[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, TENN., KAN., ARIZ., CALIF.
Nov. 18 OHIO: Fast-tracked bill would shield execution drug Opponents have lined up to testify against a fast-tracked legislative proposal to shield the names of companies whose drugs are used for lethal injections in Ohio. The bill introduced a week ago and already set for a vote later this week in the House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee also would bar companies from entering into contracts prohibiting states from acquiring drugs for executions. The bill also prevents information about a lethal injection drugmaker or distributor from being disclosed in court. Such a proposal raises separation of power issues at the state and federal levels and likely would be ignored by a federal judge, state public defender Tim Young planned to tell the committee. The Republican-backed legislation is sponsored by state Reps. Jim Buchy and Matt Huffman and pushed by prosecutors, who say the bill is needed to help restart executions in the state. Buchy has said he believes the bill is constitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and other groups also planned to testify at Tuesday's hearing. Lawmakers are rushing the plan through before year's end even though the state prisons agency first proposed the need for confidentiality almost 2 years ago. Ohio's execution policy calls for the warden over death row to determine a month ahead of time if the state has enough drugs for an execution. The state's next scheduled execution is Feb. 11, when Ronald Phillips is set to die for the 1993 killing of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter. That puts the state's deadline for obtaining its 1st choice - compounded pentobarbital - by early next year. Executions have been on hold since January, when inmate Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted during a 26-minute execution that raised questions about the 2-drug method used to put him to death that had never been tried. Problems with this combo were further underscored in July when an Arizona inmate took nearly 2 hours to die. A federal judge delayed executions because of questions raised by McGuire's death. (source: Associated Press) TENNESSEE: Former death row inmate addresses TN death penalty At a time when more people are questioning the death penalty, Tennessee is trying to push through multiple executions. According to Death Penalty Information Center, there are 9 inmates with scheduled executions in Tennessee and 2 with stays. Monday night, a former death row inmate spoke at the University of Tennessee about how he was convicted of a crime he did not commit. Ray Krone served more than 10 years in prison. In 1991, Kim Ancona, 36, was murdered in a Phoenix, Arizona bar. Investigators pinpointed the murder, kidnapping and sexual assault on Krone. A jury then found Krone guilty of her murder and kidnapping. Once you're arrested, it's really hard to fight that system. It cost so much money that even working for the post office, I couldn't come near affording the $100,000 to defend myself. And being innocent, I thought, 'What do I have to worry anyway? I'll be fine. I didn't do anything,' Krone said. Krone was sentenced to death in 1991. It was not until 2002 that DNA testing proved Krone to be innocent. It's just important for everyone to understand that the justice system isn't perfect and there are people out there that are behind bars for crimes they didn't commit, said Phillip Gaul, a UT senior and treasurer for Young Americans for Liberty at UT. Young Americans for Liberty hosted the conversation. They were joined by Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty and the Knoxville Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The discussion included a growing number of conservatives who are rethinking the death penalty. We do exist to change that narrative because there is a fiction out there that all conservatives support the death penalty. And I'm proof that we don't and we're out there trying to change that narrative, said Marc Hyden, advocacy coordinator for Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. It is Krone's hope that a new narrative will form in Tennessee--one that doesn't include the death penalty. Right now, here in Tennessee, they want to rush the executions. Tennessee has had a number of exonerations itself. We don't get it right always, Krone said. We have a problem when we have a punishment, execution of taking someone's life, when we can't actually be absolutely sure. Krone, originally from Pennsylvania, now lives in Newport. He is the director of membership and training for Witness to Innocence. (source: WBIR news) * Supreme Court overturns Dickson inmate's death sentence The Tennessee Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for an inmate convicted of a 1995 murder and kidnapping. A statement from the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 18 SAUDI ARABIAexecution Syrian drug smuggler beheaded in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia today beheaded a Syrian convicted of drug trafficking, official media said, bringing to 68 the number of people executed this year despite international concern. Talal Ali Qassem was captured smuggling a large quantity of methamphetamine. Investigations led to his confession, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the interior ministry. Qassem was executed in the northern region of Jawf. The ministry says the government is battling narcotics because of their great harm to individuals and society. In September, an independent expert working on behalf of the United Nations called for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. Christof Heyns said that among his concerns was the obtaining of confessions under torture. Rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are also punishable by death under the kingdom's strict version of Islamic sharia law. (source: Agence France-Presse) ** 3 get death in Saudi for plots to 'wreak havoc' 3 people were sentenced to death and several others jailed in Saudi Arabia on Monday for Al-Qaeda linked crimes including the deadly bombing of a foreigners' housing compound, official media said. The attack on the Al-Mahya compound 11 years ago killed 17 people, mostly from Arab countries. A special court in the capital Riyadh convicted a total of eight accused, the official Saudi Press Agency said. In addition to those who received the death penalty, 5 others in the same cell were jailed for between 25 and 30 years for crimes including weapons possession and money laundering, SPA said. It described as heinous the acts of those sentenced to death but did not detail their exact roles. The group was convicted of offences that included pledging allegiance to Al-Qaeda, and planning to storm companies and a residential compound in the Gulf coast community of Khobar, SPA said. There they planned to kill a large number of people from different nationalities as well as security men, it added. The accused also prepared car bombs in a plan to wreak havoc inside the kingdom, SPA said. Authorities in 2011 established specialised tribunals to try Saudis and foreigners accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda or of involvement in deadly attacks in the country from 2003-2006. The latest convictions come with Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours taking part in US-led air strikes against Islamic State group extremists in Syria, which has raised concerns about possible retaliation in the kingdom. (source: Asia One) *** Death sentences The man who gunned down an Irish cameraman working for the BBC in Saudi Arabia 10 years ago has been sentenced to death, a diplomatic source told AFP on Tuesday. Simon Cumbers, 36, was filming near the home of a wanted militant in the Saudi capital when he was killed in the 2004 attack, in which the current BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner was also left paralyzed. The man, reportedly a Saudi, was sentenced for the murder of Simon Cumbers, said the source, who was present at Monday's court hearing. As I understand it, there was a whole series of charges, which also related to the wounding of Gardner, said the source. Cumber's killer was among 3 men the official Saudi Press Agency reported were sentenced to death on Monday for al-Qaeda linked crimes. 5 others were jailed for between 25 and 30 years for similar offenses. Moreover, Saudi judges have this year passed death sentences for 5 pro-democracy advocates, including prominent activist and cleric Nimr al-Nimr, for their part in protests. Human rights organizations and activists have called on Saudi Arabia to overturn the death sentences handed down to pro-democracy activists, accusing the Saudi regime of curbing freedom of speech and opinion. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch urged the Saudi authorities to abolish The Specialized Criminal Court, the body that sentenced the 5 activists and many others to death, saying that analysis revealed serious due process concerns such as broadly framed charges, denial of access to lawyers, and quick dismissal of allegations of torture without investigation. (source: al-akhbar.com) IRANexecutions 2 Sunni Baloch prisoners executed in Iran 2 Sunni prisoners of conscience from Iran's Baloch minority were executed on Thursday morning in Zahedan Central prison, Sistan-Baluchestan province of Iran. According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 22-year old Vahid Shah Bakhsh and 23-year old Mahmoud Shah Bakhsh were taken to the gallows and hanged on 13 November 2014 on charges of 'Moharabeh [enmity against God] and acting against national security'. Both men had been subjected to severe torture whilst being held at the Ministry of Intelligence Detention Center in Zahedan, and the
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., LA., OHIO, MO.
Nov. 18 PENNSYLVANIA: Northampton County judge delays death sentence of Michael Ballard A Northampton County judge on Tuesday delayed the execution of 5-time killer Michael Ballard so the death row inmate could try to enter lawsuits challenging Pennsylvania's lethal injection methods. Over and over, Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano asked Ballard if he was certain he wanted to forgo his rights to appeal his death sentence. Did he receive effective legal counsel? Did he receive a fair trial? Did he his punishment fit his crimes? Over and over, the death row inmate said yes. You do understand that death is death -- meaning that death is final? Giordano asked. Yes, said Ballard, handcuffed to a wheelchair and guarded by Northampton County sheriff's deputies. At the end of the 45-minute hearing, Giordano ruled Ballard is competent to make the decision and was knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily giving up his rights to dispute his death sentences. But Ballard's recent efforts to enter state and federal lawsuits against the drugs used to put inmates to death meant his Dec. 2 execution date could not be carried out, Giordano ruled. District Attorney John Morganelli did not challenge the stay, saying if Giordano didn't grant the delay, another judge at a more distant court would. For months, Ballard has said he will not appeal his sentence, which had put him on the fast track for death in a state that has not executed a prisoner in 15 years. When federal attorneys attempted to enter a defense on his behalf to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ballard wrote the high court, saying they were not acting on his behalf. A cautious Giordano ordered Ballard in August to undergo a mental evaluation to make sure he was competent to waive his appeal rights. Psychologist Frank Dattilio testified Tuesday that Ballard was competent. His findings and Ballard's denials ended the efforts of Jonathan Lee Riches, a Pennsylvania inmate and Internet celebrity, who lobbed baseless accusations that Ballard was mentally unfit to make the decision and that he had been mistreated by his attorneys and prison officials. Giordano was required to go through each of Riches' claims, including that one of Ballard's attorneys was biased because of a sexual relationship with a relative of one of Ballard's victims, that prison officials didn't provide him adequate nourishment and that Ballard was mentally ill. Ballard became visibly annoyed as Giordano addressed Riches' briefings. He needs psychological help, Ballard said. When Giordano continued to sort through the accusations, Ballard interrupted and asked the judge to move on. I don't want to give him the platform he's seeking. After the hearing, defense attorney Michael Corriere said Ballard was pleased with the outcome. He has maintained to attorneys that he does not want to fight his execution, and Giordano's rulings put everything in place. It's his choice to make, and obviously he's competent, Corriere said. Morganelli said he was satisfied with the outcome as well. Despite Ballard's instance that he won't, the death row inmate has until June 23, 2015, to change his mind about his appeal process. There was little chance Ballard's execution would occur before that date, Morganelli said. Death row cases in Pennsylvania have been delayed for years because federal judges who oppose the death penalty keep overturning their executions, Morganelli said. Ballard's insistence on barring federal defense attorneys from interfering on his case, his overwhelming guilt and the lack of extenuating circumstances remove many of the roadblocks these cases normally face, Morganelli said. I do believe Michael Ballard will face the death penalty carried out, he said. Ballard pleaded guilty to the 2010 murders of his ex-girlfriend Denise Merhi, her father Dennis Marsh, her grandfather Alvin Marsh and her neighbor Steven Zernhelt. A Northampton County jury sentenced him to death for each of the murders. He previously pleaded guilty to killing Donald Richard in 1991. (source: Express-Times) *** Jury now deciding if Hicks should get death penalty Closing arguments have concluded in the sentencing of Charles Ray Hicks, convicted Friday in Monroe County Court of murdering and dismembering a Scranton woman in 2008. The jury is now deliberating whether Mr. Hicks should get life in prison, or the death penalty. Mr. Hicks, 40, of Coolbaugh Twp., was found guilty of killing 36-year-old Deanna Null, then cutting up her body and dumping it, wrapped in garbage bags, along interstate highways in Monroe and Lackawanna counties. All death penalties are automatically reviewed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which can cancel the sentence. Today, on the 2nd and final day of sentencing, the jury heard from several witnesses for the defense who said Mr. Hicks has been a role model for other prisoners during
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 18 LEBANON: Fist fight erupts as court postpones Abra trials The trial of Abra detainees ended Tuesday in a clash between 1 of the suspects and the police as the military court decided to postpone the trial until Dec. 2, judicial sources said. The military court delayed the trial of the Abra detainees after interrogating 8 suspects. When the session ended, 1 of the captives requested to talk to the judge. Military police refused to let him, and the suspect began to yell. A scuffle then broke out between the suspect and the military police, who were able to put the situation under control. The military court is trying 71 people, including radical preacher Ahmad al-Assir, over last year's clashes in Abra. The suspects, including Assir and 24 other fugitives, are accused of murdering and attempting to murder soldiers and civilians, of committing terrorist operations, possessing weapons and explosives, instigating sectarian tension and calling for sectarian fighting. If convicted, many of the detainees could face death penalty. The anti-Hezbollah preacher, whose followers clashed with the Lebanese Army in June 2013, is still on the run, while many of his followers were arrested after the clashes. The attacks resulted in the death of 18 Army soldiers and around 40 of Assir's followers. The Army was able to arrest 46 suspects. Assir was the imam of the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque in Abra, near which the clashes occurred, and a critic of Hezbollah's activity in Sidon. He claimed that the Lebanese government was controlled by Hezbollah and that state institutions, especially its security forces, were biased against Sunnis. The families of the detainees have demonstrated on several occasions to demand the quick and fair trial of their sons, after the case has been delayed multiple times. (source: The Daily Star) INDIA: Man sentenced to death for killing 2 children A local court today awarded capital punishment to a person for killing 2 children last year. Additional District Judge, Bhudev Gautam, gave death penalty to Mahipal for killing 6-year-old Vikash and his cousin Jitendra (7) on January 9, 2013 over a land dispute with their family. Both the brothers were abducted by Mahipal from their house in Kanakpur village in Dataganj area and were later killed. The police had later arrested the accused. (source: Press Trust of India) PAKISTAN: Christian Professor in Pakistan Accused of Blasphemy, May Face Death Penalty Like Asia Bibi A Christian professor was arrested for blasphemy in Lahore, Pakistan, and has been accused of desecrating the name of the Prophet Mohammad, the same charge brought against Christian mother Asia Bibi, who is currently facing the death penalty. According to Fides News Agency, Qaiser Ayub, a computer science professor, had been a fugitive for close to three years after hiding from police when accused of writing blasphemous comments on his blog. Sardar Mushtaq Gill, national director of advocacy group Legal Evangelical Association Development, said that despite the threat of arrest, the professor had been teaching recently at a school in Lahore, which triggered the police warrant. We also request prayer for him, Gill said, noting that his group will be providing legal assistance. Currently, Ayub is being held at a police station in the town of Talagang in Punjab's Chakwal District. The allegations brought against Ayub are the same ones brought against Christian mother of 5 Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death in 2010 after being accused of blaspheming against Islam by a group of Muslim women. In response, the American Center for Law and Justice has started a petition asking the U.S. government to stop sending foreign aid to Pakistan. We must stop sending billions of our taxpayer dollars to nations that persecute Christians. It's that simple. Not one more dime for persecution. Cut off American foreign aid to any country that persecutes Christians, states the petition, addressing Congress and President Barack Obama. As a wave of persecution sweeps across the Middle East - and Christians flee for their lives - it's time for the money to stop, it adds. Already there is growing support for basic human rights and basic common sense on Capitol Hill. Earlier this month, a Christian couple who was killed and set on fire by a Muslim mob allegedly for desecrating the Quran. However, media reports have revealed that the origins of this incident actually lay in a financial dispute between the couple and their employer, a local brick kiln owner. This incident appears to be yet another tragic example of how the social environment created by Pakistan's blasphemy laws allows personal disputes and vendettas to be pursued under religious pretexts, encouraging mob violence, says Peter Prove, director of the World Council of Church's Commission of the Churches on International Affairs.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----NEB., UTAH, USA, US MIL.
Nov. 18 NEBRASKA: Death-row inmate files appeal in federal court A Gering, Nebraska, man convicted of abducting, raping and murdering a 15-year-old newspaper delivery girl in 2003 is asking a federal judge to set aside his death penalty conviction. Jeffrey Hessler filed a writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court of Nebraska on Monday arguing that he suffered from mental illness when he confessed to police and therefore didn't understand the law or his constitutional rights. He also contends that he was provided ineffective legal counsel and didn't receive a fair trial because jurors couldn't have possibly remained impartial with everyone in town talking about the murder, Hessler's court filing said. Hessler waived his right to counsel and chose to represent himself during the trial. Heather Guerrero, 15, was snatched while she was delivering newspapers in her Gering, Nebraska, neighborhood on Feb. 11, 2003. She was raped in an abandoned farmhouse and then shot in the head. Authorities found Guerrero's body in the house the next day. A jury found Hessler guilty, and a panel of 3 judges ordered him to receive the death penalty. Hessler has appealed his conviction numerous times. In July, his case made it to the Nebraska Supreme Court, where justices affirmed a lower court's ruling to deny Hessler's appeal. (source: omaha.com) UTAH: 'I failed horribly,' says mother of slain Ethan StacyLayton woman sent to prison for death of 4-year-old Stephanie Sloop pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and obstruction of justice Monday in connection with the death of her 4-year-old son, Ethan Stacy, in 2010. She was ordered to spend 20 years to life in prison. A Layton mother who once faced a potential death penalty cried to a judge Monday before she was sentenced to prison for murdering her 4-year-old son. I had an obligation and a responsibility as his mother to take care of him and protect him and I failed horribly, Stephanie Sloop said. After explaining that it was her own selfishness that led to the brutal death of Ethan Stacy, Sloop was sentenced Monday to 20 years to life in prison. I was selfish when I brought Ethan into this world. I was selfish during his life. And I was selfish in his death, she told the judge. I have no one to blame but myself and my selfish behavior for Ethan's death. I am entirely responsible because I am his mommy. I failed to take care of him properly because I couldn't even take care of myself. My selfishness and failure as a parent caused Pumpkin's death. There's no changing the fact that I'm the one responsible, she said. Second District Judge Thomas L. Kay ordered Sloop, 31, to serve 20 years to life in prison for aggravated murder, a 1st-degree felony, and 1 to 15 years years for obstruction of justice, a 2nd-degree felony. He ordered the sentences to be served concurrently as part of a plea agreement. The sentence brings to a close the tragic case of Ethan Stacy, who was sent from Virginia to live with his biological mother, Stephanie Sloop and her fiance, in Layton in 2010 because of a court-ordered custody agreement. In just a little over a week, Ethan was severely abused, scalded, beaten, overmedicated and not given the medical care that he needed. Nathan and Stephanie Sloop got married on May 6, but left Ethan at home alone because they didn't want anyone to notice his bruises and swelling. When he died, the Sloops attempted to hide their crime by disfiguring Ethan's body by burning him, smashing his face with a hammer and then burying him a shallow grave near Powder Mountain in Weber County where they sprinkled dog food over his grave. Joe Stacy, Ethan's father, was in the courtroom for Monday's hearing but did not speak. Outside the courtroom, Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said his interaction with Stacy over the past 4 years has been the most gut-wrenching part of the case. That's what's had the most impact on me, is having to deal personally with a father that loved a 4 1/2-year-old child, that lost that 4 1/2-year-old child through no fault of his own in circumstances he had no control over - a court order to send his son out here to this situation. He was sending him to his death. In the environment, the toxic environment, the perfect storm of Nathaniel and Stephanie Sloop. Sloop was not thinking clearly when she married Nathan Sloop and did not think she could leave, defense attorney Mary Corporon told the court Monday, while conceding that she could have done more to protect her son. In exchange for Sloop's guilty pleas to aggravated murder and obstruction of justice, prosecutors agreed to drop charges of intentionally inflicting serious physical injury on a child, a 2nd-degree felony, and abuse or desecration of a dead human body, a 3rd-degree felony. Nathan Sloop, 35, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in February to aggravated murder. By accepting
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS
TEXAS SET TO EXECUTE SEVERELY MENTALLY ILL MAN Scott Panetti, a 56-year-old man whose serious mental illness predated and contributed to the 1992 double murder for which he was sent to death row, and which infected his trial and persists to this day, is scheduled to be executed in Texas on 3 December. View the full Urgent Action, including case information, addresses and sample messages, here. Scott Louis Panetti was hospitalized more than a dozen times between 1981 and 1992 as a result of his mental illness, including schizophrenia. When he and his wife, Sonja Alvarado, separated in August 1992, she took their three-year-old daughter and went to stay with her parents, Amanda and Joe Alvarado. On 8 September 1992, Scott Panetti shaved his head, dressed in military fatigues and drove to the Alvarados' home, where he shot his parents-in-law. He allowed Sonja and their daughter to leave. Later that day he changed into a suit and gave himself up to the police. He stated that “Sarge” (an auditory hallucination) controlled him during the crime, that divine intervention had meant that the victims did not suffer, and that demons had been laughing at him as he left the house. In July 1994 a hearing to determine whether Scott Panetti was competent to stand trial was declared a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. A second hearing before another jury was held in September 1994. His lawyer testified that in the previous two years, he had had no useful communication with Scott Panetti because of his delusional thinking. A psychiatrist for the defense concluded that Panetti was not competent to stand trial. A psychiatrist for the prosecution agreed with the previous diagnoses of schizophrenia, and that Scott Panetti’s delusional thinking could interfere with his communications with his legal counsel, but concluded that he was competent. The jury agreed. Scott Panetti waived his right to counsel and the case went to trial in 1995 with him acting as his own lawyer. During the trial, Scott Panetti dressed as a cowboy and gave a rambling defense. Numerous people, including doctors, relatives and lawyers, who attended the trial described it as a “farce”, a “joke”, a “circus”, and a “mockery”. A lawyer appointed as stand-by counsel later recalled: “I have copies of the 200-plus subpoenas he filed. Scott wanted to subpoena Jesus Christ, JFK, actors, actresses, and people who had died”. Scott Panetti’s current lawyers have filed a clemency petition and are also seeking a judicial stay of execution so that his competency for execution can be assessed, that is, whether he has a genuine understanding of the reality of and reason for his punishment. His competency has not been assessed since 2008. The lawyers have filed information from prison records indicating that his mental illness, delusions and irrational conduct persist. They also state that he reports “hearing voices”, and claims the prison authorities have planted a “listening device” in his tooth and want him executed to shut him up “about the corruption” and to stop him from “preaching the Gospel.” ADDITIONAL INFORMATION On 4 February 2004, Scott Panetti was 24 hours from execution in the Texas death chamber when a federal court issued a stay. The case was eventually taken by the US Supreme Court, which on 28 June 2007 used it to clarify a ruling it had made 21 years earlier. In Ford v. Wainwright in 1986, the Court had affirmed that the execution of the “insane” violates the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment ban on “cruel and unusual punishments”. However, the Ford ruling neither defined competence for execution, nor did a majority mandate specific procedures that had to be followed by the individual states to determine whether an inmate was incompetent. The result was different standards in different states, judicial uncertainty, and minimal protection against the death penalty for seriously mentally ill inmates (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR51/003/2006/en). View the full Urgent Action here. Name: Scott Panetti (m) Issues: Death penalty, Imminent execution, Unfair trial UA: 292/14 Issue Date: 18 November 2014 Country: USA Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact! EITHER send a short email to u...@aiusa.org with UA 292/14 in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent. OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action. Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the above date. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at u...@aiusa.org or to the Urgent Action Office address below. A petition by Victoria Panetti to stop her brother’s execution is at http://chn.ge/1v3cc5m. Please help maximize numbers signing. HOW YOU CAN HELP Please write immediately in English or
