[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA, CALIF., N.C., IDAHO
March 22 USA: Top pharmaceutical company moves to stop flow of execution drugs One of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies has taken steps to ensure its drugs cannot be used to carry out executions by lethal injection. UK company Teva, which describes itself as a “top 10 global pharmaceutical company [with] $20.3bn in sales in 2012,” will put in place distribution controls to ensure its products cannot be used to kill prisoners on America’s death rows. Teva is recommencing production of an anaesthetic called propofol, which in large enough doses can be used to kill. As supplies of other execution drugs run out, US prisons are starting to turn to propofol to carry out capital punishment. The move brings the firm, which has its headquarters in Israel, into line with other pharmaceutical companies including Lundbeck and Fresenius Kabi, who have taken effective steps to block the use of their products for executions. Teva has stated that they too will establish procedures to help prevent propofol from being sold to correctional institutions for use in executions and sell only to acute care hospitals, clinics and healthcare facilities where the product's use is medically necessary. Their efforts mirror those of German manufacturer, Fresenius Kabi, which already controls distribution of propofol to prevent its sale to prisons for use in executions. Maya Foa, Deputy Director of the Death Penalty Team at the leagal charity Reprieve said: “This is good news, and demonstrates Teva’s genuine commitment to corporate ethics. Teva has shown that – like any responsible pharmaceutical company – it wishes to be in the business of saving lives, not ending them in executions. The welcome move shows that companies which don’t wish to prop up the US death penalty system can take simple, practical steps to ensure their products are not used to kill prisoners, as a number of companies have now done.” (source: Ekklesia) CALIFORNIA: State High Court upholds death sentence in Richmond workplace slayings The California Supreme Court Thursday unanimously upheld the death penalty of a former Richmond Housing Authority receptionist who murdered his supervisor and a co-worker minutes after he was fired in 1995. Michael Pearson, 54, of Richmond, was sentenced to death after being convicted in Contra Costa County Superior Court in 1996 of fatally shooting his supervisor, Ruth Talley, and co-worker, Barbara Garcia, on April 25, 1995. The housing authority's director, Art Hatchett, had fired Pearson that afternoon for poor performance. Pearson had received negative performance evaluations, but Hatchett later testified that the true reason for the firing was that Pearson had been threatening to pull a 101 California because of his evaluations. The threat referred to a gunman's massacre of eight people at a San Francisco office building at 101 California St. in 1993. Pearson's defense attorneys sought to argue at the trial that the slayings resulted from a brief psychotic episode, while prosecutors contended -- and the jury agreed -- that his actions were intentional. Evidence showed that Pearson had bought a gun at a pawn shop a few days earlier and had practiced target shooting at a shooting range the evening before the killings. The high court, in a ruling issued in San Francisco, rejected a series of appeal arguments in which Pearson claimed there were errors in jury selection and in evidence rulings. Justice Ming Chin wrote in the court's opinion that there was overwhelming evidence that defendant premeditated and deliberated the murders. Defendant repeatedly told his coworkers months in advance that he intended to kill anyone who tried to fire him, Chin wrote. Defendant bragged about going to the shooting range the evening before the murders. Eyewitnesses described how he hunted down the victims and fired multiple shots execution-style into each victim, Chin said in the ruling. Pearson's appeal to the California Supreme Court was the first step in the state's death penalty appeal process. He can continue appeals in the federal court system through a habeas corpus petition. (source: KTVU News) * Death Penalty? Murder charges filed in deaths of HSU instructor, Hoopa woman The District Attorney's Office has charged the man accused of running down 3 joggers on Old Arcata Road -- killing a Humboldt State University instructor and severely injuring two others -- and the death of a Hoopa woman with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. District Attorney Paul Gallegos - who will be prosecuting the case against 28-year-old Jason Anthony Warren - said he has not decided whether he will seek the death penalty. That's a decision that will be made at a later time, he said. Certainly, we've spoken with family members and we will continue to have dialogue with them. Penalty is a matter that
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., GA., IND., OHIO
March 22 TEXAS: Advocates Claim Texas Death Row Inmate Was Victim of Racial Bias After Duane Buck was convicted of murder for the 1995 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend and her acquaintance in Houston, a psychologist testified that blacks were more likely than whites to be violent re-offenders if they were ever released back into the public - a claim emphasized by the prosecutor during closing arguments. Buck was sentenced to death in 1997, but now a prominent group of advocates, including former Texas Gov. Mark White and one of the original prosecutors, contend his death sentence was unfairly based on race. More than 100 civil rights leaders, lawyers, politicians and clergy are now calling on the state to step in and give Buck a new sentencing hearing. The way to determine punishment in this country is with a fair trial and sentencing, and Mr. Buck did not receive that, said White, a Democrat and former state attorney general who presided over 19 executions during his tenure as governor from 1983 to 1987. In recent years, he has become more vocal in questioning the propriety of the death penalty in some Texas cases. White on Wednesday delivered a statement to Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson, who was not in office at the time of Buck's 1997 trial, that was signed by more than 100 civil rights leaders, elected officials, clergy and others. White said a new hearing is absolutely necessary to restore public confidence in the criminal justice system. An appeal filed in Buck's case last week included research showing that at the time of his sentence, black defendants in Houston were three times more likely to be charged with a capital crime than whites. Some call the region the death penalty capital of the U.S. because Harris County, Texas, has carried out 116 executions since 1976, more than any entire state other than Texas itself. Buck's attorney Katherine Kase said, We never say, 'Oh, you're African-American, oh you're Mexican-American, so you should be put to death.' We all recognize that that would be wrong. The state of Texas cannot condone any form of racial discrimination in the courtroom. The use of race in sentencing poisons the legal process and breeds cynicism in the judiciary, says the statement delivered by White. Among those who signed the statement were Linda Geffin, one of the prosecutors in the original trial of Buck, as well as Phyllis Taylor, who was shot by Buck but survived. The statement says Taylor has forgiven Mr. Buck and does not wish to see him executed. NAACP President Ben Jealous, 10 members of the Texas legislature, 17 former prosecutors and judges from Texas also signed. This case is a blatant example of racial bias being allowed to seep into a justice system that is supposed to be fair and equitable to all, Jealous said. Sara Marie Kinney, spokeswoman for District Attorney Anderson, said the district attorney has given Buck's lawyers an opportunity to present the case again to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal appeals court. We simply are waiting on their ruling and we will act accordingly, she said. In 2000, when then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, now a Republican U.S. senator, said 6 cases needed to be reopened because of racially charged statements made during the sentencing phase, Buck's case was in the group. New punishment hearings were held in the other 5, but not Buck's. In those other 5, each convict was again sentenced to death. In Texas, when considering a death sentence, jurors must decide on the future danger of an offender. Buck was within six hours of his execution 2 years ago, but got a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided months later not to review his case and lifted the reprieve. Now the justices have refused a request from Buck's lawyers to reconsider that decision. There currently is no execution date for Buck, who was convicted of killing ex-girlfriend Debra Gardner, 32, and Kenneth Butler, 33, a week after Buck and Gardner broke up. But a family member of 1 of the victims believes he was fairly convicted and wants him put to death. (source: Atlanta Black Star) https://www.change.org/petitions/harris-county-district-attorney-mike-anderson-grant-duane-buck-a-resentencing-hearing (source: Change.org) DELAWARE: Police chief calls out Biden on death penalty Death penalty repeal advocates crowded the Senate chamber on Wednesday to call on lawmakers to abolish capital punishment, and overturn all 17 current death sentences, replacing them with life without parole. Several police chiefs showed to oppose the repeal but were greatly outnumbered by those in favor of repeal. Lewes Police Chief Jeff Horvath, chairman of the Delaware Police Chiefs' Council, leads a Dover rally against repeal of Delaware's death penalty. Noticeably missing from the testimony was Attorney General
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IND., COLO., ARIZ., WASH.
March 22 INDIANA: State seeks death penalty in S. Ind. teen's death Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a convicted sex offender accused of sexually assaulting and killing a 17-year-old southern Indiana girl. The News and Tribune reported Thursday that prosecutors made the request during a hearing for 49-year-old Richard Carley Hooten Jr. of Clarksville. He's charged in Clark Circuit Court with the March 2 rape and murder of a neighbor, 17-year-old Tara Willenborg. Hooten has admitted to reporters that he raped and murdered Willenborg in the Clarksville apartment where she lived with her boyfriend. He's also charged with criminal deviate conduct and being a habitual offender. Hooten served 15 years in a Georgia prison on convictions of rape, aggravated sodomy and aggravated assault. He also has a previous Clark County conviction for sexual battery and residential entry. (source: Associated Press) COLORADO: Hickenlooper veto comment on death penalty scrambles repeal effort Colorado prosecutors studying death penalty law in Nathan Dunlap caseHouse Democrats on Thursday acknowledged they're torn on how to proceed with a measure to repeal the state's death penalty after Gov. John Hickenlooper indicated he could veto the bill if it arrived at his desk. I'm not sure what's going to happen with this bill, or when and if we will vote on it, said Rep. Daniel Kagan, D-Cherry Hills Village, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. As a caucus we have to discuss some things. House Democrats are considering a caucus meeting Friday to talk about the issue. On Tuesday - after more than 9 hours of testimony from proponents and opponents - Kagan asked that a vote be delayed on the measure, which would repeal the death penalty for any crimes committed after July 1. The committee will meet again Tuesday, though Kagan said a decision hasn't been made on whether to continue forward with the measure. A decision to withhold a vote on House Bill 1264 followed a luncheon Tuesday where Hickenlooper, a Democrat, told House members of his party that he had issues with the legislation and mentioned a possible veto. After Hickenlooper signed a civil-unions bill into law Thursday, he was asked about the death penalty. At least the last time I was out there it seemed like a pretty significant majority of people still favored the death penalty, Hickenlooper said. I think it's worth a little more discussion before we mail in the votes, as it were. Moreover, Hickenlooper said he generally thinks that issues have a sense of time. Should we have done civil unions 5 years ago? Sure. Was the majority of people in the state 5 years ago for it? Probably not. Are they now? Yes, he said. I'm wondering whether we don't need just a little more maturation. Whether to repeal capital punishment is not a party-line issue. Reps. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, and Jovan Melton, D-Aurora, sponsors of HB 1264, have bipartisan support for the bill. Melton said he has enough votes for Democrats to push forward with his bill to repeal the death penalty, despite Hickenlooper's remarks. We're not going to pull back at all. It's a decision the governor's going to have to make when it arrives at his desk, Melton said Thursday. By contrast, Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, who has a personal connection to the state's death row because 2 men on it were Representatives Claire Levy, right, D-Boulder and Jovan Melton, D-Aurora, co-sponsors of a bill to repeal the death penalty in Colorado introduce their bill before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. (AP | Ed Andrieski)convicted of killing her son in 2005, wants voters in 2014 to decide whether to repeal the death penalty. Fields, who is the lone sponsor of a bill that would create such a ballot issue, has expressed that she is staunchly against repeal of capital punishment in Colorado. She has introduced her measure as an alternative to having lawmakers give a final say on the ultimate penalty. On Twitter on Thursday, Fields criticized Melton, saying that when he was her campaign manager, he never called the death penalty failed policy. She later deleted the post and offered an apology. Hickenlooper's mention of vetoing the measure has drawn scorn from some of those who testified in favor of the bill. Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett, the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2010, on Facebook called Hickenlooper's idea of vetoing the measure a shame. Many committed Democrats risked their careers on this important effort. We need to do the right thing while we can, and can't always have our fingers in the air, testing the political winds, wrote Garnett. Rep. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs, said if HB 1264 arrived on the House floor, he would vote in favor of it. But it's an issue I've lost sleep over, Exum said, and I'm sure a lot of my
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
March 22 INDIA: 'Death penalty can't be commuted to life term due to delay' Convicts who are awarded death penalty cannot claim commuting of their sentence on the ground of delay in the judicial process, the Supreme Court Thursday said. A bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan cited an apex court judgement of 1989 which had ruled that sentence can't be commuted merely on the ground of delay alone. The bench gave its view while dealing with the plea of the 11 persons who were given capital punishment by a TADA court in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. Though the bench commuted the death sentence of 10 convicts to life imprisonment, except that of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, it pointed out that no rule can be laid down that in every case where there is a long delay in execution of death sentence, the punishment must be substituted by that of life term. It is a settled law by a Constitution Bench in Triveniben vs State of Gujarat (1989) that sentence can't be commuted merely on the ground of delay alone. It was further observed that no absolute or unqualified rule can be laid down that in every case in which there is a long delay in the execution of death sentence, the sentence must be substituted by the sentence of life imprisonment. Thus, no accused can claim as a matter of right to commute his/her death sentence on the ground of delay in the judicial process, the bench said. The court, meanwhile, said that in the present case the lengthy incarceration of over 2 decades can be considered as an exceptional scenario. Noting the lengthy incarceration suffered by the accused over a period of two decades, as an exceptional scenario, we are inclined to consider the long delay, it said. (source: Zee News) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., GA., FLA., MO., IND.
March 22 TEXASimpending female execution Texas Women's Death Row Inmate Seeks Delay In Execution Convicted killer Kimberly McCarthy, who's held on women's death row in Gatesville, is asking a state district judge in Dallas to halt her execution, which is now scheduled for April 3. McCarthy, who avoided execution with a last-day reprieve in January, asked State District Judge Larry Mitchell in a court filing Friday to put off the April 3 lethal injection until the fate of a bill related to issues in her case that was introduced March 6 in the Texas Legislature is determined. Attorney Maurie Levin contends McCarthy's 1998 trial jury may have been unfairly selected on the basis of race. A bill proposed by Sen. Royce West and Rep. Eric Johnson, both Dallas Democrats, would bar racial discrimination in capital case prosecution. Levin argues that McCarthy, who's black, was the subject of racial discrimination by the jury of 11 whites and only 1 black that convicted her. McCarthy was convicted and sentenced to death in November 1998 for the July 21, 1997 murder of her neighbor, Dorothy Booth, 71, at Booth's home in Lancaster. Evidence showed McCarthy went to Booth's home on the pretense of borrowing sugar and then stabbed the retired professor 5 times and hit her in the face with a candelabrum. She cut off Booth's left ring finger to take a diamond ring and nearly severed Booth's left little finger as well, evidence showed. She fled with Booth's purse and wedding ring and later bought drugs with the stolen money, used the stolen credit cards and pawned the stolen ring, evidence showed. On Jan. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court without comment, refused to review McCarthy's case. McCarthy is 1 of 10 women on women's death row at the Mountainview Unit in Gatesville, but the only one with an execution date. (source: KWTX News) PENNSYLVANIA: Man will face the death penalty in stabbing case Fayette County District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. announced Thursday that he will seek the death penalty against Henry Clay Crawford, the man accused in the stabbing death of a North Union Township woman in January. The announcement came just before the formal arraignment for Crawford, 56, of North Union Township, who pleaded not guilty to criminal homicide and burglary for allegedly killing Lisa Tupta, 49, inside her 326 Easter St. home. In seeking the death penalty, Heneks alleged certain aggravating circumstances exist, including prior violations of protection-from-abuse orders, a felony murder, torture and a significant history of felony convictions. The acts of domestic violence occur in our county and across our nation on a disturbingly frequent basis, Heneks stated. There is no single method to reduce and terminate domestic violence. However, as a prosecutor, I am determined to use all available tools at my disposal to do so. State police said neighbors called to say someone had broken into Tupta's home on Jan. 28, and when they arrived to investigate, Crawford was found hiding in a closet with the knife. Tupta suffered a stab wound to the chest as well as other injuries during the assault, and died later at the Uniontown Hospital. Tupta had a protection-from-abuse order in place against Crawford at the time. After entering the not guilty plea, Crawford???s attorney, Public Defender Jeffrey Whiteko questioned the death penalty notice. The Commonwealth needs to a be a little more specific on the aggravating circumstances, Whiteko said. Specifically, he told President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. that simply saying Crawford tortured Tupta was not sufficient. Heneks indicated he was confident prosecutors could prove the element of torture, but he asked Wagner for 10 days to file more specific information about that aggravating circumstance. In a press release, Heneks said he consulted with investigators and prosecutors about seeking the death penalty, and did not make the decision lightly. I am acutely aware of the ultimate consequence my decision can bring, he said. Heneks said that through a grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, he will have additional resources to take a comprehensive approach toward domestic violence. With the help of newly appointed domestic and sexual violence prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Meghann Mikluscak, and a yet-to-be-hired detective dedicated to those types of cases, Heneks said his office will establish protocols to support victims through the criminal justice process. It saddens me when our office is requested by victims to drop charges against perpetrators of these crimes, Heneks said. While I understand the reasons articulated by those victims for doing so, the consequences of halting prosecutions are haunting, as demonstrated in the case against Crawford, he added. In seeking the death penalty against Crawford, Heneks said he wanted to make it clear to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARK., COLO., ARIZ., WYO., ORE.
March 22 ARKANSAS: Arkansas AG asks judge to dismiss prisoners' FOIA lawsuit about lethal injection drug records The attorney general's office on Friday asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from 6 death row inmates who want the court to order the Arkansas Department of Correction to turn over documents about lethal injection drugs. Assistant Attorney General David Curran argued that the documents the inmates are seeking are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Plus, Curran said, the inmates will almost certainly file another lawsuit, regardless of whether they get the documents they want. Arkansas hasn't executed a death row inmate since 2005 in part because of legal challenges. The state Supreme Court last year deemed Arkansas' 2009 lethal injection law unconstitutional, saying the Legislature had given the Department of Correction unfettered discretion to figure out the protocol and procedures for executions, including the chemicals to be used. The Legislature this year enacted a new lethal injection law that spells out in greater detail the procedures that must be followed. The new law says the state must use a lethal dose of a barbiturate, but leaves it up to the Department of Correction to determine which drug. Correction officials say they haven't figured out which drug to use yet. Arkansas doesn't have any pending executions, but Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office recently took a step toward changing that. His office asked the Supreme Court to lift stays of execution for 6 of the state's 37 death row inmates: Don Davis, Stacey Johnson, Jack Jones, Jason McGehee, Bruce Ward and Marcel Williams. Of those inmates, only Davis is not involved in the FOIA case. Kenneth Williams, another death row inmate, is the sixth person involved in that case. In the FOIA case, the inmates' attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, has argued that the prisoners have long been concerned about the correction department's ability and willingness to carry out a humane and constitutional execution. The inmates are seeking documents containing information about the origin, history and quality of lethal injection drugs. Those concerns were heightened when, in 2011, the prisoners discovered that the ADC intended to execute them using unregulated, non-FDA-approved chemicals that it obtained from a business operating out of the back of an overseas driving school, Rosenzweig wrote in a court filing. That year, Arkansas turned its supply of sodium thiopental over to federal officials amid questions about how it obtained it. Sodium thiopental, a sedative used in some lethal injections, has been hard to come by since its sole U.S. manufacturer stopped making it, so Arkansas and at least a half dozen other death-penalty states turned to overseas suppliers. Rosenzweig said a fellow attorney, Josh Lee, asked correction spokeswoman Shea Wilson for records related to lethal injection drugs earlier this month. But according to Rosenzweig's lawsuit, Wilson said the department didn't have any new information to release under the state's new lethal injection law. Curran, who represents the correction department and Wilson, said Wilson should be dismissed from the lawsuit. He says she's not a custodian of records that would fall within the scope of the inmates' FOIA request. A judge is expected to hold a hearing in the case on Monday. (source: Associated Press) COLORADO: Hickenlooper should get behind death penalty repeal Anyone who witnessed the House Judiciary Committee's marathon hearing Tuesday on a bill to ban the death penalty in Colorado could appreciate the passionate arguments on each side of the issue. But we hope Gov. John Hickenlooper, who still has not taken a position, sides with supporters of House Bill 1264, which would abolish capital punishment in Colorado. Another bill would send the issue to voters. We think that's a mistake. Lawmakers, the elected representatives in our republican form of government, have the right and the duty to decide tough questions like this. It should be no different in the case of the death penalty. We've said it before and will say it again: Reason and morality demand that the death penalty be abolished. There are many reasoned arguments against the death penalty, not the least of which is its uneven application. Similarly brutal murders can result in very dissimilar punishments, with a death sentence dependent more on where the killing took place than the details of the crime. But even without that troubling flaw, 1 argument stands immovable: There is no way to write the law to guarantee an innocent person is never executed. Consider the case of Joe Arridy, a 23-year-old man executed in 1939 for the killing of a 15-year-old Pueblo girl. Arridy was convicted despite evidence of a false and coerced confession, evidence that Arridy likely was not in Pueblo at the time of the killing, and an
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
March 22 INDIA: Death penalty for orphanage head The sessions court on Thursday sentenced the director of a Panvel orphanage, Ramchandra Karanjule, to death for the rape and murder of a mentally-challenged minor girl. Under the guise of running the orphanage, Kalyani Mahila and Balak Seva Sansthan, Karanjule and others had physically and sexually assaulted minors. While deciding on the quantum of punishment for Ramchandra, the sessions judge remarked: This man was a menace to the society and life imprisonment will be highly inadequate in this case. The convict has no right to live in society for the heinous crime he has committed. The judge further remarked, It is the need of the hour to create a deterrent effect by imposing the highest punishment, otherwise judicial conscience will be taken for granted. The sessions court had on Wednesday convicted 6 accused, including 2 women under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Juvenile Justice Act for mainly rape, gangrape, outraging a woman's modesty and molestation. Ramchandra is the only one to be charged with murder of 1 of the victims. The victim was allegedly suffering from tuberculosis when she was gangraped. Special public prosecutor Rohini Salian, who had argued the matter on behalf of the victims, said, Justice is done, but the future of these girls is uncertain. I hope that the government will do something for the victims. This verdict is the beginning. These days there are several orphanages where children are assaulted. I will have to read the judgment and will move the Bombay high court if necessary. The matter came to light when a newspaper reported the atrocities that were committed on the minors. It had stated that the director of Kalyani Mahila and Balak Seva Sansthan situated in New Panvel had raped 5 mentally-challenged girls. The director had also physically abused and molested 15 others in the orphanage. All the girls were between 14 and 18 years of age. 4 of the 5 girls raped are deaf and mute. Of the 3 girls who testified in the court, one was mentally-challenged, while two were deaf and mute who identified the main accused by signs. The Bombay HC had taken suo-moto cognisance of a PIL based on the article and had directed an investigation in the matter. (source: The Asian Age) *** 1993 Bombay blasts: After death sentence, more security for Yakub Memon in jail Nagpur Central Jail authorities have tightened security for Yakub Abdul Razak Memon after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court yesterday for the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings. Jail sources said Yakub Memon is lodged in a special cell and steps are being taken to avoid his contact with 3 other convicts of the serial blasts kept in the same prison. Yakub Memon, brother of missing underworld don Ibrahim or 'Tiger' Memon, is the only convict on death penalty in the case. The death sentences of 10 others were commuted to life sentences by the top court. The court described the Memon brothers as the driving spirit and architects of the blasts, without whom the plan would have never seen daylight. Tiger Memon is believed to be in Pakistan along with fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim. Since Yakub Memon as well as other absconders were the real conspirators who hatched the scheme for such a tragic act, the other 10 appellants were mere subservient subordinates whose knowledge and acquaintance might have been restricted to their counterparts, the court said. More than 250 people were killed and over 700 injured in the 12 coordinated bombings that ravaged Mumbai on March 12, 1993. Among the targets were the Bombay Stock Exchange Building, the Passport Office, Sahar Airport, Air India building, Hotel Juhu Centaur, a fishermen's colony in Mahim Causeway and Zaveri Bazaar. (source: NDTV) * Rape murder accused gets death A fast track court in Jharsuguda on Friday awarded death penalty to a rape and murder accused of a minor girl in Kundeikela village of Jharsugda's Lakhanpur police station limits in 2009. The accused, Minaketan Seth of Kundeikela village, was charged under sections 376 and 302 the IPC for raping and killing a minor girl. The court sentenced him to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 on him, finally sentencing him to be hanged till death, additional public prosecutor of Jharsuguda Parsuram Mohapatra said on Friday. According to Mohapatra, the accused took the 14-year-old girl to a secluded place and tried to rape her. But when he was unsuccessful, he strangulated her to death. The accused then raped the dead body and had fled to Chhattisgarh. (source: The Times of India) MALAYSIA: Sulu sultanate: 8 charged for 'terror' are Malaysians The Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo on Friday confirmed reports that the 8 men now facing charges of terrorism and waging war against the king in Lahad Datu
