[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
Sept. 19 TEXASimpending execution 3rd death date in 2011 for convicted rape-murderer A Texas inmate sentenced to die for the rape-slaying of a Fort Worth woman nearly a decade ago, who has been spared from the death chamber twice this year amid appeals, is again scheduled to be executed. Cleve Foster, 47, is set to die Tuesday evening for fatally shooting 30-year-old Nyaneur Pal, whose body was found in a ditch by pipeline workers on Valentine's Day 2002. Foster's execution would be the 11th this year in Texas, the nation's most active death penalty state. God has tapped me on the shoulder, Foster said recently from a small visiting cage outside death row. I'm not afraid. Foster won his first reprieve in January from the U.S. Supreme Court, which halted his execution again in April when it agreed to reconsider an appeal that raised claims of innocence and poor legal assistance early on in his case. His execution was rescheduled for Tuesday after the high court turned down that appeal. Foster's attorney have filed another appeal contending he did not commit the murder and that poor legal help at his trial and in early stages of his appeal merited another reprieve and review of his case. State attorneys argued the appeal was nothing more than a calculated and meritless attempt to postpone his already twice-delayed execution, according to Stephen Hoffman, an assistant attorney general. I'm innocent, Foster said. I'm saying that today and I'll say it when they take me to the gurney. Foster and a companion, Sheldon Ward, both were sentenced to death for fatally shooting Pal, who came to the U.S. from Sudan and was known as Mary. Pal, who worked at a country club, was seen talking with Foster and Ward at a Fort Worth bar and her body was found hours later in a ditch off a Tarrant County road. She'd been shot once in the head. A gun found in the motel room where Foster and Ward lived was identified as the murder weapon. It also was identified as the gun used two months earlier to kill 22-year-old Rachel Urnosky at her Fort Worth apartment. Foster and Ward were implicated but never tried in Urnosky's slaying. These were bad guys, Ben Leonard, one of the prosecutors at Foster's trial, recalled. Mary Pal came from the Sudan, one of the most terrible places in the world to live, and she came here looking for freedom, here to Fort Worth, to be murdered by these 2 guys. Foster blamed Pal's death on Ward, who was one of his Army recruits. Prosecutors said evidence showed Foster actively participated in the woman's killing, offered no credible explanations, lied and gave contradictory stories about his sexual activities with Pal. The 2 men were tried and convicted separately. Pal's blood and tissue was found on the weapon and DNA evidence showed both men had sex with Pal. Ward said the sex was consensual. Foster said he was passed out from sleeping pills at the time Pal would have been murdered. I think the problem was he and Ward got involved in drugs, especially methamphetamines, and were sort of going around and doing not some very smart things, Rex Barnett, one of Foster's trial lawyers, said. Ward died of cancer last year while on death row. In the Urnosky case, Foster told police he and Ward were the woman's apartment in December 2001 but said they left after she refused to have sex with them. She was found in her bed, fatally shot, after failing to show up for work. Urnosky was an honors graduate from Texas Tech in 2000, an officer with the Baptist Student Mission at the school in Lubbock and had spent her spring breaks on mission trips. Foster, who grew up in Henderson, Ky., spent nearly 2 decades in the Army, reached the rank of sergeant first class, was deployed to the Middle East during Desert Storm and eventually was assigned to Fort Worth as a recruiter. Records showed court martial proceedings were started against him after allegations he gave alcohol to underage students as a recruiter and had sex with an underage potential recruit. He was denied re-enlistment in the Army and had been out only a short time when the slayings occurred. Another execution, scheduled for Wednesday, would send Lawrence Russell Brewer to the death house. Brewer, 44, is 1 of 2 white men condemned for the notorious dragging death murder of a black man, James Byrd Jr., in East Texas' Jasper County more than 13 years ago. (source: Associated Press) ** 3rd Death Date in 2011 for Convicted Rape-Murderer Condemned inmate Cleve Foster already has been spared twice this year from the Texas death chamber and says he's not concerned another execution date is looming this week. The 47-year-old Foster is set to die Tuesday evening in Huntsville for the rape-slaying of a woman in Fort Worth nearly a decade ago. Foster was set to die in January and in April and received reprieves each time from the U.S. Supreme Court.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., ALA., NEV.
Sept. 19 GEORGIAimpending execution Parole board delays decision on Troy Davis' fate The state Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday delayed a decision whether to grant or deny clemency to Troy Anthony Davis after hearing pleas for mercy from Davis’ family and calls for his execution by surviving relatives of a murdered Savannah police officer. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles in Atlanta is scheduled to meet today to decide whether Troy Anthony Davis is executed Wednesday. Davis’ case has already taken more unexpected turns than just about any death-penalty case in Georgia history and his innocence claims have attracted international attention. Its resolution was postponed once again when the parole board late Monday announced it would not be making an immediate decision as to whether Davis should live or die. Davis, 42, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson. He was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. On Monday, Davis’ lawyers said they believed they’d made their case that there is too much doubt in the case. But members of MacPhail’s family expressed confidence the board would deny clemency. After Davis’ lawyers made their 3-hour presentation, attorney Stephen Marsh emerged from the hearing and said, “We believe we have established substantial doubt in this case.” Davis’ nephew, DeJaun Davis-Correia, pleaded for mercy from the board, Davis’ lawyers said. Late Monday, Davis’ sister, Martina Correia, said her family is glad the parole board is taking its time. “I know they have a lot to consider,” she said. “We’re just praying for a good outcome.” As for her brother’s execution date being set on repeated occasions, “It’s been like reliving a nightmare over and over. … But we believe in our brother’s innocence.” The surviving relatives of the slain officer presented a decidedly different front. They resolutely told the news media they believe Davis is a cop killer who deserves to die for what he did. “He’s guilty,” MacPhail’s widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris, said. “We need to go ahead and execute him.” MacPhail-Harris expressed confidence the board would deny clemency. “What a travesty it would be if they don’t uphold the death sentence. … It’s time for justice today. My family needs justice. He was taken from us too soon, too early.” As for the case presented by Davis’ legal team that Davis was wrongly convicted, she said, “It’s been a lie.” MacPhail-Harris was flanked by her 23-year-old daughter, Madison MacPhail, and 22-year-old son, Mark MacPhail Jr., who were a toddler and an infant when their father was killed. “A future was taken from me,” said Madison MacPhail, unable to hold back tears. “The death penalty is the correct form of justice. … Troy Davis murdered my father, no questions asked.” The officer’s mother, Anneliese MacPhail, said the family “has been through hell without Mark. He did his duty. He loved his country.” When asked about the possibility of Davis being granted clemency, she said, “I don’t even want to think about it. Please.” Officer MacPhail, a 27-year-old former Army Ranger, was moonlighting on a security detail when he ran to help a homeless man, who had cried out because he was being pistol whipped. MacPhail was shot three times before he could draw his handgun. The parole board has the sole authority in Georgia to grant or deny clemency. Three years ago, the board denied clemency to Davis but it has 3 new members since that decision. Davis’ lawyers say there is also new evidence that indicates another man at the scene was the actual trigger man. Over the past decade, the board has commuted 3 death sentences — Alexander Williams in 2002, James Willie Hall in 2004 and Samuel Crowe in 2008. If the 5-member board grants Davis clemency, it would commute his death sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole or life without parole. As the board considered the case Monday, dozens of protesters, many carrying “I Am Troy Davis” and “Justice For Troy Davis” placards, held vigil outside the Sloppy Floyd Building across the street from the Capitol. State troopers and guards provided a robust security presence throughout the state office building. Among witnesses to testify on Davis’ behalf was Brenda Forrest, a juror who voted to sentence Davis to death at the 1991 trial. She now says she has too much doubt about her verdict and is asking the board to grant clemency. 2 other jurors who voted to sentence Davis to death have signed affidavits asking the board to spare Davis from execution. Also testifying before the board was Quiana Glover, a Savannah woman who says that she heard Sylvester “Redd” Coles, who was with Davis shortly before MacPhail was killed, say he was the actual killer. Coles made the statement during a party in June
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news------USA
Sept. 19 USA: The Death Penalty: Why We Fight for Equal JusticeThe Buck and Davis cases are a reminder of how far we've come, and how far we have to go, toward fair and accurate capital punishment in America Last week, Texas officials refused to halt the execution of Duane Edward Buck even though his 1997 capital murder trial was concernedly tainted by unconstitutional racial testimony from an expert witness. The Supreme Court, which temporarily blocked the execution, will review Buck's case later this month. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Georgia officials plan to execute convicted murderer Troy Davis, whose guilt is much more in doubt today than it was two decades ago when he was sentenced to die. Despite the public protests over Davis's fate, the justices in Washington will likely have to intervene there, too, if his life is to be spared while the new evidence is meaningfully re-examined. Nearly 40 years after the Supreme Court first took away the death penalty, we may be closer than many people think to another turning point on capital punishment.At a Republican presidential debate earlier this month, just the mere mention of Rick Perry's record execution rate -- he's overseen more executions than any governor in modern history -- generated a primal war-whoop from the partisan crowd. And as to the solemnity of the act itself, of the lethal injection execution protocol whereby the government prematurely ends a natural life in the name of the people? Evidently it has become so routine in the Lone Star State that the governor qua presidential candidate was fundraising in Jefferson County, Iowa on the night Buck was scheduled to die. I can't imagine a more solemn or important function for an elected official than presiding over an execution. But for Gov. Perry, it was just another day out of state on the campaign trail. He was available by cellphone. The roiling uncertainty surrounding the Buck and Davis cases is a sad but timely reminder that the center has not held on capital punishment in America. The legal compact demanded by the United States Supreme Court when it reinstituted capital punishment as a sentencing option in 1976 has been broken, repeatedly, not by convicts, but by hundreds of overzealous administrators of the nation's justice systems. In Texas, Georgia, Florida, and in the other states which continue to push capital punishment, the law in capital cases now is mostly used as a weapon -- not as a shield for the individual against the might of government. It is not justice under law. And it is certainly not equal justice under the law. It is instead far too often a perversion of justice -- and of the Court's well-meant precedent. In the modern era of capital punishment -- since the Supreme Court's decision in Gregg v. Georgia -- three main camps have emerged. First, there are those who are for the death penalty all the way; the ones who lament the time and money it takes from trial to execution. Then, there are those who are against capital punishment all the way; the ones who believe that the state should never be in the business of killing its own citizens. And between the two solitudes, there is a vast middle; those who believe that there is a place for the death penalty, but only if it can be administered fairly and accurately, free from the sort of arbitrary and capricious decision-making that pushed the justices to do away with it in the first place in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia. With the Buck case coming back around later this month, with the Davis case right before us this week, with a leading presidential candidate making his capital punishment record a point of political pride, and with the Tea Party crowd cheering execution statistics, now seems as good a time as any to dig around a little at this strange legal confluence we've come to on the death penalty. Nearly 40 years after the Supreme Court first took away the death penalty, we may be closer than many people think to another turning point on capital punishment. We may be reaching the Icarus point -- and don't say I didn't warn you. Hobbes v. Locke When the Supreme Court reinstituted the death penalty in 1976 in a brief per curiam opinion, it congenially (and conveniently) assumed an awful lot of unapparent virtue and goodness in the present and future participants of the criminal justice system. Justice Byron White, the Kennedy appointee who turned out to a staunchly conservative vote, endorsed Georgia's new death penalty statutes, writing that the law: not only guides the jury in its exercise of discretion as to whether or not it will impose the death penalty for first-degree murder, but also gives the Georgia Supreme Court the power and imposes the obligation to decide whether in fact the death penalty was being administered for any given class of crime in a discriminatory, standardless, or rare fashion. If that court properly performs the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----US MIL., OHIO, CONN., VA.
Sept. 19 US MILITARY: No death penalty in '09 Iraq deaths An Army sergeant accused of killing 4 fellow soldiers and a Navy officer at a mental health clinic on a military base in Iraq two years ago should be tried for murder but should not face the possibility of execution because he suffers from serious mental illness, a military judge recommended. Sgt. John Russell, who is accused of opening fire at the combat stress center at Camp Liberty near Baghdad in May 2009 in what would be the deadliest act of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war, should be held accountable for his actions and face a court martial on the five counts of premeditated murder he faces, Col. James Pohl wrote in his recommendations issued Friday. However, in my opinion, the accused (sic) undisputed mental disease or defect make the death penalty inappropriate in this case, wrote Pohl, who presided over a 4-day preliminary hearing in August at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. An Army general will decide whether to accept Pohl's recommendation or not. A time a place for a court martial to begin had not been set. Russell, 46, was nearing the end of his 3rd tour in May 2009 when the attack occurred. Days before the attack, he sought treatment at the center because he felt he might harm himself. His attorneys contend that Russell was under stress from multiple deployments in Iraq and was frustrated with what they have described as inadequate mental health treatment. 2 evaluations were presented at the August hearing saying that Russell suffered from severe depression with psychotic features and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. A March 2011 evaluation said the major depression with psychotic features was in partial remission. James Culp, a civilian attorney assisting Army public defenders in the case, said Friday that the testimony from the August hearing showed that his client was cracking apart. Culp said it was significant that Pohl recognized that Russell was suffering from mental illness and under severe stress at the time of the shootings. In the end, though, regardless of whether the convening authority does or does not follow the recommendations, the underlying premise in Judge Pohl's recommendation will remain true until the end of these proceedings, Culp said. Government attorneys sought to show that whatever stress he faced, Russell remained coherent enough just before the shootings in May 2009 to reflect on his actions. Russell's case has raised questions about the mental problems for soldiers caused by repeated tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and whether the Army's mental health care is adequate. The case led to an investigation and a critical report. Killed in the shooting were Navy Cmdr. Charles Springle, 52, of Wilmington, N.C., and 4 Army service members: Pfc. Michael Edward Yates Jr., 19, of Federalsburg, Md.; Dr. Matthew Houseal, of Amarillo, Texas; Sgt. Christian E. Bueno-Galdos, 25, of Paterson, N.J.; and Spc. Jacob D. Barton, 20, of Lenox, Mo. (source: Associated Press) OHIO: Prosecutors seek death penalty for Chishawn Slade, accused of murdering Euclid man Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the home invasion murder of a Euclid man. Chrishawn Slade, 21, of Cleveland, is accused of fatally shooting 34-year-old DeJohn Dammons the evening of Aug. 29 at the victim’s Breckenridge Drive house. Slade pleaded not guilty Monday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to four counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated burglary, 2 counts of aggravated robbery, four counts of kidnapping, felonious assault and having weapons under disability. Dammons was found lying in the driveway near his car with a chest wound after Euclid police responded to multiple 911 calls. Officials said at least one other male held Dammons at gunpoint and struck his 30-year-old girlfriend in the face with the gun. 2 children who hid in the home were not injured, according to reports. Police declined to comment further. The case has been assigned to Judge Deena R. Calabrese. Slade’s 1st pretrial is scheduled for Oct. 3. (source: The News-Herald) CONNECTICUT: Death penalty looms in home-invasion trial A man facing the death penalty in connection with a home invasion in Connecticut that left a woman and her two daughter dead did not intended to kill them, his lawyers said Monday. Joshua Komisarjevsky, 31, is accused of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, during attacks at their home in Cheshire on July 23, 2007. Steven Hayes, Komisarjevsky's alleged partner in the crime, was convicted of the slayings last year and sentenced to death. Komisarjevsky's attorney, Walter Bansley, said the man did not intend to kill the three family members. The evidence you are about to hear will shake your confidence in humanity, Bansley said as the trial began Monday in New Haven
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 19 UGANDA: Anti-Homosexual Bill Hangs in the Balance The anti-homosexual bill that proposes the death penalty in some cases was shelved by the Ugandan parliament earlier this year. The bill is far from dead say gay activists. In Uganda, homosexuals live in constant fear of being arrested, harassed and even killed by the state security apparatus. Homophobia is also rife among the general populous forcing many homosexuals underground. Mac Ilukor was born female but wishes to become a man. She hails from the Teso region in eastern Uganda where homosexuality is regarded as a curse and those who practice it can be banished from the clan or face severe punishment including death. A survey conducted in 2007 revealed there were five million gay, lesbian and transsexual people in Uganda, all of whom claimed to live in fear because of religious extremism, cultural conservatism and draconian anti-gay laws, explains Ilukor. Death by hanging The anti-homosexual bill was originally proposed in 2009, aimed at cracking down harder on practicing homosexuals by introducing sentences of life imprisonment. In cases where the offense is aggravated, a convicted person would have faced the death penalty had the bill been passed. After an initial hearing in parliament in May this year the bill was adjourned, but many in the gay community fear it may still be enacted at a later date. They had kind of dropped that bill but now we are worried because they want to bring it back and it does not accommodate sexual minorities like us so we wonder what we shall do if they go ahead and pass that bill into law, Ilukor ponder s what the future holds for homosexual gays if the bill becomes law. Security has once again become a serious concern for me. I have to take good care of myself and make sure I am always with with someone. Safety in numbers is the number one priority Neither of the 2 A growing number of countries, including Australia, Britain, Nepal, Portugal and Uruguay, enable hermaphrodites and transgender people to choose the indeterminate option when obtaining passports. This is not an option for Ugandan nationals. I had trouble applying for a passport as the options on the form include only male and female. There's no space for other genders so I didn't tick either box. Then [at the passport office] they decided to tick it for me. Why should you have to choose what you are not? Inter sex persons who are neither of the 2, where do we belong? says Ilukor. Names and addresses Last year the Ugandan tabloid, Rolling Stone, which has no links with the UK Rolling Stone Newspaper, published an article with the headline: Top 100 Ugandan Homos Hang Them! The paper published the names and addresses of people they suspected were homo- or transexual. Ilukor was among those named. Shortly after the names appeared in the tabloid, a Ugandan Gay rights activist David Kato who was also named by the tabloid, was brutally murdered in his home in broad daylight in Mukono town, near the Kampala. Kato was our litigation and advocacy officer. His death has left several unanswered questions like who killed him? What was the motive? What is our future now that he is gone? Frank Mugisha asks with bitterness, himself a self confessed homosexual who works as the executive director of Sexual Minority Uganda Mugisha. According to Mugisha, the death of David Kato has forced several members of the gay community to go underground for fear of being the next victims. We had about 2000 gay rights activists throughout the country before but as we speak now several have gone underground for fear of being targeted by people who are homophobic says Mugisha. Ugandan gays live in fear of arrest, death and persecution. Police victimization Gay rights activists in Uganda also accuse the police of discriminating against the gay community. In the past two years my organization has recorded 25 cases of people who were arrested by the police and detained on suspicion of practicing homosexuality but none of the cases were successfully prosecuted says Mugisha. This is the first in a two-part series about homosexuality in Africa. Tomorrow we will feature a story about how Abidjan in Ivory Coast is proving to be a tolerant haven for homosexuals. (source: All Africa News) NIGERIA: DEATH PENALTY FOR THE FRAUDULENT ACCOUNTANT? There are certain reasons to believe that Professor Francis Ojeide, the 47th President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), spoke with his tongue in his cheek when he sought the enactment of a law that will prescribe death penalty for the Institutes’ members who have been found to be corrupt. Professor Ojeide was reported to have paid a courtesy call on the Auditor-General of the Federation in Abuja when he said this. This was hardly an auspicious forum to air such a view because the Auditor-General is not in a position to
