[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, CALIF., N.Y., OHIO, FLA.
Dec. 24 TEXAS: Ignore the Flaws - the Death Penalty Must Continue On On Dec. 15, the New Jersey state senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of suspending the state's capital punishment system for 18 months and to create a commission to review the mechanics of the state's capital punishment system - including whether it actually deters crime, whether its imposition is racially biased, and whether there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that an innocent person is not executed. The measure, which still needs support from the state assembly in order to become law (which is expected to happen in January), is an interesting move for lawmakers, especially considering that the state has not executed a single inmate in the modern era of the death penalty. Nonetheless, Republican Sen. Robert Martin, a co-sponsor of the measure, noted that 50 of the 60 death sentences the state has handed out since 1982 have been overturned, evidence that something is fundamentally flawed with that statute, he told Newsday. Meanwhile, although Mexico hasn't carried out an execution since 1961, on Dec. 9 the country formally abolished capital punishment, a practice that President Vicente Fox said violates basic human rights. While contested convictions may be enough evidence to suggest a problem in New Jersey, and concerns about human rights enough to cause Mexico to ban the practice, such concerns certainly haven't been enough to cripple Texas' death machine. Texas executed 19 inmates in 2005 - down from 23 in 2004, 24 in 2003, and 33 in 2002 - even as new questions about the integrity of the state's system continue to make headlines. Bexar Co. officials have reopened the case of Ruben Cantu (executed in 1993) after an investigation by the Houston Chronicle suggested that Cantu was actually innocent of the 1984 robbery murder for which he was killed. Although the daily reported that the only eyewitness in the case says he was coerced into fingering Cantu for the crime, that an alleged accomplice says he never implicated Cantu - contrary to the impression prosecutors gave jurors - and that a 3rd witness says Cantu was actually with him in Waco at the time of the murder he allegedly committed, the troubling allegations don't appear to bother Gov. Rick Perry - at least that's the impression left by Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt, who told the daily that the circumstances of the case were hardly unique. And on Dec. 13, the federal courts cleared the way for the execution of Texas inmate Marvin Lee Wilson - even though there's strong evidence that Wilson is mentally retarded - because his lawyer, Jim Delee, missed a filing deadline. Although the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 ruled that executing the mentally retarded violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, Wilson - who reportedly doesn't even understand basic concepts like how to make change for a dollar - will still face execution, unless the state steps in to stop it. Deadlines are deadlines, a 3-judge panel of the 5th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week, [h]owever harsh the result may be. At press time, Texas had already scheduled 11 executions for the first 4 months of 2006. (source: Austin Chronicle) USA: Capital punishment is pro-life, pro-justice Now that the United States has executed its 1000th murderer since 1976, during which time 600,000 murders have been committed (according to the Justice Department), a few comments on the subject are in order. I support capital punishment out of respect for human life. Sounds kind of weird, doesn't it? Yet that's the reason the death penalty was instituted: Whosoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For (here's the reason) in the image of God He made man. If man didn't bear God's image, it would be no big deal to take his life, as famous social Darwinists who don't have their own system of morality hold. As the famous atheist/evolutionist Robert Ingersoll, who believed that nothing was inherently immoral, wrote: Morality is born of the instinct of self-preservation. Murder will be regarded as a bad thing as long as the majority object to be murdered. And it would be just as bad to take the life of an animal as a human, as PETA holds. But if we respect the divine image in human life, we must appreciate the foundation of the death penalty: respect for human life. Many say it's not a deterrent, and I agree - not the way we practice it. Out of every 1,000 murders in Texas, let's say that 600 of the perpetrators are apprehended, 200 reject a plea bargain and go to trial, 100 are found guilty and 20 are actually sentenced to death. After all the appeals, 14-24 years later, five of them are actually executed. By then, the victim's family and the witnesses are dead; the judge and jury are all in nursing homes. Nobody remembers who the perpetrator was. Nope, not much deterrence. But what if punishment were administered much sooner after the crime? One reliable
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----worldwide
Dec. 24 AUSTRALIA: Australians Support Abolition of Capital Punishment Many adults in Australia disagree with the implementation of the death penalty for specific crimes, according to a poll by Roy Morgan International. 69 % of respondents believe the penalty for murder should be imprisonment, while 25 % believe it should be death. Discussions about the death penalty have multiplied in Australia after the case of Nguyen Tuong Van. In 2002, Nguyenan Australian citizenwas detained in Singapore with just under half a kilogram of heroin. Singaporean authorities sentenced Nguyen to death. Nguyen was hanged on Dec. 2. The last execution in Australian soil was carried out in 1967, and capital punishment was abolished in 1985. Polling Data About the penalty for murder. In your opinion, should the penalty for murder be death or imprisonment? -- Dec. 2005 --- Nov. 2005 Death penalty 25% --- 27% Imprisonment 69% --- 66% Cant say 6% --- 7% (source: Roy Morgan International) Methodology: Telephone interviews with 658 Australian adults - aged 14 and up - conducted on Dec. 7 and Dec. 8, 2005. No margin of error was provided. (source: Angus Reid)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, VA., OHIO, USA, IND., FLA.
Dec. 23 TEXAS: Death by Technicality?Supreme Court should review Texas case When you read the federal ruling in Marvin Lee Wilson's death penalty appeal - the one that kept the convicted Texas killer on a path toward execution - you find yourself agreeing that Mr. Wilson should lose his right to appeal his sentence. The reasoning sounds so logical and well crafted, especially the part about the man's lawyer missing a congressionally approved deadline for appeals. But step back from the legal technicalities and consider the whole picture and you might well react this way: My God, they're talking about this man's life. Because his lawyer missed a filing deadline - and for complex reasons at that - this mentally retarded man's going to die. That appears to be the situation for Mr. Wilson, who murdered a man in Beaumont 13 years ago. So we're counting on the U.S. Supreme Court reconsidering the ruling handed down by a panel of judges from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. There's no doubt the lawyer missed the deadline, but that was because he was waiting on a ruling from a state court. Texas has a 2-forum rule that prohibits simultaneous appeals, so the attorney was doing what he thought he had to do. (The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals didn't turn down Mr. Wilson's state appeal until Nov. 10, 2004, which gave the prisoner and his attorney exactly two days to file in federal court.) The appellate panel, mind you, doesn't really contest Mr. Wilson's retardation. It even said Mr. Wilson's attorney has made a prima facie showing of mental retardation. In other words, the court acknowledges there's a valid reason to think Mr. Wilson shows signs of mental retardation. Tests show him having an IQ below the 70-75 score often cited as proof of mental retardation. The Supreme Court previously ruled states can't put to death mentally retarded offenders. Surely that should include mentally retarded offenders whose lawyer got caught in a procedural trap. (source: Editorial, Dallas Morning News) * AT THE COURTHOUSEStudy questions jury gag orders; Professor says findings indicate concerns invalid After a jury failed to reach a verdict in the Vioxx product-liability trial last week, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon met with jurors and warned them against speaking with media. He came in and thanked us and asked us to leave whatever was said in the jury room, said one of the jurors, who asked to remain unidentified. The judge's request may seem reasonable, but it is part of a trend toward greater secrecy in the federal courts that alarms First Amendment advocates. There is no question that there are more restrictions coming down, said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporter's Committee on Freedom of the Press. There is rampant secrecy in both federal and state courtrooms. In March, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore of Houston issued a gag order to jurors after they failed to reach a verdict on 20 of 58 counts in the death-penalty trial of Tyrone Williams, the truck driver accused in the deaths of 19 undocumented immigrants. I don't want any coverage of deliberations of jurors in the media, Gilmore told the jury that found Williams guilty of transporting illegal immigrants but spared him the death penalty. Neither Fallon's nor Gilmore's orders were challenged, but the U.S. Supreme Court let stand the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in 2003 allowing a gag order following a mistrial. The Vioxx and Williams cases are expected to be retried. The rationale for gag orders in such cases is that future jurors could be influenced by comments from jurors who failed to reach a verdict. But a local lawyer and academic who has studied that and other reasons for silencing jurors disputes the concerns. Few analyses seen Nicole Casarez, a communications professor at the University of St. Thomas, says jury gag orders are based almost entirely on speculation because there have been few efforts to analyze the effects of juror interviews. After reviewing academic criticisms of juror interviews, Casarez designed a study. Scholars theorized that jurors' knowledge that they may be interviewed after a verdict could affect their deliberations, Casarez found. Academics also speculated the interviews could violate juror privacy or that jurors might reveal negative information on fellow jurors. My study blows that out of the water, Casarez said. Casarez's study, published in 2003, tested the criticisms by interviewing 761 jurors questioned by the Houston Chronicle over 15 years. The study, Examining the Evidence: Post-Verdict Interviews and the Jury System, found only one instance where a juror's comment might have influenced a retrial by aiding prosecutors and found no evidence that jury deliberations were affected by the prospect of media interviews. In none of these articles did jurors reveal personal, private or potentially embarrassing information about panelists who
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----USA, IND., ILL., N.Y., WIS., PENN., MISS., FLA.
Dec. 22 USA: Death Sentences Show Decline NationwideWhen they have the option, jurors prefer a sentence of life without parole, experts say. The number of death sentences imposed by juries around the country has plummeted since 1999, according to a study released Wednesday by the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment. In 1999, 276 death sentences were imposed. The figure has dropped every year since, falling to 125 last year. With 10 days to go in 2005, 96 death sentences are projected to be handed down this year, the lowest total since 1976. One of the most striking statistics comes from Harris County, Texas, which has sent more people to death row than any other county in the state that leads the nation in executions. Harris County has generated two death sentences this year; Houston, its largest city, has been referred to as the capital of capital punishment. Richard C. Dieter, executive director of the center, based in Washington, D.C., said several factors had contributed to the decrease in death sentences - prime among them the fact that jurors in all but one of the 38 states that had capital punishment laws were able to render sentences of life without parole. Jurors, he said, are becoming increasingly comfortable with voting for such sentences rather than death. Joshua Marquis, the district attorney in Astoria, Ore., who is spokesman for the National District Attorneys Assn. on death penalty issues, said he thought that executions were down because of the overall decrease in violent crime around the country. He also said that he thought that tough sentencing laws - such as three strikes, mandatory minimums and death sentences - have had a clear deterrent effect. There is no question, Marquis said, that when life without possibility of parole is an option, it is the preferred choice of most juries. Dieter said that although a significant majority of Americans - 64% in the latest Gallup poll, down from 80% in 1994 - supported the death penalty, there was growing skepticism about the fairness of its use. He said that was attributable, at least in part, to the growing number of death row inmates released after it was established that they were wrongfully convicted. That number now stands at 122. The number of executions also has dropped sharply, from 98 in 1999 to 60 in 2005. Texas led the field with 19 executions this year, a slight decrease from 23 in 2004 and a sharp decline from the peak year of 2000, when that state executed 40 people. Since 1973, Texas has executed 355 people, about a third of the national total of 1,004. Virginia is 2nd, with 94 executions, but it has carried out none this year. 16 states have held executions this year, with about 2/3 taking place in Southern and Southwestern states. California, the nation's most populous state, has the largest death row, with 648 inmates. The state has executed 12 people since reinstituting capital punishment in 1978. California executed 2 men - Donald Beardslee and Stanley Tookie Williams - this year, and expects to execute two more in the first two months of 2006. In one respect, California went counter to national trends this year, sending 18 people to death row, twice as many as in 2004. But that is considerably fewer than the 42 death sentences meted out in 1999, the peak year. Death penalty foes also were heartened by several other developments: Illinois continued a death penalty moratorium for the 6th year. And in November, the New Jersey senate passed a bill that would suspend executions and create a commission to study the state's capital punishment law. The bill is set to be considered in the state Assembly in January. If the measure passes, New Jersey would become the 1st state to legislatively impose a death penalty moratorium. Sentiment has mounted against capital punishment there, even though New Jersey has one of the nation's smallest death rows, with 14 inmates, and has not held an execution since 1963. The high cost of the death penalty may be a factor, according to the report released Wednesday. A recent study by a public policy organization in New Jersey found that the state had spent $283 million on capital cases since 1983, the year after it reinstituted the death penalty. The California Legislature is scheduled to consider a death penalty moratorium in January, but passage is far from assured. Death penalty foes also garnered significant victories in court this year. In Kansas and New York, the states' highest courts overturned death penalty statutes. Kansas has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court; in New York, the statute would have to be changed legislatively, something lawmakers there have declined to do. 4 states - Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin - considered reinstating the death penalty, but efforts to do so failed. In March, the Supreme Court concluded that there was a national consensus against executing individuals for murders committed
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide
Dec. 22 PAKISTAN: SC stops implementation of death penalty against 4 convicts in zina case Supreme court Shariat Appellate Bench has stopped implementation of death penalty awarded to four accused belonging to Faisalabad by anti terrorism court under Zina ordinance. The convicts were to be executed on Wednesday. Shariat Appellate bench comprising Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Mian Shakir Ullah Jan, Justice Dr Allama Khalid Mehmood and Justice Allama Rashid A Jalandhri was headed by Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar. Moulvi Iqbal Hider had challenged section 10(4) of zina ordinance in Wafaqi Shariat Court and his plea was rejected. It was again challenged in the Shariat Appellate bench of Supreme Court on Wednesday. Earlier judge of anti terrorism court had stopped implementation of capital punishment orders in respect of these 4 death convicts. being the case fixed in Supreme court. They were charged with committing sexual assault on one Saima Bibi, a Christian girl in 1999. Anti terrorism court had convicted and awarded dearth sentence to them. These orders were later upheld by the high court. Age of all the 4 convicts were below 25 years at the time of occurrence of incident. The death convicts including Omar Hayat, Ishrat, Shahzad and Mubarak were kept in central jail Faisalabad where from their death warrants had been issued and their last meeting with their family members had also taken place. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar asked Moulvi Iqbal Haider advocate You have now succeeded in your aim as execution has been averted and the decision would now be taken as per rules and regulations. Moulvi Iqbal Haider contended that there was no flexibility in section 10(4) of penal code. Any accused of zina case can not be sentenced to death as this punishment is against Quran and Sunnah. The hearing of the case was adjourned till December 29. (source: Pakistan Tribune) AFGHANISTAN: Death sentences over aid kidnap In Kabul, an Afghan court on Thursday sentenced 2 men to death and another to 20 years in prison for the murder of an Afghan businessman and the kidnapping of an Italian aid worker that had fueled fears of Iraq-style abductions in Kabul. Meanwhile, media rights groups hailed an appeals court verdict on Wednesday to free the editor of an Afghan women's magazine who had been sentenced to 2 years in prison for publishing articles deemed offensive to Islam. The 2 verdicts from Afghanistan's fledgling legal system come days after another keystone of its experiment with democracy, its first popularly elected parliament in more than 30 years, was convened in the capital Kabul. 3 men implicated in the abduction of CARE International worker Clementina Cantoni were sentenced by the National Security Court. Cantoni, who had been working on a project helping Afghan widows and their families, was kidnapped in the capital by armed men May 16 and released unharmed June 9. The president of the court, Abdul Baset Bakhtyari, said Temur Shah and Haroom, another defendant who goes by one name, were sentenced to death by hanging after a 1-day trial. A 3rd man, only known as Esat, received 20 years in prison, Bakhtyari said. He said the convicted men would appeal. Bakhtyari said Shah and Haroom were also accused of kidnapping a businessman, Hafid Ullah Zadan earlier this year and demanding a $500,000 ransom for his life. When Zadan refused, Shah drowned him in a deep well near his house in Kabul, Bakhtyari said. He said Shah had confessed to both crimes. There has been a spate of abductions and attempted kidnappings over the past year, sending shivers through the Kabul's foreign community, amid fears that criminals and Taliban-linked rebels could be mimicking tactics of rebels in Iraq. The circumstances of Cantoni's release and the motive for the kidnapping remain unclear. Also Thursday, an Afghan journalists' association and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists hailed the imminent release of Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, who was convicted of blasphemy in October over articles published in his magazine Haqooq-i-Zan -- Women's Rights. One article had criticized a provision under Shariah, or Islamic law, of punishing adulterers with 100 lashes. An appeals court reduced Nasab's sentence to 6 months, and suspended the remaining 3 months after he apologized to the court for the articles, said Maulvi Muhayuddin Baluch, a religious affairs adviser of President Hamid Karzai. Nasab was expected to be released from prison on Saturday, said Abdul Razzaq, the magazine's deputy editor. We are very happy but it was international pressure, human rights groups and our organization that got him released, Rahimullah Samandar, head of the Afghan Independent Journalists' Association. Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the court order was a positive development for the Afghan media. The constitutional protections guaranteeing freedom of the press must be
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----worldwide
Dec. 21 ICELAND: The City Council of Reykjavk agreed yesterday that Reykjavk would take part in the fight against the death penalty by becoming a member of Cities for Life - Cities Against the Death Penalty. Morgunbladid reports that about 400 cities around the world, including Copenhagen and Stockholm are participating in the initiative. According to a statement released by the Council, by participating Reykjavk is contributing to this important human rights campaign. The Iceland chapter of Amnesty International unanimously welcomed the decision to participate in the battle against the death penalty. The Cities for Life project is organized by the Community of Sant'Egidio and supported by human rights organizations around the world that are working together to abolish the death penalty. (source: Iceland Review)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----TEXAS, IOWA, USA., COLO., MD.
Dec. 20 TEXAS: Tennessee evidence will not be allowed in new murder trial Soffar defense may present other testimony linking man to 3 slayings at bowling alley A Harris County man facing a new capital murder trial in the slayings of 3 people at a Houston bowling alley will not be allowed to present evidence of similar crimes committed by a condemned killer in Tennessee. Defense attorneys for Max Alexander Soffar, 50, sought to introduce evidence that they say exonerates him from the slayings at the Fair Lanes Windfern bowling center and suggests that Tennessee convict Paul Dennis Reid, 48, actually committed the crime. But state District Judge Mary Lou Keel ruled Monday that jurors in Soffar's new trial will not hear about Reid's violent past. Jury selection is scheduled for Jan. 6. Prosecutors have said they will again seek the death penalty. The ruling was a blow for defense attorneys, who say prosecutors are depending solely on an unsupported, uncorroborated confession from Soffar that does not match evidence from the crime scene or the sole survivor's version of events. They had hoped to show that Reid's crimes in Tennessee bear a striking resemblance to the 1980 killings in northwest Houston. Jurors will, however, hear that Reid was in Houston at the time of the attack and resembled a description of the bowling alley gunman. They also will hear testimony that Reid told a friend more than 20 years ago that he once robbed a bowling alley on U.S. 290 and shot 4 people. Soffar's attorneys expressed disappointment that jurors will not hear about Reid's crimes in Tennessee, which, they say, show a pattern similar to that of the Houston slayings. What the jury won't know is (Reid) then left Houston and committed seven more murders just like this one, said Soffar's attorney, Kathryn Kase of the Texas Defender Service, after Monday's hearing. The issue is one of giving the jury all the facts and letting them decide if Houston's got the right man, said Kase, who is married to Houston Chronicle editor Jeff Cohen. In this case, there are very strong indications Mr. Soffar did not commit this crime. In 2 of the Tennessee cases, restaurant employees - like the Houston victims - were shot in the back of their heads after being forced to the floor, defense attorneys said. Reid also ordered one of his victims to give up his wallet before opening fire, just as the bowling alley killer did in 1980. Reid, like the Houston killer, never wore a mask or hid his face, defense attorneys said. Also, the Tennessee businesses were closed when the employees were robbed, just as the victims at the bowling alley were. Prosecutor Lyn McClellan argued that the Houston and Tennessee shootings were not signature crimes and have little in common. They are not even close; not even in the ballpark, McClellan told the judge. Soffar was convicted of killing Arden Alane Felsher and Tommy Lee Temple, both 17, and Stephen Allen Sims, 25; and critically wounding Gregory Garner, then 18, at the bowling alley on July 14, 1980. His conviction was overturned last year when a 3-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that his lawyer had not effectively represented him in his 1981 trial. The panel concluded that Soffar's lawyer at the time, the late Joe Cannon, failed to interview or summon Garner, the only survivor, whose account of the incident differed sharply from Soffar's. Cannon also failed to consult a ballistics expert who could have provided exculpatory testimony, the panel found. (source: Houston Chronicle) *** Rushing to Execute in Texas The Supreme Court has held that it is unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded, and Marvin Lee Wilson appears to fall into that category. But Mr. Wilson, who is on Texas' death row, may be executed anyway, because his lawyer missed a deadline, and the federal appeals court that rejected his claim last week is blind to the injustice of what is happening. Mr. Wilson's execution should be blocked. Beyond that, his case should cause Congress to stop its reckless campaign to make it even easier than it is now to carry out executions. Mr. Wilson, whose I.Q. was measured at 61, appears to meet the legal standard for mental retardation. The Constitution therefore prohibits him from being put to death. But the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit does not seem to care. It ruled last week that because his lawyer filed his legal papers late, he has forfeited his right to object. It is easy to see how Mr. Wilson's lawyer made a mistake. The morass of rules that have developed for when death row inmates must file papers in different state and federal courts makes occasional errors inevitable. Whatever the skills of Mr. Wilson's lawyer, the system as a whole is filled with overburdened, unenergetic and incompetent lawyers, as the Texas Defender Service documented in a report entitled Lethal Indifference. It is the courts' job to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.Y., MISS., PENN., CALIF., N.C., WIS., UTAH
Dec. 20 NEW YORK: Law Enforcement Groups Oppose Pataki Death Penalty Proposal Focusing on the recent deaths of two New York City police officers, Gov. George E. Pataki is pressuring the state Legislature to impose the death penalty for anyone convicted of the 1st degree murder of a police officer, peace officer or corrections officer. Pataki has called the Legislature into special session Wednesday, Dec. 21 to consider two of his proposals, the Illegal Gun Trafficking Bill and the Governor's Crimes Against Law Enforcement Officers Bill which focuses on increasing penalties on those who seek to injure or kill police officers. Stiff opposition to the death penalty is already forming. New Yorkers have learned a lot about the death penalty since 1995, including that it doesn't protect police or reduce crime, David Kaczynski, executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty says. In fact, new statistics show that violent crime and murder are down statewide, even after a year and a half without the death penalty. Kaczynski, brother of Uni-bomber Ted Kaczynski who is now serving a life sentence, said We grieve with all New Yorkers for the police officers murdered in the City. The innocent lives of officers (Dillon) Stewart and (Daniel) Enchautegui should not become pawns in a game of political expediency to resuscitate a broken death penalty. A sentence of life imprisonment without parole for the worst crimes represents the swift and sure justice that New Yorkers deserve. It effectively protects society while avoiding the problems and injustices that continue to plague capital punishment wherever it exists. When I was 14 years old, my father was shot and killed in the line of duty on the New York State Thruway, says Kathy Dillon, daughter of a murdered state trooper . He had been a New York State Trooper for 16 years. The death penalty did not protect my father that day, and it has not protected other police officers who have been shot and killed during the time that capital punishment was reinstated in New York. Nor will it protect the officers who continue to risk their lives every day across New York State. Furthermore, I believe that humans should not have the right to decide who dies, whether in an act of violence or in response to violence. Ozzie Thompson, former police officer of the New York Police Department says that he saw Officer Dillon Stewart just days before he was murdered. Words cannot describe the sadness I feel when I think of his tragic and senseless death. Like Officer Stewart, I once put my life on the line every day to protect New York City residents. I know firsthand how poor a tool the death penalty is to prevent crime. It is biased and unfair, wasteful and ineffective, and risks executing the innocent while doing nothing to protect officers like Dillon. The death-penalty bill proposed by the Governor and Senate has not remedied - indeed, it exacerbates - the constitutional infirmity that resulted in the 1995 law's invalidation, professor James Acker of the University at Albany School of Criminal Justice says. The new 'deadlock provision' creates a conclusive presumption in favor of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole that ignores the will of jurors who would cast votes for the bill's other sentencing option of life imprisonment with parole eligibility. The proposed law is additionally flawed by a retroactivity provision that violates the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto legislation. The dual infirmities in the bill almost certainly ensure that its passage would result in the expenditure of additional millions of dollars and needless waste of judicial resources before it is declared unconstitutional. Law enforcement associations are also opposing the reinstatement of the death penalty, issuing a statement in support of the families of Officers Dillon Stewart and Daniel Enchautegui, including the National Latino Officers Association of Brooklyn, 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care of Brooklyn, the Grand Council of Guardians of New York, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers and the National Black Police Association of Washington, DC. Pataki's new death penalty bill won't protect our brothers or help grieving families We are current and former police officers. Every time one of our fellow officers is injured or killed, we feel the pain as though we were shot ourselves. In the last few weeks, two heroic officers have been killed, and our hearts have been with the families of those officers every day. New Yorkers owe our police genuine protection from such threats. We need the best protective equipment. We need programs and laws that take guns off our streets. We need funding for innovative crime prevention programs and more police. And if something happens to us in the line of duty, our families need the very best in support including grief counseling, financial assistance, and scholarship programs for
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----worldwide
Dec. 20 VIETNAM: Vietnam Sentences Australian to Death for Drugs A Vietnamese court has sentenced a an Australian of Vietnamese origin to death by firing squad for trafficking heroin, a court official said on Tuesday. Trinh Huu was convicted on Monday in Tay Ninh, a province on the border with Cambodia, the official said. He has 15 days to appeal. State-run Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper said Trinh, 53, was arrested a year ago at a border checkpoint and his arrest led to 3 Vietnamese. All 4 were charged with trafficking 1.7 kg (3.7 lb) of heroin. Trafficking of more than 600 grams (1.32 lb) of heroin is punishable by death or life in jail in Vietnam. One of the three accomplices was jailed for life and the other 2 sentenced to 15 and 18 years, the newspaper said. Trinh is the 3rd Australian of Vietnamese origin sentenced to death in Vietnam this year on drug trafficking charges. In June, Mai Cong Thanh was sentenced to death for attempting to send heroin stuffed in loudspeakers to Australia two months after Nguyen Van Chinh was given the same sentence for trafficking heroin. The sentences have not yet been carried out. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in August that his government, which is opposed to the death penalty, had sought clemency for two Australians on death row in Vietnam on drug trafficking charges, but did not name them. (source: Reuters)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----CALIF., USA, MD.
Dec. 19 CALIFORNIA: Why capital punishment? During my years of service as an agent of the State of California I was called upon to participate in the litigation of two capital cases, both of which arose out of murders committed in 1982. As of this writing, neither of these men has been executed. I handled both cases to completion -- i.e., affirmance -- in the state court system and began representing the state in federal habeas corpus (a limited but time-consuming process) in one of them before I retired. Clearly, each man was guilty of the offences charged (each admitted his guilt) and the sentences were lawfully imposed. At the time I was assigned these cases, our office permitted scrupled deputies -- those who opposed the death penalty on moral grounds -- to reject capital cases and to make up the work by litigating other lengthy cases. I never knew how many of our C.O.s (conscientious objectors) were really conscientious, or rather objected to the inordinate amount of effort, stress and frustration involved. The records were long, the issues complex and the quality of defense representation on appeal excellent. I found myself -- the power and majesty of the state personified -- opposing a cadre of doctrinaire attorneys of the highest caliber fighting for a cause they believed in: opposition to the death penalty. In the course of a three-year evidentiary hearing in one case, the well-known lead defense counsel blatantly refused to obey a lawful order. When I asked him later how he could justify his actions, he answered, Hey, I'm trying to save a man's life here. Once, I received a letter from a clergyman associated with Amnesty International asking me to rethink my position on capital punishment. I wrote back and offered to discuss the matter with him, but received no reply. Now, after the high-profile execution of Stanley Tookie Williams, we are once again examining the issue of capital punishment. To my mind, and after years of soul-searching, it is an issue as to which reasonable minds can differ, and so the resolution of the debate is properly relegated to the domain of politics: When the majority of Californians reject capital punishment, it will cease to exist here. During the same period, I participated in an annual program for high-school students in Los Angeles called Law Day, presented by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. The heavily attended event examined a number of issues of interest, including capital punishment. I would present the pro position, opposed by experienced defense attorneys. During these debates, the same arguments against the death penalty were raised again and again, in large measure the same points being raised now by abolitionists: The death penalty doesn't deter killers; state-sanctioned killing undermines the sanctity of human life; mistakes may lead to the execution of innocent defendants; we are the only civilized state that puts its citizens to death. I would respond to these arguments as follows: While I am no penologist, I do know that the focus of California criminal statutes in general changed radically in 1977. Under the old rehabilitation model, open-ended sentences, such as One year to life, were commonplace, even for relatively minor offenses, potentially resulting in extended terms for offenders who were unable to convince their custodians that they were rehabilitated. The change to determinate sentences, under which the legislature declared that imprisonment was intended to constitute punishment, resulted in fairer sentencing, but also reflected a new purpose for penal sanctions. The same approach negates the contention that capital punishment is unnecessary, as it does not deter. The specter of state sanctioned killing, although stark, does not negate the validity of capital punishment, either. We send our troops into combat with a specific license to kill when appropriate. The possibility of erroneous execution, although extremely regrettable, is not inconsistent with the allocation of risk in society at large: Product failure, from automobiles to pharmaceuticals, also regrettable, is seen as part of life. Even if capital punishment were eliminated, the possibility of mistaken long-term imprisonment would remain. The last contention -- that we are the only civilized society that still allows capital punishment -- requires a sad admission. Perhaps we are not quite as civilized as we would like to believe. We have the highest murder rate in the industrial world, by far. The wanton mayhem exacted daily in the United States requires some response, or the very notion of justice loses force. We might say that those put to death become a sort of sacrificial atonement for this very failure. We do not choose these individuals. By their crimes, they have in essence volunteered. Perhaps when our society becomes truly civilized, when our homicide rate falls substantially, the tide will turn. I pray that day comes quickly. (source: Washington
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide
Dec. 19 KOREA: AI to Campaign Against Death Penalty in Korea An international human rights organization has decided to launch a full-scale campaign next year to force South Korea to abolish the death penalty. The Korean branch of Amnesty International (AI) said Tuesday that the human rights advocacy group plans to designate the country as its priority target for its 2006 anti-death penalty campaign. The organization, founded in 1961, is headquartered in London and operates branch offices in 150 countries around the world with 1.8 million active members. Abolishing capital punishment has been one of AIs key goals and it is the 1st time for the group to name a specific country as its main subject of its anti-death penalty movement, the Korean branch said. We have staged a wide array of activities around the world to urge countries to discontinue capital punishment in general, but we have never designated one country as a year-long campaign target, an official at the branch said. If Korea does not carry out executions for 10 years, it will obtain international provisional status as an anti-death penalty state. This is why we have decided to concentrate our efforts on the country next year, the official added. But it is unlikely that Korea will end the death penalty any time soon because more than two thirds of the public opposes to its abolition. A number of national surveys have shown that about 60-67 % of respondents oppose scrapping the punishment saying that it must be maintained for social peace when serial killings and other brutal crimes are on the rise. The Ministry of Justice has also vowed to keep capital punishment intact, saying the Constitutional Court's ruling on the death penalty is in accordance with the Constitution. South Korea has executed 902 prisoners since its foundation in 1948. Currently there are 59 on death row. But the death penalty has not been carried out for the past 9 years since December 1997 when 18 men and 5 women were executed under the Kim Young-sam administration. As part of the campaign, the group's secretary general Irene Khan, directors of worldwide branches, and others would send official letters to the Korean government to discontinue capital punishment, according to the Korean branch. Parliaments of European countries, Australia and other nations that ban the death penalty are also expected to send such requests to the National Assembly of South Korea. In February, 175 lawmakers out of the 297-member legislature put forward a special bill aimed at abolishing the death penalty. Rep. Yoo In-tae of the ruling Uri Party, who received the death sentence under the Park Chung-hee regime in 1974 for his anti-government activities, submitted the bill in cooperation with religious and civic organizations. In addition, the National Human Rights Commission indicated Monday that it would recommend abolishing the death penalty as part of its national action plan to be submitted to the United Nations next February. (source: The Korea Times) BAHRAIN: Scrap death penalty! A DEFIANT Shura Council member yesterday urged the government to scrap the death penalty. Others called for capital punishment to be introduced for rapists whose female victims are younger than 16. They also called for life sentences for convicted rapists whose victims are aged 16 and above. However, council member Faisal Fulad said capital punishment was already disapproved by international organisations. This punishment should only be applied in 2 cases - treason or mass murder, he said. There are many countries that have hanged innocent people, but only discovered that fact after executing them. Mr Fulad was speaking yesterday during Shura Council discussions on amending the penal code. Other councillors called for the death sentence to be applied to rapists whose victims are younger than 16. They also urged Justice Minister Dr Mohammed Al Sitri to imprison those who rape other men for up to 7 years - or impose a life sentence if the boy is younger than 16. However, the minister asked for the matter to be postponed to allow representatives from the ministry to meet councillors to draft amendments to the existing law. We are currently studying the whole law, so we hope councillors will postpone their discussions until we present our amendments, he said. (source: Gulf Daily News) JORDAN: Court Sentences Zarqawi to Death in Absentia Jordan's military court sentenced Iraq insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi and 2 others to death for the second time in connection with a failed suicide bombing along the Iraqi border a year ago. Zarqawi and one of the other defendants were sentenced in absentia. A 3rd man, Fahd Noman Suwelim Feheiqi, a Saudi, is in custody. The military court previously sentenced the Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who is believed to be in Iraq, to death for the October 2002 slaying of U.S. aid worker Laurence Foley, who was gunned down outside his Amman
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, CALIF., USA, FLA., IND., VA.
Dec. 30 URGENT ACTION APPEAL -- 22 December 2005 Death Penalty UA 221/05 (Originally issued 24 August 2005 and re-issued 9 September 2005; 1 November 2005; 10 November 2005) USA/Ohio: John Spirko (m) John Spirko is scheduled to be executed on 19 January. He was sentenced to death in 1984 for the kidnap and murder of Betty Jane Mottinger in August 1982. He denies carrying out the murder and no physical or forensic evidence links him to the crime. Concerns about Spirko's guilt have been raised by the courts considering his case and by members of the Ohio Parole Board considering a clemency petition. Spirko had two execution dates postponed by Governor Taft in 2005, each time only days before he was due to be put to death. The first time was in September at the request of the Ohio Parole Board, which wanted more time to consider a clemency petition; the second was in November, to allow time for DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene, after the Board had voted against a clemency recommendation. The DNA testing is now in progress, and Spirko's attorneys are attempting to get more information on this. The state has now found fingerprint evidence from the crime scene, which it had lost, and Spirko's attorneys are urging the authorities to check these prints against the national database of criminal suspects' fingerprints. Prosecutors at John Spirko's trial are alleged to have knowingly presented a false case against him, linking him to the crime through the involvement of a co-defendant, Delaney Gibson, who they had evidence to suggest was 500 miles away at the time of the crime. Delaney Gibson was charged but never tried in the crime, and all charges against him were dropped in May 2004. One of the original state investigators was recently reported to have stated that he told prosecutors at trial that he believed Delaney Gibson did not take part in the murder. Spirko's attorneys have argued that this casts doubt on John Spirko's conviction and warrants reopening of the case. An appeal to review the case in US District Court was denied in October 2005. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is now considering a further appeal. The Ohio Parole Board voted 6-3 against making a clemency recommendation to the Governor in October 2005. The three dissenting members reportedly concluded that there was too much doubt to allow the execution to go ahead, expressing concerns about these issues. Writing a dissent to the majority opinion in May 2004 which dismissed John Spirko's appeal for an evidentiary hearing on claims that the prosecution at trial knowingly presented false evidence, federal judge John Gilman said that ''the case against Spirko was far from overwhelming'' and left him with ''considerable doubt as to whether he has been lawfully subjected to the death penalty.'' He noted, ''a striking fact about the record in this case is the complete absence of any forensic evidence linking Spirko to the crime,'' and said that the state's case against John Spirko was built on ''three shaky pillars'' with ''a foundation of sand''. Former federal judge William Sessions, who has been active in an initiative to promote procedural safeguards in death penalty cases, two retired federal judges and a former federal prosecutor have reportedly raised concerns about John Spirko's conviction and death sentence. Betty Jane Mottinger, the postmistress of Elgin, a small town in Ohio, was kidnapped and murdered in August 1982. John Spirko contacted police two months later, offering to trade information about the murder in exchange for help with charges he was facing in another, unrelated case. He reportedly gave a series of differing accounts of the murder, according to one of which his best friend and former cellmate, Delaney Gibson, had admitted to him that he had carried out the murder. Prosecutors at trial argued that Gibson and Spirko committed the crime together, saying that the information John Spirko had provided could only be known by the murderer, and relying on the testimony of an eyewitness who testified that she was ''100 percent sure'' that she had seen Delaney Gibson outside the post office the morning Mottinger disappeared. The prosecution allegedly had evidence that Gibson was actually 500 miles away at the time. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Amnesty International opposes all executions, regardless of issues of guilt or innocence. This is a punishment that is an affront to human dignity and a part of a culture of violence rather than a solution to it. It has not been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishment, and denies the possibility of rehabilitation and reconciliation. In the US the capital justice system is marked by arbitrariness, discrimination and error, and the US authorities have frequently violated international standards in their pursuit of judicial killing of prisoners including people whose guilt remained in doubt. RECOMMENDED
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----worldwide
Dec. 29 SAUDI ARABIAexecution Saudi execution raises number put to death to 85 Saudi Arabia today executed a Sudanese man convicted of murder, raising to at least 85 the number of people put to death in the kingdom this year. The interior ministry said Mohammed Nour Mohammed Ali was put to death in a rural area outside Riyadh for clubbing and stabbing a fellow Sudanese national after an argument. Saudi Arabia implements strict Islamic law, executing convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers, usually by public beheading with a sword. Human rights groups say they are concerned by the sharp rise in executions this year in Saudi Arabia, which put to death 35 people last year and 53 people in 2003. (source: Reuters) KOREA: Court to Review Past Execution Ruling on Dissidents A court Tuesday decided to review a controversial execution ruling against eight dissidents under the iron-fisted rule of late President Park Chung-hee due to its unreliable investigation records. The courts review is expected to shed light on the case again after 30 years to investigate suspicions that the Park government conspired in the ruling that had eight dissident activists executed in 1975. The Seoul Central District Court said it has decided to review the case as police and intelligence agents were believed to have severely tortured the accused during the internal investigation at that time. A panel of judges concluded that those who were executed by the court ruling in the 1970s were forced to admit false accusations because of torture and mistreatment. The judges presented the evidence that the accused were forced to take medicines such as painkillers during a certain period of the investigation. According to the court, the ruling is presumed to have been made using fabricated investigation records based on false statements obtained through torture. The court also said that the statements given by the accused were very similar to each other. The bereaved families of the executed activists first demanded the government conduct a truth-finding investigation into the Inhyok-tang incident in 1989. Supported by the government, the truth committee has been looking into the incident since 2002. In the latest revelation of political oppression under former President Park, a truth committee said it found official documents showing that the government had issued orders to execute the activists hours before the Supreme Court handed down its ruling. In 1974, the government of then President Park outlawed the rebellious National Federation of Democratic Youths and Students, labeling the group a North Korean intelligence organization. The Park government rounded up more than 200 of its members, accusing them of being controlled by North Korean intelligence agents. The 8 men, labeled by prosecutors as members of the pro-North Korean Inhyoktang, or the People's Revolutionary Party, were convicted of conspiracy and treason and executed in the early morning of April 9, 1975, just 18 hours after the Supreme Court rejected their appeal. Prosecutors accused Inhyoktang of being the mastermind behind the student-activist group Minchonghangnyon, or the National Federation of Democratic Youths and Students. The Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) said Tuesday that it welcomes the court's decision to review the suspicious case as it has remained a disgrace for the nation's judicial history. The court should have reviewed the case long ago to restore the confidence from the disgraceful ruling. We welcome the decision albeit belatedly, Kim Ki-sik, official of the PSPD, said. Park Rae-gun, member of the Sarangbang Group for Human Rights, also said that the review is expected to pave the way for the judicial circles to reflect on their wrong rulings and practices that were influenced by authoritarian governments. (source: Korea Times, Dec. 27)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news---worldwide
QATAR: URGENT ACTION APPEAL -- 19 December 2005 UA 323/05 Death Penalty QATAR Fahd 'Abdullah al-Maliki (m) Salim Mubarak Dahham (m) Mohammed 'Ali al-Muhannadi (m) Ibrahim Sa'ad Ismail (m) Khashan Salim al-Karabi (m) Hamad 'Ali Jahman (m) 'Abdul Hadi Rashid al-Shafia'a (m) 'Abdul Hadi Jabir al-Rakib (m) Rashid 'Ali al-'Arak (m) Jabir Salih al-Jallab (m) Jabir 'Ali Anan (m) Hamad Mohammed 'Abdu (m) 'Abdul Hadi Ali al-Jaznah (m) Jabir Hamad Jabir al-Jallab (m) Mohammed al-Mee'a Salih (m) Rashid Nasir Alliwa'a (m) Fawaz 'Ali al-Muhanadi (m) - Qatari nationals Wabran 'Ali al-Yami (m), Saudi Arabian national The 18 men named above have been sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in an attempted coup. Amnesty International believes that they were sentenced after an unfair trial and should have their sentences commuted by the Amir of Qatar. The Amir has the power to pardon, commute, grant clemency or ratify death sentences. All 18 men were sentenced to life imprisonment at their trial before a Lower Court in February 2000, but after taking their case to the Court of Appeal, they received death sentences in May 2001. Following their arrest, many of the men were held incommunicado until their trial hearings began. Some of the men alleged that they had been tortured in order to force them to ''confess''. The men were arrested at different times in the mid- to late- 1990s for their involvement in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of the Amir in 1996. The Amir himself had deposed his father in a bloodless coup in June 1995. Most of the men were believed to be army officers loyal to the deposed Amir. The deposed Amir returned to Qatar after living in Europe for several years. Two other men, Bakhit Marzouq al-'Abdallah and Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani, who were also sentenced to death in relation to the attempted coup, were recently granted a royal pardon and released in January and September respectively (see EXTRA 30/01, MDE 22/001/2001, 23 May 2001 and follow-up). The two men were part of a group of 19 Qatari nationals and a Saudi Arabian national who stood trial following the coup. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - acknowledging that the government has a right to bring to justice those responsible for internationally recognizable criminal offences, but expressing unconditional opposition to the death penalty; - welcoming the news that Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Hamad al-Thani and Bakhit Marzouq al-'Abdallah were recently released but urging the Amir to commute the death sentences of the 18 men named above; - reminding the authorities that they are bound by international standards for fair trial in capital cases, including the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. APPEALS TO: His Highness Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani Amir of the State of Qatar PO Box 923 Doha, Qatar Fax: 011 974 436 12 12 (It may be difficult to get through; please keep trying) Salutation: Your Highness His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al-Thani Prime Minister and Minister of Interior PO Box 115 Doha, Qatar Fax: 011 974 432 7734/ 432 3339 (It may be difficult to get through; please keep trying) Salutation: Your Highness COPIES TO: His Excellency Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al- Thani Minister of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs PO Box 250 Doha, Qatar Fax: 011 974 438 3745/ 429 454 (It may be difficult to get through; please keep trying) Ambassador Embassy of the State of Qatar 2555 M St NW Washington DC 20037 Fax: 1 202 237 0061 Email: i...@qatarembassy.org Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after January 30, 2006. Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights. This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal. Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA PO Box 1270 Nederland CO 80466-1270 Email: u...@aiusa.org http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/ Phone: 303 258 1170 Fax: 303 258 7881 -- END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL IRAN: URGENT ACTION APPEAL 19 December 2005 UA 321/05 Death Penalty/Fear of Imminent Execution IRAN: Akram (f), aged 30 Behnam (m) A woman and a man identified only as Akram and Behnam are at imminent risk of execution. Their death sentences, handed down by Branch 71 of the Criminal Court in Tehran, have been upheld by the Supreme Court. At this stage the Head of the Judiciary has the power to order a stay of execution and a review of the case. Akram was arrested following a fire at her home in Tehran, which took place at midnight on 16 August 2005. The body of her 75-year-old husband, who had been stabbed to death, was found
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----TEXAS, IDAHO, PENN., USA
Dec. 30 TEXAS: Death penalty losing capital Sentences decline in Dallas, state, nation amid new limits, alternatives Dallas courts are sending fewer murderers to the execution chamber, a trend mirrored in courtrooms across Texas and the nation. Nationally, more juries have the option of sentencing killers to life without parole, advances have been made in DNA testing, and the Supreme Court has banned the execution of mentally retarded people and minors, all factors in the decline. Locally, a change in Texas law that allows juries to send murderers to prison for life without the possibility of parole took effect in September and hasn't yet been felt by the courts. But jurors have received far fewer death penalty cases. I think we're in a period where the death penalty will be used more judiciously, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. The bottom line is each year for the past four or five years the number of death sentences have been down, so there's something going on here. In 1996, 320 murderers in the United States were told they would die for their crimes. But in 2004, the latest year for which complete statistics are available, 125 people were sentenced to death. That marked the fewest since 1977. In Texas, death sentences have dropped from 37 in 1999 to 15 in 2005, the fewest additional inmates on death row since 1991. In Dallas County, Anthony Doyle's May 2004 death sentence for robbing and beating a Rowlett doughnut delivery driver marked the last death verdict. Testimony in the next death penalty trial is expected to begin in April, meaning the gap between death sentences in the county will be nearly two years. Alternatives to death Nationwide, the annual murder rate has remained relatively steady in recent years, so Mr. Dieter said other factors appear to be behind the decline in the use of the death penalty. Using Department of Justice statistics, his organization estimates that the number of death sentences has fallen 60 percent nationwide since 1996, largely because more states offer jurors the option of sentencing murderers to life in prison without parole. The option is already available in 37 of the 38 death penalty states. Opinion polls show that a majority of Americans still support the death penalty, but the support shrinks when people are given the choice of life without parole. Death sentences have dropped, and life sentences have increased, Mr. Dieter said. I think there's a good case to be made that this is something specifically to do with the death penalty. But other factors are also commonly cited: - The public may also be growing wary of the death penalty after high-profile cases in which death row inmates have been proved innocent by DNA testing. Nationally, six death row inmates were exonerated in 2004, and at least 2 convictions were overturned in 2005, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. - A 2002 Supreme Court ruling banned the execution of retarded inmates, affecting cases around the nation. Another ruling this year banned the execution of minors. - In some cases in recent years - including high-profile cases such as that of Terry Nichols, accessory to the Oklahoma City bombing, and Lee Boyd Malvo, the D.C. sniper - juries have chosen life sentences over the death penalty. - More defendants are avoiding the possibility of a death sentence by accepting plea deals, including high-profile murderers such as Eric Rudolph, whose bombing of an abortion clinic left two dead, and BTK serial killer Dennis Rader. County 'more selective' Although his office hasn't tried a death penalty case in almost 2 years, Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill said his staff hasn't gone soft on murderers. Mr. Hill said his office has always been choosy when asking for the death penalty, typically seeking execution when defendants with histories of violent offenses are accused of particularly brutal crimes or cases involving police officers in the line of duty. Our policies have not changed one bit, Mr. Hill said. We'd rather not have any death penalty cases. When we see a case that warrants it, we're going to ask for it. We're much more selective, he said. He added that when his office asks a jury for the death penalty, we get it all the time. But the fact remains that the number of capital murder trials in the county has fluctuated only slightly over the last 5 years, while the number of death penalty convictions has ebbed. Even in Harris County - which historically leads the nation in sending inmates to death row every year - only 2 death sentences were handed down in 2005. The county had 9 death sentences in 2004 and a record 13 in 1996. Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said that the slowdown is not a conscious decision by his office and that death penalty cases stack up in the pipeline. Sometimes they get through, and sometimes they don't, he said. Mr. Rosenthal said
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----worldwide
Dec. 30 KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyzstan to End Use of Death PenaltyKyrgyzstan President Extends Moratorium, Effectively Ends Application of Death Penalty Kyrgyzstan's president effectively ended the use of the death penalty in this ex-Soviet republic by extending a moratorium on the punishment until its planned abolition, a presidential spokesman said Friday. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed the decree Thursday aiming to humanize and liberalize the criminal code and urged parliament to support plans to do away with the death penalty, said presidential spokesman Dosali Esenaliyev. Kyrgyzstan first imposed the moratorium in 1998 and has since repeatedly extended it. It is unclear when the constitutional changes proposed by Bakiyev might be implemented. Some key issues, including possible curtailment of presidential powers, are expected to be decided in a referendum next year. Bakiyev was elected president in July, following an uprising that ousted his unpopular predecessor, Askar Akayev. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., CALIF.
Dec. 30 TEXAS: DA Maness questions capital case Jefferson County's district attorney Thursday questioned the fairness of a recent federal appeals court's rejection of a request to remove a Beaumont man from death row because he is mentally retarded. District Attorney Tom Maness said he believed capital murderer Marvin Lee Wilson was not mentally retarded and deserved the death penalty, which he received in 1994 for abducting and killing a narcotics informant two years earlier. However, Maness questioned whether justice was served when the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last week rejected Wilson's case because his lawyers missed the filing deadline. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 outlawed the death penalty for mentally handicapped criminals with an IQ below 70. Wilson's attorneys in their appeal contend that their client's IQ is 61. However, the appeal to have the sentence commuted to life without parole missed the filing deadline by more than 40 days, the appeals court said in its ruling. Wilson, 47, was sentenced to death in 1994 for the abduction and shooting death of Jerry Robert Williams, a 21-year-old Beaumont resident. However, in 1996, the Texas Court of Criminal appeals overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial after determining that prosecutors had improperly attacked Wilson's attorneys. In March 1998, a second jury sentenced Wilson to death. Following the 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, lawyers for death row clients had a year to file an appeal with a case based on mental retardation. According to the Fifth Circuit court ruling, Wilson's lawyers filed his case on the last day, in both state and federal appeals courts. However, the Fifth Circuit court soon dismissed the case, saying that state-court remedies had not been exhausted. On Nov. 10, 2004, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Wilson's appeal. Wilson's lawyers then had one business day to file with the federal appeals court. The appeal was filed, but the case did not meet filing requirements laid out under federal law. Wilson's attorneys did not properly refile the case until 40 days later, according to last week's Fifth Circuit ruling. Maness, whose office won the death penalty in 1994 and 1998 against Wilson, said he didn't feel Wilson should be punished for his lawyers' errors. James Delee, one of Wilson's attorneys in the appeals case, did not return 3 calls for comment Thursday. Maness said that while it is important to have an efficient justice system, the rules should be flexible when it comes to life-or-death cases. Fifth Circuit judges in their ruling accused Wilson's lawyers of playing a game of brinkmanship, pushing a situation to the limit to gain some kind of advantage or concession. However, Maness said that should not prevent Wilson from getting fair treatment. I'm not opposed to bending the rules in this situation, Maness said. I hate to see this harsh result because lawyers were playing games. Everyone who goes through the system deserves a fair shake. Our job as prosecutor is to be advocates and seek justice (for victims), but also we must see justice is done (to defendants.). According to previous Enterprise stories, Wilson and another man shot Williams, a police drug informant, to death and left his nude body lying near the curb at Verone and Buford streets, where a bus driver found him early Nov. 10, 1992. About a week before that, Williams had provided police with a tip leading to a drug bust at Wilson's house. Wilson, who had been heard saying he was going to get Williams, left his stripped body in the street as a message to other snitches, prosecutors said. In a letter posted on the Web site www.deathrow-usa.com seeking pen pals, Wilson downplayed his criminal history and denied having anything to do with Williams' death. He attributed his criminal history to an inability to find legal work. I enjoy reading, working out, trying to learn how to draw, playing chess, and I love writing letters, but they are not able to exchange as many letters as I need to keep me comfortably occupied, so I'm pretty lonely these days, Wilson said. (source: The Beaumont Enterprise) ** Disciplinary letters detail mistakes made before inmate's escape -- Enough collective responsibility to go around We are learning more about the mistakes made by Harris County Sheriff's deputies that lead to last month's escape of death row inmate Charles Thompson. Those revelations are being found through disciplinary letters written to several deputies. That escape cost one deputy his job and several others time off work. After reviewing these documents, we're learning what the sheriff's office says helped a convicted killer walk free. Inmate Charles Thompson recalled, It was real relaxed. They play videogames. They sleep on the job. Thompson spoke from his prison cell about how easy it was to escape the Harris county jail. After that interview, new documents are now
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----OHIO, GA., USA
Dec. 30 OHIO: Execution set Feb. 7 for BennerLocal man convicted of killing two women has run out of appeals The Ohio Supreme Court has set a Feb. 7 execution date for Glenn L. Benner II, who nearly 20 years ago was sentenced to death for the murders of Trina Bowser of Tallmadge and Cynthia Sedgwick of Cleveland Heights. Benner was a 23-year-old construction worker when he was convicted April 15, 1986, of abducting, raping and murdering the 2 women during a 5-month period in 1985 and 1986. Benner has no appeals left and the execution probably will take place, his attorney, Kate McGarry, told the Associated Press. She declined further comment Thursday. Bowser's brother, Timothy Bowser of Tallmadge, also declined to comment Thursday. Benner will get a clemency hearing, as do all inmates facing execution. No date has been set. Gov. Bob Taft has granted clemency for a death row inmate only once during his 7 years in office. The inmate's sentence was commuted to life in prison. The body of Bowser, 21, was found Jan. 2, 1986, in the trunk of her car on the berm of Interstate 76 near Southeast Avenue in Tallmadge. The car had been set afire. Her legs had been bound with curtain tiebacks that matched those in Benner's home. Benner lived on the same street as Bowser but in Springfield Township. Tallmadge police said in 1986 that the 2 knew each other. Sedgwick, 26, was last seen with Benner after a concert at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls on Aug. 6, 1985. Benner was seen carrying her body into the woods. The body was found 6 days later. Benner also was convicted of raping a 38-year-old woman in her Goodyear Heights home on Sept. 26, 1985, and of attempted aggravated murder in a Nov. 19, 1985, attack on an 18-year-old woman who was jogging along Howe Road in Tallmadge. Benner is one of 192 men on Ohio's death row at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown. 19 men have been executed in Ohio since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1981. Benner's execution by lethal injection is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. (source: Akron Beacon Journal) Family pleads with prosecutor to drop possibility of Luebrecht death penalty The family of the man who admitted to drowning his 13-month-old son wants treatment, not vengeance. Relatives of 36-year-old Michael G. Luebrecht don't want to see him to face a possible death penalty for his actions May 23 against Joel Michael Luebrecht, said the child's mother and the suspect's wife, Amy Luebrecht. As Mike's dad puts it, it's not like he went out and harmed another family, she said. We are the victims here. He took Joel away from us. We are forgiving him. It's not like the prosecutor has to seek vengeance on behalf of the victim. Amy Luebrecht's sister, Susan Darby, recently submitted a letter to the editor to a weekly newspaper in Putnam County on behalf of the family, asking Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers to drop the death penalty specification from the state's case against Michael Luebrecht. We've felt the prosecutor hasn't been listening to our wishes, Darby said. He's really not looking out for the victim's family in this situation. None of us think Mike deserves the death penalty. Michael Luebrecht admitted in a 911 call that he drowned his 13-month-old son in the bathtub of the family's home at 140 W. First St., Fort Jennings, on May 23. If convicted after his trial begins Feb. 21, he could face the death penalty. He originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but changed his plea to not guilty on Nov. 3. Lammers said he met with the family early in the trial preparation process and understood their desires. He noted he felt uncomfortable speaking with the family without the presence of defense attorney William Kluge, who represents Michael Luebrecht. I don't know if it'd be appropriate to speak to my own personal views about this, Lammers said. I look at it as my job as an officer of the court and the state. I present the facts, and the trier of fact can make the determination. The grand jury decided the facts of what charges and specification should be put on it. It's not necessarily my job to tell them what to do. That's what the purpose of the grand jury was. Lammers and Kluge both said they'd consider plea negotiations in the case but declined to discuss specifics. Amy Luebrecht said she was disappointed Lammers hadn't talked with her before any of the pretrial proceedings and hadn't responded in writing or by telephone to a letter she wrote last month asking to drop the death-penalty specification. Petitions are also circulating asking Lammers to drop the death-penalty request from the trial. Darby said Amy Luebrecht asked her to write the letter to the editor on her behalf, and Amy Luebrecht said she agreed with the letter's sentiment. Kluge said the family unanimously supported dropping the death penalty request. What they really
[Deathpenalty]death penalty news-----worldwide
Dec. 30 INDIA: Abolish death penalty: Federation The Federation for people's rights today reiterated that the death penalty should be abolished in the country. Welcoming the reported statement of Cuddalore Sessions Judge Mr Rajasurya that the capital punishment would not be encouraged while delivering verdict in a murder case and awarding triple lifer to an accused on December 27, Federation Secretary G Sugumaran in a statement said at a time when 124 countries had abolished the death penalty, India should also follow suit. (source: New Kerala) KENYA: Death-row convict scores high marks The dull life at Langata Womens Prison was broken on Thursday as warders and fellow convicts converged to congratulate a death-row convict who scored high marks in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination. For a while, Cecilia Wangeci forgot her tribulations behind bars and joined fellow inmates and wardens in song and dance. She was not going to walk free, but her sterling performance in the exam was the source of joy. Despite the difficult circumstances and hard prison life, Wangeci scored a respectable 362 marks, a 100 marks behind the best candidate. Condemned to death for murder, the soft-spoken 25-year-old Wangeci attributed her success to hard work and constant prayer. Wangeci, who hails from Kangundo, said she dropped out of school at Standard Seven in 1993 out of peer pressure. She said life in the rural area was unbearable and in 1997, she left for Nairobi to seek employment. She got a job as a housemaid, but life became harder and she opted to go back home. She returned to Nairobi 6 years later as guest of the State at the womens prison. I now realise that education is key to the future. I regret my past but hope that I will live to be a pilot, one day, she said. 7 other convicts who sat the exam performed dismally, most of them scoring less than 200 marks. The second best candidate scored 257 marks. The students will proceed to Form One next year at the prison. (source: The Standard)
