[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----GA., NEB., OHIO, NEB.
Nov. 10 GEORGIAimpending execution//volunteer Killer still refuses to appeal sentence as execution date nears Even though Georgia has scheduled Steven Spears' execution for the 2001 murder of his ex-girlfriend, he still refuses to meet with his lawyer to appeal his death sentence. Spears has rebuffed his lawyer's attempts to talk, or even meet, for more than a year. If this continues, Spears will go to his death by lethal injection on Nov. 16 without bringing an appeal other than the automatic one that was filed after he was condemned for killing Sherri Holland. And it would be the 1st time Georgia has executed a murderer who never voluntarily challenged his trial, conviction, or sentence. "I sent a letter (saying), 'Please let us fight for you. There is something worth fighting for,'" said Clayton attorney Allyn Stockton, who represented Spears at trial and remains his attorney of record. No answer. And when Stockton has gone to the prison near Jackson, Spears has refused to come out. "Seeking the death penalty was justified, and there wouldn't be an injustice done if he is executed," said Jeffrey Langley, district attorney for the 4-county Enotah Judicial Circuit, which includes Lumpkin, where the killing took place. Spears, 54, would be the 8th person Georgia has executed in 2016 , more than any other state this year. The last time Georgia executed 8 or more people in a year was 1957, when 16 men were electrocuted. Georgia most recently executed cop killer Gregory Lawler on Oct. 12. Since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide in 1976, 144 people have voluntarily gone to their deaths, the most recent in Texas last year, according to Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. "That is uncommon, but it is not rare," Dunham said. Not Just A Question Of Guilt John Blume, a Cornell Law School professor who has researched inmates who "volunteer" to be executed, said the percentage of death row prisoners who give up their appeals mirrors free-world suicides. "Every death-row volunteer inevitably presents us with the following question: Should a death-row inmate who wishes to waive his appeals be viewed as a client making a legal decision to accept the justness of his punishment, or as a person seeking the aid of the state in committing suicide?" Blume wrote in a paper published by Cornell Law School, "Killing the Willing." "It's not that everybody shouldn't be able to do it," Blume said in an interview. "The court should at least inquire as to what the motivation is. It might be there is a person who has no mental illness and doesn't appear to be suicidal. It may be (a case of) 'I can't live with what I did. I deserve to die for what I did.'" The risk of avoiding appeals, Dunham said, is that "someone who is mentally ill, emotionally disturbed or intellectually disabled will be executed. ... There may not be a question about guilt. That does not mean it's not an unjustified execution." The courts have said inmates with mental, emotional or intellectual disabilities cannot be executed, but Georgia's standard for proving those disabilities is the toughest in the nation. Kill Me, Or I Will Kill You Sometimes, of course, a death penalty "volunteer" will change his mind. Larry Lonchar, sentenced to die for a DeKalb County triple murder, initially refused to appeal his sentence. But twice within hours of his scheduled execution, he agreed to let his lawyers appeal, once because he wanted legislators to pass a law allowing him to donate his organs. Lonchar was electrocuted in 1996. Stockton said Spears has wavered many times about whether he wanted to be put to death. Spears has said he did not want to live in prison and that death would be a relief. Also, when he was on trial in Lumpkin County in 2007, Spears would not let his defense team present any evidence that might have persuaded the jury to give him life in prison, Stockton said. Stockton said Spears told his lawyers there would be consequences if they fought for a life sentence. "'I will take the stand (and testify), and if I get out (of prison) I will come and kill you,'" Stockton said Spears told him. 4 Ways To Murder 1 Woman Spears readily confessed to murdering Holland, telling investigators, "If I had to do it again, I'd do it." The couple dated for about 3 years, despite Spears having told Holland that he'd choke her to death if he ever caught her with somebody else, Spears told investigators. After their breakup, Spears suspected Holland had found someone new. So he plotted her murder, coming up with plans to electrocute her, beat her to death, shoot her or suffocate her. He told investigators he put everything in place for each plan so things would be ready when it was time to kill her. Spears connected wires to the bathroom plumbing in the crawlspace under Holland's house so she could be electrocuted whe
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----UTAH, CALIF., USA
Nov. 10 UTAH: Utah lawmaker proposes death penalty for cop killersThe current law makes the crime eligible for the death penalty, but the new measure would make it the mandatory sentence Rep. Paul Ray is drafting legislation that makes the death penalty a mandatory sentence for any person convicted of targeting and killing a police officer. According to the Deseret News Utah, Ray said that harsher consequences need to be put in place to prevent ambushes on officers that have become all too common. The current law counts murder of a law enforcement officer as an aggravated crime, allowing prosecutors and jurors the choice to ask or sentence the suspect to the death penalty. The proposed bill eliminates the district attorney's choice of pursuing capital punishment, and makes the death penalty a mandatory sentence, the publication reported. After news broke of the ambush of 2 Des Moines officers sitting in their patrol cars, Ray told the publication he became "furious" and even more committed to make the bill a law. "These are guys who knowingly, every day, go to a job they know they may not return from," Ray said. "And then you've got cowards that are going out and targeting these guys, trying to make sure they don't go home to their families." Rather than focusing on officers who are attacked or killed during process of investigating other crimes, the bill focuses on targeted attacks that single out officers, the publication reported. Defining exactly what constitutes targeting is still in progress. (source: policeone.com) CALIFORNIA: Prop 62: Challenge already filed to measure that would speed executions Although California voters soundly rejected abolishing the death penalty and appear to have approved a measure to speed up executions, don't expect anything to change soon - if at all. Proposition 66, which was ahead Wednesday by a razor-thin margin with dozens of counties still counting ballots, would face major hurdles before it could deliver on its promise of expediting a death penalty appeals process that often drags on for decades. About 750 people are on death row in California, and no one has been executed since 2006. Among the obstacles: Proponents of Proposition 62, which would have abolished capital punishment in California but was defeated more soundly than a similar measure in 2012, said they plan to file suit over the measure to speed appeals. Even with more votes left to be counted, they conceded at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday that they had lost their effort to defeat Proposition 66. And Orrick, a leading California-based law firm, filed a legal challenge late Wednesday seeking an immediate stay from the California Supreme Court. "Proposition 66 will absolutely end up in protracted and costly litigation," said Ana Zamora, manager of the No on 66 campaign. "It's just more empty promises to California voters and victims' families." But Yes on 66 supporters vowed to carry out the measure's highly technical provisions, such as putting trial courts in charge of initial petitions challenging death penalty convictions, establishing a time frame for death penalty reviews, and requiring appointed attorneys to accept death penalty appeals. "If it is obstructed, we're going to do everything we can to get it implemented," said Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert, co-chair of the Yes on 66 campaign. The measure does not include any funding for the extra attorneys and trial judges that would be required to speed up appeals. Lawmakers would have to allocate more money to already underfunded trial courts. The state Legislature is dominated by the Democratic Party, which opposed Proposition 66. "The Legislature and the governor should respect the will of the voters," said Schubert, when asked about the funding. California voters approached the 2 dueling death penalty initiatives in a different spirit than the other criminal justice measure on the ballot, Proposition 57. Aimed at reducing prison overcrowding, that measure passed with overwhelming support. Backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, it will expand parole opportunities for certain inmates and require that judges decide whether juveniles should be tried in adult court and sent to prison. Proposition 57 is the third criminal justice reform approved by Californians since 2012. The other 2 are Proposition 36, which eased the state's tough 3-strikes law for repeat offenders, and Proposition 47, which reduced some crimes to misdemeanors, shortening sentences and sending offenders to jail rather than prison. "We're seeing a real split," said Garrick Percival, an associate professor of political science at San Jose State. "Californians are saying our prison system is broken and costs too much, but for the worst of the worst, they still advocate the ultimate punishment." Proposition 66's victory surprised some opponents, partly because polls had
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 10 KENYA: Death sentence, if effected, could become victim of corruption There is no doubt that theft of public funds ranks among the most important concerns for Kenyans. Corruption takes away resources meant for public services, enriching a few usually well-connected individuals with access to the national till. Estimates indicate that 1/3 of Kenya's annual budget is lost to corruption. Essentially, this weakens the country's ability to fight poverty, terrorism, and disease. Kenyans are, therefore, justified to be outraged at the slow pace in bringing the perpetrators of grand thievery to justice. The anger has been so great that some people have even suggested that the law be changed to allow the death penalty for the thieves of public resources. Coming at a time when ordinary Kenyans everywhere are alarmed at the lack of action on grand corruption, this suggestion must not be taken lightly or brushed aside as some sort of joke. The death penalty, irrespective of the crime involved, is archaic, cruel, inhuman, and degrading. The world is moving towards eliminating the death penalty, with nearly 2/3 of countries having removed it from their statutes. IMPORTANT STEP On Mashujaa Day this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta took the important step of commuting 2,700 death sentences (virtually all who were waiting to die by the hangman) to life in prison. This is a step in the right direction. Countries that execute criminals claim that the death penalty is a way to deter crime, but this has been discredited and there is no evidence that it is any more effective in reducing crime than imprisonment. The idea behind punishment is to correct, to send a message to others, and to save the majority from the suffering occasioned by crime. I do not believe executing offenders serves any purpose other than to cause pain to the affected families and psychological distress to the executioner. Life in prison without the option of parole is a better option. The prospect of never being allowed to walk free again is dreary. It is instructive that we have never really exploited all the options available to us to protect public money from thieves, who are often let free due to the loopholes in our criminal justice system. Sometimes they are shielded from punishment by the very people who are supposed to champion justice. We have failed, but only because those who benefit from the proceeds of corruption are the same ones who control the levers of State power and are not keen to do anything about it. A VICTIM The death sentence, if it were to be effected, could become a victim of corruption, with the main perpetrators being set free while innocent people or those who play minor roles being sentenced to death. Runaway corruption will not stop if there is no political will to end it. As long as the sponsors of corruption, drug barons, and purveyors of impunity finance election campaigns and pass themselves off as well-heeled business people running the economy, corruption will only get worse. The President should get serious about fighting corruption. We all know that corruption bleeds the economy, that health care suffers because people steal from the sick, that the current hunger in several parts of the country could have been prevented if stolen money was channelled to irrigation and agricultural innovation. Kenyans who are watching helplessly as their children's inheritance is stolen with impunity have a right to be angry. These Kenyans have been restlessly waiting for the President to say: "Enough is enough, stop it, you thieves!" (source: Opinion; Justus Nyang'aya is country director, Amnesty International KenyaDaily Nation) IRANexecutions 2 Prisoners Hanged In Western Iran 2 prisoners were hanged in the prison of Qorveh (Iranian Kurdistn province) early Tuesday morning November 8. Iran Human Rights had yesterday reported about the scheduled execution of these prisoners. The prisoners were identified as Mohammad Rasoul Heydari, from Qorveh, charged with murder, and Babak Hassan Zadeh, from Sardasht, charged with possession and trafficking of 350 grams of the narcotic drug crystall. According to close sources Heydari was arrested 4 years and 8 months ago and Hassan Zadeh 4 years ago. Both the prisoners had been kept in Hamadan Prison and were transferred to Qorveh 20 days ago. The executions have not been reported by the official Iranian media. 2 Prisoners Executed- One Hanged In Public 2 prisoners were hanged in 2 different Iranian cities reported the state run Iranian media. According to Mehr News Agency one man was hanged in the prison of Qazvin (western Iran) Monday morning November 7. The prisoner who was identified as "Hassan Kh." (24) was sentenced to qisas (retribution in kind) for murdering 2 people in 2 separate cases 5 years ago. Iranian State Broadcasting (IRIB) reported
