[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 2 MONGOLIA: Mongolia wants to reintroduce capital punishment President of Mongolia Khaltmaa Battulga intends to initiate draft amendments to the Criminal Code of Mongolia reinstating the capital punishment, Montsame state news agency reported. The President seeks to introduce death sentence for crimes against children and submit the bill to the Parliament during its spring session, which convenes this week. "298 cases of child sexual abuse were registered last year alone. The victims' age is between 2-7. Appalling child molestation cases have shocked the society, which is now demanding more action from the Government," G.Uyanga, Civil Society and Human Rights Advisor to the President, said at a press conference. Last November, President Battulga sent an official letter to the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs proposing to reinstate capital punishment. According to the Advisor, the Ministry hasn't formally responded to the letter. "However, it was reported last week that a conclusion had been made by a working group in charge, led by Deputy Minister of Justice and Home Affairs B.Enkhbayar, that it wasn't possible to restore capital punishment," she said. Mongolia put moratorium on capital punishment in 2012. The Parliament of Mongolia adopted a revision to the Criminal Code in 2015, which came to effect on July 1, 2017. Capital punishment was formally removed in the revised Criminal Code. The Law of Mongolia on Legislation states that the public can add their suggestions to a draft bill for the time period of one month. "The public survey begins today. I am sure many people will take active part in the process," said G.Uyanga. R.Bulgamaa, Non-staff Advisor of Legal Policy to the President, emphasized that the President's proposal doesn't imply full restoration of capital punishment in Mongolia, and that only child abusers would be subject to death penalty. Before 2010, death penalty was given for 6 offenses in Mongolia. Advisor G.Uyanga reminded of a fact that Mongolia abolished death penalty in 1953, but had to restore it after 10 months in response to increased incidence of crimes. Thousands of Mongolians protested in front of parliament in Ulaanbaatar on Saturday to demand more action to prevent child abuse, after the widely-reported rape of a male infant shocked the country, Reuters reported. After the reported rape earlier this month in Dornogobi province in Mongolia's southeast, a group of concerned mothers created a Facebook group announcing the Saturday protest last week, and it quickly reached more than 400,000 members. (source: AKI Press) PAKISTAN: COAS endorses death sentence of two terrorists involved in Amjad Sabri's murder Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday confirmed the death sentence for the terrorists involved in the murder of famed Qawwal Amjad Fareed Sabri, said a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Monday. The army chief confirmed capital punishment for 10 "hardcore terrorists" and imprisonment to 5 others. The convicts were involved in heinous offences related to terrorism, resulting in the death of at least 62 people including 5 children, 11 police officials and 46 Frontier Constabulary or armed forces personnel, according to the press release. Members of a proscribed organization, Muhammad Ishaq and Muhammad, confessed to their involvement in the killing of Sabri and attacks on Law Enforcement Agencies resulting in the martyrdom of 17 officials. They were also found in possession of fire-arms and explosives. Fearing for life, Sabri's family to leave Pakistan One of the attackers, Muhammad Arish Khan, has been convicted for the attack on the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar that killed 4 civilians. Muhammad Rafique and Habibur Rehman, also members of a proscribed organization, were awarded death sentenced for separate lethal attacks on LEA officials. All 3 confessed the offence before a judicial magistrate of a trial court. Muhammad Fayyaz, Ismail Shah, Fazal Muhammad, Ali and Habibullah were all given capital punishment for attacks on armed forces and personnel of LEAs. Renowned Qawwal Amjad Sabri shot dead Acclaimed Sufi singer and qawwali maestro Sabri was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen in a central Karachi neighbourhood on June 22, 2016, triggering an outpouring of grief nationwide. The 45-year-old was travelling from his home to a television studio for an iftar transmission, when a motorcycle pulled up alongside his white coloured Honda Civic and the 2 riders opened fire, according to police. (source: tribune.com.pk) *** Brit facing the noose in Pakistan after 2kg of heroin 'found in his shoes'Assif Khan, 37, was arrested at Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad amid claims he had the drug stashed in his shoe A Brit could face the death penalty after allegedly trying to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLA., ALA., OHIO, USA
April 2 FLORIDA: Mariotti trial starts Monday for murder of Leesburg woman It is just one of the death penalty "aggravator" categories that prosecutors are listing in their case against a man charged with strangling Bernadine Montgomery in her home in June 2016. Whether David Mariotti, 35, is found guilty of 1st-degree murder in the trial that begins Monday is up to the jury. But there is no doubt that the crime itself - including the use of her stolen cards and car, stashing her body on a couch for days and finally dumping her body in the woods - was heinous, and worse. Another statutory aggravator listed by prosecutors is that at 84, she was especially vulnerable. For anyone who has elderly loved ones living alone, the crime was a nightmare in the flesh. The fact that it happened in the quiet, established, tree-lined Palmora Park neighborhood in Leesburg, made it even more disturbing. These factors, and a surprising twist in the case, have defense and prosecuting attorneys worried about pretrial publicity. "We're going to have individual voir dire," Executive Assistant Public Defender John Spivey said, referring to the questioning of prospective jurors. "We're going to use 2 courtrooms." About 50 people will be in one courtroom while one potential juror will be 1-on-1 with attorneys in the other to see if they know anything about the case. The court sent out a letter to prospective jurors warning them not to listen, watch or read any news accounts about the case. If they pass that test, they will begin the lengthy process to see how they feel about the death penalty. People who are biased in either category will be excluded for cause. Then, the process begins to pick 12 jurors and a handful of alternates, with each side limited to the number of "strikes' they utilize. The selection process could take 3 days, Spivey said. The twist in the case that has generated a lot of news coverage in the Daily Commercial was Circuit Judge Don Briggs' suppression of a portion of Mariotti's confession. Spivey successfully argued that detectives were misstating the law, including the penalties. ?...there are people who, like go to jail for manslaughter, they get 5 years, you know," Detective James Dunagan said, misrepresenting the importance of intent.M "Hey, if they offered me 5 years for killing somebody, I'd take it, too," Spivey said. In fact, people can be charged with felony murder, even if they are not the one who pulled the trigger, if someone dies during the commission of a felony. The judge ruled that jurors can still hear about Mariotti being in the house when she was killed, and in helping hide her body. That help allegedly came from his companion, Tracie Jo Naffziger. She will testify against Mariotti. Both sides have lined up insect experts to estimate the time of death, based on evidence found on the couch. If it goes to the penalty phase, both sides will present mental health experts. New laws require juries to be unanimous in their death penalty recommendations, which makes it harder for prosecutors to get a death sentence. Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman, who will be handling the case for the state, declined to comment for this story. (source: Daily Commercial) ALABAMAimpending execution Alabama Gives Walter Moody Execution Date of April 19, 2018 Walter Leroy Moody, Jr., is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm CDT, on Thursday, April 19, 2018, at the Holeman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. 83-year-old Walter is convicted of the murder of 58-year-old US Circuit Judge Robert Smith Vance on December 16, 1989, in Alabama, and civil rights attorney Robert E. Robinson on December 18, 1989, in Georgia. Walter has spent the last 20 years of his life on Alabama's death row. In 1972, Walter Moody was convicted of possessing a pipe bomb and, when it exploded, injuring his wife. He served 3 years in a federal prison before being released. In 1985, Moody wanted to have his conviction overturned and, to that end, bribed Julie Linn-West, an acquaintance, to say that she personally knew someone else had placed the bomb in Moody's home in 1972. Julie's mother, Susan Eckstrom would also become part of the scheme by agreeing to testify that Moody was innocent. Moody's attempts to have his conviction overturned were unsuccessful, as the District Court for the Middle District of Georgia denied his petition and was later affirmed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1990, he learned that his connection to Julie and Susan was being investigated. Moody attempted to continue to bribe Julie, and threatened to harm her mother, Susan, if Julie were to cooperate with law enforcement. Julie, however, had already agreed to help the government and recorded many of the conversations that she had with Moody. At the time, the government was also investigating Moody for the murder of Judge Robert Dance of the
