Should inmate with prince of God delusion be executed? ABA seeks clarification of standard

The ABA has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the competency standard for execution in the case of a death-row inmate who has asserted that he is the “prince of God.” In an amicus brief (PDF), the ABA supports the cert petition filed on behalf of John Ferguson, who…

Jul 30, 2013 11:15 AM CDT

US won’t seek death penalty for Snowden, Holder tells Russians

Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in a letter this week to the Russian government that National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden won’t face the death penalty if he returns to the U.S. The letter, dated July 23 and sent to Alexander Vladimirovich Konovalov, the Russian minister of justice, follows…

Jul 26, 2013 6:42 PM CDT

DC Circuit blocks import of lethal injection drug

A federal appeals court has upheld a court order that blocks importation of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental, a sedative used to anesthetize inmates before they receive drugs that cause death. The U.S. Court of Appeals said the Food and Drug Administration should not have allowed states to import…

Jul 24, 2013 1:51 PM CDT

Boston Marathon bombing suspect pleads not guilty to 30 charges

Updated: Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to using weapons of mass destruction and 29 other counts related to the April bombing that left three dead and hundreds injured. This was the first court appearance for the 19-year-old, who repeatedly spoke “not guilty” to charges in a…

Jul 10, 2013 4:40 PM CDT

July 7, 1865: Lincoln assassination co-conspirators hanged

Jul 1, 2013 6:00 AM CDT

Ex-prosecutor gets 2-year suspension over 100s of calls and texts with judge in death-penalty case

A referee recommended that a former Florida assistant state attorney be suspended from practicing law for one year due to the more than 1,400 ex parte calls and text messages he admittedly exchanged with the judge presiding over a death-penalty case he was prosecuting and the Florida Bar agreed this…

Jun 25, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

NC governor seeks to remove execution roadblocks with repeal of Racial Justice Act

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a repeal of the state’s Racial Justice Act this week, saying the law had created “procedural roadblocks” to executions. Four inmates used the law to change their death sentences to life in prison, report the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.), the Associated…

Jun 21, 2013 3:00 PM CDT

Governor can grant clemency in capital case even if inmate rejects it, state’s top court rules

The governor of Oregon has power to grant clemency in a capital case regardless of whether the inmate in question wants to be put to death, the state’s top court ruled Thursday. Reversing a trial court’s decision last year, the Oregon Supreme Court unanimously held that death row inmate Gary…

Jun 20, 2013 9:55 PM CDT

Jurors in death-penalty case not tainted by watching prison movie, state supreme court rules

The California Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a convicted murderer, despite evidence that two holdout jurors on a deadlocked jury were urged by the foreman to watch a movie about prison violence during a break in deliberations. The court, in a 5-2 ruling last week, said there…

Jun 7, 2013 7:14 PM CDT

Was judge senile in death penalty case? 9th Circuit dissenter sees ‘painfully obvious’ incompetence

A federal appeals court has discounted allegations that a judge who sentenced a triple murderer to death was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the time. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the death sentence for Ronald Deere, convicted of murdering three family members of his ex-girlfriend…

Jun 5, 2013 11:25 AM CDT

Judge OKs insanity plea for accused shooter in Colo. movie theater massacre

Establishing the framework for pretrial proceedings for the man accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 more in a Colorado movie theater shooting spree last summer, a state court judge on Tuesday ruled that defendant James Holmes can change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. Holmes,…

Jun 4, 2013 7:30 PM CDT

Former governor helps establish a clemency clinic

Jun 1, 2013 9:20 AM CDT

Jodi Arias jury hangs on whether she should get death penalty

It didn’t take long for an Arizona jury to convict Jodi Arias of first-degree murder in the grisly death of her former boyfriend. But it wasn’t able to agree Thursday on whether the 32-year-old should get the death penalty in the Maricopa County case. That leaves the prosecution with two…

May 24, 2013 10:45 AM CDT

Abortion doc convicted of first-degree murder strikes deal for life term

Convicted earlier this week of first-degree murder in the deaths of three infants who survived late-term abortions only to be slain at his Philadelphia clinic, a Pennsylvania physician struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty. Kermit Gosnell, 72, will get a life term in prison without parole…

May 14, 2013 10:05 PM CDT

Jury finds abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell guilty of first-degree murder in deaths of 3 infants

Following five weeks of testimony and 10 days of deliberation, the jury in a capital murder case against a Philadelphia late-term abortion doctor has found Kermit Gosnell guilty of three counts of first-degree murder concerning infants born alive whose spinal cords were then severed. He was acquitted Monday in the…

May 13, 2013 7:59 PM CDT