Such an extreme act of pure evil can only be met by the most extreme of responses - and that can only be death. All my life I've been against the death penalty. I genuinely never thought I'd say this, but I am now convinced that the monster who executed this young woman in cold blood should, in turn, be killed as punishment for his crime. - John Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
There
are some death penalty opponents who changed their position on capital
punishment after someone they loved were murdered. John Stevens, Baron Stevens
of Kirkwhelpington, a former Met Police Chief, changed his mind on the death
penalty after the murder of PC Sharon
Beshenivsky. Officer Ella G. French of the Chicago Police Department,
Illinois who was shot and killed on August 7, 2021, was a similar case to Sharon
Beshenivsky.
REST IN PEACE: Chicago Police Officer Ella French was killed in the line
of duty Saturday night during a traffic stop. She was 29-years-old. https://bit.ly/37rLdam
Let us honor this fallen
policewoman by remembering how she lived on this earth and treasure her
memories. We will give her a 30th birthday remembrance this
year on August 31. We, thank Ray Hanania for calling for the death penalty for
cop killers. Although we believe the death penalty should be use for all
murders, we are happy that he spoke out in favor of it.
This
morning on "Fox & Friends," Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke
said that every murder of a law enforcement officer should be classified as a
capital crime punishable by death. http://bit.ly/2hoRK9V
Special
Column: Reinstate death penalty in the killing of police
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
The shooting
murder of Chicago Police Officer Ella French and the wounding of her partner by
three suspects revives calls to reinstate the death penalty for individuals who
kill someone intentionally with gun. They should be put to death with no
compassion. Killing these killers would send a strong message to other
criminals who use guns to kill people, maybe stopping some who make the
intentional choice from doing so. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s blather is
disgusting and shameful
By Ray
Hanania
Two Chicago
Police officers were attacked by armed thugs who were pulled over during a
routine traffic stop near 63rd Street and South Bell Avenue in Chicago Saturday
around 9 p.m.
One of the
officers, Ella French, 29, died from her wounds. Her partner is listed in
serious condition. One of the three suspects who opened fire on the officers
was injured and is in a hospital. The other two criminals are in custody.
Had this been
two minority civilians shot by police, riots would be raging in Chicago Lawn
and activists would be screaming about “defunding” the police.
But it was
the police who were attacked by armed thugs and all three of those suspects
should be prosecuted. If convicted, they should be given the death penalty.
They don’t deserve to live.
The killing
of officer French reminds us of the dangers that police face each and every
time they confront criminals who violate the law. Any law, from the most minor
to the most significant.
We know what
is going to happen, right? The killers are going to get the best legal
representation ever. Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx will insist that they
be given every courtesy as suspects, innocent until proven guilty. Politicians
like Mayor Lori Lightfoot will pretend to care about street gang violence but
do nothing, preferring instead to support weakening our police and
strengthening the rights of the accused.
But the
presumption of guilt can’t be ignored. Suspects who murder a Police Officer
need to face the maximum penalty. All three are murderers, not just the one who
pulled the trigger on the gun that killed officer French.
Our society
has been turned upside-down by a twisted debate that makes the police the bad
guys and the criminals the heroes. Hypocritical activists twist and distort
facts in police and civilian clashes asserting that the police are guilty,
despite the fact that the victims are often on drugs, carrying weapons and refuse
to follow police commands.
The suspects
end up dying, because of their own criminal behavior not because the police
tried to stop them. But the families of the victims see dollar signs. The
activists see headlines. Suddenly, a drugged-up criminal is a “good student”
represented by a high school graduation picture.
The public
should have no illusions about what’s at stake here. What is at stake is the
safety of the law abiding public. They respect everyone’s rights. They pay
their taxes. They raise their kids by moral standards. They take responsibility
for their own actions.
All they want
is to live in safe neighborhoods.
And yet their
interests are being challenged by activists who are using the police-criminal
confrontations as excuses to ease the burden on the criminals and impose heightened
punishment on the police.
These
activists are stereotyping police. Yes, there are some bad cops and those
police should be prosecuted not by mobs but my the Rule of Law. But the vast
majority of police put their lives on the line every minute of every day to
ensure the safety of average law abiding civilians. They are our heroes.
The fight to
defend our police is a battle at every corner of society.
This week in
the Village of Mount Prospect, activists led by the League of Women Voters and
other “defund” police movements, are seeking to force the police there to
remove a badge that is designed to express community pride and support for
police.
The badge
reads “Honor, Respect, Remember” has an emblem with the words “Police, Mount
Prospect,” part of the American flag, the State of Illinois, the date Mount
Prospect’s incorporation, 1917, and black and white stripes, with one Blue
line.
The League of
Women Voters, a group that claims to be “non-partisan” but is in fact at the
forefront of the far left movement to undermine police and censor anyone who
disagrees with their extremist views, is rallying supporters to protest the
emblem because of that Blue line.
The Blue line
is embraced across America as a symbol of support for the police, our men and
women in “blue.” According to the League and its radical activist supporters,
the Blue line is a symbol of White Supremacists and racists. But that’s just a
political lie, an effort to demonize supporters to silence them by bullying.
They want to undermine public support for the Police.
Mt. Prospect
has a public hearing on Tuesday where activists hope to bully village residents
into silence and remove the badge because of the Blue line. Activists from
throughout Chicagoland, who have fought to defend criminals while undermining
police by calling for them to be defunded, are being encouraged to attend and
disrupt the meeting.
It’s time
that the public, the majority of Americans who want justice for all and a
judicial system that fairly weighs crimes in order to achieve a safer society,
stand up and defend the police.
The three
suspects involved in the murder of police officer Ella French, should be
charged with First Degree murder. The Illinois Legislature should repeal the
death penalty ban and pass a law that mandates the death penalty in any case
where a suspect is convicted of intentionally killing someone, especially a
police officer, with a gun.
Family of
killers aware of the criminal behavior of their family members should be
charged as accomplices, including parents who only suddenly show concern for
their children when they are killed by police and they stand to win millions in
activist-backed lawsuits.
Membership in
a street gang that has a history of gun violence should be a felony and at
least result 20 years of jail time without parole.
If the death penalty was
not imposed then "wrong really has finally totally triumphed over right
and all civilised society, all we hold dear, is the loser." - John
Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
When we are
soft on crime, all we are doing is empowering the criminals, sending a message
that they have a better chance of avoiding punishment.
We need to
change that message and be tough. Anyone engaged in any crime must be punished.
You use a gun in a crime and are convicted in a murder, you should be put to
death.
It’s time we
made law abiding members of the public the priority. But that will only happen
if law abiding citizens end their silence and speak out forcefully against the
louder voices of the small groups of extremist activists who have hijacked our
society and are trying to hijack our system of justice.
We need to
draw a line. And I think that line should be Blue.
Even if a civil society
were to be dissolved by the consent of all its members (e.g., if a people
inhabiting an island decided to separate and disperse throughout the world),
the last murderer remaining in prison would first have to be executed, so that
each has done to him what his deeds deserve and blood guilt does not cling to
the people for not having insisted upon this punishment; for otherwise the
people can be regarded as collaborators in his public violation of justice. –
Immanuel Kant
On this date, August 12,
2021, Tennessean Cop Killer, Steve Wiggins, was sentenced to death in Tennessee.
He fatally shot a Sergeant Daniel Baker on May 30, 2018.
Steven Wiggins sentenced to death for murder of Dickson
County Sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Baker
A
jury sentenced Steven Wiggins to death for the murder Dickson County Sheriff’s
Office Sgt. Daniel Baker on Thursday after a five-day hearing in Dickson County
Circuit Court.
Last
week, the same jury found Wiggins guilty on all
counts including premeditated first degree murder and first degree felony
murder in the 2018 fatal shooting of Baker in Dickson County.
The
jury arrived at the decision after about two hours of deliberation
following closing arguments Thursday. Wiggins was sentenced to die by
lethal injection.
Wiggins,
34, of Dickson, was convicted last week of murdering Dickson County Sheriff’s
Office Sgt. Daniel Baker in 2018. The jury has been listening to testimony
since Saturday to decide if Wiggins, who has been imprisoned at the Robertson
County jail, will get a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty. The
state was seeking the death penalty.
Closing arguments
In
his closing argument for the state, District Attorney Ray Crouch said that
testimony from the various doctors who reported Wiggins had brain abnormalities
couldn’t be entirely trusted because Wiggins lied. Crouch repeatedly emphasized
Wiggins’ lies to law enforcement during interrogation and fabrications when
talking to the doctors.
“There
is no excuse for what he did,” said Crouch to the jury, referring to the
defense attorneys’ statement during the trial about their client. "We all
have deficits. But they don't define us. No one test defines who we are."
Crouch
then played the interrogation video again.
"That's
the defendant confessing to Agent (Nathan) Neece that he had to have pliers to
open that car door,” Crouch said. "He recalled this story over and over
again. He was trying to mitigate what happened."
Crouch
played a portion of the video where Wiggins states Baker tried to
"yank his wife out of the car."
Crouch
pointed out that Wiggins is not married to Erika Castro-Miles, who was in the car
with him, and Baker didn’t try to pull anyone out of the car, as evidenced by
the body camera.
"When
is this guy telling the truth, and when is telling a lie?" Crouch
said.
Crouch
also plays video of Wiggins stating he tried chest compressions on Baker and
checked for a pulse.
"You know that's a lie. He got out and shot Sgt. Baker from two
and a half to three feet away,” Crouch said.
Crouch
said Wiggins told a doctor that his brother died that day, causing him
stress — however, Wiggins' brother is not dead and testified in court
Wednesday.
"There
are conflicts all through (the reports)," said Crouch, while adding that
all the doctors are from out of state. "These reports are full of
inaccuracies."
Crouch
showed a slide of Wiggins’ tattoo on the right side of his torso he got while
in jail, which was against jail rules.
"Ain't
go not time for that" and "Death Row” were the tattooed words.
Crouch
also told the court that Wiggins’ father, Scott Wiggins, is not the person
being sentenced. He said the focus should remain on Steven Wiggins.
"What
you heard a lot of this week sounded like State of Tennessee vs. Scott
Wiggins,” Crouch said.
The
district attorney said Wiggins had lived away from his father for years when
Baker was fatally shot.
"Seventeen
years went by before the defendant murdered in cold blood Sgt. Daniel Baker,”
Crouch said. "It's about what Steven Wiggins did...today, here, now with
people in this courtroom suffering from it."
Crouch
then finished by showing the jury the body camera footage of Wiggins shooting
Baker during the May 30, 2018 stop.
For
the defense, Luke Evans argued that Wiggins, due to abuse from his father,
faced long odds in life.
"The
truth of the matter is that man never had a chance," said Evans, pointing
at Wiggins.
Evans
said Wiggins was not operating with a "fully-functioning brain"
for much of his life due to the physical abuse. Evans cited the various doctor
reports.
Evans
asked the jury to look at Wiggins entire life and "go beyond the crime
itself."
CHARLOTTE,
Tenn. (WTVF) — Steven Wiggins was sentenced to death for the murder of Dickson
County Sgt. Daniel Baker. Jurors reached the verdict after deliberating for
about two hours.
During closing
arguments on Thursday, the defense asked jurors to consider Wiggins' mental
illness, which the state rebutted, saying much of that report was based on
firsthand information from Wiggins, and he was caught lying during some of it.
The defense also said Wiggins had "cognitive abnormalities" as a
child, calling him "maladapted."
"I'm
not asking you to forgive him. I wouldn't. You couldn't," the defense
said. "All he's asking you to do is put him in a box for the rest of his
life. He will walk into a TDOC facility and he will leave in a casket."
"He'll be surrounded by cold steel without the warm embrace of his family
and friends. That's a serious punishment."
The
defense also argued that since Wiggins is medicated, he's not a danger anymore
due to his lack of incidents while incarcerated. They also said the death
sentence would harm his son, saying,"his son didn't have nothing to do
with this."
Meanwhile,
prosecutors said Wiggins had five active warrants and that Baker was executing
his lawful duties to take him into custody. "Wiggins murdered Sgt. Baker
to keep from being arrested," according to the state.
They
also played the confession video in which Wiggins said he knew law enforcement
was looking for him. He had packed and was leaving town. He confessed to giving
a fake name in another attempt to avoid arrest.
"Sgt. Baker was in uniform. He was driving his patrol car. He was
dispatched to that intersection. He asked for the suspect's ID. He was doing
his job," the state said.
The
state also presented autopsy reports of Sgt. Baker, saying that 10% of his body
was covered in 2nd and 3rd degree burns. They said there was no soot material
in his airways, which indicated that he was dead.
Earlier
in the day, the defense argued that Wiggins has a diminished capacity to
control his impulses due to his mental health and drug use. A history of family
abuse was also brought up.
However,
the state used his "crush your enemies" and "no mercy"
tattoos, as well as a jailhouse phone call where he instructed his 10-year-old
son to kick his mother in the stomach when he found out behind bars that she
was pregnant, to show that he had a reckless disregard for others.
The
defense argued that these tactics were prejudicial and most of the past two
days revolved around whether or not some of that could be heard by a jury in a
death case.
The
jury found Wiggins guilty on the following charges: premeditated first-degree
murder, first-degree felony murder in perpetration of theft, false reporting,
theft of property, criminal impersonation, criminal impersonation of law
enforcement, tampering with evidence, arson, abuse of a corpse.
As
the sentencing phase began on Saturday, Lisa Baker, the widow of Sgt. Baker,
was the final witness to speak. She gave an emotional victim impact statement,
causing several jurors to cry while it was read. She spoke on how their
daughter calls Sgt. Baker every night on her play phone and how he won't be around
for her life's biggest moments.
Criminals who kill police officers deserve the death
penalty. Period. The Defend our Defenders act I introduced with @TomCottonARwill make sure cop killers
face the harshest possible punishment for their crimes.
IN-DEPTH: A look at Tennessee laws/how jurors must decide
the sentence
The sentencing options for a jury
in a capital case are death, imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole
or imprisonment for life (with the possibility of parole after 51 full calendar
years).
The decision on the death penalty comes down to specific aggravating
circumstances and specific mitigating circumstances.
If the jury unanimously finds that the state did not prove any aggravating
circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must return a sentence of
imprisonment for life. However, at least one aggravating factor has already
been proven (murder of a law enforcement officer).
If the jury unanimously finds that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the
mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, the sentence must be death.
If the jury unanimously finds that the aggravating circumstances do not
outweigh the mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, the sentence
must be either imprisonment for life (possibility of parole after 51 full
calendar years), or imprisonment for life without the possibility of parole.
If the death penalty was
not imposed then "wrong really has finally totally triumphed over right
and all civilised society, all we hold dear, is the loser." - John
Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
Jury considers death penalty as sentencing begins in Wiggins trial
Michael Warrick
Updated
11 hrs ago | Posted on Aug 7, 2021
CHARLOTTE,
TN (WSMV) - The widow of Dickson County police officer Daniel Baker moved
members of the jury to tears Saturday, giving a heartbreaking victim impact
statement on the first day of the sentencing phase in the Steven Wiggins trial.
Wiggins,
is accused of killing Sgt. Baker 'execution style' during a traffic stop in May
2018. After finding him guilty of premeditated murder Friday, the jury will
decide if Wiggins deserves the death penalty.
"My
life and our daughter's life can never be the same and we are reminded daily of
the depth of his absence," Lisa
Baker told the court. "Daniel was the very best of
the best and so much more than I ever though I deserved."
Members
of Baker's family have told News 4 they hope for the death penalty. As Lisa
Baker closed an impassioned victim impact statement Saturday, she looked
directly at Wiggins as she said:
“I’m
prepared to spend the rest of my like making sure yours, Steven Wiggins, is
miserable. However long that may take you better believe I’m strong enough and
I’m not going anywhere.”
A jury is
now deliberating in the capital murder trial of Steven Wiggins, accused of
shooting and killing Dickson County Sheriff’s deputy Sgt. Daniel Baker in 2018.
Daniel
and Lisa Baker have a young daughter, Meredith, who Lisa told the court calls
her father on her play phone at night.
“Meredith
searches the sky every night for the moon so she can blow her daddy kisses and
tell him that she loves and misses him," Baker told the court.
Following
Baker's statement, the prosecution rested its case for the sentencing phase.
Wiggins' defense will make its case beginning on Monday.
This
morning on "Fox & Friends," Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke
said that every murder of a law enforcement officer should be classified as a
capital crime punishable by death. http://bit.ly/2hoRK9V
"There are certain
circumstances in which the death penalty is essential to our respect for life.
If we do not in our law send the message to everybody that by calculatedly,
coldly taking a human life in a way that assaults the structures of law in a
society or shows a cold-blooded and studied disregard for the value of that
life, if we are not willing to implement the death penalty in those
circumstances, then we are actually sending a message of contempt for human
life. We are encouraging people to believe that that step is not in fact a
terminal step, when they fatefully and fatally decide to move against the life
of another human being. So I think that there are circumstances under which it
is essential, in fact, that we have and apply the death penalty in order to
send a clear moral message to people throughout our society that we will not
tolerate that kind of disrespect for life." – Alan Keyes
On
this date, August 6, 2021, Texas Cop Killer, Otis McKane, was sentenced to
death in Texas. He fatally shot a San Antonio police officer, Benjamin Marconi twice in the head in 2016.
I agree with Donald Trump when he once stated that cop killers should be
executed.
“We
believe that criminals who murder police officers should immediately, but with
trial, get the death penalty. But quickly. The trial should go fast. It’s got
to be fair, but it’s got to go fast.” - Donald Trump
Fox
News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.
A Texas man who fatally
shot a San Antonio police officer twice in the head in 2016 was sentenced to
death on Friday.
Otis McKane, 36, was found guilty of capital
murder July 26 in the execution-style slaying of Detective Benjamin
Marconi.
McKane
claimed that Marconi, a 20-year veteran, was a random target of his anger but
prosecutors said the defendant had been stalking the detective and planning his
"heinous and unspeakable" murder, according to the San Antonio
Express-News.
The
Bexar County jury deliberated for 7 and a half hours Friday before recommending
the sentence. It took less than 30 minutes for the jury to find him guilty,
according to the Express-News.
McKane
killed Marconi, 50, on a busy street in front of witnesses while the detective
was writing a ticket during an overtime shift, the Express-News reported. The
murder was caught on security-camera video.
As
he was being taken to jail following the shooting, McKane told
reporters that he "lashed out at someone who didn’t deserve it"
because he was upset with the court system. McKane said he was angry because he
had not been allowed to see his son during a custody battle.
Attacked bailiff in court
Extra
sheriff's deputies surrounded McKane during the sentencing Friday after he
attacked a bailiff on July 26 when jurors found him guilty. The jury could
have recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.
An appeal of the conviction and sentence is automatic.
McKane
has an extensive record dating back to his teen years.
Marconi’s family in a statement thanked the prosecutors and district attorney,
the Express-News
reported.
"From
the bottom of our hearts, we are extremely proud of all the hard work you put
into bringing justice for Ben and finding closure for our family," the
statement said. "And finally, to Detective Benjamin Edward Marconi—THANK
YOU for making our lives better, and the lives of everyone you touched. You are
eternally missed and we will NEVER forget you—rest easy sweet Ben."
Criminals who kill police officers deserve the death
penalty. Period. The Defend our Defenders act I introduced with @TomCottonARwill make sure cop killers
face the harshest possible punishment for their crimes.
Emotions
run high in court as relatives of slain SAPD detective Benjamin Marconi,
convicted murderer Otis McKane testify
Jurors in
capital murder trial hear from Marconi’s stepdaughter, brother, McKane’s
mother, teenage brother
Published: August 4, 2021 7:52 pm
Updated: August 4, 2021 7:58 pm
SAN ANTONIO – Editor’s note: KSAT
is livestreaming the entire trial of Otis McKane here. Get a daily recap like
this one sent to your inbox by signing up for the free Open Court newsletter.
Attorneys for the state and the
defense on Wednesday presented character witnesses who delivered emotional and
tearful testimony in the punishment phase of the Otis McKane trial.
McKane was found guilty of
capital murder last week for the execution-style shooting of San Antonio Police
Det. Benjamin Marconi in November 2016.
Among the witnesses who testified
for the state was Jacy Reeves, Marconi’s stepdaughter.
“He was always there for me,”
Reeves said to jurors about Marconi, who married her mother when she was 4 and
then got divorced in her early 20s.
“Our relationship never changed”
after the divorce, Reeves said, adding that Marconi told her, “I want you to be
my daughter forever.”
Reeves recalled the day that she
found out about Marconi’s death.
“I’ll never forget that day,” she
told jurors.
Reeves said that she and her
then-fiance were watching a football game when she got some text messages about
an SAPD officer being shot. Moments later, she received a phone call from an
officer saying she needed to go to Brooke Army Medical Center.
“About 10 minutes in, my mom
called me and told me that he had not made it,” Reeves said in tears. Reeves
said when she arrived at the hospital, she ran in looking for her brother,
Dane, who had just been informed about the shooting.
The two and other family members
then went into the emergency room where Marconi was being treated.
“We were in shock that we were
seeing a pillar of our family laying on the table,” she said.
Reeves said that she received
counseling after Marconi’s death because it “takes a toll on your mental
health. We went to therapy to find coping mechanisms to deal with it.”
After Reeves testified, Tom
Marconi, the officer’s brother, told jurors about his sibling and how the
slaying affected their family.
Tom Marconi said that his brother
was a true role model who had a true passion for helping others. Tom Marconi
also talked about the moment he heard his brother had been killed.
“I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing. My brother murdered. I probably blacked out quite a bit from
all the trauma,” Marconi told jurors.
Tom Marconi said his brother’s
death “affected the family in a lot of different ways,” and he’s missed out on
babies who have been born since his passing.
He also told jurors that his
brother had a special relationship with his sisters that “they needed. It was
something that I couldn’t do, but (only) Ben could do.”
Such an extreme act of
pure evil can only be met by the most extreme of responses - and that can only
be death. All my life I've been against the death penalty. I genuinely never
thought I'd say this, but I am now convinced that the monster who executed this
young woman in cold blood should, in turn, be killed as punishment for his
crime. - John
Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
After the state rested its case,
the defense called its first witness, Reginald Alderman, a high school
classmate and best friend of McKane.
Alderman told jurors that he and
McKane met at Fox Tech High School, where the two played sports. He described
McKane as someone who was “very outgoing, somebody who filled the room with
joy, laughter.”
Alderman described how McKane
“was the man of the house” and because his mother worked long hours, he often
had to cook meals for his two younger sisters.
Alderman said that McKane wanted
to be a big part of his son’s life because his father walked out of his life.
He said that Saharia Hill, McKane’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of their son,
often prevented McKane from seeing the toddler.
“She wouldn’t let him in the
house, wouldn’t let him see his kid. It was tearing him apart,” Alderman said.
Sandra McKane, the defendant’s
mother, also testified how the problems her son had with Hill regarding their
son’s visitation rights affected him.
“He was upset,” she said. “He
just wanted to see his son, take care of him.”
Sandra McKane told jurors about
working long hours and how the absence of Otis’ father affected him. She said
that she noticed behavior and personality changes in her son and was asked by
the prosecution whether she knew he was smoking synthetic marijuana. She
replied, “Yes, he would in a room, talking to himself.”
Sandra McKane testified that on
the day of the slaying, she was getting phone calls from people saying that
pictures being shown on TV news were of her son and his car.
She cried and started breathing
heavily when the defense talked about McKane’s arrest.
Defense attorney Joel Perez asked
her, “Do you love Otis?”
“I love my son” Sandra McKane
replied. “I don’t want him to get the death penalty.”
Otis McKane was crying when the
final defense witness testified -- his young teenage brother.
The young sibling called his
older brother a “third guardian” and said that he taught him all he knows about
sports.
The young teenager told jurors
that his older brother told him to pay attention in school, “don’t go to the
other side” and “stay on the right path.”
The teen said that he was an A
student in elementary school, but then his grades dropped to Cs in middle
school because the “situation with this kind of threw me off,” referring to his
brother’s legal troubles.
The teen said that his brother
often tells him, “Don’t do the things that he did” and to hang around “positive
people.”
The trial resumes at 9 a.m.
Thursday in the 379th District Court with Judge Ron Rangel presiding.
The jury is expected to
deliberate McKane’s punishment Friday. They only have two choices -- death by
lethal injection or life in prison without parole.
‘Why didn’t he go after me?’
Psychiatrists talk to jury that will decide San Antonio cop killer’s punishment
Elizabeth Zavala
Updated: Aug. 5, 2021 7:18 p.m.
A psychiatrist testifying for the state said
convicted cop killer Otis McKane is a sociopath. That collided Thursday with
the theory of the defense’s expert that he isn’t one, culminating in a grilling
by prosecutors over what to call McKane’s violent outburst in court a week
earlier.
Testifying for the defense, forensic psychiatrist
Jaye Douglas Crowder called McKane’s attack on a court bailiff 44 seconds after
he was found guilty of capital murder for killing a police officer
“disconcerting and disturbing,” but stopped short of saying it means he poses a
future threat.
The clashing testimony matters because the jury
still has to decide whether to sentence McKane to death. Closing arguments in
the punishment phase of the trial are set for Friday.
“He has had opportunities to harm (law enforcement
officers.) In this case he did it, but he had just received the guilty
verdict,” Crowder said. “It was disturbing to him, but beyond that provocation
and delivery of the verdict, it may or may not mean anything in the future.”
McKane, 36, killed San Antonio police Detective
Benjamin Marconi, 50. Moments after the jury left the room after finding him
guilty, McKane sprang from his chair and elbowed a bailiff in the face. A dozen
deputies wrestled him to the floor.
Marconi, a 20-year SAPD veteran, was working
overtime on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016, and sitting in his patrol vehicle, writing a
traffic citation, when McKane walked up and shot him twice in the head.
Testimony established McKane was angry that he did
not get help from law enforcement when he tried to file a visitation violation
against his ex-girlfriend to see his son. McKane has said he lashed out at the
first police officer he saw.
Jurors, well into more than 10 hours of testimony
over two days by psychiatrists presenting dueling analyses — one saying McKane
poses a future threat, the other saying he does not — appeared confused and
bored Thursday, twisting in their chairs.
Crowder disputed the assessment of the state’s
witness, forensic psychiatrist Michael Arambula, who testified Wednesday that
McKane was a sociopath who remains a danger to the community because he
displayed all seven of the criteria for antisocial personality disorder.
“The fact that the criteria is being met does not
mean it a predicative of future danger,” Crowder told the jury.
Questioned by defense attorney Joel Perez, Crowder
said he heard Arambula’s testimony and assessment of McKane and “didn’t agree
with all of it.”
Crowder said McKane’s problems stemmed from growing
up in a poor neighborhood, a juvenile criminal record that started at 13 when
he got a butcher knife and chased after a cousin over a hamburger, not being
able to hold a job, and drug use that consisted of cocaine, marijuana, and K2
spice, a synthetic cannabinoid. Crowder said cannabis addiction and K2 could
cause psychosis.
If the death penalty was
not imposed then "wrong really has finally totally triumphed over right
and all civilised society, all we hold dear, is the loser." - John
Stevens, Baron Stevens of Kirkwhelpington
The exchange between Crowder and prosecutor Mario
Del Prado became animated over the issue of whether McKane would be a future
danger to anyone, specifically law enforcement, if he was sentenced to life in
prison without parole, the jury’s only other choice.
Crowder said McKane’s reaction to the verdict,
lashing out at the bailiff, was because “the stakes were high” and Del Prado
was “trying to kill him” by seeking the death penalty.
“Then why didn’t he go after me?” Del Prado asked.
“That was the person nearest him,” Crowder said.
“The reading of the verdict, a realization of what that means, all together led
to this.”
Crowder acknowledged McKane’s distrust of law
enforcement, which he said the two discussed in their interviews. Still, he
could not assess that he posed a future danger.
Questioned again by Perez, Crowder was asked if any
of the studies he used of inmates on death row to assess McKane pointed to any
concern.
“There is risk, but does it reach probability? The
studies say it doesn’t,” Crowder said.
Both the state and defense rested their cases
Thursday afternoon.
Jury sentences Otis McKane to the death penalty for the
shooting death of SAPD Det. Benjamin Marconi
The only other option for the jury was life in prison
Published:
Updated:
Jurors
deliberated for about 7.5 hours Friday before determining punishment for Otis
McKane. It is the first death penalty issued in Bexar County in 5 years.
The
Marconi family released the following statement via SAPD regarding the trial:
“With
the ending of this emotional trial we would like to take a moment to thank
several parties involved.
Thank
you to District Attorney Joe Gonzales and his entire office. To Tamara Strauch,
Mario Del Prado, and Jessica Schulze — from the bottom of our hearts, we are
extremely proud of all the hard work you put into bringing justice for Ben and
finding closure for our family. To Judge Rangel, the 379th court staff, and the
jury who served on this trial — your professionalism went above and beyond
expectations. Thank you to the City of San Antonio and Bexar County + City of
Floresville and Wilson County — y’all have our hearts! You have stood beside our
family for the past 4.5 years and we are eternally grateful for the outpouring
kindness and support you have shown. Thank you for allowing our family to
grieve peacefully through this trauma. Thank you to the San Antonio Police
Department and Bexar County Sheriff’s Department—you’re family and you forever
will be. We love each and every one of you like our own.Thank you to The 100 Club, C.O.P.S., and SAPOA, your unwavering
presence during these last few years and throughout the trial has been
honorable and infinitely appreciated.
Thank
you to the many friends and family who attended the trial, we are deeply
humbled for the amount of love, prayer, and grace we felt through each and
every one of you.
And
finally, to Detective Benjamin Edward Marconi—THANK YOU for making our lives
better, and the lives of everyone you touched. You are eternally missed and we
will NEVER forget you—rest easy sweet Ben.”
On
July 26, the jury found McKane guilty of capital murder for the
execution-style killing of Det. Benjamin Marconi in his patrol car in front of
Public Safety Headquarters. Moments after the verdict was read in the
courtroom, McKane elbowed a bailiff in the jaw who was attempting to detain
him.
The guilt/innocence phase of the trial lasted 11 days over a
three-week period. The prosecution called on 55 witnesses to help present its
case, while the defense only called one witness, who testified for about 15
minutes.
The
punishment phase lasted seven days, with the prosecution presenting 15
witnesses and the defense calling on six witnesses.
The
trial marked the first death penalty case in more than five years in Bexar
County and was the biggest criminal trial in the county since jury trials
reopened from the COVID-19 pandemic.
A criminal on death row
has a chance to prepare his death, make a will, and make his last statements,
etc. while some victims can never do it. There are many other crimes where people
are injured by stabbing, rape, theft, etc. To some degree at least, the victims
right to freedom and pursuit of happiness is violated. - J. Edgar Hoover
2.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas man elbowed a bailiff attempting
to handcuff him after the defendant was convicted of killing a San Antonio
police detective.
William Francis Kemmler (May 9, 1860 –
August 6, 1890) of Buffalo, New York, was a convicted murderer and the first
person in the world to be legally executed using an electric chair.
On August 3, 2019, a mass shooting
occurred at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, United States. A gunman shot and
killed 23 people and injured 23 others. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is
investigating the shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime.
The shooting has been described as the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern
American history.
