[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, IND.
June 11 TEXAS: 'I did not kill my babies'City native's murder conviction, appeal featured in docu-series When Altoona native Darlie Lynn Routier was convicted by a Texas jury in February 1997 of stabbing to death her young son, Damon, 5, and by implication, her other son, Devon, 6, she reportedly cried out, "I did not kill my babies." Both boys were murdered on June 6, 1996, as they were sleeping with their mother in the downstairs television room of the family's Rowlett, Texas, home, while her husband, Darin, was in an upstairs bedroom with their 18-month-old son Drake. Routier, then in her 20s, also suffered grievous injuries that night, including a badly bruised arm and stab wounds to her neck, which came within 2 millimeters of slicing a carotid artery, an injury that could have killed her within minutes. She said she fought an intruder and after he allegedly fled through a cut screen in the home's utility room, she and Darin, who was awakened by the noise and came downstairs, took steps to quell the bleeding of their 2 children, and call 911. When EMTs and police arrived, the older boy was dead on the floor while Damon was alive. He died on the way to Baylor Hospital in Dallas. Darlie Routier described the intruder as a man with long hair, wearing a baseball hat, a dark T-shirt and jeans. On the scene that night was a veteran but retired Rowlett police officer, James Cron who, after only 25-30 minutes, was convinced there was no intruder and that the murders were an inside job. He concluded Darlie Routier had staged the scene, including her own injuries. The family room was a mess, with blood on the floors and furniture, and broken glass from wine glasses and other evidence scattered about. When Cron was asked at trial why he debunked the story of the intruder, he answered, "It's sort of a big picture. It's not any one thing. It was the overall scene which, primarily, is the lack of evidence in many cases. But the entire scene indicated to me there had not been an intruder." Within days, Routier was charged only with Damon's death and the case went to trial within 7 months. 2 days later, on Feb. 3, 1997, the jury recommended that Routier be put to death, and since that time, she has remained on death row in a state where the death penalty is often carried to conclusion for both men and women. For the past 22 years, Routier has maintained she didn't commit the murders. She and her mother, Darlie Kee, formerly of Altoona, have proclaimed Routier's innocence through newspapers, books and several TV documentaries. Aided by a team of lawyers at her side, the mother-daughter pair have challenged the verdict in both the state and federal courts. Despite the passage of time, the Routier case continues to gain national attention and will be the premiere case in a new series called "The Last Defense," which will air on ABC Television Network beginning at 10 p.m. Tuesday. The 7-week docu-series explores the flaws in the American justice system through the Routier case and that of another death row inmate, Julius Jones, who was convicted of a car-jacking murder in Oklahoma. Jones, too, maintains his innocence. Actress Viola Davis is the executive producer with Julius Tennon. Tuesday's 1st episode will feature Darin Routier relating the events of June 6, 1996, as police conducted their investigation. The murders of Damon and Devon occurred 22 years ago this past week, but Routier's mother, Kee, still has hope that she will one day see her daughter a free woman. "The upcoming 4-part series (devoted to the Routier case) will expose the mistakes and how, now, she (Darlie) is still 100 % innocent," Kee stated when contacted this week. Attorney Richard A. Smith of Dallas, who has been involved in the defense since 2002, said he is looking forward to the docu-series. He said he was interviewed for it. He said he believes Darin, although divorced from Darlie, still supports her claim of innocence, and he reported that Drake, the 18-month old in the upstairs bedroom that night, is now an adult who was treated for leukemia. The disease is now in remission, he said. A flawed trial? While the investigation quickly led to an arrest, much of the story of the Routier case lies with what has happened since. According to the defense lawyers in their federal filing, Routier did not have proper legal representation, and the defense did not counter scientific evidence that allegedly linked Routier to the crime, due to a her lawyer's conflict of interest. In addition, the prosecution used "character assassination" to turn the jury against Routier, the prosecutor's opening statement said, contending: "The real Darlie Routier is, in fact, a self-centered woman, a materialistic woman, and a woman cold enough, in fact, to murder her own 2 children." The prosecution presented a friend who stated Routier had a temper, and had
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news---worldwide
June 11 IRAN: Iran Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentences for Daesh Members Iran's Supreme Court has upheld death sentence rulings for 8 members of the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group that followed their conviction on charges of having a role in June 2017 terrorist attacks in Tehran, a judge said Monday. Speaking to Tasnim, head of Tehran Revolutionary Court, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, said the death sentence rulings have been upheld by the Supreme Court. He added that the Supreme Court has ruled that capital punishment is commensurate with their conviction for "aiding and abetting" violent action against the Establishment. On June 7, 2017, Daesh terrorists launched simultaneous attacks on Iran's Parliament building in downtown Tehran and on the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini. The attacks left 17 people dead and more than 40 others wounded. All of the 5 gunmen directly involved in the attacks were killed by the security forces. (source: tasnimnews.com) BANGLADESH: 4 to hang for raping girl in Narayanganj A court in Narayanganj today handed death penalty to 4 people for raping a 10-year-old girl in 2003. The 4 convicted rapists -- Sumon, Alamin, Abul and Shahadat -- all residets of Alirtek of Narayanganj Sadar upazila, are still at large. After 15 years of the incident, the culprits were punshed for their crime today as Judge Md Juel Rana of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal awarded death penalty to them. On January 13, the girl went missing, after it was reported that the 4 culprits called the girl from her house, our Narayanganj correspondent reports quoting Rakib Uddin, public prosecutor of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal. The next day, her body was recovered from a field next to her house, the lawyer said adding that ever since the victim???s brother filed a case with Narayanganj Sadar Model Police Station, the culprits went into hiding. However, the victim's family is content with the decision, the PP added. (source: The Daily Star) JAPAN: High court rejects decision to reopen 1966 Hakamada quadruple murder case The Tokyo High Court on Monday overturned the Shizuoka District Court's decision to reopen the 1966 murder case involving former professional boxer Iwao Hakamada, who was convicted of killing four people, despite recent DNA evidence that undermined his prosecution. The case, often cited as an example of how miscarriages of justice take place in the Japanese judicial system, has seen Hakamada become an emblem of wrongful convictions after spending over four decades behind bars, most of it on death row. The high court, presided over by Justice Takaaki Oshima, rejected the lower court's ruling that the DNA on bloodstained clothes found near the crime scene, presumably worn by the murderer, did not match Hakamada's DNA. The high court claimed that the results were not credible and fell short of being "indisputable" evidence. The ruling also rejected the defense team's claim that the bloodstained clothes might have been fabricated, dismissing the accusation as a mere "abstract possibility." The ruling, however, did not overturn the district court's decision to release Hakamada from detention, nor its suspension of his death penalty, claiming that the final judgment on detention should wait until the case is finalized, given Hakamada's frail health. The more than 4 decades of detention have diminished Hakamada's mental health, and he also reportedly has dementia. Hakamada was held at the Tokyo Detention center for a total of 48 years until the Shizuoka District Court ruled in favor of reopening the case in 2014, allowing him to be released. The Shizuoka District Court also decided to suspend his death penalty. At a news conference after the ruling, Hakamada's legal team said it will appeal. Despite losing the retrial request, Hideko Hakamada, the defendant's sister and longtime advocate, said she was "slightly relieved that Iwao won't have to be taken into custody." Many people, including politicians, members of citizens' groups and the Japanese Bar Association all expressed disbelief and disappointment at the ruling. "This judgment is not based on evidence, but rather on mistaken assumptions," said Hideyo Ogawa, a lawyer on the defense team. "We strongly believe that we can prove (Hakamada's innocence) with factual proof," he continued. "I'm devastated at the ruling," Nobuhiro Terazawa, a member of a citizens' group campaigning for Hakamada's freedom, said at the news conference. "Iwao Hakamada is posing a question to (Japan's) judicial system, and we have to answer to that question," he continued. Hakamada, who was a live-in employee at a soybean processing firm, was arrested in August 1966 on suspicion of robbery, murder and arson after the firm's senior managing director, his wife and 2 children w
