| GA Davis Case Raises Questions On Adequacy of Clemency Pleas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Doubts raised about the guilt of Troy Davis, who may be executed tonight in Georgia for killing a police officer, raise new questions about the Supreme Court's determination that "executive clemency" - the power of a governor or review board to commute a death row sentence - is an adequate fail-safe for assessing death-row innocence claims, says the Christian Science Monitor. "If a case like this doesn't result in clemency, which is a discretionary process that calls a halt to an execution based on doubt surrounding the integrity of the verdict, then it suggests that clemency as a traditional fail-safe is not adequate," says James Acker, a criminologist at SUNY-Albany. "The Davis case raises doubts about the discretionary clemency process and ultimately raises doubts about whether the legal system can tolerate this potential error in allowing a person to be executed." While the number of people executed in the U.S. has dwindled over the past 15 years, a majority of Americans - about 64 percent - still support the death penalty. At a recent presidential candidate debate, a crowd cheered when Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the current Republican frontrunner, noted the 234 executions carried out under his watch. |
| Supreme Court Grants Third Stay of Execution to Texas Man ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For the third time this year, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution to former Army recruiter Cleve Foster, who was scheduled to die yesterday for the rape-slaying of a woman in Fort Worth nearly 10 years ago, the Associated Press reports. "I did not do this crime," Foster told his lawyer. "I know there are those out there who have hard feelings against me, but I did not do this." Unlike his previous trips to the death house in Huntsville, Tx., the reprieve came before Foster was served his requested final meal, which included two fried chickens and a 5-gallon bucket of peaches. Foster and Sheldon Ward were convicted of fatally shooting Nyanuer "Mary" Pal, 30, whose body was found in a ditch by workers in 2002. Ward died last year of cancer. |
| 17 NYC Cops, Union Officials, May Face Ticket-Fixing Charges ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York City police officers under the gun in what the New York Daily News calls a massive ticket-fixing scandal are sweating bullets as a grand jury started weighing whether to indict them on a slew of corruption charges. "Guys are nervous," said one officer who is wrapped up in the wide-ranging probe. "It's a bad time to be a cop." The grand jury in the Bronx began deliberating the fates of 17 cops - including at least eight union officials - on charges of perjury, bribery, grand larceny, records tampering, and official misconduct. A handful of cops and civilians linked to a suspected Bronx drug dealer also face indictment, as do four cops who swept an assault charge against them under the rug. The probe has dragged on for two years, with Internal Affairs Bureau investigators and prosecutors gathering evidence on the actions of more than 500 cops. Wiretaps on more than two dozen cops, most of them union delegates, uncovered a range of crimes unrelated to fixing tickets. Most cops are being dealt with in NYPD disciplinary hearings, but the "worst of the worst" had their cases turned over to the Bronx district attorney. "All we can do is hope they see it the way we saw it - as a professional courtesy," one officer said. |
| Michael Jackson Going "On Trial" Via Charges Against His Doctor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ USA Today offers a preview of the next big "celebrity trial" in the U.S., the involuntary manslaughter case of Michael Jackson's physician, Conrad Murray. Opening statements are set for Sept. 27. The case raises the rare issue of a doctor's criminal accountability when a patient dies under his care. And like Jackson's trial in 2005 on charges of sexually molesting a 13-year-old boy - jurors declared him not guilty - the case will spotlight the privileged world of a superstar. Prosecutor David Walgren says Murray, 58, caused the death of Jackson in 2009 through "negligent and reckless acts" - primarily an "extreme deviation" from medical-quality standards in using the operating-room anesthetic propofol to treat insomnia. Murray has said he employed the powerful drug at the famous insomniac's repeated requests, as other doctors before him had done. Attorneys for Murray, a tall, dashing man born in the West Indian island nation of Grenada, have said Jackson was so frantic for sleep that he drank or injected a fatal dose of propofol while the doctor was briefly away from the singer's bedroom. "Michael is going to be on trial," says Brian Oxman, attorney for Jackson's father, Joe, in a civil lawsuit against Murray |
| L.A. Challenges Rand Report On Less Crime Near Pot Outlets ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Medical marijuana dispensaries - with storerooms of high-priced weed, registers brimming with cash, and some clients more interested in getting high than getting well - are often seen as magnets for crime, but a Rand Corp. study reported by the Los Angeles Times reaches a startling conclusion: The opposite appears to be true. A study of crime near Los Angeles dispensaries found that crime actually increased near hundreds of pot shops after they were required to close last summer. "What I would take away from it is maybe there should just be a little bit less fear about having dispensaries," said Mireille Jacobson, a health economist who was the lead researcher. "Hopefully, this injects a little bit of science into the discussion." The researchers compared the 10 days before the city's medical pot law took effect June 7, 2010, with the 10 days after, when many of the more than 400 illegal dispensaries shut down - if only briefly. They found a 59 percent increase in crime within three-tenths of a mile of a closed dispensary compared to an open one and a 24 percent increase within six-tenths of a mile. The city attorney's office, which has argued in court proceedings that the number of dispensaries needs to be reduced to deal with "well-documented crime," called the report's conclusions "highly suspect and unreliable." |
| Some Coroners Avoid Necessary Autopsies: Cyril Wecht ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In his new book, "From Crime Scene to Courtroom: Examining the Mysteries Behind Famous Cases," Dr. Cyril Wecht takes readers inside some of the most mysterious deaths of our time, including Casey Anthony's daughter, Caylee, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, and Illinois police officer Drew Peterson's third wife. Discrepancies in terms of the thoroughness and completeness of autopsies are an age-old problem, Wecht tells The Crime Report. Wecht notes that one problem is that coroners are elected officials, and in only a few states do they have to be medical doctors. Medical examiners are required to be board-certified or board-eligible, mostly as forensic pathologists. They are appointed. Wecht says he doesn't believe that the coroner system is necessarily bad and the medical examiner system is necessarily good. The problem is that too many coroners' offices are trying to save money, thinking that people in the community don't like autopsies. They don't want to lose any votes, so they finesse cases that should have autopsies done, Wecht says. |
| NY Chief Judge Wants to Restrict Trying Juveniles as Adults ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York State has long dealt with 16- and 17-year-old defendants more severely than almost every other state, trying all of them as adults in criminal courts. Now, state chief judge Jonathan Lippman is calling for a less punitive approach that would focus on finding ways to rehabilitate them, reports the New York Times. Lippman wants the state to send 16- and 17-year-olds accused of less serious crimes to family courts, which have more social services, continuing to prosecute the most violent juveniles as adults. The plan reflects an emerging consensus in many states that troubled teenagers have been mishandled by the adult court system. If the state adopts the plan, it most likely must allocate more money for social services and for the court system, which is overburdened. The roles of judges, prosecutors, correction and probation officers and many others would change. "I think it's complex but feasible," said Edwina Richardson-Mendelson, administrative judge for New York City Family Court, which would have to handle tens of thousands more cases each year under the plan. Lippman's idea needs legislative and gubernatorial approval. |
| Constitution Project Calls for Limits on Law Enforcement GPS Use ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A bipartisan group that includes former leaders of the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration today called for limits on law enforcement's use of GPS and other powerful technologies to track the movements of suspects, reports the Associated Press. Police should be required to obtain a search warrant for any GPS surveillance that lasts more than 24 hours, contends The Constitution Project, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The group says a warrant always should be needed when authorities have to install a tracking device on a vehicle. The group's liberty and security committee issued a report in advance of the Supreme Court's consideration of the issue in November. The group says it recognizes the usefulness of tracking technologies, "but the government should not have unchecked discretion to electronically track anyone, anywhere, at any time without cause." The Obama administration says warrants would hamper law enforcement investigations and aren't needed because the surveillance monitors movements on public streets. The administration is asking the court to reinstate the conviction of Washington, D.C., nightclub owner Antoine Jones for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. |
| Charlotte Murder-Suicide May "Open People's Eyes" To Workplace Violence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Experts are pointing to a murder-suicide this week at a Lowe's Home Improvement store in Charlotte as an example of what can happen when domestic violence - usually considered a private, at-home problem - spills into the workplace, the Charlotte Observer reports. A man shot his wife, a cashier at the store, and killed himself in the store on Monday. The couple had three children. The issue of domestic violence in the workplace will be the focus of a Charlotte conference next month. United Family Services had planned the sessions to help employers protect employees and others from partner violence. "A lot of companies are not aware of the ramifications of domestic violence until something like this happens," said Karen Parker Thompson of United Family Services. "Maybe this will open people's eyes." The summit will feature a screening of the film "Telling Amy's Story," which chronicles the history of violence and threats leading up to a Pennsylvania woman's death in 2001. Amy Homan McGee, a Verizon Wireless employee, was shot and killed by her husband. Verizon began reviewing its policies after her death. |
| Nevada Tops National List Again in Women Killed by Man ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nevada's rate of women killed by men - more than double the national average - ranks first in the nation for the second consecutive year, says a new study from the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center reported by the Las Vegas Sun. Nevada has taken the unenviable top spot four of the past five years in the "When Men Murder Women" report. The new report analyzes homicides from 2009, the most recent data available from the FBI. Nevada's homicide rate of women killed by men in 2009 was 2.7 per 100,000. The national average was 1.25 per 100,000. Alabama and Louisiana followed Nevada in the report's homicide rate rankings. Police say the gloomy portrait of domestic violence in Nevada isn't necessarily accurate now. Lt. Rob Lundquist said domestic violence-related homicides in Las Vegas have been decreasing since the report's data were collected. "We've definitely had a substantial reduction in domestic violence-related homicides and also female fatalities," Lundquist said. "We've taken a very active stance on it." |
| Philly's "Naughty Photo" Cop Costs City $500,000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Philadelphia Police Officer Deona Carter's services will likely cost city taxpayers a half-million bucks this year, says the Philadelphia Daily News. That includes about $75,000 in salary and overtime -plus $425,000 that city attorneys yesterday agreed to pay to settle three federal lawsuits filed by people who say that Carter assaulted or wrongly arrested them. Carter, 29, remains on active duty. "She's not fit to be a police officer," said Leonard Villari, who represents the three plaintiffs in the civil-rights suits. "She's cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars at this point, and there's a strong possibility that she will cost the city even more money in the future." The police department has opened an investigation into whether Carter violated the department's social-networking policy by posting a naughty photo of herself on MySpace in high heels, a skimpy blue dress, and her police hat. In 2008, Carter was suspended for 20 days for assaulting her neighbor, then trying to have her "falsely arrested" by telling responding officers that the neighbor had attacked her. Last summer, she was reprimanded for neglect of duty for showing up for court in "short pants and flip-flips." |
| Inspector General Chides Justice for Excessive Conference Costs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ $16 muffins and $7.32 Beef Wellington hors d'oeuvre servings at Justice Department conferences? The department's inspector general chided officials for not minimizing costs at some 2008 and 2009 sessions. Cracker Jacks, candy bars, and popcorn at one Office for Violence Against Women event were found to cost $32 per person. "Not all sponsors were seriously questioning the need for expensive meals and refreshments and their events," says the report. It cites the Office for Victims of Crime for spending $30,000 to send Indian Nations conference planners to Palm Springs, Ca., to map out a session that had been held at the same location three times before. Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson said the funding was "reasonable, necessary and allowable" and that experts could not have planned the meeting effectively by telephone over two days. |
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011
21 Sept 2011
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