National Roundup

Alabama
Inmate, 64, who survived execution attempt dies of cancer
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama inmate whose lethal injection was halted because medical staff couldn’t find a suitable vein for the execution has died of natural causes almost four years later, his lawyer said Monday.

Doyle Lee Hamm, who was convicted in the slaying of a motel clerk in 1987, died of natural causes on death row, said his longtime attorney, Bernard Harcourt. He was 64.

Alabama officials postponed Hamm’s execution in February 2018 because workers couldn’t find a suitable vein to connect the intravenous line used to send lethal chemicals into his body. Hamm and the state reached an agreement the following month that prevented further execution attempts, but he remained on death row at Holman Prison because of his capital conviction, Harcourt said.

Hamm suffered from an aggressive lymphatic cancer for years, Harcourt said. The Holman warden called Hamm’s brother to inform him of the prisoner’s death Sunday morning, Harcourt said.

“Doyle will be remembered for his generous and forgiving spirit and his ability to always stay positive even in the face of the most dire adversities. He will be missed by his friends and family,” Harcourt wrote in a tribute.

Neither the Department of Corrections nor the state attorney general’s office immediately responded to emails seeking information about Hamm’s death.

Hamm was convicted in the killing of motel clerk Patrick Cunningham, who was shot once in the head while working an overnight shift at a motel in Cullman. Police said $410 was taken during a holdup.

Hamm gave police a confession and he was convicted after two accomplices testified against him in exchange for being allowed to plead guilty to lesser offenses, according to court documents.

Diagnosed in 2014 with B-cell lymphoma, Hamm argued before the scheduled execution that the blood cancer had progressed while the state argued that he was in remission.

In the days before his execution was scheduled, state prison officials told courts they planned to connect the intravenous line below Hamm’s knee after a medical review ordered by a federal judge found that he had no easily usable veins in his upper extremities. The state had expressed confidence that Hamm had usable veins, but workers couldn’t find a suitable one on the day of the scheduled lethal injection.

The U.S. Supreme Court had allowed the execution to proceed, but the state finally called it off because of the problem.

Louisiana
Man can revive suit against New Orleans over police beating
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court says a Hispanic Iraq War veteran can revive his lawsuit over a beating by two New Orleans police officers who he said called him a “fake American.”

The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate  reports that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Jorge Gomez on Nov. 18.

Gomez is a U.S. native who was raised in Honduras and served with the National Guard in Iraq. He encountered the two off-duty officers inside a bar on the night of July 24, 2018.

Gomez was wearing fatigues and a beret. He said the officers, both of whom are white, questioned his military service and called him a “fake American” before beating him outside.

The New Orleans Police Department quickly fired both officers. Officer John Galman eventually pleaded guilty to simple battery, while Officer Spencer Sutton pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace.

In July 2019, Gomez sued the city and the former officers in federal court.

However, U.S. District Judge Barry Ashe found that the city wasn’t liable in the lawsuit because Sutton and Galman were nothing more than “private citizens in a bar fight.”

Gomez argues that Sutton and Galman were acting like police officers, including identifying themselves as such when they called 911.

“These allegations are key,” the circuit court panel said in its unsigned opinion. “A victim usually does not follow orders from someone who just attacked him without good reason to do so. He is even less likely do so when — as alleged here — the victim was in the process of escaping his attackers.”

The panel was made up of Judges Carl E. Stewart, James Ho and Kurt Engelhardt.

In a concurring opinion, Ho called the question of whether the city could be held responsible at this point a “close case.” However, he added that he was “happy” to reverse Ashe on the point.

“If the allegations in this case are true, the officers have not merely brutalized one man — they have badly undermined public trust in law enforcement. And unfortunately, the misconduct alleged here is not unique,” he said.

In a statement, New Orleans police spokesperson Gary Scheets noted that the officers were quickly suspended.

“While NOPD cannot comment specifically on active litigation, the department’s swift action related to the suspension and subsequent termination of these two officers is a clear statement that this sort of behavior was not, and will not be tolerated at NOPD,” Scheets said.


New York
Man arrested in woman’s deadly plunge down NYC subway stairs
NEW YORK (AP) — A man suspected in a deadly mugging on a subway station stairway was arrested four months later after someone spotted him in Central Park and called a tip line, police said Saturday.

David Robinson, 53, appeared in court a day after his arrest on manslaughter charges in the death of Htwe Than Than. A request for comment was sent to his defense attorney.

Police said the 58-year-old victim was walking up some steps in a station in Manhattan’s Chinatown with her 22-year-old son on July 17 when Robinson grabbed the son’s backpack, propelling both son and mother down the stairs. She was in a coma for several days before succumbing to her injuries.

Robinson told police he became angry “because he believed the man had thrown garbage at him,” according to a criminal complaint. He claimed the 22-year-old man grabbed onto his mother as he tumbled backward, causing her to fall as well.

“The defendant heard a crack when the mother’s head struck the ground,” the complaint says.

A seamstress who made aprons, Htwe Than Than came to the U.S. from Myanmar about three years ago, according to WABC-TV, which interviewed her family  in July.

The New York Police Department publicly identified Robinson as a suspect later that month.