Death penalty sought for man in family slain case

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NAPLES, Fla. -- Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a southwest Florida man accused of cutting the throats of his wife and five children.

A state attorney's office spokeswoman said paperwork was filed Thursday morning declaring prosecutors' intentions in the case against 33-year-old Mesac Damas.

Damas is charged with killing his 32-year-old wife, Guerline, and their children who ranged in age from 19 months to 9 years old. Their bodies were discovered Sept. 19 in the family's Naples town house.

Damas has pleaded not guilty, although when he was arrested in his native Haiti he admitted his guilt to a reporter and said he wanted to be executed. Later he told investigators that "bad spirits" made him do it.

Michael King gets death penalty

By Todd Ruger

Published: Friday, December 4, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.

Circuit Judge Deno Economou this afternoon sentenced Michael King to die for the killing of Denise Amber Lee after a horrifying abduction and rape.

The judge sat behind the bench and read his written ruling, about 45 pages that detailed how he weighed all the aggravating and mitigating factors that went into his decision.

In the end, Economou declared that the aggravating factors that support a death sentence outweighed the mitigating factors that could have led to a sentence of life in prison. The judge considered King’s low IQ, a past brain injury while sledding as a child, and the fact he was depressed due to a relationship break-up and a foreclosure on his home.

But the judge ultimately placed more weight on the heinous, premeditated nature of the crime, that Lee was kidnapped, and that she was murdered during the course of other felonies including rape.

In the courtroom were Lee’s family, the law enforcement officers that helped catch King and half of the jurors who convicted King of first-degree murder in August.

Economou delivered his sentence at 2:45 p.m.

He paid special attention to Denise Lee’s screams for help and pleadings for her life on a 911 recording during the abduction: “I just want to see my family. I just want to see my family again, please,” she said in a taped 911 call during her abduction.

The story of Lee’s abduction captured attention of the community, from the frantic search for her that night to the missed chances to save her, including a mishandled 911 call.

The daughter of a Charlotte County sheriff’s deputy, Lee was on the back lanai in January 2008, cutting her son’s hair, when King abducted her in his green Camaro. Her two children were left home alone.

King, a stranger to Lee, bound her with duct tape and repeatedly raped her at his home. He eventually shot Lee dead at point-blank range and buried her in a shallow grave in undeveloped section of North Port.

No death penalty for Wesley Williams // Read the order

S. BRADY CALHOUN / News Herald Writer
2009-12-03 10:14:09

MARIANNA – Judge William Wright has thrown out the possibility of a death sentence for Wesley Williams. Wright's ruling on the death penalty was handed down Thursday morning and leaves only one option left — life in prison without the possibility of probation.

Williams was convicted Oct. 2 of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Danielle Baker, 19, and three of her children, Amad, 3, Amarion, 1, and Aaron, 3 weeks. Baker was shot to death inside her Cottondale Village apartment on March 17, 2005. The three boys suffocated after being bound with duct tape.

Williams fathered two of the boys.

His sentencing date has not yet been scheduled according to the Jackson County Clerk of Courts.

In his ruling Wright said the prosecution proved that Williams had been present at the scene of the murder but had not proved the extent of his culpability in the crime. The sentence of death requires that "the defendant's level of participation must be directly established to a very high level," Wright wrote.

“Judge Wright obviously has done an exceptional job in analyzing the case that was presented to him and the law that applies to that case. I think the judge recognized that (assistant state attorney) Larry Basford did an excellent job of presenting every bit of evidence,” said State Attorney Glenn Hess.

Hess agreed that prosecutors proved that Williams was present at the scene of the murder and that there was another, unknown person, also at the scene.

“The jury may well have found in their deliberations that Mr. Williams was a principal but not the main actor,” Hess said, he added that his office has no intention of appealing the death penalty ruling.

Williams’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Walter Smith, said that his client won a battle but may have lost the war. Smith said he had hoped the case would go before Florida’s Supreme Court where it had a better chance of being overturned. The case will now go to Florida First District Court of Appeals.

At trial Smith tried to prove that Williams was not present during the murder and that others were responsible for the slayings.

Williams was linked to the crimes by a single limb hair found on the tape used to bind Amarion that was matched to him by mitochondrial DNA, a less unique form of DNA that is shared by Williams’ relatives and others. Two sets of nuclear DNA, which is exclusive to an individual, from unknown men were found on the tape as well.

Investigators also found that Williams’ cell phone made a call from the Marianna area shortly before the killings, at a time when Williams says he was home in Sneads. Three witnesses said Williams told them he was connected to the crime.

Donald Allen, a longtime friend of Williams’, said Williams confessed to doing the killings himself. Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen and Lt. Joe Smiley said Williams told them he was present for the killings but didn’t participate.

“You can tell the judge is really conflicted by the evidence and the applicability of the death penalty,” Smith said. “I have to assume that Judge Wright has a reasonable doubt about his guilt.”

Supreme Court cites combat stress in reversing death penalty

The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a death sentence for a decorated
veteran who fought on the front lines of the Korean War, ruling for the
first time that combat stress must be considered by a jury before it hands
down the harshest punishment.

"Our nation has a long tradition of according leniency to veterans in
recognition of their service, especially for those who fought on the front
lines as [George] Porter did," the justices said in a unanimous, unsigned
opinion.

Porter, 76, was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1986 shooting and
killing his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend during a drunken rage in
Melbourne, Fla. But his jury was never told, and his appointed lawyer did
not know, of his valiant military service more than 3 decades earlier.

In the past, the high court has set aside just a few death sentences
because a defense lawyer failed to tell jurors of crucial "mitigating
evidence" that would likely have persuaded them to spare his life.

Monday's decision appears to be the first in which the court cited
"post-traumatic stress disorder" from military combat as the kind of
crucial evidence that calls for leniency. It comes as thousands of U.S.
soldiers are being treated for the disorder from the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

Both the Florida Supreme Court and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in Atlanta upheld Porter's death sentence, despite his overlooked military
record, but the high court said those decisions were mistaken.

"George Porter is a veteran who was both wounded and decorated for his
active participation in two major engagements during the Korean War. His
combat service unfortunately left him a traumatized, changed man," the
justices said.

The court's opinion put defense lawyers in capital cases on notice that
they have a duty to look into their client's background and to tell jurors
about any mitigating evidence that would call for leniency.

In Porter's case, his appointed lawyer testified later that he had only
one short meeting with his client before the trial and that he did not
meet with Porter's family and was unaware of his military record.

This evidence came to light only after his trial and conviction in the
Florida state courts. When his case was appealed in the federal courts, a
new lawyer contacted his family and looked into his background and found
new witnesses to testify for him, including his company commander from
Korea.

To escape from what the court called a "horrible family life," which
included his father trying to shoot him, Porter had enlisted in the Army
at age 17. He was sent to fight on the front lines in Korea. Twice his
unit was left to hold back charging Chinese troops while the U.S. 8th Army
retreated to the south. Porter's unit fought hand-to-hand combat over five
days and nights at Kunu-ri.

Less than 3 months later, Porter's unit was cut off again from the 8th
Army and forced to fight alone against a Chinese unit at Chip'yung-ni.
Porter was wounded in both battles, and half of his unit was killed or
wounded. He was awarded 2 Purple Hearts and a Combat Infantryman Badge,
along with other decorations.

His commander, Lt. Col. Sherman Pratt, said Porter went AWOL after he
returned to the United States and never adjusted to civilian life. He
drank heavily, suffered from nightmares and was prone to violent and
impulsive behavior.

More than 30 years after his combat experience in Korea, he was charged
with shooting and killing Evelyn Williams and Walter Burrows. There was
little doubt of his guilt. Porter first decided to represent to himself,
then asked to plead guilty halfway through the trial.

That evening, he tried to commit suicide in jail.

Raiford prison psychiatrist quits over sex with patient

After improper relations with mentally ill patient, he faces losing Florida license.
BY PAUL PINKHAM

A senior psychiatrist at Florida State Prison in Raiford quit Wednesday after corrections officials were asked why he was hired even though New York revoked his medical license last year for having sex with a mentally ill patient.

Emanuel John Falcone was hired for the $188,000-a-year position in September, even after revealing his past to the person who interviewed him, prison officials said. Falcone, 52, also faces a pending recommendation, scheduled to be heard Friday, that his Florida license be revoked or suspended.

Department of Corrections Secretary Walter McNeil was unaware of any of that until the Times-Union called Tuesday with questions about why Falcone was hired, a department spokeswoman said.

“Once he learned about it, we started questioning Dr. Falcone, and he chose to resign,” said Gretl Plessinger.

She said she was unaware who else in the department knew of Falcone’s past.

A woman answering Falcone’s phone number in Fort Myers said, “I don’t think he’s going to be interested in talking to you,” before hanging up Wednesday afternoon. In his formal response to the New York Bureau of Professional Medical Conduct last year, he admitted the sexual relationship but denied ever treating the woman, who suffers from multiple personality disorder.

He was not charged with a crime.

Jennifer Druitt, executive director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, said she was surprised the prison system would hire Falcone after he lost his license in New York and faces losing it in Florida. At best, she said, he exhibited serious problems with judgment.

According to the New York bureau, the woman began seeing Falcone’s girlfriend, a licensed clinical social worker, in her Manhattan office in 2003. The patient-relationship continued after the couple married and moved to Florida in 2005. Falcone’s wife would share the patient’s information with him, the New York bureau found. The woman and Falcone began communicating by phone, and he gradually took over her treatment.

In a case summary, a panel of New York physicians wrote that Falcone was “fascinated” by her alternative identities, some of which were children. Her actual age wasn’t in any of the reports.

Their sexual relationship began in 2006 when they got together in New York, the summary said. It continued with a weekend trip that year to swanky Captiva Island, near Fort Myers.

Falcone told the bureau he never considered his interactions with the woman to be treatment or therapy. But the panel rejected that argument in permanently revoking his license in September 2008 for professional misconduct, gross and repeated incompetence and negligence and failing to maintain medical records.

“He was too selfishly motivated and lost sight of his oath,” the panel said. “... We saw no remorse, no humility, no sign that he understood the great harm that he caused despite his attempt to present a speech that was supposed to convince us otherwise.”

The bureau found his actions toward the patient “predatory” and said he knew her illness left her vulnerable.

“He eventually exploited that vulnerability for his own purpose and satisfaction,” the panel wrote.

Florida’s Health Department began investigating last December, including allegations that he didn’t notify Florida authorities about the New York revocation.

The department petitioned the Board of Medicine in April for revocation or suspension of his Florida license. State law says having a license revoked by another jurisdiction is grounds for disciplinary action by the Board of Medicine.

In October, Falcone requested a hearing at the board’s Friday meeting in Orlando. The board could take any action it chooses, from a reprimand to revocation.

Times-Union writer Jeremy Cox contributed to this report.

paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com,
(904) 359-4107

Justices Say Capital Cases Must Weigh War Trauma

By ADAM LIPTAK
WASHINGTON — A death penalty lawyer’s failure to present evidence of the trauma his client suffered in combat in the Korean War requires a new sentencing hearing, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday.

The decision makes clear that lawyers for clients facing the death penalty must present evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from military service if it is available.

The unsigned 15-page decision displayed unusual solicitude for a death-row inmate, noting that “our nation has a long tradition of according leniency to veterans in recognition of their service, especially for those who fought on the front lines.”

The defendant, George Porter Jr., was convicted in 1987 of murdering his former girlfriend, Evelyn Williams, and her boyfriend, Walter Burrows, in Melbourne, Fla., the previous year. Mr. Porter represented himself for part of his trial and then decided to plead guilty.

He turned to a court-appointed lawyer, Sam Bardwell, to represent him in the sentencing hearing. Mr. Bardwell, who had never represented a defendant in a capital sentencing proceeding, did not interview any of his client’s relatives and did not obtain any school, medical or military service records. He presented only one witness, Mr. Porter’s ex-wife.

Mr. Bardwell’s investigation, Monday’s decision said, was not “even cursory.” Mr. Bardwell has explained that his client had been fatalistic and uncooperative. He did not respond to a message seeking comment on Monday.

Mr. Bardwell’s conduct “did not reflect reasonable professional judgment,” the decision said. “Had Porter’s counsel been effective, the judge and jury would have learned,” among other things, “about Porter’s heroic military service in two of the most critical — and horrific — battles of the Korean War.”

At a 1995 state-court hearing on whether Mr. Porter was entitled to a new sentencing, his company commander testified about the “ horrifying experiences” Mr. Porter had endured, including a “fierce hand-to-hand fight with the Chinese” and a two-day battle in which his company suffered casualties of more than 50 percent.

“After his discharge,” the decision said, Mr. Porter “suffered dreadful nightmares and would attempt to climb his bedroom walls with knives at night.”

Florida state courts turned down Mr. Porter’s request for a new sentencing hearing. The state trial judge relied heavily on the fact that Mr. Porter had been absent without leave in both Korea and the United States, saying that reduced the value of Mr. Porter’s military service to “inconsequential proportions.”

A federal trial judge granted Mr. Porter a new sentencing hearing in 2007, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in Atlanta, reversed that decision, saying it would defer to the state rulings.

That was a mistake, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in Porter v. McCollum, No. 08-10537. The Florida Supreme Court had “unreasonably discounted the evidence of Porter’s childhood abuse and military service,” the decision said.

“The relevance of Porter’s extensive combat experience is not only that he served honorably under extreme hardship and gruesome conditions,” the decision said, “but also that the jury might find mitigating the intense stress and emotional toll that combat took on Porter.”

Palm Bay Killer, 82, Dies On Death Row

PALM BAY, Fla. -- The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed Monday that convicted killer William Cruse died of natural causes at age 82 on death row Sunday.
Cruse, who was convicted of shooting and killing six people, including two police officers, in 1987 was the oldest death row inmate in Florida. The April shooting rampage also injured 14 other people.

Authorities said Cruse, armed with a high-powered rifle, went into a Winn-Dixie and a Publix parking lot on Palm Bay Road and began shooting. He also took hostages inside the Winn-Dixie, authorities said.

Cruse was a Palm Bay resident and a librarian who claimed that two kids in his neighborhood were harassing and teasing him.

Among the six people Cruse killed were Palm Bay police officers Ronald Grogan and Gerald Johnson.

He was sentenced to death a year or two after the incident.

The mother of Ronald Grogan, Pat Grogan, told WESH 2's Dan Billow, "I am very happy that this day has come about. I was afraid we would die before Cruse did."