Death Penalty

Bright to discuss death penalty The inequities of the death penalty will be the subject of a talk Tuesday sponsored by Citizens Concerned for Human Relations. Danville native Stephen B. Bright, president and senior counsel of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, will speak on “The Death Penalty: Race, Poverty and Disadvantage” at 7 p.m. at the Boyle County Public Library. Bright was director of the center for 23 years before becoming president and senior counsel five years ago. He has won many awards for his work fighting for the rights of minorities, the poor and the disadvantaged.

STANFORD ? One of the men identified as a gunman in the 2002 murders of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw denies firing a weapon and is now asking to withdraw his guilty plea and take his case to trial. If the motion is granted and Simmons goes to trial, the death penalty could be on the table. In a handwritten affidavit filed Tuesday, Deonte Simmons said he did not fire any shots when Shangraw and Upton were gunned down over drugs inside Shangraw's trailer near Hubble. "I did not have a firearm when I went into the trailer.

STANFORD - The last two suspects in the 2002 shooting deaths of Bo Upton and Ryan Shangraw were arraigned Friday in Lincoln Circuit Court, bringing the total number charged in the case to five. Neccolus L. Mundy, 26, and Charles E. Smith, 26, both of Richmond, pleaded not guilty to two counts each of murder, attempted murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. Commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery said he will seek the death penalty for both men. Mundy and Smith join three other Richmond men - Jamarkos Campbell, Deonte Simmons and Matthew Tolson - charged in the deaths of Shangraw and Upton, who were gunned down inside Shangraw's trailer near Hubble in February 2002.

Cruel and unusual? Does lethal injection violate the Constitution's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment?" That's the question the United States Supreme Court is being asked to decide in a case involving the murder of a Winchester police officer's father. Officer Dennis Briscoe's father, Powell County Deputy Arthur Briscoe, was killed along with Sheriff Steve Bennett in 1992 by Ralph Baze, who is on death row in Kentucky. Baze's attorneys argue that, when the three-drug mixture used to put people to death in 35 of the 36 states that allow the death penalty is administered improperly, the result can amount to torture.

Dear Editor, In her letter to the editor on Jan. 18 in The Advocate-Messenger, Jen Thompson informs us the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not support lethal injection as a means of execution. I can not help but wonder if she realizes what the motive for the Kentucky inmates who filed this lawsuit are. I don't know of any inmates who support the death penalty. Nor do I know of many inmates who acknowledge guilt for their crimes. One of our greatest problems in this country is those who have achieved the divine right of "higher education" (educated beyond their knowledge)

A new hearing date has been set for a Paris man accused of murder and sodomy in the death of Wesley Dylan Mullins, a Winchester 6-year-old whose body was discovered at his grandfather's house in August. Louis A. "Buck" Ballard, 48, will return to Bourbon Circuit Court on Feb. 14 for another hearing before his trial begins in July. Attorneys in the case appeared in front of a judge Tuesday morning, but said the discovery process has not been completed. Mullins was a Strode Station Elementary student nearing his seventh birthday when the crime occurred.

A Paris man accused of murder and sodomy in the death of a 6-year-old Winchester boy has been scheduled for another court appearance before his trial begins. Louis A. "Buck" Ballard, 48, will return to Bourbon Circuit Court March 13 before he stands trial in July on charges stemming from the death of Wesley Dylan Mullins, whose lifeless body was discovered behind his grandfather's garage Aug. 4. Attorneys met on the matter in court Thursday. Mullins was a Strode Station Elementary student nearing his seventh birthday and was staying with his grandfather, Bobby Mullins, at the time of his death.

HARRODSBURG - Seventeen-year-old Louis Lee Anderson pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he stabbed a retired teacher to death during a robbery at her Harrodsburg home last month. Anderson, of Danville, was charged as an adult with murder and robbery in Mercer Circuit Court. It was the first time authorities had named him publicly. He was arrested on Jan. 13, the day after Louise Pulliam, 72, was found murdered in her home on Bob O Link Drive. He was ordered held on a $1-million bond and returned to a juvenile detention facility in Elizabethtown.

PARIS - A man charged with raping and murdering a 6-year-old Winchester boy pleaded not guilty to both counts today in Bourbon Circuit Court. The family of Lewis "Buck Ballard," 48, vehemently defended his innocence outside the courtroom, reading a statement that he's being judged for his past, "and that's not fair. " Ballard was convicted in 1989 for second-degree rape of a 12-year-old girl. He is one of seven brothers, and three of them, including himself, have been convicted of sexual crimes.

A Jessamine County man has been charged with murder, first-degree assault and first-degree burglary in connection to a murder that occurred on a farm off Paris Pike in Lexington. According to officials, Gary T. Stone, 31, of 405 Edgewood Drive, allegedly beat to death 43-year-old Pauline Mastin of Carlisle Saturday morning. Stone is also accused of allegedly beating Mastin's brother, Bart Bastin. Bart Mastin was taken to the University of Kentucky hospital where he is listed in serious condition.