[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.J., N.C., FLA., NEB., ARIZ. NEV., ORE., USA
August 29 TEXASimpending execution Motion filed to call off execution of S.A. inmate A Houston lawyer acting on behalf of a San Antonio death row inmate is seeking a last-minute reprieve with a newly filed motion citing a need for more DNA testing on evidence from the 2003 lovers' lane slaying. Juan Castillo is set for execution on Sept. 7 for his role in the murder of Tommy Garcia during a bungled robbery. But on Tuesday, David Dow, a University of Houston law professor with the Texas Innocence Network, filed a motion to withdraw the execution date. The case centers around the death of a 19-year-old rapper, who was shot repeatedly after Castillo's then-girlfriend lured him to a secluded spot with the promise of sex and drugs. Castillo was 1 of 4 people convicted in the crime, but he was fingered as the trigger man and was the only one hit with a capital sentence. In April, Castillo's counsel filed a motion requesting DNA testing on a knit cap sent to a crime lab back in 2003, a few weeks after the slaying. The Bexar County District Attorney's Office filed a response opposing the testing, but the court has not yet issued a decision - and that's why lawyers are asking to cancel the death date. "Given today's date, and the certainty additional proceedings will be needed to ultimately resolve Mr. Castillo's motions, the court should exercise its power to withdraw the imminent execution date," Dow wrote in the latest court filings. (source: Houston Chronicle) NEW JERSEY: Court upholds ruling granting new trial for N.J. man once on death row An appeals court has upheld a lower court's decision granting a former death row inmate a third trial in a decades-old murder in Middlesex County. Authorities, however, plan to bring their case in the notorious murder before the state's highest court. Nathaniel Harvey, now 67, had his conviction overturned two years ago in the killing of a Plainsboro woman with a hatchet in 1985 after a state Superior Court judge ruled Harvey didn't receive "adequate assistance" from the public defenders during trial in the early 1990s. On Monday, the state Appellate Court agreed with Judge Stuart Peim, affirming the court's decision that Harvey was not provided with proper representation guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. The 3-judge panel wrote, "Defendant's counsel's errors were sufficiently serious so as to undermine confidence that defendant's trial was fair, and that the jury properly convicted him." Harvey was convicted of murder in 1994 and sentenced to death. His attorneys have since argued that advances in DNA technology could prove that Harvey was not guilty in the murder of 37-year-old Irene Schnaps. Harvey's sentence was reduced to life without parole after New Jersey's move to abolish the death penalty in 2007. The court did not rule on whether or not the new forestic evidence helped the defense's case or it was sufficient enough to warrant a new trial. "The Prosecutor's Office is very disappointed in the court's decision," Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey said Monday." We plan on filing a motion for leave to appeal to the N.J. Supreme Court." Harvey's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment. Authorities say that DNA evidence linked Harvey to Schnaps' apartment where a co-worker found the Plainsboro woman bludgeoned to death. Schnaps was hit 15 times in the head with a hatchet. Prosecutor's said Harvey, who lived in East Windsor, confessed to the murder after he was arrested in connection with a string of burglaries, but he quickly recanted. Harvey was first found guilty in the woman's murder in 1986, but the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction, ruling that Harvey confessed without being read his Miranda rights. During his 2nd trial in 1994, prosecutors presented blood samples from the woman's box spring, arguing that the genetic traits in the samples connected Harvey to the murder. His defense argued that new tests would prove the woman's neighbor was the killer. The state's highest court upheld his conviction in 1997. New DNA tests were ordered by the state Supreme Court in 2007. Harvey is serving currently serving a 70-year prison term. He was convicted in 1989 on charges of sexual assault and kidnapping, as well as other charges, according to court records. The details of that case were not known. (source: nj.com) NORTH CAROLINA: Eric Campbell found guilty of murder after 3-week delay A jury found Eric Campbell guilty of 1st-degree murder and other charges Monday as his trial resumed following a 3-week delay caused by a juror getting injured in a car crash. The Granville County jury had only been deliberating for 2 1/2 hours before the judge dismissed them August 2 because the injured juror needed surgery. They began deliberating again just after 9:30 a.m. Monday and came back at 11 a.m. Prosecutors say
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
August 29 EGYPT: Court postpones verdict in the Al-Fatah Mosque case The Cairo Criminal Court postponed Monday the verdict of 493 defendants in the Al-Fatah Mosque case to 15 September, state media reported. The defendants include several high-profile Muslim Brotherhood youth cadres and preachers known to have supported the group. They are charged with murder, attempted murder, violating Al-Fatah mosque, protesting, torching public and private properties, attacking security personnel, and possessing live weapons, birdshot firearms, and ammunition. The 1st trial session took place in August 2014. Amnesty International reported that the judges 'who made up a court panel which was due to hear the case recused themselves on account of objections raised by the defendants' lawyers'. Among the defendants is Egyptian-Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, who Amnesty International considered a 'prisoner of conscience', arguing that if convicted he could face the death penalty. 'Ibrahim was shot in his hand when the security forces stormed the building, but was not given access to medical care for his injury, and the only treatment he received was from a cellmate who happened to be a doctor,' the organisation said in an earlier statement. Islamic preacher Salah Soltan, father of the hunger striking detainee Mohamed Soltan, is among the defendants. Violent clashes took place around and inside Al-Fath Mosque, 2 days following the forced dispersal of the encampments in support of ousted president Mohamed Morsi in August 2013. The clashes left over 90 dead, according to Amnesty International. The organisation argued that the high death toll was a result of the 'reckless use of force by the security forces'. The Egyptian government, however, blamed the Muslim Brotherhood, arguing that police forces provided 'a safe exist for peaceful protesters'. On 16 August, after the Friday prayers protests started after the Friday sermon reaching Ramses Square in downtown. The demonstrations were confronted by riot police, taking refuge in the mosque. After hours of confrontations, security forces broke into the mosque and arrested scores of protesters. (source: menafin.com) IRAN: Mass Executions, Death Sentences ContinueCall to condemn Tehran, condition relations on halting executions The religious dictatorship ruling Iran continues to issue death sentences and carry out executions. The number of prisoners executed in the month of August alone has reached over 50. Seyed Jamal Seyed Mousavi, a Sunni Kurdish political prisoner, was executed on August 23 on the bogus charge of moharebe (enmity against God) for having contact with Sunni groups. He had endured 9 years behind bars. The day before Ariya Javeedan was executed in Kerman prison for moharebe and disrupting security. Alireza Tajiki, arrested at the age of 15, was executed on August 10 after enduring 6 years behind bars in Diesel Abad prison of Shiraz. A large number of prisoners, arrested under the age of 18 for their alleged crimes, are currently on death row. Moreover, another so-called court in Iran has sentenced Mohammad Ali Taheri to execution. Introducing himself as the founder of Iranian simontology, Taheri has committed no crime, possessed no weapon, and based on this regime's own medieval and cruel laws cannot even be charged with the vague charges of moharebe or mofsed fel-arz (corruption on earth). To justify this execution ruling the Iranian regime has charged him with "providing illegitimate education, distributing visual-audio work, and illegal use of scientific titles." Whereas all Iranian regime officials are involved in embezzlement and huge theft from public funds. Many senior officials of the regime, from its President Hassan Rouhani, Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaie, Expediency Council Member Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and former interior minister Ali Kordan claim to be doctors. They are all ridiculed by the Iranian people. These titles are entirely fabricated or simply documents issued by the regime's own educational institutions based on orders from the Ministry of Intelligence and Revolutionary Guards. The Iranian Resistance calls on all human rights advocates and relevant United Nations organs to strongly condemn the mullahs' regime for issuing death sentences, including the recent ruling of Mr. Taheri, and to take urgent action to halt mass executions in Iran. Continuing and expanding political and economic relations with this regime must hinge on halting executions and improving human rights conditions. (source: Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran) * Taheri's Death Sentence Will Not Stand, Says Hopeful Lawyer The lawyer for imprisoned Iranian spiritual leader Mohammad Ali Taheri is optimistic that the latest death sentence against his client will again be turned down upon appeal. The
