Nov. 29 USA: Execution capital Nearly all modern democracies have abolished the death penalty. Advanced countries realize that a society is degraded by putting people to death. Mostly, the ancient custom occurs today only in brutal places like Saudi Arabia, China and the like. Sadly, America ranks among the killing fields. This week, America is expected to mark its 1,000th execution since the U.S. Supreme Court restored capital punishment in 1977. In Europe - where every nation has ended state killings - America appears primitive in this regard. Incredibly, more than one-third of all U.S. executions have been in Texas. When he was governor, George W. Bush set a killing record - and mocked one condemned woman after she was featured in a television documentary. Conservative politicians are staunchly pro-death, because this makes them seem tough on crime. But executions dont deter crime, researchers have found. The only purpose of capital punishment is to satisfy a public urge for vengeance. Michael Paranzino, president of a pro-death group called Throw Away the Key, says executions are needed because, "since 1999, we've had 100,000 innocent people murdered in the United States." In other words, the government must kill killers to show that killing is wrong. It's true that America's murder rate is vastly higher than in other advanced democracies. But that's largely because of this country's pistol saturation. The fact that nations with no death penalty have much less murder - and execution-prone America has much more murder - proves that the death penalty isnt a deterrent. Tragically, America's system is unbalanced. Wealthy whites rarely are executed. The ultimate punishment is inflicted mostly on blacks, Hispanics and the poor. And it's sobering to realize that numerous convicted murderers have later been determined innocent. Thank heaven, West Virginia is one of a dozen states that stopped killing prisoners. Polls show that U.S. support for the death penalty has dropped from 80 % in 1994 to 64 % today. We hope this trend continues, and the entire nation eventually follows West Virginias humane example. (source: Editorial, The Charleston (W. VA.) Gazette) *********************** A Gruesome Milestone----After the death penalty was restored in 1976, America went on a killing spree. But at the 1,000 mark, there's heartening news that the pace is declining. Convicted murderer Robin Lovitt, 45, is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Virginia Wednesday, becoming the 1,000th inmate to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court in 1976. This gruesome milestone renews the perennial debate over capital punishment, and the particular case is illustrative of one of the reasons half of all Americans are opposed to this method of justice: the fear of killing innocent persons. Mr. Lovitt was convicted of the 1998 murder of Clayton Dicks during a robbery at a pool hall, but the prosecution's case was based on circumstantial evidence and weak. Witnesses were unclear about whether or not it was Lovitt they saw leaving the establishment. No fingerprints were found on the murder weapon. None of the victim's blood was found on Mr. Lovitt's clothing. And the key witness was a prison inmate who alleged Mr. Lovitt told him about the crime. Mr. Lovitt's attorneys, including former Whitewater independent counselor Kenneth Starr, have appealed to Gov. Mark Warner for clemency. Gov. Warner supports the death penalty, and has been Virginia's chief executive through 11 executions. The case has aroused renewed interest in the question of whether the state's death penalty should be revoked. Such doubt weighs heavily on the nation, and this seems to be reflected in a decline in the rate of executions in the last several years. During the 1990s, executions were taking place at a rate of about 300 a year. This pace has fallen by half during the current decade. Connecticut actually increased its death penalty rate by 100 % during the latter period, when it executed serial killer Michael Ross. In Mr. Ross's case, there was no doubt as to his guilt. The issue in Connecticut was the more basic one of the death penalty's morality, a topic that led to a brief but uneventful debate in the General Assembly. The number 1,000 and the uncertainty that clouds Mr. Lovitt's conviction ought to recapture the public's attention in Connecticut and the other 37 states that still tolerate this barbaric system of justice. Capital punishment isn't a deterrent to crime. The long appeals process arguably causes as much misery among victims' families and loved ones as the crime itself. It is costly (New Jersey, for example, has spent nearly $300 million on appeals and incarceration expenses for capital cases since 1976). The death penalty demeans humanity, a fact that has caused all but a few civilized nations in the world to abolish it. For opponents of the death penalty, as this newspaper is, the decline in the rate of executions is encouraging. Maybe after 1,000 executions, America will come to its senses. (source: Editorial, The Day) ******************* Moussaoui jurors face questions about 9/11----Federal prosecutors submit 31-page jury questionnaire Prosecutors want to ask jurors who will decide the punishment for a convicted al Qaeda terrorist about their views of capital punishment and whether they know anyone who died in the September 11 attacks. The issues are raised in a 31-page proposed jury questionnaire prosecutors submitted Monday to the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Defense lawyers for Zacarias Moussaoui are working on their own questionnaire. Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April to joining al Qaeda's terrorist conspiracy to crash planes into landmark buildings. A penalty phase trial will take place early next year. The 12 jurors will decide whether Moussaoui will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole or die by lethal injection, the only form of execution used in the federal system. They will be chosen from a pool of 500 jurors who will assemble at the federal courthouse on February 6 to fill out the questionnaires. The following week, lawyers will quiz prospective jurors during follow-up interviews in court. The jurors' identities will be shielded from the judge, attorneys and the media -- a common practice in terrorism cases. The questionnaire proposed by the government asks prospective jurors whether they, family members or friends know anyone who was a victim of the attacks that killed 2,973 people at the World Trade Center in New York, at the Pentagon in northern Virginia, and in a plane that crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The questionnaire also asks jurors what they know about about the 19 hijackers who crashed passenger jets into the twin towers of the trade center, the Pentagon, and the field near Shanksville. It includes questions about Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, leaders of al Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist group behind the attacks. Prosecutors also want to ask jurors whether they have ever worked in an airport, as a firefighter, or at the Pentagon, which is in the court's jurisdiction. Moussaoui, 37, a French national from Morocco, has admitted joining al Qaeda and pledging loyalty to bin Laden, attending training camps in Afghanistan and coming to the United States hoping to fly a plane into the White House. Prosecutors have not proven that Moussaoui had any direct role in the attacks, but the government contends his lies to FBI agents after his arrest 4 weeks before September 11 covered up the conspiracy and contributed to the mass casualties. "The questions that are being asked are standard for federal death penalty cases," said David Runhke, a New Jersey attorney who has represented more than two dozen defendants in death penalty cases. His clients include Khalfan Khamis Mohammed, who carried out al Qaeda's 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Tanzania, which killed 11 people and injured dozens. The New York jury that convicted Mohammed in 2001 rejected prosecutors' call for the death penalty and imposed a life sentence. "The question I would like to see asked in cases involving terrorism is whether jurors could give fair consideration to mitigating circumstances," Runhke added. The proposed questionnaire in the Moussaoui case asks potential jurors if they have ever undergone flight training, like Moussaoui, who first raised suspicion at a Minnesota flight school in August 2001 when he arrived to use a 747 simulator without having obtained a pilot's license. Prospective jurors will be asked whether they or any relatives have served in the military, if anyone in their families is stationed by the military in the Middle East, and if they know anyone who lives in that region. In addition to basic personal information such as education and occupation, the questionnaire asks prospective jurors their religion and how often they attend a houses of worship, and whether they know anything about Islam. The government also wants to know whether prospective jurors speak Arabic or know anyone of Arab descent, like Moussaoui, where they get their news, and what civic groups they belong to. The questionnaire inquires about attitudes toward crime, law enforcement agencies, and the death penalty -- weighing the depth of their opposition or support, when they believe it might be justified, or whether life imprisonment might be worse punishment. "If the evidence in this case establishes that the death penalty is appropriate under the law, could you vote to impose the death penalty upon a defendant," the proposed questionnaire asks. A simple "yes" or "no" answer is required. (source: CNN) ALABAMA: Accused killer asks for release until new trial -- Moore lawyers seek bail: 'It's not like he's going to run off' Accused killer Daniel Wade Moore is asking to be released from jail while he waits to hear if he will get a new trial for the murder of Decatur housewife Karen Tipton. Lawyers for Moore, 31, asked the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals last week to set bail for him as it decides if Morgan County Circuit Judge Glenn Thompson was correct in throwing out the capital murder charges against Moore in February. "It's been on appeal now roughly 9 months. That's a long time to sit in jail, not counting the other 5 years he's been there based on this," said Moore attorney Sherman Powell Jr. of Decatur. "We just asked that he be let out. "It's not like he's going to run off." Powell pointed to four days Moore was free between the day his case was dismissed and the time the Alabama attorney general's office filed an appeal forcing Moore back to jail. Moore spent his days of freedom with his family in Morgan County. Moore was accused of stabbing Tipton to death in 1999. He was found guilty, and Thompson sentenced him to death in 2003. But Thompson dismissed the verdict and the death penalty this year after concluding that prosecutors and the Decatur police withheld evidence from Moore's attorneys. In its appeal in August, the defense argued that Moore should be freed because evidence from the first trial has been lost - notably pornographic images and sex toys that belonged to Tipton. Prosecutors say the defense brought up the sexual material in an attempt to make Tipton look bad. The prosecution, though, insists on a new trial. In their objection to the defense's motion, which they filed Monday, the prosecution said not only is Moore a flight risk, he is a danger to society. "There can be no question that a jury might find Moore guilty of capital murder or that Moore might be sentenced to death, as this outcome has already occurred," read the objection, signed by Assistant Attorney General Don Valeska. "Accordingly, it is beyond dispute that there is sufficient evidence to prove that Daniel Wade Moore is a murderer." Assistant Attorney General Corey Maze said Moore is a flight risk because he knows he may be found guilty again. "At that point, he knows one jury has already convicted him, therefore he has every reason to believe another jury will do the same," Maze said. Also, the prosecution cited a public statement by Moore's father advising him to leave Alabama if he is released before retrial: "My advice is leave Alabama and don't come back." They also referred to Moore's past drug use and said he's a threat to society. "He's guilty of a vicious murder of an innocent housewife," said William Dill, assistant attorney general. Powell said Moore has already proved he won't run by returning to jail within 20 minutes of the judge's order to return after his brief release. Also, Powell said Moore hasn't done drugs in the nearly seven years he has been in prison. (source: Hunstville Times) OHIO: Guilty of inhumanity Supreme Court judges were today branded "inhumane" and faced demands to reconsider their verdict after condemning Scot Kenny Richey back to death row. Edinburgh-born Richey now faces at least another 18 months in prison after the United States' most senior judges overturned his appeal and ordered that he be kept in jail as a convicted killer. The US Supreme Court said an appeal court had wrongly ruled in favour of Richey, who has spent 20 years on death row after being convicted of murdering a toddler. Human rights groups today described Richey's lengthy incarceration as "barbaric" and said they were stunned that Supreme Court judges had overturned the appeal on a technicality. Mr Richey's family today vowed not to give up the fight to free him despite yesterday's crushing verdict. Supreme Court judges ruled that a previous decision by the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Richey's conviction was inadmissible because they had considered fresh evidence. The justices said the circuit judges had made mistakes in dealing with Richey's appeal and the case will now return to the appeals court in Cincinnati. In January this year, the Appeals Court in Cincinnati overturned Richey's murder conviction after deciding grave mistakes had been made during his original trial, based on new evidence they had received. The court was aware that, technically, it should not have taken into account any fresh evidence, but felt it was so compelling it would do so and based its judgement on this. By a 2-to-1 majority, the judges ruled Richey's defence team committed fundamental errors at the 1986 trial. At the original trial, William Kluge, the public defender assigned to the case, made a number of serious mistakes which Richey's supporters said amounted to incompetence. He persuaded Richey to waive his right to jury trial in favour of a 3-judge panel. He chose his arson expert from a newspaper ad and advised the expert to spend no more than ten hours in research on grounds of cost. When the expert's conclusions mirrored those of the prosecution, Mr Kluge also failed to prevent the prosecution calling him to the stand to support their own case. After just three days, Richey was found guilty and sentenced to death. "Constitutional errors have undermined our confidence in the reliability of Mr Richey's conviction and sentence," the appeal court judges stated. "Mr Richey was clearly prejudiced by his attorney's deficiencies." But the Supreme Court yesterday asked the appeals court to revisit its concerns about Richey's defence lawyer. A spokeswoman for Amnesty International said: "The 6th circuit judges were probably aware that they shouldn't be considering new evidence, but they felt it was so compelling they were duty bound to look at it. "This is inhumane and the decision is typical of the US justice system where judges are elected to get convictions. "This latest setback is set against a background of inhumane treatment that Kenny has suffered for the last 20 years. To keep someone on Death Row for this long is simply barbaric." Mr Richey's family, including his fiancee, Karen, who has led the campaign for his release, said Richey would be devastated by the latest setback, which is likely to see him stay on death row for at least another 18 months. His mother Eileen Richey, who still lives in Orwell Terrace, Dalry, said she was shocked at the court's decision. She said: "I am just going to have to see what his lawyers have to say now. I will be speaking to my other son, Steven, who lives in America, and see what can be done. I just don't know what's going to happen." Fiancee Karen Richey added: "It is a total shock because we were expecting a decision in our favour - we were about 95 % certain. "Basically what has happened is that the state has won something on a legal technicality to keep an innocent man on death row. The fight will still go on." MSP Margo MacDonald, independent MSP for Lothian region, said: "I feel really devastated on his account. "I feel it is undeniable that he is the pawn in a fairly elaborate game of power chess being played out in Ohio between people who over the years have had a decisive part to play in this whole saga." Ken Parsigan, Richey's lawyer, said the decision had come as a major setback to the appeal, but added he remained "cautiously optimistic" about the Scot's future. (source: Edinburgh Evening News) NEVADA: High court orders mental hearing in death row case Robert Ybarra, on death row 24 years for rape and murder, will get a hearing to determine whether he is mentally retarded. If so, that would prevent Ybarra's execution under a U.S. Supreme Court opinion saying the mentally retarded cannot be executed. Ybarra was sentenced to die in 1981 for raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl. Nancy Griffin was taken into the desert outside of Ely, raped, and set on fire. She was found naked and wandering in the desert, but identified her assailant before she died in a Salt Lake City hospital. The Nevada Supreme Court on Monday ordered the district court in Ely to conduct a hearing and rule on Ybarra's mental competence. This was his 5th appeal to the Nevada high court seeking to overturn convictions for 1st-degree murder, kidnapping, battery and sexual assault. The other issues were all rejected by the high court. But it's the 1st time the issue of mental competence has been raised in his case. (source: Nevada Appeal)
