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| Texas' too-secretive pardons and paroles process from Death Penalty News |
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Houston criminal defense attorney Patrick McCann made a persuasive argument for opening up Texas' too-secretive pardons and paroles process in Sunday's Outlook section ("Texans deserve public, open clemency process," Outlook, Nov. 29, Page B8). We agree with McCann's contention that this important part of the criminal justice process should be far more transparent; regrettably, it could scarcely be more closed. That ought to be a matter of concern, not just for the accused and convicted, but for all who come in contact with the system. McCann's client, Robert Lee Thompson, was executed recently after Gov. Rick Perry declined to accept a recommendation by the state Board of Pardons and Paroles that Thompson's sentence be commuted to life in prison. The board vote to change Thompson's sentence was made after successful entreaties by McCann and his partner, Rodney Brown. Thompson had been given a capital sentence despite the fact that he did not fire the weapon in the murd ...
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| Norwegian and UK man fail in death appeal in DR Congo from Death Penalty News |
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A Norwegian and a former British soldier sentenced to death for espionage and murder of a taxi driver in DR Congo have lost their appeal. A military tribunal in Kisangani rejected the plea and ordered them to pay $500m in damages before facing the death sentence. Joshua French, who holds joint British-Norwegian nationality, and Tjostolv Moland were also accused of spying. Their only remaining option is to appeal before the military high court. French, 27, and Moland, 28, were convicted to death by firing squad for murder by a military tribunal on 8 September. They were also charged with espionage and arms smuggling. 'Miscarriages of justice' The ruling drew immediate international protests. Norway condemned the verdict and said it would complain to the government of DR Congo. "Norway is a fundamental opponent of the death penalty, and I will as soon as possible contact the DR Congo foreign minister to relay this message, " said Foreign ...
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| Texas executes Bobby Wayne Woods from Death Penalty News |
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HUNTSVILLE, Texas ? A 44-year-old Texas man has been executed for raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl, despite his attorneys' pleas that he was too mentally impaired to qualify for capital punishment. Bobby Wayne Woods received lethal injection Thursday evening moments after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt his execution. His lawyers had argued Woods was mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution, and that previous appeals to spare Woods' life were unsuccessful because of shoddy work by his lawyer at the time. Woods was convicted of killing Sarah Patterson. She and her 9-year-old brother were snatched from their home near Fort Worth in April 1997. Her brother was beaten and left for dead but survived to testify against Woods. Read more: Video from Death Row: Possibly retarded Texas prisoner Bobby Woods faces execution Source: AP, December 3, 2009 It's not about what they did. It's about what we do.
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| Cities for Life from For Victims, Against the Death Penalty |
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Yesterday was the day of Cities for Life - Cities Against the Death Penalty, an annual event organized by the Italian Community of Sant'Egidio . This international event commemorates the 1786 abolition of the death penalty by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the first such abolition by a European state. Several MVFHR members are participating in Cities for Life events and speaking publicly about victim opposition to the death penalty. Board members Bill Pelke and Bud Welch are speaking in Italy and Belgium, respectively, and member Art Laffin is speaking in Mozambique. We'll have more from them when they return; for now, here's some news from the Journey of Hope's blog .
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| Tragedies are compounded from For Victims, Against the Death Penalty |
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We appreciate the post by blogger Grey Matters on Tucson CItizen.com a couple of days ago about mental illness and the death penalty: Lately there have been stories in the news about people that were given the death penalty(capital punishment) and executed only to find out later through modern DNA testing that the wrong person was killed. That in and of itself is enough to give pause before taking some one?s life for a crime, but what about when the person is seriously mentally ill and symptomatic when a crime is committed? Amnesty International believes that ?The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life?It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel treatment.? At the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) annual convention in San Francisco last summer famil ...
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| Two Wrongs from For Victims, Against the Death Penalty |
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The Philadelphia Inquirer has a nice review of Brian MacQuarrie's book The Ride, which tells the story of MVFHR member Bob Curley. A couple of excerpts: I don't want to jinx this, but, having finished the most emotionally challenging true-crime account I have ever read, I want this book to win every nonfiction reporting award there is. This book was difficult to read because, as a father, I cannot tolerate violence against children. I find it unsettling, repugnant, and infuriating. This book is about a father's encounter with the worst thing that can happen to a child, an unthinkable horror, and how he comes to terms with it. And: MacQuarrie takes the story further, showing how Bob Curley became a willing, and convincing, spokesman for Massachusetts death-penalty advocates, who narrowly lost a legislative fight to restore capital punishment. He also chronicles how Curley began to drink heavily, unable to get past the guilt and horror of what happened to his youngest child. Wh ...
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| Fury at Uganda proposal for gay executions from Death Penalty News |
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Britain and Canada today led Commonwealth protests against a law proposed by the Ugandan parliament which would introduce the death penalty by hanging for "aggravated homosexuality". Gordon Brown expressed Britain's concerns about the parliamentary bill when he met Yoweri Museveni, the veteran Ugandan president, at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago. The suggested legislation would apply to sex between gay men or lesbian women in which one person has HIV. The bill also proposes the introduction of a three-year prison sentence for anyone who knows of the existence of a gay man or lesbian woman and fails to inform authorities in Uganda within 24 hours. The British prime minister's anger was echoed by his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper. Harper's spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, said: "If adopted, a bill further criminalising homosexuality would constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda." ...
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| Death Sentence for Zeynab Jalalian Confirmed by Iranian Supreme Court from Death Penalty News |
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Reports coming from Iran indicate that the death sentence of Zeynab Jalalian, a female Kurdish political prisoner, has been confirmed by the Iranian Supreme Court. Zeynab was arrested in May 2008 in Kermanshah and held by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Intelligence Office ever since. On January 2009 Zeynab was found guilty by the Kermanshah Revolutionary Court of being a member of a Kurdish opposition party, in a trial that lasted only a few minutes. She was declared an "enemy of God" and sentenced to death, despite the fact that her legal file doesn't include allegations of participating in an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic. [see: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-zeynab-jalalian.html ] Source: KurdishRights.org, Nov. 29, 2009 It's not about what they did. It's about what we do.
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| Death penalty in 9/11 trials may be difficult from Death Penalty News |
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Legal experts say Obama was overly confident when he said that critics of the New York trial would be silenced 'when the death penalty is applied to' suspect Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. After Zacarias Moussaoui -- the accused "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks -- was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 because one juror in Virginia refused to agree to the death penalty, Moussaoui clapped his hands and called out, "America, you lost and I won." Now the Obama administration plans to seek a death sentence for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind. Some legal experts say President Obama was overly confident when he predicted that critics of trying Mohammed in a federal courtroom in Manhattan would be silenced "when the death penalty is applied to him." The only modern-day terrorist sentenced to death in federal court was Oklahoma City bomber Timothy J. McVeigh. "It will be an uphill battle to get a death penalty in these cases," said Paul Butle ...
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| Video from Death Row: Bobby W. Woods, Possibly Retarded Texas Prisoner, Faces Execution from Death Penalty News |
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When Texas reopens its execution chamber after a Thanksgiving break, the first man set to die may be mentally retarded. A 2002 Supreme Court ruling bans the execution of mentally retarded prisoners. But after years of being represented by a discredited attorney who ruined any chance for an appeal based on his disabilities, the fate of Bobby Wayne Woods rests with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles which can recommend clemency or a reprieve to Gov. Perry. "It's a long shot at best," Woods' attorney Maurie Levin says of the clemency request, "but I think it's very important to do." Test scores during his childhood and incarceration show Bobby Woods has an IQ that hovers at or below 70 ? the cut-off point for mental retardation. He reads at a second grade level and writes childlike letters ? many of which are photocopied and presented as evidence in his clemency request. Levin asked the board to grant a 60-day reprieve so that she can produce a videotape of Woods "to adequatel ...
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