Post by marion on Jun 28, 2006 1:37:04 GMT -5
Kansans who are on death row
Gary Wayne Kleypas
Posted on Mon, Jun. 26, 2006
The case: Kleypas was convicted of killing Pittsburg State University student Carrie Williams on March 30, 1996.
Status: The Kansas Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2001. Kleypas is awaiting resentencing before a new jury.
Michael L. Marsh
The case: Marsh was accused of shooting and killing Marry Ane Pusch in her Wichita home on June 17, 1997, and setting a fire that killed her 18-month-old daughter, Marry Elizabeth.
Status: Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously overturned Marsh's conviction for the murder of Marry Elizabeth and ruled 4-3 that his sentencing was unconstitutional. Marsh is awaiting a new trial, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on his death sentence.
Gavin Daniel Scott
The case: Scott was convicted of shooting Doug and Beth Brittain to death in their rural Goddard home on Sept. 13, 1996.
Status: The Kansas Supreme Court has heard oral arguments for his appeal and a ruling is pending.
John Edward Robinson
The case: Robinson was convicted of murdering three women, including two whose bodies were found stuffed into barrels near his rural Linn County home.
Status: On appeal.
Jonathan Daniel Carr & Reginald Dexter Carr
The case: The Carr brothers were convicted of killing Jason Befort, Brad Heyka, Aaron Sander and Heather Muller in a northeast Wichita soccer field on Dec. 15, 2000. Reginald Carr also was convicted in the death of Ann Walenta.
Status: On appeal.
Douglas Stephen Belt
The case: Belt was convicted of sexually assaulting and decapitating Lucille Gallegos on June 25, 2002, in a west Wichita apartment.
Status: On appeal.
Sidney Gleason
The case: Gleason was convicted of capital murder in the shooting deaths of Darren R. Wornkey, 24, and Mikiala "Miki" Martinez, 19, on Feb. 21, 2004, in Great Bend.
Status: On appeal.
CAPITAL CRIMES IN KANSAS
The following crimes are eligible for the death penalty in Kansas under current law. In each case the crime must be premeditated:
• Murder of a kidnapping victim, if that person was being held for ransom.
• Killing of a kidnapping victim under 14, if that victim was being held because the criminal intended to commit a sex crime, such as rape.
• Killing of a victim of rape, criminal sodomy and aggravated criminal sodomy, or a victim when such crimes are attempted.
• Murder for hire or participation in a murder-for-hire scheme.
• Killing of a prison or jail employee or inmate by a prison or jail inmate.
• Murder of a law enforcement officer.
• Two or more killings at once or killings "connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme."
THE KEY ISSUES
Is Kansas' death penalty law constitutional?
That question involves the jury's options in imposing a death sentence. State law says that when a jury's reasons for imposing a capital sentence weigh equally with reasons for a life sentence, the jury must vote for death. In effect, a tie goes to the state, not the individual. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that unconstitutional.
What happens if the Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional?
All of the men currently on death row would have to be resentenced. This ruling would not overturn their convictions.
Gary Wayne Kleypas
Posted on Mon, Jun. 26, 2006
The case: Kleypas was convicted of killing Pittsburg State University student Carrie Williams on March 30, 1996.
Status: The Kansas Supreme Court overturned his sentence in 2001. Kleypas is awaiting resentencing before a new jury.
Michael L. Marsh
The case: Marsh was accused of shooting and killing Marry Ane Pusch in her Wichita home on June 17, 1997, and setting a fire that killed her 18-month-old daughter, Marry Elizabeth.
Status: Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously overturned Marsh's conviction for the murder of Marry Elizabeth and ruled 4-3 that his sentencing was unconstitutional. Marsh is awaiting a new trial, and the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on his death sentence.
Gavin Daniel Scott
The case: Scott was convicted of shooting Doug and Beth Brittain to death in their rural Goddard home on Sept. 13, 1996.
Status: The Kansas Supreme Court has heard oral arguments for his appeal and a ruling is pending.
John Edward Robinson
The case: Robinson was convicted of murdering three women, including two whose bodies were found stuffed into barrels near his rural Linn County home.
Status: On appeal.
Jonathan Daniel Carr & Reginald Dexter Carr
The case: The Carr brothers were convicted of killing Jason Befort, Brad Heyka, Aaron Sander and Heather Muller in a northeast Wichita soccer field on Dec. 15, 2000. Reginald Carr also was convicted in the death of Ann Walenta.
Status: On appeal.
Douglas Stephen Belt
The case: Belt was convicted of sexually assaulting and decapitating Lucille Gallegos on June 25, 2002, in a west Wichita apartment.
Status: On appeal.
Sidney Gleason
The case: Gleason was convicted of capital murder in the shooting deaths of Darren R. Wornkey, 24, and Mikiala "Miki" Martinez, 19, on Feb. 21, 2004, in Great Bend.
Status: On appeal.
CAPITAL CRIMES IN KANSAS
The following crimes are eligible for the death penalty in Kansas under current law. In each case the crime must be premeditated:
• Murder of a kidnapping victim, if that person was being held for ransom.
• Killing of a kidnapping victim under 14, if that victim was being held because the criminal intended to commit a sex crime, such as rape.
• Killing of a victim of rape, criminal sodomy and aggravated criminal sodomy, or a victim when such crimes are attempted.
• Murder for hire or participation in a murder-for-hire scheme.
• Killing of a prison or jail employee or inmate by a prison or jail inmate.
• Murder of a law enforcement officer.
• Two or more killings at once or killings "connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme."
THE KEY ISSUES
Is Kansas' death penalty law constitutional?
That question involves the jury's options in imposing a death sentence. State law says that when a jury's reasons for imposing a capital sentence weigh equally with reasons for a life sentence, the jury must vote for death. In effect, a tie goes to the state, not the individual. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled that unconstitutional.
What happens if the Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional?
All of the men currently on death row would have to be resentenced. This ruling would not overturn their convictions.