[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Feb. 9 IRAN: 6 Iranian juveniles have death sentence curtailed Iran has commuted death sentences against 6 juvenile offenders following UN criticism it was executing people who had committed crimes as children at "an unprecedented rate", a report said Thursday. Prosecutors asked the judiciary to reconsider 10 cases, the Shahrvand newspaper quoted Tehran chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi as saying. "6 requests were accepted and their death sentences overturned," he said. International conventions outlaw the death penalty for offences committed by minors but Iranian law allows executions of those convicted of such offences once they reach 18. However, it also allows for death sentences to be commuted to compensation to victims' families if it is determined that the juvenile offenders did not understand the full gravity of their actions. Shahrvand did not specify what the judiciary decided in the other 4 cases referred to it. Last week, UN human rights experts appealed to Iran to cancel the looming execution of Hamid Ahmadi who was 17 when he was sentenced to death in 2009 for the fatal stabbing of a young man during a fight. They said that last month they intervened to halt the execution of another juvenile offender, and that they had learnt too late that 2 others were hanged on January 15 and 18. The executions were carried out secretly and those killed were buried at mass graves outside the capital, with families not informed of their fate. (source: enca.com) PHILIPPINES: Restoration of death penalty gets mixed reactions in Leyte Officials in Leyte province have expressed varied opinions on the proposed re-imposition of death penalty in the country. Leyte second district Representative Henry Ong said the better way to crime prevention is to address the root cause of criminality -- poverty and lack of education, not killing the criminals. "I don't think that death penalty is the solution. If we only do our part and give them the economic support and give children proper education and guidance, I don't think criminality will increase," Ong said. He said no one pressured him to oppose death penalty, stressing it was his belief as a Roman Catholic that life is sacred. "As a Catholic, I was taught and raised to respect and love life. I don't think it will really solve the problem and if ever this will be passed, poor people who cannot afford to have good lawyers are the ones who would suffer," Ong said. Eastern Visayas has 13 representatives in Congress and only 2 representatives support death penalty -- Leyte third district Representative Vicente Veloso and An Waray party-list Representative Victoria Isabel Noel. Noel clarified that although she supports death penalty, the imposition should only be on heinous crimes and on drug-related cases. The party-list lawmaker believes that the imposition of death penalty could help the government deter heinous crimes. For a member of the Archdiocese of Palo clergy, Fr. Mark Ivo Velasquez, "the return of the death penalty will not make ours a more just and secure society." "Proof of this is the nations in which it is still practiced. On the contrary, it will make us into a more violent and bloodthirsty people, who seek revenge over justice. Under the cloak of mere legality, society would administer as a remedy the very disease it tries to eliminate," Fr. Velasquez said. He added that death penalty is not justifiable in the eyes of God. The restoration of capital punishment in the country has been the subject of plenary debates in Congress after the House of Representatives' justice committee approved in December last year a report containing the substitute bill that would allow it back in the criminal justice system. The measure, which is a consolidation of 7 House bills of the same intent, has enumerated heinous crimes punishable by death penalty, namely: Treason; Piracy in general and mutiny on the high seas or in Philippine water; Qualified piracy; Qualified bribery; Parricide; Murder; Infanticide; Rape; Kidnapping and serious illegal detention; Robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons; Destructive arson; Plunder; Possession of dangerous drugs; Carnapping, among others. The mode of capital punishment could either be through hanging, by firing squad or lethal injection. (source: sunstar.com.ph) * 'Supermajority' OKs compromise to scrap mandatory use of death penalty House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday said the mandatory use of death penalty for heinous crimes will be eliminated from the death penalty bill. In a press conference, Alvarez said this was agreed upon by members of the so-called "supermajority" coalition during a caucus on Wednesday afternoon. Alvarez also disclosed that reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment will be added as another option of punishment. Alvarez also reiterated that House
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MONT., ARIZ., CALIF.
Feb. 9 MONTANA: Bill abolishing death penalty gains momentum A bill abolishing Montana's death penalty is gaining momentum this week in Helena. House Bill 366 would replace the death penalty with a lifetime sentence without the possibility of parole. Bills like this have been introduced before without success, but supporters this year think it has a chance. That is largely thanks to new support from several Republicans, led by Adam Hertz (R-Missoula), who's serving his 1st term in the Montana House. Hertz said, for him, abolishing the death penalty comes down to 3 things. "Cost. It's a really, really expensive, ineffective government program." Hertz said, citing a study that found the death penalty can cost a state many times more for a state to prosecute than a life sentence. "Redemption," Hertz said is his 2nd reason. The 3rd, he said, is about being consistently pro-life. "I understand that's it's also a generational issue sometimes. I'm not pressuring anyone to vote against their conscience on this," Hertz said. "Folks know where they stand on it. I'm here to give them information and let them know why I support abolition and hope that they see things my way." After nearly 2 hours of testimony in support of the bill at a panel hearing last week no one spoke up in opposition. Some have disputed how much money the bill would actually save. Hertz expects House Bill 336 to get its 2nd reading on the house floor sometime next week. There are currently 2 men on death row in Montana: William Gollehon, sentenced in 1992, and Ronald Smith, sentenced in 1983. Both have successfully postponed their executions using the court system. (source: nbcmontana.com) ARIZONA: Death row survivor to speak at The Casa Feb. 20 Shujaa Graham, a death row survivor, is to speak about social justice and his experiences, Feb. 20 at the Franciscan Renewal Center in Paradise Valley. After serving 3 years on death row in San Quentin, Calif., Mr. Graham was exonerated for the 1973 killed of a prison guard, according to a press release. After 4 trials, he was released from prison in 1981. Now he is a community organizer, youth advocate and anti-death penalty activist who fights for social justice and human rights, the release stated. Mr. Graham's event is 6:30-8:30 p.m. Feb. 20, at the Franciscan Renewal Center, 5802 E. Lincoln Drive in Paradise Valley. Admittance is $10 per person or $20 per family. Children ages 10 and up are welcome. Portions of proceeds will support Arizona Death Penalty Alternatives. (source: Paradise Valley Independent) CALIFORNIA: Irvine man who killed mother and brother diagnosed schizophrenic, insanity defense looms An Irvine man accused of gunning down his mother and brother at a family home pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a pair of murder charges. Nolan Pascal Pillay, 37, is due back in court March 9 in Newport Beach March 9 for a pretrial hearing. He remains jailed without bail. He is charged with 2 counts of murder with special circumstance allegations of multiple murders, making him eligible for the death penalty. Pillay also faces 2 sentencing-enhancing gun use allegations. Police were called about 1 p.m. Jan. 31 to a home in the 14900 block of Crystal Circle, prompting a temporary lockdown of a nearby elementary school. The bodies of 58-year-old Gloria Pillay and 35-year-old Arlyn Pillay were found inside, and the defendant was arrested without incident at the scene, according to Kim Mohr of the Irvine Police Department. Neighbors said a man and his 2 sons had lived in the house for about 15 years, and a person could be heard yelling "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" around the time of the killings. Pillay's attorney, Jacqueline Goodman, said her client has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. "He's had these racing thoughts that would torture him," Goodman said. "It's too early for me to know" about whether the defendant will seek an insanity defense, she said. "But knowing what I do about the seriousness of his mental illness I would not be surprised" if an insanity defense is mounted. "His father and everyone in his family so far have been completely supportive and devastated," Goodman said. "Everyone has remarked on how gentle and nonviolent he is." Many of his relatives were flying in from South Africa to support Pillay, according to the attorney. Goodman said she hasn't spoken with everyone in her client's family, but of all the relatives she has been in contact with, no one "blames him, which I think is very remarkable." Pillay has a college degree and has tried to hold down a job, but his mental illness made that difficult, Goodman said. Pillay made a habit of making breakfast for his father and packing him a lunch for work, she said. "He would do errands at home, so he was always desirous of being helpful, of pulling his weight, but he struggled with his mental illness to keep a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., ALA., MISS., KY.
Feb. 9 TEXAS: Montgomery County DA's Office requests new execution date for Swearingen The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office asked a judge Tuesday to set a Sept. 21 execution date for Larry Swearingen, the Willis man sentenced to death for murdering a teenage Montgomery College student in 1998. But Swearingen's attorney thinks an ongoing civil rights suit on his case should be decided before any execution date is even suggested. Swearingen was sentenced to death in 2000 for murdering Melissa Trotter, an 18-year-old Montgomery College student. Trotter went missing Dec. 8, 1998, and was found dead in the Sam Houston National Forest north of LakeConroe. After years of appellate fights over post-conviction DNA testing, Swearingen filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of Texas in October 2016 claiming he should be entitled to that DNA testing. Swearingen sought testing on Trotter's sexual assault collection kit; hairs recovered from her body, the gloves used to move her body and a hairbrush found on the ground near her body; all hairs collected from her clothing; the ligature and the pantyhose used to strangle Trotter, among other evidence his appellate attorneys believe contain biological evidence that has not been tested. "It's premature to even have filed this motion," said Swearingen's attorney James Rytting, adding that he plans on filing a motion opposing the fall execution date sometime soon. The execution date motion will be decided upon by visiting Judge J.D. Langley in the 9th state District Court. Judge Phil Grant, having previously worked on the Swearingen case during his time with the DA's Office, was recused from the case in June 2016. But the DA's Appellate Division Chief Bill Delmore said the September date was appropriate and intentionally selected. "A September date will provide sufficient time to allow a resolution of the civil suit," Delmore said. "I have not found anything that suggested the existence of an appeal from the denial of a DNA motion should preclude going forward on an execution date. I've even seen cases in which the Court of Criminal Appeals has denied a stay (of execution) even when there's an appeal from the denial of a motion for DNA testing pending." As for the DNA testing, then-9th state District Court Judge Kelly Case approved the testing in August 2014. But subsequent appeals filed by Montgomery County prosecutors blocked it all the way to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Rytting appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court in February 2016, which refused to hear the case in October 2016. Swearingen has dodged four execution dates - in 2007, 2009, 2011 and most recently in 2013 - that were all stayed by the Court of Criminal Appeals. He's been in and out of the appellate process for more than a decade, including four previous motions for DNA testing which lost their momentum in appeals courts each time. For Melissa Trotter's family, the September date cannot come soon enough. "We're definitely ready to be done with all this judicial process," Melissa's mother Sandy Trotter said. "It hinders all of us from healing as we just keep remembering all the bad that happened to Melissa. It's unfinished business yet. It's not going to bring Melissa back. We're never going to have her. But it'd be better to remember the good memories than all this stuff that happened Dec. 8, 1998." Langley had yet to rule on Delmore's motion as of Tuesday evening, court records show. Swearingen's federal case in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas has yet to be resolved. In an opinion in October 2015 reversing Judge Case's DNA ruling, the Court of Criminal Appeals referred back to previous rulings it and lower appellate courts had made in Swearingen's case. In the October 2015 ruling, they said Rytting's motion did not meet the 5-pronged requirement for green-lighting DNA tests in the appellate phase as outlined in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure. Instead, the CCA denied Swearingen's appeal on the basis that he did not provide new information that would show the DNA evidence would prove his innocence. The court's concurring opinion also referenced a "mountain of evidence" that originally convicted Swearingen in 2000. Delmore called the evidence "overwhelming" in Tuesday's motion. "Capital punishment is imposed discriminatorily against certain identifiable classes of people; there is evidence that innocent people have been executed before their innocence can be proved; and the death penalty wreaks havoc with our entire criminal justice system." US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (source: Houston Chronicle) Texas needs to reform its 'law of parties,' which allows death penalty for people who haven't killed anyone On Monday, a Republican state representative from Plano, an avowed conservative, will make a
