[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
September 14 NIGERIA: Court slams death penalty on armed robber in Ondo Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital on Thursday sentenced one James Ofem, an armed robbery culprit, to death by hanging. Ofem was part of the notorious robbery gang terrorizing residents and mostly motorists on the Ondo/ Ore road and had been the security watch list for a long time. Presiding Judge, Justice Williams Olamide, who delivered the judgement said that Ofem, the convict, was guilty of the 2 count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery made against him. He said that the witnesses brought to court to testify on the case made allusion to use of arms in the armed robbery attacks executed by Ofem. According to Justice Olamide, the prosecution had proven the robbery case beyond reasonable doubt with lot evidences that the accused was indeed guilty of the crime. Wale Bamisile, the Prosecutor from Department of Public Prosecution, (DPP) in the Ondo State Ministry of Justice had recalled how Ofem with his gang on July 12, 2017 conspired to robbed Adamu Mustapha off his CoolPad phone, Infinix and Nokia handsets. Another witness, Sergeant Franklin Alabi of Enuowa Police Station who tendered the exhibit recovered from the suspect before the court noted that investigation into the case all revealed that the culprit was found culpable in the robbery case. He narrated how the police received a distress call about the robbery attack which took place on the Ore road which prompted the anti-robbery squad to swing into action. Adamu Mustapha, who was also in the court and served as witness to corroborate the prosecutor account, explained that he and a motor-boy were waylaid by Ofem's robbery gang around the liyetu village on the Ondo/Ore road. Mustapha added that the gang laid barricade on the road and their bus rammed into it while the hoodlums emerged from the bush, beat them mercilessly and robbed 2 of them of their personal belongings. According to him, "I and my motorboy ran into a barricade on the Ondo/Ore road and suddenly from no where the armed robbers emerged, they beat us mercilessly and in the process robbed us of our clothes, phones and a sum of N52, 710. "We reported the case to the Police Station at Enuowa Division in Ondo town and few days later they called us that they have recovered stolen items and also arrested the culprits." (source: The Nation) PAKISTAN: Death sentence in blasphemy case A man was sentenced to death and a Rs50,000 fine by Additional District and Sessions Court Judge Raja Safder Iqbal on Thursday in a blasphemy case registered with Yousafwala Police Station in 2015. In case of default on fine payment, convict Arshad Sardar will undergo 6 months imprisonment. Complainant Hanif Athar said Arshad Sardar, a faith healer of village 93/9-L, uttered blasphemous words about sacred religious personalities. The case was registered on May 5, 2015. (source: dawn.com) INDONESIA: 4 Sarawakians caught with syabu may face death penalty 4 Sarawakians, including a husband and wife, may face the death penalty when they were caught with a total of 455grams of syabu worth RM50,000 on Tuesday. City police chief ACP Habibi Majinji said the suspects, aged 19 to 42, were arrested following a tip-off of a drug transaction taking place at a restaurant in the city centre around 6.40pm on September 11. "The 1st arrest were made against 2 men at the restaurant where police found 3 small plastic packets that contained crystal like substance believed to be syabu. "Interrogation of 1 of the suspects then led police to a condominium in Luyang the same day. "Search inside the premise found 2 plastic packets, 1 large and 1 small, which contained crystal like substance believed to be syabu," he said, adding that the couple who was inside the condominium was subsequently detained. Habibi said investigation revealed the total drugs weight at 455grams with market price at RM50,000. Police also confiscated a Mitsubishi Triton, a Toyota Innova, 4 luxurious watches, 7 cell phones and 3 bank book. The suspects have been remanded for 7 days and the case will be investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction. (source: The Borneo Post) IRANexecutions Man Hanged at Saravan Prison 1 prisoner was executed at Saravan Prison on murder charges. According to a close source, on the morning of Wednesday, September 12, a prisoner who was sentenced to death on murder charges was executed at Saravan Prison. The prisoner was identified as Nazir Ahmad Gomshadzehi from Saravan. Habibollah Sarbazi, Baluchi human rights activist, told IHR, "Nazir Ahmad was in prison for 3 years and 5 months. His funeral was held yesterday evening." According to a report by Baluch Activists Campaign, Nazir Ahmad Gomshadzehi was arrested in 2015.
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.H., FLA., OHIO, TENN., NEB., ARIZ., NEV., USA
September 14 NEW HAMPSHIRE: NH death penalty stands as override falls short Lawmakers in New Hampshire on Thursday failed to override Republican Gov. Chris Sununu's veto of a bill that would have abolished the death penalty but managed to do so with one offering support to the beleaguered biomass industry. The state Senate Thursday voted 14-10 to overturn the governor's veto on the death penalty, 2 votes shy of the 16 needed to override a gubernatorial veto. In the case of bills supporting the biomass industry and net metering, the Senate overrode the vetoes. Environmentalists claimed victory in the override of a veto of a bill that provides help to the state's biomass industry but fell short on net metering in the House. New Hampshire's death penalty applies in only 7 scenarios: the killing of an on-duty law enforcement officer or judge, murder for hire, murder during a rape, certain drug offenses or home invasion and murder by someone already serving a life sentence without parole. The state hasn't executed anyone since 1939, and the repeal bill would not have applied retroactively to Michael Addison, who killed Manchester Officer Michael Briggs and is the state's only death row inmate. Death penalty opponents argued that courts might have interpreted it differently, however. Others argued that imposing the death penalty doesn't give victims the closure that repeal advocates assume it would. But Sununu, with widespread support from police, vetoed the bill and argued that he had an obligation to support law enforcement and deliver justice for victims. 2 Democrats from Manchester, Sens. Kevin Cavanaugh and Lou D'Allesandro, voted with 8 Republicans to uphold the governor's veto. The other 8 Democrats in the chamber joined 6 Republicans in supporting a veto override. "It's a very narrow death penalty. It has been used in this state 1 time, in 1939. One time," argued D'Allesandro, in support of upholding Sununu's veto. But Republican State Sen. Bob Guida, in urging an override of the veto, claimed that "the death penalty is not a deterrent." "An eye for an eye is not what this country is about," he said. (source: Associated Press) *** Amnesty International USA Will Continue Its Fight for New Hampshire to Abolish the Death Penalty Reacting to news that the New Hampshire state legislature has failed to override the Governor's veto, which would have ended the death penalty in New Hampshire once and for all, Kristina Roth, Senior Program Officer at Amnesty International USA stated: "The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. By vetoing this bill, which had broad bipartisan support, the Governor defends a practice that serves no legitimate public interest, neither deterring crime nor improving public safety. "Amnesty International and New Hampshire citizens who believe in the illegitimacy of the death penalty will continue their fight to abolish it in their home state." (source: amnestyusa.org) FLORIDA: Mastermind behind Billings murder case loses appeal but could still avoid execution Leonard Gonzalez Jr., the mastermind behind the 2009 murders of Beulah philanthropists Byrd and Melanie Billings, had an appeal denied by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday. The finding means that Gonzalez is out of chances to appeal his convictions in the 2 murders. However, the case is not quite closed as jurors still have to determine whether Gonzalez's current death sentence will stand. In July 2009, Gonzalez led a group of men who forced their way into the Billings' home in black "ninja garb" and gunned the couple down during an attempted robbery. The couple had 17 children - 13 of them adopted and many of them with special needs - and 9 of kids were home at the time of the murders. Gonzalez was convicted in 2010 and sentenced to death in a 10-2 jury vote. In April 2014, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously upheld his death sentence, finding that despite Gonzalez's claim of errors in his trial, evidence supported the conviction. Still, Gonzalez and many other Florida inmates got an unexpected second chance from the Supreme Court of the U.S. in 2016. That year, Supreme Court justices struck down Florida's capital sentencing process as unconstitutional. The ruling - based on the Pensacola case Hurst v. Florida - found that juries must be unanimous when issuing a death sentence. In the wake of the SCOTUS ruling, Gonzalez was one of the many Florida death row inmates who petitioned the courts for "Hurst relief," a repeat penalty phase where a new group of jurors would decide the question of life or death. Gonzalez's Hurst appeal was unique in that he also re-raised two of his previously rejected claims: that his counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to seek a new venue for his trial in the midst of "inflammatory media
