[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Aug. 27 IRAN: Amnesty describes execution of Behrouz Alkhani as vicious act of cruelty Amnesty International has condemned the execution on Wednesday of Iranian Kurdish dissident Behrouz Alkhani in a prison in the city of Orumiuh, western Iran. Mr. Alkhani, 30, from Iran's Kurdish minority, was executed early this morning local time despite the fact that he was awaiting the outcome of an appeal by the regime's Supreme Court. The organization has also learned that the authorities have so far refused to return Behrouz Alkhani's body to his family, Amnesty International said. ???Today's execution of Behrouz Alkhani, who was still waiting for the outcome of a Supreme Court appeal against his sentence, is a vicious act of cruelty by the Iranian authorities and a denigration of both Iranian and international law. It is appalling that they have imposed further pain and suffering on Behrouz Alkhani's family by refusing to return his body for burial, said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. The fact that the authorities have carried out the execution despite the pending appeal against a sentence imposed in a grossly unfair trial and international pleas to halt the execution, shows their utter disregard for justice. His execution is just further proof of the authorities' determined resolve to continue with a relentless wave of executions which has seen more than 700 put to death in Iran so far this year. (source: NCR-Iran) MALAYSIA: Review for death penalty While Bukit Aman supports a review of the mandatory death sentence for drug offences, it wants the penalty to remain a legal option. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (pix) said abolishing the death sentence would send a wrong signal to drug dealers. We would support the proposed review but we'd prefer the death sentence to still be made available to the courts. The anti-drug war is ongoing as drugs continue to be a major menace threatening the young people of this country. Abolishing the death sentence would be a step backward, he told The Star when asked to comment on calls to review the death sentence for drug offences. In Malaysia, those who traffic in drugs can be sentenced to death by hanging upon conviction. Former IGP Tun Hanif Omar said the death penalty for drug offences had to be reviewed entirely. There are so many cases where the mandatory death was imposed but it has not stopped people from risking it in order to make money, he said. Jail sentences would also not deter drug trafficking, he added. We can consider putting them (drug traffickers) under a very long prison term but are we prepared to do what the US has done to drug traffickers? he asked. According to Hanif, the United States placed drug offenders in dungeons far away from light and company. On the British legal framework on which Malaysia's judiciary is based, Hanif said the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher also had conflicting views on the death penalty at different points in history. They too experimented with and without the death penalty but the ultimate goal is to find a way to solve the root of the problem and deter people from committing the offence, he said. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low has recently called for the mandatory death sentence to be reviewed for drug offences, noting that the rising number of convictions had raised questions as to the effectiveness of the death sentence as a deterrent to drug trafficking. (source: The Star) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., KAN., NEB., WYO. CALIF.
Aug. 27 OHIOmother may face death penalty Bellefontaine Mom Indicted for Murder of Sons, Could Face Death Penalty An Ohio woman accused of killing her 3 sons over a 13-month period out of jealousy at the attention her husband paid them has been indicted on aggravated murder charges and could face the death penalty. Aggravated murder charges against Brittany Pilkington in Bellefontaine were announced Tuesday by the Logan County prosecutor. Investigators say the 23-year-old smothered 2 sons, 1 in July 2014 and the other on April 6. Authorities took custody of her 3rd son after he was born 3 months ago, but a judge allowed him to return home because there wasn't conclusive evidence the older boys had been killed. The 3rd son died Aug. 18. Pilkington's mother said Pilkington told her in a jailhouse phone call that she's innocent. Pilkington is jailed on $1 million bond. (source: Associated Press) *** Women on Death Row Brittany Pilkington of Bellefontaine could face the death penalty if she's convicted of murdering her 3 young sons by suffocation, but ABC 22/FOX 45 wanted to find out how her case stacks up against other capital cases in Ohio that involve women. In Ohio, death sentences for female suspects are so rare that there currently is only one woman on the state's death row; 71-year-old Donna Marie Roberts. She was a middle-aged, short lady who had been used to a very privileged lifestyle, said Attorney for the State LuWayne Annos during a 2013 hearing at the Supreme Court. She was describing Donna Roberts' motivation for hiring a hit man to kill her husband to cash in on the insurance money. She never said to the court 'Don't sentence me to death', Annos continued. Roberts was sentenced and imprisoned in 2003, and has remained on death row ever since, even though she tried to appeal the sentence twice. Are you more responsible if you hire it done, or if you do it yourself might be the question there, said Jefferson Ingram, a criminal justice professor at the University of Dayton who studies the death penalty. Jefferson said he believes planning a murder makes cases more likely to be death penalty eligible. A woman who would hire a hitman to take out her husband has clearly done that, she's planned it out ahead of time. But, in the cases of suffocation it's not an instant death, there was planning and ongoing planning while that's going forth so it's difficult to say which one is worse. In another Miami Valley capital case, China Arnold faced the death penalty after she was accused of microwaving her 4-week-old baby, Paris, to death in 2005. Arnold was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the crime, but also appealed the conviction while her family maintained her innocence. Arnold could be seen crying in the courtroom during a sentencing in 2011. Ingram thinks that show of emotion may have helped Arnold escape the death penalty, the same way he thinks it could hurt Brittany Pilkington, who after 2 appearances in court has shown little emotion. Prosecutors described her affect as flat during her interviews, and those close to her report she did not cry at the funerals for her first two sons, Niall and Gavin. [She] doesn't have the demeanor of someone who has some remorse, then that may help get the death penalty, too, Ingram said. Donna Marie Roberts remains on Ohio's death row with no scheduled execution date. Pilkington's case will be heard again in Logan County in September. (source: ABC news) TENNESSEE: Tennessee will keep lethal injections for death row executions, court rules Judge rejects claim from 33 death row inmates and says they did not prove the 1-drug method led to a painful and lingering death A judge in Tennessee has upheld the state's lethal injection process for executing inmates, hours after a federal judge in Mississippi said that state's process may break the law. At issue in both cases is the efficacy of the states' execution drugs. US states have been experimenting with various combinations of lethal injection since a European-led boycott made it difficult to obtain the drugs they require to carry out executions. Tennessee uses a single drug, pentobarbital, to execute its inmates; Mississippi relies on a 3-drug mixture including a pentobarbital or midazolam, sedatives that are followed by a paralysing agent and a drug that stops an inmate's heart. In Tennessee, Davidson county chancery judge Claudia Bonnyman said from the bench that the plaintiffs, 33 death row inmates, did not prove that the 1-drug method led to a painful and lingering death. She also said the plaintiffs did not show during a lengthy trial that there had been problems in states where the method was used. Plaintiffs were not able to carry their burdens ... on any of their claims, Bonnyman said. In Mississippi, meanwhile, US district judge Henry T
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, MO., KAN., NEB.
Aug. 27 OHIO: Man accused of quadruple homicide could face death penalty if convicted Robert L. Adams Jr. could face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing 4 people in the basement of a South Linden house on June 13. A Franklin County grand jury indicted Adams on 29 counts relating to the deaths and the attempted murder of a 5th victim. Adams is accused of killing Tyajah Nelson, 18; Daniel Sharp, 26; Angela Harrison, 35; and Michael Ballour, 41. A 5th victim, a teenage girl, survived the shooting and identified Adams and an accomplice, according to court records. The shootings occurred in Ballour's house in the 1600 block of E. Hudson Street. Nelson was his daughter. Police said Adams was the shooter but was assisted by Jordyn D. Wade, 16. Wade is charged with 4 delinquency counts of murder, 1 delinquency count of attempted murder and 5 delinquency counts of kidnapping. He is being held in the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center awaiting a hearing in Juvenile Court to determine whether his case will be transferred to adult court. Wade is accused of holding the victims at gunpoint to keep them in the basement, where they were shot by Adams, police said. Investigators said the victims were robbed, and the killings were drug-related, although officials have not elaborated. Adams was arrested near Starkville, Miss., on Aug. 12. He will be arraigned on Monday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. (source: Columbus Dispatch) MISSOURIimpending execution Doubting Jennifer Herndon An appeals lawyer who has represented more than a half-dozen men put to death in Missouri faces questions about her competency. In 6 days, on Sept. 1, Missouri is scheduled to execute 50-year-old Roderick Nunley, who was condemned for the 1989 rape and murder of 15-year-old Ann Harrison. The high school freshman was abducted while in her driveway, waiting for the school bus. If the execution takes place, one of Nunley's attorneys, Jennifer Herndon, will have represented 8 of the last 19 men executed in Missouri. And those 8 men will have been executed in a span of 4 1/2 years. The Marshall Project profiled Herndon in June, describing how she juggles a debilitating workload as a capital appeals attorney with a separate career as an internet marketer, sending out inspirational messages along with product pitches geared for online entrepreneurs. The story also detailed Herndon???s financial and professional struggles; in 2013, her law license was suspended for 4 months because of delinquent state income taxes. On Tuesday, 2 other attorneys who once assisted in Nunley's case filed a motion with the Missouri Supreme Court, asking that Nunley's execution warrant be recalled because of severe doubts??? about Herndon's fitness as a lawyer. Their motion cited The Marshall Project's story, in which Herndon said, among other things, I feel like I'm not doing the best work I can or should be doing for my clients right now. With Herndon, the quantity of her legal work was already an issue. Because relatively few attorneys handle capital appeals in Missouri, the state's accelerated pace of executions in recent years has created unusual stress for the defense bar. Of the 19 executions held nationally this year, Missouri has 5, 2nd only to Texas. But the motion went as much to the quality of Herndon's work, and whether she has met her ethical obligations as an attorney. In years past, the Missouri Department of Revenue filed three liens against Herndon, saying she owed more than $47,000 for unpaid state income taxes from 2006 to 2012, according to court records. But two months ago, the department filed a fourth lien, saying Herndon owes $2,077.85 for unpaid taxes in 2013 - a delinquency that could once again place her law license in jeopardy. The motion filed by the 2 other attorneys said equally troubling was a lawsuit filed against Herndon last month. That suit, an unlawful detainer action, alleges that Herndon's house was purchased on July 14 in a foreclosure sale, but Herndon has failed to leave the residence. Ms. Herndon appears to lack the time and capacity to competently represent Mr. Nunley, the motion says. Her online career and pending legal and financial problems raise substantial questions about her competence. In an email sent to The Marshall Project, Herndon wrote of how the court system has placed her in the unfair position of handling a never-ending string of back-to-back executions, while simultaneously refusing to approve additional funds. I have rejected opportunities to make money in my other business, opting instead to work on Mr. Nunley's case because his life matters more than money to me. I have laid out money from my own pocket, in excess of $300 to date, to cover copy costs, postage and filing fees. I will not be reimbursed for this, but can't take that into consideration when his life is at
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Aug. 27 IRAN: Iran regime continues spate of executions Iran's fundamentalist regime on Thursday hanged a man in the central prison of Sanandaj, western Iran. The man, identified as Jamal Jaafari, had been imprisoned for 4 years. He was accused of murder. 6 prisoners, including political prisoner Behrouz Alkhani, were hanged in Orumieh Prison, western Iran on Wednesday. On Monday, the mullahs' regime hanged a 25-year-old prisoner identified as Hossein Karimi in Bandar Abbas Prison, southern Iran. He was accused of a drugs related charge. The regime's prosecutor in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, on Monday said a prisoner, only identified by the initials R.F., was hanged in Sari Prison on Sunday. A statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra???ad Al Hussein on August 5 said: Iran has reportedly executed more than 600 individuals so far this year. Last year, at least 753 people were executed in the country. (source: NCR-Iran) INDIA: HC to hear Baig's death confirmation petition from tomorrow The Bombay High Court will commence hearing from tomorrow on a petition filed by Maharashtra government seeking confirmation of the death penalty given to Himayat Baig, the lone convict in the 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune. A sessions court in Pune had in April 2013 convicted and sentenced Baig to death for carrying out the blast at the famous German Bakery in Pune's upmarket Koregaon Park in February 2010, in which 17 people were killed and and 58 injured, including foreign nationals. While the death confirmation petition was filed by Maharashtra government in the High Court, Baig also filed an appeal challenging his conviction and claiming that he has been implicated by the prosecution. A division bench of Justices N H Patil and S B Shukre said they will start hearing the petitions tomorrow. The court directed police authorities to produce Baig before it tomorrow. Baig is now lodged in a Nagpur prison. After the petitions were filed in the High Court, former journalist Ashish Khetan filed a Public Interest Litigation against the conviction. He claimed that the ATS deliberately created bogus evidence, extracted false confessions by the most inhuman torture, planted explosives in the houses of the accused and thus implicated an innocent Muslim youth. (source: Press Trust of India) ** Divergences in Law panel on retaining death penalty Sources privy to the development said at least one member and one of the 2 ex officio members have expressed their reservation. But a final view is likely to emerge when the final draft report is adopted in the next couple of days. The Commission, chaired by Justice (Retd) A P Shah is likely to submit its report to the Supreme Court this week. Justice (retd) S N Kapoor, Justice (Retd) Usha Mehra and Mool Chand Sharma are the members of the panel.Law Secretary P K Malhotra and Legislative Secretary Sanjay Singh -- both from the Law Ministry -- are the ex officio members. A Law Commission consultation process on the report saw a majority opposing death penalty. The Law panel will submit its report to the Supreme Court sometime next week on whether India should continue with death penalty or abolish it. A copy will also be handed over to the Law Minister as any call on changes in penal provisions will be taken by Parliament. The report assumes significance as it comes days after a debate was generated over the hanging of Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon.The Commission is working overtime to complete the report as its 3-year term is coming to an end on August 31. The Supreme Court, in Santosh Kumar Satishbhushan Bariyar vs Maharashtra and Shankar Kisanrao Khade vs Maharashtra, had suggested that the Law Commission should study the death penalty in India to allow for an up-to-date and informed discussion and debate on the subject. (source: oneindia.com) PAKISTANexecution Pak hangs man convicted for multiple murders Pakistan today hanged a death row prisoner convicted for multiple murders, taking the total number of convicts executed to 212 since the country lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in March this year. Maqbool Hussain was hanged early this morning in Multan central jail in Punjab province. Hussain was convicted for murdering 6 people in 1996 to avenge the killing of his brothers and his petitions were already rejected by higher courts. Pakistan lifted its moratorium on the death penalty in all capital cases on March 10. Executions in Pakistan resumed in December last year, ending a 6-year moratorium, after Taliban fighters gunned down 154 people, most of them children, at a school in Peshawar. Hangings were initially reinstated only for those convicted of terrorism offences, but in March they were extended to all capital offences. So far 212 convicts have been executed in total
