[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., N.J., N.H.
Oct. 17 MISSOURI: U.S. judge again rules lethal injection procedure for executions is unconstitutional A federal judge has ruled for a 2nd time that Missouri's use of a 3-drug lethal injection for executions is unconstitutional, confirming his ruling last month that the procedure could cause torturous pain. The ruling issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan Jr. follows his September ruling that said the death penalty protocol could subject inmates to an unreasonable risk of cruel and unusual punishment and halted all executions in the state. Gaitan had first ordered in June that the Missouri Department of Corrections make sweeping changes to its execution protocol. At issue is how painful lethal injection can be if the three drugs used are not given correctly. If the injection is given improperly, an inmate could be in pain but would be paralyzed and unable to show it, Gaitan said in his September ruling. In that order, Gaitan gave the state until Oct. 27 to provide a revised protocol. But the state resubmitted the same proposal Oct. 6, arguing that it was constitutional and asking the judge to reconsider his decision. The state's attorneys had asked Gaitan to rule quickly, so they could file an appeal if he ruled against them. The state's response does nothing to address these concerns and indicates its lack of willingness to even attempt to comply with the court's order, Gaitan wrote Monday. Gaitan's ruling comes in the case of Michael A. Taylor, 1 of 2 men convicted of raping and killing Kansas City teenager Ann Harrison in 1989. Taylor came within hours of death earlier this year before his execution was stopped by the legal challenge. Gaitan ordered the state to improve the monitoring of inmates to be sure they get enough anesthesia during the execution process. He also ordered that a doctor trained in administering anesthesia either mix the chemicals or oversee the mixing of chemicals for executions. (source: Associated Press) NEW JERSEY: Supreme Court hears death penalty arguments The state Supreme Court heard arguments today on whether the Attorney General's Office should be the one to decide when to seek the death penalty in all murder cases, after a study noted wide differences in how aggressively county prosecutors seek capital punishment. A report commissioned by the state's high court found a death belt strapped across much of central New Jersey, where county prosecutors have been more willing to pursue the death penalty than in other counties. Prosecutors in Monmouth, Middlesex, Morris, Hunterdon and Warren seek the death penalty for half of the murder defendants who qualify for capital punishment, the study said. Three counties with the largest number of cases eligible for the death penalty - Essex, Camden and Union - have among the lowest rates of cases advancing to death penalty trials. The county in which the murder occurs and the prosecution is initiated continues to be one of the most significant variables in terms of death sentencing, retired Appellate Division Judge David Baime concluded in his latest report to the Supreme Court on the state's death penalty system. While the county-by-county disparity has been noted by Baime in past reports, opponents of the death penalty used the findings of his latest report today to argue the death penalty should be scrapped. Joseph Krakora of the state Public Defender's Office said the report proved the use of the death penalty in New Jersey is arbitrary and capricious and, therefore, unconstitutional. Chief Justice Deborah Poritz, however, focused oral arguments on whether the situation would improve if the Attorney General's Office made the call on when to seek the death penalty rather than the state's 21 county prosecutors. Assistant Attorney General Boris Moczula said the Attorney General's Office opposes the idea of a statewide system to mete out capital punishment and argued the report's findings provided no reliable, stable evidence of geographical disparity. The court reserved judgement on the arguments. (source: Star-Ledger) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Shot police officer dies; death penalty to be sought against suspect The shooting death of a police officer could lead to the 1st execution in New Hampshire in almost 70 years. Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty for Michael Stix Addison. He allegedly opened fire as the Manchester officer approached him in a dark alley. Authorities say officer Michael Briggs was responding to a report of a shot being fired in a domestic dispute when he met up with Addison at around 3 in the morning. Briggs died a day later, leaving a wife and 2 children. Addison was found a few miles away in Boston, and is awaiting extradition. New Hampshire's death row is empty, but the attorney general calls this a case warranting capital punishment. The governor is backing the decision. (source: Associated Press)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., PENN., VA.
Oct. 18 OHIO: Judge delays next week's execution of cult killerJeffery Lundgren joins lawsuit challenging Ohio's use of lethal injection Convicted murderer and cult leader Jeffrey Lundgren could live to die another day, after a federal judge delayed Lundgren's Oct. 24 execution date and allowed him to join a lawsuit challenging Ohio's use of lethal injection. U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, the former Lake County prosecutor, called the judge's decision ludicrous. The notion that someone can eat their way out of the death penalty and lethal injection is repugnant to decent Americans. If that's the case, perhaps we should shoot (Lundgren) in the head, execution-style, like he did the 5 members of the Avery family, LaTourette said. Lundgren was convicted of murdering 5 members of the Avery family: Dennis Avery, 49; his wife, Cheryl, 46; and their daughters, Trina, 15, Rebecca, 13, and Karen, 7. In 1989, Lundgren headed a small cult and preached altered Mormon scriptures. His followers believed Lundgren was a prophet of Jesus Christ and their faith in him would lead them to eternal glory at Christ's second coming, which was near. To illustrate his power and his devotion to the will of God, Lundgren accepted the Averys' savings and credit cards, fed them a last supper and led the family into a Kirtland barn, where he bound, shot and buried them together, according to Lake County Common Pleas Court testimony given during Lundgren's trial. Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost allowed Lundgren to join the lawsuit and granted the temporary injunction to delay Lundgren's execution. The lawsuit, which originally was filed by the Ohio Public Defenders Office in 2004, challenges the constitutionality of Ohio's lethal injection policy, according to a 2004 press release from the Ohio Public Defenders Office. Frost twice denied Lundgren's attempt to gain inclusion in the lethal-injection challenge suit and have his Oct. 24 execution stayed, according to the Web site www.ohiodeathpenaltyinfo.com. This turn of events is particularly unfortunate because Frost knew (Lundgren) didn't file (to be included in the lawsuit) in time, LaTourette said. That is like saying: 'So what about the law? so what about the rules?' he said. (source: Star Beacon) TENNESSEEimpending execution Death row inmate files for stay of execution scheduled next week A Tennessee death row inmate scheduled to be executed next week has filed for a stay with a federal appeals court. Donnie E. Johnson claims lower courts were wrong to previously dismiss his arguments for new counsel. Johnson was convicted in Shelby County of killing his wife in December 1984 at the camping equipment center where he worked. Authorities say he suffocated her by stuffing a plastic garbage bag into her mouth. Earlier this month, Tennessee's high court rejected his arguments claiming that he needed new legal representation, and set an October 27th execution. Monday, Johnson's attorneys filed a motion for a stay with the 6th U-S Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: Husband won't get death penalty - Prosecutors aren't seeking the death penalty in the trial of Scott Dunn, 27, of Slippery Rock. A Slippery Rock man accused of murdering his wife and setting fire to her parents' Grove City home to cover up the crime earlier this year will not face the death penalty, a prosecutor said. Scott Dunn, 27, is scheduled to stand trial in the Jan. 14 death of his wife Brandi, 22. He faces a host of charges including 1st- and 3rd-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and arson. It is said to be the 1st murder in Grove City in more than 40 years. After meeting with the victim's family and examining the evidence, prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, said Mercer County District Attorney James P. Epstein. The Dunns were house-sitting for Brandi Dunn's parents at their home on 109 E. Washington Blvd. in Grove City when she was found dead inside the home's entryway by firefighters extinguishing a fire that destroyed the home. In the days following his wife's death, Scott Dunn relayed several conflicting stories to police officers, firefighters and neighbors. One consistent detail, however, is Dunn's claim that he walked into the house and found a strange man beating his wife. He has told varying tales concerning the man's exit from the house and the fire's origin. Despite his conflicting accounts, Dunn insists he was not the one who killed his young wife. At his arraignment earlier this month Scott Dunn's defense attorney, Stephen Misko said his client certainly would like for the authorities to get the person who's responsible for the murder of his wife. The Dunns were married less than six months and her parents' home was reportedly still filled with the couple's wedding gifts when it was destroyed by the fire. At a 3-day preliminary hearing in July, a mutual male friend said Scott Dunn
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.J., FLA.
Oct. 18 NEW JERSEY: Death penalty opponents argue before court With Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz set to retire next week, the state Supreme Court heard final oral arguments Tuesday in opposition to a recent New Jersey death penalty study. The 2004-2005 Systemic Proportionality Review reviewed all capital cases within the state and, similar to prior studies, found that the county of prosecution is a key factor in determining whether the defendant faces a death penalty trial. The report submitted to the Supreme Court recommends that all capital prosecution cases be centralized in the state's Attorney General's Office. The goal of putting all such cases under one unit is to have uniformity among all capital prosecutions in an attempt to decrease this geographic disparity. The attorney general would review the case in conjunction with the county prosecutor and determine if the case warrants capital prosecution. The report says, however, that prosecutors cannot be expected to march in lock-stop with respect to their decision whether or not to pursue a capital prosecution. The Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Public Defender and New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty denounced that approach in arguments before the high court. The Attorney General's Office asked the court to defer decision until the ongoing Death Penalty Study Commission completed its work and submits its findings to the state Legislature. Boris Moczula, representing the Office of the Attorney General and a member of the Death Penalty Study Commission, said that the small sample size of these cases leads to methodological flaws in the study and that further research must be done. We are leaving the idea of centralization open, but until more has been done, the court should not order anything, said Moczula. New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said that county variability has led to the arbitrary and irrational use of the death penalty and asked the court to find it unconstitutional. The group's director, Celeste Fitzgerald, said that justice and fairness should not be violated just because of location. The existence of these troubling realities is further proof that New Jersey's death penalty system is fatally flawed, and should be replaced by a stronger, fairer, and more just punishment of life in prison without possibility of parole, Fitzgerald said in a written statement. (source: Cherry Hill Courier Post) FLORIDAimpending execution Execution scheduled for today The most detailed description of Florida's lethal-injection protocols ever released was made public Tuesday amid charges that the state had changed its methods in August and hidden that fact from the courts and death row inmates. Lawyers for Arthur Rutherford, set to be executed at 6 tonight, and Clarence Hill, executed last month, said a document filed Tuesday represented a ''fraud on the court'' because it was not revealed earlier. Rutherford is sentenced to die for the 1985 murder of Stella Salamon, who was beaten, choked and left to drown in the bathtub of her Milton home. Gov. Jeb Bush, officials with the Department of Corrections and state attorneys said the state is following the same protocol for lethal injections that it has used in 17 executions since 2000. State and federal courts have said that procedure is constitutional. Tuesday evening, the Florida Supreme Court, in a 6-0 vote, denied Rutherford's request for a stay. The court said there was nothing in the new material that changed previous rulings that the state's lethal-injection protocol is legal. Rutherford's attorneys filed their arguments in federal court, where two other appeals already await action by the U.S. Supreme Court. The more detailed document revealed Tuesday could be important because federal judges in other parts of the country have held hearings on the constitutionality of lethal injection that turn on how much sodium pentothal is used in executions. Of the states that have the death penalty, 37 of 38 use lethal injection. Executions in Missouri and California have been on hold as courts question whether the procedures used there are unconstitutionally cruel punishment. Though six Florida justices Tuesday agreed in denying Rutherford's request for a stay, Justice Harry Lee Anstead, in a special concurring note, said he had some problems with the state's actions. ''I am troubled, however, by the fact that the State has not at all times made its execution procedures and protocols a matter of public record,'' Anstead wrote. Furthermore, Anstead said an evidentiary hearing on the effectiveness of the state's specific lethal-injection protocol is needed. Justice Kenneth Bell recused himself from the decision. Attorney furious Rutherford's lawyer said he was outraged by the state's action. ''This is litigation by sandbag. They're saying, 'We've got a secret and we don't have to tell you,' '' said Martin McClain, one
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 18 IRAQ: Iraqi PM hopes for Saddam death sentence soon Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday he hoped legal proceedings against former president Saddam Hussein would be short and that he would be found guilty and sentenced to death soon. The Shi'ite prime minister's comments come just one month after his government sacked the chief judge trying Saddam on genocide charges, saying he had sacrificed his neutrality by stating the ousted leader was not a dictator. That prompted criticism by some international legal rights groups, who have said government pressure and sectarian violence in Iraq make a fair trial of Saddam impossible. Maliki met Moqtada al-Sadr on Wednesday in the holy city of Najaf and held a joint news conference afterwards with the powerful Shi'ite cleric who heads the Mehdi Army militia and whose followers are in the government. Asked about Saddam's trials, Maliki said: God willing the trial will not last a long time. God willing the death sentence verdict will be issued soon against the tyrant Saddam and his followers. A verdict is expected as early as Nov. 5 in the first case brought against Saddam, which relates to killings in the Shi'ite village of Dujail in the 1980s. The chief judge in that trial quit in protest against government interference. ANFAL CAMPAIGN A 2nd trial is in progress against Saddam and his cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as Chemical Ali, and 5 others for war crimes and crimes against humanity for their role in the 1988 Anfal campaign against ethnic Kurds. Saddam and Majeed also face the graver charge of genocide. All could be hanged if convicted. Both trials have examined crimes against Shi'ites and Kurds, long oppressed under Saddam's Sunni-led rule but empowered after his fall, leading to international concerns about political score-settling and interference. Maliki, whose Shi'ite-dominated government is battling to keep the lid on increasingly bloody sectarian violence, said executing Saddam would help Iraq. Definitely with the execution of Saddam and the criminals with him, those who are laying their bets on coming back to power under the banner of Saddam will find their gamble fails, he said at the news conference. Though the verdict in the first trial could come as soon as Nov. 5, any execution could be delayed by appeals and by the up to a dozen other cases the toppled leader could face. The genocide trial continued on Wednesday with testimony from 2 Kurdish witnesses who described their villages being bombed by the army and how they were transferred to detention centres and saw prisoners shot in the head. (source: Reuters) PAKISTAN: Execution of UK death row inmate in Pakistan set for Nov. 1, officials say The execution of British death row inmate Mirza Tahir Hussain in Pakistan for murder has been scheduled for Nov. 1, officials said Wednesday, prompting British authorities including Prime Minister Tony Blair to step up efforts to save his life. Hussain, 36, was convicted of murdering taxi driver Jamshed Khan in 1988 and has been in custody since then. His execution has been fixed for Nov. 1, a prison official said on condition of anonymity, because he was unauthorized to speak to the media. A court official also confirmed the date for Hussain's execution, carried out by hanging in Pakistan. The 2nd official also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason. In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he had raised concerns over the planned execution personally with Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf during Musharraf's recent trip to Britain. Blair also told the House of Commons that Britain would continue to make representations up until the very last moment. The scheduled execution date coincides with the first visit to Pakistan by Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, on Oct. 29-Nov. 3. The royals are expected to meet Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. British High Commission spokesman Aidan Liddle declined to say whether the royal couple would take up Hussain's case with Pakistani officials, or plead for a pardon. But we continue to raise this at the highest level and make all efforts to save his life, Liddle told The Associated Press. In the northern British city of Leeds, Hussain's brother, Amjad, called on Musharraf to pardon the death row inmate. We hope that he will not disappoint us. We hope there will be a positive response and that Tahir will be freed before Eid, Amjad said, referring to the three-day Islamic festival following the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. To mark previous Eid festivals, Pakistan authorities have pardoned prisoners convicted of lesser crimes. Hussain is being held in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad, and has received 3 stays of execution, most recently on Oct. 1. In that instance, the date was postponed because Pakistan does not execute inmates during Ramadan, which ends next week. Hussain has always
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MISS., OHIO, US MIL., WIS.
Oct. 18 MISSISSIPPIimpending execution Wilcher to ask Supreme Court to block execution The attorney for death row inmate Bobby Glen Wilcher will file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court today in hope of blocking Wilcher's execution. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday refused to stop the execution, now scheduled for 6 p.m. today at the state prison in Parchman. We felt all along this would be a matter that ultimately would have to be decided by the United States Supreme Court, said Wilcher's attorney, Cliff Johnson. I had a nice visit with Bobby and he remains hopeful that the Supreme Court will allow him to reinstate his appeals, he said. Attorney General Jim Hood said he expects the execution to take place as scheduled. I think Wilcher's appeals have run out, Hood said Tuesday. Legal experts say the chance of Wilcher winning a reprieve is low. I'd say the odds are against him, but it's not impossible, said Matt Steffey, a law professor at Mississippi College in Clinton who is not involved in the case. If I were with him or his family, I'd say that you've got to be prepared that this (execution) goes through. Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said he met with Wilcher on Tuesday and he was less jovial and playful than he was in July, when he initially was scheduled to be executed. Epps said Wilcher told him, I just realized I have something to live for, but it's too late. The Court of Appeals affirmed U.S. District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate's decision Saturday to deny Wilcher's attempt to reinstate his appeals after he voluntarily waived them in June. We conclude that petitioner's claims do not merit reinstatement of his petition ... or any other relief before this court, the Court of Appeals' decision reads. Wilcher received a reprieve from death 30 minutes before his scheduled execution July 11, when the U.S. Supreme Court said it needed more time to consider the case on an emergency appeal from Johnson. Among the issues Johnson raised were whether Wilcher's due process rights were violated because his primary attorney didn't receive adequate notice of the hearing as well as Wilcher's competency to waive his federal appeals since he has a bipolar disorder. But the Supreme Court last week declined to hear an appeal from Wilcher's attorney, leading to a new execution date for Wilcher. On Oct. 9, the state Supreme Court wrote: After due consideration, this court finds that no impediment exists to setting an execution date. Epps said 2 practice executions were conducted Tuesday in preparation for carrying out today's execution. A female friend of Wilcher, Lindy Wells of Yazoo City, will be allowed to visit him today, Epps said. Also, Wilcher's spiritual adviser, MDOC chaplains, Johnson and his paralegal will be visitors. Wilcher request for his final meal is similar to what he ordered in July. Wilcher said his plan is to share the meal with prison personnel, but Epps said he won't allow that. Wilcher, 43, was sentenced to death for killing Katie Belle Moore and Velma Odell Noblin in 1982. After meeting them at a Forest bar, Wilcher persuaded the women to drive him home and diverted them down a deserted road. Each woman was stabbed and slashed more than 20 times, according to authorities. Mississippi's last execution was in December, when John B. Nixon Sr. died by lethal injection for the 1985 contract killing of Virginia Tucker of Brandon. (source: Clarion Ledger) OHIO: Court stays Lundgren execution Judge lets killer join lethal-injection suit The U.S. District Court stayed the execution of Jeffrey Lundgren, who killed a family of 5 but claims a lethal shot is a cruel way for him to die. Judge Gregory Frost issued the order on Tuesday delaying the Oct. 24 execution of Lundgren and allowing him to join a class action lawsuit challenging Ohio's lethal injection as a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Lundgren, 56, was convicted of fatally shooting the Dennis Avery family of Madison in 1989 after carrying the youngest girl on piggyback to her death. He claimed he was commanded by God to sacrifice the family so cult members could find Zion. Lundgren claims that after 16 years in prison he is hypertensive, diabetic and obese and that a lethal shot would be a cruel form of punishment. U.S. Rep. Steve LaTourette, the former county prosecutor who put Lundgren on death row and convicted most of his 10 followers in the cult, said Lundgren's efforts to eat his way out of the death penalty were ludicrous. If Jeffrey Lundgren's excuse is that he is too fat to execute, perhaps we should consider executing him in the manner in which he executed his victims - with a bullet to the brain, LaTourette said. Attorney General Jim Petro is expected to appeal the ruling, a spokesman said. Lundgren now joins a civil rights lawsuit filed by 5 other death row inmates who claim the drugs used to kill inmates are painful and
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.H., FLA., TENN., ALA.
Oct. 18 NEW HAMPSHIRE: Police officer dies of gunshot wound In Manchester, police officer Michael Briggs, shot Monday while approaching a suspect in a dark alley, died Tuesday afternoon at a hospital where dozens of fellow officers stood vigil. Hours later, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said she plans to charge his accused killer with capital murder and seek the death penalty. New Hampshire's last execution was 67 years ago and no one is on death row. Elliot Hospital officials announced Briggs' death a day and a half after the 35-year-old officer, who was married with 2 sons, was shot 15 minutes before his shift ended at 3 a.m. He and another officer responded by bicycle to a report of a shot fired during a domestic disturbance in the inner city. Another officer later joined them. Privately, officers doubted from the beginning he would survive. Briggs was pronounced dead at 1:31 p.m. Our hearts are broken by the loss of Michael. He was a wonderful son, husband, father, brother and friend, his family said in a statement through the hospital. It is a great honor to know that he was loved by so many. At a late afternoon news conference, authorities said they found the handgun used to kill Briggs near the scene. Police Chief John Jaskolka said Briggs' gun was still in its holster, but two other officers returned fire. Briggs knew the area from patrols and he and Michael Stix Addison weren't strangers, senior Assistant Attorney General Jeff Strelzin said. Briggs, a former Marine and corrections officer, was the first Manchester police officer killed in the line of duty in 30 years and the 1st in the state since Epsom officer Jeremy Charron was gunned down in August 1997. Briggs, then a part-time Epsom officer, was a pallbearer at Charron's funeral. Addison, 26, of Manchester, has been implicated in several recent violent crimes. Addison was arrested Monday evening in Boston and arraigned Tuesday in Dorchester District Court. He was ordered held on $2 million bail while he fights his return to New Hampshire. In announcing her decision to seek the death penalty, Ayotte said Briggs deserves our respect and ... the full protection of our laws. Gov. John Lynch expressed full support for the decision. The last person charged with capital murder was Charron's killer, who avoided the possibility by pleading guilty to 1st-degree murder. At the police station named for the last slain Manchester officer, Ralph W. Miller, someone left a red candle, a stuffed puppy and a handwritten sign: My family is praying for you, Officer Briggs, and your family. About 100 officers saluted as the flag outside was lowered to half-staff. Inside the station, as Briggs' fellow bicycle patrol officers were preparing to start work, they remembered him as a dedicated father and respectful officer of the law. Everybody knew Briggsy, said Officer Anna Martin, who also worked with Briggs at the Hillsborough County Department of Corrections. Mike was just a good man. He was just a good man. There's nothing to embellish or take away, he was just a good man. On patrol in Manchester's inner city, even former inmates absolutely would approach him, and talk to him respectfully because of how he did his job here, and there and in the military, she said. Nate Linstad, Briggs' partner, was off the night of the shooting. Officers woke him early Monday and took him to the hospital. Tuesday, as Linstad prepared to return to work, he said he didn't expect to feel any different on the streets. It's our job, he said. What was different, however, was the absence of the partner, who teased him and started every shift with an update about his children. Every night when we came on together he would talk about his kids, Linstad said. At the crime scene Tuesday, firefighters washed blood from the street while federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents with dogs searched for evidence. Briggs, a city police officer for five years, was honored with 3 other officers for rescuing 19 people from a burning apartment building fire in 2004 only blocks from where he was shot. He also had worked as a correctional officer. Police arrested another man at the shooting scene on unrelated charges. They said the man, Antoine Bell-Rogers, 21, had gone with Addison to an apartment building Sunday night and fired shots at it repeatedly. Neighbors said the shots narrowly missed a father and son. According to arrest warrants, the alleged shooting stemmed from threats made by a resident of the building. Both Addison and Rogers were charged, but neither had been arrested when Briggs confronted them. Police were looking for a 3rd person, Angela Swist, who, with Addison, was the target of the alleged threat. Addison also is charged with robbing a Hudson convenience store at gunpoint last week. Authorities are investigating whether he committed 2 other armed robberies, in Manchester and Milford, last week. Addison was arrested in Manchester in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 18 IRAQ: Iraqi Judge Sentences U.S. Citizen To Death After U.S. Military Demanded the Man Be Executed An Iraqi-born US citizen is in a battle to save his life as he tries to avoid execution in Baghdad. But he's not up against insurgents groups - he's up against the Iraqi and US governments. The man, Mohammad Munaf, was arrested by US troops last year. He was charged with kidnapping three Romanian journalists and holding them hostage for nearly two months. Last week, Munaf was sentenced to death. He's being held in a US-run prison at the Baghdad airport. Munaf maintains his innocence. Just weeks ago, it appeared he would be set free. Munaf's attorneys say the presiding judge promised to dismiss the charges after he concluded there was no material evidence to support a conviction. But then came a strange intervention. 2 US military officers appeared in court to advocate giving Munaf the death penalty. One of the officers claimed to be acting on behalf of the Romanian embassy and said Romania demanded Munaf be put to death. The two officers then held a private meeting with the judge - without the defense in the room. When he returned, the judge ruled Munaf was guilty and ordered his execution. The Romanian government says it did not authorize any US official to speak on its behalf and that it is not seeking the death penalty. Munaf's attorneys are asking a federal court to stop the US military from handing him over to the Iraqi government. In an emergency motion filed last week, the attorneys write: Mr. Munaf was convicted and sentenced to death by an Iraqi court operating under glaring procedural deficiencies and the direct manipulation of US military personnel. Lawyers have also filed a motion arguing the US has no legal right to turn Munaf over to a government where he might face torture. For more on this case, I'm joined now by one of Mohammad Munaf's attorneys. Jonathan Hafetz is Associate Counsel for the Liberty National Security Project at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. (source : Democracy Now -- Jonathan Hafetz, attorney for Mohammed Munaf and Associate Counsel for the Liberty National Security Project at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law) INDONESIA: Judge gives hope Bali six will avoid death penalty 6 Australians on death row in Bali for heroin smuggling have been given hope of avoiding firing squads after the judge who sentenced two fellow couriers to life imprisonment said their roles did not warrant execution. Muhammad Taufik's reasons for the judgement rejecting the death penalty in the cases of Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens were released to their lawyers yesterday. Judge Taufik said the difference in sentencing gave the other members of the Bali nine grounds for requesting a judicial review of their death penalties. The presiding judge in the Supreme Court appeals of Czugaj and Stephens said the pair were only intermediaries in the smuggling scheme and did not deserve death sentences. In Bali yesterday, Colin McDonald, the Australian head of the team representing courier Scott Rush, said the disparity outlined by Judge Taufik would be the central plank in a request for the Supreme Court to review its verdicts. The other three couriers facing the firing squad would be able to make the same argument, he said. The sentencing differential gives solid grounds for a judicial review, Mr McDonald said. Scott was in the same factual circumstances. By what logical reason could he have got the death penalty when he was never anything more than a low-level courier? Czugaj and Stephens's lawyers said they had not studied the judgements and would not comment until they consulted their clients. Judge Taufik said life imprisonment was a sufficient penalty for Stephens and Czugaj. Their roles in this case are intermediaries, not permanent syndicate members. They are kids, around their 20s, with jobs, who were promised a holiday in Bali. I think life imprisonment is enough Later on there will also be a remission. The court judgement for Stephens states it could not justify reducing his penalty from life imprisonment. In Czugaj's case, the judgement says his term should be increased from 20 years to life because he had not considered the consequence of the drugs import and distribution which [would] have a negative impact on the nation's life. The other three condemned couriers, Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, also claimed to be pawns in the plan to import more than 8 kilograms of heroin into Australia. A different panel of judges heard their Supreme Court appeals. Two ringleaders of the scheme, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, received death sentences in their original trial. Their sentences were upheld in an appeal to the Supreme Court. Last month's Supreme Court decision to upgrade the four couriers' sentences to death came as a shock, as prosecutors had only requested life penalties. Their
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----FLORIDA
Oct. 18 FLORIDAexecution Man convicted in 1985 murder is executed Convicted killer Arthur Rutherford was executed Wednesday by lethal injection for the 1985 murder of a Milton woman. Rutherford, a 57-year-old Vietnam veteran and handyman, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m., the governor's office said. He was executed after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his challenges over the state's lethal injection procedure and other issues. He was condemned for the Aug. 22, 1985, attack on 63-year-old Stella Salamon, a widow whose naked body was found submerged in the bathtub of her Panhandle home. Rutherford nodded to someone in the front row, but made no final statement. He declined to take a sedative before receiving the injection. He opened and closed his eyes several times but stopped moving at 6:02 p.m. and his skin turned progressively more pale until officials called the time of death at 6:13 p.m. Rutherford was executed after the Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down four separate efforts by him to halt his execution. Justice John Paul Stevens, alone among his colleagues, voted to grant a stay of execution. On Wednesday morning, Rutherford had last visits with more than a dozen relatives, including his father, children, grandchildren, sisters and brothers. None of his relatives attended the execution. His mood is calm, said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped his execution just minutes before he was to be killed. It was later decided death row inmates could challenge the use of the lethal chemicals in federal courts, although Rutherford and others haven't succeeded in using that argument to stop executions. Salamon had hired Rutherford to do a series of odd jobs, including replacing her sliding glass patio doors. She expressed concern about him to her friends. Police found Rutherford's fingerprints and palm prints in the bathroom where Salamon was killed. At his trial, two witnesses, Elizabeth Ward and her mother, Mary Heaton, testified that Rutherford asked for their help in cashing a $2,000 check on Salamon's bank account. Rutherford forged Salamon's name on the check and took Heaton to a bank, where she cashed the check. Salamon had a broken arm, bruises on her face and arms, and 3 severe head wounds. The medical examiner said she died from drowning or asphyxiation. Linda McDermott, one of Rutherford's attorneys, had earlier Wednesday said Rutherford challenged the method of execution. In one petition, Rutherford argued the state's system of applying the death sentence is arbitrary and unconstitutional. Another one asked the justices to send an appeal over Florida's three execution chemicals back to a lower court to be heard. A 3rd petition asked the court to hear objections to what McDermott claimed are changes to Florida's execution protocol. She was outraged by a 9-page document released Tuesday by the Corrections Department to explain the execution procedures in great detail. Among the new details are how executioners are hired, the drug and alcohol testing of members of the execution team, detailed descriptions of the order and the amount of chemicals injected, a cut down procedure if a vein cannot be located and a check list for the execution team. It is disturbing, said McDermott, who questioned how the new document was drafted and who was consulted. The state, the Florida Supreme Court and 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Aug. 16 document does not change the procedure. They said it only gives the public more details of the procedure used since 2000, when the state switched from the electric chair to lethal injection. The Florida Supreme Court said that their overview of current lethal injection procedures reveals nothing that would cause this court to revisit our previous conclusions that procedures for administering the lethal injection ... do not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court's earlier reprieve for Rutherford came when it took up Clarence Hill's appeal. Hill was convicted in the death of a Pensacola police officer. Hill and Rutherford sought permission to challenge that the chemicals used in Florida's execution process caused extreme pain. Hill was executed Sept. 20 and never got a hearing on the chemical issue and neither has Rutherford, who was sentenced to die in 1986 for killing Salamon, who was from Australia. Rutherford becomes 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Florida and the 62nd overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979, and 258th since 1924, when the state took over the duty from individual counties. Rutherford becomes the 44th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1048th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press Rick Halperin) * Florida has executed 62
