[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., USA, PENN., N.C.
April 22 TEXAS: Trial begins in fatal Jefferson County courthouse shooting Even Bartholomew Granger's attorneys acknowledge there's no question he is responsible for opening fire last year outside a Southeast Texas courthouse, fatally shooting a bystander in a failed attempt to kill his daughter who had accused him of sexual assault. When opening statements begin Monday in Granger's capital murder trial, his defense team's goal appears to be keeping the 42-year-old Houston man from being sent to death row. It's hard to imagine a person not going to be found guilty of this offense, Sonny Cribbs, lead attorney for Granger, said last week. I just hope if he's found guilty, which in all probability he will, I hope they ... do not execute him. I do not believe in execution. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Granger for the March 14, 2012, shooting spree outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Beaumont that left 3 others wounded, including Granger's daughter, her mother and another person. The 20-year-old daughter was to resume testimony in a trial where she accused Granger of sexually assaulting her 9 years earlier. Her testimony began the previous day in the case where Granger rejected a plea deal because he was convinced of his innocence. This is not a whodunit, said Ed Shettle, a Jefferson County assistant district attorney and lead prosecutor. He was trying to kill his daughter and her mother. Granger was outside the courthouse in his truck shortly before noon when he opened fire with a .40-caliber semiautomatic carbine. Minnie Ray Sebolt, 79, a bystander from nearby Deweyville, was caught in the crossfire and killed as she tried to run to the courthouse while others under attack dropped to the ground. Law enforcement officers returned fire. Granger fired more shots from his truck, hitting his daughter 3 times then running her over as he fled. He abandoned the bullet-riddled truck about 3 blocks away, walked inside a construction business and took several people hostage. Granger, who at some point was wounded, eventually surrendered. A 10-bullet magazine in his weapon had been emptied in the shooting binge, Shettle said. Granger's daughter was seriously hurt. The other surviving victims had less serious injuries. Granger is charged with several felony counts, including attempted capital murder. Retaliation against a witness is the accompanying felony that elevated Granger???s murder charge to capital murder, making him death-penalty eligible, Shettle said. If convicted, he faces death or life without parole. Both sides agreed to move the trial to Galveston, 75 miles southwest of Beaumont, primarily so jurors wouldn't have to walk by the crime scene each day. A judge declared a mistrial in his sexual misconduct case one month after the shootings due to heightened attention following the attacks. Shettle expected it will take about 2 weeks to present his case to the 14 jurors, including 2 alternates, who were selected over the past 2 weeks. If Granger is convicted of capital murder, his defense team will try to save him from the death penalty by showing jurors their client is not a continuing danger or that other circumstances - such as the sexual misconduct trial - drove Granger to open fire. You???re talking about mitigation, Cribbs said. Everything is on videotape. They've got shooting on videotape. They've got the death of the lady in the door. You see her fall down after being shot. That's all on videotape. And it's not going to be good for our side. (source: Associated Press) CONNECTICUT: Conn. Supreme Court taking up death penalty repeal The Connecticut Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on whether the state???s repeal of the death penalty for future crimes violates the constitutional rights of the 11 men on the state's death row. Justices are scheduled to hear the case Tuesday. The arguments come in the case of former Torrington resident Eduardo Santiago, who was sentenced to death for the 2000 killing of a West Hartford man in exchange for a broken snowmobile. The state Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and ordered a new penalty phase last year. But the ruling came two months after the state repealed the death penalty for murders committed after April 24, 2012. Justice will decide whether the repeal law bars the state from executing the death row inmates. (source: Associated Press) USA: Death penalty weighed as case is built against suspect The White House has a range of legal options in the Boston Marathon bombings, and they could include seeking the death penalty against the 19-year-old suspect. The administration has indicated it intends to move quickly to build a criminal case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Several Republican lawmakers on Saturday criticized the administration's approach because they said it would afford Tsarnaev more rights
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARK., NEB., UTAH, ARIZ.
April 22 ARKANSAS: Arkansas turns to different lethal injection drug After surrendering its supply of a lethal injection drug to federal agents in 2011, Arkansas turned to a somewhat surprising place to look for another drug: a list from lawyers for several death row inmates. The state Department of Correction told The Associated Press last week that it decided to use phenobarbital after attorneys for several death row inmates mentioned in a lawsuit that it might be an available drug. Phenobarbital, which is used to treat seizures, has never been used in a U.S. execution, and critics contend that a drug that's untested in lethal injections could lead to inhumane deaths for condemned prisoners. People should not be using inmates as an experiment, said David Lubarsky, who chairs the anesthesiology department at the University of Miami's medical school. And that is basically what this is. It's basically experimenting. As drugmakers object to their products' use in lethal injections, more death penalty states have been looking at different options. But the states have revealed little, if any, information about how they go about picking drugs. It's been: Here's what we're going to do and unless you can prove it's excruciatingly painful, the courts, they're not experts either, they're going to allow it go forward, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center. Just last year, Missouri announced plans to use propofol, the anesthetic blamed for pop star Michael Jackson's death, even though that drug hadn't been used in a lethal injection. In explaining the change, the state merely said the decision was due to a lack of another drug. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Mandi Steele declined to comment further Friday, saying the state's execution protocol is the subject of legal action. The changes came after states' supplies of sodium thiopental dried up when the makers put it off-limits for use in executions. Oklahoma was the first to try pentobarbital, a sedative commonly used to euthanize animals, leading some other states to follow suit. But now those supplies are running out after manufacturers banned its use by states for executions. In Arkansas, Department of Correction spokeswoman Shea Wilson said the agency consulted medical sources before picking phenobarbital, but Wilson refused to say what those sources were. She also wouldn't say whether the agency considered using other drugs. Our research indicated the drug would take effect within 5 minutes and should result in a painless death, Wilson said in an email to the AP. But even the paperwork that came with the state's supply of phenobarbital, which is a kind of drug known as a barbiturate, warns that the toxic dose of barbiturates varies considerably, according to records the AP obtained. We have no idea about whether or not the injection of such large doses will produce some acute tolerance effect, in which case you may or may not actually be able to kill someone with it, said Lubarsky, who has testified in death penalty cases. However, Mike Ritze, a family physician and Republican state lawmaker in Oklahoma, said phenobarbital is humane. I don't want to compare humans with veterinarians, but for years, they euthanized animals and you can use anything in the barbiturates and they're all very humane. Basically, the person just closes their eyes, said Ritze, a proponent of the death penalty who said he has used phenobarbital to treat patients with seizures. Arkansas and many of the nation's more than 30 other death penalty states once used a virtually identical 3-drug process: The barbiturate sodium thiopental was administered to put the inmate to sleep, and 2 other drugs were administered to stop breathing and the heart. As sodium thiopental supplies dried up, Arkansas and several other states initially turned their attention overseas, obtaining the drug from a British supplier. But in 2011, they lost their supplies to federal agents amid legal questions about how they got the drug. No one responded to phone messages left Friday at West-Ward Pharmaceuticals, the company from which Arkansas bought its latest batch of drugs. Lubarsky, the anesthesiology department chair, said that just because the drug sounds alike - thiopental, pentobarbital, phenobarbital - that doesn't mean they're that close a cousin. Those 3 drugs vary in the amount of time it takes for them to start kicking in. Sodium thiopental is like a light switch: It starts working quickly, and it wears off quickly. Phenobarbital, the drug Arkansas plans to use, takes a bit longer to kick in, and it takes longer for the drug to wear off. Some say that means executions using phenobarbital could take more time. Federal public defender Jenniffer Horan wrote to Arkansas Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe this week, calling on the governor to review the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 22 CHINA: Woman accused of killing man by squeezing his scrotum A Chinese woman has gone on trial accused of killing a man - by squeezing his testicles too hard. The unnamed mother is thought to have become involved in a row with a shopkeeper after parking her scooter outside his premises to pick up her daughter. After he protested that she was blocking off access to his business, she is said to have grabbed his scrotum before shouting: I'll squeeze it to death, you'll never have children again! Paramedics were called when the man collapsed from shock, but he was later pronounced dead at the scene in Haikou, China. And the incident - which occurred in April last year - could now land the woman with life in jail or the death penalty, if the court decides she is guilty of an especially cruel murder. The case continues. (source: The Sun) MALDIVES: State mum on annulling clemency clause, asks court to decide State on Monday refused to comment on the case filed to annul the power afforded to the President to grant clemency to convicts on death row. The case was submitted to the High Court as a constitutional issue stating that heirs of victims have the power to pardon convicts in Islamic while the death penalty can only be enforced with the unanimous consent of all heirs. The case filed at the court also detailed that the President or any state authority cannot grant clemency. The case also questioned why statements of heirs are taken if the President can decide over granting clemency to murderers while it can be considered as a violation of the rights given to the heirs. The case claims that article 10 of the constitution forbids any laws or regulations which defy the Islamic Shariah and the article 268 obligates all laws and regulations to adhere to Islamic principles, while any such law which contradicts will be void. Hence, it states that the power afforded to the President to grant clemency is a clear violation of article 10 of the constitution and that the clemency bill must not be a power afforded to the President under the article 268 and that the bill and other laws which defy the article must be annulled. During the hearing at the High Court, the State attorney said it had nothing to say in the case and asked to issue a verdict. Court adjourned on Monday after announcing that a verdict would be delivered during the next hearing. (source: Haveeru Online) SAUDI ARABIAexecution Saudi beheaded for murder, 35th execution this year Saudi authorities on Monday beheaded a citizen convicted of murder, the interior ministry said, bringing to 35 the number of executions in the kingdom so far this year. Mohammad ben Ali al-Alawi was convicted of knifing a fellow citizen to death during a fight, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency, without giving further details. His beheading brings to 35 the number of people executed in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP tally. In 2012, the kingdom executed 76 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Human Rights Watch put the number at 69. Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of sharia, or Islamic law. (source: Agence France-Presse) BANGLADESH: HC upholds death penalty for 2 The High Court on Sunday upheld the death sentence of 2 people for the gruesome murder of Rajshahi University (RU) teacher Dr S Taher Ahmed in 2006. The 2 convicts are RU teacher Dr Mia Mohammad Mohiuddin and caretaker at Taher's residence Jahangir Alam. The 59-year-old geology and mining professor was killed on February 1, 2006 and police recovered his body from a septic tank well behind his residence on the university campus on February 3. On Sunday, the HC, however, commuted the death sentence of 2 other convicts to life term imprisonment. These 2 convicts are Jahangir Alam's brother Abdus Salam and brother-in-law Nazmul. In May 2008, Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced all the 4 to death for the sensational murder. The tribunal also acquitted 2 of the accused - former RU Islami Chhatra Shibir president Mahbubul Alam Salehi, a suspected mastermind of the killing, and Jahangir's father Azimuddin Munshi. The HC bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo delivered Sunday's verdict after holding hearing on the separate appeals filed by the 4 convicts. All the 4 convicts are now in jail, Tajul Islam, a lawyer for the convicts, told The Daily Star. He also said that they will move appeals to the SC against the HC verdict. (source: The Daily Star) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Salesmen get death penalty over murder 2 Asian salesmen were sentenced to death on Sunday for murdering their compatriot and stealing his cigarettes, mobile phone and wallet following a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, USA, ARK., ARIZ.
April 22 TEXAS: Prosecutor at Granger trial: We want him to sit on death row Ed Shettle and other Jefferson County prosecutors Monday before proceedings beganJefferson County Criminal District Judge John Stevens testified Monday morning in the capital murder trial of accused Jefferson County Courthouse shooter Bartholomew Granger during the 1st day of testimony in a Galveston courtroom. Granger is facing capital murder charges after police say he shot and killed 79-year-old Minnie Ray Sebolt in March of last year. They say Granger opened fire outside of the Jefferson County Courthouse., killing Sebolt and injuring 4 others, including his daughter and her mother. He is also facing 3 other counts of attempted capital murder, 4 counts of aggravated kidnapping and 1 count of aggravated assault. Judge Stevens was called by prosecutors, as Stevens was hearing the original case against Granger that was scheduled to begin later that day. Granger was facing aggravated sexual assault charges. Stevens said he in court when he was made aware of the shooting. He said a man burst into the courtroom, yelling They're shooting downstairs. He said he left the courtroom to go retrieve a firearm, went downstairs and came across about 10 ladies saying they were being shot at. He said he covered the women and notices 1 had been shot. He said he then took the woman into County Clerk Carolyn Guidry's office to be tended to, He said Guidry told him that there was another woman there who was shot in the stomach. Stevens said he recognized her to be Claudia Jackson, the mother of Granger's daughter. Last Wednesday, a jury was seated consisting of 9 women and 3 men. 2 men are alternates. The jury members were sworn in by 9 a.m. Monday. In opening statements Monday, Jefferson County Assistant District Attorney Ed Shettle told jurors that there was no questions who did the crime. This is not a question of mistaken identity, said Shettle. He was always in sight of law enforcement. He never left the crime scene. Shettle said the state will show how he jumped out of the truck to the middle of the street with an assault rifle and shot his 20-year-old daughter three times. We want him to sit on death row, he said. No family members of Granger or of Seabolt were present as proceedings began Monday. For security reasons, local bailiffs are inside the courtroom. Galveston County officials are patrolling the parking lot the entire trial. Judge Bob Wortham, who is the presiding judge, tells 12News there are private walkways and private elevators just for jurors. The 2012 Courthouse shooting happened during the break of Granger's sexual abuse case. Prosecutors say Granger opened fire on March 14 outside the courthouse. 79-year-old Minnie Seabolt was killed and 3 others were injured, including Granger's daughter. The trial has been moved to Galveston to avoid jurors walking through the crime scene as they go to court each day. The state is expected to call over 40 witnesses to the stand to testify in a trial that is expected to last 2 weeks. Granger's mother is expected to attend trial. His brother, Lyndon, is currently in jail on a $4 million bond in connection with the same sexual abuse case as Bartholomew. Judge Stevens was the judge overseeing that sexual abuse trial at the time of the courthouse shooting. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty if Bartholomew Granger is found guilty. The defense asked jurors to consider life in prison if Granger is found guilty. (source: 12NewsNow) USA: R.I. judge upholds death-penalty elements of accused killer Pleau's case A federal judge has refused to dismiss the death-penalty aspects of the government's case against accused killer Jason Pleau. Judge William Smith rejected Pleau's challenges to the constitutionality of the federal death penalty law. Smith found that, contrary to Pleau's claims, courts have held that the federal death penalty may be imposed in states that do not authorize capital punishment, like Rhode Island. By law, a jury would assess after conviction whether aggravating factors existed such as if the defendant placed people in grave risk of death or committed the crime for monetary gain. It then must weigh those factors against mitigating factors in deciding whether to impose the death penalty. Smith struck down Pleau's challenges to several aggravating factors. Authorities say Pleau fatally shot a gas station manager while robbing him outside a Woonsocket bank. (source: Providence Journal) Dzhokhar Tsarnaev charged with using 'weapon of mass destruction' Federal authorities on Monday charged the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings with using a weapon of mass destruction against people and property, and the White House rejected demands by some congressional Republicans that he be tried before a military tribunal as an enemy combatant.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 22 INDIA: Delhi rape: NPSU demands death penalty for accused Anguished over the rape of a five-year-old girl in the national capital, the youth wing of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party(JKNPP) on Monday demanded capital punishment for the accused. It is horrifying the way the small girl was raped and it has crossed all the limits of inhumanity in the National Capital, which has become the den of such activities, National Panthers Student Union (NPSU) president, Thakur Virender Singh said. There is no security of even innocent children, Singh said, adding that such culprits should be hanged publicly. Blaming the Centre for increase in such incidents, the NPSU leader said, UPA has failed to protect the common man and the national capital has become rape capital, which is very disheartening. (source: Zee News) INDONESIA: Lindsay Sandiford death sentence: British grandmother loses appeal for UK government to fund death row legal challenge; The Foreign and Commonwealth Office refused to fund 56-year-old's case as a matter of Government policy A British woman sentenced to death by firing squad for smuggling drugs into Bali lost her appeal today over the Government's refusal to fund her legal challenge in Indonesia. Lindsay Sandiford recently lost her 1st appeal against sentence before the Bali High Court and now wants to take her case to the Supreme Court but says she has run out of funds. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said that, while it strongly opposes the death penalty and has made repeated representations on behalf of Sandiford, it will not pay for a lawyer. The 56-year-old was caught attempting to smuggle 1.6 million pounds worth of cocaine into Bali. She insisted that she had only agreed to bring in a parcel because she was trying to protect her adult sons, 1 of whom had been threatened by a drugs gang who suspected him of being a police informant. On Sunday, she put out a statement, admitting she had been stupid and was totally humiliated. While she extended her gratitude to people who had raised money on her behalf, she said she needed a further 6,000 pounds to cover the 8,000 pounds cost of legal representation at the Supreme Court. At the end of January, UK High Court judges upheld the Government refusal to fund her, saying the court understood the deep concerns of Mrs Sandiford and her family about Mrs Sandiford's predicament but her case must be dismissed. And today 3 senior judges headed by Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls, also dismissed her challenge in the Court of Appeal. Lord Dyson, sitting with 2 other judges, said the court had given very careful consideration to the issues raised in what he described as a troubling case. He said the reasons for the judgment would be given as soon as possible. Lord Dyson, when announcing the decision to dismiss the appeal, said it was obviously a terribly serious matter. He said it was most unfortunate that the sum required to secure the representation sought by the appellant - roughly 6,000 pounds - was relatively speaking a very small sum indeed. The judge added: But that cannot affect the principle that we have had to consider and it cannot affect our decision. But it may be that other means may be found to secure the relatively small sum in the course of the next few days. Rosa Curling, a solicitor with law firm Leigh Day, which is representing Sandiford, said outside court: We are obviously very disappointed by the decision and we will consider with our client once we have received the reasoning of the court whether to appeal to the Supreme Court. (source: The Independent) ___ DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Search the Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/deathpenalty@lists.washlaw.edu/ ~~~ A free service of WashLaw http://washlaw.edu (785)670.1088 ~~~
