May 2018 Archives

More Fatal Crashes from Drugs Than Alcohol:  A new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association has found that in 2016  there were more fatal automobile accidents involving drivers on drugs that there were for drivers using alcohol.  Alexa Lardieri of U.S. News reports that this was the first time that drugged drivers eclipsed drunk drivers for fatal accidents.  Marijuana was the most common drug found in drivers killed in auto accidents.  The report also found that the number of drunk drivers killed in auto accidents has been declining since 2006, while drugged drivers who died in accidents has increased.  The report's author notes that this has occurred as the use of marijuana has become normalized.     

Illegal Kills Teen in DUI Crash:  A 17-year-old girl was killed Sunday in a car accident caused by a twice-deported illegal alien high on drugs.  Marla Carter of ABC 13 reports that Britney Baez was in the back seat of the family car with her sister waiting for a stoplight to change when 27-year-old Edy Lopez-Hernandez slammed into them at an estimated 70 mph.  Investigators reported that Lopez-Hernandez was under the influence of drugs and never hit his brakes.  Britney was killed in the crash, which critically injured her father and fractured her sister's arm.  Lopez-Hernandez was driving with his 2-year-old toddler in the car when he caused the accident.  After the crash, he grabbed the child and ran, but a witness prevented him from getting away.   

The results of the study should deter the Senate from embracing the FIRST STEP legislation passed by the House just before the BJS figures were published. Indeed, the BJS numbers undermine FIRST STEP in multiple ways.

In 1975, Parson spent six years in the U.S. Army, serving two tours in the Military Police working up to sergeant. He attended night classes at the University of Maryland and University of Hawaii.

Following his military service, in 1981 Parson returned to Hickory County to serve as a deputy. In 1983, he transferred to the Polk County Sheriff's Office to become their first criminal investigator. He purchased his first gasoline station, "Mike's", in 1984. The following year he started a cow and calf operation, becoming a third generation farmer.

Parson served twelve years as Polk County sheriff before being elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2004.

Soros Influence Called Out:  Over the years the media has called out wealthy conservatives who have contributed to candidates and causes that advance ideas such as encouraging school choice, barring late term abortions, defending religious freedom and the First Amendment.  The Koch brothers, the DeVos Foundation, Chick-fil-A, the Walton Foundation among others have been singled out for giving characterized by the media as focused upon undermining public education, advancing racial bias, and discriminating against gays, lesbians and transgenders.  Over the past two years some in the media have noticed the influence of New York hedge fund billionaire George Soros's giving, through a national network of foundation's advocacy groups and packs, targeted at advancing the "police are racially biased" and "over-incarceration" narratives and replacing tough, pro-law enforcement District Attorneys with pro-defendant progressives.  David Debolt of the San Jose Mercury News reports that Soros money has been pouring into the District Attorney's race in Alameda County to support a progressive, pro-defendant candidate's effort to unseat incumbent Nancy O'Malley.  Soros funds are also being spent to elect progressive DAs in Contra Costa County and Sacramento County.  Eric Siddell of the LA Association of Deputy District Attorneys expands on the Soros influence beyond the District Attorney races to policy groups such as New York's Marshall Project, which constantly pump out misleading "studies" and "reports" claiming that going soft on repeat criminals has no impact on crime rates.         

Environmental Rules Block Closing Border Tunnels:  For several years, U.S. Border enforcement agents have faced months to years of delay in closing tunnels on the US/Mexico border because of federal environmental regulations.  Alex Pappas of Fox News reports that efforts to fill the tunnels, which have been utilized to smuggle people and drugs into the U.S., have been blocked by laws such as the Endangered Species Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, resulting in long delays while federal agencies review the environmental impact.  Officials note that while most of the delays have occurred during the Obama administration, they have continued as lawmakers work to pass bills lifting the regulations.  Border Enforcement officials cite the example of a sophisticated 2,500 ft. tunnel in San Diego that the EPA  found to contain a small wetland, requiring a bird study that took four months before the tunnel could be filled. 

Sheriff Fights Gang Control of LA County Jail:   Since the 1950s, the Mexican Mafia has established its control over smuggling, drug sales, extortion and other criminal activity inside the Los Angeles County Jail system .  Brian Melley of the Associated Press reports that the criminal organization, made up of the leaders of various Latino gangs, works like an illegal government, collecting taxes on drugs and other illegal items and even on candy and deodorant.  The Mafia also arranges for the murders of people outside of prison.  Recently a federal indictment has charged 83 gang members and associates with numerous federal crimes, moving many to federal prisons. Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell is working with the U.S. Attorney to identify gang leaders who can be charged with federal crimes and moved to federal custody.  Among the gangs affiliated with the Mexican Mafia is MS-13.  According to the indictment, three MS-13 members controlled operations in the LA County Jail between 2012 and 2016.     

4x Arrested Car Thief Charged with Murder of Police Officer.  Saliqa Khan, Jayne Miller, and Kai Reed report for WBAL that the accused killer of Baltimore Officer First Class Amy Caprio has been denied bail.  " 'Your client, in the last six months, is a one-man crime wave,' a Baltimore County judge said during the bail hearing."  Allegedly, the suspect was the getaway driver in a burglary, and he intentionally ran down Officer Caprio when she checked out his suspicious vehicle.  Miller reported yesterday on Twitter, "At time of killing of Baltimore County police officer, 16 yr old suspect was AWOL from house arrest in juvenile system in Baltimore. 4 arrests for car theft over about 5 months. Stole car while in program in Montgomery Co in March."

En banc review is not appropriate when, as here, a panel opinion faithfully applies Supreme Court precedent. An en banc court would necessarily reach the same result, since Supreme Court precedent precludes any other outcome. I write only to suggest this case might benefit from further attention by the Supreme Court.

As the panel opinion explains, the three-part framework of Solem v. Bartlett, 465 U.S. 463 (1984), governs evaluating whether Congress has disestablished an Indian reservation. But strictly applying Solem's three-part framework in this context, which strongly suggests de facto disestablishment, evokes "the thud of square pegs being pounded into round holes." Parents Involved in Cmty. Sch. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 426 F.3d 1162, 1193 (9th Cir. 2005) (Kozinski, J., concurring), rev'd and remanded, 551 U.S. 701 (2007), and vacated, 498 F.3d 1059 (9th Cir. 2007).

This week we have some good news from Washington County, Oregon.  (Hillsboro and vicinity, west of Portland.)  Noelle Crombie reports for the Oregonian:

Washington County voters on Tuesday elected a longtime child abuse prosecutor as district attorney, the culmination of a race that saw an unprecedented influx of cash, questions about outside funding, a proliferation of TV ads and a debate about criminal justice in Oregon.

Kevin Barton, 40, a chief deputy district attorney in the county, defeated former Polk County prosecutor and Beaverton criminal defense attorney Max Wall, 40, in a decisive vote. Barton captured 70 percent of the vote in early returns compared to Wall's 30 percent.

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Combined, the candidates raised about $892,300, according to the latest campaign finance filings. Wall has raised $541,832, with $375,000 from the Oregon Law and Justice political action committee run by a woman with ties to billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

Judge Releases Alien Hit & Run Suspect:  An illegal alien arrested for the hit and run and serious injury of a pre-school teacher on May 7, has been released on bail and disappeared.  Russ McQuaid of Fox 59 reports that witnesses chased down Juana Noemi Loa-Nunez after she ran down Jessica Renee Parks as she walked to her job at a church pre-school in Indianapolis.  The day after Loa-Nunez was charged, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed a detainer warrant with the county jail.  Two days later, a Federal District Judge ordered Loa-Nunez's release on $250 bail.  The judge ruled that ICE was required to provide a criminal warrant or pick up the suspect within 4 hours or she would become eligible for release. County jail officials blame ICE for failing to do its job.  ICE disputes this.  The victim will be hospitalized from six months to a year before she will be able to use her legs.  Her father doubts that Loa-Nunez will ever return for the trial. 

Killer Nanny Gets LWOP:  A 55-year-old woman, who worked as a nanny for a New York couple, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for stabbing the family's 2-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter to death with a butcher knife in October of 2012.  Jan Ransom of the New York Times reports that Yoselyn Ortega's "untreated mental illness played a significant role" in the crimes according to the sentencing judge.  But evidence of her planning for the crime convinced a jury that she should be held responsible for the murders.  The children's parents, like many in large cities, relied upon Ortega's assertion on her child care application that she was an experienced nanny.  The couple are pushing for legislation to make it a crime to lie on a child care application.  The victims' father told the court "It is right that she should live and rot and die in a concrete and metal cage."  In a statement delivered in Spanish, Ortega apologized for the killings and asked for forgiveness. 

Violent crime in Santa Monica jumped almost 50 percent in 2017 over the previous year, reaching its highest level in two decades, according to police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statistics.

Data released by the City showed a total of 705 violent crimes in Santa Monica, or 230 more incidents than the 475 reported in 2016 -- a 48 percent increase.

Behind the big jump in violent crimes was a rocketing number of aggravated assaults, the City's data showed. Those crimes increased 67 percent, from 244 incidents in 2016 to 407 reported occurrences last year.

Last year also marked the third year in a row of increases in violent crime, which also includes robbery (up 28 percent from 2016, or 241 incidents), rape (up from 40 in 2016 to 57 in 2017) and homicide (one incident in 2016 and two in 2017).

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As with law enforcement throughout California, Santa Monica police blame much the rise in crime on two statewide measures approved by voters over the past four years.

Here's what the rule would actually do. First, it would require the EPA to identify studies that are used in making regulatory decisions. Second, it would encourage studies to be made publicly available "to the extent practicable." Third, it would define "publicly available" by listing examples of information that could be used for validation, such as underlying data, models, computer code and protocols. Fourth, the proposal recognizes not all data can be openly accessible in the public domain and that restricted access to some data may be necessary. Fifth, it would direct the EPA to work with third parties, including universities and private firms, to make information available to the extent reasonable. Sixth, it would encourage the use of efforts to de-identify data sets to create public-use data files that would simultaneously help protect privacy and promote transparency. Seventh, the proposal outlines an exemption process when compliance is "impracticable." Finally, it would direct the EPA to clearly state and document assumptions made in regulatory analyses.

Illegals Arrested for Assaults:  An illegal alien has been jailed in Hayes County Texas for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl.  Moses Leos of the Hayes Free Press reports that Luis-Gerardo Sanchez Castillo was identified by the victim from a photo lineup as the person who assaulted her in 2012.  Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a hold on Castillo in the event he gains release on bail.  Andrew Theen of the Oregonian reports that 24-year-old Jesus Ascencio-Molina has been charged with attempted murder for a nail gun attack on a fellow construction worker last month.  The reporter neglected to mention that Ascencio-Molina is an illegal alien and habitual criminal who was deported to Mexico in 2013.  Fortunately Breck Dumas of the Blaze reported those facts.  Because Clackamas is a sanctuary county, local law enforcement is prohibited from holding Ascencio-Molina for ICE if he makes bail.     

Marshall Project's False Narrative:  In February of 2017, repeat felon and gang member Michael Mejia, released from prison a year earlier and a few days after release from jail for another crime, murdered his cousin and stole his car, got in an accident and murdered a responding officer.  At the time of Mejia's arrest, law enforcement officials and victims groups pointed to California sentencing reforms (AB109 and Proposition 47) as the reason Mejia remained on the streets long enough to commit the murders.  A recent LA Times article by Abbie VanSickle and Richard Winton cites a review the paper conducted with the Soros-funded Marshall Project which "found a far more complex chain of events that allowed Mejia to remain free despite his record of criminal behavior."  The main findings reported in the article are:  1) Mejia's probation officer used excessive short jail stints to correct his criminal behavior. 2) The county was too slow in referring Mejia to drug treatment and when they finally did, he didn't show up.  3) The county waited too long to get tougher on Mejia for repeated new crimes and the prosecutor failed to have the probation officer participate in the plea bargain for his last offense.
 

The insanity defense has been with us a long time.  The basic rule expressed in England in M'Naghton's Case (1843)* remains the law in much of the United States. As codified in 18 U.S.C. §17 (post-Hinckley):  "It is an affirmative defense ... that ... the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or the wrongfulness of his acts."

Modern courts have an issue that the Victorian courts did not, though.  Many people with schizophrenia can be made sane for the time being with antipsychotic medication.  These meds are a miracle of modern medicine, allowing many people who would otherwise have to be committed to institutions to live outside and have reasonably normal lives.

What happens when a person, while sane, chooses not to take the medication and then commits a crime a time when, for the moment and as a result of his earlier choice, he meets the insanity test?  Some defenses can be lost when the defendant created the situation.  The defense of self-defense, for example, can be lost if defendant is the initial aggressor in the incident.

George Maliha has an interesting student note in the current issue of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

The 35th Governor of California, George Deukmejian, who served from 1982 to 1986, died Tuesday of natural causes at 89.  Prior to his election as Governor, Deukmejian served in the state assembly, senate and for two terms as Attorney General.  The son of Armenian immigrants who insisted that he and his sister speak only English, Deukmejian was raised old school to value honesty, respect and hard work, traits almost completely abandoned by the current popular culture, which defined America's greatest generation.  During his service in the state legislature and as Attorney General, Deukmejian fought policies put in place by Governor Jerry Brown which had led to a dramatic increase in violent crime creating 70,000 new victims annually in just six years.  In 1982, when he ran to succeed Brown, Deukmejian supported a landmark criminal justice reform initiative (The Victims' Bill of Rights) to restore consequences for habitual criminals.  That year, he won the election and the initiative passed.  Both had a national impact on law enforcement, inspiring other states and Congress to follow California's lead and adopt similar measures targeting repeat offenders. 

Landmark Cases:   C-SPAN is doing a series of broadcasts on landmark U.S. Supreme  Court cases.  Yesterday, the focus of the program was the 1976 decision in Gregg v. Georgia, which reinstated the death penalty after abolishing it in Furman four years earlier.  Participating in the program were Harvard Law Professor Carol Steiker and CJLF Legal Director Kent Scheidegger.  The link to the program page is here or go directly to the video here. 

New York Attorney General Resigns:  Hours after a story in the New Yorker Monday reported that four women had come forward accusing him of physical assaults, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his resignation.  Danny Hakim and Vivian Wang of the New York Times report that Scheiderman, who has played a prominent role in the "Me Too" movement, even filing a lawsuit against a company once run by Harvey Weinstein, said in a statement that the allegations would "prevent me from leading the office's work at this critical time."  The resignation came after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo publicly asked him to step down.  Two of the four women claiming abuse by Schneiderman did so openly, recounting beatings and abuse during romantic relationships with him.  All four recounted similar incidents that they insisted were not consensual.  Scheiderman has long been regarded as a rising star in the progressive movement, filing several lawsuits against Trump enterprises and the current administration.  The National Organization of Women praised his "unmatched work" in "protecting women who are victims of domestic abuse."     

Mexico Cracking Down on Illegals:  While the Trump administration is criticized almost daily for being heartless in its effort to deport illegal aliens and harden the southern U.S. border, Mexico has been ruthlessly enforcing its southern border with Guatemala.  James Fredrick of NPR reports that in recent years Mexico has captured and deported more Central American migrants than the U.S.,....in some years twice as many.  Utilizing migration agents, police, soldiers and marines, the Mexican government has created a containment zone along the border, with roving checkpoints and raids.  "We (migrants and refugees) have become a target for everyone here," said one Honduran.  "We feel like we have no rights and all security forces are after us." A Catholic Priest who heads migrant outreach for the church complains, "Today the Mexican government is hunting migrants without sympathy....The border security measures here in Chiapas are even harsher than on the U.S.-Mexican border."   

Safest CA Counties Use Death Penalty:   Do consequences for crime matter?  Liberals go back an forth on this question, passing laws to raise penalties for politically correct offenses like hate crimes, but telling us in the next breath that tough sentencing does not reduce crimes.  While it defies common sense to think that consequences have no deterrent effect, death penalty opponents insist that this is true.  Phillip Reese of the Sacramento Bee reports that after reviewing which of California's largest counties are most likely to sentence an aggravated murderer to death, it appears that "counties with low homicide rates tended to have a high rate of murderers on death row.  Put another way, relatively safe communities tended to send a high rate of murderers to death row."   This conclusion is not universal.  Los Angeles County, for example, sends about the same ratio of aggravated murderers to death row as, Yolo, Sonoma and Contra Costa Counties, but has a much higher murder rate than the others.  On the other hand, Santa Cruz County sends zero murderers to death row, just like San Francisco.  Yet San Francisco's murder rate is nearly three times higher.     

Judge Calls Muller's Team Liars:  During a hearing today, involving the 18 count indictment against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, a U.S. District Judge gave the Justice Department two weeks to turn over an unredacted copy of the "scope memo" which authorized Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Russian collusion.  Jake Gibson of Fox News reports that the hearing was held to consider Muller's petition to quash the indictment.  When Judge T.S. Ellis asked Muller's lawyers where they got the authority to indict Manafort, they said that the authority was laid out in documents including the "scope memo" which they did not present as evidence because of national security concerns.  The judge summed up the Special Counsel's argument as, "We said this was what (the) investigation was about, but we are not bound by it and we were lying."  Congress has been trying to get the same "scope memo" for several months in order to determine how much authority it gives to Muller.   

Soros Dumps $$ Into Sacramento DA's Race:  A PAC controlled by progressive billionaire George Soros is funding the campaign of a deputy district attorney running to unseat Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert.  Candidate Noah Phillips points to the fatal shooting of habitual criminal Stephon Clark last March as evidence that Schubert, along with the rest of Sacramento County law enforcement, is racially biased against people of color.  Newsman Mike Luery of KCRA reports that money from Soros is financing Phillips campaign and is paying for a barrage of television commercials parroting the familiar narrative that tells is "We need to end racial profiling and police misconduct. And right now the system is broken."   In 2016 Schubert put together a statewide law enforcement task force to track down the notorious "Golden State Killer," known here in Sacramento as the "East Area Rapist." Last week the 72-year-old suspect, identified by DNA evidence, was arrested in a Sacramento suburb.  Soros is also bankrolling the progressive candidate in the San Diego District Attorneys race as reported by Allison Ash of KGTV.   

Here's the latest head-shaker from California, from the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs:

The murder of a law enforcement officer has been one of the "special circumstance" categories that makes a defendant eligible for the death penalty ever since capital punishment was reinstated in California in the 1970s. It recognizes that those who were murdered in the line of duty are murdered because they represent society, and the murderous attack is an attack on society. With the recent sentencing of an unrepentant killer who took the lives of two Sacramento-area deputies, there are now 44 individuals on California's death row for the murder of a deputy sheriff or police officer.

Thus, it was with shock and revulsion that we read the remarks of a candidate for District Attorney in Contra Costa County. Lawrence Strauss, a candidate for District Attorney announced that if elected, he would not seek the death penalty for defendants who killed a police officer because "it's part of the risk they take." He later qualified the statement to say that he would not seek the death penalty for those who kill only one officer -- as if his "risk they take" argument disappears if multiple officers were killed.

Contra Costa County is at the north end of the east side of the San Francisco Bay area.  (It's name means "the opposite coast.")  It leans politically left, but not to the moonbat degree of San Francisco or Oakland.  The voters have two other choices in this election, and surely they will have enough sense to choose one of the others.

Florida Child Killer Sentenced to Death:  An habitual sex offender has been sentenced to death for the 2013 kidnap, rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl.  Elieen Kelly of the Ledger reports that Donald Smith had only been out of prison for 21 days when he lured 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle away from her family at a Walmart to rape and murder her.  The little girl's brutally abused body was found the next day in a creekbed.  Stephanie Brown of WOKV TV reports that Smith was a registered sex offender due to convictions going back 40 years for crimes including lewd and lascivious acts with children, attempted kidnapping, burglary, grand theft, drug and pornography offenses and even impersonating a state family services employee in order to molest a child.  In February, a jury took 15 minutes to find Smith guilty of the murder, and later unanimously recommend a death sentence.  "In reviewing his entire criminal history....Mr. Smith was a failure of the criminal justice system," said the Assistant State Attorney who prosecuted the case.  He should never have been free to kill that little girl. 

Juaquin Garcia Soto was drunk and high on methamphetamine when he kicked in Israel Ramirez's apartment door and stabbed him to death in front of his girlfriend and young son.  Soto was charged with first degree murder and first degree burglary.

In California, a murder conviction requires a finding of express or implied malice.  Express malice requires intent to kill "unlawfully," while implied does not.  California Penal Code section 29.4 permits evidence of voluntary intoxication on the issue of whether a defendant "harbored express malice."

At trial, Soto claimed "imperfect" self-defense, which is the actual, but unreasonable, belief that acting in self-defense was necessary.  A successful imperfect self-defense claim will result in voluntary manslaughter because "one who holds an honest but unreasonable belief in the necessity to defend against imminent peril to life or great bodily injury does not harbor malice and commits no greater offense than manslaughter."

Habitual Felon Arrested for Murder:  A Florida man released from prison last month has been arrested for murder.  Katherine Law of Fox news reports that Algelo Beckford was charged with second-degree murder Monday, after several neighbors told police that he had invited them to see the dead body of 29-year-old Cheyenne Snyder.  When police arrived at Snyder's home, Beckford tried to run, but was caught.  Officers found the woman's body in a storage shed in the backyard.  The suspect has been released in April after serving time for attempted armed robbery.  He had previously been incarcerated for aggravated assault and and felony battery.  At the time of his arrest Beckford was found in possession of crack cocaine.  Just another low-risk offender. 

Seven years ago, President Obama made this statement to the nation:

Good evening.  Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

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So Americans understand the costs of war.  Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed.  We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies.  We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror:  Justice has been done.

According to the leader most widely and highly esteemed by our friends on the political left, there is at least one case of murder where the death of the perpetrator is justice and is "true to the values that make us who we are."

Once that matter of principle is settled, the question of which murderers should be put to death is only a matter of degree.

In the United States Supreme Court, a person who wants to file an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief must either have consent of the parties or make a motion for permission to the Court.  SCOTUS regulars regularly consent to nearly all amicus briefs because everybody knows there is nothing gained by refusing.  The Court nearly always grants the motions.

Eugene Volokh has done some empirical research on what "everybody knows," and this time "everybody" is right.  After excluding a few oddballs, he concludes:

So, as best I can tell the Court has never -- not once -- in the last 14 years refused a normal, professionally prepared, rules-compliant amicus brief (one that was filed in time, by a nondisbarred lawyer independent of any party, and with normal, substantive legal argument). If you are asked for consent to the filing of an amicus brief in your Supreme Court case, there is basically no upside to refusing, and some modest downside. Just say yes.

GA Murderer's Execution This Week:  The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles will hold a hearing Wednesday to review the clemency petition of Robert Earl Butts, Jr. who is scheduled to be executed on Thursday.  The Associated Press reports that Butts received a death sentence for the 1996 carjacking and murder of Donovan Parks.  An earlier article by LIz Fabian of the Telegraph describes how Butts and Marion Wilson, both members of a criminal gang, spotted Parks, an off-duty corrections officer, shopping at a Walmart.  Outside the store they asked Parks for a ride, then forced him at gunpoint to drive to a side street off of the highway.   Parks was taken from the car and shot in the back of the head.  The pair then stole Parks' car, drove it to another location and burned it.  Parks father was the person who discovered his body.  Georgia law provides a 7-day window for executions, meaning that Butts can be executed anytime between May 3 and May 10.  

FL Airport Shooter Gets Life in Plea Deal:  A man who killed five people and wounded six others during a shooting spree at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport last year has agreed to plead guilty in order to avoid the death penalty.   Paula McMahon of the Sun/Sentinel reports that part of the agreement requires that Esteban Santiago undergo a mental health examination to assure that he is competent.  Ten of the charges stemming from the January 6, 2017 mass shooting qualified Santiago for a death sentence.  As part of the plea deal he would give up all rights to appeal his conviction and punishment.  Because the murderer was brought up on federal charges, Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the final decision on the deal.  While the article notes that typically the federal process takes far longer than most states, there are exceptions.  Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was convicted in federal court in 1997 and executed in 2001.