[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., PENN., N.C., GA., FLA.
February 19 TEXASimpending execution Local man convicted of killing 3 scheduled to die Billy Wayne Coble, 70, who was convicted of the 1989 slayings of his brother-in-law Bobby Vicha, a Waco police sergeant, and Vicha’s parents in Axtell, is set to die on Feb. 28, having exhausted all of his avenues to appeal. Coble, 70, learned last week the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had rejected his latest request for a stay of execution, citing it as a, abuse of the appeals writ process, which cleared the way for imposition of his sentence. The execution would be the 2nd of the year in Texas. Coble was convicted of the killings of Bobby Vicha and his father and mother Robert and Zelda Vicha, then of tying up 4 children who were at the scene, restraining and kidnapping his estranged wife Karen Vicha Coble, whom he’d threatened to rape and kill. He led authorities on a high speed chase into Bosque County but was caught and arrested after he wrecked his car. He has been granted several stays of execution over the years after filing a number of appeals on several different grounds. Coble has a federal appeal pending but it, too, likely will not be successful. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Coble’s latest appeal in that court last October, soon after which 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson set the execution date. Coble has a list of appeals. The only successful one was filed in 2007 with the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. It resulted in the dismissal of the death sentence and an order for re-trial on punishment after the court’s opinion stated Coble’s jury faced 2 questions that were unconstitutional. The punishment re-trial ended with the same result, a death sentence. Truman Simons, a former police officer, sheriff’s deputy and now a private investigator, worked on the Coble case back in 1989. “He killed his (father-in-law) first and wrapped him up in a rug,” Simons said. “Then he tied up the 2 kids and shot Bobby Vicha. “Then he ...waited in the garage where he killed Zelda (Vicha) and kidnapped (his estranged wife) Karen,” Simons said. Former McLennan County Assistant District Attorney J.R. Vicha, one of the children Coble tied up that day, was only 11-years-old at the time his family was murdered. The boy, along with 2 of his cousins, were tied up inside the home while the killings took place. During the 2008 punishment re-trial trial, prosecuted by retired Assistant District Attorney Crawford Long, Long told the jury that Coble “has a heart filled with scorpions.” (source: KWTX news) NEW HAMPSHIRE: Urge NH lawmakers to repeal death penalty Have you heard the name Huwe Burton? He was convicted of murdering his mother in 1991. He was exonerated a few weeks ago. He had been proven innocent. Fortunately, he had not been put to death. We have a way to prevent future Huwe Burton’s from being executed: repeal the death penalty. Our Constitution demands proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a criminal conviction, sometimes described as “proof to a moral certainty.” But hundreds of convicts found guilty to a moral certainty have been exonerated through the work of Innocence Projects around the country. What about confessions? Aren’t they morally certain enough for you? Well, no. Police are experts at extracting them, whether they’re true or not. People who are easily influenced, who aren’t too bright, who feel guilt about something are easy game. Huwe Burton confessed. He was 16 at the time. One out of every four Innocence Project exonerations involved a confession that was eventually proven false. Fingerprints? The 2009 National Academy of Sciences report showed that they’re only slightly more accurate than chance. Ah, but DNA: the Gold Standard! DNA is an important tool. But it is no better than the people who analyze it. DNA can be transported from one place to another. A handshake can lead to your DNA being found at a crime scene 500 miles away. The results can be hard to read and hard to interpret. A claim of a 1 in 4 trillion chance of error is ridiculous if, say, there’s a 1 in 30 chance that the DNA analyst got it wrong. And there was a DNA analyst in Texas some years ago who never analyzed DNA. She just declared that everything was a match, leading to dozens of false convictions. Who else might be cheating? The strongest argument against the death penalty, to my mind, isn’t whether we have a moral right to take the life of a criminal, or whether the Code of Hammurabi (you know: “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”) is appropriate for use in 21st Century America. It’s humility. “Moral certainty” is a mirage. Our talent for discerning truth isn’t good enough to allow us to say “we know he’s a murderer. Kill him.” Some people dismiss the execution of innocents as collateral damage, an unfortunate but necessary by-product of eliminating murderers from our midst. Who’s the murdere
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., ARK., WYO., MONT., ARIZ., WASH., USA
February 19 TENNESSEE: Sgt. Daniel Baker Act: Plan to fast track death penalty cases up for review The Senate Judiciary Committee will review a plan that would fast track death penalty cases. Legislation named for fallen Dickson County Sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Baker would provide automatic state Supreme Court death penalty reviews, skipping Tennessee's Court of Criminal Appeals. Baker was a Dickson County Sheriff's Deputy when he was killed in the line of duty in 2018. Prosecutors have said they're seeking death sentences for 2 people awaiting trial in Baker's fatal shooting. His cruiser was set on fire with his body inside. Under current law, death penalty cases are eventually reviewed by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Before that, it's appealed to a lower court. This bill would get rid of the Court of Appeals review altogether, speeding the process along. The bill's supporters include House Speaker Glen Casada and Senate Speaker Randy McNally, who said justice delayed 20 and 30 years isn't justice at all. (source: WTVF news) ARKANSAS: High Court won't hear anti-death penalty Arkansas judge suit The Supreme Court is leaving in place a decision dismissing a lawsuit filed by a judge in Arkansas who was barred from overseeing execution-related cases after he participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration. The justices said Tuesday that they wouldn't get involved in the lawsuit filed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen. Griffen participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration outside the governor's mansion in 2017 during which he was photographed laying on a cot wearing an anti-death penalty button. Earlier that day, Griffen blocked Arkansas from using a lethal injection drug over the claims that the state misled a medical supply company. Arkansas' highest court removed Griffen from that case and prohibited him from hearing death penalty cases. Griffen sued but a federal appeals court dismissed the case. (source: Associated Press) WYOMING: Despite new support, death penalty repeal fails in Senate A proposal to repeal the death penalty failed in the Wyoming Legislature on Thursday after drawing far more support from state lawmakers than ever before. The 18-12 vote in the state Senate ended a fairly long run for a bill that failed early each of the past 5 legislative sessions. This year, concern about the death penalty’s costs amid tight state budgets won over new repeal supporters. “I finally decided that I can’t go home and feel good about explaining to people all of those myriad of cuts we’ve made to the state budget and then defend expenditures like this, which have gone on for years and years and years,” argued Sen. Bill Landen (Casper). Ultimately, concern about going too easy on those who commit the worst crimes kept the bill from passing after it passed the House 36-21. The trend in parts of the U.S. is leniency toward criminals including murderers, argued Sen. Eli Bebout (Riverton), in floor debate. “As things progress, and pretty soon people get more and more lenient in those cases, then these people may walk. I’m just not in favor of this,” Bebout said. Wyoming faces a tight fiscal outlook because of a drop in revenue from the state’s coal, oil and natural gas industries. Repeal advocates pointed to the high cost of death-penalty cases for the state Public Defender’s Office, which according to the bill’s fiscal note would save about $750,000 a year by not having to take additional required measures to defend people facing the death penalty. Repeal proponents also tried to appeal to conservative reluctance about placing too much trust in government. Death-row convicts have been exonerated 164 times since the penalty’s reinstatement in the U.S. in 1976, argued bill co-sponsor Sen. Brian Boner (Douglas). “This is far too much authority to rest in government. Sometimes we wonder if whether our government can deliver the mail correctly,” Boner told the Senate. “This is something that we have to get right each and every time.” Death-penalty advocates countered it can help bring closure for victims and is appropriate for the most heinous crimes. “I don’t think we’re thinking about these people that see these heinous crimes being committed and the pain that they go through. I don’t think we see the closure in it, with what we’re talking about,” said Sen. Anthony Bouchard (Cheyenne). Wyoming currently has no convicts facing the death penalty since a federal judge in 2014 threw out a death sentence for murderer Dale Wayne Eaton, who spent 10 years on death row. Wyoming’s only execution since the U.S. reinstated capital punishment was in 1992. (source Associated Press) MONTANA: Montana lawmakers consider bill to abolish death penalty On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony on a bill to abolish the death penalty in the state. House Bill 350,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
February 19 YEMEN: Yemen Urges UN Intervention to Save Detainee from Houthi Execution The legitimate Yemeni government called on the United Nations and its envoy Martin Griffiths to intervene and halt the execution of a female detainee held by the Iran-backed Houthi militias. The Yemeni Human Rights Ministry condemned the sentence against Asmaa al-Amaisy, who is being held in a Houthi jail. It deemed as a “farce” the sentence against her, explaining that it was issued by a judiciary that had lost its legitimacy and that has been transformed into a tool to be abused by the militia to violate the rights of the people. It said that the execution violates all red lines and local and international laws, treaties and agreements. It added that Amaisy was kidnapped by the Houthis and held in complete isolation from the world. Along with other prisoners, she was held in appalling conditions for several months before being put on trial. The prisoners, revealed the ministry, were subject to extortion and repeated degradation by the militias. They were deprived of their basic rights, including contacting an attorney and enjoying family visits. It stressed that Amaisy’s execution would be considered a war crime according to international laws and it will deal a blow to an anticipated prisoner exchange between the government and Houthis. It therefore, called on the international community to exert pressure on the Houthis to make them commit to the swap deal that was reached during consultations in Sweden in December. For four years, the Houthis have issued death sentences against dozens of their opponents, including activists. Many have been falsely accused of treason, backing the legitimate government or belonging to terrorist organizations. The death sentence against Amaisy is the 1st against a woman. She is being held on fabricated charges of belonging to terrorist groups in Sanaa. (source: aawsat.com) IRAN: 2 Juvenile Offenders at Risk of Imminent Execution in Iran 1 young Iranian prisoner, who was sentenced to death at just 15, is set to be executed soon, according to what his family was told by prison officials. Mohammad Kalhori was sentenced to death even though the medical examiner’s report says that he was not mentally mature at the time that he allegedly committed murder, due to a mental disorder, and was suffering from depression. His attorney, Hassan Aghakhani, said: “Unfortunately, Mohammad’s family were informed that the verdict will be carried out soon.” The Criminal Court initially sentenced Kalhori to seven years in prison and ordered him to pay blood money to the victim’s family, but this was overturned by the Supreme Court after an appeal and letters from a Government official and a Member of Parliament. So, in September 2016, shortly after he turned 18, Kalhori was sentenced to death for the murder of his teacher in 2014. Back in June 2018, two UN human rights experts urged Iranian authorities to halt the execution. Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, and Renate Winter, who heads the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, wrote: “Iran has committed itself to prohibiting the use of the death penalty for all those under 18 by its ratification of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As such, this execution is unlawful and arbitrary.” Another juvenile offender Shayan Saeedpour, who was sentenced to death, has been transferred to a different prison in Kurdistan Province and the fear is that he will soon be executed as well. Saeedpour was convicted of murder at the age of 15 or 16 and has been in jail since 2015. He has also been under psychiatric care whilst in prison and has attempted suicide on numerous occasions. At the time of the murder, Saeedpour was under the influence of alcohol, for which he was additionally sentenced to 80 lashes, according to his family. He turned himself in to police 2 days later. Iran is one of a small number of countries that continues to execute juvenile offenders. It is illegal to execute someone for crimes committed under the age of 18, according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Convention on the Rights of the Child, both treaties that Iran is party to, but the Regime has shown no sign of stopping. In February 2018, the UN human rights chief called on Iran to halt executions of juveniles. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said: “The execution of juvenile offenders is unequivocally prohibited under international law, regardless of the circumstances and nature of the crime committed.” There are believed to be at least 80 juvenile offenders on death row. (source: ncr-iran.org) CANADA: Sentenced to hang in '75, cop killer looking for love The cop killer says he doesn’t remember a thing. Rea
