death penalty

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Amy Bishop Denied Bail; Case Goes to Grand Jury

Accused University of Alabama shooter will be held without bail

(Newser) - Accused University of Alabama shooter Amy Bishop will remain held without bail while a grand jury determines whether she will face the death penalty, a judge ruled today. It could take 6 months for a grand jury to take up the case, the DA told the Huntsville Times after a...

Guillotine Returns to Paris
 Guillotine Returns to Paris 
Mar 17, 2010 11:22 AM CDT

Guillotine Returns to Paris

On display at museum 33 years after last head rolled

(Newser) - Some 33 years after the last head rolled in France, the guillotine is back—as a cutting-edge display item in a Paris museum exhibit about crime and punishment. The former instrument of death was displayed at the request of Robert Badinter, the politician who ended the death penalty in France,...

94-Year-Old Condemned Man Dies of Old Age

Viva Leroy Nash was the oldest death row inmate in the country

(Newser) - Viva Leroy Nash, the oldest death row inmate in America, died of natural causes Friday at age 94. Nash was condemned in 1983 for shooting a store clerk after escaping from prison, but he fended off execution with numerous appeals—prosecutors were appealing to the Supreme Court against the latest,...

Iraq Executes 'Chemical Ali'
 Iraq Executes 'Chemical Ali' 
Jan 25, 2010 8:31 AM CST

Iraq Executes 'Chemical Ali'

Saddam cousin hangs for attacks on Kurds

(Newser) - Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin "Chemical Ali" was executed today, the Iraqi government reports. Ali Hassan al-Majid had four death sentences against him for his various crimes against humanity. The most infamous was a poison gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja, which killed 5,000 and earned him...

Supreme Court Rules Against Ex-Panther on Death Sentence

Abu-Jamal case goes back to appeals court

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has reversed a ruling that would have nullified the death sentence of Mumia Abu-Jamal. The former Black Panther, convicted in the shooting of a Philadelphia police officer back in 1981, has argued that racism pervaded his trial and sentencing, and that there weren’t enough blacks on...

China Executes British Drug Smuggler

Akmal Shaikh, said to be mentally ill, dies by firing squad

(Newser) - Despite protests from the British government and human-rights activists worldwide, China today executed by firing squad a Briton convicted of smuggling drugs into the country. Supporters say Akmal Shaikh, 53, had bipolar disorder; the Foreign Office’s complaint centered on concerns China had not taken those issues into account in...

Supreme Court OKs One-Drug Execution

Ohio killer had argued new method would be painful

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today refused to halt the execution of an Ohio inmate, clearing the way for the nation's first death sentence to be carried out with a new single-drug injection. Kenneth Biros, the killer who scattered a woman’s body across several states, had argued that the new method...

Cleveland's Accused Serial Killer Pleads Insanity

Anthony Sowell is charged with killing 11 women

(Newser) - Alleged serial killer Anthony Sowell pleaded insanity this morning as he was arraigned by video in the deaths of 11 women and assaults on three others in Cleveland. Sowell, 50, looked calmly into the camera, offering only brief polite responses as the judge read his rights and plea. Sowell will...

China Executes Two Over Tainted Milk

But popular villain Tian Wenhua gets off with life in prison

(Newser) - China put two people to death today for their role in the tainted milk scandal, but many Chinese feel betrayed that a third wasn’t executed. The executed men, dairy farmer Zhang Yujun and production base manager Geng Jinping, were relative unknowns. Popular rage has centered instead on Tian Wenhua,...

Iran Sentences 5 to Death for Election Protests

Brings total condemned in turmoil to eight

(Newser) - Five people have been sentenced to death over the unrest that followed Iran's disputed June presidential election, according to state television reports. The report quotes a statement by the Justice Department saying the five sentenced were members of terrorist and armed opposition groups.

Death Penalty Extremely Rare in Military
Death Penalty Extremely Rare in Military
ANALYSIS
Nov 12, 2009 5:49 AM CST

Death Penalty Extremely Rare in Military

Hasan could become first to be executed by military since 1961

(Newser) - Nidal Hasan could face the death penalty for the Fort Hood shootings, but he will be prosecuted in a military justice system where no one has been executed in nearly 50 years. He may also benefit from protections the military provides defendants that are greater than those offered in civilian...

Supreme Court Won't Spare Beltway Sniper

Execution set for tomorrow as request for more time fails

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has rejected an emergency appeal from John Allen Muhammad, also known as the Beltway sniper, clearing the way for his execution tomorrow. Muhammad’s lawyers said he needed more time to prepare his appeals. Although justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Sotomayor questioned Virginia law for not affording convicts...

Lone AP Reporter Logs 300 Executions

Writer has seen more deaths than...anyone, perhaps

(Newser) - The fever pitch of executions in Texas since the 1980s has made the taking of a life at Huntsville’s prison almost de rigueur. Newsrooms that used to send a reporter every time an inmate was put to death now rely on the AP—and one AP writer in particular:...

Jurors Used Bible to Decide Death Sentence

Amnesty International troubled by Old Testament justice

(Newser) - Death-row foes are complaining that a Texas jury ordered to consider only evidence presented in court consulted the Old Testament before condemning a man to death. Jurors examined highlighted passages in Bibles passed around the jury room to help them decide the fate of Khristian Oliver. The con killed a...

Execution Set for DC Sniper
 Execution Set for DC Sniper 
Sep 16, 2009 10:50 AM CDT

Execution Set for DC Sniper

(Newser) - John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the sniper attacks that rocked the Southeast in 2002, will be executed on Nov. 10, the AP reports. The attorney general’s office had requested a Nov. 9 execution, but a Virginia judge chose to set it a day later so that it would...

Court Tests Limit on Death Penalty Appeals
Court Tests Limit on Death Penalty Appeals
ANALYSIS
Aug 18, 2009 3:00 PM CDT

Court Tests Limit on Death Penalty Appeals

Constitution doesn't forbid executing the innocent: Scalia

(Newser) - The Supreme Court’s ruling that Troy Davis deserves a new hearing raises questions about how far the legal system is willing to go to make sure an executed man is actually guilty, writes David Von Drehle for Time. Under a 1996 law limiting death-penalty appeals, Davis is out of...

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....

No Blood Found in Casey Anthony's Trunk

Officials release video, documents in capital murder case

(Newser) - Prosecutors in the Casey Anthony case released a flurry of documents today, including a three-dimensional animated movie of the area where her daughter’s body was found, crime scene photos, and a 1,100-page report by investigators, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Among the revelations: No blood was found in the...

China Says It Will Slash Executions
China Says It Will Slash Executions
Jul 29, 2009 10:58 AM CDT

China Says It Will Slash Executions

With 72% of the world's capital punishment, they've got a ways to go

(Newser) - China holds more executions yearly than any other country—but this week, state media announced China will be more forgiving, the New York Times reports. Only “an extremely small number” should be executed, said the vice president of the Supreme People’s Court. In 2008, Amnesty International claims, China...

Mumbai Gunman Says He's Ready for Gallows

(Newser) - The lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks said today that he is ready to go to the gallows and wants no mercy from the court for his role in terrorist assault, which left 166 people dead. "Whatever I have done, I have done in this world. It would...

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