[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
April 4 PAKISTAN: Killer gets death in Faisalabad The court on Wednesday awarded death sentence to an accused involved in a murder case of Samanabad police station. According to the prosecution, accused Naseemullah along with his brother Asghar and sister Sughran Bibi had killed Khalid Hussain, husband of his sister, over a domestic dispute in 2014. After observing evidences and witnesses, Additional District and Sessions Judge Imran Javaid Gill awarded the capital punishment to Naseem and ordered for paying Rs 200,000 as compensation. However, the court acquitted Asghar and Sughran Bibi by giving them the benefit of doubt. (source: urdupoint.com) ** Killer Gets Death Sentence In Sialkot The Model Criminal Trial Court on Wednesday decided a murder case and awarded death penalty to an accused and life imprisonment to the other. Additional District and Session Judged Naeem Abbas awarded death sentence to Ali Raza and life imprisonment to his father Zulifqar. The court also ordered for paying Rs 1000,000 as compensation money to heirs of the deceased. According to the prosecution, Ali Raza and his father Zulifqar shot dead Ghualm Hiader over a minor dispute in Headmirala police limits. According to an official of the court, the Model Court has decided the murder case in 5 days. (source: urdupoint.com) SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka interviews 47 potential executioners as rights groups slam return of death penalty Sri Lankan authorities have reportedly begun interviewing 47 candidates for 2 positions as hangmen, even as rights groups slammed the country’s move to bring back the death penalty after a decades-long moratorium. The island nation hasn’t executed a criminal in 43 years, but President Maithripala Sirisena revealed last year that hangings would be brought back as part of a renewed war on drugs — Sirisena is a noted admirer of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. The country began advertising the grim career opportunity in newspapers in February. The ad called for applicants with “excellent moral character” and “mental strength.” In March, the state-run Daily News reported that 102 applications had been received for the 2 available positions. An American national was among the applicants, even though the ad said Sri Lankans only need apply. Now, AFP reports that the candidates have been whittled down to 47. But there’s a catch — with no executions having been carried out since 1976, the chosen candidates will need to be sent abroad so they can learn the ropes from seasoned hangmen, an official told AFP. Rights groups condemned the imminent restoration of the death penalty, saying that executions won’t make a dent in drug-related crime and that they bring the risk of innocent people being killed. “There is no evidence that implementing the death penalty will end drug-related crime. Executions are never a solution,” said Biraj Patnaik, South Asia director at Amnesty International. “Indeed, they may result in people being put to death following unfair trials. The death penalty is also a punishment that disproportionately affects people from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds.” Patnaik said that torture and forced confessions are a routine occurrence in Sri Lanka’s justice system, meaning there’s a high likelihood that convicts will be put to death following unfair trials. “No criminal justice system is capable of deciding fairly who should live or who should die,” he said. Human Rights Watch said the fact that Sirisena’s push for the death penalty was inspired by Duterte’s “murderous” drug war makes it all the more clear that the death penalty has no place under international law. “President Sirisena’s decision to restore the death penalty because he was inspired by the Philippines’ murderous ‘drug war’ may be the worst possible justification and would violate international law,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch noted several studies that found no evidence that the death penalty deters criminals, even for crimes like murder. “The Sri Lankan government should publicly recommit to its moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to permanently abolishing the practice,” Ganguly said. “Executions, whether imposed by a judge or carried out unlawfully by the police, are not the way to address drug offences.” On Sunday, Sirisena said a date had been set for the death penalty’s comeback, although he didn’t reveal the date, The Hindu reported. Nearly 1,300 people are on death row in Sri Lanka, according to Human Rights Watch, although the state-run Daily News put the figure at 400. The country’s Ministry of Justice has completed “administrative procedures” for the execution of 5 drug offenders, the Daily News reported. (source: globalnews.ca) INDIA: HC confirms capital punishment for killing
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----COLO., ARIZ., CALIF., USA
April 4 COLORADO: Death penalty repeal not happeningSupporters can't pin down votes in Colorado Senate Colorado's rarely used death penalty will remain in place after state Senate Democrats on Tuesday, April 2 abandoned an effort to repeal it this year. The bill was banning capital punishment was expected to easily pass the House, where Democrats have a much wider margin, and get Gov. Jared Polis' signature. But it had been in limbo for weeks while supporters tried to find enough votes in the Senate, where Democrats hold only a 2-seat advantage. State Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors, fought tears on the Senate floor Tuesday as she asked that the legislation not be debated until May 4, the day after the regular session ends, effectively killing the bill. "For many of us, this has not solely been a head decision," she said. "It's been a heart decision." Colorado has used the death penalty just once since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in the 1970s. Three men currently sit on death row here, but no one has been sentenced to death in a decade — including in horrific crimes such as the Aurora theater shooting and Christopher Watts' 2018 murder of his wife and 2 young daughters. Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2013 indefinitely stayed the execution of Nathan Dunlap, who was found guilty of killing four of his former co-workers at an Aurora pizza parlor. The other two men on death row are Sir Mario Owens and Robert Ray, who were convicted in the 2005 murders of Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe. They are in the midst of appeals and their executions have not been scheduled yet. While Democrats are more likely to oppose capital punishment, the issue doesn't break strictly along party lines. State Sen. Rhonda Fields, an Aurora Democrat and the mother of Javad Marshall-Fields, is a staunch supporter of the death penalty. "I feel a little numb. It's such a sense of emptiness," Fields said in an interview. "It's been something that's been lingering out there. There are no winners in this." State Sen. Angela Williams, another Denver Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said later that she was disappointed in her colleagues. At least four members of the Senate Democratic caucus would not commit to vote one way or the other, creating an unusual level of certainty. "This is a progressive issue, so I'm extremely disappointed in legislators who are not able to determine where they are and take the tough votes," she said. Both Gonzales and Williams vowed to bring the bill back next year. Williams said she has already taken steps to re-introduce the legislation. "We're going to bring it back and we're going to bring it back and we're going to bring it back until we repeal this barbaric piece of legislation," Williams said. Earlier this year, the governor floated an idea of a special session if lawmakers couldn't work out their differences. That no longer appears to be the case. In a statement, Polis said there are "no plans" for a special session. "It has always been my position that the death penalty is an ineffective deterrent that is discriminatory in its application and ends up costing taxpayers more than a life sentence without parole," Polis said. "I hope that legislators take the time to continue working on this issue so hopefully by next session, we can end this ineffective, expensive and discriminatory practice." (source: Fort Morgan Times) ARIZONAnew death sentence Killer who claimed Scientology defense sentenced to death by Arizona jury The man who tried and failed to convince jurors that his upbringing as a Scientologist helped rationalize why he bludgeoned two people to death and set their bodies on fire was sentenced Wednesday to death by a Prescott jury. The jury announced its verdict of death shortly after noon, according to a public information officer for the Yavapai County Superior Court. Kenneth Wayne Thompson, 35, used a hatchet and knife to kill his sister-in-law, Penelope Edwards, and her boyfriend, Troy Dunn, in March 2012, according to court testimony. He then poured acid over the bodies and set the house on fire before fleeing the scene. A jury convicted him of the killings Feb. 20. Jurors began deliberating on March 30 whether Thompson should spend his life in prison or die by lethal injection. Prosecutors with the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office painted the crime as a deliberate plan, hatched in Thompson’s mind days before and carried out unbeknownst to anyone, including his wife, Gloria. As evidence, prosecutors told jurors how Thompson bought a gun and a temporary cellphone in the days before. He then told his wife he was leaving their home in the Ozarks region of Missouri to travel to Memphis to deal with a legal issue involving his parents’ estate. Instead, Thompson drove to Arizona, making the journey in just over
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., LA., OHIO, TENN., ARK.
April 4 ALABAMAnew death sentence Convicted murderer given death penalty in Tuscaloosa court A judge has sentenced convicted killer Michael Belcher to death for his role in the torture and beating death of Samantha Payne. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Brad Almond followed a jury’s recommendation by choosing death by lethal injection over life with no possibility of parole. Belcher spoke briefly to the judge before he was sentenced at the hearing Wednesday morning, saying “Words can’t express my sorrow and grief.” Payne endured hours of beatings from a group of friends who were all using methamphetamine at Belcher’s father’s motorcycle repair shop in Centreville the night of Nov. 2, 2015. Her throat had been cut while she was tied to an ironwood tree and she was left to die in a remote area of the Talladega National Forest. Prosecutors said Belcher was the ringleader who encouraged the beatings from the others, saying they believe he is the one who cut her throat after she was tied, naked, to the tree. A 12-member jury found Belcher, 34, guilty of capital murder during a kidnapping after a trial last month, deliberating just two hours to reach the unanimous verdict on March 13. They took even less time to recommend the death penalty after a hearing held the following week, with all agreeing the crime was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel compared to other capital offenses.” (source: Tuscaloosa News) * These Men are Fighting to Abolish the Death Penalty—From Death RowProject Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty is the nation’s only anti–death penalty organization run by death-row prisoners. It was early on a September morning in 1993 when police in Morgan County, Alabama, dragged Gary Drinkard through his car window and threw him to the ground. Minutes before, he’d been sitting in his kitchen with his half-sister, discussing a newspaper article about the murder of a local junkyard dealer named Dalton Pace. A wire taped between her legs recorded the conversation, feeding it to the officers stationed outside. The police told Drinkard, who had served time for robbery but was working hard to turn his life around, that he was being charged with Pace’s murder. Two weeks earlier, the 62-year-old had been found shot dead, with $2,000 missing from his pants pocket. As Drinkard sat in the Morgan County jail, one of his attorneys assured him that there was no evidence tying him to the crime, and that he would be out in no time. Neither of Drinkard’s court-appointed attorneys was a criminal lawyer, and neither had tried a capital-murder case. Each received a scant $1,000 from the state to mount Drinkard’s defense. Drinkard said he’d been at home at the time of the murder—and that a painful back injury would have made committing the crime impossible. His lawyers, however, failed to prepare a key witness and to call in a physician to testify about the back injury. When Drinkard’s case went to trial, he was sentenced to death. That was in 1995. “I lose everything,” Drinkard, now 63, said 25 years later, still speaking of the verdict in the present tense. “I lose the dream home, lose the family—I mean, it was a bitch.” Drinkard told his wife to find another man. She thought he didn’t love her, but that wasn’t true; he wanted her to find someone to help take care of their 3 children. A couple of months after he arrived on death row at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility, Drinkard met Darrell Grayson, who offered him coffee, cigarettes, and an invitation. Each Wednesday, Grayson and a group of other death-row inmates would meet in the prison’s law library and work on a plan to raise awareness about inequity in the criminal-justice system. Dubbed Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty, it was—and remains—the nation’s only anti-death-penalty organization run by death-row prisoners. When Drinkard arrived at Holman, the organization was just 6 years old. It had been formed in 1989, after Cornelius Singleton, an intellectually disabled man who had been convicted of killing a nun—but who many believe was innocent—begged two death-row inmates for help. Over the next few months, they put together a five-man committee that outlined the group’s purpose: They would educate the public—the people responsible for deciding their fates—on the realities of the death penalty in Alabama. In a “death belt” state infamous for its dedication to capital punishment, this was a crucial mission. In the 30 years since, Project Hope’s members have come and gone. Singleton was executed in 1992, Grayson in 2007, and Drinkard won his freedom in 2001. But Project Hope continues, its mission now expanded to include providing legal guidance and emotional support as well as advocacy. The nonprofit is currently composed of 15 men, as well as an advisory board of outside supporters; its mighty executive
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, N.H., N.J., NC., S.C., FLA.
April 4 TEXAS: Texas bars all spiritual advisers from death chambers after Supreme Court order The Texas Department of Criminal Justice will bar chaplains, ministers and spiritual advisers from execution chambers in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling last week that halted the execution of an inmate who sought to have his Buddhist spiritual adviser in the death chamber. The move is the latest step in a controversy that pit the religious liberty concerns of death row inmates against security concerns of prisons. The justices agreed to stay Patrick Henry Murphy's execution, but weeks earlier, had denied a similar request from an inmate in Alabama. Murphy's initial request had been denied by Texas because officials said for security reasons only prison employees were allowed into the chamber, and the prison only employed Christian and Muslim advisers. Lawyers for Murphy challenged the policy arguing that it violated Murphy's religious liberty rights. The Supreme Court stepped in and put the execution on hold. In a statement released Wednesday, the state now says that, "effective Immediately," the protocol now only allows security personnel in the execution chamber. "Chaplains and Ministers/Spiritual Advisors designated by the offender may observe the execution only from the witness rooms," the state says. When the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Murphy, only Justice Brett Kavanaugh detailed his thinking in the brief order. He said that the government "may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations." Kavanaugh also said that states had two options going forward: allow all inmates to have a religious adviser of their religion in the execution room or allow inmates to have a religious adviser, including a state-employed chaplain, only in the viewing room, not the execution room. "What the State may not do, in my view, is allow Christian or Muslim inmates but not Buddhist inmates to have a religious adviser of their religion in the execution room," he wrote. Murphy's planned execution has not been rescheduled. (source: CNN) ** Texas House committee hears testimony on Lauren's Law, possible changes to death penalty As he addressed the criminal justice committee of the Texas House of Representatives, Rep. James Frank said his bill attempted to answer a question. “The question is when should a child lose the highest level of protection afforded her in a criminal court system," the Republican from Wichita Falls said of House Bill 261. H.B. 261, also known as Lauren’s Law, seeks to raise the age at which capital punishment is applicable from murdering a child under the age of 10 to any victim under 15. "I do not believe the life of a 13 year old should be worth any less in the eyes of the law than that of an 8 year old,” Frank said. “This is the theory behind the law. Unfortunately, this isn't just a theory. This is based on real life events that happened in my district." Frank said, in preparing the bill, he looked at how murder laws were enhanced when the victim was a child in other states. Texas, at the age of 10, is the lowest of any other he had seen during his research. Some states have it set as high as 17, he said. Others range from 13 to 15 years old. Up until 2011, the age at which capital murder was applicable was 6 years old. Vern Landavazo and his wife, Bianka, travelled to Austin for Monday’s hearing to speak on behalf of H.B. 261, named in their daughter’s memory. They were also scheduled to speak to a Texas Senate committee on a companion bill late Tuesday afternoon, but that hearing was cancelled . "Our lives changed forever on Sept. 2, 2016. On that day, we were living the dream,” Vern Landavazo told the committee. “We were the luckiest people in the world – we were parents. We had a loving daughter; we have a loving son. “No matter what we had done in our lives, no matter what we'd done to try to help others, there's no title we've had, no job we've ever had, that's more important than that of a parent. The title of mommy and daddy. Nothing more precious to us than our children. No greater gift, and they are the future of our country as well." On that day, Lauren Landavazo was shot over a dozen times by a man who has since been convicted of her murder. "You do everything you can to protect your children,” Vern Landavazo said. “The day Lauren was murdered, she was simply walking home from school. She was guilty of nothing more than being beautiful and being in love – and having caught the eye of a monster." The Landavazos were unaware that the 20-year-old killer had been watching Lauren walk home from school with her boyfriend, Donovan, for over a year. “And, seeing the beauty, the good that radiated from her, and for whatever reason made a decision to pull up across the street as Lauren and her friends walked home from school
