[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Feb. 10 PAKISTAN: Killers of uncles get death penalty A sessions court has awarded death sentence to a convict and 40 year imprisonment to his brother for killing their 2 uncles and wounding the 3rd one in a domestic dispute. Tarkhanwala police had filed a case against Saleh, his brother Arshad and father Ashraf over murdering Ghulam Raza and his brother Asif and injuring Saeed on May 12, 2014. The slain and injured person were real maternal uncles of accused. The honorable court announced death penalty to Saleh Muhammad and 40 years jail to his brother Arshad while court released their father Ashraf on the benefit of doubt. According to the FIR, Zubaida Bibi, mother of both the convicts, had quit her house and gone to her parents over a quarrel. the court also ordered to pay Rs1.87 million as compensation to the heirs of deceased. Police have shifted convicts to the District Jail. (source: The Nation) PHILIPPINES: Amid criticisms, Duterte says death penalty to deter heinous crimes President Rodrigo Duterte defended on Friday his plan to restore death penalty in the country, saying it would be a deterrent against heinous crimes. "When it (death penalty) was abolished, there was an increase of 3,000% (heinous crimes). And they say it's not a deterrent?" Duterte said in Filipino during a speech in a business forum in Davao City. The President read a news report in the middle of his speech, quoting Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Benjamin De Los Santos as saying that heinous crimes rose to 3,180 % after the death penalty was abolished in 2006. "BuCor Director Benjamin delos Santos said there were 189 inmates convicted of heinous crimes before the capital punishment was abolished in 2006," Duterte said reading while reading his briefer. "After death penalty was revoked this figure rose to 6,200 inmates, an astonishing (3,180%) increase of persons convicted of heinous crimes," he added. The President slammed his critics who have been saying that nothing has happened when the death penalty was imposed in previous administrations. "They said that even if the death penalty was there, nothing happened. It's because I wasn't the President then. Bring it back and I'll turn those crazy into curtains. I'll hang them," he said in Filipino. Both Houses of Congress had started deliberating on the proposal to reimpose the capital punishment. Duterte has repeatedly said that he wanted to revive the death penalty to make sure that criminals pay for their sins. He also earlier said that the death penalty was for retribution. (source: newsinfo.inquirer.net) *** Lawmakers urged to cross party lines against death penalty Senator Leila de Lima has called on lawmakers to cross party lines as they deliberate on the measure calling for the immediate reinstatement of the death penalty as capital punishment for heinous crimes. De Lima made her appeal as the House leadership called members of the so-called supermajority for a party stand on the death penalty measure. "The issue of possible re-imposition of death penalty is addressed more to the conscience of the members of both houses of Congress," De Lima said in an interview. "Lawmakers should transcend political affiliations in this particular issue, especially with the points raised by some members of the Senate that treaty commitment cannot be taken for granted," she stressed. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez earlier threatened House members, particularly those holding key positions or chairmanships in his chamber, to strip them from their posts if they refuse to support President Rodrigo Duterte's call to restore the death penalty. Unlike in the House of Representatives, the Senate has different dynamics and thus will deliberate on the measure "based on the cogency and the soundness of the arguments and would not succumb to any type of coercion or arm-twisting." "But that is something that they cannot do, hopefully, here in the Senate," she said. The joint Senate committees on justice and human rights and constitutional amendments and revision of codes and laws earlier decided to suspend public hearing on death penalty to review the implications of the country's commitment to treaties and international agreements which prohibit executions and compel member states to abolish death penalty. The Philippines is signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to the Second Optional Protocol of the ICCPR, as well as in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties which states that "treaties which do not have provisions on withdrawal or denunciation cannot be denounced or be withdrawn from." (source: Manila Bulletin) * Philippine Jesuits join CBCP vs death penalty-'Might should not be equated with right,' says Father Antonio Moreno, the Philippine head of the biggest male religious order
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MONT., NEB., S.DAK., COLO., UTAH., MONT., ARIZ.
Feb. 10 MISSOURI: Accused Killer Trenton Forster Could Be Up for the Death Penalty Justice can be slow. St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch says in the case of Trenton Forster, who is charged with killing police officer Blake Snyder, there's still work to be done before a trial date can be set, including deciding whether or not this will be a death penalty case. "We will start working, we're gathering all the information, the reports are completed, we'll provide ultimately that information to the defense. Everything we have, they will get," he says. This week, Forster was arraigned and last week additional charges were added against him for shooting a 2nd officer. McCulloch says a decision on the death penalty could come in the next month. "There's a lot of work that goes into it at that point. We're still considering all the evidence and making determinations into whether this is a death penalty case. That determination will probably be made in the next month or so," he says. McCulloch was asked if this case is personal, since his father was a police officer killed on the job. "It hits a lot closer to home than most others, but it is something that, when we look at the police, that if someone's going to kill a police officer, an armed trained police offer, than that's a dangerous person." McCulloch says there probably won't be a trial date until this time next year. That's a long time for Snyder's widow, Elizabeth Snyder, to wait. "It's incredibly tough, you know, it's a reminder everyday of what happened and what we're having to go through and I just look forward to it being over with, which it might take awhile, but I look forward to it being done," she says. (source: KMOX news) NEBRASKA: Nebraska State Sen. Kuehn says death penalty opponents have contributed to shortages of drugs used in surgeries Some of the same drugs used in operating rooms also are used in death chambers. State Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell said Thursday that intersection has factored into shortages of the medicines needed for surgeries. He blamed the protests and "harassment" of drug manufacturers by death penalty opponents. To support his argument, he cited a 2011 letter from the American Society of Anesthesiologists that said difficulties in obtaining a common surgical anesthetic targeted for its use in executions had jeopardized the safety of patients in need of medical procedures. "How many medical patients will suffer, have less than optimal surgical and medical care, or die to protect convicted death row inmates?" Kuehn asked Thursday as he testified in support of his bill that would hide the identities of those who would supply lethal injection drugs to Nebraska. Opponents of the secrecy bill said citizens have the right to scrutinize every detail and dollar spent when it comes to something of the magnitude of an execution. Spike Eickholt, lobbyist for the ACLU of Nebraska, questioned whether Nebraskans would support shielding the identify of an abortion drug supplier who had a contract with the state. "In government, nothing good happens in secret," he said. Legislative Bill 661 would change Nebraska's public records law so state officials could legally withhold any information leading to the identity of an individual or business that "manufactures, supplies, compounds or prescribes" execution drugs. Members of the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee heard public testimony on the bill Thursday. The committee took no action after the hearing. Drug secrecy laws are on the books in 15 of the 31 states with the death penalty, Kuehn said. Texas and Georgia, the states that led the nation in executions last year, both have the shield laws. The courts have generally ruled against inmates who've challenged the secrecy laws. Kuehn said he patterned his bill after the law in Georgia, which was upheld by that state's Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision in 2014. Kuehn referred to the 61 % majority of Nebraska voters who supported the death penalty in November by reversing the 2015 repeal of capital punishment by state lawmakers. Voters sent a clear message that they want the Legislature to fix the death penalty, he said. Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, a member of the Government Committee, questioned Kuehn's assertion that death penalty opponents are to blame for drug shortages. Was it possible, he asked, that some companies have restricted supplies of their products because they ethically oppose executions? Kuehn acknowledged that it was possible. But he argued that his law would make it possible for those willing to supply the state with execution drugs to be able to do so without repercussion. Kuehn also said he has been harassed by death penalty opponents for introducing the secrecy legislation. His bill does not extend secrecy to provisions of the execution protocol that requires laboratory testing of any
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, FLA., ALA., MISS., OHIO, IND.
Feb. 10 TEXASnew execution date New death date for inmate spared from execution this week A Texas death row inmate whose execution date scheduled for this week was halted because of a legal technicality has received a new execution date. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark says the prison agency has received court documents setting 37-year-old prisoner Tilon Carter's lethal injection for May 16. Carter had been set to die Tuesday for smothering an 89-year-old man during a robbery at the man's Fort Worth home. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued an order last Friday halting the punishment because a state office that represents death row inmates was notified of the scheduled punishment a half-day late, a violation of state law. Carter was condemned for the 2004 robbery and slaying of James Tomlin, a retired Bell Helicopter worker. (source: Associated Press) Executions under Greg Abbott, Jan. 21, 2015-present22 Executions in Texas: Dec. 7, 1982present-540 Abbott#scheduled execution date-nameTx. # 23-March 7--Rolando Ruiz--541 24-March 14-James Bigby---542 25-April 12-Paul Storey---543 26-May 16---Tilon Carter--544 27-June 28--Steven Long---545 28-July 19-Kosoul Chanthakoummane---546 (sources: TDCJ & Rick Halperin) FLORIDA: Florida Supreme Court Upholds Sentence for Killing Guard The Florida Supreme Court is upholding the conviction and death sentence for a man who killed a Daytona Beach corrections officer. The court on Thursday rejected arguments by Enoch Hall that his attorney mishandled his case. The court also noted that his sentence should remain in place because a jury unanimously recommended the death penalty. Hall was serving life sentences in the sexual battery and kidnapping of a 66-year-old woman when he killed a corrections officer. Hall stabbed 50-year-old Donna Fitzgerald 22 times with sheet metal in 2008. Fitzgerald was alone while supervising Hall and others in an inmate work program. An investigation determined Hall may not have been eligible for the program, and Fitzgerald should've had a radio or body alarm to summon help. (source: WTXL news) ** Death sentence tossed out in Florida drive-by shooting case The Florida Supreme Court is throwing out the death sentence of a Jacksonville man convicted in a drive-by shooting that killed a young girl watching television at her grandma's house. The high court on Thursday upheld Rasheem Dubose's conviction for the crime, but ordered a new sentencing hearing because a jury did not unanimously agree to impose the death penalty. The court in a split decision recently ruled that death sentences require a unanimous jury recommendation if the sentence was imposed after a 2002 key ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. DreShawna Washington-Davis, 8, was killed when 29 shots were fired into her house in July 2006. Authorities said the shooting was a retaliatory strike against the child's uncle. Dubose's brothers, Terrell Dubose and Tajuane Dubose, were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the crime. (source for both: Associated Press) ALABAMA: Former Alabama death row inmates to share their stories of confinement, freedom Racism, poverty, freedom and confinement will be the focus of speeches delivered by 2 former Alabama death row inmates, sharing their stories at the University of North Alabama later this month. Anthony Ray Hinton, who spent 30 years on death row, and Gary Drinkard, who was released after 5 years, will share their stories of exoneration and wrongful conviction during a conference at UNA Feb. 23-24. The events are open to the public. Hinton walked free in April 2015 at age 52. He'd been on death row for 30 years for the 1985 murders of 2 Birmingham fast food restaurant managers. Hinton and his attorneys asked prosecutors for years to retest the gun that linked him to the crime. On April 3, Anthony Ray Hinton walked free, prosecutors dropping the charges - the U.S. Supreme Court had ordered a retrial - that he'd killed 2 men in a Birmingham area fast food managers in 1985. The bullets didn't match up beyond a doubt, the state said. Shortly before his release, new tests ultimately ruled that the bullets found at the crime scenes couldn't be conclusively linked to the gun or to each other. Hinton's conviction, he has said, is rooted in racism, poverty and failures of the criminal justice system. "We want to help people think critically about the crimes and evidence that warrant sentencing someone to death," said Stephanie Renee Adair, one of several English graduate students helping plan the conference at UNA. Incarceration
