Sidebar With an Expert Capital Litigator
Once again, using the information collected by the Death Penalty Information Center (what a great organization) and our own work here on this blog since March 2009, we know the following:
1. The following states still allow the penalty of death for certain crimes, although New Mexico removed itself from this list in 2009, as…
Currently, not only the federal government but a majority of states provide for capital punishment (the death penalty) in certain crimes. There are those that argue that true fairness in this country would be an all-or-nothing approach: either every state in the union should impose capital punishment or no state should. Otherwise, two individuals convicted…
With thanks to the Death Penalty Information Center’s excellent recordkeeping, here is a list of those who were executed so far this year, in alphabetical order by state. While it is a blessing that capital punishment appears to be on the decline in this country, it will be truly a joyous occasion when this…
Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court heard argument in the case of Beach Renourishment v. Florida (08-1141), a controversy surrounding the application of the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition that “…private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation,” otherwise known as the “takings clause.” It’s an interesting situation because the real…
Death Row inmate Romell Broom was setting in the courtroom this week as his attorneys stood ready for an evidentiary hearing that would take a couple of days in front of Federal District Judge Gregory Frost. Romell Broom sat there, ready to testify. Think of it — Broom left his small Death Row cell to set in that public…
Last week, the State of Ohio announced that it was changing its method of execution from a lethal injection involving three drugs (sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride) to a single injection of the drug sodium thiopental.
Ohio changes to a single-drug form of execution after its failed execution…
Given that today’s news has a federal judge ordering the deposition of Romell (thx Jeff!) Broom to testify regarding the botched execution last week (for details, check our post here) … a great read on all this mess can be found on Gamso – For the Defense, in an article entitled “…
Apparently, Cy Vance’s great article in HuffPo on the tragic story of Cameron Todd Willingham (see last week’s post) was just the start. More and more stories are appearing across the country, covering the brutal fact that a man was killed by the State of Texas for the arson murder of his children and only…
The San Antonio Express-News has provided a video containing snippets from the closing arguments in the trial of Sharon Keller, Chief Justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (the highest criminal court in that state). It bears viewing, and it’s only 2:24 minutes long.
Listening to it, you’ll hear an attorney’s deep voice…
Earlier this month, Herman Lindsay was freed from Death Row after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that there just wasn’t enough evidence to find Mr. Lindsay guilty of anything — much less sentence him to death. Herman Lindsay became a free man this month, after being tried and convicted in 2006 for the robbery and…