[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 10 BRAZIL: Support for Death Penalty at Record Levels Among Brazilians, Datafolha Finds According to recent Datafolha research, support for the use of the death penalty has grown significantly in the last nine years. The recent poll found 57% of those interviewed in favor of the adoption of capital punishment. In 2008, the last time that the institute polled on this subject, 47% held the same opinion. This is the highest number recorded since the Datafolha started polling on this subject in 1991. But it is within the statistical margin of error - 2 % points higher or lower - with levels recorded in 1993 and 2007, when 55% of the population said they were in favor of the punishment. The death penalty is not used in Brazil, although it is provided for during times of a declared state of war in paragraph 37 of article 5 of the Constitution. The last time Brazil was in a declared state was during the Second World War. In 2015, for the 1st time in more than 150 years, Brazilians were condemned to capital punishment. The executions of Marco Archer in January followed by Rodrigo Gularte, both in Indonesia, were the first such executions of Brazilians abroad. In Brazil itself, the last execution of a free man condemned to death by the Civil Judiciary took place in 1861 in the province of Santa Luzia, which later became the city of Luziania, in the area surrounding the current Federal District. According to Datafolha, which interviewed 2,765 Brazilians from 192 municipalities between November 29th and 30th of last year, 39% of the population is opposed to the punishment. Beyond these, 1% declared indifference and another 3% didn't know how to respond. The research revealed that support for the death penalty is highest among the poorest Brazilian citizens. Support is 58% among those who have monthly incomes of 5 minimum salaries (R$ 4,770 [US$ 1,477]) or less. It decreases to 51% among those with incomes of 5 to 10 salaries (R$ 9,540 [US$ 2,954]) and falls even more among the wealthiest group, to 42%. Women in general tend to show less support for capital punishment, at 54%, compared to 60% for men. In terms of age, the age group that shows the greatest support for execution of those condemned is the 25 to 34-year-old category, in which 61% say they are in favor. Older citizens, those more than 60 years old, are less likely to support the use of the punishment, at 52%. Atheists are the group least likely to support the death penalty. Only 46% say they are in favor of it. Among religiously affiliated Brazilians, Evangelicals are the most reticent regarding the subject: 50% are in favor while 45% are opposed (4% don't know how to respond and 1% are indifferent), while Catholics make up the group most in favor of the punishment: 63% support it while only 34% are against it. (source: folha.uol.com.br) PHILIPPINES: Pacquiao to resume death penalty hearing this month The Senate will resume this month its hearings on the revival of the death penalty through a subcommittee to be headed by Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said on Monday. Pimentel made it clear that he made the decision not because House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had criticized the upper chamber for not acting on the death penalty proposal. He said he had asked Pacquiao, an advocate of the death penalty, to resume the hearings as early as October last year. Pimentel explained that the death penalty hearings were being handled by the Senate justice committee, headed by Sen. Richard Gordon, who in turn designated Pacquiao to lead the subcommittee. But Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the revival of the death penalty measure was not part of the common legislative agenda. "I am not aware of any change in the priority list that we have agreed with the House," Drilon said. No Senate OK seen for death bill Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday said he saw no sufficient support yet at the Senate for bills seeking to revive the death penalty as a committee led by Sen. Manny Pacquiao was set to resume hearings on the proposed measures. Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III denied that the resumption of hearings on the bill was an offshoot of pressure from Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who had complained of Senate inaction on the revival of the death penalty. In a text message, Lacson said the Senate should not just follow what the House of Representatives did. If there were bills from the House pending at the Senate, Lacson said he was sure "we will vote on it." But "in the case of the death penalty bill, for now it appears it cannot get a majority vote," Lacson said. Opposition Sen. Francis Pangilinan, a member of the Liberal Party, said he would continue heeding the LP stand against reviving death penalty. But Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, a leading proponent of reviving the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.C., LA., OHIO, CALIF., ORE., HAW., USA
Jan. 10 TEXAS: Death penalty trials on way; Men accused of murdering BP agent 2 men accused in the 2014 death of an off-duty Border Patrol agent in Willacy County made brief appearances in court Tuesday as defense attorneys and prosecutors prepared for death penalty trials against the suspects. Gustavo Tijerina-Sandoval of La Villa and Ismael Hernandez-Vallejo of Weslaco are charged with capital murder and attempted capital murder over accusations of shooting and killing Border Patrol agent Javier Vega Jr. of Kingsville, and shooting and injuring Javier Vega Sr. of La Feria, the agent's father, in August 2014. The Vega duo was fishing for gar near Santa Monica along with the agent's wife, his mother, 2 children and another child at what Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence described in 2014 as "their favorite spot." The alleged motive was robbery, authorities have said. Tijerina-Sandoval, who was shackled but dressed in street clothes, appeared in front of 197th state District Judge Migdalia Lopez on Tuesday morning. Tijerina-Sandoval's attorneys, Nat C. Perez and Alfredo Padilla, along with Willacy County prosecutors, announced they were ready for trial. Lopez scheduled jury selection in the case for Feb. 13. Later that day, Hernandez-Vallejo also appeared in the 197th state District Court for a pretrial hearing, which was reset for this morning. The men are being tried separately. (source: Brownsville Herald) NORTH CAROLINA: Medical examiner testifies about how longtime friends died during 2014 home invasion An accused killer, courtroom spectators and members of a capital jury listened intently Tuesday while the state???s chief medical examiner told how longtime friends Arthur Lee Brown and David Eugene McKoy died of gunshot wounds during a home invasion robbery in 2014. Tuesday marked the 4th day of testimony in the capital murder trial for Donovan Jevonte Richardson, 24, of Holly Springs, who is charged with killing Brown, a popular 78-year-old construction company owner, and David Eugene McKoy, 66, who was Brown's best friend and longtime employee. Prosecutors say that in the early morning hours of July 18, 2014, Richardson - along with Gregory Adalverto Crawford of Fuquay-Varina and Kevin Bernard Britt of Holly Springs - fatally shot Brown and McKoy in Brown's home on Howard Road in Fuquay-Varina. Investigators said the men conspired to rob the victims. Family members and a neighborhood resident found Brown laying atop blankets in a bed in the master bedroom of his home. McKoy was found wrapped in blankets on a day bed in a smaller bedroom in the home, sheriff's deputies reported. Crawford last year was sentenced to life in prison. Britt has not gone to trial, but has been cooperating with investigators. Richardson could face the death penalty if he is convicted of 1st-degree murder. Dr. Deborah Radisch, chief medical examiner with the state medical examiner's office, testified Tuesday that Brown had 2 gunshot wounds to the chest and what appeared to be a 3rd gunshot wound to his right hand. In a matter-of-fact, clinical voice, Radisch explained that a bullet tore through Brown's chest and entered the region that contained his left lung and heart, where it punctured and left a large hole in his pulmonary artery and also tore one side of his aorta before exiting his back. The gunshot, Radisch said, made it difficult for Brown to breathe. "He was breathing air and blood into his lungs from the injury," she said. Another shot hit Brown in the mid-chest area and struck his heart's right ventricle. The bullet left a hole in his heart and tore a coronary artery before it damaged his lower left lung, diaphragm and the left side of his spleen. Radisch said either of the gunshot wounds to the chest could have been potentially fatal "relatively quickly." "Each wound had a large amount of bleeding," she said. "The bleeding from the wounds would have caused death before injuries from the wounds." Radisch said McKoy was struck by gunfire in the face, to the left side of his nose. The bullet went through his facial bones and sinuses and traveled down the left side of his neck. "It skimmed along the side of his spinal bone at the base of the skull and fractured it," she said. The bullet also tore an artery in the spinal area, causing bleeding at the base of the skull and from the brain. The bullet did not exit McKoy's body. Radisch said she found a large lead fragment between the base of the skull and the spine, along with multiple fragments in the wound track. During cross-examination by defense attorney Richard Gammon, Radisch said there was no evidence Brown had been shot at close range. Nor could she conclusively say that Brown was wounded in the hand by a 3rd gunshot. The trial continues Wednesday morning. Prosecutors expect to wrap up their case Thursday. (source: newsobserver.com)
