[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., KAN., MO., ARIZ.
Oct. 24 TEXASnew execution date: Manuel Garza has been given an execution date for April 15 (2015); it should be considered serious. ** Executions under Rick Perry, 2001-present-278 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982-present517 Perry #scheduled execution date-name-Tx. # 279Oct. 28--Miguel Paredes518 280Jan. 14--Rodney Reed---519 281Jan. 15--Richard Vasquez---520 282Jan. 21---Arnold Prieto521 283Jan. 28---Garcia White-522 284Feb. 4Donald Newbury---523 285Feb. 10---Les Bower, Jr.---524 286Mar. 11---Manuel Vasquez---525 287Mar. 18---Randall Mays-526 288Apr. 15---Manuel Garza-527 (sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice & Rick Halperin) FLORIDA: Jury finds Seminole man guilty of 1st-degree murder in killing of estranged wifeDwayne White, 44, on trial for 1st-degree murder A Seminole County man accused of murdering his estranged wife was found guilty of 1st-degree murder on Thursday. A Seminole County man accused of murdering his estranged wife testified in his own defense on Thursday. Dwayne White, 44, for on trial for the Aug. 29, 2011 stabbing death of 42-year-old Sarah Rucker. Once the state rested its case on Thursday, White's defense team asked the judge to toss out the case. The judge denied the request and the defense then asked for the case to be declared a mistrial because of an evidence gathering issue. The judge also denied that request. Prosecutors said there are bloody hand print matches and cellphone pings that prove White slashed Rucker's throat with a pocket knife. The state said Rucker can be heard on a 911 call begging her husband to stop beating her not long before her death. White has continuously denied killing Rucker but admitted to fighting with her a few hours before she was discovered face-down in a pool of blood outside a Longwood sandwich shop. White had previously claimed he was nowhere near the sub shop, but testified on Thursday that he did go to the sub shop. He admitted he found Rucker's dead body, but didn't call police. He said he panicked and went home. In the recorded statement, White repeatedly indicated that it was unfair how focused law enforcement authorities were on him. When investigators asked White how they were going to resolve the path to the truth he said, "The resolution is to go find who did it, and stop saying I did it." Investigators said there is a documented history of domestic violence between the separated couple. A jury came back with the guilty verdict only a few hours after starting deliberations. The state is seeking the death penalty in this case. The jury will be back in court Tuesday for a hearing on the death penalty portion. (source: WESH news) KANSAS: Surviving victim of Carr brothers speaks out against court ruling My name is Andy Schreiber. I am 1 of 2 surviving victims of the Carr brothers' December 2000 murderous crime spree in Wichita. I've sat silently for more than 12 years, but I'm now breaking that silence to share my thoughts on the recent Kansas Supreme Court ruling vacating the death sentences for both brothers (July 26 Eagle). This decision left me no choice but to speak out. The death penalty is a legally acceptable penalty: It is not murder. It is a valid and legal form of punishment that was voted on and enacted by the Kansas Legislature. What the Supreme Court has done - not only in the Carr brothers' case, but in all other capital murder cases since the death penalty was re-enacted in 1994 - is effectively eliminate the death penalty by judicial edict. A majority of the Supreme Court justices have allowed their personal political views of the death penalty to cloud their impartiality in these cases. The reason the U.S. Supreme Court has reinstated several of the death sentences vacated by the Kansas Supreme Court is because these decisions were legally flawed. Everyone is entitled to a fair trial, not a perfect trial. I challenge anyone to find a perfect capital murder trial where no errors were made, especially a case as complicated as this one. However, in a case like this one where evidence of guilt is so overwhelming and where any error, when weighed against the totality of the evidence presented against each defendant, could not possibly have resulted in a different verdict had it not occurred, the case should be affirmed. That was basically then-Justice Nancy Moritz's dissenting opinion in this 6-1 decision to vacate both death sentences. Any retrial or resentencing is an enormous waste of time and taxpayer money,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 24 UGANDA: Terror suspects linked to Al Shabaab further remanded Police are yet to conclude investigations in a case involving 10 terror suspects linked to Al Shabaab arrested last month from Kisenyi in Kampala. State prosecutor, Edward Muhumuza, on Thursday told Buganda Road Court that Police were yet to conclude investigations. Grade One Magistrate Simon Zirintuusa remanded the suspects to Luzira Prison until November 7. They are battling charges of aiding and abetting terrorism contrary to Section 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. On conviction, the penalty is death. Additionally, they are charged with the offence of belonging to a terrorist organisation contrary to Section 11(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Procedurally on completion of the probe, the Police informs the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, which notifies court of the development by formulating an indictment. The committal papers containing the indictment are then forwarded to the High Court, which has jurisdiction to try the capital offence of terrorism. Lawyers David Mushabe, Richard Rugambwa, Andrew Manzi, and Noah Sekabojja, represented the suspects. They are Mohamed Abdulkdir Hirsi alias Mohamed Abdul Aziz Adan, ,31, businessman; Somali national resident of Katwe-Kibirige House, Makindye division, Abdi Abdullahi Bootan, 26, driver; Somali refugee resident of Kisenyi opposite Delta Petrol station Rubaga division. Others are Hassan Abduwali Mohamoud, 25, Somali refugee, resident of Kisenyi, Rubaga division,Mohammed Ahmed Gele, 28, driver Somali refugee, resident of Lubaga Road, Rubaga division. Also included are Yasimin Abdullahi Aden, 20, a housewife, Somali refugee, resident of Kisenyi, Rubaga division, Hodan Ahmed Dahir, 23, unemployed Somali national, resident of Kisenyi, Mengo Yusufu Osman Hussein, 29, businessman, Somali refugee, resident of Namalwa I zone, Bukesa, Rubaga division Abdi Mohamed, 29, Somali refugee, resident of Namalwa I zone, Bukesa, Rubaga division, and Abdul Kadir, 24, unemployed Somali refugee, resident of Mengo Kisenyi opposite Missionary Poor School, Rubaga division. The Kenyan national is Mohamed Yusuf Farah, 31, a manager at Hauliers Transport, resident of Bulange, Mengo, Rubaga division. (source: New Vision) THAILAND: Parents of Myanmar Murder Suspects Arrive in Bangkok The parents of the 2 Myanmar suspects charged with killing 2 British tourists on Koh Tao island arrived at Bangkok's Don Muang airport 22nd October to be met by a throng of reporters. 3 parents and 1 uncle of the accused have flown in with the help of the Myanmar government and the Thai authorities and will be briefed by the Myanmar embassy before heading south to Samui Island where the suspects are being held, according to local Thai media. They arrived at the airport carrying photos of Thailand's King Bhumibol and were clearly distraught as they talked with reporters. After hours of discussion with lawyers from the Lawyers' Council of Thailand, the 2 men have recanted their confessions. Ko Zaw Lin Oo and Ko Win Zaw Tun have said in a statement to prosecutors that they confessed to the murders of Ms Hannah Witheridge, 23, and Mr David Miller, 24, on 15th September under duress or violence and now fully retract their confession. The 2 Myanmar migrant workers are charged with conspiracy to murder and rape, plus robbery, and could face the death penalty if found guilty. (source: Burma News International) Koh Tao murder suspects to meet parents tomorrow The parents of the 2 young Myanmar workers facing the death penalty in Thailand for allegedly murdering 2 British tourists on a resort island last month met with Thailand's Human Rights Commission, the Lawyers Council of Thailand and Myanmar's ambassador to Thailand yesterday to discuss the controversial case. "Their parents arrived here today. They met with Myanmar's ambassador to Thailand, Thailand's Human Rights Commission and the Lawyers Council of Thailand also joined the meeting," lawyer Aung Myo Than from the Myanmar Embassy said yesterday. A press conference was held after the meetings, Aung Mo said. "Thai media were supportive of the parents ... They said all Thai people want to know the truth about the case," he added. The 2 accused workers have retracted their confessions. Their lawyers said they were tortured and forced into making them. They have been jailed as they face court proceedings over the killing of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, whose battered bodies were found on Koh Tao (Turtle Island) on September 15. Their parents, along with the special envoy from Myanmar observing the case, will visit the pair at a prison on Samui Island on October 24. Thai police have come under intense criticism for repeated mistakes in their investigation into the murders, and it has been widely alleged that the 2 21-year-old Myanmar migrants were used as s
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, ALA., KAN., COLO., ARIZ.
Oct. 24 TEXAS: Experts: Texas Slowly Moving Away From Executions For years Texas has executed more prison inmates than any other state, but some believe that trend is coming to an end. Kristin Houle, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, says Texas is joining the rest of the nation in slowly moving away from executions. "One of the main factors driving this movement away from the death penalty, in Texas and nationally, is the rate or the incidents of wrongful convictions," Houle explained. According to Houle, there has also been an ongoing decline in the number of people sentenced to death row. In Texas, she says, the number of new death sentences has dropped about 75 % in the last decade. So far this year, Texas has carried out nine executions and Miguel Angel Paredes is scheduled to be put to death on October 28. Even with the expected death of Paredes, Houle says, "We will have carried out the fewest executions in Texas, this year, since 1996." In addition to fewer death sentences, Houle said the lower number of executions is directly related to recent revelations about wrongful convictions. Some activists are even taking to the streets to demand the death penalty be abolished. Rallies are planned across the state before the end of the year, and kick off this weekend in Houston with the 15th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty. (source: CBS news) * After 2 years on the run, Mission capital murder fugitive captured Police nabbed a 23-year-old man wanted for a 2012 fatal shooting and armed kidnapping. Carlos Olvera stood Thursday in Mission Municipal Court to face charges of capital murder and aggravated kidnapping after more than 2 years on the run. Police said Olvera was believed to have been hiding in Mexico after Rigoberto Olivarez's shooting death in December 2012. U.S. Border Patrol agents caught Olvera, of Diaz Ordaz, Tamps., trying to illegally enter the U.S. near Sullivan City on Tuesday. A check of Olvera's fingerprints linked him to the outstanding warrant for the Mission capital murder case. Olvera is 1 of 4 suspects investigators say participated in a home invasion and botched kidnapping in the 1200 block of West 24th Place that left Olivarez fatally shot. "I did not shoot," Olvera told Mission Municipal Judge Jonathan Wehrmeister in Spanish during his arraignment. "I did not have a weapon." Wehrmeister ordered Olvera, a Mexican national, to be held without bond ahead of his trial. If convicted of capital murder, he faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty. Olvera provided investigators with a statement of accused - considered a form of a confession - following his arrest, Mission police Det. Eduardo Hernandez Jr. said. He identified Jorge Ruiz, Eric Gomez Torres, and Ramon Nevarez as fellow participants in the fatal shooting and kidnapping. The other suspects may still be in Mexico, where they fled after the 2012 crime, police said. Investigators believe the 2012 home invasion stemmed from drug trafficking and that Olivarez knew Olvera and the other suspects. Police have said Olvera and 2 married couples, including Olivarez and his wife, were at a small party Dec. 22, 2012. Ruiz and Torres kicked in the door, ordering the 2 couples to lay down on the ground, police said following the incident. Witnesses told investigators that both men wore black masks during the attack. Ruiz carried a .223-caliber assault rifle later recovered after an 8-hour manhunt where the suspects escaped a high-speed chase with police. That rifle was later identified as the one that killed Olivarez, whose body was found in the kitchen of the house. He suffered 14 gunshot wounds in the attack. (source: The Monitior) ALABAMA: Does the death penalty or life in prison cost more for taxpayers? Does sentencing someone to death, really cost less? Or is it more cost effective to keep someone alive in prison? The whole conversation sparked from a story we posted about a Lauderdale couple, Patricia and Matthew Ayers, being sentenced to 2,000 years in prison for sexual abuse of a child.M Many people took to Facebook to voice their concerns, saying things like: "Death penalty, cause I don't want my tax dollars feeding them!" "Electric chair is cheaper, the way it is now, we have to pay for them as long as they live." But, is that really the case? "If you'd asked me, which is cheaper, my answer to you is, for my purposes, it doesn't matter," Broussard says. The Vera Institute of Justice estimated in 2010 it cost around $17,000 to house an inmate for a year. Assuming Patricia and Matthew Ayers live to 75, the average life expectancy in Alabama, that's between $570,405 and $708,685 in costs to the taxpayers to keep them in prison. That may be a lot, but when you compare it to the costs associated with the death penalty, we're look
