[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 8 INDONESIA: 2 Taiwanese arrested in Jakarta over drugs: CIB Criminal Investigation Bureau officials and Indonesian police officers join hands at a news conference at the Jakarta Police Narcotics Division in Indonesia to signify their solidarity in a joint effort to fight illegal drugs. Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Indonesian police 2 Taiwanese were arrested last month in Jakarta for allegedly trying to smuggle almost 3.8kg of amphetamines into Indonesia, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Wednesday. Lai Chen-yu and Huang Ming-wei, both 24, were allegedly caught with amphetamine packets taped to their legs when they landed at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on a flight from Taiwan on March 13, the bureau said. The 3.776kg haul has an estimated street value of NT$4.6 million (US$150,322), it said. The Jakarta Police Narcotics Division, together with CIB officials, announced the arrests at a news conference on Wednesday in the Indonesian capital. Jakarta Police Chief Inspector General Mochamad Iriawan credited cooperation between Indonesian and Taiwanese police for the arrests. "The Taiwanese police told us earlier about the 2 Taiwanese suspects. Their tip-off helped us track down the suspects' flight," he said. CIB officials assisting in the investigation said that Lai was a language student at a Kaohsiung university, and that he had signed a confession after being questioned by Jakarta police. "Lai said he was introduced by friends to a contact person for a drug ring, but he does not know the person's real name or identity," said Cheng Hui-ming, captain of the bureau's Third Investigation Unit. Cheng said the contact told Lai he could make easy money and that Lai, who was unemployed, agreed to do so, with the promise that he would be paid NT$150,000. "It is not worth losing your life getting involved in drug smuggling, because Indonesia has severe punishments against such crimes. [The 2 suspects] may face a minimum of 20 years in prison or be given the death penalty," Cheng said. 7 Taiwanese were sentenced to death for drug smuggling in Indonesia last year, he added. 3 of them were found carrying 2kg of amphetamines and were arrested at the airport. The other 4 were convicted for possession of 26kg of amphetamines in an Indonesian city, he added. Since Indonesian President Joko Widodo assumed office in 2014, he has presided over the execution of 18 people convicted of drug charges, including 15 foreigners, Cheng said. Jakarta police officials said they are still trying to track down the ringleaders, and evidence point to collusion between Taiwanese syndicates and an Aceh-Jakarta drug network. The 2 suspects were supposed to take the amphetamines to a restaurant in West Jakarta and hand them over to a man known by the initials of T.A.W., Iriawan said. (source: Taipei Times) INDIA: SC: Death penalty breaches reformative theory of punishment In its 262nd report, the bench noted, the Law Commission of India recommended abolition of the death penalty for all crimes other than terrorism-related offences and waging war. The Supreme Court on Friday commuted to life term the capital punishment awarded to a murder convict, noting that death penalty "somehow breaches the reformative theory of punishment under criminal law". A bench of Justices P C Ghose and Rohinton F Nariman also underlined that death penalty had in fact become a "distinctive feature" of criminal law in India, and that the apex court had been encouraging discussion and debate on the subject. "Today when capital punishment has become a distinctive feature of death penalty apparatus in India which somehow breaches the reformative theory of punishment under criminal law..." said the bench. It recalled that the top court had recently referred to the Law Commission to study the issue of death penalty in India to "allow for an up-to-date and informed discussion and debate on this subject". In its 262nd report, the bench noted, the Law Commission of India recommended abolition of the death penalty for all crimes other than terrorism-related offences and waging war - offences affecting national security. Making these observations, the court said it was not inclined to award capital punishment to the convict in the murder case. "Therefore, confinement till natural life of the accused respondent shall fulfill the requisite criteria of punishment in peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case," it held. The court was hearing an appeal by the Maharashtra government, which had pressed for death penalty for one Nisar Ramzan Sayyed, who had in October 2010 set on fire his pregnant wife and thrown his minor son into the blaze, causing their death. While the trial court sent Sayyed to the gallows, the High Court acquitted him for want of concrete proof. The apex court, after taking note of the dying declara
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., FLA., OHIO, TENN., ARK., NEB., S. DAK.
April 8 TEXASstay of impending execution Texas court halts execution after parents seek mercy for their son's killer Texas' top criminal court on Friday halted the scheduled execution of Paul Storey after the parents of the man he killed said they did not want him to die. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent Storey's case back to a lower court for review and halted his execution, which had been scheduled for Wednesday. Paul Storey was convicted of the 2006 murder of Jonas Cherry during a robbery at a Hurst putt-putt golf park. His accomplice, Dewayne Porter, pleaded guilty and received a life sentence. Storey was offered the same plea deal as Porter, but he chose to go to trial and was sentenced to death. His lawyers, in an appeal filed Friday, contend that Tarrant County prosecutors told jurors that the Cherry family wanted Storey to be executed, despite knowing they opposed the death penalty. In a video released this week, Judith and Glenn Cherry pleaded with prosecutors and Gov. Greg Abbott to stop Storey's execution. "It pains us to think that due to our son's death, another person will be purposefully put to death," Judith Cherry said in the video. "Also motivating us is that we do not want Paul Storey's family, especially his mother and grandmother, if she is still alive, to witness the purposeful execution of their son. They are innocent of his deeds." The Cherrys asked state officials to commute Storey's sentence to life without parole. At least 1 juror who served during Storey's trial told defense lawyers that he would have refused to vote for the death penalty had he known the Cherrys did not want it. "I would have held out for a life without the possibility parole for as long as it took," juror Sven Berger wrote in an affidavit. Because prosecutors gave the jury false information, Storey's lawyers contend in their latest appeal that he should be granted a new trial to determine his sentence. The Court of Criminal Appeals asked a lower court to review Storey's claims and make recommendations about whether he should receive a new trial to determine his sentence. (source: Dallas Morning News) * Texas court halts execution of man amid claims of false evidenceThe Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the execution of Paul Storey Friday afternoon, which was set for next Wednesday. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has halted the execution of Paul Storey, which was set for Wednesday. In a 3-page order Friday afternoon, the court sent the case back to the Tarrant County trial court to review claims regarding the prosecution presenting false evidence at Storey's trial. In 2008, Storey, 32, was sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of Jonas Cherry during a robbery of a miniature golf course where Cherry worked in Hurst, near Fort Worth. At the trial, the prosecution said that Cherry's parents wanted the death penalty. "It should go without saying that all of Jonas [Cherry's] family and everyone who loved him believe the death penalty was appropriate,' the prosecution said during the penalty phase of the trial, according to Storey's appeal. Storey and Cherry's parents, Glenn and Judith, say that's not true. The Cherrys wrote to Gov. Greg Abbott and the Board of Pardons and Paroles in February, asking for a life sentence for Storey. The Cherrys said they never wanted the death penalty and made that clear to the prosecution, according to Storey's appeal. "As a result of Jonas' death, we do not want to see another family having to suffer through losing a child and family member ... due to our ethical and spiritual values we are opposed to the death penalty," the Cherrys said in their statement. Sven Berger, a juror in Storey's trial who recently asked Texas legislators to change jury instructions in capital cases, also wrote an affidavit for Storey's recent appeal. In his affidavit, Berger said had he known the Cherrys didn't want death, he would have "held out for a [sentence of] life without the possibility of parole for as long as it took." Now, the trial court has been ordered to determine whether the fact that the Cherrys opposed the death penalty could have been discovered by appellate attorneys earlier. Generally in death penalty cases, if evidence could have been raised at an earlier appeal and wasn't, it is not allowed to be used in future appeals. This evidence was brought forth to the courts less than 2 weeks before his execution. The appeal claims the evidence of the Cherrys' disapproval of the sentence was learned only in the past 90 days. But the Court of Criminal Appeals said it's not yet clear whether his previous state appellate attorney could have learned about the Cherrys' beliefs. "The trial court is ordered to make findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding whether the factual basis of these claims was ascertainable through the exercise of
