MEGAN KANKA (USA - Megan's law) - Aged 7 years - Hamilton Township, New Jersey (USA)

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:37 am Post subject: MEGAN KANKA (USA - Megan's law) - Aged 7 years - Hamilton Township, New Jersey (USA)

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Every parent should have the right to know if a dangerous sexual predator moves into their neighborhood. That is why Richard and Maureen Kanka made it their lives' mission to see the enactment of Megan's Law in every state.

The Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation is a 501 c 3 non-profit, charitable organization founded by the Kanka family. The foundation wants to ensure that every possible step is taken to help prevent the future victimization of children. It is their hope and dream that no other child anywhere will suffer the fate of Megan Kanka.
OUR MISSION

Richard and Maureen Kanka thought that their daughter Megan was safe. The Kankas had lived for fifteen years in quiet, suburban Hamilton Township, New Jersey. A family of five, they worked hard, paid their taxes, believed in God, charity, and the goodness of others.

On July 29, 1994, Richard and Maureen had their lives shattered when their 7-year old daughter Megan was lured into a neighbor's home with the hopes of seeing his puppy. Shortly after, thirty yards from her front doorstep, Megan Kanka was raped and murdered.

Unknown to the Kankas, a convicted sex offender lived across the street. The murderer had already served six years in prison for aggravated assault and attempted sexual assault on another child. "We knew nothing about him", says Maureen Kanka.

"If we had been aware of his record, my daughter would be alive today." Letters poured into the Kanka family home with offers of support and contributions to a memorial fund. The result of this tragedy was a nationwide law. A law that would give parents what they desperately wanted: the right to know. A law that would require notification when a convicted sex offender moves into a neighborhood. A law to protect our children.

Passed hand-to-hand, over 400,000 citizens signed a petition demanding immediate legislative action on the law that had to be written-Megan's Law. Within an unprecedented eighty-nine days, the New Jersey State Legislature passed Megan's Law.

Megan could have been anybody's child. She was everybody's child, a poignant symbol of the obligation that each of us has to make sure that children are safe in their own community and that every parent has the right to know when a child is in harm's way.

Much has been done to protect children. Much, however, remains to be done.

http://www.megannicolekankafoundation.org/mission.htm
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Megan's Law is an informal name for laws in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Individual states decide what information will be made available and how it should be disseminated. Commonly included information includes the offender's name, picture, address, incarceration date, and nature of crime. The information is often displayed on free public websites, but can be published in newspapers, distributed in pamphlets, or through various other means.

More Information on Megan's Law can be found on:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan's_Law

NY Times

19 November 1994

Defendant Denies Killing Megan Kanka

The accused killer of 7-year-old Megan Kanka pleaded not guilty today to kidnap, sexual assault and felony murder charges in State Superior Court here.

The defendant, Jesse K. Timmendequas, clean shaven and with a short haircut, stood calmly and said nothing during the arraignment before Judge Thomas DeMartin.

Mr. Timmendequas's court-appointed lawyers, Barbara R. Lependorf and Mark W. Catanzaro, entered the pleas on his behalf to murder, two counts of felony murder, kidnapping and four counts of aggravated sexual assault in the July 29 killing. The proceeding lasted less than five minutes.

The prosecution has said that it will seek the death penalty.

If Mr. Timmendequas were convicted of murder, a jury would decide between death and a life sentence with a minimum 30 years before parole eligibility.

The case has been assigned to Judge Andrew J. Smithson for trial. No trial date has been set.

The death of the Hamilton Township girl prompted a campaign that resulted in new laws stiffening the penalties for violent sex offenders.

Mr. Timmendequas, 33, had previously served time for two other sex crimes involving young girls.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E4DF1131F93AA25752C1A962958260

Star-News

25 October 1995

Megan's Law .Defense Wants To Keep Victim's Name A Secret.‎

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0fZOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FhUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6697,3665980&dq=jesse+timmendequas+trial&hl=en

New York Times

22 December 1995

Murder Trial to Be in Trenton

Reversing his own ruling, the judge who will preside over the trial of a man accused of killing 7-year-old Megan Kanka decided yesterday that the case could be heard in Trenton, as long as the jurors live elsewhere.

In October, Judge Andrew J. Smithson of Mercer County Superior Court moved the trial of Jesse K. Timmendequas, the murder defendant, to Camden because of the publicity the case has received. But he changed his mind after prosecutors argued that traveling such a distance would impose a hardship on the girl's family, The Associated Press reported. Megan's death inspired a law requiring that communities be notified of high-risk sex offenders residing in their neighborhoods.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04EFDF1539F931A15751C1A963958260

New York Times

13 April 1996

Federal Appeals Court Rejects A Challenge to 'Megan's Law'

The first Federal appeals court to consider a New Jersey law calling for community notification about paroled sex offenders rejected an offender's challenge to the law yesterday. But the ruling was so limited that it failed to resolve the debate over the constitutionality of the law.

Consequently, the ruling did little to resolve the struggle in Federal courts in New Jersey over the legality of the law's principal tenet. New Jersey's Supreme Court upheld community notification on public-safety grounds last July. Since then, offenders have sought relief from Federal judges in Newark and Camden. While finding the case before it too void of details to judge its constitutional merits, the appeals court provided guidelines with which lower court judges may evaluate future challenges.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia said that a district judge had acted too quickly when he ruled in February 1995 that the law's requirement that the authorities notify communities about dangerous sex offenders violated the Constitution. The law requires the police to maintain a register of paroled sex offenders and county prosecutors to rank them based on possible risks to the public and to notify communities about offenders considered the worst threats.

The offender who brought yesterday's case, Alexander A. Artway, challenged the law before he registered.

The three-judge panel said in its ruling, "If he registers, and if the state decides that his situation warrants community notification, he may seek to enjoin that action at that time."

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3071FFE3A5D0C708DDDAD0894DE494D81

The Day

13 January 1997

Jury Selection Begins In Megan's Law' Trial.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2zBkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LfgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4832,2309324&dq=jesse+timmendequas+trial&hl=en

NY Times

22 April 1997

Jury Complete in Megan Case

After 45 days the most time ever spent selecting a jury in New Jersey -- nine women and eight men were chosen yesterday to hear the Megan Kanka capital murder trial. From Jan. 13 to last Tuesday, attorneys and Judge Andrew J. Smithson of Superior Court narrowed a pool of more than 300 candidates, struggling against extreme reactions to the issues of child molestation and the death penalty as well as enormous publicity.

The panel, which includes five alternates, will decide whether a neighbor of the Kankas, Jesse Timmendequas, 36, raped and strangled Megan, a 7-year-old Hamilton Township girl, in 1994. The trial was moved to Hunterdon County because of the media attention in Mercer County, where the killing, which inspired the state's community notification law, occurred.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804EEDA153EF931A15757C0A961958260

Herald-Journal

6 May 1997

Convicted Child Molester On Trial In Case That Led To "Megan's Laws"

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7UgoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ic8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5815,1886377&dq=jesse+timmendequas+trial&hl=en

New York Times

12 May 1997

In Megan Case, a Passive Suspect With a Violent Past

In the third row of the courtroom at the trial of the man accused of killing their 7-year-old daughter, Maureen and Richard Kanka usually sit with a few friends and relatives.

The corresponding row on the other side of the courtroom, which would normally be reserved for the defendant's family, is usually empty. Other than his two lawyers, there is no one present for Jesse K. Timmendequas as he fights the case that could end with the death penalty if he is convicted in State Superior Court here of killing Megan Kanka.

But if Mr. Timmendequas, 36, is aware of his isolation as he is brought into court each day in shackles, he gives no sign of it. He does not look about for a friendly face. His own face is always expressionless.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0F10FB3B5D0C718DDDAC0894DF494D81

New York Daily News

13 May 1997

FBI: MEGAN'S BLOOD ON RUG‎

Blood found on the rug of accused child killer Jesse Timmendequas' home almost certainly belonged to 7-year-old Megan Kanka, an FBI expert testified yesterday.

Special Agent Jennifer Lindsey said the FBI's DNA lab in Washington analyzed several bloodstained rug samples taken from a bedroom in the suspect's New Jersey home and compared it with samples taken from the little girl's body.

"I can exclude 99.97% of the population," Lindsey testified in Trenton.

But Lindsey also said no DNA evidence was found on the samples that match the suspect's genetic structure.

The testimony came at the start of the second week of Timmendequas' murder trial.

Timmendequas, 36, a twice-convicted sex offender, could face the death penalty if found guilty of raping and killing the girl July 29, 1994.

He lived across the street from Megan in Hamilton Township. The girl's slaying sparked a national campaign for Megan's Law, a statute requiring neighborhood notification about sex offenders in their midst.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1997/05/13/1997-05-13_fbi__megan_s_blood_on_rug.html

The Vindicator

17 May 1997

Juror Dismissed In Megan Trial‎

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RIJKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oYYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3747,441499&dq=jesse+timmendequas+trial&hl=en

NY Times

18 May 1997

2 Absent Figures Looming in 'Megan' Trial

Two men who are not in the courtroom and are not expected to be -- have nevertheless become figures at the trial of Jesse K. Timmendequas, the man accused of killing 7-year-old Megan Kanka.

They are Brian R. Jenin and Joseph F. Cifelli, with whom Mr. Timmendequas shared a house across from the Kanka family in Hamilton Township, N.J., when the child was sexually assaulted and killed in 1994. All three men are convicted sex offenders.

Both the prosecution and the defense have tried to conjure up Mr. Jenin and Mr. Cifelli in the courtroom, but to make sharply different points. The defense, contending that someone other than Mr. Timmendequas took part in the crime, has struggled to signal the jurors that the two men were sinister figures. The prosecutors have brought up their names only to cast suspicion on Mr. Timmendequas.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10E14FF3A5C0C7B8DDDAC0894DF494D81

New York Times

27 may 1997

Seemingly Aimless 'Megan' Defense Is Seen as Trying to Save Client's Life

On a bathroom wall in the courthouse where Jesse K. Timmendequas is on trial for his life here, a bit of graffiti poses the most frequently asked question about the Megan Kanka murder case. ''Why is there even a trial?'' some commentator scrawled.

The suggestion arises, in part, because Mr. Timmendequas's lawyers have offered little more than conjecture to counter a mound of prosecution evidence tying Mr. Timmendequas to the sexual assault and murder of the 7-year-old Megan in July of 1994. The defense lawyers have often appeared to be groping their way through the trial, never settling on a theme. Sometimes they seemed to be cross-examining witnesses just to fill time. And they rested their case without calling a single witness.

But if Mr. Timmendequas's lawyers have sometimes seemed to be passing time pointlessly, that may be because they could not announce their real mission: not to win an acquittal but to try to save Mr. Timmendequas's life.

Lawyers not involved in the case say that what looks like a half-hearted defense may not be as aimless as it often seemed. The main explanation for the defense tactics, they say, can be found in the death penalty Mr. Timmendequas would face if convicted of intentional murder.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0711FC3C5E0C748EDDAC0894DF494D81

The Vindicator

28 May 1997

Jury To Weigh Fate Of Killing Suspect

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T4JKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oYYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3498,7137004&dq=jesse+timmendequas+trial&hl=en

CNN

30 May 1997

Jury returns guilty verdict in 'Megan's Law' case

New Jersey (CNN) -- A New Jersey jury on Friday found Jesse Timmendequas guilty of sexual assault and murder charges for the 1994 slaying of 7-year-old Megan Kanka, whose death led to a nationwide movement to protect children from sexual predators.

The jury returned its verdict less than 24 hours after receiving the case. Timmendequas could receive the death penalty for his conviction. The sentencing phase of the trial will follow.

http://edition.cnn.com/US/9705/30/megan.kanka/indexold.html

New York Times

9 June 1997

Relatives of Megan's Killer Say He Deserves the Death Penalty

The courtroom pews reserved for Jesse Timmendequas's family during his murder trial were always empty, as none of his relatives showed up to lend their support. And no family members will be present Monday when the penalty phase of his trial begins.

Some of Mr. Timmendequas's relatives, in New Jersey and South Carolina, told The Sunday Star-Ledger of Newark that the 36-year-old man deserves to die for kidnapping, raping and murdering 7-year-old Megan Kanka. He was convicted May 30.

''I'm proud they found him guilty,'' said his younger brother, who was identified only as Paul. ''Jersey has, what, lethal injection? Give me the needle.''

Defense lawyers had hoped that some of their client's relatives would speak on his behalf during the penalty phase. But none said they would.

''Jesse can fry, as far as we're concerned, for what he did,'' said Robert Parker, who is married to Mr. Timmendequas's sister, Kathy. They live in Columbia, S.C.

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/09/nyregion/relatives-of-megan-s-killer-say-he-deserves-the-death-penalty.html

Daily News

21 June 1997

MEGAN'S KILLER MUST DIE - JURY PANEL NOT SWAYED BY TALES OF KILLER'S CHILDHOOD WOES

Repeat sex offender Jesse Timmendequas was condemned to death yesterday for raping and strangling 7-year-old Megan Kanka, whose murder prompted a national crusade to protect kids from child molesters.

A jury sentenced Timmendequas, 36, to die by lethal injection, rejecting defense arguments that a childhood filled with violence and sexual abuse left him unable to control his lust for young girls.

Trembling as the death sentence was read, Timmendequas blinked several times, but his face remained expressionless.

Megan's parents, Maureen and Richard Kanka, fell into each others' arms. Outside the courthouse, spectators cheered.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated a little more than 10 hours over two days. The execution was scheduled for Aug. 1, but automatic appeals to the New Jersey Supreme Court are likely to push the date back by years.

Megan's murder July 29, 1994, prompted national outrage when it was learned that Timmendequas had two prior sex-crime convictions.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1997/06/21/1997-06-21_megan_s_killer_must_die_-_ju.html

NY Times

2 December 1998

Man Convicted of Killing Megan Kanka Asks for a New Trial

Lawyers for the paroled sex offender who raped and strangled 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994 asked the New Jersey Supreme Court today to overturn his murder conviction and death sentence on grounds including negative pretrial publicity and what they said were improper prosecution statements.

The lawyers, William B. Smith and Jay L. Wilensky, both public defenders, argued that Jesse K. Timmendequas, 37, should be granted a new trial because he was a denied a fair trial in 1997. They cited articles in The Trentonian and The Trenton Times that they said created ''rage and hatred'' against Mr. Timmendequas that filled Mercer County and spread into the trial.

They also said that the trial judge, Andrew J. Smithson, changed his decision to transfer the trial to Camden County and kept it in Mercer so that the slain girl's family could travel to it more easily.

In addition, they maintained, prosecutors improperly ''demonized'' Mr. Timmendequas in their statements to the jurors, ''painted him as a monster'' and accused a social worker and defense witness, Carol Krych, of ''stretching the truth'' in her descriptions of Mr. Timmendequas's upbringing by an abusive father and adulterous mother.

The jury, they said, also did not receive a report describing mitigating circumstances about Mr. Timmendequas's upbringing that they said would have helped his defense.

The lawyers also said that the jurors were tainted by their knowledge of Mr. Timmendequas's two earlier convictions for molesting children. ''Jersey justice can do better than it did,'' Mr. Smith told the seven justices.

The state's representative, Catherine A. Foddai, a Deputy Attorney General, rebutted the defense assertions during her arguments and in questioning by the justices. In particular, Ms. Foddai said there was no evidence that the publicity had prejudiced the jurors. And, she said, all of the jurors said during pretrial questioning that their verdict would not be influenced by Mr. Timmendequas's criminal record.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0716FF3E5F0C718CDDAB0994D0494D81

NY Times

12 August 1999

Death Penalty Is Affirmed In Megan Case

New Jersey's highest court today upheld the death sentence imposed on the man convicted of raping and murdering 7-year-old Megan Kanka in 1994 and said that the deluge of pretrial publicity surrounding the case had not unfairly prejudiced jurors against the defendant.

Lawyers for the man, Jesse K. Timmendequas, had argued that the extensive coverage of his case, prompted largely by the laws that Megan's killing spawned across the nation, made it impossible for him to get a fair trial. Because New Jersey law forbids jurors to consider a defendant's criminal history, his lawyers argued that the death sentence should be reversed.

But on a 4-to-3 vote, the Court ruled that the original trial judge had taken reasonable steps to minimize the effects of the publicity by bringing in jurors from a neighboring county and questioning them extensively about their ability to weigh the evidence presented in court without being influenced by television or newspaper accounts of the case.

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/12/nyregion/death-penalty-is-affirmed-in-megan-case.html

Associated Content

19 December 2007

'Megan's Law' Killer Jesse Timmendequas Spared Death Penalty

.... The details of what happened to Megan at the hands of Jesse Timmedequas are heinous. While describing the details of Megans demise to police officers, Detective Schwarz said he showed no sense of sorrow for what he did. During trial he was found guilty of kidnapping, four counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of felony murder and was sentenced to death.

On two different occasions, once in 1999 and then in 2001 the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Jesse Timmedequas in the case of Megan Kanka. The original appeal that was filed in 1999 was rejected
because the court stated that Jesse had confirmed his guilt with his own confession. The second appeal was rejected 4 to 1. According to the New York Times, the only dissent came from Justice Virginia Long who was sure that Jesse Timmedequas was "singled out unfairly for capital punishment."

Details of this case aside for a moment, in November of this year a bill was introduced into the New Jersey state senate to abolish the death penalty under the argument that capital punishment does not prevent violent crime, and could lead to innocent people being executed. These are the arguments that have been used for years in debates against the death penalty. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes executions, has been quoted by both CNN and New York Times as saying "New Jersey lawmakers are demonstrating sound judgment in abandoning capital punishment after learning of its costs, the pain it causes victims' families, and the risks the death penalty poses to innocent lives."

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/489999/megans_law_killer_jesse_timmendequas.html?cat=17

Associated Content

23 December 2007

'Megan's Law' Killer Jesse Timmendequas' Death Penalty Sentence Reduced to Life in Prison
A New Law Signed by New Jersey Governor Corzine Abolishes the Death Penalty

New Jersey's Legislation to abolish the Death Penalty has been a hot debated item. It would make the toughest sentence in the state life in prison without the possibility of parole. This has been a sore subject for many in the state including the family of Megan Kanka, who was murdered, raped and beaten by convicted child rapist, Jesse Timmendequas, in 1994.

Megan's family fought hard to get legislation passed in her honor to help protect other children. This law is commonly called 'Megan's Law' and it requires anyone convicted of sexual crimes to register with police. This information is then made public record so that the public can be aware of possible dangers in their neighborhoods. If this law was around in 1994 it could have spared the life of Megan Kanka.

On December 17th, 2007 New Jersey Governor Corzine signed a bill that would abolish the death penalty in the state of New Jersey. This bill would grant the 8 men currently on death row a life sentence without the possibility of parole

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/495361/megans_law_killer_jesse_timmendequas.html?cat=17