[Deathpenalty] FW: | 05-27-2008 | Stop Missouri's Renegade Anesthesiologist
Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Champaign, IL 61820 USA 217-333-7954 (Voice) 217-244-1478 (Fax) (personal comments only) From: USLaw.com [mailto:bl...@uslaw.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 6:31 AM To: Boyle, Francis Subject: | 05-27-2008 | Stop Missouri's Renegade Anesthesiologist # http://www.USLaw.com/law_blogs Law Blogs Updated on May 27th, 2008 Your Tracked Blogs Stop Missouri's Renegade Anesthesiologist From Executing Someone! http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=1173item=152129jump=fboyle at law.u iuc.edu Support the Campaign Stop Capital Punishment Now! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 26, 2008 Stop Missouri's Renegade Anesthesiologist From Executing Someone! The State of Missouri has obtained a Board Certified anesthesiologist to implement its next execution of a human being, in gross violation of his most fundamental human rights under international... From Lethal Injection Missouri Hires Doctor For Executions http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=1173item=152130jump=fboyle at law.u iuc.edu Missouri hires doctor for executionsThe state of Missouri has added an anesthesiologist to its execution team,despite professional guidelines against doctors taking part in executions.The Kansas City Star reported Sunday the doctor's presence on the team wasrevealed in a federal court case brought by several death row inmatesconcerning the qualifications and training of Missouri's e... From Lethal Injection Sister?s Change Began With Pen Pal http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=1173item=152131jump=fboyle at law.u iuc.edu Sister?s change began with pen pal BY DUSTIN TRACY Northwest Arkansas Times http://nwanews.com/nwat/News/65601/ Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 Email this story | Printer-friendly version One of the biggest changes in Sister Helen Prejean's life came in the form of a letter from an unlikely pen pal. Prejean's unorthodox pal was actually in the pen when he wrote the letter, and t... From Lethal Injection Other Criminal Law Blog Posts Top 10 Ssrn White Collar Crime Papers From January 1997 - May 2008 http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=289item=151832jump=fboyle at law.ui uc.edu ALL TIME HITS (for all papers in SSRN eLibrary) TOP 10 Papers for Journal of White Collar Crime January 2, 1997 to May 26, 2008 1 Train Wreck at the Justice Department: An Eyewitness Account John McKay, Seattle University -... From White Collar Crime Prof Blog Virginia Execution Scheduled For Tuesday http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=1157item=152124jump=fboyle at law.u iuc.edu The Virginian Pilot reports, Death sentence appeal centers on killer's mental capacity. Kevin Green, the attacker that day, is scheduled to be executed Tuesday night. Vaughan, who plans to attend with his two daughters, wonders what took so long. He... From StandDown Texas Project Walmart Shopper Followed Home And Robbed Www.privateofficer.com http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=1643item=152226jump=fboyle at law.u iuc.edu Walmart shopper followed home and robbed www.privateofficer.com Cape Girardeau Mo. May 26 2008 Two Cairo, Ill., men followed a 70-year-old woman from Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau to her Themis Street home to steal her purse May 11, according to charges filed by Cape Girardeau County prosecutors. David J. Pierce, 19, and Lavar N. Pierce, 18, face a single [...] From Private Officer News Rounding Up News On The Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=383item=151855jump=fboyle at law.ui uc.edu Just checking in to point readers to good newspaper and blog coverage of the Great Eldorado Polygamist Roundup:Fort Worth Star Telegram: Sect case hitting CPS employees in pocketbookSalt Lake Tribune: FLDS court fight heats upSalt Lake Tribune: Battle over FLDS kids gets roughHouston Chronicle: Lawyers cry foul in FLDS seizuresBy Common Consent: A brief apology for the LDS apologia regar... From Grits for Breakfast Could Your Judge Pass The Test? http://www.uslaw.com/law_blogs/?blog=978item=151964jump=fboyle at law.ui uc.edu NEW YORK TIMES: Judges as Politicians SeriesRendering Justice, With One Eye on Re-electionContrast (the) distinctively American method of selecting judges with the path to the bench of Jean-Marc Baissus, a judge on the Tribunal de Grand Instance, a district court, in Toulouse, France. He still recalls the four-day written test he had to pass in 1984 to enter the 27-month training p... From JAABlog See all new posts http://www.uslaw.com/?action=blawgsblawg=dailycategory=Criminal+Lawd ate=2008-05-27 . To customize this daily email, please visit USLaw's Blog Tracking Service http://www.uslaw.com/?action=pagepage=subscribe . Reply with any questions, comments, suggestions, or unsubscribe requests.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
May 27 AUSTRALIA: Hanged man pardoned THE Victorian government will today posthumously pardon a man hanged 86 years ago for the rape and strangulation of a 12-year-old girl. In a move that will create legal history, Victorian governor David de Kretser has signed a pardon for accused killer Colin Campbell Ross which Attorney-General Rob Hulls will announce during question time in the Victorian parliament today, Fairfax has reported. Ross, 28, who ran a wine saloon in the Eastern Arcade in Bourke Street, was alleged by the Crown to have given Alma Tirtschke alcohol before raping and strangling her in Gun Alley, off Little Collins Street, on New Year's Eve, 1921. He went to the gallows the following year protesting his innocence, the only physical connection between him and the crime being hairs on a blanket at his Maidstone home that the jury was told came from the scalp of the victim, Fairfax reported. Witnesses had sworn to seeing Ross at work or on a tram at the time of the murder. Modern testing of the hairs has since found the hairs did not belong to the girl, it said. The pardon follows an inquiry into the case by Supreme Court judges Bernard Teague, Phil Cummins and John Coldrey, which found Ross was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. The inquiry came about after descendents of Tirtschke and Ross signed a petition of mercy after learning of the re-testing of the hair samples. This is a tragic case where a miscarriage of justice resulted in a man being hanged,'' Mr Hulls said. Miss Tirtschke's niece, Bettye (Bettye) Arthur, said Alma's murder deeply affected her mother, 2 years younger than Alma. It is a tragedy for everybody that the actual perpetrator was not caught and an innocent man lost his life. Ross's niece, Betty Everett, said her parents did not tell her of the case but she found out when she noticed a striking resemblance between Ross and her father in a magazine article years later. I have lived with this fear and doubt for most of my life, the more as I began to have children, that perhaps I carried the genes of a murderer. That shadow has gone,'' she said. (source: News Llimited) * Pardon 'a warning against death penalty' The posthumous pardoning of a convicted killer executed in Melbourne 86 years ago does not exonerate him but serves as a warning against capital punishment, the Victorian government says. Announcing the unprecedented pardon of Colin Campbell Ross, Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls said it was repairing a wrong, but did not amount to an acquittal. Mr Ross was convicted and hanged in 1922 for raping and strangling 12-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl Alma Tirtschke. Alma's naked body was found in a cul-de-sac off Gun Alley, in Melbourne's city centre, in December 1921. In January, 3 Supreme Court justices concluded that a miscarriage of justice had occurred. It is the 1st time in Victorian history that a person has been posthumously pardoned. A pardon doesn't mean that he was innocent, what it does mean is that the trial miscarried, Mr Hulls said. Unfortunately a retrial can't occur but I think it sends a very strong message, particularly to the family, that this man did not receive a fair trial and, indeed, if evidence that's available now was available at the time you've got to really ask whether he would have been convicted at all. The families of Mr Ross and Alma were present for the announcement, 3 years after they lodged a petition for mercy with the state government. The case was re-examined when historian Kevin Morgan spent a decade researching a book which uncovered doubts about Mr Ross' guilt, and hairs linking him to the murder were discredited in DNA tests. I think it's just wonderful that this has gone from my family now forever, Mr Ross' niece Betty Everett said. I have lived with this fear and doubt for most of my life ... that perhaps I carried the genes of a murderer, that shadow has gone now. Mr Hulls said the case served as a cautionary tale that capital punishment was abhorrent and had no place in Australian law. The judicial system is indeed fallible and will forever be so despite our best efforts to perfect it, he said. With its awful finality, the death sentence makes no allowance for this reality, a wrong execution can never been redeemed. Victorian Premier John Brumby speculated there could be other cases in Victoria where innocent men had been hanged. But Mr Hulls doubted the case would open the floodgates to more pardons. He said applications for pardons were received regularly for a range of crimes but none was as compelling as the notorious Gun Alley case. This really was quite unique and the evidence was overwhelming, he said. (source: National Nine News) * Others may have been wrongly hanged: Brumby There may be several cases in Victoria's history of the wrong person being hanged for a crime, Victorian Premier John Brumby says. His comments came as the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide
May 27 SOUTH AFRICA: Citizens Fear Death Sentence Visiting the racial violence-torn South Africa at the time when riot outbursts spreads like veld fires in most of the country's townships is not only scaring but also heartbreaking. The South African Broadcasting Corporation television stations are characterised by gruesome footage of violence, death, burning shacks and hundreds of Zimbabweans, Somalis and others who sought refuge at the police stations. It appears that the targeted shacks are those that are occupied by foreigners who are hunted like wild animals and assaulted to near-death condition. Not only are they assaulted but even their belongings are either burnt down to ashes or taken away from them. Some Zimbabweans were captured having sought cover in the bushes during a Special Assignment program. With their tears strolling down their cheeks, they narrated how they were dispossessed of their hard end belongings and their shacks burnt down. They were making fire by the riverbank with dry grass just to keep warm from the chilling and numbing low temperatures. Also, some unlucky South Africans succumbed after they were brutally assaulted in cases of mistaken identity. This may have resulted from the fact that as the mob ascends on you they give no time for explanation. During the Special Assignment program the brother to the poor South African narrated how his efforts to save his young brother were futile as he tried to explain to the mob the identity of the young man. He said many died a day after he was discharged from the hospital. Pictures of the police trying to disperse the angry mobs and fire fighters distinguishing the burnt homesteads are regular features on television screens. As soon as the riots subsided in one area, it started elsewhere. It appears that the situation may take long before the government fully addresses it as residents appear to be unhappy with the government's housing programme. The residents and say that foreigners are being given priority over locals when it comes to allocation of houses. Currently it is reported that about 3 million Zimbabweans have sought refuge in South Africa and the number may shoot up due to political unrest in Zimbabwe. Interviewed by SABC, one economist indicated that the racial violence poses a major blow to the economy and portrays the country unfriendly for investors. Late last week it was reported that operations in a mine in Johannesburg suffered due to the violence and one worker was reported to have died. However it is normal business in some parts of the country. The busy Johannesburg airport is filled to capacity with people of all races heading to their destinations and connecting to other flights. Mingling with South Africans and the way they handle themselves in other places shows a different picture of the country known for hijackings, kidnapping, gunshots and all sorts of crime. Depart for Bloemfontein, a young lady, a police officer from Nelspruit approached and inquired about the flight to the same destination and I asked her to wait as if I knew the place better than her. Travelling to South Africa requires guts lest some tsotsis discover that you are not one of their own and descend on you. After learning that I am from Botswana she explained how she is afraid of visiting Botswana because there is a death penalty. To her, if you face an offence you are destined for the gallows. There used to be such a penalty in SA but it has since been abolished because it was not properly executed. Only blacks were sentenced to death while other races were not. Eventually a councillor from the new Nelson Mandela Municipality joined and the discussion shifted to the African National Congress. Once in the Bloemfontein airport a local Pastor joined me as I waited for my colleague who was set to arrive in the next flight. The death penalty issue cropped up after he discovered that I am from Botswana. To be honest I do not even wish to see myself in that country. I will have to acquaint myself with Botswana's judicial system first so that I could know which offences attract a death penalty. Otherwise a big 'no'! (source: Opinion, Onalenna Modikwa Bloemfontein; Mmegi/The Reporter) UNITED KINGDOM: The death penalty does not prevent murders From: Rev Tony Buglass, Superintendent Minister, Upper Calder Methodist Circuit, Caldene Ave, Mytholmroyd. SORRY to be a pedant, but the comment that I called Michael Stephen of Wilton a murderer (Letters, Yorkshire Post, May 20) is simply not true. It is true that we were discussing the death penalty, and that he and I didn't see eye to eye. My response to him was to note that his method was to rubbish me personally but not address the actual issue. The facts of the matter do not change. The death penalty neither deters nor prevents murder. If it did, then those states in the US which have the death penalty would have seen murder vanish. On the contrary, it seems to be on
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GEORGIA
May 27 GEORGIAnew and impending execution date June 4 execution set for double murderer The state Department of Corrections has set a June 4 execution date for Curtis Osborne, who was condemned to die for a 1990 double murder in Spalding County. Osborne is to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m. He was convicted of fatally shooting Linda Lisa Seaborne and Arthur Jones on Aug. 7, 1990, as they sat in a 1978 Pontiac Grand Prix. Osborne would be the 2nd Georgia death row inmate put to death this year. On May 6, William Earl Lynd was executed for the 1988 slaying of his live-in girlfriend, Ginger Moore. Last Thursday, Samuel David Crowe also was set to be executed. But in just the 3rd time since 1995, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted a death sentence. It granted Crowe a reprieve just a few hours before he was to be put to death by lethal injection. Crowe had already eaten his last meal and was waiting in a cell when he received word he had been granted clemency. He was resentenced to serve life in prison without parole. (source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C.
May 27 PENNSYLVANIA: Monroe prosecutor will seek death penalty in interstate body parts murder The January murder and dismemberment of Deanna Marie Null constitute aggravating circumstances on which the District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty against Charles Hicks, who is charged with killing Null. Hicks, 34, of Tobyhanna, was formally arraigned Tuesday in Monroe County Court, during which he entered a not-guilty plea and was placed on the September trial term. Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso told the court that the D.A.'s Office cites the murder, dismemberment and scattering of Null's body parts in trash bags along Interstates 380 and 80 as aggravating circumstances. Mancuso said this is the reason the office last week filed a notice of intention to seek the death penalty. Null, a mother who lived at various addresses including Williamsport, was last seen alive in Scranton in mid-January, getting into a car that matches the description of Hicks' vehicle, according to a police affidavit. Hicks told police he met Null in Scranton, when he went there looking for girls to hang out with, according to the affidavit. He said he smoked crack cocaine with her and gave her money in exchange for sex on more than one occasion, but didn't kill her. He said he was scared to come forward after learning she had been murdered because he figured she had been killed over drugs and that he himself might be in danger. He also told police he had been prescribed psychiatric medication in the past, according to the affidavit. Police testified at a March preliminary hearing that they had searched Hicks' home in early March and found evidence including Null's severed hands, plastic trash bags and a saw. (source: Pocono Record) DA to Seek Death Penalty in Body Parts Case A district judge in Monroe County ruled there is enough evidence against Charles Hicks to send the case to trial. He is accused of killing Deanna Null and scattering her body parts along the interstate in Monroe County. The district attorney in Monroe County said he will seek the death penalty if a man charged with killing a woman and mutilating her body is convicted. Charles Hicks of Tobyhanna pleaded not guilty while in court Tuesday in Monroe County. He is charged with killing Deanna Null and cutting up her body. In January a PennDOT crew found her body parts along Interstates 80 and 380 in Monroe County. Her hands were found in Hicks house. He is charged with criminal homicide and related offenses. A district judge ruled Tuesday there is enough evidence to take the case to court. (source: WNEP TV News) NORTH CAROLINA: Wilson admits to causing death of his wife Jakiem Wilson, facing capital murder charges in the 2007 murder of his wife, conceded this morning to causing her death in hopes of facing a lesser charge. At the start of jury selection, Wilson stood before Wake Superior Court Judge Henry Hight to say he understood the concession entered by his attorneys. We discussed the best way to go about the case and I agreed with them, he said. Wilson is accused of killing his wife, Nneka Wilson, 24, the mother of 2 small children, at their home in February 2007. Prosecutors have said Wilson called 2 friends and told them to help him clean up evidence of the murder. Wilson then called emergency dispatchers and told them he discovered his wife's body and suspected someone had broken into the home. Wilson conceded causing his wife's death in hopes of facing lesser charges, including second degree murder and manslaughter. Hight did not make a ruling on Wilson's concession, and it is unclear whether prosecutors will agree to try the case under lesser charges. Meanwhile, jury selection will continue in the capital trial, the 1st Wake County death penalty case in a year. Jury selection is expected to be completed by June 30. (source: The News Observer)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----worldwide
May 27 ETHIOPIA: Mengistu to remain Zimbabwe's guest, govt says Ethiopia's former Marxist ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam, sentenced to death by his country's supreme court, will remain in Zimbabwe under the protection of President Robert Mugabe's government, a government minister said on Tuesday. Our position has not changed. He remains our guest in Zimbabwe. He will remain in Zimbabwe and we will protect him as we've always done, Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said on Tuesday. Ethiopia's supreme court sentenced Mengistu to death on Monday, granting a prosecution appeal that a life sentence he received last year did not match the seriousness of this crimes. Mengistu, who has lived a life of comfortable exile in Zimbabwe since he was driven from power in 1991, is unlikely to face punishment unless Mugabe loses a run-off election next month and gives up power. Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai will face Mugabe in a second round presidential vote on June 27, said dictators like Mengistu were not welcome in the country. It only takes a dictator to hang around fellow dictators. Birds of the same feather, this is why (Mugabe's ruling) ZANU-PF is clinging on to Mengistu, MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said. We don't want dictators on our land. The people of Ethiopia suffered for such a long time. Chamisa hinted that Mengistu may be extradited if Tsvangirai wins next month. Of course we do not condone killing or the death sentence as MDC, but we want justice to be delivered to the victims and to the perpetrators so that there's restoration, he said. The MDC said in 2006 it would withdraw the protection afforded by Mugabe's government, which considers Mengistu a friend of Zimbabwe's liberation struggle. Matonga said there had been no formal request regarding Mengistu from the Ethiopian government. Even if they make the request, he's not going anywhere. The prosecution in Ethiopia appealed against a life term imposed on Mengistu in January 2007, after he was found guilty of genocide arising from thousands of killings during his 17-year rule that included famine, war and the Red Terror purges of suspected opponents. He and more than a dozen other senior officers were found guilty after a 12-year trial that concluded Mengistu's government was directly responsible for the deaths of 2,000 people and the torture of at least 2,400. (source: Reuters)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.Y., ILL.
May 27 NEW YORK: Senate passes death penalty bill for cop killers The New York State Senate Tuesday passed legislation, sponsored by Senator Martin Golden (R-C, Brooklyn), that would establish the death penalty for criminals who kill police officers. As a former New York City Police Officer, I know there is evil walking on the streets of the City and State of New York, endangering the lives of every single police officer, Senator Golden said. It is our responsibility to pass this legislation and send it to the Governor -- we can no longer sit back and watch ruthless murderers take the lives of police officers. New York needs the death penalty to protect our society and our police officers who risk their lives every day for our safety and well-being. We must not let danger rule our streets. The legislation, which has yet to be addressed by the Assembly, would establish the death penalty for the intentional murder of a police officer, peace officer or an employee of the Department of Correctional Services. In 2004, the Court of Appeals overturned death penalty sentences, saying that judges were improperly required to instruct jurors in capital cases that if they deadlocked and failed to reach a verdict during the penalty phase of a trial, the judge would impose a sentence that would leave the defendant eligible for parole after 20 to 25 years. This bill addresses those concerns with respect to the murder of a police officer, peace officer, or correctional officer by mandating the sentence of life without parole if the jury is deadlocked and unable to agree on the death penalty sentence. (source: Empire State News) ILLINOIS: Court rejects appeal by ex-Illinois Gov. Ryan Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan on Tuesday lost a Supreme Court appeal that sought to overturn his corruption conviction on the grounds his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury had been violated. Without comment, the justices declined to hear the appeal by Ryan, 74, a Republican who began serving a 6-1/2 year sentence in November at a federal prison in Wisconsin. Lawyers for Ryan and another man convicted in the case argued their constitutional rights had been violated when the trial judge dismissed, after deliberations had already begun, 2 jurors who lied about their arrest records on their jury questionnaires. The judge replaced the 2 jurors with alternates and ordered deliberations to resume. Ryan, who in 1998 won a single 4-year term as governor, had been nominated several times for a Nobel Peace Prize because of his opposition to the death penalty. In 2000, Ryan ordered a moratorium on executions in Illinois after 13 death row inmates were found to have been wrongly convicted. Before leaving office, he emptied the state's death row, commuting the sentences of 167 inmates to life in prison. The jury convicted Ryan and lobbyist Larry Warner on 18 counts of racketeering, fraud and other offenses involving favoritism and kickbacks for state contracts and property leases that enriched Ryan and his friends. A federal appeals court in Chicago upheld their convictions. In November, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens turned down Ryan's bid to stay out of prison while he appealed his conviction to the nation's high court. Lawyers for Ryan and Warner argued the jury's composition had been manipulated, its deliberations were flawed and the trial judge had erred in allowing the verdict when a number of jurors had been questioned during deliberations about their own possible misconduct. The U.S. Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to reject the appeal. It said Ryan and Warner received a fair trial and the 2 jurors had been properly replaced. (source: Reuters)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----VIRGINIA
May 27 VIRGINIA: Kaine won't halt killer's execution Gov. Timothy M. Kaine says he will not intervene to halt tonight's scheduled execution of Kevin Green, who is scheduled to die at 9 p.m. for the 1998 capital murder of Patricia L. Vaughan in Brunswick County. The trial, verdict and sentence have been reviewed in detail by various state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Virginia, a United States Magistrate, a United States District Court judge, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Kaine said in a statement. The Supreme Court of the United States also has denied Green's petition for review. Having carefully reviewed the petition for clemency and judicial opinions regarding this case, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury, and then imposed and affirmed by the courts. Accordingly, I decline to intervene. (source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news-----VIRGINIA
May 27 VIRGINIAexecution Virginia executes killer A man whose lawyers claimed he was mentally disabled was executed Tuesday night for killing a convenience store owner in the 1st execution in Virginia in nearly 2 years. Kevin Green, 31, was pronounced dead at 10:05 at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. He died by injection for the August 1998 slaying of Patricia Vaughan, who operated the store with her husband. Green shot the couple and fled with about $9,000. Green's execution was scheduled to begin at 9 p.m., but was delayed for about an hour when his attorneys attempted to get a federal judge to step in at the last minute. Once the judge declined, the execution proceeded. Green shot Vaughan and her husband, Lawrence, while robbing their convenience store in rural Dolphin, more than 50 miles south of Richmond. Patricia Vaughan, 53, died at the scene. Lawrence Vaughan was shot but survived. Police say Green confessed, telling them he and his nephew took a bus to northern Virginia and blew all but $170 of the $9,000 they stole on prostitutes, marijuana and clothes. His nephew, 16 at the time, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Kevin Green went to trial and was found guilty of robbery and capital murder and sentenced to death in 2000. A year later, the Virginia Supreme Court ordered a new trial because of juror problems. Green was convicted again in 2001 and again sentenced to death. The Vaughan family has waited 10 years to see the sentence carried out. I feel like we're the puppets and they're being the puppeteers, said Marsha Brown, one of the Vaughans' two daughters. She plans to watch Green's execution with her father, sister, husband, stepmother and 2 local officials. It's just a fine line between being hopeful and helpless. I really regret that another life has to be involved - that an execution has to happen - but I just think it needs to be carried out, she said. Green becomes the 99th condemned inmate to be put to death in Virginia since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982. Green becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1102nd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1777. The death penalty had been re-legalized in the country on July 2, 1976. (sources: Associated Press. Virginian-Pilot, Rick Halperin)
[Deathpenalty] [SPAM] death penalty news-----worldwide
May 28 IRANexecutions Iran hangs 2 Iran has hanged 2 murderers for killing close relatives in the latest in a growing number of executions in the Islamic republic, the Fars news agency reported yesterday. A man convicted of fatally shooting 3 members of his family was hanged yesterday in the northern city of Babol. Fars identified the man sent to the gallows as R. A., convicted of killing 2 brothers and the wife of his brother about 2 years ago. He was hanged in a police station in the city, the report said, adding that the shooting broke out over an inheritance feud. Meanwhile, a man was hanged in the northern city of Ardebil for murdering his wife. The execution was carried out by the victim's family in Ardebil's central prison. The hangings bring to at least 98 the number of executions in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP count. (source: Kuwait Times) INDIA: After 13 yrs, Bhagalpur readies hangman noose The Bhagalpur Central Jail will be witnessing its 1st execution in 13 years very soon. The jail authorities have received the black warrant for Prajeet Kumar Singhs execution. As per law, execution takes place between the 21st and 28th day from the date of issuance of such a warrant. In this case, the warrant was issued by a Bettiah court on May 16. The last execution in this jail took place in 1995 when Suresh Bahri, who was convicted for killing his wife and children, was hanged by executioner Jagua Dom, originally a sweeper in the jail. Incidentally, Bhagalpur happens to be the only jail in Bihar and Jharkhand where executions have taken place. After 1995, although several convicts were lodged in this jail after being sentenced to death, they were officially not on death row. Prajeet, who hails from Indragachhi village under Sangrampur police station in East Champaran district, was awarded the capital punishment by a court in Bettiah. The Patna High Court and Supreme Court subsequently upheld the death sentence. Prajeet had killed 3 children of his co-tenant at Bettiah with the help of a knife on April 18, 1998. Now the gallows will have to be readied once again here. A hangman will have to be roped in, possibly again from the late Jaguas family, as the same family had served our purpose in Bahris case. A separate request will be made to manufacturers of the special noose rope in Buxar. If we are not able to get a hangman at the local level, we will make a request to hire one from outside Bihar, said jail superintendent Uma Kant Sharan. Prajeet has been kept in a special cell and he will be allowed special food and other things although the enclosure will be as secluded as ever, he said. He, however, denied that Nata Mallick, the hangman who executed Dhananjoy Chatterjee in Kolkata in 2004, would be roped in.IG (prisons) Sandeep Paundrik confirmed that the black warrant had been issued against Prajeet. Everything will take place within the parameters of law and according to the jail manual, he told TOI over phone on Monday. Meanwhile, Prajeets family has sent a mercy petition to the President. (source: The Times of India) BAHRAIN: Bangladeshis banned in Bahrain Bahrain has stopped issuing work permits to Bangladeshis following the brutal murder of a national. (Getty Images)Bangladeshis have been banned from working in Bahrain following the alleged brutal murder of a Bahraini national by a mechanic from the Asian nation. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa on Monday ordered authorities to stop issuing work permits to Bangladeshis amid calls from MPs to deport all Bangladeshis from the Gulf island state, Bahrain's Gulf Daily News reported on Tuesday. The accused was charged with premeditated murder on Friday for allegedly slitting the throat of Mohammed Jassim Dossary with a hacksaw after a disagreement over payment for work on the victim's car. The murder has outraged some Bahraini government officials, who have repeatedly claimed Bangladeshi immigrants are behind the nation's growing crime problems. Following the murder, MP Abdul Halim Murad demanded the deportation of more than 100,000 Bangladeshi labourers from the kingdom. Murad on Sunday called on the government to put a timetable for the deportation of Bangladeshi labourers from Bahrain after their repeated involvement in murders and other crimes. Bangladesh Embassy head Saif Al-Islam said the move had left him and his colleagues in shock and the embassy would appeal against it. For one person the government is punishing a whole nation, which is not acceptable to us. We will appeal to the government to reconsider thiswe will ask them at least to delay implementing this restriction, he told the Gulf Daily News. There are thousands of Bangladeshi people working in the cold and heat for the development of Bahrain. We have a good relationship with the people and respect Bahrain. The government should not take such a harsh action. Al-Islam said 106,000 Bangladeshis are
