[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., KY., USA

Tue May 30 08:22:51 CDT 2017

May 30

ALABAMA:

Size of Alabama's death row population ensures long delays between sentencing 
and execution

Tommy Arthur was executed May 26, 34 years after Arthur was first sentenced to 
die for a 1982 murder for hire killing.

Looking at Alabama's death row population, Arthur's won't be the last case with 
long delays between sentencing and execution

Alabama has 183 inmates currently on death row, according to the Alabama 
Department of Corrections.

That's the 4th highest total in the country, according to the Death Penalty 
Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Alabama has the 25th largest U.S. population. While the death row and total 
population numbers don't line up, Alabama ranks in the top 5 or 6 in the U.S. 
for annual murder rate, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and 
multiple other sources.

Texas has conducted the most executions, 521, in the U.S. since the Supreme 
Court lifted the death penalty ban in the mid-1970s, the Death Penalty 
Information Center reports. That's almost 10 times the execution total for 
Alabama.

Over the past 5 years Texas has averaged 12 executions per year, according to 
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

To put Alabama's death row population in perspective, if Alabama followed the 
Texas model of an execution every month:

It would take Alabama nearly 17 years to execute all of the inmates currently 
on death row.

Texas' execution rate has also slowed since 2015, figures show. The state 
executed 7 people last year and is set for 8 executions in 2017.

Based on current figures, if Alabama performed 8 executions a year, it would 
take 23 years to kill every inmate currently on death row.

Over the past 5 years, Alabama has conducted 4 executions. The state has 
scheduled Robert Melson for execution on June 8. Melson has been on death row 
since 1996.

Currently 31 U.S. states have the death penalty on their books. 19 states don't 
impose the death penalty.

(source: WHNT news)

KENTUCKY:

State seeks death penalty in 2016 E'town case

Taliyah Rochea Woods, 21, of Radcliff, is charged with complicity to commit 
murder, a Class A felony punishable by 20 to 50 years or life in prison, if 
convicted; 2counts of complicity to commit 1st-degree robbery, a Class B felony 
punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison, if convicted; complicity to commit 
2nd-degree assault, a Class C felony punishable by 5 to 10 years in prison, if 
convicted; and complicity to tampering with physical evidence, a Class D felony 
punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison, if convicted.

She was arrested Jan. 30, 2016, and remains in custody.

Commonwealth's Attorney Shane Young filed a notice of aggravating circumstances 
in the case, which allows for the death penalty should Woods be convicted of 
the Jan. 27, 2016, killing of Windell Jones, 22, inside his Westport Road 
townhouse.

If convicted, based on Young's filing, Woods also could face life without 
parole or life without parole for 25 years, if a jury decides not to impose a 
death penalty.

Young said as long as an aggravating circumstance occurs at the time of a 
homicide, such as a robbery or burglary, the death penalty could be sought.

Woods is1 of 4 arrested and indicted in the case. All face the same charges.

Monti Lopez-Olivera, 20, of Radcliff, accepted a 20-year plea deal in the case.

Tyheim Taylor and Braylond Buckler, both 18 and of Elizabethtown, also are 
charged in the case. Taylor and Buckler will be tried as adults even though 
they were 17 at the time.

Young has called the shooting death of Jones a "very coordinated" effort of 
individuals seeking money, drugs or both.

Earlier this month, Woods' attorney, Audrey Woosnam, filed 3 motions with the 
Office of the Kentucky Attorney General challenging the constitutionality of 
the death penalty in Kentucky and as applied against Woods.

The trial currently is set for Oct. 16. It previously was delayed in April and 
June of this year.

Young said although only 1 person shot Jones, all are being charged with the 
same crimes.

"According to laws in Kentucky, when you go to commit a robbery and you shoot 
someone, all are responsible for it," he said. "It doesn't matter who pulled 
the trigger; it's like everybody pulled the trigger."

Jones was in his residence with another man when Jones answered the door just 
after midnight Jan. 27 and was shot from close range in the chest. He was 
pronounced dead at his home by the Hardin County Coroner's Office. Young said 
the other man at the residence was not involved in the crime.

Among the evidence in the case, according to court documents, are 67 CDs of 
discovery evidence; interviews of 18 people, including all charged; DNA 
samples; bank account documents; pictures of burned debris; and cellphone 
records.

Jones was an employee of Roxie's Restaurant in Elizabethtown at the time of the 
shooting.

Another person, Victoria Lambert, was labeled by Elizabethtown police as a 
"person of interest." She has been interviewed by authorities and has not been 
charged.

(source: The News-Enterprise)

USA:

STARVIN' FOR JUSTICE 2017

The 24th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty

June 29 through July 2

Outside the U.S. Supreme Court -- Washington, DC

Mark your calendars! Tell your friends!

Online registration is open: 
http://www.abolition.org/fastandvigil/register.html. Sign up before June 1st 
and get a free t-shirt.

We hope you will consider joining the nearly 100 anti-death penalty activists 
who come regularly from across the U.S. and Canada - from Florida to Alaska and 
everywhere in-between. Participation can be intermittent. Some people come for 
all 4 days. Some locals come for a few hours here and there. Some just attend 
our evening teach in programs outside the court. Some fast, some do not. We 
welcome all levels of participation.

Need assistance getting to DC? Start fundraising by asking your friends, family 
or area/state death penalty group to "sponsor a faster." Get 15 people to 
pledge $20 each, and you are well on your way to getting that plane or train 
ticket to DC. Once there, we'll take care of your housing and all the juice you 
can drink! A limited number of travel subsidies are available. Applications 
available at http://www.abolition.org/fastandvigil/scholarship-application.pdf 
-- deadline is May 31st to apply.

Can't make it but what to support the event? Donate to become a cosponsor at 
http://www.abolition.org/fastandvigil/sponsorform.pdf.

Put it on your calendar: We have all the usual events, including a last meal 
together on June 28th, and teach ins each night with death row exonerees, 
murder victim family members, death row family members and more. Full schedule 
of events is at http://www.abolition.org/fastandvigil/schedule.html. This year 
we are asking those who are able to come early to attend the trial of 12 of our 
group who were arrested in January for a protest at the Court against 
executions. See more at http://www.abolition.org/jan17/

Be social: Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter at 
http://www.facebook.com/fastandvigil/ and https://twitter.com/AbolitionAAC.

For the full schedule of events, including details on lodging, travel and other 
logistics, visit http://www.abolition.org/fastandvigil/. To help with funding, 
or to volunteer, please contact the Abolitionist Action Committee at 
518-768-1867 or aac at abolition.org.

Background: The Abolitionist Action Committee (AAC) has held a 4 day vigil at 
the Supreme Court every summer since 1994, from the dates of June 29 to July 2, 
to mark 2 very important court decisions about the death penalty. The AAC is an 
ad-hoc group of individuals committed to highly visible and effective public 
education for alternatives to the death penalty through non-violent direct 
action. Visit them online at www.abolition.org.

(source: AAC)