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NEWS ABOUT: death sentence

death sentence stories: 21 news summaries

1 - 20 of 21 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Iran Sentences 5 to Death
for Election Protests

Brings total condemned in turmoil to eight

Nov 17, 09 1:15 PM CST
(AP) - Five people have been sentenced to death over the unrest that followed Iran's disputed June presidential election, according to state television reports. The report quotes a statement by the Justice Department saying the five sentenced were members of terrorist and armed opposition groups. More »

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Iran • death penalty • death sentence • Iranian election

Lifer Seeks Better Life
on Death Row

Killer eyes amenities that come with
capital punishment

Oct 28, 09 3:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - Living on death row looks like a better deal than dying as a lifer, convicted killer Billy Joe Johnson told a California jury yesterday. "You get out of your confined cell a little more," said Johnson, whose trial has moved to the penalty phase after he was found... More »

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Iraq • California • prison • sentencing • death row • death sentence • life sentence

Chinese Court Sentences
6 to Death for Ethnic Riots

All the condemned appear to be Uighurs

Oct 12, 09 6:56 AM CDT
(AP) - A court in China's far western Xinjiang region sentenced six men to death today over riots between Muslim Uighurs and members of the Han Chinese majority that killed nearly 200 people in July. The sentences—the first for any of the scores of suspects arrested in the rioting—appeared aimed... More »

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China • riots • death sentence • ethnic violence • ethnic tensions • Xinjiang • Uighurs

 Iranian Election Protester 
 Sentenced to Death 

Capital sentence is first since June crackdown

Oct 9, 09 4:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - An Iranian political dissident has become the first person arrested during June's post-election protests to be sentenced to death. Muhammad-Reza Ali-Zamani is a member of the Kingom Assembly of Iran, which seeks to undo the Islamic revolution and restore the shah to power. News of the sentence, which was handed... More »

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Iran • death sentence • dissidents • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei • election

OPINION

Gitmo Trial Could Pose a Big Dilemma
for Obama

Death penalty or move case to US courts?

Dec 9, 08 1:49 PM CST
(Newser) - If the trial of alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed carries over into Barack Obama’s presidency, it would mean a “messy” moral decision for the president-elect: Follow through with a Mohammed death sentence, or overturn it and move the Guantanamo case to US courts, writes Bronwen Maddox in... More »

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Barack Obama • Guantanamo Bay • Khalid Sheikh Mohammed • death sentence • 9/11 attacks • Guantanamo tribunals

Afghan Appeals Death Sentence Over Women's Rights Charge

Argues he was tortured into false confession

May 18, 08 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - An Afghan journalism student who has been sentenced to death claims he was tortured into falsely confessing that he had written an article championing women's rights. "I would never let myself write such an article," said the student, 24, in court today in a desperate bid to overturn... More »

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Afghanistan • torture • women's rights • death sentence

Raul Castro Empties Cuba's Death Row

New president commutes all but 3 capital sentences

Apr 29, 08 8:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - New Cuban president Raul Castro has commuted all but three of the country's death sentences to prison terms of 30 years to life, reports Reuters. Castro, who also has been gradually easing the country's restrictions on daily life, said the death penalty would remain on the books to deter "... More »

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Cuba • capital punishment • Raul Castro • death sentence • Cuban Revolution

'Chemical Ali' Slated to Hang

Convicted of genocide, cousin of Saddam has death sentence approved

Feb 29, 08 5:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Saddam Hussein's cousin "Chemical Ali" will be hanged now that the last legal obstacle to his execution has been eliminated by the Iraqi presidency council, Reuters reports. The execution of Ali Hassan al-Majid will take place in a matter of days, according to a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister... More »

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Saddam Hussein • genocide • Nouri al-Maliki • execution • Chemical Ali • Ali Hassan al Majid • Jalal Talabani • death sentence

Jury Spares
Life of Killer Former Cop

He gets 57 years to life for murdering his pregnant girlfriend

Feb 27, 08 3:28 PM CST
(Newser) - An Ohio judge sentenced Bobby Lee Cutts to life in prison with possible parole in 57 years for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend after the jury recommended against the death penalty, CNN reports. Judge Charles Brown added years to the jury's recommended sentence—life in prison with parole in... More »

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death penalty • murder • Jessie Davis • death sentence • murder of the unborn • Canton, Ohio • Bobby Lee Cutts Jr.

Killer Ex-Cop Begs Jury to Spare His Life

Pleads for life sentence for murdering
pregnant girlfriend

Feb 26, 08 9:17 AM CST
(Newser) - A former Ohio police officer convicted last week of murdering his pregnant girlfriend yesterday begged a jury not to sentence him to death. "I'm asking you to spare my life," said a sobbing Bobby Cutts Jr. The jury begins penalty deliberations this afternoon, reports the Canton Repository. More »

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death penalty • murder • Ohio • sentencing • Jessie Davis • death sentence • Bobby Cutts, Jr.

US Seeks Death for 6
in 9/11 Case

Capital punishment could put new burden on untested military tribunal system

Feb 11, 08 9:00 AM CST
(Newser) - US authorities are preparing to ask for the death penalty for six suspects in the 9/11 attacks who are detainees at Guantanamo. “If any case warrants it, it would be for individuals who were parties to a crime of that scale,” a Defense Department official told the New ... More »

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death penalty • September 11 • Guantanamo Bay • Department of Defense • Khalid Sheikh Mohammed • death sentence • al-Qaeda • martyrdom

Long-Held Secret Takes Man Off
Death Row

Ethics board allows lawyer to speak up

Jan 19, 08 4:11 PM CST
(Newser) - A Virginia lawyer revealed a 10-year-old secret last year that had put a man on death row: Prosecutors coached another suspect to make his testimony match the evidence. When the state's legal ethics board reversed its gag order on Leslie Smith, the lawyer spoke up last week, and the sentence... More »

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death penalty • Virginia • death sentence • murder trial • Leslie Smith • Virginia bar • coaching

Saudi Rape Victim Gets Jail for Appealing

19-year-old woman earns 200 lashes and
6 months in prison

Nov 16, 07 7:36 PM CST
(Newser) - A Saudi woman who was gang-raped by 14 men has been sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison, the BBC reports. Her original crime was being in the car with a man unrelated to her, but her punishment was doubled and prison time added when she appealed the... More »

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Saudi Arabia • appeal • rape • Islamic Sharia law • death sentence • Saudi rape victim

'70s Vigilantes Take '07 in Hands

New slate of vigilante films in era that
mirrors '70s anxiety

Sep 14, 07 6:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Our era of economic upheaval and political powerlessness mirrors that of the 1970s, and now we’re getting our own silver screen vigilantes to clean up the mess. Everyman killers like Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle took action when the system wouldn’t, says Slate, and this season “vengeance... More »

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film • death sentence • Brave One • Kevin Bacon • Jodie Foster • Taxi Driver • death wish • Dirty Harry • vigilante justice • movies

'Chemical Ali' Will Hang

Court confirms death sentence for genocide and crimes against humanity

Sep 4, 07 8:36 AM CDT
(Newser) - An Iraqi court confirmed a death sentence today for "Chemical Ali," who was condemned to hang in June for genocide and crimes against humanity. Ali Hassan al-Majid and two other top lieutenants to Saddam Hussein were found guilty of the killing of thousands of Kurds in the Anfal... More »

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Iraq • Saddam Hussein • Kurdistan • Kurds • Chemical Ali • Ali Hassan al Majid • death sentence • Anfal

Texas Gov. Spares Prisoner Hours Before Execution

Kenneth Foster was sentenced to death as accomplice to 1996 murder

Aug 30, 07 5:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry commuted a death-row prisoner's sentence to life imprisonment today, six hours before he was to die for his role in a 1996 murder. Kenneth Foster drove the getaway car in a robbery gone awry, and under Texas law was eligible for the death penalty. Perry, in... More »

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death penalty • Texas • execution • capital punishment • death row • death sentence

Soldier Draws 110 Years for Rape, Murder

Coconspirators handed tough sentences for young girl's death

Aug 5, 07 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - A military court handed Jesse Spielman a dishonorable discharge and a 110-year prison sentence for raping and murdering an Iraqi girl last year. Spielman and four comrades planned the 2006 assault on a family near Baghdad over a drunken game of cards; they then gang-raped and murdered the girl, her... More »

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Iraq • military • war crimes • murder • rape • court • sentencing • soldier • Jesse Spielman • death sentence

Georgia Man Faces Death Despite Collapsed Case

Since 1996, feds rarely step in on capital cases

Jul 16, 07 5:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Georgia man is scheduled to be executed tomorrow even though the case against him has largely collapsed. Witnesses have recanted their statements and one confessed to lying in the trial of Troy Davis, convicted of murdering an off-duty cop in 1989. Prosecutors say the recanted testimony is not significant... More »

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death penalty • lethal injection • Georgia • troy davis • death sentence

SD Carries Out 1st Execution in 60 Years

Man convicted in 2000 torture murder refused appeals, last words

Jul 12, 07 12:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - South Dakota executed a prisoner last night for the first time since 1947. Officials administered a lethal injection to convicted murderer Elijah Page, who had pleaded guilty in 2001 to torturing and killing a 19-year-old acquaintance the year before, the Argus Leader reports. One of his two co-defendants remains on... More »

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death penalty • murder • lethal injection • execution • South Dakota • Elijah Page • Chester Poage • death row • death sentence

China Executes Ex-Food and Drug Czar

Regulator convicted of taking bribes to compromise food safety

Jul 10, 07 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - China carried out a swift death sentence against the former head of its food and drug administration today, in an apparent reaction to concerns about the safety of its exports. Zheng Xiaoyu was killed just over 2 weeks after the supreme court rejected his appeal on a May conviction for... More »

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China • Zheng Xiaoyu • capital punishment • China food exports • death sentence

1 - 20 of 21 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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