Death Penalty

Five Sept. 11 Detainees Ask to Confess and Enter Guilty Plea

Five Guantanamo detainees charged with plotting the Sept. 11 attacks are seeking to confess and plead guilty. Accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed explained to a military judge today why he and his co-defendants were ready to enter guilty pleas, the New York Times reports. “We don’t want to…

Dec 8, 2008 4:52 PM CST

Death Penalty Expert Michael Mello Dies

Vermont Law School Professor Michael Mello, a well-known national expert on the death penalty, died at his home over the weekend after a short illness. He was 51. “He was my colleague for 20 years,” Professor Joan Vogel told the Rutland Herald. “It hasn’t really sunk in to me that…

Nov 25, 2008 5:07 PM CST

Slain Judge’s Widow Speaks, Prosecutors Take Heat at Nichols Sentencing

Nearly four years after her husband was gunned down by an angry defendant in his Georgia courtroom, Claudia Barnes, who has attended the trial of Brian Nichols almost every day for four weeks, testified yesterday at his sentencing hearing that she still feels “unbelievable devastation” over the the murder of…

Nov 21, 2008 7:52 PM CST

Expert Slams Court’s ‘Blame the Victim’ Response to Judge-Prosecutor Affair

An appeals court in Texas has ordered attorneys for an inmate facing the death penalty to explain why they didn’t complain sooner about a now-admitted affair between the judge and the prosecutor in the case, sparking an angry response from an incredulous legal ethics expert News that the Texas Court…

Nov 20, 2008 9:03 PM CST

Widow of Man Killed by Courthouse Shooter Brings Gun to Trial

The widow of one of four victims killed by a courthouse gunman brought a gun to court on Tuesday, sources told news organizations. Security screeners outside the Atlanta courtroom confiscated the gun from Candee Wilhelm after she had already carried it past a security check at the courthouse entrance, the…

Nov 20, 2008 2:18 PM CST

On Execution Day, Texas Inmate Eric Cathey Gets Stay

A Texas appeals court today granted a stay of execution to a death row inmate about four hours before he was to get the lethal injection. Eric Cathey, 37, will now have a chance to argue in a court hearing that he should not be executed because he is mentally…

Nov 18, 2008 9:57 PM CST

Supreme Court Dismisses Inmate’s Appeal after Oral Arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed a death row inmate’s claim that state courts had not properly considered his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal today as improvidently granted, but as is customary, it gave no further explanation, SCOTUSblog reports. The court heard arguments…

Nov 17, 2008 3:35 PM CST

Scalia Apologizes for Wrongly Scolding Lawyer over Missing Statute

A lawyer wrongly scolded in oral arguments by Justice Antonin Scalia for not listing a statute’s text in his brief got an apology by the end of the hour. Lawyer Richard Bress was arguing on behalf of a death row inmate claiming the courts improperly weighed his claim of ineffective…

Nov 14, 2008 3:23 PM CST

Obama to Bring Gitmo Detainees to US Courts, Associated Press Says

In a potential move that could change the landscape of the nation’s criminal justice system, president-elect Barack Obama reportedly has asked his advisers to put together a plan to close the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and bring detainees who are not released here for trial. While…

Nov 10, 2008 7:28 PM CST

Supreme Court Turns Down Challenges to Victim Impact Videos

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear two cases that ask whether jurors considering the death penalty can consider emotional videos as victim impact evidence. Justices David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens and Stephen G. Breyer voted to hear the cases. The number was one vote shy of the…

Nov 10, 2008 3:43 PM CST

Utah Supremes: Lack of Qualified Lawyers Could Force Death Penalty Reversals

The Utah Supreme Court has refused to impose Rule 11 sanctions against two capital defense lawyers for raising “unwarranted and unjustifiable” claims in a habeas appeal. But the court’s opinion contained a warning to legislators: A lack of funding to train defense counsel could force the court to reverse capital…

Nov 10, 2008 1:15 PM CST

Verdict in Ga. Courthouse Slaying Case: Guilty on All Counts

Developing: A verdict has been reached in a 54-count Georgia courthouse slaying case, and the defendant has been found guilty on all counts. “A Fulton County jury found courthouse shooter Brian Nichols guilty of the March 11, 2005 murder of four people in a killing spree that rocked the nation…

Nov 7, 2008 8:05 PM CST

Jury Gets Ga. Courthouse Slaying Case

After six weeks of testimony, an expensive and controversial Georgia murder case against a defendant who allegedly shot to death a Fulton County judge and court reporter, among other victims, has reportedly gone to the jury. Brian Nichols, 36, is pursuing an insanity defense concerning the murders, which he allegedly…

Nov 7, 2008 12:05 AM CST

Ga. Defense Lawyers Accept Justice Stevens’ Implied Invitation

Defense lawyers plan to file legal challenges to Georgia’s review of death sentences after criticism by a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Mercer University law professor Tim Floyd told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Justice John Paul Stevens “seems to be sending an invitation” for appeals in a statement he issued last…

Oct 27, 2008 5:52 PM CDT

Court Stays Troy Davis’ Execution in ‘Extraordinarily Rare’ Reprieve

A death row inmate who failed to win cert for his constitutional claim of actual innocence has received a stay of execution from the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Troy Anthony Davis claims he is actually innocent and, as a result, the Eighth Amendment bars his execution. On…

Oct 27, 2008 2:23 PM CDT