[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
November 14 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: Robert RamosMexican national set for execution Wednesday night Robert Ramos, the Mexican national convicted for the 1992 murder of his wife and 2 young children, is set to be executed Wednesday night, Nov. 14, despite pleas to Hidalgo County prosecutors to not set an execution date, unless the U.S. Supreme Court grants a stay. According to Ramos’ lawyer Danalynn Recer, as of Tuesday midnight, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Ramos’ request to reconsider its post-conviction opinion and his stay request; the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Ramos’ motion to recall its former ruling and his stay request, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his petition for commutation to a lesser sentence along with his request for a 180-day reprieve. Ramos has been fighting since 1993, arguing that he received inadequate trial counsel and, as a Mexican national, had a right to consult with Mexico's consulate for legal advice and representation under the Vienna Convention. Like Ruben Cárdenas, who was executed last November, Ramos wasn’t notified of that right. Still, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Ramos’ last appeal in May 2017. His latest filings in the 5th Circuit asked the court to recall its 16-year-old mandate denying his certificate of appealability, because the court is “empowered” to do so in an effort to prevent “injustice.” It argues that Ramos received inadequate legal assistance from his appeals attorney Kyle Welch, who is quoted in the motion admitting he “did not have the experience, training, assistance, resources or time to do what [was] necessary” and was “not equipped” to handle Ramos’ case. Welch, who is accused of representing Ramos with conflicting interests (he withdrew to take a position with the Office of the Federal Defender), failed to do any additional investigating into Ramos’ case and presented the courts with arguments already denied in direct appeal. The filing suggests that if Ramos’ appeals went through the system today — in light of the Trevino v. Thaler SCOTUS ruling that “procedural default” couldn’t bar a federal court from hearing a claim of ineffective trial counsel – he would’ve been granted substitute counsel and another chance at the appeals process. The 5th Circuit denied the motion, stating that inmates hoping to receive the “miscarriage of justice exception” must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that “no reasonable juror would have found him eligible for the death penalty,” and that SCOTUS has “held that ‘additional mitigating evidence [can]not meet the miscarriage of justice standard.’” Likewise, the CCA denied his appeal because he failed to meet that court’s requirements, though Judge Elsa Alcala filed a 10-page dissenting opinion. Recer, on Tuesday night, emphasized that Ramos is “now the only Texas death row inmate whose initial state post-conviction petition contained no extra-record claims and [who] has never been given another chance to raise them.” But, unless SCOTUS steps in, Ramos will be the eleventh inmate executed this year. Elsewhere on death row, the CCA – for the 2nd time – has sent Houston man Eric Cathey’s case back to a lower court to consider his latest appeal: that he is intellectually disabled and therefore unfit for execution. The latest order, issued on Nov. 7, stems from last year’s SCOTUS decision regarding Bobby Moore, when the high court ordered Texas to update its outdated and nonmedical standards regarding how the state evaluates intellectual functioning. Cathey, who was sentenced to death for a murder he maintains he did not commit, was 1 of 7 inmates who made headlines in 1998 for a Thanksgiving prison escape. (source: Austin Chronicle) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
November 14 KENYA: Officers get death penalty for killing colleague, his 2 relatives 2 police officers have been sentenced to death for murdering their colleague in cold blood. Justice Stella Mutuku said the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that corporals Benjamin Kahindi Changawa and Stanley Okoti shot Administration Police Constable Joseph Obongo Onchuru at a club in Kangemi, Nairobi 4 years ago. Mr Changawa and Mr Okoti were also convicted of shooting death Mr Onchuru's 2 relatives, Geoffrey Nyabuto Mogoi and Amos Okenye Makori. The court heard that Mr Onchuru, who was attached to former Bomachoge Borabu MP Joel Onyancha, dropped his boss at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on the fateful night before returning to his base at Kitisuru AP Camp. He arrived late in the night and asked for permission to get out and buy airtime. However, Mr Onchuru and his 2 relatives proceeded to M-Club in Kangemi, where they ordered for a drink. But Mr Onchuru was not drinking and he sat alone at a corner. A barmaid got suspicious and alerted the watchman. The watchman approached Mr Onchuru and asked him what he was doing and instead of identifying himself, he reportedly whipped out a pistol. 'ROBBERS' The watchman and the barmaid reportedly overpowered the officer and locked him up in an adjacent kitchen. A supervisor of the club called the police informing them that robbers had attacked them. According to the police, a signal was sent out and the two officers, who were on patrol than night in the company of their colleagues, were told to respond. They were informed to approach the area with caution because the ‘attackers’ were armed. Changawa and Okoti defended themselves, saying they identified themselves and asked the deceased to do the same, but they allegedly defied the order. The court heard that the other patrons in the club lay on the ground when they were asked to surrender, but Mr Onchuru remained standing trying to explain that he was an officer. The officers claimed that a shootout ensued, leading to the death of Mr Onchuru and his 2 relatives. NO THREAT Justice Mutuku, however, dismissed their defence, saying the circumstances leading to the fatal shooting was direct evidence. “Save for the malice aforethought, the evidence in respect of how the deceased met their death is not disputed by the defence,” the judge said. But the duo defended themselves, saying they were on duty and had responded to a distress call. They added that they were told ‘the robbers were armed and dangerous’. But Justice Mutuku said the victims had surrendered and posed no threat to the officers. She said the issue of a shootout did not arise and she was persuaded that the prosecution had discharged its mandate beyond reasonable doubt. The judge said the 2 officers acted beyond their call of duty, and with malice. The two will appear before the court on November 7 for mitigation and sentencing. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority had investigated the matter and recommended to the Director of Public Prosecutions that the 2 police officers be charged with murder. Police picked up 3 men as they searched for suspects who planted an explosive. (source: nation.co.ke) MALAYSIA: Abolishing of death penalty is collective decision by Cabinet, says Liew The decision to abolish the death penalty is a collective one by the Cabinet, said Datuk Liew Vui Keong. The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department said all the ministers would have to accept the decision. "It is collective responsibility where all the Ministers would have to accept the decision made by the Cabinet. "We have to be strong, united and stand firm on the decision that we already made," he said. "At this stage, the decision made on Oct 10 to abolish the death penalty will still stand," the de facto law minister told reporters after a packed town hall session on the issue at UiTM Shah Alam on Wednesday (Nov 14). He said he has spoken to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail on this earlier Wednesday who told him that the decision made by the cabinet was a collective one. On Tuesday (Nov 13), Dr Wan Azizah said that the government will reconsider abolishing the mandatory death sentence for those convicted of murder. When asked about child murder, Liew said that they would probably look at it again but not necessarily divert from the decision made. He also said all those who committed murder would be imprisoned for a minimum of 30 years if not their natural life. "They will have no opportunity of getting out of prison. We just want to keep them in prison," he said, adding that there would be no possibility of parole. "The law is very clear, if you have committed a very serious crime. I have instructed the Pardons Board to look into the various prisoners on death row to see how severe the offences they committed were and
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., FLA., OHIO, S. DAK., USA
November 14 TEXASimpending execution Texas to execute Mexican national on Wednesday, amid pleas for case review Lawyers for convicted killer Robert Moreno Ramos have argued that he wasn’t aware of his rights under an international treaty, and therefore didn't receive proper legal counsel during his trial and sentencing. Texas plans to carry out the execution of Robert Moreno Ramos by lethal injection on Wednesday evening, amid his lawyers’ continued pleas that the case be re-examined for legal violations from 25 years ago. Ramos, 64, was convicted of capital murder in March 1993 for the February 1992 killings of his wife, Leticia, 42, and their 2 children, Abigail, 7, and Jonathon, 3, in Hidalgo County. Ramos, a Mexican national, beat his wife and children with a miniature sledgehammer, and then buried them under the bathroom floor in the family’s Progreso home, according to trial evidence. Ramos’ case has been a point of contention in both district and federal courts for years, due to requirements of an international treaty. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations mandates that when an immigrant is arrested and held in detention, he has the right for the consulate to be notified so that the foreign government can provide legal representation. Lawyers in Ramos’ case have argued in appeals since 1996 that Ramos wasn’t aware of his rights, and therefore didn’t receive sufficient legal guidance that they say could have made a difference in his sentencing. His current lawyer wrote in a 2015 filing that Ramos was instead represented by court-appointed, “incompetent counsel” who was poorly trained and failed to present “mitigating evidence” at his conviction and sentencing that disregarded Ramos’ brain damage and history of severe mental illness, as well as his upbringing marked by “shocking brutality and desperate poverty.” On Feb. 7, 1992, a neighbor reported that she had heard screams coming from the Ramos home. For nearly two months after the murders, Ramos dodged questions regarding his wife and children’s location, until his sister-in-law reported Leticia Ramos and the children as missing. In court records, it is noted that Ramos was having an affair and had married the woman 3 days after the killings. Police questioned Ramos at the end of March about his family’s disappearance. After providing contradictory statements — saying first that his family was in Austin, then San Antonio and Mexico — Ramos was later arrested on traffic violations and brought to the police station. Police obtained permission to search the house on April 6. They found traces of blood throughout the home. After another round of questioning on April 7, Ramos admitted that he buried the victims under the bathroom floor, where police eventually excavated the bodies from underneath newly installed tiling. During Ramos’ sentencing, his 19-year-old son testified against him, detailing harrowing accounts of growing up under his father’s physical and verbal abuse. Another woman testified that Ramos was likely responsible for the disappearance of her daughter, who married Ramos in 1988 in Reynosa and who had not been seen by her family since 1989. Ramos was found guilty and sentenced to death in March 1993. The Mexican government eventually filed a case against the United States in 2003 that bundled Ramos with more than 50 other Mexican immigrants sentenced to death in the U.S. who did not receive consulate-sponsored representation under the treaty. The case went to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which determined in 2004 that the U.S. government had violated the treaty. However, after the decision, President George W. Bush announced that it would be up to the state courts to “review and reconsider” details of the cases. Ramos sought relief under the international court’s ruling, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed his appeal, and the Supreme Court denied a review of the decision. A week before his scheduled execution, Ramos’ attorneys were still filing for a stay of execution, saying that Ramos will “die without having received even one full and fair review of the constitutionality of his death sentence at any stage of the process in any state or federal court.” Ramos’ attorneys did not respond to the Tribune’s requests for comment. (source: Texas Tribune) *** Former deputy attorneys general call out Texas court, file brief supporting death row inmate A group of conservatives, prominent lawyers and former deputy attorneys general have jumped into the debate over a Texas death row inmate, condemning a state appeals court and instead siding with the convicted killer whose lawyers are trying to prove he’s too intellectually disabled to execute. In a 24-page friend of the court brief - backed by a coalition including Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel whose probe led to
