Mark Brown

[thinkinkmesa]

Mark Brown
ohiodeathrow.blogspot.com/2009/05/mark-brown.html

[thinkinkmesa]

Cross post;

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday set three additional execution dates for inmates on death row, meaning the state could set a record of eight executions this year.

Executions are now scheduled for each of the remaining months of the year -- including two in July -- along with January and February of 2010, for a total of nine pending executions.

The nine inmates have exhausted all their regular state and federal appeals and have few remaining options, one of which includes asking Gov. Ted Strickland for clemency.

Ohio executed Daniel Wilson June 3 for burning a woman alive in the trunk of her car.

The state executed seven men in 2004, second only to Texas which regularly puts 20 or more inmates to death each year.

On Wednesday, the court set an Oct. 8 execution date for Lawrence Reynolds, 43, of Summit County. He was sentenced to die for killing his 67-year-old neighbor, Loretta Foster, in 1994 in her Akron home after trying to rape her.

The court also set a Jan. 7 execution date for Vernon Smith, 37, of Lucas County, sentenced to die for killing 28-year-old Toledo store owner Sohail Darwish in 1993.

The court also set a Feb. 4 execution date for Mark Brown, 36, of Mahoning County, sentenced to die for killing 32-year-old Isam Salman, a Youngstown store clerk, in 1994.

The Attorney General's office has asked prosecutors to coordinate their requests for execution dates to avoid swamping the state Supreme Court.

The court, which had previously scheduled two executions in eight days next month, said last week it will schedule future executions at least three weeks apart.
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/06/ohio_supreme_court_sets_3_exec.html

[thinkinkmesa]

Ashraf Salman was only seven years old when his father was murdered. Fifteen years later, and he and his family are still waiting for closure.

"While we lost a lot and he, day by day, is able to breathe every year," said Salman. "We think about it."

The shooter was Mark Brown, who confessed to killing Salman's father, Isam Salman, and another man, Hyader Al Turk, inside a store on Elm Street in Youngstown during a robbery. Brown confessed a week after the robbery and was sentenced to death.

Bown is scheduled to be put to death on Feb. 4. The next inmate scheduled to die in Ohio is Vernon Smith on January 7th.

With Tuesday's execution of convicted killer Kenneth Biros having been the first to use a one-drug lethal injection, that's likely how Brown will die as well.

The state last month moved from a three-drug lethal injection in place since the 1970s to one which uses only one with a two-drug muscle injection as a back-up. The change was made two months after an inmate walked away from a unsuccessful execution when no suitable vein could be found for the injection and executions were put on hold.

After years of being denied other appeals and clemency, Biros was denied a last minute stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court after filing an appeal dealing with the new process.

"Even though we know it won't bring anything back, it still is something that will relieve the family knowing that justice was served," Salman said.

Salman said he thinks of his father every day, and as his father's killer moves closer to execution, he said his feelings will remain the same.

"We are always going to be angry," he said. "We are always going to be sad. But having, at the very end, justice be served, it's going to take a lot."

"It's not fair that he can continue on with his life when he took two people from ours," Salman said.

www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Youngstown-Man-Up-Soon-for-Lethal-Injection/LFgy1QNn2k27PFIfgEL3ZQ.cspx

[thinkinkmesa]

Brown should be tried anew after witness admits perjury, public defenders say.

A man convicted of the Jan. 28, 1994, murders of a convenience-store owner and clerk, who is scheduled to be executed Feb. 4, will have a hearing next month on his request for a new trial.

The hearing on Mark Aaron Brown’s request for a new trial will be at 9 a.m. Jan. 15 before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Brown, 37, was sentenced to death for killing Isam Salman, owner of the Midway Market on Elm Street, and to life in prison for killing the clerk, Hayder Al-Turk. Both victims were fatally shot in the head in the North Side store.

Brown also is set for a clemency hearing Jan. 5 in Columbus.

Brown’s motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence was made by Pamela Prude-Smithers, chief counsel for the death-penalty division of the Ohio Public Defender’s Office in Columbus, and Rachel Troutman, assistant state public defender.

“Brown’s constitutional rights were violated when false evidence was presented against him,” the public defenders said in their motion.

The defenders said a witness has admitted to them that he committed perjury when he testified at Brown’s trial and “now admits that he was across the street and two houses down when he heard the shots.” The witness said he lied because the prosecution promised him a more lenient sentence in exchange for his testimony against Brown.

Paul J. Gains, county prosecutor, and Ralph M. Rivera, an assistant county prosecutor, argued unsuccessfully against having a hearing or granting a new trial and in favor of letting Brown’s conviction and sentence stand.

The prosecutors said Brown failed to explain why he was prevented from discovering the alleged new evidence and failed to establish the jury verdict would have been different if it had considered this evidence.

“Defendant has exhausted all state and federal remedies,” and his execution is imminent, the prosecutors wrote. “This is nothing more than a last-minute attempt to prolong the inevitable,” they added.
www.vindy.com/news/2009/dec/24/death-row-inmate-requests-new-trial/

[guest]

Clemency Hearing Set for Death Row Inmate

A Mahoning County man sentenced to die in February is scheduled for a clemency hearing next month.

Lawyers for condemned inmate Mark Brown says new evidence shows a witness lied during testimony against him.
The Ohio Parole Board will hear his case during the clemency hearing on January 5.

Brown, 37, was sentenced to die for the 1994 murders of Isam Salman and Hayder Al Turk.

www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Clemency-Hearing-Set-for-Death-Row-Inmate/-2FpuzRrf0m6klRSX-jYsg.cspx

[thinkinkmesa]

Clemency denial urged in ’94 murders of 2 men

Mark Aaron Brown is scheduled to die Feb. 4 for killing Isam Salman and Hayder Al-Turk.

Ashraf Salman still wakes up wanting to see his dad’s coat hung in its usual place by the door, much the way he did as a 7-year-old boy one night in January 1994.

On that night, the third child of Isam Salman awoke to hear his mother and aunts and uncles crying.

He didn’t know why.

“ said that once [my dad] comes, everything will be OK, and he will fix any problem,” Ashraf Salman recalled. “I went back to sleep that night not knowing what my brothers and sister will have to go through for the next 15 years — a lifetime without the man that cared for us and loved us every waking moment.”

Salman, 32, and Hayder Al-Turk, 30, were gunned down that night while working at the Midway Market in Youngstown.

Mark Aaron Brown, a then-21-year-old who was high on drugs, was convicted of both murders and sentenced to death for killing Salman, the store’s owner.

On Tuesday, Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains and members of Salman’s family urged the state parole board to deny Brown’s clemency request and allow his execution next month as scheduled.

But an attorney who formerly represented Brown urged the state parole board to commute his sentence to life without the possibility of parole, saying he failed to fully investigate his client’s innocence claims.

Atty. Don Malarcik said he did not request original trial notes and other files in the murder case — information that his current legal counsel say includes details that call into question Brown’s conviction and death sentence.

“It was the most significant mistake in my legal career,” Malarcik said, adding later.

Brown is scheduled to be executed Feb. 4 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

He was interviewed by the state parole board last month, and the board convened a clemency hearing Tuesday in Columbus to consider whether to recommend a sentence commutation. More than 40 representatives of the inmate’s and victims’ families attended, with some added to waiting lists because of space limitations.

Legal counsel for Brown urged the parole board to grant clemency; public defender Pam Prude-Smithers focused on Brown’s continued claims that he did not shoot Salman.

She said that witnesses whose testimony backed up that assertion were not called to the stand during his trial. Another witness, in letter to the inmate, later admitted he lied about what he saw that night. And at least one member of the jury who decided in favor of the death penalty has since said it was the wrong decision.

All of those details should have been offered during the appeal process, but Brown’s legal counsel mishandled the case and never fully investigated his innocence claims, Prude-Smithers said.

Brown’s legal counsel also offered the inmate’s troubled upbringing in urging clemency. Public defender Rachel Troutman said that Brown grew up with a mother who was addicted to drugs, and that she shipped him off to live with other relatives for periods throughout his childhood.

Despite those circumstances, “I have never seen an angry, bitter cynical person,” Malarcik said. “I’ve never heard him blame anyone for where he is, despite his trial counsels’ failures, despite my failures, despite the failures of his mother. Mark holds himself accountable for where he is and what is happening in his life ... and I implore this board to consider those matters and impose a life sentence.”

Brown also has regular visits with families and friends, writes to pen pals and is in contact with his children, nephews and nieces — telling the latter to stay in school, not run the streets and not follow his path to prison, Troutman said.

“Mark does not deserve to die,” she said, adding later, “He feels remorse for taking that gun into the store as being the impetus that caused Mr. Salman’s death. He takes responsibility. He just didn’t pull the trigger.”

But Gains countered that Brown was a manipulator with a criminal background who is attempting to con his way out of the death sentence.

He said the trial jury heard all of the evidence and testimony Brown’s legal counsel now says calls into question his conviction — and the jury still convicted him and decided in favor of the death penalty. There was no evidence of another shooter.

“The sole shooter was Mark Brown, by his own words,” Gains said, adding later, “The jury heard every argument. ... That evidence was heard by the jury. The Supreme Court determined that there was no error made during jury deliberations.”

Members of Salman’s family also spoke during Tuesday’s hearing, including several of his children, who described the devastation of the murder and its aftermath.

A sister, Terri Rasul, said Brown’s actions “killed the core of our family” and led to the premature death of her mother 10 days after the murder.

She described seeing her brother and Al-Turk carried from the Midway Market in body bags and not being able to identify Salman because of the vicious nature of the crime.

“I want these people who think that Mark Brown should be granted clemency to look me in the eyes and tell me if that was their son, their father or their husband, what would they want done to him?” Rasul asked. “Mark Brown just sitting in prison, being catered to with health care, food in his belly, a shelter and so on is not a punishment.

“Mark Brown has been rewarded enough. He has had 16 more years than Isam and Hadar Al-Turk had. Mark Brown will still have the opportunity to say his goodbyes to his loved ones, choose his last meals. That’s something Isam Salman and Hadra Al-Turk were not given. It’s time for Mark Brown to pay his dues. We the society have paid way too much for way too long.”

The parole board will submit its recommendation on clemency to Gov. Ted Strickland next Wednesday.
www.vindy.com/news/2010/jan/06/clemency-denial-urged-in-821794-murders-of-2/?newswatch

[thinkinkmesa]

A local death row inmate in a double homicide, begs that his life be spared. His attorneys claim new evidence suggests he's innocent. But the prosecution says it's a con.

21 News reporter Janet Rogers was in Columbus for Mark Brown's parole hearing.

January 28th, 1994 the store owner and an employee of Midway Market in Youngstown are shot execution style.

Mark Brown was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Hayder Al Turk and was sentenced to death for the muder of the store owner Isam Salman.

But new public defenders who have taken on brown's case claim he is innocent and his sentence should be reduced to life in prison.

They believe the man Brown was with that night known as Booney, murdered Salman. They blame his conviction on incompetent defense attorneys, and a corrupt and now deceased prosecutor James Philomena.

Ohio Public Defender Pam Prude-Smithers says, "Boonie had gunshot residue on his jacket. There were unknown prints at the scene of the crime and on the gun that were never compared with Boonie's prints, other state witnesses lied."

But prosecutor Paul Gains pointed out there was no evidence this case was fixed by a corrupt prosecutor and says Brown is a manipulative con man.

"No where in his testimony doe she say Boonie went behind the counter and shot Mr. Salman," says Gains. "No where in his testimony doe she say 'after Boonie took the gun I heard gunfire,' he doesn't say it at all."

The parole board is expected to send it's decision to the governor next Wednesday in the meantime the public defenders office has filed motions in the Ohio Supreme cCurt and Mahoning Common Pleas Court asking for a new trial.

Unless the governor or courts intervene Brown is scheduled to be executed February fourth.
www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=11774598
(Includes video clip)

[thinkinkmesa]

A recommendation on whether clemency should be granted to a Youngstown killer who is facing execution by lethal injection next month is expected by next week, following Tuesday's hearing in Columbus.

Mark Brown, convicted in a Jan. 28, 1994, double murder, is set to die Feb. 4.

Julie Walburn, state Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said about 44 people were scheduled to attend Tuesday's hearing.

Brown killed Isam Salman and Hayder Al Truk. He was sentenced to death for Salman's murder and to life in prison for Al Truk's death at the Midway Market at Elm Street and New York Avenue.

Messages left seeking comment from the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office and the Ohio Public Defender's Office about the day's arguments were not immediately returned Tuesday. The hearing was set to begin about 10 a.m. and continued into the afternoon, according to Walburn.

The seven-member Parole Board's report and its recommendation to Gov. Ted Strickland is due Jan. 13, according to Walburn. Then, she said Strickland has until the date of the execution to decide whether to grant clemency.

About 19 people were registered to attend the hearing for Brown, although Walburn said she did not know if they all came. That included eight people from the public defender's office; Brown's sister Michelle Brown; a minister; Don Malarcik, Brown's former attorney; and other friends and relatives.

About 20 family members of Isam Salman were registered to attend. Included in that was Isam Salman's widow, Hind Salman, his sons Shady and Ashraf and daughter Mudalaleh.

The other five attendees were state and local officials.

Brown's attorneys have requested a new trial, stating that a witness in the original trial has admitted to lying on the stand. That hearing is set before Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney on Jan. 15, two days after the parole board is due to report.
www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/531905.html?nav=5021

[thinkinkmesa]

Witnesses: we lied in Ohio death penalty trial

Two witnesses who testified against a condemned inmate in his 1994 death penalty trial say they lied to win favor with prosecutors.

The witnesses told a Mahoning County judge Friday they gave false information regarding a double slaying allegedly committed by 37-year-old Mark Brown, scheduled to die next month.

Myzelle Arrington, who was 15 at the time, says he lied in hopes of getting help with his own legal troubles.

Marcus Clark, 13 at the time, says Brown only shot the owner of a Youngstown convenience store and that a second person shot a clerk also killed that night.

The testimony is significant because Brown was sentenced to death for killing two or more people at the same time.

Prosecutors say the witnesses aren't being truthful

To read more or access links within article;
www.examiner.com/a-2425047~Witnesses__we_lied_in_Ohio_death_penalty_trial.html

[thinkinkmesa]

Death Row Killer Mark Brown Fighting for New Trial

Convicted killer Mark Brown was back in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Friday asking to be retried for the double murder at a north side convenience store in 1994.

His lawyers presented new evidence, hoping it is enough to take Brown off of death row. Earlier this week, the state's parole board voted against giving him clemency.

As Brown entered the courtroom, the family of one victim, Isam Salman, fought back tears.

"It's very difficult," said Terri Rasul, Salman's sister. "We're reliving it all over again."

Details of Salman's 1994 murder are resurfacing in light of new evidence. Brown's attorney's called one of the original witnesses who testified at the 1996 trial. Myzell Arrington originally told the court he saw Mark Brown in the Midway Market when Salman and his employee were gunned down, but he now claims he lied to prosecutors.

"I didn't see anything," said Arrington. "I don't know nothing about it. I didn't see anything."

Arrington went on to say he cooperated because he believed he was going to be charged with complicity to this particular murder. Arrington also thought he would receive leniency regarding other crimes he committed.

But prosecutor Paul Gains questioned Arrington's credibility. When asked if Arrington saw Mark and another man outside the store at the time of the shooting, the witness said he didn't recall. However, in a statement given to police three days after the shooting, Arrington said he had.

Gains also said Arrington had no proof he received special treatment from the prosecutor.

Salman's family said they feel they have no rights in the process and that dragging the case out is negatively affecting their day to day lives.

"We need justice," Rasul said. "The kids need closure. It's time that we do look at the victims and say they shouldn't have to go through this."

The hearing will continue on Tuesday.

To read more;
www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Death-Row-Killer-Mark-Brown-Fighting-for-New-Trial/uACZ5b8rK0O4kwGwAtWdrw.cspx

[guest]

A death row inmate from Youngstown may be hoping a call from the Governor will save his life, now that a judge has turned down his request for a new trial.

Judge Maureen Sweeney denied the motion from Mark Brown, saying she doesn't believe witnesses - who recanted earlier testimony that helped convict him.

Brown is scheduled for execution next month for the 1994 murders of two men at a city convenience store.

Although parole authorities are recommending against clemency for Brown.. Governor Ted Strickland has yet to issue a final decision.
www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=11844376

[thinkinkmesa]

Parole Board Denies Clemency For Death Row Inmate

The Ohio parole Board Is recommending Against clemency for Mark Brown, who is sentenced to death for killing a Youngstown store owner. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles has details.

For audio;
www.wcpn.org/WCPN/news/29275/

[guest]

An inmate scheduled to die Feb. 4 for killing a convenience store owner wants the state Supreme Court to delay his execution while he fights for a new trial.

Thirty-7-year-old Mark Brown asked the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday to give him enough time to argue that newly uncovered evidence should spare him.

Brown says two witnesses can show that while he shot the store owner in a 1994 double slaying in Youngstown, he didn't shoot a clerk also killed that night.

The testimony is significant because Brown was sentenced to death for killing two or more people at the same time.

An Mahoning County judge denied Brown's request for a new trial last week, saying the witnesses weren't credible.

Brown has appealed the judge's ruling.

www.cleveland.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national-101/1264635647252790.xml&storylist=cleveland

[guest]

Same article content as above but has a comment section;
www.examiner.com/a-2444198~Ohio_inmate__halt_execution_during_legal_fight.html

[guest]

What's the Rush?

Tomorrow, January 28, it will be 16 years since Hayder Al-Turk and Isam Salman were murdered at the Midway Market.

At 10 a.m. on February 4, just over 7 1/2 days from now, the State of Ohio intends to murder Mark Brown for having killed Salman. There's just one problem. It looks like he didn't do it.

To read more;

gamso-forthedefense.blogspot.com/2010/01/whats-rush.html

[thinkinkmesa]

A federal judge has allowed an inmate scheduled to die Feb. 4 for killing a convenience store owner to challenge Ohio's lethal injection system.

The decision Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost does not delay next week's execution of 37-year-old Mark Brown.

Brown has joined a lawsuit filed last month that challenges the state's new injection procedure, which includes a never-before-tried backup method that injects drugs directly into muscles.

Brown has asked Frost to delay his execution while he makes his injection challenge, but the judge hasn't ruled on that request.

Brown is also seeking a delay in state courts to argue that newly uncovered evidence should spare him.

Brown was sentenced to die for the 1994 fatal shooting of Isam Salman, owner of Midway Market in Youngstown.
To read more;
www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/01/28/lethal-injection.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=101

[thinkinkmesa]

Youngstown man slated for execution this week

Time is running short for a Youngstown man scheduled for execution this week. But death row inmate Mark Brown continues pressing his legal appeals. Brown is on Ohio's death row for murdering two men at aYoungstown convenience store in 1994. He's scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday. Today, the Ohio Supreme court denied Brown's request to stop the execution. However, an appeals court in Youngstown is scheduled to hear Brown's motion to delay the execution Tuesday.
www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=11914964

[thinkinkmesa]

A man who bragged that he would do a “Menace II Society,” referring to the movie that begins with the killing of two store clerks, faces execution Thursday in the Jan. 28, 1994, slayings of a convenience-store owner and a clerk on Youngstown’s North Side.

After being convicted by a jury, Mark Aaron Brown, 37, was sentenced to death for killing Isam Salman, 32, owner of Midway Market on Elm Street, and to life in prison for killing the clerk, Hayder Al-Turk, 30, who was shot first. Both victims were fatally shot in the head at the store.

The Ohio Supreme Court refused late Monday to delay the execution of Brown, which is to take place at Lucasville. Brown, 37, is a death- row inmate at the Ohio State Penitentiary on Youngstown’s East Side.

In another last-minute development, the 7th District Court of Appeals announced late Monday that oral arguments on whether Brown will get a new trial will be at 2 p.m. today before a three-judge panel.

Hearing the case at the appeals court at 131 W. Federal St., Youngstown, will be Judges Gene Donofrio, Cheryl L. Waite and Mary DeGenaro.

The appellate judges will be hearing Brown’s appeal of the decision by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court not to grant him a new trial.

The Ohio Public Defender’s Office asked for a new trial based on what it said was newly discovered evidence, but, after a hearing last month, Judge Sweeney found two witnesses who recanted their trial testimony not to be credible.

Prosecutors said the death sentence for Salman’s slaying reflected the circumstances — the second victim was cowering under a counter and was shot at close range. There was disputed testimony on whether Brown had a confrontation before shooting the first victim.

“Police were able to get from Mark Brown’s friends that Mark told them before he went to that market that night that he was going to commit a ‘Menace II Society,’” said Brad Gessner, who prosecuted the case. He now works as an assistant Summit County prosecutor in Akron.

Gessner and a fellow prosecutor, unfamiliar with the movie, needed to watch just the first few minutes of the film to get the gist of Brown’s bragging.

“Mark Brown had a plan in his head that he wanted to go kill two people in a store, two store clerks, and went through and did it and did it in a manner that there was no sense to it at all,” Gessner said in an interview.

Prosecutors asked to show the movie, or at least the opening, for the trial jury, but the judge refused. Still, jurors learned about the “Menace II Society” connection from police testimony.

“One witness stated that they had been watching that movie, and they believe that’s what had caused it,” said Youngstown police Lt. David McKnight, who was a detective sergeant when he investigated the slayings.

McKnight believes the killings resulted from an inner rage that emerged from Brown, who was out with a friend drinking Valium-laced wine and smoking cigars that had been gouged out and refilled with marijuana.

“They were obviously very high. Sometimes when they get high, people are quick to anger,” Mc- Knight said.

Brown said he shot Al-Turk but didn’t remember shooting Salman. He appealed for clemency, but the state parole board voted unanimously in January that there didn’t appear to be any “manifest injustice in either the conviction or the sentence.”

Brown asked the parole board by video-conference hookup to recommend that his life be spared. He said he had become a changed, mature man and was trying to positively influence his four teenage children, his nephew and his nephew’s friends by urging them to stay in school and avoid the mistakes he had made.

His public defender, Rachel Troutman, told the parole board that Brown’s mother was a lifelong drug abuser who abused and neglected her children and eventually abandoned Brown. Without any adult support after he was robbed by a gang, Brown joined a rival gang, the defense said.

Troutman said Monday the “Menace II Society” claim came from a witness who wasn’t credible because he allowed his nephew to go into the store with Brown, in effect putting a family member at risk if he believed Brown was determined to pull off a double murder.

The killings occurred in a blue-collar neighborhood where the Salman family of immigrant Arabs had started what became a group of several inner-city stores. The location closed after the killings and left the neighborhood without a store and deteriorating, McKnight said.

“I don’t think the neighborhood ever really recovered after that,” he said.

www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/02/execution-set-thursday-for-killer-of-2-m/

[guest]

The Ohio Supreme Court has refused to delay the execution of Mark Aaron Brown of Youngstown, which is scheduled for Thursday at Lucasville.

The state’s top court released its decision late this afternoon in a terse one-paragraph statement.

Also late this afternoon, the 7th District Court of Appeals in Youngstown announced that oral arguments on whether Brown will get a new trial in the 1994 double murder case will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday before Judges Gene Donofrio, Cheryl Waite and Mary DeGenaro.

The judges will hear Brown’s appeal of the decision by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court not to grant him a new trial.

The Ohio Public Defender’s Office asked for a new trial based on what it said was new evidence, but Judge Sweeney found two witnesses who recanted their trial testimony not to be credible.

A jury convicted Brown of the Jan. 28, 1994, murders of Isam Salman, owner of the Midway Market on Elm Street, and Hayder Al-Turk, a clerk in that North Side convenience store. Both victims were shot in the head.
www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/01/ohio-supreme-court-wont-delay-execution-date-young/

[Simon]

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio- The Seventh District Court of Appeals has denied death row inmate Mark Brown a new trial.

In court Tuesday afternoon, his attorney told the three-judge panel that two witnesses have recanted testimony they gave at trial.

Brown is scheduled to be executed on Thursday for his part in the murders of two men at a Youngstown convenience store in 1994

www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=11917769

[guest]

The 7th district Court of Appeals has denied Mark Brown's appeal for a new trial.

The court Tuesday ruled that Valley Judge Maureen Sweeney made the proper ruling when denying Brown's request for a new trial because he did not meet the correct criteria.

Brown was sentenced to die for the 1994 fatal shooting of Midway Market owner, Isam Salman, and got life in prison for killing the clerk, Hayder Al Turk.

Last month, Sweeney denied Brown a retrial, requested after his lawyers said there was new evidence in the case. Specifically, they said one witness in Brown's original trial had lied in his testimony.

The state parole board has recommended against clemency. Monday, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a stay of execution request.

www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Federal-Court-Denies-Convicted-Killer-a-Retrial/lbGafYvy5UWwyY32PLKLpw.cspx

[thinkinkmesa]

Barring action by another court, the execution of convicted murderer Mark Aaron Brown can go forward as scheduled Thursday.

The 7th District Court of Appeals here has denied Brown’s request for a new trial.

The three-judge panel’s ruling was announced around 8 p.m. Tuesday after a hearing earlier in the day. The hearing was on Brown’s appeal of a decision out of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court also denying his request for another trial.

The appellate court’s decision was written by Judge Cheryl L. Waite, with Judges Gene Donofrio and Mary DeGenaro concurring.

The judges overruled all four assignments of error argued by the defense.

Even before the decision was announced, a sister of the convenience-store owner Brown was convicted of killing 16 years ago, and an assistant county prosecutor said they thought there should be no further delay in Brown’s execution.

“He walked in there, and he killed two innocent lives, and he should pay for that,” said Terri Rasul of Youngstown, sister of Isam Salman, the slain owner of Midway Market on Elm Street. “He has no remorse whatsoever,” she added.

“He walked into a store and gunned down two working men for absolutely no reason,” said Ralph Rivera, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, after Tuesday afternoon arguments before the 7th District Court of Appeals on whether Brown should get a new trial.

The opening remark to the three-judge panel by the public defender trying to keep Brown alive reflected her view that Brown is a victim of injustice, but she seemed resigned to his execution.

“Mark will be dead in two days despite the fact that two of the witnesses who testified against him in the trial have admitted that they lied when they testified at the time of trial,” Atty. Rachel Troutman, an assistant Ohio public defender, told the judges.

“The jury struggled with the verdict,” Troutman said, noting that it deliberated 15 hours before convicting him and 20 hours before recommending a death sentence for him.

After the jury convicted him early in 1996, Brown, now 37, was sentenced to death for killing Salman, 32, and to life in prison for killing a clerk, Hayder Al-Turk, 30, who was shot first. Both victims were shot in the head in the North Side store Jan. 28, 1994.

Judges Waite, Donofrio and DeGenaro heard arguments on Troutman’s request for a new trial based on what she said was newly discovered evidence.

The public defender had appealed the common pleas decision Judge Maureen A. Sweeney not to grant Brown a new trial. After a two-day hearing about two weeks ago, Judge Sweeney found two witnesses, Marcus Clark and Myzell Arrington, who recanted their trial testimony, not to be credible.

Rivera argued that the witnesses’ trial testimony was credible, but their recent recantations were not, so there was no newly discovered evidence that would warrant a new trial.

Judge DeGenaro said after the hearing that the appeals court would limit itself to deciding whether Brown should get a new trial. “We have no legal authority to stay this execution,” she said.

“I am confident that justice is going to be served,” Rasul said after the hearing, adding that she was sure the appeals court would uphold Judge Sweeney’s decision.

The Ohio Supreme Court refused Monday to delay Brown’s execution.

Brown has also asked a federal appeals court to delay his execution. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati received his request Tuesday to overturn the lower court’s ruling that his execution should not be halted.

Brown is asking for the delay while he challenges the state’s new lethal-injection procedure, which includes a never-before-tried backup method that injects drugs into a muscle instead of a vein. U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost refused Monday to delay the execution.

In 14 years of appeals, Brown’s case has gone three times to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has refused to review it each time, Rivera said.

MARK AARON BROWN A time line

An overview of the events leading up to the scheduled execution of Mark Aaron Brown.Jan. 13: Ohio Parole Board recommends against clemency for Brown. Gov. Ted Strickland later accepts the board’s recommendation.

Jan. 15: Ohio Public Defender’s Office has hearing before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Brown’s request for a new trial based on new evidence.

Jan. 20: Judge Sweeney denies Brown’s request for a new trial.

Jan. 22: Ohio Public Defender’s Office appeals Judge Sweeney’s

ruling to the 7th District Court of Appeals.

Monday: Ohio Supreme Court refuses to delay Brown’s execution as does U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost.

Tuesday: 7th District Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on whether Brown should get a new trial. Brown also files appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to delay his execution.

Thursday: Brown is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the death house in Lucasville.
To read more;
www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/03/brown-appeal-denied/?newswatch

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Brown arrives at Death House; no decision on clemency

Mark Aaron Brown arrived at the Death House at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility Wednesday morning, a day before his scheduled execution by lethal injection.

Brown arrived at the prison just before 10 a.m., said Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. He will spend much of the day in a cell at the Death House, will be offered a “special” meal with requested entrees and have contact visits with family and friends this evening. His execution is set for Thursday at 10 a.m.

Brown was convicted in the 1994 shooting deaths of Isam Salman and Hayder Al-Turk at the Midway Market in January 1994.

Brown has continued to say he does not remember killing Salman, whose murder prompted the death sentence. He admitted shooting Al-Turk and was sentenced to life in prison.

Gov. Ted Strickland has not yet issued his decision on clemency in the case.

“I don’t set artificial deadlines for myself when it comes to these matters,” he told Statehouse reporters Tuesday. “I have spent some hours over the weekend reviewing the case. And I will be talking further with my staff and legal counsel about it before I make the final determination.”
To read more;
www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/03/brown-arrives-at-death-house-no-decision/

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condemned Ohio inmate who killed a store owner and clerk in a 1994 robbery has asked a federal appeals court to delay his Thursday execution.

Mark Brown asked the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday to overturn a lower court's ruling that his execution should not be halted.

Brown, 37, is asking for the delay while he challenges the state's new lethal-injection procedure, which involves injecting drugs directly into a muscle instead of a vein.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost refused Monday to delay the execution.

Brown was sentenced to die for the 1994 fatal shooting of Isam Salman, owner of Midway Market in Youngstown. He received a life term for killing clerk Hayder Al-Turk the same night.

In another development, the Ohio Supreme Court has set three more execution dates.

The rulings put the state on pace to execute a record number of inmates, with executions now scheduled monthly through September.

The court set these execution dates:

• July 13, for William Garner, 37, sentenced to die for setting fires that killed five children in Cincinnati in 1992.

• Aug. 10, for Roderick Davie, 38, sentenced to die for killing two co-workers at a Warren distribution plant in 1991.

• Sept. 15, for Kevin Keith, 46, sentenced to die for killing a 7-year-old girl and two other people in a 1994 shooting in Bucyrus.
To read more;
www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/02/03/copy/z-apoh_deathpenaltyappeal_02.ART_ART_02-03-10_B3_DHGG2P2.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

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Options and time appear to be running out for convicted killer Mark Brown.

Wednesday morning Brown arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. He had been housed at the state prison in Youngstown.

Judges with the 7th District Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday evening that Brown should not receive a new trial. That decision upholded a ruling in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court last month.

Although Brown insisted two witnesses at his original trial lied, Judge Maureen Sweeney determined those claims weren't credible and the appeals judges agreed that a new trial was not warranted.

Pending another court's ruling, Brown remains set to die Thursday morning for his role in a 1994 convenience store robbery that left two clerks dead.

We have news crew in Lucasville and will have updates to this developing story. Check back here and tune into our upcoming newscasts for the very latest information.
www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Brown-Arrives-at-Death-House-Execution-Set/Pm2oHH25E0mGBRf-vpjZDA.cspx

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Governor's Statement Regarding Executive Clemency Application of Mark A. Brown

Governor Ted Strickland today issued the following statement regarding the pending application for executive clemency of Mark A. Brown:

"As a result of his conviction for aggravated murder, Mr. Mark A. Brown is scheduled to be executed on February 4, 2010 at 10 a.m. I have completed a review of the circumstances surrounding his case to determine if executive clemency is warranted.

"In conducting this evaluation, my staff and I reviewed the record of proceedings and the evidence presented in Mr. Brown's case, the judicial decisions regarding Mr. Brown's conviction, and arguments presented for and against clemency at the Parole Board hearing regarding Mr. Brown's application for executive clemency. We have also reviewed institutional records, letters and other communications received in the Governor's Office regarding this matter, and the unanimous recommendation against clemency forwarded to me by the Ohio Parole Board on January 13, 2010, along with the exhibits presented at the Parole Board's hearing and letters received by the Parole Board regarding Mr. Brown's case.

"Based on this review, I concur with the Parole Board recommendation on this matter."

governor.ohio.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=1505

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Mark Brown Denied Clemency, Prepares for Execution

Mark Brown arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville just before 10 a.m. Wednesday to start what could be the last 24 hours of his life.

"He's been quiet, his mood has been calm, and he's very cooperative with staff," said Julie Walburn, communications chief for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

It's been more than 16 years since Brown killed Hayder Al Turk and Isam Salman at a Youngstown convenience store. Brown and his attorneys have been asking for a new trial, after two witnesses claimed they had lied on the witness stand at his original trial.

His appeals have been repeatedly rejected, most recently from Gov. Ted Strickland who denied executive clemency Wednesday afternoon.

Brown was sentenced to death for the aggravated murder of Youngstown Midway Market owner Isam Salman in 1994. Salman was killed during a robbery at his business, and Brown also was given a life sentence for the shooting death of clerk Hayder Al-Turk.

Brown spent much of the day Wednesday writing and watching TV, said jail officials. He ate lunch at 11:45 a.m. and spent most of the afternoon on the phone with friends and his attorney.

He was scheduled to have face-to-face visits from 4:30 to 7 p.m. with his brother, Kenneth Smith; sister, Michelle Brown; and spiritual adviser, Chester Philips.

Brown was set to eat his last meal Wednesday evening. He ordered a steak, onion rings with ketchup, a double bacon cheeseburger with french fries, cake, ice cream, potato chips and a two-liter bottle of orange soda.

He was scheduled to be taken at 7:30 p.m. to his holding cell, where he was to remain until Thursday morning. Items left with him in his cell included a CD player and CDs, two religious books and a Bible.

Jail officials said he is able to make any calls he wants. He will be offered breakfast at 5:30 a.m. Thursday, be allowed to have visits with family or attorneys from 6:30 to 8 a.m. and meet with his spiritual adviser until 8:45 a.m.

At 9:45 a.m. Thursday, the warden will read Brown's death warrant, and the execution is set to begin at 10 a.m. Members of Salman's family are expected to be present during the execution.

Brown has made several attempts to avoid execution. Valley Judge Maureen Sweeney last month ruled against a retrial for Brown, whose attorneys claimed two witnesses at his original trial lied on the stand. Sweeney had determined the claims weren't credible.

Judges with the 7th District Court of Appeals upheld Sweeney's ruling Tuesday.

Pending another court's ruling, Brown remains set to die Thursday. If put to death, Brown will be the third executed in Ohio under the state's new three-drug lethal injection method. The first was convicted Trumbull County killer Kenneth Biros.

We have news crew in Lucasville. Check back here and tune into our upcoming newscasts for the very latest information.

www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Mark-Brown-Denied-Clemency-Prepares-for-Execution/Pm2oHH25E0mGBRf-vpjZDA.cspx

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Mark Aaron Brown spent much of Wednesday afternoon talking on the telephone with friends and his attorney in the hours leading up to his scheduled execution today.

Brown, 37, arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility just before 10 a.m., making the trip from death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown.

“They said his mood was very quiet, very cooperative,” said Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Brown is set to be executed by lethal injection at 10 a.m. today, pending any last-minute court action. Gov. Ted Strickland denied his request for clemency late Wednesday afternoon, concurring with the unanimous recommendation of the state parole board.

Brown was convicted in the 1994 shooting deaths of Isam Salman and Hayder Al-Turk at the Midway Market in Youngstown.

Public defenders representing Brown said his former legal counsel mishandled the case and subsequent appeals and never fully investigated his innocence claims. They also said Brown’s upbringing with a mother addicted to drugs should be considered.

But Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains, representatives of the state attorney general’s office and Salman’s sister and several of his children urged the parole board to leave Brown’s death sentence intact.

In mid-January, the parole board recommended, on a 6-0 vote, that Brown face death, noting that it found nothing “compelling” to support Brown’s contention that he did not shoot Salman.

On Wednesday, prison staff completed mental health and vein assessments on Brown shortly after his arrival at the prison Death House. Walburn said staff identified veins in both arms.

He was allowed to keep clothing, a gold cross and chain, a compact disc player and six CDs, a Bible and a couple of religious books in the holding cell where he spent much of the day. He also kept two boxes of honey buns, a package of cookies and an orange soda.

During the morning, Brown spent time writing and watching television. He ate the standard prison-issue lunch — chicken tacos, pinto beans and tortillas.

From about noon until after 3 p.m., Brown spoke on the phone in separate calls to two friends and his attorney. For several hours Wednesday evening, he was set to have contact visits with a brother, his spiritual adviser and a sister.

Brown was also scheduled to eat a special meal that included a T-bone steak cooked well done, a double bacon cheeseburger with french fries and onion rings, 7-Up cake with lemon and vanilla frosting, rocky-road ice cream, potato chips and orange soda.

Brown will be offered breakfast at 5:30 a.m., then will be allowed cell-front visits with his family, friends, his legal counsel and clergy before preparations for the execution begin.

Brown’s attorney and a spiritual adviser will witness the execution on his behalf; three members of Salman’s family will witness on behalf of the victim.

Brown has requested that his body be cremated, and his remains are to be turned over to his sister.


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MARK AARON BROWN

A timeline

An overview of events leading up to the execution of Mark Aaron Brown of Youngstown for two murders he committed in 1994:

Jan. 13: Ohio Parole Board recommends against clemency for Brown. Gov. Ted Strickland later accepts the board’s recommendation.

Jan. 15: Ohio Public Defender’s Office has hearing before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Brown’s request for a new trial based on new evidence.

Jan. 20: Judge Sweeney denies Brown’s request for a new trial.

Jan. 22: Ohio Public Defender’s Office appeals Judge Sweeney’s ruling to the 7th District Court of Appeals.

Monday: Ohio Supreme Court refuses to delay Brown’s execution as does U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost.

Tuesday: 7th District Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on whether Brown should get a new trial. The court denies him a new trial. Brown also files appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to delay his execution.

Wednesday: 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals won’t delay Brown’s execution. Brown moved to Lucasville for his execution.
www.vindy.com/news/2010/feb/04/brown-to-be-executed-today/?newswatch

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An Ohio man who boasted of copying a movie's killings before shooting two store clerks in 1994 was running out of legal options Wednesday, a day ahead of his scheduled execution.

Mark Brown was sentenced to die for the fatal shooting of Isam Salman, 32, owner of Midway Market in Youngstown, and got a life prison term for killing a clerk, Hayder Al-Turk, 30, who was shot first.

Brown, 37, was to be put to death this morning at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. A state appeals court rejected his request for a new trial Tuesday, and a federal appeals court rejected his request for a delay Wednesday. Brown has appealed both decisions.

Also Wednesday, Gov. Ted Strickland turned down Brown's request for mercy, saying he agreed with the Ohio Parole Board's unanimous ruling last month not to recommend clemency for the inmate.

On the eve of the execution, both defense and prosecution still were working on the case.

Brown's attorneys filed a request to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a stay of execution, Amy Borror, a public information officer from the Office of the Ohio Public Defender, said. The request reiterated points the defense has argued in the weeks leading up to this point: that two witnesses rescinded their testimony, which could have affected the jury.

"We certainly hope that the Supreme Court is willing to just take a look at the new evidence that we're presenting. We have three jurors that say what they know now would have affected their decisions then," she said.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains said Wednesday afternoon while working on a response, "We're in the middle of dealing with this."

Gains said he felt confident, however. The defense already presented the same argument to the state Parole Board, to Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney in their bid to get a new trial and to the Seventh District Court of Appeals, without success.

Brown had been smoking cigars gouged out and refilled with marijuana and drinking wine laced with Valium on Jan. 28, 1994, in Youngstown when he told friends he wanted to copy a scene from ''Menace II Society,'' referring to the movie that begins with the killing of two store clerks, according to state parole board records.

Brown went inside the convenience store with a friend, and then both walked out together. Brown then re-entered the store alone and shot the clerks, according to police and prosecutor's accounts of the killings.

Brown said he shot Al-Turk but didn't remember shooting Salman. In his arguments for a new trial, he says witnesses have come forward who could testify that his friend shot Salman. Judges say the witnesses aren't credible.

After his arrest, Brown blamed the Valium on the shootings, saying, ''they make you go off,'' according to parole board records.

When the parole board rejected Brown's request for mercy last month, it said there appeared to be ''no manifest injustice in either the conviction or the sentence.''

Brown had told the board he was a changed, mature man trying to positively influence his four teenage children, his nephew and his nephew's friends by urging them to stay in school and avoid the mistakes he had made.

His public defender, Rachel Troutman, told the parole board that Brown's mother was a lifelong drug user who abused and neglected her children and eventually abandoned Brown.

But Salman's sister, Terri Rasul, told the board that the killing left seven children without a father. She said Brown should be executed to show there are consequences for a terrible crime.

For his special meal at 4 p.m. Wednesday - as the last meal is called in Ohio - Brown ordered a T-bone steak, onion rings, a double bacon cheeseburger with fries, 7-Up cake with icing, Rocky Road ice cream, Pringles potato chips and orange soda.
To read more;
www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/533144.html?nav=5021

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Man who killed 2 in Ohio loses final court appeals

The execution of an Ohio man convicted of killing a convenience store owner and a clerk isproceeding now that the inmate has lost his final court appeals.

Ohio prisons director Ernie Moore says the U.S. Supreme Court rejected death row inmate Mark Brown's final two appeals Thursday morning.

Waiting for word from the court delayed the execution about 20 minutes, to about 10:20 a.m.

The 37-year-old Brown was sentenced to die for the 1994 fatal shooting of the owner of the Midway Market in Youngstown. He got a life prison term for killing the clerk.

The store owner's brother, sister and one of his sons plan to witness the execution.

To read more;
www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohio-news/man-who-killed-2man-who-killed-2-in-ohio-loses-final-court-appeals-529474.html