[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
Oct. 3 TEXAS: This Texas County Kills More People Than Any Other County In America Since 1976, Harris County, Texas has executed more criminals than any other U.S. county, according to a study from the Death Penalty Information Center(DPIC). The county includes Houston, Texas' largest city. The results show that more than 1/2 of America's executions since 1976 come from only 2% of its counties. And Harris County tops the list. Los Angeles leads the U.S. in putting people on death row - but it hasn't killed as many criminals as Harris County. Within the top 1%, 15 counties comprise 30% of nationwide executions. Harris County killed more inmates than any other county in that group. It has executed 115 people since 1976. The next-highest, Dallas County, executed just 50 people in that period. Harris County has been sharply criticised for the way it handles death penalty cases. A 2011 study about race and the death penalty from the Houston Chronicle found that of the last 13 men sentenced to die in Harris County, 12 were black. The lone, white male requested a death sentence after strangling and torturing 4 women and girls and raping 3 of them. Texas executes the most criminals of any state. More than 1/3 of Texas??? 305 death row inmates - and 1/2 of the 121 black death row inmates - came from Harris County, according to the same study. A more recent analysis from Raymond Paternoster, a criminologist at the University of Maryland, found the district attorney in Harris County more than 3 times as likely to pursue the death penalty for black criminals. Duane Buck, accused of a double murder in 1997, is often cited as an example of bias against black defendants in Texas. The court allowed a psychologist to classify Buck as more dangerous and more likely to re-offend simply because of his race, according to the Texas Observer. Brent Newton, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, wrote a frequently cited article in the 90s that tried to explain why Texas executes so many people, according to Frontline. For one thing, Texas appeals court judges are elected, and they have to appear tough on crime for successful re-election. And up until about 2001 Texas didn't have a public defender system for poor defendants and instead relied on outsourced lawyers who weren't necessarily familiar with capital cases. Mistakes have definitely been made in Texas' death penalty cases. The top 2% of counties for executions also constitute 52% of the death penalty reversals since 1976, according to DPIC. (source: Business Insider) *** Texas experimenting with secret execution drugs -lawsuit 3 Texas death row inmates claim the state plans to execute them by experimenting with new drugs, never used for such a purpose, that were obtained under false pretenses, attorneys told Reuters on Wednesday. Texas is turning to the new execution drugs in a desperate attempt to keep the United States' most active execution chamber operating despite dwindling supplies of the drug traditionally used for lethal injections, a lawsuit filed by the inmates says. The inmates, one of whom is scheduled for execution on Oct. 9, allege the Texas Department of Criminal Justice used the address of a hospital unit shuttered 3 decades ago in order to obtain the 3 new drugs. They say the drugs - propofol, midzolam and hydromorphone - would likely not have been supplied if the manufacturers knew the purpose they would be used for, according to a lawsuit filed this Tuesday in federal court in Houston. Texas prison officials declined to comment on the allegations made in the lawsuit. They said Wednesday that they have enough pentobarbital, the barbiturate used in Texas executions since 2012, to last them until at least next year. The state recently received a fresh supply of the drug from a Texas compounding pharmacy, after warning in August that their supplies were nearly exhausted. The purchase will allow the agency to carry out all currently scheduled executions, state officials said in a statement. Texas has 7 executions scheduled, including two in October. The state has executed 13 inmates so far this year. Among the inmates suing the state is Michael Yowell, set to die Oct. 9 for killing his parents and blowing up their home in Lubbock, Texas, in 1998. The lawsuit alleges that because of a shortage of drugs traditionally used in executions, Texas correction officials are turning to drugs and methods of execution that have never been used before, by any state. Some are banned for use in animal euthanasia, and run a substantial risk of grave pain, the suit claims. We are concerned that they are experimenting on people, Austin attorney Maurie Levin, one of the lawyers representing the inmates, told Reuters on Wednesday. The lawsuit says Texas is trying to hide from the public its plans to use new drugs for executions. It asks the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C., FLA., ALA., MISS., OHIO
Oct. 3 PENNSYLVANIA: District attorney seeking death penalty for 2 men charged in slaying of man near Pa. party bus The district attorney will seek the death penalty against 2 men charged in the shooting death of a man pulled off a western Pennsylvania party bus. Attorneys for 22-year-old Michael Lyons and 21-year-old James Isham Lawrence did not immediately return calls on the announcement Thursday by Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. 21-year-old Steven Lee Jr. of McKees Rocks, was shot multiple times after he was pulled from the bus outside a Pittsburgh bar on March 30. Zappala previously announced he was also pursuing the death penalty against Lawrence in the Feb. 13 slaying of 28-year-old Tiona Jackson, also outside a Pittsburgh bar. Federal marshals say Lawrence was wearing a bulletproof vest and had a camouflage mask and a pair of black gloves when he was arrested in August. ** Defense seeks mental evaluation of 1 of 2 men charged in slaying of woman found in Pa. river The attorney representing 1 of 2 men charged in the strangulation death of a woman whose body was found in a western Pennsylvania river wants his client examined to determine whether he's competent to stand trial. 24-year-old Paul Bannasch of Hopwood and 24-year-old Craig Rugg of Connellsville are charged in the death of 52-year-old Margaret Kriek of Connellsville. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty against both men. The (Uniontown) Herald Standard (http://bit.ly/174woCw ) says Fayette County public defender Jeffrey Whiteko filed a request Wednesday seeking a mental evaluation of Bannasch. Police allege that Rugg told them they killed Kriek shortly after she left a Connellsville bar with them in June because she changed her mind about having sex with them. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty. (source for both: Associated Press) Jimmy Dennis and Pennsylvania's Grave Miscarriage of Justice Jimmy Dennis has been on Pennsylvania's death row for 2 decades, and a federal judge calls it a grave miscarriage of justice by the Commonwealth. Dennis was convicted of murder for the October 1991 fatal shooting of Chedell Ray Williams, 17, a student at Olney High School, at a SEPTA stop over a pair of $450 earrings. He was sent to death row in 1992. Granting Dennis' habeas petition, Judge Anita Brody threw out his conviction and death sentence, and ordered the state to retry him within 180 days or set him free. In a scathing and damning 46-page opinion, the judge concluded that Dennis was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to die for a crime in all probability he did not commit. Brody noted that Dennis had no criminal history, other than a single conviction for possession of a controlled substance. His defense counsel provided a paltry defense, and didn't interview a single eyewitness -- including a witness who pointed the finger at Dennis, and whose felony assault charges against his pregnant girlfriend in another case were miraculously dropped. And a girl who was with the victim said she knew the killers and their nicknames. The prosecution failed to disclose evidence pointing to his innocence, including statements implicating three other men in the murder, and evidence undermining the reliability of the police investigation. Dennis' conviction was based solely on shaky eyewitness identifications from three witnesses, the testimony of another man who said he saw Dennis with a gun the night of the murder, and a description of clothing seized from the house of Dennis' father that the police subsequently lost before police photographed or catalogued it, the judge said. According to Judge Brody, the prosecution of Jimmy Dennis was based on scant evidence at best. As a result, the Commonwealth covered up evidence that pointed to someone other than Dennis. It ignored Dennis' own explanation for where he was at the time of the murder. ... It allowed a witness who saw Dennis on that bus to give incorrect testimony about what time that interaction occurred. Police never recovered a weapon, never found the car that witnesses described, and never found the 2 accomplices, she added. The jury deliberated fewer than 5 hours, with only over 3 hours for the presentation of evidence in the penalty phase of the trial. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who has not decided whether he will appeal, said he was disappointed in Judge Brody's acceptance of slanted factual allegations and a newly concocted alibi defense. Death row exonerations are far more common than one would think. Jimmy Dennis would become the 143rd innocent person in the U.S. released from death row since 1973, and the 7th in Pennsylvania. With 1,348 people executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, 1 innocent person has been freed for every 9 that have been
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TENN., OKLA., MO., NEB., COLO., N.MEX., NEV., CALIF.
Oct. 3 TENNESSEE: DA to seek death penalty in slayings of 4 during botched pot sale Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the man accused of killing 4 people in an alleged robbery during a botched pot sale on Renegade Mountain in Cumberland County. Jacob Allen Bennett, 26, of Crab Orchard, Tenn., appeared briefly Thursday morning before Criminal Court Judge David Patterson. His attorney, Robert Marlow, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf to 4 counts of premeditated murder, 4 counts of felony murder and 2 counts of attempted aggravated robbery. At his 1st court appearance, Bennett had sought to confess and plead guilty. Assistant District Attorney General Randy York said the case meets the criteria for a capital crime. The state is prepared to move forward, he said. Bennett and his girlfriend, Brittany Lina Yvonn Moser, were indicted last month in the killings.The victims were found Sept. 12 in a car on Renegade Mountain. Moser, 25, of Dayton, Tenn., faces 4 counts of felony murder and 2 counts of attempted aggravated robbery. Authorities allege that she was with Bennett at the time of the killings. Prosecutors won't seek death for Moser, York said. The judge set the next hearing in the case for Nov. 18. Bennett was paroled in March from prison on charges that included vehicle theft. His criminal record dates to age 12 in Florida. Shot while seated inside a Dodge Neon parked on a gravel road off Renegade Mountain Parkway were Danielle Rikki Jacobsen, 22; her nephew Domonic Davis, 17; Steven Presley, 17; and 16-year-old John Lajeunesse, all of Cumberland County. All of the victims had been shot in their upper bodies, and all had been shot in the head or face as they sat in the car. Jacobsen was behind the wheel. The back window behind the driver had been shot out. An estimated quarter-pound of marijuana was recovered from the vehicle. Officials think a pot buy was previously arranged and Bennett - accompanied by Moser - drove his 2002 Ford Explorer to rendezvous with Jacobsen and the teens. Bennett had on occasion stayed with his grandparents Gary and Jeanne Haiser at their residence atop Renegade Mountain, which rises 1,000 feet off the Cumberland Plateau and has seen decades of failed efforts to develop it into a resort community. Something went wrong during the attempted drug buy on the unnamed road leading into a 100-acre undeveloped area called Eagles Nest, less than 1/3 of the way up Renegade Mountain Parkway, officials said. Investigators believe the shootings occurred either late Sept. 11 or early Sept. 12. The bodies were found at 7 a.m. Sept. 12. After the shootings, Bennett drove to Chattanooga and left his vehicle there, authorities said. A .40-caliber Glock handgun - the suspected murder weapon - was later found in Moser's vehicle at her house in Dayton. That model handgun can hold 15 rounds, with 1 in the chamber. (source: Knoxville News Sentinel) *** State seeks death penalty for Cumberland County quadruple murder suspect Attorneys are seeking the death penalty for the man arrested last month in the murders of 4 people found shot to death in a car in Renegade Mountain. At a court hearing Thursday morning, district attorneys announced their intention to seek the death penalty for Jacob Allen Bennett, 26. Bennett pleaded not guilty and requested a court-appointed attorney. He initially refused a court-appointed attorney at a hearing in September. Bennett is charged with 4 counts of 1st degree murder, 4 counts of felony murder, and 2 counts of attempted armed robbery. His girlfriend, Brittany Lina Yvonn Moser, 25, of Dayton, Tenn. was also indicted on the felony murder and attempted armed robbery charges. Both suspects are being held in the Cumberland County Jail without bond. The victims, Rikki Jacobsen, Steven Presley, Domonic Davis and John Lajeunesse, were found shot to death last week in a car in Renegade Mountain. (source: WATE news) OKLAHOMA: Anti-death penalty group to tour Okla. death row A group working to end the death penalty in Oklahoma has been granted permission to tour death row at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, including the execution chamber and the prison graveyard. The Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty announced on Wednesday that the group had been granted permission for the tour by the Department of Corrections. Coalition officials say the Oct. 9 tour is the result of discussions with Gov. Mary Fallin about the possibility of a study on the costs and use of the death penalty in Oklahoma. Prison records show there currently are 51 prisoners facing the death penalty housed on OSP's death row. The lone woman facing execution in Oklahoma, Brenda Andrew, is housed at the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud. * Okla. Sen. Connie Johnson to join death penalty opponents in tour of state
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA
Oct. 3 USA: The Cost of Death Sentences: $25 Billion, Much of it Paid by Virginians, Study Says; Study estimates cost of each execution at more than $20 million. Prince William and Fairfax counties are among the 62 jurisdictions that have prosecuted the most criminals executed in the United States since the reinstatement of capital punishment, according to a study released Tuesday, and Virginia taxpayers have paid a substantial portion of the $25 billion spent on death sentences. The report from the Death Penalty Information Center found that the 2 counties were among the 2% of counties in the United States that were responsible for a majority of the 1,320 executions from 1976 to 2012. The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Prince William had nine death-row inmates who were executed and Fairfax County had 5. The report showed that geography, rather than the nature of a crime, was the biggest factor in who was executed and who was not. There's an arbitrariness to the death penalty, Richard Dieter, the Death Penalty Information Center's executive director, told The Washington Post. Most of the counties in Virginia have never had an execution in this modern era. Among those executed in Prince William County: John Allen Muhammad, part of the sniper team that shot 10 people in the Washington area in 2002. He was executed in 2009. The study cited the cost of each death sentence at $3 million and the cost of each execution at more than $20 million. With more than 8,300 death sentences in the United State since 1976, the total cost of the cases was about $25 billion, the study found, adding that the costs are not limited to the counties involved but hit state and federal budgets. (source: Ashburn Patch) Study: Very small number of counties responsible for most executions Only 2 % of the counties in the U.S. have executed the majority of death row inmates since 1976, a new study finds. This disparate use of capital punishment puts a large financial burden on the overwhelming majority of jurisdictions that do not kill inmates, because the process of convicting, housing and ultimately putting to death convicts is incredibly expensive, more so than simply locking them up for life, according to the study from the Death Penalty Information Center. In addition to those inmates put to death, the study states that only 2 % of the counties are responsible for the majority of today's death row population and recent death sentences. To put it another way, all of the state executions since the death penalty was reinstated stem from cases in just 15 % of the counties in the U.S. All of the 3,125 inmates on death row as of January 1, 2013 came from just 20 % of the counties. The study singled out Maricopa County, the area around Phoenix infamously policed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. That 1 county has 4 times the number of pending death penalty cases per capita as both Los Angeles and Houston. The study also pointed out that Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania ranks the lowest in the state in paying attorneys representing death row inmates, and it also has the 3rd-largest number of inmates on death row in the country. According to the study's authors, the report is intended to point out that seeking and following through on the death penalty is largely the work of a few driven prosecutors and district attorneys, often at great cost that they only bear a small part of. (source: CBS News) *** Dzhokar Tsaernaev Death Penalty Could Be in Eric Holder's Hands The decision of whether to seek the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in the hands of Attorney General Eric Holder, who likely will decide shortly after the prosecutors make their recommendation to him by October 31. Despite the horrendous nature of the crime of which Tsarnaev is accused and will probably be convicted of, Holder should take a stand and make an example of Tsarnaev by not seeking the death penalty. Of course, it will not be an easy decision for the attorney general. The crimes of detonating a homemade bomb in a public space packed with civilians, and then of killing a pursuing police officer and wounding others, certainly deserve no sympathy. Indeed, punishment to the fullest extent of the law is justified, if not prudent. The usual supporting arguments will be made: How can we justify spending $33,930.00 per year keeping a domestic terrorist in prison? Why should we show him such civility when all he showed this country was brutality? Doesn't he deserve to pay for what he did? However, more is at stake than simple retribution. The United States has been deservedly criticized for its increasingly selective application of the law to terrorists. For example, American citizens accused of terrorist activities abroad can be killed without a trial. So-called enemy combatants
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 3 BANGLADESH: Amnesty wants death verdicts overturned The Amnesty International has called to overturn all the war crimes death sentences, including the one awarded to BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury. The human rights organization made the call on Wednesday a day after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced to death BNP Standing Committee member for his crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation war. In a statement Amnesty International's Bangladesh researcher Abbas Faiz said, The many victims of horrific abuses during Bangladesh's war of independence and their families have long deserved justice but the death penalty is not the answer. One human rights abuse cannot make amends for another. Bangladesh must overturn the death sentence against Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and all others. The death penalty is the ultimate, cruel and inhuman punishment and can never be a way to deliver justice, said Abbas Faiz. The death sentence to a Bangladeshi MP convicted of crimes against humanity is not the way to deliver justice to the many victims of the country's war of independence, Amnesty International says. Salauddin Quader, a 6-time MP, was found guilty of crimes including genocide and torture committed during Bangladesh's War of Independence in 1971. His family said that he would appeal against the sentence. We urge the Bangladeshi government to ensure that Chowdhury's appeal complies with international law and standards relating to fair trials, and without recourse to the death penalty, said Abbas Faiz. The Bangladeshi authorities must also impose a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty. In its statement, Amnesty International has said it opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. Sheikh Hasina led government set up the ICT in 2010 under national law to try crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide committed during Bangladesh's war of independence. The ICT has so far convicted 7 people. Of them, 5 have been sentenced to death. They can now appeal to the Supreme Court. These 5 include Salauddin Quader and 4 members of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami. The 2 others were sentenced to imprisonment. But one of them, Abdul Quader Mollah, has since had his sentence increased to death by the Supreme Court, following an appeal by the government. He cannot appeal this death sentence because there is no higher court to hear it. (source: bdnews24) AFGHANISTAN: Soldier killings suspect faces death penalty Afghanistan's ambassador has vowed that the alleged turncoat killer of t3 Australian soldiers will face the full force of the law, including a possible death sentence, if found guilty. Ambassdor Nasir Ahmad Andisha spoke after it emerged that former Afghan National Army sergeant, Hekmatullah, had been arrested in Pakistan in February and transferred to Afghan custody on Tuesday night. [The Australians] were there to support the people and the government of Afghanistan, so we have no doubt that this sergeant Hekmatullah will get the maximum punishment if he is found guilty under Afghan law. We have the death penalty as the maximum punishment. Australian defence and spy agencies hunted the alleged rogue soldier - who gunned down the 3 Australian soldiers in a so-called green on blue attack last year - after he fled across the border into Pakistan. Working with Afghan intelligence, they apparently tracked phone data connected to Hekmatullah and provided information to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, which made the arrest in February. But this was followed by months of delicate negotiations amid apparent political sensitivities between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are plagued by mistrust, particularly over how to deal with the Taliban. The Chief of the Australian Defence Force, David Hurley, said the capture of the suspect in the cowardly attack drew a line under green-on-blue attacks, with all 4 suspects in attacks against Australians now either dead or captured. Sapper James Martin, pictured top, Private Robert Poate, centre, and Lance Corporal Stjepan Rick Milosevic were killed when Hekmatullah opened fire with a machine gun while they were relaxing at patrol base Wahab in the Baluchi Valley of Oruzgan province on the evening of August 29, 2012. 2 other Australians were wounded, along with several Afghans. He is understood to have fled to the Pakistan city of Quetta. Mr Andisha said he believed Hekmatullah was arrested in the Quetta region. I'm sure it was the result of both signals and human intelligence, he said. General Hurley said it was a co-operative activity between us and the Pakistani
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 3 PAKISTAN: Pakistan, with thousands on death row, rules against death penalty Pakistan has scrapped plans to reinstate the death penalty, the government said on Thursday, following threats by Taliban militants to step up attacks in retaliation. A 2008 moratorium on capital punishment imposed by Pakistan's previous government expired on June 30 and the country had been due to execute 2 jailed militants in August - a plan described by the Pakistani Taliban as an act of war. Pakistan has decided to continue with the moratorium on capital punishment since the government is aware of its international commitments and is following them, Omar Hamid Khan, an interior ministry spokesman, said. The new government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif originally said it wanted to reinstate the death penalty in a bid to crack down on criminals and Islamist militants in a move strongly criticized by international human rights groups. Up to 8,000 people languish on death row in dozens of Pakistan's overcrowded and violent jails. Pakistan's moratorium drew praise because of concerns its courts and police were too inept to ensure the accused a fair trial. Pakistan did, however, break its own rules in 2012 when it executed a convicted murderer and a former army serviceman. (source: Reuters) LIBYA: Libya's Home Court Advantage---Why The ICC Should Drop Its Qaddafi Case Maybe Saif al-Islam al-Qaddafi, the son of the Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi, will go on trial soon, as Libya's government has repeatedly promised. Then again, maybe not: This past week, the militia holding al-Islam refused to hand him over to the courts in Tripoli. Legal justice is hardly assured in Libya these days, although the other, rougher kind sometimes is: Al-Islam's lawyers have warned that their client faces the death penalty or a lynch mob, with no due process either way. That is why they support the recent decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to continue its own case against him. And that is also why, despite protests from Libya, the Hague Court's decision might seem welcome, offering the chance of a real trial in a real court with a full range of procedural protections. But it's not, and the reasons why should instruct us in the dangers of judicializing global politics, particularly for states and societies at risk. Saif al-Islam, who spearheaded the violent resistance to revolution in 2011, was indicted after the UN Security Council referred his case to the ICC in the midst of the fighting that toppled his father's regime. He was captured by a militia based in the Libyan city of Zintan, where he has been held ever since, beyond the reach of the Libyan state and The Hague. (He recently appeared before a Zintan court on unrelated charges, but that case was adjourned until December.) The court's reasons for keeping the case are an exercise in abstract internationalism: justice for The Hague's sake. The basis for the ICC's decision to continue with its own case was Libya's inability to try al-Islam. To be sure, the Libyan courts' lack of capacity is undeniable - they almost surely meet the Hague Court's standard requiring a total or substantial collapse or unavailability of [the] national judicial system for a case to be admissible. But is incapacity a good enough reason to take over Libya's case against al-Islam? Asking if al-Islam's case meets the technical requirements of ICC jurisdiction misses the point. If the country's legal system is so troubled -- and it is -- then the world should direct its attention to fixing Libya's courtrooms, prisons, and police stations, rather than look to a trial in The Hague that does nothing to address Libya's deeper problems. WILLING EXECUTIONERS It is worth considering the court's reasons for keeping the case. They are an exercise in abstract internationalism: justice for The Hague's sake. Much of the ICC's recent 91-page decision is dedicated to considering whether Libya's case against al-Islam is substantially the same as the ICC's. The ICC has complementary jurisdiction, which means it can step in only if a state is unable or unwilling to try someone. But once a case enters the ICC system, the court raises the bar. It essentially says to countries like Libya, We now have a case, so if you want to take it back, yours must be substantially the same. This is doctrine read through the looking glass. Lost in tests of similarity is the obvious proposition that the ICC was originally supposed to be a backstop for failed, fake, or nonexistent prosecutions. It is the ICC that needs to demonstrate the necessity of its interventions, not the other way around. But that is not how institutions reason once they have a case on the docket and the bit in their mouths. The Libyan case differs for good reason: The ICC???s charges cover only a limited range of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed
