death row

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DEA Seizes Georgia's Execution Drug
DEA Seizes Georgia's Execution Drug
Mar 16, 2011 2:12 PM CDT

DEA Seizes Georgia's Execution Drug

Sodium thiopental may have been acquired improperly

(Newser) - The DEA has seized Georgia’s supply of sodium thiopental, one of the key drugs used to execute prisoners, because it believes the state may have improperly imported it. Like many states, Georgia was forced to import the drug from England last year thanks to a shortage in the US,...

Convicts Win Right to Sue for DNA Testing

Supreme Court rules in favor of Texas death row inmate

(Newser) - Convicts can use a federal civil rights law to seek DNA testing of evidence, the Supreme Court decided yesterday. The court ruled in favor of Texas death row inmate Hank Skinner, who was sentenced to death for the 1993 murder of his girlfriend and her two sons. Skinner—who was...

Border Vigilante Gets Death in Killing of Girl, Dad

Shawna Forde plotted home invasion turned murder

(Newser) - Shawna Forde, the self-styled border vigilante convicted in the deaths of a 9-year-old Arizona girl and her father, was sentenced to death yesterday. Forde’s attorney had asked jurors to spare Forde’s life because repeated childhood abuse had left her a “broken person,” but the DA noted...

Texas Could Soon Rule Death Penalty Unconstitutional

State has unfair risk of wrongful conviction, lawyers will argue

(Newser) - In Texas of all places, the death penalty could soon be declared unconstitutional. The state (which leads the US in number of executions since 1976, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice ) has a disproportionately high number of wrongful convictions, attorneys will argue at a hearing Monday. Twelve...

O'Reilly: Execute WikiLeakers

And why is Obama keeping his mouth shut about this, Bill wonders

(Newser) - Bill O'Reilly knows just what to do with the people responsible for the trove of documents revealed on WikiLeaks: execute 'em. "There are traitors in America," O'Reilly said on his program yesterday. "Whoever leaked those State Department documents is a traitor and should be executed—or put...

Arizona Executes Man Using Unapproved Drug

Shortage of sodium thiopental could be a big problem

(Newser) - What to do when faced with a nationwide shortage of a lethal injection drug? In Arizona's case, take the slightly sketchy step of buying it from somewhere else. The state last night executed Jeffrey Landrigan for a 1989 murder in the state's first execution since 2007—using sodium thiopental it...

Condemned Man Spared During Last Meal

Murder convict Hank Skinner granted last-minute reprieve

(Newser) - A death row inmate in Texas was spared Wednesday just as he was finishing his last meal on earth—chicken, a bacon cheeseburger, fries, catfish, onion rings, and a salad. Hank Skinner, who had been on death row since 1995, was convicted of bludgeoning to death his live-in girlfriend and...

Chocolate Penis May Trigger Death Trial Redo

Supreme Court rules over bizarre gift from jurors to judge

(Newser) - A Georgia death row inmate may win a reprieve because of a chocolate penis and pair of breasts. Jurors at the 1993 murder trial of Marcus Wellons sent the lewd gifts to the judge and chief bailiff after Wellons was sentenced to death. "There were unusual events going on...

Lifer Seeks Better Life on Death Row

Killer eyes amenities that come with capital punishment

(Newser) - Living on death row looks like a better deal than dying as a lifer, convicted killer Billy Joe Johnson told a California jury yesterday. "You get out of your confined cell a little more," said Johnson, whose trial has moved to the penalty phase after he was found...

Ga. Death Row Inmate Wins New Hearing
Ga. Death Row Inmate Wins New Hearing
Aug 17, 2009 12:42 PM CDT

Ga. Death Row Inmate Wins New Hearing

Supreme Court gives convicted cop killer a stay of execution

(Newser) - The Supreme Court says condemned inmate Troy Davis should get another chance to prove his innocence before the state of Georgia executes him. The high court today ordered a federal judge in Georgia to determine whether there is evidence that proves Davis did not kill a police officer in 1991....

Death Row Challenges Hurt by Newsroom Cuts

Lawyers fear shortage of media resources may result in innocent people being executed

(Newser) - The huge cuts in newsroom staff around the country may have inadvertently condemned some innocent prisoners to death, the New York Times reports. Lawyers complain that many of the investigative journalists who would have once hotly pursued a story about a wrongly accused Death Row inmate aren't working any more....

Brit Mom Pleads for Pregnant Daughter in Laos Prison

(Newser) - The mom of a pregnant London woman who may face a Laotian firing squad for drug smuggling pleaded with government officials to save "my baby, my angel," reports the Telegraph. "I'm appealing to the British government, to the Laos authorities, to please release her. I'm down on...

Cash-Strapped Calif. Considers Selling San Quentin

(Newser) - Some state lawmakers have proposed a novel solution for California's budget problems: sell San Quentin Prison, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Experts estimate the 435-acre site, picturesquely situated on a peninsula overlooking San Francisco Bay, could go for more than $2 billion. About half of that would go toward building...

Death Row Inmate Plucks Eye, Eats It

Killer of own family getting mental care he had 'begged for'

(Newser) - A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it, the AP reports. Thomas was treated at an East Texas medical center after the incident last month. He was transferred and remains at a prison psychiatric facility...

Texas Steps Up Executions to Clear Logjam

State empties death row of 12 inmates over 6 weeks

(Newser) - A dozen condemned inmates in Texas's "death watch" cells are being executed at a scheduled rate of two a week through November. The executions relieve a logjam created when the US Supreme Court effectively halted lethal injections while deciding whether the method was unconstitutionally inhumane. It ruled the method...

Con Wins Death Stay in Judge Affair Appeal

Relationship between judge and prosecutor not reason for decision

(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...

Death Row Con Wins Hearing Over Courtroom Hanky Panky

Alleges affair between judge, prosecutor

(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...

Ohio Killer: I'm Too Fat to Execute

He argues in lawsuit that executioners won't find a vein

(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 ...

Peterson Blog Sparks Outrage
 Peterson Blog Sparks Outrage 
Jul 18, 2008 7:29 PM CDT

Peterson Blog Sparks Outrage

Infrequent posts discuss his 'wrongful conviction' and support

(Newser) - Scott Peterson has a blog—of sorts. The death row inmate, convicted for the murder of his wife Laci and the fetus she carried, is posting his thoughts on a website set up by a Canadian anti-death penalty group, Radar reports. The occasional postings concern his appeal, his "wrongful...

Report: California Death Penalty in Critical Condition

Panel calls for reforms to clear massive execution backlog

(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...

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