[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 25 BANGLADESH: 4 muggers get death in Rangpur for murdering businessman A court in Rangpur has sentenced 4 muggers to death for murdering a businessman in 2012. Another convict was awarded 3 years in prison by District and Sessions Judge Abu Jafar Mohammad Kamruzzaman on Wednesday. Businessman Chunnu Miah, a Pirgancha resident, was returning home from Mithapukur Sadar when he was attacked at Nilerkunthi area on Aug 23, 2012. The attackers hacked him with sharp weapons before fleeing on his motorcycle. The 45-year-old died while he was being taken to a hospital. The men who received the death penalty are Sirajul Islam, 33, 'Jewel', 26, Sujon Miah, 25, of Pirgancha Upazila, and Shahin Miah, 25, of Bogra, said prosecutor Faruk Mohammad Reazul Karim. Alam Miah, 27, who got three years in prison, will have to spend 2 more years in prison if he fails to pay a fine of Tk 5,000. (source: bdnews24.com) PHILIPPINES: Debates on death penalty begin next week Proponents and opponents of the bill restoring the death penalty are poised to begin their showdown on the House plenary floor next week. "We expect that the fireworks on this revival of capital punishment will commence on Tuesday or Wednesday next week," said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, leader of the "Magnificent 7" independent minority bloc. He said he was told by Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas of the change in schedule. Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier announced the plenary debates would begin this week. At a press briefing, Lagman reiterated his call on the House leadership "not to insist on a party or a pressure vote." No justification "House members should be allowed to freely exercise their conscience and conviction in voting on the measure," he said. Lagman said he wished to dispel the impression that the 1987 Constitution prescribed the death penalty. "On the contrary, it prohibits it," he said. "As of now the proponents have failed to make any justification on the death penalty. They are citing that incidents of crime have risen in recent years. That is incorrect. PNP (Philippine National Police) data show there is a decreasing incidence, except for murder," he said. Akbayan Rep. Tomasito Villarin also called for a stop to "misinformation," especially among rookie lawmakers. "Some are saying that if you're a member of the justice committee, you can't interpellate. If you're a member of the rules, you can't interpellate. This kind of misinformation is a kind of pressure on members not to speak out against the death penalty," he said. Party vote Last week, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he was "very confident" that the measure would pass because of the strength of the President Duterte-controlled supermajority in the House. Alvarez, a bosom buddy of Mr. Duterte, assured his colleagues that there would be no consequences for not supporting the bill, although he did not give a clear answer when asked if he would call for a "party vote" and apply pressure on supermajority members to take a collective stand. In December, the House justice committee approved by a 12-6-1 vote a substitute bill allowing the return of capital punishment for heinous crimes and sent the measure to the plenary for second and third reading. Under the proposed "Death Penalty Law," the penalty of death by hanging, firing squad or lethal injection shall be imposed on 21 major offenses, including treason, qualified piracy, murder, rape, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, plunder and dangerous drug offenses. French ambassador urges PH lawmakers not to restore death penalty The Ambassador of France to the Philippines on Tuesday said he is hoping that the death penalty will not be restored in the country. Ambassador Thierry Mathou told INQUIRER.net that he has spoken to some legislators about the proposed death penalty bill in Congress. "France has been advocating the abolition (of death penalty) everywhere in the world ... even in the US," he explained at the sidelines of the PhilFrance launch, which marks the 70th year of Philippine-France diplomatic relations. President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly expressed interest in restoring death penalty for heinous crimes. A bill in Congress is set to be tackled in plenary next week. "We try to express our view very freely with our partners in the Congress...in the administration," Mathou said. "We hope to be convincing." "I am meeting the different members of Congress...of the Senate," he said, declining to give names. However, Mathou said that "it will be up to democracy" to determine if the legislation will pass. He said talking with the legislators was a "demonstration of a real democracy" as some expressed opposition while others showed support. "I feel that we have a very tense debate at the Senate," he said. Mathou said France believes that death penalty is "not efficient." The United
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEB., UTAH, MONT., NEV., CALIF., WASH.
Jan. 25 NEBRASKA: Execution protocol nears approval with confidentiality change The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services apparently will strike a paragraph from its proposed execution protocol that would authorize the supplier of lethal injection drugs to remain confidential. The department has reviewed testimony from a Dec. 30 public hearing on execution protocol, proposed at least one change and forwarded its proposed protocol to Attorney General Doug Peterson. Now, it's in the hands of Gov. Pete Ricketts' Policy Research Office. The protocol was revised shortly after Nebraskans voted in November to continue using the death penalty. That vote came after the Legislature voted to repeal it and substitute life in prison for first-degree murder convictions. The newly revised protocol would allow the Corrections Department to use available drugs for lethal injection of condemned inmates and would have kept the source of those drugs confidential. It would give only the inmate information on what drug(s) would be used and in what quantity 60 days before a request for a death warrant. That use of appropriate available drugs was substituted for a 3-drug combination of sodium thiopental to render the inmate unconscious, pancuronium bromide to stop breathing and potassium chloride to stop the heart. The department issued an explanatory statement Jan. 12, summarizing testimony given during the Dec. 30 public hearing and responding to issues and questions raised there. Testimony -- the majority of it expressing concerns about the proposed protocol -- came from pharmacists, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, a representative of the media, physicians, pastors, members of the public and ACLU of Nebraska. In addition, 25 letters and documents were submitted. Many of the concerns were about secrecy in the revised protocol and use of pharmacy personnel in the process. The department responded this way. * Because of opposition to keeping the source of execution drugs confidential -- opponents cited a violation of Nebraska's public records laws and lack of transparency -- the Corrections Department said it will strike this paragraph: "... the director may authorize any records or information identifying a person, company, or entity supplying the substance or substances to be employed in an execution by lethal injection to be confidential." * In response to concern about using unknown drugs in unknown doses, the department said the protocol does not do that. While the drugs are not specifically named in the protocol, the inmate will be notified of the drug(s), the quantity and the order they will be administered at least 60 days prior to the request for an execution warrant, the department said. * The Corrections director, not the Legislature, is responsible by law for selecting the drugs and quantities to be used, and that will not change. * As far as the concern that pharmacists involved in any way in the execution would be violating their code of ethics, the department cited state law saying a pharmacist or other person licensed by a board or department is exempted from disciplinary action. * State law exempts the lethal injection process from the Pharmacy Practice Act, so references to pharmaceutical chemists can be used in the protocol, the department said. Pharmacists had objected because the practice act says only pharmacists, pharmacist interns and technicians may compound drugs. Also, pharmacists can provide the drugs without a medical order from a prescriber because of the exemption. * No fiscal impact is anticipated beyond what exists in the current rule. * The department proposes to retain provisions that would allow a county coroner to determine whether an inmate is dead. Corrections Director Scott Frakes said on Jan. 11 his department was working diligently to review all testimony, and that he would take the time necessary to make sure the review was done correctly. He turned it over to Attorney General Peterson the next day. Corrections spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said the department's chief attorney spent considerable time drafting the hearing summary and the responses, and that by the close of business on Jan. 11, Frakes had received and reviewed the summary of testimony and the responses to each issue. "The testimony was, in fact, carefully considered, which will be reflected in the final rule," Smith said. (source: Lincoln Journal Star) UTAH: State representative sponsoring two death penalty bills A battle is brewing over the death penalty on Utah's Capitol Hill. Representative Paul Ray says the state needs to send a strong message about what's going on across the country. "We have people that are out across the country who are out targeting and trying to kill police officers, because of who they are. We want to say, you know what, in Utah we're not going to do that. We're going to get some
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., GA., FLA., MO.
Jan. 25 TEXASimpending execution Texas Appeals Court Refuses To Block Thursday Execution Texas' highest criminal court has refused to stop this week's execution of a 43-year-old man convicted of a suburban Dallas sandwich shop robbery where 2 employees were fatally shot. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals late Tuesday rejected appeals from attorneys for Terry Edwards. He's set for lethal injection Thursday evening in Huntsville for the 2002 death of 26-year-old Mickell Goodwin. The manager of the Subway restaurant in Balch Springs, 34-year-old Tommy Walker, also was killed. Edwards weeks earlier was fired from the shop. His attorneys insist among several claims that a cousin, not Edwards, did the shootings, that Dallas County prosecutors improperly excluded blacks from his jury and that he had poor legal help at his trial and during previous appeals. Edwards still has appeals in the federal courts. (source: Associated Press) *** DA asks appeals court to reconsider ruling in Waco death penalty case McLennan County prosecutors are asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider its decision to overturn the conviction and death sentence of a man found guilty in a deadly double shooting. Albert Leslie Love, Jr., was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the murders of 2 men in 2013 at an apartment complex on Spring Street in Waco. In a Dec. 7, 2016 decision, the appeals court ruled that prosecutors should have secured a search warrant instead of a court order to obtain text messages used against Love during the trial. Prosecutors maintain that authorities followed the established practice in seeking a court order requiring Love's cellphone carrier to provide the texts as well as calls. "At the time the evidence is obtained there has been no violation of any law. It is only an after-the-fact determination that then works to retroactively view law enforcement's action to be a violation of the law. The review of the actions of law enforcement should be at the time of the action, not in hindsight," prosecutors wrote in their motion for a rehearing. Love and Rickey Cummings were both sent to death row for the March 28, 2011 ambush-style killings of Keenan Hubert, 20, and Tyus Sneed, 17, who died in a hail of bullets as they sat in a car in the parking lot of Lakewood Villas Apartments on Spring Street in east Waco. Testimony in their trials indicated the 2 were killed in retaliation for the April 8, 2010 death of Emuel Bowers III, who was shot and killed while sitting in his car at a Waco park. (source: KWTX news) ** For Elderly Inmates, There's More Than 1 Way to Die on Death Row Public radio stations from across the state collaborated on this series looking at the death penalty in Texas - its history, how it's changed, whom it affects and its future. From Texas Standard: Death row inmates often spend decades between the day they're sentenced and the day they're executed. That can be due to many factors - from lengthy appeals to the state being unable to get the drugs it needs to carry out executions. In the meantime, inmates age. Some are dying of natural causes. Such was the case last April when 2 inmates passed away - one right after the other. Texas faces many challenges treating inmates' health on a limited budget. To understand, we must look at inmates' overall living conditions. Conditions differ between the more than 230 men and the 6 women on death row in Texas. In a way, the lives of the women on death row are exceptional. They wake up in their cells, head out to a job, and then socialize or exercise until sundown when they're locked up again. But the men's day-to-day is very different. Jason Clark is a spokesperson with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). He says to understand why men's lives on death row are different, we need to backtrack. "In 1998 Martin Gurule escaped from death row," Clark says. Gurule drowned in a nearby creek, after escaping the compound where he was imprisoned. Since his escape, things dramatically changed for men on death row. Today, they're held in de facto isolation - in tiny cells roughly the size of an office cubicle - 23 hours a day. Every day, they get 1 hour outdoors, in a cage, with little freedom of movement. Male death row inmates are also forbidden from receiving human touch. Carl Buntion is 72 years old. He has been on death row since 1991. "I don't get to talk to very many people," he says. In 1990 Buntion killed Jim Irby, a Houston police officer. Buntion was convicted a year later and has been on death row ever since. At 72, he is Texas's oldest man on death row. He is what TDCJ considers geriatric - inmates older than 55. And for these people, this living arrangement can have very real implications on their health. "I have all the old man ailments,"
