From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 1 14:22:46 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 14:22:46 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., S.C., LA., OHIO, OKLA. Message-ID: Feb. 1 TEXAS: New evidence delays Upshur County murder trial New evidence this week delayed a capital murder trial in Upshur County, a district attorney said Friday. Jury selection for Jonathan Ray Shepherd's trial - originally scheduled to start Monday - now will be April 13, according to an order approved Friday by 115th District Court Judge Lauren Parish. Shepherd, 34, is charged with capital murder in the Sept. 26, 2013, shooting death of 29-year-old Cheyenne Green at a Gilmer sub-varsity football game. Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd said Friday that new evidence and discovery came in this week, forcing the delay. Discovery occurs in the pre-trial phase of lawsuits and is a means by which the defense and the prosecution can obtain evidence from each other. According to a probable cause affidavit for Shepherd's arrest, he met Green in the parking lot of Buckeye Stadium during halftime of a football game to give their then-2-year-old child to her. A witness told police the couple was arguing about custody of the child. Sometime after the argument, Shepherd called his wife, Suzanne Bates, and told her he had done "something bad, and he couldn't take it anymore and that she was dead," according to the affidavit. Shepherd then told Bates to go to the parking lot, where she would find Green's car running and his son in the back seat, according to the affidavit. Bates went to the parking lot, where she found the boy in the car and saw Green lying in a pool of blood. An autopsy showed Green was shot 3 times. Shepherd was charged with murder, but Byrd enhanced the charge in October 2013 to capital murder by terror threat or other felony after evidence showed he was attempting to kidnap Green when she was murdered, Byrd said. "In the course of the investigation, we have learned he was trying to kidnap Cheyenne Green," Byrd said at the time. "It's a big jump from regular murder. It changes sentencing options dramatically." Shepherd could face up to life in prison or the death penalty on the capital murder charge. Byrd said he has not filed a motion to seek the death penalty. Shepherd has been in the Upshur County Jail on $1 million bond since Sept. 27, 2013. (source: Longview News-Journal) ***************** Court of Criminal Appeals to hear arguments in El Paso The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will make its 1st visit to El Paso this week to hear arguments in 2 cases, including a capital murder case from Fort Bend County involving the death penalty. Judges from the appeals court, which is the state's highest court for criminal cases, will hear arguments beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Geology building's reading room at the University of Texas at El Paso. Arguments are open to the public and will be followed by a question-and-answer session with students from UTEP's Law School Preparation Institute. "The picture is for students and faculty to get something out of this," said State District Judge Sam Medrano Jr., who also sits on the board for the Texas Center of the Judiciary. "I didn't know how easy it was to ask the court to come to El Paso and sit. We want for them to tell us 'We want to come back.'" The court will hear arguments in the appeal of Terence Tramaine Andrus, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 2012 in the shooting deaths of Sugar Land residents Avelino Saucedo Diaz and Kim Phuong Bui during separate carjacking attempts in 2008. The court also will hear arguments in the case of Christopher Allen Phillips, who was convicted in McLennan County of aggravated robbery and sentenced to life in prison for shooting at a hair salon owner during a robbery in 2011. Phillips' attorneys are asking the court to review his case after Phillips lost his 1st appeal with the state's Tenth Court of Appeals. Abel Acosta, clerk for the Court of Criminal Appeals, was in El Paso last week to tour UTEP and go over the logistics of the court's visit. Acosta said the Austin-based court usually travels to other cities twice a year to hear arguments. "We feel like this is giving the public exposure to us and highlights who we are," Acosta said. In 2013. the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also made its 1st visit to El Paso for a week to hear arguments at the federal courthouse. (source: El Paso Times) PENNSYLVANIA: Survivalist pleads not guilty in trooper's ambush killing A survivalist who spent more than a month on the run after authorities say he killed one Pennsylvania State Police trooper and wounded another in a late-night ambush pleaded not guilty Thursday, setting the stage for a trial at which prosecutors will seek to put him on death row. Eric Frein, 31, was arraigned at the Pike County Courthouse in Milford. He participated by video from the county prison, looking into the camera and politely answering questions posed to him by his attorney and the judge. Asked by defense lawyer Michael Weinstein whether he understood a not-guilty plea would be entered on his behalf, Frein answered in a clear, calm voice: "That's what I wish." Frein is charged with 1st-degree murder, terrorism and other offenses in the Sept. 12 ambush that killed Cpl. Bryon Dickson and severely wounded Trooper Alex Douglass outside the police barracks in Blooming Grove. Frein led authorities on a 48-day manhunt in the rugged Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania before U.S. marshals captured him at an abandoned airplane hangar, more than 20 miles from the shooting scene. District Attorney Ray Tonkin filed notice this week that he will seek the death penalty, listing aggravating factors that include the killing of a police officer. Weinstein said outside court Thursday that there has been no discussion of a plea. "It's very early in this case," he said, adding that the district attorney "hasn't seen what we can produce, and we certainly haven't seen the discovery, so I wouldn't anticipate that he would start talking about resolution to this case." Tonkin told reporters the death penalty is "important in this case," adding he's not considering a plea "at this point in time." Authorities have said Frein confessed to what he described as an assassination designed to "wake people up" and result in a change in government and the restoration of liberties. His trial is tentatively scheduled for March, but Weinstein does not expect it to happen until 2016. One of many issues that will likely need to be resolved is where to hold the trial, with the defense considering a request to move it to another county. The ambush and subsequent manhunt drew blanket media coverage, and residents were both frightened and inconvenienced as law enforcement officials from around the nation descended on the rural region to look for the trooper's killer. "There's no question that venue's an issue," Weinstein said. "We don't want to pretend it's not." (source: Times-Herald) ********************* Death penalty sought in Pennsylvania math teacher's killing A Pennsylvania prosecutor says he'll seek the death penalty against a man accused of sexually assaulting and killing a sixth-grade math teacher during a burglary at her home. Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said Friday that 25-year-old Thomas Moore tortured Nicole Mathewson and killed her after committing multiple felonies. He says that warrants capital punishment. Moore's 16-year-old co-defendant won't face the death penalty. Moore and the teen are charged with homicide, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and other offenses in the December killing in Lancaster. Moore's lawyer has said his client isn't responsible for Mathewson's death and on Friday said he's disappointed that the prosecutor is seeking the death penalty. Mathewson taught at Brownstown Elementary school. Police say she'd been home alone, and Moore and the teen didn't know her. (source: Associated Press) SOUTH CAROLINA: 2 charged with double murder of married couple 5 months after the husband, 63, thwarted armed robbery of his mattress store by shooting a suspect in the stomach 2 people have been charged with murder in the killings of a husband and wife who were shot dead as they answered the door at their South Carolina home in October. Malcolm Hartley, 22, and his 18-year-old girlfriend Brianna Johnson, both from North Carolina, were arrested Friday with help from Charlotte, North Carolina, police and the FBI. The pair are facing murder charges in connection to the double-homicide of 63-year-old Doug London and his 61-year-old wife, Debbie. On Friday, police acknowledged for the 1st time a connection between the deaths and an armed robbery 5 months earlier at the Londons' Charlotte mattress store where one of the suspects was shot in the stomach. However, they would not say if the trio of robbers in the May break-in were in any way linked to Hartley and Johnson. The suspects are being held without bail. Under South Carolina law, the 2 could face the death penalty if convicted of the murders, reported Herald Online. According to reports, Doug and Debbie London were shot dead at around 8.30pm on October 23 inside their home in the 5000 block of Tioga Road in Lake Wylie. The couple's grown son, Daniel, was home at the time of his parents' murders. He was not hurt in the shooting and was the one who called 911 after being awakened by gunfire sounds. On Friday, Daniel London released a statement on his Facebook page thanking law enforcement for the arrests. 'It is with great relief that I announce that the people that murdered my parents have been arrested,' Daniel London wrote. 'I would like to thank law enforcement for all of their hard work and dedication. 'Thank you for being the heroes that protect our communities. To all my family and friends, enjoy this day. 'To the media, thank you for your coverage of what happened to my parents. Please continue your efforts until these evil people are sentenced to justice.' 5 months before the slayings, on May 24, three armed men broke into the Londons' Wholesale Mattress Warehouse on South Boulevard, but the robbery was thwarted by Doug London and the perpetrators landed in jail. Just days after the killings in October, brothers Jamell Cureton, 22, and 19-year-old Nana Adoma, were indicted in connection to the armed robbery, along with their alleged getaway driver, 21-year-old David Lee Fudge. In the course of the robbery, Doug London shot Cureton in the stomach after the 22-year-old fired on him but missed. Cureton was in jail at the time of the October slayings. Court documents indicate that the siblings' alleged accomplice, David Fudge, has admitted to being a high-ranking member of the Bloods street gang, but investigators would not say if the Londons' murders were gang-related. Malcolm Hartley's criminal history includes a conviction for conspiracy to commit armed robbery in 2013. He was arrested again last November on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. His 18-year-old girlfriend does not have a criminal record. 'It was not a random act of violence...it was connected to another crime,' 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett said. Married for nearly 3 decades, Doug and Debbie were remembered by their relatives and friends as a loving couple who were active in their community. Doug London was an avid golfer and a 1-time member of the PGA. Debbie was known for her work in a local women's shelter. They are survived by their son and multiple siblings. (source: Daily Mail) LOUISIANA: Funding dispute lands state board, attorneys in court The relationship between Shreveport's Capital Assistance Project of Louisiana Inc. and the Louisiana Public Defender Board has become litigious as their funding dispute will now be decided in court. Richard Goorley, CAPOLA executive director, said his nonprofit agency still represents death penalty clients and he feels like his hands are tied. "We don't have funding anymore and it's caused me to lose the majority of my staff. It's real hard to do what were supposed to do with the assets that we have," he said. Jay Dixon, the state public defender, said LPDB had received indications there were problems with the level of representation CAPOLA provided - though he wouldn't specify what those problems were due to the ongoing litigation LPDB assigns indigent clients facing the death penalty to contract groups and attorneys. It ceased providing revenue to CAPOLA when its contract ended June 30, leaving the agency to operate on its cash reserves. According to court documents, the lack of funding forced a reduction in staff and services it can provide. "Because we no longer have that it's caused us a lot of problems. I don't have the money to hire the additional staff necessary to see that we get these cases done in a proper manner," Goorley said. Thus CAPOLA filed a motion to be funded by the state board in Caddo and Sabine courts. Judges in those courts ruled in its favor. LPDB has appealed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal. In its appeal, LPDB argues that district judges do not have jurisdiction to order it to fund CAPOLA. It's also suing CAPOLA in the 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish: -- To declare that CAPOLA continues its obligation to provide legal representation to indigent capital defense clients assigned before the end of the 2014 fiscal year. -- To declare that CAPOLA use all of the funds it has received from the LPDB, the Louisiana Indigent Defense Board and Louisiana Indigent Defense Assistance Board to represent client assigned by LPDB -- To stop CAPOLA from using any funds provided by LPDB for purposes other than representing assigned capital cases. -- To order an accounting of the funds currently in CAPOLA's reserve and those used since July 1. While the 2 sides wrestle over funding, CAPOLA still must complete cases it received under contract, according to court documents. Meanwhile, local prosecutors and some judges appear to be siding with CAPOLA. They assert that, by withholding funding, LPDB, which controls the purse of funding for capital defense cases, is delaying capital trials and using its position in state government for anti-death penalty advocacy - leaving victims and their families and defendants and their families in legal limbo. Clients can't get adequate representation without funding, said Dale Cox, the first assistant district attorney for Caddo Parish. Money to pay experts is slow to trickle down and cases are being delayed and strung along in the system. Cox said he's seen this happen numerous times - most recently in cases such as the State of Louisiana v. Eric Mickelson, whose conviction was overturned by the Louisiana Supreme Court. Cox said the lawyers in the courtroom are not the problem. "Each time the public defender board tells one of these lawyers 'Well, we don't have any money for you right now,' the lawyer asks for a continuance of the trial. And so, you can see that the upshot - the result of all this is there's no capital trials going on because nobody has any of the money they say they need," Cox said. Dixon said this isn't true. "I'm just trying to debunk the myth that we are somehow trying to end the death penalty through whatever nefarious (actions) are attributed to it," Dixon said. "We are not trying to abolish the death penalty. That is not our job. We are a part of the executive (branch), and as such abide by the mandates of the executive branch. The executive branch is not abolitionist and neither are we." While there are no other groups similar to CAPOLA in North Louisiana, the state board assigns new death penalty cases to individual attorneys and not CAPOLA, he said. According to court documents filed in the 19th Judicial District Court, CAPOLA's contract requires it to continue representation of clients even after it expired. On June 30, it represented 4 capital indigent defendants assigned by LPDB and had $778,450 in reserves, which LPDB argues should be used for toward the representation of clients assigned to CAPOLA before the contract expired. "We feel the state still owes us some money to continue the representation of our clients," Goorley said. The issue came to a head during the state's case against accused child killer Kenneth Willis, which was delayed until new representation had to be assigned. CAPOLA attorneys represented Willis from the summer of 2012 and through Sept. 2014 - well after the contract expired. In his November ruling, First Judicial District Court Judge Brady O'Callaghan noted it wasn't until November that Willis received new counsel despite the contract's expiration. He denied a motion for a new trial and ordered the state public defender board to pay CAPOLA attorneys for the legal representation they provided to Willis. "The Louisiana Public Defender Board has given CAPOLA a Sisyphean dilemma. They demand CAPOLA's representation but do not adequately fund them so they may effectively represent Kenneth Willis," O'Callaghan wrote in his ruling. "By simultaneously requiring CAPOLA's continued participation while also refusing to adequately ensure funding for the defense of Kenneth Willis, they have frustrated progress of the trial - a disservice to both the defendant and to the state." (source: Shreveport Times) OHIO: Defense's bid to quash video, statement fails A Lucas County judge Friday squelched an attempt by accused arsonist Ray Abou-Arab to prevent the videotape that purportedly links him to the deadly fire to be used as evidence in his trial. Common Pleas Judge Frederick McDonald denied 2 motions to suppress evidence: 1 for the surveillance video obtained from the Magnolia Street building where 2 Toledo firefighters died battling the blaze and another for statements Mr. Abou-Arab made to police after the fire. Mr. Abou-Arab, 61, of 1311 Sierra Dr., Oregon, is charged with 2 counts of aggravated murder, each with death penalty specifications; 2 counts of murder; 8 counts of aggravated arson, and 1 count of tampering with evidence stemming from the fire a year ago that killed Toledo fire Pvts. Stephen Machcinski, 42, and James Dickman, 31, who died fighting the blaze. The judge, who issued his rulings on his final day of work before retirement, found that police acted lawfully when they interrogated Mr. Abou-Arab and when they obtained video from the crime scene. Judge McDonald said Toledo police did not violate Mr. Abou-Arab's rights when they interviewed him Jan. 26, 2014, the day of the deadly fire, but did not read him his Miranda warning because at that time he was a witness, not a suspect. He further said that after surveillance video obtained from the scene caused police to consider him a suspect in the case, detectives on Jan. 27 properly read him his Miranda warning, which informs a suspect they have the right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer. While defense attorneys alleged Mr. Abou-Arab repeatedly told police he wanted to call his lawyer during the Jan. 27 interviews, Judge McDonald found that the statements he made - "I should ask my lawyer" and "I think I want to call my lawyer" - were "no less ambiguous and equivocal than similar statements that have been held too indefinite to constitute a request for counsel." Courts have found that suspects must "unambiguously" request a lawyer, he wrote. While defense attorneys also contended the videotape was the property of Mr. Abou-Arab, who owned the building, and was taken without his consent, Judge McDonald disagreed. Mr. Abou-Arab had sold the store that was adjacent to the apartments that burned to Ali Abdou, the judge wrote, and Mr. Abdou had given police consent to confiscate the video equipment and tapes. "Mr. Abdou owned the store and had exclusive access to the space he leased from [Mr. Abou-Arab]," Judge McDonald wrote. "He had sole possession of the VCR and complete control over its use. The state has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Abdou had actual authority to consent to the search of the store and the seizure of the VCR." Among the other motions addressed Friday, Judge McDonald denied Mr. Abou-Arab's request to drop the death penalty specifications. A gag order in the case prevented prosecutors and lawyers from commenting. Mr. Abou-Arab's case is set for a pretrial hearing Feb. 19 before incoming Common Pleas Judge Ian English. A trial date has not been set. (source: Toledo Blade) OKLAHOMA: Calling for 'a state of justice,' Prejean ecstatic after execution stays Just 1 day before Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip was to be executed, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay for his execution along with the executions of 2 other inmates, John Grant and Benjamin Cole. The Supreme Court has agreed to review whether the use of midazolam as part of the 3-drug cocktail would violate the inmates' constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Glossip's execution had been scheduled for Jan 29. John Marion Grant's execution was set for Feb. 19 and Benjamin Robert Cole's for March 5. The court's 1-sentence unsigned order stated, "It is hereby ordered that petitioners' executions using midazolam are stayed pending final disposition of this case." 1 day earlier Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt asked the court for the stays, pending the Supreme Court's decision in the case, or until the state is able to obtain 1 of 2 other drugs previously used for lethal injections. Arguments are scheduled for April 29, 1 year to the day after Clayton Lockett's execution, when the state's new protocol called for use of midazolam. Lockett clearly suffered in the process, and the term "botched execution" was widely used to describe the process. A decision is expected in the "final disposition" before July. Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking" and Glossip's spiritual advisor, held a press conference at the state Capitol hosted by the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. That came 2 days before Glossip's date with death. The group was asking that the Supreme Court grant the stays of execution for Glossip, Grant and Cole. Glossip was convicted in a 1997 murder-for-hire case. During the press conference, Mark Henricksen, 1 of Glossip's attorneys said, "It's a peculiar distortion of justice that the actual killer will likely die of natural causes in a minimum-security prison, while Richard faces death." Others speaking out against the death penalty were State Rep. George Young (D-99); Rev. Dr. William Tabbernee, Executive Director Oklahoma Conference of Churches; Bud Welch, President of Murder Victim Families for Human Rights and OK-CADP board member; Brady Henderson, ACLU of Oklahoma Legal Director; and Rev. Adam Leathers, OK-CADP board member. Leathers, who opened the event said, "Oklahoma is considered by other states and its citizens to be a fairly conservative place. No earnest conservative should ever be content with acquiescently granting our government the God like power of terminating a citizen's life, because we're mad at them. "Oklahoma, by permitting the evil institution of the death penalty to exist, not only are we not being true to God, we're not even being true to ourselves," Leathers added. Henderson said, "The death penalty is the gravest exercise of government power over its own citizens. Both the US Supreme Court's decision to review Oklahoma's protocols and Attorney General Pruitt's request for stays acknowledge that it must be carefully scrutinized and should never be done in a slipshod fashion." Welch who lost his only daughter in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing committed by Timothy McVeigh, said "McVeigh's execution was nothing but revenge. Victims' families cannot go through the healing process if you think killing someone out of revenge will bring you peace." Sister Prejean said, "The eyes of the world are on Oklahoma. There is no humane way to kill a conscious, imaginative human being. People around the world just don't understand how the people of Oklahoma can allow this to be done in their name." The day following the press conference Prejean was in McAlester visiting Richard in prison with members of his family and friends, when the stay of execution was announced. "Everybody started laughing, we were all so relieved and happy," she said. "Happy too for John Grant and Benjamin Cole, but thinking also of Charles Warner's execution before this decision. "I hope that Richard's case will now help bring a spotlight to the frailty of the capital punishment system - that it could come so close to executing an innocent man," said Prejean. "Not the 1st time it has done so." Prejean and the coalition are continuing to urge supporters to sign the petition, at RichardEGlossip.com, to ask Governor Fallin to spare Glossip's life. "We the citizens have our name on the gurney," Prejean added. "What it takes is for us, the people, to say no, enough of the killing, and imitating the killing to show that killing is wrong - we need to be a society for life and a state of justice." (source: The City-Sentinel) ******************* What Supreme Court decision could mean for future of death penalty ---- State speculates on possible impact of lethal drug decision. The last time the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed a challenge to lethal injection drugs was in 2008, after a challenge filed by Kentucky death row inmate Ralph Baze. In that case, the Court upheld Kentucky's right to execute by lethal injection using a 3-drug combination. But Baze is still alive, sitting on death row in the Kentucky State Penitentiary. The state hasn't executed anyone since 2008, according to a database maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center. Oklahoma now has all executions on hold until the Supreme Court reviews Glossip v. Gross, a challenge by death row inmates alleging the state's current method could result in an unconstitutionally cruel and inhumane execution. The Attorney General's office indicated this week that it might resume executions if prison officials can obtain a different drug than the one being challenged: midazolam. But no knows what the court's decision to review the Oklahoma challenge could mean for the future of the death penalty here and in other states using the controversial drug. "Just granting (certiorari) in a case like this could already have an impact," said Deborah Denno, a Fordham University Law School professor who has authored studies on the death penalty. On Friday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich issued reprieves delaying 6 executions that had been scheduled for this year. Will executions in Florida, which also uses midazolam, be put on hold? Denno said that attorneys for inmates facing lethal injection using midazolam will likely file legal challenges based on the stay granted this week by the Supreme Court to Richard Glossip and 2 other Oklahoma inmates. Georgia and Texas both carried out executions this past week, but those states use a single drug, pentobarbital. Oklahoma previously used pentobarbital as the 1st step in its 3-drug execution process to render inmates unconscious. But when the state couldn't obtain pentobarbital last year, it switched to midazolam. Midazolam is a sedative, while pentobarbital is a barbiturate that depresses the central nervous system. While a Department of Public Safety investigation pointed to a leaky IV as the key failure in the state???s April 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett, attorneys for the death row inmates suing Oklahoma allege midazolam is not a true anesthetic and the second drug, a paralytic, could mask the drug's shortcomings. "The drugs worked at the end of the day despite the circulation issues we had," Michael Thompson, the Department of Public Safety Commissioner appointed to oversee the investigation into Lockett's death, said at the time. But Denno said if it weren't for the problems in Lockett's execution, the court likely wouldn't be looking at lethal injection right now. The drug was used in 2 other problematic executions in 2014, but Lockett's was later deemed "a procedural disaster" by the Tenth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Ohio has not executed anyone since January 2014 when inmate Dennis McGuire was given a two-drug lethal injection containing midazolam and the painkiller hydromorphone. That combination was scrapped by state officials after witnesses described McGuire as visibly struggling and making choking noises. And in July 2014, an Arizona execution also raised questions about midazolam, after witnesses watching inmate Joseph Wood's death by lethal injection described him gulping and gasping for air for nearly 2 hours. During Lockett's execution, the inmate rose up off the gurney and began speaking after he had been mistakenly declared unconscious. A faulty IV wasn't discovered until the lethal drugs were pushed, and the drugs slowly saturated into his tissue. His death took 43 minutes. Oklahoma executed Charles Warner on Jan. 15 using basically the same drug combination but used 5 times as much midazolam. Witnesses at Warner's execution reported no obvious signs of distress, and his death took 18 minutes. Warner was among the original plaintiffs in the death row inmates' lawsuit, but was executed after he failed in his bid for a stay by a 5-4 vote. Despite his execution, the underlying legal challenge to Oklahoma's protocol remained before the Supreme Court. It only takes four votes to grant certiorari - or judicial review - while a stay requires 5. An Oklahoma federal judge ruled in December that Warner and the other inmates failed to establish that the state's revised protocol presents a risk that is "sure or very likely to cause illness or suffering," which is the standard set by Baze v. Rees. The Baze decision was technically the first time the Supreme Court had reviewed an Eighth Amendment challenge to a lethal injection protocol, Denno said. "This accentuates why Baze was so problematic," Denno said. "At the time, the criticism was Baze was just going to engender more bad litigation." States have since started using different lethal injection drugs. And the makeup of the Supreme Court is different now: 2 of the justices involved in that decision retired and were replaced by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Sotomayor was the author of the dissenting opinion that argued Warner should have been granted a stay, arguing that the "District Court's conclusion that midazolam will in fact work as intended difficult to accept given recent experience with the use of this drug." The Oklahoma Attorney General's office did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Previously, Attorney General Scott Pruitt said 2 federal courts have upheld Oklahoma's current protocol and he believes the Supreme Court will find the same. (source: Tulsa World) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 1 14:24:11 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 14:24:11 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----UTAH, NEV., ARIZ., ORE., WASH., USA Message-ID: Feb. 1 UTAH: Judge considers motion that would remove death penalty option in double-murder case Opposing sides in a 2010 double-murder case met in 5th District Court in St. George Friday to argue for and against a motion to quash an order issued by a previous judge that paved the way for the death penalty if the defendant, Brandon Perry Smith, is ultimately found guilty of aggravated murder. After hearing the arguments, Judge G. Michael Westfall, who presides over the case, said he would take the matter under advisement and issue a written judgment. Under Utah law, the state can seek the death penalty in relation to aggravated murders. Such incidents are considered aggravated by the state if circumstances surrounding the murder are considered "heinous" or "depraved" in nature. Smith is accused of killing 20-year-old Jerrica Christensen Dec. 11, 2010. She was the 3rd victim in an incident that also led to the murder of 27-year-old Brandie Jerden and attempted murder of James Fiske. In September 2013, Smith's codefendant, Paul Ashton, pleaded guilty to murdering Jerden and attempting to kill Fiske. Just over 4 years later, Smith now faces the possibility of a death penalty if convicted on a charge of 1st-degree aggravated murder. Gary Pendleton, Smith's lawyer, filed a motion to quash the order issued by retired Judge James Shumate that bound Smith over for trial on the aggravated charges following a multiday preliminary hearing held in late 2013. Pendleton argued before Westfall that the state had not met the burden of proof needed to justify the current charges his client faces. He also said the state had consciously chosen not to further examine potentially exculpatory evidence related to text messages between Ashton and Smith prior to the murders. The conversation between Ashton and Smith showed that Smith was manipulated The conversation between Ashton and Smith showed that Smith was manipulated into going to Ashton's condo the day of the murders, Pendleton said. Over the text messages, Pendleton said, Ashton told Smith he was scared that he had been exposed as an informant for the Washington County Drug Task Force and was going to be killed. In response to this, Smith went to Ashton's condo to give him a handgun for self-defense. He also packed a handgun for himself. The text messages did not show manipulation taking place Deputy Washington County Attorney Ryan Shaum said the text messages did not show manipulation taking place. According to court documents, Jerden and her boyfriend were living with Ashton at the time and were moving out. Fiske and Christensen were there lending a hand. Ashton allegedly viewed the three as a threat and concocted a plan to knock them out and take them into the desert where they could be disposed of. The state argued Smith was a willing participant The state argued Smith was a willing participant in the plan which would have ultimately resulted in the deaths of all three people if events hadn't taken a different course. Before the alleged plan could take place, Jerden and Ashton got into an argument that resulted in Jerden allegedly hitting Ashton with a tool box. In response, Ashton shot and killed Jerden, and then shot Fiske who was able to escape. He shot the 2 in front of Smith and, according to court documents, told him to go after Christensen who had locked himself in the bathroom of the master bedroom. Pendleton wrote in his motion to quash that Smith told police he just wanted to knock Christensen out, but it didn't work out that way. All the while, he said, Ashton kept yelling at Smith to "Get her" and "Do it." Sometime during the exchange, Smith handed his own handgun to Ashton. According to medical testimony given during the preliminary hearing, Christensen suffered blunt-force trauma to her head, strangulation, and had her throat cut. Pendleton argued that, based on a time line of events, as well as testimony given by a medical examiner, Christensen likely died within a few minutes of the initial injuries inflicted. None of the injuries suggested Smith inflicted them to cause Christensen pain, he said. The state claims otherwise. He had no other reason to kill her "The state advances their theory that Mr. Smith killed Christensen to silence a witness," Pendleton said "He had no other reason to kill her." Pendleton has maintained throughout the case that his client's actions were manipulated and coerced by Ashton, which ultimately contributed to Christensen's death. "What was the purpose here?" Shaum said. "The purpose could be to silence a witness. That's exactly what happened in this case." Smith knew Ashton already had murder on his mind due to the alleged plan to take the three victims into the desert, Shaum said. The prosecution has argued that Smith accepted Ashton's plan and was willing to carry it out. Because of the way Christensen was killed, the prosecution pinned Smith with aggravated murder and called Christensen's death a heinous act. If Smith had wanted to kill Christensen quickly, Shaum said, without causing her any pain, he could have just shot her. Instead, he gave Ashton the gun and kept beating Christensen, he said. Westfall told Shaum that the focus of the state seemed to be more on the way Christensen was killed and not necessarily Smith???s intent or state of mind. He said earlier in the hearing that someone could reasonably infer that "he basically botched" the 1st few attempts to kill Christensen until he found something that worked. The manner of death shows a depraved mind "He was either enjoying himself or being extremely callous in the act of killing," Shaum said. "The manner of death shows a depraved mind." Shaum also pointed to a "flippant statement" allegedly made by the defendant while dealing with Christensen, saying that "movies lie" about how easy it supposedly is to kill someone. "There is no evidence that shows these attempts were done out of enjoyment," Pendleton said during a rebuttal to Shaum's argument. (source: KCSG TV news) *************************** Utah should avoid secular thinking that comes with firing-squad bill It is time for Utah to renounce its secular doctrine of blood atonement - first by rejecting the firing squad bill, then by joining the 18 other states that have already abolished the death penalty. For Christians, nothing is more central to their theology than the notion of atonement, or the means by which Jesus Christ reconciles human beings to God. Over the course of nearly 2 millennia, Christian theologians have developed a variety of theories to help understand and describe how and why atonement works. One theory popular among Reformation theologians and many evangelicals and Mormons today is called the penal substitution theory. In it, sin is the breaking of God's eternal moral law of justice. Humans deserve death and hell for their sin, according to this theory, but Jesus substitutes himself in the sinner's place, taking the punishment upon himself so that justice is satisfied and sinners can be saved through his mercy. Many other theories of the atonement have come and gone over the centuries. For instance, certain nineteenth-century Mormon leaders, while generally subscribing to something like a penal substitution theory, also taught that some sins, such as murder, were so grievous that only the voluntary shedding of the sinner's own blood could satisfy the demands of justice and thus secure the possibility of salvation. Critics of Mormonism, then and now, have made much of this teaching, which was in fact never the consensus view of the church and, contrary to many colorful assertions, did not inspire a theocratic bloodbath in pioneer Utah. The LDS Church has made repeated and consistent disavowals of the doctrine of blood atonement, beginning in 1889 and as recently as last year. In June 2010, the church issued a formal statement acknowledging the erstwhile teaching, then unequivocally rejecting it. According to the statement, Mormons "believe in and teach the infinite and all-encompassing atonement of Jesus Christ, which makes forgiveness of sin and salvation possible for all people." One does not need to be a Mormon or a Christian to consider blood atonement to be bad theology - and a generally bad idea. Nevertheless, in our American civil religion, which requires no explicit theological commitment but relies instead on a broadly shared set of national values, rituals and symbols, we have promulgated our own secular corollary to blood atonement. We call it capital punishment. The death penalty is infrequently imposed in modern Utah. And currently there is a bill pending to reinstate the option to carry out executions by means of firing squads. 8 people currently sit on death row; all but 2 have been there for over 20 years. Because the state rightly takes extra precautions in capital cases, simply charging a crime as capital triggers enormous investments of time and money, including a decades-long and hugely expensive appeals process. In the meantime, those criminals convicted in capital cases are imprisoned just as they would be if they had been given a life sentence. That is, except they are costing taxpayers orders of magnitude more than those simply convicted for life, as the state justly provides every possible means for them to defend themselves from its own insistence that they shed their blood to atone for their sins. It is time for Utah to renounce its secular doctrine of blood atonement - first by rejecting the firing squad bill, then by joining the 18 other states that have already abolished the death penalty. A diverse coalition of abolitionists motivated by theology, ethics, criminal justice and fiscal responsibility shows that this is not a partisan issue. Taking the life of the sinner, whether through the shedding of blood by firing squad or by some other means, does not bring reconciliation. To suggest otherwise is simply bad atonement theology, whether in the religious or civil sphere. (source: Patrick Q. Mason is an associate professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University, where he is also the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies----Deseret News) NEVADA: Man accused of 5 Nevada murders to get death penalty review A judge has ordered another hearing on the mental state of a convicted felon accused of a string of 5 murders east of Reno in 2013 to determine if prosecutors can pursue the death penalty if he's convicted. A Lyon County judge earlier found Jeremiah Bean to be mentally competent to stand trial, currently scheduled to begin July 13 in Third District Court in Yerington. But last week, newly appointed Judge John Schlegelmich set a 2-day hearing April 30 and May 1 to decide if Bean has the required mental capacity to qualify for capital prosecution under Nevada law. "That hearing on the motion to determine whether Mr. Bean is intellectually disabled is very important to us," Lyon County District Attorney Steve Rye said Thursday after the judge ordered the additional evaluation. "It affects whether or not the state can seek the death penalty," he told KRNV-TV. Bean initially agreed to a plea bargain that would have spared him from the possibility of execution. But he later changed his mind and pleaded not guilty in November 2013 to a total of 19 charges in connection with the killing rampage the previous Mother's Day weekend. Bean, 26, is accused of the slayings of 2 couples in 2 homes in rural Fernley and a newspaper deliveryman at an Interstate 80 exit east of Reno near the Mustang Ranch brothel. Prosecutors say he killed Robert Pape and Dorothy Pape, both 84, in 1 Fernley home on May 10, and Angie Duff, 67, and Lester Leiber, 69, at a house around the corner. He also is accused of fatally shooting Eliazar Graham, 52, of Sparks. Bean, who had been staying 2 houses away from the Duff-Leiber home, faces the arson charge for allegedly burning the Pape house. Prosecutors say he was trying to destroy evidence of the murder. Rye said the families of the victims "want to get this case done and closed." "We'll be ready to go to trial in July," he said. Friends of Duff attended Thursday's hearing in support of prosecutors' push for the death penalty. "I hope they throw the book at him," Charlene Arnold told KTVN-TV. "I hope he gets what he deserves." Bean's public defender, Richard Davies, appealed to the public and the media "to keep an open mind" about the case and many details of the events that led up to the killings that he says have not yet been disclosed. "There is another side to the story," he told KRNV-TV. "At the trial, there will be an opportunity for everyone to hear both sides of the story." Bean was convicted of an unrelated burglary in January 2011 in Lyon County and granted probation, which records show was revoked in July 2011. He was jailed for about a year and his parole expired in December 2012. (source: Associated Press) ARIZONA: Defense Rests Its Case As Travis Alexander's Ex Takes The Stand in Death Penalty Trial Lawyers in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial wrapped up another intense week after the defense rested its case, and the ex-girlfriend of murder victim Travis Alexander took the stand. Arias's defense team rested its case on Tuesday, giving way for the prosecution to begin presenting the state's case as to why the convicted killer deserves to be put to death for the murder of her ex-lover. On Wednesday, Alexander's ex-girlfriend, Deanna Reid, denied claims made by the defense team that she was once physically assaulted by Alexander. "It's important because it's showing Travis Alexander isn't an abusive man that the defense is suggesting is," legal analyst Jen Wood told KPHO. "Deanna Reid is actually getting out that he was a very loving person, he was a good person, he would never do that to her -- never touch or harm her -- and that's exactly what the state wants this jury to hear." In turn, defense attorney Jennifer Willmott tried to chip away at Reid's credibility by charging that Reid wasn't being truthful in early depositions when she stated that she unaware if Alexander was having sex with other women. At one point, Reid showed hostility toward Willmott, who she claimed was misleading the jury. "There is quite a bit of sparring going on between Jennifer and Deanna because what Jennifer Willmott is trying to do is show that Deanna Reid wasn't exactly honest that she's had sex with Travis Alexander," Wood said. "But in the reality of it Jennifer Willmott and the defense didn't come out and ask Deanna Reid if she had sex with Travis Alexander, so it's a matter of wording that they are fighting over." After giving secret testimony back in October 2014, Arias declared she will not be going back on the witness stand, which means prosecutors will not have the opportunity to cross-examine her, reports AZ Family. Although Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder last May in the death of her ex-boyfriend, in her 1st trial, jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and she shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower and took pictures of him. (source: Latin Post) OREGON: Death sentences on decline ---- Groups say funds better spent elsewhere Death sentences in Oregon declined in 2014, with only 1 new death sentence this year. The lone case represents a 42 % decline over the last decade. According to a 2014 national report on capital punishment, issued in December by the Death Penalty Information Center, there were 72 new death sentences nationwide last year, a 40-year low. U.S. states carried out 35 executions in 2014, the fewest in any year for 2 decades. Only 7 states had any executions, with Texas, Missouri, and Florida responsible for 83 % of the total. Because Gov. John Kitzhaber in 2011 announced he would not carry out executions, Oregon is 1 of 26 states that have stopped using the death penalty, in law or in practice. "Oregon prosecutors have been increasingly wary of seeking a death sentence and when they do, Oregon juries have been less willing to impose a death sentence amid concerns about mental illness and disability, insufficient safeguards against executing an innocent person, and the high cost of seeking the death penalty," says Jeff Ellis, a Portland attorney who works to make sure death row cases are tried fairly. Between 1995 and 2004, Oregon saw 19 new death sentences. But in the most recent decade from 2005-2014, there were 11, and only 1 in the past 3 years. Frank Thompson, former superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, says the national report makes it clear what Oregon should do. "It has been over 17 years since Oregon executed an inmate, yet we continue to support having a death penalty that wastes millions of taxpayer dollars annually," Thompson says. "We now have a moratorium on executions in Oregon and we should make that permanent by replacing the death penalty with a better public policy and work on the root causes of violence and murder in our culture with the savings that will be derived from that change." The Death Penalty Information Center report points out that 7 U.S. death row prisoners were exonerated in 2014. That brings the total to 150 since 1973. "We have alternatives that work to keep the public safe and programs that truly address the causes of violent crime and murder," says Ron Steiner, board chair of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "We need to get rid of the very expensive death penalty and redirect those dollars to support law enforcement, address mental illness and provide services for murder victim family members." (source: Catholic Sentinel) WASHINGTON: Leave death penalty in place in Washington state I read that Rep. Maureen Walsh wants to do away with the death penalty. The victims have no say, they are dead. A jury found the person guilty of a capital crime, the judge passed the penalty. It's up to the state to carry out the execution. 3 hots and a cot for life? We have homeless who have done nothing and don't get that consideration. I vote to leave the law in place. Neil Jacobson College Place (source: Letter to the Editor, Union-Bulletin) USA: 9 Indicted for killing U.S. federal agent in Puerto Rico 9 individuals have been indicted and could face the death penalty for the February 2013 murder in Puerto Rico of a correctional officer of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. Lt. Osvaldo Albarati was killed on Feb. 26, 2013, after he had confiscated cellular phones and other contraband from the accused, who were inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo, a U.S. federal prison outside San Juan, the FBI said earlier this week in a press release. United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said Friday at a press conference that the murder was the first of a U.S. federal agent on the Caribbean island. The defendants planned the murder after the Puerto Rican correctional officer had ordered the items confiscated, the FBI said, citing the indictment. The leader of the group was identified as Oscar Martinez Hernandez, aka "Cali," who had been arrested in Venezuela in 2001 for drug smuggling. The defendants could face the death penalty, Rodriguez said, although she did not indicate if she would recommend capital punishment and said the decision would be left up to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Puerto Rico abolished the death penalty in 1929 but federal authorities could impose that punishment since the island is a U.S. commonwealth. The executions, however, would have to be carried out off the island. (source: Fox News) ***************** Marathon Bombing Defense Likely to Focus on Dead Brother The best chance to save the life of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev might be to put his dead brother on trial. When Tsarnaev's case begins, his lawyers are likely to pin their hopes - and the bombings themselves - on his older brother, Tamerlan: a Golden Gloves boxer, college student, husband and father who also followed radical Islam was named by a friend as a participant in a grisly 2011 triple slaying. "He was the eldest one and he, in many ways, was the role model for his sisters and his brother," said Elmirza Khozhugov, the former husband of Tamerlan's sister, Ailina. "You could always hear his younger brother and sisters say, 'Tamerlan said this,' and 'Tamerlan said that.' Dzhokhar loved him. He would do whatever Tamerlan would say," Khozhugov told The Associated Press in the weeks after the bombings. 3 people were killed and more than 260 were injured when 2 homemade pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the iconic race on April 15, 2013. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died days after the bombings following a gun battle with police. Dzhokhar, then 19, was later found hiding in a boat parked in a backyard. Jury selection in his federal death penalty trial is entering its 2nd month. Dzhokhar's lawyers have made it clear they will try to show that he was heavily influenced, maybe even intimidated, by his older brother, into participating in the bombings. If a jury convicts Dzhokhar, its decision on whether to give him life in prison or sentence him to death could depend "on the extent to which it views Tamerlan Tsarnaev as having induced or coerced his young brother" to help commit the crimes, the defense argued in a court filing. About a decade before the attack, their parents, ethnic Chechens, had moved the family to the U.S. from the volatile Dagestan region of Russia after living in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. Their father, Anzor Tsarnaev, told The Associated Press the emigrated in part to escape discrimination. The relationship between the two brothers would likely be a key part of the evidence Dzhokhar's lawyers present even if he's convicted, said David Hoose, who represented a Massachusetts nurse who was spared the federal death penalty in the killings of four patients. Under the federal death penalty law, juries deciding on a sentence can consider whether a defendant "was under unusual and substantial duress," regardless of whether duress is used as a defense to the charges. If the defense is allowed to use evidence of Tamerlan's possible involvement in the triple murder, they could argue that Dzhokhar was under duress to participate in the marathon bombings, Hoose said. Prosecutors have said that a friend of Tamerlan, Ibragim Todashev, implicated him in the killings of three men in Waltham whose bodies were found sprinkled with marijuana, their throats cut. Todashev was shot to death by an FBI agent after authorities said he charged another investigator with a pole while being questioned about the Tsarnaevs. "If they can show that the older brother is gruesomely involved in the murders, all the more reason that Dzhokhar felt that not only is he my brother - he is someone not to fool around with. I have to do what he says,'" Hoose said. Tamerlan's high school friends say he appeared to adjust well to his life in America. "As a student, he was like the rest of us," said Luis Vasquez, who became friends with Tamerlan soon after he moved to Cambridge. "You could catch him in the library doing work, socializing in the hallways with people he knew, or at a local pizza shop we could go to during lunch." About the same time, Tamerlan took up boxing. He was a success, becoming the Golden Gloves heavyweight champion of New England in 2009 and 2010. "He was a determined guy, in good shape, a strong guy," said Bob Russo, then-coach for the New England team. "There was nothing unusual about him." After he was barred from competing in a national tournament because he was not a U.S. citizen, Tamerlan drifted away from boxing. He took classes at Boston's Bunker Hill Community College for a short time, but dropped out. In 2010, he married Katherine Russell, a Rhode Island woman he met at a nightclub, and the couple had a daughter together. Authorities believe Tamerlan's beliefs became radical during the last few years of his life. In March 2011, Russian officials told the FBI that Tamerlan was a follower of radical Islam. The FBI interviewed Tamerlan, but closed its investigation several months later after finding nothing linking him to terrorism. In 2012, Tamerlan spent 6 months in the southwest Russian regions of Chechnya and Dagestan, where authorities have said they suspect he tried to join insurgents, but was unsuccessful. After returning to the U.S., Tamerlan was twice asked to leave a mosque over outbursts. The 1st time, he stood up at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center and argued with a preacher who said it was appropriate for Muslims to celebrate U.S. holidays. 2 months later, he called a preacher who praised civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. a "non-believer" who was "contaminating people's minds." Mosque leaders said they told him he would not be welcome if he interrupted again and he did not cause any more problems. In their court filings, Dzhokhar's lawyers have asked prosecutors for any evidence "showing that Tamerlan's pursuit of jihad predated Dzhokhar's" because that "would tend to support the theory that Tamerlan was the main instigator of the tragic events that followed." But prosecutors are prepared to argue that Dzhokhar was a full and willing participant in the bombings. They cite a message scrawled inside the boat he was found hiding in, indicating that the bombings were meant to retaliate against the U.S. for the deaths of civilians during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I can't stand to see such evil go unpunished," he wrote, according to excerpts filed in court. "Stop killing our innocent people and we will stop." (source: Associated Press) ***************** Alleged East Chicago gang member's murder trial set to begin The trial of an alleged gang member charged with killing 6 people in East Chicago man is about to begin after a prolonged jury selection process necessary because federal prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty. The Post-Tribune reports (http://trib.in/1CLXPDZ ) that jury selection for the trial of Juan "Tito" Briseno is scheduled to wrap up Monday in U.S. District Court. The process began with 250 potential jurors 2 weeks ago and 66 people remain in the pool. Attorneys will use their peremptory challenges Monday until they have 12 jurors and 6 alternates. The process took longer than normal because each potential juror was questioned about their views on the death penalty. Federal prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty if Briseno is convicted of murder. Briseno is one of 24 reputed members of the Almighty Imperial Gangster Nation named in a federal indictment blaming them for 13 murders and 19 attempted murders. Briseno is charged with 6 murders and 7 attempted murders. Prosecutors say he also participated in an 11-year racketeering scheme involving drug dealing, robberies, carjackings, burglaries and other crimes. U.S. District Judge Philip Simon said Thursday that once the jury is selected, he would give both sides about an hour to present opening statements. Simon also ruled against a request by the defense to ban federal prosecutors from including photos of the victims during opening statements. Briseno's attorneys, Arlington Foley, said showing photos of the victims looking their best next to autopsy photos could prejudice the jury. "It just seems what the government is trying to do is inflame the jury right off the bat," he said. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Nozick said the photos helped establish that the victims are who the government says they are and helps to identify them as members of rival gangs by showing their tattoos. (source: WHIO news) *********************** I'm the reason death penalty should be outlawed----I was the 100th person to be exonerated and released after being sentenced to death. Can we doubt there are more of us? A Maricopa County judge sentenced me to death in 1992. At the time of the murder for which I was convicted, the actual perpetrator, Ken Phillips, was on probation for a violent sexual offense. Three weeks after the crime for which I was sentenced to die, he sexually assaulted and choked a 7-year-old girl. He matched the description of a man seen near the location of the murder; it was later determined that shoe prints, palm prints and blood found at the scene matched him as well. After more than 10 years in prison, I was finally exonerated. I walked out of prison with a gate check for $50. I lost my home, U.S. Postal Service job, my personal possessions and 10 years of my life. Arizona has no compensation for wrongful convictions. Henry McCollum spent 30 years on death row before being exonerated. The real killer, a known violent sexual predator who lived near the scene of the crime, was never a suspect. This same man raped and killed a teenage girl 4 weeks after the murder in McCollum's case. Until the governor of North Carolina grants McCollum a pardon, he won't receive any compensation. He depends on donations for food, shelter and clothing. Ricky Jackson spent 39 years on death row because police threatened to jail the parents of a 12-year-old boy if he didn't testify against Jackson after he told them he had lied about seeing Jackson kill a man. Until a county judge affirms that he was wrongfully imprisoned, he won't receive any compensation. Debra Jean Milke spent 23 years on death row. The main evidence against her was a police officer who testified under oath that she had confessed to him. There was no physical evidence, no money trail, no signed confession, no voice or video tape, and no witnesses to this confession. Jurors weren't told that this man had a history that included lying under oath (that's perjury when you do it). Milke and I had the same prosecutor. The media devotes hundreds of hours of television coverage and equivalent print exposure to capital murder trials. Every detail of the crime, the victim and the accused are discussed. Exonerations are relegated to 60-second "feel good" stories, without interest or outrage about how an innocent person ended up on death row, or how they'll survive after release. I left prison wearing the clothes in which I was arrested. I still had a family, so I had a place to go. Others may find themselves alone and homeless after being exonerated. Compensation isn't automatic or immediate. Physical and mental health issues after years of isolation in a death row cell make it difficult to assimilate. The idea that the death of one person negates the loss of another is what keeps many people supporting capital punishment. That's just not true. The death penalty has no place in our society. It is a tool used by prosecutors to justify bigger budgets, win votes and ensure their continued employment. Family members opposed to capital punishment are not allowed to say so during victim impact statements. Only jurors who support the death penalty sit on capital murder trials. Prosecutors have immunity when they withhold evidence and knowingly present perjured testimony. Innocent people have to fight for compensation. Prosecutors like to say that an exoneration is proof the system works. I disagree, and I believe that the more than 150 innocent people who have been sentenced to death would disagree as well. (source: Ray Krone of Phoenix was the 100th death row inmate to win exoneration after DNA proved his innocence and is now an anti-death penalty activist----Wausau (Wis.) Daily Herald) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 1 14:24:54 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 1 Feb 2015 14:24:54 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 1 SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia executes convicted murderer in Medina Saudi Arabia has decapitated a convicted murderer amid rising concerns about the growing number of executions in the country. In a statement on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said Saudi national, Abdelrahman al-Jahni, was found guilty of shooting another man dead during a dispute. Jahni's sentence was carried out in the holy city of Medina. His decapitation brought to 5 the number of people executed since Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud took office on January 23 after the death of his predecessor King Abdullah. The Interior Ministry added that the death penalty reveals the Saudi government's commitment to "maintaining security and realizing justice." According to the London-based rights group, Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world. The country has come under particular criticism from rights groups for executions carried out for non-fatal crimes. The number of executions in the kingdom has been constantly on the rise in recent years. The country carried out the death penalty against 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery, and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under the Saudi penal code. (source: presstv.ir) IRAN: Hard-line judge reportedly assigned case of Post reporter Jason Rezaian, jailed in Iran An Iranian judge known as the "hanging judge" for his harsh sentencing practices has been named to hear the case of a Washington Post reporter who has been imprisoned in Tehran for more than 1/2 a year, a human rights group said Saturday. Jason Rezaian, The Post's Tehran bureau chief, will be tried before Revolutionary Court Judge Abolghassem Salavati, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. In a report posted on its Web site, the advocacy group said the Iranian judiciary had announced that the 38-year-old reporter would be put on trial "soon," though it provided no further information on the precise nature of the charges he faces. The Web site quoted a defense lawyer, Mohammed Saleh Nikbakht, who has been seeking to represent Rezaian, as saying he has told Rezaian's family that "for certain reasons," he cannot do so. The reporter has not seen a lawyer since he was taken into "temporary detention" July 22. On Wednesday, the head of the Tehran judiciary, Gholamhossein Esmaeeli, said the result of the trial would be announced after a verdict has been reached. The Post's executive editor, Martin Baron, said in a statement Sunday: "There has been no justice in the case of our colleague Jason Rezaian since the beginning. He was held for months without knowing the accusations against him. Now that the case is proceeding to trial, the charges still have not been specified. He still hasn't been allowed to see a lawyer. This case has unfolded, and continues to unfold, without a hint of fairness and justice. Jason should be released immediately. What has happened to him is an abomination and deserves the world's condemnation." The Iranian jurist selected to preside over the case is notorious for his actions as head of the Revolutionary Court's Branch 15, responsible for adjudicating cases involving what Iran considers national security crimes and what human rights activists deem to be politically motivated charges. Iranian authorities have not explained why Rezaian has been detained, beyond offering a vague statement saying he is accused of activities beyond the scope of journalism. The assignment of Rezaian's case to Salavati's courtroom appears to sharpen an ongoing struggle between moderates surrounding President Hassan Rouhani and hard-liners allied with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Salavati is among a handful of Revolutionary Court judges known for the stiff sentences they impose on those who challenge the government's authority. They have meted out lengthy prison terms and lashings as punishment for alleged offenses by journalists, lawyers, activists and minority groups. Salavati regularly imposes the harshest sentences of all, including the death penalty for anti-government protesters. That has earned him a reputation as a hanging judge, or as human rights groups call him, the "judge of death." "He's responsible for handing down some very, very severe sentences," said Faraz Sanei, an Iran researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Most of the really high-profile cases have gone to him. It's not entirely clear to me why." Many of those cases have gained international attention, prompting the European Union in 2011 to place sanctions on Salavati and other Iranian law-enforcement officials who the bloc said had committed human rights abuses. Salavati has never been sanctioned by the United States, according to an official from the Treasury Department, which maintains the list of individuals and institutions under sanctions. In a case that was widely publicized in the United States, Salavati imposed an 8-year prison sentence on two American hikers who were picked up near Iran???s border with Iraq in 2009 and accused of espionage. After spending more than 2 years in prison, the 2 were released on bail. Salavati has frequently locked up critics of the government. In 2012, he gave the daughter of the moderate former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, 6 months in jail after she said in an interview with a foreign, Persian-language online publication that the country was being run by "thugs and hoodlums." She was charged with engaging in "propaganda against the system." For many Iranians, Salavati's name is intimately connected with the show trials of hundreds of protesters arrested after the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009. Dozens were paraded before the judge in nationally televised proceedings in which they confessed to participating in protests inspired by Western intelligence agencies. Several of the protesters were sentenced to death, including one who had admitted to throwing a rock. "He's known for issuing death sentences and very heavy prison sentences for basically political charges," said Rod Sanjabi, executive director of the Connecticut-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. "Typically, the chances are there has been coercion and the extraction of a confession, and the likelihood of inadequate rights of counsel. That is how cases function in the Revolutionary courts. But even within that context, he has a reputation of being a hanging judge with no apparent legal knowledge." Sanei, of Human Rights Watch, said some former prisoners and lawyers who have appeared in court before Salavati say they were not allowed to present a defense. Others accuse the judge of being a rubber stamp for Iran's intelligence services. "A lot of people we've spoken to in the last 5 or 6 years claim there was actually collusion between the judiciary, especially the Revolutionary Court, and the Ministry of Intelligence," Sanei said. Despite his notoriety, Salavati remains a shadowy figure. His resume is unknown, and it is not clear he ever attended law school. It's also not certain that Salavati is his real name. According to Sanei, many Revolutionary Court judges use pseudonyms. Salavati and other Revolutionary Court judges do not have the last word in the Iranian judicial system, though. Death-penalty cases automatically go to the Supreme Court for a final decision, while national security cases are sent to appellate courts that often reduce, but sometimes increase, prison terms. Rezaian is a dual American-Iranian citizen, a status that the Iranian government says renders him subject to Iranian laws. His family has reported that his health is failing and that his emotional strength is waning during his lengthy time behind bars. (source: Washington Post) VIETNAM: Equality must be at the heart of judicial reform: President President Truong Tan Sang said draft amendments to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code must reflect the principle of justice and equality while protecting the interests of the State and people. Sang was chairing a session of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform in Ha Noi which was reviewing reports on amendments to legal documents. A representative from the Ministry of Justice said one of the major amendments related to reducing the the number of death sentence. The ministry said the amendment aimed at imposing death penalty on only serious crimes so that the principle of respecting human rights was realised. The death sentence amendments are also aimed at bringing Vietnamese law in line with world trends. Regarding a proposal to include more kinds of crimes in law documents, the drafting committee said it believed it was more necessary to focus and regulate current kinds of crimes. Some important amendments were also suggested for the Criminal Procedure Code, including the right of people arrested to refuse to give evidence that was against their interests. The current Criminal Procedure Code states that the court has the duty to bear the burden of proof and the right to collect evidence. Meanwhile, defendants have the right to, but are not obliged, to prove they are innocent. Many participants at the session suggested that the law should be amended so that it clearly states that those arrested and defendants have the right not to provide evidence that are against them. President Sang said the draft amendments would improve Viet Nam's legal system and provide better protection for human rights. He said the law amendment projects should be completed soon. (source: Vietnamnet) UNITED KINGDOM: Foreign Office criticised over death row Brit The Foreign Office has been criticised for doing "very little" to help a Briton facing the death penalty in Ethiopia despite knowing that his conviction is baseless, it has been claimed. Political activist Andargachew Tsige, 59, from London, has been detained in the country since his removal from an airport in Yemen in June last year and is facing execution over convictions for terrorist planning. Campaigners claim emails show the Government believes there is insufficient evidence to connect him to any terrorist activity and knew immediately that Ethiopia's actions were unlawful. Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at campaign group Reprieve, said the Foreign Office, however, had done "very little" about the case. "This is the problem," she said. "What they need to be asking for is for this man, who has been unlawfully rendered, unlawfully held, to be released." A Foreign Office spokesman said that there was "deep concern" over Tsige's detention and that pressure was being put on the Ethiopian authorities to follow due legal process. He added: "We strongly oppose the death penalty in his as in all cases." (source: Herald Scotland) RUSSIA: Russian Exit From Council of Europe Could Jeopardize Death Penalty Moratorium As Russia considers exiting the Council of Europe after its voting rights were suspended for the 2nd year in a row last week, the fate of Russia's death penalty moratorium hangs in the balance. Russia issued a moratorium on the death penalty in 1996 shortly after joining the Council of Europe. All of the council's other 46 member states have formally abolished the death penalty in peace time. The moratorium has proven controversial in Russia. Reinstatement of the death penalty was supported last year by 52 % of the Russian population, a survey by the independent Levada Center revealed. Notably, the 2014 results represented a 9 % decrease from 2012, when the Moscow-based pollster conducted a similar survey. In recent years several high-ranking Russian officials, including Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, have called for the death penalty to be reinstated for particularly gruesome crimes. On Saturday in an interview with state television channel Rossiya 24, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, Sergei Naryshkin, said that while he is personally opposed to the death penalty, a discussion of its reinstatement is under way as Russia considers leaving the Council of Europe. However, he added that Russia "has its own principles that comply with many positions, norms and conventions of the Council of Europe independent of whether we are a member of the council." The Council of Europe promotes collaboration between all member states in Europe. It also oversees the European Court of Human Rights, which in December upheld a ruling that Russia should pay 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) to shareholders of defunct oil giant Yukos. According to ECHR statistics, Russia lost significantly more claims than any other member state during the course of 2014. Naryshkin confirmed in the state TV interview that Russia exiting the Council of Europe would mean exiting the European Court of Human Rights as well. Russia's voting rights in the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly were initially suspended last year over the country's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. That suspension was prolonged in a decision by the assembly on Wednesday. Russia subsequently said it would boycott the assembly until at least 2016. Last week 2 Russian lawmakers, including Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, were reportedly assaulted by a pair of Ukrainian statesmen at the Parliamentary Assembly. 1 of the Ukrainian officials, Dmytro Linko, said in a Facebook post that he "smacked" Zyuganov in the face. Following the incident, the Parliamentary Assembly said it would improve its security measures. (source: The Moscow Times) AUSTRALIA: In 2014 The AFP Was Involved In 100 'Potential Death Penalty Situations' 12 Australians could end up on death row it has emerged, following an investigation into the Australian Federal Police's involvement in death penalty crimes found that the Bali 9 duo aren't the only 2 facing execution. Fairfax Media reports at least a dozen Australians face serious charges carrying the death penalty, with most of the offences believed to be drug smuggling in Asia. The report reveals the AFP have been extensively involved in death penalty cases for almost a decade, and just last year co-operated with foreign police in 100 cases known as "potential death penalty situations". While the police authority said it played no part in the investigations of the 12 Australians, in 2009 it was summoned to the Federal Court after they tipped off Indonesian officials about Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Since the arrest of the Bali 9, new guidelines have been established for such cases after the judge cleared the AFP of wrongdoing but said that new protocols were needed. If providing a foreign police service with a tip-off about Australians, the AFP now must consider the severity of the crime and the profile of those involved, such as their age. Yesterday it emerged that condemned Bali 9 duo, Chan and Sukumaran, have sent Indonesia president Joko Widodo hand-written letters in Bahasa as part of a last-ditch effort to have their death sentences reviewed. (source: Business Insider) ***************** The Australians on death row you don't know about: A dozen more could face the death penalty overseas, including 2 grandmothers As many as 12 Australians are on death row overseas facing possible execution, not including Bali 9 leaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. According to Fairfax, the dozen Australians, including 2 grandmothers, have all committed serious crimes abroad which carry the death penalty and they could be next to face the executioner. The unlucky 12 are in addition to the Bali 9 duo and Pham Trung Dung, who is on death row in Vietnam for trafficking heroin. According to Fairfax, a 71-year-old grandmother is among the 12 inmates possibly facing execution overseas. It is understood that the majority of the cases are related to drug trafficking offences. In a report released to Fairfax, the Department of Foreign Affairs is noted as being heavily involved with many of the cases. However, speaking to the publication, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it did not play a part in any of the 12 cases. 'These figures are subject to revision and represent the best of our knowledge. As a matter of policy we do not disclose the names or locations of these consular clients,' a spokesman for DFAT said. While the DFAT declined to comment on individual cases, the report stated that it had helped with the investigations of 239 'potential death' cases in the past 3 years. Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, were arrested in 2005 when they attempted to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Bali to Australia. Despite their attempts to rehabilitate themselves behind bars, they are both now facing death by firing squad in Indonesia. They have appealed for clemency from the Indonesian government with an Australian campaign founded by friend and artist Ben Quilty supporting them from their home country. Death row inmate Pham Trung Dung, an Australian of Vietnamese origin, was arrested in May 2013 when custom officials reportedly found 4 kilograms of heroin in his luggage as he was boarding a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia. A court heard in June 2014 that Dung had been living in Australia with his partner, To Quyen, since 2000 and travelled to Vietnam with her and his 2 sons in 2013 to visit family . It was in Vietnam that Dung reportedly agreed to transport 2 bags of heroin given to him by an acquaintance to take to another acquaintance in Australia. According to online paper VnExpress, Dung said he knew it was illegal but could not pass up the $40,000 payout. Up until now, the public were only aware of 2 other Australians who were possibly facing execution - Sydney man Peter Gardner and Australian mother of 4 Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto. Gardner made headlines last year when he was arrested for allegedly attempting to traffic 30 kilograms of methamphetamine, also known as the drug ice out of China. The 25-year-old was taken into custody along with Kalynda Davies, also from Sydney, who has since returned to Australia. Guangzhou Customs claim they found the drugs in 60 vacuum-sealed bags inside Gardner's luggage while he was on his way to Sydney on Flight CZ325, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. His 2 pieces of hand luggage had to be forced open by authorities in an interrogation room in Baiyun Airport as the zippers were super glued. It is believed to be the most ice local customs have ever found leaving the country. In another case of drug trafficking abroad, Australian mother Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 52, was arrested on December 7 after arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport en route from Shanghai to Melbourne. A routine customs check discovered a hidden compartment in a bag she carried, which contained 1.5 kilogrammes (3.3 pounds) of suspected crystal methamphetamine, or 'ice'. Her lawyer has since protested her innocence, claiming Ms Exposto had become involved in an online romance with a person claiming to be a US serviceman. She reportedly travelled to Shanghai to meet him, only to discover that another person had been posing as her supposed love interest. It was there that she was tricked into carrying the drugs, her lawyer said. (source: Daily Mail) INDONESIA: Bloody Murderers - A Rebuttal to 2 Death Penalty Advocates; Ignorance or Deception? An op-ed by 2 Foreign Ministry staffers defending the use of the death penalty for drug crimes falls flat in both its appeal to empirical data and its appeal to international law, which does not consider trafficking a capital offense, the author argues Astari Anjani and Dimas Muhamad, a duo representing the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, believe that the death penalty is the right punishment for convicted drug traffickers. Last week, in an opinion piece for the Jakarta Globe, Anjani and Muhamad described the death penalty as a "vital" tool for "saving Indonesia from [its] drug scourge," and an "important part of our comprehensive strategy to win the war on drugs." At the beginning of their article, Anjani and Muhamad argued that drug use "claims lives," and that drug traffickers should therefore be put to death as recompense. "Bloodless murderers," the authors explained, do not deserve to live; not after all of the drug-related deaths that they have caused. Having dealt with this fallacy in a previous article, I now propose that we turn to consider some of the authors' less emotive arguments for the efficacy and fairness of the death penalty. Bear in mind, however, that Anjani and Muhamad's entire case for capital punishment does seem to hinge on precisely the above claim - that all convicted drug traffickers are somehow culpable for thousands of deaths, and must therefore be punished in kind. It seems to me, therefore, that if we refuse to grant Anjani and Muhamad the above claim - which we most certainly should - then the rest of their argument is rendered null and void. However, knowing that Anjani and Muhamad are bound to disagree with such an early victory proclamation, I think it is only fair that we hear out the rest of their case, in the interests of leaving no stone unturned. Legal and empirical claims Following their opening reference to "bloodless murderers," Anjani and Muhamad went on to argue for the death penalty on the basis of: One, an appeal to empirical data, and 2, an appeal to international legal norms. Both of these arguments fail to present a compelling case for the death penalty, albeit for different reasons. First, Anjani and Muhamad's appeal to empiricism - i.e. the claim that the death penalty has a proven "deterrent" effect - is both impossible to establish and quite obviously superseded by greater evidence to the contrary. 2nd, Anjani and Muhamad???s appeal to international legal norms was - to put it mildly - entirely composed of some convenient fantasies. The authors argued points 1 and 2 in that order, but in the interests of saving the best for last, I shall begin with point 2, the appeal to international law. "One can argue that capital punishment is not effective enough or inhumane," Anjani and Muhamad rightly conceded, "but when all is said and done every country has the sovereign right to prosecute criminals in accordance with its national laws and international law norms that it agreed to." All perfectly true. But then in comes the fiction: "Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Indonesia has ratified, allows the death penalty under certain conditions, which Indonesia has met ... "The death sentence can only be imposed for the most serious crimes, and Indonesia deems drug trafficking to fall into this category. Despite the debate on what is meant by 'the most serious crimes,' the ICCPR's preparatory works show that the omission in defining the term was intended by the negotiating parties to leave room for state-specific interpretation [emphasis added]." The notion that there is still an ongoing debate as to the meaning of the ICCPR's term "most serious crimes" is a total falsehood. In fact, all United Nations legal entities have confirmed that drug trafficking is an economic crime, committed for financial gain, and does not result in a direct loss of life. Drug offenses, therefore, do not meet the criteria of a "most serious crime." In 1984, in a document titled "Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty," the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations proposed a clear definition of the term "most serious crimes." That definition, which was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly, established that a "most serious crime" must result in an "intentional" and direct loss of life, thereby excluding economic crimes such as drug trafficking. Later, in 1997, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions clarified that the term "intentional" should be "equated to premeditation and should be understood as [a] deliberate intention to kill." Even the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has long recognized that drug trafficking is not a lethal offense, and that this distinction is clear under international law. In 2010, for example, the executive director of the UNODC confirmed: "UNODC advocates the abolition of the death penalty and calls upon member states to follow international standards concerning prohibition of the death penalty for offenses of a drug-related or purely economic nature." In addition to the three examples cited above, three other United Nations legal entities have confirmed that executing citizens for drug offenses is in direct contravention of Article 6 (1) and Article 6 (2) of the ICCPR. This position has been echoed, over the years, by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (2005 and 2008); the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (2009); and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health (2010). The ICCPR, as I am sure Anjani and Muhamad are aware, was adopted almost half a century ago, in 1966, and brought into effect in 1976. Needless to say, during the intervening half-century up until now, the United Nations has indeed rigorously studied and debated the terms of the ICCPR. But that debate is well and truly over - as far as capital punishment for drug offenses is concerned - and for Anjani and Muhamad to claim otherwise is either plain ignorance or calculated deception. Either way, both the letter and the spirit of the law are now abundantly clear: Under no circumstance may a signee to the ICCPR take the life of a citizen following conviction on a drug offense. Statistics Moving swiftly on to Anjani and Muhamad's 2nd line of argument - the appeal to empirical data - here we confront a whole new set of fallacies. Anjani and Muhamad believe that executing drug traffickers really does "work." They believe that capital punishment has a proven "deterrent" effect on other (would-be) drug traffickers, and they point to the proud example of Singapore as testament to this claim. "Despite many claims to the contrary," the authors explained, "several studies have affirmed the deterrent effect of the death penalty. A Wall Street Journal article mentions that every execution of a murder convict prevents 74 murders in the following year. And in Singapore, which applies the death penalty, the number of drug offenders has declined by 2/3 since the 1990s." Anjani and Muhamad's initial claim is entirely false. In the United States, capital punishment for convicted murderers appears to have no correlation whatsoever with homicide rates. In fact, if there is any correlation at all between execution and homicide in the United States, it most certainly cuts in the opposite direction. In the year 2000, for instance, the New York Times reported that "10 of the 12 states without capital punishment have homicide rates below the national average [...] while half the states with the death penalty have homicide rates above the national average." This is all quite besides the point, anyhow, for sentencing murderers to death is not the same as sentencing drug traffickers to death. Conveniently, those who support the death penalty for convicted murderers need only look to one statistic to try and "prove" that capital punishment works: i.e. the homicide rate. Does it go up, down, or stay the same? In many ways, however, the much-vaunted "deterrent" effect of executing drug traffickers is not just more difficult to establish; it is impossible to establish. How exactly are we supposed to know when the execution of one drug trafficker has successfully "deterred" another from committing the same crime? Defenders of capital punishment for drug trafficking are thus confronted with a vast array of possible "success indicators," all based on statistics, but none of which can really prove that the death penalty actually works. Consider it this way: What would be the tell-tale sign that capital punishment deters drug traffickers? Could it be a decrease in the total number of drug users? A decrease in drug arrests and drug seizures? A combination of these 2 things? Or is it safer to just assume that the more drug traffickers we kill, the more drug traffickers we deter? There really is no reliable success indicator for the policy of executing drug traffickers. Even if we caught a hundred traffickers tomorrow, and promptly executed every single one of them, at what point could we honestly say to ourselves: "Aha! Now we know for sure that those executions did the job! Now we know for sure that hundreds of others have been deterred!" Strictly speaking, it is impossible to tell whether capital punishment deters drug traffickers, because it is impossible to establish a causative link between - think of it this way - the execution of drug trafficker A, and the deterring of would-be drug trafficker B. Just imagine: how would a research paper aim to demonstrate the existence of such a link? Where would the researchers look to assemble a sample group of safely "deterred" drug traffickers? And how would they question the samples: "On a scale of one to 10, how much did the death of drug trafficker A convince you that drug trafficking is not your dream job?" Clearly, the supposed "deterrent effect" that capital punishment has on other drug traffickers is not a testable hypothesis. So the debate as to whether the death penalty "deters" others should really end here, at an obvious impasse. But, once again, in the interests of leaving no stone unturned, I will try to consider the issue through the same lens as Anjani and Muhamad, and take their success indicators to be as instructive as they make out. Suffice it to say, then, that Anjani and Muhamad's empirical case falls down on at least 2 counts: One, as mentioned above, Anjani and Muhamad commit the fallacy of presuming correlation implies causation. And 2, they can only point to a mere handful of societies that bear out their hypothesis. For Anjani and Muhamad to win the empirical case, they would need demonstrate that most of the countries that uphold the death penalty for drug offenses also have very low rates of drug use and/or drug seizures, just like Singapore. But clearly this is not the case. The vast majority of the world's statistics on drug use and drug seizures suggest that there is no correlation between capital punishment and prevalence of drug use or drug trafficking. Consider Iran, for example, a country with some of toughest and most brutally applied anti-drug laws in the world. In 2010 and 2011, Iran executed more than 500 people each year for drug trafficking. And yet, in 2014 a UNODC report claimed that 6 percent of Iranians - some 4.6 million people - are addicted to an illegal drug. This is probably the highest addiction rate out of any society on Earth, and yet Iran is 2nd only to China in the amount of drug offenders it executes each year. (China considers all statistics on capital punishment to be a state secret, though there is anecdotal evidence to suggest that China does indeed execute more drug offenders than Iran.) Many other examples that do not meet the requirements of Anjani and Muhamad's hypothesis are much closer to home; right under our noses, in fact, on the Southeast Asian mainland. Myanmar, for example, keeps a mandatory death sentence for drug traffickers, but in 2013 still managed to produce 89 percent of Southeast Asia's opium crop, from 60,000 hectares of poppy fields. Thailand, likewise, also retains legal provisions for executing drug traffickers, and yet still has huge problems with drug smugglers entering from Myanmar, and soaring rates of methamphetamine addiction. Just last year, Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) estimated that 1.3 million Thais - or 2 % of the country's total population - are addicted to an illegal drug. Additionally, Thailand is known to have around 150,000 so-called "drug addicts" detained at controversial, compulsory treatment centers, undergoing military drills in the name of "rehabilitation." Similar non-correlations between capital punishment and rates of drug use and drug trafficking can be found in Laos, Vietnam, China and Malaysia. Each of these states still upholds the death penalty for convicted drug traffickers, and yet each of these states still has a thriving market for illegal drugs, particularly meth. Clearly, then, capital punishment has no observable effect on rates of drug use, and does not appear to "deter" drug traffickers from targeting these most dangerous markets. So why should Indonesia buck the trend? Anjani and Muhamad - and President Jokowi - please take note. (source: Commentary----Patrick Tibke is a Jakarta-based writer and a recent graduate of the Southeast Asian Studies program at SOAS, University of London. His interests include human rights, labor rights and drug policy; The Jakarta Globe) ******************** Lindsay Sandiford: 'Time on death row is running out' A British woman, sentenced to death for drug smuggling in Bali, has written to the UK government asking for legal help or funding for an appeal. Lindsay Sandiford, 57, from Cheltenham, says time is running out and she could be executed within a few weeks. The Foreign Office said it stood "ready to provide support at this difficult time, if requested". Sandiford was found with cocaine worth an estimated 1.6m pounds when she arrived in Bali from Thailand in May 2012. Sandiford, who faces death by firing squad, claims she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children, whose safety was at stake. Tough laws In a letter passed to the BBC, Sandiford appealed to UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who is due to visit Indonesia this month. She said she currently had no legal representation and could not afford to pay for a lawyer, which meant she had been denied the opportunity to fully challenge her death penalty and the right to file for clemency. She also said she had received little or no help from the Foreign Office since her arrest. Sandiford said there was a risk the Indonesian authorities might interpret this as a lack of commitment by the government to her case. The Foreign Office said it had consistently provided and offered consular support to Sandiford, which she currently declined to accept. "We are closely following Lindsay Sandiford's case in Indonesia. We stand ready to provide support at this difficult time, if it is requested," said a spokesman in the British embassy in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. "The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances without exception. We have made representations about the death penalty to the Indonesian government, and we will continue to do so." Last year, Sandiford challenged the UK's government's policy not to fund Britons facing capital charges abroad. Although the UK's top court dismissed the appeal, the judges called on the government to look at her case "urgently". The Supreme Court's written ruling said "the local courts seem to have ignored the substantial mitigating factors in her case". The judges cited age, mental problems, lack of previous criminal record and co-operation with police. They said there was a "remarkable disparity of her sentence with those members of the syndicate whom she helped to bring to justice". The BBC's Karishma Vaswani said Indonesia had some of the toughest drug laws in the world, and last month it executed 6 people - including 5 foreigners - on drug related offences. Indonesian President Joko Widodo had recently declared he would reject all clemency appeals from drug convicts, she added. (source: BBC news) ************************** Australians on Indonesia death row file fresh legal appeal 2 Australians on death row in Indonesia applied for a new judicial review of their cases on Friday in a bid to halt their executions, with their lawyer calling for the men to be given a "2nd chance". However, the attorney general's office in Jakarta said judges would likely reject the request for a fresh judicial review from the leaders of the "Bali 9" drug-smuggling gang. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were arrested in Bali in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year for attempting to smuggle eight kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin out of the Indonesian holiday island. In December, Sukumaran lost an appeal for presidential clemency, a death row convict's last chance to avoid the firing squad. Chan's appeal was rejected earlier this month, removing the final hurdle for Jakarta to push ahead with executing the pair. Authorities have insisted they be put to death together as they committed their crime together. However, their lawyers are battling to take the case back to court and on Friday the pair, in their early 30s, filed applications for a fresh judicial review. Ketut Sulendra, an official from the district court in the Balinese capital Denpasar, went to Kerobokan jail on the island to assist the men in completing their applications. Judges will now consider their requests. The pair have already lost one judicial review during their lengthy appeal process, and the attorney general's office has insisted there are no more legal avenues open to them after the rejection of their clemency appeals. But their lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that it was "a matter to be dealt with by the courts", not the attorney general, and that executions should not go ahead while the legal process was ongoing. He said that the legal team was seeking 20 years imprisonment rather than the death penalty. "These 2 men, the prisoners, have changed a great deal ... I think they deserve a 2nd chance." Authorities have not fixed a date or location for their execution. Tony Spontana, spokesman for the attorney general's office, said that he expected the Denpasar court to reject the application, as the legal norm was that "a judicial review will not prevent an execution". Authorities executed 6 drug offenders, including 5 foreigners, earlier this month, sparking a diplomatic storm. (source: Bangkok Post) JORDAN: Jordan Threatens Mass Executions of ISIS Prisoners ---- Proposed Prisoner Swap Remains Unresolved The proposed swap that would see ISIS freeing a held Jordanian pilot and a Japanese reporter in trade for a female prisoner behind held by the Jordanian government remains unresolved over 24 hours after the deadline passed. Jordanian officials began holding off on the planned exchange at the last minute, demanding to see proof that the captured pilot was still alive before the exchange would take place. Now they don't seem to be holding out much hope at all, and are instead threatening mass execution of all ISIS detainees they are holding if something happens to the hostage pilot. Jordan had put the death penalty on hold for 8 years, but resumed executions in December, killing 11 people. Officials say they can fast-track the killing of all the ISIS detainees at a moment's notice. (source: antiwar.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 2 14:11:59 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 14:11:59 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., LA., OHIO, S.DAK., USA Message-ID: Feb. 2 TEXAS----impending executions Execution of Texas Inmate Donald Newbury Scheduled for February 4, 2015 Donald Keith Newbury is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CST, on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 52-year-old Donald is convicted of the murder of 29-year-old Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on December 24, 2000, in Irving, Texas. Donald has spent the last 12 years of his life on Texas' death row. Donald attended school though the sixth grade. He had previously been arrested and served time for aggravated robbery, twice. Prior to his arrest he had worked as a carpenter, an electrician, and a laborer. In 1998, Donald Newbury was, for a 3rd time, convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, leading to a 99 year prison sentence. In December of 2000, Newbury was serving his time at the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum security state prison near Kenedy, Texas. Donald conspired with 6 other inmates - 39-year-old Joseph C. Garcia, 23-year-old Randy Ethan Halprin, 37-year-old Larry James Harper, 39-year-old Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr., 30-year-old George Rivas, and 38-year-old Michael Anthony Rodriguez - to break out of the prison. The group, lead by George Rivas, became known as the "Texas 7." All were serving sentences of 30 years or longer, most with potential life sentences. On December 13, 2000, around 11:20 am, the 7 inmates used a variety of ploys to overpower and restrain 9 civilian maintenance supervisors, four correctional officers, and 3 uninvolved inmates. They had planned the escape during the slowest part of the day and in areas with low surveillance. They stole a white prison truck to assist in their escape, eventually dumping it in a Wal-Mart parking lot. After their escape, the group of 7 fled to San Antonio. On December 14, they robbed a Radio Shack in Pearland to obtain money. On December 19, the 4 of the 7 checked into an Econo Lodge motel in Farmers Branch. They decided, once again needing money, to rob Oshman's Sporting Goods store in Irving, a nearby town. For several days they cased the store and created their plans. On December 24, 2000, they held up to store, stealing 44 guns and over $70,000 in cash. A customer outside the store saw the hold up and called police. Officer Aubrey Hawkins responded to the call and was immediately ambushed. He suffered 11 gunshot wounds from at least 5 different weapons. His body was dragged out from his vehicle and run over by the group as they fled the scene. The Texas 7 were eventually arrested, with the help of the television show America's Most Wanted, which featured their story on January 20, 2001. 6 of 7 were captured, while the 7th, Larry Harper, killed himself before he could be arrested. All 6 surviving members were charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for the murder of Officer Hawkins. As it was unclear who actually shot Officer Hawkins, they were convicted under the Law of Parties, which allows for a person to be criminally held responsible for another's actions if that person acts with "the intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense and solicits, encourages, directs aids, or attempts to aid the other person to commit the offense ... If, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit 1 felony, another felony is committed by 1 of the conspirators, all conspirator are guilty of the felony actually committed." The ringleader, George Rivas was executed on February 29, 2012. Michael Anthony Rodriguez was executed on August 14, 2008, after asking that his appeals be stopped. Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Aubry Hawkins. Please pray for the family of Donald Newbury. Please pray that if Donald is innocent, evidence will be revealed before his execution. Please pray that Donald will come to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he has not already. (source: The Forgiveness Foundation, Jan. 26) ****************** An appeal to save Rodney Reed Rodney Reed, an innocent man on Texas death row, faces an execution date of March 5. Reed, who is African American, was convicted and sentenced to death by an all-white jury for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites. His case is a troubling mixture of prosecutorial misconduct, police corruption, inadequate legal defense and institutional racism. Evidence of his innocence is overwhelming, and the need for a new trial is indisputable. Rodney's family and supporters are organizing a campaign to win clemency from newly elected Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Here, we publish a sample clemency letter that can be used to collect signatures at tablings and other events, or as a basis for your own individual letter. Please print it out, collect signatures and send letters to Gov. Greg Abbott (Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 12428, Austin, TX 78711-2428) and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (P.O. Box 13401, Austin, TX 78711-3401). Please make copies of all letters, along with signatures, and mail them to the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, 1311 E. 13th St., Austin, TX 78702. Dear Governor Abbott and members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles: I am writing to ask that you grant clemency to Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed, who is scheduled to be killed on March 5, 2015. Rodney Reed was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. His conviction was based on semen DNA evidence. However, no other physical evidence linked him to the murder. Rodney has maintained that he and Stacey were having an affair, which accounted for the presence of his DNA. During the trial, important evidence of Rodney's innocence was not presented, through a combination of inadequate representation and prosecutorial misconduct. This included hidden eyewitness testimony, misleading expert witness testimony, and the failure of the defense to call either an alibi witness or the multiple witnesses who could have testified to the affair between Stacey and Rodney. Over the years, evidence has been uncovered that points to Stacey's then-fiancee and former Giddings police officer Jimmy Fennell, Jr. as the perpetrator of this crime. Fennell failed two polygraph tests on the question of whether he had strangled Stacey. Witness testimony and DNA evidence collected at the site where Stacey was found point to the involvement of Fennell's known associates. Fennell is currently in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in his custody while policing in Georgetown, TX. What you can do Rodney Reed's family and supporters are asking everyone who cares about justice to step up their efforts for Rodney now. You can: -- Collect clemency letters and signatures. Click here to download a sample clemency letter and find instructions on how to use it. You can find the online petition for Rodney at change.org. Download a paper petition here. The Campaign to End the Death Penalty also has an informational fact sheet on Rodney's case. Think about how you can use these materials at your school, church or community event. -- Stay updated about Rodney's case through social media. Follow the Justice for Rodney Reed campaign on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Share your own solidarity photo with us and tag it #Justice4Rodney -- Host a screening of the documentary State vs. Reed. This is an incredible resource for showing the facts of the case. You can find it online at YouTube. A new shorter video about the case called Framed also updates the case with new witnesses interviews. For more action items and information visit the Free Rodney Reed website and the Campaign to End the Death Penalty website. Rodney is pursuing new DNA testing on several crucial pieces of evidence--including the belt that Stacey was strangled with--which has never been tested for DNA. These tests could very well prove Rodney's innocence. Rodney is also pursuing a new state appeal based on changed medical testimony about the DNA that convicted him, that could help to prove his innocence. New laws passed in the last 2 legislative sessions concerning DNA testing in Texas speak to the importance of both pre- and post-conviction testing. In 2013, then-Attorney General and now-Governor Abbott supported a bill for pre-conviction DNA testing, saying, "Texans may disagree about the death penalty, but one thing all Texans can and should agree upon is that no innocent person should be executed in Texas." I am asking that you stand by those words and that you stop the execution of an innocent man. I am asking that you ensure that all DNA testing and a thorough examination of all the evidence in Rodney's case is undertaken by the state. I am asking that you spare the life of Rodney Reed. (source: SocialistWorker.org) ************************** Petition to stop the execution of Rodney Reed see: https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-execution-of-rodney-reed (source: change.org) ALABAMA----impending execution Alabama Attorney General's Office does not oppose execution delay for death row inmate An Alabama death row inmate, convicted in the 1987 shooting death of a Sylacauga convenience store clerk, may have his March execution delayed after his defense attorneys on Monday filed a motion - unopposed by state prosecutors - with the Alabama Supreme Court. On Dec. 23 the Alabama Supreme Court granted the Alabama Attorney General's request to set March 19 for the execution of William "Bill" Kuenzel. But in the petition to the Supreme Court, Kuenzel's attorneys state that on Jan. 12 the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals set oral arguments for their appeal on April 7, 2015 - about three weeks after the scheduled execution. "The state's (Alabama Attorney General's Office) motion to set an execution date seems to have been made as a matter of routine, despite the fact that an appeal was pending. Now that oral argument has been scheduled, the State of Alabama has advised undersigned counsel that it does not oppose Kuenzel's request for a stay of execution," according to the petition from Kuenzel's attorneys. "To execute Kuenzel when his claims of actual innocence and unconstitutional prosecution are in active litigation in the courts of this state is itself unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution," according to the petition. The motion was signed by Kuenzel attorneys Doug Jones of Birmingham, Lucas Montgomery, of Talladega, Jeffrey E. Glen and Rene F. Hertzog, of New York, and David A. Kochman, of Colorado. Kuenzel's attorneys also note in the petition that another execution planned for February, that of death row inmate Tommy Arthur, has been stayed by a federal court while the issue of the drugs used in state executions remains under review by the courts. The petition also states that same federal court also have 5 other lawsuits pending that challenge Alabama's new execution protocol. The U.S. Supreme Court has already agreed to review Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol, which mirrors the new protocol sought to be used by Alabama, the petition states. "Although Kuenzel has not yet elected to file a parallel lawsuit (regarding the execution drugs), he urges that prudence and caution each counsel for his not being executed while those claims remain the subject of active litigation," according to the petition. (source: al.com) LOUISIANA: Death penalty lawyers group sues public defenders for money The Louisiana Public Defenders Board is asking a state appeal court to overturn a ruling that it must pay a nonprofit group to defend clients facing a possible death penalty. Judges in Caddo and Sabine parishes ordered the board to pay Capital Assistance Project of Louisiana Inc. The Times reports (http://bit.ly/1tQVJRz ) that the public defenders board contends that district judges lack authority to make it fund the nonprofit. The board assigns indigent clients facing the death penalty to contract groups and attorneys. Capital Assistance's contract ended June 30, and the board stopped paying it. Capital Assistance Project head Richard Goorley says he's lost most of his staff. State public defender Jay Dixon says there have been indications of problems with the nonprofit's representation, but litigation keeps him from describing them. (source: Associated Press) OHIO: Politics and government from the Statehouse to the White House----Ohio Supreme Court ups requirements for attorneys in capital punishment cases Court-appointed attorneys in capital murder cases must meet more demanding qualifications, under new rules approved by the Ohio Supreme Court. Attorneys who seek court appointments to represent indigent clients in such cases must now be certified by the Commission on Appointment of Counsel in Capital Cases. To qualify, they must have had lead trial experience in at least 1 capital case or have been co-counsel in a minimum of 2 capital cases in the past 10 years. Also, attorneys will no longer get full credit for training taken electronically, compared to in-person training for which they will continue to receive full credit. The new rules, which took effect Feb. 1, are not related to other pending proposals about trial counsel made by the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio???s Death Penalty. (source: Columbus Dispatch) SOUTH DAKOTA: Voice: Is death penalty too costly for taxpayers?----An opinion piece by James Abourezk, a former U.S. senator from South Dakota. Is the cost of vengeance becoming too high? More and more Americans are believing that it is. Small wonder. By examining the cost of exercising the death penalty versus life imprisonment for those convicted of capital crimes (murder, kidnapping etc.), South Dakota taxpayers are being forced to cough up more money to satisfy the urge for vengeance by families of the victims of crimes, as well as to allow politicians to fulfill the blood lust of those who believe criminals should be put to death for serious crimes. The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Killing Criminals. In study after study, we find that politicians - and prosecutors - push hard for execution of serious criminals mostly for political reasons. Should any of these tough talkers take time to compare the cost of state-sponsored executions to the much lower cost of locking up the criminal for life with no parole, saving tax money might just be preferred punishment for these major law-breakers. In fact, should the voting public find out how much more expensive the death penalty is than imprisonment for life, politicians would become immediate converts to cheaper ways to punish those who commit capital crimes. But as it now stands, instead of politicians unwillingness to tell the public how much higher the cost to the taxpayers the death penalty is than life imprisonment - without parole - we hear only the vengeance part of their argument. In a paper issued by the Death Penalty Information Center, updated in 1994, some of the costs to the states which use capital punishment are reported. In California, for example, death penalty trials are 6 times more costly than a trial where the death penalty is the final outcome. In Kansas, a 1994 capital trial cost more than a murder trial where the death penalty is taken off the table. There exist many reasons for the excessive cost, but included in those reasons are matters such as the accused fighting as hard as he or she can to avoid execution. They use every conceivable defense, which adds the expense for expert witnesses, laboratory analysis and other costs. The irreversibility of a capital crime death sentence requires courts to follow heightened due process in the preparation and in the course of the trial. The separate sentencing phase of a death penalty trial can cost much more than the trial itself. And when death penalty only is on the table, accused are much more likely to insist on a trial rather than settling for a deal along with a guilty plea. And, there are constitutionally mandated appeals which are costly to both sides of the case. In Texas, which boasts of the largest death row in the country, a death penalty case in 1996 cost taxpayers an average of $2.3 million, which is about 3 times the cost of imprisoning the accused in a single cell for 40 years. Other states report similar savings when the death penalty is not the issue in a criminal trial. If the excessive cost of a death penalty trial is compared to a nondeath case, each state could increase police presence, police training and other matters designed to curb criminal activity, which is where the money should be spent. The Effect on the Public of Capital Crime and Capital Punishment. Aside from the money spent on capital cases, the effect on the public of highly publicized executions is damaging to efforts to downplay violence, especially violence committed by the state. I've written before about the lack of deterrence of murders when capital punishment is on the table. I learned in law school about how England used to hang pickpockets, but during the public hanging of a convicted pickpocket, other pickpockets would work the crowd for an easy profit while their marks were watching the hanging. These stories by historians make the point that the death penalty is not at all effective as a deterrent to more crime. Moreover, history has shown that leading up to a well-publicized public execution, the public becomes highly agitated, and more violent themselves as a result of the gruesome publicity. But what does one expect when the state itself commits legal murder by killing one of its citizens? South Dakota would be well served by the Legislature ignoring political leaders who make a career of ramping up the public's blood lust. (source: MY VOICE----James Abourezk represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate and in the U.S. House of Representatives where he served on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Retired, he lives in Sioux Falls with his wife and daughter; Argus Leader) USA: US Catholic Church welcomes Court decision to review protocols for use of lethal injection The chairs of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Committee on Pro-life Activities welcomed the US Supreme Court's January 23 announcement that it would review the drug protocols of lethal injection executions in the state of Oklahoma. The court will consider whether the procedures violate the US Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. "I welcome the Court's decision to review this cruel practice," said Archbishop Thomas G Wenski of Miami. "Our nation has witnessed through recent executions, such as occurred in Oklahoma, how the use of the death penalty devalues human life and diminishes respect for human dignity. We bishops continue to say, we cannot teach killing is wrong by killing." The Court's decision to consider the case of Glossip v Gross, brought by 3 death row inmates in Oklahoma, comes after several lethal injection executions were botched, including that of Clayton D Lockett in Oklahoma. "Society can protect itself in ways other than the use of the death penalty," Cardinal Sean P O'Malley, Chair of the Committee on Pro-life Activities, said. "We pray that the Court's review of these protocols will lead to the recognition that institutionalized practices of violence against any person erode reverence for the sanctity of every human life. Capital punishment must end." The U.S. bishops have been advocating against the death penalty for over 40 years. In 2005, they initiated the Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty and continue to work closely with state Catholic Conferences, the Catholic Mobilizing Network and other groups towards the abolition of the death penalty in the United States. The bishops join Pope Francis who in October 2014 called on Christians and all people of good will "to fight...for the abolition of the death penalty...in all its forms," out of respect for human dignity. The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in this matter in April. (source: Independent Catholic News) ********************************** Rethinking the Death Penalty I can't really write a massive post about our Christian duty to conform ourselves to Christ through submission to the Magisterium and not take my own medicine. We are all called to struggle with Church doctrine, to let ourselves be transformed by the renewal of our minds, through the Spirit of sonship. Hence, the death penalty. Years ago I wrote this post in support of the death penalty, and, I guess, I still think it's valid. There are no absolute rights; prison, particularly life imprisonment, is spectacularly cruel. And now, as a Catholic, it's easy to lawyer your way to where you want. After all, Catholic doctrine has long accepted the death penalty; John Paul II and subsequent Popes made it clear that their stance on the death penalty was not dogma. But, here's what the Catechism says (# 2267): Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm - without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity "are very rare, if not practically nonexistent." That doesn't leave much wiggle room, does it? In a sense, this is "beside the point": the Catechism argues on the basis of consequences; which I guess it has to, because Church doctrine allowing the death penalty was also argued on the basis of consequences, which is what the Church does when it wants to commit the apostasies it can. (If we let heretics live, how many poor souls will end up in the flames of Hell!) To me the argument is not about consequences. But there is also a key phrase here: "the dignity of the human person". If Christianity really represents, in David Bentley Hart's phrase, "total humanism", the belief that each and every human person is of infinite value, then, well, there you go. If each and every human person is of infinite value, there is no value that is commensurable; and civil authority certainly should not kill anyone when there are other available means of protecting the common good. Another way to look at this is through the Girardian critique of scapegoating. All civil punishment, necessary though it is, is always ultimately an instance of scapegoating. Civil authority accomplishes justice by punishing and excluding an individual from society. It is the restoring of social order through sacrifice, and whether this sacrifice is "just" might be a matter of sheer coincidence more often than we can contemplate. We humans, as the parable of the Grand Inquisitor reminds us, spend our time killing Jesus, and our duty as Christians, as apostles of the Kingdom, is to work towards a world where we do that less and less. Perhaps a 1st step towards not killing Jesus is not killing anyone at all. (source: Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, blog; patheos.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 2 14:13:20 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2015 14:13:20 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 2 CHINA---executions China Executes 2 From Banned Sect for Murder at McDonald's A father and daughter have been executed in China for attacking and killing a woman who had refused to join their outlawed religious group during an altercation at a McDonald's outlet, a court said Monday. Zhang Fan and her father, Zhang Lidong, were executed after the Supreme People's Court approved the death penalty, the Yantai Intermediate People's Court in the eastern province of Shandong said in a statement. It didn't say when the executions took place. The 2 were convicted and sentenced in October along with 3 other women who received sentences from life imprisonment to 7 years. The court said the group had called the victim "an evil spirit" and a "demon" before beating her to death one evening last May while at a McDonald's restaurant. She had refused to give them her number so that they could recruit new members into the "All-powerful Spirit" group, which China considers an illegal cult. The anti-Communist sect believes Jesus was resurrected as a Chinese woman. China's Supreme People's Court must review and approve all death sentences. (source: Associated Press) INDONESIA: Headlines Pleas for death-row convicts grow louder Death-penalty critics are continuing to call on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to spare the lives of convicted drug dealers, several of whom will face the firing squad this month. The Attorney General's Office (AGO) recently revealed the names of 11 death-row convicts on its soon-to-be-executed list, which include 2 Australian nationals - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Indonesian drug trafficker Zainal Abidin and 3 Indonesian murder convicts - Syofial, Sargawi and Harun - are also on the list of inmates set to face the firing squad on the isolated Nusakambangan in Cilacap, Central Java.Joining other human rights campaigners who have repeatedly called for the government to stop executing drug convicts in the fight against narcotics, the Institute for Criminal Justice (ICJR) called for the Judicial Commission to review all verdicts handed down to drug convicts after finding strong grounds that as many as 135 verdicts were marred with irregularities that contravened the principles of a fair trial. "We urge the Supreme Court to consider granting case reviews," the ICJR said in a statement on Sunday. Prominent human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, the attorney for the 2 Australians - Sukumaran and Chan - confirmed that both of his clients had submitted their 2nd case-review proposal to the Denpasar District Court, a move intended to delay their executions. The 2 Australians, whose 1st case-review proposals were rejected by the same court, were put on the waiting list of the next batch of executions after Jokowi rejected their clemency bids last year. "Yes, we have filed the case-review proposals [with the court]," Todung said on Sunday. Earlier on Friday, Todung said his clients had become better people. "With their rehabilitation, with all the changes that have taken place, I think they deserve a 2nd chance," he said. He was confident the case reviews would be granted, based on the Constitutional Court's ruling that allows a convict to file multiple case-review proposals. "We have the right to lodge [another] review." AGO spokesman Tony Tubagus Spontana confirmed the proposal submissions for the 2 Australian convicts. "They filed their requests on Friday," Tony said on Sunday. Tony, however, did not answer when asked whether the case-review petitions would consequently delay the executions of the 2 foreign nationals. Earlier, Attorney General HM Prasetyo said that a decision on the fate of a death convict became final once their clemency request to the President was rejected. The Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court have disagreed about how many case-review proposals a convict should be permitted. The AGO has sided with the Supreme Court, which says a convict should only be given 1 chance for a case review. The Constitutional Court last year, through a ruling on a judicial review filed by former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Antasari Azhar, who has been seeking a way to clear his name in a murder case, claims that every citizen has the right to file multiple case-review proposals should there be enough evidence to challenge their verdicts. On Saturday, volunteers from a local organization in Bali, the Mercy Campaign, distributed #keephopealive stickers to boost support for the anti-death penalty movement in the country. "We want to raise people's awareness about the death penalty and execution plan for Myuran and Andrew [Chan]. We want people to know that there is a problem with the death sentence. These 2 people have repented and yet they will be executed," campaign coordinator Matius Arif said. "They were drug dealers, yes. But that was 10 years ago," Arif added. He said the government should focus on law enforcement instead of executing people. (source: Margareth S. Aritonang, Haeril Halim and Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post) **************** Jokowi's stance on death penalty ignores unfairness The death penalty, and particularly the executions of drug traffickers by the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, have recently generated 2 vastly differing reactions. The government's policy has been widely criticized internationally but has the near-unanimous support of the Indonesian public and politicians. Regrettably, the only visible segment of the Indonesian public strongly opposed to the death penalty are the human rights activists. In the sights for the next round of executions are 2 Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, leaders of the Bali Nine drug ring. The stern and swift executions tell something of Jokowi's Presidency and his leadership. It perhaps came as a shock to the international community, which had euphoric expectations of Jokowi when he won the presidency. Many distant observers had unrealistic expectations that Jokowi as a "new" politician would strive for all the "good" things: clean government, effective bureaucracy, human rights and so on. President Jokowi is indeed untainted by human rights violations, and seems to genuinely care for the welfare of his people. However, he is a pragmatic politician and bureaucrat, not the idealist with visionary grand concepts that some have made him out to be. As we have seen in the 1st 3 months of his presidency, in terms of policy and actions within his control, he lived up to his "packaging", including the expected tug-of-war against the string-pulling of the old guard. Disregarding the current mess caused by the oligarchs within his coalition on political appointments and the chief of police debacle, Jokowi has proven himself to be an assertive leader true to his words and intentions. He is not swayed by the whims of public opinion as his predecessor was. Scrapping the fuel subsidy was an action the significance of which has been somewhat overlooked. The fact that it did not create a huge uproar, in spite of its perception as a Pandora's Box by previous presidents, shows that Jokowi's leadership and political capital are greater than any other president since the beginning of reformasi. That said, his rejection of clemency for death-row inmates and today's line-up of executions is not uncharacteristic of his leadership. Many of his policies and actions in these past three months, excluding the "big-mother" drama alluding to the influence of his patron, speak of a leader who is not easily pressured by either domestic public opinion or international pressure. Jokowi has shown that to some extent he has tunnel vision, concrete and measurable goals that fit his rather narrowly defined goals and vision. He saw the need to reallocate money to support his infrastructure build-up and health and security protection programs. Hence, he was prepared to risk a tidal wave of public uproar. The same thing can be said of his leadership of Indonesia vis-a-vis other countries and the international community. Jokowi is not a hyper-nationalist leader who would ferment nationalism against other countries to garner public support or show himself as a "man of the people". But nor will he cave in to international pressure if, in his calculation, it is not beneficial for his measurable goals to do so. He is not a friend to a million strangers like his predecessor, as clear from the recent executions of foreigners and sinking of illegal fishing ships.The saving of any of the lives in the 2nd execution roll-call, in particular the lives of the much-publicized 2 Australians, is now a forlorn hope. The fact that the 1st batch of executions included foreign citizens, exempting just the 2 Australians would be perceived as a double standard and as peculiar subservience to Australia. In light of rows between the 2 nations over issues including Australia's obstinacy on boat people and the lack of apology for the wire-tapping incident, it is particularly tricky for the Australian government to lobby for the lives of Chan and Sukumaran. It is lamentable that the Indonesian government, backed by overwhelming public opinion, looks likely to continue with the executions. It is particularly sad to see that of the convicts in the next batch, Martin Anderson from Ghana, waiting to be executed for possession of a mere 50 grams of heroin. It seems probably that President Jokowi's stubborn stance on executions, in spite of the international outcry and the constitutional provision for the right to life, is down to the advice he is getting. He is likely being supplied with data and statistics on the drug problem plaguing Indonesian society. It is thus only logical in his mind to go ahead with the executions. Advocates against the death penalty will need to be able to connect their arguments to concrete and measurable goals within Jokowi's programs. They will also need to be able to show a clearer picture how the death penalty, as well as being prone to error, is also very unfair and can create a mess of the Indonesian justice system. One clear contrast is the execution of Anderson with the perfunctory sentences of between 3 and 6 months in prison for the killers of 3 Ahmadi villagers in Cikeusik, Banten, in 2011 - an outrageous disparity. The conclusion: abolish the death penalty to allow time to rethink and review the fairness of the sentences. Foreign countries understandably need to lobby for the lives of their citizens, but this will prove futile if it means Jokowi having to show preferential treatment to certain countries, which he will probably not do. Foreign diplomats will need to help human rights activists frame the issue in the larger context and articulate how an end to the death penalty is in Indonesia's interests. ... abolish the death penalty to allow time to rethink and review the fairness of the sentences. (source: Opinion, Tobias Basuki; The writer is a researcher with the department of politics and international relations at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta, and was selected as a Munich Young Leader in 2014----The Jakarta Post) ******************************************** Indonesian judge says Bali 9 duo shouldn't be shot because the death penalty doesn't work A former senior Indonesian Judge involved in the Bali 9 trials has warned the firing squad does nothing to prevent drug crime. Speaking exclusively to News Corporation, Judge Laica Marzuki said he is saddened by his country's renewed stand on the death penalty and that heavy sentences would be a more effective deterrent to criminals. Mr Marzuki was on a panel of 9 judges in the Indonesian Constitutional Court who heard a challenge by Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran and 2 Indonesian prisoners against the death penalty in 2007. The court eventually ruled 6 to 3 that the death penalty was constitutional for the worst case of crime. Mr Marzuki was one of the dissenting judges on that decision. The court's chief judge has since said that he only sided with the majority because that is the role of the chief. Sukumaran and Chan are now very close to being executed although no date has been set. One of the Indonesian women on their court challenge in 2007 was executed in the early hours of January 18, along with 5 others as part of a renewed effort by Indonesia to eradicate drug crime and send "shock therapy" to drug traffickers. "As a former judge I am so sad to see this," Mr Marzuki said of Indonesia's appetite to execute a large number of death row prisoners this year. He said he continued to stand firm on his view that the death penalty violates the Indonesian Constitution's right to life which cannot be reduced under any circumstance. "In my opinion the plan to execute drug criminals should be cancelled as it violates the Constitution. The death sentence should be replaced by life sentences," Mr Marzuki said. "I am disappointed. I hope the President can consider again that the executions are against our 1945 Constitution. "I have a dream that some day the death sentence in Indonesia will be deleted." Mr Marzuki likened his country's legal system, inherited from the Dutch who had abolished the death penalty, as being "a goat chewing old grass". And Mr Marzuki said the death penalty was not a deterrent and that drug crime was better dealt with and deterred by hefty sentences. The Denpasar District Court is yet to announce if it will accept a last-ditch appeal bid by the 2 Sydney men which was lodged on Friday to be spared from death row. News Corporation understands that the court's chief was in Jakarta on Monday seeking advice from superiors about whether to accept or throw out the application. A decision may be given on Tuesday. The duo lodged applications for a judicial review or PK of their case on Friday but authorities have said only one of these appeals is allowed per prisoner and both Chan and Sukumaran have lodged and lost judicial reviews back in 2012. Since then there has been controversy. The Constitutional Court says more than 1 PK is allowed, if there is new evidence, but the Supreme Court says the limit is 1. However a new regulation to that effect is yet to be passed. Further clouding the issue were reported comments from the Indonesian Attorney General that the pair were among the next round of death row inmates to face the firing squad. The attorney-general said various things had to be considered before setting a date for the next round of executions, including the weather. "We're just waiting for the right time," he said. "Their judicial aspects have been finished and certainly, we are now in the stage of preparation for their death penalty execution." Mr Marzuki says human rights demand that more than one PK appeal be allowed. "For the reason of human rights the PK should be allowed to be lodged many times," he said. The 2007 Constitutional Court decision involving Chan and Sukumaran also recommended that if, after 10 years of good behaviour on death row, prisoners had not been executed, their sentences should be commuted to life or 20 years. However that recommendation has not been made law. In April this year the 2 Australians will have been on death row for 10 years and have submitted they are reformed and rehabilitated. On Monday the families of Chan and Sukumaran visited them in jail, along with a local Pastor and church group who were due to hold a church service in the jail. Chan is studying to be a pastor. (source: news.com.au) ***************** Execution Island: Where Chan and Sukumaran will go to die It's not an easy journey from Kerobokan prison to Nusa Kambangan. There's a flight to Jogjakarta, a bumpy 5-hour road trip through the villages and rice paddies of Central Java, and finally a steamy ferry ride to the island itself. For Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, it will be the most difficult journey they've ever had to make. It will also be their last. 10 years after they entered Kerobokan prison - named as ringleaders of the infamous "Bali 9", a plot to smuggle 8.3kg or $4 million worth of heroin out of Indonesia - the pair will soon finally leave. But it won't be to a luxury Bali villa to serve out their parole like Schapelle Corby. These men will make that journey to Nusa Kambangan - Indonesia's Alcatraz - in the dead of night. A few days later they'll be killed by firing squad. Indonesia's President has rejected their pleas for clemency, and despite a last ditch legal bid by the pairs??? lawyers, the Government says the pair have exhausted their appeals and will be among the next round of prisoners to be executed. That means that any day now, they could be given 3 days notice of their execution date. My cameraman and I travelled to Nusa Kambangan - the island the Government has said will be the most likely location for their execution, this week. One side of the island is a tourist paradise. Laughing locals sipping coconuts, young boys playing on white sand beaches. Our western faces were such a novelty we were asked to pose for many photos. Then our small fishing boat travelled to the other side - only to the edge of the "restricted area" where our driver would go no further. Security cameras peeped out from dense walls of trees. A boat carrying prison staff was docked at the port. A sign bearing the faces of Indonesia's Justice Minister and narcotics boss with raised fists let us know that this was where Indonesia's worst criminals are housed - in 7 prisons dotted around the island. Father Charlie Burrows, an Irish priest who lives in the closest mainland port city of Cilacap has counselled many prisoners and their families as the time of execution draws closer. He told us that just waiting for the death sentence to be carried out is torture in itself. "The president has said they're all going to be executed. That means none of them have hope anymore. And you can't live without hope." His description of the execution process is even more terrifying. "When I was there, they were taken up to a mountain and they're tied these - it was actually a cross, yeah. And they have rubber tubing round around them so they can't move and they have white cloth on them and the doctor comes forward and puts a little black badge where the heart is and then the shooters shoot for the heart,??? he said. Charlie Burrows has witnessed 2 of these executions and says it took 7 or 8 minutes for the prisoners to die. In that time, while they were moaning in pain, he sang ???Amazing Grace??? to give them something to focus on. Charlie is a strong campaigner against the death penalty. He believes the prisoners should be rehabilitated instead. By all accounts, Chan and Sukumaran have been. 10 years ago they were young men who did a terrible thing and were caught. But they believe they are now good men. Chan is studying to be a pastor and counsels fellow inmates, helping them steer clear of drugs. Sukumaran is a talented artist and runs classes for other prisoners. They're not asking to be freed, just for their lives to be spared so they can continue to work for the rest of their lives inside Kerobokan prison. As I sat in that fishing boat looking at the entrance to that island prison - one of the last things those men will ever see, I tried to imagine what they would be thinking when they arrive here. But it's impossible. How can someone even process what they are about to face? I've seen their families coming and going from the prison, grief and despair etched on their faces. They're spending as much time as possible with their loved ones, knowing it could be over very soon. Charlie Burrows tells me there's an Indonesian saying that translates to "if you know a person, you'll automatically like him". Chan and Sukumaran broke the law. They did it in a country where the punishment is death. They knew that and took their chances anyway. But 10 years later they are different people who have realised their mistakes and have been atoning for their crimes. Do they really deserve to die? (source: 9news.com.au) ****************** Your letters: A relic of colonialism It is surprising to me that a dynamic and thoughtful society such as yours can hold on to such a barbaric relic of colonialism as the death penalty. Ritual hanging, bloody flogging, often to death, were all practiced in England during the 19th and 20th centuries. At the time when "transportation for life" was the British answer to its prodigious crime rate, the death penalty was being enacted for some 220 "crimes". Strangely, as a deterrent, it didn't work very well. Crowded boats still made their way to Botany Bay. Enforcement of any "death penalty" and other unusual penalties within any system of justice is, of itself, premeditated and barbarous. The practical details of executions have frightening effects on those who have to carry them out. They also encourage a degree of prurience among the public. The penalty attracts more attention than the crime. England, Australia and most European countries have abandoned these forms of retribution for many good reasons. Arthur Koestler's Reflections on hanging did more to change this culture in England and Australia than any other book. I feel sure that Indonesia itself will in due course abandon the death penalty, an horrific and outdated form of punishment. Terry Beahan Western Australia (source: Letter to the Editor, Jakarta Post) ************************************ 'Bali 9' ringleaders 'next in line' to be executed----The men have had their appeal for clemency rejected 2 Australians facing the death penalty in Bali are next in line to be executed, Indonesia's attorney general has said. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, members of the "Bali 9" drug smuggling ring, applied on Friday for a fresh judicial review. But the attorney general's office says they have exhausted options for appeal. It was not clear when the executions would take place. Appeals for clemency have already been rejected. Attorney General HM Prasetyo said on Monday that Chan and Sukumaran "will be included" in the next group of prisoners to be put to death. "We have heard that many Australians support the execution and it is one of the things that pushes us to feel we are not making a mistake," he told a press conference in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran have filed an application for a 2nd judicial review. Mr Prasetyo said he had heard that this focused on the men's rehabilitation in prison, but said this did not constitute new evidence. "New evidence is... something we didn't know when the trial took place that would have altered the sentence," he was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald, adding that "our reference" is the fact that their appeal for clemency has already been rejected by the president's office. Diplomatic row Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. It ended a 4-year moratorium on executions in 2013. Last month, Indonesia executed convicts from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and the Netherlands as well as 1 from Indonesia. It prompted Brazil and the Netherlands to recall their ambassadors in protest. Australian authorities have threatened to do the same if Chan and Sukumaran are put to death. Australia opposes the death penalty and its government has repeatedly campaigned on behalf of the men. They were in a group of 9 Australians arrested in Bali in 2005 with more than 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin. (source: BBC news) ************************* Indonesia to execute Ghanaian and 10 other nationals Indonesia was preparing to carry out its 2nd series of executions of death-row convicts since the beginning of the year, reports said Monday. "We're still waiting for the right time, including the weather," Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo was quoted as saying by CNN Indonesia online. The Attorney General's office last week said it had received presidential letters rejecting clemency for 11 convicts on death row, including 8 drug traffickers. They include 1 each from Brazil, France, Ghana, the Philippines, Nigeria and 2 from Australia. Indonesia last month executed 6 convicted traffickers, from Malawi, Brazil, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Vietnam and Indonesia. Executions in Indonesia are carried out by firing squad. The Netherlands and Brazil recalled ambassadors from Jakarta to protest the executions of their citizens. Indonesia has defended the death penalty for drug traffickers, saying the country's drug problem has reached an emergency level. The government has said drug abuse kills an average of 40 people in Indonesia each day, and that the estimated number of drug addicts is expected to reach 5.8 million people this year. Last month's executions were the 1st since 2013 and the 1st since President Joko Widodo took office in October 2014. There are more than 100 people on death row in Indonesian prisons, mostly for drug offences. (source: spyghana.com) ****************************** Trial of US couple charged with murder in Indonesia proceeds An Indonesian court decided Monday to go ahead with the trials of an American couple charged with murdering the woman's mother while vacationing on the resort island of Bali last year. The 3-judge panel overruled defense arguments that the indictment submitted by prosecutors had inaccuracies and should be annulled. Hearings will resume Wednesday at Denpasar District Court in the provincial capital of Bali. "The indictment is fully qualified both formally and materially according to the law," said presiding judges Made Suweda. "Therefore, the defense objections are rejected." The badly beaten body of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, 62, was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi outside an upscale hotel in August. Heather Mack, 19, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, both from Chicago, are being tried separately with the same judges and prosecutors. They are charged with premeditated murder and face a maximum penalty of death by firing squad if found guilty. Their lawyers argued earlier that inaccuracies in the indictment could lead to multiple interpretations of the suspects' activities and the crime scene, raising questions of whether other people had entered the victim's room and killed her. They also objected to the citing of communications between the defendants on cellphones as evidence of premeditated murder, arguing that cellphone communications are prone to manipulation. Prosecutors have alleged that the couple sent text messages about their initial plan to disguise a murder as suicide on the beach. Both defendants sat quietly as the decision to proceed with the trials was read out by judges. Unlike previous hearings, Schaefer didn't shed tears. In their indictment, prosecutors said the couple plotted the murder because von Wiese-Mack did not endorse their relationship, and that Mack once suggested that Schaefer hire someone to kill her mother for $50,000 before their visit to Bali. It said that an argument over the hotel bill made Mack's mother angry and she scolded Schaefer, using a racial slur, and Schaefer then battered her with a fruit bowl handle. Mack, who is 7 months' pregnant, helped stuff her mother's body in the suitcase by sitting on it to enable Schaefer to close it, the indictment said. They then hired a taxi and placed the suitcase in the trunk and told the driver they were going to check out of the hotel and would return, but never did. (source: Associated Press) *********************** British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford in final appeal from Indonesia's death row Fearing her death penalty could be carried out in a few weeks, British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford has written to UK's Foreign Secretary to seek financial help in pursuing a final legal appeal. Sandiford, 57, from Cheltenham was convicted of smuggling cocaine worth 1.6 million pounds' worth from Thailand to Bali in May 2012, and faces death by firing squad. "We are closely following Lindsay Sandiford's case in Indonesia. We stand ready to support at this difficult time, if it is requested. The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances without exception. We have made representations about the death penalty to the Indonesian government, and we will continue to do so." - Spokesman, British embassy She has maintained that she was forced into drugs smuggling to protect her children since their safety was at stake. In a letter seen by BBC, Sandiford has appealed to UK's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond who will be visiting Indonesia this month. She has said that she does not have the financial resources to hire a lawyer and challenge her conviction or file for clemency. Sandiford also claims she has received no assistance from the Foreign Office since her arrest. The Foreign Office however, denies this and said it has consistently offered consular help to Sandiford. "We are closely following Lindsay Sandiford's case in Indonesia. We stand ready to support at this difficult time, if it is requested," said a spokesman at the British embassy in Indonesian capital Jakarta. "The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances without exception. We have made representations about the death penalty to the Indonesian government, and we will continue to do so." Indonesia is known for its tough penalties and zero-tolerance policy on drug offences. Indonesia's President Jodo Widodo last week denied appeals for presidential clemency from 2 Australians who are also sentenced to death saying, there is "no compromise". Indonesia carried out 6 executions last month, including 5 foreigners, for drug-related offences. (source: International Business Times) ************************* Alleged drug lord forced to burn $136 million of meth Wong Chi-ping sat quietly. Handcuffed and wearing a black mask, the Chinese national watched as Indonesian authorities put 1,900 pounds of what was said to be his methamphetamine on a table. Alongside eight other suspects, he was paraded in front of the media before authorities forced the alleged drug lord to burn his alleged $136 million stash in a large incinerator. That's not the worst of it for him. If convicted he could face the death penalty. Authorities have been on the hunt for Wong for years, according to the South China Morning Post. Wanted in 7 different jurisdictions, the 40-year-old alleged drug lord was caught earlier this month transporting his alleged stash in a Jakarta, Indonesia, shopping mall. The 3-year investigation targeted Wong's accomplices, who were arrested on the same day. The high profile bust is reportedly the biggest seizure of drugs in Indonesian history. "The Chinese government supports any penalty, any verdict given by the Indonesian government," Li Bo of China's narcotic control commission said at a news conference. If convicted for drug trafficking, the 9 men could face the death penalty in Indonesia - a country with strict drug laws that resumed executions for drugs in 2013 after 5 years. "We have very strict regulation," BNN Deputy Chief Deddy Fauzi Elhakim told local news media, as Vice reported. "We have very strong punishment for everyone who tries to supply or smuggle drugs in Indonesia." Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who has been in office since October, has drawn criticism for not offering clemency for drug offenders, as Reuters reported. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, part of the so-called "Bali 9," were sentenced to death in 2006 for attempting to smuggle about 18 pounds of heroin into Australia. The two foreigners are still scheduled to face the firing squad despite many appeals. Hundreds of Australians called for their release on Thursday, taking to the streets and putting on a large concert in support. According to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Asia is the largest market in the world for amphetamine-type stimulants. In the past 5 years, seizures of methamphetamine tripled. "Every day we have 50 people die because of narcotics, of drugs," Widodo told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "In 1 year, it's 18,000 people who die because of narcotics. We are not going to compromise for drug dealers." (source: Washington Post) JAPAN: Death sentence upheld for Akihabara rampage killer The Supreme Court on Monday finalized the death penalty of Tomohiro Kato for the vehicular homicide and stabbing spree that left 7 people dead and 10 injured on the streets of Tokyo's Akihabara neighborhood in 2008. The indiscriminate killing spree was carried out based on Kato's "meticulous preparation" and "determined intent of murder," Chief Justice Ryuko Sakurai said. "The incident also had huge repercussions on society and the victims' kin are keenly desirous of his punishment," she continued, condemning the 32-year-old former temp worker as liable for "extremely grave criminal responsibility" and worthy of no extenuating circumstances. Kato, who was 25 at the time, plowed a rental truck into a crowded intersection in Japan's mecca for "otaku" (geek) culture on June 8, 2008, killing 3 people and injuring 2. He then got out, chased down and stabbed bystanders, killing 4 and wounding 8. The incident shocked Japan and shoved the problem of youth dissatisfaction with unstable employment back into the spotlight. It also froze Akihabara's Sunday tradition of forming pedestrian-only shopping zones by closing its main street, Chuo-dori, to traffic every week. Kato has explained in past testimony that his motive was to vent his pent-up anger at society and demonstrate to all of his tormentors, including people he claimed had been harassing him in an Internet forum, of the consequences of their actions. Just before the attack, he posted anonymous messages online detailing his intentions. He was sentenced to hang by the district and high courts in 2011 and 2012. Before Monday's ruling, his defense team had asked for clemency on the grounds that Kato was barely sane at the time of the massacre due to obnoxious online harassment he was subject to. The prosecutors countered that he must have been mentally competent enough to know the magnitude of what he was about to do, citing his thorough preparation. The top court ruled in favor of the prosecution, saying his plan had been meticulously planned. The Tokyo District Court's ruling stated that Kato drove past the intended crime scene 3 times before he was able to launch his attack, an act of hesitation it said suggested he was aware of the gravity of what he was about to do. The district court also said Kato, partly because of his abusive mother, was incapable of understanding the feelings of others and developing healthy relationships with them. (source: Japan Times) EGYPT: Confirmation of 183 death sentences 'outrageous' "Today's death sentences are yet another example of the bias of the Egyptian criminal justice system. These verdicts and sentences must be quashed and all of those convicted should be given a trial that meets international standards of fairness and excludes the death penalty." -- Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International. The deaths sentences handed down to 183 people in Egypt today following grossly unfair trials are a further sign of Egypt's disregard for national and international law, says Amnesty International today. "Today's death sentences are yet another example of the bias of the Egyptian criminal justice system. These verdicts and sentences must be quashed and all of those convicted should be given a trial that meets international standards of fairness and excludes the death penalty," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International. "The death penalty is a cruel and inhuman punishment in all circumstances. To impose death when there are serious doubts hanging over the fairness of the trial is outrageous and flouts international law." The sentences come after a nation-wide media campaign calling for the execution of those involved in attacks on police and military, which gathered pace following last week's attacks in Sinai. In December, the Giza criminal court convicted 188 of involvement in the killing of 11 police officers, in relation to attacks on Kerdassa Police Station in Giza in August 2013 in which 11 police officers were killed. The final verdict was issued today following consultation with the Grand Mufti. "Issuing mass death sentences whenever the case involves the killing of police officers now appears to be near-routine policy, regardless of facts and with no attempt to establish individual responsibility," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. So far, 415 people have been sentenced to death in four trials for the killing of police officers, while the case against former President Hosni Mubarak, involving the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising, has been dropped. To date no security officers have been held to account for the killing of 1,000 protesters in August 2013. The trial was held in Tora Police Institute rather than a courtroom and all of the witnesses were either police officers or families of the police officers. The families of the defendants were unable to attend "Not allowing the families or public to attend the trial was in contravention of national and international law and holding the trial in a prison complex undermined the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair and public hearing," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. The defence panel also told Amnesty International that not all of the defendants were brought to the hearings. Those who were, were unable to hear the trial proceedings or communicate with the legal team because of a large dark glass screen separating them from the rest of the courtroom. The defence panel also added that they were not able to cross-examine prosecution witnesses during the trial and the judge did not summon all the witnesses. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner. (source: Amnesty International) ********************** Egypt court upholds Muslim Brotherhood death sentences----Supporters of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi burned a police station in Kerdasa, More than 140 of the defendants are in custody over the attack at the Kerdasa police station A court in Egypt has upheld death sentences on 183 Muslim Brotherhood supporters over a 2013 attack on a police station near Cairo. The men were convicted over the deaths of at least 11 officers in Kerdasa. The attack took place after Egyptian military forces cracked down on Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi that July. Hundreds of death sentences have been passed on Mr Morsi's supporters but none have been carried out. Mr Morsi will face a new espionage trial on 15 February, Egypt's official Mena news agency says. He and 10 others will be charged with leaking "classified documents" to Qatar and Qatari-based broadcaster al-Jazeera. Mr Morsi is already facing three other trials, including another case of espionage. He could be given the death penalty if found guilty. Appeal still possible More than 140 of the 188 defendants in the Kerdasa case are already in custody, while the rest have been sentenced in absentia. The court also sentenced a minor to 10 years in prison in the case, and two other defendants were acquitted. The verdict follows a recommendation by Egypt's top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, but it can be appealed against. Last month, the death sentences of 37 people were overturned on appeal. The defendants had been convicted of attacking a police station in Minya, south of Cairo, on the same day as the Kerdasa attack. The original trial also saw some 377 people sentenced to life in prison in absentia. The United Nations has called the mass trials "unprecedented". Mr Morsi was succeeded by President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, a former military chief who has been heavily criticised for his crackdown on Islamists. Hundreds of people, mostly Islamists, have been killed since the army deposed Mr Morsi. (source: BBC news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 3 16:55:59 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2015 16:55:59 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CONN., FLA., ALA., OHIO, KAN. Message-ID: Feb. 3 CONNECTICUT: Expectant mom's killer, once condemned, collapses and dies A former Connecticut death row inmate convicted of fatally stabbing a pregnant woman over a drug debt collapsed in prison Monday and died, according to prison officials. Robert Courchesne, 57, was walking inside the Garner Correctional Center at about 10:35 a.m. when he collapsed, the Correction Department said in a release. He was taken to Danbury Hospital and pronounced dead about an hour later. Courchesne was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to death for killing Demetris Rodgers in Waterbury in 1998. Rodgers was 8 1/2 months pregnant when she was killed. Her baby, Antonia Rodgers, was delivered by emergency cesarean section minutes later, but the infant was pronounced dead after 42 days on life support. Prosecutors had charged Courchesne with capital felony under the section of the statute that allowed the state to seek a death sentence when there is more than 1 victim. The court upheld Courchesne's conviction in the slaying of Demetris Rodgers but overturned his 2 capital felony convictions and his murder conviction for the baby's death. The court ruled prosecutors failed to prove during the trial that the baby's brain was functioning when she was born. Prosecutors decided to let Courchesne's 60-year murder sentence stand rather than retry the capital case. The state has since abolished the death penalty, although it still applies to inmates already on death row when the law was passed in 2012. State police are investigating Courchesne's death, but the Correction Department said it does not suspect he was the victim of foul play. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Florida Won't Follow Ohio and Oklahoma in Halting Executions----Florida, which still uses a controversial lethal injection drug, says an execution scheduled for later this month will continue as planned. Florida's Department of Corrections says it has no plans to delay an execution scheduled for later this month, despite other states putting their executions on hold in light of an upcoming Supreme Court review of the constitutionality of certain lethal injection protocols. Florida uses the drug midazolam hydrochloride for lethal injections -- the same drug involved in problematic executions in Oklahoma, Ohio and Arizona in recent months. "As far I know, the execution that is scheduled for later this month is still scheduled and nothing about our procedures are changed," McKinley Lewis, communications director of the Florida Department of Corrections, tells U.S. News. "The duty of the department is to carry out the sentence of the court. The death penalty is our most solemn duty ... to my knowledge nothing has been changed." Of the states that used midazolam in 2014 according to the Death Penalty Information Center, only Florida has an execution scheduled for 2015 without any plans to find an alternative methods. Recent issues with lethal injections are believed to be the result of a shortage of death penalty drugs, due in part to a European sanctions against selling drugs used for executions to the U.S. States have been experimenting with mixes of drugs intended for other uses -- midazolam, for instance, is typically used to produce drowsiness before surgery -- without full knowledge of their effects. Last year, Florida executed 8 inmates using a 3-drug protocol that included midazolam, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and it also used midazolam in an execution last month. The Attorney General's office of Florida did not immediately respond to U.S. News' request for comment. On Jan. 28, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Oklahoma's request to temporarily stay the three executions using midazolam scheduled in the state this spring, ahead of Supreme Court arguments slated for mid-April as to whether Oklahoma's combination of drugs violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Oklahoma officials signaled they believed they could carry out the executions if they found an alternative drug. Ohio announced Jan. 30 that it would postpone the 7 lethal injection executions it had scheduled for 2015 while it seeks out new drugs. Arizona's Department of Corrections said in December it would abandon the 2-drug cocktail, also involving midazolam, after a July 2014 lethal injection lasted an unprecedented 90 minutes and the inmate was described as gasping "like a fish on shore gulping for air." Arizona will continue to use midazolam in a 3-drug combination if it cannot acquire the preferred Pentobarbital or Sodium Pentothal,? but the state has not scheduled any executions scheduled for this year. "The fact that Florida uses midazolam has been forcefully called to the attention of the Florida Supreme Court and if necessary, will be called to the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court," says Hofstra University law professor Eric M. Freedman, who has written about the high court's history staying executions. He says there is "as low a probability as anything in the legal system" that Florida's execution of Jerry Correll -- who was sentenced to death for the 1985 murders of his his ex-wife, 5-year-old daughter, mother-in-law and sister-in-law -- will happen Feb. 26, when scheduled. "It would be responsible of the Attorney General of Florida not to clutter the courts" with appeals, Freedman says, "but rather make the responsible announcement that it will not seek to execute anyone until the matter is resolved by the Supreme Court." The last time the Supreme Court heard a case concerning the constitutionality of lethal injection, 2008's Baze v. Rees, it resulted in "a quasi moratorium" of the death penalty across the country, says Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law school professor who is an expert in lethal injection protocols. The justices individually stayed a number of executions between when it announced it was reviewing the case in 2007 and when it issued its decision, which ultimately upheld the constitutionality of the Kentucky's 3-drug protocol. Unlike the 2008 case, which was considering a method widely used around the country, this time around, "less than a handful of states are using this particular drug," Denno says. "It's very different situation." (source: US News & World Report) ALABAMA: 2-time convicted killer who avoided execution dies in prison from cancer A 2-time convicted killer who avoided the death penalty because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against executing the mentally retarded died in an Alabama prison Sunday. James Henry Borden Jr., 65, was an inmate at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility. Borden was convicted and sentenced to die for the Sept. 5, 1993, murder of 63-year-old Nellie Ledbetter, who was slain in front of her young grandchildren. Borden died from pancreatic cancer in the prison infirmary at 7:53 p.m., said Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates. He had been in the infirmary since Dec. 22, and had a do-not-resuscitate order. Borden, also convicted of a murder 20 years prior to Ledbetter's death, was 1 of 3 men who drove to Ledbetter's home near Moulton. The other 2 men stayed in the car, according to a Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama case summary, while Borden began talking to Ledbetter, who was sitting on the porch with her 2 grandchildren. When Ledbetter's husband came out onto the porch, Borden and his companions left. Borden returned alone about 45 minutes later, put a knife to her throat and told her to come with him. When she refused, he fatally stabbed her in the stomach and chest. He was convicted of capital murder because of his previous murder conviction, the Associated Press reported at the time. In 2002, the Supreme Court issued a decision that said mentally retarded killers can't be executed. Experts determined Borden had an IQ of 53. In 2005, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals agreed that Borden should not face the death penalty. (source: al.com) OHIO: Jury selection begins in death penalty case Jury selection began in a death penalty trial Tuesday for a man accused of killing 2 people in 2009 and setting a fire to cover it up. Hager Church is charged with 2 counts of aggravated murder and 1 count of aggravated arson in the June 14, 2009, house fire that killed Massie "Tina" Flint, 45, and her boyfriend, Rex Hall, 54. The fire was at a house at 262 S. Pine St., Lima. Church is serving a life sentence with no chance for parole for a separate case in 2010. He was convicted of beating a woman to death inside her home for a few dollars and costume jewelry. (source: limaohio.com) KANSAS: Kansas state rep. on government's wasteful spending on the death penalty During the 2015 legislative session, Kansas legislators will be looking for ways to balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending. One area where legislators should look is the millions of dollars that Kansas spends on its death penalty with nothing to show for it; there hasn't been an execution in Kansas since 1965. In 2014, a Judicial Council report commissioned by the Kansas Legislature investigated and provided figures on the fiscal impact of a prosecutor deciding to seek the death penalty. This report deserves more attention this year, especially as legislators look for ways to trim the state budget. This study does not rely on questionable assumptions or complicated models to come to its conclusions. Instead, it takes the straightforward approach of comparing the costs incurred in 2 similar sets of cases: death-eligible cases where the death penalty is sought and death-eligible cases where the death penalty is not sought. The report's findings make clear that seeking the death penalty proves costly. Specifically, defense and district court costs in Kansas for cases where the death penalty is sought are on average 3 to 4 times more expensive than in similar cases where the death penalty is not sought. The high costs of Kansas' death penalty are hardly an outlier. Studies commissioned by state legislatures in Indiana, Nevada, and New Hampshire all found the death penalty to cost more than the alternative of life without parole. In Illinois, the state immediately saved $4.7 million from its budget after repealing the death penalty in 2011. Despite all this evidence, some remain incredulous that the death penalty costs more than life without parole. If attorneys were not working on capital cases, they reason, we would still be paying them just to work on different cases, right? In reality, death penalty trials require extra attorneys and also have a separate sentencing phase, which means they last longer. The Kansas Judicial Council found that the decision to seek the death penalty more than doubles the average length of a trial (40.13 v. 16.79 days). If more attorneys are working on a case for a longer period of time, the case inevitably will be more expensive. Recent budget requests in counties facing capital cases illustrate this point. Franklin County had to set aside $100,000 for an upcoming capital case in 2015. Labette County set aside $150,000 for a capital trial in 2015, and the county was advised that the costs for the case could go up to $350,000 or more. The Shawnee County District Attorney in 2014 requested $150,000 from his county to prosecute capital cases after indicating that the cases were stretching his office's resources. Back in 2010, Osage County had to raise property taxes in part to pay for an upcoming capital trial. Given the emphasis this legislative session on identifying cost savings, I fully expect repealing the death penalty to be part of the discussion. When we debate the death penalty, it is important that we're honest about its costs and not ignore its fiscal impact. As legislators look for cuts in the budget, it is our duty to continue to adequately fund core government functions, such as ensuring public safety. If the death penalty saved lives, that would be a compelling reason to justify its high costs. But the death penalty doesn't make us safer. The 18 states that have abandoned capital punishment actually have an average murder rate lower than the rest of the country. Today, life in prison without parole can keep dangerous individuals removed from society at a much lower cost. That cost savings, importantly, frees up more dollars for law enforcement measures that - unlike the death penalty - have a proven track record of success. (source: Bill Sutton, Opinion; Watchdog.org) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 3 16:58:16 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2015 16:58:16 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., UTAH, MONT., ARIZ., CALIF., USA Message-ID: Feb. 3 OKLAHOMA: Media Has No Right to Watch Executions A federal judge dismissed a media lawsuit against Oklahoma officials over the censored execution of Clayton Lockett, unpersuaded by the media's First Amendment claims. The Oklahoma Observer and others sued Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton and Oklahoma State Penitentiary Warden Anita Trammell in August 2014 in Federal Court. They claimed that witnesses to Lockett's botched execution were deprived of the right to observe when a window shade in the death chamber was lowered. Lockett, 38, was convicted in 2000 of raping and murdering 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman. He was convicted of shooting her with a sawed-off shotgun and watching 2 accomplices bury her alive. Lockett's execution, described as a gruesome, bloody mess by execution team members during the state's subsequent investigation, resulted in changes to the state's execution protocols. The changes include visual confirmation of intravenous line placement and a substantial increase in the dosage of execution drugs . U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton dismissed the media's lawsuit on Jan. 9, citing his December opinion granting the defendants' motion to dismiss. "Plaintiff's federal claims are dismissed with prejudice," the dismissal order stated. "Plaintiffs' claims under the Oklahoma Constitution are dismissed without prejudice." The plaintiffs claimed their qualified right to see the entirety of executions is not outweighed by a state interest. Heaton disagreed. He said the U.S. Supreme Court has treated such a right in the criminal adjudication process differently than in the "implementing" of a court's judgment. "That conclusion is consistent with the court's different treatment of access issues in the prison context, where the implementation of criminal sentences normally occurs," the 25-page opinion states. "Unlike the tradition of openness which exists as to criminal trials, the court has emphasized the closed nature of prisons. Recognizing that difference, the court has upheld limits on access to penal institutions even where serious issues as to inmate welfare have existed. This suggests the court would not take principles directed to the process of determining guilt and superimpose them in a different context - the implementation of the sentence." Prisons officials argued that the press has only "state-granted, qualified permission" to be at executions. They claimed the plaintiffs had no constitutional right of access to executions beyond what is extended to the general public, which has no such rights of access to prisons or executions. Heaton found the plaintiffs "make a compelling argument" for more open access in the state. "But in the circumstances of this case, the question of the appropriate policy is just that - a policy judgment," the opinion states. "It is therefore a matter for Oklahoma's decision-makers, rather than 1 for resolution by this court." Oklahoma officials could not be reached for comment Sunday evening. They resumed carrying out lethal injections this month, beginning with Charles Warner, 47, on Jan. 15. Warner was convicted in 1999 of the rape and murder of Adrianna Waller, the 11-month-old daughter of his girlfriend. Warner's execution was delayed for an hour as prison officials awaited word from the Supreme Court on his application for a stay. In a 5-4 ruling, the court declined to rule on whether the sedative midazolam would make him unconscious during the execution. Warner unsuccessfully argued that the state's replacement 3-drug execution cocktail would subject him to unconstitutional pain and suffering. Several states have resorted to replacement execution drugs due to shortages of traditional drugs caused by anti-death penalty activists successfully asking large drug manufacturers to stop making them. The high court reversed course two weeks later, granting a review of midazolam that halts further executions in the state until a hearing in April. (source: Courthouse News) UTAH: The death penalty for sex traffickers? Utah Lawmaker says yes A Davis County Republican wants to give convicted child sex traffickers the ultimate punishment - the death penalty. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, is pushing to make child sex trafficking a capital offense. He says he accompanied the Salt Lake City vice squad on patrol a few years ago. He's realized how big an issue child trafficking is in Utah. He said he's been working on bills to target prostitution and trafficking for years. "I got so fed up with what I've seen," Ray said. "It's time to take the ultimate jump and say if you traffic a kid for sex, we're going to kill you." Marina Lowe, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, said the group opposes capital punishment in all forms. Lowe cited some of the current botched lethal injections as ways that America is finding out that the death penalty is not effective. "At the end of the day it's our position that the state shouldn't be in the business of killing its citizens," said Lowe. Lowe added she thinks Ray's proposal is unconstitutional. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled child rape is not punishable by death, striking down a Louisiana law as unconstitutional because the punishment was "cruel and unusual." Ray acknowledged that the bill could be challenged in the court. He said he was 50/50 on whether it would stand up, but he said he's willing to take the chance. He said that he would love to fight for this law at a federal level. "I'm going turn the tables on them, and say prove to me why you can execute for treason and I can't execute for a crime that in my world is 10 times worse than treason," Ray said. Ray added he would have to add a constitutional note to the bill. A constitutional note sends a message to legislators that the bill may be legally challenged in the court system. Parker Douglas, chief of staff of the Utah Attorney General's office, said it's the office's policy to defend laws that are legally passed in Utah, whether they personally agree with the them or not. Ed Smart, the director of prevention and rehabilitation of Operation Underground Railroad, a organization that works with victims of the sex trade, said he needed more time to decide whether he supports the bill. Smart said child sex trafficking is prevalent in Utah but it's hard to pin down the numbers because of its secretive nature. "I have not met one of those who have been prostituted or trafficked who have chose to be there," Smart said. Smart, kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart's father, said he would like for Utah to follow after Sweden and start cracking down on those who visit prostitutes. He said he believes the (solicitors) now only get a slap on the wrist. He said the key is to cut down on the demand for the services, noting Sweden cut their prostitution on the street in half. Smart said there's need to have a deterrent to participating. Ray said that he thinks the death penalty would deter child sex trafficking. He said murder is a crime of passion and people dont really think of the consequences. He said the traffickers premeditate their crimes and go to a lot of work to avoid the law. (source: Standard Examiner) MONTANA: Montana bill allows death row inmates to live out sentence 2 convicted murderers on Montana death row could live out their sentence in prison rather than facing the death penalty. House Bill 370, sponsored by Rep. David Moore (R - Missoula), is a proposed bill to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The law would be retroactive, meaning anyone currently on death row would be re-sentenced. In the state's history, 74 people have been executed after being sentenced to death. All but 3 of the executions occurred before 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington D.C. based non-profit research organization. William Jay Gollehon and Ronald Allen Smith are the only 2 inmates currently on death row in Montana. Gollehon, 50, was sentenced to death in 1992 for bludgeoning an inmate during a riot at the prison. At the time of the prison murder, Gollehon was serving time for 2 murders, burglary, assault and kidnapping. A judge sentenced Smith, 58, to death in 1983 for kidnapping and killing a man in 1982. Both men are awaiting execution at the Montana State Prison. Similar bills to abolish the death penalty were passed through the Montana Senate in 2009 and 2011, but they failed in the state House Judiciary Committee. Wyoming considered a similar bill in the current legislative session after the state was faced with a death penalty drug deficit, but voted it down. There are currently 32 states that have the death penalty. Several states have repealed the death sentence in the past 10 years, with Illinois doing so in 2012. But Illinois' law was not retroactive, so the inmates previously sentenced to death would carry that sentence. HB 370 is in its 1st House committee and has not been tabled. A hearing has not yet been scheduled. (source: KTVQ news) ARIZONA: Jodi Arias sentencing retrial: Bishop takes the stand A former religious leader of Travis Alexander testified Monday in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial. Prosecutors are trying to convince the jury that Alexander never looked at child porn or abused women in his life. It was an interesting day as the trial begins to wind down. On the stand, Monday was Vernon Parker, a Mormon Bishop, who Travis Alexander lived with for a time before he met Jodi Arias. Parker testified that he never saw Travis viewing child porn as Jodi claimed he did, and never beat a former girlfriend as the defense claimed. The defense cross-examined Parker and asked if someone who had unmarried sex, and committed various sexual acts was a sinner. The move meant to harm Alexander's image as an upstanding member of the Mormon church. The defense has already rested its case, and we may be nearing the end of this trial. Once the jury gets the case, it will decide if Arias gets the death penalty or life in prison for murdering Travis Alexander. (source: KSAZ news) CALIFORNIA: Records Kept Sealed in Quadruple Murder Trial Various media outlets failed Friday to have a court unseal records in the capital case against a man accused of killing a family of four and burying their bodies in the Mojave Desert. Charles "Chase" Merritt, 57, is accused in San Bernardino, Calif., of the 2010 murders of Joseph McStay, 40, and his wife, Summer, 43. He also is accused of murdering the McStays' children, Gianni, 4, and Joseph Jr., 3. On Friday, Judge Michael Smith approved Merritt's request to represent himself but denied requests from media outlets to unseal documents, saying access might compromise the trial, the Associated Press reported. More than a dozen media outlets argued the case no longer is being investigated, so the documents should not be sealed. The media outlets had filed a motion to release search warrants, statements regarding probable cause and affidavits, according to the Associated Press. With both the defense and prosecution opposing the motion, prosecutors reportedly said the records should be available before a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 7. Prosecutors say Merritt bludgeoned the family to death inside their home in Fallbrook on Nov. 4, 2010, the San Bernardino Sun reported. Merritt was a "business associate" of Joseph McStay, according to a CBS News article. An off-road driver found the family's bodies buried in shallow graves in San Bernardino County in 2013, the Associated Press reported. Riverside County deputies arrested Merritt on Nov. 5, 2014, and he pleaded innocent to 4 murder charges on Nov. 12. He faces the death penalty, the Sun reported. Robert Ponce, the attorney who represented Merritt before Friday, reportedly told the court that his former client wants to represent himself and prove his innocence as quickly as possible because he has congestive heart failure and less than a year to live. (source: Courthouse News) ************************* Lawyers ask to ban media from hearing in deputies' killings The public defenders who are representing the man accused of shooting and killing 2 local sheriff's deputies 4 months ago have filed a motion to keep the news media out of the courtroom Wednesday for a routine procedural hearing. Sacramento County Assistant Public Defenders Norm Dawson and Jeff Barbour filed the motion last week on behalf of their client, Luis Enriquez Monroy Bracamontes. The attorney for Bracamontes' wife and co-defendant, Janelle Marquez Monroy, said he plans to join in the motion. "Counsel for Mr. Bracamontes believe that because of publicity, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to select a fair and impartial jury and to afford Mr. Bracamontes his rights to a fair preliminary hearing, due process and impartial trial," said the motion by Barbour and Dawson. "Publicizing this matter further at this court appearance will continue to add to that difficulty." Bracamontes, 34, and Monroy, 38, are scheduled to make a routine appearance Wednesday in front of Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White, to whom the case has been pre-assigned. They are accused in the Oct. 24 shooting deaths of Sacramento County sheriff's deputy Daniel Oliver, 47, and Placer County sheriff's deputy Michael Davis Jr., 42. Oliver was gunned down behind a Motel 6 on Arden Way in Sacramento. Authorities say Davis was shot and killed when he and another deputy confronted the fleeing Bracamontes and Monroy a few hours later on a road in Auburn. Authorities have identified Bracamontes as the shooter and are seeking the death penalty against him only. Besides the murders, he and his wife are charged with 5 counts of attempted murder, 2 counts of carjacking, one of attempted carjacking as well as 4 other felonies in the string of violent crimes that spanned 2 counties. Nothing substantive is expected to take place at Wednesday's hearing that the defense wants to close to the media. Prosecutors from the Sacramento County and Placer County district attorney's offices, which are jointly handling the case, still have a significant amount of discovery materials such as police reports and other evidentiary items to turn over to the defense before the 2 sides begin to address the more significant issues that figure to arise ahead of trial. One of them is likely to be a defense request for a change of venue due to pretrial publicity. Such hearings are usually preceded by surveys conducted by the defense side to gauge how much attention the public has paid to media accounts. The surveys and change-of-venue motions themselves can take months to prepare. Dawson, one of the public defenders who filed the motion to exclude the media, did not comment Monday other than to say that if he and Barbour have anything to say on the matter, they'll say it in court on Wednesday. Their motion said that witnesses' identification of Bracamontes "may be an issue in this case. Showing Mr. Bracamontes' face on broadcast media will make it highly likely that known witnesses, and witnesses not yet interviewed, will have identification procedures tainted by this publicity." Pete Kmeto, the attorney who is representing Monroy, said the motion to keep the media out is "a precautionary measure to ensure the integrity of witnesses' testimony." Kmeto said banning the media at a hearing such as Wednesday's basically is a matter of the lawyers "making a record" ahead of the change of venue motion. The public defenders said in their court papers that the publicity in the deputies' killings "has been overwhelming, if not unprecedented." "In the age of modern technology, events are broadcast in real time," the motion said. "There was significant publicity on this case as it happened. The police hunt for the suspects was broadcast on radio and television. Schools were locked down. Once an arrest was made, the story remained the dominant local news story." When the defendants first appeared in front of a judge, "the courtroom was filled with broadcast media," the motion said. "The news stories were run on morning, afternoon, evening and nightly newscasts. The coverage also included live broadcasts of the funerals of the fallen officers." The prosecutors' announcement that they would seek the death penalty on Bracamontes "saturated the local news," the defense lawyers said. They also cited coverage of a video posting by Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones that as of Monday had been viewed 438,492 times. In the video, Jones linked the fatal shooting attributed to Bracamontes, a Mexican national who authorities say was in the United States illegally, to President Barack Obama's "singular failure" to enact what Jones called "meaningful immigration reform." Within the past week, "The media has even recently covered the destruction of the Motel 6 on Arden (Way)," where Deputy Oliver was fatally shot, the motion said. Defense attorneys previously sought to exclude the electronic media from a Dec. 9 hearing in Sacramento Superior Court. The motion was denied, although television camera operators were barred from filming the defendants' faces. In the motion for Wednesday's hearing, Dawson and Barbour said they want the court to "exclude all media from the courtroom, including print media." McGeorge School of Law professor John E.B. Myers called the defense effort to ban the media "completely legitimate," but he said it "should fail at a relatively innocuous hearing." "As the facts of the case come out more, the defense should have a stronger argument," Myers said. "But they should still lose. The burden should be a heavy one on them to deprive the press and the public of our right to know. People get fair trials every day where the press and the public are in the courtroom." (source: Sacramento Bee) USA: Death penalty, in retreat----Fewer states impose the sentence, and U.S. rulings narrow it, professor says Carol Steiker's interest in criminal justice took hold while she was at Harvard Law School (HLS) in the 1980s. While studying there, she recalled, "It began to appear to me that criminal justice was a great engine of American inequality." Steiker became interested in capital punishment while clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, an ardent opponent of the death penalty. Now the Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law at HLS, Steiker is using her year as the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study's Rita E. Hauser Fellow to work with her brother and frequent collaborator, Jordan M. Steiker, on a book about the past half-century's experiment with the constitutional regulation of capital punishment in America. She spoke with the Gazette about the history and future of the death penalty in the United States. GAZETTE: Could you see the Supreme Court striking down the death penalty? STEIKER: Yes, it would not surprise me if the death penalty were constitutionally invalidated sometime in the next couple of decades. The Supreme Court has been on a trajectory of narrowing and questioning the death penalty. In 2002, it held that people with mental retardation, now called intellectual disability, couldn't get the death penalty. In 2005, it held that juvenile offenders couldn't get the death penalty. In 2008, it held that people who commit crimes other than murder - even the crime of aggravated rape of a child - couldn't get the death penalty. These are really significant limitations on capital punishment. The court continues to express interest in key death-penalty issues. In January, the court granted certiorari [agreeing to hear a lower-court case] on questions regarding Oklahoma's lethal-injection protocol, after botched executions in that state and elsewhere last year. It will decide this case by June and offer some more guidance on death by lethal injection in an era when states are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain appropriate drugs, given the unwillingness of many manufacturers to supply them for the purpose of executions. Other challenges to lethal-injection procedures continue to percolate at the state level, such as challenges to the transparency of the execution process - challenges to laws that hide the source of the drugs used or the identities of participants in the execution process. GAZETTE: Why did the Supreme Court initially strike down the death penalty in 1972? STEIKER: Prior to the landmark case of Furman v. Georgia in 1972, juries had regularly been told that they should look only to their conscience in deciding whether to impose the death penalty. Lawyers argued that it was unconstitutional to give this important power to jurors with no attempt to guide their discretion, because that would lead to randomness and to discrimination, a constitutionally intolerable result. So the Supreme Court struck down the death penalty as it was then practiced across the country. But there was a huge backlash to Furman. Over the next few years, 35 states redrafted their capital statutes to offer what the Supreme Court later called "guided discretion." As people began to pile up on death row in these states, the Supreme Court, knowing it had to rule on the constitutionality of this new generation of capital statutes, granted cert [certiorari] on 5 death-penalty cases from Georgia, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Louisiana. Ultimately, the Supreme Court upheld 3 of the new statutes that provided "guided discretion," and struck down 2 that provided no discretion at all, that is, rejecting statutes that made the death penalty mandatory upon conviction of certain crimes. On the basis of this new approach, the American death penalty was back in business. More and more people were sentenced to death, and more and more people were executed pretty much every year until the turn of the century. The death penalty reached a modern post-1976 high in 1999. In that year, 98 people were executed and nearly 300 were sentenced to death. Since 2000, however, the death penalty has been in sharp decline; you might even say free-fall. Executions are down by more than 1/2, death sentences are down by more than 2/3, and 6 states have legislatively abolished the death penalty in the past 7 years. A federal judge declared California's death penalty unconstitutional this past summer. We are living through a sea change on this issue. GAZETTE: Can you tell me more about the history of capital punishment in America? STEIKER: For most of American history, the death penalty was understood to be the creature of state and local law. From the colonial era until recent times, it was not a national issue. The authorization of capital punishment was on the colonial or state level, but the actual use of it was very much on the local level. As an example, in 1660 a Quaker woman named Mary Dyer was executed in Boston for heresy for being a Quaker in a Puritan colony. This is a great example of how the death penalty, starting in colonial times but continuing throughout American history, has been the expression of colonial, or state, and even local priorities. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, things like heresy, adultery, sodomy, and witchcraft were really, really important, and those kinds of things were written into the capital code and produced a substantial number of executions. Contrast that to, say, Southern colonies. If you look in Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana (which was mostly under French control), capital statutes tended to focus on crimes by slaves, especially slave revolt, and you see a substantial number of executions for such offenses. These are good examples of how, throughout American history, the death penalty was authorized by states but used by local officials to enforce local priorities and to be a really dramatic statement of local concerns and values. Capital punishment really wasn't thought to be an issue of overarching national regulation. GAZETTE: What was the Supreme Court's earliest involvement with the death penalty? STEIKER: The Supreme Court was asked a number of times to weigh in on questions about capital punishment. In the late 19th century, the court was asked to declare the firing squad cruel and unusual, but the court declined. Then, in the middle of the 20th century, when the electric chair malfunctioned, the court was asked, "Could someone be executed a 2nd time?" That was the famous Willie Francis case, argued in the Supreme Court by the judge I clerked for, Skelly Wright, early in his legal career. The Supreme Court said: "No, that's fine." Louisiana could put Willie Francis back in the electric chair and do it again (and it did). The 1st time that the Supreme Court made constitutional law specific to the death penalty was kind of a preview of how the Supreme Court would eventually make the death penalty a subject of intensive constitutional regulation. That was in a case called Powell v. Alabama, also known as the Scottsboro Boys case. It involved 9 black men who were accused in 1931 on very flimsy evidence of raping two white women. Now it is recognized that they were not guilty. But at the time, they were tried over the course of just a few days and found guilty and sentenced to death in incredibly cursory proceedings. They had essentially no legal representation. 2 lawyers were present in the courtroom, but they but had been appointed only days before, were unfamiliar with state law, and had done no preparation. The Supreme Court held in that case that in capital cases you had a federal constitutional right to be represented by counsel, a right that it would eventually extend to criminal defendants in non-capital cases - but not for another 30 years. But after Scottsboro in the 1930s, the Supreme Court didn't do anything else that was significant and specific to the death penalty until the 1960s. In 1963, Justice Arthur Goldberg, with the help of his law clerk (and eventual Harvard Professor) Alan Dershowitz, drafted a memo designed to convince other justices to take up the case of a black man accused of raping a white woman, once again from Alabama. They argued that the court should grant cert on the specific question of whether the death penalty was disproportionate punishment for the crime of rape, when the victim was not killed. A big part of this memo also had to do with the racial aspect of the death penalty for rape in the South. While Goldberg got 2 of the necessary 3 other justices - [William] Brennan and [William O.] Douglas - to vote to grant cert, he couldn't get Earl Warren, who would have been the 4th vote. But Goldberg took the unusual move of writing a dissent from denial of cert. That dissent got the attention of the lawyers at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), which had litigated Brown v. Board of Education in the previous decade. Thinking that the Supreme Court was ready to be interested in the death penalty, the LDF decided to make the death penalty their primary issue. In 1968, the Supreme Court ruled in Witherspoon v. Illinois that people could be excluded from juries in capital cases only if they were incapable of imposing the death penalty, as opposed to simply having any sort of moral scruples about it. That case is the foundation for the standard that reigns today, which is that your views about the death penalty have to prevent or substantially impair your ability to serve as a juror on the case. Witherspoon was a huge victory. In fact, many people thought that it was going to be the end of the death penalty because if people who had scruples about the death penalty could actually sit on capital juries, there wouldn't be any more executions. That turned out not to be the case. GAZETTE: The trial for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is underway in Boston, in a state that doesn't have the death penalty. Do tensions exist between state and federal officials in these types of cases? STEIKER: I don't know if there is any personal tension between state and federal officials. But as you can see, it's getting hard to pick a jury here in Massachusetts because so many people cannot sit; news reports say that something like half the prospective jurors are being excluded because of their views on the death penalty. That's a function of Massachusetts being an anti-death-penalty state. It's an odd artifact of American federalism that we have a federal government that exists everywhere in the United States, and yet we have state sovereignty, which extends over the states' own criminal justice systems. So you basically have 2 sovereigns in Massachusetts, and either one of them can seek the death penalty when the underlying crime is both a state and a federal offense, as in this case. It remains to be seen whether a Massachusetts jury will return a death verdict in this case, though it is becoming clear that whatever jury is eventually impaneled will not be representative of Massachusetts in terms of views about capital punishment. GAZETTE: Do you think having the death penalty hurts the United States' standing with other countries? STEIKER: I think that it does. The consensus in Europe and the rest of the Western industrialized world is that the death penalty is not acceptable because it violates international human rights law. The view of our peer countries is that individuals have a human right not to be executed by their government. The United States likes to see itself as a human rights leader and likes to criticize other countries - including some of the really powerful countries in the world, like China - of violating human rights. Undoubtedly, it hurts our moral authority in the world to be viewed as a human-rights violator. Moreover, our ability to work with our allies on criminal-justice initiatives is hindered because our allies won't extradite people to us who might face the death penalty in the United States. It's kind of ironic because here at Harvard Law School we have idealistic young law students whom we send out around the world to work on international human-rights projects. Meanwhile, Europe sends its idealistic law students here, to states like Texas and Alabama, to work on death-penalty cases as human-rights violations. We are among the world's top 5 executors, and we are up there with countries we don't normally think of as in our club. It varies year to year, but China, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Yemen ... routinely make the "top 5" list of executors, along with the United States. GAZETTE: Why does Texas execute more people than any other state? STEIKER: Texas is not that unusual in the rate of sentencing people to death. What it's really good at is translating sentences into executions. California sentences people to death for homicide at roughly the same rate that Texas does, but since 1976 California has executed 13 people and Texas has executed more than 500. That's a stunning difference. California has the largest death row in the country because people just sit there. What's ironic is that the leading cause of death on death row in California is not execution. Instead, it's natural causes. And actually the second leading cause of death on death row in California is not execution; it's suicide. So, amazingly, execution is actually the third leading case of death on death row in California. Last summer a federal judge declared California's death penalty unconstitutional. That's currently under review. He said it couldn't possibly serve a valid penological function the way it's administered. In California, a death sentence translates into a life sentence on death row, with a very faint chance of being executed. Texas really whips people through the appeals process and gets them to the execution chamber really fast. That's what makes Texas the leader in America's death penalty. There are only a small number of states that execute with great frequency. In fact, 80 percent of executions nationwide in the past year took place in only 3 states. And even within death-penalty states like Texas, the vast majority of executions happen in only a few counties. Texas has more than 250 counties, and most of them never execute anyone. GAZETTE: What do those numbers reveal? STEIKER: It points to the fact that the decision to seek the death penalty in those counties is by locally elected officials. That gets back to my point about the death penalty prior to the 1960s. There are locally elected district attorneys, and localities pay for the death penalty. These capital trials are much, much more expensive than any ordinary trial, which is why you see it mostly in counties that can afford it, with district attorneys who really are pursuing it. Although people speak in sweeping terms, there really is no American death penalty, and there's no Texas death penalty or California death penalty. You really need to look at a much more granular level to see what's happening with the death penalty in this country. In the past few decades, what you see is huge declines in the use of the death penalty, and even greater concentration and isolation of its use in outlier states, and outlier counties within states. GAZETTE: How did you get interested in this topic? STEIKER: When I first came to law school, I was not especially interested in criminal justice. I think I would have said that what drew me was the problem of inequality; that was what really engaged me about law and law school. It was at law school that I became really interested in criminal justice because it began to appear to me that criminal justice was a great engine of American inequality. In the 1980s, crime was rising, but so were punitive responses to crime, and I became very interested in it. I came to law school knowing I wanted to be an academic who would think and write about justice, but then I got very interested in criminal justice and capital punishment, and then I thought, "You know, I should learn more about this before I try to go teach and write about it." So I worked as a judicial law clerk for 2 years in Washington, 1st for Judge Skelly Wright on the D.C. Circuit, and then for Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. During my clerkship for Thurgood Marshall, in particular, is when I became interested, not just in criminal justice, but specifically in capital punishment. It was something that Thurgood Marshall himself cared a lot about. When I clerked for him, one of the things we were given by the outgoing clerks were 2 big, black, 3-ring binders filled with the Supreme Court's death-penalty cases. Everyone called him "The boss," and they said: "The boss really cares a lot about this stuff. You need to learn these, because you are going to be doing a lot of work on death cases." And so I did learn all of that stuff, and it was fascinating. GAZETTE: Can you tell me about the book you are working on? STEIKER: My brother and I are writing this book about the way in which capital punishment has become the subject of top-down, national regulation from the Supreme Court over the last 50 years. We look at the interplay between this attempted national regulation and state and local responses to it. The story of these last 50 years of interaction between the Supreme Court, the federal courts, the Constitution, and state and local and popular responses tells us a lot about the death penalty, what it means, and what its functions are. But it also tells us a lot about the possibilities and the pitfalls of constitutional regulation in the context of highly contested social issues. There are some interesting links here to school desegregation, abortion, and gay marriage. The death-penalty experience provides a taxonomy of sorts of the kinds of issues that arise in constitutional regulation of these kinds of "hot" social issues. (source: Harvard Law School Professor Carol Steiker will discuss her research during a talk at Radcliffe's Knafel Center on April 22 at 4 p.m.---- Harvard Gazette) *********************** Colorado: Rapid Jury Selection in Mass Killing at Movie Theater The judge in the Aurora theater shooting case says jury selection is going so efficiently that the first phase will be cut short. Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. had planned to finish giving potential jurors long, written questionnaires by Feb. 13. But he said Monday that he will close that phase next Monday and begin the next one, which includes individual questioning of potential jurors, 2 days later on Feb. 11. The jury will hear the case against James Holmes, who is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in the 2012 attack. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. (source: Associated Press) ************** Cruel and unusual? High court to rule on lethal injections When the Supreme Court weighs in on the constitutionality of the lethal injection executions in Oklahoma this year, its ruling will not likely be a tipping point in eliminating capital punishment in the U.S., but some experts say it could be the beginning of the end of this practice. "It's not this problem that will end it, but it's another straw," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center based in Washington. Dieter noted that a lot of public discussion about lethal injections took place last year after the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma, who writhed in pain for 40 minutes before dying of apparent heart failure. The execution was "quite a shock" and "got a lot of attention," which he said explains why the drugs used to execute him deserve a review. In April, the court will hear oral arguments in Glossip v. Gross, a case brought by 4 death-row inmates in Oklahoma. One of the plaintiffs, Charles Warner, was executed Jan. 15 after the court rejected a stay in a 5-4 vote. The court announced Jan. 23 it would take the case and 5 days later it agreed to stay the upcoming executions of the other 3 inmates until it issues a decision. The case sounds somewhat familiar because in 2008, the court ruled in Baze v. Rees that a 3-drug protocol used in Kentucky executions did not violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In this drug combination, the 1st drug causes unconsciousness, the 2nd brings about paralysis and the 3rd stops the heart. But in recent years, a shortage of those drugs has caused states to try a variety of drug combinations in their lethal injections, not the drugs the court considered and upheld in 2008. Some combinations, as shown by Lockett's botched execution, do not always work as intended. Currently, the 32 states that have the death penalty use lethal injections. If they are going to continue with that method, the deaths can't take a significant period of time, said Meg Penrose, professor of constitutional law at Texas A&M's University School of Law. "The court is saying let's at least pause and get more information," she said, adding that she doesn't think the court would "overturn the death penalty as a method of punishment" but the justices might determine that until better medication is available, states should "use another method." According to the plaintiffs' case, the drug midazolam, the 1st drug used in Oklahoma executions, does not sedate the prisoner sufficiently thus creating the risk of excessive pain, which violates the standards set in the Baze ruling and in the Constitution. One of the other plaintiffs, Richard Glossip, was scheduled to be executed Jan. 28 before the stay was announced. Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph and a longtime anti-death penalty activist, has been a spiritual adviser to 51-year-old Glossip and has said she will accompany him to the execution chamber if he loses his appeals. During a Jan. 27 news conference at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City, Sister Prejean said: "There is no humane way to kill a conscious, imaginative human being. We the citizens have our name on that gurney." According to the Gallup poll last fall, a majority of Americans still support capital punishment, but some feel the tides are slowly turning. Dieter said the lethal injection cases illustrate the "ambivalence people have about the death penalty" noting that they might be willing to have it but they aren't "comfortable with the way it's working." He also said people say they support capital punishment yet they vote for legislators and governors who have said they will abolish it. Marc Hyden, advocacy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, a group which formed in 2013, acknowledged that conservatives have not always been at the front of the anti-death penalty bandwagon but he said that they are starting to shift their opinion, recognizing that it is a pro-life issue and limited-government issue. Karen Clifton, executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty, said Catholics also are becoming more galvanized in their views against capital punishment. She said the botched death by lethal injection is not only a "stark reminder" of the dignity of human life, but it also raises public awareness of the death penalty and gives groups such as hers more opportunities to educate Catholics about what church teaches. Last October, Pope Francis called on Christians and all people of good will "to fight ... for the abolition of the death penalty ... in all its forms" out of respect for human dignity. The U.S. bishops have been advocating against the death penalty for more than 40 years. In 2005, they initiated the Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty and continue to work closely with state Catholic conferences, the Catholic Mobilizing Network and other groups to abolish the death penalty in the United States. Clifton said in recent years more Catholics have been against the death penalty because they have recognized it as a pro-life issue. "We are executing the marginalized in our society," she said, noting that the scriptures are full of references to how "we will be judged by how we treat the least among us." ******************* The Supreme Court's Secret Decisions A convicted murderer, Charles F. Warner, was executed in Oklahoma last month after the United States Supreme Court denied his request for a last-minute stay. Mr. Warner and other death-row inmates had challenged the state's lethal injection procedures as unconstitutional. In a strange twist, the court agreed to hear his claims - a week after Mr. Warner had been executed. Traditionally, the court postpones an execution once it has decided to hear an inmate's case. Why did the court wait to accept the case until it was too late for Mr. Warner? Did it decide for some reason to depart from tradition? The court gave no explanation. 4 justices dissented from the refusal to stay the execution, but the majority issued only a one-sentence order stating that the application for a stay had been denied. Mr. Warner's execution illustrates the high stakes in a crucial part of the court's work that most people don???t know anything about: its orders docket. Work at the Supreme Court is divided into two main categories. One is deciding the cases it hears on the merits: the 70-some cases each year that the court selects for extensive briefing, oral argument and a substantial written opinion, sometimes with dissents. These are the cases we hear about in the news. The orders docket includes nearly everything else the court must decide - which cases to hear, procedural matters in pending cases, and whether to grant a stay or injunction that pauses legal proceedings temporarily. There are no oral arguments in these cases and, as in Mr. Warner's situation, they are often decided with no explanation. This docket operates in such obscurity that I call it the "shadow docket." (I was a law clerk for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in 2008-9, but these views are solely mine.) Despite their obscurity, these orders - there are thousands each year, if you count decisions not to hear cases - are significant. Consider the flurry of orders issued in the month before the 2014 election. The court stopped Wisconsin from implementing a strict voter identification law while it allowed a similar law to be implemented in Texas, and it also stopped lower courts from expanding early voting in Ohio or voter registration in North Carolina. Different groups of justices dissented in some of the cases, but the court did not explain any of them. Richard L. Hasen, an authority on election law, has argued that there is a common legal thread in these decisions, but the court could have explained its own reasoning rather than leaving it to him to surmise what it did. Or consider the strange situation of same-sex couples who have sought to marry while the court debated whether to hear a case about whether the Constitution required marriage equality. Last summer, the court temporarily stopped some lower courts from authorizing marriages while various constitutional challenges were pending, but then in the fall the court decided not to hear any of the challenges. It let marriages go forward without any explanation for the apparent change of heart. Then, last month, it decided to hear a case after all. It's as if the court were playing "red light, green light" with same-sex couples. This lack of transparency has a practical impact. Because the court doesn't issue opinions in these cases, lawyers don't know what legal standards to apply when litigating the issue again in the future. (What if there's something that Mr. Warner's lawyers could have said to stay his execution, but they didn't know what it was?) And because we don't even know which justices have joined most of the orders, we don't know which justices are responsible, and we don't know whether the justices are being consistent and principled from case to case. These procedural issues also affect the lower courts, which are supposed to follow Supreme Court precedent. But because the lower-court judges don't know why the Supreme Court does what it does, they sometimes divide sharply when forced to interpret the court's nonpronouncements. The orders can influence the substance of litigation, too, because a key factor in procedural cases is whether the claim has merit. To be sure, there are good reasons for the court to proceed quickly and without much explanation in many of these cases. These disputes happen fast, and the justices may not want to commit to a public explanation that they haven't had time to fully consider. But even modest changes would provide valuable guidance. What could the court do? First, it could provide more written explanations. It would not need to do so in every case. It could, however, briefly explain its decision when it either reversed a lower court decision, or when it proceeded in the face of a written dissent. In both cases, the presence of a thoughtful written opinion on the other side shows that the court's decision is not so obvious as to go without saying. In many cases these explanations would take only a paragraph or 2 - but they would be a big improvement over our current, murky practices. In the context of opinions on the merits, the justices have recognized the importance of individual accountability. Justice Antonin Scalia has said that writing separate opinions "forces them to think systematically and consistently about the law," while Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said that it "puts the judge's conscience and reputation on the line." The court should extend this logic to the orders docket. A 2nd, even more modest step toward transparency would be to at least reveal which justices have voted on which side of an orders decision, which the court does not do consistently. Again, the court would not have to do this in every case; it could announce that it would do so whenever there was a dissent, or whenever a dissenting justice requested it. Even knowing which decisions were controversial would enable us to better judge and predict the court. The court is in the spotlight more and more. Transparency in all its decisions is vital to its continued legitimacy. (source: Op-Ed; William Baude is an assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago----New York Times) **************** Puerto Rico: 9 Different People Indicted For Killing A Single Officer Who Took Their Cell Phones It's rare that more than 1 or 2 people get indicted for murder. But one strange news story out of Puerto Rico involves nine individuals possibly earning the death penalty for killing a single corrections officer from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. According to Fox News, 9 different men from Puerto Rico have been convicted for the murder of Lt. Osvaldo Albarati on February 26, 2013. All 9 of them were inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, when the incident occurred. Albarati had confiscated cellphones and other contraband from the inmates. This provoked the 9 inmates to retaliate. The United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodriguez, claimed that this was the 1st murder of a United States federal agent in Puerto Rico. Rodriguez spoke at a press conference on Friday, explaining that the nine defendants had carefully planned to kill the Puerto Rican correctional officer as a direct result of the confiscated items. "Throughout his law enforcement career, Lieutenant Albarati's service was both selfless and courageous," said Rodriguez. "With this action, we continue our work to hold accountable those who carried out this reprehensible and senseless act. And in all that we do, the Department of Justice will continue to honor Lieutenant Albarati's sacrifice, to safeguard the community he served, and to protect the values and principles he defended all his life." According to FBI.gov, the names of the Puerto Rico inmates include the leader of the group, Oscar Martinez-Hernandez or "Cali," Angel D. Ramos-Cruz or "Api," Miguel Diaz-Rivera or "Bolo," Juan Quinones-Melendez or "El Manco," Orlando Mojica-Rodriguez or "Yogui," Jayson Rodriguez-Gonz1lez or "Gonzo," Carlos Rosado-Rosado or "Cano," Alexander Rosario de Leon or "Coqui," and Jancarlos Velazquez-Vazquez or "Jan." The murder was orchestrated by Martinez-Hernandez, Ramos-Cruz, and Diaz-Rivera, who hired other inmates to murder Albarati in the Puerto Rico prison. A cellphone, a vehicle and a firearm (four Glock.40) was provided by Quinones-Melendez and Mojica-Rodriguez to 3 other inmates Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Rosado-Rosado and Rosario de Leon, who then carried out the murder. Velazquez-Vazquez was the driver for the crime. The District of Puerto Rico Attorney reported that the crime could result in the death penalty, but she wouldn't reveal if she would recommend the punishment herself. Instead, the decision will be left up to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The death penalty was technically abolished in Puerto Rico in 1929, but capital punishment can still be enforced since Puerto Rico is a United States commonwealth. If the 9 defendants are charged with the death penalty, all of the executions would have to be carried out off the island of Puerto Rico. (source: inquisitr.com) ************************* The death sentence is ineffective, cruel Although execution as a form of punishment has existed for generations, capital punishment in the U.S. reached a peak in the 1930s, with more criminals being put to death by the government than in any other decade since. Despite many Supreme Court rulings and high profile cases, capital punishment is still a highly-debated issue, one that sheds light on how fairness and justice is upheld in the U.S. In my opinion, capital punishment is an inefficient way to punish criminals because it is an outdated, ineffective, biased and expensive practice that furthers a cycle of violence. Outdated Capital punishment is an extremely outdated practice that has already been abolished in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Many U.S. states are coming to the realization that the death penalty is inhumane. Capital punishment is dormant in the military and in the federal system and, according to The New York Times article "The Slow Demise of Capital Punishment," 30 states had no executions within the past 5 years as of 2013. For a country that prides itself on being innovative, we are one of the last countries that still honors the death penalty. The U.S. is regressing with this controversial issue and should think differently. The death penalty, though still very much alive, has become less popular and is used most frequently in places such as Texas and Florida, where over half of 2013's 80 sentences occurred, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Taking innocent lives Capital punishment is an ineffective deterrent to crime and criminals. There have been several instances where capital punishment has sent innocent people to death row. Kirk Noble Bloodsworth spent nine years in prison and two years on death row for a crime he did not commit. Bloodsworth also said Carlos DeLuna, Ruben Cantu and Cameron Todd Willingham were others put to death before their cases were fully and thoroughly closed, according to his article in The New York Times, "Of Course the Death Penalty is Cruel and Unusual." All 3 men have since had considerable doubt cast on their convictions. Capital punishment is ineffective because it can be erroneous and biased as well. "Someone will always end up on the short end of the stick," Bloodsworth said in the article. "Most of the time, that person will be black or Latino and poor. If it can happen to me, it could happen to you." There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that minorities are facing the most disparity due the death penalty. Several studies have indicated that minorities are more likely to be sentenced with the death penalty than other offenders, according to The New York Times article, "Justice and Victims of Color." If we believe that the death penalty illustrates the ultimate definition of justice for victims, then we also have to accept that this form of "justice" is ineffective and biased as well. Expenses One of the more popular arguments of those in favor of the death penalty is that it is cheaper to kill inmates rather than sentence them to life imprisonment. However, death penalty cases are extremely costly to states and taxpayers, and in some cases are more expenses than life imprisonment. These cases are also expensive due to long trials, excessive witnesses and timely jury selections, according to The New York Times article, "The Slow Demise of Capital Punishment." Housing prisoners on death row in Kansas costs twice as much per year ($49,380) as for prisoners in the general population ($24,690). Extra security is also needed for death row inmates, according to an article in Forbes magazine entitled, "Considering the Death Penalty: Your Tax Dollars at Work." In California, the annual cost of lifetime incarceration is a mere $11.5 million compared to the $137 million it costs to use the death penalty. Ineffective One may argue that this cost is justified because capital punishment is a warning. It illustrates the consequences of one???s horrifying actions and is used to scare people into not committing serious crimes. Millions of dollars is quite an investment to scare members of society. Money used to finance capital punishment could be spent on real crime deterrents such as courts, police officers, prison cells and public defenders. This could result in less crime than the fear capital punishment evokes. With social issues, such as same-sex marriage, constantly changing, public attitudes towards the death penalty are changing as well. Regardless of their morals, U.S. citizens should view the death penalty from an economic standpoint as well. A circle of violence Capital punishment helps further a cycle of violence. Many who stand by the death penalty justify "an eye for an eye." This idea only helps cycle a larger perspective that violence is justified. Darryl Stallworth, deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California from 1992 to 2007, once fought to sentence a young man to death, but as he delved further into the case he realized that he was, "witnessing a cycle of violence." The young boy had a rocky childhood in which his crime resembled traumatic violence he had gone through as a child. Stallworth realized that he couldn't stand by the death penalty for this boy despite his crimes because it perpetuated a cycle of violence, according to The San Jose Mercury News article, "Death Penalty Perpetuates Vicious Cycle of Violence." Killing someone will not help bring a loved one back or make the victim and the perpetrator even. How are those that have implemented capital punishment any better than a murderer? The death penalty justifies killing someone and deems that the only way to properly punish someone is to take away their life. Capital punishment depletes the American justice systems definition of justice and takes their credibility away by perpetuating a cycle of violence which makes killing acceptable. Abolishing the death penalty would rid the U.S. of an old-fashioned and backwards practice that is extremely costly, perpetuates a cycle of violence and is ineffective as a deterrent. If we move funds that the death penalty would use in more effective places we may have less crime than the "fear" capital punishment evokes. The U.S. and its citizens should look at more controversial issues from an introspective lens rather than from one seeking justice and revenge. "An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind." -- Mahatma Gandhi. (source: Opinion; Sonia Kumar is a sophomore in apparel textiles and marketing----The (Kansas State Univ.) Collegian) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 3 16:59:11 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2015 16:59:11 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 3 JORDAN----impending female execution Jordan To Execute Sajida Al-Rishawi After ISIS Video Released Jordan will execute Sajida al-Rishawi, the failed female suicide bomber whose release was sought by the Islamic State militant group, "within hours," Reuters reported on Tuesday. The report comes shortly after the group released a video showing the death of a Jordanian fighter pilot it has held since December. "The decision has been taken to implement the death sentence against the Iraqi convict and others," a Jordanian security source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Last week, militants threatened to kill captured Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh if al-Rishawi was not released. Jordan said it was willing to exchange al-Rishawi for the pilot, but demanded proof of life first. On Tuesday, the group released a gruesome video that appeared to show al-Kaseasbeh being burned alive. Jordanian state television said the pilot had been killed on Jan. 3. Al-Rishawi, who is from Iraq, received the death penalty in Jordan in 2006 for her role in al Qaeda attacks on 3 luxury hotels in the Jordanian capital of Amman in November 2005. Her suicide vest failed to explode, but the bombings left more than 60 people dead and were some of the deadliest in Jordan???s history. Jordan issued a moratorium on the death penalty the same year, but it has recently been lifted. (source: Huffington Post) SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia Defends Public Beheadings After ISIS Comparisons While ISIS militants have made headlines for their brutal public executions of civilians, key Western ally Saudi Arabia has continued and even expanded its own policy of public beheadings with far less scrutiny. Despite protests Monday from a top Saudi official about comparisons between the Saudi government and ISIS, Saudi Arabia's system of crime and punishment is remarkably similar to that of the Islamist organization it has denounced, experts said. Both ISIS and Saudi Arabia's absolute monarchy rely on the same ideology and system of religious interpretation in their approach to punishment, said Ali Al-Ahmed, a Saudi expert and the director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, D.C. "The Saudi judicial process, if we can call it that, is the same as ISIS'," he said. Unlike every other Muslim country, Saudi Arabia refuses to codify its laws, which "gives the judge, or the government here because they are one and the same, leeway to decide whatever punishment they want." This, according to Al-Ahmed, is precisely the same system used by ISIS, which regularly hands down severe punishments in the territories under its control. The militant group, which rose to international prominence after capturing swaths of land in Iraq and Syria last year, has drawn outrage for its brutal tactics, including videotaped beheadings of journalists and other civilians. Such a comparison was rejected by Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki, who told NBC News in an interview published Monday that Saudi criminal punishments were legitimate because they were based on "a decision made by a court" rather than ISIS' "arbitrary" killings. "ISIS has no legitimate way to decide to kill people," he said, adding that "the difference is clear." Human rights activists beg to differ, however. "It is not legitimate for Saudi Arabia to uphold the claim that there is due process rights within the proceedings of the judiciary," said Fadi Al-Qadi, a Middle East spokesman for Human Rights Watch. According to the rights group, the kingdom executed at least 68 people last year for crimes such as murder, rape and drug trafficking. On Sunday, authorities beheaded a convicted murderer, bringing to 17 the number of people who have been executed since the beginning of 2015, reported Agence France-Presse. Capital punishment is imposed in the kingdom under many problematic circumstances, said Delphine Lourtau, the lead researcher for the Death Penalty Worldwide project at Cornell Law School in Ithaca, New York. Not only are defendants often denied access to lawyers, but death sentences are often imposed in cases where confessions are obtained under torture, a circumstance that makes it impossible to justify the death penalty, she said. "Frequently, capital punishment is carried out for nonviolent offenses -- drug offenses that don't cause harm to anyone. These are particularly egregious violations of international law." Along with human rights groups, the United Nations has focused its scrutiny on the kingdom, particularly after it increased its rate of executions to 1 per day back in August, reported NBC. The U.N. said the kingdom's practice of beheading citizens was "prohibited under international law under all circumstances" and said the government was carrying out executions "with appalling regularity and in flagrant disregard of international law standards." The Saudi government's beheading of a woman in Mecca on Jan. 12 has renewed attention on the issue after a video of the execution was posted online and distributed by human rights activists, according to the New York Times. The kingdom, which is part of the U.S.-led international coalition fighting the militant group, has not welcomed the spotlight on its beheading practices and has arrested the man thought to be responsible for shooting and publishing the video. Al-Turki's comments on the issue follow weeks of unflattering comparisons between the Saudi government and ISIS on social media. Despite al-Turki's defensiveness on the subject, it is unlikely that Riyadh is feeling any significant international pressure to reform its justice system, said Al-Qadi. "The bottom line is you're not seeing a political, legal discussion about this among the Saudi elite," he said. "Saudi Arabia's allies in the West have to deliver a clear message that the battle against ISIS brings with it a commitment to human rights and a commitment on behalf of those participating in the coalition to bring an improvement to its own human rights record." Western governments have been notably silent on Saudi Arabia's rights record, according to Lourtau, who pointed to deep ties between Riyadh, the U.S. and the European Union. In the case of the United States, which has been criticized for its own high rate of executions -- including botched attempts that have been described as inhumane -- it may also be difficult to credibly criticize the Saudis for their practice of capital punishment. However, this should not deter Washington from pressing for reforms to the systemic problems underlying the practice and pushing for transparency, access to legal counsel and a stop to torture in prisons, said Lourtau. "These are all norms the U.S. can get behind and put pressure on its allies to enforce," she said. "There is space for pressure and diplomatic negotiation even for countries that support capital punishment." (source: International Business Times) JAPAN: Top court upholds death sentence for Akihabara rampage killer The Supreme Court finalized the death penalty on Feb. 2 for a man convicted of killing 7 and injuring 10 in a high-profile rampage in Tokyo's packed Akihabara district in 2008. In rejecting an appeal by Tomohiro Kato and upholding a lower court ruling, Chief Justice Ryuko Sakurai said, "(Kato's) responsibility is grave since his indiscriminate killings were well-prepared and carried out in a brutal manner with a strong intent to murder. "The incident had a significant impact on society, and relatives of the victims are strongly hoping that he will be punished." On June 8, 2008, Kato, a 32-year-old former temp worker, rented a truck and plowed it into a crowd of people in the bustling Akihabara electronics district before jumping out of the vehicle with a knife and going on a stabbing spree. Sakurai said Kato went on a rampage after "he was outraged because he believed he was treated in a harassing manner at his workplace--on top of postings belittling him on an online bulletin board--when he had a deepening sense of isolation as a result of having to move to 1 job after another as a temp worker." Sakurai said Kato committed the killings "to let those who harassed him know that their actions will bring about serious consequences." Kato's defense team requested a reduced sentence in court proceedings in December last year, contending that the abusive manner in which his mother raised him had an impact on shaping his character and was a major factor behind the crime. "I would like him to face the death penalty and ponder anew the value of a human life," said Hiroshi Yuasa, a taxi driver who was injured in the killing spree, at a Feb. 2 news conference in Tokyo after the ruling. Yuasa, 61, wrote repeatedly to Kato to ascertain his motive in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of indiscriminate killings. 3 years ago, Kato wrote a book about what set him off to go on the rampage, but Yuasa said the effort is just "an excuse made by a child who is justifying himself." Yuasa wrote to Kato in November encouraging him to author more books about the Akihabara killing spree. "(Your books) will bring many people to contemplate the case and generate something that will lead to the next step," he wrote in his letter to the convicted killer. (source: The Asahi Shimbun) PAKISTAN----executions 2 hanged for killing city doctor Attaullah alias Qasim and Mohammad Azam alias Sharif of a banned organisation were hanged to death on Tuesday morning at Karachi Central Prison for killing Dr Ali Raza Peerani in June 2004 in city's Soldier Bazaar area. Both were awarded the death penalty by an Anti Terrorism Court on July 6, 2004, however, managed to avert execution for more than 10 years due to moratorium placed on executions in 2008. The convicts shifted to Sukkur prison from Karachi in 2012 due to security reasons were few days ago brought back to the Central Prison of the metropolis, on Sindh High Court orders, for final implementation of the much delayed punishment this morning. On Monday, their application seeking suspension of their death warrants was also dismissed by the court. According to jail authorities, the convicts were adequately examined by the jail doctors before being hanged, while their bodies were duly checked and handed over to their relatives. Families of both Attaullah and Azam were residents of Qayyumabad, Korangi area. Strict security measures were taken inside and around the prison since Monday. Heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies were deployed at all roads leading towards the central prison to avert any untoward incident. (source: Daily Times) ************************************ In a first, govt set to hang man who says he killed in self defence Pakistan could today (Tuesday) see the 1st execution of someone who has been convicted for non-terrorist offences in a civilian court - in violation of the government's own policy. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last year lifted the country's moratorium on executions, but has repeatedly stated that this applies only to terrorism-related cases. However, unless a stay of execution is granted to Shoaib Sarwar - who was convicted of murder following a trial process which saw a number of irregularities - will be hanged on Tuesday. Sarwar's execution will be the 1st of someone who was neither convicted of terrorism offences nor convicted in a specialist terrorism court since the moratorium was lifted in December. The superintendent of Central Jail, Rawalpindi, where Sarwar is being held, has questioned whether the execution should go ahead, citing the policy of the Interior Ministry, which states that "death sentences only in terrorism-related matters ... are to be executed". Sarwar's lawyers were in court on Monday, seeking a stay of the execution, but it is not yet clear whether or how the Interior Ministry is going to act. At the time of his conviction, Sarwar claimed to have acted in self-defence, but due to bad advice from his defence counsel, a number of key witnesses who could have supported his case were never called - although newspaper reports and eyewitnesses at the scene had both corroborated his version of events. Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at legal charity Reprieve said: "The government's policy on executing only terrorists is in disarray. If Shoaib is hanged tomorrow, Nawaz Sharif's promise will not be worth the paper it is printed on. Shoaib has already suffered an unfair trial and 17 years on death row. The Interior Ministry must stay his execution today, before it is too late." (source: Pakistan Today) *************************** Pakistan prisoner Shoaib Sarwar wins stay of execution----Shoaib Sarwar's family say mitigating factors were not taken into account A Pakistani man who was due to be hanged on Tuesday has been granted a last-minute stay of execution. Shoaib Sarwar would have been the 1st person to be executed in a non-terror related case since Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions in December following the Peshawar school massacre. His family say he acted in self-defence and was a juvenile at the time of the murder of which he was found guilty. Meanwhile 2 other men convicted on terror charges were hanged on Tuesday. On Monday, Shoaib Sarwar's family were summoned to meet him for the last time, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported. Then on Tuesday a 21-day stay of execution was announced, ordered by the president. It is not clear what will happen when the deadline expires. Shoaib Sarwar was sentenced to death for the murder of the son of a police inspector in Wah Cantonment in 1998. His family have argued that he was only 17 at the time and was trying to protect his sister and her friends from neighbourhood harassment when a scuffle turned violent and Qais Nawaz was shot dead. However, because his parents were poor they could not afford proper defence counsel, according to Shahab Siddiqi of the non-profit human rights law firm Justice Project Pakistan (JPP). The case has created interest because Shoaib Sarwar was not sentenced by an Anti-Terrorism Court and therefore should not come within the government's policy of executions, Mr Siddiqi told the BBC. A date for his client to be put to death was set by a local court hearing an application filed by complainants in the case, he said. Following the Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar that left 150 people dead, the government lifted a moratorium on executions for terror-related cases. However, it did not spell out the status of non-terror related cases, and whether they would remain exempt from the death penalty, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad reports. It seems likely that the 21-day stay of execution has been issued to allow the government time to firm up its policy, our correspondent says. On Tuesday, 2 other men on death row were hanged in Pakistan. Attaullah, alias Qasim, and Mohammad Azam, members of the banned Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), were convicted of killing doctor Ali Raza in 2001 in Karachi, officials said. A total of 22 people have now been executed since the government brought back hangings in terror cases. Pakistan has the world's largest number of death row inmates, with more than 8,000 people awaiting execution, human rights groups say. (source: BBC news) EGYPT: Egypt death verdicts in violation of human rights: EU The European Union (EU) has denounced Egypt for "violating" human rights by sentencing 183 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death. "Today's decision of a court in Egypt to sentence 183 defendants to death following a mass trial is in violation of Egypt's international human rights obligations," the EU's foreign service said in a statement on Monday. The statement further voiced EU's strong opposition to the use of death penalty. Earlier on Monday, an Egyptian appellate court upheld the death sentences of the defendants for their alleged role in killing a number of police officers in 2013. Back in December 2014, an Egyptian court issued death sentences for 188 anti-government protesters. However, the appeals court acquitted 2 defendants, handed down a 10-year prison term to a minor and dropped charges against 2 others after it was found that they had had lost their lives. The court stated that the accused, of whom 143 are currently in jail, stormed a police station in Kerdasa, a village on the outskirts of the capital city of Cairo, in mid-August 2013, killing 13 security forces. The deadly assault took place after the Egyptian army attacked sit-ins by the supporters of the country???s ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, in an operation that claimed the lives of over 700 protesters. The harsh verdict against anti-government protesters came around 2 months after an Egyptian court dismissed a murder charge against the country's deposed dictator, Hosni Mubarak, in connection with the killing of hundreds of demonstrators during the 2011 uprising that ended his decades-long rule. Rights groups have severely criticized the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for launching a heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protesters and "stifling" freedom of speech in the Arab country. They say the crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's 1st democratically-elected president, has left over 1,400 people dead and 22,000 arrested, while hundreds have been sentenced to death in mass trials. Morsi was ousted in July 2013 in a military coup led by Sisi who was then the army commander. (source: Press TV) ********************** Deposed Egyptian President to Be Tried for Treason on February 15 The 1st hearing in the case against ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, accused of disclosing classified information to Qatar, is scheduled for February 15, according to local media citing judicial sources. "[The accused] passed top secret documents relating to the activities of the Egyptian army and intelligence services to Qatari intelligence and Qatar's Al Jazeera television channel to weaken the Egyptian state," the indictment against Morsi and 10 of his associates, reads. Egypt's 1st democratically-elected president is also accused of "spying for foreign governments" in a similar case. Morsi, along with 35 former members of his team, are charged with providing documents of national importance to foreign intelligence services, in particular to Iran. The prosecution in the first case, which is asking for the death penalty, also alleges that the accused cooperated with extremist groups aiming to destabilize the situation in Egypt. A final verdict is expected on May 16. In addition to the 2 espionage charges, Morsi, along with 14 members of the Muslim Brotherhood Islamist movement, faces a 3rd charge of inciting violence. The case, postponed by the criminal court in Cairo until April 21, involves the December 2012 killing of 10 protesters outside the presidential palace. In earlier remarks, the ousted president did not recognize the court's jurisdiction. Morsi's ouster by the Egyptian military dates back to July 2013, following mass protests demanding his resignation. Since then police have repeatedly clamped down on Muslim Brotherhood members. (source: Sputnik News) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 3 16:59:55 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2015 16:59:55 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 3 INDONESIA: Rights groups criticize resumption of executions in Indonesia----11 more men are scheduled for execution, with the majority of those on death row there on drug charges Rights activists inside and outside Indonesia have expressed alarm after the country executed 6 people in January, officially resuming the death penalty after a 1-year reprieve. On Jan. 29, the government named the next 11 people to be executed, 8 of them on drug-related charges, and, of those 8, 7 are foreigners. In 2013, after an almost 5-year gap, the Southeast Asian country executed 5 people, then held off for a year before executing 6 people at the start of this year, putting on notice about 150 people currently on Indonesian death row. Some activists said the move is largely about domestic politics. Ricky Gunawan, director of the Jakarta-based LBH Masyarakat Community Legal Aid Institute, told Al Jazeera there is widespread domestic support for capital punishment for drug trafficking within Indonesia. "In Indonesia, drugs have always been seen as 'evil.' Narcotics ... are often labeled as haram [forbidden]," Gunawan said, adding that "the government and law apparatus treat this issue as a way to gain popularity or support." Arrests, convictions and executions are "a way for the government to show that they are tough against crimes," Gunawan said. When Indonesian President Joko Widodo spoke about the fate of 2 Australians - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who are among the next 11 to be executed - he told CNN, "We are not going to compromise for drug dealers. No compromise, no compromise." Widodo, who took office in the predominantly Muslim nation of roughly 250 million in October, said the two would not receive a reprieve from execution, although both men filed a last-ditch appeal on Friday. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has personally asked for clemency for Chan and Sukimaran, who were arrested in 2005. Relations between the 2 neighbor countries have soured since it was revealed in 2013 that Australia had been spying on Indonesian officials, including former president President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife. Executions not a deterrent In its 2013 Death Sentence and Executions report, Amnesty International indicated that there were at least 149 people on death row in Indonesia, roughly half on drug-related charges. Rights groups say that executing people on drug charges does not comport with international standards. Article 6 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights limits the acceptable use of capital punishment to crimes that meet the threshold for being "the most serious crimes." "According to international human rights jurisprudence, capital punishment could only be applied to the crime of murder or intentional killing," Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a Jan. 20 statement. The Indonesian government has staunchly resisted the U.N.???s interpretation of jurisprudence, which is why some rights groups focus on opposition to executions rather than the offenses for which prisoners are being executed. "Amnesty International opposes the death penalty for whatever reason, so it doesn't matter if [the charge] falls under a heinous crime or not," said T. Kumar, international advocacy director for the rights group. "The death penalty is commonly used for drug offenses in many countries, mainly in Southeast Asia, so that's nothing new there," Kumar said. "So what's new is we have a new president in Indonesia so he's carrying out all the death sentences, and refusing to give any consideration for clemency - he's pretty much taking a tough line." Rights activists questioned the effectiveness of that hardline approach when it comes to curbing the flow of narcotics into the country. Rick Lines, director of Harm Reduction International (HRI), a U.K.-based NGO, said that after decades of study, criminologists and social scientists have found "no evidence at all that the death penalty is a deterrent of crime, whether drug crimes or other crimes." "The fact that the majority of those arrested and sentenced to death are low-level couriers in and of itself demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the laws, as high-level traffickers and kingpins are not being caught in the legal net leads to capital punishment," Lines said. He added that executing the couriers would not stop the drug trade, "as there will be a never-ending procession of poor and desperate people" willing to assume the risk for financial or other rewards. HRI estimates that as many as 1,000 people are executed on drug charges each year in the Middle East and Asia alone. (source: Al Jazeera) ************************ Indonesia's drugs strategy under fire Indonesia's strategy in its war against drugs is under attack, with lawmakers airing concerns over the prison drug culture and experts challenging the deterrent effect of the death penalty. President Joko Widodo has already sent 6 death row drug offenders to the firing squad this year, and Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be among the next. Mr Joko says the death penalty is needed because Indonesia's future is under threat from a 'drugs emergency'. His position is based on a study by the National Narcotics Board (BNN) which finds up to 50 Indonesians die from drug-related causes each day. Under pressure at a parliamentary hearing in Jakarta on Monday, BNN chief Anang Iskandar reportedly admitted prison guards were involved in distributing drugs behind bars. He told reporters the BNN was aiming to dismantle up to 50 prison drug networks, as well as rehabilitate 100,000 drug addicts this year. Mr Anang backed the death penalty as a strong deterrent, as long as executions were carried out regularly. 'If we do it in 2015, the next one should not be in 2016 or once a year, this will not create a deterrent effect,' he said. 'A deterrent effect is only caused by continuous executions and the time interval between should not be too long either.' Indonesia's Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, an independent research institute, says the evidence does not support the idea that capital punishment is a deterrent. 'It's a myth,' institute director Supriyadi W. Eddyono said. 'Many studies have shown it.' I find the BNN is not consistent either. 'There's the death penalty for some and on the other hand, there are domestic drug dealers who receive remission.' If they want to make tighter laws for drugs offenders, they should also limit the remission given to drug offenders. The institute is also preparing a legal challenge to Supreme Court advice to limit the number of judicial reviews, known as PKs, to 1 per convict. The courts are now considering an application from Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, for a 2nd judicial review. Their lawyers argue past errors were made in their case and that the Bali 9 ringleaders are reformed after 10 years' jail.Indonesia's Attorney-General HM Prasetyo says the application does not alter his plans to include the Australians in the next round of executions, on a date to be determined. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reportedly been advised there is nothing that can be done to save the two Australians from execution.The message was conveyed to Mr Abbott on Australia Day by Indonesia's ambassador Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, News Corp Australia reports. 2 celebrated Melbourne artists, Ben Quilty and Matthew Sleeth, visited Kerobokan prison on Tuesday for a prison art workshop that had been planned some time ago. Quilty says both Sukumaran and Chan are doing well. 'They are carrying an enormous weight on their shoulders, but they are still hopeful,' he told reporters. Sleeth said it would be a shame to end their lives when they had done so much to rehabilitate prisoners. 'I would like to see the Indonesian authorities celebrate their success in this rehabilitation and in the art room, and keep it going.' (source: Sky News) ********************************** The Bali 9, and how not to argue for the death penalty Barring some sort of last-minute miracle, 2 relatively young Australian men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are going to be killed by the Indonesian state. They will not be the first to die this way in 2015. 6 other drug criminals have already been executed in Indonesia this year, and more are scheduled. The Brazilians and Dutch recalled their ambassadors in response to the last executions, which involved two of their citizens. Australia is reportedly doing what it can to save Chan and Sukumaran, but apparently to no avail, and it remains to be seen if we would follow the Brazilian and Dutch examples. ACU Vice-Chancellor Greg Craven has claimed that: The attitude of Australia and Australians will become part of the reason why these men are executed if we are not sending the right signals to Indonesia. Meanwhile, Roy Morgan polling finds that 62% of Australians think their government should not do more to stop the execution. A slim majority, 52%, favour such executions going ahead. Yet as recently as 2009 Roy Morgan also found a clear majority not in favour of capital punishment in Australia - not even for murder. That re-introducing the death penalty doesn't have majority support isn't surprising. The consequentialist arguments against the death penalty aren't hard to find. The irreversibility of execution means sickening and unfixable miscarriages of justice are more or less inevitable. The imperative to avoid those injustices makes the process extremely slow - almost 15 years on average in the US, as of 2010 - and accordingly more expensive than life imprisonment. As a deterrent it simply doesn't seem to work, perhaps because, oddly enough, it turns out humans aren't rational, cool-headed calculators who deliberate carefully and act accordingly. We know all this, or at least we should. So, it seems a large proportion of us are against the death penalty, but say we are for executions abroad and don't want us to try harder to stop them. How do we reconcile these apparently incompatible beliefs? I suspect we're doing it with "arguments" that at bottom have nothing to do with the death penalty as such, but are really just excuses for not caring about it in particular cases. We don't like the death penalty, we just don't want the discomfort of having to care about the people it's applied to. And so we trot out a series of trite, cliched slogans. 'Do the crime, do the time' The obvious rejoinder to this is that execution isn't "doing time" - even if the years spent on death row is. Philosophers continue to grapple with the surprisingly difficult question of why death is a harm and why, by extension, killing is wrong. The closest thing to a standard answer is that death deprives us of good years we would otherwise have enjoyed. But as the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus insisted, not existing for what would have been the rest of your life is not the same as suffering for that many years. You might rephrase this as: "Do the crime, pay the penalty". But just how far do we follow that principle? Penalties can be excessive, or unjust. So surely for such a principle to have force, the penalty has to be proportional to the crime. If you say Chan and Sukumaran should accept their punishment, you're thereby committed to saying that execution is a fitting punishment for drug trafficking - a claim that needs to be argued for. 'They knew the risk they were running' Radio host Garry Linnell offered a version of this argument in response to artist Ben Quilty's candlelight vigil for the pair. He wrote: Sukumaran and Chan knew the penalty if they were caught. You cannot arrive anywhere in Indonesia without signs explicitly stating the consequences of importing and exporting drugs on Indonesian soil. It is Indonesian law. But this confuses moral responsibility with prudential responsibility. If you leave your car unlocked with the window down and your laptop on the front seat, someone might say that you "deserve" to have your laptop stolen. But being imprudent in such a case isn't the same thing as moral culpability: that rests with the thief. We wouldn't refuse to stop the thief, or let him off the hook, simply because you'd been careless. You can agree that Chan and Sukumaran were stupid to take the risk they did, and even that what they did morally deserves punishment, given the misery and death heroin brings with it. But the argument that "they knew the risks" doesn't, on its own, make their execution appropriate. Those who assert this still owe us an argument. 'Different countries have different laws and we should respect that' Linnell, like many others, also insisted that: ... the Bali 9 controversy is equally about sovereign rights and the penalties imposed on those who decide to flout them. Sovereignty has moral weight, and it's not hard to imagine cases where it might be ethically right to abide by local laws or norms you nonetheless disagree with. But, again, this only goes so far. It would be obscene to subordinate the profound wrongness of killing - the very thing many death penalty proponents appeal to - to the need to respect sovereignty or avoid giving offence. To say that the laws of other countries must always be respected - no matter what they demand - is not so much a statement of principle as a moral abdication. And that, in a nutshell, is the problem with making arguments like this. It's not so much ethical reasoning as ritual hand-washing. If you honestly think that killing 2 young men, who are so effectively rehabilitated that even their jailers want them to live, and destroying the lives of their families, all for no deterrent effect, is somehow going to achieve something - well, you have to argue for it. If there's some knock-down argument that makes premeditated killing on the part of the government appropriate, or shows how more death and misery is somehow going to put the world to right, let's hear it. Those who think we shouldn't care about this owe us better than rhetorical fig leaves for indifference. Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika has said that the executions should take place - just not in Bali. It seems it's OK for things like this to happen, so long as they don't happen here, where we have to confront the full reality of what is done when the state ends a life, of what it is to shoot a man tied to a stake. Sadly, many Australians seem to agree. (source: The Conversation) ******************************************** Indonesia defers execution of Pinay drug convict Indonesia has deferred the execution of a convicted Filipina drug smuggler after the Philippine government sought a review of her case, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday. The woman, who flew in to Indonesia from Malaysia, was arrested by authorities at the Yogyakarta Airport on April 25, 2010 for alleged trafficking of 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She entered Indonesia as a tourist. "We are already waiting for a schedule of that judicial request. In view of that request, the actual execution has been deferred," Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose told a press briefing. In its request, Jose said the Philippine government is seeking the commutation of her sentence to life imprisonment. Although the sentence was already upheld by the Supreme Court, Jose said all death penalty cases in Indonesia are entitled to at least 1 judicial review. "We are presenting new arguments. We'll see how this will be taken and considered by authorities of Indonesia," he said. In many countries, such as Indonesia and China, trafficking of large quantities of prohibited drugs is punishable by death. Death penalty in Indonesia is carried out through firing squad. Since 2011, 5 Filipinos - all drug couriers - were put to death in China. Despite the executions, many Filipinos continue to engage in drug trafficking, citing lack of economic opportunities at home. Citing a September 2014 data, the DFA said a total of 805 Filipinos who are detained abroad for drug-related offenses. (source: GMA News) ***************** Jokowi's leadership could do with more compassion President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo completed his first 100 days in office last week with mixed public reviews, but if there is one area where he has disappointed some of his fans the most, it is in his lacking the compassion and spirit of forgiveness expected from a leader who has almost all the other main humanitarian virtues. Jokowi won the presidential elections in July chiefly because of his popularity among voters, rather than on his thin track record in government at the national level. The 53-year-old man from Surakarta, Central Java, displayed all the positive Javanese characteristics from humility to sincerity, virtues that are rarely found among today's politicians and leaders, but characteristics that people craved badly enough to vote for him. But his decision at the start of his presidency to order the execution of the dozens of people on death row, there chiefly for drug trafficking, came as a big shock to some of his supporters who had hoped the new President would be more compassionate and forgiving, especially in deciding to take the lives of others. These are virtues that would have been consistent with his other humanitarian traits. Last month, the Attorney General's Office carried out the execution of 6 people who have lingered on death row for years, including 5 foreigners, after President Jokowi rejected their appeals for clemency, their last chance for reprieve. The government says 11 others are now being lined up for execution. There were 64 people on death row when Jokowi ordered the executions to start as soon as he came into office in October. Unless he had a change of heart, all will be executed. 11th-hour appeals for mercy from President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and King Willem of the Netherlands to spare the lives of their citizens, who were among the 6 executed, were rejected. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been on the phone with Jokowi this past week asking him to spare the lives of 2 Australians in the list of 11 about to be executed. Jokowi responded to these pleas by saying Indonesia is in the middle of a major war against drug trafficking and these people violated Indonesian laws that clearly stipulate death for violators. His strong stance received widespread support from the Indonesian public. They lauded the new President for taking a stand against the menacing drug threats that have affected millions of Indonesians and their families and for standing up against foreign leaders. It's hard to accept Jokowi's explanation that there was nothing he could do to stop the executions. He claimed it was the court that decided on the death penalty, and not him, and that the order for execution is the natural consequence of him following the law of the land. Jokowi cannot easily wash his blood-stained hands. The Constitution grants the President the power to pardon people and he could have commuted their sentences to life imprisonment if he wanted to. When he rejects the appeals for clemency, he virtually signs their death warrants. This episode leads to a disturbing thought that we may have elected a war-mongering and vengeful president. After declaring war on drug abuse early in his presidency, he became trapped by his own rhetoric, to the effect that he simply had to order the executions of people on death row, mostly drug traffickers, but also including sadistic murderers. Jokowi may have won over domestic public opinion - many in fact compared him with his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whom they thought of being too lame on drug offenders. But a better comparison would be with great leaders of the past, many of whom made compassion and forgiveness as part of the virtues that raised them above others. The late South African leader Nelson Mandela made forgiveness very much one of his leadership qualities, one reason why he won the respect and admiration of people around the world, not only of South Africans. "Forgiveness liberates the soul. That's why it's such a powerful weapon," Mandela once said. "You will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than through acts of retribution," he said another time as he fought against demands from fellow black South Africans to take revenge against the whites for their brutality during decades of Apartheid. Compassion and the spirit of forgiveness would make Jokowi much stronger. They are not signs of weaknesses. They would even elevate him from being just another elected politician into a true statesman. Given all his other humanitarian traits and given that he came from a younger generation of leaders not so tainted by the violent political culture, many supporters had hoped Jokowi to lean closer toward human rights causes, including on capital punishment. All the arguments for and against capital punishment, from legal, constitutional, moral and religious points of view, have been debated. Even the Constitutional Court was divided when it ruled 5-to-4 in favor of retaining the death penalty in 2008. Public opinion is very much in favor of retention and the politician in President Jokowi has simply followed it and even strengthened it through his rhetorical statements. He could have risen above public opinion and shown compassion and forgiveness, but he chose not to. The campaign to abolish capital punishment in Indonesia needs a public figure or an icon to tip public opinion to its side. Obviously, Jokowi is not their man. (source: Endy Bayuni, The Jakarta Post) *********************** Trial continued as objection rejected A panel of judges in Denpasar District Court has decided to continue the trial of an American couple charged with murder despite an objection from the defendants' lawyers that the indictments were inaccurate and should be annulled. This decision means that the couple, Tommy Schaefer, 21, and Heather Mack, 19, will face trial and could be sentenced to death. "The indictment has been arranged carefully and fulfilled the material and judiciary requirements; the objection from the lawyer is rejected," presiding judge Made Suweda said in a hearing on Monday. In a trial hearing 2 weeks ago, Schaefer's lawyer, Iswahyudi, said the indictment was unclear and contained a factual error. The lawyer asked the judge to return the indictment to the prosecutors. "The indictment is unexamined, unclear and erroneous, so it is null and void," Iswahyudi claimed. The same statement was also conveyed by Mack's lawyer, Novi Wirani, during her hearing, which took place after Schaefer's with the same presiding judge. "An indictment should be made carefully, clearly and completely, as required by law, as an indictment will determine someone's fate, whether they are guilty or not," Novi stated. However, in the next session, prosecutors Eddy Artha Wijaya and Ni Luh Oka Ariani assured that the indictment and the charges were very clear. As the lawyers' objections have been rejected, the trial will continue on Wednesday, Feb. 4, to hear witness statements. If found guilty, the 2 Americans could face the death penalty as they have been charged with premeditated murder under Article 340 of the Criminal Code. Schaefer and Mack, who are expecting a baby girl on April 1, are accused of murdering Mack's mother, 62-year-old American Sheila Ann von Weise-Mack. The victim's body was found in a suitcase allegedly put in a taxi trunk on Aug. 12 by the young couple outside the luxury hotel in Nusa Dua where the 3 had been vacationing. Mack and Schaefer were arrested on Aug. 13, 1 day after the murder, at Risata Bali Resort in Kuta, where they had stayed for the night. According to the prosecutor's indictment, the murder was triggered by the mother's rejection of Mack and Schaefer's relationship. Mack had reportedly asked Schaefer to find a hit man to kill her mother before the incident took place. "Heather Lois Mack wanted her mother, Sheila Ann von Weise-Mack, to die and asked Tommy Schaefer to find people to kill her mother for US$50,000," the indictment stated. ***************************** Execution plan gets mixed reactions in Oz, says RI envoy President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's latest rejection of clemency for a group of drug-case convicts, including two Australians, which will lead to the prisoners being executed by firing squad, has sparked mixed reactions in Australia, says Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat Kesoema. "It is natural for every government to defend its citizens who are about to be executed. The Australian government expects to be able to spare its citizens' lives," Nadjib told The Jakarta Post recently. "We also fully realize that taking someone's life is never an easy business. However, the word is final and the law must be upheld." The statement was made following Attorney General HM Prasetyo's latest statement that prosecutors would execute foreigner prisoners and an Indonesian. Nadjib also said that he had discussed the matter with various parties in Australia by explaining that the situation in Indonesia had forced the government to be firm, citing approximately 4.5 million people being exposed to narcotics, its various by-products and also other drugs. He added that of the figure, a million people could not access proper rehabilitation. "We are expecting some protests and mass rallies ahead as the result of the executions," he said. However, Nadjib went on to say that apparently the execution plan had also drawn mixed reactions, as a portion of the Australian public also agreed to the executions. A survey conducted by Roy Morgan Research revealed 52 % of Australians agreed that Australians convicted of drug trafficking in another country and sentenced to death should be executed. The same survey also showed that 62 % of Australians thought their government should not do more to stop the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. The survey was conducted via SMS to 2,123 people from Jan. 23-27. The pair has been detained at Kerobokan Penitentiary in Denpasar, Bali, for almost 10 years. A call for mercy was aired at a concert on Thursday last week, where more than 2,000 Australians, led by local musicians, gathered in Sydney in a plea for mercy for the 2 convicts. Holding candles and signs reading "I stand for mercy", the crowd listened to speeches and live music at Martin Place in the heart of the city, in a show of support for Chan and Sukumaran, who recently lost their final appeals for clemency. The 2 men - members of an Australian drug-smuggling group dubbed the "Bali 9" - were arrested in Bali in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year for attempting to smuggle 8 kilograms of heroin off the Indonesian holiday island. Sukumaran's grandmother Edith Visvanathan told the crowd that she was not asking for him to be sent home. "I only ask him [Jokowi] to give him his life and let him do something with it," she said between sobs, as quoted by Agence France-Presse. "Don't kill him, please don't kill him [...] please, President, please forgive him." Artist Ben Quilty, a friend of Sukumaran's who organized the concert, choked back tears as he said the men's families would be touched by the outpouring of support. "Andrew and Myuran did really bad things, but they are good young men now," he added. Australia's Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, who was in the audience, said there was "no cause for governments to kill people". "The death penalty is completely inconsistent with human rights principles and disproportionate to the crimes being committed," he told AFP. (source for both: The Jakarta Post) *************** Rights groups criticize resumption of executions in Indonesia----11 more men are scheduled for execution with the majority of those on death row there on drug charges Rights activists inside and outside Indonesia have expressed alarm after the country executed 6 people in January, officially resuming the death penalty after a 1-year reprieve. On Jan. 29, the government named the next 11 people to be executed, 8 of them on drug-related charges, and, of those 8, 7 are foreigners. In 2013, after an almost 5-year gap, the Southeast Asian country executed 5 people, then held off for a year before executing 6 people at the start of this year, putting on notice about 150 people currently on Indonesian death row. Some activists said the move is largely about domestic politics. Ricky Gunawan, director of the Jakarta-based LBH Masyarakat Community Legal Aid Institute, told Al Jazeera there is widespread domestic support for capital punishment for drug trafficking within Indonesia. "In Indonesia, drugs have always been seen as 'evil.' Narcotics ... are often labeled as haram [forbidden]," Gunawan said, adding that "the government and law apparatus treat this issue as a way to gain popularity or support." Arrests, convictions and executions are "a way for the government to show that they are tough against crimes," Gunawan said. When Indonesian President Joko Widodo spoke about the fate of 2 Australians - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who are among the next 11 to be executed - he told CNN, "We are not going to compromise for drug dealers. No compromise, no compromise." Widodo, who took office in the predominantly Muslim nation of roughly 250 million in October, said the 2 would not receive a reprieve from execution, although both men filed a last-ditch appeal on Friday. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has personally asked for clemency for Chan and Sukimaran, who were arrested in 2005. Relations between the 2 neighbor countries have soured since it was revealed in 2013 that Australia had been spying on Indonesian officials, including former president President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife. Executions not a deterrent In its 2013 Death Sentence and Executions report, Amnesty International indicated that there were at least 149 people on death row in Indonesia, roughly 1/2 on drug-related charges. Rights groups say that executing people on drug charges does not comport with international standards. Article 6 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights limits the acceptable use of capital punishment to crimes that meet the threshold for being "the most serious crimes." "According to international human rights jurisprudence, capital punishment could only be applied to the crime of murder or intentional killing," Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a Jan. 20 statement. The Indonesian government has staunchly resisted the U.N.???s interpretation of jurisprudence, which is why some rights groups focus on opposition to executions rather than the offenses for which prisoners are being executed. "Amnesty International opposes the death penalty for whatever reason, so it doesn't matter if [the charge] falls under a heinous crime or not," said T. Kumar, international advocacy director for the rights group. "The death penalty is commonly used for drug offenses in many countries, mainly in Southeast Asia, so that's nothing new there," Kumar said. "So what's new is we have a new president in Indonesia so he's carrying out all the death sentences, and refusing to give any consideration for clemency - he's pretty much taking a tough line." Rights activists questioned the effectiveness of that hardline approach when it comes to curbing the flow of narcotics into the country. Rick Lines, director of Harm Reduction International (HRI), a U.K.-based NGO, said that after decades of study, criminologists and social scientists have found "no evidence at all that the death penalty is a deterrent of crime, whether drug crimes or other crimes." "The fact that the majority of those arrested and sentenced to death are low-level couriers in and of itself demonstrates the ineffectiveness of the laws, as high-level traffickers and kingpins are not being caught in the legal net leads to capital punishment," Lines said. He added that executing the couriers would not stop the drug trade, "as there will be a never-ending procession of poor and desperate people" willing to assume the risk for financial or other rewards. HRI estimates that as many as 1,000 people are executed on drug charges each year in the Middle East and Asia alone. (source: Al Jazeera) ************* Drugs smuggling British grandmother on death row in Bali moves a step closer to execution----Lindsay Sandiford, 57, of Cheltenham, has been on death row since 2012 Death by firing squad for a British grandmother now seems certain after Indonesia today revealed 2 Australian men will be among the next group of death row inmates to be executed. Lindsay Sandiford, 57, from Cheltenham, has been languishing on death row in Bali since being convicted of attempting to smuggle 1.6million pounds' worth of cocaine through the island's airport in 2012. She maintains she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children, whose safety was at stake. Since her arrest, she has been holed up in the squalid Kerobokan prison in Bali. She claims to have received little or no help from the Foreign Office since then and fears the Indonesian authorities might construe that as a lack of commitment by the government to her cause. Revelations of an affair between fellow inmate Julian Ponder - nicknamed Bali's Mr Big - and Alys Harahap, Britain's top diplomat in Bali have also handicapped her efforts to evade the firing squad. Ms Harahap stopped her visits to Kerobokan prison after the affair was exposed, meaning Ms Sandiford may have been denied the full diplomatic support to which she is entitled. Ms Sandiford has now written a desperate letter to Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who is due to visit Indonesia this month. She has pleaded for funding to pay for a lawyer in the hope of escaping the firing squad - but today's grim news that two Australians will be among the next to die has dramatically weakened her hopes. Indonesia's Attorney-General H.H.Prasetyo confirmed today that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, condemned ringleaders of the Bali 9 heroin-smuggling group, will die with other condemned prisoners soon. It was not clear when exactly the executions will take place. Appeals for clemency have already been rejected. The pair will face execution together for their plot to smuggle more than eight kilograms of heroin in to Australia. Mr Prasetyo told a press conference today: 'We have heard that many Australians support the execution and it is one of the things that pushes us to feel we are not making a mistake.' Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran, who have been on death row since 2006, have filed an application for a 2nd judicial review. Mr Prasetyo said he had heard this focused on the men's rehabilitation in prison, but said this did not constitute new evidence. If her execution goes ahead, Sandiford would be transferred from Bali to a maximum security jail on Nusa Kambangan, off Java Island, for up 72 hours before facing the firing squad. The island is where the Bali bombers faced the firing squad and where 6 drug criminals were executed 2 weeks ago. The last round of executions took place shortly after midnight. Executions are carried out by 12-man firing squads - only a proportion of whom are given live bullets. In their last 72 hours, prisoners are granted final requests and allowed to spend time with family and friends as they see out their last hours in isolation cells. Prisoners are offered blindfolds to wear and are given the choice to stand, sit or lie down when the firing squad carries out their execution from between 5 and 10 metres. The Foreign Office said it stood 'ready to provide support at this difficult time, if requested'. It said it had consistently provided and offered consular support to Ms Sandiford, which she currently declined to accept. 'We are closely following Lindsay Sandiford's case in Indonesia. We stand ready to provide support at this difficult time, if it is requested,' said a spokesman in the British embassy in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. 'The UK strongly opposes the death penalty in all circumstances without exception. We have made representations about the death penalty to the Indonesian government, and we will continue to do so.' Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. It ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013. Last month, Indonesia executed convicts from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and the Netherlands as well as 1 from Indonesia. (source: Daily Mail) VIETNAM: Activists, religious dignitaries call for an end to Vietnam's death penalty Religious dignitaries and civil activists in Vietnam as well as the international community have called on the Vietnamese government to abolish the death penalty. An estimated 40 human rights activists, bloggers, journalists, democracy advocates, relatives of two death row inmates, and dignitaries of Christianity and indigenous sects of Cao Dai and Hoa Hao attended a special seminar, "Abolishing the Death Penalty -- The Progression of Civilization," on Jan. 26 at the Redemptorists' pastoral center in Ho Chi Minh City. The event marked the 1st time local religions and civil organizations publicly voiced concern about capital punishment. European Union representatives and consulates of Australia, Germany and the United States attended the event, which was co-organized by the Redemptorists' Justice and Peace Office, Civil Society Forum, and Vietnam's Universal Periodic Review Working Group. "Human beings are created in the image of God, so human life is the most important. The Fifth Commandment teaches, 'You shall not kill.' That means murder is banned in any circumstances," said Redemptorist Fr. Anthony Le Ngoc Thanh from the Justice and Peace Office. Thanh said some local bishops and priests individually have called for the elimination of death sentences. "However, the bishops' conference has not yet petitioned the government to abolish the death penalty," he added. Although Vietnam's constitution states everyone has the right to life and no one shall be illegally deprived of his life, the country still imposes a death sentence for 22 crimes. Courts throughout the country sentence approximately 200 people to death annually. Death sentences are often handed down to those convicted of drug offenses and murder. Hua Phi, a leader of Cao Dai, a syncretic belief system, blamed the rising crime rate among young people on a sharp decline in moral standards caused by atheist education. The government should "eliminate the death penalty soon" and adopt a reform of educational system focusing on human values, Phi said. Nguyen Quang A, a human rights activist, told participants: "The death penalty applied in Vietnam has drawn great attention from the international community." During the Universal Periodic Review Working Group's 2nd cycle in 2014, Vietnam received nearly 30 recommendations related to abolishing the death penalty, he added. However, A said, the government only accepted a few of the recommendations, such as reducing the number of crimes subjected to persecution and seeking reform toward the eventual abolition of the death penalty. "We should popularize [for] the people the recommendations the government promised and urge them to monitor how the recommendations are implemented in the country," A said. (source: National Catholic Reporter) SOUTH KOREA----new death sentence Soldier gets death penalty for deadly shooting spree A military court on Tuesday sentenced an Army deserter to death for killing and wounding about a dozen unarmed comrades in a shooting rampage at a guard post close to the border with North Korea. The court handed down the death penalty to the 23-year-old Army sergeant, surnamed Lim, for killing 5 and wounding 7 others by detonating a grenade and firing at his comrades at the border outpost on the east coast in June last year. He was also found guilty of running away from his unit with a rifle and a stash of ammunition. 2 days later, he was captured while being under siege by thousands of troops right after a botched suicide attempt. Military prosecutors last month demanded the capital punishment for him on charges of murder and desertion, arguing that he committed a "cruel and premeditated attack" on unarmed comrades. South Korea's military law stipulates that a soldier faces capital punishment for killing a superior officer. One of the fallen soldiers was a staff sergeant in Lim's unit. (source: Yonhap News) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 10:57:58 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 10:57:58 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, MD., VA., OHIO, MO. Message-ID: Feb. 4 TEXAS----impending execution Donald Newbury of infamous 'Texas 7' gang faces execution Wednesday ---- Gang escaped prison in 2000 and killed a Dallas police officer before their apprehension a month later. Newbury will be the 3rd member put to death Already a 3-time felon with a violent history, the convicted robber Donald Newbury was serving a 99-year prison term when he joined 6 fellow convicts in Texas's biggest prison break ever in 2000. Now Newbury is set for execution Wednesday for the shooting death of a suburban Dallas police officer during a sporting-goods store robbery the escaped fugitives carried out while at large. Newbury, 52, would be the 3rd Texas prisoner put to death this year, and also the 3rd of the notorious "Texas 7" gang executed for the slaying of 29-year-old Irving officer Aubrey Hawkins. The US Supreme Court had an appeal Tuesday from Newbury's attorney, William Harris, who told the justices Newbury has had neither a "meaningful opportunity" nor sufficient court-approved money to develop a claim that his trial lawyers were deficient for not showing jurors significant psychological evidence of his abusive childhood. The Texas attorney general's office, in opposing the appeal, said Newbury has been given court reviews and court-authorized money and "has not pointed to any facts" that would prove he's innocent. Newbury was spared from lethal injection 3 years ago by a Supreme Court reprieve. Evidence showed the gang led by George Rivas, who was serving 17 life-in-prison terms, overpowered workers on 13 December 2000 at the Connally Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, about 60 miles south of San Antonio. 11 days later, on Christmas Eve, and after robberies as far away as Houston, Hawkins was shot 11 times and run over with a stolen SUV when he interrupted the gang???s holdup of a sporting goods store. The fugitives got away with $70,000, 44 firearms, ammunition and winter clothing. They also took jewelry and wallets from store employees who were closing up for the evening. They were hunted down a month later in Colorado where 1 of them, Larry Harper, killed himself rather than surrender. According to court records, 12 loaded firearms were found in the Holiday Inn room in Colorado Springs where Newbury was arrested with escapee Joseph Garcia. Newbury contended he didn't shoot to kill Hawkins and pointed his gun far above the officer's head. Prison records show Newbury has had dozens of disciplinary cases since arriving on death row in 2002. Most were defined as major, such as assaulting corrections officers, possessing weapons and contraband and creating disturbances. At least 1 was a riot case. "He really likes coming across as the bad outlaw," said Toby Shook, the former Dallas County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Newbury. In a 2003 interview with The Associated Press, Newbury said he would still escape if he could do it all over again. "I had 99 years," he said, referring to his original sentence. "What did I have to lose?" Gang leader Rivas, 41, was put to death 3 years ago. George Rodriguez, 45, was executed in 2008 after ordering all his appeals dropped. 3 remain on death row: Garcia, 43, Patrick Murphy Jr, 53, and Randy Halprin, 37. (source: The Guardian) ***************************************** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----2 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----520 Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. # 3------------Feb. 4--------------------Donald Newbury-------521 4------------Feb. 10-------------------Les Bower, Jr.-------522 5------------Mar. 5--------------------Rodney Reed----------523 6------------Mar. 11-------------------Manuel Vasquez-------524 7------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays---------525 8------------Apr. 9--------------------Kent Sprouse---------526 9------------Apr. 15-------------------Manual Garza---------527 10-----------Apr. 23-------------------Richard Vasquez------528 11-----------Apr. 28-------------------Robert Pruett--------529 12-----------May 12--------------------Derrick Charles------530 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) MARYLAND: Former Maryland death row inmate spurns O'Malley's commutation, wants less than life in prison A Maryland inmate whose death sentence was commuted to life in prison is hoping to argue for less time behind bars. On Jan. 20, former Gov. Martin O'Malley commuted the death sentences of four inmates who had been sentenced before the state banned capital punishment in 2013. Among them was Jody Lee Miles, convicted in the 1997 robbery and murder of Edward Atkinson in Wicomico County. Miles' attorneys say their client won't accept the commutation. The Daily Times reports (http://delmarvane.ws/16uiyAc ) that Miles' attorneys are asking the Court of Special Appeals to find his new life sentence illegal so they can argue for less prison time for him at a new sentencing. A spokesman for Maryland's attorney general's office says O'Malley had the authority to commute the death sentences. (source: Associated Press) VIRGINIA: The Capital Punishment Cover-Up----Virginia wants to hide "all information relating to the execution process." A series of botched executions in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Arizona last year raised serious new questions about how death penalty drugs are administered. They have drawn fresh scrutiny from the Supreme Court itself, which agreed last month to assess whether a lethal injection cocktail used in Oklahoma violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. A month ago Ohio announced that officials would stop using one of the drugs in the current protocol, midazolam, after a botched execution involving untested drugs last year. And on Friday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced that the state would postpone all 7 scheduled 2015 executions, partly because of questions surrounding the controversial drug cocktail Ohio had been using. Yet just prior to announcing this temporary moratorium, Ohio lawmakers attempted to improve the reputation of its capital punishment system with bizarre new laws passed in a lame-duck session. The controversial rules increased secrecy by shielding the identities of drugmakers and suppliers for lethal injections, and they immunized error by providing anonymity for anyone who participates in the process as well as the state execution team. The effect, as the Washington Post editorialized, was "to impose a gag order on potentially adverse reports that could inform the public debate over capital punishment." But while Ohio officials eventually came to realize that the problems with their lethal injection protocol couldn't be wholly fixed by shrouding executions in ever more secrecy, Virginia lawmakers have arrived at the opposite conclusion. Last week they proposed legislation that would make it easier to obtain lethal injection drugs and that would also create an almost impermeable layer of secrecy around the execution process. The new law would make it significantly harder for the press and the public to know what was happening in the execution chamber. This is, of course, the same Virginia Legislature that flirted last year with reinstating the electric chair if lethal injection drug supplies dried up. (That effort failed.) The effect of this new proposed legislation would be less scrutiny of a process that the rest of the nation, including the highest court in the land, views with ever more skepticism. Amid the recent rash of high-profile screw-ups in executions, new cover-up measures have been passed in more than a dozen states, allowing departments of corrections to increasingly refuse to disclose where their execution drugs come from, how and if they were tested, and whether corrections officers are qualified to administer them correctly. In response to these clampdowns on information about how tax dollars are being spent and how prisoners are being executed in their citizens' name, lawsuits have been filed by capital defense attorneys, civil liberties groups, and news organizations in Oklahoma, Ohio, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. This increased scrutiny into the machinery of death bears out reasons for public concern. As the Daily Beast recently noted, court pleadings in an Oklahoma suit reveal that Mike Oakley, the former general counsel for that state's Department of Corrections, has said that his research on the drug midazolam included "WikiLeaks or whatever it is." Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissenting from the court's decision to allow Oklahoma to execute yet another capital defendant, noted in January that the state's expert witness defended the use of midazolam but "cited no studies" and "instead appeared to rely primarily on the web site www.drugs.com." Do marauding death penalty opponents race around America, roughing up pharmacists and corrections officials? Still, in the jubilant spirit of "if you can't fix it, hide it," Virginia is considering the proposed legislation, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, and called Senate Bill 1393. At one level, by loosening the rules on pharmacies that compound drugs, it will make it easier for the commonwealth to obtain the lethal-injection drugs that have been ever-more difficult to procure after U.S. suppliers stopped making them and European companies refused to allow them to be used in executions. But the bill goes far beyond that, by protecting from public view "all information relating to the execution process" and elsewhere ensuring that "information relating to the identity of ... compounding drugs for use in executions and all documents related to the execution process are confidential, exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, and not subject to discovery or introduction as evidence in a civil proceeding except for good cause shown." What makes the bill extraordinary isn't just the exceptionally broad language that hides from public scrutiny "all information relating to the execution process" but also the notion that it cannot be used in any civil litigation. Amazingly, the Democratic administration of Gov. Terry McAuliffe supports the new secrecy measure, citing "security" concerns. While members of the subcommittee that debated the legislation last week claimed they would amend it to require that the state disclose what drug or drug combination were being used to kill people, the broad secrecy language hiding "all information" is pretty clear on its face. At the hearing last week, Saslaw argued that the object of the proposed bill was to protect the safety of those who administer capital punishment, saying: "There ain't a state in America that gives you the name of the guy who sticks the needle in any more than you got the names of the folks who pulled the switch when we had the electric chair." Corinna Barrett Lain, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, argued against the secrecy language at last week's hearing. She says the proposed measure is "the most broad secrecy statute in the country because it says 'all information about the execution process,' which by its plain text would include even a botched execution itself." In an email she notes that Saslaw's analysis about the guy who pulls the switch on the electric chair should not extend to the drugs used in an execution: "The identity of the executioner is not a constitutional matter. The contents of the syringe are," she writes. In her testimony Lain pointed out how absurd it is to hide government actions and accountability precisely when the state must be held to account: "It strikes me as the essence of bad government to enshroud the government in secrecy in its most powerful moment - when it exercises its sovereign right to take the life of one of its citizens." She added that this bill ensures that "there are no questions asked about where the drugs came from, what the drugs are, what their potency is, whether they have been contaminated, whether they are expired, indeed whether they were obtained legally." I have long been curious about the argument that marauding death penalty opponents race around America, roughing up the pharmacists and corrections officials who participate in their state capital punishment apparatus, thus warranting increased secrecy. So I checked with Frank Knaack, the director of public policy and communications with the ACLU of Virginia. He says he knows of no such incidents, noting that the commonwealth's Department of Corrections has made all of its information available on the drugs used and the procedures followed for 10 years and "there is no evidence of a problem, or reason to believe that Virginia taxpayers can't be trusted with this information." Knaack also points out that Virginia, where there are 8 people on death row and where there is still a supply of lethal injection drugs, assumes another problem that simply doesn't exist: that there will be a massive shortage of lethal injection drugs and a huge increase in capital defendants. The fact that the commonwealth executes relatively few people, combined with the lack of evidence that we must hide the identity of everyone involved in an execution, certainly suggests that the new law isn't so much protecting the machinery of capital punishment as it is drawing a curtain around the death chamber for the sake of secrecy itself. That all information surrounding an execution is exempted not just from FOIA scrutiny, but also largely from use in civil suits, sounds like it has more to do with a panicky cover-up than with prison security. There could be an unintended benefit to the legislation for opponents of capital punishment. Lain, a former prosecutor, notes that the paradox of the current solution to a nonexistent problem guarantees that those eight death penalty cases will be tied up for years, as lawyers battle it out with the state over matters of transparency: "This bill ensures that executions will be hung up in litigation for as long as lawyers can drag it out. And while the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't seem to care much about the death penalty, it does care about process, and it's the cover-up that's going to get these states into trouble." Say what you want about the death penalty, but few Americans - and presumably even fewer jurists - affirmatively want to see it administered sloppily, violently, by way of untested combinations of drugs procured from ambiguous sources. As nationwide support for the death penalty continues to drop, those who believe in capital punishment will need to come up with better arguments than "nothing to see here, folks." Any good mobster can tell you that it's not the crime that will get you in the end; it's the cover-up. And the states that are trying mightily to cover up what happens in their death chambers are mostly just doing a good job of signaling that whatever they are doing in there bears closer watching. (source: Dahlia Lithwick writes about the courts and the law for Slate) OHIO: Family of Ohio inmate who gasped, snorted during execution drops civil rights lawsuit The family of an Ohio inmate whose troubling execution more than a year ago led to an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment in the state is dropping their civil rights lawsuit. The adult children of executed inmate Dennis McGuire, who snorted and gasped when put to death with a never-tried 2-drug combo, asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss the lawsuit filed against the state and an Illinois drugmaker. The lawsuit said McGuire suffered "needless pain and suffering" during his January 2014 execution using a sedative, midazolam, and a painkiller, hydropmorphone. A nearly 2-hour execution in Arizona in July deepened concerns about the same 2-drug method. The state prisons agency announced last month it was dropping the method in favor of alternative anesthetics which it currently doesn't have. That decision satisfied the goals of McGuire's family, eliminating the need to pursue the lawsuit, said attorney Jon Paul Rion. "They wanted to be assured that nobody else would be subjected to the same drugs that their father was, subjected to in the way that he died," he said. "By bringing the suffering to light, the state of Ohio has clearly changed their protocol." The state Attorney General's office, which represented the prisons agency, declined comment. The drugmaker, Lake Forest, Illinois-based Hospira Inc., did not return a message seeking comment. McGuire was executed for the 1989 rape and stabbing death of Joy Stewart, 22, a recently married pregnant woman in western Ohio. On April 28, the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction concluded there was no evidence that McGuire "experienced any pain, distress or anxiety." The 2-drug method was Ohio's second choice under its former execution rules, but it was unable to obtain supplies of its 1st choice, compounded pentobarbital, a drug used successfully by Missouri and Texas in several recent executions. Last year, Gov. John Kasich signed a bill into law shielding the names of companies that provide Ohio with lethal drugs, a move aimed at persuading compounding pharmacies to provide pentobarbital. Executions after McGuire were put on hold by court rulings. Last week, the state said it was pushing all executions into next year. (source: Associated Press) **************************** Jury selection begins in death penalty case Jury selection began in a death penalty trial Tuesday for a man accused of killing 2 people in 2009 and setting a fire to cover it up. Hager Church, 30, is charged with 2 counts of aggravated murder and 1 count of aggravated arson in the June 14, 2009, house fire that killed Massie "Tina" Flint, 45, and her boyfriend, Rex Hall, 54. The fire was at a house at 262 S. Pine St. The court called 147 people to show as potential jurors. It was a long day for many as Judge Jeffrey Reed of Allen County Common Pleas Court spent a lot of time explaining courtroom procedure and trying to determine whether anyone had a conflict of interest, such as knowing an employee of the court. The potential jurors were told about the charges against Church and the state's allegations. Each charge was explained in detail and Reed said it was the prosecution's burden to prove Church guilty with evidence such as testimony and exhibits. Before jury selection began, several other potential jurors were excluded. Church's lead attorney, Greg Meyers, said a sheriff's detective told him he helped his wife fill out a juror questionnaire in a way to get out of jury duty. The matter ended with no further discussion and Reed dismissed the woman, who was not present. Jury selection is scheduled for Friday. Potential jurors will return for individual questioning where they can be questioned about many aspects of their lives including whether they believe in the death penalty. Church is serving a life sentence with no chance for parole for a separate case in 2010. He was convicted of beating a woman to death inside her home for a few dollars and costume jewelry. (source: limaohio.com) MISSOURI: Court upholds Hosier murder conviction, death sentence David R. Hosier will remain a prisoner on Missouri's death row at the Potosi Correctional Center. 4 months to the day after hearing arguments in the case, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Hosier's conviction and death sentence for the Sept. 28, 2009, murder of Angela Gilpin, 45, as she was leaving her West High Street apartment about 3:15 a.m., heading for her job as day manager of a Wardsville convenience store. Her estranged husband, Rodney Gilpin, 61, was killed at the same time, but the 2013 Cole County trial only involved the charge in Angela's death. A jury imported from St. Charles County spent about an hour deciding to convict Hosier of the killing and then - after the separate penalty phase evidence was presented - spent about 3 hours determining the death sentence was the appropriate punishment. Because Presiding Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce imposed the death sentence, the appeal to the 7-judge Supreme Court was an automatic Missouri law requirement. But Hosier's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Craig A. Johnston, told the court during the Oct. 3 oral argument that most of the evidence used to convict Hosier was obtained improperly and shouldn't have been allowed during the trial. Hosier was arrested in Oklahoma several hours after the murders occurred. Jefferson City police initially issued an alert to law officers in several surrounding states to look out for Hosier and his car, because he had "been identified as the primary suspect in the homicide investigation." However, Johnston argued Oklahoma officials had been notified because AT&T officials had reported tracking his cell phone in the Sooner state. Police had obtained a warrant asking AT&T to "ping" the cell phone, a technology which tracks a specific phone's location by the towers it connects with whenever making or receiving a call. Johnston argued Jefferson City's police had no authority to get that information from AT&T, so notifying Oklahoma of Hosier's location and those officers' efforts to stop and arrest him all were violations of Hosier's Fourth Amendment protection against illegal searches and seizures under the U.S. Constitution. As part of her 25-page ruling for the unanimous court, Chief Justice Mary R. Russell wrote Hosier's failure to stop as soon as the Oklahoma trooper turned on his warning lights led to a "moderate speed chase" during which Hosier "violated numerous traffic laws and provided Oklahoma authorities with probable cause to stop him for those violations. Because Defendant was not seized until he yielded to police by stopping his car, and because there was probable cause to stop him for the traffic violations, the stop in Oklahoma did not violate the Fourth Amendment." Russell also wrote: "The bulletproof vest, knife, gun and pistol holder police officers found on Defendant's person and in plain view in his car, in addition to the information they learned from JCPD, gave them probable cause to obtain and execute a search warrant independent of the ping order." Johnston also had argued police didn't have "sufficient probable cause" to get a search warrant for Hosier's apartment in the 1100 block of West Main Street. However, Russell wrote, the police detective's sworn affidavit included several pieces of information a court could accept for issuing a warrant. She cited the affidavit's 4 sources for reports of Hosier threatening, stalking or harassing Angela Gilpin, providing probable cause. During the Cole County trial, Prosecutor Mark Richardson had argued Hosier killed the Gilpins because he was angry that Angela was ending their relationship and working with Rodney to reconcile their 21-year marriage. Although Hosier has not been tried or convicted of Rodney's murder, his death was an "aggravating circumstance" Richardson used to argue for a death sentence in Angela's murder - and the Supreme Court upheld that. "The government showed that Defendant had been previously convicted for assault and battery in 1993 (in Indiana) when he handcuffed another girlfriend and beat her until she passed out," Russell wrote. "Additionally, Victim's murder was committed while Defendant was engaged in the murder of Husband." Neither Richardson nor Johnston responded to a request to comment on the high court's ruling. (source: News Tribune) ********************* Court upholds death penalty in Jefferson City murder conviction The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty sentence for a man convicted of a 2009 Jefferson City murder. David Hosier was sentenced to death in 2013 for killing Angela Gilpin. Hosier appealed his sentence in October, saying there was a violation of the 4th amendment after he claimed police tracked his cell phone without a probable cause. Hosier is also suspected of killing Gilpin's husband, Rodney, in their Jefferson City apartment, but only went to trial for Angela's death. Prosecutors said Hosier and Angela Gilpin had an affair, but she was trying to reconcile with her husband. They believe that is what led Hosier to murder Angela and allegedly kill Rodney. (source: KMIZ news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 10:59:26 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 10:59:26 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., MONT., IDAHO, ARIZ. WASH., USA, US MIL. Message-ID: Feb. 4 OKLAHOMA: Glossip v. Gross: SCOTUS to Consider Oklahoma's Lethal Injection Protocol On Friday 23rd January, 2015, the US Supreme Court granted 3 Oklahoma death row inmates certiorari to challenge the state's 3-drug lethal injection protocol. In Baze v. Rees 553 U.S. 35 (2008), it was held that an execution protocol which provided for an initial injection of a fast-acting barbiturate (sodium thiopental), then a paralytic agent (pancuronium bromide) which stops respiration, and finally a drug to induce a cardiac arrest (potassium chloride), did not violate the US Constitution's Eighth Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause. Is lethal injection an irredeemable form of torture? In Warner v. Gross, (No. 14-6244, 12 January, 2015) the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, denied a challenge to Oklahoma's adoption of midazolam as a replacement for sodium thiopental. As a result of the post-Baze decline in Food and Drug Administration licences to American pharmacological companies to supply drugs to state and federal prisons for the use in executions, and the contributory effect of international human rights law, such as the EU's Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1352 (2011), there has been a depletion of supplies of sodium thiopental for the use by American prisons in the death penalty. The retentionist states have had to identify an alternative drug to formulate an execution. Whilst Baze acknowledges that "some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution," and that "the Constitution does not demand the avoidance of all risk of pain in carrying out executions," a violation of the Eighth Amendment does occur when "the conditions presenting the risk must be sure or very likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering," and give rise to "sufficiently imminent dangers." The current litigation has introduced substantial medical evidence that Oklahoma's use of midazolam produces adverse reactions. On 29 April 2014, midazolam was used in the execution of Clayton Lockett. He strained on the gurney in extreme physical pain, claiming, "something is wrong" and the "drugs aren't working." He was not in a "coma-like state" following the initial drug, and the execution team observed a large swelling at the IV access point. The White House released a statement that the execution, "fell short of humane standards." There is significant doubt as to whether midazolam can effectively act as a sedative in compliance with the Baze criteria and the 3 questions the US Supreme Court will consider in Glossip v. Gross are: 1) Is it constitutionally permissible for a state to carry out an execution using a 3-drug protocol where (a) there is a well-established scientific consensus that the 1st drug has no pain relieving properties and cannot reliably produce deep, coma-like unconsciousness, and (b) it is undisputed that there is a substantial, constitutionally unacceptable risk of pain and suffering from the administration of the 2nd and 3rd drugs when a prisoner is conscious? 2) Does the Baze-plurality stay standard apply when states are not using a protocol substantially similar to the one that this Court considered in Baze? 3) Must a prisoner establish the availability of an alternative drug formula even if the state's lethal-injection protocol, as properly administered, will violate the Eighth Amendment? The first 2 questions can be classified as normative constitutional issues within the assessment of the protocol. The 3rd question places upon the defendant the task of establishing to a degree of medical certainty that the sedative will not act in accordance with constitutional standards. It potentially will place the burden on the defendant to establish that there is an alternative protocol that if the state adopts, will produce an execution of the defendant that does meet the Baze criteria. Are we going to see the Court establish a new rule that assessing the legitimate standards set out in Baze, for pain in punishment, shifts from the responsibility of the state to the responsibility of the prisoner? This would be a quixotic result. What the litigation concerning the Oklahoma protocol demonstrates is that there are still, and perhaps always will be, irredeemable consequences that renders lethal injection a form of torture. (source: Author profile----Dr Jon Yorke is a Reader in Law at Birmingham City University. He is a Member of the Foreign Secretary's Expert Panel on the Death Penalty and has been a consultant for the United Nations and the European Union, advising on death penalty issues; ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk) MONTANA: Bill Would Abolish Montana's Death Penalty ---- Montana Republican Introduces Bill To Abolish The Death Penalty. A bill draft that would ban the death penalty in Montana is now on the table. Republican Representative David Moore of Missoula is sponsoring House Bill 370 and says the death penalty costs too much, and perhaps life in prison is a harsh enough penalty. "Probably the worst thing would be life imprisonment without the chance of parole. To be locked in a cage. If we did away with the death penalty, there would be more money in the judicial system for victim help." Opponents to previous bills to end the death penalty have argued that it's necessary to ensure someone doesn't escape or are released early. When asked about this fear, Moore says there is no good answer. "It's a difficult issue, and I just said I'd carry the bill and introduce it and let each side explain their issues and let the committee decide." This bill will brought to the Judiciary Committee once it receives a hearing date. (source: Montana Public Radio) IDAHO: Idaho's execution secrecy bill is dead - at least for now Idaho lawmakers will not hear a state-sponsored bill to bring more secrecy to executions due to concerns about the measure's language, IdahoReporter.com learned Monday. Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, said he plans to use his privilege as chair of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee to hold the bill - effectively killing it for now. "There were some concerns about the language," Hagedorn said. "There's more homework to be done on the issue." The measure, officially Senate Bill 1005, would have shielded from public disclosure the names of companies that provide execution chemicals to the state. The bill also would have allowed the Idaho Department of Correction the authority and power to hide "any information" that would prevent the state from carrying out executions. Idaho administrative rules, regulations with less force than law but plenty of power, already block reporters and residents from garnering access to the names of executive chemical companies, Jeff Ray, the agency's spokesman, told IdahoReporter.com last week. Still, the agency sought to embed the protections into law to give them additional weight and strength. Though Hagedorn's move takes the plan off the table for now, it could come back before lawmakers finish business this year. The Meridian senator asked the department to try again after changing the bill to account for lawmakers' concerns about overly broad wording. Plus, Hagedorn won't hold the gavel of the committee for the session's duration. Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston, is the panel chair, but she hasn't been around the Capitol for unspecified reasons. Hagedorn said Lodge will have the right to bring back the legislation if she so desires upon her return. If the proposal - in original form or modified - returns, it will face serious scrutiny. Unlikely allies raised concerns about the measure before Hagedorn shut it down. The American Civil Liberties Union, the Idaho Freedom Foundation and Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty each criticized the bill's open-ended language, as well as the state's desire to hide even more execution information from Idahoans. Kathy Griesmyer, the ACLU's government relations coordinator, told IdahoReporter.com on Monday her organization is excited the bill met a difficult roadblock. "We are happy to hear the chair of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee along with the Department of Correction are rethinking their recently introduced bill that would limit transparency of Idaho's death penalty policy," she wrote in an email. "The public has a right to know what is being done in their name." Griesmyer added that the state should promote accountability, not remove it. "That means all aspects of the death penalty - including qualifications of personnel involved, procedures, and lethal substances used - need to remain open and accessible to the public so that if an error were to be made, there is a mechanism in place to hold those accountable responsible," Griesmyer said. Jeff Ray, the agency's spokesman, said the department is willing participant in reworking the bill. "We asked Sen. Hagedorn to hold the bill so we could review the language further," Ray said. "We had some stakeholders raise potential concerns about the language being broader in scope than intended. If we decide to bring the issue back this session, we'll offer it as a new RS (routing slip or not-yet-introduced bill)." National limited-government website Reason.com highlighted the proposal just days ago, pointing out the the bill's troubling aspect. "The lack of transparency regarding executions and the provenance of the drugs used in lethal injection 'cocktails' has been a growing concern over the past year, following a string of gruesomely botched executions," the publication's Anthony L. Fisher wrote. (source: IdahoWatchdao.org) ARIZONA: Arias retrial threatens to go longer than trial----Prosecutors prepare to bring psychologist to the stand in effort to get death penalty conviction The Jodi Arias penalty trial has begun a 5th month with no clear end in sight. Nearly 2 years ago, a crowd in the thousands cheered on the steps of the Maricopa County Courthouse as a jury handed down a 1st-degree murder conviction for Jodi Arias. That trial lasted 5 months and was a media circus. The media has been kept from broadcasting the trial live this time around and Judge Sherry Stephens has banned all but still photographs from being released on a daily basis. Neither of those changes has kept the penalty phase retrial from dragging on. This retrial is threatening to last longer than the original trial. Tuesday, prosecutors will call a psychologist to the stand in their effort convince the jury to hand down a death sentence, something the 1st jury failed to agree upon. This witness follows the final testimony late Monday of a prosecution witness who knew the victim, Travis Alexander, through their relationship with the LDS Church. Alexander's former bishop was called to the stand so prosecutors could fight allegations made by the defense that Arias' dead lover was into child pornography and violent with a former girlfriend. Their effort has to fight the defense strategy that also helped keep this trial going at a snail's pace. It's unclear how much longer the prosecution will need to reinforce what it began in October. (source: azcentral.com) WASHINGTON: If a Black Man Kills a White Cop, Can He Ever Get a Fair Death-Penalty Trial?----New Research Suggests That the Jury-Selection Process Results in More Racist Juries No one denies that Christopher Monfort, who is black, shot and killed Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton, who is white, in 2009. But was the act aggravated murder or insanity? That's up to a jury of Monfort's peers. In order to select that jury, King County Superior Court spent months narrowing down a pool of 3,000 potential jurors to 12 final jurors and 4 alternates. In a death-penalty case, jurors have to be willing not only to consider guilt, but willing to consider giving someone a death sentence. If a potential juror would never sentence anyone to death for any reason, he or she is disqualified, just as a juror who would always sentence a person to death would be disqualified. Lawyers call this part of the process of jury selection "death qualification." Capital-defense lawyers have long argued that death-qualified juries tend to exclude more black jurors than white jurors. And research has shown that death qualification does indeed exclude a greater proportion of black jurors than whites. But it's been only in the last few years that social scientists have found new tools to look at how death qualification primes juries to sentence black defendants to death. "It is the essential unfairness of the death penalty," says Ben Cohen, a lawyer at the Promise of Justice Initiative in Louisiana. "[Death qualification] transforms Seattle into a suburb of Dallas, Texas, because everyone who opposes the death penalty is gone." The way Cohen explains it, the history of American racism, the process of death qualification, and the death penalty are inseparable. One of the first recorded instances of a jury made to pass a death-qualification test was in 1859, when the point was to make sure those opposed to slavery and Quakers - whose religious beliefs led them to object to the death penalty no matter what - didn't get in the way of the execution of rebel abolitionist John Brown. In the end, Brown was found guilty of murder, treason, and conspiracy, and he was hanged. In the Monfort trial, which is under way right now, defense attorneys tried to use new research on death qualification to get the death-penalty option thrown out. In early October, Monfort's defense team arranged for University of Hawaii law professor and death-penalty social scientist Justin Levinson to fly to Seattle. In King County Superior Court, Levinson explained why jurors who wouldn't even be aware of their biases might make decisions based on the automatic assumption that black lives are less valuable than white ones. Levinson has been a pioneer in this arena. 6 years ago, Levinson sat 67 students at the University of Hawaii in front of computer screens. He primed the students by asking them to sort digital images of light-skinned male faces and dark-skinned male faces into categories of "Black" or "White." Then Levinson instructed the students to hold their fingers over the "D" and "K" buttons on their keyboards, and the students sorted words like "fault," "convict," "innocent," "wrongfully accused," and "perpetrator" into the categories of "Black," "White," "Guilty," and "Not Guilty" as fast as they could. The computers measured the students' reactions in milliseconds. The student test subjects were undergoing something called the implicit-association test (IAT), a tool social scientists have been using since the late 1990s to try to illuminate pre-conscious biases in people's brains. Other IATs had measured how people linked race to "good" and "bad" qualities, but Levinson was the 1st to try to see how implicit bias - judgments that people may not even be aware that they make - might affect the presumption of innocence in a courtroom. Not only did Levinson find that the students implicitly linked "Black" and "Guilty," he also discovered that those biases predicted how students would judge evidence as mock jurors in cases against dark-skinned defendants. But that wasn't even the strangest or most disturbing part of the University of Hawaii experiments. When Levinson asked the same students to rank the "warmth" of their feelings toward black people, the implicitly racist students actually rated friendlier feelings toward black people than the students who held less bias. "People have come to understand that expressing racist and racially biased attitudes and stereotypes is not socially appropriate," Levinson says. "So this trend has emerged at the same time that social-science research that has figured out ways to measure automatic biases, and that research established again and again that implicit biases are strong and pervasive." In 2013, Levinson published a study in the NYU Law Review, this one looking at how covert racism might affect sentencing in death-penalty trials in particular. He and his colleagues asked 445 jury-eligible citizens to imagine themselves as jurors studying evidence inspired by an actual case. This IAT, conducted online, measured how the race of a defendant might affect a person's judgment on the value of that person's life. This time, the test found that mock jurors associated "White" with worth and "Black" with worthless. Death-qualified mock jurors, the ones who had answered questions about their ability to consider the death penalty and weren't excluded, displayed even stronger implicit and explicit racial biases than the general study sample. Stronger racial bias, Levinson found, also predicted more death sentences for black defendants when the victim was white. "The higher the level of bias on the Value of Life IAT, the more likely they were to vote for death when the defendant was black," Levinson says. After Levinson testified about all of this, the King County court had to decide: Would jury selection in Monfort's trial taint the judicial process itself? King County prosecutors rebutted Levinson's testimony by filing a response poking holes in his studies. Implicit bias doesn't necessarily affect group decision making, they argued, and Levinson had never tried out his theories with a real jury. Prosecutors also tried to discredit the legitimacy of the IAT, despite the fact that the IAT is widely regarded as a credible scientific tool. The prosecution went one step further, too. They argued that Levinson had a wider agenda of discrediting criminal justice altogether by highlighting implicit racism throughout the system. And they flipped the racism allegation: "The assertion that members of a particular minority group cannot and should not be held criminally responsible for their actions in the way that other citizens are is demeaning and insulting to them, and serves to increase racial suspicion, resentment, and bias throughout our nation's diverse population," the prosecutors claimed. "I would never suggest that anyone shouldn't be held responsible for their criminal actions," Levinson argues back. "The whole point of this research is to move toward fairness in the criminal justice system." King County prosecutors declined to be interviewed for this article, as did the judge in Monfort's trial, Judge Ronald Kessler. But court documents speak for them. Judge Kessler ended up dismissing the defense's motion to get rid of the death-penalty option based on Levinson's testimony. (Judge Kessler accepted another of the defense's motions to get rid of the death penalty for the case, but it was subsequently reversed by the state supreme court.) Monfort's attorneys, however, still argue that death qualification impacts death-penalty juries, including the jury that is now hearing Monfort's case. (The trial began January 20.) The whole process of jury selection is wrong from the get-go, argues public defender Stacey MacDonald, "because you're focused on, before he's found guilty or not, can you kill him or not." But even if courts do select for implicitly racist juries, is that enough to call the practice of death qualification unconstitutional? "No court has decided that," says Jim Lobsenz, an adjunct professor at the Seattle University School of Law and vice president of Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. "It's a pretty cutting-edge kind of question. You have to be more like a philosopher to wrestle with this question." The judge makes the ultimate decision as to whether jurors can be disqualified because of their feelings about the death penalty. In that way, the death-qualification process could be read as one of the few ways judges are able to make sure a jury is fair. The quality of the judge has an impact on the makeup of the jury. But sussing out a juror's life-and-death philosophy can be a pretty circular task. When asked about the death penalty, one of the candidates who didn't end up as a Monfort juror wrote that he or she had taken a Buddhist oath not to kill. "But on the other hand," the juror wrote, "my spiritual beliefs tell me that death is not that big of a deal." Even with a good judge, a jury might not be made up of a defendant's peers - depending on how you define "peers." If a juror of a different race than the defendant lacks insight into the experience of racism that the defendant has lived, is that juror a peer or not? Levinson's work strongly suggests that death qualification "transforms the jury," says Cohen, of the Promise of Justice Initiative. And Cohen backs up this finding anecdotally: "You can see that just by watching death qualification, and seeing African Americans looking over at an African American defendant and understanding a history of lynching in the United States, that they're uncomfortable with the use of the death penalty, and white people feeling the exact opposite, and watching how race plays out. Justin's work proves what you would understand just by watching." King County prosecutors would probably disagree - but they already got what they wanted: a death-qualified jury. (source: The Stranger) *********************************** 36th District Democratic Rep. Reuven Carlyle has introduced legislation to outlaw the death penalty since he started in the Washington legislature. ----Rep. Reuven Carlyle introduces bill to replace death penalty Local lawmakers last week introduced House Bill 1739, a measure to abolish the death penalty and replace it with a life sentence with no opportunity for parole. The bill is a bipartisan effort and was introduced by 36th District Democratic Rep. Reuven Carlyle. The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Chad Magendanz (R-Issaquah), Maureen Walsh (R-Walla Walla) and Tina Orwall (D-Des Moines). "I've introduced this to the legislation each year, and I feel like it is important to our civic dialogue to address societal issues that go to the core of our value system. To me the death penalty is below us as a civilized society," said Carlyle. "I think on the policy front it's clear that there's no preventative impact or effect. On the implementation front it's clear there is great disparity in how it's applied across the counties of the nation. On the financial front, it's dramatically more expensive than life in prison. And on the moral front it is unreflective to what a moral society can be." House Bill 1739 would also require those convicted to pay restitution to victims and their families. "We are including a new provision that requires those convicted of offenses to work within prison, as appropriate per the Department of Corrections, to contribute towards restitution for victims' families," said Rep. Carlyle. "I think it's a very important principle to honor families and victims, not in terms of amount but in time and effort contributed to show restitution to families. It's an import ingredient in the dialogue." The bid to outlaw capital punishment has failed in the Washington State legislature in previous years, but after Gov. Jay Inslee imposed a moratorium on capital punishment last February, supporters are hopeful. Inslee noted the economic costs to Washingtonians and the unreasonable discretion of the death penalty as factors for the moratorium. "Equal justice under the law is the state's primary responsibility. And in death penalty cases, I'm not convinced equal justice is being served. The use of the death penalty in this state is unequally applied, sometimes dependent on the budget of the county where the crime occurred," said Inslee. Rep. Orwall spoke to the timeliness of the measure. "We believe there has been a shift in thinking about the death penalty including recognition of the impact of DNA testing, cost to taxpayers, and lack of support for victims' families in a drawn-out process," said Orwall. "This year is the right time to seriously consider this legislation, and we deeply respect the openness of colleagues and families that have been touched by violence as our state thoughtfully discusses this issue." The same day the bill was introduced (Jan. 26), Mayor Ed Murray and all 9 Seattle City Council members, along with City Attorney Pete Holmes, signed a letter that urged lawmakers to find alternatives to the death penalty. "There is no credible evidence showing that the death penalty deters homicide or makes our communities safer," the letter stated. "Instead, pursuing capital punishment diverts precious resources from critical public safety programs, delays final resolution for victims' families and has serious implications for racial and social equity." Currently the federal government and 32 states, including Washington and Oregon, authorize the death penalty. Along with Gov. Inslee's moratorium, Oregon's Governor, John Kitzhaber, also said there would be no execution during the remainder of his term. Up to date, eighteen states have abolished the death penalty. "We realize this is a painfully difficult and profoundly serious public issue, and we ask our colleagues and the public to join us in a constructive dialogue about our state's approach,??? Carlyle said. On top of moral motivation for the bill, the bipartisan group emphasized the fiscal factors in the policy change. The capital penalty process, though it occurs infrequently in Washington, is costly for the state. A recent Seattle University Study reported the death penalty costs $24 million for each of the 5 executions Washington has carried out since 1981. In addition, even seeking the death penalty costs on average $1 million more than cases not seeking it. Furthermore, the study determined that in Washington, 75 % of cases involving death sentences have been reversed. "The hope is that we as a civic society can thoughtfully and genuinely explore better ways to have a meaningful and effective criminal justice system," said Rep. Carlyle. (source: Ballard News Tribune) USA: Cost of Colorado theater shooting case exceeds $5 million months before opening arguments----Lawyer salaries and security top expenditures, records reveal The criminal court case against Colorado theater gunman James Holmes has already absorbed at least $5.5 million in public monies, according to records obtained by Yahoo News. That's $2 million more than the estimated average cost of a completed Colorado death penalty trial - and the contentious Holmes proceeding is still months away from opening arguments. "Keep adding it up, this isn't ending anytime soon," said Justin Marceau, a professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law who has studied the costs of capital murder trials. Holmes first appeared in court on July 23, 2012, three days after police say he assailed a packed suburban Denver movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 70, as they were watching a midnight showing of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises." In the 2 1/2 years since that initial court appearance, primary personnel involved with the case - prosecutors, defense attorneys, the judge, court reporter, trial investigators and victims' advocates for the district attorney - have been paid approximately $4.5 million. A spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County district attorney said only 1 prosecutor has been dedicated to the Holmes case full time. But legal observers say a proceeding already involving nearly 1,700 motions, orders and hearings - with possibly hundreds of witnesses expected to testify at trial - would require the undivided attention of a team of lawyers. Other top expenses so far include $463,000 on additional security from July 2012 through the end of 2014. Experts hired by the prosecution have received more than $220,000 to date. More than $90,000 was used to install a closed-circuit television system in the courtroom. It cost $20,000 to print 9,000 juror notices and questionnaires. Information on the expenditures was derived from figures released under the Colorado Open Records Act by the district attorney, the Colorado Judicial Branch and the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice. The state public defender's office - Holmes' taxpayer-funded lawyers - declined to disclose any costs, citing attorney-client privilege and a court order limiting pretrial publicity. But information on pay for key members of the defense team was eventually obtained through the state personnel office. Even without the public defender releasing its expenses, it's safe to say they've matched the prosecution's $220,000 on experts, according to Stan Garnett, the district attorney in Boulder County, Colo. "It's kind of a nuclear arms race on both sides where you are trying to make sure you're staying ahead of the latest weapon the other side has come up with," Garnett said. Furthermore, the figures turned over to Yahoo News are likely just scratching the surface of the actual amount, legal experts said. Many resources used in a trial are materials and personnel that already exist - or never appear as line items in a budget, like transcript and discovery expenses. "It's really hard to get your arms around the full costs of these things," Marceau said. "There are lots of things going on behind the scenes." Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity - his lawyers say he was in the throes of a psychotic episode at the time. Twice the judge has ordered him to be transferred to a state hospital for testing to determine if he was mentally capable of understanding the crime he committed. A court spokesman said invoices for the exams have not been received. "Psychiatrists aren't cheap," Garnett said. "Mental state is a very complicated issue to sort out ... and it's going to cost a lot on both sides." 'Exponential effect' Garnett has been an outspoken opponent of the death penalty, maintaining that the time and money needed for a trial make it an impractical punishment. In 2013, Marceau co-authored a study which found that on average a death penalty prosecution takes 6 times longer in court than when a sentence of life without parole is sought. "Everything has the exponential effect because we want more precision in the death sentence," Marceau said. "Lots more procedures, lots more experts, lots more costs, lots more time, because those cases get reviewed." Holmes offered to forfeit the costly trial in March 2013 for life in prison without parole if he could avoid the death penalty. Prosecutors, however, strongly rejected any notion of a pending deal, saying the defense had refused to give them the information they wanted to evaluate the plea agreement. "It is my determination and my intention that in this case, for James Eagan Holmes, justice is death," Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said in court. A handful of Colorado prosecutors, including Brauchler, testified in 2013 against an attempt (which failed) to abolish the state's death penalty. Longtime El Paso County District Attorney Dan May told lawmakers that estimates on costly death penalty prosecutions were "overblown" because the personnel involved aren't new hires. "The cost to my taxpayers wasn't any different in my office," May testified. In the Holmes prosecution, Michelle Yi, spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County district attorney, said only 1 lawyer has worked the case exclusively since the beginning. "The remaining four attorneys, the 2 investigators, and 1 paralegal have had substantial other duties outside the prosecution of this case, so the inclusion of their salaries ... should not be taken to represent actual total costs expended on this prosecution," Yi wrote in an email. Brauchler began his position in 2013 and also has responsibilities as an elected official. As chief prosecutor he will earn $156,000 this year, almost $10,000 less than 2 of the public defenders trying to spare Holmes' life. The district attorney's office provided a list of nine trials in which Brauchler has appeared as counsel or made arguments while also working the Holmes case. Yi said determining the caseload for others on the prosecution team would be cumbersome and "almost certainly be under-inclusive." Judge Carlos Samour - currently earning $145,219 a year - previously averaged 250 trials annually, but has been exclusive to Holmes since taking over the case in April 2013, according to a court spokesman. Holmes is charged with 166 counts of 1st-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges. Opening arguments through sentencing could last 4 to 6 months - which itself will cost the court $137,000 to $205,000 in juror pay (the 24, including alternates, earn $50 a day). With a trial of that magnitude, Garnett said it isn't possible for the attorneys to be involved in other cases. "Getting ready for a trial like this would be all-consuming," he said. Funding from federal inmates Not all prosecution, court and security costs will be paid from state and county coffers. About $2 million has come from a Department of Justice grant that assists the victims of extraordinary domestic terrorism. Funds for the program are derived from federal criminal fines, forfeitures and fees collected in U.S. courts and prisons. There were 421 people in the theater when police said Holmes ambushed it with guns and tear gas. Dozens more patrons and employees were in other parts of the movie complex. The former neuroscience doctoral student also left his Aurora apartment booby-trapped with explosives for first responders. In all, prosecutors say some 1,300 people were directly or indirectly victimized. Nearly $1.2 million of the DOJ funds allowed the prosecutor's office to hire 4 full-time staffers, including 2 victims' advocates and Deputy District Attorney Lisa Teesch-Maguire. Colorado law requires that victims - among other things - be consulted about case developments, assisted in preparing to testify and afforded the opportunity to attend all hearings if they wish. Marcus Weaver, who survived being shot but lost his friend Rebecca Wingo in the attack, said Teesch-Maguire and her team have been a godsend. "That federal money is well spent," he said. "If I called her at 12 o'clock at night she would answer. She's just that dedicated." Weaver said victims and their families receive almost daily updates from the district attorney. About $65,000 from the DOJ was earmarked for supplies and communications equipment, including the ability to send phone alerts and host webinars with up to 1,000 participants. With the courtroom seating only 110 people, the closed-circuit television was needed so victims could watch from other parts of the courthouse - another expense covered by the federal grant. Nearly $140,000 of the DOJ money is paying for eight additional deputies to escort survivors to their cars. 5 to 6 officers are usually in the room when court is in session. For key hearings, officers with rifles are perched on top of the courthouse. In a 2012 grant letter, an administrator wrote that security staffing and overtime will cost "in excess of $1 million ... through the duration of this case." "I know it's an alarming cost," Weaver said. "It's just the cost of justice due to the size of this case." As for Holmes, his heavily redacted application for a public defender was approved the same day as the massacre. It was signed by Daniel King, 1 of his lead attorneys, who currently earns $165,756 and may be eligible for a raise just as the trial gets going. Under state law, Holmes could be ordered to pay a $25 processing fee after the verdict. Weaver accepts that Holmes deserves his day in court, but the irony isn't lost on him. "We're not only victims, but we're paying for his representation," he said. "We're actually paying for somebody who killed my friend and shot me in my arm." (source: Yahoo News) *************************** 2,000 unneeded jurors released from selection of Aurora movie theater trial Jury selection for the trial of James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 people and wounding 70 more inside a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, in 2012, took an unexpected step forward this week when the court released 2,000 unneeded prospective jurors. The trial's jury pool of 9,000 people was the largest ever in U.S. history when the first of three phases in the selection process began on Jan. 20. For the past 2 weeks, groups of about 250 jurors have arrived at the courthouse in Centennial, Colorado, to fill out an 18-page questionnaire on various topics, including the death penalty and insanity. Court officials expected the 1st step to take at least a month. But since the court is excusing 2,000 potential jurors who aren't needed for the trial, the initial phase of the process will end on Feb. 9. Judge Carlos Samour, who is presiding over the case, had planned for the questionnaire phase to end on Feb. 13, The Associated Press reported. Lawyers ultimately will choose 12 jurors and 12 alternates to decide if Holmes was mentally ill when he allegedly killed a dozen people and wounded scores more. Beginning on Feb. 11, lawyers will call back the individuals who weren't part of the 2,000 recently let go and weren't excused on the basis of their answers to the questionnaire. From there, individual interviews will narrow the pool to about 120 jurors, a phase officials reportedly expect to last through the spring. An eventual 2-day group questioning will mark the 3rd step and thus end the jury selection process. Holmes, now 27, is charged with multiple counts of 1st-degree murder and attempted murder after he allegedly opened fire at a midnight premiere of "The Dark Knight" inside the Century Aurora 16 movie theater in July 2012. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; it was 1 of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. Last April, prosecutors made public their plans to seek the death penalty against Holmes. He was a graduate student at the University of Colorado prior to his arrest. If jurors find Holmes guilty, they will then decide if they wish to recommend the death penalty. If they find him not guilty by reason of insanity, Holmes will enter a state institution that provides treatment for the mentally ill. The initial jury summons previously were cut to 7,000 notices when a couple thousand were deemed "undeliverable" or excused. The jurors who are ultimately picked for the case will be expected to serve for as many as 6 consecutive months, on a wage of $50 per day. They were all summoned from the state's Arapahoe County. The jurors, lawyers, and potential witnesses are forbidden from speaking with the media. Holmes's trial was postponed multiple times in the 2 1/2 years since the deadly shooting, including the time it took for attorneys on both sides to debate whether he should undergo a second mental health evaluation. Opening statements for the months-long trial are expected to begin by June. The trial could last through October. (source: msnbc.com) **************** Boston bombing trial jury selection could wrap up next week: court Jury selection for the trial of the accused Boston Marathon bomber could wrap up by the end of next week, despite stormy weather that has delayed the process, officials at U.S. District Court in Boston said on Tuesday. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, could face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing three people and injuring 264 with a pair of homemade bombs at the race's crowded finish line on April 15, 2013. Some 1,350 potential jurors were summoned to Boston's federal court early last month to fill out questionnaires intended to determine whether they were eligible to sit on the jury. U.S. District Judge George O'Toole and attorneys in the case will resume in-person follow-up questions for candidates on Wednesday. The court has been screening about 20 jurors a day, fewer than the 40-a-day goal O'Toole initially set. A total of 18 people, 12 jurors and 6 alternates, are needed for the jury. To be eligible, jurors may not be too close to anyone injured in the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, must not have formed a fixed opinion as to Tsarnaev's guilt and need to be willing to consider voting for the death penalty if he is convicted. The death penalty is an option in the case because Tsarnaev is being tried under federal law. Massachusetts has no capital punishment under state law and the death penalty is unpopular with many in the liberal-leaning state. Jury selection was halted on Monday and Tuesday because of a snowstorm that dumped more than a foot of snow (30 cm) on the city, the 2nd large snowfall in 7 days. The process was also suspended 2 days last week because of a storm. "Barring further weather delays, it is reasonable to think that the voir dire process may be completed by the end of next week," court officials said in an email. The trial itself is expected to take 3 to 4 months. Prosecutors contend that 3 days after the bombing, Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, fatally shot a university police officer as they prepared to flee the city. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died later that night following a gunbattle with police. (source: Reuters) US MILITARY: Fellow soldier says Bergdahl should get death penalty A decision is expected anytime on whether Bowe Bergdahl will face military charges. Bergdahl reportedly left his post in Afghanistan nearly 6 years ago. The Pentagon said its investigation is in its final stages. Many fellow comrades said it is already clear Bergdahl is a deserter. Sergeant First Class Nathan Botts spent 22 years in the US Army. He was in the same battalion as Bergdahl. He said it was clear from the get go that Bergdahl had deserted his post. He hopes that the military will punish Bergdahl as a traitor. Botts served 3 tours in Afghanistan. He said tensions were high there every day but nothing like the day Bergdahl vanished from his post. He was in the unique position of passing information between Bergdahl's unit and the battalion commanders. "I was getting information directly from the platoon, and also from the company, of what was going on. And I was briefing the brigade S-3 and also the brigade commander himself," said Botts. Botts said everything stopped that day in June 2009 and the only mission at hand was finding Bergdahl. He said it was very clear he left. "Everybody knew that he left. You don't just fold up all your clothes and your armor, and put it in a neat pile on your bed and then be abducted. He left. Plain and simple," said Botts. He said the Army never stopped looking for Bergdahl. Assets were reassigned and units were tasked everyday with asking locals where he might be. He said when men is his own battalion started getting killed in the search was when the true impact of Bergdahl's decision hit hard. "He still needs to be held accountable for his actions. He's still responsible for his actions. And his actions caused a lot of damage," said Botts. Botts feels his actions are worthy of the military's highest punishment, the death sentence. He said he is not the only one who feels Bergdahl never should have been traded in the prisoner exchange that released 5 Taliban fighters back onto the front lines. "I'm sorry. A deserter is not worth that. He's not," said Botts. Bergdahl could still face jail time under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Many speculate he could be discharged from the military with credit for time served in Taliban captivity. (source: KREM news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 11:00:11 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 11:00:11 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 4 INDONESIA: Last hope gone in bid to save Bali 9 pair The last legal hope for 2 Australian drug smugglers on death row in Bali has been dashed after an applications for a 2nd judicial review of their cases was denied. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were sentenced to death for their part in organising the 2005 Bali 9 heroin trafficking attempt. The pair's official applications for a 2nd review of their death sentences were rejected after being filed with Denpasar District Court officials last week. The court's spokesman, Hasoloan Sianturi, told ABC News the application was to be considered by the chairman in reference to Indonesian law and in consultation with the country's Supreme Court. The Indonesian government have said the pair are not eligible for any more case reviews or appeals. Last ditch application to prevent executions Bali court officials earlier visited Kerobokan Prison to help the 2 Australian drug smugglers file their appeal against the death penalty. Chan and Sukumaran, who were both denied presidential pardons, are among a group of drug smugglers who could face a firing squad within weeks. The application came after the grandmother of Sukumaran made a desperate plea at a vigil in Sydney, urging president Joko Widodo to intervene to save his life. Attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo said on Thursday that Sukumaran and Chan were not eligible for a review because they had already had one. Earlier on Friday, the pair's lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, said they would file the application "soon". It has been more than a week since news emerged that Chan was denied a presidential pardon. As Sukumaran, a fellow organiser of the Bali 9 heroin trafficking group, had already been denied clemency, the 2 Australians were put up for execution when the government was ready. The men have exhausted all legal avenues for appeal and a judicial review at the supreme court level failed to overturn their sentences. On Wednesday, Indonesian president Joko Widodo said he would not grant clemency to the 2 men. Mr Lubis conceded the executions were lawful, but said they would still try to get another review. "Yes, there is law to base this on but we must also respect human rights," Mr Lubis said. A high ranking official from the attorney-general's office told ABC News that no decision had been made about who on death row would be executed next Grandmother pleads for Sukumaran's life Meanwhile, about 1,000 people turned out in Sydney's Martin Place last night as part of an emotional display of support for Sukumaran and Chan. Edith Visvanathan, Sukumaran's grandmother, thanked the crowd but said she felt "sad and very, very weak". "I come here to ask pardon from the president, the president and the people of Indonesia, to forgive my grandson and give him a 2nd chance," she said. "I don't ask him to come home. I only ask him to give him life and let him do something in the prison. "Don't kill him, please don't kill him." Statements were read on behalf of both Chan and Sukumaran. Sukumaran's statement said that whatever happened, they were now good men. The 2 Australians have been in jail in Indonesia since 2005 after they were arrested, with 7 others, while trying to smuggle heroin out of Bali. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has made a public appeal for the men's lives. He said the men "deserve mercy" and were "reformed characters". Earlier, 6 people were executed after being denied clemency a month earlier and given 3 days' notice of their deaths. (source: Yahoo News) ******************** UK 'hopeful' of saving Briton on death row ---- Britain's foreign minister is hopeful of saving a drug-smuggling grandmother on death row in Bali. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says he is "hopeful" that a British grandmother on death row in an Indonesian prison could escape execution. Lindsay Sandiford, 57, is seeking to have her death sentence for smuggling 4.8 kilograms of cocaine into the resort island of Bali overturned. "I'm hopeful that we still have a process and it's premature to talk about the sentence being carried out," Hammond told reporters after talks with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, in Jakarta on Wednesday. Hammond said he told Retno that Britain opposed the death penalty "in all cases" and was providing support for Sandiford. "There are specific limits to how we operate and what kind of support that we can offer," he said. Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo said over the weekend that authorities were preparing a new series of executions, after President Joko Widodo rejected clemency requests for 11 convicts on death row, including 8 drug traffickers, 2 of them from Australia. The others include one each from Brazil, France, Ghana, the Philippines and Nigeria. No timeframe was given for the executions. Barney Greenway, the frontman of British grindcore band Napalm Death, of which Joko is a fan, has appealed to the president to spare Sandiford, and Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the Independent newspaper reported. "To my mind, your election platform promises of moves toward a more egalitarian civic structure means protection at all levels - and capital punishment can only take things backwards in that respect," Greenway said in his letter to Joko. Joko has ruled out mercy for drug traffickers and has defended the death penalty, saying the country's drug problem has reached an emergency level. The government said drug abuse kills an average of 40 people in Indonesia each day, and estimated number of drug addicts will reach 5.8 million people this year. There are more than 100 people on death row in Indonesian prisons, mostly for drug offences. (source: Yahoo News) ******************************** Indonesian courts reject Bali 9 judicial review -- Courts turn down application for review into cases of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who face execution 2 Australians convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia have lost their final chance to appeal against their death sentences after an Indonesian district court rejected an application for their cases to be reviewed. Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran applied on Friday for a 2nd judicial review of their case, examining past errors of the law and their transformation after more than a decade in jail. Hasoloan Sianturi, the Denpasar district court spokesman, told reporters the application had been rejected. The spokesman said after considering the documents put forward for a judicial review, known as a PK, neither man's application could be accepted. "The documents of that PK will not be sent to the supreme court," he told reporters in Bali. Chan and Sukumaran were 2 of 9 Australians - known as the Bali 9 - convicted in Indonesia of heroin trafficking in 2005. Indonesia's minister of law and human rights said a new regulation to be issued in a few months would allow multiple judicial reviews but until then only 1 was permitted, Fairfax reported. Sukumaran and Chan now face execution by firing squad with as little as 72 hours' notice. Last week the attorney general, HM Prasetyo, said the two Australians would be among the next group of convicted people to be executed. Planning for the executions did not pause while the PK was being considered but by late Tuesday at least, no date had been set, a spokesman told Guardian Australia. The preferred location remains the island of Nusakambangan, off the coast of central Java, where 6 executions were carried out in January. Prasetyo told media in Jakarta some embassies had been notified that their citizens faced imminent execution but would not say which ones. The Australian embassy in Jakarta told Guardian Australia it would not be commenting on the matter. The office of prime minister Tony Abbott has been contacted for comment. Sukumaran and Chan have had multiple visitors at Kerobokan prison over recent days, including family, friends and supporters. Their legal team and campaigners have focused on the lengths to which the 2 men have been rehabilitated, among other legal arguments. Sukumaran runs an art studio and classes for past and present inmates inside the prison. "The authorities in the jail have had such success in rehabilitating its prisoners, now it would be real shame to end that rather than celebrate that," said Australian artist Matt Sleeth outside the prison on Tuesday. A variety of groups and people have come out in support to plead for mercy for the 2 men, including current and former Indonesian judges who have spoken out about the uselessness of the death penalty as a deterrent. Maruarar Siahaan, who sat on the 2007 constitutional court panel to hear the Australian men's appeal, blamed poor enforcement for continuing drug crime. "When the opportunity to escape detection is high, the threat of the death penalty won't scare those who are in business of drugs," he told AAP. President Joko Widodo, who rejected both clemency appeals, has vowed to take a hard line against drugs smugglers in Indonesia. Puri Kencana Putri, head of research at Indonesian human rights group KontraS, criticised the decision. "Both Andrew and Myuran have a right to get proper access to justice, after more than a decade behind bars and the willingness to rectify their wrongdoing in the past," she told Guardian Australia. "By executing them in the near future, I'm sure the government will never reduce the rate of drug-related offences in Indonesia." The widespread idea of the death penalty "demonstrated a profound signal that the Indonesian government doesn't have any roadmap enough to resolve the root cause of the illicit drug trade in Indonesia," the statement continued. She said there was no transparency or evaluation of the Indonesian narcotics agency (BNN), which was established in 2002. (source: The Guardian) ************************ Indon spends big to save deathrow citizens The Indonesian government is spending millions of dollars on lawyers and to victims' families to get its citizens off death row in foreign countries despite ramping up its own rate of execution. Even though President Joko Widodo has sent five foreigners and one Indonesian to the firing squad for drug offences so far in 2015 with Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran next on the list, Indonesia continues to pay for leniency in other countries. A taskforce was established by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono following the public decapitation of Rutati binti Satubi for stabbing her employer to death in Saudi Arabia in 2011. More than 60 Indonesian workers in China, Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have been assisted by the taskforce according to Amnesty International. The head of Melbourne University's Centre for Indonesian Law says the government often pays to have sentences commuted. "The Indonesia government spends millions of dollars to hire lawyers and in some cases, in Saudi Arabia, pay blood money where it is permitted under Islamic legal systems to relatives of the murder victim to enable sentences to be commuted," Professor Tim Lindsey says. But Prof Lindsey says the death sentence at home for drug offenders, including foreign nationals, remains popular among Indonesians at the voting booth. "It is really ironic that Indonesia should be this huge push to execute more people while at the same time spending millions of dollars to get its own citizens off," Prof Lindsey said. "We've had the Netherlands and Brazil withdraw their ambassadors without barely a blink from Indonesia. That assists Jokowi being seen as a resolute tough guy and that helps him in his big challenge of trying to build a coalition in the legislature, which he does not yet have. "He will not be able to govern effectively until he does get that coalition. Being seen to be weak in these areas will make him a target." In 1 case, the Indonesian government paid $A2.1 million to stop the execution of domestic worker Satinah binti Jumadi Ahmad in Saudi Arabia after she was convicted of murdering her employer's wife and stealing money. Former chairman of Indonesia's constitutional court Jimly Asshiddiqie has said Jakarta's position is inconsistent and out of date. "It's not right that when our workers abroad are facing the death penalty we protest against it, but when foreigners are about to face death here, we don't," he told AAP in January. Mr Lindsey said the case of migrant workers on death row in foreign countries is often seen in an entirely different light from drug offenders. "There is a lot of sympathy for these, generally, women," Mr Lindsey said. "Drug offenders are classed as a type of mass murderer in public perception along with terrorists, so there is a clear policy path which is to avoid the death penalty for most offences except mass murderers, drug offenders and terrorists." (source: Herald Sun) ********* Death sentences may sink RI's international image Indonesia's influence in the international community may be overshadowed by the scorn it is getting for the recent executions of drug traffickers, human rights activists say. "Indonesia will find it difficult to bargain or to negotiate with other countries, especially if it is about human rights cases," the Indonesian representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), Rafendi Djamin, said in Jakarta on Tuesday. In January, Indonesia shot 6 drug convicts dead, including convicts from the Netherlands and Brazil. Brazil and the Netherlands have recalled their envoys temporarily from Indonesia to protest the killing of their citizens. Regarding the diplomatic fall-out, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that Indonesia has "never been hostile" to other countries and it would maintain communications with those countries. Ricky Gunawan, the director of the Community Legal Aid Group (LBH Masyarakat), said that the Netherlands has provided assistance to Indonesia for a long time, especially to improve law enforcement. "Netherlands has supported Indonesia in improving its justice system by providing training programs for its law enforcers. The fact that its citizen was executed may make them withdraw the support," Ricky said. He added that the relationship between Indonesia and Brazil was also very good, as the 2 countries had initiated a "from South to South" partnership. Currently as many as 35 people from 15 countries are waiting to be executed after being convicted of drug trafficking. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has refused to grant clemency to eight drug traffickers. They include 1 each from Brazil, France, Ghana, the Philippines and Nigeria and 2 from Australia. Rafendi predicted that the number of countries that will withdraw their support from Indonesia will increase if the government maintains the death penalty. Besides losing more allies in the international community, Indonesia's negotiations attempting to free its citizens from death sentences in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia may be rejected as well. "How can we ask for support from other countries to free our citizens from the death penalty, if we still punish people with the same sentence?" said Rafendi, who is also the executive director of the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG). It has been reported that as many as 380 migrant workers from Indonesia are currently on trial and may face capital punishment in China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. Of that number, 17 of them have been convicted and sentenced to death. On Tuesday, Migrant Care Director Executive, Anis Hidayah, said that the negotiations to free the migrant workers was being hampered as Indonesia was still imposing the death sentence at home. Both Ricky and Rafendi expressed disappointment that Indonesia has implemented a double standard in its strategy to protect human rights. "In the international community, Indonesia seems to respect human rights. In contrast, Indonesia violates human rights by imposing the death penalty. This is so embarrassing," Rafendi said.Indonesia ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2005. One of articles in the covenant stipulated that every state must protect the right to life. (source: Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post) ****************** 'Bali 2' executions could set back Australia-Indonesia relations It now seems almost inevitable that 2 Australians, drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, will soon be executed in Indonesia. If this does happen, there will be public protests in Australia. Some of these protests will be directed against the death penalty as a concept; others will be directed at Indonesia's use of that penalty in these 2 cases. The Australian government will also protest. Canberra might even withdraw Paul Grigson, Australia's newly appointed Ambassador to Indonesia - assuming Grigson has actually arrived in Jakarta when the executions take place. This would follow the lead of the Dutch and Brazilian governments, which both recalled their ambassadors to Indonesia after 2 of their citizens were executed last month. But such protests will have little traction in Indonesia, either with the government or the Indonesian public. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has shown that he has no sympathy for drug smugglers, whether they are Australian, Indonesian or any other nationality. He does not have the same warmth towards Australia exhibited by his predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He has worked hard to project a tough image in his foreign policy to counteract his opponents portraying him as soft and inexperienced in international affairs. What evidence we have shows that Indonesian public opinion supports the death penalty. Even in Australia, a recent poll found that a majority of respondents supported the death penalty in these 2 cases. Eddy Bayuni, senior editor of the Jakarta Post, wrote recently: The foreign leaders' interventions ... may even have done a disservice to the abolitionists' cause. The executions have now been turned into a question of Indonesia's national pride with accusations flying about the West imposing its human rights values on us. But, as the saying goes, the harder they push, the stronger Indonesia pushes back. Recent tensions The potential execution of 2 Australian citizens is only the most recent - albeit the most tragic - instance of recent tension in the Australia-Indonesia relationship. There have been 2 others. In November 2014, Australia's then-immigration minister, Scott Morrison, announced that any asylum seekers registering with the United Nations in Indonesia after June 2014 would not be considered for resettlement in Australia. Morrison asserted that this move "should reduce the movement of asylum seekers to Indonesia", thus implying benefit for Indonesia as well as for Australia. He also said that the Indonesian government had been briefed on the policy change, though not whether Jakarta supported it. However, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was more forthright. She expressed regret at what she described as a "unilateral" policy decision, taking into account only Australia's interests in the issue. She also called in Australia's then-ambassador, Greg Moriarty, for a ritual dressing-down. This development did not attract much public attention in Indonesia at the time. But it was nonetheless important for confirming that the new Indonesian government was not prepared - at least publicly - to accept what it saw as off-handed treatment by Australia. A 2nd current issue in the relationship dates back to early November 2014. The Indonesian government announced that visa-free entry to Indonesia would be granted to nationals of 5 countries, including Australia. The move was aimed at increasing the number of tourists visiting Indonesia and thus boosting the Indonesian economy. In late January, the Indonesian government reversed part of that decision: Australians would now not be getting visa-free entry. The reasons for this change were not made clear. Statements from two Indonesian ministers hinted that the reversal was made because Australia was not prepared to reciprocate with visa-free entry for Indonesians. But there should never have been any expectation of such reciprocity: Australia requires visas of all international visitors except New Zealanders. Deviating from this policy for Indonesians would have been politically impossible, even if there had been a governmental desire to do so. More likely is the explanation given by a "high-ranking ministry official", who indicated that "political reasons" were behind the decision. The likely political reasons? Morrison???s announcement on asylum seekers and Australian reactions to the death penalties for Chan and Sukumaran. How might the executions impact relations? Do these developments indicate we are in for another dive in Australia-Indonesia relations? The visa issue is symbolic but of little real importance. The asylum seeker issue remains a difficult one, but Morrison's announcement did not represent a new approach to the issue. He simply confirmed to Indonesians that the Australian government is unhelpfully fixated on the matter. But there is something different and important about the Chan and Sukumaran cases, which has been absent in all other recent controversies in the bilateral relationship: that 2 Australians' lives are at stake. On Australia Day, prominent lawyer Greg Barns wrote: If Australia's relationship with Indonesia suffers because we want our neighbour to end state-sanctioned murder in the form of the death penalty, then so be it. As an opponent of the death penalty, I agree with Barnes. This issue demands to be addressed frankly and will be more of a challenge than any other in the recent history of the relationship. But the impact will probably be short-term, rather than long. At the popular level, for a while fewer Australians might holiday in Bali. The government-to-government relationship might be shaken but - again - this would only be a short-term development. There will be some political jostling, but with no major or lasting impact. After all, regrettably, such events have occurred before in Southeast Asia, most recently with the 2005 hanging of Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore. And they are likely to happen again. We must, however, be consistent. China and the United States both apply the death penalty, and thus should also be the subject of protests from those Australians - particularly politicians - who are abolitionists. That no Australians are on death row in China or the US makes no difference: Chinese and American lives are as valuable as Australian ones. (source: The Conversation) *************** Ex-judges unite against Jakarta executions Another former Indonesian judge has added his voice to the chorus of criticism of Indonesia's death penalty regime, saying the executions won't drive down drug crime. Maruarar Siahaan was on the constitutional court panel that heard the 2007 appeal of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.He was one of the dissenting judges in the 6-3 decision against saving the Bali 9 ringleaders, who will be executed as soon as Indonesian authorities settle a date. Now rector for the Indonesian Christian University, Dr Siahaan says drugs remain a real danger, but the death penalty is not the answer. 'It isn't effective in law enforcement, that's a fact,' he told AAP. 'As long as there's continuing weak law enforcement, there will always be continuing drug crime. 'When the opportunity to escape detection is high, the threat of the death penalty won't scare those who are in business of drugs.' Indonesia's hasty return to using the death penalty - 6 death row inmates were killed last month and 11 more are in line - saddened Dr Siahaan.He doesn't blame President Joko Widodo for applying Indonesia's laws as they stand, but he argues it's time they changed. 'In the future, there's got to be an ideological platform for the state where we follow the global trend (away from the death penalty),' he said. 'We can no longer rely on the idea that this is for a deterrent effect.' The former judge joins Jimly Asshiddiqie, former chairman of the constitutional court, and another former colleague, Laica Marzuki, in speaking out against the recent executions. Mr Joko won't give clemency to 64 death row drug offenders, believing their executions by firing squad will dissuade others. Lawyers for the Australians meanwhile have applied for the courts to hear a 2nd judicial review of their case, examining past errors of the law, and their transformation over a decade in jail. Indonesia ended an unofficial 4-year moratorium when 5 prisoners were executed in 2013. (source: Sky News) ******************************* Vigil calls for end to Indonesian executions More than 50 people braved inclement weather to gather at Byron Bay's Main Beach in a candlelight vigil to add their voice to the international chorus of protests against the death penalty on Tuesday (February 3). 2 Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, along with a number of other people, are facing imminent execution in Indonesia by firing squad. A local activist said: 'The death penalty is state-sanctioned barbarism and we are here to say Byron Bay does not support it for whatever reason.' Another said: 'It's very important that as many people as possible sign the petition because they've exhausted all legal processes, and this is our last hope to save their lives and others in future.' The action was initiated by Amnesty Byron as part of Amnesty International's global campaign against the death penalty. According to the Amnesty website: 'Indonesia has already demonstrated its deadly intent by executing 5 foreign nationals and 1 Indonesian just after midnight on 18 January. International condemnation followed and the Brazilian and Dutch Ambassadors to Indonesia were recalled. More than 140 countries have now abolished this barbaric practice and Indonesia must join them.' (source: echo.net.au) *********************************** I have no sympathy for death row drug traffickers There are few things I despise more than dealing drugs. It is a detestable trade that ranks alongside slavery; a trade that deals in misery and subjugation. Yet for all of that, I despise the death penalty even more. As Australians, our attitudes to both will be sorely tested in coming weeks or months when Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are executed by firing squad, as surely they will be. For the Indonesians this is presented as a war on drugs, with the new President pointing out that 50 Indonesians die every day because of drugs. Joko Widodo feels that having a hard line policy on drug dealers will curb the rising tide of drugs in his country. He may even be right. However, it would be foolish for Australians to think that all Indonesians agree with him. In fact his own Justice Minister does not support the death penalty, and delicately describes it as a 'dilemma". It would be just as foolish to think that because Sukumaran and Chan are Australians, they should somehow be immune from the full sanction of the law in Indonesia. That attitude smacks of a moral superiority which would be sorely misplaced. After all, we made no clemency requests for the Bali bombers. Those who die from drugs are just as dead as those who die in a bombing. Nor should Indonesia alone be the focus. If we oppose the death penalty in Indonesia we should also oppose it in Saudi Arabia, and in China, and in the United States. In recent weeks the world witnessed the beheading of a Burmese woman in Saudi Arabia, and the gruesome execution of a man by injection in the US. In all cases executions are grisly business. There is no righteous vengeance in removing someone's head, nor in leaving a lifeless body in a pool of blood after shooting them. Anyone who thinks executions are a noble business is sadly deluded. How then do we reconcile abhorrence at the drugs trade with abhorrence at the death penalty? Chan and Sukumaran were surely under no misapprehension about the enterprise in which they were involved. They were shipping almost an industrial amount of heroin. Moreover, their motivation was personal greed, irrespective of the lives that might suffer as a result. However, is that enough to take their lives? Let's assume that they were convicted after the drugs had been smuggled out, and that we knew people had died from using those drugs. Would the concept of an "eye for an eye" be good enough cause for execution? This, ultimately, is the question. The difficulty with urging an "eye for an eye" - as indeed with urging capital punishment of some as a deterrent to others - is that it amounts to state sanctioned killing for a political purpose. This can be the only argument for capital punishment. Vengeance is a futile exercise since it will never bring back the wronged. But killing others for a political purpose is exactly what terrorists do. They kill some in the hope of cowering everyone else into submitting to their will. Capital punishment, therefore, has the characteristics of state sanctioned terror. This may be fine, if you believe the role of the state is merely to compel the obedience of its citizens. However, the role of the state has gone far beyond that; it now educates, civilizes, and cares for its people. In choosing to shape its citizens to make them better, the state takes on moral obligations of its own. These obligations are inconsistent with using capital punishment as means of deterring others, something which has no moral foundation. I don't believe Chan and Sukumaran deserve our sympathy, but I believe even less that they should die to make a point to others. (source: Commentary; Bill O'Chee----Brisbane Times) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 11:01:00 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 11:01:00 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 4 TRINIDAD: British court to rule on death sentences for 2 Trinidad murderers ---- Test case will raise question of whether court in London has authority to vary hanging order imposed by judges in Caribbean 7 British judges will consider whether 2 convicted murderers from Trinidad should have their death penalty sentences lifted by the privy council. The test case, starting on Wednesday, will raise the question of whether a court in London has legal authority to vary a hanging order imposed by judges in the Caribbean. Shazad Khan and Timothy Hunte killed Ramkhelawan Charran at a fish farm in rural Trinidad in August 2003. Hunte, the gunman, shot Charran 5 times and later also admitted snatching a pile of cash. Both Khan, the driver, and Hunte were sentenced to go to the gallows in 2008. Their convictions and sentence were upheld by the appeal court of Trinidad and Tobago 2 years later. Because of the long period that has elapsed since the death penalty was imposed, however, neither men faces the hangman's noose. A 1993 landmark case, Pratt and Morgan, in the privy council established that it was inhumane treatment and illegal to keep a condemned prisoner on death row for more then 5 years after conviction. The issue at stake this week relates to the continuing judicial dispute between the Caribbean and London over who should have power to commute a death sentence. Fewer death penalty cases reach UK judges nowadays because most of the West Indian states that use the judicial committee of the privy council (JCPC) as a final court of appeal have scrapped mandatory execution for murder. Additionally, Barbados and Belize, which previously referred appeals to the privy council, now direct them instead to the Caribbean court of justice (CCJ). In Trinidad and Tobago, there is currently a energetic debate on the death penalty. As the murder rate rises (28 people have already been murdered in 2015) and the country approaches a general election, the sitting government is attempting to push through a so-called "hanging bill", which attempts to circumvent the Pratt and Morgan decision by allowing the state to mete out the death sentence to convicted murderers, regardless of the time it takes for the appeal process to be exhausted. Trinidad, where the CCJ is situated, is not a member. It remains within the privy council's jurisdiction, a link that many West Indian politicians dismiss as an outdated relic of the British empire. Khan and Hunte are represented by the Death Penalty Project based at the London law firm Simons Muirhead and Burton. Parvais Jabbar, co-executive director of DPP argues, that if the conviction appeals fail, following previous precedents, the privy council should commute the men's sentences to terms of imprisonment. Lawyers for the state of Trinidad and Tobago will argue that the privy council does not have the legal authority to dismiss the death penalties. Instead, the men should petition the state president or apply to the high court in the capital, Port of Spain, for the sentences to be commuted. "The real question is who can commute the death sentence," Jabbar said. "The JCPC has been asked by lawyers for the state to consider overturning a recent decision which allowed a domestic court in Trinidad to commute a sentence of death if the 5-year period has expired - a sensible and practical step. "There is no justifiable reason to reconsider the recent ruling. However, if the [privy council] does rule against us, it may open the door for a reconsideration by us as to whether we should seek to reopen previous important decisions on the mandatory death penalty decided by a narrow majority where lives were at stake." Because the case is considered to be of such importance, 7 justices who also sit on the supreme court will hear the case. They are Lord Neuberger, president of the supreme court, Lady Hale, deputy president, and Lords Mance, Clarke, Sumption, Reed and Toulson. (source: The Guardian) JORDAN----executions Jordan executes 2 in response to pilot's slaying A government spokesman says Jordan executed 2 prisoners, hours after vowing a harsh response to the gruesome killing of a Jordanian pilot captured by the Islamic State extremist group. Jordan threatened a harsh response after a video released online Tuesday showed the pilot being burned to death. Word of the latest 2 executions came after a Jordanian security official told Associated Press that it would execute an al-Qaida prisoner at dawn Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue with the media. Identities of the 2 executed prisoners in Jordanian hands were not immediately available. Before dawn, a convoy was seen leaving Juweideh prison where prisoner Sajida al-Rishawi had been held. The convoy arrived at Swaqa prison, where executions have been carried out. The gruesome video came after a week-long drama over a possible prisoner exchange by Jordan to win the release of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. Jordanian TV reported the killing took place Jan. 3, raising questions about the negotiations for the pilot's freedom. Jordan agreed last week to release al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman facing execution for her role in the 2005 hotel bombings in Jordan, but first wanted proof the pilot was alive. "The Jordanian response to the assassination of the hero pilot, Muath al-Kaseasbeh, will be strong, decisive and swift," government spokesman Mohammed al-Momani said. Army spokesman Mamdouh al-Ameri added, "Our punishment and revenge will be as huge as the loss of the Jordanians." "While the military forces mourn the martyr, they emphasize his blood will not be shed in vain," he said in a statement read on Jordanian TV. Reports by Reuters and Agence France-Presse, citing unnamed sources, said Jordan planned to execute al-Rishawai, the Iraqi prisoner, by dawn Wednesday in Jordan. The government didn't immediately confirm the reports. The video marks the 1st time a high-profile hostage of the Islamic State has been killed by fire, according to IntelCenter, which monitors extremist websites. In the past, hostages have been beheaded or shot. "It shows how the group is continually evolving its methods to gain the maximum exposure for its actions," IntelCenter said in a statement. Jordan's King Abdullah II, in Washington on a previously scheduled trip, called for his nation to unite. "It's the duty of all of us to stand united and show the real values of Jordanians in the face of these hardships," he said on Jordanian TV from Washington. The king went to the White House on Tuesday evening and met with President Obama. He then was cutting short his U.S. visit, the official Petra news agency said. Obama earlier said the video, if authentic, was more evidence of the group's "viciousness and barbarity" and called the group's ideology "bankrupt." "And it, I think, will redouble the vigilance and determination on the part of a global coalition to make sure that they are degraded and ultimately defeated," Obama told reporters. Al-Kaseasbeh was captured by the Islamic State - also known as ISIL or ISIS - in December after his aircraft crashed over Syria. He is the 1st, and so far only, foreign military pilot to be captured since a U.S.-led coalition began airstrikes on the militants last year. In Jordan, a tense situation was developing as protests erupted in Amman and the pilot's home village of Ai on Tuesday night. Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets, chanting against Abdullah. "There is no god but God and the martyr is beloved by God," protesters were heard chanting. (source: USA Today) ************************ Jordan: Just Do It Jordan will likely face criticism for executing five terrorists in retaliation for the Islamic State's incineration of one of its pilots. It shouldn't. The ugly reality is that Jordan's response is the only appropriate one. The global war on terror seems to be taking a new seriousness, given the unprecedented barbarism of the Islamic State's latest terror act. Just days after brutally beheading 2 Japanese citizens, IS has released a video showing the burning death of a 26-year-old Jordanian pilot placed in a cage with an encircling trail of gasoline. The repulsive video - probably shot in January, shortly after the pilot was captured the month before - was the terrorist group's most advanced propaganda effort yet, with cameras positioned at different angles to follow the gas-lit flames as they encircled and then consumed the innocent man. The message sent was one of contempt for Jordan's offer to swap prisoners to save the man and evinced a special cruelty for a state that they intend to overrun. There's no other way to deal with such a threat than with the hardest response possible. Tragically, the friendly, pro-West Jordan is in no position to retaliate militarily or economically like the West. It's a poor country, awash in refugees from Syria, and its only nearby friend is Israel. President Obama's assurances of "solidarity" in the face of this barbarism ring pretty hollow. The IS knows this. That's why it subjects the country to special cruelties. It knows that Jordan is all alone out there, facing a mortal threat. And Jordan knows it, too. That's why Jordan's swift move to execute multiple terrorists - by some reports a thousand, but at least 2 - is the only act of retaliation that qualifies as commensurate. No human rights lawyers, no Gitmo 4-choice menus, no Froot Loops, no choice of Qurans, no costume robes and no terrorist-approved mullahs. Jordan is simply getting rid of murderous enemies who kill without conscience and terrorize its people. Just a serious response to a serious threat. Someone in that country knows that the only way for a small state to deal with monsters is to confront and destroy them, just as Jordan's pre-Islamic-era hero, St. George, slew the dragon. (source: Editorial, Investor's Business Daily) ************************** Killing of Jordanian pilot 'abhorrent' but 'revenge executions' not the answer The vicious summary killing of a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by the armed group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS) is an atrocious attack against humanity, said Amnesty International, but responding with executions is not the answer. The video showing Muath al-Kasasbeh being burned alive in a cage has sent shockwaves across the world. This morning at dawn the Jordanian authorities executed Sajida al-Rishawi and Ziad al-Karbouli, 2 Iraqis linked to al-Qa'ida, in apparent revenge for his killing. "The abhorrent killing of Muath al-Kasasbeh is a war crime and an all-out attack on the most basic principles of humanity," said Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "The Jordanian authorities are rightly horrified by this utterly reprehensible killing but the response should never be to resort to the death penalty, which itself is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The death penalty should also not be used as a tool for revenge. The IS's gruesome tactics must not be allowed to fuel a bloody cycle of reprisal executions." Under international humanitarian law holding hostages is a war crime and all detainees should be treated humanely by their captors. "The killing of Muath al-Kasasbeh while he was trapped in a cage in such a brutal and orchestrated manner shows the savagery that a group like the IS is capable of," said Philip Luther. One of those executed by the Jordanian authorities today was Sajida al-Rishawi, who was on death row for her role in the 2005 bombing in Amman that killed 60 people. Her lawyer's request for her to undergo psychiatric assessment to assess her mental fitness to stand trial was refused by the court. According to a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, following his visit to Jordan in 2006, she was tortured during interrogation over a month-long period in the custody of Jordan???s General Intelligence Department (GID). Ziad Karbouli, the 2nd person executed this morning, was convicted on charges of belonging to an illegal organization, possessing explosives leading to death of a person and murder. His lawyer told Amnesty International that he had been forced to confess under duress. After an 8-year halt in executions, Jordan resumed its use of the death penalty in December 2014 when it carried out the executions of 11 men. Amnesty International is calling on Jordan to immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. Muath al-Kasasbeh, a fighter pilot in the Jordanian air force, was captured when his plane came down near al-Raqqa, Syria, during a mission against the IS in December 2014. The IS has killed dozens of its captives in the past year including in the past month the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto and a 2nd Japanese hostage, Haruna Yukawa. Amnesty International calls on the IS to cease summary killings, abductions and hostage taking. (source: Amnesty International) IRAN----executions 5 Prisoners Hanged in Iran 4 prisoners convicted of drug-related charges were hanged in the prison of Rasht (Northern Iran) reported the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Gilan Province. The prisoners were identified as "A. M." (42) charged with trafficking of 5750 grams of crystal (methamphetamin), "Y. Gh" (41) for buying 5750 grams of crystal, "H. T." (37) for participation in buying 3300 grams of crystal and "S. Gh." (29) for possession and trafficking of 5750 grams of crystal, said the report. The executions were carried out on Saturday January 31. The Iranian daily newspaper reported that a 21 year old man was hanged in the prison of Mashhad (Northeastern Iran) Monday morning 2. February. The man who was not identified by name, was convicted of stubbing a 20 year old man under a fight at a wedding party 2 years ago. He was sentenced to qesas (retribution in kind). (source: Iran Human Rights) PAKISTAN----executions Convicted for murder: 2 LeJ militants hanged in Karachi prison 2 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) militants convicted for the murder of a doctor were hanged at the Karachi Central Jail on Tuesday, in the latest executions since the government lifted a moratorium on death penalty last year. Attaullah, alias Qasim, and Mohammad Azam were convicted of killing Dr Ali Raza on sectarian grounds in 2001 at the busy Soldier Bazaar area in Karachi. Both men, who belonged to LeJ, a banned militant outfit, were arrested in 2004 and tried in an anti-terrorism court, which later handed down the death sentence. According to prison officials, the death row inmates were hanged at 6.30 in the morning amid tight security. The roads outside the Karachi central prison were closed to traffic overnight as a security measure before the executions. Hours after the executions, jail officials confirmed that the bodies of both men were handed over to their family members. Nearly 2 dozen people have been hanged since the government reinstated capital punishment in terror cases amid public outrage over the Dec 16 at the Army Public School in Peshawar that left 150 people, mostly children, dead. (source: Express Tribune) ********************* Hundreds Rally as Mumtaz Qadri Appeals Sentence The defense team of Salmaan Taseer's killer includes 2 judges and he has attracted support from extremist groups. Mumtaz Qadri appealed on Tuesday against his death sentence for murdering Salmaan Taseer, as hundreds rallied outside the court to show support. Qadri was sentenced for killing Taseer outside an upmarket coffee shop in Islamabad in 2011. The former bodyguard has admitted shooting Taseer, saying he objected to the politician's calls to reform strict blasphemy laws, which can carry the death penalty. Around 300 of Qadri's supporters chanted slogans calling for his release as a 2-judge bench at Islamabad High Court began hearing the appeal. Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, and Qadri???s actions have made him a "hero" to many conservatives eager to drown out any calls to soften the legislation. At his original trial, Qadri was showered with rose petals by some lawyers. His current appeal team features 2 judges, including the former chief justice of the Lahore High Court. Outside the court, protesters wearing shirts with the logo of religious movement Pakistan Sunni Tehreek shouted "The lock of the prison will break, Qadri will be released!" and "Be ashamed, release Qadri!" Malik Muhammad Safeer, Qadri's brother, urged his release. "My brother has done nothing wrong. He is happy and satisfied in the prison and always prays to God. Salmaan Taseer was killed because he committed blasphemy," he claimed. Defense lawyers said they expect the appeal to be decided within weeks. Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions in terror cases in December after Taliban gunmen massacred 150 people at a school. But executing someone convicted of murdering a "blasphemer" would risk a backlash from hardline religious groups. After Qadri was convicted in 2011, dozens of furious lawyers ransacked the courtroom of the judge who had sentenced him to death. (source: Newsweek Pakistan) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 12:19:38 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 12:19:38 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, KY. Message-ID: Feb. 4 TEXAS: Texas court vacates death sentence in 1990 Houston slayings The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has thrown out the death sentence of a Harris County man convicted of the slayings of a Houston couple more than 2 decades ago. The state's highest criminal court ruled Wednesday that jurors who sent Daryl Wheatfall to death row in 1992 had instructions during his trial's punishment phase that have been found unconstitutional. His trial was held at a time when the Texas jury instructions covering mitigation issues in death penalty cases were evolving under U.S. Supreme Court decisions. The appeals court has ordered his case be returned to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing. The now 49-year-old Wheatfall was convicted of the December 1990 slayings of James Fitzgerald and his wife, L.B., in southeast Houston following an argument over $50. (source: Associated Press) KENTUCKY: Man exonerated from Maryland's Death Row urges end to Kentucky's death penalty A Maryland man who was wrongfully convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a 9-year-old girl brought his convictions against the death penalty on Wednesday to the Kentucky Capitol, where lawmakers are considering the abolition of capital punishment. "It's easier to free a man from prison than to free a man from the grave," said Kirk Bloodsworth, 54, in a news conference with state Senate Minority Caucus Chairman Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, and state Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown. Neal and Floyd have filed legislation to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without parole. Both lawmakers said they believe support against the death penalty is growing in the state legislature but would not predict how their legislation will fare in this year's General Assembly. "If you support the death penalty, come and shake hands with this man, who was wrongfully convicted," Floyd said of Kirk Bloodsworth. "We have a system that condemns to death the innocent as well as the guilty. Reasonable people will cry for change." Bloodsworth was in prison for almost 9 years, 2 of those on death row not far from a gas chamber, for sexually assaulting and killing a young girl in 1985 in Maryland. In 1992, while in jail, the former Marine read a book that mentioned DNA fingerprinting. Hoping to prove his innocence, he pushed to have the evidence against him tested by the new method. Testing proved the traces of semen in the victim's underwear did not match Bloodsworth's DNA profile. Bloodsworth was released from prison in 1993 and became the first person in the United States to be exonerated from death row through post-conviction DNA testing. He now is a member of Witness to Innocence, a non-profit organization of death row exonerees that educate the public about innocence and wrongful conviction. "2 juries were wrong. 2 judges were wrong," Bloodsworth said at the news conference. "The state of Maryland was wrong. I am not here because the system worked. I am here because a series of miracles happened." The actual killer was later found and convicted, he said. Bloodsworth said he still would be against the death penalty even if a member of his family was murdered and there was overwhelming evidence against the murderer. "You can't have it both ways," he said. There are 34 people on death row in Kentucky. The last execution in the state was in 2008. Floyd and Neal said the state spends about $10 million a year prosecuting and defending the death penalty. They have filed resolutions in their respective chambers to establish a task force to study in more detail the costs of administering the death penalty in Kentucky. Bloodsworth's week-long tour in Kentucky is sponsored by Witness to Innocence, the ACLU of Kentucky and the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. (source: Herald-Leader) ********************** Death penalty foes press case with lawmakers Death penalty opponents looking to make inroads with Kentucky lawmakers are getting help from a former death row inmate who was exonerated with DNA evidence. Kirk Bloodsworth, a Maryland man who spent more than 8 years in prison until his release, visited the Kentucky Capitol on Wednesday to endorse efforts to abolish the death penalty. Bloodsworth calls capital punishment a social injustice due to the potential that innocent people will be put to death. He says being confined in a tiny prison cell without parole is a better punishment. Kentucky has executed 3 people since 1976 and 34 inmates are currently on death row. Bills introduced by Democratic Sen. Gerald Neal and Republican Rep. David Floyd would abolish the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without parole. (source: Associated Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 12:21:13 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 12:21:13 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 4 SAUDI ARABIA----executions Saudi beheads 2 rapists, murderer----Saudi Arabia has executed 21 people so far this year Saudi Arabia beheaded 2 convicted rapists and a murderer on Wednesday, the interior ministry said, bringing to 21 the number of people it has executed so far this year. The 3 were all Saudis. Abdul Kareem bin Abdul Sattar Meezi and Hashim bin Abdo Mahragi had been convicted of kidnapping and raping a girl and were executed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the ministry said. "The interior ministry confirms that it is determined to maintain security, serve justice and implement the provisions of God on all those who attack the innocent, shed blood or cause disgrace," it said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. Saudi Arabia has faced constant international criticism over its human rights record, including its use of the death penalty. Separately another Saudi, Mohammed bin Ouda bin Naji al-Inzi, was beheaded in the northwestern Jawf region after being convicted of a fatal shooting, the ministry said. The kingdom executed 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013, according to an AFP tally. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under its strict version of Islamic sharia law. (source: Agence France-Presse) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 22:19:03 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 22:19:03 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, OHIO, KAN., UTAH, MONT., USA Message-ID: Feb. 4 TEXAS----execution Texas executes 'Texas 7' prison escapee Donald Newbury for killing police officer 14 years ago A 3-time convicted robber who helped engineer the biggest prison break in Texas history was executed Wednesday evening for killing a suburban Dallas police officer while the notorious gang was on the run. Donald Newbury, 52, became the third member of the group known as the "Texas 7" executed for the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Aubrey Hawkins, an Irving officer who interrupted the fugitives' robbery of a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve in 2000. The slaying occurred 11 days after the convicts escaped. The gang was captured a month later in Colorado. Asked to make a final statement, he mumbled: "I would. That each new indignity defeats only the body. Pampering the spirit with obscure merit. I love you all. That's it." As the lethal dose of pentobarbital took effect, he closed his eyes, then took a deep breath and began snoring. After about a dozen snores, each a bit quieter, he stopped all movement. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later, at 6:25 p.m. About 2 dozen police officers stood at attention outside the Huntsville prison. Several supporters of the slain officer were on motorcycles outside, and as Newbury was taking his final breaths, the roar of them revving their engines could be heard inside the death chamber. "This isn't about Donald Newbury. This is about justice for Officer Aubrey Hawkins," Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd said after the execution. "And what you see from the Irving Police Department is to carry this through to the very end. "This is just one episode in that chapter. ... That's our commitment to Officer Hawkins." The punishment was carried out after Newbury lost a last-day appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. His attorneys had argued previous lawyers were deficient and courts did not provide adequate money for a defense expert to illustrate how Newbury's abusive childhood influenced his violent behavior. Evidence showed the gang led by George Rivas, who had been sentenced to 17 life prison terms, overpowered workers on Dec. 13, 2000, at the Connally Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, about 60 miles south of San Antonio. They broke into a prison armory, stole weapons and drove off in a prison truck. 2 days later, Rivas and Newbury held up a suburban Houston RadioShack store, taking electronics including police radio scanners. "Rivas was the leader and would do the talking, and Newbury was one of the guys standing with the gun and threatening everybody," said Toby Shook, the former Dallas County assistant district attorney who prosecuted both. "Rivas was using him as his muscle." 11 days after the breakout, Hawkins drove to the sporting goods store to check out a report of suspicious activity. He was shot 11 times, his bullet-ridden body pulled from his squad car and then run over with a stolen SUV. The fugitives fled with $70,000, 44 firearms and ammunition, plus jewelry and wallets from store employees who were closing up for the evening. The gang was apprehended a month later. One of them, Larry Harper, killed himself rather than surrender. When arrested, Newbury had 12 loaded firearms in the Colorado Springs Holiday Inn room he shared with fellow fugitive Joseph Garcia. Rivas was put to death 3 years ago at age 41. George Rodriguez ordered his appeals dropped and was executed in 2008 at age 45. 3 remain on death row: Garcia, 43; Patrick Murphy Jr., 53; and Randy Halprin, 37. Newbury becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 521st overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Newbury becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death since Greg Abbott became Governor of Texas last month. Newbury becomes the 7th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1401st overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) **************************** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----3 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----521 Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. # 4------------Feb. 10-------------------Les Bower, Jr.-------522 5------------Mar. 5--------------------Rodney Reed----------523 6------------Mar. 11-------------------Manuel Vasquez-------524 7------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays---------525 8------------Apr. 9--------------------Kent Sprouse---------526 9------------Apr. 15-------------------Manual Garza---------527 10-----------Apr. 23-------------------Richard Vasquez------528 11-----------Apr. 28-------------------Robert Pruett--------529 12-----------May 12--------------------Derrick Charles------530 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) OHIO: Jury selection begins in death penalty case of Tallmadge man accused of killing girlfriend, son -- Wendy and Peyton Ralston's remains were found in woods behind their Tallmadge home in 2013. Cellphone videos of fights between Wendy Ralston and Daniel Tighe, and records of Ralston meeting men for sex on the website Sugardaddy.com are among the possible testimony in the death penalty murder trial that began this morning Tighe, 40, of Tallmadge, is accused of killing Ralston, his live-in girlfriend, and their 5-year-old son, Peyton Ralston, sometime around July 23, 2013, when the mother and son were reported missing. Tighe is charged with aggravated murder, abuse of corpses, tampering with evidence and domestic violence. Attorneys began whittling down the pool of 150 prospective jurors this morning. Jury selection could take more than a week. The investigation into the Ralstons' death began Aug. 7 after Ralston's mother reported her daughter and her grandson missing. She told police that she last heard from them on July 23. Ralston's mother, Marie Ralston, told investigators that her daughter was known to go missing for days without contacting anyone. But she told investigators she had never been gone that long and never took her son with her, according to court records. Marie Ralston told investigators that her daughter regularly met up with men she found on Sugardaddy.com to have sex with, according to court records. Sugardaddy.com is a controversial website that caters to matching older men and younger women. Tighe reported Wendy and Peyton Ralston missing on the same day. Tallmadge police went to their Stonecreek Drive home and interviewed Tighe. He told police Wendy Ralston told him she was leaving for vacation with her son. She was supposed to be gone for two weeks, he said, and he contacted police after she didn't return home. Police noted the mother and son hadn't taken any clothes with them on vacation and noted Wendy Ralston's keys and car were still at the home. Tighe told police she left her Jeep at home because her license was suspended, court records say. He also told police she left her credit card and food stamp card for him to use while she was gone. Neighbors told police it was odd for Wendy Ralston to be gone for more than a day and that it was odd Peyton Ralston hadn't been seen playing with other kids in the neighborhood, which he did regularly. 3 days after reporting her daughter missing, Marie Ralston walked in the woods behind her daughter's home. She called police when she found a blue duffel bag covered in bugs, according to court records. Police arrived and found human remains wrapped in bedding inside the bag. They found more human remains wrapped in towels nearby. The remains were later identified as that of 31-year-old Wendy and her 5-year-old son. Investigators from the Tallmadge police and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation searched the couple's home and found several cellphones, a shovel with hair on it and letters between Wendy Ralston and Tighe, among other items. They also searched a Jeep at the home and obtained Facebook records for Wendy Ralston, according to court records. Investigators found 13 videos Wendy Ralston took of fights she had with Tighe in the 2 weeks leading up to her disappearance. Prosecutors said in court filings they believe the videos show their "strained and tumultuous relationship." The 2 had several domestic incidents where police were called and Wendy Ralston once filed for a temporary protection order against Tighe in 2011. (source: Cleveland.com) KANSAS: Cheatham seeking postponement in retrial in death penalty case----Postponement sought due to pending motion in Kansas Supreme Court With less than 2 weeks before his capital murder retrial is to start, Phillip Delbert Cheatham Jr. is seeking postponement of his trial. Starting Feb. 17, Cheatham, 42, is to be retried in the shooting deaths of Annette Roberson, 38, and Gloria A. Jones, 42, in 2003. The retrial is expected to last 6 weeks. If convicted of capital murder, Cheatham could be sentenced to death. The motion to postpone the trial was filed on Jan. 20. On Jan. 23, Cheatham's name was officially changed in Shawnee County District Court to King Phillip Amman Reu-El. His 1st name is "King Phillip," and his last name is "Amman Reu-El." So far, that name hasn't surfaced in the criminal trial records, including documents filed by his attorneys. During the name-change case, Cheatham told the judge his last name should reflect his origin and not a European name, referring to Cheatham. In the motion seeking a delay in the start of of the retrial, defense attorneys John Val Wachtel and Paul Oller said Cheatham had filed a pro se petition for a writ of habeas corpus before the Kansas Supreme Court. In the petition written by Cheatham, he is seeking dismissal of the murder case and his release from custody. On Wednesday, it was unknown when that filing is to be heard by the Supreme Court. With the filing before the Supreme Court, postponing the retrial would be in the "interest of justice, due process of law and judicial economy," the Cheatham lawyers wrote. Cheatham attorneys will attend the Supreme Court proceedings as the Cheatham habeas corpus filing goes through that court, the filing said. "It is not in the best interests of both the state and Mr. Cheatham to have 2 such important matters as these proceeding at the same time," the attorneys said. Cheatham next will be in district court on Friday during a hearing to handle motions. The district attorney's office will oppose postponement of the trial. Unresolved defense motions that might be heard on Friday include: -- A court order blocking prosecutors from using Cheatham's testimony during the penalty phase of his first trial. In capital cases, a jury hears the guilt phase in which jurors decide whether a defendant is guilty of capital murder. If he is convicted, the jury decides during the penalty phase whether to impose the death penalty. -- A court order to prohibit prosecutors from using transcripts of testimony from the preliminary hearing and the 1st trial. Cheatham is charged with capital murder in the Dec. 13, 2003, shooting deaths of Roberson and Jones; 2 alternative counts of premeditated 1st-degree murder of Roberson and Jones; attempted 1st-degree murder of Annetta D. Thomas; aggravated battery of Thomas; and criminal possession of a firearm. A new trial was ordered for Cheatham in 2013 after the Supreme Court overturned his capital murder conviction and death penalty sentence for the killings of the 2 women in a home at 2718 S.E. Colorado. On Nov. 14, the Supreme Court disbarred Dennis Hawver, of Ozawkie, the 1st attorney who represented Cheatham. The Supreme Court said Hawver violated Kansas rules of professional conduct while defending Cheatham during his 2005 trial. The Supreme Court said Hawver engaged in "inexplicable incompetence" when defending Cheatham. The Supreme Court earlier reversed Cheatham's murder convictions and ordered a new trial due to ineffective counsel by Hawver. The Supreme Court ruled Hawver violated rules tied to conflict of interest, fee arrangements, competence, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and conduct adversely reflecting on a lawyer's fitness to practice law. (source: Capital Journal) UTAH: Bill to revive firing squad narrowly passes House committee----Bullets may replace needles in Utah death row executions now that a House committee closely passed a controversial bill Wednesday that would reinstate the firing squad. Bullets may replace needles in Utah death row executions now that a House committee closely passed a controversial bill Wednesday that would reinstate the firing squad. The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee voted 5-4 in favor of HB11, which would legalize firing squad executions in Utah if drugs needed for lethal injections aren???t available 30 days more before the date of the death warrant. Now the bill will go to the House floor for additional debate. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, is sponsoring the bill in wake of recent botched executions. He said prisons may need a "backup" method to lethal injections. "This is just kind of a worse-case scenario," Ray said. "If we don't figure something out, this is what we can revert back to. ... The fact is we have (the death penalty) on the books; we're responsible to carry that out, so we have to have the ability to do that." Ray said because the European pharmaceutical companies that sell lethal injection drugs oppose the death penalty and refuse to sell to U.S. prisons, the drugs have become difficult to obtain, and several states including Oklahoma have attempted to find new sources of execution drugs. Ray said incidents of erred executions carried out by those new state drugs have flared debate about whether states have the ability to administer lethal injections while still meeting the U.S. Constitution's requirement that punishment may be neither cruel or unusual. That's why Ray said he is pushing HB11 - to ensure Utah's ability to carry out the death penalty while avoiding what could be "a very costly legal battle," similar to the case Oklahoma currently faces with the U.S. Supreme Court, he said. Acknowledging representatives of groups who oppose his bill because of their general opposition to the death penalty, Ray said HB11 "isn't really as big as it's being played up to be," because it would reinstate the firing squad as a secondary execution method, leaving lethal injection as the primary method. "We would say it is in fact a big deal," said Anna Brower, public policy advocate with American Civil Liberties Union of Utah. "It's a big missed opportunity to do something better than to just keep finding different ways for the government to kill people." Brower and other anti-death penalty group representatives urged the committee to consider using legislative time to dismantle the Utah death penalty altogether rather than "engaging in an ultimately doomed effort to decide on a decent way" to carry out the death penalty. "If we can no longer kill people with lethal injection, which has become over time the least horrible way for the government to kill people, perhaps it's time that we simply acknowledge that there is no right way to execute people and give up on this failed experiment," Brower said. "I think that's a legitimate discussion to have at some point as to whether or not to keep the death penalty," Ray said, adding that HB11, however, would give the state "breathing room" depending on the availability of lethal injection drugs or the court costs that may result in a continued pursuit of using the drugs. "It's a tough situation," Ray said. "There's no humane way to take a life, but given what's on the table as far as our options, I think this is a good option to have as a backup." (source: Deseret News) MONTANA: Could help Ronald Smith: Montana politician wants death penalty gone Montana politicians will try once again to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty - something that would have a direct impact on death-row Canadian Ronald Smith. Republican representative David Moore is proposing a bill which would abolish executions and replace them with life imprisonment with no chance of parole. Moore says having Smith and another inmate on death row is expensive because of all the legal wrangling in the cases. A lawyer for Smith says he isn't particularly optimistic the bill will pass since several other attempts have failed. Smith, originally from Red Deer, Alta. has been on death row since 1983 for kidnapping and killing 2 men. His request for clemency is still in the hands of Montana's governor. (source: Times Colonist) USA: September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui says Saudi royals supported al Qaeda A former al Qaeda operative imprisoned for life for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has told lawyers for victims of the attacks that members of the Saudi royal family supported the Islamic militant group. Zacarias Moussaoui made the statements in testimony filed in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday by lawyers for attack victims who accuse Saudi Arabia in a suit of providing material support to al Qaeda. He said a list of donors from the late 1990s that he drafted during al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's tenure included some "extremely famous" Saudi officials, including Prince Turki al-Faisal Al Saud, a former Saudi intelligence chief. "Shaykh Osama wanted to keep a record who give money because ... who is to be listened to or who contribute to - to the jihad," said Moussaoui, a 46-year-old French native who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in 2005. Moussaoui said he met in Kandahar with an official from Saudi Arabia's Washington embassy. Moussaoui said they were supposed to go to Washington together to find a location "suitable to launch a stinger attack" on the U.S. presidential plane, Air Force One. In Washington, the Saudi embassy said on Wednesday that Moussaoui's claims appeared aimed at undermining Saudi-U.S. relations and contradicted findings of the 9/11 Commission in 2004 that there was no evidence of Saudi funding of al Qaeda. "Moussaoui is a deranged criminal whose own lawyers presented evidence that he was mentally incompetent," the Saudi embassy said. "His words have no credibility." The testimony was filed in opposition to Saudi Arabia's latest bid to dismiss lawsuits that began more than a decade ago. Moussaoui made his statements in October at the super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, where Moussaoui has been held since being sentenced to life in 2006. He wrote a letter offering to testify. Families of Sept. 11 victims allege that Saudi Arabia and a government-affiliated charity knowingly provided funding and other material support to al Qaeda that helped it carry out the attacks. Plaintiffs include families of the nearly 3,000 people killed, as well as insurers that covered losses suffered by building owners and businesses. Most of the 19 attackers were Saudi nationals who hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., and into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers revolted. The case is In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 03-md-01570. (source: rawstory.com) **************************** Executions are down and abolition may not be far behind It looks like the death penalty may be on life support. January was set to be the deadliest month for U.S. executions in 2015, but 0 of the 15 executions were stopped. In an unprecedented wave, 3 of the deadliest states stopped executions planned for last month - Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. February has just begun, but nine of its 12 scheduled executions have been halted. Last year was not a good year for the death penalty, either, as death sentences hit a 40-year low and executions were at a 20-year low. There were botched executions such as that of Clayton Lockett, who writhed in pain for 43 minutes before dying of a heart attack, with the Oklahoma prison warden calling it "a bloody mess." Then there were the exonerations, such as that of Ricky Jackson in Ohio, who spent 39 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, convicted solely on the testimony of a 12-year-old boy who recanted. Jackson was not alone - several others exonerated in 2014 spent over three decades behind bars. In December, we saw the 150th exoneration (since 1976). That means for every 9 executions, 1 person was found innocent. What if the Postal Service lost 1 letter for every 9 it delivered? What if an airline crashed 1 of every 10 flights? Innocence has raised questions for many of us. Richard Glossip was one of those whose Oklahoma execution was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court last month. Glossip has maintained his innocence in the murder-for-hire of his boss. In fact, it is clear that if he had lied - and pleaded guilty to a lesser crime that he did not commit - he would not face execution for the greater crime, which he also did not commit. It might be that folks are getting tired of the massive resources spent on death penalty cases. It is now a well-established fact that it costs more to kill someone than to keep them in prison for life. Political conservatives are now blasting the money wasted on the death penalty - money that could be used to support victims, prevent crime and repair broken schools and families. In some states, such as Nebraska, it is likely that Republicans will lead the way to abolition. Groups such as Journey of Hope, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation, the Forgiveness Project and Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights are gaining more and more traction as they insist that capital punishment creates a new set of victims and perpetuates violence instead of healing. As you listen to them, you can't help but wonder if we can do better than killing to show that killing is wrong. So the death penalty is in critical condition. But it is not dead - not yet, anyway. With recent polls showing that more than 1/2 of Americans are opposed to the death penalty when given other alternatives, advocates are turning up the volume. In 2014, Tennessee reinstated the electric chair, and Wyoming tried to bring back the firing squad, though neither state had an execution in 2014. Despite a loud minority, most of the U.S. has moved on. Last year, 7 states accounted for 80 % of all executions. And it is even more evident when you look at counties. More than 1/2 of death penalty convictions originate in 2 % of the counties in the U.S. More Christians are troubled that 85 % of executions take place in the Bible Belt. A 2014 poll showed that millennial Christians are overwhelmingly against the death penalty, and only 5 % of Americans think Jesus would favor it. Echoing the pleas of his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II, Pope Francis called for a renewed commitment from Christians to abolish the death penalty - "whether legal or illegal, and in all its forms." Word on the street is that the National Association of Evangelicals, representing nearly 50,000 congregations, may soon weigh in on the issue. So I am hopeful that 2015 might be a year of abolition. The 6 executions that have gone forward this year reveal how broken the system is. 2 of those executions involved a lethal injection protocol that is now under review by the Supreme Court. Georgia executed a decorated war veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Another man was found intellectually disabled by 7 doctors. Texas executed a man with an IQ of 67 who was diagnosed as mentally retarded at the age of 13. And then there was Arnold Prieto, the 41-year-old Texas inmate whose life would likely have been spared had he accepted a plea bargain (his co-defendants did not face execution, though accused of the same crimes). Might it be that there is a new pro-life movement in America? This is not just about being anti-abortion but standing against death in all its ugly forms. Perhaps it is no surprise that alongside constant stories of death from Paris to Ferguson, there is a surge of opposition to the death penalty in the U.S. It just feels strange to protest another ISIS beheading and then watch another botched execution in the U.S. Revolution is in the air - and the revolution is about how life matters. Let's say no to death - from ISIS to Texas. (source: Commentary, Shane Claiborne; Washington Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 4 22:20:20 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2015 22:20:20 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 4 JAPAN: Supreme Court nullifies 2 death sentences handed down in lay judge trials The Supreme Court has upheld two separate high court rulings that overturned death sentences handed down in lay judge trials to 2 men facing robbery-murder charges, sources said Wednesday. The high courts commuted the sentences of the 2 men to life in prison as they thought capital punishment was too heavy. It is the 1st time a death penalty issued by a panel involving citizen judges has been nullified by the Supreme Court since the lay judge system was introduced in Japan in May 2009 to reflect "common sense" in criminal trials, which have often been criticized for being difficult to comprehend and out of touch with popular sentiment. On the latest decision reached Tuesday, the top court said a death sentence is "an ultimate punishment that takes the defendant's life" and judges "need to carefully consider it and show concrete evidence" that the punishment cannot be helped. "It has no meaning to compare in detail (the cases) with legal precedent in the past, but we have to give sufficient consideration so that they will not be treated unfairly,??? the top court said, adding that there is a need to balance judgments between professional judges and ordinary citizens. All 3 judges of the No. 2 petty bench of the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, the sources said. The 2 cases involved the murder of a 74-year-old man in an apartment in Tokyo's Minamiaoyama district in November 2009, and the murder of a 21-year-old university student at her home in Chiba Prefecture in October 2009. The Tokyo and Chiba district courts sentenced the two men to death in 2011, in separate lay judge trials. But the rulings were overturned in 2013 by the Tokyo High Court, where the cases were examined only by professional judges. As for the murder case in Tokyo, the Supreme Court took note that the district court attached weight to the defendant's previous criminal record, in which he killed his wife and child following a quarrel, but said it "did not have much to do" with the 2009 murder. It also said it cannot agree to render a death sentence on the defendant charged with the murder in Chiba even though he had a criminal record of robbery in the past and repeated similar crimes immediately after he served his term. "It was only 1 person who was killed and the murder seemed not premeditated. It is difficult to cite (his behavior) as the reason to choose the death penalty," the top court said in remarks that are in line with conventional judgment standards. A total of 22 death sentences have so far been handed down in lay judge trials, which is overseen by a panel of 3 professional judges and 6 ordinary citizens. (source: Japan Times) CARIBBEAN: CCJ president says the court is not a hanging court President of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Sir Dennis Byron says the CCJ should not be viewed as an institution that will allow for the execution of the death penalty. "We are a court of justice and we will be dealing with the law as it exists and the constitutional rights of our citizens as set out in our respective constitutions," Sir Dennis told the Antigua Observer newspaper. The CCJ, established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region's final court, also acts as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the 15-member regional integration movement. The CCJ has both an Original and Appellate jurisdiction with only Barbados, Guyana and Belize being the signatories to the latter. Dominica has said it will join the court later this month. The newspaper noted that with crime spiraling out of control in some Caribbean countries, some governments desperate for a solution are debating the imposition of the death penalty. But Sir Dennis told the Observer newspaper that it is the law, and not politicians, that will determine the use of the death penalty by the CCJ. The last execution in the Caribbean took place in St Kitts-Nevis in 2008. (source: Kamaica Observer) PAKISTAN: LHC upholds sentence of 2 convicts in murder of 7 persons A Lahore High Court division bench on Wednesday upheld death penalty of 2 convicts involved in killing of 7 persons. The division bench dismissed appeals of convicts, Zulifqar and Fida while upholding their sentence. During the hearing, the petitioners' counsel arguing before the court submitted the trial court awarded the sentence to the accused despite lack of evidence. He pleaded the court to set aside their sentence. However, the prosecution opposed the request submitting that the accused killed 7 persons and solid evidence was available against them. The bench after hearing arguments of both the parties dismissed the appeals. Zulifqar, Fida and Abad killed 7 persons including Yaqoob, Asghar, Muhammad Rafi and Amjad who were carrying jewellery items from Sheikhupura to Gujranawala in 2009. Anti-Terrorism Court awarded death penalty on 7 counts to the accused in 2010. It is pertinent to mention that the accused Abad had already died in jail. (source: Daily Times) GERMANY/EGYPT: German Government concerned about death sentences against 183 defendants in Egypt A Federal Foreign Office spokesperson issued the following statement in Berlin today on the confirmation of the death sentences against 183 defendants in Egypt: The German Government is deeply concerned about the verdict by an Egyptian court of first instance that sentenced 183 people to death following a mass trial. It is our clear expectation that the sentences will not be carried out. Each and every defendant must be given a fair trial in accordance with internationally recognised standards. Germany is opposed to the death penalty as an inhumane form of punishment. Background information: On 2 December 2014, the court in Giza issued a preliminary verdict, sentencing 188 people accused of terrorism, murder and possession of arms to death. They are accused of involvement in an attack on a police station in August 2013 that killed 11 police officers and 2 civilians. In cases of death sentences, a recommendation by the Grand Mufti is required before the court's verdict becomes legally binding. The court has now confirmed 183 of the original 188 death sentences. The verdict can be appealed. The defendants originally included 2 deceased persons and one minor. At least 43 of the defendants were tried in absentia. The minor defendant was sentenced to ten years in prison.confirmed contributions to continue its assistance. (source: Federal Foreign Office, Federal Republic of Germany; starafrica.com) IRAN: Iran calls for execution of opponents at home and abroad Iran regime has called for the execution of anyone at home and abroad who opposes the clerical regime. Iranian daily paper Kayhan - the mouthpiece of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei - said those deemed 'corrupt on earth' should be 'harshly, severely and humiliatingly punished and killed'. Openly calling for terrorism abroad, Kayhan wrote: "Carrying out the sentence of God against them is not restricted to any time or place and should be carried out even if they have escaped the country. "Those who fabricate news and spread rumors threaten society and the Islamic system with psychological warfare, and much like the Monafeqin (Regime's derogatory name for its main opposition, the PMOI), they damage Islamic society from within. "Those political currents and media that disseminate rumors should be suppressed and annihilated. They are corrupters of the earth and spilling their blood is permitted. They may no longer be safe in their lives and the people must banish them and not allow them to have any links with Islamic society. They should be harshly, severely and humiliatingly punished and killed." The paper continued: "Carrying out the sentence of God on the seditionists who fight the truth is not restricted to any time, place or border and the passage of time does not affect it. They should have no safe haven. Thus, seditionists who escape outside the country should not be spared. Moreover, all people should join in to arrest them." But Kayhan also acknowledged the 'feeble and unstable state' of the mullahs' regime and admitted to its fear of any kind of freedom of expression and the 'role of the media in creating instability'. It added: "Those who disseminate rumors cause fear and anxiety in society and through their fabrications create instability." The Mullahs' Caliphate in Iran as the godfather of ISIS and terrorism under the veneer of Islam distort the Koran's verses to create terror and fear amongst dissidents inside and outside the country without recognizing any borders. The Iranian Resistance draws the attention of the international community and all international bodies in defense of human rights and those countering terrorism to confront the Iranian regime???s new wave of suppressive measures and its calls for terrorism inside the country and abroad. (source: NCR-Iran) JORDAN: Dispatches: Jordan's Executions Are Not the Answer to ISIS Brutality The brutal murder of Jordanian pilot First Lt. Muath al-Kasasbeh by the extremist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS) set off a wave of outrage and sadness across Jordan, sparking calls in the streets and media for revenge. Jordanian authorities responded quickly. The army vowed that al-Kasabeh's "spilled blood will be avenged and the punishment that will be inflicted ... will be proportionate to the magnitude of the tragedy." Jordan's government spokesman promised the response would be "swift" and "devastate [ISIS's] ranks." At about 5:00 a.m. on February 4, only hours after the release of the ISIS video showing al-Kasasbeh's killing, Jordan executed two Iraqis, both long-term death row inmates affiliated with Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the precursor group to ISIS. Sajida al-Rishawi had been sentenced to death for her role in the 2005 Amman hotel bombings that killed 60 people. Ziad al-Karbouli had been sentenced to death for killing a Jordanian truck driver in Iraq in 2007, and was allegedly a top aide to the late AQI leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. While the government's desire to address public outrage is as understandable as the outrage itself, executing death row prisoners does not weaken ISIS. This round of executions, the 2nd in 2 months, is a further regression by a country that was until recently a regional leader in resisting use of the death penalty. On December 21, Jordan ended an 8-year de facto moratorium on executions by hanging 11 men convicted of murder. In that case as well, authorities cited public sentiment as the reason behind the executions. The executions of al-Karbouli and al-Rishawi were carried out following trials that included an appeals process. But to dispatch them from death row to the gallows immediately following news of al-Kasasbeh's murder, to which they had no connection, amidst official vows to avenge his death, shows that revenge was a motive in ending their lives. Human Rights Watch opposes capital punishment under all circumstances, as a practice unique in its cruelty and finality. But to execute death row inmates in response to external events alarmingly suggests that retaliation against third parties is driving policy, rather than justice based solely on fairness and individualized guilt. (source: Human Rights Watch) *********************** EU chides Jordan for hangings after pilot killed The European Union combined a statement of solidarity with Jordan over the killing of one of its military pilots by Islamist fighters with criticism of its immediate execution of 2 Iraqi jihadists. "While all efforts must be made to counter terrorism and hold the perpetrators accountable, our reaction to the threat posed by (Islamic State) needs to be consistent with our common values on justice and the rights of prisoners," foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Wednesday. "Our action has to be guided by the respect of international human rights law and humanitarian law. The European position against death penalty remains unchanged and we believe capital punishment does not serve any deterrent purpose." Condemning the killing of captured F-16 pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh, she praised Jordan's role in the "front line in the battle" against Islamic State and taking in refugees from Syria and Iraq. On Wednesday, Jordan hanged Sajida al-Rishawi, an Iraqi woman who took part in suicide bomb attacks 10 years ago, and a senior al Qaeda prisoner, Ziyad Karboli, also an Iraqi. (source: Al Arabiya) INDONESIA: Indonesian courts reject Bali 9 judicial review --- Courts turn down application for review into cases of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who face execution 2 Australians convicted of drug trafficking in Indonesia have lost their final chance to appeal against their death sentences after an Indonesian district court rejected an application for their cases to be reviewed. Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran applied on Friday for a 2nd judicial review of their case, examining past errors of the law and their transformation after more than a decade in jail. Hasoloan Sianturi, the Denpasar district court spokesman, told reporters the application had been rejected. The spokesman said after considering the documents put forward for a judicial review, known as a PK, neither man's application could be accepted. "The documents of that PK will not be sent to the supreme court," he told reporters in Bali. Chan and Sukumaran were 2 of 9 Australians - known as the Bali 9 - convicted in 2005 in Indonesia of heroin trafficking. Indonesia's minister of law and human rights said a new regulation to be issued in a few months would allow multiple judicial reviews but until then only 1 was permitted, Fairfax reported. Sukumaran and Chan now face execution by firing squad with as little as 72 hours' notice. Last week, the attorney general, HM Prasetyo, said the 2 Australians would be among the next group to be executed. Planning for the executions did not pause while the PK was being considered but by late Tuesday no date had been set, a spokesman told Guardian Australia. The preferred location remains the island of Nusakambangan, off the coast of central Java, where 6 executions were carried out in January. Prasetyo told media in Jakarta some embassies had been notified that their citizens faced imminent execution but would not say which. The Australian embassy in Jakarta said it would not be commenting on the matter. The office of the prime minister, Tony Abbott, has been contacted for comment. Sukumaran and Chan have had multiple visitors at Kerobokan prison over recent days, including family, friends and supporters. Their legal team and campaigners have focused on the lengths to which the 2 men have been rehabilitated, among other legal arguments. Sukumaran runs an art studio and classes for past and present inmates inside the prison. "The authorities in the jail have had such success in rehabilitating its prisoners, now it would be real shame to end that rather than celebrate that," said Australian artist Matt Sleeth outside the prison on Tuesday. A variety of groups and people have come out in support to plead for mercy for the 2 men, including current and former Indonesian judges who have expressed their doubts over the death penalty as a deterrent. Maruarar Siahaan, who sat on the 2007 constitutional court panel to hear the Australians' appeal, blamed poor enforcement for continuing drug crime. "When the opportunity to escape detection is high, the threat of the death penalty won't scare those who are in business of drugs," he told AAP. President Joko Widodo, who rejected both clemency appeals, has vowed to take a hard line against drugs smugglers in Indonesia. Puri Kencana Putri, head of research at Indonesian human rights group KontraS, criticised the decision. "Both Andrew and Myuran have a right to get proper access to justice, after more than a decade behind bars and the willingness to rectify their wrongdoing in the past," she told Guardian Australia. "By executing them in the near future, I'm sure the government will never reduce the rate of drug-related offences in Indonesia." The widespread idea of the death penalty "demonstrated a profound signal that the Indonesian government doesn't have any roadmap enough to resolve the root cause of ?the illicit drug trade in Indonesia", the statement continued. She said there was no transparency or evaluation of the Indonesian narcotics agency (BNN), which was established in 2002. (source: The Guardian) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 5 11:27:37 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 11:27:37 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., DEl. VA., ALA., OHIO, MICH., WASH., USA Message-ID: Feb. 5 PENNSYLVANIA: DA proposes changes in sentencing; Prison and bail reform, overhaul in sentencing laws coming to Pa.? Offenders who repeat the same crimes should serve more time, according to Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman. On the other hand, offenders who behave for decades before re-offending should get breaks. Owning up to your crime right away? Well, that should count for something, too. Those potential changes are being considered by a statewide panel, which includes Stedman, working to rewrite Pennsylvania's sentencing laws. The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing - a panel of court officials and professors convened last summer - will make recommendations to the legislature in about a year. Many of the commission's past recommendations became law. Stedman was invited to this workshop to provide expertise on current, outdated sentencing guidelines, said Mark Bergstrom, the panel's executive director. The last rewrite was in 1984. Stedman is pushing for more precision in guidelines, which judges use in ordering sentences. He's also involved in other discussions regarding an overhaul in the state's criminal justice system. Here's a glimpse at 5 major topics: Tailor-made sentences Stedman's pet project would include more specific sentence guidelines for more types of crimes. A defendant's level of involvement, acceptance of responsibility, and criminal past would weigh more in the envisioned system. "The guy who takes responsibility right away," Stedman said, "should get less time than someone who doesn't." Under Stedman's suggested guidelines, repeat behavior would be punished more harshly. On the flip side, a person who goes years, or decades, without a new offense would have a lesser guideline sentence. Currently, a crime committed 20 years after a 1st offense is treated the same as crimes committed days apart. More definitive guidelines should ultimately lead to more guilty pleas - in turn, fewer trials. Defense attorneys could give clients thinking of pleading guilty a more accurate prediction of their potential sentence. Setting bail A wide disparity exists from judge to judge in setting bail amounts. There are 19 district judges in Lancaster County alone. All set bail at their own discretion, based on a defendant's charges, criminal past, family situation and mental-health status. It adds up to quite a variance in bail amounts, Stedman said. A crime-specific, statewide bail system is being discussed by the panel. County vs. state Defendants sentenced in Lancaster County to more than a minimum 1-year prison term go to state prison, with very few exceptions. Bergstrom said that might not be best for all defendants. Authority over parole also is being discussed. Currently, the prison parole board has power over inmates' release dates. Federally, that power is with the judges. The commission is discussing a collaboration of both systems. Flat sentences The long-running discussion continues over a possible switch to the federal sentencing model in which defendants get a numbered sentence such as 40 months rather than a range of 10 to 20 years. Not happening here, Stedman said. Flat sentences, he said, provide little incentive for prisoners to behave. In the range system, the parole board decides when an inmate is released, with behavior being the main consideration. Bergstrom said the existing range system could be tweaked, though. As is, the maximum sentence must be at least twice the minimum term. As being discussed, the minimum term could be more than 1/2 the maximum. Death penalty? A long-debated facet of the state's criminal justice system: capital punishment. Today, Pennsylvania has nearly 200 prisoners on death row. Yet, there hasn't been an execution here in more than 15 years. It's prompted a constant criticism: Why have the death penalty when no one is executed? The debate, it appears, will continue for the time being. Stedman said there are no plans for recommendations on the death penalty. (source: lancasteronline.com) ************************* Death-penalty system broken While most conjure up images of the Deep South when they think of the death penalty, our reliably blue, Northern state of Pennsylvania has the 5th-largest number of inmates on death row in the country. The headlines we see may include "Georgia frees innocent men after decades on death row," "Gutter politics infect Texas pardon process," and "Alabama inmate abandoned by lawyer," but Pennsylvania has some whopping dirty secrets of its own. The blind eye the state Supreme Court turns toward these issues suggests it thinks the commonwealth is immune to the problems that plague other states. In fact, there is reason to think we do it worse. Pennsylvania adopted its modern death penalty scheme in 1978. Since then, only three condemned inmates have been executed, and all 3 volunteered to be put to death by waiving their appeals. Over that 35-year period, more than 100 death-sentenced inmates who exhausted the appeals the law affords have seen their cases overturned. Only 3 lost their appeals and are awaiting execution, while 1 died and 1 was declared incompetent before his execution could take place. After a jury had convicted these defendants and sentenced them to death, apparently in accordance with the law, another court in the appellate ladder reversed their convictions or sentences because a grave legal error had occurred. While the national reversal rate for these cases hovers around an already shameful 67 %, in Pennsylvania it is closer to 96 % - the highest in the nation. Pennsylvania is 1 of only 2 states (Utah is the other) that refuses to pay for the defense of the indigent accused, forcing financially pressed local county courts to shoulder this cost. Naturally, counties look to cut expenses at every turn. The easiest but most damaging way to cut is to severely limit defendant access to the quality defense the law has required since the 1963 Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. Until recently, Philadelphia's compensation for court-appointed trial lawyers was the lowest of any major metropolitan area in the country, and it still is for those few willing to handle postconviction appeals in the state courts. The number-1 reason for the almost unanimous reversal rate is that the defendants had been denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial, in violation of the Sixth Amendment. And since Philadelphia sends the lion's share of defendants to Pennsylvania's death row, it's worth investigating whether the city's system of compensating counsel is broken. The state Supreme Court has had multiple opportunities to address this national embarrassment and, regrettably, has decided to let it fester. Perhaps now that three justices have vacated their seats, the new court will do something about Philadelphia's woefully inadequate method of paying counsel. The city currently pays these lawyers a flat fee of $10,000 to handle all aspects of the litigation, from arrest through trial. The lawyers are paid whether they do a good job or a bad one, whether they investigate the case thoroughly or wait until the eve of trial to locate witnesses, whether they are zealous defense advocates or patsies for the prosecution. That may sound like decent money, but a capital case can take hundreds of hours over many months or years. The more work you do, the less per hour you make. Flat fees in these complex cases have been roundly condemned because they clearly serve as a disincentive for good legal work. A lawyer who will be paid the same whether he puts in the hundreds of hours the American Bar Association estimates are needed to properly handle a capital case or does next to nothing encourages the worst kind of corner-cutting. And we've gotten what we've paid for - an epidemic of bad lawyering. Much to the dismay of almost all stakeholders in the criminal justice system, including police, the courts, and surviving members of the victim's family, these inevitable reversals in capital cases come years, often decades, after trial. Some would address these delays by restricting the number of appeals so executions could be carried out more swiftly. But appellate reversals are obviously necessary if so many legal errors, usually by defense counsel, are taking place. The overwhelming majority of the Pennsylvania cases that are reversed eventually end up with sentences that are negotiated by the prosecutor for something less than death. A system that banned the death penalty but allowed for a life sentence to be meted out in the beginning of a case would save us all the aggravation, heartache, and exorbitant expense of litigating these cases for decades. I have no philosophical quarrel with those of good conscience who justify the death penalty on the ground that society has a legitimate interest in expressing its collective moral outrage at those who would commit unspeakable acts of brutal murder. I condemn capital punishment simply on practical grounds: We have all the evidence we'll ever need to conclude that it is an incredibly wasteful exercise in futility. Continuing to pursue death sentences without allowing the accused to defend themselves properly is simply immoral. If we don't have the resources required to provide an adequate defense, or we're just unwilling to make them available, then we should not have the death penalty. (source: philly.com) DELAWARE: Widener law professor says Wright case should make us think about death penalty A Widener law professor weighed in on the case of a Delaware death row inmate who was recently set free after 24 years behind bars. A judge threw out the sentence against Jermaine Wright saying he was high on heroin during a video-taped confession, where he admitted to the 1991 murder of an Edgemoor liquor store clerk Philip Seifert. Ritter said the law requires that a confession be given voluntarily or it's not admissible in court. She said with an involuntary confession, you can't rule out the possibility that the person is innocent. "It's not really just a technicality about Miranda rights and whether they were properly given, because I know there was a finding that they were not, but if it's coerced, if the person is really impaired in some way, there's always a good chance that the confession isn't even reliable and it's not true or real," she said. Ritter said this is a case that should make us think a lot about the death penalty. "It's certainly conceivable that after all these years he might've already been executed and this stuff might have not actually come to light," she said. (source: WDEL news) VIRGINIA: Panel won't restrict death penalty To the dismay of Catholic advocacy groups, a Senate committee has killed a bill to restrict capital punishment in Virginia. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 10-3 last Wednesday to "pass by indefinitely" Senate Bill 1296, sponsored by Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond. The bill would have allowed the death sentence only when the conviction was supported by DNA or other biological evidence or when a video "conclusively connects the defendant to the offense" - for example, with a "voluntary interrogation and confession." The next day, members of the Virginia Catholic Charter, representing church members from throughout the state, gathered in Richmond for Catholic Advocacy Day, an annual summit addressing key issues before the General Assembly. Measures to reform Virginia's death penalty have come before the assembly over the past several years, but none have made it out of committee. SB 1296 was aimed at reducing the risk of executing innocent people. Since 1973, 150 people have been exonerated from death row nationwide, sometimes because crucial evidence had been withheld. Virginia has exonerated one in that time and approved clemency for another 8 inmates. The state's procedure for issuing a death sentence has come under scrutiny from advocacy groups such as Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. The organization says capital punishment is unfair because of racial bias, problems with evidence and other issues. Michael Stone, executive director of the group, saw McEachin's bill "as a symbolic measure that we hope will open up a dialog among legislators." "There was no real hope of getting the bill through this session because of the political makeup of the assembly, but the fact that it was introduced to the committee by McEachin is still a good sign for us," Stone said. "SB 1296 was an attempt to move Virginia to where Maryland was before it abolished the death penalty." Virginia was the 1st state in America to execute an offender. Capt. George Kendall was put to death in the Jamestown colony in 1608 after being found guilty of spying for Spain. Since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty, Virginia has carried out 110 executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The state has not executed anyone since 2013. With a firmly pro-life stance, the Catholic church of Virginia is morally opposed to the death penalty and advocates for alternative measures, such as life in prison without the possibility of parole for those found guilty of heinous crimes. The Virginia Catholic Conference, the public policy group that organizes Catholic Advocacy Day every year at the capital, shares views on social justice that resonate with many concerned citizens outside the realm of religion. The conference's priorities include preventing wrongful convictions, restoring voting rights to non-violent felons, expanding Medicaid (the health insurance program for low-income families), passing the Virginia DREAM act (which would allow certain illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition to attend college in Virginia) and closing the "gun-show loophole," which exempts private firearms sales from criminal background checks. (source: Henrico Citizen) ALABAMA: Alabama Senator wants to revisit electric chair "Get big yellow mamma back. Get them back in the electric chair and electrocute them," said District Attorney Doug Valeska. 1 Alabama lawmaker, Cam Ward, is proposing a new bill to bring back the electric chair for those on death row. "An inmate can chose between lethal injection or the electric chair. However if the drugs are not available then the fall back provision would be the electric chair," said Ward on the proposed bill. Last year executions were put on hold in Alabama, about a dozen to be exact, because the medical cocktail was not available. "One big issue has been the European countries that often produce the drug have withheld sending them to the united states because they are anti death penalty countries they will not sell drugs to countries that enact the death penalty," said Ward. Doug Valeska, District Attorney for Henry and Houston County, is a man who believes in the death penalty and thinks it's time to bring the chair back. "I'm calling for justice. Once again these cases have been affirmed and they're set before the Supreme Court of Alabama. It's time to get on with justice for these families. I think it's a great idea." Some call the method cruel and unusual punishment, but Doug Valeska asks: what about the victims? "Sure, it's not nice when you're electrocuted, but we forget the suffering and torture and how horrible it was for the victim's in the cases." There are currently 194 inmates on death row in Alabama, according to the Department of Corrections. Of those inmates 15 are from Houston and Henry County. Legislation begins in march, so we could know as early as mid-summer if the bill passes. (source: dothanfirst.com) OHIO: Spencerville man enters insanity plea in toddler's death A 20-year-old man facing the death penalty accused of killing a 17-month-old boy pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday. Christopher Clayton entered that plea to preserve his right to use an insanity defense, if needed, while also entering a plea of not guilty to the aggravated murder charge against him. Clayton politely answered questions asked by Judge David Cheney of Allen Countyu Common Pleas Court. He told the judge he could not afford to hire an attorney. The judge appointed Bill Kluge and Bob Grzybowski to represent Clayton. Clayton showed no emotion during the hearing but his voice cracked slightly when Cheney explained the penalties and asked Clayton if he understood he could be sentenced to death, which Clayton said, "Yes sir." The judge explained that he is charged in the Jan. 15 slaying of Xavier Wurth. The judge explained the charges that said Clayton purposely killed a child under the age of 13 and was the principal offender or was the principal offender who acted with prior calculation and design. Both are legal elements necessary to seek the death penalty. Cheney scheduled a Feb. 25 pretrial. The child suffered blunt-force trauma to the back of his head, a forensic pathologist ruled. Clayton told a 911 operator the child choked on his own vomit and he believed the child suffocated, which did not match the autopsy findings. The incident happened inside a house at 229 Wurster St. in Spencerville, where Clayton lived with the child's mother, Alexis Long. One of Clayton's attorneys hinted the trial may not take place for a year. Attorney Bill Kluge said Clayton would waive his right to a speedy trial through March 2016. Kluge said there likely will be more than 100 motions filed. "He has agreed and understands the necessity for that much lead time," Kluge said. Kluge did not seek a lower bail, which remains at $5 million. (source: limaohio.com) MICHIGAN: Lawmakers Introduce Resolution To Bring Death Penalty Back In Michigan Lawmakers in Lansing have introduced a plan to bring the death penalty back in Michigan. On March 1, 1847, Michigan became the 1st English-speaking territory in the world to abolish the death penalty. In 1963, the death penalty was constitutionally banned in Michigan. But last month, state Attorney General Bill Schuette noted that a majority of citizens across the country support the death penalty, especially when it comes to certain offenders. Now, members of the Michigan legislature are considering taking up a death penalty bill. "Usually what happens with proposals like this is that a police officer is killed or there is a heinous crime, and then lawmakers say 'Well, we better trot out that death penalty thing again,'" said WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick. "In this case, we don't have that going on. I think this is just the case of the legislature wanting to put it in the hopper and see what happens." Senate Joint Resolution G, which was introduced Wednesday, would permit the death penalty in 1st degree murder cases of a peace or corrections officer killed while in the line of duty. The controversial measure isn't likely to garner much support, Skubick said, based on previous voter opinion. "This has been in and out of the legislative hopper a number of times over the past 10 or 20 years and each time it has failed because it takes a 2/3 vote in both the Michigan House and Senate to put this on the ballot and then the voters would have to say yes," Skubick said. "Polling data over the years has suggested that the majority of people in Michigan do not favor this but, of course, there's been no campaign to push it either." Skubick said there's no indication that other lawmakers would back the resolution, which is sponsored by Sen. Virgil Smith (primary), Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof and Sen. Mike Kowall. "The fact that it's been introduced is one story, but the bigger story is can they compel together the votes to put it on the ballot and then, there would be an aggressive campaign for a yes or no vote," he said. "In other words, lots of hurdles to get over before this thing even moves in the state Senate." The resolution drew a sharp rebuke from the Michigan Catholic Conference. "The death penalty is an antiquated and inhumane method of punishment representing nothing more than retaliation and more violence," Michigan Catholic Conference President and CEO Paul Long said in a statement. "The prohibition against capital punishment in the 1963 Michigan Constitution is clear: the state has no right to decide who lives and who dies." Long said his organization will devote its full weight "to oppose and defeat any effort to allow for state-sanctioned murder." "For a government with the power to kill is a government with too much power," he said. (source: CBS news) *************************** Would you approve the death penalty in Michigan? Should Michigan reintroduce the death penalty? Senate Joint Resolution G, introduced Wednesday, would employ the death penalty but only in First Degree Murder cases of a peace or corrections officer killed in the line of duty. It would take a 2/3 vote in both the House and Senate to put the issue on the ballot. Then it would be up to voters. Would you approve the death penalty in Michigan? VOTE below: http://www.wxyz.com/news/vote-would-you-approve-the-death-penalty-in-michigan (source: WXYZ news) WASHINGTON: Federal Way senator pushes to abolish death penalty Sen. Mark Miloscia of Federal Way sponsored a bill to abolish the death penalty that was introduced in the state House and Senate on Jan. 6. The measures from the bill build on Gov. Jay Inslee's efforts to impose a moratorium on capital punishment. Miloscia wants to replace the death penalty with a life sentence, with no opportunity for parole. "This is a bill I have been behind for the past few years," Miloscia said. "I see it as an economic and moral issue." House Bill 1739 and Senate Bill 5639 would also require those convicted to work in prison in order to pay restitution to victims and their families. "There was a major study that showed there were major economic consequences in our judicial process in using the death penalty," Miloscia said. "Even in a state like ours where we have generally only used the death penalty sentence once every 8 years or so, it is so expensive." Miloscia cited a recent study from Seattle University that found death penalty cases in the state cost $1 million more than similar Washington cases where capital punishment was not the outcome. "This is one of the many ways we can be more budget conscience," Miloscia said. Miloscia pointed out he doesn't personally believe in the death sentence. "I happen to be a pro-life person and believe all human life is precious from conception to natural death," he said. "My value lies in protecting human life." Currently 32 states and the federal government have authorized the death penalty, including Washington and Oregon. 18 states have abolished the death penalty, with Maryland being the most recent. Last February, Inslee announced no executions would take place in the state while he remained in office, despite the fact that the death penalty was legal. Inslee told media he would issue a reprieve in any death penalty case that crossed his desk, though he would not let any death row prisoners go free. A future governor could reverse this action and order an execution to be carried out. "I believe that, if anything, working to pass these bills is a start of a conversation," Miloscia said. "We expect this to be a journey and we hope to bring people together to address the issue." So far, 3 other lawmakers have signed on in support of the House measure including Democratic Rep. Tina Orwall of Des Moines and Republican Reps. Maureen Walsh of Walla Walla and Chad Magendanz of Issaquah. Two Democrats, Sens. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Jamie Pedersen, both of Seattle, are co-sponsors on the Senate bill. (source: Federal Way Mirror) USA: Someone wants to spend $7 million on the rope used to hang Saddam Hussein According to a Lond0n-based Arabic-language publication, bidders are vying to purchase the length of rope used to hang ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2006. An unnamed senior Iraqi political official told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that various suitors, including a wealthy Israeli family, an Iranian religious organization and two Kuwaiti businessmen, have approached the man who still keeps the rope. That's Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser between 2004 and 2009, who apparently keeps the rope around a bust of the fallen tyrant in Rubaie's home in the Iraq city of Kadhimiyah. Rubaie has received a $7 million bid, reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, but supposedly wants more. There so far has been no direct confirmation or denial from Rubaie or the Iraqi government that this grisly artifact is indeed up for sale. The official was present on the December day Hussein was executed more than 8 years ago. "I had my men bring me back a segment of the rope after they cut Saddam down," he explained to the Independent in 2013, gesturing then at the large bust in his home. "So I thought it appropriate to put it around the neck of Saddam's statue." Rubaie, a Shiite who spent many years in exile during Hussein's reign, described the experience of watching Iraq's long-ruling dictator being taken to the gallows. "I was not looking for revenge for the three times his security thugs had imprisoned and tortured me," he told the Independent. "I was hoping to see him show some remorse for the terrible crimes, the hundreds of thousands of his own citizens that he and his henchmen killed... But there was nothing. I could see he was not a religious man. We had to remind him to say 'Allahu Akbar' ['God is greatest'] as he was about to die." Hussein was eventually buried in the town of Auja, his birthplace, 95 miles north of Baghdad. As Iraq unraveled in the chaos of recent years, his tomb became the site of a tacit struggle between Sunni tribal groups and Shiite militias. According to a Reuters report last year, local tribal leaders ordered the body to be secretly taken away in order to protect it from the ravages of Shiite fighters, mobilized to ostensibly fight the jihadists of the Islamic State. "We moved him to a place far from the hands of his enemies," a leader from Hussein's Albu Nasir tribe told Reuters. "Isn't it enough for them that they killed him once. Now they are afraid of his body." (source: Washington Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 5 11:28:30 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 11:28:30 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----MALAY., PNG, INDON., AUST., EGYPT, INDIA, JAPAN Message-ID: Feb. 5 MALAYSIA: Cops smash drug ring with arrest of 4 men Police have crippled a drug syndicate which had been active in Kelantan since December last year with the arrest of 4 men. The first to be arrested was a 26-year-old man, who was nabbed at 12.10am on Tuesday during an operation here, said Kelantan police chief DCP Datuk Mazlan Lazin. A police special task force picked him up in front of a grocery shop in Jalan Pengkalan Chepa and seized RM98,600 worth of drugs, DCP Mazlan told reporters yesterday. He added that the drugs consisted of 3,564 ketamine pills, 300 eremin 5 pills and 20g of methamphetamine. "We also seized RM17,460 from the man who is now remanded until Feb 9," he said. Later that morning, police detained three men aged between 21 and 26 at the same place. "A body search found 70 ketamine pills on 2 of the 3 men. "They had escaped the first raid which followed a tip-off from the public," DCP Mazlan said. The 3 are being remanded until Friday. DCP Mazlan said that all four tested positive for drugs, and their case was being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952, which carries a mandatory death penalty, and Section 39(A)(1) of Dangerous Drug Act 1952, which carries a jail term of not less than 2 years and not more than 5 years with 3 to 9 strokes of the rotan. Meanwhile, Kelantan police are distributing pictures of a 26-year-old man known as Khairul whom they are looking for to help investigate cases of armed robbery and illegal car towing. Earlier, DCP Mazlan handed over new vehicles to all police district offices in Kelantan. The state police received 9 Nissan Navara 4x4 trucks, 20 Proton Preve cars and 21 Honda scooters for the Women's Peace Police Squad. (source: The Star) PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Church Leaders condemn PNG Government's decision to implement Death Penalty Papua New Guinea church leaders have condemned the government decision to implement death penalty. It has been revealed that about 13 people on death row in Papua New Guinea are expected to be executed this year after PNG Cabinet endorsed the proposed guidelines for the implementation of death penalty. Secretary for the Department of Justice and Attorney-General Dr Lawrence Kalinoe told the media that PNG Government had approved the establishment of an inter-agency committee to see its implementation. Howevern, this announcement did not go down well with the PNG Church leaders Council. The church leaders said in a media statement " We believe that all human life is God-given and that no one, including the State, should take upon itself the right to end a life. Additionally, there is ample evidence proving that over the best processes of justice can sometimes happen. It is therefore, unthinkable that we, the people, should condemn a potentially innocent person to death. As a Christian Nation, we can never allow our justice system to sink, to acts of revenge or payback. We must not take the attitude of 'an eye for an eye' but rather maintain penalties that are appropriate for all crimes but do not include the death penalty. Incidences of serious crime have not decreased in countries that have adopted the death penalty. The possibility of the death penalty increases the possibility that the criminal will murder their victim to eliminate them as a witness. We call upon the Papua New Guinea Government to continue to work towards a nation of propriety of equality, so that people can pursue legal legitimate ways of life". (source: pngfacts.com) INDONESIA: How Chan, Sukumaran will face their executions Australian drug smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan have apparently penned a desperate letter from death row, begging the Indonesian government to spare them. The Bali 9 ringleaders are running out of options to avoid the firing squad, which is being planned for the next 2 weeks. Tony Abbott has left "no stone unturned" trying to prevent the death penalty for Chan and Sukumaran. HOW INDONESIA CARRIES OUT EXECUTIONS: - The convicted must be notified 72 hours before execution - While waiting, they must be held in a special prison - If the convicted wants to say something, the statement or the message must be received by the prosecutor - If the convicted is pregnant, the execution will take place 40 days after the child is born - Their lawyer can attend the execution - The execution is not performed in public and conducted in the most modest possible way unless determined otherwise by the president - The head of local police forms the shooting team, consisting of one non-commissioned officer and 12 privates, under the command of an officer - The convicted can be accompanied by a spiritual counsellor - They must dress modestly and orderly - The commander will blindfold them with a piece of fabric, unless asked not to - They can stand, sit or kneel - If necessary their hands or feet will be tied to a pole - There will be between 5 and 10 metres between the convicted and the shooting team - Using a sword for the signal, the commander will order "ready" by swinging his sword up, ordering the team to aim at the convict's heart - By swinging his sword down quickly, he orders "shoot" - If the convicted isn't yet dead, the non-commissioned officer is ordered to shoot his pistol in his/her head, above the ear - A doctor will confirm the death and a report will be prepared on the execution - The body is handed to family or friends for burial, or to the state, with attention paid to religious beliefs. Close friend, Pastor Matius Arif, says the pair are "very sad" their bid for a judicial review was rejected in the courts on Wednesday. He read an open letter - addressed to the Indonesian government and signed by both Australians - to reporters outside Kerobokan jail on Thursday. It argues they are more useful alive as they work to rehabilitate other prisoners. "We beg for moratorium so we can have chance to serve Indonesia community (sic)" the letter says. Mr Matius says the letter was handwritten by Sukumaran. "There's so many testimonies about what they're doing inside," he told reporters. "I also personally request the government to make a special commission or a special team to investigate what they're doing inside." The team should then report on the rehab programs to the president, he said. The application for a judicial review detailed the work of Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, to assist others through chaplaincy and art programs, Denpasar District Court determined it didn't meet the "new evidence" criteria for a review. It was the last legal option for the pair, who have been denied clemency by President Joko Widodo. Barrister Julian McMahon says their team is still examining the options after Wednesday's setback. "It's certainly a major blow, that's for sure, because having this 2nd appeal was probably our best option in having all the issues canvassed," he told ABC Radio. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, too, says diplomatic efforts to save them are continuing. "We are not going to engage in last-minute, megaphone diplomacy but I just want to assure people that the Australian government has left no stone unturned to try to ensure that these 2 Australians on death row have their sentences commuted," he said. The men's families visited Kerobokan jail again on Thursday, with Sukumaran's brother Chintu wrapping his arm around their mother Raji. (source: Yahoo news) ********************** Indonesia using Triple J poll to justify Bali 9 executions A Triple J SMS poll which found 52 % of Australians, in principle, support death penalties for overseas drug traffickers could have sealed the fate of the Bali Nine ringleaders. The lawyer for Sydney men Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who on Wednesday had a second judicial review of their case thrown out, said a "snap" poll commissioned by the radio station's Hack program had been quoted by the Indonesian government to justify sending the drug smugglers to the firing squad. "The AG and the ambassador have publicly relied on the SMS poll as a factor justifying execution," Julian McMahon told the Sydney Morning Herald. "They say that it pushes them to do it, that they have Australian public support." About 2123 Australians cast their vote in the "yes" or "no" poll, which posed the question "In your opinion if an Australian is convicted of drug trafficking in another country and sentenced to death, should the penalty be carried out?" The results were published in January under the headline "Australians think Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran should be executed", despite there being no mention of the 2 men's specific case in the Roy Morgan Research poll. Gary Morgan, executive chairman of Roy Morgan Research, defended its treatment. Chan and Sukumaran's legal team applied for a 2nd judicial review of their case on Friday, citing past errors of the law and their transformation over a decade in jail. Despite the bid, Indonesian authorities continued planning for their execution, announcing on Wednesday that neither man's application would be accepted. The Bali 9 ringleaders, who have been on death row since 2006, were named in the next round of executions. It is understood they will be taken in the dead of the night from their cells in Kerobokan Prison in Denpasar and flown to Jogyakarta. >From there they will travel 5 hours through the villages and waters of Java en route to the notorious correctional centre on Nusa Kambangan, where they 6 drug criminals were executed 2 weeks ago, to meet their fate. (source: 9news.com.au) ****************************** Lindsay Sandiford: Foreign secretary raises opposition to death penalty while in Indonesia British foreign secretary Philip Hammond has raised his government's opposition to the use of the death penalty while in the country where a Teesside gran is on death row. Mr Hammond spoke with Jusuf Kalla, the Vice President of Indonesia, and Foreign Minister Ibu Retno yesterday about the UK's position about capital punishment. Lindsay Sandiford, originally from Redcar, is currently in one of the country's jails after she was sentenced to death in January 2013. The 58-year-old is in a Bali prison for trafficking cocaine worth 1.6m pounds and believes she may face a firing squad within weeks. "In Indonesia and have raised UK opposition to death penalty with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Foreign Minister Ibu Retno," said Mr Hammond on Twitter. The MP had also announced he would raise the issue of the death penalty with the Indonesian authorities before his arrival in the country. At a joint press conference in Australia with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Mr Hammond said: "The UK's position - like Australia's position - is that we are opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. "We have abolished it at home and we strongly advocate the abolition of the death penalty in other countries. "I am going to Indonesia after my visit to New Zealand in a couple of days time and will be engaging with our Indonesian counterparts there. And I will be delivering on behalf of all of the governments of countries who have people convicted and on death row - including the UK, we have UK nationals on death row in Indonesia - that message about our position on the death penalty." Sandiford was found with cocaine as she arrived in Bali on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand, in May 2012. The grandmother and mum of 2 claimed she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her children, whose safety was at stake. All her appeals have so far been denied and she has no legal representation after the British Government refused to fund a lawyer for her. She has no money for lawyers and claims to have had little Foreign Office help. But a spokesman said the Foreign Office stood "ready to provide support". The spokesman added it had consistently provided and offered consular support to Sandiford, which she currently declined to accept. Indonesia began a wave of executions recently with 5 foreigners - including a Dutchman and a Brazilian - killed by firing squad. Days later, the 2nd of 2 Australians on death row in the same prison as Sandiford in Bali had their clemency appeals rejected. Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, are now expected to be shot dead by firing squad next month. (source: gazettelive.co.uk) *************************** Bali 9 members ask Indonesia for death penalty moratorium -- Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran write an open letter calling for a moratorium on their executions as their last legal avenue for appeal was rejected Drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have received the official notice informing them of the Denpasar district court's rejection of their last legal recourse for appeal against their executions, with a letter delivered to Kerobokan prison on Thursday. Just 1 hour earlier the 2 men released an open letter to the government of Indonesia begging for a moratorium on the death sentence. The letter was delivered on Thursday morning by a court official, Mr Rudi, who showed the addressed envelope to media outside. Earlier the 2 Australian men, sentenced to die for their part in the 2005 heroin smuggling attempt by a group known as the Bali 9, released a letter through evangelist Matius Arif Mirjara. To government of Indonesia, we beg for moratorium so we can have chance to serve Indonesia and commit to bring more benefits on the rehabilitation process in prison. We believe in the Indonesian legal system that brings justice and humanity. Mirjara said the 2 men are upset with the news, and are begging for a moratorium "because we believe that they bring more benefit if they have a chance to live in prison,??? he told media outside the prison. "There is so much testimony about what they are doing inside. I also personally address the government to make special permissions to make special recommendations by the president for them to live. The families of Chan and Sukumaran visited again on Thursday morning, but did not speak to media. On Wednesday the Denpasar district court rejected an application for the pair???s cases to undergo a second judicial review. The controversial legal move divided the Indonesian legal system, with the constitutional court ruling prisoners could have more than one such appeal but the supreme court disagreeing. The Indonesian lawyer for the pair, Todung Mulya Lubis, told Guardian Australia the rejection "can be considered violation of the constitutional court decision." "[The] constitutional court decision is final and binding, and every court should adhere to that decision. I regret the rejection and reserve a right to take any possible legal recourse available," he said late Wednesday. The Denpasar district court agreed to accept the application last Friday and spent most of this week deliberating before rejecting it. Indonesia's minister of law and human rights said a new regulation to be issued in a few months' time would allow multiple judicial reviews but until then only 1 was permitted, including for Sukumaran and Chan. Last week the attorney general, HM Prasetyo, said the so-called PK application and the pleas for clemency and talk of the men???s rehabilitation contained in it did not constitute new evidence, but he would not interfere in the court process. The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, who rejected both clemency appeals, has vowed to take a hard line against drugs smugglers in Indonesia. Last week Prasetyo said the 2 Australians would be among the next group of convicted people to be executed. Planning of the executions did not pause while the application for another review was still active, but no time or place had been decided yet. Some embassies have been notified that their citizens will shortly be executed, but Prasetyo did not detail which ones. The Australian embassy told Guardian Australia it would not comment on the case at this time. ************************** Pregnant teenager says she is 'petrified' but innocent of Bali suitcase murder Heather Mack told the Chicago Tribune in a series of interviews on Tuesday that she loved her mother and had no reason to kill her. The remains of her mother, 62-year-old Sheila von Wiese-Mack, were found in a suitcase outside a resort in Bali where she and her daughter were staying in August. Also on trial is Mack's boyfriend, 21-year-old Tommy Schaefer, who police say arrived in Bali shortly before the death. If convicted, Schaefer and Mack could face death by firing squad. Mack, who is due to give birth on 1 April, said her fear was "more for my daughter than me". Mack said she contacted the Tribune by phone because her attorney in Indonesia is not being paid out of a $1.56m trust fund left behind by her mother. In Chicago, Cook County judge Neil Cohen ruled in January that $150,000 from the fund should go to Mack's attorney but could not be used for the boyfriend's defence. The Indonesian attorney has received one $50,000 payment, Mack said, but two more instalments have not been paid. Cohen had said those payments should not be made until the attorney provides a billing statement explaining his services. Prosecutors say Mack and Schaefer plotted to kill Mack's mother because she didn't endorse their relationship, and that Mack once proposed that Schaefer hire a hit man for $50,000. When asked by the Tribune about the hit-man allegation, Mack said she "can't answer that". "I maintain that I am innocent of all charges against me related to the death of my mother," Mack said. "I believe my lawyer, who has worked relentlessly on my behalf, will prove this in court." According to the indictment, Von Wiese-Mack became angry during an argument over the hotel bill and scolded Schaefer using a racial slur. The indictment says Schaefer battered her with a fruit bowl handle, and then Mack helped put her mother's body in a suitcase. Mack and Schaefer hired a taxi, put the suitcase in the trunk and never came back after saying they were going back inside to check out, prosecutors said. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that court records show Mack's uncle, William Wiese, sold her mother's Chicago condo in December without telling Mack or her attorneys. Wiese, who is Von Wiese-Mack's brother, has clashed with Mack over the trust fund and objected to her request to use funds from the trust for her defence. The condo was sold for $610,000, the Sun-Times reports, and Mack's belongings were sent to her aunt's house in St Louis. Trial proceedings continued on Wednesday. (source for both: The Guardian) **************** Execution of 11 more death row inmates soon: Attorney General Office The Attorney General Office said the death penalty of 11 more convicts whose appeals for clemency have been rejected by the president would soon be executed. "The date is not yet fixed," the chief spokesman of the Attorney General Office Tony Tribagus Spontana said here on Wednesday. The 11 convicts include 8 convicted in drug cases and 3 in murder cases. 2 among the drug convicts are Australians, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan of the Bali 9 group, Tony said. The Bali 9 group include 9 Australian arrested in April, 2005 and sentenced later for attempting to smuggle 8.2 kilograms of heroin to Bali from Australia. A Denpasar district meted out jail punishment for the other 7 Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Renae Lawrence, Tach Duc Than Nguyen, Matthew Norman, Scott Rush and Martin Stephens. Tony said all aspects had been met in connection with the procedure for the execution. Head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Comr.Gen. Anang Iskandar said BNN fully supports the execution to give a deterrent effect on drug dealers. Anang said most important in the execution was deterrent effect. The attorney general office said it had received a presidential decree rejecting appeals for clemency of the 11 people condemned to death. The other 9 are Syofial alias Iyen bin Azwar, Harun bin Ajis and Sargawi alias Ali bin Sanusi -- all 3 Indonesian convicted for premeditated murder -- and the rest in drug cases including Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso of the Philippines, Serge Areski Atlaoui of France, Martin Anderson alias Belo of Ghana, Zainal Abidin of Indonesia , Raheem Agbaje Salami of Cordova, and Rodrigo Gularte of Brazil. President Joko Widodo has said he would not give leniency for all drug convicts who make up around 60 % of the country's prison inmates. Australia, Brazil, the Netherlands have been angered by the execution of the death penalty. Brazil and the Netherlands even recalled their ambassadors in protest of the execution last month. On Wednesday, British Foreign Minister, Philip Hammond, who was on a visit here, expressed concerned that a Britisher is facing death execution . Hammond, however, did not seek to lobby only to express concern, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said. Retno said she had told Hammond the execution is in line with the standard of international law. A Britisher, Lindsay Sandiford, is a death row inmate, convicted for possession of 4.7 kilograms of cocaine in Bali in 2012. "Britain is against death sentence. We have abolished death sentence and we advocate abolition of death sentence," Hammond said. (source: Antara News) AUSTRALIA: Death Sentences & Diplomacy: Australia's Strained Indonesia Ties----Incompatible attitudes towards recreational drugs complicates Australian diplomacy in the region. Every few years the Australian public is outraged by the incarceration of one of its citizens in Southeast Asia for drug trafficking. In the past decade, newspaper headlines have repeatedly run photo essays and long features on Australian drug traffickers languishing in Southeast Asian prison cells. The most recent coverage has been focused on the so-called Bali 9, a group of young Australians apprehended in 2005 and convicted for drug trafficking in Indonesia. Last week the 2 ringleaders of the group lost their appeals for presidential clemency in Indonesia. The 2 men, Myuran Sukumaran and Adrew Chan, are now "next in line" to be executed. Public vigils were held across Australia last week and news media have been consumed by the sentencing of the 2 men. Any thought that Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo might have of granting clemency is likely to have been quashed by his declining popularity in his first 100 days since taking office. Among the reasons for this slump, his decision to scrap fuel subsidies. The death penalty in Indonesia is popular and the past president used it to leverage his popularity. Under the guise of "firmness," Jokowi appears to be employing a similar modus operandi. For Australia's foreign policy in Indonesia, this causes problems. Canberra has had a tougher than usual relationship with Jakarta in recent years. Revelations in late 2013 that Australia had spied on Indonesia???s former president Susilo Bambang Yughoyono, his wife, and other senior government officials including current Vice President Jusuf Kalla, was a major blow to relations. Other executions of foreign nationals this year, including a Brazilian and a Dutch man, led those countries to recall their ambassadors. Canberra will feel pressure to do the same. In 2005, Australian man Van Tuong Nguyen was executed in Singapore for drug trafficking. At the time, Tony Abbott, then minister for health, said that "people do need to understand that drug trafficking is a very serious offence and it has heavy penalties in Australia and it has even more drastic penalties overseas as we have been reminded today." The then Prime Minister John Howard gave a stern warning to all Australians to stay away from drugs. A warning that Australia, one of the highest users of recreational drugs in the world, seems unable heed. Australia is today facing its own epidemic of methamphetamine and other drugs. The epidemic encourages trafficking from Southeast Asia and fuels Australian party-tourism to Southeast Asian states. The current publicity around these sentences is perhaps the best time for Canberra to crack down on the flow of narcotics within Australia and launch an all-out assault on lax attitudes to drug consummation. That domestic approach should be coupled with improved cooperation on counter-narcotics in Southeast Asia. The difficulty for the Australian government is that there are dozens more Australians facing drug charges in Southeast Asia, some in countries that also have the death penalty. Once such cases reach the domestic media they become points of national pride, with neither side able to hold a constructive dialogue. In effect, the incarcerated become hostages to a cause. Cleaning up Australia's domestic drug attitudes would go a long way to making sure other young Australian's don't face the death penalty. And that would make the job of Australia's diplomats (who per capita still make up one of the smallest diplomatic corps in the world) much easier. (source: The Diplomat) EGYPT: Egypt court upholds death sentence for Morsi supporter An Egyptian court on Thursday upheld a death sentence handed down against a supporter of ousted President Mohamed Morsi convicted of committing murder, a judicial source has said. "The verdict is final and cannot be challenged," the source, requesting anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency. The court also upheld life sentences handed down against 16 defendants, 15-year jail terms for 8 defendants, and 10-year jail terms for 35 others in connection with the same murder. A minor was also jailed for 7 years in the same case. "The verdicts are final and will be applied to all defendants," defense lawyer Ahmed al-Hamrawi told AA. He said the death penalty "is the 1st to be upheld by an Egyptian court against a supporter of Morsi." The defendants were convicted of throwing opponents from the roof of a building in the coastal city of Alexandria in the summer of 2013. The killing took place 2 days after the army unseated Morsi - Egypt's 1st freely elected president - following massive protests against his-year rule. Egypt's army-backed authorities have since launched a wide-ranging crackdown on supporters of Morsi and his embattled Muslim Brotherhood group, detaining thousands and killing hundreds. Egyptian authorities have also branded the Brotherhood a "terrorist" group on claims that it condones violence, an allegation dismissed by the movement, which says it is committed to peaceful activism. (source: World Bulletin) *********************** Court upholds death penalty, life sentences for those who threw 4 off roof The Court of Cassation upheld a death penalty sentence for Mahmoud Hassan Ramadan on charges of throwing 4 people to their death from a building in Alexandria in 2013, Youm7 reported Thursday. The court also upheld the life sentences for his 57 co-defendants, who were accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. All defendants faced charges of the murder of 4 persons and the attempted murder of 8 others in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria in 2013 after the ouster of the former President Mohamed Morsi on July 3, 2013. On March 29, 2014, the Alexandria Criminal Court handed down its verdict against the defendants, and Ramadan confessed to the crime. Video footage showed that Ramadan and other defendants were holding al-Qaeda flag as they threw the victims, some of whom were teenagers. (source: The Cairo Post) INDIA: Parents of deceased girl seek death penalty for culprits The biological parents of Naushan Beguam alias Shahista Saba, a 5-year old girl, who died while on her way to hospital after rescued by an NGO and police on January 29, demanded death penalty for those who kidnapped and tortured the girl to death. Md. Mahmood and his wife Reshma Begum, residents of Rajendranagar in Hyderabad, along with family members arrived at the police station at Kondapur on Wednesday to testify about the kidnap of their girl and later being tortured by Sayyad Zakeer Ahmad and his wife Razia Sultana. Speaking to reporters at the police station, they said that the girl was kidnapped when they visited Gulbarga on July 31, 2014. They added that a complaint of kidnap was lodged with the police at Gulbarga and since then they were unable to trace her. Thanking the media for passing on the information about their missing daughter and her plight, the couple demanded capital punishment for the culprits. (source: The Hindu) *************************** Lapses that led Allahabad HC to commute Koli's death sentence The Allahabad High Court, which last month commuted the death sentence of Surender Koli, convicted in the Nithari killings, has cited glaring lapses on part of the state government in dealing with his mercy petition. "Evidently, the state government had no processes and systems in place to deal with or streamline the disposal of mercy petitions filed under Article 161 of the Constitution of death convicts. Surely, a matter as serious as one impinging upon the right to life of a convict cannot be dealt with in such a cavalier fashion," the court said in its January 28 order, the details of which became available on Wednesday. The court, which had allowed the petitioner's counsel to inspect the files related to Koli's mercy plea, has pointed out the following lapses: First, the processing of the mercy plea started on the basis of a Government Order (GO) passed on April 3, 2005, which dealt with grant of pardon by the Governor to convicts. Later, however, the Prison department realised this GO applied only to those convicts who were not handed the death sentence. The subject head of the GO clearly said it dealt with all convicts other than those awarded the death penalty. Second, the principal secretary (home) admitted in writing in the file notings that he did not have the jurisdiction and competence to make any recommendation on a mercy petition. Yet, the court found in its perusal of records that he made a firm recommendation, saying Koli should not be granted mercy plea. The court took a serious note of this lapse. Third, the Law department, which should have dealt with the matter in detail, simply went by the recommendation made by the principal secretary (home), which was invalid. Fourth, the legal advisor to the Governor submitted before him that the findings arrived at by the courts of law regarding guilt, conviction and quantum of sentence of the convict was 'binding' on the Governor. The court said such an advice actually prevented the Governor from exercising his Constitutional rights. On the issue of delay, the court pointed out that of the 3 years and 3 months taken to complete the process of mercy petition - between May 7, 2011, and August 2, 2014 - the state government took 2 years and 2 months, while the Union government took 1 year and 15 days. Further, the court pointed out that even the 1st basic exercise - of the reports being called from district magistrates of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar as well as the prison authorities when the mercy plea was first made - took nearly 1 1/2 years. Referring to the Jail Manual - which gives 7 days to convicts for filing a mercy petition - the court said, "Surely, if such an obligation is cast upon the convict, the least that is to be expected is, a decision on a mercy petition ought not to be prolonged unduly and should be arrived at with all reasonable dispatch." The court also took into account the plea of the petitioners that Koli had, in violation of Constitutional provisions, been kept in solitary confinement ever since he was first convicted and handed death in 2009 by a sessions court. Under rules, a death row convict cannot be kept in solitary confinement until the order attains finality following rejection of mercy petition by the President. Further, the court also took into account the wrong issuance of warrants by the Additional Sessions Judge of Ghaziabad, in which, instead of specific dates, a range of dates were mentioned for the execution to take place. Finally, the court said it was not the quantum of delay that was important, but the reasons for the same. The court also rejected the plea of the state authorities that the gravity of the crime and not only delay should be taken into account on the ground that law dealing with execution of death sentence too has a humanising element and had to be seen in the light of Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution. (source: Indian Express) JAPAN: Death penalty activists aim to convince public with weeklong series of talks, movies in Tokyo A Tokyo movie theater will screen movies this month about the death penalty and host guest speakers to stimulate debate about a practice that most developed nations have abolished. "Death Penalty Movie Week" is scheduled for Feb. 14 to 20 at Eurospace in Shibuya and features 8 movies, some of them homegrown but others foreign. The festival's title is "Can 1 Person Bring Another to Justice?" It aims to explore the sin against society of taking someone's life in vengeance. The movies include the 1959 Japanese film "I'd Rather Be a Shellfish," which depicts a barber falsely charged with killing a U.S. captive during World War II and sentenced to death. Another is the 1984 Japanese movie "Heaven Station," about the 1st female death row inmate hanged in Japan after the war. Also showing is the 1999 American movie "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.," which profiles a technician who developed execution devices such as electric chairs and lethal injection machines, and "Camp 14: Total Control Zone," a 2012 German documentary featuring a North Korean political prisoner who was born and grew up in a re-education camp. The event is the 4th of its kind. It will feature talks by guest speakers, including lawyers and journalists, according to the organizer, Forum 90. 4 movies will be shown per day. Also appearing is Iwao Hakamada, a former death row inmate who was released last March after spending nearly 48 years in prison following a court decision to reopen his case. He will visit the theater with his activist sister Hideko Hakamada on Feb. 15 following a screening of the 2010 Japanese film "BOX: The Hakamada Case." The movie focuses on a judge who sentenced Hakamada to death over the 1966 murder of four members of a family. The judge later said he believed Hakamada to have been innocent but was unable to prevent a guilty verdict being passed. The organizers say they hope the festival will help sway those who may already be questioning the value of the death penalty. "We expect those who wonder whether the death penalty should be maintained or not and those who are hesitant to attend anti-capital punishment rallies to watch these films," said Masakuni Ota, a member of Forum 90. The group has separately been helping a private fund that supports exhibitions of paintings and writing by condemned prisoners. During one such exhibition in Tokyo last September, which drew around 4,000 people, visitors left the organizers with notes about their impressions. While some said they felt unsympathetic toward death row inmates being encouraged to draw and write, one visitor said the exhibition had forced a change of mind. "I was pro-capital punishment (until seeing this), but I have become aware that human beings are attractive. It's shocking, but I now believe we had better not keep the death penalty," the visitor commented. Ota said, "We hope the upcoming screenings will also lead the visitors to think about the death penalty, as the exhibition did." The past 3 "Death Penalty Movie Week" events attracted some 3,800 viewers in total. A government survey last month found 80.3 % of people in Japan are in favor of the death penalty, down from a record 85.6 % in the previous survey in 2009. The respondents may have been affected by the court decision to reopen the Hakamada case, observers say. Opponents of the death penalty criticize the wording used in such surveys. According to the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, more than 2/3 of all nations had abolished the death penalty by law or in practice as of the end of 2013. In contrast with this global trend, Japan has hanged 11 inmates since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government came to power in December 2012. Submitting a written request for Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa in November to suspend the execution of death row inmates, the JFBA said some nations abolish the death penalty in spite of apparent public support for it. "Britain abolished capital punishment when 81 % of its citizens supported it, France did so despite 62 % support, and the Philippines terminated it despite 80 % support" the request said. "South Korea has suspended executions (since 1997), although 66 % of its citizens support it." Japan was urged by the U.N. Human Rights Committee last July to "give due consideration to the abolition of the death penalty." (source: Japan Times) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 6 13:02:18 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2015 13:02:18 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., N.C., FLA., ALA., KY. Message-ID: Feb. 6 TEXAS----stay of impending execution U.S. Supreme Court halts Texas execution of convicted killer The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday put on hold the execution by Texas of convicted murderer Lester Bower as it considers whether to hear his full appeal including the assertion that his three decades on death row amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Bower, 67, is one of the longest-serving prisoners on death row in Texas. He was sentenced to death for murdering 4 men in 1983 in an aircraft hangar near Sherman, Texas. Bower was scheduled to be executed on Feb. 10. He asked for a delay so the Supreme Court could consider his appeal, which is pending at the court. The next time the nine justices are scheduled to meet to discuss new cases to take up is Feb. 20. Among the legal questions that Bower has raised is whether the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment has been violated by his more than 30-year stay on death row. According to Bower's court filings, he has faced imminent execution on 6 different occasions during his time in prison. Lawyers for Bower have tried for more than 2 decades to have his conviction thrown out, saying he was found guilty due to faulty witness testimony. Bower has denied ever being at the hangar where the murders took place but authorities said aircraft parts found in his home and other evidence implicated him in the crimes. Bower killed Bob Tate to steal an ultralight plane Tate was trying to sell and then killed the other 3 men when they unexpectedly showed up at the hangar, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said. Bower's case raises different issues than a case the Supreme Court agreed to hear last month on Oklahoma's execution protocol. The court agreed to block 3 executions in Oklahoma while it considers whether midazolam, the sedative used by Oklahoma as part of its lethal injection procedures, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. (source: Reuters) ********************* Supreme Court stays execution of Texas inmate on death row for 30 years The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the execution of Lester Bower, who has been on death row in Texas for nearly 3 decades. Bower's execution was set for Feb. 10, but the full court granted a stay request until it decides whether to fully consider the case. If the court decides not to hear his case, the stay will be lifted; if the justices do hear his case, the stay will be in place until they issue a ruling. Bower's application for a stay request was presented to Justice Antonin Scalia and referred to the full court. In agreeing to halt Bower's execution, at least temporarily, the justices raised the possibility that they could consider a 2nd death-penalty case this year. The court said last month it would hear a case from Oklahoma focusing on the drugs used in lethal injections; last week, the justices stayed 3 upcoming executions in Oklahoma until they rule in that case. Bower was convicted of shooting and killing four men in an aircraft hangar in 1983. He shot 1 man in an attempt to steal an ultralight plane the man was trying to sell, and then shot the other 3 when they arrived unexpectedly, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. His attorneys are arguing, among other things, that executing Bower after more than 30 years on death row "constitutes cruel and unusual punishment." Bower's execution has been scheduled 6 times during his time on death row; he has come within hours of entering the death chamber before the reprieves came, his attorneys argue. Bower, 67, has lived nearly 1/2 of his life with a death sentence. He has spent 3 times as many years on death row in Texas as the average inmate, according to the state's Department of Criminal Justice. If his execution takes place as scheduled, Bower will have been the 2nd-longest-serving inmate executed by the state. David Lee Powell, who was executed in 2010, spent 31 years on death row; Joseph Nichols has the 2nd-longest period, spending 25 years on death row before his execution in 2007. There were more than 3,000 inmates on death row at the end of 2012, and the average inmate had spent about 14 years under a death sentence, according to Justice Department figures released last year. About 1 in 10 of these inmates on death row were sentenced before 1989. A federal judge in California last year called that state's death penalty system unconstitutional and "completely dysfunctional." U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney wrote in a stern order that the state's system is so riddled with delays that death sentences are "actually carried out against only a trivial few of those sentenced to death." In that case, Carney was writing about an inmate sentenced to death 2 decades earlier. Carney said that executing the inmate so long after his sentencing violated the Eighth Amendment???s ban against cruel and unusual punishment. California and Texas, along with Florida, are the states with the most inmates on death row. (source: Washington Post) ************************************* Conservative Group: Executing Mentally Ill Killer Undermines Public Faith in Justice System A group of self-described conservative policy experts and "thought leaders" say that executing a mentally ill Texas murderer would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment and undermine public trust in the justice system. Calling themselves the "National Conservative Movement Leaders," the group -- which includes the former attorneys general of Virginia and New Mexico, the Reagan-era chief of the Office of Management and Budget, and an opinion editor with the right-leaning Washington Times -- filed a legal brief in support of death-row inmate Scott Panetti Wednesday. In its brief, the group urged the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to grant Panetti's legal team's request for a new mental health evaluation in order to bolster their claim that Panetti is indeed too insane to be executed. The brief is just the latest in the mind-bending debate over whether Panetti, a man with a history of treatment for mental illness who ruthlessly shotgunned his mother- and father-in-law to death in 1992, is competent enough for the ultimate punishment. At trial, during which Panetti was somehow allowed to represent himself and simultaneously argue an insanity defense, Panetti donned a purple cowboy suit. He rambled throughout the court proceedings, at one point questioning a witness about "the difference between a rodeo hand and a buckaroo poet." He subpoenaed Jesus Christ. Ultimately a jury didn't buy Panetti's insanity defense and sentenced him to death. In November of last year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Panetti was fit to be executed. An outgoing Republican judge on the court disagreed so vehemently that he penned a dissent saying he now no longer believes in the death penalty. "It is inconceivable to me how the execution of a severely mentally ill person such as [Panetti] would measurably advance the retribution and deterrence purposes purportedly served by the death penalty," wrote Judge Tom Price. The case now stands before the Fifth Circuit, which halted Panetti's execution hours before he was set to be put to death in December. Panetti's lawyers argue Panetti understands that, officially, he's been sent to death row for the murder of his in-laws, but that in reality Panetti's mind is so warped that he believes his punishment is just a pretext and cover for the truth: that prison officials are the pawn of Satan, who wants Panetti to die so he'll stop preaching the gospel. Panetti's attorneys insist his that his mental state has only further deteriorated since his last mental health evaluation seven years ago. Among Panetti's more recent delusions, according to court filings: a belief that prison officials have implanted a listening device in Panetti's tooth to send commands and messages to his brain; that Panetti reads the Gospel to keep from being overwhelmed by the voices in his head; that CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer flashed Panetti's stolen prison ID card during a broadcast; that Panetti is indeed the father of actress and singer Selena Gomez. In their brief, the "National Conservative Movement Leaders" insist that the objections from Panetti's legal team are not just frivolous, last-minute stalling tactics, despite claims to the contrary. In fact, the conservative supporters point out how a state district court on October 16, 2014 set Panetti's execution date for December 3 and never alerted the convict's lawyers. "Disturbingly, no one at the state trial court, the county district attorney's office, or the state Attorney General's office saw fit to inform Panetti's lawyers that the execution date had been set," they write (Panetti's lawyers only found out about the execution date 2 weeks after the court had scheduled it because of a newspaper article). Urging the Fifth Circuit to grant Panetti's lawyers request for a new competency evaluation, the group writes, "this case presents the Court with overwhelming evidence of the justice system's failure to adhere to American constitutional principles of due process." Some of the conservative group's members support the death penalty; others don't. "They are united, however, in their belief that the execution of Scott Panetti would serve no penological purpose and would in no way promote public safety," according to their brief. "Rather than serving as a proportionate response to murder, the execution of Panetti would only undermine the public's faith in a fair and moral justice system." (source: Houston Press) VIRGINIA: Terry McAuliffe put in awkward spot on death penalty State-sponsored executions in Virginia would become shrouded in unprecedented secrecy under legislation that is advancing with bipartisan support, including that of Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The measure is intended to keep drugs used for lethal injections flowing into Virginia by shielding manufacturers from public scrutiny and political pressure. Foreign companies have stopped selling such drugs as a result of pressure from their governments, leaving some states unable to carry out death sentences and prompting others to experiment with chemicals that have been blamed for several ???high-profile botched executions. The legislation would prevent the public from scrutinizing most everything to do with the death penalty in Virginia. The bill states that "all information relating to the execution process" would be exempt from the state's open ???records law. Although the names and quantities of chemicals used would have to be disclosed, the names of the companies that sell them and information about buildings and equipment used in the process would be withheld. Adding a political twist to the situation, the bill???s chief booster is McAuliffe, a Democrat who opposes the death penalty but whose support makes passage more likely. The measure would place Virginia in the vanguard of states trying to continue a practice that most of their residents still support but that has become increasingly difficult to administer, for both political and technical reasons. The proposal has been praised by people who say it would ensure that executions are carried out in the most humane way possible. But it is denounced by death penalty opponents, as botched executions have increased scrutiny across the country, including a Supreme Court review of lethal injections in Oklahoma. The secrecy provisions, in particular, are a matter of disagreement. Lisa Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said the law would provide "security" by shielding drug providers from "harassment, threats or danger." Foes contend that more scrutiny of state-sponsored executions, not less, is the way to prevent inhumane deaths. "This bill is about them trying to hide challenges to them, not about their security," said defense attorney Jonathan Sheldon, who has been involved in litigation over lethal injection. "We don't need to know the name of who the [executioner] is. ... What we really want to know is: 'What is the procedure?' They're cloaking this in a false mask of security." Sen. Thomas A. Garrett Jr. (R-Buckingham) said the opponents raised a "legitimate concern" about secrecy. But he added, "I would say that it's outweighed by us being able to carry out sentences that have been prescribed legally and throughout layer upon layer of due process." McAuliffe's advisers have been surprised by the intensity of opposition, because they see the legislation as a way to avoid a return to the electric chair as the primary means of execution in a state where capital punishment remains the law. McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said that although the governor does not support capital punishment, it is his responsibility to uphold the law. "He is a Catholic," Coy said, "so there is a moral component to his position on the issue, but he's governor, and he will enforce the law." Several other states have enacted laws in recent years to shield the details of executions from public scrutiny. An Ohio law similar to Virginia's legislation was enacted late last year, but it is being challenged in federal court. Ohio has delayed all pending executions amid concerns about the drugs used. In 2014, some lawmakers made an unsuccessful push in Virginia to reinstate the electric chair as the state's default method of execution should the necessary drugs become unavailable. McAuliffe did not take a position on that measure. In neighboring Maryland, then-Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) made abolition of the death penalty a cornerstone of his legislative agenda. The 2 states are far apart on this issue. Maryland has executed 5 prisoners since the Supreme Court ended an effective moratorium on the death penalty in 1976; Virginia has executed 110. Noting all the current legal challenges to execution methods and secrecy, the Virginia Catholic Conference's executive director, Jeff Caruso, said, "It seems like we should be slowing down instead of speeding up." The politics of the death penalty began to change in Virginia in 2005, when Timothy M. Kaine (D), a death-penalty opponent who had defended death-row inmates pro bono, was elected governor. Kaine's Republican opponent, Jerry Kilgore, ran a TV ad saying that Kaine wouldn't have supported executing Adolf Hitler. Kaine, a Catholic, responded with an ad declaring that his faith led him to oppose the death penalty but that he would uphold the state law. "Kaine demonstrated that if you articulate your position in a thoughtful and consistent manner, then people will respect that position," said J. Tucker Martin, Kilgore's spokesman in that race and later an aide to then-Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R). Still, Martin said, he believes that Virginia remains "a pretty tough-on-crime state." There were 11 executions on Kaine's watch, despite his beliefs. A 2013 University of Mary Washington poll found that 65 % of Virginia adults believe that the state should "keep" the death penalty for 1st-degree murder. "I continue to believe the majority of Virginians support the death penalty," said Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran, who testified in favor of this year's lethal injection bill. "The death penalty exists in the commonwealth, and we're merely trying to ensure that those sentenced to death are able to have the choice of lethal injection." When McAuliffe ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2009, according to news reports, he supported capital punishment. McAuliffe's office said this week that his position has always been that he would not let his personal feelings on the issue keep him from performing his duties as governor. The death penalty still has majority backing nationally as well, according to a 2014 Washington Post poll, although support is slowly falling. Among Democrats, however, a slim majority is opposed, and the same is true for non-white respondents. And if lethal injection is unavailable, overall support in the poll dips to 48 %. Numbers of executions and death sentences have declined along with popular support in Virginia and nationally. There are currently eight inmates on death row in Virginia, fewer than in all but 7 other states that practice capital punishment. Virginia, once 2nd only to Texas in executions, has fallen behind Oklahoma and has executed fewer people than Florida every year since 2011. Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who sponsored the bill on behalf of McAuliffe, suggested that death penalty opponents are hoping for a return to the electric chair to weaken support for capital punishment. Their argument, he said, was that "if you make the death penalty too humane .?.?. then people will think there's nothing wrong with the death penalty." Del. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said that he suspected that the Department of Corrections was seeking additional secrecy to prevent the kind of scrutiny that occurred last year. Last year, soon after the department told lawmakers that it lacked a necessary lethal-injection drug, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that an alternative had been purchased and stockpiled. Then, the department announced that the new drug had been approved for use. But the drug, midazolam, was involved in prolonged executions under scrutiny by the Supreme Court. The Department of Corrections "got egg on their face," Surovell said. "They're trying to make all these documents secret so they don't get caught again." Even without the legislation, obtaining records related to executions is far from easy. Surovell is engaged in a legal battle with the Department of Corrections over its refusal to reveal lethal-injection protocols, citing security concerns. The state Supreme Court will hear that case. (source: Washington Post) NORTH CAROLINA: State seeking death penalty against Davis The state will seek the death penalty against Eric Lorenzo Davis, charged with the 1st-degree murder of his daughter, Erica. Davis had a court date Wednesday (Feb. 4) and it was continued until April 15. Erica Davis, was found unresponsive by paramedics Oct. 11, 2013 in a hotel room in Qualla; the 4-year-old died a day later after being removed from life support. At the Rule 24 hearing held Dec. 18, 2013, the state laid out aggravating factors which made the case eligible for the death penalty. They said the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel; they also said it was part of a course of conduct in which the defendant engaged and which included the commission by the defendant of other crimes of violence against another person or persons. Sometime before 7 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, a woman staying at the Qualla Motel heard banging on her door. When she opened the door, Eric Davis was standing outside. He told her that his daughter was choking on water and needed help, a juvenile petition filed by Jackson County Department of Social Services provided by the children's family stated. The woman, a registered nurse, went to Davis' aid. When she saw Erica, however, the woman "immediately ... recognized that the child had head trauma" and notified Cherokee 911 dispatchers, the petition stated. Cherokee, in turn, called Jackson County 911 (the motel is just outside the reservation boundary) and reported Erica was still breathing but wasn't responsive. EMS workers rushed to the scene. Seeing the child's injuries they called for deputies. Eric Davis claimed he left Erica and his 3-year-old son, Eric Jr., on the previous night with someone named Pookie who lived on Wright's Creek in Cherokee. When Erica arrived at Harris Regional Hospital, she was unconscious and her core temperature was 93.7, according to the petition. Erica had rib fractures, a depressed skull, subdural bleeding (blood on the brain's surface beneath the skull), old blood on the brain that indicated prior head injury, a collapsed lung, multiple circular bruising on her chest, significant lateral bruising on her buttocks and back, bruising on her throat and her eyes were bulging from a buildup of pressure, according to the petition. The autopsy lists the official cause of Erica's death as "acute intracranial injury with subdural hematoma and cerebral edema" due to blunt trauma to the head. Erica was struck repeatedly, including with a cylindrical object; multiple contusions and several lacerations were found. There was blunt trauma to her thorax, abdomen, back and pelvis; 3 of her ribs were fractured, the autopsy report states. Eric Davis is also charged with 2 counts of intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. His son was covered in bruises when investigators arrived. His buttocks showed heavy bruising and there were hand print marks on both sides of his face, the petition states. Davis is represented by 2 attorneys since it is a capital case - Keith Hanson of Asheville and Kim Stevens of Winston-Salem. District Attorney Ashley Welch and assistant DA Eric Bellas will be prosecuting for the state. (source: The Sylva Herald) **************** Death penalty sought in slaying of nurse in Cary Wake County prosecutors announced Thursday that they plan to seek the death penalty against a man accused of shooting a nurse outside a Cary apartment complex in August. Daniel Scott Remington, 36, of Gooseneck Drive in Cary, faces a charge of murder in the death of Wendy Jean Johnson, whom he allegedly shot around 11 p.m. Aug. 22 in the parking lot of Hyde Park Apartments - less than 2 miles from his home. Johnson, 58, of Sanford, had been in Cary for her job and, according to a search warrant in the case, was getting out of her car when Remington allegedly approached her and shot her after she wouldn't give him her purse. She was taken to Duke University Hospital in Durham, where she was pronounced dead. (source: WRAL news) FLORIDA: Jacksonville man's death-penalty trial in limbo until appellate court rules on conflict issue Randall Deviney is living in a unique kind of legal limbo. He could go on trial for his life next week, or he could soon be getting a new lawyer and see his trial delayed for months. Deviney, 25, is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Jacksonville charged with murdering 65-year-old neighbor Delores Futrell, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. But the trial cannot actually begin until the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee rules on whether the office of Public Defender Matt Shirk has a conflict of interest in representing both Deviney and Donald James Smith, who is charged with the murder of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle. In a letter to the Times-Union, Deviney said he has information on another murder that Smith committed and is willing to share what he knows if prosecutors will promise to drop the death penalty and only put him in prison for about 20 years. The Public Defender's Office said this creates a conflict of interest that requires removal from representing both Deviney and Smith because it can't represent one without doing harm to the other. But Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper refused to do so in either case because prosecutors said they have no interest in talking with Deviney about anything he knows about Smith. Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda has said he believes that Deviney is perpetuating a fraud on the court. The Public Defender's Office appealed the decision and argued that an inherent conflict now exists even if prosecutors have no interest in talking with either man. The appellate court is reviewing Cooper's ruling and ordered both cases halted while it considers the issue. But Deviney is still scheduled to go on trial next week. At a pretrial hearing Thursday, Cooper rejected a request by Assistant Public Defender Melina Buncome that the case be indefinitely delayed. The judge acknowledged that Deviney's trial couldn't begin Monday if they're still waiting for the appellate court to rule, but Cooper didn't delay the trial in the hope it would rule in the next few days. Buncome argued it was causing too much stress for her witnesses to not know if they would be testifying next week or not. De la Rionda, who opposed delaying the case, said he was ready to begin the trial. He said his witnesses were also in limbo, but the case should be tried next week if possible. The case will only move forward if the appellate court affirms Cooper's ruling. If it orders the public defender removed from the case, it will take new lawyers months to get up to speed. If there is no ruling by Monday, Cooper will have to decide whether to set a new trial date a few weeks ahead or indefinitely delay the trial and wait for a ruling. Smith's case already has been indefinitely delayed. Deviney is accused of slitting Futrell's throat in her Westside home on Bennington Drive. Futrell used to fix meals for Deviney, paid him to do odd jobs and spoke with him about troubles in his youth. A jury previously convicted him in 2010 and recommended he be sentenced to death by a 10-2 vote. Cooper put him on death row, but the Florida Supreme Court threw out the conviction. Justices ruled that police should have stopped questioning Deviney after he repeatedly told them he was done speaking. Police ignored those comments and kept questioning him, and Deviney eventually confessed to killing Futrell. (source: Jacksonville.com) ALABAMA----former death row inmate dies Convicted killer Borden dies in prison The convicted killer of an elderly Lawrence County woman in 1993 has died in prison after a bout with pancreatic cancer. James Henry Borden Jr., 65, died at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Jefferson County last weekend, the Jefferson County Coroner's office confirmed Monday. Borden died in the prison infirmary at 7:53 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1. He had been in the infirmary since Dec. 22, and had a do-not-resuscitate order. Borden was convicted and sentenced to death for the Sept. 5, 1993 murder of 63-year-old Nellie Ledbetter, who was stabbed to death in front of her young grandchildren. Borden was 1 of 3 men who drove to Ledbetter's house and approached her on the porch with her grandchildren. Borden and the 2 other men left the residence when Ledbetter's husband came out on the porch. Borden returned alone approximately 45 minutes later with a knife and held it to Ledbetter's throat trying to get her to leave with him. When she refused to leave, he fatally stabbed her in the chest and stomach in front of one of her grandchildren, who later testified at the trial. Borden's trial took place in early December 1994, and it took jurors less than 1 hour of deliberation to return a guilty verdict. Borden was convicted of capital murder because of a previous murder conviction, the 1975 shooting death of a Landersville store owner. The jury also voted 10-2 to recommend the death penalty, which Lawrence County Circuit Judge Philip Reich handed down. However, Borden's death penalty was overturned by the Supreme Court with a 2002 decision that said mentally retarded killers can't be executed. Experts determined Borden had an IQ of 53. In 2005, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals agreed that Borden should not face the death penalty. (source: Moulton Advertiser) *************************** Death penalty trial for Huntsville man charged with killing wife and young son could be delayed A Huntsville man facing the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted of killing his wife and young son has been given a new lawyer and it is not clear when the case will go to trial. Stephen Marc Stone, 35, is charged with capital murder in the February 2013 deaths of his wife, Krista Stone and their 7-year-old son, Zachary, at the family's home on Chicamauga Trail in south Huntsville. Stone, who police said admitted strangling his wife and drowning his son, did not harm his 2 young daughters and turned himself in to police in Leeds - where his parents lived - the same day. Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard has said his office will seek the death penalty for Stone. Broussard is prosecuting Stone along with Assistant DA Tim Gann. Stone has been represented by court-appointed attorneys Brian Clark and Lonzo Robinson. But Robinson filed notice to the court Tuesday that he has taken a job with the City of Huntsville and has to withdraw from the case. Robinson begins the new job Monday, said Huntsville City Attorney Peter Joffrion. Robinson will serve as the Supervising Prosecutor for the City Attorney's Office, Joffrion said. Madison County Circuit Judge Donna Pate accepted the withdrawal and has appointed attorney Larry Marsili as Clark's co-counsel in representing Stone. No trial date has been set. But the addition of new counsel in a death penalty case is likely to mean the date will be pushed back further to allow Marsili time to become familiar with the record. Pate ordered a mental health evaluation for Stone last August. The judge asked state doctors to assess whether Stone is competent to stand trial and if he understood the nature of his actions at the time of the alleged offenses. An insanity defense in Alabama requires the defense to prove the defendant was so afflicted by mental health issues he did not understand the nature or wrongfulness of his actions at the time of the offense. Pate's order said the court found reasonable grounds exist to question the defendant's competency to stand trial and his mental state at the time of the offense. During Stone's preliminary hearing in May 2013, a police investigator testified that Stone said something inside of him had "broken" the day before the killings. The court record does not indicate the results of the state's mental health exam. (source: al.com) KENTUCKY: It's just too expensive to execute people, says Kentucky lawmaker Kentucky lawmakers have been trying for years to outlaw the death penalty, to no avail. But proponents of the latest bill, a bipartisan effort, have seized upon an argument that has been growing in popularity nationwide. It's just too expensive to execute people. "We believe that strictly on the bases of costs, life without parole makes more sense," Rep. David Floyd (R) told the Louisville Courier-Journal. Floyd, the House Republican whip, introduced a bill on Wednesday to repeal Kentucky's death penalty. At the very least, Floyd would like the state to figure out how much it's spending on death penalty trials. Thursday, he estimated that these cases have cost the state $400 million since 1976. In that time, Kentucky has only executed 3 people, the last one in 2008. "We're talking about $130 million per execution to maintain a system that clogs the courts and delays finality for victims' families," he said. There have always been moral arguments against the death penalty. Floyd said he opposes it because of his Christian faith. Furthermore, DNA evidence has produced a steady stream of death row exonerations in recent years, reminding the public that prosecutors and juries make mistakes. "We have a system where the innocent are sacrificed so we can execute the b--d," Floyd said, noting that Kentucky has an alarmingly high error rate when it comes to capital convictions. In 2011, the American Bar Association called for Kentucky to stop executing people until the state fixed its legal system. (Executions in Kentucky have effectively been on hold anyway since 2009, when the state's Supreme Court ruled that its lethal injection procedures needed to be reviewed.) The ABA report reviewed death penalty cases since 1976 and found that 64 % of defendants - 50 out of 78 - had seen their cases overturned on appeal. Still, it's been hard for Floyd to convince some of his fellow lawmakers to stand with him against executions. A 2013 Courier-Journal poll of registered Kentucky voters found that two-thirds want capital punishment. Last year, he hit on his current point. He had been talking to the state's public defender's office, which spends millions handling death penalty cases. Floyd began to see the outlines of an argument that might appeal to his budget-minded friends in the GOP. This idea that there's something fiscally irresponsible about the death penalty is not new. But the talking point has become popular in recent years, as state governments continue to tread a shaky path out of the recession. In November, for instance, Kentucky faced a projected $135 million shortfall in its $9.8 billion budget going into 2015. Several states have produced studies showing that when a prosecutor decides to go for the death penalty, the cost of the case balloons. In a report released in January, professors at Seattle University found that, on average, death penalty cases cost 1.5 times as much, or about $1 million more, than similar murder cases not involving the death penalty. In particular, the government spends about 3 times more on defense costs for these trials. (The research was funded by the American Civil Liberties Union.) In California, a study from 2011 estimated that the state spends $184 million a year on costs related to death penalty, totaling over $4 billion since the state brought back capital punishment in 1978. These kinds of cases are expensive in part because defense lawyers are required to pull out all the stops when a person's life is on the line. "The ABA has put out guidelines that make it clear that people representing folks facing a death penalty have enormous responsibilities," said Jordan Steiker, a law professor at the University of Texas. This adds to the cost of a trial - not just the lawyers' fees, but fees for special experts, such as psychiatrists and litigation specialists. If a defendant can't afford these measures (and most don't), the bill goes to the state. "Cost has really changed the practice on the ground," Steiker said. The number of death penalty cases has plummeted in recent decades, he said, in part because prosecutors are becoming cautious of how expensive the trials are. Steiker, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, published an article in 2010 explaining how these economic concerns have changed the debate surrounding the death penalty. "The high cost of administering the death penalty has become a prominent - perhaps the most prominent - issue in contemporary discussions about whether the penalty should be limited or abolished," he wrote. But will this argument gain ground in Kentucky? Floyd, the Republican representative, said he's already changed a few minds. His bill hasn't yet been penciled into the judiciary committee schedule, but he's hopeful this will be the year that everything changes. (source: Washington Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 6 13:05:25 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2015 13:05:25 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MICH., KAN., MO., ARIZ., CALIF., WASH., USA Message-ID: Feb. 6 MICHIGAN: State senator pushes death penalty for cop killers A Senate Democrat faces an uphill battle in his quest to bring the death penalty to Michigan for people convicted of killing a police or correctional officer. State Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, said he promised a constituent - James Bowens, father of Detroit Police Officer Matthew Bowens who was killed during a traffic stop in 2004 - that he would bring the issue up this year. "If you kill a cop, you're the most egregious criminal out there," Smith said. "If you're willing to go that far, there's no telling what you're willing to do. There should be no mercy at that point. He offered a resolution to change the state's constitution that would require a 2/3 vote in both the House and Senate as well as statewide vote of the people. Michigan was the first state to officially abolish capital punishment in 1847. That ban was reinforced by the 1962 constitutional convention. But there have been at least three efforts in recent years to bring back the death penalty. Former state Rep. Larry Julian, R-Lennon, a former state trooper tried in 1999 and 2004 to bring back the death penalty. He was bolstered in his 2nd effort when the parents of the 2 slain Detroit Police officers - Bowens and his partner Officer Jennifer Fetig - signed on to the effort. But both efforts fell far short of the 2/3 vote needed to be place on the ballot. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard also offered a resolution to bring the death penalty to Michigan in 1995 when he was a state Senator. He couldn't get enough co-sponsors to have the issue taken up for a vote. But the Birmingham Republican still believes in capital punishment. "I'm supportive of it whether it's a soccer mom, a business owner or a police officer who is killed," he said. "I think a jury has the right to make that decision. It's a shame that the Legislature consistently refuses to let the people vote on it." Michigan is 1 of 18 states to abolish the death penalty, including 6 states which have gotten rid of capital punishment in the last decade, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The U.S. Supreme Court is also hearing challenges to Oklahoma's lethal injection policies after 3 botched executions. In 2014, 35 people were executed in 7 states. Another 7 inmates on death row were exonerated last year. There still can be federal executions in Michigan, but the last person executed in the state was Anthony Chebatoris, who was hanged July 8, 1938, at the federal prison in Milan after he was convicted of killing a bystander during a bank robbery in Midland. Bowens and Fettig, were killed during a traffic stop in southwest Detroit. Eric L. Marshall was convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. He died in 2010. Republican Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, is a former Sheriff and strong advocate for victims of crime. But even he said he's against the death penalty in all circumstances because the risk of making a mistake is just too high. "Occasionally, the system makes a mistake," Jones said. "If a mistake is made, we can't dig somebody up and say we're sorry. If somebody's in prison, we can release them. I'm firmly against the death penalty." The Michigan Catholic Conference is also a strong voice against bringing the death penalty back,saying the state should be proud of its anti-capital punishment tradition. "We have structures in place that shield society from an aggressor who has committed such a heinous crime," said David Maluchnick, spokesman for the Conference. "We believe that a government with the power to kill is a government with too much power. "At a time when so many states are moving away from the death penalty, it's quite surprising that Michigan is contemplating moving the other way," he added. Smith acknowledged that passing his resolution won't be easy, "But it's only for police and correctional officers. These are the people at the front line trying to defend our public safety, so we need to protect them as much as we can." The resolution has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee. (source: Detroit Free Press) ********************** Legislator wants the death penalty in Michigan for anyone who kills a cop A state senator from Detroit wants to authorize the death penalty in Michigan, but only for anyone who's convicted of killing a police officer, according to the Detroit Free Press. "If you kill a cop, you're the most egregious criminal out there," Smith told the newspaper. "If you're willing to go that far, there's no telling what you're willing to do. There should be no mercy at that point." Smith's effort won't be easy, per se: To overturn the constitutional ban on capital punishment in Michigan, his resolution would require the approval of 2/3 of the members in the state House and Senate and an affirmative vote from voters. If the state Legislature approves the resolution, it would go before voters in November 2016, according to the Associated Press. (source: Detroit Metro Times) ************************* Death Penalty Bill May Not Get Far It looks unlikely that a proposal to allow the death penalty in Michigan will go anywhere this term. A resolution in the state Senate would allow the death penalty for people convicted of murdering police officers in the line of duty. But the Republican chair of the committee considering the measure - who also happens to be a former police officer - says he will not support the measure. "If a mistake is made, we can't dig somebody up and say we're sorry," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge. "If somebody's in prison, we can release them - hopefully even compensate them for the miscarriage of justice. So, I'm firmly against the death penalty." Jones is typically viewed as one of the more conservative members of the state Senate, and has built a reputation for subscribing to a "tough on crime" political philosophy. He says he will grant the resolution a committee hearing if there is significant support for it on the panel. But Jones says he will personally oppose it - and it is ultimately up to him to decide whether to hold a vote in committee. Michigan became the 1st state - and possibly the 1st English-speaking territory in the world - to abolish capital punishment in 1847. Although it was technically allowed for a short time after statehood, the state has never performed an execution. Recent debates about whether to once again allow the death penalty have been infrequent and ill-fated. Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, says he introduced the resolution on behalf of one constituent in a newly-added area of his district whose son was killed in the line of duty. "If you kill a cop, you're the most egregious criminal out here," said Smith. "If you're willing to go that far, ain't no telling what you're willing to do. So, there's no mercy at that point." Smith's resolution does have support from the 2 top Republicans in the state Senate, Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, and Majority Floor Leader Mike Kowall, R-White Lake Twp. Both are listed as cosponsors of the resolution. The measure would need 2/3 support from both the state House and Senate. It would then need to be approved by Michigan voters. The Michigan Catholic Conference issued a statement this week promising that it "will devote the full weight of its organization to oppose and defeat any effort to allow for state-sanctioned murder." "The death penalty is an antiquated and inhumane method of punishment representing nothing more than retaliation and more violence," it said. "It has no place in a civilized society. The prohibition against capital punishment in the 1963 Michigan Constitution is clear: the state has no right to decide who lives and who dies." (source: WMUK news) ************************* The death penalty and the facts State Senator Virgil Smith, a Detroit Democrat, wants Michigan to enact the death penalty for anyone who kills a police officer in the line of duty. To quote the senator: "If you kill a cop ... if you're willing to go that far, ain't no telling what you're willing to do." He doesn't think such a person deserves to live. He's not alone in this: 2 powerful Republican allies, Senate Majority leader Arlan Meekhof and Majority Floor Leader Mike Kowall are cosponsoring his resolution. But it's already clear this isn't going anywhere. The Roman Catholic Church, which is otherwise stoutly conservative on social issues, is strongly against the death penalty. Rick Jones, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is opposed to it, and he is nobody's kale salad-eating liberal. He is a tough conservative, a career law enforcement officer, and a former sheriff. Senator Jones said he was opposed to capital punishment because, after all, mistakes are made. But law enforcement officers and criminologists, also know two things about the death penalty. First, states that have the death penalty have significantly higher murder rates than those that don't have it. Second, there's no evidence that the death penalty deters crime. Nobody who kills somebody in a fit of passion sits down first with a legal pad and evaluates pros and cons. Studies show that most other murders are committed either under the influence of drugs and alcohol, or by those who are mentally ill. Having the death penalty for cop killers could in fact lead to more murdered cops. Police are all too familiar with the concept of "suicide by cop," in which someone attempts to provoke a policeman into killing them in a bizarre form of suicide. Specifying the death penalty only for those who kill police could, in other words, have unintended and tragic consequences. Actually, if someone was rational about all this, they might well be more inclined to kill if they thought they would be put to sleep rather than spend life in prison, without hope of parole. If you wonder why, watch the movie The Shawshank Redemption for a mild taste of what life behind bars is like. There's 1 final reason the death penalty is a bad idea, one you might not suspect: Inflicting it is terribly expensive. The cost isn't in the execution itself. It is in the extra legal work and appeals surrounding any death penalty case. An Urban Institute study found that in Maryland, where the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, the extra cost to the taxpayers was $186 million in the first 30 years. That???s for 5 executions. In Washington State, each case where prosecutors have sought the death penalty has cost the state more than 1 million extra dollars. Other states have similar stories. James Abbott, a respected New Jersey police chief, said recently that we should forget about the death penalty, and instead give law enforcement officers the money we've been wasting on it to fight crime. He knows what he's talking about. It may feel good to think about killing those we are most mad at. But like many fantasies, it doesn't make much sense. (source: Jack Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's political analyst. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan----Michiganradio.org) KANSAS: Judge to Allow Death Penalty in Quadruple Homicide Case A judge has ruled that prosecutors may seek the death penalty against a man accused in the deaths of 4 people at a Kansas farm, including an 18-month-old girl, in 2013. Franklin County District Judge Eric Godderz ruled during a hearing Friday the death penalty will be allowed in the case against 29-year-old Kyle Flack of Ottawa. He is charged with murder and rape after 2 men, a woman and her daughter were found dead near Ottawa. Flack has pleaded not guilty. The Lawrence Journal-World reports ( http://bit.ly/1C59xs5 ) Flack's attorney argued the death penalty should be banned because of "evolving standards of decency," noting that 120 countries have rejected the punishment. Godderz said his court is bound to follow precedent in Kansas and the U.S., which allow the death penalty. (source: Associated Press) MISSOURI: Republican lawmaker proposes repeal of death penalty Legislation that would repeal the death penalty in Missouri has been offered again in the state legislature. Republican State Representative T.J. Berry has filed HB 772 and says when he first joined the legislature 4 years ago, he was a death penalty supporter. "I didn't start out there until I really, really looked at the issue thoroughly," said Berry. "Being a representative made me look at the issue thoroughly." Berry says it's cheaper for the state to sentence someone to life without parole than to give them a death sentence. "When you look at all of the legal costs of doing a death penalty case, it becomes extremely expensive for the state to do," said Berry. Many have said the goal of the death penalty is to serve as a deterrent, but Berry says it's no longer a deterrent when it takes an average of over 18 years to prosecute someone. "If it was done the next day after the guilty verdict, and it was public, maybe, but that's not our system and that's not what we do," said Berry. Last year, Republican representative Paul Wieland proposed a repeal of the death penalty and several Republicans, including Berry, were co-sponsors. Berry hopes to gain more support from fellow members of his caucus. "The more you make this a fiscal responsibility discussion, I think the more Republicans that you will have on board," said Berry. The state's next execution is set for Wednesday. Walter Storey is scheduled die by lethal injection for the 1990 murder of Jill Frey. (source: Missourinet.com) ARIZONA: Psychologist Describes Arias as a 'Stalker' in Death Penalty Retrial Lawyers in the Jodi Arias death penalty sentencing retrial wrapped up another intense day in court after a psychologist described the convicted boyfriend killer as a "stalker." Dr. Janine DeMarte, who was called to the witness stand on Wednesday by prosecutors, gave a testimony that contradicted the defense argument that Arias was emotionally abused by Travis Alexander, the man she murdered almost 7 years ago. Dr. DeMarte described Arias as an extremely jealous stalker with borderline personality disorder and a fixation on Alexander, reports Fox 10 Phoenix. The psychologist also said that Arias refused to let him move on and resorted to spying on him and confronting other girls that he dated. She went on to say that Arias was prone to manic episodes of extreme happiness and despair and discredited defense arguments that Arias murdered Alexander as a result of abuse she endured by him and her own family in the past. The psychologist added that police interviews showed that Arias wasn't liked by some of her family members. Dr. DeMarte is expected to be cross-examined by the defense starting on Thursday. Earlier in the week, prosecutors presented the jury with sexually explicit text messages that Arias exchanged with Alexander to show that she was enthusiastic about their sex life. Prosecutors read some of the graphic messages aloud on Tuesday in effort to cast the convicted killer in a negative light. Arias' former co-workers also said that she displayed inappropriate behavior with colleagues, while 1 witness said she that gave her number out to a man on the flight after leaving Alexander's memorial service, reports Fox 10 Phoenix. Although Arias was found guilty of 1st-degree murder last May in the death of her ex-boyfriend, in her 1st trial, jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and she shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower and took pictures of him. (source: Latin Post) ************************** Sentencing retrial to take longer than expected The sentencing retrial for the murder case against Jodi Arias seems to be dragging longer than expected, yet the end is still not in sight. Arias' sentencing retrial was called after the set of jurors during the 1st trial failed to come up with a unified decision on the just punishment for the controversial crime 2 years ago. The 1st court proceedings lasted for approximately 5 months, and it became one of the major news items during that time. It was even broadcast live by several media outfits. The present retrial began on Oct. 20 last year, and after more than 3 months, litigation is still ongoing. However, in the current proceedings, Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens banned all live telecast of the trials, and the media can only release still photos from the court. But despite the lessened media attention, it seems to be taking longer than expected, and it is even perceived to last much longer than the first one. On Tuesday, a psychologist as well as victim Travis Alexander's former Mormon bishop were called by the prosecution to prove that Arias deserves to be given a death penalty. The prosecution team called psychologist Janeen Demarte to the stand to let the jury know that Arias was not a victim of domestic and sexual abuse as her defense team is trying to project. According to Demarte's testimony, the police interviews during the time of the murder investigation shows that Arias' own family do not like her very much. She also mentioned that Arias was known by her colleagues for constantly acting inappropriately, and 1 of the witnesses also said that she gave her contact number to a man while she was on the flight back after the memorial service for Alexander. Some of the very graphic and vulgar text exchanges between the victim and Arias were also read during Tuesday's court session, proving that she had a promiscuous relationship with Alexander. Meanwhile, Mormon Bishop Vernon Parker also spoke about the time Alexander stayed in his house, and confirmed that the victim accessed pornography using his computer. (source: Christian Today) CALIFORNIA: Death penalty sought in teen's hate crime murder 2 men, described as 'well-documented' gang members, could face the death penalty if they are convicted in the gunshot slaying of Poly High School freshman Lareanz Simmons. Charges were filed this week against Cristian Velasquez, 23, and Manuel Barbarin, 24, after recent new leads surfaced in the 3-year-old homicide. Simmons, 14, was confronted outside his Eastside home when a suspect got out of a vehicle and fired 6 shots. Authorities have not said which suspect was the actual gunman and added that a 3rd, unnamed suspect may be involved. Simmons was described as a popular, caring kid who was active in his community and not affiliated with any gang. Detectives said Thursday the incident was 'gang motivated and racially motivated'. (source: Inland News Today) WASHINGTON: Carnation killer's confession played in court Thursday In court Thursday, a jury heard accused killer Joe McEnroe confess to shooting his girlfriend's entire family. Joe McEnroe is charged with 6 counts of aggravated 6st-degree murder for killing his girlfriend's family in Carnation on Christmas Eve in 2007. His girlfriend, Michele K. Anderson is also charged with the murders. The recording lasted about 3 hours. For more than an hour and a half on the recordings, McEnroe stuck to his story about seeing Wayne and Judy Anderson on Christmas Eve 2007. He said he and Michele Anderson told her parents they were headed to Las Vegas to elope. "They were, they were thrilled, you know. I mean yeah. I mean I was gonna be officially a part of the family now," said a relaxed, talkative McEnroe on the recording. The conversation turned when detective Jake Pavlovich told McEnroe that Michele K. Anderson was telling another detective they were responsible for the murders. "I basically told him, 'I know you were involved. Michele is telling us the truth. I would like to get the truth from you as well,'" Detective Jake Pavlovich told the court Thursday. Then in the recording, McEnroe slowly revealed how he and Anderson shot her parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, her brother Scott Anderson and his wife Erica, and the couples' 2 young children: Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3. "I remember telling Erica that I was sorry, and I remember, I remember Nathan, Nathan looked, Nathan looked like he understood," said McEnroe in the recorded confession, " ... like he didn't hate us for it." Then McEnroe admitted he shot the 3-year-old: "I killed him with a single shot to the head. I didn't want him to suffer." McEnroe went on: "I didn't want anybody to suffer, okay? I shot Erica in the head. I shot Olivia in the head." Pam Mantle sat in the court room and shook her head - Erica Anderson was her daughter, Olivia and Nathan were her grandchildren. When Detective Pavlovich asked McEnroe why he killed Erica, Olivia and Nathan, McEnroe replied, "They saw everything. We thought that if we left them alone, if we walked away, we'd be here telling you what I am now; the same reason we shot mom. That's the same." Throughout the recorded interview McEnroe refers to Michelle Anderson's parents, Judy and Wayne, as mom and dad. McEnroe told the detective he felt bad about the murders. "This, you know, of all the things that I've ever seen in my life, nothing is worse than then seeing, seeing somebody dead and knowing that it was my fault," said McEnroe 2/3 of the way through his recorded confession. Investigators say the motive was money. Anderson was upset her parents were going to ask her to start paying rent for the mobile home she and McEnroe shared on her parents' property. Anderson believed her brother owed her money. McEnroe's defense team said McEnroe did kill the Anderson family, but did so because he was under the control of Michele K. Anderson. McEnroe's trial has been delayed by arguments over a possible death penalty and whether he can change his not guilty plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. McEnroe tried to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. The King County prosecutor wouldn't make a deal. The defense for McEnroe Anderson has topped $8 million, according to the King County Department of Public Defense. The King County Prosecutor's staff said they have spent just over $1 million. The costs associated with investigations and work by the WSP Crime Lab are not included in that figure. Anderson's trial, delayed by questions of her mental competency, is scheduled for the fall. Prosecutors will play the rest of the confession in court on Monday. (source: KIRO TV news) USA: Don't Expect Supreme Court's Latest Review of Lethal Injection to Kill Death Penalty Last week, the Supreme Court put 3 executions in Oklahoma on hold as it reviews the constitutionality of the state's death penalty protocol. If the nation's top court strikes down Oklahoma's lethal injection procedure, what would it mean for the death penalty? We've asked the experts what you need to know. What exactly is the Supreme Court reviewing? The court is assessing Oklahoma's use of the drug midazolam, a sedative used in its 5-drug lethal injection protocol. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 5 states have used midazolam for their executions, and at least 5 other states have proposed using it. In the wake of several botched executions in 2014 involving the drug, a group of death row inmates in Oklahoma filed a petition challenging the efficacy of midazolam to mitigate pain, which they claim would render the state's executions in violation of the Eighth Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual" punishment. (In Florida, death row inmate Jerry William Correll, scheduled to be killed on Feb. 26, filed for a temporary block of the execution pending the U.S. Supreme Court's review.) "[Midazolam] doesn't guarantee that the prisoners will be insensate throughout the execution," said Eighth Amendment expert Megan McCracken from U.C. Berkeley School of Law's Death Penalty Clinic. Legal experts are not the only ones with concerns about Oklahoma's drug protocol. Several anesthesiologists have expressed concern about using midazolam for executions. The drug is typically used in surgical procedures to sedate patients before they receive anesthesia. To sedate an average adult in surgery, a dose of midazolam is normally no more than 2 milligrams. State executioners, however, administer the drug in much greater quantities. During recent executions, about 500 milligrams have been used. Many medical experts have noted that little is known about how the body reacts at that dose. "We don't know the effects of 500 milligrams of midazolam," said Dr. David Waisel, an anesthesiologist at the Boston Children's Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. "We don't study it, and we don't use it clinically. They are experimenting." Why did the Supreme Court agree to consider a challenge to lethal injection now? The lethal injection landscape has been fraught with issues since 2011, when Hospira, the only American manufacturer of a key lethal injection drug, stopped its production in the midst of an international campaign by capital punishment opponents. The company's decision set off a scramble to find another supplier and ultimately another drug. In late 2013, Florida became the 1st state to execute an individual using midazolam, but it wasn't until April 2014 that concerns about midazolam became widespread. That month, Oklahoma botched the execution of prisoner Clayton Lockett. Despite receiving an injection of midazolam, Lockett groaned and writhed on the gurney for about 40 minutes until his death, witnesses reported. "I think the Supreme Court would prefer not to have to get involved in the details of executions, but felt compelled to because of what happened last year," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "Something went really wrong, and somebody's got to monitor this thing or states will keep repeating it." The Supreme Court is expected to hear the Oklahoma prisoners' case in April and make a final ruling by July. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, midazolam was used for at least 11 of 35 executions in 2014. Is this the 1st time that the Supreme Court has weighed in on lethal injection? No. The last time the court weighed in was seven years ago, when it upheld Kentucky's lethal injection protocol in the case Baze v. Rees. According to McCracken, it's critical to look at what has changed since then. "In 2008, all of the states were using a very similar protocol - all the states were using the same 3 drugs," McCracken said. "Because some pharmaceutical companies have made their drugs unavailable for executions, the states have been changing their methods." McCracken considers the botched executions a "consequence of using untested, untried combinations." What happens if the court strikes down the lethal injection method? It's possible that midazolam would no longer be used. Other drugs might take its place or Oklahoma might decide to use a single-drug protocol in place of the current three-drug cocktail. "I don't think that the death penalty is going anywhere," said Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. Even if the court limits the use of lethal injection and states continue to face difficulty getting approved drugs, there are other methods that prisons could employ. Virginia lawmakers have already discussed bringing back the electric chair when the approved drugs are not readily available. Wyoming lawmakers have proposed allowing firing squads. Death penalty experts doubt that such methods would become the primary protocol for execution. "States changed from hanging to electric chair because it was a modern, supposedly painless method of execution," said Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center. "There has been a continuous attempt to make executions appear more palatable, humane, and modern." Could this be the beginning of a larger trend moving away from the death penalty? Not really. "The Supreme Court position is that if the death penalty is constitutional, some method of execution will be allowed," Dieter said. "But you have to try to do the best. You have to minimize the harm. You can't just use any drug that's on the shelf. It has to be something reputable that stands up to scrutiny. [The Supreme Court] is not going to narrow it so much that it makes it impossible." The rate of executions across the United States, however, has decreased markedly over the past decade. 10 years ago 60 inmates were executed. In 2014, there were 35. Among the 32 states that allow the death penalty, only 7 had executions in the past year. "In many places in the U.S., the death penalty is at best a symbolic gesture," said Austin Sarat, Amherst professor and author of "Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty". Regardless of this downward trend, more than 3,000 people remain on death row in the United States, including, as of today, 393 in Florida. (source: Flaglerlive.com) ******************************** Society should decide on fate of death penalty Erwin Chemerinsky believes that the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment ["Botched executions and ethical dilemmas," Opinion, Jan. 29] and would like the Supreme Court to so rule, even though it upheld the death penalty as late as 2008 in Baze v. Rees, with a vote of 7-2. Chemerinsky's arguments include the fact that innocent people sometimes are convicted and sentenced to death, and that there is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime. Judicial cases invoking the death penalty are very emotional for all parties involved, usually due to outrageous crimes and aggravating factors of the case. So yes, mistakes are sometimes made. However, in Baze v. Rees, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the plurality opinion, "An isolated mishap alone does not violate the Eighth Amendment." It's quite possible that more people are killed mistakenly by the police than are executed through the death penalty. While there is no evidence that the death penalty deters crime, based on recidivism rates, one could also argue that incarceration does little to deter crime. However, the question remains as to what to do with individuals who have shown that they cannot live in society and are a serious threat. What do we do with the mass murderers, serial killers and rapists? What do we do with people like Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people, or Jack Graham, who killed 44 people? Even though the Supreme Court is unlikely to outlaw the death penalty on constitutional grounds, society can choose not to have or implement such punishment. It is up to society to determine the environment in which we live. R.L. Figard Fountain Valley (source: Letter to the Editor, Orange County Register) ************************* Americans Are Still Pro-Death Penalty Support for capital punishment in America remains steady, despite concerns about wrongful executions and uncertainty as to whether such punishment deters crime. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% of American Adults favor the death penalty. Just 26% are opposed, while 17% are undecided. The national survey of 800 American Adults was conducted on February 2-3, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. (source: Rasmussen Reports) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 6 13:06:28 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2015 13:06:28 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 6 PAPUA NEW GUINEA: PNG's government adamant on death penalty implementation The secretary of Papua New Guinea's justice department says the 13 people on death row in the country will be executed this year. This comes after cabinet endorsed guidelines for the implementation of the death penalty. Lawrence Kalinoe says the government is adamant on starting executions this year, and the 13 people had exhausted all their appeal and constitutional review processes. The newspaper, The National, says cabinet has approved guidelines for 3 modes of execution - hanging, lethal injection and firing squad - which will carried out at a facility to be built at Port Moresby's Bomana Prison. PNG's government reactivated the death penalty in 2013 in reaction to a spate of violent crimes, drawing the ire of international human rights groups. But Mr Kalinoe says critics are hiding behind human rights to criticise the government, and says the death penalty is implemented in sophisticated countries, such as the United States. (source: Radio New Zealand) ZIMBABWE: Child Killer Sentenced to Death A 39-year-old man from Mberengwa has been sentenced to death by hanging after being found guilty of the murder of his 3-year-old stepdaughter whom he had raped. High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha on Tuesday convicted and sentenced Samson Mutero of Madhuve Village in Mberengwa. He was sentenced to death due to aggravating circumstances. In passing the sentence, Justice Kamocha said the murder was planned and committed against a defenceless child who looked up to Mutero for protection. Justice Kamocha said the murder was committed with actual intent considering that Mutero had forced his stepdaughter, Chipochashe Ndlovu, to accompany him to the bush to look for firewood. He said it was clear that Mutero, who was represented by Mr Albert Mhaka of Mhaka Attorneys, had ulterior motives. State counsel Mr Tafadzwa Mupariwa had asked the court to consider a stiffer punishment on Mutero since he had failed to protect the minor who looked up to him for protection and love. "The minor had a right to life, but that right was violently taken away from her," said Mr Mupariwa. "There was no justification for killing the toddler and the State is calling for the maximum penalty." It was proved that on September 20, 2013 at around 11am, Mutero was at his homestead in the company of the child and her mother, Kudzai Dube. Mutero took the infant into the bush on the pretext that he wanted her to assist him in fetching firewood. While in the bush, Mutero raped her once and had anal sex with her before assaulting her all over her body with an unknown object until she fell unconscious. Mutero ferried the child home and placed her in a bedroom hut, but she never gained consciousness. After it was clear that the girl had died, Mutero arranged for her burial in Nkomonye Village, Chief Nyamhondo, in Mberengwa. But the village head Mr Shumeka Shumba became suspicious and reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of Mutero. 9 witnesses were called to testify in case. (source: The Herald) INDIA: Women's imminent executions likely to revive death penalty debate in India The imminent execution of the 1st women to receive the death penalty in India since independence is likely to revive long-standing debate in the country about its use of capital punishment. The 2 sisters, Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit, kidnapped 13 children under the age of 5 in the early 1990s and brutally murdered at least 7 of them in the state of Maharashtra. Human rights lawyer Asim Sarode, who worked on the sisters' mercy plea, does not expect the executions to take place until at least next month. Although personally opposed to the death penalty, Mr Sarode said given the nature of the sisters' crimes, he did not believe the Indian public would be in a hurry to see the laws change in this case. "India as a society is not very much concerned about the way of punishment," he told the ABC. "They are of very general thought that punishment should be hardened and it will create [an] impact and fear on people not to commit offences. This is a very traditional way of thinking." Some, however, have spoken out against the sentence. The MP for the sisters' home state of Kolhapur, Dhananjay Mahadik, told The Independent that while the women's crimes were "very serious", he believed women should not face the death penalty. The sisters' case has also been championed by human rights groups which have long campaigned for capital punishment to be abandoned. "We oppose the death penalty altogether because it's irreversible, inhumane," Meenakshi Ganguly from Human Rights Watch told the ABC. "Every time there is a serious incident like the gang rape in Delhi in 2012, almost always the demand in the protest is for a hanging. "That to me is the concern, it is the maximum punishment that anyone can receive so therefore people ask for it when they're outraged by the crime." But the punishment also has many supporters in India's legal and political system. "Nobody values anything more than his or her life, and any system that takes away your life will terrify you," Pinky Anand, a Supreme Court lawyer and politician, told the New York Times last year. "It is human psychology in addition to criminal jurisprudence." 'Rarest of the rare cases' While the Supreme Court has long stipulated that death sentences should be reserved for "the rarest of the rare cases", there have been a number of high-profile executions in recent years. In 2013, the country executed Muhammad Afzal, who was convicted of plotting the 2001 attack on India's parliament, and in 2012 it hanged Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which killed 166 people. In 2013, the scope of the death penalty increased with greater penalties for rapists, introducing the death penalty when a woman dies from her injuries. This followed the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman which sparked violent protests in several cities. Amnesty International has said executions in India are usually carried out without notice and in secret. In a 2013 report, it said the president of India had rejected the mercy petitions of 18 prisoners that year, the most rejections by any leader for almost 25 years. The group also said information on decisions on mercy petitions was removed from the president's secretariat website. Mr Sarode said the country's Supreme Court asked the government for more certainty, including giving prisoners seven days' notice before they are executed. Use of capital punishment called into question The efficacy of capital punishment was already on the public agenda when the women's pleas for clemency were rejected by India's president Pranab Mukherjee last year. In May, India's Law Commission, which advises the ministry of law and justice, issued a discussion paper asking for public opinion on whether the death penalty should be applied and in what circumstances. It followed a Supreme Court case which found that "inordinate and inexplicable" delays in carrying out executions were grounds for commuting death sentences, and suggested the Commission could investigate "whether death penalty is a deterrent punishment or is retributive justice or serves an incapacitative goal". In January, Indian man Surendra Koli had his death sentenced commuted to life in prison on the basis officials took too long to carry out his execution. He was convicted in 2009 over the gruesome killing of 5 children in a workers' colony in a middle-class neighbourhood in north Delhi. However, Ms Ganguly says there remains a serious issue as long as the death penalty remains in place. "In fact in the region we've seen that Pakistan, which had a moratorium [on the death penalty], has gone back to hanging a lot of people after the Peshawar attacks," she said. "When there's public anger the state tends to think this is a way of showing that they're doing something by executing people." (source: ABC news) SAUDI ARABIA----executions Saudi Arabia beheads 4 convicted murderers Saudi Arabia has beheaded 4 convicted thieves who dressed in women's clothing to lure their victim and murder him, the kingdom's Interior Ministry says. In a statement released on Thursday, the ministry said the beheading was carried out in the eastern Saudi town of Qatif. The 4 Saudi men were convicted on charges of luring a Saudi man, stealing from him and killing him. The latest beheading brings to 25 the number of people executed across the Arab state so far this year. Last year, Saudi authorities executed 87 people, up from 78 recorded in 2013. The country has come under particular criticism from rights groups for executions carried out for non-fatal crimes. According to the London-based rights group, Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest execution rates across the world. Muslim clerics have also criticized Riyadh for indicting and then executing suspects without giving them a chance to defend themselves, describing the Saudi authorities as uncivilized. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking all carry the death penalty under the Saudi penal code. (source: Press TV) INDONESIA: Bali 9 executions: Does the death penalty stop crime? The day is imminent. They will be taken from their beds under cover of darkness, escorted to a secluded field, strapped to a wooden cross and shot to death. Yesterday Bali 9 death row inmates Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaranr learned their final judicial review had been rejected. Their fate is now sealed. All reports suggest that the 2 Australians - who were convicted for their part in a plot to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia - are repentant for their crimes and are now reformed. Yet, they are marked to be executed by firing squad with the next batch of criminals. Given that they have evidently learnt from their mistakes and turned their lives around, why are they being killed at all? Indonesian law expert Professor Tim Lindsey has shed light on the science behind the death penalty today and says the research is conclusive: There is next to no evidence anywhere in the world that the death penalty effectively deters crime of any kind. "The overwhelming evidence around the world is that imposing the death penalty has very little effect on the extent to which a crime was committed," Prof Lindsey, of the University of Melbourne, said. "It doesn't act as an effective disincentive in any case. That's been proven in locations around the world. It doesn't have any discernible impact on stopping those crimes occurring, which is the tragedy of the whole thing." Prof Lindsey said use of the death penalty had more to do with politics than any real desire to reduce crime. He said the fact that because death penalty determinations were shared between the courts and law makers, they "always became extremely political". "Where the life of the subjects is involved, lawyers will push boundaries, and that's certainly the case in Indonesia at the moment," he said. "It has more to do with the political tension of the moment than the merits of the case." Indonesia has hastily ramped up the execution of its criminals since the election of its new president, Joko Widodo. 6 death row inmates have been killed in the country this year alone and another 11 are in line, including Chan and Sukumaran. "Indonesia has not been one of the more aggressive users of the death penalty - that honour goes to Singapore and Malaysia - but that may be shifting," Prof Lindsey said. "Although it's been legally ineffective as a response to rising drug use, (Indonesia) now wants to develop a reputation for being as tough on drugs as Singapore and Malaysia." Prof Lindsey said Mr Joko's rival in last year's election had put a lot of pressure on him to appear tough on crime. And public opinion is on his side. "Drug offenders are seen as mass murderers, along with terrorists ... You could say most Indonesians certainly support the death penalty for those offences. A small minority are uncomfortable," Prof Lindsey said. Psychologist Jeffrey Pfeifer, of Swinburne University, said the US's appetite for capital punishment excused other countries for continuing the practice. "All empirical evidence indicates it's not a deterrent ... but there's a split between the hard science and the political spin," he said. "One of the things that strikes me is the lack of attention placed on the US system, where death occurs almost weekly, if not daily, in that country but it seems to me that it flies under the radar." As an example, a man is scheduled to be put to death today in Texas, a state with a long history of execution. Texas is but 1 of the US's 32 out of 50 states that imposes the death penalty. Debate is raging in the US at the moment about favouring firing squads over other means of killing criminals because it is less expensive than lethal injections or the electric chair. There is also discussion about whether 18-year-olds with the mental age of a 16-year-old should be executed. "As a Canadian, and I'm sure Australians would feel the same way, I think it's a strange debate to be involved in," Assoc Prof Pfeifer said. He also said the US system was psychologically "fascinating" because it is the jury's job to decide whether a convicted criminal should be put to death or not. "It's a fascinating possibility that we can study (but) as a human being, I'm appalled that people are put into that position ,,, it's horrific," Assoc Prof Pfeifer said. "You can only imagine the amount of stress that puts people under." He said Hispanic and African American people tended to be over-represented when death sentences were handed down in the US. Assoc Prof Pfeifer said there was even a been a push in some conservative states to extend the death penalty to crimes where a death from drugs was involved. Meanwhile,3 former Indonesian judges have joined a chorus of criticism over the country's death penalty regime, saying the executions won't drive down drug crime. "It isn't effective in law enforcement, that's a fact," said Maruarar Siahaan, who was on the constitutional court panel that heard the 2007 appeal of Chan and Sukumaran. "As long as there's continuing weak law enforcement, there will always be continuing drug crime. When the opportunity to escape detection is high, the threat of the death penalty won't scare those who are in business of drugs," he said. "In the future, there's got to be an ideological platform for the state where we follow the global trend (away from the death penalty). "We can no longer rely on the idea that this is for a deterrent effect." Indonesia ended an unofficial 4-year moratorium when 5 prisoners were executed in 2013. (source: news.com.au) *************************** Bali 9 prisoners to be executed by end of the month Bali 9 drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be executed before the end of the month, the Indonesian government has said. Indonesian authorities have informed Australian officials of the decision, who in turn visited Kerobokan prison to pass the grim news on to the death-row prisoners. Meanwhile, the family of Bali 9 drug smuggler Myuran Sukumaran has issued a tearful plea for his life as they wept outside the walls of the prison where he will spend his last days. "Please don't kill my brother, please," sister Brintha Sukumaran said. "He's a good person, he's done so much, please don't kill him, please." Along with fellow Bali 9 inmate Andrew Chan, Sukumaran was doomed to certain execution after Indonesia's government rejected their final bid to have their case reviewed. Today, 2 of Sukumaran's paintings left the jail after being sold, with the proceedings helping to pay for an operation for a female prisoner. One Indonesian inmate has even offered to trade places with Chan in front of the firing squad, saying the drug smuggler helped him when he was sick. However, Indonesia appears determined to proceed with the executions. (source: 9news.com.au) ******************************* Indonesian media reinforce death penalty as answer to 'drug crisis' The issue of the death penalty for drug offenders is receiving a lot of media attention as Indonesia executed convicted drug traffickers last month and plans more in coming weeks. 2 members of the Bali Nine drug ring, Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are among those on death row. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, has rejected their clemency requests. Analysts say Indonesians overwhelmingly support the death penalty for serious offences despite a lack of evidence that it deters crime. The way most Indonesian media outlets frame the issue plays a part in shaping this public support. Coverage of the death penalty reinforces a myth that it serves as a panacea for a social illness. The domestic politics of capital punishment Indonesians view Jokowi's move as a decisive act against a serious crime. But it is important to understand the political context of his execution orders. Jokowi faces challenges in domestic politics. Aside from the issue of the death penalty, local media outlets are focused on a rift between 2 law-enforcement institutions, the Indonesian police (Polri) and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The KPK versus Polri saga reflects badly on Jokowi's image as a decisive leader. Around the time he approved the 1st executions of drug offenders, he also nominated a KPK graft suspect as the sole candidate for police chief. Responding to the KPK's allegations against their police chief candidate, the police named a KPK commissioner as a graft suspect. This was widely seen by the public as a move to weaken the corruption commission. These developments mean law enforcement and the strength of Jokowi's leadership are hot topics for the Indonesian media. As a new president in the middle of a rift between 2 national institutions, ordering executions for drug traffickers offered a perfect way to look decisive. Media frame views on death penalty Local media outlets have reported more on the rift between KPK and Polri than on the death penalty for drug offenders. Between January 15 and February 4, Kompas.com ran 135 news reports on the death penalty. The site published 200 news reports on the KPK-Polri conflict in a shorter period from January 28 to February 4. Another popular site, Detik.com, published 184 news items on the death penalty and 1070 on the KPK-Polri controversy in a 1-month period (January 4 to February 4). Within the space provided for the death penalty issue, the media filled its coverage with quotes from public officials. Jokowi was widely quoted as saying that the executions were in line with Indonesian law. The reports also quoted Jokowi's claim of a national drug "emergency" based on dubious statistics. In contrast with the media's coverage of the government's argument for the death penalty, few reports have examined whether capital punishment is an effective deterrent. Indonesian media have quoted celebrities, religious organisations and even academics, thereby reinforcing the myth without scientific evidence. Media reports on the issue of efficiency of this penalty are also very few. The one news report on the high costs of executions did not ignite any public debate. The media coverage frames the death penalty for drug offenders through legal arguments in support of capital punishment. Within this frame, opposing arguments, either based on human rights grounds, political agendas or lack of evidence for crime deterrence, cannot dispel the myths attached to the death penalty. In social media, many people express their support for the death penalty by arguing for Indonesia's sovereignty. Activists who argue against the death penalty, as well as the media that provide space for their views, are seen as Western henchmen, insensitive to drug victims. Framing a pro-abolition message A group of media researchers from Pennsylvania State University led by Frank E. Dardis proposed a new way of framing the issue that might change the way the public view the death penalty. Instead of covering the normative angle, the media should examine the conditions of the judicial system. It is very likely that some convicts receive their sentences through an unfair trial in Indonesia???s corrupted system. This strategy can only work by changing public opinion in the long term. The problem is whether media in Indonesia are willing to shift their current preference on capital punishment. With the structure of media ownership in Indonesia entangled with political interests, political agendas will mostly run the show. (source: The Conversation) BANGLADESH: 'Death penalty for killing people with petrol' It is being observed that some miscreants and terrorist individuals or organisations are throwing petrol, octane, gunpowder and such ignitable substances at transports causing huge damage to public life and property to create panic among the people and put country???s integrity and sovereignty as well as public safety at stake, said a PID handout on Thursday. Such activities are liable to stringent punishment, according to the Anti Terrorism Act-2009, the handout said. It said causing death, inflicting grievous injury on people by using petrol, any explosive, ignitable substance, and possessing those, and instigating the terrorist activities through financing, patronizing, broadcasting and publishing those are tough punishable offences. Creating horror amongst the public or segment of the public to jeopardize the territorial integrity, solidarity, security or sovereignty of Bangladesh through such terrorist activities, are considered as grave punishable offences as per the laws. As per section 6 (2) (a) of the act, if any person burns to death or inflicts grievous hurt on anyone or makes an attempt to do so using petrol or any ignitable substance, shall be sentenced to death and shall also be liable to fine. If any person uses or keeps petrol or any ignitable substance, to carry out terrorist activities or attempts to do so, shall be sentenced to life-time imprisonment and shall be liable to fine, in accordance with section 6 (2) (e), of the law of 2009. If any person plots or assists or instigates to cause death or inflict grievous hurt on anyone using petrol or ignitable substances shall be sentenced to life-term imprisonment or shall be liable to fine as per section 6 (2) (b). As per section 7 (3) (4), any person or organization giving financial support to other person for any terrorist activities shall be sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and shall be liable to fine. In accordance with section 14 (1) of Anti Terrorism Act-2009, if any person or organization gives shelter to carriers of petrol bombs, manufacturers and users, shall be sentenced to 5 years and shall also be liable to fine. If any electronic or print media broadcasts or publishes any contents to instigate burning people to death by petrol bombs or any ignitable substance, shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or shall be liable to fine, as per section 13 of the act. (source: Prothom Alo) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 7 13:13:42 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2015 13:13:42 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN. S.C., ALA., OHIO, MICH, KY., TENN. Message-ID: Feb. 7 TEXAS: Texas running low on execution drug Following Wednesday's execution in Huntsville, Texas now has only enough of the drug pentobarbital to carry out 2 more lethal injections before the state's supply runs out. The Associated Press reported in December that records obtained from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice through an open records request showed that the state had 12 doses of the execution drug in the agency's inventory. That number was enough to carry out the 1st 5 executions in 2015 since each lethal injection calls for 2 doses with another 2 kept for reserve. 3 executions have been carried out in 2015 with 8 more scheduled this year, including 3 in March. Donald Newbury was put to death Wednesday evening for his role in the shooting death of 29-year-old Aubrey Hawkins during an armed robbery at an Irving sporting goods store on Christmas Eve in 2000. Newbury was part of the group known as the "Texas 7," which went on the run following an escape from a Texas prison when Hawkins was gunned down. Condemned killer Lester Bower Jr. was set to be executed next week for the shooting deaths of 4 men in Grayson County more than 30 years ago. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Bower a reprieve Thursday. There are 2 more executions scheduled on March 5 and March 11. If those executions are carried out, the state would need to find a new supply of pentobarbital or obtain an alternate drug before March 18 when Randall Mays is scheduled for lethal injection. "We're exploring all options including the continued use of pentobarbital or an alternate drug(s) in the lethal injection process," TDCJ said in a prepared statement. Texas was forced to find nontraditional suppliers of execution drugs in recent years because the usual vendors refused to make their drugs available following scrutiny from death penalty opponents. (source: Huntsville Item) **************************** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present----3 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982----present-----521 Abbott#--------scheduled execution date-----name------------Tx. # 4------------Mar. 5--------------------Rodney Reed----------522 5------------Mar. 11-------------------Manuel Vasquez-------523 6------------Mar. 18-------------------Randall Mays---------524 7------------Apr. 9--------------------Kent Sprouse---------525 8------------Apr. 15-------------------Manual Garza---------526 9-----------Apr. 23-------------------Richard Vasquez------527 10-----------Apr. 28-------------------Robert Pruett--------528 11-----------May 12--------------------Derrick Charles------529 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) PENNSYLVANIA: Selenski conviction would bring separate sentencing hearing The Luzerne County District Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty if Hugo Selenski is convicted of 1st-degree murder for either Michael Kerkowski, Tammy Fassett or both. Under state law, a separate sentencing hearing must be held following a first-degree murder conviction, at which aggravating circumstances are presented to demonstrate that a crime is heinous enough to merit execution instead of life in prison. But such a hearing also includes a recitation of mitigating circumstances, and jurors must be unanimous in finding that the aggravating circumstances are paramount. If the jury cannot reach a unanimous decision, that has no impact on a guilty verdict, the law adds. "In the sentencing hearing, evidence concerning the victim and the impact that the death of the victim has had on the family of the victim is admissible," the law states. "Additionally, evidence may be presented as to any other matter that the court deems relevant and admissible on the question of the sentence to be imposed." Aggravating circumstances State law lays out 18 aggravating circumstances for consideration. 3 were cited by then-District Attorney David Lupas in 2006: The 1st factor was based on the allegation that the homicides were perpetrated during the commission of another felony - robbery. In addition to homicide charges, Selenski faces 3 counts of robbery, 2 counts of criminal conspiracy to commit robbery and 1 count of theft. The other 2 factors were based on the fact that there was more than 1 victim. Mitigating factors a jury may consider include extreme mental or emotional disturbance, no significant history of prior convictions, or other character issues such as upbringing. Not 1st time These issues should be familiar to Selenski, who faced the death penalty in a previous trial, for the deaths of Adeiye Keiler and Frank James, whose bodies were burned in a burn pit at the Kingston Township property where Selenski lived. After a 2-week trial in March 2006, a jury found him not guilty in the Keiler slaying and a mistrial was declared for the James homicide. The jury did convict Selenski of abusing their corpses and he was sentenced to time served in jail. (source: Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader) SOUTH CAROLINA: Suspects in Sunhouse killings could face death penalty Horry County police have charged three people with murder related to recent convenience store armed robberies and killings in the area - including 1 man who was jailed on Monday. Police announced the arrests in a press conference Friday, and said the captures were the result of work by a task force of officers from various departments. Charged are McKinley Daniels, 33, of Loris; James Daniels, 27, of Nichols; and Jerome Jenkins, 20, of Loris. Each is charged with 2 counts of murder, 3 counts of armed robbery, 3 counts of using a firearm during a violent crime, and 1 count of attempted murder, said Lt. Raul E. Denis of Horry County Police. Records from the State Law Enforcement Division show that McKinley Daniels was charged Monday with possession of a stolen vehicle and 5 misdemeanor charges. The circumstances of the vehicle stop were not detailed Friday. Task force members worked around the clock on the cases, and one of the leads they received led them to a home in Loris where a person of interest was arrested, Denis said. Police said evidence found at the home connects the person to the death of Bala Paruchuri during an armed robbery at the Sunhouse convenience store on Highway 905 in Longs on Jan. 2; the armed robbery of the Scotchman convenience store on Lake Arrowhead Road; and the slaying of Trisha Stull during the armed robbery at the Sunhouse convenience store on Oak Street in Conway on Jan. 24. Denis would not say how the evidence links the person to the crime. Denis said police aren't sure if the suspects are connected to any other recent area robberies - at least 75 since October - but stated the public should now feel safe walking into a convenience store. Paruchuri was gunned down while the suspects were leaving the store after demanding money out of the register. Surveillance video shows Paruchuri putting his hands in the air and cooperating with the robbers when he was shot multiple times, police said. Stull had worked at the Sunhouse store for only a few weeks before she was shot twice; she hit the store's panic button to silently alert police something was wrong inside the business, police said. Stull was pronounced dead inside the store. "We pray to God there won't be any more armed robberies," Denis said. Denis said police could not give more details about the investigation because it's "ongoing." He would not say whether additional arrests related to the crimes are likely. Jimmy Richardson, 15th Circuit solicitor, said he hasn't determined whether to seek death sentences for the suspects. Agencies on the task force that investigated the crimes included Horry County Sheriff's Office, SLED, South Carolina Highway Patrol, 15th Circuit Solicitor's Drug Enforcement Unit, Myrtle Beach Police Department, Conway Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, Williamsburg County Sheriff's Office, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Both McKinley and James Daniels have prior felony convictions, according SLED records. McKinley Daniels was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005 for 3 felony charges, including kidnapping and strong arm robbery, according to SLED records. McKinley Daniels also was charged Monday with 5 misdemeanors - including failure to stop for blue lights - and possession of a stolen vehicle, according to SLED records. He has an $11,277.50 bail for the misdemeanor and stolen vehicle charges. James Daniels' criminal history includes a sentence of five years in prison in 2005 for convictions on the same three felony charges as McKinley Daniels. In 2009, he was sentenced to 261 days in jail for possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to SLED records. News of the arrests Friday made 2015 more tolerable, said Gaylon Melvins, Sunhouse convenience store liaison. He said he hasn't stopped celebrating. "It's a happy day," Melvins said. Sunhouse stores are being equipped with better safety measures and brighter parking lot lighting to reduce the number of robberies and help customers feel at ease, Melvins said. He declined to explain the specifics of improvements. He said every agency and officer involved in the weekslong investigation deserves applause. "They all need to get a raise," Melvins said. "They did such an excellent job." Paruchuri and Stull were hard workers, Melvins said. When asked about his reaction to the arrest, Melvins teared up. "Bala ran that store. That was his store," Melvins said through tears. "Trisha was a hard worker and a human being, and they will always be in our hearts and prayers." Richardson said the suspects could be tried in capital cases, meaning they'll receive the death penalty if found guilty. A death penalty case requires a murder charge plus another charge, so the suspect's cases qualify, he said. "We certainly don't use the death penalty as a threat," Richardson said. "Once we look through all the evidence, we'll make a decision." Paruchuri's wife hopes prosecutors decide on a capital case, said K.P. Maganti, Sunhouse convenience stores owner and friend of the Paruchuri family. "When I told Bala's wife they arrested the suspects, she started crying," Maganti said. "The only thing she asked me, the only thing she wanted me to do was to make sure the prosecutors go for capital punishment." "There should not be people like this in the world," he said. "I hope justice will be brought to the families." (source: SCNow.com) ALABAMA: Court upholds 3 Ala death penalty cases A state appeals court is upholding the convictions and death sentences of 2 men convicted of killing police officers. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals issued opinions Friday denying appeals by Kerry M. Spencer and Bart Wayne Johnson. Spencer was sentenced to death in the slayings of 3 Birmingham police officers in 2005. Jurors recommended life without parole, but a judge sentenced Spencer to die. Johnson was convicted of killing a Pelham police officer in 2009. A Shelby County judge had to issue a new sentencing order for Johnson, and the appeals court says that order was sufficient to explain the penalty. The court also upheld conviction and death sentence of James Earl Walker, who was convicted of killing an 87-year-old woman in Houston County in 2003. (source: Associated Press) OHIO: Jury selection nearing completion in death penalty trial Jury selection in the death penalty trial of a man accused of killing 2 people and setting a fire to cover it up appears to be in the home stretch with opening statements expected early next week. Hager Church is on trial on 2 counts of aggravated murder and 1 count of aggravated arson in the deaths of Massie "Tina" Flint, 45, and her boyfriend, Rex Hall, 54. He is accused of beating Flint and then starting a fire to cover it up that ultimately killed Hall. The incident happened June 14, 2009, in a house at 262 S. Pine St. After opening statements, the prosecution will begin presenting evidence including testimony from witnesses. If Church is convicted, the case would move to the penalty phase where a jury would have to decide whether Church should receive the death penalty for the alleged crime. Life in prison is the alternative. Church, 30, already is serving a life sentence with no chance for parole in another case which he killed a woman in 2010. He beat her to death inside her home for a few dollars and costume jewelry. (source: limaohio.com) MICHIGAN: Death penalty in Michigan? Doesn't seem likely -- A Michigan senator wants the death penalty in Michigan for cases in which a cop is killed. This Week in Review, Jack and Zoe discuss the proposal's timing and what would need to happen for it to become a reality. A democratic senator from Detroit wants Michigan to legalize the death penalty for people convicted of killing a police or correctional officer. Senator Virgil Smith said he's making the push on behalf of a voter in his district whose son was killed in the line of duty. Lessenberry said it's "tradition" for legislators to make proposals like this every so often. "It's sort of a feel-good thing to introduce legislation like this," Lessenberry said. "But I can tell you, nothing will come of it." Constitutional revision It would take an amendment to the state's constitution to make capital punishment a reality in Michigan. To make that happen, there'd have to be a 2/3 vote in the state House and Senate before the resolution would go to the ballot for voters to ultimately decide. Lessenberry is doubtful legislators would let it get that far. "Polls show that Michigan voters don't want the death penalty," he said. "If it were to get to the ballot, and I'm predicting it certainly won't, it would fail." Is timing everything? After a year of botched executions in other states making headlines, it's fair to say Smith's timing is interesting Especially since as a state, Michigan has never allowed the death penalty and was one of the 1st English-speaking jurisdictions to abolish it. Lessenberry said there are plenty of constituents who'd like to keep it that way. "This [proposal] would not surprise me if we'd had some horrific murder of a police officer," Lessenberry said. "Fortunately, we haven't." (source: Michigan Radio) KENTUCKY: State Seeks Death Penalty In Scott County Murder Case The death penalty is now on the table for the man accused of murdering a retired Scott County School bus driver. The news broke in court Friday afternoon, 5 years after Sue Jones was beaten to death in her home. It was a moment her family said they have been waiting for. Sue's daughter, Gail Jones has never given up since her mother was killed. For 5 years she's been fighting for her mom, and fighting for 1 thing. "Let her know it's over, that justice has been done," said Gail. On Friday she said she was 1 step closer to that justice for Sue. "I am totally surprised and I am totally happy. You know, now we are definitely going for the death penalty," said Gail. In court Friday afternoon, the Scott County Commonwealths Attorney announced they are seeking the death penalty against Nick Willinger. Willinger is accused of beating Sue to death during a botched burglary in February of 2010. Last month Ciji Jefferson, Sue's former neighbor, plead guilty to complicity to commit burglary for driving Willinger to the crime. Before Willinger and Jefferson were arrested in January of 2014, the case had been cold for four years. "Last year was their arrest, and it blew me away, it totally blew me away... And now, another year later, it's like wow," said Gail. Her relentless determination to find her mother's killer, feels like it's coming to a close. "Honestly, I would like to watch him die," said Gail. "That way he will feel the pain, the pain that she had to feel." While the state is seeking the death penalty, that outcome depends on the trail. Gail said Willinger's trial is set for January of 2016, and Jefferson is scheduled to be sentenced afterward. Gail said she wants a guilty verdict in Willinger's trial, and then some answers. "Why would you do this? I just don't get it," said Gail. While she may never know why, she hopes to have closure by this time next year, for the 6th anniversary of her mother's death. "Let's celebrate the greatness of mom's life, let's celebrate that justice is going to be done," said Gail. (source: lex18.com) ******************** Prosecutors seek death penalty in murder of retired Scott Co. bus driver Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a retired Scott County school bus driver. During a court hearing on Friday, The Commonwealth's Attorney's office filed a motion to seek the death penalty against Nicholas Willinger. Willinger is charged with murder in the 2010 beating death of Sue Jones. Police arrested Willinger in February of 2014. Investigators say he went to Jones' home to steal money and attacked her when she confronted him. Last month, Ciji Jefferson pleaded guilty to her role in the crime. She admitted she told Willinger that Jones kept a large amount of cash in her home. Jefferson pleaded guilty to complicity to commit burglary. She will be sentenced on March 10. In court on Friday, the judge set a trial date for Willinger. It is scheduled to begin on January 11, 2016. He will be back in court on May 1 for a status hearing. (source: WKYT news) ******************* State to seek death penalty in Jones murder case 5 years to the day after retired school bus driver Sue Jones was killed, prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against the man accused of murdering her, court papers show. Commonwealth's Attorney Gordie Shaw filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Nicholas A. "Nic" Willinger, 31, of Lexington in Scott County Circuit Court on Wednesday. In the notice, Shaw described the death penalty as "an available and appropriate punishment" in the case. Shaw cited Kentucky state law's requirement of aggravating circumstances that justify capital punishment. Specifically, Shaw cited a clause regarding murders committed in cases involving 1st-degree robbery, 1st-degree burglary, 1st-degree arson, 1st-degree rape or 1st-degree sodomy. Willinger is charged with 1st-degree murder, 1st-degree robbery and 1st-degree murder in the beating death of Jones at her Double Culvert Road home south of Sadieville on Feb. 4, 2010. The case lay dormant for 4 years until late January 2014, when Kentucky State Police investigators arrested Willinger at his mother's Lexington home. They also arrested a former neighbor of Jones, 29-year-old Ciji Jefferson, in St. Cloud, Fla., on a charge of complicity to burglary. Last month, Jefferson pleaded guilty to the charge before Scott County Circuit Judge Paul Isaacs. Jefferson's attorney, Brent Cox of Lexington, said Jefferson plans to testify against Willinger when the case comes to trial. Shaw's motion indicates Willinger is represented by attorney Sandra Downs. She could not be reached for comment (source: News-Graphic) TENNESSEE: Elizabethton teen facing death penalty appears in 2 courtrooms It was a busy day for Anthony Lacy, 18, on Friday. He made appearances in Criminal Court in the morning and Sessions Court in the afternoon in Carter County. It was Lacy's 1st court appearance since First Judicial District Attorney General Tony Clark announced his intention last month to seek the death penalty if Lacy is convicted of 1st-degree murder in the death of Danny Ray Vance on the front porch of Vance's home in Heaton Creek community on July 4. Police said Vance was beaten in the head with a large rock, which was found broken in 2 near the body. Clark's announcement that he will seek the death penalty in Lacy's case triggers several actions that are not required in non-capital cases. Presiding Judge Stacy Street said an indigent defendant in a capital case has to be represented by 2 attorneys who have the experience and training in defense of defendants charged with a capital offense. In non-capital cases, only one attorney is appointed. Street had previously appointed Jim Bowman to defend Lacy. Street said Bowman will now be the lead counsel in the case. Street said the rule allowed the lead counsel to choose the co-counsel for the case. Bowman chose Gene Scott. Street approved the choice. Another difference in a capital case is that the judge is also entitled to the advice of an attorney to advise him on provide research in the complex matters that come up in capital cases. There was little discussion about the specifics of the case on Friday, but one matter that was brought up was whether or not to try Lacy first on an incident that occurred several months after Vance was killed. That case is an attempted 1st-degree murder charge, which alleges that while Lacy was being held in pretrial confinement on Oct. 23, Lacy attacked jailer Dwight Lacey with a mop handle, causing such severe injuries that Lacey has only recently been able to return to work. If convicted of that charge, it would be one of the two aggravating circumstances that Clark listed in his announcement about seeking the death penalty. Clark wrote in the announcement that if Lacy is not convicted in that case, the state will withdraw that aggravating circumstance. The other aggravating circumstance is that Lacy "knowingly committed" the murder while attempting to rob Vance. >From the limited discussions in court on Friday, Street said it was evident that the state wants to try the attempted-1st degree murder case first and then try Lacy on the murder case. Street said it was also evident that the defense will oppose trying the cases in the sequence the state prefers. Bowman also asked Street about making it easier for him to visit his client. Lacy was transferred to the state Department of Corrections after the allged attack on Lacey and other alleged acts of violence in the jail. Street said it was difficult for the defense to meet with Lacy while he is confined at the Riverbend prison in Nashville. Street said he plans to move Lacy to confinement somewhere in the First Judicial District around the end of March. Street set Lacy's next court appearance for April 15. Another defendant in a 1st-degree murder case also appeared before Street on Friday. Whitney Kristina Harris is a co-defendant with Jason Pate in the murder of Lonnie Townsend on April 17, 2012. Gene Scott is defending Harris in the case. Street said Pate is scheduled for trail on April 27-30. He set Harris' next court appearance for the conclusion of Pate's trial on April 30.M Lacy made his 2nd court appearance in Sessions Court during the afternoon. A preliminary hearing was scheduled on charges of aggravated assault and vandalism charges stemming from an Aug. 29 incident in which Lacy allegedly struck his cellmate, James Buckingham, with a sprinkler head. Corrections officers reportedly found Buckingham lying on his back in a pool of blood under his bunk. Lacy was allegedly standing up in the cell. Courtroom security was heavy for the expected hearing, with several captains and Sheriff Dexter Lunceford standing guard. Assistant District Attorney Dennis Brooks had located Buckingham in Illinois and brought him back for the hearing, but the tension was quickly dissipated when Lacy's attorney in that case, Patrick Denton, announced Lacy was waiving his right to the preliminary hearing. Sessions Judge Keith Bowers Jr. then ordered the case bound to a Carter County grand jury. (source: Johnson City Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 7 13:15:14 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2015 13:15:14 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., MO., WYO., ARIZ., UTAH, CALIF., USA Message-ID: Feb. 7 KANSAS: Judge To Allow Death Penalty In Kansas Quadruple Homicide Case A judge has ruled that prosecutors may seek the death penalty against a man accused in the deaths of 4 people at a Kansas farm, including an 18-month-old girl, in 2013. Franklin County District Judge Eric Godderz ruled during a hearing Friday the death penalty will be allowed in the case against 29-year-old Kyle Flack of Ottawa. He is charged with murder and rape after 2 men, a woman and her daughter were found dead near Ottawa. Flack has pleaded not guilty. The Lawrence Journal-World reports Flack's attorney argued the death penalty should be banned because of "evolving standards of decency," noting that 120 countries have rejected the punishment. Godderz said his court is bound to follow precedent in Kansas and the U.S., which allow the death penalty. (source; Associated Press) ********************* Kansas introduces bill to abolish death penalty The death penalty may be abolished in Kansas if the Kansas Legislature passes House Bill 2129. According to the bill, "No person shall be sentenced to death for a crime committed on or after July 1, 2015." Rep. Steven Becker of Buhler, Kan., a member of the House of Representatives judicial committee, introduced the bill in committee on Jan. 27. "What I want to accomplish with that bill is to replace that death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole, only this time, as I put it, this time we would really mean it," Becker told NCR Feb. 4. Becker said the bill was authored by the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty. "Now we have, what we call a life sentence, no parole for 25 years. Sometimes it's 40 years. Or sometimes we impose the hard 50. You can't see a parole board until 50 years," he said. "In this bill, it's just ... period. You don't see a parole board." The bill is not retroactive to cases where a death sentence has already been imposed. Instead, cases going forward will not have the option of the death penalty. The bill states that a person with a death sentence "for a crime committed prior to July 1, 2015, may be put to death pursuant to the provisions of article 40 of chapter 22 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto." In addition, House Bill 2129 also created the crime "aggravated murder," which it defines as the "intentional and premeditated killing of any person" in commission of various crimes, including kidnapping and rape. The term "aggravated murder" replaces "capital murder," reflecting the proposed elimination of capital punishment. Becker said the first challenge for the bill will be to get it heard in committee. He said that Rep. John Barker, the committee chairman, "is non-committal about giving it a hearing." "My own thoughts is, I am not an opponent to the death penalty," Barker told NCR Feb. 3. "Kansas has not executed anyone since I think 1961. I find it's probably a very good negotiating tool for prosecutors. As the urgency, right now I don't see there is any urgency because we have not executed anybody in 40, 50 years." Barker said as committee chairman, he has no position on the bill. He noted it's possible that the committee might not get to the bill until next year. According to the Kansas City Star, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kan., will participate in a news conference at the Kansas State Capital on Feb. 10, calling for Kansas to repeal the death penalty. (source: National Catholic Reporter) MISSOURI----new execution date Execution date set for Barry County deputy's killer The Missouri Supreme Court issued an execution order Friday for Cecil Clayton, who was convicted of killing a Barry County sheriff's deputy in 1996. Clayton, 74, of Purdy, was found guilty of fatally shooting 29-year-old Deputy Christopher Castetter and given the death penalty in a 1997 trial that was held in Joplin on a change of venue. Clayton had been in a violent argument with a former girlfriend the day of the shooting. The deputy was responding to a report of the suspect's truck being spotted at a residence south of Cassville and was shot in the head before he could exit his patrol car after arriving at the address. His gun was still in his holster when other officers arrived on the scene. The state's high court affirmed Clayton's conviction in 1999 and affirmed a lower court's overruling of his post-conviction relief motion in 2001. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the condemned man's petition for a review. The execution order calls for Clayton to be put to death within a 24-hour period beginning at 6 p.m. on March 17. Missouri has executed 80 people, all by lethal injection, since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. in 1976. Executions were suspended in 2006 when a federal judge in Kansas City found written procedures for the implementation of lethal injections too vague. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis eventually reversed the decision and executions resumed in 2009. Missouri carried out 10 executions in 2014 amid controversies about troubled executions in Oklahoma and Arizona and the lethal injection drug protocols states have been using. The state's high court granted a stay of execution in January for death row inmate Marcellus Williams in order to hear his claim that he should receive additional DNA testing. In post-conviction relief motions, Clayton's attorneys contended that he had suffered a brain injury in a 1972 sawmill accident that contributed to his violent behavior. While there was evidence of the brain injury presented at trial, his appellate attorneys maintained that the doctor who testified had not correctly assessed the extent of the injury and consequently failed to convey its significance to jurors. A clinical psychologist testified at a post-conviction relief hearing that he believed Clayton suffered from dementia as a result of the injury as well as social anxiety disorder and alcohol dependence. Clayton's blood-alcohol content the night of the shooting tested at 0.16 %, or about twice the legal limit for driving in Missouri. Temper Cecil Clayton was known to have a temper, especially when drinking, and had been convicted of assaulting a police officer, a high school principal and various family members before fatally shooting Deputy Christopher Castetter. (source: Joplin Globe) ********************* Missouri Lawmaker Pushes to Repeal Death Penalty After careful consideration, Missouri State Representative T.J. Berry announced today his plans to repeal the Missouri death penalty, and one local lawmaker is totally against it. "If you don't have the threat of possible death penalty, then I don't believe you will have individuals that will stop at a certain point," said Charlie Davis, Missouri State Representative, 162nd District. Missouri State Representative Charlie Davis says the death penalty serves as a deterrent. However, Berry argues that several years on death row isn't scaring anyone. "Yes, there is that argument. The average person stays on death row for 18 years. So I just don't see that being a deterrent for people that are going to be committing a heinous act," said T.J. Berry, Missouri State Representative, 38th District. The 38th District representative would also tell you getting rid of the death penalty will save money, because the process is very expensive. He says sentencing a convict to life without parole is cheaper. "It makes sense on a fiscal side and it makes sense on a life side, so why shouldn't we get rid of it," said Berrry. Representative Davis disagrees. He says it costs $30,000 to $40,000 a year to house an inmate. If they spend 40 to 50 years behind bars, that translates into hundreds of thousands of tax dollars. "I don't think it's a valid argument as far as the savings aspect, the dollar savings. And I don't care if it was more expensive to execute somebody. If they commit these hideous crimes, then I do believe we need to make sure we execute those individuals," said Davis. Berry says the House Bill needs to be signed to a committee before heading to the floor for a debate. If the bill passes, it will go in effect August 28th, 2015. (source: fourstateshomepage.com) WYOMING: If firing squads fail, Wyoming could revive the hangin' tree Politicians who support capital punishment likely don't pay much attention to the arguments of people who oppose the practice. They've heard it all before. The debate over the death penalty has raged in this country for years. But when these opponents include manufacturers of the drugs needed to carry out executions, they become impossible to ignore. Pharmaceutical companies no longer want to be associated with the controversial practice and have stopped selling lethal-injection drugs to prisons. This has created a quandary in states that still sentence the convicted to death. While officials in those states could see this as yet another message the death penalty is barbaric, or at least not worth the cost and the trouble, they don't. Instead they are clamoring to find other ways to kill inmates. Prison officials in Texas falsified prescriptions and lied to pharmacies in an effort to get drugs, according to a federal civil complaint. The governor of Tennessee signed legislation allowing the electric chair to be used if drugs are not available. Some states are trying untested drug cocktails for lethal injections. That has led to legal challenges, including one the U.S. Supreme Court agreed last month to consider. But Wyoming is really going all out. The state Senate recently passed legislation to authorize the use of a firing squad if needed. Wyoming's elected officials could have taken the opportunity to bring itself into the 21st century by outlawing capital punishment, as many other states have done. After all, there is not a single person on death row there, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In the past 40 years, Wyoming has carried out only 1 execution. Instead of wasting its energies reviving a brutal method for murdering prisoners - just in case it is someday necessary - the state should let the firing squads remain in retirement. (source: Des Moines Register) ARIZONA: Prosecution's Key Witness Admits Arias Has a Mental Disorder in Death Penalty Retrial; Defense lawyers cross-examined the prosecution's star witness on day 35 of the Jodi Arias death penalty sentencing retrial on Thursday. While being cross-examined by attorney Kirk Nurmi, Dr. Janine DeMarte admitted that Arias, who has been convicted in the murder of her ex-lover Travis Alexander, suffers from a mental illness. As a result, several court watchers agreed that this will help the defense prove their case that Arias should not be put to death. "It's good for the defense because maybe they can get one person on the jury that thinks 'I don't know if I can give somebody with mental illness the death penalty.' So that puts something in the jurors minds to think about," said court watcher Jen Wood to KHPO. Dr. DeMarte's statements on Thursday also contradicted the testimony that she gave earlier in the week when she refuted claims that Arias was a victim. While on the witness stand on Wednesday, the psychologist described Arias as an extremely jealous stalker with borderline personality disorder and a fixation on Alexander, reports Fox 10 Phoenix. She also said that Arias refused to let him move on and resorted to spying on him and confronting other girls that he dated. She went on to say that Arias was prone to manic episodes of extreme happiness and despair and discredited defense arguments that Arias murdered Alexander as a result of abuse she endured by him and her own family in the past. On the day prior, prosecutors presented the jury with sexually explicit text messages that Arias exchanged with Alexander to show that she was enthusiastic about their sex life and cast the convicted killer in a negative light. Although Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder last May in the death of her ex-boyfriend, in her first trial, jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and she shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower and took pictures of him. (source: Latin Post) UTAH: What Utah and Virginia Are Trying to Do to Keep The Death Penalty Will Shock You As the death penalty declines across the US, a small number of states are taking drastic measures to keep their death chambers active. In light of last year's 3 gruesomely botched executions, Ohio and Oklahoma (responsible for 2 of them) are taking the precaution of putting executions on hold. But that's a little too cautious for Utah and Virginia, 2 states that appear willing to do just about anything to continue executions. Virginia State Senator Richard Saslaw has introduced a bill that, rather than address the problems that have led to horrifying botched executions, simply sidesteps them by cloaking the entire execution process in secrecy. It even proposes to exempt information about executions from the Freedom of Information Act. After all, why clean up a mess when you can just sweep it under the rug? In addition to its secrecy provisions, the bill also ensures the state's access to lethal injection drugs by allowing secret contracts with compounding pharmacies - pharmacies that mix their own drugs unregulated by the FDA. Ohio tried the same thing, resulting in the botched execution of Dennis McGuire (the 1st of last year's 3 botched executions). Utah has taken a different approach. State Representative Paul Ray is sponsoring a bill that would allow the firing squad as an option when lethal injection drugs aren't available. If lethal injection regulations are intended to find some kind of "humane" execution method, Rep. Ray's bill must be intended to take us back to a time when we simply didn't worry about being humane. Utah last carried out an execution by firing squad in 2010 when it executed Ronnie Lee Gardner. The spectacle of the firing squad made international news and put the spotlight on Utah standing far outside the national consensus on capital punishment methods. That national consensus is continuing to evolve, and it's not moving in the direction of Utah and Virginia. The death penalty has been declining across the United States for years. 2014 saw the fewest executions in the United States in the last 20 years, and the fewest people sentenced to death in the last 40 years, according to the latest report from the Death Penalty Information Center. The nation's 35 executions were concentrated in just 7 states (with 3 states - Texas, Missouri, and Florida - responsible for 80%). In fact, the majority of death penalty cases nationwide stem from only 2% of counties, with the vast majority of counties abandoning the practice altogether. Most counties have seen the death penalty as a drain on resources with no benefit. Contrary to popular belief, studies have consistently shown that the death penalty costs far more public resources than alternative punishments, even life in prison without parole. 80% of US counties have not employed the death penalty in decades, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. While more and more states abolish the death penalty or abandon its use, those that continue to cling to it do so in increasingly gruesome circumstances. Whether it's botched executions that essentially torture prisoners to death, shrouds of secrecy, or even the executions of people with intellectual disabilities (as Georgia and Texas both demonstrated last week), the way the death penalty is employed in a small number of states is deeply shocking the conscience of the rest of the country and the world. The time has come to admit the death penalty is broken beyond repair and abandon it once and for all. (source: Amnesty International USA) CALIFORNIA: Garden Grove killer sentenced to death for second time in 1983 rape, murder For the family of a young woman killed in 1983, the 3rd murder trial was hopefully the last. An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced convicted killer Richard Raymond Ramirez to death for the 2nd time for the murder of 22-year-old Kimberly Gonzalez, who was raped and stabbed behind a Garden Grove bar more than 3 decades ago. Ramirez originally was convicted and sentenced to death in 1985, but the conviction was overturned in 2008 after it was discovered that the jury foreman failed to disclose his status as an FBI candidate - a position for which he later was hired. Prosecutors retried the case, and Ramirez was convicted for a 2nd time in 2013. However, the jury that year deadlocked on whether he should receive the death penalty, leading the judge to declare a mistrial. After a 3rd trial, a jury in November decided Ramirez should return to San Quentin's death row. More than a dozen of Gonzalez's family members flooded the courtroom for the sentencing, each holding a single pink rose. They described the pain of sitting through 3 trials, reliving the horror of her final moments. "It has been an emotional roller coaster for us," said her sister Yvette Mejia. "Hopefully this is the last chapter." "I'm thankful to God that he has let me live to see this day," said her mother, Mary Helen Hernandez, 79. Judge Gregg L. Pickett denied the defense's request for a life sentence over death, noting the egregiousness of the crime and a previous conviction for rape. In that case, Ramirez assaulted the victim and threatened to cut off her baby's legs. Prosecutors said Ramirez was a savage killer who met and befriended Gonzalez at a bar and then lured her into an alleyway, where he raped her and stabbed her more than 20 times. The defense argued for a life sentence over the death penalty. Attorneys told the jury about Ramirez's dysfunctional childhood in a household dominated by a violent and alcoholic father, and his drug abuse beginning in his teen years. The jury foreman, who returned to court for the sentencing, said jurors weren't swayed by Ramirez's tough childhood. "A lot of people have had a bad upbringing and went on to do good things. It isn't an excuse," said the foreman, who identified himself as Larry K. "He still had a choice." (source: Orange County Register) ******************************* Tentative ruling: Calif. must adopt execution process----Judge found that the CDCR has a duty to adopt execution procedures, but has the sole discretion to decide how the state will carry out the death penalty A suit filed by crime victims seeks to force state correctional officials to adopt procedures for a single-drug, barbiturate-only method of execution. KCRA reports that Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shellyanne Chang ruled that while the state is not ordered to resume executions, which have been on hold since 2006, officials can't wait any longer to find a new way to conduct executions if they are reinstituted. Chang found that the CDCR has a duty to adopt execution procedures, but has the sole discretion to decide how the state will carry out the death penalty. The CDCR said it's been drafting new lethal injection requirements without putting them into effect since Gov. Jerry Brown said in April 2012 that the state would switch to a single-drug lethal injection. No executions can occur until the new rules are adopted by the department. (source: Correctionsone.com) ********************************* Trial date finally set in 'Grim Sleeper' serial killings after victims' families are kept waiting for more than 4 years----Lonnie Franklin Jr., 62, is charged with ten counts of murder in killings that spanned from 1985 to 2007 in Los Angeles, California A judge has set a trial date for a man charged in the case of the 'Grim Sleeper' serial killings that spanned 2 decades in Los Angeles. Lonnie Franklin Jr., who has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of murder and 1 count of attempted murder, will stand trial on June 29, it was announced today. Jury selection will begin the following day, according to Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy. During the court hearing today, frustrated families urged the judge to move the case forward after years of delays, and cited Marsy's Law - a voter approved bill of rights that allows families of victims the right to a speedy trial. Franklin, 62, could face the death penalty if convicted of the killings that occurred between 1985 and 2007. The nickname 'Grim Sleeper' was coined because of the gap between slayings in 1988 and 2002. Police arrested Franklin in July 2010 after his DNA was connected to more than a dozen crime scenes. They had linked the crimes, but did not have a suspect until a crime lab computer traced the sample to one of Franklin's family members. An officer posing as a busboy at a pizza parlor got DNA samples from dishes and utensils Franklin had been eating with at a birthday party. 2010) urged the Los Angeles Superior Court judge to set a trial date citing Marsy's Law, a voter-approved victim's bill of right allowing family members of the victims to testify As news of the trial date has been announced, attorney Nina Salarno Ashford, a board member of Crime Victims United, said it is not unusual for capital cases to take years to complete. However Marsy's Law, which was passed in 2008 and cited by prosecutors during the court hearing, gives victims some leverage in speeding things up though it is still not widely used, she said. -- VICTIMS OF THE 'GRIM SLEEPER' August 10, 1985: Debra Jackson - A 29-year-old cocktail waitress who went to take a bus home after visiting her friend's house. Her body was found 3 days later with three gunshot wounds to the chest. August 12, 1986: Henrietta Wright - The 35-year-old was found dead in an alley near West Vernon Avenue. She was shot twice and wrapped in a blanket and covered in a mattress. August 14, 1986: Thomas Steele - The only known male victim of the serial killer. The 36-year-old was found with a single gunshot wound to the head in the middle of a street intersection. January 10, 1987: Barbara Ware - The 23-year-old had been shot once in the chest and her body had been dumped under a pile of rubbish. April 15, 1987: Bernita Sparks - 26-year-old went out to the shops but never returned. Her body was found in a bin, covered in rubbish. She had been shot, strangled and beaten. October 31, 1987: Mary Lowe - 26-year-old left home to go to a party, but never returned. Her body was found in an alley of Western Avenue. January 30, 1988: Lachrica Jefferson - Officers found the 22-year-old's body with a napkin over the face with the word 'AIDS' written on it. September 11, 1988: Alicia Alexander - Another victim killed while going to the shops. The 18-year-old's body was also found in an alley near Western Avenue. December 21, 2001: Princess Berthomieux - The end of the 14-year hiatus. DNA on the 14-year-old's body matched those of previous killings. July 11, 2003: Valerie McCorvey - 35-year-old had been strangled and sexually assaulted. January 1, 2007: Janecia Peters - 25-year-old was shot in the back and her body was dumped in a rubbish bag. -- Marsy's Law, guaranteed for defendants, can be extended to family members of victims. It also allows victims to address the court, and Porter Alexander, who spent more than 20 years wondering if his daughter's killer would ever be caught, was among those who addressed the court. Attorney Salarno Ashford has used the law to represent victims throughout the process, including cross-examining witnesses at trial. She has also successfully argued three times to have trial dates set so the victims could have their day in court. 'It's always been a fault in our system that defendants were able to play a shell game and delay things,' she said. Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said the case has been plagued by delays with no end in sight and that the judge has failed to hold the defense to strict deadlines to complete their investigation. However, defense lawyer Seymour Amster blamed the prosecution, and said his expert found DNA from another man at 3 of the crime scenes and is seeking to test more material because the evidence could help his client. Amster said the prosecution has opposed releasing the items for testing and have asked for more time to prepare their response.M 'There are rumors that I'm trying to delay this thing,' he said. 'I'm really not. I'm a strong proponent of do it once, do it right.' Silverman said that she recognizes the need to balance Franklin's right to prepare for trial, but that the court must balance that with the rights of the victims and the community. She said those rights have already been compromised. A firearms expert who tested guns retired last year, so the testing needed to be done again. Medical examiners and a supervising criminalist at the coroner's office have retired and will need to be replaced. And the mother of victim Mary Lowe died more than two years ago, depriving her of the chance Alexander and other victims' families will have to address the court. 'It's a waiting game,' said Alexander, whose 18-year-old daughter, Monique, was killed in 1988. 'I need to keep up my strength. I hope I'm here for the ending.' (source: Daily Mail) USA: U.S. judge rejects third request to move Boston bombing trial A U.S. judge on Friday rejected a 3rd request by lawyers for the accused Boston Marathon bomber to move his trial out of the city, saying the jury selection process had been successful so far in identifying potential impartial jurors. Attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, who is accused of carrying out the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, have repeatedly sought to move the trial out of Boston. They have contended that too many potential jurors had a personal connection to the April 15, 2013 attack that killed t3 people and injured 264. The jury selection process, which wrapped up its fifth week on Friday, has shown a number of candidates with direct ties to the event, including a man married to a nurse who tended to the wounded, as well as others who were locked down in their homes during a manhunt for Tsarnaev three days after the attack. Still, of the more than 150 potential jurors so far brought in for questioning at U.S. District Court in Boston, a process known as "voir dire," some have been suitable, the judge said. "The voir dire process is successfully identifying potential jurors who are capable of serving as fair and impartial jurors in this case," U.S. District Judge George O'Toole wrote in his ruling on Friday. "That the voir dire process has been time-consuming is not an indication that a proper jury cannot be selected for this case," O'Toole added. "It is rather in the main a consequence of the careful inquiry that the court and counsel are making into the suitability of prospective jurors. Of the 1,350 people who were brought in early last month to fill out questionnaires, a minimum of 64 need to qualify for the final pool from which a panel of 12 jurors and 6 alternates will be selected. Adding to the challenge is the fact that Tsarnaev could face the death penalty if convicted by a federal jury. Massachusetts state law does not allow for capital punishment and it remains unpopular in the state, a fact that has also been made clear by the jury selection process. Prosecutors contend that Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan, placed bombs at the race's crowded finish line and three days later shot dead a police officer as they prepared to flee the city. Tamerlan died that night, following a gun battle with police. (source: Reuters) ********************************* Week of jury selection for Aurora theater shooting trial ends with 125 dismissals----After running through a list of 62 potential jurors released this morning, Judge Carlos Samour Jr. added another 63 prospective jurors that attorneys agreed to dismiss this afternoon. More than 120 jurors were dismissed Feb. 6 from jury duty in the case against James Holmes, who is accused of murdering 12 and injuring dozens in a crowded Aurora movie theater. Multiple jurors were released because they couldn't speak English, including 1 who was released for medical problems and another who wasn't a U.S. citizen. After running through a list of 62 potential jurors released this morning, Judge Carlos Samour Jr. added another 63 prospective jurors that attorneys agreed to dismiss this afternoon. Jury selection will continue next week. On Wednesday, individual questioning of jurors will begin. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and the attempted murder of 70 others inside the Century Aurora 16 movie theatre on July 20, 2012. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (source: Aurora Sentinel) **************************** In praise of the firing squad This term, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of how the lethal injection is administered in Oklahoma. The court's decision to revisit this issue comes as debate over the procedure and drugs used in lethal injections is boiling over. In the past year alone, we've seen horribly botched executions in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona. After anti-death penalty groups successfully shamed some European pharmaceutical companies into refusing to export lethal injection drugs to death penalty states, some corrections departments bought the drugs off the black market (triggering surreal Drug Enforcement Administration raids on prison facilities) or switched to other drug protocols that are untested for the purposes of killing a human being. Some of the same corrections departments, sometimes with the aid of state legislatures, have also become increasingly secretive about what drugs they're using and in what doses. (For a more thorough history of the lethal injection, see Liliana Segura's guest post for The Watch last year.) In response to all of this, at least 2 state legislatures (Utah and Wyoming) have recently considered bills to bring back the firing squad. Some death penalty opponents have castigated the move as ghastly and reactionary. And indeed, judging by statements by some of the bills' supporters, they seem more about provocation than finding a solution to the dispute. But the motivations of the bills' supporters are irrelevant to whether there are any actual merits to the firing squad as a method of execution. And frankly, if we insist on executing people, the firing squad may be the best option. Before I explain why, I'll first disclose that I'm opposed to the death penalty, and I have no doubt that my opposition to state-sanctioned killing influences my opinions on which method of execution we ought to use. So read the rest of this post with that in mind. If you support the death penalty, the most obvious benefit of the firing squad is that unlike lethal injection drugs, correctional institutions are never going to run out of bullets. And if they do, more bullets won't be very difficult to find. Ammunition companies aren't susceptible to pressure from anti-death penalty activists, at least not to the degree a pharmaceutical company might be. This would actually remove a barrier to more efficient executions. As someone who would like to see executions eliminated entirely, I don't personally see this as a benefit. But death penalty supporters might. And there are other benefits to the firing squad, benefits that I think people on both sides of the issue can appreciate. First, let's talk about humaneness. When we talk about the humanity of a particular form of execution, we like to think we're trying to find the most civilized way to put someone to death. We recoil at methods such as the guillotine, hanging and the firing squad as barbaric anachronisms of a different era, when crowds gathered to witness and revel in the event. The lethal injection, most of us think, simply puts the condemned to sleep. There's no pain, no violence, no spectacle. It's how civilized countries carry out executions. The problem is that we really don't know what happens when the lethal injection drugs go to work. I wrote about this in a 2011 piece for the Huffington Post. In 2008, the Supreme Court heard arguments against the 3-drug cocktail used in nearly every state that performs lethal injections. At issue was the drug pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the condemned, giving them a placid, peaceful appearance even if they might be suffering immense pain from an improper dose of anesthesia. And there's reason to suspect they might: A 2005 study in the Lancet found that as many as 4 in 10 of those executed may have been given inadequate anesthesia. A large dose of a single barbiturate would kill just as effectively and painlessly. Opponents say pancuronium bromide isn't necessary, and it masks any indications a prisoner may be experiencing pain. But as The New York Times' Adam Liptak reported in 2008, defenders of the 3-drug procedure offer an interesting argument in response. "[L]awyers for John D. Rees, the Kentucky corrections commissioner, said the 3-chemical combination was safe and painless and produced a dignified death," Liptak wrote. "Using only a single barbiturate, they said, was untested, could result in distressing and disruptive muscle contractions, and might take a long time." Liptak went on to write about how the state of Texas came to adopt the 3-drug protocol. "[T]he medical director of Texas' corrections department, Dr. Ralph Gray, consulted a veterinarian in Huntsville, Tex., Dr. Gerry Etheredge," Liptak wrote. Etheredge says he told Gray that in veterinary medicine, they used a single barbiturate, and that, "we overdosed it and everything went smoothly. It was very safe, very effective and very cheap." The problem, Etheredge said, is that Gray feared "people would think we are treating people the same way that we're treating animals. He was afraid of a hue and cry." These anecdotes are telling. Rather than subject witnesses to unnerving post-mortem twitching by prisoners who are experiencing no pain, prison officials instead use a procedure that leaves open the possibility of immense, unimaginable pain, but also ensures that witnesses will see no signs of it. We've shunned the effective, painless procedure regularly used in veterinary medicine because we don't want to give the appearance that they're treating prisoners like animals. But in the process, we may be treating them worse. Jonathan Groner, the trauma medical director of Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and a death penalty opponent, told ABC News in 2008, "1 of the great ironies about capital punishment when you look at it historically is that when executions appear to be more humane, the application of the death penalty becomes less humane." Groner is right, but his observation may also be beside the point. Traditional lethal injection is more humane if you consider the humanity of the procedure from the perspective of everyone except the person being executed. There is now a storm of controversy about the procedure because those botched executions last year produced some really gruesome images, which were then relayed to the public by witnesses. Had the condemned men in Oklahoma, Ohio and Arizona suffered the same pain and agony, but under the cloak of a more thorough paralytic, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. We consider a method of execution humane if it doesn't make us uncomfortable to hear or read about it. What the condemned actually experience during the procedure is largely irrelevant. The lethal injection likely became the most common form of execution in the United States because it makes a state killing resemble a medical procedure. Not only doesn't it weird us out, it's almost comforting. By contrast, the firing squad is violent and archaic, and judging by the reaction to the bills in Utah and Wyoming, it most certainly does weird a lot of people out. And yet in only the way that should matter, the firing squad is likely more humane than the lethal injection. Slate published a good primer on firing quads back in 2010, as Utah was preparing to execute Ronnie Lee Gardner. (Utah ended the firing squad in 2004, but left it as an option for inmates convicted and sentenced prior to the law.) According to the Utah Department of Corrections, Gardner will be strapped to a chair for his execution wearing a jumpsuit with a target pinned to his heart. After offering last words, his face will be hooded, and 5 pre-selected law enforcement officers will aim for that target with .30-caliber rifles from less than 25 feet away. As in traditional military firing squads, 1 of those shooters' guns will be loaded with blanks, to keep each one uncertain about whether he fired a fatal shot . . . This may sound gory, but the limited body of research on death penalty methods suggests that the firing squad is actually a pretty good way to go. A Utah inmate who in 1938 agreed to be gunned to death while hooked up to an electrocardiogram showed complete heart death within 1 minute of the firing squad's shots. By contrast, a typical, complication-free lethal injection takes about 9 minutes to kill an inmate. Death penalty lawyers and human rights groups argued that mix-ups in the drug cocktail administered in most states could result in a long, painful death, tantamount to torture. The Supreme Court rejected that argument. But corrections officials who insert needles and administer the lethal injection drugs have no medical training, since the professional associations of both doctors and nurses have barred their members from participating in executions. The Oklahoma medical examiner who 1st designed the most common lethal injection protocol critiqued his own method in 2007, after learning about problems with its administration . . . By contrast, shooting is simple and deadly. It's easy to find psychologically stable, trained professionals with experience shooting to kill. Assuming that the executioners aim with that purpose, the 4-bullet protocol provides a measure of certainty that 1 bullet will strike the heart, leading to a near instantaneous death. There is also some evidence that fatal gunshot wounds of the kind sought by executioners are not only relatively swift, but also not terribly painful. According to a 1993 study of the relative pain associated with different execution methods, gunshot gets the highest rank when compared with lethal gas, electrocution, hanging, stoning, and other popular methods. (The paper assumes that the executions go off without a hitch, and gives lethal injection similar high marks.) Deborah Denno, a professor at Fordham Law School who has studied execution methods for nearly 2 decades, said she'd pick the firing squad if offered Gardner's choice between the 2 methods. "To me, it seems like the more humane choice," she said. This sets up a final argument in favor of the firing squad: There is no mistaking what it is. There are no IVs, needles, cotton swabs or other accoutrements more commonly associated with healing. When we hear about an execution on the news, we won't hear about an inmate slowly drifting off to sleep. We'll hear about guns and bullets. Killing is an act of violence. That's what witnesses will see, and that's what the reports will tell us has happened. If we're going to permit the government to kill on our behalf, we should own what we're doing. This is where a critic might argue that as a death penalty opponent, I'm merely arguing for the method of execution that I think is most likely to turn people off to the death penalty. I'll be honest: I hope that's what will happen. I hope that when confronted with a method of execution that's less opaque about what's actually transpiring, more of us will come to realize that we no longer need capital punishment. But I'm not particularly optimistic that will happen. I suspect that there's a strong segment of the public (and probably a majority) that will support the death penalty no matter how we carry out executions. Regardless of its impact on the death penalty debate, if we must continue to execute people, the firing squad has a lot to offer. It isn't just the most humane form of execution now realistically under consideration, it is the most humane from the correct perspective - the experience of the condemned. It brings no concerns about the supply of execution materials. It raises no issues about medical ethics - it doesn't blur the lines between healing and hurting. It's honest. It's transparent. And it is appropriately violent. (source: Radley Balko blogs about criminal justice, the drug war and civil liberties for The Washington Post.) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 7 13:16:10 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2015 13:16:10 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 7 JAPAN: Top court asks lay judges to exercise more fairness, prudence in sentencing The death penalty is the ultimate punishment, for the life of the offender is the price paid to atone for a crime. The Supreme Court has called for caution and fairness in issuing death sentences. This judgment is understandable. The top court has upheld separate rulings by the Tokyo High Court that overturned death sentences issued in lay judge trials at district courts for murder-robbery charges, and commuted the sentences to life imprisonment. In each of the 2 cases, there was only 1 murder victim. In conventional trials involving only judges, there have been few cases in which a death sentence was issued after the murder was determined not to have been premeditated. In upholding the high court decisions, the Supreme Court said, "Even in lay judge trials, deliberations on sentences must be conducted based on past judgments on punishment." This made it clear that the top court attaches weight to judicial precedents that have been accumulated over a long period of time. In handing down a death sentence, the Chiba District Court placed great weight on the fact that the accused had repeatedly robbed and sexually assaulted women before and after he killed a female Chiba University student. In the other case, the Tokyo District Court issued a death sentence for killing a man in a robbery on the grounds that the accused had a previous criminal record having murdered his wife and child. Regarding the Chiba case, the top court said the district court's decision "put too much emphasis on the antisocial personality of the accused." Concerning the Tokyo case, the top court said, "There is a tenuous relationship between the defendant's criminal record and the murder." Convincing reasons vital The top court also said, "In imposing capital punishment, it is necessary to present concrete and persuasive reasons." This means that such a perspective was absent in the death sentences determined by lay judge trials at the district courts. The purpose of the lay judge system is to reflect the public's perspectives and societal values in court rulings. In its past decisions, the top court also presented the view that the judgments of lay judges must be respected. Some have questioned the top court's decisions that overturned the judgments made by lay judges after long hours of painstaking deliberations. But it must be noted that if the way death sentences are decided changes greatly from what was adopted conventionally, it will undermine fairness, which is the very basis of the judicial system. In deliberating sentences, it is imperative for judges and lay judges to hold prudent discussions while taking past precedents into consideration. Of course, there are cases when choosing the ultimate penalty is unavoidable. An example of this is the act of indiscriminate murder that occurred in 2008 on a street in Akihabara, Tokyo. 7 people were killed and 10 others were injured, some seriously. The accused was indicted before the lay judge system was enforced in May 2009, so the trial at the Tokyo District Court was held only by professional judges. The Tokyo High Court and the Supreme Court upheld the district court's death sentence. In handing down its ruling on the case on Feb. 2, the top court denounced the defendant's act, saying, "It was a well-prepared and indiscriminate murder committed based on strong murderous intent." The court concluded that "there is no choice but to uphold the death penalty." To help deter heinous crimes, it is necessary to take a firm stance when ruling on cases that leave no room for lenience. (source: The Yomiuri Shimbun) LEBANON: Lebanese top judicial authority sentence 22 militants to death in absentia Lebanon's judicial council has issued 22 members of the militant group, Fatah Al-Islam, with the death penalty, and several others with hard labour sentences all in absentia. The sentenced individuals "sought, through different means, to support the cause and achieve the goals of this organisation," read the verdict published by state press. They worked to create a base for their "terrorist operations" in Lebanon, which include "explosives, murder, robbery and other crimes," the country's supreme judicial authority said. They aim to "weaken Lebanon, and destabilize confidence in its institutions, namely the military, amid plans to form a fundamentalist Takfiri state in the north, first, before expanding to other areas." The decision mentioned that the individuals have taken part in fighting against Lebanese army and security forces, leading to the killing of several soldiers and the wounding of others, along with destruction and damage caused to military buildings and offices. Fatah Al-Islam were involved in fighting with the Lebanese army which lasted 105 days at Nahr Al-Bared, a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The clashes led to the killing of 170 soldiers and over 200 members of the militant group. (source: Kuwait News Agency) SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi beheadings more frequent, 'more legitimate' than ISIS Saudi Arabian government officials faced extreme backlash after a leaked video showed the brutal public beheading of a woman, who proclaimed her innocence as a man chopped off her head. The video led to many comparisons to the Islamic State who also behead their victims in public. Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki told NBC News the punishments are not similar, since the Islamic State "has no legitimate way to decide to kill people." "When we do it in Saudi Arabia, we do it as a decision made by a court," he explained. "The killing is a decision, I mean it is not based on arbitrary choices, to kill this and not to kill this. When you kill somebody without legitimate basis, without justice system, without court, that is still a crime whether you behead them or kill [them] with a gun." Middle East news site Middle East Eye tweeted a picture that shows similarities between Islamic State and Saudi Arabia punishments. The 4 Saudi men were convicted on charges of luring a Saudi man, stealing from him and killing him. The latest beheading brings to 25 the number of people executed across the Arab state so far this year. Last year, Saudi authorities executed 87 people, up from 78 recorded in 2013. Danny Makki from the Syrian youth movement in the UK told RT that the West is also to blame. "What we have is a group such as ISIS [Islamic State] which is present in the Middle East. It's one of the biggest terrorist movements in the world. And we have a government which is allied to Western nations, Saudi Arabia, which perpetrates the same form of violence on its own population, acts such as beheadings, killings. This is all done in the name of Islam; it???s done in the name of religion. It misrepresents religion. A few weeks before the Saudi king died, a woman was executed in Mecca. She was beheaded. And this is the center of Islam. This is the center of pilgrimage for millions of Muslims all over the world. And for Saudi Arabia, a country which is an American ally, a UK ally, to do this at the same time when ISIS is beheading all of these individuals in Syria and Iraq ... It really speaks measures for Western silence and complicity with human rights abuses in forms of punishment such as this, which is horrific, in Saudi Arabia," he explained. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking all carry the death penalty under the Saudi penal code. (source: The Global Dispatch) PAKISTAN: Crippled death-row convict moves LHC A disabled Christian man - who, along with his wife, is facing to death penalty for alleged blasphemy and has been languishing in jail for 2 years - has moved an appeal in Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking his bail in view of his deteriorating health condition. Shafqat Masih and Shagufta Kausar were arrested on July 20, 2013 after being accused of sending a blasphemous SMS to a local cleric. They were awarded the death sentence on April 4, 2014. Shafqat, who cannot move without a wheel-chair, has moved the LHC for suspension of his punishment till final decision on his appeal.M In his application, he submitted that he has developed bed-sores and may die in jail as there is no possibility of a better treatment there. He said there were serious contradictions in witness accounts against him and he is hopeful of an acquittal on his appeal. Shafqat has requested that he be released on bail so that he can spend his life with his children and get proper treatment. The application will be heard on March 5. (source: The Express Tribune) BAHAMAS: Lawyer Cites Publicity's Effect On Jury In Child Killer's Trial Court of Appeal judges were told by convicted child killer Kofhe Goodman's lawyer that he would seek a deferment of a retrial if the court allowed the appeal against his client's murder conviction and death sentence due to the publicity of the matter. Wayne Munroe, QC, was responding to a question posed by Justices Anita Allen, Neville Adderley and Jon Isaacs on what the appellant was seeking to achieve if the court set aside the conviction and punishment concerning the September 2011 murder of Marco Archer, 11, of Brougham Street. As yesterday's substantive hearing was unable to begin due to some parts of the trial transcripts being unavailable, the judges sought to determine the appellant's end goal. Mr Munroe explained that the issue of pre-trial publicity of the case and its possible effect on the jury was a ground of appeal that was filed. He added that if the court were to find merit on this ground, in that the jury had not been reasonably questioned on their knowledge of media reports in the matter, then there would have to be a remedy. The QC suggested that a deferment of a retrial, until the publicity subsides, would be best. The appellate court adjourned the matter to March 4 for a status hearing. Mr Munroe was told that he would be given two weeks to comply with the court's new practice directive in filing a transcript index outlining the specific portions of the transcript on which he intends to rely during the appeal. This would allow Crown respondent, Director of Public Prosecutions Garvin Gaskin, to file submissions in response. The appellate court put the new measure in place, effective January 23, due to cases like Goodman's, whose trial lasted 4 months and had transcripts exceeding 1,000 pages. In 2013, trial judge Justice Bernard Turner, in handing down his sentence, noted that abducting a child, fracturing his skull with a blow to the head, placing a bag around his head and discarding his naked, lifeless body in bushes can be considered to be "the worst of the worst" in the guidelines for sentencing set out by Parliament. Justice Turner, in considering the death penalty, regarded the mitigating factors and the circumstances of the case - Goodman's previous convictions for unnatural carnal knowledge in 1993, attempted murder and causing grievous harm in August 1998 - and was "satisfied that the circumstances of this case required that a penalty be imposed." "This case is a clear and compelling case for the ultimate sentence of death, to satisfy the requirements of due punishment for the murder of this child and to protect this society from any further predatory conduct by this convict at any time in the future. Kofhe Edwardo Ferguson Goodman, I hereby sentence you to suffer death in the manner authorised by law," the judge had previously ruled. (source: Tribune242) INDIA: Rape of Nepalese woman: Women's commission for death to culprits The state women's commission will recommend death as penalty for the rape and murder of a Nepalese woman (28) here, which it has described as horrendous crime. On February 1, the mentally challenged Nepalese woman living with her sister at Chinyot Colony here had gone missing; and on February 4, her mutilated body was found in a field of a village nearby. Autopsy confirmed rape and multiple injuries all over the body. On Friday, state women's commission chairperson Kamlesh Panchal and vice-chairperson Suman Dahiya visited the family of the victim and met Rohtak senior superintendent of police (SSP) Shashank Anand. Panchal assured the family that the commission would demand nothing less than gallows for the culprits. The commission took a serious note of the allegation against the police of being lax in investigation. Local member of Parliament Deepender Singh Hooda and local legislator Munish Grover also visited the family and promised it support. SIT activates cyber cell The special investigation team (SIT) led by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Amit Bhatia has activated its cyber cell for a breakthrough in the case. The recovery of the body far from the woman's house has baffled the police, and now its cyber cell will to trace the mobile-phone users who were active near the crime spot in the past few days. On Friday, it rounded up several people for questioning. Nepalese people to hold protest The crime has outraged the Nepali community. The Mool Pravaha Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj and Pravasi Nepali Sangh Bharat will assemble their members at Mansarovar Park here on Sunday for a candlelight vigil and protest. The Nepali organisations has also invited local volunteer bodies to join in agitation. (source: Hindustan Times) BANGLADESH: Govt mulls law with death penalty to curb political violence: Suranjit The government is considering a law providing for capital punishment to saboteurs to curb political violence, says Suranjit Sengupta, chairman of the Standing Committee on the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, reports bdnews24.com. Speaking at a discussion on Friday in Dhaka, he said the government was determined to restore peace and order in the country. His comments comes as a BNP-sponsored month-long violent street campaign to press for a snap election has claimed more than 50 lives, mostly in fire-bombing. Both the US and UK said they were deeply concerned over the ongoing political violence in Bangladesh. Neighbouring India has left it to Dhaka to solve its own problems. Political violence in the run up to the 2014 general elections left a number of people, including policemen, dead. The economy bore the brunt of the violent campaigns. "A strict law is being formulated to prevent violence," Suranjit Sengupta, also the ruling Awami League's Advisory Council member, said. "It will have provisions for both maximum penalty and life imprisonment. "We will soon implement what we have discussed," he said. (source: The Financial Express) GLOBAL: The death penalty is a burden on the world 2 Australians citizens face firing squads in Indonesia for drug offences that were uncovered as a result of Australian Federal Police tipping off Indonesian police. The drugs were headed to Australia, where the 2 men would have received significant sentences had they been convicted. They could not have been extradited back to Indonesia, because we don't deport any prisoner to any place where they might face the death penalty. Australian officials can inform on their own citizens in situations like Bali, where they know execution is probable, but wash their hands of responsibility for the unjust deaths caused by their own tip-offs. The government would not extradite American Gabe Watson to Alabama if he faced the death penalty for the murder of his wife in Queensland on their honeymoon. Watson is white. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are not. Watson was an alleged killer. Chan and Sukumaran are not - they are just drug dealers. The new Indonesian President Joko Widodo flexed his considerable muscle and approved six executions of foreign and local drug dealers in his 1st few months of office. On Friday he confirmed that the 2 Australians would be killed this month, unfortunately for them the shortest month of the year. The Dutch and Brazilian governments were outraged at the recent executions of their citizens in Indonesia for drug offences. Governments who use such terror tactics to impose their will should be careful, lest the tactics be turned on them. The French had a tradition during the 1700s of quartering prisoners as a public spectacle. The 4 limbs of the convicted were tied to 4 oxen that were driven in every which way to tear the person apart. The upper classes on the other hand, if convicted, could purchase death by beheading or hanging. The axemen responsible for carrying out these acts complained to King Louis XVI of France that the neck bones of the condemned were too thick for clean chopping: It was painful and exhausting for them and for the victims. Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin argued, as a humanitarian, that there should be no capital punishment, but in the interim settled for inventing the guillotine. The machines introduced brevity to execution, allowed gravity to wield the axe and brought levity to the crowd of onlookers, who stared for signs of life in the heads gathered in conveniently located baskets. In time, Louis XVI himself, an amateur locksmith, is said to have added to the ultimate design of the guillotine. He was, by an ironic twist of both fate and the knife, beheaded benignly by his own machine in 1793. One of the problems of capital punishment is that it is so final. If an appeal is ultimately successful or future research - such as DNA evidence - renders the conviction a mistaken, it is extraordinarily hard to uphold the appeal and bring the dead back to life. In 2002 a brave American Federal Judge ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional because there was an undue risk that innocent people could be executed. Judge Jed S. Rakoff cited cases in which death-row inmates had been exonerated by DNA or other evidence. The government argued that DNA testing was now available to all and would reduce the risk of mistaken convictions. Judge Rakoff chided the government: "This completely misses the point ... what DNA testing has proved beyond cavil, is the remarkable degree of fallibility in the basic fact-finding processes on which we rely in criminal cases." Ironically it was 2 expert, genetically qualified lawyers who had destroyed the police case against O.J. Simpson who later, perhaps through guilt, set up the Innocence Project to use the science to exonerate wrongly convicted people. The current US Supreme Court has ordered the stay of execution of three Oklahoma men on the grounds that the current methods of lethal injection cause too much pain and uncertainty. International Big Pharma had refused to ship to the government stocks of Sodium Pentothal for injections which work quickly and, forgive me, relatively painlessly. No adequate substitute for this drug could be found by the best brains in Oklahoma. Until the Supreme Court rules on whether the current drug of choice midazolam - which takes up to 40 minutes to work - is cruel or unusual punishment, no heads will roll in Oklahoma. Whatever else may be said about it, the guillotine was quick and efficient. It would set the world upside down if America allowed capital punishment, but only by decapitation. In Saudi Arabia the late King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz al-Saud left this world with a rash of beheadings in his last six months of life, handed out for drug dealing offences and, in one case, the practice of black magic sorcery. The new King Salman, the Lenient One, kicked off his office with four executions in the first week. In a defying show of strength and oneupmanship, IS has resorted to the traditional witch burning methods of medieval Europe by lighting up an unfortunate Jordanian fighter jet pilot. The Jordanian King Abdullah retaliated by donning his airforce uniform and threatening to fly missions himself against IS. Unlike President Bush, King Abdullah could actually fly and accomplish his mission. He ordered the immediate execution of a female terrorist whose bomb, strapped to her body, did not go off. The world is rapidly changing. Princess Sara bint Talal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, 38, a senior member of Saudi Arabia's royal family, has filed for political asylum in Britain after accusing the Saudi government of plotting to kidnap her to smuggle her back to Riyadh. She has been living in a 5-star London hotel with her four children and two dogs, guarded by private security, since 2007. She had fallen out with her father, Prince Talal, and lived on the favours of her uncle Crown Prince Nayef until his death in 2012. Her brother, prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, had been, until last week ,the 2nd largest shareholder in News Corporation. His withdrawal from Sith Lord Murdoch's Galactic Empire has threatened the stability of the Sun King. Princess Sara is battling her older brother, Prince Turki, for their dead mother's fortune, which is locked in vaults in Switzerland and other places. There was more than a sense of history repeating itself when Princes Sara was asked by a journalist if she was ferried everywhere by Rolls Royce. She replied: "I hate Rolls Royces, I love Aston Martins." 6 months after Louis XVI was beheaded it is said that, when facing the executioners' block, his wife Queen Marie Antoinette queried what the mob was so mad about. "They have no bread, Majesty," they told her. "Well then, give 'em croissants for God's sake!" she exclaimed. Chan and Sukumaran could be comforted by reading the great British Empire writer Kipling, who wrote: "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you ... if you can dream - and not make dreams your master ... if you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch ... yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, and which is more, you'll be a Man, my son." (source: Commentary, Charles Waterstreet; Brisbane Times) INDONESIA: Bali 9 duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran 'were meant to get life in prison' The lawyer who represented Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran when they were first sentenced to death has made a surprise visit to the 2 men in Kerobokan jail, hinting that he is aware of new evidence that could save them. Muhammad Rifan visited the pair on Saturday and revealed that they were originally meant to be sentenced to life in jail but that "intervention" at the time ensured they got death. Mr Rifan, who stopped representing the pair after they got the death penalty and failed to win any appeals after being advised to plead innocence, has not spoken to the 2 Australians for years. But yesterday he came, unannounced, to Kerobokan prison to see them and emerged to say that he had conveyed new information to Sukumaran which could help them in pleading for their lives. He said the new information or evidence would require support from the Australian Government but he refused to explain further. The pair's current lawyers have foreshadowed further legal action next week in a bid to save their lives but have not said what form it would take. Mr Rifan said that the two Sydney men were meant to be sentenced to life not death on the day of their verdict in the Denpasar District Court. "At that time, they actually will be sentenced to life. There are several factors that caused them to be sentenced to death at that time. We saw there was intervention at that time," Mr Rifan said. "The panel of Judges, I am very sure, also feel regret. Because after they sentenced them to death, they said to me that actually it was not what they want." Mr Rifan said that he now felt regret at what has transpired and that Chan and Sukumaran are now just weeks from being shot dead by firing squad. "For sure, I feel regret that the legal system is easily interfered with," he said. "We can feel it at that time. So the judges in the Denpasar court, the Bali High Court, as well as the Supreme Court did not escape from the intervention of the Government at that time," Mr Rifan said. He said he had provided information to Sukumaran that could help in the future legal strategies. Sukumaran undertook to talk to his now lawyers, he said. Asked why he had come to the jail to see the men on Saturday, Mr Rifan said he wanted to give them further information and options to use in any further legal action. And he echoed a view being articulated by many within the jail system in Indonesia - Chan and Sukumaran are more use to the system alive not dead. They have set up and run a host of rehabilitation programs in the jail, teaching inmates valuable skills to help them rehabilitate and break the revolving cycle of crime and jail. "They do not deserve to be sentenced to death. They were stupid children not thinking about the long term." It comes as the Australian Embassy in Jakarta was told by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Thursday that Chan and Sukumaran would die this month. But so far no date has been set and the country's Attorney-General has yet to confirm details for the next executions. The Chan and Sukumaran families have been in Bali for the past few weeks, keeping a desperate vigil, hoping against hope for a miracle, since learning that both men???s Presidential clemency bids had been rejected. They were at the jail again Saturday visiting both young men, as was the Sydney pastor of the church attended by Sukumaran's family. Mithran Chellappah from the C3 Church said he had known Myuran Sukumaran for the past 15 years. He said in "their state of condemnation" Sukumaran and Chan had achieved much more than others, himself included and that allowing them to live would achieve much more than killing them. "They can be a wonderful experience to someone turning their life around," Pastor Chellappah said outside the jail. And former and current jail inmates have written a series of emotional letters, pleading for life, some even offering to take their place in front of the firing squad. (source: news.com.au) ****************** Prisoners write to save Bali 9 duo----Prisoners in Kerobokan jail are writing open letters about how condemned Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan should not be executed. Kerobokan prisoners are writing letters they hope will save the lives of Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan - men they regard as their mentors, brothers and sons. Sukumaran, 33, and Chan, 31, have been notified they will be executed this month for leading the 2005 Bali 9 attempt to smuggle heroin into Australia. The news on Friday was a blow to the men and their families, but also to their many friends inside the Bali prison. The pair have initiated various classes that have helped people stay off drugs, focusing their minds on productive activities and building skills for life after prison. Their fellow prisoners can't imagine life in jail without the outreach of Chan, who is studying to become a pastor, and worry what will become of Sukumaran's art school. They are writing letters - some to President Joko Widodo and his government - others addressed to no one in particular, pleading for their friends' lives. One Indonesian inmate, Rico Richardo, writes that he is willing to take Chan's place at the execution, after the Australian paid for his medical care when he was gravely ill. Meanwhile, Sukumaran is funding much-needed surgery for a Filipina inmate, Maria Cecilia Jusay Lopez, by selling 2 paintings. Sukumaran was very concerned to ensure it was arranged before his execution. "He encourages us that even (though) we are in this prison we can still learn more and be a good example to others," she says. Prisoner I Wayan Sudiasa writes about his life-changing experience in Sukumaran's art classes. "I am amazed at Myuran. I am proud of Myuran," he writes. "He is a prisoner who was sentenced to death by a judge, who became a coach, teacher and painting guide in Kerobokan. "Try to find Indonesians like Myuran." Mr Joko is the only person who can spare the men from execution, but under political pressure to look decisive, he is enacting a policy of no mercy to death row drug offenders. EXCERPTS OF LETTERS FROM INSIDE: - Andre Wijaya: "I am a living witness, for 4.5 years with these 2 death row inmates. I assure you the 2 inmates have repented ... it can be verified directly with every resident of Kerobokan jail." - Stefanus Mehang: "I know Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. They are dignified, modest and extraordinary personalities. I beg deeply for forgiveness for them both." - Rico Richardo: "If Your Honour Bapak President still insists on executing Andrew Chan, I, Rico Richardo as an Indonesian citizen, am ready to replace Andrew Chan to be executed." - Rizki Pratama: "If only the government and the president knew what he's been doing in this prison. Andrew Chan does not deserve to receive the death penalty." (source: sbs.com.au) *********************** Indonesia must stop executions Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet) is disturbed by the recent execution of 6 persons in Indonesia in January 2015, and the possibility that many more will be executed in the near future. Indonesia seems to have had an unofficial moratorium on executions for several years from 2008 but resumed capital punishment again in 2013. There were apparently no executions in 2014. After President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo took office in October 2014, things changed. On or about Jan 18, 2015, 6 persons were executed by firing squad. 5 foreigners and an Indonesian woman convicted on drug trafficking charges were killed. 'President Joko says that Indonesia is in a "state of emergency" with regard to rampant drug trafficking across Indonesia, and he believes that this problem could be solved by executions. He is wrong, and Madpet reiterates that the death penalty does not deter drug offences. In March 2012, it was revealed in the Malaysian Parliament by then-home minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, that the mandatory death penalty has been shown to have failed to act as a deterrent. Police statistics for the arrests of drug dealers under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty, for the past 3 years (2009 to 2011) have shown an increase. In 2009, 2,955 were arrested under this section. In 2010, 3,700 people were arrested, whilst in 2011, 3,845 were arrested. (Free Malaysia Today, March 19, 2012, 'Death penalty not deterring drug trade') Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairperson Lee Lam Thye also did note in July 2013 that the death sentence had not deterred the drug trade. It is also now accepted that many persons facing the death penalty for drug trafficking are really 'mules', many of whom are young people who have been tricked, or those who are financially disadvantaged. Cases like that of Malaysian Umi Azlim Mohamad Lazim, 24, a graduate from a poor Malay family of rice farmers, and young Malaysian Yong Vui Kong who were once facing death for drug trafficking, who since then had their sentences commuted, have opened many eyes as to why the death penalty need to be abolished, especially for drug offences. Malaysia is seriously moving towards the abolition of the death penalty. Indonesia needs to consider the Malaysian experience, and immediately put a stop to its plans to execute even more convicted drug traffickers. There is really no empirical evidence to support the notion that the death penalty serves as an effective deterrent to the commission of crimes. Further, no criminal justice legal system in the world is foolproof, error-free or fail-safe. In the instance of the death penalty, there is no opportunity to correct an error, as the execution of the death sentence is irreversible. We recall the Taiwan case of Chiang Kuo-ching, a private in the air force, who was executed in error in 1997 for a murder, which the Taiwan government did admit was an error in 2011. UN Resolution to establish moratorium On Dec 18, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a Resolution to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. 117 member states voted in favour of the resolution, 38 voted against and 34 abstained. This was the 5th time a resolution on this issue has been passed. In December 2012, being the last time, 111 states voted in favour, 41 against and 34 abstained. In 2007, only 104 nations that supported. In 2008, this increased to 106. In 2010, 108 countries voted in favour and now in 2014, 117 member countries voted in favour. There is no doubt that the global community is more and more for the abolition of the death penalty. Indonesia, being a member nation of the global community, should adhere to these UNGA Resolutions and immediately establish a moratorium on all executions in Indonesia. It has been reported that President Joko has stated that he will reject the clemency petitions for all drug traffickers on death row, which is about 57 persons. This is certainly not proper or just, for each and every application for clemency should be considered separately and without prejudice by the president on its merits. (Jakarta Post, Jan 30, 2015). The presidential power to grant clemency is most important in death penalty cases as this the last safeguard against wrongful conviction and therefore wrongful execution. Madpet urges Indonesia to immediately stop any further executions, and immediately comply with the United Nations General Assembly Resolution and establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. (source: Charles Hector is a coordinator of Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet)----Malaysiakini.com) *********************** Nigerian Drug Dealer Could Face Firing Squad After Found With 1.7 Kilograms of Meth A Nigerian drug dealer could face the death penalty after he was caught with nearly 1.7 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at his rented home in Central Jakarta, police say. Sr. Comr. Eko Danianto, chief of the Jakarta Police's narcotics unit, said the man, who was identified as CO, was arrested on Wednesday at his house in Cempaka Putih following tip-offs from local residents. "The police confiscated 28 packets of crystal meth weighing in total 1,699 grams hidden in a bag, 1 electric scale, 2 mobile phones, and a passport," Eko said. Police said CO received the drugs from another Nigerian, identified as CN, who is at large. "CN delivers the stuff to CO through a woman with initials MNC in Jakarta," said Eko. "We're still developing our investigation to reveal their network." According to Eko, CO would be charged with article 114 of a 2009 Law on Drugs and could face the death penalty. (source: Jakarta Globe) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 7 13:19:19 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2015 13:19:19 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 7 IRAN: EXECUTION LOOMS FOR SAMAN NASEEM Iranian juvenile offender, Saman Naseem, could be executed as early as 19 February 2015 for crimes allegedly committed when he was 17 years old. He was sentenced to death after an unfair trial. View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. Iranian juvenile offender, Saman Naseem, could be executed as early as 19 February 2015 for crimes allegedly committed when he was 17 years old. He was sentenced to death after an unfair trial. The family of Saman Naseem, who is now aged 22, have received reliable information that he will be executed on 19 February. Amnesty International understands that the authorities have prevented Saman Naseem?s lawyer from pursuing the case and have not allowed him to appoint another lawyer. Saman Naseem was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for ?enmity against God? (moharebeh) and ?corruption on earth? (ifsad fil-arz) because of his membership of the Kurdish armed opposition group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), and for taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2013. According to court documents, during early investigations Saman Naseem admitted firing towards Revolutionary Guards forces in July 2011. He retracted this during the first court session, saying that he had only fired into the air and had not been aware of the content of the written ?confessions? he was forced to sign as he had been kept blindfolded while he was interrogated. Saman Naseem was allowed no access to his lawyer during early investigations and he said he was tortured by being hung upside down for a lengthy period of time. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Saman Naseem started a hunger strike on 20 November 2014, along with 23 other prisoners from Iran?s Kurdish minority, in protest at the conditions in Ward 12 of Oroumieh Central Prison, West Azerbaijan Province, where political prisoners are held. In retaliation, the authorities threatened to expedite the execution of Saman Naseem and nine other men on death row. The men ended their hunger strike after 33 days, after the authorities promised to meet their demands. View the full Urgent Action here. Name: Saman Naseem (m) Issues: Imminent execution, Torture/Ill-treatment, Unfair trial Further information on UA: 234/14 (18 September 2014) Issue Date: 6 February 2015 Country: Iran Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 234/14" in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the below date. This is the first update of UA 234/14. Further information: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/049/2014/en.?If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below. HOW YOU CAN HELP Please write immediately in English, Arabic, French, Spanish or your own language: * Urging the Iranian authorities to stop the execution of Saman Naseem immediately and ensure that his case is subject to a judicial review; * Reminding them that Iran has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibit the use of the death penalty against people who were below 18 years of age at the time of the crime; * Urging them to investigate the allegation that he was tortured or otherwise ill-treated and ensure that ?confessions? obtained from him under torture are not used as evidence in court. PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 20 MARCH 2015 TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayed ?Ali Khamenei The Office of the Supreme Leader Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: info_leader at leader.ir Twitter: @khamenei_ir Salutation: Your Excellency Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani c/o Public Relations Office Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Salutation: Your Excellency And copies to: President of the Islamic republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani The Presidency Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Twitter:@HassanRouhani (English) and @Rouhani_ir (Persian) Also send copies to: Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to: Iranian Interests Section 2209 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20007 Phone: 202 965 4990 ?I ?Fax: 202 965 1073 ?I ?Email: info at daftar.org Please share widely with your networks:?http://bit.ly/18VnP4R We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward this email to a friend" link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism! UA Network Office AIUSA ?600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 T. 202.509.8193 ? F. 202.509.8193 ?E. uan at aiusa.org ?amnestyusa.org/urgent From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 8 15:54:49 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2015 15:54:49 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C., GA., TENN., MO., S. DAK. Message-ID: Feb. 8 PENNSYLVANIA: Appeals court to mull death penalty in 2005 murder retrial An appeals court hears arguments later this month on whether a man can face the death penalty in his retrial in the murder of a woman whose body was found in a central Pennsylvania park a decade ago. 42-year-old Paul Aaron Ross is charged in Blair County in the June 2004 murder of 26-year-old Tina Miller, whose body was found partially submerged and bound with duct tape at Canoe Creek State Park. The (Altoona) Mirror (http://bit.ly/1zLc2Pb ) reports that a Superior Court panel hears defense arguments Feb. 25 that jurors couldn't agree in 2005 whether Ross deserved execution, so prosecutors should be barred from seeking that. Ross was granted a new trial after his attorney argued that he didn't have enough time to prepare his defense for the 1st trial. (source: Associated Press) ****************** Chances of being executed in Pennsylvania remain slim Hugo Selenski could soon join a potentially endangered species: Pennsylvania death row inmate. If a jury were to convict the accused double-killer this week, and subsequently sentenced him to death, that would put Selenski, 41, among just under 200 people on the list of those sentenced to execution in this state. But the odds appear slim that Selenski - or any of the other 186 people officially on death row in Pennsylvania - could die strapped to a gurney with a needle in their veins. Statistics alone make the case. Capital punishment was reauthorized in Pennsylvania in 1978. According to state records, 7 governors signed a total of 434 death warrants between 1985 and last month, when Gov. Tom Corbett signed 5 final warrants before leaving office. The number of people put to death in Pennsylvania since 1978? Three, and the last of those was executed in 1999. That's not entirely for lack of trying. The lengthy and expensive appeals process is the obvious and most common reason why death row inmates languish in state custody, but not the only factor. In September, Corbett wrote that he was "committed to carrying out" a death sentence for Hubert Lester Michael Jr., 58, who was sentenced to die in 1995 after being convicted of the 1993 kidnapping and murder of a 16-year-old girl in York County. But Michael's execution did not take place, after it emerged that state officials were not able to obtain the drugs required to perform a lethal injection. That news came amid controversy about the the drugs to be used, in which the American Civil Liberties Union and media outlets sued to learn the source of those drugs. The heightened scrutiny followed 3 botched executions in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona last year. Political landscape In the meanwhile, Corbett was voted out of office, and the change in the political winds also suggests that the Keystone State won???t be executing anyone else anytime soon. New Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat who defeated incumbent Republican Corbett with nearly 55 % of the vote in November, supports a moratorium on capital punishment. According to Associated Press reports leading up to the election, Wolf pledged not to sign any death warrants until concerns raised by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the American Bar Association about the process have been addressed. A spokesman confirmed last week that this remains Wolf's position. "It's something that he's talked about for a long time," Jeff Sheridan told the Times Leader in a telephone interview on Friday. "It's not anything new." Not new, perhaps, but even for a Democrat in this state, Wolf's view may represent a break from previous governors in his party. Of those 434 death warrants signed since 1985, 293 were signed by Republicans, with the remaining 141 signed by Democrats: 21 by the late Gov. Bob Casey, 1 by his acting governor Mark Singel, and 119 by Gov. Ed Rendell. If Wolf is the most powerful political figure questioning capital punishment in Pennsylvania right now, he is not alone and certainly not the 1st. And the movement is not exclusively the preserve of Democrats. Committee report Sheridan confirmed that Wolf is awaiting the report of the bipartisan Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment, a panel convened by the state Senate in 2012. That body was due to present its findings after a 2-year study, but has yet to do so. The committee was convened at the behest of legislation proposed by Republican Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, himself a former prosecutor. "Questions are frequently raised regarding the costs, deterrent effect and appropriateness of capital punishment," Greenleaf said in 2011. "I believe that we need to answer these questions." The purpose of Greenleaf's committee, he said, is to undertake a "balanced study, taking into account all points of view including those of law enforcement and crime victims on whether the death sentence has a deterrent effect and contributes to the protection of the public." As Greenleaf previously has pointed out, "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System determined that racial, ethnic and gender biases exist, and that those biases significantly affect the way parties, witnesses, litigants, lawyers, court employees, and potential jurors are treated. Post-conviction DNA testing has shown that there are wrongful convictions, even in capital cases." Of the 186 people currently on death row in Pennsylvania, state records show that 183 are male and 3 female. Of that group, 98 are black, 68 are white, 18 are Hispanic and 2 are Asian. Sheridan said Wolf likewise has concerns about the fairness, effectiveness and expense of capital punishment. But the future of lethal injections also may rest in higher hands. The U.S. Supreme Court last month announced plans to review whether the drug protocol used for executions in many parts of the country violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Luzerne County cases If Selenski were convicted and sentenced to die, his would be only the 3rd case from Luzerne County currently represented on Pennsylvania's list of those sentenced to execution. Michael Bardo, of Wilkes-Barre, was sentenced to death in 1994 for molesting and killing his 3-year-old niece in 1992, but now is entitled a new sentencing hearing. In a December ruling, the state Supreme Court effectively upheld a 2012 order of then-Luzerne County Senior Judge Patrick Toole to vacate the death sentence because Bardo's attorneys did not present a wealth of mitigating evidence at Bardo's penalty phase hearing. Because the court was split 3-3, Toole's decision stands as a matter of law. Toole, meanwhile, had dismissed Bardo\'s appeal of his guilt, and the Supreme Court upheld that dismissal. The other Luzerne County case still formally listed among those sentenced to execution is that of mass-murderer George Banks, who went on a Sept. 25, 1982 rampage in and around Jenkins Township that killed 13 people, including 5 of his own children. Banks received 12 death sentences on Nov. 22, 1985. Banks, now 72, has avoided the executioner for nearly 30 years amid questions about mental illness and his competency to understand why he is facing execution, likely putting him beyond the needle's reach for the rest of his natural life, based on previous reports. Death row demographics Banks, who was 43 when sentenced, is not even the oldest of those on the state's list of inmates facing execution, nor is he the longest-serving among them. The oldest is Ronald Francis Puksar, 74. He was sentenced to death in 1993 after being convicted of the 1st-degree murders of his brother and sister-in-law, Thomas and Donna Puksar, in Berks County in 1991. The longest-serving capital inmate in Pennsylvania is Henry P. Fahy, 57, who was sentenced on Nov. 2, 1983, following his conviction for the 1981 rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Philadelphia. The state's most recent death sentence to be handed down, meanwhile, is that of Timothy Matthew Jacoby, 41, a York man who was convicted in October for the 2010 shooting death of a 55-year-old Manheim Township woman. The youngest person currently on death row in Pennsylvania is Abraham Sanchez Jr., 26. He was sentenced on March 30, 2009 - several months shy of his 21st birthday - in connection with the 2007 shooting death of a 65-year-old Lancaster County man during a robbery attempt. (source: The Times Leader) NORTH CAROLINA: Lamp's death penalty case racks up $250K in costs Nearly 1 year ago, an Iredell County jury handed down a death sentence in a case that began nearly 6 years earlier. When the jury convicted Bernard Lamp of 1st-degree murder and, 2 weeks later, recommended the death penalty, the case that began in 2008 came to an end, at least on the local level, but not before racking up close to $250,000 in expenses. Lamp was sentenced to death for killing Bonnie Lou Irvine in late February or early March 2008. Her body was found buried in the back yard of a home on Weathers Creek Road in mid March 2008. Lamp was arrested on March 13, 2008, driving Irvine's car. A day later, her body was found buried in a shallow grave. >From that arrest nearly 7 years ago to the case coming to trial in January 2014, Lamp remained in custody, shuttled between Statesville and Raleigh. Those costs alone, said Maj. Bert Connelly, detention supervisor, came to more than $150,000. More than 1/2 of that cost came as the result of the lengthy incarceration prior to trial. Connelly said these lengthy cases put a dent in the jail budget, but there's nothing the sheriff's office can do to reduce the amount of time a case takes to come to trial. "We are the mercy of the judicial system," he said. In terms of the time it takes to bring a death penalty case to trial in Iredell, there's little to compare. Since 2005, there have been a few cases in which the state sought the death penalty. In 2005, there were 2 cases tried in Iredell County with the death penalty on the table. The 1st began in May 2010 and involved 2 murders that occurred in December 2007 - a span of less than 30 months. Andrew Ramseur was tried and sentenced to death for murdering 2 people during an armed robbery at convenience store on East Broad Street. Jennifer Vincek, the store's clerk, and Jeff Peck, a customer, died in that robbery. However, 2 other cases in which the death penalty was sought were as lengthy from time of the crime to conviction as the Lamp case. Travis Ramseur was tried and convicted of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in September 2010 - nearly 6 years after the crime occurred. The jury rejected the state's call for the death penalty and Ramseur was sentenced to life in prison without parole. His co-defendant, Al Bellamy, was tried seven months later, again on capital charges. A mistrial was declared before the case went to the jury and the judge took the death penalty off the table for a retrial. Bellamy was convicted in the fall of 2011 on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, nearing the 7th anniversary of the 2 murders. He was sentenced to life in prison. Even though these cases approached the same length of time from the crime to conviction as the Lamp case, Ramseur and Bellamy were charged on federal drug counts and the federal drug charges were tried 1st. Bellamy and Ramseur were charged in May 2005 - nearly 6 months after the shootings. Bringing the 2 cases to trial would take almost 6 years for Ramseur and more than 6 for Bellamy. The 5th death penalty case local prosecutors will try in 5 years is set for early November, about the same time frame as Andrew Ramseur's case, 30 months. Why did it take so long to bring Bernard Lamp to trial? There are a variety of factors, court documents revealed. Some of those cited include the large quantity of evidence analyzed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation laboratory, the defense???s motion to name the initial lead prosecutor, Mikko Red Arrow, as a defense witness (Red Arrow had previously prosecuted Lamp on other charges); conflicting trial schedules with defense attorneys Vince Rabil and David Freedman, defense requests for continuances and instances where prosecutors were in court and the defense failed to come to court. According to court documents there were 8 court dates in which the defense did not appear. Rabil said the biggest factor in the time-consuming case was waiting for evidence to be processed by the FBI. He said, with some of the evidence, it took as long as four years to be analyzed and reports given to both the state and defense. "That was the hold-up," he said. The bulk of the expenses connected with this trial were incurred in incarceration of Lamp for nearly 6 years. But there were many other expenses associated with bringing Bernard Lamp to justice, from extra security during the more than 5-week court case to expert witnesses to psychological and psychiatric services. The North Carolina Office Indigent Defense Services provided representation to Lamp. One of his 2 attorneys, Rabil, is employed by the IDS so his salary is not factored into defense costs, Danielle M. Carman, assistant director and general counsel for the IDS, said in an email. The 2nd attorney assigned to the case Freedman, was paid $30,315.55 and another $16,721.20 was paid for DNA testing and analysis. In total, the defense spent about $81,422.27 in defending Lamp. Connelly said the trial itself caused expenses, including extra security for the duration of the case. He estimated that cost about $4,500. He said the combination of housing Lamp for almost 6 years and security during the trial was in the neighborhood of $158,000. Other costs came in the form of expert witnesses. Since Lamp and Irvine met via a Craigslist ad and communicated with each other via cell phone or email in late February 2008, it was necessary to put representatives of the various email, cell phone and Craigslist providers on the stand to link the cell phones, emails and Craigslist postings to Lamp and Irvine. 5 of these witnesses took the stand, most just to provide documentation of the cell phone numbers and the ad site. Most were on the stand less than 15 minutes but required being flown in and housed, including at least one from California. Requests to the Administrative Office of the Courts to provide those costs were not answered. The case was also lengthened by the fact that Lamp faced the death penalty, Rabil said. The decision to seek the death penalty ramps up the length, which increases costs significantly. Bellamy's attorney, Bob Trobich, said bringing a death penalty case to trial is time-consuming regardless of the circumstances. The costs to investigate possible mitigating factors in the penalty phase, if the jury finds the defendant guilty of 1st-degree murder, are the main reasons a death penalty case is more expensive and takes long to get to court, Trobich said. "It takes forever," he said. "You have to get school records, track people down," he said. A study conducted by the IDS in 2008 concluded that between 2002 and 2006, the average cost for a capital case was $58,000 vs. $14,000 for a non-capital case. Some cases, depending on a variety of factors such as in the Lamp case, will exceed $200,000. But regardless of the costs and time in housing Lamp and ultimately bringing the case before a jury, Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said, it was money well-spent. "Bonnie Lou Irvine deserved justice," he said. (source: Statesville Record & Landmark) GEORGIA: Warner Robins death row inmate tied to other slayings A Warner Robins man fighting to get off death row is accused in 2 other killings the same year he was convicted of raping and slaying a 17-year-old girl in a pecan orchard near Kathleen. The other cases -- the drowning of a man in a hotel room bathtub and the kidnapping of an airman who was then killed in Twiggs County -- were dead docketed in Houston County when Roger Collins was convicted and sentenced to death for the slaying of Deloris Luster. A case that is dead docketed may be reopened and prosecuted at any time, though the same issues dogging the defense of Collins' death penalty case -- lost records, missing evidence and the deaths of witnesses -- likely would hinder prosecution if the other cases were reopened. Collins, 56, is the second longest-serving death row inmate. The former Warner Robins city sanitation worker is now entering his 38th year under a death sentence, including at least 2 times when his execution was ordered and then stayed among years of legal battles. THE CRIMES Collins was 18 in 1977 when he was convicted and sentenced to death for bludgeoning a teenage girl with a car bumper jack after he and another man raped her at knifepoint. William Durham, who was dating Collins' mother at the time, was sentenced to life for the August 1977 murder and rape. A 3rd man, Johnny Styles, who waited in the car after the rape while Luster was murdered, was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony. Collins originally told Houston County sheriff's investigators that he and Durham both struck Luster with the jack but later told authorities he confessed to that because Durham told him to, and he never struck her. He admitted to dropping the jack out of a moving car afterward and discarding her clothes in a convenience store dumpster, according to his statement included in the case file in Houston County Superior Court. Based on a review of court records, Collins and Durham were also indicted in Houston County on charges of murder and robbery by force in the July 1977 slaying of Irvin Woodward, who had invited the men into his Warner Robins hotel room. Collins and Durham are accused of striking the Ohio man in the head with a boot, tying him up and then drowning him for $120 in cash. The case was dead docketed after Collins and Durham were tried separately and sentenced in Luster's murder. Both were also indicted in Houston County on charges of kidnapping, armed robbery and motor vehicle theft in connection to the June 1977 slaying of airman Mitchell Hunter III. Hunter, who worked at Robins Air Force Base, was robbed of a government check totaling $159.01, kidnapped and his car stolen at gunpoint while making a call from a pay phone at Sixth Street and Watson Boulevard in Warner Robins. He was then driven to Twiggs County where he shot multiple times. The Houston County part of the case also was dead docketed after the men were sentenced for Luster's murder. Durham pleaded guilty in Twiggs County to the airman's murder. It was not clear from Twiggs County Superior Court records what happened with the murder charge against Collins. In another dead-docketed Houston County case, Collins was accused of robbing liquor store owner Wallace Johnson of $150 at knifepoint and striking him on the head with a bottle of wine in October 1976. Co-defendant Henry William Roberts Jr. was sentenced to 2 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery by intimidation. THE DEATH PENALTY CASE In 1991, a Butts County Superior Court judge remanded the case to Houston County Superior Court on the issue of mental retardation after a forensic psychologist found that Collins had an IQ of 66. But a trial to determine whether Collins was mentally disabled never took place. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of mentally retarded persons but left up to each state how determinations of mental capacity are made. Georgia is the only state that requires the defense to prove mental retardation beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard has stood up under appeal. Collins' case languished for more than 20 years until Decatur-based Watchdogs for Justice petitioned the attorney general???s office in September 2012 to intervene. The nonprofit group asked that the death penalty be vacated for a sentence of life with the possibility of parole. In January 2013, Houston County Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Dan Bibler wrote a letter to Superior Court Judge George Nunn about the need to get the case moving and requested a new psychiatric evaluation of Collins. State capital defenders mounted a defense to prevent prosecutors from challenging Collins' 1991 diagnosis of mental retardation and asked Nunn to vacate the death sentence for a life sentence with the possibility of parole. Amber Pittman, the lead capital defender representing Collins, argued in court motions that "the loss of evidence resulting (from) the 23-year delay in bringing this case to trial has created an insurmountable obstacle to a fair trial on the issue of mental retardation." She argued much of the evidence from the original trial is missing, and school and other records that would lend credence to Collins' mental state have been destroyed. In addition, many of the people who could have testified about Collins being in special education before dropping out of school, his cognitive abilities, and childhood neglect and abuse have died. Some of those witnesses included his mother, siblings and the forensic psychologist whose opinion led to the case being sent back for trial. Other witnesses signed affidavits that their memories have faded, but they would have been able testify in 1991 had prosecutors sought to try the case then. Pittman also contended the prosecution had in effect acquiesced to a life sentence by not moving the case forward from 1991 to 2012. Pittman declined to comment for this story. Bibler said he could not speak to why there was no movement in the case during that time frame, but he said the prosecution now having its own psychological evaluation of Collins is reasonable and afforded under state law. As to the dead-docketed cases, Bibler said his focus is now on the mental retardation remand, and he would address other issues as they arose. On Oct. 17, Nunn ordered the prosecution may conduct its own mental evaluation and agreed to a defense request to have an attorney or other defense representative observe the evaluation. That evaluation is pending, Bibler said. He added the defense also had its own evaluation of Collins last year. Included in the court record, the defense evaluation by forensic psychologist Doug Stone-Miller found Collins has a "moderate intellectual disability." Bibler said how the case may proceed depends on the results of the pending evaluation at Central State Hospital. On Jan. 27, Georgia executed by injection 54-year-old Warren Lee Hill over the objections of his attorneys and outcry from human rights groups that his intellectual disability should have precluded him from the death penalty. He had an IQ of 70. Hill was convicted of the 1990 murder of inmate Joseph Handspike while in prison for the 1985 slaying of his girlfriend. (source: Macon Telegraph) TENNESSEE: Gaile Owens: 'I still struggle' with freedom More than 3 years after she was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women, Gaile Owens continues to grapple with her freedom. "I don't know that I deserved to get out," said Owens, who was sentenced to death for hiring a hit man to kill her husband in 1984. "I still struggle with that." But she knows that she did not deserve to die for her crime. "No crime is right. There's no justification for it," Owens said Saturday during a conference hosted by Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty "But to take another life doesn't make it right either." Owens has said she suffered years of emotional, physical and sexual abuse at her husband's hands. In 2010, Gov. Phil Bredesen commuted her sentence to life, clearing the way for her release a year later. At the conference, which brought together almost 200 high school and college students from across the state, Gaile Owens and her son Stephen talked about their decades-long path to forgiveness and redemption. Stephen Owens, who was a child when his father was killed, didn't speak to his mother for 25 years following her conviction. For much of that time, he said, he remained a death penalty supporter. "If a crime was committed that warrants a judge or a jury to sentence a person to death, then who was I to interfere with justice?" he said. But after visiting his mother in 2009, his heart softened as he saw the good work she was doing behind bars. He ultimately played a pivotal role in her legal team's efforts to avoid execution. "It is easy to have a stance against something when you're observing it from a far distance," he told the students. But his visit "was a real experience. I heard a real voice, I looked into her real eyes, and she was a real person." When Stephen was finished speaking, he turned to his mother, who wrapped him up in a hug and kissed him on the cheek. "The journey that I've walked has been more than interesting," Gaile Owens said. "But I know that I'm a better person today than I was the day that I walked into prison." The conference also included evocative remarks from the Rev. Charles Strobel, who argued against the death penalty for his mother's killer in the 1980s. Defense attorneys, a former prosecutor and Gayle Ray, a former sheriff and prison official, also spoke. Stacy Rector, executive director of TADP, said the mix of speakers was meant to give the students a broad understanding of the divisive issue. "There's a ripple effect to the death penalty that we don't often think about," Rector said. "It impacts all of us on some level, and we are trying to get at what some of those impacts are." For some of the students gathered in the audience, the conference offered a chance to have their voices heard. William Spicer, a 21-year-old who recently graduated from Union University, wanted to learn what he could do to change policies surrounding the death penalty in Tennessee. "For me, it's a way of finding out how to be engaged in the political sphere," he said. (source: The Tennessean) MISSOURI----impending execution Local group plans death penalty protest The Springfield chapter of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (MADP) will hold a protest vigil on Tuesday to mark the scheduled execution of state prison inmate Walter Timothy Storey on Wednesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre. The vigil will be from noon to 1 p.m. at Park Central Square in downtown Springfield. Storey was convicted and sentenced to death in the 1990 killing of Jill Frey in her St. Charles County home. The inmate's original death sentence was overturned by the Missouri Supreme court because of ineffective assistance of defense counsel and errors committed by a special prosecutor. A 2nd sentencing hearing resulted in the death penalty being handed down once again, but the court reversed it on account of procedural error. The 3rd hearing resulted in a death sentence that was upheld by the court. Storey is the 2nd prisoner set to be executed by the state this year. Marcellus Williams was scheduled to be executed last month, but the state Supreme Court withdrew the death warrant when the defense asked for further examination of the case. Last week, the Supreme Court of Missouri set a March execution date for Cecil Clayton, who was convicted of killing a Barry County Sheriff's deputy in 1997. (source: ky3.com) SOUTH DAKOTA: Lawmakers to consider death penalty Lawmakers are expected to debate proposals limiting or repealing the death penalty, requiring certain insurance to cover autism therapy and allowing people to carry a concealed pistol without a permit this week in Pierre. Here's a look at some of the proposals they'll take up: DEATH PENALTY 4 measures that would limit or repeal the death penalty are expected to be taken up in the House and Senate State Affairs committees on Wednesday. House Majority Leader Brian Gosch said he anticipates his committee will take up a measure that would provide evidence of a victim's opposition to the death penalty and testimony from a victim's family asking for clemency for a defendant before sentencing. The committee is also expected to hear a measure that would allow for a South Dakota resident getting a driver's license to have register an objection to the death penalty if they are killed in a violent crime. The objections would be included in a database and would be used to argue against the death penalty in the sentencing of their killer. Senate Majority Leader Tim Rave said his committee is scheduled to take up measures to repeal the death penalty and to add a requirement that an offender can only receive the death penalty if they are considered too dangerous to be incarcerated. "I would venture to guess that it would be 1 or 2 votes either way if I had to be a betting guy," Rave said. (source: Associated Press) ******************* Death penalty in S.D. under fire On a cloud-filled March morning in 1877 in Yankton, Jack McCall became the first prisoner to face the death penalty in what is now South Dakota. The 24-year-old drifter was found guilty of the infamous Deadwood murder of "Wild Bill" Hickock and was sentenced by a federal judge to hang before a large and curious crowd of onlookers. McCall "met with his death with the most unshrinking courage," according to news reports, and was buried in a Yankton cemetery with the noose still around his neck. So began the conflicted and often tortuous tale of the death penalty in South Dakota, where a recent uptick in capital cases and executions has made the long-dormant issue one of urgency and impassioned debate. The conversation comes amid a decline of capital punishment nationally, with just 35 inmates executed last year, the fewest in 2 decades. Maryland, Connecticut and New Mexico recently repealed death penalty laws to end a form of punishment that critics decry as ineffective, immoral or downright barbaric. "Most people recognize that we're out of step with the world - America as a whole and South Dakota in particular," says Democratic state senator Bernie Hunhoff, part of a bipartisan group that will bring 2 death penalty bills to the state Legislature this week. "It's evil for anyone to take a life, but when the government does it in a well-planned and systematic fashion, it sends a message that killing solves problems, and that's not the message we should send." Hunhoff's group, which includes former judges and prosecutors, will bring forth 2 Senate bills - 1 to repeal the state's death penalty law completely and another to limit such punishment to when the prisoner presents "an ongoing danger to society and cannot be safely incarcerated." Among those favoring the push to repeal is Mark Meierhenry, who served as South Dakota attorney general when the state passed its death penalty statute under Gov. Bill Janklow in 1979. "After observing its use for 36 years, I think we made a mistake as a state and I personally made a mistake by supporting it," says Meierhenry, who served as attorney general from 1978-86. "I would hope that state legislators would recognize that mistake and take steps to reduce the culture of violence in our society. We can start here at home by acknowledging that the death penalty is basically for vengeance and doesn't deter murder." Of course, winning over a Republican-led Legislature - not to mention a governor and attorney general who have staunchly supported the state law - will be a mammoth task. But it's important to keep the conversation alive. Last year, a House bill to repeal the death penalty law drew emotional testimony in committee and fell one vote short of reaching the floor. Joining the opposition was Lynette Johnson, whose husband was the correctional officer killed during a failed inmate escape from the state penitentiary in 2011. Rodney Berget was sentenced to death for killing Ron "RJ" Johnson during that escape attempt and is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in May at the penitentiary in Sioux Falls. Also convicted for that murder was Eric Robert, who was put to death in 2012 after waiving his right to appeal. Attorney general Marty Jackley has supported the law by saying that the death penalty provides a "powerful deterrent" and offers a degree of justice to the families of murder victims. The pace of executions in South Dakota is currently at an all-time high. If Berget is put to death as scheduled, his punishment would come on the heels of the executions of Eric Robert and Donald Moeller within 2 weeks of each other in 2012. Before that, Elijah Page in 2007 had been the only inmate executed in South Dakota since 1947. "We need to step up the intellectual part of the discussion and ask, 'Is this the sort of society we want?'" said Meierhenry, who is now in private practice in Sioux Falls. "Do we want to be a society of emotion and vengeance and getting even? You see this spectacle of TV violence and people getting their heads cut off and getting hanged and you want to tell lawmakers, 'Take a deep breath; you are the elected conscience of the people.'" South Dakota is 1 of 32 states with the death penalty, but 6 states have abolished the practice since 2006 and Missouri and Kansas are currently weighing bills to repeal. The fact that executions recently were botched in several states and 6 former death row inmates were exonerated last year has further emboldened opponents. The United States was one of just 22 countries that performed executions in 2013, according to a study by Amnesty International, ranking 6th in total executions behind China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. "We're not in good company," Hunhoff says. The reality that capital offenders face different fates depending on where they commit the crime - not to mention their racial status or socioeconomic background - provides fuel for abolitionists. This arbitrary manner of handing down justice was deemed "cruel and unusual" and therefore unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark Furman vs. Georgia case of 1972, which ended capital punishment in America until states amended laws to address court concerns. South Dakota moved quickly to re-introduce the death penalty soon after Janklow took office in 1978, mindful of the fact that Democratic governor Dick Kneip had vetoed a similar effort a few years earlier. Janklow said that he favored capital punishment in cases of "cold, calculated murder," and the bill passed the state House by just 2 votes before he signed it into law, with Republican majority leader Joe Barnett and speaker George Mickelson voting against it. "If in our lifetime 1, only 1, life is saved, then it is a significant deterrent," said state representative Jerome Lammers, the bill's floor manager. The process at that time called for death by electrocution, but no one really expected sparks to fly. South Dakota's only electric chair was the old, oaken model built by prisoners before the state's lone execution since statehood - that of triple murderer George Sitts in 1947. "I'm something less than a world expert on executions," prison warden Herman Solem said at the time. "We'd have to do a lot of planning." As it turned out, no execution occurred until Page in 2007, and that was because he gave up his appeals and chose to die. By then, the South Dakota statute called for lethal injection, though the execution was delayed to amend the law to include the proper dose of drugs to administer. Page and 2 other men were convicted of killing Chester Poage in 2000 after stealing a car and other property from him, forcing him to drink acid and torturing him for several hours before he died. He requested a last meal of steak, jalapeno poppers, onion rings and a salad and declined any final words. "His debt to the state of South Dakota is now paid in full," said Lawrence County state's attorney John Fitzgerald, who prosecuted the case and witnessed Page's death. Robert also chose to die by pleading guilty and requesting the death penalty, and Moeller went a similar route by finally giving up after years of appeals for the 1990 rape and murder of 9-year-old Becky O'Connell near Lake Alvin. This recent trend of what critics call "state-sanctioned suicide" makes it hard to contend that capital punishment actually is a deterrent. If anything, the endless despair of life behind bars seems such a daunting proposition that inmates are choosing death in order to avoid it. Once you dismiss spurious arguments for deterring violent crime and saving money - "it costs us more to wreak vengeance by death than to lock someone up for life," says Meierhenry - you are left with retribution as the central motive for keeping capital punishment on the books. For Hunhoff and other death penalty opponents, that "eye for an eye" approach is troubling. "It coarsens society in a way that can impact the thought process of young people and all people in South Dakota," says Hunhoff, a longtime Yankton politician who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1998. "To state that killing is wrong and then have the government kill more is a dangerous lesson to send. South Dakota is a better place than that, full of good and caring people who believe in forgiveness and redemption and hold Christian values dear to their heart." Almost 140 years ago, Jack McCall learned the hard way that those values don't always translate when the time for justice is at hand. We'll soon find out if anything has changed. (source: Argus Leader) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 8 15:55:35 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2015 15:55:35 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., MONT., NEV., CALIF., WASH, . USA Message-ID: Feb. 8 COLORADO: Colorado state public defender's office must be transparent One of the fastest-growing departments in state government says it is exempt from public scrutiny. The Office of the Colorado State Public Defender claims exemption from the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA), the law that mandates transparency in our government and how it spends our hard-earned tax dollars. That exemption renders to the office a level of secrecy not enjoyed by any other state government agency. This lack of transparency robs the public of answers to myriad questions impacting public policy and how we spend Colorado's limited tax monies. What is the true cost of a death penalty case? The speculative and repeated claim that it costs tens of millions of dollars remains largely unsubstantiated because the public defender adamantly refuses to provide any information about how it has spent tax money to prevent a death sentence. For instance, the public defender's office defended Sir Mario Owens for his role in the assassination of witness Javad Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe. Although the public defender's office has not represented Owens since the last decade, it refuses to provide any information about the taxpayer monies it spent to unsuccessfully spare him from a death sentence. Why have Coloradans been asked to spend an exploding amount of money on taxpayer-funded defense attorneys? Over the past 10 years, the number of adult felony cases filed in Colorado has decreased by 10 %; the number of juvenile cases has plummeted by more than 45 %. Yet, over the same period, the budget and staff of the public defender has more than doubled. This year, Colorado will spend nearly $110 million for taxpayer-funded attorneys ostensibly for "the indigent." By comparison, from 2010 to 2014, the budget of the 18th Judicial District District Attorney's Office, representing Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties, shrank by 3.2 % in real dollars. And, unlike the public defender's office, our budget and administrative files are covered by CORA. Despite the empirical evidence of a decreasing case load throughout the entire criminal justice system, the public defender justifies its recession-proof budget growth using an unparalleled power to claim to the Joint Budget Committee an increasing number of "open" cases each year without additional verification. The public is not permitted to scrutinize those numbers and the courts do not track them. Coloradans are left to foot the bill to represent defendants in at most 50 % of criminal cases, without the ability to verify those numbers. Even presuming 50 %, why are there more public defenders in Pueblo than there are prosecutors? In affluent Douglas County, there are twice as many public defenders assigned to courtrooms than prosecutors. In Arapahoe County, 18 felony-level prosecutors work 100 % of the cases in 6 courtrooms, filled with 23 public defenders who cover well less than 1/2 of those same cases. In 2013, the legislature gave the public defender $5.3 million for raises. As a result, in most communities outside the metro area, public defenders are paid far more than the prosecutors they oppose. In Pueblo, entry-level public defenders are paid $10,000 more than their prosecutor counterparts. While taxpayers have access to the salaries of every Colorado prosecutor, they cannot know the same for public defenders, nor how many have salaries in excess of $100,000. Taxpayers are entitled to this information. There are numerous other questions routinely asked of other agencies that should be answered by the taxpayer-funded public defender's office. We strongly support Colorado appropriately funding and staffing an organization to represent those who truly cannot afford to represent themselves against criminal charges. But Colorado should also insist that such an organization be as transparent as every other governmental entity that expends taxpayer monies. This is not an issue of politics. It is an issue of transparency and accountability. Rep. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat, and Rep. Polly Lawrence, a Douglas County Republican, have sponsored House Bill 1101 to ensure that the public defender is subject to the same level of scrutiny as every other taxpayer-funded government entity in Colorado, with exceptions for attorney-client privileged materials. Who could possibly object to such transparency? (source: Guest Commentary; George Brauchler, a Republican, is district attorney for the 18th Judicial District (Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties). Jeff Chostner, a Democrat, is district attorney for the 10th Judicial District (Pueblo)----Denver Post) MONTANA: It's time to eliminate Montana's death penalty There are plenty of reasons to oppose the death penalty in Montana, and very few reasons to favor it. One thing in favor of the penalty is this - someone who kills people in a heinous fashion won't kill anyone else if the state puts him or her to death. The criminal also won't kill any prison guards or fellow inmates. Even so, the Tribune editorial board favors elimination of the state of Montana's death penalty. Longtime Tribune readers should not be surprised by our stance on this issue, as we have editorialized against this most drastic of penalties several times in recent years. The issue will come up late this week at a hearing on House Bill 370, which would eliminate Montana's death penalty. The hearing is set for 8 a.m. Friday before the House Judiciary Committee in Room 137 of the state Capitol, Montana Avenue and 6th Street East in Helena. Sponsor David "Doc" Moore, R-Missoula, proposes to rid Montana of the death penalty and replace it with a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Moore, who grew up in Great Falls, said he opposes the death penalty "for the financial burden it puts on the state" and on local governments, if a murder takes place in a small town. He also thinks life without parole is an appropriate sentence for a killer. "I couldn't imagine a worse condition than being locked up in a prison for the rest of my life," Moore said. "To me, being locked up in a cage would be worse (than death)." Moore recognizes the issue is emotional and controversial. He just plans to get up at the hearing, offer his reasoning and sit down. We agree with Moore that trying to impose death on criminals can take decades and cost millions of dollars, although even this subject can be tricky. Montana Department of Corrections figures show it costs $37,230 per year to house a male inmate at the prison, not counting health expenses and other costs. For 40 years, the cost would run nearly $1.5 million for one person. That's a hefty sum, but one study in Maryland cited by the Montana Abolition Coalition said death penalty cases cost about $2 million each more than non-death penalty cases. A Kansas study from 2003 estimated the total cost of a case in which the defendant is executed at $10.6 million, compared with $6.4 million in which death was sought but not given, an added cost of more than $4 million. Figures from Montana for recent cases have not been available. But there are other considerations besides money. One big problem we have with the death penalty is once it's imposed, it can't be reversed. Let's say the cause celebre of the day, alleged murderer Barry Beach, would have been executed for the 1979 death of Kimberly Nees, a classmate in Poplar. That would surely render moot all attempts to free him today. If Beach eventually turns out to be innocent, it would have been a big mistake to kill him years ago. Montanans should want justice, yet it would be a great injustice to kill a person, only to find out later the defendant was innocent. Eliminate the death penalty, and Montana eliminates the chances of that happening. There is also the issue of swift justice. Duncan McKenzie kidnapped, raped and murdered Conrad schoolteacher Lana Harding in 1974, but it took more than 20 years before he was finally executed in 1995. These days, methods of lethal injection are shaky and are being challenged across the nation. Montana has 2 people awaiting a death sentence in the maximum security section of the Montana State Prison: William Jay Gollehon, convicted of 1 count of deliberate homicide; and Ronald Allen Smith, a Canadian national convicted of 2 counts of homicide and kidnapping. There are rotten people who deserve punishment for their crimes, but we think it's time to set aside the death penalty as the nuclear option for criminals. The death penalty is too expensive, too time consuming, and too final a solution if a mistake is made. Let's kill the death penalty. It's a painful step to take, but a necessary one. (source: Great Falls Tribune Editorial Board) NEVADA: Intellectual disability hearing dates set in Bean case A hearing date for a motion regarding a potential intellectual disability and a summer trial date have been set for murder defendant Jeremiah Bean, accused in May 2013 murders in Fernley. These were set during a hearing last Thursday before Third Judicial District Court Judge John Schlegelmilch, to whom the case was transferred as he takes over for retired District Court Judge Bill Rogers. The 2-day hearing for the intellectual disability motion filed in Bean's case was set for April 30-May 1 while a trial has been set for July 13-August 14. A motion hearing was scheduled for Feb. 13 to go over a jury questionnaire. The intellectual disability issue arose on the eve of a murder trial scheduled last summer. This is a major issue in the case as the Lyon County District Attorney's Office has been seeking the death penalty and Supreme Court rulings have said persons with diminished mental or intellectual capacity do not legally qualify for the death penalty. Bean is charged with killing Robert and Dorothy Pape, both 84, on May 10, 2013, at their Jessica Lane home in Fernley; newspaper deliveryman Eliazar Graham, 52, of Sparks, on May 13, 2013, in Mustang (being tried in Lyon County); and Angie Duff, 67, and her friend Lester Leiber, 69, in a home on Tamsen Road in Fernley, around the corner from the Pape residence, a little later on May 13. He also is charged with stealing a pickup owned by the Papes and with setting their home on fire, among other charges. He faces a total of 19 counts. Bean's attorney's, Richard Davies of Reno, the death penalty-certified attorney, and Ken Ward, public defender, announced their intention to file a motion seeking Bean to be declared "mentally retarded," days before a trial was set to start June 4, 2014. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia held it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment on cruel and unusual punishment to execute defendants with "mental retardation," a term then used for individuals now identified as persons with intellectual disabilities. The Court in Atkins left the definition and method of determining intellectual disability up to individual states. Rogers previously found Bean mentally competent to stand trial. Bean in the fall of 2013 accepted a plea bargain that would drop the death penalty and some charges but then changed his mind and pleaded not guilty. This resulted in a change from his original death penalty-certified attorney and Davies' appointment in late 2013. Bean initially didn't want to waive his right to a speedy trial and an early 2014 trial date was set, and later postponed to June. Lyon County District Attorney Steve Rye indicated the prosecution will be ready for the July trial date, as family of the victims want to see justice. Rye previously said delays in receiving documents from schools Bean attended in California was slowing the scheduling of hearings regarding the intellectual disability filing. (source: Reno Gazette-Journal) CALIFORNIA: Accused 'Grim Sleeper' serial killer gets trial date, after 5 years of delays After almost 5 years following his arrest, the man dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" and charged with 10 counts of murder was finally given a trial date, thanks in large part to the accused serial killer's victims' families frustrated with the justice system's delays in trying the case, according to an Associated Press report shared by Yahoo! News on Feb. 6. Yesterday in Los Angeles, "Judge Kathleen Kennedy said lawyers would meet June 29 and jury selection would begin the following day in the death penalty case of Lonnie Franklin Jr., who has pleaded not guilty." Franklin, 62-years-old, allegedly shot 8 of the victims and strangled two more. He earned the Grim Sleeper nickname due to the fact that there was a 14 year break in the Los Angeles killings that began in 1988 but ended in 2007, according to Fox News. The long gap in the killings followed a shooting where 1 of the victims survived her gunshot wounds, a case in which in addition to the 10 murder charges, Franklin was also charged with 1 count of attempted murder. That survivor, Enietra Washington, confronted Franklin in court yesterday. "You left me for dead. I know it's you for a fact," said Washington, who promised to haunt Franklin. "I thought I forgave you. I was wrong." Franklin was taken into custody in 2010; and the family members of the victims told the judge yesterday "they were tired of years of delay." The victims' families were able to express their frustration with the delays under a Los Angeles voter-approved victims' bill of rights and blamed the suspect's lawyer for dragging his feet. Even as the lawyer for the defense blamed prosecutors for the delay, both sides said they'd be ready to proceed as needed. Investigators took Franklin into custody in July 2010 after matching his DNA "to more than a dozen crime scenes." Police retrieved samples of his DNA collected from eating utensils and dishes Franklin was using at a birthday party where an undercover officer posed as a busboy. Franklin's lawyer also claims to possess DNA from several of the crime scenes that belong to someone else. Police say that many of the victims were found to have had "some sort of sexual contact." All of the bodies were found not far from Franklin's home. Franklin has already pleaded not guilty to the 10 murder charges and the one count of attempted murder. If found guilty though, Franklin could be sentenced to death. (source: The Examiner) ********************* DA to weigh death penalty in baby murder case At 17 months old, Baby K was still in diapers when police say his babysitter's boyfriend pinned him down hard enough to leave bruises and forced him into a sex act so brutal that it tore up his lips and throat before suffocating him. It was every parent's nightmare. And now District Attorney Jeff Rosen is weighing whether to seek the death penalty against the boyfriend, 40-year-old Alejandro Benitez, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder in the commission of a serious and dangerous felony, which in this case is a lewd act on a child. Since taking office, Rosen has decided to seek the ultimate punishment in just one of more than half a dozen eligible cases. Rosen and other senior prosecutors in the office who on are on his special death penalty advisory committee declined to comment on the Benitez case. He has said he supports the death penalty on "moral" grounds, telling the San Jose Police Officers' Association in July: "I think that allowing someone to continue to live after having committed certain heinous crimes pollutes the rest of society. They haven't acted like a human being and have forfeited the privilege of being alive." But Rosen also has said that "because I'm living in the real world, not a perfect world, I am very cautious about seeking the death penalty." California has effectively had a moratorium on executions since 2006 as a result of legal challenges to lethal injection that have left about 745 defendants in limbo at San Quentin. Rosen's decision is expected later this year, after he weighs the strength of the evidence against the Benitez, any history of other crimes, the wishes of the victim's family and even pragmatic factors such as staffing and costs, since capital-case appeals drag on for decades. He also is expected to invite defense attorneys to present their case against execution. In this case, defense experts say key factors are likely to be conflicting accounts by the babysitter of what happened that day, and whether Benitez understood the alleged abuse could cause the child to die. The toddler boy's death has so traumatized his mother -- she ran wailing from the witness stand during Benitez' preliminary hearing -- that prosecutors are referring to him only as "Baby K" to ease her suffering. The toddler's ordeal began the morning of April 11, 2012, when his mother dropped him off at the East San Jose home of babysitter Juana Ayala. That afternoon, Ayala called police to report that the child had choked while drinking the bottle of milk his mother had left for him. Paramedics arrived and found his body on a couch. Ayala, who has not been charged with a crime, has told investigators several versions of what took place. She neglected to mention Benitez for several months -- and claims she had her eye on the baby the whole time, even when she went into the kitchen to prepare his bottle. But police found semen consistent with Benitez' DNA profile on the boy's clothing, and prosecutor Dan Fehderau suggested during the preliminary hearing this fall that Ayala, who still visits Benitez in jail every weekend, is trying to protect him. Judging from the preliminary hearing, Benitez' defense is poised to argue that his DNA was transferred to the clothing from the bedroom where he and the babysitter had sex. The defense is also expected to question the cause of death. Sources familiar with the case say Benitez also has no significant criminal history, another factor that can make a death conviction difficult. Rosen has declined to seek the ultimate punishment in 6 eligible cases since he took office in 2011, though in 2 of them the penalty had been reversed on appeal. In May, he announced he was seeking the death penalty against Antolin Garcia-Torres, the 23-year-old charged with kidnapping and killing 15-year-old Sierra LaMar, who disappeared about t3 years ago while walking to a bus stop north of Morgan Hill. Though her body never was found, making it challenging even to win a conviction, Garcia-Torres' alleged history of attacking other women contributed to Rosen's decision, he said in May. Garcia-Torres is also charged with attempting to kidnap and carjack three other women in separate instances four years earlier. One of Benitez' lawyers, Brian Matthews, declined to comment other than to note that death penalty cases are extremely costly. Benitez is being represented by a county agency known as the Alternate Public Defender's Office, which automatically assigns 2 attorneys to any potential death penalty case. "Given the likelihood the death penalty will never be imposed, one has to question if seeking it is the best use of our limited resources," Matthews said. Rosen decided in 2011 against seeking the death penalty in another case involving a child, despite strong support in his office for it. Instead, Samuel Corona, 37, who punched and stomped Oscar Jimenez Jr. to death in front of the boy's mother in 2007, was sentenced to life without parole. One of the problems in that case was that the mother had been sentenced to 1 year in county jail and probation for endangering her son. A judge had deemed her to be an extremely battered woman who had been subject to "unceasing and ferocious violence" at the hands of Corona. However, Corona's lawyers later unearthed photographs of Corona and the woman after Oscar died looking happy together. At the time he announced his decision, Rosen said he was concerned about whether a jury would return a death penalty, given the relative culpability of the mother and the low sentence she received. In Benitez' case, some sources familiar with the case have said the lack of specific intent to kill Baby K could make it more challenging to convince a jury in a liberal jurisdiction like Santa Clara County to return the death penalty. But under California law, prosecutors do not have to prove Benitez wanted to kill the child. Only 12 states require proof of intent to kill, said Steven F. Shatz, a death penalty expert at the University of San Francisco's law school. California, on the other hand, is 1 of only 5 states that make a negligent or even wholly accidental killing during a felony a death-eligible crime. The other 4 are Florida, Georgia, Idaho and Mississippi, Shatz said. Given the depravity of the alleged crime, including physical evidence that the toddler may have been sodomized at some point, Benitez's state of mind may not matter to a jury, another expert said. "This is a case at the margins in one sense because of lack of intent," said Douglas A. Berman, an Ohio State law professor who has a sentencing law and policy blog. "But then if you throw in this sense that child rape is our second-worst crime, then jeez, what else do you need?" Other Potential Death Penalty Cases that came before DA Jeff Rosen Paul Castillo: Charged with murder, kidnapping, assault on a police officer. DA decided in 2012 against seeking death penalty; he pleaded guilty and received life sentence without parole. Samuel Corona: Charged with murder, torture. DA decided in 2011 against seeking death; he pleaded guilty and received life sentence without parole. Miguel Bacigalupo: Charged with robbery, 2 counts of murder. A jury returned a death verdict in 1987 that was reversed on appeal. DA in 2012 decided against seeking retrial of death sentence, converting it automatically to life without parole. David Ghent: Charged with rape and murder; 1979 conviction and imposition of death penalty reversed on appeal. DA decided in 2013 against seeking death; case pending. Kenneth Thomas: Charged with two counts of murder in a residential robbery. DA decided against seeking death; case pending. Antolin Garcia-Torres: Charged with kidnapping, murder. DA in 2014 decided to seek death penalty; case pending. Jonathan Wilbanks: Charged with carjacking, murder. DA decided in 2013 against seeking death penalty. He pleaded guilty and received life sentence without parole. (source: Mercury News) WASHINGTON: Lawmakers likely lack 'bandwidth' to debate death penalty this year A proposed House bill that would abolish the death penalty in Washington may have a hard time getting approved because legislators say they have enough issues to tackle this session.M House Bill 1739, introduced Jan. 26 by state Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, would require anyone convicted of aggravated 1st-degree murder to get life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. "I question whether it will move along just because it is such a volatile subject. I don't know that this is the year we want to get into some of these social issues," state Rep. Dean Takko, D-Longview, said last week. Legislators on both sides of the political aisle are questioning the timing of the legislation. "I don't mind a robust dialogue about controversial issues, but there's only so much bandwidth," said state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia. "We have a lot of tough issues ahead of us." In addition, some legislators have philosophical disagreements with abolishing capital punishment. Takko said some murders are so horrible that they warrant the death penalty. "If you have a situation ... where someone walks up and shoots a police officer in the head, I have trouble saying that guy needs to be spared," Takko said, referring to the 2009 fatal shooting of 4 police officers in Lakewood, Wash. "If the bill starts moving along, I will struggle with it." Currently, 32 states allow the death penalty, including Washington and Oregon. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee already has called for a moratorium on executions and has said no one would be executed while he is in office. "I'm aware of the governor's approach, but I don't agree with (it). I think there's a policy to do what he did with greater input from the clemency and pardons board, so I don't necessarily agree with how he did that," Braun said. (source: The Daily News) USA: Death penalty fails to reduce crime As a country, we have many complicated and detailed regulations concerning the death penalty. For better or worse, the death penalty seems to have turned into a hot-button issue and it shouldn't be. For example: Texas has just executed a man named Robert Ladd. Ladd was found guilty of killing 2 women and 2 children between 1980 and 1996. His lawyers argued that he had an IQ of 67. This measurement, being below the acceptable level for capital punishment, would have ensured Ladd wasn't put to death. Texas courts did not accept this and now Ladd is dead. Most states have detailed definitions of mental impairment because the mentally impaired are not necessarily capable of understanding their crimes and are therefore not culpable in the same way that a mentally healthy person would be. The line between impairment and culpability is usually a range of IQ points. The U.S. still kills people above and below the range, making a fine and ultimately arbitrary distinction between the 2 categories. This sort of arbitrary distinction is emblematic of the death penalty as a whole. It used to make sense in the days before the human mind was understood. Killing someone who had killed another person was an effective way to right a wrong. No one else died and it sent a message to those who might consider killing. Now that we understand more, the cleanliness of Hammurabi's eye for an eye is put in question. What if the killer doesn't understand what he or she has done? What if the death penalty doesn't deter other killings? The death penalty treats a symptom instead of its source. I agree that it is a problem that Robert Ladd became so angry he killed someone. The reasons for his actions, however, are inextricably bound to his limited capacity for understanding the world. The cause in other cases is poverty or need, but instead of enacting domestic policies aimed at reducing these causes we declare war on criminals because that sounds better from a podium. It's easy to understand and removes all the sticky abstractions of the wider issue. It feels immediate and safe. Taking a life, in any context, deserves more thought than this. It also deserves the courage to enact better solutions. Most good solutions involve placing less importance on punishment and more importance on corrections and deterrence. The US has 4 % of the world's population and 1/4 of the world's prisoners. We are tough enough on crime. We make it difficult for felons to get jobs and impossible for them to get welfare or student loans. The punishments that sounded so just have drastically increased the rate of recidivism. In the last 30 years our incarceration rate has increased by 400 %. Our prison system has, in effect, created a vicious cycle that worsens the problem. Tough on crime means doing what it takes to prevent it. When we're tough on criminals we only increase crime. The death penalty isn't a fix. We don't have perfect solutions for every instance traditionally incurring the death penalty, but at the very least, we can propose a better solution for people like Robert Ladd. (source: Ian Woods is a sophomore from Suwanee majoring in economics and psychology; The (Univ. Georgia) Red & Black) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 8 15:56:24 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2015 15:56:24 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 8 BANGLADESH: 5 BCL men to die for killing Zubair A Dhaka court on Sunday awarded 5 activists of Awami League-backed Chhatra League with death penalty for killing Jahangirnagar University student Zabair Ahmed 2 years ago. The condemned convicts are Khandker Ashiqul Islam, Rashedul Islam, Zahid Hasan, Mahbub Akram amd Khan Mohammad Rais. They all were tried in absentia. 5 others - Ishtiaque Mehbub, Mazharul Islam, Nazmus Sakib, Shafiul Alam, Kamruzzaman Shohag and Abhinandan Kundu - were given life-term imprisonment. Of them, Ishtiaque is absconding. Judge ABM Nizamul Haque of the speedy trial tribunal delivered the judgement on the much-talked-about case at 12:50pm. The court also acquitted 2 -- Nazmul Hossain Plabon and Mahmudul Hasan Masud. Some BCL men beat and hit with lethal weapons Zubair Ahmed, an English department student of the university, activists on 8 January 2012. He died of his injuries at United Hospital in Dhaka city the next day. A case was filed with Ashulia thana and the police submitted a charge-sheet against 13 students of the university on 8 April 2012. The court fixed the date for giving the verdict on 4 February but in view of security concerns, it was deferred to Sunday. (source: Prothom Alo) INDIA: Rohtak rape-murder: Police get 'vital clues', govt body demands death penalty Police on Sunday claimed to get 'vital clues' in the brutal rape and murder of a mentally challenged Nepalese woman whose body was found dumped in a field along the Rohtak-Hisar highway in Haryana, with blades and stones shoved inside. Without disclosing details about the said clues, ADGP (law and order) Muhammad Akil said police the "culprits will soon be arrested." Chairperson of the Haryana women???s commission Kamlesh Panchal, meanwhile, visited the victim's family and said she would demand exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the crime. Panchal told the family members of the deceased that the commission has taken note of the issue and will demand that the accused be nabbed at the earliest, tried and hanged. The commission also assured the family that they will look into the allegations of the police indifference in probing the matter. The incident was the latest in a string of savage sex attacks in northern India and triggered protests and widespread revulsion. The crime has triggered dissent among the Nepali community. Members of the Mool Pravaha Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj and Pravasi Nepali Sangh Bharat organised a candlelight vigil and protest at Mansarovar Park in Rohtak. The victim's sister led a candlelit vigil in Rohtak on Saturday and accused police of not doing enough to trace the attackers. "Police have been slow to arrest the perpetrators, they should be arrested immediately and hanged. I want justice for my sister, they have been brutal to her, it's just spine chilling," the sister told the media. Autopsy confirms 'brutal rape' The woman, who was living with her sister at Chinyot Colony in Rohtak while undergoing treatment at a hospital, had been reported missing on February 1. After her mutilated body was found 3 days later, an autopsy confirmed brutal rape. Doctors of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak said the woman's private parts were torn and multiple injuries were inflicted on almost every part of her body. They compared the woman's case to the fatal gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012. That incident had sparked a massive public outcry and tougher laws to deter rapists. Dr S K Dhattarwal, a senior member of the PGIMS' forensic department who led the team that performed the autopsy, said the woman was attacked so brutally that her intestines were damaged. Several pointed stones were found inside the body, he said. Ongoing investigation A police team led by senior officials on Sunday combed the fields near Bahu Akbarpur village where the body of the 28-year-old woman was found on February 4. A Forensic Science Laboratory team also visited the area and reportedly collected vital clues, officials said. Haryana Police have announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the persons who attacked the woman. A special investigation team (SIT) led by deputy superintendent of police Amit Bhatia is using a cyber cell to trace mobile phone users who were active near the scene of the crime in the past few days. On Friday, it rounded up several people for questioning. Several senior officials, including Akil and DIG (state crime branch) Vivek Sharma visited the crime scene on Sunday to take stock of the probe. Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda and local MLA Munish Grover also visited the bereaved family and demanded stern punishment for the accused. Hooda condemned the incident and blamed the state government for "lawlessness" in Haryana. (source: Hindustan Times) EGYPT: Egypt court sentences 3 to death on Al-Qaeda espionage charges----Egypt Court accepts appeal against death sentences in officer's murder Cairo criminal court has reached a final verdict of the death penalty for 3 and punished a 4th defendant with 10 years in jail on charges of spying for Al-Qaeda between 2008 and 2013. The sentences were based on charges of belonging to Al-Qaeda and providing them with details concerning Egyptian army. They were also charged with forming a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda that aims to threaten the freedom of Egyptian citizens, orchestrating attacks on the US and French embassies, and executing terrorist attacks in the Sinai Peninsula. The 4 defendants are between 22 and 33 years old. The 3 defendants who received capital punishment were tried in absentia. The court had reached on 12 January an initial verdict of the death penalty for all 4 defendants before sending the rulings it to the Grand Mufti for review. Egyptian courts have meted out in the last few months death penalty verdicts to hundreds of Islamists in cases in which defendants were accused of committing murder and other violent acts during attacks on security personnel that followed the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. In some of these cases, judges ruled with mass death sentences against defendants. (source: Ahram Online) INDONESIA: Religious leaders plead for mercy for Bali 9 duo facing firing squad Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohammad on Sunday asked Indonesian president Joko Widodo to spare the men and allow them to "make reparation to the communities they betrayed by their crimes". "Our request today is for clemency or a commuted sentence for Andrew and Myuran so as to allow them to be further rehabilitated and to execute would prematurely end these lives, robbing both of them and our communities of the opportunity for ongoing repentance and rehabilitation," the pair said in a statement to journalists. Fisher said neither he nor the Grand Mufti questioned the men's guilt, the seriousness of their crime or the legitimacy of the verdicts against them. Mohammad said the Sydney men have had more than a decade to think about their crime, and have shown remorse and repentance for their role in attempting to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin into Australia. "By all accounts Andrew and Myuran have come to appreciate clearly the gravity of their crimes," the Grand Mufti said. "These Sydney-born men have had a long time to think about what they have done while in Kerobakan prison - and on death row." He said he is considering travelling to Indonesia to meet with religious leaders in the coming days to discuss the imminent execution. Fisher said the role of the Australian federal police in the Bali Nine arrest, and Sunday's report in Fairfax newspapers that the men's lawyer, Mohamad Rifan, wants to introduce new evidence in a bid to spare the men "are extra reasons for us to take it seriously". Jokowi argues Indonesia is in the grips of a drug crisis that needs the "shock therapy" of the death penalty. Prime minister Tony Abbott has urged Jokowi to show mercy to the 2 "well and truly reformed" Australians. Bali court officials last month confirmed presidential clemency had been denied to Chan, 2 weeks after his fellow Bali 9 ringleader, Sukumaran, received the same news. The announcement all but extinguished their last hope of being spared the death penalty for the 2005 heroin trafficking plot. (source: The Guardian) ***************** Bali 9: Families of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukamaran feel the pain of their death sentences Raji Sukumaran and Helen Chan are a portrait of emotional turmoil - 2 mothers about to lose a son in the most chilling of ways. For the past 2 weeks they have made the daily walk to the grey steel door of Bali's Kerobokan prison, each day more emotionally draining than the one before. And Friday's confirmation that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be shot within the month by Indonesian authorities was finally too much to bear. Chan and Sukumaran were told first, by the Australian Consul, Majel Hind, leaving the young men to inform their families when they arrived for their daily visit. Both women collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably, unable to speak. Witnesses describe a scene of dreadful pain, suffering and sadness. But Raji Sukumaran was determined to say something. After 2 hours she emerged from the jail, her other 2 children by her side. Myuran's sister Brintha was distraught. "Please don't kill them. They are good children. Give him a second chance ... we don't know how long we've got," an emotional Mrs Sukumaran said. "They have rehabilitated, they are doing a lot of good things here, they are good children." And Sukumaran's younger sister Brintha cried as she begged for her brother to be allowed to live. "Please don't kill my brother, please, he is a good person," she said. Mrs Sukumaran, her husband and their 2 children headed straight from their Sydney homes a fortnight ago when Myuran's presidential clemency plea was rejected and authorities announced he and Chan would be among the next group of drug traffickers to be executed. An aunt, uncle and cousins are there too. Chan's mother Helen, a sister and her husband followed soon after. Chan's clemency was denied 2 weeks after his Bali 9 co-accused, Sukumaran. Big brother Michael Chan was in Bali for the 1st week and will return this weekend. But his mother is not well. A medical condition with her eyes has flared up. The crying has not helped. Recently Chan's father Ken underwent surgery in Australia after a fall. He hopes to fly to Bali on Monday with another daughter. He has not seen Andrew for 3 years but this is desperate. Michael says the prospect of a February execution is heartbreaking but that his brother and mother's strong Christian faith is sustaining them. "I think that's what kept them as strong as they have been but obviously it is going to test Mum," he said. "But I think there is still hope. What else can you do? There is not much more. This is out of our hands. This is out of our control. We can only be there to support them both and take it as comes." Michael has vowed to try all options in the fight to save his brother and Sukumaran. Their lawyers have pledged further legal action next week but the options are now very limited. On Wednesday the Denpasar District Court dashed hopes that they would get a 2nd judicial review - based on their remorse and rehabilitation behind bars - by rejecting their application. It was the last legal throw of the dice for the 2 young Sydney men, ringleaders of the Bali 9 who 10 years ago in April were caught trying to smuggling 8.2kg of heroin from Bali to Sydney. Chan and Sukumaran are currently in what is known as the "tower block" - because it is a circular group of cells beneath a water tower. At one time it was also referred to as the death tower, when the trio of Bali bombers - Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra - were in there. The 2 condemned Australians, along with 3 other Bali Nine members - Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Michael Czugaj - are in the tower block with an assortment of other prisoners. The cells are tiny, cramped and damp. Posters and family photos are on the walls, shoes at the entrance. Sukumaran is in a cell by himself while Chan shares with others. While they wait, the men are joined each morning by family. They spend several hours, leave for lunch and return for a couple of hours each afternoon. They bring food, favourite treats and supplies for them and fellow prisoners. Sukumaran and his family try to remain positive during the visits. They avoid talking about the execution. It's too upsetting. The 33-year-old said at the beginning this was not to be a sad visit. Instead he wanted to be together, happy as a family. Myuran, his brother Chinthu and sister Brintha have talked about their childhood, trying to tell funny stories and make their mother laugh. But it's hard. Sister Brintha sums it up: "You don't know what the future holds and (we are) so scared we are going to lose him." "Being so far away (in Australia) we couldn't hold him or really know what he was thinking or feeling. We are all so very scared but trying to be positive," Brintha told News Corp. Sukumaran, who started painting a few years ago, mentored by Australian artist Ben Quilty, has been pouring his efforts into painting portraits of each member of his family - and he too is talking about a future. "Myu is trying to paint each of us to focus his energy at the moment. So far he has done my Mum and I but we all struggle to sit still for him to paint us," Brintha says. He is also busy organising an exhibition of his works, to be held in The Netherlands next month and both Quilty and fellow Australian artist Matt Sleeth have visited and taken art classes at the jail in the past week. This visit is Helen Chan's 1st for 3 years and she has taken solace in watching her son take a church service in the jail's chapel. Chan is studying to be a pastor and runs the jail chapel and bible studies and counselling groups. "Mum has been able to spend quite some time in the last few days with Andy," Michael said this week. "Mum got to see him hold a church service for the 1st time which was great, as she could see first hand what he has been doing over the last few years. Just to spend time with him is most important for her at the moment. She is so proud of all the things he has done over the last 10 years." (source: news.com.au) ************************* Widodo in Philippines as fate of death row Filipina lingers New Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrives on his 1st state visit to the Philippines Sunday (Feb 8), as the fate of a Filipina facing execution for drug smuggling in his country hovers over planned talks. Widodo, on the last stop of a three-nation trip after visiting Malaysia and Brunei, will meet with Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Monday with the pair expected to sign several agreements, the presidential palace in Manila said. However, his visit comes as the Philippines tries to prevent the execution of a female national facing death by firing squad in Indonesia after being convicted of smuggling heroin. A spokesman for Aquino, Edwin Lacierda, said the leaders would discuss drug trafficking but did not say if they would address the case of the woman, who has not been publicly named. "We are in discussions to further work out cooperation in various areas of mutual interest and concerns, such as migrant workers, technical-vocational skills upgrading, the combatting of trafficking of narcotics, and (for) educational visits," Lacierda said. China is also likely to be on the agenda, analysts say, with Indonesia regarded as having a potentially pivotal role in calming rising tensions between Manila and Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. In August, then-president-elect Widodo told Japan's Asahi newspaper that Indonesia, which has better bilateral ties with China than the Philippines, stood ready to act as an intermediary. "Indonesia has the gravitas to be the champion of peace in the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations). Widodo can also be our partner in our efforts to improve relations with China," Wilfrido Villacorta, a former Philippine ambassador to ASEAN, said. "Even if Indonesia is not a claimant country (in the South China Sea dispute), it has always been playing the role of a convenor of important discussions on the issue since the 1980s," said Villacorta, now an international relations specialist at De la Salle University in Manila. The Philippines signed a maritime border accord with neighbouring Indonesia in May 2014 that has been hailed as a model for peacefully settling territorial disputes. Last month, Widodo, who has disappointed rights activists by voicing support for capital punishment, angered several countries by allowing the execution of 6 offenders on drug charges last month, including 5 foreigners. The Catholic-majority Philippines does not have the death penalty. The fate of Filipinos abroad is a political hot potato in a country where 10 % of the population is forced to seek work overseas. (source: channelnewsasia.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 9 11:52:54 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2015 11:52:54 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., NEV., USA Message-ID: Feb. 9 PENNSYLVANIA: Appeals court to mull death penalty in 2005 murder retrial An appeals court hears arguments later this month on whether a man can face the death penalty in his retrial in the murder of a woman whose body was found in a central Pennsylvania park a decade ago. 42-year-old Paul Aaron Ross is charged in Blair County in the June 2004 murder of 26-year-old Tina Miller, whose body was found partially submerged and bound with duct tape at Canoe Creek State Park. The (Altoona) Mirror reports that a Superior Court panel hears defense arguments Feb. 25 that jurors couldn't agree in 2005 whether Ross deserved execution, so prosecutors should be barred from seeking that. Ross was granted a new trial after his attorney argued that he didn't have enough time to prepare his defense for the 1st trial. (source: Associated Press) NEVADA: Suspected killer of Fil-Am Walgreens worker could face death penalty Prosecutors may seek the death penalty and a jury trial against the man accused of a deadly robbery that killed a Filipino-American clerk at a Walgreens store the day after Christmas. Jin Ackerman, 25, is facing charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery and burglary. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges, but on Thursday, February 5, Clark County court Judge Jennifer Togliatti denied his bid for bail. Togliatti has set a March 5 meeting to set a 2016 date for Ackerman's trial. In the meantime, the former Walgreens employee and father of 3 will be under custody in county jail. Tom Pitaro, Ackerman's attorney, had sought his client be set free pending his trial. He argued that Ackerman, a Las Vegas resident all his life, has no criminal record and is not a flight risk. But in denying bail, the judge gave weight to prosecutors' argument that evidence of guilt was strong, and the death penalty is being considered. Ackerman is charged with robbing Walgreens stores at gunpoint December 24 and December 26, and shooting 58-year-old Antonio Isnit as many as 11 times in the 2nd robbery. Evidence against Ackerman includes a store receipt and the discovery by police of money believed to have been stolen from the pharmacy. Police presented security videos showing a man witnesses recognized as Ackerman in the December 24 and December 26 Walgreens robberies. "There are 4 different positive identifications of this suspect," said Prosecutor Michelle Fleck argued during the bail hearing. "The question in this case is not now and will never be whether or not the defendant is guilty." "The question is, what is the appropriate penalty," Fleck said. According to the prosecutor, the store receipt showed Ackerman bought surgical masks and latex gloves at a Walgreens store just minutes before the alleged robbery. Police investigation showed that Ackerman robbed the Walgreens pharmacy on Cheyenne Avenue and Durango Drive during the early morning hours of December 26, 2014. Isnit, who was working the graveyard shift, reportedly knew the robber, who worked at the store before. Another employee, a female, was forced to open the store's safe, but was not hurt. Ackerman shot Isnit, "because he knows me," according to police reports. Detectives who arrived at the scene found 11 9mm shell casings near Isnit's body. Ackerman, who reportedly was fired in another Walgreens store in 2013, took between $5,000 and $7,000 in cash, police reports said. Death penalty cases in Las Vegas routinely take up to a year to complete. (source: inquirer.net) USA: Feds to Seek Death Penalty Against Reputed Head of Drug Gang Federal prosecutors in New Jersey will seek the death penalty for only the 2nd time against a man they say led a violent street gang charged in 2013 with 6 murders. Prosecutors on Monday filed formal notice of their intent to seek the death penalty against 30-year-old Farad Roland. Roland is charged with running the violent South Side Cartel, a subset of the Bloods street gang that prosecutors say was known as "the most violent street gang operating in Newark." U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder authorized seeking the death penalty against Roland last month, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said. Federal prosecutors in New Jersey last sought the death penalty in 2007, the same year the state abolished capital punishment for state-level cases. Roland and 2 co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, robbery, carjacking and drug conspiracy charges. His co-defendants will not face the death penalty. Roland is scheduled to go on trial next January. Roland's lawyers weren't immediately available for comment. 5 of the killings make Roland eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors said if Roland is convicted of any of those 5, a jury would then decide whether to sentence him to death or life without the possibility of parole. Those cases are the December 2003 killing of a rival gang member in a drive-by shooting; the February 2005 killing of a fellow South Side Cartel gang member to keep him from cooperating with authorities and implicating Roland in a crime; the October 2007 killing of a member who prosecutors said "had fallen into disfavor with the gang"; and the March 2008 "retaliation" killings of 2 people outside a bar. Details of the 6th killing are not provided. (source: Associated Press) **************** Bill designed to increase penalties for killing first-responders in federal cases U.S. Rep. David Jolly will file legislation Tuesday that will make the murder of any police officer, firefighter, or first responder an aggravating factor in federal death penalty cases. Called the Thin Blue Line Act, the bill would cover any law enforcement officer killed in federal jurisdiction, such as working on federal land or as part of a task force. Current law only cites the murder of a federal official as an aggravating factor in death penalty cases. "This bill would close that loop hole and treat all police equally under federal law," Jolly said in a news conference Monday. (source: Tampa Bay Times) ******************** Executing Them Softly I. At the outset of his essay "On Pain," the philosopher Ernst Junger offers a passage from a 19th-century German cookbook: "Of all animals that serve as nourishment to man," it reads, "lobster must suffer the most torturous death, for it is set in cold water on a hot flame." Whether or not lobsters suffer - a crustaceous quandary that once left David Foster Wallace ambivalent, even after devouring the scientific literature - it is difficult to see their wriggling as a sign of jubilation. But all too rarely does the fact of their death grab our attention. Rather, it is the spectacle of pain amid the roiling water that sears itself into our minds. Critics of botched executions fixate on the aesthetics of suffering: flailing limbs, heaving chests and foaming mouths. In the stream of reports and editorials responding to 4 botched executions in the United States in 2014, and now an upcoming Supreme Court case that will address the constitutionality of Oklahoma's 3-drug lethal injection cocktail, the primary targets of outrage have been the pain experienced by the condemned and the method of execution. In July, the execution of Joseph Wood III in Arizona spanned 1 hour and 57 minutes. During the process, according to reports, he "gasped" more than 600 times. Just 3 months before in Oklahoma, Clayton D. Lockett reportedly writhed and screamed during his 43-minute-long execution. And in January 2014, there were Dennis McGuire in Ohio and Michael Wilson in Oklahoma. Before falling unconscious, Wilson's last words were: "I feel my whole body burning." In the wake of these executions, critics set their sights on the "barbarism" and "inhumanity" of the punishments by citing the extraordinary minute counts from injection to time of death, and the aesthetics of suffering: flailing limbs, heaving chests and foaming mouths. Inside and outside courts, a number of officials called for the improvement of chemical compounds (challenging the "3-drug protocol"), while others demanded a return to the gallows or more "foolproof" methods such as the firing squad. In spite of harrowing witness accounts from these executions, the responses of lawmakers and the media should attract our concern. As this Times editorial points out, the fixation on the technologies of execution and the appearance of pain often obscures the crucial debate over the abolition of capital punishment. In 1972, for instance, the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia skirted the issue of abolishing the death penalty by focusing on the cruelty of the method of execution and the seemingly arbitrary imposition of the death sentence across cases. With a 5-to-4 decision and no controlling opinion, the justices ruled that an execution would violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Instead of debating the very principle of the death penalty itself, the justices kicked the can down the road, and capital punishment returned in full force with Gregg v. Georgia (1976) after only a de facto 4-year moratorium. And today, still skating around the issue, the Court has decided to take up a case concerning Oklahoma's 3-chemical lethal injection procedure to adjudicate on whether specific drugs, not capital punishment itself, violate the Eighth Amendment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor remarked, "We should review such findings with added care when what is at issue is the risk of the needless infliction of severe pain." Yet again, the pain inflicted, and not the principle of capital punishment, has gripped lawmakers. II. Since the late 19th century in the United States, critical responses to the spectacle of pain in executions have continued to spur ardent calls for the improvement of killing technology. One of the most prolific legal theorists of capital punishment, Austin Sarat, has concisely referred to this history: "The movement from hanging to electrocution, from electrocution to the gas chamber, from gas to lethal injection, reads like someone's version of the triumph of progress, with each new technique enthusiastically embraced as the latest and best way to kill without imposing pain." Recent debates over the administration of midazolam and pentobarbital, and in what dosage, seamlessly integrate themselves into Sarat's grim progress narrative. The inexhaustible impulse to seek out less painful killing technologies puts a series of questions in sharp relief: What is, and should be, the role of pain in retributive justice? And how has the law come to rationalize the condemned's experience of pain during an execution? While the Eighth Amendment stipulates the necessity of avoiding "cruel and unusual punishment," in 1890 the Supreme Court decided this clause could mean that no method of execution should impose "something more than the mere extinguishment of life." And then, in 1958, the court also determined that the amendment should reflect the "evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society." If we were to consider the "standard of decency" in our society today, we would be pushed to ask: By what moral order have we continued to establish the "extinguishment of life" as something "mere," and the pain of the condemned as excessive? In other words, how has the pain experienced during an execution become considered cruel and unconstitutional but not the very act of killing itself? We should dial back to older histories of law to tap into pain's perennially vexed role in retributive theories of justice. Tracing the very origins of the legal subject in "On the Genealogy of Morals (1887), Nietzsche writes about a most powerful idea, only the vestiges of which lingered in 19th-century German jurisprudence: "the idea that every injury has its equivalent which can be paid in compensation, if only through the pain of the person who injures." According to Nietzsche, the genesis of this "equivalence between injury and pain" can be found in Roman commercial law, in the "contractual relationship between creditor and debtor." The relationship between crime and punishment, more broadly, can then be understood as an injury or a wrong in the eyes of the law that generates a debt, repayable only through punishment. Nietzsche's gripe is with the law's attempt to draw an economic equivalence between 2 incommensurable concepts: the injury of the victim and the pain of the punished. The problem is that for the debt to be settled, the injury and the pain of punishment would each have to be somehow calculable - otherwise, they could not be made equivalent. When accounting for pain in any system of crime and punishment, the challenge is not only the impossibility of calculating it with an objective metric, but also pain's "unsharability" and "resistance to language," as the philosopher Elaine Scarry has argued. Beyond the subject experiencing pain, who struggles to account for the sensation - resorting to a handful of adjectives that describe intensities (severe, sharp, mild, burning, searing, crushing and so forth) or to analogies (painful as...) - there is also the witness, who is called upon to interpret the pain of another, as if transmuting the body into a text to be read. In the case of the death penalty, the condemned experiences pain that survives only in the language of the witness. Lawmakers, despite the often inscrutable nature of pain and the difficulty of representing it through language, still carry the power to adjudicate on how much of it is enough. When botched executions prompt courts to probe the limits of the "cruel" and "unusual," as they often do, the tacit question is: How much or how little pain is sufficient for the "debt," as Nietzsche frames it, to be repaid and justice to be served? In the upcoming Supreme Court case, for example, where the "needless" infliction of pain is the concern, precisely how much pain is needed? After each of the 4 botched executions in 2014, some critics claimed that the pain of the condemned was simply too great, drawn out and unjustified, whereas others attested that no amount of pain could be enough, that the convicted "deserves" to suffer in the name of justice. Modern criminal law, however, aims for the high road. Our 21st-century legal system has mostly parted with that archaic notion of "an eye for an eye" so fundamental to the origins of retributive justice. Kant, though he listed a few exceptions, belonged to this camp, proclaiming, "Whoever has committed murder must die." Today, even though the punishment is still supposed to fit the crime, contemporary criminal laws in America tend toward more discreet economies of pain, relying on prison sentences and painless deaths; punishment now is no longer simply about matching pain to injury. Even when a state sentences convicted murderers to death - a life for a life, if you will - the intended painlessness makes the killing more palatable, seemingly procedural and distinct from revenge. Many legal scholars and philosophers see this turn toward supposedly less cruel and painful deaths as a result of the gradual bureaucratization of executions. Before the 20th century in Europe and the United States, as the philosopher Michel Foucault showed in his celebrated 1975 book "Discipline and Punish," executions were not only public spectacles but events in which the state would reconstitute its sovereignty. By publicly "beating down upon" and "mastering" the body of the criminal, the state would aim to inspire lasting obedience in the citizens who observed. Gradually, though, states have sought to distance themselves from the brutality of the very crimes they condemn. Aiming for retribution and not vengeance (the former considered morally right), the law now compels the state to kill "softly," "gently" and "quietly," as Sarat has noted. This movement toward a quiet and medicalized death serves to dispel sympathy for the condemned: The state's killing seems more civilized than barbaric and, in comparison to the condemned's crime, appears even gracious. III. To better pre-empt instances of pain inflicted by the state, we would not only have to abolish the death penalty but also to reckon with the conditions by which it continues to exist. The problem is that abolitionism sets it sights too narrowly. According to the philosopher Jacques Derrida, what makes the abolitionist discourse "so fragile" is that it "banishes the death penalty at home and maintains the right to kill at war." To interdict one kind of execution and to legally sanction another reveals that abolitionism is often concerned not with killing itself but rather a locale and a technique. The logic that allows for railing against certain technologies of killing or how much pain they produce has repercussions for state-sanctioned violence abroad. One could argue that this was the case with President Obama's "red line" (consistent with the international community's 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention), which pronounced the use of certain weaponry, not killing itself, as the breaking point for intervention in Syria. And, subsequently, it was the gruesome method and spectacle of the decapitations by the Islamic State, or ISIS, that seems to have justified an expanded air campaign over Iraq and Syria. While these grisly scenes can evoke our most impassioned responses, they present a wound to be superficially sutured: disturbing problems and pains to be rooted out, often with violence, only when they are seen and heard. To attend to pain in a more systemic way, we would have to imagine a more ambitious moral call. Emmanuel Levinas, a 20th-century French Jewish philosopher, once wrote that "the justification of the neighbor's pain is surely the source of all suffering." Levinas's conceit suggests that by justifying the pain of others during an execution or even at war abroad, whether criminals or foreigners, we risk perpetuating conditions that afford more extensive kinds of violence, more enduring kinds of pain. We should continue to challenge the beliefs that lead us to consider a painful execution as excessively cruel or unusual, and a painless death as justified, or worse, compassionate. (source: Zachary Fine is a writer and a student at the New York University Gallatin School for Individualized Study; Opinionator, New York Times) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 9 11:53:37 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2015 11:53:37 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 9 TAIWAN: Taiwan authorities sentence death penalty to Bekgian in 1.3kg heroin smuggling A Belgian man convicted of smuggling drugs into Taiwan was sentenced by the Taipei District Court to life imprisonment. Gunther van Eester was found guilty of entering Taiwan in November with 1.3 kilograms of heroin hidden in a compartment in his suitcase. The Belgian, who was jobless and homeless in Thailand, had been flagged by Taiwanese investigators after he visited Taiwan twice in June as a tourist, the district court said in its ruling. After his 2 short visits, van Eester returned to Bangkok and met with drug dealers, who offered him US$700 and a free return ticket to carry a suitcase to Taiwan, the court said. On arrival in Taiwan, he was detained by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, who found NT$10 million (US$327,000) worth of heroin in his suitcase, according to the court. Van Eester claimed that he was helping to deliver a suitcase of clothing, the court said in its ruling, which imposed a sentence of life imprisonment on the man. Van Eester has the right to appeal the sentence in Taiwan???s high court. (source: customstoday.com) CHINA----execution China executes tycoon who bid for Australian miner A Chinese mining billionaire said to have links with disgraced former security tsar Zhou Yongkang and who once launched a bid for Australia's Sundance Resources was executed for multiple murder on Monday, a court said. Liu Han, his younger brother Liu Wei and three accomplices were condemned to death in May for "organising and leading a mafia-style group", murder and other crimes. Their appeals were unsuccessful and all 5 were put to death on Monday, the Xianning Intermediate court in the central province of Hubei said on its verified account on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. The 5 met with their "close relatives" before the execution, the court said in a separate posting. "The executed criminals' legal rights were fully protected," it added. Liu Han led private company Hanlong, which is based in the southwestern province of Sichuan and launched a takeover bid of more than $1 billion for Sundance, a listed Australian iron ore firm, in 2011. But the deal collapsed in 2013 after the Chinese firm failed to follow through. Chinese media reports said at the time that Liu Han had been detained. Sichuan is one of the power bases of Zhou, who once enjoyed vast power as China's security chief but whose targeting in a corruption investigation was announced in July. The influential business magazine Caixin has reported that Liu Han once had dealings with a businessman believed to be Zhou's son. State media have also hinted that the gang had connections to central government officials. Zhou was handed over to prosecutors in December. The official announcement of the long-rumoured probe into Zhou made him the most senior member of the Communist Party to be investigated since the infamous Gang of 4 -- a faction that included the widow of founding leader Mao Zedong -- were put on trial in 1980. (source: Agence France-Presse) ************************* China court gives out new death penalty after wrongful execution A court in China sentenced a man to death on Monday for crimes including the murder and rape of a woman in 1996 which another person was wrongly executed for before being exonerated last year, state media reported. Zhao Zhihong, 42, was detained in 2005 and confessed to a series of rapes and murders, including 1 in a public toilet in Inner Mongolian capital Hohhot in 1996 that was blamed on Huugjilt, then aged 18. Huugjilt, who like many Chinese Mongols used just a single name, was later executed. A court in December overturned his conviction and awarded his parents - who attended Zhao's verdict hearing - compensation. The court additionally ordered Zhao to pay 102,768 yuan ($16,445) in compensation to his victims. China has embarked on legal reforms, including reducing the use of the death penalty, as public discontent mounts over wrongful punishment. While wrongful executions have often stirred outrage, capital punishment itself has wide support from the public. Anti-death penalty campaigners say China uses the death penalty far more than other countries. The government does not release the number of executions it carries out, deeming it a state secret. (source: Reuters) INDONESIA: Indonesia's new appetite for execution >From the sky, Kerobokan jail looks like a vast, sprawling complex - complete with a tennis court, a church and a mosque. Inside this notorious Bali prison are convicts found guilty of drug trafficking and facing imminent execution by a 12-man firing squad. Among them are 57-year-old British national Lindsay Sandiford and 2 Australians - part of the infamous "Bali 9" drug smuggling ring - Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Chan and Sukumaran have had their clemency appeals rejected by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The attorney general's office says they will be in the next group of prisoners to be put to death, but it is not clear when. Last month, after a 4-year hiatus, Indonesia executed convicts from Malawi, Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil and the Netherlands, as well as one from Indonesia. The execution spree appears to be driven by Mr Widodo. He's only been in the job for just over 100 days - but he has decided that a war on drugs is a major priority for his administration. He has surprised many of his supporters and human rights observers with his tough stance. "Indonesia is on the wrong side of history with this policy," says Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher with Human Rights Watch in Jakarta. "A country's attitude to human rights is determined by its attitude to the death penalty, and this stance is sending the wrong message to the world about Indonesia's priorities - especially since Indonesia has so many of its own citizens on death row in countries like Saudi Arabia. "How can it possibly campaign for their release while it executes people at home?" But Indonesia says there will be no compromises - and that this policy is here to stay. The country's new appetite for executions has raised concerns that convicts like Sandiford, who was found guilty in 2013 for trafficking 4.8kg of cocaine to Bali, are unlikely to have their appeals granted. Matius Arif, a priest in Bali, has met regularly with Sandiford and says she's struggling to come to terms with her fate. "It's very hard for her," he said. "I can see it and I can feel it. The situation is especially hard when you're in a foreign country, it's not easy for her. She needs a lot of support, and a lot of help on the legal, spiritual and emotional terms." But Indonesia says its laws are not ambiguous - anyone caught bringing drugs into the country will face the death penalty. Indonesia is not the only country in South East Asia to use capital punishment for drug trafficking. Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam do too - and often with alarming regularity. It is thought there are 673 people on death row in Vietnam, most of them for drug trafficking. However, it's very difficult to verify the exact number of people executed each year for bringing drugs into the country, as the use of the death penalty in Vietnam is classified as a state secret. In January, 8 Vietnamese citizens were given the death sentence for smuggling about 200kg of heroin into the country. Mass trials for drug traffickers have been held in the yard of a detention centre rather than a courtroom, and have often been used as a deterrence and even an educational measure by the state, despite protests from foreign-based human rights groups. China takes drug trafficking very seriously and metes out severe punishment for such offenses. According to the criminal code, anybody involved with making, selling, transporting and smuggling more than 2kg of opium or 50mg of heroin or methamphetamine can be given a sentence ranging from 15 years in prison to death. These laws apply to foreign nationals as well as Chinese citizens. In recent years, China has executed foreign nationals on drug offences from countries including Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and the UK, despite calls for clemency from officials or NGOs representing these countries. Countries like Indonesia often provoke international outrage with their decision to execute foreign nationals for drugs. Last month, the Brazilian and Dutch ambassadors to Indonesia were recalled to their home countries because of the executions of their nationals. But Indonesia insists that this is the only way to deal with rising addiction rates. The government says every day at least 40 Indonesians die because of drug overdoses. While these figures are hard to verify, it is true that the country has battled with a rising substance abuse problem, especially amongst its youth. 'Life was a mess' At a rehab centre outside Jakarta, young men in their twenties and thirties describe how they have been taking street-level heroin and crack for most of their lives. Pramudya Pramudya says more awareness is needed on the effects of drugs on young Indonesians "My life turned into a mess," 30-year-old Pramudya said. "I had no friends. They all stopped talking to me. I just thought about how to steal from them so I could buy drugs. I lost everything." Pramudya does not blame the traffickers for what happened to him but believes they should be executed, to send a strong message. "From my point of view Indonesian law is very weak," he said. "So I think this is the time to make it serious for drug traffickers and drug dealers. It will never stop drugs, but maybe it will give awareness to the young generation - don't play with it. But it will never make Indonesia totally clean from drugs. " Anti-death-penalty campaigners agree. They say the people that end up being executed for trafficking are invariably mules or insignificant players - not the actual kingpins themselves. Human rights activists say cracking down on the drug trade in South East Asia has to involve a consistent and concerted effort to topple those at the top rather than those carrying out orders. But it is an uphill battle. The majority of Indonesians surveyed approve of the death penalty - especially for drug traffickers. A change of heart is hard to imagine. (source: BBC News) *************** Bali 9: Lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran launch rare challenge against president Joko Widodo Lawyers for the 2 Australians due to be executed in Indonesia this month are launching a rare challenge against the Indonesian president's refusal to grant them pardons. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the ringleaders of the so-called heroin trafficking group Bali 9, were due to face a firing squad before the end of February after they were denied presidential pardons. Their lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said their "last chance" was to challenge president Joko Widodo's decision in an administrative court - a move that had rarely been attempted. "We have done almost everything and now we are planning to file another claim to the administrative court in Jakarta," Mr Mulya said. "We will challenge the rejection of the clemency issued by the president, or made by the president." Chan and Sukumaran had argued, as they had to the Indonesian Supreme Court, that they were remorseful and rehabilitated. They had both used their active involvement in rehab programs to help other prisoners as reasons why they should be pardoned from the death penalty. But Mr Widodo had declared Indonesia in a state of "drug emergency" and vowed not to grant clemency to any drug offenders. It was on that basis that Mr Mulya and his team of lawyers were hoping to challenge the president's decision, saying that he had to actually consider each case. "It's not the way to do it," Mr Mulya said of the president's outright rejection of clemency bids. "We don't think the president can reject all the clemency petition[s] based only on drug emergency situations. "The president must go into [them] one by one. Now [an] assessment has to be done. We have done almost everything to save their life and this is the last chance. I hope there's a miracle, I hope there's a hand of God. "You cannot just read that on papers and make a rejection, a refusal. "It's not the way to do it, because we are talking about human life, human beings. "So we should not treat the petitioners as numbers ... treat them as human beings." An administrative appeal of this kind was thought to have been attempted only once before, and failed. In a 2008 court case, Mr Mulya challenged the constitutionality of the death sentence but the court upheld the death sentence as valid. But he said he would not give up on trying. "Indonesia is a state based on law, and we also ratified a lot of international human rights instruments. It means that we respect human rights. "One of the basic fundamental human rights is the right to life, so when we are dealing with clemency... the president should take into account the life of the petitioners." Chan and Sukumaran 'running out of time' Mr Mulya conceded that there was not a lot of time left to save Chan and Sukumaran from the firing squad. "I can say we are running out of time," he said. "There's not much time left. Well I know that every legal means has been exhausted. "We have done almost everything to save their life and this is the last chance. "I hope there's a miracle, I hope there's a hand of God, at this time. "But what I can do is to keep praying." Indonesia's attorney-general's office was in charge of scheduling and coordinating executions and announcing where and when they would take place. Attorney-general Muhammad Presetyo has already stated that the legal process is over and the government was preparing to execute the Australians in the next round of shootings, which were due to happen sometime this month. "I keep my fingers crossed, I hope they will change their mind," Mr Mulya said. He said the attorney-general should not go ahead with the executions while there was an administrative challenge in progress. "Because they have to respect the law, they have to respect the due process of law," Mr Mulya said. The families of the 2 men were travelling to Jakarta today to meet with Indonesia's National Committee on Human Rights, or KOMNAS HAM, in another push to get a stay on the executions. (source: ABC News) AUSTRALIA: Australia Can Adopt Any Diplomatic Measures to Oppose Death Penalty The Australian government can do anything diplomatically to express opposition to the death penalty granted to drug traffickers, but Indonesia will proceed with its law enforcement process, stated Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Rifat Kesuma. The statement was made by Ambassador Kesuma here on Monday with regard to the clemency pleas of 2 Australian drug trafficking convicts, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, which were rejected by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and the Australian government's response to the situation. "I do not know whether they (the Australian government) will recall their ambassador in Indonesia or not. But, diplomatically, they can do anything to express if they are unhappy," noted Kesuma. Ambassador Kesuma, who is visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend the Indonesian Representatives' Work Meeting on Feb 2-5, 2015, stated that the response of the Australian government is technically acceptable as all governments must try their best to defend their nationals. "The reaction of the government (of Australia), of course, wherever they are, they try to make the situation better. They tried to talk to me if there is still anything they can do to change the last verdict, so I tell them everything has been executed, and this is the situation now," he explained. Moreover, President Jokowi has stated that no mercy will be shown to drug dealers and drug traffickers, considering the impact on the Indonesian people, particularly the youth. Regarding the diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia, Kesuma noted that the 2 countries have gone through so many challenges that have affected the relations between the 2 neighboring nations, and hence, the death penalty would not cause any friction. Kesuma also spoke about a poll conducted by Roy Morgan that shows 52 % of Australians agree that drug traffickers convicted in another country and sentenced to death should be executed. "We can say that 52 % of Australians are supporting Indonesia's position," he said. However, Kesuma added that the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra also received more than a hundred letters from the civil society's lawyers to protest and express their rejection or disappointment on the death penalty awarded to the 2 Australian nationals. According to the Roy Morgan's poll, 52 % people support the death penalty given for drug trafficking and 48 % do not agree. About 62 % of Australians said the Australian Government should not take any further steps to stop the execution of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, while 38 % say that the Australian Government should do more to stop the execution. The poll was conducted on a cross-section of 2,123 Australians over the last few days, on January 23-27, 2015. (source: The Bali Times) PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Indonesia, Thailand ready to help PNG on death penalty The governments of Indonesia and Thailand are ready to help the PNG inter-agency committee set up by Cabinet to implement the death penalty this year, Correctional Services Minister Jim Simatab says. Indonesia will provide advice and technical assistance on the "death by firing squad" method and Thailand on "hanging". The National Executive Council had approved three modes of execution - death by firing squad, hanging and administration of anaesthetics followed by lethal injection. The committee comprises Government agencies and co-chaired by the Commissioner for Correctional Service and Secretary for the Department of Justice and Attorney-General. The committee will meet this week and report to Cabinet on what they have come up with. "After the committee meets, we should be able to carry out this Government decision to implement the death penalty," Simatab said. He said the death penalty would deter the small number of people "who have no value for human life". Serious crimes which attract the mandatory death sentence include treason, piracy and attempted piracy with actual violence, wilful murder that are of the worst categories as determined by case law precedent, aggravated rape and robbery with violence. Department of Justice and Attorney-General Secretary Dr Lawrence Kalinoe said serious crimes which had been included were sorcery-related killings and rape of children under the age of 10. (source: PNG Today) *************************** PNG seeks outside help on death penalty Papua New Guinea has sought direction from the governments of Indonesia and Thailand on how to implement the death penalty this year. The newspaper, The National, reports the PNG inter-agency committee set up by Cabinet to implement the recently re-activated death penalty has been considering methods approved of by the National Executive Council. The correctional services minister Jim Simatab says Indonesia will provide advice and technical assistance on the "death by firing squad" method and Thailand on "hanging". The committee will meet this week and report to Cabinet on what method they have settled on. Serious crimes which attract the mandatory death sentence include treason, piracy and wilful murder, aggravated rape and robbery with violence, as well as sorcery-related killings and rape of children under the age of 10. (source: Radio New Zealand) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 9 11:54:24 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2015 11:54:24 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 9 NIGERIA: Buhari explains why he executed drug peddlers and journalists Former military ruler, Major General Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday defended some of the most controversial actions of his regime and accepted responsibility for them. Gen. Buhari, who is the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), said that his military regime took those actions to clean up the country and restore dignity to the citizenry. The Buhari junta, which was in power between 31 December 1983 and 27 August 1985, attracted criticisms for executing drug convicts with retroactive laws and for jailing journalists under a decree that made it an offence to publish a report that could embarrass the government, whether true or false. The military regime executed Bernard Ogedegbe (29), Bathlomew Owoh (26) and Lawal Ojuolape (30) for dealing in drugs. The case of Owoh drew particular global attention because at the time the offence was committed, the maximum punishment in the country's legal code was 6 months imprisonment. The Buhari government enacted a Decree 20, which had a retroactive effect and carried the death penalty. Also, under Decree No. 4 of 1984, the Buhari military government jailed 2 reporters, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor for publishing reports that it considered embarrassing to government officials. His question-and-answer session with the Al Jazeera television, went thus: People accuse your leadership during that regime of cracking down on civil rights, of executing people who had not committed cap???ital offences. We said we suspended parts of the constitution and we made laws before we sent people on trial. So, we accept responsibility for whatever opinion and whoever is expressing it. The question of executing people was about people dealing in drugs. We said cocaine and associated drugs were not developed or produced in Nigeria. People who want to make money at the expense of health, lives of people go to the countries that produce these substances and make Nigeria a transit camp for drugs, destroying Nigerian communities and extend the destruction even to developed countries just to make money. We were concerned that if people want to make money, they should go out and work hard and make money, not to go and bring drugs, sell it and destroy our youth, sell it and destroy other countries just to make money. We made the law, that whoever did it should be executed. Let him go and make the money elsewhere, not in Nigeria. The 2nd accusation that you made on the trampling on human rights is about the Nigerian Press. We said we cannot stop the press from criticizing people or institutions. But please, let them have investigative journalism. Let them try and verify facts before they accuse government of offence and others of misdemeanor to spoil their names and reputations. We never held any secret tribunal. The tribunals, 6 of them throughout the country, we got the intelligence community, Navy, Army, Air Force, Police, national security organisations, to form the investigative panel that based on documentation, people were charged, military tribunals, they were tried. There was nothing secret about it. You've managed to attract the support of fairly significant political figures in Nigeria. Wole Soyinka the widely internationally acclaimed writer and former President (Olusegun) Obasanjo, former President (Ibrahim) Babangida. They've all come out very strongly against the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan and thereby support your candidacy. But nobody has come out with a real endorsement of Muhammadu Buhari as the right man and the perfect man to be the President of Nigeria. If people don't like Buhari's face for what he did as a military Head of State, let them join either the ruling party or any of the mushroom parties and vote against me and persuade their constituencies to vote against me. It is as simple as that. I keep maintaining that Nigerians will be amazed how physically Nigeria can be secured if people are allowed to choose whoever they want to represent them as members of legislature, as Governors and as President. We will be amazed. Can I, with respect, put to you another criticism that is levelled against you, General Muhammadu Buhari and that is: You are a very popular figure in the North but that popularity doesn't extend beyond. You've been accused of being the leader of the North, and somebody who doesn't extend that appeal to the other parts of the country. In fact, you've been accused of not really respecting the diversity of Nigeria. What would you say to that? (source: Segun Adio, spyghana.com) IRAQ: Saddam Hussein noose going up for auction The noose used to hang Saddam Hussein in 2006 is being auctioned as a piece of art. It is currently in the possession of former Iraqi official Movafagh Al-Rabi'i, who has put the noose around a bronze bust of Hussein and exhibits it in his home. An unidentified Iraqi politician has told the daily Alarabiya Aljihad that several collectors and buyers from Israel, Iran and Kuwait have made offers to by the rope used to hang Saddam Hussein, and the highest bid has so far been 7 million dollars. The report indicates that Al-Rabii expects to get even more for it. The Iraqi government has said that if the rope is indeed sold, legally the money should be handed over to the Iraqi treasury. Saddam Hussein was hanged in 2006, and Al-Rabi'i was present as an Iraqi government security official. He told Al-Jazeera that Saddam Hussein was calm at the time of his hanging and held a Quran in his hands. They read the death sentence to him, and "like a broken man", he surrendered to his fate, said his last prayer without any anxiety and put his head in the noose. (source: Radio Zamaneh) EGYPT: Fears for Irish teen as Egypt 'sham trial' postponed Amnesty has said it is gravely concerned about Irish teenager Ibrahim Halawa after the latest postponement in Egypt of what the organisation has called his "sham trial". Ibrahim, 19, along with his 493 co-defendants, is now scheduled to face trial on March 29, by which time he will have spent more than a year and 7 months behind bars. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, also expressed disquiet over the latest developments in Cairo. "I am disappointed to learn of the further delay today and concerned that the Egyptian authorities continue to consider Ibrahim's case as part of a group trial," said Mr Flanagan. "I have personally raised the Government's concerns about this case with my Egyptian counterpart on a number of occasions." Dublin-born Ibrahim and the other detainees are jointly charged with murder, attempted murder, and taking part in illegal protests after peaceful demonstrations he had attended were broken up by the Egyptian military in August 2013 while he was on holiday in Cairo awaiting the results of his Leaving Cert. The detainees could face the death penalty if they are convicted yet, so far, all attempts to stage a trial have ended in farce, with no court room big enough to hold the full group and with no clear structure to the proceedings in place. Colm O'Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland, called for renewed focus by the Government here and by the EU on getting Ibrahim home to Ireland. "We have examined the case files and there is no evidence of any of the violent charges that have been made against Ibrahim. He faces, frankly, a sham trial," said Mr O???Gorman. "In other such cases we have seen mass death sentences handed down for similar 'cut and paste' charges made against large groups of people so we're gravely concerned about the situation." Mr O'Gorman said calls by the Government and the EU for Ibrahim to be afforded a fair trial made no sense in a country where the criminal justice system was not functioning to any agreed international standards. "It is absolutely vital that all steps be taken to apply pressure on Egypt to ensure Ibrahim's immediate and unconditional release," said Mr O'Gorman. "There is absolutely no point in calling for Ibrahim to be granted due process or a fair trial. There is no prospect of him getting due process or a fair trial." One of Ibrahim's sisters, Nosayba Halawa, and the Irish ambassador to Egypt, Isolde Moylan, were in court when yesterday's proceedings were adjourned. Mr Flanagan said officials in Dublin and Cairo were working actively on Ibrahim's case. "My department will continue to take all appropriate action to ensure Ibrahim's welfare, and to seek a review of his case, his release and return to his family and his studies," said Mr Flanagan. (source: Irish Examiner) PAKISTAN/UNITED KINGDOM: UK government fights to keep links to Pakistan executions secret A case concerning whether the UK overnment should be allowed to keep secret evidence which could show it has contributed to executions in Pakistan will be heard on 9 February 2015 by the Information Rights Tribunal (IRT). The legal charity Reprieve has warned ministers that, by funding organisations such as Pakistan's Anti-Narcotics Force ??? which cites the number of death sentences it secures as a key 'achievement' - public money could be helping support executions overseas. (http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/21155) This is directly at odds with the UK's long-standing policy of opposition to the death penalty. Reprieve has asked the Government what safeguards (if any) it has in place to prevent public money from funding executions in Pakistan, and what assessments it has carried out. However, ministers have refused to provide any detail, beyond pointing to the existence of guidance on Overseas Justice and Security Assistance (OSJA). The OSJA is a wide-ranging piece of guidance which requires ministers to consider whether UK support for policing and security operations could lead to complicity in serious human rights abuses, such as torture and the death penalty. However, ministers have rebuffed Freedom of Information requests from Reprieve asking whether they had sought reassurances from the Pakistani authorities that UK support would not contribute to the imposition of death sentences for drugs offences. The questions have become more pressing since Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions in December 2014. The UK previously ceased funding to Iranian counter-narcotics programmes because of concerns that doing so was contributing to executions. Nevertheless, despite Pakistan resuming executions - and the country's imposition of the death penalty for non-violent drugs offences - it has yet to take similar steps with regard to that country. In addition, Reprieve says it has established that a number of people facing execution on drugs charges in Pakistan are British citizens. Reprieve is also concerned by the UK government's attempts to impose yet more secrecy on the process - insisting that the vast majority of the case is heard in secret, without Reprieve, the organisation's lawyers, or even a government-appointed, security-cleared lawyer known as a 'Special Advocate' allowed to be present. * Reprieve http://www.reprieve.org.uk/ * European Aid for Executions here: http://www.reprieve.org.uk/case-study/safe/ * Information Rights Tribunal (Ministry of Justice): http://www.informationtribunal.gov.uk/Public/search.aspx (source: ekklesia.co.uk) JAPAN: Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 6, No. 3, February 9, 2015.----Will Wrongful Convictions Be a Catalyst for Change in Japanese Criminal Justice? The Asia Pacific Journal presents a link to an extraordinary 12-minute video by Matthew Carney of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation discussing the death penalty and the problem of wrongful convictions in Japanese criminal justice. This video explains what went wrong in 3 cases involving men who were victimized in the worst kind of way by Japan's criminal justice system, and it raises the possibility that these cases could stimulate reform in Japan's system of capital punishment and in the criminal justice system more generally. In the ABC video, Hakamada Iwao can be seen pacing in his sister Hideko's home and referring to himself as "God the undefeated emperor" after being released from death row following 48 years of incarceration - almost all of it in solitary confinement. Hakamada confessed to 4 murders in 1966 after being interrogated by police and prosecutors for more than 264 hours over a 23-day period - an average of 11 hours and 30 minutes per day. My own article in this issue of Asia Pacific Journal presents more details about the police and prosecutor misconduct that led to Hakamada's wrongful conviction and delayed his release for nearly half a century (see "An Innocent Man: Hakamada Iwao and the Problem of Wrongful Convictions in Japan"). Most notably, when concerns arose about the strength of the state's case against Hakamada during the 1st several months of his trial, it appears that police planted 5 articles of bloody clothing at the scene of the crimes in order to bolster their case for conviction. In 2007, 1 of the 3 judges (Kumamoto Norimichi) who originally convicted Hakamada and condemned him to death publically stated for the 1st time that he had always believed in Hakamada's innocence but had been outvoted by 2 senior judges on the Shizuoka District Court in 1968. Kumamoto's repeated pronouncements helped lead to the judicial decision by 3 different judges of the Shizuoka District Court that freed Hakamada from death row in March 2014 and ordered his retrial. Ishikawa Kazuo spent more than 10 years on death row following his conviction for the murder of 16-year-old Nakata Yoshie in Sayama City in Saitama Prefecture in 1963. Ishikawa confessed after long and brutal interrogations that included punches to the head and prolonged sleep deprivation. The Urawa District Court that convicted him also concluded that he was the author of a ransom note related to this slaying even though he was almost illiterate. Ishikawa was from a community that historically has been subject to great prejudice and discrimination. As a burakumin, he had to forego formal education beyond primary school in order to help his family make a living. The ABC video makes no mention of this important aspect of "The Sayama Case," but more information about it can be found in John H. Davis, Jr.'s fine chapter "Courting Justice, Contesting 'Bureaucratic Informality': The Sayama Case and the Evolution of Buraku Liberation Politics" (in Going to Court to Change Japan: Social Movements and the Law in Contemporary Japan, edited by Patricia G. Steinhoff, Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2014, pp.73-100). Ishikawa's death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment by the Tokyo High Court in 1974, and he was released on parole in 1994. Since then, he and his supporters have been pushing for a retrial that could formally declare his innocence. Sugaya Toshikazu is the 3rd man victimized by wrongful conviction who is portrayed in the ABC video. In what came to be known as the "Ashikaga Incident," Sugaya was convicted in 1991 of the murder of a 4-year-old girl based on his own coerced confession and what turned out to be a primitive DNA test. In 2007 the journalist Shimizu Kiyoshi revealed problems in the DNA testing method, and in 2009 a new DNA test conclusively showed that Sugaya was innocent. (The same DNA test that was used to wrongfully convict Sugaya was also used to convict Kuma Michitoshi of 2 murders in Iizuka, Fukuoka prefecture in 1992, but Kuma was hanged in 2008 despite serious concerns about his innocence; see here.) Sugaya was released after 17 years of imprisonment, and in 2010 he was formally declared innocent at a retrial in which prosecutors admitted that the police had forced him to confess. In 2011 Sugaya was awarded the equivalent of about 1 million U.S. dollars in compensation by the Japanese government. While Sugaya was in prison under a life sentence, 2 other young girls were killed near Ashikaga City, and 2 more were killed in Ohta City, on Gunma Prefecture's border with Ashikaga. Wrongful convictions are tragic for many reasons, and 1 of the least appreciated is the fact that while the wrong person is in custody, the real offender remains free to commit more crimes. The ABC video also shows scenes from a press conference attended by Hakamada, Ishikawa, Sugaya, and two other victims of wrongful conviction: Sugiyama Takao and Sakurai Shoji, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1970 for a robbery-murder in the town of Fukawa in Ibaraki prefecture in 1967. The 2 victims of wrongful conviction in this "Fukawa case" were released on parole in 1996 and declared not guilty in a retrial that ended in 2011. Like most other victims of wrongful conviction in Japan, Sugiyama and Sakurai both falsely confessed after long and coercive interrogations, and police and prosecutors failed to disclose to the defense many pieces of evidence that pointed to their innocence. It took nearly 45 years to exonerate them, and in 2012 they each received 130 million yen (about $1.6 million) in compensation from the state. The ABC video includes compelling testimony from former prosecutor Ichikawa Hiroshi about the pressures police and prosecutors feel to produce confessions and convictions even when they are inconsistent with the truth. The conclusion of the video also raises the "hope" that the revelation of wrongful convictions could be a "catalyst" for change in Japanese criminal justice. But recent history suggests that positive change will be far from automatic. In the 1980s, 4 men were released from death rows in Japan because of evidence of their innocence (see Daniel H. Foote, "From Japan's Death Row To Freedom," Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, Vol.1, No.1 (Winter 1992), pp.11-103). Thereafter, there was much discussion about the need for reform in Japanese criminal justice and capital punishment, yet few meaningful reforms were implemented. Two decades later, even the advent of a lay judge system of civilian participation (in 2009) has had little effect on Japanese conviction rates or death sentencing practices. In the United States, the revelation of wrongful convictions has helped drive death sentences and executions down by more than 1/2 since they peaked in the late 1990s and has contributed to the abolition of capital punishment in 6 states since 2007 (New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Connecticut, and Maryland). For similar reforms to occur in Japan, an entrenched "culture of denial" will need to be challenged and changed. The contours and consequences of this culture of denial are described in another article published in this issue of Asia Pacific Journal: "Wrongful Convictions and the Culture of Denial in Japanese Criminal Justice" (by David T. Johnson). That article concludes with these lines: "...Japanese prosecutors are still appealing the decision to grant Hakamada [Iwao] a retrial, and police are on their side. Their stance has two main causes: a desire to save face, and a tendency toward tunnel vision which leads them to dismiss evidence that is inconsistent with their preferred outcome ("guilty!") as irrelevant, incredible, or unreliable. If you recognize that errors are inevitable, you will not be surprised when they occur and you will have plans in place to correct them. Conversely, if you refuse to admit to yourself or the world that mistakes do occur, then every wrongful conviction becomes stark and embarrassing evidence of how wrong you are (Tavris and Aronson, 2007, p.156). Japan's culture of denial is toxic to justice, and so is the certainty of criminal justice officials about the propriety of their own conduct. Doubt is a skill they still need to learn, and error is a reality they must learn to acknowledge..." This is part 1 of a 3 part series curated and written by David T. Johnson on The Death Penalty and the Miscarriage of Justice in Japan. Recommended citation: "Will Wrongful Convictions Be a Catalyst for Change in Japanese Criminal Justice?", The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 6, No. 3, February 9, 2015. (source: David T. Johnson is Professor of Sociology, University of Hawaii at Manoa and an Asia-Pacific Journal contributing editor. He is co-author (with Franklin E. Zimring) of The Next Frontier: National Development, Political Change, and the Death Penalty in Asia (Oxford University Press, 2009), co-author (with Maiko Tagusari) of Koritsu Suru Nihon no Shikei [Japan's Isolated Death Penalty] (Gendai Jinbunsha, 2012), and former co-editor of Law & Society Review----Japan Focus) ETHIOPIA: Andy Tsege case: Ethiopia refuses to allow access to imprisoned British citizen ---- Dissident was kidnapped in Yemen last June and now is facing the death penalty Ethiopia has refused to allow a delegation of parliamentarians to visit a British dissident facing the death penalty in the African country. Andy Tsege, who is the secretary-general of a banned Ethiopian opposition movement, was sentenced to death at a trial held in his absence in 2009. He was travelling from Dubai to Eritrea last June when he disappeared during a stopover in Yemen, in what campaigners regard as a politically motivated kidnapping. Weeks later, he emerged in detention in Ethiopia. A delegation led by Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Tsege's constituency MP, was to visit Ethiopia in a bid to secure his release. But the trip was abandoned after a meeting with Ethiopian ambassador Berhanu Kebede in London last week. Mr Corbyn told The Independent: "We had made plans to go and see him next weekend and they said we would be refused admission to the detention facility." Lord Dholakia, the vice-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Ethiopia, who was due to travel out with Mr Corbyn, said it was made clear that they would not be welcome. Mr Corbyn is demanding that the Ethiopian government allows Mr Tsege's lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith, the director of Reprieve, to visit him and will raise the issue in the Commons this week. The Ethiopian embassy in London has accused Mr Tsege - who came to Britain as a political refugee in 1979 - of being a member of a "terrorist organisation" which wants to "overthrow the legitimate government of Ethiopia". A spokesman for the Ethiopian embassy said: "The ambassador advised the parliamentarians that there was no need for them to go to Ethiopia as the case is being properly handled by the courts." Last night, Yemi Hailemariam, Mr Tsege's partner and mother of their three children, accused the ambassador of being "a mouthpiece for his bosses who have no regard for basic human rights". Mr Tsege's family will go to Downing Street today - which is his 60th birthday - to hand in a petition calling on David Cameron to demand his return. It can also be revealed that the Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood broke a promise to Mr Tsege's family that his case would be raised during the African Union summit in Ethiopia last month. Mr Ellwood had pledged that senior officials would raise the case. But in an email sent to Ms Hailemariam last week, a government official admitted: "Access to Ethiopian ministers is extremely limited during the summit and so it wasn't possible to have a bilateral meeting with senior officials who might have influence over the case." A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "We remain deeply concerned about Ethiopia's refusal to allow regular consular visits to Mr Tsege and his lack of access to a lawyer, and are concerned that others seeking to visit him have also been refused access." (source: The Independent) LEBANON: Should Lebanon execute convicted terrorists? "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." This is how Jordan retaliated for the execution of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh, who was brutally murdered by the Islamic State (IS). Jordan has executed 2 Iraqi prisoners: Sajida Rishawi and Ziad Karbouli. This was the 1st retaliation of its kind by a country threatened by IS. After Jordan executed 2 Iraqi prisoners in response to the brutal killing of a Jordanian pilot by the Islamic State, a debate arose in Lebanon about why the government does not do the same when the organization kills one of the Lebanese soldiers it is holding captive. There is no doubt that the [crime shown in the] video released by IS calls for a maximum punishment against this unjust organization. Nevertheless, there have been diverse reactions to Jordan's actions. Some believe that the state's decision is a normal reaction to assert the stature of the state before its people in the face of IS. Meanwhile, others reject retaliating with the same level of brutality as the execution of Kasasbeh. This development has caused a stir in Lebanon, which has witnessed the slaughtering or shooting of its soldiers at the hands of IS without retaliating by executing some of the organization's prisoners to restore the prestige of the Lebanese state. A constitutional source asked, "Is there a state in the first place?" He said, "The state has been beheaded by the absence of a president of the republic, which is as serious as the executions carried out by IS. Only when a president is elected and its prestige restored can the state deal with sub-issues and decide whether or not to execute IS prisoners who killed our soldiers." In response to the question, Can't the government replace the president? The source answered, "The current government is interim, and the state is headless. Those who are demanding that the state restore its prestige have to first get a new head of state. They should demand the election of a president first and foremost to embark on the path of having a prestigious state." Former president of the Supreme Judicial Council, Judge Ghaleb Ghanem, expressed his respect for the sovereignty of the Jordanian state, courts and judges. He stressed, however, "According to Lebanese law, the death penalty should be in response to a certain event, especially if such an event has occurred outside Lebanon." Despite the fact that Ghanem is inclined toward applying the law and strict prosecutions, he rejects the death penalty. "We cannot emulate the acts of outlaws and fight them with the same evil. The rule of law ought to be our ultimate reference," he said to An-Nahar. Asked what would happen if a death sentence is issued against one of the IS detainees, Ghanem answered, "It is up to the Lebanese state and the judicial, executive and security authorities to choose the right time to carry out the sentence, so that it does not look like a reaction or a retaliation that is not provided for by the judiciary. "I stress the need to preserve and prioritize the prestige of the state and comply with the law and provisions, but I am personally against death sentences," Ghanem added. For his part, Maj. Gen. Yassin Sweid believes, "Although Jordan is entitled to reciprocate IS' crime, Lebanon should not do the same, given that there are Lebanese soldiers kidnapped by IS and Jabhat al-Nusra. The execution of any member of the organization may be met with the killing of 10 Lebanese soldiers. Therefore, Lebanon should distance itself from this losing battle." Sweid added, "It is impossible to respond to IS so long as the soldiers are still held captive. The decision to respond is in the hands of IS because it is an immoral and ruthless organization." Asked if there should be a response if IS executes another soldier, Sweid answered, "It is a hellish phase, and if Lebanon were dragged into it, then this would lead to regrettable massacres, and we cannot keep pace with IS when it comes to these grievances." Sweid wondered, "What could we possibly do if they reciprocate by killing soldiers? What would be our position toward the relatives of the kidnapped?" Sweid believes that "the state's prestige starts by retrieving the soldiers, waging a war and then invading terrorist-controlled areas." He noted, "No one can respond to them at the moment. Even Arab countries do not reciprocate with death. It is true that Jordan responded because it is IS that started it, but nothing stops IS from killing any Jordanian and going on a killing streak. This is why this organization must be fought instead of reciprocating with the killing of its members." In addition to the aforementioned opinions, waves of popular anger emerged on social networking sites in Lebanon in the hours following the execution of the Jordanian pilot and the official reaction to it. Many asked the Lebanese state to execute the convicted terrorists in response to IS' execution of a Lebanese soldier. But will these demands remain restricted to an outburst of anger as they collide with difficult and complicated Lebanese facts? (source: al-monitor.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 9 16:02:41 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2015 16:02:41 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., ARIZ., USA Message-ID: Feb. 9 GEORGIA----new execution date--female Georgia sets execution date for woman A Gwinnett County judge on Monday signed an order setting the execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner for the end of this month, making it possible she will be the 1st woman Georgia has put to death since 1945. The execution warrant sets the window for Gissendaner's lethal injection for the week that starts with Feb. 25. The Department of Corrections sets the specific time, usually at 7 p.m. on the 1st day that a judge has set aside for the execution to be carried out. Gissendaner was convicted to persuading her boyfriend to murder her husband, Douglas, in 1997. The killer, Gregory Owen, helped the district attorney with its case against Gissendaner. In exchange, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty against him. Owen is serving life in prison. Lena Baker, 44, was electrocuted on March 5, 1945. Georgia has put to death fewer than 10 women, all but Baker in the 1800s. Baker, a black maid, was covicted of murder by an all-white jury in a 1-day trial even though she said she whot her boss in self defense. She said Ernest Knight, a white man, had imprisoned and threatened to shoot her should she try to leave. She shot him with his own gun. The state pardoned her in 2005. ****************** Accused Clarke County cop killer trial to start in June A trial date has been set in the Clarke County case of Jamie Donnell Howard who is accused of murdering a police officer and a civilian 4 years ago, the Athens Banner-Herald reported Monday. Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard on Thursday scheduled June 1 as the day to start jury selection in the death penalty case, the newspaper said. Haggard had earlier ruled that the jurors should be chosen from Elbert County because of pre-trial publicity. Hood, 37, who is acting as his own attorney, has argued that the jurors should be chosen from DeKalb or Fulton counties. Hood is accused of murdering Officer Elmer "Buddy" Christian III on March 22, 2011 after wounding Officer Tony Howard. He is also accused of murdering Kenneth Omari Wray in December 2010 and the cases are linked for trial. The officers were shot when searching for Hood in a kidnapping case. He had served time in prison for armed robbery and was released a few years before the 2011 case that started with him searching for a drug dealer and ended with him surrendering after a hostage situation. (source for both: Atlanta Journal-Constitution) ARIZONA: Jodi Arias Trial Update Reveals Sexual Text Messages Found by Jury, Alleged Murderer Suffers Mental Disorder According to Expert In 2008, Travis Alexander was allegedly murdered by his former girlfriend, Jodi Arias. It was so brutal as he was stabbed more than 20 times in different parts of his body, including his heart. His face was also shot and the killer reportedly took photos of him after his death. The murder trial is ongoing and let us provide you with some of the updates. During the last trial, the Jury was able to find text messages between Arias and Alexander. Source says that the messages have put Arias in a bad light. It is said to be very sexual and sensual. It defies the image that Arias' side tries to portray. The psychologist at the trial shared that according to Arias' former colleagues, the alleged murderer has a potential to act differently. In fact, someone saw her giving her number to another man after Alexander's memorial service, which tries to imply that she was already flirting. Alexander's supporters are somehow relieved with the revelation because for quite some time, the murder victim had an image of a pedophile. Another surprise from the case is that Arias might be suffering from a mental disorder. This was shared by the same psychologist in the trial. She mentioned that Arias can be a jealous stalker with borderline personality disorder, a report stated. Because of these findings and statement, Arias might not be sentenced to a death penalty. According to one source, while some of the jury believes that Arias was abused by Alexander, it shouldn't end the way it did. The case has been pending for a long time. It has been seven years since the incident happened and the development is apparently slow. A lot of people are waiting for the verdict but the most affected ones are the Alexanders. The death of their loved one was very morbid and no one deserved such. Everyone is hoping that Jodi Arias will be able to receive the final verdict soon. (source: Venture Capital Post) USA: Poll shows Americans are still pro-death penalty Support for capital punishment remains steady, despite concerns about wrongful executions and uncertainty as to whether such punishment deters crime. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 800 American adults found that 57 % favor the death penalty. Just 26 % are opposed, while 17 % are undecided. These findings are little changed from surveys over the past 2 years. Support for capital punishment hit a high of 67 % in July 2012, shortly after the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Before that, support had stayed in a narrow range of 60 % to 63 % since November 2009. Americans remain divided as to whether the death penalty deters crime: 42 % say it does, while 41 % disagree. Another 16 % are not sure. Most (75 %) also remain at least somewhat concerned that some people may be executed for crimes they didn't commit. Just 23 % do not share that concern. This includes 39 % who are very concerned that some people may be wrongly executed and 4 % who are not at all Concerned. These findings, too, have changed little since 2009. 27 % of Americans know their state has banned the death penalty, while 46 % say their state has not done so. 27 % aren't aware whether their state has banned capital punishment or not, though that's down slightly from 30 % last year. 18 states and Washington, D.C. have abolished the death penalty. (source: The Daiyl Ardoremoreite) ******************* Killing The Death Penalty "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man" (Genesis 9:6). As pieces of rhetoric go, I don't know that it gets much better than this. There is little room for ambiguity, no avenues for further discussion. It retains much of the chiastic structure of the Hebrew Bible, coming easily to the ear and providing a gorgeously wrought poetic justification for one of the more basic human impulses. To kill the killers; to cut out the cancer. Of course, I'm not alone in my contention that its final clause rests on a bit of flawed logic. That is, I find much more comfort in assuming that the whole process happened the other way round - that it is not God who created man, but man who created God. And that he did it, largely, for the vindication of ugly, ruthless rules like the one above. In other words, we like to see bad men executed, and we like it even more when the boss says it's okay (especially when he uses a pretty line like that). "From the beginning," as Salman Rushdie puts it in The Satanic Verses, "men used God to justify the unjustifiable." But man didn't stop - or begin, even - with God. He created the Devil too, out of his own image and likeness. He creates him every day. And what he comes up with often looks something like Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the gruff, bratty looking kid behind the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013. Devoid of any outward remorse or apparent humanity, he has come to be viewed (especially around the city of Boston) as some kind of vessel for evil incarnate. He has become, in our eyes, a sort of vile monster rather than the sick young man that he is. In mistaking a chemical imbalance in the brain for total depravity, it would seem that we've made something of a devil out of him. And, if his trial continues along its current trajectory, we will use him, just like he used his god: to justify the unjustifiable act of murder. He will die, and we'll all get to watch. However, if the jury selection process is any indication, this will take time. And as the 1,363 potential jurors are examined, cross examined, and whittled down to 12, we might do well to ask ourselves a few hard questions. Does this persistent - and nearly fanatical - pursuit of a death sentence for Tsarnaev send the wrong sort of message to the world? And, more importantly: Are we, the United States of America, still the sort of nation that systematically executes its own citizens? For an answer, we should contextualize a bit. Ranked among the 22 countries that still impose the death penalty by amount of sentences carried out, the U.S. is listed 5th, having put to death 220 people over a period from 2007-2013. Though the number might seem low, we should be mindful of our company. A list of the top 5, for instance, would include, in order: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Short of adding Mordor or Hell, I don't know that we could make that any worse of a list to be on. Even if we could, for a moment, cast common morality aside, there are simple issues of cost and practicality to be dealt with. Contrary to view of the death penalty as a quick, cheap alternative to a life sentence, recent inquiries into state and federal budgets have shed light on the astronomical cost of capital punishment. In the state of Nevada, for instance, death penalty cases cost anywhere from $1.03 to $1.3 million, compared to only $775,000 for cases in which the death penalty is not sought. Studies of California's system have yielded similar results, determining at one point that the governor, if he were to commute the sentences of the state's remaining death row inmates, would save the state over $5 billion dollars over the next 20 years. And then there is time. For the past month, would-be jurors for the Tsarnaev case have been dismissed at a rapid rate, for 2 pervading reasons. Those let go have either already decided that the man is guilty, or that they would be unwilling to impose the death penalty if he's convicted. Most of those who were sent away for the 2nd reason, according to the Boston Globe, seem to have figured out either that capital punishment is, indeed, morally revolting, or that life in a small dark room might serve to better punish him, if that's what we're looking for. Isn't life without parole, after all, just a very, very long death sentence? So, it would seem that the only justification for allowing such a practice to continue is illusory. It is outdated, steeped in a flawed worldview which conflates the commission of wicked acts with intrinsic wickedness, and creates menacing abstractions of evil out of the mentally ill, the disturbed, and the misguided among us. (source: Sean McGowan is a staff Opinions columnist for The (Boston College) Heights. ************** Defense in theater shooting case wants jail video barred Defense attorneys in the Colorado theater shooting case say a jailhouse video of defendant James Holmes should be barred from evidence during trial because prosecutors gave it to them too late. Judge Carlos Samour Jr. will hear their arguments during a Monday hearing. Holmes' attorneys say they have not had time to assess the significance of the video. The footage is apparently from the jail where Holmes has been held, but its contents have not been made public. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the July 20, 2012, attack at a Denver-area movie theater. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Meanwhile, attorneys are set to start individually questioning prospective jurors Wednesday for Holmes' trial. (source: Associated Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 9 16:04:19 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2015 16:04:19 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 9 INDONESIA: Bali 9 death penalty 'barbaric': Alan Jones Radio host Alan Jones has labelled as "barbaric" Indonesia's use of the death penalty, as two Australians convicted of smuggling heroin launch a last-ditch legal action begging for clemency. The 2GB radio host, speaking as a panellist on ABC's Q&A, made his remarks after a question from a friend of Bali Nine member Myuran Sukumaran. "I find it incomprehensible that these people can't yield to pleas for clemency," Jones said. "Someone has to get on the phone to this bloke, (Indonesian President Joko Widodo) and simply say, 'Well, you do what you like, but we gave you a billion dollars (in disaster relief aid) when you were hit by the (2004 Boxing Day) tsunami.'" Jones added that the Australian Federal Police acted with "shame" in alerting Indonesian authorities to the Bali 9's plan to import heroin. Sukumaran and fellow Bali 9 member Andrew Chan have made a final appeal to Mr Joko but he has stated he is unlikely to grant clemency to any convicted drug smugglers. (source: 9news.com.au) IRAN----executions 2 Prisoners Hanged in Urmia Prison 2 prisoners with drug-related crimes were executed in the yard of Central prison of Urmia. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), during Wednesday 3rd of February, 3 prisoners with drug-related crimes were executed in the yard of Central Prison of Urmia by hanging. These 2 prisoners were about 30 to 37 year old and they were from Urmia environs. By the time of this report, these executions have not been announced by the Iranian official media. (source: Human Rights Activists News Agency) ***************************** Halt Execution of Child Offender ---- Kurdish Youth Arrested at 17 for Armed Activities Iran's judiciary immediately should halt plans to execute a man convicted at age 17 of terrorism-related crimes for an armed opposition group and vacate his death sentence. Iran's Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence for the man, Saman Nasim, in December 2013. His lawyer and family fear that authorities may carry out the sentence in less than 2 weeks despite an absolute ban on the execution of child offenders in international law. Iranian media reports indicate that Iran has executed at least 8 child offenders since 2010. Reports by Amnesty International and other rights groups, however, suggest as many as 31 child offenders may have been executed during that period, making it one of the countries with the world???s highest number of reported child offender executions. "This is an open-and-shut case since there is no dispute that Saman Nasim was under 18 when security forces arrested him," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director. "Nasim and his family should have never suffered mental anguish associated with being on death row for months on end, let alone facing imminent hanging." Nasim's lawyer and a source close to the family told Human Rights Watch that they have received information suggesting that the judiciary's implementation division has cleared the path for Orumiyeh prison, where he is being held, to execute him on or about February 19, 2015. A revolutionary court in Mahabad, in West Azerbaijan province, convicted Nasim of moharebeh, or "enmity against God," in April 2013 for of his alleged membership in the Kurdish armed opposition group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), and for carrying out armed activities against Iran's Revolutionary Guards. According to documents reviewed by Human Rights Watch and Nasim's lawyer, he was 17 at the time of his arrest in 2011. The Supreme Court initially overturned a lower court death sentence in August 2012, noting that he was under 18 at the time of his arrest, but ultimately affirmed the death sentence. Aziz Mojdei, Nasim's lawyer, told Human Rights Watch that the execution on or around February 19 is "very likely." He said he has seen an official letter clearing the legal path to his client's execution on or around February 19 although judiciary officials have repeatedly denied plans to execute his client. Mojdei said officials in the judiciary's implementation division have unlawfully prevented him from thoroughly reviewing the case file for information about the impending execution even though he is the attorney of record. Human Rights Watch has previously documented cases, particularly for national security crimes such as moharebeh, in which prison officials executed detainees without warning their lawyers or families and refused to deliver the body to the family. Security forces arrested Nasim on July 17, 2011, after he and several other PJAK members allegedly were involved in a gun battle with Revolutionary Guards in the mountains surrounding Sardasht, a city in West Azerbaijan province. Court documents, which Human Rights Watch reviewed, allege that one Revolutionary Guard member was killed and 3 injured. Mojdei told Human Rights Watch that forensic experts established that Nasim had not been responsible for the killing, but that he was nonetheless convicted and sentenced to death because he had engaged in armed activities on behalf of PJAK, considered a terrorist group by Iran and several other nations, including the United States. The source close to Nasim's family told Human Rights Watch that Nasim spent the first few months after his arrest in incommunicado detention in a facility believed to have been operated by the Intelligence Ministry in Orumiyeh. The source said agents tortured Nasim, including beating and lashing him and pulling out his fingernails. In September 2011, Nasim made a "confession," filmed and aired on state television, in which he said he shot at Revolutionary Guard members. Court documents reviewed by Human Rights Watch indicate that at his trial Nasim denied that he had shot at anyone during the July 17 clashes. On November 20, 2014, Nasim and 23 other prisoners in Orumiyeh prison began a hunger strike to protest prison conditions. In response, prison officials threatened to expedite the execution of Nasim and several of the others on death row, Amnesty International said. The irregularities reported in the trials would violate the fair trial provisions of Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which include the presumption of innocence, adequate time and facilities to prepare one's defense and to communicate with a lawyer of one's choosing, and not to be compelled to testify against oneself or to confess guilt. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that: "In cases of trials leading to the imposition of the death penalty scrupulous respect of the guarantees of fair trial is particularly important." "The reported irregularities in Nasim's trial are only more reason for the judiciary to halt the execution of this child offender and grant him a new and fair trial," Whitson said. "Inflicting an irreversible punishment is bad enough, but to inflict it on a child offender after an unfair trial is an even greater miscarriage of justice." In Iran, 2013 penal code amendments prohibit the execution of child offenders for certain categories of crimes, including drug-related offenses. No prohibition exists, however, for child offenders convicted of murder or hadd crimes - for which punishments are fixed under Iran's interpretation of Sharia law, including moharebeh. Under article 91 of the amended code, a judge may sentence a boy who is 15 or older or a girl who is 9 or older to death for these crimes if he determines that the child understood the nature and consequences of the crime. The article allows the court to rely on "the opinion of a forensic doctor or other means it deems appropriate" to establish whether a defendant understood the consequences of their actions. In January 2015, Iran's judiciary issued a ruling requiring all courts to review death sentences issued for child offenders prior to the 2013 penal code, if defendants and their lawyers petitioned for review. The ruling applied to retribution crimes, including murder. Mojdei, Nasim's lawyer, told Human Rights Watch that he has petitioned the judiciary and government authorities several times to suspend his client's execution because he was under 18 at the time of his arrest, but that the petitions were either rejected or not answered. According to official sources, Iranian authorities executed at least 200 prisoners in 2014, though the real number is thought to be over 700. In 2014 at least 8 may have been under 18 at the time of the killings or rapes that led to their death sentences. Human Rights Watch is investigating these cases to determine whether those executed were, in fact, child offenders. Iran is 1 of only 4 countries known to have executed juvenile offenders in the past 5 years; the others are Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, as well as Hamas authorities in Gaza. Iran is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which bans execution of child offenders. Since 2010, numerous UN rights experts and bodies, including UN experts, the Human Rights Council, and the Human Rights Committee have strongly condemned Iran's execution of child offenders. In 2012 Human Rights Watch called on the Iranian government to amend its penal code to impose an absolute prohibition on the death penalty for child offenders. Human Rights Watch has also called on Iran's judiciary to impose a moratorium on executions due to serious concerns regarding substantive and due process violations leading to the implementation of the death penalty. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because it is an inherently irreversible, inhumane punishment. The leadership of PJAK and other armed groups operating in Iran should immediately stop recruiting children, whether for military or non-military purposes, Human Rights Watch said. On June 5, 2014, a Syrian Kurdish military leader announced that the group would stop recruiting children, saying that the armed group would demobilize all fighters under 18 within a month. The internal regulations for the Kurdish police and military forces forbid the use of children under 18. "Leaders of PJAK and other armed groups operating in Iran should know that they are as responsible for putting the lives of children like Nasim's in harm's way," Whitson said. "There is simply no excuse for allowing children to take part in armed activities on behalf of an opposition group." (source: Human Rights Watch) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 12:18:52 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 12:18:52 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., N.C., GA., FLA. Message-ID: Feb. 10 TEXAS----impending execution Carrying on the struggle for Rodney Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed is facing an execution date on March 5, despite clear evidence, never properly reviewed by a court, that he is innocent of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites, for which he was convicted by an all-white jury in Bastrop, Texas. For 17 years, Rodney has struggled to win his freedom from behind bars on death row, and his family has stood alongside him, working tirelessly to prove his innocence and oppose the machinery of death in Texas. Recently, Rodney's mother Sandra Reed and brother Rodrick Reed talked to Lily Hughes of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty about their disappointment in the courts, the urgent need for all the DNA evidence to be tested, and the pain of facing an execution date, in an interview for the CEDP's New Abolitionist. There's a clemency process that's already started, and we hope that you will have an opportunity to meet with the new governor, Greg Abbott, or perhaps members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, to talk to them about why they should grant clemency. What you would say to the governor if you did get a chance to meet with him face to face? Sandra: What we've been saying all along! Rodney is an innocent man. He was wrongfully convicted. He didn't get a fair trial, and they used Jim Crow tactics to convict him. It's not that they use Jim Crow tactics with every trial, but they used it with him. We just want the new DNA testing. We want the truth. That's all we're asking. The only evidence that was presented was his DNA, and it was old. And you have nothing else--I mean nothing to link him to this case. How is it that you have enough merit to take a life--over old DNA? He was dating her! There was a box of evidence that Judge Towslee ordered sealed--locked away. We never knew what that was until recently. Now, at this last hearing, there were 2 boxes when there should have been one, and they both were unsealed. That, to me, spells corruption. All I'm asking for is fairness. Give my son a fair shake. He never had a fair shake in the beginning. That's all we're asking. And from my point of view, no matter what, you still shouldn't take a life. Thou shalt not kill. What happened to the Ten Commandments? That's all I have to say. Rodrick: I would say to him that we just want to be treated the way he would want his own treated. We want the same thing he would expect if he were in our shoes. Fairness. Equality. We're not asking for anything special. We're not asking for anything out of the ordinary. We're just asking for what's right. Sandra: And if you have thousands of people out here who believe in him, what does that say? There is a shadow of a doubt ...12 jurors were deceived. I still don't know how they thought they had enough to do what they did, but I do believe they were deceived. RECENTLY, AT a hearing here in Bastrop in front of the trial judge, he denied important DNA testing. And of course, there's been a string of denials from the courts over the years, whether it's the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals or the Fifth U.S. Circuit of Appeals and, more recently, the U.S. Supreme Court. How has that affected your view of the court system and the way the criminal justice system operates? Sandra: I've told people over the years that I was very naive as far as the justice system is concerned. I thought that if anything went wrong, all we had to do was take it to court, because that's what the United States stands for: fairness without a shadow of a doubt. But when it came down to my son's case and the hearing and the way the trial went, it just went plumb Jim Crow. There were witnesses waiting to testify, but never called. They made me a possible witness for the prosecution and never called me. The judge denied the alibi witness from testifying. And sitting there during that process, there was nothing I could do. I had no knowledge of the law itself, I didn't have the funds, and I was denied the ability to testify for my son. It felt like I was chained and bound. There was nothing I could do but stand there and watch them railroad my son. Over these last years--17 or 18 years of fighting--I have to say: Thank god for the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Because you guys know what's going on and what happened to me. You wouldn't have known what happened to Rodney if you hadn't been concerned about right and wrong, and what did happen. And I am a proud member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Traveling over the years, and speaking and meeting exonerees from death row and other family members speaking out--that encouraged me to keep right on fighting for my son. This proved to me that the United States has defrauded all of us. They painted this so-called justice system with rose colors and made us think that we would get a fair shake. And being Black, you have that mark against you. Looking back at Martin Luther King and how he fought for our rights, I thought, well, we have our rights now. But I realize we don't. We never had equality. AND THE courts have completely failed us. Sandra: The courts have completely failed us. Right. Absolutely. SO WOULD you say that winning justice from the system requires taking MLK's route? Sandra: It's a hard row to hoe, especially when racism is still rampant. Things are better on the surface, but within, it's still there, and it still hurts. It still affects people. It's undercover slavery. That's what I feel. The government is building all of these prisons. Why? And most of the people are minorities. The justice they're carrying out is legalized murder. Murder is murder. Yet we're willing to sacrifice our young men and boys to go over and fight for somebody else's rights. And we don't have our own backyard cleaned up? We're killing our own. That's what I got out of this--there's no justice in this so-called justice system that we have. Rodrick: There's some justice, just us. RODRICK, DID you have anything else you wanted to add about the courts? Rodrick: Yes. I believe the courts are very, very misleading, because you think that justice will be blind and everyone should get a fair shake. But the reality is that if you don't have the capital, you're going to get the punishment. If you're poor, you're not going to get proper representation. If you're mentally handicapped in any kind of way, you're not going to get a fair shake, and that's not right. So the bottom line is that there's a lot of work to be done in the justice system, and it's not going to happen until we come together and use what we have to make it better. In cases like my brother's case, once we bring him home--which I pray that's the way it goes--then the fight keeps going. That racism, that injustice, that corruption is still there. And that's the roots that we have to try to dig up. SWITCHING SUBJECTS, I think that both of you have been down to see Rodney fairly recently, and we were wondering if you could talk about how he's handling everything? Sandra: I haven't seen him since the hearing, because there have been other people, such as his sons, who have been visiting. I wanted them to have as much visitation as they could, because over these 18 years, he hadn't seen his sons. When he was convicted, his sons were 6 or 7--maybe not even that old. But they're now grown, and they have their own kids, so they've been visiting. His granddaughter lives in California, and her mother put her on the plane, and her father picked her up in Dallas--and wow, they just had a wonderful, beautiful visit. Each visit was 4 hours. Monday, they got 2 visits in the same week for four hours, and I think that was wonderful. So I want those kids to visit as much as they can, and other people who are in his corner and hadn't seen him. They needed to see him, and he needed to see them. He only gets a one visit a week, and so that makes it kind of tough. But he's strong. Rodrick: Yeah, he's real strong. He's real positive. You go down there with the expectation of trying to lift his spirits up, and... Sandra: He lifts yours. Rodrick: He lifts yours. And I think it's all possible because of God, and all his supporters and friends and family who believe in him and support him. That keeps him strong, that keeps him positive, that keeps him going. If it had been me, I'd be crazy as a bug, but he's strong. Sandra: His support is strong, and his family, we're right there with him. If he can just see our faces and see how strong we are, it keeps him strong. Rodrick: We keep each other strong. Sandra: He's doing as well as can be expected. And of course, our faith is strong and I'm optimistic. Yet I have to face reality of how this justice system has treated my son over these 18 years, with the denial of everything. I'm hoping and praying. I can't see how, with all of this information and evidence pointing to Rodney's innocence, Greg Abbott would deny him clemency, but who's to say? THAT BRINGS me to my next question. How are you all doing? I know this is not an easy time, and it never is. What do you want to say about the death penalty, and the way it creates a whole new set of victims? Rodrick: Myself, I'm tired. Sandra: He's tired. We're all tired. Rodrick: I'm tired, but I'm strong. I'm going to keep my strength, and I'm going to push on as far as I can and do all that I can do, and I'm going to let God do the rest. But I think that it's very stressful. I've aged--I've got more gray hair and a face full of gray. It has an effect. All in all, we're good. And I know it will get better. We all have points where it's like, how much more can we take? How many more denials? How many more years? How many more days? Sandra: And on top of dealing with everyday life, I have 6 sons, and all of them have their issues. Their issues are mine, and I worry. Not as much as I used to when they was coming up. Now that they're in their 40s and 50s--- Rodrick: Don't tell them my age! (laughter) Sandra: I'm telling mine accidently! But, you know, when it rains it pours. There's going to be times where everything happens at one time. But we're maintaining. It's a struggle, but we're maintaining. And me being the mother, words can't even express what I'm feeling now at this phase. I could tell you but you wouldn't really know. Rodrick: The words can't describe it. Sandra: I can sit here and tell you right now how much I'm grateful to you guys, and the words aren't enough. Rodrick: They don't even do it justice. Sandra: Words can't even express what I'm feeling. At this phase of the game, I'm strong. I'm optimistic. Knowing what this system has done to us, I can't believe it until I see it now. I have to touch it now. So that's the best I can do, but I'm praying to God that he gives me the strength to endure whatever. Rodrick: Somebody told me yesterday, "I'm really proud of you for the work that you do for your brother. I think you're doing a good thing. I'm so proud of you." I looked at her and I said, "To be proud of me for doing something for someone that I love is not a big deal. What moves me is people who do something for someone they don't even know--a stranger." That's what gives me strength. When we have people like you who are not related, who didn't even know Rodney, but you came in and you gave up your time and your money and everything you can give to help support us. Because it's easy to do for someone that you love. Anybody does that. But to do something for a stranger who you don't know even know--that says it all. Sandra: But see, you're God's angels to me. I know we've discussed that before, but you are. He assigned you, whether you believe in Him or not, to do this. It's His work. Through you guys. Those petitions that we attempted to submit to the DA! 11,000 signatures! AND NOW it's over 14,000. Sandra: The signatures of people who we don't know! Rodrick: That's what I'm saying. We have to be here. And if we're any kind of good family and love our family, we have to do the things we have to do. But for all the hundreds and thousands of people trying to help us, that's something to be proud of. Sandra: Because if it was up to our family, we would be screwed, glued and tattooed! THAT BRINGS us to the last question: Is there anything that you want to say to people who already support Rodney? What can people be doing right now that helps the most? Sandra: What helps the most is do what you've been doing. I thank each and every one, the thousands and possibly millions of people that have viewed that documentary a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLTcV664IgU">State vs. Reed and took an interest. I thank them all. Rodrick: I thank you all, and I'm proud of you, because that's doing something--when you're in a situation where you don't have to be, but you chose to be in it. You chose to be in this fight. You can sit down on the sidelines and watch it go down, but you said no. I stand up and I'm going to represent. Sandra: How long have we been in this together? 15 years. Rodrick: That means the world to me. Sandra: And I love all of you. (source: socialistworker.org) PENNSYLVANIA: Appeals court to decide on death penalty in 2004 murder case An appeals court is expected to make a decision later this month on whether the death penalty will be allowed in the retrial of a 2004 murder case. Paul Ross was convicted of murdering Tina Miller, whose body was found at Canoe Creek State Park in Blair County. The jury in Ross' trial deadlocked on the death penalty. State superior court will hear arguments Feb. 25 to decide whether prosecutors can seek the death penalty a second time against Ross. (source: Associated Press) VIRGINIA: Senate panel backs secrecy on execution drugs Legislation that would allow the state to prevent public disclosure of nearly every aspect of the drugs used in lethal-injection executions in Virginia narrowly survived a Senate committee Monday. The Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 7-6 to advance Senate Bill 1393, sponsored by Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax, and supported by Gov. Terry McAuliffe's administration. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration. The bill would give the Department of Corrections the authority to contract with pharmacies to compound the drugs used in the lethal cocktail used in state executions. But it also would protect from disclosure the identity of the pharmacy compounding drugs; the names of the drugs; the identity of the companies that produced the drugs; and the concentration of the drugs used. Saslaw said the legislation arose out of the need to find domestic sources to supply and compound chemicals that can be used in the lethal drug mixture used in executions. Until last year, those chemicals were provided by European suppliers. But public opposition to the death penalty in those countries has halted the flow of the drugs and created a scarcity in the U.S. That has made it necessary for states that have lethal injection to seek domestic suppliers and different deadly combinations. Those compounds, and the issues surrounding them, have led to lawsuits and court challenges. The issue has galvanized advocates for open government, who argue that states that use lethal injection should be transparent about their methods; and death penalty opponents, who say the practice constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Virginia has 8 inmates on death row. The state also has electrocution as a method of execution but cannot carry out a death sentence by the electric chair without the inmate's consent. Corrections officials have said that manufacturers and pharmacies that compound the chemicals into lethal dosages would not be willing to do so if their identities were disclosed, leading to the legislation, which effectively provides exemptions to inquiries under the Freedom of Information Act. The bill has "serious, serious constitutional issues," said Corinna Barrett Lain, a professor and constitutional scholar at the University of Richmond School of Law. She said the state is "enshrouding in secrecy" the information needed to determine whether the compounding process being used constitutes a "substantial risk of unnecessary pain" to the inmate. Craig Merritt, a First Amendment lawyer representing the Virginia Press Association, said the legislation would place "a complete blanket" on a process about which the public has a right to know, creating an issue of "fundamental transparency." Saslaw countered that he didn't think the Freedom of Information Act ever was meant to apply to "the guy who compounded the drugs." He even volunteered that he would be in favor of a bill to "go back to the electric chair," to solve the lethal-injection drug issue. (source: Richmond Times-Dispatch) NORTH CAROLINA: Prosecutors seek death penalty in murder of Sanford nurse After Wake County prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty against a man accused of shooting a Sanford nurse, the victim's daughter described feeling like her mother is finally receiving justice. Prosecutors announced last week at a Wake County quarterly review of all pending homicide cases that they plan to seek the death penalty for Daniel Scott Remington Jr., 36, of Gooseneck Drive in Cary, who is accused of shooting Wendy Jean Johnson, 58 of Post Oak Lane in Sanford in August 2014. "He deserves it," Lora Jackson, Johnson's daughter, said Monday. "Our family just feels like it's a step in the right direction for justice for my mom." Although she is thankful the case is progressing, Jackson said there is no way to describe the loss she and her family feel for her mother. "She was the most amazing woman," she said. "I mean just an angel." Cary police found Johnson at around 11 p.m. Aug. 22, 2014 when they responded to a report of shots fired at an apartment complex on Hyde Park Court, where she was going to provide overnight care for a special needs child. According to the town of Cary, Johnson went to Duke University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and later died. Remington then was arrested on a 1st-degree murder charge, which is punishable by death or life imprisonment without parole. According to a Cary police report, Johnson attempted to prevent Remington from taking her purse before she was shot, but no motive for the murder was given. Along with Remington, Jessica Parrisher, 28, of Cary was charged with felony accessory after the fact to 1st-degree murder. According to her arrest warrant, Parrisher knowingly provided false statements to Cary police detectives regarding Remington's admission to her that he had murdered Johnson. The town of Cary Public Information Office referred additional questions to the Wake County district attorney assigned to the case, who could not be reached. The Wake County public defender assigned to the case also could not be reached for comment. (source: Sanford Herald) GEORGIA----new execution date//female Execution date set for sole Georgia female death row inmate Georgia is set to execute its only female death row inmate later this month, which would be the 1st time in about 7 decades that the state has executed a woman. Kelly Renee Gissendaner is scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the state prison in Jackson, the attorney general's office said Monday. The last time Georgia executed a woman was in 1945. Gissendaner was convicted of killing her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, in February 1997. Prosecutors have said Gissendaner was having an affair with co-defendant Gregory Owen and plotted with him to kill her husband. Gissendaner told police her husband failed to return home Feb. 7, 1997, after having dinner with friends in Lawrenceville, just outside Atlanta. His burned-out car was found 2 days later. His body was found about a week after that, roughly a mile from the car, in a remote wooded area of Gwinnett County. He had been stabbed several times. The Gissendaners initially married in September of 1989, separated in December 1991 and eventually divorced in March 1993, according to information provided by the attorney general's office. They began seeing each other again in February 1995, remarried in May 1995 and separated in September 1995. Douglas Gissendaner filed for divorce but later dropped the suit and the pair started dating again in May 1996 and bought a home together in December 1996. Kelly Gissendaner had met Owen in September 1995, split up with him in April 1996 and they didn't see each other again until October of that year. She told one of her co-workers she wasn't happy with her husband and was in love with Owen, prosecutors said. Gissendaner told Owen's sister that she was only staying with her husband to use his credit and money to buy a house and would then get rid of him, prosecutors said. When Gissendaner mentioned the idea of killing her husband in November 1996, Owen suggested she get a divorce, prosecutors said. But she said her husband wouldn't leave her alone if she just divorced him and repeatedly brought up the idea of killing him before Owen finally agreed, prosecutors said. When Douglas Gissendaner returned home Feb. 7, 1997, Owen forced him into his car, took him to a remote area and killed him, prosecutors said. Owen initially told investigators he had nothing to do with the killing but eventually confessed and implicated Kelly Gissendaner, prosecutors said. Owen pleaded guilty and received a life prison sentence. He testified against Gissendaner. A jury convicted Gissendaner and sentenced her to death in November 1998. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Randall Deviney trial delayed as lawyers await appellate court ruling The death-penalty murder trial of Randall Deviney was delayed for a 2nd time as lawyers for both sides wait on a ruling from the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. Deviney, 25, faces a potential death sentence for slitting the throat of 65-year-old neighbor Delores Futrell. But efforts to try him for the crime have become bogged down over whether the Public Defender's Office has a conflict of interest in the case. Deviney has written to prosecutors and the Times-Union saying he has information on a murder committed by Donald James Smith. Smith faces a potential death penalty in the abduction, rape and death of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle. Smith also is represented by the Public Defender's Office and that has led to its request to be removed from both cases due to a conflict of interest. Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper has refused to oblige because prosecutors have said they have no interest in talking with Deviney about Smith. But defense attorneys are appealing Cooper's decision to the appellate court, arguing that an inherent conflict exists even if the prosecutors have no interest. The appellate court ordered Deviney's trial halted while it considers the issue. Deviney was scheduled to go on trial Jan. 5 and Cooper delayed the trial until Feb. 9 on the assumption that the appellate court would have issued a ruling by then. But the appellate court hasn't ruled, and Cooper moved the trial back again Monday morning. The trial is now set to begin April 6. "I think everyone is a little disappointed that the appellate court hasn't ruled," Cooper said. MORE DOCUMENTS Oral arguments occurred in the case Jan. 8. The court asked for additional documents after the Times-Union wrote a story about Deviney wanting to cut a deal for his information. Prosecutors argued that the Times-Union story didn't change the fact that Cooper's ruling was correct, while defense attorneys argued it offered more evidence on why they should be removed from the case. Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda asked for the trial to be rescheduled to Feb. 23, but Cooper said that was too soon. De la Rionda, who has accused Deviney of perpetuating a fraud on the court over this, expressed frustration at the constant delays. He feels like a hamster running on one of those wheels, de la Rionda said. A trial will only occur April 6 if the appellate court upholds Cooper's ruling. If new lawyers have to be appointed, it will take longer than 2 months for them to get up to speed. Smith's case is also in limbo while the appellate court considers the issue. He was originally scheduled to go on trial Jan. 20, and a new court date has not yet been set for him. If the public defender is dismissed from the case, private lawyers paid for by the state will be appointed to represent Deviney and Smith. Deviney has already been convicted once in Futrell's killing in her Westside home on Bennington Drive. Futrell used to fix meals for Deviney, paid him to do odd jobs and spoke with him about troubles in his youth. A jury in 2010 recommended he be sentenced to death, so Cooper put him on death row. But the Florida Supreme Court ruled that police should have stopped questioning Deviney after he repeatedly told them he was done speaking. Deviney eventually confessed. (source: The Florida Times-Union) ************************************ Inmate's Execution Argument Rejected As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of a lethal-injection drug, an Orange County circuit judge Monday rejected a death row inmate's attempt to block a planned Feb. 26 execution. The Florida Supreme Court last week sent the case to the circuit judge to allow condemned killer Jerry William Correll to make arguments about the disputed drug, midazolam hydrochloride. The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing the constitutionality of that drug in an Oklahoma case. But Circuit Judge Jenifer Davis issued a 5-page ruling Monday rejecting Correll's arguments. (source: Lakeland Ledger) ******************** Mother wants prosecutors to drop death penalty against Jacksonville man accused of killing daughter The mother of 19-year-old victim Shelby Farah is calling on the office of State Attorney Angela Corey to drop the death penalty against the man accused of killing her daughter. Darlene Farah said James Xavier Rhodes should get life in prison without the possibility of parole, but prosecutors have rejected an offer from Rhodes' attorney's that would lead to that outcome. Farah said she has asked Corey's office to agree to the deal, but prosecutors have refused to do it. "Angela Corey told me if I'd seen everything she saw, I'd want the death penalty," Farah said. "But that's not true." Rhodes, 23, is charged with killing Shelby Farah in July 2013 while robbing the Metro PCS store on North Main Street in Jacksonville. According to police reports, Rhodes pulled a gun on Farah and shot her in the head after she gave him several hundred dollars. The killing was captured on surveillance video. Farah said she also wants a plea deal to ensure no appeals occur. She fears Rhodes could be sentenced to death, but then have his conviction and sentenced overturned on appeal. "It would kill me if that happened," Farah said. "I don't want to go through years of appeals." Rhodes had a pretrial hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are arguing over whether he is too mentally disabled to face the death penalty. A hearing has been set for April 7. The prosecution and defense have both had psychiatrists examine Rhodes with the defense expert expected to say Rhodes is mentally disabled and the prosecution expert saying he isn't. It will be up to Circuit Judge Tatiana Salvador to decide which expert is more believable. A date for Rhodes' murder trial won't be set until after this issue is resolved. Rhodes can still go to prison if he???s found to be intellectually disabled, he just can't be put to death. (source: jacksonville.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 12:20:13 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 12:20:13 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., MO., OKLA., UTAH, WYO. Message-ID: Feb. 10 KANSAS: It's a life-death-matter, so choose life Is there a disconnect in the mind of the public between the execution of the fetus through abortion and the execution of adults facing capital crimes? Lawmakers are drafting new rules each year to eliminate abortions in Kansas. On the other hand, there seems to be a lack of support for the elimination of state-sponsored murder of adults guilty of capital crimes. Our media frequently reminds people of high abortion numbers. No one is invited to see an abortion, but many pictures are provided showing vital and moving human figures in the womb that are examples of aborted fetuses. The execution of adults is viewed by a select number of people, but seating is limited. There always is a curtain or blind that can be closed if a public murder becomes messy. Clayton Lockett's execution in Oklahoma went terribly wrong after the lethal injection process began. 43 minutes later, he finally died of a heart attack. Kansas' original death penalty law was abolished on Jan. 30, 1907. To celebrate that event the Kansas Coalition against the Death Penalty designates Jan. 30 of each year as Abolition Day. In 1935, a new capital punishment law was written, partially in response to a list of famous professional criminals, such as Alvin "Old Creepy" Karpos, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd and, of course, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, moving through Kansas. Hanging was the method of execution during those days, but Gov. George Docking gave life sentences to men on death row. He said, "I just don't like killing people." The last executions in Kansas were in 1965, with the hangings of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the infamous killers of the Clutter family in Holcomb. The current death penalty law took effect in 1994. Today, 10 men are appealing their death sentence, as the law requires. When the new death penalty law was reinstated, it was estimated that it would cost the state $2.4 million to $4.2 million each year. With our governor and state lawmakers looking for ways to save money, I would hope serious consideration would be given to eliminating the death penalty as a way of saving money. It is estimated that the average cost of just 1 case ending with the death penalty is $1.2 million. In contrast, the mean cost of incarcerating someone for life is $740,000. Eliminating the death penalty saves money. A recent study showed that under Colorado's capital sentencing system, death is not handed down fairly. It is arbitrary. As a former Colorado judge said, "The death penalty is simply the result of happenstance, the district attorney's choice, the jurisdiction in which the case is filed, perhaps the race or economic circumstance of the defendant." This is true throughout the nation. This is the reason 18 states have eliminated capital punishment, and governors in many more states will commute death sentences. But where is the compassion for the family member who must go through the trauma of the many trials of the person who committed the crime? Where is the compassion for the many who are on death row only because they could not afford a good lawyer? Where is the compassion for all the inmates on death row that may be innocent? Since 1973, 150 people in the United States have been released from death row after new evidence found them innocent. The Charter for Compassion says we must "honor the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect," especially when the issue of life or death is concerned - whether it is a preborn fetus or an adult charged with a capital crime. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said, even back in the 1990s, that the executions he had permitted had neither "made us safer" nor "more noble as a society." He could not "participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong." I would hope the citizens of Kansas would agree. I have not heard the latest from our governor about his stand on the death penalty. Perhaps he should hear from us about this question. There's also a chance to talk to legislators today. If interested, contact Mary at mary at ksabolition.org. It is a matter of life and death. We should all choose life. If you choose to comment, or even submit your own thoughts for our Compassion series, please visit our website at www.spiritualityresourcecenter.com. (source: David Carlson is a member of the Spirituality Resource Center and a retired clergyman, active and residing in Lindsborg----Salina Journal) MISSOURI----impending execution Lethal injection concerns part of bid to spare Missouri man An attorney for a Missouri inmate who's scheduled to die this week is seeking to halt the execution over concerns about the state's secretive process of obtaining and using lethal injection drugs. Walter Timothy Storey is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday for killing a neighbor in St. Charles in 1990. After a state-record 10 executions in 2014, Storey would be the 1st person put to death this year in Missouri. Missouri refuses to name the compounding pharmacy where it obtains the pentobarbital used in executions and won't disclose details about testing of the drug. Attorney Jennifer Herndon said Monday that creates the risk that Storey could suffer a painful death, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Herndon also claims Missouri violates its own protocol by using a 2nd drug, midazolam. Missouri officials have said the state offers midazolam as a sedative to help calm the condemned inmate before the execution, but the state does not consider use of the sedative to be part of the execution process. The inmate can opt not to take it. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already turned down the stay request. Herndon has appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court and plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. She also will seek clemency from Gov. Jay Nixon, she said. Storey, 47, has been sentenced to death 3 separate times in the Feb. 2, 1990, death of Jill Frey, a 36-year-old special education teacher. Storey was living with his mother when he became upset over his pending divorce. He was drinking beer and ran out of money so he went to Frey's neighboring apartment to steal money for more beer. Court records show he climbed her balcony and entered through an unlocked sliding glass door. He attacked Frey in her bedroom, slitting her throat, breaking 6 ribs and causing other injuries. Frey died of blood loss and asphyxiation. The next day, Storey went back to the apartment and tried to remove incriminating evidence, even scrubbing Frey's fingernails to remove signs of his DNA. Storey was first convicted and sentenced to death in 1990. The Missouri Supreme Court tossed the sentence, citing concerns about ineffective assistance of counsel and "egregious" errors committed by Kenny Hulshof, a special prosecutor in the Missouri attorney general's office who was later elected to Congress. Storey was tried again in 1997, and sentenced again to death. That conviction was also overturned, this time over a procedural error by the judge. Storey was sentenced to death a third time in 1999. Herndon said Storey is remorseful and has spent "thousands of hours" working in a restorative justice program in prison, trying to help crime victims. "I think that's how he expresses taking responsibility and his remorse," Herndon said. (source: Associated Press) OKLAHOMA: Nitrogen Gas Death Penalty Bill Clears Oklahoma Panel Oklahoma would be the 1st state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates under a bill that has unanimously cleared a Senate committee. With no debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-0 Tuesday to authorize "nitrogen hypoxia," which depletes oxygen supply in the blood to cause death. The bill's author, Moore Republican Sen. Anthony Sykes, says it's likely the bill will be amended before the session is over. 3 lethal injections remain on hold in Oklahoma while the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether Oklahoma's 3-drug method is constitutional. A House committee studied the use of nitrogen gas to execute inmates after a botched lethal injection last spring sparked the legal challenge. (source: Associated Press) ****************** Oklahoma Debates Use of Nitrogen Gas for Executions With executions in Oklahoma on hold amid a constitutional review of its lethal injection formula, Republican legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the 1st state to allow the use of nitrogen gas in executions. 2 bills scheduled for hearings this week in legislative committees would make death by "nitrogen hypoxia" a backup method. Representative Mike Christian, an Oklahoma City Republican, said: "You wouldn't need a medical doctor to do it. It's a lot more practical. It's efficient." The United States Supreme Court is reviewing Oklahoma's 3-drug method in a challenge sparked by a botched lethal injection last spring in which an inmate groaned and writhed on the gurney before a problem was discovered with an intravenous line. The case centers on whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate unconscious before the 2nd and 3rd drugs are administered. 3 scheduled lethal injections in Oklahoma have been delayed pending the high court's review. Oklahoma officials concede midazolam is not the preferred drug for executions, but death penalty states have been forced to explore alternatives as manufacturers of more effective drugs refuse to sell them for use in lethal injections. (source: Associated Press) UTAH: Capital punishment legislation fails to consider real problems State governments could save millions to even billions of taxpayer dollars simply by replacing capital punishment with life without the possibility of release. Capital punishment is too expensive an option to consider. The state of Utah is considering legislation that would reinstate the firing squad as a method of execution. The decision to expend considerable time and taxpayer funds to deliberate on such a measure is in response to one of the many issues surrounding capital punishment - the difficulty in acquiring approved death penalty drugs. However, this legislation will only add to the legal morass creating more litigation. The bill only attempts to address a single symptom of an irrevocably broken death penalty system that is afflicted with chronic and systemic dysfunction, which is increasingly being viewed as an affront to conservative values. Capital punishment comes with an innate risk to innocent life. Because humans and governments are imperfect, the danger of executing the wrong person is real. It is impossible to say how many innocent people may have been wrongly executed, but it is known that around 150 people nationally have been wrongly convicted, sentenced to die and later released from death row. Mistaken eyewitness testimony, faulty and even forged forensic evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct continually drive wrongful convictions. Adding to the unnecessary risk to innocent life is the fact that the death penalty is tremendously more expensive than life without parole, and capital punishment has even led to budget crises and tax increases. More than a dozen cost studies all point to similar conclusions - that state governments could save millions to even billions of taxpayer dollars simply by replacing capital punishment with life without the possibility of release. Meanwhile, the death penalty doesn't fit within the framework of a limited government. Many conservatives are skeptical of government power, but there is no greater authority than the power to take human life. Our government currently retains the power to execute U.S. citizens, but conservatives should be aware of the dangers this authority can pose. Many don't trust the government to carry out prosaic actions, let alone making life-and-death decisions over U.S. citizens. The death penalty comes with an enormous human and fiscal cost while it fails to satisfy any form of a positive cost-benefit analysis. Many murder victims' families have found that capital punishment fails them because of the structure of the death penalty system. The multiple trials, complex appeals process and constant media attention can inflict additional harm on family members. Capital punishment even fails at one of its most central purported goals. After reviewing 30 years of studies, the National Research Council found no valid evidence supports the notion that capital punishment deters murder. The death penalty has become the proverbial ship with a thousand leaks. While the Utah Legislature considers the best method of executing people to attempt to address a single issue, conservatives are abandoning a broken death penalty system with increasing frequency. Icons including Col. Oliver North, Dr. Ron Paul, Jay Sekulow, Richard Viguerie and many others find capital punishment to be directly inconsistent with their conservative values of protecting innocent life, promoting fiscal responsibility and limiting the size and scope of government. Considering the death penalty's hefty human and fiscal price, it produces no real tangible benefits. It's just a failed government program. (source: Marc Hyden was born in Salt Lake City. Today he is the National Advocacy Coordinator with Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty. Marc has served in various legislative positions in North Carolina and Georgia----Deseret News) WYOMING: Execution By Firing Squad Goes To The House Floor The House Judiciary Committee voted 5 to 4 to recommend a bill that would allow executions by firing squad in the state. The Department of Corrections says acquiring the drugs to provide lethal injections has become more and more difficult. Lawmakers says they need to find another option in case someone ends up on death row. Thermopolis Representative Nathan Winters voted against the bill because he has concerns that such executions might be cruel and unusual. "If society is going to execute an individual what is the most humane way of doing that? And without the evidence, I don't know that I can vote for another way of performing an execution." Rock Springs Republican Mark Baker opposes the death penalty, but says there's no rush to find a solution since nobody is on death row. The bill heads to the House floor. (source: Wyoming Public Media) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 12:20:55 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 12:20:55 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIF., ORE., USA Message-ID: Feb. 10 CALIFORNIA: Defendant makes 1st appearance in teen shooting----A Riverside Poly High teen was shot to death in 2012. A co-defendant is in state prison and will answer charges at a later date 1 of 2 defendants charged in the shooting death of a Riverside Poly High School student nearly 3 years ago appeared in court Friday afternoon, Feb. 6, but his arraignment was postponed. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Richard T. Fields continued the hearing for Cristian Velasquez, 23, of Riverside, to Feb. 20. He and Manuel Barbarin Jr., 24, of Riverside, are charged with the murder of Lareanz Simmons, 14. As convicted felons, they are accused of criminal use of a handgun. Enhancement charges, including being a hate crime and a murder benefiting a criminal street gang, could add to their sentences if they're convicted. Barbarin is in Wasco State Prison serving a 28-month sentence after being convicted of possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and narcotics addict. No date has been set yet for his 1st court appearance. The charges make the defendants eligible for the death penalty, if convicted, but no decision has been made by the District Attorney's Office whether to prosecute the case as a death penalty case. Lareanz was a member of the Junior Army ROTC at Poly and his teacher, Army Maj. Joe Dominguez, said earlier Friday a few students brought roses and balloons into the ROTC class to celebrate the arrests. On Thursday, Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said that Barbarin and Velasquez are "well-known, documented, self-admitted" members of the East Side Riva gang who killed "an innocent teenager gunned down for no other reason than his race." Lareanz was shot to death Feb. 23, 2012, by someone who jumped out of a car as the teenager walked to the Georgia Street home where he lived with his grandmother. Lareanz was black and not a gang member. Riverside police said earlier they knew gang members were involved, but they had no proof and initially had only anonymous tips that Velasquez and Barbarin were responsible. Police said Eastside residents who feared retaliation from gangs would not come forward with information. Velasquez was serving a 1-year, 4-month sentence in jail for felony illegal possession of ammunition when he was charged in the murder case. In some court cases, his first name is spelled Christian, his last name as Velasques and sometimes shows a double last name that includes Rosales. He was on probation in 2010 for battery on a corrections employee and possession of a jail-brewed alcoholic beverage. He was sentenced to 2 years in state prison for violating probation and a new conviction of battery on a deputy, according to court records. He is due in court next month on a violation of probation and a hearing in a 2014 assault case. Barbarin was sentenced to 150 days in jail in 2011 for obtaining a vehicle by theft or extortion, and the next year was sentenced to an additional 90 days in jail in a burglary and vandalism case, according to court records. In 2013, he was allowed to enroll in a diversion program after he pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine. A 2014 probation violation resulted in a 31-day jail sentence. (source: Press-Enterprise) OREGON: Juror's alleged action adds new wrinkle to Eugene death penalty case It's been nine months since a Lane County jury convicted Eugene resident David Ray Taylor of murder and instructed a judge to send him to Oregon's death row. Case closed, right? Not quite. Aside from a potentially lengthy appeals process that will at least temporarily delay Taylor's execution, a bizarre allegation of juror misconduct has now brought the case back to a courtroom in Eugene. Part of the issue involves whether a Lane County Circuit Court clerk who served as an alternate juror in Taylor's trial lied under oath when she told attorneys during the jury selection process that she knew "really nothing" about the case at the time - despite an email that suggests she felt Taylor "needs to die." While that's a potentially criminal allegation, there's an even bigger question now under investigation. It deals with whether the now-former court clerk - who as an alternate heard all trial evidence but did not participate in the jury's closed-doors discussions that produced the unanimous verdicts last May - said anything to other jurors during Taylor's trial that might have influenced the subsequent deliberations. The Oregon Supreme Court in January ordered a probe into the matter, which first arose last fall when Lane County Circuit Judge Charles Zennache obtained a copy of an email that Holly Moser purportedly sent to another person about her jury summons. The email was written last February, w months before Moser was picked to serve as an alternate in the capital murder case. The email recites the basic allegations against Taylor and mentions that the writer had read search warrants filed in the case. "He needs to die," the email reads, apparently speaking of Taylor. Moser, however, said during jury selection that she hadn't formed any opinions about the case. It's unclear how Zennache came into possession of the email, a copy of which is now part of Taylor's court file. Court Administrator Liz Rambo said today that Moser resigned in September. Rambo said she is not authorized to immediately answer additional questions regarding Moser's departure. Moser could not be reached for comment. Taylor, 59, returned to court in Lane County earlier today for the 1st time since Zennache sentenced him to death for masterminding a plot to rob and kill 22-year-old Eugene resident Celestino Gutierrez Jr. in August 2012. The court appearance came after Taylor's attorneys convinced the state Supreme Court that an investigation should be conducted to determine if Moser's conduct tainted other jurors??? consideration of the case. Moser was 2 of 3 alternate jurors during the trial. Alternates in felony cases only participate in deliberations when 2 or more members of a 12-person jury are unable to complete their service during a trial. All jurors, including alternates, are ordered by trial judges to avoid discussing cases amongst themselves outside of deliberations. Zennache scheduled a March 6 hearing to question jurors about their interactions with Moser during Taylor's trial. The judge will decide in the interim if Moser should be called to testify. Lane County Assistant District Attorney David Schwartz said today in court that he is "pretty confident" that prosecutors would not charge Moser with perjury if it's shown that she lied during jury selection. But Zennache said if the investigation reveals that Moser had inappropriately discussed the case with other jurors prior to deliberations, a contempt charge could apply. The 7-woman, 5-man panel in Taylor's case ruled that he should be sentenced to death, after convicting him of robbing 2 banks and murdering Gutierrez. According to trial testimony, Taylor enlisted two much-younger acquaintances to lure Gutierrez to Taylor's home off Highway 99, where the victim was slain. The 3 suspects then used Gutierrez's car as a getaway vehicle in a violent, takeover-style robbery at a bank in Mapleton. Gutierrez's dismembered remains were later found buried in a forested area southwest of Eugene. One of Taylor's accomplices, Mercedes Crabtree, is serving a lifetime prison sentence for the murder. A trial for the 3rd suspect, A.J. Nelson, is scheduled for February 2016. As a member of Oregon's death row, Taylor now lives in a 1-person cell at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, isolated from the prison's general population. Taylor previously served 27 years in prison for the slaying of a Eugene gas station attendant in 1977. He was granted parole in 2004, and released from post-prison supervision 3 years later. (source: The Register-Guard) *************************** Still searching for answers: Brother, uncle of death row inmates questions investigation Doug Turnidge believes in the death penalty, even with a brother and nephew on Oregon's death row. He isn't convinced, however, that his brother had anything to do with a Woodburn bank explosion in 2008. When Doug Turnidge first heard from his daughter that the FBI was investigating his nephew, Joshua, he didn't know what to think. Turnidge admits Josh was once the black sheep of the family with a troubled history. "I thought, 'That's strange,' not knowing that for 6 years our lives would be completely altered," Doug Turnidge says. "But it never dawned on me Bruce would have ever been pinned for something like this." (source: LeGrande Observer) USA: Key Issues as Jury Selection Progresses in Theater Shooting Jury selection in the Colorado theater shooting case is going faster than expected, and attorneys will start questioning individual jurors Wednesday, about a week sooner than first thought. Those chosen will decide whether James Holmes was legally insane at the time of the July 20, 2012, attack during a showing of a Batman movie in a Denver suburb that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. Holmes, 27, is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder and has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If jurors find him not guilty for that reason, he would be committed indefinitely to the state psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors dispute that Holmes was insane and will ask jurors to convict him and recommend the death penalty, though Colorado has only executed 1 person in the last 40 years. A look at the key issues in the case: ---- BY THE NUMBERS: - An unprecedented 9,000 people in Arapahoe County were summoned as part of the jury pool. - 2,000 were told they did not have to report to fill out questionnaires because enough promising candidates had been identified. - More than 1,000 were dismissed for various reasons. - Hundreds will return for individual questioning. - 120 will be chosen to return again to be questioned in groups. - 12 jurors and 12 alternates will be chosen. ---- WHY SOME PROSPECTIVE JURORS WERE EXCUSED: Potential jurors cited everything from military service and panic attacks to upcoming weddings and health issues as reasons they shouldn't have to serve. Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. released more than 1,000 people because they couldn't speak English, weren't citizens, brought doctor's notes, had family problems or weren't Arapahoe County residents. One woman was released after she tearfully told a judge her mother had been murdered and she was wounded in an unrelated attack. Another was so distraught after being told she had to return that she broke down in tears and tore out clumps of her hair. She was dismissed. ---- QUESTIONS THEY WILL FACE: In the 2nd phase of jury selection, attorneys will question possible jurors in depth about their views on capital punishment, mental illness and the criminal justice system. Prosecutors will try to find jurors who have no reservations about the death penalty, while defense attorneys will look for those sympathetic to mental illness and uneasy with the idea of executing a person. ---- WHAT JURY LIFE WILL BE LIKE: Research has shown jurors in death penalty cases have suffered nightmares, flashbacks and symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. Jurors will be allowed to go home every night but can't discuss the case with anyone. After testimony ends, they can only discuss the case with each other during deliberations. The trial is expected to run through October, and jurors will be shown graphic crime scene photos and hear harrowing testimony from witnesses and survivors. Counseling will be available to them, but only after they've reached a verdict and the trial is over. ---- WHAT DOES IT PAY: Not much. Jurors will be paid just $50 a day. Colorado law says employers have to pay jurors at least somewhat, but only for the first 3 days. ---- THE CRIME: About 420 people were watching a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" when a masked figure standing near the screen tossed gas canisters into the audience and opened fire. Holmes surrendered to police outside the theater. His attorneys have acknowledged that he was the gunman but said he was in the grip of a psychotic episode. The people killed included a 6-year-old girl, 2 active-duty servicemen, a single mom and an aspiring broadcaster. (source: Associated Press) *************************** Defense indicates mental issues may be raised at trial of LAX shooter Attorneys for the 24-year-old suspect accused in a deadly shooting spree at Los Angeles International Airport raised the specter of a mental health defense for the 1st time Monday in court, indicating that such an argument may be used in their attempt to save their client from the death penalty. Paul Anthony Ciancia could be executed if he is convicted of killing federal Transportation Security Administration Officer Gerardo Hernandez during the Nov. 1, 2013, attack that also left 3 other people wounded -- 2 other TSA workers and 1 traveler. According to a proposed trial schedule, jury selection is set to start on Jan. 25, 2016, with interviews to begin about a month later for death- qualified potential jurors. Both sides on Monday discussed a schedule for when the defense would file notice of their intent to possibly use mental impairment as part of their case. Prosecutors filed papers with U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, requesting that he rule on a deadline for the notice to be lodged with the court. A decision is expected within a week. Gutierrez warned attorneys to stop making references to the slow-moving Boston Marathon bombing trial, in which jury selection began Jan. 5 with more than 1,300 potential jurors filling out questionnaires. "I don't think we're going to have anywhere near the problems (of Boston) that have been reported in the newspapers," the judge said. The jury selection process in Boston should not be compared to Los Angeles because the Southland jury pool is so much larger, Gutierrez said. Also, the judge said, "many jurors (in the Los Angeles area) don't read the newspapers or watch the TV news," issues that have apparently hampered the Boston case. Ciancia allegedly stormed into Terminal 3 at LAX with an assault rifle after "substantial planning and premeditation," according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court. 3 charges in the 11-count indictment against Ciancia carry the potential for a death sentence: murder of a federal officer, use of a firearm that led to the murder and committing an act of violence in an international airport. Prosecutors wrote that Ciancia "intentionally and specifically engaged in an act of violence, knowing that the act created a grave risk of death to a person," and Hernandez "died as a direct result of the act." Ciancia allegedly shot Hernandez at a lower-level LAX passenger check-in station and began walking upstairs, but he returned when he realized Hernandez was still alive and shot him again. In addition to 1st-degree murder, the indictment charges Ciancia with 2 counts of attempted murder for the shootings of TSA officers Tony Grigsby and James Speer. Brian Ludmer, a Calabasas teacher, was also wounded. Defense filings have mentioned a psychiatrist visiting the defendant at the federal detention facility where he is incarcerated. Ciancia is also charged with committing acts of violence at an international airport, one count of using a firearm to commit murder and three counts of brandishing and discharging a firearm. During the shooting spree, Ciancia was allegedly carrying dozens of rounds of ammunition, along with a handwritten, signed note saying he wanted to kill TSA agents and "instill fear in their traitorous minds." Witnesses to the shooting said the gunman asked them whether they worked for the TSA, and if they said no, he moved on. Ciancia -- a New Jersey native who had been living in Sun Valley -- was shot in the head and leg during a gun battle with airport police. He spent more than 2 weeks at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center before he was moved to a San Bernardino facility and subsequently to the downtown Metropolitan Detention Center, where he remains held without bail. Prosecutors told the judge last August they had accumulated about 10,000 pages and 150 DVDs of discovery in the case, including material collected during a probe of Ciancia's background in the small town of Pennsville, New Jersey, which they had presented to the defense. (source: Los Angeles Daily News) ******************************** Plea deal off the table, trial next in Vt. death penalty case A potential life saving deal for accused killer Donald Fell is off the table as federal prosecutors say they plan to take their death penalty case to trial for a 2nd time. In December, the U.S. attorney's office in Vermont was discussing a plea deal that would send Fell, accused of killing Terry King of North Clarendon, to prison for life. But less than 2 months later, acting Vermont U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles said the deal is off the table after a discussion between her office and the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington ended with the decision to seek the death penalty again in a case that began more than 14 years ago. "As with all capital cases, it was a department-wide decision involving the Department of Justice," Cowles said today. "The Department of Justice has made the decision this should be a death penalty case." Cowles did not say whether the federal prosecutor's office in Vermont concurred with the decision and she said there was no timetable yet for when Fell new trial would begin. Fell, 34, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005 for killing King. But after almost 9 years on death row, Judge William Sessions last year overturned the conviction based on the misconduct of a juror who traveled to Rutland and examined crime scenes while Fell's trial was taking place. (source: Times Argus) ********************** Fell death-penalty case heading to trial - again The Donald Fell death-penalty case is heading to trial as a potential plea agreement has been removed as an option for case settlement, U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles said Monday. Cowles declined to discuss the specifics of the agreement's removal. "I really can't talk about the plea negotiations or what happened," Cowles told the Burlington Free Press. "The decision at this point is that the case has to go forward as a trial death penalty case." The deal would have called for Fell to plead guilty to the kidnapping and killing of a North Clarendon grandmother more than 14 years ago. In exchange, Fell would have received a mandatory life sentence in prison for the crime he was previously sentenced to death for committing. Attempts to reach Fell's lawyers late Monday afternoon were unsuccessful. No new trial date has yet been set, and Cowles said she is unsure of when the trial will take place. Federal prosecutors also filed a motion late on Friday asking for the addition of trial attorney Julie Mosley into the case. Mosley operates out of Washington D.C., and she is employed by the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division, according to court papers. "She's coming in to assist as a specialist from that section," Cowles said. No decision has yet been made by the court on Mosley's potential addition. A federal inmate locator indicates that Fell, 34, is currently being lodged at Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. After his conviction in 2005, Fell had been on death row at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. Fell was found guilty of the November 2000 murder of Terri King, 53, of North Clarendon. This summer, Judge William K. Sessions III ruled that juror misconduct during the 2005 trial was so egregious that Fell deserved a new trial and a new sentencing. Members of King's family have said they want Fell to receive the death penalty and are willing to sit through another trial. Vermont has no death penalty under state law, but the case was prosecuted under federal law. Fell's accomplice, Robert Lee, also was charged, but he killed himself in jail before trial. (source: Burlington Free Press) ******************* Jolly proposes harsher federal penalty in police killings A local congressman is introducing legislation that would allow federal judges to consider harsher penalties for those involved in the killing of law enforcement officers. Rep. David Jolly, R-Seminole, held a news conference Monday outside the Clearwater Police Department to announce the legislation, named the "Blue Line Act." If passed, the measure would make the slaying of an officer or first responder an aggravating factor, allowing more severe sanctions such as the death penalty - to be considered. Federal law gives this protection to high-ranking public officials, federal judges and at-risk groups such as the elderly and children, and the "Blue Line Act" would extend this to local law enforcement officers killed on federal lands as part of homegrown terrorism acts or as part of involvement in a multi-jurisdictional task force that receives federal funding. Passage of the bill will show first responders that "just as you have our back, we have your back as well," Jolly said. Members of the Clearwater Police, St. Petersburg Police and Tarpon Springs Police were on hand during the announcement. On Dec. 21 Tarpon Springs Officer Charles Kondek was killed in the line of duty while responding to a noise complaint. "We lost one of our own recently, it was a tragic event for us," said Chief Robert Kochen. "Although this bill would not apply in Officer Kondek's situation, we do support any bill or any efforts that protect those who put their lives on the line every day serving their communities." Federally funded task forces operate in the Tampa Bay area, such as the Human Trafficking Task Force, and Clearwater Police Chief Dan Slaughter said it's important that his officers who serve alongside federal agencies are afforded protection. If any of his officers found themselves in a situation where they made the "ultimate sacrifice," Slaughter said, he doesn't want their families or their memories to receive "some type of watered down justice." Jolly said similar legislation has been proposed before to include members of Congress and congressional staff, but those provisions were omitted from his bill. "The message is very simple. It says to an individual, 'If you intend to cause harm and take the life of a local law enforcement officer, you will meet with swift and strong justice,'" Jolly said. (source: Tampa Bay Online) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 12:21:44 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 12:21:44 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 10 RUSSIA: Russian Supreme Court Chairman Against Death Penalty Return The chairman of Russia's Supreme Court says he opposes calls to end the country's moratorium on capital punishment. Vyacheslav Lebedev told journalists in Moscow on February 10 that there is "no reason" to end the moratorium on the death penalty, which was put in place by the Constitutional Court in 1999 and extended in 2009. Russia imposed the moratorium after joining the Council of Europe, which requires members to refrain from executing convicts. Last month, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted to deprive Russia of its rights within the assembly for the second consecutive session over Moscow's reluctance to stop backing separatists in Ukraine's eastern regions. Russian lawmakers have questioned whether Russia should remain in the Council of Europe after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) voted last month to deprive Moscow of its rights within the assembly for the second consecutive session over its interference in Ukraine. Lawmakers from ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky???s Liberal Democratic Party have said quitting the Council of Europe could enable Russia to reinstate the death penalty. (source: Radio Free Eeurope/Radio Liberty) IRAN: Take Action: Stop the Execution of 22-year-old Saman Naseem by Iran----by Alliance for Kurdish Rights Amnesty International writes: Iranian juvenile offender, Saman Naseem, could be executed as early as 19 February 2015 for crimes allegedly committed when he was 17 years old. He was sentenced to death after an unfair trial. The family of Saman Naseem, who is now aged 22, have received reliable information that he will be executed on 19 February. Amnesty International understands that the authorities have prevented Saman Naseem's lawyer from pursuing the case and have not allowed him to appoint another lawyer. Saman Naseem was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for "enmity against God" (moharebeh) and "corruption on earth" (ifsad fil-arz) because of his membership of the Kurdish armed opposition group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), and for taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2013. According to court documents, during early investigations Saman Naseem admitted firing towards Revolutionary Guards forces in July 2011. He retracted this during the 1st court session, saying that he had only fired into the air and had not been aware of the content of the written "confessions" he was forced to sign as he had been kept blindfolded while he was interrogated. Saman Naseem was allowed no access to his lawyer during early investigations and he said he was tortured by being hung upside down for a lengthy period of time. Below is a message composed by the Alliance for Kurdish Rights to be used by anyone to urge the recipients mentioned below as part of a campaign to overturn Saman Naseem's death sentence. Your Excellency, I am writing to you to express my concerns regarding a 22-year old prisoner by the name of Saman Naseem who is awaiting execution. I am calling on you to halt the execution and allow for a reconsideration of his case under transparent and just measures. I am also reminding you that Iran has ratified both the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibit the use of the death penalty against people who were below 18 years of age at the time of the crime. Lastly, I am urging you to remember that Iran has ratified Article 7 of the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which prohibits the act of torture against prisoners. I hope that an investigation will be initiated into the allegation that he was tortured or ill-treated and ensure that the "confessions" obtained from him under torture are not used as evidence in court. I hope that you will give positive reconsideration to the case of Saman Naseem. Sincerely, (Your name) Send to: Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei The Office of the Supreme Leader Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: info_leader at leader.ir Twitter: @khamenei_ir Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani c/o Public Relations Office Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran President of the Islamic republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani The Presidency Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Twitter: @HassanRouhani (English) and @Rouhani_ir (Persian) (source: kurdishrights.org) FIJI: Fiji moves to abolish death penalty Fiji's newly democratic government has moved to abolish the death penalty, but the opposition has demanded it be kept in order to deter its military from staging coups. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama appeared to then threaten another coup after being insulted by opposition MPs during today's fractious parliamentary session. Bainimarama's arbitrary decision to remove the Union Jack from Fiji's flag later this year is also creating tension, not helped by Prime Minister John Key saying New Zealand's flag will change only after a referendum. Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum this morning introduced a bill amending the military act to abolish the death penalty for assorted offences. However Opposition MP Tupou Draunidalo strongly objected, saying the death penalty should remain in the Army Act as a deterrent to future coup makers. Her stepfather, Timoci Bavadra, was prime minister in 1987 when he was overthrown in the 1st of 4 military coups. Draunidalo's mother, Kuini Speed, was deputy prime minister in 2000 when she was overthrown in a coup led by George Speight. At the time Bainimarama declared martial law and Speight was captured and sentenced to death on the civilian charge of treason. It was commuted within hours to life imprisonment. Later the civilian death penalty was repealed. In another row this morning opposition members claimed there was another coup coming, followed by Bainimarama turning on them. "Be quiet - because of my coup, that's why you are sitting there ... remember 2006," he said. He attacked the opposition members who used the chiefly titles of ratu and adi. "When you walk through that door, nobody really gives 2 hoots about your title - you're supposedly blue blood," he said. He said the insults flying did "not augur well for the relationship we want to establish here and the people of Fiji". Draunidalo fired back that the opposition were not doormats. "And this is not a military institution ... the military is beneath this house." (source: stuff.co.nz) *************************** A-G tables Bill to amend military act Opposition member Tupou Draunidalo yesterday pleaded with Parliament not to rush with the amendment of the Death Penalty Act - part of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act. Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum yesterday tabled a Bill for an act to amend the RFMF Act in Parliament. "I move that the Republic of Fiji Military Forces amended Bill 2015 be considered by Parliament without delay, this speaker, is not even one page, that the Bill be debated and voted upon by Parliament on Wednesday," Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said. "That the Bill be debated upon by Parliament and that a two-hour time limit be given to each side of the House to debate this less than one page amendment and that the right of reply given to the mover of the motion." He told Parliament there was a growing international trend to remove the use of capital punishment from all laws and also referred to Fiji's Constitution that every person had the right to life and must not be deprived of life. He said in 2002 Fiji took the initiative to remove the death penalty in its penal code and that had been carried on to the Crimes Decree, however, unfortunately the only remaining reference to the death penalty existed in the RFMF Act. This was by virtue of reference to the UK Army Act of 1955, in that particular act which was relevant in the RFMF Act because it made references to wherever there was a gap, the UK Army applied that the 1955 UK Army Act had the death penalty in it, unfortunately while the UK moved along and had removed and revised their Army Act, they no longer had the death penalty. "We are still stuck with the UK Army Act of 1955, so technically we can still have the death penalty under the RFMF Act." Ms Draunidalo requested it should not be rushed as there was great history behind the act. (source: The Fiji Times) TAIWAN: Taiwan authorities sentence death penalty to Belgian in 1.3kg heroin smuggling A Belgian man convicted of smuggling drugs into Taiwan was sentenced by the Taipei District Court to life imprisonment. Gunther van Eester was found guilty of entering Taiwan in November with 1.3 kilograms of heroin hidden in a compartment in his suitcase. The Belgian, who was jobless and homeless in Thailand, had been flagged by Taiwanese investigators after he visited Taiwan twice in June as a tourist, the district court said in its ruling. After his 2 short visits, van Eester returned to Bangkok and met with drug dealers, who offered him US$700 and a free return ticket to carry a suitcase to Taiwan, the court said. On arrival in Taiwan, he was detained by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, who found NT$10 million (US$327,000) worth of heroin in his suitcase, according to the court. Van Eester claimed that he was helping to deliver a suitcase of clothing, the court said in its ruling, which imposed a sentence of life imprisonment on the man. Van Eester has the right to appeal the sentence in Taiwan's high court. (source: customstoday.com) INDONESIA: More than 100 MPs write to request mercy for Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan More than 100 Federal MPs have written to the Indonesian government asking for the death sentences on Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to be lifted. In a letter to the Indonesian ambassador to Australia, sent last week, the MPs say the imminent execution of the 2 Bali 9 drug traffickers is of "deep concern". The letter has been signed by 111 MPs, including chief Government whip Philip Ruddock, chief Opposition whip Chris Hayes, and Greens leader Senator Christine Milne. "Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan have demonstrated genuine remorse and have become model prisoners, working constructively at Kerobokan, not only on their own rehabilitation and reform, but also for that of other prisoners," the letter states. "Also, we believe it is significant that both Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran were only apprehended as a result of the Australian Federal Police providing information to Indonesian Police. "Their crime, serious as it was, was intended to impact on Australians in Australia, not Indonesia." The 2 Australians were sentenced to death by an Indonesian court in 2006 for trying to smuggle heroin out of the country and into Australia. They are due to be executed this month. 7 other Australians involved in the smuggling ring have been sentenced to life in prison in an Indonesian jail. Despite pleas for clemency and petitions from the Australian government, members of the clergy and the men's distressed mothers, the Indonesian president has so far refused to grant them pardons. The MPs "humbly request" that the prisoners' "rehabilitation, their suffering and their families' suffering" be considered. "And upon the reasoning of the Indonesian Constitutional Court, we request that their death sentences be commuted to an appropriate term of imprisonment or that they be deported back to Australia on condition they face the criminal justice system here." Labor MP Melissa Parke told Parliament today that her message to the Indonesian parliament was that the execution "will serve no useful purpose". "Your country fights for mercy for your own citizens sentenced to the death penalty in other countries," she said. "It is in your nation's interest to consider mercy for people on death row in Indonesia." Ms Parke told Sukumaran and Chan that their "families and your country are proud of you". "We are fighting for the wonderful human beings you have become." She said she was also hoping to have Parliament pass a motion calling on Indonesia to commute the death sentences to a prison sentence. (source: ABC news) ********************************* Will Joko drop the death penalty for the people's sake?----Many are still hoping for a change of heart despite Joko Widodo's firm stand on the death penalty for drug trafficking. To kill or not to kill? That is the question, isn't it. And that question has been ringing in everyone's ears ever since Joko Widodo was sworn in as president of Indonesia last October. Just last month, 6 drug offenders were executed in Indonesia, and more are to come. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the 2 Australian members of the now-infamous Bali 9 who were arrested in 2005 for drug trafficking are the 2 who are up next, and needless to say the outcry has been huge. The question of whether drug trafficking deserves the mandatory death penalty is hotly contested as it has proven to be an inefficient deterrent to the drug trade. Joko certainly thinks otherwise, and has made that emphatically clear in his tough, hard-as-nails stance on whether the people on Indonesian death row deserve a stay of execution. Which, to treat it as accurately and honestly as possible, is a good and loud no. Those against the death penalty have argued that executing every poor fellow caught bringing drugs into the country, no matter how many, will not make a dent in the illegal drug trade. And I for one, agree. Statistics show that the mandatory death penalty has failed in substantially reducing the number of drug trafficking cases. A report by Amnesty International has shown its ineffectiveness. Right now, that isn't the point, valid as it is. The point is that there is such a thing as extenuating circumstances. To take Joko's stance, which is to outright reject all petitions for clemency, is a surprisingly impersonal way to do it considering how he rose to power. Joko's main draw was that he was a people's man, capable of understanding their plight. It shouldn't then be too hard for him to understand how a good portion of the ones caught are drug mules, i. e. people unfortunate enough to be tricked into carrying the drugs whether unwittingly or not. What I'm saying is that in purely moral terms, they aren't guilty. For the most part. Depending on who they were and what happened. That is to say... ...oh, the hell with it. It just isn't as simple as Joko makes it out to be. Are all drug mules forced into trafficking drugs? No, some are just malign idiots themselves, and so deserve the full force of the law. Some however are completely unwitting dupes, tricked into carrying the drugs or having the drugs planted on them. The real problem is larger than just drug trafficking on its own. The problem lies with the drug lords, the cartels, the factories and organisations of vice that capitalise upon human stupidity and foolishness. As long as any of these things exist - yes, even human stupidity, and God knows how long the battle against that will last - we are still a long way away from ending the drug war. So by all means, be tough on crime. The drug trade is hell on earth, and as such deserves hell in response - well, as much of hell as we can approximate, because the further down we go, the harder it is to turn back. Mr Joko, you intend to sentence the drug trade to death, and for that I salute you. But please, be careful where you swing your scythe. Should there be a death penalty? Contrary to what Amnesty International may think, I believe so. Every action has a consequence, and if you willingly trade in the daily death of millions of people without further thought than the lining of your pockets, you may as well partake of your blessings. But the mandatory death penalty? Not at all. To make that mandatory is to completely negate the value of human life. And once we do that, we may as well erect the swastika and go home. (source: Commentary; Mikha Chan, Free Malaysia Today) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 12:22:40 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 12:22:40 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 10 CHINA: Chinese court brandishes new penalty post erronous death sentence; aims to overhaul legal reforms----While wrongful executions have often stirred outrage, capital punishment itself has wide support from the public. A court in China sentenced a man to death on Monday for crimes including the murder and rape of a woman in 1996 which another person was wrongly executed for before being exonerated last year, state media reported. Zhao Zhihong, 42, was detained in 2005 and confessed to a series of rapes and murders, including 1 in a public toilet in Inner Mongolian capital Hohhot in 1996 that was blamed on Huugjilt, then aged 18. Huugjilt, who like many Chinese Mongols used just a single name, was later executed. A court in December overturned his conviction and awarded his parents - who attended Zhao's verdict hearing - compensation. The court additionally ordered Zhao to pay 102,768 yuan ($16,445) in compensation to his victims. China has embarked on legal reforms, including reducing the use of the death penalty, as public discontent mounts over wrongful punishment. While wrongful executions have often stirred outrage, capital punishment itself has wide support from the public. Anti-death penalty campaigners say China uses the death penalty far more than other countries. The government does not release the number of executions it carries out, deeming it a 'state secret'. (source: Daily News & Analysis) *************** SA cop held in Hong Kong for drug smuggling A South African police officer has been arrested in Hong Kong for allegedly trafficking drugs, it was reported on Tuesday. Sergeant Busisiwe Zungu was arrested at Hong Kong International Airport, reported The Mercury. Zungu's arrest came as a shock to her family and friends who described her as a law-abiding citizen who "was very proud of her clean record". Her police partner also described her as a hard worker. Zungu has been suspended from the Saps who are also conducting their own investigation into the alleged trafficking. Patricia Gerber, head of Locked Up, an organisation that assists South Africans arrested overseas for drug smuggling, says China unfortunately has the death penalty for drug-related offences. Last month, a Johannesburg father was sentenced to death in Malaysia after he was found guilty of drug smuggling. Deon Cornelius was found guilty of smuggling 2kg of methamphetamine into Malaysia when he landed at Penang International Airport on 4 October 2013, News24 reported. Gerber says many of those who get arrested are decoys and not mules. "They [the mules] travel all over the world and are protected by corrupt police and airport authorities," Gerber said in an email to News24. "The decoy on the other hand is a person who is recruited by means of manipulation, coercion and are threatened at times. "They are recruited for the sole purpose [of being] arrested so that the drug mules can walk through with the larger amounts, this is done unbeknown to the decoy. "Before the arrival of the decoy the airport receives a tip off ... The mules do have a hassle-free passage." In 2011, South African woman, Janice Linden was executed in China for drug smuggling, reported Sapa. She was arrested in Guangzhou in November 2008 after she was caught with 3kg of crystal methamphetamine (tik) in her luggage. She was convicted of drug smuggling in 2009. (source: news24.com) *********************************** Killer's death penalty a lesson in law The trial of Zhao Zhihong, a serial killer found guilty of 21 crimes, not only displays China's resolve to promote justice, but also offers a chance for the entire society to better understand the rule of law. A court in north China on Monday sentenced Zhao to death for crimes including multiple murder, rape, robbery and larceny. Among the convictions was one Zhao was found to have committed in a public toilet in Hohhot in 1996, for which Huugjilt, an innocent man who was 18 years old at the time, was wrongfully executed. Huugjilt was acquitted after a retrial last year found that the evidence was questionable and inadequate, 18 years after his execution. Monday's conviction has attracted wide public attention as it is linked to the miscarriage of justice against the teenager in the sense that it was Zhao's confession that brought the wrongful execution to light. Also, Zhao's guilt supports Huugjilt's innocence. However, in other aspects, the two cases should be regarded as having no bearing on each other. Huugjilt's acquittal was not based on Zhao's sentence, and the crime of the latter was rightfully proven by valid evidence, not the young man's innocence. More importantly, against the backdrop of China determining to improve the rule of law, the trial and sentencing of Zhao should not be taken as an act of revenge for Huugjilt's tragic mistreatment. After all, this is not the end of Huugjilt's case. Those who were responsible for his wrongful conviction should be held accountable, and efforts must be made to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. China's criminal and procedural laws are made not only to punish crime but also to protect innocent people from undeserved penalties. Furthermore, the legal rights of suspects and convicted criminals, as long as they have not been deprived of them by due process, should also be properly observed. To that end, procedures regarding both Zhao and other people involved in Huugjilt's case must be conducted with due prudence and in strict accordance with the law. Even after Zhao's conviction, it should be noted that he still has his right to appeal and his death sentence is still subject to final approval by the Supreme People's Court. In this sense, Zhao's case has provided the entire society, including the judiciary system, the media and the public, with a chance to understand that justice for everyone, whether innocent or guilty, matters. It is only with efforts to strictly implement the rule of law and respect the legal rights of everyone, even perpetrators of crime, that members of society can be reassured that no one will be subject to capricious judgement. That is also the reason why Zhao, despite his despicable motives and cruelty, also deserves a fair trial and justice. (source: Shanghai Daily) AUSTRALIA: AFP unrepentant over its role in Bali 9 capture The Australian Federal Police remains unrepentant for its role in putting Bali Nine drug traffickers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan on death row, despite mounting criticism. In an explosive opinion piece on news.com.au on Friday, barrister Bob Myers gave a scathing assessment of the AFP's involvement in the affair, saying the agency would have blood on its hands if the pair was put to death. Now, other influential voices have slammed the federal police, saying its actions had led to the imminent death of the Bali 9 ringleaders. The AFP has admitted it disclosed information to Indonesian authorities that "ultimately led to the arrest of the Bali 9". Speaking on ABC TV's Q&A last night, influential broadcaster Alan Jones condemned the AFP. "Instead of preventing these people from going (to Bali), they gave all the information to the Indonesian police and virtually said to them, 'Do with them what you will'," he said. Jones said the aim of handing over the details was to capture the "big boys" in the drug trade, but said the AFP had failed to uncover them. "So what have we got in return for the noble behaviour of the federal police? 2 dead Australians," Jones said. "It's shame on the Indonesian system, but a pronounced shame on the federal police system." What had Jones most fired up? Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr told The Saturday Paper that the AFP had "an obligation to explain why (the Bali 9) were effectively delivered into a jurisdiction that applies capital punishment, when it appears there was enough evidence to arrest them on Australian soil". In 2005, Mr Myers tipped off the AFP that Bali 9 member Scott Rush was about to engage in illegal drug activities in Bali. In Friday's story, Mr Myers said the force had deliberately lied to him at the time and had written to Indonesian authorities to disclose the names, dates of birth and passport numbers of members of the drug smuggling syndicate. "The fact is that this group of 9 young Australians was exposed to the almost inevitable imposition of the death penalty by a deliberate, premeditated decision of the Australian Federal Police," Mr Myers said. "There is no doubt that the federal police has knowledge that the information that they were providing to the Indonesian authorities would likely result in the loss of Australian lives." But the AFP has rejected Mr Myers' version of events, despite admitting that the information it disclosed to Indonesian authorities "ultimately led to the arrest of the Bali 9". The AFP said it was a "difficult time" for Chan and Sukumaran, and their family and friends. "This is a very sad illustration of the harsh dangers people can ultimately face when they are involved in international crime and drug trafficking," the AFP said in a statement in response to Mr Myers' comments. "The AFP has been, at all times, transparent and accountable in relation to its actions on this matter and has always acted appropriately and in accordance with Australian and international policies and guidelines. "Although Mr Myers is entitled to hold personal views in relation to this matter, it is not helpful to introduce misleading and incorrect information into the public domain, while ignoring the findings of several government reviews and judicial hearings into this matter that are contrary to his statements." Mr Myers said that the AFP had sufficient evidence to detain all of the Bali 9 co-conspirators at Sydney Airport, thus preventing them from being detained in Indonesia, but that it deliberately chose not to do this. "The alternative was to keep the 9 under surveillance, perhaps with the co-operation of the Indonesian authorities, and monitor their movements on their return to Australia with a view to making more significant inroads in the war against drugs, including the identification of those resident in this country responsible for the organisation of drug importation," Mr Myers said. In short, he alleges that the Bali Nine were sacrificed to the Indonesian authorities in order to catch more powerful drug smugglers further up the chain. But the AFP has rejected this assessment. In response to questions put by ABC current affairs program Four Corners, the AFP said that it had no evidence or lawful reason to detain, arrest or charge any member of the Bali Nine before they left Australia. "The AFP was unaware of the hierarchy of the syndicate, the identity of all syndicate members or the source of drugs that may have been imported. Additionally, Myuran Sukumaran was not known to the AFP prior to his arrest on April 17, 2005," it said. Ultimately, the AFP said exchanging information between countries was a "routine" part of its efforts to prevent illegal drug trafficking. "The AFP's role is to work cooperatively with law enforcement partners around the world to combat all forms of serious and organised crime impacting Australia," the AFP said. "Such co-operation is critical in targeting the borderless nature of crime and for the protection of the Australian community." Chan and Sukumaran are expected to be executed by firing squad sometime this month. (source: news.com.au) SAUDI ARABIA----execution Saudi executes Syrian for drug smuggling Saudi Arabia's state news agency says authorities have executed a Syrian man convicted of smuggling a large quantity of amphetamine pills. The Saudi Press Agency says Abdullah Mohammed al-Ahmed was executed Tuesday in the northwestern al-Jawf province after the Supreme Court confirmed his conviction and sentencing. It does not say how he was executed. Saudi Arabia has executed 25 people this year, mainly for drug smuggling. Most executions in the kingdom are by beheading or firing squad. An Associated Press tally based on SPA reporting shows 83 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2014. The kingdom follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law and applies the death penalty on crimes such as murder, rape, apostasy and witchcraft. Rights groups have criticized executions carried out for non-lethal crimes. (source: Associated Press) INDIA: Centre to challenge High Court verdict on Nithari killer New Delhi: Not just terror acts, even crime against women and children will bear the maximum punishment is the message of the Narendra Modi government which is set to challenge the Allahabad high court's verdict commuting the death sentence of Nithari killer Surinder Koli in the sensational NIthari serial killings of 2006. After being awarded capital punishment, Koli's mercy petition had been rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee in 2014. However, the Allahabad high court had said in last month that there was an 'inordinate delay' in deciding his mercy plaint and commuted his sentence to life imprisonment. The home ministry has decided to move the SC against the high court verdict, telling the Apex Court that Koli must be executed and there has been no delay in his case. It will tell the SC that the legal process was duly completed, including the rejection of his recall application by the Apex Court. Sources said the commutation of Koli's sentence could have a rippling effect on other death row cases. "This is a fit case for hanging which deserves the maximum penalty. If death sentence has been included under the criminal law for rape cases, then this case is no exception," said an official. (source: Deccan Chronicle) *********************** Rohtak rape incident: Women's Commission to demand death penalty Haryana Women Commission has decided to recommend death penalty for the perpetrators of brutal rape and murder of a mentally challenged Nepalese woman in Rohtak. Kamlesh Panchal, Chairperson of the commission who visited the victim's family said she would demand exemplary punishment for the perpetrators. Panchal told the family members that the commission has taken note of the issue and will demand that the accused be nabbed at the earliest, tried and hanged. "The Women Commission demands speedy capital punishment for the culprits because this is a one of the gravest crimes," said Suman Dahiya, member of the Haryana Women Commission Meanwhile, Police yesterday claimed to have got vital clues in the case. Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Muhammad Akil said the culprits would soon be arrested. "According to post-mortem and investigation report there is no doubt that a grave crime was committed against her and she was murdered," said Additional director general of police (ADGP), Mohammed Akil. Earlier, unidentified men had raped the 28-year-old before brutally killing her in the Bahu Akbarpur area of the Rohtak district in Haryana. The woman's body was reportedly found on Wednesday with key organs missing and with sticks, stones and condoms stuffed into her private parts three days after she went missing. (source: New Kerala) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 16:20:48 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 16:20:48 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., MICH., MO., OKLA., CALIF. Message-ID: Feb. 10 VIRGINIA: Roberts Faces Death Penalty In Brutal 2009 Lansdowne Attack A Loudoun grand jury Monday handed up 11 indictments against the central attacker in the murder of William Bennett and the beating of his wife Cynthia Bennett along a Lansdowne road in 2009. Based on evidence presented by Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Detective Mark Bush, Anthony R. Roberts, 26, was indicted on 5 counts of capital murder, 2 counts of robbery, 1 count of aggravated malicious wounding, object sexual penetration, abduction with intent to defile, and rape. Roberts is in prison serving sentences for unrelated offenses. He is scheduled to appear in Loudoun County Circuit Court Monday, Feb. 23. 2 other men already have been convicted for their roles in the attack. Investigators have continued to build their case against Roberts and prosecutors have repeatedly noted that, with Roberts behind bars, they had time to do that. Roberts is in prison for the April 15, 2009, break-in at Loudoun Guns in Leesburg and a string of commercial burglaries that took place in Middleburg the night before Bennett was killed. Jaime Ayala was sentenced to life plus 40 years in August 2011 after pleading guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the case. Darwin G. Bowman was sentenced to serve 43 years and 5 months for his role in the attack. The sentence for Ayala, who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, was later reduced at the request of the commonwealth to match Bowman's sentence. (source: Leesburg Today) MICHIGAN: One Democrat Wants To Bring The Death Penalty Back To Michigan -- But It Won't Be Easy A Democratic lawmaker wants to bring the death penalty back to the 1st English-speaking territory to abolish capital punishment, but experts -- and 1 of the lawmakers he needs to convince -- are skeptical at best. Michigan state Sen. Virgil Smith (D-Detroit) introduced a Senate joint resolution last week to allow the death penalty in the case of the 1st-degree murder of a police or corrections officer killed in the line of duty. Michigan first banned executions in 1847; because the ban has been enshrined in the state constitution since 1963, the change would require a 2/3 majority vote in the state House and Senate as well as a majority vote by the people in the next election. "If you kill a cop, you're the most egregious criminal out there. ... There should be no mercy at that point," Smith told the Detroit Free Press. "These are the people at the front line trying to defend our safety, so we need to protect them as much as we can." On Monday, just days after Smith made his proposal, an incident near his district showed the kind of danger police face. A Highland Park officer was injured while conducting a raid when a suspect inside the house shot him in the leg. He is expected to recover. In an unrelated incident Saturday morning, an off-duty Highland Park reserve police officer was shot to death while working security at a nightclub, allegedly by a man he had earlier forced to leave the venue. Walter Jennings of Detroit has been charged with 1st-degree murder in the officer's death. If Smith's resolution were already in effect, it still wouldn't apply in Jennings' case, as the officer was off-duty. Kathy Swedlow is a professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, where she teaches death penalty law and previously ran the school's initiative to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners. She said there's some possibility enacting the death penalty for police murders could eventually lead to expanding the punishment to other crimes, but her primary concern is why Michigan would repeal its ban in the first place. "It's a horrible idea," Swedlow told The Huffington Post. "It's not particularly well thought through, the idea that we would bring the death penalty back." Swedlow cited numerous problems other states have had since the death penalty was federally reinstated in 1976, such as determining a method that is considered humane. Lethal injection has primarily been used over the electric chair in recent years for that reason, but several botched executions have lead to criticism and a challenge to Oklahoma's lethal injection procedures that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. "It seems to me that if we have this near-40-year history of states tinkering with the death penalty and not being able to get it right, Michigan citizens should ask why we think we're smarter and we can do something that no one else would be able to do," she said. Smith does have backing from across the aisle, with co-sponsorship by Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhoff (R-West Olive) and Majority Floor Leader Mike Kowall (R-White Lake). However, the resolution has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the chair, Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge), is reluctant to bring it to a vote. Jones worked at a sheriff's office for several decades and was shot twice, according to MLive, but opposes the death penalty because of the possibility of false conviction. "We cannot dig a man up and say, 'Sorry, we made a mistake,'" Jones told MLive. Michigan Catholic Conference President and CEO Paul Long also opposed Smith's resolution and said in a statement that the MCC "will devote the full weight of its organization to oppose and defeat any effort to allow for state-sanctioned murder." Over the last 4 decades, there have been numerous attempts to repeal the capital punishment ban in Michigan. In 2004, the deaths of 2 Detroit police officers shot by a motorist during a traffic stop prompted a state House resolution to allow capital punishment for 1st-degree murder when "the guilt of the defendant is proven to a moral certainty." It did not receive the required super-majority, and Smith, then a state representative, voted against it. According to FBI data analyzed by the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that opposes capital punishment, regions of the country that allow execution are also the least safe for law enforcement officers. 18 states have abolished the death penalty. Last year, across the nation, death sentences were at a 40-year low and executions were at a 20-year low. (source: Huffington Post) MISSOURI----impending execution Missouri death row inmate submits last-minute appeal over execution drugs ---- Appeal filed on behalf of Walter Timothy Storey argues lethal drugs used by state could cause unconstitutional pain and suffering A Missouri inmate just hours away from execution is asking the US supreme court to step in, arguing that lethal drug could cause unconstitutional pain and suffering. The appeal was filed on Tuesday on behalf of Walter Timothy Storey. He is scheduled for lethal injection at 12.01am on Wednesday for killing a female neighbor in 1990. Missouri prison officials refuse to disclose details about how or if its main execution drug, pentobarbital, is tested. Storey's attorneys argue that the secrecy makes it impossible to know if the drug will quickly work or cause an unconstitutionally painful death. The Missouri attorney general's office says 12 executions performed with the same drug have been "rapid and painless". If the court doesn't step in, Storey's execution will be the state's 1st in 2015. Attorney Jennifer Herndon also claims Missouri violates its own protocol by using a second drug, midazolam. Missouri officials have said the state offers midazolam as a sedative to help calm the condemned inmate before the execution, but the state does not consider use of the sedative to be part of the execution process. The inmate can opt not to take it. Storey, 47, has been sentenced to death 3 separate times in the 2 February 1990 death of Jill Frey, a 36-year-old special education teacher. Storey was living with his mother when he became upset over his pending divorce. He was drinking beer and ran out of money so he went to Frey's neighboring apartment to steal money for more beer. Court records show he climbed her balcony and entered through an unlocked sliding glass door. He attacked Frey in her bedroom, slitting her throat, breaking 6 ribs and causing other injuries. (source: The Guardian) OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma Republicans push for gas chamber as execution alternative Republicans in Oklahoma are advocating for the state to become the country's 1st to execute death row inmates with nitrogen in a gas chamber. Executions currently are on hold in Oklahoma, pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on a case involving the controversial sedative midazolam. Legislative hearings on a House and Senate bill regarding the issue are scheduled for this week. If a court find the state's lethal injection procedures unconstitutional, the new measures would make death through the use of nitrogen an alternative plan for execution in Oklahoma. By using nitrogen gas, the inmate would die from hypoxia, or the depletion of oxygen to the bloodstream. Republican state Rep. Mike Christian, who conducted a hearing last summer on hypoxia, did not immediately respond to msnbc's request for comment. But he told The Associated Press that using nitrogen would be "a lot more practical" than requiring medical doctors for executions or using poisonous drugs like cyanide. If passed, the method would become effective on Nov. 1. It would cost about $300,000 to build a gas chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, according to a fiscal analysis. 4 states - Arizona, California, Missouri and Wyoming - currently have gas chamber procedures in place, but lethal injection remains the primary method of execution, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Since 1976, 11 inmates have been executed in a gas chamber. Prisoners in Arizona, California, and Missouri can choose to die in a gas chamber. Inmates in Wyoming, however, are only authorized to be executed in gas chambers if the lethal injection statute is held unconstitutional. Lethal injection involves using drugs like cyanide or midazolam. Last month, the Supreme Court decided to take up the challenge over the use of midazolam, which was used recently in problematic executions in Arizona, Ohio, and Oklahoma. The case focuses on whether the sedative effectively makes an inmate unconscious before officials administer the 2nd and 3rd drugs. Following their decision for review, the justices granted a stay of execution for 3 death row inmates in Oklahoma. The prisoners include Richard Glossip, who was scheduled to die in January, as well as Benjamin Cole and John Grant, who were to be executed in February and March, respectively. Legislators in Oklahoma are "grasping at ways to kill people that at first blush seem an improvement or humane, but when you actually do these things is when the problems arise," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told msnbc. Dieter said it appears the lawmakers are trying to divert attention from the controversial drugs by introducing a new process, which remains untried and unexplored. "I think this is their effort to say, 'Allow us to have our lethal injection drugs, our old drugs, lest we go to something even more novel and perhaps risky,'" he told msnbc. Inmates Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner were scheduled to be executed with previously untested drugs 2 hours apart from 1 another last April at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Lockett, the 1st to die, suffered a heart attack after officials injected him with a lethal drug. As it was being administered, Lockett reportedly shook uncontrollably and gritted his teeth before the eventual failure of his vein. After Lockett's death, Oklahoma's attorney general agreed to stay Warner's execution until Jan. 15, when he became Oklahoma's 1st inmate to die by lethal injection since Lockett's botched execution. Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said capital punishment is an outdated practice and hopes the introduction of the 2 bills this week begins a conversation about whether or not the death penalty is necessary for the country. "We need leadership that's going to be moving the country forward and leaving gas chambers and electric chairs in the history books, where they belong," she told msnbc. "Instead of these folks looking backward, they need to be looking forward." Oklahoma legislators enacted the current lethal injection death penalty law in 1977, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The first execution by lethal injection in Oklahoma took place in September 1990. Since then, 110 other people have been killed using the method. The state also authorizes electrocution as a mean of execution if a court ever deems lethal injection unconstitutional. Oklahoma also allows the firing squad, but only if lethal injection and electrocution are found unconstitutional. The United States saw the lowest number of executions in 2 decades in 2014, a year in which several high-profile, botched executions drew intense public scrutiny, and questions about new drug cocktails used in the procedure. 35 people were executed nationwide last year, down from 39 who were executed in 2013, according to a report released in December by the Death Penalty Information Center. Officials in the 32 states that enforce the death penalty have scrambled to find new suppliers of lethal injection drugs after several pharmaceutical companies stopped carrying the medication because of criticism based on ethical concerns. In some cases, authorities have executed prisoners hastily with drugs - often obtained in secrecy - never before used for the purpose. (source: MSNBC) CALIFORNIA: Parolee charged with teen abduction, rape could face death penalty in 3 Los Angeles murders A parolee charged with raping a Los Angeles teen and trying to set her ablaze has been indicted on 3 counts of murder. A grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday says Robert Ransom Jr. killed 3 people over 2 days last year. Prosecutors say 31-year-old Ransom pleaded not guilty to charges that could carry the death penalty. The indictment says he fatally shot a woman March 1 and killed a woman and her toddler son 4 days later. Ransom is also charged with the March 20 rape and kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl who managed to escape from his van after being doused in gas. Prosecutors say Ransom was on parole at the time for being a felon possessing a gun. He is being held without bail. (source: Associated Press) ********************* Save the death penalty - and put the gas on it In my Tuesday column, I write about why California has not seen an execution for 9 years and 2 relatives of victims - including 17-year-old Terri Winchell seen above - have been forced to sue the state to follow the law - a law upheld by voters in 2012. Since 1977, when Californians voted to reinstate the death penalty in compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court decision, there have been 13 executions of California death-row inmates. When executions resumed in 1992, the state used cyanide pellets in a gas chamber. To decrease any pain, Sacramento passed a law and new procedures to allow inmates to opt for lethal injection instead of cyanide in 1993. What followed? Opponents who had argued that the gas chamber posed cruel and unusual punishment made the same claims about lethal injection. Some judges agreed. Activists went after the medical licenses of doctors who participated in executions. The Lancet came out with a ridiculous piece about pain and lethal injection. Now a Superior Court judge has ordered the state to come up with a 1-drug lethal injection protocol. My fear is that by the time San Quentin schedules executions, activist judges will rule that any lethal injection is illegal. While I supported lethal injection as a more humane method of execution, I can see federal judges in the Ninth Circuit ruling against it because it is a medicalized procedure. Lethal injections require doctors or nurses - who become targets and risk losing their licenses. And because something can go wrong in any medical procedure, appellate lawyers can find judges who will pounce on any pretext to find capital punishment unconstitutional. One solution is to return to a method of execution that does not require medical personnel - gas. Not cyanide, but carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide or helium or some other gas that lulls inmates into the beyond. Oklahoma is considering using nitrogen gas. State Rep. Mike Christian said: unlike traditional gas chambers that used drugs like cyanide that caused a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood, breathing nitrogen would be painless because it leads to hypoxia, a gradual lack of oxygen in the blood, similar to what can happen to pilots at high altitudes. (source: Debra J. Saunders, sfgate.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 16:22:00 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 16:22:00 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 10 SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia executions 'extraordinarily high' as state executes 28 people in 5 weeks ---- The Syrian man was found guilty of smuggling amphetamines Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed a Syrian man on the same day Prince Charles arrived in the Kingdom amid calls from campaigners to raise human rights concerns. The Saudi Press Agency said Abdullah Mohammed al-Ahmed was executed Tuesday in the northwestern al-Jawf province after the Supreme Court confirmed his conviction and sentence for smuggling amphetamines into the country. It does not say how he was executed, according to the although methods used in the Kingdom include beheading and firing squad. His death marks the 28th execution in 2015 alone, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Prince Charles has a good relationship with the Saudi royal family and has been under pressure to use his trip to raise the case of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison. Amnesty International had expressed hope that Charles would use his unique position to "pass on a few well-chosen words" to King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and his royal hosts. But this latest execution casts doubts as to how willing the Kingdom might be to listen to fears over human rights abuses. King Salman oversaw his 1st beheading just 5 days after succeeding his late brother King Abdullah. The kingdom follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law and applies the death penalty on crimes such as murder, rape, apostasy and witchcraft. Rights groups have criticised executions carried out for non-lethal crimes. He told The Independent that out of the 28 executions which occurred in January and February 2015, 11 were for non-violent drug offences - an "extraordinarily high" figure he condemned as "particularly egregious". "Between 1 January and 4 August 2014, only 15 executions took place. They finished the year on 87, and that pace has continued," he said. "If they keep on this pace it will be a record in the context of the past 2 years." Salman became King of Saudi Arabia last month following the death of King Abdullah Salman became King of Saudi Arabia last month following the death of King Abdullah Mr Coogle says he is unsure what is behind the surge in executions. "It could be that they are trying to appear as though they are tough on crime and willing to deliver 'justice', but I don't know. I haven???t seen any official comments on this jump. "The major point is that although executions are not prohibited under international human rights law, they are strongly discouraged and they should be reserved only for only the most serious crimes. "It's been made clear under international human rights law that people should not be killed for non-violent drug laws. Saudi Arabia, a member of the Human Rights Council, is clearly flouting this." (source: The Independent) INDONESIA: Bali 9: Indonesia's attorney-general dismisses challenge against president's refusal to grant pardon Indonesia effectively rules out any chance of two Australians being able to save themselves from facing the firing squad for drug trafficking. Indonesia has effectively ruled out any chance of 2 Australians being able to save themselves from facing a firing squad, despite lawyers for the men launching a last-ditch legal appeal. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have been on death row since 2006 for organising to smuggle heroin out of Bali with 7 other Australians. Lawyers for the men said they were planning to lodge an administrative appeal against Indonesian president Joko Widodo's refusal to grant them pardons. They said the president should have considered each case and not just refused clemency for all drug crimes, as he is doing. But Indonesian attorney-general Muhammad Prasetyo has dismissed the attempt at another legal challenge, saying it is not possible to challenge the president. "Clemency is a prerogative right that cannot be obstructed by anybody, can not be challenged by anybody. It's a prerogative right," Mr Prasetyo said. "The president has that prerogative right as the head of state and nothing can obstruct that. "In this republic he's the sole holder of that right. Clemency, amnesty, abolition, rehabilitation, as the constitution stipulates. Only the president has the authority. "The legal process is completed. The legal venues that we have are through the court procedures, higher court appeal, Supreme Court appeal, judicial review and the last venue is clemency. Clemency is a special legal venue." More than 100 Australian MPs have signed a petition urging the Indonesian government to show mercy to the 2 Australians. But all efforts to influence Mr Widodo have so far failed, including emotional pleas from Chan and Sukumaran's families, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking if there was anything that could be done to spare the men. We have to respect Indonesia's sovereignty: Bishop Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was asked about the case on commercial television last night. "The fact is, drug trafficking is a crime in Indonesia that attracts the death penalty and we have to respect Indonesia's sovereignty, it's an independent nation state with its own judicial system," Ms Bishop said. On Monday, Sukumaran's mother Raji said she blamed the Australian Federal Police for her son facing now death. It was the AFP that tipped off Indonesian police about the Bali 9's plans, meaning the men were arrested there and charged under Indonesian law. Mr Prasetyo has now confirmed the executions will be done, as expected, at a maximum security prison facility on Nusa Kambangan, an island off Java. But there is still no word on when the executions will be carried out. "I'm telling you, we haven't decided on the time, we have decided the location. The location will be in Nusa Kambangan," he said. Nusa Kambangan is a high security island prison, where the men would be tied to a pole and shot by firing squad. Earlier there was confusion within the Indonesian government over whether the executions would be delayed. While Indonesia informed the Australian embassy last week that it planned to execute Chan and Sukumaran this month, Indonesia's justice and human rights minister Yasonna Laoly said their executions could be delayed by a pressing political situation, involving a war of sorts between corruption investigators and the national police. But Mr Prasetyo said that would not affect plans to execute the Australians. A senior government source doubts the executions will be carried out this week or next, but it is up to the attorney-general. Once the logistics are organised Mr Prasetyo only has to give 72 hours notice that the men are to face the firing squad. (soure: The Independent) KENYA: Justice Is Served As 3 Men Are Sentenced To Death For Murdering MP 3 men were sentenced to death while 1 woman escaped death due to lack of evidence linking her to the murder of an MP. The 3 were sentenced for the January 2008 assassination of former Embakasi MP Melitus Mugabe Were. Melitus who was dubbed a peacemaker met his untimely death after he was dragged out of his car and shot as he prepared to go into his compund. He was said to be more reasonable when compared to other leaders during the height of post-election violence and offered the voice of reason to his followers, discouraging violence. His family can now rest easy knowing that justice has been served after a judge sentenced James Omondi, Wycliffe Simiyu and Paul Otieno to death for the murder of Melitus. This is a landmark ruling since although the death penalty is constitutional, no executions have been reported. (source: ghafla.co.ke) SRI LANKA: Bali 9, Capital Punishment and Sri Lanka's Policy Ambiguities As Australia is stunned and saddened by Indonesia's adamant decision to go ahead with the execution of 2 young Australian convicts of drug trafficking, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, without listening to many appeals, it is shocking to hear from the new Minister of Justice in Sri Lanka, Wijedasa Rajapaksa, whom I considered in high esteem as a rational person before, that Sri Lanka would reinstate capital punishment (if necessary) to curb crime in the country. In the latter case, even I wondered whether there is anything intrinsically wrong with the name Rajapaksa! The 2 parallels remind us how inhuman or cruel our public policies still are irrespective of the progress that we humans have achieved in science and technology. Of course drug trafficking, murder, rape and child abuse are all reprehensible and indications of the same ailments in society and in the systems of governance. It is also an established fact that most of those who indulge in crime and violence are those who are closer to or part of the power structures in society whether in developing or developed countries. Sri Lanka is a good example. There is no denial that the questions of crime are complicated and endemic in countries like Indonesia or Sri Lanka compared to a country like Australia. The scales are different. Sri Lanka's population is more or less the same as Australia's for its smaller size and Indonesia's is more than 12 times higher. However, that does not preclude us to device common policies on how to tackle crime or how to punish them. Our knowledge of 'Homo sapiens' and their natural conditions or why people are motivated for violence or crime are more or less the same, although that knowledge is not complete or perfect. However, capital punishment is not a clear deterrent for crime or homicide. There are of course dangerous criminals who could be a further danger to the society. They should be kept in imprisonment. The life imprisonment is the best device that the world has invented in protecting society and punishing major crimes. What constitutes major crimes can also be in dispute. Be as it may, the capital punishment or killing for killing or for any other crime cannot be condoned. Andrew and Myuran I have been repeatedly seeing for the last couple of months or even before on Australian TV, the pictures of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were pushed and jolted by the prison guards whenever they were being taken in or out of courts for their trials or appeals. These are shown by the journalists who of course want to create sympathy for their predicament as they are in line for execution. That is one advantage that we have today through media and the newest technology in knowing what is happening throughout the world in order that we can make up our concerned opinions or make our protests known. No one says they are innocent and even they have not said so. The following is a statement or an apology made by Myuran on their predicament. "I acknowledge more than anyone that I've made mistakes and that I'm not a perfect person, but I've learned a lot in prison and I am grateful to the Indonesian justice system and to the prison guards for allowing me to achieve all that I have for myself and for the other prisoners." "Fellow Bali 9 member Andrew Chan and I are not the same people we were 10 years ago, but who is really? We did commit a serious crime and deserve punishment, but we have also paid a great deal for our crimes, as have our families. Please allow us to stay in prison and live." The story unfolded 10 years ago when a group of 9 young Australians aged between 18 and 28 in April 2005 were arrested in Bali for planning to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin worth around A$ 4 million from Indonesia to Australia. Hence it was called Bali 9. After several rounds of trial, all others were sentenced for life imprisonment but all appeals and clemency pleas have gone unheard for Chan and Sukumaran for one reason or the other. They are supposed to be put on death by firing by the end of this month. The crucial question however is whether their killing is really necessary? Can't they have any mercy? Capital punishment on them is absolutely cruel and barbaric. They can really be rehabilitated. Wijedasa Statement It is in this context that Sri Lanka's new Justice Minister's statement in Kandy on 3rd February, at a press conference, is worrying who said that "the government would not hesitate to consider the implementation of the death penalty, if the crime rate keeps rising." There is no doubt that the crime rate is rising. There is no doubt that the curtailment of the crime rate is also not easy. However, the solution is not capital punishment whether it is murder, rape drug trafficking or child abuse. It is not that Sri Lanka is at present free from capital punishment and the right to life is absolutely respected according to the Universal Declaration or the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Sri Lanka is one country which has not implement the capital punishment since 1976. However, the number of people who are on the death row have been increasing as a reflection of the rising crime rate for other reasons. It is reported that there are over 900 convicts in prisons who are sentenced to death, and around 500 of them have appealed their cases. However, the other 400 are waiting until their sentences are (though capital punishment) commuted for life imprisonment or even without knowing their future fate at all. This is in itself is inhuman. As the local saying goes, 'it is like killing without killing' (nomera maranewa wage). It is true that non implementation of the capital punishment or the abolition of the capital punishment in itself is not satisfactory. If necessary measures are not taken to prevent, control and reduce crime, then the crime rate would naturally increase. What is truer is that capital punishment is not a remedy for crime. Some Remedies What have been lacking since the non-implementation of the death penalty, or even otherwise, in Sri Lanka are the preventive measures such as the systematic policing, stronger civil-police relations and proper 'human rights and civic education' for both the police and the civilians, beginning with school children. The prevention of crime should begin at the top level, to be an example for the ordinary people. When the leaders of the country at the highest body of the legislature or Parliament speak and behave like criminals, it would be difficult to prevent crime in the country. Many provincial council leaders or local government politicians are worse. Most despicable and harmful are the interference of politicians in police affairs and their protection of criminals on partisan basis, whether they are in the government side or the opposition. The deterioration of rule of law has been a primary reason for the increase of crime rate. The rule of law should be implemented not only in civil affairs but also in commercial and business affairs. With the expansion of commercial activities, there has emerged quite a substantial sector of illicit trade and commercial activities to earn quick money with the patronage of politicians of all sides. Without stopping those activities and connected legal loopholes the rise of crime rate might not be curtailed. Equally responsible is the deterioration of professional standards and independence of the judiciary. Without a strong, well trained and an impartial judiciary, crime cannot be curtailed in any country. The delay of court cases and lack of free or reasonable legal assistance have led to many miscarriages of justice. In such instances, people have taken justice into their own hands, becoming criminals or perpetrators themselves. Land disputes have led to many civilian conflicts and criminal actions. If people are empowered of their due human rights, they themselves can become a deterrent to crime. They can resist and bring crime to the notice of the authorities speedily. Unfortunately, ordinary citizens are scared to assert this deterrent role because many politicians and police authorities are behind some of the criminals and criminal gangs. The role of the media is also important not for sensational reporting of crime stories for sale but to bring criminals and criminal networks to the notice of the authorities. But unfortunately this is not the case at present. Erratic History The recent history of the capital punishment has been quite erratic in Sri Lanka. Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike abolished the capital punishment in 1956 in good faith and then he was assassinated in 1959. That does not mean that he would have been saved if the capital punishment was not abolished. Thereafter his immediate successors reintroduced it retrospectively and the assassin was hanged for the crime. Since June 1976 no one has been executed under the capital punishment, but there has been a spate of extrajudicial killings and assassinations for various political reasons and as a result of violent political upheavals. During 1990s, several times the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga wanted to implement the capital punishment again but both internal and external pressure prevented it. In 2004, even the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), the foremost lawyers association, wanted to implement the capital punishment without restrictions, after a High Court Judge was gunned down. All these were instances of spontaneous or kneejerk reactions without mindful of required policies and principles to address the issues of crime or punishment. If one traces the ancient history, there had been times that the country was free from capital punishment. Among the kings who abolished or suspended the death penalty was King Voharika Tissa of the Third Century who was reported to be a humanist. This shows that while there had been periods of cruel and inhuman punishments, as Robert Knox had recorded, there were also periods of enlightenment and sophistication. In the case of the latter, the principles undoubtedly were derived from Buddhist and Hindu humanitarianism. No one can perhaps go to the extent of King Siri Sangabodhi who even sacrificed his own head to save others. However, there is a need for humanism and human rights in criminal justice administration, particularly today, where there are highly developed international norms and principles that Sri Lanka should follow. Conclusion There are contradictions in the statements of the new government on the subject of capital punishment. Otherwise, Sri Lanka is one country which could easily abolish capital punishment as the sentences have never been implemented since 1976. It is only 1 step forward. Reportedly, the Prime Minister has given an assurance to the human rights community promising to accede to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. This optional protocol is not just another human rights declaration, but a binding agreement to abolish the capital punishment. On the other hand, the statements made by the Minister of Justice that the government would not hesitate to implement the death penalty, if the crime rate keeps rising, is not only contradicts Prime Minister's statements but also go against the expectations of the human rights community within and outside the country about the new administration. The issue of capital punishment is not merely a Sri Lankan matter but an international one. The threatened lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesian jail show the barbarity and cruelty of the capital punishment. Although there haven't been such dramatic cases in Sri Lanka like in Indonesia in the recent times, if capital punishment is implemented again, then nearly 400 people's lives might be in danger whose sentences are not yet commuted. It is also possible that since the capital punishment has not been implemented for a long period, that the judges were quite liberal in 'sentencing people to death' instead of life imprisonment directly. If that is the case, there can be a major miscarriage of justice, if the 'threat' of the Minister of Justice materializes in implementing the capital punishment. (source: Laksiri Fernando, Sri Lanka Guardian) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 10 21:49:26 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 21:49:26 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MISSOURI Message-ID: Feb. 10 MISSOURI----impending execution Supreme Court declines to stay Missouri execution The Supreme Court denied the stay request on Tuesday evening. The same four justices who would have granted a stay in an Oklahoma execution last month would have granted the stay, according to the order. While it would take five justices to stay an execution, only four justices have to agree to accept a case, which is why the court declined to stop that execution but agreed not long after to consider lethal injection. Earlier: An inmate who is scheduled to be executed in Missouri asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to halt his execution, arguing that the sentence should be delayed until after the justices hear a lethal injection case this spring. Walter Timothy Storey, who was convicted and sentenced to death for killing his neighbor 25 years ago, is set to be the first person executed by Missouri this year. His execution is scheduled for after midnight Wednesday. His stay request, filed Tuesday, points to the impact of the court?s decision to hear a lethal injection case. Last month, the justices said they would hear arguments over Oklahoma?s lethal injection procedures, and a short time later they agreed to postpone three upcoming executions in that state until after they issue a ruling in the case. The Oklahoma case centers on the drug midazolam, which has been used in several problematic executions in the United States. This drug is not used to carry out executions in Missouri, though it has been given to inmates before their executions. Instead, lethal injections in Missouri use the drug pentobarbital, according to a protocol that was adopted in 2013 by the state?s Department of Corrections. Storey?s request says it does not object specifically to the use of pentobarbital in the execution, but points to the fact that Missouri ?plans to tell him nothing about who prepared the drug, and how the drug is prepared.? (Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster was critical of ?the creeping secrecy? involved last year, though he defended the state?s practices as legal.) In addition, Missouri has used midazolam on inmates before they were executed, something first reported by St. Louis Public Radio and confirmed by Koster?s office. Storey?s request, citing these reports, says that the use of midazolam should cause the execution to be postponed, at least until the justices have ruled in the Oklahoma case. In response to the request, Missouri argued that the court?s decisions to hear the Oklahoma case and stay executions in that state are not relevant. It also argues that the Supreme Court is not going to determine that ?rapid and painless executions of the type Missouri routinely carries out violate the ban on cruel and unusual punishment? when it rules on the Oklahoma case. While admitting that Missouri uses midazolam or a drug like valium as ?a pre-execution sedative,? the filing argues that midazolam is given as an option to inmates and is not used as a lethal chemical. The Supreme Court?s upcoming case involving lethal injections could reshape the way executions are carried out in the United States. In taking that case, the justices are also acknowledging that the lethal injection landscape has dramatically changed since they last considered the issue in 2008. States including Missouri have scrambled since then to find the drugs needed to carry out executions, switching drugs and protocols and adopting new layers of secrecy. Missouri, for example, planned to use propofol, an anesthetic, but halted an execution and switched to pentobarbital after the European Union threatened to curb exports of the drug. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent that seemed to foreshadow that the justices would hear a lethal injection case, specifically questioned ?states? increasing reliance on new and scientifically untested methods of execution.? Last week, the Supreme Court stayed an execution in Texas, a case that does not focus on lethal injections. Instead, that inmate?s attorneys argued that executing him after three decades on death row would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. (source: Washington Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 11 10:46:27 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 10:46:27 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., GA., FLA., OKLA., MO., KAN. Message-ID: Feb. 11 VIRGINIA: Virginia Senate says suppliers, ingredients of execution drugs should be secret ---- Bill proposes secrecy on Virginia executions Virginia could keep the suppliers of the drugs used in executions secret, as well as all the components they mix to make the drug cocktail used in lethal injections under a bill the state Senate approved Tuesday. But the measure the Senate passed dropped a section of the original proposal, which would have exempted all information about how executions are conducted from the Freedom of Information Act or from discovery in court cases. The purpose of the measure is to authorize the Department of Corrections to contract with compounding pharmacies to obtain drugs for lethal injections, Senate Minority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield, said. Current state law says firms that compound drugs must do so for therapeutic purposes. And to ensure the state can get those drugs, it needs to take the additional step of keeping confidential the names of those firms and details about what they use to make the compounds, Saslaw argued. Many of his fellow Democrats weren't so sure. "This is the public's business," state Sen. Barbara Favola, D-Arlington, said. She said when the state takes a life, the process should be as transparent as possible. State Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, said keeping information about execution drugs and their suppliers confidential raised significant constitutional issues. One of the key challenges to executions in recent years has been over whether the ways they are carried out constitute cruel and unusual punishment, which the Eighth Amendment prohibits. The U.S. Supreme Court has halted the scheduled executions of three Oklahoma prisoners, after agreeing in January to review a challenge to that state's lethal injection procedures. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a 2008 challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection procedure that putting people sentenced to death at risk of excessive pain violates the Constitution. Some legal scholars say keeping information about the drugs secret denies prisoners sentenced to death their legal rights to go to court to make sure their executions are constitutional. State Sen. Charles Carrico, R-Grayson, who co-sponsored the bill, said the purpose was simply to make sure the state could carry out the executions the law allows and courts order. State Sen. Thomas A. Garrett, R-Louisa, agreed, and said his fellow senators needed to think about the victims of those sentenced to death. "This bill is not about the death penalty, this bill is about government secrecy," replied state Sen. Jennifer Wexton, D-Loudoun. The Senate passed the measure 23-14. The vote drew a quick, sharp response from the American Civil Liberties Union. "This bill prevents the public and the press from knowing anything about the drugs (their source, materials, or components) used in an execution," said Frank Knaack, the group's public policy director. "The awesome power of the government to kill in our name must be accompanied by transparency and accountability, both of which would go away if this bill becomes law," he said. (source: Daily Press) GEORGIA: Death-penalty opponents rally at state Capitol Death penalty opponents rallied at the Capitol Tuesday, the day the execution date was set for the lone woman on Georgia's death row. "We cannot believe in any practice that treats humans beings, God's beloved children, as disposable objects," said the Rev. Joseph Shippen, speaking on behalf of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. The Department of Corrections has announced Feb. 25 as the date to carry out the death sentence against Kelly Renee Gissendaner of Winder, convicted of getting her boyfriend to kill her husband, Douglas, in 1997. She will be the 1st woman executed in Georgia since 1945 and only the 4th ever to receive capital punishment in the state. Her boyfriend, Gregory Owen, wielded the fatal knife, but was only sentenced to 25 years for the murder after he confessed and testified against her. Sara Totonchi, executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, said Gissendaner's case represents a problem of proportionality since the 2 defendants received different sentences. "We don't see juries doing this anymore. This has sort of evolved," she said. "If 1 defendant gets a life sentence, the other gets a life sentence." However, Shippen said, it's a common circumstance to find among the condemned murderers who got stiffer penalties after prosecutors succeeded in turning defendants against one another. "As is often the case, whichever turns 1st gets the deal," he said, adding that while he regularly visits men waiting on death row in Jackson, he hasn't met Gissendaner because she's being held separately in another prison. The capital-punishment opponents had already planned their rally before the execution date was announced. They were continuing their fight over the previous execution on Jan. 27 of Warren Hill because they say he should have been given clemency due to his low IQ. The group is hopeful that legislation will change Georgia law to make it easier for a defendant to prove mental retardation, but so far no bill has been introduced this legislative session. Totonchi noted that prosecutors are turning to capital punishment less often and that jurors are more reluctant to impose it. Last year's 35 executions in 7 states was the lowest number in 20 years. "Even as executions continue, there is a growing consensus across the nation that the death penalty serves no compelling purpose," she said. (source: onlineathens.com) FLORIDA: FIU Law receives grant to educate defense lawyers handling capital cases No matter a person's moral, ethical or religious beliefs when it comes to the death penalty, a person facing this judgment should have received highly competent representation from his or her attorney during trial. It's the well-investigated and proper presentation of all of the mitigating circumstances made to the prosecutor, jury and judge that assists them in making a fully informed and intelligent decision as to whether someone should face the death penalty. In many cases, the reason they were sentenced to death was because their defense lawyers did not sufficiently investigate or present all of the mitigating factors that would have led to a result short of death. Too often, the death sentence occurs because the defense is deficient in knowing and doing all that is necessary to provide mitigating evidence and properly presenting that to the prosecution. In an effort to improve the quality and effectiveness of defense lawyers handling capital cases, FIU Law's Death Penalty Clinic, through its Florida Center for Capital Representation (FCCR), will now spend the next 2 years providing education and consultation to lawyers who are representing clients facing the death penalty. The effort was made possible thanks to a $620,000 grant - the largest grant amount ever received by FIU Law - provided by the Themis Fund, a Proteus Fund initiative. Clinical Professor Stephen Harper will lead the training program and currently serves as the supervising attorney for the Death Penalty Clinic. Harper has more than 3 decades of experience with the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office where he served as co-coordinator of the Capital Litigation Unit. He also coordinated the Juvenile Death Penalty Initiative where he oversaw the drafting and filing of amicus briefs in Roper v. Simmons. "The goal is to improve attorneys' investigation skills and teach them how to create mitigating profiles on behalf of their client," Harper explained. "We will also teach them how to present powerful and compelling arguments, how to get their client to plea, when necessary, and how to preserve the record for appeal if they are denied the things they need to fully investigate and prepare for a penalty phase. The training will also include jury selection and how to integrate the first phase of a capital case with the penalty phase." When defense lawyers are building their cases, many do not or cannot hire true mitigation specialists to work with them on their capital cases. Mitigation specialists have clinical and personal skills that lawyers do not. These specialists understand the clinical implications of mitigating evidence and are trained in how to elicit often humiliating evidence from clients and their families. They can assist a client in accepting a plea to life when it is offered where there is overwhelming evidence of guilt. The specialists can also make the difference in whether a client receives death or life. Sara Totonchi, Executive Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, whose organization represents people facing the death penalty and employs class action lawsuits and individual representation in challenging unconstitutional and unconscionable practices within the criminal justice system, recognizes the value of housing this kind of work at FIU Law. "There is no place in the country more relevant and rich with opportunity for law students to learn about the practice of capital litigation," Totonchi said. "With this grant, FIU Law's Death Penalty Clinic has the potential to make an extraordinary impact not only on the lives of people facing the death penalty, but in shaping the career trajectories of the students who are fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in its work." For FIU Law students, under the supervision of faculty, this unique opportunity will teach them to properly and thoroughly manage capital punishment cases. Students will have specific tasks and work on real cases, pleadings, motions, and will interview witnesses and clients. FIU Law will not only be assisting lawyers in specific research and investigations, but they will also be training future lawyers on how to properly represent someone facing the death penalty. The law school will also act as a "measuring stick" of what is effective representation. Right now, Florida has almost 400 individuals who face possible execution. Last year, the state ranked second in the country in the number of people sentenced to death and ranked second in the number of executions. There are more than 1,000 death penalty cases currently waiting for trial. FIU Law's Death Penalty Clinic is currently working on nine cases and consulting on many more. Professor Harper is conducting his second round of trainings throughout the state. He is also developing protocols on how to address capital cases, advocating for the hiring of mitigation specialists and creating an online database of pending death cases in Florida. FIU Law's Death Penalty Clinic - the Florida Center for Capital Representation (FCCR) - is 1 of 6 experiential programs open to law students that gives them the opportunity to learn about the law through real-life experience and hands-on learning options. (source: FIU News) OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma considers bringing back the gas chamber The Oklahoma state legislature will consider 2 bills this week that would allow the state to use gas chambers in executions when lethal injection chemicals are unavailable. Using nitrogen gas is "a lot more practical" than lethal injection, Republican Rep. Mike Christian told the Associated Press Tuesday. "You wouldn't need a medical doctor to do it." The bills' introduction comes less than 3 weeks after the Supreme Court announced it would consider a challenge to the constitutionality of using midazolam, a drug used by Oklahoma and multiple other states, in executions by lethal injection. The case could make the state's current death penalty protocol unlawful. Lawyers arguing on behalf of death row inmates in Oklahoma claim that midazolam, a drug in the same family as Xanax and Valium, does not sufficiently sedate the inmate to prevent cruel and unusual punishment. They further allege that the drug was responsible for the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in April 2014, which the state of Oklahoma maintains was the result of a misplaced IV. Oklahoma is not the 1st state to consider alternative methods to lethal injection. In 2014, Tennessee passed a law allowing the use of the electric chair when lethal injection drugs are unavailable; a bill that would reinstate the firing squad passed through the Wyoming state senate earlier this month. Other states' laws still allow older death penalty methods like the firing squad or the electric chair, though the practices have been supplanted by lethal injection's widespread acceptance. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, believes laws allowing alternative execution methods are simply "a threat" meant to warn courts not to scrutinize lethal injection protocols. "If the courts are going to be monitoring this process, it's all going to be bogged down," Dieter said. These laws were introduced "not so much because anyone wants to go back to the firing squad or the gas chamber, but rather because [state governments] want to be left alone" to perform executions without legal challenges. In recent years, many states have scrambled to find adequate lethal injection drugs after being cut off by pharmaceutical companies that do not support the drugs' use in executions. States from Oklahoma to Florida, Ohio to Arizona have begun using midazolam instead of more potent medical anesthetics, while others have turned to unregulated "compounding pharmacies" to secure the drugs. Defense attorneys in multiple states have pursued legal challenges, akin to the one the Supreme Court will hear this year, that argue that various lethal injection protocols force inmates to experience cruel and unusual levels of pain. The Supreme Court stayed all Oklahoma executions using midazolam on Jan. 28 until the case is decided. If the court finds that use of the drug constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, multiple states might have to end their current death penalty protocols. (source: politico.com) ********************* Senate committee advances bill to modify execution procedure The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced legislation that would allow the state to utilize nitrogen hypoxia as an alternative method for executing death row prisoners. Authored by Sen. Anthony Sykes, Senate Bill 794, states that nitrogen hypoxia will be used to carry out death sentences in the event that an appellate court rules the state's existing lethal injection procedure to be unconstitutional. "Today, we are moving forward with a plan that would allow the state to proceed with the implementation of the death penalty for our most heinous criminals," said Sykes, R-Moore. "The state has an obligation to the people of Oklahoma and to the families of victims to crimes to see that this penalty is enforced effectively. The death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for our worst criminals and nitrogen hypoxia is recognized as one of the most humane methods for carrying out the sentence. It is important that the Legislature act to ensure the will of the people of Oklahoma will not be dismissed by the courts." Rep. Mike Christian is the House author of the proposal, and has also authored legislation relating to nitrogen hypoxia this year. "I applaud the Senate Judiciary committee for passing this measure," said Christian, R-Oklahoma City. "Senator Sykes and I will be working on this issue this session." This afternoon, the House Judiciary Committee will hear House Bill 1879, a similar measure. (source: Norman Transcript) MISSOURI----execution Walter Storey Executed For Killing Special Ed Teacher Jill Frey A man convicted of breaking into his neighbor's home in a St. Louis suburb and slitting her throat 25 years ago was executed early Wednesday. Walter Timothy Storey was the 1st Missouri inmate put to death this year after a record 10 executions in 2014. His fate was sealed when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt the execution over concerns about Missouri's secretive process for obtaining and using the lethal injection drug pentobarbital. Strapped to the gurney, Storey mouthed what appeared to be "I love you" to his witnesses and the family of the victim, Jill Frey. A few seconds later, he began chanting something. Moments after the drug was administered at 12:01 a.m., he stopped suddenly and heaved 1 deep final breath. He was pronounced dead at 12:10. Jeff Frey, the victim's brother, said the "sad and devastating ordeal" of the killing and the protracted court delays took a toll on the family. He said the execution "brings a sense of closure to a part of this unspeakable tragedy in our lives. It will not bring Jill back, nor will it ever lessen the pain and suffering we go through every day." Storey was sentenced to death 3 times in the same case. He was living with his mother in a St. Charles apartment on Feb. 2, 1990, when he became upset over his pending divorce. He spent an angry night drinking beer. He ran out of beer and money, so he decided to break into the neighboring apartment of Frey to steal money for more beer. Frey, a 36-year-old special education teacher, had left the sliding glass door of her balcony open. Storey climbed the balcony and confronted Frey in her bedroom, where he beat her. Frey suffered 6 broken ribs and severe wounds to her head and face. Storey used a kitchen knife to slit her throat so deeply that her spine was damaged. Frey died of blood loss and asphyxiation. Storey left the body and returned the next day to clean up blood, throw clothes in a trash bin and scrub Frey's fingernails to remove any traces of his skin. But he missed a key piece of evidence: blood on a dresser. "There was a really good palm print in blood," said Mike Harvey, a retired St. Charles detective who now works as an investigator for the St. Charles County prosecutor. Lab analysis matched the print to Storey, whose prints were on file for a previous crime. Storey was convicted and sentenced to death. The Missouri Supreme Court tossed the conviction, citing concerns about ineffective assistance of counsel and "egregious" errors committed by Kenny Hulshof, who was with the Missouri attorney general's office at the time and handled the prosecution. Hulshof was later a congressman and a candidate for governor. Storey was tried again in 1997, and sentenced again to death. That conviction was also overturned, this time over a procedural error by the judge. Storey was sentenced to death a 3rd time in 1999. Storey's attorney, Jennifer Herndon, said he spent "thousands of hours" working in a restorative justice program in prison, trying to help crime victims. She said he was remorseful for the killing. According to prison officials, Storey released this final statement: "For this world full of anger, hate and revenge, I would like to pray for peace, forgiveness and love! I love everyone, even those who are doing this deed." Storey becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri and the 81st overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989. Only Texas (521), Oklahoma (112), Virginia (110) and Florida (90) have executed more condemned inmates since July 2, 1976, when the death penalty was re-legalized in the USA. Storey becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1402nd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Huffington Post & Rick Halperin) *********** Walter Storey Executed; 1st Execution In Missouri This Year Walter Storey's execution was carried out at 12:01 a.m. by lethal injection, according to a brief statement from the Missouri Dept. of Corrections. His time of death is listed as 12:10 a.m. Storey received a lethal dose of pentobarbital, according to DOC spokesman Mike O'Connell. He says Storey was also offered Valium and midazolam as sedatives, but he refused both. He consumed a last meal, and shortly before his execution released the following written statement: "For this world full of anger, hate and revenge, I would like to pray for peace, forgiveness and love! I love everyone, even those who are doing this deed." O'Connell later added in a separate brief statement, "Witnesses said he appeared to quickly and quietly stop breathing. This is the same in all executions in Missouri." During a press briefing following the execution, Department of Corrections Director George Lombardi read a statement from Gov. Jay Nixon: "25 years ago this month, Jill Frey was murdered in a brutal manner, in what should have been the safety of her own home. As a special education teacher, she had dedicated her life to the students she taught, and accomplished a great deal during a life that was cut tragically short. Tonight, I ask Missourians to remember Jill Frey, and keep her loved ones in their thoughts and prayers. " Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster released the following statement: "Jill Frey's loved ones waited a quarter-century for the closure and finality of justice that came early this morning. The level of violence and utter disregard for life that Storey displayed, nearly 25 years ago to-the-day, demanded he pay the ultimate sentence." Jeff Frey, Jill's brother, had the most to say following Storey's execution. He gave a long statement to reporters, which reads in part: "My attempt to give a brief statement about this event and the past 25 years can never explain the overall effect this senseless and brutal murder has had on so many people. Jill was a tremendous person, daughter, sister, aunt, godmother, cousin, teacher and friend. To go back 25 years (almost to the day) when we received the tragic news, to what has taken us through 3 trials over the next 10 years, then waiting another 15 years for the courts to set an execution date has needless to say had an undeniable impact on Jill's family and friends. Over this period of time several of our family members have passed away including both our mother and father. From the outset, this tragedy took its toll on our father. He passed away shortly after the 3rd trial and unfortunately his quality of life went from bad to worse beginning that dreadful day of Feb. 5th, 1990 when he lost his oldest daughter. Our mother passed away in 2011 - 6 months after we finally received the news that the US Supreme Court denied his final appeal. We know Jill, Mom, Dad, and all of our family and friends are relieved that this is finally over and justice has been served. Unfortunately, we have had to endure and suffer through all the countless delays and re-trials when there was absolutely no doubt that 2 days after this brutal murder took place they had the right guy - a guy that we can truly call a terrorist. To say Jill was a special person is an understatement. Having Jill taken from us not only affected her family and friends' lives but all the special needs children that she taught and loved, all the children she could have taught and been enriched by her love. Her never-ending desire was to give of herself always. This world lost a very special and beautiful person." (source: Kansas City Star) KANSAS: Christian leaders offer support to Rep. Becker's bill to end capital punishment Leaders of the Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Mennonite and Episcopal denominations Tuesday converged at the Statehouse to offer religious, financial and ethical arguments for abolition of capital punishment in Kansas. The faith group acknowledged strong convictions and deep passions raised by consideration of the death penalty as well as suffering of families made victims of heinous crime, but they also put forth the proposition state-sanctioned execution conflicted with God's message of forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation. "In the light of God, the death penalty is morally bankrupt," said the Rev. Peter Goerzen, campus minister at Bethel College and representative of the Western District Conference of the Mennonite Church USA. "Killing people -- because killing is wrong -- skews morality toward revenge and contributes to a culture of vengeance and death." Joseph Naumann, the most reverend archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, said Kansas statute offering capital punishment as a path to justice pulled society down to the level of violent perpetrators. "Our refusal to resort to the death penalty is not because we fail to appreciate the horror of the crime committed," said Naumann, whose father was murdered. "But because we refuse to imitate violent criminals." He said there could be circumstances justifying the death penalty as a last line of defense to protect society, yet that condition didn't exist in the United States. These church leaders, in collaboration with the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, delivered to state legislators at the Capitol a petition signed by more than 430 Kansas faith leaders that called for an end to capital punishment. Rep. Steven Becker, R-Buhler, accepted the petition and recalled for an audience of several dozen people that Gov. Sam Brownback had referred several weeks ago in his State of the State speech to his belief that Kansas was the "most pro-life state in America" from the beginning to the end of life. "That cannot be true," Becker said. "That cannot be true as long as the death penalty is in the pages of our law books. The sanctity Bills to be offered in the 2015 Legislature would replace capital punishment with a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. The bill would apply to crimes committed after the effective date of the new law. The measure also would prohibit commutation of life without parole sentences. Opposition to reform have centered on members of the Republican Party, but Gov. Sam Brownback has been sharply critical of rulings by the Kansas Supreme Court overturning death sentences of inmates. Although the death penalty was reinstated in Kansas in 1994, the state hasn't executed anyone since 1965 double-hanging of George Ronald York and James Douglas Latham. 6 states have repealed the death penalty since 2007, bringing to 18 the states without capital punishment. Kansans who have been incarcerated under the sentence of death include Gary Kleypas, who was convicted in the 1996 for the rape and murder of Carrie Williams in Pittsburg. The death row roster also includes Reginald and Jonathan Carr, guilty of five murders in Wichita; Scott Cheever, convicted in 2007 for killing Greenwood County Sheriff Matt Samuels; and James Kraig Kahler, convicted of slaying his wife, two daughters and his wife's grandmother. (source: Hutchinson News) ******************* Clergy plead for repeal of Kansas death penalty----Pending House, Senate bills abolish capital punishment Leaders of the Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Mennonite and Episcopal denominations Tuesday converged at the Statehouse to offer religious, financial and ethical arguments for abolition of capital punishment in Kansas. The faith group acknowledged strong convictions and deep passions raised by consideration of the death penalty as well as suffering of families made victims of heinous crime, but they also put forth the proposition state-sanctioned execution conflicted with God's message of forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation. "In the light of God, the death penalty is morally bankrupt," said the Rev. Peter Goerzen, campus minister at Bethel College and representative of the Western District Conference of the Mennonite Church USA. "Killing people -- because killing is wrong -- skews morality toward revenge and contributes to a culture of vengeance and death." Joseph Naumann, the most reverend archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, said Kansas statute offering capital punishment as a path to justice pulled society down to the level of violent perpetrators. "Our refusal to resort to the death penalty is not because we fail to appreciate the horror of the crime committed," said Naumann, whose father was murdered. "But because we refuse to imitate violent criminals." He said there could be circumstances justifying the death penalty as a last line of defense to protect society, yet that condition didn't exist in the United States. These church leaders, in collaboration with the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, delivered to state legislators at the Capitol a petition signed by more than 430 Kansas faith leaders that called for an end to capital punishment. Bills to be offered in the 2015 Legislature would replace capital punishment with a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. The bill would apply to crimes committed after the effective date of the new law. The measure also would prohibit commutation of life without parole sentences. Although the death penalty was reinstated in Kansas in 1994, the state hasn't executed an inmate since 1965. 6 states have repealed the death penalty since 2007, bringing to 18 the states without capital punishment. (source: Capital Journal Online) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 11 10:47:22 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 10:47:22 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----S. DAK., UTAH, ARIZ., CALIF., WASH., USA Message-ID: Feb. 11 SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota lawmakers weigh repeal of death penalty 2 former state attorneys general and an ex-judge are among those who plan to encourage South Dakota lawmakers to repeal the state's death penalty. The Senate State Affairs Committee in Pierre will take testimony Wednesday morning on legislation that would replace capital punishment with a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole. The main sponsors of the bipartisan bill are Democratic Sen. Bernie Hunhoff, of Yankton, and Republican Rep. Steve Hickey, of Sioux Falls, who's also a pastor. Among those who plan to testify: former Republican Attorneys General Mark Meierhenry and Roger Tellinghuisen, and Republican Sen. Arthur Rusch, of Vermillion, a former judge. Charles Russell Rhines, Briley Piper and Rodney Berget are currently on the state's death row. Last year's Legislature rejected an effort to repeal the death penalty. (source: Associated Press) UTAH: New death penalty legislation is the law of retaliation----Capital punishment in Utah Supporters of capital punishment have had a bad year. On Jan. 16, 2014, Ohio death row inmate Dennis McGuire was strapped to table and injected with a lethal dose of midazolam (a benzodiazepine tranquilizer) and hydromorphone (a potent narcotic painkiller). Instead of losing complete consciousness, McGuire writhed and gasped for over 20 minutes before finally expiring. Witnesses to the execution later said that it "looked and sounded as though he [McGuire] was suffocating." This particular drug cocktail was a new form of lethal injection. Ohio, among other states, has been faced with supply shortages of the chemicals typically used to perform executions. So McGuire became a guinea pig - a test subject in an experiment to find new "humane" ways to kill. By the end of 2014, 2 more executions were botched - both ended in prolonged agony for the inmates, and both employed experimental chemical combinations because of drug shortages. These shortages come as a result of refusals by European pharmaceutical manufacturers to sell their products to U.S. prisons intent on using the drugs for execution. Nearly every country in Europe has abolished the death penalty, and many Europeans want to see the U.S. follow their lead. However, 39 states and the federal government still have capital punishment on the books. Most of these states have made lethal injection the only legal form of execution. In large part, abolishing other execution procedures came as an appeasement to those who argue that the death penalty constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment." Death penalty supporters claim that lethal injection can't possibly be cruel and unusual since the prisoner simply falls into a deep sleep, never again to wake up. But the past year has proven otherwise. This recent string of bungled executions has lawmakers scrambling to find new ways to humanely kill condemned inmates. This has led some states to consider reinstating previously abandoned methods - including the particularly gruesome use of firing squads - as a means of carrying out the business of death. On Feb. 4, 2015, Utah State Representative Paul Ray (R-Clearfield) introduced House Bill 11 (H.B. 11), which would amend the Utah Code of Criminal Procedure to allow the use of firing squads in the event that Utah ever runs out of its most effective thanatotic chemicals. Ray touts the firing squad as "a lot more humane than the electric-chair, hanging, or lethal injection," while at the same time admonishing his fellow lawmakers not to get "caught up" in ensuring the painless demise of convicted murderers. "These people are being put to death for a reason ... their victims didn't get to die in a less excruciating manner," Ray said in his arguments to the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday. Ray was quick to remind committee members "this is not a debate on the death penalty." But he also claimed to "understand the people who are opposed to the death penalty," and conceded that abolishing capital punishment in Utah is "a discussion we probably ought to have at some point in time." So my question is this: why not have that discussion now? What better time for Utahns to reevaluate the priorities and motivations behind taking the lives of their fellow citizens? Don't get me wrong, I think most death row inmates are violent offenders who need to be separated from society. But when examined closely, the most popular arguments in favor of capital punishment don't hold up to scrutiny. The most oft cited reasons given for continued executions include recidivism (the idea that the only way to ensure killers don't kill again is to snuff them out), deterrence (the belief that exterminating murderers sends a message to other would-be killers), and - my favorite of all - cost (the notion that eliminating violent offenders saves the money it would take to imprison them for life). The interesting thing about the cost argument is the fact that the exact opposite is true. The money it takes to carry out a single death sentence far outweighs the expense of locking up a person for life. Gary Syphus of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst's Office reported that Utah spends $1.6 million more per inmate to carry out an execution than it does to sentence the same prisoner to life without parole. Since 1976 (the year the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a 4 year moratorium on capital punishment), Utah has put to death 7 men. Using Syphus' numbers this means $11.2 million dollars have been spent to kill 7 people who would otherwise have been rotting in a prison cell unable to inflict further violence. So why does our society spend millions of extra dollars to execute certain criminals (many of whom live for decades on death row as they pursue multiple appeals), rather than just permanently locking these people away? The answer comes in one word - revenge. When capital punishment is boiled down to its most concentrated form, all that remains is vengeance. It's the mentality of an eye for an eye, a life for a life - the law of retaliation. And who knows, maybe we humans still need some outlet to unleash our most primal instincts, and maybe capital punishment serves that purpose. But that's a question for a psychologist. I, however, would like to offer an alternative, just a slight realignment of our vengeful urges. Rather than spend millions to eliminate a few of society's biggest creeps, we should instead take all that money and direct it toward solving the hundreds of cold-case murders in Utah. A 2008 report released by Scripps Howard News Service lists Utah as having 424 unsolved murders since 1980. That's 424 families that live under the constant cloud of not knowing who killed their loved one. If we took the $11.2 million spent on exacting revenge against 7 men, and instead put that money toward solving those 424 murder cases, each investigation would receive over $25,000 in additional funding. Just think how many families would receive closure. But here we are, debating if we should poison, shoot, or electrocute our way to "justice," while over 400 other murderers run free. (source: Opinion; Marcos Camargo----The Independent) ARIZONA: Death Penalty or Life Sentencing? Dwayne Cates Stirs Humanitarian Jury for a Lighter Penalty More court drama unfolds as the defense attorneys representing the case of Jodi Arias refuse to put their defendant on the witness stand during the retrial of her murder case. Is she about to face the worst and prepare herself for a death penalty sentence? According to reports, it has been a strategy for the defense attorneys of Arias to "humanize" their client to make it even harder for the jury to vote for death penalty. It has already been a struggle to fabricate the feeling of compassion for Arias since she admittedly testified that she was the one responsible for the gruesome death of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. According to legal expert Dwayne Cates, the defense team is trying to stir the emotions of the jury. 'We're talking about humanizing her, making her a person for the jury." "Jurors have a hard time putting female defendants to death to begin with, and the more she becomes a person, the harder it will be for them to vote for the death penalty," he added. Arias is also firm on not entertaining questions as she is being ordered by the court in testifying in front of the public. She plans to address the jury when the trial is over and when she is not required to answer lawyers. It has been reported in the past that Arias actions was more of a self-defense rather than a plotted murder. She claims that her ex-boyfriend had injured and battered her several times in the past leading her to do the crime back in 2008. On the other hand as Deana Reid, one of Alexander's ex-girlfriend was called to testify on court, she denied that Alexander abused her, physically or emotionally. On the other hand, reports say that Reid refused to answer cross-examinations lawyers unless she was given access to her earlier recorded statement in a transcript. On the defense, unidentified witnesses claim in seeing it in action that Alexander forcibly restrains and physically abuses Arias during a dispute. It's a battle of who's saying the truth and who are fabricating lies in this long overdue court room real drama. Life imprisonment with a possibility of parole after 25 years is most likely the sentence the judge will give Arias unless the jury comes with a firm penalty this time. (source: Venture Capital Post) CALIFORNIA----female eligible for death penalty Sandoval charged with 1st degree murder, eligible for death penalty Erika Sandoval waited hours for her ex-husband to get home and then killed him, according to prosecutors who charged the Visalia woman Tuesday. Sandoval, 28, was charged 4 days after Daniel Green was gunned down inside his Goshen home. District Attorney Tim Ward said Sandoval will face 1 count of 1st-degree murder. She also faces a special circumstance that the crime was committed while Sandoval was "lying in wait" and special allegations that a firearm was used. She could face the death penalty, however that decision won't be made until a preliminary hearing. "These crimes, which are perpetrated behind closed doors, within intimate relationships, are egregious and they are unacceptable," Ward said. "Domestic violence can impact every gender and every community and the worst possible tragic outcome is death. "The allegations in this investigation mirror that." Green and Sandoval, who have a child together, were previously involved in domestic violence incidents in December 2010 and February 2011. Ward said both appeared to be "mutual victims" in those cases. Deputies found evidence to arrest both Green and Sandoval, sheriff's officials reported at the time of their arrest. Charges were never filed for either of them. For Sandoval, it's not known if she's hired an attorney, however she will face the veteran prosecutor Anthony Fultz. Fultz is Ward's assistant district attorney. While he hasn't tried a case in a couple years, he's not a stranger to death penalty cases. Ward called him the best. "We had a lot of prosecutors ask for this one and we are going to put our best on this, Ward said. (source: Visalia Times-Delta) ********************* San Bernardino man faces death penalty for fatally beating son A jury began deliberating Tuesday on whether a San Bernardino man convicted of beating his 4-year-old son to death with an aluminum baseball bat will be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison. Harby Ausbon Burden, 36, of San Bernardino was convicted Jan. 21 of murder and torture for the Oct. 11, 2006, beating death of his 4-year-old son, Ausbon Juan, or "A.J.," as the boy was commonly called. Burden became enraged when A.J. soiled his pants and struck the boy several times with the bat. Police responded to Burden's apartment, in the 2900 block of North Mountain Avenue, about 1:30 p.m. and found A.J. unconscious. The boy was rushed to St. Bernardine Medical Center, where he died at 2:03 p.m., police said. Evidence showed that Burden beat his son regularly, and older injuries A.J. had suffered were in various stages of healing at the time of his death. A neighbor interviewed by police told them she saw Burden yelling at A.J. and slamming his head repeatedly against the seat of Burden's car about a month prior to A.J.'s death, Deputy District Attorney Bobbie Mann said. During her closing statement Tuesday, Mann reminded the jury of the extensive injuries found on A.J.'s body at the time he was killed: Scars, bruises and lacerations covered his body. He suffered a lacerated kidney, hemorrhaging in his scalp, broken ribs, a broken right arm, hand and leg, and a broken left arm and foot. The boy was struck so hard in the buttocks that the muscles tore away from his pelvic girdle and caused internal bleeding. "The evidence showed that the defendant repeatedly, savagely, over the course of time, beat A.J.," Mann said. "He systematically and savagely destroyed this little boy." Burden's attorney, Chuck Nacsin, asked the jury to show mercy to his client and return with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He read statements from members of Burden's family, who say they have forgiven Burden and have compassion for him. Nacsin also cited Burden's own violent upbringing, in which discipline was typically meted out with beatings. Burden, Nacsin said, was ill-equipped to be a parent, despite the best efforts of Burden and A.J.'s mother, India Marie Waller, who gave birth to A.J. while Burden was doing time in prison on a statutory rape conviction in which Waller was the victim. Waller was 16 and Burden 21 at the time of the offense in February 2001, court records show. When Burden was released from prison, he and Waller reconnected and made a go at raising a family. Waller bore another child with Burden, a daughter, Nacsin said. But a back injury prevented Burden from working. He was on pain medication and did not have the tools to care for his 2 small children, Nacsin said. And while that certainly is no excuse for what Burden did to his son, Nacsin was hoping it would elicit some sympathy with the jury. "Do we have to kill him?" Nacsin asked the jury. "Is that all there is? Is he so terrible that he has to be executed?" Waller, now 29, was sentenced in January 2011 to 5 years in prison on charges of child abuse, manslaughter and false imprisonment. Per a plea agreement, the murder charge initially filed against her was dropped. She has since been released from custody. Mann told the jury Tuesday that, given all the evidence presented at trial and Burden's lack of remorse, the death penalty is appropriate. "Is he deserving of sympathy that he did not give his own child?" Mann asked the jury. "(A.J.) was murdered by the one person who was supposed to protect him against all the evils of the world. Instead, he (Burden) was the biggest evil of the world to A,J." (source: San Bernardino Sun) ************************************ Judge wants death penalty issue to move forward----Brother of victim: 'My sister needs justice' A Sacramento Superior Court judge has denied a bid from the state to toss out a lawsuit that pushes for the execution of condemned murderers, such as Stockton's Michael Morales, whose case has led to an indefinite moratorium on executions in California. 1 of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit is the brother of Terri Lynn Winchell, who as a 17-year-old was raped and tortured to death by Morales in 1981. The California Justice Legal Foundation filed the civil complaint in the Sacramento trial court last November on behalf of Bradley Winchell and Kermit Alexander, whose family members were murdered in 1984 by Tiequon Cox, arguing the continued delays in carrying out the death penalty are denying justice to the families of the victims. The foundation alleges that by not adopting a single-drug lethal injection protocol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not been complying with state law and a federal court order for the past 9 years. "They have not stated a reason, and that is one of the things that is frustrating about this whole thing," said Kent Scheidegger, the foundation's legal director. The state Attorney General's Office recently asked Sacramento Judge Shellyanne Chang to drop the matter. But Chang issued a ruling late Monday, allowing the case to move forward and ordering the department of corrections to answer to the lawsuit - to defend itself. Jeffrey Callison, press secretary for the corrections department, said that at this time, all the department can say is that it is reviewing the judge's order. Scheidegger said the ruling is important for 3 reasons. "First, the court has recognized that crime victims do have standing in court to require that the law be enforced. Second, the court held that CDCR does not have the 'unfettered discretion' that they claimed to drag their feet indefinitely." Morales, 55, who sits on San Quentin State Prison's death row for the brutal attack on Winchell, was convicted in 1983. Morales was recruited by his cousin Richard Ortega to kill Winchell, because he was romantically seeing the same man she was. Ortega wanted Winchell out of the picture. Morales, who has said he was high on PCP at the time, and Ortega tricked Winchell into a car ride in Lodi. Morales attacked Winchell from behind. He beat her unconscious with a hammer, dragged her into a vineyard, raped and stabbed her. Morales has exhausted all appeals, along with about a dozen other condemned prisoners, but their executions are stalled in litigation started by Morales, who claimed it was cruel and unusual punishment - banned by the U.S. Constitution - because of the pain it caused. Morales was scheduled in the death chamber on Feb. 21, 2006, when state officials halted the procedure, saying they could not comply with a federal court ruling on the lethal injection process. California has yet to replace its 3-drug lethal injection cocktail with a 1-drug injection being required by the courts. Gov. Jerry Brown indicated about 2 years ago that he wanted the state to start exploring the use of a single-drug lethal injection method. But Bradley Winchell said he and other families have been patient long enough and after 2 years of waiting, he decided to take action with the lawsuit. "They've just been dragging their feet," Winchell said. "They're not going to play the waiting game until we finally say 'just forget about it.' "It's sad that justice isn't being served. My sister needs justice." (source: Stockton Record) WASHINGTON: Legislature considers abolishing death penalty Gov. Jay Inslee has already placed a moratorium on criminal executions during his term, but now there's an effort in Olympia to abolish Washington's death penalty for good. This is not the first push to end executions in Washington state, but this time, with a moratorium already in place, more lawmakers seem to be on board. "[Executions] peaked about 1990," said Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way. "More and more people think, maybe we don't need this anymore, so I think the time is right to start this discussion to see if maybe we can move to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole." Miloscia and other supporters of the Senate bill want to end any future executions in Washington state, including the executions of those who have already been -- or will be -- sentenced to death before the bill could become law. Miloscia says he's heard from family members and friends of murder victims who support the legislation. But, there are plenty of people who believe some crimes are just too severe not to have the death penalty option, such as the 2 current capital cases on trial in Seattle. One is the trial of Christopher Monfort, accused of killing Seattle Police Officer Tim Brenton. The other is for Joseph McEnroe, 1 of the 2 people charged with the massacre of 6 people in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007. Bill supporters argue capital punishment is costly. Studies show it typically costs $1 million more to execute an inmate compared to keeping them in prison for life. "We are facing a big budget crunch right now and, economically, using the death penalty doesn't really work anymore," said Miloscia. Gov. Inslee reportedly has an interest in the legislation. There is a companion bill currently being considered in the House. The Senate bill is currently in committee and will have to go to a floor vote by the end of next week. (source: KING news) USA: Jury Selection Set to Resume in Marathon Bombing Trial After 2 days off due to heavy snow, jury selection is set to begin again in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Tsarnaev is charged in the 2013 attack that killed 3 people and injured more than 260. Jury selection in Tsarnaev's federal death penalty trial began Jan. 5. Jury selection was canceled Monday and Tuesday after a snowstorm dumped up to 2 feet of snow on Massachusetts. On Wednesday, Judge George O'Toole Jr. will resume questioning prospective jurors individually. Tsarnaev's lawyers have repeatedly argued that he cannot receive a fair trial in Boston because of the emotional impact of the bombing and the personal connections many people have to the marathon and people injured in the attack. O'Toole has rejected 3 defense requests to move the trial outside Massachusetts. (source: Associated Press) ******************* Jury selection in Aurora theater shooting trial now moves to 2nd phase----Prospective jurors to face pointed questions After 3 weeks of questioning for 7,000 prospective jurors, the process of seating a jury in the Aurora theater shooting trial now moves to a 2nd phase. Starting Wednesday morning, the remaining potential jurors will be questioned face to face by attorneys on both sides. "The lawyers are going to be asking very pointed questions on very specific issues," said legal analyst David Beller. "The death penalty obviously (being) one of them. Mental health is one of them." Prospective jurors remaining in the pool for the Aurora movie theater shooting trial will be questioned at a rate of 12 per day starting Wednesday, according to a plan published by the court. The plan calls for each potential juror to be questioned by the defense and prosecution for 20 minutes each. At that rate, the court and the defense estimates that they'll be able to question 960 jurors during the 16-week period set aside for this phase of the selection process. The goal of the individual questioning is to narrow the list of candidates down to between 100 and 150 citizens. "The objective of the attorney is not to change their minds. It's to get the answer and take it at face value," said Beller. There's a shallow side to this process. Prospective jurors could be eliminated based off of their appearance, even their choice in music. "The lawyers look at everything," said Beller. "The perception of their financial status, what radio they listen too." All of the jurors remaining in the pool have already survived the cut during the 1st phase, which consisted of questionnaires administered over the past few weeks. The 3rd phase, group questioning, is scheduled to last about 2 days in May or June and will reduce the group to 12 jurors and 12 alternates for the trial. "Both the defense and the prosecution are going to be able to eliminate jurors. And the jurors that aren't eliminated are the ones left over. And that is your jury pool," said Beller. In many high profile cases, attorneys have hired "jury consultants," who can help make judgments based on an appearance and body language. However, Beller said he doesn't expect to see jury consultants in this trial. The defendant has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 others during a midnight showing in an Aurora movie theater. If jurors find him guilty, they must then decide whether to recommend the death penalty. If the defendant is found not guilty, he would be committed indefinitely to the state mental hospital. (source: The Denver Channel) ******************************* Prospective jurors in theatre shooting trial to be questioned about death penalty, mental illness Prospective jurors in the running to serve in the trial of Colorado theatre shooting defendant James Holmes will be grilled about their views on the death penalty, mental illness and aspects of the criminal justice system as the 2nd phase of jury selection begins Wednesday. Thousands of people have been called to court since Jan. 20 to fill out lengthy questionnaires. Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. dismissed more than 1,000 who brought doctors' notes, weren't U.S. citizens, had family problems or weren't Arapahoe County residents. The hundreds who weren't excused will return starting Wednesday to answer questions from the prosecution, the defence and the judge about issues at the heart of the case. They will do so in the presence of Holmes, who has been sitting quietly in the courtroom since jury selection started. Holmes, 27, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the July 20, 2012, attack on a Denver-area movie theatre that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. If jurors find him not guilty for that reason, he would be committed indefinitely to the state psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors dispute that Holmes was insane and are seeking the death penalty, though Colorado has only executed 1 person in the last 40 years. 12 citizens will be questioned each day in a process that could last up to 4 months. Each side will have 20 minutes to ask them whether they can be fair about a case that has received massive news coverage. Samour hopes the process will find between 100 and 120 people who will then return for group questioning. 12 jurors and 12 alternates will be chosen from that pool. The scope of jury selection is testament to the logistical hurdles of trying the rare case of a mass shooter who survives his attack. Opening statements won't likely begin until late May or early June. Only potential jurors who would be willing to sentence someone to death can be selected. Prosecutors will try to ensure jurors have no reservations about the death penalty, while defence attorneys will look for those sympathetic to mental illness and uneasy with the idea of executing a person. "You're talking about a human being, and that human being is right over there in the room," said Denver attorney Craig Silverman, who is not involved in the Holmes case but has been monitoring it. "It's a soul-searching moment for a person to say, under oath, that yes, under the right circumstances I could vote for death for this person." (source: Associated Press) ********************************* Mothers of murder victim, death-row inmate describe their anguish Murder leaves plenty of collateral damage to the living. Just ask Vicki Schieber and Terri Steinberg. Schieber's daughter was raped and murdered by a serial rapist. Steinberg's son languishes in a Virginia jail despite having been exonerated of the crime that put him on death row in the first place. Both women gave their testimony -- Schieber by video -- during a Feb. 8 presentation on the death penalty as part of the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, held this year Feb. 7-10 in Washington. Schieber's daughter, Shannon, like the rest of the family, was an active, practicing Catholic. She graduated from Duke University in 3 years with a triple major, and got a full-ride scholarship to study at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia neighborhood she lived in for grad school was not the safest, and a serial rapist had been preying upon women in the vicinity -- but nobody alerted residents to his presence. One night, the man broke into Schieber's apartment, raped and murdered her. "It was terribly devastating," Schieber said. "You do not know the devastation it created." The Schieber family, she said, had followed Catholic teaching, including its admonition against use of the death penalty. But the family's stance was being tested now. "When you have to apply it to your own circumstances, it's very difficult," Schieber said. After much discussion, the family said that, should the criminal be caught and tried, the prosecution should ask for "a life sentence with no possibility of parole." Despite pressure from the local district attorney's office, the Schiebers held fast. "It was the best way to honor her," she said of her murdered daughter. The man was eventually caught, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to life without parole. Steinberg said she raised her son, Justin Wolfe, the oldest of her 5 children, to be loving and truthful. "He wasn't perfect" and had done some things wrong in his young life, but he was incapable of murder. Except Wolfe was tried and convicted on capital murder charges after the gunman who had fatally shot a drug dealer said Wolfe had asked him to do it. At first, Steinberg said, she was so shaken at her son's charges that "I started grocery shopping at different stores. I started going to Mass at other churches. ... People stopped talking to us." While initially not knowing much about capital punishment, Steinberg grew acutely familiar with it during Justin's years on death row. "The death penalty is the legalization of vengeance," she said. Fighting back tears at several points during her remarks, Steinberg said her son's death sentence was vacated after the shooter admitted lying to police to avoid the death penalty himself. He had received a 32-year sentence instead. Moreover misconduct by prosecutors in Prince William County, Virginia, shielded this evidence from her son's defense lawyer. State judges have twice ordered Wolfe released from prison. However, prosecutors have slapped drug charges on him and have indicated they would retry Wolfe on the original capital murder charge. "When you go 14 years not knowing whether he's going to live or die, I tell you, it is a form of torture," Steinberg said. Wolfe has nearly been released twice. One of those times, Steinberg and Justin's siblings were driving to pick him up from prison and were 45 minutes away when she got a phone call informing her he would remain jailed. Steinberg added that her youngest child, who was 4 years old when Wolfe was convicted, is now 18 years old and about ready to go to college. But now, Steinberg said, the girl doesn't know if she wants to go. "She says, 'I want to be here when my brother gets home," Steinberg reported. (source: Catholic Sentinel) *************************** Lethal Rejection: Will the Supreme Court's Lethal Injection Review Kill the Death Penalty?----The Supreme Court is reviewing lethal injection for the 1st time in 7 years. Here's what it means for the death penalty. The Supreme Court recently put three executions in Oklahoma on hold as it reviews the constitutionality of the state's death penalty protocol. If the nation's top court strikes down Oklahoma's lethal injection procedure, what would it mean for the death penalty? We've asked the experts what you need to know. WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SUPREME COURT REVIEWING? The court is assessing Oklahoma's use of the drug midazolam, a sedative used in its 3-drug lethal injection protocol. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 5 states have used midazolam for their executions, and at least 5 other states have proposed using it. In the wake of several botched executions in 2014 involving the drug, a group of death row inmates in Oklahoma filed a petition challenging the efficacy of midazolam to mitigate pain, which they claim would render the state's executions in violation of the Eighth Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual" punishment. "[Midazolam] doesn't guarantee that the prisoners will be insensate throughout the execution," said Eighth Amendment expert Megan McCracken from U.C. Berkeley School of Law's Death Penalty Clinic. Legal experts are not the only ones with concerns about Oklahoma's drug protocol. Several anesthesiologists have expressed concern about using midazolam for executions. The drug is typically used in surgical procedures to sedate patients before they receive anesthesia. To sedate an average adult in surgery, a dose of midazolam is normally no more than 2 milligrams. State executioners, however, administer the drug in much greater quantities. During recent executions, about 500 milligrams have been used. Many medical experts have noted that little is known about how the body reacts at that dose. "We don't know the effects of 500 milligrams of midazolam," said Dr. David Waisel, an anesthesiologist at the Boston Children's Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. "We don't study it, and we don't use it clinically. They are experimenting." WHY DID THE SUPREME COURT AGREE TO CONSIDER A CHALLENGE TO LETHAL INJECTION NOW? The lethal injection landscape has been fraught with issues since 2011, when Hospira, the only American manufacturer of a key lethal injection drug, stopped its production in the midst of an international campaign by capital punishment opponents. The company's decision set off a scramble to find another supplier and ultimately another drug. In late 2013, Florida became the first state to execute an individual using midazolam, but it wasn't until April 2014 that concerns about midazolam became widespread. That month, Oklahoma botched the execution of prisoner Clayton Lockett. Despite receiving an injection of midazolam, Lockett groaned and writhed on the gurney for about 40 minutes until his death, witnesses reported. "I think the Supreme Court would prefer not to have to get involved in the details of executions, but felt compelled to because of what happened last year," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "Something went really wrong, and somebody's got to monitor this thing or states will keep repeating it." The Supreme Court is expected to hear the Oklahoma prisoners' case in April and make a final ruling by July. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, midazolam was used for at least 11 of 35 executions in 2014. IS THIS THE 1ST TIME THAT THE SUPREME COURT HAS WEIGHED IN ON LETHAL INJECTION? No. The last time the court weighed in was 7 years ago, when it upheld Kentucky's lethal injection protocol in the case Baze v. Rees. According to McCracken, it's critical to look at what has changed since then. "In 2008, all of the states were using a very similar protocol???all the states were using the same three drugs," McCracken said. "Because some pharmaceutical companies have made their drugs unavailable for executions, the states have been changing their methods." McCracken considers the botched executions a "consequence of using untested, untried combinations." WHAT HAPPENS IF THE COURT STRIKES DOWN THE LETHAL INJECTION METHOD? It's possible that midazolam would no longer be used. Other drugs might take its place or Oklahoma might decide to use a single-drug protocol in place of the current 3-drug cocktail. "I don't think that the death penalty is going anywhere," said Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. Even if the court limits the use of lethal injection and states continue to face difficulty getting approved drugs, there are other methods that prisons could employ. Virginia lawmakers have already discussed bringing back the electric chair when the approved drugs are not readily available. Wyoming lawmakers have proposed allowing firing squads. Death penalty experts doubt that such methods would become the primary protocol for execution. "States changed from hanging to electric chair because it was a modern, supposedly painless method of execution," said Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center. "There has been a continuous attempt to make executions appear more palatable, humane, and modern." COULD THIS BE THE BEGINNING OF A LARGER TREND MOVING AWAY FROM THE DEATH PENALTY? Not really. "The Supreme Court position is that if the death penalty is constitutional, some method of execution will be allowed," Dieter said. "But you have to try to do the best. You have to minimize the harm. You can't just use any drug that's on the shelf. It has to be something reputable that stands up to scrutiny. [The Supreme Court] is not going to narrow it so much that it makes it impossible." The rate of executions across the United States, however, has decreased markedly over the past decade. 10 years ago 60 inmates were executed. In 2014, there were 35. Among the 32 states that allow the death penalty, only 7 had executions in the past year. "In many places in the U.S., the death penalty is at best a symbolic gesture," said Austin Sarat, Amherst professor and author of Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty. Regardless of this downward trend, more than 3,000 people remain on death row in the U.S. (source: Pacific Standard Magazine) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 11 13:42:45 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 13:42:45 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----SOUTH DAKOTA Message-ID: Feb. 11 SOUTH DAKOTA: Death penalty repeal defeated by Senate panel A legislative committee has defeated a bill that would replace South Dakota's death penalty with a life in prison without parole sentence. The Senate State Affairs Committee voted down the bill over calls from 2 former attorney generals to repeal the death sentence in South Dakota. "I have changed my mind," said former Attorney General Mark Meierhenry. "Peace and dignity to me says we don't use violence to solve violence." Pennington County State's Attorney Mark Vargo said prosecutors in the state have done an "extraordinary" job in limiting the number of cases in which they seek the death penalty. "It is the absolute worst of the worst who face the possibility of the death penalty," Vargo said. The state legislature narrowly defeated a similar effort last year by a 7-6 vote. (source: Argus Leader) *********************** Panel defeats bill to repeal death penalty in South Dakota A legislative panel has voted down a bill that would have repealed the death penalty in South Dakota. The Senate State Affairs Committee defeated the bill by a vote of 7 to 2. Supporters said the bill would have replaced capital punishment with a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole. The main sponsors of the bipartisan bill were Democratic Sen. Bernie Hunhoff, of Yankton, and Republican Rep. Steve Hickey, of Sioux Falls, who's also a pastor. A similar bill was defeated in the Legislature last year as well. (source: KSFY news) ************** Death penalty has lost its luster The South Dakota Legislature again dances with the death penalty. Maybe we should follow Crazyfornia's lead: "Judge Carney blasted a 'dysfunctional' California justice system that leaves hundreds of murderers 'languishing' on death row awaiting only the remote possibility of execution. The implication is that convicted rapist/murderer Ernest Jones suffers from some constitutionally impermissible form of mental torment in being forced to wait too long for an execution that may never come. "The prisoner's 25 years of anguished death contemplation, incidentally, was caused in large part by the state and federal appeals he filed seeking to stop or postpone his execution. The judge blames only California for this delay, rather than the prisoner filing the endless appeals." - CNN I recall being an advocate of the death penalty. My 1st boss supported it because "the criminal would never do the crime again." That made sense to me. And my boss was a good and decent man. But all of that changed when I read Archbishop Charles Chaput's column of June 6, 1997, "The True Road to Justice." Even though I still struggle with the death penalty, I know he is right. The archbishop's words are "True North" and I return to his compass time and again. This column is a worthy read. But let's be realistic. Even though death is a "natural" occurrence to us all, isn't it, even in the "best" circumstances, cruel and unusual? Even with the best "cocktail" available for executions aren't we under some weird illusion that the prisoner doesn't suffer? Is our vanity so consuming that we think we can order death for criminals and the unborn without suffering? Even for those with terminal illnesses and with the best medicine, love and faith isn't death as a "Rite of Passage" still cruel and unusual? It is the end; Mortification. Yes, aren't we all on death row either as the prisoner or the executioner? Maybe the problem is, as the executioner, it is no longer cruel and unusual? Maybe we have become too tarnished to the value of life to be affected by death. Assisted suicide, abortion, school shootings and mass shootings have become all too common. In Father Robert Barron's review of the movie "True Grit," he discusses Mattie Ross and her fight for justice for her father. At the end of the movie, it shows her walking down the street and she only has one arm; the other being amputated from a rattlesnake bite, or she would have died. Father Barron explained that she needed justice and mercy, 2 virtues to achieve her goals. One without the other leaves one handicapped. So it is in our society. As Archbishop Chaput states: "Make no mistake about it - capital punishment is just another drug we take to ease other, much deeper anxieties about the direction of our culture. Executions may take away some of the symptoms for a time but the underlying illness - today's contempt for human life - remains and grows worse." (source: Opinion, Clark Sowers----Rapid City Journal) **************** Proposal Allowing Objection To Death Penalty Defeated A legislative Committee has scuttled a proposal that would have allowed South Dakota residents getting a driver's license to register an objection to the death penalty if they are killed in a violent crime. The House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday voted 10-2 to dismiss the measure, which supporters likened to the existing organ donor registration option. The objections would have been stored and used to argue against the death penalty in the sentencing of the killer. Republican Rep. Steve Hickey called the measure a "dying wish" bill and said the driver's license would be a good mechanism to reach nearly all South Dakota adults. Republican Rep. Roger Solum moved to dismiss the bill. He says opposition could be indicated with a personal declaration and need not involve state government. (source: Associated Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 11 13:43:33 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 13:43:33 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 11 AUSTRALIA/INDONESIA: Bishop accuses Indonesia of death penalty 'double standard' Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop has called on Indonesia to show the same mercy to the Bali 9 pair awaiting execution that it wants for its own citizens overseas. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has instructed that "optimum protection" be offered to 229 Indonesian citizens sentenced to death overseas, including accused drug felons, in countries such as Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, Fairfax Media reports. This included hiring lawyers to defend them, holding meetings with family members and seeking amnesty from the heads of states or victims' families. "Australia's efforts to seek a stay of execution and a reconsideration of the clemency bids of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are consistent with the Indonesian government's own efforts on behalf of its death row prisoners overseas," Ms Bishop said. "I call on the Indonesian government to offer the same mercy to Australian citizens it is pursuing for its own nationals, including those convicted of drug offences." Bishop will introduce a parliamentary motion on the issue today. (source: 9news.com.au) KUWAIT: Kuwait court upholds death penalty on cop who raped Filipino maid Kuwait's appeals court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence of a policeman for "abducting, raping and attempting to murder" a Filipino woman. The lower court condemned the policeman, identified only by the initials Y.M, to death last June. He can still challenge the ruling before the supreme court. The policeman had arrested the woman after finding that her residence permit had expired, according to the court papers. He took her to a deserted area where he stabbed her in the neck and raped her after she refused to have sex with him. The policeman left her for dead in a pool of blood, but returned and stabbed her several more times when she moved. The Filipino survived and crawled to a nearby road where a passerby took her to hospital. About 180,000 Filipinos, many of them women employed as domestic helpers, work and live in oil-rich Kuwait, making up the 4th largest foreign community in the Gulf emirate. (source: Arab News) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 11 16:49:34 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 16:49:34 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., KAN., OKLA. Message-ID: Feb. 11 GEORGIA: Man, woman indicted in Monroe County child's death, prosecutor considers seeking death penalty Monroe County grand jurors have indicted 2 people in the 2014 death of a young girl who authorities say suffered broken bones and other injuries. District Attorney Richard Milam said Wednesday that he's considering seeking the death penalty against Amanda Hendrickson and Roderick Buckner who each are charged with murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and cruelty to children. The deadline for his decision is the April 16 arraignment hearing for Hendrickson and Buckner. Forsyth firefighters responded to a 911 call May 20 at the home where 5-year-old Heaven Woods lived with her mother, Hendrickson, on Brookwood Drive. She wasn't breathing and died at the Monroe County Hospital emergency room soon after she arrived. An autopsy later revealed Woods had suffered injuries to multiple parts of her body in the weeks before her death. Some injuries had healed while others were more recent. The girl's cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to her abdomen. Buckner had been living with Henrickson and Woods since early May. Milam said Hendrickson additionally was indicted on a charge of making a false statement. Hendrickson and Buckner are being held at the Monroe County jail on $1 million bond. (source: Macon Telegraph) KANSAS: Veteran death-penalty lawyer now representing man charged in killing 3 at Kansas Jewish sites A white supremacist accused of killing 3 people outside Jewish sites in Kansas has been assigned a new attorney in his capital murder case. The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1AndIAk ) reports veteran death penalty defense lawyer Mark Manna of Topeka has been assigned to represent 74-year-old Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. Miller's previous attorney withdrew last week, citing a breakdown in communications with Miller. Miller, of Aurora, Missouri, is accused of fatally shooting 3 people on April 13, 2014. Prosecutors say he killed 69-year-old William Corporon and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, outside the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, then fatally shot 53-year-old Terri LaManno at the nearby Village Shalom care center. Miller has said he wanted to kill Jews. None of his victims was Jewish. (source: Associated Press) OKLAHOMA: Nitrogen Gas Death Penalty Bills Clear Oklahoma Panels Oklahoma could become the 1st state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates under a proposal to reinstate a method of execution that hasn't been used in the U.S. in decades but which supporters say would be painless and foolproof. With no questions or debate, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-0 Tuesday to authorize "nitrogen hypoxia," which causes death by depleting the supply of oxygen in the blood, as Oklahoma's backup method of execution if lethal injection is ruled unconstitutional or if the deadly drugs become unavailable. A similar bill later passed 7-2 in a separate House panel without debate. "It is a method that has been recognized as the most humane by those who oppose the death penalty," said Moore Republican Sen. Anthony Sykes, the chairman of the Senate committee. "It causes a very quick and sudden loss of consciousness and of life almost simultaneously." The proposal comes as executions in Oklahoma are on hold amid a U.S. Supreme Court review of its lethal injection method. The case, which was sparked by a botched execution last spring, centers on whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate unconscious before the 2nd and 3rd drugs are administered. Oklahoma officials concede midazolam is not the preferred drug for executions, but death penalty states have been forced to explore alternatives as manufacturers of more effective drugs refuse to sell them for use in lethal injections. Under current Oklahoma law, if lethal injection is declared unconstitutional, the state would revert to death by electrocution 1st and then firing squad. Sykes says it's likely his proposal will undergo changes before the session ends in May, and he solicited members' input. A House committee held a pre-session study on nitrogen hypoxia, which is similar to what scuba divers or pilots at high altitudes may mistakenly encounter if oxygen supplies diminish. Rep. Mike Christian, a former highway patrolman who wrote the House bill, said pilots who were subjects of hypoxia studies reported feeling a sense of mild intoxication just before becoming unconscious. "The people who have experienced it up to the point of unconsciousness said it was a euphoric feeling," said Christian, a Republican from Oklahoma City. "If they're saying it's euphoric, I'd say it's more humane." Christian suggested the state could avoid paying for a new gas chamber - a projected cost of $300,000 - by using a mask or bag over an inmate's head. But Ryan Kiesel, director of the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, described the legislators' effort as a "fool's errand." "It's absurd to try to chase down a more humane way to intentionally take the life of another human being against their will," Kiesel said. House Bill 1879: http://bit.ly/1vetcRn Senate Bill 794: http://bit.ly/1EVExy9 (source: Associated Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 11 16:50:46 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2015 16:50:46 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 11 EGYPT: Egypt court overturns death sentences of 33 Islamists An Egyptian appeals court on Feb. 11 overturned death sentences of 33 alleged Islamist supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi and ordered a retrial, state media and their lawyer said. A lower court in June condemned to death 183 Islamists, including the 33, for the alleged murder of 2 policemen and attempted murder of 5 others in the southern province of Minya on August 14, 2013. The defendants were found guilty of committing the murders on the same day that police killed hundreds of Morsi backers in Cairo clashes. The June verdict came after a speedy mass trial and sparked an international outcry, with the United Nations saying such mass verdicts were "unprecedented in recent history". On Tuesday, the Court of Cassation overturned the death sentences of the 33 Islamists and life terms of three others, and ordered their retrial, the official MENA news agency and defence lawyer Mohammed Tosson said. The 36 defendants were in custody and had appealed against the lower court's verdict, said Ossama El-Helw, another defence lawyer. Other co-defendants sentenced to death had been tried in absentia as they are on the run, and automatically face a retrial if they surrender. Among those tried in absentia and sentented to death last June was Mohamed Badie, who heads Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood movement, although he was in prison at the time of the trial. Badie will also be retried. In January, the appeals court ordered a retrial of another group of 152 Islamists, including 37 sentenced to death, in a similar case in Minya. Critics accuse President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's regime of using the judiciary as a tool to repress its opponents. They say Sisi has installed a regime that is more repressive than that of longtime president Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in a 2011 popular uprising. Since Sisi, who was then army chief, ousted Morsi in July 2013, a government crackdown has left more than 1,400 people dead, thousands jailed and hundreds sentenced to death. (source: Agence France-Presse) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 12 13:59:32 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 13:59:32 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., OHIO, KY., KAN. Message-ID: Feb. 12 TEXAS: Prosecutor seeking death penalty for man accused of killing father and daughter The Brazos County District Attorney's Office will seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing Mac and Noel Devin days after being released from a state prison. Prosecutor Brian Baker filed the notice in the 361st District Court on Wednesday. Dennis Wayne Brown III, 35, was arrested at the El Camino Motel on April 7, 2014, after an off-duty Bryan police officer noticed Noel Devin's stolen vehicle in the motel parking lot. The day before, firefighters battling a fire at a home in the 2000 block of Vinewood Drive had discovered Noel Devin and her father Mac Devin's bodies inside. Investigators said the fire was started by igniting fuel-soaked rags. Originally charged with state jail felony unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, 2nd-degree felony burglary and 1st-degree felony arson, Brown was also indicted in May 2014 on a capital murder charge in connection with the stabbing deaths of the 32-year-old Aggie and her 63-year-old father, who was also a Texas A&M graduate. A trial date has not been set. (source: The Eagle) PENNSYLVANIA: Pa. man facing possible death sentence Authorities have wanted to put Hugo Selenski away on murder charges ever since they searched his northeastern Pennsylvania yard in 2003 and found the bodies of a missing pharmacist, the pharmacist's girlfriend, and at least 3 other sets of human remains. It took nearly a dozen years and one failed prosecution, but they finally got their man on Wednesday after a jury convicted the 41-year-old career criminal in the strangling deaths of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett. Selenski, already serving a long prison sentence on unrelated robbery charges, now faces a potential death sentence after the jury concluded he killed the couple during a 2002 robbery and buried their bodies behind his house. He had little to say as he was led out of the courthouse. "Not now," he told reporters. "I always told all of you that I will talk to you when this is over, and I will do that. No questions right now." Prosecutors said Selenski and a co-conspirator brutally beat Kerkowski to compel him to reveal the location of tens of thousands of dollars he kept in his house, then used flex ties to strangle him and Fassett. Authorities found their decomposing bodies on Selenski's property about a year later. A few months after his 2003 arrest, he escaped from prison using a rope fashioned from bed sheets and spent three days on the run before turning himself in. The jury reached its verdict after deliberating more than 11 hours over 2 days. It convicted Selenski of 8 of 10 counts, including 1st-degree murder and robbery, and must now decide whether to send him to death row or give him life in prison without parole. The penalty phase will start Tuesday. Prosecutors and defense lawyers, under a gag order, were unable to comment on the verdict. One of Selenski's sisters cried quietly and left the courtroom after hearing it. The victims' relatives remained stoic, hugging prosecutors after the jury exited. "13 years," murmured Kerkowski's mother, Geraldine Kerkowski, who had testified against her son's killer and, from the witness stand, ordered him to wipe the smirk off his face. Later Wednesday, Selenski's brother Ronald Selenski Jr. rushed toward an elevator holding the victims' relatives and prosecutors and pointed a finger at them. Sheriff's deputies walked him away from the elevator and put him in handcuffs. It wasn't immediately clear whether he would be charged. Hugo Selenski has been a familiar face in northeastern Pennsylvania since his 2003 arrest on charges he killed a pair of drug dealers whose charred remains also were found on the property north of Wilkes-Barre. In 2006, a jury acquitted him of one homicide and deadlocked on another but convicted him of abusing the men's corpses. After the verdict, authorities immediately charged him with killing Kerkowski and Fassett. Kerkowski, from Hunlock Creek, had pleaded guilty to running a prescription drug ring that netted at least $800,000 and was about to be sentenced when he and Fassett were reported missing in May 2002. They were both 37 years old. The defense contended Selenski was framed by another man, Paul Weakley, who led police to the bodies in Selenski's yard. Weakley later pleaded guilty in federal court, testified against Selenski to avoid the death penalty and could ask for a reduction of his life prison sentence because of his cooperation. Weakley, who met Selenski in prison in the 1990s, told jurors how he plotted with Selenski to kill Kerkowski and then helped him carry out the crimes and bury the bodies. He described how he and Selenski bound the victims and covered their eyes with duct tape. Weakley said Kerkowski, who was beaten with a rolling pin, told them where to find his hidden bags of cash. He said Fassett was killed simply because she was with Kerkowski when they showed up at the pharmacist's house. After the killings, Selenski stole tens of thousands more dollars that Kerkowski had given to his father for safekeeping, pointing a gun at the father and threatening him, other witnesses said. The 5th body discovered on Selenski's property was never publicly identified. (source: Associated Press) ********************** Trial in Focus: 2 death sentences handed down long ago Now that Hugo Selenski has been convicted of 2 counts of 1st degree murder, he faces the penalty phase, in which a jury decides whether he deserves to be executed, or to spend the rest of his life in prison. Whatever those 12 jurors decide, there already have been 2 death sentences in this case. Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett were sentenced to death 13 years ago - not by a jury of their peers, but by Selenski and his associate, Paul Weakley. Kerkowski was beaten with a rolling pin. Both he and Fassett were strangled with flex ties tightened around their necks. The families of those victims? Well, they already have been given life sentences. They must live with the loss of loved ones and the very public accounts of how Kerkowski and Fassett were so brutally executed. Because that's what happened to them. Trials like this often produce words like compassion and mercy when sentences are discussed. Those words were not part of the death sentences given Kerkowski and Fassett. Selenski's brother Lest we forget, 2 families are grieving today. After the verdicts were announced, members of the Selenski family were obviously upset. As expected, there were plenty of tears. Selenski's brother, Ronald, despite pleas from his aunt and sister, apparently could not restrain himself from trying to say or do something. With members of the victims' families in the elevator with representatives of the county district attorney's office, Ronald ran past me and others in the hallway, rushed toward the elevator and pointed his finger. I watched as he was grabbed by sheriff's deputies, placed in handcuffs and taken away. Such conduct can't be excused, but it can be understood. His brother was just convicted of 1st-degree murder. Despite what Hugo Selenski was convicted of, his family, too, has suffered during this 13-year-ordeal. When the penalty phase begins Tuesday morning, the families will again be faced with enduring more difficult testimony. Some will tell why they feel Selenski should get the death penalty and others will tell why his life should be spared. If those who want Selenski to be killed prevail, he will join 186 other people convicted to die in this state. Whether he ever gets executed is another matter - not just because of the long chain of appeals common in death penalty cases, but because new Gov. Tom Wolf has said he plans to call for a moratorium on capital punishment in Pennsylvania. What does Selenski - so often talkative and even combative over his 13 year legal battles - have to say about his conviction and possible fate? Selenski told the media on his way back to jail that he will talk when the trial is over - when the penalty phase is completed. Each night he has been brought down to the basement of the courthouse and walked by the media and asked questions. Wednesday night was especially difficult, yet he did vow to speak "at the end." Quiet departures The Kerkowski and Fassett families left quietly. They had nothing to say. They did hug each other after court was adjourned and they spoke briefly with prosecutors and detectives. But there was no celebration. 2 people are dead and another human being was convicted of 1st-degree murder. Not a time for popping champagne corks and making toasts. There has been anticipation throughout the courthouse and the county - perhaps even further - as the jury deliberated. And sitting through this all was the defendant - one of the most notorious prisoners this county has ever seen. Can we not vividly recall his escape from the county lockup by tying bed sheets together and repelling down a prison wall? I don't think anybody really knew or dared predict what the verdict would be. But as deliberations continued, the questions asked by the jury began to show where their thinking was headed. When the last question dealt with only first-degree murder, most felt a decision was imminent. The jury decided that Selenski and Weakley went to Kerkowski's house on Pritchards Road in Hunlock Township to kill and rob him, not that they went there to rob him and during that felony, they ended up killing him and Fassett, who just happened to be there. Intent was the key. And now the sentence will be decided. And someone is sure to ask - What might Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett recommend? (source: Bill O'Boyle, Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader) FLORIDA: Mother opposes death penalty for daughter's killer----Mother of shooting victim wants the state to accept plea deal and no longer seek death penalty so family can get on with their lives. 20-year-old Shelby Farah was shot in the head during a robbery at the Metro PCS store on Main Street in 2013. The state is seeking the death penalty against her alleged killer, but now the mother of the victim, Darlene Farah, wants the state to accept a plea deal giving him life in prison. Darlene says it was a conversation with her 2 children that led her to no longer support the state seeking the death penalty against James Rhodes, the man accused of killing her daughter. Darlene says she wants to put stability and structure back in her children's lives, as well as her own. "They just want it to be over with so we can move on with our lives," said Farah. "To just have to face him, it takes everything out of us. And to be honest with you I don't know if I can get through a trial." Farah says she was not a supporter of the death penalty prior to this incident, and raised her kids expressing that belief. She says she always told them to let the prosecutors handle it in this case, rather than following her personal feelings, and did not argue against the death penalty until now. Farah says her 2 children wanted to accept a plea deal immediately after hearing of the offer. She says they dread going through years of appeals. "I will be dead by the time he gets executed, I mean 20 -30 years, that is a long time." Farah says she understands why the state attorney is seeking the death penalty because the crime was horrific and the 23-year old Rhodes has a long violent past. She says she doesn't want to speak ill of the State Attorney's Office. But she adds that this case is going on too long, it will be 2 months she says before a decision is made on whether Rhodes is too mentally disabled to face the death penalty. A hearing was held on Tuesday about that issue, then another hearing was scheduled weeks later, April 7. "Shelby suffered, I want him to suffer, to me it is more suffering, spending life in prison. If he is on death row, we will never have closure." Jackelyn Barnard, spokeswoman for state attorney Angela Corey, says it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of this case, due to the pending trial. (source: First Coast News) OHIO: Attorney vows to fight 'state-sanctioned murder' in death penalty case Defense attorney Jack Bradley called the death penalty "state-sanctioned murder" during a hearing on expert reports in the capital murder case against accused killer Donna Brown. "I'm against the death penalty, and I'm going to fight against the death penalty every day that I practice law, whether it's Donna Brown or anybody else, and I think that it's state-sanctioned murder," he said. His remarks came during a contentious hearing over whether a state psychological expert would be allowed to interview Brown prior to her trial for the July 2012 shooting deaths of 2 of her cousins. Bradley and Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo also sparred over the fact that prosecutors hadn't received the raw data on Brown from a defense expert. Earlier in the hearing, Cillo had said he took umbrage at a comment Bradley made in a recent court filing in which he wrote that psychological information wasn't for use in trial, but "at the phase of the case where the jury decides whether to spare her life of whether it will be complicit in an aggravated murder along with the Lorain County Prosecutor, albeit with an affirmative defense." Cillo argued that statement was inappropriate. "I'd hope we would be better than that," he said. Bradley later said that he understands that the death penalty is legal, but he isn't alone in opposing it. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery had initially planned to let the state's expert interview Brown, but said he would bar prosecutors from discussing any findings with the expert until after Brown's guilt or innocence was decided. But Bradley said he would appeal that, something that would likely have caused a delay in Brown's trial, which is slated to begin later this month. Cillo said if that was Bradley's plan, he would withdraw his request for an interview and have his expert watch Brown testify during the trial, something that Bradley said his client was likely to do. Cillo said it wouldn't be fair to delay the trial any longer. Bradley said the Fifth Amendment protects Brown from being forced to talk to anyone representing prosecutors in the case, even if the conversation was sealed. Brown is accused of shooting Dale Linder Jr. and Justin Linder at a West 23rd Street home in Lorain. Defense attorneys have said that Brown was victimized by the brothers because she is a lesbian. (source: The Chronicle-Telegram) KENTUCKY: Legislature should end death penalty 2 bills introduced in the legislature this month would end the death penalty in Kentucky. It is time to do it. Both Democrat Sen. Gerald Neal of Louisville and Rep. David Floyd, a Bardstown Republican, introduced bills in their respective houses that would abolish the death penalty but maintain life without the possibility of parole. As with attempts in the past, this one probably won't pass, but it should. Although the use of the death penalty has dropped precipitously over the years - the last one in Kentucky was 6 years ago - the fact that it still exists as an option is problematic for many reasons. For a long while, the conversation about taking life as punishment for the most egregious acts has been framed by legal and philosophical arguments that focus on our Constitution and both religious and secular ethics. For years now, opponents also have pointed to studies that show the cost of prosecuting, convicting, litigating appeals and killing someone is far more expensive than incarcerating them for life. We would take a simpler tack: 1 innocent person wrongly executed is 1 too many. While it has always been difficult trying to prove the value of the death penalty as a deterrent, the justice system has provided ample evidence of its own fallibility over time. It is still driving home the point. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 2014 saw the fewest executions across America in 20 years and the fewest death sentences in 40 years. Even with those dramatic drops, a more chilling total was 7 - the number of inmates facing the death penalty who were exonerated. That represents a 5-year high. Look no further than Kirk Bloodsworth, a Maryland man who was in Frankfort last week to tell his story of spending 8 years on death row for a rape and murder he did not commit. Bloodsworth was the first U.S. inmate ever exonerated by DNA evidence and now advocates against capital punishment. "You can free a man or woman from prison, but you cannot free them from the grave," Bloodsworth was quoted as saying. Many people whose loved ones have been the victims of terrible acts understandably believe death is the only possible punishment that could fit the crime. Many more understandably support this view. But mistakes can happen when we substitute vengeance for justice. When it comes to the death penalty, those mistakes are as irrevocable as they are insufficient to restore what families of capital crimes have so often lost. With the passing of legendary North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith, stories of the applause-worthy stands he took away from basketball have resurfaced. One of the most compelling, as reported several years later by the Chicago Tribune, involved his 1998 trip to argue for halting executions in North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt's office. "You're a murderer," people in the room recounted the coach saying, pointing at the governor before turning his finger and the accusation on a gaggle of Hunt's staff - and then himself. "And you're a murderer, and you're a murderer, and I'm a murderer." Taking an innocent person's life, under any circumstances, is always a tragedy and is never just. We should abolish the death penalty and join the 18 other states that have removed the instrument of wrongful killing from their own hand. (source: Editorial, centralkynews.com) KANSAS: Bethel campus pastor working to abolish death penalty Peter Goerzen, campus pastor at Bethel College, was one of several faith leaders who spoke to legislators and spoke to a crowd in Topeka, Tuesday, Feb. 10, voicing their opposition to the death penalty. Clergy members and other death penalty opponents met with legislators and discussed their support for House Bill 2129, which would abolish the death penalty in Kansas. Rep. Steven Becker, of Buhler, introduced the bill, Jan. 27 and it is now being considered by the Judiciary Committee. The bill was written by the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty (KCADP), which favors replacing the death penalty with life wihout parole. The faith leaders were representing KCADP. "In the light of God, the death penalty is morally bankrupt," Goerzen told a crowd on the 2nd floor of the capitol building. 'Killing people because killing people is wrong' skews morality toward revenge and contributes to a culture of vengeance and death." He said we should not confuse retribution with justice. "Vengeance can never bring justice; the closest we can come this side of eternity is to offer our steadfast compassion and love to victims' families while restraining perpetrators from further violence," Goerzen said. Mary Sloan, KCADP executive director, said the numerous appeals stemming from death penalty cases prolong the misery for victims' families. Sloan said the idea that victims' families get closure seeing the perpetrators get the death penalty is a misconception. "We have been told by victims' families it doesn't (bring closure)," Sloan said. "Many were looking for closure and found it hollow." One of the faith leaders who spoke against the death penalty - Archbishop of the Archdiocese in Kansas City Kansas Joseph F. Naumann - has talked about how his father was murdered in 1948 while his mother was pregnant with him. Other faith leaders who spoke were: The Right Reverend Bishop Dean E. Wolfe, ninth bishop of Kansas, the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas; Reverend Len Dale, director of Evangelism with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Central States Synod and Reverend Kay Scarbrough, Topeka District Superintendent for the Great Plains United Methodist Church. While the clergy members expressed religious reasons for opposing the death penalty, the KCADP has cited several reasons why it believes capital punishment is impractical: court and defense costs are 3 to 4 times higher in death penalty cases, the death penalty is carried out arbitrarily, poor people and minorities are disproportionately sentenced to the death penalty, it doesn't deter crime, more than 150 people on death row have been exonerated since 1973 and innocent people have pleaded guilty to lesser charges to avoid the possibility of losing at trial and being sentenced to death. During the day, the faith leaders talked to their district representatives and urged them to support HB 2129. While speaking before the crowd, they each gave their representative a copy of a form bearing the signatures of more than 430 Kansas faith leaders against the death penalty. Goerzen handed the signatures to 31st District Kansas Sen. Carolyn McGinn-R. McGinn is in favor of abolishing the death penalty. Rep. Marc Rhoades-R, 72nd district, couldn't be persuaded to come out against the death penalty, Goerzen said. "We had a pleasant conversation," Goerzen said. "We don't agree, and we didn't agree by the time I left, but we had a nice conversation." (source: The Kansan) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 12 14:00:58 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:00:58 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., S.DAK., WYO., MONT., USA Message-ID: Feb. 12 OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma prisons boss to brief board on death penalty moratorium, prison overcrowding The head of Oklahoma's prison system is scheduled to brief the agency's governing board about the current status of executions in Oklahoma, as well as how the agency is grappling with prison overcrowding. The Board of Corrections is scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon at the John H. Lilley Correctional Center in Boley. The U.S. Supreme Court halted three scheduled lethal injections in Oklahoma while it considers whether the state's current three-drug method is constitutional. Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton also is expected to brief the board on how the state prison system is above 100 % capacity. The board is expected to meet behind closed doors to discuss 2 pending lawsuits against the agency, including the lethal injection challenge that is being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. (source: Associated Press) SOUTH DAKOTA: Death penalty repeal dies in Pierre A legislative committee in Pierre on Wednesday killed a bill to repeal South Dakota's death penalty. The Senate State Affairs Committee voted 7-to-2 to kill the bill. KCCR Radio's Tony Mangan reported from Pierre that while current State Attorney General Marty Jackley testified against the bill, two former Republican state attorneys general testified in support of repealing capital punishment in South Dakota. A prime mover in Pierre for repeal of the death penalty is Sioux Falls Republican State Representative Steve Hickey who once was a strong supporter of capital punishment. (source: KELO news) ********************** Measures Addressing Victim's Opposition to Death Penalty Fail to Pass Committee 2 bills addressing a victim's opposition to the death penalty have been rejected by lawmakers. In criminal cases where the prosecution is pursuing the death penalty jurors are not allowed to hear testimony on the family's wishes or the victim's views on the death penalty. House Bill 1158 would change this. If a victim opposed the death penalty during his or her life, House Bill 1158 would allow the jury to receive this evidence during a pre-sentence hearing. Denny Davis is with South Dakotans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. He says this measure gives victims a voice. "Why would we not want to give the victim's family or the victim a voice in the trial that's going to take another person's life," says Davis. Opponents say the measure allows evidence that is normally deemed hearsay and inadmissible in court. The House State Affairs Committee also heard testimony on a companion bill. House Bill 1159 would add a check box to the state's driver's license application allowing a person to indicate if they are for or against the death penalty. The box would be similar to the organ donor check box, however, the information would remain confidential until it was needed at trial. Members of the House State Affairs Committee rejected both measures. (source: South Dakota Public Broadcasting) WYOMING: Bill to Allow Firing Squads as a 2nd Option For Death Row Inmates Expected To Pass House A bill allowing firing squads to be used as a 2nd option after lethal injections for death row inmates is expected to pass the house tomorrow. "It seems like we are moving back in time instead of forward which is a concern," said Rep. Mary Throne. This bill has a lot of support even though a handful of legislators have opposed it from the start and say its embarrassing. Representatives in favor of the bill say the state needs another execution method. "The society has the responsibility to if they are going to have an execution they have the responsibility to make sure they have the most humane method possible," said Rep. Nathan Winters. Representative winters, A pastor, says he spoke for the death penalty in committee, but had questions on this bill. He says lethal injection is still the best way to execute inmates. "When someone commits a heinous act we don't have to respond in the same kind of cruelty that they perpetuated on a victim," said Winters. Lethal injection drugs have been limited by European drug companies because of opposition to the death penalty in the European union. Legislators think now is the time to act. "I think the manufacturers have the right to say no we don't have to do that, that's why we don't have doctors carrying out executions," said Rep. Charles Pelkey. "I don't like the fact that policy and law that we would pass in the state of Wyoming would be dictated by a foreign country," said Winters. "I don't think that the least populated state in the country would affect how the European Union does business," said Throne. An amendment passed in the house would now have inmates set for a firing squad execution to be put under anesthesia and unconscious when shot. The senate has to agree on the amendment before it goes to the governor's desk. (source: KCWY news) MONTANA: Legislature should repeal death penalty The Montana House of Representatives this week will hold a hearing on House Bill 370, which would replace the state's death penalty sentence with life in prison without the chance of parole. In 2013, a similar bill was introduced and failed. The Montana Abolition Coalition, lobbying for death-penalty repeal in Montana, is hoping that this session, Montana Republicans and Democrats will unite behind this bill, and Montana will join the 18 states in the union that do not have the death penalty. The Montana Legislature should pass HB 370 because it will reduce the cost of prosecuting capital cases in the state, it will guarantee that no innocent person is wrongfully put to death, it will keep murderers behind bars where they will not have a chance to further menace society, it will free up millions of dollars that could be spent on crime prevention and victim compensation/counseling, and it will give the families of murder victims real closure. According to the Montana Abolition Coalition, a death penalty case is up to 10 times more costly to prosecute than a non-death penalty case. Montana currently has just 2 inmates on death row (where they have been for more than 20 years) and the cost of their legal defense, footed by taxpayers, exceeds $10 million. The Montana Abolition Coalition calculates that incarcerating these 2 men for the rest of their lives would have totaled about $3.5 million - still a pretty penny but far less costly and far more fiscally conservative. We would all like to believe that there is never a miscarriage of justice in Montana. But the simple fact is that people make mistakes - that's just part of being human. The death penalty, however, is irrevocable. While we do not know whether an innocent man or woman has ever been put to death in Montana, we do know that three men have been exonerated for crimes they didn't commit after DNA testing proved their innocence. We also know that nationwide some 150 men and women on death row, who were convicted by a jury of the peers who found them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, have been exonerated of their alleged crimes when more facts or evidence came to light. HB 370 would eliminate the death penalty as the highest sentence in applicable murder cases and would replace it with life in prison without a chance of parole. Those who commit truly heinous crimes who have no chance of rehabilitation and who pose a menace to society would stay in prison, for the rest of their lives, where they couldn't hurt anyone else. Eliminating the death penalty doesn't mean eliminating safeguards for society. Equal Justice USA, a nationwide death penalty opponent, argues convincingly that the expensive, complex death penalty process is diverting millions of dollars at the state and federal levels away from programs that could be better spent giving the families of homicide victims the help they need to heal, including specialized grief counseling, financial assistance and ongoing support. One relative of a Colorado murder victim, whose case is unsolved, Gail LaSuer, suggests that with the repeal of the death penalty, the money that had been spent on prosecution and appeals of death penalty inmates could be far better spent in the creation of a cold-case unit that could use the advantages of modern technology to go back and find, murderers who could then be put away for life. Finally, repealing the death penalty will give real closure to the families of those whose lives have been brutally taken. Family after family of homicide victims has told Equal Justice USA that the drawn-out death penalty appeals process prolongs their pain, subjects them to further media coverage, drags them to court hearings, and continues to reopen the pains of the loss of their loved one. The Montana Abolition Coalition suggests that a rarely-used death penalty is almost like a hoax on victims' families, who are promised one conclusion and then must sit back for years to watch the appeals process drag out. We encourage our local legislators, Reps. Christy Clark and Rob Cook, and Sen. Llew Jones, and their fellow House and Senate members on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of HB 370 and to improve the efficiency of sentencing in Montana and to reduce the huge drain on the legal system that the existing death penalty creates. (source: Editorial, Choteau Acantha) USA: Jury Pool for Trial in Aurora Shooting Is Pressed on Death Penalty Lawyers on Wednesday began questioning potential jurors for the trial of the man accused of killing 12 people and wounding 70 during a showing of a Batman film in a packed Colorado movie theater in 2012. The defendant, James E. Holmes, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, though his lawyers admit he was the gunman. The district attorney is seeking the death penalty, and prosecutors and defense lawyers focused most of their questioning on how prospective jurors feel about that sentence. "Do you think you could say that this man over here should die?" Rich Orman, a prosecutor, asked one woman, waving toward Mr. Holmes, who was doodling on a legal pad. The woman, who said she was a lawyer, answered affirmatively. The defense asked juror candidates if they would consider factors like mental illness, age or a difficult childhood in deciding whether to give the death penalty. "What would you be looking at to determine if death is the only appropriate penalty?" asked Katherine Spengler, a defense lawyer. She turned to mental illness. "Would you consider that as a reason to give life?" Bearded and noticeably heavier than in past appearances, Mr. Holmes at times seemed not to notice the drama surrounding him, hunching his shoulders over his legal pad. At other times, he sat rapt, watching his defense team question the potential jurors. Officials sent jury summonses to 9,000 people here - a number that dwarfs even the 1,300 or so potential jurors who filled out questionnaires in the trial of the man accused in the Boston Marathon bombings. The pool of potential jurors has since been whittled to about 2,000. Questioning of those people is expected to take 16 weeks, during which the pool will be reduced to 120, who will receive further questioning, and finally to 12 jurors and 12 alternates. The trial, to be held in this Denver suburb, could last from early spring to October, with testimony expected from police officers, crime scene experts, witnesses and mental health experts. The shooting took place July 20, 2012, at a movie theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora, where about 400 people were attending a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises." Minutes into the film, a masked person entered the theater and opened fire. 2 1/2 years later, the effects of the massacre continue to ripple through the region, with victims and their families grappling with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and divided over the prosecution's decision to seek the death penalty. Some have argued that it is the only way to ensure justice; others have said it will cause years of appeals, an excruciating prospect for those seeking a degree of closure. Wednesday's questioning moved slowly, a sign of just how difficult it will be to find jurors who can keep an open mind during a long-running and highly publicized case being tried not far from the scene of the crime. During the morning session, just 4 jurors were questioned over more than 3 hours. The judge had hoped to see 6. Several confessed links to the case. The 1st potential juror, a young woman dressed in pink, said that several of her Facebook friends knew a man who had been killed in the theater shooting. The 4th potential juror said he believed he knew one of the witnesses. 3 of the 4 jurors questioned during the morning session will return for further questioning. In recent days, Tom and Caren Teves, whose son Alex was killed in the rampage, have renewed their calls for the news media to refrain from naming the shooter or displaying his photograph during what is expected to be widespread trial coverage, arguing that these actions encourage copycat crimes and traumatize families. "Every day is like Alex died yesterday," Mr. Teves said in an interview. "That's how much pain we feel. I don't want another father to have to live, or another mother to have to live, the way Caren and I live." (source: New York Times) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 12 14:01:51 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:01:51 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 12 IRAN: Awaiting my execution: A letter from Iran Saman Naseem, a member of Iran's Kurdish minority, is to be hung at dawn next Thursday, 19 February. We have just days to demand the Iranian government stops his execution. Saman was only 17 when he was arrested, and his 'confession' followed an extended period of torture. He was sentenced to death after an unfair trial for allegedly taking part in armed activities against the state. Saman describes what happened to him: Torture started as soon as I entered the cell. The cell itself had been designed with the sole aim of inflicting psychological torture: it was just two metres long and 50 cm wide, with a toilet. I could only lie down in it horizontally. There was a camera over my head which recorded all my movements, even when I was using the toilet. That was the start of 97 days of torture and suffering. During those first days, the level of torture was so high that I was left unable to walk. My entire body was black and blue. They hung me from my hands and feet for hours. I was blindfolded the whole time. I could not see the interrogators and torturers. They used all kinds of inhumane and illegal methods to try and extract confessions from me. They repeatedly told me that they had arrested members of my family including my father, my mother, and my brother. They told me that they would bury me with a digger. They told me that they would kill me right there and would cover my grave with cement. When I wanted to sleep at night, they would not let me rest. They would make noises in different ways, including by constantly banging on the door. I was between madness and consciousness. All 97 days passed like this. I was 17 years old. I was not allowed any contact with my family during this time. In an utterly inhumane act, they filmed my interrogations, when I was hanging between life and death, under pressure and the risk of torture. I can say now that those interviews are absolute lies and I deny their content. Later, a news report was released on state TV that implied I had been freed and had gone home. I was actually being sentenced to death, based on a 'confession' that had been pre-written. My trial was a show ... I was not given any opportunity to defend myself. The judge threatened to beat me a number of times and my lawyers were removed under pressure ... I could be executed at any moment. Saman could be executed as early as 19 February 2015 for crimes allegedly committed when he was 17 years old. He was sentenced to death after an unfair trial. Help us save Saman by tweeting the Supreme Leader of Iran @khamenei_ir urging him to stop the execution, which is unlawful under international law, given Saman's age when he was arrested. Suggested tweet: #Iran must halt #SamanNaseem's execution & end #DeathPenalty for juvenile offenders #SaveSaman #StopTorture http://bit.ly/1M8U9jQ @khamenei_ir (source: Amnesty International) SAUDI ARABIA----execution Saudi beheads Pakistani heroin trafficker Saudi Arabia on Thursday beheaded a convicted Pakistani drug smuggler, bringing to 29 the number of executions in the first 6 weeks of the year. Babir Hussein Mohammed Ishaq was found guilty of transporting heroin which he had ingested, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. His case brings to 29 the number of Saudis and foreigners executed in the kingdom this year, according to an AFP tally. The government says it is determined to combat narcotics but it has faced international criticism over its human rights record, including the use of the death penalty. Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all punishable by death under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law. The Gulf nation executed 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013. (source: The Peninsula) TUNISIA: A Moroccan Sentenced to Death for the Murder of a Child A Moroccan living in Tunisia will face the death penalty after he was convicted of killing a child. The court of first instance in the Tunisian city of Bizerte sentenced a Moroccan to death for the murder of 10-year-old Rabii Neffati back in December, 2010. 4 accomplices were also sentenced to death by the same court. Among the accused are the 2 aunts of the victim, the husband of 1 of them and his son. The court also fined the defendants 100,000 Tunisian Dinars each. (source: Morocco World News) PAKISTAN: Pakistani Christian, sentenced to death, denied family hug The family of a Pakistani Christian woman who is facing the death penalty for blasphemy is experiencing threats as they await her fate by a court. Asia Bibi, the 1st woman in Pakistan ever to be sentenced to death under the blasphemy law, was sentenced for insulting the prophet Muhammad, a charge she has denied. Her appeals case is pending before the highest court in Pakistan. Tiffany Barrans, international legal director at the American Center for Law and Justice, says the last several years in prison haven't been easy for Bibi or for her husband and kids, who have been without the mother and wife for 5 years. "She has very limited access to her family in large part because her family has been threatened," Barrans tells OneNewsNow. Barrans recounts a recent visitation: "And on their recent visit, they even asked the warden would they allow her - what we would call an in-person visitation - would they allow her to come out from behind the bars, so that they could embrace her. And the warden refused. And they said that she tried to love on them from the distance of the bars and with the bars between them." ACLJ is not directly representing Bibi but is working as an advocate for her, including a petition that anyone can sign on her behalf. It has more than 254,000 names so far. (source: onenewsnow.com) INDIA: 2 given death penalty for killing 5 persons in 2006 A court here has awarded death sentence to 2 persons for "remorselessly" killing 5 people including a local businessman, his wife and daughter in 2006, noting the case falls under the rarest of the rare category. Principal and Sessions judge Jammu, R S Jain, awarded death penalty to Sangram Pardhi and Nanju yesterday and directed that the sentence of conviction imposed upon the accused be submitted to the High Court. Death penalty by a local court is subject to the confirmation of High Court. On the intervening night of September 17 and 18 in 2006, 5 people including the cement tycoon Rajinder Bhushan Chopra, his wife Madhu Chopra, daughter Saloni, driver Jagan and helper Sonu were murdered in what was believed to be a case of business rivalry. The court observed that defence's argument that the accused had no prior conviction carried no weight. "There is another significant aggravating factor. The accused killed vulnerable persons including a housewife and young girl. The counsel for accused has referred to mitigating factors. One of the mitigating factors is that the accused have no previous convictions. That is a little weight in a murder of this gravity. The horror of what happened is all too apparent," the order read. The court observed that the murders were premeditated and an extensive planning was done before the crime. "There is extensive premeditation and planning of both of them that they entered the house of the deceased Rajinder Bhushan Chopra when there was no reason for them to do so. On February 2, the court had acquitted 4 other accused including a former Member of Legislative Council (MLC) of National Conference (NC) in the case. Former MLC Tarlochan Singh Wazir, his brother Ajaib Singh, Nagar Singh and Raju Simblia were let off by the court. "Having done so, both the accused either by themselves or with unknown persons tortured the inmates of the house which included a house wife namely Madhu Chopra and her younger daughter in a cruel and horrific manner," Judge R S Jain wrote in the judgement yesterday. The judge said that the accused killed the 5 persons "in one go and remorselessly" which reflected their "maniacal nature and disregard for human life. (source: Press Trust of India) BANGLADESH: 5 JMB militants get death penalty A trial court in Jhalakathi has sentenced to death 5 militants of banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) for killing district public prosecutor Haider Hossain 8 years ago. Muhammad Abdul Halim, the additional district and sessions judge of Jhalakathi, handed down the verdict yesterday in presence of three JMB men. 2 other convicts are on the run. The convicts are Billal Hossain (absconding) and Abu Shahadat Md Tanvir alias Mehedi Hasan alias Mushfique of Barguna; Murad Hossain of Khulna; and Sagir Hossain Bhuiyan (absconding) and Amirul Islam alias Amir alias Halkhat alias Hiron alias Milad of Dhaka. Haider was shot dead in the night of April 11, 2007 near his house while returning home after offering prayers at the adjacent graveyard mosque - 13 days after the execution of 6 top JMB leaders including its chief Shayakh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqur Rahman alias Bangla Bhai. Haider had led the prosecution in the trial against 7 topmost JMB leaders for the killing of 2 district judges - Jagonnath Parey and Shahid Sohel Ahmed - on November 14, 2005. Of the 7, 6 were executed on March 29, 2007 in 4 prisons of the country - Kashimpur, Comilla, Mymensingh and Pabna - under tight security and secrecy. The 5 others are Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal Molla alias Omar alias Shakil Ahmed, Amjad Hossain alias Khalid Saifullah, Iftekhar Hassan Al Mamun and absconding Asadul Islam alias Arif After the executions, the JMB militants threatened to kill Haider within 1 month. Tarek Ibne Haider, the only son of prosecutor Haider, filed the murder case on April 12, 2007 with the Jhalakathi sadar police against unknown persons. CID inspector Mosharraf Hossain, the 5th investigation officer, submitted charge sheet against the 5 JMB men on January 17, 2010 - around 39 months after the killing. The charge sheet was prepared based on the confessional statement of 1 of the convicts Murad and other evidence. None of the family members of the victim was present in the court during pronouncement of the verdict yesterday. Contacted over the phone, Tarek said they were happy with the verdict. He demanded quick execution of the verdict and erecting a memorial at the spot where his father had been killed. M Alam Khan Kamal, additional public prosecutor of Jhalakathi, pleaded for the state. Lutfar Rahman represented the 3 convicts now under custody while Manjur Rahman stood for the 2 fugitives as state defence counsel. Kamal said after the indictment, the case was sent to Barisal Speedy Trial Tribunal on November 30, 2010 which recorded the testimonies of 55 out of 57 witnesses. It was sent to the Jhalakathi District Judge's Court on June 26, 2011 since the 135-day timeframe of the tribunal ended by then. The Jhalakathi First Additional District Judge's Court resumed the trial on July 12, 2011 and recorded statement of another witness before delivery of the verdict. (source: Dhaka Tribune) TAIWAN: Mama Mouth Cafe convict's death sentence overturned----The Supreme Court said capital punishment might not be appropriate in the case after Taiwan signed human rights covenants The Supreme Court overturned the death sentences handed down in both the 1st and 2nd trials for Hsieh Yi-han when she was convicted of 2 murders, and remanded the case to the Taiwan High Court for review. Hsieh, manager of the Mama Mouth Cafe in New Taipei City's Bali District, was convicted of drugging and murdering Chen Chin-fu and Chang Tsui-ping in February 2013 and dumping their corpses in the Tamsui River. Hsieh stole NT$350,000 from Chen and attempted to withdraw more money from his wife's bank account by disguising herself as the murdered woman. The couple had considered Hsieh a god-daughter and entrusted her with their personal chops. Prior to the Supreme Court's decision, the lawyer for the victims' families, Wei Yi-lung, said that no matter what the ruling was, the loss of the 2 was an inconsolable blow to their families. The Supreme Court returned the case to the lower court after questioning whether it was appropriate after Taiwan signed into law the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Clause 2 of Article 6 of the ICCPR stipulates: "In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgement rendered by a competent court." (source: Taipei Times) KENYA: Millom man could face death penalty after being charged with girlfriend's murder in Kenya A Millom man could face the death penalty in Kenya after being charged with the murder of his girlfriend. Carl Singleton, 41, of Market Street, could be hanged according to Kenyan law if he is found guilty of the murder of 22-year-old student Peris Ashley Agumbi on November 19, 2014, at Neptune Estate in Gachie, Nairobi. Singleton appeared before the High Court in Nairobi today where he pleaded not guilty to murder and was remanded in custody. He first appeared in court in December last year but was released after police indicated they would open an inquest file into Miss Agumbi's death. However Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions, Keriako Tobiko, revisited the file and decided to charge Singleton with murder. He was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as he attempted to travel back to the UK on February 5. Justice Roseline Korir told the court: "The accused will be remanded at Industrial Area Prison and be escorted for medical assessment at Mathare Mental Hospital, and the medical report will be presented to court on February 19." Prosecutor Alloys Kemu said the state has lined up a total of 15 witnesses for a 2-day trial scheduled for November 4 and 5. Singleton met Miss Agumbi online through Facebook two years ago, before flying out with a tourist visa to meet her 6 months ago. (source: North-West Evening Mail) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 12 14:02:40 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:02:40 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 12 INDONESIA: Bali 9: officials given all-clear to move pair for execution ---- Indonesian officials have granted permission to transfer Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran out of Kerobokan jail Bali officials have been granted permission to transfer Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran out of Kerobokan jail for their executions. Momock Bambang Samiarso, head of Bali provincial prosecutors, said a meeting on Thursday afternoon confirmed the Bali Nine pair would be transferred to be executed outside of Bali. Prosecutors are trying to keep the transfer a secret, and the official avoided confirming the men would be taken to Nusakambangan, a prison island off central Java. "We ask it to be as soon as possible," he said. He also promised to give Chan, Sukumaran and their families the required 72 hours notice of their executions. The meeting came after heartfelt pleas in parliament by Julie Bishop and Tanya Plibersek, and the Indonesian foreign minister's reiteration that the men be dealt the ultimate punishment. In an at times emotional speech to federal parliament, Bishop said the Sydney pair's attempt to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin out of Indonesia in 2005 was a grave crime that deserved punishment. But they didn't deserve to pay with their lives. "Both men are deeply, sincerely remorseful for their actions," Bishop said. "Both men have made extraordinary efforts to rehabilitate." Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek followed with an equally powerful argument against the pair's executions. She reflected on her husband Michael Coutts-Trotter's drug conviction 30 years ago, and what a loss it would have been if he was punished with death. "They would have missed out on a man who spent the rest of his life making amends for the crime that he committed," she said. Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi said she had received letters from both women and phone calls from the minister. Her replies were clear and consistent, she said. "I have told Julie that this is not against a country, this is not against nationals of a certain country, but this is against a crime, against an extraordinary crime," she told reporters in Jakarta. "We will keep on communicating, explaining, in consistent language like that." While Indonesia and Australia keep trading views on the death penalty to no effect for Chan and Sukumaran, their families have continued visiting their prison daily. Artist Ben Quilty and Victorian supreme court Judge Lex Lasry joined them on Thursday. Only president Joko Widodo can save the men from execution but he gave a defiant vow this week not to succumb to outside pressure on the death penalty for drug felons. In her statement, Bishop said besides more than 55 ministerial and prime ministerial representations for the men, high-profile Australians had made "discreet overtures to their influential Indonesian contacts". The Indonesian government says around 18,000 deaths annually are due to drugs, but the researchers who compiled the report have said it was only ever intended to give a general picture of drug use. (source: The Guardian) ************************* Bali 9 ringleaders to be moved to a new prison ahead of impending executions Indonesia ordered Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran be moved to another prison ahead of their impending executions. Local authorities today received a permit letter ordering the men be moved from Kerobokan prison in coming days. A meeting will be held tomorrow where their execution date is expected to be decided. Indonesia's Attorney-General has requested the execution happen immediately, while the country???s foreign minister has told Julie Bishop the death penalty remained in place for "extraordinary crimes". Chan and Sukumaran were convicted of attempting to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005. The development comes as both sides of Australian politics made heartfelt pleas for the pair's lives to be spared. Ms Bishop told of an "excruciating" meeting she had with the families of the death-row accused. "They told me how it was virtually impossible to be strong for each other," Ms Bishop told parliament today. "How could anyone be failed to be moved?" ----- Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek has begged for the lives of Bali 9 drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to be spared. Her Opposition counterpart Tanya Plibersek joined her in calling for clemency, telling the house she had a unique perspective into their plight. "I have a particular view about remorse and redemption - in 1988 my husband left prison after being convicted and sentenced to a very similar crime ... and he's spent the rest of his life making amends for his crime," she said. Ms Plibersek's husband, Michael Coutts-Trotter, was jailed in 1986 at age 21 for conspiracy to import narcotics. (source: 9news.com.au) ****************** Wife fears execution near for Frenchman on Indonesia death row The wife of a Frenchman on death row in Indonesia for drug offences said on Wednesday she will continue to fight for his release despite fears he might be executed soon. Serge Atlaoui, has a "sword of Damocles hanging over his head", his wife Sabine Atlaoui told an anti-death penalty press conference. The Frenchman, 51, saw his appeal for clemency rejected in January by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, a vocal supporter of capital punishment for drug offenders. "He is scared that he will never see his children again," said Atlaoui's wife, who said she is still "holding onto hope". Atlaoui, a father of 4, was arrested near Jakarta in 2005 in a secret laboratory producing ecstasy. He was sentenced to death in 2007 on drug trafficking charges. Imprisoned in Indonesia for 10 years, he has always denied the charges saying he was installing industrial machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory. According to local media reports, Atlaoui, 1 of 7 foreigners on Indonesia's death row, could soon face execution. His lawyer in Indonesia filed a request last Tuesday for a trial review, a last-ditch attempt to save his client's life. Sabine Atlaoui says she has placed all her hopes in the review and will continue to fight for her "innocent" husband. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was scheduled to visit Indonesia to try to get Atlaoui off death row, but had to postpone his trip because of the crisis in Ukraine. He did, however, speak to his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on Wednesday, to remind him of France's anti-death penalty stance, a foreign ministry spokesperson told AFP. French President Francois Hollande also wrote to Widodo last month asking him to grant Atlaoui a reprieve, the spokesperson said. Around 12 Indonesians and foreigners are on death row following drug offence convictions in a country with the some of the toughest drug laws in the world. The country executed 6 drug offenders last month, 5 of them foreigners. (source: Agence France-Presse) *********************** Australia makes last-ditch Indonesia appeal for death row drug traffickers Australia has made an urgent appeal for the lives of 2 citizens facing imminent execution in Indonesia on drug convictions. Canberra says Jakarta should show the same mercy it pleads for in similar situations. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop called on Indonesia to spare the lives of convicted heroin smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, whom Jakarta said last week were part of a group it was preparing to execute by firing squad. The pair were convicted in 2006 as the ringleaders of the so-called 'Bali 9' group, caught in 2005 trying to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds) of heroin out of Bali. Sentences in the case ranged from 15 years' jail to death. Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, recently lost their final appeals for clemency from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, a vocal supporter of capital punishment. Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran on Wednesday lodged a rare legal challenge to the president's decision. Bishop told parliament in Canberra the pair had made "shocking mistakes," but deserved another chance. "This motion goes to the heart of what we believe will be a grave injustice against two Australian citizens facing execution in Indonesia," she said. "We are not understating the gravity of the nature of these crimes. Without doubt, Andrew and Myuran need to pay for their crimes with lengthy jail sentences but they should not need to pay with their lives," Bishop said. "Both men have made extraordinary efforts to rehabilitate." Hundreds of Indonesians face death penalty abroad Bishop said the Indonesian government was trying to seek the release of more than 200 citizens facing the death penalty overseas. "We urge the Indonesian government to show the same mercy to Andrew and Myuran that it seeks for its citizens in the same situation abroad." Australian judge Lex Lasry said this was relevant to the case of Chan and Sukumaran. "Indonesia itself of course is endeavoring to do what it can to save the lives of Indonesian citizens who are on death rows in other countries. That's obviously relevant to this case and it may well be that other countries are saying, 'Well, in order for us to be sympathetic to your cause on behalf of your citizens, we need to consider what you are proposing to do to not just the 2 Australians, but another seven or eight people,'" Lasry told ABC TV's 7.30 program. Lasry said the men are holding up well but are "extremely apprehensive." The executions threaten to strain already fragile relations between the 2 countries. Tensions flared in 2013 after reports Canberra had spied on top Indonesian officials - including the former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife. Indonesia executed 6 people for drugs offences in January, 5 of them foreign nationals from Brazil, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Malawi and Vietnam. (source: Deutsche Welle) AUSTRALIA: Bali 9: Australia must widen death penalty opposition, says Philip Ruddock ---- The attorney general at the time of the 2005 arrests says Australia must go beyond campaigning only in those countries where its citizens are involved Philip Ruddock, the attorney general at the time of the Bali 9 arrests for heroin trafficking in 2005, has said Australia needs a "fundamental review" of how it advocates for the abolition of the death penalty. In an interview with Guardian Australia, Ruddock, who was also the chief law officer when Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van was executed in Singapore in 2005, said he had personally raised the American use of the death penalty with the then president George Bush Sr when he visited Australia more than 20 years ago. "There needs to be a fundamental review in relation to our advocacy on the death penalty not only in relation to Indonesia but to the United States, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia," he said. "We don't have Australians on death row in the US, China, Iran or Saudi Arabia, but I think we need to be willing to be work on those issues." Australia has been criticised for lack of strong advocacy on the death penalty apart from when its own citizens are on death row. Ruddock is a long-time opponent of capital punishment and called Nguyen's execution for heroin trafficking "barbaric". He was the lead signatory to a letter signed by more than 100 Australian politicians pleading for Indonesia to show mercy to Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who have been sentenced to death for their attempt to traffic heroin into Australia. The 2 men, ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine, have exhausted legal appeals and their execution by firing squad is scheduled for this month. Bali officials have been granted permission to transfer the condemned men out of Kerobokan jail for their executions. On Thursday, Ruddock addressed the foreign affairs, defence and trade legislation committee following a parliamentary clemency motion for Chan and Sukumaran. The committee is believed to have visited the Indonesian ambassador, Nadjib Riphat Kesoema, to make a last-ditch plea for mercy. Ruddock defended the role of the Australian federal police in the arrest of the 9 people involved in the trafficking attempt. The AFP tipped off its Indonesian counterparts about a potential drug trafficking attempt and passed on the names of most of the Bali 9 and their flight details, despite the offence attracting the death penalty. 7 drug couriers are serving lengthy jail terms for their involvement. The AFP has always defended its actions as inter-country police co-operation. In 2006, Justice Paul Finn ruled its actions lawful, but urged a review of policies that could expose Australians to the death penalty. The procedures were tightened in 2009. As attorney general, Ruddock formally withdrew Australia's co-operation after the Bali 9 were charged because the offences carried the death penalty, but at that point Indonesia said it no longer needed Australia's help to prosecute. "Where it is clear that the death penalty might be sought - that is, where you are seeking to extradite somebody - you would seek an assurance that they would not apply to use the death penalty before you deliver them up," Ruddock told Guardian Australia. "But that has never been the case in relation to the sharing of information with police abroad." He said it would be wrong for police only to share information with an assurance that the death penalty would not be sought before knowing what the offence might be. "An issue that might involve a terrorist act in Indonesia in which a large number of Australians might possibly lose their lives - would it be seriously argued we should not provide the Indonesians with information we have received which may have enabled the prevention of that on the basis that if they carried it out and they later arrested them ... it might carry the death penalty?" The former foreign minister Bob Carr has called on the AFP to provide a "more compelling explanation" as to why it tipped off the Indonesian police. Ruddock said Australians should not give up attempts to save Chan and Sukumaran, but their executions were "getting perilously close, unfortunately". (source: The Guardian) NEW ZEALAND: Time to Kill the Death Penalty It is very likely that within the next couple of weeks two Australian drug dealers will be executed in Indonesia. There is an understandable sense of revulsion developing about that probability, leading to a renewed focus in this part of the world at least about the barbarity of the death penalty. A New Zealander is about to go on trial in Indonesia on drug-related charges and could well face the same fate, which gives added relevance to the outcome of the case of the 2 Australians. While we do not, nor should not, condone their crimes - even they admit their guilt - we are as a civilised society repulsed by the fate that waits them. But we are also a hypocritical society. Virtually every week, there is an execution or 2 in the United States - the victims often being of low intelligence, and the execution process botched and unnecessarily prolonged and painful - and we do not bat an eyelid. Our new best friend, China, routinely executes miscreants for all manner of offences, and we stay silent for fear of upsetting them. The Saudi Arabian regime beheads, stones, hangs or maims people after prayers each week, yet we honour the late King by flying our flag at half-mast on official buildings. There is no difference between each of these situations and the firing squads now being lined up in Indonesia. Well, you might ask, aside from chest-thumping and expressions of outrage, what can New Zealand do, if anything, about all this? Is this not a matter of national sovereignty, been left for countries to deal with as they see fit, without the interference of well-meaning external busy bodies? There are 2 courses of action New Zealand could follow. We should be prepared to speak out against the death penalty, as and when it is applied, on the principle that no state has the right to deprive its citizens of life. We should be strongly supporting the advocacy work of groups like Amnesty International and generally not giving succour to the death penalty states. Over the next 2 years we have the advantage of being a member of the United Nations Security Council. As a small, independent state, generally recognised as having a good human rights record, we should be using that role to promote an international campaign for the elimination of the death penalty. In 1994, we were, as a member of the Council, able to bring a human rights focus to the resolution of the Rwandan crisis, being widely applauded and still remembered for that achievement. We have the credibility to be similarly effective, were we to take on the death penalty challenge during our current term. It will be too late for the Australians in Indonesia and for others immediately similarly threatened, but being part of a successful international campaign for the abolition of the death penalty, however idealistic and impractical it may seem, is a worthy goal to strive for. It would be great to see New Zealand pick up the challenge. (source: Commentary, Peter Dunne, Scoop News) EGYPT: Egypt Brotherhood leader's death sentence struck down An Egyptian appellate court has quashed the death penalty handed down to 36 Muslim Brotherhood members, including its spiritual leader, and ordered a retrial. On Wednesday, Egypt's Court of Cassation overturned death sentences handed to Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 35 others, the website of the Egyptian daily newspaper al-Ahram reported. No date has been set for a fresh trial. The defendants were indicted for raiding a police station in the Egyptian city of Minya, killing a police officer and 8 others. The Minya court of first instance had initially sentenced several hundred supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi to death. The Cassation Court accepted the appeals filed by only 36 of 136 defendants against their June sentence in the case known locally as 'Adwa incidents', named according to a village in Minya governorate where clashes erupted after the ouster of former president, Mohamed Morsi, in August 2013. In 2014, 4 Brotherhood members got life term and 1 was sentenced to 15 years in jail while 14 others got 7 years in prison. Egypt's 2011 revolution led to the overthrow of the dictator, Hosni Mubarak. In an election after Mubarak's ouster, Muslim Brotherhood-backed Morsi was elected president. Morsi was later ousted in a military coup led by former military chief and current President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in July 2013. The Egyptian government has been cracking down on any opposition since Morsi was ousted. Sisi has been accused of leading the suppression of Morsi supporters, as hundreds of them have been killed in clashes with Egyptian security forces over the past year. Rights groups say the army's crackdown on the supporters of Morsi has led to the deaths of over 1,400 people and the arrest of 22,000 others, including some 200 people who have been sentenced to death in mass trials. (source: Press TV) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 12 14:09:12 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:09:12 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALABAMA Message-ID: Feb. 12 ALABAMA----impending execution 11th Circuit clears way for Tommy Arthur execution on Feb. 19 A federal appeals court is clearing the way for the execution of an Alabama inmate next week. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday lifted a stay of execution for death row inmate Tommy Arthur. The decision came at the request of the state. The court says Arthur's execution can go ahead on Feb. 19. The court says Arthur can file additional challenges, but his attorneys need to do so quickly. Arthur contends Alabama's lethal injection method is unconstitutional. His lawyers say Alabama uses the same chemicals that led to botched executions in other states. Arthur has been on death row since 1983 for the contract killing of Muscle Shoals businessman Troy Wicker in 1982. He's successfully fought off multiple execution dates and says he is innocent. (source: Associated Press) ********************** Tommy Arthur, convicted in 1982 Muscle Shoals murder, now set for execution Feb. 19 Tommy Arthur, whose execution in Alabama has been delayed several times in recent years, is once again set to die by lethal injection. The new date is February 19, 2015 at Holman Prison in Atmore. He is 1 of Alabama's longest-serving death row inmates. On Thursday, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals lifted its stay on Arthur's execution, paving the way for the state to put him to death. However, the court indicated Arthur still has the avenue of seeking an injunction or restraining order through federal district court. Arthur called WHNT News 19 collect on Thursday morning to inform us of this development in the case. Arthur was convicted of killing Muscle Shoals businessman Troy Wicker in 1982, in a murder-for-hire case. He's been on death row since 1983, with his execution being delayed at least 5 times. The latest delay had to do with Arthur's appeal of drugs used to execute inmates. His attorneys argue it could be cruel and unusual punishment. This is one of a number of appeals in different states over the new drug combinations used in lethal injections. (source: WHNT news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 12 16:59:58 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 12 Feb 2015 16:59:58 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLORIDA Message-ID: FLORIDA: CLEMENCY SOUGHT AFTER 31 YEARS ON DEATH ROW Michael Lambrix is seeking commutation of his death sentence. If he is denied clemency, the Florida authorities will set an execution date. He has spent over half of his life on death row. Twenty-three years old when he was sent there in 1984, he turns 55 in March. View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. Clarence Moore and Aleisha Bryant were killed on 6 February 1983 and buried in a shallow grave near the trailer home that Cary Michael Lambrix shared with Frances Smith. The latter was arrested three days later on an unrelated matter and led police to the grave, a tire iron allegedly used as a murder weapon, and a shirt belonging to Michael Lambrix with blood on it. Michael Lambrix was charged with murder. His trial in 1983 ended in a mistrial after the jury could not agree on a verdict. At retrial in 1984, the jury voted to convict him of two counts of first-degree murder and recommended the death penalty, by 10 votes to two for one murder and eight to four for the other. Michael Lambrix maintains his innocence of pre-meditated murder, claiming that he acted in self-defense when Clarence Moore fatally attacked Aleisha Bryant and came at him when he tried to stop the assault. The prosecution?s key witness for its case against Michael Lambrix was Frances Smith, who testified that Lambrix had killed the victims. The judge did not allow the defense to raise prior inconsistent statements she had given to police. Deborah Hanzel, who was living with Smith?s cousin at the time, testified that Michael Lambrix had told her that he killed the victims. She recanted this in 2003, saying that Lambrix ?never told me at any time or in any manner indicated to me that he killed the victims?. She said that Frances Smith had told her ?she didn?t really know what happened outside but that Mr Lambrix had told her that the guy [Moore] went nuts and he had to hit him?. Deborah Hanzel said that she had lied because she had been asked by Smith to corroborate her story and had done so ?due to the fear instilled in me? about Lambrix ?by Frances Smith and state officials?. She was recanting now, she said, because ?I cannot run from the truth. I do not want to feel the guilt anymore?. The trial jury did not hear compelling mitigating evidence of Michael Lambrix?s severely abusive childhood. According to evidence raised on appeal through numerous affidavits, he bore the brunt of his alcoholic father?s violence, which on occasion required the boy?s hospitalization. When Michael Lambrix was two years old his father kicked him off his tricycle and through a plate glass window, causing serious cuts and bleeding. On another occasion, he threw the boy against a wall that caused a cut ?so deep that I could see his skull?, according to his mother, who ?thought he was dead?. Physical and later sexual abuse continued after Michael Lambrix?s parents divorced and his father obtained custody of the children. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Cary Michael Lambrix was one of seven children. In a sworn statement made during appeals, his mother recalled that after the birth of their first child, ?my husband began using threats of violence toward the baby if I did not do what he wanted. These threats intensified with each child?. His mother contracted polio in 1957, leaving her ?paralyzed on my right side from the waist down?. In her statement, she said that her husband would rape her on the special bed she had to use for polio treatment. She said that during her pregnancy with Michael, conceived in such a rape, her husband ?constantly assaulted me?. Michael was born in March 1960 and his mother filed for divorce in 1965, obtaining a temporary restraining order against her husband. However, after a five-month hospitalization required when he threw her against a wall, she became less able to parent, and he was given custody of the children on the condition that he hire a full-time housekeeper. The father and housekeeper subsequently married, and according to the family she was also violent. ?Though most us got beaten by both our father and our stepmother,? one of Michael?s sisters said in an affidavit, ?Cary got beaten much more often, really every day, and he got it much worse too. He always had black and blue marks on his legs and back?. Neighbors and others also recognized signs of abuse, and signed affidavits to that effect. For example, one person wrote: ?Through the years I recall seeing Cary come to school with black eyes and bruises up and down his arms? I recall one time I was with Cary and his father at a fast food restaurant. Cary was standing next to his father, who was ordering food. For no reason at all Cary?s father turned around and struck Cary hard in the face in front of me and others?? Another person who met Michael Lambrix as a young teenager and who became friends with him recalled in another affidavit ?I learned very quickly that Cary was physically abused by his father? I remember being shocked and disgusted when I saw the bruises that covered Cary. Most of his body was discolored and raw? I had never seen anything like this, and I couldn?t understand how a father could do that to his son?. View the full Urgent Action here. Name: Cary Michael Lambrix (m) Issues: Death penalty, Imminent execution, Legal concern UA: 31/15 Issue Date: 12 February 2015 Country: USA Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 31/15" in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below. HOW YOU CAN HELP Please write immediately in English or your own language: * Calling for Cary Michael Lambrix to be granted clemency and for his death sentence to be commuted; * Noting the circumstantial nature of the state?s case, the Hanzel recantation, and the non-unanimous jury; * Expressing concern that the jury did not hear compelling mitigating evidence about his background. PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 26 MARCH 2015 TO: Governor Rick Scott Office of the Governor, The Capitol 400 S. Monroe St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001, USA Email: Rick.scott at eog.myflorida.com Salutation: Dear Governor Office of Executive Clemency Florida Parole Commission, 4070 Esplanade Way Tallahassee, FL 32399-2450, USA Email: ClemencyWeb at fpc.state.fl.us Fax: 011 1 850 414-6031 or 011 1 850 488-0695 Salutation: Dear Members of the Clemency Board Please share widely with your networks:?http://bit.ly/1708373 We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward this email to a friend" link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism! UA Network Office AIUSA ?600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 T. 202.509.8193 ? F. 202.509.8193 ?E. uan at aiusa.org ?amnestyusa.org/urgent From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 13 11:54:05 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 11:54:05 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., ALA., MISS., OHIO Message-ID: Feb. 13 TEXAS: Rodney Reed deserves justice Everything is bigger in Texas, including the state's death toll. It is well-known that Texas has executed hundreds more than any other state, and openly executes the mentally ill. Advocacy groups have documented the many cases of wrongful executions in Texas, as well as wrongful convictions that have been proven through exonerating DNA testing (though typically only after the exoneree has been waiting for a decade on death row). Relevant for the Black Lives Matter movement is that the Texas death penalty regime is incredibly racist - while black people are only 12 % of the state's population, they are over 40 % of the executed. This will come to a head on March 5, when Texas plans to execute an innocent black man named Rodney Reed. In 1998, Reed was convicted by an all-white Bastrop jury for the murder of Stacey Stites. Following DNA testing which found Reed's semen inside Stites, the prosecution argued that Reed had raped and murdered her. Reed (as well as many eyewitnesses) maintained that they were having a consensual affair, which was kept secret because Stites' then-fiance was police officer Jimmy Fennell - he also maintained that a black man was dating a white woman who was engaged to a white officer would be incredibly scandalous and dangerous if revealed. In 2012, the medical examiner who originally testified about the DNA came forward and challenged this link, saying that the decaying state of the semen implied it had been deposited well before the time that the prosecution alleges the crime was committed, fitting the defense's version of events. The prosecution has not offered any other evidence to link Reed to the crime. There is, however, ample evidence to link Fennell to the crime. Fennell was found to be deceptive on 2 polygraph tests when asked if he had murdered Stites and could not prove his whereabouts at the time of the crime. Stites had been found on the side of a road, dumped from a truck that belonged to Fennell. Beer cans found near Stites' body contained the DNA of Fennell's neighbor and close friend. In the medical examiner's 2012 declaration, he also stated that it appeared Stites had been sodomized by "a rod-like instrument, such as a police baton." In 1995, Fennell was quoted by another officer as saying that if he caught Stites cheating, he would strangle her with a belt to avoid leaving fingerprints - this is how Stites was killed. As detailed by The Intercept, Fennell has a history of misogynistic violence, having harassed and stalked multiple ex-girlfriends and innocent women. He is currently serving a prison sentence for raping a woman while on duty and threatening to kill her if she reported him. This woman and nearly a dozen of Stites' relatives have spoken up in defense of Reed and implicated Fennell as the real killer. There is also ample evidence of New Jim Crow racism by the state: a police cover-up, inadequate defense and prosecutorial misconduct. First, the cover-up. The polygraphs that Fennell failed were in late 1996, while Reed wasn't charged due to the DNA match until April 1997. In the intervening time, Fennell was not and still has not been treated as a real suspect - his apartment (the last place Stites was seen alive) was not searched; his truck (which Stites was dumped out of) was released to and promptly sold by Fennell, meaning a third party (such as Reed's defense) could never confirm its contents or test any DNA; the crime scene and important evidence were purposefully contaminated by police investigators; the friend of Fennell's, whose DNA was found near Stites' body, was also a police officer; and the police decided to officially dismiss Fennell as a suspect, stating that it would be logistically impossible for Fennell to have committed the crime, even though this depended on the baseless assumption that Fennell acted alone. Next, Reed's defense was clearly inadequate - the court-appointed lawyers only called 2 of Reed's many willing witnesses and did not counter the prosecution's original medical testimony (from the examiner who later recanted his incrimination of Reed) with its own medical examiner. Finally, the immense prosecutorial misconduct amounts to a cover-up in its own right. The prosecution withheld the crime scene DNA evidence from the defense, suppressed witness testimony that Fennell and Stites were arguing loudly the day before her death, suppressed Fennell's 1995 statement about strangling Stites if she was found cheating and used racist smears against Reed to sway the all-white jury, portraying him as a criminal for whom "it was inevitable that we would be here at some point." Reed???s mother, Sandra Reed, has bravely fought for her son while enduring this injustice - the courts, meanwhile, continue to reject potentially exonerating DNA testing. She reflected with The New Abolitionist about her experience, anticipating the Black Lives Matter movement: "This proved to me that the United States has defrauded all of us. They painted this so-called justice system with rose colors and made us think that we would get a fair shake ... Looking back at Martin Luther King, how he fought for our rights--well, I thought we had our rights! But I realize now that we don't. We never had equality." Those who are interested in getting involved in this struggle and preventing the imminent execution can join Reed's family at upcoming events, which can be found at justice4rodneyreed.org. (source: Mukund Rathi is a computer science honors junior from Austin; The (Univ. Texas) Daily Texan) ******************** New lead assistant DA has experience in capital murder, death penalty cases A prosecutor recently hired by the 33rd/424th Judicial District Attorney will step into a newly created position, bringing years of experience in handling capital murder and death penalty cases as well as white collar crimes those against children, officials say. Perry Thomas, 51, was formerly the assistant criminal district attorney in Jefferson County, which includes Beaumont and Port Arthur, where he worked for the past 23 years. District Attorney Sonny McAfee hired him in February as the first assistant district attorney, overseeing a staff of 6 other assistant district attorneys. Among Thomas' credits: being the lead prosecutor on one of the largest embezzlement cases in Jefferson County's history involving the theft of $1.4 million from a Beaumont Pentecostal church connected to Hurricane Rita donations and the estate of a disabled individual. "He's got the ability to evaluate a case and develop a trial strategy," McAfee said. "He's good in front of a jury. He knows the facts well." Thomas' goals as chief prosecutor include advancing the use of technology in courtroom presentation, utilizing the latest scientific technology and reinforcing the effectiveness of the office???s prosecution unit handling crimes against children. He hopes to complement an experienced staff. "They're a fantastic group of men and women to be able to work with," Thomas said. "There's quite a bit of experience here as prosecutors and attorneys in general." Officials expect to utilize Thomas' experience with murder cases soon and often. The 33rd/424th - covering Blanco, Burnet, Llano and San Saba counties - has a number of capital murder and child victimization cases on the horizon as well as at least 1 potential death penalty trial. "Perry has a lot of experience in trying all types of murder cases, capital murder cases and even death penalty cases," McAfee said. "Capital murder is different than a murder case. When trying those types of cases, trial strategy, presentation and jury selection are critical." Upcoming cases include: -- Garrett James Ballard, 21, charged with capital murder of multiple persons for allegedly gunning down 2 of his friends, 26-year-old Travis Fox and 17-year-old Elijah Adam Benson, in August 2014, at Ballard's parents' residence in Burnet County. According to arrest documents, Ballard told investigators all 3 were on hallucinogenic drugs (LSD) when the 2 alleged victims began demonstrating "strange and disruptive behaviors," so he retrieved a rifle from his father's vehicle and shot them. -- Michael Len Grogg, 25, of Kingsland charged with the 1st-degree felony of serious injury to a child following the July 2013 death of a 19-month-old child airlifted to Dell Children's hospital after an emergency call regarding a toddler losing consciousness and having difficulty breathing. An autopsy revealed the child showed signs of abuse and suffered from swelling of the brain. Llano County Sheriff's Office investigators launched a probe into what they believed to be "suspicious circumstances" and arrested Grogg, the child's stepfather. -- Juston Aaron Curbow, 35, of Horseshoe Bay faces 2 counts of capital murder by terror or threat and capital murder of multiple persons for his alleged role in the murder of 2 Spicewood residents in May 2013. Burnet County Sheriff's Office investigators found the bodies of Thomas Wells, 30, and Dorrina Reese, 42, after firefighters responded to a fire call. 2 other people are connected to the case - one of whom committed suicide in the Burnet County Jail. Another suspect in the case, a woman, is accused of trying to help cover up the deaths. If convicted, Curbow could face the death penalty. McAfee says he will use Thomas as a "sounding board" on the upcoming Cubow trial in April; however, he expects Thomas to launch into a lead position on pending capital murder cases. "Those are the most complex and difficult criminal cases there are to try," Thomas said. "I hope to be able to help the other prosecutors to put the best case forward we can." (source: dailytrib.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Pennsylvania suspends the death penalty Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday that he had suspended the death penalty until he receives and reviews a report on capital punishment in the state. "This moratorium is in no way an expression of sympathy for the guilty on death row, all of whom have been convicted of committing heinous crimes," Wolf said in a statement. "This decision is based on a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive." This announcement comes as the death penalty's use across the country has declined considerably in recent years, with executions and death sentences both dropping well below numbers seen in the last 2 decades. Pennsylvania has not executed an inmate since 1999 and has carried out only 3 executions since 1976, making it 1 of the least-active states with the death penalty. Yet the state also has 1 of the largest populations of death-row inmates. There are 186 people currently on death row in the state, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said, trailing only California, Florida, Texas and Alabama. Some of Pennsylvania's inmates have been there for more than 3 decades. A series of governors have signed hundreds of death warrants over the last 3 decades, and dozens of inmates have had their names on at least 3 of these warrants. A similar situation has played out in California, which is home to the largest death row population in the country but has executed 13 people since 1976. Last year, a federal judge said the California system was unconstitutional, writing that it was "plagued by inordinate and unpredictable delay" due to the long, winding appeals process there. The Pennsylvania State Senate established a task force and advisory commission on capital punishment in 2011, charging them with exploring whether there is bias or unfairness involved in the trials and sentencing, the potential risks of sentencing innocent people to death and whether the death penalty deters criminals or helps public safety. Wolf said that the moratorium announced Friday "will remain in effect until this commission has produced its recommendation and all concerns are addressed satisfactorily." He also said there have been 150 people exonerated from death row across the country, 6 of them in Pennsylvania. Last year, 6 people on death row in the United States were exonerated, according to a recent report from the National Registry of Exonerations. Wolf said he will grant reprieves to every execution scheduled for the time being. This began on Friday, with Wolf issuing a temporary reprieve to Terrance Williams, who was scheduled for execution on March 4. Pennsylvania has effectively formalized what has already become the status quo in that state, but it follows on the heels of similar movement nationwide. Washington state suspended the death penalty last year without officially banning it. Meanwhile, Maryland abolished capital punishment in 2013 and, last year, said the 4 inmates still on death row would have their death sentences lifted. There are currently 18 states without the death penalty, and 1/3 of them have banned the practice since 2007. States around the country have been struggling to obtain the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections. Pennsylvania has not been immune to this, announcing last fall that it was postponing an execution because it did not have any lethal injection drugs. That came shortly after the American Civil Liberties Union in Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit on behalf of four media organizations demanding additional information regarding the lethal injection drugs the state planned to use. Executions in Pennsylvania are supposed to be carried out using lethal injection at the State Correctional Institution Rockview, which is not far from Pennsylvania State University in State College. More than 1/2 of the public supports capital punishment, but public support for the death penalty has fallen over the last 2 decades. Experts attribute this drop to the number of convictions that have been overturned through DNA evidence and other means. (source: Washington Post) ******************************** Pennsylvania prosecutors slam governor on death penalty halt----Moratorium will prevent any executions until advisory panel's report The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association says Gov. Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty in the state is a misuse of his power. These people are all being held in Pennsylvania prisons while awaiting their execution dates for various murders. The association responded Friday after the Democratic governor announced the policy and called the current system of capital punishment "error-prone, expensive and anything but infallible." The prosecutors say Wolf's action ignores the law and imposes his personal views about the death penalty. Pennsylvania has 183 men and 3 women on death row. The state has only executed three people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the last one in 1999. All 3 had voluntarily given up their appeals. (source: WTAE news) GEORGIA----impending female execution Georgia's Only Woman On Death Row To Be Executed This Month Georgia's only female death row inmate is slated for execution by the end of this month. Kelly Gissendaner has been an inmate of Georgia Department of Corrections for over 17 years but was given the death penalty in 2008 for her role in the murder of her husband. The Huffington Post reports that she will be the 1st woman executed in the state of Georgia since the year 1945. That is, of course, if her execution happens and she's not pardoned at the 11th hour. Gissendaner reportedly conspired with a lover in 1997, convincing the man to commit the murder of her husband, Doug Gissendaner. Her boyfriend, Gregory Owen, stabbed the man to death and then staged the crime scene to look like a robbery gone wrong by taking the man's wedding ring and watch. The plot, masterminded by Kelly Gissendaner, was supposed to result in the lovers collecting on the victim's life insurance policies. Owen ultimately turned on Kelly and testified against her in court, which spared him the death penalty but ended in her being put on death row. She's spent the past several years in prison, and even has a personal ad looking for pen pals on a popular prison pen pal website. The last female death row inmate to be executed in Georgia was a black woman named Lena Baker, who was convicted by an all-white jury in the shooting of her employer with his own gun. In 2005, the state tried to redeem itself by finally admitting that the woman had acted in self-defense. NPR reports that Lena Baker worked as a maid before her conviction, but shot her employer when he attacked her. Aside from Georgia, there are approximately 59 women on death row in the United States. Even though that's only a little over 1 % of prison inmates in the country, many of the women are players in high-profile cases, such as Wendi Andriano, who murdered her terminally ill husband in Arizona, Cynthia Coffman, who killed at least 4 women with her boyfriend, and Linda Carty, who famously kidnapped and murdered a young woman so she could steal her baby. It should be noted that of the women on death row in the U.S., only 15 of them have been executed since the 1970s. (source: inquisitr.com) ALABAMA----impending execution Federal appeals court paves way for Tommy Arthur execution Feb. 19 A federal appeals court Thursday paved the way for the execution of Alabama death row inmate Tommy Arthur next week for the contract killing of a Muscle Shoals man in 1982. But the court also said Arthur might still have other legal moves available to stave off - for a 6th time - his execution. "Nothing herein precludes Mr. Arthur from seeking an injunction or restraining order as to the February 19, 2015, execution, but such motion should be filed and considered by the district court in the 1st instance pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure," according to today's ruling by the 11th Circuit. "Thereafter, and if necessary, the parties may move for relief in this Court pursuant to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure." Last year Alabama changed its lethal injection protocol, switching from the use of pentobarbital to midazolam as the 1st drug in the 3-drug protocol that also included pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride. After the state changed the drug protocol, it asked for another execution date, which the Alabama Supreme Court granted and set for Feb. 19. However, on Jan. 5, U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins in Montgomery ruled that the 11th Circuit's stay that had postponed Arthur's March 2012 execution, due to his challenge of the drug protocol, was still in effect. That federal judge also allowed Arthur to amend his lawsuit to claim midazolam is also a constitution violation. On Thursday the 11th Circuit ruled that its stay of the March 2012 execution was not a general stay that was to continue past that time. To clarify any confusion, however, the 11th Circuit withdrew that stay. Arthur was first convicted of capital murder in 1983 in the death of Troy Wicker of Muscle Shoals. That conviction and a 2nd conviction were overturned. He was convicted a 3rd time in 1991 and that conviction was upheld. (source: al.com) MISSISSIPPI: Miss. House passes bill mandating execution secrecy Mississippi lawmakers would not only make details surrounding state executions secret, but allow anyone who discloses details to be sued for money. House Bill 1305, sponsored by Democrat Kimberly Campbell of Jackson, would provide that the names of the executioner and any helpers would be exempt from public disclosure, as well as the identity of the supplier of execution drugs. The House passed the bill 82-34, sending it to the Senate for more work. Opponents of the death penalty have been trying to limit states' ability to execute by finding out the names of drug suppliers and pressuring them. Last year, lawyers challenged the use of drugs from a compounding pharmacy in Grenada. Nationwide, concerns have been raised about botched executions because of novel drug combinations. (source: Associated Press) ******************** Death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning wins new trial in killing of Starkville women A Mississippi death row inmate has won a new trial after the state Supreme Court found police investigators withheld evidence from prosecutors and defense attorneys that showed a key state witness lied. Willie Jerome Manning was sentenced to death in the 1993 slayings of 90-year-old Emmoline Jimmerson and her daughter, 60-year-old Alberta Jordan. Police and prosecutors say the women were beaten and had their throats slashed. Manning's attorneys argued the conviction should be overturned because of questions about a witness who put Manning at the scene. The state Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, says notes from when police knocked on doors at the complex showed the apartment where the witness claimed to live was vacant at the time of the shooting. The court says police withheld that information. (source: Associated Press) ****************** Another trial for Willie Manning----One of Mississippi's perennial capital cases goes down for another trial. This appeal stems from Manning's conviction of brutally murdering 2 elderly women in Starkville, Mississippi. The only witness to testify that he saw Manning entering the women's apartment shortly before their bodies were discovered was Kevin Lucious, a convict serving 2 life sentences without parole in Missouri. "This leads us to Manning's claim that the State violated his due-process rights when it failed to provide favorable, material evidence, upon request. A canvass of all residents of Brooksville Gardens Apartments was initiated and conducted by the Starkville Police Department during its investigation. Index cards recording the results of the canvass were completed and maintained by the Starkville Police Department. An entry on the cards reveals that the apartment from which Lucious testified he observed Manning enter the victims' apartment was vacant at the time of the crime, and neither Lucious nor his girlfriend Jones was listed as a resident of any of the apartments canvassed. These cards were kept by the Starkville police department but were never disclosed to Manning's counsel. Presiding Justice Randolph, writing for the Court, has no problem finding a Brady violation: "The defense attorneys testified that the receipt of this favorable, material evidence would have altered their defense. There is no question that defense counsel would have had the opportunity to meaningfully impeach Lucious's testimony that he lived in the apartment at the time of the crime and saw Manning enter the victims' apartment. Any attorney worth his salt would salivate at impeaching the State's key witness using evidence obtained by the Starkville Police Department. Yes indeed. Justice Chandler (joined by Pierce) disagrees: "Lucious was known to frequent Brooksville Gardens at the time of the murders, and no one disputes his frequent presence there prior to the official start of his girlfriend's lease: hanging out with the Mannings, buying beer from Dera Mae, and, I submit, likely squatting or at least spending time in the vacant apartment on which his girlfriend was about to sign a lease. So, apparently, the proposed standard of review is that if a justice on appeal can imagine a scenario that might have persuaded the jury to convict, then no Brady violation. The majority instead will let the jury decide what it thinks of this scenario. (source: The Blogged Anderson) OHIO: Judge throws out 1985 murder conviction of death row inmate Anthony Apanovitch; prosecutor plans to appeal A Cuyahoga County judge Thursday threw out the 1985 murder conviction of death row inmate Anthony Apanovitch based on DNA evidence, and ordered a new trial into the slaying of Mary Anne Flynn. Common Pleas Judge Robert McClelland also acquitted Apanovitch, now 59, of 1 count of rape and dismissed another count of rape. McClelland ordered Apanovitch to be released on $100,000 personal bond, pending the new trial. Based on the decisions involving the rape allegations, the new trial would focus solely on the charges of aggravated murder and aggravated burglary. County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said his office will seek to block the judge's ruling and keep Apanovitch behind bars. McGinty said he will take the case to the Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals. "Setting a personal bond -- which means the defendant doesn't have to post a dime -- on someone charged with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, and 2 counts of rape is unprecedented in the history of this courthouse," McGinty said. "These shockingly and disturbingly brutal crimes were proved. This is hardly a crime meriting personal bond, which endangers the safety of the public. Worse yet, Apanovitch committed these crimes while on probation for a sexual assault, and he also had been to prison for aggravated robbery." In his 9-page ruling, McClelland cited a hearing in October in which experts testified about the DNA in the case. "The evidence at the hearing is substantially different than at the original trial, and the earlier decision is, at least in part, clearly erroneous and would work a manifest injustice." The judge said a suspect's DNA was found in two places in Flynn's body. One sample did not contain enough material for a valid result, according to McClelland's ruling. The judge said Apanovitch's expert, Dr. Richard Staub, stressed that the other sample excluded him. McGinty disputed that. His office said initial DNA tests proved that Apanovitch was the killer. A subsequent test was inconclusive. "Since his conviction, DNA testing was perfected and proved that the jury was absolutely right all along by the odds of 1 in 285 million Caucasians that Apanovitch committed these crimes," the prosecutor said. Mark DeVan, one of the attorneys who represents Apanovitch, hailed the decision. He said Apanovitch will not simply walk out of prison. He said a suitable place for him to live would have to be found, and he would have electronic monitoring. "Mr. Apanovitch is grateful the court reviewed the evidence and granted him a new trial,'' DeVan said. "He has maintained his innocence for 30 years." Attorneys from Crowell and Moring, a Washington, D.C., firm that also represents Apanovitch, could not be reached. Prosecutors said Apanovitch raped, beat and strangled Flynn, a 33-year-old nurse-midwife, on Aug. 24, 1984 in Cleveland. Authorities said the attack took place at her Archwood Avenue home, which she had hired Apanovitch to paint. Witnesses testified he intimidated and lusted after her, and he gave police conflicting statements. But the issue has gained a great deal of publicity over the years. It took off when Ohio Supreme Court Justice Craig Wright wrote to the state parole board in 1996, saying he had changed his mind about the case and believed that Apanovitch's sentence should be reduced to life imprisonment. Wright had been the author of the 4-3 opinion upholding Apanovitch's conviction and death sentence. "I'm pretty numb right now,'' said Martin Flynn of Shaker Heights, Mary Anne's older brother. "I'm stunned by the whole thing. I didn't see it coming. Every time something like this comes up, we get dragged right back into it. I still have the knot in my stomach that I had when I found my sister's body. This is a nightmare that you can't wake up from.'' McGinty agreed: "Death penalty cases have been subjected to ridiculous levels of scrutiny, creating decades of absurd delay at the cost of millions of dollars and countless hours of agony and frustration for families of victims who have not received the justice they deserve. "We have been fighting for Mary Anne and her family for 30 years, have won appeal after appeal, and will continue to do so. This is only a temporary setback."? (source: cleveland.com) ************* Prosecutors detail gruesome discovery of Tallmadge mother and son's remains during opening of man's death penalty trial Wendy Ralston expressed regrets about allowing her ex-boyfriend and the father of her son to live with her after he lost his job and was evicted from his home. She tried to get police to force Daniel Tighe out of her home. She took videos of him yelling at her and their 5-year-old son, Peyton, to show police the next time she called them during a fight. In mid-July 2013, Tighe, 41, killed them both and dumped their bodies in the woods behind their Tallmadge home, prosecutors said Thursday during opening statements at Tighe's trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Testimony is expected to begin Thursday afternoon in the case that could continue for more than 2 weeks. Defense attorney Brian Pierce told the 7-woman, 5-man jury that prosecutors have no direct evidence that links Tighe to the murders. He also said police investigators failed to pursue other suspects in the case, including several men she met online. "Wendy had numerous relationships that were unhealthy," Pierce said. "She was tragically murdered. We're not trying to disparage her character but she did things that put her and her son in danger." Rocky relationship Prosecutors and defense attorneys found common ground on 1 fact: The relationship of Ralston and Tighe was rocky from the time they met in 2003. They had an on-and-off relationship and had Peyton in 2007. Tighe moved in with the mother and son in 2012 when he was evicted from his home after losing his job at a car repair and customization shop. Ralston and Tighe fought constantly, according to attorneys on both sides. Police were called to the home several times to mediate domestic disputes, but none of those visits ever ended in arrests. Both filmed each other during their fights, including once when Peyton said he wanted to throw his stuffed animal at his father, Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Kevin Mayer said. Mayer said during one of the fights that was recorded, Tighe can be heard telling Wendy and Peyton Ralston that they were "the worst things to have happened in his life." Most of their disagreements stemmed from Wendy Ralston's frustration that Tighe didn't contribute to the house while she struggled to pay bills, Mayer said. She was behind on her car payments and an eviction notice was filed against her shortly before she was killed. Ralston's mother became suspicious when her 33-year-old daughter missed an eviction hearing in Stow Municipal Court. Marie Ralston called police to report that her daughter was missing. Tighe disputes disappearance Tighe gave investigators several different accounts of why Wendy and Peyton went missing, Mayer told the jury. He said they went on vacation by themselves in the middle of the night. He said that a man picked them up and took them on vacation. He said that she went camping with their grandmother. Convinced that her daughter's disappearance was more suspicious, Marie Ralston ventured into the woods behind her daughter's home and found a bundle of blankets covered in insects, Mayer said. She called police. Tallmadge officers and agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation found the decomposed remains of Peyton Ralston next to 3 stuffed animals -- including 1 that he once threatened to throw at his father out of frustration during a fight Tighe had with his mother, Mayer said. A a child's juice drink was found nearby. Forensic examiners later found that the boy had a chipped tooth, prosecutors said. Wendy Ralston's remains were found nearby. She was wrapped in sheets and a comforter bound with electrical tape. Forensic analysis found she suffered a broken throat bone, Mayer said. Their decomposing bodies remained in the woods for about 3 weeks between July and August 2013. The heat coupled with the decomposition meant investigators were unable to determine exactly how they were killed, prosecutors said. Investigators also believe that Tighe moved the bodies after a neighbor complained about an unknown smell in the backyard. (source: cleveland.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 13 11:56:11 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 11:56:11 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., NEV., ARIZ., WASH., USA Message-ID: Feb. 13 OKLAHOMA: Kill death row inmates 'with a bag of gas over their heads': Official in Oklahoma suggests method of execution to stop state paying for gas chamber Death row inmates in Oklahoma could be executed by having a bag put on their head which is then filled with poisonous gas. Lethal injections will soon be phased out in the US state of Oklahoma after the necessary drugs have become difficult to obtain. Senators have now approved plans for inmates facing the death penalty, which is legal in the state, to instead be executed using nitrogen hypoxia gas. But Mike Christian, a Republican representative in the Oklahoma legislature, said the state could avoid paying for a gas chamber, which would cost around 200,000 pounds, by using a mask or a bag over an inmate's head. Whichever technique is used, the senate agreed that gassing prisoners with nitrogen hypoxia was less cruel. Mr Christian said inmates would experience an effect like that felt by pilots whose oxygen supplies fail at high altitude, adding: 'The people who have experienced it to the point of unconsciousness said it was a euphoric feeling. I'd say it's more humane.' Drugs such as sodium thiopental, used to sedate prisoners, have been difficult and expensive to get hold of since the EU introduced a ban on exporting substances intended for lethal injections in 2011. Until now the method of execution in Oklahoma has involved anaesthetising the inmate with sodium thiopental, before injecting them with muscle relaxant pancuronium bromide then potassium chloride, which stops the heart beating. Attempts to substitute scarce drugs with other substances have seen botched executions take place in Oklahoma and other parts of the US. Last year Clayton Lockett, who was convicted of murder, rape, and kidnapping in 2000, was given an untested cocktail of drugs via injection including the sedative midazolam. He was left writhing in pain for 45 minutes and died of a heart attack. Last month the execution of Charles Frederick Warner in Oklahoma lasted 18 minutes, during which he said: 'My body is on fire.' Warner, 47, was put to death for killing an infant in 1997. He was originally scheduled to be executed in April on the same night as Clayton Lockett, but state officials suspended executions in Oklahoma until an investigation was completed into what went wrong. Warner was injected with rocuronium bromide and potassium chloride, which is said to cause suffocation and burning sensations, as well as a paralytic which prevented him from moving. (source: Daily Mail) ******************* Oklahoma Wants To Reinstate The Gas Chamber, And Experts Say It's A Bad Idea Facing dwindling supplies of lethal injection chemicals and increased legal scrutiny of the practice, some states are considering a return to antiquated execution methods like firing squads and gas chambers -- and Oklahoma is considering using a new type of gas. But experts warn the problem with both new and old methods is the same: They may violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. "States have painted themselves into a corner with lethal injection and are trying to bring back these old methods," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that distributes information about capital punishment, told The Huffington Post Tuesday. "There is no painless method." Allegations of torture and cruel and unusual punishment surfaced in the wake of botched lethal injections last year, like those of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett and Arizona inmate Joseph Wood. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court delayed execution for 3 Oklahoma prisoners while it reviews the state's protocol. In response, Oklahoma legislators recently advanced bills that would authorize "nitrogen hypoxia" -- which causes death by depleting the oxygen supply in the blood -- as a gas chamber alternative to poisonous hydrogen cyanide gas. Rep. Mike Christian (R-Oklahoma City), who sponsored the House bill on nitrogen hypoxia, told The Huffington Post via email that "nitrogen hypoxia is a painless form of capital punishment that is simple to administer, doesn't depend upon the aid of the medical community, and is not subject to the supply constraints we are faced with when using the current 3 drug cocktail protocol." (Supply for the 3-drug lethal injection cocktail was disrupted after its European manufacturer refused to further supply the drug to the U.S. for executions.) Christian noted the idea for nitrogen hypoxia came from a 2014 Slate article on the subject. No countries in the world use nitrogen gas as a state-sanctioned execution method, according to the article. Oklahoma state Sen. Anthony Sykes (R-Moore), who sponsored the state Senate version of the nitrogen hypoxia bill, told the Associated Press the method is "recognized as the most humane by those who oppose the death penalty," adding that "it causes a very quick and sudden loss of consciousness and of life almost simultaneously." Sykes did not cite a specific expert or entity in his claim and did not immediately respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment. But Fordham Law Professor Deborah Denno, one of the nation's foremost death penalty experts, said such claims are similar to ones death penalty supporters made about lethal injection in the 1970s. "If you look at all the statements and newspaper clippings made in 1977 when lethal injection was introduced [in Oklahoma], they sound very similar," Denno told The Huffington Post. "You would read comments about how this would be painless and immediate." Dr. Joel Zivot, assistant professor of anesthesiology and surgery at Emory University School of Medicine, told HuffPost it's ethically impossible for a doctor to conduct tests -- and therefore reach conclusions -- on execution procedures. "No physician is an expert in killing, and medicine doesn't position itself intentionally in taking a life," Zivot said. He added, "There's no therapeutic use of nitrogen gas, and there's no way to ethically or practically test if nitrogen gas is a humane alternative." Meanwhile, Utah is considering a measure to bring back firing squads if it's unable to maintain its supply of lethal injection drugs. In May 2014, Tennessee lawmakers authorized a re-use of the electric chair as a back-up to lethal injection. Months later, Tennessee inmates sued the state and called the chair an unconstitutional "torture device." Lethal injection rose to prominence in the early 1990s and is the primary method of execution in the 32 states that still allow the death penalty. Other methods may still be used, typically at the inmates' discretion. 8 states still have the electric chair, 4 have the gas chamber, 3 still permit hanging and 2 allow firing squads on certain technicalities. The last use of the gas chamber was in Arizona in 1999. Both experts and capital punishment abolitionists have criticized the secretive nature of many state executions. States are less than forthcoming about many details of the procedure, including protocols; the identity of drug manufacturers; the identity of prison personnel involved in executions; and what personnel training for executions entails. (Medical professionals are ethically barred from participating in executions and are only present to declare time of death.) In 2014, The Guardian, The Associated Press and 3 Missouri newspapers sued Missouri for withholding such information. Similar lawsuits were filed by Ohio death row inmates last year. Denno said since execution methods don't have trial runs, any new or adjusted protocol is effectively an experiment on the inmate. "You can't ask a person who was executed if their death was cruel," Zivot said. Denno added that what little research is available has suggested that the gas chamber is the most painful form of punishment. "There's been a bit of a consensus that lethal [cyanide] gas has been the most egregious [method]," she said. "There's no question that people are dying a slow death in a very painful way." While gas chamber victims slowly suffocate, Denno said, electrocution imparts an extra indignity by leaving its victims "mutilated." "Some people scream out when the electricity is first being applied, but you're essentially burning to death," Denno explained. "Your body fluids are boiling. One's eyeballs can pop out -- that's why they put a cap over people's head." In other instances, like that of the 1997 Florida execution of Pedro Medina, the head, skin or hair can catch on fire mid-execution. Ironically, Denno said, firing squads are perhaps the most effective execution method. "We've had 3 firing squad executions in the modern area -- since the '70s -- that have gone off without a hitch," she said. Zivot criticized Oklahoma as having shown "a lack of seriousness" about determining whether its methods meet both ethical and constitutional requirements. "You're left with the state declaring this to be safe and a form of execution that's not needlessly cruel," Zivot said. "I would ask the state, 'Prove that.'" (source: Kim Bellware, Huffington Post) NEVADA: DA to seek death penalty in Las Vegas couple slaying case Prosecutors in Las Vegas are seeking the death penalty against a 52-year-old man who pleaded not guilty Thursday to killing a couple in their 80s, hiding their bodies in storage for more than 10 years and cashing their Social Security benefits. A judge set trial in October 2016 for Robert Dixon Dunn on murder, robbery and theft charges in the slaying of Joaquin Sierra and Eleanor Sierra. Prosecutor David Stanton says Dunn kept drawing benefit checks totaling $200,000 or more from the Sierras after they were last seen in February 2003. Dunn's public defender, Amy Feliciano, declined to comment. Stanton calls Dunn an accomplished con man, and says investigators aren't sure if he had victims in places including Southern California, northern Oregon, central Pennsylvania and upstate New York's southern tier. (source: Associated Press) ARIZONA: 'I'm willing to bet my life' - Defendant in death penalty case wants trial Robert W. Wiesner, facing the death penalty in a murder trial, said Thursday, Feb. 12, in court that he isn't interested in a possible plea deal the state might offer, and said he thinks a jury will find him not guilty at trial. Wiesner, 56, of Scottsdale, is accused of shooting to death Lorraine Long in a Seligman house she owned on Aug. 6, 2010. A Sheriff's Office spokesman said Wiesner called 911 at 4:30 a.m. to report a shooting. When deputies arrived, they found Long dead and Wiesner with a minor gunshot wound. In a court appearance in which Yavapai County Presiding Judge David Mackey sought to explain to him what life would be like on death row as he awaited his death penalty, Wiesner said he understood that it would be very unpleasant. His lead attorney, Bob Gundacker disagreed. Citing a "cognitive deficit," he said, "(Wiesner) does not understand the difference between death row and life (in the general prison population)." He listed some of the difficulties Wiesner could face, including the fact that "the people there are crazy. It's a place where you can get stabbed by people who hate you." "I want you to understand there are certain restrictions that come with prison life versus the 20 years or so it may take to impose the death penalty," Mackey said. "You're still locked up... it's still hell any way you look at it," Wiesner said. Mackey agreed that was true but said, "While you are on death row for the 20-plus years, you will be in maximum security. The death row cells are 12-feet-by-8-feet. You're not allowed to have contact with other inmates." He ticked off other conditions: showers three times a week, three times a week use of the recreation yard - alone. No computer use. All mail, in and out, inspected. "That's generally what your life would be like," Mackey said. "Life would be more bearable" if he were with the general population. Wiesner said, "I believe because I got shot first I don't believe the jury will give me death. I'm willing to bet my life on it." The only offer Chief Deputy County Attorney Dennis McGrane has made, informally, was life without the possibility of parole. "I'm willing to avoid a trial, but for not life with no parole," Wiesner said. "I'm willing to gamble." Gundacker, frustrated said, "His brain doesn't let him think in two dimensions. This conversation in court today is a joke. You cannot get through to him." When Mackey asked how close the defense was to being ready for trial, Gundacker, by way of his answer, went on the record about delays caused by Wiesner's previous 2 lawyers, William Feldhacker, who passed away in April 2013, and Tom Kelly, who is no longer on the case. "Mr. Wiesner was represented by Mr. Feldhacker for all those years and made not 1 physical visit with him (in jail), ever, not 1. Mr. Feldhacker did not get it," Gundacker said. Then, he said, "Mr. Kelly came on board, visited him one time in the jail and the sole topic of conversation was why he should take the plea. His new attorney built no trust and tried to shove a plea down his throat." Gundacker said it's taken time to build that trust. He also pointed out that delays have been caused by the uncertainty - he said he's unwilling to commit the Public Defender's Office to spending "multiple tens of thousands of dollars" on a case that he believes could be settled. Gesturing at McGrane, he said, "Just give him a term of years and let's get rid of this case." "The state has never made an offer," McGrane said, although he was willing to offer life without possibility of parole. "I'm not very hopeful, frankly," he said, noting that he would take the matter up with County Attorney Sheila Polk. Mackey gave Wiesner and Gundacker some time to discuss an offer that Wiesner might make to McGrane, but there was no resolution. A new court date is March 3. (source: The Daily Courier) WASHINGTON: Effort to abolish death penalty disappointing Although I was not surprised, I was disappointed to read in the U-B about Maureen Walsh's efforts to abolish the death penalty in the state of Washington. Although the "progressives" are working hard, and I'm sorry to say, making progress in their efforts to reshape this nation, I believe it is still a republic. As such, Ms. Walsh, as an elected official, still works for us. However, her behaviors in the last few yeas belie that fact. I do not remember her ever asking me if I supported gay marriage. Her aborted effort to write some kind of outrageous gun control bill, I must say, sent me over the edge. I most certainly do not remember her asking for public opinion about the death penalty. I am all for the death penalty. I do not care if it deters further crime or not. That person is gone and unable to harm anyone else. In this liberal state, one has to "really" work at getting a death penalty and, in that case, it is more than warranted. It was mentioned in the paper that Ms. Walsh believed the expense of the death penalty is a "system of appeals that racks up a ton of bills." I would agree with that assessment. Change it. An automatic appeal to the Court of Appeals and then a possible appeal to the state Supreme Court is more than adequate. I believe she also has the belief they should "rot in jail?" From 1980 throughout 2008, 65.5 % of homicides were conducted by males between the ages of 18 through 34, 37.5 % were conducted by males between 18 and 24 years of age. How much does it cost each year to house a convict and how long are they going to live? I would argue that is a significant amount of money we should not be spending on those who have earned their ride out of life. I have voted against Ms. Walsh the last 2 elections and continue to ask myself how she continues to be re-elected. Chris Leyendecker Walla Walla (source: Letter to the Editor, Union-Bulletin) USA: The 13th Juror: Is this a trial or a remake of 'Groundhog Day'? The trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was supposed to have started 3 weeks ago. But now it's anybody's guess when this highly anticipated trial will begin. We're buried in snow and juror questionnaires. So far, we've had 14 days of jury selection and 6 snow days. It's like "Groundhog Day" meets "The Shining." No cameras are allowed at the Tsarnaev trial. But CNN's Ann O'Neill will be there every day. Think of her as The 13th Juror, bringing insights here weekly. And follow @AnnoCNN on Twitter daily. The walk to the courthouse, along streets where snow is piled higher than one's head, inspires a sense of kinship with rats searching for the cheese at the end of a maze. The blind quest becomes your everything. U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole wants the cheese. Tsarnaev's defense, as well as the opinion makers at the local paper of record, The Boston Globe, believe there's no way O'Toole will be able find an unbiased jury to hear the case. People here have their minds made up about Tsarnaev's guilt, they take the marathon bombing personally, the publicity has been overwhelming, and nobody here can agree on the death penalty -- or so the arguments go. But other factors are at play, too, including the length and likely gruesome nature of this trial, says Valerie Hans, a professor at Cornell University Law School and one of the nation's leading experts on juries. The bombings and manhunt, she said, also seemed to touch nearly every 1 of the 5 million people who live in or near Boston -- or a classmate, a relative, a colleague, a friend or a friend of a friend. O'Toole is determined to prove the naysayers wrong. He seems confident he will find 12 objective Bostonians able to judge Tsarnaev only by what they hear in court. The defense has asked him 3 times to move the trial from Boston, saying the bias against their client is so pervasive it's impossible to find an impartial jury in Boston. So many of the jury prospects say the same thing: Yes, I think he's guilty. No, I'm not sure I can vote for death penalty. Next week, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider a defense request to move the trial to another city. By then, the judge has indicated, he might be close to identifying a pool of 64 people he believes have what it takes to serve on Tsarnaev's jury. The government opposes moving the trial, saying no matter where you hold it, people have heard of this case. It's a point made in a recent article in the Columbia Journalism Review: In the digital age, is it possible to find jurors who haven't had some media exposure in big cases of national interest? It hasn't been easy here. Potential jurors were handed questionnaires on January 5 and started returning in groups on the 20th, each to take a solo turn in the hot seat. Because this is a high-profile death penalty case, the judge and lawyers wanted to go deeper with the prospects to ferret out any bias. The prospects are brought in one by one and grilled on everything from time spent on Twitter to their deepest thoughts about crime and punishment, life and death. What was supposed to be 2 weeks of juror interviews has stretched into 4, with at least 1 more week to go. Weather permitting. Why is it taking so long? Is this the longest jury selection ever? Nobody seems to keep track of such things, said Teresa Saint-Amour, a researcher at the Harvard law library. She couldn't find a single database and steered me to a study of the state courts. An analyst for the organization that conducted the study said it likely was outdated. And so, I turned to the original 13th Juror. Jo-Ellan Dimitrius has worked as a jury consultant for 30 years. But she's not just any jury consultant. She helped pick juries for some of the most famous -- or infamous -- cases of our time: the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the Rodney King police beating case, the McMartin Preschool sex abuse case. "I think in actuality, your trial is as it should be," she said of the Tsarnaev jury selection. "I'm not surprised it's taking this long. I'm not surprised the death penalty questions are taking as long as they are. The death penalty is something people aren't comfortable talking about. For some of these people, it's the first time they've thought about it since they were in school." Massachusetts isn't a place to be comfortable about the death penalty. The state hasn't had capital punishment on the books in a generation. The last time anybody was executed was 1947. The death penalty simply hadn't been on people's radar until this case. But United States vs. Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev is a federal case, as O'Toole reminds his potential jurors every morning. And in this case, there's no way the feds could have a death penalty statute on the books and not ask jurors to use it, Dimitrius says. But the federal government isn't exactly California. Or Texas. Or even Florida. Federal authorities win death sentences in just one of every three cases where they seek it. There are just 61 people on the federal death row, according to Death Penalty Focus. Compare that with the 1,400-plus people sentenced to die in those 3 states. And federal executions are relatively rare. Only three people have been executed under the federal death penalty since 1988: Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, drug smuggler and killer Juan Raul Garza and Louis Jones Jr., a decorated Gulf War vet who kidnapped, raped and murdered a young Army recruit. I catch myself wondering why in the world the defense would want to leave a place that seems to have moved beyond, as one jury prospect put it, "an eye for an eye." O'Toole seems to be growing impatient with Team Tsarnaev. He said he has no use for its "serial briefing" on moving the trial. And then came this judicial zinger: "The third motion to change venue has even less, not more, merit than the prior ones." This judge remains confident he can find a jury. Yes, it is taking longer than he expected, but the questioning of individual jurors proves to him there are people who can be impartial. He points to 1 juror in particular, a human resources professional who said her job had trained her to "keep her judgment suspended until she had all the necessary information." Most trials, even death penalty trials, wrap up jury selection in a week, 2 tops. Though nobody seems to keep track of things like "longest jury selection ever," Dimitrius remembers what she thinks might well be the longest jury selection of them all. It took 9 months to find a jury to hear the capital murder case of Richard Ramirez, known as "the Night Stalker." His spree of serial murders, rapes and home invasions terrified Los Angeles and San Francisco in the mid-1980s. He was sentenced to death for 13 murders but died of cancer in prison. It also took months to pick juries to hear the murder trials of O.J. Simpson (1994) and Scott Peterson (2004). Simpson didn't face the death penalty, and his jury selection lasted about 3 months. Peterson is on death row, and it took about 4 months to seat his jury. It took 47 days to empanel a jury in Connecticut to hear one of the most horrific death penalty cases in recent memory, the so-called Cheshire murders. 2 ex-cons were convicted and sentenced to death for the 2007 home invasion murders of the wife and daughters of a prominent endocrinologist. Casey Anthony's jury was seated in 10 days. People seemed to think she was guilty, too, but she was acquitted of committing the crimes with which she was charged. George Zimmerman's jury was picked in a day -- 6 women who acquitted the night watchman of charges he intentionally killed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. There has been talk among the lawyers in Boston of "stealth jurors," people who give all the right answers so they can get on a jury and carry out an agenda. Like 2 of the jurors in this case, they seem on the level until betrayed by what they post on social media. 1 juror gave straight answers, but the defense rooted out this profane tweet from the day of Tsarnaev's capture in a boat in Watertown: "WOOOOOHOOOOOO YOU GOT TAKEN ALIVE B****!!!!! DONT F*** WITH BOSTON!!!!!" And, in what played like a scene from a TV courtroom drama, defense attorney Miriam Conrad confronted a juror over his Facebook humor. Asked if he ever posted anything about Muslims, Juror 251, a middle-aged, working-class Joe, replied, "Probably." Conrad pulled out a copy of a cartoon -- Calvin from the old "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip -- urinating on an ISIS flag. "It was funny when I got it and I sent it back out," he said. The questioning continued, became pointed. The man grew defensive. "There's a lot of funny stuff on there," he protested. "I'm a funny guy. It's Facebook." The defense has also been quick to flag jurors who seem too eager to serve. But for every one of those, there are probably a dozen who simply want to get out of it. Most of the 183 people who have come before O'Toole say they think Tsarnaev, a 21-year-old former college student, is guilty. The jury prospects who grasp that the legal world is nuanced will acknowledge that they don't yet know the specifics of the charges against him. They haven't seen or heard the evidence. But he was there, they say. He was involved with the bombing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. He's guilty of something. Many jurors struggled with what is probably the toughest question of them all: Can you vote to give him the death penalty? What's going on in Courtroom 9 of the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse serves as a pretty good snapshot of the state of justice in Massachusetts -- and across the country. TV shows and social media feed the notion that most people charged with crimes probably did it. But we are on the fence when it comes to the death penalty. Some quote the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill." Others ask, what if I'm wrong? The most honest answers seem to be, "I don't know how I'll feel until I'm in that position." Those jurors, Dimitruis said, are "probably the best you're going to get." We met Juror 353 on the 12th day, a Friday. I doubt he'll make the panel, which seems perfectly fine with him. He cut to the chase as he sat in his gray sweater at a conference table in the middle of the courtroom, surrounded by a dozen lawyers, court staffers and the judge. From the media peanut gallery, all we could see on the closed-circuit feed was the bald spot on the back of his head. He spoke in an animated, gravelly voice. And he was Boston, through and through: "I'm just absolutely against the death penalty. I don't know how many thousands of rounds were shot at that boat," he said, referring to Tsarnaev's April 19, 2013, capture in a boat parked in a backyard in Watertown. "You couldn't kill him then. I'm not gonna kill him now." With that, 353's questioning came to an abrupt halt. He was out the door, and within minutes, someone tweeted, "Je Suis Juror 353." (source: Ann O'Neill, CNN) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 13 11:56:56 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 11:56:56 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 13 INDONESIA: Death for 3 killers in Siak A panel of judges at the Siak Sri Indrapura District Court in Siak, Riau, sentenced 3 defendants in a mutilation case involving 7 victims - 6 of them young boys - to death on Thursday. The 3 defendants were Muhammad Delvi bin Basri Tanjung alias Buyung, 20, Syopian bin Herman Ade, 26, and Dita Desmala Sari binti Suheri, 20. The judges said they gave the 3 convicts maximum penalties because what they had done was beyond the grasp of humanity. "Based on the facts and witness testimonies in the trial, the suspects deliberately committed premeditated murders as stipulated in articles 340, 55 (1) and 65 (1) of the Criminal Code," presiding judge Sorta Ria Neva said while reading out the verdict on Thursday. The judges said that during the trial, Delvi was revealed to be the mastermind of the black-magic related murders. He was responsible for the killing of 3 of the 7 victims: an 8-year-old and 2 10-year-olds, all from Perawang, the capital of Tualang district in Siak. The other 4 victims, a 5-year old, 2 9-year-olds and a 40-year-old man, were murdered by Delvi and Syopian together in Bengkalis and Rokan Hilir regencies. Before being strangled to death, all the victims were sexually molested by Dita, who is Delvi's ex-wife. Delvi mutilated the victims' genitals after they were dead. He soaked the severed body parts in water containing 7 different flowers to bathe with in an effort to inherit his father's shamanism. The trial also revealed that Delvi and Syopian, who had worked at a slaughterhouse, skinned the body of victim Marjevan Gea and sold the flesh to an eatery in Perawang. Their brutality was stopped only after the police arrested Delvi at the house of one of his relatives in Duri, Mandau district, Bengkalis regency on July 22, 2014. The sentences were similar those demanded by prosecutor Zainul Arifin of the Siak Regency Prosecutor's Office. The panel of judges said there was nothing to give them a reason to make the sentences more lenient. The judges considered the repeated brutality, the deep suffering that they had inflicted on the victims' families and the restlessness they had created in the community as aggravating factors for Delvi. After consulting with his lawyer Wan Arwin Tamimi, Delvi said he would file an appeal. "If I may ask, don???t give me the death penalty, please. Life imprisonment will be okay so I will have time to repent," Delvi said after the trial. Syopian and Dita, who were tried separately by the same panel of judges, also received the death penalty with the same aggravating factors. Both convicts also said they would appeal. Syopian's sentence was as demanded by the prosecutor. Dita, however, was shocked by the verdict because the prosecutor demanded life imprisonment for her. The mother of 1 victim, Misna Anggraini, said she was satisfied with the sentences. "Justice is served, lives for lives. I am sure the families of other victims also feel the same satisfaction about the death sentences," Misna said. (source: Jakarta Post) ********************** Bali 9: Ben Quilty recalls emotional farewell to death row inmate Myuran Sukumaran Australian war artist Ben Quilty has described his goodbye to Bali 9 death row inmate Myuran Sukumaran as the "most difficult thing" he has ever done. In an emotional interview with the ABC's 7.30 program, Quilty revealed Sukumaran was not sleeping because he was "considering in the middle of the night there will be knock at the door" by prison staff there to transfer him for execution. Sukumaran and fellow Australian Andrew Chan were sentenced to death over a 2004 plot to smuggle heroin into Australia. Indonesian authorities granted permission for the pair to be transferred from prison ahead of execution on Thursday but a planned meeting to discuss preparations was believed to be delayed on Friday. Quilty has been Sukumaran's art teacher and friend for 4 years and has been visiting him weekly for the past month, but says he understands his visit on Thursday as his last. "I just felt that, and I think Myuran knew as well, that time had run out ... he always said be strong for me, and yesterday was the most difficult thing that I've ever done - to leave him there. And I did say goodbye," Quilty said. "I think he's pretty resolved for what is going to happen to him and it's obvious they're making preparations inside the prison for him to move out. It was a very hard thing to leave him there." Quilty said Sukumaran's attention had turned to his family. "Having a little sister and a little brother, whose lives have just been put on hold for 10 years, and his mum, who are broken human beings because of what he's done to them, and now, at this point, all of his time and energy ... is put into trying to help them cope with what's coming," he said. "He had a huge grin on his face [when he heard about the Julie Bishop and Tanya Plibersek's speeches in Parliament] and he said to me: 'Benny, can you believe this?' "I said: 'Mate, I've been telling you that people care'. And in that position it's very difficult to understand that people do care and to hear it come out of Parliament was a powerful thing for both of them and their families. "And I was a very proud Australian to see that happen." Quilty reads Sukumaran's mail and while he says there is a "massive outpouring" of support for the men, there are some letters that support the execution. "I opened Myuran's mail and one of the letters said: 'I hope you die a slow death'," he said. "And that was a very confronting thing for me to read and Myuran's been coping with those letters for many years now ... it makes you feel very alone. "So, to hear from smart, intelligent, worldly women, that they are thinking of him, filled with emotion ... it made their day. And it was a great thing for them to hear those words." 'Criminals can be rehabilitated' Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek, whose husband was charged and convicted of a similar crime to Chan and Sukumaran, delivered this personal speech to Parliament. Quilty said it was "devastating" that Sukumaran's work to rehabilitate himself and others was not being considered. "There's young men and women from all across the world who've done bad crimes that are in that prison who will be lost without Myuran," he said. "And that's very devastating. It's heartbreaking to see he worked so hard to build this thing which will then just fall apart. "I said goodbye to Myuran. I've been told I won't be allowed back into the prison. I don't know what hope there is. "For the families who've done nothing wrong, for the little sister and little brother whose lives have been partly destroyed for 10 years, just let them grieve. "And they're grieving already before the man is dead. Let them have some peace." President 'against the constitution' Meanwhile, a former Indonesian constitutional court judge has called for Chan and Sukumaran to be spared from the firing squad. Professor Laica Marzuki read out a statement intended for Indonesia's president Joko Widodo. "Mr president, you have walked to the wrong patch. You are wrong. You are against the constitution," he said. "[The] right to life is a human right ... that cannot be limited under any circumstances." Professor Marzuki sat on a constitutional court's case in 2007 that found if a person was on death row for 10 years and was substantially rehabilitated, their sentence could be commuted to life. "Chan and Sukumaran should not be shot ... because [the] death penalty is against the constitution," he said. (source: ABC news) ************************** The Death Penalty: Australia, Indonesia and the Rule of Law The death penalty may be a monstrous use of a state's power against the human subject, but the campaign against its use by states who have abolished it can prove inconsistent. While Australia sermonises against the evils of putting a person to death, it stalls on the broader issue of how best to approach a state, like, for instance, Indonesia, which uses capital punishment against drug traffickers in the name of upholding the law. Much of this has spiked with the vain efforts to secure clemency for Australian citizens Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, both of whom are destined for the firing squad for their role in organising the drug trafficking outfit that came to be known as the Bali 9. The narratives on the so-called Bali 9 avoid with a good deal of blindness Indonesian accounts on the drug trade - that it, too, results in generous number of corpses. Australian MPs have deflected the issue, insisting that, "Their crime, serious as it was, was intended to impact on Australians in Australia, not Indonesia." Indonesia's Attorney-General, H.M. Prasetyo, saw no distinction. "[The executions] will send a message to members of drug syndicates - there is no mercy for drug dealers and traffickers." To those who disagreed with the death penalty, Prasetyo insisted they consider "that what we are doing is simply to save our nation from the threat of narcotics" (Business Insider Australia, Feb 12). The focus is, rather, on the cruelties that will be visited upon the two men. "The idea that the government would," reflected Justice Lex Lasry, "take individuals into the bush and shoot them is something I can never live with, can never understand." [1] Pleas for clemency have been made by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Australia's minister for foreign affairs, Julie Bishop. The President of Indonesia, the still freshly elected Joko Widodo, was in no mood to accede to the requests. As part of his fresh approach to the issue of combating the drugs trade, he has decided to bracket all and sundry. This is domestically problematic, suggesting that Widodo might be overstepping the mark. According to Ponti Azani, who represents both Chan and Sukumaran, Indonesian law requires a consideration of each individual case. What such responses suggest is that a good deal of exceptionalism is at play, one that actually takes the battering ram to the very rule of law that is deemed sacred in the Anglophone sphere. (It should be added that all states, even those with the death penalty, play it, including Indonesia, in making efforts to save their own citizens from the executioner in other countries.) Australian citizens are deemed to be of a better mineral than locals, over men and women whose passports should grant them a more compassionate hearing and fate. Tim Mayfield, writing in The Drum (Jan 23), noted the response of Brazil and the Netherlands in recalling their ambassadors to Indonesia as a protest against the use of the death penalty against its citizens. Would Australia be "willing to take the same stand"? The Australian, a paper not exactly bound to the human rights canon, put forth its own variant of the rule of law. "This newspaper's objection to the death penalty is not targeted at Indonesia; it arises from the principle that the protection of life, including from the power of the state, is the moral bedrock of any worthy system of law" (Feb 12). That the paper objects to the power of the state in that manner is a curious thing indeed, when one considers the paper's endorsement of Australia's own variant of the gulag archipelago in processing asylum seekers, some who remain in indefinite detention. How attitudes to cruelty vary. The other form of exceptionalism plays out in attacking Australia's own authorities for alerting the Indonesian police about the activities of the Bali 9. Big time populist and radio shock jock, Alan Jones, after terming the death penalty "barbaric" on the ABC's Q & A program, weighed into the role played by the Australian Federal Police for their collaborative approach in this regard. Had they made their own arrests and essentially been non-cooperative with their Indonesian counterparts, the drug traffickers would have been spared the agony. The Jones recipe in this regard is significant. Not only did he fume against the Australian police, he felt that Canberra should have a greater, bossing clout when it came to Jakarta. The white man's burden, tinged with charitable reminder, reared the most ugly of heads. "Someone has to get on the phone to this bloke, [Widodo] and simply say, 'Well, you do what you like, but we gave you a billion dollars [in disaster relief aid] when you were hit by the [2004 Boxing Day] tsunami." [2] There is nothing to be said for the use of the death penalty, a cruel, mechanical application that finalises the irreversible. It is cruel, and it sanctions murder. But if the rule of law and the sovereignty of a legal system are matters to respect, then it can't be thrown out because the citizenship of one country is deemed more exceptional than another. (source: Opinion; Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne----Scoop news) ******************* 150,000 sign Bali 9 mercy petition Thousands of people have added their names to a campaign to save imprisoned Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from an Indonesian firing squad. More than 150,000 people had signed the Mercy Campaign petition begging Indonesia to spare the lives of Chan and Sukumaran as of Thursday - an increase of more than 130,000 signatures in less than a month. As Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop made an emotional plea in federal parliament on Thursday for Chan and Sukumaran to be saved from the death penalty, organisers behind the Mercy Campaign petition confirmed the huge increase in public support for the 2 men. The petition asking Indonesian President Joko Widodo to show the men clemency has gathered more than 150,000 signatures, lawyer and campaign co-founder Matthew Goldberg told AAP. Less than a month ago there were around 23,000 names signed in support of the pair across 2 petitions. Mr Goldberg urged more people to sign the petition asking for mercy. "The campaign isn't coming to an end. We are pressing on for more support, more numbers and more commitment to the movement for mercy," he said. Mr Goldberg said plans were being made to present the petition to Indonesian authorities. Ms Bishop made a last ditch plea after Indonesia's confirmation that the 2 men will be executed this month for their part in the so-called Bali 9 heroin-smuggling plan 10 years ago. "This motion goes to the heart of what we believe will be a grave injustice against 2 Australian citizens facing execution in Indonesia," she told parliament on Thursday. "Without doubt, Andrew and Myuran need to pay for their crimes with lengthy jail sentences but they should not need to pay with their lives." (source: Yahoo News) *************************** Bali 9 executions: Meet the 9 others on Indonesia's death row Joining Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in the next, imminent round of execution by firing squad are 9 others - 4 Indonesians and 5 foreigners. Paul Toohey asks: who are these death-row candidates and what are their crimes? Martin Anderson, alias Belo, a Ghanaian national, has had it rougher than any of the others. He was sentenced to death by a Jakarta court in June 2004 for possessing 50 grams of heroin - worth, in current terms, about $2500. There have been no appeals on his behalf except by Amnesty. Ghana has no consular representation in Indonesia - its closest office is its high commission in Malaysia. A Ghanaian consular officer in Malaysia said that to his knowledge, no Ghanaian official had visited Anderson in prison since his arrest 11 years ago. "We are still working on it," he said. The officer said he had been approached by someone from Amnesty's Indonesian office about Anderson last week. "But when he was arrested in 2004, it could be he may not be from Ghana," said the officer. "It could be he is a person from another country using a false passport." President Francois Hollande has been active - but ineffective - on behalf of Serge Areski Atlaoui, 51, a French national and married father of 4, who had his 2006 life sentence upgraded to death in 2007. Like all Indonesia's death-row drug candidates, President Widodo rejected Atlaoui's clemency appeal in January. He was convicted of running an ecstasy factory in the Banten Province of West Java. He has always pleaded his innocence. The only woman on the list, Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, 30, a Filipino migrant worker, has also spent the shortest time on death row. The Sleman District Court sentenced her to death in October 2010 for bringing 2.6kg of heroin into Jogjakarta from Malaysia earlier the same year. According to reports from Manila, President Benigno Aquino III did not raise Veloso's case during President Joko Widodo's just-concluded state visit to the Philippines, where both leaders agreed to strengthen efforts in the war on drugs. Veloso, who comes from a poor rural family, was a courier for a major international syndicate. When Marco Archer was shot dead after midnight on January 18, in the 1st tranche of 2015 executions, it spelled disaster for Rodrigo Gularte, a fellow Brazilian national on death row. Gularte was sentenced to death in 2005 after being caught smuggling 19kg of heroin through the international airport in Banten province. Brazilian President Dilma Roussell recalled her ambassador to Indonesia after Archer's death. He has since returned to Jakarta to continue what the Brazilian Embassy in Canberra says have been "dozens of efforts" on behalf of both men. 3 Indonesian men, Syofial (alias Iyen bin Azwar), Harun bin Ajis and Sargawi (alias Ali bin Sanusi), are the only people among the 11 who will die for non drug-related crimes. According to Amnesty International and other reports, they were sentenced to death in the Bangko District Court in November 2001 for the premeditated murder (accompanied by rape and theft) of 7 family members of an indigenous Kubu tribe in Jambi Province, on the east coast of Sumatra. The other Indonesian in the group, Zainal Abidin, from Palembang in south Sumatra, had his 2001 life sentence upgraded that same year to death for his role in smuggling 58.7kg of marijuana on the well-travelled Aceh-to-Java dope smuggling route. Indonesian authorities at the time of his arrest were cracking down on the marijuana trade, believing the proceeds from sales were being used to fund the Free Aceh Movement of north Sumatra. Raheem Agbaje Salami, a Nigerian (who was initially wrongly said to have come from Spain) spent 5 years believing that he would one day be released. He had been sentenced, in 1999, to a life term by the Surabaya District Court in East Java for bringing 5.3kg of heroin through Surabaya airport. In 2006, however, the Supreme Court His upgraded his sentence to death. There has been little reporting of his approaching execution in mainstream Nigerian media, but Nigeria summoned Indonesia's high commissioner to express "huge disappointment" after Indonesia wrongly said 2 Nigerians had been shot in the 1st round of executions in January. It turned out only 1 Nigerian, Daniel Enemuo, was executed. *************************** Julie Bishop says executing Bali 9 pair might hurt Australian tourism to Indonesia ---- Foreign minister says Australians will demonstrate 'deep disapproval' of Indonesia's actions, including by making decisions about their holidays Julie Bishop has warned tourism to Bali could be threatened if Indonesia goes ahead with the execution of 2 Australian drug smugglers. Permission has been granted for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to be transferred from their Bali prison for their execution, though a date is yet to be officially set. A day after she pleaded for clemency in parliament, the foreign minister said Australians could be turned off holidaying in Bali if Indonesia went through with the execution. "I think the Australian people will demonstrate their deep disapproval of this action, including by making decisions about where they wish to holiday," she told Fairfax radio on Friday. Her comments were also echoed by former high court judge, Michael Kirby, who said it was "sadly" likely the case Australians would reconsider their holiday destinations. Bishop said the government would leave no stone unturned in its bid to secure a stay on the Bali Nine members' executions. "Executing these 2 young men will not solve the drug scourge in Indonesia," she said. "It's a very tense situation." Kirby said a dip in tourism was only one potential consequence of Indonesia executing the 2 Australians. "Right to the very end I would expect the Australian government, with the support of the opposition and Australian people, will be making representations," he said on Sky News. "In that respect we will be following the endeavors that Indonesia follows in respect of its citizens when they are facing death overseas." Kirby said there was still a question over whether the death penalty was a deterrent for crime and emphasised the heroin was being smuggled out of Indonesia, not in to Indonesia. "The important thing in this case this was not Indonesian drug dealing, it was Australian drug dealing, these were Australians who are getting on to an Australian plane to bring them back to Australia with Indonesian drugs," he said. When asked if he thought Bishop should do a last minute "mercy dash" to Indonesia, Kirby responded that he thought "additional steps" would be taken. As the pair's lawyers make a last ditch effort to stop the execution through the courts, Momock Bambang Samiarso, head of Bali provincial prosecutors, said a meeting on Thursday afternoon confirmed the pair would be transferred away from Bali for execution. Sukumaran and Chan were sentenced to death for their part in an attempt to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin in 2005. Seven other Australians are in jail in Indonesia for their roles in the plot. Prosecutors are trying to keep the transfer a secret, and the official avoided confirming the men would be taken to Nusakambangan, a prison island off central Java. "We ask it to be as soon as possible," Samiarso said. The date of the transfer was due to be confirmed on Friday. Chan, Sukumaran and their families will be given 72 hours' notice of the date of execution. Indonesian lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said on Wednesday the legal team would go to an administrative court to argue Indonesian president Joko Widodo could not make a sweeping rejection of clemency appeals based on his declared "drug emergency" in the country, but must assess each individually. Australia has made repeated attempts to have the execution stayed. On Friday the education minister, Christopher Pyne, said the government had done "absolutely everything" it could. "The problem with the way Indonesians see this matter is that they have 5 million ... drug addicts in Indonesia, they take a very, very firm line on drug smuggling," he told Channel 9. Pyne said that while the government had done "all it can" for the pair, "at the end of the day Indonesia is a sovereign nation." "They're their laws, we don't support them, we don't agree with them," he said. "It'll be a great tragedy if those 2 young men face the death penalty." Foreign minister Julie Bishop and Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek, made heartfelt pleas for clemency in parliament on Thursday. Bishop said the Sydney pair's attempt to smuggle more than 8kg of heroin was a grave crime that deserved punishment. But they didn't deserve to pay with their lives. "Both men are deeply, sincerely remorseful for their actions," Bishop said. "Both men have made extraordinary efforts to rehabilitate." Plibersek followed with an equally powerful argument against the pair's executions. She reflected on her husband Michael Coutts-Trotter's drug conviction 30 years ago, and what a loss it would have been if he was punished with death. "They would have missed out on a man who spent the rest of his life making amends for the crime that he committed," she said. The Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi said she had received letters from both women and phone calls from the minister. Her replies were clear and consistent, she said. "I have told Julie that this is not against a country, this is not against nationals of a certain country, but this is against a crime, against an extraordinary crime," she told reporters in Jakarta. "We will keep on communicating, explaining, in consistent language like that." The families of Chan and Sukumaran have continued visiting them daily in prison. The artist Ben Quilty and Victorian supreme court judge Lex Lasry joined them on Thursday. Only Widodo can save the men from execution, but he gave a defiant vow this week not to succumb to outside pressure on the death penalty for drug felons. In her statement, Bishop said besides more than 55 ministerial and prime ministerial representations for the men, high-profile Australians had made "discreet overtures to their influential Indonesian contacts." (source for both: news.com.au) ******************* Govt threatens boycott over executions Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has struck a blow at Indonesia's crucial tourism industry in a continuing effort to save the lives of 2 Australian citizens. The Foreign Minister says she has been "overwhelmed" with messages of support from Australians who may shun the nation if the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran goes ahead. "I think the Australian people will demonstrate their deep disapproval of this action, including by making decisions about where they wish to holiday," she said. The government has ramped up its rhetoric in recent days in a last ditch attempt to prevent the killing of Chan and Sukumaran, who have been convicted of drug charges. Both Ms Bishop and shadow foreign minister Tanya Plibersek spoke passionately in Parliament on Thursday calling on Indonesia to back down. Authorities in Indonesia are finalising plans to move the men from Bali to their place of execution on a prison island off Java. "I've been overwhelmed with emails and text messages, I know that people have been staging vigils and rallies," Ms Bishop said. "We're asking for clemency, we're asking for mercy for 2 Australian citizens who have been rehabilitated." The men have lost an appeal and a judicial review of their death sentences and have been denied clemency by the Indonesian president. Their legal team had attempted a 2nd judicial review, which was not accepted. A rare legal challenge to an administrative court against the Indonesian president's refusal to grant them pardons is pending. Chan and Sukumaran face execution by firing squad. Only 3 bullets will be fired at each of the men, increasing the likelihood that the men will not die instantly. "Executions are not clean killings," their Australian lawyer, Julian McMahon, told AAP in January. "If the prisoner isn't dead straight away, the commanding officer is meant to walk up and then put a bullet in the head." Education Minister Christopher Pyne has said that the government, with the help of Labor, has done "absolutely everything" it could to rescue the men. "It'll be a great tragedy if those 2 young men face the death penalty," Mr Pyne. (source: The New Daily) ************************* Rodrigo Gularte - Facing the firing squad while mentally ill The plight of Rodrigo Gularte has not been widely reported in our media; he is one of the eleven individuals named by the Attorney General of Indonesia as next to face the firing squad. He was this week formally diagnosed with 'schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychotic features' and requires immediate treatment. To execute him now would go against international law. Rodrigo, 43, a Brazilian national, grew up in Parana in Southern Brazil. He regularly spent time on the family farm in Paraguay during his childhood. He was convicted of attempting to smuggle 6 kilograms of cocaine into Jakarta in July 2004. The cocaine was discovered inside 8 surfboards. Tangerang District Court sentenced Rodrigo to death in February 2005. In 2014, the Gularte family, with the assistance of the Brazilian Embassy, requested a medical report on Rodrigo's condition. Rodrigo was assessed by Professor Haji Sowadi and a team of 5 doctors this week. A medical report released yesterday states that Rodrigo has a diagnosis of 'schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with psychotic features.' The report recommends that Rodrigo 'immediately receive intensive psychiatric treatment with medications in a hospital.' It has been reported that Rodrigo has been prescribed Risperdal, an anti-psychotic medication, by a UN doctor in the past but he has refused to take it as he believes it to be poison. Rodrigo's lawyer has confirmed that Rodrigo has been unable to communicate with his legal team. Rodrigo's mother has reported that when she visited her son late last year, he was incoherent and had lost around 15 pounds in weight. Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the Attorney General of Indonesia, had, prior to the release of the medical report, confirmed that 'the sentence can be met only after the [individual's] recovery.' As of yet, there has been no response from the Indonesian Government in respect of the medical report. International law prohibits the execution of individuals with mental or intellectual disabilities. This applies not only in cases where the disability was present when the crime was committed but also in cases where the disability developed after sentencing. We urgently call on the Indonesian Government to halt the executions of all the individuals named by the Attorney General as next to face the firing squad. We urge the Indonesian Government to comply with international law by acting on the medical recommendation to transfer Rodrigo Gularte to an appropriate psychiatric facility for the urgent and intensive treatment he requires. (source: reprieve.org) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 13 11:57:56 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 11:57:56 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 13 MALAYSIA: 5 charged with alleged kidnapping of 5-year-old boy 5 people were charged at the Klang Magistrate's Court Tuesday for the alleged kidnapping of a 5-year-old buy from his Taman Maznah home near here on Jan 22. 2 out of the 5 accused were underaged. The others were Mohammad Norhafizie Abdullah, 18, Mohammad Faiderus Suhaini, 32, and Nashamizie Shahidan, 19. They were charged under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961 and can be punished under the same section, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code. If found guilty, they face the death penalty or life imprisonment, and if the death penalty is not imposed, they can also be whipped. The accused were not granted bail. Magistrate Nur Asma Ahmad fixed March 27 for the case to be mentioned. (source: The Star) CHINA: A Chinese judge's life-or-death struggle Lu Jianping lives with a constant "torture of the soul". As a law professor at Beijing Normal University, he believes the death penalty should be abolished. But as a death penalty case reviewer of the Supreme People's Court, he must often sign "Approved" - leading to someone's execution. In 1979, then 16-year-old Lu went to Beijing's Renmin University from hometown Zhejiang Province. He majored in law, but never dreamed of working in a core position in China's judicial system. As an intern at the procuratorate before graduation, he supervised the implementation of the death penalty with colleagues. According to Portrait Magazine, they witnessed events at Tianjin's Yangliuqing execution ground in 1983 when the government was cracking down hard on serious crimes. "I saw convicts shot in the head and fall at my feet," Lu recalled. "The mud, brains and blood splashed on my pants." The memories are indelible: "Some of them were not killed instantly and they struggled desperately, their arms and legs twitching on the grass." After that, he wished for an end to the death penalty one day. Lu has been a college professor and a part-time lawyer. From 2008, he served as deputy chief procurator for 3 years in Beijing' s Haidian District Procuratorate. "Although I support repeal of the death penalty, I am also a deputy chief judge of the Supreme People's Court, appointed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 2012, and I must conduct cases involving the 55 capital offenses under the Criminal Law." The job includes case instruction and inspection, judicial interpretation, and death penalty case reviews. He first signed "Approved" in 2013. He had nightmares for a long time afterwards: "The accused walked outside the files in my dreams." He clearly remembers a handsome Yi nationality youth whose photo stared at him from 1 case file. "He had more than 1,700 grams of drugs with him when the police caught him," Lu said. "He had the minimum amount with the biggest risk." Colleagues encouraged Lu to be more detached in his job, but 1 case from Jiangxi Province reached the Supreme People's Court in 2013 - and caused him to question himself. "The murderer dismembered the bodies of two girls aged 14 and 11 years," Lu recalled. The victims' photos were not included in the case files, "but 2 young and pretty faces emerged in my mind." Lu did not hesitate to write "Approved" as the case files had clear facts and indisputable evidence. "I felt angry about the crime and thought I had got rid of an evil person - I felt a release." But back in the academic environment of the university, his doubts returned. "Are you a scholar who wants to abolish the death penalty?" he asked himself repeatedly. "Why did you vent your own emotions by approving the death penalty, event though the crime was extreme? "Finally I realized that I am a human being who has real emotions," he admitted. Each day, Lu and his colleagues face dozens of case files. Some are eventually tagged "Not Approved". A jobless woman brutally killed her husband in Sichuan Province. "The victim's body was dismembered and boiled," Lu read. The Supreme People's Court overturned her execution after considering her husband's long history of violent abuse. "Looked at from the legal and criminological perspectives, the victim had 'obvious fault'," Lu told Xinhua. The woman's crime could be explained as "emotional provocation". The Supreme People's Court announced it would review all death penalty rulings by lower courts from 2007, ending the 24-year authority of lower courts to issue death sentences and execute criminals without oversight. Since then, the number of executions has fallen. But Lu refuses to release the detailed figures, saying only that 95 of the cases he handled himself were approved. Lu has also been involved in case risk evaluation, which examines the possibility of mediation. The judges in charge of death penalty case reviews speak to the victim's relatives, local government, public security bureaus, and sub-district offices. Only if the case was not a violent crime seriously endangering public security, such as robbery, rape and homicide, and only if there was any mediation possibility, would they examine the possibility of avoiding an execution. "If any case were mediated successfully, the judges would be immensely happy," Lu said. "A life could go on." He has never had the opportunity to see a case to mediation - and his self-doubt continues day and night: "We get up at 6 a.m. and cross the city to sit here - just to ratify the death penalty?" At the court affairs committee every Wednesday, the judges discuss the hard cases to help the presiding judge's work. "The debate sometimes is much more heated than people imagination as the judges still waver between the law and human emotions," Lu said. China's authorities have long considered abolishing the death penalty. In 1956, the political report of the 8th National Congress of the Communist Party of China noted that the gradual abolition of the death penalty would help the socialist construction. And on January 22 this year, the Supreme People's Court reiterated the criteria for capital punishment should be strictly observed so as to ensure "the penalty is only used on an extremely few convicts whose crimes are extremely serious," as part of an initiative to adopt a more prudent attitude toward executions. "I believe the death penalty will be abolished in China in the near future," Lu said. (source: Xinhua News Agency) *************************** Death penalty for China insurance cheat One of China's highest-profile fugitives - the former general manager of an insurance intermediary, who was dubbed the "runaway beauty boss" - was given the death penalty with a 2-year reprieve on Wednesday for illegally raising more than one billion yuan (S$218 million). Chen Yi, who controlled Shanghai Fanxin Insurance Agency, also had all of her personal wealth confiscated by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. Her death sentence will be commuted to life in prison if she is credited with good behaviour. Fanxin's former senior consultant, Jiang Jie, was given a life sentence and had all of his property confiscated. Chen and Jiang sold fake insurance products to more than 4,400 customers in Shanghai and the neighbouring province of Zhejiang, collecting over 1 billion yuan in premiums, according to the court, Agence France-Presse reported. The 2 fled China in July 2013 with more than 830,000 euros (S$1.3 million) in cash and goods, after transferring nearly HK$50 million (S$77 million) from the company to Hong Kong, it said. The authorities brought the pair back from Fiji with that country's cooperation in August 2013. The Shanghai court said it will continue to track down their illegal gains from investors and order them to pay compensation. "The sentence is heavier than I expected," said Dang Jiangzhou, a shareholding partner of Shanghai's Ganus Law Firm, who represented more than 70 victims in the case. In a related development, United States and Chinese officials will meet in August with anti-corruption Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation officials to discuss the possibility of repatriating Chinese officials hiding in the US, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. (source: Asia One) GLOBAL: Countries that support the death penalty As 2 Australians face the death penalty in Indonesia, there has been renewed public discussion of capital punishment in Australia.Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran have both been convicted of drug trafficking offences in Indonesia, and it's increasingly likely they may be put to death by firing squad in coming weeks or days. The Australian government continues to lobby Indonesia to show mercy, and grant clemency for the pair.Australia is among many countries worldwide that oppose the death penalty.But Indonesia is far from the only country where the death penalty is considered a legitimate punishment for criminal behaviour. THE DEATH PENALTY WORLDWIDE: 58 nations enforce the death penalty, including 3 of Australia's biggest trading partners and allies, The United States, China and Japan. Countries that impose the death penalty: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe. At least 778 people were executed worldwide in 2013, excluding China. China keeps its executions secret. Amnesty International estimates 'thousands'. A report by US human rights group the Dui Hua Foundation estimates 2400 executions took place in China in 2013. The US executed 39 people. Iran executed at least 369 people in 2013, Iraq at least 169, and Saudi Arabia 79. In 2012, 111 nations voted in favour of a United Nations moratorium on the use of the death penalty in which 41 nations voted against and 34 abstained. (source: Sky News) PAKISTAN----executions 2 executions for non-terrorism offences a 'disturbing and dangerous' escalation -- Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions on 17 December 2014 on prisoners convicted of "terrorism" offences in Anti-Terror Courts. Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions on 17 December 2014 on prisoners convicted of "terrorism" offences in Anti-Terror Courts. The execution of 2 men convicted of non-terrorism-related offences marks a disturbing and dangerous escalation in Pakistan's use of the death penalty since a moratorium was lifted in December last year, Amnesty International said. Muhammad Riaz and Muhammad Fiaz were hanged this morning in Mirpur Central Prison in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir region. The 2 men were convicted of murdering the son of the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association in 2004, and given death sentences in 2005. Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions on 17 December 2014 - in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre - on prisoners convicted of "terrorism" offences in Anti-Terror Courts. However, today's hangings mark the 1st executions of prisoners convicted by ordinary courts. "Today's executions mark a disturbing and dangerous escalation of Pakistan's use of the death penalty since a moratorium was lifted. The government has apparently gone against its own stated policy of only executing those convicted on terrorism charges," said David Griffiths, Amnesty International's Deputy Asia Pacific Director. "24 people have now been put to death by the government since December last year. This spate of killings must end immediately - the government should re-impose a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to its eventual abolition. Pakistan has one of the world's largest death row populations, and more than 8,000 people's lives are at risk." Muhammad Riaz and Muhammad Fiaz received an unfair trial. Their appeal before the Supreme Court in was dismissed in 2006 on a technical ground as no lawyer was willing to represent or appear on behalf of the 2 men, for fear of being disbarred or a backlash from the Supreme Court Bar Association. "Pakistan's judicial system is seriously flawed. Frequent use of torture to extract 'confessions', a lack of access to legal counsel, and long periods of detention without charge are just some of our concerns. The death penalty is always a human rights violation, but the serious fair trial concerns in Pakistan makes its use even more troubling," said David Griffiths. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances, regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The organization considers the death penalty a violation of the right to life as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. (source: Amnesty International) *************** Appeal dismissed: Death sentence upheld A division bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed an appeal against the award of a death penalty to a man convicted of burning his wife and injuring his daughter. The counsel for Zafar Iqbal, the convict, said he had been implicated in the case at the behest of his in-laws. He said an anti-terrorism court had awarded him the death penalty despite feeble prosecution and evidence. The counsel urged the court to set the sentence aside and acquit Iqbal. A deputy prosecutor told the court that the convict had doused Sobia, his wife, with kerosene oil and set her ablaze. He said Kashaf, his daughter, was also injured in the episode. The counsel said the verdict of the anti-terrorism court was based on tangible evidence and witnesses' statements. The court dismissed the appeal and upheld the sentence after listening to the arguments. (source: The Express Tribune) IRAN: Iran drug abuse rising despite death penalty----Meth labs rampant as users hope to work longer. Officials say methamphetamine production and abuse of hard drugs are skyrocketing in the country, despite potentially lethal criminal penalties for users if they are caught. The increase is partly because Iran is the main gateway for the region's top drug exporter, Afghanistan - and partly because Iranian dealers are profiting so handsomely. Ghazal Tolouian, a psychologist who treats dozens of meth addicts at a therapy camp in a mountain village northwest of Tehran, says most of her clients fall into 2 categories: students "who want to pass university entrance exams successfully," and "people who have to work a 2nd and 3rd shift to make ends meet and earn more money." Antinarcotics and medical officials say more than 2.2 million of Iran's 80 million citizens already are addicted to illegal drugs, including 1.3 million on registered treatment programs. They say the numbers keep rising annually, even though use of the death penalty against convicted smugglers has increased, too, and now accounts for more than nine of every 10 executions. Parviz Afshar, an antinarcotics official, said that for every meth lab they detect, 2 more might spring up, often involving small-scale "cooks" operating in residences where production is particularly hard to detect. He said police found and destroyed at least 416 meth labs in the 12-month period up to March, up from 350 in the previous 12 months. Iran's Health Ministry was slow to finance rehabilitation clinics nationwide, but a growing network of private camps has sprung up that partly receive state financing. Some of the camps are run by former or recovering users of the highly addictive drug, which was depicted in the popular U.S. television show Breaking Bad. "When I set up this shelter, authorities didn't support me. But after several years of hard work, they were convinced that it's better to provide care and shelter to addicts," said Majid Mirzaei, manager of a Tehran shelter for drug addicts and a recovering addict himself. His facility provides free food, syringes, condoms, medical care, and a place to sleep to addicts in a crowded neighborhood in south Tehran. "Drug addiction is a fact" Mirzaei said. "It can't be eliminated, but you can manage it correctly." Officials say Iran's taste for illegal narcotics is certain to expand into greater abuse of heroin, because Iran is the main route for exports from next-door Afghanistan, maker of 3/4 of the world supply. Abbas Deilamzadeh, whose Rebirth Society runs dozens of rehab centers, predicts that more people experimenting with meth soon will be using heroin, already one of the most widely used drugs in Iran. Those at the clinics tell tales of their profoundly misguided notions about taking meth, specifically that it wouldn't become addictive. Javad said he used meth for 6 years in hopes of earning more money by working longer hours. But last year, he collapsed on a train midway through one night's work and was fired. For the last 4 months, he's been getting help at a Tehran clinic. Javad says he had no idea how bad his life would become as an addict. "At first," he said, "it was a lot of fun to use." (source: Associated Press) ISRAEL: Judaism: A Painless Death----This week's Dvar Torah is by Rabbi Gideon Weitzman - Former Rosh Kollel in Kansas City, now head of the English Speaking Section of the "Puah" Institute. "Whoever curses his father and mother shall be put to death" and "whoever steals shall be put to death" as well as "the witch shall not live". In fact this week's parshah is full of crimes for which the punishment is capital punishment, ranging from the most severe crimes of murder to ones which appear to be less serious. There has been a lot of talk recently about murder and killing carried out in the name of religion and the debate has raged as to whether radical Islam is an unusual case or whether in fact many religions and all of the major Western religions embraced murder, pillage and destruction at some point in their history. The list of crimes for which we are instructed to inflict capital punishment that appears in Mishpatim seems to clearly indicate that Judaism was no different than other religions. The Torah appears to dish out the death penalty to a lot of people. How are we different from the other religions, or are we just the same? Some would answer that it is all a matter of historical perspective, that indeed at one point we were more murderous and did put people to death in the legal process of the courts. However today we have matured and now we have no more capital punishment. The Mishnah (Sotah 9:9) says something similar but gives this an educational twist. "When murderers multiplied the ceremony of breaking the calf's neck was discontinued." When the number of murderers increased then the Rabbis stopped the ceremony in which a calf's neck was broken when a murdered corpse was found. The reason for this ceremony was to impress upon the population of the surrounding villages that murder was despicable. However, when murder became a common occurrence then this ceremony was less effective. People were not perturbed by murder as they had been initially and the ceremony was less meaningful and was therefore discontinued. The punishment must awaken people to improve their ways and when this did not happen then there was no reason to exact such a severe punishment to a living thing. Another Mishnah (Makkot 1:10) suggests a different reason "if the Sanhedrin killed someone once every seven years they were considered murderous. Rabbi Elazar said 'Once every seventy years'. Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva said 'If we would have been in the Sanhedrin no one would ever be put to death'." While the Torah presents the death penalty for many crimes in reality the number of people put to death was extremely small. The Talmud adds so many conditions for a person to receive capital punishment that it hardly ever happened. Let us consider one example; the Torah assigns the death penalty for breaking Shabbat. But the Talmud explains that the person has to break Shabbat intentionally, before two kosher witnesses. If this was not enough, they need to warn him that if he breaks Shabbat by doing a particular act and breaking a particular law he will be put to death. He must then reply that he knows that this is the case and still he willingly is breaking Shabbat. If the witnesses accuse him of breaking Shabbat by ploughing but in fact he is sowing seeds which are not the same act then he cannot receive the death penalty. If so, why does the Torah state that such a person is liable to receive capital punishment? The Mishnah continues "Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said 'They increased the spilling of blood'." Those Sages who limited the death penalty to once every seventy years, or even less, increased murder by removing the deterrent to killing others. The Torah presents the severity of such sins even though it is just a threat and a warning to make us think about good and evil, right and wrong. One last answer, the Gemara (Sanhedrin 52b) gives a novel interpretation of the verse "love your neighbor as your friend" (Vayikra 19:18). Rabba bar Avuah taught that this verse means that we should choose a nice death for him. This seems like an oxymoron, how can death be nice, and how is this loving our fellow? Even in the rare cases that a person does receive the death penalty we are still to love him and treat him as a human being, we cannot show anger or vengeance to him or his family. We must choose the most painless death that we can find. The Torah wants us to be merciful and kind, to do so we need to preserve all of society and sometimes this entails delivering severe punishment in order to keep law and order. But even then, or maybe specifically in such cases, we are to preserve a sense of humanity, mercy and empathy. We are to choose the most humane death that we can to limit the suffering even of the accused murderer. The world around us has much to learn about a true system of justice and we have much to teach. (soure: Israel National News) FIJI: Army death penalty out Despite strong opposing statements by Opposition on the amendment of the Death Penalty provision - part of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act - Parliament passed the Bill on Tuesday. This after the Bill was put to the vote following comments and submissions by members of the Opposition. The Bill was then reported and passed after 29 voted for, 1 voted against, nine abstained and 11 did not vote. Opposition member Tupou Draunidalo said the amendment had special considerations and while the RFMF was a state-funded institution, it had taken hundreds of millions of dollars away from schools and hospitals in this country, and through its coup culture take away billions. "We have all suffered through this culture, which we are trying to eradicate," Ms Draunidalo said. On Monday, Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum tabled a Bill seeking to remove the death penalty provision within the RFMF Act. He told Parliament there was a growing international trend to remove the use of capital punishment from all laws, and also referred to Fiji's Constitution that every person had the right to life and must not be deprived of it. He said in 2002, Fiji took the initiative to remove the death penalty in its penal code and that had been carried on to the Crimes Decree, however, the only remaining reference to the death penalty existed in the RFMF Act. (source: Fiji Times) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 13 16:59:45 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 16:59:45 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., ALA., MONT. Message-ID: Feb. 13 PENNSYLVANIA: Death Penalty Moratorium Declaration----Published by Governor Tom Wolf Governor Tom Wolf Announces a Moratorium on the Death Penalty in Pennsylvania Today, Governor Tom Wolf announced a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania that will remain in effect until the governor has received and reviewed the forthcoming report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment, established under Senate Resolution 6 of 2011, and there is an opportunity to address all concerns satisfactorily. "Today's action comes after significant consideration and reflection," said Governor Wolf. "This moratorium is in no way an expression of sympathy for the guilty on death row, all of whom have been convicted of committing heinous crimes. This decision is based on a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 150 people have been exonerated from death row nationwide, including 6 men in Pennsylvania. Recognizing the seriousness of these concerns, the Senate established the bipartisan Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission to conduct a study of the effectiveness of capital punishment in Pennsylvania. Today's moratorium will remain in effect until this commission has produced its recommendation and all concerns are addressed satisfactorily." This morning, Gov. Wolf took the 1st step in placing a moratorium on the death penalty by granting a temporary reprieve to inmate Terrance Williams, who was scheduled to be executed on March 4, 2015. Governor Wolf will grant a reprieve - not a commutation - in each future instance in which an execution for a death row inmate is scheduled, establishing an effective moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania. For death row inmates, the conditions and confinement will not change. (source: scribd.com) ******************** Death penalty cases in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding area Some of the Lehigh Valley's most notorious murder cases are affected by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's announcement Friday of a moratorium on executions. Wolf said he wants to review a forthcoming task force report on the death penalty. You can see the current list of state inmates awaiting execution here. Pennsylvania has had 3 executions since the death penalty was reinstated in the state in 1974, and those were after the inmates waived their appeal rights, according to the Death Penalty Information Center In the past 30 year, 29 Pennsylvania death row inmates died of natural causes while awaiting execution and three committed suicide, the center said. Northampton County death row inmates --Michael Ballard, who pleaded guilty to murdering 4 people in 2010 in a gruesome knife attack in Northampton. Ballard, who had been released from prison for a killing in Allentown, killed his ex-girlfriend Denise Merhi; her father, Denis Marsh; her grandfather, Alvin Marsh; and Steven Zernhelt, a neighbor who rushed into Merhi's home after hearing screaming inside. --George Hitcho Jr., convicted by a jury in the shooting death of Freemansburg police officer Robert Lasso in August 2011. Lehigh County death row inmates --Harvey Miguel Robinson, an Allentown serial killer who raped and murdered three women in the early 1990s. Robinson's victims were Joan Burghardt, a 29-year-old nurse's aide; Charlotte Schmoyer, a 15-year-old newspaper carrier; and Jessica Jean Fortney, a 47-year-old grandmother. --George Lopez and Edwin Romero, both convicted in the strangling death of architect David Bolasky in 1995 in Allentown. --Raymond Solano, who fatally shot Almondo Rodriguez in an Allentown park in 2001. --Junius Burno, who fatally shot an Allentown nightclub disc jockey, Carlos Juarbe, and his cousin, Oscar Rosado III, in April 2003 in Allentown. There are also criminal cases with local ties where prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty in the event of a conviction of 1st-degree murder: --Eric Frein, accused of using a .308-caliber rifle Sept. 12 outside the state police barracks at Blooming Grove in Pike County to fatally shoot Cpl. Bryon Dickson II and wound Trooper Alex Douglass. --Tyrell Young, a Reading man accused of fatally shooting an Allentown businessman during a Craigslist car deal in April 2014. --Michael Wilkins and Maurice Wilkins, Reading brothers accused of killing a Palmer Township man, and in a separate incident in December 2012 kidnapping, torturing and strangling a woman and dumping her body in Lehigh County. --Jillian Tait and Gary Lee Fellenbaum, accused of torturing to death Tait's 3-year-old son, Scott McMillan. (source: lehighvalleylive.com) ALABAMA----impending execution Alabama death row inmate seeks stay of execution Attorneys for an Alabama death row inmate scheduled to die next week asked a federal court Friday to stop the execution. Thomas Arthur, convicted in 1982 in a murder-for-hire scheme, has been at the center of an ongoing battle over the drugs Alabama uses to conduct executions. The inmate first sued in 2011, saying the state's 3-drug cocktail violated his Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. Arthur and attorneys have argued the anesthetic used in the execution would not work fast enough to prevent pain resulting from 2 succeeding drugs that paralyze the body and stop the heart. A messages left with Suhana Han, an attorney representing Arthur, was not immediately returned Friday morning. Mike Lewis, a spokesman for Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, said Friday the office had no comment. Arthur is currently scheduled to be executed on Feb. 19. The inmate's challenge is one of several facing the state's administration of capital punishment. When it the state adopted lethal injection as its primary form of execution in 2002, Alabama officials used sodium thiopental as its main sedative in the procedure. In part due to pressure from European anti-death penalty activists, Hospira stopped manufacturing the drug in the United States in 2011; the company said in a statement at the time that it "never condoned" the use of the drug in executions. Alabama officials then switched to pentobarbital as the main sedative; Arthur and his attorneys argued that drug would take too long to render him unconscious before the other drugs took effect. State officials acknowledged early last year that they had run out of the drug. The state last conducted an execution on July 25, 2013, when Andrew Reid Lackey was put to death for the 2005 murder of Charles Newman, an 80-year-old World War II veteran. In filings with the Alabama Supreme Court last September, the Alabama attorney general's office announced that the Department of Corrections had adopted a new drug protocol, using midazolam hydrochloride, a sedative. Arthur and his attorneys successfully petitioned the court to amend their complaint to target midazolam, which was present in botched executions last year in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona. Alabama officials have cited Florida's use of the drug in executions, which has not resulted in any reported incidents. The U.S. Supreme Court last month agreed to hear a challenge to the use of midazolam from 3 inmates on Oklahoma's death row. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday allowed a 2012 stay on Arthur's execution to expire, saying it dealt specifically with the timing of certain court filings. However, the panel also said that "nothing herein precludes Mr. Arthur from seeking an injunction or restraining order as to the February 19, 2015 execution," though it directed the petition to be filed in district court. Most of the filings in the Arthur case are under seal. Last year, the Department of Corrections denied separate Freedom of Information Act requests from the Advertiser, The Anniston Star and the Associated Press seeking information on the state's death penalty protocol, citing the Arthur seal. The state has until Sunday morning to respond to the Arthur filing. Christopher Price Lee, convicted in 1991 of the brutal murder of a Tuscaloosa minister, filed a separate lawsuit last October challenging the state's new execution protocol. The lawsuit is still pending before U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose. (source: Montgomery Advertiser) MONTANA: Effort reborn to abolish death penalty in Montana Montana lawmakers are again considering a bill that would abolish the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without parole. Republican Rep. David Moore of Missoula introduced House Bill 370 Friday in the House Judiciary Committee. Supporters say the practice is expensive and using it models the idea that killing is a legitimate way to end a conflict. Opponents say it's a needed tool in the justice system. People on both sides of the issue spoke emotionally about their experiences with violence and the death penalty. Similar bills have made it through the Senate in prior years but in the past two legislative sessions it has failed to gain traction in the House. The committee did not take action on the measure Friday. (source: Associated Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 14 10:49:56 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:49:56 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., S.C./GA., FLA., TENN., UTAH., MONT., ORE., USA Message-ID: Feb. 14 PENNSYLVANIA: Wolf halts death penalty in Pa. Pennsylvania's death penalty - used just 3 times since 1978 but as controversial as ever - was shelved by Gov. Wolf on Friday until after he gets the report of a task force studying the future of capital punishment. Acting on concerns he first expressed during last year's campaign, the new governor cited a wave of exonerations nationwide and questions about the effectiveness of executions. "This decision is based on a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive," Wolf said. Death penalty opponents lauded the news, while supporters condemned it. For 186 inmates on the state's death row, it means a reprieve. For one, the reprieve could not be more timely. Wolf's decision means there will be no execution on March 4 for Terrance Williams, 48, a former star quarterback at Germantown High School sentenced to death for the 1984 murder of Amos Norwood, a 56-year-old Germantown church volunteer. Wolf's predecessor, Gov. Tom Corbett, signed Williams' death warrant last month. In reversing that decision and announcing the moratorium, the new governor said it "is in no way an expression of sympathy for the guilty on death row, all of whom have been convicted of committing heinous crimes, and all of whom must be held to account. "The guilty deserve no compassion, and receive none from me," Wolf added. "I have nothing but the deepest appreciation for the work of victim advocates, and sympathize and stand with all those who have suffered at the hands of those in our society who turn to violence." Williams' lawyers have been fighting for years to stop his execution, contending, among other reasons, that prosecutors withheld evidence that Williams' victim had sexually abused teenage boys. After the reprieve, Shawn Nolan, chief of the Federal Defender's death penalty unit in Philadelphia, thanked Wolf on Williams' behalf. "The Pennsylvania Senate has recognized the need for the commonwealth to examine the capital punishment system," Nolan said. "In light of the ongoing bipartisan state legislative commission, and given all of the well-documented problems with Pennsylvania's death penalty, the governor's decision to grant a reprieve and issue a moratorium is appropriate." In 2011, the state Senate authorized a task force to comprehensively study the death penalty and whether it can be legally and effectively administered in Pennsylvania. The task force was to have issued its report in December 2013, but the deadline has been extended. 32 states have capital punishment, including Pennsylvania and Delaware. New Jersey abolished the death penalty in 2007. In Pennsylvania, the debate about capital punishment - why it is not used more often versus why it should be allowed at all - has never stopped. Wolf's order ignited it anew, as well as questions about his power to do so. House Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny) and Majority Leader Dave Reed (R., Indiana) accused Wolf of "overstepping his authority." "His death penalty moratorium is, in reality, a political statement without public discourse or input. Or, apparently, without any consideration for those the victims left behind," the GOP leaders said in a statement. Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R., Centre) agreed, calling the moratorium "ideologically driven." But State Sen. Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery) used the occasion to reintroduce his bill - for the 4th consecutive session - to abolish Pennsylvania's death penalty. Outside the Capitol, the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association called Wolf's action "a misuse of his power [that] ignores the law" and said he had "turned his back on the silenced victims of cold-blooded killers. "A moratorium is just a ploy," the prosecutors association added. "Make no mistake, this action is not about waiting for a study - it's about the governor ignoring duly enacted law and imposing his personal views against the death penalty." Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams called Wolf's action "an injustice to the citizens of this state." "If the governor wants to be a man of his convictions, he should debate this issue publicly and try to persuade the legislature and the people to change the law," Williams said. "But he has no moral or legal right to nullify judicial rulings and legislative statutes." Williams said the people most grateful for Wolf's moratorium are "the guiltiest, cruelest, most vicious killers on death row." The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association called the moratorium a "travesty" and "a sad day for Pennsylvania." It cited the moratorium's potential impact on prosecutors' announced intent to seek the death penalty for Eric Frein, charged with the Sept. 12 ambush killing of State Police Cpl. Bryon Dickson and wounding of Trooper Alex Douglass in Northeast Pennsylvania. Marc Bookman, director of the Philadelphia-based nonprofit Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, said the governor's action was "very thoughtful considering the flaws that seem more apparent every day." Philadelphia Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput said he was "very grateful to Gov. Wolf for choosing to take a deeper look into these studies, and I pray we can find a better way to punish those who are guilty of these crimes." Pennsylvanians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty released statements from 6 members, including relatives of murder victims such as Megan Smith, whose father and stepmother were murdered in 2001 in Lancaster County. "I applaud Gov. Wolf for recognizing that Pennsylvania's capital punishment system is broken in so many ways," Smith said. "It costs far more than imprisoning murderers for life. It is inconsistent and arbitrary, and it sometimes sentences innocent people to die." Pennsylvania authorizes the death penalty only for people convicted of 1st-degree murder: a malicious premeditated killing. If the prosecutor does not seek the death penalty in a 1st-degree murder case, or if a jury does not impose a death sentence after a defendant is found guilty of 1st-degree murder, the sentence is life in prison without chance of parole. In the abstract, Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support the death penalty. A 2003 poll by Quinnipiac University showed that 67 % favored the death penalty, and 28 % opposed it, and 4 % responded "Don't know." When the same poll asked respondents to choose between the death penalty and life in prison with no chance of parole, support for capital punishment fell to 50 %. 42 % favored life in prison, and 8 % responded, "Don't know." Regardless of the polls, Pennsylvania juries have shown increasing reluctance to impose a death sentence when it is an option. Only 3 people were sentenced to death in 2014, from Fayette, York, and Montgomery Counties, and only 4 in 2013. Of the 3 people executed since Pennsylvania reinstated capital punishment in 1978 - 2 in 1995, the last in 1999 - all 3 had ended their appeals and asked to be executed. As of Feb. 2, according to state prison officials, 183 men and 3 women were on death row in Pennsylvania, confined to their cells 23 hours a day. Wolf during the campaign said he would not sign death warrants until concerns have been addressed about avoiding executing an innocent person. "Our concern is about what to do to ensure that in executing people we are as certain as certain can be that we are not executing people who are innocent," said Marissa Bluestine, legal director of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. Philadelphia civil rights lawyer David Rudovsky noted that - beyond the question of innocence - more than 100 Pennsylvanians have been taken off death row because their trials were found to have been unfair. During his term as governor, Corbett signed 48 death warrants, although no executions occurred under his watch. Last fall, Corbett stayed the execution of Hubert L. Michael Jr., who confessed to murdering a York County teenager 2 decades ago. Corbett's decision came after state officials could not acquire lethal injection drugs. The drugs needed for lethal injections are becoming harder for states to obtain because some manufacturers have refused to sell them for that purpose. Some states, including Pennsylvania, have resorted to obtaining them from compounding pharmacies. Pennsylvania's death penalty is also under at least 2 challenges in the state and federal courts. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane in Harrisburg granted judgment to the commonwealth in a suit challenging the death penalty for violating the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Rudovsky, who filed the suit, said he was unsure if he would appeal Kane's ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Rudovsky said he would go before the state Commonwealth Court on March 11 in a related challenge, arguing that the state cannot legally execute anyone using other than the original drug cocktail the legislature wrote into the 1978 law reinstating capital punishment. Rudovsky said the state law requires use of sodium thiopental, a "ultra short-acting barbiturate," to anesthetize the condemned person before the lethal drugs are administered. The drug is no longer manufactured because of its use in capital punishment. (source: philly.com) *************************** Death penalty case against alleged cop killer Eric Frein continues despite ban In the hours after Gov. Tom Wolf announced a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania, opponents invoked 1 infamous name more than any other: Eric Frein. The 31-year-old Monroe County man garnered national media attention after allegedly ambushing 2 state troopers, killing 1, and fleeing into the mountains. Upon his capture 48 days later, Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin vowed to seek the death penalty. "Today's action by Governor Tom Wolf does not serve as any legal impediment to my office's pursuit of justice in the criminal case against Eric Matthew Frein," Tonkin said, in a written statement Friday. Many law enforcement organizations and politicians, however, suggested Friday that the moratorium could derail the capital murder trial against the self-proclaimed survivalist. "The concern with a blanket moratorium is that it removes a tool district attorneys may use in prosecuting cases against accused killers such as Eric Frein," wrote Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, and Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, in just one example. Wolf's moratorium will prevent convicted death row inmates from being executed pending the results of a Senate-backed inquiry into the practice. It will not, however, stop prosecutors from seeking the death penalty or juries from handing it down. Indeed, a de facto ban has been in place since 1999 as death row inmates filed appeals, obtained reprieves from governors of both parties or died in prison. Since 1977, Pennsylvania has executed just three people, each of whom voluntarily waived their right to appeal. James Swetz, who briefly represented Frein after his arrest, said he doesn't understand why his former client is being used as an example. "The thing people must remember is that if Eric Frein is convicted of this homicide, he will die in prison," he said. "He will never get out. It's life without parole. His life, on a daily basis, will be restricted. He will be subject to violence in prison. He will never again see the light of day." Even before the moratorium, Swetz said, that would be Frein's future. It would likely be many, many years before execution would even be a possibility. "That is not lenience," he said. "That is punishment." Michael Weinstein, Frein's current attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Swetz, who also serves as president of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he supports the moratorium, as it Wolf recognizes many of the shortcomings in the existing system that could allow innocent people to be executed. "We applaud Gov. Wolf in recognizing that nobody should face the death penalty as a criminal sanction while these flaws exist," he said. Chris Borick, a Muhlenberg College political science professor, said invoking Frein's name is simply effective political messaging. "It's a story that struck a lot of emotional chords and opponents to the moratorium say, 'I'm going to try to use his case to help fight for my position'," he said. "It doesn't surprise me at all." Tonkin himself said that he disapproves of the moratorium because it "usurped the authority of the legislature and courts" and may lead to more "pain and confusion to families who have suffered the actions of the worst criminals." That moratorium, however, will have little effect on the case against Frein, he said. "A jury of 12 citizens will . . . determine the appropriate sentence," he said. (source: pennlive.com) **************************** see: http://abc27.com/2015/02/13/wolf-moratorium-reignites-debate-over-death-penalty/ (source: ABC news) *************************** Bishop Gainer lauds death penalty moratorium; 'just punishment can be attained without resorting to execution' The head of the Harrisburg Catholic Diocese on Friday welcomed the decision by Gov. Tom Wolf to place a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania, potentially halting the process for 186 prisoners who've received a death sentence. Bishop Ronald Gainer along with the the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the church's legislative arm in the state, noted in release that the Catholic Bishops of Pennsylvania have long been advocating for an end to the death penalty in Pennsylvania "because the modern penal system provides alternatives to taking the lives of the guilty. Punishment should reflect our belief in the inherent human dignity of each person, and taking a life to avenge the death of another does not create a culture of life." In the statement, Gainer and the conference said that people convicted of capital offenses must be punished effectively and appropriately for their crimes. "Family and friends of victims, and society as a whole, demand this. Just punishment, however, can be attained without resorting to execution," the release said." Even the most violent offenders who commit heinous crimes still have a dignity given by God." Since 1693, the commonwealth has executed 1,043 prisoners. Wolf said the state's current death penalty is "a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust and expensive." Wolf's 1st action was a temporary reprieve to Terrance Williams, who was scheduled to be executed on March 4. Williams was convicted of two murders he committed as a teenager in 1984. Gainer pointed out that in "Living the Gospel of Life," U.S. Bishops write that Catholics are called to respect every human life, "including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others." "Society will not benefit from imposing the death penalty, nor will it be harmed by showing mercy," the statement from diocese reads. "By turning away from the death penalty, we are embracing hope, not despair. Today's announcement breaks the cycle of violence that so plagues our society. We hope that this spirit of respect for human life is shown throughout all laws and policies of the Commonwealth." (source: pennlive.com) ********************** Facts About Pennsylvania's Death Penalty Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania on Friday. Some details about his action, the reaction and the death penalty: THE GOVERNOR'S ACTION: Wolf said the moratorium will be in effect at least until he receives the results of a legislative study on the topic. He called the current system of capital punishment "error prone, expensive and anything but infallible." -- REACTION FROM PROSECUTORS: The state prosecutors' association said the governor had no authority to impose such a moratorium, and said some sort of legal response was likely. -- PENNSYLVANIA'S DEATH ROW: The state currently has 183 men and 3 women on death row. The most recent addition is Raghunandan Yandamuri, who was sentenced in November for killing a 10-month-old baby and her grandmother in a botched ransom kidnapping. ???-- NOTABLE DEATH ROW INMATES: Among the condemned are George Banks, who killed 13 people, including f5 of his children, in 1982; Richard Baumhammers, who was convicted of killing 5 people in a 2000 shooting rampage that targeted ethnic minorities; John Lesko and Michael Travaglia, who killed a rookie police officer and 3 other people during an 1980 "kill for thrill" spree; and Mark Spotz, who shot his brother to death after an argument over a gerbil in 1995 and then went on to kill 3 women on successive days. Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 killing a Philadelphia police officer, was on death row for 3 decades in a case that drew international attention. He is now serving life without parole after his death sentence was thrown out. -- RECENT HISTORY OF EXECUTIONS: Pennsylvania has executed 3 people since the U.S. Supreme Court revived the death penalty, each of whom had given up on his appeals. Gary Heidnik, one of the inspirations for the Buffalo Bill character in "The Silence of the Lambs," was executed in 1999 for killing 2 women he had imprisoned in his Philadelphia home. Leon Moser was executed in 1995 for the 1985 murders of his wife and 2 daughters in suburban Philadelphia. Keith Zettlemoyer was executed in 1995 for the 1980 killing of a friend who planned to testify against him. -- WHY PENNSYLVANIA HAS HAD FEW EXECUTIONS: Some say there is opposition to the death penalty among judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or attribute it to aggressive tactics by lawyers who defend people facing execution. Others argue death sentences are overturned because of problems in how those cases are handled, and that capital defendants often do not receive adequate representation at trial. -- DEATH ROW IN THE UNITED STATES: The Death Penalty Information Center says there are currently 3,054 people awaiting execution across the country. 32 states have the death penalty, while 18 states and Washington, D.C., prohibit it. 35 people were executed in the U.S. last year. (source: Associated Press) *************** Reform Movement Commends PA Governor Wolf for Moratorium on Death Penalty In response to the Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf's newly declared moratorium on executions, Rachel Laser, Deputy Director of the Religious Action Center issued the following statement: Today, Governor Tom Wolf announced a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania, acknowledging that the flawed system is "error prone, expensive and anything but infallible." The decision will be in effect at least until the Governor receives and reviews the forthcoming report from the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment that has been underway for about four years. There are currently 183 men and 3 women on death row in Pennsylvania who could be affected. The Governor clarified that his actions should not be taken as an expression of sympathy for the guilty on death row, but are based on the fact that the system has proven to be an "endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust and expensive." The Reform Movement has formally opposed the death penalty since 1959, noting the sanctity of human life. Our resolution states: "there is no crime for which the taking of human life by society is justified and that it is the obligation of society to evolve other methods in dealing with crime." Though the Torah does mandate death for some crimes, the rabbis of the Talmud intentionally made the mandate's application so complex and difficult, that it became virtually impossible to use. We learn in Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 that causing a single life to perish is the same as "caus[ing] a whole world to perish." In this spirit, we are encouraged by the actions of Governor Tom Wolf. There are 31 other states that still have laws allowing the death penalty and we will continue to fight against it until the practice has been abolished throughout our country. (source: Religious Action Center----The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the Washington office of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose nearly 900 congregations across North America encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis. Visit www.rac.org for more.) ************************ Death Penalty Focus Applauds Pennsylvania's Death Penalty Moratorium, Urges Golden State to Follow Suit Newly elected Governor Tom Wolf placed a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania today until concerns about the fairness of the state's death penalty system are addressed. The Governor's action is part of a growing movement to abandon the practice. Pennsylvania is the 4th state in 4 years to impose a moratorium on the death penalty, in addition to 6 states that have abolished the practice since 2007. "I think Governor Wolf realizes that when you have more exonerated prisoners than executed prisoners in 30 years, the system handed to you was obviously broken," said Nick Yarris, who was exonerated by DNA evidence after serving 21 years on Pennsylvania's death row. According to the Death Penalty Information Center's 2014 Year End Report, the country saw the lowest number of death sentences handed down in 40 years and the lowest number of executions in 20 years. Though California still houses the largest death row in the country, a Field Poll last year found that support for the death penalty was falling rapidly, with voters' support at its lowest point in half a century. "I applaud the decision by Governor Wolf to join the growing number of states putting a stop to this costly and broken system," said Matt Cherry, executive director of Death Penalty Focus. "The writing is on the wall: it's time for California to follow suit and officially abolish the death penalty." The parallels between Pennsylvania's death penalty system and California's system are undeniable. Pennsylvania has spent over $350 million on the death penalty over a period of time during which only 3 people have been executed and it currently houses the 5th largest death row in the country. Similarly, California could save $130 million a year by abolishing the death penalty, which has been on hold since 2006. This has placed California in 1st place for the largest death row in the nation. [source: Death Penalty Focus] (source: prnewswire.com) SOUTH CAROLINA/GEORGIA: Alter death penalty law The trial in Aiken County for a man accused of killing a police officer was over before it even began when Solicitor Strom Thurmond Jr. struck a plea deal with the defendant. If Stephon Carter pleaded guilty to murder, then they wouldn't seek the death penalty. In South Carolina and Georgia, for a person to receive the death penalty the jury has to vote unanimously. This is the reason the solicitor was hesitant to pursue it. Even with this in mind, the solicitor still should've pushed for death for Stephon Carter because of this being a heinous crime. Officer Scotty Richardson was not offered any plea deals when he was viciously gunned down by a thug in Aiken in 2011. The government should be the sword of God, and the guilty party should be hanged in public in front of the courthouse. I'm calling for both state legislatures of Georgia and South Carolina to change the law that requires a unanimous decision by a jury for the defendant to receive the death penalty. When heinous crimes are committed, it should only take a simple majority of jurors for the person to receive the death penalty. The government should put the fear of God in these thugs who commit heinous crimes. Punishment should be swift and just! Daniel Martin Blythe (source: Letter to the Editor, Augusta Chronicle) FLORIDA: Twice-convicted murderer facing death penalty in Orlando woman's slaying Nearly 13 years after a College Park mom was found strangled and stuffed into the trunk of her car, the man thought to have killed her is facing the death penalty. Teresa Green's former neighbor, 48-year-old Demorris Andy Hunter, is the suspect in her death. In 2003, he was arrested in Texas about 9 months after Green's body was found, but because of his violent past and another pending murder case involving a woman on the West Coast, he was not brought back Florida to face his charges until this month. Hunter, who was booked into the Orange County Jail about 11:30 p.m. Feb. 5, will finally face first-degree murder charges for Green's slaying. His bail has been denied, and jail officials have noted that he is not to be released. Before his arrest, Hunter was featured on the long-running television show, "America's Most Wanted," and had been listed as a fugitive on the FBI website. According to jail records, Hunter is already serving a life sentence in the March 26, 2002, death of 41-year-old Ivora Huntly of Oakland, Calif. Huntly was shot to death when she tried to stop Hunter from beating another woman, investigators said at the time. Shortly after Huntly's death, witnesses reported seeing Hunter running from the scene. But before he could be arrested, police said, Hunter took a cross-country trip and moved to Orlando's College Park neighborhood. He moved into an apartment in the same building Green shared with her 14-year-old son. Green's son was staying with a friend the night of the incident. Police said Green had a party at her home on May 25, 2002. The party wrapped up about 2:30 a.m. the next day. Shortly afterward, witnesses told police, Hunter and Green got into an argument. That day, exactly 3 months after Huntly's death, was the last time anyone saw Green alive. Hours after the argument, Hunter was seen driving Green's car and abandoning it at a Sanford drugstore. Another neighbor said Hunter admitted that he "did something really bad" before borrowing his van and using it to flee to Texas. That van was later found burned in an abandoned parking lot in Houston, where Hunter was eventually arrested. Even before Green and Huntly were killed, police say, Hunter was convicted in the death of a 3rd woman. He was sentenced to 13 years in California's Folsom State Prison in that case. (source: Orlando Sentinel) ********************** Clearwater man pleads guilty to murder in hopes of getting death penalty In a rare case of a man attempting to arrange his own execution, a Craig Wall pleaded guilty on Friday to murdering his girlfriend, and also pleaded no contest to murdering their infant son. Wall is seeking the death penalty for himself, a defense attorney said during a court hearing. Prosecutors made it clear that's exactly what they are seeking as well. And the parents of victim Laura Taft, who came to the hearing Friday afternoon, agree the death penalty is called for. "I just feel like my daughter's looking down on us saying, 'Mom we're almost done,'" said Taft's mother, Rhonda Lyon-Buttitia, after Wall entered his pleas. "She didn't deserve this ... neither did the baby." She said she hopes Wall does receive the death penalty. "Why should he get to breathe when my daughter does not get a chance to breathe?" Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip Federico accepted Wall's pleas, and scheduled a "penalty phase" trial beginning Feb. 23. Although Wall is now guilty of both murders, this next step is legally necessary so Federico can rule whether the death penalty is appropriate. Court psychologist Jill Poorman evaluated Wall to make sure he is mentally competent and truly understands the consequences of his plea. He does, Poorman said in court. "I feel he's just resigned to the fact that this is what he needed to do," she said. Wall also indicated he wanted to spare Taft's family the pain of a trial, but Lyon-Buttitia and father John Bredeson said later they didn't believe that. During many courtroom appearances since the 2010 murders, Wall has frequently displayed erratic behavior, sometimes blurting out that he did kill Taft but denying that he killed their son. On Friday, there were no similar antics, except when Federico asked him a standard question: Was he currently under the influence of alcohol or drugs? "I wish," he said. By seeking his own execution, Wall is taking a highly unusual step. But Federico said Wall seems to understand his legal rights, better than other defendants who have come before him in recent years. During the penalty phase trial, prosecutors will present evidence of "aggravating factors" that argue in favor of Wall's execution. Typically in a case like this, defense attorneys present evidence of "mitigating factors" that argue against the death penalty. But in this case, Wall has indicated he wants to present this evidence himself. This means the person in charge of preventing the execution is the man who wants to be executed. During Friday's hearing, Wall asked if there was any kind of points system for weighting the mitigating factors. Federico said there was no such mathematical formula. Wall also rambled for a bit about how different Florida Supreme justices might rule in his case. Wall has lived a troubled life, and spent 14 years in prison for robbery with a deadly weapon and armed burglary. He met Taft shortly after getting out. Their baby, Craig Wall Jr., also called "CJ," was born shortly after Christmas 2009. But 5 weeks later, the boy was dead, having suffered broken ribs and brain trauma. Wall was considered a suspect almost immediately, but he was not arrested right away. When Wall did get arrested a few days later on a separate charge, the fact that he was a suspect in his baby's death - stated clearly on an arrest affidavit - was never mentioned in court. He was released on bail. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney later acknowledged the case was not handled according to proper procedures. 3 days after getting out of jail, police said, Wall crashed through a sliding glass door of Taft's apartment and stabbed her to death. (source: Tampa Bay Times) TENNESSEE: Tennessee Supreme Court To Decide If Death Row Inmates Can Challenge The Possibility Of Electrocution The Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether a death row inmate can properly challenge the constitutionality of the possibility of electrocution as a method of execution. The lawsuit by 34 death row inmates challenges several aspects of Tennessee's death penalty protocol. In an order filed Friday, the Court agreed to hear the State's request to dismiss the plaintiffs' challenge to electrocution as a method of execution, asserting that none of the plaintiffs is subject to execution by electrocution at this time. Although there has not been a final decision in the case at the trial court level, some elements of the lawsuit have already been subject to appellate review. In addition to this claim regarding electrocution, the Supreme Court is considering whether the identities of those involved in the execution process - including medical examiners, pharmacists, and physicians - must be revealed to the death row inmates as a part of the discovery process. The case will be heard by the Supreme Court in oral arguments on May 6 in Knoxville. (source: The Chattanoogan) UTAH: House barely passes firing squad bill Tensions ran high Friday when the vote to reinstate Utah's firing squad stalled at 35-35 in the Utah House of Representatives. After a dramatic pause while remaining representatives were called to the House to cast their votes, HB11 eventually passed by just 5 votes, 39-34, with 1 lawmaker changing their vote. It now advances to the Senate for further consideration. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, would legalize firing squad executions in Utah if drugs needed for lethal injections aren't available 30 days before the date of the death warrant or if lethal injection executions become unconstitutional. "It is never easy to talk about taking another life," Ray said, "but in our judicial system, we have a means that requires that sometimes." Utah may need a "backup" method to lethal injections, he said, in the wake of recent botched executions that have led to a U.S. Supreme Court case with Oklahoma that may cause lethal injection executions to become unconstitutional. Utah potentially faces the risk of a situation similar to Oklahoma's case if the state continues to carry out lethal injections, as drugs previously used for lethal injections have become unavailable because European pharmaceutical companies that sell the drugs oppose the death penalty and refuse to sell to U.S. prisons, Ray said. "What we're doing here is trying to avoid a costly legal battle in carrying out what the courts have asked us to carry out," he said. On the House floor, Ray asked his fellow representatives to remember the debate of Utah's death penalty was not "germane" to his bill, as HB11 only concerns the method to carry out what has already been established as part of the state's justice system. Rep. Sandra Hollins, D-Salt Lake City, said she refuses to vote in favor of a bill that gives a tool to carry out the death penalty. The freshman lawmaker, who is black, said capital punishment is sentenced by a process that is "fraught with errors" and negatively affects the community she represents. "The death penalty disproportionately affects people of color and people of lower socioeconomic status," Hollins said. "Instead of ensuring Utah has multiple ways of killing people, we should be ensuring that all Utahns are equal before the law." Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, also opposed the bill, saying firing squad executions are "barbaric" and will damage Utah's image. King said continuing Utah's capital punishment would be a "fiscally irresponsible decision" because "it costs nearly twice as much to prosecute a death penalty case than a life-in-prison case." "Utah has a real chance to be a moral and fiscal leader on this issue," he said. "We know how expensive the death penalty is. We know the death penalty does not deter criminal activity. There is no right or humane way to kill people. We should be looking for ways to make Utah better, not worse." House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, said he doesn't understand the debate over methods of execution. He said Friday's close vote on the firing squad bill was more suited to a debate over capital punishment. "It escapes me that we're having such a prolonged debate on the niceties of, or what doesn't offend our senses about, capital punishment," Hughes said. He said he doesn't see the controversy over using a firing squad to carry out executions. What Hughes paid closest attention to in the debate, he said, was the contention that firing squads cause the least amount of pain. "When you talk about the way you're doing it, if it's offensive to people to think about, well, think about what you're doing," the speaker said. "I just don't get it." Sen. David Hinkins, R-Orangeville, will be proceeding as the bill's Senate floor sponsor. Ray said while he's already found support of HB11 from some senators, it's unclear how his bill will fair in the Senate. Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said it's too early to predict whether the firing squad bill will pass the Senate. He said he hasn't thought too much about the bill because he's been busy with other key issues this session, including Medicaid expansion and a gas tax increase. "Now we'll get serious about the bill and have some caucus meetings about it and see what the will of the Senate is," Niederhauser said. Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said the issue needs to be dealt with because of legal challenges to lethal injections in other states. "I think it's a very important issue," Hillyard said. "Until we clear up the issue about whether injunction would work, I think there is a cloud over the death penalty issue. And you resolve it by having the firing squad as an alternative." Senate Minority Caucus Manager Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, said he opposes the death penalty and doesn't like the bill. But, he suggested, if it's going to be considered, it should be amended to require executions be broadcast over the Internet for all to see. "If we do it, let's stream it live," Dabakis said. "If the purpose of it is for deterrence and we're willing to live with the death penalty, maybe we ought to get it out there. It seems a bit barbaric these days, but we're going to have to deal with it." (source: Deseret News) MONTANA: Legislature hears bill to eliminate Montana's death penalty A bill to eliminate Montana's death penalty is before the Legislature this week and today, lawmakers heard testimony about murder, punishment, forgiveness and the lives that are forever changed. Randy Steidl spent 12 years on death row before being exonerated, convicted for a double murder he didn't commit. He says, "...I'm just 1 of 150 exonerated former death row inmates struggling to regain what is left of our lives." That's the sort of injustice proponents of House Bill 370 want to prevent by repealing Montana's death penalty. The bill's sponsor Representative David "Doc" Moore (R-Missoula) recounted 4 different homicides that have affected his life. Moore state, "And to me, personally, I couldn't imagine a worse fate than being locked up in prison for the rest of my life." Jessica Crist, Lutheran Bishop testified for the bill stating, "State-supported vengeance flies in the face of everything Jesus lived and died for." Susan Debree's daughter was born 49 years ago on Valentine's Day. Her 1990 death by a gunshot in Great Falls never led to an arrest or conviction. DeBree says, "To survive and to continue living myself, I had to choose to learn to walk in the road of forgiveness." Pastor Matt Randles of the Evangelical Covenant Church said, "When we think of the death penalty, it's like this Ferrari without an engine. It's very, very, very expensive. And it doesn't get us anywhere." Crist added, "'Vengeance is mine,' said the Lord. 'Not ours.'" Some lawmakers opposing the repeal have had personal experiences with murder. Representative Tom Berry's son was tortured and murdered by drug dealers 15 years ago. Representative Tom Berry (R-Roundup) said, "The killer brandished a 9mm pistol and shot my son in the face as he was begging for his life." The killer's guilty plea spared Berry's family from involvement in a lengthy trial, but it only came because the threat of the death penalty. Berry added, "The proponents to repeal the death penalty talk about closure. 'Oh. The appeals go on and on and on.' Well, about 15 years from now, I got to go up there and I'm gonna oppose the killer of my son getting out of jail." When Representative Roy Hollandsworth (R - Brady) was 6 month old, a man killed his father. Hollandsworth said, "My mother, and my oldest brother lived in terror that he was going to come back and finish the job. The death penalty takes that away." Montana has executed 3 people since 1976; there are currently 2 prisoners on Montana's death row. (source: KRTV news) OREGON: Oregon's Disgraced Governor Could Save 34 Lives on His Way Out Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is resigning from office amid scandal, has an opportunity to put a positive spin (for some) on his exit. Kitzhaber, a former emergency room doctor, placed a moratorium in 2011 on all executions in the state. He said it was one of his proudest achievements as governor. But once he resigns, proceedings on those executions will resume. That is, unless he commutes the sentences of 33 men and 1 woman. That idea is floated by The Oregonian, which points out that Kitzhaber's replacement, Secretary of State Kate Brown, could also continue the moratorium or commute the sentences. Brown is a progressive politician and, incidentally, will be America's 1st openly bisexual governor. The current occupant of that office was pressured into resigning after a series of reports exploring his fiancee's conflict of interest. Cylvia Hayes was apparently in a relationship with Kitzhaber and working in his office while simultaneously receiving income from firms with business before the state. Another Oregonian article suggests the couple simply needed the money, though that's no excuse. The U.S. attorney's office is looking into any wrongdoing. Kitzhaber would not be the 1st governor to commute a large group of inmates, nor would his commutation be the biggest. Illinois Gov. George Ryan took more than 150 souls off death row in 2003. (source: truthdig.com) USA: The death penalty----A reprieve Does the death penalty deter crime? Benjamin Rush, one of America's founding fathers, did not think so. Alongside Benjamin Franklin he helped reform Pennsylvania's harsh penal code. By 1794 Pennsylvania limited the death penalty to cases of 1st-degree murder; in 1834 the state led the nascent nation in ending public executions. Today Pennsylvania took another big step closer to doing away with capital punishment altogether. Tom Wolf, the state's new Democratic governor, has announced a moratorium on all executions until he reviews a forthcoming report from a committee created in 2011 to research the matter. Terrence Williams, who was scheduled to die on March 4th, has been granted a temporary reprieve. Mr Williams was sentenced to death in 1986 after being convicted for murder. Having filed a number of appeals, he has sat on "death row" for nearly 3 decades. He is far from alone. There are 186 inmates on death row in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Only Alabama, California, Florida and Texas have more prisoners awaiting execution. Pennsylvania's governors have signed 434 death warrants since 1976, but only 3 prisoners have been executed in the state since then, and only one since 1999. If the death penalty is so rarely used, why have it at all? A number of states are asking this question. Concerns that the punishment is meted out unfairly or in a way that is painful to prisoners inspired Colorado, Oregon and Washington to halt the practice over the past few years. 18 other states have abolished it, most recently Maryland in 2013. New Hampshire nearly put an end to executions last year. Some suggest California, which has the most death-row inmates, could be next. A federal judge called the state's death-penalty system "unconstitutional" and "completely dysfunctional" in July 2014. (Here we argue why it should be abolished.) Mr Wolf claims to be sure of Mr Williams's guilt. But there is always a risk that an innocent prisoner will be executed. 5 people on death row were exonerated each year, on average, between 2000 and 2011. 6 were exonerated last year alone. In Pennsylvania 6 death-row inmates have been found innocent since 1976. One, Harold Wilson, was exonerated within days of being executed. Another, Nicolas Yarris, was finally set free after 2 decades on death row. Pennsylvania's capital sentencing system is "error prone, expensive, and anything but infallible," says Mr Wolf. The governor is also worried that race and poverty play too big a role in how prisoners are sentenced. 2/3 of Pennsylvania's death-row inmates are racial minorities, and most of them are poor. Most Americans still support the death penalty, but that number is falling, from 80% in 1994 to 60% in 2013, according to Gallup. Voters increasingly say it would be better to punish murderers with life in prison without parole. Stories of botched executions have encouraged this shift. Because a number of companies have refused to sell drugs to be used to kill people, several states have been experimenting with the chemicals in their lethal injections. In some cases, the effects have been gruesome. When Clayton Lockett, a convicted murder in Oklahoma, was given a cocktail of potassium chloride, midazolam and vecuronium bromide in April 2014, he writhed and groaned in pain, dying from a heart attack 43 minutes later. In January the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging three pending executions in Oklahoma. The inmates contend that Oklahoma's drug cocktail violates the 8th amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishments. (source: The Economist) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 14 10:50:53 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2015 10:50:53 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 14 INDONESIA: UN rights expert calls for halt to Indonesia executions, cites international obligations UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Christof Heyns, urged a halt to further executions of people convicted of such offences, after 6 prisoners were executed in January and Indonesian officials announced that 8 more would be executed by firing squad in the coming days. "Under international law, the death penalty is regarded as an extreme form of punishment which, if it is used at all, should only be imposed for the most serious crimes, that is, those involving intentional killing, and only after a fair trial, among other safeguards," Heyns said. "However, despite, several appeals by UN human rights experts and civil society organizations urging the Indonesian Government to reconsider imposing the death penalty for drug related offences, the authorities decided to execute 6 people by firing squad on 18 January 2015." The UN human rights office says that the available information suggests that the 14 people were convicted after unfair trials. 12 of the people are foreign nationals who did not receive adequate interpreting services or the right to translators or lawyers at all stages of their trials and appeals. "Any death sentence must comply with international obligations related to the stringent respect of fair trial and due process guarantees, as stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a State party," Heyns said. "I previously expressed concerns over the imposition of death penalty for drug related offenses, and that such death sentences undertaken in contravention of Indonesia's international human rights obligations is tantamount to an arbitrary execution." He said the International Covenant provided that anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. "I regret that the authorities continue to execute people in violation of international human rights standards," said Heyns. "I urge the Government of Indonesia to establish a moratorium on execution with a view of its complete abolition, in order to comply with the international move towards the abolition of the death penalty." Independent experts or special rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they paid for their work. (source: India Blooms News) **************************** Australia pleads with Indonesia over death row men----Prime Minister Abbott warns Canberra will make displeasure known should Indonesia execute two Australian drug smugglers. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pleaded with Indonesia to heed Australia's call for clemency for 2 Australian death row convicts. Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, are facing execution by firing squad after being convicted over a failed 2005 bid to traffic heroin from Indonesia's island of Bali into Australia. "Millions of Australians are feeling very, very upset about what may soon happen to 2 Australians in Indonesia," Abbott told reporters in Sydney on Saturday. "And my plea, even at this late stage, is for Indonesia to be as responsive to us as it expects other countries to be to them when they plead for the life of their citizens on death row overseas." Abbott warned that Australia would make its displeasure known should the executions go ahead. Australian media reported that there are 360 Indonesians on death row around the world, including in Malaysia, Singapore, China, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with 230 of these on drugs charges. 'Close neighbour ' Abbott, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, also noted that Australia had stood by close neighbour Indonesia in times of need, particularly after the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami. "We abhor the death penalty, we regard it as barbaric," he told the paper. Asked whether his government would withdraw Australian officials if the executions go ahead, Abbott said: "We will find ways of making our displeasure known." "We respect Indonesia's sovereignty but we would very much appreciate an act of magnanimity in this case," he added. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned Indonesia against underestimating the strength of public feeling for the pair, sentenced to death in 2006 for attempting to mastermind the trafficking of more than 8 kilogrammes of heroin out of Bali into Australia. She said travellers could choose to boycott Indonesia, whose Bali island is an extremely popular holiday spot with Australians. Australian politicians are united in opposing the execution of Chan and Sukumaran, who have worked to rehabilitate themselves in their decade behind bars. But both have lost their appeals for clemency to new President Joko Widodo - whose government recently executed 6 convicted drug smugglers. Widodo has been a vocal supporter of capital punishment and has vowed a tough approach to ending what he has called Indonesia's "drug emergency". (source: Al Jazeera) ************************************ Jakarta calls Aust to meet on executions Prime Minister Tony Abbott has urged Indonesia to heed last-minute pleas to spare 2 Australians, even as embassy officials in Jakarta are invited to a meeting on the logistics of their executions. Andrew Chan, 31, and Myuran Sukumaran, 33, have been on death row since 2006 for their roles in the Bali 9 drug smuggling ring, but the Jakarta meeting signals they could face the firing squad within the week. "Millions of Australians are feeling very, very upset about what may soon happen to two Australians in Indonesia," Mr Abbott said in Sydney on Saturday. "My plea even at this late stage is for Indonesia to be as responsive to us as it expects other countries to be to them when they plead for the life of their citizens." Australia has not decided how it would respond to the executions, including whether to withdraw its ambassador, but Mr Abbott told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: "We will find ways of making our displeasure known." Indonesia's Foreign Ministry has confirmed it has invited all embassies with citizens to be executed this month to a meeting on the formalities on Monday. A date for the executions won't be provided at the meeting, but the provision of 72 hours notice will be discussed, as well as access to the prisoners for family and logistics over foreign media coverage. Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir says officials representing Ghana, France, the Philippines and Nigeria have also been summoned. When Indonesia executed five foreign nationals last month, the meeting with relevant embassies took place 1 day before Attorney-General HM Prasetyo announced the execution date. That announcement signalled the 72-hour notice period. But in this case, the prisoners have to be transferred from jails all over Indonesia to the execution location, Nusakambangan island, off Central Java. Authorities have permission to move Chan and Sukumaran from Bali's Kerobokan jail, but haven't set a date. A spokeswoman for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Saturday confirmed the invitation to the Jakarta meeting. Ms Bishop on Friday suggested the depth of feeling in Australia is so strong that Australians may boycott Indonesia if the executions go ahead. She says she wasn't urging for a boycott. "I knew that there was very deep concern in the Australian public about the likely executions of Mr Sukumaran and Mr Chan, and that Australians will make their own decisions as to whether they want to travel to a country that does have the death penalty," Ms Bishop told Macquarie Radio on Saturday. Boycott calls were growing on social media before Ms Bishop's remarks and politicians have received a flood of letters about the executions. Ms Bishop's opposition counterpart Tanya Plibersek told the Seven Network she didn't think this was helpful. "I'm really not sure that boycotting Bali is going to make much of a difference to the attitude in Jakarta," Ms Plibersek said. (source: news.com.au) PAKISTAN: Amnesty slams 'disturbing and dangerous' escalation of death penalty in Pakistan Amnesty International (AI) said Friday that use of the death penalty in Pakistan is undergoing a "disturbing and dangerous" escalation after the execution of 2 men convicted of non-terrorism offenses. Muhammad Riaz and Muhammad Fiaz were executed Friday for the murder of the son of the Supreme Court Bar Association's President in 2004. When the 6-year death penalty moratorium was lifted last December, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [official profile] said the death penalty would only be applied to terrorism-related cases. AI urged Pakistan once again to reinstate the death penalty moratorium, noting that 24 people have been executed since December and 8,000 people are currently on death row. AI also criticized Pakistan for flaws in its judicial system, expressing concern for long periods of detention without charge and frequent use of torture during interrogations. The Pakistani government has engaged in a series of anti-terrorism efforts in recent years, including lifting the moratorium on the death penalty after a school shooting that left more than 130 people dead. Several human rights groups, including AI and Human Rights Watch, urged the Pakistani government in January to halt the execution of another civilian convicted of a non-terror related offense. Last month Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain signed into law anti-terrorism legislation that will establish military courts for the hearing of civilian terrorism related cases. Last July Pakistan passed a strict anti-terrorism bill allowing police to use lethal force, search buildings without a warrant, and detain suspects at secret facilities for up to 60 days without charge. Sharif said in September 2013 that the country's anti-terrorism laws would be amended to more effectively combat modern threats. (source: The Jurist) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 15 16:22:04 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2015 16:22:04 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., S.C., FLA., OHIO, TENN. Message-ID: Feb. 15 TEXAS----impending execution 'Dead Man Walking' nun raises voice against execution of black inmate----Barring intervention by Texas, Rodney Reed will be executed on March 5 for a crime many say he didn't commit Death penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun whose autobiographical account of her relationship with a prisoner inspired the 1995 blockbuster film "Dead Man Walking," is trying to save a black Texas death row inmate from what she calls the "incurable racism" of the U.S. legal system. Rodney Reed, a 47-year-old from Bastrop, Texas, is set to be executed on March 5 for the 1996 abduction, rape and murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. His defense attorneys have so far unsuccessfully requested, 1st in early 2014 and again on Thursday, that DNA collected at the scene be retested with modern technology amid developments that the lawyers - together with Prejean and even one of the victim's relatives - say point to Reed's possible innocence. Among those developments is the forensic investigator in Reed's original trial now saying Reed's semen, found on the corpse - previously a lynchpin in the case against him - was likely from a sexual encounter well before Stites' death. Prejean says state and local authorities' ongoing refusal to further investigate Reed's case is par for the course in the American legal system and society. "If you don't equally value your citizens in life, you won't value them in death," she told Al Jazeera on Saturday, referring to the what some rights advocates across the country call white police officers' extrajudicial killings last year of black men including Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York. Prejean said that in the 1987 case McClesky v. Kemp, Supreme Court justices acknowledged that "race plays a role in the death penalty, but they said that it would be too costly to remedy it. You have the highest court of the land acknowledging racism in the justice system, and saying it's too costly to fix it." "That's all the fabric of the legal system, that we have incurable racism," she said. Prejean on Sunday was set to join a Quaker service organized by the Friends Meeting of Austin, Texas, designed to draw attention to Reed's case. "For 10 years, the Meeting has been very active working on the death penalty issue," said Walter Long, who is a Meeting member, an attorney who represents clients on death row and director of the Texas After Violence Project, an oral history project on the death penalty and murder. Participants in the Meeting on Sunday planned to send a letter, seen by Al Jazeera, to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, citing the "sanctity of life" as a reason to explore Reed's "possible" innocence. In the recent signs pointing to that possible innocence - and in authorities' alleged lack of action to return to the question of Reed's capital sentence - Long sees "a conflict there at the heart of every death penalty case that tends to make the adjudication of that case fundamentally unfair. The state is driven by the goal of carrying out the punishment." At Reed's trial in the 1990s, forensic expert Roberto Bayardo said he found Reed's semen on Stites' corpse - 1 of the principle facts used by the prosecution to prove Reed's guilt. But Reed has said that he had a consensual relationship with Stites. A habeas corpus brief filed in court on Thursday by Reed's lawyers with legal nonprofit organization Innocence Project says that Bayardo has since retracted his opinion, and "now admits that the forensic evidence suggests consensual intercourse between Mr. Reed and Ms. Stites more than 24 hours before her death." This matches Reed's account that they had a sexual encounter the day before her demise. In January 2014, Reed's attorneys requested that DNA from items found at the scene - including Stites' shirt and a belt used to strangle her - be tested. That request has been denied by the Bastrop County District Court. Amid negotiations with authorities, "we said, 'We'll pay for it - what do you have to lose?" said Bryce Benjet, 1 of Reed's attorneys, adding that his former defense lawyers in the original trial that resulted in Reed's conviction failed to mount a sufficient fight on their client's behalf. State and local Bastrop authorities "aren't interested in knowing the answers," Benjet said. The Bastrop Sheriff's Department, Bastrop District Attorney Bryan Goertz and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication. Stites' 1st cousin Kay Hart, whose parents the victim lived with during high school, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that she also believes Reed is innocent. She said she has written to the Texas governor and other state authorities, asking for a retrial and further investigation into the death of her relative. "Having an innocent man executed doesn't bring Stacey back, for certain. It doesn't represent justice," Hart said, explaining that members of her family have different views on Reed and on the death penalty. The majority, she said, oppose capital punishment for Reed and want a deeper investigation into the circumstances of Stites' death. "We think it's not just," she said. "And it doesn't matter what we think about the death penalty." Family members had seen Stites well before her death at a local Dairy Queen restaurant with someone they later believed to be Reed, Hart said, adding that he felt this could help corroborate Reed's contention that he and Stites had a relationship. "She didn't introduce him, likely because she was embarrassed," as she already had a fiancee. Stites' fiancee at the time of her death, Jimmy Fennell, a white police officer, was a suspect in Stites' death until Reed's conviction, Benjet and local news reports said. In 2008, Fennell was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the abduction and rape of a young woman while on duty, local newspaper The Austin Chronicle said. (source: Al Jazeera) PENNSYLVANIA: Sen. Leach seeks to ban capital punishment State Sen. Daylin Leach not only stands behind Gov. Tom Wolf's decision to suspend executions in Pennsylvania, he wants the practice banned altogether. Shortly after the governor???s announcement Friday, the Democratic senator indicated he was reintroducing his bill to repeal the death penalty. "The death penalty is wrong for a variety of reasons. The No. 1 reason is we simple can't afford it," Leach said. Shortly after Wolf announced Friday that he initiated a capital punishment moratorium, Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, announced the reintroduction of his bill. This most recent introduction is the 4th consecutive introduction since the 2009-10 legislative session. A spokesperson from Leach's office said the bill is being reintroduced again since no action was taken in the Senate before the end of last session. "I have long felt that it is time for the United States to join the rest of the civilized world in ending the barbaric practice of having our government kill people in cold blood," Leach said in an announcement regarding the reintroduction of Senate Bill 493. "Gov. Wolf's actions today will ensure that our state government will not kill in our name for the foreseeable future. This bold move makes me even prouder that he is our governor." Wolf also granted a temporary reprieve to Pennsylvania inmate Terrance Williams, who was convicted of murder 30 years ago and scheduled to be executed on March 4. In his announcement, Wolf said his decision to place the temporary halt to the state's death sentence is pending the review of a report conducted by Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment, which was established in 2011. The moratorium will remain in effect until the report and its recommendations are evaluated. "This decision is based on a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings, as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive," Wolf said in his statement, adding that 6 men in Pennsylvania have been exonerated from death row since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. According to the Death Penalty Information Center - a nonprofit organization that provides the public with information connected to capital punishment - 188 death row inmates were sitting in Pennsylvania's prisons as of October 2014. Information about Pennsylvania's death penalty system also shows 3 executions occurred since 1976, with the 1st occurring in 1995. Prior to the death penalty's reinstatement, 1,040 people were executed statewide. Leach said a capital murder case could cost $2 million to $3 million more than a non-capital murder case. He said an execution hasn't occurred in Pennsylvania for 53 years, unless that individual has forfeited any remaining appeals. "That's longer than the embargo on Cuba." Funds could be better used in schools and other areas that lack funding across the state, Leach said, adding that a cost-saving alternative in rightfully incarcerating murderers is a life sentence. "Even if you could save a few dollars, it's not a reason to kill," Leach said. States like New York and New Jersey abolished the death penalty in the past 10 years. The death penalty exists in more than 10 states. Leach said eliminating the death penalty should be in the best interest of Pennsylvania to uphold human rights. "Pennsylvania should be a leader in human rights, not a follower," he said. (source: delcotimes.com) ****************** Man spent 16 years on death row As Harold C. Wilson stood in court, he felt a shock go through his body. A judge described how much electricity would flow through Wilson's body "until I was dead," Wilson recalled in an interview Friday. "I felt a shock all the way up to the top of my skull," Wilson said. The date was Oct. 4, 1989, and Wilson had just learned he would die for a triple murder he did not commit. For the next 16 years, Wilson, now 56, lived on death row at State Correctional Institution-Greene, dealing with mind games, nervous breakdowns and an inmate known as "Screaming Tiger." The prison currently houses 150 of the state's 186 death row inmates, according to the state Department of Corrections. Life in prison isn't meant to be fun, but many privileges inmates in the general population have - access to jobs, education and social interaction - are mostly absent on death row. Life there is bleak. Inmates on death row are confined to their cells for 22 hours per day and are escorted by at least 2 guards whenever they leave to shower, visit family or exercise, DOC spokeswoman Susan McNaughton said. When they do go to the yard or the library, they are confined to "pens," she said. "Obviously it's because of the security level of the offender that we're dealing with," McNaughton said. "Everything is very secure wherever they are." Their cells are about 7 by 13 feet and most services - including food, medical treatment and barbers - are brought to them, she said. Death row inmates are allowed limited personal items, including some pictures and letters, and are allowed to buy a TV for their use, she said. They also must pay a monthly cable bill for a special provider that offers only selected channels, she said. "When I 1st went on death row, I was totally in shock," Wilson said, noting that life on death row is all about "care, custody and control." During his time on death row, Wilson said he didn't drink coffee or buy a TV because "they are pacifiers." "They play mind games, and either you're strong or you're weak," Wilson said. "Anything they can use to control you, in my opinion, is wise to shun it." Wilson said he didn't buy a radio until he had been on death row for about 10 years. The days and nights were filled with the sounds of other inmates, including a man known as "Screaming Tiger" who would scream all night and bang on his steel bed, he said. Another would sing all day and night, using others' names in his songs, he said. Shutting it all out was impossible, he said. "You're never going to be in the state of mind that you're free, other than when you're asleep," Wilson said. "In your dreams, you're going to be free. When you read those letters and look at those pictures, it's going to be a figment of your imagination. But it's all right to hold on to that on death row." Inmates are allowed visits, but they are shackled and chained as they view their loved ones through a window in a steel visiting booth, he said. Otherwise, life on the row is a tedious routine: Eat, sleep, read, repeat. He had been convicted of a triple murder committed on April 10, 1988. 3 people - Dorothy Sewell, 64; her nephew Tyrone Mason, 33, and Mason's girlfriend Cynthia Goines Mills, 40 - had been hacked to death with a carpenter's hatchet in Sewell's Philadelphia home, according to the University of Michigan Law School's National Registry of Exonerations. Wilson, who had been staying at the home, was arrested after being seen with cuts on his hands and an envelope full of cash, according to the registry. Wilson admitted he had used drugs in the house, but denied killing anyone. After a jury convicted him of 1st-degree murder, Wilson testified during the penalty phase that he was high when he found the victims already dead and that he got blood on a jacket police found in the basement while trying to remove an ice pick from Mason's chest, according to the registry. He was sentenced to death. But he got a new trial after a judge ruled the lead prosecutor in the case had discriminated against blacks during jury selection by using his peremptory challenges to keep them off, according to the registry. After the defense presented DNA evidence that the blood spatter on the jacket was from the victims and an unidentified man, a jury acquitted Wilson of the charges on Nov. 15, 2005. According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Wilson walked out the back door of the county jail that night after being given 65 cents and a bus token. He currently has a civil lawsuit pending against the city of Philadelphia. Wilson founded the Harold C. Wilson Foundation to help the wrongfully convicted and says he is grateful that he now has his freedom. "I cherish life now," Wilson said. "I know what it's like to have nothing and want for everything. I am grateful today for the little things I have and my free life of rebuilding. The little things - the sun shining, being able to walk out the door and see birds and grass and fresh air, the ocean, the rain and snow. You know how people complain about the weather because they look at the news? I don't do none of that, because I know there is a place ..." (source: Standard-Speaker) NORTH CAROLINA: Mars Hill events focus on death penalty Mars Hill University will host a series of programs examining the efficacy, fairness and morality of the death penalty on March 3, 4 and 5. All events are free and open to the public. At 7:30 p.m. March 3, the university will host a student debate on the topic in Belk Auditorium. Teams of students will tackle the various issues related to the death penalty debate, in response to questions submitted in advance by members of the campus community. At 7 p.m. March 4 in Belk Auditorium, the university will show the documentary, "The Trials of Darryl Hunt." The documentary examines the story of a brutal rape/murder case and the man who was wrongfully convicted of the crime. Darryl Hunt spent 20 years in prison before being exonerated. On the following evening, March 5, Darryl Hunt, the man featured in the documentary, will be part of a panel discussion about the death penalty at 7 p.m. in Broyhill Chapel. Both students and members of the public will be encouraged to ask questions of the panel during the event. In addition to Hunt, panel members will include Tarrah Callahan, director of North Carolina Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (NCADP), and Mark Rabil, the attorney who represented Darryl Hunt. Rabil is also director of the Innocence and Justice Clinic and associate professor of Law at Wake Forest University. This series of events is sponsored by the Mars Hill University Political Science Department. (source: Ashville Citizen-Times) ********************* North Carolina's rickety, unreliable death penalty The number of inmates North Carolina has executed in the modern era--43 The number who have been sentenced to die--401 Percentage of those death sentences that have been overturned--71 The number currently on death row--150 The number of those who were sentenced before 2001--111 Henry McCollum, who spent 30 years on death row before being exonerated, awaits a pardon from the governor and compensation from the state. Meanwhile, he is jobless, unable to pay his bills or move on with his life, just more evidence of the tremendous harm that wrongful convictions and death sentences can cause. North Carolina has spent years reforming its capital punishment system with the goal of making sure that no more innocent people are sent to death row. One of the most important of those reforms was a 2001 law that gave prosecutors discretion to decide which cases are egregious enough to be tried capitally and which can be adequately punished with a lesser sentence, such as life in prison. This reform had an earth-shaking effect. The number of death sentences went from as many as 34 in 1995 to just 28 cumulatively in the last 10 years - more than a 90 % decline. Capital trials dropped from 64 in 1999 to four in 2012. The homicide rate continued to decline as well. The way we operated before 2001 is now unthinkable. District attorneys were forced to fight for death sentences in all murders where an aggravating factor was present, regardless of mitigating factors such as severe mental illness or youth and regardless of the exponential cost of pursuing capital trials. The N.C. Office of Indigent Services had not yet been created to ensure qualified defense attorneys to the poor, and many of the accused were without competent or adequately compensated attorneys. North Carolina was the only state in the nation to impose such strict restrictions on prosecutors, and there is reason to believe it was unconstitutional. There is also reason to believe that the 8 innocent people discovered on North Carolina's death row so far - all of whom were sentenced before 2001 - are not the only innocent people who were sentenced to die during the frenzy of the 1990s. The Department of Corrections provides a website with information on all inmates on death row, as well as on those who have been removed. North Carolina has executed 43 inmates in the modern era, but 401 inmates have been sentenced to die. What happened to the others? Currently, 150 of them are on death row, leaving 251 who have left death row for one reason or another. Along with 43 executions, there were 30 deaths (6 from suicide), 8 were found not guilty and 5 had their sentences commuted by the governor. The largest number, 153, had their death sentences thrown out and were later sentenced to prison, typically for life. That means that 71 % of finalized death sentences have been overturned. Just 11 % have been executed. Perhaps even more troubling than the massive rate of reversal is that 111 of North Carolina's 150 current death row inmates - nearly 3/4 - were sentenced before 2001. The risk of executing them is not simply that the state will kill people who, under today's laws, would not have been charged with capital crimes. The bigger risk is that some of them are like Henry McCollum: innocent but unable to prove it. Look at the story of another North Carolina exoneree, Levon "Bo" Jones, to see how lack of prosecutorial discretion played a role in landing an innocent person on death row. Duplin County District Attorney Dewey Hudson, Jones' prosecutor in 1993, told the Winston-Salem Journal in 2000 that if the law had given him the choice, he would not have pursued the death penalty in about of 1/3 of the cases that he brought to a capital trial. Jones' trial is almost certainly one of those that would not have been capital. The sole witness accusing him of the murder was Lovely Lorden, a regular police informant who was paid $4,000 for her testimony. Lorden was also in trouble for writing worthless checks, and thanks to her cooperation, police intervened to keep her out of jail. Lorden told 5 different stories during the course of the investigation. She was the definition of an unreliable witness, and she was all that linked Jones to the crime. During the appeals process, Hudson himself admitted the evidence was weak. Under today's laws, a case like that of Bo Jones likely would not have been tried capitally, and we would have been 1 step further away from the chance of executing an innocent person. More than 100 people who sit on death row today were tried during those years when district attorneys were forced to push for executions even in cases where they had doubts. It's impossible to know how many more Bo Jones and Henry McCollums are among them. (source: Commentary; Frank R. Baumgartner is the Richard J. Richardson Distinguished Professor of Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill---- News & Observer) SOUTH CAROLINA: Landmark S.C. Supreme Court case affects Aiken murder pleas During jury selection last month for the murder trial of Aiken Public Safety Officer Scotty Richardson, prosecutors say, it became clear what strategy defense attorneys planned to avoid the death penalty for Stephon Carter. David Miller, the deputy solicitor for South Carolina's 2nd Judicial Circuit, said the defense asked all 153 potential jurors about their understanding of malice, specifically, whether they knew the legal term "springs from wickedness, depravity and a heart devoid of social duty and fatally bent on mischief." The definition was pulled from a landmark South Carolina Supreme Court case - State vs. Johnny Rufus Belcher - that experts say changed the way prosecutors convict criminals, attorneys defend clients and jurors hear cases. In the October 2009 ruling, the justices found that telling a jury that they could infer malice from the use of a deadly weapon is "no longer good law" when evidence is presented that would "reduce, mitigate, excuse or justify the homicide." Though Miller said prosecutors were confident that video evidence would convict Carter, they began to envision a "nightmare scenario" after the trial's 12 jurors and four alternates were seated. What if a hung jury led to Carter possibly facing a reduced charge? Even worse, what if he had his guilty verdict overturned by a higher court and remanded for a new trial, like Belcher? The Belcher decision listed 25 known cases between 1894 and 2006 that could be reversed. Since that high court ruling, court records suggest the idea of convicted killers leaving prison early or walking free on appeal has weighed on solicitors offices statewide - including in Aiken County. In the past 5 years, death sentences have fallen dramatically in South Carolina, with only 1 capital verdict in that span - Ricky Blackwell in Spartanburg in 2014. There were as many as 10 in the 1990s, said Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Infor???ma???tion Center in Washington. Including Carter, who agreed to waive his rights to an appeal and serve life in prison earlier this month on the 1st day of trial, Aiken County has arranged at least 13 plea deals for murder defendants since the Belcher decision. In 3 of the cases, the existence of malice was questioned, and in 1, a defendant was convicted on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. "There is absolutely no evidence that would justify or excuse Carter from shooting these police officers," Miller said, citing the Belcher opinion. "However, the possibility existed that the defense would offer evidence that might fall into the category of reducing or mitigating the killing." Miller is familiar with the effect the Belcher decision has had. 4 months before Belcher's appeal, a jury convicted Joshua Forrest for fatally shooting Mario Reddish in December 2005 outside an Aiken County bar, as a result of the judge ruling that malice could be inferred from the use of a firearm. Because of a lengthy criminal record, Miller said, Forrest would have still received life in prison if the charge was reduced, but the same guarantee was not available in the October 2013 murder trial of David Eugene Rosier Jr., 4 years after the Belcher decision. Rosier, who was charged with murder in the November 2012 shooting death of Donnie Davis, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 30 years in prison. On the stand, he told the jury that he had no intention of harming Davis but shot him in defense of his son, Joshua, who was fighting with the victim over a dispute involving a girl at a home in Bath. "The only real issue at trial was the question of malice," Miller said. "The defense claimed that because Rosier was defending his son it prohibited implied malice under the Belcher decision. Without Belcher, he would be serving a sentence for murder." Miller said the reason Belcher's case made it harder for prosecutors to secure murder convictions is because it changed the way the legal concept of implied malice applies to homicide. He said premeditation is strong evidence for implied malice, as the prosecution must prove each existed before and after a murder, but the 2 are not the same. "It's not nearly as clear to the average juror to what implied malice generally means," Miller said. "Though expressed malice can be proven through polygraph tests, conversations and writing, implied malice is a state of mind that can be hard to determine because it can be formed in a blink of an eye." The jury could have chosen voluntary manslaughter for Belcher, 47, who is serving a 30-year sentence pending a possible retrial this summer, but it convicted him of murder for fatally shooting his cousin, Fred Suber, during a family cookout on Memorial Day 2004 in Laurens County. During his 2006 trial, the state argued that while Belcher was trying to break up a fight between Suber and another man, he got a gun from that man and fatally shot Suber without justification. Belcher claimed self-defense, saying that after the argument had settled, Suber confronted him with a pistol, and as a result, he ran to the other man's truck to get a gun and fired it at Suber as he approached him armed. Robert Dudek, the chief appellate defender for the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, which represented Carter, said lawyers are aware of Belcher's success and widely cite the state Supreme Court ruling in cases of self-defense and criminal negligence to make crimes seem less heinous. Though none of the other cases citing Belcher have been overturned, Dieter believes the ruling could be part of a larger phenomenon sweeping the nation, in which juries are demanding more evidence, such as ballistics, DNA and video, to convict in complex death penalty cases. Mark Powell, a spokesman for South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on Belcher because of the issue "being investigated in pending criminal cases." "It is a complex and lengthy process that requires state prosecutors to invest a million dollars and a year of their time, with no guarantee they are going to get the outcome they're seeking," Dieter said of capital murder cases. "The death penalty is certainly becoming rarer and plea deals more attractive because defendants can avoid execution and the state ... can bypass the appeals process." Miller said the significance of the Carter plea is that it offered Aiken County a resolution no judge or jury could guarantee: life in prison without the chance for an appeal. "It was absolutely the right call to make." (source: Augusta Chronicle) FLORIDA: State attorney to seek death penalty in 2002 murder case A central Florida state attorney has filed notice that his office will seek the death penalty in a 13-year-old murder case. Ninth District State Attorney Jeff Ashton's office filed a notice of intent on Friday in the case of Demorris Andy Hunter. Hunter is charged with 1st-degree murder in the death of Teresa Ann Green. Green was reported missed from her Orlando home on May 27, 2002, and found dead that evening in the trunk of her car. Hunter is currently serving a life sentence in a March 2002 death of an Oakland, California woman. He was extradited from a California prison last week to Orange County. No future court date has been set. (source: Associated Press) OHIO: Time to end death penalty in Ohio While the death penalty might make sense in theory, it simply makes no sense in reality. It has little or no deterrence value, is astronomically expensive, is unequally and unfairly implemented, and the risk for a mistake is too high given the number of exonerations that take place every year. That's why it was welcome news when the state of Ohio announced that 2015 would be the first year in which it has not executed someone since 2000. Ronald R. Phillips, who was scheduled to be killed by the state last week, is alive and well today. In fact, all the executions scheduled for this year have been moved to next year. The next scheduled execution is that of Phillips, which is set for Jan. 21. A total of 11 executions are scheduled for next year, including that of a Lima man, Cleveland R. Jackson, of the 2002 Eureka Street killings. Jackson, whose execution was to take place later this year, will be executed July 20, 2016. These postponements were required because the state of Ohio, after several botched executions, is again changing what drugs it uses to kill people. Ohio executions have been on hold since Dennis McGuire took 25 minutes to die from a controversial 2-drug cocktail of midazolam and hydromorphone in January 2014. That moratorium, put in place by a federal judge, expired last month. Arizona used the same drug combination during an execution in July. Joseph R. Wood took nearly two hours to die and required 15 doses of each of the 2 drugs. Oklahoma also botched an execution in May using Midazolam. Going forward, Ohio is going to use sodium thiopental and pentobarbital. However, a drug shortage, the reason the state switched in the first place, will require some time before the state can obtain enough of the drug to use. However, a better option would be for Ohio to abandon the practice altogether as many states have already. 18 states and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty. Additionally, seven states, the military and the federal government have not held an execution in more than a decade. Another 6 states haven't executed anyone in more than 5 years. The states with the lowest murder rates are states without the death penalty. That would not be the case if there were truly a deterrent value to capital punishment. >From a fiscal standpoint, abolishing the death penalty would save the taxpayers a tremendous amount of money. It is much cheaper to house a defendant for life without parole than it is to seek the death penalty. Judge Michael P. Donnelly, of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and a member of Ohio's Death Penalty Task Force, which issued its report last year on how the state's death-penalty law is applied, said the cost of capital trials prevents many counties from seeking the death penalty. A typical capital case, from beginning to end, costs more than $1 million when appeals are factored in. "With 88 different prosecutors who have complete discretion on whether to pursue it or not, and you have to draw the inference that, in some counties, it's not pursued because it's just not economically feasible," he said. "There's no way you can look at the way [the death penalty is] applied in Ohio and draw the conclusion that it's fair, or that it's accomplishing what it purports to do - and that is, deliver the most severe punishment to the worst of the worst. It's just not taking place." But the best reason to end state-sanctioned murder is the high risk of mistake. In November, 3 Ohio men who were sentenced to death 39 years ago, were exonerated and set free. They lost 39 years of their lives, a tremendous injustice. Had the sentences been carried out, they would not be alive to walk out of prison and live their remaining lives. The large number of exonerations in the United States - at least 1,547 since 1989, 10 in Ohio last year - makes one wonder how many innocent people have been executed. Regardless of how one feels theoretically about the death penalty, justice demands we put an end to the practice. (source: Thomas J. Lucente Jr. is an Ohio attorney and night editor of The Lima News) TENNESSEE: TN Supreme Court to hear challenge of electric chair law The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to hear a legal challenge over a law allowing the state to electrocute death row prisoners if lethal injection drugs are unavailable. The challenge is part of a lawsuit filed by 34 death row inmates over Tennessee's death penalty protocols - both lethal injection and electrocution. The state wants the court to dismiss the challenge to electrocution protocols because none of the inmates are currently scheduled to die by electrocution. The new electrocution law was meant to jumpstart the state's stalled execution process, but it opened the door to new legal challenges. The hearing is scheduled for May 6 in Knoxville. The high court also is considering whether the state must release the identities of the people who carry out executions. (source: Associated Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 15 16:23:28 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2015 16:23:28 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEB., OKLA., S.DAK., UTAH, ARIZ., NEV., USA Message-ID: Feb. 15 NEBRASKA: State psychiatrists to declare Nikko Jenkins competent Here comes Round 3 on Nikko Jenkins' competency. After 8 months of observation, Nebraska state psychiatrists have once again stated that Jenkins is competent to understand the court proceedings awaiting him, according to a court official. Jenkins faces a death-penalty hearing for the Aug. 11 murders of Juan Uribe-Pena and Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, the Aug. 19 murder of Curtis Bradford, and the Aug. 21 murder of Andrea Kruger. In fact, the state psychiatrists have issued a 32-page report to the judge, detailing Jenkins' competency and his purported mental health issues since childhood. Judge Peter Bataillon declined to release the report Friday but is expected to formally receive it at a hearing Tuesday. He then will decide what, if any, further opinions are necessary. Jenkins' attorney, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, could request that a defense psychiatrist, Dr. Bruce Gutnik, evaluate Jenkins again. And so the competency carousel continues. Doctors long have questioned Jenkins' psyche. Those questions only heightened after he killed 4 people - alternatingly claiming that he heard serpent-god voices or that he was getting revenge on a prison system that placed him in solitary confinement for half of the decade he spent behind bars. But the evaluations of Jenkins have nothing to do with whether he was sane or insane at the time of the crimes. Instead, the judge evaluates his competency on a 3-prong test: that he understands the charges, comprehends the court process and is able to actively participate in his defense. Some state psychiatrists contend that Jenkins is feigning mental illness; others have diagnosed him with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The state's Regional Center psychiatrists have been so adamant that Jenkins is faking that Riley has questioned the wisdom of having those psychiatrists evaluate Jenkins. Shortly after Jenkins was charged, Bataillon ordered an evaluation to determine whether he was competent to understand the court proceedings against him. About that time, Jenkins started representing himself. His understanding of the law and his rights were apparent to anyone in court. In declaring him competent in February 2014, Judge Bataillon noted that Jenkins carried on clear conversations and was able to assert his claims that officials had violated specific constitutional rights. The judge declared him competent to stand trial. Then Jenkins lost his speaking role in court. After Jenkins pleaded no contest to the four murder charges, Bataillon reappointed Riley to represent him in the death-penalty phase. Since then, Jenkins has stayed (mostly) silent in court. In May, he mutilated his face in prison. Gutnik evaluated him and again called him incompetent. And Bataillon ordered another evaluation by the state. 8 months later, the state's report is now in. Jenkins continues to file occasional motions in a civil lawsuit. Authorities have said those motions are evidence of his manipulative ways. In each, Jenkins writes legibly on notebook paper, making coherent legal arguments. He then encloses them in envelopes that are plastered in geometric shapes of cursive writing, spewing thoughts about serpent gods. (source: omaha.com) OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma's 4 Ways To Kill a Man Executions are supposed to be humane and legitimate means of punishment. But with the Sooner State looking to find as many ways to kill its prisoners as possible, many are questioning what is humane or legitimate about the death penalty. Senate Bill 794 passed the Oklahoma Senate Judiciary Committee by a vote of 9-0 this week. The bill - matched by an identical one that passed a House committee - is something of a contingency plan. It's not an evacuation guide should natural disaster strike, nor does it proscribe a plan of action in the event of, say, a terrorist attack. Bill 794 is the state legislature's idea of a plan B should the state???s current method of killing people be deemed illegal. Oklahoma has had its issues with executions. Last year, the state's execution of Clayton Lockett by lethal injection was catastrophically botched. Lockett, a 38-year-old convicted murderer, was injected with a sedative and then a drug concoction that would stop his breathing and his heartbeat. Soon after he was injected, Lockett began "convulsing violently, his head and chest rising up off the gurney multiple times as he yelled, 'Oh, man.'" The physician carrying out the procedure aborted it, but eventually declared Lockett dead anyway after 43 minutes. As a result of Lockett's case, the state's death row inmates have brought a legal challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court. The state's lethal injection method, they maintain, is cruel and unusual punishment, and thus in violation of the U.S. Constitution per the Eighth Amendment. They want it outlawed. The state's legislators disagree, but are prepared just in case the challenge is successful. Executions are on hold pending the results of the case. In the event lethal injection is ruled unconstitutional, Senate Bill 794 "calls for the use of nitrogen hypoxia, or gassing death by nitrogen." This essentially means putting the inmate in a gas chamber, which the legislature's fiscal analysis indicates would cost $300,000 to build at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Ryan Kiesel, the director of the Oklahoma branch of the ACLU, says the method - which is legal in four states, though has never been used, and is outlawed in others even as a means of euthanizing animals - is simple: "You are essentially suffocating them." But the bill doesn't end there. There is a Plan C involved. In the event that both lethal injection and nitrogen hypoxia are made illegal, it dictates that the sentence should be carried out by electrocution. If the electric chair was good enough for Ted Bundy, it's good enough for you. Oklahoma joins Tennessee, which passed a law last year, in the quest to bring back the chair. Are those mistakes, which yield horribly painful, drawn-out executions that are most certainly cruel, enough to outlaw the practice altogether? But wait - there's even a plan D. If electrocution is also deemed cruel and unusual (which seems eminently possible considering the whole burning-flesh, smoke-billowing-from-your-head thing), the citizens of Oklahoma need not fear. The bill calls for their death row inmates to be executed by firing squad. If we leave aside the fact that there are elected officials in the United States who, when told that the 1st 3 methods of killing people they come up with are too cruel, propose a 4th, there's something strange going on here. These methods are quite archaic, hauled out from their place in storage next to the rack and the guillotine and the other things we decided were a bit passe. The lawmakers in Oklahoma (and Utah) are proposing that in the year 2015, in the United States, we stand someone up against a wall and shoot them until they stop moving. Of course, Oklahoma's high regard for the old school macabre runs in stark contrast to the general trend in these matters. The U.S., as the Western world's preeminent executioner, has been on a more than century-long quest to find a humane, minimally cruel-and-unusual way of putting people to death. But what exactly is cruel and unusual? In the 1800s, execution by hanging was standard procedure in the U.S. Now it's too cruel. Throughout the twentieth century, the electric chair got plenty of use. Now it's unusual, at least in most places. It seems awfully subjective, almost like people are making it up as they go along - which, of course, they are. And this leads to mistakes. Lethal injection is the method of execution that is most likely to be botched, with an error rate of 7 %. Are those mistakes, which yield horribly painful, drawn-out executions that are most certainly cruel, enough to outlaw the practice altogether? The cruel and unusual factor is crucial because it speaks to the legitimacy of the act. When we accept capital punishment as a society, we are accepting at least 2 things implicitly: 1) that the government has the power to take the life of a citizen; and 2) that the government is morally right - be it for the protection of others, retributive justice, or whatever reason - to carry out this action. Part of judging the moral value of it is whether it is proportional to the crime. Another part is "set[ting] capital punishment apart from the heinous crimes it is thought to condemn." Most of the people on death row are there for killing someone. What is the difference between their act and that of the government? In a word, legitimacy. The state governments of Oklahoma and 33 other states are imbued with the power to execute citizens by those same citizens, just as they are empowered to imprison people and collect taxes from them. But just as crucially, the government is seen as administering death in a way that is not brutal or chaotic but clean, clinical, and above all, just. The doctor overseeing the lethal injection is no criminal, after all. He's a state employee. All of these concerns, from the powers of government to the moral significance of how you go about putting someone to death, seem lost on the legislators of Oklahoma. Gas them, shock them, shoot them: it makes no difference to the Sooner State. Maybe Oklahomans have admitted something the rest of America is reluctant to: that there really isn't a humane way to kill someone. After all, we humans have plenty of practice and have yet to find one. The 2 bills head to the floor in both houses for debate, and likely a vote. The firing squads may well be removed, perhaps to be replaced by drawing and quartering, before the bill is passed. But regardless of how the Supreme Court rules, Oklahoma will find a way. (source: The Daily Beast) SOUTH DAKOTA: Death Penalty Opponent Advocates System of Vigilantism Last Wednesday, the House State Affairs Committee heard testimony on 2 anti-death penalty bills brought by "Republican" Rep. Steve Hickey of Sioux Falls. The 1st was HB 1158 to "require that a victim's opposition to the death penalty be presented at a presentence hearing," and the 2nd was HB 1159 to "permit South Dakotans to express opposition to the death penalty when applying for a state issued identification card." It's interesting that Hickey in his proponent testimony of this bill paints a picture where the desires of the victim of the victim's family is paramount, with justice taking a backseat - if it shows up at all. He claims he doesn't want a victim pursuing justice for themselves, yet a perverted image of that is exactly what he's promoting here - one where the convicted murderer gets to leverage misguided people to pursue his own version of watered-down justice. If a victim or victim's family believes in the death penalty, he wants the court to IGNORE that when he seeks to get rid of the death penalty. But until such time as he can get rid of the death penalty, he wants the court to listen to a victim or victim's family's opposition to the death penalty. What should we do if some family members of the victim support the death penalty and some oppose it? Do we let them all testify, and turn the trial into an emotional circus? To which family members to we give deference (obviously Hickey would have us defer to the family members who OPPOSE the death penalty, not those who support it)? In the case of a murder, the family of the victim isn't really the aggrieved party. To be certain, they suffer horrible pain because of what the convicted murderer did, but the offense was actually against the victim ... and the victim cannot speak at the trial to offer forgiveness or state any potential opposition to the death penalty. As Rapid City State's Attorney Mark Vargo said in opponent testimony, the focus needs to remain on the crime and the criminal, not the well-meaning but ultimately irrelevant wishes of someone who cannot offer fresh testimony at the trial (because they were murdered by the defendant) or is not the ultimate victim of the crime (i.e. a family member). Even if the victim were able to do that, or their opposition (at the time they got a driver's license and potentially registered opposition to the death penalty...which could have changed by the time they were murdered) was on record, society has been offended by the crime. Society has been injured by the crime, as the sanctity of innocent human life (upon which we all depend for our safety) has been violated. As we know, the victim does not carry out trial and punishment against a murderer. The victim's family does not carry out trial and punishment against a murderer. Society carries out trial and punishment against a murderer, because when crimes such as murder are allowed to happen without proper punishment, society is placed in peril. And (thankfully) society has made the statement through our constitutionally passed laws that we value innocent human life so highly that the wrongful taking of innocent human life should be punished by the forfeiture of one's own life. So until society decides to register its opposition to the death penalty by constitutionally outlawing it, the desires of the victim or the victim's family are not really relevant to the administration of justice. Interestingly, as State's Attorney Aaron McGowan from Sioux Falls pointed out in opponent testimony, it is highly likely that even a victim who might (academically) be opposed to the death penalty (prior to the time they are seconds away from being murdered) might change their minds about opposition to the death penalty once faced with the reality of the cold-blooded barbarism of the actual act of murder. Most people - unless you are a homicide investigator or an actual murder victim - have probably never fully evaluated the contempt that a murderer has toward innocent human life, nor have they fully appreciated the pain and horror faced by the murder victim as they recognize their life has now come to a brutal, immediate end. It is therefore highly likely that if you could query a murder victim at the moment of their murder or immediately thereafter, they just might have a new appreciation for the barbarity of the act and might actually change their mind to support the death penalty for such a cold-blooded murderer. Why aren't the wishes of the victim or victim's family relevant to the issue at hand. Because justice isn't about doing what the victim or victim's family wants done. Our justice system is supposed to be a dispassionate, impartial application of justice. Did someone violate the law? If yes, then they are found guilty and given the punishment appropriate to their crime. No ifs, ands or buts. We don't punish a criminal more harshly because the victim or victim's family wants us to, and we don't punish a criminal less harshly because the victim or the victim's family wants us to. I frequently disagree with Rep. Brian Gosch due to his frequent forays Leftward, but he said it well when he stated incredulity that this bill would seek to allow a convicted murderer to bring into the mix the voice of the victim, when the convicted murderer deliberately chose to silence completely and forever the voice of his victim. His victim. The murderer's victim. The murderer wants to leverage the voice of his victim to help get him out of the justice he deserves (out of the same "sentence" he carried out against his victim, even without the benefit of due process). What a crock! If we're going to make justice about what the victim or victim's family wants, then we truly will adopt a system of vigilante justice. Our justice system is supposed to be based on the solid foundation of law, not the wishy-washy sea of turbulent and dangerous emotion. With all its flaws, our justice system has served us well over most of our nation's history when we have followed the rule of law over the opinions and emotions of men. We don't need vigilantism of any form. We don't need emotionalism. We don't need the dispensation of justice to be based on or even influenced by emotion and emotionalism. Let's not depart further from the rule of law and into the abyss of liberal emotionalism. Let's stick with law. Let's stick with justice, and justice indicates that if you demonstrate the ultimate contempt toward innocent human life, you have forfeited your own life. Thankfully, the committee agreed, voting 10-2 against 1158 and 10-2 against 1159. 2 more direct assaults on the death penalty, SB 121 and SB 122, were also heard in the Senate and thankfully both were put down 7-2 and 7-2 respectively. 4 bad bills met the death they deserved - just like the death the convicted murderer has chosen for himself with his contempt for innocent human life. (source: Bob Ellis, American Clarion) UTAH: UTAH TO PULL TRIGGER? Controversial firing-squad death penalty a step closer A hotly contested proposal that resurrects Utah's use of firing squads to carry out executions narrowly passed a key vote Friday in the state's Legislature after three missing lawmakers were summoned to break a tie vote. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 39-34 Friday morning to approve the measure, sending it to an uncertain fate in the state's GOP-controlled Senate. Leaders in that chamber have thus far declined to say if they'll support it, and Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert won't say if he'll sign it. Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, a Republican from Sandy, again declined to tell reporters on Friday if he'd support it. (source: bayoubuzz.com) ARIZONA: Prosecution Rests Its Case in Death Penalty Trial, Arias Will Be Able to Directly Plea for Life to Jury The prosecution in the Jodi Arias death penalty sentencing retrial rested its case on Thursday, signaling that an end to the high profile trial may soon be near. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens told jurors to expect to continue reporting to the courthouse until the end of February since there could be testimony from rebuttal witnesses as late as Feb. 26, according to The Associated Press. Judge Stephens also launched an investigation to explore allegations that 3 court watchers racially taunted an expert on the Arias defense team, reports KPHO. On Wednesday, defense attorney Kirk Nurmi told the judge that 3 people began singing the popular Mexican song "La Cucaracha" while their mitigation specialist Maria De La Rosa walked by them on Monday. The sentencing retrial, which is currently in the mitigation stage, is set to resume on Wednesday. During this phase, the defense team will have another opportunity to persuade the jury not to sentence the convicted killer to death due to different mitigating factors, reports USA Today. The defense will also bring back 2 psychologists who have already testified in the trial about the relationship Arias had with the victim, Travis Alexander. In addition, they will likely bring back computer experts to testify about the pornography found on Alexander's computer. Following the last witnesses, Arias will be allowed to address the jury directly and offer a plea for her life. Both sides will then end with a closing argument before the jury begins deliberating a life in prison or death sentence. Although Arias was found guilty of 1st-degree murder in May 2013 in the death of her ex-boyfriend, jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and she shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower and took pictures of him. (source: Latin Post) NEVADA: DA seeking death penalty in Las Vegas pharmacy slaying case The district attorney in Las Vegas will seek the death penalty against a Las Vegas man accused of robbing two pharmacies and killing a clerk he used to work with. Prosecutor Michelle Fleck filed notice Friday that the state will seek capital punishment for 25-year-old Jin William Young Ackerman II. Defense attorney Tom Pitaro declined to comment. He's filed documents seeking Ackerman's release from jail pending trial. Clark County District Court Judge Jennifer Togliatti is due March 5 to pick a trial date sometime next year. Ackerman is charged with robbing Walgreens stores at gunpoint Dec. 24 and Dec. 26, and shooting 58-year-old Antonino Isnit to death in the 2nd robbery. Ackerman has pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and burglary with a weapon charges. (source: Associated Press) USA: Public defender mum as taxpayer tab mounts for accused 'Batman' killer James Holmes He's likely the most hated man in Colorado after killing a dozen people in a 2012 shooting spree, but taxpayers will spend at least $7 million to try James Holmes and help survivors of the attack - and opening arguments haven't even begun. The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office has disclosed more than $2 million in direct and indirect expenses involved in prosecuting the 27-year-old former neurology graduate student. But it is not clear how much has been spent by the Colorado public defender, because the office, citing attorney-client privilege, refuses to disclose a figure. That stance has critics fuming. "This killer has taken enough from our community," said Jon Caldara, president of the Colorado-based free market think tank, Independence Institute. "We should at least have the right to know what we are spending on him." The public defender's stance, cited in the denial of a Freedom of Information Request made by FoxNews.com, faces a challenge Thursday, when 2 state lawmakers urge colleagues to support their bill forcing the agency to give a public accounting. But for now, tabulating the expenses borne by state and federal taxpayers to try Holmes and care for the victims of the July 20, 2012 shooting rampage at a midnight screening of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" is inexact, partly because separating fixed costs and those associated specifically with the Holmes case is not always possible. For instance, salaries of prosecutors and public defenders already on staff would be paid by taxpayers regardless of the public employee's duties. But those assignments reflect the demands and priorities of the office and in some cases may divert personnel from other matters. Some of the $7 million in expenses associated with the case that Fox News identified included: --The Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration records show Douglas Wilson, who heads the state Public Defender's Office, has earned $280,000 since the case began. Wilson's duties include far more than oversight of the Holmes case, but his office has assigned 8 staff to the Holmes case, at a cost of approximately $750,000 per year, for a total to date of $1.77 million. --The district attorney has 5 lawyers assigned to the Holmes case, but an office spokesperson said only one was hired specifically to work on it. The $1.6 million set aside in part to compensate that attorney, as well as 4 victim advocates working under the attorney's direction, comes from a federal grant relating to work coordinating victim communication, services, and outreach on this case. The remaining 4 attorneys, 2 investigators and 1 paralegal earned a total of $1.3 million, although they have substantial duties not related to the case. --The district attorney acknowledges the office has set aside $775,000 for the prosecution of Holmes, $15,000 for travel and other expenses, $163,000 for expert witness fees and $11,241 to a district attorney investigator. --Federal taxpayers will spend $2.9 million to help the 70 injured and 1,430 others impacted by the attack, which Holmes admitted to waging while dressed as "The Joker." As of Dec. 31, $1.6 million of that federal grant has been spent by 8 agencies including the District Attorney's office, the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance, Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, Aurora Mental Health Center, Denver Police Department, City of Aurora, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Judicial District Administrator. --Jury selection in the death penalty case is currently underway, but is expected to take several months as an unprecedented pool of more than 9,000 is whittled down to 12 jurors and 12 alternates. Once the jury is selected, and the trial begins, jurors and alternates will be paid $50 each per day, likely adding up to $200,000 during what could be a 6-month trial. --The Colorado Court Security Commission allocated $405,000 in security emergency grants with a total of $23,500 spent on printing and mailing jury summonses and $900 for high-speed scanners to expedite the processing of juror questionnaires. Another $5,950 also was used to purchase 10 additional juror chairs at $595 apiece. Holmes' public defenders also pursued a costly and extensive legal case against Jana Winter, a former FoxNews.com investigative reporter. Fox News eventually won that case when New York's highest court ruled in December 2013 that a state shield law protected Winter, now a national security reporter for The Intercept, from revealing sources used in an exclusive story about a journal Holmes sent to his 1-time psychiatrist. Holmes' attorneys subsequently filed a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, which was denied, seeking to overturn the New York decision. While nearly all government agencies involved in the case have disclosed their expenditures, the Colorado public defender's office refuses to reveal how even 1 dollar has been spent on behalf of Holmes. "The Office of the State Public Defender is an agency of the judicial branch of Colorado state government [and] the judicial branch of Colorado state government is not subject to the Colorado Open Records Act," said Karen Porter, chief financial officer for the Colorado Office of the State Public Defender. Under Colorado law, the public defender also is exempt from disclosing "privileged information??? because the information is protected by attorney-client privilege, Porter said. "The public defender is often reluctant to turn over the money because the public often begrudges the money spent on these cases. However, at some point, costs of federal death cases are generally released," Laurie Levenson, Professor of Law at Loyola Law School and the David W. Burcham Chair of Ethical Advocacy. Colorado Judge William Sylvester also prohibited release of the records through a "Motion To Limit Pre-Trial Publicity" issued on July 23, 2012, and amended August 13, 2012, Porter said. That interpretation of the law is unnecessarily strict and at odds with policies in most other states, said State Rep. Polly Lawrence, a Republican member of the Colorado House of Representatives. "I find it interesting that in Colorado, the information is so much more sensitive than in other states," Lawrence said, questioning how reporting aggregate numbers from the case would jeopardize the defense???s representation. "When I had a meeting with the public defender last week, I told him 'if you want to spend taxpayer dollars, you should be able to tell us how you are allocating resources,'" Lawrence said. Lawrence introduced bi-partisan legislation to make the expenditures public, a bill which will be heard for the 1st time Thursday in the House Judiciary Committee. "This is not a partisan issue," said Lawrence, whose co-sponsor was Rep. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat who represents the district where the shooting took place. "This is all about transparency." Holmes has not denied committing the attack, but his attorneys are claiming he is not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors have refused to drop their bid for the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea and a life sentence. Some critics say it is the prosecutor's insistence on seeking the death penalty that is really driving the exorbitant cost of trying Holmes. Having had their offer of a guilty plea and life in prison rebuffed, Holmes' attorneys have little choice but to fight, said Denver attorney Jason Jordan. "It is the DA that is continuing the fight, not the public defender," Jordan said. As the state continues to reel from the human toll of Holmes' shooting spree, Lawrence is hoping taxpayers can at least also know how much it will cost to try a man who doesn't deny slaughtering a dozen people and wounding at least 70 more. "As a steward of taxpayer dollars, I believe we should be able to see how they are spending the money," Lawrence said. "I don't think that is asking too much." (source: Fox News) ************** US Fails as Human Rights Leader if Death Penalty Remains - Amnesty Int'l The United States fails as a global human rights leader as long as it uses the death penalty, Amnesty International USA Executive Director Steven Hawkins said, following Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf's decision to halt a scheduled execution in his state. "Amnesty International USA welcomes Gov. Wolf's decision to halt executions. The world is moving away from this cruel and barbaric punishment ..." Hawkins said in a statement on Friday. "The United States cannot truly be a global leader in human rights while the death penalty remains the law of the land." On Friday, Pennsylvania's newly elected governor Wolf issued a moratorium on the death penalty, saying that the practice was ineffective, unjust and expensive, according to US media reports. The moratorium will remain in effect until a report is made by the state's legislative commission and will grant a reprieve to the death row inmate Terrance Williams, who was scheduled to be executed on March 4. "Pennsylvania is now moving toward the national consensus that the death penalty is broken, costly and needs to be abolished," Hawkins said in the Amnesty International statement. Some executions carried out in the United States have reportedly caused the convicted person to suffer, as in a 2014 case where Dennis McGuire was killed by a previously untried drug mixture causing an unexpectedly longer period of time for him to die. The death penalty is legal in 32 out of 50 US states. According to the US watchdog group Death Penalty Information Center, there were 3,035 people on a death row as of October 2014. (source: sputniknews.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 15 16:24:13 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2015 16:24:13 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 15 BANGLADESH: War Crimes Trial Of Kamaruzzaman ---- Full SC verdict likely this week The full text of the Supreme Court judgment upholding the death penalty for war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman is likely to be released any day this week. It will clear the way for the Jamaat assistant secretary general to seek a review of his capital punishment by the apex court. All the four SC judges, who had delivered the verdict on November 3 last year by a majority decision, have recently completed writing their parts of the judgment, an SC source said. The parts of the judgment will be compiled into a full verdict and then the judges will affix their signs on it for its release. Talking to The Daily Star on Friday, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said Kamaruzzaman has to file the review petition with the SC within 15 days after the release of the full judgment. The Appellate Division of the SC might take a few days for hearing and disposing of the review petition, if filed by the convict, he added. The scope for reviewing judgments in criminal cases is very little, observed the attorney general. If the SC does not review its judgment in the war crimes case, the convict can seek presidential mercy. The International Crimes Tribunal-2 had handed capital punishment to the key organiser of the infamous Al-Badr Bahini for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. The SC upheld the death penalty to the 62-year-old for the mass killing at Sohagpur of Sherpur on July 25, 1971. All the 4 SC judges found him guilty of the charge, but the death sentence was upheld by a majority decision. The Al-Badr was responsible for abduction, torture and killing of freedom fighters, intellectuals and pro-liberation people during the war. A lawyer for Kamaruzzaman, Shishir Manir said they will meet their client at Dhaka Central Jail for necessary instructions after receiving the full judgment of the SC. The decision on seeking presidential mercy will be taken if the review petition is rejected by the SC, he added. Justice SK Sinha, now the chief justice, headed the four-member SC bench. The other members were Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik. The apex court commuted Kamaruzzaman's death sentence to life term imprisonment for killing Golam Mostafa at Gridda Narayanpur village of Sherpur. It also found the Jamaat-e-Islami leader guilty of 2 more charges relating to killing and torture, but acquitted him of another charge of killing. The SC has so far completed the trials of 2 war crimes accused, while the trials of 7 others are pending with it. (source: The Daily Star) TURKEY: Minister urges re-introduction of death sentence amid reactions to brutal killing of young woman Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci posted a message urging for the re-adoption of the death sentence via his Twitter account on Sunday night, in the face of nation-wide protests against the brutal killing of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan, who was stabbed and burned in Mersin on Thursday. Zeybekci wrote, "I wish God's mercy upon our child Ozgecan Aslan and express my condolences to her family. I hope God places our child in the most beautiful place in heaven. We need to carefully discuss and reinstate the death penalty for those murders such as that of Ozgecan Aslan." The body of Aslan, who was studying psychology, was found near the village of Camalan, about 40 kilometers from the Tarsus district of Mersin province in southern Turkey. She was reportedly stabbed to death and her body was then burned. The suspect, a 26-year-old minibus driver, was captured in Mersin in a joint operation of the police and gendarmerie forces late on Friday. 2 other suspects, the driver's father N.A., 50, and another man identified as F.G., 20, were detained on Friday in connection with the murder. The incident has stirred demonstrations all over the country. (source: Sunday's Zaman) INDONESIA: Ban Ki-moon makes plea to Indonesia over executions ---- UN 'opposes death penalty in all circumstances', says secretary general, while Tony Abbott says Indonesia should heed Australia???s appeals for clemency Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, has joined calls for Indonesia to cancel the execution of 9 people, including the Australian citizens Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, for drug crimes. The intervention came as Tony Abbott said "millions of Australians" were alarmed by the imminent fate of the pair. The prime minister called on Indonesia to be "responsive" to Australia's pleas to spare them. Diplomats from Australia and other countries with citizens on Indonesia's death row have been summoned to a meeting in Jakarta on Monday to be told of official procedures for the executions. They would not be told of the date at the meeting, an Indonesian official said, but 72 hours' notice was under discussion. Ban spoke with the Indonesian foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, on Thursday "to express his concern at the recent application of capital punishment in Indonesia", said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "The United Nations opposes the death penalty under all circumstances," Dujarric said. "The secretary general appeals to the Indonesian authorities that the executions of the remaining prisoners on death row for drug-related offences not be carried out." Tony Abbott said on Saturday: "Millions of Australians are feeling very, very upset about what may soon happen to 2 Australians in Indonesia. "My plea even at this late stage is for Indonesia to be as responsive to us as it expects other countries to be to them when they plead for the life of their citizens." Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, could be spending their last days in Kerobokan jail, where they have been for 10 years after their attempt to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia. Authorities have given permission for them to be moved to the prison island Nusakambangan, on a date to be determined, for execution. Senior figures from all sides of politics in Australia have repeatedly urged President Joko Widodo to spare the men. Besides more than 55 ministerial and prime ministerial representations, Australian officials and members of the business community are understood to have made overtures to Indonesian contacts. The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said she had been flooded with letters concerning the executions and there was strong support at vigils for the men. Bishop has warned that Australian tourism to Bali - a crucial source of income for the island - could be threatened if Indonesia goes ahead with the executions. "I think the Australian people will demonstrate their deep disapproval of this action, including by making decisions about where they wish to holiday," she told Fairfax radio on Friday. "Executing these 2 young men will not solve the drug scourge in Indonesia." Joko has given a defiant vow not to succumb to outside pressure. Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran are challenging the president's blanket denial of clemency for all drug offenders sentenced to death. The former Australian high court justice, Michael Kirby, said the heroin was being smuggled out of Indonesia, not into Indonesia. "The important thing in this case this was not Indonesian drug dealing, it was Australian drug dealing, these were Australians who are getting on to an Australian plane to bring them back to Australia with Indonesian drugs," he said. (source: The Guardian) **************** Bali 9 death sentence judges 'asked for bribes' for a lighter sentence: new claim The 6 judges who handed down the death penalty to the Bali 9 pair on death row offered to give them a lighter sentence in exchange for money, the men's Indonesian legal team alleges. The sensational allegation is contained in a letter sent by the legal team of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to Indonesia's judicial committee, claiming there had been a breach of ethics. The letter says the judges received pressure from "certain parties" to hand out the death penalty. The lawyers, led by human rights advocate Todung Mulya Lubis, told the judicial committee that all 6 judges who brought down the death sentence had breached ethics. The new claim follows the shock intervention of the Bali 9's former legal counsel, Muhammad Rifan, last weekend, who said there had been an "intervention" that could discredit him but provided no details. In an extraordinary statement after visiting the men inside Kerobokan prison, Mr Rifan said he was prepared to "take the heat" and provide the "never revealed evidence" to Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's current lawyer, Mr Mulya. "It's something that implicates us, it could discredit me. But for them I will take it. I told Myuran it's okay," Mr Rifan said cryptically. "It's 1 last thing I can do for them." Following his dramatic, if imprecise, comments, Mr Rifan left Indonesia to travel to Mecca for a religious pilgrimage. The lawyers, meanwhile, have also written to Indonesia's Attorney-General, H.M Prasetyo, requesting a stay of execution for Chan and Sukumaran, who are due to be executed this month. They say their clients have an outstanding legal challenge in the administrative court and there is still a chance for their clients to have their sentence commuted. The letter to the judicial committee is the 3rd appeal this year by the pair's lawyers. A bid for a 2nd judicial review foundered after it was found it contained no new evidence. A case lodged with the administrative court in Jakarta is pending, although Mr Prasetyo has already requested that it be dismissed. Mr Prasetyo's conduct has raised questions about the independence of Indonesia's judiciary. Chan and Sukumaran have been facing imminent execution for several weeks. On Monday, Australian embassy officials will attend a meeting in Jakarta with the Indonesian government to discuss the arrangements for the killing by firing squad. . (source: Sydney Morning Herald) AUSTRALIA: Don't recall out our man in Jakarta; campaign to abolish death penalty Australia's man in Jakarta needs to stay put, even should the firing squad execute Bali 9 pair Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. This has nothing to do with maintaining a good relationship with Indonesia. Leaving the ambassador in Jakarta will best serve Australia's interests, so that each and every time he walks into an office in the city, he can remind Indonesians of Australia's utter dismay. Those 2 words, "relationship" and "interests", are chosen deliberately. Australia has a relationship with Indonesia, which like any two neighbours, goes through ups and downs. But Australia has its own consistent and overriding interests in Indonesia, the welfare of citizens visiting the country first and foremost. Interests are usually served by improving the relationship. But sometimes, standing up for interests means telling a neighbour they are plain wrong. Does Australia have the right, given Indonesia is an independent nation entitled to make its own laws? Undoubtedly. The lines drawn on a map to mark one nation's sovereign jurisdiction as separate from another often prompts moral confusion, a belief these boundaries are absolute. But as University of Melbourne philosopher Tony Coady explains, there is a huge difference between expressing a critical opinion and dropping bombs. "Nothing should stand in the way of stating what you think about wrongdoing anywhere," Coady tells me. "Ways of expressing criticism need to be carefully weighed, so as not to show contempt or convey superiority. But people from different cultures must be able to criticise and learn from each other on fundamental issues or there will never be understanding or moral progress in either culture." This doesn't mean Australia has the right to send SAS troopers to break Sukumaran and Chan out of prison. But respect for Indonesia's sovereignty does not shield the country from all criticism - having Julie Bishop write an opinion article in an Indonesian newspaper, for example, or finding sympathetic Indonesians to press the case for mercy. There is another good reason for Australia's ambassador to remain in Jakarta. Uncomfortable though this might seem right now, the interest in the welfare of Australian citizens in Indonesia goes beyond the individual cases of Sukumaran and Chan. Much as their fate is most immediately desperate, there will be always be other Australians in Indonesia who need help. The Netherlands and Brazil chose to recall their top envoys in protest last month after Indonesia put to death a citizen of each country. It is easy to imagine the Abbott government will be under enormous pressure to follow suit, should the worst come to pass for Sukumaran and Chan. Indonesia has itself twice pulled its ambassador from Australia in the past decade; in 2006 after 42 West Papuans were granted refugee protection, and 2013 when Edward Snowden's leaks gave a glimpse into Australia's usually secret spy operations in the region. Yet by contrast, Australia has never made a habit of withdrawing its ambassador from other countries as a way of expressing diplomatic outrage. Foreign diplomats have been righteously booted from Canberra over the years, but rarely has Australia summoned its own back home. Australia's representative to Fiji was recalled for "consultations" after the country's various coups, and the Keating government, under public pressure, pulled the ambassador out of Paris in 1995 when the French decided to test nuclear weapons in the South Pacific. But after the 2005 hanging of Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore, Australia's representative stayed put. Even during the toxic spat with Malaysia following the 1986 execution of Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers - which Bob Hawke branded as "barbaric", much to the annoyance of Malaysia's prickly autocrat, Mahathir Mohamad - Australia preserved diplomatic ties. The indignation expressed by recalling an ambassador, while understandable, is ultimately futile. It is gesture politics, nothing more. For what comes next? Eventually, the diplomats always return. Better to recognise that moments of trouble are precisely the time a country most needs a representative in the foreign capital, to put forcibly a point of view. That is why Australia's ambassador is still in Indonesia, part of what the government assures is an extensive, behind-the-scenes campaign to spare the lives of Sukumaran and Chan. Tony Abbott has admitted he is not optimistic. Indonesia's elite opinion has a discernible lack of sympathy about the death penalty, believing the rhetoric that a message needs to be sent to tackle scourge of drugs. President Joko Widodo is sounding ever more shrill in his nationalist pronouncements, not only about executing convicted drug smugglers, but is muscling up over fishermen from neighbouring Papua New Guinea. Complicating Australia's pitch was the foolish opinion poll broadcast by ABC Triple J, a survey that better resembled a morbid computer game where players responded by SMS on their mobile phone to an abstract question about executing Australian drug smugglers in another country. Indonesia has seized on the results, believing Canberra will not be under much public pressure should the executions go ahead. But opposition to the death penalty is one of those issues where leaders have usually been ahead of the majority. Attempting to persuade the Indonesian public that capital punishment is wrong is another job for Australia's ambassador in Jakarta. A good portion of Australia's aid budget should now be directed to an all-out, well-funded international campaign against the death penalty. This should be directed to Indonesia, but not solely. Australia's ambassador in Washington should tell the US government capital punishment is cruel and unjustified. So should Australia's envoys to Beijing, Riyadh, Islamabad, Kuala Lumpur, and any other country where the death penalty is imposed. The job for diplomats is give Australia a voice in the world. Australia's interest will not be served by silence. (source: Commentary, Daniel Flitton--Brisbane Times) IRAN----executions 2 Baloch prisoners hanged 2 prisoners were hanged in the main prison in the southeastern city on Saturday, according to reports received from Iran. The 2 Balochi men, identified as Hamed Kahrazhi, 28 and Mobasher Mir-Balochzehi, had spent 4 years in prison. They had been sentenced to death for 'Moharebe' or enmity with God. Meanwhile a group of 6 prisoners held in the main prison in the northeastern city of Uromiyeh were transferred on Saturday to solitary confinement to await their execution. The 6, whose execution is expected to be carried out on Monday, were arrested on drug related charges. Another group of 3 prisoners, including a women, held in Shahab prison in the city of Kerman, have also been sentenced to death for drug related offences. They were transferred to isolation on Saturday to await their execution. More than 1,200 prisoners have been executed in Iran since Hassan Rouhani became president in July 2013. ****** British author Rushdie's death sentence stands, Iranian cleric says The death sentence issued in 1989 by Khomeini against British author Salman Rushdie remains in force and only Ali Khamenei, the regime's Supreme Leader can rescind it, a senior cleric has declared. Mohsen Gharavian said: "Salman Rushdie is a mercenary of the world arrogance ... Years has passed since Khomeini made the ruling but the decree continues to remain live and valid and no one except the person in the position of Velayat-e faqih can rescind it." The death verdict against Salman Rushdie was issued by the Iranian regime's founder, Khomeini, for writing a novel. Cleric Mohsen Gharavian made the remarks in the city of Qum on the anniversary of the death verdict, state-run news agency ISNA reported. In December 1990, 2 days after Rushdie renounced his novel, Ali Khamenei, the then and current Supreme Leader of the regime issued a statement describing Rushdie as an apostate. Ali Khamenei said that Khomeini ruled before his death that the edict against Rushdie would remain in place even if the author repented and that Khomeini's order therefore still stands. (source for both: NCR-Iran) ********************* Execution of Juvenile Offender is Imminent The family of a juvenile offender on death row has been informed that he will be executed on February 19, 2015. Saman Naseem, 20, was 17 years old when he was arrested and later put on trial on charges of moharebeh (enmity with God) for membership in the PJAK (Party for Free Life of Kurdistan), an armed Kurdish opposition group. A member of Naseem's family told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that Naseem's lawyer told the family they should visit him for the last time before his execution. In the face of his imminent execution, the family is reaching out to international human rights organizations to appeal for his life. Following a July 17, 2011 armed confrontation with PJAK forces on the Sardasht border region in Kurdistan, IRGC forces arrested the 17-year-old Marivan resident Saman Naseem (born September 1994). Naseem was kept inside the IRGC Intelligence Unit's solitary cells in Orumiyeh for 2 months, where he was interrogated and tortured. He was later transferred to Mahabad Prison in West Azerbaijan Province. After the Mahabad Revolutionary Court sentenced Naseem to death on charges of moharebeh, his sentence was upheld by the West Azerbaijan Province Appeals Court, and confirmed by Branch 32 of the Supreme Court in December 2013. Saman Naseem's family member told the Campaign that Naseem was severely tortured during his interrogations. "When his family went to visit him in prison for the 1st time, they observed that his finger and toe nails had been pulled [out]. IRGC agents told Saman and his family that if they agreed to provide confessions in front of a television camera, he would be released. However, after Saman his mother and his brother provided the television interviews and the program was aired and his court was convened, he was not released," said the source. Naseem's family member emphasized that he was 17 at the time of arrest, and that he should not have been sentenced to execution as a juvenile. (source: Iran Human Rights) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 16 16:40:26 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 16:40:26 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., FLA., MISS. Message-ID: Feb. 16 TEXAS----impending execution Family, advocates fight to prevent Reed execution----The family of Rodney Reed, family of his victim and a renowned anti-death penalty advocate are uniting, hoping for a stay of execution. With days left before convicted killer Rodney Reed is executed, his family and members of the victim's family united Sunday to fight for a stay of execution. "I'm the brother of Rodney Reed, an innocent man on death row," said Roderick Reed, Rodney's brother. Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed March 5. The Bastrop man was convicted for killing Stacey Stites in 1996. 17 years later, Roderick Reed fights for his brother's life. "There's evidence out there that's never tested," Roderick Reed said. "There was witnesses that we're never called. He had lazy lawyers. Look, all I'm asking and the message I want to ask is: just give him a fair trial." Days before Reed is scheduled to be executed, his family is gathering powerful supporters. "In the beginning, I thought we were alone," Roderick Reed said. Sister Helen Prejean, an anti-death penalty advocate and author of 'Dead Man Walking,' The Innocence Project - a group that works to absolve wrongfully convicted people, and even certain members of Stites' family are joining the Reed family's fight. "I don't think he did it," said Heather Stobbs, Stites' cousin. "I don't think he's guilty." With growing support, the Reed family filed a writ of Habeas Corpus. They've filed requests to do DNA testing on evidence and asked for a stay of execution. Reed's lawyers expect answers from the Criminal Court of Appeals within the next couple of weeks. "There will likely be a final opinion," said Quinncy McNeal, Attorney for Rodney Reed. "It will move from the Criminal Court of Appeals. "If Mr. Reed doesn't get relief there, it will move up to the federal level." A long time and a lot of effort for one family's only wish. "I'm asking for justice that's it," Roderick Reed said. (source: KVUE news) ********************** Innocent Man Fights for Reform After 12 Years in Solitary Anthony Graves was 26 in 1992 when he was arrested for murdering 6 people in Somerville, Texas, outside Houston. At his trial, the prosecution presented no physical evidence to tie him to the scenes of the crimes, but he was nevertheless convicted and sentenced to death. It wasn't until the key witness in the trial recanted his testimony, weeks before Graves was to be executed, that new light was cast on his case. A judge later ruled that the prosecutor had withheld evidence and threatened witnesses, and ordered that Graves be released. Graves had already spent 18 years in prison, including a dozen in solitary confinment, by the time he regained his freedom in 2010. Now 49, Graves said the psychological damage of long-term isolation can linger. "Solitary confinement is a system designed to break a man's will to live," he said. "You're sitting there, in a little cage, day in and day out, year in and year out, waiting for the state to execute you or release you." After leaving prison he would suddenly burst into tears for no particular reason and had difficulty sleeping, though his condition has since improved. Still, there are things Graves saw and heard all those years that he can't forget. "I witnessed men just literally, literally losing their minds," he said. More than 6,500 inmates in Texas live in solitary confinement, according to a report published last week by the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Civil Rights Project. The figure does not include inmates who are living in solitary on death row. On average, prisoners remain in solitary confinement in Texas for almost 4 years, with more than 100 prisoners remaining in solitary for more than 20 years, the report states. The conditions in which these inmates live "impose such severe deprivations" that they leave prisoners "mentally damaged," and they are more likely to commit crimes again once they are released, according to the ACLU report. "We met with people who were profoundly mentally ill. So mentally ill we didn't feel comfortable sharing their stories in this report," said attorney Burke Butler, a researcher who helped produce the report. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice holds 4.4 % of its prison population in solitary confinement, the report states - about 4 times the national average. This is in part because of the sheer size of Texas' prison population, Butler said, but also because the state automatically places in isolation prisoners believed to have gang ties. Nearly 1/2 the people in solitary are said to be gang-affiliated. But they are often misclassified for reasons as simple as having old gang tattoos, Butler said. An array of subjective decisions by prison personnel can also land inmates in solitary, such as the 19-year-old Butler spoke to who said his confinement was punishment for throwing milk at a guard. Texas prisoners in solitary typically live in a 60-square-foot cell made of concrete. They have a bed and a toilet, both of which often double as tables for meals, Butler said. Prisoners can't put anything up on the walls, and if they're lucky enough to have a window, it's just narrow strip of glass. They are usually allowed 1 hour of recreation time at least a few days a week, but they are often denied this reprieve because of understaffing or unwilling prison guards, he said. Graves said he saw inmates on death row slit their own throats. Those that were released went back to the outside world "with a lot of baggage," including PTSD and hypersensitivity. "The 1st 3 years I was out ... I couldn't even hold a conversation with people without crying," he said. Repercussions like these have fueled a belief that solitary confinement is dangerously overused. Some states have started to limit the practice. In Mississippi, solitary is now reserved for prisoners who have attempted escape, committed a serious infraction, or are high-level, active gang members. Just last month, the 2nd-largest jail in the U.S., New York's Rikers Island, banned solitary confinement for anyone under 21. Even Texas prison administrators, known for their "severe" solitary standards, have recently agreed to try to reduce the number of prisoners in isolation, said Butler. "If Texas is able to make positive reform, I think it will mean positive reform will be possible in other states as well," he said. The American Psychological Association and American Bar Association say mentally ill prisoners shouldn't be in solitary. Pre-existing mental health issues can be exacerbated by isolation, experts say, especially when mental health services are restricted. Even those who are relatively healthy going in often develop psychiatric symptoms including panic attacks, hallucinations, and physical outbursts, said Butler. Mental illness in prisoners isn't just a problem on the inside, though. 95 % of all U.S. prisoners will get out one day, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In Texas, prisoners released straight from solitary are rearrested at a 25 % higher rate than those from the general population, according to the ACLU report. One reason is that inmates who emerge from isolation have been deprived of "educational, rehabilitative, and religious programming" and have lost an ability to interact with other people, the report states. Correctional officers have begun to speak out about solitary confinement as well, and although isolation is often used to curb violence, some say it has the opposite effect. In Texas, serious assaults on prison staff have increased 104 % over the last 7 years, according to 2014 testimony from Lance Lowry, president of a Texas Correctional Employees union. "It is the equivalent of locking a kid in a closet. It's not going to fix a lot of problems," said Lowry, according to the ACLU report. Once prisoners are in solitary, Butler explained, correctional officers have little control over them because there are no longer privileges that can be taken away. "When someone's in solitary, they have nothing to lose. Their lives are miserable," he said. Today, Anthony Graves has everything to live for. He's turned his nearly 2-decade horror story into a career of advocating for change in the criminal justice system. He's a seasoned public speaker and writer, and he has created a foundation for prison reform. He said he's "much better" than when he was released almost 5 years ago, but that most solitary confinement prisoners are not so lucky. "Please don't judge the situation by looking at me," he said. "I'm the exception, not the rule." (source: Yahoo News) PENNSYLVANIA: Execution moratorium warranted It is comforting to conclude that someone who commits a heinous crime deserves to die, and it is easy to cite examples. But the government's moral and constitutional obligation is not to simple vengeance but to justice, which entails far higher standards. That's why Gov. Tom Wolf is on the mark in declaring a moratorium on executions unless and until the Legislature corrects some well-documented flaws in the state process. Pennsylvania today has 186 inmates on death row, all of them convicted of awful crimes. But the state's record regarding the death penalty is a dismal one. Since the Legislature reinstated the death penalty nearly 40 years ago, the state has executed 3 people, all of whom had forfeited their appeal rights, even though governors have signed 434 death warrants. Over the same period, twice as many death row inmates - 6 - have been exonerated. As noted by Mr. Wolf, 1 of those men had two death warrants signed against him, meaning that the commonwealth came close to executing an innocent man. A 2nd man was exonerated by DNA evidence 21 years after entering death row. Beyond the fact that the state had put innocent people in line for the execution chamber, there are multiple other reasons that the moratorium is sound. In 2003 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias found "strong indications that Pennsylvania's capital system does not operate in an evenhanded manner." At that time, more than two-thirds of death-row inmates were members of racial minorities even though the state minority population was just 11 %. The committee found that minority defendants were sentenced to death at a far higher rate than white defendants who had been convicted of similar crimes. 4 years later, an American Bar Association assessment team found substantial inadequacies in the state's system, including inadequate funding for public defenders and even fewer resources for the defense of indigent defendants in capital cases. Now, another assessment of the state's death penalty process is under way due to a commendable bipartisan state Senate resolution passed in 2011. Mr. Wolf said his moratorium will hold at least until that report is issued. The question isn't simply whether some inmates deserve to die for their crimes. It's whether the state can fairly administer justice in death penalty cases. As long as that is an open question, as it is today, it is folly to conduct executions. (source: Editorial Board of the Times-Tribune) ******************** Hugo Selenski: 'I'm not afraid to die' Convicted killer Hugo Marcus Selenski isn't afraid of death or having a needle put into his arm. Selenski, now 41, said those words during a jailhouse interview when he was housed at the State Correctional Institution at Dallas on June 2, 2004. Selenski's words may come back to haunt him. The same Luzerne County jury that convicted him last week of the flex-tie strangulation murders of Michael Jason Kerkowski and Tammy Lynn Fassett will be asked to sentence him to death or life in prison. The penalty phase, scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, can be an emotional proceeding. Like a mini-trial, it involves testimony from family and victims. Assistant district attorneys Sam Sanguedolce, Mamie Phillips and Jarrett Ferentino are seeking death for Selenski under 4 aggravating factors. First, the homicides of Kerkowski and Fassett were committed during the perpetration of another felony: robbery. The other elements are torture and 2 factors related to other deaths. Prosecutors added torture as an aggravating factor after Paul Weakley, a former Selenski associate, detailed how Kerkowski was bound to a chair, blinded, and beaten with a rolling pin as flex ties were repeatedly tightened around his neck in an attempt to force him to reveal where he had hidden cash. When deciding to impose a sentence of death or life in prison, jurors will be asked to weigh the aggravating factors - those which make a crime more heinous - against mitigating factors, or those which lessen a defendant's culpability. Previous cases offer examples of how that can work. Death penalty trials Since 1985, Luzerne County prosecutors have tried 11 death penalty cases, securing death sentences in 3, including 1 that actually had been tried earlier. -- Tyrone Moore was convicted in 1983 for the deadly shooting of Nicholas Romanchick, 31, during an October 1982 robbery at the Forty Fort Animal Hospital. Moore was not sentenced until 1988, after post-trial appeals were completed. His death sentence was overturned by then-county judge Mark Ciavarella in 2000, stating that Moore's previous attorneys failed to introduce evidence at sentencing that would have shown his childhood was full of "constant trauma, fear and terror," and might have influenced his sentence. Such evidence may be offered as mitigating factors during penalty hearings. -- Brian Smith was convicted in September 1991 of the beating death of 5-month-old Ryan Leahy, son of Smith's live-in girlfriend, Dawn Madashefski. The Hazleton man was babysitting when he repeatedly hit the infant to get him to stop crying. Smith was formally sentenced to death on April 16, 1992, according to the Times Leader archives. The state Supreme Court overturned the penalty in 1996, ruling that Smith's public defender, Patrick Flannery, was ineffective because he failed to introduce evidence of Smith's mental health problems during the penalty phase of his trial. County prosecutors in 1998 dropped their attempt to re-sentence Smith to death after reports showed the former Hazleton man is mentally ill. That meant Smith will serve a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole. -- Michael Bardo was convicted in 1993 of killing his 3-year-old niece. Bardo was recently granted a new sentencing hearing by the state Supreme Court. In a December ruling, the state Supreme Court effectively upheld a 2012 order of then-Luzerne County Senior Judge Patrick Toole to vacate the death sentence because Bardo's attorneys did not present a wealth of mitigating evidence at Bardo's penalty phase hearing. Because the high court was split 3-3, Toole's decision stands as a matter of law. Selenski's history At the time of the 1-hour jailhouse interview nearly 11 years ago, Selenski faced charges he killed Frank James and Adeiye Keiler with a shotgun and burned their bodies outside the Kingston Township residence where he lived in May 2003. He had not been charged with the murders of Kerkowski and Fassett when he was interviewed. Those charges were filed in May 2006, soon after a jury found Selenski not guilty in the killing of Keiler. A mistrial was ruled for James. Selenski had also escaped from the county correctional facility by climbing down 15-tied together bedsheets and scaling a barbed wire fence on Oct. 10, 2003, 4 days after he was charged with the killings of James and Keiler. He surrendered from the Kingston Township residence 3 days later. Not afraid During the interview, Selenski was vocal about the escape, then District Attorney David W. Lupas and Weakley. He strayed away from discussing specifics about the charges against him. While discussing his experience in prisons - Selenski had served a 7 year stint in federal prison for a bank robbery - and witnessing riots, he said he wasn't "afraid of facing death" and "having a needle put into his arm." Selenski said he knew he was going to escape from the county correctional facility, but waited until he was charged with criminal homicide. As he challenged Weakley's credibility of telling the truth during the separate trials, Selenski called Weakley a liar during the interview, saying what Weakley told investigators sounded like a "Stephen King novel." Selenski said the bodies of Kerkowski and Fassett "were put there for reason" and believed he was "going to beat this case." "The whole case, I'm not really concerned about it," Selenski said in the 2004 interview. He said there were other people more involved than himself and offered to "shed light on this whole thing." "I'm not claiming I wasn't involved but there are other people more involved," Selenski said in the jailhouse interview. Notes of the jailhouse interview were subpoenaed by the district attorney's office on Feb. 14, 2005. (source: Times Leader) GEORGIA: High court upholds death sentence in Lumpkin Co. murder case The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence given to Steven Frederick Spears in Lumpkin County for strangling to death his former girlfriend nearly 14 years ago. Sherri Holland was found dead, padlocked in the bedroom of her home on August 26, 2001. She had been strangled to death, according to an autopsy. Spears was found several days later by police, walking down Highway 52 at the Lumpkin-Hall County line. At the time, authorities said he confessed to the murder, saying he had developed four different plans for killing Holland. Spears was found guilty and sentenced to death in March 2007. His attorneys argued before the high court that the trial court made errors in the case, but the justices disagreed and the murder conviction and death sentence stand. The Supreme Court of Georgia handed down its decision Monday morning. The following information was issued Monday on the Spears case: In today's unanimous opinion, Justice Keith Blackwell writes for the court that the evidence presented at trial "was sufficient to authorize a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Spears was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted." At the same time, the high court has thrown out the trial court's decision to merge the 2 burglary counts into 1 for sentencing purposes, finding that the 2 charges related to 2 separate crimes, not just one. It is sending that issue back to the trial court with directions to enter a sentence on the burglary count for which Spears has not yet been sentenced. According to the facts of the case, Spears and Holland had dated but their romantic relationship had ended when, on Aug. 24, 2001, Holland's 13-year-old son left her home to spend the weekend with his father. Her family members became concerned, however, when she failed to pick up her son as expected at the end of his stay. On Aug. 26, after trying several times to reach her by telephone, Holland's ex-husband and son drove to her house. When they didn't see her car, they left, wondering if she was just running late. Eventually, her ex-husband called police. When officers entered Holland's home, they detected a strong odor of decaying flesh coming from the master bedroom, which was locked with a padlock. After removing the door hinges, police found Holland's decomposing body lying face down on the floor with her head on a pillow. A black garbage bag was secured around her head with duct tape. Duct tape also covered her mouth and was wrapped around her face, hands and feet. Items were scattered about the bedroom, indicating there had been a struggle. The room was very hot, as the air conditioner had been set at 85 degrees. The medical examiner testified Holland died from asphyxia consistent with having been strangled. She also had a hemorrhage on the surface of her skull, suggesting she'd been struck with a fist, and she had numerous abrasions on her knee and chin consistent with a struggle. The medical examiner testified that the plastic garbage bag and duct tape across her mouth may have cut off oxygen and contributed to her death. Following the discovery of her body, police issued an alert for her missing 2001 red Camaro with black stripes, which was found two days later at Belton Bridge Park in Hall County, about 25 miles from her home. Inside was a K-Mart receipt showing that a fishing license, red spray paint, a ball cap and fishing gear had been purchased in Cornelia, GA the morning of Aug. 25. An investigation revealed that Spears had purchased the items. On Sept. 5, 2001, a Lumpkin County officer found a disheveled Spears walking down Highway 52 near the county line. The officer later testified the man matched the description of the man wanted for Holland's murder, so he stopped and arrested him. The officer did not read him his Miranda rights before transporting him back to the Sheriff's Office, but en route Spears made several statements, telling the officer he knew a warrant had probably been issued for his arrest and he was walking to a nearby store to call police so he could turn himself in. He said he'd been living in the woods the past 10 days in a deer stand in Lula, GA, and he believed police officers dressed in camouflage had chased him through the woods. At the Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office, Spears was read his Miranda rights, but he waived them and confessed he had murdered Holland. He said they had dated about 3 years and broken up several months earlier. He said he thought she was seeing someone else and he had once threatened her, "if I caught her or found out she was screwin' somebody else, I'd choke her ass to death." Spears confessed he had developed four separate plans for murdering Holland. One involved electrocuting her while she was in the shower. Spears explained that he went under the crawl space, placed screws in the shower's pipes, and planned to connect them to the home's circuit breaker. The second plan involved beating her with a homemade bat he'd carved from a tree and hidden in a canoe at her home. The 3rd involved shooting her with her shotgun, which he'd secretly loaded the Friday night before the murder. And the 4th plan, the one he actually followed, was to strangle her. He said the night before he murdered Holland, he broke into her home through a vent area in the basement crawl space, then hid in her son's bedroom closet and waited more than 4 hours for her to return home and fall asleep. At about 2:30 a.m., he went into her bedroom and told her to roll over. A struggle ensued into the hallway where he strangled her for 5 to 10 minutes. He said that before Holland lost consciousness, she told him she loved him; he told her he loved her, then "choked her out." He then dragged her back into the bedroom, taped her hands, feet and mouth, secured the garbage bag over her head with duct tape, and put her head on a pillow. He said he stole her car, purse and money, then drove to Cornelia where he bought supplies, including red spray paint to cover the distinctive black stripes of her Camaro. At one point, after realizing he had forgotten to take her cigarette case, knowing that's where she kept her money, he returned to her house and retrieved it. He said he eventually abandoned the car at Belton Bridge Park because he feared it was equipped with an anti-theft device. At the end of his confession, Spears stated to police that, "if I had to do it again, I'd do it." Spears was indicted for murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping with bodily injury and 2 counts of burglary. The State announced it would seek the death penalty. In March 2007, a jury found Spears guilty as charged. After finding the existence of 2 aggravating circumstances, the jury recommended the death sentence, which is what the judge ordered. The trial court later denied Spears' motion requesting a new trial, but it set aside his kidnapping conviction, as well as the aggravating circumstance involving kidnapping. In their appeal before the state Supreme Court, Spears' attorneys argued the trial court made 11 errors. But in today's 40-page opinion, the high court has refused to grant a new trial based on any of them. However, the high court has determined on its own that the trial court erroneously merged the 2 convictions for burglary - one that was based on the intent to commit murder and one that was based on the intent to commit a theft. Monday's opinion points out the evidence shows that Spears made his initial entry into Holland's house with the dual intent to commit a theft and murder. But he then left the house and later returned and entered the house a 2nd time to steal her cigarette case and money. The opinion states the trial court erred by merging the burglary counts in its sentencing order, the erroneous merger must be vacated, and the trial court is directed to enter a sentence on the 2nd of those burglary counts. In Monday's opinion, the state Supreme Court also addresses Spears' claim that the prosecutor made improper statements at the conclusion of the sentencing phase. Regarding one, the Supreme Court finds the prosecutor improperly personalized the sentencing question before the jury by arguing, "If he ever escaped, it could be you." However, Spears' attorney did not object at trial, and he is prohibited from arguing for the 1st time on appeal that the prosecutor's statement contributed to his conviction. Nevertheless, the high court concludes that the absence of the prosecutor's improper statement "would not in reasonable probability have changed the jury's sentencing verdict." The high court also finds that the prosecutor's reference to Spears as a "rabid animal" was "unnecessary and undesirable." Again, Spears' attorney did not object and even if he had, it would not be grounds for reversal, the opinion says. "Although we have characterized arguments using metaphors for a defendant such as ???animal??? and 'snake' as 'unnecessary and undesirable,' we have held that allowing them is not reversible error." (source: accessnorthga.com) FLORIDA: State attorney to seek death penalty in 13-year old case A central Florida state attorney has filed notice that his office will seek the death penalty in a 13-year-old murder case. Ninth District State Attorney Jeff Ashton's office filed a notice of intent on Friday in the case of Demorris Andy Hunter. Hunter is charged with 1st-degree murder in the death of Teresa Ann Green. Green was reported missed from her Orlando home on May 27, 2002, and found dead that evening in the trunk of her car. Hunter is currently serving a life sentence in a March 2002 death of an Oakland, California woman. He was extradited from a California prison last week to Orange County. No future court date has been set. (source: St. Augustine Record) MISSISSIPPI: Miss. House passes bill mandating execution secrecy----Names of executioner, helpers would be exempt from public disclosure Mississippi lawmakers would not only make details surrounding state executions secret, but allow anyone who discloses details to be sued for money. House Bill 1305, sponsored by Democrat Kimberly Campbell of Jackson, would provide that the names of the executioner and any helpers would be exempt from public disclosure, as well as the identity of the supplier of execution drugs. The House passed the bill 82-34, sending it to the Senate for more work. Opponents of the death penalty have been trying to limit states' ability to execute by finding out the names of drug suppliers and pressuring them. Last year, lawyers challenged the use of drugs from a compounding pharmacy in Grenada. Nationwide, concerns have been raised about botched executions because of novel drug combinations. (source: WAPT news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 16 16:41:52 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 16:41:52 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., CALIF., ORE. Message-ID: Feb. 16 KANSAS: Kansas Death Penalty Opponents Renewing Push For Repeal Opponents of the death penalty in Kansas are hoping to replace the option with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Kansas reinstated the death penalty in 1994, but has not yet executed anyone in last 20 years. Anti-death penalty advocates are renewing their push to change the law. During a Statehouse visit, opponents of the death penalty handed out letters showing that hundreds of faith leaders in the state are opposed to capital punishment. Donna Schneweis, with the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, hopes the sheer number of faith leaders on the letter can sway lawmakers. "The reality is, there are many Kansans, including many Kansas faith leaders, who are profoundly disturbed that the state still continues this practice," says Schneweis. But recent attempts to end the death penalty in Kansas haven???t convinced enough lawmakers. Some Republicans have been frustrated that court rulings and proceedings have delayed death penalty sentences. Lawmakers last year considered legislation that would speed up the appeals process, but that bill stalled. (source: KCUR news) CALIFORNIA: Death penalty should be used On the front page of Thursday's Record, there was an article titled "Judge wants issue to move forward." The article addresses the death penalty and whether delays should continue to be allowed. This is an issue that has previously been addressed on numerous occasions but, never seems to get resolved. The taxpayer continues to support (sometimes in luxurious ways) our incarcerated criminals. Those convicted of heinous crimes are housed at our many prisons, given privileges many non-criminal folk, are not able to recognize. We as a society continue to allow those who have received the death penalty, their supposed "right" to life. It appears that we enjoy continually paying to house these inmates because very few executions take place, when compared to the number of inmates who have been sentenced to die and sit comfortably on our tax dollar. Our society is sick. It is sick because it will allow a non-criminal to take their own life in some states but those condemned to death are really not condemned after all. California can't find a drug to kill someone on death row, but Oregon can find a drug that can kill a non criminal. Ironic? No, just sick. Utah recently re-enacted the firing squad as a method of execution. Utah is smart. They will pay a couple of cents for a piece of lead or other not-so-toxic metal, to execute their criminals. Meanwhile, California will continue to nurture and care for our death row populace. Joe Larranaga Jr. Stockton (source: Letter to the Editor, Stockton Record) OREGON: Kitzhaber is asked to empty death row----The outgoing governor had put a moratorium on executions, but it will expire in 24 days Various groups opposed to Oregon's death penalty law are making a concerted effort to persuade outgoing Gov. John Kitzhaber to commute the death sentences of Oregon's 36 death row inmates before he leaves office Wednesday. 8 inmates sentenced in Lane County are on death row, and 2 others have local connections. "He has been personally asked to clear the row, and additional efforts are being made to convince him to do so," Portland defense attorney Jeff Ellis, a board member of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, wrote in an email that went out Saturday to death penalty defense lawyers across the state. "If you represent an individual on death row and are considering taking some action on behalf of your client, please contact me so we can discuss," Ellis wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Register-Guard. "Efforts are being made to contact incoming Governor Brown to discuss the state of the moratorium, in the event that Kitzhaber does not issue commutations," Ellis wrote, referring to the moratorium Kitzhaber put on the state's death penalty in 2011. Ellis also referred to an online poll in The (Portland) Oregonian newspaper, asking if Kitzhaber should commute the sentences to life imprisonment. He said it was "running about 70 % in favor of commutation." Kitzhaber, the only governor in state history to be elected 4 times, said Friday that he will resign in the face of an influence-peddling scandal involving his fiancee , Cylvia Hayes. Secretary of State Kate Brown will be sworn in Wednesday as Oregon's 37th governor. Ellis, described on the OADP website as "one of the top death penalty defense lawyers in the country," on Saturday referred questions to others involved in the effort. But none of them wanted to speak on the record, including Dave Fidanque, executive director of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union; OADP Chairman Ron Steiner; or S. Bobbin Singh, executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, which promotes civil rights and aims to enhance the quality of legal representation for underserved communities. But OADP board member Aba Gayle, of Silverton - also a board member of Murder Victim Families for Human Rights, an international death penalty abolition group - did talk about the effort when reached by phone. "Every one of us is making phone calls, whatever we can do," said Gayle, whose daughter was murdered in 1980 in Auburn, Calif. "It's been done before. This is not something that would be unique." Gayle was referring to a couple of historic sentence commutations by ex-governors, one 6 weeks ago and one 12 years ago. On Dec. 31, outgoing Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland commuted the death sentences of the last 4 inmates on that state's death row, effectively ending capital punishment there. In 2003, Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of all 167 death row inmates there, 2 days before leaving office. 3 years earlier, Ryan, as Kitzhaber has done in Oregon, placed a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois. In his resignation statement Friday, Kitzhaber said: "I am proud that Oregon has not invoked the death penalty during my last 4 years on the watch." Attempts Saturday to reach a spokesperson in Kitzhaber's office were unsuccessful. The Oregonian reported on Friday that Kitzhaber's moratorium expires 20 days after he leaves office. As for whether Brown plans to continue the moratorium if Kitzhaber does not commute all 36 death sentences to life in prison, her spokesman said Saturday that she will have plenty of other things on her mind initially. "Kate has not come out with a position on the governor's moratorium," said Tony Green, Brown's spokesman. "There is certainly a lot to be done, not just between now and Wednesday, but beyond that." The state has executed just 2 inmates since Oregon voters reinstated capital punishment in 1984. Douglas Wright was executed in 1996 and Harry Charles Moore in 1997. Both came during Kitzhaber's first term as governor, and both because each inmate had foregone the appeal process and said he wanted to die. It was the case of a current death row inmate - twice-convicted murdered Gary Haugen, who has fought for the right to be executed - that led to Kitzhaber's moratorium. The stays were upheld by the Oregon Supreme Court in 2013. "I am still convinced that we can find a better solution that holds offenders accountable and keeps society safe, supports the victims of crime and their families, and reflects Oregon values," Kitzhaber said in a statement at the time. Old wounds and heartache When contacted Saturday, those who have strong feelings in Lane County about upholding the death penalty were not shy about voicing their views. "There's a world of difference between supporting a temporary moratorium on executions and erasing decades worth of capital punishment litigation in Oregon," Lane County District Attorney Alex Gardner wrote in an email to The Register-Guard, "particularly since Oregonians have been unequivocal in their support for retaining death as 1 of the 3 sentence options a jury can consider in the most heinous murder cases that qualify as aggravated murder. "The governor hasn't said anything to me about this, and I don't see any value in spreading rumors and unsubstantiated fears." 1 of Gardner's deputies, Erik Hasselman, had no qualms about his giving his opinion on the death penalty. "I certainly hope that's not his parting desire," said Hasselman, who in 2011 successfully prosecuted the case of the only woman, Angela McAnulty, on death row in Oregon. "It would rip open old wounds," Hasselman said. "It would cause a lot of heartache. It would effectively waste hundreds of hours of hard work." McAnulty, of Eugene, was convicted of causing the death of her 15-year-old daughter, Jeanette Maples, by neglect and maltreatment in a case that horrified the local community. Those on Oregon's death row are not just murderers, Hasselman said. "They are the worst of the worst. It's just inconceivable to me that someone in the executive branch of government would just overrule that." Eugene's Ted Larsen speaks from personal experience when it comes to losing a child to murder. His daughter, Susi Larsen, a 1980 South Eugene High School graduate, was 34 when she was raped and murdered by Billie Lee Oatney in 1996 in Tigard. Oatney was sentenced to death in Washington County in 1998. "It makes me furious to think he would do that," Larsen, 79, said of Kitzhaber commuting death sentences. "The guy thinks it's alright to kill unborn babies," Larsen said of the governor's stance on abortion. "But you take a guy like this Oatney, who is just the scum of the earth, and then pardon someone like that? "That's disgusting to me. And it flies in the face of the people of Oregon, who have voted to maintain the death penalty." Gayle understands how Larsen feels. She said she felt the same way for years after her daughter, 19-year-old Catherine Blount, was stabbed to death by Douglas Mickey on a September night almost 35 years ago. "The DA told me that's how I was going to be healed," Gayle said, of watching Mickey die one day. "That's a big lie." In 1992, Gayle wrote to Mickey at San Quentin State Prison. He wrote back and invited her to come meet him; she did. Gayle said she found him to be "intelligent and well-read. And he was so remorseful. He wept, openly." Since then, Gayle has stayed in touch with Mickey. She has toured the nation speaking out against the death penalty and met with other death row inmates. "I am so opposed to the death penalty," Gayle said. "It does nothing to honor my daughter." (source: Register-Guard) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 16 16:42:34 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 16:42:34 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 16 INDONESIA: Bali 9's Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to be moved to Nusakambangan island this week, authorities say 2 Australian Bali 9 members on death row in Indonesia will be transferred this week to the most notorious prison on Nusakambangan island, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz. The head of the Bali prosecutors' office confirmed on Monday afternoon that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran will be taken to the maximum security Batu prison on the penal island. The name of the jail, which was built in 1925, means stone prison. 10 officers from the paramilitary force Brimob will escort the 2 men to Nusakambangan. Momock Bambang Samiarso said the transfer would not take place on Monday - and was unlikely to happen on Tuesday - but would definitely happen this week. "It will be a chartered commercial flight on a plane that will seat 20 to 30 people," he said. "We are still working out the details." Mr Samiarso said he would notify the families as soon as possible. Prime Minister Tony Abbott revealed on Monday he made a further plea for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's lives to Indonesian President Joko Widodo. And a judge involved in handing down the death sentence to the 2 drug smugglers has denied allegations there was political intervention or bribery in the case. Attorney-General spokesman Tony Spontana said earlier that condemned drug felons from Bali's infamous Kerobokan jail, where Chan and Sukumaran are on death row, will be the 1st transferred. They would be later joined by felons from prisons in Madiun and Yogyakarta. "Only after everybody is gathered at Nusakambangan will the D-day be decided," Mr Spontana said. 11 prisoners on death row for drug and murder charges are expected to be killed in the 2nd round of executions in Indonesia this year. Of these, 7 drug felons are foreigners from Australia, the Philippines, France, Brazil, Nigeria and Ghana. Mr Abbott said he felt "sick in the pit of my stomach" when he thought about what was happening to Chan and Sukumaran. "Like every parent, I want to try to ensue that nothing terrible happens." Mr Abbott would not provide further information on his overtures to Mr Joko because he did not want it to come down to a test of strength. "If we do turn this into a test of strength, I think we are much more likely to back the Indonesians into a corner than to get the result we want," he said. Chan and Sukumaran's legal team have written to the Indonesian judicial committee requesting an investigation into allegations of political interference and bribery when the death sentence was imposed. Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said these were very serious allegations and she understood the lawyers would continue to raise these matters. However a judge involved in the case, Wayan Yasa Abadi, denied there had been political interference or bribes. "I can assure you there was none," he said. "We protected ourselves from everybody. It was purely our decision." He said he would respond if summonsed by the judicial committee. Meanwhile, a new Lowy Institute poll has found that 62 % of Australians oppose the execution of Chan and Sukumaran. This is in contrast to an earlier Roy Morgan poll - seized upon by the Indonesian government to justify the executions - which found that 52 % supported the death penalty for Australian drug traffickers. The earlier poll was criticised for being crude and misleading due to the rubbery nature of the questions asked. According to the Lowy poll, 69 % of the population do not believe the death penalty should be applied for drug trafficking. Executive director of the Lowy Institute Michael Fullilove said Australian public and political opposition was crystallising as the date of the execution drew closer. Bali 9: the history August, 2005: Indonesian police - acting on information passed onto them by the Australian Federal Police - arrest 9 Australians at Denpasar airport for attempting to smuggle heroin. September, 2006: Prime Minister John Howard refuses to intervene on behalf of the "Bali Nine". "There are still matters potentially to be heard before Indonesian courts," he said at the time, claiming he did not want to jeopardise the defendants' case. July, 2007: Mr Howard raises the issue with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono: "I thought it was appropriate to mention the fact that it's an issue that attracts a lot of interest in Australia." December: Prime minister Kevin Rudd tells Mr Yudhoyono that if any of the Bali 9 still faced the death penalty when all legal avenues had been pursued, he would plead for clemency. August, 2010: Letter from the AFP is submitted to the Indonesian court, stating Scott Rush only played a minor role in the drug-smuggling ring. AFP commissioner Mick Keelty also testifies in court. Mr Rush's death sentence is reduced to life in prison. May, 2013: Foreign affairs minister Bob Carr defends the government's handling of the Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran cases "We urge them to grant the clemency appeals but we do so having respect with Indonesia to make its own laws." Mr Carr says he has spoken about the matter with his Indonesian counterpart at their meetings, as had prime minister Julia Gillard. January 17, 2015: Prime Minister Tony Abbott writes directly to Indonesian President Joko Widodo for mercy regarding Chan and Sukumaran. January 20: Mr Abbott renews direct appeal for clemency. February 6: Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Mr Abbott say the government is doing "whatever [it] humanly can" behind the scenes to keep the pair alive, while considering recalling the Australian ambassador to Indonesia if Chan and Sukumaran are executed. February 12: Ms Bishop and Shadow Foreign Minister Tanya Plibersek both address parliament. Bishop says 11 written representations have been made since January 7, from the Prime Minister, the Governor-General, the Foreign Minister, the Attorney-General, the Minister for Justice. She says she has spoken to her Indonesian counterpart "many times". More than 55 personal representations at the ministerial and prime ministerial levels have been made. February 14: Ms Bishop warns on radio that Australian tourists may choose to boycott Indonesia. February 16: Mr Abbott tells media he has personally reiterated his concerns to Mr Widodo. (source: Sydney Morning Herald) ****************** It's the death penalty that is the issue Should Bali 9 ringleaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan be executed by a police firing squad in Indonesia? That's a question many Australians are debating today as the 2 men get ready to meet their maker. The 2 knew the risk they were taking, they didn't care about the harm the drugs they were bringing in would cause and it's almost certain if not caught their drug trafficking days would have continued on. As such if you said yes they deserve to die, you would have many supporters standing alongside you voicing the same. But we all know the issue here is much more than that. It comes down to who believes in the death penalty? I don't and as such believe the 2 Australians should not be marched into the jungle late at night and cut down under a hail of bullets. The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, has refused to consider clemency saying that their deaths and that of the other 7 who will be killed at the same time is a warning that must be shouted out to all drug offenders. I don't agree - spending 20 years in a cesspit jail for trading in drugs is more than enough of a deterrent. You don't need to prove to the world that Indonesia arrogantly listens to know one other than themselves. If we didn't realise it before we should all know it now, Indonesia is a rude, corrupt country that needs to be avoided at all costs. (source: Opinion, Peter Chapman, The Queensland Times) ************************ Death for drugs? The approaching death of 2 Australians in Indonesia for heroin smuggling has produced an extraordinary outburst of public and governmental protest, and has forced me to consider what the "right thing" is in this case. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are not unusual. 3 Australians were executed in Malaysia, and 1 in Singapore, for drug smuggling, and a 5th languishes in Vietnam awaiting execution for the same offence. Why has the fate of these 2 of the Bali 9 caused such attention? A number of factors come to mind. They are said to have reformed, after ten years in jail. They are seen, on practically every news bulletin, at work, or at least alive and well in their prison. They are young men. Their fate is a firing squad. We will all die, in due course, but we don't know when, and that uncertainty allows us to get on with our lives. When you know you are going to be shot, and your family and friends know as well, that is a highly unusual and distressing situation for all of them. Then the fates of the 9 are different. Schapelle Corby has been released. One of the others was sentenced to life imprisonment, then was sentenced to death, then had that sentence reversed to life imprisonment upon appeal. The others all endure differing periods of imprisonment. Why the differences? Corby was said to be a "mule", someone who carried drugs, either innocently or knowingly, for others. Sukumaran and Chan were the ringleaders, and that does not seem to be at issue. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam all have tough anti-drug laws, with death the standard penalty for conviction. Australia also has tough anti-drug laws, but we no longer have sentences of death for any offence. Indeed, the death penalty was last exercised in 1967, and formally abolished by the Commonwealth in 2010; fewer than 1 in 3 Australians support the death penalty for murder, according to the Roy Morgan polling group, and the proportion has been declining for a long time. Moreover, neither the Commonwealth, nor any State or Territory, will extradite a foreign national if the person might be executed for the alleged offence. It is that practice that has caused questions about the AFP's having tipped off the Indonesian authorities about the Nine, rather than having awaited the return of the drug smugglers to Australia. Apparently the AFP will discuss this issue after the coming execution of Sukumaran and Chan. I find it hard to establish a firm personal position on this case. I am opposed to the use of the death penalty for variety of reasons, one of them being that the judicial system can always be wrong. But I am also opposed to the criminalisation of drugs of all kinds, on the ground that this leads, all too easily, to the corruption of the police force, if only because the financial stakes are so high. I also take the view that drug use need not involve other persons, and even in the worst cases represents a "crime" only against oneself. I accept that it is virtually impossible to go back to the 19th century, when cocaine and heroin were legally available, in part because they were seen as remedies for ailments. But I take the view that if heroin, for example, were available on a doctor's prescription for addicts, its use would fall right away, as would the frequency of the crime for which Sukumaran and Chan have been sentenced to death. None of this is easy. I would not sign a petition for clemency in their case, because they were found guilty in a properly constituted court in another country. They knew what they were doing, and they knew what the consequences were likely to be. Moreover, what they were doing, had they been successful, would have caused a great deal of unhappiness, and almost certainly death, to people in Australia. Whenever so-called "hard drugs" come up for discussion I am reminded of a story told to me many years ago by a colleague in the social sciences. He discovered that one of his acquaintances was a heroin user, though he would not have been able to guess that from any behaviour. That man, scornful of the bad reputation that heroin had, suggested that my colleague study the group of recreational heroin-users that he belonged to, all of them professionals of one kind or another. With some misgivings, my friend did so. Within a few years, all of the group had died. What can any society do with practices or substances that can do great harm to individuals? It can outlaw them, as the USA did with alcohol after the First World War. It can also try to educate, and to provide remedies for those who become addicted, as in Alcoholics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous. It can accept that some practices are less than desirable, like prostitution, but endeavour to regulate them. We do all of these things. At the heart of this issue is the problem that we are human, and that our society is based on humans and their strengths and weaknesses too. Too often we ask the society to do things for us that we feel unable to do ourselves, like preventing our children from taking up bad habits. That seems a job for parents, in my judgment. Ultimately we all have to learn and grow up, and growing up is hard. Some reach advanced age without having really done so. To my mind, the drug problem cannot be easily solved. We are part of the world, and the USA, in particular, takes a dim view of any society that does not see "drugs" as seriously as it does. Our police forces are connected to other police forces in an attempt to end the smuggling and selling of illicit drugs. They're illicit because our legislatures have said they are. New drugs appear from time to time and are proscribed too. Why do young people want to take them? Because they're curious. Very few become addicted, but these are the ones that make the headlines when they die, or kill someone for money to feed their habit. Current usage in Australia? Cannabis about 10 %, cocaine about 2 %, ecstasy about 2.5 %, heroin about 0.1 %. Some 40 % of Australians have tried cannabis. I'm one of them. It was more than 40 years ago, and I had no wish to repeat the experiment. It would never have occurred to me to try heroin or cocaine. We as a society have created "the drugs problem", by making such a fuss about drugs. I am sorry for Sukumaran and Chan. They gambled and lost. I doubt that their execution will deter others from thinking that they will succeed in smuggling drugs into our country. (source: )pinion, Don Atkin; The Malay Mail Online) ******************** Bali 9 death penalty - we shouldn't respect archaic and barbaric foreign laws If you believe Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan deserve to be executed in Indonesia in the next few days, please read on. I would like to challenge the view - held by 1 in 2 Australian adults - that these men should die. It is true they were found to be responsible for strapping 8.3kg of heroin worth about $4 million to the bodies of 7 other people flying into Australia in 2005. I do not condone drug smuggling, and I believe these men deserve to be punished for this terrible crime. Hundreds of people die each year as a result of heroin overdoses, and drug abuse ruins many thousands more. However, I am passionately against the death penalty. Life in Bali's notorious Kerobokan jail with no prospect of release is sufficient punishment for these 2 men. They do not deserve to be executed in cold blood. There is no such thing as a humane form of execution. Killing these men is not justice, it's a criminal act against humanity. I know many people argue these men were aware of Indonesia's death penalty for drug smugglers, and must cop the penalty imposed on them by a foreign government. But we should not respect the laws of foreign countries that are archaic and barbaric. The problem is that the fate of this pair has little to do with the crime they committed, or the way they have behaved in the past 10 years. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why and when the death penalty is handed out by the Indonesian Government. For instance, other members of the so-called Bali Nine who were caught red-handed with heroin were given prison sentences. Even terrorist leaders, including those involved in the Bali bombings which killed 88 Australians, were spared the death penalty. I also find the hypocrisy of the Indonesians to be outrageous. They regularly take steps to save the lives of their own citizens facing the death penalty in other countries, but they have executed hundreds of foreigners. Furthermore, the Indonesian President Joko Widodo has the right to grant clemency, but has made it clear that he does not assess individual cases on their legal or moral merits. He is ignoring the advice of Indonesia's own Constitutional Court. The court has recommended that any prisoner who has spent more than 10 years on death row, and who has shown remorse and been rehabilitated, should have their sentence reduced to life in jail. Chan and Sukumaran clearly meet this criteria. Both have not only made changes in their personal lives, but have done much to help others. They have become model prisoners in the jail; holding English and art classes and offering religious and psychological guidance to others. It does seem Indonesia has more to gain by keeping these men alive and allowing them to continue their good work within the prison than by it would gain by their execution. I also can't ignore the role of the Australian Federal Police in tipping off the Indonesian authorities. Perhaps this is why everyone is talking about Chan and Sukumaran, but the plight of other Australians on death row in other countries receives little attention. It is chilling to think these men may not have been caught if it were not for a tip-off by the father of one of their mules worried about his son. Those who are arguing Chan and Sukumaran should be executed should consider what benefit it would bring. Clearly, the death penalty is no deterrent to drug smugglers: Indonesian jails are overflowing with drug mules. Another pressing issue is the very real prospect of diplomatic, political and economic ramifications for Indonesia. There is a growing backlash among everyday Australians, who are under increasing pressure to cancel plans to holiday in Bali. Indonesians, a peace-loving people, do not deserve to have a government that puts them in such a position. At this stage legal challenges are still pending, but many experts say all avenues have been exhausted. It is very likely that within days Chan and Sukumaran will be executed by firing squad. These men do not deserve to get off scott-free, but they do not deserve to die in this way. It is time the Indonesian Government joins the world's civilised nations and outlaws the death penalty. I urge those who support this act to reconsider. Ask yourself: would you feel differently if it was your son or brother facing the firing squad? (source: Opinion, Susie O'Brien; The Herald Sun) *********************** 3 Murderers of British Citizen May Face Death Penalty 3 accused murder of a British citizen who has Australian Passport Robert Kevin Ellis (60) are threatened to death penalty. In a session in Denpasar Court on Wednesday, the Public Prosecutor Raka Arimbawa, reading the indictment to the victim's wife Noor Aini Julaikah, executor Urbanus Yoh and Yohanes Sairo Kodu. "The 3 defendants are charged with Article of the Criminal Code (primary), Article in conjunction with Article of Criminal Code (subsidiary) of a murder committed together," said Raka in Denpasar. The indictment stated that the victim Robert Kevin Ellis was killed in a Villa in Sanur, South Denpasar, on October 19, 2014, at 7 pm. Nur Elis intentionally and plan of killing her husband by hiring 5 with the reason that she felt annoyed towards the victim's attitude. Therefore she planned to kill her husband and told her maid Marlina Bela Zaghu to find the person to do the murder. After doing a deal, Nur Ellis gave Rp150 million to the executors, if they are successful to kill her husband up to dispose the body. (source: The Bali Times) ********************* It's lucky the Bali bombers didn't have drugs on them Imagine if the Bali 9 had been smuggling heroin to fund terrorism. That's not true - there are no links whatsoever - but the Australian Institute of Criminology notes that "terrorist groups continue to be heavily involved in the drug trade". The reason for bringing it up is that looking at the sentences handed down to the 9 Australians and comparing them to the jail time given to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorists, some would draw the conclusion that Indonesia's courts would consider drug trafficking to fund terrorism a greater offence than actual terrorist attacks that kill hundreds of people. With 2 Australians on death row, it's worth asking whether their punishment truly fits their crime. On 12 October, 2002, 202 people, including 88 Australians, died when a bomb went off at the Sari nightclub in Bali's Kuta district. A further 209 people were injured. On 17 April, 2005 in Denpasar, Bali, 9 Australians, aged between 18 and 28, were arrested for attempting to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Indonesia to Australia. On 9 November, 2008, 3 Indonesians, Imam Samudra, Amrozi Nurhasyim and Huda bin Abdul Haq were executed by firing squad for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings. At the time, the Rudd Government did not object to the executions, but subsequently announced that it would campaign internationally against the death penalty. Within days, 2 Australians, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, will be executed by firing squad as the "ringleaders" of the Australian drug group, despite repeated pleas for clemency from the Australian government and thousands more. The other 7 Australians involved, Scott Rush, Si Yi Chen, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen and Matthew Norman were all sentenced to death at some stage during the appeal process, but had the sentence downgraded to life in jail. Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj are both serving life sentences. Ranae Lawrence is the only Australian to have successfully reduced her sentence on appeal, from life to 20 years. Unlike the others, she did not face a 2nd appeal. While the death penalty was on Indonesian statutes when the republic was formed in 1949, the 1st executions didn't take place 1973, just as Australia ended capital punishment. Indonesia introduced it for serious drug offences in 1975, along with Singapore and Malaysia (where Australians have also been executed for drugs crimes), in a bid to halt the flow of narcotics trafficking down through Asia from the Golden Triangle. Jemaah Islamiyah was behind the October 2002 Sari nightclub attack, the 2003 JW Marriot Hotel bombing, 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, a 2nd Bali bombing in 2005, killing 4 Australians, and a 2nd JW Marriot Hotel bombing in 2009, which occurred simultaneously Ritz-Carlton bombing, which killed 7 people, including 3 Australians. Indonesia's criminal justice system appears to have been far kinder to those involved in terrorist activities, with additional help from regular Presidential remissions to sentences. The Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict reports that around 100 extremists, especially those involved in the 2002 Kuta bombings and the subsequent 2005 bombings in Jimbaran and Kuta, which killed 20 people, including 4 Australians and injured 129, including 19 Australians, have been released. While the Indonesian government has focussed on a de-radicalisation program, there are questions about its effectiveness, with terror cells being controlled from jail, as well as some of those released being involved in further terrorist acts. As Australian Policy Online points out: "overcrowding, understaffing and the poor physical condition of many Indonesian prisons combine to produce escapes of ordinary criminals so frequently that it is a wonder that not more extremists make the attempt". By 2010, just 13 of the 70 JI terrorists convicted for their involvement in the Bali bombings and 2004 attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta were still in prison. By May 2014, just 5 men from the 2 Bali attacks remained in jail. Others have walked free. Here's how a number of the key terrorists involved have fared. Last year Muhammad Cholili, sentenced to 18 years for helping make the 2005 bombs that killed 20 people, was released on parole after serving less than 8 years. To this day he denies any involvement in the restaurant attacks. Others involved in the 2002 bombings have also benefited from the Indonesian legal system. Abu Bakar Bashir, regarded as spiritual head Jemaah Islamiah, was found guilty of conspiracy over the 2002 bombings and sentenced to 30 months, but was acquitted on appeal and released in 2006. He is currently serving 15 years after being convicted in 2011 of supporting a jihadi training camp. Umar Patek, nicknamed the Demolition Man, was arrested in 2011 in Pakistan, in the town where Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed 3 months later. The US offered a $1 million reward for his capture. He was found guilty of murder and bomb-making in 2012 and sentenced to 20 years. Prosecutors did not ask for the death penalty. His wife was sentenced to 27 months for immigration violations. Idris, also known as Johnny Hendrawan, admitted his involvement, including detonating a bomb. He walked free after a ruling that Indonesia's anti-terror laws could not be applied retrospectively. He received a 5 year sentence for his involvement in the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing, which killed 12, and was released 2009. Masykur Abdul Kadir, sentenced to 15 years, also had his sentence overturned when the retrospective anti-terrorism laws were struck down. [source: US Justice Dept] Hambali, aka Riduan Isamuddin, dubbed the Bin Laden of Asia, was captured in Thailand in 2003 by US operatives and in 2006 was placed under extrajudicial detention at Guantanamo Bay. He is 1 of 17 high-value detainees there and considered the architect of the 2002 Bali bombing as the financier of the operation, with close links to Al-Qaeda as well as JI. No charges have been laid against Hambali, although US authorities recommended prosecution for offences against American citizens (seven died in Kuta in 2002). Indonesia and several other countries also want him to face court, and the lack of a trial remains a sore point in the region, especially for the survivors of the attack. Hari Kuncoro brother-in-law of bombing mastermind Dulmatin (killed in a police raid in 2010), was arrested in a 2011 raid, along with 15 others. Kuncoro was sentenced to 6 years helping Dulmatin prepare the bomb. Australia's best known convicted drug smuggler, Schapelle Corby, spent 9 years of a 20-year sentence in Bali's Kerobokan prison for importing 4.2kg of cannabis before being released on parole 12 months ago. Her sentence was reduced by the President by 5 years, but she must remain in Indonesia until 2017. It's lucky for the Bali bombers that they didn't have drugs on them. (source: Simon Thomsen, Business Insider) ****************** Brother Of Indonesian Maid On Death Row In Saudi Says Indonesia Has Death Penalty Double Standards For Refusing Clemency To Bali 9, Others The Indonesian government has double standards when it comes to killing criminals, according to the family of an Indonesian domestic worker on death row in Saudi Arabia. The government paid 7 million Riyadh [$2.4 million] as blood money to save Satinah Binti Jumadi Ahmad from execution in the Arab state in 2014, but it won't back down on executing Bali 9 pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran despite repeated pleas from the Australian government. The 41-year-old domestic worker had been sentenced to death by beheading for murdering and robbing her employer's wife. To spare its citizen from the capital punishment, the Indonesian government sent a formal appeal to the then-ruler King Abdullah to pardon Ahmad, and had paid the legally recognised "blood money" to family of Ahmad's victims. Ahmad's life was spared, and her family were thankful that their government did everything it could to save her. However, they can't help but think Indonesia has double standard when it comes to executing criminals. "On the one hand, Indonesia is begging for its citizens to escape the death penalty, meanwhile Indonesia's firing squad executives inmates, it's not fair," Paeri al-Feri, Ahmad's brother, told the Guardian. "How can you plead for a lighter sentence or even freedom from other countries if the death penalty still exists in Indonesia?" Diyya, or blood money, is legally recognised in Islamic Sharia law. It is the financial compensation paid to the heirs or family of a victim for the offender to be forgiven. Australia does not apply the Shariah law of blood money, but has also shelled out money for Indonesia. It has given Indonesia a billion dollars in aid back in 2005. Then-prime minister John Howard announced the aid package of $500 million in grants and another $500 million in concessional loans as response to the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia the previous December. It should be noted that the aid was unrelated to sparing the lives of the Australian citizens on death row. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has recently sent an 11th-hour appeal for Chan and Sukumaran's clemency to his Indonesian counterpart, President Joko Widodo. However, Mr Widodo previously vowed not to give in to outside pressures, saying he would not give compromise to drug offenders. And as Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop continues to lobby for the pair's lives, Indonesian minister Retno Marsudi is also fighting for 229 Indonesian nationals on death row outside the country. The foreign minister's spokesperson, Armantha Nasir, defended Indonesia's position to the Guardian, saying their use of capital punishment is within the bounds of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The covenant claims that death penalty may only be imposed for the "most serious crimes." U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon has recently condemned Indonesia's execution of criminals with drug-related charges. He spoke with Marsudi to express his concern over the matter. "The secretary general appeals to the Indonesian authorities that the executions of the remaining prisoners on death row for drug-related offences not be carried out," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding the U.N. opposes the capital punishment under all circumstances. (source: International Business Times) ************************* Increased fundraising for Antony de Malmanche's Indonesian drug trial As Dannevirke-born Antony de Malmanche prepares to defend drug allegations in an Indonesian courtroom, friends and family have ramped up efforts to help pay for his legal costs. The 52-year-old sickness beneficiary's trial will begin in Indonesia tomorrow, with the legal proceedings expected to cost up to $120,000. The Whanganui resident is facing the death penalty or 5 years' imprisonment after being arrested in December last year. de Malmanche is accused of attempting to smuggle 1.7 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine into Bali from Hong Kong. He is being represented by a legal team from Indonesia and by New Zealand human rights lawyer Craig Tuck . Family media liaison James Bellamy said he and Tuck were going to travel to Indonesia next week. Bellamy said the pair would go over with psychiatrist Rupert Bird, who will provide de Malmanche with a psychiatric assessment, to meet the legal team. Although much of the legal work will be done on a pro bono basis, costs are mounting, prompting his family and friends to continue their fundraising efforts. Although the many small donations were appreciated, they were looking for a "patron" who might be able to pledge a more significant amount of money, he said. "It would be wonderful if there was someone who was in the position to become a major patron of the cause," Bellamy said. Shaun de Malmanche, Antony's son, said he and his wife had mortgaged their house in an effort to cover the "mind boggling" costs. "We just got out what we had left from the house," he said. "We absolutely maxed it out. Nobody in the family has money. "We're just trying to see where [else] we can get the money from." The family has set up a page on website Give a Little, after the father of four was arrested, which has raised close to $14,000 so far. He said the family was "absolutely blown away" by the support so far. Bands from Palmerston North will play at a gig organised by family and friends in the city next month. Shaun de Malmanche said it was an appropriate way to go about raising money for his father, as it was he who introduced him to classic rock music when he was young. The gig will be held at the Royal Hotel on the March 21. Donations would be accepted for the family's cause. A garage sale has also been planned by family in Whanganui and people are invited to donate secondhand goods. (source: Stuff news) ******************* U.N. Urgently Urges Indonesia to Halt Executions In a time-sensitive appeal, a U.N. Human Rights Expert has urged the Indonesian Government to halt further executions of people convicted of drug-related offenses. It is reported that 14 persons have been slated for execution in Indonesia without a fair trial, to which U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Christof Heyns, is seeking immediate reverse measures including clemency. "Despite several appeals by U.N. human rights experts and civil society organisations urging the Indonesian Government to reconsider imposing the death penalty for drug-related offences, the authorities decided to execute 6 people by firing squad on 18 January 2015," said Heyns, in Geneva. More recently, Indonesian officials have announced that eight convicted drug traffickers would be executed by firing squad any day now. It is reported that 12 out of the 14 cases are foreign nationals who generally have not received access to adequate interpreting services, the right to a translator or a lawyer at every stage of trial and appeal. "Any death sentence must comply with international obligations related to the stringent respect of fair trial and due process guarantees, as stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Indonesia is a State party. "I previously expressed concerns over the imposition of death penalty for drug-related offenses, and that such death sentences undertaken in contravention of Indonesia's international human rights obligations is tantamount to an arbitrary execution," said Heyns. International law regards punishment by death to be an extreme form of punishment, which should never be imposed in the absence of the strictest safeguards including a fair trial. "I have urged Indonesia to restrict the use of the death penalty in compliance with its international obligations. I regret that the authorities continue to execute people in violation of international human rights standards." In his statement, Heyns also drew attention to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, by which anyone sentenced to punishment by death has the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence, reminding of the option to grant amnesty, pardon or commutation of the death sentence. On a broader note, he concluded by saying: "I urge the Government of Indonesia to establish a moratorium on execution with a view of its complete abolition, in order to comply with the international move towards the abolition of the death penalty". (source: Inter Press Service) AUSTRALIA: New Lowy Institute poll: 62% Australians oppose execution of Chan and Sukumaran In a new poll conducted by the Lowy Institute on the weekend, 62% of the Australian adult population say that the executions of the 2 Australian citizens, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, in Indonesia should not proceed. Fewer than 1 in 3 (31%) Australians say the executions should proceed. Most Australians also oppose the death penalty for drug trafficking. A substantial majority (69%) of the Australian population believes that in general, the death penalty should not be used as a punishment for drug trafficking. By comparison, only 26% say that the death penalty should apply to drug trafficking. As Michael Fullilove has remarked today in a press release on this poll, with the date for the executions of the 2 Australians appearing to draw closer, 'Australian public and political opposition is crystallising. This Lowy Institute poll is a strong expression of Australian public opinion against the execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, as well as public opposition to the death penalty for drug trafficking in general.' This special Lowy Institute poll reports the results of a nationally representative survey by telephone of 1211 randomly-selected respondents aged 18 years and over, conducted by Newspoll on 13-15 February 2015. The approximate error margin for the poll is +/- 2.8%. The questions asked in the poll were as follows: 1. In Indonesia, there is a death penalty for drug trafficking. 2 Australian citizens, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are currently facing execution in Indonesia following convictions for drug trafficking. Do you personally think that the executions of these 2 Australian citizens should or should not proceed? 2. Around the world, some countries do have a death penalty for drug trafficking, while other countries do not. In general, do you think the death penalty should or should not be used as a penalty for drug trafficking? (source: lowyinterpreter.org) ************************ Tony Abbott warns against bid to save Bali 9 pair becoming 'test of strength' ---- Australian PM asks President Joko Widodo to spare the lives of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran but says he is wary of backing Indonesia into a corner Millions of Australians feel sick at the prospect of 2 citizens facing the "dreadful, final and irrevocable" penalty of death by firing squad in Indonesia, Tony Abbott has said. The prime minister said on Monday he had made a further personal representation to the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, about the plight of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, but Abbott also warned against "turning this into some kind of test of strength". Australian officials were invited to a meeting on Monday where Indonesian officials were expected to spell out the procedures for the planned executions of Chan, Sukumaran and several prisoners from other countries. Abbott declined to comment on new claims made by Chan and Sukumaran's legal team that 6 judges who sentenced them to death had offered to give a lighter penalty in exchange for a bribe - although the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, described them as "very serious allegations". Fairfax Media reported that the claim was outlined in a letter to Indonesia's judicial committee alleging a breach of ethics, and the legal team had also written to the attorney general, HM Prasetyo, highlighting an outstanding legal challenge in the administrative court. Abbott said he would not be drawn on legal argument but reiterated Australia's "absolute opposition to the death penalty" and its determination "to do everything we humanly can, even at the 11th hour, to try to ensure these young Australians do not face death in a foreign jail". "I have made a further personal representation to President Widodo because we are obviously wanting to leave no stone unturned here," he said. "Like millions of Australians, I feel sick in the pit of of my stomach when I think about what is quite possibly happening to these youngsters and, like every parent, I want to try to ensure that nothing terrible happens to people, so we are constantly making representations. We are constantly trying to appeal to Indonesia's sense of itself as a stable democracy under the rule of law and that's what our latest representations are all about." Abbott would not provide further detail about the representations because it was important not to "turn this into some kind of test of strength". "If we do turn this into a test of strength, I think we are much more likely to back the Indonesians into a corner than to get the result we want," he said. Abbott also called on Indonesia not to proceed with the executions given that legal avenues for appeal remained available to Chan and Sukumaran, who were convicted over a drug-smuggling plot by a group that became known as the ":Bali 9". "Let's not do this dreadful, final, irrevocable thing any time soon," he said. The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said the death penalty "demeans us all as human beings". "I feel incredibly for these 2 young men and their families and what they're going through," Shorten said. "Let's focus on everything that we can do to help try and save these 2 men's lives. I'm not going to get into the blame game in the event that the executions occur." A petition organised by the Mercy Campaign has attracted more than 178,900 signatures, including about 161,400 from Australia. It says Chan and Sukumaran "deserve to be in jail but not to be killed", citing the pair's rehabilitation and the example they have shown to other prisoners. The justice minister, Michael Keenan, declined to comment on the Australian Federal Police's role in tipping off Indonesian authorities about the Bali 9 plot despite the potential that citizens would be exposed to charges carrying the death penalty. Keenan said commentary on the issue was "probably not helpful" at a time when efforts were focused on stopping the executions from occurring. "I'm not keen to engage in a conversation about this at the moment," he told Sky News. In the past few days the Australian government has emphasised its argument that Indonesia appeals to other countries for clemency when its citizens are facing the death penalty abroad, and therefore should be responsive to Australia's similar requests. Bishop said she understood Indonesia's tough line on drug trafficking "but my point is that no good purpose will be served by executing 2 Australian citizens who have been rehabilitated and who are repaying their debt to society". The foreign affairs minister told the ABC she had considered travelling to Jakarta to plead the men's case but had heeded advice from consular officials that such a trip at this time "could potentially be counterproductive and could precipitate an unfavourable outcome". Abbott said in January that he did not want to jeopardise the relationship with Indonesia, but warned on Sunday that if the executions proceeded Australia would "certainly find ways to make our displeasure felt". (source: The Guardian) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 16 16:43:22 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 16:43:22 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 16 SOMALIA: Puntland court sentences to death 4 suspected members of al-Shabaab A military court in Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland has sentenced 4 suspects having linked to the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab to death penalty on Monday. The 4 men, were found of having links with the extremist group who is affiliated to also al-Qaeda. Their trial took place in the port town of Bosaso and lasted only for few hours. 2 other members were sentenced to serve life imprisonment. Prosecutor Abdifatah Haji Adan said that the men were preparing to participate in a terrorist operation in the stable region of Puntland. In recent years, Puntland authorities have launched a massive crackdown on the network and its military has sentenced members and other individuals linked to the terror group tough punishments such as death penalty. In 2013, Puntland executed 13 suspected al-Shabab members including a woman, after the military court found them guilty of orchestrating an assassination of a famous scholar Dr Ahmed Haji Abdirahman. But al-Shabab denied that none of them was part of the group. (source: Horseed Media) EGYPT: Egypt's Morsi on trial accused of leaking secrets to Qatar -- Former president charged with endangering national security, facing death sentence if convicted An Egyptian court put the ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on trial on Sunday on charges of endangering national security by leaking state secrets and sensitive documents to Qatar. Morsi, who was toppled by the army in 2013 after mass protests against his rule, remained defiant, insisting he was Egypt's legitimate president despite facing several court cases. "This court does not represent anything to me," said Morsi, who was on trial with 10 other people. The maximum penalty if he is convicted is death. Relations between Qatar and Egypt have been icy since July 2013 when Egypt's then-army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, overthrew Morsi and launched a security crackdown against Islamists. Qatar had supported Morsi, who is already in jail along with thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members, many of whom have been sentenced to death on separate charges. The public prosecutor had said Morsi's aides were involved in leaking to Qatari intelligence documents that exposed the location of weapons held by the Egyptian armed forces and detailed the country's foreign and domestic policies. Human rights groups accuse Sisi, who went on to become Egypt's elected president last year, of suppressing dissent, an allegation the government denies. Islamist militants based in the Sinai peninsula have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since Morsi was deposed. Sisi says the Brotherhood still poses a serious threat. (source: The Guardian) BANGLADESH: Kazi Aref Murder Verdict ---- Family wants quick execution Family members and party colleagues of slain Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) president Kazi Aref Ahmed and 4 other party leaders have demanded execution of death penalty of 9 people in the murder case. Family members of Kazi Aref spoke to The Daily Star ahead of his 16th death anniversary today. On the occasion, Kazi Aref Parishad and Lokman Hossain Foundation organised discussions in Kushtia. An armed gang killed Kazi Aref, Kushtia district JSD president Lokman Hossain, general secretary Yakub Ali, local JSD leaders Shamsher Ali and Israil Hossain at a rally in Kalidaspur village of Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia on February 16, 1999. On August 30, 2004, the then additional district and sessions judge Fazlur Rahman sentenced 10 people to death and 12 others to life-term imprisonment for the murders. On August 5 in 2008, a High Court bench acquitted 1 of the convicted who was sentenced to death and upheld punishment of others. Afterwards, 2 convicted -- Rashedul Islam alias Jhantu and Anwar Hossain alias Anwar -- challenged the HC verdict that sentenced them to death. Finally, the Supreme Court on November 19 last year upheld the HC verdict. Advocate Al Mujahid Hossain, son of Lokman Hossain, yesterday said their families are eagerly waiting for execution of death penalty of the convicted. (source: The Daily Star) SINGAPORE: Cook charged with UiTM undergrad murder A cook was charged at the magistrate's court here this morning with the murder of a Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) undergraduate earlier this month. No plea was recorded from Syarafi Abu, 25. He is alleged to have murdered Nur Syuhada Johari, 20, at Km 228.2 of the North South Expressway near here at 11.55am on Feb 2. He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction. Magistrate Eyu Ghim Siang fixed Apr 21 for mention pending chemist and post-mortem report. Syarafi was unrepresented while Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Amril Zuhari prosecuted. (source: New Straits Times) MALAYSIA: Accused in Dutch schoolboy's kidnap case ordered to enter defence 3 men accused of kidnapping a Dutch schoolboy have been ordered by the High Court to enter their defence. Self-employed Chong Tat Siong, 25, together with mobile phone seller Foong Khar Fai, 21, and unemployed Lee Phak Seng, 25, will take the stand over the kidnapping of the then 12-year-old boy, with the intent to get RM300,000 ransom. Justice Kamardin Hashim ruled that the prosecution had proven a prima facie case based on the victim's testimony and supporting evidence. The boy's testimony had identified Chong, Foong and Lee as the people who had kidnapped him from his school, held him in a house in Chemor, Perak and later released him at a rest stop in Rawang. The court fixed May 6 to 8 to hear the defence's case. Under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act 1961, Chong, Foong and Lee face the death penalty, or life imprisonment and possible whipping if spared the death penalty, upon conviction. (source: The Star) VIETNAM: Wanted drug trafficker changes her look with plastic surgery, still gets arrested Vietnamese police have arrested 3 people for smuggling cannabis from Laos to Hanoi, including a woman who underwent facial cosmetic surgery to avoid an arrest warrant on drug trafficking charges. The woman, 40-year-old Phan Thi Chin, was arrested on February 14 while receiving 32 kilograms of cannabis from Nguyen Van Hung, 46. Police in the central province of Nghe An also seized a car and an electronic scale meant for weighing the drug. Subsequent investigation led to the arrest of Nguyen Van Minh, 26. Cannabis is still considered an illegal drug in Vietnam, as in many other countries. Investigators said the trio intended to smuggle the drug from Laos to Nghe An before transporting it to Hanoi. Preliminary investigation found Chin faced an arrest warrant issued by Nghe An police for drug smuggling charges several years ago, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. She had changed her face and used a fake ID to avoid police detection, investigators said. Police are expanding investigation into the case. In Vietnam, drug-related crimes are among the most aggressively prosecuted cases. Those convicted of trafficking more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Producing or selling 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also a death penalty crime. (source: Thanh Nien News) IRAN----executions 6 prisoners hanged in Kerman and Shiraz The Iranian regime's henchmen hanged 6 prisoners on Sunday in two prisons in the southern cities of Shiraz and Kerman. A group of 4 prisoners were hanged in Adelabad Prison in the city of Shiraz, according to reports received from Iran. Another group of 2 men were executed in Shahab Prison in the city of Kerman. Asghar Shabani and Mehrdad Abshirin were members of a group of 3 prisoners who had been transferred to isolation on Saturday to face execution. The 3rd member of the group was Shabani's wife whose fate is unknown. These executions have been carried out in secret and no information has been published in the news media in the country. These executions followed the hanging of 2 Baloch prisoners in the main prison in the southeastern city on Saturday. The 3 Balochi men, identified as Hamed Kahrazhi, 28 and Mobasher Mir-Balochzehi, had spent 4 years in prison. They had been sentenced to death for 'Moharebe' or enmity with God. (source: NCRI) ************************ Iranian Kurdistan: Human Rights Group Calls for Release of Death Row Teen Amnesty International has implored the Iranian Government to release an Iranian Kurd, sentenced as a teenager, who is to be executed next week. The man, who is now 22 years old, was only 17 at the time of the sentencing. The death sentence was originally overturned by the Supreme Court because of his age when he committed the offence, but was later re-imposed. Below is an article published by Vatican Radio: An Iranian Kurdish man who was arrested when he was 17 years old and alleges he was tortured into confessing has been informed he will be hanged next week, rights group Amnesty International said on Friday. The London-based group is urging Iranian authorities to immediately halt the execution of the man, Saman Naseem, who is now 22, and thoroughly review his case. "Imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child when the alleged crime took place goes against international human rights laws that Iran has committed to respect," the group's deputy director for the Middle East, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, said in a statement. Naseem was arrested in July 2011 after a firefight between Revolutionary Guard forces and members of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, a Kurdish rebel group known as PEJAK, in the northwestern city of Sardasht. He was held without access to a lawyer in an intelligence service detention center, according to Amnesty. In a letter seen by the rights group, Naseem alleged that he was held in a cell measuring 2 meters (yards) by half a meter. He says he was repeatedly beaten and suspended by his hands and feet before being forced while blindfolded to put his fingerprints on documents to confirm his alleged confession. He then appeared in a televised confession and in January 2012 was sentenced to death following a conviction for "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" over his supposed involvement with the Kurdish armed group. He later retracted his confession at trial, noting his torture claims, and his lawyers have not been allowed to pursue his defense, according to Amnesty. The group says his death sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court because he was under 18 when arrested, but another court later re-imposed the punishment. The United Nations General Assembly human rights committee in November approved a resolution expressing deep concern over Iran's "alarmingly high frequency" of the use of the death penalty. The country has the 2nd-highest number of executions worldwide, after China. (source: unpo.org) TURKEY: EU Minister: State should refrain from death penalty Turkey's EU Minister Volkan Bozkir stated on Monday that he is deeply sorry about the tragic death of Ozgecan Aslan and stated that the death penalty should not be evaluated with emotions and that the state should sentence criminals with the harshest punishment under the scope of the law. Bozkir also expressed his sorrow over the incident and said he would kill the perpetrators himself if the same thing happened to his own daughter. Speaking after a meeting organized for academics in Ankara, Bozkir stated that the ruthless murder of the 20-year-old psychology student was devastating, but he said that the issue of the death penalty must be evaluated without personal feelings. "I think it would be more appropriate if we could evaluate the situation and the possibility of death penalty in a less emotionally charged atmosphere with rationality" said the minister, noting that the death sentence was abolished in Turkey in 2000 after long and heated debates. He pointed out that the death sentence has not been used in Turkey since 1986 and it is crucial to differentiate between one's personal feelings and the state's reaction to incidents. Bozkir stated that he would personally punish the murderer himself by shooting him if his own daughter was killed in a similar situation and would bear the punishment, but that the state's reaction should not be the same. "It is not befitting of a state to kill humans" Bozkir said, adding that the duty of the state is to arrest criminals and sentence them with the harshest punishment possible under the scope of the rule of law and justice, while he cursed the killer and his accomplices for what they did to Ozgecan Aslan. The EU minister said that the criminals should spend their days in utter pain, shame and regret and stated that it would be more appropriate to give the culprits a life sentence rather than death sentence. Contrary to Volkan Bozkir, Aysenur Islam who is Turkey's Family and Social Policies Minister said on Sunday that the death sentence could be an option for the murderers of Ozgecan Aslan. "What Songul and Mehmet Aslan (the father and mother of Ozgecan) experienced is the worst disaster that a family can experience," she told press members after she visited the grieving family of the victim. She added that speaking as a mother; the death sentence should be on the government's agenda for these kinds of heinous crimes. Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci has also supported the possibility of introducing the death penalty: "We must discuss the possibility of introducing the death penalty for brutal murders such as Ozgecan Aslan's case" he said on his Twitter account. Ozgecan Aslan, who was a psychology student at Cag University in the southern province of Mersin, was burnt after she was allegedly raped and heinously murdered by the driver of a bus she had boarded to go home. Aslan's murder has caused uproar across the country, with politicians and various organizations protesting the incident and raising awareness about the issue of femicide in Turkey. (source: Daily Sabah) SAUDI ARABIA: Blood Money Paid for Filipino on Death Row A member of the Saudi royal family ordered the government to pay 'diya' (blood money) on behalf of a Filipino who is serving jail for killing a compatriot after he converted to Islam and persuaded 14 other Pinoys to embrace the religion, according to a media report. Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, prince of the eastern province, instructed a government committee in charge of prisoners welfare to 'immediately' pay Dh66,000 diya to the victim's family and release the prisoner, Emirates 24/7 reported. "We visited the prisoner and informed him about the positive development. We also gave him a present and some money in recognition of his efforts to persuade 14 other Filipinos to embrace Islam," the committee's director Sheikh Ahmed Al Shahri reportedly said. "Upon hearing the news, he cried and prayed for the prince. He promised that he would pursue his campaign for Islam whether he stays in Saudi Arabia or leaves," he added. The inmate was on death row after he was awarded death sentence by a court in the eastern port of Dammam for killing another Filipino during a fight several years ago. It said the diya nullified the death sentence and he would soon be freed, the Dubai-based news portal reported. (source: Filipino Times) MALAWI: Courts Begin Re-sentencing of Death-row Prisoners ---- Re-sentencing for some 170 death row inmates begins this Wednesday as part of adherence to a landmark court ruling in 2007 which nullified mandatory death penalty. The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions says the 1st of 16 cases in the 1st phase starts in the country's old capital Zomba with the murder convicts standing a chance for acquittal or lesser sentences. "All is set for the for the re-hearing, we have various stakeholders involved including Malawi law society that have provided 30 lawyers to handle the cases," said Dzikondianthu Malunda Senior Assistant Chief State advocate in the ministry of Justice. He however said 88 of the 170 case files for resentencing are missing in what he attributed to poor record keeping system. The 170 prisoners include 23 on death row as well as 164 men and 3 women whose mandatory death sentences were commuted to life in prison by the president. "On the missing files what we are doing is to re-construct the files by talking to relations of the deceased, the convicts and other respected people in society such as chiefs," added Malunda. Re-sentencing of the death row inmates followed a 2007 high court ruling nullifying mandatory death sentenced for any murder convict marking a turning point in the country's criminal justice system. In the case, 1 Kafantayeni (Now deceased) and 4 other murder convicts challenged imposition of a mandatory death penalty and true to their wish the court held that mandatory death penalty was a violation of the right to fair trial. The Malawi Human Rights Commission says this implies that death penalty remains applicable but not mandatory and that it remains at the discretion of the judge to determine whether a murder convict be sentenced to life or a lesser sentence. In another ruling on a murder case in 2010, the high court ruled that in light of the Kafantayeni case, all inmates on death row be subjected to re-hearing. There are 170 inmates to undergo re-sentencing. Briefing journalists in Lilongwe, Malawi Human rights Commission executive secretary Grace Malera said "the re-sentencing does not mean the death penalty has been scrapped off from the law". The sentence rehearing project has been funded by Tilitonse Fund (a pool of various donors) to the tune of about 150 million kwacha under a 3 year project which end this year. But Malera said there is enough funding to complete re-hearing all the 170 cases. (source: Zodiak Malawi) PAKISTAN: Lahore High Court releases 2 prisoners facing death penalty due to lack of evidence Lahore High Court's 2-member bench began hearing a case in which criminals Ashraf and Asif were produced before the court. The accused were charged with the murder of Nasreen Bibi and Sadiq. The court was told that a death penalty had been passed out in the case by a Session Court whereas on the time of the offense, the people in question were out of the city. During the proceedings, the court was told by the prosecution that upon proving of the charge, the trial court had passed the verdict of death sentence. The incumbent bench nullified the death sentence after hearing all the evidence on the basis of irregularities between the accounts of eyewitnesses. (source: Dunya News) COLOMBIA: Colombia's police director proposes resumption of death penalty Colombia's police director proposed Sunday restarting the debate on death penalty, citing the recent killing of 4 children in the southwestern city of Florencia. Colombia repealed the death penalty in 1910. It is worth resuming the debate on whether death penalty should be imposed on those who commit heinous crimes, especially when the victims are underage, Rodolfo Palomino said while announcing the capture of 2 of the 5 suspects involved in the killing, Colombia's Caracol Radio network reported. Someone like Christopher Chavez who was captured on Saturday and had been convicted of murdering and raping a woman in Ibague city, should not be in the streets because of the danger he clearly poses, Palomino said. Chavez, aliased "El Desalmado" or the "The Soulless," who had been sentenced to 40 years in prison, was released on bail by a judge of Neiva city for good performance. He is now facing charges of aggravated murder, conspiracy and illegal possession of weapons after allegedly killing the 4 children. (source: Global Post) FRANCE/FIJI: France welcomes removal of death penalty in RFMF Act France has welcomed the vote by the Government in Parliament to permanently abolish the death penalty in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act. After abolishing the death penalty for common crimes in 1979, Fiji becomes the 101st country to abolish it completely. France reiterated its resolute and steadfast opposition to the death penalty worldwide and in all circumstances. The bill to amend the RFMF Act was passed in Parliament last Wednesday. (source: fijivillage.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 17 13:04:21 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:04:21 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., S.C., GA., FLA. Message-ID: Feb. 17 FEBRUARY 17, 2015: TEXAS: Witnesses Against a British Grandmother on Death Row Say Texas Prosecutors Blackmailed Them Into Testimony Key witnesses against a British grandmother on death row in Texas have claimed that prosecutors in her 2002 trial intimidated, threatened, and blackmailed them into testifying against her, raising serious questions about a conviction which has been long protested by campaigners and the UK government. Linda Carty was convicted for the kidnap and murder of her 25-year-old neighbor Joana Rodriguez, who was abducted along with her 4-day-old son by 3 men in May 2001. The baby was found alive, yet Rodriguez was found suffocated in the boot of a car. It was claimed during the trial that Carty had hired the gang of men to steal the child so that she could raise him as her own. According to the Houston Chronicle, the 3 men who abducted Rodriguez and her child all had criminal records, but only Carty was prosecuted for capital murder. Carty, now 56, has been on death row ever since. The US Supreme Court refused her appeal in May 2010. Carty has always maintained her innocence, and campaign groups, as well as the British government, have highlighted serious flaws in her trial. According to human rights organization Reprieve, Carty was forced to accept a court-appointed lawyer, Gerald Guerinot, whose poor professional reputation has been covered in detail by the New York Times and whose astonishing tally of clients given the death penalty has been described by the American Bar Association Journal as a "possible record" in modern times. The British government complained that they were not notified of Carty's case, and that there was "ineffective assistance of counsel." It raised the issue with the then governor of Texas, Rick Perry, during his visit to the UK in 2013. Yet it has now emerged that key witnesses have stepped forward with affidavits, signed in 2014, which allege that they testified against Carty because of intimidation, threats and blackmail from Harris County prosecutors. Christopher Robinson, who was arrested in connection to the case and was the only person to testify that he had seen Carty commit the murder, said that Texan District Attorneys Connie Spence and Craig Goodhart had "threatened me and intimidated me, telling me I would get the death penalty myself if Linda Carty did not get the death penalty." The affidavit, available via the Houston Chronicle, goes onto say that "they (Spence and Goodhart) were alternating between coaching me and threatening me to get me to say their version." Former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Charles Mathis also produced an affidavit, stating that Carty worked as a confidential informant for him. The affidavit alleges: "Shortly after the initial investigation I was contacted by DA (District Attorney) Connie Spence. Spence called me on the telephone and I told Spence that I did not want to testify against Linda." The affidavit goes on to state: "I told Spence that I had known Linda for a long time and I knew that Linda did not have it in her to kill anyone. Spence provided me with no option to testify against Linda: Spence threatened me with an invented affair that I was supposed to have with Linda." A spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office told VICE News: "We are not commenting on the allegations or the case at this time due to pending litigation." In light of the new testimony, Carty's lawyers are asking for an evidentiary hearing, a request being considered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Clare Algar, executive director of Reprieve said: "If Linda is not granted a new hearing, she faces the death penalty based on lies extracted by prosecutors desperate to secure an execution at any cost. The behavior of prosecutors in this case has been so appalling it takes the breath away. They have stooped to targeting the marriage of one witness with invented slurs, while using the threat of death to force another to produce the lies they needed for conviction. Linda's last hope is that Texas recognizes that she deserves a new - and this time fair - trial." A former teacher, Carty was born in St. Kitts when it was a British colony, and holds a UK passport. A spokesman for the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office told VICE News: "While we respect the USA's right to bring those convicted of a crime to justice, the UK is deeply opposed to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. "In Linda Carty's case, we have additional, deep concerns about how this case was handled. We were not notified of her detention until after she had been convicted and sentenced to death. We also strongly believe her defense was very weak. "We will continue to support Linda's case and remain in close contact with her legal team." According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, seven women are currently on death row, including Carty. Its website boasts that "Texas leads the nation in the number of executions since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976." (source: vice.com) ************************ Death penalty violates human rights, fails to serve purpose The death penalty in the United States has failed as a form of punishment in the criminal justice system. If a country is going to use the death penalty, it should be reserved for those who commit an act of terror against the state, not for person on person or property crimes. Texas is a prime example of how the death penalty has failed. 11 years ago, former Gov. Rick Perry sentenced Cameron Willingham to the death penalty. Willingham was convicted of setting his home on fire, killing his daughters. When new evidence had come up indicating that Willingham was not responsible for the murders, there was a petition for a stay of execution, which Perry refused to grant. Willingham was executed. Since his execution, evidence has been confirmed clearing Willingham for causing the fire. Wrongful convictions are not rare; having incarceration as the primary method of punishment, however, makes it easier to amend a wrongful conviction. You cannot undo the death penalty. The death penalty, if used, should be used as a last resort, which is currently not the case. There should be a lot more scrutiny on the injections being administered to convicts receiving the death penalty. Currently, the cocktail in use is a 3-drug method, which could be switched out for a single drug method that would help eliminate risks associated with the current cocktail. Risks associated with the cocktail include reports that, following administration, convicts often writhe or make sounds that indicate pain. It also takes a considerable amount of time for this 3-drug method cocktail to kill the convict; some cocktails have taken up to 2 hours. Take for example Robert Ladd, a convicted murderer who was considered intellectually disabled, executed on Jan. 29. He died 27 minutes after the administration of the pentobarbital. Manufacturers of the cocktail are primarily based in Europe and are closing down because they do not agree that the drugs are not being used in accordance with medical indications. Some manufacturers also do not want their drugs being used in departments of corrections in the United States. As more and more manufacturers of the cocktail are closing down, it would behoove states to look at the financial cost of these lethal injections versus incarceration. There have been recent discussions in Europe about reinstating the death penalty. I believe this is a reactionary response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks. It would be unfair to presume that the use of the death penalty would fail in Europe just because it has failed in the United States, but I still do not envision the death penalty being successful in Europe. The European Union (EU) has acknowledged the death penalty as being a violation of human rights for a very long time, and this ethical and moral foundation is very ingrained in the various legal systems there. There are also several treaties made in France that would be broken if they adopted any form of death penalty. The world believes the death penalty is wrong. Our government should too. It is unlikely that Texas will do away with the death penalty. However, there has to be substantial revisions made to the administration of this capital punishment across the board. These revisions include decreasing the amount of wrongful convictions, as well as finding a better method by which we ascertain the lethal injection. The death penalty is ineffective and becoming increasingly more inhumane due to a lack of transparency in the process. The discourse surrounding the death penalty needs to work on a transition into other methods of punishment, or perhaps disbanding lethal injection as a whole. (source: Bryanna Esdtrada, hilltopviewsonline.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Hugo Selenski's lawyers, citing moratorium, say no death penalty Lawyers for Hugo Selenski, the man convicted of strangling 2 people during a 2002 robbery, asked a judge on Tuesday to bar jurors from considering the death penalty in his trial because Pennsylvania's governor has declared a moratorium. Selenski's defense team filed its motion just before the penalty phase of his capital murder trial was scheduled to open and 4 days after Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania. Wolf, who took office last month, called the current system of capital punishment "error prone, expensive and anything but infallible" and said the moratorium will remain in effect at least until he receives a report from a legislative commission that has been studying the topic for several years. Selenski's motion asked Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Fred Pierantoni III to remove the death penalty as a sentencing option or, alternatively, to delay the penalty phase indefinitely. "As the sole elected official responsible for signing execution warrants, the Governor's words and actions are compelling and reinforce the various imperfections of Pennsylvania's capital sentencing system under both state and federal constitutional principles," the motion said. The death penalty remains on the books in Pennsylvania, and it wasn't immediately clear whether the judge has the ability to preclude jurors from considering it. Prosecutors and defense lawyers were still meeting in the judge's chambers Tuesday hours after the penalty phase of Selenski's trial was supposed to begin. Pennsylvania has executed only 3 people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976. All 3 had voluntarily given up their appeals. The last execution took place in 1999. Law enforcement groups are considering a legal challenge to Wolf's moratorium. Selenski was convicted last week on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the deaths of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend, Tammy Fassett. Prosecutors said Selenski and another man killed the couple in a plot to rob the pharmacist of tens of thousands of dollars from an illegal prescription drug ring. Police found the victims' bodies, along with 3 other sets of human remains, on Selenski's property north of Wilkes-Barre in 2003. (source: The Morning Call) ************************* Death penalty already dying When Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a moratorium on the death penalty last week, he merely formalized reality. Fact is, there hasn't been an execution in Pennsylvania in 15 years. Since 1978, when the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court, only 3 prisoners have been executed in this state out of 412 death sentences. And the 3 prisoners who were executed all waived at least part of their appeals and asked to be put to death. Here's more reality: 60 % of all death sentences in Pennsylvania - 250 at last count - have been overturned by state or federal courts. And if the pool of death sentences is restricted to those who completed ordinary appeals, the reversal rate is more than 90 %. So, the fact of the matter is that the death penalty in Pennsylvania exists on paper only. In imposing a moratorium, Wolf cited more realities, calling the current system of capital punishment "error prone, expensive and anything but infallible." He's right. That so many sentences have been overturned by higher courts speaks to a system riddled with errors and, in its application, injustice. Numerous studies clearly indicate that racial minorities and the poor receive death sentences at a significantly higher rate than others convicted of capital crimes. And those sentences, as the appeals courts have found, often are related to inadequate legal representation at trial. What's more, unimpeachable DNA evidence has provided a clear and troubling picture of just how flawed the system is, as scores of wrongly convicted people have been released from prisons across the nation - excluding those who, hauntingly, were put to death. Making the situation all the more nightmarish is the cost of the death penalty. Using data from a Maryland study, which concluded that death penalty cases cost $1.9 million more than cases involving life sentences, the Reading Eagle newspaper estimated in a 2014 series that the 185 people then on death row cost Pennsylvania taxpayers an additional $351.5 million. And that's a conservative estimate, because the figure didn't include overturned cases. Finally, the prestigious National Research Council, based on a review of more than three decades of research, concluded the death penalty hasn't had a deterrent effect on murder rates despite other studies to the contrary. And so the council urges that such studies, which it determined to be flawed, not be used to guide public policy about capital punishment. What emerges as the new public policy in Pennsylvania will, in part, be determined by a report from a legislative commission that has been studying the issue for about 4 years. That and Wolf's reasoned declaration that if the state "is going take the irrevocable step of executing a human being, its capital sentencing system must be infallible." Nothing less should be acceptable. (source: Editorial, Bucks County Courier Times) ****************************** Governor Calls for Halt on Death Penalty in Frein Case Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf's call for a halt on the death penalty won't keep the Pike County district attorney from seeking the punishment against accused cop killer Eric Frein. Frein is accused of the ambush shooting last September which killed 1 Pennsylvania State Trooper and injured another. Pike County DA Raymond Tonkin released a statement saying if Frein is found guilty he will still ask the jury to weigh the aggravating circumstances. Tonkin had filed notice to seek the death penalty in January. Wolf's moratorium will stay in effect until a state Senate committee's study on the punishment is finished. (source: WICZ News) ******************* Goal isn't vengeance The Old Testament's recommendation of an "eye for an eye" to compensate an injured party has been cited over the ages by proponents of capital punishment. Meanwhile, death penalty opponents note the New Testament's directive to set aside the desire for retribution and "turn the other cheek" when slapped. No biblical debate is required, however, to determine the value of capital punishment. There is more than enough empirical evidence to show that the practice is neither fair nor cost-effective and that it fails to deter violent crime. No wonder most countries no longer sentence prisoners to death. It's a shame that the United States not only still executes prisoners, but is listed among the rogues' gallery of the 5 countries with the most executions since 2010, which also includes China, Iran, North Korea, and Yemen. That unsavory distinction could go away if more states abolish the death penalty. New Jersey did in 2007, and Pennsylvania took a giant step in that direction last week, when Gov. Wolf suspended all executions pending the release of a state task force's report on capital punishment. Wolf made it clear that he wasn't motivated by sympathy for death-row inmates, including Terrance Williams, who was scheduled for execution on March 4 for a 1984 murder. "I take this action because the capital punishment system has significant and widely recognized defects," Wolf said. Perhaps the biggest defect is the death penalty's fallibility. Evidence revealed after conviction has led to the exoneration of some 150 people sentenced to die in this country since 1973. No one knows how many of the 1,200 people executed during that period were also innocent. Racial bias is a factor in imposition of the death penalty. A 2007 Yale study showed that black defendants were 3 times more likely to be sentenced to death than whites when victims were white. An American Bar Association study that year concluded that 1/3 of Philadelphia death-row inmates would have been sentenced to life in prison instead if they were white. Of course, a death sentence rarely means death. Pennsylvania has executed only 3 people since the penalty was reinstated 40 years ago, and all had voluntarily abandoned further appeals. 2 of the 186 people still on the state's death row have been there more than 30 years, and one has been scheduled for execution 6 times. Shouldn't that qualify as "cruel and unusual" punishment? But it's not just cruel to prisoners spending year after year in mortal limbo; it's cruel to the families of victims. The certainty of a life sentence might not be as satisfying for those who seek vengeance for their pain, but it would keep them from having to relive their tragedies each time a defendant is due for appeal. States without the death penalty have lower murder rates, and after reducing lengthy appeals and cutting incarceration costs, they also have more money for education and other budget needs. Those facts are expected to be corroborated by the task force report, giving Pennsylvania all the evidence it needs to end capital punishment. (source: Editorial, Philadelphia Inquirer) SOUTH CAROLINA: WIS Investigates: Is the death penalty on hold in South Carolina? It was September 1991. A crowd cheered as the body of the most notorious serial killer in modern South Carolina history, Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins, was taken from Columbia's Broad River Correctional Institution. On that day, Gaskins became the fourth death row inmate to be executed since the reauthorization of capital punishment in the Palmetto State. During the next 2 decades, 39 more men would follow Gaskins sometimes in rapid succession. There were 19 over 4 years beginning in 1996, but scenes like this are now rare. In the last nearly 6 years, just 1 inmate has entered the death chamber at Broad River Correctional Institution. S.C. Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling is not expecting that number to change anytime soon. "There are no current orders for execution," Stirling said. "Everything is under appeal at this time." Experts say it's not that prosecutors here or elsewhere have become reluctant to seek death sentences. "We have found that generally on average the state across the country seeks death in approximately 17 cases a year," said Emily Paavola, of the S.C. Death Penalty Resource and Defense Center. "And we have not found that to decline in recent years." Even opponents of capital punishment say they don't see that public opinion has turned against it in this state. "I think our state is still predominantly in favor of capital punishment," said Charles Grose, of the S.C. Death Penalty Resource and Defense Center. But several factors have combined to virtually shut down the death house. Among them are advances in DNA technology, legal rulings protecting inmates with severe mental disorders, and most recently, the inability of states executing by lethal injection to get one or more of the drugs they use. That is a problem in South Carolina. "Right now, what we're doing is we are looking and reaching out to pharmacies and suppliers et cetera to try to find pentobarbital," Stirling said. "We have thus far not been successful at that." Pentobarbital is an anesthetic - the 1st component of a 3-drug series that also includes a paralyzer, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, which stops the heart. South Carolina had been using a different anesthetic, such as sodium thiopental, until the Drug Enforcement Administration cracked down on the use of that foreign-made ingredient in 2011. "The opponents of the death penalty have been very good at stopping states from obtaining the necessary drugs to carry out an execution," Stirling said. But it's not a drug shortage that's kept Tommy Sease and his family frustrated for more than 30 years. "We think about how she suffered. And we just don't feel like the justice system has worked here," Sease said. Sease is the nephew of Newberry County schoolteacher Elizabeth Sease Lominack, who was robbed, raped, and murdered in her Pomaria home in 1982. Her killer is Fred Singleton, who went to death row a year later. He is still there, and his sentence blocked by a 1991 court ruling that determined Singleton was mentally incapacitated. "We feel like -- I mean our family's been violated," Sease said. Sease said his family and many in the Newberry area believe capital punishment is a deterrent to others who would commit serious crimes, if it is carried out after appeals are exhausted within a reasonable amount of time. While Singleton is the longest serving death row inmate, there are others among the 42 residents with sentences dating back to the 80's. They include Jamie Wilson, who shocked the nation in 1988 by gunning down 11 people, killing 2 in a Greenwood elementary school. He pleaded guilty, but mentally ill - the 1st in South Carolina to be sentenced under that statute. "The way we do capital punishment is absurd," said Bob McAlister, opponent of the death penalty. McAlister said seemingly endless delays in the capital punishment system are troubling. He says that from the perspective of a counselor, who opposes the death penalty and has dealt closely with inmates, like spree killer Ronald "Rusty" Woomer. Woomer was executed in the electric chair in 1990, with the former chief of staff to Gov. Carroll Campbell as a witness. "If a society decides that's the right thing to do, then there should be a mechanism whereby the case can be vetted through the court system in something less than 20 or 30 years," McAlister said. Paavola agrees. "It should not take 30 years before you have some sort of closure in a criminal case, and I think that is the product of a system, which is broken," she explained. "And I think it's broken beyond repair. We cannot fix it in a way that will address those needs of quick closure and also provide for the kind of reliability that is necessary when we take another person's life." South Carolina law allowed the condemned inmate a choice on whether they die by lethal injection or electrocution, if the inmate makes that choice in writing at least 14 days prior to the execution date. (source: WIS news) GEORGIA----impending female execution Georgia Set To Execute 5th Person In A Year Georgia is set to execute a woman on death row next week. This would be the 5th inmate put to death in the state within the past year. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Georgia is among the top in the nation for carrying out its death sentences. The scheduled execution of Kelly Gissendaner would be the third since January. "It's a little unusual given that Georgia's only sentencing 1 or 2 people a year to death," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said. Dieter said in the 1990s, juries handed out more death sentences than they do now. "In a given year, you sometimes have older cases that were delayed for other reasons now occurring," Dieter said. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections website, Georgia currently has 81 inmates on death row. But Dieter said it's not the number that determines when executions happen. For example, North Carolina has more death row inmates than Georgia, but hasn't executed anyone in about 8 years. Dieter said it's about political consensus in a state. "If the courts are hesitant, if the governor is hesitant, if the legislature is hesitant - any one of those can really slow down a process," he said. In Georgia, the process slowed down for about a year starting in the summer of 2013 because of a lawsuit challenging the state's lethal injection secrecy law that keeps providers of the drug anonymous. The Georgia Supreme Court then upheld the law in May 2014 and executions resumed. The Georgia Department of Corrections said it would not comment on executions. A clemency hearing has been set for Gissendaner on Feb. 24. (source: WABE news) FLORIDA: State Attorney Jeff Ashton to seek death penalty in 2002 murder case----Demorris Andy Hunter charged with 1st-degree murder A Central Florida state attorney has filed notice that his office will seek the death penalty in a 13-year-old murder case. Ninth District State Attorney Jeff Ashton's office filed a notice of intent on Friday in the case of Demorris Andy Hunter. Hunter was charged with 1st-degree murder in the death of Teresa Ann Green. Green was reported missed from her Orlando home on May 27, 2002, and found dead that evening in the trunk of her car. Hunter is currently serving a life sentence in a March 2002 death of an Oakland, California woman. He was extradited from a California prison last week to Orange County. No future court date has been set. (source: WESH news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 17 13:06:22 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:06:22 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., IOWA, UTAH, ORE., USA Message-ID: Feb. 17 KENTUCKY: Ky Senator Files Bill to Reform Death-Penalty Laws On the same day Pennsylvania's governor placed a moratorium on the death penalty in the Keystone state, a Kentucky lawmaker filed a bill to make what she says would be moderate reforms to Kentucky's laws. State Sen. Robin Webb maintains there are so many problems with Kentucky's death penalty that Gov. Steve Beshear should do what Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf did last Friday - suspend the death penalty. "You know, we've had a lot of litigation over our manner of execution and lethal injections, and the cocktail and the protocol and all of that, which is expensive for the state," Webb points out. "And, you know, again there's a humanitarian aspect of this, but there's also a fiscal impact of this." It was 3 years ago December that the American Bar Association (ABA) released a report outlining a myriad of problems with Kentucky's death penalty - citing 95 specific things that needed to be fixed. Webb's bill calls for more law enforcement training on the use of lineups, interrogations, eyewitness testimony and biological evidence. It also proposes more training for judges on mental-health issues. And, it attempts to improve DNA storage and testing - a crucial piece of the bill, says Webb, because of the dozens of wrongful convictions across the country. "It's, you know, not too comprehensive," she concedes. "I'm a realist. I think it's things that we've talked about in the past and hopefully can reach a consensus." Pennsylvania's governor said his state's moratorium will remain in effect until problems cited by an advisory commission are addressed - a situation similar to Kentucky's. When the ABA issued its report in December 2011 the panel of lawyers, professors and retired judges recommended a temporary suspension of the death penalty. (source: Public News Service) IOWA: GOP senators seek to reinstate limited death penalty 9 Senate Republicans want to reinstate a limited death penalty in Iowa that would be available to a judge or juries in cases where a perpetrator is convicted of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering a minor. Senate File 239, which was filed Monday, would reinstate capital punishment effective Jan. 1, 2016, as a means of deterring an adult offender who kidnaps and rapes a victim under the age of 18 from killing the victim, proponent said. "This is the sickest of crimes," said Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, 1 of the bill's co-sponsors. "There's got to be some reason for a person to stop." Fear of being put to death could be that incentive to make an offender think twice before murdering the victim to silence possibly the only witness to a crime, he said. "If there's capital punishment, you might have the opportunity where the person just stops at kidnapping and rape," said Feenstra, who noted that no such deterrent currently exists in the Iowa criminal code where the maximum penalty for committing 1 or more Class A crimes is life in prison. "The intent is to discourage the type of heinous crime that's described" in S.F. 239, added Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemme. "We have a very narrowly defined situation here. I don't think there's just any way that we should let people off in that particular case." Democrats who control the Iowa Senate with a 26-24 majority said the issue has been raised in the Legislature before and has failed to gain support even when Republicans had control of both House and Senate chambers and the governorship in the 1990s. "It's not a deterrent," said Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "It's a bad piece of legislation. It's been tried in the past. Iowans don't want this and so we're not going to bring it up. It's not an issue for the Judiciary Committee this year." Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said a similar measure was filed in the 85th General Assembly and failed to gain support. "The last time the death penalty was voted on in the Iowa Senate, a majority of both parties opposed it," he said. "I haven't seen anything that says that a death penalty is needed in Iowa," Hogg added, saying he would rather see the governor, legislators and policy-makers put limited resources toward prevention and solving murders that already have been committed. "I'd be shocked to see any action on this in either chamber," Hogg added. "I don't think that there's any realistic chance that that legislation will move forward." Jimmy Centers, spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad, said the 6-term governor supports reinstatement of a limited death penalty in Iowa. Branstad supported efforts in the 1990s to apply the death penalty to anyone aged 18 years or older who commits 1st-degree murder and another class A felony, such as rape or kidnapping, or who already had been convicted of a class A felony and then commits a subsequent murder - such as an inmate serving a life term who kills a correctional officer. "Should Senate File 239 pass both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, the governor will carefully review it before taking action," Centers said. Senate File 239 would apply to offenders at least 18 years of age who committed the multiple offenses of 1st-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual abuse of a minor. No method of execution was specified in the legislation. A death penalty hearing could take place no sooner than 24 hours after a conviction on the Class A offenses. If a convicted offender was pregnant, capital punishment would not take place until the convicted offender had given birth. The bill includes provisions for an insanity defense and an indigent defendant. In cases where a jury could not unanimously agree to a death-penalty sentence for a convicted offender in a follow-up proceeding, the offender automatically would receive a sentence of life in prison without parole. (source: Muscatine Journal) UTAH: Utah should let death penalty go ---- Time to let the death penalty go. Utah lawmakers have a golden opportunity to slip quietly into the ranks of civilized societies that have effectively turned their backs on the thuggish and expensive practice of capital punishment. All they have to do is stop struggling and allow nature to take its course. Sadly, though, the Utah House Friday narrowly missed a chance to take a giant step toward doing away with the death penalty, effectively if not officially. It passed a bill that would, under certain circumstances, bring back the firing squad. The fact that those certain circumstances exist should have been a huge hint that the bill that barely passed, House Bill 11, is a very bad idea. (source: Editorial, Salt Lake Tribune) OREGON: Don't commute sentences----Gov. Brown can continue death penalty moratorium Among the many pieces of unfinished business during John Kitzhaber's 4th term as governor is a statewide conversation about the death penalty. The presumption underlying the governor's call for such a conversation is that the state would ultimately act in accordance with the people's will. That remains a worthy goal. Kitzhaber should not abandon it during his final hours in office, and Secretary of State Kate Brown should adopt it as her own after she is sworn in as governor on Wednesday. Oregonians voted to reinstate capital punishment in 1984, but Kitzhaber, who oversaw two executions during his 1st term, imposed a moratorium on the death penalty after returning to the governor's office in 2011. The expectation that the moratorium would stand through 2018 has been upset by Kitzhaber's resignation amid an influence-peddling scandal. Death penalty opponents are calling on Kitzhaber to commute the death sentences of the 36 inmates awaiting execution in Oregon. Unlike the moratorium, commutations would be permanent and irreversible. The moratorium means that those 36 inmates won't be put to death as long as Kitzhaber is governor, while commutation would mean they would not ever face execution. For that reason commutation would defy the will of voters in a way that the moratorium does not. Voters knew they were getting an anti-death-penalty governor when they re-elected Kitzhaber last year. But the voter-approved 1984 law remains in effect, and executions could resume if Oregonians elected a pro-death penalty governor in the future. That possibility should remain open until voters reverse the decision they made in 1984. Brown, for her part, should announce her intention to keep the moratorium in place until after 2016, when voters will choose a governor to finish the final two years of Kitzhaber's term. Kitzhaber's re-election last year showed that Oregonians were willing to accept a governor who declined to have the death penalty imposed on his watch. That was far from the only basis for voters' support for Kitzhaber, but to the extent that the moratorium was a factor in their judgment, Brown should honor it. In the meantime, the Legislature should refer to the 2016 ballot a measure that would abolish the death penalty in Oregon. That would ensure a conversation like the one Kitzhaber hoped for, and could bring the state's law into alignment with its practices. If voters repealed the death penalty, commutations of existing death sentences could follow. If voters reaffirmed their 1984 decision, Oregonians would retain the option of electing governors willing to allow executions. Voters actually approved 2 death penalty measures in 1984 - one that removed constitutional impediments to capital punishment, and another that allowed the death penalty in cases of aggravated murder. The latter passed by a ratio of 3 to 1, while the margin for the constitutional change was much narrower. The results suggest that many Oregonians who harbor doubts about the death penalty in the abstract are ready to support capital punishment for specific crimes. Such an interpretation is in accord with poll results showing that support for the death penalty declines if people believe that inmates sentenced to prison for life will never be released. Questions about the responsibility of governors, the credibility of life sentences and the efficacy and morality of capital punishment are all parts of the conversation Kitzhaber wanted. Kitzhaber will soon be gone, but Oregonians can still have that conversation. It should not be short-circuited by the commutations of death sentences imposed by juries under existing law. (source: Editorial, Register-Guard) USA: Feds want East Chicago defendant's tattoos as death penalty evidence Federal attorneys say new tattoos an alleged member of the East Chicago Imperial Gangsters has gotten since he was arrested help show he should get the death penalty if convicted of murdering 6 people. The government filed a motion Monday asking to take pictures of Juan Briseno's tattoos, one of which they claim says "(Expletive) the feds." Briseno is on trial right now, although the court took Monday off for the federal Presidents Day holiday. Along with the murder counts, he's also charged in 7 attempted murders, drug trafficking and conspiracy to racketeer as part of the Imperial Gangsters. The government has said they would seek the death penalty against him if he's convicted and now argue in the new motion that his new tattoos show he will remain a danger even in prison. The tattoos are "particularly poignant because Mr. Briseno intentionally adorned himself with these permanent sentiments during the pendency of death-eligible charges against him," the motion says. The images of the tattoos, which also supposedly include "South" and "Side" tattoos on his hands, along with his inmate number, would only be presented during the penalty phase, if the case gets to that point. The motion says the government learned about the new tattoos from other people who have roomed with Briseno since he was arrested in 2011. The trial is expected to enter its 3rd week Tuesday. It's supposed to last 4 to 6 weeks. (source: Chicago Tribune) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 17 13:07:14 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:07:14 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 17 COLOMBIA: Colombia rules out death penalty for child molesters Colombia has ruled out introducing the death penalty for murderers and child molesters after a police force general had applied to revoke the existing law. Rodolfo Palomino, general of Colombia's National Police Force, re-opened the debate after a 4th person, accused of murdering 4 children, was arrested yesterday. The crime, which has shaken Colombia in recent days, was described as a "slaughter" by the country's president Juan Manuel Santos on Twitter. The children, 3 brothers aged 10, 14 and 17, and a nephew of the family, aged 4, were found dead with gunshots wound to the head earlier this month in Florencia, the capital of the southern department of Caqueta. According to Palomino, who revealed the criminal record of one of the murder suspect, the country should consider the death penalty, especially when it comes to crimes involving minors. One of the accused, Chavez Cuellar, had previously been sentenced to 4 years in prison for the murder of a woman after raping her, Palomino confirmed. "In these circumstances it is worth reviving the debate: whether it is or not to consider the death penalty for those who commit heinous crimes, especially those who are underage victims," Palomino told Radio Blu. 60 years in prison sufficient However, Colombia's government and congress ruled out the appeal for the death penalty. Interior minister Juan Fernando Cristo said that under no circumstances would he contemplate the possibility of implementing a measure of this nature, since he believed the maximum penalty of 60 years in prison established by law for such offences, is sufficient. "Colombian legislation is very hard against this kind of crime, [but] what we need to do is apply it in a timely, severe manner, and that judicial officials and authorities in investigations work quickly and effectively," Cristo said. Senate president Jose David Name added that the country is not ready legally to apply such sentences. "Colombia will have no legal certainty to apply the death penalty. I understand the pain we have with these events, but we have to think with a cool head. Changing the constitution and not solving the problems of [our] justice [system], is not viable," he told local media. In 2014, Colombia ranked 10th in a United Nations report on countries with the highest murder rates in the world with 30.8 homicides per 100,000 people in 2012. (source: International Business Times) IRAN----impending juvenile execution Iran urged to halt execution of juvenile offender ---- Human rights groups call for immediate halt to planned execution of Saman Naseem, convicted of taking up arms against the state while a minor Human rights activists have urged Iran to halt the imminent execution of a young man convicted of taking up arms against the state when he was under 18. Saman Naseem, now 22, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday after being found guilty of moharebeh (enmity against God) for his alleged membership of PJAK, an armed Kurdish opposition group, and alleged involvement in a gun battle with Iran's Revolutionary Guards near Sardasht, a city in West Azerbaijan province. Naseem, who was 17 at the time of his arrest in July 2011, appeared on Iran's state television later that year, saying he had shot at members of the elite military unit. He is being held in Orumiyeh prison in north-west Iran. Activists said Naseem retracted his confession during his trial and that it was made under duress. Iran has signed the international treaties which prohibit the execution of those convicted of crimes committed when they were juveniles. Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's deputy director for Middle East and North Africa, called on Iran on Monday to halt the planned execution of Naseem and launch a thorough review of his case. "Imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child when the alleged crime took place goes against international human rights laws that Iran has committed to respect," she said. "This is the reality of the criminal justice system in Iran, which makes a mockery of its own statements that it does not execute children and upholds its obligations under the convention on the rights of the child." Iran's penal code prohibits death penalty for juveniles for offences whose punishment can be administered at the discretion of the judge, such as drug offences. But a death sentence may still be applied if he or she has committed crimes considered to be "claims of God" and, therefore, have mandatory sentences - such as moharebeh, sodomy, rape, theft. Last week, Amnesty published a letter written by Naseem and sent out of jail, in which he describes in distressing detail his time in prison. "During the first days, the level of torture was so severe that it left me unable to walk. All my body was black and blue. They hung me from my hands and feet for hours. I was blindfolded during the whole period of interrogations and torture, and could not see the interrogation and torture officers," he wrote, according to Amnesty. "They told me that they would kill me right there and would cover my grave with cement. When I wanted to sleep during nights, they would not let me rest by making noises using different devices, including by constantly banging on the door. I was in a state between madness and consciousness. I could not have any contact with my family during this time." Human Rights Watch, which has described Naseem's trial as unfair, said Iran was among a handful of countries known to have executed juveniles in the past 5 years. The others are Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the Hamas authorities in Gaza. "This is an open-and-shut case since there is no dispute that Saman Naseem was under 18 when security forces arrested him," said HRW's Sarah Leah Whitson. "Naseem and his family should have never suffered mental anguish associated with being on death row for months on end, let alone facing imminent hanging." Whitson added: "Leaders of PJAK and other armed groups operating in Iran should know that they are as responsible for putting the lives of children like Naseem's in harm's way. There is simply no excuse for allowing children to take part in armed activities on behalf of an opposition group." (source: The Guardian) **************** Iran is set to execute juvenile offender Saman Naseem, who is charged with "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth". Naseem, now 22, was arrested and sentenced to death when he was 17. The execution by hanging is scheduled for Thursday (19 February), despite the country being urged by many rights groups to halt it. Naseem was arrested after a gun battle between the Revolutionary Guards and Kurdish militant organisation PJAK, of which he is believed to be a member, took place in Sardasht. Following the arrest, Naseem was reportedly forced to make a confession, aired on national TV, in which he admitted to having fired towards the guards. However, he retracted his confession during the first court session in which he said he had only fired in the air. Naseem was 1st charged and sentenced to death in January 2012, but the country's Supreme Court overturned the sentence and sent the case back for a retrial, arguing that he had been under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged crimes. He then was tried and sentenced to death again. Rights groups have warned that Iran has signed a treaty which forbids the execution of people who were convicted when they were juvenile. Amnesty International explained that Iran allows capital punishment for juveniles in case of qesas (retribution-in-kind) and hodoud (offences and punishments for which there are fixed penalties under Islamic law). However, article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code excludes the death penalty if the juvenile offender did not understand the nature of the crime or its consequences, or if there are doubts about the their mental capacity. "Iran has willingly ratified treaties that oblige the country to not use the death penalty for individuals under the age of 18," Bahareh Davis, Amnesty International's researcher on Iran, told IBTimes UK. "Saman Naseem was 17 at the time of the crime he was accused of, he should have never been sentenced to death. The authorities' treatment of his case is in breach of both international human rights law and Iran's domestic laws," she continued. Amnesty also warned that Naseem was not allowed to see his lawyer during investigations, a violation of international standards of a fair trial. Davis also said that Naseem told his family he was tortured and beaten at the Orumiyeh prison, north-western Iran, where he is being detained. "The latest development on the case is deeply concerning. He was beaten for several hours by men, apparently from the Ministry of Intelligence, who had cameras and recording devices, in order to force him to make another video-taped 'confession'," Davis said. "In 2014 Iran said that authorities exercised due diligence when dealing with cases involving juveniles, yet we keep seeing these shocking cases where people are unfairly sentenced to death and are subjected to prolonged torture and are forced to make 'confessions' that are used against them," she continued. "We are gravely concerned and we continue to campaign and ask the authorities to immediately halt Naseem's execution and give his case a judicial review." At least 2 people executed every day Iran has 1 of the highest rates of executions in the world. Some of the executions, mainly by hanging, are carried out against minorities and opponents of the government. "Executions for national security offences are common in Iran. Those accused of such offences are usually held in solitary confinement for long periods and generally do not have access to lawyers," Davis said. "Lawyers are also prevented from reading the casefiles and are often denied adequate time to prepare defence. Individuals from ethnic minority groups also face a greater risk of being sentenced to death for national security offences." In a previous interview with IBTimes UK, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson of NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said: "On average more than 2 people are executed every day." The country sparked worldwide outrage after it executed Reyhaneh Jabbari, a 26-year-old woman charged with the murder of a man who allegedly attempted to rape her. (source: International Business Times) ******************************* Amnesty blasts imminent execution of young Kurdish prisoner in Iran Amnesty International (AI) has expressed disbelief that Iranian authorities plan to execute 22-year-old Kurdish prisoner Saman Naseem on Thursday, noting he was tortured as a teenager to "confess" to alleged crimes. "That the Iranian authorities are preparing to put to death a young man who's been tortured for 97 days to 'confess' when he was 17 years old beggars belief," the London???based watchdog???s deputy regional director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said in a statement last week. "With less than a week left before he is due to be executed, there is no time to waste," she added. "Saman's execution must be immediately stopped and his case thoroughly reviewed." According to Amnesty, Saman was arrested in July 2011 following a gun battle between Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the outlawed Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), in the city of Sardasht. He was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in January 2012 in Mahabad for "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth," and his death sentence was confirmed for the second time by the Supreme Court in December 2013. "After his arrest, he was held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention center without any access to his family or a lawyer," AI wrote in a special report on his case. In a letter published by AI, Saman said that Iranian prison officials had tortured him for 97 days when he was a teenager to force him to "confess" to a crime, before sentencing him to death. In the letter last week Saman said he had been kept in a tiny cell and constantly tortured, until he was forced to put his fingerprints on confession papers, admitting that he had taken up arms against the state. "This is the reality of the criminal justice system in Iran, which makes a mockery of its own statements that it does not execute children and upholds its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child," he said in his letter. Amnesty's statement urges people to appeal to Iranian leaders on Saman's behalf, "Reminding them that Iran has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibit the use of the death penalty against people who were below 18 years of age at the time of the crime." "During the first days, the level of torture was so severe that it left me unable to walk. All my body was black and blue. They hung me from my hands and feet for hours. I was blindfolded during the whole period of interrogations and torture, and could not see the interrogation and torture officers," Saman's prison letter read. According to AI, Saman's family was not informed of his arrest and learned about it from state TV, where he was shown "confessing" to "taking part in armed activities against the state." Saman said in his letter that he was not allowed contact with his family and that during his trial the judge had threatened him with more torture. "They repeatedly told me that they had arrested my family members including my father, my mother, and my brother. They told me that they would kill me right there and would cover my grave with cement," read his letter. "When I wanted to sleep during nights, they would not let me rest by making noises using different devices, including by constantly banging on the door. I was in a state between madness and consciousness," he wrote. AI says that Saman retracted his earlier "confession" during the trial and said that "he fired into the air and not towards the Revolutionary Guards." "Iran's deplorable practice of torturing people into 'confessing' to crimes before sentencing them to death must stop immediately. Imposing the death penalty on someone who was a child when the alleged crime took place goes against international human rights laws that Iran has committed to respect," AI's Sahraoui said in her statement. (source: rudaw.net) INDONESIA: Bali 9: Australians will not be executed this month, says official ---- Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's transfer postponed because prison at Nusa Kambangan where execution was due to be carried out is not ready Convicted Australian drug smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will not be moved from their Bali prison for execution this week, Indonesian authorities say, and it is unlikely executions will take place this month. A spokesman for Indonesia's attorney general said the prisoners' transfer had been delayed because the prison at Nusa Kambangan, where they will be executed, is not yet ready. Spokesman Tony Spontana said: "I cannot be sure how many days it will take to finish this preparation but I can guarantee the executions will not take place this month, if there are no extraordinary changes." Spontana also said the Australian government had asked for Chan and Sukumaran to have more time to spend with their families. "I'm sure this week there won't be any transfers," he told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday. A team from the attorney general's department had inspected Nusa Kambangan and found issues that must be resolved before moving the prisoners, Spontana said. Problems had arisen because of the plan to execute more than 5 people there. "The space for the executions and the isolation cells will need some adjustments," he said. Spontana said there were already 5 prisoners in the space reserved and on seeing this, the team realised no others would fit. "We will immediately develop this facility to make it broader," he said. "It will take time because the breadth is 5 metres right now. The execution site right now is also only technically suitable for 5 people." He said adjustments would have to be made or an alternative place found. Spontana also indicated that Brazilian national Rodrigo Gularte, who is on death row for a drug offence, would not be executed while questions remain about the state of his mental health. "We have also received letters from the head of the Nusa Kambangan prison about one of the inmates showing indications of mental illness. He has already asked the attorney general's office to have Mr Gularte checked at a hospital outside the prison because there are limited medical facilities at the prison," he said. "We have to make sure he is fully recovered before the execution." No date has been announced for the executions, which will also include prisoners from France, Nigeria and the Philippines. Kerobokan prison governor Sudjonggo told reporters on Tuesday afternoon he had no knowledge of a postponement to the transfers. "I haven't received any notification of that," he said. At Kerobokan prison on Tuesday, Sukumaran's sister, Brintha, and other family members removed several large bags of books, mostly on art and painting. Sukumaran's friend, the artist Ben Quilty, wrote on his Facebook page: "Myu is clearing out his studio today. And my heart is broken." Officials said on Monday that the pair would be transferred this week. Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran had said they should not be moved to the prison where the execution would take place while the legal process continued. The lawyers said they had new indications their last-ditch legal appeal was moving forward. They are appealing against the decision not to grant clemency made by the president, Joko Widodo, on the basis that Indonesia was facing a "drug emergency". Speaking to reporters in Jakarta on Monday afternoon, Lubis said the legal team had been summoned to a meeting with the head of the administrative court next week. "This is prima facie evidence that the legal process is still ongoing," Lubis said. "I hope this legal process will be respected by the attorney general and all parts of the government. "So they cannot move them, not to mention execute them, while the legal process is still going on." But the attorney general made no mention of any link between the appeals and the delay. On Tuesday afternoon Indonesia's foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, stressed that the application of the death penalty is in accordance with due process. "The death penalty is part of the law of Indonesia," she said. "It is implemented as a last resort for the most serious of crimes. The decision is taken by our judicial system, which is independent and impartial. "In the application of the death penalty Indonesia has ensured that due process of law is fully adhered to and that all credible legal avenues are undertaken in accordance with the Indonesian legal system. "The decision to enforce the death penalty is not directed to a particular country." Marsudi also said that Indonesia's fight against drugs had entered a "critical stage" and that drugs had "ruined the lives of many hardworking Indonesians". On bilateral issues with Australia, Marsudi stressed Indonesia's sovereignty and said the case in hand was a legal, rather than political situation. "Although we understand the position of the Australian government, it should be underlined that this issue is purely a law enforcement issue, law enforcement against an extraordinary crime." Quilty is organising a vigil for Myuran in Sydney on Wednesday night. The event, at the Sukumarans??? church in Sydney's west will feature speakers such as radio host Alan Jones. Chaser member Craig Reucassel will act as MC. Eddie Perfect is hosting a similiar event organised by the artist Matthew Sleeth in Melbourne. Justice Lex Lasry will speak at the Federation Square event and Missy Higgins will perform music. Representatives of the Chan and Sukumaran families will attend. An event is also being planned in Perth on Wednesday night. (source: The Guardian) ************************** Australians' transfer to Indonesia execution site delayed The transfer of 2 Australians to an Indonesian island prison for execution will not go ahead this week as planned, the attorney-general's office said Tuesday, as Canberra pressed for their lives to be spared. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders of the so-called Bali 9 heroin trafficking group, were to be transported this week to the high-security prison for their execution, followed by several other prisoners whose appeals for mercy have also been rejected. Indonesian authorities have confirmed the Australians will be among the next group to face the firing squad, but have remained tight-lipped about which foreign convicts will join them or when the execution will take place. But attorney-general's spokesman Tony Spontana announced Tuesday the prisoners would not be moved to Nusakambangan Island, off the main island of Java, until a date for their execution had been determined. "It is delayed. The transfer will not be done this week," he told AFP. "The transfer of the convicts will be carried out closer to the execution date." Spontana insisted the executions would proceed, but the prisoners would only be taken to the island prison 3 days beforehand. Death row inmates must be given 72 hours' notice under Indonesian law before facing the firing squad. The decision to delay the move was made after the Australian government asked for more time for the families to be with their loved ones, Spontana said. Logistical difficulties involving capacity at Nusakambangan were also cited as a reason. The Australians and five other foreigners -- including citizens from France, Ghana, Brazil and Nigeria -- have already lost their appeals for presidential clemency, the final hope of avoiding the firing squad. Legal and diplomatic efforts to save the Australians have escalated in recent weeks, with every surviving former prime minister of Australia urging Jakarta on Tuesday to spare their lives. Australia's current government has urged Indonesia -- which faced a diplomatic outcry last month when it executed six drug offenders including five foreigners -- not to proceed, particularly while last-ditch legal measures are being pursued. Lawyers for the pair have a court date next Tuesday to examine their claim that Indonesian President Joko Widodo did not follow the rules in rejecting Chan and Sukumaran's clemency bids. - Act of mercy - Widodo has been a vocal supporter of capital punishment and has vowed a tough approach to ending what he has called Indonesia's "drug emergency". He has shocked rights groups with his support for executions, as they had hoped he would take a softer line on capital punishment. The case of the so-called Bali 9 ringleaders is being followed closely in Australia, a key tourism market for the Indonesian island. In an unusual show of unity, all surviving former prime ministers on Tuesday made a plea to spare the men. "They committed a very serious crime but have demonstrated genuine rehabilitation," said John Howard, whose conservative government began efforts to save the pair during his term in office. "Mercy being shown in such circumstances would not weaken the deterrent effect of Indonesia's strong anti-drugs laws." >From Malcolm Fraser, prime minister from 1975 to 1983, to his successors Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, they provided their support for clemency in comments to The Australian newspaper. "We are very much opposed to the death penalty in Australia," said Fraser. Rudd, who succeeded Howard as prime minister in 2007, said as a "deep, long-standing friend of Indonesia" he would "respectfully request an act of clemency". Current Prime Minister Tony Abbott has also spoken strongly against the planned executions, warning Canberra will make its displeasure felt if they go ahead. (source: Yahoo News) ******************** No mercy: Indonesia executions to go ahead, says Attorney-General Indonesia has spurned all appeals to spare convicts sentenced to death for drug trafficking, as it makes preparations to execute a new set that includes 2 Australians and a Nigerian. Even as the transfer of 2 Australians on death row in Indonesia to an island for execution was delayed , the country's attorney-general, H.M. Prasetyo said the execution will go on. Every surviving former prime minister of Australia has joined the chorus of appeals on Jakarta to spare Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from the firing squad. "We are responding to the requests from the Australian government and families," Prasetyo told The Sydney Morning Herald of the postponement. "We want the families to meet with Myuran and Andrew, to give them more time to be with the convicts on death row. This is not delaying the executions. This is just to provide the families with more time." Chan, 31, and Sukumaran, 33, were sentenced to death in 2006 over their roles as ringleaders of a plot to smuggle heroin from Indonesia's Bali island to Australia. They were set to be transported to a high-security prison on the island of Nusakambangan ahead of their execution as early as Wednesday, although no firm date has been announced. Several other foreigners on death row whose clemency appeals have also been rejected, including from Brazil, France, Ghana, Nigeria and the Philippines, were also expected to be transferred soon. Prasetyo said he did not know how much more time Chan and Sukumaran would be given, and reiterated that no date had yet been set for the executions. "This is not something easy. This is not something fun but this is what we must do," he said. "The law states that they have to be executed once clemency has been rejected by the president." Australia has urged Indonesia - which faced a diplomatic outcry last month when it executed 6 drug offenders including 5 foreigners - not to proceed, particularly while last-ditch legal measures are being pursued. Chan and Sukumaran's lawyers reportedly have a court date next week to look at claims Indonesian President Joko Widodo did not follow the rules in rejecting their clemency bids. "They cannot transfer, they cannot move Chan and Sukumaran, let alone kill them, while the legal process is going on," Todong Mulya Lubis told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. - Act of mercy - Widodo has been a vocal supporter of capital punishment and has vowed a tough approach to ending what he has called Indonesia's "drug emergency". The case of the so-called Bali 9 ringleaders is being followed closely in Australia, a key tourism market for the Indonesian island. In an unusual show of unity, all of Australia's surviving former prime ministers on Tuesday made a last-ditch plea to spare the men. "They committed a very serious crime but have demonstrated genuine rehabilitation," said John Howard, whose conservative government began efforts to save the pair during his term in office. "Mercy being shown in such circumstances would not weaken the deterrent effect of Indonesia's strong anti-drugs laws." >From Malcolm Fraser, prime minister from 1975 to 1983, to his successors Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Howard, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, all the former leaders provided their support for clemency in comments to The Australian newspaper. "We are very much opposed to the death penalty in Australia," said Fraser while Gillard added: "I personally would find it heartbreaking if such extraordinary efforts to become of good character were not met with an act of mercy, of recognition of change." (source: News Nigeria) ******************** Lindsay Sandiford: Death row Redcar gran's sister travels to Bali in last ditch attempt to save her life The sister of Redcar gran Lindsay Sandiford who could be executed in weeks, has flown to Bali in a last ditch attempt to save her life. Hilary Parsons is reported to have gone to the Indonesian island with 3 lawyers in a bid to save her 58-year-old sister's life. Sandiford is facing death by firing squad after she was convicted of trying to smuggle 1.6 million pounds worth of cocaine into Bali in May 2012. She claims she was forced to transport the drugs to protect her son, whose safety was at stake. Sandiford, originally from Redcar but now of Cheltenham, currently has no legal representation and cannot afford to pay for a lawyer, which means she had been denied the opportunity to fully challenge her death penalty and the right to file for clemency. And 2 other Bali prisoners - Australian ringleaders of a heroin smuggling ring are facing death by firing squad in what could be a matter of days. The executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were said to be in the final stages of preparation. Representatives of Indonesia's legal department were reported to be meeting Australian officials in Jakarta to discuss the execution. Indonesia's Attorney General was reported to have said the prisoners will be transferred to the place where they will face the firing squad "in a matter of days". It is understand that Sandiford has 1 last legal attempt at saving her own life which is to ask for a judicial review of her case. Recently-elected President, Joko Widodo has said he will show "no mercy" to people sentenced to death for serious drug offences and so far he has held to his word with the execution last month of 6 prisoners for drug-linked offences. However, the Attorney General's Department has made it clear that no-one will be put to death until they have exhausted every possible legal avenue. The Foreign Office has previously said that it had consistently provided and offered consular support to Sandiford, which she at the time declined to accept. (source: Gazette Live) TURKEY: Death penalty is not solution, says Ozgecan's father The father of Ozgecan Aslan, a 20-year-old student who was brutally killed in southern Turkey, has said a return of capital punishment is not the solution, amid debates over increasing the penalties for such crimes. "[The death penalty] may return to dissuade [from committing crimes], but it is not a solution ... People should learn to control themselves instead. Let's surrender to the good while there is still peace," Mehmet Aslan said on Feb. 16, as reported by daily Cumhuriyet. "Our only demand is that justice is served," he added. Songul Aslan, Ozgecan's mother, demanded those who were responsible for the death of her daughter serve the sentence they deserved. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has expressed his hope that the "common awareness" that has emerged after Ozgecan's death might save the lives of many other women, praising her father's reaction. Davutoglu added that a new action plan against violence against women would be prepared. Naciye Tan, the mother of Ozgecan's murderer, 26-year-old Ahmet Suphi Altindoken, has also said she shared the sorrow of Ozgecan's family, adding that she was also subjected to violence from Altindoken's father. "No child is born a murderer, a thief or a terrorist. Everyone is born an angel. There are many things behind what has turned him into this," Tan said. "I could not protect my child. His father tended to violence. We have been separated for years. I did not want our children to be raised with their father. I was subjected to violence from my husband, but could not tell anyone," she added. "I know my son doesn't have the right to kill someone. I could never accept that. I haven't seen him since this incident," Tan said. She also said that she wanted to meet with Ozgecan's family to express her sorrow, adding that she also has a daughter. US embassy releases message for Ozgecan The U.S. Embassy in Ankara posted a Tweet on Feb. 18 to express sorrow over the death of Aslan, condemning all acts of violence against women. "We wish to express our deepest sorrow over the murder of Ozgecan Aslan. We strongly condemn this heinous crime and all acts of violence against women around the world," the embassy stated. (source: Hurriyet Daily News) ********************** EU Minister: "Reintroduction of death penalty not on agenda" Turkish EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkir stated that although death penalty was discussed at the last cabinet meeting on Monday, the reintroduction of the punishment is not on the agenda. Minister Bozkir answered the questions of press members about claims that the government tends to reintroduce death penalty after the brutal murder of university student Ozgecan Aslan, at the opening ceremony of "Enhancement of the Vocational Education Quality and Youngsters' Professional Qualifications Project" where he attended along with Minister of Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Celik. "Death Penalty was discussed at the last cabinet meeting. I have expressed my own opinions as an EU Minister. Death penalty was fully removed from the legislations in constitution of our country in 2004. This is an important factor in EU membership process. None of the European countries imposing this punishment currently. I think life sentence is sufficient method. The reintroduction of the death sentence in not on the agenda of our government," Bozkir said. (source: cihan.com) ISRAEL: Liberman says he'll legislate death penalty for terrorists----Slamming government for releasing security prisoners, FM says Israel 'constantly creates and strengthens their hope' Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman called for the death penalty for terrorists Tuesday, harshly criticizing previous Israeli governments for agreeing to free thousands of security prisoners. "We have to signal that we're changing direction. No more deals [to release prisoners]. Rather, the opposite: The 1st law that we will propose in the next Knesset will be the death penalty for terrorists. We must not give them hope," he said at a conference in Tel Aviv. Given that the death penalty exists in the United States, and the fact that Jordan and Egypt bombed Islamic State targets in response to the killings of its respective citizens, Israel has no choice but to start executing terrorists, the foreign minister argued. "Otherwise we invite more terror and yet more terror." Liberman said that global terrorism is currently the world's foremost challenge, and that Israel in particular must drastically alter the way it deals with terrorists. "We created hope for terrorist organizations, all the terrorists who fight against Israel. Instead of building an iron wall and telling them they have no chance [because] we will fight, we constantly create and strengthen their hope," he said. "Time and again we release groups of terrorists, and each of them has hope. They're not afraid; they know that at the end of the day we will surrender," Liberman added. "e released thousands of terrorists over the last decades, terrorists responsible for the most horrible attacks. It???s simply a wrong message. It encourages terrorism and creates more terrorists." In theory, capital punishment exists in Israel (for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, treason and crimes against the Jewish people), but it hasn't been implemented since the execution of Adolf Eichman in 1962. Right-wing politicians have indicated support in principle for the death penalty for terrorists, but a law that would establish a minimum punishment for a crime as loosely defined as "terrorism" would likely be struck down by the Supreme Court. Speaking at the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, Liberman criticized the conduct of the outgoing government - of which he was a member - during last summer's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, arguing that the war's ambiguous outcome invited future attacks from the strip. It was clear that at least 1 more round of violence with Hamas in Gaza was inevitable, he lamented, saying Israel should strive for a "decisive victory" in every military campaign. Otherwise, he added, "we will simply lose out big time." Liberman lauded the international community's resolve to fight the Islamic State group, praising Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II for having launched airstrikes at the terrorist group, and US President Barack Obama for seeking authorization to launch a ground operation against it. He posited that present-day terrorists were similar to the Nazis in that they sanctify death as a supreme value and were interested in martyrdom and killing as many innocents as possible. "That's the essence of modern terror. They live to die and aren't rational actors," Liberman said. "The Nazi regime likewise wasn't rational; it was guided by various insane ideologies. They were ready to fight the entire world. Today, we face the same in a different version." (source: Times of Israel) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 17 13:07:57 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:07:57 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 17 GLOBAL: Death penalty: Aberration or deterrent? As Australia appeals for clemency for 2 of its citizens awaiting execution in Indonesia for drug trafficking, the spotlight is once again focused on the practice of state-sanctioned killing as punishment for a range of crimes. So what are the key facts, figures and arguments surrounding the death penalty? Is the use of capital punishment increasing or declining? What would account for these trends? Despite a global trend towards abolition, in 2013, the latest data available from Amnesty International, executions rose by almost 15% over the previous year. The spike of recorded, verifiable executions, according to the organization, were perpetrated by an "isolated group of entrenched executioners, mainly Iraq and Iran." Excluding China, for which figures are not known, Amnesty reveals that 778 confirmed executions were carried out in 2013. However, despite an increase in numbers of executions as a whole, there is a general trend towards abolition, with an increasing number of territories and countries across the globe moving toward moratorium or abolition. Worst offenders: Which countries execute the most people? Amnesty reports that 22 countries conducted executions during 2013, one more than in the previous year. 4 countries -- Indonesia, Kuwait, Nigeria and Vietnam -- resumed executions after moratoriums were lifted there. China, which is believed to execute more prisoners prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, does not release figures on its executions and thus reliable figures are hard to come by. While concrete data is difficult to obtain in many countries, Amnesty says that almost 80% of all known executions (which excludes China's figures) worldwide were recorded in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Egypt condemned 183 defendants to death in a mass sentencing, triggering international opprobrium and calling the Egyptian justice system into sharp relief. The United States, which executed 39 people in 2013, is the only G7 country, and the only 1 of 56 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to still use capital punishment. Which countries have abolished the death penalty? More than 2/3 of countries have struck capital punishment from their statutes, or at least for all practical purposes. In 2013 no executions were recorded in Europe and Central Asia, and the U.S. was the only country in the Americas to execute people in 2013. Only 3 ASEAN nations -- including Indonesia -- carried out executions that year. Of the G8, only 2 -- the United States and Japan -- executed prisoners. When do prisoners find out about their impeding execution? This differs from country to country, ranging from an execution date -- pending appeals -- set at sentencing in the United States, to inmates unaware of their scheduled death until just a few days or hours before being killed, as is the case the Bali 9 as they await their fates in Indonesia. How are prisoners executed? Methods of execution range from lethal injection -- 1st adopted in the United States in 1977 -- to gassing, hanging, death by firing squad, electrocution and beheading -- Saudi Arabia still publicly executes prisoners by decapitating them with a sword. How accurate are figures on the death penalty? Amnesty says: "In some countries, it is not possible to obtain reliable data because governments do not make figures for death sentences and executions available, while others actively conceal death penalty proceedings. In countries affected by conflict it is often not possible to obtain sufficient information to confirm whether any executions have taken place." How are cases of foreign nationals sentenced to death treated? Foreigners on trial in countries with the death penalty can be at a disadvantage due to linguistic difficulties and an unfamiliarity with the country's legal system; however, those arrested abroad are granted consular assistance under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). Diplomatic solutions occasionally see prisoners repatriated to serve out sentences -- in lieu of execution -- in their home countries. Indeed, the VCCR has been cited in diplomatic attempts to repatriate death row citizens -- Mexico invoked the United States' failure to abide by the convention as reason to repatriate 54 Mexican nationals in death row in the U.S. However, foreigners often fall foul of some country's laws -- drug trafficking cases are often headline-grabbers -- and in some high profile cases, despite diplomatic appeals, politicians choose to go ahead with executions in a bid to appear unwavering in the face of serious crime. What are the arguments for and against the practice? Advocates say it is a powerful deterrent against serious crime, while others point to the problems -- and cost -- of keeping violent offenders in general prison populations. In many countries, justice is seen as served due to the satisfaction of the victims or their families in seeing perpetrators put to death. Opponents cite the arbitrariness of the death penalty, the fallibility of juries and the problems associated with wrongful conviction. In the United States, there are also claims that there are racial disparities and that African-Americans are overrepresented on death row. (source: CNN) INDIA: Shreya Rastogi and Lubhyathi Rangarajan: The life merchants----The Death Penalty Litigation Clinic has taken up the cudgels for prisoners on death row Shreya Rastogi's voice bristles over the phone as she narrates incidents of underaged prisoners being awarded the death penalty. "Such prisoners routinely have their age inflated by the police and prosecution," the 24-year-old lawyer says. Just getting their age verified is an uphill task. In 1 instance, they had to go to the prisoner's school in a faraway village and get his school-leaving certificate. Still, the work has resulted in at least 1 person having his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. And that is just one of the many steps in a long road for Rastogi and colleague Lubhyathi Rangarajan, 27, who have criss-crossed the country interviewing prisoners on death row. "Their work is absolutely path-breaking," says Yug Mohit Chaudhury, a lawyer who specialises in death penalty litigation. According to him, a major challenge for death penalty abolitionists has been the lack of data in India. The Supreme Court has even cited this as a factor in its inability to provide a reasoned judgment on the abolition of the penalty. In light of this, in 2013, P Sathasivam, chairperson, National Legal Services Authority, gave permission to the Death Penalty Litigation Clinic to compile empirical data on death row prisoners in India. That was when the National Law University (NLU) in Delhi stepped in and provided initial funding for the clinic. Initially, the aim was to compile information on the number of prisoners on death row. Rastogi and Rangarajan, both lawyers, collaborated with Anup Surendranath, assistant professor at the university. (Maitreyi Misra, 24, who was part of the original team, was till recently associated with the clinic.) Of the 385 prisoners on death row in India, the duo have interviewed 370. (The only prisoners they haven't been given access to are those convicted in terror cases.) "What we aim to do is map the socio-economic profile of someone sentenced to death," says Rangarajan. One finding: The prisoners are overwhelmingly poor and the duo has seen families falling into poverty once the sole breadwinner is sentenced to death. "At the very least, this has helped us understand that the death penalty results in entire families falling out of the economic net. Children are forced to start working, pushing economic advancement back by another generation," says Rastogi. They are, for the most part, unable to afford lawyers and depend on the state. Then, there is the "callous manner" in which investigations are conducted. In Orissa, a tribal was accused of murdering his wife and sentenced to death. While being interviewed by the clinic, it emerged that he was beaten to the confession. Upon seeing this, the clinic has gone beyond its founding role and started arranging legal representation for people on death row. Rastogi explains that for the moment - partly due to funding constraints - the clinic has only been able to intervene at the appellate level, i.e. once the death sentence has been passed. At present, it is helping 32 inmates. They have managed to stay 2 executions. Going forward, the project plans to publish a report where it will aim to map out the death row inmates. "It is only then that a reasoned conversation on the abolition of the death penalty can begin," says Rangarajan. (source: Forbes India) ******************* HC ratifies death for man who raped, killed Class IX student The Bombay High Court on Monday confirmed death sentence to a man who had raped and killed a 13-year-old girl in Raigad in October 2012. "The accused committed the offence in order to satisfy his lust. He forcibly raped 13-year-old defenceless school-going girl and eliminated her life," the HC said while confirming the death penalty for 22-year-old Viran Rajput, who hails from Madhya Pradesh. The victim studied in Class IX at a school located four km from her house. "She used to go on foot to her school and on the unfortunate day, she was returning home alone. The accused took this opportunity and helpless girl was subjected to sexual and brutal assault in a remote place where there was nobody to protect her," said Justices V K Tahilramani and I K Jain. Calling the accused "beastly", the judges said that after satisfying his lust, he feared that the victim might expose him. "So he buried her body in a naked condition in a ditch and covered the place with grass and mud. The modus operandi of the accused clearly shows he would be a menace to the society and there is no possibility of him being reformed," the judges held in a 93-page order. On June 25, 2014, a sessions court had convicted Rajput under Section 302 of the IPC and sentenced him to death. He was also convicted under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. ************************************ Calling it insult to womanhood, Bombay HC confirms death penalty to man for raping, killing teen The Bombay High Court on Monday confirmed death penalty to a 22-year-old man who was convicted for raping and killing a minor school girl way back in 2012. "The accused committed the offence in order to satisfy his lust. He forcibly raped the 13-year-old defenceless school going girl and eliminated her life which is the ultimate insult to womanhood," said the court while confirming death penalty to the convict who hails from Madhya Pradesh. "It has come on record that she used to go on foot to her school and on the unfortunate day, she was returning alone from the school. The accused took this opportunity and helpless girl was subjected to sexual and brutal assault in a remote place where there was nobody to protect her," said Justices V K Tahilramani and I K Jain. Calling the convict's act "beastly", the judges said that after satisfying his lust he killed her as he thought she might expose him. "He buried her body in a naked condition in a ditch and covered the place with grass and mud. The modus-operandi of the accused clearly shows that he would be a menace to the society and there is no possibility of the accused being reformed," the judges held in a 93-page order. Earlier, on June 25, 2014 a session court convicted him under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to capital punishment. He was also convicted under section 366, sections 10 and 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and section 201 of IPC. The HC took into consideration the fact that the offence was not committed in the spur of the moment. "It was pre-planned. The accused took the victim to a secluded place and raped her. The subsequent conduct of the accused indicates that he had felt no remorse. After commission of crime, he was found coolly wandering in the village," the court said. "The modus-operandi to commit the crime by resorting to diabolical method exhibits depravity, degradation and uncommon nature of the crime which had shocked the collective conscience of the community as well as the villagers who are required to send their minor girls to another village for education, in the era in which right to education is the constitutional guarantee," held the High Court. (source for both: Indian Express) *************** Can Abu Salem be given the death sentence? After his 1st significant conviction since his extradition from Portugal a decade ago, the crucial issue is what would be the demand now for Abu Salem's quantum of punishment in the case of murder and an act of terror. The central government may have to apply its mind before special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam makes his arguments for sentencing Salem on Tuesday for the 1995 murder of builder Pradeep Jain. Salem's extradition in 2005 had come with riders to protect him from a death sentence, which Portugal had long abolished. Salem said the Indian government had agreed to this pre-condition. Legal experts say now it will be difficult to seek the death penalty for Salem. In the Jain murder case, Salem was charged with murder, which attracts capital punishment. Additional charges under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act were added by the court that tried him in Mumbai. One of the sections attracts the noose. In September 2010, the Supreme Court dismissed Salem's plea that he cannot be tried for offences punishable with death. The SC had pointed out that notwithstanding the pre-condition imposed by Portugal, the two countries are signatories to the international convention on elimination of terrorism; hence, it felt that there was nothing wrong if the various provisions under Tada and the IPC were invoked against him. Nikam said Salem's conviction, especially under Tada for committing terrorist acts, is major. It will have "wide ramifications", especially because his co-accused in the case is the absconding underworld don Anees Ibrahim, brother of don Dawood Ibrahim. "Salem was the associate of Anees and the verdict will be a big jolt to Dawood. It will boost the government's fight against terrorist gangs," said Nikam. The prosecutor, who would have ordinarily sought nothing but the maximum punishment of death for a brutal murder, may have to contact the Centre on what the sentencing submission should be. (source: The Times of India) CHINA: China Orders Compensation To Acquitted Death Row Prisoner A court in China's southern city of Fuzhou ordered compensation of 1.14 million yuan (118,416 pounds) to a former death row prisoner who was acquitted on charges of poisoning 2 children, state media said on Tuesday. The rare acquittal of Nian Bin, a former food stall owner who was freed in August after a court in Fujian province found there was insufficient evidence, prompted renewed calls for the abolition of the death penalty in China. Nian, 39, was accused of poisoning his neighbours with rat poison, leading to the death of 2 children and injuries to 4 others in July 2006. But he said he was tortured into confessing during police interrogations and had pursued his appeals for years, an effort closely watched by human rights lawyers in China and global rights groups. He was convicted several times and spent 8 years in prison before being acquitted. The intermediate court made the ruling on Sunday, and on Tuesday announced that Nian "should be paid 589,000 yuan for loss of personal freedom and another 550,000 yuan for mental suffering," the official Xinhua news agency reported. China's ruling Communist Party has said it aims to prevent "extorting confessions by torture" and halt miscarriages of justice with a "timely correction mechanism", after a series of corruption investigations involving torture outraged the public. But legal scholars are sceptical about significant change under 2-party rule. The government has been silent on establishing an independent judiciary or reining in the police, a powerful agency in China. Rights groups say China uses capital punishment more than any other country, fanning public concern of irreversible miscarriages of justice. (source: Malaysian Digest) ************************* China's chance to end injustice of the death penalty----Zhou Zunyou says moves to cut the list of punishable offences are a step in the right direction, but public attitudes will need to be changed 2 high-profile incidents hit the headlines on February 9: in Hubei province, former mining tycoon Liu Han , along with his brother and 3 others, was executed for murder, running a mafia group and numerous other crimes. In Inner Mongolia, meanwhile, villager Zhao Zhihong was sentenced to death for a string of rapes and murders, including one in 1996 that had been blamed on a teenager by the name of Huugjilt. In the former case, Liu had connections to Zhou Yongkang, the former security tsar and Politburo Standing Committee member, who has been arrested and expelled from the Communist Party. In the latter case, Huugjilt was posthumously exonerated last December; shortly afterwards, a police officer liable for the wrongful execution was charged with torture to coerce a confession, among other things. While the execution of Liu was a by-product of China's iron-fisted onslaught on corruption, the death sentence meted out to Zhao was closely linked to China's difficult struggle for judicial fairness. In both campaigns, the death penalty has become a convenient tool for implementing the Communist Party's recent and unprecedented resolution on the rule of law. In China, statistics on death sentences and executions are considered so sensitive that they remain a state secret. According to the Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group, China executed around 2,400 prisoners in 2013, a 20 % drop from 2012. This estimate puts the annual number of Chinese executions at 3 times as many as the rest of the world combined. China retains the death penalty but has vowed to strictly control and prudently apply it. In the past decade, China has embarked on significant legal reforms to curtail its use. In 2007, the Supreme People's Court regained the right to review all death sentences without reprieve. In 2011, China introduced an amendment to its Criminal Code to remove 13 economic-related non-violent offences from the list of the 68 crimes punishable by death. At present, China is mulling adopting another amendment to the Criminal Code to cut 9 crimes from the current list. Because of these reforms, annual executions are in steady decline. If this pace of change continues, the eventual abolition of the death penalty is a distinct possibility. The current reform is largely the result of international pressure but Chinese academics have also played a prominent role. The contribution of Zhao Bingzhi, chairman of China's Association of Criminal Law, is worth special mention. He has even developed a detailed road map for the total abolition of the death penalty by 2050. As in many other countries, a major argument that China makes in favour of the death penalty is the "national realities", in reference to its own legal culture and public opinion. It is a fact that the Chinese people strongly support the death penalty, based on the legal culture of "a life for a life". Hence, it is hard to expect authorities to stop using it immediately in defiance of the will of the people. However, public opinion may change over time. There is ample proof in the history of the death penalty worldwide that people can be moved towards an abolitionist attitude. Similarly, the Chinese people will, at some point in the future, also be prepared to give up the idea of killing someone, regardless of how heinous he or she is, even if it is in the name of justice. Yet, the Chinese public first needs to be informed about the key reasons for the abolition of the death penalty. Firstly, it is traditionally thought to be an effective and necessary deterrent against crime. But, so far, there has been no reliable scientific evidence that proves it is more of a deterrent than other punishments such as life in prison without parole. Secondly, the death penalty leads to irreversible miscarriages of justice. For the parents of Huugjilt, nothing can repair their broken hearts, including hefty financial compensation for the wrongful execution of their son. Sadly, such miscarriages are not rare in China. Thirdly, any method of execution involves a great deal of suffering, whether physical or psychological, that amounts to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment - which is prohibited under international law. The look of despair on Liu Han's face revealed his pain as he heard the court's verdict. In 2012, 111 countries voted for a UN General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty. In 2013, 173 of the 193 UN member states did not execute anybody, signalling a growing trend towards the abolition of capital punishment. Against this background, China has no reason to lag behind in its efforts to build a rights-oriented country. (source: Dr Zhou Zunyou, head of the China section at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, is the author of Balancing Security and Liberty: Counter-Terrorism Legislation in Germany and China----SOuth China Morning Post) ********************* Sydney man waits on China trial decision Sydney man Peter Gardner, who has been detained in China on suspicion of drug smuggling for more than 3 months, is still awaiting a decision on whether his case will go to trial. New Zealand-born Gardner was arrested on November 8 in Guangzhou, where authorities allege he tried to smuggle 40kg of methamphetamine out of China. His travelling partner, Sydney woman Kalynda Davis, 22, was released in December after a month in custody without charge. But Gardner, a 25-year-old from Richmond in northwest Sydney, could face the death penalty. New Zealand human rights lawyer Craig Tuck has joined Gardner's defence team and will travel to China soon to work with his client's Chinese legal counsel. 'Mr Gardner has had his file transferred from the police to the prosecutor's office,' he said in a statement on Tuesday. 'He is detained in a cell while he awaits the decision about whether or not his case will proceed to trial. 'He is grateful for the love and support of his family and friends in New Zealand and Australia.' The Gardner family has requested privacy and won't comment to the media while the case proceeds. When Ms Davis returned to Sydney, her father revealed she was cleared because she had carry-on luggage only. She had been shackled in a small cell during the 30-day interrogation, was allowed no contact with the outside world and had her long, blonde hair cropped. (source: Sky News) AUSTRALIA: Vic legal profession opposes death penalty Victoria's top judges will gather to oppose the death penalty as the execution of 2 Bali 9 smugglers draws close. The Law Institute of Victoria will hold a minute's silence on Wednesday morning to support Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, 2 Australians facing the death penalty in Indonesia. Jim Peters QC, Victorian Bar Chairman, said the death penalty only brutalises the community further. 'The death penalty is not an effective deterrent to crime,' Mr Peters said. Law Institute president Katie Miller said the institute had a long history of advocating against the death penalty around the world. 'The LIV's position is that the death penalty should be abolished in every country and, even in this dark hour, we look forward to the day that this is achieved,' Ms Miller said. The minute's silence will be held outside the County Court in Melbourne at 8.30am. (source: Sky News) ************************ Why I won't be boycotting Bali - or other countries with the death penalty Julie Bishop has suggested Australians might boycott Bali to protest against the death penalty. But are individual boycotts moral, or even effective? Deciding where to go on holiday involves a deep subset of choices. Do we want to rest or do we want adventure? Do we want wildlife and wilderness, or history and culture? Is it a holiday we're after, or are we "travelling" in search of some kind of self-discovery? Do we want to take a plane or a train? Hostels or resorts? Now Australians are being urged to consider 1 more factor: the death penalty. As 2 Australian men, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, wait to see whether they will be executed by firing squad over drug smuggling charges, Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop had this to say: I think the Australian people will demonstrate their deep disapproval of this action, including by making decisions about where they wish to holiday. But Balinese people have already protested against any boycott, with hawkers claiming it will hurt their business. That is always the choice with boycotts: do we turn our travel decision into a political protest against the unjust decisions of a government? Or could our boycott hurt the people by leaving them isolated and exposed to the human rights violations we're protesting? If we're being asked to boycott countries that support the death penalty, will we be asked to boycott China? Or the US? If we want to get down to a state-by-state basis, how about just boycotting Texas, which has executed 74 people since 2010? The hugely popular SXSW Interactive festival is being held there next month. Should every prospective participant who disagrees with the death penalty be morally obliged to boycott it? Or if it's only countries that execute Australians we're interested in, how about Singapore? Or as a reporter, should I boycott Turkey, which has more journalists imprisoned than any other nation? As a woman, should I boycott Iran for its treatment of women? When I was planning a trip to Iran in 2011, many reasonable people made this claim to me. Their arguments were sound. Some people believe that the tourist dollar is implicit support for the government and its regime. Back in the 1990s when Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest in Burma, she urged tourists to stay away from the country to protest the military regime. After reading the letter, travel journalist Jeff Greenwald wrote a column in the Washington Post encouraging tourists to "vote with their wings" by staying away from Burma. He later founded an NGO called Ethical Traveler. I found myself wondering if Brits and Americans boycotting Australia as a protest to successive government treatment of our Indigenous people would have an effect on policy. And then I think of what the country would lose if that actually happened. National stereotypes are made and moulded abroad. They're a shortcut to understanding and by their nature are hackneyed and generalised. By visiting Australia, tourists from all over the world realise that not all Australians are racist and not all our politicians are cut from the same cloth as Sir Les Patterson (although in the current political climate the attempt to rid ourselves of that particular stereotype is proving difficult). Still the best way to discover the nuance in national cultures is to visit those countries and interact with local people. People travel for all kinds of reasons. Some just want a beach holiday in a resort that serves food they already know where the beers are cheap and the hospitality friendly. They really wouldn't leave home but these developing countries are so much cheaper - with guaranteed sunshine. But mostly when we travel we can't help but absorb some of the local culture and return home with a deeper understanding of another way of life. Greenwald himself now acknowledges the limits of travel boycotts, telling Radio National that it is "very, very difficult to be effective" because boycotts have to be widespread, and even then they're not always guaranteed to have an economic or political impact. And then I'm back to my trip to Iran where I learned so much about that country's rich culture and history. Where I ate a raw onion like an apple after a meal of kebab and rice to "balance" the meal. Where I listened to Haafez's poetry recited in Persian and felt I understood what it meant. Where I was apologised to every day for the burden of having to wear the hijab (mostly by men). Where I was invited to stay in a stranger's home because I happened to be sitting next to her on the bus. Where I cried in response to a stranger's kindness and then had my visa renewal disapproved because a member of the tourist police decided it wasn't safe for a young woman (I was 34) to travel alone. Every culture contains deep contradictions. How can we ever truly begin to understand each other if we don't go where we fear, or we only travel to places that have policies we like? What a sad and lonely world that would be. (source: Gabrielle Jackson, The Guardian) PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Catholic Church seeks international support to oppose death penalty in PNG The Catholic Church of Papua New Guinea has spoken out against the resumption of the death penalty, with government plans to execute 13 death row inmates by the end of the year. The death penalty has not been used in PNG for more than 50 years, but the National Executive Council has approved 3 modes of execution - lethal injection, firing squad and hanging, although at the moment there is no suitable infrastructure in place. Now, both Indonesia and Thailand have stepped in with offers of financial assistance and expertise. Archbishop John Ribat says he knows the church's voice may not necessarily be heard by the government but they have to try. (source: Radio Australia) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 17 13:24:57 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 13:24:57 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., FLA., ALA. Message-ID: Feb. 17 PENNSYLVANIA: Prosecutor wants death penalty for man with bodies in yard A prosecutor has asked a jury to send a Pennsylvania man convicted of strangling 2 people during a 2002 robbery to death row. The penalty phase of Hugo Selenski's capital murder trial opened Tuesday, 4 days after Pennsylvania's governor declared a moratorium on the death penalty. Selenski's attorneys filed a motion asking the judge to preclude jurors from considering a death sentence, but he told them they are to consider either life or death for Selenski. Selenski was convicted last week of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the deaths of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend, Tammy Fassett. Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino says Selenski tortured Kerkowski and deserves death. Authorities found at least bodies in Selenski's yard in 2003. He beat 2 previous homicide charges. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Capital punishment in Florida is death by judicial whim The premise underlying Florida's death penalty is that it will be carried out fairly. To borrow a phrase, that is a bright and shining lie. As the 1st to re-enact capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 1972, Florida's Legislature provided specific criteria for death sentences and required the state Supreme Court to review each one. In upholding that law, the state court promised in 1973 that "the reasons present in one case will reach a similar result to that reached under similar circumstances in another case ... the sentencing process becomes a matter of reasoned judgment rather than an exercise in discretion at all." The U.S. Supreme Court bought it. But it was sophistry then and it is sophistry now. The Florida Supreme Court rarely sees the vast majority of murder cases that result in life sentences rather than death, and so it cannot compare them for true proportionality. When an appeal forces it to consider the disparate fates of co-defendants, its scales of justice are often out of balance. Emilia L. Carr helped her boyfriend strangle his estranged wife in Marion County 6 years ago. She's on death row. He's not. Heather Strong died slowly. She was duct-taped to a chair, beaten with a flashlight and suffocated with a plastic bag. Those were what the law calls aggravating circumstances. Still, Joshua Fulgham was equally guilty. As the court rationalized in upholding Carr's conviction and death sentence this month, the pair had separate trials before separate juries. And although the court invited her to protest the disparity in a subsequent round of appeals, three of the seven justices believed there was already enough in the record to justify executing her alone. That concurring opinion, written by Justice Ricky Polston, said she was "more culpable" because her intelligence was superior to that of her low-IQ lover, whom she probably manipulated into carrying out the murder. Carr, who is 30 and has been on death row for 4 years, will be a lot older before her fate is sealed. And Florida taxpayers will be out a lot more money than it would cost them if a life sentence rather than death hung in the balance. The Miami Herald once calculated that Florida was spending $3.2 million for each death case, 6 times the total for litigation and incarceration of a life sentence. More recent studies in other states vary from twice to 5 times the cost of death over life, and figured in Maryland's recent decision to abolish capital punishment. In declaring a moratorium on executions pending a legislative study, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday, "This decision is based on a flawed system that has been proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive." There is something inherently foul in a system that gives life to the co-defendant who cops a plea and death to the one who might be less guilty. Jesse Tafero, executed in 1980, was put in the electric chair by a co-defendant, Walter Rhodes, who said Tafero was the triggerman in the deaths of 2 law enforcement officers. Rhodes later recanted, saying he had been the shooter, but the courts wouldn't believe him. The execution a month ago of Johnny Kormondy owed similarly to a co-defendant's subsequently recanted testimony. The same thing happened to John Marek in 2009 despite the sworn testimony of other inmates that a co-defendant serving life - and subsequently murdered in prison - had boasted of being the actual triggerman. Carr's is another of those cases in which the jury did not recommend death unanimously - the vote was only 7 to 5 - but Florida allows the judge to make his or her own decisions. Most often, the Supreme Court approves them. That's just one of the ways the 1972 law perpetuated discretion. Some judges and juries are harsher than others. Prosecutors have great leeway in deciding whether to accept a plea or go for the kill, and their decisions can't be appealed. In fiscal 2014, 1,056 people went to prison in Florida for murder or manslaughter. Of those convictions, 384 were for 1st degree murder, the only kind eligible for death. But of those 384, only 12 were death-sentenced. Those 12 are the only cases the Supreme Court is required to review. Appeals of the others rarely go beyond the 5 district courts of appeal. There's a man serving life from Collier County for killing his mother and sister with a pipe bomb. That would seem to be more diabolical than what Carr did. But his case never figures in any proportionality review. Once upon a time, Florida governors commuted sentences to prevent comparative injustice. The last to do so was Bob Graham, in 1983. There has been no commutation for any reason since then. At the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Harry Blackmun eventually despaired of finding justice in capital punishment. "From this day forward, I no longer will tinker with the machinery of death," he wrote in a 1994 solitary dissent. " ... The problem is that the inevitability of factual, legal and moral error gives us a system that we know must wrongly kill some defendants, a system that fails to deliver the fair, consistent and reliable sentences of death required by the Constitution." He was right. Florida remains in the wrong. (source: Martin Dyckman is a retired associate editor of the St. Petersburg Times. He lives near Waynesville, North Carolina----floridapolitics.com) ALABAMA----stay of impending execution Judge halts state's plan to execute Arthur Death-row inmate Tommy Arthur's Thursday execution has been stayed by a federal judge in Montgomery. The order this morning from Judge Keith Watkins said that Arthur has met his burden and is entitled to a stay. "Arthur's February 19, 2015, execution date is stayed pending a trial and final decision on the merits of his claims," the order states. A trial will be held in U.S. District Court May 5-6 on objections Arthur's attorney's raised to the lethal injection methods the state plans to use for the execution. A spokeswoman for the Alabama attorney general's office said it had not comment on the stay. Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said the 2012 stay preventing Arthur's death has expired. The Alabama Supreme Court in December scheduled Arthur, 73, for execution Thursday. However, a federal judge ruled the 2012 stay issued by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals remained in place. Lawyers for the state attorney general's office last month asked that the 2012 stay be lifted, arguing it applied only to Arthur's previously set execution date and Arthur's challenge to the lethal injection procedure the state used at that time. Alabama in September adopted a new drug combination that uses midazolam hydrochloride as the sedative to render a prisoner unconscious at the start of an execution. Arthur's lawyers have argued the new drugs should not be used until a court has time to review them. Arthur has challenged the state's various drug combinations as potentially cruel and unusual. Arthur was sentenced to die for the 1982 murder-for-hire of a Muscle Shoals man. On the day of the murder, Arthur is said to have walked away from a work release program in Decatur and driven to Muscle Shoals. (source: Decatur Daily) ************************** Shoals killer Tommy Arthur gets another stay, 2 days before his scheduled execution Alabama death row inmate Tommy Arthur has been granted another reprieve 2 days before he was scheduled to be executed. He has been on death row for 32 years and this is the 6th time he's been granted a stay. Arthur's lawyers had filed an emergency motion late Monday in an effort to postpone his execution. They learned today the U.S. District Court has granted their request until a hearing about the matter in May. Arthur is protesting the combination of drugs Alabama uses to execute inmates. Arthur had been scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday, February 19 at 6 p.m. at Holman Prison in Atmore. He was scheduled to be moved to the room known as the 'death chamber' today. Arthur was sentenced to death for the contract killing of Troy Wicker of Muscle Shoals in 1982. Arthur has filed several previous court challenges against the combination of drugs used for lethal injection executions. There are many similar challenges from death row inmates in other states. (source: WHNT news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 17 14:32:43 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 14:32:43 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----IRAN------URGENT ACTION Message-ID: IRAN: JUVENILE OFFENDER BEATEN, DAYS FROM EXECUTION Iranian juvenile offender Saman Naseem was beaten to force him to make more TV ?confessions? on 15 February. He is scheduled to be executed on 19 February for crimes he is accused of having committed when he was 17 years old. View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. Iranian juvenile offender Saman Naseem was beaten to force him to make more TV ?confessions? on 15 February. He is scheduled to be executed on 19 February for crimes he is accused of having committed when he was 17 years old. Saman Naseem called his family on 15 February and told them that earlier that day men in plain clothes had taken him to the security department of the Oroumieh Prison. He said the men, who he believed belonged to the Ministry of Intelligence and were carrying cameras and recording equipment, beat him for several hours to force him into making video-taped ?confessions?, but he refused to do so. Saman Naseem was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for ?enmity against God? (moharebeh) and ?corruption on earth? (ifsad fil-arz) because of his membership of the Kurdish armed opposition group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), and for taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2013. Saman Naseem was allowed no access to his lawyer during early investigations and he said he was tortured, which included the removal of his finger and toe nails and being hung upside down for several hours. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Saman Naseem was arrested on 17 July 2011 after a gun battle between Revolutionary Guards and PJAK, in the city of Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province. Court documents say that during the fight one member of the Revolutionary Guards was killed and three others were wounded. In September 2011, Saman Naseem was forced to make a ?confession? which was filmed and aired on state television. According to court documents, during early investigations, he admitted firing towards Revolutionary Guards forces in July 2011. He retracted his statement during the first court session, saying that he had only fired into the air. He told the court that during interrogation he had been hung upside down from the ceiling while blindfolded and that the interrogators had put his fingerprints on his ?confessions?, whose contents he did not know. He has also alleged that the interrogators pulled out his toenails and fingernails and subjected him to beatings which left him with bruises on his back, legs and abdomen. The court dismissed his statements and allowed the use of his ?confession?. View the full Urgent Action here. Name: Saman Naseem (m) Issues: Imminent execution, Torture/ill-treatment, Unfair trial Further information on UA: 234/14 (18 September 2014) and updates (6 February 2015) Issue Date: 16 February 2015 Country: Iran Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 234/14" in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the below date. This is the second update of UA 234/14. Further information: http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/004/2015/en.?If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below. HOW YOU CAN HELP Please write immediately in Persian, English, Arabic, French, Spanish or your own language: * Urging the Iranian authorities to stop the execution of Saman Naseem immediately and ensure that his case is subjected to a judicial review; * Reminding them that Iran has ratified both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibit the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age; * Urging them to ensure that he is not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment; investigate the allegations that he was subjected to torture or other ill-treatment; and ensure that ?confessions? obtained from him under torture are not used as evidence in court. PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 30 MARCH 2015 TO: Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Sayed ?Ali Khamenei The Office of the Supreme Leader Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Email: (via website) http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter Twitter: @khamenei_ir (English), @Khamenei_ar (Arabic), @Khamenei_es (Spanish). Salutation: Your Excellency Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani c/o Public Relations Office Number 4, 2 Azizi Street intersection Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Salutation: Your Excellency And copies to: President of the Islamic republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani The Presidency Pasteur Street, Pasteur Square Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran Twitter:@HassanRouhani (English), @Rouhani_ir (Persian) Also send copies to: Iran does not presently have an embassy in the United States. Instead, please send copies to: Iranian Interests Section 2209 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington DC 20007 Phone: 202 965 4990 ?I ?Fax: 202 965 1073 ?I ?Email: info at daftar.org Please share widely with your networks:?http://bit.ly/17msFXp We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward this email to a friend" link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism! UA Network Office AIUSA ?600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 T. 202.509.8193 ? F. 202.509.8193 ?E. uan at aiusa.org ?amnestyusa.org/urgent From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 17 14:59:16 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2015 14:59:16 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., WYO., ORE., USA Message-ID: Feb. 17 FLORIDA----stay of impending execution Florida Supreme Court blocks execution of Orlando killer Jerry Correll The Florida Supreme Court today stayed the execution of a death-row inmate who killed 4 people in Orlando in 1985. Jerry William Correll was convicted in the stabbing his ex-wife, Susan, and their 5-year-old daughter. Also killed were Susan Correll's mother, Mary Lou Hines, and her sister, Marybeth Jones. Correll's attorneys have filed appeals to block his planned execution on Feb. 26. (source: Orlando Sentinel) WYOMING: Judge denies inmate's request to block death-penalty hearing A federal judge won't block the Casper district attorney from once again seeking the death penalty against a Wyoming inmate convicted of killing a Montana woman. U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson of Cheyenne on Friday denied a request from lawyers representing inmate Dale Wayne Eaton to bar the state from seeking the death penalty against him for the 2nd time. Eaton was convicted in 2004 of murdering Lisa Marie Kimmell, 18, of Billings, Montana. Eaton's lawyers don't dispute he killed her. Johnson in November overturned Eaton's original death sentence, ruling he didn't get an adequate defense at his state trial. The judge said prosecutors could seek to convince another jury to resentence him to death or opt to send Eaton to prison for life without parole. Eaton's lawyers had asked Johnson to reconsider giving the state the option to seek the death sentence again and asked him instead to order Eaton to serve life in prison without parole. Eaton's lawyers argued that too many witnesses have died who could have testified about Eaton's background to try to convince a jury that his life had value. Eaton's lawyers also argued that years of negative publicity fueled by what they claimed to be improper statements from prosecutors to the media would make it impossible for him to get a fair rehearing on whether he deserves the death penalty. Eaton had been the only inmate on death row in the state before Johnson overturned his death sentence. His case has received extensive media coverage, including some that has included law enforcement speculation that he was a serial killer. Johnson, in his order on Friday denying Eaton's requests, stated that Eaton's arguments that he can't get a fair hearing need to be addressed in the state court system. Cheyenne lawyer Terry Harris is on the legal team representing Eaton in Johnson's court. Harris declined comment Tuesday on the judge's order. Kimmell disappeared in 1988 while driving alone across Wyoming. Fishermen later found her body in the North Platte River. Investigators tied Eaton to the crime in 2002 when DNA evidence taken from Kimmell's body linked Eaton to the case while he was in prison on unrelated charges. Investigators then unearthed her missing car on his property. Authorities say Eaton kept Kimmell captive for a time in his rundown compound in Moneta, west of Casper, and raped her before killing her. Casper District Attorney Mike Blonigen recently filed notice that he would once again seek the death penalty against Eaton. Blonigen was the original prosecutor against Eaton. An attempt to reach Blonigen for comment on Tuesday was unsuccessful. In a recent interview, Blonigen said he has always followed the rules of professional conduct in speaking with the media about the case. "You have to appreciate that you have to say something when these cases of great public interest occur," Blonigen said last month. "We haven't commented on specific evidence, or argued the case in the press." (source: Associated Press) OREGON: Gov. Kitzhaber: Your Job Is Not Yet Done Governor Kitzhaber has given 35 years of steadfast service to the people of Oregon. His tirelessness and courage have helped to forge a State that is the envy of the nation -- a community as strong and prosperous as it is just and fair. But the job is not yet done. In his last few hours in the Capitol Building, Governor Kitzhaber has the opportunity to undertake perhaps the most courageous act of his career, one that would create his most enduring legacy -- the Governor can commute the death sentences of the 34 men and one woman on Oregon's death row. A decision to commute the death sentences would align with contemporary standards of decency in Oregon, and increasing it aligns with the norms of the nation. A recent poll in the Oregonian showed that 74 % of respondents would support a Kitzhaber decision to commute all existing death sentences. This same sense of decreasing support for capital punishment resonates throughout the country. Within the last decade, six states have abolished the death penalty. Even in states like Oregon where the punishment is authorized on paper, jurors rarely impose it. Indeed, 2014 brought the fewest executions in over 20 years and the fewest death sentences in the modern era. From Alabama to Louisiana, Mississippi to Texas, death sentences and executions are in a steep decline. The death penalty will end nationally when the United States Supreme Court detects a national consensus against its use. A decision to commute the death row in Oregon would help push the country towards the tipping point. Last year, in a case called Hall v. Florida, the Supreme Court counted Oregon "on the abolitionist side of the ledger" noting that Kitzhaber had "suspended the death penalty" and the State had "executed only 2 individuals in the past 40 years." A bold move to clear death row could ensure that Oregon permanently remains "on the abolitionist side of the ledger." It also could reverberate beyond the State's borders, creating needed momentum for governors in other moratorium states -- for instance, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Washington -- to follow Kitzhaber's lead. In the end, though, the most sacred duty of the Governor is to preserve the basic human dignity of the people of Oregon. This duty extends to each of Oregon's citizens, including those whom have committed serious crimes. The people who occupy death row tend to be people who suffer from serious mental illness, intellectual impairments, torturous childhood abuse, and other extreme disadvantage. Often times these individuals do not receive adequate legal representation; and, in states across the nation, innocent men and women emerge from the ranks of the condemned. Recognizing these shortcomings, Governor Kitzhaber declared a moratorium on the death penalty back in 2011. He labeled the State's practice of imposing death sentences "neither fair nor just" and concluded that a "compromised and inequitable" capital punishment system is not befitting of Oregon. Nothing has changed and nothing will: the death penalty in Oregon is too broken to fix. In his resignation letter, Governor Kitzhaber told us that he was proud to not have presided over any executions. Yet, as Governor, he presided over a state that has sentenced people to death under the same unjust system that led him to impose the moratorium. The Governor has the power to leave the troubled history of this disreputable death penalty system in Oregon's rearview mirror; and doing so would enhance the integrity of the criminal justice system without compromising public safety. Governor Kitzhaber: You lit the torch in 2011; and now, in these few remaining hours, please carry that torch across the finish line. (source: By Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law; Founding and Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice -- This post was co-authored with Rob Smith, Associate Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill----Dupont Circle Communications) USA: Marvin Gabrion, awaiting death penalty, files 'emergency' request for psychiatric exam Awaiting the death penalty, Marvin Gabrion is seeking an "emergency" psychiatric review to determine his mental functioning when he killed Rachel Timmerman in 1997, when he stood trial and now. His attorneys are seeking an order as part of an "exhaustive claim" to show Gabrion's trial counsel's representation was below the standard required under the law. "Mr. Gabrion's mental functioning was a primary focus, and rightly so, at trial," his attorneys wrote. "Mr. Gabrion's current functioning is important to how counsel moves forward in these proceedings and is also relevant as to whether Mr. Gabrion is even competent to be executed ... ." They have asked that Gabrion, 61, undergo an evaluation on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at USP Terre Haute, a high-security federal penitentiary in Indiana. A psychiatrist is scheduled to meet with Gabrion but the prison will not reserve a room without a court order, attorneys Scott Graham, Monica Foster and Joseph Cleary wrote. The government opposes the motion "for the reason that there is no emergency in this case, and that there is no basis for concluding that a fourth mental assessment is necessary," Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey wrote in court records. He said Gabrion has feigned mental illness in the past in an attempt to avoid responsibility. "Gabrion has been exhaustively evaluated by mental health professions," the prosecutor wrote. "He was assessed for competency no fewer than three times during the course of the proceedings before this court, and each time he was found to be competent. In fact, the evaluations concluded that Gabrion was malingering." VerHey said the defense wants to use an assessment "apparently to cast doubt upon the efforts of his trial counsel. However, even if (the psychiatrist) determines that Gabrion suffers from some new, previously undiscovered mental condition, that does not translate into a basis for overturning the verdict and sentence," VerHey said. A Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals panel earlier overturned the death penalty, but the full court, by a 12-4 vote, affirmed the conviction and sentence. Gabrion showed "utter depravity" when he killed Timmerman, 19, in a shallow, remote lake in the Manistee National Forest, the federal appellate court said. He kidnapped her 2 days before he was to stand trial in Newaygo County for raping her. He bound and gagged her, weighed her down with a concrete block, then threw her into the water and she drowned. He also killed her 11-month-old daughter, Shannon Verhage, whose body has not been found, the government says. Federal investigators believe he killed 3 others. (source: mlive.com) ************************* Why I Oppose the Death Penalty: Redemption Is Always Possible, so Killing Is Always Wrong Imagine the worst thing you've ever done. Hold onto that thought for a moment. Now ask yourself: Does that moment define you? Should that moment define you? If you're like me, you'll find that even though we all make mistakes in life, even though we all fall short of our greatest ideals and hopes, our worst decisions don't necessarily reflect our true character. How many of us did stupid things when we were younger? How many have committed acts we regret? As we age, we make mistakes. As we make mistakes, we learn and grow. How does it make sense, then, to brand convicted felons as permanently "unworthy" of life? If we were truly rational and consistent in our moral outrage, this possibility would be wholly untenable -- for they, like us, possess the capacity to change -- yet we persist in our delusional thinking about retributive punishment, character, and ethics. We forget why we condemn murder in the first place -- its incredible and horrible finality, its absolute denial of any and all ability to learn and grow. This rebuff of human potentiality confuses justice for vengeance. Don't get me wrong: The death penalty is about many things -- retribution, punishment, anger, a misguided desire for some illusory "cosmic balancing" of the scales of justice. Yet it is most about imagination. Because even though society takes solace in a belief that the people we legally murder deserve death because they once caused it, this rationale lies in the realm of fiction, not reality. Because people change. The men and women who were sentenced to death decades ago are not the same men and women alive today. After languishing for perhaps fifteen years in solitary confinement, one finds a lot of time to think and to read and to reminisce and to regret and to immerse oneself in redemptive activity and thought. While of course not all death row inmates avail themselves of these opportunities, many do. Many go through a crucible of pain and suffering and emerge as better people, as people who are shed of past wrongdoings in character if not in deed, as people who are immersed in religion or philosophy or wisdom drawn from a well of mistakes made and sufferings suffered. As a result of the mere existence of this natural process of change, we are (in a sense) executing innocent people: That is to say, we are killing men and women so far changed from who they were when they committed their horrendous crimes that to say we are doling out truly retributive justice -- much less just justice -- is nonsensical. We aren't executing the same person. We are killing, instead, a much-improved "version" of the criminal we sentenced, a person who bears little to no resemblance to the dumb, inexperienced kid who committed a heinous crime perhaps 15 or 20 years ago. Anecdotes are plentiful. There is William Happ, who committed a brutal murder in 1986 only to recant decades later. There is Robert Waterhouse, who may well have been innocent in the legal manner rather than the manner I use the term in this essay, and who maintained his innocence until the end. The list is tragically long. For every death row inmate who didn't change for the better after his sentencing, there is another who recanted in sincere and moving ways. What good does it do to kill these people? What good, when they have made so much moral progress? The death penalty is dying; it's only a matter of time. How many people will it need to take with it? Society rightly condemns murder because death is the very definition of finality. It can't be undone. So of course I understand why the impulse to kill those who kill exists. Faced with the death of a loved one, I sometimes wonder whether I myself would be able to uphold my ideals and forgo the impulse for retribution. I don't have the temerity to judge anyone who supports the death penalty. But killing people who kill is wrong for the same reasons killing others is wrong: Death's finality denies all possibility of change. By killing people who kill, we either (1) kill men and women who have changed for the better or (2) deny murderers the possibility of reforming their characters and lives. This is repugnant to all moral systems, but especially Christianity. In the immortal words of Justice William Douglas, the "principle of forgiveness and the doctrine of redemption are too deep in our philosophy to admit that there is no return for those who have once erred." Murder is the most heinous crime there is. But it is a better society where murderers, already justly suffering through a life in prison, can at least meditate on their crimes and redeem themselves by changing -- mentally -- for the better. Killing killers denies the possibility of redemptive change while perpetuating the very crime that put these people in prison in the first place. If we are really consistent in our condemnation of murder, if we truly acknowledge the power of change and the possibility for redemption, we should not ourselves -- through our votes and through our politics -- become collective murderers. Stop killing people. (source: Michael Shammas, Huffington Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 18 10:35:36 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:35:36 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, IND. Message-ID: Feb. 18 TEXAS----impending execution Texas death row inmate's lawyers cite new evidence in push for for re-trial ---- Rodney Reed's lawyers have filed an appeal citing multiple problems with his conviction and urging a stay and a re-trial - as execution looms just weeks away The alarm was raised around dawn on 23 April 1996 when Stacey Stites failed to show up for her 3.30am shift as a produce stocker at a supermarket in Bastrop, near Austin, Texas. That afternoon, the 19-year-old's body was discovered by the side of a country road on the outskirts of town. Nearby was a belt that appeared to have been used to strangle her, less than 3 weeks before her wedding day. Rodney Reed was convicted of her murder and is scheduled to be executed on 5 March. His attorneys say they have new evidence that proves his innocence, the latest twist in an 18-year legal process his supporters believe is laden with errors, racism and corruption. Last Thursday, 3 weeks before Reed was set to die by lethal injection in the Texas state penitentiary, his lawyers filed an appeal to the state's criminal appeals court citing multiple problems with his conviction and urging a stay of execution and a re-trial. "3 of the most experienced and well-regarded forensic pathologists in the country ... have re-evaluated the case and determined that Mr Reed's guilt is medically and scientifically impossible,' they write, in response to a lower court's decision in November to deny new DNA testing of evidence including 2 beer cans found near the body. That same month the US supreme court declined to review Reed's case. 'I don't believe' Anti-death penalty advocates and Reed's backers gathered at a Quaker meeting house in Austin on Sunday to show solidarity with the 47-year-old on death row. Among them was Stites' cousin Heather Stobbs. She said that while her family is split, she is convinced Reed is innocent and made contact with his relatives last year after researching the case. "I don't believe, and I have other family members that don't believe, Rodney has anything to do with this," she said. "I think that [the case against him] was taking advantage of that he's black and it kind of sensationalised everything." Reed was a black man having an affair in a small Texas town with a white woman who was engaged to a white police officer. Reed's brother, Rodrick, said that at the time it was "pretty rough" to be a black man living in the area. He said that after his brother's arrest, "I was pretty much blackballed in the county, got fired from my job, couldn't get a job in Bastrop, period, for years. A lot of people looked at me as if I had leprosy or something. They were programmed to believe that my brother did it. They were led astray." He believes the investigation was botched and that the trial was a miscarriage of justice, in part because officials were too willing to believe in the guilt of a black man rather than an alternative suspect: Stites' fiance, the police officer. "It took years for the truth to finally start coming out - other evidence, other witnesses, other things to start showing up. And then people started saying, 'Wait a minute, something's wrong here.' But in the beginning they took it as the gospel. Now 18 years later they see it was nothing but a big sham," he said. Jury unconvinced of affair as a defence Last week's court filing alleges that suspicion should fall on Stites' fiance, Jimmy Fennell. No longer a police officer, Fennell is in prison for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman while he was on duty in 2007. Investigators originally viewed him as a suspect but decided it was logistically impossible for him to have committed the crime. Reed's defence disputes that, arguing that there was no thorough investigation of whether Fennell had an accomplice, potentially one within the police department. Months after the killing, police turned to Reed. His DNA was on and inside Stites' body. Police found a match because of a previous, unrelated, allegation of sexual assault against him. And when questioned about Stites, he initially claimed not to know her. Timing and DNA analysis were crucial to the state's case. Prosecutors said that Stites was killed in the early hours of 23 April. The jury heard expert testimony that this indicated she had been sexually assaulted around the time of her murder, because of an incorrect assertion that sperm can only remain intact after intercourse for about 24 hours. Reed's court-appointed attorneys failed to effectively challenge this view, which seemed to fit the prosecution's argument that Reed had intercepted Stites as she drove to work from the home in Giddings she shared with Fennell, then raped and killed her. But in 2012, the key medical expert, Roberto Bayardo, said that the prosecution had misinterpreted his testimony in several ways, including his analysis of the timing. "My estimate of time of death ... should not have been used at trial as an accurate statement of when ... Stites died," the former medical examiner told the Austin Chronicle. In addition, the filing states, the science presented in the original trial was faulty. The new forensic pathologists - Michael Baden, Werner Spitz and LeRoy Riddick - "conclude that Ms Stites was actually murdered before midnight on April 22, 1996 and that she was placed in the location and position where she was found at least 4 hours after the murder." That timeframe would place Stites at home with Fennell when she died, Reed's lawyers contend. At trial in 1998 the jury were not convinced by Reed's defence: that he and Stites were having a secret relationship that, because it was interracial, might have caused a scandal if word got out. And the interpretation of the DNA evidence contradicted his claim that he had not had sex with Stites since about 2 days before she died. Federal and state appeals courts have repeatedly affirmed the original verdict and not been persuaded of the credibility of witnesses who testified that they knew about the affair, but Reed's attorneys say that 2 new witness have come forward to confirm that Reed and Stites were seeing each other and that her relationship with Fennell was strained and she feared his violent temper. Sister Helen Prejean, a longtime anti-death penalty activist, said at the Quaker meeting on Sunday that Reed's conviction is "one of the most outrageous" she has ever seen. "It's riddled with almost, I think, every mistake that could be made in the justice system. And of course a black man paid for it," she said. (source: The Guardian) PENNSYLVANIA: Lawyers cite moratorium, say no death penalty for guilty man Lawyers for a man convicted of strangling 2 people during a 2002 robbery have asked a judge to bar jurors from considering the death penalty because Pennsylvania's governor has declared a moratorium. The penalty phase of Hugo Selenski's capital murder trial is scheduled to open Tuesday, 4 days after Gov. Tom Wolf declared a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania. Selenski's attorneys filed a motion Tuesday asking Luzerne County Common Pleas Judge Fred Pierantoni III to remove the death penalty as a sentencing option. Selenski was convicted last week of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the deaths of pharmacist Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend, Tammy Fassett. Police found the victims' bodies, along with 3 other sets of human remains, on Selenski's property north of Wilkes-Barre in 2003. (source: Associated Press) ******************** Halting death penalty diminishes justice The Saturday front-page story, concerning Gov. Wolf's halt to justice being administered, is but one reason I did not believe he is qualified to hold office. Each time wise benefactors such as him intervene in the legal system, the family and friends of victims and their right to see justice carried out are diminished. They are but an afterthought to folks of the liberal ilk in their quest to impose wisdom on us, the great unwashed. While I do not wish any ill to anyone, I believe I am not alone when wondering if their benevolence would be as strong if someone close to them was brutally assaulted and harmed. Mark Porcaro Lower Mount Bethel Township (source: Letter to the Editor, Morning Call) ************************** Amnesty International USA Responds to Pennsylvania Death Penalty Moratorium Amnesty International USA executive director Steven W. Hawkins issued the following response after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced today that he is issuing a moratorium on the death penalty in his state: "Amnesty International USA welcomes Gov. Wolf's decision to halt executions. The world is moving away from this cruel and barbaric punishment, and today, the state of Pennsylvania just got a bit closer to doing the same. Pennsylvania is now moving toward the national consensus that the death penalty is broken, costly and needs to be abolished. The United States cannot truly be a global leader in human rights while the death penalty remains the law of the land." (source: Amnesty International; AI is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning global movement of more than 7 million people in over 150 countries who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. VIRGINIA: Hiding the details of lethal injection It has to be one of the creepiest bills ever considered by the General Assembly. Senate Bill 1393, sponsored by Sen. Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax), would drop a veil of secrecy over how Virginia executes prisoners by lethal injection. Its backers, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), are pushing it against a backdrop of global politics and questions of morality. Virginia is among 32 states that allow capital punishment. Since 1982, it has killed 110 prisoners, either by lethal injection or in the electric chair. The preferred method is lethal injection. In the process, a doomed prisoner is strapped in a gurney and given a series of 3 shots. 1 is to anesthetize; another is to paralyze; and the 3rd is to stop his or her heart from beating. In some states, 1 drug may be used. Usually, there are witnesses to the execution, including members of the news media. But Saslaw wants to start hiding crucial aspects of the gruesome practice. His bill would make information about lethal drugs and the companies that make or compound them exempt under the state Freedom of Information Act. There are persistent national shortages of drugs used in the death process. According to The New Yorker, the sole U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental stopped making the key, killer drug in 2011. Death penalty states looked to European manufacturers, but the European Union, which crusades against capital punishment, forbids European drug companies to export it if it will be used in executions. (source: Opinion, Peter Galuszka, Washington Post) FLORIDA: Florida halts executions until Supreme Court considers controversial drug----Appeal to be heard from Okla. inmates in case citing signs of pain during execution Florida's highest court put executions on hold Tuesday while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether use of a controversial general anesthetic constitutes "cruel and unusual" punishment of condemned killers. The state Supreme Court stopped the execution of Jerry William Correll next week because the Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a challenge some Oklahoma inmates brought against use of midazolam hydrochloride as the 1st of 3 drugs used in lethal injections. Florida uses essentially the same formula, the court said in a 5-2 ruling. The state switched to midazolam as an anesthetic in 2013 when some foreign drug manufacturers quit supplying other drugs previously used in executions. The Department of Corrections said 11 lethal injections have been carried out with midazolam in Florida since then. Florida courts have approved midazolam, but the nation's highest court agreed Jan. 23 to hear an appeal by 21 Oklahoma inmates in a case citing prolonged executions and signs of pain reported in that state, Arizona and Ohio. Chief Justice Jorge Labarga wrote that if the nation's highest court rules in favor of the prisoners, "then Florida's precedent approving the use of midazolam and the current Florida 3-drug protocol will be subject to serious doubt as to its continued viability." Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissented, saying Florida should proceed with Correll's execution unless the U.S. Supreme Court stays it. Canady wrote that a stay in another state does not automatically require one in Florida, and that agreeing to review Oklahoma's use of the drug means the justices will forbid it. Canady said Oklahoma agreed to postpone 3 pending executions, while Florida has not agreed to suspend lethal injections. Correll, scheduled to die Feb. 26, was the only Florida inmate with an active death warrant. He also noted that lower federal courts have approved Oklahoma's use of the drug and said it is "purely speculative" whether the Supreme Court will reverse them. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, said the Supreme Court appeal is a toss-up. "They might affirm it," Dieter said. "But it would be terrible to go ahead with an execution when the person's life or death depends solely on his having a date between the Supreme Court agreeing to hear the case and its decision in that case." Correll was convicted of the 1985 murders of his ex-wife, 5-year-old daughter and former mother-in-law and sister-in-law. (source: CBC news) ALABAMA: Pool of more than 100 jurors summoned for Lisa Graham death-penalty trial The parking lot was overflowing and so was the courtroom Tuesday as more than 100 prospective jurors were summoned for the second Russell County capital murder trial of Lisa Graham, accused of hiring a family worker to kill her daughter in 2007. Lee County Circuit Court Judge Jacob Walker III divided the pool roughly in 1/2, 1st having jurors whose last names started with the letters A through J come in as a group to convey any excuses they had for not serving, then hearing from those whose last names began with the letters K through Z. Walker is presiding at the trial because Russell County Judge George Greene declared the 1st proceeding in 2012 a mistrial, saying he could not continue to hear the case because of his failing health. Green retired from the bench before he died Jan. 1, 2014. Walker took the case after other Russell County judges recused themselves. Attorneys expect to spend the rest of this week questioning potential jurors. Because it's a capital case, jurors must be "death qualified," meaning they may not be so morally opposed to the death penalty that they could not impose it, nor so in favor of execution they could not consider the option of life in prison. Testimony in Graham's trial is to begin Monday. District Attorney Ken Davis has said he expects to call about 30 witnesses and may need 7 to 8 days to present the prosecution's case. Judge Walker this week also may hold a suppression hearing on evidence Davis said shows Graham through her fellow Russell County jail inmates tried to slip notes to Kenneth Walker, the man she's accused of hiring to kill her daughter. Graham offered Walton $10,000 if he promised to "leave her out of the equation," Davis said. Graham's attorney Margaret Young Brown has objected to admitting such evidence, arguing Greene already had ruled it inadmissible. Davis said Graham is getting a new trial with a new judge, so "all issues are new." 20-year-old Stephanie Shea Graham's body was found July 5, 2007, on Bowden Road between U.S. 431 and Alabama 165 near Pittsview. She had 6 bullet wounds in the head and torso, authorities said. Investigators said Walton, the last person seen with her, confessed to the homicide. After pleading guilty June 14, 2012, Walton was sentenced to life in prison with possible parole. Authorities allege Lisa Graham wanted her daughter dead because she was frustrated by Shea Graham's drug use, and feared the daughter would jump bail on charges she faced in a drive-by shooting in Columbus. (source: Ledger-Enquirer) OHIO: Jury convicts Church, must decide on death penalty A jury convicted Hager Church on Tuesday after more than 5 hours of deliberations for setting a fire that killed 2 people in 2009 in a crime that may have gone unnoticed if not for Church talking about it in prison. The jury of 8 men and 4 women will return Wednesday morning to begin the 2nd phase of the trial to decide whether Church should receive the death penalty. The jury also can choose the option of life in prison. While Church's team of lawyers presented no closing argument and did little to challenge the strong evidence by the prosecution, it's expected his lawyers will mount a big fight to try to save his life. Church, 30, showed no reaction as the verdicts were read. During her closing argument Tuesday, Assistant Allen County Prosecutor Jana Emerick carefully walked the jury through the charges of 2 counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated arson with three specifications that carry the chance for the death penalty. She told jurors the clear confession Church made to a police investigator admitting to killing Massie "Tina" Flint, 45, and Rex Hall, 54, on June 14, 2009, by setting a house fire at 262 S. Pine St., matched all the evidence. 'Hager Church indicated to Detective [Steve] Stechschulte that Hager Church needed to get something off his chest, which was the terrible crimes he committed in 2009," Emerick said. "You heard the confession." A coroner testified Flint had head injuries that matched Church's statement that he beat her in the head with a pipe wrench. Church also knew intimate details of the crime scene including the location of where the fire started in the home, and where the bodies were found, information only the killer would know, Emerick said. "If he was just making that up, even if he knew there was a fire, of course like numerous people did, Hager Church would have no way of knowing where that fire was started," Emerick said. "All the evidence from fire investigation supports Hager Church's confession in every way." On top of that, he wrote a letter of confession before investigators knew about the crime and he drew a detailed map of the crime scene, Emerick said. Church wrote the letter and drew the map in November 2012, more than 3 years after a Lima fire investigator ruled the fire accidental. Emerick carefully covered the death penalty specifications including how Church burned down the house to try to cover up the crime and that he killed 2 or more people in the course of conduct that was similar. The jury found Church not guilty on 1 of the specifications on Hall's death as it relates to a course of conduct of killing people. No reason was given but Hall's death was somewhat different in the fact he was a man and Church did not beat him in the head. The jury still convicted Church of purposefully killing Hall. The conduct for which the jury found Church guilty, as it relates to specifications necessary for a potential death sentence, included killing Deb Henderson just over a year later by beating her to death with a hammer. Church was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for release for that crime after pleading guilty to aggravated murder. The final death penalty specification accuses Church of committed the crimes as the principal offender. Emerick said that was not disputed because he did not have an accomplice. (source: limaohio.com) *********************** State pursues death penalty in Cambridge murder Guernsey County Prosecutor Daniel Padden said he's "absolutely" pushing for the death penalty in the Adam Burris murder case. The sentencing phase began Tuesday morning with a 3-judge panel hearing testimony from Burris' family, Padden said. A 3-judge panel is mandated in all state cases involving a capital punishment specification. They will determine whether to pursue capital punishment, life in prison without parole, or something else. Burris, 33, pleaded guilty last month to 5 felonies - kidnapping, theft of a motor vehicle, attempted rape, aggravated robbery, and aggravated murder - in connection with the December 2013 murder of 26-year-old Kayla Thompson. Burris' attorney moved to dismiss capital specifications, but the judges denied that request. "We're pursuing the death penalty," Padden said. "This was initially indicted as a death penalty case, and we just feel that's what's appropriate." Thompson, a pizza delivery driver and mother of 2, was reported missing around 2 p.m. Dec. 26, 2013, after she failed to return from Burris' home. A sheriff's deputy responded to Thompson's last delivery on McPherson Avenue and spoke with a woman there who said Burris left driving a pizza delivery vehicle. Deputies used Burris' cellphone to track him, and Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers stopped him in the delivery vehicle on Interstate 70 in Guernsey County around 7:15 p.m. Burris eventually led detectives to Thompson's body near a boat ramp at Dillon State Park. Padden said the kidnapping and murder are thought to have occurred at the McPherson Avenue address. A competency evaluation was conducted last year, and Burris was deemed fit to stand trial. The 3-judge panel is composed of Judge David Ellwood, of Guernsey County; Judge Linton Lewis, of Perry County; and Judge Kelly Cottrill, of Muskingum County. The sentencing phase is set to continue Thursday, and should conclude by Friday afternoon, Padden said. (source: Zanesville Times Recorder) INDIANA: Indiana bill could impose death penalty for school shootings Indiana lawmakers are moving forward with a proposal that could impose the death penalty for school shootings. The bill's in response to last year's deadly shooting at Purdue. It would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty or life in prison without parole for murders that happen inside schools. That includes universities and colleges. The prosecutor in the Purdue case told lawmakers Tuesday he was shocked to learn he couldn't seek the death penalty for the gunman. "Unfortunately as we learned from the case in Lafayette this individual researched the actual punishment and made a decision that 30 years was worth it 10 so it begs the question what if he knew the death penalty or life without parole was facing him?," said Pat Harrington, the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor. The measure still has to pass the full Indiana House and Senate. (source: WSBT TV news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 18 10:37:02 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:37:02 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IOWA, UTAH, ORE., WASH., USA, US MIL. Message-ID: Feb. 18 IOWA: Iowa Lawmakers Look At Bringing Back Death Penalty Some elected leaders in the Iowa Senate would like to bring back the death penalty, but only for a certain kind of crime. Senator Randy Feenstra from Sioux Center wants people to think very carefully about what a criminal might do if faced with the possibility of death. The Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison marks the last place a criminal was executed in Iowa. A look back at old newspaper headlines tells the story of Victor Feguer. The federal government sentenced him to death. In 1963 he was hanged at the Iowa State Penitentiary, and two years later Iowa abolished the death penalty. And now there's an Iowa Senator who wants to bring it back, under certain circumstances. "That would be a situation where a minor gets kidnapped and raped. Right now they get life in prison. If they get killed in the process they also get life in prison," said Sen. Randy Feenstra, of Sioux Center. It's been 50 years since Iowa had capital punishment. Senator Feenstra says if it becomes law again, it might save lives. "If we can save a life by that person thinking through, wow if I kill this person, I get the death penalty myself..if we can save just one or two it made the difference," Feenstra said. The Senate will now take a look at this bill. The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa says it shouldn't pass. "Iowa should focus on the more affective alternative of permanent imprisonment," said Erica Johnson, with the ACLU of Iowa. The lawmakers leading the charge disagree. They say life in prison isn't enough, and the death penalty would be a better way to try and stop the murder of a minor. "This most heinous crime should be looked at and say, it might need the death penalty," Feenstra said. (source: ABC news) UTAH: Death penalty option upheld in St. George murder The judge presiding over a St. George murder case has upheld a prior magistrate's decision allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty if the defendant is found guilty at trial. Fifth District Judge G. Michael Westfall filed a written decision and order Thursday allowing the case to proceed against Bloomington Hills resident Brandon Perry Smith, 33, who is accused of killing Leeds resident Jerrica Christensen in December 2010 at a downtown St. George townhouse. Defense attorney Gary Pendleton had asked the court to quash prior Judge James Shumate's ruling allowing the death penalty based on four criteria including evidence that Christensen was killed incident to an event in which other people were murdered or victims of attempted murder, that the slaying was part of an attempted kidnapping, that Christensen was killed in an attempt to prevent her from being a witness to other elements of the crime, and that her slaying was "especially heinous, atrocious, cruel, or exceptionally depraved." Pendleton has not challenged the prosecution's evidence that Smith allegedly murdered Christensen, but has concentrated on battling the court's decision that the evidence justifies the prosecution's plan to seek Smith's execution. Smith's co-defendant, Paul Clifford Ashton, who was convicted in 2013 of killing St. George resident Brandie Sue Dawn Jerden in the townhome and seriously wounding James Fiske immediately before the pair allegedly went after Christensen, was sentenced to life in prison. Pendleton has argued that Smith was coerced into playing a role in the incident after Ashton deceived him into thinking Ashton's life had been threatened, and that Smith did not plan the killings or take some type of perverse pleasure in making Christensen suffer. Westfall's ruling notes that for the sake of the preliminary evidentiary hearing in which Smith was bound over for trial on a charge of aggravated murder, the court only needs to determine that believable evidence of all the elements of the crime exists, and that determining whether the evidence is a correct representation of what happened when the evidence is disputed is left to a jury to decide. The Supreme Court has clarified that, "an inference (by the prosecution) is reasonable unless it falls 'to a level of inconsistency or incredibility that no reasonable jury could accept,'" and "the court may not assess whether an inference in favor of the prosecution 'is more plausible than an alternative that cuts in favor of the defense. That is a matter ... left for the jury,'" Westfall wrote. Westfall found the prosecution's evidence shows Smith may have been aware of Ashton's plan to kidnap the victims and that the victims' deaths or injuries were linked together as part of a single criminal event, while leaving the jury to decide whether Smith was manipulated as Pendleton has argued. Westfall also ruled the prosecution's evidence supports allegations Smith knew Ashton wanted to keep Christensen from being a potential witness after Ashton shot Jerden and Fiske, and that Smith may have beat, strangled and cut Christensen with a depraved state of mind that rejected a form of killing Christensen that wouldn't have prolonged her suffering. Westfall again notes that the defense's alternative theories will be left to the jury to decide which is more believable. Deputy County Attorney Ryan Shaum said the ruling was "the best possible news" for the prosecution. No further proceedings have been scheduled yet, but typically the court would next establish a hearing to set deadlines for any new motions that may yet be filed before the trial, and possibly a date for the trial as well, he said. Fiske and Christensen's mother, Ellen Hensley, have stated Christensen was helping Fiske move his friends out of Ashton's home during the middle of the night and that she didn't know any of the others she was helping. Hensley has expressed particular frustration at the length of time required to reach a resolution of the case. "4 years ago, (my daughter) was murdered. Worse yet, she was murdered in a very brutal manner," Hensley said during a December courthouse vigil honoring Christensen and other victims of violence, describing the friendship between mother and daughter and the hooded sweatshirt Hensley let Christensen wear the night she was killed. "The man who took her life covered her with it after he placed her in the tub in the bathroom because she was bleeding profusely out on the floor," Hensley said. "Too many times I've walked through the doors of the Washington County courthouse to attend hearings. Too many times, hearings have been reset or set at a much-delayed date. It has been one of the most frustrating and challenging experiences of my life, to say the least, as the entire court process is out of my hands." (source: The Spectrum) OREGON: Commute Oregon's death sentences to life imprisonment I know what it is like to execute someone. I am a retired prison superintendent who conducted the only 2 executions that have taken place in Oregon in the past 53 years. The death penalty in Oregon comes at a high cost to our state in both human and fiscal resources. I call on Gov. Kitzhaber to convert 35 death sentences to life without the possibility of release before he leaves office at mid-morning on Wednesday. Based on my experiences as a correctional professional, capital punishment is a failed public policy - especially in Oregon where we have funded a death penalty system for over 30 years, yet only put to death 2 inmates who volunteered themselves for execution by abandoning their appeals. No other corrections program exemplifies such a complete failure rate. During my more than 2 decades of running correctional facilities, I saw the population of those who are capable of extreme violence up close. I have no doubts at all that these offenders did not think about the death penalty for one second before committing their violent acts. Instead, research has been shown that public safety is greatly improved when our limited tax dollars are redirected to law enforcement agencies to solve cases and prevent crimes. I understand exactly what is being asked of public employees whose jobs include carrying out the lawful orders of the judiciary to end another person's life. The burden weighs especially heavily on my conscience because I know firsthand that the death penalty is not applied fairly or equally in Oregon. I have known hundreds of inmates who are guilty of similar crimes yet did not get the death penalty because they reached a plea bargain of life without parole simply because they had the means for professional legal assistance. I also understand, from my experiences in corrections, the potential awful and lifelong repercussions that can come from participating in the execution of prisoners. Living with the nightmares is something that some of us experience. This is particularly the case with those of us who have had more hands-on experience with the flawed capital punishment process, and/or where an execution under our supervision did not go smoothly. Since the last execution took place in Oregon in 1997 under my watch, 77 people have been released nationally from death row due to evidence that they were wrongfully convicted. I get a chill each time I read about new evidence exonerating inmates who have been sentenced to death. Let me be clear: Converting the sentences of death row inmates to life without the possibility of release does not excuse the horrific acts these individuals have committed. Requiring decent men and women who work in our correctional facilities to take a human life in the name of a public policy that does not work is indefensible. (source: Frank Thompson of Salem is retired from the positions of assistant director of institutions and superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary----Statesman Journal) ************************* Nun urges Oregon death penalty repeal The nun whose memoir of ministry on death row became an Oscar-winning film told a Portland audience Feb. 4 that what is true for everyone is true of murderers - they are better than the worst thing they've done in their lives. Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph from Louisiana, has become the nation's leading opponent of the death penalty. Her 1993 book, "Dead Man Walking," made her a celebrity. "What is it in us that makes us think we need to mimic the worst behavior in the world, to do just what they did to their victims?" she told the crowd, which had jammed into the chapel at Lewis and Clark College. Sister Helen, a Sister of St. Joseph, said early in her life as a woman Religious, she focused on following the rules, being a good classroom teacher and doing charity. Then, she says, the gospel got to her. "The bent of Christianity is to be on the side of the marginalized - radical inclusivity," she said. She realized the difference between her and people who are poor and in jail is not virtue, but her own privileged upbringing as a white southerner in the Jim Crow era. Sister Helen decided to move into a New Orleans housing project in the early 1980s and then was asked to counsel Catholic death row inmate Patrick Sonnier. He and his younger brother were convicted of double murder and rape in the 1977 slayings of 2 Louisana teens. Sister Helen's was the last face Patrick Sonnier saw before being hooded and electrocuted in 1984. Sister Helen has accompanied 6 men in executions. Some of them, she is convinced, were wrongly convicted. That's the basis of her 2006 book, "The Death of Innocents." She calls the U.S. criminal justice system "broken," since defendants who are poor routinely have worse outcomes than those who are rich. She reports she has witnessed police under pressure ask leading questions and do biased work. On top of that, low-income African American crime victims in the south still suffer neglect, Sister Helen claims. "I know mommas whose sons got murdered and there wasn't even an investigation," Sister Helen told the Portland crowd. "They had to live in the projects and every day see the guys who killed their sons running around scot-free." Sister Helen admits her biggest mistake was a failure to reach out to the parents of the teens murdered by the Sonnier brothers. She says she was afraid what they would think of her, since she was counseling the man who had taken their children. But the father of one victim reached out to her and taught her some lessons. Later, she began attending support groups for survivors. She heard them say that they become isolated because no one wants to be around them. Oregon now has 35 people on death row, but has not had an execution in decades. Gov. John Kitzhaber, who allowed the last executions in the 1990s, has said he will block any others while he is in office. Sister Helen urged students to write letters to the editor and call lawmakers, urging Oregon to repeal capital punishment. To hear a panel discussion on the death penalty aired by KBVM-FM radio, go to www.kbvm.com and find the Jan. 19 archives. It includes the story of St. Andre Bessette Parish staffer Becky McBrayer, whose faith pulled her through when a family member was murdered. Father Tim Mockaitis and Ron Steiner of Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty also spoke. ----- Death penalty foes urge Kitzhaber to commute sentences Oregonians for Alternatives to Death Penalty is urging outgoing Gov. John Kitzhaber to commute death row sentences, changing them to life without parole, before he leaves office today. "When the governor leaves office his moratorium on the execution of death row inmates is extinguished," the organization said in a statement. "As the law provides, Secretary of State Kate Brown will becomes the governor. As it was with Governor Kitzhaber, the law provides the power to the new governor to declare a moratorium in her name. If there are still inmates under the sentence of death, we will then strongly encourage Governor Brown to declare a moratorium at her earliest possible opportunity." The organization is asking Oregonians to phone the Capitol at (503) 378-3111 and leave a message making the request of the governor. (source: Catholic Sentinel) ************************ Oregon death row inmate Mark Pinnell renews clemency request on last day of Kitzhaber's tenure Less than 24 hours before Gov. John Kitzhaber officially resigns, a federal public defender is renewing a request for clemency for Mark Pinnell, who has been on death row since 1988. Pinnell was among the 1st to seek clemency after Kitzhaber declared a moratorium on executions in November 2011. Pinnell, who at 66 is the oldest on Oregon death row, is suffering from a severe case of chronic pulmonary disease, and his co-defendant is a free man who left prison in 2011 after serving nearly 26 years behind bars. "Mark's case is a perfect example of how uneven and arbitrary the death penalty can be, and underscores the Governor's longstanding concerns about such an irreversible penalty,'' Teresa A. Hampton, supervising attorney in the federal public defender's office in Idaho, said in a prepared release Tuesday. The Oregonian wrote about Pinnell in July 2013 when he first requested clemency. The federal public defender's office received no response from Kitzhaber's office then. The Idaho office is representing Pinnell because a conflict of interest prevented the Oregon office from taking the case. Since Kitzhaber announced his resignation under fire last week, he has not given any indication whether he'll exercise any last-minute executive powers to commute death sentences before he leaves office at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The governor has said publicly only that he's "proud that Oregon has not invoked the death penalty during my last 4 years on the watch." Meanwhile, Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is urging the governor to vacate death row, while others have argued that a mass clemency would throw the system into disarray. Heidi Moawad, Kitzhaber's public safety adviser, said Tuesday afternoon that she had no comment. Pinnell and co-defendant Donald E. Cornell both robbed and killed 65-year-old John Wallace Ruffner at his Tualatin apartment in 1985. Mark Pinnell's clemency application A jury convicted Pinnell of multiple aggravated murder counts, including aggravated murder by torture, and he was sentenced to death. Cornell was tried later and acquitted of all aggravated murder charges by another jury. Pinnell was appointed an attorney with no capital punishment experience, while Cornell was represented by a seasoned capital punishment attorney, Pinnell's federal public defender argues. Cornell was found guilty of felony murder, a less serious charge, after his attorney successfully argued that the killing was unintentional. The attorney also argued at trial that the victim's death wasn't prolonged but happened quickly, thus not rising to torture. Cornell was released from prison on Sept. 23, 2011, after serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years. He served 25 years and 11 months. He was released from parole a year later. 10 days before the 2 killed Ruffner, they had robbed a Clackamas County man they met responding to a sex ad in the Swing N Sway magazine. They gagged the man, but he survived and, as they suspected, did not report the crime. He was gay and a member of the military. The duo then contacted Ruffner through a sex ad in the same magazine and arranged to meet him at his apartment on Sept. 19 , 1985. When they arrived about 10 p.m., Ruffner opened his door, Pinnell grabbed him and Cornell pushed his way in. Cornell said he punched Ruffner in the stomach and took him to the ground. Together, he said, they tied his hands and feet behind his back with electrical cords ripped from appliances. When Ruffner began to yell, they shoved tissue paper in his mouth and covered it with a scarf. Ruffner died of asphyxiation. According to the federal public defender's office, U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown last month found that Pinnell's lawyers at his re-sentencing failed to show that the medical examiner had admitted there was "likely no intent to kill or torture the victim'' and that Pinnell's co-defendant had a history of "hog-tying'' other robbery victims. The medical examiner during Cornell's trial conceded during a cross-examination that moisture may have caused the large wad of tissue paper in Ruffner's mouth to drift back slightly and block his airway and that his death was possibly accidental, Hampton said. "Judge Brown opened the way for Mark to prove he would have been spared a death sentence had jurors at the re-sentencing known about this evidence,'' Hampton wrote. She argues that the facts of her client's crime, the "lopsidedness of his sentence" as compared to his co-defendant, and his deteriorating health justify executive clemency. Pinnell is asking Kitzhaber to at least spare his life or give him a chance to seek parole. (source: oregonlive.com) WASHINGTON: House committee weighs bill to abolish death penalty A House committee is set to hear public testimony on a bill to abolish Washington state's death penalty and replace it with life in prison, with no opportunity for parole. House Bill 1739, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Reuven Carlyle, will be heard Wednesday morning before the House Judiciary Committee. The measure is seeking to take the next step on Gov. Jay Inslee's decision last year to impose a moratorium on capital punishment. The bill is scheduled to be voted on later in the week. A companion bill that was introduced in the Senate has not received a public hearing, and the House bill is likely to have challenges gaining any traction in the Republican-controlled chamber if it makes it through the Democrat-controlled House. Inslee, who was criticized last year by several Republican lawmakers over his moratorium decision, has said he supports Carlyle's bill. (source: Associated Press) USA: Holder Supports Death Penalty Moratorium in US Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday he personally opposed the death penalty and would support delaying all executions until the Supreme Court takes up whether lethal injection is constitutional. In his latest remarks on capital punishment, Holder, the outgoing attorney general in President Barack Obama's administration, said seeing an innocent person executed by mistake was "the ultimate nightmare." "Our justice system is the best in the world ... but there's always a possibility that mistakes will be made. For that reason I am opposed to the death penalty," Holder said. He said it was appropriate for there to be a delay in place until the Supreme Court takes up the issue of lethal injection in April. Several death row inmates recently have undergone apparent suffering during their executions using this method. After the problems arose in the executions, Obama called on the Justice Department to review lethal injection executions. "That review is still under way. Unfortunately, it won't be completed under my time as Attorney General," said Holder, who is stepping aside. Obama has nominated Loretta Lynch as his replacement. Despite his misgivings about capital punishment, Holder sought the federal death penalty for the suspected perpetrator of the April 2013 Boston marathon attack. It is "one thing to put somebody in jail for an extended period of time... (but) another" to execute them, with "no ability to correct a mistake," the attorney general said. In 2008, the high court ruled that lethal injection was constitutional, and not a violation of the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But since then, a majority of states have changed their drug protocols due to a shortage of the products used in the past. (source: Newsmax.com) *********************** Justice system and death penalty both flawed Poison gas is inhumane, but a lethal injection is acceptable. If it takes someone 42 minutes to die, it's shocking and cruel, but 10 minutes is more than OK. Killing is wrong, but killing a convicted killer is right. Discussions about the death penalty are rife with inconsistencies, little lines that somehow separate civility with savagery without really making any difference at all. On Feb. 13, newly elected Gov. Tom Wolf placed a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania, ensuring no one will be executed in the commonwealth until a task force investigating capital punishment completes its report. It's absolutely the right call. But ideally, the task force will confirm what more and more Americans are realizing: The death penalty is arcane, and the fact that humans are fallible means we could be executing innocent people. The desire for justice in families who have lost someone is understandable. Their pain is something I???m lucky enough to have never experienced and cannot fathom. For the United States government, however, execution should fall outside the legal definition of justice and into the category of cruel and unusual punishment. According to Amnesty International, "Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death rows throughout the country due to evidence of their wrongful convictions. In 2003 alone, 10 wrongfully convicted defendants were released from death row." More than 130 people have been wrongly sentenced to death. The fact that the justice system will make mistakes is inevitable; it is a system orchestrated and overseen by humans who, by definition, are flawed. But we cannot bet people's lives on our beingcorrect. If even one life is wrongly extinguished because of capital punishment, the entire system isn't worth whatever other justice it carries out. Killing an innocent person - robbing someone of a future - is the most heinous crime a person can commit. Our government should be held at least to the same standards as its citizens. The death penalty is also used disproportionately against minorities, something Wolf also mentioned in his Feb. 13 statement about the moratorium. "While data is incomplete, there are strong indications that a person is more likely to be charged with a capital offense and sentenced to death if he is poor or of a minority racial group, and particularly where the victim of the crime was Caucasian," the statement said. It's true. A 2007 study of death sentences in Connecticut conducted by Yale University School of Law revealed that black defendants receive the death penalty 3 times more than white defendants when charged with the same crime. The racial inequalities this country is grappling with are well-documented. The recent "black lives matter" protests, and the white fear which accompanied them, showed how little many people of authoritycare about overt killings of black men and women. The entire criminal justice system, in fact, is riddled with racially skewed data. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's website, African Americans represent 12 % of the total population of drug users, but make up 38 % of those arrested for drug offenses and 59 % of those in state prison for a drug offense. They are sentenced more harshly, too. African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense as whites do for a violent offense. These miscarriages of justice are a major problem and need to be addressed. But with the death penalty, inequality is a life-or-death issue. When humans stop being racist and stop making mistakes, maybe there will be a place for the death penalty in our society. Until then, let's send it the way of the firing squad: Into the cringeworthy annals of our history. (source: Laura Byko, The Globe) US MILITARY (historical item) Conscientious objector sentenced to death at Camp Roberts, World War II week by week Death penalty cases in San Luis Obispo County are thankfully rare. Currently the 4 men from the county on San Quentin's death row were found guilty of 1 or more grim murders. 1 man in county history was sentenced to death by a military court because he didn't want to kill. Pvt. Henry P. Weber, 27, refused to drill with fellow troops at Camp Roberts. His stand was based on personal political conviction rather than constitutionally protected religious reasons. It was a sign of wartime urgency that a draft board selected a man almost a decade past his teens and working productively in the critical wartime industry of shipbuilding. At this moment in 1945, front-line conscripts in the Nazi and Soviet armies knew deserters would be shot by their own troops. Roving units behind the front line enforced each dictator's orders at gunpoint without benefit of court martial. The Japanese code of honor at the time required either a fight to the death or ritual suicide. It was relatively rare for Americans to capture a prisoner in the Pacific. America did not need death squads or a cult of suicide to win the war, but the story was not simple. A Telegram-Tribune story from Jan. 27 had said there were 18,000 troops absent without leave from American lines in Europe. Some were working selling black market goods in France. Stories of heroic battlefront engagements were common at the time. Occasionally the gritty brutality of war was hinted at, but most stories were simplified. A few stories did not fit the template. Telegram-Tribune Editor Elliot Curry wrote this front-page story Feb. 9, 1945, about an incident that had become national news. Weber Defends His Loyalty; Welcomes Investigation "I am as patriotic as anybody could be," declared Pvt. Henry P. Weber yesterday at Camp Roberts, where he is being held at the stockade under sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor for refusal to drill. "My loyalty to my country is like that of Mark Twain," he added, "who once said that his loyalty was to his 'country, not its institutions.'" Pvt. Weber is the 27-year-old Vancouver, Wash., soldier, whose death sentence, passed Feb. 2 by a Camp Roberts court martial, suddenly stirred national concern. Wednesday the death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment. Informed yesterday that his case had been brought before Congress by Sen. Burton K. Wheeler and Congressman Savage, Pvt. Weber smiled broadly and said he would welcome a congressional investigation. It was also news to him that the Socialist Labor Party, of which he is an ardent member, has promised to "see that he gets justice." Sets Precedent Pvt. Weber's case has aroused national interest, not alone because of the death penalty passed by the court martial, but because it is one of the first cases of conscientious objection for political rather than religious reasons. Conscientious objectors for religious reasons are protected by well-defined laws, but conscientious objections based on political views present a new issue. Neither the death sentence nor the prospect of life imprisonment have shaken Pvt. Weber in any of his views. He doesn't want to kill anybody or have anything to do with killing. He shows no animosity toward either his officers or fellow soldiers. No violence is concerned in the case, Pvt. Weber stated. He simply declined to drill and told the officers that he preferred to be arrested. Asked if he thought that his rights as a citizen had been fully protected, he said that the officers of the court martial had asked him if he desired counsel. He had declined assistance and stated his own case. He had no objection to the procedure of the trial, but he admitted that he thought the death penalty, particularly the death sentence, was "rather severe." Socialist Views As a member of the Socialist Labor Party since 1939, Pvt. Weber has come to believe that the world is decidedly out of joint. "We have reached a place in the world where we have plenty for everybody without fighting," he said. "What we need is better distribution. Instead we are killing each other, through greed and selfishness. The little people of the world are being used as tools in a war that can only lead to World War III." That's Pvt. Weber???s creed, and the record seems to indicate that he is sticking to it. Pvt. Weber, born in Eau Claire, Wis., was employed in the Kaiser shipyards at Vancouver as a foreman in the marine pipe section until his induction into the army last July. His wife and 4-year-old son and his parents all live in Vancouver. Of husky build, and medium height, Pvt. Weber was brought from the stockade yesterday afternoon to pose for news pictures and make any statement he desired. He obliged cheerfully and talked freely. "This country has a great future to look forward to," he said, as he headed back to the stockade under an armed guard. ----- United Press updated the story Feb. 14, 1945, with word that Pvt. Weber's death sentence had been reduced in a series of review hearings that eventually went up to the judge advocate general. The sentences were reduced first to a life sentence of hard labor, later to 20 years, and then to 5 years' confinement. That same day, news was reported that an Allied bombing of Dresden, Germany, had taken place. Other cities had been higher on the military target list during the war. The city was filled with refugees fleeing the Soviet advance. The ensuing firestorms from the 3-day bombing killed and cremated an estimated 20,000 to 600,000 persons, many civilian women and children. After the war there were questions about the military value of a city known mainly for architectural beauty. The headline at the time said the city was targeted in an attempt to assist the Soviet advance. (source: San Luis Obispo Tribune) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 18 10:37:56 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:37:56 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 18 MALAYSIA: Convicted Malaysian cop Sirul Azhar Umar breaks silence about death of model Altantuya Shaariibuu----Convicted cop would not be sent back to face death penalty A Malaysian police commander sentenced to hang in Kuala Lumpur has broken his silence from Sydney's Villawood detention centre, saying he was ordered to kill a Mongolian socialite at the centre of high-level corruption allegations in Malaysia. Sirul Azhar Umar said he was acting under orders when he twice shot glamorous 28-year-old translator Altantuya Shaariibuu in the head as she begged for the life of her unborn child and then wrapped her body with military explosives and blew her up. "I was under orders. The important people with motive are still free," Sirul, a former bodyguard of Malaysia's prime minister Najib Razak, told the Malaysiakini news portal by telephone. "It is not like I do not love the police (force) or the country, but I acted under orders," he said. Sirul told Malaysiakini he has been negotiating a tell-all interview with Australian television stations where he is considering revealing why he and police colleague Azilah Hadri killed Ms Shaariibuu in a jungle patch on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. "I haven't decided (on whether) to do the interview," he said. Allegations have simmered for eight years that Ms Shaariibuu was murdered to keep her quiet about purported kick-backs to high-level Malaysian officials over the US$2 billion purchase of 2 French and Spanish-built Scorpene submarines when Mr Najib was defence minister. Ms Shaariibuu, described as sophisticated jet-setting party girl, worked as a translator in the later stages of negotiations. Mr Najib strongly denies ever meeting Ms Shaariibuu or having any link to her and his government denies any wrongdoing in the submarine purchases, which are the subject of an investigation by magistrates in France. A motive for the murder of Ms Shaariibuu was never revealed during the trial of Sirul and Azilah who were sentenced to hang after Malaysia's highest court on January 13 upheld a previous conviction that had been dismissed by another court on a legal technicality. Sirul told a judge during his trial he was "the black sheep who has been sacrificed to protect unnamed people." Azilah is on death row in a Kuala Lumpur prison awaiting execution but Sirul had travelled to Queensland months before the January hearing where he was detained on immigration charges on January 20. Australia has made clear it will not agree to a Malaysian request to extradite Sirul unless the government in Kuala Lumpur gives an undertaking he will not be executed, leaving him facing prolonged detention in Villawood. Malaysian authorities have said they will take legal action to try to overturn Australia's decision. Approval would be required from Australia's immigration department for Sirul, a 43-year-old divorced father of two, to give a television interview in Villawood that could be politically explosive in Malaysia. He told Malaysiakini he was doing fine in the detention centre and is allowed access to a mobile telephone as well as the internet. Sirul also claimed he had never met Abdul Razak Baginda, a former friend and adviser to Mr Najib, who was initially charged with abetting the murder but released before any evidence was led against him. Ms Shaariibuu was a former lover of Mr Baginda and admitted in a letter found after her murder she allegedly wanted US$500,000 to remain silent about her knowledge of the submarine deal. Mr Baginda is believed to be living in Britain. (source: Sydney Morning Herald) UNITED KINGDOM: Death row Britons: 75 facing execution abroad for offences including murder, drugs, terrorism and blasphemy ----They include grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, from Cheltenham, on death row in Bali after she was found with 1.6million pounds worth of cocaine Up to 75 Britons are facing execution abroad for crimes ranging from blasphemy to terrorism, new figures reveal. As many as 23 of the British citizens have been sentenced and are awaiting their fate on death row. They include grandmother Lindsay Sandiford, from Cheltenham, on death row in Bali after she was found with 1.6million pounds worth of cocaine. The 57-year-old is facing death by firing squad but claims that she was forced to transport the drugs. The other 52 are due to be tried or are already on trial and face the possibility of being handed the death penalty. Of these, 21 are in Pakistan, with the others held in Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, St Kitts & Nevis and the US. Figures show that 17 are accused of murder and 10 are up on alleged drugs offences. The others are charged with blasphemy, dangerous driving with intent to kill, kidnapping, murder and conspiracy, and terrorism. The 23 already sentenced to death are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and the US. They have been convicted of murder, blasphemy, drugs offensive and terrorism. The figures have been released by the Foreign Office in response to a freedom of information request. A spokesman said: "The British Government takes a strong and principled stance on the death penalty, lobbying for its moratorium or removal from statute globally. "It is the longstanding policy of HMG to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and we aim to do everything we can to prevent the execution of any British national anywhere in the world." (source: The Mirror) IRAN: Iran urged to halt execution of Kurd arrested as a minor International human rights groups have appealed to Tehran to halt the planned execution an Iranian-Kurdish man who was 17 when he was arrested. Saman Naseem, 22, is due to be executed on Thursday for his alleged membership of a banned Kurdish party and involvement in armed confrontation. He was sentenced to death in April 2013, after allegedly being forced to confess by the use of torture. The UN has voiced concern about a rise in executions in Iran since 2013. "Time is running out for Saman Naseem. The fact that Iran is willing to execute a man who was tortured to confess to a crime he is accused of having committed as when he was a child, shows the state of injustice in the country", Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said. It was not too late to stop his execution and launch "a thorough judicial review of his case", she added. Cardboard cut outs made to resemble humans stand with nooses and blind folds as demonstrators protest Iranian President Hassan Rouhani outside the United Nations on September 25, 2014 during the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York Cardboard cut-outs stand with nooses and blindfolds outside the UN as President Rouhani arrived for the UN General Assembly in 2014 The international Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) also demanded a halt to the execution and called for the death sentence against him to be overturned. "The continued detention and ill-treatment of Saman Naseem is unacceptable and a violation of international law, said FIDH President Karim Lahidji. The FIDH says Mr Naseem was denied access to lawyers when arrested and that his original conviction was based on "forced confessions obtained through torture." It also points out that Iran is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which makes imposing death sentences on juveniles illegal. 'Surge in executions' The Iranian authorities found Mr Naseem guilty of membership of the rebel Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) after arresting him when he was still a minor. He was also convicted of an armed confrontation with the Revolutionary Guards. According to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre, a total of 586 executions were reported in Iran in 2014, although the government only announced 206. The foreign-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says on its website that 14 people were executed in Iran on drug-related charges on Monday with no mention in Iran's state media. In October the UN expressed concern about what it called "a surge in executions" in Iran under President Hassan Rouhani who took office in August 2013. (source: BBC news) ******************** Juvenile Offender Saman Naseem Scheduled to Be Executed in 24 Hours The Kurdish political prisoner Saman Naseem is scheduled to be executed on Thursday morning February 19 according to reports from Iran. Saman Naseem was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for "enmity against God" (moharebeh) and "corruption on earth" (ifsad fil-arz) because of his membership in the Kurdish armed opposition group PJAK, and for taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2013. Has was 17 years old at the time of his arrest. According to reports Saman Naseem didn't have access to his lawyer during early investigations and according to a letter he wrote from the prison he was tortured, which included the removal of his finger and toe nails and being hung upside down for several hours. In the letter, Saman said: "During the first days, the level of torture was so severe that it left me unable to walk. All my body was black and blue. They hung me from my hands and feet for hours. I was blindfolded during the whole period of interrogations and torture, and could not see the interrogation and torture officers." Iran Human Rights (IHR) urges the international community to react in order to save Saman's life. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson og IHR said: "Saman's death sentence is a clear violation of UN Convention for the Rights of the Child that Iran has ratified and which bans death sentence for offences committed at under 18 year of age. Besides, Saman Naseem has been subjected to torture, forced confession and unfair judicial process. We call on the United Nations and all countries with diplomatic ties with Iran to react before it is too late. International pressure can save Saman's life." Saman Naseem has been subjected to forced confessions on the Iranian TV. According to Amnesty International Saman called his family on 15 February and told them that earlier that day men in plain clothes had taken him to the security department of the Oroumieh Prison. He said the men, who he believed belonged to the Ministry of Intelligence and were carrying cameras and recording equipment, beat him for several hours to force him into making video-taped "confessions", but he refused to do so. Iran is the world's biggest executioner of juvenile offenders. At least 14 juvenile offenders have been executed in 2014 in Iran. Background (source: Amnesty International) Saman Naseem was arrested on 17 July 2011 after a gun battle between Revolutionary Guards and the armed opposition group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), in the city of Sardasht, West Azerbaijan Province. After his arrest, he was held in a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre without any access to his family or a lawyer. His family members were not informed of his arrest and first learned about it through a video clip of Saman aired on state TV, in which he "confessed" to taking part in armed activities against the state. Court documents indicate that during the fight, a member of the Revolutionary Guards was killed and three others wounded. In January 2012, Saman was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court after being convicted of "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" because of his alleged membership of PJAK and taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. During the trial, he retracted his earlier "confession" and said that he fired into the air and not towards the Revolutionary Guards. He also told the judge he was tortured but he dismissed this and relied on his "confessions" as admissible evidence. His lawyers have been prevented from pursuing his defence. In August 2012, the Supreme Court had overturned the death sentence and sent his case to a lower court for a retrial on the grounds that he had been under 18 at the time of the crimes of which he had been convicted. However, Saman was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court. The Supreme Court upheld this death sentence again in December 2013. The prison authorities verbally informed Saman that his execution is scheduled for 19 February. (source: Iran Human Rights) CHINA: Zhou Yongkang will get suspended death sentence at least: report The sentence given to disgraced former CPC Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang will depend on precedents, the amount of money involved, the severity of his crimes and his attitude, according to Chinese news web portal Sohu. Officials who embezzle over 100,000 yuan (US$16,100) automatically receive a minimum of ten years in prison according to Chinese law, although life sentences can also be given for this amount. The law was promulgated at a time when the billions embezzled by Zhou would have been unimaginable, so judges do not have any baseline for sentencing in cases involving larger sums. Although the sums involved in embezzlement have been on the increase, the number of corrupt officials given the death sentence is in decline. Corrupt officials are generally spared the death penalty if they plead guilty and express regret for their crimes. The number of death sentences handed down over the past few years accounted for under 10% of total sentences in such cases. Since 2000, only 5 senior officials have been executed. Among those executed, Hu Changqing, Cheng Kejie, Wang Huaizhong and Zheng Xiaoyu were involved in economic crimes while Lu Debin hired someone to kill his wife. Suspended death penalties have amounted to 26% of all sentences over the past few years while life in prison represented around 14% and fixed prison sentences made up around 50%. Zhou's alleged crimes are likely to be viewed severely, as he was referred to as "comrade" in documents that the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) published in July last year. The former political heavyweight will likely receive the death penalty or a suspended death penalty. Officials whose crimes are purely financial are often given life sentences, although there are exceptions. Liu Zhijun, the disgraced former railways minister, was given a suspended death sentence for embezzling 64 million yuan (US$10.3 million). Former head of the China Food and Drug Administration Zheng Xiaoyu was sentenced to death, although his economic crimes only involved 6.5 million yuan (US$1 million), because negligence on his part endangered lives. Non-compliance with authorities can also lead to harsher punishments being meted out, former vice Anhui governor Wang Huaizhong, for example, was given a death penalty for denying his crimes, despite them being relatively minor. (source: Want China Times) INDIA: Prosecution demands death sentence for gangster Abu Salem The prosecution in the 1995 Pradeep Jain-murder case on Tuesday sought death penalty for gangster Abu Slem for orchestrating the murder. The defence lawyer, however, told the court that as per the extradition rules, Salem can only be given a sentence of up to 25 years of imprisonment and that asking for death penalty is a mockery of the prosecution. The court has reserved its order on the quantum of punishment against Salem and 2 others till February 18. A TADA court on February 16 found Salem and 2 others guilty of shooting the builder Pradeep Jain 17 times, outside his Juhu bungalow in March, 1995. The police alleged that he had refused to give up a huge property in Kol Dongri to Salem. The court convicted the trio under various sections, of the TADA and Indian Penal Code. Salem, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle and is since in judicial custody. Claiming that Abu Salem had a "Taliban mindset" the special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam argued in court that Salem was an incorrigible criminal who cannot be deterred with a lesser sentence than death, for killing the builder. As grounds for seeking death penalty as quantum of punishment, Nikam submitted that Salem hatched criminal conspiracy in order to grab properties of the Jain builders and that Salem is a contract killer, nothing "less than a merchant of death". Nikam also argued that the muder of Jain was committed after previous planning and "the brutality and the cruelty of Abu salem is proved not only from the fact of the murder of Pradeep jain but also by his subsequent conduct". Nikam reminded the court of Salem's conduct by stating that he "ridiculously" called the victim's wife Jyoti Jain on phone on the 13th day after his demise and kept laughing. Nikam also argued, "Salem crossed all such limits of shamelesness. I would call Abu Salem as a sadist person. Sadism is a typical perversity in human life. If nature is to be prevailed then such saddist perversity must be crushed by the iron hands of law only on gallows." (sic) The prosecutor also urged the court to provide death penalty to Salem's driver Mehendi Hasan, claiming that he also "played a very key role in the criminal conspiracy behind the killing of Pradeep Jain. Questioning whether the state of Maharashtra was not bound by the Extradition Act, the defence counsel for Salem, Pasbola argued that the prosecutor's arguments "do not hold water to be tenable in law". Pasbola submitted that as per section 34 (C) of the Extradition Act, if the convict has committed an offence attracting death penalty, he is only liable to life imprisonment. "Isn't the prosecution aware of the solemn promises given to the Portugal government? What is the point of calling him a curse to the society? The law does not provide for death sentence for Abu Salem," Pasbola argued. The defence lawyer submitted that as per the agreement between the 2 countries, India and Portugal, Salem cannot be sentenced for more than 25 years. "These were the assurances given to the Portugal government," Pasbola said. As per an excerpt of letter sent by L K Advani as the then deputy prime minister, while seeking Salem's custody to be tried in the country, the Government of India had solemnly assured the goverment of Portugal "that it will exercise its powers conferred by the Indian laws to ensure that if extradited for trial in India, Salem would not be visited by death penalty or imprisonment for a term beyond 25 years". "By asking for death penalty we are giving the Portugal government an opportunity to intervene and that no country will allow a person to be extradited despite giving solemn assurances. This way Europe shall become a safe haven for mushrooming underworld dons," Pasbola contended. Nikam asked 7 years for the 3rd convict, Virendra Jhamb, a builder, as he was 60-year old. Jhamb is alleged to have sold the 3 Andheri properties believed to have belonged to Jain brothers and sent the money to Dubai to Abu Salem. (source: Indian Express) PAPUA NEW GUINEA: PNG government defends death penalty as new guidelines approved The Papua New Guinea government has defended its decision to reinstate the death penalty as the country prepares to execute 13 prisoners before the end of the year. Dr Lawrence Kalinoe, secretary for the Department of Justice and attorney-general, said people had had enough of serious crime and perpetrators should die for their crimes. "In this country we have very strong support for the implementation of the death penalty," Mr Kalinoe told the ABC's Radio Australia. "For example, one of the (radio) talkback shows I went to, 33 people called. Of the 33, 3 opposed the death penalty, 30 of them fully supported the government's role, to actually offer to be the executioner. "That's how serious the citizens of this country are, serious in trying to make this place, a just safe and secure society." Mr Kalinoe's comments came after the government approved new guidelines for the implementation of death penalty. The death penalty has not been used in PNG for more than 50 years, but was re-enacted last year when the law was amended to include more offences. The National Executive Council then approved three modes of execution - lethal injection, firing squad and hanging. Since then, 13 people have been waiting on death row, but lack of infrastructure has meant there has been no method to enact the capital punishment. Recent reports suggest both Indonesia and Thailand have stepped in with offers of financial assistance and expertise. Mr Kalinoe said the government wanted to make the country safer in re-enacting the death penalty. "Papua New Guinea, in particular Port Moresby, is regarded as one of the most dangerous cities of the world," he said. "That's a label that us Papua New Guineans live with, sometimes we're very embarrassed ... what a beautiful country but our reputation, fairly or unfairly, has gotten ahead of us, making this place a very unsafe sort of a place to live in. "One of [the government's aims] was to strengthen police, strengthen the law and justice sector and implement whatever laws we need to implement." Last week the Archbishop of the PNG Catholic Church, John Ribat, spoke out against the death penalty and called for more community discussion on the matter. The crimes in PNG that could attract the death penalty for those convicted included: treason, piracy, wilful murder, aggravated rape, robbery involving violence, and sorcery-related killings. (source: Australian Broadcast Corporation) ************************** Justice department chief explains PNG death penalty stance The Papua New Guinea Government says the people have had enough of serious crime, and perpetrators must now die for their crimes. This comment comes as the government of Peter O'Neill is preparing to execute 13 prisoners who are on death row before year's end. The PNG government recently approved the guidelines for the implementation of death penalty. Reports also say Indonesia and Thailand, which have the death penalty, have offered assistance to PNG in this regard. (source: Radio Australia) TURKEY: Reinstatement of death penalty in Turkey unlikely The brutal murder of a 20-year-old female university student in the southern province of Mersin last Friday has caused nationwide protests, and also reignited discussions about the death penalty. However, established practices and Prime Minister Davutoglu's remarks indicate that the reinstatement of the death penalty in Turkey is unlikely. The vicious murder of Ozgecan Aslan, 20, has deeply shocked the nation. Activists and politicians, including Cabinet members, voiced support for bringing back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2004 and replaced with aggravated life imprisonment. Family and Social Policies Minister Aysenur Islam said on Sunday that the death penalty could be an option for the murderers of Aslan. Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci also supported the possibility of reintroducing the death penalty. "We must discuss the possibility of reintroducing the death penalty for brutal murders like Ozgecan Aslan's case," he said on his Twitter account. In contrast, EU Minister Volkan Bozkir said on Monday that the death penalty should not be evaluated with emotion and that the state should sentence criminals with the harshest punishment under the scope of the law while expressing his sorrow over the incident. Regarding discussions on the death penalty, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu underlined that perpetrators will be punished within the current legal framework: "There might be different opinions [about the death penalty] that are declared in public, however we believe that the perpetrators deserve the harshest punishment within the current legal framework." Davutoglu said at a press conference on Monday evening: "This is a savage and barbaric assault that can never be accepted by human conscience. Therefore we understand the outrage of the community and we share the same feelings. However, in this issue, we believe that the Turkish judiciary system will hand down the severest punishment to the perpetrators of the crime." The established practices in Turkey also reveal that reinstatement of the death penalty is not likely. Turkey abolished the death penalty more than a decade ago and replaced it with aggravated life imprisonment. In addition to this, Turkey has not executed any prisoners since October 1984. In 1991 death sentences exceeded nearly 500 and they were converted to 10-year jail terms. Later in 2002, all converted jail terms were changed to life imprisonment. Prior to this date, executions usually took place after military interventions and mainly political prisoners were executed. Adnan Menderes, who served as prime minister, was hanged on September 17, 1961 following the 1960 coup, along with 2 other Cabinet members, Fatin Rustu Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan. Student leaders Deniz Gezmis, Huseyin Inan and Yusuf Aslan were hanged on May 6, 1972 after the 1971 coup. (source: Daily Sabah) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 18 10:38:47 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 10:38:47 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 18 BANGLADESH: SC releases full verdict of Kamaruzzaman The Supreme Court today released the full verdict upholding the death penalty for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman in a war crimes case. Earlier in the day, all the 4 SC judges, who had delivered the verdict on November 3 last year by a majority decision, signed the 577-page judgment. They judges are Chief Justice SK Sinha, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik. The government can now start process for executing Kamaruzzaman as the Supreme Court released the full judgment upholding his death penalty, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said after the release of the verdict. There is no legal bar for the government to fix a date for the execution of the Jamaat's assistant secretary general, he told The Daily Star. He however said the execution process will be suspended if the convict files a review petition with the apex court challenging his death penalty. Now, the SC will send its full judgment to the International Crimes Tribunal-2, which has sentenced Kamaruzzaman to death, he said. After receiving the SC judgment, the ICT-2 will issue death warrant against Kamaruzzaman and then the jail authorities will execute him, the attorney general said. The Jamaat leader will get 15 days from today for filing the review petition, he added. The Appellate Division might take maximum a week for hearing and disposing of the petition, he said. If the apex court dismisses his review petition, Kamaruzzaman can seek presidential mercy to save his neck, the top law officer of the state said. If not, he will be execute within a day or 2, the AG said, expressing hope that all the procedures regarding his execution might be finished in next 3 to 4 weeks. The ICT-2 handed capital punishment to the key organiser of the infamous Al-Badr Bahini On May 9, 2013. The SC upheld the death penalty to the 79-year-old for the mass killing at Sohagpur of Sherpur on July 25, 1971. Justice SK Sinha, now the chief justice, headed the 4-member SC bench. The apex court commuted Kamaruzzaman's death sentence to life term imprisonment for killing Golam Mostafa at Gridda Narayanpur village of Sherpur. It also found the Jamaat-e-Islami leader guilty of 2 more charges relating to killing and torture, but acquitted him of another charge of killing. The SC has so far completed the trials of 2 war crimes accused, while the trials of 7 others are pending with it. (source: The Daily Star) ************************ Govt to start Kamaruzzaman's execution process Ahmed Zayeef -- As part of the execution process, the government will now fix a date for the execution of the Jamaat leader The government will now start process for executing condemned war criminal Kamaruzzaman as the Supreme Court has released the full judgment upholding his death penalty, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has said. Alam said this to the journalists at his office in the Supreme Court on Wednesday after the release of the verdict. As part of the execution process, the government will now fix a date for the execution of the Jamaat leader. He, however, said the execution process will be suspended if the convict files a review petition with the SC challenging his death sentence. The Jamaat leader will get 15 days from today for filing the review petition. The SC will now send its full judgment to the International Crimes Tribunal 2 which handed down death penalty against the Jamaat leader for committing crimes against humanity in 1971. After receiving it, the tribunal will issue death warrant. The death warrant copy will be sent to the jail authorities through the district magistrate. The jail authorities will inform it to condemned war criminal Kamaruzzaman. Then, the convict can seek president's clemency over his death penalty. If he does not do so, the jail authorities will execute the verdict. On May 9 last year, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Kamaruzzaman to death for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. He appealed against the judgement after a month. On November 3, 2014, the Appellate Division upheld the death penalty. Kamaruzzaman was an al-Badr leader in 1971. He was also a top leader of the greater Mymensingh Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, and was also the office secretary of East Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha. (source: Dhaka Tribune) ***************************** Defence claims 'legal and factual mistakes' in verdict International Crimes Tribunal-2 has made "legal and factual mistakes" in the verdict that awarded death penalty to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Subhan in a war crimes case, a defence lawyer has claimed. "We will bring the mistakes to notice when we will appeal for the verdict with the higher court," defence lawyer Shishir Manir told reporters after coming out of the International Crimes Tribunal-2 that pronounced the judgement today. Expressing dissatisfaction over the verdict, he said, "We hope that we will get justice in the appeal". While voicing reaction over today's verdict, Nesar Ahmed, son of the convict, told The Daily Star that his father is completely innocent and had absolutely no relationship with the war crimes. They would appeal with the higher court and hoped to get justice, he said. International Crimes Tribunal-2 handed death penalty to Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Abdus Subhan on 3 charges of killing, torture and confinement during the country's Liberation War in 1971. (source: The Daily Star) INDONESIA: Filipina in Indonesia not up for execution The Filipino woman on death row in Indonesia was not among those set for execution as her case was still up for judicial review, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday. The DFA made the clarification after wire reports said that the unidentified Filipina was among 8 convicted drug smugglers who would be transferred to a prison island this week for imminent execution. The convicted drug smugglers were to be transferred to the Nusa Kambangan prison where they would face a firing squad, the death penalty as set by Indonesia. DFA spokesman and Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta confirmed that "the Filipino had not been taken away and was still in her prison cell at the Yogyakarta penitentiary." "Meanwhile, we are still awaiting the schedule of a hearing of the judicial review we requested," Jose said in a text message. The report on the imminent execution of the foreigners convicted for drug smuggling in Indonesia came as the DFA said it was taking note of the appeal made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for Indonesia not to push through with the executions. The Filipina, who came in as a tourist, was arrested at the Jakarta airport in 2010 for possession of heroin. An Indonesian court convicted her of the crime and sentenced her to death. Her death sentence was recently upheld by the Indonesian high court and the Philippine government has asked for a judicial review of her case. "In line with our commitment as a signatory to the second optional protocol of the international covenant on civil and political rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty and in line with our mandate to safeguard the rights of our citizens overseas, the Philippines continues to exhaust all remedies available under Indonesian law to save the life of the Filipino national," the DFA said in a statement. (source: Philippine Inquirer) ****************** Pinay on death row in Indonesia case still for review Reportedly, a Filipina is on death row in Indonesia, however, she was not with the others set for execution since her case was still up for judicial review. Department of Foreign Affairs clarified the issue after wire reports said that the unidentified Filipina was included in the 8 convicted drug smugglers who would be transferred to a prison island this week for imminent execution. The drug smugglers who were already convicted will be taken to the Nusa Kambangan prison. There, they would face a firing squad, the death penalty of Indonesia. According to DFA spokesman and Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, the Philippine Embassy in Jakarta, "the Filipino had not been taken away and was still in her prison cell at the Yogyakarta penitentiary." "Meanwhile, we are still awaiting the schedule of a hearing of the judicial review we requested," Jose said in a text message. The said Filipina came to the country as a tourist. She was arrested at the Jakarta airport in 2010 for possession of heroin. The court of Indonesia convicted her of the crime with a death sentence. Her death sentence was recently approved by the Indonesian high court and the Philippine government has requested for a judicial review of her case. (source: ofwnow.com) *************** Bali 9 in review----Calls to outlaw death penalty, primarily from the Western countries, are political in essence and do carry a stink of bias. Just days before Indonesia is set to execute 2 condemned prisoners of the Bali 9 drug-traffickers, Australia has come out with an extraordinary mercy plea. In a rare gesture from the echelons of power, all of the living former prime ministers of Down Under have made a united plea to spare the lives of the drug pair on death row. 2 Aussie citizens Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaram were sentenced to death in 2006, for leading a drug cartel, and that too on a tip-off from Australian police. The 8 men and 1 woman, known as Bali 9, were arrested in Bali. The other 7 are serving life sentences. Why this humble petition has been made is anybody's guess, but it goes without saying that the intention is to further the envelope that advocates life-term over capital punishment. The Who's Who that have signed the mercy plea are: John Howard, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, Julia Gillard, Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd. Their contention is that the Aussie pair had "demonstrated genuine rehabilitation" and that "justice should be based on human understanding". Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the other day joined the chorus, and said that he believed there were still legal options open in the case. This motion will be debated for long in the political and legal quarters worldwide with far-reaching consequences. How far can this argument pass the litmus test in the court of law is difficult to say, but it is an extraordinary effort in extraordinary times when the world is uniting against agents of terror - be they gun-runners, drug-barons or human-traffickers that maim others to make a life for themselves. Australia itself has been a victim of terror, and of late had become a hub for recruitment at the hands of extremist organisations such as Daesh and the like. Drug-traffickers too are no different from assault-rifle wielders, as their networks are often interwoven behind the scenes. Calls to outlaw death penalty, primarily from the Western countries, are political in essence and do carry a stink of bias. Had it not been so, the European Union and at times officer-bearers of the United Nations would not have protested against lifting of moratorium on executions by Indonesia, Pakistan and some of the countries in the Middle East. The point is that capital punishment is meant to deter horrible crimes and terrorism, and is a mean to an end. Nonetheless, there is always room for ensuring that justice has been done, as doors of the appellate forums can be knocked. Irrespective of what final decision Jakarta makes in this case, Australia has set a precedent by making an earnest endeavour to save its citizens from the shooting squads. Taking into account the troubled relations between the 2 countries and the fact that Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws, it won't be an easy choice to entertain the clemency petition. (source: Opinion, Khaleej Times) AUSTRALIA: Aussie response to Bali 9 death sentences: 'Pull the bloody foreign aid' to Indonesia The Australian prime minister, in an effort to win the release of 2 Australians on death row in Indonesia, is suffering a diplomatic fallout after reminding Jakarta about the substantial aid Canberra sent following the 2004 tsunami. Prime Minister Tony Abbott seems to have calculated incorrectly that Indonesia might be willing to release Australian nationals Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, sentenced to death on charges of drug smuggling, since Australia had donated $1 billion to Indonesia in the aftermath of the 2004 disaster. At a press conference on Wednesday, Abbott emphasized that Australia would "feel grievously let down" if Indonesia went ahead with the executions. "Let's not forget that a few years ago when Indonesia was struck by the Indian Ocean tsunami Australia sent a billion dollars' worth of assistance, we sent a significant contingent of our armed forces to help in Indonesia with humanitarian relief and Australians lost their lives in that campaign to help Indonesia. "I would say to the Indonesian people and the Indonesian government: we in Australia are always there to help you and we hope that you might reciprocate in this way at this time." Abbott pleaded on behalf of the condemned men, who were part of the so-called Bali 9 group of Australians arrested on April 17, 2005 in Bali, Indonesia, as they were attempting to smuggle 8.3kg (18lbs) of heroin from Indonesia to Australia, that they did not deserve the death sentence. "In fact, they have become, it seems, thoroughly reformed characters in prison in Bali and they are now helping the Indonesians fight against drug crime. So much better to use these people for good than to kill them," Abbott said. Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir expressed alarm that the Australian PM had connected the past extension of tsunami assistance with "the issue now in Indonesia." "I hope this does not reflect, the statements made, the true colors of Australians," Nasir said on Wednesday. "Threats are not part of diplomatic language and from what I know, no one responds well to threats." Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized that the death sentence was not "directed at a particular country," but rather a case of "law enforcement against an extraordinary crime." Meanwhile, Indonesian authorities announced on Tuesday that they were delaying the planned transfer of the pair to Nusa Kambangan, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz prison. They also informed that the executions were unlikely to be carried out this month. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop welcomed the decision. "Any delay in plans by the Indonesian authorities to execute Mr. Chan and Mr. Sukumaran will be a relief to the men and their families," Bishop told the ABC on Wednesday. "It gives us an opportunity to continue to engage on the best way forward with the Indonesian authorities so we will continue our representations at the highest level across the Indonesian government." Asked how the government would respond if Jakarta went ahead with the planned executions, Abbott said it would not be ignored. "I don't want to prejudice the best possible relations with a very important friend and neighbor," he said. "But I've got to say that we can't just ignore this type of thing, if the perfectly reasonable representations that we are making to Indonesia are ignored by them." Other Australian politicians, meanwhile, were much more direct as to how they believed Tony Abbott should handle the bilateral row. Controversial Senator Jacqui Lambie said the prime minister had to "put his foot down" and "pull the bloody foreign aid." "My heart goes out to their families and friends, there is no doubt about that. I know if it was my mates or my sons I would certainly be feeling the pinch. I'd remind Australia that they give $500 million in foreign aid to Indonesia," Lambie said, as quoted by the Australian newspaper. Meanwhile, an interesting argument to grant the Australians clemency was forwarded by Jeff Hammond, a Jakarta-based pastor who has been counseling Andrew Chan. Hammond argued that executing the 2 men would send a message to other individuals on death row that any efforts at personal rehabilitation was senseless because the men would be killed regardless, he told ABC radio. (source: rt.com) SAUDI ARABIA----executions Saudi Arabia beheads 2 alleged murderers, marking 31st execution this year 2 Saudis condemned to death for murder in separate cases were beheaded by the sword in Riyadh Sunday, taking to 31 the number of executions in the kingdom this year. Interior ministry statements published by the official SPA news agency said that both Nawaf al-Shemmari and Saad al-Houzaimi had been found guilty of stabbing relatives. According to Amnesty, trials in capital cases are often held in secret. Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Program, said the fact "that people are tortured into confessing to crimes, convicted in shameful trials without adequate legal support and then executed is a sickening indictment of the Kingdom's state-sanctioned brutality." The desert kingdom continues to execute convicts despite pressure from human rights groups. Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all punishable by death under the kingdom's legal code that follows a strict Wahhabi version of Sharia. The Gulf nation executed 87 people in 2014 according to an AFP tally. More than 2,000 people were executed in the kingdom between 1985 and 2013, Amnesty International claimed in a report. However, not only felonies amount to a death penalty punishment in the oil-rich kingdom. The Saudi terrorism law issued in early 2014 casts a wide net over what it considers to be "terrorism." Under the law, punishable offenses include "calling for atheist thought in any form," "throwing away loyalty to the country's rulers," and "seeking to shake the social fabric or national cohesion." Human Rights Watch urged the Saudi authorities to abolish the Specialized Criminal Court, the body that sentenced 5 pro-democracy advocates, including prominent activist and cleric Nimr al-Nimr, and many others to death, saying that analysis revealed "serious due process concerns" such as "broadly framed charges," "denial of access to lawyers," and "quick dismissal of allegations of torture without investigation." (source: albawaba.com) GLOBAL: The death penalty: what the numbers say If Indonesia executes Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, as it says it will, it will put that country among the most prolific killer-states where charges related to drugs are concerned. The execution of 6 people last month made 2015 the most deadly for drug offenders in Indonesia since 2008, when 10 people were killed. In fact, there had been only 1 year since then, 2013, that executions had taken place at all. If, as expected, 11 people are to stand before the next firing squad, it will bring this year's count to 17 -- the largest count in the post-Suharto era. And the year is still young. But Indonesia is not the only place in the world where the state will kill you for using, selling or moving drugs. Historically, it doesn't even rank in the top echelon. In its 2012 report into the death penalty for drug offences, the most recent report available, Harm Reduction International (HRI) classified Indonesia as a "low application" state -- one that applied its death penalty provisions for drugs only rarely. Indeed, when that report was written, it had been 4 years since a single person had suffered the death penalty in Indonesia for any offence, according to the Death Penalty Worldwide database kept by Cornell University. Over that period, China is estimated to have executed at least 17,000 people, according to the database. It's not known how many of those were killed for drug-related offences, but according to HRI, the conviction rate for such offences that carry the death penalty is nearly 100 %. In all, 33 countries around the world will give a death sentence for drug offences. In 13 of those, the sentence is mandatory for particular offences. Iran, which is a distant 2nd to China in the ranks of countries that actively apply the death penalty, does so in large part for drug-related offences. According to HRI, more than 80 % of the 676 deaths by capital punishment in Iran in 2011 were for drug offences. In that year, a new offence introduced the death penalty for trafficking or possessing more than 30 grams of "specified synthetic, non-medical psychotropic drugs, and for recruiting or hiring people to commit any of the crimes under the law, or organising, running, financially supporting, or investing in such activities", according to HRI. Iran also has a mandatory death penalty for 'heads of the gangs or networks', but the statute does not define what a gang or network is. Mandatory death sentences for drug-related offences exist in Singapore and Malaysia, both of which neighbour Indonesia. Between 2009 and 2011, at least 290 people received death sentences in Malaysia, at least 196 of them for drug offences. In 2011, 2 people were actually executed, 1 for drugs. Over the same period, according to the US state department, Indonesia's population of drug users grew by about 14 per cent between 2009 and 2011 to 4.1 million people. The problem has persisted. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) in 2013 said Indonesia was home to one of the world's largest markets for amphetamine-type substances, such as ice. It said the country housed 1.2 million "problem drug users", and 90 pe cent of these were users of amphetamines. Brookings Institute senior fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown that year called Indonesia a "hot and rapidly expanding meth production center", and noted that it "is no longer just a transit country for illicit drugs heading to Australia, China, and Japan, but is also increasingly a destination country", where an increasing number of the cooks were native Indonesians rather than foreigners. "The expansion of the synthetic drugs market and the domestication of production have potentially large transformative effects on Indonesia's landscape of organised crime," she wrote. As journalist Greg Sheridan noted this week, Indonesia's former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seemed to lose his appetite for executions after the last of the Bali bombers was killed in 2008. Perhaps for that reason, Indonesia didn't feature prominently among the countries that actually kill people for drugs (as opposed to those that sentence people to death who then languish in jail for extended periods). New President Joko Widodo seems less concerned. (source: Sydney Morning Herald) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 18 14:54:40 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 14:54:40 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., FLA., IND., COLO., ORE., WASH. Message-ID: Feb. 18 PENNSYLVANIA: Prosecutor Urges Death Penalty for Man With Bodies in Yard A prosecutor is urging a Pennsylvania jury to send a man to death row for killing a pharmacist and his girlfriend in 2002. Hugo Selenski was convicted last week on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the 2002 strangulation deaths of Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett. Police found their bodies, along with 3 other sets of human remains, in Selenski's yard in 2003. First Assistant District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said Wednesday in his closing argument that Selenski tortured Kerkowski before killing him and has a long history of violent crime. Those are 2 aggravating circumstances the jury can use to sentence Selenski to death. Pennsylania's governor recently declared a moratorum on the death penalty, but the law remains on the books. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Death penalty sought in East Tampa triple-slaying Prosecutors plan to seek a death sentence for a man accused of killing 3 people in front of his 3-year-old nephew during a domestic dispute in December. Angel Luis Perez, 22, is charged with murder in the deaths of his brother-in-law, Jorge Gort, 25; Gort's girlfriend, Brittany Snyder, 23; and Perez's girlfriend, Oliva Miller, 22. Police said Perez forced his way into Gort's home in East Tampa on Dec. 6 and shot Gort and Snyder, who died at the scene. When he returned to his car, he argued with Miller and shot her, police said. Perez drove Miller and his nephew, Gort's son, to Tampa General Hospital, where she later died and Perez was arrested, police said. The child, who goes by the nickname Gordo, wasn't injured. Police said the shootings were the result of a custody dispute over the boy, but Gort's sister, Millie, said the 2 men were arguing about a woman. The Hillsborough State Attorney's Office notified the defense last week that it intends to seek a death sentence for Perez for all 3 slayings. (source: Tampa Bay Online) ************************** Cruel and unusual? Florida's lethal injections in question Florida's scheduled Feb. 26 execution of a quadruple murderer has been put on hold because of questions about the 3-drug cocktail the state uses to carry out the death penalty. The Florida Supreme Court voted 5-2 to stay the execution of Jerry Correll because the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing whether Oklahoma's use of a "virtually identical" mixture of drugs for its lethal injections amounts to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. Florida and Oklahoma both use a blend of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride for executions. Correll, now 59, was convicted in 1986 of stabbing to death his ex-wife, their 5-year-old daughter and his ex-wife's mother and sister in 1985 near Orlando. (source: Palm Beach Post) INDIANA: Indiana Supreme Court upholds Weisheit's conviction, death sentence The Indiana Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the murder convictions and death sentence of Jeffrey Weisheit, a former Vanderburgh County man who killed 2 children in 2010. In November, Weisheit's attorney, Steven Ripstra, had argued the trial court judge should have allowed a witness to testify in the case on prison operations in a way that would have given insight on Weisheit's ability to be in the prison system without harming himself, other prisoners or staff. Not allowing the witness - former Indiana Department of Corrections Commissioner James Aiken - left jurors to question whether Weisheit posed a danger in the event he was sentenced to life without parole, Ripstra sargued. The state argued the Supreme Court should uphold Weisheit's death penalty conviction and that Aiken's testimony was based on a 35-minute interview with the defendant. Concerns centered on whether the former commissioner had an updated knowledge of current prison protocol Weisheit was sentenced to death in 2013 on a jury's unanimous recommendation following his conviction on 2 murders and of arson in the deaths of Caleb Lynch, 5, and Alyssa Lynch, 8, in a fire at his home in northern Vanderburgh County in April 2010. Weisheit's trial was held in Jeffersonville because of intense media coverage in the Vanderburgh County area. Autopsies concluded the children died of smoke inhalation, which indicated they had been alive when fire was set to the house. Because Weisheit was sentenced to death, he was able to appeal directly to the state Supreme Court. ***************************** Appeals court orders judge to reverse ruling in McManus death penalty case A federal appeals court has ordered a U.S. District Court judge to grant a Vanderburgh County man's petition for release and to set aside his conviction and death sentence for killing his family. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday sent Paul McManus' case back to the lower court with instructions to grant his petition unless the state elects to have a new trial. The appeals court ruled that McManus was forced to appear before the jury in a "drug-induced stupor" in violation of federal case law. The ruling, however, did not disagree with previous state and federal court rulings that found McManus was not so mentally disabled that executing him would violate a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The panel of 3 appeals court judges, including Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Diane Wood, concluded that state courts did not properly consider federal standards for determining a defendant's competency when looking at McManus' highly medicated condition at the time of his trial. Shortly after his trial began, McManus began having severe panic attacks requiring hospital emergency room visits. He was treated with a "potent combination" of psychological medications throughout the trial, including one known to impair memory, as well as an opiad painkiller. In a hearing on the issue during McManus' trial in 2002, according to court records, one doctor testified that the drugs prescribed McManus effectively "turned his brain into 'a neuropsychopharmacological soup' that significantly impaired his ability to make rational decisions and understand the proceedings." According to the federal appeals court: "The powerful effect of the medications alone created substantial doubt about McManus's mental fitness for trial, but the judge never ordered a competency evaluation." The federal appeals court judges concluded that: "...regardless of what caused the attacks, the drugs administered to curtail them clearly affected McManus's cognition during trial. We cannot see how new testimony before the district court could possibly provide the necessary information to retrospectively assess his competency under the applicable legal standard." McManus was sentenced to death in 2002, after being convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife, Melissa, 29, and their 2 children, Lindsey, 8, and Shelby, 23 months on Feb. 26, 2001. During his trial, the shootings were not contested but a jury rejected his mental illness defense. After exhausting his state appeals and having his request for appeal denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, McManus petitioned U.S. District Court for a writ of habeas corpus - a request to release him from prison and set aside his conviction and sentence on constitutional grounds. However, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt denied all 6 grounds for appeal cited by McManus' defense attorneys, including a claim that his execution is barred because of his mental disability. In a 2002 case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executing mentally disabled people violates the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, although states can define mental disability. McManus was separated from his wife. He had been arrested on suspicion of domestic battery, during which he threatened to kill "everyone," according to court records. During the weeks before the shootings he spoke about suicide and killing his family. On the morning of Feb. 26, 2001, McManus' wife served him with divorce papers. That same day, he bought ammunition at a gun store and retrieved a handgun from his brother's house. After the shootings, McManus jumped from one of the U.S. 41 twin bridges into the Ohio River in an apparent suicide attempt, but was pulled out by rescuers. (source for both: Courier & Press) COLORADO: Mom Tries to Save Son From Death Penalty Even Though He Killed Her Parents The debate over the death penalty couldn't be more personal for the mother of Brendan Johnson. In June 2014, Johnson and his then-girlfriend, Cassie Rieb, were arrested and charged in the murders of his grandfather and grandmother, Charles and Shirley Severance, in the eastern Colorado community of Sterling. A few months later, prosecutors announced they would be seeking the death penalty against the pair - a prospect that distresses his mom, even though Charles and Shirley were her parents. Hence, the creation of Saving My Son - Death Penalty, a Facebook page on which she shares anti-death-penalty posts as a way of fighting against the punishment that could eventually end Brendan's life. There's no denying that reports about the Severances' deaths, drawn from arrest affidavits, are horrendous - and may disturb some readers. As we noted last year, Johnson contacted police May 29 on a supposed medical call for his grandfather. Charles was dead upon the cops' arrival, and the fact that he had been killed a week-plus earlier goes a long way toward explaining why an autopsy didn't find immediate signs of trauma to his body. In a subsequent interview, Johnson reportedly maintained that Charles had given him a couple of checks adding up to $4,500, as well as permission to drive his 2009 Chevy truck. He's said to have used the money and vehicle to attend a concert in Denver during the days leading up to the body's discovery. Shirley, for her part, was missing, and in a separate interview with investigators, Rieb allegedly denied knowledge of her whereabouts - although the affidavit quotes her as admitting that Johnson actually wrote and signed the checks supposedly given to him by Charles. Armed with this information, the cops went back to Johnson. The affidavit says he and Reib subsequently confessed to killing the Severances, and their explanations about the botched process are chilling. The murder plot reportedly came together in early May, with the goal focusing on Johnson collecting his inheritance early. On May 20, the affidavit says, Johnson and Rieb entered the Severances' place, with him assigned to smother Charles and her tasked with doing the same to Shirley. But things didn't go as planned. The document says Charles struggled so much that Johnson eventually had to choke him to death - although the 70-year-old may have suffered a fatal heart attack while fighting for his life. And Shirley was even less cooperative. She apparently tried to run away, and when she couldn't escape, she pleaded with the teens not to kill her and even offered them money to go away. They didn't. Johnson reportedly allowed her to get some water - but while she was drinking, he tried to cut her throat. Instead, he slashed her jaw, prompting Shirley to try fleeing again. She failed to get free, however, and Johnson is accused of repeatedly stabbing her as she pleaded for her life. Finally, Johnson strangled Shirley with a string, the affidavit says. Investigators believe that's what finally killed her. The teens took the couple's bodies to a bedroom and left them there until the next day, police say. After the cleanup at the murder site was complete, they used the truck to transport Shirley's body to Prewitt Reservoir, a short drive from Sterling. There, they're accused of dousing it with gas and setting it ablaze - and while it burned, they tried to hack off an arm and a leg. The body was initially buried in a reservoir fire pit. But they apparently didn't feel it was secure enough there, so they returned on May 28, dug it up and took it to a remote location in Nebraska before returning home. Johnson alerted the cops to Charles's death the next day. We can only imagine the heartbreak Johnson's mother has suffered as a result of these incidents and those that followed. Then, in November, she launched the Saving My Son Facebook page with the following message: Most of you have been FB friends with me since June 2nd, when our lives took a drastic, sorrow filled turn. Some of you are new friends that are unaware of my family's story or perhaps only know of it from newspaper/television articles. To summarize, my son (and his then-girlfriend) confessed to murdering my parents. In early September, the DA announced that she was going to seek the death penalty for my son, Brendan, and his then-girlfriend. Although I will never understand, condone or accept what has happened, I have now come out of my fog and realized that if I don't start trying to do something, I may lose my son and I'm doing nothing about it. All during this, I have tried to post things to my FB page to live out loud, as some friends and family have called it. I still plan to do that. However, I have decided to create a separate FB page for it to allow others to post to it if they have articles, feelings, websites to share. During the intervening months, Brendan's mother has regularly posted stories about the death penalty, including one from Westword about Bob Autobee, who opposed the execution of his son's killer. She's also shared a pledge from the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and most recently praised Pennsylvania for its decision to halt capital punishment there. For the most part, she has avoided commenting on Brendan's situation. The closest thing to an exception was a January post featuring the following photo: The caption on the pic reads: "Brendan with his little brother September 2003. He has always been so protective of his little brother." And she is protective of him, despite the awful acts to which he's admitted. (source: Westword) OREGON: John Kitzhaber leaves governor's office without commuting any death-row sentences After 5 days of speculation, John Kitzhaber stepped down as governor Wednesday without commuting the sentences of any death row inmates. At least Kitzhaber issued no statement that he was exercising his executive power to grant clemency to any or all of the state's 34 prisoners sentenced to die. Kitzhaber isn't required by law to publicly disclose his decision, but word would certainly travel fast and a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Corrections said she'd received no news from Kitzhaber's office that he commuted the sentences of any inmates as of 10 a.m. Wednesday. That's when Kate Brown was sworn in as governor. Kitzhaber had remained silent on the subject since last Friday when he announced his pending resignation in the midst of an ethics scandal. In the following days, players in the criminal justice system pondered what the governor would do -- either excitedly or anxiously, depending on which side of the debate they fell. Capital punishment opponents and supporters suddenly were jockeying for a moment with the governor in hopes of persuading him either way. A defense attorney on Tuesday renewed a clemency request for the state's oldest death row inmate, 66-year-old Mark Pinnell. An Oregonian/OregonLive poll drew more than 3,000 participants, with 73 % saying Kitzhaber should commute the sentences of those condemned to die to life in prison to add something positive to his legacy. The question made national headlines, with academics from Harvard Law School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill writing an opinion piece for The Huffington Post titled "Gov. Kitzhaber: Your Job Is Not Done." In arguing against Kitzhaber granting clemency, Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis noted that by law seven of the death row inmates would be eligible for parole after 30 years while the rest would have to serve out their entire lives in prison with no hope of release. Although some observers thought it was unlikely Kitzhaber would empty out death row, others pointed to the unusual circumstances of his departure and wondered if the clearly angry politician would close out his career with a bold move on an issue that deeply concerned him. It wouldn't have been unprecedented. In 2003, former Illinois Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of more than 150 death row inmates just before leaving office. Just a few weeks ago, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley granted clemency to the last four inmates on death row one day before his political term was up. O'Malley had previously succeeded in pushing lawmakers to abolish Maryland's death penalty, so no new inmates were being added to death row. Even without any action from Kitzhaber, Oregonians are now looking toward the state's new governor and how she will act. Under Oregon law, Brown has the same powers: She could reinstate Kitzhaber's 2011 moratorium on executions or she could grant clemency to inmates. She also could push state lawmakers to repeal -- or at least send to voters a repeal -- of the state's death penalty, which was reinstated by voters in 1984. Brown, however, has given no indication of her position on the death penalty. Spokesman Tony Green said he didn't have information to share about Brown's position. But in 2005, Brown supported a bill to expand the death penalty. One factor that might encourage Brown to put a hold on all executions: On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called for a national ban on all executions until the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the issue of whether lethal injection is constitutional. (source: oregonlive.com) WASHINGTON: New bill would replace death penalty with life sentences As 2 high-profile death penalty trials are in progress, lawmakers are considering shutting down executions in Washington State for good. House Bill 1739 was discussed at a public hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning. The bi-partisan bill would replace the death penalty with a life sentence with no parole. The state's current statute dates back to 1981. Since then, 33 people have been sentenced to death. 5 have been executed. "To me, it's a little like playing God if we're sentencing people to death," said Rep. Maureen Walsh at the hearing. The effort to abolish capital punishment has failed in previous years, but supporters think they've gained momentum since Gov. Jay Inslee imposed a moratorium on the death penalty last year that lasts as long as he is in office. There are 18 states that have abolished executions. The most recent is Maryland. The bill would also require those convicted to pay restitution to victims and their families. "I fully support the bipartisan bills introduced this year to end the death penalty. I put a moratorium on the use of capital punishment last year because of its unequal application in our state, the soaring costs and delays, and the fact that nearly 80 % of the death sentences issued in our state since 1981 have been overturned," said Inslee in a statement released after the hearing. Executions in Washington are carried out by lethal injection, or, at the election of condemned person, by hanging. (source: KIRO news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 18 14:55:26 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 14:55:26 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 18 BANGLADESH: Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Subhan to hang for war-time atrocities in Pabna The International Crimes Tribunal-2 Chairman, Justice Obaidul Hassan, handed down the maximum penalty on Wednesday. With 6 of the 9 charges levelled by the prosecution having been proven beyond any shred of doubt, Subhan was sentenced to be hanged till death. The other 2 tribunal members, Justice Md Mujibur Rahman Mia and Justice Shahinur Islam, were also present at the time of the sentencing - the 16th conviction for crimes against humanity. Subhan was the chief of Jamaat's Pabna unit and sat on the party's highest policymaking body during the post-Liberation War era. It came to light in the trial that Subhan, with Pakistani soldiers, had indulged in murders, mass killings, arson and lootings once 'Operation Searchlight' was launched on the night of Mar 25, 1971. He is the 9th top Jamaat leader to be convicted for war crimes committed during Bangladesh's war of independence from Pakistan. Who is Subhan? A former MP from Pabna town, Subhan was born on Feb 19, 1936, in the Tailakundi village at Sujanagar. His father was Sheikh Naimuddin, and mother, Nurani Begum. In 1954, he passed the Kamil exams from the Aliya Madrasa in Sirajganj. He later became the head Maulana of the same institution, and subsequently the superintendent of the Ulot Senior Madrasa in Arifpur. He was appointed the chief of the Pabna district unit of the Jamaat once it was formed. >From 1962 to 1965 he was a member of the Provincial Council. He contested in the 1970 election but lost to Awami League candidate Amjad Hossain. Subhan was the General Secretary and subsequently the Vice-President of the 'Peace Committee' in Pabna during the 1971 war, formed to help the Pakistani forces in suppressing the freedom struggle of the Bengalis. It was under his leadership that units of the Peace Committee, Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams, and Mujahid were formed in police station areas of Pabna district. Witnesses testified that Subhan orchestrated killings, loot, abductions, and other atrocities in various villages with the help of these vigilante groups and Pakistani soldiers. Korban Ali, the 6th prosecution witness, identified Subhan standing in the dock as the man who, brandishing a pistol, had rounded up villagers and shot them, and told the Pakistani soldiers to shoot as well. The tribunal was also told that, during the war, Subhan had prepared and supplied to the Pakistani forces a list of local Awami League leaders and activists and Hindus. Sensing the fall of the Yahya Khan regime towards the end of the independence struggle, he, along with Jamaat guru Golam Azam, went over to Pakistan. Subhan later returned to Bangladesh following a change in the political scenario and went on to become a member of parliament. The case timeline Investigation into Subhan's war crimes by the prosecution's investigating officers Motiur Rahman and Md Nur Hossain began on Apr 15, 2012. The charge-sheet against the Jamaat leader was filed on Sep 15, 2013. He was arrested at the toll plaza of the Bangabandhu Bridge on Sep 20, 2012. He was was later shown arrested in the war crimes case and sent to jail. The International Crimes Tribunal-1 began Subhan's trial on Dec 31, 2013 on the basis of 9 charges brought against him. The case, however, was shifted to Tribunal-2 on Mar 27, 2014 before the deposition by witnesses had begun. The hearing got under way on Apr 1, 2014 with the opening arguments by prosecutors Sultan Mahmud Simon and Rezia Sultana. 31 witnesses including investigators Motiur Rahman and Md Nur Hossain testified for the prosecution. On the other hand, the defence was unable to produce any witness, although 3 had been initially named. The tribunal had kept the verdict pending after hearing ended on Dec 4, 2014. The 16th verdict The much-awaited trials for crimes against humanity committed during the war began with the constitution of the International Crimes Tribunal on Mar 25, 2010. The tribunal in the 1st verdict sentenced to death former Jamaat-e-Islami member Abul Kalam Azad alias 'Bachchu Razakar' on Jan 21, 2013. The collaborator of the Pakistani occupation army could not appeal against the verdict as he was absconding. In the 2nd verdict, delivered on Feb 5 the same year, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Molla was awarded life term in jail. The judgement triggered protests by youths at Dhaka's cultural hub, Shahbagh, who thought the verdict was 'too lenient' and demanded maximum punishment for Molla. The protests were joined by tens of thousands, leading to the emergence of secular platform Ganajagaran Mancha demanding capital punishment for all war criminals. The movement rippled across Bangladesh, forcing the government to amend the tribunal law giving the prosecution a chance to appeal against verdicts. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court finally sentenced war criminal Molla to death on Sep 17, 2013. He was executed on Dec 12 the same year. Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee was sentenced to death in the 3rd verdict, delivered on Feb 28, 2013. His supporters in Jamaat strongholds went berserk after the judgement. According to the government, over 70 people, including police personnel, were killed in violence during the protest against the verdict. Hearing Sayedee's appeal, the apex court lessened his punishment to imprisonment until death on Sep 17 last year. The tribunal sentenced to death another assistant secretary general of Jamaat, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, on May 9, 2013. The Appellate Division upheld the verdict on Nov 3. Ghulam Azam, who headed Jamaat during the war against Pakistani oppressors, was sentenced to 90 years in prison on Jun 15, 2013 for plotting, planning and instigating crimes against humanity. It was the 5th verdict. The former Jamaat leader died at the age of 92 in a hospital on Oct 23, when his appeal was being heard. Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed was handed down capital punishment on Jul 17, 2013. In the 7th verdict, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was sentenced to be hanged by his neck until death. Both Mujaheed and Chowdhury have appealed to the Supreme Court. On Oct 9, 2013, former BNP minister Abdul Alim was sentenced to prison until death. The 83-year-old war criminal died on Aug 30 last year. He had served 11 months in a prison cell of a hospital. Al Badr commanders Ashrafuzzaman Khan and Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin were given the capital punishment on Nov 3, 2013 for killing intellectuals during the war. Both are on the run. The 10th verdict was delivered on Oct 29, last year. This time, Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, who was the chief of the Al Badr vigilante during the war, was sentenced to death. The verdict observed that he used Islam willfully and consciously to uproot the Bangali nation. He, too, has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court. As Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) closest ally, Nizami served as a minister during the 2001-6 tenure of Khaleda Zia. Chittagong Al Badr commander Mir Quasem Ali was sentenced to walk to the gallows. The Shura member of the party is said to be its main financier. On Nov 13 last year, Faridpur Razakar commander Zahid Hossain Khokon was sentenced to death. Brahmanbarhia Razakar commander Mobarak Hossain, expelled by local Awami League, got the death sentence on Nov 24 last year. Former Muslim League leader from Habiganj, Syed Mohammad Kaiser, who became a state minister during military dictator Hussein Muhammad Ershad's regime, was also sentenced to death for war crimes on Dec 23. The last verdict was delivered on Dec 30, sentencing Jamaat Assistant Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam to death. (source: bdnews24.com) SUDAN: Sudan prosecutor seeks 6 charges against opposition detainees Sudan's prosecutor on Tuesday called for 2 political detainees to face a raft of charges, some of which could incur the death penalty, their defence told AFP. Farouk Abu Issa and Amin Makki Madani were arrested in Khartoum on December 6 after returning from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where they signed an agreement aimed at uniting opposition groups. The prosecutor submitted its case recommending 6 charges against the 2 to a judge in Khartoum, said Moaz Hadra, spokesman for the detainees' defence. The judge will also hear the prosecution case in a court on Monday February 23, before deciding whether to press the charges against the opposition figures. The charges were founding and running a "terrorist organisation," as well as "undermining the constitutional order, inciting war, inciting hatred against the state and publishing false reports," Hadra said. All except publishing false reports carry the death sentence as the maximum penalty. Abu Issa and Madani were arrested after returning from Ethiopia where they had signed the agreement uniting political parties, rebels and civil society groups opposed to the government. Abu Issa signed for a grouping of opposition parties he leads and Madani signed for civil society groups. The opposition accord came amid preparations in Sudan for April elections that are widely expected to extend President Omar al-Bashir's 25 years in power. He seized power in a 1989 coup, but won a 2010 election that was criticised by observers for failing to meet international standards and was marred by opposition boycotts. (source: Agence France-Presse) NIGERIA: Lagos re-okays death penalty to prevent murder, armed robbery Contrary to several campaigns to have death penalty removed from the Lagos justice system, the state government Wednesday re-endorsed capital punishment, to serve as a deterrence against violent crimes, such as murder and armed robbery. The endorsement was informed by an expert survey on the issue, where majority of the public felt that the death penalty is effective for deterrence and retribution for heinous crimes. State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye said it was in the light of the results of the perceptions and expert survey that the Lagos State Executive Council adopted the position that the death penalty should be retained in the Criminal Law of Lagos State. Ipaye said following several abolition campaigns and international advocacy which were addressed to the Lagos State Government, in particular as the pace setter in justice sector reforms, the State Executive Council considered the proposition to abolish or retain the death penalty in the Lagos State Common Law. In taking its decision, the State commissioned an empirical research that surveyed the perception of Lagos residents and elicited their opinion on the abolition debate, including the question whether they believe the death penalty currently deters violent crime. The objective and outcome of the survey is to inform the development of a state policy on capital punishment that relies on empirical evidence and is based on consultation with citizens and justice sector stakeholders. Ipaye noted that the survey was undertaken in 2 categories: public survey (random selection of 2,000 members of the public) and the experts' survey (selected 100 persons who have close contact with the criminal justice process and systems). Over 1/2 of the respondents (51.1 %) advised Lagos State Government to execute convicts on the death row while only 38. 5 % maintained otherwise. 9.7 % were undecided while 0.8 % did not proffer any opinion. "Whilst 61.9 % of the respondents believed that the death penalty is a necessary retributive tool, as much as 59 % opined that the death penalty does not bring a sense of happiness to the family of the victim(s). A majority of the respondents (67.2 %) however recommended that Lagos State should retain the death penalty," he said. The study also found that gender, age and religion play important roles in understanding the orientation of Lagos residents on the issue of capital punishment. "Hence while majority of the people support death penalty across the socio-demographics, more males, older people and less religious people support the death penalty. "Majority of the respondents surveyed supported the use of the death penalty in Lagos State. The survey also revealed that over 54 % of the respondents advised the Lagos State Government to execute convicts on death row. A large number of respondents also believed that the death penalty is a necessary retributive tool and a majority of the respondents recommended that the State should retain death penalty because it serves positive retributive and deterrence purposes," Ipaye said. (source: Nigeria Guardian News) IRAN: 30 prisoners hanged in 4 days In the latest wave of executions and repression in Iran, at least 30 prisoners have been hanged in prisons across country since Saturday. The victims included a 60-year-old man that had already spent 20 years in prison. The executions were carried out in prisons in several cities across Iran. Some executions were carried out in groups. On Tuesday, a group of 6 were hanged in Karaj's Gohardasht prison. They included 3 men identified as Vahid Lalabadi, Ayob Farhadi, 33 and Amir Davoodi, 39, who had been transferred to isolation the day before. Another prisoner was hanged in Shiraz on the same day. On Monday, at least 14 prisoners were hanged in the cities of Bam, Uromiyeh and Bandar Abbas. A group of 6 prisoners were sent to gallows in the city of Bam in southern Iran. A group of 5 prisoners were executed in Darya Prison in the city of Uromiyeh which included 3 residents of Kurdistan province and 2 residents of Azerbaijan province. One of the victims was identified as Rahim Soleimani, 60, who had already spent 20 years in prison. On Monday, 2 other prisoners were hanged in Mashhad and 1 more prisoner was hanged in Bandar Abbas. On Sunday, 4 prisoners were hanged in Shiraz's Adel Abbad Prison and Kerman's Shahab Prison. On Saturday, 2 Baloch prisoners were hanged in Chahbahar Prison and another was sent to gallows in the northern city of Rasht. Meanwhile, simultaneously with the new wave of executions aimed at rising fear in society, on Tuesday, a group of 3 men were paraded and humiliated in public in the city of Mashhad without being charged or sentenced. (source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran) *************************** Saman Naseem transferred to solitary confinement for possible execution A group of 6 Iranian political prisoners including Saman Naseem being held in the central prison in the northwestern city of Uromiyeh were transferred to solitary cells on Wednesday for possible execution. The other 5 political prisoners are: Yones Aghat, Habiballah Afshari, Ali Afshari, Sirvan Nezhavi, and Ibrahim Shapoori. There is a growing concern that the political prisoners are transferred to isolation to await their execution. International Human rights organizations have issued statement calling for immediate halt to planned execution of Mr. Saman Naseem who had been arrested at the age of 17. According to the Amnesty International Naseem is due to be executed on February 19 after being arrested on July 17, 2011. Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a press release on February 13: "That the Iranian authorities are preparing to put to death a young man who???s been tortured for 97 days to 'confess' when he was 17 years old beggars belief." In a letter seen by Amnesty International, Saman Naseem, now 22 years old, described how he was kept in a 2 x 0.5 meter cell and constantly tortured before being forced while blindfolded to put his fingerprints on 'confession' papers. He was forced to admit to acts that lead to his conviction for membership of an armed opposition group and taking up arms against the state. He was 17 years old at the time. "This is the reality of the criminal justice system in Iran, which makes a mockery of its own statements that it does not execute children and upholds its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child," Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said. According to an Urgent Action issued on Monday by Amnesty International, Naseem was beaten on Sunday to force him to make TV 'confessions.' "Saman Naseem was allowed no access to his lawyer during early investigations and he said he was tortured, which included the removal of his finger and toe nails and being hung upside down for several hours," Amnesty statement said. "Saman Naseem called his family on 15 February and told them that earlier that day men in plain clothes had taken him to the security department of the Oroumieh Prison. He said the men, who he believed belonged to the Ministry of Intelligence and were carrying cameras and recording equipment, beat him for several hours to force him into making video-taped 'confessions', but he refused to do so," AI statement added. (source: NCR - Iran) ********************* UN experts urge 'immediate halt' over scheduled execution of juvenile The Government of Iran must comply with its international human rights obligations and immediately halt its planned execution of a juvenile offender, 2 United Nations human rights experts urged today. "Regardless of the circumstances and nature of the crime, the execution of juvenile offenders is clearly prohibited by international human rights law," Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and Christof Heyns, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, declared in a press release issued earlier today. "The imposition of the death penalty in Iran contrasts the current international trend of abolishing the death penalty in law and in practice," they added. Saman Naseem, who was 17 at the time of his arrest in 2011, was allegedly subjected to torture and made to confess to the crimes of "Moharebeh," or "enmity against God," and "Ifsad fil Arz," or "corruption on Earth," for his suspected involvement in armed activities with the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan. He was sentenced to death in April 2013. According to a UN human rights report released last year, the new Islamic Penal Code that entered into force in 2013 now omits references to apostasy, witchcraft and heresy, but continues to allow for juvenile executions and retains the death penalty for activities that do not constitute most serious crimes in line with the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty such as adultery, repeated alcohol use, and drug possession and trafficking. Nonetheless, the independent experts recalled the "repeated assertions" by Iranian authorities that confessions obtained under torture were inadmissible under Iranian law while noting that the country was also party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Iran has witnessed a surge in executions over the past 2 years. At least 852 individuals were reportedly executed between July 2013 and June 2014, representing an "alarming" increase in the number of executions in relation to the already-high rates of previous years, according to UN estimates. In addition, at least 60 persons, including 4 women, have reportedly been executed in January 2015 alone. (source: UN News Centre) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 19 10:55:15 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:55:15 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, IND. Message-ID: Feb. 19 PENNSYLVANIA: Hugo Selenski avoids death penalty, sentenced to life in prison A jury on Wednesday spared the life of the man convicted of strangling a pharmacist and his girlfriend in 2002 and burying their bodies in his yard, granting a defense request to show mercy despite the brutal nature of the crimes. Hugo Selenski, 41, was convicted last week on 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the killings of Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett during a robbery at the pharmacist's home. He showed no reaction to the jury's decision, which means he will serve life without parole. Prosecutors had asked for a death sentence, saying Selenski and a co-conspirator brutally beat Kerkowski to compel him to reveal the location of tens of thousands of dollars he kept in his house and then plastic used flex ties to strangle him and Fassett. The pharmacist had pleaded guilty to running an illegal prescription drug ring and was about to be sentenced when he and Fassett were reported missing in 2002. Authorities found their decomposing bodies about a year later, along with at least 3 other sets of human remains on Selenski's property near Wilkes-Barre. Prosecutors argued Kerkowski was tortured, one of the aggravating circumstances they urged jurors to consider in deciding Selenski's fate. "The defendant has repeatedly used fear and lies and pain and death in order to obtain frivolous, material things," Sam Sanguedolce, Luzerne County first assistant district attorney, told jurors in his closing argument Wednesday. "The defendant has earned his sentence." Selenski's attorney, Edward "E.J." Rymsza, begged the jury to spare his client's life, asking them to ignore "voices of vengeance and retribution." The defense tried to cast Selenski as a good father, brother and uncle even behind bars, with family members testifying earlier Wednesday that he wrote frequently and gave life advice. 2 of Selenski's daughters and 4 of his sisters spoke of their love for him, calling him an intelligent and caring man who's protective of his family - a portrait starkly at odds with the greedy, manipulative killer described in earlier trial testimony. The 2 youngest sisters, both nursing students in their 20s, said he served as a father figure while briefly taking care of them more than a dozen years ago while their dad, now deceased, was ill. "I wouldn't be who I am today without him," said Katlyn Selenski, 22. Selenski has spent most of the last 20 years in prison, with convictions for a 1994 bank robbery, a 2003 home invasion and robbery, and now murder. In 2006, he beat 2 other homicide charges in the deaths of 2 suspected drug dealers whose charred remains were also found in his yard north of Wilkes-Barre. The 5th body found on the property was never publicly identified. Selenski, who escaped from the county lockup in 2003 using a rope fashioned from bed sheets, will now spend the rest of his days in a maximum security state prison. Even if the jury had sentenced him to die, Selenski would likely have spent decades on death row - and might never have received a lethal injection. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf recently declared a moratorium on the death penalty, called the current system of capital punishment "error prone, expensive and anything but infallible." Philadelphia's district attorney has filed a legal challenge to the moratorium. Pennsylvania has executed only 3 inmates since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the last one in 1999. All 3 had voluntarily given up their appeals. (source: Morning Call) *************** DA Seth Williams challenges Gov. Wolf over death penalty Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams filed a legal challenge Wednesday to Gov. Tom Wolf's death penalty moratorium, telling the state's highest court that the action was illegal and unconstitutional. The challenge by Williams came 5 days after Wolf said he would issue reprieves at least until he receives a report from a legislative commission that has been studying the issue since 2011. The case raised in Williams' filing involves Terrance Williams, who was convicted of the 1984 robbing and fatal tire-iron beating of another man in Philadelphia. His death sentence has been fought in state and federal courts. "The governor's supposed reprieve is flagrantly unconstitutional, and should be declared by this court to be null, void, and absolutely without legal effect," the district attorney's legal challenge said. Williams' execution had been scheduled for March 4. But Pennsylvania inmates facing execution have routinely been able to win delays, with the state's last execution carried out in 1999. Wolf, a Democrat, took office Jan. 20 after pledging on the campaign trail not to sign death warrants until certain concerns raised about the death penalty had been addressed. Pennsylvania has executed only 3 people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976. All had voluntarily given up their appeals. Wolf's office stands by the constitutionality of reprieves - Pennsylvania law does not appear to place time limits on the length of a reprieve, legislative lawyers say - and a spokesman said Pennsylvania's system of capital punishment is "ineffective, expensive and many times unjust." Williams has exhausted all of his appeals in state and federal courts, according to prosecutors. His lawyer in his most recent case in front of the state Supreme Court did not immediately return a telephone message Wednesday seeking comment. Williams, who was 18 at the time of the murder, testified at trial that he did not know the victim and did not kill him. Prosecutors say he had had a history of violent felony convictions, including another murder. In his later appeals, Williams said both victims had sexually abused him for years, thus motivating him to kill. The reasons for the state's lack of executions are the subject of debate, with some attributing it to death penalty opposition among judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or to aggressive tactics by lawyers who defend people facing execution. Others point to the number of stayed or overturned death sentences as evidence of flaws in how those cases are handled, particularly when it comes to providing adequate representation at trial. (source: ABC news) ***************** Wolf oversteps authority by suspending death penalty in Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania, imposed last week, is the easy way out, politically speaking. Wolf has circumvented a standing law of Pennsylvania, stretching the executive power of his office beyond that of both existing legislation and judicial decisions made over which he should have no say. There may be arguments against the death penalty, both its continued use and the means by which such sentences are carried out. And Pennsylvania has had an essential moratorium against the death penalty for decades. Just 3 state inmates have been put to death since 1976, and in all 3 cases the convicted men decided to forgo additional appeals that, quite likely, would have had them still drawing breath today absent the intervention of nature. Criminal convictions are to be rendered beyond a reasonable doubt. That is not entirely a comfortable level of certainty when it involves taking the life of an individual, regardless of his crime. As has been shown in the last few years, there have been inmates awaiting execution who did not deserve to be on death row - or even in prison. Science and technology, including DNA evidence, have become powerful tools of justice often used by those fighting the death penalty. But science is neutral. And while eyewitnesses can have questionable recollections, prosecutors can be blinded by high-profile cases into miscarriages of their offices, and juries can be too bloodthirsty, science remains, implacably, science. DNA evidence can, today, greatly increase the certainty of an individual's guilt in a death penalty case. The presence of incontrovertible scientific evidence, combined with eyewitnesses and strong police and prosecutorial work can allow for verdicts far beyond those of reasonable doubt. Had we done away with the death penalty decades ago due to its lack of certainty, it would have been difficult to argue. But as technology advances, so does the ability to have greater confidence in the development of capital-punishment cases. And with greater confidence should come less patience in the eternal appeals process now allowed in these cases. Eliminating the death penalty now will be an argument not about the certainty of guilt but the underlying morality of the sentence. And we say without apology that there are some crimes so awful that no other punishment will answer to the victims of them. We support the death penalty in those cases. We think of the families and survivors of the victims of these crimes. Is it justice, especially now, if they have already been told that the perpetrator of the crimes against their loved ones is going to be executed, to instead see that sentence reduced to a life term? Yes, a life in confinement, but nevertheless, a life. Wolf's action has drawn sharp criticism from law enforcement, including the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association, which represents the state's top county prosecutors, and the Pennsylvania State Trooper's Association, which called the moratorium a "travesty" and "a sad day for Pennsylvania." State Sen. John Rafferty Jr. blasted Wolf for pandering to his liberal political base. "Gov. Wolf made a political decision to protect the worst of the worst in our society and did so at the expense of the families of the victims of these heinous crimes. This was the result of a single stroke of the pen as opposed to the accepted principles of democracy, the voice of the people expressed through our jury system." If Gov. Wolf has the courage of his convictions, let him fight an open battle on the death penalty. Don't ignore the law. It's a terrible precedent. Perhaps he learned it from watching Washington, D.C., lately, where President Obama routinely ignores Congress and imposes his will by executive fiat. (source: Editorial, Potts Mercury) ************************** Death penalty in Pa. deserves a hard look Many of the men sitting on death row for murders probably deserve to die for their crimes. York County capital cases include the likes of Mark Spotz, who killed an innocent local woman while in the midst of a murderous cross-state rampage, Harve Johnson, who beat 2-year-old Darisabel Baez to death with a video game controller, and Kevin Brian Dowling, who concocted a whodunnit-style alibi to cover up the cold-blooded robbery and killing of an innocent frame shop owner. There's little doubt that those men are guilty of the crimes that landed them on death row. But those 2 words - little doubt - nag at the conscience. What if some of those men are not guilty? Unlikely, you say? Perhaps. But here are 2 more words that should trouble the conscience: Ray Krone. This man was convicted - twice - of killing a young woman in Arizona. He spent nearly a decade in prison, part of it on death row, before he was proved innocent of the crime. His case was hardly an anomaly. In fact, he was the "100th former death row inmate freed because of innocence since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States in 1976," according to The Innocence Project, a legal group that has exposed widespread problems with capital punishment in the United States. If that many innocent people can be convicted of murder "beyond a reasonable doubt," there's something wrong with the system. And any system that risks the irreversible execution of an innocent person is not worthy of a nation that espouses and aspires to the highest moral and ethical standards. That's why Gov. Tom Wolf was right last week to impose a moratorium on executions in the state, calling for a thorough study of the process. Granted, Pennsylvania has long had what essentially amounts to a moratorium on executions. Just 3 have been carried out since 1976 - and those only because the suspects suspended their appeals. Many people chafe at the extensive appeals process in death penalty cases, saying the families and friends of victims wanting "closure" are tortured by the long process. Some have called for a streamlining of the appeals process and a hastening of executions, Texas style. The pain and loss experienced by those loved ones is terrible, but how could we in good conscience short-circuit an appeals process that has uncovered so many wrongful death penalty convictions? Some have argued Pennsylvania is not plagued with the injustice we've seen in other states, but The Innocence Project lists 10 wrongful Pennsylvania murder convictions on its website. 3 were homicide convictions, 1 of which resulted in a death sentenced. One of those 3 wrongful homicide convictions was Barry Laughman, a mentally disabled Adams County man who was exonerated by DNA evidence testing. Let's take a good, hard look at the process. Let's debate whether the death penalty is a moral or effective punishment. Let's consider whether it is cost-effective - and whether capital punishment is a deterrent to murder, as many contend. These cases drag on for decades, and the litigation is expensive. Might it not be more effective to put killers behind bars for life - essentially in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day? That way, if there's a wrongful conviction, we can partially rectify it, and citizens don't have the blood of an innocent victim on their hands. Let's study this issue and decide logically, unemotionally, unencumbered by the hatred many understandably feel: Does a demonstrably flawed death penalty make sense in Pennsylvania? Can we live with the possible execution of an innocent person on our collective conscience? Obviously, Gov. Wolf can't. (source: Editorial, Daily Local) GEORGIA----impending female execution Only woman on Georgia death row set to be executed Georgia is set to execute its only woman on death row next week. Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter told Channel 2's Tony Thomas that the crime committed by Kelly Gissendaner has stuck in his mind since it happened in 1997. Gissendaner is accused of plotting to kill her husband. Porter said the 1 thing that strikes him about her case is that there was such an easy alternative to this murder: a simple divorce. Years later, almost all the appeals are over and the same district attorney who called for the death penalty then will now be a witness to the planned execution. "I think I'm obligated to be down there," Porter said. Boxes of evidence from the trial sit outside Porter's office. He says he remembers most details of the 1997 case. "Kelly was pretty much at the controls," Porter said. In 1997, Gissendaner's husband, Doug, disappeared. Kelly Gissendaner played the loving and concerned wife, holding press conferences in her living room pleading for help. "If he's somewhere where he can get to a phone, just for him to please call home and let someone know he's all right. That's all I want. I want him home," Kelly Gissendaner said back in 1997. Days later, the man Kelly Gissendaner was having an affair with, Greg Owen, confessed to Doug Gissendaner's murder, and said Kelly Gissendaner planned it and even helped him burn the car after the fact. "It's almost like she had to go back and take a trophy or something," Porter said. Kelly Gissendaner would plead for mercy at trial, but was sentenced to death. She has been the only woman on Georgia's death row for 17 years, and is scheduled to die by lethal injection next Wednesday night. "I think I have a moral obligation to see the sentence carried out. Otherwise, I think you are just playing politics," Porter said. Thomas has been selected as a media representative to witness the execution. One day before, on Tuesday, Kelly Gissendaner will have 1 last shot to ask for clemency from state leaders. (source: WSB TV news) FLORIDA: Avalos triple murder case----State seeking the death penalty for accused Bradenton triple murderer Andy Avalos The state attorney's office announced Wednesday that it is seeking the death penalty for accused Bradenton triple murderer Andres "Andy" Avalos. Assistant State Attorney Art Brown said he sent the death penalty notice to Avalos' attorney, Franklin Roberts, Wednesday afternoon. Roberts declined comment on the case. Avalos, 33, is charged with 1st-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Amber Avalos, neighbor Denise Potter and pastor James "Tripp" Battle. Investigators say on Dec. 4 Avalos hanged his 33-year-old wife from a cord in the laundry room of their northwest Bradenton home, then beat and shot her. He then shot Potter, 46, who was visiting their home, before going to Bayshore Baptist Church and shooting Battle in front of his wife, Joy Battle. "When we consider the death penalty for any case, we look at the aggravating factors," Brown said. "In this case, we decided the death penalty was appropriate." Aggravating factors can include details such as the age and number of victims; whether the suspect was convicted of previous felonies' if the suspect was a criminal gang member; if the act was "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel;" or if the act was committed, "in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification." If convicted of 1st-degree murder, Avalos will be sentenced to either death or life in prison without parole. Brown said Avalos gave a full confession to the killings in early interviews with Manatee County detectives, but Avalos pleaded not guilty to original charges of 2nd-degree murder, according to court records. Criminal defense attorney Adam Tebrugge in 2005 represented Joseph Smith, who was convicted and sentenced to die for the rape and murder of Carlie Bruscia in Sarasota. Tebrugge, who has an office in Bradenton, said he doesn't think the death penalty would be appropriate for Avalos. While the state tries to prove the aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt, the defense will be looking into the suspect's life mitigating factors, such as signs of mental illness or past good character, Tebrugge said. "I understand that the crime in this case is outrageous and unsettling, but the state seeks the death penalty far too often. It doesn't feel necessary here," Tebrugge said. "The family context gives a lot of opportunity for mitigating circumstances." Tebrugge added that seeking the death penalty means rather than a timeline of 6 months, the case could take 2 or 3 years to get to trial. Tebrugge said he knows felons on death row now that have been there for more than 30 years after being sentenced. The family of Amber Avalos has hinted that Andy Avalos had problems with drug abuse and drinking, and that his wife had tried to make him seek help. The couple had 6 children together. Potter had 3 children and Battle had 2. After the crimes, deputies searched for Avalos for 51 hours before he was arrested near Bayshore Baptist Church. Avalos's next scheudled appearance in court is April 9. (source: Bradenton Herald) ALABAMA: Court document may reveal Alabama's death penalty drug manufacturer Lawyers for an inmate on Alabama's death row say the state has kept them in the dark about most of the details of its new protocol for execution by lethal injection. In a bid to get approval for Alabama's 1st execution since 2013, state officials may have tipped their hand on something they tried for months to keep secret: the identity of a supplier of drugs used in lethal injection. Court documents filed this week suggest that Akorn Pharmaceuticals, an Illinois-based drug manufacturer, made the anesthetic Alabama plans to use as the 1st drug in its 3-drug death penalty protocol. That drug, midazolam, was used in botched executions last year in Oklahoma, Arizona and Ohio. It's unclear who made the midazolam used in those executions, largely because states have become increasingly secretive about their use of death penalty drugs. "A number of states are protecting their sources," said Richard Dieter, director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. "This information is going to become harder and harder to find out." 1 year ago this week, Rep. Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville, presented an Alabama House committee with a bill that would make the identity of death penalty drug suppliers secret. Greer said he wanted to protect drugmakers from "blowback" from death penalty opponents. Greer, who said he proposed the bill at the request of corrections officials, acknowledged that the identity of drug manufacturers isn't currently protected by law. Still, prison officials at the time rejected requests by The Anniston Star and other newspapers for information on the state???s death penalty protocol, saying it was not released as a matter of department policy. Greer's bill didn't get past the Senate, but prison officials still won't say who makes their death penalty drugs. Shortage The blowback that worried Greer was real. Boycotts from Europe, where a number of critical drugs are made, have had death-penalty states scrambling in recent years to obtain enough drugs to kill inmates. In March of last year, Alabama officials acknowledged that the state couldn't conduct executions because it didn't have enough drugs on hand. That changed in September, when the attorney general's office asked the Alabama Supreme Court to set execution dates for nine of the 194 people now on death row. State officials said they had a new lethal injection drug combination: midazolam hydrochloride as an anesthetic, rocuronium bromide to relax the muscles and potassium chloride to stop the heart. They also said they had enough of the drugs on hand to execute all 9 men. Thomas Arthur, imprisoned since the 1980s for the murder-for hire of a Muscle Shoals man, was to be the 1st person executed under the new formula. The court initially set Feb. 19 - this Thursday - as his execution date. Arthur and 7 other inmates have challenged the new drug formula in court, on the grounds that it will lead to a painful death - a violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Midazolam is a key element of their complaint. The drug was used last year in an Oklahoma execution that took 43 minutes, an Ohio execution that lasted more than 20 minutes and an Arizona execution that lasted nearly 2 hours. Arthur doesn't appear to be on the way to execution this week. A federal court granted him a stay of execution until after a hearing in May. But in an appeal to that decision filed earlier this week, lawyers for the attorney general's office argued that Arthur's claims about midazolam were "inconsistent with the manufacturer's package insert for midazolam." Attached to the court document is a copy of the manufacturer's instructions for the drug - branded with Akorn's logo. No disclosure The state's motion refers to Akorn's drug manual twice as "the manufacturer's package insert." There's a 3rd reference to "the manufacturer's Material Safety Data Sheet," with a link to a drug safety document put out in 2007 by Ohio-based Ben Venue Laboratories. Ben Venue would seem to be an unlikely source of Alabama's midazolam, however. Accounts in Ohio newspapers and the magazine Crain's Cleveland Business indicate that almost all manufacturing at the company halted in December 2013. A new owner, London-based Hikma, bought Ben Venue in July, press accounts indicate, but had not resumed production by the end of September - after Alabama had acquired its new execution drugs. State officials wouldn't comment on whether Akorn, the Illinois company, is indeed the maker of Alabama's midazolam. "Because of the ongoing litigation, we're not releasing any information about the protocol," said Bob Horton, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections. Alabama attorney general spokesman Mike Lewis said the office had no comment. Arthur's lawyers, through their spokesman Paul Holmes, also said they had no comment. Multiple attempts to reach Akorn for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful. State records show no purchases of Akorn products by the state in the past year, though the state has done business with 2 medical suppliers, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen, that are listed by Akorn as distributors of midazolam. British activists called on Akorn last year to put controls in place to prevent its midazolam from being used in executions. That call led to speculation in the media that the company was a supplier of drugs for one of last year's botched executions. But lawyer Dale Baich, who represented Arizona inmate Joseph Rudolph Wood before he was executed last year, said no one but the state knows who made Arizona's midazolam. "We asked for the information and the state would not disclose it," he said. "We went to court in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. We have never been provided with the information." Baich was a witness to Wood's execution in July. At first, the drugs appeared to be working. "His breathing appeared to stop," Baich said. "About 10 or 12 minutes in, his mouth opened and he gasped. The breathing went on for about an hour and 40 minutes" before Wood died, Baich said. If defense lawyers had known the manufacturer of the drug, Baich said, they would have been able to get more information about the quality of the drug and its expiration date. Dieter, of the Death Penalty Information Center, said there are several companies that could be providing the drugs to various states. Earlier mainstays of lethal injection, such as thiopental and pentobarbital, had few suppliers and could more easily be shut off. "That's the appeal of this drug," he said. "There's enough in the stream of commerce that it can't be pinned on 1 company." Greer, the lawmaker who first proposed the death penalty secrecy bill, said he wasn't familiar with Akorn. He said corrections officials never told him who is supplying the drugs for executions. "We've never known where it came from," he said. "I don't think that's something the Legislature would know." (source: The Anniston Star) OHIO: Lawsuit over death penalty secrecy law dismissed A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by 4 death row inmates that sought to overturn a law shrouding Ohio's execution process in secrecy. U.S. District Court Judge Gregory L. Frost threw out the lawsuit at the request of Gov. John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine, rejecting the contentions of the condemned men that the new law muzzled free-speech rights. The inmates claimed that House Bill 663 unconstitutionally violated First Amendment rights by depriving the public of access to government information and proceedings surrounding the death penalty. The law forbids the release of the identities of compounding pharmacies that prepare lethal-injection drugs for at least 20 years and forever keeps confidential the names of execution-team members and physicians. "Rather, the statutory scheme simply cuts off Ohio and its employees as a source of specific information for both proponents and opponents of the death penalty." Frost also found that the inmates lacked the standing needed to continue to pursue their lawsuit, saying they could not demonstrate "actual or imminent injuries" to their First Amendment rights. Cleveland lawyer Tim Sweeney, who represents death row inmate Ronald Phillips, said he would appeal Frost's ruling to the Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. "Ohio's secrecy law overreaches the Constitution by creating an entirely new category of speech which can be legally suppressed. This extreme law needs to be fully evaluated by the courts prior to its implementation. No one benefits from shutting down debate about the death penalty and Ohio's lethal injection process; in fact, the public is harmed by this suppression of free speech about public policy, which is the cornerstone of democracy," Sweeney said. Prison officials insist executions in Ohio cannot proceed unless the state promises secrecy to compounding pharmacies that could face possible protests and retaliation for providing the lethal drugs. No executions will occur before 2016 as the state seeks to secure the needed drug combinations. The law permits the public and the condemned to learn what lethal-injection drugs will be used and their quantity, but withholds the identities of the pharmacies preparing the deadly drug cocktails. The public and those scheduled to die need to know the identities of pharmacies to check on their backgrounds and ensure the state is conducting executions in a safe and humane manner, the lawsuit stated. The law violates free-speech rights by forbidding communication with pharmacy owners, it claimed. Frost wrote that part of the law appears to "defy common sense." "in order to challenge the use of a drug that will be used to execute them, inmates must explain why use of that drug presents a risk of substantial harm. But the inmates are not allowed to know from where the drug came, how specifically it was manufactured, or who was involved in the creation of the drug." Frost said the law does not grant death row inmates, and by extension the courts, the ability to evaluate the reliability of the lethal drug-manufacturing process. "A proponent of Kafkaesque absurdity might be proud of such a byzantine method for pursuing the protection of a constitutional right, even if the drafters of the United States Constitution might not," Frost wrote. Frost also is presiding over a lawsuit challenging the manner in which Ohio administers lethal injections. He must approve the state's new drug combination and procedures. The challenge came after killer Dennis McGuire gasped and choked for about 10 minutes on Jan. 16, 2014 as he was killed with a never-before-used combination of drugs. McGuire was pronounced dead after 26 minutes. (source: Columbus Dispatch) ********************************** Hager Church deemed borderline psychopath As death penalty trials go, the penalty phase of the Hager Church murder trial was off to a rather mundane start Wednesday until just after lunch. After finishing with a forensic psychologist who testified about Church's troubled childhood, that included the status as borderline psychopath, Church made statements that he wanted the death penalty without the jury in the Allen County Common Pleas courtroom. "Please give me death row. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in prison. Kill me today," he said looking at the media in the courtroom. Church's attorneys attempted to calm him but his emotions remained elevated. Deputies escorted Church out of the courtroom. The jury was out of the courtroom at the time as attorneys set up for a presentation. About a half-hour later, Church was brought back in and Judge Jeffrey Reed announced the trial would be placed on hold until Monday after the sudden death of a family member to one of the attorneys in the case. Reed did not say which attorney. The judge said it was only appropriate to give the attorney a chance to be with his family and the judge offered condolences without naming the attorney. Church, who had calmed down, remained calm. The jury convicted the 30-year-old Church of 2 counts of aggravated murder and 1 count of aggravated arson the day before. The trial is now in the penalty phase where the jury has to decide whether he should receive the death penalty or life in prison. Church already is serving a life sentence with no chance for parole for the 2010 killing of Deb Henderson at her home in Lima. In the case at hand, Church was convicted of killing Massie "Tina" Flint, 45, and Rex Hall, 54, on June 14, 2009, by setting a house on fire at 262 S. Pine St. The day started with Church's lead attorney, Greg Meyers, telling the jury Church rose to the occasion when he alerted authorities of the murders when they believed the 2 died accidentally in a fire. "He is guilty of those crimes and he will be punished but with his life? Or for the rest of his life?" Meyers said. Prosecutor Juergen Waldick told the jury Church should pay with his life. Forensic Psychologist Thomas Hustak was the only defense witness who testified in the penalty phase Wednesday. He spoke of Church's poor behavioral record in school and a learning disability. He said Church was not properly medicated for mental illness as a child. Church also suffered sexual abuse and has large mood swings, Hustak said. "He isn't a fun guy to be around," Hustak said. At 17, an evaluation showed Church was a borderline psychopath, Hustak said, a point Waldick jumped on in cross-examination asking if that same person kills 3 people as an adult would it raise that score to psychopath level, which the psychologist said it could. Waldick also asked about Church's failed treatment for substance abuse and other problems while incarcerated, and whether Church sought treatment when he was outside of prison or jail. Hustak said no. The judge told the jury to return Monday morning to resume the penalty phase. (source: limaohio.com) INDIANA: McManus' Attorney: 'Right Decision' to Overrule Death Penalty Conviction 13 years on death row could end without execution for an Evansville man. Paul McManus was convicted of killing his wife and 2 kids in 2001, but now a federal appeals court overturns his conviction and sentence. He could walk free because of his mental state at trial 13 years ago. His defense attorney, Genn Grampp clearly remembers his demeanor, feeling McManus was incapable of standing trial. He says Wednesday's ruling justifies what he says should have happened in the 1st place. February 26th, 2001, a toddler, 8-year-old and their mother are murdered in a neighborhood north of Evansville. After the murder, he drove to the twin bridges and jumped from the top in a suicide attempt, but he was pulled from the frigid February waters and went on trial a year later, facing the death penalty. Grampp says, "there wasn't any question that he did it," but he believes he didn't deserve to be executed. "He became a mess during that trial, and he really did not know what was going on," says Grampp. "He had a panic attack after we selected the jury, and during the 1st day of evidence, he had a panic attack." Grampp remembers McManus being taken out of the courtroom on a stretcher, he "went to the hospital a couple times; they changed his medication unbeknownst to us." Despite repeated requests for a mistrial, Grampp says the judge continued and McManus was convicted and sentenced to death. A decision Grampp feels was wrong. "There was no question in my mind that he was impaired to the point he could not assist his council, could not make decisions." It's because of that, what Grampp says was a drug-induced stupor, A U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the 13 year-old decision Wednesday. Vanderburgh County Prosecuting Attorney, Nick Hermann, didn't try the case in 2001, but he reacts today in "a little bit of a surprise, just that it came out and what it was, but you know, its part of the business." Grampp believe justice is now being served. "It might not make a lot of people happy, but its the right decision taking the facts into account," he says. But McManus isn't a free man just yet. There will be appeals, and potentially a new trial in Vanderburgh Co. "There was a lot of strong evidence in it," says Hermann, "We wouldn't hesitate in the slightest to try it again if it came to that." A plea agreement is also a possible outcome, but the prosecution says it needs time to review. "It's going to be a matter of getting the case and talking to all the parties involved, and determine where we are and how to move forward from there," adds Hermann. The Indiana Attorney General's office is now reviewing the ruling and will decide in the next 15 days whether to appeal to the U.S Supreme Court. (source: tristatehomepage.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 19 10:56:02 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:56:02 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----UTAH, NEV., CALIF., WASH., USA Message-ID: Feb. 19 UTAH: Judge says death penalty an option for St. George man A judge is upholding a ruling that would allow southern Utah prosecutors to seek the death penalty if a man charged with 1/2 of a 2010 double murder is convicted. The Spectrum of St. George reports (http://bit.ly/1vhWl3m ) that Judge G. Michael Westfall said Thursday that he agreed with a prior magistrate's decision about the 33-year-old Brandon Perry Smith. Smith is charged with murder in the death of 20-year-old Jerrica Christensen. Christensen was killed in a December 2010 altercation at a St. George townhome that also left 27-year-old Brandie Sue Dawn Jerden dead. Another man, 34-year-old Paul Ashton, pleaded guilty in July to killing Jerden in his home. He's been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Smith is awaiting trial. (source: Associated Press) ****************** The Death Penalty Is in Decline, So Why Is Utah Trying to Resurrect Firing Squads?----The state joins Oklahoma as the only other place in America to still use the antiquated execution method. In 2014, the U.S. executed the lowest number of peopler in 2 decades. Recent cases of botched executions have brought new scrutiny and skepticism to the death penalty. Yet last week, Utah's House of Representatives passed a measure to resurrect the firing squad. The bill is headed to the state Senate. Utah's proposal comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on an Oklahoma death penalty case. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday told a Washington forum: "It is one thing to put somebody in jail for an extended period of time, have some new test that you can do, and determine that person was, in fact, innocent. There is no ability to correct a mistake where somebody has, in fact, been executed - and that is, from my perspective, the ultimate nightmare." On Friday, Pennsylvania's governor imposed a moratorium on executions, and Montana's legislature is considering a measure to abolish the death penalty. So it's understandable that Utah's House of Representatives voted carefully on this issue. Part of the story of Utah's firing squad push rests with the bill's chief sponsor, Paul Ray, a Republican who sits on the state legislature's law enforcement and criminal justice committee. Ray has argued that death by firing squad is faster and more humane than lethal injection. His argument is also financial. During 1 debate on the legislative floor, Ray said, "We are facing a situation where we are going to have to go to court, and it's going to cost millions of dollars for the state of Utah to defend what we're doing." The financial argument is debatable. One 2011 study found that California taxpayers would save about $170 million a year if all the state's death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life without parole. During some firing squad executions, marksmen bearing rifles aim to shoot a cloth placed over a prisoner's heart. Not all firing squad executions are foolproof. Take the case of Wallace Wilkerson, convicted of murder in Utah in the late 1800s and sentenced to death. Wilkerson chose death by firing squad rather than hanging or decapitation, according to media accounts. On execution day, Wilkerson sat in a chair in the jail yard unbound to the chair. Wilkerson apparently stiffened, and seconds later, the squad opened fire. Wilkerson was shot in his torso and arm, but he wasn't pronounced dead for 27 minutes. A 2012 study examined 9,000 U.S. executions that took place in the 20th century and found that 270 of them were bungled in some way. Botched executions have recently made headlines. In April, Clayton Lockett died of a heart attack a full 43 minutes after prison officials in Oklahoma administered the lethal injection. According to Amnesty International, more than 2/3 of the world's countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. But 54 countries still allow capital punishment by shooting or firing squad. That puts Utah in the same category as countries such as North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Iran. Wyoming, which authorizes lethal gas only if lethal injection is found unconstitutional, is also considering a bill that would make firing squads an alternative method of execution. Utah was the 1st state to resume executions just after the Supreme Court lifted its moratorium on capital punishment in 1976. Since then, only 2 people in the U.S. have been executed by firing squad, and both cases were in Utah. In 2004, a bill was passed in Utah to make lethal injection the primary method of execution. "This is not just a conversation about different ways of the state putting people to death," said Utah House Minority Leader Brian King on the House floor. King, a Democrat who voted against the firing squad bill, added, "It's a question about moral and fiscal responsibility and whether the state of Utah chooses, or not, to be a moral and fiscal leader on such a controversial topic." According to the Utah Department of Corrections, 8 people sit on Utah's death row, but the state does not have any lethal injection drugs on hand. Jean Hill of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City told The Salt Lake City Tribune that the state is probably 3 to 4 years away from its next execution. Where Utah decides to stand - with a growing number of states and countries rejecting capital punishment or with a more archaic practice from its past - remains to be seen. (source: takepart.com) NEVADA: Las Vegas killer appealing death penalty A Las Vegas killer is asking the Nevada Supreme Court to overturn his death sentence, alleging his lawyer was ineffective during the penalty hearing. James M. Chappell, 35, was convicted in 1996 in the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Panos, 26, who was the mother of his 3 children. The court today said it will hear oral arguments March 3 on his petition. (source: Las Veags Sun) CALIFORNIA: Judge Considers Perjury Findings Against Deputy For Death Penalty Case Testimony Law enforcement cheating in courthouses usually gets ignored because otherwise-decent cops, prosecutors and judges remain mum, and the offenders go unpunished or, worse, win promotion. But the beginnings of a potential, cleansing tidal wave is moving through California's criminal-justice system. Last month, a 3-judge panel at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit shattered that silence on government officials lying. Though the use of jailhouse informants is a well-established police tool, it's also known that rats--commonly the most despicable inmates--won't hesitate to lie to juries in exchange for valuable, government-supplied perks. Cops and prosecutors, as theoretical guardians of truth and justice, would never allow an informant to give false testimony. But as Ninth Circuit panel of judges Alex Kozinski, Kim McLane Wardlaw and William A. Fletcher knows, reality isn't so immaculate. A recent appellate case, Baca v. Adams, sparked the panel's ire because of numerous outrages committed to win and maintain a conviction in a 1995 double murder in Riverside County. A key prosecution witness, who was an informant, bolstered credibility to a jury by deceitfully claiming he wasn't receiving government benefits in exchange for testimony. At a 2nd trial, a 2nd prosecutor got the 1st prosecutor to give false testimony about the informant; the 2 prosecutors allowed the informant to escape perjury charges. The California Attorney General's (AG) office tried to hide the informant's sweetheart deal from a state court of appeal--in effect covering up the ethical breaches. The AG's office refused to discipline the 2 prosecutors, and then the office, now occupied by Kamala D. Harris, urged the federal appeal panel to ignore all the transgressions. During Jan. 8 oral arguments, Kozinski asked Deputy AG Kevin Vienna if Harris "really wants to stick by a conviction obtained by lying prosecutors." If so, he said, the judges would write an opinion that would "not be pretty." Weeks later, the AG, a San Francisco Democrat hoping to replace Barbara Boxer in the U.S. Senate, agreed to set aside the Baca conviction "in the interest of justice." In Orange County, it's far less likely--if not unheard of--for judges to hold dishonest government agents accountable. I've covered our courthouses for 2 decades and can't recall a single time when a judge punished a law-enforcement officer for lying. For example, Judge Robert Fitzgerald in 2005 ignored fraudulent statements by a police dog handler and declared that "innocent people get convicted, too," before sending James Ochoa to prison for a robbery the Buena Park teenager was later absolved of committing. And Judge Sarah S. Jones protected Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) investigator Christopher Catalano during a 2009 hearing in which the deputy denied threatening an Anaheim suspect, but an audio recording captured him promising to "make something up" if he didn't win a confession. Plus, Judge John Conley in 2011 refused to officially rebuke 2 OCSD deputies, Michelle Rodriguez and Brad Carrington, after they gave false testimony concealing critical, exculpatory evidence in a Laguna Niguel burglary trial. Given the entrenched willingness to allow dirty cops to go free, it's not surprising testilying continues. But, at least for now, the who-polices-the-police question isn't entirely hidden from public view. Inside the courthouse domain of Judge Thomas M. Goethals, several deputies, including Seth Tunstall, are hoping to outrun perjury charges in People v. Scott Dekraai, the case of the confessed killer in the 2011 Seal Beach salon massacre. They better run fast. 50 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Massiah v. United States that the constitution bans government agents, including surrogates such as informants, from eliciting incriminating statements from individuals who have been charged with a crime and are represented by an attorney. If a defendant freely blabs on his or her own, the information is usable. But officials cannot take steps to violate the protection by, say, moving jailhouse informants into locations designed to elicit statements or having informants ask their questions. There are basically two ways for defense lawyers to see if Massiah is obeyed: Officers such as Tunstall, assigned to the OCSD's Special Handling unit in the jail for a decade, honestly answer questions and faithfully comply with the court-ordered surrender of jail records. In Dekraai, there has been a lingering question: Did officials violate the Constitution when Fernando Perez, a Mexican Mafia killer and prolific informant, landed in a cell next to the defendant and obtained crime details as well as legal strategies pertaining to a possible death-penalty punishment? Prosecutor Dan Wagner insists the placement of the two men together in a pool of 6,000 inmates was accidental, but it didn't help his cause that he spent years concealing related records from Scott Sanders, the assistant public defender representing Dekraai. After an intense, year-long investigation, Sanders produced a 505-page report describing how OCSD officials routinely hid jail-informant records and committed perjury to cover up questionable activities in dozens of felony cases. Over the protests of prosecutors, Goethals conducted a four-month evidentiary hearing into the allegations in 2014 and, in August, ruled officials hid records, faked memory losses and committed perjury. But the judge declined to name the liars and, in additional lame judicial gymnastics, declared the cheating hadn't been malignant. He also accepted that Perez's cell placement hadn't been a Massiah scam. Sanders, who is quite the detective, continued to dig after the ruling and uncovered new evidence that Tunstall committed a hoax on Goethals. It turns out that OCSD maintains a secret records system called TRED, which indicates special handling deputies had, after all, controlled Perez's whereabouts near Dekraai. Worse, the agency has been concealing the existence of TRED records for 25 years. That's a huge deal. During that period, tens of thousands of defendants were convicted without knowing if those entries contain exculpatory evidence. In the wake of the revelations, the judge this month reopened the special hearings, and Tunstall, who'd pretended the records didn't exist during 6 days of 2014 testimony, now claims that he, the author of thousands of TRED records, simply forgot about them. Besides, the 16-year OCSD veteran suggests, his answers might have been technically accurate if, like him, someone is confused about the difference between "informant" and "information provider." He also said he can't be responsible for his informants' plots to evade Massiah prohibitions because, while he received their notes detailing the planned scams, he hadn't bothered to digest the contents, but, by golly, he can now see his alleged laziness was an error. To Sanders, the claims by a deputy with a doctorate in clinical psychology are preposterous. He may not be alone. Goethals, who has advised Tunstall of potential obstruction-of-justice charges, wanted to know if the "first place" to look when questioned about inmate movement should be TRED records. "Yes," the deputy replied. "That would be a place I would look." So why had he pretended the records didn't exist? The answer is ugly: OCSD officials think they can pick which judicial orders to obey--and concoct ridiculous excuses for secrecy when caught. After all, they short-changed Sanders, then blamed him for delaying the Dekraai case. Memory loss aside, Tunstall, who declined an interview, told Goethals the public agency deemed the information "confidential" to itself. The judge now has a 2nd opportunity to hold the cheaters accountable. (source: Orange County Weekly----This article appears in the print edition as "Massiah Complex: Orange County Sheriff's Department Officials Reluctantly Admit They Hid Records from Trials For 25 Years.") WASHINGTON: Supporters of new bill say ending death penalty makes financial sense Supporters of a bill to end the death penalty in Washington state say the capital punishment law doesn't make sense financially. "King County has spent more than $12 million on 2 cases alone," said District 36 Representative Reuven Carlyle. Carlyle, who is sponsoring House Bill 1739 with other representatives from around Washington state, told a House committee Wednesday morning the death penalty is not a financially responsible policy. More than a dozen people testified Wednesday in favor of the bill, which would eliminate the death penalty and replace it with life in prison, with no opportunity for parole. The measure follows Gov. Jay Inslee's decision last year to impose a moratorium on capital punishment. Inslee, who was criticized last year by several Republican lawmakers over his moratorium decision, has said he supports the bill. The House committee is scheduled to vote on HB 1739 on Thursday. Despite losing a loved one to murder, former state Senator Debby Regala supports the bill. "People expect public policy to keep family safe," Regala said. "However, the "death penalty is not a deterrent to murder." "What we would like is to have that family member back, but nothing can make that happen," she added. Not everyone who heard testimony agreed with the bill. State Representative Jay Rodne said he has heard similar arguments for about 12 years. The cost argument is disingenuous, he said. "To argue the cost ... it's akin to someone who murders their parents and then asks for leniency because he's an orphan," he said. Rodne suggested the state limit the appeals process for the death penalty. (source: mynorthwest.com) ******************* House committee weighs bill to abolish death penalty Families of murder victims and opponents of capital punishment testified Wednesday in support of a measure to abolish the death penalty in Washington, saying that the costly and drawn out appeals process only prolongs the pain of the crime. More than a dozen people spoke before the House Judiciary Committee in favor of House Bill 1739, which would replace capital punishment with life in prison, with no opportunity for parole. The measure, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Reuven Carlyle of Seattle, would also require those convicted to work in prison in order to pay restitution to victims' families. Former Sen. Debbie Regala, whose brother-in-law was murdered in 1980 and whose killer was never caught, said that she knows that families have differing opinions on the death penalty. "I do think that all of them would agree with me that we would like the perpetrator caught and prevented from killing another person. Of course more than anything what we would like is to have that family member back, but we know nothing makes that happen," she said, her voice choked with emotion. Regala, who sponsored previous bills to abolish the death penalty while in the Legislature, said that the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder and is not good state policy. She said she believes life in prison is. "It provides public safety, it lowers the cost to tax payers, and it can ensure swift certain equal justice that we should all be concerned with," she said. The measure comes following Gov. Jay Inslee's decision last year to impose a moratorium on capital punishment for as long as he's in office. Inslee has said he supports the bill. The House committee is scheduled to vote on Thursday. The death penalty is currently authorized by the federal government and 32 states, including Washington and Pennsylvania, where a moratorium was just issued by the governor last week. Eighteen states have abolished the death penalty, with Maryland being the most recent. The niece of an 88-year-old World War II veteran who police said was beaten to death in Spokane in 2013 said she was glad the case was not eligible for the death penalty due to the accused teens' ages. One was sentenced this month to 20 years in prison for the death of Delbert Belton; the other is scheduled for trial. "Because there will be no long drawn out of process of appeals, our family is already in the healing process," said Tyana Kelley, of Spokane. "If we were forced to go through years or decades of hearings trials it would just reopen this wound again and again." The only person to testify against the bill was Mitch Barker, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. "Our prosecutors use the death penalty very, very judiciously," he said. "This is not done arbitrarily." The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys has not taken a position on the bill because its members are split on the issue, said Tom McBride, executive secretary of the association. A recent study from Seattle University that found death penalty cases in the state cost $1 million more than similar Washington cases where capital punishment is not sought. Rep. Jay Rodne, a Republican from Snoqualmie who is a member of the committee, stated during the hearing he didn't find the cost argument compelling, saying that the state could just streamline the appeals process if money is a driving cost. He said earlier this week that he personally believes the death penalty is appropriate in certain cases. Rodne also asked a bipartisan panel of lawmakers who support the bill whether there's any scenario in which the death penalty is warranted. "It concerns me when the state has the ability to take a life, period," said Rep. Chad Magendanz, a Republican from Issaquah who is a co-sponsor of the bill. "As awful as the crimes are, do we lower ourselves as a government to punish with death? That is a legitimate question to be asking right now." Currently, 9 men are on death row. Death penalty cases in the state are still being tried and continue to work through the system. Inslee's moratorium means that if a death-penalty case comes to his desk, he will issue a reprieve, which means the inmate would stay in prison rather than face execution. (source: Tri-City Herald) ****************** New bill would replace death penalty with life sentences As 2 high-profile death penalty trials are in progress, lawmakers are considering shutting down executions in Washington State for good. House Bill 1739 was discussed at a public hearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning. The bi-partisan bill would replace the death penalty with a life sentence with no parole. The state's current statute dates back to 1981. Since then, 33 people have been sentenced to death. 5 have been executed. "To me, it's a little like playing God if we're sentencing people to death," said Rep. Maureen Walsh at the hearing. The effort to abolish capital punishment has failed in previous years, but supporters think they've gained momentum since Gov. Jay Inslee imposed a moratorium on the death penalty last year that lasts as long as he is in office. There are 18 states that have abolished executions. The most recent is Maryland. The bill would also require those convicted to pay restitution to victims and their families. "I fully support the bipartisan bills introduced this year to end the death penalty. I put a moratorium on the use of capital punishment last year because of its unequal application in our state, the soaring costs and delays, and the fact that nearly 80 % of the death sentences issued in our state since 1981 have been overturned," said Inslee in a statement released after the hearing. Executions in Washington are carried out by lethal injection, or, at the election of condemned person, by hanging. (source: KIRO news) USA: Replacing the Noose With a Needle: The Legacy of Lynching in the United States Ida B. Wells said it best, "Our country's national crime is lynching." Last week, we were reminded of this when the Equal Justice Initiative released its report, "Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror." A gruesome history of these carnivals of torture and death from the Civil War until World War II, the report documents the racial terrorism designed to keep black Americans across the South destitute and powerless. As I read EJI's report, my mind immediately went back to an interview Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, gave to the Los Angeles Times last summer. The interview was stark evidence of our failure to recognize how race distorts our criminal justice system up until the present day. I cringed at the following exchange: Why have most other Western countries abolished the death penalty? Most of these countries have in their recent past abused it. I'm not really surprised or unhappy that Germany has outlawed the death penalty. They sort of misused it within living memory, so they probably ought not to be trusted to have one.... In this country by and large we've had executions done with due process. We've had a sad history of lynchings in the South, but in the Wild West they had trials, some measure of due process. It's not that we're guilt-free, but we have less to account for than other countries. That is clearly not the case as EJI shows in ghastly detail. Lynchings cannot be dismissed as a footnote to our criminal justice system. They were cruel, widespread, hate-driven acts of terrorism, with an enormous social cost we're still paying for today. Until the 1950s, lynchings were advertised and attended like they were state fairs. People came from all around to witness the torture, humiliation, and murder of human beings. Individuals purchased lynching postcards and traded them like baseball cards. Children were permitted to attend the "show," to watch the mutilation of another person. Photos were taken, souvenirs gathered from the chopped, charred, and often castrated bodies. EJI documented 3,949 racial terror lynchings of African-Americans between 1877 and 1950 across 12 southern states, including an additional 700 lynchings that were previously unknown. Georgia and Mississippi had the highest number of verifiable lynchings of African-Americans ??? 586 and 576, respectively. We will never know how many African-Americans disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. Clearly, what we do know belies the suggestion that that America has "less to account for than other countries." If we are to ever fix our broken criminal justice system, we must first acknowledge the baggage it carries. This must begin with acknowledgement of our torrid, bloody history of executions without a semblance of due process. Lynchings were a method of organized, socially accepted extra-judicial violence that terrorized millions of African-Americans across the South for nearly a century. We also need to be honest that no one has ever been held accountable for these horrific crimes. No white person was ever convicted for the lynching of an African-American during the period covered in the study. And yet the unjust execution of African-American men thrives today on the same soil as the lynching trees: Only now the noose has been replaced with the needle. African-American men are over-represented on death row, in executions, and in exonerations. To boot, African-American jurors are systematically excluded by prosecutors in jury service. Race is one of the most disturbing explanations for innocent men, like Glenn Ford in Louisiana and Henry MCollum in North Carolina, ending up on death row for crimes they did not commit. We cannot continue to ignore the racial injustice of our death penalty system, past or present. I do agree with one comment made by Judge Kozinski, "we ought to come face to face with what we're doing. If we're not comfortable with what we're doing we should not be doing it." It's time to get uncomfortable. (source: Angel Harris, ACLU) ***************** Judge denies emergency psych exam for Michigan man facing death penalty A U.S. District judge has denied an emergency psych exam request for a man awaiting the death penalty. Back in 2002 a jury convicted Marvin Gabrion of killing Rachel Timmerman then dumping her body in a lake in Newaygo County. Gabrion was seeking an emergency psychiatric review to determine his mental functioning at the time of the crime, when he stood trial and what his mental status is now. This week a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Gabrion failed to show that such a review is necessary. Michigan does not have the death penalty but the sentence was issued because the crime happened in a federally owned national forest. (source: WWMT news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 19 10:57:01 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:57:01 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 19 LEBANON: Samaha may appear before Hariri court: Lebanon justice minister Arrangements are being made for terror suspect Michel Samaha to appear before the international tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's justice minister said. "Samaha knows a lot of things which he did not confess to over fear from the Syrian regime," Ashraf Rifi said in remarks published in Saudi newspaper Al-Watan Thursday. "Arrangements are being made to bring Samaha before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)," he added. He lamented the delay of Samaha's trial by a Lebanese military court, saying "some military judges are still afraid of this trial and intend to slow down." Earlier this week, Rifi said a decision to move Samaha from his prison cell to a hospital had been cancelled due to a threat to assassinate him over information he possessed about the role of the Syrian regime in alleged terror plots. Samaha's family, however, cast doubt over Rifi's claims, saying his remarks were a "political intervention to pressure the military court not to release [Samaha] after spending 2 1/2 years without trial." Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda last year recommended the death penalty for Samaha as well as a Syrian general and another individual holding the rank of colonel over the alleged terror plot to destabilize Lebanon. The indictment charged the three men with orchestrating a plot to assassinate Syrian opposition figures and arms traffickers entering Syria from Lebanon. (source: The Daily Star) PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Return of death penalty to nations' books not a proven deterrent Papua New Guinea is preparing to carry out the executions of 13 inmates before the year is out, at the same time neighbouring Indonesia is caught up in a war of words with Australia over its expected executions of the coordinators of the Bali 9 trafficking group. Australia's prime minister yesterday argued that its aid contributions to Indonesia should be considered. It's an unsettling precedent, and one which PNG will probably monitor in the coming weeks. (source: Radio Australia) INDONESIA: RI urged to halt imminent executions of 11 people Rights group Amnesty International (AI) says the Indonesian government must halt the imminent execution of 11 people and scrap plans to put even more people to death this year. "President Joko [Jokowi] Widodo is apparently trying to show that he is tough on crime, but there is no evidence that the death penalty is more of a deterrent than other forms of punishment. Instead, he should be ensuring that the criminal justice system prevents and detects crime, and ensures fair trials," AI Asia Pacific director Richard Bennett said in an open letter on Thursday. AI made the open letter to respond to Attorney General HM Prasetyo's statement that the 11 executions of death row prisoners, which include both foreigners and Indonesian nationals convicted for drug trafficking and murder, would be carried out imminently. 6 convicts were executed on Jan. 19 and the Indonesian government has announced plans to put 14 more to death throughout the year. The executions are following the government's decision to reject all clemency appeals of death row prisoners out of hand. AI said the clemency rejections had effectively denied the prisoners a meaningful review of their cases, something guaranteed in both international and Indonesian law. "These killings must stop immediately. By respecting human rights and adopting a more effective approach to crime, President Widodo should demonstrate real leadership," said Bennett. At least 2 prisoners have appeals pending before the Supreme Court and no executions should be carried out while appeals are not finalized, AI points out in the open letter. At least 3 prisoners, all foreign nationals, may not have been provided a legal representative who could have assisted in filing appeals, it further says. AI also highlights the case of Brazilian national Rodrigo Gularte, 1 prisoner who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, an illness that has deteriorated while on death row. "International law prohibits the use of the death penalty against those with mental or intellectual disabilities," it said. (source: The Jakarta Post) ******************* Indonesia urged not to execute Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, who has been diagnosed as mentally ill ---- Gularte is due to face the firing squad for drug crimes alongside Australian Bali 9 pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran Rodrigo Gularte is on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling. He is due to be executed along with members of the Bali 9. The family of a Brazilian man in line to be executed in Indonesia along with 2 Australian drug smugglers has appealed for a reprieve, saying he has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic who is delusional with psychotic tendencies. Rodrigo Gularte, 42, was sentenced to death in 2005 after he was caught smuggling 6kg of cocaine into Indonesia hidden inside surfboards. The Brazilian surfer is among 11 death row inmates, including the two Australians convicted for their part in the 2005 Bali 9 drug smuggling plot, and citizens of France, Ghana, Nigeria and the Philippines. All were due to be executed by firing squad this month. As diplomatic pressure has mounted and public outcry in Australia has grown, the executions have been postponed, but officials say the delay is only temporary. The Gularte family knows they are in a race against time to bring the details of their case to light. With no legal representation in court during his trial in 2005 - his lawyer took the money and ran - questions about Gularte's mental stability are only just emerging. To his family, Gularte was a goodhearted but troubled teenager who started using drugs to treat his depression and ended up down the wrong path. Rodrigo Gularte was a keen surfer as a teenager. He was arrested while smuggling 6 kilograms of cocaine into Indonesia hidden inside surfboards. After he was sentenced to death Gularte attempted suicide by self-immolation in his prison cell and his mental state has continued to deteriorate since. "Rodrigo is very sick and needs treatment," his distressed cousin, Angelita Muxfeldt, told Guardian Australia, as she spread out a handful of medical reports by teams of psychologists and psychiatrists across the table. "We heard that people here think that we are lying about his mental condition," she said, "but last year we hired all these doctors to examine him, look here are all the dates." Last year the Gularte family, with the assistance of the Brazilian embassy, requested that his mental health be thoroughly examined. A group of specialists that conducted bi-monthly visits to the prison from July until November last year diagnosed Gularte with paranoid schizophrenia and recommended he be taken to hospital for immediate intensive treatment. The specialists described Gularte's psychological condition as unstable and noted that he had become increasingly withdrawn and delusional, "leaving his room only to eat and go to the library" and was "observed talking to himself, and talking to the water pump". A separate report by a different team of specialists this month confirmed Gularte has paranoid schizophrenia. For years the family has been trying to convince Gularte to seek outside treatment, but he refuses to acknowledge any illness and is unwilling to take medication. Detained at Nusa Kambangan, the maximum-security prison island off Java, Gularte is reportedly too scared to leave. "He is afraid to leave the prison," noted his Brazilian cousin, "He thinks the prison is a secure place and that it will be dangerous to go out, that the hospital is a dangerous place." During her visits, Muxfeldt said her cousin recounted surreal stories about being in contact with satellites, bombs at night and hearing different voices, including in African languages. One voice, she said, even told him the death penalty had been universally abolished. "He told me, 'Oh, a voice came and told me last night that the death penalty is finished in Indonesia and all the world.' And I said, no, Rodrigo, it's not true, but he said I was lying," Muxfeldt said. "He said, 'The voice told me that I am going home, that the death penalty doesn't exist any more. I listened, I know.'" The Indonesian attorney general's office said it had received a request from the head of Nusa Kambangan prison to have Gularte's mental state examined in a hospital outside the prison and listed it as one of several reasons for the recent delay in executions. "While there is uncertainty about whether Mr Gularte suffers from a mental illness it is difficult for us to conduct the execution," Tony Spontana, a spokesman for the attorney general, said on Tuesday. "We have to be sure he is fully recovered before the execution." The Gularte family has submitted a comprehensive medical report to the Indonesian government and is praying it will be considered. Brazilian national Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira was executed in January and it is unclear how long the current delay will last. Gularte's 70-year-old mother, Clarisse, is in Cilacap, the closest town to the island of Nusa Kambangan, where she is permitted to see her son twice a week, while Muxfeldt lobbies in Jakarta with the help of the Brazilian embassy. The Brazilian ambassador recalled following the death of Moreira has since returned, and president Dilma Rousseff is believed to have written to the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, about the issue. Under Article 44 of the Indonesian penal code, a person who has a mental disorder cannot be sentenced for their criminal act and should be taken to hospital. The execution of a mentally ill person also runs contrary to international law. Indonesian human rights activist Haris Azhar urged the Indonesia government to look into the case, arguing that without legal representation for Gularte in 2005, "there is very valid evidence that law enforcement was conducted without any fulfilment of a fair trial". "After 10 years there is no correction for what has been done," Azhar said. "The Indonesian government should be ashamed if they execute Rodrigo." (source: The Guardian) ************************ Attorney General discusses execution of convicts on death row Attorney General H. M. Prasetyo met with the heads of several prosecutors offices here on Wednesday to discuss the execution of the death sentences given to drugs convicts. According to Tony Tribagus Spontana, a spokesman for the Attorney Generals Office (AGO), the heads of the high prosecutors offices explained the preparations being made for the executions. In addition, chief of the high prosecutors office of Bali, Momok Bambang Samiarso, expressed his readiness to send the convicts to the Nusa Kambangan prison in Cilacap, Central Java. Moreover, the AGO decided to postpone the execution of the Australian drug convicts to meet the demands of the Australian government and the families of the convicts. "This is our response to the demands made by the Australian government and the families of the convicts who asked for more time for them to be able to meet with (the 2 convicts)," Spontana stated recently. The AGO plans to execute 11 convicts given the death penalty, including the drug convicts from Australia Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, following the rejection of their pleas for clemency by President Joko Widodo. 3 convicts who face execution over murder charges are Indonesian citizens Iyen bin Azwar, Harun bin Ajis, and Sargawi alias Ali bin Sanusi. 6 other convicts, including 5 foreigners, to be put to death over narcotics cases are Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso from the Philippines, Serge Areski Atlaoui from France, Martin Anderson alias Belo from Ghana, Indonesia citizen Zainal Abidin, Raheem Agbaje Salami from Cordova, and Rodrigo Gularte from Brazil. (source: ANTARA News) ***************** Dressed in white, tied to a pillar and a maximum of 3 minutes to 'calm down' before being shot through the heart: The sick video watched by millions of Indonesians describing how Aussies will die Indonesian TV has shown mock-up of execution faced by 2 Australians Chilling film shows firing squad's target practice and black-hooded convict Millions of Indonesians have watched on television exactly how Australians Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will be executed on 'Death Island'. Chilling video has emerged of the mobile paramilitary brigade called Brimob in firing practice ahead of the last round of executions on Nusa Kambangan, where Chan and Sukumaran are due to be shifted 72 hours ahead of their deaths by firing squad. This comes as coffins arrived at a Christian Church in Cilacap, the nearest port to Nusa Kambangan, where a local Indonesian caretaker was pictured preparing four caskets in preparation for the executions. Bali Police Chief A.J. Benny Mokalu on Wednesday confirmed the procedures that will lead to the executions. The condemned Australian pair would be taken from Bali's Kerobokan prison to Ngurah Rai airport during the night and flown 900 kilometres west to Cilacap, in central Java, then transferred by boat to Nusa Kambangan. Exactly when this will take place is still unknown. Indonesian officials have repeatedly rejected appeals from the condemned men's lawyers and the Australian government to stay the executions of Chan and Sukumaran, who were convicted on heroin trafficking charges in 2006. The footage of the execution practice round was aired on television on January 17 to demonstrate to Indonesian viewers just what would take place when 5 foreign drug traffickers were executed the following day. Those executions, of nationals from Brazill, the Netherlands, Malawi, Vietnam and one Indonesian, were the first since President Joko Widodo came to power last October. A tough stance on drug criminals was part of his campaign, and he has been uncompromising about using the death penalty despite pleas from foreign governments and rights activists. The video shows the Brimob executioners dressed in military fatigues with semi-automatic rifles aiming loud volleys of fire repeatedly at bullseye targets. Even more horrifying is the spooky step-by-step recreation by Channel 1 Indonesia of the execution, using a white figure with its arms tied behind the back and a black hood over its head to represent the condemned man. In the recreation, the firing squad is represented by a row of toy or robotic looking figures. The television report also lists a 27 point manifesto about how the execution will proceed, including the execution 'commander' raising a sword 'as a symbol for the firing squad to aim at the heart of the convict'. Points 24 and 25 give specific instructions for doctors to check the condition of the convict immediately after the shooting, 'and if the doctor thinks that the convict is still showing signs of life ... the firing squad commander must put a pistol to the temple just above the ear of the convict' and finish the job. Some of the last words the men being executed will hear are 'laksanakan, laksanakan' - meaning 'execute, execute' in Indonesian - shouted by the firing squad commander before 3 live rounds and 9 blanks are loaded into the 12 rifles of the firing squad shooters. Part of the process includes clergy attending to 'give offenders a last chance to calm down for a maximum of 3 minutes' before they are shot. -- The 27 rules for execution by firing squad in Indonesia 1. Convict is given clean, simple, and white clothing before being taken to a place or location of the implementation of the death penalty 2. When brought to the place or location of the implementation of the death penalty, the convict can be accompanied by a member of the clergy 3. The support team is ready at the appointed place two (2) hours before the time of execution of the death penalty 4. Team shooters have been gathered in preparation at the location of the implementation of the death penalty, one (1) hour prior 5. Team shooter sets the position and puts the 12 (twelve) rifles in front of the pole position of the implementation of the death penalty at a distance of five (5) meters up to ten (10) feet and back to the prep area 6. Execution commander reports his team's readiness to prosecutors executor by saying 'report execution of the death penalty is ready' 7. Execution attorney conducts a final check of death row and the weapons used for the implementation of the death penalty 8. After the inspection is completed, the prosecutor orders the executing commander calls out 'execute' and then repeats the utterance 'execute' 9. The executon commander orders the firing squad commander to fill and lock arms ammunition into twelve (12) rifles with three (3) rounds of live ammunition and nine (9) roundsof blanks 10. The prosecutor orders the commander of the execution squad to bring the convicted man to a position shooting and release his handcuffs and tie his hands and feet to a pillar in a standing, sitting, or kneeling psoition, unless otherwise specified by the prosecutor 11. The offender is given a last chance to calm down a maximum of 3 (three) minutes, accompanied by a clergy member 12. The commander team places a black cloth over the eyes of the covnicted man, unless the convict refuses 13. Doctors place a black mark on the convict's clothes right over the heart as the place to shoot at. Then the doctor withdraws 14. The commander reports to the execution prosecutor that the convicted person is ready to receive the death penalty 15. The execution prosecutor gives the sign/gesture to the commander to begin immediately implementing the shooting of the convict 16. Commander provides a sign / gesture to the firing squad commander to bring the firing squad to the front position 17. Execution commander takes his place in front of the right side facing of the firing squad 18. The execution commander ensures the firing squad is ready to fire 19. The implementing commander draws a sword as a symbol for the firing squad to aim towards the heart of the convict 20. The executing commander brandishes the sword forward as a cue to the firing squad to unlock weapons 21. The executing commander brings down the sword as a gesture to tell the firing squad to perform simultaneous shooting 22. After shooting is finished the executing commander sheaths his sword as a cue to the firing squad to stand their weapons 23. The executing commander and doctors check the condition of the convicted person and if the doctor thinks that the convict is still showing signs of life, the prosecutor makes an order to the shooting commander 24. The executing commander and doctors check the condition of the convicted person and if the convict is still breathing orders that a pistol be put to his temple just above the ear for a final shot 25. Shooting can be repeated, if according to a doctor's certificate is still signs of life 26. Execution of the death penalty is declared finished, if the doctor has stated that there are no more signs of life on the convict 27. Completion of the firing squad and the shooting commander orders its members to remove the magazine and empty their weapons -- At at Wijaya Pura port in Cilacap, there are currently no signs of the horror awaiting the 2 Australians or the 7 other people who may also be executed at the same time - 4 from Indonesia and 1 each from Brazil, Ghana and Nigeria. The topical island appeared idyllic on Wednesday, and children jumped in and out of the calm waters of the port. (source: Daily Mail) NIGERIA: 54 % of Lagos Residents Want Death Row Convicts Executed More than 1/2 of all Lagos residents want the government to execute convicted prisoners on death row, a survey by the government has shown. The survey showed 54 % of those polled said the government should not spare the convicts. The revelation came as the government announced Wednesday that it was retaining the use of the death penalty in the state's Criminal Justice Law. Ade Ipaye, Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday. Mr. Ipaye said the council arrived at the decision after a survey showed that majority of Lagos residents were in support of capital punishment in the criminal justice system of the state. The attorney-general said majority of the respondents were of the view that the retention of the death penalty would serve as deterrence against violent crimes, such as murder and armed robbery. Mr. Ipaye said following several abolition campaigns and international advocacy which were addressed to the government, the council considered the proposition to abolish or retain the death penalty in its laws. "In taking its decision, the state commissioned an empirical research that surveyed the perception of Lagos residents and elicited their opinion on the abolition debate, including the question whether they believe the death penalty currently deters violent crime. "The survey was undertaken in two categories: public survey (random selection of 2,000 members of the public) and the experts' survey (selected 100 persons who have close contact with the criminal justice process and systems). "Majority of the respondents surveyed supported the use of the death penalty in Lagos State. "The survey also revealed that over 54 % of the respondents advised the Lagos State Government to execute convicts on death row," Mr. Ipaye said. According to him, a large number of respondents also believed that the death penalty should be retained because it serves positive retributive and deterrence purposes. (source: All Africa News) TURKEY: Senior judge says death penalty should be debated after young woman's death The newly elected head of the Supreme Court of Appeals has joined calls from the government for the reinstatement of the death penalty after the Feb. 11 killing of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan on a minibus in Tarsus. Supreme Court of Appeals President Ismail Rustu Cirit, who is said to enjoy good relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) led government, said on Wednesday that the reinstatement of the death penalty should be debated. "If a simple survey is carried out among the public, it would show that at least 80 % [of respondents] want the reinstatement of the death penalty," Cirit told reporters. Key political figures within the AK Party earlier voiced their support for reinstating the death penalty after Aslan's murder. Critics say the AK Party is using the tragic case to reinstate the death penalty and that such a reinstatement would have negative outcomes in light of the country's already eroding democracy. Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci posted a message urging the re-adoption of the death sentence via his Twitter account on Sunday night, as nationwide protests against the brutal murder of the university student continued. "I wish God's mercy upon our child Ozgecan Aslan and express my condolences to her family. I hope God places our child in the most beautiful place in heaven. We need to carefully discuss and reinstate the death penalty for murders such as that of Ozgecan Aslan," he wrote. After Zeybekci opened the debate, a number of high-level government officials and politicians expressed their support for the death penalty, which was abolished in 2002 under reforms aimed at initiating Turkey's European Union membership by a 3-party coalition government led by the Democratic Left Party (DSP). Then a partner of the coalition, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) did not block the government from going ahead with the proposal, but did vote against it in Parliament. Binali Yildirim, President Erdogan's chief adviser, said while answering questions from journalists on Monday that "for this [Aslan's murder] and other incidents like this not to remain unpunished, reinstating the death penalty must be widely debated in the public [sphere]." 3 suspects were arrested in connection with Aslan's murder after a court order was issued late on Sunday, with protests against increasing levels of violence against women taking place across Turkey. (source: Todays Zaman) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 19 10:58:04 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 10:58:04 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 19 PAKISTAN: Nawaz orders immediate hanging of death convicts Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned that all cases of death penalty in which mercy petitions had been rejected should be proceeded further for execution of the convicts. He urged provinces to implement decisions taken under the National Action Plan (NAP) speedily, by inculcating a spirit of healthy competition to rid the country of extremism and terrorism. Chairing a meeting of Balochistan Apex Committee at the Governor House here at the provincial capital, the Prime Minister said objective of the meeting was to review the progress on National Action Plan and see if there was any problem, or impediment hindering their implementation. Prime Minsiter assured that the government along with the Pakistan Army would ensure that the problem areas and obstacles, if any, in implementing the decisions be removed. He said the NAP was in real terms a national plan, made with consensus and difficult decisions were taken with a spirit to eradicate terrorism from the country. He said the whole nation backed the government in its fight against terrorism. The apex committee meeting was attended by Chief Minister Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik, Governor Mohammad Khan Achakzai, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Minister of State for Petroleum Jam Kamal, former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Commander Southern Command Lieutenant General Nasser Khan Janjua, Senior Minister and PML-N President Sardar Sanaullah Zehri. The Prime Minister recalled that representatives of all the political parties stood together and took tough decisions following which the Parliament did the necessary legislation. He said that the federal government, provincial governments and Pakistan Army were on the same page and stood united in ridding the country of the threats of extremism and terrorism. The Prime Minister directed that all cases of death penalty in which mercy petitions had been rejected should be proceeded further for execution. The Prime Minister lauded the measures taken by the provincial government for maintaining law and order in Balochistan and said tangible improvement was visible with the implementation of NAP. He asked the provincial government to check the incidents of law and order to make the people feel more secured, besides making concerted efforts to ensure safety and protection of people of all communities. He also directed effective steps to stop re-emergence of proscribed organizations. He said the Madaris involved in terrorism and violence be identified and dealt as per relevant law. Chief Minister Balochistan said that priority of the provincial government was to improve law and order situation and said funds were being provided for capacity building of police. He said a counter-terrorism department had been set up, however, he pointed out that it needed to be strengthened. The Chief Secretary Balochistan gave a presentation reviewing progress on the implementation of 20 points of NAP as well as an overview of law and order situation in the province. He briefed the Prime Minister about the action taken by the provincial government against sectarianism, armed groups and militias, since the formulation of NAP. In this regard 80,000 unregistered mobile phone SIMs had been blocked in the province, the chief secretary said. The provincial government also conveyed its reservations about the use of SIMs from Afghanistan working within Pakistan. The Prime Minister was informed that three meetings of the Balochistan Apex Committee had taken place so far. (source: Daily Times) BANGLADESH: Kamaruzzaman's death warrant sent to Dhaka jail The International Crimes Tribunal-2 sent death warrant for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman to Dhaka Central Jail authorities on Thursday. The Dhaka jail senior warden Md Forman Ali said, "Dhaka Central Jail authorities have received Kamaruzzaman's death warrant." Earlier in the day, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) issued death warrant for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman in a war crimes case. The ICT-2 issued the warrant after receiving the full text of the Supreme Court verdict that upheld the death penalty of Kamaruzzaman for his crimes against humanity. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday released the full verdict on war crimes charges against Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman. The text of the full verdict was received at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) around 8:00pm, said tribunal registrar M Mostafizur Rahman. The Supreme Court, in a judgement on 3 November 2014, upheld a High Court division bench's verdict giving death sentence to the Jamaat leader. All the 4 SC judges headed by Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, who had delivered the verdict, signed the 577-page judgment. The Jamaat leader will now get 15 days to file a review petition before the Appellate Division, from the date of issuance of the certified copy of the full verdict, law minister Anisul Haque told reporters at his office. He added that the certified copy of the verdict would be ready once the full verdict reaches the concerned section of the SC next on Sunday. The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on 9 May in 2013 sentenced Kamaruzzaman to death on charges of crimes against humanity, including murder, abduction, torture, rape and mass killing, during the War for Independence in 1971. Kamaruzzaman was the organiser of Al Badar Bahini, an anti-independence outfit that collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces during the war, in the greater Mymensingh region. On 6 June 2013, the convict appealed to the Supreme Court challenging the tribunal verdict. Kamaruzzaman was convicted of 5 charges among 7 brought against him. The tribunal awarded him death penalty for committing mass killing in Sohagpur Bidhaba Palli and murdering Golam Mustafa (3rd and 4th charges). He was sentenced to suffer life imprisonment for killing Badiuzzaman and Dara (1st and 7th charges). Besides, the tribunal jailed him for 10 years for torturing the then Sherpur College principal Syed Abdul Hannan. The tribunal also accused him of forming Al Badar Bahini that conducted numerous crimes, including killing and rape, during the war in 1971. The prosecution, in this regard, submitted a copy of Daily Sangram dated 16 August 1971 to the tribunal as a proof. The newspaper in a report said, "Al Badr Bahini chief Kamaruzzaman presided over a symposium in Mymensingh Muslim Institute marking the 25th day of independence of Pakistan." (source: Prothom Alo) IRAN----executions 14 Prisoners Executed in a Single Day in Iran On Monday 16th February, 14 prisoners were executed in Central Prison of Urmia, Vakil Abad prison in Mashhad, Bam prison, and Central Prison of Bandar Abbas. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), in the morning of Monday 16th February, 6 prisoners with drug related charges were executed by hanging in Bam prison. Also, on the same day, 5 prisoners with drug related charges were executed by hanging in Central Prison of Urmia (Darya). In Central Prison of Bandar Abbas, 2 prisoners, who were charged with drug related crimes, were taken to the gallows and Ali Sadeghi was executed but Majid Ghoreishi was returned to his cell by getting more time from the complainants. On Monday, 2 prisoners with drug related charges were executed in Vakil Abad prison, in Mashhad. None of these executions were announced by the Iranian official media. (source: HRANA News Agency) **************** 7 Prisoners Executed in Iran 3 men were hanged in Rajaishahr prison of Karaj (West of Tehran) early Wednesday morning 18. February. According to sources Iran Human Rights (IHR) as been in contact with 2 of the prisoners were identified as "Mohammad Naderi" and "Mojtaba Shokohi" from the ward 1 of Rajaishahr prison, while the 3rd prisoner was an unidentified Afghan prisoner from Ghezelhesar prison. Mohammad Naderi and Mojtaba Shokohi were convicted of murdering 1 Revolution Guard Corps general and sentenced to retribution. These executions haven???t been announced by the official Iranian sources yet. 1 man was hanged publicly in Shiraz (Southern Iran) yesterday 17. February reported the state run Mehr news agency. He was identified as "M. R. P." and convicted of murder and Moharebeh for armed robbery said the news. An unidentified 66 year old man was hanged in the prison of Mashhad (Northeastern Iran) yesterday 17. February, reported the Khorasan daily newspaper. He was convicted of a murder in 2008 and sentenced to qisas (retribution). 2 men were hanged in the prison of Rasht (Northern Iran) on Saturday 14. February reported the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Gilan Province. 1 of the prisoners was identified as "M. P." (43 year old) convicted of murder while the other prisoner was identified as "M. B." (34 year old) and convicted of possession and trafficking of 15 kilograms of opium and 4860 grams of crack, said the report. (source: Iran Human Rights) *************************** Iran halts hanging of Kurdish juvenile offender Saman Naseem but 'international pressure must continue' Iran has halted the execution of Kurdish juvenile offender Saman Naseem following the outrage of right groups. It is not yet clear why the execution was stopped and whether his death penalty has been overturned. "We understand that the Office for the Implementation of Sentences told Saman's family that the execution did not take place this morning," Bahareh Davis, Amnesty International's researcher on Iran, told IBTimes UK. "However, the authorities will not tell the family where Saman currently is being held and he has not been transferred back to the prison ward. We are trying to obtain further information now." Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, spokesperson for NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), said that the inmates at the Orumiyeh prison have not seen Naseem since he was transferred on Tuesday (18 February). "Unofficial reports indicate that the sentence has not been implemented yet, but that he remains in great danger," Amiry-Moghaddam said. Naseem, now 22, was arrested and was sentenced to death after being charged with "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" when he was 17. The execution by hanging was scheduled for Thursday. Naseem was arrested after a gun battle between the Revolutionary Guards and Kurdish militant organisation PJAK, of which he is believed to be a member, took place in Sardasht. He was then reportedly forced to make a confession, aired on national TV, in which he admitted to having fired towards the guards. However, he retracted his confession during the 1st court session in which he said he had only fired in the air. Naseem was first charged and sentenced to death in January 2012, but the country's Supreme Court overturned the sentence and sent the case back for a retrial, arguing that he had been under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged crimes. He then was tried and sentenced to death again. "International pressure is an important factor especially now that Iran is trying to improve its relations with the West, continued Amiry-Moghaddam. "If the political 'costs' of Saman's execution become high enough, the Iranian authorities will have to back off. "Now is time to show that also the human rights can benefit from these dialogues and improvement in the relations. Every single individual in the free part of the world can contribute in making a difference. I hope everybody continues the campaign to save Saman." Execution in breach of domestic and international law The EU issued a statement on Wednesday (18 February) urging Iranian authorities to "abide by international laws under which the execution of juvenile offenders is a violation of international minimum standards, and not to carry out the execution of Mr Naseen or any other juvenile offender." Amnesty International explained that Iran allows capital punishment for juveniles in case of qesas (retribution-in-kind) and hodoud (offences and punishments for which there are fixed penalties under Islamic law). However, article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code excludes the death penalty if the juvenile offender did not understand the nature of the crime or its consequences, or if there are doubts about the their mental capacity. "Iran has willingly ratified treaties that oblige the country to not use the death penalty for individuals under the age of 18," Davis said. "Saman Naseem was 17 at the time of the crime he was accused of, he should have never been sentenced to death. The authorities' treatment of his case is in breach of both international human rights law and Iran's domestic laws," she continued. (source: Intrnational Business Times) INDIA: 'Treaty does not allow death penalty for Salem' The defence in the 1995 murder of builder Pradeep Jain murder, told a special Tada court on Wednesday that brutality, diabolical and grotesque nature of a crime, are not circumstances based on which, death penalty can be given. Defence advocate Sudip Pasbola opposed the prosecution's plea seeking the death penalty against extradited gangster Abu Salem and his driver, Mehendi Hasan, found guilty in the murder, earlier this week. "Every murder is brutal, so heinousness or brutalities are not indicators. There is nothing to show the execution was carried out in a diabolical manner or something that repulsed the mind," Pasbola told special Tada judge G A Sanap. Pasobla reiterated that Salem could not be awarded the death penalty as it was against the guarantees in the treaty signed between India and Portugal in 2002. Special public prosecutor Ujjawal Nikam will present his arguments on this aspect on Friday. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced only after all arguments are completed. Pasbola argued that the object of the criminal conspiracy was to gain property from the Jain brothers and murder was was incidental. Referring to Hasan as just a fringe player, he argued that if the assailants had previously been awarded life imprisonment, then he could not be awarded death. He further pointed out that the accused had been in jail for 10 years and was never an absconding accused. Nikam had sought 7 years' imprisonment for wheelchair-bound V K Jhamb (86), who was convicted only on extortion charges. He is on bail granted on health grounds. Defence advocate Srikant Shivde told the court that even a month's jail would seem like a life term and he, at the most, be sentenced to the 9 months already spent in incarceration along with a fine. (source: The Times of India) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 19 11:13:00 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 11:13:00 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS Message-ID: TEXAS: NEW DOUBTS ABOUT CONVICTION AS EXECUTION SET Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 5 March. ?He was sentenced to death in 1998 for a murder he says he did not commit. Three leading forensic experts have added their voices to the serious doubts about the reliability of his conviction. View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. The body of 19-year-old Stacey Stites was found near a road in Bastrop County in rural central Texas on the afternoon of 23 April 1996. She had been reported missing that morning after failing to turn up for work. Initially the prime suspect was her fianc? until, nearly a year after the murder, DNA testing of semen from the body was matched to the DNA of Rodney Reed. He was charged, convicted and sentenced to death. He had initially denied knowing the victim, but then said that they had been in a consensual intimate relationship. He has said that he initially kept it from police because he feared becoming a suspect ?if I told police we had been dating?. Rodney Reed is black, Stacey Stites was white, and her fianc? was a white police officer. New expert opinion and other evidence now calls into question the state?s theory of the crime and the forensic evidence on which it was based. The prosecution had argued that Rodney Reed?s DNA had been left during a rape contemporaneous with the murder, which the state said had occurred around 3am on 23 April 1996. The state?s forensic expert supported this theory at the trial. Since then, he has signed a statement that his testimony was misused by the prosecution and that his estimate ?should not have been used at trial as an accurate statement of when Ms Stites died?, and that the semen could have been left more than 24 hours before the victim?s death, consistent with Reed?s claim of consensual sex in that time frame. Three leading forensic pathologists have also concluded from their review of all available materials that there is no forensic evidence that Stacey Stites had been sexually assaulted at the time of her murder rather than having engaged in consensual intercourse 24 hours or more before her murder. They concluded that she was killed before midnight on 22 April 1996, and her body kept face down for some four to six hours before being transported to the location where it was found. One of the experts has concluded that the forensic evidence renders the state?s theory about time of death ?medically and scientifically impossible?. Another has concluded ?beyond a reasonable degree of medical certainty that, based on all of the forensic evidence, Mr Reed is scheduled to be executed for a crime he did not commit?. Two people have also recently signed statements that they were aware of the relationship between Rodney Reed and Stacey Stites. Previous witnesses who attested to the relationship were deemed unreliable by the courts because of their relationship to the defendant or for other reasons. The two who recently signed these statements are former work colleagues of the victim. More than a dozen relatives of Stacey Stites have also stated that they do not believe Rodney Reed is guilty of her murder. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION In 2012, a US magistrate judge recommended after reviewing the case that Rodney Reed?s habeas corpus petition, which had been pending before him for 10 years while other litigation was in train, be denied by the US District Court, which then did so. The magistrate judge wrote: ?Reed was never a suspect. Never, that is, until the sperm found in Stacey Stites body was discovered to be a match to Reed?s DNA? Without reliable evidence demonstrating that this happened consensually, the DNA evidence effectively condemns Reed?. The new expert forensic evidence would appear to call the magistrate judge?s recommendation into serious question. UN safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty state: ?Capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts?. The new expert opinion of the three forensic pathologists, coupled with post-conviction clarification by the state?s forensic expert of his the trial testimony, and the additional statements from the victim?s co-workers, open ?room for an alternative explanation of the facts?. View the full Urgent Action here. Name: Rodney Rodell Reed (m) Issues: Imminent execution, Death penalty, Legal concern UA: 39/15 Issue Date: 19 February 2015 Country: USA Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 39/15" in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below. HOW YOU CAN HELP Please write immediately in English or your own language, referencing inmate No. 999271 in your appeals: * Calling for clemency for Rodney Reed; * Noting the new expert and other evidence supporting his consistent claim of innocence; * Noting the irrevocable nature of the death penalty and the repeated errors discovered in US capital cases. PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 05 MARCH 2015 TO: Clemency Section, Board of Pardons and Paroles 8610 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, Texas 78757-6814, USA Fax: 512 467 0945 Email: bpp-pio at tdcj.state.tx.us Salutation: Dear Board members Governor Greg Abbott Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 12428 Austin, Texas 78711-2428, USA Phone: 512 463 2000 Fax: 512 463 1849 Salutation: Dear Governor Please share widely with your networks:?http://bit.ly/17vohFv We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward this email to a friend" link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism! UA Network Office AIUSA ?600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 T. 202.509.8193 ? F. 202.509.8193 ?E. uan at aiusa.org ?amnestyusa.org/urgent From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 19 15:20:15 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:20:15 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., ILL., TENN., MO., MONT., ARIZ., USA Message-ID: Feb. 19 PENNSYLVANIA: Dealing out death in Pennsylvania----It is not a punishment humans are equipped to administer Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced he would stop all executions in Pennsylvania, citing deep concerns about errors and biases inherent in the system. Studies consistently show that the race of the victim, the county where a crime is committed and access to financial resources often determine who will get the death penalty more than the severity of the crime. As death penalty lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder of Equal Justice Initiative, has said: "When it comes to the death penalty, you are better off being guilty and rich than poor and innocent." Despite having one of the largest death rows in the country - with 186 inmates - Pennsylvania has been losing steam when it comes to actually executing people. We've had only 3 executions since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, and the last execution was in 1999. It seems like death is on its last leg - and not just in the commonwealth. Maryland's governor, Martin O'Malley, signed a bill to abolish the death penalty in his state in 2013. New Jersey abolished it in 2007. In fact, for the 1st time in decades, a majority of states have abandoned the death penalty in law or in practice. In 2014, just 7 states carried out executions - 3 of which accounted for 80 % of them (Texas, Missouri and Florida). Last year, death sentences in the United States hit a 40-year low, and executions were at a 20-year low. Recent polls show that for the 1st time in decades a majority of Americans prefer life in prison over the death penalty. And this is even more pronounced among young people - including young people of faith, who are deeply troubled that 85 % of executions take place in the Bible Belt. There are many reasons the death penalty is on life support. There have been several botched executions recently, such as that of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma. Lockett writhed in pain for 43 minutes before dying of a heart attack. The prison warden called it "a bloody mess." Then there are the exonerations. Ricky Jackson was released last year after spending 39 years in prison in Ohio for a crime he didn't commit. Mr. Jackson was convicted solely on the testimony of a 12-year-old boy who later recanted. We now have 150 of these stories, 6 of them from Pennsylvania. That means for every 9 executions carried out in the United States, 1 person has been found to be innocent. What if an airline crashed 1 out of every 10 flights? Victims' groups, such as Journey of Hope, Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation and the Forgiveness Project, are gaining traction as they insist that capital punishment creates a new set of victims and perpetuates violence instead of healing. As you listen to them, you can't help but be convinced that we can do better than killing to show that killing is wrong. Several states are on the brink of total abolition - Montana, Nebraska and Kansas among them. In many states, political conservatives concerned about the high cost of the death penalty are leading the way, pointing out that all the money wasted on the death penalty could be better used to support victims, prevent crime and repair broken schools and families. Pennsylvania - home of the original U.S. Capitol and Gettysburg and Independence Hall - holds an important place in American history on this issue. That is because the commonwealth was founded by Quakers, who had denounced slavery in 1688, nearly 200 years before it was brought to an end. I can't help but think old William Penn was smiling down on us as Mr. Wolf made his announcement last week. Penn was a pacifist and a Quaker with serious reservations about the death penalty. His Quaker heritage held that every human being carries the essence of God, and that no one should ever take the life of another, not even the state. Pope Francis, a similarly vocal critic of the death penalty, is coming to Philadelphia this year. Mr. Wolf's latest action will give him 1 more thing to celebrate as he visits the City of Brotherly Love in September. (source: Commentary; Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way, a Christian organization in Philadelphia, is an activist and author----Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) ILLINOIS: The Last Execution by Electric Chair in Chicago February 18, 2015, was the 270th anniversary of Italian Physicist Alessandro Volta. Volta is credited with inventing the 1st chemical battery and actually separated and identified the odorless gas, methane. You can probably deduce by his name that the term to describe electric potential (the volt) is named in his honor. Actually, since he also discovered methane, we should also probably be saying, "Oops! I volted!" after consuming too many beans or onions but I digress. Not fully understanding how my mind works the thought of Alessandro Volta lead me to the thought of electricity which ultimately led me to the electric chair which led me to wonder who the last person was who was executed by electric chair in Illinois. That brought me back to June 16, 1956. On that day, Detective John J. Blyth Sr. and his partner, Detective Daniel Rolewicz, of the Stockyards Station were on duty for less than an hour when they heard shots ring out near the New Mount Baptist Church at 223 W. 47th St. They rushed to investigate and got into a foot pursuit with James E. Dukes. Prior to the officers' arrival, Dukes, 31, had gotten into a heated argument and started beating his 16 year old girlfriend, Lorretta Green. A deacon of the church, Charles Leggons, 49, and head usher, Thomas J. Sylvester, 23, exited the Church to assist Ms. Green. As Sylvester and Leggons emerged from the Church, Dukes pulled a 9mm automatic pistol from the purse of Green who ironically was carrying it for Dukes. Dukes screamed, "I'll kill you all!" Dukes fired 3 shots at the men striking Sylvester in the chest and Leggett in the right leg. Both men survived. Detective Rolewitz and Blyth gave chase and Dukes fired 3 shots at Rolewicz from a range of three feet and missed. As Blyth rounded the corner of the alley, Dukes shot him in the chest. Rolewicz went to comfort his partner until the ambulance arrived and Blyth told his partner, "I'm going to die." They prayed until Blyth lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at Evangelical Hospital. Later that same day, Dukes (alias Jesse Welch) was found hiding under an automobile at 4802 Wentworth Ave with a bullet wound in his forearm and shoulder. Detective John J. Blyth Sr.'s end of watch was June 16, 1956. He was 40 years old and a 17 year veteran of the Chicago Police Department. He was the 3rd generation of law enforcement in his family and his Badge # 1395 (the same as his father's) was retired that same year. He left behind a wife as well as 2 sons and 2 daughters. He was laid to rest at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Meanwhile James Dukes was tried twice and convicted twice of the murder of Detective Blyth as well as the shooting of Sylvester and Leggons. He was sentenced on August 16, 1956 to die by electrocution in Cook County's electric chair. Duke's home on "The Wing", as death row was called at the Cook County Jail, was the maximum security wing in the basement of the Cook County Jail where inmates were in 7 foot by 4 foot cells for 21 hours of the day. The electric chair was down the hall in the same level. After many appeals and legal maneuvering, Dukes was led out of his cell at 7 minutes after midnight on August 24, 1962. Dukes had converted to Catholicism while incarcerated and asked that his body be buried in consecrated ground. He had refused his last meal and left written messages to his family. He left a copy of Plato's "Apology" as a statement to the press. It read, "The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways, I to die and you to live. Which is better God only knows." Dukes was pronounced dead at 12:10am by 3 doctors including the Cook County Coroner and was, ironically, buried in the same cemetery as Detective Blyth. Dukes was the last execution in the County and the State of Illinois for 27 years. When executions resumed in 1990 the means was changed to lethal injection. Currently there is no death penalty in the State of Illinois. (source: Chicagonow.com) TENNESSEE: TN Supreme Court to hear challenge of electric chair law The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to hear a legal challenge over a law allowing the state to electrocute death row prisoners if lethal injection drugs are unavailable. The challenge is part of a lawsuit filed by 34 death row inmates over Tennessee's death penalty protocols - both lethal injection and electrocution. The state wants the court to dismiss the challenge to electrocution protocols because none of the inmates are currently scheduled to die by electrocution. The new electrocution law was meant to jumpstart the state's stalled execution process, but it opened the door to new legal challenges. The hearing is scheduled for May 6 in Knoxville. The high court also is considering whether the state must release the identities of the people who carry out executions. (source: Times Free Press) MISSOURI: Family of Jill Frey wants death penalty reformed, will help seek justice for others The family of Jill Frey fought 25 years to see that her killer was brought to justice. On Wednesday of last week, it finally happened. The state of Missouri executed Walter Timothy Storey. Storey brutally murdered 36-year-old special education teacher and Highland native in February 1990 in St. Charles, Mo. Storey, 47, was sentenced to death 3 separate times in the case, but botched legal proceedings and fight over the drugs Missouri uses for lethal injections kept the proceedings going, year after year. "Unfortunately, too many families are involved in fighting for the rights of the victim when it seems the justice system and political landscape protects the people who commit these brutal crimes against innocent people," Jeff Frey, Jill's brother, said in an email on Monday. Jeff Frey said the execution brought closure for his family, but it could not give them what they really wanted. "Nothing will ever bring Jill back," he said. According to prison officials, Storey released this final statement: "For this world full of anger, hate and revenge, I would like to pray for peace, forgiveness and love! I love everyone, even those who are doing this deed." He also mouthed what appeared to be "I love you" to witnesses before his drew his final breath. But Jeff Frey said Storey's final statements rang hollow. "His comments just before the execution were that he wanted to forgive us and the people carrying out the execution. Not once in 25 years did he ever reach out to our family to ask for forgiveness or offer his remorse or apology for his unspeakable actions that dreadful night," he said. While the case is now over, Jeff Frey said his family will continue to push for the rights of other victims and their families. "We are hoping to help others, just as Jill would have wanted," he said. Frey family statement The night of the execution of Walter Timothy Storey, Jeff Frey, brother of Jill Frey, gave a statement on behalf of the family. A video of the statement can be seen on the website www.missourinet.com (search for "Jill Frey"). The following is that statement in its entirety. First of all, we would like to thank the tireless efforts of the law enforcement officers, Richard Plummer, Michael Miller and Joe Dresselhaus, along with victims advocate Brenda Porter, who was our family's and especially our mother's steady support through the years, and Kimberly Evans, the Victim Services coordinator for (the) Missouri Department of Corrections, who has offered all her time and support preparing for today. Also, to Gov. Nixon and Attorney General Koster for staying the course, upholding and fighting for victim's rights, and supporting the people's choice for the death penalty My attempt to give a brief statement about this event and the past 25 years can never explain the overall effect this senseless and brutal murder has had on so many people. Jill was a tremendous person, daughter, sister, aunt, godmother, cousin, teacher and friend. To go back 25 years (almost to the day) when we received the tragic news, to what has taken us through three trials over the next 10 years, then waiting another 15 years for the courts to set an execution date has needless to say had an undeniable impact on Jill's family and friends. Over this period of time, several of our family members have passed away including both our mother and father. From the outset, this tragedy took its toll on our father. He passed away shortly after the 3rd trial, and unfortunately, his quality of life went from bad to worse beginning that dreadful day of Feb. 5, 1990, when he lost his oldest daughter. Our mother passed away in 2011 - 6 months after we finally received the news that the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal. Mom and Dad's (lives), for the most part, reverted to following every step of the case hoping to find closure to this sad and devastating ordeal. Mom compiled over 10 binders, which stacked 3-feet tall of everything related to the 3 trials, countless appeals, hearings and opinions, etc. After Dad's death, Mom devoted the rest of her life to seeing this through. She was always fearful this animal would be freed to kill another innocent woman. Just to give you a rundown of what our family had to endure over the past 25 years: 1. Feb. 5, 1990 ... The tragic news 2. 1991 ... Initial trial ... Convicted of 1st-degree murder and armed criminal action, 2nd-degree burglary and tampering with evidence ... Sentenced to death. 3. 1995 ... Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the convictions but reversed and remanded the death penalty sentence due to ineffective counsel. 4. 1997... 2nd jury trial and again the sentence was the death penalty. 5. Missouri Supreme Court again reversed and remanded the death sentence because the trial judge failed to properly instruct the jury. 6. 1999 ... 3rd jury trial again recommended the death sentence. 7. 2000 ... Our father passes away after 10 years of pain and suffering. 8. 2001 ... Mo. Supreme Court affirmed the death penalty. 9. 2010 ... U.S. 8th District Court rejected all appeals. 10. 2011 ... Finally! The U.S. Supreme Court denied all appeals. 11. 2011 ... 6 months later, our mother passed away without achieving her goal of seeing this through. 12. 2015 ... Feb.11 - the time has come and now passed. 13. Jill was buried on Feb. 9, 1990 - 25 years and 2 days ago. We know Jill, Mom, Dad, and all of our family and friends are relieved that this is finally over and justice has been served. Unfortunately, we have had to endure and suffer through all the countless delays and re-trials when there was absolutely no doubt that 2 days after this brutal murder took place they had the right guy - a guy that we can truly call a terrorist. It is sad that the courts play politics and protect murderers when surveys show that from 60-70 % of Americans support the death penalty. But the system allowed this terrorist to beat it for 25 years. It is sad all the lawsuits and dollars wasted over the drugs used in carrying out these executions. The people of the state of Missouri, like the majority of states, have voted for the death penalty. So, why are we arguing over what is cruel and unusual punishment - of a murderer, of a terrorist? Why do we continue to allow the argument about the secretive process of obtaining and using lethal injection drugs? Is it because this process might cause a brutal murderer to suffer a painful death? What is a painful death? What is cruel and unusual punishment? Is it a twitch of a finger? Is it a squinting of an eyelid? Is it a curling of a savage killer's toes, or maybe violent tremors of the body for several minutes? Or is cruel and unusual punishment when a man breaks into a woman's home in the middle of the night while she is in bed, proceeds to brutally beat and assault her, break 6 ribs, hit her in the face and head 12 times suffering injuries to her forehead, nose, cheek, scalp, lips, tongue and even her eyelid torn off? She had defensive wounds to her arms and hands, abrasions to her knee, a 6-inch stab wound to the abdomen, and 4 internal impact injuries to her head all before she lost consciousness! What is cruel and unusual punishment? Is it a minimum of 20 blows to Jill's body before cutting her throat to her spine? Jill died of blood loss and asphyxiation from not 1 but 2 6-inch cuts across her throat, cutting through both of her jugular veins, her airway, her esophagus and into her spine. If not enough, he then threw her off the bed and stomped on her so hard it broke her shoulder blade. Along with all of the evidence, blood, finger prints, etc. - a deep shoeprint stamped into Jill's night shirt and back. The shoes were found under his bed. What is cruel and unusual punishment? Is it a little sting that we get when the IV needle goes in the arm or the burning sensation when the drug is flowing into the veins? Or is it going back into the victim's apartment the next day, trying to wipe everything down of all fingerprints, and even using her own toothbrush to clean under her fingernails because while struggling for her life Jill took fingernails full of skin from his chest. What is cruel and unusual punishment? We just witnessed a terrorist close his eyes and go to sleep! Now, let's remember the kind of death Jill experienced. This guy had choices many times through that dreadful night. He could have stolen the keys, the money and left. But, to have a knife with him and do what he decided to do, he has now paid the price for those choices. Everyone makes decisions in their life and unfortunately that night his choice was to end Jill's life in the most brutal fashion. Why are we so concerned about cruel and unusual punishment when executing a brutal murderer? This guy had no mercy on Jill, but now we are expected to have mercy on him. Jill did not deserve this brutal attack. She made all the right choices in her short life of 36 years. She dedicated her life to special needs children and their families. Her goal was to mainstream special needs children into a regular classroom. She always volunteered for Easter Seals camps, Special Olympics and several other related organizations. Jill has a memorial scholarship in her honor presented every year to a senior at Highland High School in Highland, Ill. A memorial garden was built at United Services in St Charles, Mo., where Jill was teaching before her death. An annual memorial leadership award is presented to a Special Olympic athlete in her name. Jill also received several awards while living her dream and applying herself to the fullest in her profession. One that meant much to her was being named the "Outstanding Young Educator" by the Illinois Jaycees. But most of all, she was a loving, caring, and giving person and everyone she came in touch with became a better person having known her. Jill, we are so proud of you and your love and dedication to everything and everyone you believed in! To say Jill was a special person is an understatement. Having Jill taken from us not only affected her family and friends lives but all the special needs children that she taught and loved, all the children she could have taught and been enriched by her love. Her never-ending desire was to give of herself always. This world lost a very special and beautiful person. So, the execution brings a sense of closure to a part of this unspeakable tragedy in our lives. It will not bring Jill back, nor will it ever lessen the pain and suffering we go through every day. Going through three trials has etched in our memory everything that happened to Jill that night. We can never erase the thoughts of the struggle Jill endured trying to survive. We will never forget. Just think for a moment if this attack happened to your family or even one of your friends. How would this affect your family? What would you consider justice under the law? This guy had a choice, and now his sentence has been carried out according to the law but in a very peaceful way compared to what he did to Jill. After 25 years, we now can try and close this chapter. We do not have to worry about another trial or appeal, lawsuits or anything else. We hope by hearing our tragic story the people of this country will push to change this process and stop these lengthy lawsuits and appeals. 25 years is tragic. Jill, Mom, Dad, and all the rest of our family at your side, we know you are here and you saw it through with us. We know you are finally at peace! We, all family and friends, can only hope to find that same peace and begin to go on with our lives. We all know you are forever at our side until that day when we meet again. We miss you all each and every day. (source: Belleville News-Democrat) MONTANA: Move to abolish Montana death penalty that would save Red Deer man passes significant hurdle Legislation to abolish Montana's death penalty received a significant boost this week as the bill, which would impact Canadian Ronald Smith, passed a major hurdle. The judiciary committee in the lower house of Montana's 2-tier legislature stalled earlier bills to abolish the death penalty in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. They had been introduced and then passed by the state senate. This year the bill, which was introduced by Republican Rep. David (Doc) Moore, started out on the house side and made it past the judiciary committee by an 11-10 vote. "I am shocked it got out of committee. I was as surprised as anybody," Moore said in a telephone interview. "I've really got a tiger by the tail now." Moore says the bill, which would abolish executions and replace them with a sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole, must now be voted on by the state house of representatives no later than Feb. 27. "I honestly don't know what will happen," Moore said. "I think there's enough votes on the house floor for it to pass." If it passes, it would go through a similar process in Montana's senate. Moore is worried there may be another attempt by proponents of the death penalty to refer it to another committee in order to kill it. "The people who are against it are really against it." If passed as written the legislation would be retroactive to include Smith, 57, and another death-row inmate, William Jay Gollehon. Smith, who is originally from Red Deer, Alta., was convicted in Montana in 1983 for shooting to death 2 cousins while he was high on drugs and alcohol near East Glacier, Mont. He refused a plea deal that would have seen him avoid death row and spend the rest of his life in prison. 3 weeks later, he pleaded guilty. He asked for and was given a death sentence. Smith had a change of heart and has been on a legal roller-coaster for decades. An execution date has been set 5 times and each time the order was overturned. Moore said bringing forward the legislation isn't about seeking leniency for those on death row, but about eliminating the costs of the protracted legal wrangling involved in a death penalty case. Ron Waterman, a senior lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Association, testified before the judiciary committee that the death penalty system is flawed and there is the risk of executing an innocent person. He said the costs also mitigate the benefits the death penalty gives a prosecutor trying to negotiate a plea bargaining. "Once triggered, the defendant is entitled to massive exposure to defend against such charges. No prosecutor will spend over $400,000 just to try having a tool to use in a plea bargaining," Waterman said. "The death sentence does not deter crime or other capital crimes." (source: Calgary Herald) ARIZONA: Defense Calls Psychologist Back to the Witness Stand in Death Penalty Retrial----Psychologist Reads Text Messages Arias Sent to Travis Alexander After Killing Him Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens told jurors on Feb. 12 to expect to continue reporting to the courthouse until the end of February since there could be testimony from rebuttal witnesses as late as Feb. 26, according to The Associated Press. During the mitigation phase of the trial, the defense team will have another opportunity to persuade the jury not to sentence the convicted killer to death due to different mitigating factors, reports USA Today. Following the last witnesses, Arias will be allowed to address the jury directly and offer a plea for her life. Both sides will then end with a closing argument before the jury begins deliberating a life in prison or death sentence. Although Arias was found guilty of 1st-degree murder in May 2013 in the death of her ex-boyfriend, jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and she shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower and took pictures of him. (source: LatinPost) USA: Why the U.S. won't stop executing inmates even as a Supreme Court ruling looms On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said he supported the idea of halting all lethal injections in the United States until after the Supreme Court issues a ruling on the issue. The Supreme Court is hearing a case about lethal injection in Oklahoma this spring, with a ruling expected in the summer, to determine if that state's procedures are constitutional. "From my perspective, I think a moratorium until the Supreme Court made that determination would be appropriate," Holder said during remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. This idea has been raised before in the weeks since the justices said they would hear a lethal injection case. In court filings and orders, in arguments and motions, attorneys and judges and justices have questioned whether any executions should take place when it is known that the Supreme Court is going to rule on the issue very soon. Yet the suggestion does not seem to be taking. While 4 executions have been postponed due to this particular case, this has not translated into a broader moratorium. Holder noted that he was speaking personally, rather than as a government official, in making his pronouncement, and he has said in the past he is opposed to the death penalty. He said his opposition centered on "the ultimate nightmare" of someone being executed due to a mistake, something he described as an "inevitable" feature of a death penalty system that relies on the fallible judgments of human beings. "There's always the possibility that mistakes will be made," he said Tuesday. "Mistakes and determinations made by juries, mistakes in terms of the kind of representation somebody facing a capital offense receives ....There is no ability to correct a mistake where somebody has, in fact, been executed." The fact that there is currently no moratorium points to the differences between the last time the Supreme Court considered lethal injection and the current case. The Oklahoma case represents the Supreme Court's 1st examination of lethal injection - the primary method of execution in the United States - since 2008. That ruling ended what had become a de facto moratorium on executions, because it involved a form of lethal injection used by dozens of states. In the years that followed, the lethal injection landscape, and by extension the capital punishment landscape, has dramatically shifted in the United States, leaving the justices with a very different situation. When the court acted in the Baze v. Rees decision in 2008, it upheld a form of lethal injection that has since become obsolete, because a drug shortage has caused the dwindling number of states still carrying out executions to scramble and improvise in an attempt to execute inmates. At the time, the court's action meant that the lethal injection protocol used by dozens of states was acceptable. The Oklahoma case, meanwhile, seems to center on the use of the drug midazolam, which has been involved in 3 problematic executions but has not found widespread adoption; it has been used in just 15 of the 82 executions carried out since the beginning of 2013, almost all of them in Florida. (One of those problematic executions occurred in Ohio, which said it will no longer use midazolam and delayed all executions scheduled for this year so it can find new lethal injection drugs.) "It was a different issue in that all states were using essentially the same method, whereas now it's a more specific and narrow case that the court has taken," Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said in an interview Wednesday. When the court acted in 2008, it dissolved a de facto moratorium and allowed a surge of executions to begin in the country. There were no executions between the end of September 2007 and early May 2008, the period between the court's decision to hear the case and its ruling. Dozens of executions occurred in the months after the Baze decision, and in 2009, the 1st full year following that decision, states carried out 52 executions. (That number has since dropped, falling to 35 executions last year, the lowest annual total in 2 decades.) States soon began dealing with a drug shortage caused by European objections to the death penalty, a situation that meant the 3-drug combination they had previously used was replaced by a patchwork system where different states use varying drugs or combinations. That, in turn, has been followed by problems with executions; an inmate in Oklahoma grimaced and kicked during his execution last spring, 3 months before an Arizona inmate gasped, snorted and took nearly 2 hours to die. Both of these executions, along with the lengthy lethal injection in Ohio last year, involved midazolam, a drug questioned by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a dissent the week before the Supreme Court said it would take the lethal injection case. In the time since the Supreme Court said it would consider lethal injection, voices at various levels of the process have considered whether executions should be delayed until after the justices rule. The Supreme Court, at the request of Oklahoma, said it was staying three executions scheduled in that state until the justices ruled. The court also declined to stay a Missouri execution that had cited the coming Oklahoma decision. (Missouri has used midazolam to sedate inmates before executions, but has not used it as one of the lethal drugs.) The Florida Supreme Court this week said it was staying an execution scheduled there because the state's execution protocol and the one used in Oklahoma use the same amount of midazolam. "The standards the Supreme Court are going to lay out, certainly they're going to focus on midazolam, but they're going to give a blueprint for any new, untried method," Dieter said. "That could affect every state. We are in an uncertain period with lethal injection drugs." There are currently 10 executions scheduled between now and the beginning of oral arguments in the Oklahoma case at the end of April. 7 of them are in Texas, with the other 3 set for Missouri, Georgia and Tennessee. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice "does not intend to delay executions" due to the Supreme Court's review of Oklahoma, Robert C. Hurst, a spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday. "The agency does not use the same drug combination, but instead utilizes a single, lethal dose of pentobarbital to carry out executions," Hurst said. "The agency has used this protocol since 2012 and has carried out 39 executions without complication." Missouri's Department of Corrections said it remains prepared to carry out an execution next month, noting that the execution warrants in that state are issued by the Missouri Supreme Court. The Georgia and Tennessee Departments of Corrections did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. While other court action or government intervention could affect some of these executions, it appeared unlikely the country???s highest court would step in. Just a week before Holder spoke, an inmate in Missouri who argued that his execution should be postponed while the Supreme Court considers lethal injection was put to death after the justices declined to step in. The situation pointed to how divided the court is as well as a quirk of how the court operates: The 4 justices who dissented from a decision allowing an Oklahoma execution to go forward last month are the same 4 who would have stayed the Missouri execution. While it takes five justices to stay an execution, only four are needed to accept a case. (source: Mark Berman, Washington Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 19 15:21:20 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2015 15:21:20 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 19 EGYPT: In a final verdict, 4 sentenced to death for 2006 rape in Egypt----The verdict sentences also 5 to life, and a minor to 15 yrs in prison on in the same case in Kafr El-Sheikh in 2006 Egypt's Court of Cassation has upheld the death sentence on 4 defendants to death, 5 others to life in prison, and a minor to 15 years in prison after they were convicted of raping a woman in Egypt's Nile Delta governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh in 2006. The attack on the victim took place when a group of men kidnapped her in the Nile Delta city before alternately raping her. A criminal court issued a preliminary death sentence for the four defendants in November 2014. Upon hearing the verdict, the families of the convicted broke down. Meanwhile, the convicted defendants desperately repeated verse from the Quran "We Belong to God and to Him we shall return." Egyptian law punishes crimes of rape with the death penalty. The government has also recently stiffened prison sentences for crimes of sexual assault and harrasment. (source: Ahram Online) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 20 16:18:00 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 16:18:00 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO, W.VA. Message-ID: Feb. 20 TEXAS: Rodney Reed From Death Row: "I'm Not Giving Up" About 4 hours east of Bastrop, in the small town of Livingston, is a maximum security prison better known as death row. For the past 17 years, it's been Rodney Reed's home. He spends about 22 hours each day in a cell, clinging to hope and maintaining his innocence. "It's not just what I'm going through, it's what my family is going through," Reed said. "I kind of get emotional when I think about what's going on with them." At the moment, Reed said a radio is his only contact with the world. As the days tick down on his life, he can't see the countless protests and vigils calling for his freedom taking place across the state. The only updates come when family members see him through the glass. "My baby boy, he tells me that he has faith," said Reed. "I have to hold on, I have to hold onto that." Reed is scheduled to be executed March 5. A Bastrop jury convicted him nearly 2 decades ago for the 1996 murder of 19-year-old Stacy Stites. "I try not to entertain what the state is trying to do to me, I don't want to entertain it," Reed said. But on Wednesday he was forced to. Reed said that before his interview with KEYE TV he was told to complete paperwork for the state identifying which of his family members could be in the room when he's executed. It also outlines what to do with his remains. KEYE TV asked Reed if he thinks it's possible the state will put him to death. "I think that it's possible," he said. "I hope that they don't, but it's possible that they will." Reed says he has known others on death row who have left and never come back, and he knows the routine, but it's not something he wants to focus on. "I have to treat every day the same," he said. "I mean I'm not going to curl up in a corner -- nothing like that -- and stare at the celling all day. I'm going to continue to listen to my music, continue to read and continue to be me." Reed also knows, as have others before him who have also maintained their innocence, that you can return from the brink. At the moment Rodney Reed's fate rests with the courts and Governor Greg Abbott. While campaigning for governor, Abbott spoke to KEYE TV in 2014 on his position on the death penalty in general, saying, "I want to ensure sure that it's administered with absolute fairness and justice." Abbott said, "I led the advancement in this last session to ensure we would have broad-based DNA testing in any death penalty case. If the death penalty is going to be imposed we must be sure that the person who receives the death penalty really did commit the crime." But at each recent hearing, the state consistently fought against additional DNA testing, along with new testing for evidence that's never been through the process, including the belt used to strangle Stites. Reed's attorneys believe the state is ready to move forward with the execution, rather than admit the possibility that the new findings and testimony in Reed's defense show he's innocent. "What the state is trying to do here, in our view, is rush the execution date before we can get to the evidence that establishes Mr. Reed's evidence," said Reed's attorney Andrew MacRae. Their latest appeal argues new forensic evidence, from three renowned forensic pathologists, which they say shows it's impossible for Rodney Reed to be guilty. There are also affidavits from 2 of Stites' coworkers saying they kncew Reed and Stites were in a relationship. It would back up the story Reed has been telling since his conviction. "I've been in this fight, this struggle that long. I'm not giving up -- not my hope, not my faith," Reed said. For now he waits, spending the majority of his time reading, thinking about family and supporters, and glancing at pictures. "I look in their eyes, I look at their smiles, and I see the love," he said. With lingering questions, did the state get it right or will an innocent man run out of time? KEYE TV reached out to the office of the Governor and Attorney General for a comment on this case, but have not heard back. (source: KEYE TV news) ******************** Man who killed officer loses death row appeal A convicted killer sent to Texas death row for fatally shooting a Dallas police officer working an off-duty security job at a club more than 13 years ago has lost a federal appeal. Lawyers for 32-year-old Licho Escamilla argued before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that his trial attorneys were deficient for not producing evidence about his troubled childhood - evidence that could have persuaded jurors to sentence him to life in prison, the lawyers said. But the 5th Circuit ruled late Wednesday that evidence of the crime outweighed any mitigating evidence not presented to jurors. Court records show that Escamilla had a history of violence and that Officer Christopher James was 1 of 2 people he killed. James was shot multiple times in the head by Escamilla while working off-duty as a security officer at Club DMX in northwest Dallas on Nov. 25, 2001. At Escamilla's 2002 trial, he threw a pticher of water toward jurors. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Death sentence in name only Gov. Tom Wolf last week declared a "moratorium" on capital punishment in Pennsylvania, citing a "flawed system that has ... proven to be an endless cycle of court proceedings as well as ineffective, unjust, and expensive." The outrage was swift and included a rebuke from York County District Attorney Tom Kearney. Wolf's action is "an affront to the memory of those murdered and their families," he said in a statement, adding the governor doesn't understand "the weight placed on a prosecutor" who seeks the death penalty. "In one swift action this past Friday, Gov. Wolf has revictimized the very victims that we fight for each and every day by dismissing the tireless efforts of our juries," Kearney stated. What the DA failed to mention is that Pennsylvania, for all intents and purposes, does not execute death row inmates. Since the death penalty was reinstated in the United States nearly 40 years ago, Pennsylvania governors have signed 434 death warrants. In that time, just 3 people have been executed - and only then because they abandoned their appeals. They basically left this world in control, having decided, perhaps, that death was preferable to life in a cage. Does Kearney explain that to victims' survivors? Does he tell grief-stricken family members that a death sentence in Pennsylvania means endless, expensive appeals that will regularly reopen emotional wounds ... but almost certainly will never end in an execution? We hope so, because otherwise the DA is not being honest with survivors. That would be the real affront to them and their loved ones. There are 186 condemned inmates - 13 convicted in York County - in Pennsylvania, making ours the 5th-largest death row population in the country. But we haven't actually meted out a capital punishment in nearly 16 years. Critics argue Wolf doesn't have the authority to declare a "moratorium" on our phantom executions and say he'll face a legal challenge. But Wolf certainly does have the power to grant temporary reprieves to condemned inmates, and his spokesman says he intends to use it. Never mind the moral question the rest of the civilized world long ago answered. Forget the astronomical cost - $370 million, based on one study - we spend on these lost causes. Set aside the unacceptable risk of condemning an innocent person. The reality is Pennsylvania has a death penalty only on paper. It disrupts nothing to suspend the meaningless death warrants until the task force - a state Senate group that predates Wolf by about 3 years - finishes its study on the broader issues of capital punishment. (source: Editorial, York Dispatch) ********************** Why Gov. Wolf's so-called death penalty moratorium will fail What the governor did last week was to grant a reprieve to 1 death row inmate who was scheduled for an imminent execution. The granting of a reprieve is one of the governor's powers with respect to clemency in Article IV, Section 9(a) of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The other 2 are the power to commute a death sentence to life and to grant a pardon. The latter 2, however, cannot be exercised by the governor unless recommended by the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. With respect to commuting a death sentence to life, the recommendation must be unanimous. Under Pennsylvania law, the issuance of execution warrants by the executive branch is a mandatory duty. That precedent was established in Morganelli v. Casey, a case I brought in 1994 against then-Gov. Robert Casey. Today, the governor is given 90 days to sign a death warrant after receiving the case from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. If the governor does not sign the execution warrant, the execution date must be set by the Department of Corrections and the execution proceeds without the governor's signature. Accordingly, Judge Lewis advised the governor that executions must proceed and that the use of the reprieve power was the only constitutional basis for creating a de facto moratorium. The governor has stated that he will grant reprieves for subsequent scheduled executions for each death row inmate, at least until the release of an impending study being done by a task force established by the state Legislature. The governor's objective is unlikely to succeed. In Morganelli v. Casey, the court held that a reprieve exists only to afford an individual defendant the opportunity to temporarily postpone an execution for a particular proceeding involving that defendant - i.e., a pending application for a pardon, commutation or judicial relief. It is unlikely that a court will allow a governor to grant reprieves based on a governor's concern about the fairness of the process or the release of a report that has no legal significance. If this was permitted, it would, in effect, allow a governor to commute death sentences to life by passing the Board of Pardons in contravention of Article IV of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Only the Legislature has the power to repeal the death penalty, and only the judiciary has the power to suspend the death penalty or declare it null and void as unconstitutional or in violation of due process. Pennsylvania's death penalty was deemed constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court many years ago in the case of Blystone, and, therefore, the governor will not be able to derail Pennsylvania's death penalty by continuously granting reprieves in individual cases. As someone who has personally litigated these issues, I predict that ultimately the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will find the governor's action outside of the intended purpose and scope of a reprieve. (source: opinion; Northampton County District Attorney John M. Morganelli is a past president of the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association and in 1994 successfully prosecuted an unprecedented case against the governor of Pennsylvania to enforce Pennsylvania's death penalty by signing death warrants for Josoph Henry and Martin Appel----Morning Call) ******************************* DA: Death penalty stay will not affect Frein case The district attorney prosecuting trooper ambush suspect Eric Frein says the state's new moratorium on the death penalty will not affect the case. Governor Tom Wolf on Feb. 13 halted the further execution of death row inmates until the state senate approves a report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment, which will make recommendations on how to prosecute capital cases more fairly. Wolf said he would issue a reprieve for every scheduled execution until the recommended improvements are in place. "If we are to continue to administer the death penalty, we must take further steps to ensure that defendants have appropriate counsel at every stage of their prosecution, that the sentence is applied fairly and proportionally, and that we eliminate the risk of executing an innocent," Wolf said in a memorandum announcing the policy. Pike County District Attorney Ray Tonkin said Wolf's decision will not stop him from pursuing the death penalty for Frein. The head of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, Joseph Kovel, called the decision "a travesty because it prevents the commonwealth and the family of Cpl. Dickson from securing the penalty that is deserved. This decision also will affect the families of victims from all across the state who have had their loved ones torn from them due to senseless acts of violence from dangerous criminals." Jeff Sheridan, Wolf's press secretary, confirmed that defendants in Pennsylvania can still be sentenced to death, and that prisoners on death row face the same fate as they did before the moratorium. The governor's stay is part of a temporary reprieve for inmate Terrence Williams, scheduled for execution March 4 for killing 2 men. He admitted killing them while in his teens but now says both men had been sexually abusing him. 'An unending cycle' of appealTonkin opposes the moratorium, calling it a "potentially unlawful action." He said he believes state law requires the moratorium specify a time frame. "This unilateral action will only cause more pain and confusion to families who have suffered the actions of the worst criminals," Tonkin said. Wolf said families suffer more grief from an appeals system that has kept most Pennsylvania death penalty cases tied up in the courts for years without resolution. "This unending cycle of death warrants and appeals diverts resources from the judicial system and forces the families and loved ones of victims to relive their tragedies each time a new round of warrants and appeals commences," Wolf said. "The only certainty in the current system is that the process will be drawn out, expensive, and painful for all involved," Wolf said. Sheridan said the state's constitution gives the governor the power to grant reprieves, and that Wolf has in fact stated when he will lift the moratorium. 5th-largest death row Death row in Pennsylvania currently has 186 inmates, making it the 5th-largest death row in the country. The commonwealth is mostly surrounded by states that have abolished capital punishment, including New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, and Maryland, which repealed its death penalty law in 2013. Delaware and Ohio are the only neighboring states with the death penalty still in place. On Jan. 30, Ohio Gov. John Kasich postponed all 7 executions scheduled for 2015 in his state, after a series of lethal injections were botched last year. Delaware abolished capital punishment only briefly in its history, from 1958 to 1961. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 in Pennsylvania, only 3 inmates have been executed - even though governors have signed death warrants for 434 prisoners. The high cost of capital casesTonkin said in a statement that he is "disappointed that the governor failed to respond to correspondence from the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association" before announcing the moratorium. The association said Wolf "turned his back on the silenced victims of cold-blooded killers." Wolf said that among his chief concerns are the approximately 150 people on death row nationwide who have been exonerated over the past 39 years. Sheridan said Wolf believes the crimes Frein is accused of committing "are heinous." He said the moratorium is meant only to give the commonwealth time to correct problems in its death penalty trials, including their high cost. "If the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is going to take the irrevocable step of executing a human being, its capital sentencing system must be infallible. Pennsylvania's system is riddled with flaws, making it error prone, expensive, and anything but infallible." (source: Pike County Courier) GEORGIA: Deacons witness execution of Catholic inmate Warren Hill The State of Georgia executed Warren Lee Hill, who had received the sacraments of the Catholic Church while on death row, the evening of Jan. 27. Hill, sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of a fellow inmate, died by lethal injection. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his application for a stay of execution earlier that day. Hill's original prison sentence was a life term for the killing of his girlfriend. In the years leading up to the execution, Hill had been granted reprieves from execution as attorneys representing him challenged Georgia's Lethal Injections Secrecy Act and also brought forward evaluations that Hill's sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment due to mental retardation. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled the death penalty cannot be applied if an inmate is mentally retarded, but left it to each state to determine how that standard is met. Georgia has the highest such standard to meet of any state. 3 men executed in Georgia since December, woman may be executed in February Hill's death was the latest of 3 executions at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson since December. Robert Wayne Holsey was executed Dec. 9, 2014, and Andrew Brannan on Jan. 13. Deacon Richard Tolcher, head of the archdiocesan prison ministry, had provided spiritual ministry to all 3 men. Deacon Tolcher baptized Hill on Feb. 14, 2013, the culmination of their meeting regularly since the fall of 2012. The deacon taught him about prayer, sacraments and the Catholic faith. The late Father Austin Fogarty, who regularly celebrated Mass at the prison, gave Hill his 1st Communion the same day and then confirmed him with the permission of Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory. "Archbishop Gregory heard his confession about a month ago," said Deacon Tolcher. Hill asked Deacon Norm Keller and Deacon Tolcher to witness his execution. Although Hill declined offering any last words, he did want a prayer said. Throughout the evening of the execution, Deacon Tolcher kept Archbishop Gregory and Bishop David Talley apprised of developments. Bishop Talley celebrates Mass for death row inmates each month. Deacon Tolcher had also been meeting with Brannan, convicted of killing a police officer, in his final days. Brannan asked the deacon to witness his death and called his name out as he was dying. "All of them sought and begged for forgiveness from the victims' families. None of them said, 'I didn't do it,'" said Deacon Tolcher. "Each of them faced their execution in full confidence of their faith." The deacon said his goal was to "let them know that God loved them" and that they were "valuable human beings with human dignity." When present at an execution, witnesses sit behind a glass window at the feet of the inmate. The prisoner's arms are extended outward and strapped down, and the upper body is elevated slightly. The experience reminded Deacon Tolcher of the crucifixion. Deacon Tolcher said jailhouse conversions are often ridiculed by the public or make prisoners seem weak in the eyes of other inmates. "I'll take any kind of conversion," he said. 8 inmates on death row participate in weekly Mass At the Jackson facility, 8 inmates, 7 of them Catholic, regularly attend Mass, held each Thursday. Priests celebrating Mass include Father John Adamski and Father Richard Tibbetts. The inmates are often worried about their family members, and Deacon Tolcher said they pray regularly for them and for the loved ones of victims. In a sense, family members are additional victims of violence, he said. There have been 57 men executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. Georgia's only female on death row, Kelly Gissendaner, is set to be executed Feb. 25 for planning and convincing her boyfriend to murder her husband. She is imprisoned at Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto. Recently, Deacon Tolcher offered to meet with 2 more death row inmates as a spiritual director. The deacon is often asked how he can manage the emotional weight of prison ministry, particularly working with those on death row. "How can I not do that?" he answered. (source: The Georgia Bulletin) FLORIDA: Death Penalty Sought in Bradenton Killings Tampa Bay area prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty for a man accused of killing 3 people. Assistant State Attorney Art Brown said he sent the death penalty notice to Andy Avalos' attorney on Wednesday. Avalos is charged with 1st-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Amber Avalos, neighbor Denise Potter and pastor James "Tripp" Battle. Brown said he looked at "aggravating factors" in the crimes when considering the death penalty. Officials said Avalos killed his wife and neighbor, then shot the pastor at his church. (source: The Ledger) *********** Death-penalty defendants Donald Smith, Randall Deviney get new lawyers 2 Jacksonville men facing the death penalty have new lawyers after an appeals court removed the public defenders from the cases at their request. Circuit Judge Mallory Cooper on Friday appointed attorney Julie Schlax as the new attorney for Donald James Smith. Smith, 58, is charged with abducting, raping and murdering 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle. Schlax was special assault director for the State Attorney's Office and departed when Angela Corey replaced Harry Shorstein as state attorney in 2009. She has been a defense lawyer since then. Cooper appointed veteran defense attorney Jim Hernandez on Thursday to represent Randall Deviney. Deviney, 25, is accused of slitting the throat of 65-year-old Delores Futrell. Smith and Deviney were both originally scheduled to go on trial in January but their trials were delayed due to uncertainty over whether the Public Defender's Office had a conflict of interest representing both men. Deviney said he has information on another murder that Smith committed and wrote several letters to prosecutors and media saying he'd reveal all he knew if prosecutors would drop the death penalty against him and allow him to get out of prison at some point in his life. Prosecutors said they had no interest in talking with Deviney and implied they didn???t think he was telling the truth. Both Cooper and the prosecution said the Public Defender's Office had no conflict since authorities weren't going to talk with Deviney. But the appellate court decided the public defenders had to be taken off both cases because a conflict existed with representing both men even if authorities chose not to act. Smith and Deviney have no money, so their new attorneys will be paid with taxpayers' funds via an hourly rate set by the state. It will likely take Schlax and Hernandez months to get up to speed on the cases. New trial dates for both men have not yet been set. (source: Florida Times-Union) ALABAMA: Company says it didn't sell execution drug to Alabama Officials with a company identified in state court filings as a supplier of a drugs used in executions said Thursday that, according to their records, the manufacturer did not sell the drug to Alabama. "We have no evidence of a direct purchase of midazolam from the state of Alabama, and records we have received from wholesalers indicate no shipments of Akorn midazolam product to the state of Alabama," wrote Dewey Steadman, director of investor relations for Illinois-based drug manufacturer Akorn, in an email to The Star on Thursday. State court filings this week suggested that Akorn is the manufacturer of midazolam the state plans to use in lethal injections, and referred to Akorn's drug manual twice as "the manufacturer's package insert." The drug was used in botched executions last year in Oklahoma, Arizona and Ohio. Steadman said Thursday that the company "strongly objects" to the use of its products in executions. He said the company won't sell its products directly to prison systems, and will restrict the sale of its products to distributors who "use their best efforts" to keep these products out of prisons. It was the 1st time Akorn has commented on the controls it uses to keep its drugs from being used in executions. For nearly a year, death penalty opponents have asked Akorn to put such controls in place, but the company remained largely silent on the issue until Thursday. Restricted sales Steadman wrote that the wording used in the state's filing "is a disclosure attached to all labeling pulled directly from our website and is not present in printed labeling shipped with our products. If the state was trying to make an argument based on the label, any company's midazolam label could serve as an exhibit as they all are the same." Company records show no sales of the drug midazolam to Alabama, Steadman said, speaking by phone Thursday. "That's not 100 % guaranteed, but that's from the records that we've received from our wholesalers," Steadman said. Steadman added Akorn's share of the market of that drug was 1 % in the 1st quarter of 2014. Steadman also wrote that at least 8 other companies make midazolam. One of those, a U.S. company, suspended all drug manufacturing in 2013. Still 2 other U.S. company Steadman named have denounced the use of its drugs in executions, and have taken steps to limit that use. Another drug maker listed, based in Germany, no longer ships drugs used by prisons in executions. Another company on Steadman's list is banned by the FDA from importing the drug into the U.S. from its Mumbai facility, and a London-based company in 2013 said it would begin restrictions on those sales as well. Joy Patterson, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said Thursday there would be no comment from the office to questions about which company supplies Alabama with the drug. Lethal injection in Alabama Uncertain sources Alabama held its last execution in 2013. Numerous legal challenges from inmates claim that new drugs used in lethal injections could cause unnecessary pain and violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. European drug makers have largely stopped selling the lethal drugs to U.S. prisons, and Alabama switched to using pentobarbital as the 1st drug in a 3-drug protocol. Under pressure from death-penalty opponents, drug makers curbed sales of pentobarbital for use in executions, causing many states to switch to new combinations of drugs. Alabama plans to use midazolam as a substitute. In 2014 a state representative presented an Alabama House committee with a bill that would make the identity of death penalty drug suppliers secret. The lawmaker said he wanted to protect drugmakers from "blowback" from death penalty opponents. He proposed the bill at the request of corrections officials, and acknowledged that the identity of drug manufacturers isn't currently protected by law. Alabama law states that "every citizen has a right to inspect or take a copy of any writing of this state ... except as otherwise provided by statute." Still, prison officials at the time rejected requests by The Anniston Star and other newspapers for information on the state's death penalty protocol, saying it was not released as a matter of department policy. Asked why Akorn remained silent after pressure both in the U.S. and internationally from death penalty opponents asking the company to set safeguards against the drug's use by prison systems, Steadman said it came down to staffing. The company at the time wasn't large enough to employ people able to communicate with the media, he said. He was hired in November. Akorn did not respond to calls from the British newspaper The Guardian in July 2014 after midazolam was used in a botched execution in Oklahoma. The newspaper claimed at the time that Akorn appeared to have no controls regulating sale of the drug to wholesalers who could then sell to prison systems. "People respond to pressure," said Esther Brown, director of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, an Alabama group that advocates for the end of capital punishment. "Often people maybe haven't thought things through. That they are responsible. That there's no such thing as an innocent bystander," Brown said. Brown applauded Akorn's newly announced policy, and said as more companies set such guidelines, others will be forced to as well. Steadman said Akorn's safeguards were already in place informally before they were announced Thursday. "It's something that the company has always believed, but had never formalized," Steadman said. "Now is as good a time as any." (source: Anniston Star) OHIO----new execution date Execution set for Ohio man who killed cellmate A man serving time in a southwestern Ohio prison for a 1978 West Toledo robbery and murder faces execution Jan. 12, 2017, for brutally murdering his cellmate 19 years later. The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday set the date for the lethal injection of James Galen Hanna, 65, for stabbing cellmate Peter Copas, 43, in the eye and bludgeoning him with a sock containing a padlock at the Lebanon Correctional Institution in 1997. Copas died nearly 3 weeks later. Hanna has exhausted his state and federal appeals. The sole dissent in setting a date came from Justice William O???Neill, a death penalty opponent who routinely refuses to schedule executions. In a letter sent to an inmate at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Hanna called Copas, who was serving a sentence for corruption of a minor, a "maggot baby-raper-killer." He bragged that he "made him suffer pretty good" as he repeatedly stabbed him with a knife fashioned from a paintbrush and beat him for 2 hours until morning head count. "He lived for 20 1/2 hours after that before he croaked," he wrote. Hanna was in the prison in Warren County serving a life sentence for the murder of Edward V. Tucker, 18, who was working his 1st solo night shift at a West Toledo convenience store. A recent high school graduate, Mr. Tucker planned to study chemistry that fall at the University of Toledo. Hanna stabbed him numerous times and then turned on the district manager who surprised him by walking in on the morning robbery. Harvey W. Blitz, then 26, also was stabbed numerous times but survived. Hanna was convicted of attempted aggravated murder in that case. Ohio executions are currently scheduled to resume in early 2016 and continue into 2017 at the pace of roughly 1 a month. Gov. John Kasich imposed a moratorium on executions through this year because of the state's continuing struggles to acquire its preferred execution drugs as well as pending execution-related litigation. Hanna is a defendant in the pending challenge in federal court to Ohio's death penalty process, but he has not been granted a stay of execution. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Hanna's conviction and death sentence in 2013, prompting Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell to request the setting of a date. (source: Toledo Blade) ******************* 3 to face death penalty in Uniopolis murder 3 men were indicted this week in the June slaying of an Uniopolis man beaten to death inside his home. All 3 will face the death penalty, Auglaize County Prosecutor Ed Pierce said Friday. Aaron M. Dietrich Sr., 26, of Wapakoneta, Joseph R. Furry, 30, of Van Wert, and James P. Dinsmore, 28, all are charged with 2 counts of aggravated murder and 1 count each of aggravated burglary, kidnapping and intimidation of a witness. The arrests come this week, about 8 months into a lengthy investigation, Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon said. (source: limaohio.com) ************************** Judge Throws Out Ohio Inmates' 'Kafkaesque' Lethal Injection Lawsuit A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by 4 death row inmates who challenged an Ohio law that shields the names of companies providing lethal injection drugs. The inmates argued the new law violates free speech rights, contending in part that the measure restricts information that helps inform the public debate over capital punishment. Their attorneys have sought to stop provisions from taking effect in March. But U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost ruled Tuesday that the inmates lacked standing, saying their challenge was not tied to "actual or imminent injuries." Attorneys for the state had requested that the lawsuit be dismissed. In a filing last month, Ohio's attorneys argued that nothing in the law infringes on prisoners' First Amendment rights or affects their ability to argue issues in court. They said the law denies inmates access to information in the state's hands, which is not the same as suppressing free speech. Frost sided with the state in his decision. He wrote that the law does not suppress speech or the ability to oppose the death penalty. "Rather, the statutory scheme simply cuts off Ohio and its employees as a source of specific information for both proponents and opponents of the death penalty," the judge said. The inmates also allege the restrictions treat them differently than other groups, arguing that state lethal injection expert witnesses could have their identity shielded under the law, while defense witnesses wouldn't get the same protection. The state has disputed the unequal treatment allegation. Frost noted that the dismissal "unquestionably handicaps" related litigation over Ohio's execution protocol. "In order to challenge the use of a drug that will be used to execute them, inmates must explain why use of that drug presents a risk of substantial harm," he said. But he acknowledged that inmates aren't allowed to know where the drug came from, how it was manufactured or who was involved in its creation. "A proponent of Kafkaesque absurdity might be proud of such a byzantine method for pursuing the protection of a constitutional right, even if the drafters of the United States Constitution might not," Frost wrote. Supporters of the new law say shielding the names of companies that provide lethal injection drugs is necessary to protect drugmakers from harassment and ensure the state gets supplies of the drugs. Ohio executions have been on hold since a troubling 26-minute execution a year ago during which a prisoner getting a first-ever two-drug combo repeatedly gasped and snorted. The state has ditched that 2-drug method and said it will use 1 of 2 different anesthetics in the future, neither of which it has on hand and both of which may be hard to find. Attorneys for the inmates say there is no evidence whatsoever of companies being harassed. The lawsuit was filed in December on behalf of Ohio death row prisoners Ronald Phillips, Raymond Tibbetts, Robert Van Hook and Grady Brinkley. Cleveland attorney Timothy Sweeney, who represents Phillips, said they will appeal the decision. "This extreme law needs to be fully evaluated by the courts prior to its implementation," Sweeney said in a written statement. (source: Associated Press) *********************** Anthony Apanovitch's 3 decades on death row another argument for ending the death penalty In 1985, Anthony Apanovitch was sentenced to death in Ohio for the rape and murder of Mary Anne Flynn, a young nurse-midwife. Last week, after spending 30 years on death row, he was granted a new trial. His case is yet another lesson in why the death penalty makes no sense -- for the accused, for taxpayers, or for the families of victims. Death penalty cases arouse the strongest emotions and generate the greatest uproar. A dreadful crime creates horror and fear in the public and grievous suffering in the victim's family. There is intense pressure on police and prosecutors to find the perpetrator and get a conviction. But when the state seeks the penalty of death -- the 1 punishment that is irreversible -- there is a need for certainty that is at odds with the outrage of the public and the pressure on prosecutors. In 1993, with Apanovitch nearing execution, his attorneys prepared a clemency video appeal for then-Gov. George Voinovich that presented evidence withheld by the state and not considered by the courts. They asked me to narrate it. Because the U.S. Court of Appeals accepted a last-minute plea for reconsideration, the video was put on hold pending its decision. No one expected the appeal to sit on the court's docket for the next 10 years. That court's eventual finding led to further litigation, time-consuming motions and hearings, a claim of destroyed evidence on the part of the state -- evidence that magically appeared later -- withheld DNA evidence and a report from an expert witness eventually shown to be incomplete. All of this kept the case in the system for many more years. The video, never submitted to the governor, was evidently shown to some of Flynn's family. In 2007, they asked me to apologize for using my "time, talent and good name to get a guilty man out of prison." Claiming that a DNA test had "proved that Anthony Apanovitch and nobody else was the stalker/rapist/murderer" of their sister, the angry and frustrated Flynns complained that I "and a lot of other people were duped." Among the others they listed "the second-guessers -- the anti-death penalty crowd that portrayed Apanovitch as a victim; The Cleveland Plain Dealer and their often-wrong-but-never-in-doubt editorials; and even a Catholic priest enlisting school children in a letter-writing campaign for a new trial." Understanding their feelings, I responded to the Flynns that I was sorry for what happened to their sister and for the pain they had suffered. I explained I had not heard about the DNA test results and would check into it. But, I said, I could not apologize "for calling to the attention of the governor and the authorities the untested and unconsidered evidence that may have argued for Mr. Apanovitch's innocence. I believe that in these cases every piece of evidence has to be carefully considered before one makes a determination of guilt or innocence." Last week, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Robert McClelland ruled in the matter of the murder of Mary Anne Flynn. He acquitted Apanovitch on one count of rape, dismissed a second rape count and removed the rape specification from the murder charge. What remains is a charge of murder and a charge of burglary. Because the facts have changed from the original trial and a DNA test actually excludes Apanovitch, the judge concluded he is entitled to a new trial. The judge also agreed to set bond, which means Apanovitch could be released pending the new trial. For 30 years, the Flynn family has lived with nearly unendurable pain while those in charge of our system have struggled to justify killing Anthony Apanovitch. Meanwhile, Apanovitch has remained in prison, living under the threat of imminent death while asserting his innocence. At one point, he was 5 days from execution. Since 1976, when the United States reinstated the death penalty, 150 death row inmates have been exonerated: Their convictions have been overturned and they have been set free. The rate of exonerations has increased in recent years, with DNA testing and careful reinvestigation repeatedly revealing wrongful convictions. It is too soon, even after 30 years, to call this case resolved. But it is not too soon to say that the death penalty system is a failure. In fact, it is long past time for us to declare that the death penalty does not serve the interests of society, the interests of victims, or the interests of justice. (source: Opinion; Mike Farrell, who portrayed B.J. Hunnicutt on M*A*S*H, is president of Death Penalty Focus and author of "Just Call Me Mike; A Journey to Actor and Activist" and "Of Mule and Man."----cleveland.com) WEST VIRGINIA: Death penalty bill introduced in House A bill to reinstate the death penalty in West Virginia has been introduced in the House of Delegates. House Bill 2855, introduced by Delegates John Overington, Marty Gearheart, Steve Westfall, Rupie Phillips, Geoff Foster, Eric Householder, Saira Blair, Ron Walters and Michael Moffatt,calls for a person convicted of first degree murder to face the death penalty in certain circumstances, including if the victim was a member of law enforcement. West Virginia abolished the death penalty in 1965, but the last execution was in 1959. Previous attempts by the Legislature, as recently as 2011, to reinstate the death penalty were rejected. (source: Charleston Daily Mail) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 20 16:19:54 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 16:19:54 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., ARK., MO., MONT., CALIF., ORE., WASH. Message-ID: Feb. 20 KENTUCKY: Ky. legislature should find out death penalty's cost Let's say you have no moral qualms about the death penalty. You also think, despite compelling evidence to the contrary, that our justice system is meting out the irreversible punishment fairly with negligible errors. You still might not consider the perceived benefits of prosecuting and sentencing a criminal to death worth the cost when compared to some other sentence such as life without parole - if you knew the cost, which in Kentucky we don't. Legislators, who are entrusted with budgeting tax dollars to meet many competing underfunded needs, should want to know the cost to taxpayers. In fact, they should demand to know. Bipartisan resolutions have been introduced in both chambers that would authorize a task force to study the death penalty's cost to the state before the 2016 General Assembly convenes. Senate Resolution 11 and House Resolution 30 have bipartisan support, which makes sense since their bottom line is making the best use of tax dollars, a bipartisan concern. A blue ribbon panel of Kentuckians convened by the American Bar Association studied the death penalty in our state and issued a troubling report in 2011. Since 1976 when Kentucky reinstated capital punishment, 78 people have been sentenced to death. Of those, 52 have had a death sentence overturned on appeal or been granted clemency - an error rate of about 60 %. 3 individuals have been executed. The panel did not study how much that record has cost taxpayers, however, and neither has anyone else. A responsible legislature would fill the knowledge gap. (source: Editorial, kentucky.com) *********************** Webb Files Bill to Reform Kentucky's Death Penalty On the same day Pennsylvania's governor placed a moratorium on the death penalty in the Keystone state, a Kentucky lawmaker filed a bill to make what she says would be moderate reforms to Kentucky's laws. State Sen. Robin Webb maintains there are so many problems with Kentucky's death penalty that Gov. Steve Beshear should do what Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf did last Friday - suspend the death penalty. "You know, we've had a lot of litigation over our manner of execution and lethal injections, and the cocktail and the protocol and all of that, which is expensive for the state," Webb points out. "And, you know, again there's a humanitarian aspect of this, but there's also a fiscal impact of this." It was 3 years ago December that the American Bar Association (ABA) released a report outlining a myriad of problems with Kentucky's death penalty - citing 95 specific things that needed to be fixed. Webb's bill calls for more law enforcement training on the use of lineups, interrogations, eyewitness testimony and biological evidence. It also proposes more training for judges on mental-health issues. And, it attempts to improve DNA storage and testing - a crucial piece of the bill, says Webb, because of the dozens of wrongful convictions across the country. "It's, you know, not too comprehensive," she concedes. "I'm a realist. I think it's things that we've talked about in the past and hopefully can reach a consensus." Pennsylvania's governor said his state's moratorium will remain in effect until problems cited by an advisory commission are addressed - a situation similar to Kentucky's. When the ABA issued its report in December 2011 the panel of lawyers, professors and retired judges recommended a temporary suspension of the death penalty. (source: WMKY news) ARKANSAS: Justices hear arguments on state's execution law The Arkansas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday about whether a 2013 law enacted by state legislators gave too much authority to the Arkansas Department of Correction to set lethal-injection protocol. Last year, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen declared that Act 139 of 2013 violated separation-of-powers principles and was therefore a "clear violation" of the Arkansas Constitution. His ruling put lethal injection on hold in the state unless the Supreme Court decides otherwise or legislators rewrite the law. Griffen's ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed in April of 2013 by 9 death-row inmates who challenged the latest rewrite of the Method of Execution Act, which replaced the electric chair with lethal injection in 1983. The inmates had already prevailed in 2 earlier lawsuits challenging legislative rewrites of the law. In his ruling, Griffen said that "Simply put," the 2013 law "suffers from the same separation-of-powers infirmity that caused our Supreme Court to declare its predecessor invalid." In 2012, the Supreme Court said the Legislature "abdicated its responsibility and passed to the executive branch [the Correction Department] the unfettered discretion to determine all protocols and procedures, most notably the chemicals to be used, for a state execution." The legislative branch of government can delegate its decision-making authority to an executive agency as long as the delegation is accompanied by "reasonable guidelines" that set "appropriate standards" for the agency to use that authority, Griffen said. He found that the 2013 law still gave the department too much leeway to decide what type of drug should be used and how it should be administered. He said that specifying only that the department use a "barbiturate" isn't adequate. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Merritt told the justices that the 2013 version of the law "provides sufficient guidance" to prison officials and "accurately constrains" the department's discretion. In response to a question from Justice Robin Wynne, Merritt said the words "ultra short-acting barbiturate" were removed from the state law because such a drug had become increasingly difficult to obtain. She said legislators tried to remedy the problem by enacting a "very broad statute," as most states have -- to which Wynne replied that his own research has found that "a number of states" specify the drugs to be used. Justice Karen Baker noted that Act 139 "lacks any sort of requirement for medical personnel," to which Merritt replied that "selecting appropriate personnel is an executive function." Josh Lee, an assistant federal public defender who is representing the inmates, said the statute gives the department the discretion on whether to have medical personnel on hand. "What the General Assembly has said is, 'We can have a quick and painless death, or a slow and agonizing death. Department of Correction, it's up to you,'" Lee said. He urged the justices to consider the dangers of vesting too much authority in the department, pointing out, "There is nothing in the lethal-injection act saying it has to be humane." Statutes in Kansas and Ohio, unlike the Arkansas statute, specify that the lethal-injection protocol "should cause a quick and painless death," he said. He answered affirmatively when Justice Paul Danielson asked if the law would be cured by specifying that the procedure must be "swift and humane." But Baker wondered how that phrase would be defined. Lee said the 2013 revision of the law would permit whoever was designated to carry out a lethal injection in Arkansas to personally decide whether a particular inmate has a "slow and agonizing" death or a "quick and painless" death, based on the facts of the case that led to the death sentence. Baker said that surely the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment and supersedes any state statute, would prevent that, but Lee said he isn't so certain. While acknowledging that the Eighth Amendment doesn't require Arkansas to enact a "swift and humane" protocol, Merritt told the justices that "it is extremely difficult for the Legislature to codify everything," and said she feared that adding that phrase would generate "endless litigation." When Baker asked how an executioner would choose which barbiturate to use, Merritt replied that the department's protocol would specify a particular drug. But she conceded that under the 2013 statute, "This act would allow any barbiturate." Merritt tried to steer the justices away from questions about medical issues, reminding them that the issue is separation of powers. Similarly, Lee said in an emailed statement after the hearing, "This case is really not about the death penalty. It is about making sure that government agencies don't exceed their authority. Not just prisoners but also Arkansas businesses and ordinary citizens need government agencies to stay within the limits of their constitutional authority." (source: arkansasonline.com) MISSOURI: MU law professor highlights 'serious problems' in Missouri dealth penalty process 2 bipartisan state bills focusing on death penalty reform - Senate Bill 393 and House Bill 561 - have more to do with fixing "serious problems" affecting the entire Missouri criminal justice system and less to do with the morality of executions, MU law professor Paul Litton said Thursday. Litton was co-chair of an 8-member team of prominent Missouri jurists tasked by the American Bar Association with studying potential flaws in the fairness and accuracy of the state's capital justice system. The group's 2-year, 400-plus-page report was released in 2012. Litton highlighted some of the report's recommendations at a meeting hosted by opponents of the death penalty at the Missouri United Methodist Church. The event, "Moratorium Now: Promoting Reforms for Greater Fairness and Accuracy in Missouri's Death Penalty" drew about 40 people. Recommendations included changes to the state's investigative procedures, where the most serious problems were found, he said. Other recommendations aimed at reducing wrongful convictions would require police departments to: record an entire interrogation with a suspect from beginning to end; inform eyewitnesses reviewing a police lineup that a suspect may not be in the lineup; and ensure the police officer leading the lineup doesn't know who the suspect is in order not to influence the results. "These are relevant to the whole criminal justice system, not just death penalty cases," Litton said. At Thursday's event, state Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, said he has long supported reform in the state's capital punishment practices. "Every single person I've ever met believes government makes mistakes," Webber said, adding that the death penalty is something where "you can't make a mistake." Both SB 393 and HB 561 would create a task force to analyze the state's capital punishment system, while placing a moratorium on the death penalty until January 2018. The bipartisan Senate bill is sponsored by Sens. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, and Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph; HB 561 was sponsored by Rep. John Rizzo, D-Kansas City, and cosponsored by 11 members including three Republicans. Missouri has executed 81 people since 1976, including 10 last year, which tied it with Texas for the state with most executions. (source: The Missourian) *********************** Groups sponsor death penalty talk Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation will hold a program called "Moratorium Now: Promoting Reforms for Greater Fairness and Accuracy in Missouri's Death Penalty" at 7 p.m. Thursday in Whittler Hall at Missouri United Methodist Church, 204 S. Ninth St. Paul Litton, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Law, who co-chaired the Missouri Death Penalty Assessment Team, and other legal experts will talk about the state's death penalty system. (source: Columbia Daily Tribune) MONTANA: Judiciary Committee advances bill abolishing death penalty By a slim margin, the House Judiciary Committee has advanced a bill to abolish the death penalty in Montana and replace it with life imprisonment without parole. The panel voted 11-10 on to send House Bill 370 to the floor for debate. The vote marks a dramatic turnaround for death penalty-abolishment advocates, as the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee has killed similar bills in several previous legislative sessions. "I was shocked," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. David "Doc" Moore, R-Missoula. "I didn't expect it to come out of committee. I kind of feel I've got a tiger by the tail here." The bill now advances to the House floor for debate. Moore said he figures the odds of the bill passing the full House are 50-50. "I know everyone has their own personal beliefs on it," he said. "I don't think that anything anyone says on the House floor during deliberations is going to sway anyone." 2 Republicans - Reps. Clayton Fiscus of Billings and Bruce Meyers of Box Elder - joined all 9 Democrats to vote for HB370 in committee, while the other 10 Republicans opposed the bill. "Our death penalty is a joke," Fiscus said Thursday. After people are sentenced to the death penalty, he said taxpayers have to spend $3 million or $4 million providing them with public defenders, including one specializing in death penalty cases, to say they belong in prison. Another reason Fiscus said he voted for the bill is that life in prison without parole "is worse than the death penalty" for the convicted person. Fiscus said he also opposes the death penalty, to eliminate any worry about executing an innocent person. Meyers explained his opposition to the death penalty by saying he came from a background of having a Native American father and a mother with a Christian background. "That was part of my conscience, the way I was raised," he said. "Native Americans view all life as being sacred." >From a Christian perspective, Meyers said he prefers the New Testament, which "calls for mercy and grace" over the "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" philosophy of the Old Testament. Moore recounted what he said in the committee hearing last week about the death penalty. "You've got to decide yourself whether you personally could pull a trigger or press that button or pull the lever," he said. (source: Ravalli Republic) CALIFORNIA----new death sentence Killer in 2009 triple murder rampage gets death penalty In handing down a death sentence Thursday for a man who orchestrated the killings of his cousin and 2 other people in just over a month in 2009, a judge said the defendant went on a "murderous rampage" and deserved the ultimate punishment. Robert Louis Caballero - who knocked over a chair as he was being led into court by more than a half-dozen Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies - blurted out an expletive as one of his attorneys asked that the jury's Sept. 16 death penalty recommendation be reduced to life in prison without parole. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen denied the request, calling the crimes "atrocious" and noting that 3 people were "brutally murdered." "You went on a murderous rampage that shows a ... callous disregard for human life," the judge told the defendant. Jurors deliberated about an hour before finding Caballero, 37, guilty of 1st-degree murder for the Sept. 29, 2009, shooting death of Armando Vidana of Pomona, the Nov. 5, 2009, strangulation of Lorraine Minjarez of Covina, and the Nov. 6, 2009, bludgeoning death of his cousin, David Padilla, of El Monte. In addition to 3 counts of 1st-degree murder, Caballero was convicted of 2 counts of kidnapping and 1 count each of assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon and evading an officer. Jurors found true gang and gun allegations, along with special circumstance allegations of lying in wait, murder during the course of a kidnapping and multiple murders. Deputy District Attorney Sarika Kim told the panel that Caballero made Minjarez "sit and listen as her grave was being dug." The 32-year-old woman's body was found in the Angeles National Forest along Mount Baldy Road. The prosecutor said Caballero lured Minjarez to a car in a "cold and callous way," gathered what he needed to kill her, forced her to hike to her gravesite, tightened a rope around her neck as she struggled to breathe and then directed co-defendant Pete Trejo Jr. to bury her body. Padilla, 29, was bludgeoned and strangled and was found near the Union Pacific railroad tracks near Walnut Avenue in Chino. The prosecutor said Caballero ordered co-defendant Andrew Valenzuela to strangle Padilla because he had decided he didn't trust him any longer. Caballero was arrested in November 2009 after a police chase that ended in a crash in Montclair. At the time, authorities said he was wanted on a warrant for Vidana's killing. The motive for the 25-year-old Pomona man's killing was unclear. One of Padilla's sisters, Inez Roacho, told the judge that "there are no adequate words to describe the pain, anger and despair that I've felt from his murder." " ... What has kept me focused since David's murder is the promise I made to myself and my loved ones when I saw him laid out on the cold table at the funeral home, I promised that whomever did this to him that justice would be served and now I pass that promise on to you," she told the judge while asking him to impose the maximum sentence. "It is my wish that no one ever again would have to go through a tragedy like ours." In a statement read by the prosecutor, another of Padilla's sisters, Isabel Garcia, wrote that "it's already been 5 years that he was taken from us, but the pain feels like it was just yesterday." In comments addressed to the defendant, the woman wrote, "I pray to God every night that he will give me the strength to forgive you but as for now all I want is you to pay for what you did, because not only did you take a brother from myself and my sisters but because you took a father from my nieces and now they have to grow up without their dad. How do you do that? How do you live with yourself knowing you took someone's life, not just anyone's life, but your own cousin!" Trejo and Valenzuela - who were tried along with Caballero - were sentenced Oct. 3 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Trejo was convicted of 1st-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with Minjarez's death, while Valenzuela was convicted of 1st-degree murder and kidnapping involving Padilla's death. (source: mynewsLA.com) OREGON: Gov. Brown says she'll keep Kitzhaber's death penalty moratorium Taking rapid-fire questions from the press in her ceremonial office in the Capitol, Oregon's new governor Kate Brown didn't flinch. Before anyone could ask her about it, she dispensed with the question of who would fill her shoes in her former position as secretary of state by saying she would make her selection Friday, March 6. Otherwise, she fielded questions from a wide range of issues spanning the political spectrum as reporters tried to feel out where she will come down on issues. She said she'll keep her predecessor's moratorium on the death penalty in place and "there needs to be a broader discussion about fixing the system. Until that discussion, I'm upholding the moratorium imposed by (former) Gov. (John) Kitzhaber." In November 2011, Kitzhaber declared that no one on death row would be executed in Oregon under his watch. It set off a firestorm of controversy, and surprisingly, the man who led the charge against Kitzhaber was a convicted murderer on death row, Gary Haugen. Haugen argued Kitzhaber should follow the law and let him be executed. In a phone interview with KATU's Steve Dunn earlier in the week - the same day Brown was inaugurated - Haugen said she hopes the new governor will "follow the will of the people and follow the law." On education, Brown said she was committed to reducing class sizes and stabilizing funding, but she deflected on a question whether she favors keeping in place Kitzhaber's creation: the Oregon Education Investment Board. She is now the chair of that board, which Kitzhaber envisioned as an overarching entity that would work to streamline the education system from birth to career. It was one of his top policy initiatives. The Legislature this year will decide whether to keep the board or let it die. Transparency was one of her mainstays as secretary of state, and many people view the lack of it got Kitzhaber in trouble, which eventually forced him to resign last week amid a whirlwind scandal involving his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes. Newspapers, especially KATU's news partners at Willamette Week, published story after story detailing Hayes' private contracts that appeared to create a conflict of interest within the governor's office. As she did during her inaugural speech, Brown pledged to be open with Oregonians. "I will run an inclusive and transparent administration that???s focused on how to do what's best for Oregonians. I want to hear from all sides," she said. She said she and her husband, Dan Little, are excited about moving into the governor's mansion, Mahonia Hall. "The downside is that I don't have a dog at this time, so I won't be able to join in all the dog parties that apparently happen," she said. ************************** Death row inmate Haugen wants Gov. Brown to follow the law 2-time convicted murderer and death row inmate Gary Haugen wanted former Gov. John Kitzhaber to let his execution go forward. But in November 2011, Kitzhaber, a death penalty opponent, issued a moratorium on all executions while he was in office. Now that Kitzhaber has resigned, amid an ethics scandal surrounding his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, Haugen said he wants Kitzhaber's successor Gov. Kate Brown to "follow the will of the people and follow the law." The law right now allows for the death penalty. Haugen made his statements in a phone call he initiated with KATU's anchor Steve Dunn on Wednesday, the same day Kitzhaber stepped down and Brown took his place. Haugen said he wants Brown to "not just pick and choose the pieces of the law you wanna follow or not." Just weeks before Haugen was supposed to be executed by lethal injection in 2011, Kitzhaber declared that he wouldn't let anyone be executed on his watch as governor. Haugen challenged Kitzhaber in court, saying he wanted to die, and his case went before the Oregon Supreme Court where justices ultimately ruled the governor had the authority to deny Haugen's wish to be executed. Kitzhaber's moratorium expires 20 days after he leaves office unless Brown chooses to extend it. "I'm still waiting," Haugen said, expressing displeasure that he believes he's been in limbo on the taxpayer's dime. "I said (Kitzhaber's) not going to do anything. He's just doing this out of ego." Ultimately, Haugen said he wished Kitzhaber would have pardoned him as he left office. "I mean, why not? The guy issued an unprecedented reprieve on me, which could have lasted up to 7 years or even longer, depending on whatever Kate decides to do, and a reprieve is a gift. It's a thing of grace you grant for some noble act ... and he did nothing, he just sat me here all wrapped up in Charlotte's Web wondering, geez, is this guy ever going to get around to following the people's will or is he going to do who knows? ... "I don't know what I did to deserve a reprieve, let alone an act of grace up until he supposedly left office," Haugen said. "Why not just pardon me? But what he did was he didn't do anything." (source for both: KATU news) ********************* Oregonians need to tackle death-penalty debate Death penalty opponents were disappointed Wednesday morning when Gov. John Kitzhaber slunk out of office without commuting the sentences of the 33 men and 1 woman on Oregon's death row. His inaction should not have surprised them. Despite Kitzhaber's stated revulsion over capital punishment, he took 1 - and only 1 - bold move with regards to Oregon's death penalty system. In November 2011, he stayed the planned execution of inmate Gary Haugen. Choking up at times, the governor who had twice previously presided over the lethal injections of death-row prisoners vowed he would allow no more executions on his watch and denounced Oregon's costly death-penalty system for failing "to meet basic standards of justice." Kitzhaber then followed up his impassioned speech with... silence. Even after Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, introduced legislation in 2013 that would refer a constitutional amendment abolishing the death penalty to voters, Kitzhaber largely stayed out of the picture. When the bill came up for a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee, Kitzhaber sent a letter. The governor was out of town, Greenlick said. The bill died in committee. In the 3 years since Haugen's reprieve, however, the death-penalty machinery has kept running. Oregon's death row added a new inmate, David Ray Taylor. A longtime inmate, Allen Gary Zweigart, died of natural causes. Another death row prisoner, Travis Lee Gibson, is now serving a life sentence after his death sentence was vacated in 2012. And inmate Robert Langley, whose multimillion-dollar case has been back and forth to the Oregon Supreme Court, has been sentenced to death for the 1987 murder of Anne Louise Gray -- for a 4th time. But the immediate issue is what happens to Haugen, who had volunteered for execution in 2011 as a way to protest a legal system he considered corrupt. His request forced Kitzhaber's hand in the first place, but the reprieve dissolved with the governor's departure from office. The next move is up to the state, but it is also unclear what path Haugen wants to pursue. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board in a phone call that part of him wants to proceed with the execution as a way to continue his protest. After all, he noted, what has changed? What has Kitzhaber's reprieve accomplished? There are other reasons for Oregonians to consider once again whether they want to keep a legally flawed system that costs millions to administer but results in a life sentence for the vast majority of inmates. Nationally, the mood toward the death penalty has shifted. Washington's governor declared a moratorium on executions in 2014, and Pennsylvania's governor similarly imposed a stay just this month. With manufacturers refusing to make one of the drugs often used in lethal injections, states have revised their drug protocols -- raising questions of their role in recent botched executions. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has asked states to hold off on executions until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on an appeal from Oklahoma inmates challenging the constitutionality of its lethal injection drug protocol. And, as always, there is the question of innocence. In the past 3 years, 11 inmates across the country who had been sentenced to die have been exonerated, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit research group whose board members oppose the death penalty. Mistakes occur in Oregon's legal system as well, from the quality of legal representation to the improper introduction of evidence. Is Oregon ready to vote on a ballot measure? Greenlick, who has reintroduced his abolition bill for the 2015 session, told The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board that he is unsure whether legislators will support it. And, as in 2013, it's unclear whether activist groups have the fundraising and organizational capacity to champion a campaign. Still, he said, it's long past time to have the conversation, adding that he believes voters would approve abolition if the campaign could raise enough money to explain its reasons. "That's a big if," he said. In his commanding November 2011 speech, Kitzhaber noted that lawyers, judges, victims' families and others agreed that the death-penalty system was broken. "But we have done nothing," he said at the time. "We have avoided the question." It's as if he could see into the next 3 years of his governorship and was summing up his own accomplishments on the death penalty front. It's time for the Legislature and Oregonians to move the conversation forward. We have avoided the question for too long. (source: The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board) WASHINGTON: Death penalty challenge going nowhere this year A bill to abolish the state's death penalty died Thursday. The state House Judiciary Committee did not address the bill Thursday, which was the last day that the committee will meet this week. Friday is the cut-off deadline for getting policy-only bills out of committee for any further consideration during the 2015 legislative session. Committee chair Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said the general public is not ready to repeal the death penalty, and the bill's purpose this session was to promote public discussion on the topic. The thought is that discussion can prepare the way for a more receptive public in the future. She said the strategy is similar to the public gradually becoming more receptive to gay marriage. A bipartisan group of four representatives had introduced the bill. A Wednesday committee hearing on the subject brought strong support for repealing the death penalty. Only the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs testified against the bill, which was introduced by Reps. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle, Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla, Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, and Chad Magendanz, R-Issaquah. On Wednesday, Carlyle, Walsh, Orwall and Magendanz argued that imposing the death penalty is prohibitively expensive, and they pointed to the chance of erroneously sending an innocent person to death row. 9 people are on the state's death row. A year ago, Gov. Jay Inslee declared a moratorium on executions that will last until he leaves office. Some death penalty opponents have criticized his approach as failing to resolve the question. (source: Kitsap Sun) *********************** Bill to abolish death penalty doesn't pass out of committee An effort to abolish the death penalty in Washington state isn't moving forward in the Legislature this year. House Bill 1739, which received a public hearing this week, was scheduled for a vote in the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, but it was not brought up for a vote on the last day before a key policy bill deadline. The chairwoman of the committee said she's personally supportive of the bill, but said that she didn't think this was the right time to move forward with it. The measure would have replaced capital punishment with life in prison, with no opportunity for parole. It also would have required those convicted to work in prison in order to pay restitution to victims' families. Last year, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a moratorium on capital punishment for as long as he's in office. (source: Associated Press) USA: It's time to kill the death penalty Following multiple botched executions in Oklahoma, the Supreme Court asked the state to halt executions until the court could review the process. This week, the soon-to-be outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder proposed taking it a step further at a National Press event. Holder called for a nationwide moratorium on executions until "fundamental questions" are asked. This case in particular has been focused on whether lethal injection protocols are consistent with the Constitutional abolishment of cruel and unusual punishment. But I would argue the court - and the country as a whole - should cast a wider net on the death penalty issue. The legal developments of recent years regarding capital punishment should be enough to justify a more comprehensive review of the death penalty and how it is used. Though questioning whether lethal injection is a proper way of carrying out the death penalty is important - as is questioning the virtue of having the death penalty at all - I would point to a question with much larger implications. Is the death penalty levied unfairly against the poor and minorities? And if it is, can we justify its existence at all? Since Northwestern University's law school began evaluating and defending capital punishment cases through the Bluhm Legal Clinic, revelations about the legitimacy of death penalty convictions have been called into question. The center has helped to exonerate several inmates and found 5.6 percent of convictions in Illinois alone were eventually overturned during a 25 year period. Further, questions of why some receive the death penalty and others don't for seemingly similar crimes have arisen. A study published in the Journal of Criminal Law in 2009 examined claims that courts unfairly applied the death penalty to the poor. It found the ability to hire a lawyer significantly reduced and sometimes entirely eliminated the chance of a death sentence. The study also emphasized that, though there was significant anecdotal evidence of discrimination against minorities, there has been little effort to investigate the claims. The discrimination against the poor and minorities by our justice system is a much more important question than whether protocols are appropriate or whether the death penalty should be legal on moral grounds. Our justice system is built on a presumption of innocence and commitment to the principle that it is better to let a guilty man go free than to convict an innocent man. We all understand mistakes happen and our justice system is not perfect. But when a person's life is at stake, a just society can't settle for "good enough." To justify the existence of such a punishment, we need to ensure it isn't handed out solely to those who can't afford a good lawyer, and we need to ensure facts, not race, drive convictions. Until we can guarantee the principles of our justice system are upheld in capital cases, we can't justify killing our own people. (source: Jared Thompson, The (Univ. Indiana) Indiana Daily Student) ******************************************** Market forces determine media coverage of death penalty decisions by state high courts. What determines how death penalty cases are covered by the media? In new research, Richard L. Vining, Jr., Teena Wilhelm and Jack D. Collens argue that the press does not treat all cases equally, and that they are more likely to report on cases that will have broad appeal and increase their sales and profits. They find that a newspaper is nearly 60 % more likely to cover a death penalty case decision if the offender is a woman and about 30 % more likely if the sentence or conviction is overridden. One persistent assumption among scholars of state politics is that capital cases are salient, or have the potential to be salient, to judges and citizens. That is, death penalty cases are more interesting to the public than others decided by state supreme courts. A Louisiana justice admitted to Melinda Gann Hall decades ago that he voted contrary to his preferences in capital cases to appease the public, largely because they had the potential to be newsworthy and generate unwanted negative attention. A steady stream of systematic, empirical research has reaffirmed the influence of constituents on death penalty decisions. One need look no further than the famous electoral defeats of multiple California justices (1986) and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White (1996) to see the potential consequences of shirking public and elite preferences in capital cases. However, we have little evidence regarding which death penalty decisions are likely to be salient for the press, public or elites. Although scholars have studied news about murder trials and executions, we lack systematic information about coverage of state high courts' death penalty rulings. Given that the media inform the public and elites about the activities of judicial institutions, we believe it is necessary to understand which cases the press finds newsworthy and why. In new research, we present a market-based model of state Supreme Court news, arguing that the press focuses on cases that are likely to attract a broader audience and therefore increase their revenues and profits. Research by Doris Graber and others established that news outlets devote space in the news hole to events based on their potential impact, degree of conflict or scandal, familiarity, proximity (to the news outlets' base of operations), and timeliness (or novelty). While we acknowledge the importance of this research, we draw primarily on the economic model of news content advanced by James T. Hamilton. It assumes that news outlets seek to maximize revenues by drawing more readers/viewers and, as a result, more sales and advertising. This is achieved by providing a mix of hard and soft news of interest to a diverse audience. A key component of this theory is the need to provide news that appeals to both the typical hard news consumer and potential audience members who lack interest in news for its own sake. We apply this framework to coverage of death penalty appeals in state supreme courts to determine whether case characteristics appealing to a mass audience influence the selection of news content. We identified factors that are novel or sensational (White, juvenile, female, or intellectually disabled offender, more victims, elderly or juvenile victims, and fewer executions in the state over time), indicative of higher stakes (amicus filings, constitutional issues, non-procedural issues), or dramatic (conviction/sentence overrides, dissent). We also controlled for (state-specific) institutional factors related to the type of judicial selection system and journalistic norms (gatekeeping via prior coverage). Our analysis determined which factors lead to front-page coverage or any coverage in the most circulated newspaper in 27 death penalty states on the day after a decision. It includes about 3/4 of the capital cases from 1995 to 1998 in the State Supreme Court Data Archive compiled by Paul Brace and Melinda Gann Hall. We focus on the conditions associated with providing any news content about a state high court's decision in a death penalty case rather than only front-page coverage. Likelihood of Any Coverage of Death Penalty Case Decision Figure 1 above displays the predicted likelihood that a newspaper will devote attention to a death penalty decision if certain conditions are met. In red is a baseline prediction (an 18.6 % likelihood), which shows the predicted likelihood of covering a case with a male offender, one victim, no prior coverage, and an actual/non-procedural challenge. When the paper has recently covered a case, the likelihood of covering the outcome increases to 78 %. Sentence overrides (31.2 %) and conviction overrides (28.2 %) increase substantially the likelihood of coverage. This is not surprising as the decision to reverse a sentence of death or conviction is a dramatic event and implies that judges are shirking the public's wishes. Cases with only procedural challenges are about half as likely to be covered, as the likelihood drops from 18.6 % to 9.2 %. Finally, the likelihood that a case receives media attention increases to 57.2 % when the offender is a female. The novelty of such cases makes them interesting to the public. However, their rarity also reduces our confidence in the prediction as indicated by the wide confidence interval for female offenders. These results of the analysis are interesting because of both the significant findings and the factors that fail to influence coverage. General coverage of capital cases does not increase as a result of a fewer executions in the post-Gregg era (but we do find a positive relationship between execution novelty and front-page coverage). We also do not find that newspapers in states with elected judges pay more attention to death penalty decisions. This is surprising given the greater potential role of the press in elective rather than appointive selection systems. We also find that few case facts fail to influence coverage, though the number of victims and the offender's gender do so. Our findings demonstrate that journalists are selective when deciding whether to cover state high courts' death penalty decisions. States' elite newspapers (and, by extension, the public) pay more attention to cases which are novel or sensational (with female offenders or a greater number of victims), have higher stakes (focus on non-procedural challenges), or result in more dramatic outcomes (conviction/sentence overrides). Typical indicators of legal salience including constitutional issues, amicus filings, judicial dissent, and offender/victim status fail to attract media coverage systematically. This means that we should not assume that media treat all death penalty cases equally, or that all death penalty cases are particularly high-profile and salient. Our results provide a more nuanced look at public fascination with our country's most punitive form of justice. (source: This article is based on the paper 'A Market-Based Model of State Supreme Court News Lessons from Capital Cases', in State Politics & Policy Quarterly----London School of Economics) ********************************** Looking to the Founders: Capital Punishment Last week, the Utah House reignited the capital punishment controversy by approving a measure to bring back the firing squad as a legal form of execution in response to growing court challenges over lethal injection. Wyoming approved a similar law in January, joining Oklahoma as the only states with the firing squad approved in the event of court rulings against lethal injection. Too often, the death penalty debate centers on what the Founding Fathers meant by the phrase "cruel and unusual punishments," and many death penalty appeals request further court guidance and intervention. What did the Founding Fathers mean when they wrote the Bill of Rights? And more importantly, what did they do in practice? English Common Law The Founding Fathers were an exceedingly educated group of men, with 30 of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention being college graduates. While many pursued several (and varied) careers, 35 of them were also accepted to the bar to practice law. An enormous part of their education was learning the traditions of English Common Law from Edward Coke's Institute: What the medieval cases and traditions were to Coke, Coke's Second Institute and the decisions of the common law courts he discusses or that followed him, were to the American lawyers before the Revolution. Of all of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson is probably the best known for quoting from Coke's Institute - Jefferson's copy is on display at the Library of Congress. It was also quoted numerous times in early U.S. Supreme Court cases in the various justices' opinions. It is through Coke's Institute that we can see the common - and gruesome - punishment of the day for the treasonous: After a traitor has had his just trial, and is convicted ... he shall have his judgment: to be drawn to the place of execution from his prison, as being not worthy anymore to tread upon the face of earth whereof he was made. Also, for that he has been retrograde to nature, therefore is he drawn backward .... And whereas God has made the head of man the highest and most supreme part, as being his chief grace and ornament, he must be drawn with his head declining downward and lying so near the ground as may be, being thought unfit to take benefit of the common air. For which cause also he shall be strangled, being hanged up by the neck between heaven and earth as deemed unworthy of both or either, as likewise, that the eyes of men may behold and their hearts condemn him. Then he is to be cut down alive, and to have his privy parts cut off and burnt before his face as being unworthily begotten and unfit to lead any generation after him. His bowels ... taken out and burnt, who inwardly had conceived and harboured such horrible treason. After, to have his head cut off, which had imagined the mischief. And lastly, his body to be quartered and the quarters set up in some high and eminent place, to the view and detestation of men, and to become prey for the fowls of the air. And this is a reward due to traitors whose heart be hardened. For it is a psychic of state and government to let out our corrupt blood from the heart. Coke added that a traitor's assets would be seized by the Crown as further punishment for the crime (often leaving their family in poverty). This was the punishment that the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence faced when they gave their solemn oath to each other: And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. Nearly 100 years after the ratification of the Constitution, the Supreme Court defined, for the 1st time, the meaning and limits to "cruel and unusual." In Wilkerson v. Utah (1878), the court upheld Utah territorial law requiring 1st degree murderers to face death by "being shot, hanged, or beheaded." The court ruled that "cruel and unusual" applied only to drawing and quartering, public dissection, burning alive, or disembowelment. 1st Federal Execution The federal government didn't have to wait long to be faced with its 1st capital case. In fact, the defendant waited in jail for a year for the federal courts to be organized under the Constitution. A small British slave ship wrecked off the coast of Falmouth, Massachusetts (current site of Portland, Maine) under suspicious circumstances. The captain had been murdered, and only 4 people were on the boat when it was rescued: an American, a Norwegian, a Brit, and a teenage African boy. The British sailor, Thomas Bird, was arrested and charged with murder, mutiny, and other maritime crimes. Massachusetts courts initially planned to handle the case, but deferred to federal courts once Massachusetts had ratified the Constitution. While waiting a year for trial, Bird carved toy boats for the jail keeper's children, which was recounted by 1 during an interview when he was in his 90s. Falmouth had been burned and razed by the British Navy during the Revolution, and some accounts suggested the ensuing trial was a form of retribution. Without lengthy wrangling or constant appeals, Bird was executed by hanging, with the U.S. Marshall's service in charge of the execution. The First Congress had enacted that the U.S. Marshall was responsible for carrying out all federal executions, highlighting the fact that the Founding Fathers anticipated the need and usage of capital punishment. America, 2015 In 2014, U.S. Ninth Circuit Court Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote a scathing dissent in the Arizona death penalty case of Joseph Rudolph Wood III: Executions are, in fact, brutal, savage events, and nothing the state tries to do can mask that reality. Nor should we. If we as a society want to carry out executions, we should be willing to face the fact that the state is committing a horrendous brutality on our behalf. At the heart of his dissent was his opinion that foolproof, but gory methods of execution like beheading or firing squads should be brought back - that the state shouldn't try to conceal the brutality of the act. Kozinski also noted that the average death row inmate in California was more likely to die from old age than from execution. At the time of the Founding Fathers, the time between conviction and execution could be measured in days. A century later, the courts argued that being held in solitary confinement for 4 weeks prior to execution imposed "horrible feelings" in the condemned. Currently, death row inmates average 190 months of incarceration prior to execution. While this is mostly caused by their own appeals, it creates a system where the punishment is too distant from the crime itself, and sometimes these appeals exonerate the convicted. Since 2007, 6 states have abolished the death penalty, raising the total number of states without a death penalty to 18. When Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed the bill abolishing the death penalty in 2012, he pointed out that: In the last 52 years, only 2 people have been put to death in Connecticut - and both of them volunteered for it. Instead, the people of this state pay for appeal after appeal, and then watch time and again as defendants are marched in front of the cameras, giving them a platform of public attention they don't deserve. Malloy has a point; it is often cheaper for the state and more comforting to the victim's family for the convicted to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. There is no doubt that the Founding Fathers intended there to be a death penalty in the United States. But in 2015, we should consider alternate sentencing that removes criminals from society with the smallest cost or risk of wrongful execution. (source: ivn.us) ************************ Is the death penalty Christian? The attorney general, Eric Holder, yesterday called for an end to executions in America, or at the very least, a lengthy moratorium. This naturally raises the question about what the Christian view of capital punishment is. It's a question worth answering. Capital punishment was instituted by God following the flood of Noah. According to Genesis 9:5-6, God says, "From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his image." Here God is clearly delegating his authority to man - "by man shall his blood be shed" - to carry out the death penalty for the wanton taking of innocent human life. God himself is the one who is requiring this "reckoning for the life of man," because the murderer has destroyed someone created "in his image." Murder defaces and destroys the image of God, and for that God demands an accounting. Prior to the flood, capital punishment was not allowed as a punishment for crime or as a deterrent for homicide. In fact, God himself declared that he would take vengeance "sevenfold" on anyone who punished Cain for his cold-blooded murder of Abel (Genesis 4:15). It is as if God was saying, "Alright, you think capital punishment is barbaric. We'll do it your way for 1700 and see how that works out." And so mankind did, from the days of Cain until the days of Noah. How well did this kinder, gentler approach to justice work? It lead to vigilante justice and barbarism, as men took matters of punishment into their own hands. Said Lamech, "I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:23-24). So vigilante justice, without God's authorization, was almost immediately exercised for non-capital offenses. And by the time Noah arrived, the lack of a system of justice had so contributed to social deterioration and the collapse of character that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and...every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). There was nothing for God to do but wipe everything out and start over. It was much like finding an 18-month old carton of cottage cheese in the back of a refrigerator when the power's been out during the heat of summer. There's nothing to salvage. You have to dump the lot and start with a fresh container. This was the story of the flood. So God established a new rule following the wild, wild East of the pre-flood days. From now on, God said, murder will be dealt with through capital punishment. This standard is re-established in the Ten Commandments, where God succinctly commands, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). The King James version, "Thou shalt not kill," has led some to erroneously believe that God was prohibiting killing of every kind, but he most certainly was not. The Sixth Commandment is specifically a command against cold-blooded murder. Killing in self-defense, war, and as punishment for murder are not only permitted but prescribed in the Scripture. In fact, on the next page on the book of Exodus, in chapter 21, there are 6 specific crimes for which capital punishment is the prescribed penalty. As an aside, it's worth noting that the death penalty was mandated for participation in the slave trade: "Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:16). In other words, if the United States had simply followed the standards found in Scripture, slaves never would have appeared on our shores, slavery never would have been an issue, and the Civil War would never have been fought. Then, as always, the Scriptures show us the way forward not just personally but politically as well. Capital punishment is reaffirmed by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans as the antidote to vigilante justice and social chaos. He tells us in Romans 12:19, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" How does the Lord exact vengeance? As Paul immediately goes on to say, through the instrumentality of the state. Civil government has been invested with God's own authority to execute justice, including capital punishment. Government "does not bear the sword in vain," Paul says in Romans 13:4. A sword, of course, was an instrument of lethal force. And for what purpose does civil government bear the sword? Paul immediately explains: "For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer" (Romans 13:4). It bears emphasizing that capital punishment is thus not just an Old Testament concept, but is reaffirmed as a principle of justice under the terms of the New Covenant in Christ. Solomon adds an important word of wisdom, on the subject of deterrence. Many argue - falsely it turns out - that capital punishment is no deterrent at all. Well, it certainly deters the murderer from killing anybody ever again, which sounds like deterrence to me. But the Scripture indicates that unless capital punishment is carried out in a timely manner, it not only loses its deterrent force but actually makes things worse instead of better. "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Keeping murderers and serial killers alive on Death Row for a decade or more has no deterrent effect whatsoever, and yet that's what we're doing. According the Bureau of Justice, the average time between sentencing and execution in America is now up to 169 months, or just over 14 years. This is up from 50 months in 1977. By the time the sentence is carried out, the public - and potential murderers who might have had some sense scared into them - have forgotten all about the crime. There is simply no connection in the public mind between crime and capital punishment. Contrast this, for instance, with the fate of the conspirators who worked together to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. He was assassinated on April 14, 1865. The plotters had been apprehended, tried, and hung by the neck til dead by July 6, a scant 83 days later. According to polling data, there still is a significant residue of Judeo-Christian morality left when it comes to the death penalty. Gallup found as recently as 2010 that 64% of Americans support the death penalty while just 29% oppose it. This is an encouraging result, given the relentless brainwashing from the left to convince us otherwise. (It's worth noting that as recently as 1995, the split with 80-16 in favor of executing murderers.) Bizarrely, in 2004 fewer people who went to church weekly favored the death penalty (65%) compared to those who never went (71%). This is likely due to the way in which the gospel of Christ has been feminized by the modern church, all its firm edges sanded off in order not to offend. It's sobering to think that people outside the church have a more biblical view of justice than those inside the church, which certainly is an indictment of the teaching coming from America's pulpits. Critics argue that capital punishment demonstrates a low view of the value of human life. It's exactly the reverse. It is imposing the death penalty that enables a culture to declare its highest regard for life. With the death penalty, society says that human life is so valuable that if someone takes a human life without just cause he must forfeit his own life in return. Justice truly is, as the book of God's truth says, "Life for life." (source: Bryan Fischer, renewamerica.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 20 16:20:50 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 16:20:50 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 20 ISRAEL: Israeli foreign minister on Facebook: Palestinian prisoners should be executed Israel's hardline right-wing foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman plans to introduce a bill into the country's parliament, the Knesset, which would implement the death penalty for Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli lockup. Alongside a photo reading "Death penalty for terrorists," Lieberman wrote on his Facebook page that his party - Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) - supports the death penalty for Palestinian prisoners. "The struggle against terror is the largest challenge for the 21st century world. This is also Israel's great challenge, but there's a large gap between what Israel preaches and what is done here [in Israel]," Lieberman wrote. "The 1st law that Yisrael Beitenu will propose is a death penalty for terrorists, because otherwise we're ordering up more terror and yet more terror," Lieberman continued. At the time of writing, Lieberman's post had already received more than 1,400 "likes" and had been shared 185 times. The Middle East Monitor first reported on Lieberman's Facebook post early Thursday. An estimated 6,200 Palestinians were in Israeli jails as of 1 December, according to Addameer, a Ramallah-based group that monitors the arrests and detentions of Palestinians. Despite Israel's claims to be a democracy, more than 99 % of Palestinians tried in its military courts are convicted, according a military document leaked to the Israeli daily Haaretz in 2011. Prisoner swaps Lieberman also said that Israel should not negotiate any more prisoner-release deals with the occupied West Bank-based Palestinian Authority or Hamas, the Palestinian political party that governs the besieged Gaza Strip. "Releasing terrorists, including those who carried out the most terrible attacks, like the Ramallah lynch[ing], is the worst possible message that can be conveyed in the war on terror," he wrote, referring to the killing of 2 Israeli soldiers in that city at the outset of the 2nd intifada in 2000. "You've got to signal to terror that you're changing your direction," he said. "That there are no more deals." In 2011, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli occupation soldier who had been held in captivity in Gaza for 5 years. Dozens of Palestinian prisoners released in that agreement were subsequently re-arrested, despite the lack of new charges against them. Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners in 4 waves as part of precondition to returning to "negotiations" with the Palestinian Authority in 2013. Yet, after the 1st 3 stages were completed, Israel reneged on the agreement and did not let the last 26 prisoners go home. Meanwhile, numerous conditions were imposed on prisoners who were released and many from the West Bank were forcibly transferred to Gaza. Another war on Gaza Lieberman concluded by claiming that another war on Palestinians in Gaza is on the horizon. "It is clear to everyone today that a 4th engagement with Hamas is inevitable, and that what's important is to plan ... now how to avoid the 5th," he wrote. Lieberman's post framed the wars on Gaza as a war against Hamas, although Israeli forces target Palestinians of all political stripes in its military offensives in Gaza. "Every military operation must end decisively; otherwise we erode our capacities and our deterrence," Lieberman claimed. "The fact that we enter into a military confrontation with Hamas every other year makes it impossible for the State of Israel to make long term plans, like a normal state could, in the realms of policy and economics." Israel's latest assault on Gaza - dubbed Operation Protective Edge - ended with a ceasefire in late August. During that attack, Israel targeted Palestinians by air, land and sea and more than 2,200 Palestinians - mostly civilians - were killed, according to United Nations monitoring group OCHA. Lieberman did not specify what he meant by a "decisive" conclusion to war on Gaza, but he has in the past advocated for Israel to reinstate its on-the-ground occupation of the area. Though Israel's settlers were evacuated from Gaza in 2005, it enforces a suffocating siege on Palestinians in Gaza. Shortly before Israel's latest attack on Gaza began, Lieberman called for the "full occupation of the strip," reported Haaretz last June. (source: electronicintifida.net) TURKEY: Senior judge says death penalty should be debated after young woman's death The newly elected head of the Supreme Court of Appeals has joined calls from the government for the reinstatement of the death penalty after the Feb. 11 killing of 20-year-old Ozgecan Aslan on a minibus in Tarsus. Supreme Court of Appeals President Ismail Rustu Cirit, who is said to enjoy good relations with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) led government, said on Wednesday that the reinstatement of the death penalty should be debated. "If a simple survey is carried out among the public, it would show that at least 80 % [of respondents] want the reinstatement of the death penalty," Cirit told reporters. Key political figures within the AK Party earlier voiced their support for reinstating the death penalty after Aslan's murder. Critics say the AK Party is using the tragic case to reinstate the death penalty and that such a reinstatement would have negative outcomes in light of the country's already eroding democracy. Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci posted a message urging the re-adoption of the death sentence via his Twitter account on Sunday night, as nationwide protests against the brutal murder of the university student continued. "I wish God's mercy upon our child Ozgecan Aslan and express my condolences to her family. I hope God places our child in the most beautiful place in heaven. We need to carefully discuss and reinstate the death penalty for murders such as that of Ozgecan Aslan," he wrote. After Zeybekci opened the debate, a number of high-level government officials and politicians expressed their support for the death penalty, which was abolished in 2002 under reforms aimed at initiating Turkey's European Union membership by a 3-party coalition government led by the Democratic Left Party (DSP). Then a partner of the coalition, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) did not block the government from going ahead with the proposal, but did vote against it in Parliament. Binali Yildirim, President Erdogan's chief adviser, said while answering questions from journalists on Monday that "for this [Aslan's murder] and other incidents like this not to remain unpunished, reinstating the death penalty must be widely debated in the public [sphere]." 3 suspects were arrested in connection with Aslan's murder after a court order was issued late on Sunday, with protests against increasing levels of violence against women taking place across Turkey. (source: cihan.com) BANGLADESH: Condemned man shown his death warrant Authorities at the Dhaka Central Jail yesterday afternoon read out a death warrant issued by the International Crimes Tribunal to condemned 1971 war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, who is also assistant secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami. "I have read out the death warrant to Kamaruzzaman at around 2:30pm. He wanted to talk to his lawyers to decide on his legal recourse," said Farman Ali, senior jail superintendent at the Dhaka Central Jail. Earlier in the day, a tribunal in Dhaka issued the death warrant against the Jamaat-e-Islami leader in a war crimes case. The International Crimes Tribunal-2 issued the warrant after receiving the full text of the supreme court verdict that upheld the death penalty of Kamaruzzaman for his crimes against humanity during 1971 liberation war. The copies of the death warrant, wrapped in red cloth, were sent to the Dhaka district magistrate, the prison authorities and secretaries of the home and law ministries, Mustafizur Rahman, registrar of the ICT, told reporters at a briefing. ICT acting deputy registrar Aftab-uz-Zaman left the office at 1:03pm to deliver the copies. The apex court on Wednesday released the full verdict on Kamaruzzaman's appeal after all the 4 judges, who had delivered the verdict on November 3 last year by a majority decision, signed the 577-page judgment. The judges are chief justice SK Sinha, justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, justice Hasan Foez Siddique and justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik. With this development, Kamaruzzaman has now 15 days to file a review petition with the supreme court on its verdict that has upheld his death penalty for war crimes. The countdown, however, started from Wednesday, said attorney general Mahbubey Alam on the same day. On May 9, 2013, the tribunal-2 found Kamaruzzaman guilty of 5 out of the 7 charges brought against him and sentenced him to death on 2 charges, life term on 2 and 10 years' jail on another. He was acquitted of 2 counts of war crimes. He challenged this verdict with the supreme court, which on November 3 last year upheld the death penalty for the mass killings at Sohagpur in Sherpur district on July 25, 1971. Justice SK Sinha, now the chief justice, headed the 4-member supreme court bench. The supreme court has so far completed the trials of 2 war crimes accused, while the trials of 7 others are pending with it. Kamaruzzaman's counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain said his client cannot be executed until the review petition, if filed, is not disposed of by the supreme court. The government has to wait 15 days to execute Kamaruzzaman even if he does not file the review petition, said Hossain while addressing a press conference at the Supreme Court Bar Association auditorium yesterday afternoon. The counsel added that they have not received the certified copy of the supreme court verdict although they have applied to the authorities for a copy. If the supreme court rejects the review petition, Kamaruzzaman will get the opportunity to petition the president for mercy. If rejected, then the government can execute Kamaruzzaman, said Hossain. (source: Gulf-Times) IRAQ: Iraqi MPs demand ratification of death sentences . The head of the Shia parliamentary bloc of the Iraqi National Alliance revealed on Thursday that 100 MPs from different parties have signed a petition demanding that State President Fuad Masum should ratify around 1,000 death sentences. "The signatures were handed officially to the Speaker of the Parliament," Hassan Salem told Anadolu. "The petition included a request to host the Iraqi president in the parliament at a time to be determined, to find out the true reasons behind the lack of his endorsement of the death sentences against those convicted by the judiciary." Paragraph 8, Article 70 of the Iraqi Constitution states that, "The President of the Republic shall assume the power to ratify death sentences issued by the competent courts." Salem added that President Masum may find the signature of his predecessor, Jalal Talabani, on a previous agreement with the European Union not to ratify the death sentences. This would be a good excuse for not approving them, he suggested, but taking this position would be "contrary to the Iraqi Constitution and the law." Talabani, who was president of Iraq for 2 consecutive terms from 2006 to 2014, refused to ratify death sentences in compliance with the EU agreement. Instead, he authorised his deputy, Khadr Alkhozai in June 2011 to sign and ratify the verdicts on his behalf. All death sentences from that date until 2014 were ratified but since Masum took office last July nobody has been executed for terrorism. The UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) issued a statement last October in which it demanded that the Iraqi authorities should stop the executions. "Iraq must stop the widespread use of the death penalty," said the UN body, "which is unfair and flawed, and only leads to igniting the sort of violence that is meant to be prevented by such a sentence." >From January to August 2014 the Iraqi ministry of justice executed 60 people, whereas 177 were executed in 2013. (source: Middle East Monitor) JAPAN----new death sentence//foreign national) Chinese man sentenced to death in Japan for murder The Nagoya District Court on Friday sentenced a Chinese man to death for fatally stabbing a Japanese woman and her son, injuring another of her sons and taking 200,000 yen in cash at their home in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in 2009. A panel of 3 professional and 6 citizen judges handed the death sentence to Lin Zhenhua, 31, who was a student at Mie University at the time. Presiding Judge Toshiya Matsuda, heading the panel, found Lin guilty of stabbing Kihoko Yamada, a 57-year-old company employee, and her 2nd son Masaki, 26, with a knife and injuring her third son Isao, who needed 2 weeks to recover. Police arrested Lin in October 2012 on suspicion of stealing a car. In December that year, police served a fresh arrest warrant on Lin on suspicion of the 2009 murder and robbery after his DNA matched saliva found at the murder scene. Lin pleaded guilty at the 1st hearing of the trial in January and prosecutors had sought the death penalty. But Lin's defense counsel argued he killed the woman in a panic after she discovered him in her home. (source: abs-cbnnews) FIJI: NGOs Welcome Removal Of Death Penalty The NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR), has commended the Fijian Government on repealing the death penalty from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Act. Despite strong opposition against this by Opposition Members of Parliament, the amendment was voted through by the Fijian Government last week. In a statement yesterday, chair of NGOCHR Shamima Ali commended the move. "The repeal of the death penalty was one of the recommendations accepted by the Government during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), in Geneva last October, and it is pleasing to see that the Government has taken the necessary steps to give effect to this recommendation," said Shamima Ali, the chairperson of the coalition. "The human rights community in Fiji has always opposed the death penalty and is pleased that arbitrary state-sanctioned killing is no longer available as a form of punishment in Fiji." The coalition hopes that Government will also take constructive steps to implement the other recommendations from the UPR and welcomes continued dialogue with the Government in this respect. A fiery debate took place in Parliament when Government sought to repeal the death penalty. Speaking out against this very vocally was National Federation Party member Tupou Draunidalo. However, despite her impassionate speech, in which she also launched a scathing attack on the UN, more Members of Parliament voted in favour of death penalty removal. (source: Fiji Sun) INDONESIA: Politics and pride muffle pleas for mercy for Bali 9 duo----Indonesian President Joko Widodo's push to punish drug dealers is popular and he is wary of appearing to bow to foreign governments. The mood was one of utter despair. As Myuran Sukumaran and his family gathered on Tuesday morning in a small courtyard in Bali's Kerobokan prison, an awful realisation was enveloping them. Almost 10 years after Sukumaran was arrested on his 24th birthday for drug smuggling, his journey from selfish criminality, angry denial and then transformation into a man to be proud of seemed to be at its end. "We were all standing around barely talking," recalls Chinthu Sukumaran, Myuran's younger brother, his voice shaking with emotion. "We were trying to tell each other there was still hope but it just felt like we were lying to each other." The previous day, Bali's prosecutor had revealed plans were well advanced to move Sukumaran and his fellow death row inmate Andrew Chan to Nusakambangan, the island in Central Java where the pair would be taken to a clearing in the jungle, trussed to a wooden stake and shot dead. A move on Tuesday was "unlikely" but the men might be transferred on Wednesday, a spokesman for the prosecutor had said. It would "definitely happen this week". Once on Nusakambangan, the conventional wisdom held, there could be no reprieve for the 2 Australians. As members of the family wept, Myuran moved around, comforting them. Others in the Sukumaran clan busied themselves, collecting Myuran's treasured art books and canvases. "He was trying to be strong," Chinthu says. "It was very difficult. For him to stay strong at a time like that, he really didn't need people crying around him." This unimaginable anguish was suddenly interrupted just before noon when news filtered through that the transfer had been delayed. It later emerged that Indonesian authorities had had plans in place to move them at midnight. It was - almost to the minute - an 11th-hour reprieve. "Myuran smiled. He talked. He got back to his painting," Chinthu says. "We had something to eat. Myuran said he could actually taste the food. That hadn't happened for a long time." And for the 1st time in weeks, Chinthu's brother slept deeply that night. For once, the sound of a gate banging in the wind, or a yelp from a fellow inmate, didn't make him awaken with sudden, adrenalin-fuelled dread. Despite the reprieve, the men, their families and lawyers are under no illusions that the outlook is anything but grim. The prospect that a prison guard will knock on the cell doors of Sukumaran and Chan, shackle their hands and feet and whisk them away to Nusakambangan remains all too real. Indonesia's Attorney-General HM Prasetyo told Fairfax Media on Tuesday that the postponement of the transfer did not mean a delay in their executions. Even so, he conceded he did not have a date for their appointment with a firing squad. Moreover, one of the main arguments posited by Indonesia for the delay - that Nusakambangan was not ready for them, that isolation cells needed to be prepared and execution fields cleared - was disputed by the official who runs the prison complex. And 3 other foreigners on the list of 11 death row convicts slated to be killed have been given strong indications that they will be allowed to pursue legal appeals or - in the case of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte - assessed to see if they are mentally ill and therefore unable to be executed under Indonesian law. These are all small but positive signs that the headlong rush to execute Chan and Sukumaran has eased a little. The delay, if nothing else, is a welcome relief from a torment that had been closing in at a frightening pace. And it's a chance to redouble legal and diplomatic efforts to forestall the executions and convince Indonesia to grant clemency to the two heroin smugglers whose remarkable rehabilitation has long earned them admiration among Kerobokan's guards and inmates and is now, finally, resonating with their fellow Australians. "We are grateful that we have this time. We are trying as best we can to use this time constructively," says Michael O'Connell, SC, one of a team of lawyers who have taken on the case of Chan and Sukumaran pro bono. The immediate task is to pursue 2 legal appeals. The first, to be heard by the state administrative court on Tuesday, is a direct challenge to the refusal of Indonesia's president Joko Widodo - universally known as Jokowi - to grant clemency to the pair. Indonesian law requires that Jokowi's decision be made "after thoroughly considering the clemency application". As revealed by Fairfax Media this week, Jokowi made his decision to reject the petition for mercy without the documentation that was lodged with his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, much of it outlining the transformation of the men behind bars. He acted upon little more than a list of 64 drug offenders on death row, making a blanket decision that they all must be killed. There is also a separate bid for Indonesia's judicial commission to examine allegations that the judges who first handed Chan and Sukumaran the death penalty had asked for bribes in exchange for a lighter sentence. The commission has asked for more "technical" information but there is cautious optimism it will at least thoroughly investigate the claims. Overarching the legal actions though is another, critical consideration. Can Jokowi and his government be persuaded to reconsider their hard-line stance on the executions? Is there a way there can be some kind of backdown that allows the Indonesian president to save face? To achieve this requires extraordinary diplomacy, and a favourable turn in the domestic political climate. Jokowi has declared that Indonesia is gripped by a drugs emergency that threatens to lay waste to a generation. He and his ministers constantly refer to statistics of dubious merit that the country has 4.5 million addicts and 50 people die each day from drugs. His remedy for the "crisis" is simple - execute drug traffickers. A quintessential political outsider with a reputation for personal integrity and decisiveness, it has been a difficult first few months in office for Jokowi. He is battling the hostility of the old elites who continue to dominate the parliament and has been excoriated for mishandling of a bitter feud between the notoriously graft-ridden police and the country's anti-corruption commission. "With a poor political base of his own, Jokowi needs to be popular to survive," says Endy Bayuni, senior editor at the Jakarta Post. "To get public support, declaring a war on drugs was the easiest way ... I was surprised when he suddenly declared a war against drugs. It was hardly mentioned at all in the election campaign. My opinion is he was using this to shore up his authority." Few doubt that Jokowi is sincere in his efforts to tackle the scourge of drugs, but there is little doubt he is milking it. David McRae, of the Lowy Institute, recounts an incident at the opening of a mosque in Kalimantan last month, just 2 days after the first group of drug offenders were executed, where Jokowi made an address that resembled a campaign stump speech. "Just imagine, 18,000 dying each year, every day 50 people. So the other day six people were executed. Everyone agrees, right?" Jokowi said. "Agree," was the response from the crowd. "I'm sure everyone agrees," Jokowi replied. There is little doubt that Jokowi's hard-line stance is popular and it is against this backdrop that Australia is making its diplomatic entreaties. After months of working largely behind the scenes, the Australian government has ratcheted up the rhetoric in the past week. First came Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's observation that Australians might reconsider their holiday plans if the executions took place, comments that gave momentum to a "Boycott Bali" campaign. This rankled Indonesians: why punish a peaceful Hindu island for a law that is applied nationwide? There was an inevitable backlash with many claiming fewer yobbo Aussies would be no great loss. Others posted idyllic photos of Bali on Twitter to point out what Australians were missing out on. The I Stand for Mercy campaign also failed to gain traction in Indonesia. For one, there were no Indonesian voices in the campaign. "It doesn't resonate well," says Jakarta-based international relations expert Pierre Marthinus. "If it had been a collaboration between Indonesia and Australia it would have sent a much more powerful message." Then Prime Minister Tony Abbott raised the $1 billion in aid that Australia gave Indonesia in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people, saying Indonesia should "reciprocate" by sparing Chan and Sukumaran. Marthinus believes Abbott has "jumped the shark" with the comments. It was like "looking into the eye of a child who lost their parents and saying: 'You know what? We gave you money, now we want something in return'." Australia is not the only country to make its displeasure known. The French, Philippines and Brazilian governments have been protesting about the pending executions of their citizens. The European Union and the United Nations have also very publicly urged Jokowi to reconsider. "It was a big story but now it's bigger story and it's about foreign actions and how Jokowi will respond to international pressure," Bayuni says. "This is unfortunate because it becomes a debate about foreign intervention, not a debate about the death penalty or the case of the 2 Australians." Yohanes Sulaiman, a lecturer in international relations at the Indonesia Defence University, said foreign pressure puts the Indonesian president in a predicament. "The last thing Jokowi wants to have is the image of him kowtowing to foreign governments," he told Deutsche Welle. "The opposition and the media would have a field day condemning the government and that also runs counter to the image that Jokowi wants to cultivate, which is the image of him as a decisive leader." Even so, it would be wrong to suggest that the international agitation over the executions has had no beneficial impact whatsoever. Tim Lindsey, a professor of Asian law at Melbourne University, believes the highlighting of the "blatant double standard" of Indonesia's stance over the death penalty - fighting for the lives of its citizens on death row overseas while proceeding with executions in Indonesia - is gaining traction, especially in elite circles. Last year Indonesia paid $2.1 million in "blood money" to stop the beheading of a maid who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for murdering her employer's wife and stealing money. There are some 230 Indonesians on death row abroad and, if future attempts to save vulnerable Indonesians fail due to the hypocrisy of Indonesia's policies, the local backlash could be severe. To pull away from the executions, Tobias Basuki, of Jakarta's Centre for Strategic and International Studies, says Jokowi will likely need something "tangible". On that score, Bayuni says a significant contribution to assisting Indonesia's battle against drugs could be helpful. "This movement towards executions for drug offenders is ultimately about fighting drug abuse," he says. Indeed, Fairfax Media understands that Australia has been workshopping ideas with interlocutors in Jakarta about new measures to fund drug rehabilitation projects in Indonesia. Ultimately, the best hope for Chan and Sukumaran is time itself. If the executions can be delayed for a few months, the political heat in Indonesia could subside. As Sulaiman points out, Jokowi "could use the oldest trick in the book - just do nothing and people will forget about it". Indonesian human rights groups are preparing an appeal to Indonesia's constitutional court about the validity of the death penalty. A previous petition to the court was rebuffed but its decision ordered the government to review its capital punishment regime and urged that death row inmates be given 10 years to repent and rehabilitate to earn a permanent stay of execution. Its recommendations have not been acted upon, and the human rights groups believe they have fresh grounds for a challenge. "The petition is complex. There is not much time and a lot work to do [to get the legal case in order to submit it]," Bayuni says. "But, if it goes before the court, there should be a moratorium on executions while it is being considered. "For me, that's the only way to get a stay of execution." For the Sukumarans and the Chans, there is only gut-wrenching, agonising uncertainty. The diplomacy, the political intrigue, the strategies - and the critiques of strategies - are overwhelming and hard to navigate. In the end, it boils down to one simple and profound plea. "We just want mercy," Chinthu says. (source: Sydney Morning Herald) ************** RI firm on fate of Australian drug smugglers: Kalla Vice President Jusuf Kalla has denied speculation that the Indonesian government will postpone the execution of 2 Australian drug convicts because it is under pressure from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. "No, not because of that [Abbott's statement]. The legal process is still going," Kalla told reporters after giving an address to the national meeting of the United Development Party (PPP) in South Jakarta on Thursday. He said that the decision to delay the execution of 2 Australian nationals, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, was due to technical issues. Earlier, Attorney General's Office (AGO) spokesman Tony Spontana revealed that the reason for the postponement was to give the Australian government more time to arrange a reunion between the 2 death-row inmates and members of their families. Australian media outlets recently reported that Australian Prime Minister Abbott had called on the Indonesian government not to forget the aid given by Australia to Aceh during and after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people in the province. He expected that the Indonesian government would cancel the executions in return for Australia's assistance. Abbott stated, as reported by Reuters, that Australia would feel "grievously let down" if the executions proceeded despite the roughly A$1 billion in assistance it gave after the 2004 disaster. He said he was referring to "the obvious strength of the relationship" between the 2 countries. "I was pointing out the depth of the friendship between Australia and Indonesia and the fact that Australia has been there for Indonesia when Indonesia has been in difficulty," Abbott told reporters in Tasmania. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop also criticized the double standards of the Indonesian government, which she said made every effort to save its citizens facing death row overseas, despite pushing ahead with executing foreign criminals at home. Foreign Ministry spokesman Armanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta he hoped Abbott's statement did not "reflect the true colors of Australians". "Threats are not part of diplomatic language and no one responds well to threats," he said. Analysts said that Abbott had made a blunder with his statement.Hikmahanto Juwana of the University of Indonesia (UI) said that Abbott's statement would only anger the Indonesian public and harden the resolve of the government. "Abbott's statement is regrettable," he said. Hikmahanto said Abbott gave the impression that Indonesia was dependent on Australia because of tsunami aid. "The humanitarian relief was given to make Indonesia dependent on Australia and at present, Australia is using this dependence to save the 2 Australians, but in reality Indonesia never depends on Australia," he said. UI analyst Makmur Keliat said Abbott's statement was a bump in the road in the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia. "The statement did not reflect changes in the substantive bilateral relationship between the 2 countries," Makmur said.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesia not to execute prisoners for drug crimes. Also facing the death penalty in Indonesia for drug offenses are citizens of Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines. The 2 Australians were accused of being leaders of the Bali 9, a group of 9 Australians arrested on the resort island in 2005 and convicted of attempting to smuggle 8 kilograms of heroin to Australia. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, Kalla, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly and Attorney General HM Prasetyo have all insisted that despite increasing calls from the UN and foreign governments for Indonesia not to proceed with the executions, the government would still execute 11 death-row convicts, 8 of whom were foreigners sentenced to death for drug trafficking. The 11 prisoners that the AGO has listed for the upcoming batch of executions are Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte, Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, Frenchman Serge Areski Atlaoui, Ghanaian Martin Anderson, Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami and 4 Indonesian convicts - Syofial alias Iyen bin Azwar, Zainal Abidin, Sargawi alias Ali bin Sanusi and Harun bin Ajis. (source: The Jakarta Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 20 16:21:47 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2015 16:21:47 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 20 AUSTRALIA: Bring back death penalty: Lambie Independent senator Jacqui Lambie says Australia should bring back the death penalty for citizens who fight for terrorist organisations overseas. Senator Lambie had previously called for citizenship to be revoked, but took it a step further on Friday morning, calling for courts to have the ability to sentence terrorists returning to Australia to death. "I'm asking that everyone who assists any of the terrorists trying to take out our defence force personnel, that the death penalty be introduced," she told Southern Cross Austereo radio. "But that should be determined by the jury. "I want to give them the option, for terrorism only." While she concedes there is little chance she will get the numbers to support the idea, Senator Lambie says it's good to bring issues like this to the public's attention. Her statement comes just a day after Australian David Hicks was cleared of his terrorism conviction by an American military court, after spending more than 5 years as a prisoner at US Navy base Guantanamo Bay. (source: AAP) IRAN----juvenile execution Juvenile Offender Saman Naseem Was Executed The Kurdish political prisoner Saman Naseem who was sentenced to death for offences he allegedely committed at 17 years of age, was executed in the prison of Urmia (Northwest of Iran). Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported earlier that Saman's family were contacted by the authorities yesterday to meet at the prison to collect Saman's belongings on Saturday. According to several independent sources, Saman's family have been asked earlier today to collect Saman's body tomorrow, Saturday 21. February. It is still unclear whether Saman was executed yesterday (Thursday) or today. IHR strongly condemns Saman Naseem's unlawful and inhumane execution. Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the spokesperson of IHR, said: Ali Khamenei, the Iranian authorities' Supreme leader must be held responsible for the inhumane treatment and execution of Saman Naseem. We urge the international community to strongly condemn this execution. Saman Naseem's execution takes place despite repeated calls from the international community. Iran's continuous violations of the basic human rights must have consequences for the Iranian authorities". Also FIDH (a founding member of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty) and its Iranian member organisations, the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) and the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) have strongly condemned "the illegal execution of juvenile offender Saman Naseem that reportedly took place yesterday morning in Iran". Saman Naseem was transferred together with 5 death row prisoners of conscience from his prison ward to an unknown location on Wednesday 18. February. There is no information about the other 5 death row political prisoners: Yunes Aghayan, Habibollah Afshari, Ali Afshari, Sirwan Najavi and Ebrahim Shapouri. There is increasing concern that also these prisoners may be executed soon. Despite ratifying the United Nations' Convention for the Rights of the Child, Iran is the world's biggest executioner of juvenile offenders. Saman Naseem was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for "enmity against God" (moharebeh) and "corruption on earth" (ifsad fil-arz) because of his membership in the Kurdish armed opposition group PJAK, and for taking part in armed activities against the Revolutionary Guards. His death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2013. Has was 17 year old at the time of his arrest. According to reports Saman Naseem didn't have access to his lawyer during early investigations and according to a letter he wrote from the prison he was tortured, which included the removal of his finger and toe nails and being hung upside down for several hours. In the letter, Saman said: "During the first days, the level of torture was so severe that it left me unable to walk. All my body was black and blue. They hung me from my hands and feet for hours. I was blindfolded during the whole period of interrogations and torture, and could not see the interrogation and torture officers." (source: Iran Human Rights) ****************** Illegal execution of juvenile offender FIDH (a founding member of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty) and its Iranian member organisations, the League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI) and the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC) strongly condemn the illegal execution of juvenile offender Saman Naseem that reportedly took place yesterday morning in Iran. "The continuing execution of prisoners of conscience and juvenile offenders by the Iranian authorities is illegal and reprehensible," stated Karim Lahidji, FIDH President. "Moreover, the regime's deliberate policy of denying information to families of death row prisoners, intended to intimidate the Iranian people, violates international law and basic human rights." Our organisations received information that Saman Naseem's relatives were contacted by the Iranian authorities yesterday afternoon and were told to collect his personal effects from prison on Saturday and to keep quiet. Naseem was reportedly executed yesterday morning in the presence of representatives from the Office of the Prosecutor and the Ministry of Intelligence. Naseem was sentenced to death in 2013 after being convicted of vague charges including moharebeh ("waging war on God") and "corruption on Earth" for his alleged participation in armed activities in 2011 as a member of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). He was only 17 years old at the time of his alleged crimes, making his death sentence and execution illegal under international law: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which Iran has ratified, prohibit the death penalty for juvenile offenders. Nevertheless, Iran ignored international law and calls from international human rights groups, the United Nations, and the European Union to halt Naseem's illegal execution. 5 other prisoners of conscience had also reportedly been sent to solitary confinement yesterday, in apparent preparation for their execution: Habibollah Afshari and Ali Afshari (2 brothers accused of collaboration with Kumala, a Kurdish opposition group), Sirvan Nejavi and Ebrahim Shapouri (both convicted of collaboration with PJAK), and Yunes Aqayan (also spelled Younes Aghayan, a member of a religious minority group who was sentenced to death for moharebeh). The fate of these 5 individuals is yet unknown. Our organisations are firmly opposed to the death penalty under all circumstances as it constitutes an inhuman treatment, and call on the Iranian authorities to introduce a moratorium on executions as the 1st step toward the abolition of death penalty. In particular, death sentences and executions against minors and for prisoners of conscience must cease immediately. (source: FIDH) ******************* Kurdish Brothers Executed by Iranian Regime The Kurdistan Human Rights Network has confirmed that 2 brothers, Ali and Habib Afshari, who were in the group of 6 political prisoners imprisoned in Urmia prison have been hanged. Activists Habib and Ali Afshari were declared guilty of "corruption on earth" and "acting against God's will" by the Iranian revolutionary court of Mahabad. On January 16, 2012, they were sentenced to be executed. The statement made by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network is as follows: The partner of Ali Afshari has told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network that on Friday 20th of February, at noon the Office of Intelligence Service of Iran contacted Mrs Afshari to inform her of the execution of Ali and his brother Habib. 1 of the relatives of the 2 brothers was also called to the Intelligence Services Offices to be formally informed of the execution of both Ali and Habib Afshari. The family has also been informed that they are not permitted to hold funerals for the executed men in mosques or public places and that they are not permitted to speak to any media agencies. They are to have a quiet and secret gathering in their homes only. A third brother, Jafar Afshari, who was arrested along with Ali and Habib in 2009-2010 was sentenced to 5 years in prison. The 3 brothers had been on hunger strike several times demanding a fair-retrial and end to torture. Reports came in yesterday that Saman Naseem, a young Kurdish man in the group of 6, who was sentenced to death at the age of 17, and for whom an internatioanl appeal was made to stop his execution, was also executed. (source: kurdishquestion.com) PAKISTAN: Court releases 3 prisoners facing death penalty A divisional bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday released 3 prisoners facing death penalty due to lack of evidences. Justice Sikandar Salim and Justice Khalid Mehmood of divisional bench of LHC began the hearing in the case in which the 3 convicts Qamar Hussain Bhatti, Wasim Ashraf and Ali Khan were produced before the court. Police Station (PS) Saddar Bairooni officials arrested the three accused in 2010 on account of kidnapping Rehmat Ullah for ransom and later murdering him. The prosecution told the court that the 3 men were charged with kidnapping and murdering a man in 2010. He told the court that the 3 accused demanded ransom from the family and later murdered him when the family refused to pay the amount. The court was told that Anti Terrorism Court Number 2 has passed out a death penalty in the case. However, the accused challenged the verdict of ATC with LHC. The prosecution pleaded the court to reject their acquittal and uphold the verdict of ATC No 2 in the case. Arguing before the court, the defence lawyer said that the police and prosecution have failed in providing or proving the substantial evidences about demanding of ransom or murdering the man. Therefore, the defence lawyer said, the court should release his clients. The divisional bench of Lahore Court, after conclusion of arguments of both parties, declared the death penalty null and void and ordered release of the 3 convicts due to lack of evidences. (source: The Nation) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 21 16:21:00 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 16:21:00 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., OHIO, ARK., MO. Message-ID: Feb. 21 TEXAS: George W. Bush's finest hour as governor of Texas George W. Bush did several things as president that earned my praise, although he would do many others - like starting 2 wars - that drew my harsh criticism. But during his 5-year tenure as governor of Texas, there is really only one action by Bush I regarded as praiseworthy and even heroic, especially for one who at the time brandished the "tough guy" image and had campaigned as the candidate who would be harsh on criminals. During his governorship, Bush presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the history of the state - until his successor Rick Perry came along. There were 278 people put to death on Perry's watch. The most noted death penalty case under Bush was that of Karla Faye Tucker who, in 1998, became the 1st woman to be executed in Texas since 1863. There was much pressure from all over the world for the governor to commute her sentence to life or, at the very least, to grant a 30-day reprieve for the woman who had become a born-again Christian while on death row. Bush, who already had higher political ambitions, would not budge. In a statement denying the delay, in which he acknowledged receiving calls for mercy as well those demanding accountability, the governor said it was his "responsibility to ensure our laws are enforced fairly and evenly without preference or special treatment." When Bush allowed Karla Faye Tucker to die, capital punishment opponents saw little hope that anyone else on death row would ever receive anything resembling mercy from the governor. Then, 4 months later, Bush did the noble thing in the case of Henry Lee Lucas, a notorious serial killer - and also a notorious liar, because it was determined that he didn't commit nearly the number of murders to which he confessed. Lucas was a 1-eyed drifter who had killed his mother and probably a couple of other women before being arrested in Texas in 1983 on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. While in custody, he began confessing to numerous unsolved murders in Texas and across the country. The number of victims he claimed to have killed eventually got up to 600, with jurisdictions clearing their books of more than 200 previously unsolved cases based on Lucas' confessions. He was convicted of 10 murders, including that of an unidentified woman found north of Austin who was known simply as "Orange Socks," because that's all she was wearing when her body was discovered. For various crimes, Lucas received 6 life sentences, 210 years in prison and the death penalty for the Orange Socks killing. As it turned out, the case for which Lucas was sentenced to die is one authorities became certain he could not have committed. Research by journalists for a Dallas newspaper, as well as time-lines established by investigators, showed that Lucas was likely in Jacksonville, Fla., at the time of the murder. On the recommendation of Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, and over the objection of the Williamson County district attorney, the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole advised Gov. Bush to grant a 270-day reprieve and to commute the Lucas' death sentence to life. Bush agreed, noting, "The 1st question I ask in each death penalty case is whether there is any doubt about whether the individual is guilty of the crime. While Henry Lee Lucas is guilty of committing a number of horrible crimes, serious concerns have been raised about his guilt in this case." I contend that this was Bush's finest hour as governor. Greg Abbott should show the same courage and halt the scheduled March 5 execution of Rodney Reed. There is credible evidence that Reed is innocent. (source: Opinion Bob Ray Sanders; Fort Worth Star-Telegram) **************** Family of murdered pregnant teen will seek death penalty A grieving mother told Eyewitness News that the killer of her teenage daughter and unborn granddaughter deserves the death penalty. Bexar County Sheriff deputies arrested 19-year-old Courtney Velasquez on Friday for capital murder. They said he confessed to relatives he drowned, then burned the body of his pregnant girlfriend. What started as a grass fire on near Schuwirth Rd near FM 1346 turned out to be the scene of a crime. It's now a place where the family of 18-year-old Dawanna Thomas go to grieve. Pregnant girlfriend murdered "My love will never end for her," said Tear Bedford, the mother of the teen. Authorities arrested Thomas' boyfriend Friday. They said Velasquez violently killed her. Thomas' mother told Eyewitness News her daughter feared for her life. "(Velasquez) didn't want nothing to do with the baby he kept calling me saying he wanted to get an abortion, I said we don't believe in abortion I said my baby is going to have the baby," said the mother. According to the affidavit, Velasquez's relatives came forward to police. A family member told detectives that he picked up Velasquez near a fast food restaurant near Rittiman Road and Highway 35 and that Velasquez pants were "wet". The relatives then told police that Velasquez said "I can't believe I did it", "I killed her" and "I drowned her at the creek by Rittiman Road". The affidavit goes on to say that Velasquez continued to tell his relative "I took her clothes off, put her in a bag and put a log over it, up under the bridge...". The relative then told police Velasquez said They told detectives that he said he was "going to take her body and burn it somewhere". "Justice has not been served for him just because he is locked up," said the grieving mother. "I'm seeking death penalty for whoever had hands in this because that was my 1st grandbaby." Velasquez is charged with capital murder of Thomas and her unborn child. (source: KENS news) PENNSYLVANIA: A Time Out for the Death Penalty Is declaring a "time out" to the death penalty in Pennsylvania an abuse of the governor's power "ignoring duly enacted law," as prosecutors have claimed, or is it a much needed opportunity to step back? Even a years-long moratorium would be a blink of the eye compared to what Nick Yarris endured before he was exonerated by DNA tests in 2004, after 21 years on Pennsylvania's death row. Now Yarris is part of the reason why Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced a death penalty "time out" in Pennsylvania, which has the fifth largest death row in the nation. In reaching his decision Wolf concluded: "Pennsylvania's system is riddled with flaws, making it error prone, expensive, and anything but infallible." Yarris' case shows just how much can go wrong in a high-stakes murder investigation. His case was not initially treated as part of a death penalty "system." He was arrested by local police after being pulled over. The incident turned south when he got into an altercation with the officer. In lockup he read in the newspaper about a serious rape and murder investigation and made a misguided offer to assist the local police. Detectives proceeded to interrogate Yarris and without recording the initial conversation, they later asserted without any notes or documentation, that he had offered 2 key details about the murder that had never been made public. He supposedly volunteered that the victim had been raped and that her Chrysler Cordoba had a brown "landau" (or fake convertible) roof. The police also located eyewitnesses. They did not initially identify Yarris at lineups and described someone who looked different. Yet at trial they said they thought they saw Yarris at the shopping mall where the victim was abducted on the day of the crime. The potential malleability and unreliability of eyewitness memory is set out in detail in a landmark new National Academy of Sciences report [PDF] (by a committee which I should note I participated in). The police also tried to bolster their case by tracking down a jailhouse informant who claimed Yarris had bragged about the shaky eyewitness evidence in the case (and the inconclusive forensics), making the weakness of the prosecution's case all seem like a sinister plan. I describe this troubling testimony in my book, "Convicting the Innocent." It was not an even fight at trial. Yarris had a lone defense lawyer (today two lawyers, plus investigative and expert resources are recommended for death penalty trials). The lawyer was privately retained???for just $1,500???and the trial judge refused the defense much needed experts to explain, for example, why someone like Yarris might falsely confess or why he posed no danger justifying a death sentence. Yet the prosecution's house of cards fell apart decades later when a DNA test was finally obtained. Yarris' civil rights case later settled in the millions. The problems that sent Yarris to death row persist in Pennsylvania to this day. There is still no statewide requirement that entire interrogations be electronically recorded to prevent contamination by law enforcement. (This despite how failure to record may lead to prosecution losses more often than wrongful convictions). There are no state guidelines on interrogating the mentally ill or intellectually disabled. There are no state requirements that best practices for lineups, like those recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, be adopted. Indeed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court just ruled [PDF] that expert testimony on such false confessions is not admissible (although approving experts on eyewitness memory). An American Bar Association report [PDF] in 2007 found still additional systemic problems in Pennsylvania. It takes special expertise and resources to handle a death penalty case. But in Pennsylvania there is no statewide authority to ensure adequate death penalty lawyers are appointed. Each county handles indigent defense on its own, with predictable failures to provide a sound defense. In addition racial disparity has not been studied; the governor noted data is simply not being collected. The governor should be applauded for allowing a bipartisan Task Force and Advisory Committee (chaired by Senators Daylin Leach and Stewart Greenleaf) to carefully study the problem without looming execution dates interrupting their work. There is no rush. It took more than 20 years to uncover Yarris' innocence. Although many complain of protracted litigation delays in capital cases, that same litigation has exonerated those facing the nightmare of a wrongful execution. As more states have stepped back from the death penalty and others have become deadlocked in litigation over secret drug protocols and botched executions, it is refreshing to see calmer heads prevail in Pennsylvania. Until criminal investigations and capital litigation are fixed on the ground, we cannot place upon them the exorbitant weight of a death sentence. And until that day comes, in Pennsylvania and in each of the other remaining death penalty states, we need to give the death penalty a time out. (source: Guest Commentary; Brandon L. Garrett received his JD from Columbia University School of Law and is currently a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is the author of "Convicting the Innocent" and "Too Big to Jail: How Prosecutors Compromise With Corporations."----The Jurist) ******************** Man convicted of killing Homewood girlfriend, 2 kids appeals death sentence A man convicted of gunning down his Homewood girlfriend and her 2 children didn't get a fair trial because prosecutors were allowed to exclude jurors hesitant about the death penalty and allowed to use a confession he made after suffering a traumatic brain injury, the man claims in a death sentence appeal filed Friday in federal court. An Allegheny County jury in 1996 convicted Gerald Watkins, 45, and sentenced him to death for the July 20, 1994, murders of Beth Ann Anderson, 30, Kevin Kelly, 9, and newborn Melanie Watkins. All 3 were shot multiple times with a .22 caliber weapon. The state Supreme Court on Feb. 9 denied his petition for a new appeal hearing. His federal appeal claims that excluding 8 potential jurors who hesitated about whether they supported the death penalty violated his constitutional rights to a trial by an impartial jury. "Even the slightest hesitation regarding capital punishment was treated as grounds for dismissal," federal public defender Christi Charpentier says in the appeal. A brain injury Watkins suffered after the murders rendered him incapable of intelligently waiving his Miranda rights when he confessed to police, she said. Watkins was treated at a New York hospital for the head injury and told doctors he couldn't remember how he became injured. He was arrested in Harlem on May 5, 1995. 2 Pittsburgh police detectives who drove Watkins back to Pittsburgh testified that he confessed to the murders during the drive and he subsequently signed a written confession. At trial, he denied making the confession, claimed police forged his signature and that he was on the Pennsylvania Turnpike driving to New York when the murders happened. 2 witnesses put Watkins at his girlfriend's house minutes before the murders. Another witness said Watkins called him a day or so after the murders, confirming he had committed them. The witness said Watkins threatened to kill him unless he helped collect some money other people owed Watkins. (source: Triblive.com) ********************** The death penalty won't bring my dad back When I heard about Gov. Wolf's decision to declare a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania, I felt a surge of pride for my home state. Pennsylvania is finally taking a critical look at the death penalty, much like a scientist has to take a critical look at all angles of an experiment. And no one better to take a critical scientific look than my dad, Terry. He was the kind of dad who was in love with math and science, lights and gears, energy, and solving equations, and he showed me all of it with a sense of joy and fun. He's probably the reason I am now a middle-school math teacher. Tragically, he was brutally murdered before he ever got a chance to see just how he influenced my career. In September 2001, when I was a senior in college, my dad and stepmother, Lucy, were tortured and killed in their Lancaster County home by my adopted stepbrother, Michael Bourgeois, and his acquaintances. Even after all these years, I still don't understand the motivation for this crime. Michael, who was 17 at the time of the murder, is serving a life sentence. One of the other culprits, Landon May, is on Pennsylvania's death row. The crime came as a complete surprise, and it turned my life upside down for a while. I was angry, hurt, helpless and full of nightmares. A year later, as we prepared for the trials, I was presented with the notion that "justice would be served for me" and the death penalty would be sought for May. What was a gut reaction in the office of the district attorney that day - that I just wanted my dad back, and death for someone else was so far removed from the things that mattered - became a long journey of educating myself about the death penalty and deciphering the meaning of the word "justice." In the 14 years since my parents' deaths, I have come to 2 solid conclusions. Most importantly, I want to live a full and joyful life without carrying the heavy load of bitterness and hatred that the death penalty brings. On this journey, I've had the opportunity to connect with people who have been through tragic situations like mine, and I have seen that this is possible. It is a choice and it takes a lot of work. Second, I've figured out what justice actually is: It's everyone getting what they need to heal. In a story like mine, it's a victim's surviving family members being supported in the aftermath of a terrible crime. It's guidance on how to navigate the funeral, the trial, the money, the grief. It's the community getting what it needs in the form of safety and crime prevention programs, and the offenders being taken out of the community. It's also the offenders getting what they need - accountability, counseling, safety as well. All of these needs can be met without the death penalty. It is clear to me - having seen the offenders in my case get both life and death sentences - that killing someone who has already been removed from the community is not necessary. It is not justice. Pennsylvania's capital punishment system is broken in so many ways. It costs far more than imprisoning murderers for life. It is inconsistent and arbitrary. It is difficult to carry out. And we'll never be able to completely eliminate the possibility that an innocent person could be executed. But all that aside, my voice is of a victim's family member who still just wants her dad back. The death penalty system, no matter how hard it tries, simply cannot do that. And it won't honor my father or stepmother to do more killing now. Long ago, I made a choice to keep my dad with me every day and refocus my life away from a killer I never knew. Thank you, Gov. Wolf, for deciding to halt executions and take a closer look at the death penalty. (source: Commentary; Megan Smith lives in Asheville, N.C.----The Morning Call) NORTH CAROLINA: DA undecided on death penalty in Mount Holly double killing Gaston County District Attorney Locke Bell has not yet decided if he will seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing his girlfriend and her teenage son. Peter Rivers, 41, is charged with 1st-degree murder in the deaths of his live-in girlfriend, Bridget Berry, 38, and her son, Treyvon "T.J." Berry, 17. The bodies of mother and son were found in their Mount Holly home after the house was set on fire. Bell says he is still reviewing the case and will announce a decision on whether to seek the death penalty in court. Rivers has been indicted by the grand jury on both counts. He is in Gaston County Jail without bond. (source: Gaston Gazette) OHIO: 3 to face death penalty----Arrests made in Uniopolis murder case 3 men were indicted this week in the June slaying of an Uniopolis man beaten to death inside his home. All 3 will face the death penalty, Auglaize County Prosecutor Ed Pierce said Friday. Aaron M. Dietrich Sr., 26, of Wapakoneta, Joseph R. Furry, 30, of Van Wert, and James P. Dinsmore, 28, all are charged with 2 counts of aggravated murder, and 1 count each of aggravated burglary, kidnapping and intimidation of a witness. The arrests come this week, about 8 months into a lengthy investigation, Auglaize County Sheriff Al Solomon said. "I'm very pleased with these arrests. There is more work that needs to be done," Solomon said. "This brings hopefully some justice to the victims and the victim's family." The men are charged in the June 9 death of Charles Hicks, 54, who was found dead in his upstairs apartment at 2 Main St., Uniopolis. Deputies were called to the apartment at 4:30 p.m. that day over a deceased man. Solomon and Pierce would not discuss a motive or say how the three men became suspects. All 3 are being held on $5 million bonds. The indictments filed this week gives a glimpse into a possible motive. One of the death penalty specifications said Hicks was killed to prevent his testimony as a witness in a criminal case. Hicks' autopsy report said he was beaten to death. It said he had crushing injuries to the front of his neck that led to him suffocating. Hicks' coworkers and friends began looking for him the morning of his death after he failed to arrive at his job. People visited his building once. Later, they returned. When they entered the apartment through an open door, they spotted blood throughout the apartment, according to the autopsy report. They left and called for emergency help. A deputy quickly arrived. Hicks' body was found under a pile of blankets on a bed. The autopsy report said he had been dead for a while based on stages the body goes through after death. The time of death was placed sometime in the 28 hours after 8 p.m. June 7, according to the report. Hicks was bound. Someone used black duct tape to tie his wrists behind his back. Tape was also around his ankles. The autopsy report lists numerous injuries associated with a severe beating including facial injuries and broken ribs. He had alcohol in his system. The next step is an arraignment in Auglaize County Common Pleas Court. Furry's arraignment is scheduled for March 2. Arraignments for the others have yet to be scheduled. (source: limaohio.com) ARKANSAS: Arkansas Supreme Court listens to oral arguments on lethal injection law A case that examines whether a 2013 law gives the state's correction department too much authority in setting lethal-injection protocol is now before the Arkansas Supreme Court. The court on Thursday heard oral arguments from an assistant state attorney general and a lawyer representing 9 death-row inmates, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1vNvNC0 ) reported. Pulaski County Judge Wendell Griffen last year put lethal injections on hold in the state. He said the law stipulating the department use a barbiturate wasn't adequate and gave the department too much leeway to decide what drugs to use and how they should be administered. The ruling is a response to a 2013 lawsuit by the 9 death-row inmates who challenged the latest rewrite of the Method of Execution Act, which replaced the electric chair with lethal injection in 1983. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Merritt said during oral arguments that the law provides "sufficient guidance" to prison officials. Josh Lee, the inmates' public defender, said that the statute also allows the correction department to decide whether medical personnel should be present at an execution. "What the General Assembly has said is, 'We can have a quick and painless death, or a slow and agonizing death. Department of Correction, it's up to you,'" Lee said. He also said in an email after the hearing that "This case is really not about the death penalty. It is about making sure that government agencies don't exceed their authority. Not just prisoners but also Arkansas businesses and ordinary citizens need government agencies to stay within the limits of their constitutional authority." (source: Associated Press) MISSOURI: Columbia Residents work to Put the Death Sentence to Rest Members of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, or MADP, gathered at the Methodist Church in downtown Columbia Thursday to discuss reforming capital punishment procedures. Convener for the Columbia chapter of MADP, Jeff Stack, said the organization hopes to one day see the death penalty revoked. But for now, the immediate priority is to have it reformed. "This gathering tonight is looking at a common ground, to try to have a system be as fair as possible, and to try and prevent wrongful convictions," Stack said. "That's at minimum what we should agree to as a civilized society." University of Missouri law professor Paul Litton gave a presentation at the meeting. Litton spent 2 years working in a committee sponsored by the American Bar Association studying Missouri death penalty procedures. His presentation highlighted the weaknesses of capital punishment legislation and addressed common misconceptions regarding the death penalty. "If you support it because you think that some people deserve it, have you thought about the moral costs?" Litton said. "About how it's often arbitrarily imposed or distributed? And 2nd, have you thought about the financial costs? Most people think it saves us money. It's not true." Litton said studies have concluded that it costs up to 3 times more to pursue an execution than to convict a defendant to a sentence of life without parole. Litton said legislative changes would improve accuracy and fairness of capital punishment sentencing. MADP will continue to lobby for a moratorium of Missouri's death penalty and promote reforms to capital punishment procedures. (source: KBIA news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 21 16:22:25 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 16:22:25 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KAN., CALIF., ORE., USA Message-ID: Feb. 21 KANSAS: Amman Reu-El defense attorney: 'People of color' underrepresented as potential jurors in capital murder case The number of prospective jurors in the retrial of King Phillip Amman Reu-El who are African-American or biracial is below the 12.7 % of "people of color" in Shawnee County, and the jury panel should be dismissed, the defendant's attorneys said Friday. The question of the racial makeup of the prospective jurors in the Shawnee County District Court jury surfaced Friday during a motion hearing on Friday. Amman Reu-El, 42, of Topeka, is charged with capital murder and is in the process of being retried in the 2003 shooting deaths of 2 women in southeast Topeka. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. The retrial is more than 11 years after the 2 women - Annette Roberson, 38, and Gloria A. Jones, 42 - were killed and more than 9 years after Amman Reu-El was tried, convicted and sentenced to death in 2005. Defense attorney Paul Oller defined "people of color" as those who are African-American or who identify themselves as biracial. Oller said that, of 4 panels of prospective jurors reporting for duty earlier this week, the 1st panel didn't have any "people of color," the 2nd had 6, the 3rd had 6, and the 4th had one, a total of 13. "The representation of African-American-black and mixed race is less than 5.4 % of the total jury panel and is not representative of the community at large," Oller wrote in the motion to discharge the jury panel. In the 2010 census, the racial composition in Shawnee County was 8.8 % who are African-American and 3.9 % of mixed race black, Oller wrote. That totals 12.7 %. According to defense numbers, 240 people reported for jury duty in the 4 panels. "Such under-representation of African-American-black and mixed race profiles violates Mr. Amman Reu-El's right to be judged by a jury representative of the community at large," the defense motion said. Amman Reu-El is African-American. The jury panel should be discharged and a new panel should be called "in accordance with the law," the defense motion said. 12 jurors and 5 alternate jurors will hear the case. Shawnee County District Court Judge Richard Anderson said he would take up that motion before the jury is to be impaneled. Earlier on Friday, Anderson denied a motion by Amman Reu-El seeking to fire his defense attorneys in his capital murder retrial. The courtroom was cleared of prosecutors and 2 spectators - including a Topeka Capital-Journal reporter - so Anderson could hear the reason Amman Reu-El wanted to dismiss John Val Wachtel and Oller as his defense attorneys. Amman Reu-El, Anderson, Val Wachtel and Oller, were behind closed doors to discuss the motion before it was denied. A court reporter and a corrections officer also were in the courtroom. Amman Reu-El is formerly known as Phillip Delbert Cheatham Jr. The prosecutors in the case are chief deputy district attorney Jacqie Spradling and assistant district attorney Lauren Kohn. A new trial was ordered for Amman Reu-El in 2013 after the Kansas Supreme Court overturned his capital murder conviction and death penalty sentence for the killings in a home at 2718 S.E. Colorado in Topeka's Highland Park neighborhood. Court records said Amman Reu-El is charged with: -- Capital murder in the Dec. 13, 2003, shooting deaths of Annette Roberson, 38, and Gloria A. Jones, 42. -- 2 alternative counts of premeditated 1st-degree murder of Roberson and Jones. -- Attempted 1st-degree murder of Annetta D. Thomas, who was shot multiple times. -- Aggravated battery of Thomas. -- Criminal possession of a firearm. Amman Reu-El has pleaded not guilty to the charges. When court resumes on Monday, prospective jurors will be questioned 1st about hardships - financial, work and personal - they might face by serving on the jury, then answer questions by prosecutors and defense attorneys about other topics. Finally, the 12-member jury and 5 alternate jurors will be selected after 51 prospective jurors are approved. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will strike 17 people each, a total of 34 strikes, then 17 will remain. Those will be the 12 jurors and 5 alternates. The capital murder case has 2 phases, the judge said earlier this week. First, jurors consider whether to convict a defendant of capital murder. If they convict him, they must decide whether to recommend sentencing him to death. That requires a unanimous vote by jurors. The jury trial is expected to start on March 5. The whole process is expected to last 6 weeks. On Nov. 14, 2014, the Supreme Court disbarred Dennis Hawver, of Ozawkie, the 1st attorney who represented Amman Reu-El. The Supreme Court said Hawver violated Kansas rules of professional conduct while defending Amman Reu-El in 2005. The court said Hawver engaged in "inexplicable incompetence" when defending Cheatham. (source: Topeka Capital-Journal) CALIFORNIA Judge Refuses to Step Aside in Los Alamitos Death Penalty Trial----The judge in a Los Al actor's double murder trial rejects defense claim that he can't be impartial because he once worked with an informant. An Orange County Superior Court judge today said he won't voluntarily remove himself from overseeing a double-murder suspect's trial as a defense attorney has requested, setting in motion a legal process that will next have a judge in another county decide whether there's a 4th jurist switch in the case. It likely means another 2- to 3-month delay in the expected trial of Daniel Patrick Wozniak, 30, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy. That has angered family members of Wozniak's alleged victims, 26-year- old Samuel Eliezer Herr and 23-year-old Juri Julie Kibuishi. "It's just constant delays," said Herr's father, Steve, of the defendant's attorney. "His case is against the prosecutors, the sheriff's investigators and now the judges." Wozniak's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders, cited Orange County Superior Court Judge John Conley's work with a jailhouse informant in a case from the 1980s -- when Conley was a prosecutor -- as the reason the judge should recuse himself. Sanders argues in a motion summarizing why the death penalty should be dismissed against his client that the Orange County District Attorney's Office has a checkered past dealing with jailhouse snitches going back to a case against Thomas Thompson, who was executed in 1998. Sanders has also argued in court papers that Conley will be an "important witness" in his motion to dismiss the death penalty for Wozniak because the judge is "in the unique position of explaining how he and other members of his office responded to questions about the veracity of an informant who was a witness on multiple serious cases." Conley said the only specific case cited by Sanders involved William Lee Evins, a murder defendant prosecuted by Conley more than 30 years ago. "I do not believe that a person who was aware of the facts might reasonably entertain a doubt that I would be impartial, based on a case I handled over 30 years ago, where the defendant pled guilty and there was no appeal," Conley said. Conley noted he worked in the District Attorney's homicide division for less than 2 years in 1980 to 1982. Conley said he was unsure how the handling of jailhouse informants factors in Wozniak's case. Herr agreed. "This case has nothing to do with informants," Steve Herr said. "It's a moot point. Let's get this to trial." An inmate did try to get information from Wozniak, but it was before he became an informant and the prosecution has no intention of using the statements in the trial, Murphy said. If a judge from Los Angeles Superior Court or Riverside Superior Court or elsewhere denies to install a new judge on the case, then Sanders has the option of having Conley removed, but it's a 1-time chance. There are only 2 other Orange County Superior Court judges left qualified to preside over capital cases -- Gregg Prickett and Patrick Donahue. But Sanders has signaled he will file a motion to have all of the county's judges recused. If Sanders has Conley removed from the case, then he would have to file a motion showing good cause to have Prickett and Donahue recused. Judge James Stotler had been presiding over the case, but stepped down last month when he concluded he could not guarantee he would be fair to Sanders. The case was assigned to Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals, who has been hearing evidence of misuse of jailhouse informants in the case of convicted mass killer Scott Dekraai, another Sanders client. Prosecutors, without saying why, objected to Goethals also considering the Wozniak case. Wozniak's alleged victims were friends. He is accused of killing Herr at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base and using the man's cell phone to lure Kibuishi home to her Costa Mesa apartment, where he allegedly shot and dismembered her, then disposed of the body parts at the Eldorado Park Nature Center in Long Beach. (source: patch.com) ******************* Death penalty levied for Thermal vineyard killings A man who killed 2 farm workers in a Thermal vineyard, days after taking the life of a teenager, is to be executed for the crimes, a judge in Indio ruled Friday. Angel Anthony Esparza, 30, showed no emotion as Superior Court Judge James S. Hawkins upheld a jury's capital punishment recommendation. 2 separate groups of people in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing at the Larson Justice Center declined to comment or say on whose behalf they attended the hearing. At least 1 woman sobbed. Outside the courtroom, Esparza's attorney reiterated his philosophical opposition to the death penalty. "This is an example of man's inhumanity to man," attorney John P. Dolan said. "I understand that the population still supports the death penalty. I can't see human beings being executed by the state -- referring to this case in particular and in general." Prior to issuing the ruling, Hawkins denied defense motions to dismiss the conviction on grounds of insufficient evidence, and for a new trial. "The court finds that the evidence supports the jury's verdict of death," Hawkins said. Esparza was convicted last July of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder for the Dec. 19, 2009, vineyard killings. The jury also found true special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder in the commission of robbery and kidnapping, making him eligible for a death sentence. Esparza was tried earlier in 2014 for the double murder and the Dec. 3, 2009, shooting death of 16-year-old Angel Luna, but that jury deadlocked on the vineyard killings, triggering a retrial on those counts. "When you look at death and use your courage, you'll be able to look at Angel (Anthony) Esparza and say, 'You deserve death for what you did to Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia,'" Deputy District Attorney Jake Silva told jurors before they decided on a sentence last summer. "Does he deserve something less than what he gave to Gregorio Juarez and Pedro Garcia?" Silva asked rhetorically. "Make no mistake -- in that vineyard on Dec. 19, 2009, Angel Esparza chose the death penalty." He said Esparza decided where, when and how the victims died, and showed no remorse. Dolan told jurors his client was born into "depravity'' to a mother who was a chronic drug addict. Esparza took care of her and was a good student until high school, when he was "crushed by our judicial system" and imprisoned for driving a car in a pursuit during which shots were fired, Dolan said. "Are we to conclude Angel Esparza is a stone-cold, evil person who has no redeeming value?" he told jurors during the trial's penalty phase. "... Is life without the possibility of parole enough? I hope each of you can see the answer to that question is 'yes.' It is holding Angel Esparza accountable, it is holding him responsible ... it's justice tempered with mercy." In the last month of 2009, Esparza was staying at the Thermal residence of Christina Zapata and her daughter, Cecilia Morin, while on the run from law enforcement, and on Dec. 19, Juarez and Garcia arrived with plans to pay to have sex with Morin, Silva said. Esparza entered Morin's bedroom with a revolver and ordered Garcia and Juarez to the floor, took their wallets and bound them with cords and duct tape. He and Zapata drove them to a vineyard at Avenue 58 and Pierce Street, and Esparza dragged them into the vineyard, the prosecutor said. Later, Zapata's boyfriend, obtained a can of gasoline, drove Zapata and Esparza back to the vineyard, and Esparza took the gas and a bag of the victims' belongings into the vineyard. The next morning, Juarez and Garcia were found shot in the head and burned "beyond recognition,'' Silva said. Esparza was arrested at a relative's home in San Bernardino on Christmas Eve 2009, and authorities found a gun that matched markings found on a bullet in Garcia's head, Silva said. Morin and Zapata refused to testify in the trial -- their previous testimony was read in court. They each pleaded guilty in the case to 2 counts of 2nd-degree murder last year in exchange for sentences of 15 years to life in prison. Esparza was sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for the Dec. 3, 2009, shooting death of the teenager in Coachella. In a complicated legal calculation of his sentence, Esparza faces a total of 141 years-to-life in addition to the death sentence. (source: The Desert Sun) OREGON: New Oregon Governor Kate Brown to extend death penalty moratorium Oregon's new Democratic Governor Kate Brown said on Friday she planned to extend a moratorium on executions that her predecessor enacted in 2011, well before an influence-peddling scandal forced him from office earlier this week. But like fellow Democrat John Kitzhaber, Brown stopped short of formally commuting death sentences for the 34 inmates currently awaiting execution in the state, which has executed only 2 people in the past half century, both in the 1990s. "There needs to be a broader discussion about fixing the system," Brown said in her 1st press briefing since she took Oregon's helm on Wednesday. "Until that discussion, I'm upholding the moratorium imposed by Kitzhaber." In a major salvo in the nation's long-running battle over capital punishment, Kitzhaber imposed a blanket reprieve on all Oregon death row inmates in 2011, saying he believed the death penalty was morally wrong. He had faced growing calls in the waning days of his administration to commute all Oregon death sentences to life in prison before leaving office following an ethics scandal over accusations his fiancee used her role in his office for personal gain. But Kitzhaber, who has not been seen publicly since announcing his resignation last week, remained silent on that issue, although he did commute the prison sentence of a young man serving time for attempted murder in a non-capital case. Brown, who had been Oregon's secretary of state before this week, said she met with Kitzhaber on Monday and he advised her of his legislative priorities and recommendations. In addition to her death penalty plans, Brown told reporters she supports raising the minimum wage, increasing transparency and improving access to public records. (source: Reuters) USA: Prosecutor opposes moving trial for man facing death penalty prosecution for inmate's death A prosecutor is urging a judge to reject a change of venue for the trial of a West Virginia federal prisoner charged in the slaying of a fellow inmate. The government is seeking the death penalty for 34-year-old Patrick Franklin Andrews. He is charged in the 2007 stabbing death of 28-year-old Jesse Harris at the U.S. Penitentiary at Hazelton. The Exponent Telegram reports (http://bit.ly/1ECb1Kt ) that Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Cogar says in court papers that there's no evidence that news coverage of the case would prevent Andrews from getting a fair trial. Andrews is scheduled for trial in may in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg. A co-defendant, 34-year-old Kevin Marquette Bellinger, was (source: Associated Press) ************************ Boston Marathon Bombing Trial Update: Defense Argues to Move Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Death Penalty Case Out of Massachusetts in Federal Appeals Court Lawyers representing accused Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev presented arguments before a federal appeals court on Thursday to move the high profile case out of Massachusetts in order to give him a fair trial. The 21-year-old suspected terrorist has pleaded not guilty to 30 charges connected to the explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, which killed three people and injured 264 others. In addition to planting 2 bombs at the race, prosecutors say that he and his now deceased brother, Tamerlan, also fatally shot a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer three days later. If found guilty, Tsarnaev faces the death penalty. Earlier this year, lawyers began sorting through hundreds of potential jurors on Jan. 5. However, the process of selecting a panel of 18 people, which includes 12 jurors and 6 alternates, is taking longer than the district court had expected since many candidates have confessed that they already hold a bias against the suspect, reports Reuters. As a result, defense attorneys continue to push for the trial to be moved outside of Boston, where the attack took place, in order to find an unbiased panel of jurors. They argue that they are unable to assemble an impartial jury due to "saturation publicity" about the case in addition to the many state residents who were personally affected by the 2013 bombing. The local jury pool is "connected to the case in many ways" and cannot be counted on to be fair, said federal public defender Judith Mizner in arguments before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reports the Associated Press. "This attack was viewed as an attack on the marathon itself ... and an attack on the city of Boston," Mizner added. Mizner pointed out that there is continual media coverage of the marathon and the recovery of the victims. Tsarnaev's lawyers also made note that 68 percent of the 1,373 prospective jurors who filled out questionnaires already believe that Tsarnaev is guilty. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Weinreb argued that the presiding judge in the case has been weeding out people who have preconcieved notions about Tsarnaev. He added that people who have strong opinions about Tsarnaev have "unhesitatingly admitted them" during the interview process, leading him to conclude that the process is working, reports the New York Times. Plus, the judge has already found 61 people he believes qualify to be impartial jurors, he said. (source: Latin Post) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 21 16:23:15 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 16:23:15 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 21 TURKEY: Should Turkey reinstate the death penalty? Last week, the people of Turkey were emotionally shaken by the attempted rape and murder by a minibus driver of a 20-year-old university student named Ozgecan Aslan. Ozgecan's horrific death sparked nationwide protests concerning violence against women and calls for the reinstatement of the capital punishment in Turkey, which was abolished in 2004. There are many reasons why what happened to Ozgecan sparked such highly poignant responses. She was an angelic, lively young woman, a successful and genuinely beautiful university student who was simply trying to go home on the night of her killing. The prime suspect, Suphi Altindoken, a minibus driver, tried to rape her; and is accused of killing her for resisting, dismembering and burning her body in an attempt to destroy any evidence. Altindoken's father and one friend stand accused of helping him dispose of the body. In front of the courthouse, the suspects were almost lynched and still to this date, no lawyer has come forward to defend the trio. "Those who are in favor of the death penalty claim the punishment will be a deterrent for such cases in the future. However, the statistical data suggests otherwise. In this emotive environment, Ozgecan's death also started a nationwide debate on the reinstatement of capital punishment. Even some politicians like Aysenur Islam, the Family and Social Policies Minister of Turkey, expressed support for the reinstatement of the death sentences for such cases as a deterrent. Capital punishment in Turkey Judicial killing has not been carried out in Turkey since 1986, even though it was abolished in 2000 in principle and in 2004 Turkey permanently abolished the death penalty in perpetuity to ratify to the European Convention on Human Rights after Ankara's candidacy for EU membership was initiated. Turkey thus became the 1st Muslim majority country to abolish the death penalty. What happened to Ozgecan is evil and revenge is tempting, but this is when we must be most measured and reflective about 2nd and 3rd tier effects of making law by emotion. Statistically ineffective Those who are in favor of the death penalty claim the punishment will be a deterrent for such cases in the future. However, the statistical data suggests otherwise. The death penalty was ranked last when police chiefs were asked to name one issue as "the most important for reducing violent crime," with only 1 % listing it as the best way to reduce violence. The death penalty came in behind needing more police officers; reducing drug abuse; a better economy and more jobs and longer prison sentences. Almost 6 in 10 police chiefs (57%) agreed that the death penalty does little to prevent violent crimes because the perpetrators rarely consider the consequences when engaged in such violence. The purpose of law enforcement If the basis for law enforcement is to prevent crime and create a safe environment for citizens, life in prison without the possibility of parole also guarantees no future crimes. If we are after a moral society where human rights are held in high esteem, clearly capital punishment is against the Fifth Article of the International Declaration of Human Rights. Organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are working against the death penalty across the world. As a result, it is no longer practiced in most developed societies. Moral ground Most importantly, capital punishment is, when all is said and done, state sanctioned murder; it is the practice of taking the life of a human being willfully and with intent. Seeking comfort through actions that we would normally qualify as crimes or atrocities (i.e. murder) eliminates the possibility of social reconciliation in society. How can we give permission for someone to kill another because that person committed a crime and even pay for this "service?" In democracies, if "we the people" are the "state" then when the "state" kills, don't we all become participants? We do not torture prisoners as it is considered inhumane treatment of persons under captivity; in the same manner, executing prisoners is the ultimate in inhumane treatment to persons under captivity. PKK and capital punishment On another note, if Turkey is going to discuss reinstating the death penalty, the discussion would also likely involve the PKK terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Contrary to popular propaganda, Abdullah Ocalan was not sentenced to life imprisonment because he is a political prisoner: It was because he is a proven mass murderer. Since the Turkish government's reconciliation talks with Kurdish groups are still on the table, the state of Ocalan and his ilk should be a concern regarding reinstating capital punishment. Let's not forget that Ocalan had already been sentenced to death in 1999 after being nabbed by Turkish Special Forces in Kenya but his sentence was commuted to life in prison after the abolition of death penalty. These points bring us to the question: "What can be done to prevent future Ozgecan Aslan cases?" As a voice of reason, Ozgecan's father also thinks capital punishment is no use for the slain. He said in an interview; "[The death penalty] may return to dissuade, but it is not a solution ... People should learn to control themselves instead." Nobody is born a felon, but they can be influenced and educated to become one. It is nurture, not nature that is to blame. We can raise the bar of public security through various measures, but first of all, we need to educate our youth to respect human dignity, the sanctity of life and to understand our origin in Divine creation. If we spend all our time and resources seeking vengeance rather than rooting out the reasons and ideas that create criminality, we will end up in a society full of mourning families on both sides. (source: Ceylan Ozbudak is a Turkish political analyst, television presenter, and executive director of Building Bridges, an Istanbul-based NGO. As a representative of Harun Yahya organization, she frequently cites quotations from the author in her writings. She can be followed on Twitter via @ceylanozbudak----Al Arabiya) PAKISTAN: President rejects 6 clemency pleas President Mamnoon Hussain turned down on Friday clemency appeals of 6 prisoners on death row, who are likely to be executed over the next couple of days, sources in the Presidency told Dawn. All 6 prisoners are from Sindh. Sources say the president's decision has been conveyed to the Sindh Home Department, which has directed the inspector general for prisons to carry out the executions. The prisoners whose appeals have been turned down include Achar alias Bhai Khan, Abdul Aziz, Bashir Ahmed, Mohammad Faisal, Mohammad Afzal and Munawwar Ali. All 6 are said to have been convicted in various terrorism cases. The president has already rejected 17 mercy pleas from criminals awarded the death penalty since last December. The decision regarding the rejection of 6 men's appeals was not officially made public. Sources said it had been decided at the top level that such decisions would not be announced officially due to security concerns. "The summary regarding the appeals of 6 convicts was initiated by the interior ministry and received by the Presidency through the Prime Minister Office. After the president's decision, the summary was sent back through same channels for execution," the source said. President Mamnoon, he said, would back all executive orders aimed at eliminating terrorists and had decided that no mercy appeal by any convicted terrorist would be accepted. On Dec 17, 2014, President Mamnoon approved the abolition of a moratorium on the death penalty after the attack on Peshawar's Army Public School, which claimed the lives of 148 people, including 135 schoolchildren. In the wake of the move, several executions have already been carried out in different parts of the country. (source: Dawn) BANGLADESH: Kamaruzzaman to file review petition Death row convict Muhammad Kamaruzzaman today asked his counsels to file a review petition with the Supreme Court challenging its verdict that upheld the Jamaat-e-Islami leader's death penalty in a war crimes case. If the apex court rejects the appeal, then Kamaruzzaman will decide whether he will seek presidential mercy, advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir, a counsel for Kamaruzzaman, told The Daily Star after meeting him at the gate of Dhaka Central Jail in the morning. The 4 other counsels who met Kamaruzzaman at the jail gate are Tajul Islam, Ehsan A Siddiq, Moshiul Alam and Matiur Rahman Akand. Earlier, the 5 lawyers went to the jail and talked to him for 31 minutes from 10:37am. Manir said their client is mentally and physically well and is not worried at the SC judgment that upheld the verdict of International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentencing him to death for his crimes against humanity during the country's Liberation War in 1971. Claiming himself innocent, Kamaruzzaman told his lawyer that he was not involved in any kind of offences leveled against him, Manir said. The defence will file the review petition in 15 days from February 19, the day when Kamaruzzaman was informed about the release of full text of the apex court verdict, said the lawyer. "Kamaruzzaman hopes that he will be acquitted if he gets justice as he is innocent," said another counsel Tajul Islam told The Daily Star. The lawyers met with the Jamaat leader 2 days after ICT-2 issued an execution of death warrant against him in a war crimes case. The tribunal issued the warrant after receiving the full text of the Supreme Court verdict that upheld the death penalty of Kamaruzzaman for his crimes against humanity during 1971. Assistant secretary general of Jamaat, Kamaruzzaman was handed capital punishment for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. Copies of the death warrant, wrapped in red cloth, were sent to Dhaka district magistrate, prison authorities and secretaries to the ministries of home and law, said Mustafizur Rahman, registrar at the tribunal. The prison authorities later on the day read out the death warrant to the condemned war criminal. On May 9, 2013, the tribunal-2 found Kamaruzzaman guilty of 5 out of the 7 charges brought against him and sentenced him to death on 2 charges - life term on 2 and 10 years' jail on another. He was acquitted of 2 counts of war crimes. He had challenged this verdict with the SC, which on November 3 last year upheld the death penalty for the mass killing at Sohagpur in Sherpur on July 25, 1971. (source: The Daily Star) LIBERIA: Independent National Commission On Human Rights Chairperson Wants Death Penalty For Rapists The Chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights Cllr. Gladys Johnson has attributed the increase in rape cases to the lack of prosecution in the country. Cllr. Johnson said during the earlier stages of rape crimes in the country there was high level of women participations in anti rape campaign which made the crusade a nationwide concern. Gladys Johnson noted that the momentum to fight the crime later declined as a result of the release of rape suspects in the society. She described rape as a war that has been brought against children by men in the society stressing the country needs to rise up and bring to an end such terrible act. Cllr. Johnson said as Chairperson of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights, she finds it difficult to advocate for the abolition of death sentences when in fact older men are raping and killing children. She wants those who are involved in what she described as a satanic act of killing another human to be sentenced to death. The Chairperson of the INHCR made the remarks recently when she served as keynote speaker at programs marking the public findings of the DIALOGUE forum on the ongoing Constitution Review exercise of Liberia, organized by the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiative. Gladys Johnson is at the same time urging Liberians to be careful about their opinion of the revision of the Constitution. She said for 25 years, governance and constitutional reform have remained the missing link to addressing Liberia's corrosive governance challenges, post conflict stability, peace building and democracy. In 2011, the 1st post-war referendum conducted ended in a complete disappointment, the government's entire propositions were defeated during the nationwide polls. The defeat offered a critical re-think at the overall revision of the Liberian Constitution. In August 2012, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf commissioned a 5 member Constitution Revision Committee CRC headed by former Chief Justice Gloria Musu Scott to review the 26 year old Liberian Constitution. It is this gap the project the DIALOGUE; Taking the Constitutional Review Process to the people for their participation and ownership seeks to address. But speaking at the program, the Legal Analyst of the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiative LMDI Zeo Mensah stressed the need for Liberians to focus on issues that should be included in the Constitution. Mr. Mensah said spotlighting issues that are currently in the Constitution is a single facet of the revision process of any law. The LMDI Legal Analyst also expressed the hope that the Constitution Review Committee will give consideration to important issues in order to promote good Governance. (source: hintsnewsnetwork.com) KENYA: Man Gets Death for Poll Violence Murder After Appealing Life Imprisonment Sentence A man who appealed a life sentence for a murder charge during the 2008 PEV has now been given the death penalty. Peter Rutto, 26, was found guilty of murdering Kamau Thiong'o at Kamura village in Timboroa county. Witnesses told the court in 2012 that Rutto attacked Thiong'o, 67, with a panga when he fell after being struck with an arrow. Nakuru Court of Appeal judges Roselyn Nambuye, Philomena Mwilu and Gatembu Kairu said Rutto's sentence was just. They said he and other attackers were present when Thiong'o was killed, and that the evidence against him was sufficient. (source: All Africa News) IRAN----executions 5 Prisoners Hanged in Iran, More Executions in Coming Days On Tuesday 17th February, 2 prisoners in Iranshahr prison and on Wednesday 18th February, 3 prisoners in Rajai Shahr prison in karaj were executed by hanging. Also, 12 prisoners in Central Prison of Urmia, Central Prison of Bandar Abbas and Shahab in Kerman were transferred to solitary confinements to be executed. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), on Tuesday morning, 17th February, 2 prisoners who were charged with drug related crime, were executed by hanging in the prison of Iranshahr. Also, on Wednesday morning, 18th February, 3 prisoners charged with murder, were executed by hanging in Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj. 1 of them was an Afghani citizen, who had been transferred from Ghezel Hesar prison, Afghani prisoners' ward, to Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj and was executed there. The 2 other prisoners who were executed in Rajai Shahr prison, in Karaj, were named Mohammad Nadi and Mojtaba Shokohi. On Wednesday, 5 prisoners in Shahab prison, in Kerman, with drug related crimes, were transferred to solitary confinements until their execution sentences would be carried out. These 5 prisoners were named; Hossein Arab, Ghader Goltapeh, Behrooz Khoda bandehlo, Rahmatollah Barahooei and Azizollah Barahooei. In Central Prison of Bandar Abbas also a prisoner, who was accused with murder, identified as Reza Sharifi, was transferred to solitary confinement after serving 11 years in prison, until he would be executed. (source: HRANA) ********************** 2 Kurdish Political Prisoners Executed A France-based organisation, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network claims that it has confirmed reports that brothers Ali and Habib Afshari have been executed. They were arrested in late 2010/early 2011 on charges of 'waging enmity against God' through 'propaganda activities' and 'membership in a dissident group'. In efforts to protest against the unjust charges and verdict, the brothers went on several hunger strikes. At the same time in Iran, Amnesty International says the whereabouts of 22-year-old Kurdish political prisoner Saman Naseem are unknown. The young Kurd was sentenced to death in April 2013 on charges of "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth" due to alleged membership of the Kurdish armed opposition group Party For Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK). His execution had been planned to February 19 which triggered a massive campaign to revoke his death sentence. In a recently published letter claimed to be by Saman Naseem, he said "I was 17 in the summer of 2011 when the Islamic Revolutionary Guards arrested me. They immediately began to savagely torture me. They seemed to really enjoy torturing me." Human rights organisations including Amnesty International and thousands of Twitter users called on President Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Khamenei to halt the execution and grant Saman Naseem a fair trial. Saman Naseem was sentenced to death despite the fact that Iran has ratified both the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which strictly prohibit the use of the death penalty against people who were below 18 years of age at the time of the crime. As many as 127 people have been executed so far in 2015 but the real number may be higher as Iranian authorities do not disclose actual figures to the public. (source: Kurdishrights.org) ******************* Iranian Resistance condemns execution of 2 political prisoners The Iranian Resistance strongly condemns the execution of 2 political prisoner brothers, Razgar (Habibullah) and Ali Afshari, 26 and 34 years old, who were hanged at dawn on Thursday, February 19 in Orumiyeh, offers its condolences to their families and the public in Kurdistan, especially the young combatants in this region. There is no doubt that the martyrdom of the young people of this territory by the religious fascism ruling Iran only doubles the will of the Iranian people to overthrow this inhuman regime. The Iranian Resistance calls on the UN Secretary General, the Security Council and all human rights organizations to condemn these brutal executions and to take binding measures against brutal and systematic violation of human rights, and especially to save the lives of other political prisoners facing execution. Afshari brothers, from the city of Mahabad (in Iranian Kurdistan), were arrested in early 2011 along with two other brothers, Jaafar and Vali, and were tortured for months and were sentenced to death in the clerical regime's sham courts under the fabricated charge of "Moharebeh" (waging war against God). Ali Afshari, who was injured during the arrest by the suppressive forces' bullet, was in critical condition due to infection of his wounds, but the henchmen refused to provide minimum medical treatments. They were among the hunger striking political prisoners in Orumiyeh prison and for this reason were threatened by the regime's henchmen that if they continued their strike, their death sentences would be carried out. Jaafar and Vali, the 2 other members of the Afshari family are still in prison. (source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran) ************************ Top court revokes death sentence for forest ranger Iran's Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence issued to a Dena Forest Ranger and returned the matter to a different branch of the penal court for review. The sentence had been confirmed 3 times at the Kohgilouyeh and Boyerahmad court. In July of 2010, 3 forest rangers heard gun shots in the mountains of Dena National Parks, which turned out to be from a poacher. The rangers approached the poacher, later identified as Mohammad Payehgozar, and during the confrontation Payehgozar was killed by a gunshot. Gholamhossein Khaledi, 1 of the rangers, was charged with 1st degree murder. Khaledi was sentenced to death without regard for the legal provisions allowing rangers to carry and use firearms in the course of their duties. The Supreme Court has overturned the sentence and referred the matter to a different branch in view of the original court's error despite 3 attempts at review. The sentence had been highly criticized by environmental groups, who said it has seriously demoralized rangers, who are already engaged in the highly hazardous work of protecting endangered Iranian wildlife. (source: Radio Zamaneh) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 21 16:24:00 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 16:24:00 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 21 MALAYSIA: Hangings of Kevin Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Chambers in Malaysia destroyed families' lives The tragedy of the 1986 hanging of Kevin John Barlow and Brian Geoffrey Chambers behind the imposing concrete walls of Malaysia's Pudu Prison, was for me, not the death of the 2 men I had come to know, but in the victims it left behind. I remember my 1st meeting with the 2 men inside the Penang Prison, a relic of the British Colonial justice system, built in the 1850s to house 350 prisoners but by November 1983, when Barlow and Chambers were arrested, stuffed to overflowing with some 2000 inmates. Despite the crowded conditions, they were in good spirits. They shared a cell. The prison was old but kept meticulously clean by a tough but fair-minded prison warden of the old school. They were allowed the luxury of Western food and time to exercise and sit outside in the sunlight. They had made a pact, they said, "not to get their families involved". After all, it was only a "matter of time before things would be sorted, bribes paid and they we will be back in Oz again". They had no sense of their plight - seemingly oblivious to the fact the Malaysian Government, in an attempt to crack down on a blossoming and insidious drug trade taking hold of the country, had recently introduced new laws making the death penalty mandatory for any one in possession of just 15g of a banned narcotic. Barlow and Chambers had been arrested with 179g of low-grade heroin hidden in a suitcase - detained by an "observant policeman" who noticed Barlow's nervous demeanour as they tried to check in at the Malaysia Airlines 1st-class counter for a flight to Kuala Lumpur and a connection to Sydney. I remember, too, just 18 months later - when their trial began on July 17, 1985 - that Barlow and Chambers would no longer look each other in the eye. They hardly spoke. The local lawyer, Rasiah Rajahsingham, who had initially been engaged to represent both men, had quickly determined that given the evidence against them, he could at best save only one. Now they would be represented by individual counsel - Barlow by charismatic political opposition figure and lawyer Karpal Singh, while Rajahsingham chose to stay with Chambers. No one could possibly imagine the anguish of a last goodbye to a son or a brother, knowing that in the morning they will be taken out and killed at dawn. They turned on each other. The parents and family members who Barlow and Chambers had early agreed to "keep out of it" now watched on helplessly from the court gallery, as each man tried to implicate the other in a desperate gambit that at best would send 1 man to the gallows while the other walked free. Parents, sisters, brothers and supporters struggled to understand why the guilty party wouldn't own up and accept the blame so "my boy" could live. It was a high-risk strategy that in the end meant only that in their efforts to save themselves, each had condemned the other to die. The presiding judge found that by their own admissions, Barlow and Chambers had arrived, stayed, and were leaving together with an amount of illicit narcotics in their joint possession and therefore had a common purpose of trafficking drugs. I remember too, the steamy, oppressive heat of the packed courtroom in Penang, where on August 1, 1985, Barlow and Chambers were sentenced to death by hanging; the angry, anguished glare of despair as Chambers turned on the Australian tabloid reporter who had dared demand a response to a shouted question as the condemned men were led from the courthouse: "How does it feel, Geoff, how does it feel?" "How do you think it f---ing feels, you idiot!" he responded. And I remember lying to Chambers' sister, Kathryn back at the hotel later when through her tears she asked: "They don't hang white men in Malaysia, do they?" "No," I offered in reply, knowing full well they probably would. What followed was a 12-month period of failed legal appeals, the intervention of Australian lawyers to no avail, passionate appeals for a stay of execution by both then Australian prime minister Bob Hawke and his foreign minister, Bill Hayden, a petition for clemency delivered to the governor of Penang, and finally a joint letter from Barbra Barlow and Sue Chambers to the king of Malaysia, Sultan Iskandar, pleading for their lives. With each desperate manoeuvre came brief moments of hope, as the Malaysian officials' ditherings were interpreted as a possible weakening of their resolve to proceed with the hangings; only to be followed by heartbreak and angst as each was dismissed or rejected out of hand. The families left no stone unturned enlisting the support of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and even the Pope, in a bid for mercy in order to save their loved ones. But Malaysia's strongman prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, with a domestic political constituency to play to, was unmoved and determined to make an example of the "criminal Westerners". He dismissed the argument that no one had the right to take another's life with the curt response, "you should tell that to the drug traffickers". And I remember the gut-wrenching moment of watching Barbara Barlow and her children, Michelle and Christopher; Sue and Brian Chambers and daughters Margaret and Kathryn, returning from their last visit to the condemned men - heartbroken and distraught. No one could possibly imagine the anguish of a last goodbye to a son or a brother, knowing that in the morning they will be taken out and killed at dawn. This was not saying goodbye to a loved one who was dying of some illness; this was an attempt at parting words of love and comfort to those who would the subject of state-sanctioned murder. This was innocent bystanders being condemned to a trauma so uniquely painful and poignant to be unimaginable. And I recall coming to the realisation at that moment, that the death penalty is not confined just to the prisoners whose lives it takes in the name of justice, but that it also condemns family and loved ones to a rollercoaster of hope and despair so wrenching and exhausting, that ultimately it extinguishes something deep inside them forever. All this in the name of justice. The parallels between the cases of Barlow and Chambers and that of the Bali Nine ring leaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are many. Barlow and Chambers were not evil men. Stupid, naive - greedy, even, - but like Chan and Sukumaran, capable and perhaps deserving of redemption and a second chance. I remember standing outside of Purdu Prison in the early hours of July 7, 1986, when at 6.50am a prison goods truck rolled through the big steel gates. Inside were he bodies of Barlow and Chambers - their tagged and exposed feet providing proof to the waiting mean and women of the press that Malaysian justice had indeed been done. Barbara Barlow would later say she felt her son's moment of death: "At 6.08 my heart skipped a beat. I knew it was over." Sue Chambers released a handwritten statement: "I believe in God. No one has the right to take someone else's life. It is inhuman. There is no more to be said. But he will be free forever." Chan and Sukumaran, like Barlow and Chambers, may well be freed forever by their state-sanctioned killings. It is those who are left behind who receive a life sentence. And it is for them, we should also grieve. (source: Bruce Dover is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald Sun and covered this case from the arrest of Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers to their hanging----Herald Sun) INDONESIA: TNI to safeguard prison island as Jokowi firm on execution policy President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo made it clear on Friday that the postponed executions of 11 death row convicts, including 2 Australians, was simply the result of technical problems in the field and it had no relation at all to Australia's pressure on Indonesia to drop the decision. "No, there were no such issues. It is within our legal sovereignty [to execute the convicts]," Jokowi said at the Bogor Palace. "I believe the delay is due to technical issues; just ask the attorney general [about the details]." The President then asked Vice President Jusuf Kalla to brief reporters about his telephone conversation with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Thursday, in which the Australian diplomat clarified the statement from Prime Minister Tony Abbott that was perceived as offensive to Indonesia. The Prime Minister said Australia would feel "grievously let down" if the executions proceeded despite the A$1 billion that was given in aid after the 2004 tsunami devastated Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra. Kalla, who previously denied speculations that the postponement of the executions was based on pressure from Abbott, said Bishop phoned him on Thursday to clarify Abbott's statement. "Yesterday [Thursday], Foreign Minister Bishop explained, and certainly regretted, the misunderstanding," Kalla said. According to the Vice President, Bishop also said that Abbott merely tried to emphasize the long history of good relations between the 2 countries, including the period in which Aceh was devastated by a tsunami. Quoting the Australian diplomat, Kalla said Australia wanted to continue cooperating with Indonesia in a variety of areas, including the fight against drug abuse and trafficking. Attorney General M. Prasetyo, whose office is responsible for carrying out the execution, reiterated that the government decided to delay the executions from the original date earlier this month simply for technical reasons. He also warned Australia not to intervene in Indonesia's domestic affairs. "We never put pressure on others; we hope they also do not put pressure on us," said the attorney general. Meanwhile, Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. Moeldoko supported the President's decision saying that he was ready to deploy military personnel to secure the execution site from any threats. Moeldoko said that he would provide any support that the government needed to complete the executions of the 11 convicts, including the 2 Australians that the current controversy is centered around, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. "The TNI will never be influenced by anything or by anybody. On the death penalty issue, we have a clear stance; right or wrong this is my country," Moeldoko said. Moeldoko said military leaders would hold a meeting with the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the Law and Human Rights Ministry to discuss possible threats that might emerge before and during the executions. "We will make a detailed emergency plan to prepare for any disruptions that may interfere with the executions," Moeldoko said. Although Moeldoko declined to give further information on what kind of security threats might emerge as a result of the executions, he insisted that he had sufficient information from TNI intelligence reports. "Of course we don't want to clearly state the threats that may come from certain countries. But the TNI understands that there are possible threats. This is why we asked the head of military intelligence to attend the meeting," he said, adding that he was ready to deploy military personnel whenever the government needed it. For instance, the military will allocate its personnel to secure several areas in Nusakambangan prison island, Central Java, where the executions are set to take place. "There are several empty roads on the island that need to be secured from outsiders," the 4-star general said. (source: The Jakarta Post) ********************* Indonesia recalls ambassador to Brazil in row over death penalty Indonesia recalled its ambassador-designate to Brazil on Saturday as Jakarta's diplomatic rows worsened over the planned executions of convicted foreign drug smugglers. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff refused to accept the ambassador's credentials in protest over the death sentence of Brazilian Rodrigo Gularte. "We deplore the Brazilian government's decision to delay at the last minute the acceptance of the Indonesian ambassador-designate's credentials," the Foreign Ministry said. "Indonesia is a democratic and sovereign country with an independent and impartial legal system, and no foreign country or any party can interfere in law enforcement in Indonesia," the ministry said. It said envoy Toto Riyanto was already in the presidential palace when Rousseff decided to delay accepting his credentials. Rousseff insisted that she plans to accept the Indonesian diplomat's credentials at a later date. Jakarta said it had recalled the diplomat and "strongly protested the unfriendly action." Brazilian authorities are trying to prevent the execution of Gularte, 42, who is on death row for drug trafficking in Indonesia. They argue that he is schizophrenic and should be receiving psychiatric care. Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, 53, was executed on December 17 for drug trafficking in Indonesia. At the time, Rousseff said she was "outraged and shocked" and recalled her ambassador to Indonesia. Australia has also clashed with Jakarta this month over the planned execution of two of its citizens for drug smuggling. (source: dalje.com) AUSTRALIA: Bali 9: Philip Ruddock says he didn't know police planned to tip off Indonesia ---- Former attorney general says he would have raised concerns about the risk Australians facing the death penalty if he had known in advance Philip Ruddock says he would have raised concerns about the death penalty had he known the Australian federal police planned to share intelligence on the Bali Nine with Indonesia in 2005, when he was attorney general. But Ruddock says no one in the Howard government had power to give "any direction politically" to the AFP on its fateful decision, which has faced renewed criticism in light of the imminent executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Barrister Bob Myers, who tipped the AFP off about another Bali Nine member, Scott Rush, said the police had "not a legal but a moral obligation" to ensure a waiver of the death penalty as a condition for sharing intelligence. Myers said the AFP would have known executions were likely when their agent wrote to Indonesian police the day after Myers's tip-off to request surveillance and suggest they "take what action they deem appropriate" if they suspected the group had heroin when leaving Indonesia. Myers, who contacted the AFP on behalf of Rush's family on the eve of the group's journey to Bali, said he and his police contact were "used" by the AFP, which already had passport details for all except Sukumaran. Myers said the AFP always knew there was a risk that people might die as a result of their actions. "They had no right or authority to do it," he said. Ruddock told Guardian Australia that he had "no clear recollection" of his meeting with Myers. "I certainly at no stage was informed of this matter [by the AFP] and if I had been, I think it is fair to say given my position on the death penalty, I would have been very conscious of it and said [that] others should be," Ruddock said. According to AFP guidelines in 2004, the attorney general had decided that police would adopt a future policy where a lack of guarantees of no death penalty could be grounds for refusing requests from overseas police. The guideline was adopted in 2009. It followed a federal court judge ruling in 2006 that while the Bali 9 were the "authors of their own harm", the case showed a need for the minister and the AFP chief to address the death penalty issue when the AFP itself was making requests overseas. Ruddock said in 2004 he could only apply the policy when ruling on extraditions, and the justice minister, Chris Ellison, who had oversight of the AFP, was not "in a position to give [the AFP] any direction politically". Asked if he imagined AFP officials regretted the outcome, Ruddock said: "I can't speak for the Australian federal police but I can't imagine that people wouldn't be looking back over what has happened and tried to ask themselves, could we have dealt with it differently? "I can't imagine that they wouldn???t." As Canberra continued to press its 11th-hour case with Jakarta to grant clemency, Ruddock said he "would like to think there's still hope but I can't speak with certainty". "My focus is on seeking to have the penalties waived and I do that having been a member of Amnesty for 40 years and now being the co-chair of the parliamentary group that is seeking to have the death penalty removed universally," Ruddock said. Myers said revelations that the suspected mastermind of the Bali Nine syndicate was living freely in luxury in Sydney after winning the lottery hammered home how the worst punishment was borne by low-level players. He said a royal commission should be held to examine the AFP's conduct of the case "because it's almost as if police didn't want to find any more other than petty criminals like 19-year-old Scotty Rush". Chan and Sukumaran had their transfer to Nusa Kambangan, the island of their planned execution, postponed this week. Peter Russo and Stephen Keim - former lawyers for Pakistani doctor Muhamed Haneef, who was wrongly accused by the AFP of terrorism offences in 2007 - were speakers at a mercy vigils for Chan and Sukumaran in Brisbane on Wednesday. Russo, a solicitor and now Queensland Labor MP, told Guardian Australia that only the AFP could disprove his belief that "there was no reason they couldn't have stopped them from leaving Australia". "What always worried me about the AFP was [that] they always left me with the feeling [of], let???s get a conviction at any cost," he said. "I think the AFP definitely need to give a more forthcoming explanation and they have to accept some culpability for what occurred. "They'll never do this but they need to come out and say we made a mistake, we made an error of judgment, we wouldn't do that again. "I think that would be cold comfort to the families but it would be good for their process to acknowledge they got it terribly wrong." Keim, a barrister, told Guardian Australia the actions of the AFP regarding the Bali 9 were "wrong on all levels". He said the police had violated national policy by "causing 9 Australians to be placed in danger of being subject to capital punishment", 14 years after Australia had signed up to the 2nd optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "And the action was both vindictive and deliberately bloody-minded since any anti-drug importation objectives could have been achieved by allowing the individuals to land in Australia and arresting them at that time," Keim said. "The failure to make a full explanation as to how these events occurred and who were responsible for them adds to the concern about the actions which were taken." The AFP have declined to go into details of the Bali 9 operation but defended their actions in a statement to Fairfax radio this month, saying they had not been "in a position to prevent these people from travelling to Indonesia". "The AFP had no evidence or lawful reason to detain, much less arrest or charge, any member of the Bali 9 before their departure from Australia," they said. (source: The Guardian) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 22 11:13:36 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2015 11:13:36 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., IND., ARK., ARIZ., IDAHO, USA Message-ID: Feb. 22 TEXAS: Oral arguments denied in Larry Swearingen request for DNA testing Death row inmate Larry Swearingen's request for additional DNA testing of evidence he believes could exonerate him in the 1998 rape and murder of college student Melissa Trotter is once again under consideration by the Court of Criminal Appeals. The court declined to hear oral arguments in a Jan. 9 notice to attorneys, but the case was submitted to the court Jan. 21. Swearingen, who was sentenced to death for capital murder July 11, 2000, wants testing of Trotter's sexual assault collection kit; hairs recovered from her body, the gloves used to move her body and a hairbrush found on the ground near her body; all hairs collected from her clothing; the ligature and the pantyhose used to strangle Trotter, among other evidence his appellate attorneys believe contain biological evidence that has not been tested. Trotter was last seen leaving the Montgomery College (now Lone Star College) campus on Dec. 8, 1998. Her body was found by hunters in the Sam Houston National Forest Jan. 2, 1999, north of Lake Conroe. Judge Kelly Case, of the 9th state District Court in Montgomery Count, has granted a 5th motion requesting DNA testing, even though prosecutors and Swearingen's attorneys dispute whether the latest request is a supplement to the 4th motion or a new request, since it calls for testing of additional materials. 4 scheduled execution orders have either been halted or vacated by the Montgomery County trial court and appeals courts since 2007. Swearingen's 1st execution date was set for Jan. 24, 2007, then stayed by the CCA for the trial court to resolve fact issues. A 2nd execution date was set for Jan. 27, 2009, but the CCA again stayed the execution for further review. A 3rd execution was stayed July 28, 2011, and the most recent order for Feb. 27, 2013, was struck by Case to allow for more DNA testing. During the previous legislative session in 2013, Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, proposed a bill passed by lawmakers mandating DNA testing for all biological evidence in death penalty cases. But a CCA decision last year denying DNA testing in the Swearingen case - on the basis he could not prove the existence of biological material that could exonerate him - has led to an effort by Ellis to clarify language in the law. In the 84th Legislature, Ellis has filed Senate Bill 487, which seeks to expand the access to DNA testing by allowing courts to grant DNA testing that has a "reasonable likelihood" of containing biological material that is not apparent to the naked eye, as opposed to having to prove exculpatory results of testing would cause a different outcome in light of overwhelming evidence showing guilt. The bill was filed earlier this month, after the CCA declined to hear oral arguments on the DNA testing issue. Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon said he does have some concerns about some of the specific language of SB 487, but Ligon said he would reserve further comment until he and Ellis discuss the bill in person, which he anticipates happening in the near future. Assistant District Attorney Bill Delmore added that Ligon is appreciative of Ellis being willing to consider the concerns of the D.A.'s Office regarding potential effects of the bill. Ellis said at a press conference earlier this month that the proposed bill is about making sure the right person is convicted and making sure communities are safe. Ellis added that he believes the changes are simple and would "provide the courts with the clear guidance that they have asked for." Swearingen's request for DNA testing focuses on 2 primary issues - the appropriate burden of proof in seeking testing under the amended law concerning post-conviction DNA evidence; and whether the evidence in the record, including photographs, police reports, criminal laboratory results and expert testimony showing the existence of biological materials, is sufficient to prove that such materials exist. James Rytting, an appellate attorney for Swearingen, said the CCA will have to heavily consider possible legislative action with the DNA testing request in the court's hands. "The Legislature is about to react to the (2014 CCA) Swearingen decision," Rytting said. "The courts are supposed to interpret the laws as lawmakers pass them. And here we have a piece of legislation that clearly says they violated the spirit of the law and what the Legislature was trying to do. And now they have to go back and fix it. I think the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals understands that. The Legislature is basically saying they have interpreted this statute far too narrowly and now they've got to basically overturn the Swearingen decision in order to do what they originally were planning to do, which was make sure that people, where there is testable DNA that could show a client is innocent, gets tested rather than road blocked. That's what that bill is about." During a phone interview with The Courier Dec. 29, 2014, Trotter's parents, Charles and Sandy Trotter, expressed frustration with Case's decision to stall Swearingen's execution date to allow for more DNA testing. Like Montgomery County prosecutors, the Trotter family views the move as a delay tactic designed to distort facts of the case. Their family still grieves more than 16 years later, and Charles Trotter said there is not a day that goes by without thinking of Melissa, who died at age 19 - whether they would have more grandchildren and the memories they have missed out on. "We would just like to have some closure with this," Melissa's mother Sandy Trotter said. "With this case not resolved, you've got all of this unfinished business lingering in your mind. You're not really able to totally move forward and remember all of the good things because all of this is lingering." (source: yourhoustonnews.com) ********************* Man accused of killing 2 sons sent photo of baby boy hanging from rope A Texas man accused of killing his 2 sons sent their mother a series of gruesome text messages, including a picture of 1 boy hanging with a rope around his neck. The photos were sent just hours before he strangled them, prosecutors said in a Texas court. The man, 32-year-old Gabriel Armandariz, is on trial for capital murder, accused of killing sons Luke, 8 months, and Gatlin, 2, on April 13, 2011. Prosecutors say he hid their bodies in a space underneath the house they shared with relatives in Graham, in north central Texas. Police searched the house for several hours before they found the bodies. NY Daily News reports Armandariz sent his ex-girlfriend Lauren Smith, who lived in Sudan, northwest of Lubbock, a text hours before the murders. It read: "I commend the spirits of these 2 boys to the Lord. I would much rather be with them than to be out partying with friends." Another said: "Look, I'm trying to offer you another opportunity to see our children. But as usual you would much rather be with your friends." Mr Armandariz then sent a picture of their 8-month-old baby Luke hanging from a closet ceiling with what appeared to be a rope around the neck, prosecutors said. He also took a photo between the 2 boys before they were killed on a bed. The caption read, "We love u, goodbye." Texts sent to Mr Armandariz's phone by Ms Smith suggest she believed she was talking to a woman whom Armandariz was seeing at the time. One of the texts read: "If I were you I'd get the hell away from him. Looks can be deceiving." According to the Graham Leader, Mr Armandariz called Ms Smith to confess to the murders 10 hours before police found the boys??? bodies. He claimed his ex-girlfriend made him do it. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. (source: news.com.au) ***************************** Family of Death Row prisoner Rodney Reed beg for his freedom With less than 2 weeks until the scheduled execution of prisoner Rodney Reed, people from all over the nation are joining together to fight for his freedom. Saturday afternoon Reed's family made another plea to Gov. Greg Abbott to stay the execution. "It's took'en 18 years, but we haven't slacked up one bit. We're here till the end," said Rodrick Reed, Rodney's brother. The Reed family said it's time for Rodney to come home. "My heart breaks every day. Every morning I wake up and I know where he's at and I can't be there to hug him, to hold him, to tell him I love him, you know what I mean. My heart breaks every day. Until he gets home, my heart will break every day," said Rodrick. In 1996 Bastrop teen Stacey Stites' body was found by the side of the road. Evidence showed Stites was raped and killed by strangulation. 2 years later, Rodney was sentenced to death for the crime, but his legal team said new evidence shows the jury got it wrong. Now, less than 2 weeks from Rodney's scheduled execution, his family and supporters are making 1 final push to get the case reopened. "I feel that justice will prevail in the end. I don't think that they'll be able to execute my brother based on all the new evidence that has come up," said Rodrick. Rodney's legal team said new evidence shows Reed and Stites were in a relationship. Lawyers for Reed say DNA will show that Rodney did not sexually assault Stites and that at the time of her death she was with her fiancee not with Rodney. "Test all DNA, you know what I mean, and give us a fair trial. That's all I'm asking," said Rodrick. The Reed family said the real killer was Jimmy Fennel, Stites' fiancee at the time of her death. Fennel went on to become a Georgetown police officer, but was sent to prison in 2008 for sexually assaulting a woman while on duty. "We're going to stay strong. We're going to stay positive. That's the only way we can think. That's only way we can be. Anything else is out of the question," said Rodrick. Its cases like Rodney's that made former north Texas District Attorney Tim Cole rethink the death penalty altogether. "Because we can't do it perfectly. That means we're going to execute somebody, or have executed somebody, who was innocent," said Cole. Cole said it's important to look at all DNA evidence introduced, even if it's found after sentencing. "If we are going to keep the death penalty, we have to make sure that the people who we are executing are indeed guilty," said Cole. As for Rodney, his fate sits in the hands of Gov. Greg Abbott, one of the only people who can stop the execution. "I'm asking Governor Abbott to just look into his heart and just do the right thing," said Sandra Reed, Rodney's mother. Saturday, protestors once again begged Abbott to look into the case because they fear time is running out. Stacy Stites' sister Debra Oliver told FOX 7 last month that she believes "... Rodney Reed was the right person and he committed this crime." Reed's attorney has also filed a petition with the Board of Pardons and Paroles seeking a change in sentence from death to life. That board votes and delivers their recommendation to the governor. (source: myfoxaustin.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Governor's death penalty moratorium violates oath of office As a result of Gov. Tom Wolf's recent action on the death penalty, 186 people are celebrating. These 186 people are the worst people in the state. Each has been convicted of the willful taking of at least 1 innocent life. But they are not just murderers. To be eligible for the death penalty, the murder must have aggravating circumstances: These most often involve killing a child or a police officer; raping and/or torturing a victim; killing more than one victim; or committing a prior murder. Each then was sentenced unanimously to death by a jury after yet another proceeding in which the defense can, for the most part, present almost anything it chooses to introduce. One of those celebrating is Landon May. May broke into a home in the middle of the night. He duct-taped, then tortured, the homeowners, stabbing, beating and shooting them. Terry Smith succumbed to his multiple wounds first. Lucy Smith was not so lucky. She fought for her life and suffered at least 147 separate wounds. May then sexually assaulted her prior to smothering her. He confessed, there was a mountain of corroboration, and we found his DNA in the sperm he left inside Lucy Smith. May was also convicted of a number of serious offenses prior to this horrific case, including shooting a man in the neck at random just for fun. There is another group affected by the governor's act: the families of the victims. Their immeasurable wounds have just been needlessly ripped open. The families, who have suffered through the judicial process they trusted and want nothing but justice and truth in sentencing, have been thunderstruck by this unprecedented and unnecessary evisceration of the law, the courts, the juries and the entire system. The governor gave no warning, and the families he says he cares about are suffering because of him. We prosecutors take no pleasure in seeking death. It is the most solemn decision. We do so in appropriate cases because we took an oath to follow the laws of the state. The governor took that same oath but has ignored the law, the constitution and his chief responsibility to execute the laws of this state. No one, including the governor, has the right to nullify a jury's unanimous verdict or to silence those very crime victims and their families who have suffered so much. The Legislature makes the laws. The courts decide if they are constitutional. The executive carries them out. The governor has managed to trample on all of the above. He has ignored the law, the countless appellate courts that have upheld the law, and subverted his duties for his own personal and/or political agenda. More troubling is that he does not have the authority. A Pennsylvania governor cannot lawfully issue a moratorium. He has called it a "reprieve" in a twisted effort to comply with the law. A reprieve, however, is merely temporary relief in a specific case for a specific legal event to take place; it is not a blanket moratorium. The governor can issue a pardon, a reprieve as above, or he can bring the issue to a public debate in the Legislature. Open discussion should take place. Unlawful edicts should not. He was elected governor, not king. The punishment should fit the crime, and there simply are some crimes for which the only remedy is the ultimate penalty. That decision should remain with the juries and the courts. We meet with each family prior to pursuing the death penalty. They have no illusions as to the protracted appellate process we face if the sentence is death. Their input is critical, and I have never pursued a death verdict when a family is opposed and/or simply wants to avoid the appeals. Thus, each family affected by this moratorium knew what to expect. By this act, the governor has caused them more pain and shattered any remaining vestige of truth in sentencing. The system is indeed flawed, as the governor says. However, the main flaw is that the federal defenders association has, in essence, taken the appeals process hostage with a virtually endless supply of taxpayer money and resources dedicated to overturning every sentence. I believe in a robust appellate process, particularly in death-penalty cases, but it should not be boundless. The fact the governor fails to mention the well-documented abuses of the federal defenders described by Chief Justice Ronald Castille reveals how closed-minded he is on the issue. So closed-minded, in fact, that he refused to meet with our bipartisan state prosecutors' association to discuss this very issue. The governor has demonstrated a severe lack of understanding of and concern for the issues involved, as well as for the devastating consequences of his actions on the most solemn process in our system and on the families of the victims. Those victims were forever taken from us without the ability to appeal their sentence. I welcome open debate on the issue and remain sworn to uphold the laws the Legislature duly passes. I call upon the governor to do the same. (source: Commentary; Craig Stedman is Lancaster County's district attorney----Lancasteronline.com) ************************ Our state doesn't need to rely on execution, and it shouldn't Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf made a bold decision to grant a temporary reprieve to inmate Terrance Williams, who was scheduled to be executed on March 4. The governor vowed to grant other reprieves, in effect declaring a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania. Williams would have been the 1st "involuntary" execution in Pennsylvania since 1978. 3 others who waived their appeals have died by lethal injection since then, the last in 1999. Currently, about 200 people sit on Pennsylvania's death row. These inmates are convicted of serious and violent criminal acts. They deserve severe punishment for their crimes; but we must ask ourselves, is it necessary for us to put them to death? The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference has long opposed the death penalty. The Catholic Church is committed to upholding the dignity and sanctity of every human life - even the life of a person convicted of a most heinous crime. Our Christian faith calls all people to grow in respect for human life and to oppose the death penalty in our modern society. In "Living the Gospel of Life," the Catholic Bishops of the United States affirmed, "Our witness to respect for life shines most brightly when we demand respect for each and every human life, including the lives of those who fail to show that respect for others. The antidote to violence is love, not more violence." Catholic opposition to the use of the death penalty should not be construed as a lack of compassion for those who have been affected by violent crime. People convicted of capital offenses must be punished effectively and appropriately for their crimes. Family and friends of victims, and society as a whole, demand this; but can true emotional, spiritual and even physical healing be found in vengeance? Governmental authority has the right and duty to assure the safety of society, and to punish criminals by means of suitable penalties. Keeping the peace could require the imposition of the death penalty if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, nonlethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people's safety, the authority should limit itself to such means. Our society can appropriately punish without having to rely on execution. We can imprison and isolate offenders to promote the safety of citizens, correctional officers and other inmates. The finality of a life sentence without the possibility of parole, as opposed to decades of drawn out appeals and hearings, could help to release victims' families to begin their healing. Further, a life sentence gives the inmate time to focus on repenting of his crime instead of mounting his next appeal. Some say that the possibility of the death penalty acts as a deterrent. Studies comparing murder rates in states that have the death penalty with states that do not conclude that the death penalty has no effect in dissuading murder. In fact, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, the murder rate in states that do not have the death penalty is consistently lower than states that do. Nationwide, 150 people have been exonerated from death row, including six in Pennsylvania. As Bishop Ronald Gainer of Harrisburg has said, this is too many to "pretend that our criminal system is so precise and exact and just that we can be confident with the sentence of the death penalty." A few years ago, the world watched as the families of the Amish students in Nickel Mines, Lancaster County, demonstrated profound forgiveness by supporting the widow of the man who murdered their children. They taught us that peace is not separate from the demands of justice, but it is fostered by mercy and love. The Task Force and Advisory Commission on Capital Punishment, established in 2011, will soon release its findings on the practice in Pennsylvania. Whether it recommends abolishing the death penalty or not, it will likely confirm that our current system of state sponsored executions is flawed, ineffective, unjust and expensive. The death penalty creates a potentially greater harm to society by reinforcing the idea that violence is a solution to society's problems. The death penalty will not eradicate violent crime any more than abortion is a solution to unwanted pregnancy. We, the people of Pennsylvania, have the power to abolish the death penalty and reinforce a modern penal system that provides alternatives to taking the lives of the guilty. Punishment should reflect our belief in the inherent human dignity of each person, and taking a life to avenge the death of another does not create a culture of life. The death penalty isn't necessary. We can do better. (source: Commentary; Amy B. Hill is director of communications for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the public affairs agency of Pennsylvania's Catholic bishops and the Catholic dioceses of Pennsylvania----Lancasteronline.com) ******************************* Suspend, then end, death penalty Newly elected Gov. Tom Wolf cited the close calls of death row inmate Harold Wilson last Friday, Feb. 13, when he imposed a moratorium on Pennsylvania's death penalty. Twice, Wolf pointed out, Wilson was nearly executed, yet eventually he was exonerated. Wilson's brushes with unjustified death are the strongest reason to suspend, if not end, capital punishment altogether. But Wolf offered other compelling arguments in his statement, clearly outlining how Pennsylvania will save both lives and money by suspending it. The death penalty, Wolf said, is "error-prone, expensive and anything but infallible," all points this newspaper has made in numerous editorials arguing against it. Some examples: Error-prone. Not long ago in Ohio, the 1st execution in years took place, but putting Dennis McGuire to death took an excruciating 25 minutes, far longer than the usual lethal injection. McGuire's family asserted the grisly death amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. They have sued. Expensive. The governor quoted a Reading Eagle analysis that estimated death penalty cases have cost taxpayers at least $315 million, thanks in part to the often decades-long appeals process. Anything but infallible. Wolf noted that 150 people have been exonerated from death row, 5 others besides Wilson in Pennsylvania. One had served 21 years before being exonerated by DNA evidence. Wolf also cited numerous studies that challenge the "accuracy, and fundamental fairness, of Pennsylvania's capital sentencing system," studies that suggest a person is more likely to be charged with a capital offense and sentenced to death if he is poor or a minority - and that the odds rise further if the victim was Caucasian. Wolf's decision was not unilateral. He was acting on a 2 1/2-year-old request by the bipartisan Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment. The task force is studying the effectiveness of the death penalty in Pennsylvania and plans to make recommendations, and in 2012 asked former Gov. Tom Corbett to suspend executions until it concluded its study and report. Gov. Wolf acknowledged his responsibility to victims of violent crimes and the feelings of family members and friends. But, he said, the justice system also has an obligation to make sure every defendant has appropriate counsel throughout the process, that the sentence is fair and proportional and that there is no risk of executing an innocent person. Only then will Pennsylvania achieve its goal of equal justice for all. (source: Editorial, Pocono Record) **************** Pennsylvania's flawed death penalty system in need of a fix What good is a death penalty system that, in Pennsylvania's case, might more accurately be called the "We Never Kill Motel"? Not funny. Not intended to be. The inability to enforce the state's death-penalty law stands in stark contrast to the brutality of crimes that causes reasonable people to support capital punishment. In declaring a so-called moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf was true to his campaign pledge, and, we suspect, his own moral compass. But that's not his job. Last week Wolf issued a temporary reprieve for a death-row inmate whose execution was scheduled for March. That's far from a stay of all executions; governors don't have that power. Wolf is buying time until a Senate task force studying the death penalty returns with its findings -- hopefully soon, and hopefully with some clarity on how to disentangle a system that has managed 3 executions in 20 years. Pennsylvania's death row houses 186 convicted killers, 4th most in the U.S. The easiest way to eliminate endless appeals, lingering uncertainty about guilt and moral ambiguity is to eliminate the death penalty altogether. New Jersey and several other states have taken this route. Last week U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called for a national moratorium on lethal injection until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews a suit brought by death row inmates in Oklahoma. That's not his job, either. We respect the view of those who believe the state should not be in the business of killing. When you couple that with the tragedy of killing people for crimes they did not commit or who lacked competent counsel -- well, the government can't undo its own wrongful killings. The advent of DNA evidence and other scientific advances has led to the exoneration of 150 "convicted killers" across the nation, some posthumously. That remains the most powerful argument against capital punishment. But those same advances allow for a higher degree of certainty of guilt in contested cases, and in other cases, there simply is no doubt. Truly heinous killings in which there is no question of guilt -- think Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing, or closer to home, Martin Appel in the cold-blooded killing of three in an East Allen Township bank -- should be subject to the ultimate punishment. (Appel is among those whose death sentence was overturned and converted to life on appeal.) Eric Frein, assuming he is convicted and proven to be of sound mind, should face the same fate for the sniping death of a Pennsylvania state trooper. It's unlikely the Legislature is going reverse its support for the death penalty. Yet Pennsylvania doesn't have a death penalty. It has a Byzantine system that bills the taxpayer much more than a life-in-prison maximum would cost. It frustrates the families of the victims and mocks the intent and delivery of the law. We can't fault Wolf for wanting some clarity from a legislative investigation. No matter how anyone feels about the death penalty, the choices are to fix it or get rid of it. (source: Editorial, Lehighvalleylive.com) INDIANA: Ruling: Clark County court correct in conviction The Indiana Supreme Court ruled this week to uphold a 2013 conviction in a death penalty case held in Clark County Circuit Court No. 1. The supreme court reviewed the case, which involves Jeffrey Weisheit, Evansville, setting fire to a home in 2010 while his girlfriend's 2 children, 5 and 7 years old, were inside. The children did not escape the home and died as a result of the blaze, and Weisheit was subsequently charged with 2 counts of murder and 2 class A felony arson counts. The Vanderburgh County case was held in Clark County because of the media attention it had garnered in the Evansville area and was presided over by then-Judge Dan Moore. During the trial's sentencing hearing, then-Clark County Sheriff Danny Rodden informed Weisheit that he was sentenced to death. In Indiana, a death penalty sentence results in an automatic appeal to the state's highest court. The appeal claims the court erroneously ruled on 8 separate issues. According to the court's ruling, those issues included the exclusion of testimony; insufficient evidence; a tainted jury pool; lack of suppression of statements made to investigators; and the lack of proper consideration to mitigating circumstances. The supreme court judges considered each of the issues and drafted, at the conclusion of its 25-page response to Weisheit's appeal, " ... we affirm Weisheit's convictions for murder and arson resulting in serious bodily injury and his death sentence." Moore was reached by phone Friday, but said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the court???s ruling at this time because he had presided over the trial. A call to the Office of the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor was not returned before press time. (source: News and Tribune) ARKANSAS: Justices hear arguments on lethal injection law A case that examines whether a 2013 law gives the state's correction department too much authority in setting lethal-injection protocol is now before the Arkansas Supreme Court. The court on Thursday heard oral arguments from an assistant state attorney general and a lawyer representing nine death-row inmates. Pulaski County Judge Wendell Griffen last year put lethal injections on hold in the state. He said the law stipulating the department use a barbiturate wasn't adequate and gave the department too much leeway to decide what drugs to use and how they should be administered. The ruling is a response to a 2013 lawsuit by the 9 death-row inmates who challenged the latest rewrite of the Method of Execution Act, which replaced the electric chair with lethal injection in 1983. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Merritt said during oral arguments that the law provides "sufficient guidance" to prison officials. Josh Lee, the inmates' public defender, said that the statute also allows the correction department to decide whether medical personnel should be present at an execution. "What the General Assembly has said is, 'We can have a quick and painless death, or a slow and agonizing death. Department of Correction, it's up to you,'" Lee said. He also said in an email after the hearing that "This case is really not about the death penalty. It is about making sure that government agencies don't exceed their authority. Not just prisoners but also Arkansas businesses and ordinary citizens need government agencies to stay within the limits of their constitutional authority." (source: Associated Press) ARIZONA: Defense Says Arias Wanted to Give Secret Testimony Due to Threats and Hate Mail Newly released court documents reveal Jodi Arias begged to testify in a closed-courtroom during her death penalty sentencing retrial last October because she feared court watchers were sending her threats and hate mail. On Thursday, officials at the Maricopa County Superior Court released a transcript of a closed-door hearing where Arias' lawyers discussed their request to have the public and media barred from the courtroom. The defense argued Arias needed to testify in secret because she thought her safety was at risk. "A lot of crazy people come to the jail and try to visit me," Arias told the court, according to a transcript of bench-conference conversations and a hearing that was unsealed on Thursday, reports USA Today. Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi argued Arias had received hate mail threatening her over what she might say in her testimony. "We know the people here today currently in the courtroom include some of the people who send her that mail," Nurmi said, referring to unidentified spectators in the court. They also discussed a person who had tried to visit the convicted killer by impersonating her attorney and demanding to see her. As a result, Nurmi claimed that Arias would be too nervous to think clearly if spectators were present during her testimony. Prosecutor Juan Martinez, however, expressed concern that closing the courtroom based on claims that the defendant is too nervous to testify in public would set bad precedent and could trigger appeals, reports ABC 15 Arizona. Initially Judge Sherry Stephens rejected Arias' reasoning for wanting to close the courtroom, however she ultimately granted Arias her request and kicked the media and public out of the court on Oct. 30, 2014. Arias then testified for 2 days, until the Court of Appeals overturned Stephens' decision and reopened the courtroom. Although Arias was found guilty of 1st-degree murder last May in the gruesome death of her ex-boyfriend, jurors in her 1st trial failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years. (source: Latin Post) **************************** FM man indicted in child's death A Fort Mohave man was indicted Thursday for the October murder of an infant boy. A Mohave County grand jury indicted Tyler James Kirkpatrick, 20, of 1st-degree murder by domestic violence, 2nd-degree murder by domestic violence and child abuse by domestic violence. He is expected to be arraigned on the charges Friday at the county jail. His case will then be heard before Superior Court Commissioner Billy Sipe Jr. Kirkpatrick is being held in county jail without bond. If convicted of the 1st-degree murder charge, Kirkpatrick would face either life in prison with the chance of parole after 35 years, natural life or the death penalty. Prosecutors have not made a decision yet whether to pursue the death penalty. Sheriff's detectives arrested Kirkpatrick on Wednesday morning in connection with the Oct. 23 death of 15-month-old Kade Kryska. The baby suffered traumatic brain injury at his Fort Mohave home. Kirkpatrick was arrested at the home he shared with the child's mother, his girlfriend. He locked himself in his bedroom and initially would not come out for detectives. Kirkpatrick eventually surrendered and was arrested without incident. On Oct. 21, Kryska's mother returned from work to find her son had difficulty breathing. The child had been in Kirkpatrick's care all day. That night, sheriff's deputies responded to the Fort Mohave hospital where the child was determined to have suffered head injuries. The boy was flown to the Las Vegas hospital where he died 2 days later. MCSO, the county attorney's office and Clark County Medical Examiner's Office conducted a 4-month investigation leading up to Kirkpatrick's arrest Wednesday. (source: Mohave Daily News) IDAHO: Defender asks for staff increase ---- Commissioners deny Adams' request Kootenai County Chief Public Defender John Adams came in asking for an additional full-time attorney and an extra legal assistant. The county commissioners on Friday turned him down on both, at least until budget season. "I'm not a big fan of adding bodies outside the budget process," Commissioner Dan Green said. "I have given the prior boards ample substantiation of why these attorneys are needed," said Adams, who has asked for additional attorneys in the past, too. He said the Constitution mandates the county have more public defenders to provide adequate indigent defense services. "You have to keep up with the growing population," Adams said. His office handles more than 6,000 cases per year, he said, and caseloads of public defenders in the county have been pushed beyond constitutionally acceptable levels. He knows his staff would give up pay raises to have extra people in the office to help share the workload. "Don't take that out of context, that I don't want my people to get more money, but I think they would trade $300 per year for more companions in the trenches," Adams said. The annual expense of the two additional positions Adams asked for Friday, including benefits, would have been $120,000. The cost would have been $70,000 through the remainder of fiscal year 2015. While the board denied the request for those two positions, it did approve a raise and promotion for a temporary courier employee, who has been running files between offices for defense attorneys the past couple years. The courier now becomes a full-time, permanent secretary in the public defender's office. She will get a pay raise from $10 per hour to $11.37, and she will also now get benefits, following the commission's vote Friday. It's been roughly 3 years since Adams' office received additional staff. At that time he received 2 extra attorneys. Also Friday, Adams asked for money to pay for a part-time attorney - working 30 hours per week - who could assist him with the defense of Angel Morales-Larranaga, who has been charged with the murder of his wife and 6-year-old stepdaughter in July. Adams said the "capital" murder case of Morales-Larranaga, who is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, is an extraordinary amount of work for one attorney. The cost for some part-time help would be approximately $2,400 per month, Adams said. "Now that there's a death-penalty case, there's a completely different funding mechanism potentially available to you," Green said. Adams should be able to receive funds from the Capital Crimes Defense Fund, Green said. "Let's use the insurance fund that we've been funding for all these years," Green said. The fund was established by counties to fund costs in criminal cases when the death penalty is a legal possibility. (source: Coeur d'Alene Press) USA: All the ways America has chosen to execute people since 1776 After a series of botched executions last year, the US Supreme Court has agreed to review whether a common method of lethal injection is constitutional. If not, many states will need a new way to kill people. Utah is already moving forward with a bill that would bring back executions by firing squad, which it allowed until 2004. There may be no "humane" way to put a prisoner to death, but if states are going to consider alternatives, they could reach back in history. Here's a look at popular execution methods since the US was created in 1776: The data were compiled from a database maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center and from research by M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla. Legal scrutiny of lethal injection comes as support for the death penalty has dropped dramatically in the US. In 1994, 80% of Americans said they were in favor of executing people convicted of murder; now it's just 63%, according to Gallup. But the issue is increasingly polarized: Republicans have become more entrenched in their support, as the rest of the country grows more disillusioned with the practice: Professor Austin Sarat, author of Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty, surveyed executions from 1890 to 2010. He found that roughly 3% of executions were botched over that time, but in the current era of lethal injection, the portion of botched executions has risen to 7%. These botched executions can be grisly. The Guardian reported that during the 2014 execution of Clayton Lockett, the doctor was splattered with blood as he tried to set an intravenous line. Lockett "groaned, writhed, lifted his head and shoulders off the gurney, and said, 'Man'." The warden called Lockett's execution "a bloody mess." America no longer hangs its condemned, nor gas or electrocute them. And it's unlikely to return to those methods. For one, states now lack the expertise: Many have mothballed or destroyed their gallows, electric chairs, and gas chambers. There are also issues of appearance: Some methods carry more baggage than others, which is why a return to firing squads seems unlikely, even in Utah. (source: qz.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sun Feb 22 11:15:06 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sun, 22 Feb 2015 11:15:06 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 22 UNITED KINGDOM: UK's drugs aid puts Britons at risk of execution ---- The Government is backing counter-narcotics raids in countries that have the death penalty British citizens could be executed as a result of the Government's overseas funding for operations against drug-smuggling in counties where capital punishment is used. The Home Office policy is "in effect helping to send large numbers of people, including British nationals, to the hangman's noose", according to the human rights group Reprieve. Britain has provided at least 12m pounds worth to 22 counter-narcotics projects in Pakistan - where 6 British nationals are on death row for drugs offences - with the aim of increasing the number of drug arrests and prosecutions, which can result in death sentences. The UK is also a major funder of Pakistan's anti-narcotics force, which has a 92 % conviction rate and actively promotes on its website the number of death sentences it has secured for drug offences. About 8,000 people are on death row in Pakistan, more than any other country in the world. A moratorium on the death penalty was lifted in December in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre, in which Taliban gunmen murdered 141 children and teachers. Since then, 24 people have been executed; another 500 are due to be killed in the coming months. Although the Pakistani authorities stated that only those charged with terrorism offences would be executed, 2 murderers have since been hanged. Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty, says it is "highly likely" that similar punishments could soon be carried out on those convicted of drugs offences. Maya Foa, the head of Reprieve's death penalty team, said: "Pakistan has the largest death row in the world, and is now actively executing prisoners - placing a number of Brits at risk. The UK government has given a series of flaccid excuses for continuing to support anti-drug raids in Pakistan, which very often see drug offenders sentenced to death." There appears to be confusion within the Government over which department bears ultimate responsibility for the funding of counter-narcotics projects overseas. The Home Office has previously directed queries on the issue to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), but earlier this month, Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone confirmed in a written parliamentary answer that her department was responsible. "Now that the Pakistani authorities are once again carrying out executions, the lives of these people and many others are in grave danger," Ms Foa said. "If the UK is committed to ending the death penalty worldwide, why is British anti-narcotics aid supporting these drug convictions?" More than 20 Britons are at risk of execution in Pakistan, according to figures published by the FCO earlier this month. Overall, a drugs-related offence is the most likely crime after murder to result in a British citizen facing the death penalty overseas. The figures, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, also highlighted that up to 15 Britons are at risk of execution abroad due to drug-related prosecutions. 25 are facing the death penalty for murder, with others being prosecuted for offences ranging from blasphemy to terrorism. The Government has previously given money to similar counter-narcotics projects in Iran - but in 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the funding had been withdrawn because of "concerns around Iran's use of the death penalty for drug offences". The Home Office must now take similar action in Pakistan, Reprieve said. An FCO spokesman said: "It remains our long-standing policy to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. The British Government is not aware of any case in Pakistan where UK counter-narcotics co-operation has led to a death penalty sentence. We continue to review the situation as we have always done." (source: The Independent) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 23 12:48:58 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2015 12:48:58 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, MASS., PENN., FLA., ALA., OHIO Message-ID: Feb. 23 TEXAS: Boyfriend burned body of slain pregnant Texas teen: police Firefighters found the slain pregnant teen's body at the center of this grass fire on Valentine's Day. Friends and family released dozens of balloons Saturday at the site where Dawanna Thomas' body was found. A Texas teen learned she was having a baby girl just days before firefighters discovered her burned body at the center of an arson fire. Her boyfriend, Courtney Velasquez, 19, has been arrested in connection to her Valentine's Day death. He allegedly confessed hours after drowning Dawanna Thomas, 18, in a rural creek near San Antonio, according to KENS-TV. His pants were still wet when he apparently said "I killed her," relatives told police. "I can't believe I did it," Velasquez allegedly told a family member. "I drowned her at the creek." Bexar County Sheriff's Office investigators have yet to nail down a motive. The girl's mother, Tear Bedford, said her boyfriend urged her to get an abortion and authorities believe allegations of infidelity preluded her death. Courtney Velasquez, 19, faces capital murder charges after allegedly drowning and then burning his girlfriend???s body, killing her unborn child. "There may have been some jealousy involved," Sheriff's spokesman James Keith told KSAT-TV. "She may have been talking to someone else at the time. We're still trying to sort all that out right now." Bedford will advocate for the state's highest criminal sentence against Velasquez, the likely father of the victim's unborn child. "I'm seeking the death penalty for whoever had hands in this because that was my grand baby," Bedford told KENS-TV. In an open statement to her daughter's killer, Bedford said "God is going to get ya'll (sic). Every day he's gonna whoop ya'll until ya'll get it right (sic)." Bedford feared for her daughter's safety during the 6-month relationship with Velasquez, describing him as violent, KABB-TV added. (source: New York Daily News) MASSACHUSETTS: Death Penalty History and the Present for Massachusetts Massachusetts has dealt with witches, anarchists, Quakers, pirates and gangsters in high profile executions. Massachusetts hanged 26 people for practicing witchcraft. The death penalty was abolished in 1984. A Boston Globe poll from 2013 showed that 1/3 of Boston's residents would favor the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The last time the death penalty was used in Boston, Massachusetts was in 1947. However, it was one of the first colonies to evoke capital punishment. John Billington was hanged for murder in 1630. It was until 1951 that public execution was mandatory for 1st degree murder. Tsarnaev's charges include the murder of an 8 year old boy. 345 people have received the death penalty in Massachusetts between 1947 and 1984. Mary Dyer was one of the "Boston martyrs" that was hanged in 1660 because Quakers had been banned from the Bay Colony. In 1692, 19 women were hanged during the Salem witch trials. Despite the public's belief of their innocence, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti received the death penalty by electric chair as accused anarchists in 1927. The last people to receive the death penalty in Massachusetts were Phillip Bellino and Edward Gerlson, gangsters, the bogeymen of the 40's and 50's. They got the death penalty for the kidnapping and murder of an ex-Marine. A reporter who witnessed the Boston executions of Bellino and Gerlson was mortified and changed his view of capital punishment. 50 years later, in 1997, Russ Dallaire reported the account to the Boston Herald. He said, "The body stiffened so hard he almost came out of the chair. And with each succeeding charge, the body jerked with lessening effect until there was none at all." Dallaire also remembers the scent of burnt flesh. Potential jurors have filled out a questionnaire, most against the death penalty. Those that made the cut then are questioned by Judge George O'Toole and if he approves the juror, the juror is then passed down to the attorneys for more questioning. The question about the death penalty makes potential jurors squirm and some cry. It has taken 19 days so far, to go through juror prospects. However, Judge O'Toole is confident that a full jury with alternates will be impaneled at the beginning of next week. Opening statements and the first set of witnesses will be heard the week of March 2nd. Some potential jurors have stated that until actually presented with a person's life coming to a vote, concerning the death penalty they have no idea which way they would vote. Other jurors quote the 5th Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." Still others quote the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have done unto you." One juror prospect said she would not sentence someone to life in prison because she would not be able to tolerate it herself. A former lawyer suggested that the trial would take 3 to 4 months and he wondered if the death penalty would be carried out. He referred to the governor in Illinois sparing those on death row and abolishing the death penalty back in 2011, and he hoped years from now the action would be seen as the right thing to do. No one wants to discover the innocent have been executed. Tsarnaev is not the only one in Boston that could face the death penalty. The other case involves a man given a death sentence, after capital punishment was abolished in Massachusetts. Gary Lee Sampson was given a death sentence in 2003 that has since been overturned. Sampson's death penalty was revoked because it was determined that one of the jurors lied about being a victim of domestic violence, as well as her daughter's drug use and criminal record. Sampson was a bank robber in North Carolina and then went on a murder spree, July 2001 in Abington. Sampson pleaded guilty to the stabbing murders of a 19-year-old college student and a 69-year-old man, claiming he wanted their cars. His resentencing trial begins September 15th. It will take time to determine jurors so there will not be any cause for retrial in this case, as well as the Tsarnaev case. (source: Guardianlv) PENNSYLVANIA: And the envelope, please So, you thought last night's Oscars was the last of the awards program. Almost. There is 1 awards program that does not involve a red carpet, gowns or tuxes. It is the Montgomery County District Attorney's awards program acknowledging staff members for their outstanding performances. Deputy District Attorney Robert Falin, who heads the appeals division, received the coveted District Attorney Medal for taking on a well-funded and skilled team of anti-death penalty lawyers who wanted to overturn convictions and 3 death sentences handed down to a killer. The state Supreme Court sided with Falin. The successful work by other prosecutors in the DA's office was acknowledged with commendations for their outstanding performances. Those receiving commendations included Assistant District Attorneys Douglas Lavenberg, Gabriel Magee, Kathleen McLaughlin, the team of ADA Christopher Daniels and county Detective Dirk Boughter, ADA Sophia Polites and county Detective Michael Begley. County Detective Paul Bradbury also received a commendation for the "outstanding investigations" that he performed and that led to the convictions of 3 accused killers. All these commendations are well deserved but what I like best about this program is that it also acknowledges not just the courtroom stars but those who play a major role, albeit behind the scenes, in the delivery of justice. Staff secretaries Rachel Weaver and Amanda Stong, investigative analyst Charles Craig, extradition clerk Jason Edwards, domestic violence investigator Kiersten McDonald and, of course, technology guru extraordinaire Jonathan Perrone. Also singled out for special attention was First Assistant District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, who previously earned the District Attorney Medal. This time Steele was recognized with a special commendation for his "leadership, investigative skill and prosecutorial excellence" in giving up his vacation time to help the Adams County DA's office win a murder conviction and death penalty against a man who killed a wildlife conservation officer and convictions and 2 death sentences for a Montgomery County murderer charged with killing a grandmother and infant granddaughter in a botched kidnapping-for-ransom case. Congratulations one and all. (source: Commentary, Margaret Gibbons, The Intelligencer) ******************************* Only way to 'reform' the death penalty is to eliminate it The Express-Times' Feb. 22 editorial, "Death Penalty system in Pa. needs reform," is a clear example of how ambivalence created by the conflict between emotional reactions to violent crimes and a thoughtful process to improve justice can lead to incoherent analyses and absurd solutions. The editorial argues that now that we know some on death row were innocent, we now have a higher degree of certainty that those remaining are really and truly guilty. You failed to note that while DNA testing has resulted in the finding of innocence for some on death row, DNA evidence is only available to determine guilt or innocence in a small minority of capital cases. The editorial spoke of the death penalty being appropriate for, and limited to, "truly heinous killings." What separates a "truly heinous killing" from any other killing? I cannot see how we can say that Eric Frein's killing of a state trooper is any more heinous than the cold blooded killing of an innocent child. >From the perspective of the family of the victim, all murders are "truly heinous." You recommend we limit the death penalty to cases "in which there is no question of guilt." What do you think the criteria has been for a jury to sentence someone to death? I am sure the juries that sentenced innocent people to death thought that "there is no question of guilt." Do you not see that if we make the difference between sentencing someone to death or not is whether or not they left a hair containing DNA at the scene of the crime does more to diminish the value of human life than anything else our government does in our name? There is no way to fix one problem with the death penalty without creating more problems, be they increasing the arbitrariness of selection for death or increasing the already exorbitant expenses of this useless and immoral system. The only way to solve the Gordian Knot created by the death penalty is to eliminate it instead of wasting our time trying to "reform" it. David Rose Easton (source: Letter to the Editor, Express-Times) ********************************** Chesco death case overturned Only 2 men have been sentenced to death by Chester County Common Pleas juries since the capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Now, 1 of them has been granted a reprieve - at least temporarily - because of his attorney's alleged ineffectiveness. Last fall, U.S. District Judge James Gardner vacated the death sentence that was handed down more than 20 years ago against Darrick Hall, convicted of shooting and killing a Coatesville coin laundry manager, Donald R. Johnson, during an armed robbery 1 week before Christmas 1993. The decision came in the wake of Hall's habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf by the Federal Defender's Association. The judge, in an exhaustive opinion, wrote that Hall's attorney, Robert Miller of Philadelphia, had failed to meet the legal standard for effectiveness of counsel in capital trials during the penalty phase, after which the jury returned its verdict of a death sentence. At the time, it was the only jury to impose that sentence on a defendant in the county in 18 years. Gardner wrote in his Oct. 21, 2014 opinion that Miller failed "to investigate and present significant mitigating evidence in the penalty phase of (Hall's) trial regarding (his) abusive childhood, illnesses and injuries normally associated with developmental and cognitive delays, and his inability to adjust to a strutted environment during the years he attended a disciplinary school." More specifically, Gardner stated, Miller, "failed to seek out, interview and present testimony from some of (Hall???s) family, friends and employers, and failed to request readily available medical, educational and court records and failed to obtain evaluations by a mental health expert." "This fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and (Hall) suffered prejudice as a result of (Miller's) deficient performance," Gardner wrote. Gardner, however, did not overturn Hall's conviction for 1st-degree murder. The case is now on appeal to the Third Circuit Court in Philadelphia. Hall, now 44, of Philadelphia, is currently housed in Graterford state prison, where he is still technically awaiting execution as his case makes its way through the appellate process. His appeal had been denied by the state Supreme Court, which had also ruled on the question of Miller's effectiveness and denied the claim. Miller, who was hired by Hall's family to replace attorneys from the county Public Defender's Office who had represented Hall since his arrest, could not be reached for comment. A secretary at the office of another attorney with the same name - Robert S. Miller - said they had received inquiries about him in the past but could not offer forwarding contact information. Miller's presentation at Hall's sentencing hearing was a stark contrast to other penalty hearings in county capital cases. He presented only 2 witnesses - a former girlfriend and Hall's mother - but they offered little in the way of testimony. Hall did not take the stand in his own defense, and Miller later told the judge overseeing the case - then Common Pleas Judge Paula Francisco Ott, now a member of the state Superior Court - that his client had told him not to offer any more in the way of evidence mitigating his case. On the other hand, in 2 recent death penalty cases - those involving Coatesville crime figure Duron "Gotti" People and chainsaw killer LaQuanta Chapman - attorneys presented detailed testimony about their clients' troubled upbringings. Chapman's attorney included a videotape about the community where the defendant was raised in New Jersey, and Peoples took the stand to tell jurors about his childhood troubles himself. Peoples was spared the death penalty last fall and sentenced to life for the contract murder case of a Coatesville barbershop owner he was engaged in a running feud with. Chapman was sentenced to death in November 2012 for the murder of a Coatesville teenager, whose body he dismembered with a chainsaw. On Dec. 18, 1993, Hall and 2 other men engaged in a plan to rob the Coatesville laundromat located in the center of the city off East Lincoln Highway. One man, Troy Davis, acted as the getaway driver, while the other, Tyrone Green, stood inside the laundromat to act as bodyguard for Hall. The 3 men had come to Coatesville earlier that month to sell a quantity of crack cocaine they had between themselves to raise money for Christmas presents, according to testimony at 1 of the 3 trials. But Davis used all of the drug himself, so the men decided they needed a quick robbery to recoup their funds. They chose the busy laundromat, on a Saturday morning, as their target. Hall, brandishing a handgun, marched up to the manager's desk at the rear of the building, where Johnson, a well-liked 59-year-old man was seated. "What's up, Pops?" he said, according to witnesses, and pulled his handgun. When the manager made a move to disarm him, Hall fired 2 shots, hitting Johnson in his chest and in the back of his head. He died instantly. In his closing argument at the end of the November 1994 trial, then District Attorney Anthony Sarcione, now a Common Pleas judge, pointed angrily at Hall, seated at the defense table, and said, "The only thing colder than the grave of Mr. Johnson is this guy's heart, because he put him there." Writing in his October 2014 decision, Gardner agreed with Hall's appellate attorneys that a investigation into Hall's background would have found evidence of extreme childhood abuse cursory and a history of significant head traumas and seizures, according to the 180-page ruling. Indeed, Hall's previous attorney from the Public Defender's office testified he had begun that investigation when Hall's family decided to hire Miller, a private attorney, instead. There was evidence that Hall's father regularly raped and beat his mother, pulled knives on her and threatened to kill her, Gardner found. Hall submitted an affidavit from his mother that Hall's father once kept her "in the house and repeatedly raped and beat her until friends were able to free her." 4 affidavits also show that Hall witnessed his father breaking his mother's arm. Hall's father took money allotted for food and household expenses and used them for drugs, the affidavits showed. When Hall was 5, his father was arrested and his mother began a relationship with another man who beat Hall. Around this time, his mother "began drinking as a way to cope with the abuse," the court found, citing the affidavits. Hall's medical history meanwhile includes seizures and a bicycle accident when he was 8 years old that resulted in the loss of consciousness, according to Gardner's ruling. A psychological evaluation showed he had an IQ score of 73, below average, according to the opinion. The habeas petition was opposed by the state Attorney General's Office, which argued that Miller had been abiding by Hall's decision not to present mitigating witnesses or take the stand, even though Miller had explained to him what could happen. It said that Miller had "strategic reasons for presenting only 2 witnesses ... and for not presenting (Hall's) school records or employment history." Green and Davis were also convicted of Johnson's murder. Green is serving a life sentence. (source: The Daily Local) FLORIDA: Clearwater man who wants the death penalty represents himself in court Craig Wall, a Clearwater man who pleaded guilty to murdering his wife and no contest to murdering his infant child, has appeared in court for a hearing today to help determine whether he should be executed. Wall, 39, is acting as his own attorney during this week's proceedings, and he has said he wants to receive the death penalty. Prosecutors will argue to Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip Federico that certain "aggravating circumstances" exist that make the death penalty a legally appropriate sentence. Normally, defense attorneys argue "mitigating circumstances" - such as a defendant's mental health problems, for example - mean he should not get the death penalty. But in this case, Wall is the person in charge of his own defense, and he has said he wants the death penalty, so it's not clear how that side of the argument will go. A representative of the Florida Capital Resource center appeared in court and argued that an independent attorney should be appointed for Wall. But Wall objected to any such motion by "scumbag liberals" who don't think he can make his own decisions. "This is my case. This is my life," he said, saying he should be allowed to make "literally a life or death decision." However, Wall does have previously appointed attorneys who are considered "standby counsel," available to help him as needed. In another twist Monday morning, Wall said he needed more time to present his side of the case. This is a highly unusual case, but these legal machinations reflect the highly complex nature of death penalty cases, which always involve years of appeals, sometimes in spite of the defendants' own wishes. Wall is known for courtroom antics, and has already been argumentative in these proceedings, tossing off 4-letter words and phrases such as "rabid-dog liberals." After the testimony on aggravating and mitigating circumstances concludes, it probably would be several weeks before Federico issues his ruling on whether to impose the death penalty. Because of his pleas, Wall is now legally guilty of killing his girlfriend Laura Taft and their child, Craig Wall Jr. Wall, who spent 14 years in prison for robbery with a deadly weapon and armed burglary, met Taft shortly his release. Their child was born shortly after Christmas 2009. 5 weeks later, the boy had been killed, suffering broken ribs and brain trauma. Wall was considered a suspect almost immediately, but he was not arrested right away. He was arrested a few days later on a separate charge, but the fact that he was a suspect in his baby's death was never mentioned in court. He was released on bail. 3 days after getting out of jail, police said, Wall crashed through a sliding glass door of Taft's apartment and stabbed her to death. Taft's mother, Rhonda Lyon-Buttitia, was in the courtroom Monday. (source: Tampa Bay Times) ALABAMA----female faces death penalty Woman heads to trial in granddaughter's running death An Alabama woman is going on trial on charges of making her granddaughter run until she collapsed and died. Prosecutors describe 59-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard as the "drill sergeant from hell." They say she made 9-year-old Savannah Hardin run for hours as punishment for a lie about eating candy. The defense says the girl's medical conditions and treatment decisions led to her death in February 2012. They deny that Garrard had any intention of harming the girl. Final jury selection is set to begin in the case this week in Gadsden, Alabama, located about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham. Opening statements will follow. Garrard is charged with capital murder. She faces a potential death penalty and could join only a handful of women on Alabama's death row if convicted. (source: Associated Press) **************************** Murder trial for Lisa Graham resumes after recess in jury selection Lisa Graham's capital murder trial resumes today in a Russell County court after a recess in the process of selecting a "death qualified" jury. "Death qualified" means jurors must not be so morally opposed to the death penalty that they could never impose it, nor so in favor of capital punishment that they would never consider life in prison. Another complicating factor is that no potential juror may be closely connected to any of the dozens of witnesses expected to testify in the trial, which likely will last more than a week. Attorneys hope to strike a jury on Tuesday, after which a hearing is expected on whether to admit evidence Graham, through jailhouse notes, tried to bribe the man who admitted killing her 20-year-old daughter on July 5, 2007. Kenneth Walton, who got a life sentence after pleading guilty to gunning down Stephanie Shea Graham, told investigators he did so at the mother's behest, and he's to testify against her. District Attorney Ken Davis has filed evidence Graham allegedly offered Walton $10,000 to take her "out of the equation." Defense attorneys object that Judge George Greene, who presided at Graham's 1st trial before declaring a mistrial in 2012, ruled the evidence was not admissible. Greene's failing health forced him to retire before he died Jan. 1, 2014. After other Russell County judges recused themselves, the case went to Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker III. Davis has argued that because the 1st trial had no verdict and a new judge now has the case, such issues may be litigated again. "The state would argue that there is a compelling circumstance to re-examine this point of law as there is a new judge hearing this case and this is a new trial," Davis wrote last week. "Additionally there was never a final judgment entered in the first trial of this case." Defense attorney Margaret Young Brown contends the prosecution gave notice of its intent too late to pursue charges of witness tampering and bribery, and she says the evidence is more prejudicial than indicative of Graham's guilt. Also, the evidence includes a note that Graham allegedly wrote by hand, which the defense needs more time to examine, she said, in part writing, "the defense would desire to have a continuance so that hand writing exemplars could be obtained." A newspaper carrier found Shea Graham's body on Bowden Road, between U.S. 431 and Ala. 165 near Pittsview. She had5 bullet wounds in the head and torso, authorities said. Earlier reports said she was shot six times, but during jury selection last week Brown's co-counsel, Robert Poole, specified that there were gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, one to the head and one to the right eye. Investigators said Walton, the last person seen with her, not only confessed to the homicide, but also acted it out, telling them he stopped to let Shea Graham out to relieve herself, then gunned her down as she squatted beside the road. Walton pleaded guilty June 14, 2012. Authorities allege Lisa Graham wanted her daughter dead because she was frustrated by Shea Graham's drug use and feared the daughter would jump bail on charges she faced in a drive-by shooting in Columbus. Shea Graham was due in court the morning her body was found. Poole last week told prospective jurors the daughter faced four counts of aggravated assault in Columbus and had been released on a $100,000 bond. (source: Ledger-Enquirer) OHIO: Execution delayed for man convicted in officer shooting death The Ohio Supreme Court agreed Monday to postpone an initial execution date for the man convicted in the 2008 shooting death of a Twinsburg police officer. The routine stay notice gives Ashford Thompson time to work through the appeals process, as is standard in such death penalty cases. Thompson was found guilty in 2010 of 2 counts of aggravated murder after shooting 33-year-old Joshua Miktarian multiple times in the head during a late-night traffic stop. During oral arguments before the state's high court last year, legal counsel for Thompson said his death sentence should be overturned due legal and procedural errors made during his trial, among other issues. His legal counsel also argued that Thompson was a home health-care nurse and religious man who had no other convictions for violent crimes and who did not set out to commit murder. Prosecutors, however, cited threatening comments made by Thompson at a bar before the shooting and other evidence in seeking affirmation of his death sentence. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld Thompson's death sentence in a 4-3 decision in October, with a majority of justices agreeing that the legal process instituting a death sentence was conducted in proper order, and the penalty was appropriate for the crime. The state's high court set an April 2017 execution in the case, though that date was expected to be postponed, as Thompson worked through the appeals process. Justices agreed Monday to stay the execution date "until exhaustion of all state post-conviction proceedings, including an appeals," according to documents. (source: The Daily Record) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 23 12:50:34 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2015 12:50:34 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IND., MO., KAN., OKLA., USA Message-ID: Feb. 23 ILLINOIS: The Innocence Project May Have Framed A Man For A Crime He Didn't Commit Truth, conspiracy, guilt and innocence all collide when a wrongfully convicted man takes on the professor who got him convicted. For years, investigative journalist Bill Crawford hounded the powers that be in Chicago telling anyone who would listen, and shouting at those who wouldn't, that an innocent man was in prison, framed for a crime he didn't commit. So Crawford should be celebrating now. After more than 15 years behind bars, Alstory Simon was released last October when his conviction on a double murder charge was overturned by the state of Illinois. Instead, Crawford says, "There's a goddamn sinister thing going on here." There's no doubt that Crawford is glad to see Simon free and his own work on the case vindicated. But that feeling is tempered by his doubt that the people ultimately responsible will ever pay for their role in Simon's imprisonment. "It took 2 sides to get this thing done," Crawford says of the forces that pulled Simon into the murder case and put him in prison. "This thing" Crawford refers to darkly is the collusion between overzealous state prosecutors and a high-profile leader of a since disbanded franchise of the Innocence Project, a nationally lauded legal program that gathers evidence to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners. In this case Crawford and others allege that in its eagerness to free a prisoner on death row, the Northwestern University branch of the Innocence Project framed Simon, and Cook County prosecutors went along with it. Simon was convicted in 1999 for a double-murder in Chicago in 1982 on the basis of what he says was a coerced confession and released on Oct 30, 2014 after being exonerated by a new investigation. Now, in a bid for restitution and maybe some justice, Simon has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Northwestern and former professor David Protess, famed founder of Medill???s Innocence Project. According to Simon's lawsuit, "The horrific injustice that befell Simon occurred when defendants, Northwestern University professor David Protess, Northwestern University private investigator Paul Ciolino, and attorney Jack Rimland, conspired to frame Simon for the murders in order to secure the release of the real killer, Anthony Porter," the suit reads. Porter was sitting on death row for the 1982 murders when Protess found him and decided to take up his case. Protess already had a national reputation from earlier work overturning wrongful convictions when he assigned Porter's case to his class at the Medill Innocence Project in 1998. In the course of looking to exonerate Porter, Protess and his team landed on Simon and set about building a case against him. Simon had been one of several possible suspects identified earlier in the case dropped by police after multiple eyewitness accounts focused their investigation on Porter. In 1999, Simon delivered a videotaped confession that he now says was made under false pretenses and duress. Protess's team delivered the confession and in a lighting turnaround Porter, who had been 48 hours from a scheduled execution, was free on bail 2 days later. It was a high profile victory for the Innocence Project and, along with other cases, eventually led to Illinois abolishing the death penalty. The problem, as Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a statement after Simon's release, was that the "investigation by David Protess and his team involved a series of alarming tactics." Those tactics, "were not only coercive and absolutely unacceptable by law-enforcement standards," Alvarez said, "they were potentially in violation of Mr. Simon's constitutionally protected rights." One of those potential violations concerns Simon's defense lawyer Jack Rimland. Simon was introduced to Rimland by Ciolino, the Medill Innocence Project's investigator. The private eye and the lawyer were personal acquaintances, and Simon's lawsuit alleges that Rimland, working in concert with Protess, convinced him to plead guilty, based on the fabricated evidence gathered by Ciolino. In the past, Rimland has denied working with Protess and said that Simon never expressed his innocence while he was representing him. He declined to comment when contacted for this story. "There's a goddamn sinister thing going on here." Protess is no stranger to controversy. He retired from Northwestern in 2011 after internal investigations alleged he had deceived witnesses in other cases to extract statements, and "knowingly misrepresented the facts and his actions to the University, its attorneys and the dean of Medill on many documented occasions. He also misrepresented facts about these matters to students, alumni, the media and the public." The aftermath of the investigation into Protess and his departure from Northwestern prompted changes in Innocence Projects across the country. "When allegations against David Protess came about and we found out about them, it prompted us to reevaluate the decision to allow journalism projects in the network," said Seth Miller executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida and president of the Innocence Network, the coordinating board for local Innocence Projects across the country. The Innocence Network is no longer open to journalist projects, like the one Protess ran, because "it was clear to us that the ethical considerations that journalists and lawyers use were different," Miller said. Despite the shadow cast over Protess' work, years went by before Simon's case got another hearing. But Crawford argues the injustice done by Protess' team at Northwestern is only part of the story. What it leaves out, he says, are the people who ultimately had the power to put Simon in prison - the prosecutors. "The other side of the equation is Gainer and Devine," Crawford says. That's Thomas Gainer, and Dick Devine...the former assistant state's attorney and state's attorney, respectively, who headed the prosecution of Simon. Gainer now serves as a judge in Illinois' Cook County and Devine works in a private legal practice. Crawford's "sinister thing" is that neither man currently faces any legal or civil action for their role in prosecuting Simon, despite what Crawford and others say is evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. In the Cook County State's Attorney investigation that ultimately freed Simon, it focused on Team Protess. No mention was made of wrongdoing by state officials, who were former members of that same office. Yet a review of the evidence in the case shows a number of troubling irregularities. Thomas Epach is the former chief of the Cook County Criminal Division. He was the lead investigator of the murders for which first Porter, and then Simon, were convicted. Testimony from an affidavit sworn by Epach reads: "At the time of the release of Mr. Porter, I was aware not only that the purported confession of Alstory Simon was obtained by Paul Ciolino, who was working on behalf of Anthony Porter, but also that Simon was being represented by attorney Jack Rimland, who had close ties to both Mr. Ciolino and David Protess. I believed at the time that the circumstances of this purported confession needed to be thoroughly investigated before a decision was made to either release Porter or to charge Simon with the crime. I was also aware that there were substantial credible evidence to support the conviction of Anthony Porter and that no physical evidence existed which tied Simon to these murders. Nevertheless, a decision was made by Mr. Devine to immediately release Porter and to charge Simon with the murders of Hillard and Green." And there were other serious problems with the case against Simon. When a grand jury was convened to reconsider the evidence after Simon's confession, the evidence still strongly pointed to Porter's guilt. But that grand jury was disbanded without ever delivering a verdict on the case. Following that, the case was brought before another grand jury. Only this time none of the witnesses implicating Porter were called to testify and the jury indicted Simon. Terry Ekl, 1 of Simon's lawers who filed the lawsuit on his behalf against Protess and Northwestern, is a former Illinois prosecutor himself. Ekl believes the State's Attorneys "did a very inadequate job of investigating this case before they made the decision to cut Porter loose and go after Simon." But he said that holding them accountable is outside of his power. "We could not fashion a lawsuit against the State's Attorneys office that would survive a motion to dismiss based on prosecutorial immunity," Ekl said. "The only thing would be a political ramification for doing a poor job as a prosecutor." Crawford, who is writing a book about Simon's case tentatively titled "Justice Perverted: Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism" tells a story that suggests "political ramification" may be hard to come by in Cook County. Crawford says that he called Gainer, now an acting judge, "about 2 weeks ago" to ask him question about the Simon case for the book he's finishing. Gainer wouldn't talk to him on the phone but Crawford says he got a message soon enough. "48 hours later I've got 2 guys holding up badges at my door, armed to the teeth," Crawford said. After inviting them in he found out they were assigned to the criminal intelligence unit of the Cook County Sheriff's office, dispatched to investigate threats against judges. "I said I know why you guys are here, come on in. They turned out to be gentleman. We sat down at the kitchen table I explained to them what I'm doing writing the book and they left my house laughing." Crawford's account could not be corroborated with the Cook County criminal court, which did not respond to a request for comment before this story was published. But Crawford isn't laughing when he talks about the case. His voice jumps like a man worried he's running out of time. "I'm glad that we are where we are," he says "but if Gainer skates on this," and his voice trails off before it jumps again. "He is not named in this goddamned suit. I find that an outrage." (source: The daily Beast) MISSOURI: Scherrer has 1st court appearance on murder charge Melvin Scherrer appeared late last week for the 1st time in the St. Francois County Courthouse on his murder charge. Scherrer, 50, of the Cedar Lake development outside Bonne Terre, is charged with 1st-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse, felonious restraint and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of tattoo artist Samuel "Tick" Francis. Francis went missing Dec. 15, 2012 and his body was found in a septic tank outside Bonne Terre on July 25, 2013. On Friday, Scherrer was assigned a public defender and filed paperwork to waive his right to formal arraignment or formal reading of the charges. His co-defendant, Brent Bouren was just sentenced to 24 months in prison for amended charges of second-degree assault and felonious restraint in connection with Francis' death. Otto Plopper, 43, of French Village, is also charged in the death with the Class D felony of abandonment of a corpse. A trial has not been set. At the time of Bouren's sentencing, Prosecuting Attorney Jerrod Mahurin said Bouren's involvement in the case was minimal but "important to us." He said even though the involvement was minimal, Bouren was able to provide them with information that was paramount to move forward with a possible death penalty sentence for Scherrer. According to the probable cause statement, witnesses identified Bouren as being present when Scherrer assaulted Francis with a baseball bat and they also reported seeing Bouren assault Francis. Witnesses reported Bouren threatened the same treatment toward them if they ever spoke of what they witnessed. They said Bouren held a gun in his hand and pointed it at others who were present at Scherrer???s home. The witnesses said Plopper was present during the incident. They reported seeing him leave the home with Scherrer and Francis. They reported Plopper later admitted to helping Scherrer dispose of Francis??? body. The murder charge wasn't their only legal trouble. Bouren and Scherrer were part of a 25-person drug indictment in the fall of 2013. In December, a federal jury found Scherrer guilty of conspiracy to distribute meth, possession of meth with intent to distribute, 2 counts of felon in possession of a firearm and 1 of the 2 counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime. A sentencing date has not been set since Scherrer was granted a request for a new attorney. Bouren pleaded guilty and received 24 months in prison for the federal drug conspiracy charge, to run concurrently to the state case, for a total of 24 months. He will be credited for the time he has already served. (source: Daily Journal) KANSAS: Religious leaders speak out against the death penalty Looking over the crowd assembled in the Kansas Capitol, Donna Schneweis noted "people of all political stripes." There were also people of a wide variety of religious backgrounds gathered the afternoon of Feb. 10. And as emcee for the press conference, Schneweis, chairwoman of the board of directors for the Kansas Coalition Against the Death Penalty, introduced each religious leader. All spoke with a common goal in mind - to ask state legislators to repeal the death penalty, which was reinstated in Kansas in 1994. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas represented the Catholic bishops across the state. He was joined by representatives of other faiths in presenting a letter imploring state legislators to repeal the death penalty. In the letter, the signees argued that the ideal is to show compassion for the loved ones of murder victims while holding the perpetrators of the crimes accountable in an appropriate manner. But the death penalty, they continued, does neither. The more than 430 faith leaders who signed the letter are advocating for the passage of House Bill 2129, which would replace the death penalty with life in prison without possibility of parole. "We know that capital punishment is wrong," said the Right Rev. Dean E. Wolfe, ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese in Kansas. "Even our youngest children know that it's wrong to take a human life." It is also, he argued, ineffective. "It is not used fairly; it has failed to make society safer," agreed the Rev. Leonard Dale, director of evangelical mission for the Central States Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It reflects a message of "brutality and violence," he said. The Rev. Kay Scarbrough, Topeka district superintendent with the Great Plains area of the United Methodist Church, touched on the idea that the death penalty ends the possibility for change, repentance and reconciliation in a person's life. "We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God, and therefore we must see all human life as significant and valuable," she said. She also noted the importance of doing all that is possible to bring comfort to the families and friends of victims in the aftermath of a violent crime. Human fallibility and bias can lead to the killing of an innocent person anywhere the death penalty occurs, said the Rev. Peter Goerzen of the Western District Conference of the Mennonite Church USA, who is campus pastor of Bethel College. "Our vision of justice is not retaliation, but restoration," he said. Archbishop Naumann emphasized that in speaking against the death penalty, he does not attempt to take away from the pain anyone has suffered in losing a loved one. Nor does he speak for all victims of murder when he shares the story of his own family. His father was murdered when his older brother wasn't yet 2 years old, and his mother was pregnant with him. "There are many problems with the implementation of the death penalty," he said. He noted the potential to execute an innocent person, an appeal process that can force a family to continue to relive the pain of their loved one's death, and the costs of appeals that outweigh the amount of money it takes to incarcerate someone for life. The religious leaders presented the letter to Rep. Steven Becker, R-Buhler, who introduced the bill. Sharing the podium were Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, Kansas; Sen. Carolyn McGinn, R-Sedgwick; and Rep. William Sutton, R-Gardner. "3 weeks ago Kansas was called the most pro-life state in America," said Becker, referring to Gov. Sam Brownback's remarks on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade Jan. 22. "That cannot be true," he continued. "That cannot be true as long as the death penalty is in the pages of our law books." There is also work for people of faith to do, said Archbishop Naumann. "I think our people are called to pray for this," he said. He also encouraged contact with state legislators on the matter. "Our legislators really need to hear from their people, from their constituents," said the archbishop. "So I think it's very important for all those concerned - whatever their faith - to write, to contact their state senators and state representatives." (source: The Leaven) OKLAHOMA: Trial to begin in fatal stabbing at downtown Oklahoma City bus station----Isaiah Glenndell Tryon, 25, is accused of stabbing to death the mother of his child, Tia Bloomer, 19. A death penalty trial is scheduled to start Monday for a man accused of stabbing to death the young mother of his child at the downtown Oklahoma City bus station while she was on her way to seek a protective order against him. Isaiah G. Tryon, 25, is accused in the stabbing death of Tia Bloomer, 19, in front of multiple witnesses. He was charged with 1st-degree murder in Oklahoma County District Court in March 2012. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, claiming the slaying was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. A known gang member, Tryon was on probation at the time of the slaying having been convicted previously of 4 counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm after juvenile adjudication, court records show. Prosecutors claim Tryon is a continuing threat to society. (source: The Oklahoman) USA: Tsarnaev's Lawyer Has Saved Notorious Clients From Death With her arm around the young man's back, she gives him a gentle pat and leans in to whisper something to him. Judy Clarke could be his mother, with this simple, comforting gesture, but she is not. She is a defense lawyer and he is accused of bombing the Boston Marathon. Clarke has defended those accused of horrific and infamous crimes, including Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Atlanta Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph and Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner, who killed 6 people and injured 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, in 2011. She saved all of them from the death penalty and hopes to do the same for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man accused in the 2013 marathon bombing that killed 3 people and injured more than 260 others. In what has become a familiar refrain in Clarke's career, she faces tough odds. Tsarnaev, 21, faces a total of 30 charges in the bombings and the killing days later of an MIT police officer; 17 of the charges carry the possibility of the death penalty. Lawyers who have worked with her say the same gentle quality she has shown with Tsarnaev has helped her connect with her other clients and, in turn, helped save their lives. "During a time when the world was focused on my brother as a monster, she was able to see him as a human being and provide him with that kind of human contact and emotional support at a time when he had very little sympathy from anyone," said David Kaczynski, who made the difficult decision to turn in his brother after he suspected him in a series of bombings that killed 3 people and injured 23 others between 1978 and 1995. "She really sees each human being as a human being and defines them not in terms of what they may have done or how sick they may be or how fanatical they may be, but through a kind of human core," David Kaczynski said. Clarke, who grew up in Asheville, North Carolina, later told her local newspaper that she knew she wanted to be a lawyer at a young age. "In the 7th grade, I decided I should be Perry Mason or Earl Warren," she told The Asheville Citizen-Times in 1995. Clarke said she found it natural to devote her career to defending the accused. "You're dealing with liberty," she told the newspaper. "It's the ultimate in legal issues to me, whether or not someone is free." Clarke began her career as a federal public defender in San Diego and Spokane, Washington. A staunch death penalty opponent, she agreed in 1994 to help represent Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman who drowned her 2 young boys by letting her car roll into a lake with her children buckled into their car seats. Prosecutors portrayed Smith as a selfish woman who killed her children because she saw them as an obstacle to being with a man who had broken off their relationship a week earlier. But Clarke described Smith as "one of the walking wounded" and told the jury about her troubled childhood: her father committed suicide when she was 6, she was molested by her stepfather, and she made 2 suicide attempts of her own as a teenager. Clarke said the drownings of her boys were part of another failed suicide attempt by a woman who "tried to cope with a failing life and snapped." Lead prosecutor Tommy Pope said Clarke began to humanize Smith well before the jury had to make a decision on whether she received the death penalty. He recalled Clarke telling jurors the defense wasn't looking for their sympathy, but for their "understanding" of Smith. "I think she took advantage of opportunities so by the time they got to the courtroom, I think the jury was more willing to hear the softer side or the human side of Susan Smith," Pope said. In the Loughner case, Clarke negotiated an agreement with prosecutors that spared him the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea to 19 charges. Jon Sands, the chief federal public defender for Arizona who recommended Clarke for the job, said she understands the pain the victims have suffered as well as the turmoil her clients have experienced. "She often is very good at letting the prosecutor and the victims know why settling is in their interest, and you saw that in Loughner," Sands said. "She and her team ... were constantly meeting with Loughner and getting experts until the prosecution understood that he was terribly, terribly mentally ill and it was in everyone's best interests for him to take a plea." In the Tsarnaev case, the U.S. Department of Justice has given no indication that it will entertain a plea agreement that would spare Tsarnaev's life. Prosecutors are going forward with a federal death penalty trial. Jury selection began Jan. 5. Clarke and the rest of Tsarnaev's defense team began signaling their defense more than a year ago, indicating in court documents that they plan to argue that Tsarnaev was influenced - maybe even coerced - into participating in the bombings by his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed in a shootout with police days later. In court, Clarke has been soft-spoken and respectful when questioning prospective jurors. With her plain, monochromatic suits, pageboy haircut and no makeup, Clarke, 62, has a modest, unassuming way about her. She declined a request to be interviewed, but instead suggested a story on her co-counsel, David Bruck, or the team of federal public defenders also working on the Tsarnaev case. In a rare public speech about her work, Clarke told an audience at Loyola Law School in 2013 that many people charged with capital crimes have suffered severe trauma and cognitive development issues. She said many of her clients have been reluctant to plead guilty when she first meets them. "They're looking into the lens of life in prison in a box," she said. "Our job is to provide them with a reason to live." (source: Associated Press) From rhalperi at smu.edu Mon Feb 23 12:51:33 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2015 12:51:33 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 23 INDONESIA: Australians on death row ask Indonesia to let them live 2 Australians on death row appealed to Indonesian president Joko Widodo on Sunday to let them live so they can continue helping fellow prisoners in a rehabilitation programme, their brothers said. The kin of drug smugglers Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan made a statement to the media after visiting the pair in Kerobokan prison on Bali island. "We see and hear many prisoners doing courses go on to jobs and better lives. Our brothers' great wishes for the President is to allow them to continue this help, to rebuild the lives of many more Indonesians for many more years to come," Michael Chan told reporters outside the prison. The statement comes after Indonesia authorities delayed their execution by up to a month, backtracking on an earlier pledge to put the 2 men before the firing squad by the end of February. Australia's government has voiced strong opposition to the planned executions. "Our brothers are very grateful for the support and kindness shown to them by so many people, and we are amazed at their strength and resilience during this stressful time," Michael Chan said. "As they reflect on their past they are also thankful to the Indonesian government, the prison officials and many volunteers that have allowed them to create a holistic rehabilitation programme that is now the envy of most prisons worldwide," he added. Chan and Sukumaran, who have been on death row since 2006, claim they have themselves been rehabilitated. But Widodo, who has vowed a tough approach to ending what he has called Indonesia's "drug emergency", rejected their appeals for clemency. "Myu and Andrew love Indonesia, they have a great respect for the Indonesian people and its culture, and it was through the support of the Indonesian justice system that they were able to help set up many programmes that have helped a lot of Indonesians and has also helped better themselves, and they are very grateful for that", said Chinthu Sukumaran. Widodo, a vocal supporter of capital punishment, in January authorised the execution of 6 convicted drug smugglers including 5 foreigners. Chan and Sukumaran are among 7 foreigners -- including citizens from France, Ghana, Brazil and Nigeria -- who have lost their appeals for presidential clemency, the final hope of avoiding the firing squad. (source: Yahoo News) ******************************** 'Nobody consoled Marco': Last rites denied for prisoner executed before Bali 9 duo Indonesian authorities executed a Brazilian man last month without allowing a priest to perform the last rites as he waited for the firing squad. The distressing mix-up, and horrific last minutes of Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira, were relayed to Fairfax Media by Cilacap priest Father Charles Burrows, who was supposed to be called upon to comfort the man. Usually there is a time when the minister or spiritual director gets to go forward to console them. Nobody consoled Marco. The account comes as the Brazilian government took the extraordinary step of refusing to accept the credentials of Indonesia's new ambassador in protest over its refusal to offer clemency to another of its citizens on death row, Rodrigo Gularte. Indonesia responded by recalling its ambassador-designate. Moreira was executed on January 18, the last of 5 drug felons shot by firing squads on Nusakambangan, Indonesia's execution island that sits within sight of Cilacap. "He had to be dragged from his cell crying and saying 'help me'," said Father Burrows. "He actually excremented in his trousers". The guards hosed him down but, says Father Burrows, he continued to weep "all the time up to his last minutes". Moreira was a Catholic and Father Burrows was supposed to administer the sacrament of reconciliation and penance and the extreme unction. But there was a mix-up and Father Burrows was not allowed on the island. "I kept telling them I wanted to be there. The wardens were very polite but the attorney wouldn't give me a letter to get on to the island. The Brazilian embassy was very upset. They told me nobody went forward to look after him. "Usually there is a time when the minister or spiritual director gets to go forward to console them. Nobody consoled Marco." Brazil is also deeply angry about the treatment of Gularte, who is a paranoid schizophrenic, and therefore should be exempt from execution under Indonesian law. Gularte, 42, has been on death row since 2004 for smuggling 6 kilograms of cocaine into Indonesia in surf boards. "This is one of the reasons why the clemency should be assessed case by case. There should not be a blanket rejection," said Gularte's Indonesian lawyer Ricco Akbar. "If it was done case by case, it would be known that Rodrigo was suffering a mental illness. His clemency would not have been rejected in the first place." Mr Akbar called on the "wise" President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, to reconsider the case. Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said clearance for Indonesia's representative would be delayed while Brasilia and Jakarta remained at loggerheads over Gularte's execution. The blanket denial of clemency for drug convicts on death row by Mr Joko will be the subject of an appeal to the administrative court on Tuesday by the lawyers for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the 2 Australians on death row in Bali. Fairfax Media revealed on Thursday that Mr Joko rejected their clemency applications without considering the supporting documentation, which included information on their rehabilitation and efforts to train and counsel hundreds of Indonesian prisoners in Kerobokan jail. With Mr Joko saying on Friday that he would not bow to international pressure and that there would be no delay in the men's executions, the lawyers for the Australians said they would pursue their case for clemency with unbridled determination. "There are plenty of reasons why we will never throw in the towel," said Julian McMahon, one of several barristers working on the case. "We are fighting in court, at this stage the Administrative Court. Our government is working hard on other fronts. There is also an international aspect to this. Perhaps most importantly, civil society in Jakarta is certainly now very interested. "It may only be a few days, but may be longer. This extra time might enable the governments to talk more, to look more deeply at all that is going on and see if some better outcome than killing reformed prisoners is an option." (source: Sydney Morning Herald) ***************************** Australian Tourists Voice Disapproval to Tourism Boycott Australian tourists visiting Bali have expressed their disagreement to the tourism boycott, which is a mark of protest over the imminent executions of Bali 9 ringleaders, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. "I do not agree with the boycott because I still love Bali," Coally Ann, an Australian tourist stated on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Julia Ann, who is Coally's sister, also supports tourism in Bali. "We will continue to support tourism in Bali," she noted. However, they are protesting on humanitarian grounds against the execution sentence awarded to the 2 Australians. "We do not agree with the death penalty. That is not correct because they are human beings," she noted. Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan were granted death sentence in 2006 for leading a drug trafficking group known as the Bali 9. They were arrested in 2005 at an airport and hotel in Bali for smuggling 8.2 kilograms of heroin. "We have been following the current news. We are very sad about the death penalty," she stated. The Australian government had appealed to the Indonesian government to spare the lives of the 2 citizens on death row. The death penalty in Indonesia, especially imposed on drug offenders, does not contradict human rights and the international law, noted Desra Percaya, the Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations (UN). The abolishment of death penalty is not a universal standard in human rights, and the discussion in the UN forum is still ongoing and has not yet reached a consensus, Desra noted. "Every country has its unique challenges. The implementation of death penalty is the government's response to the unique challenges faced by Indonesia," the ambassador stated. He also pointed out that the imposition of death penalty in Indonesia is not considered as extra-judicial killings or arbitrary executions that violate the human right norms. The death penalty in Indonesia is an action that has been imposed through the legal process, he said. "Indonesia praised the UN secretary general's effort to communicate directly with the government but deplored the approach, which is based on a narrow understanding," Desra remarked. "This approach could impact the integrity of the UN secretary general as discussion on the issue of death penalty is still ongoing," he affirmed. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesia not to execute the prisoners on death row for drug crimes, including the citizens of Australia, Brazil, France, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, and the Philippines. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban had spoken to Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Thursday "to express his concern at the recent application of capital punishment in Indonesia." "The UN opposes the death penalty under all circumstances," Dujarric noted in a statement on Friday. "The secretary general has appealed to the Indonesian authorities that the executions of the remaining prisoners on death row for drug-related offenses should not be carried out," Dujarric stated. The preamble of the UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988, admits that drugs pose a serious threat to the health and welfare of human beings and adversely affect the economic, cultural, and political foundations of the society. (source: The Bali Times) BANGLADESH: Hasina favours speedy punishment for Bangladesh arsonists Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday called for "speedy" and "exemplary" punishment for arsonists and their backers in the strife torn country. Ms. Hasina met senior officials and drew attention to the violence and anarchy that have been accompanying the blockade being enforced by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led opposition, and said people must be saved from such anarchical activities, according to a bdnews24.com report. "There should be speedy punishment (for) those caught red-handed... those instigating the incidents, those who are funding them, those who are making the bombs and supplying them," she said. The opposition BNP and its allies - having boycotted the general elections held January 5, 2014 - have enforced a non-stop nationwide blockade since January 6, demanding fresh parliamentary polls under a non-party caretaker government system. More than 100 people have been killed so far in the ensuing political violence, and most of them have been killed after firebomb attacks on public vehicles. Numerous strikes have crippled normal life in the country. A number of cases have been filed across the country, of which at least 4 name BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia as the key instigator of the turmoil. The government has announced that it would be forming a special tribunal under the Anti-Terrorism Act to try these cases. Death sentence is the highest penalty for the guilty under that law. (source: The Hindu) IRAN----executions 12 Prisoners Executed in Iran Iranian state media has reported about execution of 12 prisoners on Sunday 22 February. According to the Iranian State Broadcasting eight prisoners were hanged in the prison of Bandar Abbas (Southern Iran) on Sunday. One of the prisoners was charged with rape, while the 7 others were sentenced to death for drug-related charges. The Young Journalists Club, run by the authorities, quoted Hormozgan prosecutor saying that these prisoners were charged with trafficking of 1 ton of opium, heroin and hashish. None of the prisoners were identified by name. Official website of the Iranian Judiciary in the Markazi Province (South of Tehran) reported about execution of 4 prisoners convicted of drug-related charges in the prison of Arak. 3 of the prisoners were identified as "Mohammad M", "Ehsan J." and "Amir Hossein G." charged with participation in production of 59 kilograms and 68 grams of the narcotic drug crystal. "Mohammad M." and "Ehsan J." were in addition charges with selling 2 and 13 kilograms of crystal that they had produced, respectively. The 4th prisoner was identified as "Reza Z." charged with participation in possession and trafficking of 972 grams of heroin, said the report. (saource: Iran Human Rights) ********************* 21 Prisoners Hanged in Iran During 48 Hours 21 prisoners in prisons from Adel Abad in Shiraz, Bam, and Bandar Abbas prisons were executed during last 48 hours. State-run sources are silent about these executions. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), during last 48 hours, 21 prisoners were executed by hanging in 3 prisons; Adel Abad in Shiraz, Bam, and Banda Abbas. During last 48 hours, 9 prisoners with charges of drug related crimes and retributions were hanged in Bandar Abbas prison. 3 of them were from ward 1, 4 of them from ward 7 and 2 from ward 2 of this prison. Names of executed prisoners who have been identified so far are as follows: Sajad Ghochany, 27, from Tehran, Mohammad Gholami, 33, from Tabriz, Mohammad Kazem Yazdani Doboron, 55, from Mashhad, Alireza Razmi, 45, from Bushehr, Mehdi Shahdadi, 31, from Iranshahr, Mosa Nekoei Zadeh, 22, from Bandar Abbas, Ghasem Moradi Zadeh, 35, from Yazd. Also according to HRANA's reporter's information, 9 prisoners were executed in Adel Abad prison, in Shiraz, whose identities is not known yet. They were accused with drug related crimes and retribution. In addition, 3 prisoners, with drug related crimes, were executed during last 48 hours in Bam Central Prison. They were named: Mohammad Hojat Abadi, Rasool Naderi, and Hossein Mir Dost whose father named Shah Bakhsh. Additionally, HRANA has received numerous reports of 2 public executions in the last 48 hours. One of them was a prisoner with drug related crimes in Kozeh Garai Square in Shiraz, and the other one was Hamid Mohammadi, 27, from Haji Abad, accused with Rape, and was executed in Fish Market place in Bandar Abbas, but HRANA is still unable to independently verify these 2 reports. (source: HRANA News Agency) ******************* Iran executes juvenile offender Iran reportedly executed Saman Naseem, a juvenile offender who was 17 years-old when sentenced to death, despite international pressure to halt the execution. According to Iran Human Rights (IHR), it is unclear if the execution occurred on Thursday or Friday, but Naseem's family was asked to collect his body. Now 22, Naseem was charged in July 2011 with "enmity against God" and "corruption on earth." The juvenile was arrested because of membership in Party For Free Life of Kurdistan after a battle with the Revolutionary Guards. One member of the Revolutionary Guard was killed and 3 others injured. Naseem reported he did not have access to a lawyer during the investigations and was tortured prior to confessing. Prior to execution, UN human rights experts and Amnesty International (AI) urged Iran to halt the execution. Iran is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and pursuant to Article 37(a) capital punishment is prohibited for persons below 18 years of age. However, the Islamic Penal Code permits the death penalty for juveniles under certain circumstances. Much international pressure has been directed toward Iran in recent years for its use of the death penalty. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Ahmed Shaheed urged Iran in April to immediately halt the execution of Reyhaneh Jabbari. Jabbari was executed the following October despite international opposition. Last June former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned Iran's use of the death penalty for juvenile offenders and called on authorities to halt the announced execution of Razieh Ebrahimi, who was 14 years old when sentenced to death. Also in June a group of independent UN human rights experts condemned Iran's execution of a political prisoner, calling for the country to end the death penalty. (source: JURIST) ****************************** Meth Use 'Skyrocketing' in Iran Despite Executions, Police Raids Methamphetamine production and the use of "hard drugs" are "skyrocketing" in Iran despite police raids and the potential of facing execution for certain drug crimes. It is estimated that "2.2 million of Iran's 80 million citizens already are addicted to illegal drugs, including 1.3 million on registered treatment programs." According to the Associated Press, drug use "numbers keep rising annually even though use of the death penalty against convicted smugglers has increased too." Executions resulting from drug conviction now represent "more than 9 out of 10 executions" in Iran. Narcotics officer Parviz Afshar said 2 meth labs appear for every one they shut down. And Majid Mirzaei, who manages a drug addict shelter in Tehran, argues that drug addition cannot be eliminated, but says it can be managed. Mirzaei said: "When I set up this shelter authorities didn't support me. But after several years of hard work, they were convinced that it's better to provide care and shelter to addicts." One of the reasons for the continued rise in drug use is their easy availability, via Afghanistan, which is "the region's top drug exporter." In March 2014, Russia warned of the drug boom that would take place in Afghanistan once President Barack Obama followed through with pulling US troops out of that country. According to Iran's state-run PressTV, Russian drug tsar Viktor Ivanov claimed that even the "US House Foreign Affairs Committee [had] no counter-narcotics strategy for Afghanistan after international troops pulled out of the country." By November, The Christian Science Monitor reported that "poppy cultivation" had reached a record high in 2014. And although they did not mention Obama's determination to pull out troops, they reported that "the uptick in production could be tied to increasing insecurity in Afghanistan." (source: breitbart.com) VIETNAM: 2 arrested in Hanoi for hiding major amount of meth inside festive food Police in Hanoi on Saturday arrested 2 people for carrying hundreds of methamphetamine pills on a taxi. Doan Van Thieu, 28, and Bui Thi Kim Oanh, 30, told police, who stopped their taxi for a random check around 2:45 am, that they were returning home after visiting some local pagodas as part of their Lunar New Year celebration. When the officers demanded to check their red plastic bag, Oanh said that it was just a "festive bag" carrying lucky food and objects from the pagodas, including a traditional rice dessert and a pocket of salt. Police however found drugs hidden inside the cake and the salt pocket. Some were also concealed inside a camera. The pills had an estimated street value of around VND300 million (US$15,000), police said. The 2 traffickers told police that they had been hired to transport the drugs by an unidentified person. They claimed that they had not been told where they would deliver the drugs to. Police are investigating into the case. Vietnam has some of the world's toughest drug laws. Those convicted of smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death. (source: Thanh Nien News) AUSTRALIA: Australia should lead in abolishing the death penalty in the Asia-Pacific----Instead of quiet diplomacy, the government needs a principled, consistent, and more vocal opposition to the death penalty, whether or not the lives at stake are Australian. As Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran face execution in Indonesia, there is much soul searching about what more Australia could do to save their lives. Last week, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and opposition foreign minister Tanya Plibersek made eloquent and impassioned speeches in Parliament, and, at a news conference in Bali, Sukumaran's mother movingly pleaded for her son's life. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Tony Abbott joined the condemnation: "We abhor the death penalty, we regard it as barbaric." There is little evidence that the softly softly approach has been effective ... it seems the death penalty is making a resurgence in Australia's neighbourhood. Australia is in a position to be leading the charge in encouraging Asia-Pacific countries to abolish the death penalty, yet so far it hasn't done so. If Australia wants to stop executions of its nationals in the future, the government should rethink the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's traditionally low-key approach to capital punishment. Instead of quiet diplomacy, the government needs a principled, consistent, and more vocal opposition to the death penalty, whether or not the lives at stake are Australian. There is little evidence that the softly softly approach has been effective. With five recent executions in Indonesia and more on the way, and a disturbing new interest in executions in Papua New Guinea, it seems the death penalty is making a resurgence in Australia's neighbourhood. In PNG, after a moratorium of 60 years, the Attorney-General Dr Lawrence Kalinoe says the government will start implementing the death penalty this year. In recent years the PNG government has inched closer to executions by expanding the scope of crimes punishable by death, as well as the methods of execution. Fourteen people are currently on death row there. So far, neither Abbott nor Bishop have publicly registered concerns with the PNG government. Yet this is a country hugely dependent on Australian aid, where Canberra should be using its influence to press for the human rights of all Papuans. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China and Vietnam also execute people. For Australia's voice to carry more weight against executions of people such as Chan and Sukumaran, it's important that Australia publicly registers its opposition to death sentences wherever and whenever possible. In revising its policy on the death penalty abroad, the government should consider the British government's strategy, which entails a comprehensive public agenda for it to push for its abolition. The strategy paper includes clear benchmarks and goals to guide British embassies in advocating against the death penalty in countries in which executions continue. In addition to public and private pressure on individual cases, the strategy also includes support for civil society groups to raise awareness, and for lawyers to bring legal challenges. Britain credits successes in Barbados, Uganda and Kenya, which have each taken steps to reduce the use of executions, as examples of its impact. Australia too could earmark development assistance to aid local lawyers and civil society groups in their advocacy efforts towards the abolition of the death penalty. Andrew Chan delivered a heartfelt message via Amnesty International to a vigil in Sydney: "Please don't let this just be about myself and Myu, but about others all over the world who need your help." Let's not wait until more people are in their situation for Australia to lift its game. (source: Elaine Pearson is Australia director at Human Rights Watch; The Age) MALAYSIA: Fijian Drug Charge Woman Identified The Fijian woman facing drug trafficking charges in Malaysia has been identified by the Fiji Sun. Christin Nirmal, 26, of Narere in Nasinu is a mother of 3 - her eldest daughter is in Year 5 while her youngest son is merely 10 months old. Her middle child lives with her estranged husband. Christin's mother Nirmala Mariamm requested the Fiji Sun not to publish Ms Nirmal's photo because of the impact on the children. Ms Mariamm is currently looking after 2 of the children. She was at a loss yesterday to explain how her young daughter ended up in Malaysia. "She was chatting with a South African man on Tagged (social networking site) for some months. He told her that he wanted to meet her and he purchased an open ticket from Fiji to Hong Kong and from there to Malaysia for Christin." Ms Nirmal is understood to have stayed with the South African man in Hong Kong for 3 weeks. "What we know is that he gave her sample school bags to take to Malaysia where another South African man was to pick it up from her. We have been told that Christin checked the bag and it was empty but when it was confiscated by the Malaysian customs, in another hidden compartment, they found some drugs," Ms Mariamm said. "She is uneducated, having studied up till class 4 only. We are all very worried about her and don't know what will happen," an emotional Ms Mariamm said. She said that given her own dire financial situation, she admitted she would not be able to financially support the children for long. Ms Mariamm praised the Fijian Government for keeping the family updated with news about Christin. She said she was also thankful to Government for providing her daughter with consular assistance in Malaysia. "I hope you understand why we are requesting that Christin's photo not be published. No one in our extended family knows that she has been arrested. Her daughter is in class 5 and seeing her mother's photo in the papers may have an impact on her." Ms Nirmal will be appearing in court on March 17, and will be represented by Malaysian legal aid. About 1.51 kilograms of methamphetamine was found at the Kuala Lumpur Airport while she was travelling from Hong Kong. She is being held under Section 39 (B) of Malaysian Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952. Carrying more than 50 grams of methamphetamines, also known as ice, can warrant the death penalty in Malaysia, which with its neighbours, has strict anti-drug trafficking laws. (source: The Fiji Sun) PAKISTAN/SAUDI ARABIA: Notes from the underground: Conned in Pakistan, convicted abroad 60-year-old Nazir Ahmad, a Pakistani on death row in Saudi Arabia's Braiman prison, frequently tells his wife in Pakistan of his fellow inmates' executions. Faced with the recent surge in beheadings of convicts in the Kingdom, it looks as if he is preparing her for his most likely fate. "He tells me that people [in Saudi jails] are executed without any notice," says Nazir's wife Tahira Bibi. "They are not even allowed to call their families," she adds with a quivering voice while speaking to The Express Tribune by telephone from her home in Lahore's Walton Road area. Nazir is one of the 18 Pakistanis imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for whom the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), a human rights law firm, is fighting for. The organisation has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC), urging it to remind the government of its responsibility to these men. 2 of them have already been beheaded. The remaining 16, who hail mostly from Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Toba Tek Singh, face the death penalty as well. Since November 2014, 11 Pakistanis have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia. "The men we are raising our voice for are the poorest of the poor, "says JPP spokesperson Shahab Siddiqi. "They were either framed or coerced into smuggling narcotics. They have no history of committing the crime for personal gain." "Their ignorance and hopes for a better life have been misused," he adds. For Nazir, it was a relative who persuaded him to go to Saudi Arabia for work. The relative told Nazir he had contacts in Islamabad and got him to pay for a passport and visa. Enticed by better prospects, Nazir decided to quit his job as a driver for a relative of a politician and agreed to move. In 2006, Nazir went to Islamabad after a recruitment agent told him his ticket had been confirmed. Upon reaching the capital, however, people he had never seen before locked him up and forced him to swallow packets of heroin at gunpoint. Nazir was then shipped off to Saudi Arabia and told someone would meet him there to recover the drugs. "Nazir phoned us from Islamabad before leaving. He told us that he would call once he reached Jeddah," recalls Tahira. "But we received no response for the next 3 to 4 days." Nazir did call eventually, says Tahira. In tears, he broke the news to his family that he had been arrested. "We were shocked to hear what happened. My husband is innocent. He was forced to take the drugs with him." Tahira has spent the last 9 year, hoping that Nazir will return one day. But she is afraid that it may never happen. "My sons have left their education to work to support the family. In our home, there is no happiness, even on Eid. My children are just sad and cry." JPP Legal Director Maryam Haq calls for bringing Pakistanis imprisoned in Saudi Arabia back home. "The government must bring these prisoners back," she says. "Their rights as citizens of Pakistan don't end at the border." Haq points out that prisoners in Saudi Arabia are not provided a lawyer if they can't afford one. "The accused, if he can't speak Arabic, depends solely on an interpreter, who may or may not translate correctly," she says. According to JPP officials, there has been an instance where an interpreter told a judge that the suspect had confessed even though the latter had denied the crime. "As such, the Pakistan Embassy should provide legal assistance to nationals who are imprisoned abroad," Haq adds. The bodies of those executed by Saudi authorities are also never returned to Pakistan. The men executed in the Kingdom are buried there only, JPP officials say. "Why is it that these men are not stopped when they are in Pakistan?" asks Haq. "There must be a proper mechanism for investigating drug smuggling from Pakistan," she adds. (source: The Tribune) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 24 13:35:28 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 13:35:28 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.J., PENN., VA., GA. Message-ID: Feb. 24 TEXAS: Rodney Reed: Texas appeals court grants stay of execution ---- Defence lawyers tell judges that new evidence proves Reed did not murder Stacey Stites in 1996 case and trial testimony was false A Texas court has issued a stay of execution for Rodney Reed 10 days before he was scheduled to be put to death for a murder he insists he did not commit. In a 6-2 verdict on Monday that was a response to an appeal filed by Reed's lawyers, the Texas court of criminal appeals stayed the lethal injection that had been set down for 5 March. The court did not explain its decision. Reed's attorneys argued they had new evidence proving his innocence and showing that the prosecution in the original trial presented false and misleading testimony. They are also calling for more DNA testing. "The family is overjoyed, we're happy beyond belief, but at the same time that it's a major victory, it is just a step towards where we're trying to go," Reed's brother, Rodrick, told the Guardian. "We're confident we're going to get a new trial and that he'll get exonerated with all the new evidence and the new witnesses." Stacey Stites's body was discovered by a rural roadside in Bastrop, near Austin, in 1996. The 19-year-old had been engaged to a police officer, Jimmy Fennell, who is currently in prison for kidnap and sexual assault. He was initially a suspect but investigators turned their focus to Reed after his DNA was discovered inside Stites's body. Reed's defence was that he was having an affair with Stites that they kept secret because it had the potential to cause a scandal in smalltown Texas since Reed is black and Stites was white. Prosecutors persuaded the jury that Reed had raped and strangled Stites in the early hours of the morning after intercepting her on her way to work, but the timeline for that version of events relied on scientific evidence at the trial that has since been discredited. Reed has been on death row for nearly 17 years. "We're extremely relieved that the court has stayed Mr Reed's execution so there will be proper consideration of the powerful new evidence of his innocence. We are also optimistic that this will give us the opportunity to finally conduct DNA testing that could prove who actually committed the crime," said Bryce Benjet, a staff attorney with the Innocence Project. In their 12 February filing Reed's lawyers argued that Stites was killed several hours earlier than the prosecution claimed - placing the time of death during a period when she was almost certainly at home with Fennell. "3 of the most experienced and well-regarded forensic pathologists in the country ... have re-evaluated the case and determined that Mr Reed's guilt is medically and scientifically impossible," they wrote. Reed's claim to innocence has attracted vigorous nationwide support from anti-death penalty campaigners and last week he was the subject of a television show in which a retired New York police detective examined the case and concluded there were serious problems with the conviction. (source: The Guardian) ************************ TEXAS COURT ISSUES STAY OF EXECUTION On 23 February, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution in the case of Rodney Reed, who was due to be put to death on 5 March for a murder in 1996 which he has consistently said he did not commit. View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. On 23 February, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution in the case of Rodney Reed. The lawyers had filed a new petition in the court on 13 February. The Court decision was six to two in favor of a stay and said: ?In this application, applicant asserts that he has newly discovered evidence that supports his claim that he is actually innocent, that new scientific evidence establishes his probable innocence?, and that the State presented false, misleading, and scientifically invalid testimony which violates his right to due process?The Court orders applicant?s execution stayed pending further order of this Court?. Rodney Reed has been on death row in Texas since 1998 after being convicted of the murder of Stacey Stites, whose body was found near a road in Bastrop County in rural central Texas on the afternoon of 23 April 1996. Nearly a year after the murder, DNA testing of semen from the body was matched to the DNA of Rodney Reed. He had initially denied knowing the victim, but then said that they had been in a consensual intimate relationship. New expert opinion and other evidence calls into question the state?s theory of the crime and the forensic evidence on which it was based. The prosecution had argued that Rodney Reed?s DNA had been left during a rape contemporaneous with the murder, which the state said had occurred around 3am on 23 April 1996. The state?s forensic expert supported this theory at the trial. Since then, he has signed a statement that his testimony was misused by the prosecution and that his estimate ?should not have been used at trial as an accurate statement of when Ms Stites died?, and that the semen could have been left more than 24 hours before the victim?s death, consistent with Reed?s claim of consensual sex in that time frame. Three leading forensic pathologists have also concluded from their review of all available materials that there is no forensic evidence that Stacey Stites had been sexually assaulted at the time of her murder rather than having engaged in consensual intercourse 24 hours or more before. They concluded that she was killed before midnight on 22 April 1996, and her body kept face down for several hours before being transported to the location where it was found. One of the experts concluded that the forensic evidence renders the state?s theory about time of death ?medically and scientifically impossible?. Another concluded ?beyond a reasonable degree of medical certainty that, based on all of the forensic evidence, Mr. Reed is scheduled to be executed for a crime he did not commit?. Two people also recently signed statements that they were aware of the relationship between Rodney Reed and Stacey Stites. Previous witnesses who attested to the relationship were deemed unreliable by the courts because of their relationship to the defendant or for other reasons. Name: Rodney Reed (m) Issues: Imminent execution, Death penalty, Legal concern Further information on UA: 39/15 (19 February 2015) Issue Date: 24 February 2015 Country: USA HOW YOU CAN HELP No further action by the UA Network is requested at this time. Amnesty International will keep monitoring the situation and will take further campaigning action when necessary. Many thanks to all who sent appeals. This is the first update of UA 39/15. Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/documents/AMR51/0010/2015/en/ We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward this email to a friend" link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism! UA Network Office AIUSA ?600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 T. 202.509.8193 ? F. 202.509.8193 ?E. uan at aiusa.org ?amnestyusa.org/urgent ************************** Explosive Allegations Provide New Hope For British Grandmother On Texas Death Row New allegations in a high-profile death penalty case may help Linda Carty, a 56-year-old British grandmother who has been on death row in Texas since 2002, get the appeal she so desperately needs. "When you see the consistent pattern [of allegations] we have from every single witness, it just cries out for a hearing," Michael Goldberg, Carty's attorney, told The Huffington Post Friday. With signed affidavits as new evidence, Goldberg has requested an evidentiary hearing with the Texas Court Of Criminal Appeals in hopes a favorable ruling paves the way for new trial in appeals court. A jury sentenced Carty to death in February 2002 after she was convicted of plotting the murder of a woman and child who lived in her apartment complex. The 4 men convicted of kidnapping the pair testified against Carty, who worked as a Drug Enforcement Agency informant, to avoid the death penalty themselves. Last week, the Houston Chronicle published a scathing investigation containing allegations that the prosecuting attorney coached, coerced and otherwise threatened witnesses into giving testimony that suited her case. Since the Chronicle's article, Goldberg said, "a lot of people [have] come out of the woodwork" with "things to say" about Assistant Harris County District Attorney Connie Spence. The Chronicle's report included the affidavits, which were both signed in 2014 and supplied independent of one another to Carty's defense team. Christopher Robinson,1 of the 4 gunmen who testified against Carty at trial, wrote that Spence both coached and threatened him into giving damning testimony against Carty. Charles Mathis, the former DEA agent who recruited Carty in the '90s as a confidential informant, accused Spence of inventing a false affair between him and Carty to coerce him into testifying for her office. According to court records, 4 gunmen burst into the home of Carty's neighbor, Joana Rodriguez, in May 2001. They demanded money and drugs before beating Rodriguez's husband and abducting her and her newborn son, the document notes. She was found dead a day later, tied and suffocated in the trunk of a car. The baby was found alive and reunited with his father. Prosecutors alleged that Carty, a mother and a grandmother, was obsessed with having another baby to save her common-law marriage and orchestrated the kidnap and murder plot so she could pass off Rodriguez's newborn as her own. Carty's defense argued she was set up by the kidnappers - all of whom had prior drug or robbery convictions - as retribution for her ongoing work with the DEA. In his affidavit, Mathis, who could not be reached for comment, wrote that Spence had "limited my testimony and only wanted me to testify only to a very tight set of facts." He wrote he was unable to speak to Carty's important work with the DEA, or the fact that he found her incapable of committing murder. Though no execution date has been set, Carty's case has drawn significant interest and outrage in England and her native Saint Kitts. Her case has been well-covered by British media, and former model and human rights activist Bianca Jagger numbers among her supporters. In 2009, supporters staged a sort of demonstration in London's Trafalger Square to publicize her plea. Carty's case was even the subject of an episode of the Werner Herzog-directed miniseries, "On Death Row." Goldberg noted the Harris County District Attorney's Office has not opened an investigation into the allegations against Spence; a Harris County district attorney told the Chronicle the office would wait for a response from the state before opening any kind of investigation into misconduct by the office's attorneys. The Harris County District Attorney's office did not return The Huffington Post's calls or emails for comment. Carty has lost a total of 3 appeals at the state and federal level, including 1 in which the British government filed an amicus brief as a friend of the court to the U.S. Supreme Court. Goldberg, who has been working pro-bono on Carty's appeals case for almost a decade, said on top of unethical tactics by Spence's office, Carty's court-appointed trial attorney was inept; lawyer Gerald Guerinot even failed to call Mathis to the stand or contact the British Consulate when Carty was arrested. The Houston Chronicle notes Guerinot has had 20 clients condemned to death row. Goldberg said Carty is now waiting for the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals to grant an evidentiary hearing based on the new evidence from the affidavits. "It is very difficult to maintain your sanity being on death row for a decade," Goldberg said. "Linda has had so many highs and lows through 1st round of appeals and now she is in one of those highs thinking 'we got this!'" Goldberg added: "But I'm trying to temper everything, because when you're dealing with the criminal courts, you can never say for certain." (source: Huffington Post) NEW JERSEY: 'Blind Faith' killer Robert Marshall dies in prison -- Robert Marshall timeline June 1983: Robert O. Marshall begins affair with Saraan Krausharr. By December, he begins plot to kill wife of 21 years Maria Marshall, 42, the mother of their 3 sons. June 1984: Marshall pays Billy Wayne McKinnon, a former Louisiana sheriff's officer, $5,000 to meet him at Harrah's Casino and plan a murder around a faked robbery. Marshall offers a total of $80,000 for the job. He plans to collect $1.5 million on his wife's life insurance policies. Sept. 7, 1984: Maria Marshall is murdered while the couple are on way home from a night out. Robert Marshall pulls into a Garden State Parkway picnic area, pretending to check a flat tire as Maria sleeps. He is knocked unconscious as part of the "robbery." She is shot twice and dies instantly. Dec. 1984: Marshall is arrested, charged as an accomplice. March 6, 1986: After a 6-week trial in Mays Landing, Marshall is convicted of contracting his wife's murder. He faints as he receives the death sentence. The jurors acquit Larry N. Thompson, one of three alleged accomplices and the suspected gunman. Other accomplices are McKinnon, who served 1 year, and Robert Cumber, who was sentenced to 30 years and granted clemency in 2006. April 1988: Thompson sues Ocean County Prosecutor's Office seeking $25 million for improper arrest; prosecutors win. Feb. 1989: Author Joseph McGinniss releases "Blind Faith," based on the Marshall case, which becomes a bestseller and NBC-TV miniseries in 1990. Jan. 24, 1991: N.J. Supreme Court upholds Marshall's conviction and death sentence. His is the 1st death sentence upheld since New Jersey reinstated death penalty. July 29, 1992: Marshall loses his plea for a life sentence; the death penalty is upheld by the Supreme Court. Feb. 23, 1993: The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear Marshall's initial appeal. A series of appeals follows. March 5, 1997: After repeated losses for Marshall, the state Supreme Court rejects his appeal for a new trial. April 4, 1997: Superior Court Judge Manuel Greenberg allows a 10-day extension before signing the death warrant. June 21, 2001: Having exhausted state and federal appeals, Marshall loses again. Nov. 2, 2005: Marshall, who was to die by lethal injection, wins a major appeal. The third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia rules Marshall's lawyer inadequately represented him in the death-penalty phase after his 1986 conviction. Court orders new a death-penalty hearing or a life sentence. Dec. 9, 2005: The N.J. attorney general appeals the U.S. Supreme Court lower court's ruling against Marshall's death sentence. May 12, 2006: Prosecutors drop the death-penalty hearing due to the task of presenting evidence after more than 20 years had passed. Marshall receives a life sentence. Dec. 2007: New Jersey abolishes the death penalty. April 2014: Larry Thompson, who had been acquitted of being the triggerman, confesses to the crime. In prison in Louisiana for armed robbery at the time, he told authorities that witnesses who said he was in Louisiana when Maria Marshall was killed were lying or mistaken. January 2015: New Jersey's parole board schedules a March parole hearing for Marshall. Feb. 21: Marshall, 75, dies at South Woods State Prison in southern New Jersey, according to state Department of Corrections. -- James Churchill was preparing to leave for a Florida vacation Monday morning when he received the call that Robert O. Marshall had died, 30 years after Churchill helped put the Toms River man on death row for arranging the murder of his wife, Maria Marshall. The case of Robert O. Marshall was the subject of author Joseph McGinniss' book "Blind Faith" and a subsequent TV miniseries. "I got the call from someone in the Prosecutor's Office and then my daughter called to tell me he died. It wasn't a surprise. I knew he was pretty much incapacitated and has been for about 6 months," Churchill said. Marshallwas a successful insurance broker in Toms River at the time of his wife's killing. Churchill was an investigator for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office who helped crack the case. New Jersey's Department of Corrections says Marshall died Saturday at South Woods State Prison. Churchill said he recently learned that Marshall suffered some sort of medical episode and was transferred to another medical facility from the prison. Marshall's son Robby called Churchill about 6 weeks ago to let him know his father wasn't doing well, Churchill said. Marshall was found guilty of conspiring with 2 Louisiana men to gun down his wife, Maria. Churchill's work helped prove that Marshall had been engaged in an extramarital affair and had taken out $1.5 million in insurance on his wife. Churchill, 71, had been waiting for almost 30 years for a confession that he finally got in April, when triggerman Larry Thompson, who is in a Louisiana state prison on an unrelated charge, admitted his role in the 1984 killing of Maria Marshall. She was gunned down in a picnic area of the Garden State Parkway in Lacey Township as the couple drove home from an Atlantic City casino. Last year, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato brought back Churchill, who retired in 1995, to work the Marshall investigation and obtain a confession from Thompson. In 1986, Thompson, now 72, had been found not guilty in Marshall's killing, but her husband was convicted and initially faced the death penalty before it was abolished in 2004. He was then sentenced to life in prison. "This was truly was a life sentence for him. He went to jail on Dec. 19, 1984, and never came out and it was a long road to get to his appeals," Churchill said. Thompson's confession last year gave some closure to Maria Marshall's sons and now the death of their dad gives them the ultimate closure, Churchill said. "His (Marshall's) death doesn't give me closure. When you work in this business for as a long as you do, when a case comes along you try to get as much information as you can to solve the case. It bothered me that we did so much work on this and some liars and people who were mistaken got (Thompson) off," said Churchill. Marshall was scheduled to have his first chance at parole during a hearing next month. "I really don't know if he would have gotten out. He is the 1st person to be sentenced to die and then to be able to come up for parole. I hoped he would not have gotten out. It would not have destroyed the work we did. But if he had gotten out it would be because the law says you get out after 30 years," Churchill said. William Schievella, former deputy director of the state Division of Parole, said he has followed the case for the last 30 years, and while it was possible, it was also highly unlikely Marshall would have been granted parole. Schievella, who now serves as director of the Police Studies Institute at the College of St. Elizabeth in Morris County, said if he had to place a bet, it would be 80-20 that Marshall would not have been released from prison. "It is highly unlikely that such a heinous criminal with a crime of such notoriety would be released. This is because the parole process is designed with the public's safety as a paramount consideration," he said. (source: Press of Atlantic City) PENNSYLVANIA: Gov. Tom Wolf did not impose a "moratorium" on Pennsylvania's death penalty. He has no such authority, and he knows that. The governor was properly advised by Judge Timothy K. Lewis, former U.S. Court of Appeals judge, that there exists no authority in the Office of Pennsylvania Governor to declare a moratorium or suspend the death penalty. What the governor did was to grant a reprieve to one death row inmate who was scheduled for an imminent execution. The granting of a reprieve is one of the governor's powers with respect to clemency in Article IV, Section 9(a) of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The other 2 are the power to commute a death sentence to life and to grant a pardon. The latter 2, however, cannot be exercised by the governor unless recommended by the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons. With respect to commuting a death sentence to life, the recommendation must be unanimous. Under Pennsylvania law, the issuance of execution warrants by the executive branch is a mandatory duty. That precedent was established in Morganelli v. Casey, a case I brought in 1994 against then Gov. Robert Casey. Today, the governor is given 90 days to sign a death warrant after receiving the case from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. If the governor does not sign the execution warrant, the execution date must be set by the Department of Corrections, and the execution proceeds without the governor's signature. Accordingly, Judge Lewis advised the governor that executions must proceed and that the use of the reprieve power was the only constitutional basis for creating a de facto moratorium. The governor has stated that he will grant reprieves for subsequent scheduled executions for each death row inmate at least until the release of an impending study being done by a task force established by the Legislature. The governor's objective is unlikely to succeed. In Morganelli v. Casey, the court held that a reprieve exists only to afford an individual defendant the opportunity to temporarily postpone an execution for a particular proceeding involving that defendant - i.e. a pending application for a pardon, commutation or judicial relief. It is unlikely that a court will allow a governor to grant "reprieves" based on a governor's concern about the fairness of the process or the release of a report that has no legal significance. If this was permitted, it would in effect allow a governor to commute death sentences to life, bypassing the Board of Pardons in contravention of Article IV of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Only the Legislature has the power to repeal the death penalty, and only the judiciary has the power to suspend the death penalty or declare it null and void as unconstitutional or in violation of due process. Pennsylvania's death penalty was deemed constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court many years ago in the case of Blystone, and, therefore, the governor will not be able to derail Pennsylvania's death penalty by continuously granting reprieves in individual cases. As someone who has personally litigated these issues, I predict that ultimately the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will find the governor's action outside of the intended purpose and scope of a reprieve. Northampton County District Attorney Morganelli is a past president of the Pennsylvania District Attorney's Association and in 1994 successfully prosecuted an unprecedented case against the governor of Pennsylvania to enforce Pennsylvania's death penalty. (source: Opinion; John Morganelli, Lebanon Daily News) **************** DA to seek death penalty in Duquesne slaying, arson The Allegheny County District Attorney's office announced Monday that it will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing his estranged wife and setting her Duquesne home on fire. James Karr, 47, is charged with criminal homicide after police said he wrapped his wife, Maureen Karr, 56, in wire, poured vodka on her and made a trail to the front door of her home on Friendship Street and set it on fire on Dec. 30. To pursue capital punishment, the prosecution must prove at least 1 aggravating factor to a jury, and the jury must find that the aggravating factor outweighs any mitigation presented by the defense. In Mr. Karr's case, the prosecution has identified five potential aggravating factors, including that the victim was a witness to another crime committed by the defendant and was killed to be prohibited from testifying; that he committed the killing while in the perpetration of a felony; that in committing the crime the defendant knowingly created a grave risk of death to someone other than the victim; and that at the time of the killing, Mr. Karr was the subject of a PFA by his wife. The district attorney's office currently has 5 other death penalty cases pending. Earlier this month, Gov. Tom Wolf announced a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania citing questions about the fundamental fairness of capital punishment. Mike Manko, a spokesman with the district attorney's office, said the moratorium does not impact the decision to pursue capital punishment against Mr. Karr. "The most immediate impact of the governor's recent announcement concerning the death penalty was to postpone events involving 1 defendant from Philadelphia," he said. "What the governor's announcement did not do was change the law. Capital punishment remains the law in this commonwealth and should be applied when appropriate as in the case of James Karr." No one has been executed in Pennsylvania since 1999. (source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) ******************* Thoughts on Pa. death penalty moratorium opposition Many people, present company excepted, employ the wrong word in speaking, either because they don't know better, have misheard it, or have confused the meaning. Take the word moratorium. It appears that some people think moratorium means to kill. After all, isn't a moratorium like a mortuary, where they take dead bodies? It fits right in with execution and death penalty. Moratorium means to pause, hold or suspend. No sooner had Gov. Wolf signed an executive order placing a moratorium on executions, when the elephants began to trumpet. The first 2 into the clearing were the district attorneys of Cumberland and Dauphin counties, Dave Freed and Ed Marsico. Both men are at risk of running for higher office. When we didn't hear from York County District Attorney Tom Kearney, we figured he was giving the hometown boy a pass, but that all changed with the Feb. 22 edition of the York Sunday News. It turns out that Kearney was not only disturbed, he was deeply saddened. In his opinion piece in the YDR, the district attorney allowed as how the governor not only usurped roles of our Legislature, but also the will of the people. Now Gov. Wolf has the Legislature, at least 4 district attorneys, and more than 12 million Pennsylvanians, whose wills were violated, clamoring for the return of the death penalty. The 4th district attorney is John Morganelli of Northumberland County. Kearney says Wolf's action is a slap in the face to those who served on our juries and to the victims and their families, and Morganelli writes in his YDR opinion piece that Pennsylvania's death penalty was deemed constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court and "therefore the governor will not be able to derail Pennsylvania's death penalty." I greatly sympathize with the families in their anguish. We all want our pound of flesh when we're hurting as badly as they are. It's the others who puzzle me, but it fits the season doesn't it, the voices shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!" Bill Schmeer, Thomasville (source: Letter to the Editor, York Daily Record) ********************** Death penalty to be sought against man charged with homicide in estranged wife's fire death Prosecutors in western Pennsylvania say they plan to seek the death penalty against a man accused of having set a fire that killed his estranged wife. 47-year-old James Karr is charged in Allegheny County with homicide and arson in the Dec. 30 fire in Duquesne that killed 56-year-old Maureen Karr. The victim had sought a protection-from-abuse order, alleging that her husband had threatened to burn down her home. The district attorney's office said Monday that the death penalty will be sought if Karr is convicted of 1st-degree murder. Prosecutors cited as factors supporting the decision the fact that the victim was to be a witness and the allegations that another person was threatened, torture was involved and the crime occurred during commission of a felony. Karr's attorney declined comment Monday. (source: Associated Press) ************************** Is death penalty the only justice? After Gov. Tom Wolf announced he was halting executions until the results of a bipartisan study on the fairness, cost and efficacy of capital punishment in the commonwealth are released and addressed, I was dismayed to read comments from the Dauphin County prosecutor calling the governor's decision a "punch in the stomach" to murder victims' families. As a former prosecutor and capital defense attorney, I have witnessed the true suffering of murder victims' families first hand, and there is nothing more gut wrenching. But it is cruel to tell victims' families that they need the death penalty to achieve justice or closure, because the death penalty isn't even an option in the vast majority of murder cases. In 2013, there were 594 murders committed in Pennsylvania and three offenders joined death row that year. If justice for the victims' families is defined as the imposition of a death sentence, then what of the other 591 Pennsylvanians that were killed and their families, all of whom have suffered the horrors of a murder in the family? Many of these crimes are never even solved, let alone prosecuted with the goal of getting a death sentence. Even in cases where a death sentence is handed down, the promise of an execution frequently goes unfulfilled. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Pennsylvanians have imposed 412 death sentences since the death penalty was reinstated in 1974, and yet 250 of those death verdicts have been reversed on appeal due to serious errors, with only 6 death sentences reinstated, and yet justice was served. Only 3 executions have been carried out in during this same period. If awarding the death penalty were nothing more than a calculus of weighing the value of a murder victim's life against that of the offender, the victim's virtue would tip the scale every time. But justice is much more complicated than simply executing an offender in retribution for a victim's life. The U.S. Supreme Court outlawed the automatic award of a death sentence upon conviction for capital murder since 1976, reasoning that juries must sentence the offender and not just the crime. Our criminal justice system looks at offenders, many of whom have had wretched lives that may explain - but never excuse - the terrible crimes they commit. Justice demands that criminal sentencing weigh all relevant factors around the severity of the crime and the culpability of the offender. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that juveniles and the intellectually impaired are less capable of making informed decisions and sound judgments, and therefore should be exempted from execution. So why is the argument made that the death-penalty moratorium robs the victims' families of justice? Is justice for the victims only defined by executing offenders? Why is the victim's value defined by what happens to the person who killed him or her? Surely there have been prosecutors in Pennsylvania who could have decided to seek the death penalty in death-eligible 1st-degree murder cases and chose not to, and yet justice was served. Surely there are prosecutors in Pennsylvania who initially filed capital murder charges against an offender, and then decided to offer a plea bargain for life in prison without parole, and yet justice was served. In contrast to the death penalty, life without parole is a severe and certain punishment that means what it says: offenders will remain in prison until their natural deaths. Victims' families don't have to spend decades waiting for an execution that may never come. It is a popular refrain that the death penalty is reserved for the "worst of the worse." However, in my experience, the death penalty is a punishment reserved exclusively for the poor, for the mentally ill and for offenders whose victims were white. I submit that achieving justice is about much more than simply getting a death sentence. The late writer David Foster Wallace once said that leaders "help us overcome the limitations of our own individual ... weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own." I urge the state prosecutors and the police who serve us all to join and support Gov. Wolf's leadership by making us all do the hard work to define what justice truly is in each and every case without resorting to the tag line that execution is the answer. (source: Op-Ed; Stephanie A. Jirard is a criminal justice professor at Shippensburg University, but the views expressed herein are her own----York Dispatch) **************************************** Is Pennsylvania's death-penalty impasse fixable? Sunday's editorial about Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's resistance to the state's death penalty struck a nerve with readers, pro and con. Many commenters took issue with the idea that capital punishment should be implemented in the most heinous killings, in cases in which guilt is not in doubt. Others made the case that the U.S., in refusing to abolish the death penalty, goes against the tide of most developed countries and has more in common with brutal regimes. Supporters of the death penalty say it's a just punishment for those who kill and meet the "aggravating" conditions for execution -- and it prevents them from getting out of prison and killing again. Here's a sampling of the comments. Free free to add your voice to the conversation. smallford said: The so-called higher ups in the government should get rid of the death penalty. The lawyers are the ones making the money by filing appeal after appeal and we the poor fools that pay and pay and etc. van243 responded: So your way of fixing this is to ban it completely? We need the law on the books even if we never have to use it. It's a deterrent. I've heard it costs more to execute a person than jail them for life. Why can't we correct that part too? Carmello agreed: Nothing broken about this system. We have to enforce the death penalty. Do people who oppose the death penalty actually believe it's cheaper to house them for life? Firing squad is pretty cheap. Wouldn't it be better to execute those monsters? Especially since most probably have no remorse for their crimes. It's strange how people can think abortion is a choice and the death penalty is murder. peterkc countered: The U.S. is the only developed country that still uses this barbaric system. We're horrified when rebels execute someone by beheading them, but we put people on 'death row' for years and then use torturous lethal injections to kill them -- how is that any better? friendly_rationalist cited the inequality in sentencing and executions: The death penalty has never been applied uniformly. As far back as Thomas Paine, he wrote, "Why is it that scarcely any are executed but the poor?" There's no take-backs once you kill someone. If you find new evidence, then what? States have killed innocent folks before. Don't repeat those mistakes. Matt_PSU said: For all intents and purposes, Pennsylvania does not execute anyone. Our appeals process is so endless that there are inmates who have been on death row longer than I've been alive. It actually costs more for the endless appeals than it does to just keep someone in prison for their entire life. The main reason I think we should keep the death penalty is that these animals in prison are already in for a life term, and then they kill another inmate. They know that there is literally no additional consequence to killing again. bakerdude said the editorial view was nonsensical: "Reasonable people support capital punishment," ET opinion staff? Sorry, you lost me at the third sentence. That is a nonsensical statement. Gordie also differed with the editorial: ET staff, you made a mistake in this statement. "Last week U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called for a national moratorium on lethal injection until the U.S. Supreme Court reviews a suit brought by death row inmates in Oklahoma. That's not his job, either." Calling for common sense is not a job. It is common sense that anyone has a right to express. Till the Supreme Court rules and the nation comes up with a better means to execute, a stay on executions by anyone is the right course for a "so- called Christian" nation. Fred1451 said: The one advantage of having a death row, even if no one is ever executed, is we never have to worry about one of these monsters coming up for parole. (source: Opinions; Lehighvalleylive.com) VIRGINIA: Virginia bill shields companies producing lethal injection chemicals Earlier this month, the Virginia state Senate passed legislation in a 23-14 vote that would make secret "all information relating to the execution process." This information would include the names of companies involved in producing, compounding, transporting and administering chemicals used in the state's lethal injection protocol. The proposed state law is currently being reviewed by the state House and prepared for a vote. The legislation would mandate that anyone "engaged to compound ... manufacture or supply the materials ... for use in [an] execution," as well as "the name of the materials or components used to compound drug products for use in the execution," would be exempt from all requirements that the state reveal their identities under the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, the bill would hide all "names, residential or office addresses, residential or office telephone numbers, and social security numbers" of individuals involved in the administering of the lethal drugs. The bill is similar to a number of legislative motions that have passed across the country, including in Ohio, where early last year death row inmate Dennis McGuire writhed in agony for nearly a half hour before succumbing to the effects of an experimental drug concoction. Although a self-proclaimed opponent of the death penalty, Virginia's Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe has been named as a "chief booster" of the bill, according to the Washington Post. Other supposed opponents of capital punishment have flocked to his side, demonstrating the complete lack of principled opposition to the death penalty within the political establishment. Supporters of the legislation have attempted to present the action as a measure to ensure security for companies doing business with the state. Department of Corrections spokesperson Lisa Kinney implied that such measures were being taken due to the possibility that manufacturers of the lethal chemicals were in jeopardy from the public, citing fears of "harassment, threats, or danger." "The death penalty exists in the commonwealth, and we're merely trying to ensure that those sentenced to death are able to have the choice of lethal injection," said Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran. "I continue to believe the majority of Virginians support the death penalty," he absurdly asserted, after having endorsed legislation that was enacted to protect executioners from public scrutiny. Senate Minority leader Richard Saslaw, a Democrat, attempted to smear death penalty opponents by accusing them of engaging in a sadistic plot to make executions as painful as possible in order to bring more support to their movement. Claiming that it was in fact the opponents of capital punishment sought a return to the electric chair, he said their argument was that "if you make the death penalty too humane ... then people will think there's nothing wrong with the death penalty." He offered no evidence for this accusation. The legislation comes as many states have had difficulty obtaining the drugs used to kill prisoners due in large part to a European Union ban on exporting drugs to be used in executions. Rather than ending the barbaric practice, states have sought out alternative methods, including untested drug combinations that often come from unregulated private sources, particularly compounding pharmacies that are only loosely regulated by state and federal authorities. This has resulted in a number of grotesque execution scenes across the country, as inmates have been subjected to execution methods that violate the US Eighth Amendment clause barring cruel and unusual punishment. Virginia is also considering a bill that would authorize the use of the electric chair in cases where the necessary drugs are unobtainable, in addition to the law shielding companies from public accountability. In January of 2014, Ohio executed Dennis McGuire with an untested two-drug cocktail after failing to procure the standard 3-drug combination. The result was a horrifying, 25-minute process in which McGuire went into convulsions and writhed in pain, shocking the witnesses and provoking international outrage. Virginia was the site of the very 1st execution in the Colonial United States, and executed more people than any other state between 1608 and 1976, with a total of 1,277, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). Since the reinstatement of capital punishment by the US Supreme Court in 1976, Virginia has executed 110 people, 2nd only to Texas. According to Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, the victims of Virginia's execution regime include more women, and the youngest prisoners, of any state. In one notorious 1998 case, a prosecutor successfully argued that DNA evidence that may have posthumously exonerated Joseph O'Dell should be destroyed, as he had already been executed and "it would be shouted from the rooftops that ... Virginia executed an innocent man." (source: WSWS news) GEORGIA----impending female execution Parole Board hears clemency plea for Auburn woman slated for execution The 5 gubernatorial appointees on Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles met Tuesday morning behind closed doors to hear pleas for and against granting clemency for the only woman on Georgia's death row. They were to hear 21 witnesses plea for clemency on behalf of Kelly Gissendaner of Auburn, Ga., who is scheduled for execution Wednesday evening for the 1997 murder her husband Doug. She would be the 1st woman executed in Georgia since 1945. The hearing's morning session was devoted to her supporters, while the afternoon session allows the victim's family and prosecutors to speak. Then the board members will vote by secret ballot with the agency's attorney, who will tally the decision probably in early evening. The board will not hear directly from her except through a videotape and interviews with agency staff. Witnesses for the condemned include a son and daughter, prison chaplains, preachers, a former inmate and a retired prison lieutenant. "We've reviewed all of the materials that have been given to us by her attorneys. We looked at all of the court documents from beginning to end, looked at all of the trial documents, all of the appeals all the way up as well," said Board Chairman Terry Barnard. "The board is quite capable, quite able this morning to take up this issue." In the written application for clemency, Gissendaner acknowledged convincing her boyfriend to kill her husband and expressed remorse, even though during her trial she maintained her innocence. She also authorized attorneys to appeal her case, arguing that procedural violations kept her from getting a fair trial, but none of the courts agreed. Officials at the prisons where she has been awaiting her execution submitted statements in her clemency application describing her as a sincere Christian whose maturity and nurturing act as a calming influence on younger inmates who call her Mamma Kelly. "Most of the time, those ladies would listen to Kelly, and it certainly made the lives of my officers easier and safer," wrote Lt. Marian Williams, a retired corrections officer. "She would talk to them and get them calmed down. They almost always listened because Kelly had been a friend to them." Penal experts note that long-time inmates typically mellow over the years as they reconcile themselves to their sentence, explaining the irony that many murderers become model prisoners after decades behind bars. Prosecutors, who will make their case before the board in the afternoon session, said during the trial that Gissendaner hatched an elaborate plan for her boyfriend Greg Owen to kidnap the victim and fatally stab him on a deserted road. He then burned the victim's car while Gissendaner staged an alibi with friends. Owen confessed and testified against her, saying the idea of murder was hers and that she repeatedly dismissed his suggestions that she merely get a divorce. Owen received a life sentence. (source: Athens Banner-Herald) ****************** Georgia to execute its 1st female prisoner in 70 years Not since Lena Baker, an African-American convicted of murder in Randolph County, has Georgia executed a woman. The state is scheduled to snap that 70-year streak on Wednesday. Kelly Renee Gissendaner, 47, was convicted in a February 1997 murder plot that targeted her husband in suburban Atlanta. Gissendaner was romantically involved with Gregory Owen and conspired with the 43-year-old to have her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, killed, according to court testimony. Owen wanted Kelly Gissendaner to file for a divorce, but she was concerned that her husband would "not leave her alone if she simply divorced him," court documents said. The Gissendaners had already divorced once, in 1993, and they remarried in 1995. Nightstick and hunting knife Details of the crime, as laid out at trial and provided by Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, are as follows: Owen and Kelly Gissendaner planned the murder for months. On February 7, 1997, she dropped Owen off at her home, gave him a nightstick and hunting knife and went out dancing with girlfriends. Douglas Gissendaner also spent the evening away from home, going to a church friend's house to work on cars. Owen lay in wait until he returned. When Douglas Gissendaner came home around 11:30 p.m., Owen forced him by knifepoint into a car and drove him to a remote area of Gwinnett County. There, Owen ordered his victim into the woods, took his watch and wallet to make it look like a robbery, hit him in the head with the nightstick and stabbed Douglas Gissendaner in the neck e8 to 10 times. Kelly Gissendaner arrived just as the murder took place but did not immediately get out of her car. She later checked on her husband to make sure he was dead, then Owen followed her in Douglas Gissendaner's car to retrieve a can of kerosene that Kelly Gissendaner had left for him. Owen set her husband's car on fire in an effort to hide evidence, and left the scene with Kelly Gissendaner. Story unravels Police discovered the burned-out automobile the morning after the murder but did not find the body. Authorities kicked off a search. Kelly Gissendaner, meanwhile, went on local television appealing to the public for information on her husband's whereabouts. Her and Owen's story started to unravel after a series of police interviews. On February 20, Douglas Gissendaner's face-down body was found about a mile from his car. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be knife wounds to the neck, but the medical examiner couldn't tell which strike killed Douglas Gissendaner because animals had devoured the skin and soft tissue on the right side of his neck. On February 24, Owen confessed to the killing and implicated Kelly Gissendaner, who was arrested the next day and charged. While in jail awaiting trial, Kelly Gissendaner grew angry when she heard Owen was to receive a 25-year sentence for his role in the murder. (Owen is serving life in prison at a facility in Washington state, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records). She began writing letters to hire a 3rd person who would falsely confess to taking her to the crime scene at gunpoint. She asked her cellmate, Laura McDuffie, to find someone willing to do the job for $10,000, and McDuffie turned Kelly Gissendaner's letters over to authorities via her attorney. Clemency to be considered Tuesday Kelly Gissendaner has exhausted all state and federal appeals, the attorney general said in a statement. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles will consider a clemency request Tuesday. Kelly Gissendaner is currently the only woman on Georgia's death row. She would be the 1st woman executed in the state since Baker in 1945. Only 15 women have been executed in the United States since 1977, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. (source: CNN) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 24 13:37:20 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 13:37:20 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., ALA., OHIO, KAN., OKLA. Message-ID: Feb. 24 FLORIDA: 1 convicted, 1 gets hung jury in trial over double murder at Jacksonville Golden Corral A Jacksonville man was convicted Monday of murdering 2 brothers in a drug deal in a case which a 2nd suspect's trial ended in a hung jury. George Paul Carter Jr., 22, faces life in prison following his 1st-degree murder convictions in the deaths of Andrew Bohannon, 24, and Matthew Bohannon, 19, in July 2013 in the parking lot of a Golden Corral on Normandy Boulevard near Interstate 295. He was also convicted of firearm possession by a felon. The trial of co-defendant Avery Damon Wood, 21, was in the same courtroom but before a different jury. Wood's trial ended in a hung jury. No new trial date has been set. The brothers were shot in the face when they went to sell marijuana to Carter, Wood and 2 others. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Jallil Dequan Graves, 21, who they say pulled the trigger. He is awaiting trial. The 4th man charged, Steven Bennett, 20, pleaded guilty to 2 counts of 2nd-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing. (source: jacksonville.com) *************************** Pinellas man accused murder describes how he did it Craig Wall has already admitted killing his girlfriend, Laura Tate and their son Craig Wall Jr. in February 2010. Monday, he described in detail how he did it. Wall waived his rights to a jury trial and has dismissed his attorneys. He is now representing himself in the sentencing phase of the trial. Wall has previously told the court and even detectives working the case that he wants the death penalty for his crimes. Terry Lenamon, an attorney who works for the Florida Capital Resource Center asked the court for standing in the case to represent Wall's interests. Wall reacted angrily. "This is my case. This is my life. All choices are mine alone," said Wall. During the testimony of the medical examiner, Wall challenged her findings, even arguing over the angle of the knife blade as it entered the victim's body. Wall then proceeded to demonstrate his version of how the murder happened. The victim's neighbors testified how they saw him on the night of the murder and heard the victim scream for help. Grace Thompson told the court how frightened she was, and then how she heard the victim's last breaths as they waited for an ambulance. "I just heard some gurgling noises from her throat. She didn't really move at all," said Thompson. Wall faces the death penalty. Without a jury, the decision will be left to Pinellas Judge Phillip Federico. (source: WFLA news) ************************ Man accused in death of wife, son insists on death penalty Craig Wall is insisting on his own execution but he isn't making the penalty phase easy on the court. Wall, 39, entered a no contest plea earlier this month in the 2010 deaths of his then-girlfriend Laura Taft and their infant son, Craig Wall, Jr. Wall has primarily been representing himself and is seeking the death penalty. In court Monday, Wall said he wants to "captain his own ship" by putting on his own defense because he will be sitting in "Old Sparky" by himself, referring to the electric chair. Florida once used that method of execution but switched to lethal injection. A representative from the Florida Capital Resource Center, a group that aims to provide aid to defendants facing the death penalty, filed a motion to delay proceedings so special counsel can be appointed to prepare mitigating factors in Wall's case. Wall dismissed the offer of help. He accused the representative and others who involve themselves in his case as being "foaming at the mouth, rabid-dog liberals" who have attempted to hijack the court and don't think he can make his own decisions. "This is my case. This is my life," Wall said. "All choices are mine alone to make." Wall was arrested Feb. 14, 2010, for violating a domestic violence injunction filed by Taft. The arrest affidavit requested Wall be held without bail because he was a suspect in the death of the couple's son. Instead, Wall was granted $1,000 bond and released. 3 days later, authorities say, he stabbed Taft to death. The infant had died as a result of aggravated child abuse while in Wall's care, Assistant State Attorney Kendall Davidson said. Taft's death was cold, calculated and premeditated, and a stab wound through her heart means she would have been fully aware of her impending death at the time, Davidson said in court Monday. Wall chose to use a knife in Taft's killing because it was personal, Davidson said. Members of Taft's family were in the audience Monday, buttons pinned to their chests displaying a photo of Laura Taft and her son. While Wall said repeatedly that he wants and deserves the death penalty, he questioned the truthfulness of several witnesses. Circuit Judge Phillip Federico forced Wall to drop his line of questioning with a state witness who spent some time with Wall after his arrest. Wall asked the man if he liked to tell lies, called him a criminal and said the man's son was a heavy drug user. "I'm not going to have that, I'm not doing it," Federico said before dismissing the witness. Federico told Wall he had been getting away with behavior that would not be tolerated by a lawyer, such as offering testimony while questioning witnesses, telling them their version of events were untrue, and interrupting prosecutors and witnesses out of turn. The pentlay phase of the proceedings is scheduled to resume Tuesday morning. (source: The Tampa Tribune) ALABAMA: Capital murder indictment issued in killing of popular Huntsville artist Wade Wharton A Huntsville man has been indicted on charges of capital murder in the beating death of a well-regarded local artist. Ervin Akeem Tolbert, 20, is charged in the January 2014 death of Wade Wharton, a popular Huntsville sculptor. Wharton was killed outside his home on Nassau Drive near Triana Boulevard. Tolbert lived with his mother across the street from Wharton. Madison County Assistant District Attorney Jay Town said the state is still deciding whether to pursue the death penalty for Tolbert. "This was a brutal and senseless murder," Town said. "At this time the state is strongly considering pursuing a penalty of death against Mr. Tolbert due to the cruel and heinous nature of this homicide." During Tolbert's preliminary hearing last March, a Huntsville Police Department investigator testified that Tolbert's mother said her son woke her up shortly before dawn on January 15 and told her he'd killed Wharton. Investigator David Owens said Tolbert's mother, Anna Hainz, told her son to go to bed and he fell asleep on the couch. When it was quiet, she went across the street, found Wharton's body and called 911 around 6 a.m., Owens testified. Town said Tolbert was indicted on 2 different charges, murder committed during a robbery and murder committed during a burglary. Owens said the 76-year-old Wharton was found at bloody crime scene. Tolbert initially denied to police that he told his mother about killing Wharton, Owens testified. "He told us he went over to Wharton's house to tell him to turn his country music down," Owens testified. "And they argued." Owens said Tolbert said he recalled Wharton "grabbing at him" but he didn't recall pushing him down or what was used to hit Wharton. Owens said Wharton was found on his back in his carport. A bin or 2 of power tools, that Tolbert's mother said weren't there the night before, were found in the living room of the family's house and a box of shaving accessories was also found, Owens said. What appeared to be the lid for that box was found at Wharton's house, Owens testified. Tolbert is represented by court-appointed attorneys Robert Tuten and Barry Abston. Tuten today called the case a "sad situation for all involved." With the indictments Tolbert's case now moves to Madison County Circuit Court. It is not clear when a trial date might be set. (source: al.com) OHIO: Ohio Supreme Court delays execution of man who killed Twinsburg police officer in 2008 The Ohio Supreme Court has delayed the execution date of a Twinsburg man convicted of aggravated murder in the 2008 shooting death of police officer Joshua Miktarian. In a decision released Monday morning, the high court issued a stay of Ashford Thompson's date of execution, which had been scheduled to be carried out April 5, 2017, until all of his state and post-conviction appeals are exhausted. Thompson, 30, has an appeal for post-conviction relief pending in Summit County Common Pleas Court. The appeal was filed early this month. It claims that Thompson had a serious personality disorder at the time of the crime and should have been given a psychological evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial before the capital proceedings began. Thompson also raised several issues claiming ineffective assistance of counsel in his trial and the penalty phase of the proceedings in which he was sentenced to death. Trial evidence and testimony showed that Thompson shot Miktarian 4 times in the head, at close range, after Thompson had been stopped for playing loud music in his car in the early hours of July 13, 2008. (source: Ohio.com) ********************** Catholic nun to speak out death penalty at Ohio college A Roman Catholic nun who's been a prominent death penalty opponent will speak at a southwest Ohio college this month. The Feb. 26 lecture by Sister Helen Prejean at University of Dayton is among a series of events about the death penalty. The author of "Dead Man Walking" will have a book signing afterward. Her book was made into an Oscar-winning 1995 movie of the same name. She also plans an open forum with university students and to have lunch with local religious leaders and select students. Dayton Opera is putting on the opera version of the story, with Prejean to attend the Feb. 27 performance. Ohio executions are on hold until 2016 while the state tries to find supplies of lethal injection drugs. (source: Associated Press) ********************* Prosecutor asks jury for death penalty verdict Using Hager Church's own words during a police interrogation, a prosecutor told a jury this morning Hager Church deserves the death penalty for setting a fire that killed 2 people. "I ain't killed her for no reasons except for it was something that I always wanted to do," Prosecutor Juergen Waldick quoted Church as saying during a police interrogation. Church's lead attorney, Greg Meyers, asked the jury to spare Church's life. He reminded jurors of Church's childhood, which included alcohol use at a young age and reports of sexual abuse. "Is that an excuse, is that a defense? Am I sitting here saying, 'Oh, it's OK to murder?' No, it's not OK. He has to be punished," Meyers said. The same jury deciding Church's fate convicted Church earlier this month of 2 counts of aggravated murder with death penalty specifications and aggravated arson. All jurors must unanimously vote for the death penalty, or the panel must choose a life sentence. Church already is serving a life sentence with no chance for release for a 2010 murder. The crime that is the subject of this trial is the killings of Massie "Tina" Flint, 45, and Rex Hall, 54, at a house on Pine Street on June 14, 2009. Church initially beat Flint in the head with a pipe wrench to try to kill her before setting the fire to try to cover the crime. The fire originally was labeled accidental, until Church started telling other inmates in prison and eventually sent a letter and map of the crime scene to authorities. (source: limaohio.com) KANSAS: Hardships claim more than 1/2 of 1st group of prospective jurors in King Phillip Amman Reu-El murder retrial----Trial tied to deaths of 2 women slain in 2003 More than 1/2 the 64 Shawnee County residents called to perhaps serve on the jury of a man charged in a capital slaying trial were excused or released on Monday. All of the 34 who were excused or released were based on hardships, many of them tied to their jobs. King Phillip Amman Reu-El, 42, of Topeka, is charged with capital murder in the Dec. 13, 2003, shooting deaths of Annette Roberson, 38, and Gloria A. Jones, 42. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Amman Reu-El formerly was known as Phillip Delbert Cheatham Jr. On Monday morning, the 1st group of prospective jurors were questioned only about hardships they said they would suffer if they served on a jury trial lasting several weeks. Several who were excused were part-time employees who aren't paid by their employers while serving on a jury. One was a woman who said she and her husband, who is employed, would lose their home because they wouldn't be able to make their house payments. Others were self-employed workers - a hair stylist, a dog groomer, and a house cleaner - who would be unable to work and wouldn't be paid while serving on a jury. 1 prospective juror, who was the fill-in worker for coworkers absent from work, was excused from jury duty. Others were full-time employees whose employers don't pay them while serving on a jury, including a Topeka public school police officer. Another was a retirement-age man suffering a number of health issues. 1 man with 2 children wouldn't be paid if he was serving on a jury. Yet another was a mother who must pick up her children at school each day in the afternoon. The pickup time would be before court is recessed each day. Another was a woman who is caring for her ill father and working as a human resources employee for a company with numerous branches. On Monday afternoon, the remaining 30 prospective jurors were to be questioned about their general suitability to serve. Then each was to be questioned individually about his or her attitudes about the death penalty, exposure to news coverage of the case and if that could be set aside, the cost effectiveness of the death penalty, any religious bias tied to the death penalty, and any racial bias a prospective juror might have. Amman Reu-El is African-American. 3 more groups of prospective jurors remain to be examined. It appears jury selection will continue the rest of the week. Amman Reu-El also is charged with 2 alternative counts of premeditated 1st-degree murder of Roberson and Jones; attempted 1st-degree murder of Annetta D. Thomas, who was shot multiple times; aggravated battery of Thomas and criminal possession of a firearm. Amman Reu-El has pleaded not guilty to the charges. A new trial was ordered for Amman Reu-El in 2013 after the Kansas Supreme Court overturned his 2005 capital murder conviction and death penalty sentence for the killings in a home at 2718 S.E. Colorado. (source: Topeka Capital Journal) OKLAHOMA: Experimental Executions: State Lawmakers Consider Untested Gas Asphyxiation After Oklahoma's troubled execution last year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review the state's lethal injection procedures and postpone all scheduled executions. Amid the legal scrutiny and difficulty in obtaining drugs for future lethal injections, some state lawmakers are discussing a new, completely experimental method of execution. Experimental Executions Right now Oklahoma has 3 ways to execute someone. If lethal injections don't work, the electric chair and a firing squad are backups. But those have proven to be unreliable and gruesome. Back in September during an interim study, Republican Representative Mike Christian said he found a logical answer to the death penalty question. "The solution that we've come up with is nitrogen hypoxia. One, it's practical. Two, it's efficient. Three, it's humane. And it's innovative," Christian says. But this method, which replaces a person's available oxygen with nitrogen through a mask or gas chamber, is new, and that concerns Richard Dieter from the Death Penalty Information Center. "The problem is it's never been tried," Dieter says. "We've never put anybody in a chamber with just nitrogen gas, with a glass view, and watched what happens." What little we do know about nitrogen hypoxia comes from suicide research. The method is even recommended as a more pleasant form of suicide for those suffering from terminal illness. "These are referred to medically as deaths by asphyxiation, but essentially it's suffocation," says Matthew Howard, a professor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has studied inert gas asphyxiation. While there's no way to know for sure what this feels like, Howard says there's no evidence of suffering. "Although it can be disconcerting for people to watch because there can be some moaning. There can be some gasping, and other kinds of involuntary movements of limbs and things, which can be distressing to the people that are watching," he says. But Howard says there could be a big difference between suicide and death row, where many inmates may be less eager to die. "It probably would be effective, but I think it would be a hands-on, unpleasant way to put someone to death," Howard says. "You'd probably have to sedate them. You'd have to restrain them. You might have to hold them down while the gas was taking effect." A 'Mask' or 'Bag' Earlier this month, Representative Christian's introduced a bill to the House Judiciary Committee. It passed without debate, and a similar version authored by Republican Senator Anthony Sykes passed in the Senate. Neither Christian nor Sykes responded to multiple requests for interviews. But in a recent committee hearing, there were a handful of questions the Oklahoma City lawmaker had to answer, like when Democrat Representative Richard Morrissette asked about the $350,000 cost for building a gas chamber. "I think there was some misinformation when I said we'd have to construct some kind of death chamber," Christian says. "But no, they can actually use the same room that's currently in existence. Some of the folks we're talking to that are actually working on a delivery system said it'd be some kind of mask or some kind of bag that would be placed around the subject's face or around the head." 1st Time for Everything During the committee hearing, Christian argued the procedure's experimental nature wasn't a reason to avoid its adoption. "We would be the 1st state if we did execute someone, but there was a point where somebody was executed by lethal injection for the 1st time too." Richard Dieter from the Death Penalty Information Center urges caution. He says using an untried gas is eerily similar to using an untried drug like the state did last year during Clayton Lockett's execution. "It's an experiment, and maybe it won't go well. That's part of the problem Oklahoma got into with introducing a new drug. They didn't really know the potency that was needed, how long it would take, and that's why the Supreme Court is looking into what Oklahoma has done," Dieter says. It's early in the 2015 legislative session, and the bill could be tweaked before reaching the floor. The current language proposes nitrogen hypoxia as a backup, but last fall, Representative Christian suggested it could become the primary method this year. Richard Dieter says it's not that easy though. When the Supreme Court decided to review the state's execution methods, justices said the state's last experiment could've resulted in cruel and unusual punishment, and it's unclear whether using nitrogen gas could fall into that same category. (source: KGOU news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 24 13:38:01 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 13:38:01 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MONT., NEV., ARIZ., CALIF., USA Message-ID: Feb. 24 MONTANA: House deadlocks on bill to abolish death penalty in Montana The state House deadlocked Monday 50-50 on a bill to abolish the death penalty in Montana, likely killing the measure for the 2015 Legislature. Rep. David "Doc" Moore, R-Missoula, the sponsor of House Bill 370, told members to "just vote your conscience" moments before the vote. He said later he's undecided whether to ask the House on Tuesday to reconsider its action on HB 370, saying it could be difficult to pick up a single, additional vote to force another emotional debate and vote on the floor. Monday's vote fell largely along party lines, with most Republicans against it - but it took 3 of the House's 41 Democrats voting "no" to reject the bill, which would abolish the death penalty in Montana and substitute it with life in prison without parole. Montana has 2 murderers on death row. The vote also marked the closest that death-penalty opponents have come to getting a bill through the Montana House, which has blocked similar efforts for years. Bills to abolish the death penalty have been approved by the state Senate in recent legislatures, only to see them die in the House. Supporters of the bill argued the death penalty does not act as a deterrent and costs the states millions of dollars on appeals and other prosecutorial costs. Rep. Margie MacDonald, D-Billings, also said state prison workers shouldn't be put in the position of having to operate "the machineries of death." "It is a ravaging, horrifying task to put in the hands of our state employees," she said. 1 longtime supporter of abolishing the death penalty, Rep. Mitch Tropila, D-Great Falls, spoke as though he thought supporters had the votes to pass HB 370 on Monday. "This is an historic moment in the Montana House of Representative," he said. "It has never voted to abolish the death penalty on 2nd reading. This is a momentous moment and we are on the cusp of history. ... "It is time for Montana to take her rightful place as a leader among all the great states of the union ... and time to be recognized as a leader on the world stage" Opponents, however, offered their own emotion-charged testimony against the measure, saying the death penalty can help prosecutors extract plea-bargains out of terrible criminals and spare both the state and the victims' families the financial and emotional cost of a trial. "How can you put a price on my emotions and what I was going through with my family?" asked Rep. Tom Berry, R-Roundup, whose son was brutally murdered a dozen years ago. "All this bill does is reward the murderer, handicap the prosecutor ... and penalize victims like me." Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady, who opposed the bill, said those who want to abolish the death penalty should take it to the Montana public as a referendum - but they won't, because they know they would lose. The public overwhelmingly supports the death penalty, he said. "When you vote for this, whichever way you vote, I hope that the people ... remember in November when you run again," he said. The 3 Democrats voting against the measure were Reps. Tom Jacobson and Bob Mehlhoff of Great Falls and Gordon Pierson of Deer Lodge. (source: The Missoulian) ************************ Bill to abolish death penalty in Montana fails after tie vote A bill to end Montana's death penalty stalled Monday with a tie vote in the House. House Bill 370, sponsored by Missoula Rep. Doc Moore (R), would have replaced the death penalty with life in prison without parole. The House voted 50-50, defeating it. Roundup Rep. Tom Berry (R) described his feelings about the murder of his son. "Now you put him in prison without parole, why won't he kill again? A prison guard, another prisoner. It happens, people. All this bill does is reward their murderer," Berry said. "Handicap the prosecution and victimize, penalize victims like me." The tie vote could be reconsidered if 51 representatives vote to do so. Montana remains 1 of 32 states who use the death penalty in the United States. (source: KXLF news) ************************* Bad news for Ronald Smith? Montana bill to abolish death penalty fails A bill to abolish Montana's death penalty was scuttled by a tie vote Monday in the lower house of the state legislature. The proposed law could have affected the fate of Canadian Ronald Smith, 57, 1 of 2 individuals on death row in Montana. Republican Rep. David Moore introduced the bill which would have abolished executions and replaced them with a sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole. The judiciary committee in the lower house of Montana's two-tier legislature stalled bills to abolish the death penalty in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. But last week it decided to allow this bill to be voted on by the House of Representatives. Moore, who was optimistic that the proposed legislation would pass, said that a tie vote means the bill has failed. "It's disappointing to get this far and to have it end in a tie and probably not for the right reasons," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "There was some passionate discussion on the house floor, but I think the reason is we had some people more worried about November elections than doing the right thing. "I feel like I've let my northern neighbours down." That means the matter will go on the backburner for at least 24 months since the Montana legislature only sits every 2 years. Moore expects the issue will be back for public debate and he is hopeful of a different outcome. "I would imagine it will come back again next session. I don't think this ends it." Smith, who is originally from Red Deer, Alta., has been on death row since 1983 for fatally shooting 2 cousins while he was high on drugs and alcohol near East Glacier, Mont. He refused a plea deal that would have seen him avoid death row and spend the rest of his life in prison. Three weeks later, he pleaded guilty. He asked for and was given a death sentence. Smith had a change of heart and has been on a legal roller-coaster for decades. An execution date has been set 5 times and each time the order was overturned. Moore had indicated that bringing forward the legislation wasn't about seeking leniency for death-row convicts, but about eliminating the costs of protracted legal wrangling in a death-penalty case. Ron Waterman, a senior lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Association, testified before the judiciary committee that the death penalty is flawed and there is the risk of executing an innocent person. He said costs also mitigate the benefits the death penalty gives a prosecutor trying to negotiate a plea bargain. Waterman is overseeing a civil case on behalf of Smith and another death-row inmate, William Jay Gollehon. A hearing is scheduled for July on whether new drugs being proposed by the state comply with language in execution protocol requiring an "ultra-fast-acting barbiturate." (source: Times Colonist) NEVADA: Nevada death penalty costs reflect U.S. trends When Nevada lawmakers were informed in November that death penalty cases in the state cost $532,000 more on average than other murder cases from arrest through the end of incarceration, the findings were consistent with other studies pushed by anti-death penalty advocates. The financial hit taken by taxpayers has become 1 of the central arguments death penalty foes have used in recent years in an effort to have states overturn that form of punishment. A search of the Internet turns up little in the way of arguments that refute the cost studies, even though the majority of states have death penalty laws that continue to be defended by victims' rights organizations. There are 18 states without the death penalty. Michigan has been on that list the longest, having been without a death penalty since 1846, while Maryland was last to join this group in 2013. Nevada is among the other 32 states with the death penalty, with April 2006 being the last time the punishment was applied in this state. That's when lethal injection was used on Daryl Mack, a 47-year-old inmate who initially was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1994 strangulation death of one woman in northern Nevada. He was then given the death penalty when he was later convicted while in prison for the 1988 murder of another woman in Reno. The report from Nevada's Legislative Auditor based its cost estimates by sampling 28 cases. Cases where the defendant was sentenced to death but not executed averaged $1,307,000, compared to $1,202,000 where prosecutors sought the death penalty but didn't get one, $1,032,000 when execution occurred, and $775,000 when the death penalty wasn't sought by prosecutors. "Case costs, incorporating the trial and appeal phases, averaged about 3 times more for death penalty versus non-death penalty cases," the report concluded. "For incarceration costs, the death penalty is the most expensive sentence for those convicted of 1st degree murder, but only slightly higher when compared to those sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Costs for these 2 sentences largely mirror one another because incarceration periods are similar considering 'involuntary' executions are extremely infrequent." The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., that opposes the death penalty, posted on its website the Nevada report and similar studies from other states. Among the other findings: --A Seattle University study released in January found that death penalty cases in Washington state cost $1 million more on average than similar cases where the death penalty wasn't sought. --A 2014 report from the Kansas Legislature's Judicial Council concluded that defending a death penalty case in that state costs 4 times as much as defending a case where the death penalty isn't pursued. --The Idaho Legislature's Office of Performance Evaluations reported last year that the State Appellate Public Defenders office spent almost 8,000 hours per capital defendant compared to 180 hours per non-death penalty defendant. --A study published in the University of Denver Criminal Law Review in 2013 found that capital proceedings in Colorado require 6 times more days in court and take much longer to resolve than life without parole cases. --The Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review published a study in 2011 concluding that if the governor of California commuted the sentences of death row inmates to life without parole, the state would save $170 million a year and $5 billion over the next 20 years. The nonprofit website ProCon.org of Santa Monica, Calif., which strives to promote critical thinking by providing pro and con arguments on dozens of controversial topics, posed the question of whether the death penalty costs less than life in prison without parole. The vast majority of respondents said they believed death penalty cases cost far more than those involving life in prison without parole. One of the few respondents in the minority was Tennessee lawyer Chris Clem, who was quoted by the website as saying: "Executions do not have to cost that much. We could hang them and reuse the rope. No cost! Or we could use firing squads and ask for volunteer firing squad members who would provide their own guns and ammunition. Again, no cost." Florida attorney Gary Beatty, in a 1997 article posted on the website of the conservative/libertarian Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., stated: "The overwhelming majority of citizens of Florida, as in the rest of the nation, support the death penalty. To claim that when citizens are educated about the high fiscal cost of administering the death penalty they always opt for life imprisonment is intellectually dishonest. If the multiple layers of appeal are pursued in an ethical and fiscally responsible manner, execution is less costly than warehousing a murderer for life. Any increased cost is caused by death penalty opponents." ******************************* Delays normal in death penalty cases 2 years have passed since a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip led to a fiery crash and the deaths of 3 people. The man accused of those murders, Ammar Harris, still has not been brought to trial. An old adage says justice delayed is justice denied but it's also true the wheels of justice turn slowly. As the I-Team learned, the reasons for that aren't always foot-dragging or delay tactics. It was in February 2013 when reputed pimp Kenneth Cherry was shot in his Maserati as he drove away from the Aria resort. The mortally wounded Cherry crashed his car into a taxicab, causing an explosion that killed cabbie Michael Bolden and passenger Sandra Sutton-Wasmund. Since Harris was arrested the trial date in the death penalty case has moved three times and is now scheduled for July. Bolden's brother, Tehran Bolden, worries about the toll the case continues to take on his 93-year-old mother. "That's the justice system," Tehran Bolden told the I-Team. "It's been 2 years. My mother's aged 10 years in 2." But he remains philosophical about the time it is taking for justice to prevail. "Well, you can't blame anyone for dragging it out," he said. "I've already went through the blame game." He said if anyone is to blame, it's Harris, who has already been prosecuted and convicted of 2 other felonies while awaiting trial in the triple murder case. The convictions were for a sexual assault prior to the carnage on the Strip, and for bribing a prison guard while serving time for the other offense. "It's been my experience in the state of Nevada that a capital case rarely goes to trial inside of 2 years of the date that the person is arrested or taken into custody on the offenses," Clark County prosecutor David Stanton said. Nevada death penalty costs reflect U.S. trends A study released to the Nevada Legislature in November showed that the average death penalty case in the state takes more than 1,200 days, or 3 1/2 years, to complete. But if Harris goes to trial in July, it will have been roughly 2 1/2 years from the time of the crime. Stanton: "And, so, the length of time is actually fairly quick compared to other cases." I-Team: "But you haven't seen any foot-dragging tactics or delays on the other side?" Stanton: "No. Not by defense counsel, and certainly not by the court." The legislative study indicated death penalty cases routinely take more than a year longer to bring to trial than other murder cases. The chief reason is that death penalty cases involve both the guilt phase and the penalty phase. Prosecutors can use during the penalty phase evidence of other bad acts or crimes they cannot use in the guilt phase. "And they have to go through a painstaking and detailed investigation of Mr. Harris and his background and the incidences that the state is going to bring forward -- and, so, that takes time," Stanton said. Less than 2 months ago, detectives finally were able to interview a former female associate of Harris. She told police a tale of mental and physical abuse by Harris that may be used at the penalty hearing. So police are making progress, even as victims' families wait for justice. "People talk about closure and I don't think we'll ever have closure but you know, you get some sense of gratification to know that this part is over with," Tehran Bolden said. Though it may seem these cases move at a glacial pace, statistics show it's not unusual for a capital case to take several years to get to trial. Witnesses' memories can fade and evidence can grow stale while waiting for trial, but police also can use the time to develop new information. That's what has occurred in this case. (source for both: KLAS TV news) ******************* Suspect in shooting death of Tammy Meyers appears in court The 19-year-old man accused of shooting a valley mother in an apparent road rage incident appeared in court for the 1st time on Monday morning. It was a packed courtroom as Erich Nowsch was brought into the courtroom to face the judge. He is facing charges of open murder, attempted murder and discharging a gun. The judge set Nowsch's preliminary hearing for March 10 at 9 a.m. Nowsch is accused of shooting Tammy Meyers outside of her family's home on Mt. Shasta Circle on February 12, after what the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department initially said was a road rage incident. Nowsch was arrested at his home near Meyers' house after a 2-hour standoff on February 19. Las Vegas police are still looking for another suspect in the case. Outside of the courtroom on Monday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said that it is imperative the other suspect is found. When asked if he will seek the death penalty for Nowsch, he replied: "Nothing is off the table." Robert Meyers, who was married to Tammy Meyers, was inside the courtroom. When he left the courtroom, he told Action News he plans to be at every one of Nowsch's scheduled appearances. Nowsch's attorney, Conrad Claus, said he is not ready to speak to the media just about his client. ****************** Mom Forgives, DA Withdraws Death Penalty in Vegas Slaying A family's forgiveness prompted a dramatic turnaround in a Las Vegas courtroom, where a judge agreed to let prosecutors withdraw a call for the death penalty for a man found guilty in a 2011 Las Vegas brew pub slaying. Brandon Hill apologized Monday to victim Michael Portaro's mother, Cynthia Portaro, and she stood and asked Clark County District Court Judge Elissa Cadish to spare Hill's life. Portaro and Hill family members embraced outside court. Cynthia Portaro told reporters she's relieved because good Christians can't live with hatred, animosity and anger. The 26-year-old Hill was convicted Friday and still faces life in prison at sentencing April 16. Michael Portaro was a 22-year-old aspiring musician when he was shot dead during a robbery outside Tenaya Creek brew pub in northwest Las Vegas. (source for both: KTNV news) ARIZONA: Jodi Arias trial: 'Death penalty or life in prison' closing arguments The Jodi Arias sentencing retrial resumes Tuesday, as lawyers make closing arguments on whether the convicted murderer should receive life in prison or be executed for the 2008 killing of her former boyfriend. Lawyers in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial are scheduled to make closing arguments Tuesday on whether the convicted murderer should receive life in prison or be executed for the 2008 killing of her former boyfriend. Arias was convicted in 2013 of murdering Travis Alexander, but jurors deadlocked on her sentence. A new jury that has been hearing testimony over the last 4 months will decide only her punishment. Prosecutors said Arias attacked Alexander in a jealous rage after he wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman. Arias has acknowledged killing Alexander but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her. The retrial revealed few new details about the crime and was more subdued than Arias' 1st trial, which turned into a media circus as salacious and violent details about Arias and Alexander were broadcast live around the world. At the retrial, the judge barred the broadcast of footage from the proceedings until after a verdict is reached. The new penalty phase also was marked by a judge's decision to kick the public out of the courtroom for the testimony of a then-unspecified witness, who cited personal safety concerns about testifying in a public setting. An appeals court later overturned Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens' move to close the courtroom and revealed that the witness was Arias herself. Her testimony was halted before the prosecutor got a chance to question her, although he did so at her 2013 trial. A transcript of her testimony in late October was eventually released, revealing few new details about Alexander's killing. Arias passed up a chance Monday to address the jury, saying she wanted to make such comments but insisting the courtroom be cleared. She said she wouldn't make any remarks if she could be seen and heard from a remote viewing room. Stephens said an appeals court has forbidden Arias from making such comments behind closed doors. Earlier in the retrial, the judge denied a bid by Arias' lawyers to stop prosecutors from seeking the death penalty on several grounds. They alleged authorities examining Alexander's laptop destroyed thousands of files - including files from pornographic websites - that would have been beneficial in defending Arias. They said the computer files could have helped them argue that Alexander had treated their client in a sexually humiliating manner. Arias' lawyers also asked the judge to dismiss the death penalty because three witnesses on her behalf have refused to testify in open court for fear they will be harassed. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: The death penalty in California: Yes, no, maybe?----The state seems to lack the will to carry out executions that were twice endorsed by voters; will that change? California has a death penalty on the books. Both the California constitution and the United States constitution specifically recognize capital punishment. Yet somehow California seems unable to actually execute anyone even though Texas, Florida and other states, which operate under the same federal constitution, manage to execute condemned prisoners with some regularity. Why is that so? Let's look at the current Dramatis Personae. They are Jerry Brown, Kamala Harris, Kermit Alexander, Bradley Winchell, Jeremy Fogel and Shellyanne Chang. Jerry Brown is the Governor of the formerly great state of California. He is in his fourth term (non-consecutive) in office. He was well known as a young man and Jesuit seminary student when he attempted to intercede with his father, who was at the time Governor, in the matter of Caryl Chessman. Chessman was on death row for kidnap-rape, which at the time was a capital offense. Chessman was eventually executed under his father's administration. Jerry Brown has regularly said he has a personal objection to the death penalty, but would act in accordance with the law. Kamala Harris is the state Attorney General. She was formerly the District Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco. She was well-known for saying up front that, during her tenure in office, if elected, there would not be a death penalty prosecution in her bailiwick. She was, as far as it went, an honest politician. She caught heat from the SFPD when she refused a death penalty prosecution for a cop killer. Of course it didn't matter in the knee-jerk liberal haven of San Francisco; most of the voters applauded her for it. When she ran for A.G. she stated that she would enforce the law on the books. There are now over 700 criminals on death row. One might almost think that Jerry and Kamala were slow-dragging the process of bringing California's death penalty into line with court orders. Kermit Alexander and Bradley Winchell are private citizens. They have generated a legal action against the State of California to compel the state to bring its procedure into line and start executing condemned prisoners. Both men are related to murder victims whose killers have been caught, tried and sentenced. Kamala Harris submitted a brief in the case opposing their action on the basis of lack of standing. On February 9, 2015, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Shellyanne Chang ruled in favor of Alexander and Winchell. U. S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel, an in interesting interpretation of "cruel and unusual," has ruled that if there is even 0.001 % chance that a prisoner would experience pain during the execution that procedure is not constitutionally valid. He stayed the execution of Michael Morales, who raped, beat with a hammer, stabbed and strangled Teri Winchell, 17, sister to Bradley Winchell. So, what will shake out? Within my memory California voters have twice endorsed the death penalty by referendum. Yet the state, or at least the state's political leaders, seem to lack the will to carry through. Is that likely to change in the near future? In my humble opinion, no. Our political ruling class will continue to obfuscate slow-drag and use a cooperative court system and media to drag the system out and out and out ad infinitum, in the hopes the system collapses under its own weight. (source: correctionsone.com) ******************* Man Tied to Beaumont Crime Faces Death Sentence in Trial of Home-Invasions-Turned-Fatal----He's accused of crimes which began in 2004 in Desert Hot Springs, Thousand Palms, North Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Beaumont. Opening statements are scheduled in the death- penalty trial of a 34-year-old Desert Hot Springs man accused of involvement in a violent spree of home-invasion robberies across and near the Coachella Valley, culminating in the driveway shooting death of a Desert Hot Springs man in August 2004. Miguel Enrique Felix faces 25 charges, including murder, robbery, attempted robbery, burglary, kidnapping and a variety of firearms charges, stemming from the crimes, which occurred from the summer of 2004 until the spring of 2005, in Desert Hot Springs, Thousand Palms, North Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Beaumont and unincorporated county areas. The opening statements Monday are at the Larson Justice Center will be followed by the prosecution's 1st witnesses. Authorities have said Felix was 1 of several men who grabbed victim after victim as they were at or near their homes, forced them inside at gunpoint, then tied them up with zip ties, pistol-whipped and beat them, and ransacked their homes in search of money or valuables. In some cases, victims were kidnapped and taken to automatic teller machines or other locations to obtain money, while their children or other relatives were held at gunpoint by accomplices, prosecutors said in court documents. On August 11, 2004, Felix and an accomplice, Javier Rodriguez Hernandez, who has remained at large for more than a decade, went to a home in Desert Hot Springs to rob Armando Gonzalez, prosecutors said. Felix and Hernandez allegedly confronted Gonzalez as he was backing out of his driveway, with his wife and children in the vehicle. The men pulled him out of the truck at gunpoint, but the wife and kids were able to flee to a neighbors house, authorities said. Gonzalez resisted and was shot 7 times, some of the bullets traveling through the palms of his hands in an indication of defensive wounds, prosecutors said. Felix is also accused of kidnapping his own girlfriend at gunpoint in March 2005. Also charged for involvement in various parts of the crime spree were Hernandez, Antonio Jesus Cantu, and Felix's girlfriend, Luisa Beatriz Lopez. (source: patch.com) USA: Crookston nuns devoted to blocking death penalty for Rodriguez A small group of Catholic nuns who live in the hometown of convicted killer Alfonso Rodriguez is on a mission to save his life. Sister Pat Murphy is one of about a dozen members of the Congregation of St. Joseph in Crookston. Without recognition or fanfare, the nuns have been devoting their lives to overturning capital punishment. Sister Pat has been focusing on Rodriguez, who is on death row for the kidnapping and murder of Dru Sjodin. "We have laws against premeditated murder" according to Sister Pat. "Capital punishment is premediated - and it's murder." Sister Pat knows that many people would rather see Rodriguez executed. "I know there are people here in Crookston who know Alfonso Rodriguez", she said. "I was in one of the local restaurants during the time (Sjodin) was still being looked for. Her parents were there in the restaurant; easy to identify. Just those little connections kept my antennae up." "It's a risk for me because I've never stepped out and spoken publicly on issues like this, and I know (my views) are unpopular. Even within my own family, they won't understand it." Sister Pat has written letters to the U.S. Dept. of Justice and U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson, who presided over Rodriguez's trial in Fargo. She received a reply from the warden of the federal prison in Indiana where Rodriguez is on death row. The warden referred her questions to Rodriguez's attorneys. Sister Pat says she's realistic about what kind of impact the Congregation's work can have. She doesn't expect to change the entire justice system, but says she hopes to make a difference close to home. (source: KFGO news) ************ A cause for optimism? States running out of ways to execute people To borrow a speculative construct from pacifists about the fate of war should soldiers refuse to fight them, what would happen to lethal injections if pharmaceutical firms simply stopped selling execution drugs to prisons?. We may find out. One of the U.S. manufacturers of midazolam, used by several states in multi-drug lethal injection protocols, says it won't sell the drug if it knows it will be used to execute someone. Akorn Pharmaceuticals found itself dragged into an Alabama court record when the Illinois firm was listed in papers filed in connection with appeals by condemned murderer Thomas Arthur, who is challenging the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection protocol. The company said it has no record of its drug being sold to Alabama prisons, and objected to its inclusion in the court filing. "To prevent the use of our products in capital punishment, Akorn will not sell any product directly to any prison or other correctional institution and we will restrict the sale of known components of lethal injection protocols to a select group of wholesalers who agree to use their best efforts to keep these products out of correctional institutions," Akorn investor relations director Dewey Steadman told the Anniston Star last week. Remember, it was a revolt by (mostly) European-based pharmaceutical companies that made the executioners' drug of choice, sodium thiopental, nearly impossible to find. States have turned to compounding pharmacies, which are lightly regulated labs that primarily tailor drugs for individual patients, as an alternative source, but now some of those labs are balking at playing a role in capital punishment. And states are enacting laws making it a crime to identify sources of execution drugs, or those who take part. So in the name of justice we are moving closer to secretive executions. Interestingly, the U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a legal challenge to the use of midazolam in lethal injection protocols, a challenge based on a record of botched executions and that raises questions - again - about the nature of capital punishment. I've argued before that the death penalty is an immoral act by the government, and that it is applied unfairly and arbitrarily, is an expensive system to maintain, and that it serves no purpose other than revenge. It is not justice. Pharmaceutical companies don't want to be connected with it. The American Medical Assn. warns that "as a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so, [physicians] should not be a participant in a legally authorized execution." The American Public Health Assn. similarly tells members not to take part in executions. And the list goes on. Of course, death-penalty states and proponents of executions will press for new ways of killing people, be it fresh drug cocktails or a reversion to the firing squad. Let's hope that sanity, and civility, will take root, and the United States of America - the international beacon of justice - will end this despicable policy once and for all. (source: Opinion, Scott Martelle----Los Angeles Times) *********************** Aurora theater shooting trial judge adds to jury pool over defense objections----In addition to the two jurors who have previously served on a jury, Samour selected a woman who works as a special education teacher and a man who described himself in court as a "small town guy." 5 jurors in the Aurora theater shooting trial were sent to the group questioning phase Monday while another 6 were released from service. The 5 jurors moving to the next round - which include 2 who have been jurors before - bring the total over 22 days of jury selection to 32, still far ahead of the pace Judge Carlos Samour Jr. had hoped for. Samour expected the court to need about 16 weeks of individual questioning to get the necessary 120 jurors for the next round. After just 2 weeks, the 2 sides already have a quarter of that number. Among the jurors released Monday, 2 said they could never hand down a death sentence. 1 person worked at the mall adjacent to the theater and 3 said serving would be a financial hardship. In addition to the 2 jurors who have previously served on a jury, Samour selected a woman who works as a special education teacher and a man who described himself in court as a "small town guy." Samour also selected a young man over the defense's objection. The defense said the man seemed to view the death penalty as a starting point for a heinous crime, but Samour questioned the man a 2nd time and said the man was willing to consider life in prison or a death sentence. Accused gunman James Holmes sat quietly at the defense table wearing a blue sweater. Monday's hearing marked the 1st since Samour last week changed decided to call 11 jurors each day instead of 12. Samour had said he hoped the new system would mean court ended a bit earlier, but Monday's session stretched past 6 p.m. anyway. Prosecutors also asked Samour to release a juror who had previously been sent to the next round. The juror, whio has a criminal record, was previously questioned and the 2 Samour sent him to the group questioning phase. Deputy District Attorney Rich Orman said the man recently called the DA's office and spoke to another prosecutor. Orman said the man should be released, but Holmes' defense team said they "strongly object" to the man's dismissal. What exactly the man said and whether he was released was unclear. Samour closed the courtroom to the public while the 2 sides discussed the man's phone call and adjourned court for the day before reopening the courtroom to the public and press. Court is in recess until Tuesday morning. (source: Aurora Sentinel) From rhalperi at smu.edu Tue Feb 24 13:38:47 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2015 13:38:47 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 24 PAKISTAN: Pakistan captures militant linked to Peshawar school assault The Pakistani military has arrested a man suspected of taking part in December's attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. The army claim that Taj Muhammad was one of the commanders behind the Taliban assault. The army is still searching for other militants linked to the attack, in which at least 150 people were killed, including 133 children. All of the gunmen who stormed the school are believed to be dead. Taj Muhammed was captured in a camp for internally displaced people in the Pawaka area of Peshawar. Pakistani authorities believe 27 militants were involved in the attack. Nine gunmen were killed during the siege and several others linked to the attack have been captured. The detainees could be brought before military courts and face the death penalty if convicted of terrorism. Following the massacre, security has been stepped up in the region, with teachers now allowed to carry guns. The group of attackers cut through a wire fence at Peshawar's Army School on 16 December before launching an attack on an auditorium where children were taking a lesson in first aid. The gunmen, who were wearing bomb vests, then went from room to room shooting pupils and teachers in a siege that lasted eight hours. A faction of the Pakistani Taliban loyal to Mullah Fazlullah said they carried out the attack in revenge for the army's offensive against them in North Waziristan. (source: BBC news) SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi court gives death penalty to man who renounced Muslim faith Saudi Arabia, the United States' top Arab ally and birthplace of Islam, follows the strict Wahhabi Sunni Muslim school and gives the ulama control over its justice system. An Islamic court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to death for renouncing his Muslim faith, the English-language daily Saudi Gazette reported on Tuesday. The man, in his 20s, posted an online video ripping up a copy of Islam's holy book, the Quran, and hitting it with a shoe, the newspaper reported. Saudi Arabia, the United States' top Arab ally and birthplace of Islam, follows the strict Wahhabi Sunni Muslim school and gives the ulama control over its justice system. Under the Wahhabi interpretation of Syariah Islamic law, apostasy demands the death penalty, as do some other religious offences like sorcery, while blasphemy and criticism of senior Muslim ulama have incurred jail terms and corporal punishment. Executions in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out by public beheading. International rights groups say the Saudi justice system suffers from a lack of transparency and due process, that defendants are often denied basic rights such as legal representation and that sentencing can be arbitrary. The Saudi government has taken some steps to reform its judicial system but has also defended it as fair. Last year a court in Jeddah sentenced Saudi liberal Raif Badawi to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for publishing criticism of the kingdom's ruling religious and political elite and calling for reforms in Islam. The 1st of 50 of those lashes were carried out in January, but subsequent rounds of flogging have not occurred. Officials have not publicly commented on the case, but insiders say the lashing appears to have been quietly dropped. (source: The Rakyat Post) UGANDA: Museveni wants death penalty for murderers President Yoweri Museveni has asked judges to sentence murderers to death. Opening the 17th Judges' Conference at Imperial Golf View Hotel in Entebbe on Monday, Museveni said judges are unnecessarily lenient with murderers and that the lighter sentences given to killers are eroding the already suffering public confidence in the judiciary. The President cited key suspects in the recent killings of a Muslim leader Sheikh Abdu Kadir Muwaya in Mayuge district and Tito Okware, an NRM leader in Namayingo district who were apprehended by the police after completing investigations, but were granted bail by courts. "Those people who willfully kill others should be sentenced to death and hanged under the law. In Mayuge and Namayingo, people were fighting after the key suspects were hurriedly released," he added. Museveni noted that releasing murder suspects before spending at least 180 days on remand may force the population to turn "extra-judicial actions". "What's the hurry for? Do you want some of us to turn to extra-judicial actions?" the President asked. He asked the judges to supervise and guide magistrates who handle petty thieves with kid gloves. Museveni explained that in many villages petty thieves have stolen livestock distributed to the population under the National Agricultural Advisory Services, but they have been treated with kid gloves. "There is a very big problem in the villages. The thieves are stealing people's pigs and the police are giving them bond. The police and judiciary are empowering these parasites and some farmers have told me they have given up," Museveni added. Commenting on the conference's theme; the role of the judiciary in accelerating the transformation of Uganda's economy, Museveni noted that there's ideological difference between the executive and the judiciary. "The judiciary ought to play a role in protecting life and property and without doing this we cannot have transformation," he added. He asked the judiciary to help him to protect life, property, freedom, stability, morality and governance of the society in line with the constitution. The President noted that the police and judiciary have not taken the question of law and order seriously by punishing criminals leniently yet the 2 issues are very critical to development of any country. According to official prisons records, the last time convicts were killed by hanging in Uganda under NRM government was in 1999 when 29 death row inmates were executed. 14 convicts had been killed earlier. Originally, it was mandatory for anyone convicted of a capital offence to be sentence to death. However, the 2009 Supreme Court ruling on the Constitutional Court petition by Susan Kigula and 417 death row convicts left it to the discretion of the trial judge to hand down a death sentence or not after considering circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence. The acting Chief Justice, Steven Kavuma, commended the government's efforts to increase the number of judicial officers, but said the number of judges at the Supreme court need to be raised from 8 to 88, from 12 to 32 at the Court Appeal, from 49 to 82 at the High Court and an extra 40 magistrates and 50 grade one magistrates. "We want to make the Court of Appeal more visible upcountry," he added. Kavuma said the judiciary wants to play a role to play in the achievement of Vision 2040 by being efficient, reducing the cost of accessing justice and deepening access to justice. Vision 2040, which is the government's long term plan seeks to transform the country from a peasantry state to a prosperous country by 2040, provides that the judiciary will be strengthened to make it more independent, proactive and responsive to the needs of the consumers of its services. (source: New Vision) BANGLADESH: 'We wanted death penalty' The prosecution has expressed its frustration over the life-term sentence handed to fugitive Jatiya Party leader Abdul Jabbar for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. "We will have to respect the court's decision, but we were expecting a death sentence," Prosecutor Jahid Imam said after the verdict on Tuesday. Bangladesh's 1st war crimes tribunal, headed by Justice Enayetur Rahim, delivered the verdict against Pirojpur's Mathbarhia Razakar militia leader Abdul Jabbar, who became a member of Parliament in independent Bangladesh. The prosecution proved all the 5 charges brought against Jabbar beyond doubt, the 3-member tribunal said. It added that they were sentencing Jabbar to life in prison taking his age into consideration. The verdict detailed how the former Muslim League leader collaborated with the Pakistan occupation army and carried out murders, genocide, loot, arson, forced Hindus to convert to Islam and forced many of them to leave the country from Mathbarhia during the Liberation War. Jabbar's verdict is the 4th to be delivered in absentia. He was handed life-terms on four charges and 20-year prison-term along with a Tk 10 lakh fine on 1 charge. Prosecutor Turin Afroze said, "We have got 2 types of judgements. The court had earlier said age cannot be considered in case of such crimes. "But the court gave its verdict taking into consideration the age of the accused. Earlier, Ghulam Azam was handed a life-term on the same ground." State-appointed defence lawyer Mohammad Abul Hasan said, "There would have been scope if the convict was present or if there was more information." He added that he repeatedly tried to contact Jabbar but did not get any response. "I will ask him to surrender if contact is made." "I do not have the authority to appeal against the verdict. Only the convict can appeal." Jabbar, believed to be an octogenarian, is currently living in the US, according to the tribunal's investigation arm. He can challenge the verdict within a month but, for that, he will have to surrender first. (source: bdnews24.com) ********************** SC seeks concise statements on Nizami verdict The Supreme Court today asked both the state and defence counsels to submit in 2 weeks the concise statements on an appeal filed by convicted war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami against his death sentence. The four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha passed the order as the appeal of Nizami came in its hearing list today. A concise statement contains the legal points on which the lawyers place arguments before the Appellate Division during its hearing. International Crimes Tribunal-1 on October 29 last year handed him the death penalty on 4 charges of war crimes, including murdering intellectuals. The 72-year-old was also awarded life imprisonment on the other 4 charges. Nizami on November 23, last year filed the appeal with the SC challenging the death penalty verdict awarded to him by a war crimes tribunal for his crimes against humanity that he committed during the Liberation War in 1971. In his appeal, Nizami claimed himself innocent and sought acquittal on the 8 charges he was found guilty. Nizami in his 121-page appeal mentioned 168 legal reasons to establish his innocence. On the other hand, the government did not file any appeal with the SC against the ICT-1 verdict on Nizami, as it was satisfied with the verdict. (source: The Daily Star) SUDAN: Sudan court denies opposition detainees bail as trial starts A Sudanese judge Monday refused to release on bail 2 opposition figures detained since December for signing an alliance of anti-government groups, after a prosecutor demanded s6 charges against them. The anti-terrorism court denied bail to Farouk Abu Issa and Amin Makki Madani after hearing the prosecutor's case, setting the next hearing for Monday March 2, according to an AFP correspondent at the trial. The judge will decide whether to charge them after hearing from prosecution witnesses. Abu Issa and Madani were detained on December 6 after signing the Sudan Call agreement, aimed at uniting opposition to President Omar al-Bashir, along with other political parties and rebel groups. "The document called for the fall of the regime by any means, including military action and popular uprisings, and this constitutes a terrorist act," prosecutor Yasir Ahmed Mohamed told a judge. The prosecutor is seeking 6 charges against the 2, including founding and running a terrorist organisation as well as inciting war and hatred against the state. 5 of the charges carry the death penalty. The judge said because the 2 were being investigated for capital offences they could not be released on bail. The courtroom was packed with supporters of the 2, many of whom clapped and embraced them as they entered. Representatives from 7 foreign diplomatic missions also attended. As the hearing took place around 300 people gathered outside, watched over by a heavy security presence, chanting and shouting slogans demanding Abu Issa and Madani's release. The Sudan Call opposition accord came amid preparations in Sudan for April elections that are widely expected to extend Bashir's 25 years in power. Abu Issa signed for a grouping of opposition parties he leads and Madani signed for civil society groups. (source: Daiy Mail) LEBANON: Samaha family calls for his immediate release The family of former Information Minister and terror suspect Michel Samaha called Tuesday for his immediate release, rejecting claims by the justice minister that there was a plan to assassinate him. "The judiciary must ... release minister Samaha considering the facts of the case, without taking into account the intelligence reports reaching the justice minister about an alleged threat to his life," the family said in a statement. "This threat, supposing it's true, requires protecting him [Samaha] and not keeping him in jail arbitrarily under the pretext of his protection." The family had cast doubt last week over claims made by Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi that there was a plot to kill Samaha. Rifi had said the decision to move Samaha from his prison cell to a hospital had been cancelled due to the threat to assassinate him over information he had over the role of Syria in alleged terror plots. They described Rifi's comments as "political intervention to pressure the military court not to release [Samaha]." The family argued in Tuesday's statement that Samaha's 2 1/2 years in jail exceeded the normal durations of detention, saying his release does not mean he was innocent. Military Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghayda last year recommended the death penalty for Samaha as well as a Syrian general and another individual holding the rank of colonel over the alleged terror plot to destabilize Lebanon. The indictment charged the 3 men with orchestrating a plot to assassinate Syrian opposition figures and arms traffickers entering Syria from Lebanon. (source: The Daily Star) INDONESIA: 229 Indonesians face death penalty abroad The Foreign Ministry stated on Tuesday that there were 229 Indonesians abroad facing capital punishment for various crimes. "Most of them are in Malaysia with 168 cases, Saudi Arabia with 38 and China with 15," stated the ministry's directorate for Indonesian nationals' protection and legal aid as quoted by Antara news agency. The directorate also revealed that 131 of the cases were related to drugs, while 77 of them were related to murder. "Regarding the drug cases, 112 are in Malaysia, 15 in China, 2 in Laos, 1 in Singapore and another one in Vietnam," the directorate stated.The Foreign Ministry had handled 9,290 legal cases abroad as of September 2014, with most of the cases relating to migrant workers and ship crewmembers. (source: The Jakarta Post) ******************************** Joko Widodo: No foreign interference on death penalty Indonesian President Joko Widodo says foreign nations should not interfere in his country's right to use the death penalty. He is under pressure from the leaders of Australia, Brazil and France, whose citizens are among 11 people facing death for drug trafficking. Mr Widodo restated that the executions by firing squad would go ahead. Earlier, a Jakarta court threw out an appeal by 2 Australians against their presidential clemency rejections. Indonesia has some of the world's harshest drug trafficking penalties. It resumed executions in 2013 after a 4 year moratorium and new leader Mr Widodo is taking a much tougher stance on the issue. In January, 6 traffickers - including 5 foreign nationals - were executed. A 2nd round of executions involving 11 people is expected in coming days. 'No right to rule' Mr Widodo told reporters that "there shouldn't be any intervention towards the death penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law". Several nations have spoken out against the move in recent days, however. 1 Brazilian is among the 2nd group and last week, Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff delivered a diplomatic snub by rejecting the credentials of the Indonesian ambassador to Brazil. France summoned Indonesia's ambassador last week to voice its "extreme concern" over the fate of one of its nationals, Serge Atlaoui. Australian authorities have also launched a major diplomatic campaign for the lives of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, the ringleaders of the Bali 9 group of drug smugglers. Who are the Bali 9? The 8 men and 1 woman were arrested in April 2005 at an airport and hotel in Bali, Indonesia after a tip-off from Australian police. They were trying to carry 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin back to Australia. In 2006 a court ruled that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran had recruited the others and paid their costs. They were sentenced to death. The other 7 are serving sentences of between 20 years and life, after some had death sentences revoked on appeal. Chan and Sukumaran have repeatedly appealed against their sentences and say they are reformed characters - Chan teaches Bible and cookery classes in prison while Sukumaran is an artist. Prime Minister Tony Abbott caused an uproar last week when he said Indonesia should remember the A$1bn provided in aid by Australia after the 2004 tsunami. The comments were seen as a threat by the political rank and some of the general public in Indonesia. Sukumaran and Chan, who are also in the 2nd group, were arrested for trying to traffic heroin out of Bali in 2005. Responding to their latest challenge, Judge Hendro Puspito said the court had no jurisdiction to overrule the president's decision to not grant clemency, which is considered the final word in such matters. "Clemency is the prerogative of the president ... the state administrative court has no right to rule on the challenge." He said they had 14 days to lodge an appeal. Their lawyers said they would pursue that avenue. (source: BBC News) *********************** Indonesia rejects calls to pardon 11 foreign convicts Indonesia's President Joko Widodo has rejected calls from foreign countries, including Australia and France, to show clemency for 11 foreign convicts on death row. Preident Widodo said no foreign country should intervene in the country's right to use the death penalty and added that the scheduled executions of 11 foreign convicts will not be delayed. President Widodo said he took calls from the leaders of France, Brazil and the Netherlands about the death penalty. But he told reporters: "The first thing I need to say firmly is that there shouldn't be any intervention towards the death penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law". (source: itv.com) ******************* Final challenge to appeal Bali 9 executions fails A last-ditch effort from lawyers of the Bali 9 pair to save their clients from the firing squad has failed. The transfer of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Kerobokan Prison to an island for the executions was delayed last week. Yesterday, the nation's state administrative court heard arguments from lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis that Indonesian President Joko Widodo should reconsider their clemency bid, ABC has reported. The court threw out the challenge on grounds it did not have jurisdiction over presidential decrees Mr Mulya earlier told ABC he believed there was strong legal ground for the case. Despite public vigils across Australia and appeals for mercy from Australian leaders, Mr Widodo has refused to grant the pair clemency from the death penalty over their roles as ringleaders of a heroin smuggling group. But Mr Widodo has publicly confirmed he considered the pair's clemency bids as part of 64 such bids, rather than separately. It is unclear whether the case will affect the government's decision. (source: The Daiy Mail) *************************** RP will not intervene on citizen's behalf The Republic of the Philippines has pledged not to interfere with the death penalty leveled against one of its citizens for drug trafficking while Acehnese officials urged the Indonesian government to speed up the executions. Representative of the Philippine Embassy in Indonesia Ramon CH conveyed to the Yogyakarta High Prosecutor's Office that the Philippine government would never interfere with the death penalty handed down by the Sleman District Court against Filipina Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso for smuggling drugs. "Philippine Embassy envoy Ramon CH only said to us that whatever Mary was found guilty of that their only wish was that the execution be delayed," Sri Anggreani A., the prosecutor head in Veloso's case, said on Monday. Ramon made his statement while he was accompanying Veloso's family when they visited their daughter on death row at the Wirogunan Penitentiary in Yogyakarta.Anggreani said the Attorney General's Office had asked her to provide assistance to Veloso's family, 2 staff members from the Philippine Embassy, a staff member from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and 2 priests who visited Veloso at the Wirogunan Penitentiary from Feb. 19 until Feb. 21. During the 3-day period, Veloso's father Cesar S. Veloso, mother C. Veloso, sister Maritas Laurente and 2 sons Mark Danielle and Mark Darren all came to visit her. "The family also expressed appreciation to the Attorney General's Office for giving them the chance to meet Veloso," said Anggreani. Yogyakarta High Prosecutor's Office General Crimes Affairs assistant Tri Subardiman said Veloso was not included on the list of convicts who would be executed on Nusakambangan prison island, Cilacap, in the near future, as prosecutors were still waiting for a case review decision filed by Veloso at the Sleman District Court. Veloso filed for the case review several weeks ago. The Sleman District Court is still waiting for Veloso's clemency documents from the Supreme Court. Veloso was caught as she was trying to smuggle in 2.6 kilograms of heroin at the Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta on April 25, 2010. She arrived from Kula Lumpur, Malaysia, on an AirAsia flight. Meanwhile, angered by comments made by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott about his country's donations during the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, students staged a rally in Banda Aceh asking the government to speed up the execution of the convicts. "We urge the government and President Joko ["Jokowi"] Widodo to hurry up and punish the Australians in order to show that [Indonesia] will not be undermined by other countries," said the chairman of the Aceh branch of the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI). Separately, following a 1-week delay, it seems as though the transfer of the 2 Australian drug smugglers, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, to Nusakambang prison island will be conducted this week. The chief of the Bali Prosecutor's Office, Momock Bambang Samiarso, confirmed that the transfer would be done this week if Nusakambangan prison island had already prepared their isolation rooms. Meanwhile, the Ninth Regional Military Command (Kodam IX) Udayana commander Maj. Gen. Torry Djohar Banguntoro said on Monday that the Indonesian Military had prepared a squadron of Sukhoi fighter jets to guard the transfer of the 2 Australian drug traffickers on death row from Kerobokan Penitentiary in Bali to Nusakambangan prison island. (source: The Jakarta Post) PAPUA NEW GUINEA: PNG government defends death penalty as new guidelines approved The PNG government defends its decision to reinstate the death penalty as the country prepares to execute 13 prisoners before the end of the year.The Papua New Guinea government has defended its decision to reinstate the death penalty as the country prepares to execute 13 prisoners before the end of the year. Dr Lawrence Kalinoe, secretary for the Department of Justice and attorney-general, said people had had enough of serious crime and perpetrators should die for their crimes. "In this country we have very strong support for the implementation of the death penalty," Mr Kalinoe told the ABC's Radio Australia." For example, one of the (radio) talkback shows I went to, 33 people called. Of the 33, 3 opposed the death penalty, 30 of them fully supported the government's role, to actually offer to be the executioner. "That's how serious the citizens of this country are, serious in trying to make this place, a just safe and secure society." Mr Kalinoe's comments came after the government approved new guidelines for the implementation of death penalty.The death penalty has not been used in PNG for more than 50 years, but was re-enacted last year when the law was amended to include more offences.The National Executive Council then approved 3 modes of execution - lethal injection, firing squad and hanging. Since then, 13 people have been waiting on death row, but lack of infrastructure has meant there has been no method to enact the capital punishment.Recent reports suggest both Indonesia and Thailand have stepped in with offers of financial assistance and expertise.Mr Kalinoe said the government wanted to make the country safer in re-enacting the death penalty. "Papua New Guinea, in particular Port Moresby, is regarded as one of the most dangerous cities of the world," he said. "That's a label that us Papua New Guineans live with, sometimes we're very embarrassed ... what a beautiful country but our reputation, fairly or unfairly, has gotten ahead of us, making this place a very unsafe sort of a place to live in. "One of [the government's aims] was to strengthen police, strengthen the law and justice sector and implement whatever laws we need to implement." Last week the Archbishop of the PNG Catholic Church, John Ribat, spoke out against the death penalty and called for more community discussion on the matter. The crimes in PNG that could attract the death penalty for those convicted included: treason, piracy, wilful murder, aggravated rape, robbery involving violence, and sorcery-related killings. (source: Radio Australia) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 25 15:58:52 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:58:52 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., GA., FLA. Message-ID: Feb. 25 TEXAS: Gov. Abbott Calls For 'Effective Death Penalty' Today Governor Greg Abbott is speaking out for the 1st time about the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' stay of execution in the case of Rodney Reed. A Bastrop County jury convicted Reed of the 1996 rape and strangling death of Stacey Stites. Investigators say they found his DNA on the body. Prosecutors successfully argued the evidence tied him to the crime. But Reed's supporters claim he had a relationship with the victim. Today we asked Governor Abbott about the hold on Reed's execution that we first reported Monday on KEYE TV News at 5:00 and the possibility of a new trial. He reiterated his support for what he calls "an effective death penalty in Texas." But he says that whenever it's applied we need to be certain the person commited the crime. Abbott adds, "I think that this is a healthy process that the court announced what it did so we can put beyond the shadow of any doubt whatsoever that he really is guilty of the crime for which he was convicted." In the request for the stay of execution, one of the forensic experts who testified at Reed's trial says he now believes Reed's DNA could have been placed on Stites hours before she died ... perhaps even longer. New Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is reviewing the appeals court's order. (source: KEYE TV news) **************** Rodney Reed wins a reprieve Supporters see the Texas high court's decision to stay the execution of Rodney Reed as a first step in the fight to ultimately win his freedom, reports Elizabeth Schulte. A week before his scheduled execution on March 5, Texas death row prisoner Rodney Reed won a stay of execution from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Reed, his family and his supporters have maintained Rodney's innocence ever since his 1998 conviction for the murder of Stacy Stites in Bastrop, Texas. Reed's lawyers have long argued that if evidence uncovered in the years since then was properly heard in court, he would be exonerated and freed. Law enforcement and prosecutors ignored the original suspect in the murder--Stites' fiancee, a local police officer with a violent history--and instead built a case against Reed. The all-white Texas jury easily voted to convict a Black man accused of killing a white woman. The stay could provide an opportunity for a court to hear new evidence, including the conclusions of forensic experts that Reed didn't sexually assault the 19-year-old Stites, as prosecutors claimed, as well as evidence that Reed was nowhere near the victim at the time of her murder. Reed's lawyers also hope the courts will finally allow DNA testing on all the material in the case, which they have fought for, but have been denied before. As Lily Hughes of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty said: The stay of execution from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is excellent news and is just what we were hoping for at this stage. Now we are waiting for some indication from the court about how much of a hearing they will give the new claims that were raised in this appeal. We are looking for a full review of the explosive new medical findings, and we'd also like to see all the evidence tested for DNA that we have been asking for. Whether it's through evidentiary hearings--or, even better, a new trial--we want a chance for all the evidence to be heard. Then we think the courts can have but 1 conclusion--Rodney Reed is innocent of this crime and must be freed from death row! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - There is nothing the Texas justice system would have liked more than for Rodney's case to be swept under the rug. But his family and supporters in the anti-death penalty movement have done their best to keep this injustice in the spotlight, where it belongs. As Rodney's brother Rodrick told reporters at a press conference after the announcement of the stay, "Without people supporting us, backing us, getting out there and raising their voices, screaming at the top of their lungs, we may never have got this attention. They may have never even looked into it like they're doing." On February 21, hundreds of people rallied in Austin at the state Capitol building to let Texas know that they're watching. Family members, exonerated death row prisoners and death penalty opponents gathered to show their support. "We've been fighting tirelessly," Rodney's mother Sandra Reed told the crowd that day. "I will not give up this fight. I will not, regardless of what the outcome will be...There are too many innocent men that have gone, that are waiting, and that will go if we don't stop this murder--this murdering machine, the death penalty." Supporters see the Texas high court's decision as a step in the direction of a bigger demand--freedom for an innocent man. "Look into this case," Rodrick Reed told reporters after the announcement of the stay. "This man is innocent. Do the right thing. The lieutenant governor said, 'It's a new day in Texas.' I want to see that new day. I want to see justice done in this case, not just for Rodney, but for everybody." (source: SocialistWorker.org) ********************* Dallas-area man on death row for killing 2 loses appeal The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has upheld the death sentence of a Dallas-area man convicted of killing his girlfriend and her daughter during a jealous rage 4 years ago. Attorneys for 42-year-old Tyrone Cade of Irving argued that his trial in 2012 was marked by 44 errors, including problems with jury instructions, admission of evidence, improper testimony and insufficient evidence to support a death penalty verdict. The state's highest criminal court Wednesday rejected each claim. Cade's lawyers at his trial said he was insane when he fatally stabbed 37-year-old Mischell Fuller and her 17-year-old daughter Desaree Hoskins at their home. Evidence showed Cade's relationship with Fuller was deteriorating. Evidence also showed Cade confessed to the slayings in a 911 call from a pay phone in a police station. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Chester County death sentence overturned in shooting case Only 2 men have been sentenced to death by Chester County Common Pleas juries since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Now, 1 of them has been granted a reprieve - at least temporarily - because of his attorney's alleged ineffectiveness. Last fall, U.S. District Judge James Gardner vacated the death sentence that was handed down more than 20 years ago against Darrick Hall, convicted of shooting and killing a Coatesville coin laundry manager, Donald R. Johnson, during an armed robbery 1 week before Christmas 1993. The decision came in the wake of Hall's habeas corpus petition filed on his behalf by the Federal Defender's Association. The judge, in an exhaustive opinion, wrote that Hall's attorney, Robert Miller of Philadelphia, had failed to meet the legal standard for effectiveness of counsel in capital trials during the penalty phase, after which the jury returned its verdict of a death sentence. At the time, it was the only jury to impose that sentence on a defendant in the county in 18 years. Gardner wrote in his Oct. 21, 2014 opinion that Miller failed "to investigate and present significant mitigating evidence in the penalty phase of (Hall's) trial regarding (his) abusive childhood, illnesses and injuries normally associated with developmental and cognitive delays, and his inability to adjust to a strutted environment during the years he attended a disciplinary school." More specifically, Gardner stated, Miller, "failed to seek out, interview and present testimony from some of (Hall's) family, friends and employers, and failed to request readily available medical, educational and court records and failed to obtain evaluations by a mental health expert." "This fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, and (Hall) suffered prejudice as a result of (Miller's) deficient performance," Gardner wrote. Gardner, however, did not overturn Hall's conviction for 1st-degree murder. The case is now on appeal to the Third Circuit Court in Philadelphia. Hall, now 44, of Philadelphia, is currently housed in Graterford state prison, where he is still technically awaiting execution as his case makes its way through the appellate process. His appeal had been denied by the state Supreme Court, which had also ruled on the question of Miller's effectiveness and denied the claim. Miller, who was hired by Hall's family to replace attorneys from the county Public Defender's Office who had represented Hall since his arrest, could not be reached for comment. A secretary at the office of another attorney with the same name - Robert S. Miller - said they had received inquiries about him in the past but could not offer forwarding contact information. Miller's presentation at Hall's sentencing hearing was a stark contrast to other penalty hearings in county capital cases. He presented only 2 witnesses - a former girlfriend and Hall's mother - but they offered little in the way of testimony. Hall did not take the stand in his own defense, and Miller later told the judge overseeing the case - then Common Pleas Judge Paula Francisco Ott, now a member of the state Superior Court - that his client had told him not to offer any more in the way of evidence mitigating his case. On the other hand, in 2 recent death penalty cases - those involving Coatesville crime figure Duron "Gotti" People and chainsaw killer LaQuanta Chapman - attorneys presented detailed testimony about their clients' troubled upbringings. Chapman's attorney included a videotape about the community where the defendant was raised in New Jersey, and Peoples took the stand to tell jurors about his childhood troubles himself. Peoples was spared the death penalty last fall and sentenced to life for the contract murder case of a Coatesville barbershop owner he was engaged in a running feud with. Chapman was sentenced to death in November 2012 for the murder of a Coatesville teenager, whose body he dismembered with a chainsaw. On Dec. 18, 1993, Hall and two other men engaged in a plan to rob the Coatesville laundromat located in the center of the city off East Lincoln Highway. 1 man, Troy Davis, acted as the getaway driver, while the other Tyrone Green stood inside the laundromat to act as bodyguard for Hall. The 3 men had come to Coatesville earlier that month to sell a quantity of crack cocaine they had between themselves to raise money for Christmas presents, according to testimony at one of the 3 trials. But Davis used all of the drug himself, so the men decided they needed a quick robbery to recoup their funds. They chose the busy laundromat, on a Saturday morning, as their target. Hall, brandishing a handgun, marched up to the manager's desk at the rear of the building, where Johnson, a well-liked 59-year-old man was seated. "What's up, Pops?" he said, according to witnesses, and pulled his handgun. When the manager made a move to disarm him, Hall fired 2 shots, hitting Johnson in his chest and in the back of his head. He died instantly. In his closing argument at the end of the November 1994 trial, then District Attorney Anthony Sarcione, now a Common Pleas judge, pointed angrily at Hall, seated at the defense table, and said, "The only thing colder than the grave of Mr. Johnson is this guy's heart, because he put him there." Writing in his October 2014 decision, Gardner agreed with Hall's appellate attorneys that a investigation into Hall's background would have found evidence of extreme childhood abuse cursory and a history of significant head traumas and seizures, according to the 180-page ruling. Indeed, Hall's previous attorney from the Public Defender's office testified he had begun that investigation when Hall's family decided to hire Miller, a private attorney, instead. There was evidence that Hall's father regularly raped and beat his mother, pulled knives on her and threatened to kill her, Gardner found. Hall submitted an affidavit from his mother that Hall's father once kept her "in the house and repeatedly raped and beat her until friends were able to free her." 4 affidavits also show that Hall witnessed his father breaking his mother's arm. Hall's father took money allotted for food and household expenses and used them for drugs, the affidavits showed. When Hall was 5, his father was arrested and his mother began a relationship with another man who beat Hall. Around this time, his mother "began drinking as a way to cope with the abuse," the court found, citing the affidavits. Hall's medical history meanwhile includes seizures and a bicycle accident when he was 8 years old that resulted in the loss of consciousness, according to Gardner's ruling. A psychological evaluation showed he had an IQ score of 73, below average, according to the opinion. The habeas petition was opposed by the state Attorney General's Office, which argued that Miller had been abiding by Hall's decision not to present mitigating witnesses or take the stand, even though Miller had explained to him what could happen. It said that Miller had "strategic reasons for presenting only 2 witnesses ... and for not presenting (Hall's) school records or employment history." Green and Davis were also convicted of Johnson's murder. Green is serving a life sentence. (source: mainlinemedianews.com) ******************* Pa. death penalty moratorium senseless I wholeheartedly oppose the death penalty moratorium put in place by Gov. Wolf. It is senseless and stupid. Let the perpetrators pay for what they did, and let's put that money to a better use. I am, however, all for raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania and legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. I feel that the last 2 measures are long overdue. Harrisburg has a history of blocking the death penalty. It is time it learns to stop interfering with it. Constance A. Rampulla-White Bethlehem Township (source: Letter to the Editor, Allentown Morning Call) ************************* Death penalty facts have no liberal bias When Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a moratorium on Pennsylvania's death penalty, he stated that it is "error-prone, expensive and anything but infallible." He didn't just pull that out of the air. The report on Pennsylvania's death penalty conducted by no less than the American Bar Association said the same thing. The ongoing legislative study of the death penalty began in 2011 and was created by a resolution introduced by Republican Senate Judiciary Chair Stewart Greenleaf. It is examining impact on victims' families, costs and potential biases in the system. I find the statements of victims' family members, such as Marlene Lang, compelling. Let's see what the report recommends. Since when do facts have a liberal bias? FYI, I am not a Democrat nor did I vote for Tom Wolf. However, he is legally authorized to grant a reprieve here because, contrary to what the Philly District Attorney's Office pontificates, Williams still has viable avenues of relief, including pleadings filed long ago. Mr. Williams and the others on death row aren't going anywhere; we're not talking about releasing them. The worst that could happen is that they'd die in prison, a fate much worse than execution, in my opinion. BRANDON LANDGRAF York College student *********************** Ray Krone's sister weighs in on death penalty moratorium----Sister urges people to learn truth of death penalty I just read the thoughts of York County District Attorney Tom Kearney, who said, "What Governor Wolf does not understand is the pain and anguish that victims' loved ones feel when someone they love is taken at the hands of another." I just can't help comment almost the same thing that he did, only from my point of view. What Tom Kearney does not understand is the pain and anguish that the innocent death row inmate's loved ones feel when someone they love is taken at the hands of another. I would love to have a conversation with those elected to serve their communities about my family's pain and anguish. It is just as bad when your loved one is sitting in prison for something they didn't do. Helplessness, hopelessness, discrimination, depression, anxiety, anger, rage, etc. I can talk about it because I was there for 10 years. I will talk about prosecutors, investigators, juries, expert witnesses and more. I know families of those murder victims who do not support the death penalty. Don't kill people in their names. I know it cost much more for a death penalty case than for a life in prison without parole case. Why do these elected officials hide behind the truth? They just need their "high" that comes from a death penalty case. Right or wrong, it's about them and their acting careers. There are so many sides to this, and I feel that Gov. Tom Wolf has the guts to address this death penalty issue and look at it fairly from all sides. Educate yourselves, everyone, to the truth behind this. Don't let revenge ruin your heart. Go, Tom, go. AMY KRONE WILKISON Ray Krone's sister Dover (source for both: Letter to the Editor, York Dispatch) VIRGINIA: Va. House kills lethal injection secrecy bill despite support of McAuliffe In a surprising vote of support for transparency in state-sponsored executions, the Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday killed a bill that opponents said would have shrouded lethal injection in unprecedented secrecy. The controversial measure was intended to keep drugs used for lethal injection flowing into Virginia by shielding manufacturers from public scrutiny and political pressure. Despite bipartisan support from Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and the Senate, the overwhelmingly Republican House killed the bill, 56 to 42. The bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax), passed the Senate, 23 to 14, earlier this month. Saslaw said he was surprised to see the bill fail, but cited opposition to the death penalty and concerns about government secrecy. "The combination of the 2 (issues)" seemed to do the bill in, he said. "I would imagine within a year or 2, you're probably going to see a bill to just go back to the electric chair," he said. In Virginia, inmates sentenced to the death penalty have a choice between the electric chair and lethal injection, but drugs are the default method of execution. The issue was thrust into the national spotlight after foreign companies stopped selling such drugs as a result of pressure from their governments. That left some states unable to carry out death sentences and prompted others to experiment with chemicals that have been blamed for several ???high-profile botched executions. Del. James M. LeMunyon (R-Fairfax) voted against the bill after making an unsuccessful attempt to put off the debate until next year. "I think open government trumped secrecy today, and that's a good thing," he said. The legislation would have prevented the public from scrutinizing most everything to do with the death penalty in Virginia. The bill says that "all information relating to the execution process" would be exempt from the state's open records law. Although the names and quantities of chemicals used would had to have been disclosed, the names of the companies that sell them and information about buildings and equipment used in the process would have been withheld. Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax), who voted for the bill, offered an amendment that would have let defense attorneys and their clients see confidential information about the drug formulation and who made the drugs. His goal was "to make sure they weren't putting something in there that wasn't approved," he said. In the House, all Democrats and a strong contingent of Republicans with concerns about privacy joined forces to kill the bill. "I'm pleased that some sense of rationality and dignity prevailed," Del. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said. "Anytime somebody in the government wants to restrict information about what the government is going to do, I think we need to ask some really difficult questions and get some straight answers before we grant them that right." The state Supreme Court is considering a case brought by Surovell over an open records request he filed - and the state denied - for records related to drugs, execution protocols and other issues. The U.S. Supreme Court is also reviewing lethal injections in Oklahoma. (source: Washington Post) ***************** ACLU of Virginia welcomes House of Delegates vote to reject secret execution procedures Today the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia welcomes the Virginia House of Delegates decision to reject a bill (SB 1393, Saslaw) that would have shrouded Virginia's lethal injection execution procedures in secrecy. "We were glad to work with the Catholic Conference, Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and the Virginia Press Association to defeat this legislation that would have brought secret, experimental executions to the Commonwealth," said Frank Knaack, ACLU of Virginia Director of Public Policy and Communications. "By prohibiting the public from knowing anything about the lethal injection drug source, materials, or components, the legislation would have made the execution process almost entirely secret and subject to the unsupervised whim of the Director of the Department of Corrections. This level of secrecy and unchecked government authority is unacceptable, particularly when we're talking about the awesome power of the government to kill in our name," Mr. Knaack concluded. "We are grateful particularly to those members of the House of Delegates who took a principled stand for transparency and accountability in government today despite accusations that to do so would be said to mean that they are against the death penalty," said Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia. "We thank them for recognizing that transparency and accountability are necessary to democracy, not just buzzwords that you cast aside cavalierly in an election year. Whether you oppose the death penalty, as we do, or support its continued use, government in the sunshine is nowhere more important than where it involves the exercise of the government???s ultimate power over a person's life," added Ms. Gastanaga. Senate Bill 1393 (Sen. Saslaw) would have allowed the Department of Corrections to contract with compounding pharmacies to make up drugs for use in lethal injection and exempt from public disclosure laws the manufacturer of and the materials and components used to create the drugs. The bill was part of Governor McAuliffe's legislative package and was actively lobbied by the Department of Corrections and the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. (source: Augusta Free Press) GEORGIA----impending (female) execution rescheduled for Monday Parole board denies clemency in Kelly Gissendaner death penalty case It's official: Kelly Gissendaner will die at the hands of the state of Georgia. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles announced Wednesday morning its decision to deny clemency for Gissendaner, the 46-year-old former Auburn woman accused of orchestrating her husband's murder in 1997. Her appeals already exhausted, the parole board was her last hope to avoid execution. "In reaching its decision," parole board spokesman Steve Hayes said in an emailed statement, "the Board thoroughly reviewed all information and documents pertaining to the case. In addition to hearing testimony during the meeting on Tuesday, the Board, prior to the meeting had thoroughly reviewed the parole case file on the inmate, which includes the circumstances of the death penalty case, the inmate's criminal history, and a comprehensive history of the inmate's life." 21 people were at Tuesday's hearing in Atlanta to support Gissendaner's clemency application. Among them were 2 of her children, several Department of Corrections volunteers and many representatives from religious organizations. The hearing was closed to the media, but Gissendaner's application was released prior to the hearing. In the 54-page document, the chairman of Georgia Prison Ministries called Gissendaner "a truly redeemed woman." The condemned prisoner's son and daughter vouched for their mother. "It was by no means an easy road, but I learned that forgiving my mother was the best way to truly honor my father's memory and who he was," Gissendaner's daughter, who was 6 at the time of the murder, said. "My mother has become a woman full of love and compassion who is striving to become the best person she can within her situation." Following Wednesday's announcement of the parole board's decision, the family of Doug Gissendaner - the husband that Kelly Gissendaner had killed by her lover, Greg Owen - released a lengthy statement through the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office. "This has been a long, hard, heartbreaking road for us," the statement said, in part. "Now that this chapter in this nightmare is over, Doug would want us and all of the people who loved him to find peace, to remember all the happy times and cherish memories we have of him. We should all strive every day to be the kind of person he was. Never forget him." The only question left is when Gissendaner will be executed. She had been scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Wednesday, but Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter told the Daily Post on Tuesday night that the execution was likely to be rescheduled due to weather. As of Wednesday morning, attempts to confirm that with the Georgia Department of Corrections were unsuccessful. (source: Gwinnett Daily Post) ********************************** Ga. woman's execution rescheduled for Monday Tonight's scheduled execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner has been rescheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. because of predicted winter weather. The Department of Corrections, which carries out executions for Georgia, confirmed the change just hours before Gissendaner was to die even though the decision was made Tuesday night. The news that Gissendaner execution had been pushed back was released more than 2 hours after the State Board of Pardons and Paroles announced it had rejected her application for clemency. A press release from the board said it considered all the arguments and documentation in its review Tuesday. Gissendaner was convicted of murder in the February 1997 death of her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, and sentenced to death. She conspired with her former lover, Gregory Owen, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death. Owen is serving a life sentence with a possibility of parole after 25 years in prison. Gissendaner's appeal to the United States Supreme Court was denied October 6, 2014. Gissendaner was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Her execution warrant says she is to be put to death between noon today and noon this coming Wednsday. If that deadline passes, a new execution warrant must be signed. (source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution) ************************** Kelly Renee Gissendaner Execution Delayed, Possibly Due Georgia Storm Forecast The state of Georgia on Wednesday delayed the execution of its only female death row inmate, ahead of a winter storm forecast to hit many areas with several inches of snow. Kelly Renee Gissendaner, 46, had been scheduled for execution at 7 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson. The execution has been reset for Monday, according to a Department of Corrections statement. The department didn't give a reason in its statement. A winter storm was is forecast to hit parts of Georgia on Wednesday afternoon, closing schools and offices and prompting warnings about roads. Gissendaner was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband. Prosecutors said she plotted with her boyfriend, Gregory Owen, in the killing. Owen pleaded guilty and received a life prison sentence. A jury sentenced Gissendaner to death in 1998. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles held a clemency hearing Tuesday for Gissendaner but announced Wednesday that her request for clemency was denied. The parole board is the only entity in Georgia with the authority to commute a death sentence. Gissendaner would be the 1st woman executed in Georgia in about 70 years. Gissendaner told police her husband didn't return home Feb. 7, 1997, from dinner with friends in Lawrenceville, just outside Atlanta. His burned-out car was found 2 days later. His body was found about a week after that, roughly a mile from the car, in a remote wooded area. He had been stabbed several times. Kelly and Douglas Gissendaner had a troubled relationship, splitting up and getting back together multiple times, including divorcing and remarrying, according to information provided by the state attorney general's office. Kelly Gissendaner repeatedly pushed Owen in late 1996 to kill her husband rather than just divorcing him as Owen suggested, prosecutors said. Acting on Kelly Gissendaner's instructions, Owen ambushed Douglas Gissendaner at Gissendaner's home, forced him to drive to a remote area and stabbed him multiple times, prosecutors said. Investigators looking into Douglas Gissendaner's killing zeroed in on Owen once they learned of his affair with Kelly Gissendaner. He initially denied involvement but eventually confessed and implicated Kelly Gissendaner. Owen, who pleaded guilty and is serving life in prison, testified at Gissendaner's trial. A jury found Gissendaner guilty and sentenced her to death in 1998. A clemency petition submitted by Gissendaner's lawyers was declassified and made public Monday by the parole board. It included several dozen testimonials from prison employees, clergy, educators and fellow inmates detailing Gissendaner's transformation through faith into a positive role model who has aided troubled inmates and helped prison guards keep order. The clemency petition also included statements from 2 of Gissendaner's 3 children asking the parole board to spare their mother's life. Kayla Gissendaner, who was 7 when her father was killed, wrote to the board that she'd gone through periods of not speaking to her mother and that it had taken her a long time to get over her anger and bitterness at her mother for taking her father away. "It was by no means and easy road, but I learned that forgiving my mother was the best way to truly honor my father's memory and who he was," she wrote. "My mother has become a woman full of love and compassion who is striving to become the best person she can within her situation." The clemency petition also included a statement from Gissendaner, who apologized to her children and to the Gissendaner family. "There are no excuses for what I did. I am fully responsible for my role in my husband's murder," she said. "I had become so self-centered and bitter about my life and who I had become, that I lost all judgment." (source: Huffington Post) FLORIDA: Court hearing resumes for Clearwater man who hopes for the death penalty A court hearing resumed Wednesday morning in the case of double-murderer Craig Wall, part of a process that will determine whether the 39-year-old Clearwater man will get the death penalty. Wall, who is now acting as his own attorney, discussed procedural matters with Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Philip Federico on Wednesday, and then called a witness, a sheriff's deputy who once picked him up in a transport vehicle. The deputy said she did not remember Wall. The purpose of his questioning was not clear. Wall recently pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend Laura Taft in 2010 and pleaded no contest to murdering their infant child Craig Wall Jr. He has said he wants to receive the death penalty. This proceeding is known as the sentencing phase. (source: Tampa Bay Times) ************************** Youngest female killers on death row make desperate plea for a stay of execution as they call their impending death 'legal murder' Tiffany Cole, 33, and Emilia Carr, 30, convicted of separate murder charges Both are sentenced to die at Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocarla, Florida Carr is the youngest woman in America on death row Both have filed appeals to have their sentences reduced to life Tiffany Cole and Emilia Carr did not know each other before they were put on death row at Florida's Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocarla. But now the women, who share incredibly similar stories, couldn't imagine life without each other. Sexually abused when they were young, the cellmates were both convicted of separate murder charges they say are wrong and are fighting to have their death penalties removed from their sentences. Carr, 30, is the is the youngest woman in the United States on death row, while Cole, 33, is the 3rd youngest. 'It's legal murder,' Cole told ABC News' 20/20 program during an interview with Diane Sawyer, which will air in-full on Friday. 'How many rich people go to prison?' Carr added. 'We're all minorities. 'We're all people who are either minorities or didn't have any, money - any way to say, ''Hey, let me buy my freedom'', because it's not free in this country. 'Unfortunately, equality is an illusion.' Cole was 26 when she was found guilty of the kidnapping and 1st-degree murder of a Florida husband and wife. Cole had lived next to them for years in South Carolina before moving to Jackonsville. Cole and 3 men robbed the couple before tying them up, driving them across the border to Georgia and burying them alive. The jury was shown photos of Cole and 2 co-defendants in a limousine, celebrating with champagne and handfuls of cash after the crime. The jury voted 9 to 3 that she should receive the death penalty. Cole claims she helped dig the grave but that she did not know it was for the victims. She claims she thought the group were going to bury some of the items they had stolen. 'I am not the same person anymore,' Cole said. 'I have peace, I have joy. I have a sound mind.' Emilia Carr was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2011 for the 2009 murder of Heather Strong. Strong was the wife of Carr's boyfriend, and both were convicted of her suffocating her with a plastic bag and dumping the body in a Florida storage unit. Carr was 8 months pregnant at the time and now has 4 children, but is not allowed to see any of them. She claims she had left before the murder was committed. 'Wouldn't there have been physical evidence?' she told ABC. 'I mean, duct tape is some sticky stuff, yet there's no finger prints, no DNA, no hair.' Both women had never been to jail before they were arrested. Now they spend 24 hours a day locked in a cell together. 3 times a week they are allowed outside for 2 hours, but the area is concrete. 'I haven't touched grass in 6 years,' Carr said. 'So it's the small stuff you take for granted, you really do.' Carr struggles being away from her kids, but said she has taught herself to deal with it. 'I think about them every day,' she said. 'Before I really even came to know God, that was the hardest thing for me to cope with day in and day out, was being away from my kids. 'When I got here, my hair was falling out just from stress.' Both women have lodged appeals, however the process takes an average of 10 to 12 years. They are not fighting their convictions, but want their sentences reduced from death to life in prison. They are both convinced they will not be executed. 'You can't have that mentality (that you're going to die), because that means you've accepted this,' Carr said. 'You've already died ... you're already dead if you accept that,' Cole said. The women spend their days reading books. They are both religious and say that god and self-help books have turned their lives around. 'It's not over,' Cole said. 'There is forgiveness and there is hope.' However, the prosecutor in Cole's case, Jay Plotkin, thinks differently, telling ABC News: 'I was a prosecutor for more than 20 years. There was not any case that I prosecuted where the crime was more vile or cruel than the torture and murder of the Sumners. 'This case lingers on in the heart and soul of our community. 'Ms. Cole is certainly entitled to, and should, exhaust all of her legal rights to appeal. 'I am personally confident that she received more than adequate representation and a fair trial.' Watch the full story, 'A New Nation of Women Behind Bars', a Diane Sawyer 'Hidden America' special, airing Friday, Feb. 27 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. (source: Daily Mail) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 25 16:00:20 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:00:20 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., ARK., MO., COLO. Message-ID: Feb. 25 KENTUCKY: Webb seeks reforms to state death penalty policies Some members of the Kentucky Senate are pushing for changes with the state's death penalty policies, hoping that by addressing issues from different angles, at least 1 proposal will stick in this year's legislative session. Sens. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, and Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, are working to tackle Kentucky's rather controversial death penalty policies with 3 pieces of legislation. Webb held a press conference Tuesday at the Capitol to discuss her bill (SB190) seeking to enact several reforms to current policies. She made clear her bill is not angled toward abolishing the death penalty, but rather to "ensure it's fair" and that an innocent person is not executed. Webb cited a 2011 study by the American Bar Association, which listed 95 specific areas of Kentucky's current policy that it felt needed adjustment. The ABA Kentucky Assessment Team then spent more than 2 years studying the administration of the death penalty in Kentucky. "Our review led us to the inescapable conclusion that our current system is deeply flawed and in serious need of reform. The Kentucky Assessment Report was released over 3 years ago and, to date, not a single recommendation was been implemented," said Linda Sorenson Ewald, co-chair of the Kentucky Penalty Assessment Team. Ewald brought with her to the press conference a large spiral bound book full of these recommendations. Webb said since she has not heard any opposition, nor additional suggestions, in response to the assessment's release, it is time for her bill on reforms to be heard. Some of these reforms include prohibiting the execution of the severely mentally ill; requiring interviews of suspects to be recorded for better accuracy in courts; requires ongoing training and competency on death penalty issues for law enforcement, public defenders, prosecutors, corrections officers and judges; and creates a statewide database of information for ongoing capital cases. (source: Daily Independent) **************** Calls Intensify for Execution Moratorium in Kentucky On back-to-back days late last week, separate courts overturned convictions in two cases of men on Kentucky's death row. Those reversals have amplified calls from critics of the state's death penalty system to at least place a moratorium on executions. Retired law professor Linda Ewald was co-chair of an 8-person team of lawyers and retired judges that found a multitude of problems with Kentucky's death penalty system. The group's American Bar Association report was issued in December 2011. "I'm disappointed that the governor didn't suspend executions, although we haven't had an execution in many years," Ewald says. In reversing the death penalty conviction of Michael St. Clair on Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled evidence was "improperly admitted" during his trial. On Friday, a federal appellate court ruled in Roger Wheeler's case that a potential juror was "erroneously struck from the jury." Ewald says the ABA report she coauthored uncovered 95 specific concerns about Kentucky's death penalty system. "Well, I think it's a bit disconcerting that Kentucky has the death penalty and that we've assessed this in such a way to demonstrate that there are very serious problems in its administration," she states. Ewald says she's encouraged by legislation (SB190) filed earlier this month by state Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, which attempts to address lineups, interrogations, eyewitness testimony and biological evidence. "I think it's a little misleading to say nothing has been done," she says. "I think people are working on this. These are changes that are going to require legislation. They're going to require changes in court rules. They may require public hearings." Ewald adds while Kentucky was at the forefront in passing a post-conviction DNA testing law, problems remain with how biological evidence is handled after a trial. "Unfortunately, Kentucky doesn't have any uniform protocols for preserving and retaining evidence after a conviction," she says. "And so, there's the risk that it's not being maintained properly. There's the risk that it's lost and won't be available. "The ABA report called the system "broken and fatally flawed," but Ewald says it was not, in her words, "an abolition document." She says the report did not address whether Kentucky should have a death penalty. (source: publicnewsservice.org) ARKANSAS: Arkansas panel OKs eliminating death sentence as penalty A proposal to abolish Arkansas' death penalty is heading to the state Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option in capital murder cases. Arkansas has 32 inmates on death row but hasn't executed anyone in nearly a decade due to legal challenges over the state's lethal injection procedures. State Sen. David Burnett, a former judge and prosecutor, said he no longer believes the death penalty is a deterrent to violent crime. The bill by the Osceola Democrat faces opposition from some prosecutors who say the death penalty helps while negotiating plea bargains with defendants. The state hasn't executed anyone since 2005, when Eric Nance was put to death for the murder and attempted rape of a Malvern teenager. (source: Arkansas Online) MISSOURI----new execution date Missouri sets execution date for Normandy man who killed ex-wife's boyfriend in 1998 The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday set a mid-April execution date for Andre Cole, a man from Normandy who stabbed his ex-wife's boyfriend 22 times. Cole, 52, has been on death row since his conviction in St. Louis County in 2001. He killed Anthony Curtis on Aug. 21, 1998, at a house in north St. Louis County. Cole is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the state prison in Bonne Terre. According to the order by the Missouri Supreme Court, the death warrant is good for a 24-hour period, starting at 6 p.m. on April 14. The victim, Curtis, was a 34-year-old Navy veteran from St. Louis. He was stabbed or slashed 22 times with a butcher knife. One of the wounds was 8 inches deep. It had pierced his back, shaved a rib, punctured his lung and cut his aorta. Prosecutors at trial said that Cole was angry over child-support payments. Cole and his wife, Terri Cole, divorced in 1995. He was ordered to pay child support for the couple's two children, but missed several payments. He was ordered to pay $3,000 through payroll deductions. The 1st deduction appeared on his Aug. 21, 1998, paycheck. On the day his paycheck was garnisheed for back child support, Cole broke into the his ex-wife's home, in the 10100 block of Castle Drive, by throwing a car jack through a glass patio door. The jury found that Cole then killed Curtis and wounded Terri Cole, who was also stabbed several times. Terri Cole survived and testified against her ex-husband at the trial. Curtis, who lived in the 5600 block of St. Louis Avenue, died at a hospital. In addition to 1st-degree murder, the jury also convicted Andre Cole of assault and two counts of armed criminal action. Cole's defense attorney at the St. Louis County murder trial, Dorothy Hirzy, indicated in her opening statement that Andre Cole broke into the house to confront Terri Cole about custody of their children and was attacked by the couple. Hirzy suggested Curtis and Terri Cole stabbed each other after Andre Cole fled. (source: stltoday.com) COLORADO: More jurors dismissed in Aurora theater shooting trial because of death penalty reservations 3 jurors in the Aurora theater shooting trial were told Tuesday to return for the group questioning phase, bringing the total through 8 days of individual questioning to 34. The jurors retained included 1 man whom the defense wanted dismissed because they said he was biased in favor of the death penalty. The man, a middle-aged white man in a wheelchair, said he believed in "an eye for an eye" and said in a particularly heinous case, he would have trouble opting for a life sentence. Public defender Katherine Spengler, 1 of the lawyers for accused gunman James Holmes, said the man had a "presumption" of a death sentence, which makes him an unfair juror. Prosecutors and Judge Carlos Samour Jr. disagreed. Samour said the man proved during follow-up questioning that he could put aside his feelings on the death penalty and make a fair decision. "I think he can be fair and impartial. I think he will be fair and impartial," Samour said. Another juror who was retained previously worked as a volunteer victim advocate for Aurora police but said she could set aside her feelings about crime victims and be an impartial juror. Even if she heard from victims and their families, the woman said she could judge Holmes fairly. "At the end of the day, Mr. Holmes is still someone's family member, still someone's loved one," she said. A man, who said he worked at a gas station and was a former drill sergeant at the end of Vietnam, was retained after he said the death penalty was warranted in some cases, but only after careful deliberation. The prosecution and defense have largely agreed about the jurors who have been dismissed or retained for the next phase so far, but in a few cases like Tuesday's they have sparred. Among the jurors released Tuesday were a man who now lives in Weld County and by law can't serve on a jury in Arapahoe County, a woman getting married in the middle of the trial, and a woman who said jury service would be a financial hardship. 3 jurors in the morning were excused because they said they couldn't sentence Holmes to death. Including the initial phase of jury selection that started in January, the trial has lasted 23 days so far. Opening statements were expected to start in May or June, but with jury selection moving quicker than planned, Samour has said the trial could start in April or May. The defense has asked for a delay several times but Samour has rejected their requests. Holmes sat quietly at the defense table Tuesday wearing a blue button-up shirt. Court is in recess until Wednesday morning. (source: Aurora Sentinel) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 25 16:01:07 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:01:07 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----UTAH, MONT., ARIZ., ORE, USA, US MIL. Message-ID: Feb. 25 UTAH: Capital punishment debates highlight flaws in criminal justice system In response to another My View about capital punishment debates, Wayne Overson explains how the death penalty hurts the justice system more than it helps it. As a retired professor of criminal justice from Weber State University, the article by Marc Hyden ("Capital punishment legislation fails to consider real problems," Feb. 10) was of special interest to me. I would like to add to it. I believe that keeping the death penalty "on the books" is based on our emotion. Not only is it possible to have executed the wrong person, but the death penalty can also be used to coerce an innocent person into pleading guilty in order to avoid being killed. An accused person may accept a plea bargain to a lesser sentence with the hope of later being proved innocent. In some cases, co-actors in a robbery, murder and/or other crime may lie as part of their plea bargain. Are eyewitnesses completely reliable? Quite often I see a person who strongly reminds me of someone else, even a good friend. The death penalty does prevent future crime by the person who is executed. However, as Mr. Hyden pointed out, it cannot be proved that the death penalty prevents or deters crime that may be committed by others. In a Deseret News article from a couple of years ago, during the half-year prior to the execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner, there were 26 homicides and there were 26 more in the 6 months afterward. In fact, 2 murders took place later in the day of his execution. Mr. Hyden emphasized the waste of money for the years of court proceedings. My contention is that not only is it a huge waste of money, but there is a corresponding lack of money to prevent crime. How? There are at least three ways to prevent future violent and nonviolent felonies. Haven't we all heard of serial murder, rape, robbery, arson and so on? How many rape kits have not been processed? And why not? I would also propose the creation of 2 state law enforcement units. One unit would be assigned to investigate "cold" violent crime cases. Additionally, more funds should be spent to enlarge the unit of officers whose job is to search for, serve warrants on and arrest wanted felons. Why not drop capital punishment completely and spend the money saved to prevent future crimes? Maybe we should substitute the death penalty with a "virtual death penalty," where the convicted is never allowed visitors other than defense attorneys and prison guards. And, who knows, the convicted may later be proven innocent. A news article from 2014 reported that in 2013, in the United States, there were 87 prison inmates proven innocent and released. In reality, our criminal justice system, due to human imperfections, is not free of errors. (source: Wayne Overson is a retired professor of criminal justice from Weber State University----Deseret News) MONTANA: Death penalty repeal stymied Representatives have voted down a bill that would end capital punishment in Montana. Members of the House of Representatives voted 50-50 on Monday to fail House Bill 370 on 2nd reading. 3 Democrats and 47 Republicans voted against the measure and 12 Republicans joined 38 Democrats in voting for it. Republican Rep. David Moore of Missoula introduced the proposal in the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 13. Committee members passed the bill 11-10. Representatives debated the repeal for more than 20 minutes. Supporters called for life imprisonment over death. Opponents said repealing the death penalty would be unfair to victims. Similar bills have survived the Senate, but in the last 2 sessions have failed in the House. 2 men currently imprisoned in Montana have been sentenced to die. (source: Associated Press) ARIZONA: My Jodi Arias trial prediction: 100 % guaranteed I know exactly how the sentencing trial of the convicted murder Jodi Arias will turn out. And so do you. Here's the verdict: WE LOSE. Taxpayers have spent millions of dollars on a death penalty case that shouldn't have been a death penalty case in the first place. And we've spent a big bunch more on a sentencing trial that should not have been a sentencing trial. After the 1st jury convicted Arias but failed to make a decision on the death penalty Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery should have left the sentencing decision up to Judge Sherry Stephens. Once the death penalty is off the table the judge would have sentenced Arias to life in prison, period, or to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Instead, we are after all this time and all this expense, getting final arguments from the Arias defense team and prosecutors in the sentencing trial. If this 2nd jury also can't come up with a decision it will go to the judge, where it should have gone in the first place. Not that it matters anymore. Even if prosecutor Juan Martinez gets the death penalty that he has lusted after for so long there undoubtedly will be an appeal based on the numerous objections the defense already has raised. Who knows how much that will cost us. But the case will go on. Arias will be in jail for all of this, of course, which is where she belongs. But prosecutors could have, and should have, saved taxpayers a ton of money. Arias murdered her boyfriend Travis Alexander in 2008. That seems like a long, long time ago. There were nearly 30 knife wounds on his body. His throat was slit. He was shot in the forehead. It was an awful, ugly crime for which Arias deserves to spend the rest of her life in prison. She may end up doing that even if this 2nd jury votes to give her the death penalty. The appeals drag on and on. There's no mystery left in this case, and no mysteries left concerning the outcome. Among the prosecutors and defense attorneys and the defendant there will be no clear winners, no matter what happens with the sentencing jury. But there will be one very clear loser. Us (source: Commentary, EJ Montini, The Arizona Republic) ********************* Mohave County to retry death penalty case----High court overturned capital punishment in murder case Every person deserves his or her day in court. Some of them get more than 1. More than 2 months after the Arizona Supreme Court overturned the murder conviction - and subsequent death penalty - of Darrell Bryant Ketchner, 57, the Mohave County Attorney's office has decided to retry the case. They have done so despite the fact Ketchner will still remain in prison for the rest of his natural life due to convictions that were not reversed and add up to a 75-year term. But that time would not be served on death row, where Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith firmly believes Ketchner should be. On July 4, 2009, a raging Ketchner violated a restraining order and barged into the Pacific Avenue home of his estranged girlfriend, Jennifer Allison. There, he stabbed Allison's 18-year-old daughter Ariel Allison 8 times, killing her. He also stabbed and shot Jennifer Allison in the head. Jennifer survived after a lengthy convalescence, which left her with no memories of that night. Ketchner was found passed out on the Cerbat Cliffs Golf Course the next day. He had the handgun he used to shoot Jennifer Allison - it was hers - pornographic movies, sex toys, zip ties and medications in his possession. Prosecutor Megan McCoy prosecuted Ketchner in a trial filled with drama and heartbreak. Defense attorneys David Shapiro and John Napper never challenged the state's contention that Ketchner killed Ariel Allison and grievously injured her mother. Instead, they argued Ketchner did not intend to kill and maim that night. Premeditation is a key component of a 1st-degree murder conviction, but the jury was not unanimous in that aspect of deliberations. Still, they found 3 other aggravating factors did exist, and that was sufficient for all 12 jurors to hand down the death penalty. They also found Ketchner guilty of attempted 1st-degree attempted murder, 1st-degree burglary and 3 counts of aggravated assault. Why was it overturned? The testimony of a single witness, Dr. Kathleen Ferraro, was sufficient for the Supreme Court to reverse the murder and burglary convictions, but the remaining convictions were upheld. The high court reversed the murder and burglary convictions because justices believe Ferraro's testimony focused on "domestic violence patterns and the general characteristics exhibited by domestic violence victims and abusers," according to the Supreme Court opinion. Napper objected to Ferraro testifying during the trial, arguing she would impermissibly create a profile that would unduly sway jurors. The issue was raised on appeal, and the high court agreed with Napper's argument that allowing Ferraro to testify was an abuse of discretion. Ferraro also testified to separation assault. Jennifer Allison had requested and been granted no less than 3 protective orders against Ketchner, and one was in effect the night he went to her Pacific Avenue home and killed her eldest daughter and tried to kill her. Ferraro said abusers are very dangerous when the victim attempts to end the relationship and they use violence to regain control. Mohave County attorneys disputed the contention that Ferraro offered profile evidence, arguing that Ferraro was called to testify not to show Ketchner fit the profile of a domestic violence abuser profile, but to show the relationship between the two was typical of abusive relationships. What now? Chief Deputy County Attorney Jace Zack said the case will begin as if it were on the eve of trial. While Zack has been advised Napper and Shapiro will again represent Ketchner, Napper is now the Yavapai County Public Defender and by law cannot retry the case. Whoever represents him, taxpayers will pay the bill. According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, Ketchner remains on death row despite the Supreme Court's reversal of his 1st-degree murder conviction. Whether he will be transferred to the Mohave County jail to await trial is up to the defense, said Zack. The issue will be decided based on which location would make it easier for them to communicate with Ketchner - here rather than at the Browning Unit, where death row is, in Florence. State law calls for such cases to be retried within 90 days from the Supreme Court's decision, but Zack said capital cases "always take longer." (source: Kingman Daily Miner) ************************* Lawyer urges Jodi Arias jury to spare her life, with pictures of happier times A defense lawyer displayed a series of happy images of Jodi Arias on Tuesday as he tried to garner sympathy from a jury that is deciding whether to send the convicted murderer to prison or death row. Lawyer Kirk Nurmi put the Arias photo album on display as he urged jurors to spare her life. He called it a monumental decision as he asked jurors: "Would you kill Jodi Arias for what she's done?" "In some ways, the choice before you is simple, right? Life or death," Nurmi said. Nurmi showed jurors a series of photos from throughout Arias' life, including images of her family and victim Travis Alexander. He reiterated that the 34-year-old Arias has borderline personality disorder and suffered physical and emotional abuse from her parents and Alexander - claims that have never been corroborated but have become a centerpiece of Arias' efforts to avoid the death penalty. Prosecutor Juan Martinez was scheduled to also make his closing argument Tuesday. Prosecutors said Arias attacked Alexander in a jealous rage after he wanted to end their affair and planned a trip to Mexico with another woman. Arias has acknowledged killing Alexander but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her. The closing arguments in the penalty phase came as a lengthy trial is drawing to a close. Arias first went on trial in January 2013 in the deadly stabbing and shooting of Alexander. She was convicted of 1st-degree murder 5 months later after a salacious trial that revealed intimate details of her and Alexander's love life along with gruesome details of the killing. The same jury could not agree on a punishment for Arias, creating a new penalty phase of the trial that began last year. That phase dragged on for several months amid a series of expert witnesses and the surprising October decision by Judge Sherry Stephens to remove reporters and spectators from the courtroom so Arias could testify in private. A higher court halted the testimony on its second day amid complaints from news organizations. The retrial revealed few new details about the crime and was more subdued than Arias' first trial, which turned into a media circus. At the retrial, the judge barred the broadcast of footage from the proceedings until after a verdict is reached. She did, however, agree to allow live broadcast coverage of the sentencing verdict. Arias passed up a chance Monday to address the jury, saying she wanted to make such comments but insisting the courtroom be cleared. She said she wouldn't make any remarks if she could be seen and heard from a remote viewing room. Stephens said an appeals court has forbidden Arias from making such comments behind closed doors. (source: CBS news) OREGON: Brown must jump-start death penalty debate New Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said last week she plans to continue a death-penalty moratorium imposed by her predecessor while she seeks a debate about "fixing the system." It's the same narrow line that former Gov. John Kitzhaber was walking beginning in 2011, when he announced that he would block all executions during his tenure. Kitzhaber said at the time that he believed capital punishment is applied arbitrarily and called for a statewide vote on whether Oregon should continue to use the death penalty. Then he did little to advance the issue, and it never gained much traction during the 2014 campaign. So here's what Brown should do: She should ask the Legislature - this session - to refer the issue to Oregon voters. And she should vow to abide by the results for as long as she's governor. It has been more than 3 decades since Oregonians weighed in on the death penalty in a statewide vote. It could very well be that the attitudes of state residents toward capital punishment have changed since then. But the only way to find out for sure is to push for a statewide referendum. And the best way to kick-start the statewide debate on the death penalty that Kitzhaber said he wanted and that Brown now says she wants is for the new governor to use some of her political capital with the Legislature to push the issue onto the ballot. It's not clear why Kitzhaber didn't do more to deal with that issue in 2011 and 2012, after he unilaterally decided to give a reprieve to Oregon death row inmate Gary Haugen, convicted of 2 murders. You'll recall that Haugen didn't want the reprieve and sued over the issue, but the state Supreme Court ruled that the governor was within his powers. Maybe it's that Kitzhaber thought he had bigger fish to fry at the time. Maybe it's that the Cover Oregon debacle started to draw too deeply into his store of political capital. Whatever the reasons were, they don't apply to Brown. She has the opportunity now to revive the statewide debate. Our hope, as we have written before, is that the debate ends with a resounding vote to abolish the death penalty. If Brown chooses to let this opportunity slide, however, she may well be vulnerable in 2016, when she is expected to run to fill the remaining two years of Kitzhaber's term, to the same tough question that dogged Kitzhaber. That question goes like this: The governor takes an oath to uphold the laws of the state of Oregon. The death penalty - think of it what you will - still is the law of this state. We know, governor, of your position on the death penalty. What other laws will you choose to ignore? (source: Editorial, Corvallis Gazette Times) ************** Time and justice at odds on Oregon's Death Row Timing is everything in the renewed scrap over Oregon's death penalty. Gov. Kate Brown has extended John Kitzhaber's moratorium on executions because she understands this may not be the time for a contentious "broader discussion" on the just rewards for Randy Guzek, Jesse Caleb Compton and Craig Bjork. Given the suddenness of Kitzhaber's vanishing act, no one is yet prepared to resume hostilities over Gary Haugen. And, finally, there's the crucial time stamp on those death sentences, a detail that is all but lost in the timeless campaign by Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. In Kitzhaber's final days in power, OADP urged him to commute the sentences of the 34 long-suffering residents of Oregon's death row. On Feb. 15, the advocacy group boldly announced, "While Governor Kitzhaber is still in office ... he has the power to commute death row sentences, changing them to life without parole." Say again? "Life without parole." "That is simply not true," Josh Marquis has countered, often, over the last 10 days. Why? Because timing is everything. Marquis -- the district attorney in Clatsop County -- was the prosecutor in three of Guzek's four death-penalty trials. Should a governor commute a death sentence in Oregon, he argues, that inmate is subject to the next most severe penalty available at the time he or she was sentenced. And for 7 of those found guilty of aggravated murder -- Guzek, Michael Martin McDonnell, Marco Antonio Montez, Mark Allen Pinnell, David Lynn Simonsen, Jeffrey Ray Williams and Robert Paul Langley -- life without parole is not an option. "When they committed their crimes and when they were sentenced, 'true life' was not a penalty that existed in Oregon," Marquis says. For the gentlemen sentenced before July 1, 1990, the only other option for the somber juries was life ... with the possibility of parole after 30 years. It's been difficult to find someone who disagrees with this. Only one member of OADP's Board of Directors responded to phone calls or emails over the last week. "I think you are right that commutation would make several people eligible for parole," Tom O'Connor, the former head chaplain with the Oregon Department of Corrections, wrote. "I will check on the website and let you know." As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the OADP's curious argument was still prominently featured on the website. Then, again, so was this Sister Helen Prejean quote: "Government ... can't be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of it's (sic) citizens to kill." The disdain for our imperfect union -- not to mention punctuation -- is almost as savage as Prejean's contempt for juries. "Hundreds of jurors - 48 in Guzek alone - took the tortuous path in deciding death was the right decision in these cases," Marquis reminds us. The last 12 Guzek jurors bumped into this problematic true-life issue in 2010. One of the reasons Guzek's fourth death-penalty trial became necessary is that the Oregon Supreme Court decided life without parole should have been an option for the jury in Guzek III. At the onset of jury selection, however, Guzek delivered a 6-page legal brief, arguing that "the application of life without parole to my case" violated his constitutional rights on several counts. After Judge Jack Billings took true life off the table, Guzek was, once again, sentenced to death. Unless these 7 death row waive ex post facto objections to sentencing options that didn't exist prior to July 1990, Marquis says, commutation would make them eligible for parole hearings. In Guzek's case, that would force those who still love and remember Rod and Lois Houser -- murdered by Guzek and Mark Wilson in 1987 -- to listen to him preach about mercy and rehabilitation. Time, I suspect, is pushing us in that direction. Time heals wounds. Haunts witnesses. Ages prosecutors. Fogs memories. Numbs us all. (source: The Oregonian) USA: Why I Oppose the Death Penalty: Redemption is Always Possible, so Killing is Always Wrong Imagine the worst thing you've ever done. Hold onto that thought for a moment. Now ask yourself: Does that moment define you? Should that moment define you? If you're like me, you'll find that even though we all make mistakes in life, even though we all fall short of our greatest ideals and hopes, our worst decisions don't necessarily reflect our true character. How many of us did stupid things when we were younger? How many have committed acts we regret? As we age, we make mistakes. As we make mistakes, we learn and grow. How does it make sense, then, to brand convicted felons as permanently "unworthy" of life? If we were truly rational and consistent in our moral outrage, this possibility would be wholly untenable - for they, like us, possess the capacity to change - yet we persist in our delusional thinking about retributive punishment, character, and ethics. We forget why we condemn murder in the 1st place - its incredible and horrible finality, its absolute denial of any and all ability to learn and grow. This rebuff of human potentiality confuses justice for vengeance. Don't get me wrong: The death penalty is about many things - retribution, punishment, anger, a misguided desire for some illusory "cosmic balancing" of the scales of justice. Yet it is most about imagination. Because even though society takes solace in a belief that the people we legally murder deserve death because they once caused it, this rationale lies in the realm of fiction, not reality. Because people change. The men and women who were sentenced to death decades ago are not the same men and women alive today. After languishing for perhaps 15 years in solitary confinement, one finds a lot of time to think and to read and to reminisce and to regret and to immerse oneself in redemptive activity and thought. While of course not all death row inmates avail themselves of these opportunities, many do. Many go through a crucible of pain and suffering and emerge as better people, as people who are shed of past wrongdoings in character if not in deed, as people who are immersed in religion or philosophy or wisdom drawn from a well of mistakes made and sufferings suffered. As a result of the mere existence of this natural process of change, we are (in a sense) executing innocent people: That is to say, we are killing men and women so far changed from who they were when they committed their horrendous crimes that to say we are doling out truly retributive justice - much less just justice - is nonsensical. We aren't executing the same person. We are killing, instead, a much-improved "version" of the criminal we sentenced, a person who bears little to no resemblance to the dumb, inexperienced kid who committed a heinous crime perhaps 15 or 20 years ago. Anecdotes are plentiful. There is William Happ, who committed a brutal murder in 1986 only to recant decades later. There is Robert Waterhouse, who may well have been innocent in the legal manner rather than the manner I use the term in this essay, and who maintained his innocence until the end. The list is tragically long. For every death row inmate who didn't change for the better after his sentencing, there is another who recanted in sincere and moving ways. What good does it do to kill these people? What good, when they have made so much moral progress? The death penalty is dying; it's only a matter of time. How many people will it need to take with it? Society rightly condemns murder because death is the very definition of finality. It can't be undone. So of course I understand why the impulse to kill those who kill exists. Faced with the death of a loved one, I sometimes wonder whether I myself would be able to uphold my ideals and forgo the impulse for retribution. I don't have the temerity to judge anyone who supports the death penalty. But killing people who kill is wrong for the same reasons killing others is wrong: Death's finality denies all possibility of change. By killing people who kill, we either (1) kill men and women who have changed for the better or (2) deny murderers the possibility of reforming their characters and lives. This is repugnant to all moral systems, but especially Christianity. In the immortal words of Justice William Douglas, the "principle of forgiveness and the doctrine of redemption are too deep in our philosophy to admit that there is no return for those who have once erred." Murder is the most heinous crime there is. But it is a better society where murderers, already justly suffering through a life in prison, can at least meditate on their crimes and redeem themselves by changing - mentally - for the better. Killing killers denies the possibility of redemptive change while perpetuating the very crime that put these people in prison in the first place. If we are really consistent in our condemnation of murder, if we truly acknowledge the power of change and the possibility for redemption, we should not ourselves - through our votes and through our politics - become collective murderers. Stop killing people. (source: Michael Shammas, Harvard Law Record) ************************** Boston Bar Asks Obama's AG Nominee To Remove Death Penalty In Tsarnaev Case There's a new call for the death penalty to be taken off the table in the federal trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The Boston Bar Association is asking President Obama's nominee for U.S. attorney general to remove the death penalty from consideration. The 1st president of the Boston Bar Association was the 2nd president of the country: John Adams. Almost 12,000 lawyers belong to the group. And its opposition to the death penalty is not new either. But the BBA has found a new opportunity now, with the Tsarnaev trial headed for high gear. Julia Huston, the president of the Boston Bar Association, is reaching out to Obama's nominee, federal prosecutor Loretta Lynch, of the eastern district of New York. "We are hopeful that the new attorney general will revisit the issue and perhaps give consideration to a plea agreement that involves life imprisonment as an alternative to the death penalty," Huston said. The BBA statement says a sentence of life without parole for Tsarnaev "will more swiftly bring a close to this chapter in our history." ***************** Why The Boston Bar Association Wants The Death Penalty Removed From Tsarnaev Trial With a jury expected to be in place in the federal trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, there is a new call to take the death penalty off the table and allow a plea deal instead. The call comes from the Boston Bar Association, which BBA President Julia Huston says has opposed the death penalty for more than 40 years. She joins Morning Edition to explain the group's position. Why The BBA Is Pushing For This Now Julia Huston: "The Boston Bar Association has opposed the death penalty for more than 40 years. In the latter part of 2013, we specifically studied the application of the death penalty in non-death penalty states, such as Massachusetts, in federal trials. And we recommended that the death penalty not be applied in such states due to systemic problems with the death penalty that make it impossible to administer fairly. '3 Fundamental Problems With The Death Penalty' 1) 'Innocent people will die' JH: "First, the inevitability of error in criminal cases makes it overwhelmingly likely that applying the death penalty will lead to the execution of innocent defendants. We know that this has happened - it happens a lot. So, innocent people will die." 2) Applied to miniorities unfairly JH: "In practice, the death penalty has a disproportionate impact on members of racial and ethnic minorities." 3) Death penalty is expensive JH: "Pursuit of the death penalty is incredibly expensive. It is often 8 times the cost of seeking a punishment of life without parole, and we think that that is not a sensible allocation of resources in a criminal justice system already laboring under huge financial strain." On Why Emotion Should Not Drive Decision To Apply Death Penalty JH: "Certainly, our hearts go out to the victims of this horrible crime. It is difficult to imagine a more horrible crime than the kind of mass terror alleged in this case. There is a lot of emotion around this issue. But we don't believe that emotions should drive the decision of whether to apply the death penalty if in fact Tsarnaev is determined to be guilty. Because of these systemic problems, we as a society need to look at the death penalty in a different way - not just in an emotional way in a single case, but as a system. And this is a system that does not work." Boston Bar Says Plea Bargain Would Bring 'Speedy Closure' To Tsarnaev Case "We believe that the better course for the residents of Boston and the people who were affected by this tragedy is to allow this defendant to plead guilty - should he wish to do so - in exchange for life in prison without parole. That will bring speedy closure to this case rather than years of uncertainty and appeals." (source for both: WBUR news) US MILITARY: Guantanamo defense attorney: Emails portray Pentagon meddling in death-penalty trials A USS Cole case defense attorney read aloud from just disclosed emails Tuesday in a ongoing bid to portray a recent order to war court judges to 5 permanently at Guant???namo as unlawful meddling meant to rush justice in the death-penalty case. Navy Cmdr. Brian Mizer, defending Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, said the documents he got through a court order overnight demonstrated that the Pentagon office knew that the rule change adopted last month would not just make waves but could constitute the U.S. military crime of unlawful influence. "In trying to speed up a trial, are we affecting its fairness?" wrote a legal adviser, Cmdr. Raghav Kotval, on the staff of the Convening Authority for Military Commissions. "If, for example, the judge is less inclined to grant a continuance because it means more time on Gitmo, is that adverse to the accused?" The Nov. 14 email circulated among U.S. military legal staff reviewing a proposed war-court regulation for the Convening Authority, retired Marine Maj. Gen. Vaughn Ary, the Pentagon-based overseer of military commissions. Less than a month later, on Dec. 9, Ary formally asked Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work for the change. Work did just that on Jan. 7, ordering judges assigned to Guantanamo cases to give up their prestigious day jobs. Defense lawyers cast the open-ended relocation order to judges living with family in more comfortable settings in Italy and the East Coast of the United States as punishment that exiles them for not proceeding swiftly through a complicated pretrial phase to trials. The 9/11 and USS Cole case judges have spent years navigating thorny pretrial issues - such as torture and secrecy, CIA involvement in the court and evolving war court law. A case prosecutor, Navy Lt. Paul Morris, dismissed the documents as nothing more than routine "brainstorming of potential issues" among colleagues. Another prosecutor, Army Col. Robert Moscati, said there was no proof that their boss, Ary, knew of the reservations they raised. Ary was scheduled to testify Wednesday by video-teleconference from his headquarters outside Washington, D.C. In a filing, prosecutors defend the judge's move-in order as simply surging staff to the war court for "the increased operational tempo that's expected." The 3 war court judges hearing Guantanamo cases have not complied, in part, because the top lawyers in the Army, Navy and Air Force were taken by surprise by the decision that strips them of judges who handle the courts-martial of American service members, too. Mizer cast Kotval as a potential whistleblower, and asked the judge to order his testimony along with that of 2 other U.S. military officers serving as Ary's legal advisers in the email chain that received this from Kotval: "Issue: Are we coercing or by unauthorized means influencing the action of a judge?" he wrote. "If not, why are we intruding on what is not typically or traditionally a convening authority's role. What is the explanation for the action?" Defense attorneys call the order an example of unlawful command influence - a crime in the U.S. military - designed to rush the judges to trial so they can leave this remote base. They want the case dismissed. Nashiri, a 50-year-old Saudi, is accused of masterminding the al-Qaida suicide bombing that killed 17 U.S. sailors off the coast of Yemen, and the Pentagon prosecutor wants him executed if convicted. But his trial has been mired in complex pretrial proceedings involving secrecy surrounding his 2002-06 detention in the CIA's secret prison network before he was brought to Guantanamo for possible trial. Judge Spath, for his part, sounded troubled that there was no wider consultation, for example with the top lawyers of the different services, before Ary went to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. He left open the possibility that he might call some of the emailers in Ary's office as witnesses - as well as the Army's top lawyer, Lt. Gen. Flora Darpino, who according to another email that surfaced in the case was resisting the Pentagon order to provide judges to the war court declaring, "I can't afford to lose them to Cuba." Spath said he was also troubled to see a staffer's email declaring - "The judges and the defense are aligned on this issue" and "The judges don't want to move" - and wondered aloud if the junior lawyers on Ary's staff got that impression from the boss. Spath added that the question of "unlawful influence" could "permeate everything in a trial," and that he would address nothing else at Guantanamo until the issue was resolved. "I want to get you a ruling while we're down here," he said, "so we can all then go to our respective places and deal with whatever fallout that might bring." (source: Miami Herald) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 25 16:02:46 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:02:46 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 25 QATAR: Iran Confirms Repatriation of 6 Citizens Sentenced in Qatar Iran today confirmed the repatriation of 6 of its citizens sentenced to death penalties or long imprisonment in Qatar, a decision obtained thanks to the work of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said its spokesman, Marzieh Afkham. Akfham said that the prisoners are already in Iran in virtue of the efforts of Tehran's Foreign Ministry, the Iranian embassy in Doha, and the result of the recent visit of Qatar's Minister of Justice, Masood Bin Muhammad Al-Ameri, and the interaction with Iranian judicial authorities. The repatriated had been sentenced to life imprisonment, long sentences or death penalty for crimes related to possession of drugs. (source: Prensa Latina) AUSTRALIA: We stand for mercy: Australia's top legal minds sign petition calling for clemency for Chan and Sukumaran More than 140 of Australia's leading law professors, deans and academics have signed a petition pleading with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to use his constitutional powers to spare the lives of the Bali 9 pair, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. In ultimately deciding on clemency we believe the Indonesian Government should give the strongest consideration to the remarkable rehabilitation history of the 2 condemned. Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Sydney, Mark Findlay, said the response from the legal fraternity over the past 24 hours has been "astonishing in its commitment and its concern". "We are not lecturing the Indonesians, but rather we want to commend their prison system which seems to have assisted in the remarkable rehabilitation of our 2 fellow citizens," he said. The petition says the academics seek the Indonesian president's mercy, "not as critics of Indonesia, or its legal system, nor of Indonesia's right to take the strong but ultimately humane action against drug traffickers who bring misery and addiction to many". "While opposing capital punishment as cruel and inhuman we also condemn the exploitation which the drug trade represents," the petition says. The academics say the Republic of Indonesia has earned growing respect and approval among the international community for its demonstrated commitment to protecting human rights, and has made an important contribution to human rights protection globally as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. "President Widodo himself has been a strong advocate for human rights, with the advancement of human rights a central plank in his 2014 presidential election campaign," the academics say. "The deaths of Chan and Sukumaran would be a tragedy for them, and their families, while not addressing the underlying causes of the drug trade in Indonesia. "In contrast, sparing the lives of these 2 young men, who have demonstrated remorse for their crimes and have been rehabilitated during their lengthy imprisonment, would be a signal of strength and mercy, an affirmation of President Widodo's deep commitment to human rights. "Presidential clemency would serve as a turning point and opportunity for Indonesia to achieve its overriding national interest - combating the drug trade. It would do so by being a rallying call for Australia and other countries in the region to develop and implement an effective regime to stamp out the damaging drug trafficking trade once for all." The petition includes the following statement signed by more than 140 academics: "As lawyers, concerned academics and professionals, we join to speak out against the impending and tragic execution of our fellow citizens in Indonesia. We do not see this punishment as either an issue of national sovereignty or of just desserts. "The Australian police gave up these 2 men to a capital punishment jurisdiction as part of an operation which could have led to prosecutions and trials in Australia where the death penalty is not an option. "Capital punishment is said to be qualified by mercy. In ultimately deciding on clemency we believe the Indonesian Government should give the strongest consideration to the remarkable rehabilitation history of the 2 condemned. In opposing these executions we are not seeking to criticise the judicial process of another country. "However, we want to see justice tempered with humanity. Right-minded Australians share the abhorrence of misery and addiction associated with drug abuse and the shameful trafficking trade. That said, nothing in our view can justify the killing of 2 men in circumstances such as these. At this final hour we add our voices to the calls for the death sentences to be commuted and for Australia and Indonesia to join in other ways to fight the harmful health consequences of drug abuse in all its forms." (source: Sydney Morning Herald) NIGERIA: Lawyers Fault Lagos Decision To Retain Death Penalty Lawyers under the aegis of Avocats Sans Frontieres France (Lawyers Without Borders) has condemned the decision of the Lagos State government to retain the death penalty in its laws, describing it as a most unwelcome development. In a statement signed by Akpa Esther, communication officer for Avocats Sans Frontieres France, also known as Lawyers Without Borders France, the state government has determined that the death penalty is a suitable deterrent for crimes such as murder and armed robbery, based on empirical research and randomly conducted opinion polls. According to the statement, ASF France Head of Office in Abuja, Miss Angela Uwandu, expressed disappointment that the decision is in spite of the various aggressive death penalty abolition campaigns that have been launched in the state in the past decade, saying the decision casts a shadow on the status of the Lagos State government as a progressive pace setter in legal policies. (source: Leadershipng.ng) SAUDI ARABIA----execution Saudi Arabia beheads Jordanian national for drug trafficking Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Jordanian on charges of drug trafficking, bringing to 32 the number of executions carried out in the kingdom in the first 2 months of 2015. The convicted Jordanian drug smuggler, identified as Omar Mohammed Abdul Muti al-Rubai, was beheaded in the northwestern al-Jawf region, on Wednesday, the Saudi Interior Ministry said. The execution was carried out after the convict allegedly confessed to trying to smuggle a large amount of amphetamines across the northern Jordan-Saudi border. This is while the increasing number of executions in Saudi Arabia has drawn growing concern on the international stage. Riyadh carried out the death penalty against 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013. The country has come under particular criticism from rights groups for the executions carried out for non-fatal crimes. According to the London-based rights group Amnesty International's annual report on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia imposes death sentences "after unfair trials." Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia, which has one of the highest execution rates in the world, has tortured or "otherwise coerced or misled [defendants] into making false confessions" before trial. Muslim clerics have also slammed Riyadh for indicting and then executing suspects without giving them a chance to defend themselves. Saudi authorities say the beheadings reveal the Saudi government's commitment to "maintaining security and realizing justice." The execution "is committed to fighting drugs of all kinds due to the physical and social harm they cause," the Saudi government added. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi rule. Saudi officials execute convicts by sword and then hang their corpses from a helicopter for the public to see. (source: Presstv) IRAN----executions 2 prisoners hanged in public in Kermanshah As the executions of prisoners continue unabated in Iran, the celrical regime's henchmen hang 2 other prisoners in public in the western city of Kermanshah. The 2 men were hanged in 2 locations in the city 10 in the morning local time on Wednesday. The public hanging follows executions in several prisons in cities across Iran of which very limited have been officially announced. According to the reports received from various sources dozens of prisoners have been hanged during the past weekend alone in prisons across Iran. Official news websites reported that 4 prisoners have been hanged on Sunday in city of Arak and another prisoner has been hanged on Tuesday morning in the main prison in the city of Rasht. **************** 4 men hanged in Arak 4 prisoners hanged in the main prison in the city of Arak on Tuesday, the judiciary's website in the Central Province has announced. The prisoners were only identified by their 1st name and last name initials as Mohammad M., Ehsan J., Amirhossien Gh, and Reza Z. The 4 men all had been charged with drug related offences. According to the information received from various sources in Iran on over 2 dozen prisoners being executed in a number of prisons across Iran in past few days. Last week, the Iranian regime's henchmen in the central prison in the city of Orumiyeh hanged at least 2 political prisoners. Habibullah Afshari, 26 and his brother Ali Afshari, 34, hanged on Thursday, had been sentenced to death for supporting Komala, an Iranian Kurdish opposition group. They were among the group of 6 political prisoners including Saman Naseem who were transferred to isolation on Wednesday. There is no information on the fate of the other prisoners. (source for both: NCR-Iran) From rhalperi at smu.edu Wed Feb 25 16:03:36 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2015 16:03:36 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 25 PAKISTAN: Pakistan court gives 21 times death penalty to 4 al-Qaeda militants 4 al-Qaeda militants were on Wednesday handed down '21 times' death sentence by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan for the 2012 killing of 10 under training jail wardens here. The anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore today announced the verdict after the prosecution counsel produced evidence against the al-Qaeda terrorists -- Afzaal, Abdul Hafeez, Zulfiqar and Karamat, a Punjab Province government statement said. The finger prints of the militants and those found on guns matched and they were identified by the witnesses. There were several charges on them and the court also handed down life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10.8 million apart from the death sentence. The convicts were accused of attacking jail wardens hostel in Lahore's thickly-populated locality Rasool Park near Ichhra on July 12, 2012. Over 2-dozen under training jail wardens had come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to take part in the course here. 10 of them were killed and as many suffered injuries in pre-dawn deadly attack by the militants carrying Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades. The terrorists were arrested in 2013 from Lahore when they were planning another attack. They were booked under different sections of the penal code and the Anti-Terrorism Act. (source: Daily News & Analysis) ******************** Pakistan refuses to name drugs charge Britons on death row - Foreign Office Pakistan has refused to give the names of 2 British citizens sentenced to death for drug offences. British diplomatic efforts to identify them have so far been in vain. The issue has put the UK's foreign aid to Pakistan under scrutiny. The violation of diplomatic protocol means Pakistan could be in danger of breaching the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which stipulates that officials are obliged to tell British authorities if a British citizen has been arrested. The revelations were made by Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood, who told anti-death penalty group Reprieve that authorities were unable to identify the detainees. There are currently 21 British nationals facing the death penalty in Pakistan who are appealing their sentences. They are all receiving consular assistance. But sources from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) confirmed there were 2 further Britons sentenced to death whose identities remain unknown. Pakistan reversed its decision to ban executions following the attack on a school in which 130 people, mostly children, were killed. Executions resumed in large numbers, with roughly 8,300 people now on death row. Ellwood said gaining information about the unidentified British citizens was a "challenge," claiming Pakistan were refusing to comply with international regulations. "As you may be aware, as a co-signatory of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Pakistani authorities are under a duty to inform, without delay, the British Consulate of the arrest or detention of a British national if he/she request." "However, in practice this rarely happens in Pakistan, and this is an issue that we have raised and will continue to highlight in contacts with the Pakistan authorities." The British government would expect to be informed when a citizen faces the death penalty, Ellwood said. An FCO spokesman said: "We are currently assisting 21 British nationals who potentially face the death penalty in Pakistan, none of whom have exhausted their appeals process. In addition, we are aware of 2 British nationals in detention who have been given a death sentence." The British government currently gives Pakistan hundreds of millions of pounds in aid. The incident raises questions over whether aid money has given the UK any influence. Last year, Pakistan was the biggest recipient of Britain's international aid, receiving 338 million pounds to help police counter the drugs trade. The country is awarded aid based on the success of its counter-narcotics program. But with a conviction rate of 92 % and a self-confirmed "thirst" for arrests, critics believe British aid is not being used effectively and claim the system is corrupt. Maya Foa, director of the death penalty team at Reprieve, said British aid for counter-narcotics programs is "hypocritical and untenable" while the death penalty is in force. "The British government should change its position immediately and ensure that its counter-narcotics aid is strictly conditional on an end to the death penalty for drug offences," she said. (source: rt.com) *********************** Pakistan lifting ban on death penalty a 'draconian and repressive' tactic: Amnesty report Governments are failing to protect millions of civilians from violence by states and armed groups, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, describing the global response to widespread conflict from Nigeria to Syria as "shameful and ineffective" while highlighting how governments, including that of Pakistan in 2014 had reacted to security threats with "draconian and repressive" tactics. Kenya passed anti-terrorism measures last year that opposition groups and activists said would threaten liberties and free speech, while Pakistan lifted a 2008 ban on the death penalty. "Government leaders justify human rights violations by talking of the need to keep the world 'safe'", Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty said in a statement. "But knee-jerk reactions do not work. Instead they create an environment of repression in which extremism can thrive." A year of catastrophic violence had led to one of the worst refugee crises in history, as the number of displaced people worldwide topped 50 million for the 1st time since the end of the World War II, the rights group said in its annual report Almost 4 million refugees have fled a four-year civil war in Syria, and about 95 percent are being hosted by Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, according to the U.N. refugee agency, which has repeatedly urged rich nations to take more refugees. "As people suffered an escalation in barbarous attacks and repression, the international community has been found wanting," Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty said in a statement. "It is abhorrent to see how wealthy countries' efforts to keep people out take precedence over their efforts to keep people alive." The growing influence of non-state armed groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State was a major concern, Amnesty said. Islamist militants Boko Haram have killed thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria in a 5-year insurgency, while Islamic State has taken vast parts of Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate in territory under its control. Armed groups committed abuses in more than 35 countries in 2014, including the Central African Republic and India, the rights group said. Amnesty said there would be more victims of abuse and persecution as the influence of such groups spilled across national borders. GENOCIDE AND MASS ATROCITIES The rights group urged the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - to renounce their veto rights in situations of genocide and mass atrocities. Since 2011, Russia and China have cast four vetoes to block international action in Syria, where more than 210,000 have been killed since the conflict began, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Security Council has failed to deal with conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Israel and Ukraine, even when civilians had been subjected to "horrific crimes", Amnesty said. Amnesty also urged all governments to ratify and adhere to a global arms trade treaty, which came into force in December and aims to regulate the $85 billion industry and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers and criminals. A huge number of arms were delivered to Iraq, Israel, Russia, South Sudan and Syria in 2014, despite the likelihood of these weapons being used against civilians, it said. (source: Pakistan Today) *************** ATC awards 2 criminals death sentences in Karachi An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) awarded death sentences to 2 criminals for the murder of Arsalan Haider here on Wednesday. Mohsin Baloch and Abid were convicted of murdering Arsalan Haider the son of Mali Bar President Sallauddin Haider. The 2 were sentenced after proven guilty for the murder by the ATC. Following the attack at the Army Public School in Peshawar, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had approved lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty. (source: geo.tv) ********************** Pakistan's Death Row Prisoners Face Broad 'Terrorism' Charges, Harrowing Conditions, and a Crumbling Justice System A lot has changed in Pakistan since the barbaric December 16 attack that targeted an army-run school in Peshawar and claimed 141 lives, most of them children. One of the most immediate consequences of the heinous incident was Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifting the 2008 moratorium on executions, just 1 day later, for "terrorism related cases." However, there was a glaring problem with that decision, as pointed out by Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), a Lahore-based rights organization. Not only does Pakistan have one of the largest death row populations globally - then totaling 8,526 - but more than 1 in 10 of every death row prisoner was tried as a "terrorist." Sarah Belal, executive director at JPP, told VICE News that "using the death penalty as a form of punishment runs the risk of taking too many innocent lives," especially given the multiple loopholes in Pakistan's justice system, such as "a corrupt and ineffective police, an under-trained and under-funded prosecution department, the rampant use of torture by the police to extort confessions, and an under-trained lower judiciary." 'I would think of banging my head against the wall and ending my life.' In a report titled Terror on Death Row, the group expressed concern over the vague and overly broad definition of terrorism used under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 (ATA). Zohra Yusuf, chairperson for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told VICE News that this legislation, which was introduced specifically to deal with terrorism cases and ensure speedy trials, had fallen victim to the same shortcomings as regular courts, such as delays and poor conviction rates. "The problem is that successive governments, instead of strengthening existing institutions, have responded to crises by introducing new legislation such as the Pakistan Protection Ordinance and now military courts," said Yusuf. JPP's report further cites that the ATA was being greatly and inappropriately overused, evident from more than 17,000 pending terrorism cases as of July 2014. According to Amnesty International, Pakistan also led the number of death penalty convictions globally in 2013, with 226 people being sentenced to death, and defendants charged with ordinary crimes, such as robbery or kidnapping, were tried as terrorists without any justification. Not only were their basic rights violated but they were also handed indiscriminate, harsh punishments that had no meaningful impact on combating terrorism. Shafqat Hussain, 25, is one of the victims caught in the midst of the country's knee-jerk attempt at mitigating terrorism. An anti-terrorism court sentenced Hussain to death in November 2004 at the age of 14 for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a child. According to JPP, the conviction came on the basis of a single piece of evidence: A confession extracted after nine days of beating and torture. "When the trial court passed the sentence, I was devastated. I remember having a terrible headache for days," Hussain told VICE News through his lawyer. "I would think of banging my head against the wall and ending my life." Belal elaborated that Pakistan's death row is a "particularly harrowing place," where six to eight prisoners are stuffed in a single cell originally made for 2, and remain locked up 23 hours a day. Moreover, the inmates have to take turns to lie down and are made to use the bathroom in front of each other. This inhumane treatment results in many of them suffering from acute anxiety, depression, and stress associated with the trauma of confinement. Other prisoners develop more serious conditions, such as schizophrenia and mood disorders with psychotic features. 'Everyone, including terrorists, has a right to defense and to a fair trial.' Hussain was slated for execution in early January 2015 and his family was instructed by authorities at Karachi's Central Prison to pay their final visit. A few days before the hanging, however, federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced that the government was going to halt the execution and announced an inquiry into the concerns raised by human rights groups regarding Hussain's conviction. "When the superintendent came to me to give me the news, I couldn't believe him," recalled Hussain. "When he told me, I sat down on the floor and cried in relief." While Hussain got lucky due to the international attention his case received, there are many others who await justice but might not be as fortunate. "In the wake of the Peshawar attack, there is a palpable shift in the way the judiciary sees itself and its role in fighting the 'war on terror' in Pakistan," said Belal. The judiciary, which currently faces a state narrative that attributes a considerable part of the blame to it for failing to "convict terrorists," now allows little room for any last-minute appeals or legal challenges for individuals sentenced to death for terrorism. For example, within 24 hours of the Peshawar attack, the state, in collusion with the judiciary, revised the existing ruling that gives a window of at least 14 days before the issuance of a death warrant and the date of execution. It was reduced to seven days in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. Human rights groups, however, continue to oppose the use of the death penalty as a solution to Pakistan's terrorism problem. "In a country where prosecution and investigation are weak and confessions obtained under torture, even convicted terrorists should not be given the death sentence," said Yusuf. "Everyone, including terrorists, has a right to defense and to a fair trial. The appeals process has to be expedited so that the [existing inmates] don't continue to languish in prisons." If that happens, convicts like Aftab Bahadur, who has been in prison for the past 23 years on charges of murder, might get a glimpse of the world outside once again. "I can recall very little from the world outside. Everything seems like a blur," Bahadur told VICE News through his lawyer. "But I want to tell the Pakistani government is that it has been 23 years since I have been in prison. I am innocent. At least give me a chance." (source: vice.com) INDONESIA: Indonesia's looming executions add to a growing death penalty toll in Asia In a matter of days, 11 convicted criminals in Indonesia are to be shot dead by a firing squad. The group, mostly convicted of drug trafficking, includes Indonesians as well as Frenchmen, Brazilians, and 2 Australian citizens whose families and government have been heavily lobbying Jakarta to commute their sentences. But the executions will not be delayed or reversed, Indonesian president Joko Widodo vowed to reporters yesterday: "The 1st thing I need to say firmly is that there shouldn???t be any intervention towards the death penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law." Indonesia is far from the world's biggest death penalty practitioner - that accolade goes to China, where between 1,000 and 2,400 people are executed annually - but the looming mass execution will add to a recent uptick in the use of capital punishment across Asia . According to a new report from Amnesty International, while much of the rest of the world is moving away from the death penalty, state executions have become most common in the Asia Pacific region. At least 6 countries in the region - Japan, North Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, and Pakistan - carried out executions last year. In 2013, there were executions in 22 countries around the world, many of them in Asia. Estimates for executions in North Korea and China are incomplete and likely higher, according to Amnesty. One factor driving the number of executions in some countries may be the presence of new leaders intent on establishing their reputations as being harsh on crime. Since Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe took the helm in late 2012, for example, 11 people have been hung and 127 remain on death row. Widodo appears similarly concerned with appearing firm, especially when it comes to drug-related crime. He campaigned on an anti-narcotics platform and has claimed that drug use claims 40 to 50 young people's lives every day - a statistic that many experts dispute. In January, 6 people, mostly foreigners, were executed for drug trafficking-related crimes, a move that prompted the Netherlands and Brazil to pull their ambassadors from the country . The 2 Australian men have been jailed since 2005 and are convicted of coordinating a ring of heroin traffickers known as the "Bali 9." The lawyer for the 2 Australians say that they are reformed men who now teach Bible and cooking classes in prison. Analysts say that Widodo's insistence on the executions may also have something to do with controversy at home over his selection for the country's top police chief, general Budi Gunawan. The appointment has set off accusations of corruption and a rivalry between the country???s police force and an anti-corruption commission, in a drama that has reflected badly on Widodo's image as a decisive leader. So far, Widodo is on track to more than double the average number of executions his country has carried out in recent years: 5 people were executed in 2013 after a 4 year moratorium on the death penalty, and none were executed in 2014. Including the 11 slated for imminent execution in the coming days, 58 people remain on Indonesia's death row. (source: qz.com) THAILAND: Thailand reverses death sentences for two men who murdered Australian Michael Wansley A Thai court has reversed death sentences for 2 men convicted over the execution-style murder of prominent Melbourne insolvency expert Michael Wansley in 1999. A former chairman of the Australian Red Cross who had been awarded the Order of Australia for services to charity, Mr Wansley, 58, was shot dead by a gunman on the back of a motorcycle while employed by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to investigate financial malpractice at Thai sugar mills. The case that lingered through Thai courts for 16 years raised serious questions about the country's judicial system. Thailand's Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed the death penalty for sugar mill executives Somchok Suthiwiriwan and Sompong Buasakul, handing them life sentences. The court upheld an earlier sentence of life imprisonment for Boonpan Suthiwiriwan, another mill executive. The men were employees of a sugar mill in Nakhon Sawan province owned by the family of wealthy provincial businessman Pradit Siriviriyakul. The court earlier upheld the sentence of life imprisonment for Boonpan Sutheevisawan, another mill executive. Mr Pradit was initially charged with conspiracy to murder but was acquitted by a 3-judge panel which rejected police testimony he offered a $4 million bribe for the investigation to be dropped. The panel accepted evidence that Mr Pradit told an employee "it was good the foreigner is dead" but found he made the comments after the murder. The Australian government made repeated representations to Thailand during the case and Deloitte appointed former National Party leader and deputy prime minister Tim Fischer to act as an adviser amid doubts the Thai courts would deliver justice. (source: Sydney Morning Herald) BANGLADESH: 6 to die, 4 get life for murder in 3 districts 6 people were sentenced to death and 4 others to life imprisonment on murder charges in Chapainawabganj, Comilla and Netrakona districts yesterday. Our Chapainawabganj correspondent reported that a tribunal sentenced 2 people to death for killing a minor girl after abduction. The death penalty awardees are Shihab Reza, 24, son of Emran Ali of Ajaipur-Aburajpara Mohalla, Sagor Ahmed, son of Abdul Malek of Shankarbati Mohalla in Chapainawabganj municipality. Judge Kobita Khanam of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1 delivered the verdict. The judge also acquitted another accused named Jahirul Islam of Kaliganj-Phulbagan area of the municipality as charges brought against him could not be proved. According to the prosecution, Shihab and Sagor kidnapped Kabita Khatun, 4, daughter of Korban Ali of Kaliganj-Phulbagan area in the municipality on August 30, 2014 and strangled her the same day. On September 1, 2014, the kidnappers phoned Korban Ali and demanded Tk 5 lakh ransom for release of Kabita. Tracking mobile phone calls, Rab arrested Shihab and Sagor on September 4. On the basis of their statements, the elite force recovered the decomposed body of Kabita from underground. Victim's father Korban Ali filed a case against Shihab and Sagor with Sadar Police Station the following day. Inspector Sarwar Hossain, also the investigation officer of the case, pressed charges against Shihab, Jahirul Islam and Sagor on October 31 last year. In Comilla, 3 robbers were awarded capital punishment and 4 others life imprisonment for killing an expatriate in 2000, reports UNB. They are Abu Taher alias Saru Miah, 50, Abdus Salam alias Liton, 30, and Jahir Islam Jahir, 50, of Jashpur village in Sadar upazila. The lifers are Bahar, 31,Mizanur Rahman, Arifuzzaman alias Imon, 35, and Abdul Mannan. Additional Sessions Judge's Court-4 also fined them Tk 50,000 each, in default they are to suffer 6 months more in jail. According to the prosecution, Tofazzal Hossain, 35, an expatriate in Saudi Arabia, was stabbed to death by a gang of robbers at the village on October 1, 2000. A case was filed with Sadar Police Station the following day. Police submitted charge sheet against the accused on February 24, 2004. After examining the records and 18 witnesses, Judge Chamon Chowdhury pronounced the verdict. In Netrakona, a man was sentenced to death for killing his wife in Durgapur upazila of the district in 2007. The death penalty awardee is Abdus Salam, 40, son of late Ansar Ali of Dubrajpur village in the upazila. According to the prosecution, Salam hacked his wife Shilpi Akhter, 36, to death following an altercation over a trifling matter at East Nanderchati village in the upazila on October 12, 2007. The couple used to work at a fish enclosure at the village. After examining the records and 7 witnesses, Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Abdul Hamid handed down the verdict. (source: The Daily Star) ******************* 3 to walk to gallows for Tofazzal murder A court in Comilla has awarded death penalty to 3 people and life term to 5 others for murder of Tofazzal Hossain in the district more than 14 years ago. Comilla's 4th Additional Sessions Judge Chaman Chowdhury pronounced the verdict on Tuesday. The death-row convicts are Abu Taher aka Chhoru Mia, son of late Ali Newaz, Abdus Salam Liton, son of Noab Ali, and Jahirul Islam Jahir, son of Monohar Ali. They all hail from Joshpur village under Adarsha Sadar Upazila of the district. Those who got life-term are Md Bahar aka Rozen, Abdul Mannan, Saheb Ali, Arifuzzaman Iman and Md Mizanur Rahman. The 5 have also been fined Tk 50,000 each, failing to pay which their jail-term will be extended by another 6 months. Among the convicts, Mannan, Saheb Ali and Mizanur Rahman are absconding. Public prosecutor Md Jalal Uddin said Tofazzal Hossain of Joshpur village under Kaliarbazar union, was stabbed to death on Oct 1, 2010. His cousin Harun-ur-Rashid filed a case with the Comilla Kotwali Police Station against 20-25 unknown people over the murder. Inspector of police's District Special Branch Md Sirajul Haq pressed charges against the 8 people on Feb 24, 2004. The court recorded testimonies of 18 witnesses. (source: benews24.com) *************** Fugitive Jabbar spared death due to age Former Muslim League leader Mohammad Abdul Jabbar has been awarded imprisonment until his natural death, though he deserved capital punishment, for committing crimes against humanity, including killings, loot and arson, in Mathbaria of Pirojpur during the 1971 Liberation War, says a war crimes tribunal. In its verdict delivered yesterday, the three-member International Crimes Tribunal 1, led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim, said for the offences Jabbar, 82, had committed, he deserved death penalty. But the punishment was committed to life-term imprisonment considering his age. Jabbar, also a former Jatiya Party lawmaker, has been fugitive since 2009 while the prosecution and the investigation agency of the tribunal are unaware of his whereabouts. The tribunal yesterday ordered the home secretary and the police chief to ensure the arrest of the fugitive convict with the help of the Interpol, if necessary. Earlier 2 war criminals were given jail until death due to their old age. The convicts are former BNP minister Abdul Alim and former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam. Apart from Jabbar, 4 other death row convicts have been absconding. They are Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar, Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, Ashrafuzzaman Khan and MA Zahid Hossain Khokon alias Khokon Razakar. Jabbar was also made accused in a case filed under the Collaborators Act after the independence. But he went into hiding after the war and remained a fugitive until the political changeover of August 15, 1975. Later he became active in politics and was elected a lawmaker from Mathbaria in 1986 and 1988 with Jatiya Party tickets. "...we cannot overlook the advanced age of the accused, the mitigating factor, which has come up before us for its due consideration. "Undisputedly, accused Md Abdul Jabbar engineer is now an old man of more than 82 years. Mitigating factor of advanced age, particularly more than 82 years of the accused is taken into consideration by this tribunal for taking lenient view in the matter of awarding punishment to the accused. Having regards to the above facts and circumstances, we are of agreed view that ends of justice would be met if mitigating punishment is awarded, instead of capital punishment, for the crimes," the tribunal said in the judgement. The 2 other members of the tribunal is Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Anwarul Haque. Jabbar was found guilty in all the 5 charges brought against him. He was given imprisonment until death on 4 charges and 20 years' jail on the other that involves conversion of around 200 Hindus to Islam. Founder of Mathbaria unit Peace Committee and Razakar Bahini, Jabbar aided the Pakistani occupation forces in committing the crimes, the tribunal said. He was sentenced to imprisonment for life for the deaths of 2 freedom fighters - Abdur Razzak Biswas and Motaleb Sharif, and arson attack on over 100 houses at Phuljhuri of Mathbaria; for ordering his accomplices to shoot Sarada Kanta Paik to death and set 360 houses on fire at the same village; for his involvement in the killing of 11 people and looting and torching 60 houses at Naligram; and for the abduction of 37 Hindus from Angulkata and Mothbaria, killing 20 of them and looting the houses of the victims. Jabbar was sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 20 years and a fine of Tk10 lakh, in default to suffer further simple imprisonment for two years, for forcefully converting around 200 people of a Hind para of Phuljhuri village. "The 5 sentences shall run concurrently," the tribunal said. Son of late Saden Ali alias Samed Ali Hawlader and late Sawhar Banu, Jabbar was born on November 30, 1932 at Khetachira village of Pirojpur. He obtained BSc engineering degree and joined the politics of Muslim League. Later, he became an influential leader of the party and was elected an MPA in 1964. Jabbar was indicted on August 14, 2014 and the tribunal concluded the trial proceedings on December 3 last year and kept the case waiting for verdict. The prosecution submitted the formal charges against Jabbar on May 11 last year. On May 12, the tribunal issued arrest warrant against him after taking the charges into cognisance. On July 8 last year, the tribunal appointed Mohammad Abul Hassan as counsel to defend Jabbar. A total of 24 prosecution witnesses testified against Jabbar. The defence did not place any witness in favour of Jabbar. The tribunal yesterday set at 11:07am and started to read the judgement just after 3 minutes. In the beginning of the court's procedure, Justice Rahim said he had been appointed as the tribunal chairman the same day last year. It is the 5th judgement under his chairmanship. The same tribunal pronounced 3 more verdicts before Justice Rahim took office. The judgement said: "Jabbar was the chairman of Mothbaria Peace Committee during the Liberation War in 1971 and under his leadership many atrocious activities were taken place. "From the evidence of eye witnesses and documentary proof it has revealed that the accused had directly participated in the commission of offences of mass killing in addition to aiding, facilitating and abetting the members of auxiliary forces to have committed atrocious acts during the Liberation War." The tribunal said: "Having considered the attending facts, legal position and the gravity and magnitude of the offences, committed by accused Md Abdul Jabbar Engineer, we unanimously hold that the accused deserves the capital punishment, particularly in those 4 charges." Jabbar had formed the Mathbaria unit Peace Committee being invited and instructed by the leaders of its central unit, the tribunal said. Thereafter, he along with his followers started committing atrocious acts accompanied by the Pakistani invading forces in the locality. The verdict said the local razakar force had been formed under Jabbar's leadership with 150-200 members people. "He rendered an appointment to his relative Iskander Mridha as the commander of that unit." On May 16 of 1971, Jabbar held a rally on the playground of Tushkhali High School and ordered the collaborators to bring to him Abdur Razzak and Motaleb Sharif (trainer of freedom fighters) dead or alive. In line with the order, the armed razakars held the 2 freedom fighters and killed them. According to a witness, Jabbar always instigated his followers to launch war on the Hindus. "He used to say 'Hindu's wealth and properties are for plunder and so the Muslims can use them. If the Hindus want to live in this country, they will have to become Muslims.'" On October 6 of 1971, about 40-50 razakars led by Jabbar went to Angulkata village and detained 37 Hindus. Out of them, 5 were released in exchange for money while 22 persons were killed by gun shots. The Hindus of Paik Bari under Phuljhuri village were converted to Islam in the last week of May. They were given Muslim names and forced to eat beef. Later the razakars established a mosque in the area and forced the Hindu women to marry Muslim men, the case says. Sarada Kanta Paik was killed upon Jabbar's order while attempting to flee away on May 17. The collaborators also torched around 360 houses belonging to Muslim and Hindu families after looting. On May 22, Jabbar shot dead Sokhanath Kharati in Naligram village while his accomplices, under his order, killed 10 others. Around 60 houses of the local Hindus were looted and set on fire the same day. After the pronouncement of the verdict, prosecutor Jahid Imam said they were expecting death penalty for Jabbar since all the charges had been substantiated successfully. "But we obey the judgement. We will decide about filing appeal after receiving full text of the verdict," he added. State-appointed defence counsel Abul Hasan said he had failed to communicate with Jabbar during the trial proceedings. "I failed to prove Jabbar innocent as I did not have proper documents in connection with the case." Hasan said he learnt from government's documents that Jabbar had been staying in the USA. (source: The Dhaka Tribune) ******************************** SC seeks concise statement on his appeal in 2 weeks The Supreme Court yesterday asked both the state and defence counsels to submit in 2 weeks the concise statement on an appeal filed by convicted war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami against his death sentence. International Crimes Tribunal-1 on October 29 last year passed a death sentence on Nizami on 4 charges of war crimes, including murdering intellectuals. The 72-year-old was also awarded life imprisonment on the other four charges. Nizami on November 23 last year filed the appeal with the SC challenging the ICT-1 verdict. (source: The Daily Star) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 26 09:03:15 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:03:15 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., DEL., N.C., GA., LA., ARK., MO., ARIZ. Message-ID: Feb. 26 PENNSYLVANIA: The worst criminals deserve death penalty In reference To The Philadelphia Inquirer editorial printed on Feb. 19, 'Evidence Clear: Death Penalty Doesn't Work': Excuse me but the death penalty does work for me and many other law abiding citizens! Is the author of that editorial saying that he or she believes it's OK for criminals to kill whomever they wish and as many as they wish, commit atrocious crimes and be rewarded by living the rest of their lives in rent-free housing, with free health care, 3 free meals a day, no employment, no worries and entertainment, all provided to them by the law-abiding, hard-working tax paying citizens of the country? It would be fair to say that imprisonment doesn't work, since so many parolees go back to their previous criminal ways, but does that mean that we shouldn't punish criminals? I sure hope not! This is supposed to be a civilization, with civilized law-abiding citizens in it. Not some freeloading country where some people act like uneducated animals who steal, kill and do whatever they want. Unfortunately, for too many people, there are no morals or fear of committing crimes against innocent law-abiding citizens or taking advantage of businesses. Criminals just waltz into Wal-Mart or Kohl's, for example, and take whatever they want and just waltz right out - it's unbelievable and a disgrace to humanity! How can they sleep at night? The criminals who commit the worst crimes must be eliminated because they deserve to be punished for taking someone else's life and not obeying the laws of our civilization. Gladys Mowles Chambersburg (source: publicopiniononline.com) ************************** Death penalty moritorium: No truth in sentencing The recent announcement by Gov. Wolf that he's instituting a moratorium on the death penalty in Pennsylvania comes as a shock to victims of offenders who have been or will be granted a reprieve. Unfortunately for most of these victims, they learned of this turn of events through the media, either through news reports, or via phone calls from their local media asking for their reaction and comment. This is one more hill in the roller coaster ride for families whose loved one was murdered. While local victim service providers and staff from the state Office of the Victim Advocate are available to provide aid and comfort, the news nevertheless inflames wounds that never truly heal. In this public debate about the death penalty, families of murdered victims are most often overlooked. While it is clear that the death penalty is real for all of the 186 inmates on death row, and for their families, what's often lost to the public is the profound impact of the death and the sentence it imposes on the families of the murdered victims. What remains out of the public eye is the ongoing pain and suffering for the families. They relive day after day, year after year, their loved one???s death scene, details of which are made clear at the trial, through detailed autopsy reports, crime scene photographs, and expert or witness testimony. For victims in death penalty cases, they learn that the process only begins at sentencing. Having worked with district attorneys from across the commonwealth, it became clear that in deciding to seek the death penalty, they look to the opinion of the murdered victim's family. An extensive effort is made to help the family understand exactly what it means when a murderer is sentenced to death. Victims are told of the years of appeals, emotional ups and downs as the court decision winds its way through the courts. Despite this knowledge, they may never become emotionally prepared for that very difficult ride. Victims do take comfort in other aspects of the sentence. The convicted murderer will spend all of that time on death row, away from the general population of inmates, without many of the privileges shared by other inmates. This often becomes the definition of justice for surviving family members while they wait. So the question then becomes, what do victims want when it comes to the death penalty. Those of us who work with victims of crime come to realize that there is not one answer to that question. Some victims support the death penalty and some do not. They are as varied in their opinions as is the public. But we do learn that victims want justice for themselves and their loved ones. And justice means truth in sentencing. They want to know that when a sentence is pronounced by the courts, that sentence will be carried out. (source: Letter to the Editor; Carol L. Lavery, Shickshinny, Luzerne County, is a former commonwealth victim advocate of the Office of the Victim Advocate. She also is chair of the Crime Victims Alliance of Pennsylvania----Bucks County Courier Times) DELAWARE: Jermaine Wright case tests Delaware's death penalty Jermaine Wright, once Delaware's longest-serving death row inmate, is a free man and could be just a few steps away from becoming the 1st person to permanently walk away from the state's death row. Opponents of capital punishment will be watching the Delaware Supreme Court this spring to see if it will toss out Wright's videotaped confession. They say an exoneration in that case could jump-start stalled efforts to repeal the death penalty. Wright was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1991 killing of Phillip G. Seifert, a 66-year-old disabled liquor store clerk, during a robbery. Wright got a 2nd chance when the state Supreme Court ordered a retrial last year on the grounds that the prosecution withheld evidence about a 2nd robbery the same night. This allowed Wright's attorneys to challenge the videotaped confession that is the linchpin of the prosecution's case. A lower court judge agreed to suppress the confession in January, and the state released Wright from prison so it could appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court. That appeal was filed Feb. 11. This confession video was key evidence in convicting Jermaine Wright of murder. While it remains unclear when and how the Supreme Court will rule, local and national opponents of the death penalty are watching closely. "It would demonstrate that the death penalty is not foolproof in Delaware," said Kristin Froehlich, board president of Delaware Citizens Opposed to the Death Penalty. "It's unreasonable to state Delaware does it right every time." Seifert's son, Royce, who supports the death penalty and believes Wright is guilty, said his recent release and possible exoneration is unfair. "There is injustice being served, and that is not the way things ought to be in our judicial system," Seifert said. "I pray this will be reversed." Death penalty debate Delaware is 1 of 32 states in the nation that has the death penalty. It ranks 5th nationwide in the number of death sentences per capita, according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C. The state's death row houses 15 male inmates, with the most recent execution being in April 2012. Advocates of capital punishment have long argued it is a fair penalty for heinous murders and deters crime, but opponents say it violates human rights, is expensive, encourages a cycle of violence and is used disproportionately against minorities and the poor. Similar concerns led Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf two weeks ago to issue a moratorium on the death penalty until it can be reviewed more thoroughly. Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013. At that time, Maryland resident Kirk Bloodsworth, the 1st American death row inmate exonerated by DNA, was a strong force in lobbying for the repeal. In Delaware, Senate Bill 19, which would have ended capital punishment, passed the Senate by a narrow margin in 2013, but then stalled in the House Judiciary Committee. A similar bill likely will be introduced this year. Free after 24 years After spending nearly 2 decades on death row, Wright, 42, was met by his mother when he was released from prison in Smyrna on Jan. 30. However, his freedom remains in jeopardy as the state's highest court weighs the suppression of his confession. Wright was convicted for the fatal shooting of Seifert during a robbery of the former Hi-Way Inn on Governor Printz Boulevard on Jan. 14, 1991. There were no eyewitnesses or physical evidence from the murder. Wright, who was 18 at the time, was arrested on an unrelated crime and confessed to the murder during a police interrogation. That confession became the heart of the state's case and was challenged by the defense several times over the years. In 2012, Superior Court Judge John A. Parkins Jr. overturned a conviction and death sentence based on that confession. The Supreme Court reversed Parkins' ruling but then reinstated it two years later on different grounds that the prosecution withheld from the defense evidence about a 2nd robbery at the Brandywine Village Liquors nearby that same night. Wright was granted a retrial and his attorneys, Eugene Maurer Jr. and Herbert Mondros, filed a motion to suppress the confession, arguing Wright was high on heroin during the confession and was not properly read his Miranda rights. They won, and the state is now appealing. Wright's defense will likely argue to the Supreme Court that there were key discrepancies in the confession, including the time of the murder, the number of shots fired and the type of weapon. The defense previously relied on testimony about false confessions from James Trainum, a former homicide detective from Washington, D.C., who was featured in the popular podcast series "Serial." "The State has been candid about one thing: the only evidence they have implicating Mr. Wright in this murder is his discredited confession," the attorneys said in a statement. "However, leading false confession experts around the nation agree that the circumstances under which Mr. Wright's confession were elicited and his condition at the time created a perfect storm for a false confession." Deputy Attorney General Steve Wood said the issues related to the admissibility of the confession "have been extensively litigated in Delaware Superior Court and Supreme Court since 1991." "The evidence heard by 2 separate juries was that Wright's video-recorded confession to the police contained numerous details of the crime that matches the forensic evidence and testimony from other eyewitnesses," Wood said. "While he was wrong about a few details, most of what he said was consistent with the other evidence." Seifert also is convinced the confession was genuine. "To discount it is a big mistake," he said. "The man confessed. He volunteered the information that only someone who was in there and did it [could know]." If the Supreme Court suppresses the confession, it will make the state's case at a retrial difficult, if not nearly impossible, because more than 2 decades has passed. Wood, when asked about how he would handle that, said he would consider it if and when it arose. Exonerations in Delaware While Wright's case still has legal hurdles to pass before it would be considered an exoneration, opponents of the death penalty say it could be a noteworthy case for the state. Nationwide, there have been 150 exonerations in 26 states since 1971. Only 20 of those have relied on DNA evidence, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Although there are many different conditions for exoneration, the Death Penalty Information Center uses the definition that says a defendant must have been convicted and sentenced to death and then acquitted of all charges related to the crime. "It has to be final, that the highest court being appealed to rules," said Richard Dieter, the center's executive director. "The key thing is going to be if the Delaware Supreme Court upholds this reversal, does the state have the opportunity to retry him? And if they do, then our list would wait until there isn't a chance for a retrial." Wood noted the current issue in the Wright case is not about his innocence, but "is whether or not the defendant's video-recording confession is admissible." Froehlich and Dieter said a Supreme Court decision in Wright's favor would demonstrate that Delaware makes errors, even in death row cases. Opponents are also watching other death row cases in Delaware. For example, the Delaware Supreme Court granted Isaiah W. McCoy, 27, a retrial in January in the case of the shooting death of 30-year-old James Mumford during a drug deal outside a Dover bowling alley. The ruling cited errors the prosecutor made in improperly vouching for the credibility of key witnesses and overall unprofessional conduct. In another case, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take a case seeking to overturn convicted killer James E. Cooke Jr.'s death sentence for the May 2005 rape and murder of University of Delaware sophomore Lindsey Bonistall. Cooke's execution was scheduled for Dec. 4, but was put on hold as he tries to appeal in the lower federal courts. That drawn-out process of appeals can be torturous on victims' families. Seifert was surprised that 24 years after the murder of his father, the case would still be active. Froehlich, whose brother was murdered in Connecticut in 1995, has taken a different approach to her family's tragedy by opposing the death penalty. Her brother's killer was sentenced to life in prison without parole, but eventually committed suicide. "The death penalty never did me any favors," she said. "It made me feel powerless. It made me have to spend more years in a torture chamber waiting for the legal finality." (source: The News Journal) ****************** Poll: Should Delaware abolishl the death penalty? http://archive.delawareonline.com/poll/2015-02-26/8683763 (source: delawareonline.com) NORTH CAROLINA: Prosecutors to seek death penalty in Greensboro shooting The Guilford County district attorney's office decided this week to pursue the death penalty against a Greensboro man if he is convicted of 1st-degree murder by a jury. Brandon Jawon Pompey, 27, of 1133 Trent St. Apt. E, is charged with 1st-degree murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injuries. Pompey is accused of shooting and killing Clarence Eugene Toran Jr., 24, and wounding Toran's younger brother, Terence, in the parking lot of the Timber Hollow Apartments in the 3300 block of Trent Street on July 11, 2014. (source: Greensboro News & Record) GEORGIA:----impending execution Weather threat postpones Georgia's 1st execution of a woman in 70 years Not since Lena Baker, an African-American convicted of murder and pardoned decades later, has Georgia executed a woman. The state was scheduled to snap that 70-year streak Wednesday before Kelly Renee Gissendaner's execution was postponed. Just hours before the 47-year-old was scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson, the Georgia Department of Corrections announced it had postponed the execution until Monday "due to weather and associated scheduling issues," department spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan said in an email. Gissendaner was convicted in a February 1997 murder plot that targeted her husband in suburban Atlanta. She was romantically involved with Gregory Owen and conspired with the 43-year-old to have her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, killed, according to court testimony. Owen wanted Kelly Gissendaner to file for a divorce, but she was concerned that her husband would "not leave her alone if she simply divorced him," court documents said. The Gissendaners had already divorced once, in 1993, and they remarried in 1995. Details of the crime, as laid out at trial and provided by Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, are as follows: Owen and Kelly Gissendaner planned the murder for months. On February 7, 1997, she dropped Owen off at her home, gave him a nightstick and hunting knife and went out dancing with girlfriends. Douglas Gissendaner also spent the evening away from home, going to a church friend's house to work on cars. Owen lay in wait until he returned. When Douglas Gissendaner came home around 11:30 p.m., Owen forced him by knifepoint into a car and drove him to a remote area of Gwinnett County. There, Owen ordered his victim into the woods, took his watch and wallet to make it look like a robbery, hit him in the head with the nightstick and stabbed Douglas Gissendaner in the neck 8 to 10 times. Kelly Gissendaner arrived just as the murder took place, but did not immediately get out of her car. She later checked to make sure her husband was dead, then Owen followed her in Douglas Gissendaner's car to retrieve a can of kerosene that Kelly Gissendaner had left for him. Owen set her husband's car on fire in an effort to hide evidence and left the scene with Kelly Gissendaner. Story unravels Police discovered the burned-out automobile the morning after the murder, but did not find the body. Authorities kicked off a search. Kelly Gissendaner, meanwhile, went on local television appealing to the public for information on her husband's whereabouts. Her and Owen's story started to unravel after a series of police interviews. On February 20, Douglas Gissendaner's face-down body was found about a mile from his car. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be knife wounds to the neck, but the medical examiner couldn't tell which strike killed Douglas Gissendaner because animals had devoured the skin and soft tissue on the right side of his neck. On February 24, Owen confessed to the killing and implicated Kelly Gissendaner, who was arrested the next day and charged. While in jail awaiting trial, Kelly Gissendaner grew angry when she heard Owen was to receive a 25-year sentence for his role in the murder. (Owen is serving life in prison at a facility in Davisboro, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.) She began writing letters to hire a 3rd person who would falsely confess to taking her to the crime scene at gunpoint. She asked her cellmate, Laura McDuffie, to find someone willing to do the job for $10,000, and McDuffie turned Kelly Gissendaner's letters over to authorities via her attorney. Seeking clemency Kelly Gissendaner has exhausted all state and federal appeals, the attorney general said in a statement. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles denied her clemency request, Steve Hayes, a spokesman for the board, said Wednesday. In the clemency application, Gissendaner's lawyers argued she was equally or less culpable than Owen, who actually did the killing. Both defendants were offered identical plea bargains before trial: life in prison with an agreement to not seek parole for 25 years. Owen accepted the plea bargain and testified against his former girlfriend. Gissendaner was willing to plead guilty, her current lawyers said, but consulted with her trial lawyer and asked prosecutors to remove the stipulation about waiting 25 years to apply for parole. According to her clemency appeal, her lead trial attorney, Edwin Wilson, said he thought the jury would not sentence her to death "because she was a woman and because she did not actually kill Doug .... I should have pushed her to take the plea but did not because I thought we would get straight up life if she was convicted." Her appeal lawyers also argued that Gissendaner had expressed deep remorse for her actions, become a model inmate and grown spiritually. They said her death would cause further hardship for her 2 children. Georgia parole board's posthumous pardon Currently the only woman on Georgia's death row, Gissendaner could be the 2nd woman in the state's history to be executed. The 1st was Baker, an African-American maid who was sentenced to death by an all-white, all-male jury in 1944. She claimed self-defense for killing a man who held her against her will, threatened her life and appeared poised to hit her with a metal bar before she fired the fatal shot. 60 years after her execution, Georgia's parole board posthumously pardoned her after finding that "it was a grievous error to deny (her) clemency." Such pardons are rare, but so are executions of women. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, only 15 women have been executed in the United States since 1977. (source: CNN) LOUISIANA: Public Defender: LA death penalty study to include 16 parishes When we last heard from the Capital Punishment Fiscal Impact Commission, the big question was how many parishes should the study consider when it comes to death penalty - or capital cases. The Public Defender's Office now says 16 including EBR, Ascension and Tangipahoa. "We open about 35 capital cases a year on average," said Jay Dixon, LA State Public Defender. Dixon provided the commission new data Wednesday showing East Baton Rouge has 13 of Louisiana's 83 open capital cases. The morning began hearing from Jim Craig, a defense attorney with 30-years experience working capital cases. He says the costs of a death penalty trial, greatly depends on how promptly it's carried out. "If no indication is given by the prosecutor about whether it's a capital case, at whatever point the prosecution decides it is a death penalty case, we have then done no groundwork with respect to the extensive investigation that has to be done," said Jim Craig, Co-Director, The Roderick & Solange MacArhur Justice Center. Meantime across the hallway in another room, more members of the commission got together to discuss what other data the study should consider like psychological costs. "How do you measure the loss of a child in dollars and cents and how does that equate to tax-payer dollars being spent," asked Liz Mangham, Capital Punishment Fiscal Impact Commission Subcommittee on Prosecution. The commission hopes to answer that question at their next meeting. They're hoping that happens by the end of March, before legislators go into session in April. If they can't get together then, they'll have to wait until the summer. The commission wants to finish the study by New Year's Day 2016. (source: WAFB news) ARKANSAS: Death Penalty Bill Passes Senate Committee A bill abolishing the death penalty drew passionate debate Tuesday before passing a senate committee. "He'd been on death row for about 20 years before I met him," said sister Joan Pytlik. She described her work with inmates as she spoke of a costly capital punishment system that she says is applied disproportionately to minorities and fails to bring timely justice. "Law enforcement ranks the death penalty at the bottom of the list of tools effective as a deterrent to crime," Pytlik said. But prosecutors urged lawmakers against a bill doing away with it. "When someone premeditated and deliberately takes a life what we need to say as a policy from this state is 'you will pay with your life.'" Both sides agree the current system is broken. All lethal injection drugs currently in the state's possession are expired. The rest were given away 5 years ago to corrections departments in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee. "That doesn't mean we do away with it," said 20th Judicial District prosecutor Cody Hiland. "That means we fix it." But opponents like State Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, say Arkansas keeps poor company in its continuation of capital punishment. "Yemen and Iran and China and people of that ilk," Elliott said. Hiland didn't like the argument that most developed countries have abolished the death penalty. "To me the United States is the gold standard and people should be comparing themselves to us not the other way around," he said. Sister Pytlik says she's learned through her work with inmates that it's actually life without parole that's the tougher sentence. "They all say this the death penalty is an easy exit," she said. Despite passing through the committee Wednesday, the bill is a long shot to make it through the Republican controlled senate. (source: Arkansas Matters) MISSOURI----new execution date Missouri sets April execution date The Missouri Supreme Court has set another execution date. Andre Cole will be put to death on April 14. Cole was convicted of murdering a man over a child support payment in 1998. Cole and his then-wife Terri, divorced in 1995. After missing several child support payments, the court order his wages to be garnished. After the first deduction was taken out of his paycheck, Cole forced his way into Terri's home and stabbed both her and Anthony Curtis. Curtis died, Terri survived the attack. Missouri's next execution is set for Cecil Clayton on March 17. (source: KTRS news) **************** Another Execution Set in Missouri The Missouri Supreme Court has set an execution date for a man who killed another man while he was angry over having to pay child support. 52-year-old Andre Cole is scheduled to die by lethal injection between 6 p.m. April 14th and 6 p.m. April 15th at the prison in Bonne Terre. In August 1998, 52-year-old Andre Cole owed 3,000 dollars in back child support to his ex-wife when his employer began withholding money from his paycheck. He went to her house and broke in by throwing a car jack through a window. Court documents say Anthony Curtis was visiting Terri that night. Cole stabbed Curtis 21 times before attacking his ex-wife and stabbing her repeatedly but she survived. Before the attack Cole had reportedly told several co-workers he would kill his ex-wife before giving her any more money. Missouri is next scheduled to execute 74-year-old Cecil Clayton March 17th for the 1996 murder of a Barry County sheriff?s deputy. (source: mymoinfo.com) ARIZONA: Jury weighing death sentence for Jodi Arias A jury is once again considering the fate of convicted murderer and Salinas native Jodi Arias. The retrial sentencing went to the jury Wednesday in Arizona. Jurors must decide if Arias will be sentenced to life in prison, or give her the death penalty, for killing her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Travis Alexander. A defense lawyer made his final plea for mercy in the killing that grabbed global attention over the violent nature of the crime. Arias was born in Salinas, Calif. on July 9, 1980 and grew up there until she was 12. Arias' family later moved to Yreka, Calif. She returned to the Central Coast when she was hired in 2001 to work at the Ventana Inn & Spa in Big Sur. She fell in love with the man who hired her, Darryl Brewer, and they lived in Big Sur together from 2002 until 2006. Arias broke up with Brewer soon after she met Travis Alexander in Las Vegas. According to testimony, on June 3, 2008, the day before she murdered Alexander, Arias visited Brewer at his house in Monterey and he let her borrow 2 gas cans. Arias told Brewer she needed the gas for a long drive, and then bought a 3rd gas can in Salinas. Her 2013 trial was broadcast live and became a sensation with its revelations that Arias had shot and slit the throat of Alexander. Arias, 34, was convicted in 2013 of killing Alexander. However, the jury deadlocked on her punishment, prompting the penalty retrial, the wire service said. A death penalty requires a unanimous vote by 12 jurors if Arias is to die by lethal injection, said Jerry Cobb, spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. During the retrial, if all 12 jurors can't vote for death, then Arias will be eligible for 1 of 2 life sentences: life without the possibility of release or life with the possibility of release after 25 calendar years, Cobb said. That means Arias and her legal team will need to persuade only one of the 12 jurors to vote against the death penalty for her to be spared from execution, Cobb said. The 2013 trial was sensational, attracting a media circus and a national audience riveted by themes of sex, violence and 18 days of testimony by Arias, who detailed what she called an abusive relationship with Alexander but claimed she remembered nothing of his killing. (source: KSBW news) ************************ Jodi Arias death penalty retrial pales in comparison Right now jurors in the Jodi Arias death penalty re-trial are resting up for day two of deliberations on Thursday morning. They're tasked with a life or death decision weighing heavily on their minds. This time around, the case is nowhere near the circus-like atmosphere witnessed in 2013 when Arias was convicted of murder in the death of her on-again, off-again boyfriend Travis Alexander. Back then, most of the major television networks and cable networks converged on downtown Phoenix, broadcasting the trial. But this time around Judge Sherry Stephens pulled the plug on the camera in the courtroom. She allowed one pool camera to capture the punishment phase on video, but media outlets are not allowed to broadcast the video until the jury has reached a verdict. Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts says, "No footage means no Nancy Grace. No national outrage and nobody chanting on the courthouse steps to give her death." During his bi-weekly news conference Wednesday, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery would not divulge the cost for his office to prosecute Arias in this matter. He said he will reveal the costs to taxpayers after the verdict. He said, "The only way you can get a fair defense is if you're rich or powerful. That's not the case in Maricopa County." With a life or death decision in the hands of the jury, Roberts says Arizonans are saying this, "What I hear is, 'Please don't inflict her on us anymore. We don't want to know; we don't want to hear it. Wake us up when there's a verdict and then let's forget her.'" (source: azcentral.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Thu Feb 26 09:03:58 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2015 09:03:58 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 26 PAKISTAN: ATC awards death penalty to 4 TTP men An anti-terrorism court (ATC) while announcing verdict in Ichhra police attack case, handed death sentence to 4 terrorists linked with banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ARY News reported. During the hearing, public prosecutor said that the accused had attacked Ichhra Police Training Center, where they killed 10 jail wardens from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who were under training at the center and injured 22. He requested the court to award stern punishment to the accused. On the other hand, counsels of the accused requested the ATC to acquit their clients on the basis of insufficient evidence and absence of witnesses against them. However, the court after listening to both sides handed death sentence to four accused namely Zulfikar, Karamat, Afzal and Abdul Hakim on 21 different counts. All the 4 convicts were associated with TTP Punjab. AFP adds: The convicts were also fined 1.8 million rupees (18,000 dollars) each, he added. Pakistan lifted a moratorium on executions in terror cases in December after Taliban gunmen massacred more than 150 people at a school. The executions could take decades to be carried out, however, because of the lengthy appeals process allowed under Pakistani law. The 4 TTP militants, all in their 20s, confessed to carrying out the attack on the residential quarters for prison staff in the densely populated Lahore suburb of Ichra, Saeed said. After killing 10 during the dawn raid armed with Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades, they then stormed another building where around 30 police prison officers were sleeping. Many were injured as they fled into neighbouring houses in a bid to save themselves from the volley of bullets, Saeed added. The 4 men were arrested about a year after the attack when they were caught with Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades at a bus stand in Lahore. Pakistan amended its constitution and set up military courts last month for speedy trial of terrorism cases. 24 people have been executed since Prime Minister Sharif lifted a 6-year moratorium on the death penalty in the wake of the December Taliban school massacre in the northwestern city of Peshawar. Heavily armed gunmen went from room to room at the army-run school killing 154 people, most of them children, in an attack that horrified the world. (source: Ary News) GLOBAL: Fact check: No proof the death penalty prevents crime With the fate of Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran seemingly decided by the Indonesian legal system, Australian advocates for the pair have been attempting to secure a reprieve through legal avenues and public pressure. During a visit to Bali in February, Victorian Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry told ABC TV's 7.30 that the death penalty does not deter crime. "There are all sorts of other punishments - life imprisonment and so on - but the idea that a government would take individuals out into the bush, as they would here, and shoot them is just something that I can never live with and never understand, and apart from anything else, from a legal point of view, no-one really claims now that it has any real deterrent value. It's just a terrible thing to do," he said. ABC Fact Check looks at the research. The death penalty More than 1/2 of all the nations in the world retain the death penalty in some form or other. A small number retain it only for war-time offences and others have not used it for over 10 years, but there are a large number that retain and use the death penalty, predominately as a punishment for murder. According to advocacy group Harm Reduction International, thirty-three nations retain the death penalty for drug offences. Of those, not all carry out capital punishment for these offences on a regular basis, and Harm Reduction International estimates that "executions for drug offences have taken place in only 12 to 14 countries over the [5 years to 2012]". It lists 6 countries with a "high" rate of applying the death penalty in drugs cases: China, Iran, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Malaysia. Oxford University professors Roger Hood and Carolyn Hoyle say Indonesia, which resumed executions for drug traffickers in 2013, might soon be added to that list "if it carries out its threat to execute more drug traffickers". In the 5th edition of their book The Death Penalty: A Worldwide Perspective released in January, Professors Hood and Hoyle write that Singapore, Malaysia and possibly Vietnam may be "ready to be downgraded to 'low application states'." The United Nations has strict guidelines for the use of the death penalty, restricting it to the "most serious crimes". A resolution of the Economic and Security Council, first made in the 1980s, endorsed by the UN General Assembly in December 1984, and updated in 1999 says that "capital punishment may be imposed for only the most serious crimes, it being understood that their scope should not go beyond intentional crimes with lethal or other extremely grave consequences". Since the adoption of this guideline, other UN bodies have made rulings about how to interpret the "most serious crimes" provision, which exclude drug offences. And the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Christof Heyns, said recently that Indonesia was a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its use of the death penalty for drug offences was "in violation of international human rights standards". A review of Indonesia's use of the death penalty and the Bali Nine case by Colman Lynch, published in the Columbia Human Rights Law Review in 2009, says capital punishment is also arguably against Indonesia's constitution. Mr Lynch wrote that "though Indonesia had a legal obligation to abolish capital punishment as a punishment for drug-trafficking crimes under its constitution and applicable international law, as interpreted by relevant international bodies, its judiciary was able to find sufficient ambiguity in the wording of each obligation to buck the international trend of abolishing capital punishment". The death penalty in the United States Fact Check asked Justice Lasry whether he had any particular research in mind when he said the death penalty wasn't a deterrent. A spokeswoman for the Victorian Supreme Court said that the judge's comments were based on "a general body of research that indicates the death penalty has no real deterrent value". In their book, Professors Hood and Hoyle say almost all the academic studies available for review are concerned with the deterrent effect of capital punishment on the rate of murder in the United States. The authors say theoretical and methodological issues have "dogged the attempts to prove or disprove the existence of the deterrent effect of executions in the United States" and "a fierce controversy continues" in the United States over attempts to use econometric models to address the question. After reviewing the literature they conclude that "it is not prudent to accept the hypothesis that capital punishment, as practised in the United States, deters murder to a marginally greater extent than does the threat and application of the supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment". A comprehensive review of the research in this area over 34 years was conducted in 2012 by a committee of the American National Academy of Sciences National Review Council. The committee concluded that "research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide is not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates". It said the studies it reviewed should not be used to influence policymakers. "Claims that research demonstrates that capital punishment decreases or increases the homicide rate by a specified amount or has no effect on the homicide rate should not influence policy judgments about capital punishment," it said. One of the main problems was that it was impossible to know what a jurisdiction's murder rate would be with different sentencing options. "The data alone cannot reveal what the homicide rate in a state without (with) a capital punishment regime would have been had the state (not) had such a regime." A 2nd problem was "the use of incomplete or implausible models of potential murderers' perceptions of and response to the capital punishment component of a sanction regime". Without this basic information, "it is impossible to draw credible findings about the effect of the death penalty on homicide". Expert opinion While that review found the evidence was inconclusive, Jeffrey Fagan, a professor of law at Columbia University in the US, told Fact Check he believed that there was no evidence that showed the death penalty deterred. Professor Fagan, who appeared as an expert witness for Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran in an unsuccessful appeal in 2007, said there was "no credible scientific evidence that the death penalty deters criminal behaviour". "Even when executions are frequent and well-publicised, there are no observable changes in crime. Executions serve only to satisfy the urge for vengeance. Any retributive value is short-lived, lasting only until the next crime." His position is shared by the majority of criminologists in relation to homicide, according to a 2009 survey of members of the American Criminology Society, who were asked to limit their answers to their understanding of the empirical research and to exclude their personal opinions. That study found that over 88 % of the criminologists did not believe the death penalty deterred murderers. "In short, the consensus among criminologists is that the death penalty does not add any significant deterrent effect above that of long-term imprisonment," the study said. Professor Franklin Zimring of the University of California, Berkley, told Fact Check the evidence wasn't there to support the argument that the death penalty acted as a deterrent to murder. "The number of homicide studies over the past century is vast and there is no consistent evidence of marginal deterrent effect," he said. Murder, the death penalty and Asia Professor Zimring, with Professor Fagan and David T. Johnson of The University of Hawaii, conducted a study that compared Singapore - a country that does have the death penalty - with Hong Kong. According to the study, in the mid 1990s, Singapore's execution rate was among the highest in the world. There was a steep drop off in the decade after 1997 - a reduction of an estimated 95 %. Hong Kong abolished the death penalty in 1993. The 3 concluded that "the Singapore experience magnifies the impact of American assertions [that the death penalty deters] to a patently silly status". They found that "homicide levels and trends are remarkably similar in these 2 cities over the 35 years after 1973, with neither the surge in Singapore's executions nor the more recent steep drop producing any differential impact". South Africa In South Africa, the Constitutional Court considered the issue in 1995, and in a judgement that struck out use of the death penalty, said: "We would be deluding ourselves if we were to believe that the execution of the few persons sentenced to death during this period, and of a comparatively few other people each year from now onwards will provide the solution to the unacceptably high rate of crime. There will always be unstable, desperate, and pathological people for whom the risk of arrest and imprisonment provides no deterrent, but there is nothing to show that a decision to carry out the death sentence would have any impact on the behaviour of such people, or that there will be more of them if imprisonment is the only sanction." The court rejected the argument of the Attorney General that the death penalty was a powerful deterrent. The death penalty and drug offences When it comes to assessing deterrence in relation to drug-related crime, Harm Reduction International says finding reliable ways to measure the impact of executions is a big challenge for researchers. "A plethora of indicators could be used to consider deterrence with drugs," it says in its 2012 global review of the death penalty for drug offences. "Might it be arrests for drug offences? Representation of drug offenders in the prison population? Hospital admissions for drug-related issues? Overdose statistics (which can be brought down anyway with simple and cheap harm reduction interventions)? Moreover, which drugs: marijuana, cocaine, heroin, so-called 'party drugs' like ecstasy? Would a reduction in arrests for marijuana represent a successful indicator for all drugs? "Trying to prove or disprove the deterrent value of drug laws is extraordinarily difficult. Anecdotally, one could say harsh drug laws do not work. For example, Iran has some of the toughest drug laws in the world and a high prevalence of injection drug use. Sweden does not have the death penalty and it has comparatively low rates of problematic drug use." In their book, Professors Hood and Hoyle agree that producing evidence is difficult. They write that in all 33 countries with the death penalty for drug offences, "it has been argued that the death penalty is an indisputable deterrent to drug trafficking, but no evidence of a statistical kind has been forthcoming to support this contention". What's more they say it is unlikely that any such evidence could be gathered. "The low rates of effectiveness of law enforcement, the relative immunity from the law of those who profit most from the trade in drugs, and the higher risks of violence and death they most probably run from others engaged in the drugs trade, all make it seem implausible that the death penalty in itself will have a marginally stronger deterrent effect than long terms of imprisonment, especially when ... only 11 of 33 countries with power to execute offenders for drugs offences have actually done so within the past 10 years." In Mr Lynch's 2009 review of Indonesia's use of the death penalty and the Bali 9 case, he quotes Professor Fagan's expert testimony used in an attempt to appeal the death sentences for Mr Chan and Mr Sukumaran on a human rights basis. Professor Fagan "described extensive studies showing that criminals are deterred more by an increase in their likelihood of apprehension than by an increase in the magnitude of their punishment, meaning that likely capture is a more effective deterrent than potential death," Mr Lynch wrote. Professor Fagan argued that the comparative drug crime rates in Singapore and Indonesia, when compared with death sentences handed down showed that there was no deterrent effect. "If capital punishment had a deterrent effect on drug trafficking, this would lead to less drug trafficking, and therefore higher wholesale drug prices, in Singapore. However, wholesale drug prices for both cocaine and heroin were significantly higher in Indonesia than in Singapore from 2003 to 2006, and drugs generally were more prevalent in Singapore than Indonesia in that period, indicating that drug trafficking was not deterred as a result of Singapore's high levels of capital punishment," the article says. Mr Lynch wrote that a typical factor in drug-trafficking cases is the potential for large monetary gains, for which a trafficker might be prepared to risk even the death penalty. He quoted research discussing "the overwhelming effect of drug smugglers' potential financial gains, including one smuggler's comment that 'the money overrode any - any rational judgment'." The verdict There is scant research on whether the death penalty deters drug trafficking. Experts who have considered the issue of the death penalty as a punishment for murder, and in some cases drug offences, around the world, say there is not enough evidence to conclude that the death penalty deters. Justice Lasry's claim that it has no real deterrent value is well founded. (source: radioaustralia.net) IRAN: Hundreds support Iranian mystic facing death sentence----Taheri was nearly done with his prison sentence when the court changed the charge to one that carries the death penalty. A man who taught mysticism in Iran faces the death penalty after already serving almost 4 years in prison, in a case that has sparked outrage among hundreds of supporters. Mohammad Ali Taheri, founder of a popular spiritual group called "Erfan-e Halgheh," or "mysticism circle," has been kept in solitary confinement in Tehran's notorious Evin prison since May, 2011. Taheri, who taught popular spirituality and meditation classes, was originally given a 5-year sentence for "insulting Islamic sanctities," an offense that does not carry the death penalty as it does not involve the deliberate insulting of the Prophet Mohammad. But with just a year left in his sentence, authorities have changed the charges to "corruption on Earth," which can potentially lead to a death sentence, according to his family. Yesterday, Taheri's wife, daughter and brother attended a court hearing, when they were told to come back after the Iranian New Year, celebrated March 21, family members told FoxNews.com. Hundreds of supporters gathered in protest outside the courthouse, prompting authorities to use tear gas and arrest more than 70, according to Taghato News. Taheri has endured a dozen hunger strikes while in solitary confinement and attempted suicide four times, according to supporters. His internal organs are now failing, according to his wife. If he is executed, he will be just 1 of more than 1,200 prisoners executed since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August of 2013. Iran has about 220,000 prisoners, in a country with a total population of about 75 million, according to Gholamhossein Esmaili, Iran's chief prison official. Taheri's teachings include belief that every human being deserves love, respect and equality before God and treating others as you would want to be treated. He also practiced a form of healing and relaxation through meditation. "The government wants to call him a cult leader because his teachings go against what they want us to hear," said Anita Ghanaei, a student of Taheri's course. "The Iranian government has created an environment where people are in duress, and once a person is in duress it is easier to hate than love." Taheri has been denied access to his lawyer, according to his family. The case may go beyond that of Iranian authorities cracking down on a spiritual leader, according to Ghanaei, who says Taheri was arrested when a man, whose wife left him, blamed Taheri's teachings. In July 2014, Taheri sent a letter to Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, detailing the abuses and torture he has endured. (source: Fox News) INDONESIA: 19 E. Java Workers Face Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia 19 migrant workers from East Java are facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, according to the province's Human Resources and Civil Registration Agency. Thousands of other migrant workers from East Java are being prosecuted for breaking the law abroad, the agency was reported as saying on Wednesday. Their alleged offenses range from lack of proper documentations and getting caught after entering the country illegally, to involvement in drug abuse. "We seek assistance from the Foreign Affairs Ministry," Edi Purwinarto, the head of the East Java Human Resources and Civil Registration Agency, told newsportal Tempo.co on Wednesday. Nusron Wahid, the head of the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI), said that there was a total of 229 migrant workers facing the death penalty and 38 of them had been convicted already. "They, including the 19 migrant workers from East Java, are filing appeals," Nusron said. The Indonesian government, which is facing international criticism over imminent execution of 11 foreign and local drug convicts, is providing legal assistance for the convicted migrant workers and is seeking to discuss the ongoing issue with Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. (source: The Jakarta Globe) ****************** Bali 9: Indonesian leader considering death penalty stance, says Abbott ---- Australian prime minister says he thinks Joko Widodo is 'carefully considering Indonesia's position' following conversation Indonesia is "carefully considering" its position in relation to the execution of the Bali 9 ringleaders following a conversation between Tony Abbott and the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, the Australian prime minister has said. Abbott spoke to his Indonesian counterpart overnight to plead for clemency for the Australian drug traffickers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. "It was a positive sign that the conversation took place," Abbott said on Thursday morning. "I don't think it would help the case of these 2 young Australians if I was to start ventilating in public the contents of the conversation. Suffice to say that the president absolutely understands our position ... and I think he is carefully considering Indonesia's position," he said. "I don't want to raise hope that might turn out to be dashed. I don't want to reflect on Indonesia or my friend president Joko Widodo. I want to ensure that as far as is humanly possible, I am speaking out for Australians and for Australian values. But I also have to respect and defend Australia's friendships. One of the very best of our friendships is that with Indonesia," Abbott said. Abbott called on Widodo to spare the duo's lives, pointing to their rehabilitation while in Bali's Kerobokan jail. It is understood Abbott expressed Australia's hope that Indonesia would show mercy to Chan and Sukumaran. The leader of opposition business, Tony Burke, told Sky News that Labor and the Coalition "stand together" in efforts to save Chan and Sukumaran. "There's been complete bipartisanship and support in the way the government has been trying to seek clemency here," Burke said. The pair, who were caught trying to smuggle heroin into Indonesia in 2005 as part of the Bali 9 drug ring, are expected to be transferred in preparation for their execution after a last-ditch legal plea for clemency failed. The ABC reported that leaders from France, Brazil and the Netherlands have called Widodo in relation to their citizens who are also facing the firing squad. Bilateral relations have been strained since Abbott asked Indonesia to reciprocate for Australia's aid contribution following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami by sparing Chan and Sukumaran. As part of a widespread backlash to Abbott's comments, Aceh residents began a social media campaign to repay the aid. (source: The Guardian) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 27 11:09:44 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 11:09:44 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., N.C., GA., FLA. Message-ID: Feb. 27 TEXAS: British Woman On Death Row Gets Rare Hearing From Texas' Last Resort Court The highest criminal court in Texas has granted a rare hearing to review allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the high-profile death row case of British national Linda Carty. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' Wednesday decision is potentially a much-sought break for Carty, 56, who is facing the death penalty for a 2002 capital murder conviction. After new evidence is put before the trial court, it will decide if she will finally get an appeal. Her 3 previous attempts at an appeal hearing were unsuccessful. "My understanding is that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rarely grants a hearing in such matters," Carty's attorney, Michael Goldberg, told The Huffington Post by phone from Russia. "It's tremendous. It's unbelievable." Lynn Hardaway, a Harris County district attorney, agreed: "It does happen, but very infrequently." Carty was convicted for the 2001 kidnapping and murder of her neighbor, Joana Rodriguez. Prosecutors claimed Carty was so desperate for a baby to save her common-law marriage that she schemed to steal Rodriguez's newborn son and pass him off as her own. Rodriguez was found dead a day after being abducted; the baby survived the ordeal unharmed. Affidavits signed in 2014 by the state's star witness, Christopher Robinson, and a retired DEA agent who recruited Carty as an informant allege that Harris County Assistant District Attorney Connie Spence coached, coerced and otherwise threatened witnesses to seal a conviction, according to the Houston Chronicle. Robinson is among 4 co-defendants who testified against Carty; in doing so, he secured a life sentence without the death penalty. Carty has maintained her innocence from the start, and her plea has attracted considerable attention from British media, celebrities and U.K.-based supporters. Carty, who was born in St. Kitts, then a British territory, emigrated to the United States and holds dual citizenship. Assistant District Attorney Roe Wilson, who handles capital appeals for Harris County, previously told the Chronicle the state would launch an investigation if the court agreed Carty's case deserve a closer look. Hardaway told HuffPost Wednesday the allegations of misconduct are "claims the office takes very seriously. We have been investigating and we will file a response." She also noted that Carty's lawyers had requested the review hearing based additional counts as well -- including Carty's long-standing claim of innocence -- but the court rejected half of them. Goldberg said his firm Baker Botts, which has fought pro bono for Carty for nearly 10 years, is nonetheless pleased: "The entire Baker Botts team is so happy Linda is finally getting her 1st real, transparent hearing." A date for the hearing has not yet been set. (source: Huffington Post) ***************** British grandmother on death row in Texas for kidnap and murder to have case reviewed in light of 'new evidence' -- Linda Carty is facing lethal injection but has always insisted she's innocent A British grandmother facing the lethal injection in Texas for kidnap and murder is to have her case reviewed after lawyers claimed they have uncovered new evidence. An appeal from Linda Carty will be sent back to her trial court in Houston for additional review in a move welcomed by human rights group Reprieve, which has been helping with her case. Carty was convicted of masterminding the fatal kidnapping of Joana Rodriguez, her 25-year-old neighbour, who was seized by three men along with her 4-day-old son in 2001. Ms Rodriguez was later found dead from suffocation, with duct tape over her mouth and a plastic bag around her head. Her body was found in a car Carty had been leasing and the baby was discovered in the vehicle unharmed. There was no forensic evidence linking Carty to the crime, but the 3 attackers testified that Carty had hired them to carry out the kidnapping as part of a plea bargain that saw them dodge the death penalty. Lawyers for Carty, 56, claim prosecutors coerced witnesses into giving false evidence at the trial where she was convicted. Their appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also argues prosecutors arranged for a deal with a co-defendant that was not disclosed to defense lawyers. They claim that four jurors now say they either would have acquitted Carty or not given her a death sentence. The Harris County prosecutor's office said it was investigating the claims. Former primary school teacher Carty was born on the Caribbean island of St Kitts before its independence from Britain. She had lived in Houston for nearly 20 years before being arrested. Celia Ouellette, staff attorney at Reprieve, said: 'This is a wonderful day for Linda - and for justice. 'That a prosecutor can threaten witnesses to lie under oath and testify against a woman, who ends up being convicted of murder and sentenced to death as a direct result, is truly devastating. 'We look forward to giving Linda a day in court that is not rigged against her from the start.' Carty's US lawyer, Michael Goldberg of Baker Botts LLP, said: 'It has long been clear that Linda should have a new trial because of the catalogue of errors in her first. 'Linda's whole team has been working tirelessly for more than a decade to achieve this result and we look forward to giving Linda the chance at justice that she deserves.' Carty has lodged a number of appeals against her conviction, all of which have been rejected. In 2010, Lord Faulkner raised her case in the House of Lords in July, asking British government to press for a reprieve. That same year, she contested her conviction in a video plea alongside a document from the British Government outlining its concerns over the trial. That request for a retrial was based on claims she was given inadequate legal support during her original trial and the Government were blocked in their efforts to help her. Her daughter, Jovelle Carty Joubert, has spent years rallying MPs for support following the US Supreme Court's refusal to re-open her case. In 2012, the Foreign Office said it was lobbying the Texas authorities to stop her execution, with a statement reading: 'The Prime Minister and British Government are deeply concerned.' Ms Carty has always insisted she was framed by 3 men in revenge for her work as an informant working for a drug enforcement agency. If the latest efforts fail, she is to be executed by lethal injection. The last British woman to be executed was Ruth Ellis in 1955. She was hanged for shooting her lover outside a pub in North London. (source: Daily Mail) VIRGINIA: Death Penalty Specialist Added To Robert's Defense Team The man charged with 5 counts of capital murder and other crimes in connection with the 2009 killing of William Bennett and the beating of his wife Cynthia returned to Loudoun County Circuit Court this morning. Judge Thomas D. Horne heard a series of motions by Anthony Roberts's court-appointed defense team. Horne agreed to add Matthew Engle, a Charlottesville attorney with expertise in defending death penalty cases as co-counsel. He also authorized the defense team to hire an independent criminal investigator to review and collect evidence in the case. 2 issues were left undecided following Thursday's hearing. Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Plowman asked Horne to schedule Robert's trial to begin in early July. Plowman said he wants to make sure the case proceeds in compliance with the defendant's right to a speedy trial. Defense attorneys said it was premature to set a trial date. Horne scheduled a March 12 hearing to put the case on the trial docket. The other unresolved question was where Roberts will be held pending trial. Defense attorneys requested Roberts be transferred to jail in Alexandria or Arlington, allowing him to be more assessable for consultation with his attorneys who are based in Arlington. Plowman and Horne questioned why Roberts should not return to Red Onion, the state's maximum-security prison in Wise County where he is serving time for burglaries that occurred in the days before and after the attack on the Bennetts. Horne set an April 20 hearing to decide on the custody issue. 6 years after the attack, Roberts was indicted Feb. 9 on 5 counts of capital murder, 2 counts of robbery, one count of aggravated malicious wounding, object sexual penetration, abduction with intent to defile, and rape. 2 other men already have been convicted for their roles in the attack. Jaime Ayala was sentenced to life plus 40 years in August 2011 after pleading guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the case. Darwin G. Bowman was sentenced to serve 43 years and 5 months for his role in the attack. The sentence for Ayala, who agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, was later reduced at the request of the commonwealth to match Bowman's sentence. The attack on the Bennetts occurred around 5:30 a.m. March 22, 2009, as the couple was walking along Riverside Parkway in Lansdowne. According to court testimony in the related cases, Ayala, who was 17 at the time, was driving the van on the road. When Roberts, a passenger, noticed the Bennetts on their morning outing, he ordered the teen to turn around. As the van reached the Bennetts, Roberts and Bowman jumped out and attacked them. (source: Leesburg Today) NORTH CAROLINA----female faces death penalty Warrant: Woman stabbed 24 times ---- Neighbor also accused of hitting her with statue, garden shovel A Winston-Salem woman facing the death penalty is accused of hitting her 76-year-old neighbor with a statue, stabbing her more than 20 times with a kitchen knife and then striking the woman with a shovel, according to a search warrant filed last month in Forsyth Superior Court. Cathy Gwenzell Burrell, 52, of the 1500 block of Longview Drive is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death Nov. 4, 2013, of Beatrice Caldwell Rorie. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin are prosecuting the case and will be seeking the death penalty against Burrell. O'Neill said Wednesday that the rules of professional responsibility prohibit him from commenting publicly on any pending case. Winston-Salem Police Det. J. Morissette executed the search warrant Jan. 22 to obtain hair samples from Burrell, who is in the Forsyth County Jail, to compare with hair strands that police seized from Rorie's body. Officers had found a number of hair strands in Rorie's left hand. The search warrant said that Burrell gave a statement to police admitting that she had killed Rorie. Burrell's attorneys, Duane Bryant and J. D. Byers, could not be reached Wednesday. In the application for the search warrant, Morissette said that Burrell had gone to Rorie's house Nov. 4, 2013, sometime between noon and 6 p.m. to discuss the $100 that Burrell owed Rorie. Burrell told police that she and Rorie walked into the living room and that Burrell told Rorie she would not be paying back the $100, which was 2 months late, according to the search warrant. Burrell told police that she asked Rorie for more money and then hit Rorie over the head with a bronze statue. Morissette said in the search warrant application that evidence at the scene suggested the two women struggled and that Burrell stabbed Rorie in the chest, arms and back with a kitchen knife. "Despite her injuries, Ms. Rorie put up a vigorous struggle in defense of her life," Morissette said in the search warrant. Burrell continued assaulting Rorie down the steps and into the basement of the house, and Rorie attempted to escape through the garage door exit, screaming "Help me," according to the search warrant. Burrell dragged Rorie back to the basement and lowered the garage door, Morissette writes in the search warrant application. Burrell stabbed Rorie in the neck area multiple times and struck her with a garden shovel several times in the face and head, according to the search warrant. Burrell washed up in the downstairs bathroom and left through the front door, according to the search warrant. Rorie's brother, nephew and another family member had gone to check on Rorie and found her body around 6 p.m. that day, the search warrant said. They then contacted the Winston-Salem Police Department. Morissette said an autopsy conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center concluded that Rorie died from a severe loss of blood. The autopsy report listed approximately 24 stab wounds to the front part of her neck, the search warrant said. A trial is scheduled for August. (source: Winston-Salem Journal) GEORGIA: Man faces death penalty trial for baby's death In a Dougherty County death penalty case, Gregory Evans was re-indicted on murder charges to move toward trial. Gregory Evans was indicted on 10 charges including murder, in the beating death of 19 month old Janaysia Stevenson in March 2011. Prosecutors say the child was beaten so viciously, her liver, kidneys, and intestines were hemorrhaged, killing her. Because of the cruelty, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. "Beaten brutally by the defendant. And that is what is included in the current indictment. The aggravating circumstance, and we will be pursuing this as a death penalty case," said D. A. Greg Edwards. Now moving toward trial, prosecutors re-indicted Evans to assure he was indicted by a grand jury with a constitutionally mandated diverse makeup. (source: WALB news) FLORIDA: US Supreme Court won't lift stay in Florida execution The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to lift a stay of execution of a convicted Florida quadruple-murderer while the justices review the drug mixture used in lethal injections. The high court issued a 1-page ruling Wednesday in Washington rejecting a request by Florida officials to allow the execution of Jerry Correll to proceed. Correll had been scheduled to die Thursday for the 1985 killings in Orlando of his ex-wife, daughter and 2 other people. The stay was initially granted Feb. 17 by the Florida Supreme Court because scheduled executions in Oklahoma had been halted while the U.S. Supreme Court determines if a sedative used in executions is effective. Florida uses the same sedative, midazolam. The Florida Supreme Court previously reviewed the use of midazolam and found it to be effective. (source: Associated Press) ********************* State seeks death penalty for Granville Ritchie in slaying of Tampa 9-year-old Prosecutors have announced that they will seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a 9-year-old Tampa girl last year. The announcement was made Thursday morning during a routine court hearing in the case of Granville Ritchie, who is charged with 1st-degree murder, sexual battery, and aggravated child abuse in the death of Felecia Williams. Williams vanished in May while in the care of a family friend. The friend, Eboni Wiley, took the girl to a Temple Terrace apartment, where she met with Ritchie. Wiley later left the girl alone with Ritchie and returned later to find her gone, authorities have said. The next day, a couple fishing near the Courtney Campbell Causeway found the girl's body in the water. A 3-month investigation ensued, culminating in a murder charge against Ritchie in August. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. (source: Tampa Bay Times) ********************* Prosecutors seeking death penalty for man accused of killing Felecia Williams Prosecutors announced Thursday that they will seek the death penalty for Granville Ritchie, who is accused of raping and murdering 9-year-old Felecia Williams last year. Ritchie, 36, has pleaded not guilty. He has been in jail since May 2014, when he was arrested in St. Petersburg on unrelated drug charges. Police said Ritchie and Eboni Wiley, a neighbor who described herself as a friend of Felecia's family, picked up the girl from her East Tampa home and drove her to Ritchie's Temple Terrace apartment on May 16, 2014. At some point, Wiley left Ritchie and Felecia alone while she went to buy marijuana, records show. While she was gone, police said, Ritchie hit Felecia over the head, raped her and strangled her. Temple Terrace police said Ritchie hid her body in a suitcase until he could dump it in the waters near the Courtney Campbell Causeway, where the girl's body was found the next day. Ritchie was formally charged with Felecia's murder in August. (source: The Tampa Tribune) *************************** So, you support the death penalty. Then why aren't you doing this...? Sunday's column - "Change the Debate: Errors Show we must end death penalty" - drew some intense responses, as you might expect. There were strong passions and good points on both sides. Still, I was struck by one sentiment I heard over and over again from death-penalty supporters. It basically went like this: We need to keep executing folks - we just also need to do everything we can to make sure we get it right. Well, here's the thing: Florida is NOT doing everything it can to get it right. At all. There is actually a long list of things could be doing to improve the accuracy of its convictions. Yet it has been largely ignored. The list was comprised by the state's Innocence Commission in the wake of Florida's shameful record of convicting such a large number of innocent people. (Many of them sentenced to life in prison and held for decades before science proved they didn't do the crime.) The recommendations - from judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, experts and more - called for things like clear standards for conducting unbiased suspect lineups (where witnesses wouldn't be led in one direction or another) and stricter rules about relying on testimony from jailhouse snitches (those who are promised lenient sentences in exchange for ratting out another inmate). The recommendations were clear - and yet they have been largely ignored. (As we wrote about here "Wrongful convictions have moral, financial costs" and here: "Florida increasingly alone in its zeal to kill inmates.") So my question to all those folks sending me emails talking about their support for the death penalty is this: Are you also sending emails to your state's leaders, encouraging them to improved our flawed convictions? Because, if you're not, I'm not sure I really buy your contention that you want to make sure we get it right. As I have said before: I understand both sides of the moral debate over the death penalty. I really do. What I don't understand is how anyone can support the death penalty - but not support efforts to make sure the state is killing the right people. (source: Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 27 11:11:03 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 11:11:03 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, ARK., IND., UTAH Message-ID: Feb. 27 OHIO: Church avoids death sentence in 2009 murders in Lima Hager Church was sent off to prison Wednesday with 2 additional life sentences after a jury refused to give him the death penalty for setting a fire that killed 2 people in 2009. "I'm sorry, truly sorry for what I did," Church said. "It's something I can never take back and I got to live the rest of my life with this. Now I can move on and move forward and spend the rest of my life in prison." Church, 30, also turned to the family of the woman he killed in 2010 and for which he is serving a life sentence with no chance for parole. "I know I am completely wrong. For whatever reason I did these things. I ask for your forgiveness not for me but so you can move on so you don't have any hard feelings," he said. Church's comments were the opposite of several earlier statements he gave which he said he deserved the death penalty and wanted it. Deb Henderson's mother, Nancy Henderson, who was at the trial every day even though Church was convicted and sentenced in 2011 for that murder, said she accepts the jury's decision. She said she learned of more details about her daughter's death and cleared up some misperceptions. "This is OK because we knew he wouldn't get out of" prison, she said. She said while her daughter's name may be only a name in the newspaper to people who didn't know her, Deb Henderson always will be her daughter and a family member to the rest of the relatives in the courtroom. "This is our lives that we're living and it's been very hard," she said. "It will give us peace." Church also turned to the jury and thanked them for sparing his life. Church said he would not appeal his sentence. The jury had to reach a unanimous verdict for the death penalty in order for a death sentence. It was not announced how many jurors voted against the death penalty. Judge Jeffrey Reed of Allen County Common Pleas Court sentenced Church to 2 additional life sentences with no chance for parole, stacked on top of a life sentence with no chance for parole for Henderson's murder. Although disappointed the jury did not return a death sentence, Prosecutor Juergen Waldick said the verdicts and sentence will keep Church in prison where he belongs if a court later overturns one of his convictions. "We still have other ones," Waldick said. "The public can be pretty sure he will never get out of prison. We have that insurance policy." Church was sentenced on 2 counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated arson in the deaths of Massie "Tina" Flint, 45, and her boyfriend, Rex Hall, 54. He is accused of beating Flint and then starting a fire to cover it up and ultimately killed the 2. The crime happened June 14, 2009, in a house at 262 S. Pine St. Lima Fire Investigator Toby Jenkins initially ruled the fire accidental but a couple of years later Church began telling inmates about it. When other inmates tried to gain a favor by reporting Church, he came forward and confessed to a Lima Police Department detective. Waldick said there was information Ohio law prevented him from telling the jury such as Church already was serving a life sentence with no chance for parole. He also was not allowed to tell the jury Church severely beat a man in prison and was convicted of felonious assault for it. Church also attacked a person in the Allen County jail, Waldick said. "I think it would have let the jury get a really clear picture of the character of this individual," Waldick said. Although the public is safe from Church, Waldick said those working in the state prison system will have to deal with him and his violent tendencies for the rest of his life. "He still presents a lot of danger," Waldick said. "Somebody serving a life sentence does not have anything to lose." Church's lead attorney, Greg Meyers, said he was grateful the jury carefully considered his argument about Church's troubled childhood and arrived at a life sentence. "The sanction of life in prison is appropriate," Meyers said. The families of Flint and Hall did not attend the trial. A representative of Crime Victims Services said it was too painful for them. *************** Judge enters not guilty plea for man A man facing the death penalty for allegedly beating a man to death inside a Uniopolis apartment refused to enter a plea Thursday. Aaron M. Dietrich Sr., 26, of Wapakoneta, was in court on the charges of 2 counts of aggravated murder and 1 count each of aggravated burglary, kidnapping and intimidation of a witness. Judge Frederick Pepple entered a not guilty plea on all charges on Dietrich's behalf after he refused. Bond was continued at $5 million and a pretrial scheduled for March 30. Dietrich and 2 other men are facing the death penalty over the June 9 death of Charles Hicks, 54, who was found dead in his apartment at 2 Main St., Uniopolis. The indictment said Hicks was killed to prevent his testimony as a witness in a criminal case. (source for both: limaohio.com) *********************** Ricky Jackson: How America's Longest Serving Exoneree Went From Death Row to Freedom In late 1975, 19-year-old Ricky Jackson was sentenced to die by electrocution. Almost 40 years later, his conviction was overturned, and he walked out the front door of the Cuyahoga County courthouse a free man. Ricky is now the longest serving American exoneree on record. The crime that sent him to prison was the brutal murder and robbery of a white money order salesman named Harold Franks. In May 1975, 2 men attacked Franks as he left a corner store. They threw acid in his face and shot him multiple times in a struggle over his briefcase. The men also shot the store's owner, before fleeing down the street and into a green getaway car. Just after the shooting, a crowd of close to a hundred ended up gathering at the scene, including a 12-year-old boy, Eddie Vernon. Like most of the neighborhood, Eddie was close with the store owner who had been nearly killed. He wanted to help, and he told police he knew what happened. Based on his story, police arrested Ricky, Ronnie Bridgeman and Ronnie's brother Wiley for the crime. In his initial statements, Eddie seemed reluctant to provide details. When he did, he got many of the major facts about the crime wrong. Police, however, interpreted this reluctance as authenticity, and they latched onto Eddie very early as the critical witness in the case. Evidence pointing other directions was abandoned, including witnesses who saw the shooters and told police they were not the defendants, and witnesses who placed Eddie on a school bus during the shooting. Incredibly, police were even able to match the license plate number of the alleged green getaway car to a known felon in the area -- with no connection to any of the 3 defendants. By that time, however, police appeared to have made up their minds and were content to rest the entire case on Eddie Vernon's young shoulders. His testimony alone was enough for the jury to convict and sentence all 3 to death. In the late 1970s, all 3 had their sentences commuted to life in prison, when the Supreme Court held Ohio's procedures for capital sentencing were unconstitutional. In 2014, the Ohio Innocence Project filed for a new trial on Ricky Jackson's behalf. This past November, Eddie Vernon -- now in his early 50s -- admitted in emotional testimony that he had never seen the crime. According to Eddie, he was initially just trying to be helpful and passing along rumors to police. His mother knew he was lying, and convinced him just days after the crime that he needed to set the record straight and tell the truth. So when Eddie went to a police line-up just days after the crime, the 12 year old tried to back out. He refused to pick any of the three arrested men. According to his testimony in 2014, police were furious. They took young Eddie into a back room, pounded on the table, screamed at him, and threatened that his parents could go to jail if he backed out. Eddie relented and picked the 3 men out of a lineup. Over a number of follow up interviews, Eddie was fed details of the crime through leading questions. By the time of trial, his story was consistent with other actual witnesses to the crime. At the end of a 2 day hearing in 2014, to their immense credit, county prosecutors conceded that the case against Ricky Jackson should be dismissed. Last Tuesday, a judge formally recognized that Ricky and his 2 co-defendants never committed the crime for which all 3 were nearly executed. Wrongful convictions can happen for dozens of different reasons. Junk science. Faulty witness memories. Tunnel vision or overzealousness by police and prosecutors. Most of these cases involve human beings who are trying to reach the right result, but who have made good faith errors about the facts. Sometimes they may have become biased about facts in ways that are difficult to undo. Only rarely is there evidence of actual intentional corruption. Of course, this is small consolation to Ricky and the hundreds of other exonerees who have spent significant portions of their lives in prison. But it does matter when it comes to how we can best prevent these miscarriages from happening in the future. The basic blueprint for meaningful reform is already taking shape. Progress is slowly being made in recognizing and rejecting junk forensic science like microscopic hair comparison or "bite mark" analysis. Video recording interviews is becoming ubiquitous. Procedures are being developed that address hidden biases, not only from witnesses, but from police and forensic analysts. New investigation procedures can avoid tainting fragile witness memories by use of double-blind line up procedures. There is much left to be done, of course, but even small reforms may have made a difference in Ricky's case. Of course, better procedures will not prevent all wrongful convictions. There is nothing to suggest that overt racism led to Ricky Jackson's conviction. But like most criminal cases in the country, it is impossible to divorce the circumstances of Ricky Jackson's conviction from the issue of race. Juries are more likely to give the death penalty for crimes where the victim is white and the accused is black. Perhaps the same factors make them more likely to convict in those circumstances, even where the evidence is weak. Overlapping issues of race and class mean that African-Americans defendants are forced to rely on overworked public defenders at greater rates than white defendants. Black people are more likely to be subject to wrongful convictions, not because of anything particularly special about these cases, but often for the same systematic reasons that lurk in the background of almost every criminal case in this country. In that sense, Ricky's case is more mundane. These problems are more than procedural, they are societal, and fixing them will almost certainly require changes beyond the criminal justice system. (source: This post is part of the "28 Black Lives That Matter" series produced by The Huffington Post for Black History Month. Each day in February, this series will shine a spotlight on one African-American individual who made headlines in 2014 -- mostly in circumstances we all wished had not taken place. This series will pay tribute to these individuals and address the underlying circumstances that led to their unfortunate outcomes. To follow the conversation on Twitter, view #28BlackLives.----Huffington Post) ************************** Jury ends 1st day of deliberations without returning verdicts for Daniel Tighe, accused of killing son, former girlfriend A Summit County jury has begun deliberating capital murder charges against the man accused of killing a Tallmadge woman and her son whose decomposing bodies were found behind their suburban duplex. Daniel Tighe, 41, declined to testify Thursday. After closing arguments by attorneys, the jury began its deliberations in midafternoon. The jurors, who were ordered sequestered by Common Pleas Judge Lynne Callahan until they reach unanimous verdicts, will reconvene Friday after a break was called following 6 hours of deliberations Thursday. Tighe would face a death penalty sentencing hearing if jurors convict him of the July 2013 slaying of his former girlfriend, Wendy Ralston, and their 5-year-old son, Peyton. Prior to trial, Tighe declined a plea deal that would have spared his life and left him with a lifelong prison term. He has pleaded not guilty. Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Baumoel told jurors in his closing arguments that Tighe and Ralston, 31, had a combative, on/off relationship and that Tighe might have killed her, possibly through strangulation, during an argument or fit of rage. Tighe was homeless and unemployed and had moved into Ralston's home 3 months before her death. Baumoel could not say why Tighe might have killed his own son, but he speculated that the boy might have witnessed his mother's death inside her Stone Creek Drive home. Prosecutors believe that after the killings, Tighe wrapped the bodies in sheets and blankets and put them in the woods behind the home "like a piece of trash." The remains were found Aug. 10, 2013, about 2 weeks after Ralston made a final posting on her Facebook page, July 23. An exact cause of death could not be determined because of the extensive decomposition. "Daniel Tighe did the unthinkable," Baumoel told jurors. "When I try to come up with words to describe killing your own 5-year-old son, I can't come up with words to describe that. It's beyond senseless. It's beyond heinous. It's beyond horrific." There are no witnesses to the slaying, and the state's case is largely circumstantial. Defense attorney Joseph Gorman reminded jurors of that fact during his closing remarks. He reminded jurors of Ralston???s lifestyle and multiple boyfriends, none of whom, he said, were as closely investigated by Tallmadge police as Tighe was from the outset. Gorman said prosecutors lacked physical evidence and instead chose to focus on text messages Tighe supposedly sent that included words of hatred toward Ralston and their son. Evidence also has suggested that Tighe was physically and verbally abusive toward them. "You may not like Daniel Tighe, but that doesn't make him a murderer," Gorman told jurors. Baumoel discounted Tighe's cooperation and instead asked jurors to focus on key pieces of evidence collected from the home and the woods where mother and child were left. The boy's body was wrapped in a green blanket along with three stuffed animals, including a giraffe that Peyton favored. A juice box, just like the ones from inside the house, was also near the child's body. Ralston's remains were bound with electrical tape and wrapped in a floral comforter. The tape matched a roll found inside the home. (source: ohio.com) ARKANSAS: Lawmaker plans to file firing squad legislation A lawmaker whose 12-year-old daughter was murdered by a man now on death row said Thursday that she will work to make the firing squad a legal execution method in Arkansas because court challenges have stalled efforts to resume the death penalty using lethal injections. Republican Rep. Rebecca Petty of Rogers said she was spurred to introduce a proposal aimed at resuming executions after a state Senate committee on Wednesday advanced a bill to eliminate the death penalty as a sentencing option in capital murder cases. That bill to eliminate the death penalty is unlikely to clear the GOP-dominated Senate or House. "It felt like a slap in the face," she said of the legislative action to eliminate the death penalty. The death penalty is legal in Arkansas and there are 32 inmates on death row. But the state hasn't executed anyone since 2005 due to ongoing legal challenges over lethal injection protocol. Capital punishment is authorized in 32 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Similar bills to allow firing squad executions are being considered by the Utah and Wyoming Legislatures and Oklahoma lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow that state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates. Petty said she will look at what is working in other states to help fill in the details of her legislation. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson last week signed into law a separate bill from Petty that lets family members of murder victims witness executions in-person. The bill was named "Andi's Law," after her 12-year-old daughter, who was killed in 1999. That bill was supported 95-0 in the House and 34-0 in the Senate. Petty, a freshman legislator, is hopeful the support for execution viewings translates to support for restarting them. She said lengthy legal processes and delays keeps family members of victims in limbo and that they deserve closure. "It's very difficult to live through appeals after appeals after appeals and it's not right," Petty said. Even if the change is embraced by the Republican legislature, it could face hurdles at the executive level. Both Hutchinson and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge indicated they support the approved method of lethal injection. "In my view, the most timely opportunity to carry out the death penalty will be by focusing on the legislative mandate for lethal injection in a manner that is acceptable to the courts," Hutchinson said in an email Thursday. Rutledge campaigned last year on restarting the death penalty and defeated an opponent who wanted to bring back the electric chair. She didn't comment on the firing squad proposal, but spokesman Judd Deere said her preferred method is lethal injection. "The Attorney General is committed to working with the Assembly to strengthen Arkansas' death penalty laws," Deere said. Tony Pirani, president of the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, opposes execution regardless of method, but said firing squads would be a step backward for the state. "I don't think that's the direction that Arkansans are looking to go on this," Pirani said. (source: Associated Press) ********************** Local Attorney Supports Bill That Abolishes Arkansas Death Penalty A former public defender in Washington and Benton Counties is urging Arkansas legislators to abolish the death penalty in Arkansas. Tony Pirani, who identifies as a Republican, said he believes the state should be held to higher standards. On Wednesday (Feb. 25) Pirani testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Little Rock to support a bill filed by Sen. David Burnett, D-Osceola. "1 person wrongfully executed is too many," Pirani said. Pirani said he used to be for the death penalty, but his Christian beliefs changed his mind. "We are all more than our worst moment," Pirani said. Some say they can understand why Arkansas has the death penalty. "Some [people] are [for the death penalty] because they think the death penalty is okay," said Anthony Harris. "[The government thinks] people will not commit the same crimes," said Jose Pena. "They will see the real example the government is trying to implement." But, Pirani said that's not the case. "The death penalty does not serve as the effective deterrent," Pirani said. "The people who are committing these crimes are not thinking about what may happen in court later. They're in the heat of the moment when those things occur. A life in prison is a more severe punishment than the death penalty, because there is no exit." Pena said some families may see the death penalty as a way to get closure. "They might feel on their hearts that it will help in some way," Pena said. Pirani believes life in prison, without parole, should be the state's highest punishment because there's a chance a prisoner wrongly prosecuted. "Once we make that ultimate decision, it is too late to fix those mistakes," Pirani said. Pirani also argues keeping inmates in prison for life is cheaper than executing them. He said preliminary court proceedings for those facing the death penalty can cost the state a minimum of $100,000. Right now, Arkansas has 31 inmates on death row, but Pirani said there hasn't been an execution in the state in more than a decade. Burnett's bill passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on a roll call vote. It has to pass the full House and Senate and be signed by the governor in order to become law. (source: KFSM news) **************** Hearing set to consider mental evaluation for suspect in Realtor killing A judge will consider next week a mental evaluation that found the man charged in the kidnapping and killing of a Little Rock real estate agent fit to proceed to trial. Arron Lewis, 34, was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, but he was not transported from an Arkansas Department of Correction facility and Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright set a hearing next Wednesday instead. Lewis' mental evaluation, which was filed Thursday, found him fit to proceed despite being found to have antisocial personality disorder. Wright still must accept the finding, which is expected to be one matter discussed at the hearing. Lewis and his estranged wife, 42-year-old Crystal Lowery, are each charged with capital murder in the killing of Realtor Beverly Carter, whose body was found last year in a shallow grave in northern Pulaski County days after she disappeared after going to show a home in Scott. Lowery, who is being held at the Pulaski County jail pending trial, was in court Thursday, though no action was taken beyond setting the Wednesday hearing date for her as well. Lowery's attorney has not requested a mental evaluation for her. Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Johnson said he wasn't clear on the complication that caused Lewis not to be transported, though he believed it was a transportation problem. Lewis, who was returned to prison after his parole was revoked, is being held in the Department of Correction's maximum security unit at Tucker. The Arkansas State Hospital report from clinical psychologist Dr. Melissa Dannacher, released after the hearing, noted that Lewis complained frequently about this attorney but has an "adequate level of factual understanding of criminal proceedings" despite having a "highly negative view of his attorney." The mental evaluation was requested by Lewis' attorney, Jim Hensley, over Lewis' objections. "...[T]he manner in which [Lewis] tends to handle disagreements is reflective of the pervasive impulsivity and narcissism associated with his severe personality pathology," Dannacher wrote. "Nevertheless, he does not display symptoms of a mental disease or defect that would preclude his capacity to work with his attorney effectively if he so chooses." Dannacher said Lewis in an interview expressed concerns about getting a fair trial. "Mr. Lewis was well aware of his legal charges and the evidence in his case," she wrote. "He also understood the possible outcomes in his case as 'pleading' down to life in prison or receiving the death penalty. He claimed to prefer the death penalty over life in a state prison." Dannacher added that Lewis said he would not testify or accept a plea bargain. And she wrote that Lewis claimed his confession to investigators was "coerced" while denying he was responsible for Carter's kidnapping or killing. "He claimed that during the interrogation, 'They were beating the s*** out of me,' and that his face was 'smashed into the wall in the bathroom,'" Dannacher wrote. "He further claimed that he was 'yelling for help' and asked for his lawyer repeatedly." Lewis repeatedly said he did not intend to pursue a defense of innocent by reason of mental disease or defect, Dannacher wrote. She wrote that because of that, she did not include Lewis' statements about "events on the day of the alleged offenses." Dannacher wrote that Lewis "rambled off-topic a great deal," answered only questions to which he could speak about his own concerns and at times even made "pejorative statements" about Carter. "For example, he stated, 'It'll be a real shocker when everyone hears what the good girl did,'" Dannacher wrote. Johnson said he could not comment on the findings in Lewis' mental evaluation before the judge decides whether to accept its findings at the next hearing. (source: arkansasonline.com) INDIANA: Angela Davis equates lynchings with prisons, death penalty Iconic civil rights leader Angela Davis opened her lecture Wednesday evening at Purdue University by evoking Black History Month - setting the stage for a moving presentation that connected past stories of oppression to today's movements for freedom. "It is often assumed that Black History Month is primarily for black people, for people of African descent in this country," she said. "But let me say that black history is integral to the history of this hemisphere. One cannot understand the history of North America, or of Central or South America, without understanding black history." Davis spoke to a crowd of about 2,750 people. The lecture was coordinated by the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. Other Purdue sponsors included the LGBTQ Center, Black Cultural Center, College of Liberal Arts, College of Agriculture's Office of Multicultural Programs, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Davis was notoriously placed on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list and arrested in 1970 for charges related to a courtroom escape attempt. She was acquitted in 1972 and went on to become a leading writer, activist and educator for feminist issues and prisoners' rights. She has authored nine books, including, "Women, Race, & Class" "Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture" and "Are Prisons Obsolete?" At age 71, she is still very much an activist. She continues to travel the country, speaking on issues of police brutality, racism and other forms of discrimination. She is professor emerita in the History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies Departments at University of California Santa Cruz and her recent work focuses on prisoners' rights. She is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organization aiming to eliminate imprisonment, policing and surveillance. During her talk at Purdue, Davis tied the historical tradition of the black struggle against oppression to multiple contemporary movements against racist violence, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia and able-ism. "The black radical tradition can be claimed by anyone who believes that freedom is a worthy cause and that the struggle for freedom links our contemporary aspirations with many struggles of the past," she said. She connected the history of black lynchings to today's issues of mass incarceration and capital punishment. "The death penalty's roots are sunk deep into the legacy of lynching," she said. "... If we fail to take into account the central role of lynching, then we will never truly understand the way racism worked its way into the criminal justice system." Davis' speech resonated with sophomore Denica Newson. "When she said that capital punishment was like the legacy of lynching in America's history, I had never considered that before," said the 19-year-old. "I just thought that was eye-opening." (source: Lafayette Journal & Courier) UTAH: Is the death penalty really necessary? Juries are being seated in the cases of suspects of the Boston Marathon Bombing and the Aurora, Colorado, theater massacre. In both, it is an arduous process because the death penalty is on the table. Potential jurors are questioned at length about their views on the death penalty in general, as well as their singular willingness to impose the death penalty in the case before them. In Utah, questions about how--not if--to kill those for whom the death penalty is imposed are arising. This is due in large part to the ineffectiveness of the only currently sanctioned method, lethal injection. The firing squad was previously available to those inmates who opted for it prior to 2004 when it was eliminated as a choice for how to die. Three inmates so chose. On April 29, 2014, the state of Oklahoma attempted to kill convicted felon Clayton Lockett using a combination of 3 allegedly lethal drugs. Lockett finally died of cardiac arrest 43 minutes after the cocktail was injected into his body. His death, authorities say, should have been immediate. The drugs that have historically been used to kill prisoners are becoming increasingly difficult for executioners to obtain, in part because manufacturers have refused to supply drugs that may land them in the middle of wrongful death lawsuits. Some states, notably Virginia and Ohio, have attempted to keep the sources of the lethal cocktail secret, but the outcry by the ACLU--and even some of their own state legislators--is making that difficult. The Daily Press quoted Frank Knaack, the ACLU's public policy director as saying that the Virginia legislation "prevents the public and the press from knowing anything about the drugs (their source, materials, or components) used in an execution ... The awesome power of the government to kill in our name must be accompanied by transparency and accountability, both of which would go away if this bill becomes law." In Utah, our legislators are looking toward a different solution. They are considering re-instituting the firing squad. The House of Representatives has voted to approve the measure, sending it to an uncertain fate in the Senate. Leaders in that chamber have thus far declined to say if they'll support it, and Utah's Republican Gov. Gary Herbert won't say if he'll sign it. To be fair, Utah isn't the only state giving this form of death penalty execution consideration. Several others are scrambling to find an alternative to the botched lethal injection dilemma as well. Our friends to the northeast in Wyoming and next door in Nevada are also considering the firing squad if lethal injections and use of the gas chamber are found to be unconstitutional. In our state, however, the proposal places the firing squad not after the gas chamber but instead of it. For the most recent period for which data is available, the United States is 1 of 56 other countries permitting the death penalty in some form. Some of the other countries on that list include Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, Iraq and Iran. While the fact that these countries use the death penalty may not come as a surprise, there are others that I wasn't expecting. Japan and Belize to name but 2. However, the majority are countries where authoritarian rule is the case and individual rights are nearly non-existent. It is among all these countries that the U.S. finds itself. When we consider the use of the death penalty on the state level, the company is a bit less unsettling. Utah is among 32 other states which currently allow its use. 18 states and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty, although a few left it on the books as an option for those criminals who were sentenced to death before it was abolished. Execution by any means is gruesome. I don't think there is an argument about that. Execution absent justice and integrity is heinous. The executions that ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is forcing the world to bear witness to are senseless and heartless murders, plain and simple. There is no reason, no justification, no acceptable excuse. The barbarity is beyond description. As I ponder the death penalty as we know it in the U.S. and in Utah, I find myself wondering if given the chance, could I impose the death penalty on a self-proclaimed ISIS fighter? And the answer is, I could not. At least, I don't think I could. I suppose one never knows for sure until put in the situation. What ISIS does is horrendous and unspeakable, but I choose not be a party to causing another human???s death. It feels like I would be rushing to stoop to the level of their shameful inhumanity. I stand now as I stood before ISIS erupted onto the world stage. I cannot condone taking the life of another human, even one who commits such atrocities. Nor could I vote for the application of the death penalty in a criminal case where I sat on the jury of the accused's peers. Under pretrial questioning, I would be that juror who could not bring herself to allow that I could vote to impose the death penalty. Of this, I have no doubt. A life is a life, no matter to whom it belongs. And so, I am beyond grateful to live in a country where our system of jurisprudence provides the opportunity for people of my persuasion to hold and act upon my beliefs. And I am equally grateful that those who are proponents of the death penalty are out there. However, I think that the time has come for both proponents of the death penalty and those who oppose it to come together for a sensible dialog about what we want our country and our state to stand for. Justice, certainly. What about compassion? It is a question that needs to be asked and answered. Is the death penalty compassionate? The time is now to examine our motives and our reasoning. Is an eye for an eye the system we want as we move forward? Is it? (source: Opinion; Marianne Mansfield, The SU Independent) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 27 11:11:50 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 11:11:50 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IDAHO, ARIZ., CALIF., ORE., WASH. Message-ID: Feb. 27 IDAHO: Is Idaho's death penalty worth it? Process is costly in all phases----Boise County seeks death penalty in murder case, but some question its fiscal wisdom. Which cases qualify for the death penalty? In Idaho, 3 crimes are punishable by death: 1st-degree murder, 1st-degree kidnapping and perjury that results in the execution of an innocent person. State law says that the death penalty may be imposed in 1st-degree murder cases only if prosecutors can prove to a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that one of 11 aggravating factors exists. Those factors include: prior murder conviction, knowingly creating a risk of death to many people, murder committed for remuneration or promise of remuneration, utter disregard for human life, and "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel." The jury must also weigh mitigating circumstances presented by the defense. DEATH PENALTY COSTS The 65-page "Financial Costs of the Death Penalty" report done by Idaho's Office of Performance Evaluations was released in March 2014. Some key findings: -- Of the 251 cases studied that went to trial, reaching a judgment of guilty or not guilty took 7 months longer for capital cases than noncapital cases. -- The State Appellate Public Defender's Office spent almost half a million dollars on death penalty cases from 2004 to 2013. -- The state spent $170,000 in 1-time costs to prepare for a 2011 execution, the 1st in the state in 17 years. -- The cost of executing 2 convicts in 2011 and 2012 was a little more than $100,000 total. "It's important for lawmakers to have an appreciation for all those things going on in the judicial and corrections areas," said Sen. Clifford Bayer, R-Meridian, one of the legislators who requested the study. DEATH ROW IN IDAHO Idaho is 1 of the 32 states that still have the death penalty, but at least a few of those states - including Oregon and Washington - have moratoriums on executions. Earlier this month, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced that she will extend the moratorium enacted in 2011 by then-Gov. John Kitzhaber, who called it a "compromised and inequitable system." In their written request for Idaho to study the financial cost of the death penalty, a pair of legislators wrote that "with a spate of recent exonerations and reduced sentences, its clear that our system of justice for death penalty cases is flawed." In 2001, after 17 years on death row, Charles Fain was exonerated by DNA evidence. Oregon currently has 34 inmates sentenced to death (33 men, 1 woman), while Idaho has just 11 (10 men, 1 woman). Lengthy appeals processes mean those on death row can delay execution for years. Idaho has executed 3 people since 1977. The last 2 were Paul Ezra Rhoades in 2011 and Richard Leavitt in 2012. Death row inmates by state as of Oct. 1, 2014 California: 745 Florida: 404 Texas: 276 Alabama: 198 Pennsylvania: 188 North Carolina: 160 Ohio: 144 Arizona: 123 Georgia: 90 Louisiana: 85 Nevada: 78 Tennessee: 75 U.S. government: 63 Oklahoma: 49 Mississippi: 49 South Carolina: 47 Missouri: 39 Oregon: 36 Kentucky: 35 Arkansas: 33 Delaware: 18 Indiana: 14 Connecticut: 12 Idaho: 11 Nebraska: 11 Kansas 10 Utah: 9 Washington: 9 Virginia: 8 U.S. military: 6 Maryland: 4 South Dakota: 3 Colorado: 3 Montana: 2 New Mexico: 2 Wyoming: 1 New Hampshire: 1 TOTAL: 3,035 [source: Death Penalty Information Center] ---- The Boise County Prosecutor's Office is small, staffed with just 3 attorneys who handle about 2,500 cases a year. It's been more than a decade since it had a 1st-degree murder case go to trial. This year, Prosecutor Ian Gee and Chief Deputy Jay Rosenthal have their hands full with 2 1st-degree murder cases heading to trial, including one death penalty case. Gee recently added another full-time attorney, Jolene Maloney, to the office. Death penalty cases are time-intensive, expensive and rare in Idaho. The last person in the state to receive a death sentence was Erick Hall in 2005, though Darrell Payne was resentenced to death in 2010 (the Idaho Supreme Court reversed his 1st death sentence because of improper victim impact statements). Both those cases were in Ada County and both remain on death row. "In my opinion, this is the most serious decision that a prosecutor can make," said longtime Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs, who agreed to talk with the Statesman about the complexity and demands of death penalty cases. Loebs, who has been prosecuting attorney since 1997, has sought the death penalty in 3 cases, but none went to trial. "If I think it's the right thing to do, then that's what we do," Loebs said. "It does cost the county a lot more money." PROSECUTION, DEFENSE TEAMS State law requires that in death penalty cases in which the defendant cannot afford to hire an attorney, 2 qualified trial attorneys (public defenders or private attorneys) be assigned to the case, and both must be death-penalty qualified. Costs are usually covered by the defendant if he hires his own attorney. Sometimes when a defendant hires an attorney, he may come back and say he's out of money. In that case, the defendant can ask the county to cover costs of experts, testing and investigation. A judge can require the county to cover those costs. Loebs said preparing murder cases for trial usually requires a team of at least 5 or 6 people: 2 prosecutors, an investigator, a legal assistant and 1 or more victim/witness coordinators. Prosecutor offices with small budgets might not have an investigator or victim/witness coordinator. "Everyone jumps in to help," said Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts, who supervises a staff of 70 lawyers. During one of its busiest 2-year periods ever, the Ada County office handled 18 murder cases in 2007-08. 2 of those cases involved 2 co-defendants and 1 had 3 co-defendants. Ada County has sought the death penalty about 8 times over the past 20 years, Bennetts estimated. When a prosecutor decides to seek the death penalty, it guarantees more work. Because a person's life is at stake, there's an intense level of scrutiny that's not present in other cases. If the trial ends in a guilty verdict, then comes the sentencing phase. That's essentially another trial, in which the prosecutor has to justify a death sentence. The Ada County Prosecutor's Office is assisting Boise County. Maloney and Rosenthal are handling the death penalty case; 2 attorneys from Ada County are handling the other. Boise County is covering all costs. Boise County commissioners set aside $250,000 for the 1st murder trial, the nondeath penalty case expected this year. That trial, expected to take about 3 weeks, will be at the Ada County Courthouse. Gee said the county likely will need to budget extra money for 2016 to cover the costs of a 2nd trial. The prosecutor's 2015 budget - not including the extra money - is $339,000. Boise County Commission Chairwoman Vicki Wilkins said the county will seek financial assistance from the state's Capital Crimes Defense Fund, a reserve fund created in 1998 to help counties cover costs of death penalty cases. The county, with its seat in tiny Idaho City and less than 7,000 people, has a 2015 budget of about $9 million. In Idaho, more than $4 million has been reimbursed to counties for capital defense costs since 1998. WHICH CASES QUALIFY FOR DEATH PENALTY? The 2 Boise County 1st-degree murder cases involve the same defendant: Michael S. Dauber, a 46-year-old former Idaho City resident who worked in helicopter logging. Dauber is accused of killing 2 friends: Joshua Reddington, 25, in 2000, and Steven Kalogerakos, 42, in 2007. Both men were missing for years. Kalogerakos' remains were found in 2013; Reddington's remains were found in late 2014. In December, Boise County prosecutors filed their intent to seek the death penalty in the Reddington case. Gee has declined to discuss the case. Dauber is being represented by attorneys Rob Chastain and Elisa Massoth. Prosecutors brought in DNA experts from Washington, D.C., and Texas to testify at Dauber's preliminary hearing for the Reddington case - one of the kind of expenses that adds to trial costs. Trial dates have not been set. Both cases will be discussed at a hearing at 10 a.m. March 12 before District Judge Patrick Owen at the Boise County Courthouse. DEATH PENALTY COSTS A 2014 state report examined the financial costs of the death penalty in Idaho, though it suggested more study was needed to determine exact figures. The authors of the study reviewed the cases of 251 defendants charged with first-degree murder from 1998 to 2013. Prosecutors sought the death penalty for 55 defendants, although the death penalty was later withdrawn for 13 of those defendants. Of the 42 eligible for the death sentence, 7 were sentenced to death. Besides the possibility of a not guilty verdict, there are three possible sentencing outcomes in a death penalty case: -- If the jury determines the prosecution has proved that an aggravating factor warranting the death penalty exists and there are no mitigating factors that would make the death penalty unjust, then the court must impose a sentence of death. -- If the jury determines the prosecution proved at least one aggravating factor, but a mitigating factor exists that makes imposition of the death penalty unjust, the defendant would automatically receive a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole. -- If the jury determines that the prosecution did not prove an aggravating factor existed, then the defendant faces sentencing by the judge of up to life in prison, including a minimum of 10 years before eligible for parole. PRO AND CON The death penalty stirs strong emotions. That's 1 reason why policymakers would like a definitive judgment on whether executions work - in deterrence value and bottom-line costs. Critics say money spent on executions could be used for victim services or other more beneficial programs. "These statistics show clearly just how inefficient our government has been in spending our tax dollars," Leo Morales, communications and advocacy director for ACLU of Idaho, wrote in the Statesman when the report was released in March. Gov. Butch Otter said the study leaves open the policy question of whether tax dollars are wisely spent on death penalty cases. And he said he's not changing his mind about keeping the death penalty in Idaho. "Let me leave no doubt about my own continuing support for existing laws and procedures," Otter wrote. (source: Idaho Statesman) ARIZONA: Arias jury deliberations to resume Monday After 2 days, the jury continued to deliberate in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial until about 5 p.m. Thursday, when members left for the week. Deliberations will resume Monday. Arias faces the death penalty in the murder of her boyfriend, Travis Alexander. She was found guilty a year ago but the jury was unable to decide on a punishment. The jury asked 3 questions Thursday morning. The 1st dealt with when they could look at their notes. The 2nd was a request to work through their lunch break, which the judge granted. The 3rd was a request for a list of all the evidence from the 1st and 2nd trials. The retrial of the sentencing phase is a far cry from the 1st trial, which was marked by a flood of national media attention. Networks built entire sets just for coverage of the verdict and sentence. This time, the crowds are gone and very few national media outlets have arrived. Judge Sherry Stephens banned live camera coverage this time around. Local attorneys say waiting on a jury can be nerve-wracking, especially when the stakes are so high. Attorney Logan Elia with the Rose Law Group said he's not making any judgments based on the length of time the Arias jury has deliberated. "I tell my clients that you can't infer anything from the length of time a jury is out but still," he said. "You're still waiting from someone to decide your fate." Attorney Adrian Fontes with Dessaules Law Group said with nothing else to do, attorneys sometimes dwell on what might have been. "I think it would be tough not to second guess some of the things that you've done," Fontes said. The Arias jury must vote unanimously for the death penalty in order for Arias to die by lethal injection. They can also vote for life in prison without parole. If the jury come back as a hung jury, Judge Stephens will sentence Arias to life in prison. (source: azcentral.com) CALIFORNIA: Judge refuses to let attorney off case for man facing death penalty in Anaheim Hills burned-bodies murders, worries request is a delaying tactic A judge on Thursday refused to allow a man convicted in one of the most brutal murders in Orange County's history to change attorneys on the eve of his scheduled sentencing. Worrying that the request for new counsel was simply a delaying tactic, Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals ordered Iftekhar Murtaza to return to court on Tuesday. Murtaza faces the death penalty for his role in the 2007 killings of the father and sister of his ex-girlfriend, Shayona Dhanak, and the attempted murder of her mother. On May 21, 2007, the 3 Dhanak family members - Jayprakash, Karishma and Leela - were abducted from their Anaheim Hills home, brutally beaten and stabbed. The burned bodies of Jayprakash and Karishma Dhanak were found the next morning near a bike trail in Irvine. Leela Dhanak was found unconscious on a neighbor's lawn, her throat slashed and the family's home burning nearby. The deaths were thought to have resulted in Murtaza's failed efforts to win back Shayona Dhanak. He believed their relationship had ended because her parents, who are devout Hindus, disapproved of Murtaza, who is Muslim. Murtaza's sentencing has been delayed several times over the past year. Last month, attorney Mark Fredrick, who represents Murtaza, asked for a retrial, arguing that he had new evidence pointing to a possible robbery at the home, and a witness who could exonerate his client. Goethals agreed to delay the sentencing to give Fredrick time to locate the people he hoped to have testify, but the judge made it clear he would be hard-pressed to support any additional delays. After the hearing, Fredrick requested that he be taken off the case, citing an unspecified conflict. On Thursday, Goethals took the rare step of requiring Fredrick to explain exactly what conflict he faces in the case. The court was cleared of spectators, media and prosecutors as the judge discussed the request with the defense attorneys and Murtaza. When the hearing was re-opened for the public, Fredrick denied to the judge that his request was an effort to put off his client's sentencing. "This is not for the purpose of a delay, and it is not something Mr. Murtaza asked me to do," the attorney said. While Goethals ruled against Fredrick's request to be taken off the case, he agreed to give the attorney until Tuesday to take the matter up with an appeals court. (source: Orange County Register) OREGON: Kate Brown says she opposes death penalty but refuses to rule out executions on her watch Newly inaugurated Gov. Kate Brown said Thursday that she personally opposes the death penalty, but she did not rule out that she might someday allow executions to resume in Oregon. Brown, interviewed by The Oregonian/OregonLive 8 days after taking office, said she expected to support any measure reaching the ballot that would ask Oregonians to abolish the death penalty. Brown reaffirmed her earlier announcement that she would continue former Gov. John Kitzhaber's moratorium on executions while she assembles an advisory panel to come up with recommendations on a "clear path forward." At the same time, the new Democratic governor spoke cautiously about how she would proceed on an issue where she may well differ with most Oregonians. Voters here overwhelmingly supported re-establishment of the death penalty in 1984 and more recent attempts to put the issue back on the ballot have foundered for lack of support. One 2012 poll found that 57 % of Oregonians favored the death penalty while 39 % were opposed. "My personal view is that I am opposed to the death penalty," said Brown, adding that over in her nearly 18 years in the Legislature, "my position became, the only way I can describe it, as more nuanced." In 2005, Brown backed legislation that would have allowed the death penalty to be applied in the murder of pregnant women, reserve police officers and witnesses to juvenile proceedings. The murder of full-time officers and witnesses to adult crimes can already carry the death penalty and Brown said she wanted to make capital punishment "more consistent." Brown said that she has her "personal position and then obviously the role of governor...I think we need a clear path not only for my governorship but for other governors moving forward." Asked if she would ever allow executions to resume in Oregon, Brown said: "I don't know the answer to that at this point in time. I clearly stated that we will continue the moratorium, and until we work through all of those issues, that is where we are at." Kitahaber announced in 2011 that he would issue a temporary reprieve for as long as he was in office that would block any imminent execution. Kitzhaber acted after convicted killer Gary Haugen waived further appeals and sought to force his own execution. When first elected governor in 1994, Kitzhaber had promised to abide by voters' will on the death penalty despite his personal opposition to it. Before leaving office in 2003, he allowed 2 executions - both of inmates who had waived further appeals - on his watch. After retaking office in 2011, Kitzhaber said Oregon's system of capital punishment "fails to meet basic standards of justice." Kitzhaber called for the Legislature to bring "potential reforms" to the 2013 session and for Oregonians to "engage in a long overdue debate" on the death penalty. (source: The Oregonian) WASHINGTON: Carnation: Ex-boyfriend testifies in defense of accused killer The defense team called an unlikely witness as it works to defend accused killer Joseph McEnroe. McEnroe confessed to killing 6 members of his girlfriend???s family on Christmas Eve in Carnation in 2007. Michele Anderson is also charged with the murders. Defense attorneys called Michele Anderson's ex-boyfriend, Marc Mann. Mann met Michele Anderson when she was in high school. They dated for years. When he moved out of the apartment they shared, Joe McEnroe moved in. He'd been out of touch with Anderson but when he heard she was arrested for killing her family, Mann contacted police. "I felt they needed to know she wasn't well," said Mann on the stand. He said Anderson suffered from depression and took medicine off and on. Anderson called Mann from the jail after her arrest. The defense played some of those phone conversations for the jury. In the call, Anderson demands that Mann help her get a new attorney. Here's one of the exchanges: MICHELE: You don't understand. This is life or death, you gotta do it. MARC: Okay. I'll, I'll do what I can do. Okay. MICHELE: No, you will. MARC: Okay. I'll, I'll do what I can. MICHELE: No, you, you gotta get one. You promise me. Mann told the court he finally canceled Anderson's jail phone card because she was abusive. Mann, now married with 4 children, says he didn't follow through with Anderson's demands. Instead, he says he warned her attorney. The defense called Mann to testify to reinforce Anderson's controlling nature. When cross- examined by the prosecution, he denied ever being controlled by Anderson. "The fact that you didn't drive didn't mean Michele Anderson controlled you?" asked Senior Deputy Prosecutor Scott O'Toole. "That would be true," answered Mann. "Made you do things against your will?" inquired O'Toole. "That would also be true," replied Mann. When Mann was interviewed by investigators in 2008, prosecutors say he didn't think Anderson was capable of the killings, he told them it was more likely she was an "observer." Prosecutor O'Toole read from the investigation, where Mann points the finger at McEnroe. "You were talking about Michele Anderson couldn't have done it," asked O'Toole in court Thursday. "It must have been Joe who did it?" "Yes," replied Mann. The murders happened more than 7 years ago. The trial was delayed because McEnroe tried to make a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. The prosecutor wouldn't agree to a deal. McEnroe also tried to plead guilty by reason of insanity; the court found no proof of that. This is a death penalty case. Even if McEnroe is convicted of 6 counts of aggravated 1st-degree murder and sentenced to death, he wouldn't be executed as long as Jay Inslee is the governor of Washington. Michele Anderson's trial starts in the fall. Her trial was delayed because her mental competency was in question. McEnroe will decide if he will takes the stand on Monday. Court is in recess until then. (source: KIRO news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 27 11:12:34 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 11:12:34 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 27 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Rape of school girl Death sentence for Abu Dhabi Keralite An Appeal Court in Abu Dhabi has sentenced to death a 56-year-old man from Kerala for sexually assaulting a 7-year-old school girl. The appeal court, after hearing the review petition filed by Gangadhran and school authorities, decided to uphold the sentence of the criminal court which had earlier found the man guilty and had pronounced death penalty on him. The civil court will soon hear the appeal for the 50 lakh Dirhams as compensation package which will be given to the parents and the child for the physical, social and mental torture they had to undergo following the incident. The incident took place in a private school where Gangadharan, who hails from Ezhur Kalarikkal in Malappuram district, was working as an assistant for the last 32 years. The prosecution case is that Gangadharan lured the child to the school kitchen at 11.30am. on Sunday, April 14, 2013 and raped her. The Criminal court completed the hearing last year and had found Gangadharan guilty. However, the school authorities and Gangdharan had filed a writ petition in the Appeal Court to re-examine the verdict. The child, who was sexually assaulted, was moody after she came back from school that day. The incident came light when a family member noticed stains of blood and semen on the child's inner wear when she undressed the child for bathing her. The Appeal Court observed that Gangadharan had committed a heinous crime by sexually assaulting a minor girl and he deserved capital punishment, which was sought by the prosecution. Abhu Dhabi Judicial department said that it was the 1st death sentence for rape in its history. (source: manoramaonline.com) MALAYSIA: Malaysia court postpones trial of Australian woman accused of drug trafficking The trial of an Australian woman charged with drug trafficking in Malaysia has been pushed back by a month due to delays completing a chemist report on the alleged contraband. Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, a 52-year-old mother of 4, was arrested on December 7 at Kuala Lumpur airport with 1.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, also known as ice. A chemist report on the substance was to be submitted to the court on Friday, but was not yet ready, defence lawyer Tania Scivetti said. A new date has been set for March 26. Malaysia has a mandatory death penalty by hanging for anyone found guilty of carrying more than 50 grams of a drug. If illegal drugs are confirmed, the case is expected to be elevated to a higher court that can handle death penalty cases. Ms Scivetti said the case could stretch to at least the end of the year. "She is in good spirits. She wants to get out of prison quickly," she said. Defence lawyers say Exposto was duped into carrying a bag - which she believed contained only clothing - by a stranger who asked her to take it to Melbourne. She had travelled to Shanghai after falling for an online romance scam by a person claiming to be a US serviceman, according to lawyers. Customs officers discovered the drugs stitched into the compartment of a backpack. The defence is yet to enter a plea until the case reaches a higher court. 2 Australians were hanged in 1986 for heroin trafficking - the 1st Westerners to be executed in Malaysia. Few people have been executed in Malaysia in recent years. (source: Agence France-Presse) ******************* Govt mulls commuting Sirul's death sentence Malaysia is mulling the option of commuting former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar's death sentence to life imprisonment to facilitate his extradition. The move by way of the extradition treaty between Malaysia and Australia, would also allow for a prisoner exchange to take place. It has been reported that the extradition treaty between the 2 countries is not valid in Sirul's case as Australia does not recognise the death penalty. Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this strategy might facilitate the return of Sirul. "Yes, (it is) a possibility," he told the media after receiving a courtesy call from Australian Immigration and Border Security Minister Peter Dutton here today. Dutton who only assumed the portfolio last December, was taken by surprise by the barrage of questions posed to him on Sirul's status. "Is it because of my portfolio? I'm only here to visit my good friend," Dutton said. Declining to take questions on the Sirul issue, Dutton explained that this was due to Australia's stringent privacy laws. Pressed further, he said the legal process in Australia may take some time. He also evaded answering questions on whether he knew of the planned teleconference between Sirul and PAS Information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar. However, he said, subject to the country's rule of law, without specifying the government's person of interest, an individual may call if he or she had a visa. He declined to state if Sirul possessed the pertinent document or if he had met him. A local news portal reported on Jan 21 that following Sirul's arrest, he would have to undergo a court process before a decision is made on his possible extradition to Malaysia. Queen's Counsel Mark Trowell said Australian law dictates that Malaysia must make a formal application for an arrest warrant. The warrant, he added, would be issued only if the magistrate in Australia is satisfied that the person can be extradited. "If the person is determined to be eligible for surrender then it falls to the AG to decide whether the person should actually be surrendered. That's when the issue of the death penalty becomes relevant," he reportedly said. (source The Sun Daily) ENGLAND: When forgery meant the rope Who would not want to be in a Magic Circle? It is the rather self-satisfied label for the 5 biggest London solicitors' firms, and while they tend to disavow the term publicly they have never sued anyone for using it. Although not all of the annual list of promising younger lawyers we publish in this issue of Financial News work at Magic Circle firms, inevitably some do - but where did the term originate? In 1985 it was used to refer to influential London barristers, not solicitors, and as recently as 1989 it was taken to include Ashurst, Travers Smith and Macfarlanes, perfectly reputable solicitors but not in the Magic Circle as it is understood today. The magazine Legal Business has a good claim to early use of the term in today's sense, applying it to a London top 6 in 1991, and by 1998 Legal 500, a ranking from the same publishers, was applying it to today's top 5: Linklaters, Slaughter & May, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Allen & Overy. The term has a far older meaning - the society of magicians founded in a Soho pub in 1905 and still going strong. But magicians distort reality and make things vanish, and of course lawyers would never do that. However, 200 years ago the oldest Magic Circle law firm had a connection to a more serious sort of conjuring - forgery of banknotes. Freshfields can date its origins to 1743, when Samuel Dodd was appointed solicitor to the Bank of England - for which the firm still acts. The firm owes its name to a later partner, James Freshfield, who qualified in 1795. In 1797 the Bank had a problem. With bullion running low because of the Napoleonic wars, it started issuing low denomination paper money, 1 and 2 pound notes, that could not be converted into gold. The market opportunity was obvious, and soon there was a thriving trade in forgeries. The death penalty had been in force for forgery since 1697, and for possessing forged notes since 1725, but it did not seem any better a deterrent than the penalties for benchmark fixing today. As hangings continued - often of people who protested they had not known the note in their possession was forged - public and parliamentary disquiet rose as illustrated by George Cruikshank's cartoon. Freshfields advised the Bank to try another approach. A Bill drafted by the firm was passed by Parliament in 1801, offering to commute death sentences to transportation to Australia in exchange for guilty pleas. The Bank's archives of letters to the governor and directors, pleading for mercy, were recently put on its website. A typical case was that of James Clarkson, who in May 1807 was "indicted capitally for the actual forgery of bank notes" but was sent to Australia for life when he pleaded guilty to possession. The Bank could be surprisingly lenient - the files include grants of money to help convicts once they arrived in Australia. Yet the policy was not a ringing success - in 1817 there were 32 capital convictions for forgery, exactly as many as in 1801, according to House of Commons records. Freshfields still takes a close interest in financial regulation. It recently brought out the 3rd edition of its "Financial Services: investigation and enforcement", a snip at 150 pounds for 934 pages. We have not read every word, but we are fairly sure it does not urge the Financial Conduct Authority to reintroduce hanging. (source: efinancialnews.com) INDONESIA: Bali 9 executions: Isolation cells on Indonesia's Alcatraz ready by Saturday The Bali 9 duo will be shot simultaneously in a field with 8 other drug felons, it has been revealed. And isolation cells will be ready on Saturday on Nusakambangan, the penal island where the executions will take place. This latest news will send chills through Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who were told the delays to their transfer from Bali's Kerobokan jail were because the isolation cells were not ready at Nusakambangan. It has previously been announced the drug felons will be executed swiftly once they arrive on the island so as not to unsettle other prisoners. They will be given 72 hours' notice. Attorney-General H.M. Prasetyo is yet to announce the proposed date of execution, or when Chan and Sukumaran will be transferred to Nusakambangan, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz. A spokesman for the Attorney-General, Tony Spontana, said the execution would take place in one location. "It will be done simultaneously with all 10 convicts," he said. He denied media reports that the location had been decided, saying several alternatives were being reviewed. Meanwhile the head of Central Java Corrections, Ahmad Yuspahruddin, said the isolation cells were being prepared and would by ready by Saturday. "It's nothing permanent, it's just to separate those on death row who are to be executed from the rest of the prisoners," he said. Across the seaport town of Cilacap, which is divided from Nusakambangan by a narrow strait, people are on standby for the executions. The local priest believes at least three of the 10 condemned prisoners are Catholics, and is waiting to be asked to perform the last rites. The doctor at the government health office wonders if his ambulance will be called upon, as it was when 3 murderers were executed in 2013. The undertaker, Suhendro Putro, has stocked up on an extra 6 coffins. He was warned by police to have sufficient this time after he was caught short when 5 drug felons were killed on the island on January 18. He can usually only accommodate 9 coffins, but he now has 12, including 1 jumbo size and 2 for children. Despite ghoulish speculation in the media that the jumbo-size coffin has been earmarked for Sukumaran, who is nicknamed "the gentle giant", the large coffin had been in stock for three months, Mr Suhendro said. He has received no definitive order from police and, like many in the seaside port, is relying on media reports for details on the number facing execution. Shortly after midnight on January 18, Mr Suhendro waited with the families of the 5 condemned felons at Batu prison, which means "stone" prison. This is the most notorious of the 7 prisons on Nusakambangan, and is where Sukumaran and Chan will also be incarcerated before their deaths. "I heard the shots and then the families started screaming and crying," he said. "I felt nothing because they were not my family but still I feel sad looking at their families ... I thought 'How come it should end like this? If they were my family I wouldn't want to be there.' " He was called to wash and dress the bodies of the Christian, Catholic and Buddhist prisoners using 5 water tanks at a site 20 metres from the execution. The Muslim prisoners, whose faces must point towards Mecca, were cleansed by a Muslim. Mr Suhendro assumed the police supplied the clothes in which he dressed the prisoners because they were brand new. He provided gloves, socks and cylindrical cushions to ensure the bodies did not move in the coffins. Mr Suhendro said he did not support the death penalty for murder. However, he believes in capital punishment for narcotics offenders because he says drugs destroy the lives of many. To the bemusement of his family, Mr Suhendro, who has been in business since 1972, has become something of a media celebrity in recent weeks. He consulted authorities on how to deal with the media and was told: "Answer all the questions but not the secret ones." Across town, Bambang Setyono from the government health office, is awaiting instructions on whether his ambulance will be deployed. In 2013, his staff drove the ambulance to the ferry dock following the execution of three murderers. It was then used to transport 2 of the bodies to Yogyakarta for burial. An acquaintance of Dr Setyono was called upon to check that the prisoners were dead after the firing squad pumped their bodies with bullets. It was an unpleasant experience and one he does not want to re-live for the media. Father Charlie Burrows, known by locals as Romo Carolus, says it is difficult for doctors because they take the Hippocratic oath - known in Indonesian as Sumpah Kedokteran. "This says you shouldn't be involved in taking another's life," Father Burrows says. He believes he will be called on to administer last rites to three of the prisoners, who are Catholic. "Some of the others could be as well," Father Burrows said. "We strongly ask that we be present beforehand to counsel and listen to families and be present at the execution." Staff at the harbour - where Chan and Sukumaran will be transferred on the ferry Pengayoman (which ironically loosely translates as "protection, shelter, care and nurture") - are on high alert for journalists. Local media caused havoc during last month's executions by posing as fishermen to gain access to the island. Daily Mail Australia journalist Candace Sutton will be interrogated by immigration officials in Cilacap on Thursday after she was caught working on a tourist visa. As the noose tightens for the 10 facing execution, another of the prisoners on death row is attempting a last-ditch legal appeal. Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami, who was caught smuggling 5.3 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia in 1998, is trying to get President Joko Widodo's rejection of his clemency plea nullified on the grounds it was not rejected within the time limit. His lawyer, Utomo Karim, is lodging the challenge in the Administrative Court. This is the same court that threw out Chan and Sukumaran's appeal on Tuesday on the grounds it did not have the power to rule on presidential decrees. The duo's lawyers are appealing. Mr Karim said his client hoped the appeal would get him a reprieve and see his sentence revert to 20 years' imprisonment. "And that during the court process, he not be executed," he said. "The reasoning used by us and the Bali nine lawyers might differ, but in essence it's the same, we are trying to get a presidential decision nullified." However, a spokesman for the Attorney-General has said the Bali nine appeal will have "no effect" on the execution. (source: Sydney Morning Herald) ******************* Indonesia May Kill Brazil Defense Deals Amid Execution Row----Diplomatic spat could cause Jakarta to rethink procurement of Brazilian equipment. Indonesia may reevaluate defense deals with Brazil as bilateral ties between the 2 countries deteriorate over the execution of a Brazilian for drug offenses, local media reported earlier this week. According to ANTARA News, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Monday that the Indonesian government was rethinking the procurement of a squadron of 16 Brazil-made Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano aircraft for Indonesia's air force as well as an order for Astros II multiple launch rocket launcher systems. "We are reconsidering our plan to purchase weapons [from Brazil]," Kalla reportedly told the media. The Post also reported Tuesday that the House of Representatives commission that oversees defense and foreign affairs had said that Indonesia could turn to other countries including Russia to procure weapons systems. Tantowi Yahya, a lawmaker, had earlier said he would hold a meeting with the defense ministry on the broader relationship. "I think Brazil needs us more than we need them. We have an emergency situation with drugs and we don't need to be afraid of pressure from Brazil...," Tantowi said on Sunday. Separately, on Tuesday Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi said Indonesia would "reevaluate all aspects" of Jakarta's bilateral relationship with Brazil. The ties between the 2 countries have deteriorated over the past few weeks after Brazilian national Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira was executed in January by firing squad for drug trafficking - along with 5 others - in spite of appeals from the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. On Monday, Indonesia recalled its newly appointed ambassador after Brazil had declined to accept his credentials during a ceremony on Friday. Brazil had also recalled its ambassador in January following Moreira's execution. Indonesian president Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Tuesday declined to say if Indonesia intended to freeze bilateral ties with Brazil but stressed that the implementation of the death penalty was a matter of Indonesian sovereignty. "First of all, and I will be clear about this, there must be no intervention in the implementation of the death penalty, as it is a matter of our legal sovereignty. Our law still recognizes the death penalty," Jokowi said after meeting both Indonesia's recalled ambassador as well as Retno. A 2nd Brazilian, Rodrigo Muxfeldt Gularte, is among a 2nd group of 11 prisoners to be executed soon in Indonesia. (source: The Diplomat) ********************* Tanks on standby to take Bali 9 duo to prison island 8 Panser tanks are on standby in Denpasar to remove Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran from Kerobokan Prison and deliver them to the airport for transfer to the prison island of Nusakambangan. News Corp Australia has learned the TNI, or Indonesian military, has ordered the 6-wheeler armoured personnel carriers to be ready to shift the Australian prisoners the moment they receive orders. Sources say that one of the APCs will enter Kerobokan to collect the condemned men, with another travelling close behind in support at the jail. The other 6 APCs will clear intersections and traffic for the estimated 20-minute drive from the prison to the airport. The timing of the executions is riddled with uncertainty, with Indonesia so far not revealing a firm date. After a fortnight of misunderstanding and tension between the countries over the planned killings, Tony Abbott said he had a good conversation on Wednesday evening with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, who was "carefully considering Indonesia's position". But Mr Abbott did not want it to be seen as a breakthrough. "I don't want to raise hope that might turn out to be dashed," he said. Adding pressure for a swift end to the lives of Chan and Sukumaran was Said Aqil Siragj, the head of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama, who yesterday visited President Widodo at his palace in Bogor. "We are supporting Jokowi to reject clemency for drug dealers," Siragi said. "We support the death penalty. We are behind the President." It now appears the TNI will take complete control of the transfer when it happens. The show of force involving 2 Australian prisoners who offer no threat of resistance demonstrates how badly Indonesia has reacted to complaints by Australia, and the world, on what it sees as its sovereign right to conduct executions. Chan and Sukumaran are not high-risk terrorists but ordinary drug criminals, yet have become the unfortunate beneficiaries of what is being planned as a major precision operation with maximum visual impact. News Corp earlier revealed that Indonesia had deployed Sukhoi fighter jets to Denpasar to escort the pair who would be flown in a CN-295 military transport plane from Denpasar to Cilacap, on the south coast of Java, close by the prison island of Nusakambangan. The APCs, which are known in Indonesia as Anoa - named after a water buffalo - will carry members of the TNI's, or Indonesian military's, cavalry. Standard Anao Pansers are fitted with .50 calibre machine guns. Each can carry 14 armed men. Since then, the Sukhois have flown over Kerobokan in what is thought to be an effort to ram home the message that it will tolerate no interference. The head of Bali Prosecutor's office, Momock Bambang Samiarso, yesterday repeated his daily statement that there was still no date for the transfer or the executions, but that they would be moved when Nusakambangan was ready to take them. "As soon as they ready, we send," he said. "We are ready. Soon. The sooner the better. There is no delay. We keep going. Maybe the delay is because of technical issue. There is no political issue." Asked if the move could be this month, he said: "Everything is possible. Everything remains possible." Meanwhile, divisional head of prisons in the Justice and Human Rights Ministry in Central Java, Yusparudin, said he anticipated the new isolation cells on the island would be ready in 2 or 3 days. "The preparation is only by building partitions, so that other prisoners cannot communicate with prisoners being isolated," Yuspahruddin said. The Attorney General said yesterday that 10 prisoners will be shot. They are 9 foreigners and 1 Indonesian - all of them drug traffickers. (source: news.com.au) ***************** French death row convict's family apologizes to Indonesia The wife of a French drug convict on death row in Indonesia, Sabine Atlaoui, has apologized to the Indonesian government and people for her husband Serge Atlaouis offences. "I apologize to the government and people of Indonesia for my husbands actions," Sabine Atlaoui said here on Thursday. When asked about her husbands death penalty, Sabine, a mother of 4, said she respected Indonesias legal process. However, she added that a judicial review can be the only legal way out. "Hopefully, this (judicial review) can work well and will be accepted by the court. I wish my husband could be free from the death penalty," Sabine remarked. Since her husbands detention, Sabine has been doing various jobs, from a waitress in restaurants to a janitor in hotels. "I must work to meet the needs of my family," she noted. Meanwhile, Sabine acknowledged she has not met with her husband in a while and said she will soon go to Nusakambangan prison island where her husband has been kept. Serge Atlaoui was sentenced to death in 2007 for drug offences. He was arrested from an ecstasy factory located in Cikande, Serang, Banten, near Jakarta, in 2005. His name is on the list of prisoners to be executed by the Attorney General. President Joko Widodo through Presidential Decree No. 35/G 2014 had rejected his clemency plea recently. Earlier, on Wednesday, Attorney General HM Prasetyo said here that preparations for executing ten prisoners on death row were 90 % complete and there will be no cancellation of executions. "We have finished 90 % of our preparations. What is left is just coordinating with related parties, transporting the inmates from their prisons to Nusakambangan Penitentiary, and preparing a firing squad," he had noted. Speaking at the State Palace here, Prasetyo had emphasized that the executions would be carried out without delay as the government had finalized its decision on the matter. "This is about the states authority and consistency in law enforcement," he had stated, adding that 6 of the 10 prisoners had already been moved to Nusakambangan Penitentiary, while the transfer of the remaining four were in process. Asked about the fate of a convicted Brazilian drug smuggler, Rodrigo Gularte, who had been reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia, he had said he would seek authorized experts opinion on the prisoners mental state. Besides Rodrigo Gularte, the other prisoners who will be executed in the near future include Syofial, alias Iyen bin Azwar, (Indonesia); Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso (the Philippines); Myuran Sukumaran, alias Mark, (Australia); Harun bin Ajis (Indonesia); Sargawi, alias Ali bin Sanusi, (Indonesia); and Andrew Chan (Australia). Indonesia recently executed 6 drug convicts as part of its serious efforts to combat drug trafficking in the country. The 6 convicts were Namaona Denis of Malawi, Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira of Brazil, Daniel Enemuo, alias Diarrassouba Mamadou, of Nigeria, Ang Kiem Soei, alias Kim Ho, alias Ance Tahir, of the Netherlands, Rani Andriani, alias Melisa Aprilia, of Indonesia, and Tran Thi Bich Hanh of Vietnam.(*) (source: ANTARA news) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 27 11:13:17 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 11:13:17 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide Message-ID: Feb. 27 EGYPT: AU panel urges Egypt to halt execution: Activist The commission called on al-Sisi to intervene to suspend the execution until the panel finalizes its report on the case An African Union committee has called on Egypt to halt the execution of a supporter of ousted president Mohamed Morsi who had been sentenced to death on murder charges, a rights activist said Friday. Ahmed Mafrah, director of the Geneva-based Al-Karama human rights center's office in Cairo, told The Anadolu Agency that his organization filed a complaint on Feb. 16 against the verdict before the Gambia-based African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. "Mahmod Ramadan has been put on death row based on false claims," said Mafrah, whose organization is handling the case. Mafrah added that the commission had responded with a letter urging President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to hold the execution until the committee reviews the case. On Feb.5, an Egyptian court upheld a death sentence handed down against Ramadan, who was convicted of killing a teenager after throwing a number of Morsi opponents from the roof of a building during clashes in the coastal city of Alexandria in the summer of 2013. The court also upheld life sentences handed down against 16 other defendants, 15-year jail terms for eight defendants, and 10-year jail terms for 35 others in connection with the same case. A minor was also jailed for 7 years in the same case. Defense lawyer Ahmed al-Hamrawi had said that the death penalty against Ramadan was the first to be upheld by an Egyptian court against a supporter of Morsi. The commission's letter, of which AA has obtained a copy, called on Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to intervene to suspend the execution until the panel finalizes its report on the case. Egypt, a member of the pan-African body, has ratified 1981's African Charter of Human and People's Rights. No date has been announced thus far for Ramadan's execution. Egyptian authorities have yet to respond to the African committee's request. However, the Egyptian government has routinely declines comment on judicial rulings. The incident for which Ramadan and the other defendants were tried took place 2 days after the army unseated Morsi - Egypt's 1st freely elected president - following massive protests against his 1-year rule. Egypt's authorities have since launched a wide-ranging crackdown on supporters of Morsi and his embattled Muslim Brotherhood group, detaining thousands and killing hundreds. Egyptian authorities have also branded the Brotherhood a "terrorist" group on claims that it condones violence, an allegation dismissed by the movement, which says it is committed to peaceful activism. (source: World Bulletin) BAHRAIN: Defendants sentenced to death, life for killing officers Advocate General and Chief Prosecutor of the Terror Crimes Prosecution, Ahmed Al-Hammadi, today confirmed that the Higher Criminal Court has issued a verdict in a case regarding the targeting of security forces in the Northern Governorate last year. On 3 March 2014, the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) resulted in the death of three policemen, Lieutenant Tariq Mohammed Al-Shehi, Mohammed Raslan and Ammar Abdo Ali Mohammed. The court has found the suspects guilty of this crime and sentenced 3 of them with death penalty, while 7 have been sentenced with life imprisonment and 8 with revocation of citizenship. The Court alsoorderedthe defendants to pay damages for the issues associated with the incident. The Court heard that the defendants had planted remote detonating IEDs on the public highway and lured policemen to the scene after staging riots and carrying out acts of vandalism. Once security forces arrived at the scene the defendants detonated an IED, which resulted in the deaths of the policemen and injured 13 others. The charges follow an investigation carried out by the Public Prosecution, which found that the first and second suspects formed a terrorist organisation within the framework of the Saraya Al-Ashtar terrorist group. They succeeded in recruiting the rest of the defendants and others with experience in creating and using explosives. Their overarching aim was to form several groups that carry out terrorist acts aimed at killing policemen and destroying vital security facilities and public property in order to disturb public peace and prevent authorities from carrying out their duties. Evidence indicated that the defendants also produced several IEDs and held meetings during which they formulated plans to achieve the criminal goals and objectives of the group. The defendants agreed to exploit the funeral of a deceased individual whose funeral was taking place in close proximity to a security check point, where they planted remotely controlled IEDs. The defendants aimed to entice as many security force personnel to the scene as possible in order to inflict the largest number of deaths and injury. The Court heard that the night before the incident, the defendants planned the crime by planting 3 IEDs at the scene and assigned the 4th suspect with detonating the first IED, which claimed the lives of the 3 policemen. Unidentified members of the organisation were assigned with detonating the 2 remaining IEDs under the supervision of the 3rd suspect. The 5th suspect was assigned with filming the incident and the rest of the defendants were assigned as lookouts. On 3 March 2014, the defendants staged riots and carried out acts of vandalism in the area where the IEDs were planted in order to lure the security forces to engage with them. The 4th suspect took up a position on top of a building in the area. As soon as the security forces arrived, he detonated the IED using a mobile phone. The 2 remaining IEDs were not detonated as the 2nd IED was damaged due to the explosion and the security forces did not approach the 3rd IED. 5 of the 8 defendants referred by the Public Prosecution to the Higher Criminal Court were remanded in custody pending investigation, while the remaining 3 are still fugitives. The defendants are charged with the organisation and management of a group with the intention to disrupt the provisions of the constitution and prevent state institutions from carrying out their duties. They are charged with using terrorism as a means to achieve the group's objectives and recruiting individuals and overseeing the production of explosives. They are also charged with targeting police personnel and attempts to weaken state institutions in order to overthrow them. Additionally, 6 of the defendants were charged with joining a terrorist group. They, alongside one other defendant, were also charged with engaging in terrorist activities that led to further charges of murder, attempted murder and the damaging of public property. The case was held at the Higher Criminal Court where it heard from the defence, affording defendants their full legal rights. The court subsequently heard the Public Prosecution's statement, which called for the maximum punishment available, which is the death penalty. The court issued its aforementioned verdict and convicted the defendants. The court based its rulingon the evidence provided by the Public Prosecution, which confirms the crimes committed by the suspects. The evidence included testimonies from 17 witnesses and the seizure of materials used in the manufacturing of explosives. The suspects were found in possession of these materials, in addition to mobile phone communications of 1 of the suspects that confirmed the suspects communicated with each other on the day of the incident and beforehand. Their conversations included the targeting of police officers. Moreover, the crime scene report showed that the DNA of one of the suspects was found on one of the IEDs that was not detonated. The Court based its ruling on the conclusive evidence presented to it. The Advocate Generalreaffirmed the defendants' right to appeal the verdict at a Higher Court, in accordance with due process. (source: Bahrain News Agency) ***************** Killers of UAE officer get death sentence 3 men were sentenced to death by a Bahrain court on Thursday and 7 others were given a life term for killing 3 policemen including 1 from the UAE.The kingdom's Public Prosecution said on its Twitter account that the men were found guilty of killing 3 policemen last March, including Lieutenant Tareq Mohammed Al Shehhi from the UAE. The defendants who escaped the death penalty were sentenced to life imprisonment and will have their citizenship stripped, said defence attorney Mohammed Al Tajir. He said he will appeal the verdict. "3 defendants were sentenced to death and life imprisonment (was handed down) for the remaining accused," the public prosecution said on its Twitter account, adding that a number the men will be stripped of their nationality. The ruling is the latest in a series of strict penalties handed down to those accused of seeking to destabilise the kingdom. (source: Gulf Today) **************** BAHRAIN: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER UNFAIR TRIAL Three Bahraini men have been sentenced to death after an unfair trial, and another seven to life imprisonment in relation to the killing of three policemen. They have each had their nationality revoked. View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. Ali Abdulshaheed al-Sankis, Sami Mirza Mshaima? and Abbas Jamil Taher Mhammad al-Samea were sentenced to death on 26 February by the High Criminal Court in the capital, Manama. They had been convicted of charges that included ?organizing, running and financing a terrorist group (Al-Ashtar Brigade) with the aim of carrying terrorist attacks?; ?possession and planting of explosives with the intent to kill security forces and causing disorder?; ?killing of three police officers and attempted killing of others?. ?Another seven men were sentenced to life in prison. The court also ordered that all 10 men should have their nationality revoked. They had been arrested around 3 March 2014 after their houses were raided by masked security officers. During three weeks of interrogation at the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) they did not have access to their families or lawyers and they said they had been tortured. Sami Mshaima? and Abbas al-Samea later told their families the torture had included being given electric shocks, beaten, burnt with cigarettes, being deprived of sleep, and sexually assaulted. The men only had access to their lawyers for the first time during their first court hearing on 30 April despite repeated requests to do so by the lawyers ahead of trial. During their first hearing their lawyers requested they be examined by a forensic doctor but the request was rejected. Their lawyers did not have access to the full evidence against them and were not allowed to cross-examine prosecution witnesses. The defendants were not allowed to speak in court. Their lawyers withdrew from the case in protest and new lawyers, two of whom had represented them before, were appointed by the court. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION After a bomb blast killed three policemen in the village al-Daih on 3 March 2014, the security forces raided a number of homes and arrested at least 25 people, including the 10 that were sentenced on 26 February. Many of those who were arrested and later released said they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated. ?One of them, Abbas Jamil Taher Mhammad al-Samea, a schoolteacher, said he had been in school at the time of the bombing and had presented a letter from the school corroborating this. View the full Urgent Action here. Names: Ali Abdulshaheed al-Sankis (m), Sami Mirza Mshaima? (m), Abbas Jamil Taher Mhammad al-Samea (m), Ahmad Jaafar Mhamad ?Ali (m), ?Ali Jamil Taher Mhamad al-Samea (m), Taher Youssif Ahmed Mhamad al-Samie (m), Hussein Ahmad Rashed Khalil (m), Redha Mirza Mshaima? (m), Hussein Sabah Abdulhussein (m) and Ahmad M?touq Ibrahim (m) Issues: ?Death penalty, Unfair trial, Torture UA: 47/15 Issue Date: 27 February 2015 Country: Bahrain Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to uan at aiusa.org with "UA 47/15" in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at uan at aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below. HOW YOU CAN HELP Please write immediately in English or Arabic: * Urging the authorities not to execute Ali Abdulshaheed al-Sankis, Sami Mirza Mshaima? and Abbas Jamil Taher Mhammad al-Samea and immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty; * Urging them to order a full retrial of the individuals, ensuring internationally recognized standards for fair trial are complied with, without recourse to the death penalty; * Acknowledging the Bahraini government?s responsibility to protect the public and bring to justice those who commit crimes, but insisting that this should always be done in accordance with international law and Bahrain?s international human rights obligations. PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 10 APRIL 2015 TO: King Shaikh Hamad bin ?Issa Al Khalifa Office of His Majesty the King P.O. Box 555 Rifa?a Palace, al-Manama, Bahrain Fax: 011 973 1766 4587 Salutation: Your Majesty Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Prime Minister Office of the Prime Minister P.O. Box 1000, al-Manama, Bahrain Fax: 011 973 1753 3033 Salutation: Your Highness Minister of Justice Shaikh Khaled bin Ali al-Khalifa Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs P. O. Box 450, Manama, Bahrain Fax: 011 973 1753 1284 Salutation: Your Excellency Also send copies to: H.E. Ambassador Shaikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain 3502 International Dr. NW, Washington DC 20008 Fax: 1 202 362 2192 I Email: ambsecretary at bahrainembassy.org Please share widely with your networks:?http://bit.ly/1wqDE8I We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the "Forward this email to a friend" link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism! UA Network Office AIUSA ?600 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC 20003 T. 202.509.8193 ? F. 202.509.8193 ?E. uan at aiusa.org ?amnestyusa.org/urgent SAUDI ARABIA: Axe murderer and heroin smuggler are both beheaded in Saudi Arabia, bringing the number of death sentences carried out in the kingdom to 34 this year ----2 more public beheadings have been carried out in Saudi Arabia today Saudi Arabia has beheaded an axe murderer and a heroin smuggler bringing the total number of public executions in the kingdom this year to 34. Indian man Vijay Kumar Saleem was convicted of killing a Yemeni national in an axe attack by striking him on the head. According to the Saudi interior ministry, the attack took place after a dispute at the farm where the men worked and Saleem was executed in the capital Riyadh. Meanwhile in the holy city of Medina, Pakistani national Hafiz Wifaq Rasoul Shah was also beheaded after being convicted of heroin trafficking. A separate interior ministry statement said: 'Investigations led to his confession and he was tried and found guilty.' According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Gulf has become an increasingly important market for illicit drugs in recent years. The Saudi government says it 'is committed to fighting drugs of all kinds due to the physical and social harm they cause'. It also says the death penalty in murder cases aims 'to maintain security and realise justice'. Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all punishable by death under the Gulf kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law. The beheadings come just a day after a man was sentenced to death for renouncing his Muslim faith and posting a video on a social media site which shows him ripping up the Koran before hitting it with his shoe. A source who was in the General Court during his hearing said: 'In the video he cursed God, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his daughter Fatimah and ripped a copy of the Holy Qur'an and hit it with a shoe. 'The death sentence was issued after his apostasy was proven.' Amnesty International said in its annual report released on Wednesday that death sentences are often imposed 'after unfair trials'. The London-based watchdog said some defendants claimed to have been tortured or 'otherwise coerced or misled into making false confessions' before trial. It is believed that the kingdom executed 87 people last year, up from 78 in 2013. The Saudi government has taken some steps to reform its judicial system but has also defended it as 'fair'. Last year a court in Jeddah sentenced Saudi liberal Raif Badawi to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for publishing criticism of the kingdom's ruling religious and political elite and calling for reforms in Islam. The 1st of 50 of those lashes were carried out in January, but subsequent rounds of flogging have not occurred. Officials have not publicly commented on the case, but insiders say the lashing appears to have been quietly dropped. (source: Daily Mail) IRAN----execution A Prisoner Hanged in the Prison of Tabas A prisoner, who was accused by dealing drugs, was hanged in Central Prison of Tabas. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency in Iran (HRANA), Mehdi Fatahi, from Torbat Heidarieh, who had been arrested about 3 years ago and was charged with drug related crimes, was executed in Central Prison of Tabas. First, he had been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Tabas court, but in appeal court his sentence increased to death and after being upheld by the Supreme Court, he was executed. (source: HRANA News Agency) ************************* Executions and human rights abuses continue to soar under 'moderate' Rouhani Iran's so-called 'moderate' President Hassan Rouhani has made no efforts to improve human rights in his own country or moves to improve relations with the West after 18 months, European Parliament Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki has insisted. And the nuclear negotiations between the regime and the P5+1 group of nations have been based on a false premise from the start, he said. He wrote: "The Joint Plan of Action was signed about 5 months after President Hassan Rouhani took office in Iran amidst promises that he would improve the domestic situation in his country while reaching out the West to alleviate the international sanctions that had hobbled the Iranian economy. "Many in Europe, and presumably many in Iran, wanted very badly to believe that Rouhani would herald some sort of sea change in the Islamic Republic's tone toward the Western world and its treatment of its own people. "Rouhani has boasted of defiance of the West when speaking to his fellow officials and to the Iranian people. At a rally commemorating the 36th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution this month, Rouhani insisted that it was not the West that had brought Iran to the negotiating table, but Iran that had bent the United States to its will. "He also bragged, 'We never stopped our nuclear program but (during my government) we accelerated the program more than before'." Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei insists that there can be no negotiation over basic aspects of the nuclear issue such as enrichment capacity, Mr Czarnecki wrote. But meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards Corps is bragging that its military capabilities are spectacularly advanced, he said. He added: "But perhaps it is only that President Rouhani could not stand up to the Supreme Leader on the issue of relations with the West and still hopes to make the promised domestic changes. "Well, what of those changes? Surely the true measure of Rouhani's commitment to moderation is in the way the government now treats its own people. "If anti-Western rhetoric under the Rouhani administration has stoked suspicions that the regime is averse to cooperation with the values and interests of Western democracies, the 18-month legacy of that administration on human rights should leave no doubt. The situation is far worse than before. The rate of executions, already the highest per capita of any nation in the world, has continued to climb under Rouhani, along with censorship, confiscation of satellite dishes and spying on the population, he said. Mr Czarnecki added: "But from the perspective of the West, perhaps the most frightening thing about Iran's intimidation tactics and dissemination of propaganda is that they appear to be having an effect on Western policy-makers, perhaps even more than upon Iran's own people. "How else can we explain the Obama administration's decision to keep extending sanctions relief to Iran while conceding to as much as 80 % of the regime's demands, as by letting it keep 6,500 or more of its 10,000 enrichment centrifuges? "How else can we explain past efforts by some Western governments to or marginalize or demonize the main opposition PMOI (MEK), and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) which has been the target of so much Iranian propaganda precisely because it advocates for the free, secular, and democratic future of Iran that all peace-loving nations must envision? "Indeed, how else can we explain the very fact that despite more than 1,200 executions carried out by Hassan Rouhani, some in Europe still claim he is a political moderate, that Iran is a rational and trustworthy negotiating power, that Iran's prior deceptions regarding its nuclear program are not indicative of things to come? "If we don't let ourselves be duped by Iranian propaganda, then we will see conditions both inside and outside that country as they truly are. And those conditions truly are worse than ever, characterized by murder and execution, by repression of dissent, by free antagonism of the West. The only viable option for Europe is therefore to support the democratic resistance that struggles to replace the theocratic regime with a genuinely pluralistic, free and democratic Iran." (source: NCR-Iran) From rhalperi at smu.edu Fri Feb 27 13:00:41 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 13:00:41 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ARIZ., USA Message-ID: Feb. 27 TEXAS: Punishment phase begins in capital murder trial Family of Brendon Gaytan are expected to plead for his life to be spared Friday during the punishment phase of his capital murder trial in the February 2014 death of 2 young girls. Prosecutors are seeking the death penaltyFamily of Brendon Gaytan are expected to plead for his life to be spared Friday during the punishment phase of his capital murder trial in the February 2014 death of 2 young girls. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty after a jury of 7 men and 5 women convicted Gaytan on Thursday. The jury is scheduled to return at 9 a.m. Friday in 347th District Judge Missy Medary's court to begin the punishment phase. The jury had the option of finding Gaytan guilty of capital murder, manslaughter or deadly conduct in the shooting deaths of 6-year-old Neveah Oliva and 2-year-old LillyAnna Valent at a birthday party Feb. 16, 2014. Gaytan's half-brother, Cruz Salazar, also will be tried. Capital murder carries 2 punishment options of either life in prison or death by legal injection. More than 30 bullets struck the house in the 4700 block of Cheryl Drive and multiple bullets struck the girls. Lillyanna died of a gunshot wound to her head and Nevaeh of a gunshot to her left chest. No one else was injured. The jury is scheduled to return at 9 a.m. Friday in 347th District Judge Missy Medary's court to begin the punishment phase. The jury had the option of finding Gaytan guilty of capital murder, manslaughter or deadly conduct in the shooting deaths of 6-year-old Neveah Oliva and 2-year-old LillyAnna Valent at a birthday party Feb. 16, 2014. Gaytan's half-brother, Cruz Salazar, also will be tried. Capital murder carries 2 punishment options of either life in prison or death by legal injection. More than 30 bullets struck the house in the 4700 block of Cheryl Drive and multiple bullets struck the girls. Lillyanna died of a gunshot wound to her head and Nevaeh of a gunshot to her left chest. No one else was injured. Defense attorneys and Gaytan's family have maintained the man's innocence. (source: Corpus Christi Caller-Times) ARIZONA: Defense Pleads for Arias' Life in Death Penalty Trial, Jury Begins Deliberation After months of hearing sexually explicit testimony, the jury in the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial is now tasked with deciding whether to sentence the convicted killer to life in prison or execution for the murder of her lover, Travis Alexander. Prosecutors in the high profile case claim Arias killed her on-again off-again boyfriend during a jealous rage after he planned to leave her and go on a vacation with another woman. However, Arias argues that she killed him in self-defense after he attacked her. According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him. In addition, she shot him in the face before dragging his bloodied corpse to the shower and taking pictures of him. Although she was found guilty of 1st-degree murder in May 2013, jurors in her 1st trial failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, a Maricopa County Superior Court jury will deliberate whether or not to spare her life. If all 12 jurors don't agree to sentence her to death, then Arias will automatically be given life in prison. Or, if this 2nd jury reaches deadlock, under state law Arias would be sentenced to life, reports AZ Central. If for any reason, Arias is given life behind bars, then it will be up to Judge Sherry Stephens to decide whether Arias should or should not be eligible for release after 25 years. Before jury deliberation began Wednesday afternoon, lead defense attorney Kirk Nurmi pleaded with jurors to spare the killer's life during his closing statement. Nurmi also presented the Phoenix jury with photos of Arias and Travis Alexander during the happier times in their relationship, reports The Associated Press. Nurmi told jurors that Arias was the victim of abuse in her twisted relationship with Alexander, who he said sexually humiliated her. "Why did we go from this sexual encounter to the killing?" Nurmi said. "Because of this tumultuous relationship. Because the emotional stress all this was bringing on." Meanwhile, prosecutor Juan Martinez presented gruesome photos of Alexander's lifeless body and called Arias dishonest. He also questioned her claim of being remorseful and undercut the defense argument that she suffers from mental illness. (source: Latin Post) USA: Judge in Fell death penalty case removes himself from case The federal judge who presided over Vermont's only death penalty case for more than a decade abruptly transferred the case Wednesday to a new U.S. District Court judge sitting in Rutland. Judge William K. Sessions has presided over the case in Burlington involving accused killer Donald Fell since Feb. 7, 2001 when he arraigned the Rutland man and his deceased accused accomplice, Robert Lee, on charges of carjacking and killing Terry King of North Clarendon. In a brief order issued Thursday, Sessions assigned the case to federal Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who received his judicial commission as a federal judge in August after serving for years as a state judge in Vermont including a 1-year stint as an associate judge on the Vermont Supreme Court. Fell was convicted of the killing in 2005 and sentenced to death in June 2006. Over the years, Sessions has issued a ruling finding the death penalty unconstitutional - a decision that was overturned by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals - and a more recent decision that nullified both the sentence and guilty verdict against Fell. That decision wasn't appealed - ending Fell's 8-year stay at the federal death row penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. But federal prosecutors announced last month that they will retry Fell with the goal once again of putting him to death. In September 2002, Sessions wrote that the death penalty was unconstitutional because it denies defendants' right to due process. He wrote the law allows evidence and procedures that could not be used at trial to be used for sentencing people to death, specifically, in the Fell case a statement that Lee - who died in prison before the judge's order was released - gave to authorities after his arrest. Sessions also wrote that the federal death penalty statute prevents defendants convicted of capital crimes from questioning witnesses before being sentenced to death. In July, Sessions ordered a new trial for Fell on the grounds that he was denied a fair trial by the misconduct of 1 juror on the case. The juror's conduct was so "egregious, biased and dishonest" that it tainted the results of Fell's trial," Sessions wrote. "Because of Juror 143's deliberate misconduct, Fell had a jury that was not capable, nor willing, to decide his case solely on the evidence before it. He was therefore denied a fair trial and his conviction and sentence must be vacated," Sessions wrote, using the juror's number rather than his name to identify him. "While the court is reluctant to turn back the clock on a matter that has required such significant resources in terms of time, effort, and, for some, emotion, it sees no alternative. ... In particular, the court is mindful of the impact upon Mrs. King's family, which has suffered for so long as a result of this tragedy." But King's family members have said in the past that it is Session's own bias against the death penalty that has tainted the case. "This is not anything that we didn't expect," King's sister Barbara Tuttle said in July. "He's prejudiced against the death penalty. He's written about his opposition to it. How can he make an unbiased decision?" King was carjacked on the night of Nov. 26, 2000, as she arrived to work at Price Chopper supermarket in downtown Rutland. Police and prosecutors say she was forced at gunpoint by Fell and his accomplice Robert Lee - who died before his case went to trial - to drive to Dutchess County, N.Y., where the 2 men allegedly used rocks and their feet to bludgeon her to death. The 2 men were arrested 4 days later in Clarksville, Ark., driving the deceased woman's car. Why Crawford, a relatively new federal judge who has handled only a small number of federal criminal cases thus far, was selected to preside over the new trial is unclear. Sessions, who could not be reached this morning, didn't give an explanation for the reassignment or the decision to assign Crawford rather than Chief U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss. Reached Friday by his office staff, Crawford declined to comment on the assignment and Acting U.S. Attorney in Vermont Eugenia Cowles and former Vermont U.S. attorney Tristram Coffin said they couldn't comment on the decision or how it might affect the case. (source: Rutland Herald) ************************ Is the Death Penalty Christian? The attorney general, Eric Holder, yesterday called for an end to executions in America, or at the very least, a lengthy moratorium. This naturally raises the question about what the Christian view of capital punishment is. It's a question worth answering. Capital punishment was instituted by God following the flood of Noah. According to Genesis 9:5-6, God says, "From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his image." Here God is clearly delegating his authority to man - "by man shall his blood be shed" - to carry out the death penalty for the wanton taking of innocent human life. God himself is the one who is requiring this "reckoning for the life of man," because the murderer has destroyed someone created "in his image." Murder defaces and destroys the image of God, and for that God demands an accounting. Prior to the flood, capital punishment was not allowed as a punishment for crime or as a deterrent for homicide. In fact, God himself declared that he would take vengeance "sevenfold" on anyone who punished Cain for his cold-blooded murder of Abel (Genesis 4:15). It is as if God was saying, "Alright, you think capital punishment is barbaric. We'll do it your way for 1700 and see how that works out." And so mankind did, from the days of Cain until the days of Noah. How well did this kinder, gentler approach to justice work? It lead to vigilante justice and barbarism, as men took matters of punishment into their own hands. Said Lamech, "I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:23-24). So vigilante justice, without God's authorization, was almost immediately exercised for non-capital offenses. And by the time Noah arrived, the lack of a system of justice had so contributed to social deterioration and the collapse of character that "the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and ... every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). There was nothing for God to do but wipe everything out and start over. It was much like finding an 18-month old carton of cottage cheese in the back of a refrigerator when the power's been out during the heat of summer. There's nothing to salvage. You have to dump the lot and start with a fresh container. This was the story of the flood. So God established a new rule following the wild, wild East of the pre-flood days. From now on, God said, murder will be dealt with through capital punishment. This standard is re-established in the Ten Commandments, where God succinctly commands, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). The King James version, "Thou shalt not kill," has led some to erroneously believe that God was prohibiting killing of every kind, but he most certainly was not. The Sixth Commandment is specifically a command against cold-blooded murder. Killing in self-defense, war, and as punishment for murder are not only permitted but prescribed in the Scripture. In fact, on the next page on the book of Exodus, in chapter 21, there are 6 specific crimes for which capital punishment is the prescribed penalty. As an aside, it's worth noting that the death penalty was mandated for participation in the slave trade: "Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:16). In other words, if the United States had simply followed the standards found in Scripture, slaves never would have appeared on our shores, slavery never would have been an issue, and the Civil War would never have been fought. Then, as always, the Scriptures show us the way forward not just personally but politically as well. Capital punishment is reaffirmed by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans as the antidote to vigilante justice and social chaos. He tells us in Romans 12:19, "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" How does the Lord exact vengeance? As Paul immediately goes on to say, through the instrumentality of the state. Civil government has been invested with God's own authority to execute justice, including capital punishment. Government "does not bear the sword in vain," Paul says in Romans 13:4. A sword, of course, was an instrument of lethal force. And for what purpose does civil government bear the sword? Paul immediately explains: "For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer" (Romans 13:4). It bears emphasizing that capital punishment is thus not just an Old Testament concept, but is reaffirmed as a principle of justice under the terms of the New Covenant in Christ. Solomon adds an important word of wisdom, on the subject of deterrence. Many argue - falsely it turns out - that capital punishment is no deterrent at all. Well, it certainly deters the murderer from killing anybody ever again, which sounds like deterrence to me. But the Scripture indicates that unless capital punishment is carried out in a timely manner, it not only loses its deterrent force but actually makes things worse instead of better. "Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11). Keeping murderers and serial killers alive on death row for a decade or more has no deterrent effect whatsoever, and yet that's what we're doing. According the Bureau of Justice, the average time between sentencing and execution in America is now up to 169 months, or just over 14 years. This is up from 50 months in 1977. By the time the sentence is carried out, the public - and potential murderers who might have had some sense scared into them - have forgotten all about the crime. There is simply no connection in the public mind between crime and capital punishment. Contrast this, for instance, with the fate of the conspirators who worked together to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. He was assassinated on April 14, 1865. The plotters had been apprehended, tried, and hung by the neck til dead by July 6, a scant 83 days later. According to polling data, there still is a significant residue of Judeo-Christian morality left when it comes to the death penalty. Gallup found as recently as 2010 that 64% of Americans support the death penalty while just 29% oppose it. This is an encouraging result, given the relentless brainwashing from the left to convince us otherwise. (It's worth noting that as recently as 1995, the split with 80-16 in favor of executing murderers.) Bizarrely, in 2004 fewer people who went to church weekly favored the death penalty (65%) compared to those who never went (71%). This is likely due to the way in which the gospel of Christ has been feminized by the modern church, all its firm edges sanded off in order not to offend. It's sobering to think that people outside the church have a more biblical view of justice than those inside the church, which certainly is an indictment of the teaching coming from America's pulpits. Critics argue that capital punishment demonstrates a low view of the value of human life. It's exactly the reverse. It is imposing the death penalty that enables a culture to declare its highest regard for life. With the death penalty, society says that human life is so valuable that if someone takes a human life without just cause he must forfeit his own life in return. Justice truly is, as the book of God's truth says, "Life for life." (source: Bryan Fischer, cowgernation.com) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 28 14:12:23 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 14:12:23 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., GA., FLA., MISS. Message-ID: Feb. 28 TEXAS: Graham man convicted of capital murder for killing 2 sons A Tarrant County jury deliberated for less than 45 minutes Friday before convicting a Graham man of capital murder in the deaths of his 2 young sons in 2011. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, and the sentencing phase of the trial is scheduled to begin Monday. Jurors will be asked to decide whether Gabriel Armandariz, 32, should die or go to prison for life. Bad weather this week occasionally delayed the trial, and Monday's proceedings were canceled altogether. On Friday, the courtroom staff had trouble finding a restaurant that would deliver lunch to jurors, and witnesses called to testify reported long, slow drives through the snowstorm that hit North Texas. But in the end, things went quickly. Defense attorney Terri Moore acknowledged to the jury that Armandariz was guilty and then said deliberations should not take long because his guilt was not in question. Jurors had yet to hear the whole story of why Armandariz did what he did, she said, and they would learn that next week. "He's crazy, but Gabriel is not insane," Moore said. In her closing argument, prosecutor Lisa Tanner - in response to Moore - said that she knows why Armandariz killed his children. "This was pure meanness," Tanner said. "I have no doubt that he loved his children. But the sad fact is that he hated Lauren Smith more." Smith, the boys' mother, had a 3-year troubled relationship with Armandariz. Armandariz strangled 8-month-old Luke and 2-year-old Gatlin on April 13, 2011, at his family's house in Graham. He hid their bodies in the crawl space under the house. There was a 2nd man in Smith's life, Jeremy Larramore, the father of her oldest child. The hatred between Armandariz and Larramore ended in the deaths of the 2 brothers, according to testimony Friday. Larramore, 26, and Smith met in high school, had a daughter together and had just recently broken up when Armandariz entered the picture. Larramore testified Friday that he and Armandariz got into a fistfight during their first meeting and that the animosity only grew. Larramore married another woman, but Armandariz texted him incessantly and threatened to steal his children. "He was constantly bringing up my wife in a sexual way," Larramore testified. "He was saying he was having sex with my wife." Larramore and Smith had an informal shared-custody arrangement for their daughter, but he went to court to reduce her access because she continued to involve Armandariz in their visits. On one occasion, Armandariz got drunk, became angry, and tossed clothes and furniture belonging to Smith and her daughter outside, in full view of Larramore's visiting relatives. Smith's time with her oldest was reduced to supervised visits only, Larramore told the jury. Armandariz was 6 years older than Smith, had been in prison on a drug conviction and told Larramore that he had been a gang member, Larramore said. Both men threatened each other, and Larramore once texted that he would "slit [Armandariz's] throat" for asserting that he was having sex with Smith, according to a text message read into the trial record. Once, Armandariz threatened to steal Larramore's children as they played in the yard, Larramore said. Each man told the other that he had fathered the other man's children, Larramore testified. "Sometimes I would get 10, 20, 30 text messages from him a day, and I got tired of hearing from him," Larramore said. "My grandmother told me to turn the other cheek and let it go. But sometimes I didn't." The case was moved from Young County to Tarrant County because of extensive pretrial publicity. Graham is about 90 miles northwest of Fort Worth. Weather permitting, the trial will resume Monday. State District Judge Stephen Bristow of Young County is presiding. Tanner and Tom Cloudt are assistant state attorneys general. Assisting Moore with the defense is Joetta Keene. (source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram) ******************* North Texan could be sent to death row for killing 2 sons A North Texas man has been convicted of strangling his 2 young sons and hiding their bodies in the crawl space under the family's home. Gabriel Armandariz of Graham could get the death penalty or life in prison without parole when the punishment phase begins Monday in Fort Worth. Armandariz was convicted Friday of capital murder in the 2011 deaths of his sons, 8-month-old Luke and 2-year-old Gatlin. Investigators say Armandariz had a dispute with the children's mother and sent her a photo of the baby hanging by the neck. Graham is about 75 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The case was moved from Young County due to extensive publicity about the deaths. (source: ABC news) PENNSYLVANIA: Interest grows in Pennsylvania death penalty committee The governor's death penalty moratorium, announced earlier this month, brings attention to an obscure group that has been quietly examining the use of the capital punishment in Pennsylvania for 3 years. In his announcement, Gov. Tom Wolf said he will reprieve all convicts facing execution until a death penalty task force finishes its work. About 1/2 the members of that group had unsuccessfully asked former Gov. Tom Corbett for the same moratorium. Critics have lambasted Wolf for removing the ultimate penalty as a form of justice needed to punish the worst criminals. Supporters say it's reasonable to stay executions pending the task force's findings. Pennsylvania has executed 3 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978; the last was in 1999. All 3 were convicts who abandoned their appeals and voluntarily went to their deaths. The state now has 186 people on death row - 5th-most in the nation. Pennsylvania governors have signed 434 death warrants, but almost all have been halted by the courts. 1 inmate has received a date of execution 6 times, with each being postponed by judicial intervention. The log jam was one reason behind the task force's creation in 2011. The group faced a daunting charge of considering 17 facets of the capital punishment including whether the state's use of lethal injection is constitutional, the number of mentally ill or mentally handicapped people on death row, how a convict's race factors into a death sentence, the death penalty's costs, and the risk of executing innocent people. It was supposed to finish its work by the end of 2013. One lawmaker leading the group says it will more likely be the end of this year - 2 years behind schedule. The delays are due, in part, to foot-dragging by some agencies holding information that the task force needed in order to weigh costs and benefits of the death penalty, said state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery County, a staunch opponent of capital punishment. Leach declined to say who those foot-draggers were, but he added that the task force now has the information that it needs. The task force is composed of 2 Republican and 2 Democratic senators, along with a 25-member advisory committee. The advisors include some death penalty opponents as well as victims' advocates and prosecutors including Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who have taken steps to undo Wolf's moratoriium. Williams filed a legal challenge asking the State Supreme Court to determine if Wolf over-reached his authority in staying the sentences. Unlike some other states, Pennsylvania doesn't give its governor broad power to commute death sentences, Williams argued. He points to language in the state Constitution, which directs that pardons must come from the Board of Pardons. Of course, Wolf knows lawyers, too. His office released a statement from former federal Appeals Court Judge Timothy Lewis, arguing that the governor does, in fact, have the authority to issue the moratorium. Lewis said Wolf can legally manage the moratorium by issuing individual reprieves each time a convict is due to be put to death. As the Supreme Court contemplates that legal question, Wolf's moratorium at least guarantees that the death penalty task force and its findings, no matter what they are, have everyone's attention. (source: Associated Press) *********************** Maybe we should televise an execution or 2 before making up our minds There may be a moratorium on executions in Pennsylvania, but if last week's local poll on the subject is any indication, the fight for the death penalty's survival has barely begun. The conventional wisdom in survey research is that people - Americans especially - like to gravitate toward the centrist answers on public opinion polls. We like to think of ourselves as moderate, middle-of-the-road. Extremism is downright un-American. But instead of the bell curve one might expect, our poll on the death-penalty moratorium returned a perfect "U" with the answers clustering at the extremes: 1. The governor is wrong. Delaying the execution of convicted killers is unfair to the victims and to society (25 votes, 36.23 %). 2. I have mixed feelings. We should execute convicted killers, but we need to make sure no innocent person is ever put to death (10, 14.49 %). 3. The governor is right, but only if the moratorium is temporary, to ensure no innocent person could be executed in Pennsylvania (8, 11.59 %). 4. The governor doesn't go far enough. Killing is wrong, and that includes state-sanctioned executions (26 votes, 37.68 %). It's no surprise to me that, for many people, the death penalty is a powerful symbol of personal accountability and justice for victims and families. But I'm still surprised more death-penalty proponents didn't take one of the middle options. No one, I'm sure, wants to see the innocent executed, so there must be other reasons to avoid those middle-of-the-road answers. Maybe they don't trust the governor's motives, or put too much trust in the system to always get the right guy. Publicity surrounding a disturbing number of cases in which DNA proves they got the wrong guy - such as York County's own Ray Krone - have no doubt helped erode support for the death penalty. Gallup's most recent survey of the question 2 years ago indicated 60 % of Americans favored capital punishment, down from a historic high of 80 % in 1994. And there is evidence that support for executions continues to decline. Still, I'm surprised nearly 40 % of the respondents to our local poll would stake the other extreme. True, if killing is wrong, there is no room for compromise, like there might be for a capital-punishment supporter who backs the governor on this. Still, I'd like to suggest a modest compromise I think both sides ought to agree on: If we're going to put people to death, we ought to live-stream the executions so the public can watch what is being done in its name. That should satisfy those who thirst for revenge, and it underlines any deterrent effect executions might have. Back in the day, people took their kids to hangings as an object lesson of what can happen when you misbehave. And those opposed to capital punishment ought to welcome a cold-blooded look at the machinery of death. The father of sociology, Emil Durkheim, talked about what he called the "theater of punishment" - that the justice system reflects and reaffirms the values of the society that enforces them. Certainly the images of barbarous terrorist beheadings say plenty about their own twisted sense of justice. I like to think most societies have come a long way since burning at the stake and breaking at the wheel were popular entertainments. But I want to know more before making up my mind. So speaking for myself only, I'd have to agree with the governor. I think we need to take a hard look at the death penalty, and maybe that includes really watching what is being done in our name. (source: Marc Charisse, York Daily Record) ************************* The death penalty doesn't deter crime, but it could help those who need organs No, Gov. Wolf, the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder ("Wolf Orders Freeze on Executions," Feb. 13). Neither is any other punishment a deterrent to crime. A person committing a crime never thinks of the consequences. The prospect of being caught and sent to jail has never prevented a crime. A person committing murder should forfeit his right to life. He or she should be sentenced to total solitary confinement. The person would be confined for the rest of his life and let out of the cell for 1 hour a day, alone, to a private enclosure. Those sentenced to death could agree to be a complete organ donor - death by donation. Some say the current method of death by injection is cruel and unusual punishment. The person would be put to sleep as in any other operation - no pain. All organs would be harvested; the last would be the heart. The death penalty is carried out. One person dies, and 5 or 6 people start a new life. RICHARD C. GROVE----Penn Hills (source: Letter to the Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) NORTH CAROLINA: 2 will face the death penalty 2 alleged co-conspirators in a 2012 homicide are now facing the death penalty. At a hearing Friday in Onslow County Superior Court, with Judge Charles Henry presiding, District Attorney Ernie Lee announced the state would pursue the death penalty against James Edward Williamson and Larry Forrest, both 23 years old. Lee was accompanied by Assistant District Attorney Michael Maultsby. Both men are accused of conspiring to kill Kim Flournoy a 65-year-old Jacksonville resident, December 2012 outside the TNT Bingo Hall on Henderson Drive. Both men were arrested and charged with 1st degree murder, among other charges, in 2013. Forrest is accused of shooting Flournoy while Williamson, a corporal aboard Camp Lejeune at the time, drove him away from the scene, according to prior reports. Flournoy was pronounced dead at the scene. Lee explained the state is pursuing the death penalty in both cases because the incident involved "at least 1 aggravating circumstance," per North Carolina statutes. The circumstance the state presented to the court was "pecuniary gain." That is 1 of 11 aggravating circumstances in which the death penalty can be pursued in North Carolina, according to state statutes. Forrest was represented by Richard McNeil and Williamson was represented by Paul Castle, both of Jacksonville. North Carolina law requires a defendant in a capital case to have 2 attorneys representing them and Castle said he would sit as 2nd chair to an attorney obtained by the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services for Williamson. That is also per North Carolina law, Castle explained, since he has not been council on at least 2 capital cases. Castle believes pursuing the death penalty against his client isn't a good use of the state's resources, calling it "overkill." Capital cases in Onslow County are rare, Castle and Lee said. 3 people tried and convicted in Onslow County - Clifford Ray Miller, Bryan Christopher Bell and Johnny Hyde - are currently on death row, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. They were all convicted more than a decade ago. Miller's case was the latest and he was convicted Oct. 25, 2001. Another man, Marcus Douglas Jones, was also on death row after he was convicted on Nov. 9, 2000, Lee said, but died of natural causes in 2012. Lee has only tried 8 capital cases since joining the District Attorney's office in 1987, he said, the 1st was in 1995. The last capital case tried in Onslow County was against Angelito Reyes Maniego in 2002, according to Lee. Mantiego was found guilty of 1st degree murder, but was sentenced to life without parole. On May 26, 1939, Edward Lee Maddox was the last person tried and convicted in Onslow County to be executed, Lee said. A date was not set for either Williamson or Forrest's trial during the hearing. Another hearing in an unrelated case was held for William Zachary Parker, a 28-year-old Sneads Ferry man accused of killing Elmer Lee Hudler, a 60-year-old Holly Ridge man, in April 2014. His hearing, to determine if the state will pursue a capital case against him, has been rescheduled for the week of March 23 after he, through counsel, requested "time in which to meet with a potential witness known to the defense that may have some bearing on this proceeding." Members of Parker's family, including his mother, were in attendance during the hearing. (source: Jacksonville Daily News) GEORGIA----new (and impending) execution date Man convicted of 2001 Newton County murder scheduled for execution Brian Keith Terrell, the man convicted of killing 70-year-old John Watson in his Covington home in 1992 is scheduled to be executed March 10 at 7 p.m., Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens announced Friday. On Friday, the Superior Court of Walton County filed an order setting the 7-day window in which the execution of Brian Keith Terrell may occur to begin at noon, March 10, 2015, and ending 7 days later at noon on March 17, 2015. Terrell has concluded his direct appeal proceedings and his state and federal habeas corpus proceedings. According to the Georgia Supreme Court Terrell shot Watson outside of his home, firing multiple shots, dragged him across the lawn and beat him "so severe that bone penetrated into the victim's brain." Evidence during the trial suggested that Terrell's mother was a close friend of Watson, and Terrell stole 10 checks from the victim and began using them. After Watson discovered the theft, he agreed with Terrell's mother not to press charges if Terrell returned a significant portion of the stolen money by the following morning. The next morning, it was testified that Terrell and his cousin Jermaine Johnson, drove to Watson's house. Terrell got out of the automobile at Watson's house carrying a pistol. When Johnson returned from dropping off Terrell, Terrell reportedly told Johnson he had shot someone. Terrell then took his son to the zoo, where he disposed of the pistol. When Watson missed his dialysis appointment, a search began for the Newton County resident. Evidence found at Watson's house showed that Terrell hid at the corner of his house waiting for Watson to drive to his dialysis appointment. Terrell then fired repeatedly at Watson, with initial shots striking the driveway, including one that ricocheted into the victim's thigh. Terrell then continued to attack and overtook Watson, shooting him 3 more times before dragging him to a secluded area. Evidence in the sentencing phase showed that Terrell had previously participated in a home-invasion robbery against drug dealers at an apartment in DeKalb County in 1990. According to Terrell's confession in that case, the robbery involved use of guns and the female victims were ordered to strip and were bound in a closet while the male victim was placed underneath a sofa. In a separate incident, Newton County Sheriff's Department deputy testified that in 1994 Terrell approached him and said he was going to rape the officer's daughter and smiled. Testimony also showed that Terrell set a fire at the Newton County Jail in 1994. Terrell was indicted in the Superior Court of Newton County for 1 count malice murder and 10 counts of 1st degree forgery. The 1st trial ended in a mistrial, and the 2nd resulted in a conviction and death sentence. However, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed the conviction due to an error in jury selection. Terrell's 3rd trial was held in Walton County and on Feb. 6, 2001, a jury convicted Terrell as charged in the indictment and recommended a death sentence. (source: covnews.com) ********************* Attorney, supporters throw Hail Marys for Kelly Gissendaner As the state's needle approaches, last-ditch efforts are increasing for Kelly Gissendaner. Attorneys for the former Auburn woman, convicted of having her lover kill her husband in 1997, have filed arguments trying to halt her Monday night execution. The filings allege, among other things, that Georgia has questionable methods of selecting and obtaining lethal injection drugs and that those drugs could cause excessive pain in the 46-year-old's death. The attorneys also argue that she doesn't deserve to die because she didn't physically kill Doug Gissendaner. The state's legal teams have in turn filed responses denying the claims and accusing those in Gissendaner's corner of trying to stall by rehashing issues that have long been decided in court. As usual, the legal back and forth is likely to continue until shortly before the execution's scheduled time, 7 p.m. Meanwhile, supporters and death penalty abolitionists continue speaking out, pleading for mercy. The Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty organization is holding 12 vigils around the state in a show of solidarity for Gissendaner at 6:30 p.m. Monday. By 7 p.m. Friday, more than 1,400 signatures were also logged on a petition on Change.org begging the Georgia parole board to step in and save the woman. The board, however, has already spoken. After a lengthy hearing Tuesday, the board declined to grant her clemency. A group of clergy members have also created a petition, calling for the state to commute Gissendaner's death sentence to life without parole. Nearly 40 pastors and priests from all over Georgia - Macon, Atlanta, Norcross - had reportedly signed on by early Friday night. The petition asks clergy members to sign agreeing with statements about the inmate's reformation and strong Christian faith. The petition's text also purports to quote her accepting responsibility for her actions, saying "it is impossible to put into words the overwhelming sorrow and remorse I feel ... I would change everything if I could." Gissendaner's regret and attempts to get right with God have been the source of much of the sympathy she's won. Her children have spoken of the change in pleas to save her life. Dozens of supporters - fellow inmates, at-risk youths she's helped, religious leaders and even a retired warden - have written to the parole board on Gissendaner's behalf. Former inmate Hazel Williams told the Daily Post on Friday that she saw the good in the condemned woman firsthand. "The Kelly I know is nothing but a very kind-hearted person who is always helping other people," said Williams, who says she knew Gissendaner when they were both at Metro State Prison. "Many (women were) about to commit suicide in lockdown and she talked them out of it. For me personally, she inspired me to have a closer (connection) with God." Gissendaner's path to salvation is also detailed in exhibits attached to her attorneys' motions. The attorneys presented 141 pages of letters from supporters and notes from instructors who worked with her in religious courses she's taken behind bars. She passed most of the courses with strong marks. The documents say Gissendaner learned in detail about the life and teachings of Christ and how to come back from grievous transgressions. One of the classes was titled, "You Can Live Forever." Gissendaner got a 91. (source: Gwinnett Daily Post) FLORIDA----new death sentence Jury recommends death for Wood Jurors unanimously recommended Friday that 24-year-old Zachary Taylor Wood be put to death for the murder of James 'Coon" Shores. If Circuit Judge Christopher Patterson goes along with the jury's recommendation, Wood will be the 1st person to be sentenced to death in Washington County's modern judicial history. The same jury of 6 men and 6 women had found Wood guilty Thursday of 1st-degree murder, burglary of a structure while armed with a firearm and robbery with a firearm. During Friday's sentencing hearing, 6 people testified on Wood's behalf. Heather Griffin, his older sister, pleaded with jurors to recommend a life sentence without parole. She read a typed letter that described Wood's tumultuous childhood. Griffin, who is 15 years older than her brother, recounted how she helped raise Wood from the day he was born until that job became full time after their mother died from colon cancer when Wood was 8 years old. "Zach has had a very difficult life. None of this is an excuse, but I did my best to raise him," Griffin said. "I feel in my heart that this is my responsibility." Griffin then looked to Shores' family and apologized. "I would do anything to take away their suffering," she said. "My family has suffered, too. This tragedy not only destroyed Mr. Shores' family, but also mine." Griffin described Wood as a helpful younger sibling who had been exposed to factors of abuse and "destructive drug use." She said Wood had hoped to get clean and away from the influence of his co-defendant in the killing, 21-year-old Dillon Scott Rafsky. It came to light during the trial that Wood and Rafsky had been in a romantic relationship. Walter Smith, Wood's attorney, told jurors that his client was coerced into participating in Shores' killing because he was afraid for his own safety if he didn't go along with Rafsky. Washington County sheriff's deputies found the 66-year-old Shores shot to death on his property April 20. Deputies arrived after they received information from Alabama lawmen that a vehicle connected to the shooting of a state trooper was registered to Shores. Testimony during the trial indicated that Shores returned to his home to find Rafsky and Wood there. They had been riding in a stolen Jeep on the property when it got stuck. They then burglarized Shores' home, according testimony presented at Wood's trial. After Shores told the men to get off his land, prosecutors said Wood and Rafsky allegedly beat, bound and shot him execution-style. They also allegedly dowsed him with him with solvent and tried to set him on fire. Smith maintained Friday that that his client did not pull the trigger that day. "It (the death penalty) should be reserved for persons we know beyond a reasonable doubt are capable of taking a human life and have taken a human life," he said. "He's guilty because he helped another individual, but he did not do it," Smith added. Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford told the jury the murder met 3 aggravating factors worthy of the death penalty: It was committed to avoid arrest, during a burglary or a robbery, and was cold, calculated and premeditated. After the jury returned with its recommendation, Josiah Shores, James Shores' son, thanked investigators and the prosecutors of the case. "They all did a good job," Shores said. Patterson will consider more mitigating and aggravating factors during a hearing April 17 before he hands down Wood???s sentence. He is not required to follow the jury's recommendation but must give it great weight. (source: Panama City News Herald) ****************** Defendant continues fight for his own death penalty Prosecutors say 39-year-old Craig Wall should die for his crimes, and Wall himself says he wants to be executed. All week in court, he has been defending himself on double murder charges. Now, Pinellas Circuit Judge Philip Federico wants special independent counsel involved before deciding how to sentence Wall. Earlier this month, Wall pleaded guilty to the February 2010 stabbing death of his estranged fiancee and pleaded no contest to the murder of their newborn son a couple of weeks before Laura Taft's death. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, Wall wants the same punishment, but he chose to act as his own attorney in the penalty phase of his murder trial. Presumably, that required him to present evidence to counter the prosecution's arguments supporting a death sentence. Wall denies killing the baby and presented photos and videos intended to show his love for the infant. However, he offered no mitigating evidence for murdering Taft, instead saying he felt capital punishment was appropriate. After the defense and prosecution rested their cases, Judge Federico called Wall's presentation a "red flag" for probable reviews by higher courts. The independent counsel will review the case and tell the court whether all of the possible mitigators were offered. In the meantime, the usual pre-sentencing investigation will be conducted. Judge Federico scheduled an April hearing to consider the findings before sentencing Wall. (source: Fox News) MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi court sets arguments in rape conviction appeal Attorneys for death row inmate Charles Ray Crawford will argue before the Mississippi Supreme Court March 23 that the man's 1994 rape conviction should be tossed out because he received poor legal representation at his trial. The result of the appeal could mean the difference between life and death for Crawford. Crawford, now 49, is on death row for the 1992 slaying of Kristy Ray in the Chalybeate community in Tippah County. Crawford argues he received ineffective counsel to defend himself against the rape charges, which were used by prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Few details of the rape conviction are discussed in earlier briefs in the death penalty case. The Supreme Court refused in December to throw out Crawford's appeal of his 1994 rape conviction. Prosecutors had argued in requesting the dismissal that Crawford got a fair trial and that if there was any error, it was Crawford's for waiting 20 years to file an appeal. Glenn Swartzfager, Crawford's lawyer, has argued there were numerous errors in Crawford's rape trial including poor performance by the defense, prosecutorial misconduct, and questionable rulings and jury instructions from the trial judge. "A more error-ridden case may never have come before this court," Swartzfager wrote in the brief to the Supreme Court. Crawford was arrested in 1992 and charged with rape and aggravated assault. While free on bond, he was arrested on murder charges in the death of a young woman. He was convicted of rape in 1993 and sentenced to 66 years in prison. He was then found guilty of murder in 1994 and sentenced to death. Prosecutors had argued for the death penalty, saying it was justified because Crawford's past as a rapist constituted an aggravated factor and called for the harshest of punishments. According to his lawyers, Crawford could get off death row - where he now resides on the unrelated murder conviction - if his appeal in the rape case is successful. The Supreme Court said it would not set an execution date for the murder until the rape appeal is resolved. If the Supreme Court upholds Crawford's conviction in the rape case, Attorney General Jim Hood could again petition the court to set an execution date. Crawford's lawyers argue that the death sentence would be negated if the conviction is reversed. In 1993, Crawford was out on bond awaiting trial on charges of aggravated assault and rape. 4 days before his trial, the 20-year-old Ray, a student at Northeast Mississippi Community College, was abducted from her parents' home in Chalybeate. After his family and attorney notified police that they feared Crawford was committing another crime, he was arrested. Crawford told authorities he did not remember the incident but later led them to Ray's body, buried in leaves in a wooded area. (source: Biloxi Sun Herald) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 28 14:14:05 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 14:14:05 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, ARK., OKLA., KAN., ARIZ., USA, US MIL. Message-ID: Feb. 28 OHIO: Tallmadge man faces death penalty after being convicted of killing 5-year-old son, boy's mother A Tallmadge man is facing execution after a Summit County jury found him guilty Friday of killing his 5-year-old son and the boy's mother. Daniel Tighe, 41, dumped their bodies in a wooded area behind the couple's home. He packed 3 stuffed animals in a blanket with the remains of his son Peyton, evidence prosecutors used to help convict Tighe. The jury of 7 women and 5 came back with guilty verdicts for aggravated murder, gross abuse of a corpse, domestic violence and tampering with evidence after less than a full day of deliberations. The same jury will decide whether to recommend execution or life in prison for Tighe during the mitigation phase of the trial, scheduled to begin March 16. During that phase of the case, defense attorneys will try and convince the jury to spare Tighe's life. Defense attorney Joe Gorman during closing arguments on Thursday said Tighe had a rough upbringing. Gorman said Tighe, an alcoholic, grew up without a mother. Gorman said Tighe's father used to make him pick out which chain he would hit him with when Tighe was a child. Tighe and Peyton Ralston's mother, Wendy, had a rocky relationship leading up to their disappearance on July 23, 2013. Wendy Ralston allowed Tighe to live with her after he lost his job and was evicted from his home. He failed to find a new job, which strained Wendy Ralston's finances, prosecutors said. Wendy Ralston's mother eventually notified police her daughter was missing after she didn't show up for an eviction hearing in Stow Municipal Court. Police eventually found their bodies in the woods and that Tighe moved the bodies deeper into the woods after a neighbor complained about a strange smell. Prosecutors showed text messages between the 2 and videos of fights recorded by both Tighe and Wendy Ralston during the trial. Wendy Ralston told Tallmadge police 3 days before she was murdered that she feared for her life. Prosecutors said they believe Tighe strangled Wendy Ralston. The county medical examiner was unable to determine a cause of death for either Wendy Ralston or her son because their bodies decomposed so much in the summer heat during the weeks before police found them. Forensic examiners did find that Wendy Ralston had a broken neck bone and Peyton Ralston had a broken tooth when he was found. Tighe gave police several different versions of the last time he saw the 2. State agents eventually found Tighe's DNA on a roll of tape near one used to wrap up Wendy Ralston's body in bedding taken from her bedroom. Defense attorneys argued that police failed to pursue investigations into at least 16 other men Wendy Ralston had contact with in the month leading up to her death, including men who paid Wendy Ralston for sex after meeting her through sugardaddy.com. (source: cleveland.com) *********************** Prosecutor wants death penalty in Ohio pizza slaying A county prosecutor says he will seek the death penalty for a man suspected of killing a pizza delivery driver in the northeast Ohio city of Lorain last December. 29-year-old Benjamin Davis of Lorain has been indicted on charges that include aggravated murder, felonious assault, aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence. The charges are related to the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Robert Caudill. Lorain police have said Davis called the restaurant where Caudill worked on Dec. 1 to have food delivered to a Lorain motel. Lorain is about 30 miles west of Cleveland. Davis was indicted Thursday. Prosecutor Dennis Will told the (Lorain) Morning Journal that his office will seek the death penalty for Davis. Davis' attorney could not be reached. (source: Associated Press) ARKANSAS: As Arkansas Moves To Abolish Death Penalty, Lawmaker Shoots Back With Firing Squad Proposal Just days after an Arkansas Senate committee moved to abandon the death penalty, a Republican lawmaker has called for a return of firing squads as an execution method. Acting between the Senate Judiciary Committee's approval of a bill to abolish the death penalty and the General Assembly's end-of-February deadline for new legislation, Rep. Rebecca Petty (R-Rogers) on Thursday drafted HB 1473, a shell bill -- a preliminary piece of legislation to be fleshed out later -- that would make firing squads a legal execution protocol in Arkansas. "We have to hold the people that brutally execute our police and rape and murder our women and children accountable," Petty said Friday in an email to The Huffington Post. "The people of Arkansas and the legislature overwhelming believe this." Petty continued: A few judges want to legislate from the bench and are forcing our hands to look for alternatives. I personally stand for our children and our police and not with these monsters. Additionally, we spend over $67 dollars a day to care for these monsters. THAT money is better suited to something like pre-K and to keep people out of prison. I care for children and not providing 3 square meals and a warm bed for cop killers and child murderers. Petty's 12-year-old daughter was raped and murdered in 1999 by Karl Roberts, the girl's uncle by marriage. After Roberts was convicted in 2000, he waived his right to appeal his conviction, but changed his mind just hours before execution. He is still on death row. "I understand where she's coming from," Sen. David Burnett (D-Osceola) told HuffPost. "I'm not naive enough to say there aren't evil people in the world for whom this would be a just end, but I think Arkansas should do away with it." The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved Burnett's bill, SB 298, that would remove the death penalty as a sentencing option in capital murder cases and cases of treason, making life in prison the harshest penalty available to prosecutors. It now moves to the Senate for consideration. "I believe in Arkansas the system is broken. The only benefit of the death penalty is that it's a bargaining tool for prosecuting attorneys," Burnett said. "We need to wake up and admit it and do away with it." Burnett, who counts 10 death penalty cases on his record from his 40 years as a prosecuting attorney and a circuit judge, characterized the state's capital punishment system as both a "nightmare" and "archaic." "It's not a deterrent; criminals don't think about it when they're taking lives," Burnett added. "It's more retribution than deterrent." If passed, SB 298 would not affect the sentences of the 31 inmates on Arkansas' death row. The state has not held an execution since 2005 due to legal challenges to the lethal injection procedure. Like other states, Arkansas prisons have been forced to seek alternative drugs that critics decry as experimental or unconstitutional, as the supply of the prior go-to drug dwindles. Petty's bill would offer an alternative method of execution. Burnett said that while support for the abolition of the death penalty has grown in recent decades, a majority of Arkansans -- including his fellow assemblymen -- still support it. "I'm not real encouraged by what I'm seeing," Burnett said. "We're next door to Texas. I think that's about all I need to say." (source: Huffington Post) OKLAHOMA: District attorney to seek death penalty in Bartlesville double homicide ---- Bartlesville man is accused of killing his wife, stepson. Washington County's district attorney filed a measure Friday seeking the death penalty for a 35-year-old Bartlesville man charged with 1st-degree murder in the September deaths of his wife and stepson. District Attorney Kevin Buchanan filed a bill of particulars announcing he will seek capital punishment for Steven Lee Adair, who is charged in the Sept. 3 deaths of Crystal Sue Adair, 41, and Charles Edward Lee, 23. Adair also is charged with assault with a deadly weapon in an attack on his stepdaughter and attempted 1st-degree arson because police discovered that a gas stove had been turned on full blast with several burning candles next to it in what appeared to be an attempt to blow up the house. "We are requesting the death penalty in this case," Buchanan said. "This is something we have been considering since we got the case." The death-penalty request is Buchanan's 1st since he became district attorney and is the 1st for Washington County in years. Buchanan said be believes the last Washington County case in which capital punishment was sought occurred around 1990. Buchanan described the murder of Crystal Adair as "especially heinous, atrocious and cruel" as defined by statutes, thereby requiring capital punishment. She suffered 41 knife wounds and likely was conscious during each one, according to the bill of particulars. Another factor in the death penalty being sought is the risk to others from the gas stove and lighted candles, which could have led to the deaths of law enforcement officers if the home had blown up, the document says. The 3rd condition is a concern that Adair could be a continuing threat to commit acts of violence if he were released into society. Buchanan said the document was filed in advance of Adair's formal arraignment, which is set for Wednesday. In January, Special Judge John Gerkin bound Adair over for trial on all charges. (source: Tulsa World) KANSAS: King Phillip Amman Reu-El, formerly Phillip Cheatham, pleads no contest to capital murder In an unexpected development, King Phillip Amman Reu-El pleaded no contest around 2:30 p.m. Friday to capital murder of 2 women in 2003, and attempted 1st-degree murder in the severe shooting of a 3rd woman. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor said Friday the time that Amman Reu-El, 41, has served in prison since he has been in custody for the slayings will apply to the life term in the capital murder conviction. That means that after he has served 25 years he can apply to the Kansas Parole Board to be released from prison, Taylor said. But that doesn't mean he automatically will be released after serving 25 years. Shawnee County District Court Judge Richard Anderson accepted Amman Reu-El's pleas and set the case for sentencing at 9 a.m. March 20. With the plea, the death penalty is removed as a sentence for Amman Reu-El, said Taylor and Paul Oller, 1 of 2 capital defense attorneys representing Amman Reu-El. A life term in the capital murder conviction would allow the possibility of parole after he serves 25 years. Since he was arrested in late 2003, he has been incarcerated about 11 years. Oller said prosecutors and defense attorneys recommended that the sentence for the 2nd count of attempted murder would run concurrently to the capital murder conviction. Taylor declined to discuss how the plea and plea negotiations had occurred. "We told the judge at 11:30 (a.m. Friday) that we had come to an agreement," Oller said. "It was a very difficult and thought-out decision by Phillip," referring to Amman Reu-El, whose name previously was Phillip Delbert Cheatham Jr. Starting Feb. 17, panels of prospective jurors had arrived at the courthouse to fill out questionnaires, then field questions from attorneys as a group and individually in the jury selection process. Jury selection still was underway on Friday when the plea agreement was reached. Oller said the jury selection process was important to Amman Reu-El and hearing the stories of some jurors had a great emotional impact on him. Some prospective jurors had lost people to violence, Oller said. Amman Reu-El indicated he would be able to help people if he had a life sentence rather than a death penalty, Oller said. Amman Reu-El can see that in the future that either in prison or out of prison, "he could have a purpose," Oller said. Friday "was a tough day for him," Oller said. "He feels still that the justice system hasn't treated him very fairly. He doesn't come into this decision lightly." Oller referred to Amman Reu-El as a "very intelligent" man, who has a tremendous ability to recall information. Oller has worked on 2 death penalty cases, and John Val Wachtel, Amman Reu-El's 2nd defense attorney, has represented seven to 9 death penalty defendants. Amman Reu-El was to be retried in the slayings of Annette Roberson, 38, and Gloria A. Jones, 42, in 2003. The retrial was expected to last 6 weeks. If convicted of capital murder, Amman Reu-El could have been sentenced to death. Amman Reu-El was charged with capital murder in the Dec. 13, 2003, shooting deaths of Roberson and Jones; 2 alternative counts of premeditated 1st-degree murder of Roberson and Jones; attempted 1st-degree murder of Annetta D. Thomas; aggravated battery of Thomas; and criminal possession of a firearm. A retrial was ordered for Amman Reu-El in 2013 after the Kansas Supreme Court overturned his capital murder convictions and death penalty for the slayings on S.E. Colorado in southeast Topeka. The convictions were overturned because of ineffective counsel by Amman Reu-El's 1st trial lawyer. (source: Topeka Capital-Journal) ARIZONA: Does gender play a role in the courtroom? Arias could become one of few women on death row The jury is on break for the weekend, but Jodi Arias could learn her fate as early as Monday. If they choose death, Arias would become only the 3rd woman in Arizona on death row. Currently there are 117 men awaiting their death sentences. So does gender play a role in the courtroom? Since 1976, more than 1,400 people have been executed in the United States--only 15 were women. "We don't see women in trial facing death very often," said Beth Karas, a former prosecutor in New York City. "Unlike other women who have faced death, Jodi Arias doesn't have a child to come into court begging for mercy - don't take my mother away." Even if you take away the courtroom drama, Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center says people would still be interested in Arias. "I think people are curious about a woman who commits a violent crime because it's out of the ordinary," Dieter said. He says the numbers can back it up. "The numbers are women are committing about 10 % of the murders but are 2 % of death row and are only 1 % of those who are executed." If Arias gets the death penalty, Dieter believes the case could linger for 15 years or more because of appeals. He questions if Arizona will still have the death penalty at that point since it's already being debated. (source: ABC news) USA: Death row women: The women who are spending their last days on earth on death row----Sporting events are regularly postponed due to bad weather but it's not often given as a reason for delaying an execution. Last week, however, US death row inmate Kelly Gissendaner was given an extra 5 days on Earth following a weather warning of "several inches" of snow which led the governor of Georgia to declare a state of emergency and the closure of schools and government offices. It is the latest twist in a saga that has transfixed America. Even the 46-year-old's last meal request made headlines around the world because it weighed in at a gut busting 4,200 calories. But the main reason Gissendaner's plight has created such a fuss is because if her death by injection goes ahead as planned on Monday she will be the 1st woman to be executed in Georgia for 70 years. Indeed she will be 1 of only 14 women to receive the death penalty in the US since capital punishment was restored in some states in 1976. No fewer than 1,388 men have been executed during the same period. What makes Gissendaner's case doubly interesting is that, while she was convicted of orchestrating the murder of her husband Doug, the lover who actually carried out the killing dodged a death sentence by agreeing a plea bargain. Gissendaner was offered the same deal but on the advice of her lawyer she turned it down on the basis that no jury would sentence her to death "because she was a woman and because she did not actually kill Doug". This proved to be a - literally - fatal mistake. The Gissendaner of today is very different from the woman who was sentenced to death in 1998. Then she was a slim, good-looking brunette but today she looks morbidly obese and has the puffy face and pale complexion of the long-term inmate. The day after tomorrow she will sit down to a final repast. Then she will be led to the execution chamber, strapped to a gurney and administered a lethal injection. Her death will leave 56 other women awaiting execution in America's prisons, including the following: THE BRITISH INMATE Linda Carty, 56 Carty, who is British by virtue of her citizenship of St Kitts - 1 of the British Virgin Islands - was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of neighbour Joana Rodriguez in 2001. Rodriguez, 25, had recently given birth to a son and the prosecution argued that Carty was so desperate for a baby to save her common law marriage that she hatched a plot to steal her neighbour's baby and pass him off as her own. They claimed she hired 3 men to carry out her plan and - while the 4-day-old baby survived its ordeal unharmed - Rodriguez was found dead the day after they were abducted. Carty has maintained her innocence from the start of the proceedings with her defence claiming that other witnesses were "coached, coerced and otherwise threatened" to secure her conviction. They allege she was framed in revenge for her work as an informant with a drug enforcement agency. Carty was given high-profile support by artist Anthony Gormley in 2009 when he erected a cardboard cut-out of her on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of an exhibition. Over the years 3 attempts to obtain an appeal hearing have failed but then on Wednesday it emerged that the highest criminal court in Texas had granted Carty a rare hearing to review allegations of misconduct involving her case. THE OLDEST INMATE Blanche Taylor Moore, 82 Dubbed the Black Widow, Moore specialised in bumping off the men in her life by poisoning them with arsenic. Moore's predilection was only discovered in 1989 when her 2nd husband, pastor Dwight Moore, began to feel ill as soon as he got back from their honeymoon. Arsenic was soon divined to be the cause and, while Dwight survived, his brush with death prompted the police to exhume the bodies of some of the other men in Moore's life who had met untimely ends. They duly discovered that Moore appeared to have fatally poisoned a boyfriend called Raymond Reid 3 years earlier and her 1st husband 15 years before that. Meanwhile her father - who died of heart disease in 1966 - was found to have abnormal levels of arsenic in his body too. Moore was sentenced to death by lethal injection as long ago as 1991 for the murder of Reid. As a result the authorities are not pursuing her for other suspected murders and the attempted murder of Dwight. Her case continues to be the subject of an appeals process that has now stretched to 24 years and the extraordinary story of the murderous grandmother has spawned both a book and a made for- TV movie. THE YOUNGEST INMATE Emilia Carr, 30 The youngest woman on death row was 8 months pregnant with her boyfriend's child when they were both convicted of suffocating his estranged wife with a plastic bag after tying her to a chair with duct tape. Carr claims she left the scene of the crime before the woman was killed but her defence case is undermined by a video of her being interviewed by police, which was recorded after her boyfriend confessed and implicated her in the crime. Carr can be heard telling her interrogator that the boyfriend had asked her to "try to snap her neck" and then Carr says: "I didn't really try." Carr gave birth to her child in Marion County Jail and that baby - together with her other 3 children - is now in foster care. She has now been on death row at Florida's Lowell Correctional Institution For Women for 4 years but she retains an optimistic outlook. Carr insists: "We call it 'life row' because we're not dying, we're living." THE CHEERLEADER KILLER Tiffany Cole, 33 At school Cole played the flute, joined the Girl Scouts and became a cheerleader. By 25, however, she appears to have transformed into a monster who was implicated in the grisly murder of her family's neighbours Reggie and Carol Sumner. So heinous was the crime that the prosecution lawyer said: "There was not any case that I prosecuted where the crime was more vile or cruel than the torture and murder of the Sumners." The cause of death was suffocation caused by the presence of dirt in the couple's lungs after they were buried alive. Cole has admitted she helped to dig a grave but said she thought it would be to hide the items that she, her boyfriend - someone she had known for just 3 weeks - and 2 of his friends had stolen from their victims. In mitigation a psychiatrist at Cole's trial said she suffered from mental problems and had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. But the jury was shown a damning photo of her celebrating after the crime was committed and voted for the death penalty. (source: The Express) ********************** U.S. appeals court says Boston bomber trial can stay in city A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled the trial for the accused Boston Marathon bomber can go ahead in the city, over attempts from his attorneys to change the venue on the basis an impartial jury could not be seated so close to the site of the 2013 attack. The split 3-judge panel of the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals backed District Judge George O'Toole, who has 3 times rejected pleas by Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers to move the trial out of Boston, where the bombing killed 3 people and injured 264. "We are unable to conclude that it is clear and indisputable that the petitioner cannot receive a fair trial by an impartial jury in the Eastern Division of Massachusetts," the judges wrote in the 80-page opinion. Thousands of Boston-area residents were crowded around the race's finish line when twin bombs went off on April 15, 2013. 4 days later, hundreds of thousands were ordered to remain in their homes while police conducted a massive manhunt for Tsarnaev. That degree of personal connection to the incident will make it very difficult to empanel an impartial jury in the city, said attorney Judith Mizner, who is representing the 21-year-old Tsarnaev. The final phase of jury selection is set to take place on Tuesday, when prosecutors and defense attorneys will whittle down the field of about 70 provisionally-qualified jurors to 18 people, including 12 jurors and 6 alternates. Tsarnaev, if convicted, could face the death penalty. In dissent, District Judge Juan Torruella supported the defense's arguments, saying that "almost the entire pool of potential jurors has been compromised" by the bombing. "I understand what this trial means for the community: an opportunity for closure, a sense of justice," he said. "Rather than convicting Tsarnaev and possibly sentencing him to death based on trial-by-media and raw emotion, we must put our emotions aside and proceed in a rational manner." (source: Reuters) US MILITARY: Pentagon scraps judges' Guant\anamo move order; 9/11 case unfrozen In an abrupt retreat Friday, the Pentagon revoked an order to war court judges to drop their other military duties and take up residence at this remote base until their cases are over. The 9/11 case judge swiftly responded by lifting a freeze on preparations for the terror trial of alleged mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and 4 accused accomplices; the judge had imposed the freeze 48 hours earlier with a ruling that found the move-in order appeared to be an illegal bid to rush justice. Defense lawyers in the Sept. 11 and USS Cole death-penalty cases described the Jan. 7 relocation order as "unlawful influence," a pressure play designed to exile military judges to the remote base in Cuba, cut short pretrial hearings and move straight to trial. Commanders meddling in the judicial function is a crime in the U.S. military. The about-face also averted testimony in the USS Cole bombing case by 3 3-star officers, the top lawyers of the Navy, Army and Air Force, on how the Pentagon order to move the judges took them by surprise - and its impact. The reversal averted testimony by the Pentagon's top services lawyers: Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher F. Burne, Army Lt. Gen Flora D. Darpino, Navy Vice Adm. Nanette M. DeRenzi. But it did not settle the conflict. Defense lawyers for Saudi Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, 50, argued that the way the order was adopted and withdrawn was illegal. They asked the judge, Air Force Col. Vance Spath, to dismiss the death-penalty charges against Nashiri, who is accused of orchestrating al-Qaida's Oct. 12, 2000 suicide bombing off the coast of Yemen. 17 U.S. sailors were killed and dozens more wounded in the warship attack. Alternatively, Nashiri's lawyers asked the judge to exclude from the case the architect of the move-in order - retired Marine Maj. Gen. Vaughn A. Ary, as well as his legal staff, who oversee the war court in the so-called Office of the Convening Authority. The new Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, should replace them with officials untainted by the relocation order, said Nashiri's civilian lawyer, Rick Kammen. Ary "can't be trusted" to act impartially, said Kammen, noting Ary's role includes funding the defense and choosing the jury pool of U.S. military officers - Kammen called it driving "the death train" by handpicking "the people that he wants to kill Nashiri." Prosecutors said, with the move-in order gone, the issue was over. They urged Spath to drop it. "We get that there is an appearance issue," said the chief war crimes prosecutor, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins. "We all are guardians. The independence of the judiciary is at the heart of this." Spath disagreed. Testimony earlier this week by Ary, the judge said, demonstrated there was "some evidence of unlawful influence." Spath never dropped his other duties and never moved to this base. But hearing evidence this week disclosed a behind-the-scenes plan to remove Spath from the USS Cole case rather than relieve him of his other job as chief of the Air Force judiciary. Ary undertook this change "knowing it could remove a sitting trial judge," said Spath, adding he would rule Monday morning on the defense motion to dismiss the charges. The move-in order stirred controversy soon after Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work adopted it Jan. 7. The Sept. 11 case judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, halted the proceedings this week, and said he wouldn't resume them until the Pentagon lifted the move-in order. He said it appeared to constitute improper pressure on the judiciary to speed justice along. Friday afternoon, a USS Cole prosecutor, Navy Lt. Paul Morris, announced in court that Pohl had lifted his freeze. Work reversed himself with a single paragraph order Thursday night. He instructed the war court overseer to collaborate "as appropriate" with the military's top lawyers and the war court judiciary on any proposed war court changes. "Any such regulations must preserve the independence of the military commission judiciary in both fact and appearance," Work wrote. On Friday, his spokeswoman issued a statement defending the reversal as "intended to support the Military Commissions in carrying out their mission to resolve their cases in a manner consistent with the interests of justice." Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson said Work "continually reviews" aspects of the war court's "policy processes and personnel" to make sure it's "conducted in a fair and just manner." Prosecutors had defended the order Ary designed as part of an effort to improve resourcing at the crude compound here called Camp Justice. That order stripped military judges hearing Guant???namo cases of their other duties, including presiding at U.S. service members' courts martial, without consultation with the top lawyers of the Army, Navy and Air Force. None of the judges obeyed it pending clarifications from their overall commanders, called The Judge Advocates General. No one else on the war court staff was to move down. Just the judges. Spath ridiculed the idea, asking prosecutor Morris what would happen "when I wake up to an empty courtroom and want a hearing." Morris said the Pentagon would mount a flight to bring him his staff and attorneys. "Why wouldn't I get on the same airplane?" Spath wondered. The development came as defense lawyers were poised to take sworn testimony about the rule from the so-called TJAGs - the military services' 3 top uniformed lawyers. They were not consulted on the sudden change to war court procedures, and neither was the chief of the Guantanamo judiciary, Pohl. Spath canceled the testimony over the protests of Nashiri's lawyers. Navy Cmdr Brian Mizer, a defense lawyer, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Burne, the judge's boss, would have testified that he intended to remove Spath from the presiding at the Cole case. Spath is himself presiding at an airman's double murder case during downtime in the on-again, off-again Nashiri pretrial proceedings. Mizer quoted Burne as telling a defense lawyer in that case, Air Force Lt. Col. David Frakt, that he would choose traditional military justice over the war court case because he "can't have Colonel Spath sitting at Guantanamo looking at iguanas." No trial dates have been set in either the 9/11 or USS Cole cases. Preparations have slowed over defense requests related to the captives' 3 and 4 years in secret CIA detention, where several of the accused were waterboarded, at least 1 was subjected to a mock execution and at least 3 were subjected to rectal rehydration. Nashiri was arraigned earlier than the accused Sept. 11 plotters but his case has been slowed by an ongoing prosecution appeal of Spath's decision to throw out a portion of the case involving al-Qaida's 2002 attack on the oil tanker Limburg. (source: Miami Herald) From rhalperi at smu.edu Sat Feb 28 14:15:03 2015 From: rhalperi at smu.edu (Rick Halperin) Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 14:15:03 -0600 Subject: [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwode Message-ID: Feb. 28 BANGLADESH: Kamaruzzaman physically fit: Defence Condemned war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, senior assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, is mentally and physically well, 1 of his counsels said today. Mohammad Shishir Manir made the remarks after 8 members of Kamaruzzaman's family led by his wife Nurunnahar met with him inside the Dhaka Central Jail in the morning. Kamaruzzaman's daughter, daughter-in-law, 3 nieces and a nephew and a brother-in-law accompanied her during the 40-minute meeting, which started around 10:40am, Manir told The Daily Star. They discussed various family issues with Kamaruzzaman, the lawyer said quoting family members. Manir said his client will take decision on the next course of action after the Supreme Court disposes of his review petition which is yet to be filed. Quoting the family members, the counsel further said Kamaruzzaman expressed concern over the arrest of his brother-in-law, Monowar Hossen Babul, and nephew, Abdul Alim, over an arson case filed with Tejgaon Police Station in the capital. They were picked up by plainclothes police from Kamaruzzaman's Mirpur residence on February 24, Manir added. The prison authorities read out Kamaruzzaman's death warrant to him on February 19, the day International Crimes Tribunal-2 issued it. The SC released the verdict's full text on the previous day. On November 3, 2014, the Supreme Court had upheld the May 9, 2013 death penalty handed down by the Tribunal-2 for crimes Kamaruzzaman committed against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. (source: The Daily Star) IRAN----executions 3 Prisoners Hanged in Northwestern Iran 3 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Ardebil (Northwestern Iran). According to the official website of the Iranian Judiciary in Ardebil Province, the prisoners were convicted of drug trafficking and were arrested while transferring 27 kilograms of heroin out of the country. Due to lack of transparency in Iran's Judiciary, the charges have not been confirmed by independent sources. (source: Iran Human Rights) **************** A man hanged in Tabas A Man hanged in a prison in city of Tabas in Iran. The prisoner had been arrested 3 years ago. Mehdi Fatahi was hanged early morning on Wednesday in the main prison in the city. Fatahi was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug related offences but he was sentenced to death by an appeal court. On the same day two other prisoners were hanged in public in the western city of Kermanshah. The 2 men were hanged in 2 locations in the city at 10 in the morning local time. According to the reports received from various sources dozens of prisoners have been hanged during the past weekend alone in prisons across Iran. (source: NCR-Iran) EGYPT: Egypt Sentences 4 Brotherhood Members to Death, 14 to Life in Prison An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 4 Muslim Brotherhood members to death and 14 leading members to life in prison, over charges of inciting violence that led to the killing of protesters demonstrating outside the group's headquarters in 2013. Muslim Brotherhood top leader Mohammed Badie and his 2 deputies Khairat al-Shater and Rashad Bayoumi were among those sentenced to life in prison. 2 of those sentenced to death and three sentenced to life were tried in absentia. Saturday's verdicts were subject to appeal. The charges relate to violence that erupted on June 30, 2013 outside the Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo's Moqattam district, during which 9 people were killed and 91 injured, days before then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted President Mohammed Mursi. Badie and the other defendants present in court for the verdict denounced the sentence and shouted: "Down with military rule." Once the top leader of the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Badie has already been sentenced to multiple life terms. He was also 1 of 182 given the death sentence in a mass trial in connection with violence that erupted in the southern town of Minya following the Mursi's ouster. The trial drew international criticism of Egypt's judicial system. Meanwhile, on Friday Egyptian prosecutors referred 271 people to a military court on charges of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group and attacking court buildings in central Egypt 2 years ago. Since Sisi's rise to the presidency, more than 15,000 Mursi supporters have been imprisoned, while scores have been sentenced to death after speedy trials which the United Nations has denounced as "unprecedented in recent history." Mursi and many top leaders of his now-banned Muslim Brotherhood are themselves in jail and on trial in cases in which they face the death penalty if convicted. Besides Islamists, many of the leading secular activists behind the 2011 uprising have also found themselves on the wrong side of the new political leadership, getting locked up for taking part in peaceful demonstrations following a ban on unlicensed protests. (source: al-akhbar.com) BAHRAIN: Urgent Action----see: http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/uaa04715.pdf (source: Amnesty International) ************************ Bahrain's al-Wefaq slams death verdicts Bahrain's main opposition bloc has slammed the recent death sentences handed down to three people on allegations of killing policemen, stating that the rulings are part of heavy-handed measures that jeopardize opportunities for political stability in the kingdom. The al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said in a statement that the latest verdicts have raised the number of people given the death penalty over the past 4 years to 7. Al-Wefaq also termed the rulings void as they were issued based on the defendants' confessions under torture, and through hearings lacking the principles of a fair trial. On Thursday, dozens of anti-regime demonstrators took to the streets in the villages of Daih and Musalla, both located west of the capital, Manama, to denounce the recent death rulings and demand the release of all prisoners of conscience, including al-Wefaq's secretary general, Sheikh Ali Salman. Earlier in the day, the supreme criminal court of Bahrain sentenced 3 people to death and 7 others to life in prison after convicting them of killing 3 policemen in Daih last year. The court also revoked the citizenship of 8 defendants, thus increasing the number of those stripped of citizenship to 123. On March 3, 2014, 3 police officers, 1 from the United Arab Emirates, were killed in a bomb attack in the village. However, no group claimed responsibility for the explosion, which occurred as Bahraini troops attacked the mourners of an anti-regime activist, who had died in prison a few days ago. The popular uprising in Bahrain began in February 2011. Since then, thousands of protesters have been waging regular mass rallies in the Persian Gulf country. The protesters are demanding the downfall of the Al Khalifa family and the establishment of a democratically-elected government. (source: Presstv.ir) SINGAPORE: Landmark decision on death penalty sparks legal debate When it comes to a murderer, how brutal must he be to warrant the death penalty? In a landmark decision last month, judges were divided on this point - deciding in the end by 3 to 2 that convicted killer Kho Jabing, 31, will hang. The decision sparked keen discussion among the legal fraternity, who noted that while it did provide some guidelines on when the death penalty should be upheld, these may not be enough. Kho's was the 1st murder case to reach the Court of Appeal since new laws kicked in 2 years ago, giving judges more sentencing discretion for murder and drug-trafficking offences, as an alternative to mandatory hanging. In 2008, Kho, a Sarawakian rag-and-bone man, bludgeoned a construction worker repeatedly with a branch while trying to rob him. The decision of the nation's highest court last month hinged on what three of the judges said was the "sheer savagery and brutality" Kho had displayed. In essence, the act "outraged the feelings of the community", which justified the death penalty. The 2 dissenting judges, however, were not convinced there was enough evidence to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Kho had struck the victim 3 or more times, or with such force as to cause the man's fatal skull fractures. Said Singapore Management University don Chandra Mohan, a former district judge, writing in a law blog: "As the dissenting judgments have demonstrated, differences in the findings of facts as to whether the accused had shown a blatant disregard for life, the manner in which he had done so, and considerations of the relevance of the 'other circumstances' could well lead to inconsistencies in sentencing. "Hopefully, future judgments of the Appeals Court will help to curb such inconsistencies." Law graduate Grace Morgan argued in daily legal news service Singapore Law Watch that the court's assertion that the killer's brutal acts "outraged the feelings of the community" raised the question of what kind of outrage was needed to warrant the death penalty. Ms Morgan, who is a pupil at law firm Rodyk and Davidson, said it would be difficult to decide whether, for instance, 3 blows by the accused would cause enough outrage, rather than 2. A more precise alternative could be whether the offender acted in such a way that it "shocks the conscience", she suggested. A killer who cuts up his victim's body could be one such example. She argued this would pitch the standard slightly higher than the current test, and would lessen some of the difficulties involved in trying to find the "precise level of moral culpability in borderline cases such as this (Kho Jabing) case". Criminal lawyer James Masih pointed out that the court's decision was based on the facts of one particular case, and that each case was different. The law would become clearer as more rulings were made, he said. Ultimately, though, there would be no hard and fast rules as each decision would depend on the facts of a particular case. Said Associate Professor Mohan: "Unfortunately, the devil may still lie in the details." Kho's lawyer Anand Nalachandran is currently preparing his appeal for clemency to the President. (source: Asia One) INDONESIA: Bali 9 executions: Gospel singer who jams with prison guards on death row with Bali 9 duo Okwudili Ayotanze is a charismatic gospel singer who has released albums with titles such as Never be afraid. He is also on death row with Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. The 40-year-old Nigerian's studio is the supermax Pasir Putih prison on the notorious Nusakambangan island, known as Indonesia's Alcatraz. And his band mates are fellow inmates on guitars and a prison guard on the keyboard, who rocks songs such as God Bless Indonesia in full uniformed regalia. Ayotanze is a product of the same Indonesian prison system that has reformed Chan and Sukumaran and with whom he will be killed. At the release of his 2008 CD God You Know (All My Ways) (Death Penalty), Dili, as he is known, had been seven years behind bars calling the Lord in repentance with over 70 written songs, according to the World Ministry blog. "Dili uses his musical talent to composed and written (sic) songs to call upon God and to give warning to others, giving an example of his life that they should be strong, of good courage and be aware of the devil's traps," the blog reads. Ayotanze and fellow Nigerian Silvester Obikwe have recently been named among the eight drug felons who will be executed simultaneously with Chan and Sukumaran. The date of the executions is not yet known although paramilitary officers on Friday conducted a terrifying re-enactment of the highly militarised transfer of Chan and Sukumaran from Bali's Kerobokan prison to Nusakambangan. Ayotanze was arrested in 2001 trying to smuggle 1.15 kilograms of heroin from Pakistan into Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta. Cilacap priest Father Charles Burrows, who has previously been asked to attend the executions of Catholic prisoners on Nusakambangan, says Dili's reformation is similar to that undergone by Chan and Sukumaran. He said Dili had produced albums of spiritual songs from the prison and performed whenever there were visitors to Pasir Putih. "He was elected by his friends as head of the Christians at Pasir Putih prison and it is him who always prepares the altar, calls up the Christian friends and organises the music and readings so the service can go well," Father Burrows said. Ayotanze said the song "God Bless Indonesia" came to him while praying at 3am. "I had head a voice urging: 'Write a song for Indonesia'," he wrote on the cover notes of the album. "I thought to myself: 'What kind of song is that? What is its title?' The voice said: 'Just name it: God bless Indonesia'. I was sure it was his voice so I started to write it down." In a testimony, Father Burrows begged for mercy for Dili. He wrote that Ayotanze had very good relationship with prison guards and inmates and was regarded as a co-operative prisoner who "always avoids negative things". In a refrain of the arguments used by supporters of Chan and Sukumaran, Father Burrows said the Indonesian prison system had succeeded in reforming Dili in accordance with the principle that prisons should be places of rehabilitation. "The guards don't agree with the death penalty," Father Burrows, who is known as Romo Carolus in Indonesia, told Fairfax Media. Father Burrows is also seeking a second medical assessment for another of the Catholic drug felons on death row, Brazilian man Rodrigo Gularte, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Gularte's lawyer is hopeful he will get a reprieve because he is mentally ill. However the Attorney-General, H.M. Prasetyo said there is no regulation preventing the execution of a mentally ill person. "There is only a regulation forbidding the execution of pregnant women and children under 18 years," he said. Father Burrows disputed this. "The Constitutional Court said in 2007 or 2008 that a mentally ill person should be hospitalised, cured and then shot. That's the highest court in the land so it should have some standing." Mr Prasetyo has resolved to proceed with the executions even though a number of condemned prisoners have legal proceedings underway. Chan and Sukumaran are appealing against a decision by the Administrative Court that it did not have the power to rule on whether Indonesian president Joko Widodo should have assessed their clemency pleas on a case-by-case basis. Nigerian Raheem Agbaje Salami, who was caught smuggling 5.3 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia in 1998, is also trying to get Mr Joko's rejection of his clemency plea nullified on the grounds it was not rejected within the time limit. And lawyers for Frenchman Serge Atlaoui, who was arrested at at ecstasy laboratory near Jakarta in 2005, have filed a request for a judicial review into his case. The 10 drug felons who will be executed Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso (Philippines) 30-year-old Filipino migrant worker who was sentenced to death for smuggling 2.6 kilograms of heroin into Jogjakarta from Malaysia in 2010. Serge Areski Atlaoui (France) Father of 4 who was arrested near Jakarta in 2005 at a laboratory producing ecstasy. He has always denied the charges, saying he was installing machinery in what he thought was an acrylics factory. His lawyers have filed a request for a judicial review. Martin Anderson alias Belo (Ghana) Sentenced to death after being convicted of possessing 50 grams of heroin in 2003. Raheem Agbaje Salami (Nigeria) Caught smuggling 5.3 kilograms of heroin into Indonesia in 1998. His lawyer is trying to get President Joko Widodo's rejection of his clemency plea nullified on the grounds it was not rejected within the time limit. Rodrigo Gularte (Brazil) Convicted of smuggling 19 kilograms of cocaine in his surfboard in 2004. His lawyer is arguing he should be spared because he has recently been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Attorney-General is seeking a 2nd medical assessment. Myuran Sukumaran (Australia) Arrested for his role as the so-called "enforcer" in a foiled attempt by the Bali 9 to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005. His lawyers are appealing a decision in the Administrative Court not to rule on whether President Joko Widodo properly considered his clemency plea before it was rejected. Andrew Chan (Australia) Arrested for his role as the so-called "godfather" in a foiled attempt by the Bali 9 to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Indonesia to Australia in 2005. His lawyers are appealing a decision in the Administrative Court not to rule on whether President Joko Widodo properly considered his clemency plea before it was rejected. Zainal Abidin (Indonesia) Sentenced to death in 2001 for smuggling 58.7 kilograms of marijuana. Silvester Obiekwe (Nigeria) Sentenced to death for smuggling 1.2 kilograms of heroin into the country from Pakistan in 2004. He was named as a priority for this round of executions after angering authorities by continuing to run a drug syndicate while on death row. Okwudili Ayotanze (Nigeria) Arrested in 2001 trying to smuggle 1.15 kilograms of heroin from Pakistan into Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta. ****************************** Bali 9 executions: Myuran Sukumaran awarded fine art degree Bali 9 ringleader Myuran Sukumaran has been awarded an Associate Degree in Fine Art from Curtin University in Perth just days before he is expected to die. He deserves this in so many ways and for so many reasons Sukumaran was due to finish his Bachelor of Fine Arts, which he was completing via correspondence from Kerobokan prison in Bali, by the end of this year. "It's just so unreal," Ben Quilty said of the degree awarded to Sukumaran. His friend and mentor, Archibald prize winning artist Ben Quilty wrote last month that Sukumaran's mother, Raji, was worried that the pressure of an imminent firing squad would prevent "Myu" finishing his degree this year. "She has worried more in the past 10 years than most mothers worry in a lifetime," Mr Quilty wrote in Fairfax Media. "I told her that as long as he is allowed to live, nothing will stop Myuran Sukumaran." Now Curtin University has confirmed that Sukumaran has already accrued enough points to be awarded an Associate Degree in Fine Art. Mr Quilty said Curtin University was couriering the associate degree to him on Friday. "It's just unreal, it's so unreal," Mr Quilty said. "I really do think he'll be the 1st of quite a few people who will get qualifications like this through that art room [at Kerobokan jail]." The Associate Degree comes as Sukumaran and Andrew Chan await their transferral to Nusakambangan island in Java, where they could be shot within days. Mr Quilty, who along with Melbourne artist Matthew Sleeth conducts regular workshops at the jail, said he was initially sceptical when Sukumaran proposed commencing a Fine Art degree. "To be quite honest, I thought that was a highly difficult thing to be taking on under the circumstances." He said Sukumaran's achievement would inspire others who attended the classes at Kerobokan jail, who already look up to the Australian. "Hopefully they'll continue with what he has started no matter what happens. I know that's what he wants." Mr Quilty said that every time he taught in the prison 4 to 5 ex-inmates attended the classes. He used to think it weird that people would willingly return to prison but now understands the transformative power of what Sukumaran had instigated in the prison. "Now I think" 'Myuran, you are so f-----g extraordinary'. He deserves this in so many ways and for so many reasons." On Friday paramilitary authorities in Bali carried out a frightening re-enactment of their highly militarised transfer, involving handcuffed prisoners and armoured tanks. (source for both: Sydney Morning Hehrald) ***************************** Widodo's mate begs him to show mercy Indonesian President Joko Widodo's close friend and current Jakarta Governor has delivered a strong anti death penalty argument to the President saying he disagrees with the death penalty for drug traffickers because they can change and be rehabilitated. Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, conveyed his views to the President, whom he says is careful and considerate when it comes to taking advice and making decisions. Ahok was the President's deputy governor for 2 years when Jokowi, as he is known, was the Governor of Jakarta. The pair are known to be close and Ahok's advice adds significant weight to Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran's bid to be spared the firing squad because of their remarkable rehabilitation in jail. Ahok, a powerful figure in Jakarta, reportedly made the comments on Saturday during a visit to the Pondok Bambu Prison in East Jakarta. Chan and Sukumaran, who have reformed and set up a series of rehabilitation programs inside Kerobokan jail in Bali, face imminent execution after the President rejected their clemency pleas and ordered the execution of all drug traffickers. The central point of their clemency and an appeal in a Jakarta court is that their rehabilitation should be taken into account when considering their bid for a pardon "I do not agree with the death sentence. They have an opportunity to be a better person," Ahok said of convicted drug criminals, quoted by Indonesian newspaper Kompas. He told reporters that the sentence for drug criminals should be a life sentence without remission and they should be tightly supervised. Ahok said that the death sentence only deserved to be given to criminals nabbed for consuming drugs in jail. "If they still control drugs inside (the prison), they should be executed directly on that day. But if they want to change, give (them) the opportunity to live. Maybe he or she can help other people's awareness of their faults rather than executing them," Ahok said. Ahok said he did not agree with the death penalty for drugs but agreed if it was a sadistic murderer. "This is my opinion about human rights. I delivered it to Mr President. I know that he is careful and correct in listening to all suggestions. This is my experience with him," Ahok said. He did not elaborate on the President's response to his suggestion. The strong anti death penalty comments come as President Widodo reportedly said the executions of Chan and Sukumaran would go ahead despite his conversation last week with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. "Our position is clear. Our laws cannot be interfered with," the President told Jakarta business newspaper Kontan in answer to a question about the Abbott phone call. Mr Abbott had earlier said that his Indonesian counterpart was "carefully considering" his position. Chan and Sukumaran were on Saturday visited in jail by their families as their fate hangs in the balance. They are among 10 drug traffickers, 9 of them foreigners, who face imminent execution on Nusa Kambangan prison island, off the coast of Central Java. While paramilitary police held a dress rehearsal of their transfer from Bali to Java on Friday, the Attorney General has yet to set a date for their move and execution. (source: news.com.au) ************************** The Death Penalty for Non-Lethal Crimes Is Wrong Indonesia has endured a great deal of criticism for continuing to execute men and women at an alarming rate. Things have come to a head thanks to the case of the Bali 9, a group of people convicted of drug smuggling that includes various foreign nationals. Interventions from Australia, Brazil and France, all of whom have citizens lined up for execution, have fallen on unsympathetic ears. On February 25, Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, responded to international criticism by saying foreign nations should not interfere with Indonesia's right to use capital punishment, and that the executions were therefore justified in going ahead as planned. But in terms of international law, Widodo is wrong on various counts. Widodo's claim that "there shouldn't be any intervention towards the death penalty because it is our sovereign right to exercise our law" would not have been correct 50 years ago, and is certainly not acceptable today. The way a country uses capital punishment is of global concern. When international human rights law was laid down in the wake of World War II, the world initially disagreed on whether the death penalty is a matter for the international legal system - but in 1966, it was ultimately agreed that death penalty laws and practices should be regulated by international law. Indonesia's recent wave of executions has involved numerous foreign nationals. The right of states to exercise diplomatic protection over citizens abroad goes back centuries, so there is nothing untoward about the likes of Australia, Brazil and France making representations to help their nationals facing execution. In fact, in a feat of sheer hypocrisy, Indonesia is helping its own nationals escape death sentences abroad. Indonesia is imposing the death penalty for drug-trafficking offenses. Even if we accept that states are permitted to use the death penalty, there is an unequivocal ban on the death penalty for non-fatal offenses. The U.N. has made it abundantly clear that only those who directly cause a person's death are eligible for the death penalty, and has explicitly prohibited the death penalty for drug trafficking. To suggest that other countries should not speak out when a state is flagrantly breaching international law makes a mockery of the international legal system. Widido has also said he will not consider clemency for drug offenders - yet international law makes it clear that each case for clemency must be considered on its individual merits. Yet again, when other countries are threatening to violate rules of international law, states are bound to intervene. There are a host of other concerns with Indonesia's use of the death penalty against drug offenders. Widodo has said that the punishment is required in order to deter others from bringing drugs into the country, but there is simply no evidence to suggest that the death penalty has deterred people from trafficking drugs before. The evidence also suggests that the drug crisis in Indonesia is not as severe as state authorities have made out when attempting to justify their use of capital punishment. In other words, the death penalty is neither necessary nor effective. Not only is it morally questionable to impose death sentences in such circumstances, it is also legally dubious. Only 1 element of this situation is short of a worst-case scenario. Indonesia is arguably meeting one standard of international law: the requirement that executions are carried out humanely and with respect for the dignity of the offender. This standard is by no means met in all the countries that still execute criminals. In several states in the U.S., for example, the use of lethal injection has come under increasing scrutiny as evidence comes to light that people executed that way still feel pain, and that the method can go disastrously wrong. Even many states and countries that still embrace execution have rejected hanging, the electric chair and the gas chamber because it was recognised that these methods of execution cause excessive suffering - yet many other governments still deploy these and other means. By contrast, Indonesia's use of firing squads is more humane. Research has suggested firing squads, while by no means perfect, are the most reliable means of executing a person quickly and with minimal suffering. But it says a lot about the death penalty that arguably the most effective and humane way of carrying it out involves pointing a gun at someone and shooting them. The boundary between officially sanctioned state killing and illegitimate homicide is easily blurred to say the least???and it seems that the only remotely laudable aspect of Indonesia's institutionalised death penalty is also one of the most disturbing. (source: Bharat Malkani is lecturer, Birmingham Law School at University of Birmingham, U.K.----Newsweek Magazine) SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi court gives death penalty to man who renounced his Muslim faith An Islamic court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to death for renouncing his Muslim faith, the English-language daily Saudi Gazette has reported. The man, in his 20s, posted an online video ripping up a copy of Islam's holy book, the Koran, and hitting it with a shoe, the newspaper reported on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia, the United States' top Arab ally and birthplace of Islam, follows the strict Wahhabi Sunni Muslim school and gives the clergy control over its justice system. Under the Wahhabi interpretation of Sharia Islamic law, apostasy demands the death penalty, as do some other religious offences like sorcery, while blasphemy and criticism of senior Muslim clerics have incurred jail terms and corporal punishment. Executions in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out by public beheading. International rights groups say the Saudi justice system suffers from a lack of transparency and due process, that defendants are often denied basic rights such as legal representation and that sentencing can be arbitrary. The Saudi government has taken some steps to reform its judicial system but has also defended it as fair. Last year a court in Jeddah sentenced Saudi liberal Raif Badawi to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for publishing criticism of the kingdom???s ruling religious and political elite and calling for reforms in Islam. The 1st of 50 of those lashes were carried out in January, but subsequent rounds of flogging have not occurred. Officials have not publicly commented on the case, but insiders. (source: Reuters)