[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., OHIO, FLA., TENN., MISS.
May 7 TEXASimpending execution Waco robbery-drug deal gunman set for execution A convicted drug dealer faces execution for shooting an 18-year-old man to death a decade ago during a robbery outside a Waco convenience store. Authorities say Carroll Joe Parr was trying to get his money back after he bought 7 pounds of marijuana. Parr says he's not responsible for the January 2003 slaying of Joel Dominguez, although witnesses identified him as the shooter and others said he talked about doing the shooting. A federal appeals court last week refused to halt his punishment, and his lawyers anticipate no last-day appeals to stop Tuesday evening's lethal injection in Huntsville. The 35-year-old Parr, whose street name in Waco was Outlaw, would be the 5th Texas inmate executed this year. (source: Associated Press) State Prepares To Execute Convicted Central Texas Killer Known As Outlaw Convicted killer Carroll Joe Parr, 35, who says he believes in capital punishment, but maintains he's innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to die, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Tuesday evening in the state's death chamber in Huntsville. The 1-time Waco drug dealer, who was known on the street as Outlaw, was sentenced to die for a Jan. 11, 2003 shooting outside of the BG Convenience Store in North Waco that left Joel Dominguez, 18, dead and Mario Chavez, then 18, injured. Parr had purchased marijuana from Dominguez at the store and later returned with a friend, Earl Whiteside, in order to get his money back, prosecutors said. After Parr and Whiteside arrived at the store, they forced Dominguez and Chavez to walk to a fenced area beside the store where Parr pistol-whipped Dominguez and demanded his money, prosecutors said. Dominguez complied, but then Parr told Whiteside to smoke 'em. Whiteside shot Chavez in the hand and Parr shot Dominguez in the head, killing him, prosecutors said. Parr was convicted of capital murder on May 21, 2004 and was sentenced to die five days later. Whiteside entered a guilty plea in March 2004. Parr insists he didn't shoot Dominguez, but says he won't break his word to the people involved in the slaying and identify who he says actually did the shooting. Parr's execution date was set on Feb. 4 in a Waco courtroom in which security was tight. As he was led from the courtroom after the date was set, Parr yelled, Death is a prize. (source: KWTX News) PENNSYLVANIA: Pa. abortion trial jury continues deliberations A Philadelphia jury reviewed laws addressing murder and manslaughter without reaching a verdict Monday in the high-profile case of an abortion provider accused of killing a patient and 4 babies who prosecutors say were born alive, then killed with scissors in unorthodox, late-term abortions. Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, ran the Women's Medical Society in West Philadelphia, which served mostly low-income women and teens and went years without a state inspection. Former staff members have testified that Gosnell taught them to snip babies in the back of the neck after they were born to ensure they were dead. Gosnell also faces charges of racketeering and of hundreds of abortion-law violations, for allegedly performing 3rd-trimester abortions and failing to counsel women a day in advance. The jurors must also decide whether Gosnell caused the 2009 overdose death of a patient, Karnamaya Mongar of Woodbridge, Va., a 41-year-old mother of 3 and recent refugee to the U.S. who died after an abortion at Gosnell's clinic. Co-defendant Eileen O'Neill, 56, of Phoenixville, a former employee of Gosnell's, is charged with billing as a doctor when she did not have a license. 8 former employees have pleaded guilty since the 2011 indictment, and all but Gosnell's wife testified against him. Four others have pleaded guilty to murder charges for either snipping the babies with scissors after they were born, or helping sedate Mongar despite a lack of training. The jury includes several transit authority bus drivers, a water department inspector, a day care worker and a bank teller. They have been deliberating since Tuesday afternoon. Gosnell's lawyer argued that there were no live births at the clinic and blamed Mongar's death on unforeseen medical complications. O'Neill's lawyer said she worked under Gosnell's supervision. Gosnell has been in custody since his 2011 arrest, while O'Neill remains free on bail. (source: Associated Press) *** Death penalty lawyers named in case of slain prison guard; Jessie Con-Ui is under investigation in stabbing of Eric Williams of Nanticoke. A judge on Thursday appointed attorneys for death penalty proceedings in the case of a federal inmate under investigation in the killing of corrections officer Eric Williams of Nanticoke at a prison in Wayne County. The filing by U.S. District Chief Judge Yvette
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., COLO., N.MEX., ARIZ., UTAH, CALIF., USA
May 7 OKLAHOMA: Prosecutors seeking death penalty in college murder Prosecutors there have announced they will be seeking the death penalty for an Asher teen charged with killing a college student. Jerrod Murray, 18, is charged with 1st-degree murder in the Dec. 6 shooting of 18-year-old Generro Sanchez of Stuart. Both were students at East Central University in Ada at the time. According to court papers, Sanchez begged for his life before Murray shot him in the head twice. Murray has pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday in a Pottawatomie County district court. (source: KFOR News) ** Arguments set in Okla. death row inmate's appeal An Oklahoma appeals court is taking up the case of a death row inmate convicted of 5 counts of 1st-degree murder for the death of his wife and her 4 children. Oral arguments are scheduled Tuesday before the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in the case of 47-year-old Roderick Lynn Smith. Defense attorneys maintain that Smith's death sentence should be thrown out because the Oklahoma County jury that returned it did not consider evidence of his alleged mental retardation. Mentally retarded defendants are ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court guidelines. The victims' bodies were found on June 28, 1993. Investigators say Smith's wife, Jennifer, 9-year-old Glen Carter Jr. and 7-year-old Ladarian Carter were stabbed to death. Officials say 10-year-old Shemeka Carter and 6-year-old Kanesha Carter were strangled. (source: Associated Press) COLORADO: Nathan Dunlap Expresses Regret In Petition DVD For Gov. Hickenlooper A man convicted of ambushing and killing four employees at a Colorado pizza restaurant in 1993 had undiagnosed bipolar disorder at the time and should not be executed, his lawyers argued Monday. Nathan Dunlap's attorneys made the claim in a formal request to Gov. John Hickenlooper for clemency, also saying Dunlap is remorseful and that he endured severe physical and sexual abuse as a child. Dunlap talked about his regrets on video. Dunlap, 38, was convicted and sentenced to die in 1996 for the shooting deaths of 4 workers who were cleaning a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in Aurora after business hours. 3 of the victims were teenagers. Dunlap, then 19, had recently lost a job at the eatery. Hickenlooper was given lots of information in a petition, including a DVD with interviews from Dunlap's brother, sister, friends and even mental health experts. There is also a hand-written letter from Dunlap himself. The letter is addressed to Hickenlooper and reads as an apology for Dunlap's actions and the pain he caused the victims and their families. The DVD includes a series of interviews with Dunlap's siblings talking about the abuse they endured from their parents and how Dunlap grew up in a difficult household. Dunlap himself is interviewed, talking about his battle with mental illness. I came to realize that, you know, that I was under the influence of bipolar when I did the things I did at Chuck E. Cheese. When I did the things I did at Chuck E. Cheese, when I did the things I did leading up to Chuck E. Cheese, just a lot of things that I was doing out there, I came to realize bipolar was playing a very big role in what I was doing, Dunlap said in the video. I regret what I did, what I did to the victims' families, to Bobby Stephens. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down Dunlap's last guaranteed appeal in February. This month, a judge scheduled Dunlap's execution for the week of Aug. 18, with the day to be set by the head of the Colorado Department of Corrections. Hickenlooper declined to say Monday whether he would grant clemency. It's a hard one. It's as hard as it gets, he told reporters outside the Capitol. Hickenlooper met Friday and Saturday with victims??? family members, prosecutors, Dunlap's lawyers and possibly others. He declined to list everyone he spoke with, saying some did not want to be publicly identified. Hickenlooper appeared to be torn on the issue, said Bob Crowell, father of one of the victims, who met with the governor Friday. We let him know that we are certainly for the death penalty being carried out, Crowell said Monday. His 19-year-old daughter, Sylvia, was among the 4 killed. Crowell estimated that 2 dozen family members of victims were present, and that 3/4 of them favored execution. The clemency petition acknowledges that Dunlap committed his terrible crime but says he was in the 1st full manic episode he experienced as a result of bipolar disorder. The petition says three people on the jury that convicted Dunlap and sentenced him to die now say they might have voted for life in prison instead had they known he had bipolar disorder. The jurors are not identified by name. Doctors from the state mental hospital judged that Dunlap was not mentally ill before his 1996 trial
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 7 MYANMAR: Myanmar charges 6 Muslims for sectarian violence A court in Myanmar has charged 6 Muslims with murder for their alleged role in the death of a Buddhist monk during an outbreak of sectarian violence that shook the country in March, authorities said Tuesday. The charges issued Monday mark the latest legal action against minority Muslims in the central city of Meikthila, one of several recent flashpoints for anti-Muslim violence that rights groups say includes an organized campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Buddhist nation. At least 43 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in Meikhtila, some of them hunted down and burnt to death by Buddhist mobs. Authorities have detained Buddhists allegedly involved in the attacks, but so far none have been charged with crimes. Containing the violence has posed a serious challenge to President Thein Sein's reformist government as it attempts to institute political and economic liberalization after nearly half a century of military rule. It has also tarnished the image of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been criticized for failing to speak out strongly in defense of the country's embattled Muslim community. All 6 men charged Monday face the death penalty if convicted, said Advocate-General Ye Aung Myint. He said the men were among 50 people detained in connection with several days of violence in Meikhtila that also displaced more than 12,000 people, most of them Muslim. The March violence started after a dispute between a gold shop owner, who is Muslim, and some of his customers, who are Buddhists. The argument triggered a wave of anti-Muslim violence across the city that left entire Muslim neighborhoods in flames and charred bodies in the streets. The government declared a state of emergency and deployed the army to restore order. The gold shop owner and 2 employees, all Muslims, were sentenced by the same court in April to 14 years in prison on charges of theft and causing grievous bodily harm. Among those killed in the riots was a Buddhist monk who was reportedly pulled off his motorbike, attacked and burned. The 6 men accused of attacking him were part of a larger group, and authorities are searching for four more men, said Ye Aung Myint. The sectarian violence in Myanmar first flared nearly a year ago in western Rakhine state between the region's Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya. Mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes razed thousands of Muslim homes, leaving hundreds dead and forcing 125,000 people to flee, mostly Muslims. New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused authorities - including Buddhist monks, local politicians, government officials, and state security forces - of fomenting an organized campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Muslims in Rakhine state. The government has denied the charges. The Rohingya living in Rakhine state are widely seen as foreign intruders from neighboring Bangladesh, and are largely denied citizenship even though many of them have lived in Myanmar for generations. Since the Rakhine violence, religious unrest has morphed into a campaign against the country's Muslim community in other regions. The latest violence flared last week when several Muslim villages north of Yangon were burned to the ground. Thein Sein vowed Monday that his government would do everything it can to protect the rights of minority Muslims. In a speech broadcast on state television late Monday, Thein Sein said his government will take all necessary action to ensure the basic human rights of Muslims in Rakhine state, and to accommodate the needs and expectations of the Rakhine people. In order for religious freedom to prevail, there must be tolerance and mutual respect among the members of different faiths, he said. Only then, he added, will it be possible to coexist peacefully. (source: The Missoulian) CHINA/NEW ZEALAND: China seeks to extradite Kiwi over prostitute death The lawyer for a New Zealand resident suspected of murdering a prostitute in Shanghai says China's assurance it won't seek the death penalty is not worth the paper it is written on. Korean-born man Kyung Yup Kim, 35, has been held at the Mt Eden Correctional Facility for almost two years since an Auckland District Court judge issued a provisional warrant for his arrest in June 2011. The warrant was issued at the request of Chinese authorities, who are seeking Kim's extradition over the murder of 20-year-old prostitute Peiyun Chen. Chinese criminal investigators allege Kim killed Ms Chen at his Shanghai home on December 11, 2009 before dumping her body in a wasteland and fleeing to South Korea three days later. It is alleged Kim told a friend he had just killed someone and that DNA matching Ms Chen's was found at his home. Kim returned to New Zealand, where he has held permanent residency since age 14, in October 2010. China requested his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MISSISSIPPI
May 7 MISSISSIPPIimpending execution blocked Death Row Prisoner Manning Gets a Stay The Mississippi State Supreme Court has granted a stay of execution for death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning. Manning was scheduled to be put to death this evening at 6 p.m. at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Manning, accused of killing 2 people in Oktibbeha County in 1992, has maintained he is innocent and has been fighting to clear his name. Since last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has twice admitted to errors in Manning's original trial, stating that investigators overstated the evidence against Manning. In a letter to Oktibbeha County District Attorney Forrest Allgood, who prosecuted Manning, U.S. Justice Department officials stated last week that testimony containing erroneous statements regarding microscopic hair comparison analysis was used in Manning's case. The letter, which went to Manning's lawyer and the Mississippi Innocence Project, which is monitoring the case, goes on to say that information the FBI presented in its testimony exceeded the limits of science, and was, therefore, invalid. The FBI offered to perform the mitochondrial DNA testing. Manning has always said he did not commit the crime; in fact, he says he was at a club on the night of the murders. For years, he's been trying to convince the state to test DNA from the crime scene. As gruesome as the murders were, there should be lots of biological material to test. One of the victims, Tiffany Miller, was shot twice in the face at close range. One leg was out of her pants and underwear, and her shirt was pulled up. Her boyfriend John Steckler's body had abrasions that occurred before he died, and he was shot once in the back of the head. A set of car tracks had gone through the puddles of blood and over Steckler's body. One of the issues Manning raised in his appeal is that Allgood illegally kept African Americans off Manning's jury by dismissing potential jurors who said they read African American magazines. David Voisin, Manning's attorney, said if approved, the testing could take several weeks, depending on which lab is used. On May 3, at the Mississippi Capitol, death-penalty opponents and Manning supporters called on Gov. Phil Bryant to stop the execution. The Mississippi Innocence Project filed a brief in support of Manning this week. Kennedy Brewer, who was exonerated in 2008 with DNA tests after being convicted and sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend's young daughter, also wrote Bryant asking to give Manning the same opportunity to clear his name that Kennedy received. (source: Jackson Free Press) *** Mississippi Supreme Court blocks today's execution of Willie Jerome Manning The Mississippi Supreme Court has blocked the execution of Willie Jerome Manning, which had been scheduled for Tuesday evening. Manning had been set to die by injection shortly after 6 p.m. CDT at the state prison in Parchman for the 1992 slayings of 2 college students. The court said the execution should be delayed until it rules further on the case. The FBI has said in recent days that there were errors in agent's testimony about ballistics tests and hair analysis in the case. Manning was convicted in 1994. (source: Associated Press) ___ 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, FLA., OKLA., COLO., USA
May 7 TEXASexecution Texas inmate executed for fatal drug-deal robbery A Texas death row inmate convicted of killing a fellow drug dealer while robbing him outside of a Waco convenience store 10 years ago was executed Tuesday evening. In the seconds before being injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital, Carroll Joe Parr told his victim's wife she should talk to her brother to learn the truth about what happened to your husband. Then, in what he called a statement to the world, Parr said he was in the midst of the truth. I am good. I am straight, he said. He added that he wanted his partners or friends to know that he would be back like the Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator film character. I'm on my way back. ... These eyes will close, but they will be opened again, Parr said before telling his family he loved them and thanking his spiritual adviser. As the lethal drug began flowing into his arms, he took a breath, yawned, then began snoring. He was pronounced dead 19 minutes later, at 6:32 p.m. CDT. Parr's attorneys didn't file any last-minute court appeals but Parr himself filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his punishment, arguing his legal help at his trial was deficient. Earlier Tuesday, the same appeal was denied by a judge in his trial court in Waco. State and federal courts had rejected all of Parr's earlier appeals, most recently last week. Known as Outlaw on the streets, he had told The Associated Press during a recent interview that he was resigned to his fate - and even welcomed it - although he insisted someone else killed 18-year-old Joel Dominguez. Death to me is the prize, Parr said. My eyes are clear. Prosecutors said Parr bought 7 pounds of marijuana from Dominguez for $2,500 on Jan. 11, 2003, and he and a friend, Earl Whiteside, went to rob Dominguez of the money later that evening. They said Parr and Whiteside herded Dominguez and another man, Mario Chavez, to a fenced area next to the store, where Parr pistol-whipped Dominguez and demanded the money, which Dominguez gave him. Parr ordered Whiteside to smoke 'em, according to court documents. Whiteside shot Chavez in the hand. Parr shot Dominguez in the head. Parr said he was nowhere near the convenience store at the time of the killing and contended a surveillance video that showed him there was doctored by prosecutors. They chopped the tape, he said. Parr declined to say who did the shooting, saying he gave the dudes my word that he wouldn't snitch on them. Whiteside, who is serving a 15-year sentence for aggravated robbery, testified that Parr was the one who shot and killed Dominguez. Several other witnesses, including Parr's girlfriend at the time, said Parr had told them he killed Dominguez. It probably was somebody who borrowed his body that's on that video, Russ Hunt Sr., one of Parr's trial lawyers, said facetiously. Hunt said the prosecution's case against Parr was strong. The defense team focused on trying to save Parr's life by showing jurors he had an abusive childhood and grew up in a hellacious environment, the lawyer said. We did our best for him, Hunt said. He really did have a terrible life. ... The state had all the evidence. That makes our job a little harder. Parr, from prison, described himself as a third-grade dropout who grew up on the streets since I was 9. He said he had fathered 5 children. Prior to the killing, Parr had several drug convictions, including one for 3 counts of delivering cocaine, for which he was placed on probation. He was also linked to, but not charged in, a fatal drive-by shooting, another shooting and an assault. Parr recently told McLennan County authorities he had killed 16 people and offered to lead them to the remains of at least 2 of his victims if they would dismiss a robbery case against his nephew. But the Waco Tribune-Herald last week reported that investigators didn't find Parr's claims credible. Parr becomes the 5th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 497th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Parr becomes the 258th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became governor in 2001. There are 10 more executions currently set in Texas in 2013. Next week, Jeffrey Williams, 37, is set to die for the 1999 slaying of a Houston police officer who had pulled him over for driving a stolen car. Parr becomes the 11th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1331st overall since the state resumed executions on December 7, 1982. (sources: Associated Press Rick Halperin) ** Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-258 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7,1982-present497 Perry #scheduled execution date-name-Tx. # 259-May 15---Jeffrey Williams-498 260-May
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 7 SAUDI ARABIAexecution Saudi beheaded for killing woman after rape bid; His beheading brings to 37 number of people executed this year Saudi authorities beheaded by the sword on Tuesday a national convicted of murdering a woman after he tried to rape her, the interior ministry said. Hussam Al Sharari was found guilty of slitting the throat of the woman who resisted his attempts to rape her after he sneaked into her house, it said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency. He was executed in the city of Sakakah, in the northern Jawf region. His beheading brings to 37 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP tally. In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch put the number at 69. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of sharia, or Islamic law. (source: Gulf 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 ~~~
