Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 79, Ed. 1 Sunday, October 20, 2013 Page: 16 of 46
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16A
Sunday, October 20, 2013
NATIONAL
Denton Record-Chronicle
Georgia to review tough death penalty provision
By Kate Brumback
Associated Press
ATLANTA — The state that
was the first to pass a law prohib-
iting the execution of mentally
disabled death row inmates is re-
visiting a requirement for defen-
dants to prove the disability be-
yond a reasonable doubt — the
strictest burden of proof in the
nation.
A state House committee is
holding an out-of-session meet-
ing Thursday to seek input from
the public. Other states that im-
pose the death penalty have a
lower threshold for proving
mental disability, and some don’t
set standards at all.
Just because lawmakers are
holding a meeting does not
mean changes to the law will be
proposed, and the review abso-
lutely is not a first step toward
abolishing Georgia’s death pen-
alty, said State Rep. Rich Golick,
R-Smyma, chairman of the
House Judiciary Non-Civil
Committee.
Georgia’s law is the strictest in
the U.S. even though the state
was also the first, in 1988, to pass
a law prohibiting the execution
of mentally disabled death row
inmates. The U.S. Supreme
Court followed suit in 2002, rul-
ing that the execution of mental-
ly disabled offenders is unconsti-
tutional.
The Georgia law’s toughest-
in-the-nation status compels
lawmakers to review it, Golick
said.
“When you’re an outlier, you
really ought not to stick your
head in the sand,” he said. ‘You
need to go ahead and take a
good, hard look at what you’re
doing, why you’re doing it, weigh
the pros and cons of a change
and act accordingly or not.”
Oakland, Calif.
Train kills two workers
amid BART strike
A commuter train that is part
of a San Francisco Bay Area sys-
tem whose employees are on
strike hit and killed two mainte-
nance workers Saturday after-
noon, ofiicials said.
The accident that killed one
system employee and one con-
Thursday’s meeting comes
against the backdrop of the case
ofWarren Lee Hill, who was sen-
tenced to die for the 1990 beat-
ing death of fellow inmate Jo-
seph Handspike, who was blud-
geoned with a nail-studded
board as he slept. At the time,
Hill was already serving a life
sentence for the 1986 slaying of
his girlfriend, Myra Wright, who
was shot 11 times.
Hill’s lawyers have long
maintained he is mentally disa-
bled and therefore shouldn’t be
executed. The state has consis-
tently argued that his lawyers
have failed to prove his mental
disability beyond a reasonable
doubt.
Hill has come within hours of
execution on several occasions,
most recently in July. Each time,
a court has stepped in at the last
minute and granted a delay
based on challenges raised by his
lawyers. Only one of those chal-
lenges was related to his mental
abilities, and it was later dismiss-
ed.
A coalition of groups that ad-
vocate for people with develop-
mental disabilities pushed for
the upcoming legislative com-
mittee meeting and has been
working to get Georgia’s stan-
dard of proof changed to a pre-
ponderance of the evidence rath-
er than proof beyond a reason-
able doubt. Hill’s case has drawn
national attention and has shone
a spotlight on Georgia’s tough
standard, they say.
The process has taken an
enormous amount of education,
said Kathy Keeley, executive di-
rector of All About Developmen-
tal Disabilities. Rather than op-
position to or support for the
measure she’s pushing, she’s
mostly encountered a lack of
BRIEFLY
ACROSS THE NATION
tractor in the East Bay city of
Walnut Creek occurred shortly
before 2 p.m. as the train was on
a routine maintenance run op-
erated by a manager, Bay Area
Rapid Transit ofiicials said.
BART ofiicials said in a state-
ment that the manager was an
“experienced operator” and the
train was being run in automatic
mode under computer control
at the time of the accident.
Ofiicials from the two unions
awareness about what the state’s
law says, she said.
The groups are hoping to not
only express their views at the
meeting, but also to hear from
others to get a broader perspec-
tive, Keeley said. The changes
should be relatively simple and
very narrow in scope, targeting
only the burden of proof for
death penalty defendants, she
said.
Ashley Wright, district attor-
ney for the Augusta district and
president of the state District At-
torneys’ Association, said prose-
cutors question the logic of
changing a law that they don’t
see as problematic and that has
repeatedly been upheld by state
and federal courts.
“The district attorneys don’t
believe that you change a law for
no reason and, in this case, the
law appears to be working,” she
said. “Where has a jury done a
disservice? Why are we putting
all our eggs in the defendant’s
basket and forgetting that there’s
a victim?”
Prosecutors agree that the
mentally disabled shouldn’t be
executed, and defendants are
frequently spared the death pen-
alty when there is proof of their
mental disability supported by
appropriate documentation
from credible and reliable ex-
perts, she said.
But Hill’s lawyer, Brian Ram-
mer, argues that psychiatric di-
agnoses are complex, and “ex-
perts who have to make diagnos-
es do not do so beyond a reason-
able doubt, they do it to a
reasonable scientific certainty”
Furthermore, he said, dis-
agreements between experts
make the beyond-a-reasonable-
doubt standard nearly impossi-
ble to meet.
representing BART workers,
who have been on strike since
Thursday, have warned of the
danger that could come with al-
lowing managers to operate
trains.
Also Saturday, ATU local
President Antonette Bryant said
she was taking a final contract
offer from BART before mem-
bers for a vote, but expects it will
be rejected.
— The Associated Press
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“Even where evidence is oth-
erwise seemingly overwhelming
that a person has mental retar-
dation, one dissenting opinion
that splits a hair on one or more
pieces of evidence can result in
that person who’s almost cer-
tainly mentally retarded being
executed,” Kammer said.
In Hill’s case, a state court
judge concluded the defendant
was probably mentally disabled.
In any other state, that would
have spared him the death pen-
alty, Kammer said.
Additionally, three state ex-
perts who testified in 2000 that
Hill was not mentally disabled
submitted sworn statements in
February saying they had been
rushed in their evaluation at the
time. After further review and
based on scientific developments
since then, they now believe Hill
is mentally disabled, they said.
The state has dismissed the
doctors’ new testimony, saying it
isn’t credible. And courts have
ruled that Hill is procedurally
barred from having a new hear-
ing. His lawyers had asked the
U.S. Supreme Court to review
the case based on the new evi-
dence, but the high court this
month declined to take it up. Hill
has a challenge on different
grounds pending before the
Georgia Supreme Court. But he
has exhausted his challenges on
the mental disability issue, Kam-
mer said.
Even if changes are made to
Georgia’s law, they will likely not
be retroactive and wouldn’t ap-
ply to Hill, Keeley said.
WATERFOWL
TODAY
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TODAY, TOMORROW AND FORFVfR.
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33KU Annual Banquet & Benefit Auction
WHERE.
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Friday, Dec. 6th, 2013
5:30 - 9:30 pm
on Denton's Historic Courthouse Square Lawn
Celebrating 25 Years!
Join your friends, family and community as a
100/$100 or more Sponsor for the
Denton Holiday Lighting Festival
It’s a beloved tradition the people of Denton share, brimming with the smell of fresh hot wassail and
the joyful sounds of children laughing as they behold a million twinkling lights from the seat of a horse-
drawn wagon. Help keep this celebration of 25 years going by joining our wonderful sponsor list below.
*500+ DONORS
1. DATCU Credit Union
2. Devon Energy Corporation
3. iteach U.S., Inc
4. Peterbilt Motors Company
5. Verus Real Estate Advisor
6. Texas Woman’s University
7. NORTHSTAR BANK OF TEXAS
8. Glory of Zion Int. Min.
9. First United Bank
10. Morrison Milling Company
11. YOUR BUSINESS HERE
$100+ DONORS
1. AccessBank Texas
2. Anderson, Spector & Co., PC.
3. Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream
4. Denton County Transportation Authority
5. Micah & Tri Pazoureck
6. Kelley Pound
7. Daniel & Cindy Arnoldy
8. Jerry & Kathleen Lynass
9. Bob & Joanne Moses
10. Joann Perrer
11. Frances & Bradley Shelton
12. Holiday Lighting Board Member
13. Don & Dolores Vann
14. Friends of the Kickstarter Campaign
15. YOUR NAME HERE
Special Thanks to
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MEDIA COMPANY
Please mail sponsorships to
Denton Holiday Lighting Festival
PO Box 2765 • Denton, TX 76202
For more Sponsorship information or to make donations, visit
www.dentonholidaylighting.com
or facebook.com/dentonholidaylighting 25lh AmiversW Oommemorative Ornament
Join thel00/$100 Holiday Club
The first 100 sponsors who pledge $100 will be recognized in the Denton Record-Chronicle
Company/Name:_________(Published Name):__________
Address:__________City/State/Zip:___________
E-mail:________________________
Amount: □$100 □ $500 □$1000 □ Other___
□ Check__□Credit/Debit □ Cash □CompanyInvoiced (Contact)___________
Credit/Debit #_________Ex.___Security Code___Billing Zip___
The Denton Holiday Festival Association was established in 7 988 and is a 501 (c)(3) organization. All directors and officers serve on a volunteer
_basis. Your donation is 100% deductible. No goods or services were received in consideration for your con tribution._
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Cobb, Dawn. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 79, Ed. 1 Sunday, October 20, 2013, newspaper, October 20, 2013; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1102021/m1/16/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .