SBS: Arizona: Vandergriff and the cost of the death penalty

By JAYNE HANSON
April 20, 2011

The Mohave County Attorney’s Office has decided to withdraw its motion to seek the death penalty against a Kingman resident accused of sexually abusing and killing a 1-month-old boy last year, citing financial constraints tied to state budget policies.

Until the motion was filed Tuesday, the case was one of two pending capital cases in the county. With the state holding back a combined $35 million to Mohave and four other counties to balance Arizona’s budget, there aren’t enough funds in Mohave County to try both matters as death-penalty cases, said Deputy County Attorney Gregory McPhillips, who along with County Attorney Matt Smith made the decision.
The lone remaining capital case before the county is that of Darrell Ketchner, 53, also of Kingman. He is accused of fatally stabbing 18-year-old Ariel Allison, of Kingman, while she was defending her mother, Jennifer Allison, 35, from Ketchner’s rage around 10:48 p.m. on July 4, 2009.
“It’s not a decision that sits well with me,” McPhillips said. “But it is a decision I agree with. We could pursue justice blindly and say we don’t care what is costs,” McPhillips said. “But we are here to serve the people of the county. We can’t break the county to pursue one particular case. This was a hard decision, but it was responsible With the murder of a baby, there are incredibly complex genetic, medical and legal issues making the case a much more difficult case for the state to prove, the deputy county attorney continued.
Vandergriff, 25, is charged with sexually and physically abusing the infant on June 15, 2010, at a residence in the 300 block of Sea Creek Drive in Kingman, according to the Bullhead City Police Department.
The baby boy was taken to Western Arizona Regional Medical Center in Bullhead. His body was bruised and he had sores, red and swollen eyes, broken ribs, a broken femur, malnutrition and dehydration. The child also showed signs of brutal sexual abuse and shaken-baby syndrome, police said. In critical condition, the boy was airlifted by medical helicopter to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas, where he was pronounced dead on June 16.
Vandergriff, who is the child’s father, and Staci L. Barbosa, the baby’s mother, were both arrested.
According to the county’s website, Vandergriff is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse, sexual assault and sexual conduct of a minor. He now will face prosecution as a first-degree murder defendant, who’d face up to life in prison if convicted.
The decision to withdraw the motion to try the matter as a capital case was based on a move by the state to take back $1.3 million in funds to Mohave County — a mandatory transfer in order to balance Arizona’s budget. According to County Supervisor Association of Arizona documents, Mohave is currently one of five counties whose general funds were targeted for a combined $38.6 million to help balance the state’s budget for this fiscal year. The impact and amount is compared to two counties targeted for a combined $38.4 million last fiscal year.

County Financial Breakdown
The state’s decision didn’t sit well with County Supervisor Buster Johnson, R-Dist. 3. “We have to give them $1.3 million to help balance the state budget,” said Buster Johnson, R-Dist. 3. “These are harsh realities that are being made by our state legislators when (state legislators) are grandstanding for higher political office.”
The individual sums of county general-fund sweeps include Maricopa County at $26.3 million; Pima County at $6.7 million; Pinal County at $2.5 million; Yavapai County at $1.4 million; and Mohave County — with the smallest sum of $1.3 million owed.
With other sweeps of state revenues earmarked for counties in Arizona, state legislators seek a total of $93.4 million to balance the state budget. The total is an additional $16 million more than last year’s combined $77 million from counties. Overall, the sweeps translate to a two-year grand total of $170.4 million from 15 counties to subsidize state spending.
In Mohave County, the general fund transfer and other sweeps equal a $3.8 million impact this fiscal year, which is $2 million more than last year’s $1.8 million paid to the state under similar circumstances.
McPhillips, who originally sought to try Vandergriff’s as a capital case, said he doesn’t recall being forced into such a decision before, but then again, he can remember such challenging financial times, either.
“It’s a difficult time for our county,” McPhillips said. “The fact the state is looking at the county to pay $1.3 million — I don’t know if things are going to get better over the next year,” he said.
In making its decision, the County Attorney’s Office weighed the strength of its cases against Vandergriff and Ketchner, as well as the financial implications of moving forward with each matter.

Death Penalty Case Costs
“The county has a lot more money in the Ketchner case,” said Mohave County Deputy County Manager Dana Hlavac, Criminal Justice Services. “We’ve invested about $200,000, compared to Vandergriff, which we have invested $60,000 in defense costs, that’s not including prosecution costs.”
Under the law, anybody facing a potential death sentence is entitled to two attorneys. The attorneys must have special qualifications and be approved by the Arizona Supreme Court to try death penalty cases. In Mohave County, there are only three attorneys certified to handle such cases, Hlavac said.The county provides attorneys for the defendant and often has to look statewide to one willing to take on the case. When one is found, a special contract is employed, and the attorney’s rates can range from $120 to $150 per hour.

Vandergriff’s attorney, Creighton Cornell, of Creighton Cornell Law, Tucson, bills at $100 hour, Hlavac said.
Hlavac said studies have proved post-conviction costs tied to executing a someone given the death penalty — which could take as many as 20 years with appeals — is much more expensive than a life sentence in prison.
On average, a death penalty case costs about $2 million, compared to $30,000 a year to house a prisoner serving a life sentence. In other words, a prisoner would have to live to 100 before he or she costs the government what it requires to handle a death-penalty case.
“It is a very, very brave and commendable thing Matt did,” Hlavac said. “It’s not easy at all. The integrity it shows to do something like that for the betterment of the county.”
Hlavac said the matter against Ketchner, the county’s sole pending death penalty case, is about a year away from going to trial. The county has spent about $100,000 on the case,
http://www.havasunews.com/articles/2011/04/21/news/doc4dafc734d3155395637315.txt

SBS: Arizona: Jonathan Vandergriff

JIM SECKLER/The Daily News

 February 23, 2011

KINGMAN — A Superior Court judge set a hearing Tuesday to argue a motion whether the attorney for a Bullhead City murder suspect can physically be in contact with his client.
Court Commissioner Derek Carlisle originally scheduled the hearing for next Tuesday in the case of Jonathan Edward Vandergriff, 24, who is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse by domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15 and sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15 for the death of his infant son in June 2010.
Vandergriff’s attorney, Creighton Cornell, of Tucson, argued that it would be a large undertaking to interview numerous witnesses and asked to postpone Tuesday’s evidentiary hearing. He said that the sheriff’s office and the county attorney’s office have drawn a line in the sand to prohibit any contact between inmates and visitors. Cornell wants to visit with his client in person and said there may be volumes of paperwork that need to be passed to his client. Since the new Mohave County jail has been built, inmates only communicate with family members by video conferencing and with attorneys through a glass partition.
Before the hearing began, Cornell initially refused to move from the jury box with his client to the defense table because the defense table was too close to where the public sits. A three-foot high partition separates the public area from the tables where the attorneys and their clients sit. Cornell also said he will file a motion to move the trial to a larger courtroom.Deputy Mohave County Attorney Lynnann Wilson, who is working with the sheriff’s office, said it was a simple issue of security and that the sheriff has the right to run the jail the way he sees fit. She also said there is no constitutional right for an attorney to physically touch their client. There is also a safety issue in the case that a defendant takes a pen or pencil left by an attorney and attempts to use it as a weapon.Carlisle said he did not see it as a major issue but granted up to $2,500 for Cornell to bring John Napper, of Prescott, to testify at the hearing. Napper has handled several capital murder cases, including Mohave County cases. The judge set the hearing for March 28 for Napper and Jail Commander Bruce Brown to testify.
Carlisle also denied a defense motion for a list of names of potential jurors. Cornell had concerns that Hispanic jurors would be underrepresented on a jury. The judge said one cannot tell by a name the ethnicity of a potential juror.
The judge also took under advisement a defense motion to clarify the allegation of the charge of child abuse. At issue was whether the infant suffered shaken baby syndrome or blunt force trauma to the head. Cornell questioned what the act of child abuse was.
Deputy Mohave County Attorney Greg McPhillips countered that Cornell’s motion did not have any facts and did not cite any case law.
“This motion is devoid of any legal authority,” McPhillips said.
Carlisle also took under advisement a state motion to release the infant’s body. Cornell opposed the motion, saying he still has not received all of the medical reports including an MRI. The judge previously denied another motion to allow Vandergriff to have contact with his young daughter. Cornell said he will file a motion to reconsider that ruling.
Vandergriff’s co-defendant, Staci Lynn Barbosa, 19, is also charged with first-degree murder, child abuse by domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15 and sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15.
Vandergriff faces the death penalty if convicted of the murder charge. McPhillips is not seeking the death penalty against Barbosa, the infant’s mother. The couple could also face life in prison with or without the chance of parole after 35 years if convicted of murder. Vandergriff is being held on $500,000 bond and Barbosa is being held on a $250,000 bond.
Barbosa was arrested June 15, 2010 after she took her badly injured son, Matthew, to the Western Arizona Regional Medical Center. Vandergriff turned himself in to police officers later that day. Matthew suffered from apparent bruises, broken ribs, broken femur, swollen and shut eyes and was malnourished and dehydrated. The infant allegedly showed signs of sexual abuse and shaken baby syndrome. Matthew was later taken to a Las Vegas hospital where he died the next morning.
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2011/02/23/news/local/doc4d64b07376110546907335.txt

SBS: Arizona: Jonathan Edward Vandergriff

By JIM SECKLER:  December 22, 2010

KINGMAN — Several motions were argued Tuesday in Superior Court in the death penalty case of a Bullhead City man charged with murdering his infant son.
Jonathan Edward Vandergriff, 24, and his co-defendant, Staci Lynn Barbosa, 19, are each charged with first-degree murder, child abuse by domestic violence, sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15 and sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15.
Only Vandergriff faces the death penalty if convicted of the murder charge. The couple could also face life in prison with or without the chance of parole after 35 years if convicted of murder.
Vandergriff’s Tucson attorney, Creighton Cornell, asked for a complete autopsy report from Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office, calling the report that he received incomplete. The report did not address exams of the child’s brain or retina. Cornell also wanted to make sure the child’s body was still being preserved and even hinted of possible prosecutorial misconduct.Deputy Mohave County Attorney Greg McPhillips said he would provide any further evidence to the defense if the coroner provides it but described the defense’s motion as “sound and fury” without substance.
Court Commissioner Derek Carlisle questioned why defense attorneys waited two months since they received the autopsy Oct. 29 to file a motion but did order prosecutors to disclose any present or future reports from the medical examiner. The judge also questioned why defense attorneys have not requested a medical expert to review any medical evidence and said the deadline to request an expert is nearing an end. Carlisle also said Mohave County is handicapped by having to go to another state for an autopsy report.
The judge set Vandergriff’s next hearing for Jan. 20. Vandergriff’s case has been designated a complex case, which means he will not go to trial in less than 18 months. Vandergriff is being held on $500,000 bond and Barbosa is being held on a $250,000 bond.
Barbosa was arrested June 15 after she took her badly injured son, Matthew, to the Western Arizona Regional Medical Center. Vandergriff turned himself into police officers later that day.
Matthew suffered from bruises, broken ribs, broken femur, and swollen eyes and was malnourished and dehydrated. The infant allegedly showed signs of sexual abuse and shaken baby syndrome. Matthew was later taken to a Las Vegas hospital where he died the next morning.http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2010/12/22/news/local/doc4d11a59f432d8847738837.txt