Carl Cooper,30 y.o.accused DC Starbucks triple killer,also charged w/4 murder,will be prosecuted in FEDERAL court,prosecutors outrageously seeking death penalty,despite fact that DC,where triple killing occured,has NO legal murder law on it's books
Joe1orbit
Bad news for 30 year old societal torture-victim Carl Cooper, over in
Washington, DC. In July of 1997, THREE young workers at a trendy coffee-shop in
DC, were found massacred inside. Because this massacre occured in a so-called
GOOD neighborhood, and FAMOUS politicians were known to frequent this
coffee-shop, a MAJOR investigation was launched. And yet it still took cops
OVER a YEAR, to make an arrest in the case. It was 30 year old Carl who was
finally arrested & charged. Cops say he tried to ROB the shop, but the robbery
went "bad", and he soon decided to EXECUTE everyone inside, the three
employees.
As is often the case, I do NOT buy this 'robbery gone wrong' scenario. I'm
sure that there ARE genuine robbers, who have no type of True Reality
need/desire to KILL or HURT their victims. But a great many ARMED robbers, as I
have explained in past posts, are simply ENRAGED victims of society, who feel
the NEED to find a way to RATIONALIZE and justify to themselves, the commission
of violence upon fellow humans, while maintaining an IMAGE of themselves as
being GOOD, MORAL, non-violent people. That is where the armed robbery angle
often comes into play. The enraged victim TELLS himself: "I need money, and I
deserve to get/have more money than I currently do. Richer people owe me,
because I am a victim of society. I will TRY to rob them WITHOUT hurting them,
but if they resist or give me any "legitimate' reason, I will hurt/kill them.
Only because they bring the violence down upon themselves, by resisting me. So,
even if I kill them, I'm not really a cold-blooded murdered, but was only doing
what I had to do, what my victim forced me to do." In REALITY, the armed robber
is OFTEN HOPING to encounter resistance, and hoping to be given an "excuse",
however slight it might be, to start killing people, while RATIONALIZING to
himself that he "only killed because I had to".
Obviously every human is unique, has a unique experience of their own life.
But I would say that a MAJORITY of armed robbers, in fact possess MORE of a
CORE, internal, True Reality desire/need to physically HURT their victims, than
to obtain their money or property. In Carl's case, ALL evidence points to him
committing this robbery by himself, AND ballistics analysis shows that he must
have entered the coffeehouse to commit his "robbery", with TWO LOADED guns,
both of which he used, to carry out the triple murder.
The BAD news that Carl received two days ago, was that FEDERAL prosecutors
officially confirmed that they WILL seek to obtain his legal murder, at trial.
In court, Carl showed no emotion as this outrageous news was delivered. Trial
is set to begin in early May, and Carl is wisely pleading Not Guilty to all the
charges. First of all, it is outrageous that FEDERAL prosecutors would have
ANYTHING to do with this case, which occured in DC, and is entirely LOCAL in
nature.
We learn that DC, a TINY area not considered a genuine STATE, has not had a
legal murder trial, for the past 30 years. It performed it's last legal murder,
WAY back in 1957. Always nice to see you humans DEMONSTRATE how you are
REGRESSING, rather than advancing, in terms of your social structure, degree of
pseudo-morality, etc... It's interesting that DC is NOT considered a state.
This gives the FEDERAL government stronger jurisdiction, and of course the
federal government enacted an INSANE new death penalty LAW, just a few years
ago. Obviously, with so many TOP societal leaders living in and spending lots
of time in DC, the federal government would just LOVE to step in and take over
the prosecution of HIGH PROFILE, assassination type crimes, SPECIFICALLY to
INCREASE the chances of getting a legal murder sentence imposed, AND also to
perhaps allow for a SECOND, state-level trial, for the SAME crime, if the
federal prosecution doesn't result in a very harsh sentence, like your EVIL
society is doing in the Terry Nichols/OKC Bombing case.
Carl is certainly NOT an assassin, but this case is fairly high-profile. Your
BIGOTED society has a vested interest in steering it's tortured & enraged
victim-creations towards SLUM, ghetto, and nondescript, middle-class areas,
where there are NO societal LEADERS or celebrities or millionaires nearby.
Carl's BIGGEST "crime", in the eyes of society, is NOT the fact that he killed
3 young people, but thet he killed three young, middle-class employees, of a
store located in an upper-class neigthborhood and frequented by rich, famous,
and powerful people. If he had massacred three GHETTO dwellers, inside of an
abandoned building that had been turned into a crackhouse in DC, the odds of
FEDERAL prosecutors getting involved, or a legal murder sentence being sought,
would have been EXTREMELY low.
It is ABSOLUTELY outrageous that even though the DC laws specifically BAN the
imposition or the sentencing of MURDER, the federal government is allowed to,
and clearly made a TOP LEVEL decision to, step into this case, and seek the
legal murder of Carl! You can bet that IF there was a MAJOR assassination in
DC, the federal government would do the EXACT same thing, step in and render
the TINY bit of morality and sanity that the local DC judicial laws allow, null
and void.
The judge has also ruled that INCRIMINATING statements that Carl made to
police soon after his arrest, WILL be admissible at trial. He STUPIDLY admitted
to committing FOUR actual murders, these 3 and another one, in a separate
"robbery" that resulted in the fatal shooting of a security guard. Clearly,
prosecutors have a WEAK case, and will rely heavily upon this claimed
confession, to demonize Carl to the jury & AVOID having to PROVE, beyond a
reasonable doubt, that Carl actually COMMITTED these murders. He confessed
during a "marathon", four day long INTERROGATION attack that police &
detectives committed against him. The LAWS of your diseased society are
specifically designed to allow for VICIOUS, coercive, manipulative, lie-based,
interrogation sessions, more accurately described as TORTURE sessions, to be
committed upon crime SUSPECTS. Outrageous!
You can view a fairly good facial & upper body photo of Carl, stepping into
or out of a police car, pig standing over him, over at:
http://www.msnbc.com/local/WRC/416259.asp
Stay Strong, Carl!
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of today's Associated Press news wire:
February 8, 2000
DC May See 1st Death Penalty Case
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Janet Reno opened the door for the first
federal death penalty conviction in the nation's capital when she agreed to
allow federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in a triple homicide.
Carl Derek Cooper, 30, faces murder and racketeering charges in the 1997
killing of three Starbucks coffee shop employees, a shooting that police said
followed a botched robbery.
There has not been an execution in the District of Columbia since 1957. The
city council outlawed capital punishment for local convictions in 1981.
But execution is possible under federal charges. In only two other cases has
the federal government sought the death penalty in the district. Both ended
with guilty pleas that avoided the death penalty.
Cooper showed no visible reaction Monday when Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth
L. Wainstein told U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green of Reno's decision.
Cooper's wife and mother, who were in the courtrooom, had similar responses and
refused to talk to reporters later.
Although each of the Starbucks killings could make a capital murder case by
itself, prosecutors said Reno also took into account several other charges
Cooper faces. Those include the 1993 slaying of a security guard and the 1996
shooting of an off-duty police officer in suburban Prince George's County, Md.
Steven Kiersh, Cooper's court-appointed attorney, has asked for more time to
prepare for the April 10 trial.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 2/8/00 online edition of The Washington
Times newspaper:
February 8, 2000
Starbucks team goes for death penalty
By Jim Keary
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Federal prosecutors yesterday announced they will seek the death penalty
in the trial of Carl D. Cooper, accused of killing three Starbucks employees in
Georgetown in 1997.
"After a very full and careful review, we have decided to seek the death
penalty if he is convicted of any death penalty crimes," Assistant U.S.
Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein said yesterday during a 20-minute hearing in U.S.
District Court.
Attorney General Janet Reno decided to seek the death penalty in the
federal case after receiving a recommendation for the action from U.S. Attorney
Wilma Lewis.
Mr. Wainstein said the prosecution would seek the death penalty because
several victims were slain and suffered tremendous cruelty and pain in the
crime. He also noted that the slayings were premeditated and committed for
financial gain.
Mr. Cooper appeared unemotional yesterday, but his wife, Melissa, left the
courtroom crying and returned a few moments later. Neither she nor Mr. Cooper's
mother, Gwendolyn Cooper, would comment after the announcement.
The District of Columbia has no death penalty, but federal prosecutors can
seek it because Mr. Cooper is being prosecuted under the 1970 Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act. It was designed to combat
organized crime, including small groups involved in continuing criminal
activities.
Mr. Cooper is charged with operating a continuing criminal operation as
well as with killing three employees at the Georgetown coffeehouse during a
botched robbery.
Prosecutors in Washington first used RICO against a band of criminals
involved in murders and robberies in 1995, when three men were prosecuted under
the statute for a four-month crime spree that stretched from Annapolis, Md., to
the District.
Mr. Cooper's charges mark only the second time that RICO charges have been
filed in a D.C. case that did not involve an illegal drug organization.
Federal prosecutors in the District have only twice before sought the
death penalty. Both defendants pleaded guilty in exchange for a sentence of
life without the possibility of parole before going to trial.
Donzell M. McCauley pleaded guilty in July 1995 to murdering D.C. police
Officer Jason E. White, and Wayne Anthony Perry, 30, pleaded guilty in April
1994 to a series of murders, including the slayings of rival drug dealers and
witnesses.
The last execution in the District occurred in 1957, when Robert Carter
was electrocuted for killing a police officer.
Steven R. Kirsch, Mr. Cooper's attorney, said he will appeal the
death-penalty decision. "We will challenge on the substantial and ethical
disparity," he said.
Last week, Illinois Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, imposed a moratorium
on executions in his state, noting that more death-row inmates in Illinois had
been freed than had been put to death in the past 20 years.
Mr. Kirsch's request to delay the April 10 trial of Mr. Cooper was granted
by District Judge Joyce Hens Green, who rescheduled the trial to begin May 2.
Mr. Cooper is charged with murder, racketeering and conspiracy. He is
accused of organizing a group of friends in a string of commercial robberies
between the District and Pennsylvania — including the botched robbery at the
Starbucks coffee shop.
Mr. Cooper, 29, of the 1200 block of Gallatin Street NE, is accused of the
July 6, 1997, slayings of Emory Allen Evans, 25; Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 24; and
Aaron David Goodrich, 18.
Police believe Mr. Cooper was the lone gunman who killed the three
employees during the attempted robbery.
Mr. Cooper told police he killed the three employees when Miss Mahoney
began fighting with him after he demanded money from the coffee shop's safe. He
said he shot Miss Mahoney during the struggle, then killed Mr. Evans and Mr.
Goodrich to prevent them from identifying him.
Judge Green ruled last week that his statements to police are admissible
in the trial, which is expected to last about two months if he is convicted and
the jury considers the death penalty.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 2/7/00 online edition of The Washington
Post newspaper:
By Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 7, 2000
Federal prosecutors announced this morning that they will seek the death
penalty against Carl Cooper, the man suspected of killing three people at a
Starbucks coffee shop in Georgetown.
Cooper, 30, showed no reaction as Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein
revealed the government's intentions at a hearing this morning in U.S. District
Court. He is scheduled to stand trial May 2 on murder, racketeering and other
charges contained in a sweeping 48-count indictment. He has pleaded not guilty.
The case against Cooper would be the first death-penalty matter brought to
trial in the District in nearly 30 years. The last execution in the District
took place in 1957.
The decision to push for capital punishment was made by Attorney General Janet
Reno, with input from U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis and a Justice Department
committee that screens capital cases. Even though D.C. law does not provide for
the death penalty, numerous federal crimes are punishable by death. In Cooper's
case, prosecutors contend that he was the leader of a violent robbery gang that
committed numerous crimes.
The Starbucks killings took place July 6, 1997, in the 1800 block of Wisconsin
Avenue NW, when a robbery went awry in the coffee shop. Prosecutors allege that
Cooper acted alone in the slayings of manager Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 25, and
employees Emory Allen Evans, 25, and Aaron David Goodrich, 18.
Reno's decision came less than a week after a ruling by Judge Joyce Hens Green
that prosecutors could use statements Cooper made to police against him.
Authorities said Cooper admitted to carrying out the Starbucks killings,
fatally shooting a security guard, wounding an off-duty Prince George's County
police officer in a robbery attempt, and taking part in other crimes. The
statements came during four days of interrogation after Cooper's arrest in
March by the FBI and Prince George's police.
Defense attorneys Steven Kiersh and Francis Carter sought to have Cooper's
statements thrown out, arguing that Cooper was worn down by extensive
questioning and tricked into talking. But Green found that Cooper initiated the
discussions, knew what he was doing and repeatedly waived his rights. The
statements are a cornerstone of the case.
During today's hearing, Wainstein listed some of the factors weighing in favor
of capital punishment, including the brutal nature of the offenses, the
apparent planning that was involved and the number of victims. He said he
expected the trial to take about two months, including any penalty phase. If
Cooper is convicted of a capital offense, the jury then begins a separate set
of proceedings to consider punishment.
The Washington Post Company
------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 2/8/00 online edition of The WRC-TV,
local Washington, DC NBC-TV affiliate station web site:
Death penalty sought in Starbucks murders
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb. 8 – Federal prosecutors say they’ll seek the death
penalty for Carl Cooper who is accused of killing three Starbucks employees
during a botched 1997 robbery.
Chris Gordon reports.
PROSECUTORS SAY if Cooper is sentenced to die, it would be the first
federal death penalty conviction in the District. The last execution carried
out in the District was in 1957.
Cooper, 30, faces murder and racketeering charges. Prosecutors say although
the 1997 slayings of three workers at the Starbucks in Georgetown make for a
capital murder case, another accused murder, attempted murder and other crimes
were also taken into account when considering whether to seek the death
penalty.
Prosecutors are charging Cooper in a 48 count indictment alleging cooper
ran a racketeering conspiracy. That is what qualifies the trial for federal
court where the death penalty is allowed.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers says that is
stretching the intent of the racketeering law. Attorney Elisabeth Semel says
the racketeering law was intended to go after crime families and organizations.
She says that is not the situation in the Cooper case. “The evidence tends to
show that if Mr. Cooper was involved in these crimes he was involved alone,”
Semel says.
Former federal prosecutor Ken Robinson says prosecutors overstepped the
intent of the law. “It happened to be the affluent Georgetown area and two of
the three victims were white people and they’re trying to dress it up and make
it jazzy and make it look like a federal death penalty case when it really
isn’t,” he said.
Others say it is unfair for Cooper to face the possibility of the death
penalty when the defendant in the murder of three McDonald’s employees during a
robbery in Southeast in 1995 never faced the threat of the death penalty.
Semel questions what the overriding federal interest is in a case that “for
all intents and purposes is a robbery-murder” case.
Prosecutors expect the April 10 trial to last two months. Cooper’s lawyers
have asked for a delay and say they plan to challenge the death penalty
decision.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of the 2/8/00 online edition of The Washington
Post newspaper:
Execution Sought in Starbucks Killings
Capital Case Would Be First In D.C. in Decades
By Bill Miller
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 8, 2000
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Carl Derek Cooper on federal
charges stemming from a triple killing at a Starbucks coffee shop, clearing the
way for the District's first death penalty case in nearly 30 years.
Attorney General Janet Reno made the decision to seek Cooper's execution after
input from the U.S. attorney's office and a special Justice Department review
team. Although officials would not talk about those deliberations yesterday,
they said many factors turned the slayings into a capital case, including the
brutality of the act, its planning and apparent robbery motive, and the number
of victims.
Cooper showed no emotion yesterday as Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth L.
Wainstein announced the decision at a hearing in U.S. District Court. Cooper's
mother, Gwendolyn, and wife, Melissa, also registered no reaction and left the
courthouse without comment.
The last execution in the District took place in 1957 with the electrocution of
Robert E. Carter, an unemployed laborer convicted of killing an unarmed
off-duty police officer. The last trial in a capital case was in 1972. Even
though D.C. law does not provide for capital punishment and voters in a 1992
election overwhelmingly rejected adding a D.C. death penalty provision,
numerous federal crimes are punishable by execution. They include "murder in
the course of using a firearm during a crime of violence." Cooper faces three
such counts in the Starbucks case.
Reno's decision came less than a week after a ruling by Senior U.S. District
Judge Joyce Hens Green that prosecutors can use as evidence a series of
incriminating statements Cooper allegedly made to police. Yesterday, Green
agreed to delay the trial, from April 10 until May 2, to give defense lawyers
additional time for preparations.
Defense lawyer Steven R. Kiersh said he will attack the constitutionality of
the death penalty law and what he described as the "ethnic disparity" in its
application. Cooper is black, as are 14 of the 21 people now on federal death
row.
The Starbucks killings, which took place July 6, 1997, generated national
attention because they were so violent and occurred in a usually quiet
neighborhood in the 1800 block of Wisconsin Avenue NW. For months, the FBI and
D.C. police struggled for leads in the slayings of manager Mary Caitrin
Mahoney, 25, and employees Emory Allen Evans, 25, and Aaron David Goodrich, 18.
Acting on a tip, authorities painstakingly laid the groundwork in the months
leading to Cooper's arrest in March. Investigators wiretapped his telephone,
tracked and tailed his friends and kept steady watch with a camera mounted on a
utility pole outside his home in Northeast Washington.
Cooper's statements to police provide much of the foundation for the case
against him. Authorities said that Cooper, 30, said he carried out the
Starbucks killings, fatally shot a security guard, wounded an off-duty Prince
George's County police officer in a robbery attempt and took part in other
crimes. The statements were made during four days of interrogation in March by
the FBI and Prince George's County police.
Cooper initially was charged in March in D.C. Superior Court with first-degree
murder and other offenses that carried a maximum term of life without parole.
But prosecutors assembled evidence of other crimes dating to 1993 and moved
Cooper to federal court in August with a 48-count indictment accusing him of
leading a violent racketeering enterprise.
Kiersh and his co-counsel, Francis D. Carter, presented arguments against
capital punishment at separate formal meetings with U.S. Attorney Wilma A.
Lewis and a Justice Department review committee that screens potential cases
for Reno. Lewis and the committee made independent recommendations to Reno, who
had the final say.
Justice Department protocol called for Lewis to notify defense lawyers if she
sought approval to seek the death penalty, and they got no such notice. That
suggests that Lewis did not push for the death penalty but that Reno decided to
seek it anyway.
If Cooper is convicted of any of the three capital offenses, the jury will hear
a sentencing phase of the trial to determine whether he should be executed or
given a prison sentence of life with no chance of parole. The judge can reverse
the jury if the panel recommends a death sentence but cannot order an execution
if the jury rejects it.
William R. Martin, a veteran criminal defense lawyer and former federal
prosecutor, said he believes jurors will approach Cooper's case with open
minds. Martin, who is not working on the case, said he doubts jurors will be
turned off by prosecutors' decision to treat the killings as a capital case.
James Rudasill, another longtime defense lawyer who has tried high-profile
cases, agreed. "The mood of the potential jury pool in this city is capable of
making well-reasoned judgments," he said. "If the conduct is so egregious that
the ultimate sanction is warranted, I think they'll vote it out."
Reno has authorized federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in nearly 500
cases during her tenure. Two of those were in the District.
The first involved Wayne Anthony Perry, described by prosecutors as the leader
of a drug gang that carried out nine killings in 1989 to 1991. Reno also
directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty in 1995 against Donzell Michael
McCauley, who was accused of killing a D.C. police officer. Both cases ended
with plea agreements, and the defendants were sentenced to life without parole.
The last execution of a federal prisoner took place in 1963. But the appeals of
those now on death row are running out, and the first federal execution could
take place by lethal injection soon at a new federal execution chamber in Terre
Haute, Ind.
Metro researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.
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