death penalty

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Last-Minute Twists Delay Execution in Shaken Baby Case

Robert Roberson's execution was originally scheduled for Thursday night

(Newser) - The controversial execution of a Texas man convicted in a so-called " shaken baby syndrome " murder case was delayed with 90 minutes to spare before his scheduled lethal injection early Thursday night, though the eventual twists and turns into the case extended late into the evening. Robert Roberson has...

John Grisham: Texas May Kill an Innocent Man
John Grisham:
Texas May Kill
an Innocent Man
OPINION
Oct 15, 2024 4:31 PM CDT

John Grisham: Texas May Kill an Innocent Man

Writer makes his case for Robert Roberson, scheduled to be executed on Thursday

(Newser) - Texas plans to execute an inmate named Robert Roberson on Thursday, and crime novelist John Grisham begins an op-ed in the Washington Post by asking everyone to say a prayer for him. The reason? "Roberson has spent the past 22 years on death row for a crime that perhaps...

The State Said Miller's Death Was Humane. I Watched It

Lauren Gill describes jerking, shaking during Alabama execution

(Newser) - The state of Alabama executed Alan Miller using nitrogen gas on Sept. 26. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement afterward that the execution "progressed as planned," with Miller making "slight movements associated with the dying process. ... the State proved once again that nitrogen hypoxia...

Glossip Has Unusual Ally in SCOTUS Fight

Both he and Oklahoma are pushing for new trial, citing prosecutorial misconduct

(Newser) - Glossip v. Oklahoma, a highly watched case before the Supreme Court, isn't quite what its name suggests. Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip is pushing for a new trial, arguing the one that resulted in his murder conviction and death sentence was rife with errors. But Oklahoma is of...

Country's 2nd Nitrogen Gas Execution Goes Forward

Alan Eugene Miller is put to death in Alabama

(Newser) - Alabama used nitrogen gas Thursday to execute a man convicted of killing three people in back-to-back workplace shootings, the second time the method that has generated debate about its humaneness has been used in the country, the AP reports. Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:38pm local...

Oklahoma Executes Inmate Despite Parole Board's Vote

Gov. Kevin Stitt declined to intervene in Emmanuel Littlejohn's lethal injection

(Newser) - Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for his role in the 1992 shooting death of a convenience store owner after the governor rejected a recommendation from the state's parole board to spare his life. Emmanuel Littlejohn, 52, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary and was declared dead...

In Next 30 Hours, This Man Will Die by Nitrogen Gas

30-hour window to execute Alan Eugene Miller began Thursday morning

(Newser) - Alabama is readying its second execution using nitrogen gas. Alan Eugene Miller, sentenced to death in 2000 for the murders of three people in a pair of workplace shootings, is set to be put to death during a 30-hour window beginning Thursday morning, per CNN . The Montgomery Advertiser expects a...

Texas Executes Man Who Killed 3-Month-Old Son

Travis Mullis waived his right to appeal death sentence

(Newser) - A Texas man who had waived his right to appeal his death sentence received a lethal injection Tuesday evening for killing his 3-month-old son more than 16 years ago, one of five executions scheduled within a week's time in the US. Travis Mullis, 38, was pronounced dead at 7:...

5 Inmates Scheduled to Die in a 7-Day Span

If all goes through, it would be the highest in the US in 20 years

(Newser) - Death row inmates in five states are scheduled to be put to death in the span of one week, an unusually high number of executions that defies a yearslong trend. If carried out as planned, the executions in Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas will mark the first time...

Witness Now Says Inmate to Be Executed Is Innocent

Co-defendant says Freddie Owens wasn't shooter in 1997 murder, which South Carolina's Supreme Court rejects

(Newser) - Earlier this month, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Freddie Owens and kept him on the docket to be the first individual executed in the state in 13 years. This week, attorneys for the 46-year-old Owens, sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of a convenience...

John Grisham on Man 30 Days From Execution: There Was No Murder
Dozens Beg Texas
Not to Execute 'Innocent' Man
the rundown
Sep 18, 2024 12:00 AM CDT

Dozens Beg Texas Not to Execute 'Innocent' Man

More on the 'shaken baby syndrome' conviction of Robert Roberson

(Newser) - Despite much controversy , Robert Roberson is still scheduled to be executed in Texas on October 17 for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002—but support is coalescing around him. Roberson was convicted of killing the toddler via the now-widely-discredited "shaken baby syndrome," but...

He May Be First Executed Over 'Shaken Baby Syndrome'

Robert Roberson is scheduled to die in October, though science behind his conviction is disputed

(Newser) - The science behind what we know as "shaken baby syndrome" has been called into question in recent years, and the controversy is about to reenter the spotlight in a big way in Texas. There, Robert Roberson is scheduled to be executed on October 17 over the death of his...

Treason Charge Means Protesters Face Death Penalty

Amnesty International official rips Nigeria's 'trumped-up charges'

(Newser) - At least 10 protesters in Nigeria faced a possible death penalty on Monday after being charged with treason over their participation in recent demonstrations against the country's worst-in-a-generation economic crisis. The protesters were arraigned in the capital, Abuja, and accused of acting "with intent to destabilize Nigeria …...

Utah Executes Inmate for First Time in 14 Years

Taberon Honie was put to death by lethal injection in Salt Lake City

(Newser) - A Utah man who killed his girlfriend's mother by slashing her throat was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday in the state's first execution since 2010. Taberon Dave Honie, 48, was convicted of aggravated murder in the July 1998 death of Claudia Benn, the maternal grandmother...

Texas Executes Man Who Claimed Intellectual Disability

Arthur Lee Burton killed a woman jogging near her Houston home in 1997

(Newser) - A Texas man who claimed an intellectual disability in a late attempt at a reprieve was executed Wednesday evening for the killing of a woman who was jogging near her Houston home more than 27 years ago, the AP reports. Arthur Lee Burton, 54, received a lethal injection at the...

SC Supreme Court Deems 3 Execution Methods Legal

Gives OK to firing squad, lethal injection, electric chair

(Newser) - The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state's death penalty, which now includes a firing squad as well as lethal injection and the electric chair, is legal. All five justices agreed with at least part of the ruling, opening the door to restart executions in a state...

Inmate's Last Words: 'I Love My Family'

Alabama executes Keith Edmund Gavin, who killed a man during a robbery in 1998

(Newser) - A man convicted of fatally shooting a delivery driver during a robbery attempt in 1998 was executed by chemical injection Thursday in Alabama, reports the AP . Keith Edmund Gavin, 64, was pronounced dead at 6:32pm at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in southwest Alabama, authorities said. He was...

Report: Texas Bought Its Execution Drug From 'Pill Mill'

NPR probe finds state scooped up pentobarbital made by San Antonio compound pharmacy

(Newser) - When Texas tried in the past to get its hands on pentobarbital, a drug used in lethal injections there to mixed success, pharmaceutical companies said they wanted no part of the execution circuit. The state apparently found another conduit. After a review of federal DEA records and files from the...

On Executions, More Should Follow Connecticut's Lead

Austin Sarat writes a piece in favor of a planned bill in the state

(Newser) - Connecticut became the 17th state to abolish capital punishment in 2012, and some of its lawmakers are looking to double down on that anti-death penalty stance. In a piece for Slate , Austin Sarat looks at the legislative push and encourages "legislators in other abolitionist states" to follow Connecticut's...

After 'Years of Effort,' Indiana's Death Penalty May Resume

Officials finally get hands on pentobarbital for lethal injections, though it's not clear from where

(Newser) - The state of Indiana hasn't put someone to death in 15 years, but that streak is soon about to be broken. GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb announced on Wednesday that he and fellow Republican Todd Rokita, the state's attorney general, are seeking to execute 49-year-old Joseph Corcoran, with Rokita...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>