Donna Moonda (pic­tured) is fac­ing the fed­er­al death penal­ty in Ohio for hir­ing a man to kill her hus­band. The per­son who actu­al­ly shot and killed the vic­tim, Damian Bradford, received a sen­tence of only 17.5 years in exchange for his tes­ti­mo­ny against Moonda. Moonda and Bradford were con­vict­ed in sep­a­rate tri­als of orches­trat­ing and car­ry­ing out the plot to kill Dr. Gulam Moonda in an alledged effort to share his estate. The two defen­dants met in a drug reha­bil­i­ta­tion cen­ter. Donna Moonda is now in the sen­tenc­ing phase of her cap­i­tal tri­al, and could receive either the death penal­ty or life in prison with­out parole. Moonda’s defense attor­neys main­tain that Bradford is a thug, wom­an­iz­er, and a drug deal­er, and the state acknowl­edges that he was the per­son who killed Dr. Moonda. During the sen­tenc­ing phase of Moonda’s tri­al, jurors are expect­ed to hear from prison experts who will describe the harsh con­di­tions endured by those serv­ing life in prison with­out parole.
(Tribune-Chronicle, July 16, 2007). Update: Ms. Mooda received a life sen­tence from the jury on July 18, 2007. See Women, Federal Death Penalty, and Arbitrariness.

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