[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, WASH., USA, N.J.
March 26 TEXAS: Man scheduled to die loses Supreme Court appeal A convicted murderer scheduled to die later this year for beating his ex-girlfriend in the head with a hammer and strangling her lost an appeal Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court. Gilberto Guadalupe Reyes, 33, is set to die June 21 for the 1998 slaying of 19-year-old Yvette Barraz. She was abducted after leaving her job as a waitress at a restaurant in Muleshoe in Bailey County, a sparsely populated county northwest of Lubbock along the Texas-New Mexico border. Reyes is among at least a dozen condemned Texas inmates with execution dates, including 2 this week. Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state, already has executed nine inmates this year. The high court refused to review the case of Reyes, whose appeals lawyers argued his legal assistance at his trial was ineffective because evidence of his inhalant abuse as a teenager, and parental neglect and abuse as a child, were not investigated and presented to the jury that convicted him of capital murder. Court documents show Reyes and Barraz had dated for about eight months before their relationship ended about 2 months before her death. Barraz's parents reported her missing when she failed to return home from work, and a day later her car was found more than 400 miles away in Presidio, on the Texas-Mexico border. Her battered body was in the hatchback area of the car hidden under some pieces of clothing. Reyes had been stopped before dawn the previous day walking on the highway near the border crossing at Presidio, but deputies had no reason to detain him. His possible involvement in the Barraz disappearance didn't become known until after he had crossed into Mexico. He was arrested in Portales, N.M., about 3 months later. Evidence showed Barraz had been hit 6 times in the head with a claw hammer, had been strangled and raped. Reyes' DNA was found on the woman's clothing. Reyes, who had been tied to a gang in Muleshoe known as the 8th Street Posse, earlier had been on deferred adjudication for aggravated assault for driving a truck into a rival gang member. His deferred adjudication was revoked when he was arrested for driving while intoxicated and was sent to a prison boot camp. (source: Associated Press) * Full agenda for House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee - 3, actually The Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee has posted a whopping THREE separate hearings next week, including two subcommittees meeting on Monday and Wednesday. See the agendas here, here, and here. Let's run through the highlights: Monday: Subcommittee on Criminal Procedure Skewing jury pools HB 1577 by Laubenberg, up Monday, to my mind is a terrible bill which states that a juror cannot be removed for cause for reason of their stated unwillingness to agree to probation as a punishment when the law allows it. That's a rotten idea. In death penalty cases, jurors are routinely disqualified because they don't think they can support the full range of punishments on the high end. If that's acceptable, then jurors who say they couldn't administer the LOW end of punishments should be similarly disqualified for the same reason - they cannot promise to consider the full range of penalties available under the law. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Pretrial Reforms In HB 2674 by Alonzo, hearsay evidence would be restricted at bail hearings. That's a good bill. If such evidence is too shaky to convict, it's also too shaky to justify denying bail. HB 2675, also by Alonzo, requires judges to hold pretrial hearings on the request of the prosecution or defense at least 30 days before trial, restricting judges' discretion to decline the request. That bill is particularly helpful to ensure defendants' potential innocence claims aren't ignored. It would ensure that all defense claims raised at least received a hearing, reducing the chance that appellate courts later would later overturn cases because a judge improperly refused to grant one. Tuesday: Regular committee hearing Admission of unproven conduct in sex offense cases HB 1264 by Pea continues this committee's draconian approach to sex offenses. This legislation would authorize admission into evidence of extraneous offenses and unproven charges in certain sex offense cases. If approved, the bill would allow admission into court of any evidence that might shed light on a defendant's character, instead of whether they committed any specific offense. With respect to the chairman, that's an utterly rotten idea - truly it would be a travesty of justice if this bill became law. Basically HB 1264 would allow prosecutors to convict someone of simply being a bad person instead of the specific crime with which they're accused. I often label legislation I don't like bad bills on Grits, but this legislation is beyond bad - I personally find it outright offensive. Don't disempower judges HB 2719 by Vaught is another bad
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----GA., TENN.
March 26 GEORGIA: House Pushes to End Unanimity Requirement for Death Penalty Cases The Georgia House adopted a measure today designed to stop death penalty opponents from preventing capital punishment cases by allowing judges to consider a death sentence even if 2 jurors vote against it. The plan, which now moves to the Senate, would soften Georgia's capital punishment rules by erasing the requirement that a unanimous verdict is needed to secure a death penalty. It was prompted by at least 16 cases where holdout jurors prevented prosecutors from getting a capital punishment verdict, according to House Majority Whip Barry Fleming, the bill's sponsor. The measure drew criticism from Democrats as well as several Republican prosecutors who worried that the proposal will lead to a flurry of legal challenges and will put a life-or-death decision in the hands of a government official instead of a jury. State Representative Robert Mumford, a Conyers Republican and former prosecutor, said adopting the bill would be a defamation of centuries of American law. Mumford said unanimous juries are a cornerstone of the republic. But rank-and-file Republican legislators didn't seem swayed, and the House voted 106-65 to approve the bill. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Despite high court ruling, man remains on death row Paul Gregory House does not look like a man who has won a victory in the highest U.S. court. The condemned inmate is confined to a 12-by-12-foot cell in the maximum security wing of Lois M. DeBerry Special Needs Facility prison in west Nashville the state prison system's sick ward. House, 45, has spent nearly half his life on death row. Several years ago he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis that has stolen his strength, along with part of his mind. He is a man waiting to die, one way or another, for a murder he says he did not commit. The U.S. Supreme Court isn't sure he committed it, either, ruling last year that conflicting testimony that the jury did not hear might have provided a reasonable doubt. Yet, House remains under a death sentence, and the state continues to push for his execution. Meanwhile, his lawyers want a new trial to present fresh evidence, and his mother and others are appealing for his freedom atthe state Capitol. House himself spends most days lying in a narrow prison bed, staring at the ceiling and four walls surrounding him. The little he gets around is by wheelchair. He cannot shave himself because of hand tremors caused by the disease. He has stopped thinking about what life would be like if he was exonerated, and appears to have lost all hope of freedom. There's nothing I really care about, he said in a recent prison interview. I don't believe it's going to happen. I just sit around in here, lay down on my bed, watch the years go by. DNA raises doubt House stands convicted of killing Carolyn Muncey, mother of two young children, in the rural community of Luttrell, 25 miles north of Knoxville, on a muggy summer evening in 1985. The high court in its 5-3 decision last year said that DNA evidence from semen collected from Muncey's nightgown and underwear, along with other evidence, including new witness statements pointing the finger at her husband as the killer, were strong enough that a jury probably would not have convicted House. Although it is close, we conclude that this is the rare case - had the jury heard all the conflicting testimony it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror viewing the record as a whole would lack reasonable doubt, the ruling said. Still, the court said it was not conclusively exonerating House and that some parts of the evidence against him supported an inference of guilt. The court's ruling has raised new interest in the Union County murder case. State Rep. Mike Turner, a Democrat from Old Hickory, has asked Gov. Phil Bredesen that House be granted a pardon in light of the DNA evidence and the Supreme Court's decision. Gov. Phil Bredesen's spokeswoman Lydia Lenker said Friday that he had not formally responded to Turner's request. The governor is very aware of this case and he is currently reviewing it, Lenker said. In the interim, Turner is trying to convince fellow lawmakers to pass a resolution on House's behalf or, at minimum, to draft a group letter in support of House. He said he has about 25 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who would sign a letter. A death penalty opponent, Turner said his group has lawmakers on both sides of that issue. They don't want an innocent man to die on death row, Turner said. The worst thing we could do is execute an innocent man on death row. Turner said he was inspired to do something about House's case after reading John Grisham's non-fiction bestseller The Innocent Man. The book details the plight of a mentally ill Oklahoma man who was nearly executed before he was exonerated, in part, by DNA evidence. I said, 'You know, by golly, you ought to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
March 26 BAHAMAS: Abaco Man To Face Death Sentence A 3-man, 9-woman jury found Abaco man Ian Jermaine Knowles guilty of murder after about 3 hours of deliberation on Thursday night, and the Crown indicated that it will indeed seek the death penalty for the convicted murderer. The jury found Knowles, who was represented this time by Romona Farquharson, guilty of the April 2004 murder of Monastery Park resident, Jermaine Thompson, a tattoo artist who had moved to Abaco from New Providence. Deputy Director of Public Prosecution Cheryl Grant Bethell prosecuted the case, with Stephanie Pintard and Darnell Dorsette. Mrs. Grant Bethell notified the court that the Crown will seek the death penalty for Knowles. A sentencing hearing has been set for May 2. This is the second murder trial in this matter the 1st, heard in Freeport in 2006 before Justice Stephen Isaacs, with Carlson Shurland representing Knowles, ended in a hung jury. The new trial began on February 13, 2007 before Senior Justice Anita Allen, and ended on Thursday night. The deceased was discovered in a blue hole near Marsh Harbour Abaco on April 9, when his badly decomposed body floated to the surface and the stench alerted visitors to the area. In fact, evidence from the trial shows that Thompsons body was so badly decomposed that his mother, Elaine Cox, and his brother, Devon Smith, had to identify him based on the tattoos that covered his body. According to the evidence in the case, Knowles and a woman he was seeing had broken up and the woman began seeing Thompson. Evidence showed that Knowles watched the 2 for 2 weeks, occasionally looking through the bathroom window to observe them making love. Police believe Knowles lured Thompson to a track road off the SC Bootle Highway in Marsh Harbour, killed him there and then dumped the body in a nearby blue hole after wrapping it in duct tape, wrapping it again with heavy chains and a large lock, and tying a cement block to the feet. Police estimate that the body had been submerged for seven days before it somehow floated to the surface of the blue hole. Forensic Pathologist Dr. Govinda Raju testified after examining the body that Thompson had 15 stab wounds, 4 of which could have caused his death, plus defensive wounds on his hands. (source: Bahama Journal) EUROPEAN UNION/POLAND: Intergroup Urges European Commission to Get Tough with Poland Alexander Stubb (Finland/ EPP-ED) raised the question of reports that the Polish government might be looking at restoring the death penalty. This would set an extremely negative precedent within the European Union and represents yet another breach of Poland's European obligations in both the Council of Europe and the European Union, he said. For the 1st time in the Unions history, a member state would give serious thought to the restoration of a penalty that goes against European and global human rights law. This is a very serious matter, and one which we will not allow to go unanswered. (source: UKGayNews.com) INDIA: Manjunath murder: petrol pump owner gets death penalty Petrol pump owner Pawan Kumar Mittal, the main accused in the sensational murder of Indian Oil sales manager Manjunath, was sentenced to death by a District court today while the other 7 accused were given life imprisonment. Delivering the verdict in a packed court room, District Judge S M A Abidi said the murder of 27-year-old Manjunath on November 19, 2005 was planned because weapons of different persons residing in different localities were used. The death sentence would be subject to confirmation by the High Court. The Court had convicted all the 8 accused last Friday for killing the IIM-Lucknow graduate who had exposed a racket in the sale of adulterated fuel. Manjunath was shot dead at a petrol pump in Gola area in Lakhimpur Kheri district after he threatened to cancel Mittal's licence for selling spurious fuel. The court also punished the 8 accused under different sections of the IPC to imprisonment ranging from 6 months to 7 years and imposed fine on them. All the sentences would run concurrently. The judge opined that the conduct of different accused after the incident also confirmed that they had participated in the crime. The 8 accused were convicted under sections 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC and provisions of the Arms Act. Besides Mittal, the others convicted were Devesh Agnihotri, Sanjay Awasthi, Rakesh Anand, Shivkesh Giri, Rajesh Verma, Harish Mishra and Vivek Sharma. While Harish Mishra had earlier been enlarged on bail, the rest were in the jail. The killing of Manjunath had evoked sharp reaction from the industry, IIM students and alumni and several social organisations, which had demanded stern punishment to the guilty. A day after his murder, Manjunath's body was recovered from a car in Maholi area in the neighbouring Sitapur district. Rakesh Anand and Vivek Sharma,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., ILL., OHIO, USA
March 25 TEXAS: Tabler trial nearing the end Few topics polarize the nation like the imposition of the death penalty. In Bell County, the sentence is seldom sought by the state, even in multiple murder cases. On March 1, 2002, a Bell County jury sentenced 37-year-old Denard Manns to death for the November 1998 shooting death of 25-year-old Army medic Spc. Michele Christine Robson, That decision was the last time the death penalty was given in a Bell County court. But that could change this week. A Bell County jury will decide if Richard Lee Tabler, 27, of Killeen, will share a similar fate. Tabler was found guilty Wednesday of capital murder in the deaths of Mohammid-Amine Rahmouni, 25, and Haitham Zayed, 28. The sentencing phase of the trial begins at 1 p.m. Monday at the Bell County Justice Complex in Belton. The 2 cases already have much in common. Assistant District Attorney Paul McWilliams, who is serving as lead prosecutor for the state, also prosecuted the Manns trial five years ago. Opposite him then, and now at the Tabler trial, was defense attorney John Donahue, who will be attempting to draw a different outcome for this client. The defense indicated shortly before the trial began which direction it would go when it attempted to remove the death penalty from the sentence. Judge Martha Trudo of the 264th District Court, who is presiding over the case, on Jan. 25 denied the defense attorneys' motion to remove the death penalty before the trial began. The defense cited the guidelines established in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that mentally retarded people could not be executed. Attorneys argued that although the defendant is not mentally retarded, those guidelines should be applied because he is mentally ill and did not understand the gravity of his actions. Our attempt is to correlate that the condition that affects our client is the same, although it has a different name, said Killeen defense attorney Buck Harris on the day the motion was filed. The defense submitted medical reports from two doctors and scans that showed a physical defect in the defendant's frontal lobe the front part of the brain that is involved in emotional control, inhibition of impulses, motivation and social abilities. Harris said that at some point during Tabler's life, he suffered an injury that caused lesions on his brain that were not there at his birth. The report stated that on Dec. 7, 1995, a pattern began of Tabler moving in and out of mental hospitals and of self-mutilation. Trudo told the defense she was not inclined to make a pretrial decision without having the state give its expert witnesses theopportunity to look at the medical reports the defense provided. Tabler also is charged in the Nov. 28, 2004, deaths of Tiffany Lorraine Dotson, 18, and Amanda Benefield, 16. All four victims worked at Teazer's gentlemen's club in Killeen. If the death sentence is lifted this week, the prosecution has not indicated whether it will pursue it with the second charge. In a signed statement to police, Tabler said he baited the dancers to a remote area of Simmons Road on the promise of crack cocaine. Tabler said he shot Benefield because she made comments about the earlier shootings of Zayed and Rahmouni, a police report stated. Police believe that Dotson was killed because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Also charged in the deaths of the two men is Timothy Doan Payne, a former 4th Infantry Division soldier. He remains in custody in the Bell County Jail on $4 million bond. He is scheduled to go on trial May 21. Police reports said both men told investigators that the killings were part of a revenge-based plot to kill at least 12 people who worked at the gentlemen's club, people Tabler believed had wronged him. Tabler told investigators that on Nov. 26, he met Zayed and Rahmouni on the pretense of buying stolen items, the arrest affidavit stated. Tabler admitted that he shot the 2 men while Payne videotaped the incident with a video camera, the affidavit stated. Both men admitted that after Zayed and Rahmouni were dead, they searched the bodies for money. (source: Killeen Daily Herald) ALABAMA: A vote that should count THE ISSUE: A House committee approved a bill to take away judges' power to impose a death sentence when a jury recommends life. The full House and Senate need to follow suit. One of the most frightening features of Alabama's death penalty laws is that elected judges have the power to impose the ultimate punishment even when a jury concludes otherwise. If a jury unanimously recommends mercy - and in the case of capital crimes, that means a life prison sentence with no chance, ever, for parole - a judge can disregard jurors' wishes and sentence a defendant to death. That is wrong whether you support capital punishment or not. The wrong would be righted under a measure approved this past Wednesday by the House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee. The
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., S. DAK., N.H., CALIF.
March 25 GEORGIA: House Passes Death Penalty Bill This week, the state House overwhelmingly passed a bill that would make it possible to sentence a person to death without a unanimous verdict. While victims' rights groups and law enforcement hail the idea, defense attorneys are alarmed, saying that it makes it too easy to put a person on death row. The case of convicted killer Wesley Harris is an example of why many want the law surrounding the death penalty changed. Found guilty of shooting Whitney Land, 22, and her daughter Jordan in cold blood before burning their bodies in their car to hide the evidence, Harris' life was spared when two jurors refused to sentence him to death. Right now one juror can keep a heinous murderer from receiving capitol punishment in the state of Georgia, said state Rep. Barry Fleming. Other states have changed their systems where that can't happen. House Bill 185 would allow a judge to decide the fate of a killer if 1 or 2 jurors reject the death penalty. Then it politicizes the whole process because judges are elected officials, said criminal defense attorney Manny Aurora. So if you're standing up for election, your opponent can say this person killed X number of people, you didn't give him the death penalty, you're weak on crime, you're soft and it politicizes everything. Aurora is a former prosecutor who said the death penalty law works fine as it is. People have a right to hold out in that they don't believe the facts are raised to a certain level, said Aurora. However, if a juror refuses to deliberate or is belligerent causing a disruption then the jury foreperson tells the judge they remove that juror and the alternate goes in and the process continues. Prosecutors, law enforcement, and victims' relatives overwhelmingly support the proposed change. Advocates for victims, those people who are quite often forgotten who lose family members, because of crimes the victims groups are very much in support, said Fleming. The bill is expected to sail through the Senate. A similar measure passed both houses in the 1980s, only to be vetoed by then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris. (source: WXIA TV News) Ga. Woman Convicted Of Antifreeze Death A jury in Georgia's Whitfield County found convicted murderer Lynn Turner guilty of fatally poisoning the father of her children with antifreeze. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the 38-year-old, who was convicted in 2004 of killing her husband in a similar manner, may face the death penalty after the jury's verdict on Saturday. The penalty portion of the trial is scheduled to begin Monday. Family members of the victim, Forsyth County firefighter Randy Thompson, said the guilty verdict has brought up a wealth of emotions. I have such mixed emotions, Thompson's father, Perry Thompson, said. Jimmy Berry, one of Turner's lawyers, said that the defense is hopeful that Turner will not ultimately become Georgia's second woman on death row. We hope we have some folks who will give her the benefit of the doubt, he told the newspaper. (source: UPI) SOUTH DAKOTAfemale faces death penalty Biases create shallow jury poolRace, sexual orientation among sensitive topics in Daphne Wright trial A bowling fan, a cop's daughter and a bartender walked into a Minnehaha County courtroom earlier this month. After an extended welcome from the judge, defense lawyer Jeff Larson engaged them in a discussion to get at the following question: If my client is black, deaf and a lesbian, and is accused of killing and dismembering a woman, can you still give her a fair trial? And in turn, the bowling fan, the cop's daughter and the bartender revealed their prejudices - before a dozen other potential jurors, the judge, 6 lawyers, news reporters and the accused killer herself. Understandably, more than half of the 800 Minnehaha County drivers and voters summoned to hear the capital murder case against Daphne Wright didn't show up for court. Juries are very interesting because you have groups of strangers talking about very different things from what they're used to talking about, said University of Nevada-Las Vegas Criminal Justice Chairman Joel Lieberman, a psychologist who researches jury decision-making. In this case, jury selection probably will wrap up Monday. It will have taken 16 days to qualify 59 jurors. From that number, lawyers from each side will cross off names until they get to 12 jurors and 3 alternates. Prosecutors will ask the chosen few to convict Wright, 43, for the kidnapping and murder of 42-year-old Darlene Vander-Giesen and then order her to die by lethal injection. She would be the 1st woman to get the death penalty in South Dakota. The defendant's multiple-minority status, scheduling concerns with a 3- to 4-week trial and the potential death penalty made the selection process more involved and personal than most. With two surveys and two sessions of questioning per juror, the lawyers
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
March 25 CHINA: Letters From Death Row Their numbers are taboo. Their stories condemned to oblivion. The world of China's death row prisoners is too forbidding, the execution grounds too sordid to yield a compelling book that would escape the scrutiny of the communist state censors. But by virtue of its modesty, the recently-published 'Letters From The Death Row' succeeds where other more ambitious works would have perhaps failed. It tells the stories of 22 Chinese death row prisoners -- men and women. It relates them straight from their prison cells. The account is gripping because it exudes the rare honesty of condemned people in the last hours before their death. The book does not aspire to become what Truman Capote's fictionalised account of sensational murder In Cold Blood became in the United States of the 1960s. Huan Jingting, the author, professes his intention was not to debate the value of the death penalty. Neither was his work intended as a commentary on social divisions. This book was written as a tribute to human life, he says. In my view, there is nothing more humbling than human life. What draws parallels with Capote's work though, are Huan's sympathetic observations of the criminal mind. His pages are populated with petty criminals -- robbers and drug smugglers, whose struggles through life somehow inexplicably and cruelly end up in the execution chamber. Such is the story of Wen Shou, the naive 19-year-old from Chongqing, central China, who is used by unscrupulous drug dealers as a go-between in the trade chain while being slowly converted into an addict. When first given an expensive foreign cigarette offered with a patronising pat on the shoulder, Wen is not aware that this is the beginning of his downward spiral, which would lead him to the death row. He was inhaling the pungent smell, thinking: what a difference between this foreign stuff and the cheap Chinese cigarettes sold on the street stalls.'' Or the country boy Liu Yuan, who by the age of 20 had been detained and re-educated in labour camps so many times for petty theft, that he fails to land any job in his home village. He leaves the countryside for the booming southern city of Shenzhen where millions of migrants work in manufacturing sweatshops. His rough edginess of a country thug appeals to the suave boss of a Shenzhen modelling agency and instead of working on a conveyer, Liu becomes a gangster role model. To keep the cool of his new image, though, Liu is eventually forced to become a real gangster. Huan Jingting was not allowed to record the last words of high-ranking officials, sentenced to death for corruption, as those, he says, were imprisoned in a special jail. His book remains a study of death in the lives of the underprivileged. Even the murderers he profiles are all cast in a compassionate light -- the majority being inadvertent perpetrators of the crime. Mum, my dear Mum, I hope you will not grieve for long and you will quickly forget this ignorant son of yours, reads the farewell letter of Ai Qiang, a barely 20-year-old boy awaiting death for robbing and murdering a stranger in the street. Because of ignorance I ruined my life. Because of ignorance I'm going to leave this world. I hope to be a better son in my afterlife. Farewell. Your un-filial son. I dare say this is the 1st book in China that portrays the human side of people we are accustomed to seeing as innately bad, Huan told IPS in an interview. There are piles of crime reportage but the writers' angle has always been that criminals were born as such. In China more than 60 types of crime -- including non-violent offences like corruption and tax evasion, are punishable by death. Human rights activists have complained that death sentences are handed out far too freely and lead to terrible miscarriages of justice. Chinese authorities do not disclose the number of court-ordered executions. In 2005, Amnesty International recorded 1,770 executions in China, or more than 80 % of all death sentences carried out worldwide. But Chinese legal experts believe the actual number of executions is as high as 10,000 a year. While recent years have seen an intensifying public debate about the need to curtail the broad application of the death penalty, experts believe the public overwhelmingly supports capital punishment as the only way to ensure that major criminals get what they deserve. A book project about such a sensitive topic as the death penalty was not something that Huan Jingting planned to embark on at his own free will. But sentenced for fraud in the late 1990s, he became a prisoner himself, serving a year and a half in jail in Chongqing. Because he could read and write, Huan was asked to write the last wills of prisoners sentenced to death toward the end of his term. He also took down the stories of the death row prisoners. It was an experience that changed my life irrevocably, Huan recalls. It made me more tolerant. He learned to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VA., GA.
March 26 VIRGINIA: Governor vetoes proposed expansion of Virginia death penalty Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat with a personal aversion to the death penalty, on Monday announced he has vetoed 5 bills that would have expanded the crimes punishable by death in Virginia. Kaine vetoed bills that would have automatically made capital crimes of killing judges or witnesses to influence a judicial outcome, and arranging for a murder-for-hire. The governor noted that Virginia is 2nd only to Texas in the number of executions it carries out. While the nature of the offenses targeted by this legislation are very serious, I do not believe that further expansion of the death penalty is necessary to protect human life or provide for public safety needs, Kaine said in a news release explaining his veto. The Republican-dominated General Assembly passed all 5 of the measures with sufficient votes to override the vetoes, and will have to chance to do it during the legislature's 1-day reconvened session on April 4. Kaine was elected 2 years ago acknowledging his objection to the death penalty, but pledging to carry out Virginia's existing death penalty laws. Kaine, the state's 1st Roman Catholic governor, represented death row inmates as a lawyer in private practice and based his objection on his religious teachings. 2 of the bills prescribe the death penalty for the premeditated killing judges or justices to interfere with the judge's official duties. Likewise, two of them extend capital punishment for the premeditated killing of witnesses under subpoena, also to influence the outcome of a case. One bill redefines the so-called triggerman rule, which currently makes only the person who actually commits a homicide eligible for capital punishment, and extends it to those who plan or arrange for others to carry out a killing. (source: Associated Press) GEORGIA: Bill would reduce jury vote for death penalty The House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee has favorably reported legislation that would change state law and give judges the authority to impose the death penalty even if a jury fails to reach a unanimous recommendation. House Bill 185 would end a rule demanding unanimous juries for death sentence, instead allowing judges to sentence someone to death if a jury submits an 11-1 vote in favor of the death penalty. Supporters say the bill would prevent a lone juror from sabotaging a death sentence in capital murder cases. As originally written, the legislation would have lowered the threshold to a 9-3 jury vote, but HB 185 was amended in committee to the 11-1 standard. The committee's action moves the legislation a step closer to a vote by the full House of Representatives. (source: Blade Plus; Rep. Butch Parrish (RSwainsboro) represents the 156th District (Bulloch, Candler, Emanuel and Johnson counties) in the Georgia House of Representatives)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MISSOURI
Friends see: http://www.doc.missouri.gov/newsreleases/pdf/NewsRelease_031307.pdf Missouri will walk the same way of Florida. no more pen pal pages after June 1st.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS., GA., USA, CALIF., MD.
March 26 UTAH: Prison rejects murderer's claim of tortureGardner complains of pain linked to arthritis Prison officials say death row inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner is not being tortured in prison, contrary to the convicted murderer's claim in federal court on Monday. Gardner, 46, is seeking an appeal in U.S. District Court for a new trial from his conviction for shooting an attorney at a Salt Lake City courthouse in a botched escape attempt. During a hearing before U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell, where Gardner appeared via conference phone, the 46-year-old inmate said he is not being given his medication to treat his chronic arthritis by state corrections workers and added a prison doctor asked why he didn't drop his appeal to end his suffering. You should always follow your doctor's orders, except in legal matters, Campbell told Gardner. I'm in so much pain, Gardner said. I sleep two hours in a 24-hour period. ... They're pushing me so far that I can't think positively anymore. I'm normally a positive person. State corrections refute Gardner's claims. In a statement, Dr. Richard Garden, director of clinical services for the Utah Department of Corrections, said he denies Gardner's medical care is akin to torture and pointed out that his staff has involved outside medical help and specialists to help treat the inmate. No torture is tolerated in this system, nor does it exist. If it were to be discovered it would be immediately eliminated, said corrections Executive Director Tom Patterson. Patterson added he believes Gardner is being treated in a humane way and that medical staff is looking out for his best interests as well as the interests of the general public in terms of public safety. Gardner's attorney, Andrew Parnes, said getting the medication to treat his client's arthritis has been hit and miss with corrections officials. It's been an up and down situation, Parnes said. Under a new federal program designed to help inmates who have civil issues, Campbell assigned a civil attorney to assist Gardner in working with corrections to get his medication. Parnes said he was relieved when Campbell ordered the additional legal help. As for Gardner, Parnes said he believes his threat to drop his appeal and accept execution was real and not a threat to get attention. Campbell has indicated she will rule on Gardner's appeal claims within the next 2 weeks. Gardner was sentenced to death for killing attorney Michael Burdell during an attempted escape from the Salt Lake County Courthouse in 1985. He was captured on the lawn. Gardner's appeal centers on jury instructions given at his trial. The Attorney General's Office has argued that it's too late to raise that claim. (source: Deseret Morning News) CALIFORNIA: 2 may face death penalty in Oceanside slaying 2 young men accused of fatally shooting a former professional baseball player and local business owner in front of his Oceanside home pleaded not guilty Monday to murder charges in Superior Court. Jonathan Duval Johnson, 20, of Vista, and Dominic Porter, 21, of Oceanside could face the death penalty if convicted, said prosecutor Garland Peed. Killed was Kenya Hunt, 34, who was drafted by the Padres out of college in 1994 and owned a moving company before he was slain Thursday morning in front of his Lofty Grove Drive home. Johnson and Porter were hiding in bushes across the street from Hunt's residence when Hunt walked onto the driveway and was shot by Porter, Peed told the judge during the brief hearing. Porter walked up to Hunt who was now wounded and lying on the ground stood over him and shot again, Peed said. The defendants ran from the neighborhood and were arrested approximately 1 mile away near a strip mall, Peed said. Attorneys for both men said they have strong local ties and minimal criminal records. Judge Adrienne Orfield ordered Porter and Johnson held in lieu of $5 million bail. On Valentine's Day, an unknown gunman sprayed Hunt's Humvee with bullets near Hunt's home. Both men survived, with Hunt suffering a bullet lodged in his hip. (source: San Diego Union-Tribune) MARYLAND: PG supports failed state death penalty legislation Although a bill that would have repealed the state's death penalty failed in a committee earlier this month in Annapolis, Prince Georges County Council might pass a resolution today supporting the legislation. A state Senate committee defeated the proposal to ban executions in a 5-5 vote, meaning that the death penalty will remain in Maryland for at least another year. I'm confident that in future General Assemblies the issue will be discussed, Council Vice Chair David Harrington told The Examiner on Monday. Harrington, the resolutions prime sponsor, wants his colleagues to move forward and pass it. I would hope it does, said Harrington, who won't be at today's meeting. But, I would understand that given the current state the council may decide to hold it. Council
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide
March 26 GAMBIA: When Will the Referendum on the Death Penalty be Held? Section 18 of the Constitution deals with the right to life. However, the courts are empowered to impose capital punishment or the death penalty after conviction of a criminal offence for which the penalty is death. Section 18 subsection (3) states that The National Assembly shall within ten years from the date of the coming into force of this constitution review the desirability or otherwise of the total abolition of the death penalty in the Gambia. The fact of the matter is that the National Assembly cannot set aside an entrenched provision. This can only be done through a referendum. Section 43 (1) (a) accords the Independent Electoral Commission the responsibility for the conduct and supervision of the registration of voters for all public elections and the conduct and supervision of all public elections and referenda. The Attorney General and the National Assembly need to come up with a bill which should ultimately give the Gambian people an opportunity to decide whether the death penalty should be abolished or not. Furthermore, Foroyaa is calling on the Attorney General to give advice to the President to activate the Committee on the exercise of the prerogative of mercy by the President. There are many prisoners who need to be pardoned to reduce the state expenditure and the congestions in our prisons. The government needs an active social programme dealing with all areas of National life. The constitution needs to be constantly monitored and the institutions and tasks it calls for should be put into effect. This is what is meant by the rule of law. (source: Editorial, Foroyaa Newspaper)
