Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
May 02, 2017
Former Prosecutor on Trial on Charges that His Misconduct Led to Wrongful Execution of Cameron Willingham
John Jackson, the former Navarro County, Texas prosecutor and judge, is on trial for ethics violations in the 1992 capital trial of Cameron Todd Willingham (pictured), which many believe led to the execution of…
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May 02, 2017
Review Commission Report: Oklahoma Death Penalty Cases Cost Triple That Of Non-Capital Cases
An independent study of the costs of seeking and imposing the death penalty in Oklahoma, prepared for the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission, has concluded that seeking the death penalty in Oklahoma“incurs significantly more time, effort, and costs on average, as compared to when the death penalty is not sought in first degree murder cases.” The report — prepared by Seattle University criminal justice professors Peter A. Collins and Matthew J.
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May 01, 2017
BOOKS: “The Trials of Walter Ogrod” Chronicles Pennsylvania Possible Innocence Case
Walter Ogrod was convicted and sentenced to death in Philadelphia in 1996 for the 1988 murder of a 4‑year-old girl, whose body was found in a discarded television box. Ogrod, who is developmentally disabled, has long maintained his innocence, but despite significant irregularities in the case and amidst allegations of official misconduct, local prosecutors have fought efforts to obtain DNA testing of the physical evidence and to investigate the role…
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Apr 28, 2017
Lawyers Call for Investigation of “Horrifying” Arkansas Execution After Witnesses Report “Coughing, Convulsing”
Calling eyewitness accounts“horrifying,” attorneys for Arkansas prisoner Kenneth Williams (pictured) are seeking the preservation of evidence and“a full investigation” into what they described as Williams’…
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Apr 27, 2017
Study: Texas’ ‘Harsh and Inhumane’ Death-Row Conditions Amount to ‘Torture’
The conditions in which prisoners on Texas’ death row are confined are“harsh and inhumane,” violate international human rights norms, and amount to“a severe and relentless act of torture,” according to a new study by the University of Texas School of Law Human…
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Apr 26, 2017
Bipartisan Oklahoma Report Recommends Moratorium on Executions Pending ‘Significant Reforms’
After spending more than a year studying Oklahoma’s capital punishment practices, the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission has unanimously recommended that the state extend its current moratorium on executions“until significant reforms are accomplished.” The bipartisan commission issued its report on April 25, 2017, reaching what it characterized as“disturbing” findings that“led Commission members to question…
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Apr 25, 2017
Arkansas Performs Double Execution Amid Allegations of Botched Lethal Injection
Arkansas carried out the nation’s first double execution in nearly 17 years on April 24, 2017. The state executed Jack Jones (pictured, l.) and Marcel Williams (pictured, r.) about three hours apart, with Williams’ execution delayed following allegations that Jones’ execution may…
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Apr 24, 2017
FDA Issues Final Order Refusing to Release Illegally Imported Lethal-Injection Drugs to States
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final order refusing to release illegally imported medicines that the states of Texas and Arizona had intended to use…
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Apr 21, 2017
Virginia Governor Commutes Death Sentence of Ivan Teleguz
On April 20, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe commuted the death sentence of Ivan Teleguz (pictured), whom the Commonwealth had scheduled to be executed on April 25. Teleguz will now serve a sentence of life without parole. It was the first death-penalty clemency ever issued by Gov. McAuliffe. The official statement released to the media in conjunction with the commutation outlined several of the factors that influenced the Governor’s…
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Apr 20, 2017
Florida House Issues Apology for 1949 Lynchings and Wrongful Convictions
In 1949, Norma Padgett, a white 17-year-old, falsely accused four young black men in Groveland, Florida of kidnapping and raping her. Nearly 70 years later, the state of Florida is apologizing to the families of the“Groveland Four,” two of whom were murdered and two of whom were wrongly…
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