Entries by Death Penalty Information Center
News
Dec 27, 2012
POSSIBLE INNOCENCE: Federal Judge Orders Virginia To Free Death Row Inmate
On December 26, U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Jackson ordered Virginia to unconditionally free death row inmate Justin Wolfe within 10 days and barred the state from using its key witness in any retrial of Wolfe. Wolfe was convicted of conspiracy in the murder of Daniel Petrole, a fellow drug dealer in northern Virginia. His conviction was based primarily on the testimony of the actual shooter, Owen Barber, who claimed that Wolfe hired him to kill Petrole…
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Dec 26, 2012
INNOCENCE: Florida Death Row Inmate Acquitted at Re-trial
On December 21, Seth Penalver was acquitted of all charges and will be freed from Florida’s death row, 13 years after being sentenced to death. He was originally charged with a triple murder and armed robbery that occurred in Broward County in 1994. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. At his second trial in 1999, he was convicted and sentenced to death. In 2006, the Florida Supreme Court (Penalver v. Florida, No. SC00-1602, Feb. 2, 2006)…
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Dec 21, 2012
NEW VOICES: Former Texas District Attorneys Say Legislature Should “Seriously Reconsider the Death Penalty”
In a recent op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, former Texas District Attorneys Grant Jones and Sam Millsap (pictured) encouraged the state legislature to reconsider the death penalty. “Both of us have been involved in the execution of men who may well have been innocent,” they said, mentioning three cases that “raise serious doubts about the wisdom of continuing the death penalty.” Two of the cases, those of Carlos DeLuna and Ruben Cantu, involved possible eyewitness…
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Dec 20, 2012
California Chief Justice Says No Executions Likely for Three Years
The Chief Justice of California’s Supreme Court, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, said recently that she does not expect executions in California to resume for at least three years because of problems with the lethal injection process. California has already not carried out an execution in seven years. Justice Cantil-Sakauye said major structural changes to the state’s death penalty are unlikely, and that a proposal by the former Chief Justice to speed death penalty appeals is “dead.”…
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Dec 19, 2012
RESOURCES: Death Sentences in Texas Are Fewer and More Geographically Isolated
A new report on the death penalty in Texas found that death sentences have declined by more than 75% since 2002, and more than half of all new death sentences were imposed in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this year, while no new death sentences were imposed in Harris County (Houston) for the third time in five years. The report, “Texas Death Penalty Developments in 2012: The Year in Review” by the Texas Coalition to Abolish Death Penalty, stated there…
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Dec 18, 2012
DPIC’s Year End Report: Death Sentences Remain Near Historic Low
On December 18, the Death Penalty Information Center released its latest report, “The Death Penalty in 2012: Year End Report,” on developments in capital punishment in the past year. The report noted the number of new death sentences in 2012 was the second lowest since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, representing a nearly 75% decline since 1996, when there were 315 new death sentences. Only nine states carried out executions in 2012,…
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Dec 17, 2012
NEW VOICES: Colorado District Attorney Says Death Penalty Costly, Time Consuming, and Unfair
In a recent op-ed in Colorado’s Daily Camera, Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett expressed his concerns about the death penalty, as the state prepares to consider its repeal. Garnett said, “[T]he practical problems with the death penalty make it of limited relevance to Colorado law enforcement.” He pointed to the high costs of capital cases, the time required to prosecute, and the randomness of its application as major concerns: “Prosecuting a death…
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Dec 14, 2012
Ohio Parole Board Recommends Clemency Because of Inadequate Representation
UPDATE: (Dec. 17). Gov. Kasich granted clemency to Ronald Post, following the Parole Board’s recommendation. On December 14, the Ohio Parole Board (5 – 3) recommended clemency for death row inmate Ronald Post, saying his legal representation was ineffective and did not meet expectations for a death penalty case. Post is currently scheduled for execution on January 16, 2013. The Board’s recommendation concluded: “[A] majority of the members of…
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Dec 13, 2012
RACE: Three More Death Sentences Reduced in North Carolina Because of Bias in Jury Selection
On December 13, North Carolina Superior Court Judge Greg Weeks reduced the sentences of three death row inmates to life without parole after finding that race played a significant role in the selection of the juries in their…
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Dec 12, 2012
MULTIMEDIA: Peter Jackson’s “West of Memphis” – A Compelling Story from Condemnation to Freedom
West of Memphis is a feature-length documentary by Academy-Award winner Peter Jackson, offering a penetrating look into the murder convictions and eventual freeing of the West Memphis Three. Jackson has called it his “most important film.” Three teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley, were convicted of killing three young boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993. Echols was sentenced to death…
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