[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 9 GLOBAL: Death penalty 2012: Despite setbacks, a death penalty-free world came closer AMNESTY INTERNATIONALPress Release Despite some disappointing setbacks in 2012, the global trend towards ending the death penalty continued, Amnesty International found in its annual review of death sentences and executions. 2012 saw the resumption of executions in several countries that had not used the death penalty in some time, notably India, Japan, Pakistan and Gambia, as well as an alarming escalation in executions in Iraq. But the use of the death penalty continues to be restricted to an isolated group of countries, and progress towards its abolition was seen in all regions of the world. Only 21 of the world's countries were recorded as having carried out executions in 2012 - the same number as in 2011, but down from 28 countries a decade earlier in 2003. In 2012, at least 682 executions were known to have been carried out worldwide, 2 more than in 2011. At least 1,722 newly imposed death sentences in 58 countries could be confirmed, compared to 1,923 in 63 countries the year before. But these figures do not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believes were carried out in China, where the numbers are kept secret. "The regression we saw in some countries this year was disappointing, but it does not reverse the worldwide trend against using the death penalty. In many parts of the world, executions are becoming a thing of the past," said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International. "Only 1 in 10 countries in the world carries out executions. Their leaders should ask themselves why they are still applying a cruel and inhumane punishment that the rest of the world is leaving behind." The top 5 executing countries in the world were once again China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and USA, with Yemen closely behind. Methods of executions in 2012 included hanging, beheading, firing squad and lethal injection. In Saudi Arabia, the body of 1 man executed through beheading was displayed in what is known as "crucifixion". People faced the death penalty for a range of crimes including non-violent drug-related and economic offences, but also for "apostasy", "blasphemy", and "adultery" - acts that should not be considered crimes at all. The Asia-Pacific region saw some disappointing setbacks in 2012, with India, Japan and Pakistan resuming executions after long periods when these countries were execution-free. In November, India carried out its 1st execution since 2004 when Ajmal Kasab, 1 of the gunmen involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was hanged. In Japan, 3 death row inmates were executed in March - followed by another 4 later in the year - ending a 20-month hiatus in executions there. China once again executed more people than the rest of the world put together, but due to the secrecy surrounding the use of the death penalty in the country it was not possible to obtain accurate figures on the use of capital punishment in China. But there were also positive developments in the region. Viet Nam did not carry out any death sentence, while Singapore observed a moratorium on the death penalty and Mongolia ratified a key international treaty committing the country to abolition. The Pacific sub-region continued to be a virtually death penalty-free area. Although the Middle East and North Africa saw a few positive developments, use of the death penalty in the region is still a cause of great concern. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen saw continued high levels of executions; 99 % of all executions in the region were carried out in these 4 countries. In particular, there was an alarming rise in Iraq's use of the death penalty, where at least 129 people were put to death - almost double the 2011 figure of 68. Iran once again came second behind China when it came to the number of executions.314 executions were officially acknowledged by the authorities, but the real number is almost certainly much higher as scores of other executions not officially acknowledged were also recorded. The conflict in Syria made it impossible to confirm whether the death penalty was used there in 2012. In the Americas, the USA remains the only country to carry out executions - the total number, 43, was the same as in 2011, but only 9 states executed in 2012, compared to 13 in 2011. Connecticut became the 17th abolitionist state in April, while a referendum on the abolition of the death penalty was narrowly defeated in California in November. The English-speaking Caribbean remained execution-free; 12 death sentences were recorded in 3 of the sub-region's 12 countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, there was further progress towards abolition. Benin took legislative steps to remove relevant provisions from its laws, and Ghana plans to abolish the death penalty in its new Constitution. There are no more prisoners
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., UTAH, CALIF., ORE., USA
April 9 COLORADO: DA seeks death penalty in slaying of prison worker An inmate accused in the 2002 slaying of a prison worker will be placed on trial and prosecutors will seek the death penalty after a judge Tuesday allowed the suspect to withdraw his guilty plea. Edward Montour Jr., already serving a life sentence in the 1997 death of his 11-month-old daughter, is accused of killing Eric Autobee, 23, by striking him in the head with a heavy kitchen ladle at Limon Correctional Facility. Montour represented himself in the case and in January 2003, barely three months after the slaying, pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder. He told his advisory attorneys that he wanted to die by execution, according to court documents. The case has lingered in court for more than 10 years following a judge's imposition of the death penalty, which was later thrown out by the Colorado Supreme Court. The court ruled in 2007 that only a jury, not a judge, can hand down death sentences. While prosecutors have been seeking a penalty phase trial so a jury can impose the death penalty, Montour's defense attorneys have been trying to strike a deal that would spare Montour's life. An offer to have Montour plead guilty and serve a life sentence in solitary confinement was rejected by prosecutors, attorney David Lane said, and Douglas County District Judge Richard B. Caschette on Tuesday allowed Montour to withdraw his guilty plea, setting the stage for a new trial. Caschette said in his ruling that he could not allow Montour's "calculated plan of state-assisted suicide." "In giving up a 1st-degree murder conviction, all for the sake of attempting to get a death penalty, all things are possible now in this case including a verdict of not guilty after trial," Lane said in a statement. Many prosecutors who support the death penalty have long argued that it remains the sole deterrent against inmates who are already serving life sentences from killing prison guards. District Attorney George Brauchler, who earlier this month announced that he would seek the death penalty for Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes, said the death penalty in this case sends the message that killing prison guards will not be tolerated. "When a man already serving a life sentence kills a prison guard, a 'new' life sentence defies justice, common sense, and makes the taking of Eric Autobee's life a 'freebie,'" Brauchler said in a statement. Autobee's family opposes the death penalty, but Brauchler said he's taking prison workers' safety into consideration. The day before he was fatally shot while answering his front door, Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements testified at the Legislature on behalf of improved prison worker safety. Clements' March 19 slaying remains unsolved. Former inmate and white supremacist prison gang member Evan Ebel had the gun used in Clements' slaying when he died in a shootout with Texas authorities. Authorities have not said what role they believe Ebel played in Clements' slaying or whether others were involved. An associate of Ebel's is in custody while another remains at large. El Paso County sheriff's officials say both are persons of interest in Clements' slaying. Until Autobee's death in 2002, no corrections officer had been killed since 1929. Since Autobee's slaying, Sgt. Mary Ricard, 55, was killed last September while breakfast was being prepared for inmates at the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility, and then Clements died at his home in Monument. (source: Associated Press) UTAH: Utah on the wrong side of history Last month, the state of Maryland became the eighteenth state in the U.S. to do away with the death penalty. In which direction do you think this issue is going? Will the number of states with the death penalty increase or decrease? While working for the U.S. Department of Justice, I assisted Poland and Albania with criminal justice issues surrounding requirements for European Union membership. Dissolving the death penalty is required for membership in the EU. Besides Texas, what state do you think will be one of the last to give up the death penalty? Statistically, the death penalty in America is racially misrepresented. According to the last U.S. census, African Americans account for approximately 13 % of our population. African Americans currently account for 42.6 % of the people on death row. I ask you to visualize the metaphor portrayed in Lady Justice. Blindfolded with a scale in one hand and a sword in the other - do you think she can see these percentages? I'm not suggesting these people are innocent. I'm challenging our solution. It is important to point out that of the 13 % of African Americans in the United States, half are women. There are very few women on death row in America. In addition, of the 13 % of African-Americans in the U.S. 1/3 are children. We do not exec
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, GA., MISS.
April 9 TEXASexecution Texas executes man for 1990 fatal shooting, rape A Texas convict with a lengthy criminal history was executed Tuesday evening for fatally shooting a man and raping the slain man's fiancee during a home break-in more than 22 years ago. Rickey Lynn Lewis already had been in and out of prison 5 times in less than 7 years when he was arrested 3 days after the killing of 45-year-old George Newman and attack on Newman's fiancee in 1990 at their home in a rural area of Smith County, about 90 miles east of Dallas. Lewis, 50, acknowledged the rape, but not the killing. "If I hadn't raped you, you wouldn't have lived," he told Newman's fiancee, Connie Hilton, in the moments before the single lethal dose of pentobarbital was administered. "I didn't kill Mr. Newman and I didn't rob your house. "I was just there. ... I'm sorry for what you've gone through. It wasn't me that harmed and stole all of your stuff," he said to Hilton, who stood behind a glass window a few feet away. The Associated Press normally does not name rape victims, but Hilton, 63, agreed to be identified. Lewis said the 2 people responsible for Newman's killing are still alive. He didn't identify them. He told Hilton he watched her flee the house to get help. "When I saw you in the truck driving away, I could have killed you, but I didn't," he said. "I'm not a killer." Lewis thanked his friends who watched through a nearby window "for the love you gave me." "I thank the Lord for the man I am today. I have done all I can to better myself, to learn to read and write," he said, appearing to choke back tears. "Take me to my king." As the drug began taking effect, he said he could feel it "burning my arm." "I feel it in my throat. I'm getting dizzy," Lewis said before he started to snore and, seconds later, lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead 14 minutes after the lethal dose began. The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to review Lewis' case and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously voted against a clemency request. No last-day appeals were filed by his attorneys to try to halt the execution, the 2nd this year in Texas. Earlier appeals focused on whether Lewis, a 9th-grade dropout who worked as a laborer, was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty under Supreme Court rulings. The claims included a suggestion from Lewis' attorneys that the court reconsider a denial it made in his case in 2005. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused that recommendation on Monday. Hilton declined to speak with reporters after the execution. In a first-person account she wrote of the attack, she said she got out of bed the night of Sept. 17, 1990, after her barking dog woke her and saw a man in the hallway with a shotgun. She screamed, and Newman responded and was shot in the face. A dog in the home was also killed. Hilton tried hiding in a bathroom, was struck at least twice in the head and then assaulted for over an hour by Lewis while the other 2 people Lewis claims were there stole items from the house. She testified she was ordered to "quit whimpering," felt a gun barrel on her and was told someone would find her in the morning. According to court documents, she was left in the kitchen with her hands and feet bound. As Lewis and his partners fled in her truck, she managed to free herself, crawled to Newman to find him dead and then climbed out a window to seek help. Lewis was arrested 3 days later after he was seen with some of the items stolen from the house. DNA evidence linked him to the attack. "There's still a lot of fear in the back of my mind because the other 2 men never were caught," Hilton told the AP last week. "You never know if there's going to be retaliation. "He's never told anyone and as far as I'm aware of, nobody knows. On the other hand, if he were to tell who was with him, that would confirm his guilt, and he's not going to do that." The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1996 upheld Lewis' conviction but reversed his death sentence, finding jurors had faulty instructions when considering his sentence. At a new punishment trial the following year, Lewis again was sentenced to die. Lewis' mother, who has since died, testified a 10-year-old Lewis shot his father to protect her. Testimony indicated Lewis' father had abused him as a child. Records showed Lewis first went to prison in 1983 for burglary, was paroled and returned to prison as a parole violator. He continued to be a repeat offender and parole violator. His arrest on capital murder charges for Newman's slaying came 6 months after his most recent release. Evidence showed 2 months before the Newman shooting he stole a truck and led police on a chase. Then 4 days before the attack, Lewis used a sawed-off shotgun during a store robbery in Tyler. At least 11 other Texas inmates have executions scheduled through July, inc
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 9 SEYCHELLES/EGYPT: Seychelles asks for reconsideration following sentencing of 3 Seychellois nationals to death for drug trafficking Following information that 3 Seychellois nationals convicted on charges of drug trafficking in Egypt yesterday have been sentenced to death by execution, the government of Seychelles has appealed to the government of Egypt to commute their sentences to life imprisonment, this in a strong condemnation of the death penalty. The island's Home Affairs and Transport Minister, Joel Morgan, has stated that the government and people of Seychelles are shocked and dismayed by the court decision and that the government has asked the Seychelles' Foreign Affairs Minister, Jean-Paul Adam, currently attending an African Union Ministerial meeting in Addis Ababa, to meet with his Egyptian counter-part to make an appeal for clemency. "The death sentence has long been abolished from our laws, and we are respectfully appealing to the Egyptian government to allow the men in question to serve out their time in prison. We, as a nation are strongly opposed to capital punishment," said Minister Morgan. "The Seychelles government respects the rule of law and legal prerogatives of Egypt, as well as the sovereignty of their nation, but we have humbly asked that the sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. We have made a case to the Egyptian government," explained Minister Adam. Minister Adam added that the Seychelles Foreign Ministry would continue to be available to the men and their families for consular assistance where possible. The Seychellois convicted were part of a crew onboard a ship that was detained and apprehended on April 22, 2011 after it, according to reports, entered Egyptian waters illegally. Acting on information that the ship was bringing in an amount of illicit drugs from Pakistan, the ship was monitored and stopped. It is understood that the conviction will be appealed through the Egyptian legal system, this while the Seychelles government also undertakes diplomatic efforts for clemency for the 3 Seychellois. (source: forimmediaterelease.net) PHILIPPINES: PNoy bet concerned with Filipino drug trafficking in Hong Kong Team PNoy's re-electionist Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano expressed concern that drug trafficking remains a "problem" among the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Chinese Special Administrative Region. A day after his campaign rally along Chater Road where he was warmly welcomed by the OFWs, Cayetano visited the Philippine Consulate here where he was told that there was apparent snowballing cases of Filipino drug mules. "Pumunta ko sa Consulate natin at nananatili pa rin na problema 'yung drugs, 'yung mga Pinoy na ginagamit as drug couriers," he said in an interview. However, he did not mention how many Filipino workers were facing drug charges in this administrative region. It would be recalled that after the execution of three Filipino drug mules in China in 2011, Consul Noel Novicio disclosed that a Filipino was sentenced to death without reprieve. Despite the government's last ditch effort to spare them from lethal injection, drug mules Sally Villanueva, Ramon Credo and Elizabeth Batain were executed after they were slapped with death penalty for smuggling drugs to China in 2008. In its 495-page report in 2011, the Department of Foreign Affairs said 576 Filipinos were facing drug charges in 32 countries. Of this figure, a total of 207 Filipinos were involved in drug-related cases in China. In that report, 20 OFWs were facing drug charges in Hong Kong. Cayetano also took opportunity to praise the Consulate for its uninterrupted service for Filipino workers, which really shows the Aquino government's steadfast efforts to promote the welfare of the OFWs. "Dire- diretso ang service nila. They work overtime," he said, citing how hard- working the Consulate is, which is headed by Consul General Noel Servigon. Less than a week before the overseas absentee voting, Cayetano held his campaign rally last Sunday in Hong Kong, which is a home to 150,000 Filipino migrants and has been the top post for overseas absentee voting. He vowed to personally attend issues hounding and affecting the modern- day heroes of the land. (source: Manila Bulletin) DENMARK: Denmark ends Iranian drug crime support Amnesty International are elated that Denmark will no longer be indirectly contributing to the execution of drug traffickers The development minister, Christian Friis Bach (Radikale), has decided to cease providing financial support to a United Nations anti-drug programme due to revelations that Iran has been using the programme to execute hundreds of criminals every year. "It's a signal to Iran that the implementation of the death penalty is unacceptable and not something we can be involved with," Bach told Politiken newspaper. Via the Foreign Ministry's aid orga
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 9 UNITED KINGDOM: My death row prisoner pen pals - Gloucestershire woman Maureen Timmins From the moment Maureen Timmins walked into a death row prison, she knew she was in for the most terrifying experience of her life. She was, after all, meeting a man who had been sentenced to death after killing his pregnant wife. But 60-year-old clairvoyant Maureen, from Parkend, near Lydney hadn't prepared herself for the moment she 'witnessed' the murder in a series of flashbacks as she shook hands with dangerous prisoner Michael Hamilton. "He gripped my hand so tight and everything hit me suddenly. "I could see him raising a gun to his wife's head and he shot her 3 times," said Maureen. "It was like a movie in my mind, unfolding suddenly. I saw him kill his wife." Months after her visit in 1993 to the San Quentin State Prison, in California, she learned the vision was true - Hamilton had shot his wife 3 times. But her other-worldly visions didn't stop there. As she made her way through the high-security prison, she walked past a gas chamber where executions are carried out. "They leave the door open just to terrify people," she said. "When I walked past it, I had to shut down my mind to all these images that were coming to me." Maureen made the visit after writing to 3,000 prisoners on death row across America. The letters began after she responded to an appeal for new pen pals. 1 prisoner she wrote to, but didn't visit, was declared one of America's most dangerous men. "He wrote to me and said I could come to visit him. But he said that if he got the chance during my visit, he would try to kill me," said Maureen. "He's never going to get out of prison, he knows that, and so showing off that he could kill me was the only thing left for him." Many of the prisoners have not only sent her letters, but also created children's books for her granddaughter, embroidered tea towels and created intricately-designed cigarette holders. Steven Dodrill, one such prisoner, was a keen photographer and writer. He was convicted of 2 counts of rape. Just minutes before he died of cancer, he made his last phone call to Maureen. "They allowed him a phone call. He spoke to me for 12 minutes just to say goodbye," she recalled. "He couldn't last any longer. Shortly after, he died. "He had once written to Cherie Blair in the hope that as a barrister and a Prime Minister's wife, that if she took up his appeal case it would raise his profile. Her office wrote back to him, but the case wasn't taken up." Maureen has supported calls for the scrapping of the death penalty. She cites a number of cases where executed prisoners have later found to have been innocent. But she also said that 'an eye for an eye' is not the right way forward. Another man she met, who was in the next cell to Hamilton, was John Visciotti, who shot a man in the back during a warehouse robbery. She said: "There is no disputing he did it. But since then he has lost his father and it hit him that life is important. "When I was there a little girl had been murdered in San Quentin and the family couldn't afford to pay for her funeral. Many of the death row prisoners clubbed together to pay for it." But what next for a woman who has just about heard and seen it all? "I still write to a few of them, but out of them all, I'd only probably go back to visit John Visciotti. "Of course, I don't condone what he did, but there is remorse." ERNEST DOWNS STORY: SHE may have written to 3,000 death row prisoners, but Maureen Timmins will never forget the 1st - 2 decades ago. Ernest Downs was on death row after being found guilty of killing a businessman. It is said he disposed of the man???s body in a ditch, but he has protested his innocence ever since. His brother Bobby spent several years on death row for a separate crime, but has since been downgraded to life imprisonment. Ernest fell in love with a prison worker called Denise and they later married. She was forced to leave her job. Ernest is still on death row awaiting his execution. Other prisoners were not so lucky. Maureen recalls executions that have gone wrong. She said: "There was a man who caught fire in the electric chair twice. They extinguished him, but didn't give him medical treatment. It worked the 3rd time. "Another guy had the lethal injection. But it went wrong and they couldn't find the vein. He suffered for an hour and a half while they executed him." MICHAEL HAMILTON STORY FOR a whole week, Maureen Timmins returned to visit wife-killer Michael Hamilton in the prison where he was destined to be executed after being convicted of shooting his pregnant wife dead. She was guided into a cage where she spent hours chatting to him. 5 armed guards watched, with 1 sitting on top of the cage with a gun pointing at Hamilton, prepared for any attack. Maureen said: "It was very nerve-wracking. All that was go
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 9 GLOBAL: Amnesty says World closer to abolition of death penalty; The top 5 executing countries in the world were once again China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Despite India and some other countries resuming the death penalty in 2012, the global trend towards ending capital punishment continued, a global human rights group said. In its annual review of death sentences and executions, London-based Amnesty International said, "2012 saw the resumption of executions in several countries that had not used the death penalty in some time, notably India, Japan, Pakistan and Gambia, as well as an alarming escalation in executions in Iraq." But the use of the death penalty continues to be restricted to an isolated group of countries, and progress towards its abolition was seen in all regions of the world, the report said. Only 21 of the world's countries were recorded as having carried out executions in 2012 the same number as in 2011, but down from 28 countries a decade earlier in 2003, it said. In 2012, at least 682 executions were known to have been carried out worldwide, 2 more than in 2011.At least 1,722 newly-imposed death sentences in 58 countries could be confirmed, compared to 1,923 in 63 countries the year before. But these figures do not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believes were carried out in China, where the numbers are kept secret. "The regression we saw in some countries this year was disappointing, but it does not reverse the worldwide trend against using the death penalty. In many parts of the world, executions are becoming a thing of the past," said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International. "Only 1 in 10 countries in the world carries out executions. Their leaders should ask themselves why they are still applying a cruel and inhumane punishment that the rest of the world is leaving behind," he said. The top 5 executing countries in the world were once again China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and USA, with Yemen closely behind. The report said, Asia-Pacific region saw India, Japan and Pakistan resuming executions in 2012 after long periods when these countries were execution-free. In November, India carried out its 1st execution since 2004 when Ajmal Kasab, one of the gunmen involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was hanged. Methods of executions in 2012 included hanging, beheading, firing squad and lethal injection.People faced the death penalty for a range of crimes including non-violent drug-related and economic offences, but also for "apostasy", "blasphemy", and "adultery" - acts that should not be considered crimes at all, the report said. China once again executed more people than the rest of the world put together, but due to the secrecy surrounding the use of the death penalty in the country it was not possible to obtain accurate figures on the use of capital punishment in China. Iran once again came 2nd behind China in the number of executions. (source: Business-Standard) World closer to death penalty free regime: Amnesty Despite some disappointing setbacks in 2012, including in India, the world is moving towards ending the death penalty, Amnesty International has said. Last year saw the resumption of executions in several countries that had not used the death penalty in years, notably India, Japan, Pakistan and Gambia, as well as an alarming escalation in executions in Iraq. But the use of the death penalty continues to be restricted to an isolated group of countries, and progress towards its abolition was seen in all regions of the world, it said in a report. Only 21 of the world's countries were recorded as having carried out executions in 2012 - the same number as in 2011 but down from 28 countries a decade earlier in 2003. In 2012, at least 682 executions were known to have been carried out worldwide, 2 more than in 2011. At least 1,722 newly imposed death sentences in 58 countries could be confirmed, compared to 1,923 in 63 countries the year before. But these figures do not include the thousands of executions that Amnesty International believes were carried out in China, where the numbers are kept secret. "The regression we saw in some countries this year was disappointing, but it does not reverse the worldwide trend against using the death penalty. In many parts of the world, executions are becoming a thing of the past," said Salil Shetty, secretary general of Amnesty International. "Only one in 10 countries in the world carries out executions. Their leaders should ask themselves why they are still applying a cruel and inhumane punishment that the rest of the world is leaving behind." The top 5 executing countries in the world were once again China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the US, with Yemen closely behind. Methods of executions in 2012 included hanging, beheading, firing squad and lethal injection. The A
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIF., ORE., USA
April 9 CALIFORNIA: Man faces death penalty for fire that killed mom, sister A man accused of intentionally setting a fire in his Mira Mesa home, killing his mother and sister, pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and other charges that could lead to the death penalty if he's convicted. Thongsavath Sphabmixay, 44, was ordered held without bail in the deaths last Friday of 69-year-old Bouakham Sphabmixay and his sister, 48-year-old Pamela Sphabmixay. The women died a day after they were overcome by smoke in the fire at the family's home in the 11200 block of Featherhill Lane. The defendant lived at the residence with the victims and a male roommate. About 1:30 a.m. last Thursday, the roommate noticed the smell of gasoline outside his bedroom door, said Deputy District Attorney Nicole Rooney. "He (the roommate) opened his door and noticed the landing was on fire, which was blocking the only exit to the stairs out of the 2nd story," the prosecutor told reporters. Rooney said the roommate was able to go through the flames and jump down to a lower landing to escape. As he was leaving, the roommate heard the victims - who shared a bedroom - open their door, scream and shut the door, according to the prosecutor. Rooney said the roommate called for help to the defendant - who was still in the house - but he fled the scene. She said the roommate went across the street to get help and tried to go back in the house to rescue the victims, but was unable to do so because the smoke was so heavy. When contacted by police, the defendant initially gave them his brother's name, Rooney said. In addition to 2 counts of murder, the defendant is charged with charged with premeditated attempted murder and arson, with special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by arson. District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis will decide later whether the defendant will face the death penalty or life in prison without parole if he's convicted. A status conference is scheduled for Wednesday and a preliminary hearing for April 19. (source: Fox5 News) *** Trial Begins for Marines in Torture Murders of Sgt. and Wife Opening statements got underway Monday in the trial of 3 former Marines charged with murdering another Marine and his wife in 2008 in Riverside County. Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, were bound and gagged before they were shot in the head. Jenkins-Pietrzak was raped while her husband was forced to watch, and a fire was set to destroy evidence, according to court documents. The Riverside County district attorney's office is seeking the death penalty against Kevin Cox, 25; Tyrone Miller, 25; and Emrys John, 22. A 4th former Marine, Kesaun Sykes, 25, also faces the death penalty but will be tried separately in August, the district attorney's office said. Each defendant is charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, with special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery and taking more than 1 life in the same crime. There is also a sentence-enhancing allegation that a sexual assault occurred during the robbery. All 4 have pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said the attackers stormed the couple's new home in the French Valley neighborhood in southern Riverside County as part of a robbery scheme. Pietrzak, an Iraq war veteran, was stationed at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego. His wife was a counselor with a Riverside County infant care program. They had been married for 68 days. (source: KTLA News) OREGON: Oregon's Death Penalty Is Being Reviewed For Repeal A bill seeking to repeal the death penalty in Oregon is scheduled for a work session next week. Under House Joint Resolution One, executions would be replaced by life in prison, without the possibility of parole. Restitution to victims' families would also be part of the amended proposal. The bill will move to the Rules Committee for further work before its work session. The House Judiciary Committee will hear the bill on the 16th. (source: KOBI news) USA: Death Row & Exoneration These 3 very scary words--DEATH-ROW EXONERATION-- are enough to make you upchuck. Consider what it must be like if you have been convicted for a crime you did not commit and are now being sentenced to death. This Op-Ed is concerned with the relationship between the growing number of exonerations and the death penalty. In 1972 the US Supreme Court in a vote of 5 to 4 invalidated all death-penalty laws in the country, saying they were being arbitrarily applied. Justice Potter Stewart concurred, saying: the Constitution could not "permit this unique penalty to be so wantonly and freakishly imposed." The arbitrary nature of applying the death penalty and especially the issue of class status of the majority of the defendants eventually sentenced to death warns that caution definitely needs to be practic
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., ALA., NEB., COLO., ARIZ.
April 9 FLORIDAimpending execution Family of Elisa Nelson may get justice after more than 30 years; Larry Mann to be executed After more than 30 years, a Pinellas County family may finally see justice this week. In 1980, a sexual predator on parole snatched and killed a 10-year-old girl on her way to school. Barring any last-minute appeals, Larry Mann will be put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday. Investigators found Elisa Nelson's body in an orange grove. Now, Palm Harbor Middle School sits on the property. While her killer may finally be put to death, others have been asking if there are other victims. Only one of Elisa Nelson's family members chose to speak. Wanda Vekasi said she loved her niece like her own daughter. "She was just the sweetest girl and just beautiful," Vekasi said. Vekasi did not want her face shown, but didn't hide her feelings about waiting 32 years for Elisa's killer, Larry Mann, to face justice. "I am absolutely disgusted. Its just a slap in the face for us to be paying for him to be alive up there when he admitted to the crime," said Vekasi. Detectives said Mann, a well driller, admitted to grabbing Elisa and taking her to an orange grove blocks from her school. She was on her bicycle heading to class after a dentist appointment. Her family discovered she didn't make it to school after her brother, Jeff, only 12 at the time, told his parents his sister was not at school. Pinellas detectives found her body the next day. Velaski knows her niece fought for her life and at least prevented a sexual assault. The forensic evidence proved it. Her aunt said Elisa stabbed Mann in the neck with a pencil. "He got her out of the truck and it wasn't long after that he slit her throat from ear to ear and she was on her knees and evidence shows she spent along time crawling around that grove trying to get away from him," said Velaski. "He got ahold of some vines and tied her wrists from behind. She was still struggling and at that point, he picked up a cement post and hit her in the head." The facts are eerily similar to three open cases in Mississippi dating back to 1973 when Mann lived there. On Monday, a detective from Mississippi put in a request to speak to Mann about the deaths of a 13-, 16- and 20-year-old, all females. Velaski said, "If he has committed other crimes, I would hope for some of the families of the victims, there should be some closure there." She has nothing to say to her niece's killer. "I guess the thought of speaking to him is disgusting to me," Velaski said. Velaski won't be attending the execution. She said the tragedy caused a rift in the family and is not sure if Elisa's mother, her sister, would want her there. Jeff Nelson plans on attending. He said he will speak on camera after the verdict. And he made one statement: "Why did it take 32 years to bring a confessed murderer to justice? Something needs to be fixed." (source: ABC News) *** Death 'one of most shocking,' says sheriff Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan on Monday described the brutal slaying of a Pensacola woman as "one of the most shocking" he has ever seen. Melinda McCormick, 33, was struck in the head at least 40 times with a crowbar before being left for dead in a burning apartment, investigators said at a news conference. "I've seen a lot of death in my life, I'll tell you that," Morgan said during the conference. "I would describe the autopsy photos as some of the most shocking I've seen." McCormick was found dead shortly after 2 a.m. March 31 in her burning unit at the Melei Apartments on Mobile Highway. Anthony L. Pressley, 26, Gregory E. Williams, 21, and Kiesha L. Pugh, 28, are accused of plotting out her death before brutally beating her, setting her bed on fire and stealing several items from her residence. State Attorney Bill Eddins said prosecutors will seek a 1st-degree murder indictment from a grand jury, then decide whether to seek the death penalty. Florida law specifies several circumstances as justifying the death penalty, including slayings that are particularly cold, calculating and pre-meditated; slayings that are especially heinous, atrocious and cruel; and slayings that take place during the course of a robbery. The three suspects were arrested Friday after the investigation yielded surveillance footage of the trio walking in and out of McCormick's apartment. They were later identified in the footage through multiple tips to CrimeStoppers, according to Morgan and Sheriff's Office investigator Kevin Coxwell. Coxwell said evidence suggests that McCormick was still alive when the suspects set fire to a bed in her apartment. "She had obvious blunt force trauma to the head, broken ribs, some defensive wounds on her also, and she also had smoke in her trachea which indicated that she was still alive upon the fire being started," he said. All
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., DEL., MD., VA., N.C., GA.
April 9 TEXASimpending execution Texas to execute inmate convicted in 1990 murder and rape Texas inmate Rickey Lewis is scheduled to be put to death on Tuesday for murdering a man in 1990 and then raping the dead man's fiancee. A dozen Texas convicts are scheduled to be executed before the end of July. Texas has executed more people than any other U.S. state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 and last year put 15 people to death. If Lewis' lethal injection is carried out on Tuesday evening, it would be the 2nd execution this year in Texas and the 6th in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. He was convicted of shooting to death George Newman, 45, while burglarizing Newman's home in East Texas. After the shooting, Lewis, then 28, raped Newman's fiancee and stole her vehicle, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The fiancee later climbed out of a bathroom window and drove to a store to call police, according to the department. DNA analysis showed that Lewis' blood and semen matched traces found at the scene, according to an account of the case from the state attorney general's office. Lewis already had a long criminal record, including a conviction for assaulting an 18-year-old who had gotten in the way of his attempt to burglarize her family's vehicles. Lewis has claimed that he has mental disabilities, and those claims delayed a 2003 execution date, but his execution was later rescheduled. (source: Reuters) SMU to host death penalty symposium A death penalty symposium will be held at Southern Methodist University April 15-18. "Death By Numbers: What Moral, Legal and Economic Price Are We Paying to Maintain the Death Penalty?" is sponsored by SMU's Embrey Human Rights Program. The director of the program, Rick Halperin, is a prominent anti-death penalty activist. All events are free and open to the public.Here???s the schedule: April 15 - The Legal Path to Execution, noon to 1:30 p.m., 201 Florence Hall, 3330 University Blvd. Law school professors will discuss the development of the U.S. Supreme Court's limitations on capital punishment, the trend among states to abolish the death penalty, profiles of people who have been executed and changes that a person can undergo during incarceration. April 17 - Capital Punishment: Theological Perspectives, 12:30 to 1:25 p.m., Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall, 5901 Bishop Blvd. Faculty members from Perkins School of Theology will discuss the death penalty. April 18 - Literary, Societal & Economic Impacts of the Death Penalty, 7 to 9 p.m., 131 Dedman Life Sciences Building, 6501 Airline Road. Humanities and Sciences professors will engage in a panel discussion. * Texas House committee looks at death penalty for killing a DA A bill being heard by the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee on Tuesday has taken on new meaning after the murder of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia. The measure calls for the death penalty as a punishment option for anyone convicted of killing a district attorney over the perfomance of his or her duty. The bill, as written here, was filed before the McLelland killings, and it wouldn't apply in this case because that crime was committed before the bill, if it passes, would become law. But passions are high and the state already allows capital punishment for killing a police officer in the line of duty. (source for both: Dallas Morning News) * Clarence Darrow | Stage West | Stage West Studio Theatre - Fort Worth On the Defense Stage West opens its studio theater with Jerry Russell revisiting Clarence Darrow, a role he slips back into with ease.review by Jan Farrington Clarence Darrow by David Rintels; presented by Stage West Open now through Wednesday, Apr 24 Runs 2 hours with one intermission $20-$25 817-784-9378 Stage West Studio Theatre 821 W. Vickery Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76104 2 legends for the price of one: that's Jerry Russell in Clarence Darrow. Some local theater luminaries don't quite live up to the hype, but Russell? In decade after decade, this world-class pro has given us roles to remember. How lucky are we that he didn't stay in New York? Their loss, our gain. If you want to see how it's done, head for the brand-new studio space at Stage West, right next door to the current theater. (Turn right at the coffee bar.) This is Russell's 3rd go at David Rintels' 1-man play about America's most famous trial lawyer: his 1st was back in the 1980s as an "extra" production for Stage West, the second for a local college in 2002. And nearly 30 years later, Russell hasn't backed off a bit in his ability to deliver a bravura performance. He's still The Man, alone on stage for nearly 2 hours: prowling from side to side, leaning toward the audience, pointing, persu
