[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARKANSAS
March 29 ARKANSAS: Arkansas Faces Lawsuits Over Plan To Kill 8 Men In 10 DaysOne expert called the state's death penalty plans "mind-boggling." Arkansas' plan to execute 8 death-row prisoners within 10 days next month has been attacked as cruel and unusual in 2 federal lawsuits. Suits filed Monday and Tuesday seek preliminary injunctions halting the four double executions scheduled from April 17 to April 27, alleging the rush violates the condemned men's constitutional rights. The suits name Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) and Department of Corrections Director Wendy Kelley as defendants. At a time when use of the death penalty is in gradual decline across the U.S., Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced last month the state would begin executing inmates who had exhausted state-level appeals. Arkansas hasn't executed anyone in 12 years, and now seeks to jump-start lethal injections in ways that depart from its own protocols and the typical practices of other states. "This is way outside the norms," said Rick Halperin, a death penalty expert at Southern Methodist University, said of the Arkansas execution schedule. "This state hasn't carried out an execution in 12 years. Now they want to do 8 in 10 days. It's a bit mind-boggling." Double executions are uncommon, even in active death-penalty states like Texas. After Oklahoma's botched lethal injection of Clayton Lockett in 2014 - which had been part of a scheduled double execution - Texas recommended spacing its executions at least a week apart. Missouri recently adopted a rule limiting executions to no more than once a month. The lawsuits against Arkansas say the pace of the scheduled executions and the state's secretive lethal injection protocol violates inmates' rights to counsel and access to courts. The state Department of Corrections did not respond to several requests for comment. Attorneys for the prisoners say there simply won't be enough time to defend each client in the complex and fast-moving legal process that death warrants trigger. Attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, a sole practitioner who represents 3 of the 8 men scheduled to die and is co-counsel for a 4th, said the scheduled procedures are inconsistent with how the state used to run executions. Back in the 1990s, he said, prison authorities were mostly "extremely cooperative" allowing lawyers access to the inmates, informing counsel of developments and [allowing] more than 1 lawyer to witness the execution. "Of course, this was all before a couple of things," Rosenzweig said by phone Tuesday. "There was a legislative decision to slap a veil of secrecy over so much of [the process]. And secondly, in terms of communication with the court, we weren't dealing with a substance that was" as controversial - the drug used to make the lethal injection cocktail. Attorneys from the federal public defender's office represent 2 of the condemned inmates and serve as co-counsel for 2 others, including a pair of clients set to be executed on the same day. "Attorneys with multiple clients "will potentially be required to challenge the execution process up until moments before, or even during, the execution itself," one of the lawsuits says. "Then they will have to continue challenging that process for another client just minutes after watching another client die." Dale Baich, an assistant federal defender in Arizona who has worked on death-row cases for 3 decades, said what the attorneys are being asked is "impossible to do." "To have three clients [facing execution] in a week ... it's outrageous," Baich said. "It's unprecedented." The short notice also reduces time for the clemency process, which violates the inmates' right to due process, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. The Corrections Department will only allow 1 attorney in the death chamber for each execution. Other states don't generally restrict who the condemned selects as witnesses (family, friends, lawyers and spiritual advisors are typical), but do limit the number of witnesses due to the small capacity of most witness rooms. Capacity for Arkansas, lawyers said, doesn't appear to be a credible issue, as the state can't even find enough volunteers to serve as witnesses. 5 of the 8 men scheduled to die have filed clemency petitions. Hearings on the petitions are scheduled in the 30 days prior to their scheduled executions - a window normally blacked out, lawyers said. Attorneys further argued they are restricted to 1 hour to present evidence supporting clemency for each client, instead of the normal 2. (source: Huffington Post) ___ 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----worldwide
March 29 BANGLADESH: 4 Lakshmipur men get death penalty in 2014 rape case A Lakshmipur court has sentenced 4 men to death in a 2014 case of rape on a housewife in the district. District and Session Judge AKM Abul Kashem delivered the verdict with the accused on the dock on Wednesday. The 4 accused - Sana Ullah, 37, Abul Kashem Majhi, 32, 'Harun', 32 and Md Rahim, 27 - have also been slapped with a fine of Tk 20,000 each. Prosecutor Abul Bashar said the victim was gang raped on the night of Dec 22, 2014 at Kamalnagar Upazila. She regained consciousness after spending 5 days in hospital. 6 days into the incident, the victim's husband started the case at Kamalnagar Police Station accusing 5 people. Police pressed charges against them on May 31, 2015. One of the accused has been acquitted in the case, said advocate Bashar. (source: bdnews24.com) IRAQ: Islamic State stones a youth accused of homosexuality in Mosul The Islamic State group has sentenced a youth to death by stoning in the city of Mosul, on charges of homosexuality. The terrorist group published photos on affiliated websites showing a number of IS Diwan al-Hisbah (accountability) members, while reading out death sentence according to Sharia, in the presence of a crowd of people, before carrying out the execution based on "the limits of Allah and Islam". The photos revealed that the Islamic State militants started to throw the youth with stones, who was blindfolded, after throwing him from a building???s rooftop, but the exact time and location of the execution were not identified. The incident is not the 1st of its kind in Mosul, where the terrorist group claims to implement the limits of God and Islam. Earlier this year, Islamic State militants sentenced a man to death by throwing him from a high rooftop in Mosul, after accusing him of being homosexual, while used the same method to execute 4 people, including 2 of its own members, on charges of homosexuality and sodomy in Dor al-Toub area in central Mosul. (source: iraqinews.com) ___ 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----NEB., ARIZ., NEV., CALIF., USA
March 29 NEBRASKA: Respect the voice of the people on death penalty The people are the 2nd house in Nebraska's unique unicameral Legislature. When they speak, the 1st house should listen. In November, the people spoke emphatically. Nebraskans restored the state's death penalty by ballot measure, with 61 % of the vote. They also ousted the chairman of the Judiciary Committee and some other legislators who backed repeal. Yet here is State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, again proposing repeal. When the Legislature passed his repeal in 2015, Chambers thought he had achieved one of his life's works. This spring, he said he could never step back from the principle that the state should not take lives. But by resurrecting a repeal bill so soon, Chambers is forcing murder victims' families to relive the worst moments of their lives, right after they thought the issue had been decided. Consider Christine Tuttle, whose mother, Evonne, was 1 of 5 people gunned down in the botched 2002 Norfolk bank robbery. During last week's hearing on Legislative Bill 446, Christine described seeing lawmakers react after passing a repeal bill in 2015: "I watched you laugh and hug and high-five. You celebrated on the pain and sorrow of my family, and we have heard enough." The death penalty raises legitimate moral issues for supporters and opponents alike, and views are strong on both sides. The debate - nationally and in Nebraska - is bound to continue. But the public just spoke, loud and clear. When Nebraska's 2nd house rejects a move by its 1st, the Legislature should accept their decision. (source: Editorial, Omaha World-Herald) *** Court-ordered evaluation finds Garcia competent for sentencing in death penalty case Based on findings from doctors with the Lincoln Regional Center, District Court Judge Gary Randall has concluded that the man convicted of 4 revenge killings is competent to be sentenced in the death penalty case. The 3-judge panel will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. to decide if Anthony Garcia will receive the death penalty. Garcia was sent for an evaluation 2 weeks ago after he refused to answer questions in district court. While District Court Judge Gary Randall asked him direct questions, Garcia sat silent. "Dr. Garcia if you do not respond to me, you leave me with no choice but to follow the 3rd thing we discussed at the hearing last week was to have you sent to the Lincoln regional center to determine whether or not you're competent," Judge Randall said in court. According to court documents, Garcia's evaluation concluded, "that the defendant is competent to participate in the mitigating circumstances phase of this proceeding and sentencing." Judge Gary Randall wrote in a previous order that the hearing on Thursday "is expected to last 1 day." Judge Randall will be the presiding judge. The Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court randomly selected the other 2 judges from a statewide list. Those 2 judges are District Court Judge Russell Bowie of Omaha and District Court Judge Rick Schreiner of Beatrice. Anthony Garcia had previously refused to come to a procedural hearing and Garcia's attorneys argued their client's confinement played a role in his current condition. Prior to his most recent evaluation, the prosecution and defense both weighed in on Garcia's silence. "No man awaiting trial should be held in solitary confinement for 3 1/2 years. That person will not be able to assist which was evident in our trail in any capacity. He slept through half of his trial. A normal person does not sleep through their own death penalty case," said Attorney Bob Motta. "We really believe this is a ploy. You know he hasn't had any problem communicating with anyone over at the correctional center. We have written letters he sent requesting batteries or a haircut, of cutting back on his medication, so when he comes in here and doesn't even respond it's catatonic I think that's just what that is," said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine. Garcia's attorney had stated previously that Garcia is also refusing to communicate with his defense team. Garcia was found guilty of 4 murders in October 2016. (source: WOWT news) ARIZONA: Child murder case: Death penalty appeal 30 years later The case of a child murdered 33 years ago is still in the courts and still haunting the family 8 year old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson left behind. Her remains were found at the end of Ina Road in 1984. A jury ruled Frank Jarvis Atwood was her killer. He was sentenced to death. Atwood has spent the years since trying to escape the death penalty. Now an appeals court hearing coming up shows Atwood is running out of options. The last time her family saw her, Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was riding her pink bicycle--heading out to mail a birthday card. A spot of pink paint on the bumper of Frank Jarvis Atwood's car was one of the keys to his
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, PENN., DEL., FLA., ARK.
March 29 TEXAS: Texas Must Broaden Death-Penalty Exemption, High Court Says A divided U.S. Supreme Court said Texas must broaden its death-penalty exemption for people who are intellectually disabled, ruling that the state was violating the Constitution by using outdated medical standards. The 5-3 ruling could mean a new sentencing hearing for Bobby James Moore, 57, who was convicted of fatally shooting James McCarble during a 1980 grocery store robbery in Houston. Writing for the majority, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that, while states have some flexibility to determine who's ineligible for the death penalty, they can't completely disregard current medical standards. The case divided the court along ideological lines, with Justice Anthony Kennedy joining the court's liberal wing in the majority. "Texas cannot satisfactorily explain why it applies current medical standards for diagnosing intellectual disability in other contexts, yet clings to superseded standards when an individual's life is at stake," Ginsburg wrote for the majority. The Supreme Court barred the execution of intellectually disabled people in 2002 as violating the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishments. To a large degree, however, the court left it to the states to determine who qualifies for that exemption. Texas is one of the nation's top death-penalty states, with 239 people on death row, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website. In upholding Moore's death sentence, Texas's top criminal appeals court said the state could continue to use a 1992 definition of intellectual disability as part of a multi-factor test for determining eligibility for capital punishment. The state court also said it stood by a 2004 ruling that used Lennie Small, a mentally challenged character in John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men," as an example of someone who might be exempt from the death penalty. Ginsburg called that test an "outlier," saying that only 2 other state courts had adopted anything similar. In dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts said the high court had overstepped its authority. "Clinicians, not judges, should determine clinical standards," Roberts wrote for himself and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, "and judges, not clinicians, should determine the content of the Eighth Amendment." (source: bloombergquint.com) ** Texas Used Wrong Standard in Death Penalty Cases, Justices RuleThe case concerned Bobby J. Moore, who has been on death row in Texas since 1980 for fatally shooting a Houston supermarket clerk during a robbery. The Supreme Court on Tuesday continued a trend toward limiting capital punishment, rejecting Texas' approach to deciding which intellectually disabled people must be spared the death penalty. Writing for the majority in the 5-to-3 decision, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Texas had failed to keep up with current medical consensus, relied too heavily on I.Q. scores and took account of factors rooted in stereotypes. "Texas cannot satisfactorily explain why it applies current medical standards for diagnosing intellectual disability in other contexts, yet clings to superseded standards when an individual's life is at stake," Justice Ginsburg wrote. She was joined by Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The case was the latest in a series of decisions refining the court's 2002 decision in Atkins v. Virginia, which barred the execution of the intellectually disabled as a violation of the Eighth Amendment???s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Atkins decision gave states substantial discretion to decide just who was, in the language of the day, "mentally retarded." But the decision did set out a general framework. It said a finding of intellectual disability required proof of 3 things: "subaverage intellectual functioning," meaning low I.Q. scores; a lack of fundamental social and practical skills; and the presence of both conditions before age 18. The court said I.Q. scores under "approximately 70" typically indicated disability. The case before the court on Tuesday concerned Bobby J. Moore, who has been on death row since 1980 for fatally shooting a 72-year-old Houston supermarket clerk, James McCarble, during a robbery. Justice Ginsburg wrote that Mr. Moore's I.Q. was in the range of 69 to 79, meaning that other factors had to be considered. In dissent, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that only 2 I.Q. scores had been found reliable, of 78 and 74. "The court's ruling on intellectual functioning turns solely on the fact that Moore's I.Q. range was 69 to 79 rather than 70 to 80," Chief Justice Roberts wrote. The reliable scores were enough, he said, to decide the case and to allow Mr. Moore's execution. Justice Ginsburg said the courts have more work to do when I.Q. scores are close to the line. For
