[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 12 INDIA: Decide death row convicts plea in 2 months: SC to Delhi HC The Supreme Court today asked the Delhi High Court to decide within 2 months the plea of a death row convict seeking commutation of his sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of delay to decide his mercy petition. A bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi passed the order after taking into account the submission of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi who said if the apex court would go into the legal issues concerning jurisdiction of high courts the delay would benefit the death row convict. The apex courts direction came while disposing of the transfer petition of the Chhattisgarh government which alleged that the Delhi High Court has no jurisdiction to stay the execution of a man held guilty of murder of 5 persons, including 2 children, in 2004 in its territory. The high court in its December 6, 2016 order had said the rejection of mercy petition by the President "does give rise to a cause of action at Delhi". It had on March 2, 2015 stayed the execution of Sonu Sardar after which the Chhattisgarh government approached the Supreme Court challenging its jurisdiction to hear the matter. The state government had told the apex court that the high court had no jurisdiction to stay the execution of convict Sonu Sardar as the offence had taken place in Chhattisgarh. The Supreme Court had in February 2012 concurred with the findings of 2 courts below and upheld the punishment. His mercy petition was also dismissed by both the state Governor and the President of India. In February 2015, the apex court had also rejected his review plea. Sardar in his plea before the high court had contended that there was a delay of 2 years and 2 months by the President in deciding his mercy plea. He had also sought commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment on account of delay in deciding his mercy plea as well as for allegedly keeping him in "solitary confinement illegally". Sardar, along with his brother and accomplices, had killed 5 members of a family, including a woman and 2 children, during a dacoity bid in Chhattisgarhs Cher village on November 26, 2004. The trial court had awarded death penalty to him which was upheld by the Chhattisgarh High Court. (source: indiatoday.in) PHILIPPINES: Palace denies pressure on Congress to pass death penalty bill Malacanang denied Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte is pressuring Congress to immediately pass a measure seeking to revive the death penalty in the country. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said Duterte respects the independence of Congress and trusts its judgment in approving a measure that would revive the capital punishment, which was abolished in 1987. "The revival of death penalty is a campaign promise of President Duterte and part of the priority legislative measure of his administration [but] the President respects the independence of Congress as a separate co-equal branch of government," Andanar said in a statement. "He trusts the wisdom of our lawmakers to see that the enactment of such law would benefit the nation not only by instilling respect for the law among our people but also by ending impunity and ensuring that those who commit heinous crimes are prosecuted to the full extent of the law," he added. On Wednesday, Buhay party-list Representative Lito Atienza accused the President of pressuring the lawmakers to re-impose death penalty. "This is the administration's initiative, not Congress'. The death penalty is an imposition of the leadership of this administration so we, congressmen, sad to say, are under pressure," Atienza said. "No less than President Duterte is directing the passage of the bill," he added. House Bill 1, which seeks to revive the death penalty on all heinous crimes as defined by previous laws, was approved by the House committee on justice before Christmas and will be sent to the plenary when Congress resumes its sessions next week. (source: sunstar.com.ph) GUYANA: Why did Guyana vote against moratorium on executions at United Nations when it had previously told UN a de facto one was in place Dear Editor, In an Addendum dated 2nd July 2015 subsequent to Guyana's Universal Periodic Review, Guyana informed the United Nations that in relation to the death penalty, "A de facto moratorium has been in place since 1997..." A statement to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations General Assembly should not be lightly made. It is fair to assume that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs understood the significance of giving this assurance to the United Nations. In December 2016, the UN General Assembly voted on a moratorium on executions. Guyana was one of 40 (out of 195) states who voted against the resolution. Why did we vote against the moratorium when we have one in place? On what grounds did our government conclude that
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., FLA., OHIO, IND., ILL., USA
Jan. 12 TEXASexecution Texas carries out nation's 1st execution in 2017 Texas has executed death row inmate Christopher Wilkins, who was convicted of killing 2 men after one of them mocked him for falling for a phony drug deal. The lethal injection of the 48-year-old Wilkins Wednesday is the nation's 1st execution this year. 20 were carried out in the U.S. last year, the lowest number since the 1980s. Wilkins was declared dead at 6:29 p.m. local time. Wilkins explained to jurors at his capital murder trial in 2008 how and why he killed his friends in Fort Worth 3 years earlier, saying he didn't care if they sentenced him to death. The Supreme Court declined to block Wilkins' execution about 3 hours before the scheduled lethal injection. Wilkins' attorneys had argued to the Supreme Court that he had poor legal help at his trial and during earlier appeals and that the courts improperly refused to authorize money for a more thorough investigation of those claims to support other appeals and a clemency petition. In their unsuccessful appeal to the high court, Wilkins' attorneys contended he had poor legal help at trial and during earlier appeals and that the courts improperly refused to authorize money for a more thorough investigation of his claims. State attorneys said courts have rejected similar appeals and that defense lawyers are simply employing delaying tactics. Wilkins was released from prison in 2005 after serving time for a federal gun possession conviction. He drove a stolen truck to Fort Worth, where he befriended Willie Freeman, 40, and Mike Silva, 33. Court records show Freeman and his drug supplier, who wasn't identified, duped Wilkins into paying $20 for a piece of gravel that he thought was a rock of crack cocaine. Wilkins said he shot Freeman on Oct. 28, 2005, after Freeman laughed about the scam, then he shot Silva because he was there. Wilkins' fingerprints were found in Silva's wrecked SUV and a pentagram matching 1 of Wilkins' numerous tattoos had been carved into the hood. Wilkins also testified that the day before the shootings, he shot and killed another man, Gilbert Vallejo, 47, outside a Fort Worth bar in a dispute over a pay phone, and about a week later used a stolen car to try to run down 2 people because he believed 1 of them had taken his sunglasses. "I know they are bad decisions," Wilkins told jurors of his actions. "I make them anyway." Wes Ball, 1 of Wilkins' trial lawyers, described him as "candid to a degree you don't see," and had hoped his appearance on the witness stand would have made jurors like him. "It didn't work," Ball said. While awaiting trial, authorities discovered he had swallowed a handcuff key and fashioned a knife to be used in an escape attempt. "This guy is the classic outlaw in the model of Billy the Kid, an Old West-style outlaw," said Kevin Rousseau, the Tarrant County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Wilkins. 20 convicted killers were executed in the U.S. last year, the lowest number since the early 1980s. That tally includes 7 executions in Texas - the fewest in the state since 1996. Wilkins is among 9 Texas inmates already scheduled to die in the early months of 2017. (source: Associated Press) ** Condemned killer of San Antonio woman loses appeal The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected an appeal from a man sent to death row for fatally stabbing a disabled woman at her San Antonio home after she refused to give him and his girlfriend money to support their $1,000-a-day drug habit. Lawyers for 40-year-old Armando Leza contended he was innocent of the 2007 slaying of a neighbor, 57-year-old Caryl Jean Allen, and that his deficient trial lawyers contributed to a Bexar County jury's decision to convict him and give him the death penalty. The appeals court sent the appeal back to the trial court, which held a hearing and recommended the arguments be rejected. The appeals court ruling Wednesday supports the trial court's findings. Leza's girlfriend also was charged and testified against him in a plea deal. (source: foxsanantonio.com) PENNSYLVANIA: Still only 7 jurors selected for Easton death penalty case Attorneys in the death penalty case of Jeffrey Knoble added a juror but they also lost a juror Wednesday. Jury selection continues in the trial of the 27-year-old Riegelsville man. He's charged with fatally shooting Andrew "Beep" White in March 2015 in the former Quality Inn hotel in Easton. The total number of jurors holds steady at 7. The attorneys made their way through a pool of 40 prospective jurors on Monday and Tuesday. They started questioning a new pool of 56 one by one on Wednesday. Jeffrey Knoble is charged with killing Andrew "Beep" White at a Downtown Easton hotel in 2015. They need 12 jurors and 4 alternates before testimony can begin. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano hopes
