[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----CONN., PENN., FLA., ALA., CALIF, . ORE., USA
Nov. 11 CONNECTICUT: William Petit is elected to Connecticut state senate 9 years after his wife and daughters were killed in a vicious home invasion The doctor whose wife and 2 daughters were murdered in a horrific home invasion in 2007 has been elected to the Connecticut state senate. Dr William Petit, the sole survivor of the attack that claimed the lives of his family, defeated Betty Boukus in the 22nd District, which covers Plainville and New Britain. His wife Joanna Hawke-Petit, 48, and their daughters Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17, died in their family home at the hands of Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes. Mrs Hawke-Petit was raped and strangled and the 2 daughters were both sexually assaulted before being tied to their beds and burned alive. Dr. Petit was beaten with a baseball bat, tied up and taken to the basement, but he managed to escape and crawl to a neighbor's house for help. The trial in 2011 heard how his wife was forced to withdraw $15,000 from a bank after the criminals threatened to harm her family. When they returned, Mrs Hawke-Petit was raped before being strangled to death. Her 11-year-old daughter was also sexually assaulted. Komisarjevsky and Hayes then doused the home in Cheshire, Connecticut, with gasoline and set it ablaze. Hayley and Michaela died on 23 July 2007 of smoke inhalation while tied to their beds - unable to escape. Dr Petit revealed the details of what happened on that fateful night in his book, The Rising, Murder, Heartbreak, and the Power of Human Resilience in an American Town, by Ryan D'Agostino. Komisarjevsky and Hayes were both initially sentenced to death, but they were taken off death row and re-sentenced to life imprisonment. Dr Petit, a Republican, said he has no plans to try to revive Connecticut's death penalty when he won his state senate seat. The race hit the headlines last month when a labor union's political action committee ran an advert that tried to link Petit to Donald Trump and 'attacks on women and families.' Speaking at the time, Dr Petit said: 'I feel they're quite malicious and attack my character and reputation and have absolutely no truth. 'I'm appalled that anyone would stoop this low.' (source: dailymail.co.uk) PENNSYLVANIA: Death penalty sought for Cumberland County dad accused of shaking, beating infant son In the 6 weeks that Connor Howard-Bee was alive, he was shaken, beaten, squeezed and even had thumbs pressed into his eyes, all in an effort to get him to stop crying, authorities say. The young boy died from his injuries a year ago, and his 23-year-old father, John Tyler Howard-Bee, is facing the death penalty. But his trial in Cumberland County Court won't come for yet another year. Howard-Bee, of South Middleton Township, is facing charges that include 1st-degree murder, aggravated assault and child endangerment in the death of his son, whom police say had multiple skull fractures, brain swelling, hemorrhages, a broken femur, fractured ribs and bruises on his body that were too numerous to count. A pre-trial hearing was held on Thursday, and Judge Thomas A. Placey set a trial date for Nov. 6 - a year away at the request of the Cumberland County Public Defender's Office as they prepare for the death penalty case. 1st-degree murder is the only crime in Pennsylvania that is punishable by death, and at least 1 of a list of 18 possible aggravating circumstances must be present in order to seek the death penalty. Senior Assistant District Attorney Nathan Boob said he gave notification earlier that the office is seeking the death penalty because the aggravating circumstances of torture and the child's young age are present in this case. When charges were first filed last year, Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said, "If you look at the injuries that took place and you consider the short time [the baby] was on the planet, and the healing fractures, you can draw a reasonable conclusion that this was going on from very, very early on and it was sustained." Connor was also malnourished, making this one of the worst cases local law enforcement has seen, he added. Medical personnel found the child unresponsive in Howard-Bee's mobile home a year ago today, and police say Howard-Bee denied causing the injuries, telling police the baby had fallen off of a bed and possibly hit his head. But investigators say Howard-Bee shook his son and yelled, "Why won't you let me sleep?" when he was bothered by the child's crying. Connor continued to cry, and his father struck him and jammed his thumb into the baby's eye socket in an attempt to stop him, according to police. Connor was pronounced dead 2 days later at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. An autopsy revealed the boy died of multiple traumatic injuries. His heart was donated to the Gift of Life Donor Program, Freed said, adding, "We are going to do o
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Nov. 11 CHINA: Logistics exec handed death penalty sentence over Tianjin blast The Tianjin Intermediate People's Court has sentenced 49 people involved in the massive blast at Tianjin Port on August 12 last year. The blast led to the death of 173 people and resulted in the largest marine claim in history with damages estimated at more than $6bn. Yu Xuewei, president of Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for storing hazardous chemicals at a warehouse in Tianjin port by illegal means, which the court said triggered the blast. Another 5 senior officials at the company received life sentences while 25 officials at Tianjin's transport authority, customs, safety supervision department have also been sent to jail for periods of up to 7 years for negligence of duty and taking bribes. The Tianjin blast was so enormous it was visible from space. (source: splash247.com) INDIA: Soumya Case: I Will Advise The Bench To Restore The Death Penalty On Govindachamy: Justice Katju Former Supreme Court judge, Justice Markandey Katju will be appearing in the Supreme court at 2 pm today before the bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi to participate in the proceedings of the Soumya case. The bench is hearing a review petition filed by Soumya's mother against the judgement of the apex court acquitting Govindaswamy of murder charges. In an order on October 17, the apex court had requested Justice Katju to appear in person after Katju had said in a facebook post that the court had made a mistake in the Soumya case by acquitting Govindaswamy. The order said "We issue notice to Justice Markandey Katju, former judge of this Court and request him to appear in Court in-person and participate in the proceedings on 11th November,2016 at 2.00 p.m. as to whether the judgment and order dated 15th September, 2016 passed by this Bench in Criminal Appeal No.1584-1585 of 2014 suffers from any fundamental flaw so as to require exercise of the review jurisdiction." In yesterday's facebook post Justice Katju said "I have already expressed my view that the judgement of the Supreme Court dropping the murder charge against the accused Govindachamy, and setting aside his death penalty was a grave error. Judges too are humans and sometimes commit mistakes. Lord Denning, the celebrated British judge once said - The judge has not been born who has never committed a mistake." Katju then went on to illustrate this with an example from his own life as a judge. He said he made mistakes as a judge which he later realized. "In the case of Gian Singh vs. State of Punjab, I was presiding over a bench including Justice Gyansudha Mishra. One of the counsels pursuaded me to accept his submission, but the counsel for the other side said that I had taken a contrary view in 2 earlier cases in the Supreme Court. On reading those 2 decisions I realized I had made a mistake in those 2 decisions. Hence I referred the matter to a larger bench of the Supreme Court." Justice Katju then goes on to state the entire order that he had dictated admitting his mistake and referring the matter to a larger bench. He says that "a judge should always be open to correct his mistakes." In conclusion Justice Katju said "I will advise the bench to restore the death penalty on Govindachamy holding him guilty of murder." (source: livelaw.in) JAPANexecution Burglar in Kyushu slayings hanged A man on death row was executed Friday, just a month after the Japan Federation of Bar Associations called for an end to capital punishment. According to the Justice Ministry, Kenichi Tajiri, 45, who was convicted in 2012 of 2 murder-robbery cases, was hanged in the morning at a prison in Fukuoka Prefecture. In the 1st execution since 2 prisoners were sent to the gallows in March, Friday's hanging was the 2nd based on the verdict of a lay judge trial. Tajiri was convicted of breaking into a residence in Kumamoto Prefecture in March 2004 with the intention to rob and kill a 49-year-old woman. He was also found guilty of burglarizing another resident, a 65-year-old woman, in February 2011 and stabbing her to death, then seriously injuring a 72-year-old man who returned to the house later. Tajiri's death sentence, upheld by the Fukuoka High Court, was finalized before it reached the Supreme Court because he reportedly withdrew his appeal. "The death penalty is given to perpetrators of extremely heinous, grave crimes after the case is carefully considered in the courts," said Justice Minister Katsutoshi Kaneda, who signed the execution order. It was the 1st execution since Kaneda, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, took over as justice minister in August. 17 prisoners have been hanged since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office for the 2nd time in 2012. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations on Oct. 7 issued a declaration seeking
