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Posted 5:08 P.m.
Final appeal set for UF students' murderer
By Bill Cotterell
news-press.com Capital Bureau
Originally posted on September 27, 2006
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Jeb Bush
TALLAHASSEE — One week before he is scheduled to die for the murders of five Gainesville-area students, the Florida Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on any late appeals from Danny Rolling.
Gov. Jeb Bush has signed a death warrant setting Rolling's execution for 6 p.m. on Oct. 25.The Supreme Court today ordered that any issues filed at the circuit court level be concluded by Oct. 9, with a notice of appeal — if any — filed with Florida's highest court on the following day.
Attorneys will then have two days to file briefs and the justices reserved Oct. 18 for oral arguments.Rolling was sentenced to die for the slayings of five students whose murders in 1990 spread fear through the university community
.A.D. Rutherford, a Milton native, is set to be executed the week before Rolling, on Oct. 18. He is sentenced to death for the beating and drowning death of Stella Salamon on Aug. 22, 1985.
Rutherford, who got a stay from a January execution date, has exhausted his state appeals. He still has appeals pending in federal court.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project Assessments Project
http://www.abanet.org/moratorium/assessmentproject/florida.html#resources
Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project Assessments Project
Florida
Florida Assessment Team
Resources on the Administration of the Death Penalty in Florida
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report and Resources
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report
Executive Summary of the Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report
Full Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report (3.87MB)
Background Materials
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Guide
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team Biographies
Additional Report Resources
Fact Sheet: Problems with Florida’s Death Penalty System and Recommendations for Reform
Compliance Charts:
Florida’s Compliance with ABA Recommendations
Frequently Asked Questions
Press Coverage of Florida Report
Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project Assessments Project
Florida
Florida Assessment Team
Resources on the Administration of the Death Penalty in Florida
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report and Resources
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report
Executive Summary of the Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report
Full Florida Death Penalty Assessment Report (3.87MB)
Background Materials
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Guide
Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team Biographies
Additional Report Resources
Fact Sheet: Problems with Florida’s Death Penalty System and Recommendations for Reform
Compliance Charts:
Florida’s Compliance with ABA Recommendations
Frequently Asked Questions
Press Coverage of Florida Report
Pending Death Warrant Filings - Arthur Rutherford
Resources on the Administration of the Death Penalty in Florida
http://www.abanet.org/moratorium/assessmentproject/florida.html#resources
Resources on the Administration of the Death Penalty in Florida
Richard L. Rosenbaum, Child's Play No Longer: Children Charged and Tried as Adults in Florida-Ending up in Prison For Life Without Parole, 28 Nova L. Rev. 485 (2004).
L. Elizabeth Chamblee, Time for a Legislative Change: Florida's Stagnant Standard Governing Competency for Execution, 31 Fl. St. Univ. L. Rev. 335 (2004).
Catherine Arcabascio, Freeing the Innocent: Obtaining Post-Conviction DNA Testing in Florida, 28 Nova L. Rev. 61 (2003).
Benjamin F. Diamond, The Sixth Amendment: Where did the Jury Go Wrong? Florida's Flawed Sentencing in Death Penalty Cases, 55 Fla. L. Rev. 905 (2003).
Ken Driggs, Regulating the Five Steps to Death: A Study of Death Penalty Direct Appeals in the Florida Supreme Court, 1991-2000, 14 St. Thomas L. Rev. 759 (2002).
Case Histories: A Review of 24 Individuals Released from Death Row, Florida Commission on Capital Cases, Sept. 10, 2002.
Michael L. Radelet, Recent Developments in the Death Penalty in Florida, Feb. 2002, at www.fadp.org/pad/aresearch.html.
Sentencing Alternatives for Juveniles Indicted for Murder, Interim Project Report 2002-129, Florida Senate (2001).
Donna Buchholz, Modern Day Chateau D'If In Florida? Collecting Dust on the Shelves of Justice: Potentially Exculpatory DNA Evidence Waits For A Turn in the Florida Sunshine, 30 Stetson L. Rev. 391 (2000).
James E. Harrison, The Juvenile Death Penalty in Florida: Should Sixteen-Year-old Offenders be Subject to Capital Punishment, 1 Barry L. Rev. 159 (2000).
Lonn Lanza-Kaduce, Charles E. Frazier, and Donna M. Bishop, Juvenile Transfers in Florida: The Worst of the Worst?, 10 Univ. Fl. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 277 (1999).
Henry George White, Charles E. Frazier, and Lonn Lanza-Kaduce, A S
ocio-Legal History of Florida's Juvenile Transfer Reforms, 10 Univ. Fl. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 249 (1999).
Ken Driggs, The Most Aggravated and Least Mitigated Murders: Capital Proportionality Review in Florida, 11 St. Thomas L. Rev. 207 (1999).
Report to the Commission on the Administration of Justice in Capital Cases, Florida State University, prepared by Isabelle Potts and Gretchen Hirt, Jan. 1999, at www.fcc.state.fl.us/fcc/reports/fsu/fsuexsum.html.
Overview of Judicial Process from Arrest through Post-Conviction, Law Office of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel Middle Region, Nov. 9, 1998, at www.fcc.state.fl.us/fcc/reports/appeals.html.
Michael Mello, Outlaw Executive 'Crazy Joe', The Hypnotized Witness, and the Mirage of Clemency in Florida, 23 J. Contemp. L. 1 (1997).
Gary Caldwell, Florida Capital Cases: July 1, 1994-June 30, 1995, 20 Nova L. Rev. 1255 (1996).
Juvenile Justice Transfer Legislation in Florida: Assessing the Impact on the Criminal Justice and Correctional Systems, Florida Corrections Commission (1993-94).
Analysis of Florida Felony Offenders Serving Sentences in County Jails, Corrections Commission (1994).
Gary Caldwell, Capital Crimes: 1993 Survey of Florida Law, 18 Nova L. Rev. 117 (1993).
Gary Caldwell, Capital Crime Decisions: 1992 Survey of Florida Law, 17 Nova L. Rev. 31 (1992).
Michael L. Radelet and Glenn L. Pierce, Choosing Those Who Will Die: Race and the Death Penalty in Florida, 43 Fl. L. Rev. 1 (1991).
William S. Geimer and Jonathan Amsterdam, Why Jurors Vote Life or Death: Operative Factors in Ten Florida Death Penalty Cases, 15 Am. J. Crim. L. 1 (1987/1988).
David W. Doyle, Life or Death in Florida: What Mitigating Evidence will the Judge Consider in Capital Cases?, 4 Cooley L. Rev. 693 (1987).
Linda A. Foley, Florida After the Furman Decision: The Effect of Extralegal Factors on the Processing of Capital Offense Cases, 5 Behav. Sci. & L. 457 (1987).
Michael L. Radelet, Rejecting the Jury: The Imposition of the Death Penalty in Florida, 18 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1409 (1985).
Michael Radelet and Margaret Vandiver, The Florida Supreme Court and Death Penalty Appeals, 74 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 913 (1983).
Hans Zeisel, Race Bias in the Administration of the Death Penalty: The Florida Experience, 95 Harv. L. Rev. 456 (1981).
Discrimination and Arbitrariness in Capital Punishment: An Analysis of Post-Furman Murder Cases in Dade County, Florida, 1973-1976, 33 Stan. L. Rev. 75 (1980).
Peter W. Lewis, Henry W. Mannle, Harry E. Allen, and Harold J. Vetter, A Post-Furman Profile of Florida's Condemned-A Question of Discrimination in Terms of the Race of the Victim and a Comment on Spenkelink v. Wainwright, IX Stetson L. Rev. 1 (1979).
Resources on the Administration of the Death Penalty in Florida
Richard L. Rosenbaum, Child's Play No Longer: Children Charged and Tried as Adults in Florida-Ending up in Prison For Life Without Parole, 28 Nova L. Rev. 485 (2004).
L. Elizabeth Chamblee, Time for a Legislative Change: Florida's Stagnant Standard Governing Competency for Execution, 31 Fl. St. Univ. L. Rev. 335 (2004).
Catherine Arcabascio, Freeing the Innocent: Obtaining Post-Conviction DNA Testing in Florida, 28 Nova L. Rev. 61 (2003).
Benjamin F. Diamond, The Sixth Amendment: Where did the Jury Go Wrong? Florida's Flawed Sentencing in Death Penalty Cases, 55 Fla. L. Rev. 905 (2003).
Ken Driggs, Regulating the Five Steps to Death: A Study of Death Penalty Direct Appeals in the Florida Supreme Court, 1991-2000, 14 St. Thomas L. Rev. 759 (2002).
Case Histories: A Review of 24 Individuals Released from Death Row, Florida Commission on Capital Cases, Sept. 10, 2002.
Michael L. Radelet, Recent Developments in the Death Penalty in Florida, Feb. 2002, at www.fadp.org/pad/aresearch.html.
Sentencing Alternatives for Juveniles Indicted for Murder, Interim Project Report 2002-129, Florida Senate (2001).
Donna Buchholz, Modern Day Chateau D'If In Florida? Collecting Dust on the Shelves of Justice: Potentially Exculpatory DNA Evidence Waits For A Turn in the Florida Sunshine, 30 Stetson L. Rev. 391 (2000).
James E. Harrison, The Juvenile Death Penalty in Florida: Should Sixteen-Year-old Offenders be Subject to Capital Punishment, 1 Barry L. Rev. 159 (2000).
Lonn Lanza-Kaduce, Charles E. Frazier, and Donna M. Bishop, Juvenile Transfers in Florida: The Worst of the Worst?, 10 Univ. Fl. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 277 (1999).
Henry George White, Charles E. Frazier, and Lonn Lanza-Kaduce, A S
ocio-Legal History of Florida's Juvenile Transfer Reforms, 10 Univ. Fl. J. L. & Pub. Pol'y 249 (1999).
Ken Driggs, The Most Aggravated and Least Mitigated Murders: Capital Proportionality Review in Florida, 11 St. Thomas L. Rev. 207 (1999).
Report to the Commission on the Administration of Justice in Capital Cases, Florida State University, prepared by Isabelle Potts and Gretchen Hirt, Jan. 1999, at www.fcc.state.fl.us/fcc/reports/fsu/fsuexsum.html.
Overview of Judicial Process from Arrest through Post-Conviction, Law Office of the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel Middle Region, Nov. 9, 1998, at www.fcc.state.fl.us/fcc/reports/appeals.html.
Michael Mello, Outlaw Executive 'Crazy Joe', The Hypnotized Witness, and the Mirage of Clemency in Florida, 23 J. Contemp. L. 1 (1997).
Gary Caldwell, Florida Capital Cases: July 1, 1994-June 30, 1995, 20 Nova L. Rev. 1255 (1996).
Juvenile Justice Transfer Legislation in Florida: Assessing the Impact on the Criminal Justice and Correctional Systems, Florida Corrections Commission (1993-94).
Analysis of Florida Felony Offenders Serving Sentences in County Jails, Corrections Commission (1994).
Gary Caldwell, Capital Crimes: 1993 Survey of Florida Law, 18 Nova L. Rev. 117 (1993).
Gary Caldwell, Capital Crime Decisions: 1992 Survey of Florida Law, 17 Nova L. Rev. 31 (1992).
Michael L. Radelet and Glenn L. Pierce, Choosing Those Who Will Die: Race and the Death Penalty in Florida, 43 Fl. L. Rev. 1 (1991).
William S. Geimer and Jonathan Amsterdam, Why Jurors Vote Life or Death: Operative Factors in Ten Florida Death Penalty Cases, 15 Am. J. Crim. L. 1 (1987/1988).
David W. Doyle, Life or Death in Florida: What Mitigating Evidence will the Judge Consider in Capital Cases?, 4 Cooley L. Rev. 693 (1987).
Linda A. Foley, Florida After the Furman Decision: The Effect of Extralegal Factors on the Processing of Capital Offense Cases, 5 Behav. Sci. & L. 457 (1987).
Michael L. Radelet, Rejecting the Jury: The Imposition of the Death Penalty in Florida, 18 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1409 (1985).
Michael Radelet and Margaret Vandiver, The Florida Supreme Court and Death Penalty Appeals, 74 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 913 (1983).
Hans Zeisel, Race Bias in the Administration of the Death Penalty: The Florida Experience, 95 Harv. L. Rev. 456 (1981).
Discrimination and Arbitrariness in Capital Punishment: An Analysis of Post-Furman Murder Cases in Dade County, Florida, 1973-1976, 33 Stan. L. Rev. 75 (1980).
Peter W. Lewis, Henry W. Mannle, Harry E. Allen, and Harold J. Vetter, A Post-Furman Profile of Florida's Condemned-A Question of Discrimination in Terms of the Race of the Victim and a Comment on Spenkelink v. Wainwright, IX Stetson L. Rev. 1 (1979).
Killer claims state's death penalty flawed
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060929/NEWS01/609290333/1006
Published - September, 29, 2006
Killer claims state's death penalty flawed
Paul Flemming
News Journal capital bureau
TALLAHASSEE -
- Condemned killer A.D. Rutherford has filed an appeal in Santa Rosa County circuit court asking that his conviction be set aside, saying Florida's death sentence process is not fair and consistent.
Rutherford's lawyers argue, among other things, that Florida's death penalty is arbitrary and capricious -- and thus unconstitutional -- on the basis of a recent report that was sharply critical of the state's judicial process.Rutherford was sentenced to death for the 1985 death of Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old murdered in her Milton home.
Rutherford, whose execution is set for Oct. 18, bases his appeal on the new report by the American Bar Association that Florida's system has serious flaws.
"The information, analysis and ultimate conclusions contained in the ABA report make clear: Florida's death penalty system is so seriously flawed and broken that it does not meet the constitutional requisite of being fair, reliable or accurate," Rutherford's motion states.
Martin McClain, one of Rutherford's lawyers, said the report describes a system that does not meet the standards the U.S. Supreme Court established more than three decades ago, requiring that "the death penalty must be imposed fairly, and with reasonable consistency, or not at all."
Mark Schlakman, program director of Florida State University's Center for the advancement of Human Rights and one of the eight members of the assessment team that researched and produced the ABA report, said it's inappropriate for him to comment on the use of the report in Rutherford's motion.
He did say, however, that the report does not call for a moratorium on executions.
The eight members of the team included opponents and proponents of the death penalty.
Published - September, 29, 2006
Killer claims state's death penalty flawed
Paul Flemming
News Journal capital bureau
TALLAHASSEE -
- Condemned killer A.D. Rutherford has filed an appeal in Santa Rosa County circuit court asking that his conviction be set aside, saying Florida's death sentence process is not fair and consistent.
Rutherford's lawyers argue, among other things, that Florida's death penalty is arbitrary and capricious -- and thus unconstitutional -- on the basis of a recent report that was sharply critical of the state's judicial process.Rutherford was sentenced to death for the 1985 death of Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old murdered in her Milton home.
Rutherford, whose execution is set for Oct. 18, bases his appeal on the new report by the American Bar Association that Florida's system has serious flaws.
"The information, analysis and ultimate conclusions contained in the ABA report make clear: Florida's death penalty system is so seriously flawed and broken that it does not meet the constitutional requisite of being fair, reliable or accurate," Rutherford's motion states.
Martin McClain, one of Rutherford's lawyers, said the report describes a system that does not meet the standards the U.S. Supreme Court established more than three decades ago, requiring that "the death penalty must be imposed fairly, and with reasonable consistency, or not at all."
Mark Schlakman, program director of Florida State University's Center for the advancement of Human Rights and one of the eight members of the assessment team that researched and produced the ABA report, said it's inappropriate for him to comment on the use of the report in Rutherford's motion.
He did say, however, that the report does not call for a moratorium on executions.
The eight members of the team included opponents and proponents of the death penalty.
Widow's condemned killer files appeal - Arthur Rutherford
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060928/NEWS01/60928022/1002
Widow's condemned killer files appeal
By Paul Flemming
news-press.com Capital News
Originally posted on September 28, 2006
RELATED NEWS ON THE WEB
Latest headlines by topic:•
Death Penalty•
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals•
US Supreme Court•
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TALLAHASSEE
— Condemned killer A.D. Rutherford has filed an appeal in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court asking that his conviction be set aside because Florida's death sentence process is not fair and consistent.
Rutherford's lawyers argue, among other things, that Florida's death penalty is arbitrary and capricious, and thus unconstitutional, on the basis of a recent report that was sharply critical of the state's judicial process.
Rutherford, who's execution is set for Oct. 18, is sentenced to death for the 1985 death of Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow murdered in her Milton home.
The appeal relies on a report by the American Bar Association that Florida's system has serious flaws."The information, analysis and ultimate conclusions contained in the ABA report make clear: Florida's death penalty system is so seriously flawed and broken that it does not meet the constitutional requisite of being fair, reliable or accurate," Rutherford's motion states.
The state has not yet responded to the motion, but Assistant Attorney General Charmaine Millsaps said she would argue that the appeal doesn't meet required criteria."It's not really new evidence of his innocence," Millsaps said of the ABA report.
Martin McClain, Rutherford's lawyer, said that among the bar association's findings was that Florida had the most death-row exonerations, 22, of any state, and yet has not taken any action to investigate why that is so."Florida . . . has just shrugged off the exonerations," McClain said.
In January, Rutherford was within an hour of being executed when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay. The highest court in June sent his case back down to lower courts to reconsider his appeal that the state's lethal-injection method was cruel and unusual punishment.Rutherford has that pending appeal in federal court.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has taken arguments in the case but not yet issued a ruling.McClain said he has argued that the case should be sent down to federal district court to consider.
A hearing to set a schedule for briefs in the latest appeal is set for Friday in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court.
Widow's condemned killer files appeal
By Paul Flemming
news-press.com Capital News
Originally posted on September 28, 2006
RELATED NEWS ON THE WEB
Latest headlines by topic:•
Death Penalty•
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals•
US Supreme Court•
US News
Powered by Topix.net
TALLAHASSEE
— Condemned killer A.D. Rutherford has filed an appeal in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court asking that his conviction be set aside because Florida's death sentence process is not fair and consistent.
Rutherford's lawyers argue, among other things, that Florida's death penalty is arbitrary and capricious, and thus unconstitutional, on the basis of a recent report that was sharply critical of the state's judicial process.
Rutherford, who's execution is set for Oct. 18, is sentenced to death for the 1985 death of Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow murdered in her Milton home.
The appeal relies on a report by the American Bar Association that Florida's system has serious flaws."The information, analysis and ultimate conclusions contained in the ABA report make clear: Florida's death penalty system is so seriously flawed and broken that it does not meet the constitutional requisite of being fair, reliable or accurate," Rutherford's motion states.
The state has not yet responded to the motion, but Assistant Attorney General Charmaine Millsaps said she would argue that the appeal doesn't meet required criteria."It's not really new evidence of his innocence," Millsaps said of the ABA report.
Martin McClain, Rutherford's lawyer, said that among the bar association's findings was that Florida had the most death-row exonerations, 22, of any state, and yet has not taken any action to investigate why that is so."Florida . . . has just shrugged off the exonerations," McClain said.
In January, Rutherford was within an hour of being executed when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay. The highest court in June sent his case back down to lower courts to reconsider his appeal that the state's lethal-injection method was cruel and unusual punishment.Rutherford has that pending appeal in federal court.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has taken arguments in the case but not yet issued a ruling.McClain said he has argued that the case should be sent down to federal district court to consider.
A hearing to set a schedule for briefs in the latest appeal is set for Friday in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court.
The application of the ultimate punishment is inexact at best. Some say that is reason to abolish it.
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/07/Worldandnation/How_can_you_choose_wh.shtml
The application of the ultimate punishment is inexact at best.
Some say that is reason to abolish it.
By CHRIS TISCH,
Times Staff Writer
Published May 7, 2006
Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed 3,000 people, a crime that Moussaoui said gave him great delight.He was sentenced to life in prison.John Spenkelink was convicted of fatally shooting a fellow drifter and career criminal in a Tallahassee hotel room. He was executed.
As the public digests the Moussaoui sentence, they may ask: How can a man connected to the murder of thousands receive a life sentence while a man who kills a single person in a moment of greed, rage or fear receives a death sentence? Is there disparity in how the death penalty is handed out in America?
“If you found Moussaoui guilty of the conspiracy that killed 3,000 people and he doesn’t get death, it does make it hard to explain to a client why he’s getting death over an accidental shooting during a robbery in which there was a struggle over $50,” said Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger.
Death penalty opponents say the Moussaoui case shows that death sentences are unfairly arbitrary, one reason the death penalty is irreparably broken and should be scrapped as a form of punishment.
Death penalty supporters point out that Moussaoui wasn’t charged with murder but with conspiracy. The case was not a slam-dunk for the ultimate punishment and therefore should not be used to indict the entire death penalty system as unfairly haphazard.
“You’re talking about a conspiracy and he wasn’t one of the parties that did that,” said Bruce Bartlett, the chief assistant in Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe’s office. “There may be some significant differences that led to that result.” ***
Many capital defense attorneys say a death sentence can hinge on a confluence of outside variables, such as the race of the victim, the wealth of the defendant, the competence of the defense lawyer, the aggressiveness of the prosecutor’s office or a lucky draw on a jury pool.
“Who gets the death penalty and who doesn’t turns on a whole host of factors that has little to do with culpability,” said veteran death penalty attorney Martin McClain, known for his involvement in several exonerations. “It sure seems pretty arbitrary to me right now.”
The notion that the death penalty is doled out somewhat randomly has always been a powerful argument against the punishment. It is one of the reasons the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972.
Florida led the nation in reinstalling the punishment in 1973, but instituted a series of “aggravating circumstances” designed to help juries and judges pick only the worst of the worst for death row, eliminating the punishment’s haphazardness.
Six years later, Florida executed Spenkelink, the first involuntary state killing in the nation in 12 years (Gary Gilmore was the first modern execution, though he volunteered to be executed by firing squad in Utah in 1977).
To many, Spenkelink did not fit the “worst of the worst” profile. His victim, a drifter and career criminal named Joseph Szymankiewicz, had allegedly threatened Spenkelink. In addition Spenkelink could have taken a second-degree murder plea and prison time, but decided instead to head to trial.
Death penalty opponents said Spenkelink’s execution showed the system was still arbitrarily picking people for death row. It’s a problem that persists today, capital defense attorneys say.
“All murders are horrendous, of course, but I’ve seen some that are not so bad receive the death penalty and some that are very gruesome are spared,” said Joseph McDermott, a Pinellas attorney who has defended more than 50 death penalty defendants. “It’s very arbitrary. It’s very unevenly applied.”
Another reason the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972 was that it seemed most often applied to two kinds of defendants: black people and poor people. Defense attorneys say that also hasn’t changed much in the three decades since the death penalty was reinstated.
“The studies show that when the victim is white as opposed to black, it’s more likely to result in a death sentence,” said McClain. “It’s not so much the race of the defendant as it is the race of the victim and the socioeconomic background of the victim.” Said Dillinger: “There is no wealthy person on death row in this country. And what does that tell you? Do wealthy people kill? Yes. The arbitrariness of it is who the victim is, their social standing.” ***
But death penalty supporters say it’s comparing apples to oranges to juxtapose Moussaoui and killers on death row who committed intentional murder. Moussaoui was loosely connected to a grave tragedy, but he did not participate in the hijackings and even prosecutors doubted some of his claims of involvement in al-Qaida’s plotting.
“The argument that he actually caused the deaths of those people is very thin,” said Kent S. Scheidegger, legal director of the prodeath penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in California. “It was a close one in my view,” Scheidegger said of whether Moussaoui should have been sent to death row. “He’s a very peripheral player in a very horrendous crime and those factors are very difficult to balance. I’m not upset by the decision.” One variable that did affect the outcome in the Moussaoui case was the federal justice system requirement that only a unanimous jury can send someone to death row. If even a single juror won’t vote for execution, the defendant will receive a life sentence. “For all we know it could have been one juror who blocked the death penalty,”
Scheidegger said. “And that’s a problem Congress needs to address.” Scheidegger said he prefers a system such as that in California, where a jury must be unanimous whether it decides for life or death. If jurors cannot unanimously agree, the jury is dismissed and a new panel is picked to hear the penalty phase again.
In Florida, only a majority of jurors are needed for a death sentence, which a judge actually imposes after a recommendation from the panel. Unlike in many states, the jury doesn’t have to agree on what “aggravators” exist to condemn a defendant.
It’s for this reason that many believe it’s easier to send someone to death row in Florida than in any other state. There are 371 people on death row in Florida, which averages about two executions per year.
The Florida Supreme Court last year challenged the Legislature to consider making it more difficult for juries and judges to sentence people to death in Florida.
Justice Raoul Cantero wrote that Florida is the only state that allows a jury to decide by mere majority both whether certain aggravating factors exist and whether to recommend the death penalty.
Other states require a unanimous vote to make at least one of those findings.
Cantero challenged lawmakers to consider whether they want Florida to remain out of the mainstream when it comes to the death penalty. A proposal to review the death penalty died in session this year.
While there are outside variables that affect the likelihood of a life or death sentence in each case, those factors also infect every other segment of the system, said Doug Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University. “They pervade everything we do in the criminal justice system.
If you think they are a reason not to have the death penalty, maybe it’s a reason not to have life sentences … or not to do this or that,” Berman said.
Berman said the efforts to remove haphazardness from the death penalty have worked to a degree, though it will always exist in a system with people at the controls.
“That’s the challenge of humans running a system,” Berman said. “It’s less than perfect when figuring out who is the worst of the worst.”
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/07/Worldandnation/How_can_you_choose_wh.shtml
The application of the ultimate punishment is inexact at best.
Some say that is reason to abolish it.
By CHRIS TISCH,
Times Staff Writer
Published May 7, 2006
Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed 3,000 people, a crime that Moussaoui said gave him great delight.He was sentenced to life in prison.John Spenkelink was convicted of fatally shooting a fellow drifter and career criminal in a Tallahassee hotel room. He was executed.
As the public digests the Moussaoui sentence, they may ask: How can a man connected to the murder of thousands receive a life sentence while a man who kills a single person in a moment of greed, rage or fear receives a death sentence? Is there disparity in how the death penalty is handed out in America?
“If you found Moussaoui guilty of the conspiracy that killed 3,000 people and he doesn’t get death, it does make it hard to explain to a client why he’s getting death over an accidental shooting during a robbery in which there was a struggle over $50,” said Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger.
Death penalty opponents say the Moussaoui case shows that death sentences are unfairly arbitrary, one reason the death penalty is irreparably broken and should be scrapped as a form of punishment.
Death penalty supporters point out that Moussaoui wasn’t charged with murder but with conspiracy. The case was not a slam-dunk for the ultimate punishment and therefore should not be used to indict the entire death penalty system as unfairly haphazard.
“You’re talking about a conspiracy and he wasn’t one of the parties that did that,” said Bruce Bartlett, the chief assistant in Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe’s office. “There may be some significant differences that led to that result.” ***
Many capital defense attorneys say a death sentence can hinge on a confluence of outside variables, such as the race of the victim, the wealth of the defendant, the competence of the defense lawyer, the aggressiveness of the prosecutor’s office or a lucky draw on a jury pool.
“Who gets the death penalty and who doesn’t turns on a whole host of factors that has little to do with culpability,” said veteran death penalty attorney Martin McClain, known for his involvement in several exonerations. “It sure seems pretty arbitrary to me right now.”
The notion that the death penalty is doled out somewhat randomly has always been a powerful argument against the punishment. It is one of the reasons the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972.
Florida led the nation in reinstalling the punishment in 1973, but instituted a series of “aggravating circumstances” designed to help juries and judges pick only the worst of the worst for death row, eliminating the punishment’s haphazardness.
Six years later, Florida executed Spenkelink, the first involuntary state killing in the nation in 12 years (Gary Gilmore was the first modern execution, though he volunteered to be executed by firing squad in Utah in 1977).
To many, Spenkelink did not fit the “worst of the worst” profile. His victim, a drifter and career criminal named Joseph Szymankiewicz, had allegedly threatened Spenkelink. In addition Spenkelink could have taken a second-degree murder plea and prison time, but decided instead to head to trial.
Death penalty opponents said Spenkelink’s execution showed the system was still arbitrarily picking people for death row. It’s a problem that persists today, capital defense attorneys say.
“All murders are horrendous, of course, but I’ve seen some that are not so bad receive the death penalty and some that are very gruesome are spared,” said Joseph McDermott, a Pinellas attorney who has defended more than 50 death penalty defendants. “It’s very arbitrary. It’s very unevenly applied.”
Another reason the U.S. Supreme Court abolished the death penalty in 1972 was that it seemed most often applied to two kinds of defendants: black people and poor people. Defense attorneys say that also hasn’t changed much in the three decades since the death penalty was reinstated.
“The studies show that when the victim is white as opposed to black, it’s more likely to result in a death sentence,” said McClain. “It’s not so much the race of the defendant as it is the race of the victim and the socioeconomic background of the victim.” Said Dillinger: “There is no wealthy person on death row in this country. And what does that tell you? Do wealthy people kill? Yes. The arbitrariness of it is who the victim is, their social standing.” ***
But death penalty supporters say it’s comparing apples to oranges to juxtapose Moussaoui and killers on death row who committed intentional murder. Moussaoui was loosely connected to a grave tragedy, but he did not participate in the hijackings and even prosecutors doubted some of his claims of involvement in al-Qaida’s plotting.
“The argument that he actually caused the deaths of those people is very thin,” said Kent S. Scheidegger, legal director of the prodeath penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in California. “It was a close one in my view,” Scheidegger said of whether Moussaoui should have been sent to death row. “He’s a very peripheral player in a very horrendous crime and those factors are very difficult to balance. I’m not upset by the decision.” One variable that did affect the outcome in the Moussaoui case was the federal justice system requirement that only a unanimous jury can send someone to death row. If even a single juror won’t vote for execution, the defendant will receive a life sentence. “For all we know it could have been one juror who blocked the death penalty,”
Scheidegger said. “And that’s a problem Congress needs to address.” Scheidegger said he prefers a system such as that in California, where a jury must be unanimous whether it decides for life or death. If jurors cannot unanimously agree, the jury is dismissed and a new panel is picked to hear the penalty phase again.
In Florida, only a majority of jurors are needed for a death sentence, which a judge actually imposes after a recommendation from the panel. Unlike in many states, the jury doesn’t have to agree on what “aggravators” exist to condemn a defendant.
It’s for this reason that many believe it’s easier to send someone to death row in Florida than in any other state. There are 371 people on death row in Florida, which averages about two executions per year.
The Florida Supreme Court last year challenged the Legislature to consider making it more difficult for juries and judges to sentence people to death in Florida.
Justice Raoul Cantero wrote that Florida is the only state that allows a jury to decide by mere majority both whether certain aggravating factors exist and whether to recommend the death penalty.
Other states require a unanimous vote to make at least one of those findings.
Cantero challenged lawmakers to consider whether they want Florida to remain out of the mainstream when it comes to the death penalty. A proposal to review the death penalty died in session this year.
While there are outside variables that affect the likelihood of a life or death sentence in each case, those factors also infect every other segment of the system, said Doug Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University. “They pervade everything we do in the criminal justice system.
If you think they are a reason not to have the death penalty, maybe it’s a reason not to have life sentences … or not to do this or that,” Berman said.
Berman said the efforts to remove haphazardness from the death penalty have worked to a degree, though it will always exist in a system with people at the controls.
“That’s the challenge of humans running a system,” Berman said. “It’s less than perfect when figuring out who is the worst of the worst.”
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/05/07/Worldandnation/How_can_you_choose_wh.shtml
Blind vengeance - Arthur Rutherford
Blind vengeance
Death penalty counters morals.
by BISHOP THOMAS WENSKI
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060101/OPINION/2010...
Last month while California's governor contemplated the fate of Stanley Tookie Williams, whom he later had executed, Gov. Jeb Bush signed two death warrants for two men on Florida's death row. Later this month, Clarence Hill, 47, and Arthur Rutherford, 56, also will be executed by lethal injection. Both men are guilty of shedding innocent blood. And both have been in jail for some years: their crimes were committed more than 20 years ago.
Yet, is it any more necessary for the state of Florida to kill these men than it was for California to kill Williams? Does society really make a coherent statement against killing by killing?
The argument has been made that the application of the death penalty represents the legitimate self defense of society from an unjust aggressor, i.e. the murderer. And, historically, the Roman Catholic Church has conceded the point that the state can rightly apply capital punishment when absolutely necessary, i.e. when otherwise impossible to defend society.
There is, in church teaching, no moral equivalence between the execution of the guilty after due process of law and the willful destruction of innocent life that happens with abortion or euthanasia. However, Pope John Paul II pointed out in Evangelium Vitae: given the organization of today's penal system and the option of imposing life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, such an "absolute necessity" is "practically non-existent."
Also, it is difficult to defend the "necessity" of executing someone when often his accomplice, in exchange for information or testimony, is given through plea bargaining a lesser sentence. And while some loved ones seek "closure," it is hard to see how capital punishment as "social retribution" or "institutional vengeance" really serves the purpose of punishment which should be designed to redress the disorder caused by the offense. The death penalty cannot bring the victims back to life.
Even from a purely pragmatic or utilitarian point of view, the death penalty cannot be defended. It is not an effective deterrent to crime. Texas has executed more criminals than any other state, yet, it still has one of the highest murder rates in the nation. And the death penalty is not cost effective.
It costs the state less to imprison someone for the remainder of his natural life than to execute him. Given that it is irreversible, society has rightly provided that it be applied only after lengthy and expensive legal appeals. And, in spite of this, there are more than 400 documented cases of wrongly convicted persons executed in the U.S. during the last century.
Willful murder is a heinous crime; it cries to God for justice. Yet, God did not require Cain's life for having spilt Abel's blood. While God certainly punished history's first murderer, he nevertheless put a mark on him to protect Cain from those wishing to kill him to avenge Abel's murder (cf. Genisis 4:15). Like Cain, the condemned prisoner on death row - for all the evil of his crimes - remains a person. Human dignity - that of the convicted as well as our own - is best served by not resorting to this extreme and unnecessary punishment. Modern society has the means to protect itself without the death penalty.
The commutation to life imprisonment would serve the common good of all by helping break our society's spiral of violence for the "eye for an eye" mentality will just end up making us all blind.
Death penalty counters morals.
by BISHOP THOMAS WENSKI
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060101/OPINION/2010...
Last month while California's governor contemplated the fate of Stanley Tookie Williams, whom he later had executed, Gov. Jeb Bush signed two death warrants for two men on Florida's death row. Later this month, Clarence Hill, 47, and Arthur Rutherford, 56, also will be executed by lethal injection. Both men are guilty of shedding innocent blood. And both have been in jail for some years: their crimes were committed more than 20 years ago.
Yet, is it any more necessary for the state of Florida to kill these men than it was for California to kill Williams? Does society really make a coherent statement against killing by killing?
The argument has been made that the application of the death penalty represents the legitimate self defense of society from an unjust aggressor, i.e. the murderer. And, historically, the Roman Catholic Church has conceded the point that the state can rightly apply capital punishment when absolutely necessary, i.e. when otherwise impossible to defend society.
There is, in church teaching, no moral equivalence between the execution of the guilty after due process of law and the willful destruction of innocent life that happens with abortion or euthanasia. However, Pope John Paul II pointed out in Evangelium Vitae: given the organization of today's penal system and the option of imposing life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, such an "absolute necessity" is "practically non-existent."
Also, it is difficult to defend the "necessity" of executing someone when often his accomplice, in exchange for information or testimony, is given through plea bargaining a lesser sentence. And while some loved ones seek "closure," it is hard to see how capital punishment as "social retribution" or "institutional vengeance" really serves the purpose of punishment which should be designed to redress the disorder caused by the offense. The death penalty cannot bring the victims back to life.
Even from a purely pragmatic or utilitarian point of view, the death penalty cannot be defended. It is not an effective deterrent to crime. Texas has executed more criminals than any other state, yet, it still has one of the highest murder rates in the nation. And the death penalty is not cost effective.
It costs the state less to imprison someone for the remainder of his natural life than to execute him. Given that it is irreversible, society has rightly provided that it be applied only after lengthy and expensive legal appeals. And, in spite of this, there are more than 400 documented cases of wrongly convicted persons executed in the U.S. during the last century.
Willful murder is a heinous crime; it cries to God for justice. Yet, God did not require Cain's life for having spilt Abel's blood. While God certainly punished history's first murderer, he nevertheless put a mark on him to protect Cain from those wishing to kill him to avenge Abel's murder (cf. Genisis 4:15). Like Cain, the condemned prisoner on death row - for all the evil of his crimes - remains a person. Human dignity - that of the convicted as well as our own - is best served by not resorting to this extreme and unnecessary punishment. Modern society has the means to protect itself without the death penalty.
The commutation to life imprisonment would serve the common good of all by helping break our society's spiral of violence for the "eye for an eye" mentality will just end up making us all blind.
Florida Death Penalty and Politics
10. Politics
56. Undoubtedly politics is a factor that causes arbitrariness in Florida=s death penalty scheme.
In fact, the state assessment team noted that judicial elections and appointments are influenced by consideration of judicial nominees= or candidates views on the death penalty. ABA Report at xxxi. The team also cited the Florida Supreme Court=s recent quantitative approach to proportionality review, which has been caused by political pressures and the change of composition of the Court. Id at 213.
57. Certainly, nothing could be clearer in Mr. Rutherford=s case, where the timing of his death warrant was controlled by a gubernatorial candidate, who is currently the Attorney General of Florida, Charles Crist. Under Florida law when a stay of execution is issued incident to an appeal, Aupon certification by the Attorney General that the stay has been lifted or dissolved, within 10 days after such certification, the Governor must set the new date for execution of the death sentence.@ Sec. 922.06, Fla. Stat (2005).
In the recent case of Clarence Hill, Attorney General Charlie Crist waited until August 24, 2006, to notify the Governor that the United States Supreme Court=s stay of Mr. Hill=s execution had dissolved. This was a little less than two weeks before the contested primary election in which Mr. Crist was seeking the Republican nomination for governor however, and nearly two months after the stay had actually dissolved. Attorney General Crist and his representatives claimed that because Mr. Hill had nothing pending in court the statute was invoked; yet, his case was in fact pending in the Eleventh Circuit awaiting action by that court following the remand from the United States Supreme Court.
58. Now, only weeks away from the general election, Attorney General Crist has notified Governor Bush that Mr. Rutherford=s stay has likewise dissolved. And, Mr. Rutherford=s execution has been scheduled for just weeks before the election.
Contrary to Attorney General Crist=s contention that Mr. Hill had nothing pending, thus, he invoked the statute, Mr. Rutherford does have briefs pending before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
59. Florida=s death penalty scheme is infected by politics and decisions made for political gain rather than in fairness.
56. Undoubtedly politics is a factor that causes arbitrariness in Florida=s death penalty scheme.
In fact, the state assessment team noted that judicial elections and appointments are influenced by consideration of judicial nominees= or candidates views on the death penalty. ABA Report at xxxi. The team also cited the Florida Supreme Court=s recent quantitative approach to proportionality review, which has been caused by political pressures and the change of composition of the Court. Id at 213.
57. Certainly, nothing could be clearer in Mr. Rutherford=s case, where the timing of his death warrant was controlled by a gubernatorial candidate, who is currently the Attorney General of Florida, Charles Crist. Under Florida law when a stay of execution is issued incident to an appeal, Aupon certification by the Attorney General that the stay has been lifted or dissolved, within 10 days after such certification, the Governor must set the new date for execution of the death sentence.@ Sec. 922.06, Fla. Stat (2005).
In the recent case of Clarence Hill, Attorney General Charlie Crist waited until August 24, 2006, to notify the Governor that the United States Supreme Court=s stay of Mr. Hill=s execution had dissolved. This was a little less than two weeks before the contested primary election in which Mr. Crist was seeking the Republican nomination for governor however, and nearly two months after the stay had actually dissolved. Attorney General Crist and his representatives claimed that because Mr. Hill had nothing pending in court the statute was invoked; yet, his case was in fact pending in the Eleventh Circuit awaiting action by that court following the remand from the United States Supreme Court.
58. Now, only weeks away from the general election, Attorney General Crist has notified Governor Bush that Mr. Rutherford=s stay has likewise dissolved. And, Mr. Rutherford=s execution has been scheduled for just weeks before the election.
Contrary to Attorney General Crist=s contention that Mr. Hill had nothing pending, thus, he invoked the statute, Mr. Rutherford does have briefs pending before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
59. Florida=s death penalty scheme is infected by politics and decisions made for political gain rather than in fairness.
Arthur Rutherford - federal case
On January 27, 2006, Mr. Rutherford challenged Florida=s lethal injection protocol under 42 U.S.C. ' 1983.
The result of Mr. Rutherford=s challenge was that the United States Supreme Court stayed Mr. Rutherford=s execution and on June 19, 2006, granted certiorari and reversed and remanded his case to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Rutherford is presently litigating his challenge under 42 U.S.C. ' 1983 in the federal courts.
The result of Mr. Rutherford=s challenge was that the United States Supreme Court stayed Mr. Rutherford=s execution and on June 19, 2006, granted certiorari and reversed and remanded his case to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Rutherford is presently litigating his challenge under 42 U.S.C. ' 1983 in the federal courts.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Arthur Rutherford case timeline
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060424/NEWS01/604240317/1006/RSS01
Published - April, 24, 2006
Arthur Rutherford case timeline
· Aug. 22, 1985: Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow, is murdered in her Milton home. She was beaten, strangled and drowned in her bathtub.
· Jan. 31, 1986: A Santa Rosa County jury finds Rutherford guilty of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.·
Feb. 1, 1986: Rutherford is sentenced to death on an 8-4 jury recommendation.
· April 2, 1986: A mistrial is declared.
· Oct. 2, 1986: A Walton County jury finds Rutherford guilty on all charges.
· Dec. 9, 1986: Rutherford is sentenced to death on a 7-5 jury recommendation.
· Nov. 29, 2005: Gov. Jeb Bush signs Rutherford's death warrant.
· Jan. 31: Rutherford to be executed. His execution is stayed at 6 p.m., pending resolution of Clarence Hill's appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court.
· Wednesday: Oral arguments are scheduled before the Supreme Court in Hill v. McDonough.·
By July 1: A ruling is expected in Hill's case before this date.
Published - April, 24, 2006
Arthur Rutherford case timeline
· Aug. 22, 1985: Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow, is murdered in her Milton home. She was beaten, strangled and drowned in her bathtub.
· Jan. 31, 1986: A Santa Rosa County jury finds Rutherford guilty of first-degree murder and robbery with a deadly weapon.·
Feb. 1, 1986: Rutherford is sentenced to death on an 8-4 jury recommendation.
· April 2, 1986: A mistrial is declared.
· Oct. 2, 1986: A Walton County jury finds Rutherford guilty on all charges.
· Dec. 9, 1986: Rutherford is sentenced to death on a 7-5 jury recommendation.
· Nov. 29, 2005: Gov. Jeb Bush signs Rutherford's death warrant.
· Jan. 31: Rutherford to be executed. His execution is stayed at 6 p.m., pending resolution of Clarence Hill's appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court.
· Wednesday: Oral arguments are scheduled before the Supreme Court in Hill v. McDonough.·
By July 1: A ruling is expected in Hill's case before this date.
Lethal injection roundup on a Wednesday morning
From Capital Defense Blog :
http://www.capitaldefenseweekly.com/
Lethal injection roundup on a Wednesday morning
Lethal injection news of the morning.
Howard Mintz has this article today in The San Jose Mercury News.
The San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko has "Execution method not good enough for a dog, experts say."
The Los Angeles Times has coverage of the first day of hearings in the Morales lethal-injection suit in California here.
The Stockton Record has this. AP has this.
Claire Cooper of the Sac' Bee reports "Experts testify on drugs for execution."
http://www.capitaldefenseweekly.com/
Lethal injection roundup on a Wednesday morning
Lethal injection news of the morning.
Howard Mintz has this article today in The San Jose Mercury News.
The San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko has "Execution method not good enough for a dog, experts say."
The Los Angeles Times has coverage of the first day of hearings in the Morales lethal-injection suit in California here.
The Stockton Record has this. AP has this.
Claire Cooper of the Sac' Bee reports "Experts testify on drugs for execution."
Bid to halt execution says death penalty is flawed - Arthur Rutherford
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/29/news_pf/State/Bid_to_halt_execution.shtml
Bid to halt execution says death penalty is flawed
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 29, 2006
Last week, the American Bar Association issued a 403-page report that reprehended Florida's handling of the death penalty.
Today, renowned death penalty defense attorney Martin McClain hopes the report will keep the state from executing one of his clients.
McClain filed a motion Thursday asking a judge to vacate the conviction and sentence of Arthur Rutherford, who was sent to death row for killing a woman in Santa Rosa County in 1985.
In a 56-page motion, McClain cited numerous examples from the ABA report outlining the problems in Florida's death penalty system.
"The report makes it clear that Florida's death penalty system is seriously flawed and is not fair or reliable," McClain said Thursday. "This is from a comprehensive investigation performed by a panel that includes judges and prosecutors."
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for today. Rutherford's execution is set for Oct. 18. McClain's effort comes just one week after Florida executed its first death row inmate in 18 months. That inmate, Clarence Hill, halted the state's death penalty for months while he argued that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.
Rutherford, who had won a stay while Hill's appeals were pending, then received a new date for execution. Gov. Jeb Bush also signed a Oct. 25 death warrant for Gainesville serial killer Danny Rolling, one of Florida's most notorious murderers.
If McClain succeeds in using the ABA report to get Rutherford's sentence vacated, defense attorneys across the state likely will file similar motions.
Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said sweeping changes to the death penalty system aren't likely.
McClain has the difficult task of proving that Rutherford - not death row inmates in general - suffered as a result of any deficiencies in the system, Dillinger said.
Add to that the Legislature's decision not to act on a challenge from the Florida Supreme Court last year to address some of the same problems raised in the ABA report, he said.
"The Legislature already ignored the Supreme Court," Dillinger said. "It will be even easier to ignore the ABA."
The ABA team, which did not take a stand for or against the death penalty, spent 18 months looking into Florida's system. The team compared the state's procedures against 93 ABA standards and found Florida in full compliance with only eight and partial compliance with 36.
Florida's system has problems with unqualified and underfunded defense attorneys, ill-informed juries, secrecy in the clemency process and racial disparities, among others, the report concluded.
Florida led the nation in death row exonerations with 22, the report stated.
"Much more needs to be done to ensure that Florida's death penalty system avoids executing the innocent," panel member and University of Florida law professor Christopher Slobogin said when the report was released.
Team members called for reforms, including a requirement of unanimous jury verdicts for death sentences. Florida is the only state that allows a jury to recommend death by mere majority.
In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment guaranteed that the death penalty must be imposed fairly and with reasonable consistency. The death penalty "smacks of little more than a lottery system," the court agreed.
"If you read the ABA's report, it's hard to conclude that Florida's system is anything more than just that, a lottery," McClain said.
McClain said the number of exonerations in Florida shows that the system is broken.
In Illinois, 13 exonerations between 1977 and 2000 led to a moratorium on executions. A subsequent investigation determined that four more death row inmates were innocent.
As a result, Illinois implemented comprehensive reforms and vacated all the death sentences imposed under the old system.
"Florida had even more exonerations," McClain said. "And, as the ABA report showed, what has Florida done about it? Nothing."
Graham Brink can be reached at brink@sptimes.com or 727 893-8406.
Bid to halt execution says death penalty is flawed
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 29, 2006
Last week, the American Bar Association issued a 403-page report that reprehended Florida's handling of the death penalty.
Today, renowned death penalty defense attorney Martin McClain hopes the report will keep the state from executing one of his clients.
McClain filed a motion Thursday asking a judge to vacate the conviction and sentence of Arthur Rutherford, who was sent to death row for killing a woman in Santa Rosa County in 1985.
In a 56-page motion, McClain cited numerous examples from the ABA report outlining the problems in Florida's death penalty system.
"The report makes it clear that Florida's death penalty system is seriously flawed and is not fair or reliable," McClain said Thursday. "This is from a comprehensive investigation performed by a panel that includes judges and prosecutors."
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for today. Rutherford's execution is set for Oct. 18. McClain's effort comes just one week after Florida executed its first death row inmate in 18 months. That inmate, Clarence Hill, halted the state's death penalty for months while he argued that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.
Rutherford, who had won a stay while Hill's appeals were pending, then received a new date for execution. Gov. Jeb Bush also signed a Oct. 25 death warrant for Gainesville serial killer Danny Rolling, one of Florida's most notorious murderers.
If McClain succeeds in using the ABA report to get Rutherford's sentence vacated, defense attorneys across the state likely will file similar motions.
Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said sweeping changes to the death penalty system aren't likely.
McClain has the difficult task of proving that Rutherford - not death row inmates in general - suffered as a result of any deficiencies in the system, Dillinger said.
Add to that the Legislature's decision not to act on a challenge from the Florida Supreme Court last year to address some of the same problems raised in the ABA report, he said.
"The Legislature already ignored the Supreme Court," Dillinger said. "It will be even easier to ignore the ABA."
The ABA team, which did not take a stand for or against the death penalty, spent 18 months looking into Florida's system. The team compared the state's procedures against 93 ABA standards and found Florida in full compliance with only eight and partial compliance with 36.
Florida's system has problems with unqualified and underfunded defense attorneys, ill-informed juries, secrecy in the clemency process and racial disparities, among others, the report concluded.
Florida led the nation in death row exonerations with 22, the report stated.
"Much more needs to be done to ensure that Florida's death penalty system avoids executing the innocent," panel member and University of Florida law professor Christopher Slobogin said when the report was released.
Team members called for reforms, including a requirement of unanimous jury verdicts for death sentences. Florida is the only state that allows a jury to recommend death by mere majority.
In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment guaranteed that the death penalty must be imposed fairly and with reasonable consistency. The death penalty "smacks of little more than a lottery system," the court agreed.
"If you read the ABA's report, it's hard to conclude that Florida's system is anything more than just that, a lottery," McClain said.
McClain said the number of exonerations in Florida shows that the system is broken.
In Illinois, 13 exonerations between 1977 and 2000 led to a moratorium on executions. A subsequent investigation determined that four more death row inmates were innocent.
As a result, Illinois implemented comprehensive reforms and vacated all the death sentences imposed under the old system.
"Florida had even more exonerations," McClain said. "And, as the ABA report showed, what has Florida done about it? Nothing."
Graham Brink can be reached at brink@sptimes.com or 727 893-8406.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Rutherford files appeal, asks verdict be set aside - Arthur Rutherford
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060928/CAPITOLNEWS06/60928013
Originally published September 28, 2006
Rutherford files appeal, asks verdict be set aside
By Paul Flemming Capitol News
Condemned killer A.D. Rutherford has filed an appeal in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court asking that his conviction be set aside because Florida's death sentence process is not fair and consistent.
Rutherford's lawyers argue, among other things, that Florida's death penalty is arbitrary and capricious, and thus unconstitutional, on the basis of a recent report that was sharply critical of the state's judicial process.
Rutherford, who's execution is set for Oct. 18, is sentenced to death for the 1985 death of Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow murdered in her Milton home.
The appeal relies on a report by the American Bar Association that Florida's system has serious flaws.
"The information, analysis and ultimate conclusions contained in the ABA report make clear: Florida's death penalty system is so seriously flawed and broken that it does not meet the constitutional requisite of being fair, reliable or accurate," Rutherford's motion states.
The state has not yet responded to the motion, but Assistant Attorney General Charmaine Millsaps said she would argue that the appeal doesn't meet required criteria."It's not really new evidence of his innocence," Millsaps said of the ABA report.
Martin McClain, Rutherford's lawyer, said that among the bar association's findings was that Florida had the most death-row exonerations, 22, of any state, and yet has not taken any action to investigate why that is so.
"Florida . . . has just shrugged off the exonerations," McClain said.
In January, Rutherford was within an hour of being executed when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay. The highest court in June sent his case back down to lower courts to reconsider his appeal that the state's lethal-injection method was cruel and unusual punishment.
Rutherford has that pending appeal in federal court.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has taken arguments in the case but not yet issued a ruling.
McClain said he has argued that the case should be sent down to federal district court to consider.
A hearing to set a schedule for briefs in the latest appeal is set for Friday in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court.
Originally published September 28, 2006
Rutherford files appeal, asks verdict be set aside
By Paul Flemming Capitol News
Condemned killer A.D. Rutherford has filed an appeal in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court asking that his conviction be set aside because Florida's death sentence process is not fair and consistent.
Rutherford's lawyers argue, among other things, that Florida's death penalty is arbitrary and capricious, and thus unconstitutional, on the basis of a recent report that was sharply critical of the state's judicial process.
Rutherford, who's execution is set for Oct. 18, is sentenced to death for the 1985 death of Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow murdered in her Milton home.
The appeal relies on a report by the American Bar Association that Florida's system has serious flaws.
"The information, analysis and ultimate conclusions contained in the ABA report make clear: Florida's death penalty system is so seriously flawed and broken that it does not meet the constitutional requisite of being fair, reliable or accurate," Rutherford's motion states.
The state has not yet responded to the motion, but Assistant Attorney General Charmaine Millsaps said she would argue that the appeal doesn't meet required criteria."It's not really new evidence of his innocence," Millsaps said of the ABA report.
Martin McClain, Rutherford's lawyer, said that among the bar association's findings was that Florida had the most death-row exonerations, 22, of any state, and yet has not taken any action to investigate why that is so.
"Florida . . . has just shrugged off the exonerations," McClain said.
In January, Rutherford was within an hour of being executed when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay. The highest court in June sent his case back down to lower courts to reconsider his appeal that the state's lethal-injection method was cruel and unusual punishment.
Rutherford has that pending appeal in federal court.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has taken arguments in the case but not yet issued a ruling.
McClain said he has argued that the case should be sent down to federal district court to consider.
A hearing to set a schedule for briefs in the latest appeal is set for Friday in Santa Rosa County Circuit Court.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Arthur Rutherford
http://littleozzybloke.com/fbdwp/
Written by Irma Vos .
Please print this and send to addresses below
Governor Jeb Bush
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee
Florida 32399
September 28th, 2006.
Dear Governor Bush,
As a citizen of this world, I can’t help but being concerned about the developments in the USA and particularly in the State of Florida regarding the Death Penalty.
I have been watching the case of Mr. Clarence E. Hill and his requests for details about the chemicals and procedures that were used during executions.
I was shocked when I heard that, even though the appeals he pursued were still in process, the US Supreme Court overruled the Court of Appeals and denied Mr. Hill his right to appeal. Despite the fact that the same Court allowed him to pursue the appeals in the first place, in January of this year.
In my opinion the US Supreme Court has denied Mr. Hill his civil rights to appeal to the lethal injection process. Even though the issue is still not cleared and many other States are questioning the humanity of this method of execution. At this moment California is questioning these same methods in Court. Executions have been halted in Missouri, New Jersey and Delaware because of this issue. Moratoriums are in place, for several reasons in Illinois, South Dakota and New York.
I have been reading many reports about the Lethal Injections, from organizations that were either in favor or against the Death Penalty. Both sides came to the same conclusion: the Lethal Injection is a cruel and unusual punishment. There is evidence that prisoners have experienced excruciating pain during their execution. The sequence of drugs used and the method of administration were created with minimal expertise over 3 decades ago. Which were adopted unquestionably by state officials with no medical or scientific background. Prisoners in the US are executed by means that the American Veterinary Medical Association regards too cruel to use on dogs and cats. In the case of Mr. Stanley Tookie Williams, investigation has proven that Mr Williams has died a slow and painful death. All these facts raise questions under the 8th Amendment.
The Human Rights Law is predicated on recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all people, including even those who have committed terrible crimes. It prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. These rights are being denied when using the lethal injection. Therefore, I urge you to ensure the execution methods that will be used to execute an inmate, will be pain and suffering free. I also urge you to halt executions until a panel of anesthesiologists, pharmacologists, doctors, correction officials,
prosecutors, defence attorneys and judges have determined whether or not the lethal injections as currently practiced are indeed the most humane form of execution.
Respectfully yours,
Addresses :
Governor Jeb Bush
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee
Florida 32399
President Bush,
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20500
Mr. Larry Cox - Executive Director,
Amnesty International USA,
5 Penn Plaza, NY 10001
USA
Mr. Bob Gremillion - President
Sun Sentinel,
200 E. Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
USA
Written by Irma Vos .
Please print this and send to addresses below
Governor Jeb Bush
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee
Florida 32399
September 28th, 2006.
Dear Governor Bush,
As a citizen of this world, I can’t help but being concerned about the developments in the USA and particularly in the State of Florida regarding the Death Penalty.
I have been watching the case of Mr. Clarence E. Hill and his requests for details about the chemicals and procedures that were used during executions.
I was shocked when I heard that, even though the appeals he pursued were still in process, the US Supreme Court overruled the Court of Appeals and denied Mr. Hill his right to appeal. Despite the fact that the same Court allowed him to pursue the appeals in the first place, in January of this year.
In my opinion the US Supreme Court has denied Mr. Hill his civil rights to appeal to the lethal injection process. Even though the issue is still not cleared and many other States are questioning the humanity of this method of execution. At this moment California is questioning these same methods in Court. Executions have been halted in Missouri, New Jersey and Delaware because of this issue. Moratoriums are in place, for several reasons in Illinois, South Dakota and New York.
I have been reading many reports about the Lethal Injections, from organizations that were either in favor or against the Death Penalty. Both sides came to the same conclusion: the Lethal Injection is a cruel and unusual punishment. There is evidence that prisoners have experienced excruciating pain during their execution. The sequence of drugs used and the method of administration were created with minimal expertise over 3 decades ago. Which were adopted unquestionably by state officials with no medical or scientific background. Prisoners in the US are executed by means that the American Veterinary Medical Association regards too cruel to use on dogs and cats. In the case of Mr. Stanley Tookie Williams, investigation has proven that Mr Williams has died a slow and painful death. All these facts raise questions under the 8th Amendment.
The Human Rights Law is predicated on recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all people, including even those who have committed terrible crimes. It prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. These rights are being denied when using the lethal injection. Therefore, I urge you to ensure the execution methods that will be used to execute an inmate, will be pain and suffering free. I also urge you to halt executions until a panel of anesthesiologists, pharmacologists, doctors, correction officials,
prosecutors, defence attorneys and judges have determined whether or not the lethal injections as currently practiced are indeed the most humane form of execution.
Respectfully yours,
Addresses :
Governor Jeb Bush
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee
Florida 32399
President Bush,
The White House,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20500
Mr. Larry Cox - Executive Director,
Amnesty International USA,
5 Penn Plaza, NY 10001
USA
Mr. Bob Gremillion - President
Sun Sentinel,
200 E. Las Olas Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
USA
Sunday, September 24, 2006
With Love... - Arthur Rutherford
With Love from Geesje and Dini ...
With love from Geesje and Dini...
With love from Geesje and Dini...
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Pending Death Warrants: - Arthur Rutherford
http://www.floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us/index-rutherford.cfm
Pending Death Warrants:
Arthur D. Rutherford
Arthur Rutherford
Death Warrant – 11/29/05
U.S. Supreme Court:
Petition for Writ of Certiorari & Stay of Execution – 01/23/06
Denial of Petition for Writ of Certiorari – 01/31/06
Petition for Writ of Certiorari & Stay of Execution – 01/30/06
Denial of Petition for Writ of Certiorari – 01/31/06
Petition for Writ of Certiorari & Stay of Execution – 01/31/06
Stay Issued – 01/31/06
U.S. Court of Appeals – 11th Circuit Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief Appeal – 01/28/06
Order Affirming Dismissal of Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief - 1/30/2006
Order Denying Application to File Successive Habeas & Stay of Execution - 1/30/2006 U.S.
District Court – Northern District:
Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief - 1/27/2006
Order Dismissing Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief - 1/28/2006 Circuit Court:
Motion to Vacate Judgements of Conviction and Sentence - 12/22/2005
~Amended~ Motion to Vacate Judgements of Conviction and Sentence - 12/27/2005
Order Denying Motion to Vacate Judgements of Conviction and Sentence - 1/5/2006
Florida Supreme Court:
Briefing Schedule
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus - 11/28/2005
Response to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus - 12/20/2005
Reply to Response to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus - 12/22/2005
Opinion to Deny Habeas Corpus - 1/5/2006
Initial Brief - 1/10/2006
Answer Brief - 1/13/2006
Reply Brief - 1/17/2006
Opinion Affirming Denial of Motion to Vacate Judgments - 1/27/2006
Pending Death Warrants:
Arthur D. Rutherford
Arthur Rutherford
Death Warrant – 11/29/05
U.S. Supreme Court:
Petition for Writ of Certiorari & Stay of Execution – 01/23/06
Denial of Petition for Writ of Certiorari – 01/31/06
Petition for Writ of Certiorari & Stay of Execution – 01/30/06
Denial of Petition for Writ of Certiorari – 01/31/06
Petition for Writ of Certiorari & Stay of Execution – 01/31/06
Stay Issued – 01/31/06
U.S. Court of Appeals – 11th Circuit Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief Appeal – 01/28/06
Order Affirming Dismissal of Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief - 1/30/2006
Order Denying Application to File Successive Habeas & Stay of Execution - 1/30/2006 U.S.
District Court – Northern District:
Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief - 1/27/2006
Order Dismissing Complaint for Declaratory & Injunctive Relief - 1/28/2006 Circuit Court:
Motion to Vacate Judgements of Conviction and Sentence - 12/22/2005
~Amended~ Motion to Vacate Judgements of Conviction and Sentence - 12/27/2005
Order Denying Motion to Vacate Judgements of Conviction and Sentence - 1/5/2006
Florida Supreme Court:
Briefing Schedule
Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus - 11/28/2005
Response to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus - 12/20/2005
Reply to Response to Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus - 12/22/2005
Opinion to Deny Habeas Corpus - 1/5/2006
Initial Brief - 1/10/2006
Answer Brief - 1/13/2006
Reply Brief - 1/17/2006
Opinion Affirming Denial of Motion to Vacate Judgments - 1/27/2006
Legal Fight Over, Clarence Hill Executed - Arthur Rutherford
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6116367
Legal Fight Over, Clarence Hill Executed
News & Notes, September 21, 2006 ·
Clarence Hill, a convicted killer who argued Florida's use of lethal injection amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, was executed Wednesday. Previously, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Hill a stay of execution to hear his argument.
Tony Cox talks to reporter Chris Tisch of the St. Petersburg Times.
Legal Fight Over, Clarence Hill Executed
News & Notes, September 21, 2006 ·
Clarence Hill, a convicted killer who argued Florida's use of lethal injection amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, was executed Wednesday. Previously, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Hill a stay of execution to hear his argument.
Tony Cox talks to reporter Chris Tisch of the St. Petersburg Times.
New execution date set for man convicted of bathtub killing - Arthur Rutherford
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15586708.htm
Posted on Fri, Sep. 22, 2006
New execution date set for man convicted of bathtub killing
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush reinstated the death warrant Friday for a man who murdered a woman in her bathtub more than two decades ago.
Arthur Rutherford will be executed on Oct. 18 at 6:00 p.m., Bush's office said.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Rutherford's death earlier this year after he claimed the state's lethal injection procedure is cruel and unusual punishment. The stay was later lifted.
Rutherford was convicted of the 1985 robbing and killing Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow originally from Australia, at her Milton home, where the handyman had installed sliding glass doors.
The woman was severely beaten and drowned or asphyxiated. Her body was found in a bathtub. Four witnesses testified that Rutherford either told them that he was planning to kill her or admitted it afterward.
Posted on Fri, Sep. 22, 2006
New execution date set for man convicted of bathtub killing
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Jeb Bush reinstated the death warrant Friday for a man who murdered a woman in her bathtub more than two decades ago.
Arthur Rutherford will be executed on Oct. 18 at 6:00 p.m., Bush's office said.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Rutherford's death earlier this year after he claimed the state's lethal injection procedure is cruel and unusual punishment. The stay was later lifted.
Rutherford was convicted of the 1985 robbing and killing Stella Salamon, a 63-year-old widow originally from Australia, at her Milton home, where the handyman had installed sliding glass doors.
The woman was severely beaten and drowned or asphyxiated. Her body was found in a bathtub. Four witnesses testified that Rutherford either told them that he was planning to kill her or admitted it afterward.
Two prisoners set to die in October - Arthur Rutherford
September 23, 2006 Florida
Two prisoners set to die in October
By Paul Flemming, Tallehassee Democrat
Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday evening set execution dates for two prisoners -Danny Rolling, the notorious Gainesville killer who pleaded guilty to the 1990 murders of five University of Florida students in the college town; and A. D. Rutherford, a Milton man who was set to die in January but got a last-minute stay
Rolling murdered and mutilated Sonya Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Manny Taboada and Tracy Paules over three days in August 1990. His executionis set for Oct. 25.
Rutherford, a Milton native, was sentenced to death for the beating and drowning death of Stella Salamon on Aug. 22, 1985. He is now scheduled to die Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.
Bush on Friday evening set the new execution date for Rutherford, extending an existing death warrant. He was set to die in January when the U.S.Supreme Court granted him a last-minute stay.
The execution dates for Rolling and Rutherford come two days after the state executed another prisoner. Clarence Hill's lawyers failed to get a hearing that Florida's three-drug cocktail might cause excruciating pain. His appeals claiming the state's lethal-injection methods were unconstitutional was rejected by federal courts, but on the basis that his claims were filed too late.
Rutherford's January stay from the highest court came a week after Hill's.
Bush said in a letter to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Bryant that the Supreme Court's stay was lifted July 21.
Calls to Rutherford's attorneys were not immediately returned.
Rutherford and Rolling would be the 62nd and 63rd prisoners executed in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. There are 376 inmates on the state's Death Row. ---
Source : Tallehassee Democrat
Two prisoners set to die in October
By Paul Flemming, Tallehassee Democrat
Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday evening set execution dates for two prisoners -Danny Rolling, the notorious Gainesville killer who pleaded guilty to the 1990 murders of five University of Florida students in the college town; and A. D. Rutherford, a Milton man who was set to die in January but got a last-minute stay
Rolling murdered and mutilated Sonya Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Manny Taboada and Tracy Paules over three days in August 1990. His executionis set for Oct. 25.
Rutherford, a Milton native, was sentenced to death for the beating and drowning death of Stella Salamon on Aug. 22, 1985. He is now scheduled to die Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.
Bush on Friday evening set the new execution date for Rutherford, extending an existing death warrant. He was set to die in January when the U.S.Supreme Court granted him a last-minute stay.
The execution dates for Rolling and Rutherford come two days after the state executed another prisoner. Clarence Hill's lawyers failed to get a hearing that Florida's three-drug cocktail might cause excruciating pain. His appeals claiming the state's lethal-injection methods were unconstitutional was rejected by federal courts, but on the basis that his claims were filed too late.
Rutherford's January stay from the highest court came a week after Hill's.
Bush said in a letter to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Bryant that the Supreme Court's stay was lifted July 21.
Calls to Rutherford's attorneys were not immediately returned.
Rutherford and Rolling would be the 62nd and 63rd prisoners executed in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. There are 376 inmates on the state's Death Row. ---
Source : Tallehassee Democrat
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