[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALABAMA
Oct. 16 ALABAMAstay of impending execution Execution stayed for Alabama man convicted of killing cop A federal court granted a stay of execution for Alabama death row inmate Torrey Twane McNabb, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday. The order was issued on Monday by Chief U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins of the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division. The state has appealed the stay. The execution was scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hollman Correctional Facility in Atmore. McNabb has spent the last 18 years on death row, after being convicted of fatally shooting Montgomery police officer Anderson Gordon in September 1997. McNabb was convicted on two capital murder counts-- one for killing Gordon while he was on duty, and one for killing him as Gordon sat in his patrol car. McNabb also was found guilty of two additional counts of attempted murder. McNabb's attorney John Anthony Palombi, an assistant federal defender, filed an emergency motion for stay of execution on Oct. 11. The defense claims the "challenged method of execution presents a substantial risk of serious harm" and that there's an alternative that can reduce the risk of severe pain. A federal court of appeals stayed the execution of Jeffery Lynn Borden on Oct. 2 on similar grounds. "Borden, in almost identical circumstances, received a stay of execution," Monday's order stated. "Defendants did not appeal, admittedly in part because of the late litigation hour. The court, in equity and good conscience, cannot treat McNabb differently than Borden when the stakes are this high. There is no evidentiary justification for disparate treatment of McNabb." (source: al.com) ___ 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----worldwide----RUSS., ALGER., PAKIS., IRAN, ZIMBAB.
Oct. 16 RUSSIA: It is up to people to decide whether to cancel it or not - Bastrykin on moratorium on death penalty The moratorium on the death penalty can only be canceled in Russia following a referendum, Russian Investigative Committee Head Alexander Bastrykin stated. Such a decision can only be made following a referendum, Alexander Bastrykin said during his lecture in the Kutafin Moscow State Law University when answering a student???s question. Bastrykin said death penalty can only be applied in exceptional cases, according to Committee official spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko. This includes those who committed major crimes and threaten the society. Bastrykin favors humane actions and does not want to intimidate the public, Petrenko emphasized. Bastrykin's lecture was on origin and development of investigative practices in Russia and Committee's current goals. May we remind you that the moratorium on the death penalty has been in place in Russia since it joined the Council of Europe in 1996. Life in prison has been the maximum sentence in Russia since then.? (source: crimerussia.com) ALGERIA: Senior terrorist sentenced to death in absentia in Algeria An Algerian court on Sunday sentenced in absentia running away senior terrorist, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, alias Belaouar, to death penalty, APS news agency reported. The sentence has been pronounced by the prosecutor of the Criminal Court of Oran, western Algeria, as Belmokhtar, leader of the terrorist group of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), was charged by the creation and management of a terrorist organization, abduction as well as arm detention and trafficking. The case dates back to April 2011. Detectives concluded that there was a terrorist plot to kidnap foreign nationals, specifically workers in charge of the construction of Oran tramway. Mokhtar Belmokhtar, was the mastermind of this plot, as he was first tried in absentia in 2012. By then 8 other defendants were also tried, including three in absentia, and 5 others were present at the court. Among these 5 defendants, 4 were sentenced to life prison, while the 5th defendant was set free due to lack of evidence. The prosecutor of the Criminal Court of Oran has reopened the case and sentenced in absentia Belmokhtar and his 3 companions to death penalty. It worth to recall that Mokhtar Belmokhtar, alias Belaouer (the 1 eyed) claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack that targeted a gas field in the Algerian desert in January 16th 2013. Al-Qaida linked militants attacked the gas field of Tiguentourine, in Illizi province, 1700 km southeast of Algiers and took some 800 workers as hostages, forcing the Algerian special forces to storm the field and release the hostages. This rescue operation left more than 37 dead, including 36 foreigners. As many as 29 assailants were killed, while 3 others were captured alive, according to an official report. (source: xinhuanet.com) PAKISTAN: Pakistan moves to narrow down death penalty scope27 crimes being reviewed in the wake of 'scathing criticism on excessive use of capital punishment' by UN, Western countries Pakistan has initiated the process to review punishment in 27 crimes carrying death sentence to narrow down the scope of death penalty, The Nation has learnt. The decision has been taken in the wake of the 'scathing criticism on the excessive use of this penalty' by UN Human Rights Mechanisms, Western countries, particularly EU member states as well as NGOs with global outreach, suggest documents exclusively available with The Nation. In a communication forwarded by Pakistan's Permanent Representative to UN in Geneva to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in November 2016, the concerns of the international community (UN Human Rights Mechanisms, EU member states, and NGOs) with regard to the death penalty in Pakistan were highlighted. Keeping in view Pakistan's review of reports on human rights conventions at the UN level and concerns of the international community, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved a summary to the prime minister wherein some recommendations were made with regard to imposition of death penalty in Pakistan which compelled the authorities to review punishment for the crimes carrying death penalty. It is to mention here that National Action Plan for human rights, approved by the prime minister, has also proposed a review of existing legal framework in line with the national and international commitments related to human rights. The summary for the prime minister, a copy of which is exclusively available with The Nation, said that the 27 crimes which carry the death sentence in Pakistan may be reviewed to narrow down the scope of the death penalty. "Like other countries, a longer life sentence may be introduced for some of these crimes. A high-level committee may be constituted to look into the recommendati
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., S.C., FLA., ALA., OHIO, IND. S. DAK., CALIF., US MIL.
Oct. 16 NORTH CAROLINA: Death penalty has its place in an orderly society Several weeks ago, North Carolina Rep. Justin Burr took to his Facebook page and advocated for a return of capital punishment. Opponents of the death penalty have hammered Burr ever since, not only on Facebook (where several responses are childishly profane), but also in the pages of this newspaper and Raleigh's News & Observer. National magazines, including The Hill and Newsweek, have picked up the story. But according to nearly every reputable poll, most North Carolinians continue to support capital punishment. This despite a relentless, years-long campaign against the death penalty from almost every mainstream news source. What explains the majority's stubborn, unrelenting support for capital punishment? Maybe our priorities and those of the media elite are not the same. Among our top priorities is the preservation of order, which necessitates a reverence for and protection of the innocent and defenseless. The deliberate taking of such a life is incomprehensibly cruel and unforgivable. The ultimate punishment for such offenses is not only justified, but necessary: the offender receives punishment that is proportionate to his offense, and society sends a message that is unmistakable. North Carolina's most recent execution (in 2006) provides a vivid example. In 1994, Samuel Flippen beat to death his 2-year-old stepdaughter, Britnie Nichole Hutton. Flippen was not executed until 12 years later. Opponents of the death penalty are in the awkward (if not impossible) position of arguing that the execution of Samuel Flippen was, somehow, a miscarriage of justice. But one could argue that the only injustice in the Flippen case is that it took the state about a decade too long to carry out the sentence. Since 2006, legal challenges have effectively created a moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina. A recent case in Michigan reminds us that lenient treatment of murderers can have catastrophic consequences. 25 years ago, Gregory Green stabbed his wife to death. She was 7 months pregnant at the time. (The infant also died.) Green served 16 years, was released from prison, and remarried. In September 2016, he killed his 2 biological daughters, aged 4 and 5, and both of his teenage stepchildren. The latter pair were shot to death in front of their mother, Green's 2nd wife, who was shot and stabbed, but survived. Maybe it's time for Michigan to reconsider its ban on capital punishment. And Rep. Burr is correct: North Carolina needs to resolve its legal quagmire and resume executions. Our death row is occupied by 145 people. The oldest, Blanche Taylor Moore, is now in her mid-80s, and has eluded justice for a quarter-century. Despite the virtual moratorium on the death penalty, some prosecutors, including Assistant DA Robert Enochs, continue to seek the ultimate punishment. A local man, 29-year-old Garry Gupton, is on trial in Greensboro for the murder of Stephen White, 46, 3 years ago. As reported in these pages on Oct. 3, police "believe Gupton beat White before setting him on fire in Room 417 of the Battleground Inn at 1517 Westover Terrace." Surgeons had to amputate both of White's arms, and he died less than a week later. Faith Harris-Green, Gregory Green's 2nd wife, told her homicidal ex-husband at his sentencing hearing, "Your justice will come when you burn in Hell for all eternity for murdering 4 innocent children." It's a shame that the state of Michigan is unable to expedite Mr. Green's long-overdue journey to Hell. (source: Charles Davenport Jr. is a News & Record columnist and a member of the Community Editorial Boardgreensboro.com) SOUTH CAROLINA: Man once sentenced to death gets life for killing teen A Georgia man once sentenced to death in South Carolina for torturing and ordering the killing a 16-year-old boy will now spend the rest of his life in prison. Steven Barnes, 36, was found guilty of murder Friday after an hour of deliberations by an Edgefield County jury, Solicitor Rick Hubbard said. Barnes ran a teen prostitution ring in Augusta, Georgia, where clients were robbed after having sex, and 16-year-old Samuel Sturrup was one of several teens who liked to hang out with him, investigators said. But in September 2001, Barnes thought Sturrup robbed him. He beat the teen with his fists, a metal pole and a shock absorber, stuffed him in a car trunk and drove toe Edgefield County with several other people, authorities said. Barnes forced Sturrup into the woods, where he ordered another teen to shoot the victim in the head. Sturrup's disappearance went unsolved for three months until a dog found a skull with a bullet hole, investigators said. Barnes had been sentenced to death, but the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2013, saying he should have been allowed to represent himself at his d
