[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Feb. 2 MALDIVES: Halt imminent plans to resume executions after 6 decades The Maldives authorities must immediately halt plans to resume executions and instead impose a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty with a view to its eventual abolition. Amnesty International has received reports that the resumption of executions could be imminent. The Maldives Supreme Court has to date upheld the death sentences of 3 prisoners, meaning that their domestic legal appeals are exhausted and that they are at immediate risk of execution: -- Hussain Humaam Ahmed (Humaam) was convicted of and sentenced to death for murder in 2012, and the Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence on 24 June 2016. Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have raised serious concerns about the fairness of Humaam's trial. The Human Rights Committee in July 2016 issued an order to stay his execution pending its consideration of the case. -- Ahmed Murrath was convicted of and sentenced to death for murder in 2012 along with his girlfriend Hanaa Fathmath. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence on 9 July 2016, but has yet to carry out its final review of Hanaa's death sentence. -- Mohamed Nabeel was convicted of and sentenced to death for murder in 2009. The Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on 27 July 2016. In 2014, the Maldives government under President Abdulla Yameen announced Maldives would resume executions, which had not been carried out for almost 60 years. Since then, authorities have taken steps to resume executions, including by amending national legislation. Recent regulations have removed the power from the executive to grant pardons or commutations in murder cases, depriving those facing the death penalty of the right to apply for these as guaranteed under international law. In 2016, the government changed the method of execution from lethal injection to hanging, while government officials pledged that executions should happen within 30 days of confirmation of guilty verdicts by the Supreme Court. A resumption of executions after more than 60 years would be a massive step back for human rights in the country. The Maldives government should instead urgently impose a moratorium on executions, with a view to the full abolition of the death penalty. It is also concerning that Maldives government officials have justified the need to use the death penalty on public safety grounds. There is no evidence that the death penalty is more of a deterrent to crime than life imprisonment. According to statistics from the Maldives Correction Services and media reports, there are at least 18 prisoners currently under sentence of death in the country. Of these, at least 5 were convicted and sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were below 18 years of age. International customary law and 2 international treaties to which Maldives is a state party prohibit the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders. The prisoners or their representatives have raised concerns about the violation of the right to a fair trial and use of coerced, self-incriminating statements in several cases. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime. The world is moving away from the death penalty. At this time, 141 countries are abolitionist in law or practice, and a majority of the world's countries (104) have now abolished the death penalty fully from their legal books. Amnesty International urges the Maldives authorities to immediately: -- Halt any plans to resume executions and establish an official moratorium on all executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty; -- Immediately commute the death sentence against all prisoners under sentence of death, including those imposed for crimes committed when the prisoners were below 18 years of age; and -- Amend national legislation to remove provisions that are not in line with international law and standards and abolish the death penalty for all crimes. (source: Amnesty International) BURMA: Proposal to Assign Death Penalty for Child Rape Hits Setback Burma's Lower House voted down a proposal on Thursday that would have imposed the death penalty against those convicted of child rape. Daw Khin Saw Wai, a Lower House lawmaker from the Arakan National Party, submitted the proposal to amend Article 376 of Burma's Penal Code. "I just learned from the chief justice that the amendment would be considered only if it is written in English," Daw Khin Saw Wai told reporters. "So I will discuss that with legal experts and will submit my proposal again." Union Chief Justice U Mya Thein told lawmakers on Thursday that amendments to the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code needed to be presented in English because the original codes were also written
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., MISS., TENN, OHIO
Feb . 2 TEXASimpending execution Death Watch: "An Intentional Smothering"Tilon Carter says he never meant to kill James Tomlin Tilon Carter faces execution on Tuesday, Feb. 7, after 10 years on death row. The 37-year-old was convicted of capital murder in a Tarrant County court in 2006 for the capital murder of James Eldon Tomlin. In April 2004, Carter and his girlfriend, Leketha Allen, robbed Tomlin, an 89-year-old retired veteran with jars of cash stashed throughout his home. Carter taped Tomlin's hands and legs together and covered his mouth with duct tape before the couple ransacked the house and stole $6,000 and a shotgun. Tomlin's daughter discovered her father's body that day. An autopsy indicated Tomlin had been beaten and smothered, and died of positional asphyxiation. Carter admitted before his trial that he planned to rob Tomlin, though he maintained that he did not mean to kill him. The Tarrant County medical examiner testified that it wasn't exactly clear how Tomlin suffocated. The position and restraints were "consistent" with positional asphyxiation, but marks on the victim's lips "indicated an intentional smothering." Carter's history of misdemeanors and armed robbery made it easy for prosecutors to convince the jury that he was a career criminal. Carter pleaded not guilty. Jurors disagreed and sentenced him to death. Allen accepted a plea for 25 years in prison. She's eligible for parole this year. Carter's appeals have hinged on arguments that his trial attorneys failed to offer contradicting testimony regarding the cause and manner of Tomlin's death, thereby violating his Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel. Attorneys have also focused on the court's alleged failure to prove the death penalty was warranted (as opposed to life in prison), and that state law pertaining to a jury's right to know is in fact a violation of the Eighth and 14th amendments. Those appeals have all failed - most recently, last March, at the U.S. Supreme Court. On Nov. 2, 2016, Carter's appellate attorney Robin Norris requested permission from a federal court to withdraw as Carter's attorney - at Carter's request. Norris wrote: "All judicial avenues for review of Mr. Carter's capital murder conviction and death sentence have been exhausted." What remained were procedural filings for clemency and commutation to the governor and state Board of Pardons and Paroles. Those, Norris suggested, could be taken over by new counsel. The court has not yet responded. Carter is expected to be the 2rd Texan executed this year. John Ramirez's execution, scheduled for today (Feb. 2), was stayed in a Corpus Christi federal court on Tuesday. Attorney Gregory Gardner, who played a crucial role in the stay of Kosoul Chanthakoummane's execution last month, took over Ramirez's case Jan. 27. Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos wrote in her order that "the short time remaining before Ramirez's execution" meant that the substitution of counsel "could only be given effect through a stay." Last week, despite newly discovered forensic evidence, and proof that Dallas County prosecutors falsified evidence to secure a conviction, the Supreme Court denied Terry Edwards' last-minute appeal. He was executed Jan. 26 at 10:17pm, nearly 4 hours after his scheduled court-ordered time of death. (source: Austin Chronicle) ** Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present22 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-540 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 23-February 7---Tilon Carter--541 24-March 7--Rolando Ruiz--542 25-March 14-James Bigby---543 26-April 12-Paul Storey---544 27-June 28--Steven Long---545 28-July 19-Kosoul Chanthakoummane---546 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) FLORIDA: Waffle House killer to get chance to get off death row The death row inmate who marched 3 employees of a Davie Waffle House into a freezer, ordered them to their knees and shot them as they begged for their lives will get another chance to fight for his own, the Florida Supreme Court decided. Gerhard Hojan, now 41, was found guilty in 2005 of murdering Christina Delarosa, 17, and Willie Absolu, 28, during a robbery at the restaurant. A 3rd employee, Barbara Nunn, survived a shot to the head. The state's high court ruled that Hojan is entitled to a new sentencing hearing because Florida's process for implementing the death penalty at the time was unconstitutional. The jury that convicted Hojan recommended execution by a vote of 9 to 3. Last year, the court ruled that death penalty recommendations had to be unanimous. Hojan's was 1 of more than 200 cases statewide where the Supreme Court ruled a defendant on death row could be entitled
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., ARIZ., NEV., CALIF., USA
Feb. 2 OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma could execute doctors for performing life-saving abortions if GOP lawmaker gets his way A new bill proposed in the Oklahoma legislature would define the medical procedure for any pregnancy termination as criminal murder. The law also doesn't provide any accommodations for a mother whose life and health is at risk if there are complications from the pregnancy. The bill comes from Republican state Sen. Joseph Silk, who is known for a series of anti-choice antics at the Oklahoma state capitol while lobbying for a prohibition on abortion in the state???s Constitution. He's affiliated with a group Abolish Human Abortion, known for harassing women who volunteer at clinics, hanging huge banners over overpasses and standing outside of polling places with signs purporting to show fetuses. There is little in the bill other than it would name the medical procedure "murder." The law would charge the doctors that perform the abortions with 1st-degree murder, but it doesn't outline if any charges would be filed for the woman seeking the procedure. Punishments for women could be the same as criminal prosecution for an accessory to the crime. That would mean if a woman is dying as a result of a pregnancy with complications and has an abortion she could be thrown in jail along with the doctor who refused to let her die. 1st-degree murder in Oklahoma is punishable by the death penalty, so the doctors would be put to death under the so-called pro-life law. "We either protect life as a state, or we don't," Silk told Oklahoma's KTUL. "A 4-week-old fetus in the womb is no different than a 1-year-old child." In an interview with Raw Story, Democratic State Rep. Monroe Nichols explained that the law is so far outside of the mainstream that conservative Gov. Mary Fallin (R-OK) vetoed similar legislation last year. "I believe strongly that we should all be working to reduce the number of abortions," Nichols said. "But they should be safe and legal. The fact is, abortions are down nationally and that's because of education and availability of contraception, both things many conservatives would like to see us backtrack on." Nichols similarly told KTUL that the rate of unwanted pregnancies is down as well as teen pregnancy. "And it's not because we filed some unconstitutional piece of legislation," he continued. "But because we found ways to come together and make sure the type of education and type of resources are out there to help people through that." Silk justifies his bill on the grounds of his own moral beliefs. "As a legislator, my primary goal is to protect innocent life through the bills that I author," Silk also explained. A fact-check, the oath of office in Oklahoma does not include a vow to "protect innocent life" though it does mandate all legislators pledge to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the State of Oklahoma. Nichols told KTUL that the law is absolutely unconstitutional. Passage would likely result in another costly lawsuit for a state that has spent millions to defend right-wing laws over the last several years. The Oklahoma ACLU has vowed to fight the legislation if it is enacted. "I think, anytime that you take away a woman's autonomy and say that she is incapable of making the most basic and fundamental decisions about herself and her reproductive health and her reproductive freedom, that's misogynistic," ACLU Executive Director Ryan Kiesel told KFOR. Silk also made a name for himself by pushing legislation for Oklahoma to secede from the United States even after President Donald Trump took office. He filed a bill to make it legal to discriminate against LGBT people and is behind the Oklahoma version of the anti-transgender bathroom bill. He has ties to the anti-LGBT group the Family Research Council, which is listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. (source: rawstory.com) ARIZONA: Lawyers for Arizona inmates criticize revised execution procedures Lawyers for death-row inmates said recent changes to Arizona's procedures for carrying out the death penalty didn't do enough to confront abuses in the state's power to decide the methods and amounts of drugs used in executions. The state released the revisions to the procedures earlier this month as it battles an inmate lawsuit that challenges the way the state handles the death penalty. Executions in Arizona remain on hold until the lawsuit is resolved. Attorneys for the condemned inmates said in court papers filed Friday that the state's corrections director, under the revisions, still has complete freedom to deviate from the written procedures. They say the revisions let the corrections director change timeframes for disclosing the types and amounts of drugs when he determines that there's an unexpected contingency. The lawyers for inmates said this particular revision is meaningless as an
