Unit 1012 Cover Photo

Unit 1012 Cover Photo

Sunday, February 6, 2022

SAVE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN UTAH: DON’T GET RID OF THE DEATH PENALTY

 

John Albert Taylor (June 6, 1959 – January 26, 1996) was an American who was convicted of burglary and carrying a concealed weapon in the state of Florida, and sexual assault and murder in the state of Utah. Taylor's own sister tipped off police in June 1989 after 11-year-old Charla King was found raped and strangled to death in Washington Terrace, Utah. His fingerprints were found at the crime scene, which was located in an apartment complex where he had been staying. In December 1989, Taylor was sentenced to death and placed on death row at Utah State Prison.
Taylor gave up appealing his sentence after his request for retrial was rejected by the Utah Supreme Court. He became the second person to be executed by firing squad in the United States (after Gary Gilmore) since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Taylor said he chose this method of execution to embarrass the state of Utah. On January 26, 1996, the day of Taylor's execution, legislation was introduced in the Utah House of Representatives to eliminate the firing squad. In 2004, the state of Utah withdrew the firing squad as a method of execution, leaving lethal injection as the only remaining option.

https://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2013/01/utah-firing-squad-john-albert-taylor.html


 

Reagan had faced the dilemma [of a governor's role in capital punishment] while serving as governor of California, Reagan recalled the demonstrators who regularly paraded in front of the governor's mansion. With a slight chuckle, the president mentioned how some Christian ministers began tolling their bells in anticipation of the execution. "I told them, 'If you toll your bells every time somebody is murdered, I won't mind if you do it every time the state executes a killer."

[Focus on murder victims while considering capital punishment (Source: Lessons From a Father to His Son, by John Ashcroft p.138-139 , May 5, 1998)]

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2015/06/ronald-reagan-was-on-side-of-murdered.html

          

The words of the late President Ronald Reagan were spot on! We, the members of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, who have lost family members to murder, wants to save the death penalty in Utah. Please read this article from William and Lorie Fowlke as it will explain why:

Guest Opinion: Don’t get rid of the death penalty

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We respectfully disagree with a growing position of eliminating the death penalty. We hear repeated, decades-old arguments that the death penalty costs too much, traumatizes victims, is not a deterrent, and is irreversible. While we appreciate that people have taken time to study these issues the last few months, we have worked in the justice system for several decades and know that these arguments, while persuasive to some, fail closer scrutiny.

The polls. While an October poll found fewer Utahns support the death penalty than in years past there could be many reasons, including recent significant news reports on the issue in the fall. We have an in-migration of liberal voters. People have concerns of possible innocence which are fed by opponents of the death penalty. Let us examine the facts.

The fact is most Americans and Utahns support the death penalty. According to the PEW Institute, in 2021, 60% of Americans favor the death penalty and 39% oppose it. Interestingly, over three-quarters of Republicans and independents who lean toward the Republican Party (77%) say they favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, while 46% of Democrats and Democratic leaners favor the death penalty.

  

It diminishes the victims when people burn candles and mourn someone who has committed a heinous crime. People on death row are some of the worst individuals that appear on the face of the earth. The abolitionists refuse to acknowledge that evil exists and evil has to be put down. – Marc Klaas

[PHOTO SOURCE: https://quozio.com/quote/kspp5czvzbmx/1011/it-diminishes-the-victims-when-people-burn-candles-and]

https://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2017/10/marc-klaas-defends-death-penalty-pro.html


The victims. Murder always involves two sets of victims, the one(s) killed and the grieving loved ones. A defense attorney’s number trial strategy in any criminal case is delay. They know the further removed the trial is from the crime, the less people care. Delay and ongoing appeals wear down victims’ resolve to “see justice done.” Studies are available on all sides. Words like closure, retribution, and even justice, do not make the remaining victims whole, because nothing can. Proponents of abolishing the death penalty reference the case of Ron Lafferty to support their position. In the law there is the saying that “bad facts make bad law.” Ron Lafferty was one of the longest-serving condemned inmates in the country and sat on death row for 34 years. An anomaly should not be the basis for policy change. Instead, change policy to streamline the process.

Other victims feel differently. The families of Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson and Riley Powell were “shocked, angered, and disappointed” and believed the “Utah County Justice system is broken” when they learned Utah County Attorney David Leavitt refuses to seek the death penalty for Jared Baum, an extremely violent career criminal tragically prematurely released from Federal Prison and charged with their murder.

   

Partial information will be treated as a lie. – Quote from Zero Dark Thirty


Irreversible Sentence. The claim that the death penalty “is applied to people who are actually innocent,” is inapplicable in Utah. The Innocence Project’s statistics show they have identified 18 persons, nationwide, who were on death row, and later exonerated through DNA testing. None of these 18 cases were in Utah. In fact, the Death Penalty Information Center currently reports that of all the persons who have ever been on death row in Utah, not one of them has been exonerated.

In 1993, University of Utah law professor Paul G. Cassell testified before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights Concerning Claims of Innocence in Capital Cases. He referenced Justice Powell commenting on the numerous capital cases that come before the Supreme Court, the ‘unprecedented safeguards’ already inherent in capital sentencing statutes ‘ensure a degree of care in the imposition of the sentence of death that can only be described as unique.’ 

Professor Cassell stated that, “Once all of those decision makers have agreed that a death sentence is appropriate, innocent lives would be lost from failure to impose the sentence. Capital sentences, when carried out, save innocent lives by permanently incapacitating murderers. Some persons who commit capital homicide will slay other innocent persons if given the opportunity to do so. The death penalty is the most effective means of preventing such killers from repeating their crimes. 

The costs. The cost of litigating multiple appeals can be formidable, especially when a county is paying for both sides of a case, i.e., prosecutor and public defender. Compare this with the cost of a victim’s life. How much is your child, wife, husband’s life worth? Syracuse University Professor Thomas J. Kniesner and colleagues estimate that the lifetime cost of a capital-eligible case that results in a death sentence would need to exceed $56 million for it to outweigh the public’s willingness to avoid being murdered.

Of course, studies show death penalty cases cost “more than cases where life without parole is sought.” Death penalty cases require specially trained counsel. Many of those 54 murder defendants will eventually plead to life without parole or to several decades in prison to take the death penalty “off the table.” If there is a plea, there are usually no further appeals, and expenses stop.

However, costs may increase in other cases. Undeniably, the threat of the death penalty is a tool that can motivate a defendant to plead to a lesser offense for its removal, thus saving significant trial expenses. If 45 years or “life” in prison is the worst punishment available, many defendants will proceed to trial as they have nothing to lose; trial increases costs.

Costs of additional victims and crimes.  Most people believe the problem is resolved when they “lock up these offenders and throw away the key.” This ignores the fact that murderers do not stop their cruel behavior because they are locked up. Some continue to threaten, harm and kill members of the public, criminal justice staff, and other inmates and do so in their maximum-security prison cell blocks, visiting rooms, recreation yards, courtrooms, or during transport. Utahn’s Ronnie Lee Gardner, Pierre Dale Selby, and Troy Michael Kell exemplify this phenomenon. 

One particularly good study, based on data from all 50 states from 1978 to 1997 by Federal Communications Commission economist Paul Zimmerman, demonstrated that each state execution deters an average of 14 murders annually.

Deterrence. The Commissioner’s reference that the death penalty “doesn’t work,” suggests the argument that it is not a deterrence. Again, statistics vary depending on study sponsors and criteria.

US Supreme Court Justice Stewart wrote: “Although some of the studies suggest that the death penalty may not function as a significantly greater deterrent than lesser penalties, there is no convincing empirical evidence either supporting or refuting this view. . . .  there are some categories of murder, such as murder by a life prisoner, where other sanctions may not be adequate.” Gregg v. Georgia, 428 US 153, 185-186 (1976).

Increased violence. We are living in an era of increased lawlessness. State leaders cannot afford to be soft on crime, allow violent crime to spike, or handle criminals with kid gloves. The public must feel safe in their homes. Families of victims should have peace of mind. Utah residents ought to have justice. The death penalty is a positive measure towards those ends.

Constitutionally Sound: The death penalty has been upheld constitutionally and is an appropriate and legally sound sentence for the most serious aggravated violent crimes. “Some crimes are so inherently evil they demand strict penalties – up to and including death.”

See the violence. Some heinous crime scene photos are parsed out to the jury to not “unduly prejudice” them against the defendant, but the violence of murder is ugly. Look at the handy work of killers who qualify, the gruesome crime scene photos, and evidence collected (killing tools). Read the witness statements and study the police reports of Utah’s extreme killers. John Douglas, founder, and head of the FBI’s Investigative Support Unit wrote, “to understand the artist, you must first look at their paintings.” 

Douglas recorded one such experience where he allowed a Hollywood actor who vigorously opposed the death penalty to experience recordings produced by two serial killers as they raped and tortured to death two teenage girls. The actor’s response was to weep and state, “I had no idea there were people out there who could do anything like this.” An intelligent, compassionate father with two girls of this own, after seeing and hearing what he did in Douglas’ office, said he could no longer oppose the death penalty: “The experience in Quantico changed my mind about that for all time.” Douglas, John and Mark Olshaker. “Chapter 9” in Mind Hunter Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. Pocket Star Books, 1995.

Decent and reasonable people, including our government leaders, expect decency. The key to this issue is understanding the predator mentality, the “bully,” who represents the antithesis of decency. Moving these people to another location does not change them; it just presents a new hunting ground. Bullies only respect and respond to superior strength. True evil does exist and sometimes we must be strong enough to stamp it out in order to protect the rest of us.

William Fowlke, former director Utah Adult Probation & Parole

Lorie Fowlke, attorney, former state legislator and Judiciary Committee Chair

INTERNET SOURCE: https://utahpolicy.com/politics/62557-guest-opinion-dont-get-rid-of-the-death-penalty

https://vk.com/wall-184585082_421

A statement was issued Wednesday by the Chief of Criminal Appeals at the Attorney General Office, Tom Bunker. He said while the office is sensitive to the frustration and pain of families like Sharon Weeks,

"The office strongly feels that a punishment needs to be in place for the worst of the worst violent criminals--as in the Lafferty case."

"The Attorney General’s office fully acknowledges and is sensitive to the frustration and pain families like Sharon Weeks feel at the decades-long delay in carrying out death sentences.

However, the office strongly feels that a punishment needs to be in place for the worst of the worst violent criminals—as in the Lafferty case. A severe sentence must exist to set a standard for severity in our criminal justice system.

Repealing the death penalty won’t eradicate prolonged and repetitive litigation. The review process is the same in all cases, and there are many non-death cases where the convicted persons file endless petitions for review.

Worse, repealing the death penalty will add many years of delay to the existing cases, exacerbating the pain their family members are suffering. And there will be little savings on the other end—Utah hasn’t imposed a death sentence in more than 14 years.”

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=399220442008129&id=100057605302283

https://kutv.com/news/local/family-of-slain-lafferty-victims-advocates-for-elimination-of-utahs-death-penalty

Please contact those in Utah Senate:

Don Ipson, 29 District Utah Senate

https://house.utah.gov/rep/IPSONDL/

Casey Snider

https://house.utah.gov/rep/SNIDEC/

Dan Johnson

https://house.utah.gov/rep/JOHNSDN/

Paul Ray

https://house.utah.gov/rep/RAYP/

Brad Wilson

https://house.utah.gov/meet-speaker-brad-wilson/

Evan Vickers

https://senate.utah.gov/sen/VICKEEJ/

Mike Schulz

https://house.utah.gov/rep/SCHULM/

RELATED LINKS:

“I think that you have to look at what's the penalty. We as a society have said that certain crimes, heinous crimes such as the murder of somebody, [are punished by death], I would like to actually increase the death penalty to apply to aggravated sexual assault of a child.... There are certain things that I think you are not going to rehabilitate somebody, you're going to stick them in a correctional facility for the rest of their lives. You are going to put guards in danger sometimes trying to deal with these people. I think that the proper thing to do is to permanently terminate this person, remove them from society permanently."

- Paul Ray, Utah House of Representatives

http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2022/02/save-death-penalty-in-utah-2022.html

Parole Watch {Utah}:

1a. Police officer seeks changes in the Utah Board of Pardons

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=236013708614626&id=101692122046786

https://ksltv.com/478772/police-officer-seeks-changes-in-the-utah-board-of-pardons/

Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3350621811720081/posts/4568996176549299/

1b. Utah officer who survived murder attempt wants parole board accountability

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=366960071900833&id=100057605302283

https://kutv.com/news/2news-investigates/utah-officer-who-survived-murder-attempt-wants-parole-board-accountability

Pro Death Penalty Quotes {Utah}:

1. Local lawmakers support capital punishment in Utah

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=241763991372931&id=101692122046786

https://www.cachevalleydaily.com/news/archive/2021/02/05/local-lawmakers-support-capital-punishment-in-utah/

2. Ex-deputy Utah County attorney chides efforts to abolish death penalty

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=375405637722943&id=100057605302283

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/2021/dec/29/ex-deputy-utah-county-attorney-chides-efforts-to-abolish-death-penalty/

3. Proposed bill would prohibit Utah from seeking death penalty

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=255838783298785&id=101692122046786

https://kjzz.com/news/utah-legislators-propose-new-bill-aiming-to-remove-death-penalty

4a. Another Utah Senator, Republican Don Ipson, said that, while he believes the death penalty as it stands is broken, he doesn’t want to “take tools out of the prosecutor’s toolbox.”

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=259712009578129&id=101692122046786

https://thecrimereport.org/2022/01/19/will-utah-scrap-the-death-penalty/

4b. ‘We want to hear from the people’: Southern Utah legislators sound off on how constituents can be heard

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=259712976244699&id=101692122046786

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2022/01/14/mgk-we-want-to-hear-from-the-people-southern-utah-legislators-sound-off-on-how-constituents-can-be-heard/

Last week, Utah County Attorney David Leavitt was accused of inappropriately dismissing a stalking charge against a campaign donor who also served an LDS mission with Leavitt’s brother.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=255839676632029&id=101692122046786

https://www.fox13now.com/news/fox-13-investigates/fox-13-investigates-utah-county-attorney-accused-of-urging-staff-to-drop-charges-against-his-handyman

Execution of Pedophile {1996 Event} {Utah}:

John Albert Taylor (June 6, 1959 – January 26, 1996)

PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/Samurai-Police-1109-101692122046786/photos/262087989340531

https://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2013/01/utah-firing-squad-john-albert-taylor.html

Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3350621811720081/posts/4761911680591080/

Troy Michael Kell (born June 13, 1968) is an inmate on death row in Utah. Troy Kell was sentenced to life in prison by the State of Nevada for the 1986 murder of James "Cotton" Kelly. Shortly after his conviction he was transferred to the Utah State Prison as part of a prisoner exchange program. On July 6, 1994, Troy Kell attacked and killed inmate Lonnie Blackmon at the Utah Department of Corrections Gunnison facility, stabbing Blackmon a total of 67 times while his associate, Eric Daniels, held Blackmon down. Kell was sentenced to death by firing squad for his part in the murder. Once in prison, Kell became a white supremacist gang leader. Prior to the attack on Blackmon, Kell had been involved in race-related altercations with several black inmates, including Blackmon. The murder was captured on the prison security closed-circuit TV camera.

PHOTO: https://www.facebook.com/Samurai-Police-1109-101692122046786/photos/138403808375617

https://soldierexecutionerprolifer2008.blogspot.com/2013/07/white-supremacist-prison-killer-troy.html

VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/101692122046786/videos/4174524762630499

https://vk.com/video-184585082_456239035

OTHER LINKS:

Pro Death Penalty Column:

Time to bring back the death penalty? | Rebecca Jane column. In 2016 for my legal dissertation I delved into the world of the ‘death penalty’. More importantly, should we bring it back, or is it right to not have it here in the UK?

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2080470448770982&id=1299628893521812

https://www.burnleyexpress.net/news/opinion/columnists/time-to-bring-back-the-death-penalty-rebecca-jane-column-3409693

Columnist dead wrong on death penalty – Dudley Sharp

https://vk.com/wall-184585082_326

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2086497884834905&id=1299628893521812

https://www.columbiamissourian.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/columnist-dead-wrong-on-death-penalty/article_09fb7240-2cfb-11ec-8db1-7bc056897af5.html

Blog: http://victimsfamiliesforthedeathpenalty.blogspot.com/2021/10/yoweri-museveni-prefers-death-penalty.html

SARAH VINE: The case of morgue predator David Fuller was so evil that it's changed my mind about the death penalty

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2105070439644316&id=1299628893521812

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10173199/SARAH-VINE-David-Fuller-evil-changed-mind-death-penalty.html

Capital Punishment Still Serves Its Purpose. Don't Abolish It | Opinion

Josh Hammer , Newsweek opinion editor

https://vk.com/wall-184585082_370

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2117932431691450&id=1299628893521812

https://www.newsweek.com/capital-punishment-still-serves-its-purpose-dont-abolish-it-opinion-1651060

Inventor of 3D-printed coffin-like 'suicide capsules' reveals plans to create a body implant for people with dementia that would KILL its user if they forget to deactivate it

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=242833844599279&id=101692122046786

https://www.facebook.com/DailyMailAust/posts/3466334643601581

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10339157/Inventor-suicide-pod-plans-create-lethal-body-implant.html

LETTER: Death penalty drug controversy

A headline on the Dec. 17 Review-Journal front page read, “Doctor unsure on execution drug mix.” For the people who are concerned about the drug mix that is given to death row inmates: They should look into the drugs that eight states use for euthanasia. If it’s good enough for grandma, it’s good enough for a murderer.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=245192564363407&id=101692122046786

https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/letters/letter-death-penalty-drug-controversy-2501588/

VK: https://vk.com/wall-184585082_405

Letter: No option but to bring back the death penalty By John Anson

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=244120567803940&id=101692122046786

https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/19805969.letter-no-option-bring-back-death-penalty/

VK: https://vk.com/wall-184585082_402

Vigilante {UK}:

Mum whose dead daughter was raped by man in mortuary went to police station with knife to kill him

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2109924739158886&id=1299628893521812

https://www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/mum-whose-dead-daughter-raped-22089516

https://vk.com/wall-184585082_340

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3350621811720081/permalink/4506955096086741

Why child killers should now face death penalty following Star Hobson tragedy in Keighley – Yorkshire Post Letters

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4899110663480367&id=105048709553277

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/letters/why-child-killers-should-now-face-death-penalty-following-star-hobson-tragedy-in-keighley-yorkshire-post-letters-3519432

VK Link: https://vk.com/wall-184585082_409

Death penalty for dealers

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=253209186895078&id=101692122046786

https://www.castanet.net/news/Letters/356544/Death-penalty-for-dealers

Guns & Bibles:

Examples of Defensive Gun Use at End of 2021

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=256618746554122&id=101692122046786

https://www.facebook.com/heritagefoundation/posts/299700118865377

https://www.heritage.org/firearms/commentary/14-examples-defensive-gun-use-end-2021

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