Capital Punishment

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September 2008
- Supreme Court Stays Execution of Georgia Man
  
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Sep 23, 08 8:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for a Georgia man only two hours before he was scheduled to die tonight, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Troy Anthony Davis has been on death row since 1991, when he was convicted of killing an off-duty police officer. Seven of nine key prosecution witnesses have since recanted their testimony, and his family and supporters have called for a new trial. More »
- Ga. Won't Stay Execution Despite Witness Reversals
  
  Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Sep 23, 08 9:18 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A man sentenced to die tonight in Georgia is looking to the US Supreme Court after the state’s parole board and top court rejected clemency yesterday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Troy Anthony Davis was convicted in 1991 for murdering a police officer, but seven prosecution witnesses have since recanted testimony, leading to calls for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison. More »
- Inmate Too Fat to Execute: Just Shoot Me
  
  CNN | Sep 17, 08 12:54 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Convicted killer Richard Cooey knows there have been jokes at his expense. But he insists he’s not afraid to die— just too fat for lethal injection. At 5’ 7”, 267 pounds, Cooey is so rotund that it’s nigh-impossible to find a vein. “It's hard getting access to my veins,” Cooey told CNN. “If it would make people happy, shoot me in the head with a .45. Do it legally.” More »
- Con Wins Death Stay in Judge Affair Appeal
  
  ABC News | Sep 10, 08 11:48 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Texas death-row inmate who filed an appeal alleging that an affair between the judge and prosecutor compromised his trial has been granted a stay of execution. But, ABC News reports, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals approved Charles Dean Hood's request based not on the affair but because of a problem with jury instructions during his trial for murder and robbery. More »
- Death Row Con Wins Hearing Over Courtroom Hanky Panky
  
  ABC News | Sep 5, 08 7:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A condemned Texas inmate has won a hearing to decide whether his lawyers can question the judge and prosecutor at his capital case trial about an alleged affair the two were having while the proceedings were unfolding, ABC News reports. A former county DA filed a sworn statement last year saying the affair was "common knowledge" at the time. More »
August 2008
- Texas Defies UN, Executes Killer
  
  Houston Chronicle | Aug 6, 08 2:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Mexican national convicted of raping and murdering two girls was executed in Texas yesterday in defiance of an international court. Attorneys for Jose Medellin, 33, had argued that authorities violated an international treaty when Medellin was denied access to Mexican consular officials after his arrest, reports the Houston Chronicle . The United Nations world court ordered a hearing on the issue 4 years ago, but Texas officials refused. More »
- Ohio Killer: I'm Too Fat to Execute
  
  The Columbus Dispatch | Aug 5, 08 7:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A convicted killer and rapist on Ohio's death row is arguing in a lawsuit that he's too fat to be humanely executed. Lawyers for Richard Wade Cooey claim the 5'-7", 275-pound inmate is morbidly obese, and veins suitable for lethal injection would be difficult to find, reports the Columbus Post Dispatch. More »
July 2008
- Army Can Execute Death-Row Soldier, Bush Rules
  
  Associated Press | Jul 28, 08 7:20 PM CDT
  
  (AP) - President Bush today approved the execution of an Army private, administration officials said. It was the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the US military. Bush OK'd the military's request to execute Ronald A. Gray, convicted in connection with a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, NC, area over eight months in the late 1980s while stationed at Fort Bragg. More »
- Iran Hangs 29 Convicts, Calls Deaths Crime Deterrent
  
  BBC | Jul 27, 08 11:00 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Amid charges of excessive use, Iran hanged 29 convicts this morning in Tehran. The Iranian Supreme Court approved the death sentences, variously on charges of murder, rape, armed robbery, or drug trafficking, the BBC reports. Last year, the country carried out 317 executions, second only to China. Tehran, however, insists the death penalty is an effective deterrent, judiciously used after a lengthy legal process. More »
- Supreme Court Goofs Up Key Fact in Child Rape Decision
  
  New York Times | Jul 2, 08 2:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court misconstrued a key fact in reaching its recent decision banning the death penalty for child rape, reports the New York Times . Swing justice Anthony Kennedy mistakenly noted in his decision that child rapists did not face the death penalty in federal jurisdiction. But in fact the rape of a child was made a military capital crime when the military code of justice was revised in 2006. More »
- Report: California Death Penalty in Critical Condition
  
  Sacramento Bee | Jul 1, 08 3:43 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - California's capital punishment system is nearing collapse, according to a state commission. The time between sentencing and execution in the state is as long as 25 years—double the national average. The panel recommended California spend $100 million a year to hire more lawyers and clear the "overwhelmed" appeals system, reports the Sacramento Bee . More »
June 2008
- Jindal Signs Castration Bill for Sex Offenders
  
  2theadvocate.com | Jun 26, 08 2:03 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Louisiana governor and GOP VP wannabe Bobby Jindal signed a bill yesterday that will allow sex offenders to be punished with chemical castration. Said Jindal, “I am glad we have taken such strong measures...to put a stop to these monsters’ brutal acts,” said Jindal, taking the opportunity to slam as "atrocious" the Supreme Court's ruling that his state could not execute offenders who rape children. More »
- No Crying in the Courtroom!
  
  Time | Jun 25, 08 11:32 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - State prosecutors in Ohio want to ban teary-eyed appeals to the jury in an upcoming capital murder case, Time reports. A motion seeking to prohibit blubbering defense attorneys accuses them of crying on cue and violating a 1999 Ohio Supreme Court ruling that it’s “improper to inflame a jury’s emotions by crying.” A defense attorney for the trial calls the motion “a little ridiculous.” More »
- Justices Strike Death Penalty for Child Rape
  
  Associated Press | Jun 25, 08 10:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court found today that the “death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” striking down a Louisiana law as cruel and unusual punishment. While the court split 5-4 on the hot-button issue—swing justice Anthony Kennedy penned the opinion—there has not been an execution in 44 years for a crime that didn’t involve a victim’s death. More »
- 9/11 Mastermind to Gitmo Judge: Martyr Me
  
  MSNBC | Jun 5, 08 10:28 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the man said to have planned the Sept. 11 attacks, asked a judge to be put to death today, MSNBC reports. During his arraignment at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base a military judge told Mohammed he could face the death penalty. Mohammed replied, “Yes, this is what I wish, to be a martyr for a long time.” More »
May 2008
- Aussie Pardoned 86 Years After Execution
  
  Reuters | May 27, 08 6:27 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - An Australian man hanged for raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl has been pardoned 86 years after his execution, Reuters reports. Hairs found in his bed that were said to belong to the victim weren’t hers, recent tests showed. The attorney general said the case was a warning against the use of the death penalty, which hasn't been imposed in Australia since 1967. More »

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Stories

Supreme Court Stays Execution of Georgia Man

Ga. Won't Stay Execution Despite Witness Reversals

Inmate Too Fat to Execute: Just Shoot Me

Con Wins Death Stay in Judge Affair Appeal

Death Row Con Wins Hearing Over Courtroom Hanky Panky

Texas Defies UN, Executes Killer

Ohio Killer: I'm Too Fat to Execute

Army Can Execute Death-Row Soldier, Bush Rules

Iran Hangs 29 Convicts, Calls Deaths Crime Deterrent

Supreme Court Goofs Up Key Fact in Child Rape Decision

Report: California Death Penalty in Critical Condition

Jindal Signs Castration Bill for Sex Offenders

No Crying in the Courtroom!

Justices Strike Death Penalty for Child Rape

9/11 Mastermind to Gitmo Judge: Martyr Me

Aussie Pardoned 86 Years After Execution