Post by sclcookie on Jun 2, 2006 1:12:34 GMT -5
Crisel asks Judge Sutton to rule death penalty unconstitutional
An issue that has divided the Supreme Court of the United States, as well
as highest courts of the 50 states, has been raised in White County
Circuit Court.
Gary D. Pate could face the death penalty if he's convicted of the May 15
murders of his estranged wife and her daughter, but his defense attorney
filed motions here Tuesday asking that the penalty be declared
unconstitutional.
Pate, 36, rural Omaha, faces 9 felony counts (including five of first
degree murder) in connection with the deaths of Kathleen K. Pate, 41, his
wife, and Amanda E. Jeffers, 19, her daughter. The 2 women were shot to
death at their Norris City home, and Pate was taken into custody 4 hours
later. He is being held here in lieu of $2.5 million bond.
State's Attorney T. Scott Webb served notice last week that he would seek
the death penalty against Pate, and the prosecutor made it official
Tuesday when he filed a notice of his intention to seek the death penalty.
But Pate's court-appointed lawyer, Albion attorney Jerry Crisel, attacked
the constitutionality of capital punishment in two motions filed later
Tuesday.
Among the more-or-less routine motions for discovery (the pretrial process
of exchanging witness lists, summaries of their anticipated testimony and
other evidence expected to be presented at trial) were one motion to bar
the death penalty and another to declare it "impermissibly arbitrary and
capricious."
Crisel contended, in the 1st motion, that Illinois' death penalty statute
is "unduly vague and overbroad" and that, among other things, it shifts
the burden of proof to the defendant to show that there are factors which
should mitigate against the use of the penalty.
A related motion noted that, since Illinois reinstituted capital
punishment in 1977, 12 people have been executed and another 13 death row
inmates exonerated and freed from prison. Crisel called this an
"impermissibly high" occurrence.
Webb has not yet filed answers to the defense motions.
Judge Thomas H. Sutton is expected to appoint a 2nd attorney who is
certified to handle capital litigation in Illinois to assist Crisel with
the defense in this case. Although the case has been set for pre-trial
hearings, and a jury trial date of Aug. 22 has been set, delays in cases
such as this are common.
No one has been sentenced to death in recent years in White County
proceedings. A Gallatin County man, William Ledbetter, was convicted in
Carmi in the early 19th century (after the trial was moved here on a
change of venue from that county) and hanged. And a Carmi man, Frank
Lowhone (also sometimes spelled "Lawhone" or "Lowhorne"), was hanged here
in the '20s for a murder committed in front of where The Carmi Times
building now stands.
The state sought the death penalty against Michael D. Dunham, who pleaded
guilty here in 1986 to killing a local woman and wounding two others in a
violent episode at some gravel pits in Hawthorne township. But Judge Henry
Lewis sentenced him to life in prison instead.
In another development, authorities appear to have discounted the gravity
of a reported threat allegedly made on Pate's life last week. The threat,
which state police in the Litchfield area were made aware of late
Wednesday morning, resulted in intense security in and around the
Courthouse before, during and after Pate's preliminary hearing. But as of
Tuesday afternoon, no charges had been filed, and security was
significantly less stringent when Pate was taken between the jail and the
Courthouse for his Tuesday morning arraignment.
(source: The Carmi Times)
An issue that has divided the Supreme Court of the United States, as well
as highest courts of the 50 states, has been raised in White County
Circuit Court.
Gary D. Pate could face the death penalty if he's convicted of the May 15
murders of his estranged wife and her daughter, but his defense attorney
filed motions here Tuesday asking that the penalty be declared
unconstitutional.
Pate, 36, rural Omaha, faces 9 felony counts (including five of first
degree murder) in connection with the deaths of Kathleen K. Pate, 41, his
wife, and Amanda E. Jeffers, 19, her daughter. The 2 women were shot to
death at their Norris City home, and Pate was taken into custody 4 hours
later. He is being held here in lieu of $2.5 million bond.
State's Attorney T. Scott Webb served notice last week that he would seek
the death penalty against Pate, and the prosecutor made it official
Tuesday when he filed a notice of his intention to seek the death penalty.
But Pate's court-appointed lawyer, Albion attorney Jerry Crisel, attacked
the constitutionality of capital punishment in two motions filed later
Tuesday.
Among the more-or-less routine motions for discovery (the pretrial process
of exchanging witness lists, summaries of their anticipated testimony and
other evidence expected to be presented at trial) were one motion to bar
the death penalty and another to declare it "impermissibly arbitrary and
capricious."
Crisel contended, in the 1st motion, that Illinois' death penalty statute
is "unduly vague and overbroad" and that, among other things, it shifts
the burden of proof to the defendant to show that there are factors which
should mitigate against the use of the penalty.
A related motion noted that, since Illinois reinstituted capital
punishment in 1977, 12 people have been executed and another 13 death row
inmates exonerated and freed from prison. Crisel called this an
"impermissibly high" occurrence.
Webb has not yet filed answers to the defense motions.
Judge Thomas H. Sutton is expected to appoint a 2nd attorney who is
certified to handle capital litigation in Illinois to assist Crisel with
the defense in this case. Although the case has been set for pre-trial
hearings, and a jury trial date of Aug. 22 has been set, delays in cases
such as this are common.
No one has been sentenced to death in recent years in White County
proceedings. A Gallatin County man, William Ledbetter, was convicted in
Carmi in the early 19th century (after the trial was moved here on a
change of venue from that county) and hanged. And a Carmi man, Frank
Lowhone (also sometimes spelled "Lawhone" or "Lowhorne"), was hanged here
in the '20s for a murder committed in front of where The Carmi Times
building now stands.
The state sought the death penalty against Michael D. Dunham, who pleaded
guilty here in 1986 to killing a local woman and wounding two others in a
violent episode at some gravel pits in Hawthorne township. But Judge Henry
Lewis sentenced him to life in prison instead.
In another development, authorities appear to have discounted the gravity
of a reported threat allegedly made on Pate's life last week. The threat,
which state police in the Litchfield area were made aware of late
Wednesday morning, resulted in intense security in and around the
Courthouse before, during and after Pate's preliminary hearing. But as of
Tuesday afternoon, no charges had been filed, and security was
significantly less stringent when Pate was taken between the jail and the
Courthouse for his Tuesday morning arraignment.
(source: The Carmi Times)