[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALABAMA
April 19 ALABAMAexecution Walter Leroy Moody executed for 1989 murder of federal judge Walter Leroy Moody has been executed for the 1989 murder of a federal judge, the office of Gov. Kay Ivey confirms. Earlier Thursday evening the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay of execution that temporarily halted Alabama's execution of Walter Leroy Moody, Jr. The order cleared the way for the execution to proceed. Ivey released the following statement after the sentence was carried out: I approach every execution by giving the condemned, and the issues raised by the underlying case, the careful consideration both deserve. My ultimate desire is to see justice rightly administered. “Mr. Moody was convicted of killing Federal Judge Robert Vance and severely injuring Judge Vance’s wife with a bomb purposefully created to kill and maim. The crimes committed by Mr. Moody were intentional, well-planned and aimed at inflicting the most possible harm. A jury found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and his conviction has been upheld at every level of the judicial system. “For our system of government to work properly, the judiciary must be able to operate without undue outside influence. By targeting and murdering a respected jurist, Mr. Moody not only committed capital murder, he also sought to interrupt the flow of justice. After considering the facts of his horrendous and intentional crime, I have allowed Mr. Moody’s sentence to be carried out in accordance with the laws of this state and in the interest of ensuring justice for the victim and his family. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall also released a statement after the execution: Nearly 30 years ago, 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Robert Vance was brutally slain when a pipe bomb sent to his Birmingham home exploded. Walter Leroy Moody was convicted of Judge Vance’s murder in both federal and state courts. Even though he was also convicted of a similar pipe bomb death of a Georgia attorney, Moody has spent the better part of three decades trying to avoid justice. Tonight, Mr. Moody’s appeals finally came to a rightful end. Justice has been served. The 83-year-old had appealed to the nation's highest court, citing vein issues as his execution loomed. A package bomber who created a wave of terror across the South in the 1980s, Moody was executed by lethal injection at Holman Correctional Facility. The execution was slated to happen nearly 30 years after Moody killed Robert S. Vance, a federal judge, with a bomb mailed to his home. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Moody was the oldest inmate put to death in the United States in modern times. Moody was also convicted in federal court of killing a black civil rights attorney from Savannah, Georgia, and mailing a bomb to a civil rights organization. Moody becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Alabama and the 63rd overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983. Moody becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1473rd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin) ___ 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----ALABAMA
April 19 ALABAMA: Execution of Walter Moody for judge’s mail-bomb slaying is stayed temporarily Our news partner AL.com reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a temporary stay of the execution, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections. Temporary stays in recent executions have generally delayed execution until later in the evening. Alabama must execute, or begin the execution, before midnight or face having to go to the Alabama Supreme Court to set a new execution date because the death warrant is only good for one day. Previous story: An inmate convicted in the mail-bomb death of a federal judge killed during a wave of Southern terror in 1989 was scheduled to be executed Thursday as the oldest prisoner put to death in the United States in modern times. Walter Leroy Moody Jr., 83, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening. At his 1996 trial, prosecutors described Moody as a meticulous coward who committed murder by mail because of his obsession with getting revenge on the legal system, and then committed more package bombings to make it look like the Ku Klux Klan was behind the judge’s murder. If his execution is carried out, Moody will be the oldest inmate put to death since executions resumed in the U.S. in the 1970s, according to the non-profit Death Penalty Information Center. His attorneys have not raised his age in legal filings, but have argued in a clemency petition to Alabama’s governor that his age and health would complicate the lethal injection procedure. Judge Robert S. Vance, a member of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was at his kitchen table in Mountain Brook, Alabama, on Dec. 16, 1989, when he opened a package after a morning of errands and yard work. The explosion ripped through the home near Birmingham, killing Vance instantly and severely injuring his wife, Helen. Prosecutors said Moody, who had attended law school, had a grudge against the legal system because the 11th Circuit refused to overturn a 1972 pipe-bomb possession conviction that prevented him from practicing law. Authorities said Moody mailed out a total of four package bombs in December 1989. A device linked to Moody killed Robert E. Robinson, a black civil rights attorney from Savannah, Georgia. Two other mail bombs were later intercepted and defused, including one at an NAACP office in Jacksonville, Florida. Authorities said those bombs were meant to make investigators think the crimes were racially motivated. Moody was first convicted in 1991 in federal court and sentenced to seven life terms plus 400 years. He was later convicted in state court in 1996 and sentenced to death for Vance’s murder. Moody’s attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution in order to review whether his federal sentence, which was handed down first, can be interrupted. They also argued that the aggravating factors used to impose a death sentence were improper. Separately, Moody’s lawyer asked the Alabama Supreme Court to block the lethal injection arguing that an emergency medical technician who assessed Moody on Wednesday told the inmate he had “spider veins” and seemed concerned. Alabama halted an execution last month after workers couldn’t find a usable vein on a 61-year-old inmate. Vance’s son, Robert Vance Jr., now a circuit judge in Jefferson County and Democratic candidate for chief justice in Alabama, said it’s important that people remember how his father lived, not just how he died. “He was a great judge, a great lawyer before that, and a great father,” he said. Friends said the senior Vance quietly fought for the rights of underprivileged as both a jurist and a politician. As chairman of the Alabama Democratic Party in the 1960s and early 1970s, Vance worked to bring African-Americans into the party and fought then-Gov. George C. Wallace’s and other segregationists effort to control the party machinery, said Al LaPierre, who worked for Vance in the 1970s. “He believed the Democratic Party should be open and not be the party of George Wallace and the Dixiecrats,” LaPierre said. Moody had sent a letter from death row to the younger Vance claiming he was the innocent victim of a government conspiracy. “Had my Dad been murdered, I would want to know who had done it,” Moody wrote. Vance said he tossed the letter in the trash. The younger Vance, who does not plan to witness the execution, said he had to make peace with his father’s death, but said he has no doubt that Moody is guilty. Moody, he said, fits the definition of a psychopath. In the effort to spare his life, Moody’s attorneys have raised his victim’s personal opposition to the death penalty in their request for clemency from Gov. Kay Ivey. “The murder of Judge Vance was unprovoked and inexcusable. Judge Vance was, by all accounts, a devoted husband, caring father, and remarkable jurist. He was also, by
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ARK., NEB., USA
April 19 ARKANSAS: Lawmakers call for removal of Pulaski County judge after 2nd death-penalty protest At least 2 lawmakers are calling for the removal of a Pulaski County judge after he publicly protested against the death penalty for the 2nd time. Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen again lay motionless as he strapped himself to a cot Tuesday evening outside the Governor's Mansion. In a statement, state Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, called the protest a "pathetic and depressing display." "He has disgraced the office that he holds for years and now is using a desperate, attention seeking move to further bring shame on himself," Garner wrote. State Rep. Bob Ballinger, R-Berryville, agreed in a Wednesday morning post on Twitter. "It is time for #ARLeg to move to impeach Judge Wendell Griffen. Our justice system must be fair and impartial, and is no place for activism," Ballinger said. Griffen was barred by the Arkansas Supreme Court from hearing capital punishment cases after he rallied against the death penalty on Good Friday last year. "We are still killing," the judge told onlookers Tuesday when asked why he returned. Griffen has sued the state's Supreme Court justices, accusing them of violating his constitutional rights. A federal judge dismissed the high court itself but allowed proceedings against its 7 justices to continue. Meanwhile, Griffen's attorney, Michael Laux, argued that the judge "has the constitutional right to do this, and we will prove it, if need be." "Whether praying or protesting - it doesn't matter. Both are protected under the First Amendment," Laux said. (source: Arkanas Online) NEBRASKA: Facing likely death sentence, prison murderer will tell judges he won't challenge execution Patrick Schroeder doesn't disagree with the state's plans to sentence him to death. "When I knew that they were going to be charging me with the death penalty, I knew what my choices were," Schroeder told NET News. "I knew what I was going to do." He's not going to put up a fight. Schroeder strangled his cellmate at the Tecumseh Correctional Institution on April 15, 2017, and made his confession before Terry Berry, Jr. died, never coming out of a coma. One year later Schroeder is scheduled to appear in the Johnson County courthouse before a panel of 3 Nebraska district court judges who will determine if the inmate meets the legal qualification for death by lethal injection. Last fall Schroeder made the extraordinary decision to proceed with the remainder of the legal proceedings without the state-appointed lawyers prepared to defend him. At one point the attorneys advanced a motion to declare Nebraska's death penalty process unconstitutional. Schroder shut down that effort and waived his right to an attorney in future proceedings. NET News reviewed all executions conducted in Nebraska since statehood and found no other case in which the accused voluntarily dropped any impediment to proceeding with the death penalty before the sentence was even pronounced. The case began in 2006 when Schroder murdered 75-year-old Kenny Albers, a Pawnee City farmer who had once given him a job. An Otoe County jury sentenced Schroeder to life in prison. With the Tecumseh prison chronically overcrowded, Schroeder was not given his own cell in the Special Management Unit. Five days after Berry moved into the cell Schroeder attacked him. Bill Kelly of NET News recorded 2 phone calls with Schroeder who wanted an opportunity to explain why he was not challenging a possible death sentence. (Note: The transcript below has been edited for length and in some cases some answers were combined to create a clear sequence of events. Copyright 2018 NET News.) Bill Kelly (NET News): You entered the guilty plea for the murder of your cellmate and you told the ourt you don't want lawyers to represent you even during this coming hearing, even though you might be sentenced to death. Why did you do that? Patrick Schroeder: Well, I had plead guilty to it because I'm taking responsibility for my actions and it was kind of obvious that I'm the one that did it. As far as the reason for firing my attorneys, the way I want to go about doing it and the way they would have to go about doing it, it's 2 different ways. They're obligated to give me their best defense and, I guess, I don't want them to sit there and start making excuses for reasons (that I killed Terry Berry). I did what I did. I'm taking responsibility for my actions. I don't want some lawyer telling the courts that, "Well, he did it for this reason or that reason." I'm not going to go through that. Kelly: That does mean that you're facing the death penalty at this point. Schroeder: Yes, it does. Kelly: You've really thought through that? Schroeder: From day one, when I knew that they were going to be charging me with the death penalty, I knew what my choices were, I
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 19 MALAYSIA: Security personnel sentenced to death for trafficking in 1.4kg ganja A security personnel was sentenced to death by the High Court today for trafficking in1.4kg of ganja 4 years ago. Judicial Commissioner Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh ruled that the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case. Wan Mazri Pak Wan Teh, 40, was found guilty of committing the offence at a house at Kampung Sulup, Teluk Kumbar about 1.30am on May 11, 2014. He was detained inside a room in the house and police recovered the drugs, a weighing scale and also a small plastic bag. He was charged under Section 39B of Dangerous Drugs Act for trafficking dangerous drugs, which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction. Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Cheah Yit prosecuted while lawyer Maanveer Singh Dhillon represented the accused. After the sentence was read out Maanveer urged the court to sentence his client to lifetime imprisonment instead of the death penalty. He said that according to the amended Dangerous Drugs Act, the court had the discretion to sentence the accused to lifetime imprisonment, if four requirements were met. "Out of the 4, my client had fulfilled 2. Firstly, there was no proof that my client was buying and selling drugs at the time of the arrest, and secondly, he has assisted an enforcement agency in disrupting drug trafficking activities," he said. Ahmad Shahrir however upheld his decision. The accused looked calm when the sentence was read out before he was escorted out of the court by the police. His father was present to hear the court's decision. Outside the courtroom, Maanveer said he would appeal against the decision. (source: nst.com.my) INDIA: Farooq Abdullah wants capital punishment in Kathua-like casesThe NC president said India and Pakistan should eradicate terrorism in J through dialogues. Former chief minister of Jammu & Kashmir and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said his party would bring a law to award capital punishment in Kathua like cases, if it came back to power in the state. Abdullah was in Amritsar to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple. Commenting on the Kathua rape case, Abdullah said, "It is painful that an 8-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and killed." "On one side, we respect women, treat girl child as a goddess and kiss their feet, but on the other side such incidents bring shame to us. Kathua like rapes are happening all over India just because our government fails to make any stringent law against rapists. We attained independence from foreign powers, but the country is still victimised by such crimes." Abdullah's comments came in the wake of the Kathua rape case, in which an 8-year-old nomadic girl was allegedly abducted, drugged, gangraped, tortured and killed. (source: Hindustan Times) * Unnao effect: UP to write to Centre seeking death penalty for rapists The Uttar Pradesh government will ask the Centre to amend existing laws to ensure death penalty to rapists, Chief Minister Adityanath said Wednesday. "It is necessary that rapists get strict punishment. We are going to send a letter to the Centre to make necessary amendments to award capital punishment to rapists," Adityanath said according to a release issued here. The comments, made in a meeting called to review law and order, come in the backdrop of a massive outrage over Unnao and Kathua cases. A BJP MLA, Kuldeep Singh Sengar, stands accused of rape in Unnao in UP while a minor was allegedly killed after being raped in Kathua in J Adityanath said the state government had a zero-tolerance policy against crimes. "From beat constable to the SP - all should be made accountable and answerable. The senior officials should keep an eye and ensure immediate action against those found guilty of laxity," he said. The chief minister emphasised that crime against women should be checked and 1090 women power line should be strengthened and the 'anti-Romeo squads' should also be associated with them. "The police should also do foot patrolling and establish dialogue with people. Those having dubious past should not be made SHOs," he said. (source: tribuneindia.com) BERMUDA: Death penalty needed for drug dealers Dear Sir, There are 2 situations that need to be urgently addressed in Bermuda today. The punishment for selling drugs should be the death penalty. Selling is selling death, the sooner we wake up to the reality of what that sentence will achieve, the fewer lives will be lost. The 2nd vitally important law that must be passed by legislation is a fine so great that nobody would dare to drink and drive: the loss of the car! The car can be redeemed and sold for charity. I realise that we are not a dictatorship so these sentences will be hard to introduce, but as God in his wisdom gave us a
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, CONN., GA., FLA., ALA., OHIO
April 19 TEXASimpending execution(s) Death Watch: The Constitutionality of IntentWhat if the people you killed were not who you hoped to kill? Erick Davila is scheduled to die on Wednesday, April 25. The 31-year-old from Fort Worth was convicted of capital murder for the 2008 deaths of 5-year-old Queshawn Stevenson and her grandmother Annette at a child's birthday party. Though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Davila last June, his lawyers Jonathan Landers and Seth Kretzer on Friday filed an appeal at the high court to stay the execution. Like the first effort, this appeal challenges the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals' April 9 decision to deny Davila's most recent appeal in that court, which argued that, among other things, his appellate attorney David Richards provided ineffective counsel. In particular, Davila's current attorneys argue, Richards never mentioned Davila's assertion that on the day he shot the Stevensons, he was "dangerously intoxicated" and shot them unintentionally; Davila had entered the party and began shooting, but has maintained that he intended to shoot a single rival gang member. Richards also did not argue that should Davila's story be true, he wouldn't have been eligible for a capital murder conviction and therefore the death sentence. And the trial jury was never informed that Davila could only be sentenced to death if they believed he intended to kill multiple people. Seeing all this, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in SCOTUS's first opinion that because a prisoner "does not have a constitutional right to counsel in state postconviction proceedings, ineffective assistance in those proceedings does not qualify as cause to excuse a procedural default." Landers and Kretzer on Monday filed a successor petition with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking permission to file a 2nd appeal and motion to stay Davila's execution. Meanwhile, Davila's petition for clemency is pending. In February, Gov. Greg Abbott commuted Thomas Whitaker's death sentence 1 hour before his scheduled execution, but that was the 1st such commutation in Texas in over a decade, and the circumstances were rather unique. Kretzer told me Monday he's "hopeful," but he also acknowledged, "all I can do is make the legal arguments. Then I leave it to powers-that-be to resolve them. But we will fight for Mr. Davila and all his constitutional rights to the last hour of the last day." Death Row Details SCOTUS on Monday refused without comment to hear the case of Daniel Acker, convicted of murdering his girlfriend Marquetta George in 2000. That decision will likely bring a death warrant to Hopkins County. Next on the state's schedule is Juan Castillo, scheduled to die on May 16. The San Antonio man is on his 4th execution date. He had a May 2017 date withdrawn on a technicality associated with the filing of his death warrant; Hurricane Harvey caused the 2nd to be rescheduled; and a December date was called off due to claims of false testimony. (source: austinchronicle.com) CONNECTICUT: Death Row Inmate Jessie Campbell Resentenced To Life In Prison Without Possibility Of Release Death row inmate Jessie Campbell III, guilty of killing his son's mother and her friend in Hartford during the summer of 2000, on Wednesday became the latest of the state's death row inmates to have their sentence revised to life in prison without the possibility of release. Campbell, now 39, was 20 when he gunned down La-Taysha Logan, 20, and her friend Desiree Privette, 18, and shot Privette's aunt Carolyn, a witness to the deadly slaying in August 2000 outside a friend's home in Hartford. Judge Edward J. Mullarkey sentenced Campbell to death in August 2007. After hearing an argument from Campbell's lawyers of a troubled past that plagued their client, Mullarkey handed down his ruling. "Nothing justified the murder, but the cold-blooded execution is startling," Mullarkey said at the time. "The Privettes were shot "because they were there. The fact that Carolyn Privette feigned death is the true miracle. Now, even with her survival, she will live a life of pain. ... I don't know what causes this kind of conduct to wholly eliminate or attempt to eliminate 2 witnesses." It was Mullarkey on Wednesday morning, now a senior judge, who sentenced Campbell to life in prison without the possibility of release in a hearing that lasted fewer than 10 minutes. Family of the victims were not in attendance and no statements were made on their behalf. Campbell's sentence was revised Wednesday in light of a ruling by the state Supreme Court in 2015 that abolished the death penalty. All 11 inmates on death row are to be resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. A jury convicted Campbell in 2004 of 2 counts of murder, 1 count of attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a pistol or revolver. However, that jury was torn
