[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, OHIO, FLA.
Nov. 8 TEXAS: Death row inmate gets execution stay, amid requests for DNA testingSkinner: How do you reconcile possibly dying for something that you didn't do? For nearly 2 decades, locked away on Texas death row, Hank Skinner has proclaimed that he is not a killer. I think about it every day. How do you reconcile possibly dying for something that you didn't do? Skinner was scheduled to die Wednesday, but late Monday a Texas court granted a stay so his attorneys can pursue more DNA testing. In 1995, a Tarrant County jury found Skinner guilty of beating his live-in girlfriend, Twila Busby to death in their panhandle home and stabbing to death her two grown sons. Skinner claimed he was unconscious on the sofa, intoxicated on a mix of vodka and drugs. But, police found his blood at the gruesome crime scene. Prosecutors have maintained through the years, that Skinner is the killer. They have fought repeated requests by Skinner to perform DNA tests on evidence found at the scene, including a rape kit, bloody knives and material under the victim's fingernails. Most recently, Skinner applied for a fourth time for testing under an expanded DNA testing law that took effect in Texas in September. Some lawmakers believe his situation does qualify him for post-conviction DNA tests, but the Attorney General's office has fought the request. Last week, a judge denied the request, but Skinner's lawyers appealed. Everything should be tested, SMU professor, Rick Halperin said. Halperin, who opposes the death penalty believes opponents of the testing don't want any flaws in the system to be revealed. If the evidence raises doubt, it will put the state in the worst possible light. Texas has some of the strongest post-conviction DNA laws in the country. Under the statutes, 45 innocent men have been exonerated. But there have been concerns the system could also be abused by inmates who request too many tests, that may ultimately be meaningless. Even if there is a test it doesn't always produce a result that will exonerate or clear someone accused of a crime, former prosecutor, Toby Shook said. (source: KDAF TV News) Impending executions in Texas date--# under Gov. Perryname--# in Texas since 1982 Nov. 16--239--Guadalupe Esparza---477 Jan. 26--240--Rodrigo Hernandez---47850 % of all Tx. executions carried out under Gov. Perry, since 2001 Feb. 1---241---Donald Newbury--479---more than 50 % of all Tx. executions now carried out under Gov. Perry's tenure Feb. 29--242---George Rivas-480 Mar. 7---243---Keith Thurmond---481 Mar. 28--244---Jesse Hernandez482 (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) OHIO: Appeals court to look at death sentencePanel overturned penalty in ’84 New Concord murder case In another twist in one of Ohio’s most convoluted murder cases, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether John David Stumpf should get the death penalty again for killing a New Concord woman 27 years ago. It is a mixed blessing for Chris Stout, a Dublin man whose mother, Mary Jane Stout, was shot to death during a robbery at her home about 70 miles east of Columbus on May 13, 1984. His father, Norman, was shot and survived but is permanently disabled. Stumpf, 51, will not go free or get a new trial — at least not now. But it also means painful memories will return to haunt Stout and his family, as they do each time there is a hearing or a decision in a case that began when Ronald Reagan was president. In the latest development, the Cincinnati-based federal appeals court on Oct. 26 accepted Attorney General Mike DeWine’s request that the full court reconsider a 2-1 decision made in August by a 6th Circuit panel. After a four-year wait, the panel overturned Stumpf’s death sentence, concluding that his constitutional rights had been violated by a prosecutor who told the jury he was the triggerman in Stout. Now, all available judges will hear the case sometime next year. “I’m glad we’re getting in front of all the judges,” said Stout, a former state prison corrections officer. “I can’t wait to see all of them in the same room to do their job.” Stout has made no secret of his dissatisfaction with the courts’ handling of his mother’s murder case. It has been up and down since September 1984, when Stumpf was convicted and sentenced to death. Twenty years later, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court overturned Stumpf’s conviction and death sentence. A year after that, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision and sent Stumpf’s case back to the appeals court for action. That set the stage for the August decision and, ultimately, the new hearing by the full court. Stumpf’s attorney must file briefs by Dec. 1 and DeWine’s office
[Deathpenalty] FW: BOOK: United Ireland, Human Rights Int'l Law / Boyle
Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Champaign, Illinois 61820 217-333-7954 (voice) 217-244-1478 (fax) (personal comments only) From: Boyle, Francis Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 1:21 PM To: Killeacle Subject: FW: BOOK: United Ireland, Human Rights Int'l Law / Boyle From: Clarity Press, Inc. [mailto:clar...@islandnet.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 11:46 AM To: Boyle, Francis Subject: BOOK: United Ireland, Human Rights Int'l Law / Boyle http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=14AACB3:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 UNITED IRELAND, HUMAN RIGHTS and INTERNATIONAL LAW by Francis A. Boyle ISBN: 978-0-9833539-2-8 202 pp. $16.95 Available in North America http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=14A46E3:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 and UK/Europe http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=14A2B92:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 and from Clarity Press, Inc. During the past three decades, international legal expert Francis A.Boyle has dealt with some of the most difficult problems created byBritain's continued military occupation of six northeast counties inIreland. In so doing, he along with other Irish Americans engaged the formidable Irish American domestic lobby in support of the Irish resistance. This book addresses some of the most important aspects of their historic campaigns-the struggle to prevent deportation of Irish freedom-fighter,Joe Doherty, the protest against the U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty of 2006, the effort to engage U.S. multinationals in implementing the MacBride Principles to roll back discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland. But most significantly, Boyle makes the legal case for viewing the horrific Irish Potato Famine-the Irish Hecatomb-as a result, not of laissez-faire economic policy, but of intentional British genocide. This is the definitive book on all legal/political/human rights aspects of the Irish conflict, including Britain's international legal obligation to decolonize Northern Ireland and going forward, a legal and human rights framework for establishing a United Ireland where all Irish can live in peace with justice for all irrespective of their differences. United Ireland, Human Rights, and International Law is required reading for Irish Americans, people living in Ireland, and the Irish Diaspora around the world. TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication Irish America Chapter 1. The Irish Hecatomb: The Legal Case for the Potato Famine as British Genocide / 19 Chapter 2 The Decolonization of Northern Ireland / 64 Chapter 3. Putting Britain's Colonial War in Ireland on Trial in the USA / 89 Chapter 4. The Struggle to Free Joe Doherty / 99 Chapter 5. Opposing the U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty / 123 Chapter 6. Advocating the MacBride Principles for Northern Ireland / 154 Chapter 7. Sparing Robert John MacBride / 184 Chapter 8. Designing United Ireland / 188 Index Available directly from Clarity Press http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=14AACB4:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 , amazon.com http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=14AACB3:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 , amazon.co.uk http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=14AACB5:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 or our distributors in http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=14A46E3:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 the USA, UK/Europe/ Middle East, Malaysia/Singapore, World Clarity Press, Inc. http://www.claritypress.com http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=1496EC4:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281 You are presently listed as a Clarity Press subscriber. To unsubscribe, press here http://emm.adhost.com/bin/http:/emm.adhost.com/u?id=12B0E2177757C0668E8 E2813C785B281 http://www.claritypress.com/sitebuilder/images/Boyle-McBrideweb-228x322 .png Dual National FRANCIS BOYLE (right) with SEAN MACBRIDE, S.C. Foreign Minister for the Republic of Ireland Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army FRANCIS A. BOYLE is a leading American expert in international law. He was responsible for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, the American implementing legislation for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. He served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International (1988-1992), and represented Bosnia-Herzegovina at the World Court. He served as legal adviser to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace negotiations from 1991 to 1993. In 2007, he delivered the Bertrand Russell Peace Lectures. Professor Boyle teaches international law at the University of Illinois, Champaign and is author of, inter alia, The Future of International Law and American Foreign Policy, Foundations of World Order, The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence, Palestine, Palestinians and http://emm.adhost.com/t?r=782c=0l=33248ctl=1497D56:12B0E2177757C0668 E8E2813C785B281
[Deathpenalty] [SPAM] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 8 IRAQ: Tunisian’s Execution Postponed in Iraq After Intervention by Rached Ghannouchi The execution of a young Tunisian in Iraq has been stayed after the intervention of Ennahda party leader Rached Ghannouchi. Yosri Triki left Tunisia to fight against the United States in Iraq in 2003. His execution by the Iraqi government, rumored to be scheduled for today, has been suspended, pending a future trial. According to Yosri’s father, Fahker Triki, the personal intervention of Rached Ghannouchi, leader of moderate Islamist party Ennahda, was instrumental in securing the delay. An Ennahda spokesperson confirmed this new development to Tunisia Live this afternoon. Yosri was captured by the Iraqi police on May 5th, 2006 in the Salaheddine district, located in northern Iraq. Under reported conditions of torture, Triki admitted to his involvement in the bombing of Marqad al Imamayn Houssin and Hedi Askari — a tomb of two imams located in Samarra, north of Baghdad. According to Rachid Mefli, a lawyer and legal director for Al Karama Human Rights Association, Triki was forced to sign a statement of confession in October of 2010. Without a chance to defend himself, Yosri was sentenced to death that very month, on October 10th. According to Farid, the Ennahda spokesperson with whom Tunisia Live spoke this afternoon, Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki telephoned Rached Ghannouchi at 12:45 pm today to give his word to the Ennahda leader that Triki’s execution would be canceled until further notice. Ghannouchi subsequently issued the following statement to his spokesperson to release to the media: “After communicating with the Iraqi government, we have received a promise from Nouri Meliki to halt the execution of Yosri Triki.” When Tunisia Live spoke with Yosri’s father, Fakher Triki, Fakher expressed his elation with the recent turn of events, and stated that the trial has been postponed until after the Eid holiday, which concludes on Monday. Ennahda’s spokesperson could not comment on the future of Yosri Triki’s case, however, and could neither confirm nor deny Fakher’s claims that the trial would be reopened after Eid’s conclusion. Yosri Triki is not the only Tunisian living in Iraq who has been detained since the war broke out with the United States in 2003. According to an article issued by the Tunisian news source TAP on November 3rd, 2011, there were approximately 1,000 Tunisians living in Iraq during the war in Iraq in 2003, and of them 85 have been jailed. Like Yosri, a number of these Tunisians traveled to Iraq in order to become shuhada, or martyrs, while others were already working in the country as students or merchants. On November 3rd, 2011, the parents of many of these Tunisians gathered in front of the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in protest of the Ministry’s inaction, and urging the administration to take more forceful steps to free the 85 Tunisians who remain incarcerated in Iraq, and who may very well face a fate similar to that of Yosri Triki. (source: Tunisia Live) NIGERIA: 'Some Judges Still Write Judgments Under Candle Light' Akinlolu Timothy Kehinde was called to the Bar in 1986 and since then he has been in practice. He did his NYSC in Gongola State, now Adamawa, worked with eminent lawyers such as Paul Usoro SAN, for about 15 years. He has been on his own, he has an office in Kaduna and equally has a branch in Abuja. In this interview with Adelanwa Bamgboye he speaks about the criminal law practice and the judiciary and traditional institution. Do you handle free cases (pro bono cases)? Yes I do and I have discovered over the years that most of the people that require pro bono cases are the indigent people and because they are indigent, they don't have the capacity to pay lawyer. Since they cannot engage experienced hands, most of them have their cases messed up. With due respect to my younger colleagues , I have had to take up a number of these pro bono cases even up to the Supreme Court. By the grace of God, we have been able to repair some of the damages and get some of the people off the hook. At the moment we still have a number of these pro bono cases at the appellate court - but we will continue to do our best, the best we can contribute to the legal profession. How would you feel to learn that the Federal Ministry of Justice has a fund running into billions of Naira for prison decongestion and yet you are engaging in pro bono cases? Yes, I am aware of the prison decongestion fund arrangement. It was a beautiful idea that was started by Chief Bayo Ojo SAN and my firm also participated in between 5 to 10 of such cases. The records are there, all the 5 to 10 people were either discharged or acquitted or had their cases dismissed. Are you saying that the management of the prison decongestion fund is in order? Yes it is in order but because of the Nigerian factor, over the years we
