[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALABAMA----Stop Execution Of Jeffrey Borden (USA: 500.17)
Urgent Action STATE MOVES TO HAVE STAY OF EXECUTION LIFTED The State of Alabama has asked the US Supreme Court to lift a stay of execution granted to Jeffrey Borden, and to be allowed to execute him before midnight on 5 October. While the stay relates to a challenge to the state’s lethal injection protocol, Jeffrey Borden is said by his lawyers to have a severe mental disability and to be “actively psychotic”. Write a letter, send an email, call, fax or tweet: * Call on the governor to stop this execution of Jeffrey Borden and to commute his death sentence; * Note with deep concern the evidence of Jeffrey Borden’s serious mental disability; * Explain that you are not seeking to downplay the seriousness of the crime or the suffering caused Friendly reminder: If you send an email, please create your own instead of forwarding this one! Contact below official by 5 October, 2017: Governor Kay Ivey Alabama State Capitol 600 Dexter Avenue Montgomery, Alabama 36130, USA Fax: +1 334 353 0004 Email: http://216.226.177.218/forms/contact.aspx (If you are not based in the US, please use Amnesty’s New York office as your address: 5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001) Salutation: Dear Governor ___ 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
Oct. 4 SOUTH KOREA: South Korean student once lined up for death penalty now acquitted after cop lied A South Korean student, once in line for an automatic death sentence for drug trafficking, has seen a reversal in fortunes after he was acquitted today. The ruling occurred after the suspect???s defense team was able to prove that the police officer had lied several times while under oath. Kim Yun Soung was subsequently freed by Seremban Judge Abu Bakar Jais, after being held in remand for nearly a year. Kim had been charged with trafficking 219 grams of cannabis from an apartment in Bandar Baru NIlai, an hour outside of Kuala Lumpur, last October 19. Earlier, the prosecution had asked Judge Abu Bakar for a discharge, making the case a contender for re-opening at a later date. However, Kim's attorney, Gobind Singh Deo, successfully argued that after a year in lock-up, his client should not have the charge looming over his head. Deo had proved that the police officer who led the raid was no longer a credible witness, after having been caught red-handed in contempt of court lying about who was present at the time of the arrest. When challenged with a potential charge after CCTV footage contradicted his version of events, the inspector buckled under pressure and admitted to lying. Video clearly showed that another individual had been handcuffed - though never arrested - despite the fact that throughout the trial, the police officer had maintained only Kim had been handcuffed. Lessons learned all-round! Don't sell drugs out of your apartment, and also, don't lie under oath. (source: coconuts.co) SAUDI ARABIA: STOP EXECUTION OF JUVENILES IN SAUDI ARABIA Ali, Dawood and Abdullah are facing imminent execution. They were arrested after allegedly participating in pro-democracy protests and sentenced to death. They were all children at the time. They were all tortured into 'confessions' and convicted in secret trials. Executioners Wanted: 5 alarming facts about executions in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia has been 1 of the 5 top executing countries in the world for more than a decade. So far this year, the Saudi authorities have put 100 people to death. Last year they killed 154 people. The year before that, 157 people. Here are 5 incredible facts about one of the world's most prolific executors: 1. In 2015 Saudi Arabia advertised for 8 new executioners to cope with the rise in executions. The advert specified no special qualifications and described the main role as "executing a judgment of death". Performing amputations on those convicted of lesser offences was also part of the role. That year, the authorities executed 157 people. 2. Saudi Arabia's main method of execution is beheading with a sword. Some reports suggest that executions can be carried out by 'crucifixion', which involves beheading and public display of the body on a cross. 3. The death penalty in Saudi Arabia is regularly imposed for offences including attendance at political protests. The Kingdom retains the death penalty for non-lethal 'crimes' like adultery, drug offences and sorcery. In 2015, a Palestinian poet was sentenced to death for apostasy for publishing a book of poetry. Ali al-Nimr, just 17 when sentenced to death by beheading. He was accused of participation in an illegal demonstration and other offences such as "explaining how to give first aid to protesters" 4. Executions are either carried out in complete secrecy or in public. One of the locations in Riyadh for executions is known locally as 'Chop-Chop Square'. 5. In January 2016, the Saudi authorities carried out a mass execution. The Saudi authorities killed 47 people in just one day. Among them were at least 4 juveniles, including Ali al-Ribh, who was arrested at his school, tortured into a false 'confession' to protest-related charges, and beheaded. His body was never returned to his family for burial. (source: repireve.org.uk) *** '5 people put to death per week': Saudi Arabia carries out 100th execution this yearUltra-conservative Saudi Arabia has one of the world's highest rates of execution, with suspects convicted of terrorism, homicide, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking facing the death penalty. A Saudi was executed in Riyadh on Monday bringing the number of people put to death in the kingdom so far this year to 100. The man was sentenced to death for murdering another Saudi man and an appeals court upheld the ruling, the official SPA news agency reported, without elaborating. Human rights organisation Amnesty International condemned what it called Saudi Arabia's "execution spree". "Since July 2017, the Saudi Arabian government has been on an execution spree with an average of 5 people put to death per week. This sets the country firmly on track to remain one of the most prolific executioners on the planet," said Lynn Maalouf,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VT., FLA., ALA., OHIO, IND., KY., CALIF.
Oct. 4 TEXAS: Texas Man's Death Sentence Thrown Out Over Racist Testimony Duane E. Buck barged into his girlfriend's Texas home after she broke up with him and killed her and a friend. Later that morning in July 1995, he fired a rifle at his stepsister, who survived because the bullet just missed her heart. His guilt was never in doubt, and Mr. Buck, 54, who is black, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. But concerns about testimony from a psychologist in the sentencing phase - that black people were more dangerous than white people - raised concerns about the role of race in the jury's decision and led the case to reach the Supreme Court. In February, the Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing trial for Mr. Buck, calling the psychologist's testimony racist. In a Houston courtroom on Tuesday, Mr. Buck pleaded guilty to 2 counts of attempted murder, including the shooting of his stepsister, in a deal that exchanged the death penalty for a life sentence plus 2 60-year terms. "This case can accomplish something," said Kim Ogg, the Harris County district attorney. "It can close a chapter in the history of our courts, in that they will never again hear that race is relevant to criminal justice or to the determination of whether a man will live or die. Race is not and never has been evidence." After Mr. Buck's conviction in 1997, his lawyer called Walter Quijano, a former chief psychologist for the state prison system, to the stand during the sentencing phase. Mr. Quijano, who had evaluated Mr. Buck, testified that race could be a factor in predicting whether a person posed a future danger to society. A prosecutor asked Mr. Quijano, "The race factor, black, increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons - is that correct?" "Yes," the psychologist replied. The psychologist's answers became the basis of an appeal claiming that Mr. Buck had not been properly represented by his lawyer. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the Supreme Court's majority in a 6-to-2 ruling, said Mr. Quijano's testimony "appealed to a powerful racial stereotype - that of black men as 'violence prone.'" Mr. Buck will be moved from death row in Texas, where more than 230 inmates await lethal injection, and he will be eligible for parole in 2035. Ms. Ogg said her office would work to ensure he is never granted release. Over the years, Mr. Buck had an unusual advocate in his stepsister, Phyllis Taylor, who had forgiven him and had argued for his release from death row. Ms. Taylor said in a statement on Tuesday she was thankful that Ms. Ogg had reached a deal to avoid another sentencing trial. "The thought of going through another trial was just too much to bear," Ms. Taylor said. (source: New York Times) New charges filed on death row inmate Duane Buck Duane Buck, whose 1997 death penalty case went to the U.S. Supreme Court and was sent back to Harris County for a retrial because of concerns about racially-biased testimony, is expected in court Tuesday on new charges. 2 additional charges of attempted murder were filed last week by the Harris County District Attorney's Office in connection with the 1995 shooting rampage that landed Buck on death row. Buck, 53, was sentenced to death for the slaying of his girlfriend, Debra Gardner, and her friend, Kenneth Butler, after Buck and Gardner had an argument. He returned to her home after a night of drugs and alcohol in July 1995, broke in and started shooting, witnesses said. In the new charge, he is accused of attempting to kill his sister, Phyllis Taylor, who was shot and survived. The 2nd new charge alleges that he attempted to kill Harold Ebenezer, who was also at the home when Buck returned and started shooting. He is expected in court Tuesday, where he will be arraigned by state District Judge Denise Collins on the new charges. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this granted Buck a new sentencing hearing because of testimony from an expert who testified that he was more likely to be dangerous in the future because he is black. The hearing means he could be re-sentenced to death or life in prison. (source: Houston Chronicle) VERMONT: 'The Exonerated': A Play At UVM Presents Stories From Death Row The Exonerated tells the story of 6 death row inmates who were wrongfully convicted and later had their convictions overturned and were released. We're talking to the director and an actor from a new production of the play at the University of Vermont. We'll discuss the play itself and the big issues it explores around incarceration and the justice system. We're joined by Gregory Ramos, chair of UVM's theater department and director of the production. And by Randall Harp, who plays the character of Robert Earl Hayes and is also a UVM philosophy professor. The Exonerated will run at UVM beginning Wednesday, Oct. 4 through Sunday,
