Midwest
Two federal death row inmates refuse Biden's commutation in continued fight to prove their innocence
Two of the 37 inmates on federal death row whose sentences were commuted to life without parole last month by President Biden are rejecting clemency.
Shannon Agofsky, 53, and Len Davis, 60, who are both in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, are refusing to sign the paperwork to accept the president’s clemency action due to the legal avenues they are afforded on death row, according to court documents.
The pair filed emergency motions in federal court on Dec. 30 requesting an injunction to block the change to their death sentences, saying that accepting their commutations would remove the heightened scrutiny that death penalty appeals receive.
Heightened scrutiny is a legal process in which the courts examine cases like death penalty appeals closer for errors because these cases are a matter of life or death.
BIDEN COMMUTES SENTENCES OF 37 FEDERAL DEATH ROW INMATES IN FINAL MONTH OF PRESIDENCY
Two of the 37 federal inmates on death row whose sentences were commuted to life without parole by President Biden are rejecting clemency. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“To commute his sentence now, while the defendant has active litigation in court, is to strip him of the protection of heightened scrutiny,” Agofsky’s filing reads. “This constitutes an undue burden, and leaves the defendant in a position of fundamental unfairness, which would decimate his pending appellate procedures.”
Davis, a former New Orleans police officer, “has always maintained that having a death sentence would draw attention to the overwhelming misconduct” against the Justice Department, he wrote in his filing.
But, as Davis noted, case law on this issue is “quite murky” and there is no guarantee the two inmates can have their death sentences restored.
Notably, the Supreme Court ruled in 1927 that a president may grant reprieves and pardons without the convict’s consent. Both inmates wrote in their filings that they never requested commutation.
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A jury convicted Agofsky in the 1989 murder of Dan Short, an Oklahoma bank president. His body was found in a lake after prosecutors said Agofsky and his brother, Joseph Agofsky, kidnapped and killed Short before stealing $71,000 from the bank.
Joseph Agofsky was found not guilty of murder, but was sentenced to life in prison for the robbery. He died behind bars in 2013.
Shannon Agofsky was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted on murder and robbery charges. He was later convicted in the 2001 stomping death of fellow inmate, Luther Plant, while he was incarcerated in a Texas prison. A jury recommended a death sentence in that case in 2004.
A Texas jury recommended Shannon Agofsky be sentenced to death after he was convicted of killing a fellow inmate while incarcerated. (AP)
Agofsky said in his filing last week that he is disputing how he was charged with murder in Plant’s death and that he is also seeking to “establish his innocence in the original case for which he was incarcerated.”
His wife, Laura, who married him in 2019 over the phone, told NBC News that his lawyers had encouraged him to seek a presidential commutation, but he refused because he was afforded legal counsel crucial in his appeals as a death row inmate. She said her husband still has lawyers helping him in his case.
She told the outlet that her husband only having his sentence commuted is “not a win for him” because she believes there is evidence that can prove his innocence.
“He doesn’t want to die in prison being labeled a cold-blooded killer,” she said.
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Davis was found guilty in connection with the 1994 murder of Kim Groves, who had filed a complaint against him as a police officer on allegations he beat a teenager in her neighborhood. Prosecutors charged Davis with violating Groves’ civil rights after accusing him of hiring a drug dealer to kill her.
A federal appeals court tossed out Davis’ original death sentence, but it was reinstated in 2005.
Davis “has always maintained his innocence and argued that federal court had no jurisdiction to try him for civil rights offenses,” his filing reads.
Only three of the 40 men on federal death row are still facing execution following President Biden’s commutations last month. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
Both Davis and Agofsky are urging a judge to appoint a co-counsel in their requests for an injunction of the commutations.
The Justice Department issued a moratorium on executions during the Biden administration, but President-elect Trump has vowed to expand federal executions when he returns to the White House later this month.
“I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” Biden said in a statement last month. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.”
The three federal death row inmates who were not granted clemency were Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was convicted in the 2013 Boston marathon bombing; Dylann Roof, who was found guilty in the 2017 mass shooting at a Charleston, South Carolina, church; and Robert Bowers, who was sentenced for the 2018 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue.
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Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield has coached All-Americans, national players of the year, national champions and future Olympians in his 13 years as Wisconsin volleyball coach.
So Sheffield’s unique praise of Decelise Champion – a star pin-hitter from Puerto Rico who committed to the Badgers last fall – carries a lot of weight.
“Her highest-end potential is certainly as high as about anybody we’ve ever brought in,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a lot of work to get to where she’s capable of, and that’s on us as coaches and on her to help reach those dreams and goals. But when you’re watching people around her age, she’s different.”
That work is beginning earlier than initially expected after Wisconsin announced that Champion will reclassify from the 2027 recruiting class and join the Badgers as a freshman for the 2026 season.
Champion – currently 16 years old and turning 17 in September – will arrive with a resume that includes experience on Puerto Rico’s senior national team and the elite Italian club Volleyro Casal de Pazzi. That’s all while being strong enough academically to earn a GED degree and the necessary NCAA waiver for a few missing core classes.
“What made it really a lot better is that all of her grades at the different schools she’s been at have been fantastic,” Sheffield said. “She’s an excellent student. Was crushing it at a really, really good academic school in Italy in her third language.”
The timing of the June 12 announcement accounted for the second-last open roster spot for the 2026 season, but Champion and UW’s efforts to make the reclassification possible go back much earlier than that.
“We’ve known she’s wanted to do this since February,” Sheffield said. “We told our team in February that was the plan. And then we didn’t let anybody know publicly until she was done with her season. She just didn’t want to be a distraction for her team.”
Badgers have even more competition at pins
Wisconsin already had plenty of competition at the pin-hitting positions before Champion’s move to the 2026 class.
Grace Egan had a major role on the 2025 Final Four team, and Eva Travis had an impressive spring after transferring from UC-Santa Barbara. Others include Grace Lopez, Madison Quest and the highly-touted freshman duo of Halle Thompson and Audrey Flanagan.
Even with the upcoming addition of one more pin-hitter – and one with such a high potential – UW did not lose any players in the spring transfer portal cycle. Even the idea of someone leaving seemed outlandish to Sheffield.
“If they’re just going to get up and leave because somebody came, I would say that that person is probably chicken s—,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield’s praise of Champion’s proposal obviously does not come with a guarantee of playing time either at the crowded pin-hitting positions.
“I would say, yeah, she does have a chance of being out on the court for us this year,” Sheffield said. “But we’ve also got some other really talented people that play the pins.”
The outside and right-side hitters already on UW’s spring roster will have at least one key advantage over Champion in her freshman season – time.
Egan, Lopez and Quest are returning players (although Egan and Lopez spent their spring recovering from injuries). Travis, Thompson and Flanagan all enrolled in time to spend the spring with the Badgers and impressed in UW’s spring matches.
Champion’s arrival, on the other hand, will follow her participation in an Olympic-qualifying event for Puerto Rico. Sheffield expects that to be Sept. 2, which is the day before fall classes begin and already after UW’s first four matches of the season.
“She’ll be drinking out of a fire hose early on, no doubt about it,” Sheffield said. “Even though she’s been playing with her senior national team this summer, it will be a lot of things coming at her in her secondary language at 16, so there’ll need to be some patience along the way.”
His advice to Champion when she was on campus earlier in June was to “be where your feet are.”
“When she’s with her national team – even though we will have started our preseason, playing matches – don’t worry about us here,” Sheffield said. “Be where your feet are. Be the best you can be for your team there. … Then when you get here, you’re not thinking about your national team.”
Champion’s NCAA eligibility clock starts earlier
Champion’s reclassification comes with the drawback of beginning her NCAA eligibility one year earlier in her volleyball career.
Had she stayed in the 2027 recruiting class, she theoretically would have begun her college career shortly before her 18th birthday and exhausted her eligibility at age 22. Instead, she will begin her college career shortly before her 17th birthday and likely exhaust her eligibility at age 21.
Those scenarios take into account the NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval on June 23 of a new eligibility model that will give players five seasons of eligibility in five years. (That replaces the current system with four seasons, redshirts and other waivers.) The NCAA noted that its decision is not final, however, until the meeting concludes on June 24.
“We’re certainly excited to have her this year, but if you kind of think over the course of five years, it’s probably worse for us that she comes a year early,” Sheffield said. “You expect her to be better at 20 and 21 than what she is at 16 or 17. … It really wasn’t something that we were pushing for, but she was ready.”
Of course, volleyball at age 16 or 17 looks different for someone like Champion who has been competing against much older players as a senior national team member and studying halfway across the world from her hometown of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
“When you talk to her, she doesn’t come across as somebody who’s 16,” Sheffield said. “She’s very mature, very easy to talk to, very driven. She’s independent. … She’s had a lot more life experience than most people her age, and that certainly comes across when you’re around her.”
Detroit, MI
Trailblaze Detroit: Blazing New Trails while Backpacking Metro Detroit | Visit Detroit | Visit Detroit
Kensington Metropark is a Detroit region outdoor destination that hardly requires an introduction. With over 4,500 acres of protected recreational prowess, the Metropark receives nearly 3 million visitors each year that enjoy the following amenities:
- Hiking, biking, and equestrian trails weaving through over 700 acres of forests, fields, fens, and swamps
- Boating, paddling, and fishing along the Huron River and massive Kent Lake
- Tee times at its 18 hole golf course
- Family-friendly exhibits and events at its Nature Center and Farm Center
- Playgrounds and beaches
- Ultimate summer fun at “Splash ‘n’ Blast” water park
With its abundance of amenities – and impressive visitation figures – readers of this article might be surprised to have only just learned that the Chief Pontiac Trail crosses through the beloved metropark. If you fall into that camp, then know that you’re far from being alone. In fact, that sentiment is representative of one of the best aspects of the Chief Pontiac Trail experience: leading backpackers through the least-visited segments of an extremely popular metropark.
As you complete the Chief Pontiac Trail, you’ll enjoy stunning natural vistas that remain hidden from the majority of visitors to Kensington. From rolling grasslands to stunning explosions of wildflowers and dramatic ridge lines, the dramatic approach to the Huron River provides a gorgeous finale to your long morning on the trail.
A final descent to Kensington’s “Group Campground” illuminates the finish line of the Chief Pontiac trail: the Group Camp Road Bridge over the Huron River. In true Detroit fashion, there’s no glitzy sign or over-hyped fanfare waiting for you at the end of the trail. Instead, nearly 20 miles of backpacking through the heart of Metro Detroit provides you with the following rewards:
- A lifetime of memories gathered in two days
- Unmatched sense of accomplishment and adventure
- Lasting awe and affinity towards the beauty of Metro Detroit’s outdoors
- Shattered expectations regarding “Pure Michigan” trail experiences
- Stunning views of the shining Huron River
Congratulations on walking in Chief Pontiac’s steps, Detroit.
We can’t wait to see you at another trailhead soon.
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Trailblaze Detroit is a multimedia series co-produced by Visit Detroit and Expedition Detroit. The core purpose of the series is to promote outdoor adventure tourism and discovery throughout Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties, as well as highlight the Detroit region’s natural spaces, seasonal activities, hidden outdoor gems, and the individuals that support them.
Are you interested in using adventure marketing to promote your organization or business? Awesome – we’re here to help! Contact us at info@expeditiondetroit.com or 734.821.6416 to learn more.
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