[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
Nov. 6 TEXAS: Criminal appeals court creates emergency filing systemMove comes following Sept. 25 appeal for death row inmate The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals created an emergency e-mail filing system Tuesday, hoping to avoid a repeat of an execution process that has raised national alarm. For more than a month, Presiding Judge Sharon Keller has faced withering criticism and national attention for her decision not to keep the court open for an extra 20 to 30 minutes to review an emergency death penalty appeal. It's about time the court provided an e-mail filing system for such contingencies, said James C. Harrington, executive director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. It certainly goes a long way towards solving the problem. The problem stemmed from a Sept. 25 appeal for Texas inmate Michael Richard. Defense lawyers called the clerk's office shortly before 5 p.m. to say they had suffered computer problems and asked the court to remain open so they could hand-deliver their appeal, as required. That morning, the U.S. Supreme Court had announced that it would hear a case on whether ingredients in a lethal injection might induce suffering that could be considered cruel and unusual punishment. The Texas defense lawyers were rushing to submit a new appeal based on the lethal injection question. Judge Keller was consulted and replied that the clerk's office closes at 5 p.m. She did not inform the judge who was assigned the case, who was working in her office, awaiting the possible appeal. Higher courts refused to hear the appeal because it had not been reviewed first by the Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Richard was executed, the last inmate to die by lethal injection nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked all subsequent executions. 2 weeks ago, more than 300 lawyers including four former State Bar presidents and 2 former Texas Supreme Court justices signed a petition calling for an e-mail filing system for the Court of Criminal Appeals. In addition, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association has asked that Judge Keller be sanctioned by the Commission on Judicial Conduct for failing in her duties and eroding public confidence in the court system. Judge Keller said shortly after the incident that she had not been told of the computer problems and was simply stating the court's long-standing practice of closing at 5 p.m. Since the complaint has been filed, the judge has declined requests for interviews. Judge Tom Price, a spokesman for the criminal appeals court, could not be reached for comment. The announcement of the new e-mail system states that lawyers can now send emergency pleadings, which will be routed to an on-call 'duty' judge as well as the rest of the court to begin consideration of the matter. This procedure will allow the court to begin action on a matter before an official filing has been completed. It will assist all attorneys and judges in responding quickly in unforeseen emergency situations, the statement said. Mr. Harrington said he believes the change in procedures was warranted but also a rebuke of Judge Keller's decision. When there was discretion, Sharon Keller misused it, he said. So the rest of the court has had to step in. (source: Dallas Morning News) Texas Court of Criminal Appeals announced today that they will accept emergency appeals through email for death penalty cases. Download file here. http://texasabolition.org/contents/EM-EMAIL-FILING.pdf Ex-prosecutor sues DA, claims discrimination F ormer organized crime chief says Watkins fired him because he's white A former chief prosecutor in the Dallas County district attorney's office has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against District Attorney Craig Watkins, contending that he was fired because he is white. Rick Jackson, who oversaw the organized crime unit, was one of 10 high-level prosecutors fired during a shake-up that resulted in more diversity in the office when Mr. Watkins took over in January. Mr. Jackson's lawyer said Monday that several more discrimination lawsuits are coming. There was absolutely no other reason to terminate or demote these folks other than race, said Matthew Bobo, an attorney for the former prosecutors. All of these individuals were all replaced by African-Americans with less experience than they had. But Mr. Watkins, the 1st black district attorney in Texas, said the prosecutors weren't let go because of race but because of philosophical differences. This is a new administration, Mr. Watkins said. So we wanted to bring other people in that can carry out the policies we want to implement in Dallas County. Since becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in 20 years, Mr. Watkins has blasted past administrations for a prosecution-at-all-costs mentality that didn't always mean that justice was served. He has made a number of changes this year, including diversifying his corps of 245 lawyers. Mr. Watkins said
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIF., ALA., FLA., USA, VA.
Nov. 6 CALIFORNIA: Federal judge delays even further Calif's stalled death penalty A federal judge canceled plans to tour California's new execution chamber later this month and temporarily halted proceedings in a lawsuit challenging the state's death penalty. U.S. District Court Jeremy Fogel in San Jose delayed litigation in the federal lawsuit filed by condemned killer Michael Morales because a state court judge on Oct. 31 invalidated the state's death penalty on administrative grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court has also been halting executions nationwide while it considers a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection execution method. Fogel ordered lawyers to return to his courtroom in Jan. 17 to consider the next steps. (source: Associated Press) ALABAMA: Ala. Inmate With Cancer Loses Appeal A death row inmate who wants his cancer to kill him before the state can lost an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, but he still won't be executed for months or years, a prosecutor said. Quadruple murderer Daniel Lee Siebert, 53, has had pancreatic cancer since at least June, according to court documents; that form of cancer can spread quickly and cause death within weeks. He has been fighting in court to die naturally. Alabama courts had ruled that Siebert missed a deadline for challenging his conviction at the state level in the 1986 killing of Linda Ann Jarman. Alabama officials argued the missed deadline barred him from filing a petition in federal court as well, but the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Siebert. In the unsigned decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Siebert was not entitled to file in the federal courts since he missed the state deadline. Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented. In a separate case, Siebert came within a day of dying last month for the strangulation of Jarman's next-door neighbor, Sherri Weathers, and Weathers' 2 young sons in Talladega on Feb. 19, 1986, the same night Jarman was killed. Siebert argued that the chemicals used during an execution could mix with his pain medication and inflict unnecessary pain. The 11th Circuit ruled Oct. 24, the day before Siebert was to have been executed, that he could not be put to death in that case until the Supreme Court resolves a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection method, which is similar to the one used in most states. Siebert has other appeal options in the Jarman case, so the state won't immediately seek an execution date, prosecutor Clay Crenshaw said. The process could go on for months or years, Crenshaw said. Siebert's attorney, Tommy Goggans, did not return a message seeking comment. Esther Brown, executive secretary of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, said Siebert has declined treatment, other than taking pain medication. She said that his cancer is terminal, but that she doesn't know how much time he might have left. He's a very sick man, but I can't spell it out in days or months, she said Monday. (source: Associated Press) FLORIDA: Inmates seek rehearing on execution methodThe men ask the state Supreme Court to review their challenges to lethal injection 2 death row inmates asked the Florida Supreme Court on Monday to rehear their challenges to the state's lethal injection procedure. The justices last week unanimously rejected arguments that the procedure is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. That cleared the way for the Nov. 15 execution of Mark Dean Schwab for the 1991 rape and murder of 11-year-old Junny Rios-Martinez in Brevard County. Monday's rehearing requests were filed on behalf of Schwab and Ian Deco Lightbourne, who has not yet been scheduled for execution. Lightbourne killed Nancy O'Farrell after breaking into her Marion County home in 1981. The state responded that Lightbourne's rehearing request should be rejected because it does nothing more than quarrel with this court's decision. A response to Schwab's request was not immediately filed. Schwab and Lightbourne challenged the lethal injection procedure based on problems that caused the execution of Angel Diaz to take 34 minutes - twice as long as normal - in December. Following Diaz's death, executions were suspended in Florida until Gov. Charlie Crist signed Schwab's death warrant in July after the Corrections Department revised its procedures. The state justices have not yet ruled on Schwab's motion for a stay of execution pending a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection procedure. Kentucky, Florida and other states with lethal injection rely on the same 3-chemical cocktail. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in appeals from Schwab and Lightbourne that the revised procedure eliminates the risk of pain from the last chemical injected, potassium chloride, which causes the heart to stop. The revisions include additional training and a pause after the first chemical, the anesthetic sodium thiopental, is injected to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----IND., IDAHO
Nov. 6 INDIANA: Editor explains shift of paper's positionChicago Tribune supports death penalty suspension The editorial page editor for the Chicago Tribune spoke Monday night about the paper's conversion to supporting the moratorium on the death penalty. The speech by Bruce Dold, the editor, was part of a lecture series hosted by Notre Dame Against State Killing (ND ASK), a campaign pushing for a moratorium on capital punishment in Indiana. Dold started as a reporter for the Tribune in 1978. He was appointed to the paper's editorial board in 1990 and was named editorial page editor in 2000. The paper has had a long history for its liberalism, Dold said, citing an instance in the 1940s when Tribune reporters, under then-editor Robert McCormick, reported on America's cracking of Japanese codes during World War II. Despite this, the paper has an almost 150-year-long history of support for the death penalty. This stance changed, however, in March of 2007, when Dold formally announced a shift in the Tribune's position. The paper's editorial page emphasized its support for the Illinois moratorium, or temporary suspension, of executions. The state announced the moratorium in 1999, Dold said. The state went on in 2003 to reform many facets of its judicial system, making the death penalty more difficult to implement. For example, Dold said, the state cannot impose the death penalty on an inmate simply on the testimony of one eyewitness, since that one person's testimony is often unreliable. Further, Dold said, police have begun taping interrogations of suspects to prevent false confession, a common error in death penalty convictions. The newspaper's announcement last spring was meant to send a message of editorial condemnation. You do not have to take a life to save a life, Dold said. I do not think that this is an ambiguous question anymore. Even though the Tribune adopted this new stance, not all others have. Citing last month's Gallup poll, Dold said 69 % of Americans do support the death penalty in cases of murder. Additionally, 66 % of the nation believes the practice to be morally acceptable, and 50 % of Americans say there should be more death penalty convictions. We are going to have the death penalty, we are just going to have to be more careful about how we use it, Dold said, referring to the recent reform of the criminal justice system. Complete abolition, he said, is very difficult for people to fathom, but there is generally tremendous support for a moratorium. Inmates are no longer executed for having dime store, or less capable, attorneys, he said. People in favor of capital punishment, Dold said, may believe certain crimes are so heinous that they deserve no other punishment but death. But there are problems with that thinking, he said. No government is flawless enough to decide who lives and who dies, Dold said. While the Catholic Church's teachings about the right to life is often discussed at Notre Dame, ND ASK director Andrea Laidman said students don't pay much attention to the death penalty. Most students here are 'pro-life,' but are they really committed to it? said Laidman, a senior. They seem to not want to take a stance. These issues should be about the same thing. ND ASK continues its lecture series this Wednesday and Thursday with talks by Bud Welch, an internationally known advocate against the death penalty whose daughter was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. (source: The Observer) IDAHO: Duncan seeks to suppress statements, void death penalty Convicted killer Joseph Edward Duncan III on Monday asked a federal judge to suppress statements he made to detectives and a jail chaplain after his arrest in the summer of 2005 for the kidnapping of two northern Idaho children. In a flurry of motions filed in U.S. District Court here, Duncan's legal team also argued that the judge should throw out the death penalty sought by prosecutors and that the federal death penalty should be declared unconstitutional. Duncan is scheduled to go on trial in January for the kidnapping of Dylan and Shasta Groene, and the killing of 9-year-old Dylan at a remote campsite in western Montana. Shasta, then 8, was rescued weeks after her abduction, at a Coeur d'Alene restaurant where Duncan was arrested. Duncan has already pleaded guilty in Idaho state court to killing members of the Groene family at their Coeur d'Alene-area home in May 2005. Brenda Groene; her fiance, Mark McKenzie, and her 13-year-old son, Slade Groene, were bound and bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Prosecutors alleged he killed the three so he could kidnap the younger children for sex. Duncan, a native of Tacoma, Wash., was sentenced to life in prison without parole for kidnapping the three older victims. But the state judge deferred imposing punishment on the murder counts to give federal prosecutors time to pursue their case, which is centered on events in Montana after the children were
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide
Nov. 6 UNITED NATIONS: UN General Assembly set to endorse call for halt to executions AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE Amnesty International today welcomed the decision of 75 countries to co-sponsor a draft resolution at the General Assembly calling on all states worldwide to stop executions and called on all states to resist any amendments that could weaken the purpose of the resolution. Amnesty International is very encouraged that so many countries from all regions co-sponsored this draft calling for a global moratorium on executions, said Yvonne Terlingen, Head of Amnesty International's UN Office in New York. It clearly demonstrates broad regional support for ending this cruel and inhuman practice. Amnesty International urges all UN member states to support the text and resist any amendments that would seek to alter the purpose of this important resolution. No less than 130 out of 192 UN member states have already abolished the death penalty in law or practice and only 25 countries carried out executions in 2006. Over 50 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes since 1990. In Asia, 25 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. In Africa, only six out of 53 states carried out executions in 2006. The worldwide trend towards abolition of the death penalty has been recognized by the UN Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights and both support the call for the moratorium on executions. We hope that more countries will join the co-sponsors of this resolution, said Terlingen. The General Assembly has already adopted two resolutions on capital punishment, in 1971 and 1977, in which the General Assembly proclaimed it was desirable that the death penalty be abolished in all countries. A resolution calling for a moratorium on executions will be a significant step towards realizing the General Assembly's vision of a death penalty-free world. said Terlingen. To see Frequently Asked Questions regarding the global call for a moratorium on the death penalty, please go to: http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engior400232007 (source: Amnesty International) BOTSWANAexecution Botswana hangs death-row inmate The Botswana Department of Prisons and Rehabilitation has confirmed the hanging of death row inmate Sepeni Thubisane Popo, the Mmegi (Reporter) newspaper reported on Monday. It was Botswana's 39th execution since independence from Britain in 1966. The paper quoted senior assistant commissioner Anthony Mokento as saying on Friday: It is true Popo was hanged this morning. Popo had been found guilty of murdering Boitshwarelo Balotlegi in Molepolole in 2004 to use his body for ritual purposes. Mokento would not reveal the number of people on death row in Botswana, but recent media reports say '3 or 4 people' are facing execution, Mmegi said. Botswana's retention of the death penalty repeatedly sparks controversy. The government's stance is that: Botswana upholds the use of the death penalty in cases of premeditated murder where there are no extenuating circumstances'. Those sentenced to death have an automatic right of appeal, 1st to the Court of Appeal, then to the president who makes a final decision, but is assisted by the Advisory Committee of the Prerogative of Mercy. There have now been 7 executions during the presidency of Festus Mogae (1998 - ). During the presidency of Seretse Khama (1966-1980) 17 people were executed and under Ketumile Masire (1980-1998) 15 hangings took place. (source: Mail Guardian) CANADA: Feds won't sponsor UN anti-death-penalty resolution The Conservative government will not co-sponsor a United Nations resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty, breaking with a nearly decade-old tradition. An official with the Foreign Affairs Department says Canada will vote in favour of the resolution when it comes to the floor of the UN General Assembly in December, but will not sponsor it. There are a sufficient number of co-sponsors already, and we will focus our efforts on co-sponsoring other resolutions within the UN system which are more in need of our support,'' said Catherine Gagnaire. 74 other countries have put their names forward as sponsors, including the United Kingdom, Australia and France. Last week, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day surprised the House of Commons by announcing that Canada will not oppose the execution of a Canadian citizen on death row in Montana for two murders. Day said the new policy will apply to murderers'' such as Ronald Allen Smith who have had a fair trial in a democratic country. The government has not specified which countries it considers democracies. The UN Human Rights Commission voted every year from 1998 to 2005 on a similar resolution and Canada was a co-sponsor each time, according to Amnesty International. Co-sponsorship is the stage at which Canada has the opportunity to demonstrate that its firm commitment to
[Deathpenalty] FW: A Chicago Sun-Times article from: fbo...@law.uiuc.edu
Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Champaign, IL 61820 USA 217-333-7954 (Voice) 217-244-1478 (Fax) (personal comments only) -Original Message- From: fboyle at law.uiuc.edu [mailto:fbo...@law.uiuc.edu] Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2007 8:11 AM To: Boyle, Francis Subject: A Chicago Sun-Times article from: fboyle at law.uiuc.edu The following article from the Chicago Sun-Times has been forwarded to you by fboyle at law.uiuc.edu If you wish to stop receiving these articles, please contact the sender. Comments from the sender: To read the full story, click here: http://www.suntimes.com/news/sneed/638160,CST-NWS-sneed07.article
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----CALIF., USA, FLA., CONN., ILL.
Nov. 7 CALIFORNIA: Court hearing on executions in California is postponed A federal judge postponed Tuesday a scheduled Dec. 10 hearing on California's proposed overhaul of its procedures for executing prisoners by lethal injection, the subject of a related case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel had planned a 2-day hearing in his San Jose court on whether the revisions minimized the risk that an anesthetic would fail to work and a prisoner would be left conscious and paralyzed while dying in agony from the last of three lethal chemicals. He ordered a postponement at the request of both the state and lawyers for a condemned Stockton murderer. The request was made after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a Kentucky case raising similar issues, and a Marin County judge ruled last week that California prison officials were required to invite public comment before adopting their new procedures. Fogel scheduled a hearing Jan. 17 to discuss the status of the case. Executions in California have been on hold since February 2006, when Fogel granted a stay to Michael Morales, convicted of raping and murdering 17-year-old Terri Winchell in a vineyard near Lodi in 1981. After testimony from medical experts, Fogel ruled last December that the state lacked safeguards against a botched execution and would violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment unless it made major changes. The state's new procedures, announced in May, include adjustments in drug dosages and equipment, plans to improve staff selection and training, and a new execution chamber that is nearing completion at San Quentin State Prison. (source: San Francisco Chroniclce) 2 Men Responsible for Liquor Store Killing Face Death Penalty Prosecutors are expected to announce today whether they will seek the death penalty against two men accused of robbing and killing of an El Cajon liquor store co-owner and one of her employees. Jean Pierre Rices, 26, and Anthony James Miller, 22, are charged with murder, murder during a robbery and murder during a burglary in the March 1, 2006, slayings of 22-year-old Heather Mattia 23-year-old Firas Eiso. Prosecutors also allege that Rices was personally armed during the attack in which both victims were shot in the head. Prosecutors are expected to tell Superior Court Judge Christine K. Goldsmith whether Rices and/or Miller will face the death penalty or life in prison without parole should they be convicted. Police said the suspects entered Granada Liquor about 11 p.m., wearing ski masks, hooded jackets and gloves. Dwayne Hooks, whose sister was dating Rices at the time, testified at a preliminary hearing in July that Rices told him that he shot Eiso and store co- owner Mattia after Eiso ripped his mask off. Hooks' sister, Debbie Mays, testified that Rices told her that he shot Mattia because she wouldn't open a safe. (source: Fox6 News) USA: Execution machine switched off THE MACHINERY of death in the U.S. has been halted. On October 30, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped an execution in Mississippi minutes before it was due to take place--on the grounds that the justices are considering a different case in which the constitutionality of the use of lethal injection to kill condemned prisoners is at stake. Opponents of the death penalty have held their breath with each approaching execution after the Supreme Court said it would hear the lethal injection appeal. State officials and lower court judges continued to sign off on planned executions--in effect, a challenge to the legal tradition of delaying related decisions until the Supreme Court sets a precedent on a case it has taken up. But last week's stay is one of several, indicating that a majority of Supreme Court justices are pretty certain to stop anyone from being put to death until they rule on the lethal injection issue in a Kentucky case, Baze v. Rees. The justices will hear arguments in the case in January, and a decision won't be announced until the spring. Until then, there will be a de facto moratorium on executions in the U.S. THE HALT on executions underscores the shift in the politics of the death penalty since the late 1990s, when the number of people put to death in the U.S. each year hit a high point. For the current Supreme Court--packed with right-wing justices appointed by Republican presidents--to stop executions, even temporarily, while it decides the Kentucky case, shows just how discredited the death penalty system has become. A majority of people favor capital punishment when asked in opinion polls, but that support drops when they are given the option of lesser sentences, and an equally large majority wants a moratorium on executions until the many flaws that have been revealed about the death penalty system are investigated and addressed. Even defenders of the death penalty admit their system is plagued by failures. The tide of men
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 7 CANADA: Death Penalty Decision Can Still Be Reversed A storm blew up in Montana last week over the planned execution of a Canadian prisoner, Ronald Allen Smith, creating a political wave that eventually crashed down on Parliament Hill. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day emerged from that wave, struggling to appear resolute in their surprising stand, but nevertheless sputtering and breathless. The reality of this particular case is that were we to intervene, it would very quickly become a question of whether we are prepared to repatriate a double-murderer to Canada. In light of this government's strong initiatives on tackling violent crime, I think that would send the wrong signal to the Canadian population. Mr. Harper told reporters in Halifax. Why, he and Mr. Day said, should Canada ask for clemency for a man convicted of a double murder? Why indeed? If Canada's law prohibiting execution for its citizens does not apply to convicted double-murders, to whom does it apply? It's certainly not for the innocent. The new government policy also cut off at the knees the representation the Department of Foreign Affairs was making to have Mr. Smith's sentence commuted to life without parole. At the same time, it looks like it has robbed Canada of playing any kind of leadership role at the UN, which is seeking a worldwide ban on executions. For the opposition, the government's unexpected position was a source of public outrage and private political glee. The Conservative veil has been lifted, they said. Now Canadians can see the kind of dark things that Harper is up to. Canada's anti-death penalty legislation has been on the books since 1976, although it was challenged by a free vote during the last Conservative government in 1987. That vote was 148 to127 in favour of not returning to executions. Canada's position is shared by most of the world. According to Amnesty International, 133 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, and the trend toward abolition is continuing. To become a member in the European Union, a country must first remove state executions from its laws. Only a handful of countriesChina, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan and the U.S.practice most (91 %) of the world's executions. China, although it is understandably reluctant to say how may prisoners it executes, is estimated to kill from 6,000 to 10,000 of its imprisoned citizens every year. Last year there were 53 executions in 12 American states. And the current president, George W. Bush holds the modern record for presiding over the execution of the largest number of prisoners 152when he was governor of Texas. But the former hanging governor hardly speaks fo all Americans. Many U.S. states forbid the death penalty and others have a moratorium on executions. In those states, the murder rate is generally lower than in those that practice it. Today, the growing movement to ban the death penalty in the U.S. has been encouraged by the discovery of many innocent people on death row. In the last 3 decades, 124 people sentenced to death were later found to be innocent and released, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. But, ultimately, it is important to remember that the refusal to execute is endowed on the guilty, not on the potentially innocent. This is the point that Mr. Harper and Mr. Day have forgotten. When Canada banned the death penalty, it offered a gift of respect to every one of its citizensyes, even to the victims' families. It also said it was willing to accept a diplomatic role in trying to convince the world that the ancient practice of state execution was unworthy of a civilized society. It was a core issue in what we are honoured to call Canadian values. Last week, the Harper government pulled the plug on that civilizing process by refusing to support one of the least of its citizens. But it's not too late to undo the damage. If they don't, they can expect that their own government will have a hard time distancing itself from the moral and legal responsibility for the execution of Canadian Ronald Allen Smith when his body slumps on the gurney after his injection with lethal drugs. Canada may not be able to save this man from execution, but its own values will die a little if it does not try. (source: Editorial, Embassy (Canada's Foreign Policy Newsweekly) ) *** Canada going soft on death penalty: Amnesty International Amnesty International is lashing out at the Canadian government's decision not to co-sponsor a United Nations resolution calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty. The Conservatives said Tuesday that Canada will vote in favour of the resolution when it is brought forward in the General Assembly in December, but will not join the 74 countries who have agreed to sponsor it. There are a sufficient number of co-sponsors already, and we will focus our efforts on co-sponsoring other resolutions within
