Five-Time Deported Illegal Immigrant Sparks CA Forest Fire: An illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record and five deportations under his belt is facing charges of sparking a fire in California's Sequoia National Forest last month, which cost the government $61 million. Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times reports that Angel Gilberto Garcia-Avalos faces a 13-month sentence, agreed to during plea bargaining, for sparking the forest fire in August after crashing his car into a tree, the hot muffler from his vehicle igniting the dry grass. The fire took six weeks to contain, damaging 29,000 acres, prompting the evacuation of two counties and scorching a number of cabins and outbuildings. Garcia-Avalos, a native of Mexico, has been charged in the U.S. with driving without a license, attempted burglary and felony weapons charges, and been deported five times in four years, sneaking back into the U.S. each time. Shortly before the fire, he had been released form the Kern County jail, but was not deported due to the state's sanctuary city laws. Federal agents say they will deport Garcia-Avalos after completion of his current sentence.
OH Man Accused of Killing Child Faces Death Penalty: An Ohio man charged with the murder of a four-year-old child will face the death penalty at his trial. Greg Sowinski of the Lima News reports that Cory Eischen, 39, is charged with aggravated murder, two counts of murder, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of endangering children and domestic violence in the Sept. 25 death of Jaxxen Baker, who Eischen was babysitting while the boy's mother was at work. The charges of murder and manslaughter are lesser options for a jury to weigh at trial if the elements of aggravated murder cannot be met, though none of the charges impede the ability of prosecutors to seek and obtain the death penalty against Eischen.
Death Penalty Uncertainty Surround Retrial of FL Man: The fate of a Florida man previously convicted of murder and sentenced to death is uncertain in light of the Florida Supreme Court ruling earlier this month stating that juries must decide unanimously to send a defendant to death row. The NY Times reports that Patrick Evans' sentence has been altered twice in the past year, the first time last November when his conviction and death sentence were overturned due to errors in a detective's testimony and then on Oct. 14, when the state high court made their latest death penalty ruling, complicating his case further. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty again at Evans' Oct. 31 retrial, although Evans' demand for a speedy trial -- meaning it must proceed within 50 days -- are muddling matters even more since a new law clarifying jury unanimity from the Supreme Court may be months away. Evans is charged in the 2008 double homicide of his estranged wife and a co-worker she dated after filing for a divorce.
OH Man Accused of Killing Child Faces Death Penalty: An Ohio man charged with the murder of a four-year-old child will face the death penalty at his trial. Greg Sowinski of the Lima News reports that Cory Eischen, 39, is charged with aggravated murder, two counts of murder, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of endangering children and domestic violence in the Sept. 25 death of Jaxxen Baker, who Eischen was babysitting while the boy's mother was at work. The charges of murder and manslaughter are lesser options for a jury to weigh at trial if the elements of aggravated murder cannot be met, though none of the charges impede the ability of prosecutors to seek and obtain the death penalty against Eischen.
Death Penalty Uncertainty Surround Retrial of FL Man: The fate of a Florida man previously convicted of murder and sentenced to death is uncertain in light of the Florida Supreme Court ruling earlier this month stating that juries must decide unanimously to send a defendant to death row. The NY Times reports that Patrick Evans' sentence has been altered twice in the past year, the first time last November when his conviction and death sentence were overturned due to errors in a detective's testimony and then on Oct. 14, when the state high court made their latest death penalty ruling, complicating his case further. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty again at Evans' Oct. 31 retrial, although Evans' demand for a speedy trial -- meaning it must proceed within 50 days -- are muddling matters even more since a new law clarifying jury unanimity from the Supreme Court may be months away. Evans is charged in the 2008 double homicide of his estranged wife and a co-worker she dated after filing for a divorce.
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