[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS., PENN., ILL., USA
April 30 TEXAS: Court Takes Death Penalty Case The Supreme Court stepped into a Texas death penalty case Monday that mixes Bush administration claims of executive power with the role of international law in state court proceedings. The case accepted by the justices for argument this fall concerns the fate of Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican national who was sentenced in 1994 to die for the rapes and killings of 2 teenage girls. The state wants to go ahead with Medellin's execution, despite a ruling from the International Court of Justice in The Hague that the convictions of Medellin and 50 other Mexican-born prisoners violated the 1963 Vienna Convention because they were denied legal help available to them under the treaty. The pact requires consular access for Americans detained abroad and foreigners arrested in the United States. Mexico sued the United States in the international court, alleging the prisoners' rights had been violated. Unusual for a death penalty case, the administration is siding with Medellin in asserting that the president's primacy in conducting foreign policy is being challenged. President Bush ordered new state court hearings for the defendants based on the international court ruling. But a Texas appeals court said the president exceeded his authority by intruding into the affairs of the independent judiciary. The administration noted in its brief to the court that Bush does not agree with the international tribunal's interpretations of the Vienna Convention. However, the United States had agreed to the Hague court's resolution of the dispute and said it would abide by the outcome. The Mexican government and international law experts have weighed in on behalf of Medellin. The justices agreed to consider Medellin's case once before. But they dismissed the proceeding in 2005, after Bush ordered the state court reviews. The justices reserved the right to hear the appeal again once the case had run its full course, as it now has, in state court. The case is Medellin v. Texas, 06-984. (source: Associated Press) * Attorney seeks to move murder trial An attorney representing the man accused of killing a Lubbock woman and then dumping her body in a landfill plans to ask a judge this morning for his client's trial to be moved out of Lubbock. Rosendo Rodriguez is charged with capital murder in connection with the 2005 beating death of Summer Baldwin. He is also a suspect in the disappearance of Lubbock teen Joanna Rogers, who vanished from her home in May 2004. This morning, Rodriguez's attorney Richard Wardroup is expected to ask 140th District Court Judge Jim Bob Darnell to move the trial out of Lubbock. Darnell issued a gag order to attorneys involved in the case. Authorities arrested Rodriguez more than a year ago on suspicion of murdering 29-year-old Baldwin. He was later indicted on a charge of capital murder and accused of raping the mother of 4 and killing her unborn child. Baldwin was 5 weeks pregnant at the time of her death. A sanitation worker discovered Baldwin's body Sept. 13, 2005, inside a suitcase at a city-owned landfill, about 15 miles north of Lubbock. According to police reports, security cameras recorded Rodriguez buying the suitcase and a pair of latex gloves from the store at 3:30 a.m., the day before Baldwin's body was discovered. In October, Rodriguez was expected to plead guilty to Baldwin's death. But at the hearing, Rodriguez told the judge he didn't understand the proceeding and withdrew his plea. At that time, Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney Matt Powell said he intended to seek the death penalty in Rodriguez's trial. In a prior court hearing, investigators named Rodriguez as a suspect in the disappearance of Rogers. Information on the teen's computer led police to believe the pair had corresponded online. Last October, another body was found at the same city-owned landfill where Baldwin was found dead and stuffed into a suitcase in September 2005. The Lubbock County Medical Examiner's Office used dental records to identify the 2nd body as Rogers', who was 16 when she disappeared in 2004. Rodriguez has not been charged in connection with Rogers' disappearance. He is being held at the Lubbock County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond. (source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) *** Returning to society after prison or jail still a challengeEx-convicts are making slow progress with the help of emerging programs and mentors Julie Ghant walked out of a Gatesville prison in February with $50, the ragged used men's clothing she got from prison officials on her back and a bus ticket to anywhere. Ghant said she came to Austin in February because she heard that Travis County offered ex-offenders lots of help. The 37-year-old mother of six said she had been medicating herself with drugs and alcohol in Abilene when she landed in prison in 2003 to serve a 4-year sentence for drug possession - her
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide
April 30 MALAWI: Court rules against death penalty The Constitutional Court sitting in Blantyre on Friday pronounced mandatory death sentence as unconstitutional, inhumane and a degradation to human dignity. The court was ruling in a case where a murder convict Francis Kanfantayeni and 5 others were challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty. We hold and declare that Section 210 of the Penal Code is invalid to the extent of mandatory death penalty...The declaration does not outlaw the death penalty but the mandatory death sentence following a murder offence, said Justice Elton Singini as he read out a judgement reached at unanimously with justices Frank Kapanda and Maclean Kamwambi. Section 210 of the penal code states that Any person convicted of murder shall be sentenced to death. The judges observed that the mandatory death penalty violates an individual's right that protects one from inhuman treatment or punishment and denies them a right to fair trial. Section 19 sub section 2 provides that in any judicial proceedings or during penalty enforcement, respect of human dignity shall be guaranteed, said Singini. Her further argued that the provision violates the Constitution which guarantees fair trial. The mandatory death penalty prohibits courts from determining any other sentence but death. It denies the convict a right to have the sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal, said Singini, arguing this violates the constitutional provision of Section 41 sub section 2, which says any person shall have access to any court of law or any other tribunal with jurisdiction for final settlement of legal issues. Speaking after the ruling, one of the lawyers representing the applicants, Gift Mwakhwawa, said the ruling meant there would no longer be automatic death penalties as has been the case in the past. The judges will now have to consider the nature of the offence and the circumstances under which the offender committed the offence, said Mwakhwawa. Another lawyer, who represented the applicants, Noel Chalamanda, said the ruling was a great judgement that would see a change in the way murder cases are handled in the country. It's champagne time! This is a landmark judgement. I am at loss of words. This ruling will have a huge impact on murder case, especially for poor people, said a visibly excited Chalamanda. Malawi Human Rights Commission, which was a friend of the court in the matter, said it was happy with the ruling. This means all prisoners on the death row can be brought back to court for sentencing again with the court looking at individual circumstances. The commission will have to decide on how we can move forward, said Redson Kapindu, the commissions director of legal services. Kanfantayeni started the case in 2005 about 3 years after he was convicted and sentenced to death for tying up his 2-year-old son and burying him alive under what he claimed to be marijuana influence. 5 other murder convictsEdson Khwalala, Faison Maomba Gama, Richard Chipoka, Tony Thobowa and Aaron Johnjoined the case last year. The court set aside 6 death penalties imposed on the applicants and ordered that their cases go to court. The applicants should be brought once more before a High Court judge to pass individual sentence as appropriate with the circumstances surrounding their murder offences, said Singini. (source: The Nation) TANZANIA: Tanzanian Govt Mulls Over Abolishing Death Penalty Tanzania is reportedly considering outlawing the death penalty. The minister for justice Mary Nagu said a commission has been set up to collect views of Tanzanian's on the death penalty. Sources say the government has come under increasing pressure from human right groups to abolish the death penalty, which dates back to the colonial period. Under Tanzania laws, murder and high treason are the only offences punishable by a death sentence. From the capital Dodoma, justice minister Mary Nagu told VOA that Tanzanians are being called upon to participate in the discussion whether to abolish the death penalty or not. As you know, Tanzania is a signatory to various international conventions and it has ratified some; this includes African Charter on human and Peoples Rights and the UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights. We believe strongly in human rights, and my country is reputed for that. So in relation to that we have entrusted our law reform commission to collect views and opinions from the people and as much as possible with the view to looking into the death penalty. And you know the death penalty is against the human rights, he said. Nagu said the Tanzanian government would not want to abolish the death penalty without the consent of the ordinary people. The government would not want to take action by itself. It wants to get the view and opinions from the people. I do believe Tanzanians do believe in human rights as well, she pointed out. She said the government would largely base
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----TEXAS, N.Y., FLA., NEB., N.C.
April 30 TEXAS: Death Sentences on Mexicans Draw Scrutiny by U.S. Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether dozens of Mexicans on death row are entitled to a new hearing because they weren't notified of their right to seek consular assistance upon their arrest. The justices today said they will hear arguments from Mexican national Jose Ernesto Medellin, a convicted murderer facing execution in Texas. State courts rejected his bid for a hearing even though President George W. Bush called for reconsideration of the case, along with those of 50 other Mexicans. Bush acted in 2005, a year after the International Court of Justice concluded the inmates' rights had been violated. The Texas court's decision would result in the execution of a foreign national by a process that defied the federal government's paramount authority in the matter of our international relations,'' Medellin's attorneys argued in their appeal, filed in Washington. The Bush administration and the Mexican government joined Medellin in urging the high court to take up the case. Texas officials say the administration is encroaching on the rights of states to enforce their own rules of criminal procedure. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says that under state law Medellin waived his right to argue about consular notification because he didn't raise the issue until his conviction and death sentence had been upheld on appeal. It is hard to conceive of a law less appropriate to be abrogated by presidential fiat,'' Abbott argued. Medellin was convicted in a Texas state court of taking part in the 1993 gang rape and murder of two teen- age girls in Houston. 2nd Trip The case is making its second trip to the nation's highest court. The justices agreed in 2004 to hear arguments from Medellin, then backed out of the case so that the lower courts could consider the implications of Bush's determination. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals then concluded Medellin wasn't entitled to a new hearing, saying neither Bush's position nor the World Court ruling could trump the state's rules of criminal procedure. Article 36 of the Vienna Convention requires government officials to immediately notify a detained foreign national of his right to seek assistance from his consulate. Medellin says that he wasn't aware of that right during his trial and that Mexican authorities didn't learn of his detention until he wrote to them after his conviction was upheld in 1997. Texas prosecutors say Medellin had the assistance of two court-appointed lawyers who opted not to seek consular help. The state also says he hasn't shown he was harmed by any violation of his rights. As of March 28, 124 foreign nationals, 55 of them from Mexico, were on death row in the U.S., according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The issue of consular rights has been raised in several dozen of those cases. Of the 55 Mexicans, 14 are in Texas and 34 in California. The justices will hear arguments during their 2007-08 term, which starts in October. The case is Medellin v. Texas, 06-984. (source: Associated Press) NEW YORK: Don't revive deathEven for cop killers and terrorists The killing of a law enforcement officer is always a tragic event. But passing a death penalty bill, as the Republican-controlled State Senate seems inclined to do sometime soon, is not the right answer. It might give a few senators some momentary emotional relief and score a few political points, but it won't save the lives of police officers. There has been some sentiment for reinstating the death penalty since the state's Court of Appeals found a key provision unconstitutional in 2004 and said: Under the present statute, the death penalty may not be imposed. The Assembly, controlled by Democrats, reacted by studying the issue at length in public hearings. In the process, some key death penalty backers changed their position, and the reinstatement bill died in committee in 2005. But the Senate has never given up on reviving the death penalty. Last week, 3 state troopers were shot. One died, apparently from friendly fire. The Senate wants to pass a bill allowing the death penalty for cop-killers and terrorists. It's futile. For one thing, some studies have shown that law enforcement officials are killed at higher rates in states with the death penalty than in those without. For another, even though Gov. Eliot Spitzer backs the death penalty, the Assembly does not. The Senate is just posturing. (source: Editorial, Newsday) *** PAC irked by support for death penalty Assemblyman Tim Gordon surprised death penalty opponents last week when he declared his support for capital punishment for cop killers -- 6 months after he accepted a campaign contribution from an anti-death penalty group. Gordon, an independent, received $500 from New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty's political action committee in October. The PAC gave out $16,000 last
