Entries tagged with “Willie Pye”
Policy Issues
Arbitrariness
,Mental Illness
,Representation
,Native Americans
,May 03, 2021
Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of April 26, 2021
NEWS (4/29/21) — Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has vacated the convictions and death sentences of two more death-row prisoners who, the court found, had committed their offenses against Native Americans on tribal lands. Applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark tribal sovereignty ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma, the court found that the murders for which Benjamin Robert Cole Sr. and James Chandler Ryder had been…
Policy Issues
Intellectual Disability
,Race
,Representation
,May 10, 2021
Federal Court Reverses Death Sentence Imposed on Defendant Represented By Georgia Lawyer With History of Ineffectiveness and Racial Bias
A federal appeals court has reversed the death sentence of an African-American Georgia death-row prisoner who was represented at trial by a defense lawyer notorious for his history of substandard representation and racial bias in death-penalty…
Policy Issues
Intellectual Disability
,Clemency
,Upcoming Executions
,Mar 20, 2024
Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole Denies Clemency for Willie Pye, Scheduled for March 20 Execution, Amid Pending Secrecy and Equal Protection Lawsuits
On March 19, 2024, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole denied clemency for Willie Pye (pictured), who is scheduled to be executed on March 20, despite arguments that he has an intellectual disability and is therefore ineligible for execution, per Georgia state law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent. Convicted in 1996 for the 1993 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Alicia Yarbrough, Mr. Pye has spent the last 28 years on Georgia’s death row. Mr. Pye’s case has also generated public concern due to…
Policy Issues
Intellectual Disability
,Race
,Representation
,Upcoming Executions
,Mar 07, 2024
Georgia Sets March 20 Execution Date for Willie Pye Despite Strong Evidence of Intellectual Disability and Previous Finding of Ineffective Representation by Attorney with History of Racial Bias
The Georgia Attorney General has announced that Willie James Pye, who previously had his death sentence reversed due to his attorney’s failure to investigate his background, only to see the death sentence reinstated on appeal, is set to be executed on March 20. Mr. Pye’s court-appointed trial attorney, Johnny Mostiler, has been accused of ineffective representation or racial bias in at least four cases involving Black defendants and reportedly called one of his own clients a “little n****r.”…
Policy Issues
Race
,Representation
,United States Supreme Court
,Apr 28, 2021
Supreme Court Declines to Review Death Penalty Case in Which Georgia Defendant was Forced to Reenact the Murder While in Shackles
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a Georgia death-penalty case in which the prosecution was permitted to make a visibly shackled defendant reenact the murder in front of the jury, while his defense counsel raised no…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Apr 03, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and United States
Georgia’s execution of Willie Pye – the state’s first in more than four years – garnered criticism from the European Union. “Although the European Union and its 27 Member States oppose capital punishment in all circumstances, we are especially concerned about the scheduled execution of Mr. Pye given his intellectual disability and issues regarding the quality of his legal representation,” said the EU’s letter to the state’s Board of Pardons and Parole in support of Mr. Pye’s clemency…