Entries tagged with “Willie Pye”

Secrecy

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Upcoming Executions

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Botched Executions

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Lethal Injection

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Nov 22, 2024

New Resource: In Era of Secrecy, States Increasingly Restrict Media Access to Executions

On December 18, Joseph Corcoran is sched­uled to be the first per­son exe­cut­ed by Indiana offi­cials in 15 years. For the first time, the state will use a sin­gle drug, pen­to­bar­bi­tal, which comes from an unknown source and has been known to cause pris­on­ers ​“excru­ci­at­ing” pain dur­ing exe­cu­tions. But no media wit­ness­es will be present to relay what hap­pens to the pub­lic. Indiana is an out­lier in its pol­i­cy deci­sion to com­plete­ly exclude the press from wit­ness­ing exe­cu­tions in the state. But a…

Policy Issues

Human Rights

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International

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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…

Policy Issues

Intellectual Disability

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Clemency

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Upcoming Executions

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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

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Race

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Representation

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Upcoming Executions

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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

Intellectual Disability

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Race

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Representation

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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

Arbitrariness

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Mental Illness

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Representation

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Native Americans

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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…