[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 21 LEBANON: Death penalty for Bachir Gemayel killers Former President-elect Bachir Gemayel's killers were sentenced to death in absentia Friday, 35 years after a bomb was detonated targeting Gemayel in Ashrafieh. "Finally, the verdict was released in the name of the Lebanese people after 35 years of working for [justice] for Bachir and his friends," Solange Gemayel, Bachir's widow, said following the court's decision. She added: "I'm speaking as the mother of a martyr and the wife of a martyr - just like thousands of other Lebanese who believed in the cause." Gemayel thanked the judicial council and said the decision allowed the state to regain its authority and would restore the Lebanese citzens' belief in constitutional institutions. Head of the Judicial Council Judge Jean Fahed announced the verdict from Beirut's Justice Palace, calling for the death penalty to be given to Nabil Alam and Habib Chartouni. The audience erupted in applause. Fahed said the 2 suspects, who were tried in absentia, carried out an act of terrorism and had played a part in compromising the political stability that Gemayel was on the verge of bringing about. Chartouni and Alam were also stripped of their civil rights, while the court ordered compensation to be paid to the families of those killed in the 1982 bombing. Members of the Kataeb Party, the Lebanese Forces and Gemayel's family attended the hearing at Beirut's Justice Palace. Meanwhile, members of the Syrian Socialist National Party protested outside the Justice Palace and in Tayyouneh, calling the killing of Gemayel a national duty, not a crime. Lebanese Army soldiers deployed outside the Justice Ministry to prevent any scuffles breaking out. Gemayel's nephew, MP Sami Gemayel, posted a picture of Bachir and tweeted: "#AccountabilityDay #JusticeforthesakeofallLebanon #BachirGemayel." Walking in to the hearing, he told reporters, "Today is a historical day." Also before the announcement, Bachir's son, MP Nadim Gemayel, said: "Even 35 years later, you still make them shake #JusticeforthesakeofallLebanon." Outside the Justice Ministry, one SSNP supporter said, "If my father was seen entering an Israeli tank, I would kill him. Today, we are all Habib Chartouni." The man added: "This was not a political killing, rather it was done to carry out justice." Such comments seemingly indicated that SSNP all but admitted to the killing of the president-elect. After the trail was opened in November 2016, multiple hearings were held as the fugitive Chartouni, who is believed to be living in Syria, was prosecuted in absentia. He had allegedly confessed to planting and detonating the bomb. Fahed opened the trial last year and originally gave the SSNP member 24 hours to turn himself in. Chartouni was charged with the assassination but never stood trial once the case had been transferred to the Judicial Council. He escaped from prison in 1990, after Syrian troops stormed east Beirut. Bachir Gemayel was a senior Kataeb party member and commander of the LF during the Civil War. He was elected president on Aug. 23, 1982. 9 days before he was scheduled to be sworn into office, Gemayel, other Kataeb Party members and bystanders were killed when a bomb exploded at the party's headquarters in Ashrafieh. Prior to Gemayel's election, he was accused of being close to Israel and being anti-Palestinian. Following his election, the former LF leader banned all LF members from wearing their uniforms in public, and demanded that the Lebanese Army be the sole defender of the state. (source: The Daily Star) SAUDI ARABIA/INDONESIA: 2 Indonesians granted pardon in Saudi The Indonesian government has managed to successfully secure the release of 2 Indonesians on death row in Saudi Arabia and repatriated them on Saturday. "The 2 Indonesian citizens, identified by their initials as DT and AHB, arrived today in Indonesia through the Soekarno-Hatta Airport," Director of Indonesian Citizens Protection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lalu Muhammad Iqbal noted here on a message received on Saturday. The 2 Indonesians were released after serving their prison term and caning sentence at a womens penitentiary in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Iqbal revealed that DT and AHB came to Saudi before 2002 as illegal migrant workers in Jeddah. Both had lived in an illegal settlement in Jeddah along with other illegal migrant workers. The legal case started in May 2002 when a body of an Indonesian woman named AA was found dismembered into 2 pieces in the settlement. A Thai, the victims husband, was freed from accusation charges since he was not found guilty. Meanwhile, DT and AHB were named as suspects in a case, as they escaped from the settlement. The 2 Indonesians were sentenced to death by the General Court of Jeddah on April 12, 2010. The Indonesian government had provided legal assistance to the 2
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., ARK., MO., COLO., NEV., CALIF., USA
Oct. 21 KENTUCKY: Trial delayed, death penalty under review The trial for the alleged murderers of the former Kernel photo editor is delayed while a decision is made about the constitutionality of the death penalty for those under 21. Efrain Diaz, Justin Smith and Roman Gonzalez allegedly killed Jonathan Krueger in April of 2015. Gonzalez was 17 at the time of the crime and was automatically ineligible for the death penalty, but the other 2 men were over 18. In September, however, Judge Ernesto Scorsone took the death penalty off the table for Diaz and Smith as well, said prosecutor Andrea Mattingly Williams. Scorsone made the decision related to the case of Travis Bredhold, who is now 21 but was just over 18 when he was charged with murder and robbery, according to the Herald-Leader. Fayette County Commonwealth's Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn, who is the prosecutor in the Krueger trial along with Williams, made a statement after the judge's decision in August. She said she will appeal Scorsone's order "because it is contrary to the laws of Kentucky and the laws of the United States," the Herald-Leader reported. Williams said the prosecutor's office has appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals, with the help of the office of Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear. "To the best of our knowledge, this is the 1st time a circuit judge has ruled that the death penalty statute is unconstitutional as it applies to defendants who are less than 21 years of age," said Terry Sebastian, head of the attorney general's Office of Communications. "As such, the ruling warrants a review by an appellate court." The prosecutor's office has made a motion to transfer the decision of constitutionality to the Kentucky Supreme Court, Williams said. The death penalty was reinstated in Kentucky in 1975, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In 2005, the United States Supreme Court decided in Roper v. Simmons that the execution of offenders under the age of 18 at the time of the crime was unconstitutional because of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Williams said the prosecutor's office does not know how long the appeals process might take. In the meantime, she said, those involved in the trial will try to make what progress they can while they wait for this decision. Mary Krueger, mother of the victim, declined to comment about the specifics of the trial but said she hopes to someday see the trial go forward. (source: Kentucky Kernel) ARKANSAS: Discussion: State killing of the mentally ill The Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and others will have a forum on mental illness and the death penalty at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Bowen School of Law's Friday Courtroom. Furonda Brasfield, executive director of the coalition, said there will be an informal discussion on mental illness, how it can affect behavior and how the criminal justice system deals with mental illness. Likely to be discussed is the case of Jack Greene, convicted of capital murder and scheduled to be killed by the state Nov. 9. His attorneys say he's mentally incompetent to be executed. The state Correction Department thinks otherwise. Participants include Rep. Vivian Flowers, who tried in 2017 to pass legislation to preclude the death penalty for people with serious mental illnesses; Julie Vandiver, one of Jack Greene's attorneys; a clinical psychologist and a representative of Judicial Equality for Mental Illness. (source: arkansastimes.com) MISSOURI: Poverty not an acceptable excuse for the act of murder Regarding the commentary "Death penalty represents broken system of justice" (Oct. 19): We all recognize that money can buy a better defense, but that is nothing new to our judicial system and has been true for crimes committed by people of all income levels and race throughout our history. Poverty is just not an acceptable excuse for the act of murder or killing. Many people grow up poor in rural areas and urban Missouri but don't resort to killing. The writers of the commentary say, "African-Americans are overrepresented on Missouri's death row, accounting for only about 11 % of the state's total population, but making up 1/3 of the inmates facing capital punishment." Were these people just rounded up off the streets for no reason or, did they commit the crimes for which they are being charged? Do the authors suggest that no charges be filed against suspected criminals once a percentage of population has been reached? Percentages should be blind to race and income level and not used to advance any political agenda. Maybe more concern should be shown to the victims instead of the criminals. The authors also state that "poverty is perhaps the single most significant factor to determine whether someone will receive a death sentence." Not true. Murdering another person is the single most important factor in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., N.C., FLA., OHIO, IND.
Oct. 21 TEXAS: With jury chosen, court takes up final pretrial matters in capital murder case Final pretrial matters were discussed Thursday at a hearing in the case of Billy Joel Tracy, a Texas prison inmate facing the death penalty in the July 2015 beating death of a correctional officer at the Barry Telford Unit. Tracy's lead defense attorney, Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas, said he intends to supplement a previously filed motion for a change of venue in the case with additional arguments and copies of news articles after 102nd District Judge Bobby Lockhart said he is willing to rule on the issue. A jury of 7 men and 5 women was seated earlier this month after weeks of jury selection. 2 women will serve as alternates. Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson, who also represents Tracy, said the defense would have stricken two of the existing jurors had Lockhart allowed them more "strikes" than the 17 they exercised during the selection process. Lockhart said the average age of the jury is 48. He said the youngest juror is 24, that more than 1/2 of the jurors are college educated, and that the group is racially diverse. Assistant District Attorney Kelley Crisp said the state is working with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to quickly acquire employment records for witnesses expected to testify for the state who currently or formerly worked in prison units where Tracy has been housed. Crisp also addressed the matter of experts expected to testify for the defense in the event Tracy is found guilty and the trial enters a second phase to determine punishment. "Are they qualified? Is this reliable science?" Crisp said. "We don't even know what kind of hearing we're having. Is this hard science? soft science? This could go on for days." Crisp said the state wants the opportunity to review reports such as "brain scans" and the underlying science on which the defense experts will base their testimony and opinions so that she can raise any challenges to their testimony before the punishment phase of trial begins. Both sides are entitled to question expert witnesses about their qualifications and the data, studies or theories, for example, on which they rely and seek a ruling from the judge as to whether the testimony should be admitted during the trial. If the jury finds Tracy, 39, guilty, the court will have at least a couple of days to conduct hearings before the date for punishment testimony is scheduled to begin. Lockhart said Thursday that he expects the guilt-or-innocence phase of trial to take about a week. The punishment phase is scheduled to begin Nov. 1, in the event Tracy is convicted. Tracy is accused of beating Correctional Officer Timothy Davison, 47, to death the morning of July 15, 2015, during a routine walk from a prison day room back to Tracy's 1-man cell in administrative segregation. Tracy, who had allegedly packed all of his personal belongings before walking out of his cell for an hour of recreation, attacked Davison after slipping his left hand free of its cuff. After knocking the officer to the floor, Tracy allegedly grabbed Davison's metal tray slot bar and used it to pummel him. The attack reportedly was captured on video surveillance from multiple angles and is expected to be played for the jury during the 1st phase of trial. Tracy's prison history began in 1995 when he was sentenced to a 3-year term for retaliation in Tarrant County, Texas. 3 years later, Tracy was sentenced to life with parole possible, plus 20 years for burglary, aggravated assault and assault on a public servant in Rockwall County, Texas. In 2005, Tracy received an additional 45-year term for stabbing a guard with a homemade weapon at a TDCJ unit in Amarillo, Texas. Tracy was sentenced to 10 years in 2009 for attacking a guard at a TDCJ unit in Abilene, Texas. The jury has the option of sentencing Tracy to life without the possiblity of parole or death by lethal injection. (source: Texarkana Gazette) VIRGINIA: Death penalty option removed for man in parents' slayings Prosecutors say a Virginia man accused of fatally shooting his parents on Easter Sunday in 2016 will no longer face the possibility of the death penalty. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor filed a formal notice Thursday in the capital murder case against 24-year-old William Roy Brissette. "Based on the information ... provided to date, we felt it was the appropriate action to take at this time," Taylor told the newspaper. But she declined to discuss specifics as to why prosecutors decided to withdraw the death penalty as an option. 59-year-old Henry J. Brissette III and 56-year-old Martha B. Brissette were found dead March 27, 2016, in the home they shared with their son. Brissette has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was found incompetent in April. (source: Associated Press) NORTH
