death row

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600 Miles and 25 Years Apart, Brothers Sentenced to Die

Rodney, Roger Berget led troubled lives

(Newser) - Twelve years after his older brother Roger Berget was executed for killing a man, Rodney Berget sits on South Dakota's death row awaiting his own death sentence. Roger was convicted in 1987 of murdering a man for his car and was put to death in Oklahoma at age 39;...

Experts Can't Figure Out If Death Penalty Deters Murder

Existing studies are flawed, and shouldn't be considered: committee

(Newser) - Ohio executed one death-row inmate yesterday and has 11 executions on the books over the next 20 months. The AP notes that could once again make the state one of the country's busiest executioners. So is all that capital punishment deterring murders there? Who knows? That's basically the...

Death Row Inmate Boasts of 'Leisure' Life

'Kill me if you can suckers,' he writes to hometown paper

(Newser) - A murderer awaiting execution in North Carolina wrote a letter to his hometown newspaper ridiculing the justice system and describing his life in prison as one of "leisure." 50-year-old Danny Robbie Hembree Jr. is on death row for killing teenager Heather Catterton in 2009, reports ABC News . Hembree...

Death Row Inmate Won't Die Over Mail Glitch

Supreme Court gives him a rare second chance to appeal

(Newser) - The Supreme Court is making a rare exception that could save the life of a death row inmate in Alabama, reports the Los Angeles Times . The court decreed that Cory Maples deserves a new hearing even though he missed the filing deadline—because his lawyers sort of forgot about him....

Death Row Inmate Gets New Trial Because of Twitter

Juror tweeted throughout trial, raising risk of prejudice: Arkansas Supreme Court

(Newser) - A mere 140 characters has led to quite the mess in Arkansas. The state's Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a 26-year-old death row inmate receive a new trial because a juror tweeted throughout his first one. Though a lower court found Erickson Dimas-Martinez "suffered no prejudice," an...

Mumia Abu-Jamal Won't Face Death Penalty

Former Black Panther will spend rest of life in prison

(Newser) - Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former Black Panther convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer 30 years ago, is off death row, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer . The city's DA announced today that he is dropping his bid to have the death penalty reinstated against Abu-Jamal and will instead settle for having...

Oregon Governor Declares Execution Moratorium

Kitzhaber says system is 'compromised and inequitable"

(Newser) - John Kitzhaber has declared that there will be no more executions in Oregon as long as he remains governor. "It is time for Oregon to consider a different approach,” the Democrat said at a news conference. “I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable...

Texas Death Row Inmate Wins Stay

Hank Skinner was to be executed tomorrow

(Newser) - Texas death row inmate Hank Skinner was set to be executed tomorrow, but won a second reprieve when the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals granted him a stay of execution yesterday. Skinner, 49, was convicted of killing his girlfriend and her two adult sons in 1993, but he has...

Fla. Politician: It's Time to Bring Back Firing Squads

Lethal injection is too painless, argues state Rep. Brad Drake

(Newser) - Lethal injection is just such a pleasant way to die. At least according to Florida state Rep. Brad Drake, who wants to put an end to the execution method in the state. He argues that Death Row killers shouldn't be allowed to "get off that easy"; the electric...

Firm Demands Its Drug Not Be Used in Florida Execution

Against everything the Danish company stands for, says boss

(Newser) - A Danish drug firm is demanding Florida not use its anesthetic in the planned execution tomorrow of a Cuban national for the murder of a police officer. If Florida goes ahead with the pentobarbital, manufactured by the Lundbeck company under the trademark Nembutal, it would be the first time the...

Man Offers to Cook Texas Inmates' Last Meals, But...

Department of Criminal Justice isn't swayed by Brian Price's free offer

(Newser) - Brian Price made the Texas Department of Criminal Justice an offer they seemingly couldn't refuse—but refuse it they did. The former inmate, who himself cooked 220 final meals before being released, volunteered to cook the last meals for condemned inmates after hearing the state had canceled the tradition...

We Need to Kill Death Penalty, Not Troy Davis

 We Need to Kill 
 Death Penalty, 
 Not Troy Davis 
'NY TIMES' OP-ED
Sep 21, 2011 10:26 AM CDT

We Need to Kill Death Penalty, Not Troy Davis

Case shows, yet again, why death penalty must be done away with

(Newser) - The New York Times doesn't mince words in an editorial about today's scheduled execution of Troy Davis: Calling it a "grievous wrong," the Times declares that yesterday's rejection of his bid for clemency "is appalling in light of developments after his conviction," among...

Troy Davis: I Want to Take a Polygraph Test

In effort to save him, Georgia Democrats urge prison strike

(Newser) - Troy Davis is hours from death, but he’s not giving up. The Georgia death row inmate, who claims he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989, wants to take a polygraph test. "Mr. Davis believes he is innocent and he wants to show it,"...

Georgia Refuses to Spare Troy Davis' Life

Decision means tomorrow's execution will likely occur

(Newser) - Troy Davis will die tomorrow. Georgia's pardons board today rejected a last-ditch plea for clemency for the death row inmate, despite calls from the likes of Pope Benedict, Amnesty International, and Jimmy Carter for his sentence to be commuted. The panel announced its decision after hearing hours of testimony...

Troy Davis Execution: Former FBI Chief William Sessions Says Too Much Doubt Exists for Death Penalty
 Georgia May 
 Execute an 
 Innocent Man 
OPINION
Sep 15, 2011 12:32 PM CDT

Georgia May Execute an Innocent Man

State should commute sentence of Troy Davis: Ex-FBI chief William Sessions

(Newser) - Former FBI chief William Sessions joins those pleading with Georgia to call off next week's execution of Troy Davis, a death row inmate convicted of killing a police officer in 1989. "Serious questions about Mr. Davis' guilt, highlighted by witness recantations, allegations of police coercion, and a lack...

No. 1 Governor in Executions: Rick Perry

234 executions in 11 years sparks debate from death penalty opponents

(Newser) - Rick Perry holds one impressive record as Texas governor that even some of his competitors for the GOP's presidential nomination might not want—overseeing more executions than any governor in modern history, reports the Washington Post . With 234 people executed in Texas in Perry's 11 years as governor,...

Ala. Judges Override Juries— but Not to Be Merciful

Most of the time power is used, it's to impose the death penalty

(Newser) - It sounds sensible, even merciful: Alabama judges are allowed to override the decisions of capital juries. Justice Thurgood Marshall, a staunch death penalty opponent, was in favor of the system, because it allows "someone who had seen more than one case" to make the ultimate decision, says one retired...

Illinois Shuts Down Death Row

State no longer executes criminals

(Newser) - After spending years at the center of national debate over capital punishment, Illinois' death row officially died yesterday when a state law abolishing the death penalty quietly took effect. The fate of executions in the state was sealed in March when Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation ending the death penalty,...

UK to Ban Export of Execution Drugs to US

We 'needed to take the lead' on this, says Brit minister

(Newser) - The British export of three drugs used in US executions will be banned within a matter of days, according to officials. Pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride will all be blocked by the government, which is also urging a Europe-wide ban on sales of the drugs to the US. "...

John Thompson, Wrongly Sent to Death Row for 14 Years, Doesn't Get His $14M in Damages
Guy Wrongly Sent to Death Row Loses $14M Award
supreme court
Mar 30, 2011 8:37 AM CDT

Guy Wrongly Sent to Death Row Loses $14M Award

DA not liable for mistakes of prosecutors, rules Supreme Court

(Newser) - John Thompson spent 14 years on death row after New Orleans prosecutors hid evidence that would have cleared him—but yesterday, a divided Supreme Court tossed out the $14 million in damages Thompson won in a civil suit against the DA. Clarence Thomas read the 5-4 decision, which found that...

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