Vermont: Judge declares mistrial in cop shooting trial
RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — Rutland County prosecutors say they haven’t decided whether to seek a new trial against a man charged with trying to kill a Vermont State Police trooper during a shootout.
The Rutland Herald says a jury in the weeklong trial of 53-year-old John Walters of Proctor told a judge on Friday they couldn’t reach a verdict in his attempted murder trial.
So Vermont Superior Court Judge Thomas Zonay declared a mistrial.
Walters was shot and wounded on Nov. 19, 2008 when he exchanged gunshots with Sgt. Thomas Mozzer in Walters home.
Walters’ attorney argued Walters mental capacity was impaired by a combination of depression, alcohol and anti-anxiety medication, which caused him to mistake the uniformed trooper for an intruder.
California: Death row inmate, found dead at San Quentin
SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (AP) — A 70-year-old inmate on death row at California State Prison in San Quentin is dead after authorities say he committed suicide.
Lt. Sam Robinson says George Hatton Smithey used bed sheets to hang himself inside his cell.
Prison officials discovered Smithey’s body early Saturday.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says Smithey had been on death row since 1989 for the murder and attempted rape of Cheryl Anne Nesler during a 1988 armed robbery and burglary.
But Robinson says a Calaveras County Superior Court judge last week vacated Smithey’s death sentence and resentenced him to life in prison without parole.
Robinson says Smithey hadn’t been moved yet because the prison had not received the new sentencing documents.
North Carolina: Death penalty opponents cite lab concerns
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Supporters of a man on North Carolina’s death row want a new look at the case after revelations that the state’s top crime lab was plagued by overstated or falsely reported evidence.
On Monday, attorneys and four men freed from prison because of faulty evidence presented at their trials will urge a review of Melvin White’s death sentence. Two of the released inmates also were on death row.
White was sentenced to death in 1996 for the slayings of an elderly Craven County woman and her boyfriend. He’s always proclaimed his innocence.
The only forensic evidence linking him to the killings is the bullet-tracing work of a State Bureau of Investigation analyst who didn’t describe why he concluded the casings all came from the same gun.
White is one of 159 prisoners on North Carolina’s death row, of whom 151 have filed motions under the Racial Justice Act. The law allows death row inmates to use statistics and other evidence to prove racial bias resulted in the death sentences. They’re asking that their sentences be converted to life in prison without parole.
Meanwhile, two retired prosecutors will help district attorneys fight motions filed by death row prisoners under the act.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported Monday that retired Forsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith will help the 43 elected DAs in the state fight the motions, along with retired Wake County assistant DA Susan Spurlin.
They will work for the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys on the project.
The motions for the death row prisoners cite a study by Michigan State University showing that a defendant in North Carolina is 2.6 times more likely to be sentenced to death if at least one of the victims is white. The study also showed that out of the 159 people on death row, 31 had all-white juries and 38 had only one person of color on their jury.
Keith, who lobbied against the act while he was district attorney, said part of his job is collecting data that prosecutors can use in their response to the motions. The cases could involve aggravating factors that could explain the racial disparity, he said.
Money from the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts will be used to pay for the part-time positions of Keith, Spurlin and a third person who hasn’t been hired yet, said Peg Dorer, the director of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys. She said the money is coming out of the current budget and no new money is being allocated.
Oregon: Trial beginning in Islamic charity tax case
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The co-founder of the American branch of a defunct Islamic charity is going on trial on charges he tried to send $150,000 to Muslim revolutionaries in Chechnya.
Jury selection began Monday morning in U.S. District court in Eugene for Pete Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty.
Seda was a well-known figure in Ashland, where he had a tree trimming business and regularly spoke out on the peaceful side of Islam.
He left the country before being indicted, but returned three years ago to face the charges.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, tax fraud and failing to report $150,000 was being taken out of the country.
He contends that the money was intended for refugees, not fighters.
Maine: Man on trial for allegedly killing mother
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A 44-year-old man is going on trial for allegedly killing his 80-year-old mother in the home they shared in the central Maine town of Monmouth.
Kenneth McDonald’s murder trial gets under way Monday in Kennebec County Superior Court in Augusta. Jurors were selected last week.
Prosecutors say McDonald killed his mother, Janice McDonald, on Aug. 24, 2009. The medical examiner said she died of multiple sharp force and blunt trauma.
According to court documents, police found knives in the home that appeared to be covered with blood.
Arkansas: Judge denies murder conviction appeal
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — A Washington County Circuit judge has denied the post-conviction appeal of a man sentenced to die for the killings of two Fayetteville residents.
Judge William Storey on Friday rejected Gregory Christopher Decay’s argument that the Washington County Public Defender’s Office was ineffective in representing him.
Decay was convicted of capital murder in the April 3, 2007, shooting deaths of Kevin Jones and Kendall Rice.
Prosecuting Attorney John Threet says Decay can appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court. After that, he says the appeals move to the federal level.
Defense attorneys say Decay’s statements to police and his refusal to consider a plea bargain stymied their efforts to eliminate the death penalty as a punishment.
Prosecutors offered a plea bargain of life without parole.
