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Summaries Of Cases David Bruck,
Dick Burr & Kevin McNally
Federal Capital Cases in Which the Attorney General Withdrew a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty M.D. FL CR No. 91-301-CR-T (18) (A) Race: B A black Tampa, Florida drug distributor, for having allegedly ordered a murder in retaliation for the theft of drugs. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. In 1994, the government withdrew its notice of intention to seek the death penalty, and subsequently withdrew the 21 U.S.C. '848(e) homicide count as well. Trial began on the remaining (noncapital) counts and Mathis was convicted. This case had been authorized as a capital prosecution by Attorney General Barr in early 1992. Brown, Oliver; Green, William E.D. LA CR No. 92-468 Race: All B Two black New Orleans inner-city gang members, in connection with an allegedly drug- related murder. In 1992, the Government dropped its request for the death penalty in this case. The defendants subsequently entered pleas to conspiracy to murder and a weapons offense in January, 1993. Brown received a 10-year sentence; Green received 15 years. Carrington, Arleigh; Chatfield, Tony M.D. GA CR No. 92-82MAC-WDO Race: All B Two black crack cocaine dealers in Macon, Georgia, in connection with the murders of two other crack dealers. Attorney General Barr authorized this death prosecution in his last week in office. In 1993, the government dropped its request for the death penalty against these two defendants. Both 848(e) murder charges were also later withdrawn, and the defendants subsequently pleaded guilty to various narcotics-related charges. Hoyle, Mark; McCollough, John; Goldston, Anthony; Harris, Mario D. DC CR No. 92-CR-284-01 Race: All B Involves multiple killing. Four African-American D.C. residents who were charged with a total of eight murders as leaders of a District of Columbia drug gang known as the Newton Street Crew. This case involved a triple slaying in which the killers wrapped the victims' heads in duct tape before shooting them at close range. Despite authorization to seek the death penalty by Attorney General Barr in 1992, the government did not ultimately request the death penalty at trial. McCollough participated in five murders. Goldston founded the gang. Hoyle ran the gang. The defendants and victims were all African- Americans. Murray, Michael M.D. PA CR No. 92-200 Race: B A member of an African-American gang headed by one Jonathan Bradley, which involved the killing of a black Harrisburg drug dealer. DOJ declined to approve the U.S. Attorney's request to authorize the death penalty against Bradley, who allegedly ordered the killing, and against another participant in the shooting, Emmanuel S. Harrison. In 1994, after jury selection had already begun, Murray was permitted to plead guilty to a term of years, and the government withdrew its request for the death penalty. Judge Sylvia Rambo rejected the recommended less-than-life sentence and the case was reset for trial. In 1995, the Attorney General instructed the United States Attorney not to seek the death penalty on the eve of a capital trial scheduled to begin on the following Monday. Thomas, Vernon E.D. VA CR No. 3-92-CR- 68 Race: B The last of the four Richmond, Virginia defendants in the "Newtown gang case." The government dropped its request for the death penalty on the eve of Thomas' separate trial from the other three capital defendants, just before an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the death penalty should be barred because the defendant had mental retardation. Tidwell, Tyrone E.D. PA CR No. 94-353 Race: B A 35 year old African-American beauty salon owner who allegedly was a middle man between crack cocaine organizations in New York and Philadelphia. Tidwell solicited the killing of two black men in 1989 and 1991, one for selling crack on "his corner" and a second suspected of stealing drugs. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. In 1996, the Attorney General authorized the death penalty for the 1989 homicide. However, shortly before the defendant's trial, the U.S. Attorney requested that the death penalty be withdrawn, and the Attorney General approved the request. Wyrick, Kevin W.D. MO CR No. 94-00194-01 Race: W When the jury deadlocked on the punishment for the "boss" of a drug ring, Damon Moore, the government announced that it was withdrawing its request for the death penalty for Wyrick, the triggerman. Acosta, John Lefty D. NM CR No. 95-538-MV Race: H Involves multiple killings and murder in the aid of racketeering. The charges involve an L.A. gang, Sureno 13, moving crack and PCP from L.A. to Albuquerque. Among the seven murders connected to the gang one was of a high school student and another was a triple homicide. Five attempted murders were alleged, as well as a conspiracy to kill rival black drug dealers. Authorization was requested and granted by the Attorney General in 1996, for four of six defendants, but the government later withdrew its request for the death penalty as to one, after he was shown to be uninvolved in one of the two homicides originally charged against him. The remaining three entered guilty pleas: Mazzini received 25 years; Najar received 30 years; and De LaTorre received 22 years. DesAnges, Omar W.D. VA CR No. 95-00046RH Race: B The killing of an African-American, apparently a crack addict, who was a state's witness. The government withdrew its intention to seek the death penalty shortly before the scheduled April 1996 trial after the Attorney General declined to authorize the death penalty in an unrelated case in the Western District of Virginia, being prosecuted by the same Assistant United States Attorney. So the United States reached agreement with the defense on the drug distribution charges and agreed the homicide count would be tried as a non-capital case. Martin, Roy Ray; Mungia, Eli Trevino; Mungia, Ricky Rivera N.D. TX CR No. 5-95-CR- 0017-C (Cummings) Race: W, H, H (resp.) In the fall of 1994, three (one white, two Hispanic) young men randomly attacked blacks, killing one and seriously wounding two, in a racially motivated spree in Lubbock, Texas. Authorization was granted by Attorney General Reno in early October, 1995. The district court granted severance and the first defendant was scheduled for trial but the government withdrew the death penalty notice as to all three defendants who were then joined for trial and convicted. Peng, You Zhong E.D. NY CR No. 95 0870 Race: A Two foreign national Chinese gang members who kidnaped intrastate Chinese nationals living in the U.S. for ransom to be paid by relatives in China. One victim was raped and severely abused before being strangled after her family failed to pay the ransom demanded. Jia Wu and Fu Xin Chen pled guilty and received life sentences in 1996. Capital authorization against a third defendant, You Zhong Peng, was withdrawn by the Department of Justice just three days before his scheduled 1997 trial. Williams, Jerry D. MD CR No. WMN 97-0355 Race: B Involves multiple killings. Williams' co-defendant Anthony Jones faced death penalty for three murders, including an allegation that he ordered his step-brother killed from jail because he feared he was about to become a government witness. Williams was charged as the triggerman in a single homicide. Numerous other homicides were alleged in aggravation as to Jones. The cases were severed. Jones was convicted in 1998, and the jury recommended a life sentence. Thereafter, the government withdrew the request for the death penalty as to Williams, who was convicted and is serving a life sentence. Westmoreland, Guy; Lewis, DeAndre S.D. IL CR No. 98-30022- WDS Race: W, B (resp.) The murder of Debra Abeln in East St. Louis, Illinois, in front of her 12 year old son. Co-defendant Richard Abeln confessed to hiring Deandre Lewis, 23, through Westmoreland, to kill his wife. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Abeln faced the death penalty but pled guilty and received a life sentence. All involved are white, except Lewis, who is African-American. Marrero, Jose Rodriguez; Pena-Gonzalez, Nicholas D. PR CR No. 97-284 (JAF) Race: All H A large scale drug conspiracy and two 1996 killings by Valle-Lassalle and one by the others in 1996. The second was a witness elimination -- the government witness was cut up with a machete. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution against all four defendants. All involved are Hispanic. Locust, Jeremiah W.D. NC CR No. 2:98CR185 Race: NA The killing of 36 year old, white, National Park Service ranger for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1998 by a Native American who was intoxicated. Locust was threatening visitors to the park with a rifle. Kolodski and other park rangers responded. (Locust fired at another ranger's car smashing the windshield.) Kolodski was wearing a bullet proof vest but the single shot grazed his vest before entering his chest and wounding him fatally. The jury rejected a premeditation theory and the government withdrew its request for the death penalty. Perez, Luis Gines; Perez, Ricardo Melendez D. PR CR No. 98-164 (DRD) Race: All H Drug smuggling and a single homicide of a co-conspirator. The defendants are Hispanic, college educated businessmen. There was a joint plan to kill and Gines was alleged to have shot the victim on Melendez's boat and together they dumped the body. Authorization was withdrawn when a key government witness flunked a polygraph on whether he was the actual killer. Best, Jason N.D. IN CR No. 2:00CR171RL Race: B A 1999 drug trafficking 924 (c) and (j), gang murder. The murder was allegedly revenge for the robbery of drug trafficking proceeds from Best's girlfriend. Best was alleged to be a member of the "Bronx Boys" who was released from prison in 1998 after a two year sentence for cocaine sales. Best pled guilty with others in 1996 after stray shots into a house killed a 10 year old boy in his bed in 1993. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution but eventually allowed prosecutor's to dismiss the murder count after Best was given a life sentence after a separate trial in the drug case. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. All involved are African-American. McMillian, Christopher N.D. NY CR No. 3:00 CR-269-ALL Race: B Murder during a CCE, involving a drug rip off. Another drug dealer was beaten to death. His marijuana and cash were stolen. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution against three defendants, later withdrawing the notice of intent as to McMillian, who was found to be mentally retarded by both the defense and government experts. All involved are African-American.
Federal Capital Cases Resulting in a Sentence of Death E.D. VA CR No. 3-92-CR-68 Race: All B Three of four young black inner-city gang members in Richmond, Virginia, who were sentenced to death in 1993, for their roles in eleven crack-related murders. The trial of a fourth defendant, Vernon Thomas, was severed. Appeals by the three death-sentenced defendants were rejected. United States v. Tipton, 90 F.3d 861 (4th Cir. 1996). A petition for certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court in 1997, and a post-conviction petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 was filed in 1998. Hall, Orlando C. N.D. TX CR No. 4:94-CR-121-Y Race: All B The first approval of a death penalty prosecution under the 1994 Federal Death Penalty Act. Hall, and his co-defendant, Webster, both African-American, were charged in Fort Worth, Texas, with the abduction, sexual assault and beating murder of a 16-year-old black female whose older brother had allegedly stolen marijuana. In 1995, Hall was sentenced to death after the jury heard testimony from co-defendants who pled guilty and testified in return for leniency. Expert testimony suggested the victim was still alive when buried. After a separate trial, Bruce Webster was sentenced to death by a jury in 1996. Webster is the first case in which a federal defendant has been sentenced to death after attempting to establish his ineligibility for the death penalty by reason of mental retardation. Hall's appeal was denied by the Fifth Circuit in 1998, 152 F.3d 381, and certiorari was denied in 1999. Webster's appeal was also rejected in 1999. 162 F.3d 308. Post-conviction petition was denied. Webster, Bruce N.D. TX CR No. 4:94-CR-121 Race: All B The first approval of a death penalty prosecution under the 1994 Federal Death Penalty Act. Hall, and his co-defendant, Webster, both African-American, were charged in Fort Worth, Texas, with the abduction, sexual assault and beating murder of a 16-year-old black female whose older brother had allegedly stolen marijuana. In 1995, Hall was sentenced to death after the jury heard testimony from co-defendants who pled guilty and testified in return for leniency. Expert testimony suggested the victim was still alive when buried. After a separate trial, Bruce Webster was sentenced to death by a jury in 1996. Webster is the first case in which a federal defendant has been sentenced to death after attempting to establish his ineligibility for the death penalty by reason of mental retardation. Hall's appeal was denied by the Fifth Circuit in 1998, 152 F.3d 381, and certiorari was denied in 1999. Webster's appeal was also rejected in 1999. Cert. denied 528 U.S. 829. Post-conviction petitions are pending. Battle, Anthony N.D. GA CR No. 1:95 CR 528 Race: B A black prisoner with a history of psychiatric problems who was sentenced to death for the hammer-murder of an African-American guard in the Atlanta federal penitentiary. Mr. Battle was serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife when the killing occurred. In 1997 a federal jury rejected Mr. Battle's insanity defense and returned a death sentence after three hours' deliberation. Appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit was rejected in 1999. 173 F.3d 1433. A petition for writ of certiorari was denied. 529 U.S. 1022. A post-conviction petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ' 2255 was denied on April 30, 2003. 264 F. Supp. 2d 1088. Hammer, David Paul M.D. PA CR No. 4-96-CR-239 Race: W A strangulation murder of a federal prison inmate by his cellmate. The defendant and the victim are white. Mr. Hammer was serving a 1200+ year Oklahoma state sentence at the time of the homicide, but had been incarcerated in the federal penitentiary at Allenwood, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hammer abandoned his direct appeal. 226 F.3d 229 (3d Cir. 2000). An execution date was set for November 15, 2000, but was vacated when Mr. Hammer decided to file a post-conviction action. Johnson, Darryl Alamont N.D. IL CR No. 96 CR 379 Race: B Involves multiple killings and a "Gangster Disciple" drug conspiracy/racketeering/multiple murder case. Two homicides were charged, one of a government confidential informant. Co-defendant Quan Ray committed two murders on orders of Mr. Johnson. Four additional homicides were alleged in aggravation. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Ray was sentenced to life in prison at a separate trial. Johnson's jury recommended a sentence of death in 1997. An appeal to the Seventh Circuit was rejected in 2000. 223 F.3d 665. Certiorari was denied on October 1, 2001. 534 U.S. 829. Post-conviction relief was denied on March 12, 2003. 2003 WL 1193257. Paul, Jeffrey Williams W.D. AR CR No. 6:96CR60022 Race: W Paul is one of two white teenagers charged with the robbery-murder of an elderly white National Parks employee in Hot Springs National Park, a federal preserve within the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas. A Hot Springs federal jury unanimously imposed a life sentence on co-defendant Trinity Ingle on June 6, 1997. Paul's separate trial began on June 17, 1997, and ended with a death sentence on June 25, 1997. An appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit was rejected in 2000. 217 F.3d 989. Certiorari was denied on October 1, 2001. 534 U.S. 1156. All involved are white. Allen, Billie Jerome E.D. MO CR No. 4:97 CR 0141 ERW (TCM) Race: B Two black defendants charged with the fatal shooting of a white bank guard during a robbery. Attorney General Reno authorized the government to seek the death penalty on August 1, 1997. After separate trials, death sentences were returned on March 10, 1998 for Allen and April 3, 1998 for Holder. Appeals were rejected by the Eighth Circuit. 247 F.3d 741 (2001). The Supreme Court remanded in light of Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 953 Holder, Norris G. E.D. MO CR No. 4:97 CR 0141 ERW (TCM) Race: B Two black defendants charged with the fatal shooting of a white bank guard during a robbery. Attorney General Reno authorized the government to seek the death penalty on August 1, 1997. After separate trials, death sentences were returned on March 10, 1998 for Allen and April 3, 1998 for Holder. Appeals were rejected by the Eighth Circuit. 247 F.3d 741 (2001). Certiorari was denied. 124 S.Ct. 19. Barnette, Aquila Marcivicci W.D. NC CR No. 3:97CR23-P Race: B Multiple murder including a domestic killing. Barnette confessed to murdering a motorist during a Charlotte, North Carolina carjacking. He drove the victim's car to Roanoke, Virginia, where he killed his former girlfriend. Barnette has a long history of domestic abuse of the second victim. The defendant and the female victim are black; the carjacking victim was white. A Charlotte, North Carolina jury imposed the death penalty in 1998. Two years later the appeals court ordered a new sentencing trial. 211 F.3d 803 (4th Cir. 2000). Barnette was again sentenced to death in 2002. Gabrion, Marvin W.D. MI CR No. 1:99-CR-76 Race: W The disappearance of an alleged rape victim before Gabrion's trial, as well as the multiple disappearance of her 3 year old child and three men. The bound victim was found in a lake, part of federal land. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution in this 18 U.S.C. '1111 case. All involved are white. Lee, Daniel Louis E.D. AR CR No. LR-CR-97-243 Race: W Involves multiple killings - a RICO prosecution of an organization supposedly intent upon starting a revolution. The capital crime was the murder of a family of three (an Arkansas gun dealer, his wife and their 8 year old child) in the Fall of 1996. The defendants may have believed the gun dealer was an ATF informant. The victims were killed by duct-taping plastic bags over their heads, handcuffing the three and throwing them in a river. The defendants and the victims are white. Co-defendant Chevie Kehoe was charged in two additional murders as well. The defendants were also charged with bombing the Spokane, WA city hall. Kehoe, older, whom some considered more culpable, was first sentenced to life by the jury at a 1999 separate penalty hearing. At that point the United States Attorney attempted to withdraw the request for the death penalty. The Attorney General was unavailable, so the Deputy Attorney General declined the request. Lee was then sentenced to death. The next year the District Court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Lee. 89 F.Supp.2d 1017 (E.D. AR). That decision was reversed by the Eighth Circuit. 274 F.3d 485 (2001). Petition for cert. denied 537 U.S. 1000 (2002). Stitt, Richard E.D. VA CR No. 2:98CR47 Race: B Involves multiple killings - three homicides and other attempted homicides committed by co-defendants on Stitt's urging. Authorization to seek the death penalty was only granted by the Attorney General for Stitt. Four co-defendants did not face the death penalty. One of the shooters plead guilty to a life sentence. Stitt received a sentence of death in 1998 after a joint trial with three of the non-capital codefendants. He has a lenghty record of assaultive conduct. An appeal was rejected by the Fourth Circuit. 250 F.3d 878 (5/25/01). Certiorari was denied. 535 U.S. 1074 (2002). Ortiz, Arboleda W.D. MO CR No. 98- 00311-01/05-CR-W-2 Race: H Four foreign national Columbians charged in a drug related murder. The kingpin, Hinestroza, was never arrested and may have fled to Columbia. Hinestroza and his gang sold cocaine in the Kansas City area. The victim and his nephew (who sold cocaine for the gang) stole $240,000 from them. The defendants tied up, interrogated, duck taped and shot both victims. The nephew lived, escaped and identified the defendants. Sinisterra shot and killed one victim. Ortiz or Tello shot the surviving victim. Sinisterra and Ortiz were sentenced to death. The jury deadlocked on punishment for Tello, and he was sentenced to life in prison. The Eighth Circuit affirmed. 315 F.3d 873 (2002). Petition for cert. denied 124 S.Ct. 920 (2003). Sinisterra, German W.D. MO CR No. 98- 00311-01/05-CR-W-2 Race: H Four foreign national Columbians charged in a drug related murder. The kingpin, Hinestroza, was never arrested and may have fled to Columbia. Hinestroza and his gang sold cocaine in the Kansas City area. The victim and his nephew (who sold cocaine for the gang) stole $240,000 from them. The defendants tied up, interrogated, duck taped and shot both victims. The nephew lived, escaped and identified the defendants. Sinisterra shot and killed one victim. Ortiz or Tello shot the surviving victim. Sinisterra and Ortiz were sentenced to death. The jury deadlocked on punishment for Tello, and he was sentenced to life in prison. The Eighth Circuit denied relief. 315 F.3d 873 (2002). Petition for rehearing en banc denied 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 1863. Higgs, Dustin D. MD CR No. PJM-98- 0502 Race: B Involves multiple (two) killings - the January 1996 triple intrastate kidnapping/murder of three black females from D.C. on federal land. Haynes, 20, confessed that he fired the shots. He said Higgs, 26, gave him the gun and told him to do it after an argument with the women. The defendants are African-American and were involved in another shooting six weeks before. Haynes= jury deadlocked and he was sentenced to life in prison. Higgs was sentenced to death by an all male jury at a separate, subsequent trial. The government suggested a wintess killing motive at this trial and alleged Higgs plotter to kill a government witness and/or his family. He was already serving a 17 year sentence on a drug conviction. Appeal is pending in the Fourth Circuit. All involved are African-American. Vialva, Christopher Andre W.D. TX CR No. W99CR070 Race: B Vialva, 19, Bernard, 18, and two juveniles, all with alleged gang affiliations. These African-Americans were convicted of a 1999 ' IIII carjacking/double homicide and robbery of a young white church couple. The bodies of the victims were found in the trunk of their car just inside the Fort Hood boundary, with gunshot wounds to the face and head. The vehicle had been set on fire. Authorities believe Vialva shot the victims. The Fifth Circuit rejected appeals. 299 F.3d 467 (5th Cir. 2002). Rehearing en banc was denied. 299 F.3d 467. Certiorari was denied. 123 S.Ct. 2572 (2003). Bernard, Brandon W.D. TX CR No. W99CR070 Race: B Vialva, 19, Bernard, 18, and two juveniles, all with alleged gang affiliations. These African-Americans were convicted of a 1999 ' 1111 carjacking/double homicide and robbery of a young white church couple. The bodies of the victims were found in the trunk of their car just inside the Fort Hood boundary, with gunshot wounds to the face and head. The vehicle had been set on fire. Authorities believe Vialva shot the victims. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution for Bernard. The Fifth Circuit rejected appeals. 299 F.3d 467 (5th Cir. 2002). Rehearing en banc was denied. 299 F.3d 467. Certiorari was denied. 123 S.Ct. 2572 (2003). Nelson, Keith D. W.D. MO CR No. 99-CR-303-1 Race: W The intrastate1999 kidnapping and murder of a ten year old girl, in violation of 18 U.S.C. '1201. Both the defendant and the victim are white. The Eighth Circuit affirmed in 2003. 347 F.3d 701. Petition for rehearing en banc and panel denied. 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 26278. Jackson, Richard W.D. NC CR No. 00-CR-74 Race: All W A capital defendant in state court who pled guilty to second degree murder, intrastate kidnaping and rape of a 22 year old woman jogging Holloween morning in a Nation Forest. Jackson received a 25 - 31 years sentence in state court. He was charged in federal court after the North Carolina Supreme Court reversed his original death sentence and conviction, and suppressed his confession on Edwards grounds. Jackson was 31 years old. The victim was tied with duct tape to a tree on federal land in the Bend Creek Recreation Area off Blue Ridge Parkway, raped and shot one time. All involved are white. An appeal was rejected by the Fourth Circuit. 327 F.3d 273 (2003). Cert. denied 124 S.Ct. 566 (2003). Robinson, Julias Omar N.D. TX CR No. 00-CR-260 Race: All B A Fort Worth drug trafficking prosecution of the leaders of an Arlington-based drug ring responsible for multiple (three) murders. The first killing involved a 1998 shooting of an African-American, mistaken for the intended victim, in a car traveling on Cential Expressway. A second 1999 killing was of an Hispanic person, mistaken for the intended victim, his brother, who allegedly sold a fake kilo of cocaine to Robinson. Britt was the triggerman in the third 1999 killing of another drug dealer, a Mexican national, who had stolen 20 kilos from a Laredo drug kingpin. Robinson was following in another car. Britt and Robinson, African-American, both allegedly fired weapons in the first and second incidents. The Court set, then extended, a deadline for the approval of a capital prosecution. Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement involving a life sentence. Co-defendant Britt was sentenced to life in prison at a separate trial. Sampson, Gary D. MA CR No. 01-CR-10384-ALL Race: W A series of carjackings, two in Plymouth County, Massachussetts, and one in New Hampshire on July 23 and 24, 2001. The defendant confessed. He also confessed to five North Carolina bank robberies. Sampson was accused of carjacking and stabbing to death a 69 year old man and abducting and killing a 19 year old college student. Sampson called the FBI before the killings but the call was dropped and then covered up. All involved are white. Sampson pled guilty. Memorandum opinion and order 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1527 (2/4/2004). Purkey, Wesley Ira W.D. MO CR No. 01-CR-308-ALL Race: W The 1998 interstate kidnapping (from Missouri to Kansas), rape and murder of a 17 year old high school girl, whose body was then dismembered and burned. Purkey is serving a prison sentence for another killing. Previously, Purkey was paroled after 17 years for shooting a man. Both victim and defendant are white. Fields, Sherman Lamont W.D. TX CR No. 01-CR-164-ALL Race: B Fields escaped from jail, where he was being held on federal weapons charges with the aid of a deputy sheriff in November 2001 and killed his girlfriend with a gun. He received 12 years on the gun charge. He allegedly carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint. Fields represented himself during the guilt phase of the trial. All involved are black. Mitchell, Lezmond D. AZ CR No. 01-CR-1062-ALL Race: NA Murder on Navajo tribal land. All involved are Native American. The defendant and a juvenile got a ride from a woman and her 9 year old granddaughter, killed both and stole the car supposedly for use in an armed robbery. Each was stabbed at a separate location. In an attempt to hide the victim's identity, the hands and heads of the victims were removed. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution against Mitchell under a carjacking theory -- although the Indian tribe has not "opted in" to the death penalty. LeCroy, William Emmet N.D. GA CR No. 02-CR-38-ALL Race: W A carjacking murder. The victim, a nurse practitioner, came home where she was raped, stabbed to death in her bedroom. LeCroy took car keys from her purse and then stole her Ford Explorer. He was arrested two days later in Minnesota trying to enter Canada with the victim's SUV. All involved are white. Brown, Meier Jason S.D. GA CR No. 02-M-53-ALL Race: B The stabbing murder of a United States Postal Service employee during a robbery at a United States Post Office. Brown confessed and blood was found on his jacket and bike. The victim is white and the defendant is black. She was stabbed 10 times. There was a conditional plea agreement specifying a life sentence. Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement and required a capital trial. Bourgeois, Alfred S.D. TX CR No. 02-216-ALL Race: B A two year old child who died from "shaken baby syndrome". The baby was found unresponsive beside her father's tractor-trailer. Bourgeois and his wife told authorities the toddler had fallen out of the cab while they were making a delivery at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. The toddler had seven major hemorrhages - two behind her right ear, two above her right eye and three in the back of her skull. Bourgeois's wife and his 7-year-old daughter alleged Bourgeois had abused the toddler before. All involved are African-American
Federal Capital Cases Resulting in an Execution S.D. TX CR No. 93-009 Race: H An Hispanic marijuana distributor was sentenced to death by a jury in 1993 in Brownsville, Texas, in connection with the murders of three other drug traffickers in the Brownsville area, two Hispanic and one Anglo. Garza ordered two murders and killed a third person himself. The government introduced 5 unadjudicated murders in aggravation, 4 were in Mexico. All but one victim were males. Attorney General Barr authorized the prosecution to seek the death penalty in December, 1992. Mr. Garza's death sentence was affirmed. United States v. Flores, 63 F.3d 1342 (5th Cir. 1995), and a petition for writ of certiorari was denied by the Supreme Court in 1996. Habeas relief was denied in 1998-1999. Garza's first two execution dates in 2000 were postponed by President Clinton pending a Department of Justice study of racial and geographic disparities in the federal death penalty, the second time on December 7, 2000 for 6 months. He was executed on June 19, 2001. McVeigh, Timothy D. CO CR No. 96-CR-68-M Race: W The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in which 160 lost their lives, including 19 children. The President and Attorney General immediately announced that the death penalty would be sought, even before any suspects were identified. A Denver jury convicted McVeigh and voted to sentence him to death in 1997. Appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit was quickly denied in 1998, 153 F.3d 1166, as was a post-conviction petition. 118 F.Supp.2d 1137 (D. CO 2000). Thereafter, Mr. McVeigh decided to abandon further appeal. His execution was scheduled for May 16, 2001, was delayed by the Attorney General upon the discovery of over 6,000 pages of FBI reports not disclosed to the defense. He was executed on June 11, 2001. Jones, Louis N.D. TX CR No. 6-95-CR-0015-C Race: B A 46 year old African-American -- a retired 22-year decorated Persian Gulf veteran--was convicted of the cross-racial abduction murder of a young white female soldier. The victim's family traveled to Washington to seek DOJ approval of the death request. The trial occurred in Lubbock on change of venue, after thousands of San Angelo residents signed petitions calling for the death penalty. The defendant was sentenced to death in 1995, the Fifth Circuit affirmed in 1998, but the United States Supreme Court granted review to consider issues relating to the jury's sentencing instructions in this first case conducted under the 1994 Federal Death Penalty Act. The Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit's decision in 1999. 119 S.Ct. 2090. A post-conviction action has been filed and denied, as was a successor petition raising a Ring issue. President Bush denied clemency the same evening as announcing the second Gulf War. Jones was executed the next morning, March 18, 2003.
Federal Capital Cases Where the Death Penalty Has Been Rejected By Juries or Judges E.D. OK CR No. 1:92-032-S Race: W, H (resp.) Two white and one Hispanic defendants were tried jointly in connection with the drug- related intrastate kidnap/murder of a Muskogee, Oklahoma auto dealership employee. The two capitally-charged "managers" of the drug enterprise received life sentences from the jury. A wheelman, present on the scene, was sentenced to death, but that sentence was overturned on appeal. The victim was white. Cooper, Alex; Davis, Darnell Anthony N.D. IL CR No. 89-CR- 580 Race: All B Two black Chicago gang members received life sentences for the cocaine-related murder of an informant after separate trials. The Government had offered one defendant, but not the other, a plea bargain prior to trial. 19 F.3d 1154 (7th Cir. 1994). Pitera, Thomas E.D. NY CR No. 90-0424 (RR) Race: W Involves multiple killings. A white Mafia contract killer, the only person with mob connections to face the federal death penalty, received a life sentence from a Brooklyn, New York jury after being convicted of seven murders, two of which qualified as capital crimes under 21 U.S.C. § 848(e). Several of the murders involved torture and dismemberment of the victims. 5 F.3d 624 (2d Cir. 1993). Villarreal, Reynaldo Sambrano; Villarreal, Baldemar E.D. TX CR No. 9:91-CR4 Race: All H Two Hispanic defendants in Texas were sentenced to life imprisonment and 40 years, respectively, for the marijuana-related murder of a law enforcement officer after a joint trial. The sentencing jury found no facts legally warranting the death penalty. 963 F.2d 725 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 113 S.Ct. 353 (1992). A third Hispanic defendant, Jesus Zambrano, was also initially approved for capital prosecution but received a sentence of 30 years after he pleaded guilty and testified for the government against the Villarreals. Johnson, Shaheem; Johnson, Raheem E.D. VA CR No. 97-00314-A Race: All B Involves multiple killings - five killings of African-Americans, four males, one female, all cocaine-related murders, two in Virginia (a supplier/witness and his girlfriend with Raheem Johnson as the triggerman), one in Maryland (drug supplier with both Raheem and Shaheem firing weapons), one in Philadelphia (supplier/witness with Raheem Johnson as the triggerman) and another "murder for hire" in New York (drug supplier hit ordered by both Shaheem and Raheem Johnson). The two lead defendants, brothers Shaheem and Raheem Johnson, were authorized for a capital prosecution. Trial began in Alexandria in November, 1998 and ended in life verdicts for both brothers. Minerd, Joseph W.D. PA CR No. 99-215 Race: W A case, 1999 New Year's Day arson resulting in the death of the defendant's girlfriend, her three year old child by another man and her fetus, the defendant's child. The ATF believes there was a pipe bomb as there was a shard of metal found in the deceased's exhumed body. All involved are white. Attorney General Ashcroft approved a plea agreement but the defendant backed out of the deal. 176 F.Supp. 424. 182 F.Supp.2d 459. 197 F.Supp.2d 272. Henry, Arnold Mark; Oscar, Frantz; Oscar, Jean Claude E.D. VA CR No. 93-CR-131 Race: All B Involves multiple killings. Three blacks, two brothers born in Haiti, another man born in Grenada, were accused of two killings of an African-American man and a woman in related incidents where the victims were suspected of stealing crack cocaine. A Norfolk, Virginia jury refused, in March, 1994, to impose the death penalty upon any of the three capitally-charged defendants. Attorney General Reno authorized a capital prosecution in this case in 1993. Life sentences were affirmed on appeal. 82 F.3d 419 (4th Cir. 1996) (unpub.). Moore, Todd E.D. VA CR No. 2:93CR16 Race: B Involves multiple killings. A black New York-based crack cocaine distributor was spared in the first and (to date) only judge-sentencing procedure. Attorney General Reno approved the death penalty in this case in 1994. Moore pled guilty to an indictment charging him with having ordered the murder of a member of his Newport News, Virginia drug organization. The government waived a jury for sentencing, and a sentencing hearing was held before the district court. One month later, the district judge declined to impose the death penalty, and sentenced Moore to life without possibility of release. The sentence was affirmed on appeal, 81 F.3d 152 (4th Cir. 1996) (mem.). At the trial of the admitted triggerman in the murder, Derek Kelley, Moore offered to testify as a government witness. However, the government declined to use Moore as a witness, and Kelley was subsequently acquitted of all charges and released. Diaz, Walter; Walker, Tyrone N.D. NY CR No. 94-CR-328 Race: All B Involves multiple killings. Two African-Americans on a drug-related crime spree were approved for capital prosecution by Attorney General Reno in April 1995. The spree involved the alleged drug-related murder of a white victim by two African-American defendants. Two additional cross-racial homicides were alleged in aggravation, one during the course of a robbery in New York City, another of an elderly lawyer in upstate New York. Trial began in 1995 and sentences of life were returned after a vote of 11 to 1 for life for Diaz and 11 to 1 for death for Walker. Moore, Dennis B., Sr. W.D. MO CR No. 94-00194 Race: W Recruited his associate (Wyrick) to kill a rival drug marijuana dealer. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Both the defendants and the deceased are Caucasian. In 1996, the jury deadlocked on the punishment for Moore, resulting in a life sentence. Nguyen, Phouc H. D. KS CR No. 94-10129-01 Race: A The co-defendant of Chanthadara was also involved in a Hobbes Act robbery/murder. A Wichita, Kansas jury voted to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment in 1996, following his conviction for a murder committed during a commercial robbery. Mr. Chanthadara was previously sentenced to death by a different Wichita jury. Nichols, Terry Lynn D. CO CR No. 96-CR-68-M Race: W The co-defendant in the Oklahoma City bombing case. At a separate trial following McVeigh's, a Denver federal jury failed to reach a unanimous finding on Nichols' alleged intent to kill, a legal requirement for imposing the death penalty. The same jury's guilt phase verdicts indicated that the government had failed to prove that Nichols intended a lethal attack on the Murray Building. He was sentenced in 1998 to life imprisonment and faces the death penalty in state court. Beckford, Dean Anthony; Cazaco, Leonel; Dennis, Claude; Thomas, Richard E.D. VA CR No. 3:95CR00087 Race: All B Involves multiple killings. Another New York - Richmond cocaine connection was uncovered which involved members of a Brooklyn gang, all African- American, who transported crack cocaine to Richmond, Virginia. The 32-count indictment charged five of the alleged members of the so-called "Poison Clan" with capital murder in six killings, two in 1988 and four in 1994. (Devon Dale Beckford, 33, identified by the FBI as a gang leader was not arrested until July, 1997.) After a seven-week trial, a jury declined to impose the death penalty on all four defendants: Dean Beckford, 32, Leonel Romeo Cazaco, 22, Claude Gerald Dennis, 28 and Richard Thomas, 22. Dean Beckford and Claude Dennis were found guilty of the 1998 double murder. (Dennis had previously been acquitted on these charges in state court in 1989.) Cazaco and Thomas were also convicted of a capital charge. Thomas had been acquitted in state court on the one homicide count on which he was convicted in federal court. Ingle, Trinity Edward W.D. AR CR No. 6:96CR60022 Race: W Two white teenagers charged with the robbery-murder of an elderly retired National Parks employee who was found shot and bound with tape near a hiking path in Hot Springs National Park, a federal preserve within the city of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Ingle was convicted of the murder in 1997 after a 6-day trial; two days later a Hot Springs federal jury unanimously sentenced him to life imprisonment. Paul was sentenced to death following a separate, eight-day trial. All involved are white. Jones, Anthony D. MD CR No. WMN-96-0458 Race: B Involves multiple (six) killings: one in '94, four in '96, one in '97. Authorization was granted to seek the death penalty for three murders, including an allegation that Jones ordered his step-brother killed from jail because he feared he was about to become a government witness. Jones also ordered the murder, by the victim's own bodyguards, of a rival Baltimore drug dealer who had earlier attempted to arrange the murder of Mr. Jones. Numerous other homicides, attributed to Jones, were alleged in aggravation. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Jones was convicted in 1998, sentenced to life without release. Eight co-conspirators were involved in multiple murders but did not face the death penalty. Chapman, Hill and Ross were charged in at least 2 killings. Jones was sent to the "Control Unit" at "super-max," ADX in Florence, Colorado, where he is under severe communication restrictions for 10 years. Ray, Quan N.D. IL CR No. 96 CR 379 Race: B Involves multiple killings and a "Gangster Disciple" enforcer. In 1997, a Chicago jury declined to impose the death penalty after convicting Mr. Ray of having murdered a fellow gang drug trafficker on orders of a Gangsters Disciples' higher-up, Darryl Johnson. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. The jury found that no statutory aggravating factor had been established beyond a reasonable doubt, rejecting the government's allegation that the murder had been committed "after substantial planning and premeditation." Johnson was sentenced to death for the same and one additional murder. Bobbitt, LaFawn; Jones, Rashi E.D. VA CR No. 97 CR 129 Race: All B Two defendants were charged with the fatal shooting of an bank teller during an attempted robbery of a Nationsbank branch in Richmond, Virginia. Both defendants and the victim are African-American. A security guard was shot and blinded during the robbery, but survived. Trial began in 1998. The jury opted against the death penalty for both defendants. Holley, Marvin Lee N.D. AL CR No. 96-B-0208-NE Race: W The 1991 killing of an informant in a drug conspiracy prosecution who had been given a new identity and sent out of state. However, the government witness returned and was spotted at a flea market in Ft. Payne. The drug ring boss, Mr. Holley, and co-defendant Charles Holland are alleged to have kidnaped the victim and killed him with a hammer. Holley is also alleged to have attempted to arrange the killing of government witnesses from prison. Holley was sentenced to life in prison and is also serving several consecutive life sentences in state prison for drug trafficking. All involved are White Gonzales-Lauzan, Luis S.D. FL CR No. 02-CR-20572-ALL Race: H A murder-for-hire/informant killing case. Gonzales-Lauzan is charged with having arranged the murder of a government witness in a federal firearms case against his father. 18 U.S.C. '' 924(j), 1111, 1512 and 1513. He allegedly provided a gun and a silencer and waited in another car nearby. Wiggins, the triggerman, allegedly shot the victim at his home in order to work off a drug debt to Gonzales-Lauzan. Hernandez is charged with having helped set up the shooting. Wiggins entered into a plea agreement to testify against Gonzales-Lauzan, who will face the death penalty. All involved are Cuban/Americans. Kehoe, Chevy E.D. AR CR No. LR-CR-97-243 Race: W Involves multiple killings - the murder of a family of three (an Arkansas gun dealer, his wife and their 8 year old child) in the Fall of 1996 by white supremacists. Chevie Kehoe faced sentencing before the jury first and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Co-defendant Lee followed and was sentenced to death O'Driscoll, Michael M.D. PA CR No. 4:CR-01-277 Race: W The stabbing and killing of an inmate at USP - Allenwood in 1997. There were half a dozen correctional officers who witnessed the end of the stabbing. Both the defendant and victim are white. Dhinsa, Gurmeet Singh E.D. NY CR No. 97-672 (S-3) (ERK) Race: I Involves multiple killings - a wealthy Indian businessman alleged to head a racketeering enterprise which killed two. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Al-Owhali, Mohamed Rashed Daoud S.D. NY CR No. S6 98 CR 1023 Race: AR Alleged accomplices of Usama bin Ladin, purported to be the organizer of two bombings of American embassies in Africa. The August 7, 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people (11 in Tanzania), including 12 Americans, and more than 5,000 people injured. Al-'Owhali is a 21 year old Saudi citizen who was arrested in Nairobi after the Kenya bombing. They are alleged members of al Qaeda, an international terrorist organization, led by bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire, who issued various "fatwahs" against the United States. Bin Laden and 7 others are fugitives. Al-'Owhali allegedly was ordered to create a diversion for the Kenya bomb by throwing grenades. Mohamed allegedly rented the house where the Tanzania bomb was made. The 12 dead Americans included 4 blacks, 4 whites and 1 Asian. The other victims were mostly black Africans. Finley, James A W.D. NC CR No. 4:98CR243 Race: W Involves multiple killings - the murder of two campers at a national park by a young man with a history of drug abuse but no violence. The crime may have been a robbery\murder. All parties are white. Mitigation involved Finley's drug abuse and depression. The defendant was sentenced to life after an April 1999 trial Gilbert, Kristin D. MA CR No. 98-30044-MAP Race: W The killing of four patients at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the attempted killing of three others. Ms. Gilbert, 31, used epinephrine, a drug that can overstimulate the heart, on her patients. Federal prosecutors said Gilbert murdered one patient, a 41-year-old invalid, after asking a supervisor if she could "leave early if he died." All involved are Caucasian. The jury deadlocked and Gilbert was sentenced to life in prison. Tello, Plutarco W.D. MO CR No. 98- 00311-01/05-CR-W-2 Race: H Four Columbians charged in a drug related murder. The "kingpin", Hinestroza, was never arrested and may have fled to Columbia. Hinestroza and his gang sold cocaine in the Kansas City area. The victim and his nephew (who sold cocaine for the gang) stole $240,000 from them. The defendants tied up, interrogated, duck taped and shot both victims. The nephew lived, escaped and identified the defendants. Sinisterra shot and killed one victim. Ortiz or Tello shot the surviving victim. Sinisterra and Ortiz were sentenced to death. The jury deadlocked on punishment for Tello, and he was sentenced to life in prison. Bass, John E.D. MI CR No. 97-80235 Race: B Involves multiple killings and eleven death eligible defendants who were charged in a four victim (continuing criminal enterprise) Detroit drug/murder case under 21 U.S.C. '848(a)(1)(A). Of the eleven, only Bass was chosen to face a federal capital prosecution. All involved are African-American. A pretrial appeal involved the issue of discovery of Department of Justice charging practices in capital cases. In a per curiam opinion, the United States Supreme Court reversed the order granting discovery. United States v. Bass, 122 S.Ct. 2389 (2002). John Bass and his brother Patrick allegedly started a drug gang called the "Dog Pound" (because members owned many pit bulls), which sold crack in Michigan and Ohio. John Bass is charged with arranging two murders - of his brother and a rival. Edelin, Tommy D. DC CR No. 98-264 Race: B A drug conspiracy, racketeering, multiple murder CCE prosecution. Tommy Edelin faced the death penalty alone among many capital eligible defendants, including his father. Edelin, 30, was charged with ordering 14 murders and attempting to have another dozen killed during the 1990's, in his role as the so-called "drug kingpin" of the "1-5 Mob". Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. The gang was charged with the shooting of a D.C. police officer and in another incident in which three people were shot while attending a crowded neighborhood picnic. One victim was shot several times while returning from a prom with his girlfriend. Two teenagers were targeted by mistake on their way to a church Christmas Party. Edelin was acquitted of this double killing by co-defendant Bostick. Much of the violence stemmed from a turf battle with members of the "Stanton Terrace Crew," which is now essentially out of business after numerous members were killed or convicted of first-degree murder. Edelin was convicted of four murders, including paying a hit man to kill a 19 year old who alleged robbed an associated. 11 jurors deliberated 3 hours before voting for a life sentence. The capital charge was a conviction of murder for hire of a 14 year old who allegedly robbed an associate of Tommy Edelin. Edelin was born as a result of a brief sexual encounter to a convicted drug addict. He had an abusive, deprived, depraved childhood in a crime infested neighborhood. This was the first death penalty trial in the District of Columbia since the last execution in 1957. D.C. voters rejected the death penalty in 1992. Haynes, Willis D. MD CR No. PJM-98- 0502 Race: B Involves multiple (two) killings - the January 1996 triple intrastate kidnapping/murder of three black females from D.C. Haynes has confessed three time, blaming Higgs the first two. A third defendant, Victor Gloria, also has confessed and will plead guilty as an accessory after the fact. The AUSA says he will seek permission to argue for the death penalty for Haynes and Higgs. They were involved in another shooting six weeks before. All involved are African-American. Martinez, Mariano C.D. CA CR No. 99-84- AHM Race: H Involves defendants in one of three related multiple murder Mexican Mafia prosecutions. "Chuy" Martinez, 41, is a defendant in one indictment, and the target of a murder plot in another. There are a total of four murders charged and 13 conspiracies to commit murder charged. Three men, one a drug dealer and two innocent bystanders, were killed in a Monticello autobody shop. Martinez, head of a drug organization allegedly orchestrated the killing using a walkie-talkie. Max Torvisco, once Martinez's right hand man, worked a deal with the government. He admitted ordering 140 murders and planning to kill Martinez who had survived a 1997 assassination attempt. Wiretaps show Martinez ordering hits on numerous targets. Lyon, Billy Joe W.D. KY CR No. 4:99-CR-11-M Race: W Involves multiple killings - contract killing of men in Alabama and Kentucky. Lyon, 19, and co-defendant Charles Stewart, 54, were charged with conspiracy and murder for hire. Stewart and Richard Dorman, 62, were partners in an 18-month forged-check and fraud scheme, using the deceased's identity. Lyon and his deceased father, Stewart's nephew, were hired to murder James Norris in Kentucky. Norris was found under a bale of hay beaten to death in a barn behind his home. Lyon was also hired to kill James Nichols in Alabama, whose body was discovered in 1999 in a partially submerged van. Nichols' 85 year old mother was also in the van, but survived. Co-conspriator Dorman was kidnapped (interstate) and locked into the trunk of a car that was then run into the Green River in Henderson County. He survived to be charged as part of the conspiracy. The elder Lyon committed suicide to avoid apprehension. Stewart was arrested in the Spring of 2000 after appearing on "America's Most Wanted." Lyon faced the death penalty but was sentenced to life in prison after his jury was instructed that Stewart would not because the Attorney General took too long to file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty. A third bank fraud victim is missing and presumed dead. Lyon committed an unrelated fourth murder. All involved are white. Tatum, Kenneth A.; Smith, Daymon E.D. TX CR No. 2:99 CR 5 Race: All B Involves multiple killings - three young black defendants, members of the "Crips" gang, involved in a series of robberies and three killings in East Texas. Stephens, 21, Smith, 20, and Tatum, 20, faced the death penalty in both state and federal court. Smith was convicted of a botched 1999 bank robbery involving the fatal shooting of a 61 year old white female teller. A female bank manager was wounded. Tatum and Stephens kidnapped (intrastate) and robbed a used car dealership (a Hobbs Act count). The victim, a 63 year old retired minister was shot and killed. Tatum was also convicted of a 1998 slaying of a president of a bank. Stephens and Tatum abducted the 50 year old white male. Stephens died of a brain tumor before trial. Tatum and Smith received life sentences at separate trials after a change of venue. The victims were white. Garrett, Lemond S.D. GA CR No. 4-99-133 Race: B Two young death eligible defendants, ages 18 and 20, involved in a drug conspiracy, in which a long time federal informant was killed. Both defendants and the victim are African-American. The United States Attorney requested permission to seek the death penalty against Lamond. Savanah police arrested Lamond Garrett in March of 1999 for the shooting death of Joseph Smart, Sr., 52. DeLoach, the get-a-way driver, was convicted for killing his cousin outside a sports bar in December 1998, and sentenced to life in prison in state court. Joe Perry Garrett was not arrested until shortly before trial. He ordered the killing of the DEA informant who was wearing a bullet-proof vest when he was shot. The bullet pierced his side in an unprotected area. The Court set a deadline for the Attorney General's decision whether to seek the death penalty. The government failed to meet the Court's deadline as to Joe Perry and he did not face the death penalty. Mohamed, Khalfan Khamis S.D. NY CR No. S6 98 CR 1023 Race: AR Alleged foreign national accomplices of Usama bin Ladin, purported to be the organizer of two bombings of American embassies in Africa. The August 7, 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people, including 12 Americans. More than 5,000 people were injured. Al-'Owhali is a 21 year old Saudi citizen who was arrested in Nairobi after the bombing. All are alleged members of al-Qaida, an international terrorist organization, led by bin Laden, who issued various "fatwahs" against the United States. Al-'Owhali was ordered to create a diversion for the Kenya bomb by throwing grenades. Mohamed rented the house where the Tanzanian bomb was made. The 12 dead Americans included 4 blacks, 4 whites and 1 Asian. The other victims were mostly black Africans. The Kenya bomb killed 213 and the second bomb eleven. Wills, Christopher Andaryl E.D. VA CR No. 99-00396 Race: B A witness-elimination in Alexandria, Virginia. Wills, 33, an African American, lured the victim from suburban Virginia to Washington, D.C. by means of a phoney job advertisement. The victim disappeared and is presumed to have been murdered. The Afghan national victim had recently testified against Wills at a preliminary hearing on state burglary charges. Wills was permitted to represent himself. He filed a motion to dismiss and the Court ruled that Wills cannot be charged with the capital crime of interstate kidnapping leading to death because his victim crossed state lines voluntarily and alone. The 4th Circuit reversed. 2000 WL 1781402. The jury deadlocked and Wills was sentenced to life in prison. Wills, who has 5 other felony convictions, is also serving 14 years for an unrelated Baltimore carjacking. Sanders, Marcus S.D. AL CR No. 98-0056-CB Race: B The April 1999 murder of a witness in a federal drug prosecution two days before Sanders drug conspiracy trial. Sanders did not appear for trial. Sanders was alleged to the triggerman and was the only defendant authorized for a federal capital prosecution, but he was sentenced to life in prison at a separate trial. Denis, Jose S.D. FL CR No. 99-00714 CR (KING) Race: H One capital eligible 924(c) count - a homicide occurring during a 1996 drug rip-off at Hialech motel. Everyone involved is Hispanic. Denis was the alleged triggerman. He had no prior criminal record. The defendant was attending Florida State University at the time of his arrest. The victim was allegedly tortured prior to his death. The court set, then extended, a deadline. 246 F.Supp.2d 1250. Gray, Kevin; Moore, Rodney D. DC CR No. 1:00CR00157 Race: B Involves RICO multiple killings - a Southeast Washington, D.C., gang, alleged to be connected to approximately 40 slayings. The indictment charges 31 murders. Murder for hire was alleged as an aggravating circumstance. The leader, Kevin Gray, 28, is charged with carrying out the racketeering slayings of 10 people. Members of this heroin and marijuana conspiracy allegedly gunned down rivals and people they thought might testify against them, catching victims by surprise at a gas station, a beauty salon and on street corners, sometimes in broad daylight. Three of the victims were killed because they were viewed as potential witnesses. Another victim was shot by mistake. The 158 count indictment alleges 10 attempted murders. Gang members allegedly took outside contracts as hit men. Gray is charged in 22 murders. He and Moore are the only defendants to face the death penalty. The victims were Hispanic and African-American. Johnson, Coleman W.D. VA CR No. 3:00 CR 00026 Race: W one §844(ii) count for allegedly leaving a pipe bomb in 1997 which killed his ex-girlfriend, who was eight months pregnant, to avoid the child support that he would have to pay. DNA indicates he was the father of the child the victim was carrying. All involved are white. 136 F.Supp.2d 553 Ealy, Samuel Stephen W.D. VA CR No. 00-CR-104 Race: All W Another Petite policy case involving the April 1989 shotgun multiple murder of a family of three. Ealy avoided trial in state court in 1991 by a successful motion to suppress. A federal grand jury indicted Ealy and Church, charging them with two capital murders in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking enterprise and a third murder of a potential federal witnesses. They are charged with these killings while trying to rob one victim of $30,000 that he was holding for a drug ring. The victims were white. 2001 WL 686954, 855894, 1661706. 151 F.Supp.2d 715. 163 F.Supp.2d 633, 2002 WL 229700, 273317, 376880, 1205035. Waldon, Carl M.D. FL CR No. 3:00-CR-436-J25-TJC Race: B Involves a CCE-related murder. Sinclair was a narcotics detective and Waldon an uniformed patrol officer. Three drug dealers apparently implicated Sinclair in drug trafficking as part of a 5K1 deal. Waldon and Sinclair are charged with murder. Sinclair worked as a bank guard. He saw an Arab-American storeowner withdraw $50,000 from the bank. Sinclair tipped Waldon who detained the victim on a pretext traffic stop and tried to rob him. The victim was strangled in the police cruiser, near a school in broad daylight. Two others were present, including Kenneth McLoughlin, who participated and testified as a government witness. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution against only Waldon. The penalty phase was bifurcated and the jury deadlocked on whether the mental state threshold (intentional killing) or sole aggravating circumstance (pecuniary gain) was present. Haskell, Carl W.D. MO CR No. 00-CR-395 Race: All B Involves the sequel to the Peoples and Lightfoot trial in October of 1999, resulting in life sentences. The government's theory is that Peoples, on behalf of Lightfoot and himself, enlisted the services of hired killers, one of whom allegedly was Haskell, to do away with one Jovan Ross, a white male. Ross was Lightfoot's homosexual live-in lover. The pair lived in a house in KC. After a lover's quarrel, Ross informed on Lightfoot regarding robberies pulled by Lightfoot and Peoples in Nebraska and led police to a cache of blank certified checks stored in the crawl space under the Lightfoot/Ross home. Shortly after, Lightfoot was arrested, and while in jail received information about Ross' involvement. Not long after that, Ross ended up dead. Attorney General Ashcroft approved Haskell, the alleged triggerman, for a capital prosecution, but denied permission to seek the death penalty against co-defendant Barfield. Britt, L.J. N.D. TX CR No. 00-CR-260-ALL Race: B A Fort Worth drug trafficking prosecution of the leaders of an Arlington-based drug ring responsible for multiple (three) murders. The first killing involved a 1998 shooting of an African-American, mistaken for the intended victim, in a car traveling on Cential Expressway. A second 1999 killing was of an Hispanic person, also mistaken for the intended victim, his brother, who allegedly sold a fake kilo of cocaine to Robinson. Britt was the triggerman in the third 1999 killing of another drug dealer, a Mexican national, who had stolen 20 kilos from a Laredo drug kingpin. Robinson was following in another car. Britt and Robinson, African-American, both allegedly fired weapons in the first and second incidents. The Court set, then extended, a deadline for the approval of a capital prosecution. A plea agreement to a life sentence for co-defendant Robinson was rejected by the Attorney General. He was sentenced to death. The victims were Hispanic and African-American. Cooper, Billy D. S.D. MS CR No. 01-CR-8 Race: All B Involves carjacking and multiple killings of two black victims who were attempting to buy about $30,000 worth of cocaine and were ripped off and killed. Both African-American defendants confessed, blaming the other as the triggerperson. There was a post-mortem attempt to dismember (head and hands) and rebury the bodies. The Notice of Intent to Seek the Death penalty against Frye was dismissed as filed too late. Cooper's life sentence was affirmed. 2003 WL 21672845 (5th Cir.). Ostrander, Robert Norman; Ostrander, Michael Paul W.D. MI CR No. 01-M-59-ALL Race: W Slaying of a man found buried in a previously dug grave in the Manistee National Forest. The Ostrander brothers are charged with the August 2000 use of a firearm causing death during drug trafficking, involving marijuana and cocaine. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution. Davis, Johnny E.D. LA CR No. 2:01-CR-282-ALL Race: B involves multiple killings (four) - 924(c) 2001 gun murders by a drug gang pushing heroin in a New Orleans Housing project. The alleged kingpin, Richard Porter, was convicted of one murder and did not face the death penalty. The enforcer for the group, Johnny Davis, was convicted of four murders. All involved are African-American. The government sought the death penalty against only Davis. Haynes, Aaron W.D. TN CR No. 01-CR-20247-ALL Race: B Bank robbery resulting in the death of a black female employee of Union Planters Bank. A security guard was also shot in the face by Johnson, but survived. The defendants are African-American. Haynes was a shooter. The state and federal government both sought the death penalty against Haynes and Maxwell but not against Johnson who may be retarded. A federal jury sentenced Haynes to life imprisonment. After this verdict, Attorney General Ashcroft reversed his position and approved a plea agreement specifying a life sentence for Maxwell. 242 F.Supp.2d 540. 269 F.Supp.2d 970, 265 F.Supp.2d 914. Regan, Brian Patrick E.D. VA CR No. 01-CR-405-ALL Race: W A 20 year veteran of the Air Force who worked in the headquarters of the National Reconnaissance Office, charged with three counts of attempted espionage and one count of mishandling classified information. The government charged Regan of creating a "grave risk of death" to U.S. military pilots patrolling the no-fly zone over Iraq. Regan intended to sell Iraqi resident Saddam Hussein secret details about American satellites. Prosecutors said Regan apparently used a form letter to solicit money from at least two foreign countries. Investigators said Regan told Hussein in a letter, "If I am caught, I will be imprisoned for the rest of my life, if not executed for this deed." Two of the charges carried the death penalty. Matthews, Lavin; Tucker, Tebiah Shelah N.D. NY CR No. 3:00 CR-269-ALL Race: B Murder during a CCE, motivated by a drug rip off. Another drug dealer was beaten to death. His marijuana and cash were stolen. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution against three defendants, later withdrawing the notice of intent as to McMillian, who was found to be mentally retarded by both the defense and government experts. All involved are African-American Dixon, Emile E.D. NY CR No. 01-CR-389-ALL Race: B Dixon is one of the leaders of the inter-state "Patio Crew" gang, charged with taking part in a July 26, 2002 murder of a witness and another murder. A government informant, Robert Thompson, 30, was machine-gunned to death in his car, and his brother was wounded. A superceding indictment was filed charging a 1992 drug-related murder. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution overruling, press accounts indicate, his own review committee. Dixon is a foreign national, a Jamaican immigrant. The multiple victims were African-American.
Federal Capital Defandants Who Were Found Not Guilty of the Capital Charge or Were Innocent E.D. MI CR No. 92-81127 Race: B Involves multiple killings - an innocent gang member. After insisting for nearly two years he had murdered four people, including a child, the government dismissed capital murder charges against a Detroit man and began prosecuting a co-defendant for the same killing. The AUSA has claimed the gang was connected to "more than 50 murders." Crummie, Chedrick; Mack, Edward Alexander; Rozier, Kevin Denard S.D. FL CR No. 93-252-CR-UUB Race: All B Two drug-related murders committed in the course of a Miami narcotics trafficking operation. The three defendants faced the death penalty on one of the homicides. Attorney General Reno authorized a capital prosecution in early 1994; trial began on September 18,1995 and ended in an acquittal on the homicide counts on February 5, 1996. The government alleged that the defendants had intentionally shot an innocent female victim after the defendants kicked the door to her bedroom down while searching for a rival drug dealer who had ripped them off. This version, based on informant testimony, was contradicted by physical and eye-witness testimony. The defendants were convicted of non- capital drug trafficking charges. McKelton, Antonio E.D. MI CR No. 98-80348 Race: B A bank robbery in which an employee was killed while servicing an ATM machine. McKelton was serving a state sentence for the armed robbery of a jewelry store and was suspected in six other robberies at jewelry stores. McKelton's print was on the clip inside the gun. The black victim had fired one shot off as he dove to the ground. McKelton, also a black man, suffers from Hodgkin's disease. The defense and the prosecutor jointly petitioned the Attorney General's Committee to withdraw the death penalty request. The request was first denied but was eventually granted. The indictment was dismissed when additional evidence was uncovered. Alejandro, Joel Rivera; Martinez, Hector Acosta D. PR CR No. 99-044 (SEC) Race: H Intrastate kidnapping, killing and dismembering of a Rio Piedras businessman who may have been involved in the illegal numbers racket called "bolleta," after his family ignored a million dollar ransom demand and called the police. The accused allegedly belonged to a gang of kidnappers suspected in as many as 15 abductions. Alejandro was alleged to be the triggerman. Only Alejandro and Martinez were to face the death penalty, but the district court declared the death penalty unconstitutional in Puerto Rico. 106 F.Supp. 311 (D. PR 2000). However, this decision was reversed by the Circuit. 252 F.3d 13 (2002). Both capital defendants had prior local murder convictions. Both were acquitted at trial. All involved are Hispanic. Castillo, Mario; Jacobo, Gerardo C.D. CA CR No. 99-83-(A)-DT Race: H Involves multiple murder charges against two co-defendants of Mariano Martinez who were approved for a capital prosecution while Martinez was on trial. Jacobo, 21, and Castillo, 22, were charged as the triggermen in a November 1998 triple slaying, allegedly by the Mexican Mafia, La Eme (Spanish for The M). Three men, one a drug dealer and two innocent bystanders, were killed in a Monticello autobody shop. After three months of trial, the government withdrew its notice of intent to seek the death penalty after the Court threatened to bar the testimony of two witnesses negligently not discovered or disclosed before trial. 18 U.S.C. Section 3432. The witnesses testified but the jury acquitted both defendants. All involved are Hispanic. The trial lasted 6 months. Castillo and Jacobo were acquitted of murder. Church, Walter Lefight W.D. VA CR No. 00-CR-104-ALL Race: W The April 1989 shotgun multiple murder of a family of three. A federal grand jury indicted Gilmore, a former mayor and convicted cocaine kingpin, and co- defendants Ealy and Church, charging them with two capital murders in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking enterprise and a third murder of a potential federal witnesses. They are charged with these murders during an alleged robbery of $30,000 belonging to a drug ring. The murders occurred one week after Gilmore learned that federal investigators were aware of his ties to drug trafficking. Jones, Luke D. CT CR No. 00-CR-238-ALL Race: B Six murders in two indictments and other attempted murders by the members of gangs called "The Middle," "Q & A Mob" or the "Batman Crew." The gangs dealt in cocaine, crack or heroin. Powell, Harris and Baldwin were charged in multiple (two) racketeering murders in 1996 and 1997. 18 U.S.C. '' 1959 and 924(c). Luke Jones was charged in two murders in 1998 and 1999. The others were charged in one homicide. Luke and Lance Jones were found wearing bullet proof vest in a car in which several loaded weapons were found. Lance Jones is serving a 24 year federal prison term and Luke a 10-year sentence for being a felon in possession of a gun. All involved are African-American. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution against Luke Jones. The jury found Luke Jones not guilty of one murder and Judge Nevas granted a Rule 29 motion as to the other, finding that the second murder victim was not involved with a drug organization and did not pose a threat to Jones' drug enterprise, rather he was killed after a personal dispute. Rice, Darrell David W.D. VA CR No. 02-CR-26-ALL Race: W The multiple 1996 murders of two young female hikers in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park by cutting their throats. The victims were found bound and gagged. According to Attorney General Ashcroft, who announced pursuit of the death penalty himself, Rice has said he hates women and enjoys assaulting the vulnerable and that the two women deserved to die because they were lesbians. Review of tape recordings indicate Rice said only that the governement was portraying him that way. Rice is currently serving a 135 month sentence in federal prison for the 1997 attempted abduction of a female bicyclist in the park. Attorney General Ashcroft stated at a news conference: "We're inclined to prosecute hate crimes like this one, prosecute them to the fullest." All involved are white. Days before the October 2003 trial date the trial was postponed when the FBI "found a new hair" and also re-examined a hair linking Rice to the women and admitted there was no connection. The new hair did not come from Rice or the women. There is male DNA on both ligatures that did not come from Rice. Eventually, the prosecution was dismissed. Lentz, Jay E.D. VA CR No. 01-CR-150-ALL Race: W Interstate domestic violence and kidnapping resulting in death. The defendant lived in Virginia and his ex-wife was kidnapped from Maryland. Her body was never located. A bloody car was found in D. C. All involved are white. A government pretrial appeal involved statements by the defendant. 225 F.Supp.2d 672, aff'd, 2003 WL 253949 (4th Cir. (VA)). Lentz was convicted and the jury recommended a life sentence. However, the judge vacated the conviction for lack of any evidence of interstate kidnapping. A government appeal is pending. Gilmore, Charles Wesley W.D. VA CR No. 00-CR-104-ALL Race: W The April 1989 shotgun multiple murder of a family of three. A federal grand jury indicted Gilmore, a former mayor and convicted cocaine kingpin, and co- defendants Ealy and Church, charging them with two capital murders in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking enterprise and a third murder of a potential federal witnesses. They are charged with these murders during an alleged robbery of $30,000 belonging to a drug ring. The murders occurred one week after Gilmore learned that federal investigators were aware of his ties to drug trafficking
Federal Capital Defendants Convicted of a Lesser Offense E.D. VA CR No. 97-341-A Race: B The stabbing death of a Lorton Correctional Center prisoner. The defendant was serving a 20-life sentence for a murder he committed ten years previously, at age 17. Lorton is the District of Columbia prison complex, but is located in suburban Virginia. After a one-week 1998 trial, a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, rejected first-degree murder charges and convicted Smith of second-degree murder, which is not a death-eligible offense. Although a number of Lorton murders have been prosecuted in federal court since passage of the 1994 Crime Bill, the Smith case was the first approved for capital prosecution. Smith was sentenced as a "career offender" to life without parole. Thomas, Christopher E.D. VA CR No. 99-477-A Race: B Another murder at the District of Columbia Department of Corrections facility in Lorton. The victim allegedly brought a shank to the fight and the defendant wrestled it from him and stabbed him three times. Thomas was convicted of second degree murder. All involved are African-American. This was Thomas' third murder conviction.
Federal Capital Defendants Who Died Before or During Trial D. NJ CR No. 90-CR-238 Race: B A young black New Jersey gang member committed suicide during his federal capital trial. He had been charged with two cocaine-and marijuana-related murders, one involving a 15-year-old-girl. Brown, Terrance E.D. MI CR No. 92-81127 Race: B After a sealed indictment was handed down, an African-American man from Detroit was found murdered in Georgia, shot by other capital defendants, charged collectively with numerous homicides. Stephens, Charles Lee E.D. TX CR No. 2:99 CR 5 Race: B Three young black defendants, who are members of the "Crips" gang, were involved in a series of robberies and killings in East Texas. Stephens, 21, Smith, 20, and Tatum, 20, faced the death penalty in both state and federal court for a botched bank robbery. They were accused of a bank robbery and fatally shooting teller Betty Paddle, 61. A 54 year old bank manager, was also shot, but survived. They are also charged with a kidnapping/robbery of a used car dealership (a Hobbs Act count) in which the victim was killed with a gun (a 924(j) count). The victim was a 63 year old retired minister. Stephens and Tatum were charged with another bank robbery in which a teller was killed. Tatum is charged in a November 4, 1998 slaying of Ronnie Dale Ritch, president of the First State Bank in Overton. Stephens and Tatum abducted Ritch, 50. Stephens had a brain tumor and died after surgery. The USA requested permission to seek the death penalty against all three, and was permitted to do so. All three deceased victims were white.
Federal Capital Prosecutions Awaiting Trial D. MD CR No. 96-96-2273 Race: B A Baltimore drug dealer alleged to have arranged for the contract killing of a police informant who had implicated him in a prior dug-related murder. A female bystander was also killed accidentally during the shooting. The death penalty was authorized only for the murder of the witness/informant. The actual gunman is co-operating with the government and does not face the death penalty for either of the killings. The government also declined to seek the death penalty against the other perpetrator present at the scene of the killing. All defendants and both victims are African-American. Attorney General Reno authorized the death penalty against Ferebe in April, 1998, and the trial was postponed pending Ferebe's appeal since he is already serving a federal life-without-parole sentence for the initial murder. Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement involving a life sentence. Green, Roy C.D. CA CR No. 98-337-CBM Race: B A prison murder at Lompoc FCI in California. Green, 40, an African-American, was indicted for the stabbing death of a 29-year-old white correctional officer in 1997. He is also charged with using the knife to assault four other officers who were wounded in the attack. Green was serving a 20-year sentence for drug possession in a Missouri case when he was sentenced to serve additional time for assaulting two officers at a Wisconsin prison. Green has convictions dating back to the 1970's for attempted murder, robbery, burglary and assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. He was found incompetent for a period of time. Peoples, Cornelius W.D. MO CR No. 98- 00149-02-CR-W-6 Race: B The murder of a federal government witness. Peoples, 24, conspired with co-defendant Lightfoot to prevent the victim from testifying at Lightfoot's federal trial on charges of bank robbery. Lightfoot contracted the killing of his roommate for becoming a government witness. The victim, 33, was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in his home in Kansas City. He contacted government witness, Anthony Hunter, who contacted Barfield who hired Haskell, the triggerman. Barfeeld did not face the death penalty and was acquitted. Haskell was sentenced to life in prison. All defendants are black. The victim is white. After Lightfoot was sentenced to life in prison, the government withdrew its request for the death penalty for Peoples. The Eighth Circuit reversed the convictions and the government is again seeking the death penalty. 250 F.3d 360 (2001). An appeal is pending. Lightfoot, Xavier Lamar W.D. MO CR No. 98- 00149-02-CR-W-6 Race: B The murder of a federal witness. Co-defendant Peoples, 24, conspired with Lightfoot to prevent the victim from testifying at Lightfoot's federal trial on charges of bank robbery. The victim, 33, was Lightfoot's roommate and was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in their rental home in Kansas City. Peoples supposedly acted as a go-between (along with co-defendant Barfield) with the professional hit man (Haskell) who committed the murder which Lightfoot arranged from federal prison. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. All defendants are black. The victim is white. After Lightfoot was sentenced to life in prison, the government withdrew its request for the death penalty for Peoples. The Eighth Circuit reversed the convictions and the government is again seeking the death penalty. 250 F.3d 360 (2001). An appeal is pending. Shakir, Jamal; Payne, Eben; Young, Donnell M.D. TN CR No. 3:98-00038 (NIXON) Race: B A gang called the "Rollin" 90s Crips or Bangside 90s faction out of Los Angeles which allegedly moved 150 kilos of crack to Las Vegas. From there sales operations were allegedly set up in Oklahoma City and Nashville. The group has also been called the "Shakir Enterprise." A Crips gang member and his wife were killed in Oklahoma City, and their 3 year old daughter, who was also shot, stayed with her dead parents and slept with them at night for several days. Richard Chambers, 59, was shot to death in Cheatham County, Tennessee. There may have been up to 13 killings in three states. Three victims were themselves charged with murder in the indictment. The indictment charges Shakir, 25, with six killings from 1995-97, Payne, 20, with participating in two killings and in the shooting of the gang associate's 3-year-old-girl, and Young, 24, with helping kill one person and assaulting and torturing two others. Four of the killings were said to be to silence potential witnesses, other slayings were allegedly motivated by revenge. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. McIntosh, Richard; Knorr, Carl; Sahakian, David Michael S.D. IL CR No. 99-40044 Race: W Three inmates at Marion alleged to be members of the Aryan Brotherhood. They are white and the victim black. Allegedly, Knorr held the victim while McIntosh stabbed him, on Sahakian's orders. Sahakian is allegedly one of three Aryan Brotherhood commissioners, the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood at Marion. The government claims the stabbing stems from an Aryan Brotherhood "war" with blacks from the District of Columbia transferred throughout the BOP from the District of Columbia facility at Lorton, Virginia. Hyles, Tyrese E.D. MO CR No. 01-CR-73-ALL Race: B A witness killing §1512 murder for hire involving interstate travel from Tennessee to Missouri. Hyles faced state drug charges. The victim was murdered after his preliminary hearing testimony. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution. Garcia, Rico N.D. CA CR No. 00-CR-20018-ALL Race: H Involves multiple (five) Nuestra Familia murders including the 1998 RICO murder of another gang member in a war for control of the "Salinas regiment" of the Neustra Familia, a Latino prison gang. Garcia, 35, is charged as the triggerman in this killing. Two others were allegedly with him. This is another "Petite Policy" case as Garcia was originally charged in state court and plead to other charges for a 22 year sentence in exchange for the state dropping the homicide. The prosecution involves shootings, assaults, robberies and drug dealing. Ramirez is charged in two killings, Garcia was charged in three, now two, and the other defendants one each. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution for Garcia. All involved are Hispanic. Quinones, Alan; Rodriguez, Diego S.D. NY CR No. 00 CR 0761 (JSR) Race: H murder of a New York Police Department informant, who was allegedly beaten or tortured. The victim, a drug dealer, had recently arranged two controlled buys from Quinones. Quinones is alleged to be the boss. Co-defendant Rodriguez allegedly participated in the killing. The victim's body was burned post-mortem. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement and required a capital prosecution. A district court decision that the death penalty was unconstitutional due to the execution of innocents was reversed on appeal. United States v. Quinones, 313 F.3d 49 (2nd Cir. 2002). All involved are Hispanic Johnson, Angela; Honken, Dustin N.D. IA CR No. 00 CR 3034 MWB Race: W Five counts of murder in 1993 - a potential witness, his girlfriend and two daughters, in a drug conspiracy case. The fifth victim is Angela Johnson's former boyfriend, who disappeared in November of 1993. All involved are white. Williams, Michael; Williams, Xavier; Williams, Elijah Bobby S.D. NY CR No. 00-CR-1008 Race: B Involves a multiple murder during a narcotics conspiracy. Three black men were killed in 1996. The defendants are also black. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution. Fell, Donald D. VT 00-M-66-ALL Race: All W Multiple (three) murders, a carjacking and an interstate kidnapping. The defendants were with Fell's mother and a male friend when an argument erupted. The victim's throat was slashed by Fell and Fell's mother stabbed to death by Lee, the co-defendant. The two then carjacked a middle-aged woman at a supermarket. Crossing into New York, they told her to get out and she attempted to run into the woods. They followed her and allegedly killed her by kicking her. The defendants both made incriminating statements. All involved are Caucasian. Lee died in jail from asphyxiation, ruled an accident, but probably a suicide. Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement and required a capital prosecution, stipulating life in prison. The Attorney General also rejected a bench trial. The court declared the FDPA unconstitutional. 217 F.Supp.2d 469 (2002). That decision is on appeal. Sablan, William; Sablan, Rudy D. CO CR No. 00-CR-531-ALL Race: A Inmate killing - evisceration stabbing of cellmate (in their cell). William Sablan allegedly confessed, on videotape, and said that he was defending himself. The letter "S" was written on the cell wall in the victim's blood. The USA requested permission to seek the death penalty and on her last day in office, Attorney General Janet Reno agreed. The defendants are Pacific Islanders, "Chmorran", from Saipan. The victim is Hispanic. The defendants, cousins, were doing federal time for a hostage-taking in Guam. Attorney General Janet Reno agreed to a capital prosecution on her last day in office. Taylor, Styles; Thomas, Keoin N.D. IN CR No. 2:01 CR 073 JM Race: B A robbery of a gun store and the killing of the proprietor. The defendants are African-American and the victim was white. Taylor was on parole. He has a juvenile record involving the robbery and shooting of a pizza delivery man. Lien, David N.D. CA CR No. 01-CR-20071-ALL Race: A Fugitive co-defendant Chang was married to a bomb victim's sister. There were domestic problems and a divorce. Lien was allegedly sent to the victim's home with a bomb inside a toy mechanical dog. The victim later purchases batteries, put them in the toy, which blew up, killing him. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution Agofsky, Shannon Wayne E.D. TX CR No. 1:03-CR 173 Race: W Agofsky, along with his brother, was serving a life sentence for the 1992 abduction and murder of a president of a bank. Agofsky took him to the bank and forced him to open the vault and then killed him. Agofsky is now accused of beating, kicking and stomping to death a fellow inmate at a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas. The victim was serving a term for arson and firearms. The government alleges this was a premeditated "gang" hit. All involved are white. This is the fourth murder at Beaumont since March 1997. Jones, Milton; Canty, Raymond; Mitchell, Eugene E.D. MI CR No. 01-80571 Race: B Involves a gang called the "Young Boys Inc.". Milton Jones, the alleged kingpin, is charged along with 13 others, including state representative Keith Stallworth. Three defendants face the death penalty. Jones is charged with multiple (two) murders in 1998. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. One victim was a suspected government informant. Stallworth is charged with laundering money. Canty and Mitchell are charged with killing another in '97. Canty is charged in two murders. All involved are African-American. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution. McClure, Cornell Winfrei D. MD CR No. 01-CR-367-ALL Race: B Shooting of a white woman at a secluded location on federal land. The victim was shot repeatedly with two different types of ammunition. There are signed confessions by both defendants. Millegan confessed that he committed the murder, along with McClure, both shooting the victim with their weapons. McClure wrote that he told Millegan they should "press her" about the robbery. The deceased was taken to a road on federal land in Beltsville, where both allegedly shot her. The defendants are black. The alleged motive was a belief that the victim had some involvement in the burglary of Millegan's apartment. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution Williams, Tyrone S.D. TX CR No. 03-CR-221-ALL Race: B An alien operation that led to mulitple (nineteen) immigrants' deaths in the back of a truck trailer driven by Williams. Joya is alleged to the leader of this smuggling ring. She was extradited from Guatemala. She is also accused of coordinating 3 smaller operations, gathering illegal immigrants together in South Texas, arranging them to be fed and housed and then placing them on trucks headed north. All involved are Latino, except Williams, who is black. Williams is the only one of the 17 defendants who will face the death penalty. Rudolph, Eric Robert N.D. AL CR No. 00-CR-422-ALL Race: W 1998 Southside bombing of a Birmingham abortion clinic, resulting in the death of an off-duty white police officer and injury to a white clinic nurse. Rudolph, who is white, was described by Attorney General Ashcroft as "America's most notorious fugitive." Rudolph is also charged with three bombings in Atlanta: the 1996 Olympic park bombing that killed a black woman and two other bombings in 1997. He was captured after a 5 year manhunt. Moussaoui, Zacarias E.D. VA CR No. 01-CR-455-ALL Race: B An alleged foreign national co-conspirator in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon which killed over 3,000 and resulted in four airline crashes in New York, Pennsyvlania and Washington, D.C. Moussaoui is French of Moroccan descent and is accused as a member of al-Qaida. He was in jail on September 11 after suspicious actions at a Minnesota flight school. There were victims of many nationalities and races. Cannon, Amesheo D. E.D. MO CR No. S1-1:01CR00073RWS Race: B A witness killing §1512 murder for hire involving interstate travel from Tennessee to Missouri. Hyles faced state drug charges. The victim, Coy L. Smith, Sr., was murdered after his preliminary hearing testimony. Cannon allegedly murdered the victim by shooting him in his bed. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution. Perez, Wilfredo; Gonzalez, Fausto D. CT CR No. 02-CR-7-ALL Race: H A drug gang, "the Perez Organization" at war with "the Savage Nomads" in Hartford, Connecticut over a turf dispute and a drug and money kidnapping and robbery. Gonzalez was the alleged triggerman in this murder for hire. The government claims that Gonzalez is a hired contract killer responsible for multiple (9) other murders. All involved are Hispanic. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution. Mikos, Ronald N.D. IL CR No. 02 CR 137 Race: W Involves the §1512 murder of a government witness to prevent her testimony before the grand jury. Mikos, a podiatrist, and another are accused in many counts of defrauding Medicare, HCFA and HHS. When the victim was served with a federal grand jury subpoena for her testimony regarding treatment/non-treatment by Mikos, he allegedly tried to persuade the victim to lie to the grand jury either by claiming lack of memory or stating that the surgery had been performed. When she refused he allegedly shot her. All involved are white Fulks, Chadrick; Basham, Branden D. SC No. 02-M-992-ALL Race: W A November 14, 2002 carjacking and interstate kidnapping from a WalMart parking lot of a woman who remains missing. Witnesses saw her with the defendants later that day in North Carolina. The defendants escaped November 4 from a Kentucky jail. Basham was arrested November 17, 2002 after allegedly trying to hijack a car at an Ashland, Kentucky mall. He has been charged with attempted murder and robbery. Fulks was arrested November 20, in Goshen, Indiana. The defendants are also suspected of kidnapping a Kentucky man and leaving him tied to a tree in Evansville, Indiana. Basham has told the FBI that he and Fulks abducted another victim, on November 11, 2003, a 19-year-old West Virginia college student, whose car was found burned in West Virginia. A separate federal capital indictment is pending in that state. All involved are white. Green, Darryl; Morris, Branden D. MA CR No. 02-CR-10301-ALL Race: B Two members of the Esmond Street Crew charged with the RICO shooting death of a gang rival ("Franklin Hill Giants") during the Caribbean Carnival in 2001. Key witnesses against them will be four members of the gang who have cut deals with federal prosecutors. Prosecutors allege four other shootings. Family members of the defendants claim the shooting was over a girl and not drugs. The grandmother of the victim and the state prosecutor criticized the decision to seek the death penalty. Both grew up in a violent neighborhood and Morris was shot when he was 16. An innocent bystander was spared when a bullet hit his rearview mirror. Skiba, Lawrence W.D. PA 01-CR-291-ALL Race: W An interstate mail fraud murder for hire, allegedly by uncharged hitman Eugene DeLuca, in 2000. Skiba and his brother-in-law, Shane Simeral, allegedly took out insurance policies on the victim in 1997. The United States alleges that Skiba was involved in two other suspicious deaths: a fatal fire at a hotel he owned in 1993 to collect insurance money and a 1998 suicide by a mentally challenged man after Skiba allegedly gave him a gun. Also alleged is an unsuccessful attempt to kill a man in 2000, three days before his death to collect on a $15,000 life insurance policy. All involved are white Corley, Odell N.D. IN CR No. 02-CR-116-ALL Race: B Five people, three African-American males, one African-American female and one white woman (the pregnant girlfriend of Johnson), rob a bank and shoot to death a white female teller, wounding a white male security guard and another male teller. Corley allegedly was the ring leader who burst into the bank shooting. Johnson was also a gunman. McGregor was a driver. Gay and Ramsey were some distance away. Foster, Aaron Demarco; Moses, Keon; Taylor, Michael Lafayette D. MD CR No. 02-CR-410-ALL Race: B Leaders of one of West Baltimore's most violent drug gangs, the Lexington Terrace Boys, who are charged in multiple (six) killings, including one potential government witness who was killed to prevent him from testifying about an earlier double homicide of two members of a rival gang, the Stricker Street group. Since 1999 the gang operated from the Lexington Terrace and Edgar Allan Poe Homes public housing projects. Foster was acquitted of attempted murder in state court in 1998. Taylor and Moses are charged together in the double homicide and in a witness killing. There was also an attempted kidnapping of another potential witness to the 2001 killings. The latest victim is the third brother of one family to die on the streets of Baltimore. Investigators claim the group is in some way connected to 40 homicides. Recently, a critical witness in the case was shot 10 times and killed. He had been shot at twice recently. All involved are African-American Cisneros, Luis; Cisneros, Felipe N.; Eppinger, Paul E.; Rivera, Angel R. D. AZ CR No. 03-CR-730-ALL Race: All H Multiple (three) RICO murders by a prison and drug gang, "the Cisneros Organization." Luis Cisneros and Alvarado are charged in all three murders, the others in two. A father and son were allegedly murdered six months apart by this Hispanic gang. The father was a suspected government withness/informant. 18 U. S. C. §924 and 1512. Numerous other murders, some of potential witnesses, are alleged as FRE 404(b) evidence. The least culpable were apparently Llamas and Alvarado, who will not face the death penalty. The prosecution was moved from New Mexico to Arizona after an alleged courthouse security leak. All involved are Hispanic Nelson, Brian E.D. LA CR No. 02-CR-304-ALL Race: B September 2002 killing of a New Orleans man and the carjacking of his wife. The United States Attorney said: "If we're given the green light, we will seek the death penalty." However, the defendants entered into plea agreements with the United States Attorney. The defendants are black and the victims a young white married couple. The defendants had been mistakenly released by state authorities after allegedly being involved in a rape and robbery spree. Dawson and Franklin entered into plea agreements which were accepted and approved. Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement and required a capital prosecution against Nelson. Bolden, Robert, Sr. E.D. MO CR No. 4:02-CR 0557 CEF (AGF) Race: B A bank robbery murder. 18 U.S.C. §§1111, 2113 and 924(c). The victim is white, the son of a police officer. The defendants are African-American. Only Bolden will face the death penalty. James, Richard; Mallay, Ronald E.D. NY CR No. 02-773 (S-1) (SJ) Race: B Multiple (two) insurance fraud murders for hire involving foreign nationals from Guyana. The victims are also from Guyana. One died there. Both died from alcohol and drug ingestion. James is an insurance broker. Mallay, 57, has heart trouble. He and James are suspected of arranging other deaths in an insurance fraud scheme. Federal authorities are investigating 21 deaths of people insured through James. Zapata, Jairo E.D. NY CR NO. 01-516 Race: H Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement and required a capital prosecution against a foreign national from Columbia who had a signed cooperation agreement. Zapata is charged in one CCE drug-related murder for hire in 1993. Two separate homicides are alleged in aggravation, all three occurred during a seven month period in 1993. Ward, Israel; Smith, Thomas W.D. MO CR No. 3:02 CR 05025-ALL Race: B Multiple (two) gun murders during course of drug trafficking by black defendants from Tulsa selling crack in Tulsa. Smith is alleged to be a leader. A black victim allegedly stole drugs and was shot to death along with a white female who was with him at the time. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution. Villegas, Hernaldo Medina; Roman, Lorenzo Catalan D. PR CR No. 3:02-CR-117-ALL Race: H The Hobbs Act robbery of a local credit union, while an armered bank truck was making a deposit. A gunfight ensued and an armed guard was killed with a second head shot by Villegas after he was down. Lorenzo Catalan and Hernando Medina are alleged to have participated in the actual robbery, while Quester Sterling was allegedly the lookout. The 924(j) murder weapon was allegedly obtained in a carjacking. There are additional non-capital charges for a prior robbery of the same credit union by the same group. Only Villegas and Roman will face the death penalty. All involved are Hispanic. Breeden, Shawn Arnette; Carpenter, Michael Anthony; Cassell, Kevin Thomas W.D. VA CR No. 03-CR-13-ALL Race: All B Involves four defendants from D.C. who drove to Virginia with the intent to commit robbery. Cassell was the driver. Breeden is allaged to be the organizer, having lost his girlfriend's car payment while gambling. Carpenter allegedly held the victim, a drug dealer, at gunpoint. Carpenter shot the victim in the knee with a shotgun. Then Breeden allegedly stabbed the victim at least 7 times in the chest and neck. Outterbridge then shot the victim in the head. All involved are African-American, except the victims of a violent, but non-fatal, robbery of a white couple using an ATM that resulted in serious injury. The group also committed another robbery. Attorney General Ashcroft required a capital prosecution against Breeden, Carpenter and Cassell. Outterbridge, 19 and the youngest, is a cooperator. Burden has a prior stabbing conviction Ayala-Lopez, Carlos L. D. PR CR No. 03-CR-55-ALL Race: H Robbery of a gun from a Veteran's Administrative Hospital guard and the murder of the security guard. Attorney General Ashcroft rejected a plea agreement calling for a sentence of 35 years to life and required a capital prosecution. Fields, Edward E.D. OK CR No. 6:03-CR-00073 Race: W A robbery and multiple murder of a married couple in the Winding Stair Campgrounds on federal land. All involved are white. Fields has no prior criminal record, a good military record and a history of mental illness. Fields had been living in the forest. The district court set a deadline for a decision by the Attorney General on the death penalty. The murders occurred around July 10. Le, Cuong Gia E.D. VA CR No. 03-CR-48-ALL Race: A A Vietnamese American gang member who came to the United States when he was 10 or 11 years old. Le is accused of mulitple (two) murders, shooting at a rival gang member multiple times in a Vietnamese restaurant on May 13, 2001 hitting three people. One died immediately and one died later. The rival gang member survived, identifying Le. Le, a foreign national, fled and was arrested in July of 2003. The court denied a motion to bar the death penalty due to a belated notice of intent.
Federal Capital Prosecutions Ending in Guilty Pleas to a Sentence Other Than Death E.D. MI CR No. 92-81127 Race: All B Involves multiple killings - an innocent gang member. After insisting for nearly two years he had murdered four people, including a child, the government dismissed capital murder charges against a Detroit man and began prosecuting a co-defendant for the same killing. The AUSA has claimed the gang was connected to "more than 50 murders." Johnson, Darryl W.D. NY CR No. 92-159-C Race: B Involves multiple killings. An African-American from the West Coast charged with two cocaine-related killings by a California and Tennessee connected, Buffalo, New York group, suspected in as many as five other murders. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. A guilty plea was entered in 1995, on the morning of trial. The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment. Zambrano, Jesus E.D. TX CR No. 9:91-CR4 Race: H A third co-defendant in the Villarreal case who testified against the two brothers at trial. Perry, Wayne Anthony D. DC CR No. 92-474 Race: B Involves multiple killings and a hitman for a D.C. cocaine distribution ring between 1989-1991, facing eight homicide counts. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. In 1994, the defendant pleaded guilty to five homicide counts in exchange for the government's dropping the death penalty. He received five consecutive nonparolable life sentences and was sent to the federal "super max" prison in Colorado, ADX Florence. Valle-Lassalle, Victor Manuel D. PR CR No. 97-284 (JAF) Race: H A large scale drug conspiracy and two 1996 killings by Valle-Lassalle and one by the others in 1996. The second was a witness elimination -- the government witness was cut up with a machete. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution against all four defendants. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. All involved are Hispanic. Valle-Lassalle received a 40 year sentence. Woody, Charles C.D. CA CR No. 99-84-AHM Race: H One of three related Mexican Mafia cases. A previous case, involving 12 murders and attempted murders, United States v. Alex Aguirre, et al.(C.D. CA CR 95-345(A)-RSWL) was not prosecuted as a death penalty case. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution. One defendant in that case was found not guilty and he is said to have been killed by Woody, 28, in a generational power struggle. Woody was also involved in several murder conspiracies Furrow, Buford C.D. CA CR No. 99-838 (A) -RAP Race: W The racially motivated shooting and killing of an Asian (Filipino) postal worker in 1999. Furrow, 37 and Caucasian, is alleged to be a member of the Aryian Nation. He also walked into a Jewish Community Care Center and shot five people, including three children. Furrow then carjacked a Toyota. Furrow described this attack as "a wake up call to America to kill Jews." McCauley, Donzell M. D. DC CR No. 94-121 Race: B A young black man from the District of Columbia who struggled with and shot to death a police officer. Attorney General Reno required a capital prosecution for the murder of a white law enforcement police officer despite the U.S. Attorney's initial decision that the death penalty not be sought. This authorization marked the first time in the post-Gregg era of capital punishment that the Attorney General required a capital prosecution in a federal criminal case despite the initial opposition of the local U.S. Attorney. Subsequently, the defendant entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Vest, James; Vest, Mark; Vest, Steven W.D. MO CR No. 94-00037-04 Race: All W Involves multiple killings - three white brothers from Kansas City who were approved for a capital prosecution in 1994. They were charged with the well- planned double homicide of two Mexican drug dealers. Graves were dug and the victims abducted and bound with duct tape, suffocating to death. A fourth brother, Darrell Vest, did not face the death penalty. One defendant was also charged with a separate murder count in another drug rip-off. Guilty pleas were negotiated for all three. Bonds, Andre E.D. MO CR No. 4:95CR332 Race: B A black teenager in a cross-racial car jacking case involving an 18 year old African-American defendant (and his 16 year old co-defendant) who allegedly killed one white female, took her car across state lines, kidnaping and raping her girlfriend - another Caucasian. Mr. Bonds pled guilty in 1996 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The victim was white. Chen, Fu Xin; Chen, Jia Wu E.D. NY CR No. 95 0870 Race: All A Two foreign national Chinese gang members who kidnaped intrastate Chinese nationals living in the U.S. for ransom to be paid by relatives in China. One victim was raped and severely abused before being strangled after her family failed to pay the ransom demanded. Jia Wu and Fu Xin Chen pled guilty and received life sentences in 1996. Capital authorization against a third defendant, You Zhong Peng, was withdrawn by the Department of Justice just three days before his scheduled 1997 trial. Damon, Marvin; Williams, Robert Russell E.D. VA CR No. 3:95CR45 Race: All B Two members of a drug ring, from Richmond, Virginia, African-American, 52 and 30 years old, charged with the distribution of heroin, mainly in one housing development in Richmond where another African-American was shot to death in 1994 by Damon, at co-defendant Williams' request. The government alleged numerous other homicides committed by Damon as Williams' enforcer. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Damon agreed to plead guilty, attempted suicide and finally entered a plea. Williams pled guilty after a jury was seated DeLaTorree, Jason; Mazzini, Marcos; Najar, Vincent D. NM CR No. 95-538-MV Race: All H Involves multiple killings and murder in the aid of racketeering. The charges involve an L.A. gang, Sureno 13, moving crack and PCP from L.A. to Albuquerque. Among the seven murders connected to the gang one was of a high school student and another was a triple homicide. Five attempted murders were alleged, as well as a conspiracy to kill rival black drug dealers. Authorization was requested and granted by the Attorney General in 1996, for four of six defendants, but the government later withdrew its request for the death penalty as to one, after he was shown to be uninvolved in one of the two homicides originally charged against him. The remaining three entered guilty pleas: Mazzini received 25 years; Najar received 30 years; and De LaTorre received 22 years Fleming, Lamont; Gist, Cory E.D. NC CR No. 4:95-CR-41-1-H-2 Race: All B Involves multiple killings and a crack cocaine conspiracy alleging four 1995 murders by an African-American gang originating in Brooklyn, New York. Fleming, Gist and co-defendant Linton were triggermen. DOJ did not authorize capital prosecutions against four other defendants, including Linton. Guilty pleas were entered by the two capital defendants who were charged in two murders. The two capital homicides involved the separate murders of two participants in a prior drug-related murder. All involved are black. Attorney General Reno required a capital prosecution as to Gist. Haworth, Richard; Spivey, Everett D. NM CR No. 95-491 LH Race: All W Haworth was the leader of a New Mexico drug trafficking conspiracy, during the course of which he murdered at least three individuals (two Hispanic, one Anglo). The government dropped its request for the death penalty in exchange for his plea and a life sentence on the eve of his scheduled trial in February, 1997. After six weeks of jury selection, the government accepted Spivey's guilty plea to a single homicide count and a 30-year sentence. Both Haworth and Spivey are white. Beckford, Devon Dale E.D. VA CR No. 3:95CR00087 Race: B Involves multiple killings. Another New York - Richmond cocaine connection was uncovered which involved members of a Brooklyn gang, all African-American, who transported crack cocaine to Richmond, Virginia. The 32-count indictment charged five of the alleged members of the so-called "Poison Clan" with capital murder in six killings, two in 1988 and four in 1994. (Devon Dale Beckford, 33, identified by the FBI as a gang leader was not arrested until July, 1997.) Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. After a seven-week trial, a jury declined to impose the death penalty on all four defendants: Dean Beckford, 32, Leonel Romeo Cazaco, 22, Claude Gerald Dennis, 28 and Richard Thomas, 22. Dean Beckford and Claude Dennis were found guilty of the 1998 double murder. (Dennis had previously been acquitted on these charges in state court in 1989.) Cazaco and Thomas were also convicted of a capital charge. Thomas had been acquitted in state court on the one homicide count on which he was convicted in federal court. Bennett, Daniel Ray; Stanley, Edward C.D. CA CR No. 96-1140(A)-ER Race: All B An African-American drug boss and a hitman. United States v. Daniel Ray Bennett and Edward Stanley (C.D. CA CR No. 96-1140(A)). In this first Ninth Circuit case to be authorized for death penalty prosecution, Stanley was accused of hiring Bennett to murder a former member of Stanley's drug trafficking operation in Las Vegas, Nevada. Murder for hire is alleged as an aggravating circumstance. Government court filings indicated that the murder conspiracy was monitored by wiretap. Both pled guilty. Attorney General Reno required a capital prosecution. Cable, Donald Thomas; Holloway, Tim M.D. TN CR No. 3:96- 00004 Race: All W The 1995 killing of a federal grand jury investigation witness two days before her testimony. The female victim was in her early 40's and white, as are all the defendants. Cable was the triggerman who is said to have stabbed the victim to death. Dugger hired Cable after one David Day, the government's key witness, hired Dugger on behalf of a large-scale methamphetamine dealer, Tim Holloway. Dugger was in poor health (a recent liver transplant) and allegedly incompetent. Day received a 20 year sentence as a government witness. Clary, Moses D. NJ CR No. 96-576 (Rodriguez) Race: B A 19-year-old African-American defendant with a history of mental illness was charged with complicity because his deceased co-conspirator shot a security guard during a robbery of an armed car in a suburban Camden, N.J. shopping mall. The male victim was black and seventeen. A white bystander, a 14 year old girl, was accidentally shot and killed by the security guard during the robbery. Clary accepted an offer of life in 1998, attempted to withdraw it, and was refused Cuff, John: Heatley, Clarence S.D. NY CR No. 96 CR 515 (MJW) Race: All B Involves multiple killings in a CCE prosecution of the leaders of a drug organization which operated in the Bronx and Manhattan for a decade. Heatley, 43, ordered 14 homicides, admitting involvment in 13, ten of which were carried out by Cuff, who acted as Mr. Heatley's bodyguard and driver. Cuff had been a housing police officer from 1982 until 1986. Heatley pled guilty in return for a life sentence. On the 1999 trial date, Cuff also pled guilty. He also received a life sentence. Heatley has a serious history of crimes of violence, but was previously acquitted four times in state court trials. Kaczynski, Theodore John E.D. CA CR No. S-96-259 Race: W The Unabomber case. The defendant faced capital indictments in two federal districts, Eastern District of California and District of New Jersey, for terrorist mail bombings over a period of 18 years. Three men were killed, in California and New Jersey, and 29 were injured, including one man whose arm was blown off and another who lost a hand. A plea was negotiated as opening statements were about to commence and after a BOP psychiatrist had confirmed defense experts' findings that the former Berkeley professor suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Kaczynski tried, but failed, to withdraw his guilty plea. 2001 WL 114688 (9th Cir. 2001). He remains at ADX Florence Montanez, Ian Rosario D. PR CR No. 96-001 (PG) Race: H The first death penalty case to be authorized in a Puerto Rico federal court. The Attorney General required a capital prosecution against the alleged triggerman in a bank robbery during which a security guard was killed and several bystanders injured. Montanez pled guilty in April 1998 to a less-than-death sentence. |