[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
Feb. 28 PAKISTAN: Malayalam film's cast, crew sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws In a shocking development, the entire cast including the 'wink girl' Priya Prakash Varrier and Muslim co-stars like Roshan Abdul Rahoof as well as the production team headed by Muslim director Omar Lulu have been sentenced to death under Pakistan's blasphemy laws. In proceedings held here in an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore, everyone behind the said film was prosecuted by the state after country's spiritual leaders Molvi Khadim Peervi and Hakim Saeed jointly moved the court. The film in question featured a Malayalam folk song "Manikya Malayara Poovi' which the spiritual leaders said was extremely blasphemous. Unfortunately none of the defendants could stand trial because the greatest enemy of Islamic fort that is Pakistan refused to hand over the suspects to Pakistan. This is why the court held the trial-in-absentia. The defendants were given public defenders as lawyers but they refused to represent the defendants saying their conscience and love for Islam didn't allow them to represent blasphemers. "Alhumdulillah, justice has been served today," the special prosecutor said. "We have sent a strong message to the world that Pakistan is a fort of Islam and we can rule against anyone who commits blasphemy no matter where they are in the world." The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special investigator said it's unfortunate the 'arch-enemy' of Islam, India didn't hand over the over 100-member cast and crew of the film. He added that he would have made the defendants sodomise their siblings and then each other during the investigation to prove how much he loved his faith. "Who cares if the world calls me a pervert with deeply repressed sexuality," he said. "This blasphemous world has come up with these new terminologies such as pervert and creep." The special investigator said he wasn't being a pervert for his own sake but for the sake of punishing the blasphemers. When this reporter asked them about the fact that the song in question was written and composed by the Muslims and that the Muslims of Indian state Kerala have been singing this for some 40 years, the spokesperson for all parties-led grand alliance against the film, Imam Khan said that they would move the parliament against this and after a grand debate the Muslims of Kerala would be declared non-Muslims. "There's no such thing as a progressive Muslim," he said. "If you want to be progressive, you should be an atheist". He added that for this reason the progressive Indian state Kerala would be declared non-Muslim by the house. When asked, the spokesperson of the grand alliance said since Pakistan is the fort of Islam, every Muslim in the world should take its rulings and decisions as binding. He said it would be unfortunate if India didn't implement the decisions of Pakistani parliament and it could trigger a nuclear war. Imam Khan insisted he is the real liberal person and the ones who have gone into hiding were fake liberals. He further said that Oru Adaar Love film is a grand conspiracy against Islam just like the PML-N led committee amending electoral reforms bill was going to change the anti-Ahmadiyya declaration to appease foreign masters. Meanwhile, Imam Khan's ally for the upcoming elections, Tavilul Qadri was seen chanting 'peace' on a French television network while later that evening, he was seen taking credit for the blasphemy laws of Pakistan in an interview to a Pakistani network. No liberal was available to comment. Dissident politician Chaudhry Jan-Nisar praised the trial and conviction of the blasphemers but disagreed on the implementation of the death penalty in absentia. He said the grand alliance's plan was detrimental to country's progress, adding that the country should only execute-in-absentia the convicts after taking United Nations (UN) in confidence. The execution of the convicted people will be carried out also in absentia on Eid day - the day the film is being released. "It will be a symbolic execution," the Attorney General said. "This will send a loud and clear message to the whole world". A Punjab Assembly lawmaker, meanwhile, submitted a resolution to carry the death penalty by stoning-in-absentia. A Senate Committee is also working on finding the possibility of publicly hanging-in-absentia the convicts. * if this wasn't utterly clear, it is a satirical piece (source: Farhan Janjua, The Daily Times) Doctor's killer awarded death sentence Additional Sessions Judge Shakeel Ahmed Sipra on Tuesday awarded death penalty to accused Amanullah of Mananwala in a murder case of Dr Mehmood Aleem, gynecologist and professor of the Allied Hospital. The court had also ordered the convict to paying compensation of Rupees 0.2 million to the bereaved family. The motive behind killing of Dr Mehmood was the divorce
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.J., NEB., UTAH
Feb. 28 TEXASnew death sentence Kountze man sentenced to death for killing girlfriend's toddler A Hardin County jury on Tuesday handed down the state's 1st death sentence of 2018, deciding a Kountze man convicted of torturing and killing his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter is irredeemable and likely to commit future violent crimes. The jury deliberated for more than 3 hours before unanimously determining there was no reason Jason Wade Delacerda, 40, should spend his life in prison instead of being executed by lethal injection. "What mitigates the horror that she lived in? What mitigates the pain she suffered?" District Attorney David Sheffield asked during his closing statements, holding up a picture of Breonna Nichole Loftin, who prosecutors said was abused for weeks before she died. He asked the jury to think about how they would explain to Breonna their decision not to sentence him to death. "This is a wrong that we cannot turn right for her," he said. "However, we can prevent 1 last death. We can prevent the death of justice for her." Defense attorneys James Makin and Ryan Gertz, attempting to save Delacerda's life, argued Tuesday morning that he was unlikely to commit future violent acts while in prison. They provided the jury with more than 600 pages of records documenting his time in the Hardin County Jail for the last 6 1/2 years and called Beaumont psychiatrist Edward Gripon to testify that "in a prison setting, his risk of future violence is low." In his closing statement, Makin told the jury not to let Delacerda's son, who testified Monday, live with the knowledge that he was part of the process that killed his father. His son was not in the courtroom Tuesday and did not speak during his testimony about the punishment his father should receive. "Your verdict says that, between life and death, Jason made the wrong choice," Gertz said, telling the jury that they could make the right choice instead. "Some of you are people of faith," he said, and asked them to consider their moral compass. "This was, absolutely, a terrible tragedy. Nobody's condoning it, supporting it, nobody likes it. But there's nothing we can do. There's not one thing you can do in that room that fixes this for this little girl." he said. Assistant District Attorney Bruce Hoffer, who was emotional as he addressed the jury, said Delacerda would be a danger to other prisoners and has a history of trouble, pointing to past misdemeanor convictions and a threat he allegedly made to kill his parents in 1996. "The facts of this case tell you Breonna went from being that loving little child to laying on a gurney at the morgue because of moving in with him," he said. During his closing statement, Sheffield said Delacerda's son's testimony was the "most compelling." He said Monday that his father punched, kicked, choked and abused Breonna "all the time" the summer before she died, forcing her to stand on bottlecaps all night and sit in bathtubs of ice for hours. The 19-year-old said that while he and his brother visited their biological father, he put pushpins in Breonna's face and fingers and paddled her so hard she bruised and bled. During his testimony, he said at first the 4-year-old cried, but then "she got used to it." Sheffield said visualizing and reliving the abuse was difficult, and it was clear that it affected him as a then-12-year-old. "He's a victim, too. He carries that with him all the time," he said. Delacerda did not visibly react when the verdict was read. Makin said afterward that he and Gertz told their client that the death penalty was likely when they explained their strategy last week. They did not cross-examine witnesses, make an opening statement or call any witnesses of their own during the guilt/innocence phase, and objected to all evidence that did not relate to the 24 to 48 hours before Breonna died. The judge's decision to include that evidence will be targeted in their appeal, they've said. As a death penalty case, it will go automatically to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for review, and new counsel will be appointed. Gertz said they have an appellate attorney in mind who they will request be assigned to the case. Breonna's mother, Amanda Guidry, is also charged with capital murder. She was released on bond in 2014. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in her case. After Delacerda was sentenced, Hoffer praised Sheffield for deciding to seek the death penalty in the case, as well as the District Attorney's Office and Hardin County law enforcement for their work. He said Breonna's family members who testified last week chose not to attend the sentencing. "This was very hard, and everybody deals with things in different ways," he said. During his closing statement last week, before Delacerda was found guilty, he showed a picture of Breonna to the jury and played a clip of a song
