[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., CALIF., COLO., GA., MONT.
Oct. 20 KENTUCKY: Ky. Human Rights Commission: End death penalty The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights has called on the state to end the use of the death penalty, saying it is often applied unfairly against minorities and the poor. The commissioners, who enforce state and federal civil rights laws, urged Kentucky lawmakers in a resolution last week to repeal the law that allows the use of the death penalty in some murder cases. The resolution unanimously passed by the commissioners will be submitted to Go. Steve Beshear and to each state legislator. As of April 1, Kentucky had 35 inmates on death row. Kentucky last executed an inmate in 2008. State Sen. Gerald Neal of Louisville told The Courier-Journal that lawmakers have considered abolishing capital punishment, but have never passed legislation doing so. (source: Associated Press) CALIFORNIA: Saturday Forum letters; Letters from our readers Death penalty is morally wrong I'll vote to abolish the death penalty, as almost all modern societies have done, and not just because it is fiscally imprudent with unsustainable costs versus a life sentence without possibility of parole. More importantly -- just as we all agree, Thou shalt not kill -- it's morally wrong. Making us and the state murderers -- through exercising the death penalty -- is a pure illogicality akin to saying two wrongs make a right. Worse, because juries and evidence are fallible, my Christian belief tells me it is better that we let 1,000 guilty murderers get life sentences than we kill even one innocent defendant. We know 139 death-row inmates have been exonerated since 1973 and the death penalty is inconsistently and capriciously applied to minorities far more often than whites committing the same crime. Lastly, with mandatory and spurious death penalty appeals stretching this sordid process out for 25 years or more, victims' families are denied closure. It is wiser to abolish the death penalty. Ed ChaineyRichmond ** Opposes repeal of the death penalty If the death penalty proposition was modified to state that murder committed in the heat of the moment or the result of uncontrollable emotion is not subject to the death penalty, I would support it. However, some crimes are so heinous -- premeditated murder; murder for profit; murder during the commission of another crime; rape/murder; child rape and murder; torture/murder; murder during terrorist activity; and kidnap/murder -- the perpetrators do not deserve to be allowed to contaminate our society, even in prison, with their presence. Nevertheless, great care must be exercised that the accused is, in fact, guilty. It is a sin against the tenets of our civilization, and of God, to rush into a conviction that is not supported, beyond all doubt, with incontrovertible evidence. Although most convictions of murderers are justified, there have been too many cases of passion, rather than facts, convicting a person. This must not be allowed to happen and a law that sends a falsely convicted person to death row or life in prison is not an acceptable solution. Ernest HampsonPittsburg Alternative is too expensive I will be voting for the death penalty. The alternatives to the death penalty are too expensive. It's cheaper to kill someone and not pay someone to guard them for the rest of their lives. And the appeal process costs too much; change that. The argument that you might kill the wrong guy might have been valid 20 years ago when DNA was new, but now we can be 100 percent sure it's the right guy. The only way the death penalty will ever be a deterrent is to use it. Bill JonesPleasant Hill Mother of slain teen wants to keep penalty As the mother of a teenager who was senselessly murdered, I will vote no on outlawing the death penalty in California. Enough said. Gloria GatesFremont Outlawing would send wrong kind of message Outlawing the death penalty is eliminating a deterrent to commit major crimes. What kind of message would this send to criminals? Jerry CollinsAntioch Should not fight for the 'disgusting' murderers The reason why it costs so much to execute convicted killers is that the ACLU and other left-wing organizations keep fighting for every disgusting murderer. We should make those organization reimburse the taxpayers for all the extra costs, and the press should not actively solicit their opinions. Gary LavagninoEl Sobrante A person who kills should be put to death I will vote no on the measure to repeal the death penalty. To kill another human being is against the law and the person who killed another person should receive the death penalty. My sister was murdered and the person found guilty was given 25 years to life in prison. He will be up for parole in 2015. The district attorney said he will be denied and will never leave prison. She was killed in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 20 MALAYSIA: Groups: Review death sentence Several groups are calling for a judicial review into the death sentence imposed on 2 Indonesian brothers charged with killing a burglar. National Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the sentence was too extreme and would have implications on the way people react to situations that involved their own personal safety and security. On Thursday, a High Court in Shah Alam sentenced 2 brothers to death for the murder of a 26-year-old man who had broken into a shophouse in Sepang on Dec 3, 2010. The burglar had entered the shophouse via a ceiling and fell into the room where the brothers and a Malaysian co-worker were sleeping. While the Malaysian fled to call the police, the 2 brothers dealt with the burglar, who later died due to blunt force trauma. Referring to the case, Lee said the incident involved someone who had gained illegal entry into a building and was motivated by a criminal intent. In such cases, it is normal for the occupants to react spontaneously to restrain an intruder who may pose a danger to them, he said. Bar Council vice-president Christopher Leong also said the death sentence was unwarranted. People have a right to self defence in life-threatening situations, he said. However, he stressed that people should not take the law into their own hands. Leong also said the Bar Council was against the death penalty. Taman Gasing Indah Rukun Tetangga chairman Eric Chew described the judgment as shocking. This was a hot topic in the coffeeshop this morning. People feel disturbed that their right to self defence has now come into question. Taman Tun Dr Ismail Resident Association chairman Mohd Hatim Abdullah also said a judicial review was necessary in view of the need for self-defence. (source: The Star) * Death penalty on Pinay in Malaysia still on appeal The death penalty imposed on a Filipina for drug trafficking in Malaysia is on appeal and the sentence will not be carried out anytime soon, according to the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur. The Shah Alam High Court sentenced to death a Filipina on Sept. 28 for trafficking 800 grams of heroin and morphine. In attendance during that hearing were her court-appointed counsel and 2 representatives from the Philippine embassy. Her defense counsel filed a notice of appeal before the Malaysian Court of Appeal right after the sentence was imposed by the lower court. Appeal proceedings in Malaysia generally take some 2 years or even more. Even after a guilty verdict is handed down at that level, the case can be elevated to the Federal Court. In the event that the Federal Court will uphold the capital punishment conviction, an application for an executive clemency will be undertaken, Consul General Medardo Macaraig said. We still have a long way to go. There is much room for hope, he added. 5 Filipino death row convicts in Malaysia were granted clemency earlier this year. The embassy is not leaving any stone unturned in providing assistance to her. She was represented by legal counsel during the criminal trial, and embassy representatives attended her hearings right from the start and have been visiting her in jail. We are also in constant communication with her family through the Department of Foreign Affairs' Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers??? Affairs, Macaraig said. The Filipina was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 28, 2010 on a flight bound for Vietnam. Malaysian authorities seized from her a bag containing 2 kilograms of heroin and morphine. She later claimed a Nigerian, a friend of an acquaintance she met in Malaysia, gave her the bag while she was on her way to the airport. When she was arrested, 2 agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) also interviewed her. (source: Philippine Star) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA.
Oct. 20 FLORIDA: Florida Okays Execution of Schizophrenic Man in Direct Violation of Supreme Court Ruling The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that the state can proceed with the execution of 64-year-old John Erroll Ferguson, despite its finding that he is a paranoid schizophrenic. The decision will be appealed to the US Supreme Court. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that the state can proceed with the execution of 64-year-old John Erroll Ferguson, despite its finding that he is a paranoid schizophrenic. The Justices upheld the ruling of a lower court, which found that Ferguson's Prince of God delusions, while genuine, are not significantly different than beliefs other Christians may hold. Gov. Rick Scott has since signed a new death warrant with the execution scheduled for Tuesday, October 23 at 6 p.m. Christopher Handman, one of Ferguson's attorneys, tells Truthout that Florida's method for determining competency is overly restrictive and out of step with the Constitution, as determined by the US Supreme Court. He says they will appeal to the Supreme Court for a stay and ask that they hear his case. Ferguson was sentenced to death for a 1977 mass murder in Miami Dade, which he committed shortly after the state released him from a mental hospital against the warnings of several state-appointed psychiatrists. During his incarceration, state appointed experts have continued to diagnose him with paranoid schizophrenia. The prosecution initially argued that Ferguson was faking his symptoms. But that was shot down last week by Bradford County Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge David Glant who found the testimony of Ferguson's experts credible and compelling and ruled that Ferguson's delusions are genuine. Nevertheless, Glant ruled that Ferguson is competent for execution because his beliefs are in keeping with Christian teachings. Ferguson expresses the belief, among other things, that he is the Prince of God chosen to fight two antichrists alongside Jesus - after which he will rule the world with multiple wives. In his mind, his incarceration is part of a hardening process designed by God to prepare him to return to earth after his execution and save America from a communist plot. Ferguson's delusions represent a relatively normal Christian belief, albeit a grandiose one, concluded Glant. There is no evidence in the record that Ferguson's belief as to his role in the world and what may happen to him in the afterlife is so significantly different from beliefs other Christians may hold so as to consider it a sign of insanity. Ferguson's attorneys immediately appealed Glant's decision to the Florida Supreme Court, which upheld the lower court's ruling, though they ditched the his delusions are totally normal Christian beliefs part. This is the 1st time the Florida Supreme Court has had an opportunity to consider the state's methods for determining competency since the Supreme Court decided Panetti, Handman told Truthout, referring to a Supreme Court ruling that clarified competency standards. The US Supreme Court initially banned executing the mentally ill in Ford v. Wainwright (1986), specifically if the inmate lacks the ability to comprehend the nature of the penalty. The Court expanded on that view in Panetti v. Quarterman (2007), a case brought forward by a psychotic Texas inmate whose case closely resembles Ferguson's. Panetti had schizoaffective disorder that led him to believe the state wanted him dead to stop him from preaching. Though Panetti recognized the factual rationale behind his death sentence - that he was found guilty of murdering his ex-wife's parents - the Supreme Court held that [a] prisoner's awareness of the State's rationale for an execution is not the same as a rational understanding of it. Furthermore, the Court reasoned that executing a prisoner who has no comprehension of why he has been singled out and stripped of his fundamental right to life undermines the concept of retributive justice. Ferguson, like Panetti, thinks that the state wants him dead not because of his crime, but as part of a conspiracy. According to testimony from George W. Woods, an expert in neuropsychiatry who examined Ferguson three times in the last year, Ferguson expresses a belief that the guards [are] soldiers and communists who are going to kill him because they know he is the prince of God and that he has the power and can control the sun, and that he has more power than Jesus. Ferguson also lacks any understanding of the consequences of execution. He believes death penalty is no match for his special powers which prevent him from ever being killed and that just like Jesus, you'll come and look and you won't find me there [in my grave]. Despite all of this, the Florida Supreme Court held that only a factual awareness of his crime and the reasons for his sentence are required for Ferguson to qualify as competent. At
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 20 BANGLADESH: Bangladesh jails 723 soldiers for 2009 mutiny A Bangladesh court Saturday jailed 723 border guards for their role in a bloody 2009 mutiny, bringing the total number of soldiers imprisoned for the unrest to nearly 6,000, prosecutors said. 57 senior army officers were killed during an uprising that began when soldiers at the Bangladeshi Rifles (BDR) headquarters in Dhaka went on a killing spree, later dumping victims' bodies in sewers and shallow graves. A special military court in the capital found 723 border guards guilty of joining and leading the mutiny, state prosecutor Gazi Zillur Rahman told AFP, a charge that attracts a maximum penalty of seven years. In all 735 border guards... were charged. Two died during the trial and 10 were acquitted. Of the 723 found guilty, 64 soldiers were sentenced to 7 years in jail, Rahman said. The mutiny spread from Dhaka to BDR posts across the country, with thousands of guards taking up arms against their commanding officers. Dozens of special courts -- run by the military using a mix of martial and civilian law -- were set up to prosecute mutineers, with the first verdict, which saw 29 soldiers convicted, being handed down in April 2010. A total of 5,926 BDR soldiers have now been convicted, another prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain told AFP. With today's verdict, the BDR mutiny case has come to an end. In all 6,046 soldiers from the BDR's 57 battalions from across the country were tried in the case. It's the biggest case in the country's history, he said. Those convicted include hundreds of nurses and sportsmen who represented the country internationally. The courts, headed by military officers, did not allow defendants to have lawyers and there is no right of appeal. Soldiers accused of more serious offences -- including murder -- are being tried separately in civilian courts and could face the death penalty if convicted. Of the 723 soldiers convicted on Saturday, 86 still face murder charges, said prosecutor Rahman. The BDR has since the event changed its name to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BAG) in an effort to distance itself from the mutiny. (source: Agence France-Presse) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA
Oct. 20 USA: Defense wants 9/11 trial televised globally from Guantanamo The death penalty trial of 5 Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States is so important that it should be televised globally, defense lawyers argued on Friday. The issue of televising the proceedings was discussed on the final day of a week-long pretrial hearing for the alleged mastermind of the hijacked plane attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and 4 co-defendants accused of providing money, training and travel assistance to the hijackers. If these proceedings are fair, why is the government afraid to let the world watch? asked Marine Major William Hennessy, a U.S. military lawyer defending Walid Bin Attash, a Yemeni accused of training two of the hijackers at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan. The government admits that these are historic proceedings, Hennessy added even as the military judge in the case sounded skeptical about televising the trial and the prosecution said the trial should not become reality TV. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has sole authority to authorize the broadcast of the trials. A Pentagon spokesman said that no one has formally asked him to do so. The 5 defendants, who could face execution if convicted of charges that include murder and terrorism, skipped Friday's session after the judge declined their request for a recess on the Muslim holy day. Currently, the public can watch closed-circuit broadcasts of the Guantanamo war crimes court proceedings only at a 200-seat theater at Fort Meade, a U.S. Army base in Maryland. Closed-circuit viewing sites at a handful of other military bases in the eastern United States are restricted to relatives of the 2,976 people killed in the September 11 attacks and to the firefighters, police officers and other emergency responders who gave aid and searched for victims at the crash sites in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. In hearings at the remote U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, lawyers for some of the defendants asked the judge to open those viewing sites to the general public, which the judge declined to do. Lawyers for other defendants said the trial should be televised globally to anyone who wants to watch. Hennessy, the defense lawyer, acknowledged that the rules give the defense secretary sole authority to decide whether to televise the trials, but suggested the judge could make the decision in the interests of ensuring the accused get a fair trial. The judge, U.S. Army Colonel James Pohl, did not immediately rule on the request but seemed skeptical. I can look at any rule, any statute, and say 'I wouldn't have done it that way.' Is that what you want a judge to do, really? he asked Hennessy. I would have to conclude that the lack of public television means the accused is getting an unfair trial? 'NOT REALITY TV' The prosecution said federal court trials in the United States are never televised. This is a court of justice. It is not reality TV, said the chief prosecutor, Army Brigadier General Mark Martins, adding that people's behavior sometimes changes for the worse when cameras are present. (source: Reuters) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 20 NIGERIA: 2 to be hanged in Edo state; Oshiomhole signs death warrants for two prisoners following attempted jailbreak Iyobosa 2 prisoners on death row at Oko Prison in Benin City will be hanged after the governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole, signed their death warrants. Oshiomhole's action prompted Amnesty International to call for an immediate halt to the executions after reports filtered through that the gallows are being made ready. The Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice Osagie Obayuwana would not confirm when the executions are due, but he implied that the decision would be taken by the state's prison authorities. The governor of Oko Prison in Benin City refused to confirm or deny when the executions would take place. Amnesty International's Deputy Programme Director for Africa, Lucy Freeman, said, The decision to sign a death warrant on these 2 prisoners shows a deep disrespect for the judicial process as the inmates are part of an ongoing appeal. The execution of a prisoner when their death sentence is still under challenge in the courts is a flagrant violation of human rights. In March 2010, Nigerian NGO, Legal Defence and Advocacy Project filed an appeal on behalf of the then 840 inmates - including the 2 whose execution warrants were recently signed. An injunction was granted by the court upholding the appeal but it was lifted in April 2012. The organisation filed another appeal in April 2012 following the court's decision and the judgement on that appeal is pending. Oshiomhole signed the execution warrants two weeks ago, after prison authorities informed him that the death row inmates in Benin prison were 'becoming unmanageable.' According to the Edo state Attorney General some death row inmates were involved in a recent jailbreak from Oko Prison. Executing detainees as a method of controlling 'unmanageable' inmates is totally unacceptable - it is arbitrary and a violation of their right to life, said Freeman. Instead of executing prisoners, it is about time the Nigerian authorities address underlying problems in the criminal justice system. The governor also reviewed the cases of 4 other prisoners. Tejanie Mustapha and 1 other man have had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment and 2 others, Calistus Ike and Monday Udo were released yesterday. According to the Edo state Attorney General, the 2 prisoners who are to be executed were convicted of murder. Under Nigeria's penal laws the death penalty is mandatory for murder. The last known executions in Nigeria were carried out in 2006, when at least 7 men, all sentenced to death in Kano State, were hanged in Kaduna, Jos and Enugu prisons. According to the Office of the Minister of Justice, there is now a moratorium on executions in Nigeria, however, he described the moratorium as 'voluntary'. This latest attempt to resume executions follows an announcement by state governors in June 2011 that they would review all cases of death row inmates and sign off executions as a means of de-congesting the country's prisons. (source: Daily Times) GAMBIA: 7 risk imminent execution in Gambia: Amnesty Gambia's former army chief and 6 others risk imminent execution after the West African nation's supreme court dismissed their appeal against conviction on treason charges, Amnesty International said on Friday. President Yahya Jammeh provoked an international outcry in August when he ordered the execution by firing squad of 9 prisoners. Their deaths marked the 1st executions in the country in nearly 30 years. Although he later suspended plans to execute the remaining 38 prisoners on death row, the government said the decision was only temporary. The latest prisoners to face execution include former chief of defence staff Lieutenant General Lang Tombong Tamba and other former senior officers, who were convicted in 2010 of plotting to depose Jammeh, who himself came to power in a coup in 1994. The Gambian government must not carry out any executions, and commute as a matter of urgency the death sentences of the seven men, Lucy Freeman, Amnesty's West Africa programme director, said. They must also uphold the moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty, she added. The Gambian president has long faced criticism over his human rights record in a country that attracts British sun-seekers with its tropical climate and white beaches. It is unclear why Jammeh, who was re-elected last year in a poll that regional groups said had been marked by intimidation of voters and opponents, decided to begin executing prisoners. He announced in 2007 that he had a herbal remedy that cured AIDS, but only on Thursdays, a statement dismissed by health experts. (source: Reuters) MALAYSIA: 'Possible moratorium on death sentence pending govt's final decision' Drug offenders on death row may have their sentences
