Johnny S. Clarke & Lisa Straub- young Ohio couple murdered

[Lady Cop]

Ok that was just filed. with a sealed report from some doctor who probably sold his opinion to the defense. it's a desperate measure to show retardation. the retarded cannot be executed. so it remains to be seen if judge buys the snake oil.

Is that true all over? I ask because Arkansas executed a retarded guy when Bill Clinton was crime boss of that state. He really was retarded, too. He got pie with his last meal and when they asked why he didn't eat it he said he was saving it for after the execution.

The US supreme court ruled in 2002 in Atkins v. Virginia that the mentally retarded cannot be executed. However, the Supreme Court justices left it to the states to determine how to decide whether a person has mental disabilities. Prior to this decision, an estimated 44 mentally retarded people were executed between 1984 and 2002.

an IQ of between 70 - 75 must be established before age 18.

[shitstorm]

Thanks, LC. So, that decision came after the Arkansas case.

I don't see why low IQ should make any difference. I don't support the death penalty but if it's going to be applied it's because of the severity of the crime. A psychopathic retard murder is no different than a high IQ psychopathic murder.

[Timeless]

I, for one, do not care what his lowly-evolved IQ is. Anyone who could commit such a horrific murder deserves the death penalty. Why would we, as taxpayers, want to spend anymore $$$ on keeping these scumbags alive in prison? Lisa doesnt get to live her life and her family and doesn't get to enjoy her laughter and what the future held for her.

[Lady Cop]

the rationale for the Supreme Court's correct decision is that the mentally ill and/or the retarded have the minds of children. children who have not attained the age of reason or who know right from wrong. or the consequences of their acts. the line had to be drawn somewhere. we don't execute children either. if a capital crime is committed by someone under age 18 they cannot be executed, even if tried as an adult.

[Older Than Dirt]

Blade article about Pettaway http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2012/0...nalty.html

[NightOwl]

Can anyone that is still up on the crime forum here figure out what this deal is with Williams, maybe Queenbitch knows what is going on, she stated Starla lost the children and 2 children went to their fathers and one child to her mother maybe, uncertain on her mother could be Williams mother. He wants the Child Support Agency to produce all the records they have on him, his mother and startla. What does this junk have to do with a criminal trial?

http://lcapps.co.lucas.oh.us/obpublicacc...aea5f136b4

[Teacher]

Night Owl,

I have no idea. Might possibly be related to the guardianship of his child - an extremely wild guess as you can see. Wonder if he would have any right(s) to request with whom the child lived?

[Lady Cop]

TheBlade article

Attorneys for a Toledo man charged in the 2011 asphyxiation deaths of a Springfield Township couple have filed a motion claiming Cameo Pettaway is ineligible for the death penalty because he is mentally disabled.

A motion was filed recently asking Judge James Bates to dismiss the death-penalty specifications from Mr. Pettaway's aggravated murder case.

Accompanying the motion but placed under seal was a psychological evaluation.

Mr. Pettaway, 22, of 133 Essex St., is charged with two counts of aggravated murder, one count of aggravated burglary, and two counts of kidnapping. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Mr. Pettaway and co-defendant Samuel Williams, 24, of 1626 Kelsey Ave. are charged in the Jan. 31, 2011, asphyxiation deaths of Lisa Straub and Johnny Clarke. The pair were found bound by duct tape, with plastic bags over their heads, in the home of Ms. Straub's parents on Longacre Lane home.

Both men have trial dates set for July 17.

Although the written evaluation by Cleveland psychologist John Matthew Fabian was filed under seal, he expressed some of his findings in a letter filed as part of a defense request to disqualify Judge James Bates from the case. Also in that request -- which was subsequently denied -- Mr. Pettaway's lawyers wrote that their client's "full scale IQ score" was 71.

"I have found significant cognitive and neuropsychological deficits, IQ in the mentally retarded range, and reading skills in the early elementary level," Mr. Fabian wrote in the May 5 letter filed with the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Executing those who are developmentally disabled was found unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002. However, in that opinion, the high court left it up to individual death-penalty states to develop their own criteria for determining a definition for a person with developmental disabilities.

In December, 2002, the Ohio Supreme Court of Ohio ruled that a definition requires: "(1) significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, (2) significant limitations in two or more adaptive skills, such as communication, self-care, and self-direction, and (3) onset before the age of 18."

The prosecutor's office will have the opportunity to respond to the motion. Lawyers for Mr. Pettaway and the state are barred from discussing the motion because of a gag order imposed by the court.

Family members of both victims have attended court proceedings but have said that they decline to comment on the case until it is concluded.

[Older Than Dirt]

The people who are commenting on the Blade article are calling it BS. One said that he was smart enough to open a FB account and post pictures. Another said anybody can fake being mentally disabled. I have a neighbor who truly mentally disabled. He spends more time locked up than not. Drugs and or alcohol usely set him off. He is always in for assualt or burglary. I have talked to him many times. He definately knows right from wrong. I'm sure that he can't read or write or manage FB! But, he can be very polite and carry on a reasonable conversation.

[Older Than Dirt]

The case was originally set for trial on May 29, 2012 but
has been continued to July 17, 2012. Pursuant to Rule
16(A), "All duties and remedies are subject to a standard
of due diligence, apply to the defense and the prosecution
equally, and are intended to be reciprocal." I know what
I would do if that State had filed to comply with
discovery, so close to trial. Pursuant to the rule, it
should "apply to the defense and the prosecution equally,
and are intended to be reciprocal."

The Court has strongly urged counsel to comply with
discovery previously. I would hope that the defense would
immediately comply with discovery so that the trial date
or the testimony offered for the defendant can be
salvaged.

Date:

JUDGE JAMES D.
BATES
Just a snipit, motions are lenghty. dated 6-5-12 Cheers! Oh, this is on Pettaway.

[Older Than Dirt]

And Williams

6/4/2012 1 Title : PROUBLICIZE CT PROCEED GRANT
WTOL-TV, FOR TRIAL SET ON THE WEEK OF JULY 17, 2012, AND THE
WEEK OF JULY 23, 2012.
PARTY : D1 - WILLIAMS SAMUEL TODD

[Older Than Dirt]

Toledoan charged in deaths gets new lawyer
BLADE STAFF
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A Toledo man charged in the asphyxiation deaths of a Springfield Township couple was appointed a new lawyer Tuesday to advise him on a potential conflict of interest involving one of his two already appointed attorneys.

Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Dean Mandros appointed Jonathan Cherry to assist Samuel Williams, who faces the death penalty if convicted of multiple charges. Williams, 24, of 1626 Kelsey Ave. is one of two men charged in the Jan. 31, 2011, asphyxiation deaths of Lisa Straub and Johnny Clarke in a Longacre Lane home.

The issue involves whether Williams' attorney, John Thebes, has a conflict of interest because he had previously represented one of the possible witnesses in the case. Williams has expressed in court a desire to keep Mr. Thebes as his attorney and said he would sign a form waiving any potential conflict.

Judge Mandros asked Mr. Cherry to consult with Williams prior to a June 15 hearing date.

Both Williams and co-defendant Cameo Pettaway, 22, of 133 Essex St., are charged with two counts of aggravated murder, one count of aggravated burglary, and two counts of kidnapping. Both men are scheduled to go to trial July 17.

[Older Than Dirt]

Feeling pretty lonely !

[Cracker]

I love you. Hope that helps.

I thought they had to be intellectually disabled before the age of 18 to plead the Tard Card.




"(3) Whether, at the time of committing the offense, the offender, because of a mental disease or defect, lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of the offender’s conduct or to conform the offender’s conduct to the requirements of the law;"

I think if you fled the scene with your accomplice, you probably appreciate the criminality of killing someone.

If the boy can write a sentence, he doesn't have an IQ of 71. That is very low, non-reader low. ramsey low.

[NightOwl]

Feeling pretty lonely !

Oh! you're grand now, don't go feeling alone. Thank-you! so much for posting up the latest and Mr. Cherry is on the job now with Defense not sure if he is part time or what.

[Adub]

I love you. Hope that helps.

I thought they had to be intellectually disabled before the age of 18 to plead the Tard Card.

Pettaway was special ed. But, his juvenile record is astounding. This from that Blade blogger...

When Mr. Pettaway was just 7 years old, he found himself in trouble for the first time. His eight-page list of juvenile charges shows he was found delinquent of a number of charges, including being unruly, petty theft, breaking and entering, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property, criminal damaging, drug paraphernalia, and domestic violence.

[Cracker]

I wonder what percentage of criminals were ESEP. Federal laws protect students with disabilities from being punished for actions that would get other kids expelled from school permanently. Bad precedent.

[Adub]

Pettaway's step-dad did two years for "possession" of crack cocaine. I think it was in 2007. Anyways, the step-dads criminal record is one of the most impressive that I have seen, second to none. And it looks like Kenyatta filed for divorce recently. And Pettaway's brother Stephen? All bad. Maybe they are all retarded.

[Cracker]

Or maybe most retardation is familial, not organic.

If you fuck a kid up when they are little, you can't fix it.

[NightOwl]

I love you. Hope that helps.

I thought they had to be intellectually disabled before the age of 18 to plead the Tard Card.

Pettaway was special ed. But, his juvenile record is astounding. This from that Blade blogger...

When Mr. Pettaway was just 7 years old, he found himself in trouble for the first time. His eight-page list of juvenile charges shows he was found delinquent of a number of charges, including being unruly, petty theft, breaking and entering, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property, criminal damaging, drug paraphernalia, and domestic violence.

Where was Kenyetta when all of this was going on? I cannot find out if Pettaway was in and out of foster care, everyone on facebook loves him so. There is a fairly prominent business in Toledo and his name is connected to those people why? I say there was plenty of time to see where this fellow was heading can you imagine 7 years old!

There is no substitute for a mother! it was her job to rear the boy up decent and proper, she failed!