TCADP » State legal news http://tcadp.net Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:48:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Death Warrant — Vigil and Service of Remembrance http://tcadp.net/2011/11/14/death-warrant-vigil-and-service-of-remembranc/ http://tcadp.net/2011/11/14/death-warrant-vigil-and-service-of-remembranc/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:48:11 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/?p=337 Governor Rick Scott signed a death warrant for Oba Chandler.
We will hold a vigil in front of the Governor’s mansion on the day and time of the execution — Tuesday, November 15th at 4 p.m.
On the next day, Wednesday, November 16, at 12 noon there will be a Service of Remembrance for Mr. Chandler and the victims at the Rotunda of the Capitol.

Please join us.

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/11/14/death-warrant-vigil-and-service-of-remembranc/feed/ 0 The Death Penalty: Evolving Issues in Florida http://tcadp.net/2011/11/10/the-death-penalty-evolving-issues-in-florida/ http://tcadp.net/2011/11/10/the-death-penalty-evolving-issues-in-florida/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:04:02 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/?p=328 The Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights & the American Bar Association present:The Death Penalty: Evolving Issues in Florida

A two-hour forum that will include perspective and commentary from FSU President Emeritus, former Dean of the College of Law and former American Bar Association President Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte; former Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero; 2nd Judicial Circuit Judge Janet Ferris (retired); 18th Judicial Circuit Judge O.H. Eaton (retired) and former member of the ABA Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team; Harry Shorstein, former Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney and former member of the ABA Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team; Mike Minerva, CEO, Innocence Project of Florida, former 2nd Judicial Circuit Public Defender and former member of the ABA Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team; Stephen Hanlon, Chairman, The Constitution Project, and former Chairman of the ABA Steering Committee; Mark Olive, renowned capital case litigator; Chris Slobogin, law professor at Vanderbilt University and former chair of the ABA Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team, Les Garringer, executive director of the Florida Innocence Commission and former Monroe County Judge, and Frank Patterson, Dean, FSU College of Motion Picture Arts.

When: Monday, November 14th from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.

Where: FSU College of Law Rotunda, 425 W. Jefferson St. (across from the Leon County Civic Center)
*sponsored in cooperation with The Constitution Project
This special event is free and open to the public.

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/11/10/the-death-penalty-evolving-issues-in-florida/feed/ 0 Florida lawmaker proposes firing squads for death row inmates http://tcadp.net/2011/10/13/florida-lawmaker-proposes-firing-squads-for-death-row-inmates/ http://tcadp.net/2011/10/13/florida-lawmaker-proposes-firing-squads-for-death-row-inmates/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:39:31 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/?p=320 By Toluse Olorunnipa, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: TALLAHASSEE — At least one Florida lawmaker wants to test the limits of cruel and unusual punishment with what he calls a “lead cocktail.”
Rep. Brad Drake, a Republican from the Panhandle town of Eucheeanna, has filed legislation to introduce firing squads to Florida’s death row.
The idea, Drake said, grew out of a recent controversy surrounding the state’s new lethal injection practice. Last month, Manuel Valle was executed with a cocktail of drugs never before used in a Florida execution. The drug pentobarbital knocks inmates unconscious before a second drug paralyzes them and a third stops the heart.
Several activists and medical professionals, including pentobarbital’s maker, protested its use prior to Valle’s execution, arguing that the drug fails to adequately sedate inmates.
Drake said he was tired of all the talk about how to properly execute someone on death row, so he had an idea — get rid of lethal injection and let inmates choose between the electric chair or a firing squad.
He drafted the bill after overhearing lunchtime chatter at a Waffle House in support of execution by firing squad.
“I say let’s end the debate. We still have ‘Old Sparky.’ And if that doesn’t suit the criminal, then we will provide them a .45-caliber lead cocktail instead,” said Drake, a marketing executive who was first elected to the House in 2008.
Here’s how Drake, 36, put it in an interview with the Florida Current: “There shouldn’t be anything controversial about a .45-caliber bullet. If it were up to me, we would just throw them off the Sunshine Skyway bridge and be done with it.”
The bill would give a death row prisoner 30 days to opt for a firing squad execution after the Supreme Court affirms a death penalty sentence. If the inmate did not choose a firing squad, the inmate would be electrocuted. The prison warden would determine how many executioners would be on the firing squad.
Oklahoma is the only state where a death-by-bullet law remains on the books. Utah scrapped its firing squad provision in 2004, but a handful of death row inmates convicted before that time still face death by bullet because the bill was not retroactive.
The Florida proposal hasn’t gone over well with anti-death-penalty groups, who are using it as an opportunity to highlight their position against the state’s use of the death penalty.
“The act of killing a captive prisoner is inhumane, no matter how it’s carried out,” said Mark Elliot, executive director of Tampa-based Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Drake said he hopes his bill starts a new conversation about the death penalty.
“You’ve got to start somewhere. There’s been a lot of controversial issues that took years and years and years to pass,” he said. “I say let’s have this conversation.”

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/10/13/florida-lawmaker-proposes-firing-squads-for-death-row-inmates/feed/ 0 Valle Executed http://tcadp.net/2011/09/29/valle-executed/ http://tcadp.net/2011/09/29/valle-executed/#comments Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:19:31 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/?p=316 Important — from Mark Elliott of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty:
Valle Executed

“The struggle for justice doesn’t end with me. This struggle is for all the Troy Davises who came before me and all the ones who will come after me.” — Troy Davis

Friends,

After an afternoon of misinformation from the some media reports, it has been confirmed by the Governor’s office and the DOC that Manuel Valle was pronounced dead at 7:14 pm Eastern Time.

The 4:00 pm execution had been put on hold for almost 3 hours to await a U.S. Supreme Court decision on a stay. The stay was denied and the execution commenced. It is not yet confirmed that Manuel Valle was on the gurney with IV’s started during the entire wait.

There were a dozen execution vigils and protests around our state today. Thanks to every one of you who are working to end this madness in whatever way you can. Writing Letters to the Editor, calls, emails, letters and visits to your representatives, supporting FADP…are all needed. Working together we will see an end to executions in our time…for all time.

“Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!”

—Troy Anthony Davis, Oct. 9, 1968 – Sept. 21, 2011

Shine the light,

—Mark

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/09/29/valle-executed/feed/ 0 Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, files a bill to abolish the death penalty in Florida. http://tcadp.net/2011/09/24/rep-michelle-rehwinkel-vasilinda-d-tallahassee-files-a-bill-to-abolish-the-death-penalty-in-florida/ http://tcadp.net/2011/09/24/rep-michelle-rehwinkel-vasilinda-d-tallahassee-files-a-bill-to-abolish-the-death-penalty-in-florida/#comments Sat, 24 Sep 2011 13:44:40 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/?p=310 Less than a week before the state is scheduled to execute Manuel Valle, a Democratic House member has filed a bill to abolish the death penalty in Florida.

The measure (HB 4051), filed Thursday, would do away with the death penalty and instead sentence the state’s worst offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, said the state can save a lot of money without sacrificing public safety by doing away with the lengthy appellate process that is required in all death row cases.
The average death row inmate spends more than 12 years on death row. “If the issue is public safety, we can save money and put more law enforcement on the streets,” Vasilinda said Thursday. “it just seems that the money could be better spent.”
Last year, Vasilinda filed an identical bill, which died without being heard.

From the Florida Courier

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/09/24/rep-michelle-rehwinkel-vasilinda-d-tallahassee-files-a-bill-to-abolish-the-death-penalty-in-florida/feed/ 0 Manuel Valle’s petition -Broward Palm Beach New Times Blog http://tcadp.net/2011/09/22/valle/ http://tcadp.net/2011/09/22/valle/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:30:01 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/?p=303 South Florida-  Manuel Valle’s petition asking for a stay of execution was denied today by the Florida Supreme Court.

His scheduled date with death remains September 28, 2011, at 4 p.m.

Valle’s lawyers filed the petition late last week, claiming a Florida law prevented Valle’s attorneys from representing him in a civil action related to a denied clemency hearing.

Faced with claims that the Florida law was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled that the petition “points to no persuasive authority” that shows the section of the law violates the state constitution.

As you may remember, Valle, 61, has been given a date to die three times now since Gov. Rick Scott first signed a death warrant for Valle’s lethal injection to take place on August 2.

A federal court in Atlanta already put a stay on the execution — which was scheduled for September 6 — to listen to a claim about a possible clemency hearing, and that was denied, although Valle’s lawyers filed a petition on that ruling with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Before that, Valle was to be executed on August 2, but the Florida Supreme Court stayed his execution and remanded the case to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola, who oversaw a hearing on the use of the state’s new lethal-injection drug, pentobarbital.

Valle, convicted of killing a Coral Gables cop in 1978, has been locked up at the Florida State Prison in Raiford since May 16, 1978, and on death row for just over 30 years now since being sentenced to death on August 4, 1981.

The last execution in Florida was on February 16, 2010, for Martin Grossman, who was convicted in 1984 at age 19 of killing a state wildlife officer, and each of the three inmates executed by the state before Valle spent more than 23 years on death row, according to South Florida cop killer Manuel Valle’s petition asking for a stay of execution was denied today by the Florida Supreme Court.

His scheduled date with death remains September 28, 2011, at 4 p.m.

Valle’s lawyers filed the petition late last week, claiming a Florida law prevented Valle’s attorneys from representing him in a civil action related to a denied clemency hearing.

Faced with claims that the Florida law was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled that the petition “points to no persuasive authority” that shows the section of the law violates the state constitution.

As you may remember, Valle, 61, has been given a date to die three times now since Gov. Rick Scott first signed a death warrant for Valle’s lethal injection to take place on August 2.

A federal court in Atlanta already put a stay on the execution — which was scheduled for September 6 — to listen to a claim about a possible clemency hearing, and that was denied, although Valle’s lawyers filed a petition on that ruling with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Before that, Valle was to be executed on August 2, but the Florida Supreme Court stayed his execution and remanded the case to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jacqueline Hogan Scola, who oversaw a hearing on the use of the state’s new lethal-injection drug, pentobarbital.

Valle, convicted of killing a Coral Gables cop in 1978, has been locked up at the Florida State Prison in Raiford since May 16, 1978, and on death row for just over 30 years now since being sentenced to death on August 4, 1981.

The last execution in Florida was on February 16, 2010, for Martin Grossman, who was convicted in 1984 at age 19 of killing a state wildlife officer, and each of the three inmates executed by the state before Valle spent more than 23 years on death row, according to Florida Department of Corrections records.

Valle’s appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court is still pending.

Valle’s appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court is still pending.

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/09/22/valle/feed/ 0 Good and Bad news …. 5 items http://tcadp.net/2011/08/28/good-and-bad-news-pleas-read-the-whole-post/ http://tcadp.net/2011/08/28/good-and-bad-news-pleas-read-the-whole-post/#comments Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:48:41 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/2011/08/28/good-and-bad-news-pleas-read-the-whole-post/ Dear Friends,

On behalf of the board of Tallahassee Citizens Against the Death Penalty, I have some bad news and some good announcements – all for early September – 6, 7, and 11.

The Governor has set a new date for the killing of Manuel Valle. It is now scheduled for Tuesday, September 6 at 6 p.m.

Please attend the Vigil in front of the Governor’s mansion on September 6th at 6 p.m. This will be the first in the Scott administration.

On the following day, Wednesday, September 7th, we will gather at the Capitol Rotunda at 12 noon for a Memorial Service for Mr. Valle and for victim, Louis Pena.

———————
BILL DILLON – Exonerated through DNA in 2008

On Wednesday evening, September 7th you will have the opportunity to hear Bill Dillon perform at The Moon in Tallahassee.  Dillon was exonerated through DNA evidence after spending 27 ½ years in prison for a crime he did not commit.  He is a songwriter and recording artist and will be performing songs from his new CD, Black Robes & Lawyers, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.  Donations accepted. For more information: www.FloridaInnocence.org

—————————-

DALE S. RECINELLA

Sunday, September 11 at 2:00 pm – O’Brien Hall – St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral

Dale will share his amazing story from high-powered lawyer to Catholic Correctional Chaplain on Florida’s Death Row. Dale’s latest book describes his journey from growing up in the slums of Detroit to racing through “the good life” on Wall Street to finally walking the path of ministry on Death Row.  Dale is an outstanding and inspiring speaker and someone who has much to offer to the movement.

His most recent book, Now I Walk on Death Row will be available for purchase.

Co-sponsored by Pax Christi and TCADP

Note: St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral is on Tennessee & Woodward Avenue in Tallahassee.

Sheila Meehan
TCADP Board

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/08/28/good-and-bad-news-pleas-read-the-whole-post/feed/ 0 Florida’s Catholic bishops repeated their plea for Gov. Rick Scott …. http://tcadp.net/2011/08/24/florida%e2%80%99s-catholic-bishops-repeated-their-plea-for-gov-rick-scott/ http://tcadp.net/2011/08/24/florida%e2%80%99s-catholic-bishops-repeated-their-plea-for-gov-rick-scott/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:25:57 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/2011/08/24/florida%e2%80%99s-catholic-bishops-repeated-their-plea-for-gov-rick-scott/ Travis Pillow writes in the Florida Independent that Florida’s Catholic bishops repeated their plea for Gov. Rick Scott to call off the execution of Manuel Valle, the subject of Scott’s first death warrant.

Valle was convicted of the 1978 killing of a Coral Gables police officer, and first sentenced in 1981. He then waged a decades-long series of appeals, including most recently a challenge to Florida’s lethal injection drug mixture and procedures, which allowed him to delay his scheduled execution.

The Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday allowing the execution to proceed. It is scheduled for Sept. 1.

The bishops argue that a sentence of life without parole would be enough to ensure public safety, and that “human dignity – that of the convicted as well as our own – is best served by not resorting to this extreme and unnecessary punishment.” Their full announcement is below:

Tallahassee, FL – In an August 3, 2011 letter to Governor Rick Scott, the bishops of Florida urged the governor to stay the execution of Manuel Valle scheduled for September 1, 2011. Non-lethal means of punishment protect society and respect the life of all persons, even those who have done great harm. Text of the letter follows: #

Dear Governor Scott,

We renew our appeal to you to end the use of the death penalty in our state. We urge you to stay the execution of Manuel Valle scheduled for September 1, 2011.

We concede the right of the State to impose the death penalty when absolutely necessary, that is when it is otherwise impossible to defend society.  However, given the ability of Florida to protect its residents by incarcerating inmates for life without possibility of parole, we pray you will exercise that option.

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. Genesis 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 killing of Officer Louis Pena caused great suffering and pain for his family and friends, and we pray they were consoled as they mourned the loss of their loved one. We are hopeful that Officer Gary Spell and his family are healed from his traumatic experience as he came to the aid of his fellow officer. An execution re-opens the emotional wounds of victim’s families and does not bring back or honor their loved one. True peace can only be achieved by forgiveness.

Killing someone because they killed diminishes respect for life and promotes a culture of violence and vengeance. We affirm the right and duty of the State to assure public safety and punish the guilty by incarceration, which allows the inmate an opportunity for reflection on their offenses and sorrow for the pain they have caused others.

Governor, we ask you to stop state sanctioned killing by sparing the life of Manuel Valle, allowing him to serve out his sentence in prison for the rest of his natural life.

Respectfully in the Lord,

Most Reverend Thomas G. Wenski
Archdiocese of Miami

Most Revered Gerald M. Barbarito
Diocese of Palm Beach

Most Reverend Robert N. Lynch
Diocese of St. Petersburg

Most Reverend Frank J. Dewane
Diocese of Venice

Most Reverend John G. Noonan
Diocese of Orlando

Most Reverend Felipe J. Estévez
Diocese of St. Augustine

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/08/24/florida%e2%80%99s-catholic-bishops-repeated-their-plea-for-gov-rick-scott/feed/ 0 The saga of Manuel Valle http://tcadp.net/2011/07/27/the-saga-of-manuel-valle/ http://tcadp.net/2011/07/27/the-saga-of-manuel-valle/#comments Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:15:21 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/2011/07/27/the-saga-of-manuel-valle/ TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to lift a stay of execution ordered by the state’s highest court.
Bondi filed the request after the Florida Supreme Court on Monday ordered a month-long stay for Manuel Valle.
He was had been scheduled for execution Aug. 2 for killing a Coral Gables police officer 33 years ago.
The state justices, in a 4-3 ruling, ordered the stay so a trial judge can hold a fact-finding hearing on whether Valle would feel pain from a new drug Florida plans to use for lethal injection.
Bondi’s filing says that issue already has been decided in cases from other states.
Thomas can lift the stay, but death row cases usually are referred to the full court.

]]> http://tcadp.net/2011/07/27/the-saga-of-manuel-valle/feed/ 0 Florida Supreme Court overturned death sentences Thursday http://tcadp.net/2011/07/01/florida-supreme-court-overturned-death-sentences-thursday/ http://tcadp.net/2011/07/01/florida-supreme-court-overturned-death-sentences-thursday/#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:47:33 +0000 admin http://tcadp.net/2011/07/01/florida-supreme-court-overturned-death-sentences-thursday/

By Brent Kallestad
The Associated Press

The Florida Supreme Court overturned death sentences Thursday for convicted killers from Jacksonville and Zephyrhills.

The justices said Roy Ballard will live out his remaining days in prison for the 2006 murder of his stepdaughter, Autumn Traub of Lakeland. According to court records, authorities believed Ballard, now 70, wanted his 33-year-old stepdaughter out of the way to be able to continue a sexual relationship with her 14-year-old daughter. Traub’s body has never been found.

The state’s highest court also ruled that Kevin Scott should spend the rest of his life in a Florida prison for his role in a 2007 robbery. He was convicted of fatally shooting Kristo Binjaku in the face during a coin laundry robbery on Jacksonville’s south side on June 30, 2007.

While the first-degree murder convictions were upheld in each case, the justices ruled 5-2 that the death penalty was a disproportionate punishment. Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissented with the majority, affirming the death sentence in both cases.

“Planning in advance and executing a brutal murder for the purpose of continuing an inappropriate and incestuous relationship with the victim’s daughter … certainly qualifies as one of the most aggravated,” Polston wrote in his dissent in the Ballard decision.

Ballard is incarcerated at Union Correctional and Scott, 25, at Florida State Prison. Either or both could be moved to another facility after their reclassification or remain where they are, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said Thursday. She noted that 397 inmates, including three women, remain on Florida’s death row.

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