By Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
Published Thursday, September 24, 2009
TALLAHASSEE — Citing "mistakes" by the Florida Parole Commission, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink tried Thursday to revoke the unauthorized restoration of civil rights to 13 people, including a man who raped a minor.
But her colleagues on the state Board of Clemency, including Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum, Sink's opponent in the 2010 governor's race, opted for a more deliberative approach and agreed to consider the cases at their next meeting in December.
State auditors uncovered the 13 cases last week in a report that faulted the Parole Commission for lapses in processing civil rights restoration requests.
"We probably ought to rescind those rights that were awarded," Sink said. In addition to a case of statutory rape that was not eligible for automatic restoration under the new rules, she said two other cases involved aggravated battery and that four felons failed to make financial restitution to their victims.
"We should look at them," McCollum agreed. "I don't think a decision needs to be made today, but it needs to be looked at." Added Crist: "I agree."
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, the fourth clemency board member, said the 13 cases were "an accident" and that he "would feel bad" if people had their civil rights stripped away a second time, especially if they had not committed new crimes upon release from prison.
The identities of the 13 felons at issue are unknown, even though they are eligible to vote, run for office or serve on a jury.
Most clemency records are confidential under state law, but the governor has the discretion to release records.
Crist, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, said he had no plans to release the records. "I want to take the opportunity, as I said, I think the whole board wants to review the facts and wants to have the chance to be briefed additionally by staff, in my case by my general counsel, and make appropriate action."
The audit also said about 28,000 cases were delayed for more than two years because they were for felons whose crimes were in other states or in federal courts and unlike most civil rights petitions were not channeled through the Florida prison system.
Sink questioned Parole Commission Chairman Fred Dunphy after some petitioners at Thursday's public hearing said it took them six years to receive a pardon for their past crimes.
Dunphy said pardon investigations are the most complex and time-consuming. He defended his agency's performance, noting it has processed more than 200,000 cases in the 21/2 years since Crist spearheaded a streamlined system for felons to get their civil rights restored.
"This was a brand-new procedure, so we were kind of building as we went along," Dunphy said.
Noting that the 13 flagged cases out of a group of 203 represented a 6 percent failure rate, he said: "You might say the glass is 94 percent full."
Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.
Rabu, 07 Oktober 2009
Florida death-row inmate asks for new hearing on blood evidence
David Eugene Johnston alleges several witnesses gave false testimony at trial
Rene Stutzman
Sentinel Staff Writer
12:15 PM EDT, September 29, 2009
Attorneys for Orange County death-row inmate David Eugene Johnston today asked the Florida Supreme Court to order a new hearing about blood evidence.
Johnston, 49, was convicted of strangling and stabbing 84-year-old Mary Hammond in her Orlando home in 1983.
The governor signed Johnston's death warrant in April, setting off a new round of legal briefs. Today's filings are the latest.
After DNA tests this summer on crime scene evidence, Orange County Circuit Judge Bob Wattles concluded the results did not exonerate Johnston.
But in pleadings filed today, defense attorney D. Todd Doss argued that Wattles made a key mistake. Doss asked the Florida Supreme Court to order Wattles to hold a new evidentiary hearing.
According to Doss, the new tests proved that several state witnesses gave false testimony at Johnston's trial.
They told jurors that several pieces of clothing Johnston was wearing appeared to have blood on them – presumably from the victim.
But the new tests show that lab technicians could not find blood on many of those items, including Johnston's shoes, socks and shirt.
The Florida attorney general's office was working Tuesday on a brief, responding to the new issues raised by Doss.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
Rene Stutzman
Sentinel Staff Writer
12:15 PM EDT, September 29, 2009
Attorneys for Orange County death-row inmate David Eugene Johnston today asked the Florida Supreme Court to order a new hearing about blood evidence.
Johnston, 49, was convicted of strangling and stabbing 84-year-old Mary Hammond in her Orlando home in 1983.
The governor signed Johnston's death warrant in April, setting off a new round of legal briefs. Today's filings are the latest.
After DNA tests this summer on crime scene evidence, Orange County Circuit Judge Bob Wattles concluded the results did not exonerate Johnston.
But in pleadings filed today, defense attorney D. Todd Doss argued that Wattles made a key mistake. Doss asked the Florida Supreme Court to order Wattles to hold a new evidentiary hearing.
According to Doss, the new tests proved that several state witnesses gave false testimony at Johnston's trial.
They told jurors that several pieces of clothing Johnston was wearing appeared to have blood on them – presumably from the victim.
But the new tests show that lab technicians could not find blood on many of those items, including Johnston's shoes, socks and shirt.
The Florida attorney general's office was working Tuesday on a brief, responding to the new issues raised by Doss.
Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel
The High Cost of the Death Penalty
The New York Times published an interesting editorial yesterday on the financial costs of death row. There are many reasons I can think of to abolish the death penalty (including that more than 135 people in the country have been exonerated from death row), but perhaps the millions of taxpayers’ dollars spent on executions will be the one to convince you.
The information in the article comes from the Death Penalty Information Center, which has conducted tons of research on the death penalty. One of the reasons that death row is so expensive is the appeals process, which can take up to 20 years or more. There are often several cases that go along with the death penalty, and each case requires new witnesses and a new jury that undergoes a careful selection process. Money is also spent on higher security of death row inmates. These costs, while all very expensive, vary from state to state.
According to the organization, keeping inmates on death row in Florida costs taxpayers $51 million a year more than holding them for life without parole. North Carolina has put 43 people to death since 1976 at $2.16 million per execution. The eventual cost to taxpayers in Maryland for pursuing capital cases between 1978 and 1999 is estimated to be $186 million for five executions.
California’s cost for death row is the most expensive of all at $114 million more than a life sentence. Each Cali execution costs about $250 million. California also has the largest number of inmates on death row in the U.S.
Why spend so much money on executing people, when that money could be spent on improving our law enforcement or put back into the community toward crime prevention? And especially towards the prevention of wrongful incarceration. It’s somewhat sad for me to think about Cameron Todd Willingham and how millions of dollars were spent to kill him…
Related posts:
Update on Colorado’s death penalty abolition movement Bad news on the fight in Colorado to abolish the death penalty. As you might recall, there had been a...
More developments on the death penalty Last week, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico signed HR 285 to abolish the death penalty in that state. Here...
Amid scramble to cut costs, states look at killing the death penalty As the economy continues to slump, states are still looking for ways to tighten their belts. The St. Petersburg Times...
A shift away from the death penalty? Time magazine has this post on the waning number of executions and death sentences in America. The number is down...
Florida marks 30 years since death penalty’s return An Associated Press article with that title runs in the Miami Herald today. This is how it ends: An American...
LA Times against the death penalty I wrote before about how the death sentence in Florida, according to the Orlando Sentinel, “might as well be a...
The information in the article comes from the Death Penalty Information Center, which has conducted tons of research on the death penalty. One of the reasons that death row is so expensive is the appeals process, which can take up to 20 years or more. There are often several cases that go along with the death penalty, and each case requires new witnesses and a new jury that undergoes a careful selection process. Money is also spent on higher security of death row inmates. These costs, while all very expensive, vary from state to state.
According to the organization, keeping inmates on death row in Florida costs taxpayers $51 million a year more than holding them for life without parole. North Carolina has put 43 people to death since 1976 at $2.16 million per execution. The eventual cost to taxpayers in Maryland for pursuing capital cases between 1978 and 1999 is estimated to be $186 million for five executions.
California’s cost for death row is the most expensive of all at $114 million more than a life sentence. Each Cali execution costs about $250 million. California also has the largest number of inmates on death row in the U.S.
Why spend so much money on executing people, when that money could be spent on improving our law enforcement or put back into the community toward crime prevention? And especially towards the prevention of wrongful incarceration. It’s somewhat sad for me to think about Cameron Todd Willingham and how millions of dollars were spent to kill him…
Related posts:
Update on Colorado’s death penalty abolition movement Bad news on the fight in Colorado to abolish the death penalty. As you might recall, there had been a...
More developments on the death penalty Last week, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico signed HR 285 to abolish the death penalty in that state. Here...
Amid scramble to cut costs, states look at killing the death penalty As the economy continues to slump, states are still looking for ways to tighten their belts. The St. Petersburg Times...
A shift away from the death penalty? Time magazine has this post on the waning number of executions and death sentences in America. The number is down...
Florida marks 30 years since death penalty’s return An Associated Press article with that title runs in the Miami Herald today. This is how it ends: An American...
LA Times against the death penalty I wrote before about how the death sentence in Florida, according to the Orlando Sentinel, “might as well be a...
Out of prison, Anthony Caravella gets offers of help -- including for tattoo removal
Paula McMahon
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
4:12 PM EDT, September 15, 2009
Anthony Caravella is being offered help by people wanting to ease his way back into society after 26 years in prison.
One of the most unusual proposals came from a laser tattoo removal business that offered to get rid of two prison tattoos of tears on Caravella's face after staff read he regretted having gotten the memorials to his dead mom and sister.
"He needs a new fresh start and we thought maybe we could help," said Angie Amaro, a manager at Lasergenex Tattoo Removal Center in Pembroke Pines. She estimated the value of the removal at $1,800.
"That'd be nice," said Caravella, 41, of Davie, who was released from prison last Thursday after a lab test eliminated him as the source of DNA in a 1983 rape and murder in Miramar. He hopes to be formally exonerated soon.
More than a dozen readers have contacted the Sun Sentinel to offer Caravella a job, cash, clothing, restaurant and store gift cards.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
4:12 PM EDT, September 15, 2009
Anthony Caravella is being offered help by people wanting to ease his way back into society after 26 years in prison.
One of the most unusual proposals came from a laser tattoo removal business that offered to get rid of two prison tattoos of tears on Caravella's face after staff read he regretted having gotten the memorials to his dead mom and sister.
"He needs a new fresh start and we thought maybe we could help," said Angie Amaro, a manager at Lasergenex Tattoo Removal Center in Pembroke Pines. She estimated the value of the removal at $1,800.
"That'd be nice," said Caravella, 41, of Davie, who was released from prison last Thursday after a lab test eliminated him as the source of DNA in a 1983 rape and murder in Miramar. He hopes to be formally exonerated soon.
More than a dozen readers have contacted the Sun Sentinel to offer Caravella a job, cash, clothing, restaurant and store gift cards.
South Florida opens arms for Caravella
THE ISSUE: Caravella finds support.
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
September 22, 2009
If you have started to lose faith in your fellow man, if you have witnessed too much uncivil behavior lately, the saga of Anthony Caravella should give you a lift.
It was good enough that the 41-year-old Davie man got released this month from prison last week after a DNA test cast grave doubt on his conviction — and life sentence — for a rape and murder in Miramar in 1983.
But now South Floridians have been coming forth with offers to help Caravella try to start rebuilding his life after spending 26 years in prison for what appears to be a horrible crime he did not commit.
People who surely have their own economic problems these days have come forth to offer cash, clothing, shoes, gift cards, jobs, even removal of the tattoos that are memorials to his dead mother and sister. Other strangers have come forward with offers of Miami Dolphins gear and tickets for him and McDonald's gift certificates — even trips to Disney World.
Just as heartwarming have been the e-mails and calls from people in the area offering support, saying that Caravella's story — he has an IQ of 67, and his defense has claimed his confession was coerced and beaten out of him — has brought them to tears. Theyare happy that justice has seemingly prevailed, in part through the years-long persistence of his attorney, Chief Assistant Public Defender Diane Cuddihy, and Sun Sentinel reporter Paula McMahon.
The legal battle is not yet officially over, although a request has been filed asking a Broward judge to exonerate Caravella and permanently free him.
If and when that happens, it surely will take Caravella a while to get eased back into society. But thankfully, it appears that society is lot more welcoming to him than he might have imagined.
BOTTOM LINE: Many strangers offering help.
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
September 22, 2009
If you have started to lose faith in your fellow man, if you have witnessed too much uncivil behavior lately, the saga of Anthony Caravella should give you a lift.
It was good enough that the 41-year-old Davie man got released this month from prison last week after a DNA test cast grave doubt on his conviction — and life sentence — for a rape and murder in Miramar in 1983.
But now South Floridians have been coming forth with offers to help Caravella try to start rebuilding his life after spending 26 years in prison for what appears to be a horrible crime he did not commit.
People who surely have their own economic problems these days have come forth to offer cash, clothing, shoes, gift cards, jobs, even removal of the tattoos that are memorials to his dead mother and sister. Other strangers have come forward with offers of Miami Dolphins gear and tickets for him and McDonald's gift certificates — even trips to Disney World.
Just as heartwarming have been the e-mails and calls from people in the area offering support, saying that Caravella's story — he has an IQ of 67, and his defense has claimed his confession was coerced and beaten out of him — has brought them to tears. Theyare happy that justice has seemingly prevailed, in part through the years-long persistence of his attorney, Chief Assistant Public Defender Diane Cuddihy, and Sun Sentinel reporter Paula McMahon.
The legal battle is not yet officially over, although a request has been filed asking a Broward judge to exonerate Caravella and permanently free him.
If and when that happens, it surely will take Caravella a while to get eased back into society. But thankfully, it appears that society is lot more welcoming to him than he might have imagined.
BOTTOM LINE: Many strangers offering help.
Convicted Stalker Gets Life Sentence
Woman Paralyzed After Bullet Pierced Spinal Cord
POSTED: Friday, October 2, 2009
UPDATED: 1:16 pm EDT October 2, 2009
Allan Sinclair
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A man convicted of conspiring to rape, kidnap and kill a Broward County woman has been sentenced to life in prison.
Allan Sinclair showed no emotion as Judge Marc Gold decided the prison term."I take no pleasure in doing this, but I have no problem with it," Gold said. "I sentence you to life in prison."
The victim, Christine Kent, wept in relief after the judge made the announcement.
"I have closure now, and for that I am grateful," Kent told Local 10's Terrell Forney.
By law, Sinclair could not have been sentenced to a prison term of less than 25 years.
The crime, which happened in August 2007, left Kent permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Prosecutors said that Sinclair unexpectedly showed up at the home of his friend, Kent, a model and caretaker. Kent said that in the past, Sinclair had tried to be her boyfriend but she denied his advances.
"I hadn't seen him for three years," Kent told Local 10's Rob Schmitt. "He showed up out of the blue. He said he was in the area and thought he'd stop by and say hello."
But according to police, Sinclair went to Kent's home to kidnap, rape and kill her. When he pulled out a gun, Kent tried running out her front door, investigators said.
Sinclair opened fire, hitting Kent in the right foot and spinal cord, paralyzing her, prosecutors said. She has been in a wheelchair ever since.
After the shooting, Sinclair walked outside, investigators said, picked up the bullet casings, got into his SUV and ran over Kent, crushing her abdomen before driving away.
Neighbors said they were too frightened by the gunfire to go outside. A few minutes later, Sinclair, who thought Kent was dead, returned to the woman's home to try to hide her body. He dragged her behind the hedges in the yard and left, according to investigators.
Kent, however, survived the attack and was hospitalized for months.
Prosecutors said they believe Sinclair stalked the woman at her Oakland Park home before carrying out the attack.
Sinclair was convicted of attempted first-degree murder last January.
"I'm going to tell the judge that I believe justice should be served. I have been sentenced to a life in a wheelchair, of pain and suffering. He should be sentenced to life behind bars," Kent said Thursday.
At the sentencing hearing, Sinclair offered an apology to the woman he left for dead.
"I just want to say I'm sorry," said Sinclair. "I am guilty. I hope this does bring you the closure you need."
Kent, who now lives off of government disability, said she needs money for a wheelchair-accessible handicap van so she can leave her home.
Anyone who would like to make a donation to her cause can mail a check to:
NTAF
150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120
Radnor, PA 19087
Checks should be made payable to NTAF Southeast Spinal Cord Injury Fund. In the "memo" line write "In honor of Christine Kent."
POSTED: Friday, October 2, 2009
UPDATED: 1:16 pm EDT October 2, 2009
Allan Sinclair
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A man convicted of conspiring to rape, kidnap and kill a Broward County woman has been sentenced to life in prison.
Allan Sinclair showed no emotion as Judge Marc Gold decided the prison term."I take no pleasure in doing this, but I have no problem with it," Gold said. "I sentence you to life in prison."
The victim, Christine Kent, wept in relief after the judge made the announcement.
"I have closure now, and for that I am grateful," Kent told Local 10's Terrell Forney.
By law, Sinclair could not have been sentenced to a prison term of less than 25 years.
The crime, which happened in August 2007, left Kent permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
Prosecutors said that Sinclair unexpectedly showed up at the home of his friend, Kent, a model and caretaker. Kent said that in the past, Sinclair had tried to be her boyfriend but she denied his advances.
"I hadn't seen him for three years," Kent told Local 10's Rob Schmitt. "He showed up out of the blue. He said he was in the area and thought he'd stop by and say hello."
But according to police, Sinclair went to Kent's home to kidnap, rape and kill her. When he pulled out a gun, Kent tried running out her front door, investigators said.
Sinclair opened fire, hitting Kent in the right foot and spinal cord, paralyzing her, prosecutors said. She has been in a wheelchair ever since.
After the shooting, Sinclair walked outside, investigators said, picked up the bullet casings, got into his SUV and ran over Kent, crushing her abdomen before driving away.
Neighbors said they were too frightened by the gunfire to go outside. A few minutes later, Sinclair, who thought Kent was dead, returned to the woman's home to try to hide her body. He dragged her behind the hedges in the yard and left, according to investigators.
Kent, however, survived the attack and was hospitalized for months.
Prosecutors said they believe Sinclair stalked the woman at her Oakland Park home before carrying out the attack.
Sinclair was convicted of attempted first-degree murder last January.
"I'm going to tell the judge that I believe justice should be served. I have been sentenced to a life in a wheelchair, of pain and suffering. He should be sentenced to life behind bars," Kent said Thursday.
At the sentencing hearing, Sinclair offered an apology to the woman he left for dead.
"I just want to say I'm sorry," said Sinclair. "I am guilty. I hope this does bring you the closure you need."
Kent, who now lives off of government disability, said she needs money for a wheelchair-accessible handicap van so she can leave her home.
Anyone who would like to make a donation to her cause can mail a check to:
NTAF
150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Suite F-120
Radnor, PA 19087
Checks should be made payable to NTAF Southeast Spinal Cord Injury Fund. In the "memo" line write "In honor of Christine Kent."
Dogs sniff out wrong suspect; scent lineups questioned
VICTORIA, Texas (CNN) -- The interrogation room inside the Victoria County Sheriff's Office is sterile and cold. There's a table in the middle, a one-way mirror and a hidden video camera that lets investigators watch suspects.
Michael Buchanek knows the room well. He was part of countless investigations. Buchanek spent more than 25 years with the Sheriff's Office as a commander of operations.
But on March 16, 2006, Buchanek found himself sitting in the interrogation room. This time, he was on the other side of the table. The day before, his neighbor and friend, Sally Blackwell, was found strangled to death with a rope. Her body was left in a field five miles from her home.
Buchanek sat in the interrogation room with three homicide investigators, former brothers on the force. But the investigators were no longer friends. Buchanek was now the prime suspect in Blackwell's murder.
"They told me they knew I did it and that I was going to spend the rest of my life on death row," Buchanek told CNN.
The story of how a veteran law enforcement officer became a murder suspect is at the heart of a controversy over an investigative forensic tool called dog-scent lineups. 
The Innocence Project of Texas calls the practice "junk science that's being used by prosecutors and judges to convict people." The nonprofit group, which is dedicated to discovering and overturning wrongful convictions, wants state governments to ban the use of dog-scent lineups. It says an unknown number of people have been wrongly accused or convicted from the dog-scent lineups.
Supporters say dog-scent lineups are a powerful crime-fighting tool helping investigators crack cases across the country.
Buchanek was identified as a murder suspect, not because of crime-scene evidence but because of two bloodhounds, "Jag" and "James Bond."
The dogs belong to Fort Bend County Sheriff's Deputy Keith Pikett. He and his team of dogs have become celebrities in Texas law enforcement circles for their work on hundreds of cases across the state.
In Buchanek's case, homicide detectives in this county southwest of Houston had Pikett's bloodhounds sniff crime-scene evidence, such as the rope used to strangle the victim. The dogs matched the scent to Buchanek.
Don't Miss
Despite repeated denials, Buchanek lived under a cloud of suspicion for five months. His former Sheriff's Office colleagues believed the dogs over him and his pleas of innocence. But the dogs were wrong.
DNA evidence implicated another man, who pleaded guilty to the murder.
"It's left me with a pretty bad taste for law enforcement," Buchanek said. "It's pretty much ruined my life altogether."
Buchanek has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Pikett, the dog handler in Fort Bend County, as well as the Victoria Sheriff's Office and the Victoria Police Department. Buchanek is seeking unspecified damages claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was falsely accused and that he suffered mental anguish as a result.
Pikett and his dogs have assisted in hundreds of investigations for law enforcement agencies across Texas. Pikett refused CNN's interview requests, but his attorney says Pikett is on the "cutting edge" of collecting dog-scent forensic evidence.
Buchanek accuses the investigators, including Pikett, of "leading" the dogs to his home because Buchanek knew the murder victim through work and church.
Pikett's attorney denies this. "The dogs were pulling him (Pikett)," said Randall Morse, the assistant county attorney in Fort Bend County who is representing the dog handler. "Pikett did not lead the dogs. The trail was valid."
Morse said Pikett is a respected officer of the law who has helped developed protocols for dog-scent lineups over the last two decades. "He's been accused 20 different ways of cheating; critics are trying to throw up smoke to get defendants off," Morse said.
Victoria County Sheriff T. Micheal O'Connor said dog-scent lineups, like other investigative aids, are a "vital tool in working toward a determination of a case." He opposes banning the technique.
"We will use them again if it merits this type of service," he said. "I feel they're credible. I've watched those dogs. I looked on in absolute amazement."
As for Buchanek's case, he said," We did the right thing, and the wrong person was not convicted."
Dog-scent lineups are similar to visual lineups; but instead of a witness picking a suspect from a group of people, bloodhounds walk along a line of tin cans containing individual scents from possible suspects.
Investigators get the scents from rubbing a gauze pad on someone's body or clothes, and that gauze pad is then placed in a tin can. The dog handler gives the bloodhound the scent they're looking for, and then the handler and animal walk down the line.
If the dog matches the scent, dog handlers say the animal will give a "sign," which is usually stopping at the can or barking.
The question over dog-scent lineups isn't isolated to Texas. The state attorney in Brevard and Seminole counties in Florida is reviewing 15 to 17 cases dating back to the 1980s. The cases involved forensic evidence provided by one dog handler and his bloodhounds. The Florida Supreme Court says Juan Ramos was wrongfully convicted of murder based on a dog-scent lineup.
Critics of dog-scent lineups say the problem is that dog handlers aren't certified or regulated and that there isn't a system in place to check a bloodhound's track record.
Steve Nicely is a professional dog trainer in Austin, Texas. He's trained police dogs for 30 years and is also an expert witness in Buchanek's case. Nicely argues there needs to be a system in place that tracks a dog's accuracy rate.
"There are no national standards," Nicely said. "Our standards are so lacking, it's pathetic. We should be ashamed of ourselves."Source(edition.cnn.com)
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