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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 2003)
PagcA2 March 19. 2003 P olice Texas Execution Stopped with Last Minute Stay Intervention prevented Texas from carrying out 300th death penalty (A P I— Convicted killer Delma Banks had finished what would have been his last meal and was minutes from being strapped to the death chamber gurney. He was ready to die when an intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court prevented him from becom ing the 300th inmate executed in Texas since the state resumed capi tal punishment in 1982. “1 just thank the Lord," Banks said when informed of the reprieve Wednesday night, minutes before the execution would have begun. “Give Jesus all the credit.” He was transferred back to death row, about 50 miles to the east. “Delma expected to be back," fel low death row inmate Keith Clay said Wednesday. “He felt he would get a stay of execution. But he was already content that if he was executed, he was going home to the Lord.” Banks' reprieve means Clay, set to die March 20 for a 1994 fatal shooting and robbery, may become No. 300 to be executed. Banks, 44, has spent more than 22 years on death row for fatally shooting and stealing the car of 16- year-old Richard Wayne White- head, a co-worker at a restaurant. Banks shot W hitehead “for the hell o f it” after a night o f drinking, ac cording to a witness at Banks’ trial. Wednesday was Banks' 15th ex ecution date. Three former federal judges had backed Banks' claims that he was wrongly convicted of the murder 23 years ago. One was former FBI Di rector W illiam Sessions, who sub Sporting a tattoo reading “Delma Jr., " Dakinya Jefferson celebrates word o f the stay o f execution mitted a brief to the high court in for her father Delma Banks just minutes before his scheduled death, outside the death house in which he cited “uncured constitu- Huntsville, Texas. (AP photo) LOTTERY NOW OPEN OPAL 0 Sktë tests A unique Portland Public Schools Charter Elementary located at C M 2-C hildren's Museum at Washington Park, across from the Zoo ■ N O T U IT IO N for morning preschool & kindergarten ■ N O T U IT IO N for grades 1 - 3 ■ T R A N S P O R T O P T IO N S include public transport, car pools, and self-transportation can ’ t draw any conclusion from the granting of a stay.” The majority of last-minute death row appeals are rejected by the Supreme Court, although justices have stopped a handful o f execu tions in the past few years. “Delma Banks Jr., who has main tained his innocence from the be ginning, found justice in the courts today and we are hopeful that this delay will allow a meaningful re view o f the serious crimes in his case,” defense attorney George Kendall said in a statement. The punishm ent would have been the 11 th this year and second in as many nights in Texas. On Tuesday, murderer Bobby Glen Cook became No. 299 since Texas resumed capital punishment. Despite the reprieve, the nation ’ s most active dead, penalty state re mains on a pace to surpass the record 40 lethal injections carried out in 2000. Texas accounts for more than a third of the 835 execu tions in the United States since 1976, when the death penalty re sumed under a Supreme Court rul ing. Virginia is second with 87. As Banks' relatives hugged and — Defense Attorney George Kendall rejoiced outside the prison, rela- > tives of W hitehead, including his tional errors” in the case. continue to seek Banks' execution. parents, waited inside. They de Banks' lawyers told justices he “I wish we could have brought it clined comment. i was poorly represented at trial, pros to a conclusion today,” said James “All these articles about poor ecutors improperly kept blacks off Elliott, a Bowie County prosecutor Delma, poor Delma and how much the jury, and testimony from two who helped win Banks’ conviction of a raw deal he got,” Larry White- prosecution witnesses was shaky. in 1980. "But I’ve been here 23 head, whose son was killed, said Banks is black, his victim was white years and I ’ m prepared to stay here earlier this week. “ Stopping a and the jury was all-white. to see it through. The Supreme youngster’s life at 16 years old is a Prosecutors said they would Court needs more time. You really raw deal.” Delma Banks Jr., who has maintained his innocence from the beginning, found justice in the court ’s today. Opal School-a program of fhe Children's Museum-will serve Pre-K through CRIME STOPPERS 3rd-grade students (ages 3 -8 years old) in Fall 2003, with additional grades added in subsequent years. Students living in the Portland Public School District are selected through an open lottery. To get a lottery application, stop by the Children's Museum or call (503) 471-9900. All applications must be postmarked by 5 PM (503) 823-HELP 111S.W. 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204 Monday, March 31, 2003. Surveillance video at a southeast Portland gas station show a car that held four men wanted in connection with a serious assault. The car model is shown above. Four Assault Suspects Wanted Portland Police Bureau Homi cide Detectives, in cooperation with Crime Stoppers, are asking for your help in locating a vehicle associated with an assault. On Saturday, Jan. 18 at approxi mately 2:45 in the morning, neara gas station at Southeast 84'h and Foster Road, 44-year old Joseph Claude Maestas and a male com panion had a verbal exchange with four individuals who were in a car. Saturday, March 22nd * 10 am - 3 pm Bring your teddy bear and meet our bears, play gam es, hear stories and have a Teddy Bear Picnic! "R epair-A -B ear" ho spita l for teddy bears* th a t need a little extra loving care! * other stuffed buddies are also welcom e! M aestas’ companion, believing the confrontation was going to become physical, ran from the area. A short time later he returned and found Maestas lying critically injured in a pool o f blood. Maestas laterdied of complications unrelated to the as sault. The four subjects are described as white males with Russian ac cents. The driver is approximately 20 to 25 years of age, 5 feet, 5 inches to5 feet, 7-inches tall, with a skinny build, light brown hair and clean shaven. The vehicle, w hich was cap tured on surveillance video at the gas station, is described as a m edium -red, 1990’s H onda Civic 2-door, DX C oupe, w ith a dark gray or black interior. The vehicle is in good condition and has w hite license plates with blue num bers. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to $1,000 fo r information, reported to Crime Stoppers, that leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolvedfelony crime, any you need not give your name. Call Crime Stoppers at S03-823-HELP. Million-Dollar ID Theft Case Busted Suspect tied to large scam against area businesses On Thursday, March 6, North east Precinct Officers arrested 50- year-old David James Moreland, a federal fugitive wanted for identity theft. Moreland was arrested after he attempted to cash a check at the Lloyd Center Branch of Key Bank. Moreland and 36 year-old Tami Fidler, who was already in custody, were both subjects o f a joint inves tigation conducted by the Portland Police Bureau, Salem volved in and may Police Departm ent, represent the largest U.S. Postal Inspectors know n cu m u lativ e and th e U .S. lo ss to are a b u s i Attorney’s Office. nesses through iden Investigators be tity theft. lieve Moreland is re Officer Lawrence sponsible for the theft credits the A m erin’s of more than one mil CrimeDex Network, lion dollars in cash and w h ich p o ste d property from busi M oreland's inform a ness and banks using David Moreland tion throughout their identity theft. business network, with the arrest According to East Precinct Spe o f Moreland. For more information cial C rim es Team O fficer Jim about Amerin'sCrimeDex Network, Lawrence, this case represents the call James Hudson at 503-723-5990, largest loss he has ever been in- extension 2 o r503-381 -5860. Settlement Paid to Man Shot by Police O R E G O N An innocent bystander shot by a Portland police officer during a disturbance at a Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard gas station will re ceive a settlement o f $200,000, the Portland City Council decided on W ednesday. Bruce Browne, a 42-year-old fa ZOO '♦ M E T R O w w w o re g o n zo o .o rg TAKE MAX TO THE ZOO! CALL 503-238-RIDE A ther of three from Vancouver, was shot twice in his upper right arm and once in his right knee when Officer Kenneth Duilio responded to a call about a man with a gun at the FastTrip gas station onJuly 11, 2001. Duilio mistook Browne for the man after Browne had just wrestled a 9mm handgun from a teenager who threatened him with it. Duilio fired six shots and Browne was hospitalized for four days with a punctured lung. One bullet remains in his chest and bullet fragments are still in his knee. 4
