Death Penalty

Assistant AG Clashes With Boss in Hood Death Penalty Case

A Texas assistant attorney general representing a judge accused of having a romantic relationship with the prosecutor in a death penalty case has filed a grievance against her boss, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Assistant Attorney General Madeleine Connor filed the grievance with the State Bar of Texas on Sunday,…

Sep 8, 2008 11:57 AM CDT

AG’s Sanctions Request Called ‘Personal Attack’ on Capital Defense Lawyers

Lawyers for a death-row inmate told the Utah Supreme Court yesterday that a prosecutor’s attempt to obtain sanctions against them had put them at odds with the interests of their client. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Brunker is asking the court to sanction the lawyers for raising 43 issues that were…

Sep 5, 2008 2:12 PM CDT

Ex-Con Clerk for Stephen Bright Pleads Guilty to Stealing His Boss’s Identity

Lawyer Stephen Bright, president of the Southern Center for Human Rights, had told officials he wanted to help an ex-con get his life on track when he hired Shareef Cousin as a law clerk. But Cousin, a former death-row inmate, didn’t return the favor. Atlanta prosecutors say Cousin obtained credit…

Sep 5, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Death-Row Inmate Gets Quicker Hearing on Alleged Judge-Prosecutor Affair

A new judge has scheduled a hearing for Monday to consider a Texas death-row inmate’s request for more information about an alleged affair between the judge and prosecutor in his case. Lawyers for Charles Dean Hood want to compel testimony about the allegations from the former judge, Verla Sue Holland,…

Sep 5, 2008 12:29 PM CDT

First the Execution, then the Hearing; Ex-Judges, Prosecutors Criticize Schedule

A group of 22 former judges and prosecutors have sent a letter to the governor of Texas seeking a delay of the execution of Charles Dean Hood to allow time for an investigation into an alleged affair between a prosecutor and the judge in the case. Among those who signed…

Sep 4, 2008 12:01 PM CDT

Fla. Judge Sends Hundreds of Cases to Private Defense Lawyers

Ruling today that the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office is too understaffed to handle most of the felony cases it is getting, a Florida judge said 60 percent must be handled by other counsel. However, Circuit Judge Stanford Blake didn’t go as far as Public Defender Bennett Brummer had requested. He…

Sep 3, 2008 7:11 PM CDT

Idaho Family’s Killer Gets Death in Federal Child Kidnapping and Murder Case

A federal jury in Boise, Idaho, decided today that a man convicted of killing four members of a northern Idaho family should be sentenced to death for kidnapping, torturing and murdering a 9-year-old boy from that family in 2005. Joseph Edward Duncan III had pleaded guilty in the case late…

Aug 27, 2008 9:12 PM CDT

Hefty Challenge: How to Prosecute an Ailing 1,000-Pound Woman?

Authorities in Hidalgo County, in the southern tip of Texas, reportedly have yet to arrest a woman indicted by a grand jury yesterday for first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old nephew, as well as injury to a child. She had earlier been charged with capital murder in the…

Aug 22, 2008 6:10 PM CDT

Judge Delays Execution, Blasts ‘Insane System’ to Determine Sanity

A federal judge has delayed the execution of a Texas inmate and blasted the “insane” system to determine whether he is sane enough to be put to death. Jeffery Lee Wood, who sometimes spells his name as Jeffrey, was less than six hours away from execution when U.S. District Judge…

Aug 22, 2008 12:08 PM CDT

Texas Pardons Board Turns Down Getaway Driver’s Death Penalty Petition

A Texas death-row inmate who was sitting in a truck when his accomplice shot and killed a gas station cashier has failed to persuade a Texas pardons board to commute his sentence. Yesterday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected the petition filed on behalf of Jeffrey Lee…

Aug 20, 2008 12:29 PM CDT

As Clock Ticks, Defendant Seeks Evidence of Judge’s Alleged Affair

Having escaped the death penalty at almost the last minute in June, Charles Dean Hood has a good chance of actually meeting his maker on his next scheduled execution date in September. However, lawyers for the convicted murderer, who insists he is innocent, are trying an unusual tactic to attempt…

Aug 19, 2008 10:51 PM CDT

Supreme Court Doesn’t Act on Request to Rehear Rape-Death Penalty Decision

There’s no indication today whether the U.S. Supreme Court will rehear a decision that overlooked a military law. The U.S. Supreme Court issued several orders today but didn’t act today on a request to rehear its decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana barring the death penalty for child rape, SCOTUSblog reports.…

Aug 18, 2008 3:30 PM CDT

Judicial Independence in Kuwait: Death Penalty for Royal Family Member

Reportedly caught in his home in Kuwait with 22 pounds of cocaine and 165 pounds of hashish, Talal Nasser al Sabah was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to death. The capital sentence is highly unusual, in this case, because Talal is a member of the Persian Gulf country’s royal…

Aug 12, 2008 5:35 PM CDT

50 Lawyers Pack Court to Support Solo Whose Office Was Searched

Lawyers in Texas upset about a judge-authorized search of a solo practitioner who is representing an alleged contract killer filed into a Collin County court last week in a show of support for lawyer Keith Gore. In February, with the OK of 401st District Judge Mark Rusch, Texas Rangers and…

Aug 12, 2008 11:59 AM CDT

Death Row Inmate: I’m Guilty and Deserve to be Executed

A death row inmate who is scheduled to be executed this week in Texas says he is guilty and the punishment is fair. Convicted along with other “Texas 7” inmates in the murder of a police officer responding to a robbery at a store in Dallas after they escaped from…

Aug 11, 2008 4:51 PM CDT