JANUARY 1
SAUDI ARABIA:
Saudi beheadings soar in 2015 under discretionary rulings
Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings
reaching their highest level in the kingdom in 2 decades, according to several
advocacy groups that monitor the death penalty
January 1
MISSOURI:
Juror who voted to execute killer now hopes for mercy
18 years ago, Andrew Dazey thought David Barnett's murder of his grandparents
in Glendale was so heinous that he and 11 other jurors voted to put Barnett to
death.
But a federal judge overturned the sentence
January 1
TEXAS:
Texas' top criminal court halted far more executions in 2015
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted an unprecedented number of
execution stays in 2015, the 1st year on the court for 3 judges elected in
2014.
"There's absolutely been a change, and we're still
