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Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 3, 2011 0:55:15 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Mar 3, 2011 19:19:03 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Oct 31, 2011 10:50:28 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Oct 31, 2011 10:51:05 GMT -5
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Post by guest on Nov 5, 2011 0:22:53 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 5, 2011 17:43:34 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 10, 2011 2:11:05 GMT -5
Court rejects appeal by East Cleveland man An appeals court has refused to reopen federal claims by a condemned Ohio man who shot his three sons to death as they slept in 1982. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday unanimously ruled against allowing Reginald Brooks of East Cleveland to argue he had poor legal counsel and that one of his lawyers had a conflict of interest. The court said the 66-year-old Brooks, who is scheduled to die Tuesday, waited too long to file the new claims and wouldn't succeed in his argument even if he had filed in time. The court said Brooks' attorneys made exhaustive filings on his behalf. Judges also rejected an argument that the son of a judge who previously ruled against Brooks shouldn't have represented Brooks. Read more: www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/court-rejects-appeal-by-east-cleveland-man-who-killed-3-sons#ixzz1dHgKfwiA |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 11, 2011 15:53:40 GMT -5
'Mentally ill' 66-year-old man facing execution in days Expert says Reginald Brooks suffers from paranoid schizophrenia A 66-year-old man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia faces execution in the US state of Ohio next week (Tuesday 15 November) despite a judge recently saying that he is “mentally ill” and was so at the time of three murders for which he was convicted nearly 28 years ago. Reginald Brooks, 66, was found guilty on 30 November 1983 of murdering his three sons on 6 March 1982. The three boys - Reginald Jr (aged 17), Vaughn (15), and Niarchos (11) - were shot in the family home in East Cleveland in Ohio. Brooks was found competent to stand trial, waived his right to a jury trial and was tried in front of a three-judge panel. However, last month a judge conducted hearings on whether Brooks is competent to be executed (whether he has a rational understanding of his punishment) and found that he “continues to be mentally ill, as he was at the time he committed these killings”, that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, and that he currently presents with “persecutory delusions that he has been framed for a crime that occurred while he was leaving town”. Notwithstanding these findings, the judge ruled that Brooks is competent to be executed. Meanwhile, his appeal lawyers have also obtained documents, apparently from the trial prosecutor’s file, pointing to evidence that in the period leading up to the killings Brooks had displayed bizarre, aberrant and paranoid behaviour indicative of deteriorating mental health. Brooks’ trial lawyer has said that none of the documents was disclosed to the defence, and that this “secretion of the witness statements totally prevented me from properly and competently representing Mr Brooks”. The current lawyers are seeking a stay of execution, arguing that the information was unlawfully withheld from the defence and that it would have been relevant to a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and as mitigating evidence against the death penalty. Yesterday Ohio’s governor John R Kasich denied clemency to Brooks. Amnesty is calling on him to reconsider this decision. Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said: “It frankly beggars belief that the state of Ohio is set to execute Reginald Brooks despite him being judged ‘mentally ill’. “Amnesty is against the death penalty in all circumstances, but even people who agree with capital punishment should be horrified at the thought of mentally ill people being sentenced to death and executed. “Governor Kasich should reconsider his decision to deny clemency to Mr Brooks, and recognise that there is a very strong case against his execution.” At a clemency hearing for Reginald Brooks last month a psychiatrist said that he had diagnosed Brooks as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. In a signed statement, Dr Rahn Bailey stated that: "As a forensic psychiatrist I can say with reasonable psychological and psychiatric certainty that the evidence contained in the prosecutor's files would have supported a not guilty by reason of insanity defence at trial. This is based upon a diagnosis of Schizophrenia, Paranoid type and supported by the anecdotal evidence made clear to outsiders around the time of the homicides. This evidence supports Mr Brooks as having been actively psychotic at the time he killed his children." Another witness at the clemency hearing was one of the three judges from the 1983 trial. Judge Harry Hanna said that he would not have voted for the death penalty if he had been presented with the information about Brooks’ behaviour prior to the shootings. He has also said in a sworn statement: “The new information from the prosecutor’s file paints a different picture than what was presented to me and the other two judges. My review of the police reports and statements indicates quite convincingly that Brooks was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia which related directly to the murder of his three children.” However, the Ohio Parole Board has recommended that Ohio's Governor, John Kasich, deny clemency to Reginald Brooks, who it acknowledges “suffers from mental illness”. The governor does not have to accept their recommendation. www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19796 |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 11, 2011 15:55:22 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 11, 2011 15:57:28 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 14, 2011 14:39:30 GMT -5
Execution set for tomorrow will be Ohio’s first since May A man who fatally shot his three sons while they slept in 1982, shortly after his wife filed for divorce, is scheduled to become the first person put to death in Ohio in nearly six months tomorrow. The planned execution of Reginald Brooks, 66, would mark the resumption of capital punishment in a state that often trails only Texas in the number of inmates put to death annually. Ohio’s last execution was in May. Brooks is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, and he has other state and federal appeals pending regarding his attorneys’ arguments that he’s not mentally competent and that the government hid relevant evidence that could have affected his case. State and federal courts have upheld his convictions. Defense attorneys contend Brooks is a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from mental illness long before he shot his 11-, 15- and 17-year-old sons in the head as they slept at their East Cleveland home on a Saturday morning. The defense says Brooks believed his co-workers and wife were poisoning him and that he maintains his innocence, offering conspiracy theories about the killings that involve police, his relatives and a look-alike. “He doesn’t have a connection to reality when it comes to talking about this case,” attorney Michael Benza has said. Prosecutors acknowledge Brooks is mentally ill but dispute the notions that it caused the murders or makes him incompetent. They say he planned merciless killings, bought a revolver two weeks in advance, confirmed he’d be home alone with the boys, targeted them when they wouldn’t resist and fled on a bus with a suitcase containing a birth certificate and personal items that could help him start a new life. They say his insistence that he’s innocent is a sign that he knows his rights, not that he’s delusional. Brooks was found competent for trial, and a three-judge panel convicted him. The defense has argued that prosecutors withheld information that would have supported a mental health defense and led the court to rule differently. Former Judge Harry Hanna, one of the three on the panel, told the Ohio Parole Board he would not have voted for the death penalty if he’d had information from police reports that were provided to the defense more recently. Brooks declined to be interviewed by the parole board. The board recommended that Gov. John Kasich deny clemency, and he did. Kasich previously granted clemency to two death row inmates and postponed two other executions as a federal judge weighed objections to Ohio’s execution policy. U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost denied a delay for Brooks last week and ruled in favor of Ohio’s execution rules, saying the state addressed his concerns about the process. Beverly Brooks, who found her sons dead in bed when she returned from work, told the parole board she believes the killings were an act of revenge for her divorce filing, not the result of mental illness, and she supports the execution. She is among those scheduled to witness it. Reginald Brooks was taken to the prison in Lucasville on Monday morning, prisons spokesman Carlo LoParo said. Brooks would be the oldest person put to death since Ohio resumed executions in 1999. He requested a special Monday dinner that included lasagna, garlic bread, ice cream, chocolate cake and root beer, along with several snacks, LoParo said. chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2011/11/14/execution-set-for-tomorrow-will-be-ohios-first-since-may/ |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 0:41:57 GMT -5
Ohio court refuses to halt Tuesday execution The Ohio Supreme Court has denied a request to halt the Tuesday execution of a man who fatally shot his three sons while they slept in 1982. The high court on Monday rejected Reginald Brooks' request just hours after a state appeals court denied his appeal for a chance to seek a new trial. An attorney for the 66-year-old Brooks, of East Cleveland, had indicated earlier that a new-trial request was pending in U.S. District Court if the state appeal failed. A separate appeal was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. More; www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45291324/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/ohio-court-refuses-halt-tuesday-execution/#.TsH7cD3zvlM |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 0:46:01 GMT -5
Options running out for Ohio man facing execution Options were running out Monday for a man set to be executed for fatally shooting his three sons while they slept after his wife filed for divorce. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and the Ohio Supreme Court issued decisions Monday rejecting requests to halt Tuesday's scheduled lethal injection of Reginald Brooks, of East Cleveland. Brooks, 66, would be the first person put to death in nearly six months in Ohio, which often trails only Texas in the number of inmates executed annually. Brooks' attorney did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the Ohio Supreme Court ruling but had earlier indicated that a new-trial request was pending in U.S. District Court if the state appeal failed. A separate appeal was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Monday's 6th Circuit ruling said Brooks' defense team is not likely to succeed in its arguments alleging that Brooks is not mentally competent to be executed for the 1982 killings and that the government hid relevant evidence that could have affected his case. Earlier in the day, a state appeals court denied Brooks request for a chance to seek a new trial. More; www.whiotv.com/ap/ap/crime/ohio-man-set-to-die-for-shooting-3-sleeping-sons/nFc4g/ |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 9:31:30 GMT -5
Mom will watch man who killed her three children die Tuesday in Ohio Beverly Brooks, mother of three children murdered in 1982 by their father, Reginald Brooks, is scheduled to witness his execution Tuesday morning at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility near Lucasville. It's slated to be the fifth execution this year, but the first since May 17 due to a court fight over lethal injection protocol and two clemencies granted by Gov. John Kasich. The governor declined clemency without comment in Brooks’ case. Brooks, now 66, would be the 46th, and oldest, Ohioan to be executed since 1999. He murdered his three sons their beds in their East Cleveland home. In addition to Niarchos, his victims included Reginald Jr., 17, and Vaughn, 15. Also slated to witness the execution: Mauria Fluker and Monica Stephens, the victims’ aunts; and Joyce Powell, Beverly Brooks' friend. Witnesses for Brooks: attorneys Alan Rossman and Michael Benza, and the Rev. Ernie Sanders. For his final “special meal,” Brooks requested lasagna, garlic bread, moose tracks ice cream, chocolate cake, caramel candy, beef jerky, cashews, almonds and root beer. www.dispatchpolitics.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2011/11/11-14-11-brooks-last-meal.html |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 9:33:14 GMT -5
Northeast Ohio man set to be executed for shooting 3 sleeping sons in ‘82 after divorce filing Ohio was poised Tuesday to end a nearly six-month break in its use of capital punishment by executing a man who fatally shot his three sons while they slept in 1982, shortly after his wife filed for divorce. State and federal courts have rejected attorneys’ arguments that 66-year-old Reginald Brooks of East Cleveland is not mentally competent and that the government withheld relevant evidence that could have affected Brooks’ case. The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday rejected Brooks’ request to halt the execution, and he had appeals pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. Brooks visited with his brother, clergy and lawyers Monday night, then listened to the radio and watched TV before falling asleep for more than six hours, prisons spokesman Carlo LoParo said. Brooks refused breakfast Tuesday morning. A medical team that checked his arms ahead of the planned lethal injection found visible veins, LoParo said. He said Brooks did not appear to be emotional Tuesday morning. More; www.washingtonpost.com/national/northeast-ohio-man-set-to-be-executed-for-shooting-3-sleeping-sons-in-82-after-divorce-filing/2011/11/15/gIQAFWulNN_story.html |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 9:35:18 GMT -5
Cleveland man who killed sons in '82 scheduled to be executed today The execution of Reginald Brooks, who murdered his three sons in East Cleveland nearly 30 years ago, is scheduled for today but must first clear two last-minute court challenges. Beverly Brooks, the boys' mother and Brooks' ex-wife, is among those scheduled to witness the execution by injection. Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokesman Carlo LoParo said there has been nothing unusual about Brooks' behavior since he arrived on Monday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. LoParo said there is a pending court appeal seeking to halt the execution before the U.S. Supreme Court. There is also a pending appeal before U.S. District Court Judge Donald Nugent, LoParo said. The state attorney general's office has asked Nugent to rule on the motion. Prison officials will need at least an hour to prepare for the execution after all court challenges have been decided. That most likely means the execution will happen at 10 a.m. as originally scheduled. More; blog.cleveland.com/metro/2011/11/cleveland_man_who_killed_sons.html |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 9:52:09 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 11:28:45 GMT -5
Dan Haggerty: Witness to execution of Reginald Brooks 10:43 a.m. update: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Brooks appeal, but there is still another appeal that has been filed based on a Nov. 4 ruling. That ruling from the U.S. District Court of Northern Ohio was against Brooks, but it was never entered into the docket. Essentially, Brooks’ case will go back to the U.S. Supreme Court again. While this sounds like a lengthy legal process, Brooks could still be executed early today. Read more: www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/newschannel5s-dan-haggerty-witness-to-execution-of-reginald-brooks |
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 14:26:46 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 15, 2011 15:58:42 GMT -5
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Post by thinkinkmesa on Nov 17, 2011 14:57:52 GMT -5
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