DNA testing for Death Row inmates gets a lot of attention over in Texas, but it’s really a national issue — and lots of eyes are turned to Austin this week as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed the November 8, 2011, execution of Hank Skinner. Skinner’s fight is far from over: the opinion states
Terry Lenamon / Reba Kennedy
Ohio May Execute 66 Year Old Reginald Brooks on November 15: Clemency Requests and Court Rulings Are Not Favorable
Posted in Death Penalty - States
Over in Ohio, Reginald Brooks and his ace defense team are fighting against an execution date of November 15, 2011, when Brooks is scheduled for capital punishment in the homicides of his three sons, killed long ago while they slept (in 1982).
A federal district judge has failed to find error in the changes…
Florida Execution by Firing Squads or Electric Chair – Legislation Seeks to End Lethal Injection Method of Execution
Posted in Execution Methods
Right now, the Florida House of Representatives has before it a bill that would end lethal injections as a method of execution. This bill doesn’t end the death penalty, though (that’s a different bill): this proposed legislation, if it becomes law, will return Florida to its prior methods of carrying out capital punishment.
That’s right. Old …
Hank Skinner DNA Fight in Texas: Execution or Innocence Hearing? Following The Web Coverage
Posted in On Death Row
On Texas Death Row, Henry Watkins "Hank" Skinner is fighting to have DNA testing done of evidence that he argues will support his claims of innocence in the beating death of his girlfriend, Twila Busby, and her two grown-up sons back in 1993.
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion that Skinner could proceed…
QEEG Brain Mapping Used in Another Florida Death Penalty Case
Posted in Fact Issues - Death Penalty
Terry Lenamon fought long and hard to get QEEG Brain Mapping introduced as evidence in the death penalty trial of Grady Nelson last fall. The QEEG evidence was introduced. The judge sentenced Grady Nelson not to a sentence of death, but instead to life imprisonment.
That was almost a year ago, and now QEEG evidence…
Alabama Death Row Inmate Cory Maples Argues His Plight to the U.S. Supreme Court – Will the Justices Correct Lawyer Errors?
Posted in Indigent Defense in Capital Cases
Cory Maples sits on Death Row over in Alabama, after having obvious and serious errors made by both his trial and appellate counsel which included some pretty big names in the legal industry.
And by "obvious and serious," we really mean blatant, ludicrous, and shameful treatment of an indigent defendant by, among others, one of…
Florida HB 4051 Introduced to End Death Penalty in Florida
Posted in Death Penalty - States
The Florida House of Representatives will be addressing the issue of capital punishment, as the memories of Georgia’s execution of Troy Davis and Florida’s execution of Manuel Valle are still fresh in the minds of legislators and the public at large.
State Representative Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda (D-Tallahassee) has introduced HB 4051, which will now proceed…
Texas Death Row’s Duane Edward Buck: Example of Importance of Sentencing Phase in Death Penalty Trial
Posted in On Death Row
The United State Supreme Court has just stayed the execution of Duane Edward Buck, and an excellent article providing the details of Mr. Buck’s case – from crime to stay – can be found at The Texas Tribune, in a piece written by Brandi Grissom entitled "Supreme Court Grants Stay of Duane Buck Execution."…
Cruel and Unusual Punishment and the Death Penalty: Law Professors Give Us More to Ponder
Posted in Legal Issues - Death Penalty
Worth your time to read, this law review article just published by the Virginia Law Review in a continuing discussion of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as it relates to "cruel and unusual" punishment and the death penalty — was the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause originally meant to prohibit excessive punishments as…
Freedom for the West Memphis Three – Much to Consider in the Aftermath
Posted in On Death Row
Back in February 2010, we pondered the case of the West Memphis Three in a post entitled, "Johnny Depp on 48 Hours Today Fighting 4 West Memphis 3, Will He Help the Dubose Brothers?"
Eighteen months later, and the West Memphis Three are free men. It’s a big deal and a big story in…