UNIT 1012 SEND OUR UTMOST THANKS TO THE PENNSYLVANIA DISTRICT ATTORNEYS ASSOCIATION

Unit 1012 awards the Rayner Goddard Act of Courage Award to the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association for defending the death penalty and speaking for the rights of the victims, despite Governor Tom Wolf placing a moratorium on the death penalty. We will post several articles on the DAs and victims’ families speaking out.

PDAA

INTERNET SOURCE: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/02/13/pennsylvania-district-attorneys-associations-statement-of-death-penalty-moratorium/

Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association’s Statement Of Death Penalty Moratorium

February 13, 2015 1:58 PM

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (CBS) — The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA) today issued the following:

Governor Tom Wolf’s action today granting Terrance Williams a reprieve and imposing a moratorium on the death penalty is a misuse of his power and ignores the law. He has rejected the decisions of juries that wrestled with the facts and the law before unanimously imposing the death penalty, disregarded a long line of decisions made by Pennsylvania and federal judges, ignored the will of the legislature, and ultimately turned his back on the silenced victims of cold-blooded killers.

A reprieve, used correctly, is a legal measure devised to prevent injustice and not a means to end the death penalty. A moratorium is just a ploy. Make no mistake, this action is not about waiting for a study– it’s about the governor ignoring duly enacted law and imposing his personal views against the death penalty. If it were anything else, he would have granted our association’s request to speak with him before making this decision.

Public safety is served when the most cold-blooded, heinous killers are publicly convicted and sentenced to death. The death penalty is sought in rare instances and only when the facts of a case meet the narrowest requirements by law. Rightly so, every case is examined exhaustively. No one, including the governor, has the legal right to nullify the jurors’ unanimous verdict and unanimous sentencing or the decades-long gauntlet each case must run through the appellate system.

No district attorney takes pleasure in pursuing a death penalty case. We must and do make those decisions based on the facts of the case, the ethical structure of our profession and the understanding that the death penalty is reserved for only the worst of the worst cold-blooded killers as defined by law, such as:

Eric Frein, who is charged with assassinating a state trooper and terrorized two counties for weeks and was only captured after a massive manhunt;

Gary Fellenbaum and Jillian Tait, who have been charged with torturing and killing a three-year-old boy in a Chester County trailer park;

Hubert Michael, who kidnapped, raped, and murdered a fourteen-year-old girl; and

Mark Spotz, who went on a killing spree in central Pennsylvania, leaving four bodies, and a universe of crushed families, in his wake.

Those who oppose the death penalty, including the governor are free to debate the issue openly and try to persuade the legislature and the people to change the law. As always, we welcome the public debate and only insist that prosecutors and victims’ families are openly and honestly included in that discussion.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://abc27.com/2015/02/13/da-group-wolf-misused-power-on-death-penalty/

INTERNET SOURCE: http://wkbn.com/2015/02/14/prosecutor-moratorium-doesnt-affect-seeking-death-penalty/

Prosecutor: Moratorium doesn’t affect seeking death penalty

By The Associated Press Published: February 14, 2015, 12:59 pm Updated: February 14, 2015, 3:42 pm

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania prosecutor says Gov. Tom Wolf’s moratorium on the death penalty isn’t a legal obstacle to the state’s plans to pursue a conviction and death sentence for the man charged with killing a state trooper and wounding another last year.

Pike County District Attorney Raymond Tonkin says Wolf doesn’t have the legal authority to unilaterally impose a moratorium. Tonkin says the governor’s actions Friday won’t prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty for Eric Frein (FREEN) in the fatal ambush on Cpl. Bryon Dickson at police barracks.

The prosecutor says he also considers the moratorium applies only to convicts already on Pennsylvania’s death row.

Wolf imposed the moratorium, saying the current system of capital punishment is “error prone.” He didn’t give a precise date when he would lift it.

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/breaking/ci_27542143/da-kearney-wolfs-death-penalty-moratorium-slap-victims

DA Kearney: Wolf's death penalty moratorium a slap to victims' families

By TOM KEARNEY

York County District Attorney

Posted:   02/17/2015 11:20:52 AM EST

After much thought and careful consideration, I am deeply saddened and disturbed at the actions taken by our governor this past Friday. Gov. Tom Wolf elected to place his own personal beliefs above the law of this commonwealth. As an elected district attorney, I took an oath to uphold the constitution of our commonwealth as well as the Constitution of the United States of America. Gov. Wolf recently took a similar oath; however, he has decided to usurp the roles of our Legislature, our courts, and the will of the people of this commonwealth.

What Gov. Wolf does not understand is the pain and anguish that victims' loved ones feel when someone that they love is taken at the hands of another. This moratorium is an affront to the memory of those murdered and their families. Nor does Gov. Wolf understand the weight placed on a prosecutor as the decision is reached to seek and ultimately ask a jury for another human's life. The decision to seek the death penalty is done only in the most serious and extreme of murders. In one swift action this past Friday, Gov. Wolf has revictimized the very victims that we fight for each and every day by dismissing the tireless efforts of our juries.

Men like Harve Johnson, who viciously beat and tortured beautiful 2-year-old Darisabel Baez on April 7, 2008; Paul Gamboa Taylor, who beat to death his wife and three children under the age of 4 with a hammer on May 18, 1991; or Mark Spotz, who has three death sentences pending for a four-day killing spree in 1995, do not deserve this compassion. And what does the governor say to the family of 16-year-old Trista Eng, who in July 1993 was brutally raped and murdered by Hubert Michael while on her way to work at a fast food restaurant?

A moratorium benefits only the clearly guilty and most culpable. This decision is a slap in the face to those who served on our juries and, most importantly, our victims and their families. 

INTERNET SOURCE: http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/governor-s-death-penalty-moratorium-violates-oath-of-office/article_93b086de-b885-11e4-b20d-0700c8231625.html

Governor’s death penalty moratorium violates oath of office

CRAIG STEDMAN | Special to LNP | Posted: Sunday, February 22, 2015 6:00 am

Craig Stedman

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman.

As a result of Gov. Tom Wolf’s recent action on the death penalty, 186 people are celebrating. These 186 people are the worst people in the state. 

Each has been convicted of the willful taking of at least one innocent life. But they are not just murderers. To be eligible for the death penalty, the murder must have aggravating circumstances: These most often involve killing a child or a police officer; raping and/or torturing a victim; killing more than one victim; or committing a prior murder.

Each then was sentenced unanimously to death by a jury after yet another proceeding in which the defense can, for the most part, present almost anything it chooses to introduce.

One of those celebrating is Landon May. May broke into a home in the middle of the night. He duct-taped, then tortured, the homeowners, stabbing, beating and shooting them. Terry Smith succumbed to his multiple wounds first. Lucy Smith was not so lucky. She fought for her life and suffered at least 147 separate wounds. May then sexually assaulted her prior to smothering her.
He confessed, there was a mountain of corroboration, and we found his DNA in the sperm he left inside Lucy Smith.

May was also convicted of a number of serious offenses prior to this horrific case, including shooting a man in the neck at random just for fun.

There is another group affected by the governor’s act: the families of the victims. Their immeasurable wounds have just been needlessly ripped open. The families, who have suffered through the judicial process they trusted and want nothing but justice and truth in sentencing, have been thunderstruck by this unprecedented and unnecessary evisceration of the law, the courts, the juries and the entire system. The governor gave no warning, and the families he says he cares about are suffering because of him.

We prosecutors take no pleasure in seeking death. It is the most solemn decision. We do so in appropriate cases because we took an oath to follow the laws of the state. The governor took that same oath but has ignored the law, the constitution and his chief responsibility to execute the laws of this state. No one, including the governor, has the right to nullify a jury’s unanimous verdict or to silence those very crime victims and their families who have suffered so much.

The Legislature makes the laws. The courts decide if they are constitutional. The executive carries them out. The governor has managed to trample on all of the above. He has ignored the law, the countless appellate courts that have upheld the law, and subverted his duties for his own personal and/or political agenda.

More troubling is that he does not have the authority. A Pennsylvania governor cannot lawfully issue a moratorium. He has called it a “reprieve” in a twisted effort to comply with the law. A reprieve, however, is merely temporary relief in a specific case for a specific legal event to take place; it is not a blanket moratorium.

The governor can issue a pardon, a reprieve as above, or he can bring the issue to a public debate in the Legislature. Open discussion should take place. Unlawful edicts should not. He was elected governor, not king.

The punishment should fit the crime, and there simply are some crimes for which the only remedy is the ultimate penalty. That decision should remain with the juries and the courts.

We meet with each family prior to pursuing the death penalty. They have no illusions as to the protracted appellate process we face if the sentence is death. Their input is critical, and I have never pursued a death verdict when a family is opposed and/or simply wants to avoid the appeals. Thus, each family affected by this moratorium knew what to expect. By this act, the governor has caused them more pain and shattered any remaining vestige of truth in sentencing.

The system is indeed flawed, as the governor says. However, the main flaw is that the federal defenders association has, in essence, taken the appeals process hostage with a virtually endless supply of taxpayer money and resources dedicated to overturning every sentence. I believe in a robust appellate process, particularly in death-penalty cases, but it should not be boundless.
The fact the governor fails to mention the well-documented abuses of the federal defenders described by Chief Justice Ronald Castille reveals how closed-minded he is on the issue. So closed-minded, in fact, that he refused to meet with our bipartisan state prosecutors’ association to discuss this very issue.

The governor has demonstrated a severe lack of understanding of and concern for the issues involved, as well as for the devastating consequences of his actions on the most solemn process in our system and on the families of the victims. Those victims were forever taken from us without the ability to appeal their sentence.

I welcome open debate on the issue and remain sworn to uphold the laws the Legislature duly passes. I call upon the governor to do the same.

n Craig Stedman is Lancaster County’s district attorney.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://fox43.com/2015/03/26/families-of-victims-speak-out-on-death-penalty-moratorium/

Families of victims speak out on death penalty moratorium

Posted 9:35 PM, March 26, 2015, by Melanie Orlins, Updated at 11:02pm, March 26, 2015

Families of victims whose killers sit on death row had the chance to testify on Thursday afternoon about Governor Tom Wolf’s moratorium on the death penalty. Each family had a different view, but all agreed… something needs to change.

One by one, those who’ve suffered the loss that some of us can’t ever imagine, spoke from the heart.

“Trista’s killer is alive and well. Being able to see the sun, able to sleep every night,” said Morgan Eng, the brother of Trista Eng.

“A capital prison inmate is given a capital sentence, not life in prison for a reason,” said Suzanne Eng, the mother of Trista Eng.

The mother and brother of a York County teen who was killed in 1993 say the governor’s imposing of a moratorium on the death penalty has taken away their closure.

“How would you feel if for 21 1/2 years there was still no closure to your loved ones? We now feel that Governor Wolf is now making sure our family and every other victim’s family has no closure,” said Morgan Eng.

Representative Ron Marsico, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, agrees with the Eng family. He thinks Gov. Wolf has over stepped his boundaries.

“I think it’s wrong. I think that we have laws on the books right now. That those that are convicted by prosecutors and found guilty by juries and sentenced to death by this commonwealth. We should go ahead and follow through with this law,” said Rep. Marsico, who represents part of Dauphin County.

But, not every victim’s family whose killers sit on death row want that death sentence.

“I don’t need that to heal, and I don’t want any part of it and I don’t want that for me. That’s not what justice is for me,” said Linell Patterson, the daughter of two victims.

Linell Patterson’s step-brother and two of his friends were convicted of killing her father and step-mother. She made a connection with the family of one of her parent’s killers. She realized, they would have to suffer the same loss. She says that’s not justice.

“I need to heal, the death penalty won’t help me heal,” said Patterson.

But besides each family’s different view, both agree the way the system works now, is broken.

“The appeals process must be drastically changed. It needs to be reworked both on the state and national levels,” said Suzanne Eng.

When Gov. Wolf issued the moratorium last month, he announced that he wants to hear recommendations of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on capital punishment before making any further decisions.

That committee’s report is expected by the end of the year.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/gov_tom_wolfs_death_penalty_mo.html

Gov. Tom Wolf's death penalty moratorium not sitting well with crime victims, others

Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter

 
on March 04, 2015 at 4:01 PM, updated March 04, 2015 at 7:30 PM

Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, gathered on Wednesday with other opponents of Gov. Tom Wolf's death penalty moratorium. At the news conference, he announced he is introducing a resolution calling on the governor to reverse his decision that he hopes the House passes to send a message to Wolf. (Jan Murphy/PennLive)

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/gov_tom_wolfs_death_penalty_mo.html]

Opponents of Gov. Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty gathered at the state Capitol on Wednesday to criticize that decision that they say was reached without input from crime victims or law enforcement officers.

They came together on the day that death row inmate Terrence Williams was scheduled to be executed; his being the first death sentence to be reprieved as a result of the moratorium.

"Pennsylvania crime victims deserve justice. What they are receiving from the governor is politics," said Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, at the news conference. "He could approach the Legislature to try to get the law changed or he could have filed a lawsuit in court and seek an injunction in death penalty cases. The governor chose to pursue neither of those options."

Instead, with the stroke of his pen on Feb. 13, he signed an executive order to put capital punishment in Pennsylvania on hold until he reviews a Senate-ordered study of the issue that is due later this year.

•  READ MORE: Is it time to kill the death penalty in Pennsylvania?

Wolf's spokesman Jeff Sheridan said in an email on Wednesday that the governor's decision should not be interpreted as "an expression of sympathy for the guilty on death row." He said the governor "stands with all those who have suffered at the hands of those in our society who turn to violence."
It's a matter of ensuring that justice is served. Sheridan said that's why Wolf looks forward to reading the recommendations of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment.

But Sen. John Rafferty, R-Montgomery County, said that doesn't give the governor the right to hold the state's capital punishment law hostage in the meantime. Besides that, he also voiced concern that is shared by district attorneys that the task force's recommendations may be skewed to opponents of the death penalty.

Many are awaiting the outcome of the lawsuit filed by Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams challenging Wolf's authority to impose the moratorium. The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the case.

In the meantime, Vereb has introduced a resolution calling on the governor to reverse his decision and obey the law that now exists in Pennsylvania allowing for capital punishment. While he admits that won't carry the force of law, Vereb said it at least sends a message to the governor.

 

Rep. Ron Marsico, R-Lower Paxton Twp., who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, plans to hold hearings on the issue of capital punishment, beginning with one on March 26 in Philadelphia.Jan Murphy/PennLive

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/03/gov_tom_wolfs_death_penalty_mo.html]

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Ron Marsico, R-Lower Paxton Twp., said he plans to have at least two committee hearings on the issue of capital punishment, starting with one in Philadelphia on March 26 and the other scheduled for June. This month's hearing will focus on testimony from family members of murder victims.

Throughout the news conference, legislators along with the crime victims and district attorneys standing in front of a line of photos of murder victims criticized Wolf for failing to seek their input. 
Berks County District Attorney John Adams, who admitted to voting for Wolf, contrasted Wolf's decision to impose the moratorium to the process prosecutors use in death penalty cases.

"Deciding whether or not to seek the death penalty is a decision that district attorneys throughout our commonwealth take very seriously," Adams said.

"Most important, before we make a decision of this magnitude we speak to the families of the victims for their input and thoughts. Governor Wolf did not speak to the families of these victims when he unilaterally imposed a moratorium."

York County District Attorney Tom Kearney said victims are best suited to explain the impact of Wolf's actions. He then proceeded to read a letter from Pauline Smith, whose mother June Rose Ohlinger, was murdered in 1995 in Schuylkill County by serial killer Mark Spotz who is among the 186 inmates now on death row.

In her letter, Smith described the governor's decision as "a slap in the face to all of the victims of heinous crimes."

Tricia Wertz, widow of slain Reading police Officer Scott Wertz who was killed in 2006 in the line of duty by convicted killer Cletus Rivera, acknowledged there is a flaw in the justice system that deserves a closer look. She said it's how long families of murder victims have to wait for justice to be carried out.

"Justice should be served and finalized by executing his killer in a timely manner," said Wertz, 41, mother of a 15- and 21-year-old. "I hope to see Scott's killer put to death in my lifetime ... but at this rate, I won't see that happen. Maybe it'll happen in my children's lifetime."

© 2015 PennLive.com. All rights reserved.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.officer.com/news/11898637/widow-of-slain-officer-testifies-on-death-penalty

Widow of Slain Cop Testifies on Death Penalty

Nicole Brambila On Mar 27, 2015

Source: Reading Eagle, Pa.

Morgan Eng's 16-year-old sister was brutally raped and murdered 21 years ago in York County.

Eng recounted for the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee on Thursday his sister's last moments and his anger at Gov. Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty.

Tricia L. Wertz, widow of Scott A. Wertz, a Reading police officer killed in 2006 while on duty, wiped away tears while listening to Eng's testimony.

"Our family's worn out," Eng told the committee. "We don't know what it's like to have a normal life."

Hubert Michael was sentenced to death for the 1993 murder of Trista E. Eng.

About 50 people attended Thursday's hearing, the first of three planned to receive public input on the moratorium. The others are tentatively set for April and June.

Wolf announced the moratorium last month, saying the death penalty was flawed and costly. The governor cited a Reading Eagle analysis that found the death penalty process has cost the state more than $350 million.

The state Supreme Court is expected to weigh in on the issue as Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has challenged the legality of Wolf's moratorium.

On Thursday, members of murder victims' families stepped up to the microphone and told stories similar to Morgan Eng's of the gruesome deaths their loved ones suffered and their own profound sorrow.

Wertz described the separation anxiety her youngest son suffered after the murder, worrying if she would come home. And she talked about her struggle with depression and having to resign from teaching to be "a full-time mom and dad."

"I was robbed of growing old with my soul mate," Wertz said. "Most importantly, my children were robbed of a life with their father."

Most people, but not all, supported the death penalty being carried out.

Linell Patterson told a different story, one of forgiveness and healing found in the family of her father's killer.

"I can't tell you how many times I've heard that they're seeking justice for the family," said Patterson, who described as haunting the cries the killer's family made when the death sentence was pronounced. "I don't need a death for me."

Patterson's father, Terry Smith, and his wife, Lucy, were killed in 2001 by Landon May in Ephrata.

Advocates against capital punishment said they were disappointed the committee limited the testimony of those opposed to the death penalty.

But State Rep. Ron Marsico, a Dauphin County Republican and House Judiciary Committee chairman, asserted the panel had difficulty finding opposing voices.

A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling released this week shows 50 percent of Pennsylvanians support Wolf's moratorium, while 44 percent oppose it. Five percent were undecided.

Marsico said after the nearly two-hour session in Philadelphia City Hall that he would like to see the hearings culminate in the appeals process being streamlined.

Only three people have been executed in the state since capital punishment was reinstated, the last one in 1999.

"We certainly want to see a lot shorter time frame than that," Marsico said.

Copyright 2015 - Reading Eagle, Pa.