The Texas Execution of Willie Pondexter Tuesday night is reported by AP writer Michael Graczyk. Pondexter has claimed that he was not the killer of 85 year-old Martha Lennox, although he admitted shooting the Clarksville philanthropist during a 1993 burglary. The woman suffered two gunshots, either of which could have killed her, according to the medical examiner. Pondexter's accomplice, James Henderson, who fired the other shot, remains on death row.
Richard Allen Davis, the habitual criminal sentenced to die for the 1993 kidnap and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, sought to overturn his conviction in argument before the California Supreme Court Tuesday. The AP story by Paul Elias reports on Davis' claim that his video taped confession was taken in violation of Miranda, because the police officer who asked him to call if he wanted to talk about the case did not first inform Davis of his right to an attorney. The officer's offer came while he was transporting Davis for fingerprinting. He asked if Polly was still alive, and Davis replied that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. Davis later called and admitted his guilt. The state's position is that because the police did not know if Polly was still alive, the question put to Davis was allowable under the "rescue doctrine" exception.
More Miranda: Ohio murderer William Gardner, on death row for setting a fire that killed five children, lost a bid to overturn his conviction yesterday when the 6th Circuit rejected his claim that he did not understand the Miranda warning he received before admitting the crime. An AP story reports that Tuesday's decision by the full court overturned a divided panel's 2007 holding that Garner, who was 19 at the time, was too stupid and immature to grasp the meaning of words such as "you have the right to an attorney". Ten of the thirteen judges of the full court voted to reinstate the judgment.
Richard Allen Davis, the habitual criminal sentenced to die for the 1993 kidnap and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, sought to overturn his conviction in argument before the California Supreme Court Tuesday. The AP story by Paul Elias reports on Davis' claim that his video taped confession was taken in violation of Miranda, because the police officer who asked him to call if he wanted to talk about the case did not first inform Davis of his right to an attorney. The officer's offer came while he was transporting Davis for fingerprinting. He asked if Polly was still alive, and Davis replied that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. Davis later called and admitted his guilt. The state's position is that because the police did not know if Polly was still alive, the question put to Davis was allowable under the "rescue doctrine" exception.
More Miranda: Ohio murderer William Gardner, on death row for setting a fire that killed five children, lost a bid to overturn his conviction yesterday when the 6th Circuit rejected his claim that he did not understand the Miranda warning he received before admitting the crime. An AP story reports that Tuesday's decision by the full court overturned a divided panel's 2007 holding that Garner, who was 19 at the time, was too stupid and immature to grasp the meaning of words such as "you have the right to an attorney". Ten of the thirteen judges of the full court voted to reinstate the judgment.
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