Prosecution Won't Seek Death Penalty

[magpie1]

The prosecutor in the Darren Mack murder and attempted murder case announced late today that his office will not seek the death penalty. Details in Tuesday's paper.
Mack is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday before a visiting Clark County district judge. He'll be using a Washoe District courtroom.
posted by Martha Bellisle, Legal Affairs Reporter at 4:54 PM

http://www.rgj.com/blogs/judge-shooting/

[magpie1]

The REno Gazette-Journal has posted the article on the prosecution's decision not to seek the death penalty in the Darren Mack case.

Link to article:
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060912/NEWS10/609120348/1002

[GollyGeeWhiz]

Magpie,

Thanks for the link.

I'm thinking that while he was in Mexico negotiating the terms of his surrender, he received some good advice about cooperating with LE. Might've been what saved him.

Find it interesting that Charla's mother seems to be okay with the no death penalty decision, because of his children. This seems to go to the rather widely held opinion that he was a good father.

I guess the definition of "good father" depends on the individual. I struggle to understand how his head could be in the daddy game with all the "swinging" he allegedly indulged in. In fact, to my eye, there are several aspects of his character that don't seem to lend themselves to his rep as Father of the Year ... but part of that is my own bias, I'm sure.

GGW

[TobyTiger]

Originally posted by GollyGeeWhiz




I guess the definition of "good father" depends on the individual. I struggle to understand how his head could be in the daddy game with all the "swinging" he allegedly indulged in. In fact, to my eye, there are several aspects of his character that don't seem to lend themselves to his rep as Father of the Year ... but part of that is my own bias, I'm sure.

GGW
I agree with you on that. 'Father of the Year' and being engaged in the 'swinger' lifestyle cannot be accurate descriptions of the same person. It's either one or the other...
:)

[magpie1]

From what I understand, the "father of the year" was not an award bestowed on Darren Mack by the community.

Charla purchased a billboard and had "Darren Mack - Father of the Year" from her and the children put on it. What it amounted to was an expensive Fathers Day card. :)

Just from what I've read about this case, I see a lot of flaws in Darren Mack's character. And after reading the article in the RGJ on Sunday about the divorce proceedings, I don't think the apple fell too far from the tree.

In my opinion, Darren's lifestyle and behavior since the divorce was initiated a year an a half ago, doesn't equal a good father.

Again, in my opinion, Darren Mack is a prime example of wealth spoiling a man. He thought money could buy everything. He thought money could buy a wife, and if she didn't live up to his expectations, he could buy a good attorney to get rid of her and walk away with no obligations. When he didn't get his way, he took matters in his own hands to "end problem." I have no doubt he thinks money will buy his freedom from having to take responsibility for his actions.

[chambord]

No death penality!! Unbelievable, IMO..Shades of the Mary Winkler case. Its okay to murder your spouse, you still get to live because your a parent.


moo

[TobyTiger]

Originally posted by chambord
No death penality!! Unbelievable, IMO..Shades of the Mary Winkler case. Its okay to murder your spouse, you still get to live because your a parent.


moo
Hi chambord! :seeya:
First of all, I'm not an expert on Nevada law. However, it is going to be difficult to seat a jury in this case, even in Clark County (Las Vegas) where the trial will be held. As you may notice, Clark County is already a change of venue. The prosecutors and presiding Judge are also from there. With that being said, trying to find a death qualified jury may be near impossible. I think the DA made a good choice in this matter...trying to secure a conviction on both counts which could lead to LWOP.

[Tonja]

I was expecting this to happen.

I have read the statistics that have been done on our Nevada Courts. About 5 years ago our Nevada Supreme Court order a study to be conducted on our state's judicial system.

This 100+ page report details those who have been given the death penalty. The report included their race, income, whether or not they had a private attorney, or a public defender. The majority of those given the death penalty, were poor, and had little of a defense because their public defender was overworked, underpayed, had no money to pay for expert witnesses, or any kind of an investigation.

I was surprised to learn that according to this report, that .06% of cases never make it to trial, because they plea bargain the cases.

Anyone wanting to look at that report can find it at the Nevada Supreme Court law library.

[TobyTiger]

Originally posted by Tonja
I was expecting this to happen.

I was surprised to learn that according to this report, that .06% of cases never make it to trial, because they plea bargain the cases.

Anyone wanting to look at that report can find it at the Nevada Supreme Court law library.
Thanks for the information, Tonja!
;)

[magpie1]

I read the Nevada law reagrding the factors required for a death penalty case. The factors include: murder during a terrorist attack; murder of a child under 14; murder of a fireman, policeman, or emergency responder; murder on a school campus; murder during a hate crime; and murder of multiple persons at random (sniper). There were several more factors, but I can't recall all of them at the moment.

In reading the law, I couldn't find anything that fit the murder of Charla Mack and the shooting of Judge Weller, that met the requirements for the death penalty. So, I sort of expected this wouldn't be a death penalty case.

I just hope that if convicted Darren will get LWOP.

[TobyTiger]

Originally posted by magpie1


In reading the law, I couldn't find anything that fit the murder of Charla Mack and the shooting of Judge Weller, that met the requirements for the death penalty. So, I sort of expected this wouldn't be a death penalty case.

I just hope that if convicted Darren will get LWOP.
The situation with the Death Penalty in this case is somewhat confusing- even though one person was murdered, the other remains an attempted murder. Obviously there is no "special circumstance" in regard to the victim being a Judge. Another factor could be that these are two separate incidents being that they are at different places, even though on the same day. Personally if this had occurred where I am, I believe it would be a DP case...
;)

[magpie1]

Originally posted by TobyTiger

The situation with the Death Penalty in this case is somewhat confusing- even though one person was murdered, the other remains an attempted murder. Obviously there is no "special circumstance" in regard to the victim being a Judge. Another factor could be that these are two separate incidents being that they are at different places, even though on the same day. Personally if this had occurred where I am, I believe it would be a DP case...
;)

TobyTiger,
I suspect it would be a DP case in California and also in other states.

I was surprised that the Nevada law regarding the elements required for a DP case didn't include shooting a judge.

I recently had reason to look up the law in Texas pertaining to murder and the DP there (a family member was murdered in Texas), and found that the laws in Texas include a lot more situations in which the death penalty is applicable.

[TobyTiger]

Originally posted by magpie1


TobyTiger,
I suspect it would be a DP case in California and also in other states.

I was surprised that the Nevada law regarding the elements required for a DP case didn't include shooting a judge.

I recently had reason to look up the law in Texas pertaining to murder and the DP there (a family member was murdered in Texas), and found that the laws in Texas include a lot more situations in which the death penalty is applicable.
Each state has different laws, and Nevada isn't one of the strongest proponents of the DP.

I'm sorry to hear about your family member, but rest assured that justice will be served since the murder occurred in Texas. They also have the highest execution rate in the nation.
:patriot:

[magpie1]

TobyTiger,
This is definitely off-topic, but prior to the murder in our family, I would have agreed with you about Texas justice.

On December 29, 2005 my 53-year-old nephew was blugeoned to death with a baseball bat by his stepson. My nephew was deceased by the time police and paramedics arrived on the scene. The stepson was arrested at the scene and held on $100,000 bail. He was arraigned and charged with first-degree, premeditated murder.

The detectives in the case told my sister that they had overwhelming evidence in the case. After being in jail for almost a month, in late January someone posted bail and the stepson was released. The district attorney said that the step-son admitted guilt and that in all likelihood there wouldn't be a trial, that they would proceed to the sentencing phase sometime in the coming months. He asked my sister and her remaining two children to write victim impact statements.

Then, in March Texas had their primary election and the district attorney lost to his opponent, who won't take office until January of 2007. To date, there's been no sentencing hearing and the stepson remains out on bail.

A little research has revealed that the district attorney is well known locally for plea bargaining, which is probably why he lost the election. Our family is concerned that in this case, justice won't be served and will be plea bargained away.

[TobyTiger]

magpie -

That certainly is different from what I've heard about the criminal justice system in TX. For one thing: bail on murder one? What county is this?

At least Judge Herndon didn't grant bail to Darren Mack, knowing he is a flight risk and the possibility that he could follow through on his original plan to eliminate Judge Weller...
:(

[Tonja]

Magpie,

I'm truly sorry to hear about your loss.

[magpie1]

TobyTiger,

It's Narvarro County, city of Corsicana - southeast of Dallas. It's a small county, farming country.

The detectives in the case were surprised that bail was posted. They said that they had set bail high enough that they didn't think anyone in the immediate family would be able to meet it. What the detectives didn't know, is that my nephew's wife has a brother that's a very well-to-do doctor in Michigan, and the bail probably came from there. The detectives said they were keeping a close eye on the stepson while he's out on bail.

As clarification, my sister and her family live in upstate New York. It's her oldest son who was murdered. He had been married and divorced in NY, and his company sent him to Texas to supervise the opening of their new company (computer technology). He met and married his second wife in Texas. No one in the family really knows the second wife well, having only met her briefly on two ocassions. Since the murder, she's been aloof, and according to the detectives, uncooperative.

The only information we have comes from the detectives. There's been nothing done on the murder case since the district attorney lost the election.

[magpie1]

TobyTiger,
It's Navarro County, city of Corsicana, southeast of Dallas. The detectives on the case were surprised that bail was met, saying that they thought it had been set high enough that the step-son's mother (my nephew's widow) couldn't meet it. He's being closely watched while out on bail.

Tonga..........thanks.

[TobyTiger]

Originally posted by magpie1
TobyTiger,
It's Navarro County, city of Corsicana, southeast of Dallas. The detectives on the case were surprised that bail was met, saying that they thought it had been set high enough that the step-son's mother (my nephew's widow) couldn't meet it. He's being closely watched while out on bail.
.
Thank God that he is being closely monitored, but it was still wrong to allow bail...

Praying for you.
;)

[jerzyscott10]

Originally posted by magpie1
I read the Nevada law reagrding the factors required for a death penalty case. The factors include: murder during a terrorist attack; murder of a child under 14; murder of a fireman, policeman, or emergency responder; murder on a school campus; murder during a hate crime; and murder of multiple persons at random (sniper). There were several more factors, but I can't recall all of them at the moment.

In reading the law, I couldn't find anything that fit the murder of Charla Mack and the shooting of Judge Weller, that met the requirements for the death penalty. So, I sort of expected this wouldn't be a death penalty case.

I just hope that if convicted Darren will get LWOP.

magpie1,
That's some good info thanks.
According to testimony heard at the prelim. A dectective testified that a what appeared to be a "to do list" was found in the kitchen of Darren Mack's home, among the things that the list said, was "end problome" and says all this other stuff implying the events that took place on June 12th, the denfense may argue that the list wasn't written by him, even though his initals were written on it
so odds are he planned it, which is first degree murder

[TobyTiger]

Originally posted by jerzyscott10



According to testimony heard at the prelim. A dectective testified that a what appeared to be a "to do list" was found in the kitchen of Darren Mack's home, among the things that the list said, was "end problome" and says all this other stuff implying the events that took place on June 12th, the denfense may argue that the list wasn't written by him, even though his initals were written on it
so odds are he planned it, which is first degree murder
In the Scott Dyleski trial, which just ended here in California, a similar "to do" list was introduced as evidence of pre-meditation. If the handwriting can be identified as belonging to the defendant it is admissable. BTW, Dyleski (age 17) was convicted and sentenced to LWOP.

[magpie1]

A new District Attorney was seated in Navarro County, Texas in January of this year. He had a backlog of cases that hadn't been prosecuted by the previous DA, who failed to prosecute cases after he lost re-election.

On August 20, 2007 the trial of my nephew's murderer began in Navarro County Courthouse. My sister (elderly) decided not to attend on the advice of her doctor. My nephew's sister, brother, and his son, attended representing the family. Both my niece, sister of my murdered nephew, and my nephew's son were witnesses for the prosecution.

The stepson who murdered my nephew had confessed to the murder, so there was no question that he had committed the crime. The trial lasted 7 days and was primarily in regards to sentencing. The defense was arguing for probation based on the defendant's age (20) and prior arrest record - two misdemeanors: home invasion and theft.

The jury found the defendant guilty of first degree murder, and in addition added a special circumstance of declaring a baseball bat a deadly weapon. During the three days devoted to the penalty phase, the defense asked for a plea bargain, and the defendant was given 15 years in state prison. Because of the special circumstance, he can't be eligible for parole for 8 and 1/2 years. The DA told the family that if they either attend a parole hearing or write letters to the parole board, the defendant will probably do most of those 15 years.

Although we would have wanted the defendant to get more time in prison, the trial is over and there's a sense of relief.