[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
December 2 PHILIPPINES: Death penalty can help put an end to country’s drug problem: Bato Death penalty for drug traffickers? If former Philippine National Police director Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is elected senator, that’s exactly what he will propose--to reinstate the death penalty, especially for convicted drug traffickers. He admitted that the illegal drug problem in Cebu City seems to be never-ending, but he thinks that there has been a major improvement. The former police chief, who was in Cebu on Saturday, Dec. 1, for the Anti-Drug and Peace and Order Summit 2018 in Tuburan, said that many policemen and narcopoliticians turned over a new leaf because they didn’t want to be killed. Over the past months, especially in Cebu, suspected drug personalities were killed by unidentified men even though not a single case was filed against many of them. Dela Rosa, though, believes that summary execution is illegal and the people behind it should be punished. The only legal way to kill criminals is to reinstate the death penalty, he said. He said this is an appropriate punishment for drug lords who allow the entry of illegal drugs in the country and who distribute shabu in the communities. The senatorial candidate told reporters that when he was the director general of the Bureau of Corrections, he talked to several Chinese drug traffickers. That was when he realized how weak the country’s laws on drugs are. He said that drug lords from Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China said it’s easy to flood the Philippine market with illegal drugs because of the country’s weak laws and the absence of the death penalty. That might also explain why, in Cebu City alone, millions worth of drugs were seized last month. “So in less than a month it’s almost P90 million siguro,” said Senior Supt. Royina Garma, the director of the Cebu City Police Office, referring to the illegal drugs seized by city operatives recently. “So that means many are still using. That’s what I meant when I said there is a market. So we should do something to eliminate the market.” Based on the data collated by Superbalita Cebu, Cebu City operatives seized around P95 million worth of shabu in November. The latest was the P36.3 million worth of illegal drugs seized during a drug bust in Barangay Sambag 2 last Friday night, Nov. 30. Four people were arrested in the operation by the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Guadalupe Police Station in Sitio Tambis on Urgello Road past 9:30 p.m. The operation was the result of a 3-month surveillance. The suspects were arrested in the middle of repacking illegal drugs. One of those arrested was Michael Pacilan Carabaña alias Mike, 28, of Barangay Pardo. He was a surrenderer of Barangay Pardo’s Oplan Tokhang (approach and talk). Another suspect, 24-year-old Jemuel Enrile of Barangay Cansojong, Talisay City, is in Talisay’s drug watchist. Also arrested were Arnold Pacong Arquiza, 37, and Agustin Regis Quijano, 34, both of Barangay Quiot, Cebu City. Guadalupe Police Station Chief Dexter Basirgo said that Carabaña had only been renting in Sitio Tambis for 3 weeks. He reportedly transferred after his name came up in Pardo as among those involved in the sale of illegal drugs. An informant reported to the Guadalupe Police Station that illegal drugs were sold in bulk in Sambag 2. A poseur-buyer transacted P12,000 worth of illegal drugs with Carabaña. When the sale was consummated, Carabaña was immediately arrested. When police entered Carabaña’s house, they found 3 other men repacking what looked like shabu. Police confiscated over 3 kilos of shabu with an estimated worth of P36,344,000. They also recovered P105,000 in cash, an expensive cellphone, 3 motorcycles, a Toyota Avanza and a weighing scale. According to their investigation, the supply of shabu came from Luzon. Carabaña directly receives the supply and then distribute it to street pushers. Carabaña reportedly supplies drugs in Sambag 2 and Pardo in Cebu City as well as the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue. “Based on their narration, the drugs came from Manila. They have been in the illegal drug trade for some time and their transactions are already in bulk,” said Basirgo in Cebuano. Police also recovered notebooks, which contained names that police believed to be Carabaña’s colleagues in the illegal drug trade. The names are now under background investigation. Garma urged boarding house owners to get to know their boarders so they wouldn’t meet any problems in the future. Garma was disappointed by the large haul despite their continued drug operations. (source: sunstar.com.ph) PAKISTAN: Man awarded 3 death penalties for raping, killing minor girl in DI Khan Additional sessions judge Usman Wali Khan on Saturday awarded 3 death sentences and slapped a Rs900,000 penalty on Muhammad Bilal for raping and murdering a 6-year-old girl last year. The
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OHIO
December 2 OHIO: Prosecutor Considering Pursuing Death Penalty For Man Accused In Murders Of Woman, Child A grand jury has indicted a man accused of setting fire to a suburban Cleveland home and killing a woman and her 8-year-old daughter. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said Friday his office is considering pursuing the death penalty against 27-year-old Dominique Swopes, of Mayfield Heights, in what he called a “senseless” killing. dominique swopes Prosecutor Considering Pursuing Death Penalty For Man Accused In Murders Of Woman, Child Swopes is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated arson and other counts in the Nov. 20 deaths of his neighbors. Authorities say 41-year-old Rebecca Pletnewski was fatally stabbed before her home was set on fire and her daughter, 8-year-old Olivia Schneider, died at a hospital from smoke inhalation. Authorities say Swopes had four of Pletnewski’s rings, valued at more than $1,000. Court records don’t list an attorney for Snopes. He is set to be arraigned Dec. 14. (source: The Associated Press) * Mental illness, the death penalty and House Bill 81 When a statewide task force recommended ways for Ohio to improve its death penalty, it included a proposal to bar from execution those defendants suffering from severe mental illness at the time of the crime. The panel gave strong support, the vote 15-2. Yet, as with too many of the 56 recommendations, this idea has languished, state lawmakers failing to act. Will that change? The opportunity now is here. On Tuesday, the House Criminal Justice Committee heard testimony concerning House Bill 81, sponsored by state Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, and Nickie Antonio, a Lakewood Democrat. The committee chairman, state Rep. Nathan Manning, a North Ridgeville Republican, said he expects the panel to vote next week. A favorable vote would send the measure to the House floor and, if approved, would open the door to Senate action in the current lame-duck session. The legislation deserves passage. The proposal builds on the exclusions already established for juveniles and the developmentally disabled. The thinking reserves the death penalty for the worst of the worst. That designation does not include those with impaired judgment, for instance, due to their youth or inability to distinguish fully right and wrong. Out of decency, it follows to include those with severe mental illness. At the committee hearing, prosecutors reiterated their opposition. They have warned that those currently on death row would flood the courts with motions seeking review of their sentences. Actually, the legislation is narrowly cast, identifying 5 precise mental illnesses, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and delusional disorder. A judge would weigh the evidence and decide whether the defendant suffered from the affliction when committing the crime. How many death row inmates would meet the threshold? Experts put the number at roughly 10 %, or hardly overwhelming for the courts. Even then, not all would succeed. The burden of proof rests with the defense to show the defendant was ill. Prosecutors have argued that the courts have a process for assessing the role of mental illness. They point to the sentencing phase of capital punishment trials, when jurors decide whether to apply the death penalty as the law directs. At that point, a defendant can put forward evidence of mental illness as a mitigating factor. The trouble is that research reveals jurors often see mental illness as an aggravating factor and thus are more likely to see a death sentence as warranted. They tend to see mental illness as confirming guilt and a reason to fear the defendant. The familiar stigma, or prejudice, or discrimination, comes into play. In that way, the mitigation phase risks turning justice upside down, the findings of researchers making stronger the case for House Bill 81. This legislation isn’t about leniency or somehow cutting bad actors a break. Those excluded from the death penalty still would face a severe punishment, life in prison without the possibility of parole. Again, defendants would have to prove to the court they suffered from one of the severe mental illnesses set in the law. That wouldn’t be easy, but it would offer a needed measure of protection for the rest of us. There is good reason for exempting juveniles and the developmentally disabled. It also applies to those with severe mental illness at the time they commit the crime. They are not among the worst of the worst and thus should not face a death sentence. (source: Akron Beacon Journal Editorial Board) ___ A service courtesy of Washburn University School of Law www.washburnlaw.edu DeathPenalty mailing list DeathPenalty@lists.washlaw.edu
