[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
August 10 NIGERIA: Ekiti court sentences 2 robbers to death by hanging An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti yesterday sentenced 2 people to death hanging for robbery and illegal possession of firearms. The convicts, Adewa Sunday and Adedayo Amos, robbed Mrs. Abosede Oyeyemi Malomo at Ilogbo Ekiti in Ido-Osi Local Government Area of the state on June 4, 2015, during a night robbery. The offence, according to the charge sheet, is contrary to Section 1(2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearm Special Provisions Act, 2004. They robbed Malomo with guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, thereby inflicting bodily injuries on her. The Chief Judge of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, convicted the 2 men. He said: “I found the accused persons guilty of armed robbery as laid down before me and they should face the supreme punishment for the offence. “Therefore, the sentence of the court upon you is that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead. "May the good Lord have mercy on your souls." The hearing into the case began on March 27, 2017 with 2 -count charge bordering on robbery and illegal possession of firearms. During hearing, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Gbemiga Adaramola, from the Ministry of Justice, called 2 witnesses and also tendered a cut-to-size pistol, iPad and the victim’s statement on oath, as exhibits. The lawyer to the defendants, Mr. Adeyinka Opaleke, didn’t call any witness. The victim was said to be reading at night when they broke into her apartment and robbed her at gunpoint. During the operation, one of the convicts was said to have made a mistake of calling the actual name of his colleague, which served as a veritable lead for the police to carry out their investigations. (source: newtelegraphng.com) SOMALIAexecutions 2 Al-Shabab Members Executed By Government The Federal Government of Somalia has executed 2 members of Al-Shabab for their role in multiple attacks in Mogadishu. The 2 were found guilty for activities carried in 2017/18 and were executed through the firing squad. Anshour O. Abukar (in green) 23, Mohamed A. Borow, 25 were convicted for role in multiple attacks including attacks which resulted death of journalist Awil Dahir Salad and General Sec. of Somali women Anab A Hashi. Meanwhile 2 Al-Shabaab militias surrender to Govt forces in Dinsor, Bay region, according to officials. One of the men once served as a driver to Moallim Geeddow, AS's shadow Governor for Bay and Bakool regions. (source: allafrica.com) GAMBIA: Gambia’s Former Justice Minister Defended Execution Of Death Row Prisoners A former Gambian Attorney General and minister of Justice, Lamin Jobarteh, has justified the enforcement of the controversial death penalty by then APRC government of Yahya Jammeh. 9 death row prisoners including Dawda Bojang, Malang Sonko, Ex-Lieutenant Lamin Jarjou, Ex-SGT Alieu Bah, Ex-SGT Lamin F Jammeh, Tabara Samba, Buba yarboe, Lamin BS Darboe and Gebe Bah were in August 2012 removed from the State Central Prisons in Banjul and suffocated with plastic bags before their bodies were dumped in a disused well by members of former President Yahya Jammeh’s hit squad, The Jungulars. The Jammeh regime had told Gambians that said the prisoners were executed by a ‘firing squad’ on Sunday 26th August 2012 after they were tried by the Gambian courts of ‘competent jurisdiction’ and have exhausted all their legal rights of appeal as provided by the law. But a group of soldiers who admitted carrying out the executive directives said none of the prisoners were shot nor did they hear the sound of gunshots from the time the prisoners were picked up at Mile Two Prisons until they were killed Addressing a delegation of elders from the West Coast Region, who had called on the Vice President, Isatou Njie-Saidy, to appeal to the government to spare the remaining death row inmates, Jobarteh -who was reportedly present when the prisoners were dragged out their prison cells to be killed and was also at the military firing range in Brikama where the dead bodies were counted before being taken for disposal- said it was legal and in line with the laws of the Gambia. Tabara Samba is among the executed prisoners "Yahya Jammeh is not carrying out the death sentence because he wants to do it but he is under an obligation to do it according to the laws of the land," Jobarteh told the delegation. He said the executed inmates had committed heinous crimes and were tried and found guilty by the courts. Citing the case of the Senegalese woman, Tabara Samba, as an example, Jobarteh said the executed woman ‘poured hot oil in the ear of her husband whose body was burnt and scorched by the substance’. "What country will allow people to commit such crimes with impunity?” he asked. "Anyone with a capacious mind would know that what the government has done is what should be done. You
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., AL., LA., TENN., CALIF.
August 10 TEXAS: County Commissioner Proposes Moratorium on Capital Prosecutions in Dallas, Texas A Dallas, Texas, county commissioner has called for a two-year halt on death-penalty trials, saying it would give the county time to study the financial and ethical costs of capital punishment. On August 6, 2019, Commissioner J.J. Koch (pictured) proposed a county moratorium on capital prosecutions, with cost savings from not pursuing the death penalty redirected toward investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases. The proposal was notable coming in a county that has executed more prisoners since capital punishment resumed in the U.S. in the 1970s than any other county except Harris, Texas. Several county commissioners expressed support for Koch’s proposal, although they acknowledged that the plan was aspirational and that they could not direct the district attorney, who has exclusive charging authority, to enforce it. District Attorney John Creuzot commended Koch "for having the courage to bring up" the issue. Creuzot said he supported discussing the proposal but could not commit himself to a moratorium on prosecutions "because I don’t know what’s around the corner." Creuzot recently announced that Dallas prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Billy Chemirmir, accused in the deaths of more than a dozen elderly women in North Texas senior living complexes. The trial and potential appeals are expected to be extremely costly for the county. Creuzot told the Dallas Morning News that he supports pursuing the death penalty in circumstances in which a defendant poses a "continuing threat in the penal society." In other cases, he said, a sentence of life without parole can equally and less expensively protect public safety. Citing the Dallas County case of Kenneth Thomas, Creuzot said "[i]t’s becoming more and more difficult to sustain a death penalty conviction." Thomas has been sentenced to death twice, with his first death sentence imposed in 1987. However, his death sentences were overturned both times as a result of prejudicial constitutional violations in each trial. Most recently, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals directed that he be provided a new sentencing hearing on his claim of intellectual disability. A prior sentencing jury had rejected that claim, but had applied a scientifically invalid and unconstitutional standard for evaluating intellectual disability. Commissioners John Wiley Price and Elba Garcia agreed with Koch’s proposed moratorium on prosecutions, and Commissioner Theresa Daniel said she looked forward to discussing the issue, with prosecutors and judges included in the discussion. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins also voiced support for a moratorium, but reiterated that it would be under the district attorney’s discretion. Koch agreed, saying, "We can’t do anything unilaterally. It’s his department." Nevertheless, he said, the commissioners could adopt a moratorium resolution to express their views on capital prosecutions, noting that they also control the budget of the district attorney’s office. Dallas has executed 60 prisoners since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld its capital sentencing statute in Jurek v. Texas in 1976, more than 28 current or formed death-penalty states and the federal government. Only Harris County (Houston), with 129, has carried out more executions. Dallas’s 31-person death-row on January 1, 2013 was the 14th largest of any county in the U.S., and juries in the county imposed 3 more death sentences that year. Since 2013, however, only 1 person has been sentenced to death in the county. (source: Death Penalty Information Center) FLORIDA: Deadly carjacking victim's family face suspect in court The family of an innocent man killed this week says the accused killer, James Hanson should face the maximum penalty. In this case, Hanson is eligible for the death penalty. A wake was held for 68-year-old Mathew Korratiyil on the same day his family went to court to face Hanson at his bond hearing. "He was innocent," said son Melvin Korattiyil. "There was no reason for him to suffer like this." The wake was at the Sacred Heart Catholic Community Center in Valrico, which is where Mathew was both member and where his body was found Tuesday. Hanson told detectives he strangled him with a belt after carjacking him and robbing a bank only a mile away. It's still unclear as to why Hanson took him to the community center. "He was taken away by an animal who never should have been let out," said Melvin Korattiyil. Hanson was denied bail, as a court heard Tuesday's grim details. Melvin's brother, Nelson confirmed it was his father's belongings who detectives found in Hanson's home. Family is furious Hanson was let out of jail barely a month ago, his life sentence for another armed robbery shortened by a judge who agreed his previous lawyer was not up to snuff.
