Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 28, 2009 9:13:02 GMT -5
Convicted killer Brett Hartmann asks Ohio court to delay execution
Posted by Lisa Cornwell/Associated Press March 27, 2009 22:30PM
Categories: Crime, Real Time News
• May 23, 1998: Akron killer sentenced to die in chair, ex-chef, 23, insists he did not slay woman
A convicted killer scheduled to die next month has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to delay his execution, alleging that a jailhouse informant committed perjury.
Brett Hartmann said a motion filed Friday that he needs time to gather evidence of the alleged perjury and test other evidence he says will prove his innocence.
The motion also asks the court to delay the execution to allow Hartmann time to demonstrate that Ohio's method of lethal injection is unconstitutional. He has said that it would deny him a quick and painless death as required by state law.
The state Supreme Court this month denied an earlier request by Hartmann to delay his execution so he could challenge the state's execution method. Hartmann had asked for that stay to allow time for him to join a lawsuit pending in Franklin County that makes a similar challenge.
Hartmann is scheduled to die April 7 for the fatal stabbing and mutilation of 46-year-old Wanda Snipes in Akron on Sept. 9, 1997. Documents and legal filings in the case refer to the inmate as Hartman, but he has said his name is Hartmann.
The filing Friday said the state has repeatedly referred to the informant's testimony as critical evidence of Hartmann's guilt. The new evidence severely undermines the informant's credibility and casts doubt on the validity of the conviction, Hartmann's motion said.
Hartmann says he is innocent.
His motion also referred to testimony presented March 23 in a federal trial in Ohio that is part of another condemned inmate's challenge to the lethal injection process. The judge in the federal case is taking testimony from Ohio's execution team to determine whether condemned killer Kenneth Biros can prove he has a chance of making a successful argument against injection in a longer and more detailed trial.
Hartmann's motion said testimony given in the federal court case provided evidence to demonstrate that Ohio's execution method carries "substantial risk of harm, i.e. excruciating pain during the execution."
It would be "particularly unfair and inhumane" to execute Hartmann within days of the first time that testimony became available to him and to the public, Hartmann's motion said.
Hartmann has said he must be given the same opportunity as other death row inmates to challenge the constitutionality of Ohio's execution method.
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/convicted_killer_brett_hartman.html
(They have this older article linked)
Akron killer sentenced to die in chair, ex-chef, 23, insists he did not slay woman
Posted by Terry Oblander / Plain Dealer Reporter March 27, 2009 22:38PM
This story originally ran May 23, 1998
Convicted murderer Brett X. Hartman maintained yesterday at his sentencing that he was innocent in the death of Winda D. Snipes, but he said he was ready to "die like a man."
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Callahan said he was angered by Hartman's lack of remorse and sentenced the 23-year-old Akron man to die in the electric chair on Sept. 10, the first anniversary of the day Snipes was declared dead by the Summit County medical examiner's office.
Appeals are likely to delay the date of execution.
"I intend to do everything in my power that you never draw another free breath as long as you live," the judge told Hartman.
Hartman was convicted of killing Snipes, 46, who lived on Highland Ave., not far from the apartment home of Hartman, who was a chef at a downtown Akron hotel.
Police said Hartman called 9-1-1 late on Sept. 9 to report Snipes' death after strangling her with a telephone cord, stabbing her more than 130 times and cutting off her hands.
Callahan called the murder one of the most brutal he had encountered in 15 years as a judge and prosecutor.
It was a written statement by Winfred B. Snipes of South Carolina that moved the courtroom.
"Winda was 46 years old, never married and no children," her father wrote. "Yet she looked beautiful to me and was still my little girl."
Snipes wondered in his letter about his daughter's last moments of life.
"I wonder how scared she was. I wonder how much pain she suffered. I wonder how long she was conscious and how long he took to kill her," Snipes wrote.
He said that Hartman - "a depraved, ruthless, cold-blooded killer" - forced his indignities into his daughter's grave.
"Even in death, we could not slip her favorite ring on her finger or a bracelet on her wrist. Why? Because Brett Xavier Hartman had chopped off her hands."
Winda Snipes' hands were never found.
Police have said they felt that Hartman cut off the hands and disposed of them to prevent police from recovering incriminating DNA and other material from under her fingernails.
Hartman has never revealed what he did with her hands. He repeated his claim of innocence in a short statement to the court.
"I'm very sorry about the demise of Winda Snipes, but the demise of Winda Snipes I had nothing to do with," he said. "Being a heavy drinker and having very poor judgment are the only crimes I'm guilty of - if those are considered crimes."
Callahan said an attorney would be appointed to handle the appeal of Hartman's conviction and his sentence.
blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2009/03/akron_killer_sentenced_to_die.html
Posted by Lisa Cornwell/Associated Press March 27, 2009 22:30PM
Categories: Crime, Real Time News
• May 23, 1998: Akron killer sentenced to die in chair, ex-chef, 23, insists he did not slay woman
A convicted killer scheduled to die next month has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to delay his execution, alleging that a jailhouse informant committed perjury.
Brett Hartmann said a motion filed Friday that he needs time to gather evidence of the alleged perjury and test other evidence he says will prove his innocence.
The motion also asks the court to delay the execution to allow Hartmann time to demonstrate that Ohio's method of lethal injection is unconstitutional. He has said that it would deny him a quick and painless death as required by state law.
The state Supreme Court this month denied an earlier request by Hartmann to delay his execution so he could challenge the state's execution method. Hartmann had asked for that stay to allow time for him to join a lawsuit pending in Franklin County that makes a similar challenge.
Hartmann is scheduled to die April 7 for the fatal stabbing and mutilation of 46-year-old Wanda Snipes in Akron on Sept. 9, 1997. Documents and legal filings in the case refer to the inmate as Hartman, but he has said his name is Hartmann.
The filing Friday said the state has repeatedly referred to the informant's testimony as critical evidence of Hartmann's guilt. The new evidence severely undermines the informant's credibility and casts doubt on the validity of the conviction, Hartmann's motion said.
Hartmann says he is innocent.
His motion also referred to testimony presented March 23 in a federal trial in Ohio that is part of another condemned inmate's challenge to the lethal injection process. The judge in the federal case is taking testimony from Ohio's execution team to determine whether condemned killer Kenneth Biros can prove he has a chance of making a successful argument against injection in a longer and more detailed trial.
Hartmann's motion said testimony given in the federal court case provided evidence to demonstrate that Ohio's execution method carries "substantial risk of harm, i.e. excruciating pain during the execution."
It would be "particularly unfair and inhumane" to execute Hartmann within days of the first time that testimony became available to him and to the public, Hartmann's motion said.
Hartmann has said he must be given the same opportunity as other death row inmates to challenge the constitutionality of Ohio's execution method.
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/convicted_killer_brett_hartman.html
(They have this older article linked)
Akron killer sentenced to die in chair, ex-chef, 23, insists he did not slay woman
Posted by Terry Oblander / Plain Dealer Reporter March 27, 2009 22:38PM
This story originally ran May 23, 1998
Convicted murderer Brett X. Hartman maintained yesterday at his sentencing that he was innocent in the death of Winda D. Snipes, but he said he was ready to "die like a man."
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Michael T. Callahan said he was angered by Hartman's lack of remorse and sentenced the 23-year-old Akron man to die in the electric chair on Sept. 10, the first anniversary of the day Snipes was declared dead by the Summit County medical examiner's office.
Appeals are likely to delay the date of execution.
"I intend to do everything in my power that you never draw another free breath as long as you live," the judge told Hartman.
Hartman was convicted of killing Snipes, 46, who lived on Highland Ave., not far from the apartment home of Hartman, who was a chef at a downtown Akron hotel.
Police said Hartman called 9-1-1 late on Sept. 9 to report Snipes' death after strangling her with a telephone cord, stabbing her more than 130 times and cutting off her hands.
Callahan called the murder one of the most brutal he had encountered in 15 years as a judge and prosecutor.
It was a written statement by Winfred B. Snipes of South Carolina that moved the courtroom.
"Winda was 46 years old, never married and no children," her father wrote. "Yet she looked beautiful to me and was still my little girl."
Snipes wondered in his letter about his daughter's last moments of life.
"I wonder how scared she was. I wonder how much pain she suffered. I wonder how long she was conscious and how long he took to kill her," Snipes wrote.
He said that Hartman - "a depraved, ruthless, cold-blooded killer" - forced his indignities into his daughter's grave.
"Even in death, we could not slip her favorite ring on her finger or a bracelet on her wrist. Why? Because Brett Xavier Hartman had chopped off her hands."
Winda Snipes' hands were never found.
Police have said they felt that Hartman cut off the hands and disposed of them to prevent police from recovering incriminating DNA and other material from under her fingernails.
Hartman has never revealed what he did with her hands. He repeated his claim of innocence in a short statement to the court.
"I'm very sorry about the demise of Winda Snipes, but the demise of Winda Snipes I had nothing to do with," he said. "Being a heavy drinker and having very poor judgment are the only crimes I'm guilty of - if those are considered crimes."
Callahan said an attorney would be appointed to handle the appeal of Hartman's conviction and his sentence.
blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2009/03/akron_killer_sentenced_to_die.html