[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
September 29 IRAQ: 2 sentenced to die for 'terror attack' in Iraq's AnbarDefendants have 30 days to appeal death sentences before Iraq's Court of Cassation 2 Iraqis were sentenced to death on Monday after being convicted earlier of killing 12 civilians in Iraq's western Anbar province. According to Abdul-Sattar Bayrakdar, a spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, a criminal court sentenced the pair to death earlier for killing 12 civilians in Anbar's Al-Jazeera district in what the court described as a "terrorist attack". A 3rd person was slapped with life behind bars for taking part in a separate attack in Diyala province. The defendants now have 30 days in which to appeal the sentences before Iraq's Federal Court of Cassation. (source: Anadolu Agency) TAIWAN: Keir Starmer visits Taiwan to lobby against death penaltyLabour frontbencher, a long-time campaigner against capital punishment, will meet senior judiciary and politicians Sir Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, flies out to Taiwan this weekend to lobby against the death penalty in an initiative also aimed at demonstrating the UK's continued commitment to international legal standards following the EU referendum. His four-day trip, which is supported by the Foreign Office, will include meetings with the country's vice-president, minister of justice and senior judiciary. There are more than 40 prisoners on death row in the republic. Starmer, who was formerly director of public prosecutions, has for many years been a director of the Death Penalty Project, which campaigns for abolition of capital punishment across the world. According to Amnesty International's latest estimates, 142 countries have stopped imposing capital punishment in law and practice out of more than 190 states globally. Asia remains one region where the death penalty is still widely used. Taiwan adopted a moratorium on using the death penalty but on 31 August 31 Lee Hung-chi, who was convicted of murdering his ex-wife and daughter, was shot through the heart from behind - the country's routine method for carrying out executions. Starmer, who visited Taiwan 2 years ago, told the Guardian: "The most important thing is to ensure that the moratorium stays in place. One of the most important points to emphasise after the referendum is the UK's continued commitment to international law ... across the world. "For me personally, and the country, compliance with international human rights obligations has always been central and I have devoted much of my career to that cause ... Going to Taiwan is part of maintaining the UK's commitment to international human rights." Saul Lehrfreund, a solicitor at the London law firm Simons Muirhead & Burton and co-founder of the Death Penalty Project, is accompanying Starmer to Taiwan. He said: "We will be raising the case of Lee. Taiwan has not said it will abolish the death penalty tomorrow but has stated that it's a long-term objective." Lehrfreund has also been to talk to authorities in China about the death penalty. Chinese executions have declined in number: 25 years ago as many 25,000 prisoners were being killed every year. The current figure is believed to be around 3,000 deaths. "The reality is that miscarriages of justice are inevitable anywhere in the world. An individual on death row in Taiwan was exonerated recently after spending 10 years on death row." The UK's commitment to opposing the death penalty has been questioned since the government signalled in July that it may allow two terror suspects, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who have been detained in Iraq to be extradited to the US where they could face the death penalty. The Foreign Office said: "It is a longstanding policy of the UK government to oppose the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle." The department said it worked closely, through the Magna Carta Fund, with abolitionist organisations such as the Death Penalty Project to reduce the number of executions and restrict use of the death penalty. Asked about the Isis suspects, the spokesperson said: "We are clear that any foreign fighters who may be captured in an armed conflict should be treated in accordance with international humanitarian law and brought to justice in accordance with legal due process." Starmer is due to return to the UK on Thursday after the end of the Conservative party conference. In an article he and Lehfreund have written for Taiwanese papers, they said: "The global experience shows that support for capital punishment dwindles after abolition as the punishment comes to be outdated. "There are many unanswered questions about Lee's death that make it sit so uncomfortably with a commitment towards abolition, including that his original sentence of life imprisonment was increased to death on appeal, the lingering and serious concerns as to
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO, OKLA., NEB., ARIZ., NEV., CALIF., USA, US MIL.
September 29 OHIO: Inmate Convicted in Ohio Prison Riot Fights Execution Date An inmate sentenced to die in the slayings of 5 fellow inmates during a 1993 prison riot in Ohio is fighting a prosecutor's request to set his execution date. Lawyers for 49-year-old Keith LaMar told the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday the only evidence against him came from inmates that authorities never corroborated and that further proof of his innocence was withheld. The filing also challenges the death penalty as disproportionately affecting minorities. LaMar is black. LaMar was convicted of aggravated murder in 1995 for the deaths of 5 inmates during a riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. He received the death penalty for 4 of the killings. A special prosecutor asked the court last week to set an execution date, saying LaMar had exhausted his appeals. (source: Associated Press) OKLAHOMA: OCCA denies petition in Julius Jones death penalty case Today, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) has dismissed the petition by death row prisoner Julius Jones, who sought a hearing to present new evidence of racial bias in his case. New evidence revealed by Jones' legal team and also in the ABC documentary The Last Defense, shows that one juror harbored racial prejudice that could have influenced his vote to convict and sentence Jones to death. Court documents state that a juror said "they should just take that (n-word) out and shoot him behind the jail." Jones, an African American, was an honor student and athlete on scholarship at the University of Oklahoma at the time of his arrest. Jones has always maintained his innocence. "No court has ever considered all the extensive evidence in this case, including evidence of explicit racial bias, police and prosecutorial misconduct, and informant testimony," said Dale Baich, a federal public defender representing Julius. "We will continue to seek a fair hearing for Mr. Jones, who was wrongfully convicted and has spent 18 years on Oklahoma's death row for a crime he did not commit." According to Baich, in Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado (2017), the U.S. Supreme Court called racial bias 'a familiar and recurring evil that, if left unaddressed, would risk systemic injury to the administration of justice.' "Racial bias was present in Mr. Jones' case, and we will continue to seek justice," Baich said. In April 2017, the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission issued a report detailing numerous systemic flaws within Oklahoma's capital punishment system. The report included a study about racially disparate capital sentencing outcomes in Oklahoma. "The U.S. Supreme Court has made it unequivocally clear that our criminal justice system cannot tolerate such blatant examples of racial prejudice on the part of even a single juror," Baich said. "In this way and many others, Jones' rights under the state and federal constitutions have been violated and his conviction and death sentence should be overturned." In May 2017, Jones’ attorneys reached out to the DA's office to retrieve a red bandana which they held in evidence, to test for DNA. The only eye witness to the murder stated that the shooter wore a red bandana. Finally, in March 2018 the bandana was release and sent to LabCorp in Virginia, at the expense and direction of Jones' attorney, a procedure agreed to by the state. On September 7, the state called a hearing to address the question of whether the district attorney's office would be able to communicate directly with the DNA testing facility. With a nearly full courtroom, including Jones' family and supporters, Oklahoma County District Court Judge Bill Graves ruled that the state cannot unilaterally contact the DNA lab, but joint contact will be allowed, which is what the defense offered two weeks prior to the hearing. After the hearing Baich stated, "Today's ruling simply means that, going forward, the parties will jointly confer with the lab conducting the DNA testing. As we represented to the judge at the hearing, that testing is well underway." Oklahoma County district attorneys David Prater and Jennifer Hinsburger presented for the state. Michael Robles, with Crowell Moring law firm in New York City, is providing pro bono representation in the Jones' case. Mark Barrett, from Norman, also presented for Jones. "This evidence should have been tested 19 years ago," said Baich. "There is always a concern that with the passage of time, the sample could be degraded or contaminated. Although this hearing is important, DNA testing is just one aspect of this case, which includes overwhelming evidence that not only was Julius Jones wrongfully convicted, but racial bias also contaminated the trial." The U.S. Supreme Court has rescheduled the Jones v. Oklahoma case once again - the 14th time. The petition was first filed by Jones' attorneys in November 2017.