[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., MISS., LA., OHIO, TENN.
Aug. 12 TEXAS: Salvadoran man on Texas death row loses appeal A Salvadoran man on Texas death row for the slayings of 2 store clerks in Houston has lost a federal court appeal, moving him closer to execution. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected arguments from 44-year-old Gilmar Guevara that the legal help at his Harris County trial in 2001 was deficient and that his mental impairment makes him ineligible for the death penalty. Guevara was condemned for fatally shooting 48-year-old Tae Youk and 21-year-old Gerardo Yaxon during an attempted robbery in June 2000. Youk was from South Korea. Yaxon was from Guatemala. No money was taken from their store. Guevara also confessed to killing an apartment security guard hours after the double shooting to steal the guard's gun. He does not yet have an execution date. (source: Associated Press) *** Wendy Davis once supported death penalty moratorium Wendy Davis is facing new pressure in her campaign for Texas governor over her past support of a moratorium on the death penalty when she was a Fort Worth city councilwoman. Davis voted in July 2000 for a resolution calling for a moratorium in order to study the death penalty and possible changes, The Houston Chronicle reported. The vote on the resolution failed, 5-4, and Davis, now a Democratic state senator from Fort Worth, has said she supports capital punishment. Her campaign said the issues that motivated her vote then have been resolved, and reaffirmed that she would allow executions to be carried out as governor. But the campaign of her Republican opponent, Attorney General Greg Abbott, accused her of changing her position. Texans demand and deserve a strong commitment from their leaders to ensure that victims of unspeakable crimes receive justice, not Sen. Davis' flip-flopping and political posturing, Abbott spokesman Matt Hirsch said. Texas is the nation's most active death-penalty state and has executed seven convicts this year. Support for the death penalty remains strong, even as the debate over capital punishment nationally has been renewed after recent botched executions in Oklahoma and Arizona and issues with procuring reliable execution drugs. Texas has not had a botched execution in recent years. The resolution Davis supported was for a study of the death penalty without taking a specific position on capital punishment as a whole, according to Fort Worth city council minutes reviewed by the newspaper. It in no way means to suggest that a person's philosophy on capital punishment had to change or shift, only that the system needed to be looked at or reviewed, the minutes said. That same year, Illinois enacted a moratorium on executions after several high-profile exonerations of death row inmates, and President Bill Clinton postponed the first federal execution since 1963. Zac Petkanas, Davis' spokesman, told the newspaper that Davis was confident in the death penalty now and would continue to enforce it if elected governor. In fact, she voted (in 2011) to expand the death penalty to those who murder children under the age of 10, he said. Senator Davis remains a proponent of the death penalty as ultimate punishment. (source: ABC news) FLORIDA: Going is slow in Andrew Lobban's triple-murder case, judge is told Jury selection in the 1st-degree murder case of a local man accused of killing 3 co-workers outside a downtown Ocala bar last summer is not likely to start until sometime next year. On Monday afternoon Andrew Joseph Lobban, 32, sat quietly in a red jail jumpsuit next to attorney Chief Assistant Public Defender Bill Miller. The goal of the brief status conference was so both sides could inform Circuit Judge Willard Pope of the case's progress and elaborate on how much work remains yet to be done. Lobban has been incarcerated since his arrest last year where he is accused of killing 3 young men outside the now-defunct AJ's bar. Witnesses told authorities they saw Lobban shoot Josue Santiago, 25, Jerry Lamar Bynes, 20, and Benjamin Howard, 23 on June 2, 2013. The men all worked together as bouncers at the now-shuttered Ocala Entertainment Complex. Lobban has been charged with 3 counts of 1st-degree murder. The state has filed a notice of its intention to seek the death penalty. Death penalty cases are tried in 2 parts; the 1st, known as the guilt phase, asks the jury to determine the defendant's guilt or innocence. If a jury determines the defendant is guilty of 1st-degree murder, the case proceeds to a 2nd penalty phase where the defense offers mitigating evidence in support of a life prison term and the state presents aggravating factors in support of a death sentence. According to Miller in this case he chose to focus his efforts predominantly on the penalty phase first, so therefore a limited number of depositions have been conducted. About 100
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., ARIZ., CALIF., USA
Aug. 12 COLORADO: Holmes' lawyers want death penalty tossed over leak to Fox NewsThe defense asked the judge to either scrap the death penalty, bar more than a dozen officers who saw the notebook from testifying, or appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the leak Lawyers for accused theater shooter James Holmes want the judge to toss the death penalty as possible punishment amid ongoing concerns about an apparent law enforcement leak to a Fox News reporter in the days after the shootings. In a motion released Monday, the defense argues that the leak of information about a notebook Holmes mailed to his psychiatrist right before the July 20, 2012, shootings violated a judge's order and Holmes' right to a fair trial by sharing crucial evidence with the public. The defense asked the judge to either scrap the death penalty, bar more than a dozen officers who saw the notebook from testifying, or appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the leak. Prosecutors objected to the measure, the defense said. Holmes' lawyers have argued since 2012 that a law enforcement violated the judge's gag order and possibly committed perjury when they leaked information about the notebook to Fox News reporter Jana Winter. The defense tried to compel Winter to disclose who her source was, but a judge in her homestate of New York ruled against the defense and said New York law barred the defense from forcing her to disclose the information. Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding dozens more in the shooting rampage. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (source: Aurora Sentinel) ** Attorneys seeks details on informant in Denver bar attack that killed 5 Attorneys for the man facing the death penalty for allegedly stabbing 5 people to death in a Denver bar said Monday they want more information about a 4th man connected to the attack. Dexter Lewis, 24, is charged with 16 counts, including 1st-degree murder, in the attack at Fero's Bar and Grill that left 5 people dead in October 2012. Lewis' attorneys argued on Monday that prosecutors should continue seeking and disclosing information about Demarea Harris. Harris was working as a confidential informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at the time of the attack. Harris has never been arrested or charged in the attack, and defense attorneys are seeking more information about the work he did for the ATF and the cases he provided information on. Prosecutors say they have given defense attorneys all of the information the ATF released to them. Defense attorneys called ATF Agent Brandy Spasaro, who handled Harris when he worked as a confidential informant. Spasaro received some details about Harris' work for the ATF, but declined to answer several questions that she said pertained to confidential information. Harris was recruited by the ATF after he was arrested by Denver police for possessing what appeared to be a small amount of crack cocaine. He continued to work as a confidential informant, completing a number of controlled purchases, until the October 2012 attacks. In exchange for his work the ATF agree to speak to the Denver District Attorneys office on his behalf about the drug charge, Spasaro said. He was also paid about $3,000 for his work. After Harris spoke to police about the deaths at Fero's bar, the ATF gave Harris about $2,500 for temporary housing and relocation fees. Spasaro said Harris is no longer working as an ATF informant. Spasaro said there were at least 5 people Harris provided information about to the ATF. She could not discuss details of those cases or the information Harris provided. In their motion seeking more information about Harris, defense attorneys listed three cases Harris was involved in. Those cases involved drug and weapons charges. About 200 motions have been filed in the case and attorneys are expected to argue several of them during hearings this week. Many of the filings address what evidence will be admitted at trial, including statements by 4 other men connected to the case. 1 other men charged in the case, brothers Joseph and Lynell Hill, have accepted plea agreements and have received lengthy sentences. Their statements contradict those made by Harris who told investigators Joseph Hill was the first person to start stabbing the victims. Defense attorneys are also challenging statements made by Lewis' former cellmate at the Denver jail. Lewis allegedly asked the cellmate to find and kill several witnesses in the case and provided him with a hand-drawn map of the crime scene. The victims were the bar's owner, Young Suk Fero, 63, of Aurora; Daria M. Pohl, 21, of Denver; Kellene Fallon, 44, of Denver; Ross Richter, 29, of Overland Park, Kan.; and Tereasa Beesley, 45, of Denver. (source: The Denver Post) ARIZONA: Jodi Arias Trial Update: Lead Attorney Motions to Quit
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Aug. 12 INDONESIA: Lithuanian Arrested in Bali's Biggest Meth Haul of 2014 Customs officers in Bali have arrested a Lithuanian man for allegedly attempting to smuggle almost 4 kilograms of methamphetamine into the island, in what an official called the biggest single drug bust of the year. The suspect, identified only by the initials V.L., 41, was arrested in the early hours of Monday after arriving at Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport on board a flight from Hong Kong. As he was passing through customs with his wife, an X-ray scan revealed a foil-wrapped package inside his backpack, according to Budi Harjanto, the regional customs office head for Bali and Nusa Tenggara. Officers opened the package and discovered some 944 grams of a crystalline substance that later tested positive as meth. 2 other packages were found in V.L.'s other bags, containing 1,982 grams and 986 grams of the same drug, Budi said. In all, there was 3,912 grams of meth, he said. This was our biggest seizure so far in 2014. Police have taken V.L. and his wife into custody, and are deepening the investigation to uncover the latter's role in the smuggling attempt, according to Sr. Comr. Gusti Ketut Budiarta, the Bali Police's anti-narcotics chief. Budiarta said police had charged V.L. under the 2009 Anti-Narcotics Law, for which he could face the death penalty if convicted. No charges have yet been pressed against the wife. Budiarta added that investigators were having some difficulty questioning the suspect because he did not speak English. But what's clear is that this smuggling attempt is the work of an international syndicate, he said. (source: Jakarta Globe) EGYPT: As judges recuse themselves in Morsi protest trial, fears of mass death sentences persist As news breaks that three judges have recused themselves from a mass court case in Egypt, Amnesty International remains concerned that show trials followed by mass death sentences are becoming a grim trade mark of Egyptian justice. 3 judges who made up a Court Panel which was due to hear the case against 494 people today, have recused themselves on account of objections raised by the defendants' lawyers. The Cairo Appeal Court will schedule another criminal court panel at a later date. The majority of the defendants could face the death sentence in what amounts to little more than a pantomime the organization warns. The trial was in relation to protests that took place on 16 and 17 August 2013, in Ramsis, Cairo where at least 97 people died, most of them as a result of a reckless use of force by the security forces. Those charged include 12 minors, who were held in detention with adults, in direct contravention of Egyptian law. This trial was set to be little more than a pantomime. In recent months Egyptian courts appear to have been handing out mass death sentences based on flimsy evidence and following deeply flawed proceedings. These show trials followed by mass death sentences are becoming Egypt's grim trademark, said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. More than 400 of the 494 defendants are charged with murder and attempted murder, offences that are normally punishable by death under Egyptian law. The remainder are charged with offences including destroying public property, protesting without authorisation, attacking security forces and hindering the work of national institutions. Among those on trial are 12 children including Ibrahim Halawa, an Egyptian Irish national, who was only 17 years old at the time of his arrest. He has since turned 18. Amnesty International has conducted a thorough examination of his case. He and his 3 sisters were among those arrested after taking refuge in a mosque. He was shot in his hand when the security forces stormed the building, but was not given access to medical care for his injury, and the only treatment he received was from a cellmate who happened to be a doctor. He was held in detention with adults contrary to Egypt's Child Law which provides that children must be held in juvenile detention centres and be separated from adults. Amnesty International has concluded that Ibrahim Halawa is a Prisoner of Conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. The organization is calling for him to be released immediately and unconditionally, with all charges against him dropped. Ibrahim's case is just one of many cases of injustice being meted out in Egypt's courts. It shows the government's determination to flout its obligations under international law, said Said Boumedouha. According to press reports, even the Grand Mufti, the most senior religious figure, last week refused to endorse death sentences against Muslim Brotherhood leaders saying there was not enough evidence to support the charges. The Mufti reportedly added that
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., OHIO, KY.
Aug. 12 PENNSYLVANIA: Court hands off feud about murder appeal The Supreme Court on Monday asked an attorney disciplinary panel in Pennsylvania to sort out a dispute among lawyers over a death penalty appeal that an inmate has said he did not want filed. In an order included with the Court's 2nd round of summer recess actions, the Justices referred the case of Michael E. Ballard to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board, to investigate or take action it finds appropriate. The Ballard case arises from the murder of 4 people in Northampton Borough in Pennsylvania 4 years ago. Michael Eric Ballard was convicted of the crimes and given 4 separate death sentences. (The case is discussed fully in the state Supreme Court ruling included in the 1st part of the Court's file.) The case reached the Court in Washington on March 21, when a petition for review was filed by Marc Bookman, an attorney and the director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, in Philadelphia. It asked the Court to consider the constitutionality of Pennsylvania death penalty procedures for reviewing mitigating circumstances. On June 2, after a state prosecutor opposed the petition and the Court had set the case for consideration, Ballard wrote to the Court, saying he had not given anyone permission to appeal his case and that he had wanted to waive my appeals. On June 23, the Court denied the petition, giving no reasons. But in the same order, it directed Bookman to respond to Ballard's letter. On July 8, Bookman wrote to the Court, saying he had been asked to file the appeal by a lawyer with the federal public defender's office, who said he had understood that Ballard wanted the petition filed. The letter said that Ballard had spoken to the press, saying he did not want to die. Bookman attached a copy of his professional background, and the ruling by the state supreme court ruling upholding the conviction and sentences. On July 14, the district attorney for Northampton County, John M. Morganelli, wrote to the Court after obtaining permission to do so. His letter quoted lawyers who had represented Ballard at his trial as saying that Ballard had not authorized a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. Morganelli described the situation as very troubling, and he contended that public defenders in Philadelphia had a history of trying to intervene in death penalty cases without authorization. He argued that some sanction or reprimand should be considered. Attached to the letter was a letter from trial counsel. On July 16, Bookman wrote a new letter to the Court, saying that I have never faced an allegation of a disciplinary breach in more than 30 years of practice. He disputed some of Morganelli's points and urged the Court to reject the suggestion for an investigation. The Court's order then followed, on Monday. (source: SCOTUS blog) OHIO: Anesthesiologist: Condemned Ohio inmate suffered from effect of lethal 2-drug combination A condemned Ohio inmate put to death during a prolonged execution experienced pain and suffering before he lost consciousness, an anesthesiologist working for the family of the inmate determined in a report released Tuesday. Neither of the drugs used to execute Dennis McGuire on Jan. 16 can be relied on to produce a rapid loss of consciousness and death, according to the affidavit by Dr. Kent Diveley of Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. A higher dose of the sedative used by Ohio is needed to render someone unconsciousness, Diveley said, while the painkiller used by the state causes eventual death from lack of oxygen but couldn't be depended on to produce unconsciousness, he said. It is possible that when this combination of drugs is used for lethal injection there will be a delay of several minutes before the inmate loses consciousness preceding death, Diveley said. He said apparent straining gestures by McGuire represented conscious voluntary actions. They exemplify true pain and suffering in the several minutes before he lost consciousness, the affidavit said. To a degree of medical certainty this was not a humane execution. A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by McGuire's adult children alleges McGuire suffered needless pain and suffering during his execution. McGuire snorted and gasped several times during the 26 minutes - the longest of any Ohio execution - it took him to die. Diveley was hired by lawyers for the family to study the execution. It's common for expert witnesses to be paid for their work. Attorney Jon Paul Rion declined to say how much Diveley received. Other anesthesiologists have offered differing views on what McGuire might have experienced, with some calling his repeated snorting and gasping a typical reaction to those 2 drugs - both commonly used in hospitals - during surgery. A message was left with the state prisons agency, which typically doesn't comment on lawsuits. On
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide----BRITAIN, EGYPT, INDIA
Aug. 12 BRITAIN: 45% of Britons support re-introduction of death penalty, survey findsNumber in favour of capital punishment falls over four years, says YouGov poll to mark 50th anniversary of last executions A YouGov poll shows that less than 1/2 of people would support the re-introduction of the death penalty in the UK for murder. Of almost 2,000 people questioned, 45% were in favour of capital punishment - which represents a fall from 51% in a similar poll 4 years ago. Conducted to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the last executions, the poll shows opposition to re-introduction is strong (52%) amongst 18- to 24-year-olds. Overall, 39% were against the death penalty, while 17% were undecided. The strongest support for a re-introduction was among Ukip voters, the over-60s and those in lower social grades. There was an equal split (42% each) in respect of whether it was a good or bad thing that Britain had abolished the death penalty, while 16% did not know. More than half (57%) of 18- to 24-year-olds thought abolition was a good thing. Less than 1/2 (45%) of those questioned believed executing murderers deterred others from committing murder. But 41% disagreed that it was a deterrent, with the remaining 13% answering they did not know. Slightly more (42%) believed spending life in prison with no possibility of parole was worse than being executed (40%). Questioned about whether they approved of methods of execution, 51% either strongly approved or tended to approve of lethal injection, 25% of the electric chair, 23% of hanging, 19% by gas chamber, 17% by firing squad, and 9% by beheading. (source: The Guardian) EGYPT: Egyptian judge walks out on trial of Irish teenagerIbrahim Halawa has been in an Egyptian jail for nearly a year. The judge in the case of 480 supporters of ousted Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi, including an Irish teenager, has walked out of the trial, reports say. Anti-death penalty charity Reprieve said that the judge in the trial, which could have seen many of those convicted put to death, walked out this afternoon. Ibrahim Halawa, from South Dublin, was arrested at a pro-Morsi demonstration last August along with his 3 sisters, who have all since been released. The charges against him remain unclear, his family say. Maya Foa, head of the death penalty team at Reprieve, which is assisting Halawa, said: Today's events show this 'trial' for the farce it really is. We're now likely to see further chaos and even more delays, but Ibrahim's illegal detention has already gone on too long. The Irish government and the European Union need to take urgent action to secure his immediate release, while calling for a fair trial for the hundreds of people arrested alongside him. At least 97 people died in last year's protests in Ramsis in Cairo. Those charged include 12 minors, who were held in detention with adults, in direct contravention of Egyptian law. Amid reports that the hearing was abandoned, Colm O'Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland said: This trial is little more than a pantomime. In recent months Egyptian courts appear to have been handing out mass death sentences based on flimsy evidence and following deeply flawed proceedings. These show trials followed by mass death sentences are becoming Egypt's grim trademark. More than 400 of the 494 defendants are charged with murder and attempted murder, offences that are normally punishable by death under Egyptian law. The remainder are charged with offences including destroying public property, protesting without authorisation, attacking security forces and hindering the work of national institutions. Amnesty International has concluded that Ibrahim Halawa is a Prisoner of Conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. The organisation is calling for him to be released immediately and unconditionally, with all charges against him dropped. Ibrahim's case is just one of many cases of injustice being meted out in Egypt's courts. It shows the government's determination to flout its obligations under international law, said O'Gorman. (source: The Journal) INDIA: Phoolan Devi caseCourt to pronounce quantum of sentence on Aug 14 A Delhi court on Tuesday fixed August 14 for pronouncing the quantum of sentence against Sher Singh Rana for the murder of bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi in New Delhi in 2001 with the prosecution seeking death penalty for him. Additional Sessions Judge Bharat Parashar reserved the judgement after hearing the arguments on quantum of sentence during which the prosecution contended that Rana had committed Phoolan???s murder in a pre-planned and meticulous manner. The prosecution said that Rana should be given death penalty for the heinous crime as a person like him is a threat to the society. It is an offence of murder
