[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
September 19 BARBADOS: "Introduce lethal injection', physician MP urges A Government backbencher, a medical doctor, is urging her fellow lawmakers to introduce lethal injection as a method of execution and abolish hanging. St Philip North MP Dr Sonia Browne told the House of Assembly this afternoon that hanging is antiquated and could also result in the condemned person's suffering. The measure was one of a series of suggestions on the fate of prison convicts that the 1st-time MP made in debate on the Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Bill 2018, which the House later passed to abolish the mandatory death sentence. Dr Browne echoed the position of other legislators in the debate who insist that the death penalty itself must remain on the statute books for heinous murders. "The death penalty evokes emotions, anger, sadness, everything. Religion comes into it, upbringing comes into it . . . . The argument is not about the death penalty. But what I would say, is that we need to come out of the hanging thing. Hanging is antiquated and I see something there about suffering," said Dr Browne, who is Chairman of Committees, adding that she once had a problem with the death penalty until she got to realize the nature of some of the homicides being committed. It was at this point that she suggested an alternative system of inflicting capital punishment. "There has to be a way . . . I believe something more progressive like the lethal injection where there is not one man to pull a lever and have to live with killing somebody for the rest of their lives, where there are a lot of automatic things. "I think that needs to come here. And it needs to come here and not get cobwebs. Too many people killing people and know . . . willfully . . . that they will sit in prison and enjoy the rest of their days," said the MP for St Philip North. She also made the case for the introduction of parole, expressing concern that about two years ago a number of people were in prison for murder but "got let out and went and killed again. This is where the parole comes in, this is where the punishment that fits the crime comes in". Without elaborating on the parole proposal, Dr Browne also spoke briefly on the issue of bail. "Apart from murder offences, we have to look at letting out people on bail who have committed these issues, these offences. I don't think that people should be given bail and hence the process needs to be fast. Because in the cases of innocence you don???t want to keep somebody there for 7 years before a case comes up," she added. The conduct of the law courts and prisons did not escape her attention. Dr Browne told Parliament neither of these institutions must appear to be prejudicial. "The rich, the poor, White, Black, Indian, everybody should suffer the same fate if they do a crime they do the time or whatever punishment is meted out," the bankbencher declared. She continued: "I think the Barbadians are being disappointed and disillusioned and think that only the poor Black people can suffer prison terms and be punished in this way." She suggested that the rich and white appear to be getting off. She also argued that prison should be a place where going back should never enter a person's mind. "Now that is not the case. I have met people that told me straight . . . ready to go to a fight . . . 'Doc, I don't mind, prison not made for animals. Doc, I don't mind, I got friends in there.' It has to be a place where when you go in, the punishment meted out to you, you have no idea or thought or even dream about going back to prison, and right now I cannot say for a fact that is the case," the St Philip North MP told the Lower Chamber. She contended that inmates at Her Majesty's Prison Dodds were now playing cards and dominoes rather than being put to work on the lands around the prison to grow food. "They have an expansive land area around Dodds Prison. In my mind the prison should be self-sufficient at least in food. There is too much land around Dodds that the prisoners cannot do agriculture. They used to it along the highway years ago. We have the debushing programme that the Government is trying its best to find money for . . . and there are prisoners up there playing cards and dominoes. Use them," Dr Browne said, adding that this should be part of their punishment. AG: Convicted killers to be resentenced All 11 convicted killers on death row at Her Majesty's Prison at Dodds, St Philip will have to be resentenced the Attorney General Dale Marshall has told Parliament. But Marshall also disclosed "the frightening prospect" that scores of other Barbadians, now facing trial for murder may never be sentenced to die once convicted. The revelation came during debate on the Offences Against the Person (Amendment) Bill 2018, which the House of Assembly passed to abolish the mandatory
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----N.C., S.C., GA., MO., CALIF.
September 19 NORTH CAROLINA: N.C. homicide case highlights elements for deciding bond Documents filed in Caswell County District Court paint a contradictory picture of the bond status of Donald Layne, a Danville man accused of homicide and sexual assault. One document, dated Friday, lists him as held without bond. Another, dated Monday, listed his bond at $5 million. Paradoxically, both documents are correct. Law enforcement charged him Friday on 1st-degree counts of murder and attempted murder. Warrants filed in Caswell County state that Layne attempted to kill Stephanie Snead - a former employee of his now-defunct indoor playground business, Mega Bounce - and killed Juanita Hankins that day at their house on New Walter's Mill Road in Providence, North Carolina. On those charges, he was held without bond. Then Layne was charged Monday with 1st-degree counts of rape, sexual offense and kidnapping along with felonious breaking and entering in connection to the same incident. For that, he was given a $5 million bond, court documents show. Despite the 2 conflicting bonds, Layne is still held without the possibility of pretrial release. The murder charges supersede the bond listed for the additional charges filed Monday. Bond can be paid directly to the court or through a bondsman, who fronts money for a defendant's release and charges a percentage of the collateral they or their agency puts up. If the defendant shows up for court, the bondsman gets back the money he put up for release. If the defendant doesn't show up, the bondsman loses the money unless he brings the missing person to court. 1st-degree murder - in conjunction with such other aggravating factors as robbery, rape or other violent crimes - is the only charge that warrants the death penalty in North Carolina, said Greensboro attorney Charles A. Lloyd. The bond in capital charges is set at the judge's discretion, Lloyd explained. Judges also have to set bond for lesser charges a defendant faces, even if they have no hope of being released should they post that bond. "A judge can set a bond in a murder case, but does not have to," Lloyd said in a phone interview. But on other ancillary charges, "the court has to set a bond." According to North Carolina law, 1st-degree murder is a Class A felony. Bond guidelines recommend no bond for that grade of crime - a classification which also includes injuries stemming from unlawful use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, Greensboro attorney Robert Edmunds Jr. said. For using those weapons, the punishment is life without parole, according to North Carolina law. Bond guidelines in capital murder cases are not mandatory for judges, who can set bonds above or below the advised limits, according to North Carolina law. 1st-degree rape was also a capital offense in North Carolina until 1979, according to a 2012 paper from the University of North Carolina's School of Government. After 1979, the document states, the state retooled its sexual assault laws and struck the death penalty as a potential consequence for rape. Because of the charges filed against Layne, he could face the death penalty if convicted. But executions are seldom carried out in the Tar Heel state. It's last execution was in mid-2006, Gretchen Engel of the Durham-based Center for Death Penalty Litigation said. Today, the state has the sixth largest death row in the country, she said. In Virginia, Layne faces charges of rape, abduction and kidnapping that were certified to Danville Circuit Court on June 25. According to documents filed in Danville General District Court, Layne was released on $50,000 secured bond in April. As conditions of his release, he was prohibited from contacting the woman he is accused of raping and from possessing a firearm. He was also prohibited from leaving Virginia while out on bond. Layne's trial in Danville has been rescheduled for Nov. 20, and he is scheduled for a hearing in Caswell County District Court on Wednesday. (source: godanriver.com) SOUTH CAROLINA: Death penalty sought for SC man accused of 'brutally' molesting, killing toddler Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the South Carolina man accused of molesting his girlfriend's 2-year-old son and beating the toddler to death. Eighth Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo and Laurens County Sheriff Don Reynolds announced Tuesday that the state will seek a death sentence for William Ryan Looper, who is charged with murder in the death of 2-year-old Brantley Justin Smith, according to a release from the solicitor's office. Brantley was found dead in a Clinton home in June, McClatchy reported previously. The boy had been "brutally beaten" and was "brutally sexually assaulted before his death," the Laurens County Sheriff's Office said at the time. The death penalty notice was filed Monday, according to Laurens County online court records.
