[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Dec. 7 IRANexecutions 2 Prisoners Executed A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Dizel Abad Prison (Kermanshah province, western Iran) on Tuesday December 6 on murder charges, and a prisoner was reportedly hanged at Salmas Central Prison (West Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran) on Wednesday December 7 on drug related charges. The human rights news agency, HRANA, has identified the prisoner hanged at Dizel Abad Prison as Ali Akbar Karami. According to HRANA, Mr. Akbar Karami had turned himself in to Iranian judicial authorities two months after allegedly committing murder about three years ago. Ali Chartagh is the name of the prisoner who was reportedly hanged at Salmas Prison, according to HRANA and independent sources close to Iran Human Rights. "Ali Chartagh was arrested 3 years and 7 months ago and was charged with participating in the storage of 750 grams of crystal meth. He was sentenced to death by the revolutionary court in Salmas," a confirmed source tells Iran Human Rights. According to close sources, Mr. Chartagh was executed by Iranian authorities even though he had reportedly requested a retrial and his case file was in the process of being reviewed by Branch 38 of Iran's Supreme Court, presided by Judge Latifi Rostami. Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the media, have been silent about these 2 executions. (source: Iran Human Rights) ___ 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----TEXAS, DEL., GA., ALA., USA
Dec. 7 TEXAS: State court reverses death penalty in Love murder case The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the capital murder conviction and death sentence of Albert Leslie Love Jr. Wednesday, ruling text messages were improperly used against him because they were obtained without a warrant. Love was convicted and sentenced to death after a trial in Williamson County in 2013 in the March 2011 shooting deaths of Keenan Hubert, 20, and Tyus Sneed, 17, at the Lakewood Villas apartment complex, 1601 Spring St. The court, in a 6-3 opinion with 3 dissents, awarded Love a new trial because his Fourth Amendment rights were violated when the content of his text messages were improperly admitted against him because they were obtained without a warrant. Love will be returned to McLennan County to await another trial. The reversal sent shock waves through the McLennan County Courthouse, where officials were unclear if Love's retrial can be held in McLennan County, if it will be returned to Williamson County or moved to another county. Love's trial was moved to Georgetown because the trial of his co-defendant, Rickey Donnell Cummings, was held first in Waco. Cummings' conviction has already been affirmed by the appeals court. McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna and his first assistant, Michael Jarrett, did not return phone messages Wednesday. Cummings, like Love, is a Bloods gang member who was sentenced to death in 2012 for his role in the double slaying. Cummings' younger brother, Darvis Cummings, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in September 2014 after he pleaded guilty to murder as a party to the ambush slayings. Deontrae Majors and Marion Bible, who were in the front seat of the car, were wounded in the attack but managed to flee to safety. Prosecutors told the jury at Love's trial that Cummings and Love wanted to kill Hubert because they believed he killed their best friend, Emuel "Man Man" Bowers III, at Hood Street Park the year before. It mattered little to Love, the prosecutors said, that 3 other men were with Hubert in the car when he opened fire with his AK-47, spraying at least 19 shots with the high-powered assault rifle. Prosecutors introduced Love's cellphone records, which included 37 pages showing the contents of about 1,600 text messages. Among the most damaging was one sent to Bowers' mother shortly after the ambush attack that said, "mission accomplished." Trial testimony showed that Bowers' mother, Shelia Bowers, whom Love and Cummings called "Mama Shelia," was upset that Waco police investigators had not arrested anyone in her son's murder. Prosecutors showed photos of Love's numerous tattoos that tie him to the Bloods gang. On his right arm are the words "R.I.P. Man Man" next to a tattoo of an AK-47. The Court of Criminal Appeals ruling says that after a review of the record as a whole, the court finds that the "probable impact of the improperly-admitted text messages was great. As we cannot determine beyond a reasonable doubt that the text messages did not contribute to the jury's verdict at the guilty phase, we hold that the error was not harmless." (source: Waco Tribune) DELAWARE: Execution or life in prison? Delaware Supreme Court to decide State Supreme Court Justices didn't filter their comments much during a hearing Wednesday that could let those currently on death row live the rest of their life in prison. Earlier this year, the court ruled Delaware's capital punishment system unconstitutional because juries weren't the ones ultimately responsible for locking in a death penalty conviction. Previously, juries decided whether a defendant was eligible for a death sentence, but then a judge weighed different factors to hand down his or her ruling. The test case before the court is that of Derrick Powell, who shot and killed Georgetown police officer Chad Spicer in 2009. His lawyer, Patrick Collins, says continuing to execute death row inmates who were convicted under an unconstitutional system flies in the face of precedent. "Executing Derrick Powell would far and away be an extreme outlier as opposed to just about any other state that has considered the question," he said. Justice Collins Seitz Jr. openly agreed later in the hearing. "How could it ever be just to execute someone who was sentenced under a flawed statute? I don't understand how that's just," Seitz said. Maryland legislatively abolished its death penalty in 2013 without including those already convicted and facing execution. Then Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) later commuted the sentences of the four men on death row to life in prison in 2015. State prosecutors rebutted that these sentences should remain intact because this court previously said new rulings on constitutional issues can't necessarily be applied retroactively. There are 2 exceptions, but prosecutors argue they don't apply here. Afte
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Dec. 7 TURKEY/SAUDI ARABIA: Efforts to save 18 Turks facing execution in Saudi Arabia ongoing 2 Turkish lawmakers have met with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as part of efforts to save 18 Turkish citizens facing execution in Saudi Arabia over drug possession. Fevzi Sanverdi, a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy, and Serkan Topal, a deputy from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), met with Cavusoglu on Dec. 7. In the meeting they spoke about the 18 Turkish citizens, originally from the southern Turkish province of Hatay, being held in jail pending trial and facing possible execution. "We have told [Cavusoglu] that 3 of our citizens' situation is especially urgent, while the rest are victims of international drug cartels," Topal said. "Our minister said he would contact his Saudi counterpart as soon as possible," he added. Topal also noted that he was in touch with the Turkish ambassador in Riyadh, Yunus Demirer, every day, vowing to continue their efforts at the state level to save the jailed Turkish citizens. (source: Hurriyet Daily News) MOROCCO: HCP: 50 % of Moroccans Support Abolition of Death Penalty 50 % of Moroccans favor the abolition of the death penalty, according to the results of a survey conducted by the High Commission of Planning (HCP) on the nation's take on the United Nations??? Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Urban areas (47.8) supported the lethal punishment's abolition less enthusiastically than rural areas, which garnered a 52.2 % anti-death penalty position, Ahmed Lahlimi Alami, the head of the HCP, told reporters on Tuesday. The HCP randomly selected citizens from every region in Morocco to take the survey, which helped "the government understand citizens' evaluation of dimensions of human development in their daily lives," between the 1st of July and the 19th of August. Morocco has not carried out the death penalty since 1993, however courts have sentenced 122 people, including 3 women, to the punishment. The U.N. started a new push to implement its 17 development goals for the next 14 years at the top of 2016. The goals include ensuring every human being has access to a good education, a healthy natural environment and a peaceful and just society. The survey's results show that 80 % of Moroccans believe the kingdom can achieve all of the U.N.'s goals by 2030, while 50 % of respondents said they had taken steps to improve their interactions with the environment in the past 5 years. Morocco has led the charge in global anti-climate change efforts, as demonstrated in 22nd Convention of the Parties (COP) held in Marrakesh last month. The kingdom is on track to source 52 % of its energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2030. (source: Morocco World News) IRAN: 2 Prisoners with Drug Charges in Imminent Danger of Execution 2 prisoners in Karaj's Ghezel Hesar Prison (Alborz province, northern Iran), who are on death row on drug related charges, were reportedly transferred to Varamin's Khorin Prison (Tehran province, central Iran) on Sunday December 4 in preparation for their executions. According to close sources, the prisoners, who have been identified as Esfandiar Geravand and Iman Dorimami, were setenced to death by the revolutionary court in Varamin, but because they were condemed to prison exile, they were taken to Ghezel Hesar Prison. Mr. Geravand and Mr. Dorimami are in imminent danger of execution at a time when a bill proposing to abolish the death penalty for drug related offenses may be passed by the Iranian Parliament. (source: Iran Human Rights) * Former Qeshm Airlines boss faces death penalty in Iran The former owner of Iranian carrier Qeshm Airlines (QB, Tehran Mehrabad), Babak Zanjani, has lost an appeal in a Tehran court to reduce his sentence after being found guilty on charges of corruption. The Iranian businessman was given the death penalty in March 2016. Zanjani was arrested in December 2013, following the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who vowed to tackle corruption. The billionaire was found guilty of misappropriation of public funds, fraud against Iran's Ministry of Petroleum and money laundering. The Iranian government claims that Zanjani owes more than EUR2 billion from transactions related to oil exports. Zanjani's airline was confiscated by the Iranian government in January 2015 as part of reparations owed to Tehran. Qeshm Airlines is now jointly controlled by the Ministry of Petroleum and private companies. (source: ch-aviation.com) BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Supreme Court upholds death for 3 Huji militants over 2004 grenade attack on UK envoyFormer UK envoy to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury was attacked at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal in Sylhet in 2004. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Wednesday (7 December) has upheld the death sentencing of 3 militants of Harkatu
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, NEB., CALIF., USA
Dec. 7 OHIO: Ohio executions set to resume in January 2017 As Ohio resumes executions in the new year, death row inmate Ronald Phillips is scheduled to die on January 12, 2017. Phillips was sentenced to death in 1995 for the 1993 rape and murder of his girlfriend's 3 year-old daughter, Sheila Marie Evans. Phillips, originally from Akron, OH, has always had a fear of needles. According to the Associated Press, this fear stems from his childhood, when he would witness his parents sell drugs and let strung-out addicts shoot up in their kitchen. Negative sentiments against the death penalty in Ohio have been expressed on Denison's campus through speakers like Jim and Nancy Petro. A former auditor and attorney general of Ohio and former Cuyahoga County commissioner, Petro is now a member of Ohioans to Stop Executions' board of directors with his wife Nancy. Denison also welcomed death row exoneree Ronald Keine to tell his story in 2014. And in 2016, Sister Helen Prejean, a staunch death penalty opponent, was the keynote speaker at Denison's 175th commencement. Courses such as Jack Shuler's "Dead Man Walking: Executions in America" contribute to the discussion on the death penalty by examining its history and present issues with executions. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Ohio has performed 53 total executions, placing it in the top 10 states with the most executions. Texas tops the list at 538. Phillips' execution has been delayed several times over his 20-plus stay on death row. The most recent delay occurred when he requested to donate a kidney to his mother in 2013. This request was ultimately denied. However, attorneys are still attempting to vacate the death sentence for Phillips. Last Thursday, the Ohio Parole Board held a clemency hearing at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections for Phillips. The hearing started at 9:00 a.m. and didn't conclude until 6:30 p.m. After hearing from the defense and prosecution, the board did not make an immediate decision, so it's unclear whether or not Phillips' execution will be vacated or delayed. While Phillips' defense team is responsible for some of the delays, a moratorium that was placed on executions after Dennis McGuire's botched experience in 2014 is a significant reason why Phillips still lives on death row. McGuire's execution lasted 26 minutes. Executed on January 16, 2014 for the murder of his girlfriend and unborn child, McGuire was the 1st to be executed with a new lethal injection cocktail. The drugs: midazolam and hydromorphone, a sedative and narcotic painkiller respectively, were injected into McGuire's arm at 10:27 a.m. Lawrence Hummer, a pastor McGuire requested at his execution, said that three minutes into the execution, "'he lifted his head off the gurney, and said to the family who he could see through the window, 'I love you, I love you,' then laid back down' (2015). At 10:58 a.m., his stomach began to swell. For the next 10 minutes, according to Hummer, "he struggled and gasped audibly for air." Hummer cringed for the next 11 minutes while "McGuire was fighting for breath, his fists clenched the entire time." Hummer heard his gasps through the glass wall. "The gasps turned to small puffs like a dying animal fighting for another breath." At 10:53 a.m., the warden finally called the time of death. McGuire's execution was the longest since 1999 when Ohio resumed executions. According to an article by Jeremy Pelzer from 2015, McGuire's family, traumatized after witnessing his death, ended up filing a federal lawsuit in January of 2015 saying he suffered needless pain. In February of 2015, less than a month later, his family dropped the lawsuit after Ohio said it would not use the 2 drug combo again. Despite McGuire???s family's attempt to ban the 2 drug combo, and unfortunately for Phillips, Ohio will use midazolam along with rocuronium bromide, which paralyzes the inmate, and potassium chloride, a substance that stops the heart, reports Andrew Welsh-Huggins in a 2016 Associated Press article. Kevin Werner, Executive Director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, isn't new to reading about heinous crimes. But some have wondered why he would continue to fight for the abolition of the death penalty when these heinous crimes occur. "The work I do on the death penalty isn't necessarily always for the inmates. I think a lot of them don't belong there, I don't think they're the worst of the worst, but they are all there for horrific crimes," Werner begins. "But in those tough cases what I really think about is the impact on the victim's family." Werner, a father himself, understands the emotional reaction people have toward a case like this because he recognizes his kids have also been the age of Sheila Evans. "I get that people want justice and want to exact revenge, but I also think about how this is a family who had unimaginable thing
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, DEL., N.C., GA., ALA.
Dec. 7 TEXAS: Love triangle dismemberment murderer found guilty; takes stand during sentencing Michael Scott Quinn was supposed to be begging jurors not give him the death penalty. Instead, the San Antonio man made inappropriate jokes as he took the stand in his own defense. Jurors found Quinn guilty of capital murder on Monday taking less than 20 minutes to deliberate. Quinn is eligible for the death penalty. Quinn told jurors he is not a monster or a killer. While he admits to sawing off Albert Guerra's legs in the 2013 murder, Quinn says his former lover, Connie Yanez, was the one who killed him. Guerra was beaten to death with a hammer in his north side home. After he was murdered, the house was set on fire. "I told her that I would try to the wrap if we got caught," Quinn said. "I wasn't planning on getting caught, but we got caught, so I'll take it." The jury didn't believe Quinn. He was convicted and the case continued with the sentencing phase to decide if Quinn will get life in prison or be put to death. Despite the seriousness of his situation, Quinn caused jurors to gasp and laugh when his lawyer asked if he felt sorry for killing Guerra. "If is the biggest 2-letter word there is," said Quinn. "If my sister had a d**k, she'd have been my brother." The jury will hear from a psychologist on Tuesday who will testify about how previous abuse in Quinn's life might have affected him. (source: KHOU news) DELAWARE: Court arguments set on retroactivity of death penalty ruling Delaware's Supreme Court is hearing arguments on whether its ruling declaring the state's death penalty law unconstitutional can be applied retroactively to a dozen men already sentenced to death. Wednesday's oral arguments come in an appeal filed by Derrick Powell, who was sentenced to death in 2011 for killing Georgetown police officer Chad Spicer in 2009. In August, a majority of the Supreme Court justices declared that Delaware's death penalty law was unconstitutional because it allowed judges too much discretion in sentencing and did not require that a jury find unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant deserves execution. Attorney General Matt Denn declined to appeal that ruling in federal court but said he believes that it cannot be applied retroactively to offenders already sentenced to death. (soruce: Associated Press) NORTH CAROLINA: Prosecutor: Evidence of torture in Granville County murders Prosecutors in the gruesome murders of an elderly Granville County couple on New Year's Eve 2014 are revealing new details in the case. The prosecutors said in court Tuesday that the couple may have been tortured before being killed. The deaths of 73-year old Jerome Faulkner and his 62-year old wife Dora at their home near Oak Hill made national headlines when the accused killers set off on a multi-state crime spree from Texas to West Virginia. Prosecutors also claimed there is evidence that Jerome's death was a slow one. Lawyers for a 23-year-old man accused asked a judge Tuesday to take the death penalty off the table. The judge said he would delay the ruling on the death penalty until the start of the trial, saying it would be premature to for the court to remove the option at the current time. Jury selection is set for February 27 and could take weeks. One of the suspects, 52-year-old Edward Campbell, later killed himself in Raleigh's Central Prison. Now his son Eric, the other suspect, is putting all the blame on his dad as he tries to stay off death row. In a motion, the defense says the younger Campbell was threatened and abused by his father and he was afraid of him. It says Eric Campbell didn't know his father intended to kill the couple. He thought it was just going to be a robbery. "Eric said over and over again, 'I just thought it was going to be a robbery. I didn't want him to kill anybody. I didn't want to commit a robbery. I didn't want anyone to be robbed. I didn't want anyone to be killed,'" his defense lawyer said. After the murders, the Faulkner's bodies were loaded into their pickup truck which the Campbells drove to West Virginia. After shootout with police there the next day - New Year's 2015 - investigators found the bodies in the truck bed under a mattress. If the judge refuses to take the death penalty off the table, Campbell could be the first defendant to face a capital punishment trial in Granville County in 25 years. The judge denied a change of venue on Tuesday. (source: ABC news) Judge in Granville County murder case delays ruling on death penalty request The judge who presided over a hearing Tuesday to determine whether Eric Campbell should continue to face the death penalty said it was premature to issue such a ruling until closer to the trial. Campbell, 23, is accused of murder, arson, robbery and other charges related to the killings of Jero
