Sidebar With an Expert Capital Litigator
This week, Terry Lenamon was interviewed by Ana M. Valdes of the Palm Beach Post for his expert opinion as a death-qualified criminal defense attorney regarding the Jorge and Carmen Barahona murder trial, now that the prosecution has announced that it will be seeking the death penalty.
In an article entitled, "Barahonas to face …
Troy Davis sits on Georgia’s Death Row today with less and less hope to escape execution.
This week, the United States Supreme Court declined Troy Davis’ request to review the determination by federal trial judge William T. Moore Jr. that the evidence Mr. Davis has accumulated to prove he is innocent of the crime for which…
The reality that individuals suffering from severe mental illness set on Death Rows all across the country today should not even be the subject for debate – the reality is too obvious. Whether they were mentally ill at the time of the crime for which they face a sentence of death is one issue. Whether…
More and more, we are receiving email requests from folk that would like to write a guest post here on the Death Penalty Blog. Right off the bat, please know that we consider it an honor that anyone would be interested in taking the time…
Georgia has halted its execution schedule now that the federal government has swooped in and taken its stash of sodium thiopental. Seems that the Drug Enforcment Administration (DEA) believes that the State of Georgia violated federal law when it bought sodium thiopental from a British supplier for use in its three-drug lethal injection execution cocktail. …
Mental health professionals and those dealing with mental health issues are well aware of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). It is used everyday in the law, as well, and you can find a copy on most death qualified criminal defense attorney’s shelves – maybe more than one. In fact, you can…
Today, there is an understandably large amount of news coverage aboutthe state of Illinois abolishing the death penalty – with the Illinois governor waiting until the eleventh hour to make his decision on whether he would stand on the matter. It’s big news and it should be.
However, in Ohio there is also very …
Move over, habeas corpus. The United States Supreme Court has ruled (read the full opinion here) that Texas Death Row inmate Hank Skinner can indeed pursue a civil lawsuit brought under federal civil rights law as he tries to get certain evidence tested for DNA now, long after his criminal trial where…
The Reverend Carroll Pickett served as the death house chaplain for the State of Texas for many years, and he holds the international record for witnessing the most government executions (95).
Today, Reverend Pickett tours the country on a speaking circuit, voicing his oppostion to the death penalty. (For details, go to the Texas Coalition Against the…
Last month, two death row inmates had their sentences changed to life without parole after authorities confirmed each suffers from severe mental illness. In Oregon, Robert James Acremant had his sentence changed after state experts confirmed his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. (He still faces a death sentence in California on another charge.)
In North…