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)
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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.
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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
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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.
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