[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Feb. 21 EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Obiang Restores Death Penalty in Bid to Save Unpopular Regime The Central African Equatorial Guinea, under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is reviving the odious death penalty against 147 opposition activists accused of "rebellion, attacks on authority and public disorder". The activists include leaders of Citizens for Innovation (CI), many of whom were rounded up after a purported coup plot discovered near the country's border with Cameroon. Malabo's security minister accused citizens of Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic of taking part in the attempted putsch but his version of events could not be confirmed. Activists said they were detained and tortured at "Guantanamo" - the name given to the central police station of the capital, Malabo. CI charged: "The prosecutor wants to hide or to silence the atrocities and the brutality of the crimes of torture ... we shall go to the international courts and the ICC (International Criminal Court) for crimes against humanity." UN envoy Francois Louceny Fall is reportedly being dispatched to confirm the claims made by the regime. President Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea for more than 3 decades, making him one of Africa's longest-serving leaders. Rights groups label his administration as one of the world's most corrupt. According to the U.S. State Department, in reports filed prior to the Trump administration, abuses by the Obiang regime have included: the limited ability of citizens to change their government; unlawful killings by security forces; government-sanctioned kidnappings; systematic torture of prisoners and detainees by security forces; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention. In 2017, President Obiang issued a temporary moratorium on capital punishment but according to the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy, some 8 death row prisoners were secretly executed by firing squad. The Obiang clan is also in the spotlight for a judgment against Teodorin Obiang, the vice-president and president's son, who was accused in a French court of embezzling $180 million of public funds to finance his jet-set lifestyle. Teodorin was tried in absentia and sentenced to a three-year suspended judgment for corruption. He was also given a suspended fine of $35 million for money laundering, corruption and abuse. His lawyer said he will take the case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the UN's top court, since, he claimed, Teodorin had immunity as a government official. The suspended sentences mean that Obiang will only face jail or have to pay the fine if he is found to have re-offended in France. (source: indepthnews.com) BOTSWANA: Execution of prisoner is an appalling step backwards In response to the hanging of 28-year-old Joseph Tselayarona for the 2010 murder of his girlfriend and 3-year-old son, Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Regional Director for Southern Africa, said: "Joseph's execution is a step back for Botswana and it shows the government's contempt for life. The death penalty is an abhorrent punishment and should never be used in any circumstances. "While many countries in the region are moving away from this cruel form of punishment, Botswana is regressing. "The death penalty has no place in the modern era. Instead of executing people, the government of Botswana should immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing this cruel and inhuman punishment." Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to kill the prisoner. The death penalty is a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Amnesty International calls on Botswana to abolish the death penalty for all crimes as have 105 countries in the world. (source: Amnesty International) SOUTH KOREA: South Korea's 'Molar Daddy' gets death penalty for murdering teen girl A court in South Korea on Wednesday (Feb 21) meted out the death sentence to a man charged with killing a school friend of his daughter after sexually molesting her, Yonhap news agency reported. The Seoul Northern District Court handed down the gravest possible punishment on 36-year-old Lee Young Hak, more infamously known as "Molar Daddy". Lee had confessed to choking a 14-year-old girl to death in his home last September after committing lewd acts on her body while she was drugged. Prosecutors had demanded the death penalty. They also sentenced his daughter, whose identity was not revealed, to 4 years in prison for luring the friend to the house and helping her father dump her body, Yonhap said. But her sentence can be extended up to six years in case of an infraction during her 4-year imprisonment. The killing
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., S.C., FLA., ALA.
Feb. 21 TEXAS: Texas parole board recommends killer be spared from death The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, in a rare decision, unanimously recommended Tuesday that the death sentence of convicted killer Thomas " Bart" Whitaker be commuted. Whitaker is scheduled for lethal injection Thursday for masterminding the fatal shootings of his mother and brother at their suburban Houston home in 2003. Whitaker's father, Kent, also was shot in the attack but survived. He said he wants his 38-year-old son to live. The recommendation from the 7-member panel goes to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who can accept it or reject it. The governor appoints the parole board. It's only the 4th time since the state resumed executions in 1982 that the parole board has recommended clemency within days of an inmate's scheduled execution. In 2 of those cases, then-Gov. Rick Perry rejected the board's recommendation and those prisoners are among the 548 executed in Texas, more than any other state. David Gutierrez, the parole board's presiding officer, said the panel recommended the governor commute Whitaker's sentence "to a lesser penalty." Jurors who convicted him and sentenced him to death in 2007 had only 1 other option, life imprisonment. In the clemency petition, Whitaker's attorneys said his execution would "permanently compound" his father's suffering and grief, and compared the case to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, where God sent Cain to "restlessly wander" after killing his brother. Kent Whitaker has said he's seen "too much killing already," has forgiven his son and believes his son is a changed person. Whitaker, his son's attorney and supporters awaited the decision in a conference room in the Texas Capitol. As lawyer Keith Hampton read the outcome, Whitaker covered his face with his hand and wept softly. After about 15 seconds, he looked at Hampton and murmured, "Thank you." "I never, ever believed that we were going to get a unanimous decision in favor," he said as he and Hampton headed immediately across the building to Abbott's ceremonial office - even though the governor wasn't there - to plead with the governor that he honor the board's recommendation. "The best we were hoping was a 4-3," he said. "This is beyond amazing. I can't tell you." At his trial, Bart Whitaker said he took "100 %" responsibility for planning and carrying out the killings. Prosecutors said he hated his parents and hoped to collect an inheritance. "I think it's the wrong decision and clearly the wrong decision," said Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey, whose office prosecuted Whitaker and convinced a jury to convict him and send him to death row. He said Tuesday that he didn't know if he could speak with Abbott before the governor made a decision. "I don't know if that's part of the allowed protocol," Healey said. "It's a unique situation." Evidence showed the murder plot included two of Whitaker's friends and was at least Whitaker's 3rd attempt to kill his family. The shooting was made to look like an interrupted burglary at the family's home in Sugar Land, southwest of Houston, and Bart Whitaker was shot in the arm to draw attention away from him. About 6 months after the shootings, he disappeared. A year later, he was apprehended in Mexico. The gunman, Chris Brashear, pleaded guilty in 2007 to a murder charge and was sentenced to life in prison. Another man, Steve Champagne, who drove Brashear from the Whitaker house the night of the shootings, took a 15-year prison term in exchange for testifying at Whitaker's trial. In 2007, death row inmate Kenneth Foster was spared and his sentence commuted to life. The board had voted 6-1 in favor of a commutation. Perry said Foster and a co-defendant in a fatal robbery in San Antonio should not have been tried together for capital murder. Foster was the getaway driver in the slaying and both he and a partner received death sentences. His co-defendant was executed. In 2004, Perry overruled the parole board's 5-1 vote favoring clemency and convicted killer Kelsey Patterson was executed. He took the same action in 2009 in the case of death row inmate Robert Lee Thompson, who was executed despite a favorable a 5-2 ruling from the board. (source: Associated Press) * A call for clemency: Abbott should halt execution Kent Whitaker lost his wife and son to a criminal act. Now he's about to lose his last remaining child. We call on Gov. Greg Abbott to end this chain of death and grant clemency to Thomas "Bart" Whitaker. In 2007, Bart was convicted of a murder-for-hire plot to kill his mother and brother. His execution is scheduled for Thursday. There is no questioning the sickness - the evil - that must course through a man's veins if he is driven to such a horrific act. But compounding violence upon violence will not bring a family back to life, nor will it further
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., S.DAK., UTAH, ARIZ., CALIF., WASH.
Feb. 21 OHIO: Man pleads not guilty to raping, killing Warren native in ColumbusAnthony Pardon, accused of murdering Rachael Anderson, entered a not guilty plea for all nine of the charges The registered sex offender accused of raping, torturing and murdering an aspiring funeral director was formally arraigned in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday. Anthony Pardon stood quietly before a judge as prosecutors detailed the 9-count indictment against him. It includes charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery and kidnapping, with specifications that could lead to Pardon receiving a death sentence. He entered a not guilty plea on all of the charges. According to police, Pardon killed Rachael Anderson in her east Columbus apartment and left her body in a closet. Her remains were discovered Jan. 29, when co-workers said she did not show up for work. Investigators said Pardon was linked to the crime by DNA evidence. Court documents indicate Anderson???s cause of death was asphyxiation or suffocation. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O???Brien said Pardon and Anderson were strangers, and the suspect laid in wait for the young woman, inside her home. "We believe he was in the apartment belonging to the victim when she arrived home and then attacked her when she entered her own apartment," he explained. According to court documents, Pardon previously served 24 years in prison for an aggravated robbery, rape and attempted murder conviction from 1982. Given Pardon's past, Anderson's close friend said this murder never should have happened. "He shouldn't have been let out of jail in the first place," said Tina Kennedy. "He should have never had the chance to do this again." At the time of her death, Anderson was an aspiring funeral director nearing the end of her apprenticeship with Shaw-Davis Funeral Homes. Colleagues said she was about to become the business' 1st funeral director, not from the Shaw family. Her body was discovered one day after her 24th birthday. (source: WKBN news) ** Craigslist killer Richard Beasley's attorneys ask Ohio high court to reconsider decision denying appeal Attorneys for convicted Craigslist killer Richard Beasley are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to deny Beasley's appeal of his death-penalty conviction. Among the issues the attorneys raise is whether Justice R. Patrick DeWine should have recused himself from the case when the office of his father, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, represented the prosecution in arguments before the state's high court. Attorneys Donald Gallick and Don Hicks are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a visiting justice without ties to Mike DeWine's office to reconsider the Beasley appeal. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the death sentence Feb. 9 for Beasley, who was convicted of posting bogus job offers on Craigslist to rob and murder 3 men in 2011. Gallick and Hicks argued that Beasley deserved a new trial because of errors made in his original trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Beasley, 58, and his teenage accomplice, Brogan Rafferty of Stow, were convicted in 2013 of murdering 3 men and trying to kill another. The murders made national news because Beasley posted ads on Craigslist to lure the men to a remote spot in southern Ohio. Beasley and Rafferty were captured after a gun malfunctioned and one of the men escaped and hid in the woods after being shot in the elbow. Beasley was sentenced to death, while Rafferty was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Other issues Gallick and Hicks raised in the reconsideration request include whether an impending U.S. Supreme Court decision could impact the use of cellphone records in the Beasley case and if an upcoming Ohio Supreme Court ruling could have a bearing on court costs in the Beasley case. The Summit County Prosecutor's Office declined Tuesday to comment on the request for reconsideration. Beasley's attorneys have said they also plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. (source: ohio.com) *** An Ohio juror voted to put murderer to death. Decades later, he wants to halt his execution. On a fall day in 1997, Raymond Tibbetts's wife threatened to kick him out of their Cincinnati home. In a drug-addled fury, he beat her to death with a baseball bat and stabbed her 21 times with kitchen knives. He then stormed into the living room and killed the couple's ailing landlord, stabbing him a dozen times in the chest and back before fleeing in the man's car. Authorities caught up with Tibbetts in a matter of days. He was charged and swiftly convicted in the murder of Judith Crawford, 42, and Fred Hicks, 67, who had recently hired Crawford as a live-in caretaker and allowed the couple to stay with him. When it came time to decide Tibbetts's punishment, a jury recommended
