The US Executions / Death Row Thread

TEXAS EXECUTES 'TEXAS 7' PRISON ESCAPE FOR OFFICER'S DEATH
By MICHAEL GRACZYK
Associated Press

A three-time convicted robber who helped engineer the biggest prison break in Texas history has been executed for killing a suburban Dallas police officer while the gang was on the run 14 years ago.

Donald Newbury became the third member of the group known as the "Texas 7" executed when he was given a lethal injection Wednesday evening.

Newbury was sentenced to die for the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Aubrey Hawkins, an Irving officer who interrupted the fugitives' robbery of a sporting goods store on Christmas Eve in 2000.

The slaying occurred 11 days after the convicts escaped. The gang was captured a month later in Colorado.

The 52-year-old Newbury's execution was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-day appeal from his attorneys.


Source : Sapa-AP /avb
Date : 05 Feb 2015 03:06
 
OKLAHOMA CONSIDERS GAS CHAMBER TO EXECUTE DEATH ROW INMATES
By SEAN MURPHY
Associated Press

Legislators are pushing to make Oklahoma the first state in the nation to allow the use of nitrogen gas to execute death row inmates after a constitutional review of its lethal injection formula forced the state to put executions on hold.

A bill scheduled for a hearing Wednesday in a House committee would make death by "nitrogen hypoxia" a backup method of execution if the state's current lethal injection process is found to be unconstitutional.

"You wouldn't need a medical doctor to do it. It's a lot more practical. It's efficient," said Rep. Mike Christian.

The U.S. Supreme Court currently is reviewing Oklahoma's three-drug method in a challenge sparked by a botched lethal injection last spring in which an inmate groaned and writhed on the gurney before a problem was discovered with an intravenous line. The case centers on whether the sedative midazolam properly renders an inmate unconscious before the second and third drugs are administered. Three scheduled lethal injections in Oklahoma have been delayed pending the high court's review.

Tennessee passed a law last year to reinstate the electric chair if it can't get lethal drugs, and Utah is considering bringing back the firing squad. Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has urged legislators to consider the creation of a state compounding pharmacy to produce the drugs itself.

A fiscal analysis of the Oklahoma bill projects it would cost about $300,000 to build a gas chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. A similar bill is pending in the Oklahoma Senate.

Christian said unlike traditional gas chambers that used drugs like cyanide that caused a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood, breathing nitrogen would be painless because it leads to hypoxia, a gradual lack of oxygen in the blood, similar to what can happen to pilots at high altitudes.

Under current law in Oklahoma, where lethal injection has been used since 1990, if that method is found to be unconstitutional, the state would use the electric chair. The firing squad would be the third option.

Christian said he is considering amending his bill to eliminate electrocution as a backup method.

The Rev. Adam Leathers, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said he wished lawmakers would entertain abolishing the death penalty altogether, rather than spending time developing more efficient ways to kill people.

"It's evidence of what a ludicrous idea this is to begin with," Leathers said. "We're scrambling around trying to figure out humane ways to kill someone.

"There isn't a right way to do the wrong thing."

---

House Bill 1879: bit.ly/1vetcRn


Source : Sapa-AP /avb
Date : 10 Feb 2015 00:18
 
Oh this is exciting: a while back in this thread, I hinted at the most recent execution by firing squad being in 2010, in Utah. Yesterday - coincidentally - it made Wikipedia's article of the day.

Then today this gem appeared:
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Utah-to-bring-back-firing-squad-20150311
Utah - Lawmakers in Utah voted on Tuesday to bring back executions by firing squad if lethal injections are unavailable, which would make it the only state in the country to permit the practice.
Click to expand...


Delightful.
 
PROSECUTOR IN TEXAS EXECUTION CASE ACCUSED OF MISCONDUCT
By EVA RUTH MORAVEC and PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press

A prosecutor who handled the case of a Texas man executed for the fire deaths of his three daughters has been formally accused of misconduct over allegations that he concealed evidence during the 1992 murder trial.

The State Bar of Texas has asked a court to discipline John H. Jackson following questions raised by the New York-based Innocence Project, which investigates potential wrongful convictions. A spokeswoman for the bar said the punishments for Jackson could range from a reprimand to revoking his law license.

Jackson was the lead prosecutor against Cameron Todd Willingham, whose case has become a flashpoint for death penalty opponents who contend that he was wrongly executed. Jackson, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, declined to comment Wednesday on the state bar's action. His attorney disputed the accusations.

Willingham maintained his innocence up until being executed in 2004.

The complaint was filed March 5 without any public announcement our fanfare. It was first reported by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit journalism group.

"We're very confident that when a jury sees this evidence, they will find that John Jackson has not done anything wrong," said Joseph E. Byrne, Jackson's attorney.

A key witness in the case against Willingham was inmate Johnny Webb, who testified that while in jail awaiting trial, Willingham confessed to Webb that he had killed the girls. Webb later recanted that testimony before Willingham was executed.

Jackson has acknowledged working to get Webb out of prison early for his robbery conviction, but said he did so because Webb was receiving death threats from the Aryan Brotherhood due to his testimony.

A house fire in 1991 killed Willingham's daughters: 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron. Fire investigators testifying against Willingham concluded the fire was set intentionally.

But several fire science experts and a state panel have since said that conclusion was wrong and unsupported by evidence. Combined with Webb's recantation, supporters of Willingham have called his execution a wrongful death and have pushed for the state to acknowledge his innocence.

In 2013, another former Texas prosecutor was disbarred after being charged over a wrongful murder conviction that sent an innocent man to prison for nearly 25 years. Ken Anderson had also been accused of misconduct by the state bar and pleaded no contest to a charge of contempt of court. He agreed to a 10-day jail sentence


Source : Sapa-AP /avb
Date : 19 Mar 2015 01:54
 
ALABAMA POSTPONES EXECUTIONS AS SUPREME COURT REVIEWS DRUG

A federal judge says Alabama has agreed to stay pending executions as the U.S. Supreme Court reviews a drug that the state plans to use for its next lethal injection.

U.S. District Judge Keith Watkins on Wednesday said that the state agreed to postpone arguments "in lethal-injection cases across the board" until justices issue a decision.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office on Thursday would not confirm that the state had agreed to postpone executions. However, she did say the state was not opposing inmate requests to stay three scheduled executions in the state.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments April 29 in an Oklahoma case regarding the sedative midazolam. Alabama has a new lethal-injection procedure that begins with a dose of midazolam.


Source : Sapa-AP /avb
Date : 20 Mar 2015 04:08
 
Missed that on my tapanotalk. Great. South Africa next?
 
dcsmax said:
Missed that on my tapanotalk. Great. South Africa next?
Click to expand...

We can't afford it. While bullets cost a few rands, the price increases exponentially when it is put out to tender and Usual Suspects win with an incredible bid that includes:

* Certified™ Fatal*® Lethal Lead capsules, per box of 10......R100 000.00
 
As long as they dont go the electrocution route. That could be interesting................
 
Alabama death row inmate freed after 30 years

An Alabama man has been freed after spending nearly 30 years on death row.

Anthony Ray Hinton, 58, was convicted of murdering two restaurant managers in Birmingham in 1985, but was granted a new trial last year.

Tests on bullets found at the crime scene could not be connected to a gun found at Mr Hinton's home, prompting prosecutors to drop the case.

His lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, said his client was convicted because he could not afford better legal counsel.

Walking out of the Jefferson Country Jail in Birmingham, Mr Hinton hugged family members and said: "Thank you, Jesus."

"All they had to do was test the gun," Mr Hinton said, explaining why he shouldn't have had to sit on death row for nearly three decades.
Click to expand...

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32178121
 
imranpanji said:
Well a lot of forumites would have wanted him to be executed 30 years ago. The fact that he is innocent is entirely irrelevant.
Click to expand...

Often when the cost of capital punishment is brought up, people argue that shooting someone straight away is cheap. Who cares about due process?
 
imranpanji said:
Well a lot of forumites would have wanted him to be executed 30 years ago. The fact that he is innocent is entirely irrelevant.
Click to expand...

I still believe in execution, but this kind of incident just goes to show that justified and fitting execution is actually just an ideal as there is probably no country on the planet which can be trusted to carry it out properly and objectively. If the USA can't get it right, then there isn't much hope for other countries.
At least this innocent guy wasn't executed.
 
Garyvdh said:
I still believe in execution, but this kind of incident just goes to show that justified and fitting execution is actually just an ideal as there is probably no country on the planet which can be trusted to carry it out properly and objectively. If the USA can't get it right, then there isn't much hope for other countries.
At least this innocent guy wasn't executed.
Click to expand...

This is the argument opponents of capital punishment bring up. Even in the face of wrongful conviction prosecutors are very very reluctant to reopen cases. So a lot of people likely do get executed when they could actually have been acquitted if they received competent representation. Yes if the US can get it wrong, how much more so the likes of China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and all those other paragons of human rights.
 
R13... said:
This is the argument opponents of capital punishment bring up. Even in the face of wrongful conviction prosecutors are very very reluctant to reopen cases. So a lot of people likely do get executed when they could actually have been acquitted if they received competent representation. Yes if the US can get it wrong, how much more so the likes of China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and all those other paragons of human rights.
Click to expand...

There is no simple answer, but death sentences should only be considered in cases where there are multiple independent witnesses (including actual live video evidence) and corroborating DNA evidence.
In other words, for cases where there is no doubt whatsoever as the accused was actually witnessed committing the deed. All other cases should, by legislation, be reduced to prison sentences.
 
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