[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA, ILL., CALIF.

[Rick Halperin]

Sept. 11


USA:

Abolitionists Hope for Swing to Democrats in States


The 2 U.S. presidential candidates have both expressed support for the
death penalty, but abolitionist activists are hoping that pragmatism and a
swing to the Democrats in the state elections in November will inevitably
edge the country along the road to total abolition whoever wins the
presidency.

John McCain and Barack Obama have told voters they want the death penalty
for convicted child murderers and rapists. They have also called for the
death penalty for Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the Sep. 11,
2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

"Barack Obama's position is clear. By any means, bin Laden has committed
heinous crimes that deserve the death penalty," Moira Mack, of the Obama
presidential campaign staff, told IPS.

McCain has also said that he wanted the death penalty for bin Laden, if
tried and found guilty in a court of law.

Anti-death penalty activists note McCain's more outspoken support of the
punishment goes back many years. McCain has frequently called for more
executions at a federal level.

The last federal execution was in 2003, bringing to three the number since
the late 1960s.

Most crimes in the U.S. are prosecuted at a state rather than federal
level. But there are now 51 people on the federal death row in Terre
Haute, Indiana.

Rights activists have called for a moratorium on federal executions,
citing racism. A Justice Department study in 2000 found that in 80 % of
cases where prosecutors sought the death penalty, the defendant was a
member of an ethnic minority.

But although McCain's support of the death penalty at federal level was a
"long-standing policy", he would not impose federal standards on the death
penalty states, Taylor Griffin, McCain's spokesman, told IPS.

"Each state must decide whether they want it. Ultimately, this is an
administrative issue, rather than an issue for the campaign," Griffin
said.

In January 2000, McCain called for the death penalty to be generally used
more frequently. 6 years before, he voted in favour of a successful motion
that prevented death row inmates anywhere from using sentencing statistics
to argue that they had been racially discriminated against. African
Americans make up 12 % of the U.S. population, but 43 % of the 3,200 on
death row.

Richard Dieter, executive director of the rights group Death Penalty
Information Centre, said he did not believe that the opinions of the 2
candidates on the death penalty would play a role in the presidential
elections.

"Americans vote on larger issues -- the economy, foreign policy, the wars
in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said.

However, he added, "I think the public is moving significantly away from
the death penalty, and that is going to happen no matter who is elected
president."

Obama was likely to be more sympathetic to those pressing for abolition,
he suggested.

"Obama sees that there are problems with the death penalty. When he was a
local politician in Illinois, he saw that there were problems with such
things as police interrogations and tried to address these problems,"
Dieter said.

Diana Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP), told IPS that whoever won the
presidency would take a pragmatic stand on the death penalty.

"We do not put policy-makers in boxes or categories, especially
presidential candidates. We think there is too great a risk of error if
you do that. People's perceptions of the death penalty change over time,"
she said. "The question is not whether or not we are going to continue
dragging along this non-working policy, but whether we are going to
re-evaluate this."

People all over the U.S. were starting "to concentrate on answering the
question: 'Is this in our best interest?'"

"I am optimistic that we are going to continue to see changes in America
regarding death penalty policies," she said, adding that these would be
carried through at a state level.

Dieter agreed that the future of the death penalty would be decided by
politicians in each of the remaining 36 states out of 50 which allow the
practice.

"State legislatures have more direct effect on the death penalty than the
president of the U.S.," he said.

He agreed that a large liberal Democratic Party win in the state
legislatures in November might eventually result in abolition bills.

"That is a possibility. Then we would start to see some real changes,"
Dieter said. "But since it often takes months or even years for such
legislation to pass, it would still be a long time before we would see
such states abolishing the death penalty."

According to the DPIC, there were 42 executions in the U.S. in 2007, all
of them in southern states. 26 of these executions were in Texas.

Since the lifting of a 7-month unofficial moratorium in April while the
Supreme Court ruled on challenges to lethal injections, there have been 20
executions.

(source: IPS News)






ILLINOIS:

DuPage prosecutors seek more time to discuss plea deal in Patel slaying
case----Man seeks life in prison to avoid death penalty for burning 2
young sons


Prosecutors on Thursday asked for more time to discuss a possible
resolution in the case of Kaushik Patel, the Glendale Heights father
accused of setting his 2 young sons on fire, killing them.

The state has said that Patel has offered to plead guilty to the crimes
and spend the rest of his life in prison in an effort to avoid the death
penalty. The state had said that a plea was expected to happen as soon as
Thursday's court hearing in DuPage County, but the plea has been put off.
The next scheduled hearing is set for Oct. 2.

The state turned over hospital and medical records during the hearing
before Judge Kathryn Creswell and would not say whether the plea deal is
in jeopardy.

The plea deal offer hinges on State's Atty. Joseph Birkett agreeing not to
seek the death penalty for Patel.

Patel, a native of India who immigrated to the U.S. in 1992, appeared
briefly during the hearing. He said during an Aug. 21 hearing that he
understood the plea deal offer that had been made.

Patel, 34, is accused of dousing his sons, Vishv, 7, and Om, 4, with
gasoline and setting them on fire in a bathroom of their home Nov. 18.
Both boys were severely burned and lingered for months in Loyola
University Medical Center's burn unit until they died of their injuries,
Om in January and Vishv in February.

Birkett said he was to meet with Patel's wife and the boys' mother, Nisha,
and discuss the death-penalty question. Although her concurrence is not
required, prosecutors often seek approval in such cases. She had been
informed in July when Birkett's office announced the decision to seek the
death penalty but Nisha

(source: Chicago Tribune)






CALIFORNIA:

Tulare Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty In Banda Trial


Prosecutors in Tulare County announced on Thursday that they plan to seek
the death penalty against the man accused of killing a Sheriff's Deputy
last year.

21-year-old Jorge Banda is accused of shooting and killing Tulare County
Sheriff's Deputy Kent Haws outside of Ivanhoe back in December. Haws had
been investigating a car theft in the area at the time. Banda was later
arrested for the crime, after he was found walking away from the crime
scene carrying a semi-automatic gun.

Prosecutors announced their decision to seek the death penalty at Banda's
arraignment Thursday morning, where Banda pleaded not guilty to the murder
charges by reason of insanity.

A competency hearing was held for Banda earlier this year, after Banda's
attorneys claimed he wasn't fully aware of his actions at the time of
Haw's death. They claimed Banda heard voices and didn't have the mental
capacity to understand the court process. However, a judge last month
ruled that Banda was competent to stand trial.

A trial date for Banda has been scheduled for January 27th.

(source: KMPH News)

***************

Death penalty dropped for accused cop killer


Fresno County prosecutors will no longer seek the death penalty for a
schizophrenic man accused of killing a sheriff's deputy seven years ago.

Prosecutors told Superior Court Judge Ralph Nunez Wednesday that they have
reached a deal with 27-year-old Ramadan Abdullah, who is accused of
killing Deputy Erik Telen in 2001.

Abdullah has agreed to drop his plea of not guilty by insanity in exchange
for prosecutors' decision not to seek the death penalty.

Abdullah has also agreed to waive his right to a jury trial, leaving the
judge to rule on the case.

Before reaching the plea agreement, prosecutors had maintained for years
that Abdullah deserved to die for allegedly killing Telen.

********************

Jury recommends death for man who killed 3 women


A Torrance jury has recommended the death penalty for a man convicted of 3
murders, 2 rapes and a sexual assault.

The recommendation was issued Thursday against Barry Mosley by jurors in
Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Mosley was convicted of strangling Shirley Austin, her 17-year-old
daughter Bessie Carter and Adrienne Reed at their homes in Los Angeles in
1999 and 2000.

Mosley was also found guilty of attempted murder and sexually assaulting
Reed's 8-year-old daughter.

He was arrested June 9 during a traffic stop in South Los Angeles.

Prosecutors say jurors deliberated for about 2 hours Thursday before
returning 3 death penalty recommendations, 1 for each victim.

(source for both: Associated Press)