Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Aug 28, 2019
Colorado Taxpayers Paid DA’s Office $1.6 Million for Unsuccessfully Pursuing Death Penalty Against Wishes of Victim’s Family
A more than $1.6 million price tag for prosecuting a Colorado death-penalty case that the victim’s family opposed and that resulted in a life sentence has caused some Coloradans to question whether capital prosecutions are worth the cost. On August 14, 2019, Miguel Contreras-Perez (pictured) was sentenced to life in prison after he pleaded guilty to the murder of a correctional officer and the attempted murder of another officer.
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Aug 27, 2019
New Podcast: Interview with Clemency filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu
In the latest episode of Discussions with DPIC, writer/director Chinonye Chukwu (pictured) speaks with DPIC Senior Director of Research and Special Projects Ngozi Ndulue about her award-winning new film Clemency. Chukwu discusses her inspiration for the story, the years-long process of research and immersion that helped her shape the narrative, and her hopes for how this film…
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Aug 26, 2019
Oregon’s New Law Narrowing Use of Death Penalty: How Retroactive is “Not Retroactive”?
When Oregon’s legislators passed a new law limiting the scope of the state’s death penalty, the sponsors of the measure offered assurances that it would not apply retroactively to prisoners on the state’s death row. Now, a new legal opinion by the Oregon Department of Justice has raised questions as to how retroactive“not retroactive” actually is and whether the new law applies to legal proceedings involving current death-row prisoners whose…
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Aug 23, 2019
Ohio House Speaker Expresses Doubts About Death Penalty, as Opioid Experts, Governor Blast Call to Use Seized Fentanyl for Executions
The turmoil surrounding Ohio’s death penalty continued to grow as public health experts criticized a legislator’s suggestion that the state use seized drugs to carry out executions and the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Larry Householder (pictured), expressed growing doubts about capital punishment itself. Governor Mike DeWine joined critics of the fentanyl proposal, declaring that it was“not an option” for resuming executions…
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Aug 22, 2019
No Court Has Reviewed the Evidence that Gary Bowles May Be Intellectually Disabled; Florida Plans to Execute Him Anyway.
In a case that raises concerns about procedural impediments that prevent enforcement of constitutional rights, Florida is preparing to execute a man whose claim of intellectual disability has never been reviewed by the state or federal courts. [UPDATE: Florida executed Gary Ray Bowles on August…
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Aug 21, 2019
Texas to Execute Larry Swearingen Based on Forensic “Quackery,” Lawyers Say
With serious doubts swirling as to virtually every piece of forensic evidence in his case, Texas plans to execute Larry Swearingen—who has always maintained his innocence in the murder of Melissa Trotter — on August 21, 2019. His attorneys say his conviction is grounded in junk science that has been repudiated by numerous forensic experts, including false testimony regarding pantyhose used to strangle Trotter, blood found under her…
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Aug 20, 2019
Jewish Congregations Ask Attorney General Not to Seek Death Penalty in Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting
Leaders from two of the three congregations affected by the October 27, 2018 shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue (pictured) in Pittsburgh are asking the federal government not to seek a death sentence for the accused white supremacist…
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Aug 19, 2019
U.S. House Oversight Committee Launches Investigation into Resumption of Federal Executions
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform announced on August 14, 2019 that it has launched an investigation into the Department of Justice’s plan to restart federal executions using the drug pentobarbital. Citing concerns about the source of drugs the Administration intends to use in five executions it has scheduled in December 2019 and January 2020, the Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties has sought documents and…
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Aug 16, 2019
Life Sentence in America’s Deadliest Death-Penalty County Illustrates Impact of Alabama’s End of Judicial Override
A life sentence recently imposed in America’s deadliest death-penalty county illustrates the impact of Alabama’s 2017 repeal of its former law permitting trial judges to impose the death penalty despite jury votes for life. On August 9, 2019, Houston County Judge Larry Anderson sentenced Nathaniel Dennis to life in prison without parole for the murder of a convenience store clerk, after the jury in his case recommended…
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Aug 15, 2019
Stay of Execution Granted for Brain-Damaged and Intellectually Impaired Texas Man Who Was Eighteen at Time of Crime
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has stayed the execution of Texas death-row prisoner Dexter Darnell Johnson one day before he was scheduled to die. The ruling, issued late in the day on August 14, 2019, permits Johnson to litigate his claim that he is ineligible for the death penalty because of intellectual disability. The stay marked the second time in four months that federal courts intervened in Johnson’s case to halt…
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