[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
jan. 15 CHINA: China to formulate judicial exclusionary rule of illegal evidence China will formulate and issue a judicial interpretation on the throwing out of illegally-obtained evidence. At a meeting attended by the heads of higher people's courts nationwide on Saturday, courts were asked to implement policies regarding the death penalty. They were told to learn from the case of Nie Shubin, an innocent man who was wrongfully executed over 20 years ago. Stricter punishments will be given to crimes of murder, robbery, kidnapping, women trafficking and telecom fraud, according to the meeting. Violations in the securities market will also be handled according to law, and more should be done to educate minors involved in school bullying, it was stressed at the meeting. The courts were also called to intensify the analysis and study of the root causes of corruption and loopholes in the supervision system to improve anti-corruption systems. Chinese courts at all levels received over 23 million cases in 2016 and concluded the trial or enforcement of about 19.8 million cases, statistics revealed at the meeting showed. (source: ecns.cn) INDIA: President converts 4 tribals' death sentences to life terms President Pranab Mukherjee has disposed of all mercy petitions of death penalties pending before him till date. The latest was the case of Bara massacre accused of Gaya district, where 32 Bhumihar Brahmins were killed by the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), a banned outfit. President Pranab Mukherjee has disposed of all mercy petitions of death penalties pending before him till date. The latest was the case of Bara massacre accused of Gaya district, where 32 Bhumihar Brahmins were killed by the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), a banned outfit. In 2001, Krishna Mochi along with 3 others, Nanhe Lal Mochi, Bir Kuer Paswan and Dharmendra Sing, alias Dharu Sing, were awarded capital punishments by a sessions court in connection with the massacre. They were tried under the provisions of Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. In 2002, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty by a majority of 2:1 in a 3-judge Bench. Justice M B Shah differed from the view of the majority. He acquitted Sing and commuted the death sentences of the 3 others to life. All the 4 convicts have been lodged at Bhagalpur Central Jail. Their mercy petitions were dispatched from the jail on March 2, 2003. Since then, it was pending with the Union Home Ministry. Only in the month of August last year, the Home Ministry sent the mercy petition to President Mukherjee for his consideration. The President sought legal opinion on the matter because of a recent landmark judgment of the Apex Court which overturned an earlier judgment and drew a distinction between murders related to terrorism and other kinds of murders. After considering the merit of the case carefully, the President endorsed the view of the dissenting judge except for the acquittal of the accused. In the month of January this year, the President reduced the death sentences of those convicts to life imprisonment. This was the last mercy petition pending before him. During his tenure, President Mukherjee has accepted 4 mercy petitions and rejected 28. Among them were high profile cases including dreaded Pakistan terrorists Ajmal Kasab, Yakub Abdul Razak Memon and Afzal Guru of Jammu and Kashmir which drew international interest and was debated widely. (source: milleniumpost.in) *** Budding lawyers debate sedition and death penalty at moot court The classrooms were converted into courts, the students were public prosecutors and counsels, the judges were senior advocates of Supreme Court and the High Court. Though it was a moot court organised at Delhi University's Campus Law Centre, the temperament of the court proceeding was nothing less than those in real courts. Delhi University's Campus Law Centre organised the 13th K.K. Luthra moot court on the law of sedition and the propriety of death penalty as a punishment for the offence. The 3-day event that lasts till Sunday has students from 75 colleges participating from across the country and abroad. The final result of the competition will be declared on Sunday. On Saturday, there were Toby Chandler, Sorcha Dervin and Kieran Freear from Bristol University in the shoes of public prosecutor defending the state and against them were students of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law in Patiala, Mittul Singh Rana, KS Roshan and Vikram Choudhary. The budding lawyers from Punjab submitted before the court that Article 124A which advocates that whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards state shall be punished, should be struck down. They gave
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Jan. 15 TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Murder must have deadly consequences The year 2017 has not got off to a good start in terms of murders. The numbers continue to grow, with more murders occurring than days - about 15 as at the 13th. There's no letting up from where we left off in last year. In addition to undertaking an analysis of the demographic, psychological and criminogenic circumstances surrounding murders and then dealing with them - which should lead to long-term solutions - a key recommendation is ensuring there are appropriate consequences which are implemented. First, we have to ensure that the penalty for murder, which is death by hanging in Trinidad and Tobago, is implemented after a complete and fair criminal trial - with appeals - within the stipulated 5-year time frame. The entire criminal justice system must be on board. The legislators in Parliament must play their critical part, too. If murderers know they can be prosecuted, convicted and executed within the 5-year time frame, it's more likely this can be a deterrent. We must recognise that a decision to engage in crime is a psychological matter. Other than those who are insane temporarily or permanently, all other murderers make a decision to kill another person. They also know there is an almost 100 % chance they will not suffer the death penalty. They have the upper hand on crime. If murderers know for sure they will be executed, it will serve as a deterrent. Don't be fooled, many of those murderers are afraid to die via State execution. The very thought of the ritual of walking out of a cell to be put to death by hanging can be enough of a deterrent. Further, we need to move into the direction of classifications for murder, for example, 1st degree and 2nd degree. And let us agree on the range of punishments for these various levels of murder, with probably the death penalty for 1st-degree murders, life imprisonment for 2nd-degree murders, etc. Other jurisdictions have done it, so why do we feel that it cannot be done here? Human beings are afraid of physical pain unless they have some serious psychological disorder. We should also consider prescribing corporal punishment alongside the death penalty. It can be an appetiser before the main course. If potential murderers know they will be whipped with the cat-o'-9-tails as well, we are almost certain this can be a deterrent. Murder is a very gruesome crime where there's no recuperation on the part of the victim. There's the need also for the murderer to feel similar or worse pain and suffering. For some crimes, we can entertain rehabilitation, but for murder where you take away the life of an individual, where it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt that person A, B or C is guilty, that person should suffer badly. That's the only way we can expect a reduction in murders in the short term. (source: Ian Ramdhanie; Letter, Trinidad Express) PHILIPPINES: Philippine : Do not revive the Death Penalty ADPAN strongly urges all members of the Philippine House of Representative and Senate to reject the reinstatement of the death penalty and uphold the rights to life as enshrined in the Constitution. Reinstating the death penalty would violate Philippine's international legal obligations, in particular, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the country has ratified. The reasons behind the reinstatement of the death penalty are ill founded and purely a political one. Numerous studies and analysis have concluded that death penalty does not deter crime. Indeed, there has been no existing reliable evidence to prove otherwise. ADPAN also wishes to highlight that the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has consistently called for the abolishment of death penalty on drug related offences, citing that such irreversible and oppressive laws are not an effective prevention and solution and it is not supported by international drug conventions. It is also to be noted that on 11th January 2017, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Mr Wisanu Krea-ngarm had said that Thailand would eventually do away with death penalty by trying to amend the law to find alternative to the capital punishment, taking into consideration the global trend on abolition. The Malaysian government has also announced its intention to abolish the mandatory death penalty on drug offences while a comprehensive study is now underway that may also see the total abolition of the death penalty. Philippine, if successfully revive the death penalty, would not only move backward in its human rights standards and obligations, and would also not be in line with the progress made by its neighboring countries towards the eventual abolition of death penalty. ADPAN states its disappointment that this Bill to reinstate the death penalty is being rushed on 16 January 2017 when the House of Representative resumes,
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, UTAH, WASH., USA
Jan. 15 OHIO: Ohio seeks drug reversing lethal injection process if needed Ohio's prisons agency is trying to obtain a drug that could reverse the lethal injection process if needed by stopping the effects of another drug previously used in problematic executions. The request to use the drug would come if executioners weren't confident the 1st of 3 lethal drugs would render a prisoner unconscious, Gary Mohr, director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said in federal court testimony Jan. 6. Mohr said he would inform Republican Gov. John Kasich and ask for a reprieve at that point. "Governor, I am not confident that we, in fact, can achieve a successful execution. I want to reverse the effects of this," Mohr testified, describing the language he would use in such a circumstance. Mohr testified that Ohio planned to order the drug, flumazenil, but didn't currently have it. Prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith declined to comment Thursday on Mohr's testimony, a copy of which was reviewed by The Associated Press. Flumazenil is used to reverse the effects of a sedative called midazolam when that drug causes bad reactions in patients. Midazolam is the 1st drug in Ohio's new three-drug execution method. Magistrate Judge Michael Merz is weighing a challenge to this method's constitutionality, following a weeklong hearing. Ohio plans to put child killer Ronald Phillips to death next month with midazolam and 2 other drugs. On Friday, the state acknowledged it has enough drugs for a fourth execution this year, in May, while staying tight-lipped about its supply beyond that. On Monday, the AP reported that documents show Ohio has obtained enough lethal drugs to carry out dozens of executions. Merz then ordered the state to provide "a statement of its intentions" when it came to drugs used in future executions. State attorneys said in a Friday court filing that the news report of multiple executions didn't take into account expiration dates of the drugs, which the state wouldn't previously disclose. The AP requested those expiration dates Friday. The state also said without explanation that the prison system's "contingency planning" needed to be taken into consideration when looking at execution numbers. On Oct. 3, state lawyers told Merz that Ohio planned to execute Phillips and death row inmates Raymond Tibbetts and Gary Otte this year. "The state regrets if this response left the Court with the impression that such efforts had only resulted in a supply of drugs sufficient to proceed with the executions of Inmates Phillips, Tibbetts, and Otte," state attorneys said Friday. Messages were left with attorneys representing Phillips. Ohio appears to be the 1st state using midazolam as a lethal drug to seek a reversal drug for it, according to experts at the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center, Berkeley Law School's Death Penalty Clinic and Reprieve, a London-based human rights organization that tracks capital punishment issues. Florida and Oklahoma have used midazolam as the 1st in a 3-drug protocol. Alabama and Virginia have proposed it as part of a 3-drug protocol. Executions have been on hold in Ohio since January 2014, when Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted during the 26 minutes it took him to die, the longest execution since the state resumed putting prisoners to death in 1999. The state used a 2-drug method with McGuire, starting with midazolam, its 1st use for executions in the country. Attorneys challenging the method say midazolam is unlikely to relieve an inmate's pain. The drug, which is meant to sedate inmates, also was used in a problematic 2014 execution in Arizona. But last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of midazolam in an Oklahoma case. The state says the 3-drug method is similar to its past execution process, which survived court challenges. State attorneys also say the Supreme Court ruling last year makes clear the use of midazolam is allowable. Columbus surgeon Jonathan Groner, a lethal injection expert, said past problems with Ohio executions have come about because executioners didn't properly connect the IVs. "A reversal drug will not help with that problem and could make it worse - if the IV is not in the vein, giving more drugs may cause more pain," Groner said. (source: Associated Press) UTAH: 40th anniversary: Gary Gilmore's death a milestone in nation's capital punishment saga The state-sanctioned execution by a firing squad on Jan. 17, 1977, became the 1st one in U.S. in 10 years. Gary Gilmore was 36 years old when he welcomed the bullets from a 5-member firing squad at the Utah State Prison, becoming the 1st inmate killed following a 10-year national moratorium on capital punishment. His death on Jan. 17, 1977, which reopened the gates to the death penalty, has been memorialized in American culture through widespread news
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., VA., W.VA., N.C., S.C.
Jan. 15 TEXAS: DNA evidence to be analyzed again in death penalty case appeal A lawyer for Steven Thomas, who faces the death penalty after being convicted of capital murder in Williamson County, says some of the DNA evidence presented at the trial was false, according to court documents. A district judge approved payments this month for the lawyer to hire a DNA analyst and a fingerprint analyst to review the evidence in Thomas' case, court orders showed. Thomas was convicted Oct. 31, 2014, in the death of 73-year-old Mildred McKinney, who was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled at her Williamson County home in 1980. He was 56 when he was convicted. He was arrested in 2012 after DNA he was required to provide for a federal drug charge matched DNA found at the crime scene. A DNA analyst from the Texas Department of Public Safety testified at Thomas' trial that his sperm was found on a ribbon wrapped around one of McKinney's thumbs. Thomas' fingerprint also was found on a clock at McKinney's home, according to another DPS analyst. Thomas, who worked for a pesticide service that had been to McKinney's house, appealed his case in January 2015 to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, where it is pending. As part of the appeal, 1 of Thomas' attorneys, Joanne Heisey, filed requests with Williamson County's 26th District Court in November requesting money to hire a DNA analyst and a latent print examiner. Latent fingerprints - such as the one prosecutors said Thomas left on the clock - aren't visible to the eye but are left behind by oils or perspiration on a finger. "Mr. Thomas's trial counsel did not seek expert assistance to independently review any of the forensic evidence the State used to convict him," the requests said. "A preliminary review of the DNA evidence presented at Mr. Thomas' trial indicates that at least some of that evidence was false." Recent research, the requests said, "has called into question the reliability of various forensic methods, including latent fingerprint analysis." The research shows that latent fingerprint analysis has a false positive rate that could be "as high as 1 error in 18 cases," the requests said. A lawyer who works with Heisey said their office had no comment about the case. Lytza Rojas, a former prosecutor involved in Thomas' trial, didn't return requests for comment last week. Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick said Thursday he couldn't comment on pending litigation. State District Judge Donna King on Jan. 3 approved Heisey's requests to hire a DNA analyst for $5,500 and a fingerprint analyst for $3,000, according to court orders. Under state law, Williamson County will be repaid by the state for the expenses, according to the requests filed by Thomas' lawyer. Another one of Thomas' lawyers, Ariel Payan, said in his appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeals in August that the evidence presented at the trial showed McKinney was killed by more than one person. No evidence at the trial showed Thomas had killed McKinney or helped commit any other crime against her, Payan said. Evidence at the trial showed that a throat swab taken from McKinney's autopsy showed male DNA that didn't belong to Thomas and also ruled out other suspects in the case, including serial killer Henry Lee Lucas and his partner Ottis Toole. The ribbon wrapped around one of McKinney's thumbs not only had DNA on it from Thomas but also from an unknown man, according to a DNA analyst who testified at the trial. (source: Austin American-Statesman) *** Last Lake Waco triple murder defendant dies in prison The Lake Waco triple murders sent shock waves across Central Texas almost 35 years ago. Terrified parents kept their children close and made Lake Waco off-limits for their teenagers. After all these years, perhaps the final chapter of the controversial saga was closed Friday with the death of Anthony Melendez, the last of 4 men implicated in the grisly slayings of Jill Montgomery, Raylene Rice and Kenneth Franks, whose bodies were found in July 1982 at Koehne Park. Melendez, 57, died Friday in a prison hospice at the Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony, near Palestine. Prison spokesman Jason Clark confirmed Saturday that Melendez died but said privacy guidelines preclude the prison from revealing a cause of death. Melendez, who was serving 2 life prison terms, died as some, including the ex-wife of former McLennan County District Attorney Vic Feazell, worked to exonerate him, although those efforts stalled in the past few years. Melendez, who pleaded guilty to 2 counts of murder in the case and testified against David Wayne Spence at his trial in Bryan, also petitioned the governor for a reprieve, commutation or pardon after he recanted his confession. Other defendants Spence, who was tried in Waco and Bryan, was executed in 1997. Melendez's brother, Gilbert, who also pleaded
