Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 8, 2006 1:20:36 GMT -5
D.A. doesn't take death cases lightly
Has Tony Rackauckas ever had an easier call when it came to a capital
case?
The D.A. announced yesterday he would seek the death penalty for Skylar
Deleon and John F. Kennedy, the 2 men accused of binding Tom and Jackie
Hawks to their yacht's anchor and throwing them overboard somewhere
between Catalina and San Clemente.
Our state's death penalty is repellant, ungodly and not in keeping with a
civilized society, but if Rackauckas applies his stated standard some
murders are "committed with such a malignant heart, such callousness, that
the only just penalty is death" well, this crime would meet that
threshold.
Let's look at the D.A.'s record. In 7 years, Rackauckas has sought the
death penalty 33 times. Juries concurred on 13 requests and voted for life
without parole in 9. The other 11 cases are pending.
After yesterday's news conference, David Brent, who heads up the
homicide-prosecution unit, estimated Rackauckas seeks the death penalty in
only about 10 to 20 % of the homicides that would qualify under California
law because of special circumstances.
Even an anti-deather like me would agree this ain't Texas.
In each case, a panel of five senior members of the D.A.'s office,
including Rackauckas, convenes to hear evidence and debates whether to ask
for the death penalty. Defense attorneys are invited to participate and at
times are persuasive. Rackauckas makes the final call.
In 1999, the newly sworn D.A. even overturned an earlier decision to seek
the death penalty against Tynickia Thompson, who later pled guilty to
murdering her lover and his 77-year-old mother and then burning down their
Lemon Heights home. When the defense asked the D.A.'s panel for a second
hearing, Rackauckas agreed that new evidence indicated the maximum
potential sentence should be reduced to life without parole.
I called Deleon's attorney, Gary Pohlson, who says he has appeared before
the panel on behalf of five clients, and the D.A. ended up seeking the
death penalty for just one of them. "They take it seriously," he said,
refuting any notion that the senior panel is a rubber stamp for whatever
deputy district attorney is trying the case.
But Pohlson didn't go to defend Deleon before the panel.
"I knew they were going to seek the death penalty no matter what I did,"
he says. "You have to basically disclose what your penalty-phase defense
will be, and it wasn't going to make a difference."
Pohlson says he's been prepping all along as if it was going to be a
capital case, and he'll argue vigorously to spare Deleon's life if he is
convicted.
"There's a lot to be said, but it's better to do it in court. He has a
very interesting background."
On that, both sides will agree.
What has become of the Hawks' yacht, the Well Deserved? asked a reporter
for a boating newspaper after the news conference. The vessel, prosecutor
Matt Murphy replied, is in dry dock at an undisclosed Orange County
location completely sealed in shrink wrap and awaiting the day, probably
in early February, when jurors will be taken aboard.
I also called Jennifer Deleon's attorney, Mike Molfetta, who says he never
thought the D.A. would consider the death penalty for his client, who is
not alleged to have been present when the Hawks were killed.
Molfetta did update me on his other high-profile client, "Housewives"
husband Scott Bryant, who is charged with punching out a Coto woman at a
party. If the D.A. doesn't drop the case before a Sept. 26 pretrial date,
he says, they'll ask for a trial. He says he'll be able to discredit the
woman's version of events.
"At a certain point, it's like shooting fish in a barrel," he says of what
his investigator has turned up. "I've got my barrel, I've got my fish and
I've got my spear gun."
Love those thingyy defense attorneys.
(source: Orange County Register)
Has Tony Rackauckas ever had an easier call when it came to a capital
case?
The D.A. announced yesterday he would seek the death penalty for Skylar
Deleon and John F. Kennedy, the 2 men accused of binding Tom and Jackie
Hawks to their yacht's anchor and throwing them overboard somewhere
between Catalina and San Clemente.
Our state's death penalty is repellant, ungodly and not in keeping with a
civilized society, but if Rackauckas applies his stated standard some
murders are "committed with such a malignant heart, such callousness, that
the only just penalty is death" well, this crime would meet that
threshold.
Let's look at the D.A.'s record. In 7 years, Rackauckas has sought the
death penalty 33 times. Juries concurred on 13 requests and voted for life
without parole in 9. The other 11 cases are pending.
After yesterday's news conference, David Brent, who heads up the
homicide-prosecution unit, estimated Rackauckas seeks the death penalty in
only about 10 to 20 % of the homicides that would qualify under California
law because of special circumstances.
Even an anti-deather like me would agree this ain't Texas.
In each case, a panel of five senior members of the D.A.'s office,
including Rackauckas, convenes to hear evidence and debates whether to ask
for the death penalty. Defense attorneys are invited to participate and at
times are persuasive. Rackauckas makes the final call.
In 1999, the newly sworn D.A. even overturned an earlier decision to seek
the death penalty against Tynickia Thompson, who later pled guilty to
murdering her lover and his 77-year-old mother and then burning down their
Lemon Heights home. When the defense asked the D.A.'s panel for a second
hearing, Rackauckas agreed that new evidence indicated the maximum
potential sentence should be reduced to life without parole.
I called Deleon's attorney, Gary Pohlson, who says he has appeared before
the panel on behalf of five clients, and the D.A. ended up seeking the
death penalty for just one of them. "They take it seriously," he said,
refuting any notion that the senior panel is a rubber stamp for whatever
deputy district attorney is trying the case.
But Pohlson didn't go to defend Deleon before the panel.
"I knew they were going to seek the death penalty no matter what I did,"
he says. "You have to basically disclose what your penalty-phase defense
will be, and it wasn't going to make a difference."
Pohlson says he's been prepping all along as if it was going to be a
capital case, and he'll argue vigorously to spare Deleon's life if he is
convicted.
"There's a lot to be said, but it's better to do it in court. He has a
very interesting background."
On that, both sides will agree.
What has become of the Hawks' yacht, the Well Deserved? asked a reporter
for a boating newspaper after the news conference. The vessel, prosecutor
Matt Murphy replied, is in dry dock at an undisclosed Orange County
location completely sealed in shrink wrap and awaiting the day, probably
in early February, when jurors will be taken aboard.
I also called Jennifer Deleon's attorney, Mike Molfetta, who says he never
thought the D.A. would consider the death penalty for his client, who is
not alleged to have been present when the Hawks were killed.
Molfetta did update me on his other high-profile client, "Housewives"
husband Scott Bryant, who is charged with punching out a Coto woman at a
party. If the D.A. doesn't drop the case before a Sept. 26 pretrial date,
he says, they'll ask for a trial. He says he'll be able to discredit the
woman's version of events.
"At a certain point, it's like shooting fish in a barrel," he says of what
his investigator has turned up. "I've got my barrel, I've got my fish and
I've got my spear gun."
Love those thingyy defense attorneys.
(source: Orange County Register)