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Indianapolis Star
8 hours ago
- General
- Indianapolis Star
Gov. Mike Braun signals he's open to debate on future of death penalty, execution methods
Following two state executions of death row inmates in less than six months, Gov. Mike Braun said June 3 that Indiana does not have any more of the drug used and he does not "intend to put another one on the shelf." Braun additionally signaled he was open to hearing debate on whether Indiana should continue capital punishment and if so, if there are other execution methods the state should consider besides lethal injection, currently the only option Indiana allows. Indiana paid $900,000 last year to acquire the drug pentobarbital, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. The high price tag for the drug used to carry out death sentences is part of Braun's reasoning for hearing more debate about the death penalty in Indiana, he said. "We've got to address the broad issue of, what are other methods, the discussion of capital punishment in general, and then something that costs, I think, $300,000 a pop that has a 90-day shelf life, I'm not going to be for putting it on the shelf and then letting them expire," Braun told reporters at the Indiana Statehouse. Authorized execution methods in states across the country, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, include lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas and firing squads. There has been national debate over whether lethal injection is a humane way to execute someone. Two inmates in South Carolina this year chose to die by firing squad, but an autopsy found the man who was executed in April likely suffered after shooters missed his heart. The Indiana General Assembly would have to approve any change to execution methods. One Republican lawmaker during the 2025 legislative session sought a repeal of the death penalty, but the bill died without a hearing. Repeal the death penalty?: Despite bipartisan support, bill to end death penalty died without a committee hearing Braun's comments come two weeks after Indiana executed Benjamin Ritchie, who was sentenced to death after the murder of Beech Grove police officer William Toney. Ritchie's was the first state execution during Braun's administration and the second since former Gov. Eric Holcomb and Attorney General Todd Rokita announced last summer that Indiana had acquired pentobarbital. Indiana used the drug in December to execute Joseph Corcoran, who was found guilty of a quadruple murder he committed in 1997. It was the first execution in the state since 2009. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Oklahoma death row: Could Stacy Drake be state's first death sentence in three years?
The death penalty is still being sought in Oklahoma but no one new has been sentenced to that punishment in the state in over three years. It is the longest gap in more than 50 years in a state known for having the highest per capita execution rate in the country. Oklahoma last saw no new death sentences in a year in 2011, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. "That's consistent with a nationwide trend," said the Rev. Don Heath, chairman of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. The latest request for the death penalty came Wednesday, May 21, in a triple murder case in Sequoyah County District Court. Prosecutors gave notice that they will seek the punishment at trial for Stacy Lee Drake. The 51-year-old drifter is suspected of being a serial killer responsible for two fatal shootings in Alabama and three in Oklahoma last year. He was caught on June 20, 2024, in a wooded area in Morrilton, Arkansas, after a manhunt. The evidence against Drake includes his YouTube watch history showing that on June 8 he viewed video compilations of the "greatest" movie one-liners before and after killing scenes. Prosecutors allege he killed a fellow Alcoholics Anonymous member in El Reno between June 9 and 14 and then killed two employees of a propane store outside of Sallisaw on June 18. In the notice, District Attorney Jack Thorp listed four reasons for seeking the death penalty for the Oklahoma murders. The key claim is that Drake represents "a continuing threat to society." Jurors can vote for death only if they unanimously agree on at least one of the reasons. The last time a death sentence was imposed in Oklahoma was on May 13, 2022. A judge sentenced David Ware, 37, to die for the fatal shooting of a Tulsa police officer during a traffic stop. Jurors agreed on that punishment in under three hours. The lull in new death sentences comes at the same time Oklahoma is carrying out executions again. Sixteen convicted murderers have been executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester since lethal injections resumed in October 2021 after a long hiatus. The next execution is set for June 12. The lull has been reported on before. "Oklahoma's death row is dwindling with each execution," the online news site Oklahoma Watch reported in December. The death row population dropped to 29 after inmate Wendell Grissom was executed in March and inmate Richard Glossip won on appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court in February. Nationwide, there were 26 new death sentences imposed in 2024, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2010, there were more than 100. The nonprofit does not take a position on the death penalty but is critical of problems in its application. It reported Florida imposed the most new death sentences last year with seven. Texas imposed six. Death sentences have dropped in Oklahoma in part because of last-minute plea deals, even in cases with multiple victims court records show. Also, many murder cases are still taking longer to get to trial as prosecutors and defense attorneys continue to work to catch up from pandemic shutdowns. Defense attorneys who specialize in capital punishment cases report they are juggling three at the same time. Last October, Jarron Deajon Pridgeon, 30, pleaded guilty days before trial to six counts of first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty. He fatally shot his brother and five children in Muskogee in 2021. Under his plea deal, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2023, Mario James Normore was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for going on a killing and robbery spree in Oklahoma City in 2017 that left four people dead. Prosecutors said the deal sparing him from the death penalty was made "to satisfy the desire of the families for a conclusion." Oklahoma County's new district attorney, Vicki Behenna, has dropped death as a possible punishment in seven other murder cases that were pending when she took office two years ago. In another death penalty case, she dismissed the double-murder charge all together, without alerting police first. Some death penalty cases are several years old. In one high-publicity case, Oklahoma City defense attorney Keegan Harroz and client Barry Roland Titus II are accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in 2019. They also are accused of murdering the ex-girlfriend's parents. Harroz, 41, and Titus, 43, became lovers after she began defending him in a domestic abuse case. They were not even charged until 2021. Since then, the jury trial for Titus has been delayed twice. No new date has been set. The most recent delay came in March when his attorneys accused the trial judge of bias. Their complaint about the judge is now before the Court of Criminal Appeals. Harroz was to have had a separate trial. She now has a deal to testify against Titus in exchange for prosecutors dropping their death penalty request against her. In Tulsa County, Derrick Wayne Stith, 31, is accused of beating his girlfriend to death with a hammer in 2017. Prosecutors made their request for the death penalty a year later. Up next in his case is a jury trial to determine if he is mentally competent for prosecution. It is set for September. "This one's gone on forever," Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said. "It's gone through multiple defense attorneys. He's represented himself sometimes." Other death penalty cases are pending across Oklahoma. In Oklahoma County, prosecutors have decided to go ahead with the death penalty against Josh Christian Brown, 39, of Spencer. He is accused in his murder charge of killing his wife "by engaging in a continuous physical attack" over two days in 2020. In Caddo County, a caretaker accused of willfully torturing 4-year-old Athena Brownfield to death still faces the maximum punishment. Alysia Adina Adams, 33, backed out of a plea deal in November that would have spared her from a death sentence. In Cleveland County, Chace Cook, 21, is accused of raping and murdering a Moore High School senior at her home in 2023. Prosecutors gave notice in December 2023 they would seek the death penalty, saying the decision was not made lightly. Also in Cleveland County, convicted murderer Paul Newberry, 44, is accused of killing another inmate at the Joseph Harp Correctional Center in Lexington in 2023. His death penalty case has been delayed by questions about his competency. He is serving life without the possibility of parole on a 2015 murder case. In LeFlore County, Alex Nathaniel Davis, 34, of Poteau, is accused of torturing and murdering an Arkansas woman and dumping her body in a lake in 2021. Prosecutors sought the death penalty last year. His jury trial is set for September. In Cherokee County, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Robert Edwin Lewis, 64, of Stillwell. He is accused of killing two people in 2022 and then killing his girlfriend to cover it up. The death penalty was sought in Pontotoc County District Court in March for the first time in more than 20 years. Richard Dewayne Chambers, 42, is accused of murdering three people in December. "The defendant shot and killed Annie Brown in Midwest City," District Attorney Erik Johnson said in his notice. "The defendant then drove to Pontotoc County ... and shot and killed Robert Peliti and Jackie Peliti demonstrating a continuing threat to society." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Lull in new death sentences in Oklahoma hits three years
Indianapolis Star
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Judge rejects journalists' bid to witness Indiana executions while lawsuit proceeds
EVANSVILLE — A federal judge declined to force Indiana prison officials to let journalists witness executions while a lawsuit brought by several news organizations proceeds. Judge Matthew P. Brookman, of the Southern District of Indiana, denied the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction on the grounds that they were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim that reporters have a First Amendment right to witness executions. The ruling, issued late Friday, comes just before the scheduled execution of Benjamin Ritchie on Tuesday. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection for the murder of a Beech Grove police officer in 2002. Gov. Mike Braun previously declined to halt Ritchie's execution, writing in a letter to the Indiana Parole Board that his office determined Ritchie's request for clemency "does not rise to the level of requiring a commutation of his death sentence." The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed suit against Indiana's top state prison officials on behalf of the five news organizations May 5. The suit seeks to overturn a state statute and Indiana State Prison policy restricting journalists' ability to witness executions first hand. Indiana is one of just two death-penalty states to not afford reporters access to observe executions. Wyoming, the only other state with such a rule, has not carried out the death penalty since 1992, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Under the Indiana State Prison's current policy, it is effectively up to the condemned person to decide whether journalists witness their execution. They are permitted five witnesses — which may include family, friends and media — but journalists are otherwise barred from attending the proceedings. The plaintiffs — including Gannett, which owns IndyStar, the Courier & Press and several other Indiana publications — argue the policy violates the First Amendment's guarantee of a free press and hinders the public's ability to understand a life-or-death issue. Lin Weeks, a senior staff attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, argued during a hearing Friday that Indiana was "uniquely restrictive" in how it handles press access to executions. "There's an importance in allowing the public to see that justice is carried out," Weeks said. In their motion for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs asserted that reporters should be granted access to witness Ritchie's execution and any other death sentences carried out while the case is litigated. "The balance of equities favors granting preliminary relief because 'injunctions protecting First Amendment freedoms are always in the public interest,'" the motion states. Brookman determined that however restrictive Indiana may be in how it carries out executions, state law "treats members of the press the same as members of the public at large." "They are not being singled out for disparate treatment, even though Indiana law permits physicians and spiritual advisors to attend executions," Brookman wrote in his order. Clay Calvert, a First Amendment scholar and nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has no affiliation with the plaintiffs, said Indiana's practice of not reserving seats for reporters shields executions from public scrutiny. "The First Amendment should protect journalists' ability to be physically present and watch an execution from the moment an individual enters the chamber through and until the individual dies," Calvert said in an interview prior to Brookman's ruling. "That's because journalists, in this case, serve as proxies and surrogates for members of the public who cannot all be physically present." The defendants — Indiana State Prison Warden Ron Neal and Indiana Department of Correction Commissioner Lloyd Arnold — urged Brookman to deny the plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction on several grounds, asserting that journalists have no more right than the general public to witness an execution. In the state's view, it's no different than when a reporter visits someone who is incarcerated at an Indiana prison: Access is tightly controlled, can be restricted, and is at the discretion of both the inmate and prison officials. "There's simply no right to witness an execution," Special Counsel Jefferson S. Garn, of the Indiana Attorney General's office, said Friday. Garn argued that having to adapt the "highly coordinated operation" days before Ritchie's execution places an undue burden on the state. Appearing in court remotely from his office at the Indiana State Prison, Neal testified that allowing journalists to attend could "force us to substantially change policies." The state also took issue with the notion that reporters are barred outright from witnessing executions in Indiana. Indiana State Prison policy states that "media personnel shall not be permitted to witness the execution or to be in the execution chamber" — unless the condemned person invites a journalist as one of five friends and family they choose as a witness. "Indiana code treats members of the press the same as members of the public," Garn told the court. Brookman appeared receptive to the argument, writing in his order that "members of the media can attend (executions) the same way that members of the public can." The state argued the timing of the lawsuit was reason enough to oppose a preliminary injunction. The Indiana law at issue has remained unchanged for years, Garn said, but the plaintiffs filed suit less than one month before Ritchie's scheduled execution, leaving the state and the court just days to craft new procedures that would allow for journalists to serve as witnesses. "They knew this execution was going to be scheduled even in September," Garn said. "To ask the department to make changes at the last minute should be denied." In their complaint arguing that journalists should be afforded greater access, the plaintiffs cited the 1985 execution of William Vandiver by electrocution. Because no reporters were present in the death chamber, news outlets relied on conflicting testimony from prison officials and Vandiver's attorney to piece together what happened during the 17 minutes it took to put Vandiver to death. A prison doctor described the ordeal in plain terms, saying that after an initial application of 2,300 volts, the electrical current "was applied three more times before (Vandiver) was pronounced dead 17 minutes later." A Department of Corrections spokesperson admitted the execution "did not go according to plan" but disclosed few other details. Vandiver's attorney said the process was "outrageous," the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote in the complaint. Ted Bridis, a former AP reporter who witnessed executions in Kentucky and Oklahoma as a news media observer, likewise pointed to Vandiver's case to illustrate the value journalists can afford the public when they serve as eyewitnesses. "This is the ultimate use of force by the government," said Bridis, who now teaches journalism at the University of Florida. "We need to be there as independent observers, as representatives of the public and our readers and viewers and listeners, to make sure they understand exactly what happens in these cases." Earlier this month, a U.S. District Court judge in Idaho ordered state officials there to grant media witnesses "audio and visual access" to view the preparation and administration of lethal drugs during executions after the AP and two Idaho newspapers filed suit. In her order, Judge Debora K. Grasham wrote that reporters' ability to witness every step of the execution process "concerns the public's First Amendment right of access" to what is "the most severe penalty enforced by our state." In Indiana, attorneys for the state took issue with the notion that journalists have any role to play in ensuring executions are carried out in accordance with the Constitution. "(The plaintiffs) argue that the press serves an important role in the 'proper functioning' of executions in ensuring that they comport with the Eighth Amendment, i.e., it isn't cruel and unusual," they wrote. "This argument is misguided..." Garn said prison officials, including a specially trained execution team and an on-site physician, are responsible for ensuring executions are carried out in a humane manner, not journalists.
15-05-2025
Florida set to execute suspected serial killer once eyed for possible link to the OJ Simpson case
STARKE, Fla. -- A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the mid-1990s is scheduled to be executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman in a Tampa motel room. Glen Rogers, 62, is set to receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, barring a last-day reprieve. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of two he had met at a bar. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Rogers' final appeals on Wednesday without comment. Rogers would be the fifth inmate put to death in Florida this year. As of May 1, 15 people have been executed this year in the U.S. in eight states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center's website. That compares with 25 people in all of 2024, the center reported. He also drew a separate death sentence in California for the 1995 strangulation killing of Sandra Gallagher, a mother of three whom he had met at a bar in Van Nuys in that state. That killing came weeks before the Cribbs murder. Rogers was stopped after a highway chase in Kentucky while driving Cribbs' car soon after her death. Rogers was named as a suspect but never convicted in several other slayings around the country, once telling police he had killed about 70 people. He later recanted that statement, but had been the subject of documentaries including one from 2012 called 'My Brother the Serial Killer' that featured his brother Clay and a criminal profiler who had corresponded extensively with Rogers. The documentary raised questions about whether Rogers could have been responsible for the 1994 stabbing deaths of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. During a 1995 murder trial that drew intense media attention, the former football star and celebrity Simpson was acquitted of all charges. Los Angeles police and prosecutors subsequently said after the documentary's release that they didn't think Rogers had any involvement in the Simpson and Goldman killings. 'We know who killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Rogers was involved," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement at the time. Simpson had always professed innocence but was later found liable for the deaths in a separate civil case, and then served nine years in prison on unrelated charges. The 76-year-old Simpson died in April 2024 after battling cancer. Rogers, originally from Hamilton, Ohio, has also been labeled the 'Casanova Killer' or 'Cross Country Killer" in various media reports. Some of his alleged and proven female victims had similar characteristics: ages in their 30s, a petite frame and red hair. Rogers' lawyers have filed several appeals with state and federal courts, none successful. One argument was that newly enacted state legislation authorizing the death penalty for trafficking in young children makes clear the abuse he suffered as a child is now taken seriously and should result in a life prison sentence for Rogers. That argument was rejected. Florida uses a three-drug cocktail for its lethal injection: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Corrections Department. Anthony Wainwright is the next Florida inmate scheduled for execution — on June 10 — under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Wainwright, 54, was convicted of kidnapping a woman from a supermarket parking lot in Lake City in 1994 and raping and killing her.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Florida set to execute suspected serial killer once eyed for possible link to the OJ Simpson case
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the mid-1990s is scheduled to be executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman in a Tampa motel room. Glen Rogers, 62, is set to receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, barring a last-day reprieve. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of two he had met at a bar. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Rogers' final appeals on Wednesday without comment. Rogers would be the fifth inmate put to death in Florida this year. As of May 1, 15 people have been executed this year in the U.S. in eight states, according to the Death Penalty Information Center's website. That compares with 25 people in all of 2024, the center reported. He also drew a separate death sentence in California for the 1995 strangulation killing of Sandra Gallagher, a mother of three whom he had met at a bar in Van Nuys in that state. That killing came weeks before the Cribbs murder. Rogers was stopped after a highway chase in Kentucky while driving Cribbs' car soon after her death. Rogers was named as a suspect but never convicted in several other slayings around the country, once telling police he had killed about 70 people. He later recanted that statement, but had been the subject of documentaries including one from 2012 called 'My Brother the Serial Killer' that featured his brother Clay and a criminal profiler who had corresponded extensively with Rogers. The documentary raised questions about whether Rogers could have been responsible for the 1994 stabbing deaths of Simpson's ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. During a 1995 murder trial that drew intense media attention, the former football star and celebrity Simpson was acquitted of all charges. Los Angeles police and prosecutors subsequently said after the documentary's release that they didn't think Rogers had any involvement in the Simpson and Goldman killings. 'We know who killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. We have no reason to believe that Mr. Rogers was involved," the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement at the time. Simpson had always professed innocence but was later found liable for the deaths in a separate civil case, and then served nine years in prison on unrelated charges. The 76-year-old Simpson died in April 2024 after battling cancer. Rogers, originally from Hamilton, Ohio, has also been labeled the 'Casanova Killer' or 'Cross Country Killer" in various media reports. Some of his alleged and proven female victims had similar characteristics: ages in their 30s, a petite frame and red hair. Rogers' lawyers have filed several appeals with state and federal courts, none successful. One argument was that newly enacted state legislation authorizing the death penalty for trafficking in young children makes clear the abuse he suffered as a child is now taken seriously and should result in a life prison sentence for Rogers. That argument was rejected. Florida uses a three-drug cocktail for its lethal injection: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Corrections Department. Anthony Wainwright is the next Florida inmate scheduled for execution — on June 10 — under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Wainwright, 54, was convicted of kidnapping a woman from a supermarket parking lot in Lake City in 1994 and raping and killing her.
