[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
March 5 AUSTRALIA/MALAYSIA: Australian facing possible death sentence in Malaysia A 32-year-old man from Perth faces a possible death penalty after being arrested in Malaysia on suspicion of selling drugs. The man was arrested by police last Thursday during a raid on a coffee house in Kuala Lumpur. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the arrest, but says as far as he is aware no charges have been laid at this stage. He confirmed that under Malaysia's tough drug laws, the man faces the death penalty if he is charged and convicted of selling methamphetamine. 2 Australian heroin traffickers, Brian Chambers and Kevin Barlow, were hanged in Malaysia in 1986. (source: ABC News) Indonesians seek death penalty for Aussie Indonesian Customs authorities are demanding that an Australian accused of attempting to smuggle hashish and methamphetamines into Bali be given the death sentence if convicted. While Edward Myatt's fate will ultimately lie in the hands of the Indonesian court system, it is perhaps an indication that prosecutors would also insist the 54-year-old pay the ultimate price if convicted of trafficking. The news of the Customs office's stand was delivered late on Monday afternoon by Myatt's newly-appointed lawyer, Robert Khuana, minutes after he'd visited his client. "Yes, the Customs office has requested the death penalty," Mr Khuana said. "But that's only Customs. It will depend on the investigation and which article of the law will be imposed." Last year, Mr Khuana saved the Bali Nine's Scott Rush from the death penalty, winning an appeal against the drug courier's original sentence. Earlier on Monday, the police revealed they had begun examining Myatt's mobile phone records in an effort to uncover alleged links to an Indonesian crime syndicate. Myatt was arrested last week after arriving in Bali on a flight from Delhi. He is accused of trying to smuggle into Bali 1.1kg of hashish and 7 grams of methamphetamines, worth an estimated $70,000, contained in 72 capsules he swallowed. Myatt was interrogated by narcotics officers again on Monday, but remained tight-lipped, refusing to speak to police, as he has done since his arrest last Monday. "He hasn't (talked yet). But that's not a problem," Bali drugs squad chief Mulyadi told AAP. "We're investigating everything, including the possibility of uncovering his network," he said. "We're checking all the calls in and out of his mobile phone. There are Indonesian numbers he has called." Police have already said they believe Myatt was a long-term drug mule. His travel records show he visited Bali 6 times previously. Authorities say his failure to co-operate will only increase the likelihood that prosecutors will press for the death penalty if he's convicted. Although born in Ballarat, Myatt is understood to have lived in Britain for several years. He holds Australian and British passports. Australian and British consulate officials visited Myatt on Monday. He was taken to hospital under police guard a short time later after complaining of headaches and stomach problems. He said nothing as he emerged from the interrogation and meetings with officials, but tried to shield his face with his shirt as he ran the gauntlet of media camped at the police headquarters in Denpasar. Myatt's fellow inmates also say he has remained silent since his arrival there last week. "He keeps to himself. He says nothing," one prisoner told AAP through bars at the entrance to the cell block. The Australian is being held in a squalid, damp cell with 10 other inmates. A total of 42 prisoners, male and female, are housed in the police headquarters cells, where they mingle closely. He is expected to remain there until he is charged, after which he is likely to be moved to Kerobokan jail, already home to 12 other Australians convicted for drug-related offences. (source: 9msn.com.au) IRAN: Iran overturns death sentence for former U.S. Marine Amir Mirzai Hekmati convicted of spying Iran’s Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence for spying handed down to a former U.S. Marine, Amir Mirzai Hekmati, ISNA news agency reported on Monday quoting a top judiciary official. “The sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court … The case has been sent back” to the court for retrial, prosecutor general Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei told a press conference, ISNA reported. The report did not provide further details. Hekmati, an ex-Marine born in the United States to an Iranian immigrant family, was sentenced to death on January 9 by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Hekmati, who also holds Iranian nationality, was “sentenced to death for cooperating with a hostile nation, membership of the CIA and trying to implicate Iran in terrorism,” according to Iranian media. The New York Times had reported in February that his mother was able to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CALIFORNIA
March 5 CALIFORNIA: Authorities considering death penalty for Ocampo The recently discharged Marine, Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, of Yorba Linda, has been indicted by an Orange County Grand Jury for the alleged murder of a mother, son and 4 homeless men. Ocampo is being charged for what the Orange County District Attorney described as a “serial thrill-kill spree.” The DA is seeking sentencing enhancements “for personal use of a deadly weapon, a knife, during the commission of a crime.” If convicted of the charges, Ocampo could serve a minimum sentence of life in prison without parole, and the special circumstances in the case make Ocampo eligible for the death penalty. Ocampo has plead “not guilty” to the six killings. Ocampo’s attorney Randall Longwith has told reporters that an insanity plea linked to his client’s military service in Iraq is being considered by the defense. “But that’s not going to fly,” said Tony Rackauckas, DA. “In a criminal case, you know, particularly a case like this, how many ways can you go with the defense? When the case is very clear. This is the person; he’s the one who did it. There isn’t any getting out of that. You have to start looking for other defenses, and I think that’s what they’ll do,” Rackauckas said. “The mental defense, the insanity, the post-war trauma, that kind of thing, is always something we expect to hear.” All 6 murders occurred in the North Orange County cities of Placentia, Yorba Linda and Anaheim. Ocampo is now accused by the DA of the murders of 53-year-old Raquel Estrada and her son Juan Herrera, 34. The two died in their Yorba Linda home Oct. 25, 2011, according to a press release by the Orange County DA’s office. The bodies were left on the floor of the home. Estrada was stabbed more than 30 times and Herrera was stabbed more than 60 times, according to the release. The murders of Estrada and Herrera are the only murders of the 6 charges that were not committed against a homeless person. The other 4 murders involved James McGillivray, 53; Lloyd “Jimmy” Middaugh, 42; Paulus “Dutch” Smit, 57; and John Berry, 64. All 6 murders that Ocampo is accused of involve multiple stab wounds to the victims, which may play a factor in whether the DA will pursue a death penalty sentence. Before the death penalty is pursued, a special circumstances committee — which consists of the DA, the senior assistant and assistant DA in charge of the Homicide Unit — must meet with other experienced prosecutors to discuss the factors of the case. Under California law the DA is free to seek the death penalty if the “aggravating factors substantially outweigh the mitigating factors,” the press release stated. “Aggravating factors are any facts above and beyond the circumstances of crime that increases the wrongfulness of the defendant’s conduct, the enormity of the offense or the harmful impact of the crime. Mitigating factors are any facts that reduce the defendant’s blameworthiness or otherwise support a less severe punishment,” it stated. Nina Nwarueze, 19, a biochemistry major and a resident adviser, had not been informed of the local slayings, but she believes Cal State Fullerton is still safe because of the police force that make rounds through the housing community several times each day. Cal State Fullerton has established several precautions to keep students safe on campus, according to the University Police website. University Police provides escort service across campus, to personal vehicles, or to on campus residence, according to the Department’s Annual Security Report. Armando Torres, a 21-year-old English major works as a resident adviser on campus, he and several other older students patrol the residential halls for any problems or unwanted visitors. “Every single night R.A.’s are on what we call ‘on duty’, so there are five R.A’s on duty, one R.A. serves as the dispatch, so the whenever students call the R.A. on dispatch will answer,” said Torres. Eric Reeker, 18, a kinesiology major, has read about the local killings but does not feel his safety is conflicted on campus. “I feel really safe. We have a police station right on campus so I am not scared or fearful,” said Reeker. Despite the killings, the City of Fullerton’s most commonly reported crimes in 2011 were vandalism and vehicle burglary, according to the City of Fullerton’s Police website. (source: The Daily Titan) *** Supreme Court says death row inmate cannot change court-appointed lawyer The Supreme Court says a death row inmate can’t change his court-appointed appeals lawyer because he didn’t like the lawyer’s defense tactics. The justices on Monday turned away the appeal from Kenneth Clair, who was sentenced to death in California in 1987 for burglary and murder. Clair wanted to change his federal public defender in 2005 because he says they were tr
[Deathpenalty] [POSSIBLE SPAM] death penalty news----TEXAS, ILL., CONN.
March 5 TEXASfemale to face death penalty Texas nurse faces death penalty for patient deaths Paramedics were making so many trips to a dialysis clinic in the East Texas city of Lufkin, a top fire department official wrote an anonymous letter to state health department inspectors pleading for somebody to take a look at the place. "In the last 2 weeks, we have transported 16 patients," the mid-April 2008 note said. "This seems a little abnormal and disturbing to my med crews. Could these calls be investigated by you?" State medical surveyors within days showed up at the DaVita Dialysis clinic in the Texas Piney Woods community about 125 miles northeast of Houston. By then, EMS had been called as many as 30 times that month, including seven for cardiac problems, and made at least 19 runs. 4 people had died. Over the previous 15 months, there had been two calls, according to the Texas Department of Health Services. On Monday, Kimberly Saenz, a 38-year-old nurse who worked at the clinic, was set to face trial for 1 count of capital murder that accuses her of killing as many as 5 patients and 5 counts of aggravated assault for injuring 5 others. With the inspectors present April 28, 2008, two patients undergoing dialysis said they suddenly didn't feel well and two others reported separately they saw Saenz inject bleach into dialysis tubing used by fellow patients Marva Rhone and Carolyn Risinger. Saenz, who had worked there for 8 months, was sent home, police were summoned and the clinic was shut temporarily amid fears patients were in immediate jeopardy. The next day, Saenz was fired. A year later, an indictment listed sodium hypochlorite, commonly known as bleach, as her "deadly weapon" that killed the 5, including Rhone and Risinger. The disinfectant is a normal cleaning solution used at medical facilities like the dialysis clinic where Saenz worked as a licensed vocational nurse, an entry-level health care position. If jurors convict the mother of two in the trial expected to last a month, prosecutors have said they'll seek the death penalty. Jurors also could choose life without parole as punishment. She has pleaded not guilty and has been free on bail. A motive was unclear. "She has no motive to kill anyone," one of her lawyers, T. Ryan Deaton, has said. All parties involved in the case were under a gag order from State District Judge Barry Bryan that blocks them from speaking about it outside the courtroom. "Kimberly Saenz is a good nurse, a compassionate, a caring individual who assisted her patients and was well liked," Deaton said in a recent court motion. Saenz herself swore in an affidavit she had no previous felony record. But Angelina County District Attorney Clyde Herrington, in pretrial court documents, listed about a dozen instances of wrongdoing he planned to present to jurors, including allegations Saenz overused prescription drugs, had substance abuse and drug addiction problems, was fired at least 4 times from health care jobs, put false information on an employment application and sought a health care job in violation of terms of her bail. Bryan said last week he understood a plea bargain offer from prosecutors had been withdrawn after Saenz's lawyers rejected it. Federal investigators examined blood tubing, IV bags and syringes used by the patients who could spend 3 days a week tethered for hours to a machine that filters their blood - a job their kidneys can no longer do. A Food and Drug Administration report found some samples linked to some of the victims tested positive for bleach while others showed bleach "may have been present at one time." According to policy at the clinic, bleach was used in various concentrations to clean blood from surfaces, chairs used by patients and internal parts of machinery. Then chemical reactive agents were used to confirm bleach residue had been removed and the cleaned areas were safe. Deaton has insisted his client is being made a scapegoat for mistakes and policy violations at the clinic. State health department investigators found dozens of "adverse occurrences" like incomplete and undated entries on logs required to document the disinfecting procedures. He also has questioned findings that bleach was the source of the problems. "Chest pain and cardiac arrest are not specific for bleach infusion," he wrote in a motion. A review of the clinic's records by an inspector affiliated with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found Saenz was on duty for 84 % of the instances where patients suffered chest pain or cardiac arrest. Deaton downplayed the finding, saying one other clinic staffer was there for all of the instances and another for 89 %. About 3 dozen people worked at the dialysis center, which was shut for about 2 months before reopening. Joel Sprott, an attorney DaVita Inc., operator of the Lufkin clinic, said the Denver-b
