The jury is deadlocked over Atlanta shooter’s sentence. A deadlocked 12-member Atlanta jury may ask Superior Court Judge James Bodiford in writing if they can rehear a controversial tape recording of a telephone conversation in which Nichols tells his brother that he killed four people – and should have targeted prosecutors the day of his courthouse shooting spree. On Nov. 7, after 12 hours of discussion, the jurors convicted Nichols of 54 crimes from the March 11, 2005, courthouse shootings, including four murders, carjackings, robberies and assaults. The panel has already deliberated more than 25 hours in the penalty phase, but appears deadlocked with a 9-3 vote on whether to sentence Nichols to death. Defense attorneys had vehemently objected when the tape was first introduced without warning in November. They’ve called the contents a “bombshell” that would certainly prejudice Nichols’ case, but failed earlier to keep it from the jury.

Today, the jury will ponder the fate of the Atlanta mass murderer. The trial that has lasted for 12 weeks, exhausted a jury that has listened to more than 140 witnesses and seen more than 1,000 pieces of evidence – in a case that has dragged on for more than three and a half years, reached its penultimate moment Monday, reports The Atlanta Journal Constitution. To determine the fate of convicted Atlanta courthouse shooter Brian Nichols, the prosecution tried to nail shut the case for the death penalty, while he defense pleaded with the jury to give mercy to a man who killed four people in a March 11, 2005 murder spree: Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes; court reporter Julie Ann Brandau; sheriff’s deputy Hoyt Teasley and U.S. Customs agent David Wilhelm. The jury begins deliberating this morning on a verdict for punishment.

Jurors in accused mass murderer’s trial to be named today. In an Atlanta courtroom today, 12 jurors and six alternates will learn whether they are the ones who will decide the fate of Brian Nichols, the 36-year-old accused of shooting to death his judge, a court reporter and two law-enforcement officials during a daring escape three years ago from the Fulton County Courthouse. When – and if – the trial begins on Monday, as planned, it will begin a long-awaited march toward justice that has been stymied by a series of delays. In addition to the change in judges – from Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller to Judge James Bodiford – defense attorneys convinced the original judge that the state had kicked in far too little for a case of this magnitude, compelling him to shelve the case until it had infused more money into the public defender system. The case is expected to be the most costly in Georgia history. Already, the defense has spent an astronomical $1.2 million, and it’s still nearly a week before trial. In a recent chapter in the case, Bodiford found that Nichols’ alleged confession was not the result of his deteriorated mental capacity following his arrest. The defense is arguing that Nichols is innocent by reason of insanity. Nichols is facing death if convicted.

Nagin wants to know how his residents were treated. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin wants to know how his city’s residents were treated during the latest monster storm, Hurricane Gustav, to rock the Big Easy. As reports have surfaced that some city agencies didn’t learn from dealing with killer Katrina, Nagin has instituted a special phone hotline to gather and grade information on victims’ experiences. “If you evacuated with the city assisted-program, and if you went to a shelter where you want to report something, call our 3-1-1 number,” Nagin said in a news conference. His request came amid widespread reports of unsanitary or inhospitable conditions, mostly at shelters in northern Louisiana, according to The New Orleans Times-Picayune. But many shelter volunteers complained that evacuees threatened them “or acted in an unruly fashion during their stay,” the newspaper reported. The Times-Picayune also speculated that poor conditions at the Department of Social Services shelters could have been what led to the sudden resignation of DSS Secretary Ann Williamson earlier this week. While the city helped transport 18,000 residents out of town, all New Orleanians had the option of staying at DSS shelters.

 Accused murdered doesn’t seem crazy, judge says

Attorneys for Brian Nichols, the 36-year-old Atlanta man accused of killing his judge, a court reporter and two law-enforcement officials during a daring courthouse escape three years ago, does seem as insane as he wants everybody to believe, the presiding judge said Tuesday. Superior Court Judge James Bodiford did not hear expert psychiatric testimony, but he said he also hasn’t heard anything that would lead him to accept Nichols’ claims that his diminished mental state is the reason for his testimony. Nichols had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The fact that defense witness Vincent Velazquez, an Atlanta Police detective, testified that Nichols was not only coherent but clear and articulate following the alleged murders helped undermine the insanity argument “that Nichols had suffered from a delusional compulsion at the time of the killings,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “He was very up front and very detailed and meticulous in telling me what happened,” Velazquez said. “It was one of the easiest interviews I’ve ever done.” 

Anti-affirmative action measure dies in its tracks. Advocates of an Arizona initiative aimed at doing away with affirmative action programs have finally given up the fight – at least for now. Last week, the head of the Arizona Civil Rights Initiative – which critics say is deceptively labeled – told the East Valley Tribune that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Edward Burke gave supporters until this week to prove that a major chunk of the signatures they had accumulated to force a ballot initiative were not bogus. Max McPhail had claimed that he had garnered more than enough signatures from registered voters, and that Proposition 104 had earned a rightful spot on the November ballot. He apparently no longer thinks so. “Because of the upcoming primary, Maricopa County said we could have only two computers to check 4,000 signatures,” he said. “It takes about six minutes to check each signature. It’s not humanly possible to check all the remaining signatures (the county declared invalid) to present on Tuesday.” But the fight isn’t completely over, McPhail says. He says that a new ballot initiative will be introduced in the 2010 election. If passed, the measure would prohibit the consideration of race or gender in any state hirings or college admissions. However, state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Phoenix) says the initiative won’t pass now or ever because she’ll work to expose it for the divisive program it is. “When they understand it’s going to eliminate programs that help, for instance, young Latina women prepare for college, like the Mother-Daughter Hispanic Program, they don’t want to eliminate those programs,” she said.

They argue that the judge will work them too hard once the proceedings begin

The attorneys for an Atlanta man accused of killing four people – including his judge – during a daring courthouse escape three years ago are asking the current judge to relax the trial schedule just a bit. Superior Court Judge James Bodiford, the second judge appointed to handle a protracted legal process that has included five delays, ordered the trial of Brian Nichols to take place six days a week. Nichols was on trial for allegedly kidnapping and raping his ex-girlfriend when, prosecutors say, when he escaped from a holding cell in the Fulton County Courthouse and shot a judge, a court reporter, sheriff’s deputy and a federal customs agent victims after wresting the gun from a deputy. Nichols’ attorneys say that at least three of the defendant’s legal team is 50 years or older. “There are some young 50s and older 50s,” said Henderson Hill, Nichols’ lead attorney. “When you start burning the candle at both ends like that, there are limits.” Bodiford had little sympathy for Nichols’ team. Is there anybody on your team who is 58 years and 11 months? I’m the oldest one in here,” Bodiford said. “All I’m asking you to do is work 9 ½ hours every day.” The trial has been on hold ever since lawyers began interviewing prospective jurors in February 2007. The previous judge in the case, senior Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller, was replaced by Bodiford after stepping down amid charges that he was biased against Nichols. Fuller had stalled the trial following claims from the defense lawyers that the state was not adequately funding Nichols’ capital trial. The trial could wind up being the most costly in Georgia history. Defense attorneys’ wages and expenses have already exceed $1.2 million, and the trial has yet to begin.

The justices ruled that such a punishment is cruel and unusual
Those people who rape children can no longer be executed, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. “The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority in the 5-4 opinion. Joining him in the decision that the executions for such a crime violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment were the four more liberal members of the court – John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer. No one has been executed for a crime that did not involve the death of a victim for some 44 years. The landmark case revolved around the Patrick Kennedy, a 43-year-old Louisiana man who was sentenced to die for raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter. Another Louisianan was also condemned to death for rape. Executions for adult female rape victims was banned 31 years ago. During the Jim Crow era, Black men – even those falsely accused – were frequently executed by lynch mobs after being charged with rape. All but five states ban the death penalty for rape; the rest allow death for child rapists. If you’ve been previously convicted of raping a child in Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas, you could be sentenced to death. Dissenting in Wednesday’s ruling were Clarence Thomas, Samuel Anthony Alito, Antonin Scalia and John G. Roberts, Jr. “The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave,” Alito wrote in the dissenting opinion. “It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty.” But, Kennedy said, the fact that very few states allow execution for rape proves “there is a national consensus against capital punishment for the crime of child rape.”

Atlanta courthouse murder suspect wants the death penalty off the table
The Atlanta man accused of going on a killing spree during his daring courthouse escape three years ago is blaming the DA of covering up misconduct by the prosecutor and wants the death penalty taken off the table. Brian Nichols, whose defense is that his was mentally incapacitated when he allegedly snatched a deputy’s gun and shot to death a judge, court reporter, deputy and an immigration agent, is also asking that certain evidence be thrown out. Nichols was at a hearing on earlier rape charges when he managed the escape. He argues that the former prosecutor in that initial case, Gayle Abramson, who is likely to testify in the murder case, indulged in misconduct. Nichols’ defense team, however, has not divulged the alleged misconduct to the court, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. In a statement to the newspaper Tuesday, Abramson and her husband, Rand Csehy, also a Fulton prosecutor, said that Nichols’ attorneys are attempting to kill the case by smearing her with a wiretap conversation involving another murder investigation, the Journal-Constitution reports. “Not only is this document factually inaccurate and filled with intentional falsehoods, but it is incomplete,” the couple said of the complaint. Nichols accuses Abramson of socializing with a murder suspect and his friends while on a trip to California.