June 17
GEORGIA:
Death-row inmate Marcus Wellons' execution delayed due to last-minute U.S.
Supreme Court petitions
Georgia death-row inmate Marcus A. Wellons, who was supposed to be killed
earlier tonight in what would have been the nation's 1st execution since April,
is awaiting his fate from the nation's highest court.
Georgia's Department of Corrections had originally scheduled the 59-year-old
prisoner's execution for 7 p.m. tonight at the Georgia Diagnostic and
Classification State Prison in Jackson, Ga., located nearly 50 miles southeast
of Atlanta.
But minutes before his scheduled death, Wellons' attorneys Gerald King and Mary
Elizabeth Wells filed multiple petitions with the U.S. Supreme Court asking for
a stay of execution given the "troubling and substantial constitutional issues"
surrounding the case. Georgia officials have also submitted paperwork
requesting that the court denies the inmate's petitions.
If the execution happens, it would be the 1st to take place in the country
since April 29 when Oklahoma prison officials bungled the lethal injection of
death-row inmate Clayton Lockett. If the court denies his petition, Wellons'
lethal injection would happen using compounded pentobarbital and would be the
1st state-authorized killing to occur in Georgia since a law passed in 2013
that allows the state's correction department to keep secret the identity of
its execution drug suppliers.
In 1993, Wellons was found guilty for the alleged rape and murder of India
Roberts, a 15-year-old high school sophomore who lived near his girlfriend's
home in Cobb County, 25 years ago.
Wellons has tried to appeal the execution through several different legal
avenues. But his lawyers' efforts so far have fallen short. He was denied
clemency on Monday. The Supreme Court of Georgia today denied both a stay of
execution and a motion to intervene in the appeal of death-row inmate Warren
Lee Hill.
"He's believing that God is going to intervene and that's the hope that we all
have," Dwight Wellons, his youngest brother, told NBC News earlier today.
Less than an hour before his scheduled death, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals denied an emergency appeal that attempted to challenge Georgia's
controversial lethal injection secrecy law. His lawyers argued that the state's
failure to provide that information about his execution drugs violated Wellons'
Eighth Amendment rights to avoid cruel and usual punishment. Charles Wilson,
one of the courts judges, expressed his "serious concerns" about the secrecy
law following Lockett's mishandled death.
"Appellees refuse to disclose the provenance - and true nature - of the
substance with which they will inject Mr. Wellons to end his life," King and
Wells wrote. "Nor will they confirm the qualifications of the personnel whom
they have delegated to carry out his execution, including those who will place
the catheters into his veins."
2 other inmates, John Winfield in Missouri and John Ruthell Henry in Florida,
are scheduled to be executed tomorrow. Winfield has filed a similar appeal with
the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes receiving a stay of execution.
(source: Fresh Loaf)
USA:
[04/21/14 - 01:05 PM]
Video: Tony Goldwyn's "The Divide" Trailer - WE tv's First Original Scripted
Drama----The 8-episode series stars Marin Ireland, Damon Gupton, Nia Long, Paul
Schneider, Clark Peters and Joe Anderson.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[via press release from WE tv]
Tony Goldwyn's "The Divide" (WE tv's First Original Scripted Drama)
The 8-episode series is written by the Academy(R) Award nominated and Emmy(R)
Award winning Richard LaGravenese (Behind the Candelabra, The Fisher King,
Water for Elephants, The Ref, The Bridges of Madison County), co-created by
LaGravenese and Tony Goldwyn (Scandal, Conviction, Justified, Damages, Dexter A
Walk on the Moon) and produced by AMC Studios.
"The Divide" is a thought-provoking and suspenseful drama that explores the
personal cost of morality, ambition, ethics, politics, and race in today's
justice system through the eyes of Christine Rosa played by Marin Ireland
(Homeland, Boss, Side Effects), an impassioned caseworker with The Innocence
Initiative, and Adam Page played by Damon Gupton (The Newsroom, Prime Suspect),
an equally passionate district attorney and political rising star. LaGravenese
and Goldwyn also serve as executive producers along with Emmy(R) Award winner
John Tinker (The Practice,Chicago Hope) as the showrunner, and co-executive
producer, Andrew Sugarman (Shopgirl, Conviction). Drama also stars Nia Long
(The Single Moms Club), Paul Schneider (Water for Elephants), Clark Peters (The
Wire) and Joe Anderson (Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2).
11 years ago, the Butler family was attacked in their Philadelphia home and all
but the youngest daughter were brutally murdered. The senseless deaths of this
affluent African American family, seemingly at the hands of 2 white
construction workers, Terry Kucik (Joe Anderson) and Jared Bankowski (Chris
Bauer), threatened to ignite a racial firestorm in the City of Brotherly Love.
Adam Page (Gupton), himself an affluent black man and the city's District
Attorney as well as a political rising star, made a name for himself by
securing convictions for both men, leading to the death penalty ruling for
Bankowski. Now, Christine Rosa (Ireland), a caseworker with the Innocence
Initiative, believes Bankowski was wrongly convicted of the heinous murders and
struggles to stop his impending execution, while tirelessly working to
exonerate Kucik.
In her search for the truth, Christine uncovers evidence that puts her at odds
with Adam who will do everything in his power to uphold the verdict and keep
his reputation intact. His actions put a strain on his marriage to Billie,
played by Nia Long (The Single Moms Club, The Best Man Holiday, House of Lies),
a powerhouse corporate attorney at a crossroads in her personal and
professional life. Throughout the journey, all 3 of their pasts resurface as
they are faced with the question of one man's guilt or innocence intertwined
with their own personal histories.
The Divide also stars Paul Schneider (Water for Elephants, Family Stone) as
Clarke Rylance, an old law school buddy of Adam and Billie's who chooses a
different path when he signs on with The Innocence Initiative; Joe Anderson
(Across the Universe and Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2) as Terry Kucik,
who, as a young teen, is sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of
the Butler family; and Clark Peters (The Wire, Treme) as Isaiah Page, Adam's
father and Police Commissioner of Philadelphia.
(source: thefutoncritic.com)
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