Entries tagged with “Samuel Smithers”

Executions

Botched Executions

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Oct 08, 2025

Upcoming Executions Illustrate Persistent Themes and Concerns Around the Death Penalty

**October 9, 2025 UPDATE****: On October** **9****,** **2025****, just a week before his sched­uled exe­cu­tion, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (****CCA****) grant­ed** **Robert Roberson** **a stay of exe­cu­tion and remand­ed his case to the dis­trict court for fur­ther con­sid­er­a­tion of his request for relief based upon relief offered in a sim­i­lar case,** ***Ex parte Roark******.*** **Like Mr. Roberson’s case,** ***Ex parte Roark*****, also involved a con­vic­tion based the now…

Upcoming Executions

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Sep 29, 2025

Counsel Seeks to Challenge Rare Execution of 72-Year-Old Florida Prisoner on Constitutional Grounds in Florida Supreme Court

With just weeks remain­ing before his sched­uled exe­cu­tion, attor­neys for 72-year-old Samuel Lee Smithers are appeal­ing the dis­missal of their motion filed September 19, 2025, argu­ing that exe­cut­ing an elder­ly per­son vio­lates both Florida and the U.S. Constitutions’ pro­hi­bi­tion against cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment and fails to meet any valid peno­log­i­cal jus­ti­fi­ca­tion. On September 22, 2025, the Hillsborough County Circuit Court denied Mr. Smithers’ request for an…