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senior judicial figure in Iran has cast doubt on reports that Tehran will stop executing juveniles.
Deputy prosecutor general Hossein Zebhi told a newspaper that under Sharia law only a murder victim's family could commute a death sentence.
He had suggested last week that judges were being told to stop imposing the death penalty on young offenders.
Iran has been widely condemned for being one of the few remaining nations to execute offenders aged under 18.
Amnesty International says at least six youths have been executed in Iran this year alone.
Mr Zebhi was quoted by the daily Etemad-e Melli newspaper as saying: "The principle of retribution... is not up to the government, rather it is up to the private plaintiff."
"Only if the next of kin give their consent can there be a reduction in the punishment," he added.
Blood money
His earlier comments suggesting a possible ban on juvenile execution had been welcomed by human right campaigners, including Amnesty International.
Critics say Iran's practice of handing down the death penalty to juvenile offenders - those aged under 18 at the time of the crime - is explicitly banned by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Tehran is a signatory.
Many convicted juvenile offenders have been on death row for years, as negotiations continue over whether victims' families will accept blood money - cash to avoid execution.
senior judicial figure in Iran has cast doubt on reports that Tehran will stop... more
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On October 16, Hossein Zabhi, Assistant Attorney General for Judicial Affairs in Iran announced that he had instructed all courts to cease the execution of juvenile offenders. The statement referred to all crimes currently punishable by death under Iranian law. In lieu of the death penalty, the directive instructs judges to issue juveniles sentences ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment. Human rights defenders in Iran and around the world have campaigned vigorously for an end to this cruel practice. Thanks to all who took action on behalf of juvenile offenders facing execution in Iran!On October 16, Hossein Zabhi, Assistant Attorney General for Judicial Affairs in Iran... more
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Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Troy Anthony Davis' appeal. His fate is back in the hands of Georgia authorities who may seek a new execution date at any time.
The Supreme Court's decision to deny Troy Davis' petition means that no court of law will ever hold a hearing on the witnesses who have recanted their trial testimony in sworn affidavits.
Doubts about his guilt raised by these multiple witness recantations will never be resolved. An execution under such a cloud of doubt would undermine public confidence in the state's criminal justice system and would be a grave miscarriage of justice.
The state of Georgia can still do the responsible thing and prevent the execution of Troy Davis:
* Write a letter to the editor calling on Georgia to stop the execution of Troy Davis!
* Call on the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider its previous decision and grant clemency to Troy Davis.
* Urge your friends and family to go to amnestyusa.org/troydavis or text TROY to 90999 to add their voices to the over 200,000 that have already taken action on this case.
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Troy Anthony Davis' appeal. His... more
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LUCASVILLE, Ohio - Ohio executed a 5-foot-7, 267-pound double murderer Tuesday who argued his obesity made death by lethal injection inhumane.
Richard Cooey, 41, had argued in numerous legal challenges that his weight problem would make it difficult for prison staff to find suitable veins to deliver the deadly chemicals, a problem that delayed previous executions in the state.
There were no such difficulties, said Larry Greene, a spokesman for the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
During preparations, though, Cooey shouted for one of his attorneys as prison staff tried to insert a shunt in his left arm. He was worried the staff would botch the execution, said Greg Meyers, an attorney with the Ohio Public Defender's Office.
Click link to read whole article.
LUCASVILLE, Ohio - Ohio executed a 5-foot-7, 267-pound double murderer Tuesday who... more
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Hundreds of "insurgents" have been executed since 2003, victims of the same summary justice they mete out to their own captives.
Like all wars, the dark, untold stories of the Iraqi conflict drain from its shattered landscape like the filthy waters of the Tigris. And still the revelations come.Hundreds of "insurgents" have been executed since 2003, victims of the same... more
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Hundreds of "insurgents" have been executed since 2003, victims of the same summary justice they mete out to their own captives.
Like all wars, the dark, untold stories of the Iraqi conflict drain from its shattered landscape like the filthy waters of the Tigris. And still the revelations come.
The Independent has learned that secret executions are being carried out in the prisons run by Nouri al-Maliki's "democratic" government.
The hangings are carried out regularly -- from a wooden gallows in a small, cramped cell -- in Saddam Hussein's old intelligence headquarters at Kazimiyah. There is no public record of these killings in what is now called Baghdad's "high-security detention facility" but most of the victims -- there have been hundreds since America introduced "democracy" to Iraq -- are said to be insurgents, given the same summary justice they mete out to their own captives.
The secrets of Iraq's death chambers lie mostly hidden from foreign eyes but a few brave Western souls have come forward to tell of this prison horror. The accounts provide only a glimpse into the Iraqi story, at times tantalizingly cut short, at others gloomily predictable. Those who tell it are as depressed as they are filled with hopelessness.
"Most of the executions are of supposed insurgents of one kind or another," a Westerner who has seen the execution chamber at Kazimiyah told me. "But hanging isn't easy." As always, the devil is in the detail.
"There's a cell with a bar below the ceiling with a rope over it and a bench on which the victim stands with his hands tied," a former British official, told me last week. "I've been in the cell, though it was always empty. But not long before I visited, they'd taken this guy there to hang him. They made him stand on the bench, put the rope round his neck and pushed him off. But he jumped on to the floor. He could stand up. So they shortened the length of the rope and got him back on the bench and pushed him off again. It didn't work."
There's nothing new in savage executions in the Middle East -- in the Lebanese city of Sidon 10 years ago, a policeman had to hang on to the legs of a condemned man to throttle him after he failed to die on the noose -- but in Baghdad, cruel death seems a specialty.
"They started digging into the floor beneath the bench so that the guy would drop far enough to snap his neck," the official said. "They dug up the tiles and the cement underneath. But that didn't work. He could still stand up when they pushed him off the bench. So they just took him to a corner of the cell and shot him in the head."
The condemned prisoners in Kazimiyah, a Shia district of Baghdad, are said to include rapists and murderers as well as insurgents. One prisoner, a Chechen, managed to escape from the jail with another man after a gun was smuggled to them. They shot two guards dead. The authorities had to call in the Americans to help them recapture the two. The Americans killed one and shot the Chechen in the leg. He refused medical assistance so his wound went gangrenous. In the end, the Iraqis had to operate and took all the bones out of his leg. By the time he met one Western visitor to the prison, "he was walking around on crutches with his boneless right leg slung over his shoulder."
********CONTINUES****************Hundreds of "insurgents" have been executed since 2003, victims of the same... more
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Iran has executed 26 juvenile offenders since the start of 2005, accounting for the vast majority of people under age 18 executed around the world, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.
The New York-based group said Iran was one of five countries known to have executed juveniles since January 2005. Saudi Arabia and Sudan each executed two juveniles, and Pakistan and Yemen, one.
"We are only five states away from a complete ban on the juvenile death penalty," said Clarisa Bencomo, Middle East children's rights researcher for Human Rights Watch. "These few holdouts should abandon this barbaric practice so that no one ever again is executed for a crime committed as a child."
The report said in Pakistan, Yemen and Sudan the execution of people under 18 was outlawed, but because birth registration levels were low young offenders can have trouble proving their age and are often treated as adults.
"In Iran and Saudi Arabia ... these sentences are the result of deliberate state policies to retain the juvenile death penalty, combined with criminal justice systems that fail to provide children with fundamental protections against unfair trials," the report said.
It said Iran executed eight juvenile offenders in 2007. So far in 2008, it executed at least six juvenile offenders and more than 130 others are under sentence of death, it said.
"Judges can impose the death penalty in capital cases if the defendant has attained 'majority,' defined in Iranian law as 9 years for girls and 15 years for boys," it said.
In Saudi Arabia, the report said judges have discretion to impose the death penalty on children from puberty or 15 years, whichever comes first. Two juveniles were among at least 158 people executed in 2007 in Saudi Arabia, it said.
"Even states that still execute juvenile offenders acknowledge that such executions are wrong," said Bencomo. "But changes in law and practice need to be faster."
Human Rights Watch called on U.N. member states to ask U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to issue a report on compliance with the international ban on the juvenile death penalty.
Iran has executed 26 juvenile offenders since the start of 2005, accounting for the... more
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Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even though his serious claims of innocence have never been heard in court.
Troy Davis was convicted of the murder of police officer Mark MacPhail solely on the basis of witness testimony, and seven of the nine non-police witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony, several citing police coercion. Others have signed affidavits implicating one of the remaining two witnesses as the actual killer. But due to an increasingly restrictive appeals process, none of this new evidence has ever been heard in court.
The failure of courts to hear the compelling evidence of innocence in this case means that massive doubts about Troy Davis' guilt will remain unresolved.
A clemency hearing is scheduled for September 12, which means the last day for petitions is September 11. Your urgent action is required today—help save Troy's life! »Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by the state of Georgia on September 23, even... more
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A convicted drug trafficker was put to death by the sword in Saudi Arabia's eastern city of Khobar on Sunday, the interior ministry said.
Hussein Muilu, a Saudi national, was condemned to death after being convicted of smuggling hashish into the kingdom, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
Sunday's beheading brings to 71 the number of executions announced by Saudi Arabia this year.
Last year, a record 153 people were put to death in the ultra-conservative Arab kingdom, which applies a strict version of sharia, or Islamic law. This figure compared with 37 beheaded in 2006.
Rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking can all carry the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, where executions are usually carried out in public.
A convicted drug trafficker was put to death by the sword in Saudi Arabia's... more
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HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A federal judge delayed the planned execution of an inmate Thursday pending an evaluation to determine if the inmate is able to understand why he is to be put to death.
Jeffery Wood was to have been executed Thursday evening for taking part in the 1996 robbery of a convenience store in which a clerk was fatally shot.
But U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio granted a request by Wood's attorneys to delay his execution so they could hire a mental health expert to pursue their arguments that he is incompetent to be executed. Texas courts had previously refused similar appeals.
Wood's "motion presents non-frivolous arguments suggesting (he) currently lacks a rational understanding of the connection between his role in his offense and the punishment imposed upon him," Garcia wrote in his order.
While Garcia wrote that the evidence was far from compelling, there were enough facts to conclude Wood had made a "substantial threshold showing of insanity."HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A federal judge delayed the planned execution of an... more
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The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has unanimously denied clemency for Jeff Wood, a man who killed no one. This cannot be tolerated.
Imagine being 14 years old and waiting to learn whether your father is going to live or die. Only you're not in a hospital waiting room, or anticipating dreadful news from a war zone. You are in Texas, and your father is on death row. His life is in the hands of seven people who will sit around a table and, in a deliberate manner, officially decide whether he should, indeed, be strapped to a gurney and injected with lethal chemicals, as planned. On the narrow chance that they decide to grant clemency, it is then up to the governor, a man who has signed off on more executions than any other in the country, to follow through.
This is what Paige Lynn Wood went through all day yesterday, which also happened to be her father's 34th birthday. In the end, her worst fears were realized: On Monday afternoon, the board decided, in a vote of 7-0, to execute her father, Jeff Wood. Wood is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday night for a murder he did not commit. It's not just that he has a strong innocence claim, or that his state-appointed council was completely incompetent during his capital trial. The fact is, Wood did not kill anyone -- and no one argues that he did. The person who committed the murder for which he is scheduled to die was already executed, six years ago.
The Crime, an Overzealous Prosecutor and a Man Named "Dr. Death"
On New Years Day 1996, 22-year-old Jeff Wood was in on a plot to rob a Texaco convenience store in Kerrville, Texas, along with a man named Daniel Reneau. The store's assistant manager was an accomplice in the robbery: He was going to help Reneau navigate the store. But things didn't go according to plan, and in the early hours of Jan. 2, Reneau shot their friend Kriss Keeran, who was working behind the counter, in the face, killing him instantly.
Wood was startled when he heard the gunshot, but he reportedly helped carry out the subsequent robbery anyway, stealing several thousand dollars. He and Reneau were arrested within 24 hours. They confessed to the crime, and Wood led police to the murder weapon.
While it remains unclear to what extent Wood was supposed to participate in the robbery, what is absolutely undisputed is that Wood had no role in Keeran's murder. According to his attorneys, he was not even aware that Reneau was carrying a gun. After all, the robbery was supposed to be an inside job. As reiterated in the clemency brief filed by Wood’s defense attorneys early this month, "Reneau -- the only person inside the store and who carried a weapon -- alone made the decision to take Keeran's life. Mr. Wood was outside the store in his brother's truck."
Months later, during the trial of Daniel Reneau, there was no ambiguity over who had killed Keeran. According to Jordan Smith of the Austin Chronicle, "the state argued that he was responsible for Keeran's murder and portrayed Wood as little more than a sap, steamrolled by the villainous Reneau."
Renaeu was sentenced to death in March 1997. He was executed in 2002. Following the execution, the Dallas Morning News reported that when "asked on death row last week to identify the shooter, Reneau had a one-word reply: 'Me.'"
Having locked in a death sentence for Reneau, it should have defied logic and legal ethics for prosecutors to change the story to make Wood the real villain. But that's what happened. "At Wood's trial," reports Smith, "prosecutors reversed their strategy, arguing that Wood deserved to die because he'd gotten Reneau to 'do his dirty work.'"
Tell Gov. Rick Perry Not to Execute Jeff Wood.
Jeff Wood's supporters are urging the governor of Texas to grant a 30-day stay of execution. Call or fax the governor today:
Phone: (512) 463-2000
Fax: (512) 463-1849
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Wood's execution is scheduled for tonight (8/21/08) so let's vote this up today with hopes and prayers for justice.The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has unanimously denied clemency for Jeff Wood,... more
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Mohammad Fadaei was convicted of a murder he committed when he was only seventeen years old, and the Supreme Court recently confirmed the Ghesas [roughly translated as punishment fitting the crime] order, placing Mr. Fadaei a step closer to execution. The order comes after the head of the judiciary refused to issue the death sentence against Mr. Fadaei and the case was then referred to the Supreme Court to be reviewed for eligibility for a new court session.
Mr. Fadaei has been in jail since he was seventeen years old, and during the past five years his case has gone through many ups and downs. His death sentencing was twice turned down by judiciary head Ayatullah Shahroodi’s intervention when until recently Ayatullah Shahroodi succeeded in rescinding the initial ruling. Newly appointed lawyers have submitted documents to prove that Mr. Fadaei’s original lawyer was not qualified, thus invaliding the entire original court proceedings. Although Ayatullah Shahroodi accepted the new lawyer’s claim and invalidated the initial court’s ruling, Branch 27 of the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentencing.
The Supreme Court judges argued that the sentencing has already been confirmed and there is not sufficient proof to drop the sentence against Mr. Fadaei to establish a new round of court proceedings. The confirmation of the Ghesas order by Branch 27 of the Supreme Court once again encouraged Mr. Fadaei’s lawyers to increase their efforts to win a new round of court proceedings. Mr. Fadaei’s lawyers maintain that his previous attorney was not licensed to practice law, thus invalidating the initial court proceedings and its ruling.
Mohammad Mostafaei, one of Mr. Fadaei’s lawyers, told a reporter from Etemad newspaper: “In a situation when the court’s ruling is not approved by the head of the judicial branch, the case is referred to the country’s supreme court. If the Supreme Court drops the charges, then the convict is given another chance for a new court proceeding. However, if the Supreme Court confirms the ruling, then the Ghesas order becomes final.” Mr. Mostafaei further added: “Mr. Fadaei appeared only once throughout the initial court proceedings in Branch 71 of the Criminal Court, and since his lawyer was incompetent and lacked any formal legal training, the court procedures and ruling were not contested and Mr. Fadaei’s rights were violated”.
Mr. Mostafaei added: “presently, we have three days to react to the ruling issued by the Supreme Court and cite Article 18 to demand a new court proceeding. In case our request is denied, the case will again be referred to desk of the head of judiciary for his intervention. I am confidents that the head of judiciary and legal technicians will consider our request as they have done so in the past”.Mohammad Fadaei was convicted of a murder he committed when he was only seventeen... more
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Iran Human Rights, August 18: According to reliable sources in Iran, the juvenile offender Reza Hejazi, along with 3 others are scheduled to be executed tomorrow morning August 19 in the prison of Isfahan.
Reza Hejazi is convicted of a murder he allegedly committed in 2004, when he was 15 year old.
According to Reza’s father, he has been transferred to solitary confinement today and prepared for execution tomorrow.
Reza’s attorney, Mohammad Mostafaei, has not been informed about the scheduled execution.
Reza Hejazi’s name is among the 150 other minors on the death row in Iran:
" Seyed Reza Hejazi 15 Isfahan Reza Hejazi – then aged 15 - was among a small group of people involved in a dispute with a man on 18 September 2004, which resulted in the man being fatally stabbed. Reza Hejazi was arrested and tried for murder, and on 14 November 2005 he was sentenced to Qesas (retribution) by Branch 106 of the Esfahan General Court. The sentence was approved by Branch 28 of the Supreme Court on 6 June 2006, although under Iranian law he should have been tried in a juvenile court. The case was referred for mediation between Reza Hejazi and the victim’s family, to try and arrange for the payment of diyeh, but no sum has yet been agreed. If no agreement is reached, Reza Hejazi will be executed."
Three others are scheduled to be executed in Isfahan’s prison tomorrow morning. As far as we know none of them were minors at the time of the alleged offence they are convicted of.
So far in 2008, four juvenile offenders have been executed in Iran.Iran Human Rights, August 18: According to reliable sources in Iran, the juvenile... more
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LIVINGSTON, Texas - Michael Rodriguez remembers the exhilaration of newfound freedom when he hid in the back of a stolen truck as he and six of his buddy convicts staged one of Texas' most notorious prison breaks.
Then he recalls seeing his photo on national TV and grasping the reality that their Hollywood-style plan to rob a Nevada casino had gone terribly awry.
He and his fellow fugitives were being hunted everywhere as the killers of a police officer, Aubrey Hawkins, at a store they robbed outside Dallas.
This week, Rodriguez, 45, is set to become the first of the six surviving members of the infamous "Texas 7" - all of them now on death row - to go to the death chamber. His execution is set for Thursday.
"I'm glad we got caught, so no one else would get hurt," Rodriguez said, discussing with a reporter for the first time his involvement in the December 2000 crime spree.
CLICK FOR MORE.....LIVINGSTON, Texas - Michael Rodriguez remembers the exhilaration of newfound freedom... more
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LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) -- Michael Rodriguez remembers the exhilaration of newfound freedom when he hid in the back of a stolen truck as he and six of his buddy convicts staged one of Texas' most notorious prison breaks.
Then he recalls seeing his photo on national TV and grasping the reality that their Hollywood-style plan to rob a Nevada casino had gone terribly awry.
He and his fellow fugitives were being hunted everywhere as the killers of a police officer, Aubrey Hawkins, at a store they robbed outside Dallas.
This week, Rodriguez is set to become the first of the six surviving members of the infamous "Texas 7" -- all of them now on death row -- to go to the death chamber.
"I'm glad we got caught, so no one else would get hurt," Rodriguez said, discussing with a reporter for the first time his involvement in the crime spree eight years ago.
"It was so thrilling that we actually got away with it," he said of the December 2000 escape from a maximum security prison. "But after Mr. Hawkins got killed, and I saw (ABC's) Peter Jennings on the TV news with our pictures, I thought: 'Oh my God, Oh my God. Am I in trouble!"'
After some six weeks of evading an intense manhunt, the fugitives were captured in Colorado. One of the seven killed himself as authorities closed in on him.
"I'm glad it ended when it did. It would have been a mess."
Rodriguez, 45, said he welcomes this week's execution, set for Thursday.
LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) -- Michael Rodriguez remembers the exhilaration of newfound... more
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Having noticed that, following several different articles, comments made in response expressed the ardent wish to have criminals executed rather than give them life sentences, and some saying that executing criminals costs less than keeping them in jail for life, I am posting a link to this website which explains in detail why and how capital punishment is far more expensive than life in prison. Thus, many more of your tax dollars are spent on killing criminals than on keeping them in jail for life. It also has absolutely no deterrent value whatsoever - on the contrary, it is often the ultimate and most gratifying and orgasmic payoff for many of those who want to die, as in suicide by police, and, as such, encourages many mentally sick individuals to commit crimes which will lead to their being executed precisely because that is where it will lead them.
Click on the picture to access that website.
There are also links which give 10 reasons to oppose the death penalty. One that seems not to be listed is the fact that, despite confessions, despite thorough investigations, there is still the risk of executing an innocent person, which still happens. Also, executing a criminal is an extremely cruel punishment wreaked on the innocent members of the criminal's family, especially his or her children.
As far as I am concerned, the death penalty is simply government-sponsored murder, unworthy of civilized countries and people. It actually negates all claims of being civilized. It has nothing to do with justice and everything to do with, and caters to, one of the very worst and most primitive flaws of humans, and basest of human instincts - vengeance.
Since for so many, their pocket-books and tax-dollars seem to be more important than basic human values, perhaps the financial aspect of capital punishment might convince them that it is wrong and not economic at all. For the rest, this is the least of the valid arguments against capital punishment.Having noticed that, following several different articles, comments made in response... more
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HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A Mexican-born condemned prisoner was executed Tuesday night for the rape and murder of two teenage girls 15 years ago after a divided U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a reprieve.
"I'm sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate," Jose Medellin said to those gathered to watch him die. Nine minutes later, at 9:57 p.m., he was pronounced dead.
Medellin's execution, the fifth this year in the nation's busiest capital punishment state, attracted international attention after he raised claims he wasn't allowed to consult the Mexican consulate for legal help following his arrest. State officials say he didn't ask to do so until well after he was convicted of capital murder.
Medellin, 33, was condemned for participating in the 1993 gang rape, beating and strangling of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14. He and five fellow gang members attacked the Houston girls as they were walking home on a June night, raped and tortured them for an hour, then kicked and stomped them before using a belt and shoelaces to strangle them.
Their remains were found four days later. By then, Medellin already had bragged to friends about the killings.
Pena's father, who was among the witnesses, gently tapped the glass that separated him from Medellin as he turned to leave the witness chamber after the execution.
"We feel relieved," Adolfo Pena said after leaving the prison. "Fifteen years is a long time coming."
Several dozen demonstrators, about evenly divided between favoring and opposing capital punishment, stood outside on opposite sides of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit.HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- A Mexican-born condemned prisoner was executed Tuesday night... more
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The execution of a Mexican prisoner in Texas has been delayed while the US Supreme Court considers whether it should go ahead.
Jose Medellin, convicted of the rape and murder of a teenage girl, was due to be given a lethal injection despite condemnation from around the world.
The International Court of Justice had ruled the execution should be stopped because it violates international law.
Texas says its courts are not bound by the rulings of the ICJ.
The ICJ ordered that the executions of all Mexican nationals should be suspended after Mexico complained that some of its nationals on death row had not been informed of their right to consular assistance during trial, a right under the Vienna Convention.
On Tuesday United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the US to abide by the ICJ ruling.
"All decisions and orders of the International Court of Justice must be respected by states," he told a television station in Mexico City, where he is attending a world Aids conference.
"The United States should take every step to make sure the execution does not take place."
Medellin's case dates back to 1993 when two girls, Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, were raped and murdered by six gang members in Houston.
Read more...The execution of a Mexican prisoner in Texas has been delayed while the US Supreme... more
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A death row inmate scheduled for execution says he's too fat to be put to death, claiming executioners would have trouble finding his veins and that his weight could diminish the effectiveness of one of the lethal injection drugs.
Lawyers for Richard Cooey argue in a federal lawsuit that Cooey, 5-feet-7 and 267 pounds, had poor veins when he faced execution five years ago and the problem has been worsened by weight gain.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court, also says prison officials have had difficulty drawing blood from Cooey for medical procedures.
Cooey, 41, is sentenced to die for raping and murdering two young women in 1986. His execution is scheduled for October 14, 2008.
Two years ago, convicted killer Jeffrey Lundgren was put to death after a federal appeals court rejected his claim that he was at greater risk of experiencing pain and suffering because he was overweight and diabetic.
A death row inmate scheduled for execution says he's too fat to be put to death,... more
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Lawyers for Richard Cooey argue in a federal lawsuit that Cooey had poor veins when he faced execution five years ago and that the problem has been worsened by weight gain.
Cooey, 41, was sentenced to die for raping and murdering two female University of Akron students in 1986. After a federal judge granted Cooey a last-minute reprieve in 2003, Cooey was returned to death row. In April, he lost a challenge to Ohio's lethal injection process when the U.S. Supreme Court said he had missed a deadline to file a lawsuit.
Cooey's attorneys cite a document filed by a prison nurse in 2003 that said Cooey had sparse veins and that executioners would need extra time.
"When you start the IV's come 15 minutes early," wrote the nurse who examined Cooey. "I don't have any veins."
The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Columbus, also says prison officials have had difficulty drawing blood from Cooey for medical procedures. Cooey is 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 267 pounds, according to the lawsuit.
Cooey's execution is scheduled for Oct. 14. He would be the first inmate put to death in Ohio since Christopher Newton was executed last year for killing a prison cellmate over their chess games.
It would also be the first execution in Ohio since the end of an unofficial national moratorium on executions that began lV injection procedure.
Since the court upheld the procedure in April, 16 inmates have been executed around the country.
Attorneys for Cooey in his latest lawsuit say a drug he is taking for migraine headaches could diminish the effectiveness of the first of three drugs Ohio uses in its execution process.
Cooey's use of the drug Topamax, a type of seizure medication, may have created a resistance to thiopental, the drug used to put inmates to sleep before two other lethal drugs are administered, Dr. Mark Heath, a physician hired by the Ohio Public Defender's Office, said in documents filed with the court.
Heath also says Cooey's weight, combined with the potential drug resistance, increases the risk he would not be properly anesthetized.
That's a real concern for Cooey, his public defender, Kelly Culshaw Schneider, said Monday.
"All of the experts agree if the first drug doesn't work, the execution is going to be excruciating," she said.
She said the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has not indicated how they would deal with Cooey's vein problems.
Prisons system spokeswoman Andrea Carson and Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's Office, both said Monday they hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment.
Last year, Carson cited the obesity of Newton as one of the reasons prison officials had difficulty accessing his veins before his May 24 execution. Newton was 6 feet, 265 pounds.
Two years ago, convicted killer Jeffrey Lundgren argued unsuccessfully that he was at greater risk of experiencing pain and suffering because he was overweight and diabetic.
A federal appeals court rejected the claim by Lundgren, convicted of killing a family of five in an eastern Ohio cult killing. He was executed in October 2006.
In 1999, lawyers for Florida condemned killer Allen Davis, who weighed 350 pounds, argued the voltage in the electric chair fell short of the amount needed to kill painlessly, especially for a man the size of Allen.
During Allen's execution, blood poured from his face in what officials said was a nosebleed that happened after he died.
Lawyers for Richard Cooey argue in a federal lawsuit that Cooey had poor veins when he... more
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