[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
December 4 TEXASexecution 'Texas 7' Inmate Executed for Officer's Killing A member of the notorious "Texas 7" gang of escaped prisoners was executed Tuesday evening for the fatal shooting of a suburban Dallas police officer during a Christmas Eve robbery nearly 18 years ago. Joseph Garcia received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the December 2000 shooting death of 29-year-old Irving police officer Aubrey Hawkins. Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Garcia replied: "Yes, sir." "Dear heavenly Father, please forgive them, for they know not what they do," Garcia said. He then paused, for nearly a minute, before speaking again as the muffled revving of motorcycles ridden by a group of bikers who support police could be heard inside the death chamber. "To some of you," Garcia said, pausing again as the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital apparently had already started. "They've already started and I ain't even finished," he said. He gasped 3 times and snored twice before all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. Garcia, 47, who was serving a 50-year sentence for murder, was among a group of inmates who escaped from a South Texas prison that month and committed numerous robberies, including the one in which they shot Hawkins 11 times, killing him. Hawkins had just finished Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he responded to the call about the robbery at a sporting goods store and was ambushed. The escaped inmates were eventually arrested in Colorado, ending a 6-week manhunt. One of them killed himself as officers closed in and the other 6 were convicted of killing Hawkins and sentenced to death. Garcia was the 4th of the group put to death. 2 others remain on death row. Garcia's attorneys had asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution, arguing he never fired his gun at Hawkins or intended to kill him. One of his lawyers, J. Stephen Cooper, said prosecutors didn't have any information that showed his client was one of the shooters. "He didn't do anything violent or prepare or encourage anybody else to do anything violent," Cooper said. The high court rejected Garcia's appeals Tuesday evening. Garcia was convicted under Texas' law of parties, in which a person can be held responsible for another individual's crime if he or she assisted or attempted to help in the commission of that crime. At the time of the prison break, Garcia was serving time for the slaying of Miguel Luna in San Antonio. Luna's parents and his three daughters were among witnesses to Garcia's execution, along with 2 friends of Hawkins. They did not make themselves available to reporters following the punishment. Toby Shook, the lead prosecutor who handled Garcia's case and the five others who were tried, said that while authorities couldn't narrow down which escaped inmate used which gun to shoot Hawkins, the inmates acted as a team to commit the robbery and the officer's murder. Shook said Garcia's case is a clear example of why the law of parties is needed in certain cases. "He was up to his ears in murder and mayhem out there. He was actively participating in everything," said Shook, now a defense attorney in Dallas. Shook said Garcia's execution will be another step to getting closure for Hawkins' family and law enforcement. "Ultimately, we can finally close the book on them when the punishments are all completed," he said. Garcia becomes the 12th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 557th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. Garcia becomes the 39th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Greg Abbott became governor of the state in January 2015. Garcia becomes the 22nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1487 overall lsince the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: nbcdfw.com & Rick Halperin) *** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present39 http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_scheduled_executions.html Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-557 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 40-Dec. 11Alvin Braziel, Jr.--558 41-Jan. 15Blaine Milam559 42-Jan. 30Robert Jennings-560 43-Feb. 28Billy Wayne Coble---561 44-Apr. 11Mark Robertson--562 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) ___ 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
December 4 MALAYSIA: Family members of death row prisoners hope for 2nd chance Families of several prisoners on death row are hoping that the government goes ahead with the plan to abolish the death penalty even though there is a lot of opposition against it. They hope that society can forgive their family members for the crimes they committed and that they are given a 2nd chance. Yong Wong, 80, hopes that she is able to see her 57-year-old son Chong Yun Fatt walk free one day after he was convicted of trafficking drugs 31 years ago. She said her son admitted to what he did but said he did it because he wanted to help his family after his father walked out on them. Yong said she had worked as a rubber tapper and that her son only wanted to see her have a better life. Her son is currently in the Simpang Renggam prison. "He was a good son and he loved me very much. He only wanted the best for me. He has regretted his actions very much," she said with tears during a press conference on Tuesday (Dec 4). A total of 6 families spoke at the press conference, which was organised by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall and the Geha Bodhi Buddhist group. 4 cases were drug-related, one was for kidnap while another was for an accident case. Chandra Segaran, 68, admitted that his son Senguttawan, 33, was guilty due to his involvement in an accident case that resulted in the death of a 2-year-old child. He, however, questioned why his son was charged with murder and not under the Road Transport Act. He claimed that his son was fleeing the police at the time and in his panic, crashed into a wedding party, causing the death of the child 5 years ago. "It's a mistake but couldn't he be given 10 to 15 years in prison? That would be fair. He didn't have any intention," said Chandra. For the other families, the cases were not so clear, as they claimed their family members were framed. The family members of G. Selvam, 41, and Rizalmi Mohd, 42, refused to accept their guilt for drug-related crimes, claiming that they were wrongly convicted. Ng Ah Kwai said her son Chew Wai Keong was wrongly accused in a kidnap case that resulted in the death of a man. She claimed that her son's boss had used his identity card to rent a room where the dead person was found. "My son didn't know what was going on. No one seemed to believe that he could be involved in such a thing. He always was with me and never stayed away," she said. She added that she wanted her son to get another trial in court. In October, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said that the Cabinet had decided to abolish the death penalty, with a moratorium for those on death row. A proposed Bill to abolish the death penalty is expected to be tabled at the next Dewan Rakyat sitting. However, in a recent survey of 3,600 respondents conducted by The Star Online, almost 1/2 of Malaysians surveyed were against the Cabinet’s plan to abolish the death penalty. About 45% felt the death penalty was needed to keep hardcore criminals at bay while 32% said it was still needed for violent crimes, especially crimes against children. Recently, several family members of murder victims had come out to say that there would be no justice should the death penalty be abolished. (source: thestar.com.my) *** What happened to bill to abolish death penalty, asks rights group Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has questioned the delay in tabling a bill to abolish the death sentence despite the government’s recent assurance that the capital punishment would be axed for 33 offences. LFL adviser N Surendran said no such bill had even appeared in the parliamentary order paper, whether in the list for first reading or in the orders of the day. In a statement, he said this was cause for concern as the current session of the Dewan Rakyat would end by next week. “We understand that the bill to abolish the death penalty has been given to the Cabinet for approval. Who, or what, is then holding it up?” On Oct 10, de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong said the death penalty would be abolished, with a bill on the matter to be tabled in the current Parliament sitting which began on Oct 15. He later said inmates on death row would serve 30 years’ life imprisonment under the proposed abolition. There were 1,267 prisoners on death row as of October, about 900 of whom were convicted of drug offences, including trafficking in dangerous drugs. Surendran said the decision to table the bill must be made at the Cabinet meeting this week. He urged the government leaders not to forget the ideals they fought for during their time in the opposition, warning that any backtracking or compromise in their decision to abolish the death penalty would paint them as “weak, indecisive and untrustworthy”. “Another U-turn would be devastating for public c
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., OHIO, TENN., OKLA., USA
December 4 TEXASimpending execution 'Texas 7' Member Set To Die Under Controversial Law A San Antonio man is set to die by lethal injection on Tuesday for a murder he didn’t actually commit. As part of the notorious “Texas 7” escape, Joseph Garcia was convicted and sentenced to die under a controversial law some say is unconstitutional. “Why am I here? Why am I on death row? You know, I don't get it," said Garcia from death row Wednesday. "... Why are you trying to kill me for the actions of somebody else?” Garcia was sentenced to death under the “Law of Parties,” which holds a non-shooter accomplice just as criminally liable as the person pulling the trigger. Stephanie Stevens, law professor, and supervising attorney for the St. Mary's University Center for Legal and Social Justice, said the law is broader in Texas than in other states. “If you and another person were going to go rob a convenience store. If during the course of that robbery, your friend inside the store shot and killed the convenience store clerk, you would be guilty for capital murder as well, even though you sat in the car the whole time,” she said. On Dec. 13, 2000, the group of inmates, known as the Texas 7, broke out of the Connally Prison Unit in Karnes County. The escape triggered the largest manhunt in the state’s history. 11 days later, on Christmas Eve, members of the crew fatally shot and ran over Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins during a robbery of a sporting goods store. “He was very nice and easy to get along with — very unassuming,” said Jeff Spivey, chief of the Irving Police Department, of Hawkins. But Garcia said he shouldn’t be executed because he didn’t actively take part in the fatal shootout Hawkins. "You have the testimony of these people who did actually kill," Garcia said. "... They did it. And so, I mean, I think what it all boils down to ... is that I'm one of the Texas 7.” Garcia said his version of events is supported by the testimony of others — he was inside the store and never fired a gun. “I don't know. I don't know what caused them to start firing at the officer," he said. "By the time I got out there on the back dock, it was over.” But Chief Spivey says that makes no difference. Garcia directly participated in the murder of Hawkins in other ways. “Joseph Garcia, due to his accomplice testimony is either credited with pulling Officer Hawkins’ dead body out of the car and moving the car so that they could then escape in the Ford Explorer," he said. "So I think it's a little self-serving for Joseph to say that.” Nevertheless, some anti-death penalty activists say using the Law of Parties in death penalty cases might be a violation of the Constitution’s 8th Amendment, prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. And with last-minute appeals filed the courts could intervene. Garcia is scheduled to be executed Tuesday at 6 p.m. (source: tpr.org) * Texas’s Death-Penalty System Is a Travesty. Joseph Garcia Is Proof. Texas’s death-penalty system is a travesty. It is racist; kills people who are probably innocent at an alarming rate; and has used drugs sourced from a pharmacy that, according to BuzzFeed News, was “cited for scores of safety violations,” forged quality control documents, and sent at least 1 child to the emergency room because it had improperly compounded their medication. 5 of the 11 Texas inmates executed in 2018 said the drugs used to kill them felt like they were “burning” them internally, even though they were supposed to be pain-free — reflecting a nationwide pattern of excruciating deaths by lethal injection. Perhaps even worse is that Texas is not unique. These issues illustrate an ethical and logistical crisis facing the American death-penalty system as a whole, from Tennessee to South Dakota to Oklahoma. Yet barring a miracle, December 4 will be business as usual. Joseph Garcia is set to be executed in Texas for his role in the Christmas Eve 2000 murder of Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, which occurred during a shoot-out after Garcia and 6 other men broke out of a maximum-security prison in Kenedy and robbed a sporting goods store. There is no proof that Garcia pulled the trigger. In fact, he was inside the store while the shooting unfolded outside, making his guilt unlikely. But Texas’s Law of Parties holds that he could be convicted of a crime his associates had committed simply because he was present. Details from Garcia’s tragic personal story cast doubt on whether he should have been in the prison he escaped from in the first place. Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun and prominent death-penalty abolitionist, outlined it in a Twitter thread on Sunday: The thread is worth reading in its entirety, but includes accounts of Garcia’s trauma-filled childhood, including several instances of sexual abuse and his first criminal conviction, for which he received a
