[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., COLO., CALIF., USA
May 20 OKLAHOMA: ACLU calls for international investigation of Oklahoma execution Executions in Oklahoma and Missouri, including one scheduled for Wednesday, will violate international law and should be halted until an international body can investigate, the ACLU said in a petition Monday. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition Monday with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights seeking to halt the execution of Russell Bucklew, set for Wednesday in Missouri, and Charles Warner, set for Nov. 13 in Oklahoma. The upcoming executions by lethal injection in Missouri and Oklahoma will most certainly violate international law against torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, should they go forward, the ACLU states in a release. Bucklew's execution would be the 1st in the United States since the botched execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma on April 29. Bucklew's attorneys claim that he will suffer during the execution due to a rare medical condition, cavernous hemangioma. The disorder causes tumors that have severely compromised Bucklew's airways, placing him at risk of extreme pain during the execution, his attorneys have said in court filings. Bucklew was convicted in the 1996 shooting death of Michael Sanders, who was living with Bucklew's ex-girlfriend at the time. Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, said in the group's news release: Lethal injection in the United States has reached such a level of barbarism that the world needs to know the facts. The application of the death penalty itself in the U.S. violates international human rights standards, yet we continue to administer it with methods shown over and over to flout our own Constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld lethal injection in the United States, provided that carrying it out does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, which is banned by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Federal courts have held that inmates are not entitled to a pain-free death but that states can cause only the amount of pain necessary to carry out the punishment. After a doctor had declared Lockett unconscious, witnesses watched the inmate writhe in pain and mumble for 3 minutes on a gurney before a window covering between the death chamber and the witness room was closed. Prison officials later said a problem with Lockett's vein prevented them from carrying out the execution as planned. The DOC has refused to say whether any lifesaving measures were taken after the execution was ordered halted, but Lockett died 43 minutes after it began. DOC records show that an unknown quantity of the lethal drugs was absorbed into Lockett's tissue, leaked out of his body, or both. Lockett was executed for the 1999 death of Stephanie Neiman, 19, of Perry. He was convicted of abducting her, shooting her twice and ordering an accomplice to bury her in a shallow grave while she was still alive. Warner was convicted in the 1997 rape and murder of 11-month-old Adrianna Waller, his roommate's baby, in Oklahoma City. He was scheduled to be executed 2 hours after Lockett on April 29, but his execution was stayed six months while the state investigates and revises its protocol. For Lockett's execution, the DOC used a new drug - a sedative called midazolam - followed by 2 drugs used in past executions. The DOC's protocol called for the inmate to receive 100 miligrams of midazolam, 5 times less than the amount used in Florida executions. The Tulsa World has reported that state officials consulted no experts in devising the new protocol, relying on legal research instead. Attorney General Scott Pruitt's office has said it advised the DOC on the protocol and that prison officials were responsible for final decisions on the methods. Pruitt and Gov. Mary Fallin did not comment Monday on the ACLU's lawsuit. In past statements, Fallin has defended the state, saying the problem with Lockett's execution was that it took too long. It is unclear what, if any, authority the international human rights body would have to investigate or halt executions in Missouri and Oklahoma. Lockett's botched execution was condemned by the United Nations commissioner for human rights. In addition, President Barack Obama said the execution was deeply troubling and ordered a national review of capital punishment. Even in the face of a global outcry over the Lockett execution, Oklahoma has refused to order an independent investigation into the failed experimental protocol, the ACLU petition states. Fallin has assigned her public safety commissioner, Michael Thompson, to lead the state???s investigation. Critics have said the investigation lacks independence because Thompson was appointed by Fallin, was a witness to the execution and oversees the DOC in his Cabinet capacity.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 20 SUDAN: Sudan's ex-Premier faces death penalty Sudan's ex-Prime minister Alsadig Almahdi, is facing charges that could lead to a death penalty over alleged treason, the defense committee said.The head of the defense Kamal El Jizouli told the APA on Monday that the prosecution has decided to add 2 criminal charges to the already 4 charges against Almahdi last week. Eljizouli who accompanied El Mahdi to Kober prison, warned that the 2 charges could lead to a death penalty. Article 50 of the Criminal Code, referring to undermining the constitutional order, with a punishment that includes the death penalty, and article 63, which refers to the call for violently opposing public authority the lawyer explained. Meanwhile Almahdi's supporters have suspended the national dialogue with the ruling national congress Party (NCP), declaring that they will go to the streets to demonstrate until they bring down the government. (source: Star Africa) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Trial of group linked to Al Qaida adjourned; 9-member cell, accused of planning attacks in the UAE, was arrested last year The trial of a cell linked to Al Qaida that was planning attacks on the UAE has been adjourned to May 26, for the prosecution to present its witnesses, Dr Abdul Wahab Abdul, Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court, told Gulf News on Monday. He added that the court has hired 6 lawyers to defend the men. There are 9 suspects in total, 8 of whom are being tried and 1 remains at large. The defendants are charged with committing terrorist acts against the UAE's security, legal sources told Gulf News. Sources said if convicted, the defendants will face the death penalty or life imprisonment. They said they are also being tried under the UAE's cyber crime law. This stipulates a jail term of 5 years for anyone creating or running an electronic site to publish information online or through any information technology means to promote any terrorist groups or any unlicensed societies. This includes facilitating contact with their leaders or soliciting new members, financing their activities, providing funds or promoting the making of explosives or any devices used in terrorist acts. The cell, arrested in April last year, was reportedly planning action to target the country's security and the safety of its citizens and residents, and was carrying out recruitment and promoting the actions of Al Qaida, police said. Police added the cell was also supplying Al Qaida with money and providing logistical support and seeking to expand its activities to other countries in the region. In December last year, the UAE said it had arrested a cell comprising Emirati and Saudi Arabian members of a deviant group that was planning to carry out militant attacks in both countries and other states. Some members of the group are believed to have links to Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which uses Yemen as a base for international operations. (source: Gulf News) IRANexecutions 16 prisoners hanged during 2 days 16 prisoners have been hanged in Kerman, Zahedan and Qazvin on May 17th and 18th. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 2 prisoners were hanged on charge of drug trafficking in Zahedan Prison on Saturday May 17. On May 18, 8 prisoners were transferred to solitary confinements in Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj to be hanged as well. Mohsen Marzban and Jalal Azarmehr are 2 of the transferred ones. The prisoners are identified as: Zahir Mirbaluch and Naser Barahui. According to a report of Mehr News Agency, 10 prisoners have been hanged in Kerman on the same charge at the same day. Mehr News Agency also reported the execution 4 other prisoners in Qazvin prison. 3 of the men were charged with drug trafficking and the other was hanged on charge of murder. (source: Human Rights Activists News Agency) * At Least 5 Prisoners Hanged in Iran 5 of the 8 prisoners who were scheduled to be executed in the Rajaishahr prison of Karaj (west of Tehran) were hanged this morning. 1 of the prisoners was pardoned and execution of 2 other prisoners was postponed. At least 73 prisoners have been executed in different Iranian prisons in May 2014. 5 prisoners, charged with murder, were hanged in the Rajaishahr prison of Karaj early Monday morning May 19, according to reliable sources Iran Human Rights (IHR) has been in contact with. 2 of the prisoners are identified as Hamid Abdi and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, both from ward 2 of Rajaishahr. Execution of 2 other prisoners was postponed, while 1 prisoner was pardoned by the family of the offended. So far in May 2014 at least 73 prisoners have been executed in Iran. 32 of the executions have been announced by the official Iranian sources, and at least 41 executions have been confirmed by the human rights groups. (source: Iran Human Rights)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----DEL., GA., FLA., MO., USA
May 20 DELAWAREdeath sentence overturned Delaware high court overturns 1992 murder conviction and death sentence A Delaware man who spent more than 20 years on death row saw his murder conviction and death sentence reversed by the state Supreme Court Monday, according to court documents. Jermaine Wright, 41, was sentenced to death for the 1991 murder of liquor store clerk Phillip Seifert. State Supreme Court justices ruled that prosecutors withheld critical and potentially exculpatory information during the 1992 trial that violated his right to due process, entitling Wright to a retrial. The suppression of such information creates a reasonable probability that the verdict would have been different if the exculpatory and impeachment evidence had been disclosed, wrote Justice Henry Ridgely in the decision. Accordingly, we must reverse Wright's conviction and death sentence and remand for a new trial. Seifert was fatally shot while working at the Hi-Way Inn, a tavern and liquor store located on Governor Printz Boulevard near Wilmington, the evening of January 14, 1991. A co-worker and customer witnessed 2 men entering and leaving the liquor store at the time and found Seifert slumped over the counter in a pool of blood. Wright was arrested and interrogated after police received an anonymous tip that appeared to indicate that Wright was involved in the killing, court documents said. 4 of Wright's friends testified that Wright had spent the evening of the crime with them, and eyewitnesses were unable to recognize Wright as 1 of the men they saw enter the liquor store, but a jury still convicted the then-18-year-old defendant of 1st degree murder, 1st degree robbery, and related weapons charges. The conviction was based largely on a videotaped confession given by Wright and the testimony of a surprise witness and fellow prisoner who said that Wright admitted to him that he shot Seifert, court documents said. This is not the 1st reversal Wright's case has seen. In 2012, the Delaware Superior Court vacated Wright's conviction and sentence because it had no confidence in the outcome of the trial. The Superior Court found that prosecutors failed to disclose information about a similar attempted robbery at a nearby liquor store less than an hour before the Hi-Way Inn robbery by suspects matching the description given by eyewitnesses. A similar weapon was also used at both locations. Additionally, it was discovered that Wright was not properly read his Miranda rights at the time of his arrest, according to the Superior Court decision. But the Supreme Court reversed that opinion and reinstated Wright's conviction and death sentence on the grounds that the information about the other robbery would not have affected the outcome given Wright's videotaped confession, court documents said. After the 2012 reinstatement of his conviction and death sentence, Wright's attorneys argued that prosecutors withheld additional critical information, particularly that the surprise witness who testified that Wright had confessed had a history of cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for reduced charges. Wright's attorneys argued that this information would have been helpful to the jury in determining the credibility of the witness's testimony. Additional testimony by a trial witness also was called into question, according to court documents. Wright's attorneys suggested that the witness may have actually committed the crime. Attorneys for Wright also argued that the main evidence for Wright's 1992 conviction, his video confession, was given when Wright was barely 18 years old, was severely sleep deprived and under the influence of heroin, court documents say. The Delaware Supreme Court found Monday that the cumulative effect of the suppression of the additional information was enough to vacate Wright's conviction and death sentence and demand a retrial. Herbert Mondros, one of Wright's attorneys, wrote in a statement: As the Court found, not a shred of forensic or eyewitness evidence ties Mr. Wright to the crime, and, in violation of Mr. Wright's constitutional rights, evidence was illegally suppressed in the case... [T]he only evidence against Mr. Wright was a false confession, a confession that was 'inaccurate,' and squarely contradicted by the facts of the case. Wright remains held at the James T. Vaughn Correction Center in Smyrna, Delaware, according to a facility official. A date for retrial has not yet been set. CNN's request for comment from the Delaware Attorney General's office was not immediately returned. (source: CNN) GEORGIA: Georgia supreme court upholds anonymity for execution pharmacists The Georgia supreme court on Monday upheld a state law granting anonymity to pharmacists who supply drugs for lethal injections. The news was a setback for Warren Hill, an intellectually disabled man on death row in the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 20 THE MALDIVES: 3 minors charged in gang murder 3 minors have been charged over the death of 21-year-old Hussein Waheed, who died from stab injuries to his chest on December 24, 2013. A 16-year-old is also being charged with murder, while a 2nd 16-year-old is being charged as an accomplice to murder. A 14-year-old is also being charged with attacking another individual at the scene. Although the Juvenile Court reduces sentences for juvenile offenders, judges have no opportunity to offer leniency in murder-related offenses, a juvenile court spokesperson told Minivan News. New death penalty regulations publicised in March allow children as young as 7 to be executed for murder. The regulations came partly in response to a spate of gang-related killings in the capital in recent years. Home Minister Umar Naseer said the regulations were a 1st step to keeping peace and creating a safe environment for our citizens. According to the police, Waheed was murdered in a dispute over drugs between rival gangs in Mal???. He was attacked at 10:30pm on December 24, and died shortly afterwards at 11:10pm at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital. Male's prominent gang culture has been well documented in recent years as using young people to carry out illegal acts, with persistent suggestions that the groups are linked with powerful business and political factions. The 16-year-old murder suspect is accused of stabbing Waheed in the chest with a 6 inch blade, while the 2nd 16-year-old is accused of helping the suspect flee the scene. The 14-year-old is being charged with attempting to attack another person at the scene with a 7-inch blade. All 3 are currently under police custody. The police also arrested 2 additional men over the murder and have previously noted that all four individuals initially arrested in this case - except the 14-year-old ??? have criminal records. The murder suspect had previously been sentenced for 3 counts of theft but was released on completing a rehabilitation program by the Juvenile Court. Hearings are scheduled for May 27 and June 3. The victim Waheed also has a criminal record, being taken into police custody in April 2011 as part of a special operation to reduce crime in the capital, in connection to a stockpile of weapons and drugs found in a Male house. On December 29, Naseer said the police had prevented a 2nd revenge attack for Waheed's murder in late December. In May 2013, Amnesty International issued a statement condemning the sentencing of 2 18-year-olds to death for a murder committed while they were minors. The Juvenile Court issued the death sentence to two 18 year-olds found guilty of the February 18, 2012 murder of Abdul Muheeth. Muheeth was stabbed at 1:45am near the Finance Ministry building in the capital Male and later died during treatment. The Maldives is entering new and dangerous territory - imposing death sentences for crimes allegedly committed by children is alarming, said Polly Truscott, Amnesty International???s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director. The Maldives authorities are flouting international law - anyone convicted of a crime committed when they were under 18 is exempt from the death penalty, she said. (source: Minivan News) BANGLADESH: Kamaruzzaman's appeal hearing deferred The Supreme Court yesterday deferred for 2 weeks the hearing on the appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman challenging the death penalty given to him for his wartime offences. A 4-member bench of the Appellate Division of the SC headed by Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed June 3 for starting the hearing the appeal. The apex court, which was scheduled yesterday to begin the hearing, passed the order following a time petition submitted by Kamaruzzaman's lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain on Monday. Khandker Mahbub said he needed at least 5 weeks for taking preparations for placing arguments. On May 9, International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Kamaruzzaman, one of the key organisers of the infamous Al Badr force, to death after finding him guilty of committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. Besides, death penalty for 2 charges, the 62-year-old Jamaat leader was given life-term imprisonment in two cases and 10-year jail for the other offences. Kamaruzzaman filed the appeal with the SC on June 6 last year seeking acquittal from the charges. (source: The Daily Star) IRAN: 20 prisoners group-hanged in Kerman and Karaj prisons In yet another anti-human crime this morning, Monday, May 19, the religious fascism ruling Iran hanged 10 prisoners in Gohardasht Prison of Karaj. The prisoners had been removed from their wards the previous day under pretenses of dispatching them to hospital or to the court and were sent to solitary confinement. The day prior to these executions, another 10 prisoners had been executed in the prison of Kerman. Thus, the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MISSOURI
May 20 MISSOURIstay of impending execution Federal court stays Missouri execution hours before controversial injection; Appeals court agrees with medical evidence presented by Russell Bucklew's lawyers, who argue the risks of a botched procedure are too high The 8th US circuit court of appeals has granted a stay of execution for Missouri inmate Russell Bucklew, hours before he was to be put to death. Bucklew, 46, was scheduled to die with a lethal injection at 12.01am CT on Wednesday at a state prison in Bonne Terre, despite questions over the secrecy with which the state has shrouded its procedures and particularly the source of the drugs it intends to use to kill him. The stay is valid for 60 days. On Tuesday, Bucklew's lawyers lodged their petition with the 8th circuit court of appeals calling for a stay of execution. They argued that the inmate's rare congenital condition, known as cavernous hemangioma, had caused malformations of the veins in his face, head and throat that could easily rupture during the execution. The petition said that his medical problem, combined with the one-size-fits-all procedure enshrined in Missouri's death penalty protocol, could cause him to 'cough and choke on his own blood. His vascular abnormalities could also impair the circulation of the lethal drug - leading to a prolonged and excruciating execution. The appeals court agreed. Bucklew's unrebutted medical evidence demonstrates the requisite sufficient likelihood of unnecessary pain and suffering beyond the constitutionally permissible amount inherent in all executions. (source: The Guardian) * Appeals Court Halts Execution of Missouri Inmate Russell Bucklew A federal appeals court has halted the execution of Missouri death row inmate Russell Bucklew hours before his scheduled lethal injection. Bucklew - who murdered a man in front of his kids, kidnapped and raped his ex-girlfriend, and shot at a cop - argued a rare birth defect would make a lethal injection excruciating, in violation of the Constitution. In a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday evening, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the state had failed to show that Bucklew was wrong and put the execution on hold. The irreparable harm to Bucklew is great in comparison to the harm to the state from staying the execution, the justices wrote. On Monday, a lower court rejected Bucklew's claim that the execution would be unconstitutionally cruel because a medical condition - large masses in his head that cause hemorrhages - could prevent the drug from circulating properly and might prolong his death. The appeals court reversed that decision less than 8 hours before Missouri was set to inject Bucklew with a deadly dose of pentobarbital. If the execution had gone ahead, he would have become the first inmate executed since the bungled lethal injection of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma - a debacle that prompted the White House to order a review of state procedures. Lockett appeared to regain consciousness and struggle in pain while strapped to the gurney midway through the injection, which involved a new 3-drug protocol. Prison officials said at the time that his vein collapsed, but an investigation into what went wrong has not been completed. Lockett's death brought more attention to the controversy over state policies that keep their lethal-injection suppliers - often less-regulated compounding pharmacies - anonymous. Bucklew's challenge cited Missouri's drug secrecy but was more focused on his vascular disorder, which his lawyers argued would almost inevitably lead to a bloody, prolonged and excruciating execution. I'm worried it could be painful, Bucklew told the Associated Press from prison last week. I'm worried about being brain-dead. I understand the family (of the victim) wants closure, but we're victimizing my family here, too. The children of Bucklew's victim, Michael Sanders, had planned to be in the death chamber if the execution went forward. Sanders was killed because he opened his home to Bucklew's ex-girlfriend after she was repeatedly threatened by Bucklew. Bucklew later escaped from jail and attacked the former girlfriend's mother with a hammer. It's up to God what God does with him, Sanders' mother, Dorothy, told the Southeast Missourian newspaper. I don't forgive the guy, because I don't think I could ever do that, even though I'm supposed to. I'll just be glad when it's over with and leave the rest of it up to God and let him take care of it. She said that while her grandsons will be at the prison in Bonne Terre, she won't witness the execution. I have no interest in that, she said. ... I never asked for the death penalty anyway. All I wanted was for him just to be locked up. (source: NBC news) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
