[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Sept. 25 SUDAN: Sudanese student sentenced to death for alleged murder of policeman A Sudanese court sentenced a university student to death by hanging on Sunday for the alleged killing a policeman during protests last year, triggering protests after the verdict. Last August, Khartoum North Criminal Court found Asim Omer, 21 years, guilty of premeditated murder, however, the judge delayed the sentencing until the 24th September to listen to the victim's family and make them decide on whether the convict should be punished or receive a pardon. The Khartoum court, headed by Judge Abdeen Dahi, sentenced Omer to death by hanging, pointing that the family of the deceased's family refused blood money and demanded the death sentence. Omer is a student at the University of Khartoum, he was arrested by the Sudanese security service and accused of killing a police officer who died after a hit by a Molotov cocktail during the student protests in April 2016. The trial session which was held amid tight security measures was attended by representatives of the European Union, a number of Western embassies and international human rights organizations. After the verdict, hundreds of students and representatives of the Sudanese opposition demonstrated outside the court, chanting anti-government slogans. But the Police responded to the protesters using tear gas to disperse them. The demonstrations moved to the University of Khartoum, where police forces had to close the surrounding streets and disperse protesters with heavy tear gas. Eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune that the security forces arrested a number of protesters. The Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) slammed rejected the "fabricated" sentence against Omer who is one of its members. It further stressed that verdict is "contrary to the law and to the evidence," pointing out that the prosecution did not offer evidence to justify the penalty. The opposition party stressed that it would challenge the decision before the Supreme Court, adding "despite our knowledge of the nature of the critical stage reached by state institutions under the absolute control of the security apparatus." The statement said all the options are open for dealing with this issue and to protect Omer's life. SPLM-N Agar Secretary General Yasir Arman slammed the verdict and described it as "political by excellence". He further voiced their solidarity with him and called on the SPLM-N membership, allies and supporters to continue to defend him adding that "such crimes would not stop until the removal of this criminal regime". Sudanese Communist students office in Khartoum, for its part, condemned the death sentence saying it comes in line with the "political trials the regime has been conducting against the innocents and those who resist its policies". "The prosecution did not provide any evidence condemning Asim," said the Communist students emphasizing that "The defence evidence confirmed that the day the crime was committed the student was at his home." (source: Sudan Tribune) ZIMBABWE: Mawarire Faces Death Penalty After Renewed Treason Charge Mawarire is being charged with subverting a constitutionally elected government or alternatively for inciting public violence. The charges are coming from the video he did yesterday before the FB live talking about the current cash crisis, they are treasonous and carry a death penalty. Furthermore, the Zimbabwe Lawyers For Human Rights reports that authorities have lined up 8 witnesses to testify against His Generation Church leader Mawarire, whose trial on charges of subverting constitutional government commences at the High Court in Harare on Monday 25 September 2017. The 40 year-old Mawarire, who is represented by Harrison Nkomo of Mhishi Nkomo Legal Practitioners, a member of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights will appear before High Court Judge Justice Priscilla Chigumba, who will preside over his trial on Monday 25 September 2017. The clergyman, who was arrested in July 2016 and in January 2017 will be on trial facing 2 counts of subverting constitutional government as defined in section 22 (2) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23 or alternatively incitement to commit public violence as defined in section 187 (1) (a) as read with Section 36 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) claimed that Mawarire incited Zimbabweans from "all walks of life either locally or internationally" to revolt and overthrow a constitutionally elected government. The NPA has lined up 8 witnesses who include Crispen Makedenge, Innocent Chipangura, Patrick Romeo Moyo, Lawrence Njodzi, Marshal Dube, Jeremiah Murenje, Edmore Runganga and Mavhira Richard Mhlanga to testify against Mawarire. If convicted of subverting constitutional government, Mawarire is liable to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., FLA., OHIO, CALIF., USA
Sept. 25 NORTH CAROLINA: "It's not a game": District Attorney, Capital Defender dive into importance of negotiations, death penalty ineffectiveness North Carolina's 100 counties are represented by 44 prosecutorial districts, complete with 44 district attorneys. Of those 100 counties and 44 districts, 31 counties contain public defender offices located in 17 districts. Catawba, Caldwell and Burke counties comprise the 25th prosecutorial district and are represented by District Attorney David Learner. The 25th district does not have a public defender's office, which means a local private attorney is appointed to all defendants in the district if they request court-appointed council in a case. More than 80 % (68.3 % public defender, 13.7 % assigned counsel) of felony defendants charged with a violent crime in the United States' 75 largest counties were represented by publicly-financed attorneys in 1996, according to a U.S. DOJ Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. More than 65 % of defendants in U.S. District Courts had publicly-financed attorneys in 1998, according to the report. Learner noted the importance of having a public defender???s office in the district, calling it a "mirror image" of the district attorney's office. "Every court-appointed lawyer would be available for court, and we could expedite the handling of smaller cases," he added. In murder trials, or capital cases, resources are spread even thinner throughout the state. North Carolina houses 5 regional capital defender offices comprised of 16 assistant capital defenders, who each fall under N.C. Capital Defender Robert E. Sharpe Jr. in the Durham office. A capital defender is appointed to a defendant who requested court-appointed counsel and is charged with 1st-degree or undesignated murder and was 18 years or older at the time of the offense, according to the North Carolina Office of Indigent Services. Assistant Capital Defender Victoria Jayne, from the Buncombe County regional office, said her cases span the entire western part of the state. "There's sort of a rule. (The capital defender's office) really doesn't want us to have more than 8 or 9 cases at a time," Jayne said. Death by natural causes 31 states, including North Carolina, utilize the death penalty as possible punishment for murder convictions with an aggravating factor, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). North Carolina's 145 death row inmates place the state 6th in the nation as of April 1, according to DPIC. The state ranks 9th in the nation with 43 executions since 1976, when the death penalty was re-implemented after a 10-year hiatus caused by United States Supreme Court Case, Gregg v. Georgia. North Carolina's last execution was in 2006, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS). The number of death sentences in the United States has decreased consistently over the last 18 years, from 295 in 1998 to 31 in 2016. 4 death penalty verdicts were returned in the last 5 years in North Carolina, and 13 were returned in the last 10 years, according to the NCDPS. Learner emphasized the difficulty of prosecuting a death verdict. "It's extraordinarily difficult to get a death verdict," Learner said. "Those are 2-part trials. The 1st part, the jury is selected and they are death qualified; in other words, that they'll consider the possibility of a death verdict." The last person to receive a death verdict from Catawba County was Glenn Chapman, convicted Nov. 16, 1994. On Nov. 5, 2007, Superior Court Judge Robert C. Ervin ordered Chapman to receive a new trial on 2 of his death sentences, according to the NCDPS. Chapman's 2 murder charges were dismissed April 2, 2008, and he was released from prison the same day. 3 men were convicted of murder and sentenced to the death penalty from 1993: Ronald W. Frye was convicted Nov. 15, 1993, and executed Aug. 31, 2001; and Nathan and William Bowie were convicted and sentenced to the death penalty Feb. 5, 1993, and remain on death row 24 years later. Learner said he has personally tried 2 cases with the death penalty eligible as a possible punishment if convicted, with 1 resulting in a 2nd-degree murder verdict and the other 1st-degree murder with life in prison without parole. "When you have experience of trying them, observing them, and looking at cases, you come to realize it's very difficult for a jury seated in that box to say 'yes, you need to kill that man,'" Learner said. Assistant Capital Defender Jayne shared similar sentiments when addressing the finality of the punishment. "There's a huge difference between someone sitting on death row and someone serving a sentence of life in prison without parole," Jayne said. Jayne also emphasized the importance of negotiations with clients and their families, in addition to the district attorney's office. "A lot of times, it's
