[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 11 MAURITANIA: Mauritanian prosecutors appeal sentence against 'blasphemy' blogger Mauritanian prosecutors on Friday said they had appealed against a 2-year prison term served on a blogger who had earlier received a death sentence for blasphemy. Cheikh Ould Mohamed Ould Mkheitir was given the 2-year term on Thursday by an appeals court in the northwest town of Nouadhibou. "The prosecutors immediately filed an appeal to the Supreme Court" to ensure "a sound and rigorous application of the law," prosecutors there said in a statement. Mkheitir has been in custody since January 2014 and thus was eligible for immediate release after Thursday's ruling. He was also fined $169. His whereabouts are not known. A Muslim in his thirties, Mkheitir was sentenced to death in December 2014 over a blog which questioned decisions taken by the Prophet Mohammed and his companions during holy wars in the 7th century. He also attacked the mistreatment of Mauritania's black population, blasting "an iniquitous social order" with an underclass that was "marginalised and discriminated against from birth." His case has sparked outrage from rights activists but also fuelled demands for the death sentence to be carried out in the deeply conservative Muslim country. On April 21 2016, the court of appeal confirmed the death penalty, but reclassified the crime from blasphemy to "unbelieving," for which the punishment is less if the defendant repents. The case was then sent to the Supreme Court, which on January 31 this year sent it back to the appeals court "in order to correct mistakes made," without elaboration. Thursday's decision in favour of a jail term sparked scenes of outrage in court and fresh demands for the blogger to be executed. Appeals were launched on social media for Friday to be observed as a "day of anger." Security was beefed up in sensitive areas in the capital Nouakchott after weekly Friday afternoon prayers. Capital punishment in Mauritania, a vast, mainly desert state in west Africa, is usually reserved for murder and acts of terrorism. According to Amnesty, Mauritania last executed a prisoner in 1987. Mkheitir on Wednesday told judges that he had "uncovered mistakes in his article" which he "immediately corrected in another article. He also expressed "every repentance and apologies" and assured the court of his "faith in Allah and his prophet". (source: news24.com) EGYPT: British tourist facing the death penalty for smuggling prescription pain killers into Egypt is in 'good spirits' as 'crucial new evidence' is uncovered that could help her be freed Jailed holidaymaker Laura Plummer is in 'good spirits' as she awaits to find out if she will continue to be locked up on drug smuggling charges in Egypt. The 33 year old - who has been held for over a month in a hellhole jail - was due to appear before a judge to find out if she would get bail or face being locked up for another 15 days. But amid much confusion her lawyer said she would not be brought to the court today - although the judge could decide to review her case in her absence. Ms Plummer, of Hull, east Yorkshire, claims she was bringing the 290 Tramadol painkillers - which are banned in Egypt - into the country for her 'husband' Omar Caboo, who suffers from chronic back pain. New evidence submitted by Mr Caboo claim to prove his medical condition and need for the pills. It is hoped that this evidence will be enough for an Egyptian court to grant Ms Plummer her freedom. The documents include X-rays, medical records and a marriage certificate - crucial evidence because authorities believed her to be a smuggle with a made-up spouse. The shop girl, 33, has been locked up for a month after being arrested at Hurghada International Airport when she was stopped by customs officers and found with almost 300 of the powerful pain killers. Egyptian Caboo, a hotel activities organiser, had requested them to relieve his back pain. Tramadol is on a list of banned drugs in Egypt as it is widely used by junkies as a heroin substitute because it is so powerful. Ms Plummer's worried relatives saw her as jail bosses mocked her complaints about the 'hellhole' conditions, telling her: 'You're not staying in the Sheraton!' She has endured an ordeal of sharing a 15ft x 15ft cell with 25 other women in sweltering heat and no air conditioning. This afternoon her mother Roberta, sister Jayne Sinclair and brother Kirk were pictured went to the prison for an hour long visit. Staff at the prison on the outskirts of the city of Hurgharda showed little sympathy for what the Egyptian media have called the 'Tramadol Tourist'. Meanwhile, Ms Plummer was able to speak briefly to her mother Roberta today. As she waited in the entrance hall of the chaotic Red Sea court her lawyer handed her a mobile phone and told her Ms Plummer wanted to speak with her. The
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., NEB., US MIL.
Nov. 11 KENTUCKY: Death penalty in Kentucky has 'glaring problems' What should be done to the latest ISIS-inspired terrorist in the USA? His name is Sayfullo Saipov. He is a 29-year-old truck driver from Uzbekistan who was charged on Nov. 1 with material support of a terrorist group and violence and destruction of motor vehicles after he drove a truck down a bike lane intentionally, killing 8 people and injuring 12. President Trump was quick to say that he should receive the death penalty, and New York's Mayor DeBlasio was quick to take issue. He favors life in prison with no chance of parole. We shall see whether the fate of Saipov becomes part a slight recent rise in the number of executions in our nation, as reported by Richard Wolf in USA TODAY on Oct. 23, or part of the longtime declining trend. In the Wolf story, it was noted that the execution of an Alabama cop killer, Torrey McNabb the previous Thursday (Oct. 19) was the 21st such execution this year, marking the first time that the number of executions has risen year-over-year since 2009, when there were 52. 2009 was followed by a relatively steady drop until now. Opponents of capital punishment have been quick to label this new development as only a temporary interruption in the broader trend toward abolition. (Wrongful Conviction Day and the 15th Annual World Day Against the Death Penalty were both observed in October, but the U.S. just angered many by voting against a UN resolution condemning the death penalty for homosexuality.) The number of states doing executions dropped from 9 in 2013 to 5 in 2016, and supreme courts in Florida, Delaware and Connecticut recently struck down those states' death penalty procedures. However, this year, the number of states executing has grown somewhat. Arkansas rushed to do 4 in 8 days before its supply of lethal injection drugs ran out; and it tried for 8 over a 2-week period, only to be thwarted by court intervention in the other 4 cases. Florida resumed executions after an 18-month halt because of a Supreme Court ruling on its sentencing procedure. 2 states, Nebraska and Oklahoma, put the death penalty back in state statutes or the constitution, and voters in California defeated an abolition effort. Some recent executions occurred because further claims of innocence and requests for more forensic testing went unheeded. Despite the increase, only 16 of the nation's 3,000 counties issue capital sentences with any regularity, and most of the people on death row were put there 10, 20 or 30 years ago by juries and prosecutors who, according to Rob Smith, the executive director of the Fair Punishment Project, would not hand down the same sentences today knowing the alternative of life without parole. States still occasionally go on execution sprees (Missouri in 2014-15 and Georgia in 2016), but since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the height of the death sentencing era is now 20 years behind us. There are several reasons for the overall downward trend. Since 1973, 155 people on death rows have been released with evidence of innocence. Racial disparities have drawn greater attention. The Death Penalty Information Center informs us that African-Americans make up 34.5 % of defendants executed and 42 % of inmates on death row, despite constituting only 13 % of the general population. The race of the victim weighs heavily. About 50 percent of murder victims are white, but of cases involving the death penalty, over 75 % involved white victims. Among persons executed for interracial murders, 20 whites have been executed for killing a black victim, and 287 blacks have been executed for killing a white victim. In 2010, it was estimated 61 % of voters would choose another punishment over the death penalty: 39 % would favor life without parole plus restitution; only 33 % would favor the death sentence. As for the alleged deterrent effect in lowering the homicide rate, the most recent finding was that 88 % rejected the deterrent effect and only 5 % supported it. In a 2009 poll of law enforcement professionals, the death penalty finished last among a series of factors to be ranked in the top 2 or 3 in interference with law enforcement. 20 % picked lack of law enforcement resources, and 20 % picked drug and alcohol abuse. Insufficient use of the death penalty finished ninth (last), with 2 % of those asked ranking it in the top 2 or 3 factors. Then there is the matter of cost. In 2014, Kansas spent $400,000 per case when the death penalty was sought and $100,000 when it was not. The average death penalty case in Maryland costs $3 million; and between 1978 and 1999, the state spent $186 million while performing 5 executions. Florida has averaged $24 million per case on 44 executions since 1976. North Carolina has spent $2.16 million per execution over the cost of a life sentence. Texas has averaged $2.3
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., GA., FLA., OHIO
Nov. 11 TEXASnew execution date Lubbock judge signs death warrant for Rosendo Rodriguez Lubbock Judge Jim Bob Darnell issued Wednesday an order of execution for 37-year-old Rosendo Rodriguez III, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2005 slaying of a pregnant woman whose body was stuffed inside a piece of luggage found at the Lubbock city landfill. Darnell's order comes 2 weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Rodriguez's appeal and sets a March 27 date for his execution by lethal injection. Rodriguez, who became known as the "Suitcase killer," was convicted of the 2005 beating and choking death of 29-year-old Summer Baldwin, who was 5 weeks pregnant. Her body was stuffed inside a piece of luggage found at the city landfill in Lubbock. Baldwin lived in Lubbock and Rodriguez was training here as a Marine reservist. Court records show Rodriguez was linked to at least 5 other sexual assaults and to the disappearance of 16-year-old Joanna Rogers, who had been missing more than a year. He confessed to killing the teenager, whose body was also found in a suitcase in the Lubbock landfill. Rodriguez is 1 of 3 Texas death row inmates convicted in Lubbock County. Joe Franco Garza, who was convicted in the 1998 killing of Silbiano Rangel, is awaiting results of a post-conviction DNA testing filed in 2015, according to court records. Brian Suniga, who was convicted in the 2011 slaying of David Rowser, is in the midst of appealing his death sentence. (source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal) *** DA will not seek death penalty in murder of Zoe Hastings Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson will not be seeking the death penalty in the case of Antonio Cochran, charged with the murder of Zoe Hastings in 2015. Police allege that Cochran kidnapped Hastings in her family's minivan from Walgreens on Garland Road and Peavy Drive, killed the teenager, then dumped her and the vehicle in a creek in Lake Highlands. Hastings was on her way to church. Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said that the Cochran had an "intellectual disability," which makes him ineligible for the death penalty. On Friday, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office released the following statement: "It came to our attention that the defendant may have had some intellectual challenges. As a result, we were pro-active in requesting the court's permission for an evaluation. Our expert's findings are such that the defendant does fit the current legal definition of a person with an intellectual disability. We are not seeking the death penalty in this case because the current law states an individual who has been diagnosed with an intellectual disability is not eligible for the death penalty. However, we remain committed to seeking justice on behalf of Zoe Hastings and her family." WFAA discovered Cochran has an extensive criminal history in Bowie County that includes multiple felony arrests. (source: WFAA TV news) Former partners, jailers give testimony during punishment phase in Hudson capital murder trial Prosecutors rested their case late Thursday afternoon after calling 8 witnesses during the 2nd full day of the punishment phase of a capital murder trial for an East Texas man facing the death penalty for killing multiple members of 2 families in one night in November 2015. William Mitchell Hudson, 35, of Tennessee Colony was indicted on 3 counts of capital murder in connection with the slayings of Thomas Kamp, 45; Austin Kamp, 21; Nathan Kamp, 23; Kade Johnson, 6; Hannah Johnson, 40; and Carl Johnson, 76 at a campsite in Anderson County. Jurors convicted Hudson of capital murder in less than 20 minutes Tuesday for killing Hannah Johnson and her father, Carl Johnson. The case was moved to Brazos County because of pre-trial publicity in Anderson County, which is more than 100 miles northeast of Bryan. The Johnson and Kamp families met on Nov. 14, 2015, at a campsite on land in Anderson County that Thomas Kamp had recently purchased from a distant relative of Hudson's family, a transaction that Hudson reportedly was not happy about. Jurors convicted Hudson for shooting and beating to death Carl Johnson and his daughter, Hannah; prosecutors also argued that Hudson had shot and killed the 4 others in the woods while they were looking for firewood, shortly before he had returned to the campsite to kill Hannah and Carl. Jurors heard testimony Thursday from Suzanna Reed, one of Hudson's ex-wives, and from Amanda Hyden, Hudson's ex-girlfriend and mother of one of his children. Both women painted similar pictures of Hudson: a violent and erratic alcoholic. Reed said Hudson had threatened to shoot himself, but had never threatened to shoot her, when he brought his guns out to demonstrate his commitment to suicide. Reed said Hudson hadn't drank much when they were
