The only two inmates remaining on New Mexico’s death row are fighting to have their death sentences overturned by the state Supreme Court. The appeal claims that their sentences were arbitrary because worse crimes did not draw a death sentence. New Mexico repealed capital punishment in 2009, but death sentences were not commuted for Robert Fry and Timothy Allen, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Gov. Bill Richardson signed the repeal without commuting their sentences. The state Supreme Court did agree to consider appeals of death … [Read more...] about The cloud of capital punishment lingers in New Mexico
Death Penalty
Tennessee schedules three executions after nearly a decadeThere are 60 inmates on Tennessee’s Death Row awaiting execution
Tennessee has scheduled three executions this year, after nearly a decade without them, according to USA Today. Dozens of Death Row prisoners lost challenges to the use of the death penalty and lethal injection. The Tennessee Supreme Court has consistently ruled in favor of the process. “The intended result of an execution is to render the inmate dead,” wrote Chief Justice Jeffrey Bivins in his official opinion, upholding the state’s practice of executing the condemned by lethal injection. The execution dates of James Hawkins, Billy Ray … [Read more...] about Tennessee schedules three executions after nearly a decadeThere are 60 inmates on Tennessee’s Death Row awaiting execution
Death Row inmate freed after serving more than 25 years
A man who spent 27 years on Death Row walked out the prison gates on April 17, 2018. “He appeared amazed to be on the other side of the wall,” Public Information Officer Lt. Sam Robinson said. About eight people, including family members and his attorney, awaited Vicente Benavides as he exited the prison as a free man. Decades earlier, a Kern County courthouse convicted Benavides in the 1991of first-degree murder and rape of his girlfriend’s daughter, 21-month old Consuelo Verdugo. Benavides was sentenced to be executed and sent to San … [Read more...] about Death Row inmate freed after serving more than 25 years
States seeking lethal injection cocktails from the black market
Some states have turned to the black market to obtain scarce lethal injection drugs that have caused botched executions, according to www.Reason.com. According to the report by C.J. Ciaramella, investigative journalists found that, “these states have turned to untraceable cash transactions, unregulated pharmacies, and overseas scammers to buy drugs to fill the veins of condemned inmates.” Some experimental combinations have even resulted in botched executions. Further complicating the matter, Virginia and 14 other states have passed … [Read more...] about States seeking lethal injection cocktails from the black market
French journalist films journey of San Quentin Death Row inmate
Keith Zon Doolin is on death row despite evidence of his innocence, according to Agnes Buthion, a French journalist who has directed a documentary called “20 Years on Death Row.” Interviewed by The Fresno Bee, Buthion said that she hoped to highlight Doolin’s innocence. In 1996, Doolin was convicted of a crime spree shooting six sex workers in Central California. The result of his conviction was a sentence of death. Doolin is housed in East Block at San Quentin death row. During her filming Buthion interviewed Doolin and visited the crime … [Read more...] about French journalist films journey of San Quentin Death Row inmate
US Supreme Court to hear Death Row case Hidalgo v. Arizona challenges the new Arizona death penalty law
In the coming months, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to take up a challenge to the death penalty in Arizona. If the justices agree to hear the case, the court’s decision could also affect the California death penalty law. And that could spare the lives of 746 prisoners on California’s death row, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The pending case, Hidalgo v. Arizona, challenges the new Arizona death penalty law, which makes virtually every first-degree murder subject to potential capital charges. With 343 homicides in … [Read more...] about US Supreme Court to hear Death Row case Hidalgo v. Arizona challenges the new Arizona death penalty law
Arizona inmates allowed more privileges
Many of Arizona’s death-row inmates are no longer spending their days in solitary confinement, reported The Associated Press (AP). The Arizona Department of Corrections moved 93 of its 120 death-row inmates to a Florence, Arizona, prison, where they can be outside and socialize with other death-row inmates in a common area, instead of being isolated in their 9½-by-10-foot cells. In addition, their cells open and are not sealed by a steel door. They can also shoot hoops, play volleyball, and go on the prison recreational fields for several … [Read more...] about Arizona inmates allowed more privileges
Low execution rate in 2017
Though 2017 had the second fewest annual prison executions in several decades—23 executions to be exact—the controversies surrounding capital punishment have yet to decline, reports Newsweek. In the five death penalty cases Newsweek featured, issues of mental health, overlooked or incorrect use of evidence and neglect of inmates’ rights were brought to the forefront. Similarly, since all of the inmates were executed by lethal injection, disputes over the use of a new drug in the cocktails were also featured. Firing squad Ricky Jovan Gray was … [Read more...] about Low execution rate in 2017
A man’s life conversion testimony from Death Row
I was arrested on Oct. 1, 1983, just 55 days after my 21st birthday. A jury in California then convicted me of the charges, which were held against me, and sentenced me to death. The very next morning, in the early hours, I was abruptly taken out of the county jail and transported to San Quentin State Prison, where I was handed over to the warden on California’s death row. The classification board cleared me to participate in the exercise yard program, so each morning after being strip-searched and handcuffed, I am escorted to a concrete … [Read more...] about A man’s life conversion testimony from Death Row
Governor may stall death penalty
Gov. Jerry Brown is in control of how fast executions resume in California, according to the Los Angeles Times. Currently, there is an injunction against further executions pending in state court while an injection protocol is being litigated. Litigation has stalled any execution in the state for more than 12 years. In November 2016 California voters approved Proposition 66, a process to speed up executions. After the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 66, “both backers and opponents of the death penalty concede that executions at … [Read more...] about Governor may stall death penalty