Amicus Curiae Brief — Brett Jones, Petitioner v. Mississippi

No. 18-1259

IN THE

uprente Gaud of Unita .&tates

BRETT JONES,

Petitioner,

vs.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI,

Respondent.

On Writ of Certiorari to the

Mississippi Court of Appeals

BRIEF AMICI CURIAE OF THE

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VICTIMS

OF JUVENILE MURDERERS AND

ARIZONA VOICE FOR CRIME VICTIMS, INC.

IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT '

KENT S. SCHEIDEGGER

KYMBERLEE C. STAPLETON

Counsel of Record

Criminal Justice Legal Fdn.

2131 L Street

Sacramento, CA 95816

(916) 446-0345

briefs@cjlf.org

Attorneys for Amici Curiae

QUESTION PRESENTED

Does a life-without-parole sentence imposed under

a discretionary sentencing scheme where the sentencer

considers youth and its attendant characteristics violate

the Eighth Amendment if the sentencer does not make

an express, on-the-record finding that a juvenile is

permanently incorrigible?

(i)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Question presented.

Table of authorities.

iv

Interest of amicus curiae

1

Summary of facts and case

2

Summary of argument

3

Argument.

4

I. Murder victims' families need legal finality

4

Legal landscape.

5

Fitting the punishment to the offender

9

Real crimes against real people..

11

II. The possibility of parole is a life sentence of legal

battles and re-engagement with the killer for the

victim's family

19

III. Teenage murderers are not "children" and should

be held responsible for their acts

Conclusion.

Appendix A,

Victim Impact Statement of Victoria Hurd

Appendix B,

Victim Impact Statement of Louise Kane

26

29

iv

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases

Adamcik v. State, 163 Idaho 114, 408 P. 3d 474

(2017)

15, 16, 17

Bucklew v. Precythe, 587 U. S. ____, 139 S. Ct. 1112,

203 L. Ed. 2d 521 (2019).

Graham v. Florida, 560 U. S. 48 (2010)

5

6, 7

Jones v. State, 122 So. 3d 725

(Miss. Ct. App. 2011).

6

Jones v. State, 250 So. 3d 1269 (Miss. 2018).

3

Jones v. State, 285 So. 3d 626

(Miss. Ct. App. 2017).

Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. 460

(2012)

2, 3, 8

3, 6, 7, 8, 10

Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U. S.

193 L. Ed. 2d 599 (2016).

136 S. Ct. 718,

8, 19

Morris v. Slappy, 461 U. S. 1 (1983)

28

People v. Marsh, 20 Cal. App. 5th 694,

229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 457 (2018).

12, 14

People v. Marsh, No. C078999 (Cal. Ct. App.,

Feb. 22, 2018).

12, 13

Roper v. Simmons, 543 U. S. 551

(2005)

5, 6, 7, 10, 11

Simmons v. Bowersox, 235 F. 3d 1124 (CA8 2001)... 7

V

State v. Draper, 151 Idaho 576, 261 P. 3d 853

(2011)

16, 17, 18

State v. Veal, 564 N. W. 2d 797 (Iowa 1997).. . . 23, 24

State Statute

Miss. Code. Ann. 97-3-21

6

Secondary Authorities

Bourbon, Antoinnette, Psychologist Casts Doubt on

Marsh's Story, The Davis Vanguard, Sept. 13, 2014,

https://www.davisvanguard.org/2014/09/

psychologist-casts-doubt-on-marshs-story/

15

Bryce, Debbie, House Where Murder of Cassie Jo

Stoddart Took Place Proving Hard to Sell,

Idaho State Journal, Oct. 24, 2014,

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/

house-where-murder-of-cassie-jo-stoddart-tookplace-proving/article_57694590-5cdb-11e4-876d-270

a4ac0f093.html.

18

Harris, Shelbie, Remembering Cassie Jo —

Brother Opens Up on 10th anniversary of grisly

murder, Idaho State Journal, Sep. 25, 2016,

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/

remembering-cassie-jo-brother-opens-up-on-thanniversary-of/article_b160f34d-1fle-5a9c-a585-bc4

17, 18

9422a78 b7.html..

Keene, Lauren, Psychologist Casts Doubt on Marsh

Insanity Defense, The Davis Enterprise, Sept. 13,

2014, https://www.davisenterprise.com/

local-news/crime-fire-courts/psychologist-castsdoubt-on-marsh-insanity-defense/

13

vi

Lerner, Juvenile Criminal Responsibility: Can Malice

Supply the Want of Years?, 86 Tulane L. Rev. 309

(2011)

10, 11

Morgan & Smith, Victims, Punishment, and Parole:

The Effect of Victim Participation on Parole

Hearings, 4 Criminology & Pub. Pol'y 333

(2005)

23, 26, 28

National Organization of Victims of Juvenile

Murderers, http://www.teenkillers.org/

index.php

10, 11, 18, 20, 24, 26, 27

Ochburg, Frank, PTSD 101, Dart Center for

Journalism & Trauma, March 24, 2009,

https://dartcenter.org/content/ptsd-101?

section = all.

14

Order Granting Transfer in In re Marsh, No. JD-18332 (Polo Sup. Ct., Oct. 24, 2018), https://cjlf.org/

files/MarshTransferDenYoloSupCt.pdf

12, 15

Stimson & Grossman, Adult Time for Adult Crimes,

Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers and

Violent Teens (2009).

11

Sumter, Angelica N., Cassie Jo Stoddart, The Murder

Of A 16-Year-Old Girl By Her Classmates, Brian '

Draper And Torey Michael Adamcik, Who Attacked

Her While She Was House-sitting, The Criminal

Journal, May 24, 2019, https://www.

thecriminaljournal.com/murder-of-cassie-jostoddart-16-year-old-brutally-killed-byher-classmates-brian-draper-and-torey-michaeladamcik/

16

vii •

United States Department of Justice, Office of

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,

Statistical Briefing Book, Offending by Juveniles:

Homicide, https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/

offenders/qa03104.asp?qaDate=2018

27

van der Kolk, Bessel A., The Body Keeps the Score:

Memory and the Evolving Psychobiology of

Posttraumatic Stress,

1 Harv. Rev. Psychiatry 253 (1994)

19

We Remember Eric, What Happened on August 13,

1986 ... and since, https://weremembereric.org/

what-happened.

20, 21, 22

IN THE

uprente (Court of file Enda ftttro

BRETT JONES,

Petitioner,

vs.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI,

Respondent.

BRIEF AMICI CURIAE OF THE

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF VICTIMS

OF JUVENILE MURDERERS AND

ARIZONA VOICE FOR CRIME VICTIMS, INC.

IN SUPPORT OF RESPONDENT

INTEREST OF AMICI CURIAE

The National Organization of Victims of Juvenile

Murderers (NOVJM)1 is a national organization comprised of families of victims murdered by juvenile

offenders. NOVJM offers victims of violent juvenile

offenders who have been tried and sentenced for their

crimes a chance to make their voices a part of the

national discussion concerning the imposition of

appropriate sentences on juvenile murderers and to

provide mutual support to each other as victims of the

devastating acts of criminally violent teens. NOVJM

1. The parties have consented to the filing of this brief. No

counsel for a party authored this brief in whole or in part. The

Criminal Justice Legal Foundation provided printing and

incidental expenses for the preparation and submission of this

brief, along with providing representation.

2

also works to protect and preserve victims' rights

through public policy advocacy at both the federal and

state levels and by filing amicus briefs in cases that

bear on victims' rights.

Arizona Voice for Crime Victims, Inc. (AVCV) is an

Arizona nonprofit corporation that works to promote

and protect crime victims' interests throughout the

criminal justice process. To achieve these goals, AVCV

empowers victims of crime through legal advocacy and

social services. AVCV also provides continuing legal

education to the judiciary, lawyers, and law enforcement. AVCV seeks to foster a fair justice system which

provides crime victims with resources and information to help them seek immediate crisis intervention,

informs crime victims of their rights under the laws

of the United States and Arizona, (3) ensures that

crime victims fully understand those rights, and (4)

promotes meaningful ways for crime victims to enforce

their rights, including through direct legal representation. A key part of AVCV's mission is working to give

the judiciary information and policy insights that may

be helpful in the sometimes difficult task of balancing

an accused's constitutional rights with the crime victim's right to finality, while also protecting the wider

community's need for deterrence.

SUMMARY OF FACTS AND CASE

In August 2004, 15-year-old Brett Jones was living

with his grandparents, Bertis and Madge Jones, in their

Mississippi home. Jones v. State, 285 So. 3d 626, 628

(Miss. Ct. App. 2017). Bertis got upset when he discovered Jones' teenage runaway girlfriend was secretly

living with him in his bedroom. When an argument

between the two ensued, Jones stabbed his 68-year-old

grandfather with the steak knife he was using to make

3

a sandwich. Ibid. When the steak knife bent, he grabbed

a filet knife and continued to stab his grandfather. As

the two struggled, Jones repeatedly stabbed his grandfather. He then tried to conceal the crime when he hid

his grandfather's body in a utility room in the back of

the home's carport, tried to wash the large amount of

blood off of his body with a hose, and moved his grandfather's car over the "puddles of blood" that collected in

the carport. Id., at 628-629.

Jones was convicted of murder and was sentenced

to life in prison. Id., at 629. Under the parole statute,

he was not eligible for parole. Ibid. Following this

Court's opinion in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. 460

(2012), the Mississippi Supreme Court vacated Jones'

sentence and remanded it for a new sentencing hearing.

In 2015, the Circuit Court of Lee County conducted a

new sentencing hearing and found Jones was not

entitled to parole eligibility under Miller. Jones, 285

So. 3d, at 629-631. Jones appealed and the Mississippi

Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's decision.

Jones then successfully sought certiorari from the

Mississippi Supreme Court. Jones v. State, 250 So. 3d

1269 (Miss. 2018). In November 2018, the court, in a 54 decision, voted to dismiss the writ of certiorari finding

that there was no need for further review. See App. to

Pet. for Cert. la-2a.

This Court granted certiorari on March 9, 2020.

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

The pain that surviving family members experience

when their loved one is violently and horrifically

murdered is indescribable. Life without the possibility

of parole exists for good reason and legal finality for the

family is one of them. Miller's core holding requires an

individualized sentencing process in which a judge or

4

jury has the opportunity to consider mitigating evidence

of youth. Jones received a sentencing hearing in which

a judge evaluated and considered the factors laid out in

Miller and determined that life without parole was an

appropriate sentence. A constitutionally mandated

factual finding of permanent incorrigibility would

disrupt legal finality and require many murder victims'

families to relive much of the trauma they thought they

had put to rest.

The possibility of parole for a murderer is a life

sentence for many victims' families. An unrelenting

series of parole hearings in which the victims' families

must repeatedly oppose parole prolongs their suffering.

The frequency and intensity of each re-engagement

with the killer years after the murder can trigger

devastating flashbacks and memories and reopen

traumatic wounds.

ARGUMENT

I. Murder victims' families need legal finality.

Over the past 15 years, this Court has made it

increasingly difficult to severely sanction highly culpable juvenile murderers who violently and callously

extinguish the life of another human being. The devastation families experience from the tragic loss of their

loved ones is immense. Constitutionally mandating a

factual finding of "permanent incorrigibility" before a

juvenile murderer could be sentenced to life in prison

without the possibility of parole (LWOP) would have a

tremendous negative impact on thousands of murder

victims' families lives. The families who have endured

trial and sentencing believed that when the perpetrator

was sentenced to LWOP legal finality had been reached

in their murdered loved ones' cases. Many of the

5

families were then able to turn their focus from the

legal proceedings onto themselves so that they could try

to move on with their life-long, post-homicide journey

of healing. News that sentencing proceedings may have

to start over from the beginning reopens the wounds of

trauma that these families have worked so hard to get

through.

A. Legal Landscape.

This Court draws the "bright line" of adulthood at

age 18 not because the "qualities that distinguish

juveniles from adults" magically disappear at the stroke

of midnight on an individual's 18th birthday, but

simply because "a line must be drawn" that can be

broadly applied. Roper v. Simmons, 543 U. S. 551, 574

(2005). Thus, when an "adult" is convicted of deliberately and heinously murdering an innocent victim, it is

neither cruel nor unusual to sentence him or her to

LWOP or to death. See Bucklew v. Precythe, 587 U. S.

139 S. Ct. 1112, 1122-1123, 203 L. Ed. 2d 521, 532

(2019).

When a violent crime is committed by an individual

under age 18, prosecutors are sometimes presented

with the very difficult decision regarding how to proceed. For the "typical" juvenile, the juvenile justice

system best deals with behaviors that are common to

most juveniles. All 50 states, however, recognize that

some individuals under age 18 cannot be adequately

handled within the juvenile court system. Every state

has laws that allow juveniles who commit violent crimes

to be prosecuted and sentenced as an adult either by

transfer from juvenile court or by direct filing. Jones

was one of the few juveniles tried as an adult and

convicted by a jury of the murder of his grandfather and

6

sentenced to LWOP. Jones v. State, 122 So. 3d 725, 740741 (Miss. Ct. App. 2011).2

Over the past 15 years, this Court has decided a

series of cases involving the constitutionality of juvenile

sentencing practices. See Roper, 543 U. S., at 574;

Graham v. Florida, 560 U. S. 48 (2010); Miller v.

Alabama, 567 U. S. 460 (2012). At issue was whether

these sentencing practices violated the. Cruel and

Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment. Beginning with Roper, the focus on juvenile

offenders being generally less culpable than adults,

more amenable to rehabilitation, and thus less deserving of severe penalties came to fruition. Roper categorically barred imposition of the death penalty for defendants under age 18. 543 U. S., at 570-571. Five years

later, this Court categorically barred LWOP for juveniles convicted of nonhomicide offenses. Graham,

supra, at 74.

In Roper, 17-year-old Christopher Simmons abducted Shirley Crook, tied her hands and feet together with

electrical wire, wrapped duct tape around her face, and

threw her from a bridge into the river. 543 U. S., at

556-557. The harrowing torture and murder of Shirley

Crook was "premeditated, wanton, and cruel in the

extreme." Id., at 600 (O'Connor, J., dissenting). The

inexplicable terror that Shirley Crook must have

experienced is unfathomable.' There is no question that

Miss. Code. Ann. § 97-3-21 was amended in 2013 to separate

first- and second-degree murder and allow discretion for a

sentence less than life for second-degree.

During the penalty phase of Simmons' trial, Shirley Crook's

daughter described the haunting images she experiences during

recurring nightmares surrounding her mother's death: "I

dream about how she—how I imagine she felt during all of this,

what she thought. I can't imagine what she went through, the

7

it fell within the "narrow category of crimes" most

deserving of a death sentence. See id., at 569. However,

because Simmons had not yet reached his 18th birthday, this Court generically grouped him with a class of

individuals having "diminished culpability" and thus

categorically excluded him from being sentenced to

death.

Nevertheless, with the death penalty off the table,

this Court assured the nation that the punishment of

LWOP for depraved teenage murderers like Christopher

Simmons remained available. See id., at 572; see also

Graham, 560 U. S., at 90 (Roberts, J., concurring in

judgment) ("Roper explicitly relied on the possible

imposition of life without parole on some juvenile

offenders"). This Court's guarantee was subsequently

tested in Miller.

In Miller, two 14-year-old defendants were convicted

of murder. State law mandated that they be automatically sentenced to LWOP upon their convictions and in

neither case did a judge or jury have the discretion to

impose a lesser punishment. 567 U. S., at 465. Both

defendants argued that the nature of their state's

sentencing schemes violated the Eighth Amendment.

Id., at 467. This Court agreed and held that a mandatory sentencing scheme that automatically sentenced a

convicted murderer under age 18 to LWOP without any

terror that she felt. I just—I have a picture in my mind that she

can't see, she can't speak, she can't scream out, she can't get

her hands on anybody, she's tied up. . . . I can't imagine the

terror that she's thinking, what's happening, what's going on,

I can't see anything. Then I imagine her hitting the water.

Does she know to take a breath? Does she know that's what

was going to happen. Then you hit the water, and then you go

in. And then if she had a breath that she held, how long could

she hold it? Did it hurt? When the water came in, did it hurt?"

Simmons v. Bowersox, 235 F. 3d 1124, 1134, n. 4 (CA8 2001).

8

opportunity for a judge or jury to consider youth as a

mitigating factor was unconstitutional. Id., at 465.

Miller expressly declined an invitation to bar all

juvenile homicide offenders from being sentenced to

LWOP. See 567 U. S., at 479. Instead Miller mandates

individualized sentencing in homicide cases, which

includes "tak[ing] into account the differences among

defendants and crimes." Id., at 480, n. 8. Four years

later, this Court was asked to decide in Montgomery v.

Louisiana, 577 U. S. __, 136 S. Ct. 718, 725, 193

L. Ed. 2d 599, 610 (2016), if Miller's holding applied

retroactively. This Court's answer to that question was

yes. Id., at 736, 193 L. Ed. 2d, at 622. However, the

route this Court took in Montgomery to reach that

conclusion is problematic and has been the source of

much confusion for many lower state and federal courts

trying to apply the correct rule.'

Miller's core holding is that a sentence of LWOP

cannot be mandatory for murderers under age 18.

There must be a discretionary individualized sentencing

process upon which a judge or jury has the opportunity

to consider mitigating evidence. Miller, 567 U. S., at

489. In the present case, Jones was initially given a

mandatory sentence of LWOP. Jones, 285 So. 3d, at

629. After Miller was decided, Jones successfully sought

post-conviction relief and his case was remanded for a

new sentencing hearing. Ibid. A second sentencing

hearing was held in which a judge evaluated and

considered the factors laid out in Miller and determined

that LWOP was an appropriate sentence. Id., at 630-

4. For a more detailed explanation of how Montgomery reinterpreted Miller in an intellectually dishonest way in order to

reach a desired result, see Brief for Criminal Justice Legal

Foundation as Amicus Curiae in Support of Respondent in this

case.

9

631. Jones now argues that the Miller and Montgomery

decisions mandate a factual finding of "permanent

incorrigibility" before a juvenile homicide offender can

be sentenced to LWOP. Brief for Petitioner 15-16.

Because that factual finding was not made, his case

should "at a minimum" be remanded for yet another

sentencing hearing. Id., at 28-32.

Jones was given an opportunity to present mitigating evidence of youth that could have justified a lesser

sentence than LWOP, which is all that Miller required.

The judge disagreed and again sentenced him to LWOP.

Remanding Jones' case and others like his so that they

can again try to convince a sentencing authority that

they deserve less than LWOP unnecessarily prolongs

the suffering that murder victims' families must

endure. In each of these cases, the juvenile killer's guilt

is not at issue. He or she wantonly and viciously took

the life of another. LWOP is a rare and serious sentence

that is reserved for truly disturbed offenders who

demonstrated a very high degree of culpability. Torturing victims' families with repeated resentencing hearings inflicts emotional violence against those who have

truly suffered the most.

B. Fitting the Punishment to the Offender.

In each one of the cases discussed supra that addressed juvenile sentencing practices, this Court built

upon the reasoning and analysis of the case that came

before it and delved further into selective studies on

brain science and research into developmental psychology to lump all juveniles into one generic group of

individuals with diminished culpability. No one disputes

that juveniles generally should be treated differently

from adults. NOVJM believes that the "vast majority of

teen criminals are able to be rehabilitated and should

continue to be treated in the juvenile justice system."

10

NOVJM, What We Believe, http://www.teenkillers.org/

index. php/about-us/who-we-are/.

NOVJM also believes that "[o]ffenses and offenders

vary widely" and there are a few youthful offenders who

"clearly show that they are dangerous and cannot be

allowed to walk among us." Ibid. "[E]ven if everything

said about the adolescent brain and juvenile immaturity

is generally true, why would one assume that juveniles

who commit heinous crimes are typical juveniles?"

Lerner, Juvenile Criminal Responsibility: Can Malice

Supply the Want of Years?, 86 Tulane L. Rev. 309, 332

(2011). Thus, the persistent lumping together of all

juveniles into one group and all delinquent behavior

into one construct ignores the victims' families whose

lives have been shattered by the tragic loss of their

loved ones.

Amici NOVJM and AVCV understand that the

feelings victims' families have towards their loved ones'

killers and their responses to the crimes and situations

vary widely. Thus, amici support the availability of a

wide range of sentencing options for the courts to use

when evaluating the individual facts of each offense.

"Chronological age is not an unfailing measure of

psychological development, and common experience

suggests that many 17-year-olds are more mature than

the average young 'adult." Roper, 543 U. S., at 601

(O'Connor, J., dissenting). Determining the best

punishment and the best outcome for public safety

should be done on a case-by-case basis, and should not

be based purely on chronological age alone.

It is no doubt true that many "hallmark features" of

youth include immaturity, irresponsibility, vulnerability

to peer pressure, impulsivity, and less understanding of

the consequences of their actions. See Miller, 567 U. S.

460, at 477. Roper described these " 'signature qualities

of youth [as] transient.' " 543 U. S., at 570 (quoting

11

Johnson v. Texas, 509 U. S. 350, 368 (1993)). However,

" 'juvenile' is a staggeringly broad term" and all juveniles should not be lumped together as one. Lerner, 86

Tulane L. Rev., at 310. A juvenile offender's sentence

should be based on his or her individual culpability,

intent, and actions, and not on the common traits and

characteristics of other "typical" teenage offenders.

For this Court to broadly conclude that no juvenile

killer can ever "with reliability be classified among the

worst offenders," no matter how vile and calculating

the crime committed, is ludicrous. See Roper, 543 U. S.,

at 598-600 (O'Connor, J., dissenting); see also Stimson

& Grossman, Adult Time for Adult Crimes, Life Without Parole for Juvenile Killers and Violent Teens (2009)

(case studies). " [S]ome juveniles commit horrific crimes

with full knowledge of their actions and intent to bring

about the results." Stimson & Grossman, supra, at 12.

When the focus is on categorizing all juvenile

offenders as being generally less culpable, more amenable to rehabilitation, and thus less deserving of severe

penalties, it pulls attention away from the appalling

nature of the crimes committed by some of these

juveniles and the danger they pose to the public. "And

what certain kinds of crimes suggest is that there are

violent. juvenile offenders—fortunately rare—who are

as least as mature and culpable as the typical adult

violent offender." Lerner, 86 Tulane L. Rev., at 314.

C. Real Crimes Against Real People.

For the approximately 371 NOVJM members, "the

true stories of lives so cruelly taken, and crimes so

horrifically committed, . . . must be told if there is to be

any hope for understanding of this difficult issue."

NOVJM, Victim Memorials, http://www.teenkillers.org/

index.php/memorials/.

12

Each of the following victims were brutally murdered by juvenile offenders who, with full knowledge of

their actions, acted with extreme cruelty and with

complete disregard for human life. The heartbroken

families of these victims continue to seek out justice

and advocate for their loved ones by giving them a

"voice" because theirs were prematurely and wantonly

snuffed out. The crimes committed by these individuals

are just as "morally reprehensible" as that of an

"adult." They deserve to spend the remainder of their

lives in prison without the possibility of parole.

Oliver "Chip" Northup and Claudia Maupin

Late one night in April 2013, 15-year-old Daniel

Marsh left his mother's home gripping a freshly sharpened hunting knife looking for someone to kill. He wore

all black clothing, a black face mask, and black gloves.

He taped his shoes so as not to leave any footprints.

Order Granting Transfer MM. re Marsh, No. JD-18-332

(Yolo Sup. Ct., Oct. 24, 2018), pp. 4-5 , https://cjlf.org/

files/MarshTransferDenYoloSupCt.pdf ("Marsh Order"). He canvassed the normally quiet neighborhood

for an open door or window. When he finally found an

open window, he sliced open the screen and entered the

house. He followed the sound of snoring to the bedroom

and found Oliver "Chip" Northup, 87, and Claudia

Maupin, 76, asleep in their bed. He stood over them and

watched them sleep feeling " 'nervous but excited and

exhilarated' " about what he planned to do to the

couple. People v. Marsh, No. C078999 (Cal. Ct. App.,

Feb. 22, 2018), p. 6.5

5. The full opinion can be found via https://appellatecases.

courtinfo.ca.gov. For convenience, a copy is available at

https://cjlf.org/files/Marsh C078999.pdf. The partially published

opinion, not including the facts, is People v. Marsh, 20

Cal. App. 5th 694, 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 457 (2018).

13

When Maupin awoke, Marsh began stabbing her

repeatedly. She screamed and begged him to stop. He

kept stabbing her. During the attack on Maupin,

Northup woke up. Marsh incapacitated him by stabbing

him in the neck. After confirming both were dead,

Marsh continued to punch and stab their lifeless bodies.

He then disemboweled and dissected the two victims

and placed objects (a cell phone and a drinking glass)

inside of their empty body cavities. He described the

murders as "the most enjoyable feeling he had ever

experienced . . . which lingered for weeks." Ibid. One of

Maupin's daughters discovered their mutilated bodies

the following evening. The couple each suffered over 60

separate wounds inflicted over their entire bodies.

As the Northup and Maupin families were left

reeling from the shock and trauma resulting from the

horrific and devastating loss of their loved ones, Marsh

continued to live his life as normal, bragging about the

murders to his friends, and plotting more murders. Id.,

at 5-6. Marsh was obsessed with serial killers and gory

videos and fantasized about killing and death. Id., at 4.

When he told his girlfriend about the murders, he

"describe[d] with pride the details of the manner in

which he had killed the couple, smiling and telling her

how great it had felt." Id., at 5. He believed that there

was " 'no way the police would think a 15-year-old

would do something like this.' "6

Northup and Maupin were the proud and loving

parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents of a very

close-knit extended family. The intense grief experi-

6. Lauren Keene, Psychologist Casts Doubt on Marsh Insanity

Defense, The Davis Enterprise, Sept. 13, 2014, https://www.

davisenterprise.com/local-news/crime-fire-courts/psychologist

-casts-doubt-on-marsh-insanity-defense/ (all Internet material

as visited August 14, 2020).

14

enced by each one of those left behind is unfathomable.

Maupin's oldest daughter, Victoria Hurd, now suffers

from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).7 In her

victim impact statement, she told the court that since

the murders,

"I can't focus. I don't like leaving the house. I'm

tired all the time. The quality of life I once enjoyed

is on hold, as I have been thrust into a period of

dark recovery. In addition to burying my Mother, I

cleaned out and packed up her home, which was a

crime scene. I found her blood on her bedroom

furniture that the clean-up team had missed.

••

"No one in our family is able to stay alone

overnight. . . . The children and the adults suffer

from unrelenting flashbacks and nightmares of the

tortures my Mom and Chip suffered. Everyone is

taking time out [of] their days and weeks to go to

counseling appointments just so they can make it

through to the next week[.] The ramifications of this

gruesome crime are unending." Victim Impact

Statement of Victoria Hurd (attached as Appendix

A to this brief), pp. A-4 to A-5.

Marsh was convicted of the " 'extraordinarily

heinous' " and brutal murders of these two profoundly

loved human beings. People v. Marsh, 20 Cal. App. 5th

694, 696, 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 457, 459 (2018). The trial

court later found that "[t]his was a highly sophisticated,

7. According to PTSD expert Dr. Frank Ochberg, "[t]he triad of

disabling [PTSD] responses is: 1) recurring intrusive recollections; 2) emotional numbing and a constriction of life activity;

and 3) a physiological shift in the fear threshold, affecting sleep,

concentration, and sense of security." Frank Ochburg, PTSD

101, Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma, March 24, 2009,

https://dartcenter.org/content/ptsd-101?section = all.

15

extraordinary and rare crime even for the most hardened and seasoned adult criminal." Marsh Order, supra,

at 5. Marsh claimed that he chose to murder "strangers" because " Whey weren't worth anything.' "8

Northup and Maupin may have not been "worth anything" to Marsh, but the couple meant everything to

their family and friends. As described by her daughter,

Maupin

"was the most loving and compassionate person I

ever met. She lived her life loving people. She lived

each day in gratitude and goodness. She was simply

the [kindest] person I have ever known. She was

always willing to lend a hand, a shoulder, an ear.

She would go out of her way to help us and to help

others. She was elegant, earthy and refined. She had

deep wisdom and a sense of humor that could bring

you to your knees. She listened intently when you

spoke to her and she looked you in the eyes when

she said, 'I love you'. She could be trusted with the

deepest questions of life and she was not a fan of

`small talk'. She was a student of the divine, a lover

of GOD, a lover of people; theology, philosophy,

science, and politics. My Mom lived a huge, encompassing life. She was engaged in living and loving

deeply. She wanted to make her mark on the world

by loving people and she did just that." Victim

Impact Statement of Victoria Hurd, at A-1 to A-2.

Cassie Jo Stoddart

In September 2006, Cassie Jo Stoddart, 16, was

house sitting for relatives. Adamcik v. State, 163 Idaho

114, 116, 408 P. 3d 474, 476 (2017). Cassie, her boy8. Antoinnette Bourbon, Psychologist Casts Doubt on Marsh's

Story, The Davis Vanguard, Sept. 13, 2014,

https://www.davisvanguard.org/2014/09/psychologist-castsdoubt-on-marshs-story/.

16

friend, and their friends Brian Draper, 16, and Torey

Michael Adamcik, 16, were "hang[ing] out" in the home

during the evening. Ibid. Later that night, Draper and

Adamcik told Cassie and her boyfriend that they were

leaving. Unbeknownst to the couple, Draper and

Adamcik then "checked out the whole house" and

Draper "unlocked the back doors." Id., at 120, 408

P. 3d, at 480.

Cassie's boyfriend left a bit later and called Adamcik

to tell him he was going home for the night. Draper and

Adamcik then drove back to the home armed with

knives and dressed in dark clothing and masks. The two

reentered the house through one of the doors they

purposely unlocked earlier in the evening and stabbed

Cassie to death. Id., at 121, 408 P. 3d., at 481. Her body

was discovered by her 13-year-old cousin two days

later.' Cassie had been stabbed approximately 30 times

by two knives. State v. Draper, 151 Idaho 576, 585, 261

P. 3d 853, 862 (2011).

It was later discovered that Draper and Adamcik

had decided the day before to murder their classmate

Cassie. She was to be the first victim in a planned thrill

killing spree of others. Id., at 600, 261 P. 3d, at 877.

The pair documented their plan by videotaping themselves talking and laughing about the murder of their

"friend" Cassie. Adamcik, 163 Idaho, at 117-121, 408

P. 3d, at 477-481. Soon after they murdered Cassie,

they returned to their car and videotaped themselves

boasting about stabbing Cassie "in the throat, and

9. Angelica N. Sumter, Cassie Jo Stoddart: The Murder Of A 16Year-Old Girl By Her Classmates, Brian Draper And Torey

Michael Adamcik, Who Attacked Her While She Was Housesitting, The Criminal Journal, May 24, 2019,

https://www.thecriminaljournal.com/murder-of-cassie-jo-stod

dart-16-year-old-brutally-killed-by-her-classmates-brian-drap

er-and-torey-michael-adamcik/.

17

[seeing] her lifeless body." Id., at 121, 408 P. 3d, at 481.

They then drove to a secluded area and buried evidence

of their crime, including the knives, their clothing,

masks, gloves, and the videotape. Draper, 151 Idaho, at

586, 261 P. 3d, at 863.

Cassie was a well-liked honor student who loved

drawing and music. The news of her death at the hands

of fellow classmates, only a few weeks after the new

school year began, was both shocking and tragic, and "it

had a very sad and horrific impact" on the entire school

community. Shelbie Harris, Remembering Cassie Jo —

Brother Opens Up on 10th anniversary of grisly murder, Idaho State Journal, Sep. 25, 2016,

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/

remembering-cassie-jo-brother-opens-up-on-th-annive

rsary-of/article_b160f34d- lfle-5a9c-a585-bc49422a78

b7.html.

Cassie's younger brother Andrew was 15 years old

when his sister was murdered. The two were only one

grade apart in school and he considered her his "role

model" while growing up. Ibid. Cassie was murdered in

September 2006 and for her brother, "September is one

I struggle to get through. It comes in waves honestly.

There's days when I'm fine and others I'll just crumble.

We love her. It's always going to be a part of us. . . .

Nobody should ever have to go through this." Ibid.

Cassie's entire family was adversely affected by her

death in different ways, and it took years before many

of them were able to talk about the devastation they

endured. Cassie was house sitting for her aunt and

uncle when she was killed. They had just purchased

their "dream home" only one year earlier and lived in

18

it with their three children.' Their 13-year-old daughter found Cassie dead on their living room floor. The

discovery of her cousin profoundly affected her. She

later suffered a breakdown and attempted suicide. Ibid.

The day Cassie's body was discovered was the last

time the family ever set foot in the living room. For

Cassie's uncle, "Mt was our dream home, and it turned

into a nightmare." Ibid. Cassie's aunt fell into a deep

depression and lost her job. Cassie's uncle turned to

alcohol and the two separated. Cassie's mother never

got a chance to say goodbye and the devastating loss of

her daughter caused "a void in her home and family."

NOVJM, Cassie Stoddart, http://www.teenkillers.org/

index.php/memorials/idaho-victims/cassie-stoddart/.

Too often in these cases, the victims of juvenile

murderers and their surviving family members are

relegated to the background. Several family members of

these three murder victims suffer from PTSD. The

trauma many surviving family members experience is

"dose-dependent" and the frequency and intensity of

each re-engagement with the killer reawakens and

triggers devastating flashbacks and memories.

NOVJM, Jones v. Mississippi, http://www.teenkillers.

org/index.php/courts-2/jones-v-mississippi/.

"[M]any traumatized people . . . . do not respond to

stress in the way that other people do. Under pressure

they may feel or act as if they were being traumatized

all over again. Thus high states of arousal seem selectively to promote retrieval of traumatic memories,

sensory information, or behaviors associated with

10. Debbie Bryce, House where murder of Cassie Jo Stoddart

took place proving hard to sell, Idaho State Journal, Oct.

26, 2014, https://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/housewhere-murder-of-cassie-jo-stoddart-took-place-proving/article

57694590-5cdb-11e4-876d-270a4ac0f093.html.

19

previous traumatic experiences." Bessel A. van der

Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Memory and the

Evolving Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress, 1

Harv. Rev. Psychiatry 253, 258-259 (1994).

Victims' families deserve,legal finality with the least

amount of re-engagement with the killers as possible so

that they can regain some quality of life after the

devastation they have endured.

II. The possibility of parole is a life sentence

of legal battles and re-engagement with the

killer for the victim's family.

In Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U. S. , 136 S. Ct.

718, 736, 193 L. Ed. 2d 599, 622 (2016), the majority

opinion appears to be unaware of the impact of repeated

parole hearings on the families of murder victims.

"Extending parole eligibility to juvenile offenders . . .

[does not] disturb the finality of state convictions.

Those prisoners who have shown an inability to reform

will continue to serve life sentences." For the families

of murder victims and those who work with them, it is

astonishing and disheartening that this Court could

have so little awareness of the true impact of its decisions.

When a juvenile murderer is sentenced to life with

the possibility of parole, legal finality is never achieved

for the victim's family. Rather, in the future the family

must endure a never-ending series of parole hearings

whereby they must try to convince a parole board that

the killer should not be released. Such a process requires the family to constantly re-engage with the

offender who caused them intense devastation and pain.

The sentence of LWOP exists for good reasons, and

legal finality for the murder victim's family is one of

20

them. The possibility that an individual who commits

an especially heinous murder will walk free, perhaps

while he or she still has more than half of a lifetime to

live an unfettered life, is an egregious miscarriage of

justice. Amici contend that punishment must be based

upon a thorough evaluation of the offender's culpability, and not upon chronological age alone.

"[Murder victims' families will always suffer

horribly when there are regular, protracted, and endless

on-going proceedings that accompany frequent parole

hearings . . ." NOVJM, What We Believe, http://www.

teenkillers.org/index.php/about-us/who-we-are/. Often

times a victim's family feels compelled to fight against

the offender's release, bringing back the overwhelming

pain to the surface and reliving the horror each time

their loved one's killer comes up for parole.

Amici believe that in a few extreme cases society

and victims of crime need the assurance that a murderer will never be released through routine parole

hearings. The experiences of the following two families

illustrate the profound negative impact that prolonged

legal proceedings continue to have long after the loss of

their loved ones.

Eric Kane

In August 1986, Eric Kane, 16, went on a supervised

camping trip to Arizona with a couple of other teen

boys and a counselor. We Remember Eric, What Happened on August 13, 1986 ... and since, https://we

remembereric.org/what-happened. While on their way

to the Grand Canyon, the group decided to stop for the

night at a motel in Flagstaff where Eric shared a room

with 16-year-old Jacob Wideman. On the night of

August 13, Wideman took a hunting knife he had

recently purchased on their travels and stabbed Eric

twice in the chest while he slept. Wideman left Eric to

21

bleed to death alone in the room then "stole the rental

car the group had been using, forged travelers' checks,

and roamed the country before giving himself up eight

days later when he ran out of money." Ibid.

For Sandy and Louise Kane, the news of their

youngest son's horrific death was shocking and traumatic. They had sent their son on a supervised summertime camping adventure of a lifetime 2,000 miles away

from their New York home, and it was inconceivable to

them that while on that trip he would be murdered by

a fellow camper.

Wideman eventually confessed to the murder and

admitted there had been no animosity between him and

Eric. Rather, it was an unprovoked act of violence by a

deeply disturbed individual. Wideman pled guilty and

was sentenced to life in prison. Under Arizona law at

the time, Wideman was eligible for parole after 25

years. At sentencing, the judge made a strong recommendation on the record that Wideman should never be

paroled. Ibid.

Eric was a peaceful, generous, and kind young man

who was dearly adored by his family and friends. He

was the youngest child of three very close siblings who

loved sports, music, art, and science. His sense of

humor and gift of laughter filled the room. His death

profoundly affected his entire family. At the sentencing

hearing, Louise Kane explained to the court that,

"Birthdays and anniversaries and family occasions and sorrows and joys are all impossible without Eric. There is always a void for all of us that no

one can fill, but Eric. . . . Every moment of every

day is difficult no matter how busy, no matter how

we fill our time. We're torn up inside. It's like our

insides are ripped out. There's a hole in our life."

22

Testimony of Louise Kane (attached as Appendix B

to this brief), p. B-7.

For several years after the murder, the Kane family

experienced extreme grief. They could not escape the

agonizing images of the crime and the suffering their

son endured from permeating their thoughts daily.

Eventually, the horrific images of their son's death

began to soften as they proceeded through the grief

process. Knowing their son's killer was incarcerated

helped them reach a relative level of peace over time,

and the memories of the good times with their son

started to replace the agonizing thoughts of their son's

death.

After Eric's death, the Kane family designated a

drawer in their office file cabinet where they placed all

information and paperwork relating to Eric's death. For

nearly 20 years that file drawer sat untouched. It was

a receptacle of painful reminders of a young life tragically extinguished.

In 2011, the Kane family received news that Wideman was being considered for parole. When the family

received the notice, the Kane family started to prepare

their opposition to his release. To accomplish this,

Sandy Kane opened up the file drawer with the intent

to only gather a few items. As he began to examine the

drawer's contents, the 20 years of relative peace he had

worked so hard to accomplish was gone in an instant.

Everything in that file drawer brought back the horrific

memories of the day their 16-year-old son was murdered. The traumatic feelings he had worked so hard to

get through inundated him, and it left him sobbing and

inconsolable.

Wideman was denied parole in 2011. We Remember

Eric, supra. He was denied parole five more times

between 2012 and 2015. In 2016, the parole board voted

23

3 to 2 to release Wideman from prison to "home arrest." Less than a year later, he violated the terms of

his "home arrest" and was sent back to prison. Every

six months, Wideman is eligible for a parole hearing.

Since 2011, Sandy and Louise Kane have prepared for

and participated in ten separate hearings. They travel

from their home in New York to Arizona at their own

expense so that they can advocate for their son. They

participate in every hearing because "Eric can't" and

they will continue to do so into the future because if by

chance Wideman is released after a hearing in which

they did not take part, the resulting guilt would be too

much for them to bear.

The Kane family did not ask to be victims. Rather,

they were unwillingly thrust into the role when Wideman made the decision to end their son's young life.

The grievous wound that Wideman inflicted upon them

continues to fester with every parole hearing. Every

impending hearing causes their emotions to flare.

Weeks before each hearing, they work tirelessly collecting letters, emails, and statements from hundreds of

individuals to present to the parole board in protest of

Wideman's release.'

Catherine Pauley Haynes

In June 1993, 66-year-old Catherine Pauley Haynes

was stabbed to death in her home by 14-year-old

Ruthann Veal. State v. Veal, 564 N. W. 2d 797, 804

(Iowa 1997). Although only 14 years old, Veal already

11. Since 2011, the Kanes have collected over 1,000 letters in

support of denying parole. One study shows that "[t]he more

letters of protest in an offender's file, the more persons

protesting at an offender's hearing, the more likely that parole

will be denied." Morgan & Smith, Victims, Punishment, and

Parole: The Effect of Victim Participation on Parole Hearings,

4 Criminology & Pub. Pol'y 333, 357 (2005).

24

had an extensive juvenile delinquency record, which

included five previous assault charges. NOVJM,

Catherine Pauley Haynes, http://www.teenkillers.org/

index. php/m e morials/iowa-victim s/catherine -pauleyhaynes/. Veal had run away from a juvenile detention

home when she entered Haynes' house and viciously

beat and murdered her. Veal, supra, at 804. Veal was

later convicted of first-degree murder and given a

mandatory sentence of LWOP. Id., at 802.

After Miller, Veal was given a new sentencing

hearing. She was resentenced to life with the possibility

of parole. At the resentencing hearing, Haynes' daughter and NOVJM member, Laura Haynes Shimek, read

her powerful victim impact statement to the court. The

following large portions of that statement provide this

Court with a first person perspective of the profound

impact that the perpetual re-engagement with the killer

at parole hearings can have on a victim's family:

"20 years ago. It's unbelievable to me it has been

20 years since my mother's death. . . . Everything in

my life can be divided into before and after my

mother's murder. Now we are going through this all

over and I don't know how to do it—I don't know

how to stand in the courtroom with the woman who

murdered my mother and try to pretend it doesn't

matter, try to pretend the possibility of Ruthann

Veal walking the streets again doesn't terrify me.

"The judge at the original sentencing hearing

didn't allow us to read our impact statements. He

said the sentence was mandatory 'life without

parole' so what we had to say didn't make any

difference. It turns out he was wrong, and here we

are 20 years later facing 'life with the possibility of

parole', the possibility that someday Ruthann may

get out of prison. . . . My children are now sentenced

to life fighting that possible parole.

25

••

"I've been waking up night after night, rivers of

words flowing through my head, trying to figure out

how to be eloquent enough to make you understand

the impact your thoughtless and unspeakable

cruelty has had on my life and the lives of those I

love the most. . . .

"The agony we felt as we found out more and

more about what had happened. The pain my

children went through, and how their hurt ripped

out my shredded heart time and time again. . . . I

will do everything in my power to make sure you

spend the rest of your life in prison for the murder

of my mother, Catherine.

••

"20 years ago, when my 4 year old son was trying to

puzzle out why you had killed his Grandma Catie,

he said, 'Just because you're mad at someone doesn't mean you can just kill them!' If a 4 year old

knew that, surely you at 14 knew that as well. You

were fully capable of discerning right from wrong,

and you were held accountable for your actions.

That was true 20 years ago, it's true today, and it

will be true 20 years from now.

"When I walk out of this courtroom I will continue to cherish the people I love, the people who

have helped me get through the last 20 years. I will

go forward and I will live a full and vibrant life

because that's exactly what Catherine would want

me to do. I will do my best not to think of you again

until I absolutely have to. But know this—every

time you are up for a parole review, you should

think of me, because every time you get an opportunity to go in front of the parole board, I will be

there. In 2 years, in 5 years, in 10 years, in 20 years,

26

until the day I die. And after that my children will

be there to continue the fight. Every time we are

there, we will argue that you are right where you

need to be so that no one else ever—EVER—has to

endure what you put Catherine through, and what

that did to everyone who loved her. It is my fervent

wish that you spend the rest of your life in jail

trying to atone for what you did 20 years ago on that

summer night in June when you walked through

our backyard and changed our lives forever."

NOVJM, Catherine Pauley Haynes

http: //www. teenkill ers . org/in d ex. php/me mo rials/

iowa-victims/catherine-pauley-haynes/.

Many surviving family members, like Sandy and

Louise Kane and Laura Haynes Shimek, continue to

tirelessly advocate against parole because they never

want to see the killer released from prison, and studies

show "the greater the amount of input, either oral or

written, the more likely that parole will be denied. . . ."

Morgan & Smith, 4 Criminology & Pub. Pol'y, at 355.

But, these families should not have to keep trying to

convince a parole board that the killer should remain

locked up. Had Wideman and Veal both been sentenced

to LWOP, the Kane and Haynes families would be

spared the agony they now find themselves enduring

every time a parole hearing is scheduled. The unrelenting barrage of parole hearings years after the murders

were committed prevents victims' families from returning to a level of peace many worked so hard to achieve

while traversing through the grief process.

III. Teenage murderers are not "children" and

should be held responsible for their acts.

Those who favor ending LWOP for teenage murderers often attempt to sway the public into supporting

27

their cause by calling the offenders "children." The

word "child" is associated with innocence and vulnerability. It brings to mind the mental image of an elementary school student needing support, compassion, and

protection. The mental image that term evokes strikes

an emotional chord, but it is a false image.'

It is no secret that the majority of homicides committed by juveniles increase as they age. Since 2009,

76% of all known juvenile homicide offenders were age

16 or 17.'3 Thus, the vast majority of those who are

sentenced to LWOP are not "children," but rather are

older teens on the cusp of legal adulthood. Use of the

term "children" to refer to depraved juvenile murderers

is not only inaccurate, but it is highly insensitive and

cruel to the victims of their crimes. Amici vehemently

object to this Court's usage of the term "children" when

referring to individuals who acted with such violence,

brutality, and depravity.

Katherine Cardenas was a two-year-old child when

she was kidnapped, beaten, raped, and murdered by a

17-year-old juvenile. Antonio Angel Santiago was a oneyear-old child when he was shot in the face and killed

by a 17-year-old juvenile. See Teen Killers Are Not

"Children," supra. Madyson Middleton was an 8-yearNOVJM firmly believes that the type of juvenile murderers who

are sentenced to LWOP are not "children." A member of

NOVJM thoroughly researched the many examples of propaganda and false images used by organizations like the ACLU or

the Children's Defense Fund to advocate for more lenient

sentencing of juvenile murderers. See NOVJM, Teen Killers

Are Not "Children," http://www.teenkillers.org/index.php/

juvenile-lifers/teen-killers-are-not-children/.

United States Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice

and Delinquency Prevention, Statistical Briefing Book, Offending by Juveniles: Homicide, https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/

offenders/qa03104.asp?qaDate=2018.

28

old child when she was beaten, raped, strangled, and

dumped by a 15-year-old juvenile. Shavanna McCann

was a five-year-old child when she was lured into a

vacant apartment building, raped, and thrown from the

14th floor by a 17-year-old juvenile. These juvenile

killers were old enough to understand the impact of the

crimes they committed on children yet they chose to

commit them anyway. Amici respectfully request that

this Court refrain from using the term "child" or

"children" when referring to the murderer, but instead

use the terms "juvenile" or "minor," which generally

are more common terms to use when referring to a

class of individuals under age 18.

For most families, the aftermath of the sudden and

unexpected murder of their loved ones left them feeling

vulnerable, helpless, and fearful. Many times families

involve themselves in the legal proceedings that follow

to " 'remind judges, juries, and prosecutors that behind

the state is a real person with an interest in how the

case is resolved.' " Morgan & Smith, 4 Criminology &

Pub. Pol'y, at 336 (emphasis in original).

Oliver Northup, Claudia Maupin, Cassie Jo

Stoddart, Eric Kane, Catherine Pauley Haynes, and far

too many others were real people who were tragically

and intentionally murdered by teenage offenders. The

victims must always remain at the forefront of the

discussion. Morris v. Slappy,, 461 U. S. 1, 14 (1983). The

fact that the perpetrators of these homicides were

under 18 years old does not mitigate their crimes or

render them less culpable than someone over age 18.

Each of the offenders had the sufficient moral culpability to be held fully responsible for the decision he or she

made to deliberately take the life of another.

29

CONCLUSION

The decision of the Mississippi Court of Appeals

should be affirmed.

August, 2020

Respectfully submitted,

KYMBERLEE C. STAPLETON

Attorney for Amici Curiae

Nat'l Organization of Victims of Juvenile Murderers

and Arizona Voice for Crime Victims, Inc.

APPENDIX A

Excerpt of Transcipt of Sentencing Hearing,

People v. Marsh, Superior Court of California for

County of Yolo, No. CR-2013-2418,

Dec. 12, 2014.

Appendix A-1

VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT

Victoria Hurd

Your Honor and people of the court, Claudia Maupin

was my Mom, she was my mentor and she was my best

friend. My name is Victoria Hurd. I am her eldest

daughter.

On April 13, 2013, my Mother and her husband,

Chip Northup where terrorized, tortured and brutally

murdered after the defendant broke in to their home. I

know this because I was present in court to hear the

defendant's self-satisfied, four-hour confession describing in graphic detail how he entered my parent's home.

He confessed that he stabbed, disemboweled, dissected,

struck and murdered my cherished parents. I sat in

horror as I listened to the details of his crime and

wondered how anyone could be so cruel and sadistic and

without remorse. I was present in court as Deputy

District Attorneys Michael Cabral and Amanda Zambor

proved the facts of this case beyond any doubt. On Sept

26 and Sept 29, 2014, the jury in this case rendered

verdicts of guilty and sane.

Now, it is my opportunity to make a Victim's Statement. This is the information I wish the court to know

and record.

My Mom was my best friend. Her death has caused

me immense pain and suffering. I have had to watch my

sisters and my children scream in pain and grief. The

defendant's narcissistic indifference to human life and

his ability to randomly kill two human beings, who were

so profoundly loved and who so richly loved life is

inconceivable to me. His actions are irredeemable.

My Mom was the most loving and compassionate

person I ever met. She lived her life loving people. She

lived each day in gratitude and goodness. She was

simply the kindness person I have ever known. She was

Appendix A-2

always willing to lend a hand, a shoulder, an ear. She

would go out of her way to help us and to help others.

She was elegant, earthy and refined. She had deep

wisdom and a sense of humor that could bring you to

your knees. She listened intently when you spoke to her

and she looked you in the eyes when she said, "I love

you". She could be trusted with the deepest questions of

life and she was not a fan of "small talk". She was a

student of the divine, a lover of GOD, a lover of people;

theology, philosophy, science, and politics. My Mom

lived a huge, encompassing life. She was engaged in

living and loving deeply. She wanted to make her mark

on the world by loving people and she did just that.

My Mom adored us completely and she made sure

that we all knew it everyday without question. She

grounded us. She cared for us on every level, emotionally, spiritually, physically and sometimes financially.

One of the greatest things about my Mom was that she

was present. She was at every childbirth, birthday,

marriage, graduation, recital, concert, housewarming,

barbeque, illness, divorce, funeral, break-up, Christmas,

Thanksgiving and Easter that I can remember. She

always brought support, graciousness and laughter.

Whatever the party was, it wouldn't start until Mom

got there. She wasn't just our Mom, our grandmother,

our great grandmother. Mom was our teacher, our

cheerleader, our sage, our rock. She was larger than life

to me ...to anyone who knew her.

The way my Mother left this world is absolutely

unfathomable. The defendant tortured and killed the

most beautiful person I've ever known. He stole her

from us without shame or regret, but with what he

described as elation. My Mom begged him for her life

but he kept stabbing, cutting, punching without mercy.

I think his words were, "the old woman wouldn't die".

That doesn't surprise me. She had so much life-force.

Appendix A-3

I'll never forget the sound of my sister's voice at 5 in

the morning as she described finding my parents dead

at the crime scene. My sister lost her mind that day.

Later I watched her faint on my kitchen floor, my

daughter and brother had to carry her to bed in front of

her sobbing, panic-stricken daughters:

I saw my Mom and Chip being taken from their

home in body bags. I will remember it for the rest of my

life.

I will remember my Mom's last moments of life

mixed with images of police officers, FBI agents, the

Coroner, news vans, and yellow tape. I will remember

the feeling of police officers restraining me from moving

towards her house and a sensation of hysteria washing

over me like tidal wave of horror.

I'll never forget the sound of my daughter screaming

into the phone when I called to tell her that her beloved

grandmother, the one who helped her through college,

was at her wedding, who had nurtured her through

heartache, the one who had loved her unconditionally

for 35 year was murdered. I heard her screaming,

"Moma, Moma, NO, Moma, NO! Moma, NO! I don't

know what to do!" I don't know I how managed to tell

her to make flight arrangements and get here as quickly

as she could.

I remember looking into the face of my 37-year-old

son, as he trembled and tears rolled down his face. I had

to explain to him that his grandmother, the woman who

helped him buy his first car, was at his wedding and the

birth of his first child and who was just a week ago, in.

church celebrating Easter with his family, had been

stabbed 67 times, her organs excavated from her body.

That she was found with her cell phone in her empty

belly.

Appendix A-4

How do you tell an 11 year old, a nine-year-old, a

seven-year-old, a 5-year-old that their Granza has been

murdered? What horror for such a young family... for

my grandchildren, her Great-grandchildren to bear. I

don't know how my son did that and I hate the fact that

he had to.

I remember talking to a coroner, numerous detectives, funeral home and cemetery personnel....all while

the defendant was bragging about the murders to his

friends.

I was insane with grief. I wasn't allowed to see my

Mom's body for days, not just because she was a murder

victim, but because her wounds were so extensive that

an expert had to be called in to restore her body order

for us to hold her hand and kiss her goodbye. For

months we waited in terror knowing that the person

who had done this to Mom and Chip was still out there.

All the while, that man was walking the streets of

streets of our community looking for his next victim.

Since the murders, I suffer from Post Traumatic

Stress Disorder. I can't concentrate. I can't perform my

job with the level of competence I used to. I can't focus.

I don't like leaving the house. I'm tired all the time. The

quality of life I once enjoyed is on hold, as I have been

thrust into a period of dark recovery. In addition to

burying my Mother, I cleaned out and packed up her

home, which was a crime scene. I found her blood on

her bedroom furniture that the clean-up team had

missed. I attended a 5-week murder trial, while caring

for myself and my sisters in the midst of going back to

work and trying maintain some sense of normalcy. All

because the defendant decided his grotesque pleasure

was more important than our lives.

No one in our family is able to stay alone overnight

and it has been a year and a half. The majority of us are

Appendix A-5

still unable to return to work. The children and the

adults suffer from unrelenting flashbacks and nightmares of the tortures my Mom and Chip suffered.

Everyone is taking time out their days and weeks to go

to counseling appointments just so they can make it

through to the next week The ramifications of this

gruesome crime are unending.

The financial trauma on my family and I has been

overwhelming. Beginning with extended time off work

due to trauma disorders and trial time to job loss due

inability to work. There were travel and accommodation

expenses for family members out of state. There was

and continues to be extensive counseling costs. For the

eldest member of the family to the youngest' this has

been financially devastating.

Without a doubt this is the most devastating situation our family has ever endured. No one deserves this,

ever, especially not my Mom. If she were here, she

would've helped us survive this. She would've comforted us with her presence and calmed us with her

laughter. But she's NOT HERE because Daniel Marsh

killed my mother for his own perverted gratification. I

can't hug her, or call her for guidance. I can't hold her

hand or cry in her arms. I will never hear soothing

voice, ever again.

I know will make it through this darkness and so

will my family, because of my Mom and the way she

lived her life and because her spirit lives in each one of

us. She taught us that no matter how bad it gets, "this

too shall pass". She taught us that you can trust God

and you can trust love". And because she taught us that

we always have each other.

Love and compassion are words my mother used

daily and practiced intentionally. Through all of this, I

have struggled with the question of where love and

Appendix A-6

compassion, torture and murder find their common

ground. I wonder how much compassion the defendant

considered when he continued to torture my mother

after she begged him to stop. I wonder how much

compassion he showed to her when she pled for her life

and he hit her in the face. I wonder what kind of "cruel

and unusual punishment" that was. And for what

purpose.

I'm blessed with the experience and the process of

this trial. So many of my questions have been answered

and with the evidence presented, I believe without a

doubt that once the defendant is free, he will torture

and kill again. Of this, I am sure. If he is free, people

will be tortured and people will die. Another son or

daughter, father, mother, brother, sister will suffer as

I have. It is my firm conviction that the defendant's

freedom will put innocent people in danger of dismemberment and death.

This man has no conscience, his lack of remorse

unbelievably heartless. His mockery of my Mom and his

pride in this crime is beyond my understanding. I can't

comprehend how any human being could be so cruel.

Therefore, in honor of my mother, Claudia Maupin

and the legacy of love she left behind, it is my belief that

the loving and compassionate action in this situation is

to request from the court the maximum sentence

allowable for the torture and murder of my mother and

her husband, Chip Northup. I request that the defendant carry out his sentence to the full term of more

than 52 consecutive years to life without the possibility

of parole.

It is my request that the maximum penalty for the

crimes, with enhancements for which the defendant

stands convicted, be served, in their entirety and that

Appendix A-7

defendant, Daniel Marsh never secure freedom from

incarceration in his lifetime.

I offer my sincerest thanks to the court for allowing

this opportunity to speak on behalf of myself, family

and my Mom, Claudia Maupin.

Thank You.

APPENDIX B

Excerpt from Transcript of Restitution and

Sentencing Hearing, State v. Wideman,

Superior Court of Arizona for County of Coconino,

No. 12878, Oct. 12, 1988.

Appendix B-1

Testimony of Louise Kane

Excerpt from sentencing hearing of Jacob Wideman,

Arizona District Court—State v. Jacob Edgar Wideman

Siblings' names redacted

(At this time four members of the victim's family

were duly sworn by the Clerk of Court.)

THE COURT: Okay. Who would like — please state

your name, first, ma'am.

MRS . KANE: My name is Louise Kane. I'm Eric's

mother.

THE COURT: Thank you. Please be seated.

MRS. KANE: Your Honor, I would like to give you

this picture of Eric —

THE COURT: You may approach the bench.

MRS. KANE: (continuing) — and have you keep it

in the file.

THE COURT: Thank you.

MRS. KANE: I am here today for Eric. Eric is the

most important person here. Everything is focused on

Jacob Wideman; why he needed to murder, how he took

Eric's life, Jacob's life. But now we have to turn our

attention to Eric and focus on Eric's life and Eric's

pain. Eric must tell us what it is like to be sleeping

peacefully and have a six-inch hunting knife thrust in

his chest, not once, but twice — excruciating, screeching

pain, ultimate agony, and bleed to death for hours.

Imagine someone violating your body; an operation

without anesthesia. But operations are for good, and

Jacob only had evil on his mind.

As parents, we worried about our children, if they

get a scratch or if they fall off the bike when they're

learning to ride a two-wheeler, or if they break a bone

when they're doing sports or skiing, or something. This

Appendix B-2

is the ultimate dread. There's nothing that could be

worse.

Where is death? Who can tell me? Who can help me

find my child? After Eric died, when I was able to sleep,

I had nightmares. I had a bassinet, but I couldn't find

my baby, and it was so horrible that I would have to get

up from the dream, and then it was worse, because my

baby was dead.

Eric led a beautiful life. Beautiful not because it was

easy, nor because it was filled with monetary things.

But beautiful because he gave out so much love and

kindness. Beautiful because he taught us courage and

strength and stamina by his example. He taught us not

to give up, nor be satisfied with less than the best we

could do. He believed in helping less fortunate people

than he, and if he could not change the entire world

immediately, then at least he could change his part of

the world by his work and his example. He taught us

well.

The animal that killed Eric was really a weakling. It

was Eric who was the strong one. As we all know, the

physical body diminishes in death. It's Eric's [soul] that

lives on, still giving, still teaching us, always inspiring

us on.

It's difficult to keep up with him. But then his gentle

kindness shows, and we go onward. Eric was absolutely

brilliant. By the age of five, he was reading the encyclopedia with an understanding and an unquenchable

thirst for knowledge. Knowledge tickled his fancy. He

was a ferocious reader, who [e]specially loved history

and science, a sense of the past, and a sense of the

future.

I remember, when as a small child, he was stricken

with a migraine headache. He lay holding a book the

way another child would hold a stuffed animal. He had

Appendix B-3

an insatiable curiosity as long as I could remember, and

from the earliest, he would ask questions about everything. After he learned to read, he would research them

himself. Eric was the embodiment of the true Renaissance man. In his zest for life, he had so many, many

shining facets. His love of people and dolphins led him

to be very conscious of ecology and concerned with it.

Eric loved sports, both watching and playing. Eric loved

music. He played the piano. He strummed the guitar.

He sang. He composed melodies on his synthesizer. He

loved rock music, and he loved classical music, and show

tunes.

The best treat that I could give Eric was an art

lesson. He enjoyed doing life drawings and still-life

drawings in all media. He was a tremendously talented

artist, and our home is graced with his prolific works.

We have exquisite ceramic pieces he sculptured. He

loved going to museums to enjoy the works of other

artists.

Eric had a marvelous sense of humor. His gift of

laughter was at once both his way of seeing the world

and his ability to surmount difficulties. Eric so enjoyed

making people laugh, that he very often laughed along

at his own jokes. His eyes would crinkle up and sparkle,

and out would come a highly contagious belly laugh. He

also had a wonderful ability to laugh at himself and not

take himself too seriously.

Eric loved science. Often, I would find around the

house scientific experiments in various stages. He was

thrilled when there was a space flight or a new development that would make life on earth better or more

interesting or more exciting.

Eric felt that because he had been saved after being

so sick as a child, that he wanted to help others. He

wanted to become a heart surgeon to save lives. The flu

Appendix B-4

medical developments fascinated him, and he was

looking to the future for better ones, always to try

harder and do better.

Eric was a wonderful writer with an utterly amazing

vocabulary. What he had not actually lived, he would

research. His favorite topics were scientific with their

own sense of adventure. Many young people as old are

stymied when they're faced with a blank page, but not

Eric. He had something to say and something to share.

Very central to Eric's being was the question of

peace. Elusive as it has been to mankind, Eric, who

never gave up or became frustrated, always felt there

was hope. When at the age of 15, Eric's [sibling] lived in

France with a French family we had not known before,

he was delighted. How can you make war if countries

are made up of families who are friends with families in

other countries? He felt the world should share friendships.

A short, simple poem he quickly jotted down shows

his thinking. [Rennes] is mentioned. It's the place in

France — the city in France that [sibling] and her

family lived in. "How can the laws of peace apply when

beings are sheltered by a bloody red, combat sky? The

sounds and sights of airplanes, ships, and fighting men,

without the courage to be chicken. A war could come

here, and then could be in Beirut, London, Paris, or

[Rennes]. So the next time we think of peace, we can

contemplate a soft breeze rustling the leaves of a tree.

Peace every day, peace all day, peace every time, and

peace all the time."

When Eric died, one of his friends wrote others a

note saying, among other things, Eric's great generosity

and kindness should be remembered. Not only could

you borrow just about anything from Eric, but he cared

about his friends. There were times that Eric had work

Appendix B-5

to do, and had the self imposed discipline and responsibility to go out to play — not to go out and play. Not to

worry, his friends who came over to get him were

welcome to stay and use the basketball court, but before

Eric went back inside, he brought out soda and cups for

them for when they got thirsty.

When Eric was in ninth grade, and mythology was

being studied, he was unanimously voted the party

guide. He enjoyed so having his friends gather and

being the thoughtful host. Eric's friends are having a

particularly difficult time. They cannot understand how

Eric could have been hurt, much less murdered. Not

Eric. Eric would not fight with anyone. Jacob Wideman

robbed them of their innocence. But worse, Eric's best

friend now contemplates suicide.

When Eric — when Eric died, his friends came to

our home for the services that are traditional in the

Jewish religion. Jews, Catholics, Protestants arrived at

6:45 in the morning at our home. The week that we sat

shiva, imagine 16-year-olds' doing that, getting up that

early the last week before school starts. They needed to

be with us and they're still in touch with us. They're off

to college now and they still are having a hard time

without Eric.

We had a wonderful relationship, Eric and I. We

spoke all the time. I would never accept just a "fine" as

to how his day was. We discussed life, ideas, events,

feelings. When he was little, we were fascinated that he

could soak up knowledge like, a sponge. As he got older,

it was more fun, because of the exchange of ideas. In

moments, when I was down, Eric would always say

something to make me feel good or to laugh. He saw in

me, as in all the people around him, endless abilities of

what a person can achieve. He believed that people are

separated only by their desire to try hard and be kind

and be good to other people.

Appendix B-6

The very first thing Eric ever wanted to be was a

knight. He was even then concerned with doing good for

others, having courage to prevail, and not to ever get

frustrated, and in all ways Eric was a knight. Most of

all, Eric looked up to his [siblings.] There was nothing

that [his siblings] would not do for Eric, and he knew no

matter what, he could always count on them. The way

he said, "My brother," or, "My sister," saying, "Emperor of the world," couldn't be said with more love or

adoration or reverence or honor.

My children are unusually close. When Eric's

siblings were away at school, rather than enjoy getting

all the attention himself, he missed them terribly, and

even they — he would speak to them several times a

week. When Eric died, [sibling] did not go back to

college for six months. Ten days after she returned to

school, we received a phone call from her that she was

coming home for the weekend. As a 15- year-old, she

had lived in a foreign country with a family that she had

not previously known, and as a 19-year-old, she couldn't

spend 10 days away. When she got home she told us

that she had gone to the phone to call Eric because she

hadn't spoken to him for a while, and when she got

there she didn't know what to do. [Sibling] goes to .the

cemetery and lies on Eric's grave. No blanket. He wants

to be as close as he could be to his brother.

Imagine having to order a stone for the cemetery for

your child. Children are supposed to outlive parents.

That's the natural order. They are our future, our most

precious gifts. Jacob Wideman stole our future.

When people ask me how many children I have, I

unfailingly say "three". But when people ask me their

ages I have a problem. [Sibling] is 22, and [sibling] is

20, but what about Eric? Is Eric 16? He's always 16.

He's not going to get any older.

Appendix B-7

Birthdays and anniversaries and family occasions

and sorrows and joys are all impossible without Eric.

There is always a void for all of us that no one can fill,

but Eric. For two years after Eric died, I couldn't cook.

Our friends filled in. I could not bear to go to a supermarket to see the foods that Eric [el specially liked and

not buy them. Every moment of every day is difficult,

no matter how busy, no matter how we fill our time.

We're torn up inside. It's like our insides are ripped out.

There's a hole in our life.

We survived because of the blessings of Eric's

memory, his gentle kindness, his incredible strength,

and his appreciation of life. He's adored and remembered with love and pride, and he lives on in our hearts

and minds.

We are here for sentencing today. Sentencing for a

subhuman, an animal. Please focus on the sentence he

gave us. Forever will our lives be filled with pain and

agony. Will we be eligible for parole? Will our life

sentence end in 25 years? (Shakes head) Your Honor,

when one takes a life without provocation there was no

fight, no ill feelings, no war, just an animal with a basic

animalistic drive — he must be kept out of society

forever. Our government — in this case our Judicial

system — must protect we the people. It must provide

for the common good. The only way we can be sure that

this animal will not strike again is to execute him. The

dead neither break out of prison, nor get paroled.

However, in accordance with the agreement, I understand that the death penalty cannot be given. I therefore implore you to give this animal a sentence of life

and strongly recommend that he never be paroled.

We have seen that he can disguise himself and act

like his out-of-form, a human. His basic cowardly [soul]

will never be more than that of an animal. He has

already confessed to killing 22-year-old Shelly Wiley in

Appendix B-8

Laramie, Wyoming. Another family given a sentence of

anguish for life. And he attempted to murder someone

in Boston after he killed Eric.

Your Honor, our laws provide you — or bind you to

provide for the common good, to protect us all. I ask you

to have the courage to be strong in seeing what really is

and in recommending that Jacob Wideman, no matter

how good his prison record, never be paroled.

It's easy to look aside and say, "Oh, he'll get better,"

or to not have to deal with what a loss of life really is.

As long as killers are among us, no one is safe. We're all

vulnerable. Jacob Wideman stole our future. Eric

taught us well. He had the strength to obey rules and

laws. Jake believes he can do anything he feels like

when the mood strikes him. He believes he's above our

laws.

Your Honor, protect we the people. Our family and

our friends have been able to survive these past 26

months because of the person Eric was. He left us a

beautiful legacy of strength and courage. His beauty

touches us all. By having lived, Eric made the world a

better place. I'm proud to be Eric's mom. Eric is a

blessing.

Wherever you are, Eric, I love you.

THE COURT: Thank you, Mrs. Kane