[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., N.C., FLA., OHIO
June 5 TEXASnew execution date Michael Yowell has been given an execution date of October 9; it should be considered serious. Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-259 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present498 Perry #scheduled execution date-name-Tx. # 260-June 12--Elroy Chester499 261June 26---Kimberly McCarthy500* 262--July 10--Rigoberto Avila, Jr.501 263-July 16-John Quintanilla Jr.---502 264-July 18--Vaughn Ross--503 265-July 31---Douglas Feldman-504 266-Sept. 19--Robert Garza505 267-Sept. 26--Arturo Diaz506 268-Oct. 9-Michael Yowell-507 (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) (sources: TDCJ Rick Halperin) ** Texas groups among those alleging racially discriminatory remarks made by federal judge A coalition of civil rights organizations filed a judicial misconduct complaint Tuesday against a conservative federal judge for comments she allegedly made during a speech that are seen as discriminatory. Judge Edith Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in New Orleans addressed the University of Pennsylvania law school on Feb. 20. Her comments were not recorded, but five students and one attorney who were in attendance signed affidavits on what was said. Those were used to generate a 12-page complaint filed in New Orleans stating that Jones has engaged in conduct that is prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, undermines public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and creates a strong appearance of impropriety. Jones is accused of saying that certain racial groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are predisposed to crime, and are prone to commit acts of violence and be involved in more violent and heinous crimes than people of other ethnicities. The judge also allegedly said Mexicans would prefer to be on death row in the United States than serving prison terms in their native country, and that it's an insult for the U.S. to look to the laws of other countries such as Mexico. The complaint also states that Jones said defendants' claims of racism, innocence, arbitrariness, and violations of international law and treaties are just red herrings used by opponents of the death penalty, and that claims of mental retardation by capital defendants disgust her. The fact that those defendants were convicted of a capital crime is sufficient to prove they are not mentally retarded, the complaint alleges Jones to have said. And it alleges she said a death sentence provides a service to capital-case defendants because they are likely to make peace with God only just before their execution. A message seeking comment left at Jones' law office in Houston was not immediately returned Tuesday. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan, Jones has served on the court since 1985 and was its chief justice for 7 years, until October 2012. Students were appalled by her speech, said Katie Naranjo, a spokeswoman for the coalition, which includes the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Texas Civil Rights Project. Also included in the complaint are the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Bar Association's Houston affiliate. Naranjo said the coalition is demanding an investigation. She said it took months for those who heard Jones' comments to contact lawyers and verify that they could warrant a formal complaint. It also took time to compile the affidavits, she said. The coalition said Jones' comments resembled those made during the trial of Duane Buck, a black Texan sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of his former girlfriend and another man. At Buck's trial, a state psychologist listed race as one of several factors in describing the danger he would continue to pose. Though the psychologist was called to the stand by defense lawyers, a prosecutor emphasized the testimony in her closing argument. Later, John Cornyn, then Texas attorney general, identified the case as among six in which race had played an inappropriate role in imposing death sentences. The other inmates all received new sentencing hearings, and they've all been resentenced to death. Buck hasn't received a new hearing. Judge Jones's comments are frighteningly similar to those that violated Duane Buck's constitutional rights. (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA: State court rejects dad's appeal in 2008 murder of Lebanon infant The state Superior Court
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., ARIZ., CALIF., USA, US MIL.
June 5 COLORADO: Holmes can plead insanity in Colo. theater shooting Mass shooting suspect James Eagan Holmes was allowed Tuesday to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, setting the stage for an extensive mental-health evaluation that could stretch into 2014. Judge Carlos Samour Jr. accepted the revised plea at a hearing Tuesday, three months after the court entered a plea of not guilty on Mr. Holmes' behalf in the Aurora theater shooting. Mr. Holmes, a 25-year-old former graduate student, has been charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder stemming from the July 20 attack at the Century 16 Aurora premier of The Dark Knight Rises that left 12 dead and 58 wounded. His defense attorneys have argued that Mr. Holmes is mentally ill. Last month, the court rebuffed their efforts to overturn the state's laws on the insanity plea. Tuesday's plea means that Mr. Holmes must cooperate with a series of court-ordered independent psychiatric evaluations designed to determine his mental state at the time of the shooting. As a result, his trial date may be pushed back from the scheduled start date of February 2014. Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler is seeking the death penalty, but if a jury finds that Mr. Holmes was legally insane at the time of the shooting, under state law he cannot be executed. The court was also considering Tuesday dozens of motions defense filed by the defense on topics such as jury sequestration and evidence procedures. (source: Washington Times) ARIZONA: Arias lawyers discuss possible death penalty retrial; Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery discusses whether his office plans to retry the penalty phase of the Jodi Arias murder trial. Jodi Arias' defense team responded Tuesday to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery's suggestion last week that he would go forward with a trial to convince a new jury to impose the death penalty on Arias unless her attorneys made an offer for resolution. If the diagnosis made by the State's psychologist is correct, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office is seeking to impose the death penalty upon a mentally ill woman who has no prior criminal history, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott said in a joint statement exclusively to The Arizona Republic. Despite Mr. Montgomery's recent statements to the media, it is not incumbent upon Ms. Arias' defense counsel to resolve this case. Instead, the choice to end this case sits squarely with Mr. Montgomery and his office. The decision will indeed be up to Montgomery. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens has set a tentative court date of July 18 to seat a new jury just to consider the death penalty, but Willmott has indicated that she has a scheduling conflict then. Montgomery's statement that he would consider offers from the defense indicates he might consider concessions from Arias, such as not pursuing appeals. But courthouse regulars suggest that Arias, 32, could just as easily take her chances going back to trial. And in the event she gets death, she would have 20 years or so to do battle in state and federal appeals court to try to get a lesser sentence or a new trial. If Montgomery lifts the intent to seek the death penalty, Arias would receive a mandatory life sentence. Stephens would then choose between life in prison or natural life in prison. The former is frequently referred to as life with chance of parole after 25 years, but that is a misnomer often used even during court proceedings. Arizona discontinued parole for 1st-degree murderers in 1994. Anyone sentenced since then might be sentenced to life with possibility of release after 25 years. Parole is only available for those who committed murders before 1994. (source: USA Today) *** Arias lawyers respond to Montgomery On May 8, Jodi Arias was convicted of the 2008 murder of her sometime lover, Travis Alexander, but on May 23, the jury reached impasse on whether to sentence her to death or to life in prison. A week later, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said that his office would go forward with the trial to convince a new jury to impose the death penalty, but ... If they were to make an offer for resolution, I think I have an ethical responsibility to consider that, he said. Today Arias' defense attorneys, Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott issued a joint statement in an exclusive to The Arizona Republic. If the diagnosis made by the State's psychologist is correct, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office is seeking to impose the death penalty upon a mentally ill woman who has no prior criminal history, they wrote. Despite Mr. Montgomery's recent statements to the media, it is not incumbent upon Ms. Arias' defense counsel to resolve this case. Instead, the choice to end this case sits squarely with Mr. Montgomery and his office. It is solely for them to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
June 5 INDIA: Death penalty The article Why the death penalty must end by Kanimozhi (June 5) was thought-provoking. The death penalty is judicially sanctioned murder. It is a form of revenge that is unacceptable to a civilised mind. India is the land of the Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi. We take pride in our culture of non-violence and peace. All right-thinking people should demand the abolition of the death penalty which is certainly not a deterrent. S. Shah Navas, Thiruvananthapuram -- The words the certainty of punishment, not severity, is the real deterrent are significant. The present criminal justice system with its partisan investigations, ineffective trials and delayed judicial pronouncements hardly serves to deter crime. The fact that crimes take place with impunity despite the presence of capital punishment in the statute book proves that it is not a deterrent. The need of the hour are proactive, people-friendly policing and a simple judicial system. P.J.S. Sudhakar Naik, Medak -- It is important for the Indian state and citizenry to understand that the aim of punishment should be to reduce crime in society, not seek vengeance as it serves no purpose except bringing momentary closure to a case. Aparna Abhimanyu, Hyderabad -- Advocates of the death penalty argue that it is the severity of punishment that deters crime. However, studies have discredited this belief for it is the regularity, not severity, of punishment that makes a difference. The law must always err on the side of innocence. The execution of a potentially innocent human being should not be acceptable in the pursuit of justice. The application of capital punishment is often arbitrary and prejudiced. Take the case of the United States where race plays a crucial role in deciding who lives and who dies. In India, too, those with the means to manipulate the criminal justice system rarely face the gallows. The death penalty is a barbaric relic that must be abolished because two wrongs can never make a right. Devdutta Mukherjee, Hyderabad -- Not only do constitutional and judicial debates point to 'miscarriage of justice' but philosophical and moral debates too tilt heavily in favour of abolishing a law which shakes the principles of humanity. In Albert Camus' words, the condemned is punished not for the crimes committed, but for the crimes that might have been and were not committed...The most sweeping uncertainty in this case authorizes the most implacable certainty (Reflections on the Guillotine). Arighna Gupta, Delhi -- It is not to display how inhuman the jurisdiction is but to inculcate the fear of death in people so that they would think twice before committing abominable acts that the death penalty exists. If anything is to be done, it should be making sure that injustice is not done to the innocent. Zamir Khan, Lucknow (source: Letters to the Editor, The Hindu) EGYPT: 'I was set up by drug runner': British pensioner on death row in Egypt insists he thought he was transporting incense on his yacht Charles Ferndale is accused of attempting to smuggle 3 tons of cannabis The 74-year-old insists he thought he was helping move incense for a friend Admitted he had been a 'fool' and made 'disastrous life decisions' Pensioner was arrested aboard a vessel in Marsa Alam in 2011 A British pensioner sentenced to death for drug smuggling by an Egyptian court on Monday claims he set up by a drug runner. Charles Ferndale, 74, is accused of attempting to smuggle 3 tons of the cannabis product hashish, worth almost 3 million pounds into Egypt aboard his boat and being part of an 'international gang'. But Mr Ferndale insists that he thought he was helping to move a cargo of incense from Aden in Yemen to Aqaba in Jordan for an Egyptian friend who had lent him money for yacht fuel. The pensioner, three men from the Seychelles and one from Pakistan were arrested by armed police aboard a vessel near the Red Sea coastal town of Marsa Alam in 2011. The Pakistani man is said to have fled the scene and to have been sentenced to death in absentia. Mr Ferndale gave an interview to The Daily Telegraph from his prison cell in Qena, in the desert halfway between Hurghada and Luxor. He had previously been held in Hurghada prison which he said had worse conditions. He admitted he had been a 'fool' and made 'disastrous life decisions', but said insisted he was set up by an Egyptian friend he called 'Gamal.' A wildlife conservationist in Pakistan, Mr Ferndale admitted he could not explain part of his life story 'because it would get me killed'. But he said he had no knowledge he was helping to transport 118 bags of cannabis product hashish. He told the newspaper he had picked up three crew members from the Seychelles to sail to Aden in April 2011. It was there that he picked up the 'incense' that he had agrreed to carry for Gamal - he claimed Gamal
