[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Aug. 26 INDIA: Jigisha Ghosh murder case: Court awards death penalty to accused Ravi Kapoor A court here in New Delhi on Friday convicted Ravi Kapoor, awarded death penalty in IT executive Jigisha Ghosh's murder case, in another murder case of a taxi driver in January 2009. Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav held Kapoor and Ajay Kumar guilty of offences under sections 302 (murder), section 364 (kidnapping), section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to police, Ravi Kapoor and his gang killed Mohammed Nadeem and fled with his car - Tavera, and his valuables on January 7, 2009. The court also convicted 2 others - Ajay Sethi under sections 413 (habitually receives stolen property) and and Mohammed Arif for offences under section 411 (dishonestly receives or retains any stolen property) of the IPC. The court has directed the government to appoint a probation officer (PO) who will prepare a Pre-Sentencing Report (PSR) as mandated by the Delhi High Court. Arguments for sentencing will be heard on October 1. On August 22, the court handed death penalty to Ravi Kapoor and 1 more accused for kidnapping and killing Jigisha Ghosh in 2009, saying the magnitude and brutality of the crime made it "a rarest of rare cases". Kapoor is also facing trial for killing journalist Soumya Vishwanathan in 2008. (source: newsx.com) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/listinfo/deathpenalty Unsubscribe: http://lists.washlaw.edu/mailman/options/deathpenalty
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----KY., N.MEX., WYO., CALIF.
Aug. 26 KENTUCKY: Space issues force move of accused killer, Madden The man suspected in the death of a 7-year-old Scottsville girl has been moved from jail in Barren County to the Christian County Detention Center. Barren County Jailer Matt Mutter said that Timothy Madden was moved from Barren County Detention Center in Glasgow on Tuesday because space was needed for other inmates at the jail. Madden, 39, has been charged with murder, kidnapping, 1st-degree rape and 1st-degree sodomy in connection with the death last year of Gabriella "Gabbi" Doolin, who was found dead in a wooded area near Allen County-Scottsville High School on Nov. 14. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts in the case in which he faces the death penalty if convicted. Madden had been housed in Barren County in an isolation unit since his arrest on Nov. 20. The decision was made to transfer Madden to Christian County after contacting officials at the Allen County Detention Center, Mutter said. "We're going to be getting all the inmates from Monroe County at the end of this month," Mutter said. "We try to help out other counties as much as we can, but our main priority is having enough space for Barren County inmates." (source: Kentucky New Era) NEW MEXICO: Grisly killing of 10-year-old set to stoke debate over death penalty The grisly killing of a 10-year-old Albuquerque girl is sure to intensify debate over whether New Mexico should reinstate the death penalty, a subject that in the past week has tussled with the sagging economy as the state's pre-eminent political issue leading into next year's legislative session. Emerging details of Victoria Martens' death, including allegations that she was drugged, raped and dismembered on the same day she planned to celebrate her birthday, have sent shock waves through the state. 3 adults, including the girl's mother, have been charged in connection with the case. The murder comes just 1 week after Republican Gov. Susana Martinez called for the return of capital punishment in cases involving the murder of children or law enforcement officers. Martinez did not mention the death penalty in a statement Thursday about the girl's murder but said: "Justice should come down like a hammer on the monster who committed this murder." Last week, a spokesman for Martinez said "the governor supports reinstating the death penalty and, at minimum, we can all agree that it should apply to cop killers and child murderers." Those comments came after a police officer in Hatch was shot dead. A fugitive wanted for murder in Ohio faces state and federal charges in the case. The New Mexico Legislature and then-Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, abolished capital punishment in 2009. Martinez, a Republican who was a longtime district attorney before being elected governor in 2010, has renewed her own years-old proposal to return the death penalty to New Mexico. She raised the topic in her first State of the State speech in 2011 but never pushed the idea until recently. A spokesman for the governor on Thursday would not say whether Martinez would amplify her call for reviving the death penalty based on Victoria's case. The horror elicited by the elementary school student's death paralleled the shock following the shooting death of 4-year-old Iliana "Lilly" Rose Garcia in a road rage case in October. Lilly's death and the shooting deaths of 2 police officers in the Albuquerque metropolitan area led Republican state representatives to introduce a host of bills aimed to crack down on violent crime. In the 30-day legislative session that followed, crime-and-punishment measures dominated debate much of the time, even though the "short" session was supposed to focus mostly on the state budget. Now, with the state's cash reserves depleted and legislators planning to return to the Capitol in September for a special session to balance the budget, and with a 60-day legislative session scheduled to begin in mid-January, the return of capital punishment and other crime measures could once again dominate debate in the Roundhouse. Critics of the governor's focus on crime while the state's budget is in disarray expressed a combination of horror at Victoria's death and the prospect of the case becoming part of the argument for reinstating capital punishment. "It's a terrible tragedy that I believe was easily preventable had this state invested in a comprehensive early childhood education and child welfare system," said Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque. "I believe the fullest extent of the law should come down on the monsters that did this, but I think discussions of the death penalty are distractions." Rep. Martinez and the governor are not related and agree on little in terms of public policy. Even before state legislators abolished the death penalty in 2009, New Mexico had used it sparingly. The only person executed in
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., PENN., N.C., ALA., MISS.
Aug. 26 TEXAS: Trial date set in Scott's case in death of parents A trial date has been set for Stephen Scott, a Dallas man facing a felony charge of capital murder of multiple persons in connection with the death of his parents earlier this year. The trial, which will begin Dec. 5 and heard by a jury, was set Thursday during Scott's latest court proceeding. His court-appointed attorney, Lee Ann Breading, said Scott was present in the holdover facility for Thursday's court appearance. The proceeding was held in 362nd District Court with Judge Bruce McFarling presiding. A grand jury indicted Scott, 40, in connection with the murder of his parents, Marion Scott, 75, and Linda Scott, 70, on Jan. 21. Scott allegedly stabbed the couple in their home Jan. 10, according to an arrest affidavit. Scott reportedly called 911 and confessed to the fatal stabbings to an emergency dispatcher, police have said. Denton police arrested Scott the same day and charged him with capital murder. He remains in Denton County Jail with his bail set at $250,000, according to jail records. In the time Scott has been behind bars, he's been hospitalized for what's believed to have been a self-inflicted head wound. Breading said earlier this year she would evaluate Scott to determine if his injury impacted his ability to work with the defense. That is yet to be determined. "All those issues are still pending," Breading said earlier this week. If convicted, Scott could face the death penalty or life in prison with no possibility for parole. Whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty has also yet to be determined, according to Jamie Beck, first assistant district attorney. "We have not filed any kind of formal notice that we are, and that's something that must happen before we can," she said. (source: Denton Record-Chronicle) ** Change of venue denied in capital murder case A district judge has temporarily denied a request to move the capital murder trial of a former Texas correctional officer accused of killing his infant son and the boy's grandmother in Walker County more than 3 years ago. Judge Don Kraemer ruled against a change-of-venue motion filed by defense attorneys for Howard Wayne Lewis during a hearing Wednesday afternoon in the 12th Judicial District courtroom at the Walker County Courthouse. Kraemer said he would keep the motion in consideration if anything develops between now and Lewis' trial that could jeopardize his right to a fair and impartial trial. A trial date has not been set at this time as the court awaits the results of additional DNA testing that was requested by Brian Lacour with the Texas Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases office, who is representing Lewis. Kraemer said Wednesday it will likely be next year before the death-penalty case goes before a jury. "It will be after January before we get (the DNA testing results)," Kraemer said. "My hopes to try this in January has been thrown out the window." Lewis was indicted by a grand jury in November 2014 on a charge of capital murder of a child under 10 after DNA evidence allegedly linked him to the July 24, 2013, slaying of his son, 18-month-old Aiyden Benjamin Lewis. Investigators believe the murders were a result of an ongoing custody dispute between Lewis and the baby's mother, Tiffany Crawford. Crawford's husband found the bodies of his wife and grandson at their home on M. Williams Road, about 6 miles west of Huntsville off Highway 30. Autopsies revealed Aiyden died of asphyxiation and his grandmother, 55-year-old Shanta Crawford, was violently beaten to death with a blunt object. Local defense attorneys Frank Blazek and Paxton Adams testified Wednesday for the defense. They said they did not believe Lewis could get a fair trial in Walker County because of the nature of the crimes. "... Inevitably, sympathy will be for the child and grandmother and not your client," Blazek told Lacour. "... (A Walker County jury) wouldn't have any problem choosing death in this case." Blazek also testified to the extent of the media coverage. Lacour introduced into evidence Wednesday 15 reprinted copies of The Huntsville Item, dating from July 26, 2013 to Nov. 11, 2014, which contained stories about the case. "In general, the defense never benefits from media coverage," Blazek said. Adams testified that Shanta Crawford was well-liked in the community, especially among Texas Department of Criminal Justice employees she worked with. He said the few people who have asked him about the case, assuming he knew a lot about it because he is a defense attorney, had come to the "conclusion" that Lewis was guilty of the murders. Blazek said that Walker County had "good people" and they have "picked good juries" during his time practicing law here, but again, he believed the circumstances involving the case made it different than others. "In my
