http://arkansasnews.com/sections/news/arkansas/ag-seeks-execution-dates-seven-death-row-inmates.html

6:13 pm - May 03, 2013 — Updated: 6:14 pm - May 03, 2013

AG seeks execution dates for seven death-row inmates

Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Attorney General Dustin McDaniel asked Gov. Mike Beebe on Friday to set execution dates for seven convicted killers sentenced to death.

Six of the death-row inmates are plaintiffs in a legal challenge of Arkansas’ new lethal-injection law. The state Supreme Court recently declared their stays of execution from a previous case challenging Arkansas’ old lethal-injection procedure were no longer in effect.

In separate letters to Beebe naming each death-row inmate, McDaniel requested that the governor set execution dates “because there is currently no stay of execution in place regarding … conviction, sentence or the current lethal-injection protocol.”

Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor would set the execution dates but would not set more than one execution on any particular day.

“It’s obviously going to take some time and planning. We will work with the Department of Correction,” DeCample said.

He said Beebe would order the death sentences be carried out despite telling the Political Animals Club in January that he would sign a bill outlawing the death penalty in Arkansas if the Legislature sent him legislation. Beebe also said at the time he would fulfill his duty as governor to set executions, DeCample noted.

Two bills to abolish the death penalty in Arkansas were filed during this year’s legislative session, but neither won approval.

No inmate has been put to death in Arkansas since 2005.

On April 26, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of six of the seven condemned killers for whom McDaniel is seeking execution dates. The suit challenges Arkansas’ new lethal-injection law, adopted this year in response to a state Supreme Court decision that declared a 2009 law unconstitutional.

Death-row inmates Stacey Johnson, Jack Jones, Jason McGehee, Bruce Ward, Kenneth Williams and Marcel Williams had been under stays of execution that the Supreme Court granted in 2010 while the inmates challenged the constitutionality of the lethal-injection procedure in the 2009 law.

The court overturned that law, ruling that it gave the Department of Correction too much discretion in choosing how to carry out the procedure.

Act 139 of this year set new protocols and procedures for prison officials to use in putting prisoners to death. The attorney general’s office petitioned the Supreme Court to lift the stays of execution in March, shortly after Act 139 became law, arguing that the new law removed the issues that the inmates had challenged.

Last month, the high court declared the stays of execution were no longer in effect and said the inmates would have to go to circuit court if they wanted to challenge the new law.

Jeff Rosenzweig, a Little Rock lawyer who filed the suit last week on the inmates’ behalf, said Friday he would seek to block any execution dates Beebe sets.

“I’m assuming the governor will set some sort of dates. If and when he does, we’ll move to stay” pending the outcome of the legal challenge of the new law, Rosenzweig said.

The lawsuit contends the new law violates death-row inmates’ right to die quickly by allowing prison officials to use a slow-acting barbiturate in a mix of chemicals for lethal injections.

The law in effect when the crimes were committed required the state to use fast-acting chemicals, and the new law violates “the well-settled state law principle that a sentence must be in accordance with the statutes in effect on the date of the crime,” according to the lawsuit.

McDaniel also sought an execution date for death-row inmate Don Davis, who is not a party in the lawsuit.

The Mississippi Supreme Court denies petition to stop execution in Willie Jerome Manning case

Miss. high court denies petition to stop execution in Willie Jerome Manning case

byJack Elliott Jr./The Associated Press

2byJack Elliott Jr./The Associated Press

21 hours ago | 866 views | 0 Comments and 0 Reactions  | 2  |  | 

JACKSON — The Mississippi Supreme Court has refused to stop the execution of death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning, who was convicted of killing two college students two decades ago.

The 5-4 decision came in an order Thursday. The court made no other comment.

The Supreme Court split along the same lines when it denied Manning's post-conviction appeal a week ago. The majority said there was substantial evidence to convict Manning. The four justices who sided with Manning said the DNA testing, if favorable to the inmate, would raise questions about his guilt.

In his motion to stay the execution, Manning had said a delay would allow time for the court to reconsider its initial ruling on DNA testing.

Manning had argued that the testing would show he didn't kill two Mississippi State University students in 1992. He is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the state penitentiary at Parchman.

Manning, now 44, was handed two death sentences for the slayings of Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller, whose bodies were discovered in rural Oktibbeha County on Dec. 11, 1992. Each was shot to death, and Miller's car was missing. The vehicle was found the next morning.

Prosecutors said Manning was arrested after he tried to sell some items belonging to the victims.

Manning's attorney, David P. Voisin of Jackson, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Voisin had said in court documents that Manning would ask Gov. Phil Bryant for clemency.

Bryant spokesman Mick Bullock said Thursday that the governor was reviewing the case.

Unless a federal court intervenes, Manning will be moved Monday from death row at the Mississippi Delta penitentiary to a holding cell near the execution room.

Read more:Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal1 hours ago | 866 views | 0 Comments and 0 Reactions  |Miss. high court denies petition to stop execution in Willie Jerome Manning

Read more:Northeast Misnsissippi Daily JouraJACKSON — The Mississippi Supreme Court has refused to stop the execution of death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning, who was convicted of killing two college students two decades ago.

The 5-4 decision came in an order Thursday. The court made no other comment.

The Supreme Court split along the same lines when it denied Manning's post-conviction appeal a week ago. The majority said there was substantial evidence to convict Manning. The four justices who sided with Manning said the DNA testing, if favorable to the inmate, would raise questions about his guilt.

In his motion to stay the execution, Manning had said a delay would allow time for the court to reconsider its initial ruling on DNA testing.

Manning had argued that the testing would show he didn't kill two Mississippi State University students in 1992. He is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the state penitentiary at Parchman.

Manning, now 44, was handed two death sentences for the slayings of Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller, whose bodies were discovered in rural Oktibbeha County on Dec. 11, 1992. Each was shot to death, and Miller's car was missing. The vehicle was found the next morning.

Prosecutors said Manning was arrested after he tried to sell some items belonging to the victims.

Manning's attorney, David P. Voisin of Jackson, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Voisin had said in court documents that Manning would ask Gov. Phil Bryant for clemency.

Bryant spokesman Mick Bullock said Thursday that the governor was reviewing the case.

Unless a federal court intervenes, Manning will be moved Monday from death row at the Mississippi Delta penitentiary to a holding cell near the execution room.

June Execution Date Set For Oklahoma Death Row Inmate, Brian Darrell Davis

http://www.news9.com/story/22148286/june-execution-date-set-for-oklahoma-death-row-inmate

June Execution Date Set For Oklahoma Death Row Inmate

Posted: May 02, 2013 9:33 PM EDTUpdated: May 02, 2013 9:33 PM EDT

By: Associated Press

 

Brian Davis DOC photo from 2011.

OKLAHOMA CITY -

An Oklahoma death row inmate convicted of the rape and murder of his girlfriend's mother is to be executed June 25.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set the date Thursday for Brian Darrell Davis. The 38-year-old Davis was convicted of rape and first-degree murder in the November 2001 death of 52-year-old Jody Sanford of Ponca City.

The victim's daughter -- Stacey Sanford -- discovered her mother dead in the Ponca City apartment she shared with Davis. Prosecutors said Jody Sanford had six stab wounds, a broken jaw and marks around her neck. DNA evidence showed she had also been raped.

Attorney General Scott Pruitt sought the execution date last month after Davis' final appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Colorado - Judge Chooses August For Execution Of Nathan Dunlap

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/05/01/execution-week-set-colorado-inmate/

Judge Chooses August For Execution Of Nathan Dunlap

May 1, 2013 5:40 PM

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Nathan Dunlap in court on Wednesday (credit: Denver Post)

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Execution Week, John Hickenlooper, Nathan Dunlap

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP/CBS4) – A judge on Wednesday chose late August for the execution of a man convicted of killing four people at a Colorado pizza restaurant in 1993.

The judge said Nathan Dunlap could be sentenced the week of Aug. 18 but also set a hearing on June 10 to hear arguments from Dunlap’s attorneys over the constitutionality of the death penalty.

Dunlap would be the first person executed in Colorado in 16 years.

Dunlap’s attorneys had argued it was too soon to set an execution date. They said his death sentence was meant to be carried out only after he completed a 75-year sentence for robbery.

Separately, they are asking the Colorado Supreme Court to rule that under state law, the Department of Corrections must first get public input on its procedure of using lethal injections for executions.

The Colorado Court of Appeals had sided with the state, which argued that developing the execution procedure fell under the duties of the prisons director and didn’t require public input.

Dunlap’s attorneys also argue that making an inmate wait on death row for decades facing the possibility of execution is cruel and unusual punishment.

Dunlap, 38, was convicted in 1996 of killing four employees who were cleaning a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in the Denver suburb of Aurora after hours. Three of the victims were teenagers. Dunlap, then 19, had recently lost a job at the eatery.

Though the judge set a week when Dunlap could be executed, it is up to Roger Werholtz, interim head of the Colorado Department of Corrections, to set the exact day.

Nathan Dunlap (credit: Denver Post)

Dunlap could avoid execution if Gov. John Hickenlooper grants him clemency. Hickenlooper plans to meet privately in coming days with victims’ families, attorneys, law enforcement and others regarding Dunlap, spokesman said.

Bob Crowell, whose daughter Sylvia was among those killed, said he and his wife were scheduled to meet with Hickenlooper on Friday. Crowell said he hoped Hickenlooper wouldn’t grant clemency.

“We’ve had hearings and delays and so forth, so we’ll see what happens, but it’s nice to have a date to at least work with,” Sylvia Crowell’s mother Marg Crowell said.

Dunlap, with his hair in long dreadlocks, appeared in court Wednesday wearing glasses, a blue shirt, blue tie and gray pants.

“Nathan Dunlap received the fairest of trials, he had the best of lawyers, and there’s only one punishment that’s appropriate for him, and it’s death,” former Dunlap prosecutor Eva Wilson said.

His lawyers’ battle to save his life is drawing to a close at a time of high emotions and political tension surrounding gun violence nationwide.

The man who would have set Dunlap’s execution date, state corrections director Tom Clements, was shot and killed at his home on March 19, allegedly by a former inmate who later died in a shootout with Texas authorities.

James Holmes, the man accused of opening fire on a packed movie theater last July and killing 12 people, is awaiting trial on murder charges in the same suburban Denver courthouse complex where Dunlap’s hearing took place. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Colorado this year approved laws extending background checks on gun buyers and limiting the capacity of ammunition magazines, partly in response to the theater shootings. But two weeks ago, the U.S. Senate rejected an expansion of federal background checks in the wake of the December shootings at a Connecticut school that left 26 dead.

Colorado’s last execution was in 1997 when Gary Lee Davis was put to death for his conviction in a 1986 slaying. In 2003, three inmates had their death sentences commuted to life in prison without parole after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juries, not judges, should impose capital punishment.

Three men are now on Colorado’s death row – Dunlap, Sir Mario Owens and Robert Ray. Each was sentenced by a jury.

- By Dan Elliott, AP Writer

Associated Press writer P. Solomon Banda contributed to this report from Centennial, Colo.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) 

Execution of child’s rapist, killer, Steve Smith, draws jeers, cheers in Ohio prison

http://triblive.com/usworld/nation/3947944-74/smith-autumn-brittney#axzz2S7YKhgxF

Execution of child’s rapist, killer draws jeers, cheers in Ohio prison

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By The Associated Press 

Published: Wednesday, May 1, 2013, 9:21 p.m.Updated 6 hours ago 

LUCASVILLE, Ohio — One family wept loudly and another family cheered on Wednesday as a man was executed for killing a 6-month-old as he raped her.

Steve Smith, 46, was executed by lethal injection in the state prison in Lucasville in southern Ohio for the 1998 killing of his live-in girlfriend's daughter, Autumn Carter, in Mansfield.

Smith had recently tried to get his sentence reduced to life in prison, arguing that he was too drunk to realize that his assault was killing Autumn and that he didn't mean to hurt her. The Ohio Parole Board and Gov. John Kasich turned him down unanimously.

In the 25 minutes between when Smith walked into the death chamber flanked by prison guards and when the lethal injection killed him, his only child, 21-year-old Brittney, and his niece sobbed and shook with grief.

Smith declined to say any last words, then looked at Brittney sitting behind a pane of glass.

“I love you,” Brittney said as she wept.

Smith turned his head away and appeared to be struggling not to cry, his chin shaking.

Less than 3 feet from Brittney and separated by a wall, Autumn's mother, Kesha Frye, watched Smith quietly. After he was dead, Frye's sister pumped her fists in the air.

“I'm glad he's dead, and I hope he burns in hell,” Frye said surrounded by her family after the execution.

Frye's father and Autumn's grandfather, Patrick Hicks, said Smith's execution was too good for him.

“Because of him, Autumn never had a chance to take her first step, she never had her first birthday or a first day of school,” he said. “It's just unfortunate that this man gets to die a peaceful death after the torture he put Autumn through.”

Ohio Man (Steve Smith) Convicted Of Killing Infant Will Be Executed Tomorrow

http://www.inquisitr.com/642616/ohio-man-convicted-of-killing-infant-will-be-executed-tomorrow/

Ohio Man Convicted Of Killing Infant Will Be Executed Tomorrow

 

Posted: April 30, 2013

An Ohio man Convicted of killing an infant is scheduled for execution tomorrow by lethal injection. Steve Smith has exhausted all appeals and was denied clemency by Ohio Governor John Kasich earlier this month.
Smith, age 46, is accused of killing the 6-month-old daughter of his girlfriend in 1998. He maintains that, while he admittedly intended to rape the infant, he did not mean to cause her death.

As reported by the Washington Post, Kasich referred to the crime as “among the worst of the worst.” Governor Kasich refused further comment about his decision.
Smith’s defense team Joseph Wilhelm and Tyson Fleming contend that their client should not be executed as Ohio law specifies that “a death sentence requires an intent to kill the victim.” They suggest that 6-month-old Autumn’s death was a “horrible accident,” as their client passed out on top of the infant, smothering her to death.
The defense further argued that Smith suffered a difficult childhood, which led to his deviant behavior. They also argue that Smith was too drunk to realize what he was doing.
The parole board rejected the argument, stating that the “ferociousness” of the assault was proof of his intent to kill the victim. They called the child’s death a “virtual certainty” based on the nature of Smith’s attack.
The Ohio man was convicted of killing the infant and will be executed tomorrow. However, Smith was never charged or convicted of raping the infant.
As reported by Fox 19, Six women will attend the execution. Autumn’s mother, grandmother, and aunt — along with Smith’s daughter, sister, and niece — will witness the lethal injection.
Smith’s family maintains that he is innocent of the murder charge.
Ohio resumed executions by lethal injection in 1999. Smith’s execution will be the 51st in the last 12 years.
Despite the pleas of Smith, his defense, and his family, the Ohio Parole Board and Governor Kasich have deemed the crime too heinous to excuse. Steve Smith will be executed tomorrow for the murder of his girlfriend’s 6-month-old daughter.

[Image via Wikimedia]

Groups seeking to halt Willie Jerome Manning execution in Mississippi

http://thedailyrecord.com/2013/04/30/groups-seeking-to-halt-execution-in-mississippi/

Groups seeking to halt execution in Mississippi

Posted: 5:39 pm Tue, April 30, 2013
By Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — Two organizations that help exonerate inmates using DNA evidence have asked the state Supreme Court to let them file briefs to support Willie Jerome Manning’s effort to avoid execution on May 7.

Attorneys for Manning asked the court Tuesday to stop the execution. They also said they will file a clemency petition with Gov. Phil Bryant.

Manning was handed two death sentences for the slayings of Mississippi State University students Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller, whose bodies were discovered in rural Oktibbeha County on Dec. 11, 1992. Each was shot to death, and Miller’s car was missing. The vehicle was found the next morning.

Prosecutors said Manning was arrested after he tried to sell some items belonging to the victims.

On Friday, Manning, now 44, asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its 5-4 denial of DNA testing that he argues will prove he is innocent.

The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the motions.

In their motion, the Mississippi Innocence Project and Innocence Project New Orleans said Manning’s appeal is “exactly the kind of case where DNA testing could prove innocence or guilt.”

“Just because it’s hard to imagine a scenario where DNA testing could exonerate Willie Manning, doesn’t mean there isn’t one,” the groups wrote.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against Manning’s request for DNA testing. The majority said there was substantial evidence to convict Manning.

“Manning fails to demonstrate a reasonable probability that he would not have been convicted or would have received a lesser sentence if favorable results had been obtained through such forensic DNA testing at the time of the original prosecution,” the majority said.

Four other justices sided with Manning, saying the DNA testing, if favorable to Manning, would raise questions about his guilt.

In his motion to stay the execution, Manning said a delay would allow time to reconsider the issue both he and the two groups have raised and which the Supreme Court appeared deeply divided.