real journalists who would give them some hard questions and take them down to their last pair of shit stained underwear, but their not giving interviews to any of them.
I cannot stand their groupies either and Lorri Davis is one. She is probably sisters to MammasTalkin. Same kind of woman.
http://wm3truth.com/
on: October 14, 2011, 11:11:33 AM 8 General Death Penalty / Executed Offenders (Graveyard) / Re: Christopher Thomas Johnson - Alabama Death Row - 10/20/2011
I would have more respect for him if he had chosen the electric chair instead of the sissy's way out using lethal injection.
on: October 09, 2011, 11:16:42 PM 9 General Death Penalty / Recidivism - why the Death Penalty Works / MO Man who killed elderly woman years ago gets life for murder of St. Louis man
Man who killed elderly woman years ago gets life for murder of St. Louis man
October 6, 2011
ST. LOUIS • A man convicted of suffocating an elderly woman 25 years ago was sentenced this morning to life in prison without the possibility of parole for another murder in St. Louis.
Danny C. Smith, 48, of the 4700 block of Martin Luther King Drive, was found guilty in St. Louis Circuit Court in July of first-degree murder, robbery and two counts of armed criminal action for an April 27, 2009, killing and robbery. He was sentenced by St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy J. Wilson.
Police said Smith knocked on the door of a home in the 4600 block of Natural Bridge Avenue about 10:40 p.m., then held four adults and two young children inside at gunpoint. Smith forced Kenneth Isbell, 25, to the floor, took money and guns, then fatally shot Isbell twice in the head.
Smith had served part of a 30-year-sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder for the 1986 death of 82-year-old Mary Henderson inside her apartment in the 3600 block of Cottage Avenue and was paroled in February 2008.
The jury in the most recent case did not hear about the 1986 murder.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_bb855a88-f031-11e0-bde9-0019bb30f31a.html
_____________________________________________
He must have missed the flat screen TV or something....
October 6, 2011
ST. LOUIS • A man convicted of suffocating an elderly woman 25 years ago was sentenced this morning to life in prison without the possibility of parole for another murder in St. Louis.
Danny C. Smith, 48, of the 4700 block of Martin Luther King Drive, was found guilty in St. Louis Circuit Court in July of first-degree murder, robbery and two counts of armed criminal action for an April 27, 2009, killing and robbery. He was sentenced by St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy J. Wilson.
Police said Smith knocked on the door of a home in the 4600 block of Natural Bridge Avenue about 10:40 p.m., then held four adults and two young children inside at gunpoint. Smith forced Kenneth Isbell, 25, to the floor, took money and guns, then fatally shot Isbell twice in the head.
Smith had served part of a 30-year-sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder for the 1986 death of 82-year-old Mary Henderson inside her apartment in the 3600 block of Cottage Avenue and was paroled in February 2008.
The jury in the most recent case did not hear about the 1986 murder.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_bb855a88-f031-11e0-bde9-0019bb30f31a.html
_____________________________________________
He must have missed the flat screen TV or something....
on: October 09, 2011, 11:05:57 PM 10 General Death Penalty / Recidivism - why the Death Penalty Works / MA Paroled killer guilty of clerk’s murder
Paroled killer guilty of clerk’s murder
September 28, 2011
The Suffolk district attorney blasted the former state Parole Board members who released Edward Corliss in 2006, after Corliss was convicted yesterday in the cold-blooded murder of a Jamaica Plain store clerk the day after Christmas 2009.
“Edward Corliss is a career criminal,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said yesterday. “He never should have been out of custody.”
A Suffolk County jury deliberated for just one day before finding Corliss, 65, guilty of first-degree murder, armed masked robbery and illegal possession of a handgun in the slaying of Tedeschi’s clerk Surendra Dangol. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley hailed the verdict, saying he’s “not sure if I’ve ever seen a better investigated case.”
At the time of the shooting, Corliss was on parole after being convicted of murder and sentenced to life in 1973 for the slaying of a Salisbury store clerk in a robbery that netted him $17. During his decades behind bars, he escaped twice but was caught both times.
Courtroom 906 was packed yesterday with police and members of the DA’s office in a show of law enforcement might. Family members were said to be too distraught to attend.
Dangol was a 39-year-old Nepalese immigrant, a husband and a father who was working the day shift when Corliss entered the store the day after Christmas in 2009. Dangol gave Corliss $742 from the cash register, then Corliss shot and killed him.
Corliss, who had hardly any reaction to yesterday’s verdict, now faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Judge Diane Kottmyer will sentence Corliss at 2 p.m. tomorrow, after Dangol’s relatives deliver victim impact statements.
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0928paroled_killer_guilty_of_clerks_murder/
September 28, 2011
The Suffolk district attorney blasted the former state Parole Board members who released Edward Corliss in 2006, after Corliss was convicted yesterday in the cold-blooded murder of a Jamaica Plain store clerk the day after Christmas 2009.
“Edward Corliss is a career criminal,” Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said yesterday. “He never should have been out of custody.”
A Suffolk County jury deliberated for just one day before finding Corliss, 65, guilty of first-degree murder, armed masked robbery and illegal possession of a handgun in the slaying of Tedeschi’s clerk Surendra Dangol. Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley hailed the verdict, saying he’s “not sure if I’ve ever seen a better investigated case.”
At the time of the shooting, Corliss was on parole after being convicted of murder and sentenced to life in 1973 for the slaying of a Salisbury store clerk in a robbery that netted him $17. During his decades behind bars, he escaped twice but was caught both times.
Courtroom 906 was packed yesterday with police and members of the DA’s office in a show of law enforcement might. Family members were said to be too distraught to attend.
Dangol was a 39-year-old Nepalese immigrant, a husband and a father who was working the day shift when Corliss entered the store the day after Christmas in 2009. Dangol gave Corliss $742 from the cash register, then Corliss shot and killed him.
Corliss, who had hardly any reaction to yesterday’s verdict, now faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Judge Diane Kottmyer will sentence Corliss at 2 p.m. tomorrow, after Dangol’s relatives deliver victim impact statements.
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0928paroled_killer_guilty_of_clerks_murder/
on: October 08, 2011, 06:59:29 PM 11 General Crime / U.S. Crime Related News / Jail inmates in Pittsburgh get new 42in flat screen TVs
Jail inmates in Pittsburgh get new 42in flat screen TVs 
Sep 27, 2011
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - They're top of the line flat screen TVs and right now, inmates at the Allegheny County Jail are likely watching them.
The County Jail Oversight Board recently approved the purchase of 40 Sony Bravia televisions for viewing in the jail common areas.
If a judge sentenced you to the Allegheny County Jail, you'd be provided three hot meals and a bed to sleep in, but in common areas, you'd also be able to watch cable shows on 42-inch Sony flat screens.
The County Jail Oversight Board recently approved the purchase of 40 sets for $16,000 or $395 a piece.
"If our families in Allegheny County can't afford 42-inch Sony Bravia TVs, the prisoners certainly shouldn't be able to be watching them in jail," he said.
The money comes from the "Inmate Welfare Fund" - proceeds from the jail commissary used by the inmates.
Onorato administration officials who wouldn't be interviewed on camera or allow the televisions to be photographed, argued in a statement that it's not the public's money.
"No taxpayer dollars or county funds are being used to purchase the televisions. The inmates are purchasing the televisions to replace old or broken sets. The decision to purchase the TVs was made by a committee that consists of jail personnel and inmate advocates."
"The point of being in jail is not to mistreat people or make them feel worse and resentful," Marion Damick, a committee member, said.
She told KDKA-TV the inmates are not being rewarded for bad behavior.
While the debate may rage on, the TVs have already been purchased. They're arriving and being hooked up just in time for Steeler season.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/212681/81/Jail-inmates-in-Pittsburgh-get-new-42in-flat-screen-TVs
Sep 27, 2011
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - They're top of the line flat screen TVs and right now, inmates at the Allegheny County Jail are likely watching them.
The County Jail Oversight Board recently approved the purchase of 40 Sony Bravia televisions for viewing in the jail common areas.
If a judge sentenced you to the Allegheny County Jail, you'd be provided three hot meals and a bed to sleep in, but in common areas, you'd also be able to watch cable shows on 42-inch Sony flat screens.
The County Jail Oversight Board recently approved the purchase of 40 sets for $16,000 or $395 a piece.
"If our families in Allegheny County can't afford 42-inch Sony Bravia TVs, the prisoners certainly shouldn't be able to be watching them in jail," he said.
The money comes from the "Inmate Welfare Fund" - proceeds from the jail commissary used by the inmates.
Onorato administration officials who wouldn't be interviewed on camera or allow the televisions to be photographed, argued in a statement that it's not the public's money.
"No taxpayer dollars or county funds are being used to purchase the televisions. The inmates are purchasing the televisions to replace old or broken sets. The decision to purchase the TVs was made by a committee that consists of jail personnel and inmate advocates."
"The point of being in jail is not to mistreat people or make them feel worse and resentful," Marion Damick, a committee member, said.
She told KDKA-TV the inmates are not being rewarded for bad behavior.
While the debate may rage on, the TVs have already been purchased. They're arriving and being hooked up just in time for Steeler season.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/212681/81/Jail-inmates-in-Pittsburgh-get-new-42in-flat-screen-TVs
on: October 06, 2011, 11:03:58 AM 12 General Crime / Crime Debate and Discussion / Re: Johnnie Pulley convicted 2nd degree murder gets probation
Appeal denied. Convicted of 2nd degree murder and is sentenced to probation and he's appealing??? He has balls as big as church bells.
Missouri Appeal Court Eastern District
October 4, 2010
http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=49610
Missouri Appeal Court Eastern District
October 4, 2010
http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=49610
on: October 05, 2011, 11:02:09 PM 13 General Death Penalty / U.S. Death Penalty Discussion / Re: Gilbert Postelle Sentenced to Death in OK 2005 Quadruple Murder
Oklahoma death row inmate asks appeals court to reverse 2 death sentences, order new trial
October 04, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma death row inmate convicted in the machine-gun slayings of four people on Memorial Day 2005 should have his convictions and sentences reversed, a defense attorney told an Oklahoma appeals court Tuesday.
Gilbert Ray Postelle, 25, was found guilty by an Oklahoma County jury of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of James Alderson, Terry Smith, James "Donnie" Swindle Jr. and Amy Wright on May 30, 2005. Their bodies were found outside a south Oklahoma City mobile home and each had been shot multiple times.
Postelle received two death sentences and two sentences of life in prison without parole. But defense attorney Andrea Miller of the Oklahoma County Public Defender's Office told the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals that Postelle should get a new trial because of legal errors at his first trial, a troubled childhood that included early exposure to drugs and the fact that others prosecuted in the case were not sentenced to death.
"It is not the appropriate sentence," Miller said during oral arguments in the case.
Assistant Attorney General Seth Branham urged the court to uphold Postelle's convictions and sentences, arguing that any errors during his trial were harmless and that Postelle told two witnesses following the shootings that he was responsible.
"Those admissions directly connect the defendant to these murders," Branham said.
The five-judge court took the case under advisement and did not indicate when it may hand down a ruling.
Prosecutors accused Postelle of plotting with his father, brother and a family friend to kill the victims. Prosecutors said they believed Swindle was responsible for a motorcycle accident that crippled Postelle's father, Earl Bradford Postelle, in February 2004.
Prosecutors claim the victims were herded out of the mobile home and that someone emptied a 30-shot magazine of an AK-47 assault rifle into them. Another six shots were fired into Swindle's head with a rifle.
In 2007, Earl Postelle was declared incompetent to stand trial because of brain injuries suffered in the motorcycle accident. Gilbert Postelle's older brother, David Postelle, was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The family friend, Randall Wade Byus, also was charged with murder in the case but those charges were dropped after he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and testified against Gilbert Postelle.
Miller told the appeals court that Byus' testimony is the reason Postelle got the death penalty. She said Byus testified that Postelle committed the shootings, but that no other evidence puts the assault rifle in his hands.
"The crime scene evidence contradicts Randall Byus' testimony," said Miller, arguing that Postelle's jury should have received a legal instruction that accomplice testimony cannot alone support a conviction and must be corroborated. She said that instruction was not given by the trial judge, District Judge Ray Elliott.
"The jury should have had the opportunity to decide that," she said.
Branham said the jury in David Postelle's trial did not receive the accomplice corroboration instruction following the testimony of a different witness and the appeals court ruled it was harmless error. But several judges, including Presiding Judge Arlene Johnson of Oklahoma City, indicated the court might be less inclined to rule that way in a death penalty case.
Miller said Postelle has an IQ of only 76 and suffers from neurological issues because he has used methamphetamine since he was 11 years old. She also complained that Elliott did not instruct jurors that Postelle's brother received life sentences in the case although prosecutors had sought the death penalty.
"This jury should have been allowed to consider that nobody else was sentenced to death," she said.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/cbd37c4b24494dd7b1bf0bb5d06101e5/OK--Quadruple-Slaying-Appeal/
October 04, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma death row inmate convicted in the machine-gun slayings of four people on Memorial Day 2005 should have his convictions and sentences reversed, a defense attorney told an Oklahoma appeals court Tuesday.
Gilbert Ray Postelle, 25, was found guilty by an Oklahoma County jury of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of James Alderson, Terry Smith, James "Donnie" Swindle Jr. and Amy Wright on May 30, 2005. Their bodies were found outside a south Oklahoma City mobile home and each had been shot multiple times.
Postelle received two death sentences and two sentences of life in prison without parole. But defense attorney Andrea Miller of the Oklahoma County Public Defender's Office told the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals that Postelle should get a new trial because of legal errors at his first trial, a troubled childhood that included early exposure to drugs and the fact that others prosecuted in the case were not sentenced to death.
"It is not the appropriate sentence," Miller said during oral arguments in the case.
Assistant Attorney General Seth Branham urged the court to uphold Postelle's convictions and sentences, arguing that any errors during his trial were harmless and that Postelle told two witnesses following the shootings that he was responsible.
"Those admissions directly connect the defendant to these murders," Branham said.
The five-judge court took the case under advisement and did not indicate when it may hand down a ruling.
Prosecutors accused Postelle of plotting with his father, brother and a family friend to kill the victims. Prosecutors said they believed Swindle was responsible for a motorcycle accident that crippled Postelle's father, Earl Bradford Postelle, in February 2004.
Prosecutors claim the victims were herded out of the mobile home and that someone emptied a 30-shot magazine of an AK-47 assault rifle into them. Another six shots were fired into Swindle's head with a rifle.
In 2007, Earl Postelle was declared incompetent to stand trial because of brain injuries suffered in the motorcycle accident. Gilbert Postelle's older brother, David Postelle, was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The family friend, Randall Wade Byus, also was charged with murder in the case but those charges were dropped after he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and testified against Gilbert Postelle.
Miller told the appeals court that Byus' testimony is the reason Postelle got the death penalty. She said Byus testified that Postelle committed the shootings, but that no other evidence puts the assault rifle in his hands.
"The crime scene evidence contradicts Randall Byus' testimony," said Miller, arguing that Postelle's jury should have received a legal instruction that accomplice testimony cannot alone support a conviction and must be corroborated. She said that instruction was not given by the trial judge, District Judge Ray Elliott.
"The jury should have had the opportunity to decide that," she said.
Branham said the jury in David Postelle's trial did not receive the accomplice corroboration instruction following the testimony of a different witness and the appeals court ruled it was harmless error. But several judges, including Presiding Judge Arlene Johnson of Oklahoma City, indicated the court might be less inclined to rule that way in a death penalty case.
Miller said Postelle has an IQ of only 76 and suffers from neurological issues because he has used methamphetamine since he was 11 years old. She also complained that Elliott did not instruct jurors that Postelle's brother received life sentences in the case although prosecutors had sought the death penalty.
"This jury should have been allowed to consider that nobody else was sentenced to death," she said.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/cbd37c4b24494dd7b1bf0bb5d06101e5/OK--Quadruple-Slaying-Appeal/
on: October 05, 2011, 10:43:00 PM 14 General Death Penalty / U.S. Death Penalty Discussion / OK - Tremane Wood Oklahoma appeals court affirms death sentence in Montana man's
Oklahoma appeals court affirms death sentence in Montana man's stabbing at Oklahoma City motel
October 05, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY — A man convicted of stabbing a 19-year-old Montana man to death in a motel room on New Year's Day 2002 has lost his appeal to have his death sentence overturned.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the death penalty given to Tremane Wood by an Oklahoma County jury that convicted him of first-degree murder for the Jan. 1, 2002, death of Ronald Reuben Wipf. Wood, 31, also was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and conspiracy to commit a felony in the case.
In its nine-page opinion, the appellate court rejected Wood's claims that he has received ineffective legal assistance since appealing his conviction and sentence. Wood claims his appellate counsel has not alleged that the defense attorney at Wood's trial was ineffective for not hiring a forensic pathologist to challenge the victim's autopsy report.
The court said it rejected Wood's appeal "because he cannot show a reasonable probability that the outcome of his trial would have been different had post-conviction counsel done so."
Wood's post-conviction attorney, James T. Rowan, said Wednesday he was disappointed in the ruling. "But it's only one hurdle in a long train of hurdles," Rowan said.
The appeals court ruling states that Wood's first name has sometimes been misspelled Termane in the state court record. It also says Wood has a separate appeal pending in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.
Prosecutors alleged that Wood and his brother, Zjaiton Wood, 34, robbed Wipf and another Montana man, Arnold Jonathan Kleinsasser, before the stabbing. Zjaiton Wood was sentenced to life in prison without parole and an additional 120 years for the robbery and killing.
Wipf and Kleinsasser were working on a harvesting crew at a farm in Chickasha. The two men were members of the Hutterites of the Riverview Colony, a religious sect in Montana, and had returned to Oklahoma after spending the holidays with their families.
Prosecutors allege that Kleinsasser and Wipf met two women, Lanita Sue Bateman and Brandy Lynn Warden, at a restaurant on New Year's Eve 2001 and that they offered to have sex with the pair for $210. But prosecutors alleged that the women were setting the men up to be robbed.
Bateman, 29, was sentenced to life in prison plus 101 years for her role in the crime. Warden, 30, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and testified against Bateman in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/a38ef438a7b8444fa622424ac9529b72/OK--Motel-Murder-Appeal/
October 05, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY — A man convicted of stabbing a 19-year-old Montana man to death in a motel room on New Year's Day 2002 has lost his appeal to have his death sentence overturned.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the death penalty given to Tremane Wood by an Oklahoma County jury that convicted him of first-degree murder for the Jan. 1, 2002, death of Ronald Reuben Wipf. Wood, 31, also was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for armed robbery and conspiracy to commit a felony in the case.
In its nine-page opinion, the appellate court rejected Wood's claims that he has received ineffective legal assistance since appealing his conviction and sentence. Wood claims his appellate counsel has not alleged that the defense attorney at Wood's trial was ineffective for not hiring a forensic pathologist to challenge the victim's autopsy report.
The court said it rejected Wood's appeal "because he cannot show a reasonable probability that the outcome of his trial would have been different had post-conviction counsel done so."
Wood's post-conviction attorney, James T. Rowan, said Wednesday he was disappointed in the ruling. "But it's only one hurdle in a long train of hurdles," Rowan said.
The appeals court ruling states that Wood's first name has sometimes been misspelled Termane in the state court record. It also says Wood has a separate appeal pending in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.
Prosecutors alleged that Wood and his brother, Zjaiton Wood, 34, robbed Wipf and another Montana man, Arnold Jonathan Kleinsasser, before the stabbing. Zjaiton Wood was sentenced to life in prison without parole and an additional 120 years for the robbery and killing.
Wipf and Kleinsasser were working on a harvesting crew at a farm in Chickasha. The two men were members of the Hutterites of the Riverview Colony, a religious sect in Montana, and had returned to Oklahoma after spending the holidays with their families.
Prosecutors allege that Kleinsasser and Wipf met two women, Lanita Sue Bateman and Brandy Lynn Warden, at a restaurant on New Year's Eve 2001 and that they offered to have sex with the pair for $210. But prosecutors alleged that the women were setting the men up to be robbed.
Bateman, 29, was sentenced to life in prison plus 101 years for her role in the crime. Warden, 30, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and testified against Bateman in exchange for a 45-year prison sentence.
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/a38ef438a7b8444fa622424ac9529b72/OK--Motel-Murder-Appeal/
on: October 04, 2011, 05:34:37 PM 15 General Death Penalty / U.S. Death Penalty Discussion / Re: Shaun Windsor KY DR Seeking to End Appeals in 2003 Double Murder
Supreme Court of Kentucky opinion
CORRECTED : MARCH 29, 2011
MODIFIED: MARCH 24, 2011
CORRECTED: SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
RENDERED : AUGUST 26, 2010
TO BE PUBLISHED
http://opinions.kycourts.net/sc/2008-SC-000383-MR.pdf
CORRECTED : MARCH 29, 2011
MODIFIED: MARCH 24, 2011
CORRECTED: SEPTEMBER 20, 2010
RENDERED : AUGUST 26, 2010
TO BE PUBLISHED
http://opinions.kycourts.net/sc/2008-SC-000383-MR.pdf
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