The State of Texas has scheduled the execution of Scott Panetti for December 3, 2014, despite the fact that Mr. Panetti has been diagnosed to suffer from both schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
During his criminal trial, there was quite a bit of hoopla as Scott Panetti represented himself at trial, appearing before the court in
Terence Lenamon will have the honor of being part of a panel discussion on death penalty issues with Sister Helen Prejean next month (see our previous post for time and date details).
As for what that panel discussion might include, check out this video of Sister Helen discussing “Together We Can End the Death
Have you heard about how Texas executed the wrong man (no, not Cameron Todd Willingham)?
Here’s a good read for all those interested in the American system of death penalty / capital punishment. It tells the story of Carlos DeLuna, wrongfully executed for murdering a woman named Wanda Lopez.
It was only after an investigatory
Today, Jodi Arias was granted her request to represent herself in the second part of her Arizona death penalty trial. The second phase of the trial is called the "penalty phase" and it’s here that factors are considered in deciding whether or not she should be sentenced to death for the 2008 crime of killing
The Florida Supreme Court has issued its Order that changes the Florida appellate process in death penalty cases.
The changes include what is required before a Florida attorney can represent someone in a capital case. approved a series of changes Thursday aimed at improving the death-penalty appeals process.
Read the complete Order here:
Now that the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that Florida’s method of deciding if someone can or cannot be executed if they suffer from a mental disability has been ruled unconstitutional (read our posts on Hall v. Florida here), many people may assume that it’s automatic that Death Row inmates
Today, the United States Supreme Court held that the Florida statutory method for determining who is mentally disabled as a mitigating factor that bars the imposition of the death penalty to be UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
From SCOTUS:
"The State’s threshold requirement, as interpreted by the Florida Supreme Court, is unconstitutional."
Terence Lenamon is known for his work in defending people who are facing capital punishment as prosecutors seek the death penalty in trying these people for serious crimes. Much of Terry’s work is done in the "sentencing phase" of a death penalty case, where the defendant has been found guilty in the "trial