Today's Providence Journal reports, "Lawyers in D.C. debating death penalty in R.I. murder case." It's written by W. Zachary Malinowski.
Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers met before the Capital Case Unit of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Monday in the case of Jason Wayne Pleau, who was indicted by a federal grand jury in the robbery and fatal shooting of a Woonsocket gas station manager.
It is the role of the Capital Case Unit, comprising senior Justice Department lawyers, to consider whether federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty or life in prison for Pleau.
Representing the office of Peter F. Neronha, the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island, were Adi Goldstein, deputy chief of the criminal division, and William J. Ferland, an assistant federal prosecutor. Pleau’s lawyers also attended the hearing. They are David P. Hoose and Robert B. Mann.
Mann said the meeting lasted about an hour. He declined to provide any specifics because it was closed to the public.
And:
On Thursday, federal prosecutors and lawyers from Governor Chafee’s office will square off before the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. Last month, Chafee refused a request by Neronha’s office to transfer Pleau from the Adult Correctional Institutions to federal custody, citing the state’s longstanding opposition to the death penalty.
“In light of this long-standing policy, I cannot in good conscience voluntarily expose a Rhode Island citizen to a potential death-penalty prosecution. I am confident that Attorney General [Peter F.] Kilmartin and Rhode Island’s criminal-justice system are capable of ensuring that justice is served in this matter,” Chafee said in a letter to Neronha.
Also:
On June 23, Chafee announced that he would not surrender Pleau, now being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions as a parole violator, because it could expose Pleau to the death penalty. He says the state justice system is “capable of ensuring that justice is served in this matter.”
On June 30, acting on a petition by the U.S. Attorney’s office, U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith ordered the governor to turn over Pleau to federal authorities, ruling that under the Constitution’s so-called Supremacy Clause, federal law trumps state law.
The governor said he would comply with the order.
Mann and Hoose then asked the Appeals Court to stay Smith’s order, arguing the case raised questions about a conflict between the powers of the governor in the transfer of defendants and those of federal authorities.
On July 7, a three-judge panel of the Appeals Court stayed the surrender order until it can hear arguments July 28.
Earlier coverage of the case begins at the link. Related posts are in the federal death penalty index.
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