[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 7 FIJI: EU welcomes Fiji's abolishment of death penalty Fiji has been praised for being the 99th country in the world to have joined the ranks to abolish the death penalty of all crimes. The European Union has welcomed Fiji's decision to abolish the death penalty through the R F M F Amendment Act of 2015. EU Ambassador to the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs, says this is a big step forward for the nation as we prepare to commemorate World Day against the Death Penalty on Saturday. He adds that it's important to continue to push for the abolishment of death penalty worldwide - as it represents an inhumane, degrading treatment. "There's no proven deterrent factor in having the death penalty and having a death penalty allows judicial errors which can no longer be corrected after a death penalty has been carried out." Jacobs says Fiji's repeal of the death penalty will hopefully trigger similar positive moves in the region. The EU is calling on the remaining island countries -Tonga, Nauru and Papua New Guinea to abolish the death penalty as well. Earlier this month, Foreign Affairs Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola told the U N that Fiji's ban of on death penalty stemmed from the growing international trend to remove capital punishment. Kububola adds that this is consistent with Fiji's new Constitution which guarantees every person the right to life. (source: Fiji Broadcasting Corporation) CHINA: China reduces the number of crimes punishable by death to 46, but keep drug trafficking in the listChina removes nine non-violent and rarely used criminal offenses from capital punishment. The amended Criminal Law, which will take effect on Nov. 1, removed 9 crimes punishable by death including: smuggling weapons, ammunition, nuclear materials or counterfeit currency; counterfeiting currency; raising funds by means of fraud; arranging for or forcing another person to engage in prostitution; obstructing a police officer or a person on duty from performing his duties; and fabricating rumors to mislead others during wartime. It is the 2nd time China has reduced the number of crimes punishable by death over the past 5 years. In 2011, the NPC Standing Committee dropped the death penalty for 13 crimes, reducing the list from 68 to 55. The death penalty is still used for a wide range of crimes, including non-violent crimes such as corruption and drug-related offenses. China remains the country with most executions in the world, estimated at 2,400 in 2014. (source: worldcoalition.org) PAKISTAN: Pakistan's top court upholds death sentence for Punjab's former governor Taseer's killer Pakistan's highest court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for the killer of the governor of the country's wealthiest and most populous province after he had called for reform of the blasphemy law. Since 1990, at least 65 people have been killed in cases linked to blasphemy, data collected by Reuters shows. Wednesday's ruling was seen as a victory for human rights activists who say the blasphemy law, which mandates the death penalty, is often used in poor rural areas to settle personal scores. In 2011, Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was shot dead by a bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, after he had sought a presidential pardon for Asia Bibi, a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. Both the trial court and the high court of Islamabad, the capital, sentenced Qadri to death. He appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision. "The criminal appeal filed by the convict is dismissed," the Supreme Court said in its ruling. "The appeal filed by the state is allowed. The conviction and sentence by the trial court are restored." Qadri's lawyer could not be reached for comment immediately. Judges in Pakistan are reluctant to hear blasphemy cases, as the presentation of evidence in court can itself be considered a new infringement of the law. But while hearing Qadri's appeals, judges said criticising the blasphemy law did not amount to blasphemy. Taseer was an outspoken critic of the harsh law, saying it was being misused. 2 months after Taseer's murder, Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian, was murdered by the Taliban for demanding changes to the blasphemy law. Last year, gunmen posing as clients shot dead a prominent human rights lawyer defending a professor accused of blasphemy. The judge who first convicted him was forced to flee the country after death threats. An anti-terrorism court handed down a double death sentence for murder and terrorism in late 2011. Qadri appealed, and in March, the Islamabad High Court upheld the murder sentence, while striking down the terrorism conviction. (source: Times of Oman) ** Over 6000 condemned prisoners in Pakistan There are now more than 6000 death row prisoners in Pakistan - more than anywhere in the world - new government figures have revealed. According to th
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., N.C., GA., KAN., USA
Oct. 7 PENNSYLVANIA: Johnson appeal denied The United States Supreme Court denied Christopher Johnson's petition for writ of certiorari on Monday, 1 day and 3 years after he was given the death penalty. Johnson, now 32, was given the death penalty by a Lancaster jury in Adams County Court on Oct. 4, 2012 after being convicted of 1st-degree murder in the 2010 shooting death of Pennsylvania Wildlife Conservation Officer David Grove. (soruce: Gettysburg Times) NORTH CAROLINA: HPU/N&R Poll: North Carolinians Favor Death Penalty and Prefer Sales to Income Taxes The High Point University/News and Record Poll finds that an overwhelming large majority of North Carolinians (72 percent) believe that there are crimes where the death penalty is appropriate, and 24 % believe the death penalty should not be used at all. 63 % of North Carolinians favor the death penalty for a person convicted of murder and 28 % oppose. When North Carolinians were asked which method of the death penalty was the most humane, 64 % said lethal injection. "It is clear from these findings that people in North Carolina believe that the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for at least some crimes, and lethal injection is seen as the most humane means by many more people than any other single method," says Martin Kifer, HPU Poll director and assistant professor of political science. "There does not appear to be much support for changes in policy governing capital punishment here in North Carolina." Thinking in general about your views of the death penalty, are there any crimes for which you believe people should receive the death penalty? Yes - 72 % HPU N&R Poll - Death penalty - Oct. 2015 No - 24 % Don't know/refused - 4 % (All adult (North Carolina resident) sample surveyed September 26 - October 1, n = 446 and margin of sampling error approximately = +/- 4.6 %) All adults - Death Penalty for Murder Conviction (September/October 2015) Do you strongly favor, favor, oppose or strongly oppose the death penalty for persons convicted of murder? Strongly favor - 30 % Favor - 33 % Oppose - 17 % Strongly Oppose - 11 % Don't know/refused - 9 % (All adult (North Carolina resident) sample surveyed September 26 - October 1, n = 446 and margin of sampling error approximately = +/- 4.6 %) All adults - Most Human Death Penalty Punishment (September/October 2015) Apart from your opinion about the death penalty, what form of punishment do you consider to be the most humane - the electric chair, the gas chamber, lethal injection, firing squad or hanging? Electric chair - 2 % Gas chamber - 4 % Firing squad - 9 % Hanging - 6 % Lethal injection - 64 % None - 7 % No opinion/don't know - 7 % Refused - 2 % The most recent HPU Poll was fielded by live interviewers at the High Point University Survey Research Center calling on Sept. 26 - Oct. 1, 2015. The responses from a sample of all North Carolina counties came from 446 adults with landline or cellular telephones. The Survey Research Center contracted with Survey Sampling International to acquire this sample. The survey has an estimated margin of sampling error of approximately 4.6 % points for all adult respondents. The data is weighted toward population estimates for cellular and landline telephone use, age, gender and race. In addition to sampling error, factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional error into the findings of opinion polls. Details from this survey are available at http://www.highpoint.edu/src/files/2015/10/41memoB.pdf. Further results and methodological details from the most recent survey and past studies can be found at the Survey Research Center website at http://www.highpoint.edu/src/. The materials online include past press releases as well as memos summarizing the findings (including approval ratings) for each poll since 2010. The HPU Poll reports methodological details in accordance with the standards set out by AAPOR???s Transparency Initiative, and the HPU Survey Research Center is a Charter Member of the Initiative. For more information, see http://transparency.aapor.org/index.php/transparency. You can follow the HPU Poll on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HPUSurveyCenter. (source: Dr. Martin Kifer, assistant professor of political science, serves as the director of the HPU Poll, and Brian McDonald serves as the assistant director of the HPU Pollhighpoint.edu) GEORGIA: McAfee prof sees hope in Gissendaner's life and example, despite executionMelissa Browning was an organizer of a grassroots campaign to save the life of Kelly Gissendaner, who was eventually excecuted on Sept. 29 in Georgia. Despite that, Browning said she was encouraged by the anti-capital punishment passion she saw develop during the campaign. Melissa Browning's Facebook page tells the story. More specifically, it tell
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Oct. 7 SOUTH AFRICA/MALAYSIA: Govt bids to save SA drug smuggler The South African government has requested a meeting with the Malaysian government in a bid to save a South African drug smuggler from the death penalty. Deon Cornelius was sentenced to death by a Malaysian court in January this year for attempting to smuggle drugs into the country in 2013. The 29-year-old Johannesburg man was arrested at Penang International Airport after he was found to be in possession of 2kg of methamphetamine. Cornelius claimed that a man named Tony had given him a laptop containing the drugs. Cornelius last week lost an appeal against his death sentence but the South African government is now making a last ditch attempt to have his sentence lightened. "We will make representations on his behalf with the Malaysian government regarding possibly turning the judgment to a lighter sentence," Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesperson Nelson Kgwete said in a News24 report. "Our embassy in Malaysia has sent a letter to the minister requesting a meeting to negotiate these terms. We have also conveyed to Malaysia our position on the death sentence." Malaysia has a zero tolerance approach to drug smuggling and foreigners caught with drugs are often sentenced to death. Cornelius is set to make a final appeal to Malaysia's federal court. (source: iafrica.com) SINGAPORE: Nordea Singapore Employee Charged for 5-Year-Old Son's Murder Philippe Graffart, head of Asia Pacific fund distribution at Nordea Investment Management in Singapore, was charged in a Singapore court on Wednesday for the murder of his 5-year-old son. Graffart, 41, will be remanded for psychiatric observation. He didn't enter a plea and his next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28. He wasn't represented by a lawyer. If convicted, he may face the death penalty. Singapore Police said on Tuesday an injured man was found outside a police center at 5:11 a.m. After preliminary inquiries, officers went to an apartment unit, where the man's son was found lying motionless in a bedroom, according to a statement on the Singapore Police Force website. Paramedics pronounced the boy dead at 6:17 a.m. Magnus Nelin, a spokesman for Stockholm-based Nordea, confirmed in an e-mailed response to queries that Graffart is employed by the bank. "We are aware of this very tragic event and our thoughts go out to the family," Nelin said. "We can't comment further at this stage. We have to wait for the ongoing investigation and the court's ruling." The case is Prosecutor v Graffart Philippe Marcel Guy, Singapore State Courts. (source: Bloomberg news) ENGLAND/SAUDI ARABIA: PM 'could intervene' over death row Saudi's case David Cameron has said he will "look to see if there is an opportunity" to intervene personally on behalf of a protester on death row in Saudi Arabia. Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr was 17 when he was arrested for taking part in anti-government protests in 2011. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has urged Mr Cameron to directly intervene. The PM said the government had raised the case but also defended the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia saying it was important for national security. "We have a relationship with Saudi Arabia, and if you want to know why, I will tell you why, " Mr Cameron told Channel 4 News on Tuesday. "It's because we receive from them important intelligence and security information that keeps us safe. "There was one occasion since I've been prime minister where a bomb that would have potentially blown up over Britain was stopped because of intelligence we got from Saudi Arabia. "Of course it would be easier for me to say, 'I'm not having anything to do with these people, it's all terribly difficult et cetera et cetera.' For me, Britain's national security and our people's security comes first." 'Horrific sentence' Mr al-Nimr was accused of taking part in anti-government protests in the eastern part of the country in 2011, involving the country's Shia Muslim minority, and was arrested the following year. State media later reported he had been found guilty of a long list of crimes including sedition, breaking allegiance to the king, rioting, using petrol bombs against security patrols, robbing a pharmacy and more. He could be beheaded and his body displayed in public. Last month, Mr Corbyn urged the prime minister to raise the case "directly" with his Saudi counterparts and "request that they commute the unjust and horrific sentence... which violates any number of international laws". Mr Corbyn also raised questions about a Ministry of Justice bid to provide services to Saudi prisons. Mr Cameron said: "We have raised this as a government. The foreign secretary has raised this, our embassy has raised this, we raise this in the proper way. "I will look to see if there is an opportunity for me to raise it as well. We op
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MONT., CALIF.
Oct. 7 MONTANA: Judge Blocks Montana From Using Drug in Executions A judge on Tuesday blocked Montana from using a particular drug in lethal injections, effectively halting executions in the state until an adequate substitute can be found or lawmakers change the law. The barbiturate pentobarbital does not meet the state law's standards for executions, District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock said. Sherlock stressed that his ruling is not on whether the death penalty is constitutional or whether the drug's use constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, but only whether the drug satisfies the law. "Scrupulous adherence to statutory mandates is especially important here given the gravity of the death penalty," Sherlock said in his order. Montana's 2-drug lethal injection law requires the use of an "ultra-fast acting barbiturate" to quickly put the inmate into a coma, followed by a paralytic agent called pancuronium. The state's execution protocol lists sodium pentothal as the barbiturate, with pentobarbital as a substitute. Sodium pentothal is no longer manufactured in the U.S., and it can't be imported, which has left death-penalty states such as Montana to adjust their execution protocols. Pentobarbital is used for lethal injections in other states, and while the drug does act quickly, it does not meet the "ultra-fast" classification required by the Montana Legislature, ruled Sherlock, who is based in Helena. "Under the express terms of the statute, the State of Montana is not allowed to use the 'fastest acting barbiturate available' or a 'relatively fast-acting barbiturate,' only an 'ultra-fast acting barbiturate,' the judge wrote. Medical evidence shows only 3 barbiturates can be classified as "ultra-fast acting," and pentobarbital is not one of them, the judge said. Sodium pentothal, or thiopental, is one, along with thiamylal and methohexital. Sodium pentothal takes effect almost instantaneously, while a person given pentobarbital would breathe longer, move his body and slur his words before taking effect, Dr. Mark Heath, a Columbia University anesthesiologist, testified last month. Department of Justice spokesman John Barnes says state attorneys are reviewing Sherlock's decision. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Judy Beck did not immediately return a call for comment on whether a substitution for pentobarbital was available. Montana's last execution was carried out in 2006, and pentobarbital has not been used in its lethal-injection mixture. Tuesday's ruling was made in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana on behalf of the state's 2 death-row inmates, Ronald Allen Smith and William Gollehon. They argued that if the barbiturate does not take effect quickly enough, a condemned inmate could remain conscious while he suffers to death. "While the ACLU will continue to fight for the abolition of the death penalty in Montana, we are gratified that, in the short term, our state will be staying out of the business of killing people," ACLU of Montana Executive Director Caitlin Borgmann said. (source: Associated Press) * Judge rejects execution drug in case of Canadian on death row A U.S. judge has rejected a request from the state of Montana to change one of the drugs used to execute prisoners on death row. The decision by District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock could be good news for Ronald Smith of Red Deer, Alta., who is 1 of 2 inmates condemned to die in that state. Sherlock presided over a hearing last month on whether the sedative pentobarbital, which was being proposed by the state, complies with language in Montana's execution protocol requiring an "ultra-fast-acting barbiturate." Lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the sedative could lead to an "excruciating and terrifying" death. "This case is not about whether the use of pentobarbital in a lethal injection setting is cruel and unusual or if pentobarbital in the doses contemplated by the State of Montana would produce a painless death," wrote Sherlock in his decision. "This case is only about whether the drug selected ... meets the legislatively required classification of being an ultra-fast-acting barbiturate. "The court rules that pentobarbital is not." Sherlock's decision means it's back to the drawing board for Montana officials, who are now prevented from going ahead with any executions. "The State of Montana will either need to select a barbiturate that is ultra-fast-acting ... or it will need to modify its statute." Lethal injection has been the sole method of execution in Montana since 1997. It is the only state that specifies the death penalty must be accomplished by an "ultra-fast-acting" barbiturate. Ron Waterman, a senior counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, was happy with the ruling and said the issue will have to go back to the state legislature. "It would have t
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, KAN., OKLA., NEB.
Oct. 7 OHIO: Ohio bill would spare severely mentally ill from execution A person judged to suffer from severe mental illness at the time of a killing that could result in a death sentence would be spared from capital punishment under a bill before Ohio lawmakers. The proposed legislation would allow a hearing before trial on an offender's mental illness and permit a judge to rule out the death penalty if severe mental illness is proven. The bill sponsored by Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, was scheduled for a first hearing Wednesday before the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. The bill would also allow current death row inmates to challenge their sentences on the basis of mental illness at the time of their crimes. Illnesses covered by the bill include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. (source: Associated Press) ** Court vacates death sentence, upholds conviction of Youngstown man The Ohio Supreme Court has set aside the death sentence of Bennie Adams, who was convicted in 2007 for the 1985 murder of a Youngstown State University student who lived in the same apartment building. The state charged Adams with aggravated murder. Adams was eligible for the death penalty, the state alleged, because he murdered his victim while committing one or more underlying felonies - rape, kidnapping, aggravated robbery, or aggravated burglary. But the state did not ask the jury to indicate which of the underlying felonies Adams committed. In such circumstances, Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor explained in the majority opinion, Ohio law requires the state to produce substantial evidence to prove all four felonies. Because the state did not establish that Adams committed aggravated burglary, "the evidence is, as a matter of law, insufficient to support a death sentence," she wrote. The Supreme Court upheld Adams' conviction for aggravated murder, though. The case now returns to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing in line with the decision. The chief justice noted, however, that the state is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution's double jeopardy clause from seeking the death penalty on remand. Woman Reports Break-In In fall 1985, Gina Tenney lived alone in a 2nd-floor apartment of a converted house in Youngstown. Adams resided in a downstairs apartment with his girlfriend. The house had a shared common area that led to the apartments. On Dec. 25, 1985, about 1 a.m., Tenney told a friend she heard someone at the door with keys trying to get into her apartment. She called her ex-boyfriend who came over and left near 3 a.m. Again, she heard someone at the door. She had placed a chair against the door, and the intruder knocked over the chair and entered her apartment. She called the police, who later found footprints in the snow from her apartment to a location on a different street. 5 days later, Tenney was discovered dead in the Mahoning River. Police Find Victim's Items in Neighbor's Apartment Detective William Blanchard, who Tenney spoke with the day after the break-in, and 2 homicide detectives went to the home to investigate. Adams let them in the front door. When the officers found Tenney's door locked, they went back to Adams' apartment to ask to call the building's owner for a key. Adams allowed them inside his apartment to use his phone. While 1 detective made the call, the other 2 were talking with Adams when they heard a noise from another room. The officers went into a back bedroom and found Horace Landers hiding behind a door. One of the officers recognized Landers and recalled that a misdemeanor warrant was out for him. The detectives arrested and handcuffed Landers. It was cold outside and he was shirtless, so Blanchard put a shirt from the bed over his shoulders, then picked up a jacket from the floor outside the bedroom. He searched the jacket for weapons and discovered an ATM card with Tenney's name on it and a county welfare card in Adams' name. Landers said the jacket belonged to Adams. The police arrested Adams. During a search of his apartment, they found a set of keys that opened Tenney's apartment and her car, a potholder that matched one in her kitchen, and her television. In Tenney's apartment, nothing was broken or damaged. Her friends told investigators that Adams had been bothering Tenney for a while, such as calling her and wanting her to invite him to her apartment. She eventually changed her phone number. She began expressing fear of Adams to friends and also asked people to stay with her after the break-in. Case Goes Cold Tenney's death was ruled a homicide. While the police suspected that Adams may have been involved in Tenney's murder, the investigation stalled. Adams was charged in 1986 with receiving stolen property, because he had her ATM card and television, but the grand jury did not indict him. Then, in November 1986, Adams was conv
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., S.C., FLA.
Oct. 7 TEXAS: With his last words, a killer apologized to his victim's widow. Could she forgive him? On Sept. 17, 1998, Juan Martin Garcia fatally shot Hugo Solano during a robbery. Garcia was a 18-year-old gang member with a long rap sheet and a reputation for violence. Solano was a Christian missionary who had just moved from Mexico to Houston to raise his 2 children in the United States. For killing a good man, Garcia garnered just $8. He was caught 11 days later, convicted of murder, and sentenced to die. On Tuesday evening, the heinous crime came full circle. Garcia, now 35, lay on a gurney in a Texas execution chamber and used his final words to try to make peace with what he had done. As real tears rolled down over the teardrop tattoos already at the corner of his eyes, he spoke to Ana Solano, Hugo's widow, and her daughter. "The harm that I did to your dad and husband - I hope this brings you closure," he said, his voice breaking, according to the Associated Press. "I never wanted to hurt any of you all." For almost 2 decades, Garcia had made excuses for the murder. Now he was apologizing. But could Ana forgive him? 15 years ago, the answer was unclear. On Feb. 21, 2000, Ana Solano took the stand in a Houston courtroom. Days earlier, a jury had found Garcia guilty of murdering her husband. Jurors had heard how Garcia was a teenage gangster with a record of theft, trespassing and assault. As a student, he had made a "terroristic threat" against one of his teachers. Jurors also heard how Garcia and fellow gang members went on a brazen robbery spree in weeks before the murder, terrorizing Houston residents and seriously injuring several victims. And they heard how Garcia rapped on the glass of Solano's truck window with his gun, just as the missionary was on his way to work on Sept. 17, 1998. What happened next has been disputed ever since. Prosecutors said Garcia demanded Solano's money. When he refused, Garcia shot him 3 times and took his wallet - with only $8 in it. In a videotaped confession, Garcia said he didn't mean to shoot Solano but pulled the trigger in a moment of panic. He was scared, he told police officers, and so was Solano. "When we were leaving he still kept on talking to me," Garcia said in his confession, according to a Houston Chronicle article on the trial. "He was asking for help in Spanish." "I beg of you, please don't take my son away from me," Garcia's mother, Esther, tearfully asked jurors. But when it was Ana Solano's time to testify as to what sentence her husband's killer should receive, the Christian missionary equivocated. "I can't say," she said on the stand. "That is why the jury is here and there is established law. All I know is that my husband is not coming back here. "My loved one ...," she began before trailing off into tears, according to the Houston Chronicle. It was hard to question the testimony of a grieving widow. After all, Ana had lost so much. She and her husband and their 2 kids had moved to Houston with hopes of a better life just two months before Hugo's murder. The slaying had taken a terrible toll on her family. "In the beginning, they didn't want to go out. They just wanted to be around me," she said of her then-teenage children. "We were an extremely loving family. They loved their father very much." Ana also had been tested by her husband's murder. "I went into an intense depression," she told the court, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I did not want to speak to my family or talk on the phone. I knew if I continued in the same way, my children would suffer more so." In the hopes of persuading the jury to spare Garcia's life, defense attorney Stephanie Martin asked Ana if, as a Christian missionary, she would rather see Garcia serve life in prison than face the death penalty. "I feel badly as well for him," she said. "But to forgive your enemies is very difficult." Jurors gave Garcia the death sentence. For the past 15 years, Garcia tried to evade his sentence. He launched several unsuccessful appeals. And in an interview with the AP last month, he gave still more reasons why he didn't deserve to die. He was "railroaded," he claimed. He was on drugs during the incident and thought the missionary was going to try to kill him. On Friday, however, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected Garcia's final petition for clemency. And so it was that guards wheeled Garcia into a Huntsville prison's execution chamber on Tuesday night. This time, Garcia didn't make any excuses. And Ana Solano didn't equivocate. As the convict apologized for killing her husband, Ana and her daughter sobbed and said that they loved Garcia. As pentobarbital flowed into the inmate's veins, Garcia winced, shook his head, gurgled and then stopped moving, according to the AP. Meanwhile, Ana and her daughter raised their arms in apparent prayer in a nearby w
