Terence Lenamon is one busy trial lawyer; right now, he defending a man named Michael Woods who faces the death penalty in a trial that is set to begin on October 14, 2013 for the murder of Toni Centracco in a killing that prosecutors charge occurred during the commission of a burglary of a home
Timely Justice Act Challenge Is Pending While Death Row Inmate Marshall Gore’s Execution Re-Set Causes Controversy
Florida Governor Rick Scott delayed the execution of Marshall Lee Gore back in mid-August, writing a letter to the Florida State Prison warden with a re-set of the execution day to October 1, 2013.
Gore Gets 20 More Days of Life In Controversial Circumstance
This happened shortly after the Florida Supreme Court ruling that considered
Will Firing Squads Be The New Method of Execution in Death Penalty States?
As executioners are finding it more and more difficult to find drugs to use in lethal injections (see our prior post on this), discussion has begun on an alternative to injection as a way of killing for capital punishment.
Recently, an opinion piece on CNN.com written by Robert Blecker, a law professor at New York
Infographic: 4 States Responsible for 75% Executions in 2012 (Courtesy DPIC)
Pentobarbital Shortage in Death Penalty Executions: The Continuing Problem of Finding Drugs for Lethal Injections
Two years has passed since we posted about the shortage of sodium thiopental in Florida and Texas and elsewhere, and how this necessary component of the three-drug "cocktail" used in death penalty executions was causing all sorts of problems with criminal justice officials in different parts of the country.
Florida Timely Justice Act Challenge: Reply Brief Filed
The Reply brief, responding to the briefing of the Attorney General for the State of Florida in her Response, was filed on July 29, 2013. Click on the image below to read the brief (or download the pdf):
From the Reply Brief (pp. 43-44) , this Conclusion:
There is an inexplicable disconnect between what the
Schizophrenia Doesn’t Stop Execution of Mentally Ill Florida Death Row Inmate John Errol Ferguson This Week
On Monday, the State of Florida executed John Errol Ferguson, a 35 year resident of Florida’s Death Row. It was a very controversial case and many believed that Mr. Ferguson should have been spared capital punishment because he suffered from severe mental illness. Ferguson was diagnosed as being schizophrenic – his schizophrenia isn’t disputed.
Florida Timely Justice Act Challenge Before the Florida Supreme Court – Update
Here’s the status of the pending challenge to the Timely Justice Act as passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Florida Governor Rick Scott, as of July 25:
From the Florida Supreme Court’s online docket:
1. On July 16, 2013, the Florida Supreme Court granted the Motion for Leave to File Amicus
FBI Forensic Experts May Have Led to 27 Wrongful Death Penalty Convictions
Forensic evidence gets lots of respect from juries — some call it "the CSI effect" after the popular TV show (in all its spin-offs). However, this month we have even more news that justifies a less trusting view of evidence coming from a lab and being used to put someone behind bars — or on
Infographic: Former San Quentin Warden on the Death Penalty
