Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Apr 29, 2024
Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the “West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993
Damien…
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Apr 26, 2024
Federal Judge Orders Alameda County District Attorney to Review 35 Capital Cases Following Disclosure of Prosecutorial Misconduct in Jury Selection
Alameda…
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Apr 25, 2024
Articles of Interest: Juror Who Sentenced Toforest Johnson to Death Now Believes He Is Innocent
Monique…
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Apr 23, 2024
Articles of Interest: Reprieve Issues New Report on Botched Executions and Racial Disparities
A new report issued April 17, 2024 by the UK-based international human rights organization Reprieve found racial disparities in the occurrence of botched executions in the United States. As reported in The Guardian, Reprieve analyzed all lethal injection executions between 1976 and 2023. It chronicled 73 confirmed botched procedures and found that 8% of executions of Black people were botched (37 times out of 465 executions), compared with 4% for white people (28…
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Apr 22, 2024
Louisiana Senate Committee Approves Legislation Supported by Jewish Community to Remove Nitrogen Hypoxia as Possible Method of Execution
Arizona…
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Apr 16, 2024
Trial Judge Signs Agreed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Recommending Melissa Lucio’s Conviction and Death Sentence Be Overturned
On April 12, 2024, Judge Arturo Nelson signed an Agreed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law submitted by the prosecution and defense stating that Melissa Lucio (pictured) was not given access to favorable information in the prosecution’s possession at the time of trial. The acknowledgement of this constitutional error resulted in Judge Nelson’s recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) that Ms. Lucio’s conviction and death sentence be…
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Apr 15, 2024
Wilbert Rideau, former Louisiana Death-Sentenced Prisoner, is Honored for Extraordinary Journalism During 44 Years at Angola Prison
From center left to right: Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the 1619 project; Wilbert Rideau, former Louisiana death row prisoner; CNN reporter and anchor Christiane Amanpour; Carl Bernstein, author and political commentator. Photo credit to…
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Apr 12, 2024
John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” Criticizes Execution Secrecy Laws and “Sketchy” Procurement of Pentobarbital by Federal Government
During the April 7, 2024, episode of“Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver focused on“grim developments” in the death penalty since his last segment covering lethal injection in 2019. Since then, 91 people have been executed, including 13 federal prisoners during former President Donald Trump’s administration.“Our federal and state governments have continued to pursue questionably legal and definitely horrifying ways, that, again, I would argue they…
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Apr 11, 2024
Rare Agreement Between District Attorney and Defense Counsel Acknowledge Prosecutorial Misconduct and Need for New Trial for Melissa Lucio
Melissa…
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Apr 10, 2024
Lawsuit Filed at the California Supreme Court Alleges Racist Application of the Death Penalty Violates the State Constitution
On April 9, 2024, the California Office of the State Public Defender, along with several civil rights groups, filed an extraordinary writ petition at the California Supreme Court arguing that the state’s capital punishment system violates the state’s Constitution because of its racially biased implementation. In 2021, the California Committee on Revision of the Penal Code confirmed that racial bias is entrenched in the state’s death penalty system.“The California…
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