[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 29 AUSTRALIA/PAKISTAN: Australian Government urged to intervene on behalf of Asia Bibi Government of Australia implored to intervene on behalf of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman on death row. Her appeal case is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in October. In the face of the eminent case hearing, international pressure grows on Pakistan for acquittal of the Christian respondent. For this reason, a demonstration has been scheduled in the Australian capital calling for release of Asia Bibi. The demonstration is scheduled to be held on October 8, 2016 - the rally being termed as the "Anti- Sharia Law Rally." The rally will start at 11am, the assemblage will start a march towards the Pakistani Consulate at 109 Pitt St Sydney starting from the Parliament House of NSW 6 Macquarie St Sydney. The rally is intended to urge the Australian Government to intervene on behalf of Asia Bibi, there are calls for engaging the Pakistani authorities on diplomatic level for release and acquittal of Asia Bibi who has been awarded a death penalty over blasphemy conviction. The protesters are demanding for a fair trial for the Christian respondent. They are also calling for fail safe security for the legal team representing Asia Bibi and her family. The organizers and demonstrators also would urge the Australian Government to put pressure on Pakistan to make sure that the rule of 'one law for all' is maintained in their country. In this regard, Michael Andjelkovic, the Australian Justice of the Peace stated: "This case demonstrates the cruelty, un-equality and divisiveness of Blasphemy Law ..." While remarking in this regard, Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association a Christian advocacy and charity group said: "Asia Bibi has suffered the ignominy of 7 years of imprisonment on trumped up charges because her faith was offensive to Muslims. People of good conscience everywhere have demanded justice for Asia, moved by the plight of an innocent mother of 5. "Pakistan's government have failed in their duty to Asia and the Christian minority among them as a whole, their failure has been a blight on Pakistan's already tarnished reputation. Please pray that this appeal is expedited and that the judge is able to reach a rational verdict, based on evidence heard without any duress," he said. (source: christiansinpakistan.com) PHILIPPINES: Manny Pacquiao admits drug use as he backs Duterte's crackdownThe boxing star says it is unfair to blame the president for the more than 3,000 deaths in his war on dealers. Manny Pacquiao has admitted he took "all kinds of drugs" - but supports a crackdown on dealers which has led to more than 3,000 deaths in the Philippines. The boxing star, who was elected as a senator in May, said he backed president Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs and claimed that the leader was chosen by God to "discipline the people". Since taking office in June, Mr Duterte has put the crackdown at the core of presidency and said it will not stop "until the last drug manufacturer is killed". According to police, 3,171 drug dealers and users have been killed - 2/3 by unknown assailants and the rest in police operations. Pacquiao, 37, said: "The president, he doesn't know my experience with drugs. "I tried drugs ... many kinds of drugs, all kinds of drugs." The boxer said his substance abuse happened for years "before I became a champion". He added it was unfair to blame the drugs-related death toll on Mr Duterte. Pacquiao said: "God put him there for a reason, for purpose - to discipline the people. "In the past administrations, people didn't respect the law, the leader, the authorities. "What Duterte is trying to do is let the people know - and put it in their heart and minds - that you need to respect the laws of the land." The boxer, who is the godfather of Mr Duterte's grandson, is a close ally of the president. In his 1st speech in the senate, Pacquiao backed Mr Duterte's drugs crackdown by calling for the death penalty to be reinstated for dealers. Pacquiao also fronted a motion to oust the chair of a high-profile committee examining the president's links to vigilante death squads in Davao. The 37-year-old's comments come after Mr Duterte sparked outrage by calling Barack Obama a "son of a whore" while warning the US president not to question him about extrajudicial killings. Despite the fall-out, Pacquiao asserted that the Philippine president is "a nice guy". He said: "(Mr Duterte) is a respectful person, a hospitable person, a friendly person." (source: inquirer.net) SUDAN: Trial of Christian pastors facing death penalty over spying charges in Sudan adjourned The trial of 2 Christian pastors facing death penalty in Sudan over espionage charges has been adjourned until next month due to the prosecution's lack of preparation for the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, ARK., NEB., CALIF.
Sept. 29 TEXAS: Man accused of tossing wife off bridge will face death penalty trial Tarrant County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man accused of kidnapping his wife and killing her by throwing her body from the Lake Worth bridge in April. Rodolfo Montes "Rudy" Arellano, 34, of Fort Worth, is accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Pule Arellano and tying a rope that was attached to concrete around her neck and throwing her off the bridge. He remains in the Tarrant County jail with bond set at $500,000 on the capital murder charge, jail records show. The Tarrant County district attorney's office filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty on Sept. 16, records show. The last person to get the death penalty in Tarrant County was Cedric Ricks of Bedford, who was convicted in 2014 for killing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son. He remains on death row. Fishermen on a Lake Worth dock had called 911 at 3:20 a.m. April 16 - some 10 hours before Elizabeth Arellano, a 28-year-old mother of four, was reported missing - after seeing what appeared to be a person falling from the bridge across Loop 820. When the Fire Department's swift-water rescue team pulled the woman's body from the water, Elizabeth Arellano's body was still clad in maroon scrubs she wore as a medical assistant. 10 days after her disappearance and death, police arrested her estranged husband on a capital murder warrant. Family members say the couple had been sweethearts at Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School and had been together 13 years. The couple recently separated, however, and Elizabeth Arellano had planned to divorce him. Arellano told homicide detectives that he last saw his wife 2 days before she died and that he last spoke to her at 2:39 a.m. on the day she disappeared. He said she told him in that phone call that she had just arrived at her parents' house and would soon be bringing their four children to his house. Arellano said that when his wife and children never arrived, he assumed she had decided to stay at her parents' home. Asked about his whereabouts that night, Arellano told the detectives he had spent most of the evening of April 15 with a friend, tinting the man's windows. He said he arrived home about midnight and didn't leave the house again until 7:30 a.m. Through interviews, investigators learned that Arellano had torn down and replaced a wooden fence for an acquaintance within the past year. The fence included wood posts set in concrete. In the back yard of Arellano's Fort Worth home in the 1400 block of Jasper Street, police found pieces of concrete similar to the one used to weigh down Elizabeth Arellano's body. In the bed of his pickup, they uncovered a small piece of concrete consistent with that found at the crime scene. A large piece of concrete was also found in the driveway directly behind his truck, the affidavit states. (source: star-telegram.com) FLORIDA: Florida Death Penalty Still On Hold As Courts Seek Answers Executions are on hold, judges are postponing death penalty cases, and defense lawyers are seeking additional reviews after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in January that struck down Florida's death penalty sentencing process. Supreme Court justices ruled that Florida gave too much power to judges, instead of juries, in deciding whether defendants should be executed. But the 8-1 ruling also created uncertainty by failing to address whether jury recommendations for death sentences should be unanimous. The focus is now on the Florida Supreme Court. "Defense lawyers are trying to push the cases off, waiting for the court, and in some instances judges are going along with it," said Bernie McCabe, the state attorney in the 6th Judicial Circuit in Pasco and Pinellas counties. "And if they don't go along with it, defense lawyers file other motions claiming other stuff, to try to push it. So the frustration is we're not getting the cases to trial that ought to be tried. And, unlike fine wine, my cases don't get better with age." Of nearly 3 dozen states that have the death penalty, Florida is 1 of only 3 states - including Delaware and Alabama - that do not require unanimous jury recommendations for death. Delaware's death penalty is also in flux. The Delaware Supreme Court in August decided that the state's death-penalty process, similar to Florida's, was unconstitutional. In contrast to Florida, Delaware's last execution was in 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in a case known as Hurst v. Florida dealt with the sentencing phase of death-penalty cases after defendants are found guilty, and it focused on "aggravating circumstances" that must be determined before defendants can be sentenced to death. The ruling cemented a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision, in a case known as Ring v. Arizona, requiring that determinations of such aggravating circumstances must be made by juries,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 29 CHINA: Death penalty upheld for bus arsonist The Higher People's Court of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Wednesday rejected the appeal of an arsonist who was sentenced to death by Yinchuan Municipal Intermediate People's Court on July 3. The court upheld the arson conviction and death sentence of Ma Yongping. Ma set a bus on fire using a bottle of gasoline on January 5 in Helan County, motivated by anger over a personal dispute. The fire, which quickly burned the bus into an empty shell, killed 18 people and left 32 injured. (source: Shanghai Daily) IRANexecutions 8 Prisoners Executed on Murder and Moharebeh Charges 8 prisoners sentenced to death for murder and Moharebeh (enmity against God) charges were reportedly hanged at Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison (Alborz province, northern Iran) on Wednesday September 28. According to close sources, on Thursday September 22, 11 prisoners at Rajai Shahr were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions. The execution sentences of 8 of them were reportedly carried out on Wednesday. The other 3 prisoners were returned to their cells after their executions were stopped by the complainants on their case files. A close source who asked to be annonymous has confirmed the names of the prisoners: Ali Rabizadeh, Majid Gonjehali, Adnan Anwar, Hossein Karimi, Mohammad Jafari, Karim Hatamzadeh, Farajollah Hatami, and Mehdi Alizadeh. According to the source, Karim Hatamzadeh was executed on Moharebeh charges related to armed robbery, the other 7 were executed on murder charges. Additionally, on Sunday September 25, a Baluch prisoner, Mehdi Nazari, sentenced to death for drug related offenses, was transferred from his prison cell to an unknown location. There has been no information on his whereabouts or condition since then. 7 Prisoners Executed for Drug Offenses 7 prisoners sentenced to death for drug related offenses were reportedly hanged at Minab Central Prison (Hormozgan province, southern Iran). According to close sources, the executions were carried out early morning on Tuesday September 27. Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been silent about these 7 executions. The prisoners were reportedly transferred from their wards to solitary confinement on Sunday September 25 and were permitted to have their immediate family members see them for the last time on Monday. The names of the prisoners have been confirmed to Iran Human Rights by close sources as: Khodabakhsh Balouch, Ali Balouch, Chaker Balouch, Mohammad Mohammad Zehi, Majid Nariman, Mehdi Moradi, Mohammad Ghourchizadeh. Iranian authorities continue carrying out executions for drug offenses, even though last month, a top judicial official claimed that the death penalty is not a deterrent against drug crimes. "The death penalty for drug traffickers has not acted as a deterrent so far. We fought against many drug traffickers in accordance to the law, but, unfortunately, the volume of drugs entering and transiting through the country has increased," said Mohammad Bagher Olfat, who is in charge of social assistance and crime prevention in the Iranian Judiciary. "Normally, the drugs are sold for cheap to individuals who do not have sufficient financial income." (source for both: Iran Human Rights) INDONESIA: Leader of Indonesia gang which raped, murdered girl sentenced to death An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced to death the leader of a gang of men and boys who raped and murdered a schoolgirl in a case that prompted the president to take steps to impose harsher punishments for attacks on children. The gang leader, Zainal, was sentenced to death in a court on Sumatra island. 4 other men were jailed for 20 years for their roles in the April attack on the 14-year-old in the western island by a group of 14 males, including eight boys. Sexual violence against women and children is common in Indonesia but gang rape is unusual. The case shocked the world's fourth most populouscountry and prompted President Joko Widodo to sign a regulation allowing for harsher punishments for child rapists, including death and chemical castration. The regulation is pending approval in parliament. "Because of the sadistic nature of the crime ... the court sentences Zainal to death," said presiding judge Henny Faridha. The youngest member of the gang was 13 years old. They attacked the girl as she was on her way to school. Her battered body was found in a rubber plantation a few days later, after her parents reported her missing. 7 gang members were earlier jailed for 10 years, while 1 was ordered into a rehabilitation program for a year. 1 suspect is on the run, according to police. The victim's parents, who were in court, said the sentencing was inadequate. "They should all get the death penalty," Yana, the victim's
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MO., N.MEX. COLO., MONT., CALIF., USA
Sept. 29 MISSOURI: State Supreme Court hears arguments in appeal of reinstated death penalty The state Supreme Court's considering arguments in an appeal of a 2nd death sentence of a man convicted of killing 2 people 16 years ago. Michael Tisius was granted a new penalty phase trial after originally being sentenced to death in 2001. In 2010, Tisius was again sentenced to die after the state claimed he was a threat to kill other inmates during the time he was awaiting the new penalty trial. His attorney before the Supreme Court, Public Defender Bill Swift, claimed the lawyer in the second penalty trial failed to contest the state's argument that his possession of a boot shank was proof he would harm other inmates. "He admitted that he possessed this boot shank" said Swift. "But he did not admit the intention that was attributed to him by the state in the penalty phase that he intended to use it in a harmful manner. What he admitted to doing was possessing it because he was coerced by a cell-mate to hold onto it." Charles Hurt is the cellmate Swift claims Tisius feared. A boot shank is a piece of metal inside boots which have been fashioned into a knife. Other evidence the state used to reinforce its case in the 2nd penalty phase included a statement attributed to Tisius by a jail guard, suggesting he bragged about the murder he'd been convicted of, and a 3rd incident where Tisius mimicked holding a gun aimed at a jail guard. Before the state's high court Wednesday, Swift claimed Tisius' lawyer in the 2nd penalty phase neglected to bring up fears expressed by Tisius. "In fact, counsel had information that he'd often requested to be in protective custody because he feared for his life from other inmates." State attorney Richard Starns claimed the strength of the evidence backs up the ruling, regardless of the lawyer's performance. "The evidence wasn't wrong said Starns. "Appellant (Tisius) just believes another inference should be raised from it. That's not sufficient to show reasonable probability of a different result in the trial." Tisius was first convicted of killing Randolph County jailers Leon Egly and Jason Acton in 2000 during a botched jail break. Early in 2000, Tisuis and Roy Vance were cellmates in the facility, which is located in Huntsville, Missouri. Tisius was serving a 30 day term. Vance told him he was in jail for 50 years. Tisius and Vance then discussed scenarios where Tisius would return to the facility to help Vance escape. Upon his release, Tisius contacted Vance's girlfriend, Tracie Bulington, who expressed interest in helping with the jailbreak. On June 15th, 2000 Tisius and Bulington were admitted into the Randolph County Jail where they told officers they were delivering cigarettes to Vance. It was shortly afterward that Tisuis pulled a gun he was hiding in his pants and shot both officers. Tisius is currently being held at the maximum-security Potosi Corrections Center in Mineral Point while the Supreme Court considers his 2nd death penalty appeal. Bulington is serving 2 life sentences in Chillicothe after being convicted of 2 counts of 2nd degree murder. Roy Vance is serving a life sentence without parole at Potosi. (source: missourinet.com) NEW MEXICO: 'Guilty' needs death penalty to keep NM's officers safe For the family, friends and fellow officers of slain Rio Rancho police officer Gregg "Nigel" Benner, the fact the jury dealt with his killer last week by delivering a guilty verdict in just 3 hours was likely cold comfort. As is the fact Andrew Romero will die in prison. And while it won't bring back Benner, a military veteran who was shot by Romero last Memorial Day during a traffic stop, reinstituting the death penalty for those who kill law enforcement officers would not only force such murderers to face the death sentences they have single-handedly delivered, but common sense and New Mexico history dictate that it would act as a deterrent. Nothing else will for this hardened class of criminal. Back in 1980, during the infamous State Penitentiary riot, 33 inmates were gruesomely murdered, but all guards taken hostage survived. Killing a New Mexico prison employee in 1980 meant the death penalty. In 1987, convicted mass-murderer William Wayne Gilbert led the escape of 6 other New Mexico inmates out of the pen's maximum security unit and shot a prison guard in the shoulder. Considering his death sentence had been commuted by then-Gov. Toney Anaya the year prior, there is strong reason to believe he did not shoot to kill or finish the job because killing a prison employee in 1987 meant the death penalty. In 2001, prisoner-for-life Matthew Griffin, aka the ninja bandit, explained that when he attacked a State Penitentiary employee, "I wasn't trying to cut his throat. ... I was just trying to maim him" because killing a New Mexico prison employee in 2001 meant the death
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., ALA., OHIO, IND.
Sept. 29 TEXASimpending execution Terry Edwards of Texas Receives Execution Date of October 19, 2016 Terry Darnell Edwards is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CDT, on Wednesday, October 19, 2016, at the Walls Unit of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. 42-year-old Terry is convicted of murdering 34-year-old Tommy Walker and 26-year-old Mickell Goodwin on July 8, 2002, in Dallas, Texas. Terry has spent the last 12 years of his life on Texas' death row. Terry graduated from high school. Prior to his arrest he worked as a carpenter, laborer, and warehouseman. Terry had previously been arrested, convicted, and served time for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and theft of property. He was paroled in 1999. In early June of 2002, Terry Edwards was fired from his job at a Subway sandwich shop in Dallas, Texas, allegedly for stealing money. On the morning of July 8, 2002, Terry returned to the store, along with his cousin Kirk Edwards. Kirk was armed. Terry and Kirk ordered the people in the store to lie down, while they stole the security camera footage and money. Tommy Walker and Mickell Goodwin were the 2 employees working. They were both shot in the head from inches away. The testimony of Michael Weast, who was preparing to leave when Terry and Kirk entered the store, identified them as the robbers. Michael also identified Kirk as the man with the weapon. Terry was arrested later that day while trying to dispose of the weapon. He denied being the trigger man, instead claiming that AT-Bone had shot Tommy and Mickell and later gave Terry the gun. Terry and Kirk were both convicted. Terry received a death sentence. Kirk was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Terry was scheduled to be executed earlier this year on May 11, 2016. His execution was rescheduled to October 19, 2016. The reason for rescheduling Terry's execution was not given. Please pray for peace and healing for the families of Tommy Walker and Mickell Goodwin. Please pray for strength for the family of Terry. Please pray that if Terry is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed, or should not be executed for any other reason, that evidence will be presented prior to his execution. Please pray that Terry may come to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he has not already. (source: theforgivenessfoundation.org) *** The Legal Fiction That Could Kill Duane Buck A man's life hinges on the Supreme Court's evaluation of racist testimony during his sentencing. The island of Minorca is now part of Spain. Roughly 270 square miles in area, it basks in the sunny Mediterranean some 75 miles east of its larger sibling, Mallorca. Minorca is also, however, located entirely within the Ward of Cheap, a district covering the half-mile between Farringdon Street and Old Jewry within the City of London. You could look it up. The island was magically imported into Cheap by the English Court of Common Pleas in 1774. This ludicrous geographical fiction was the only way the court could assert jurisdiction over a claim by a Minorca resident that the British royal governor had assaulted and falsely imprisoned him. Like the wandering island, most legal fictions grow up because they allow the law to do things more easily. But legal fictions can kill. Consider this one: The acts of a lawyer in a capital murder trial are the actions of the defendant. This fiction will be in play next week when the Supreme Court hears Buck v. Davis, a last-ditch death penalty appeal from Texas. Duane Buck is asking the Court to void his death sentence and order a new sentencing hearing because the jury heard testimony that Buck, a black man, was more dangerous than he would have been if he had been white. If Buck's appeal is rejected, it will be largely because the incompetent lawyer who let this impermissible, false, and unconstitutional "expert" testimony go to the jury was his own state-supplied lawyer - and thus in a legal sense, Buck himself. No one questions that Buck is guilty of 2 horrible murders. After he was convicted in 1997, the case, like all capital murder cases, moved on to the "sentencing phase." In this phase, the prosecution can provide evidence to the jury that the crime was "aggravated" by certain statutory factors (such as having been especially cruel, or committed for money). The defense can present almost any evidence it wants, in an attempt to "mitigate" the crime - to show, for example, that a history of trauma or child abuse shaped the defendant's actions, or that, if imprisoned for life, he will not commit violent acts again. After this testimony, the jury can choose between death and life imprisonment without parole. The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution requires that, if an accused can't afford private counsel, a lawyer must be provided. Buck's trial lawyer, Jerry
