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BOISE, Idaho - A longtime sex offender was sentenced to death Wednesday for the 2005 kidnapping, torture and murder of a 9-year-old northern Idaho boy after federal jurors who watched video of some of the brutality deliberated just three hours. The jurors' recommendation was binding on U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, who thanked them, dismissed them and then sentenced Joseph Edward Duncan III. Relatives of the victim, Dylan Groene, remained somber as the jury's decision was announced. Duncan murdered Dylan's mother, older brother and his mother's fiance to kidnap him and his younger sister, who was sexually abused along with...

A federal appeals court has overturned for the third time the death sentence for a man convicted of bludgeoning a young woman to death with an iron bar during a 1981 burglary in San Joaquin County. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals voted 2-1 that lapses by Fernando Belmontes' defense lawyer kept the jury in the dark about information that could have led to a less severe sentence. That information included details about Belmontes' violent home life as a child and how that might have contributed to his criminal behavior. The murder occurred in Victor,...

But Israeli leftists were ready to pounce. Following Eldad's remarks, MK Ran Cohen (Meretz) said he would complain to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, demanding that MK Eldad be probed for incitement. "These words of slander are reminiscent of the days before Rabin's murder and must not be heard," Cohen explained. "The law enforcement authorities must prevent this from a public figure." An official at Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Office said in response that "the man and his words are unworthy of a response." NU-NRP MK Zevulun Orlev said in a letter to Eldad that he was "amazed by the remarks."...

ITALIAN editor and critic of Islamic extremism Magdi Allam, who converted to Catholicism from Islam and was baptised by Pope Benedict XVI, today branded his former faith as intrinsically violent. "I had to do this (abandon Islam)", Allam wrote in a long letter to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "Beyond ... the phenomenon of extremists and Islamist terrorism at the global level, the root of evil is inherent to a physiologically violent and historically conflictual Islam," wrote the Egyptian-born journalist, who says he has received death threats and is under police protection. One of seven adults baptised during an...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- If six suspected terrorists are sentenced to death at Guantanamo Bay for the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. Army regulations that were quietly amended two years ago open the possibility of execution by lethal injection at the military base in Cuba, experts said Tuesday. Any executions would probably add to international outrage over Guantanamo, since capital punishment is banned in 130 countries, including the 27-nation European Union. Conducting the executions on U.S. soil could open the way for the detainees' lawyers to go to U.S. courts to fight the death sentences. But the updated regulations make...

Declaration by the Presidency on Behalf of the EU Concerning Death Sentences in Iran February 07, 2008 EUROPA Press Releases The EU condemns the increasing recourse to death sentences and executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The EU also reiterates its longstanding opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances. The EU is in favor of the universal abolition of the death penalty and urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to abolish the death penalty, if necessary by initially establishing a moratorium on executions, in line with the UN General Assembly resolution adopted in December 2007 on a Moratorium...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The Afghan Senate has withdrawn its demand for the death sentence for Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, following protests from the public and media, a report said. Kambaksh, a 23-year-old journalism student, was sentenced to death after downloading information about Afghan women's rights, the Daily Mail reported Thursday. Because the original ruling was proposed by a strong ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in a religious court, there appeared to be little chance of saving Kambaksh's life, the report said. The death sentence revocation is said to increase hope for his eventual freedom. "The upper house...

A Canadian judge is due to decide this week whether to renew a temporary injunction against Winnipeg's Grace General Hospital, whose doctors want to detach an 84-year-old Orthodox Jew from a respirator and hasten his death, against his family's wishes. However, it was learned Sunday that the patient, Samuel Golubchuk, regained consciousness several days ago and appears to be improving. Although a hospital doctor treating Golubchuk wrote "Awoke" on his chart, the hospital did not disclose this to the court. The family said the hospital had been trying to make the patient appear to be dying and with minimal brain...

Fibres may be more important than viral load in determining transmission rates. A component found in semen can enhance HIV transmission by as much as 100,000-fold, researchers have found. The results, if verified in a clinical setting, could identify a new way to help prevent the spread of the disease. "I think this is tremendous," says Christopher Pilcher, an HIV researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not affiliated with the study. "It raises a lot of really fundamental questions about how HIV is transmitted." Over 80% of HIV infections are acquired through sexual intercourse, primarily via...

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for convicted murderer Kevin Cooper, whose 2004 execution was stayed just hours before he was to die by lethal injection. The planned execution was halted after the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals reopened the case so two DNA tests on a blond hair and a bloody shirt found at the murder scene could be done. DNA testing wasn't available in 1984. Cooper, who has long maintained his innocence, was convicted of the murders of Douglas and Peggy Ryen, both 41, their 10-year-old daughter, Jessica, and Christopher...

SAN FRANCISCO The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death sentence for a San Bernardino man convicted of killing three children in 1996. Martin Mendoza was sentenced to death for the murders of the children, which included two of his stepchildren, and attempted murders of four other people, including two sheriff's deputies. His automatic appeal to the state Supreme Court was affirmed unanimously.

Michael Cooks was a seasoned gang banger and drug dealer when he gunned down two men in Englewood. He was also 14 years old. Cooks is now 32, and after serving more than half of his life in prison, he says he has grown into a different person than the boy who pulled the trigger. "I've calmed things down, learned to actually think before I react in certain situations," he said in an interview at Menard Correctional Center, about 85 miles south of St. Louis. "I've learned to walk away, which is why I don't be getting in fights or...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A jury on Friday decided that a woman convicted of killing an expectant mother and cutting her baby from her womb should receive the death penalty. Jurors deliberated for more than five hours before recommending the sentence for Lisa Montgomery. Prosecutors say a judge will sentence Montgomery, but is obligated to abide by the jury's recommendation. Montgomery, 39, was convicted Monday of kidnapping and killing Bobbie Jo Stinnett on Dec. 16, 2004, in the victim's home in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore. She was arrested the next day in Melvern, Kan., where she was showing...

FOXNEWS

The Supreme Court refused to review the convictions and death sentence Tuesday for serial killer Richard Ramirez, the so-called Night Stalker who killed 13 people in California in the 1980s. The justices declined without comment to act on Ramirez's appeal. His killing spree terrorized the Los Angeles area in 1984 and 1985. Satanic symbols were left at murder scenes and some victims were forced by the killer to "swear to Satan." Ramirez, convicted in 1989, is not likely to be executed any time soon. He still has another round of federal appeals to pursue and the state's death penalty has...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court threw out death sentences for three Texas killers Wednesday because of problems with instructions given jurors who were deciding between life in prison and death.In the case of LaRoyce Lathair Smith, the court set aside the death penalty for the second time. It also reversed death sentences for Brent Ray Brewer and Jalil Abdul-Kabir.The cases all stem from jury instructions that Texas hasn't used since 1991. Under those rules, courts have found that jurors were not allowed to give sufficient weight to factors that might cause them to impose a life sentence instead of...

Saddam deputy loses final appeal Former Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan has lost his appeal against a death sentence for killing Shia Muslims in the 1980s. Ramadan was sentenced to hang after an appeal by the Iraqi High Tribunal, which previously jailed him for life. He was tried alongside former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein over the killing of 148 Shias in the village of Dujail. Under Iraqi law he must follow Saddam Hussein to the gallows within 30 days of the appeals process being exhausted.

An Italian judge ordered a 13 year old girl from Torino to abort her unborn child because her parents were opposed to the baby. Italian legislation states that a minor is not allowed to decide whether to abort or not and the 'decision' falls entirely on the guardians or parents. The shocking story was brought into light by Italian newspaper La Stampa in which the paper reports that the girl didn't want to abort the baby but had to after the ruling. She then had to receive treatment after telling her parents she was going to attempt a suicide. The...

WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Monday moved to reinstate the death penalty for a California man convicted of murdering a 19-year-old woman during a burglary. Justices reversed an appeals court ruling that threw out Fernando Belmontes' death sentence because the trial judge misled jurors who were considering whether to give Belmontes the death penalty or life in prison. The 5-4 decision was the court's first since starting its new term in October. It reflected an increasingly common division in death penalty cases between the court's conservative and liberal blocs. Justice Anthony Kennedy said it was implausible to conclude that jurors...

An Army investigator has recommended the death penalty for four soldiers accused of murder during a raid in Iraq. Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. made the recommendation in report obtained Saturday by The Associated Press. Daniel found several aggravating factors that warrant a sentence of death in the case of four soldiers accused of killing three men during the May raid in the Salahuddin province. Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, and Spc. Juston R. Graber, all of the Fort Campbell, Ky.- based 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, were...

PHOENIX - An Army investigator has recommended the death penalty for four soldiers accused of murder during a raid in Iraq. Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. made the recommendation in report obtained Saturday by The Associated Press. Daniel found several aggravating factors that warrant a sentence of death in the case of four soldiers accused of killing three men during the May raid in the Salahuddin province.

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (AP) -- An ex-con who co-wrote a book about life in prison was sentenced to death Friday for killing his live-in girlfriend and raping a 15-year-old girl.

The California Supreme Court today upheld the death sentence of a San Jose man convicted in 1989 after two trials on charges he killed a witness against him in a robbery case. Fermin Ledesma was originally convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1980, in a case prosecuted by current Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy, for the 1978 murder of Gabriel Flores, a gas station attendant Ledesma robbed and later killed after Flores identified him to police. That conviction was overturned in 1987 after the California Supreme Court ruled that he had received ineffective assistance from...

SAN FRANCISCO A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction, but set aside the death sentence of a man condemned for kidnapping and murdering an 8-year-old Hayward girl in 1978. The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means Richard Hovey's sentence is changed to life without parole. If the decision withstands appeal, Hovey, who tossed a bound Tina Salazar of Hayward from a car after beating her, would be removed from death row at San Quentin State Prison. The San Francisco-based appeals court reversed the sentence after concluding Hovey received ineffective assistance of counsel during the...

The California Supreme Court upheld the convictions and death sentence Monday for serial killer Richard Ramirez whose so-called Night Stalker killing spree terrorized the Los Angeles area in the mid 1980s. Ramirez, 46, was sentenced to death in 1989 for 13 Los Angeles-area murders in 1984 and 1985. Satanic symbols were left at murder scenes and some victims were forced to "swear to Satan" by the killer, who entered homes through unlocked windows and doors. The justices unanimously denied claims that Ramirez was incompetent to stand trial, that the case should have been moved outside Los Angeles, and that all...

LOCAL NEWS TENNESSEE NEWS KENTUCKY NEWS NATIONAL NEWS WORLD NEWS SPECIAL REPORTS Printer-friendly version E-Mail this page to a friend Execution Plans Still Underway Posted: 6/27/2006 4:30:00 PM Updated: 6/27/2006 5:32:38 PM Execution Plans Still Underway Despite a stay for Paul Reid issued on Tuesday afternoon, the Riverbend Maximum security prison is still making preparations for two executions. By Tuesday afternoon, both inmates, Sedley Alley and Paul Reid were still on Death Watch. All day the Department of Corrections was preparing for one or two executions.

BURLINGTON, VERMONT (AP) -- A man who kidnapped a supermarket worker and killed her as she prayed for her life was sentenced Friday to die, the first person to get the death penalty in Vermont in almost a half-century. Donald Fell, 26, was sentenced by a federal judge who once ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. Speaking in court for the first time after years of court appearances, Fell apologized twice in a brief statement for stomping 53-year-old Terry King to death in November 2000 on a roadside in Dover, New York. "The words are inadequate," Fell said, his voice barely...

Moderators- Since Islam is so prominent in the news, I am hoping that this insight will be allowed to stay If a Muslim leaves Islam, what do Muslims call him? And what is the Islamic prescribed sentence for the one who leaves Islam. Please send me as soon as possible. Thank you very much. In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear questioner! Thank you very much for this question that reflects deep insight and true search for knowledge. May Allah grant...

Libya took six years to sentence six foreign medical workers -- five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor -- to death for infecting patients with AIDS in 1998. Condemned abroad as a show trial, the sentences were overturned in December. The retrial starts on Thursday. The retrial of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor accused of knowingly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV will start in a Tripoli court on Thursday, months after a higher court overturned their death sentences. The case has caused tension not only between Libya and Bulgaria, but between Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and...

Carlie Brucia's Killer Faces Sentencing Wednesday, March 15, 2006 SARASOTA, Fla.  — The man convicted of abducting, raping and slaying 11-year-old is set to be sentenced today. A jury recommended by a vote of ten-to-two that be executed. The judge in the case is required by law to give great weight to that recommendation when he makes his ruling. During a hearing last month, Smith tearfully apologized for his crimes, telling the judge that he took large amounts of heroin and cocaine in an attempt to kill himself on the day he abducted Brucia in 2004. Smith said he did not...

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — A judge has sentenced Joseph Smith to death for the slaying of 11-year-old Carlie Brucia.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Attorney General's office has a month left to decide whether it will fight to see Gregory Allen Sturm die. On March 8, the California Supreme Court overturned the 35-year-old's death sentence for the August 19, 1990 robberies and murders of Darrell Esgar, Chad Chadwick, and Russell Williams. Death penalty opponents tout the court's decision as another example of increasing tensions over methods of criminal punishment in California. According to the court, however, the 5-2 decision overturning the death sentence focused on the trial judge's misconduct. Sturm is still convicted of the crimes, which occurred at...

KUWAIT (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti court on Tuesday sentenced to death six suspected militants linked to al Qaeda for bloody attacks in the country. The six were among 37 Islamists on trial as members of the "Peninsula Lions" group believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. They include 25 Kuwaitis, seven stateless Arabs, two Jordanians, a Saudi, an Australian and a Somali. A Reuters reporter who was at the court said none of the defendants were present when the verdict was announced. Other suspects received jail terms of between four months to...

Brighton - A man who kidnapped, raped and murdered a woman in 1994 was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole. Robert Harlan was originally sentenced to death by an Adams County jury in 1995 for the murder of Rhonda Maloney, 25. But Harlan escaped execution after the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a ruling that jurors in the case improperly consulted the Bible during deliberation. "It could be said you may have avoided the death penalty by a technicality," Adams County District Judge Scott Crabtree told Harlan.

Hargon Sentenced To Death In Triple Murder Case POSTED: 5:11 pm CST December 2, 2005UPDATED: 3:32 pm CST December 5, 2005 YAZOO CITY, Miss. -- A Yazoo County jury has sentenced Earnest Lee Hargon to death for the murders of three relatives. The jury returned the decision Monday afternoon after about five hours of deliberation at the courthouse in Yazoo City. The 45-year-old Hargon was convicted Saturday in the murders of his cousin Michael Hargon, 27, Michael's wife, Rebecca, 29, and the couple's son, James Patrick, 4. Video

BRIGHTON -- An Adams County judge sentenced a convicted murderer this morning to life in prison without parole after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled his death sentence was unconstitutional. Robert Harlan was convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering 25-year-old Rhonda Maloney and paralyzing a Good Samaritan who tried to come to her aid, Jacquie Creazzo, 11 years ago. In March, the Colorado Supreme Court overturned the 41-year-old’s death sentence because jurors consulted the Bible during sentencing. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with that decision, preventing prosecutors from seeking the death penalty again. Kerri Gemeinhardt, Maloney's sister, said she is unhappy...

Jordan's military court has sentenced al Qaeda in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and two other militants to death for a failed suicide bombing on the Jordanian-Iraqi border a year ago. Al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be in Iraq, and another of the defendants were sentenced in absentia on Sunday. It is the second death sentence issued against the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi by his homeland's military court. The first was over the slaying of U.S. aid worker Laurence Foley, who was gunned down outside his Amman home in October 2002. The court on Sunday said it found them and Saudi militant...

If not Death, then what? A personal look at capital crime and punishment December 13, 2005 by John David Powell If not Death, then what? Thoughtful individuals across the social and political spectra ponder this question today as they search for a suitable punishment for history’s longest-running crime. Capital crime and punishment is not a subject I enjoy. It became personal on Oct. 26, 1981. Don’t let anyone tell you time heals all wounds. It does not. And the recent debate over whether a state should execute a convicted murdering thug just keeps open the wound. Sometimes I bring it...

As a Catholic, I hold a respect for all human life; even that which has not demonstrated itself worthy of such. My case in point is one Stanley Williams (aka. “Tookie”). This man helped form one of the most ruthless and bloodthirsty street gangs in modern history. Although, after roughly an hour worth of searching, I can’t find any solid statistics to back up the vast number of claims circling the internet, from what I gather, the group is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, not-to-mention the thousands of youths whose lives have been destroyed by...

SARASOTA, Fla. - Joseph Smith should be executed for kidnapping, raping and murdering Carlie Brucia, the 11-year-old girl whose abduction was captured by a surveillance camera and broadcast around the world, a jury recommended Thursday. Jurors deliberated five hours before arriving at their recommendation, voting 10-2 for the death penalty. Circuit Judge Andrew Owens ultimately will issue the sentence, as early as next month. Under the law, he must give great weight to the jury's choice before imposing a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.

ELYRIA, Ohio — Three weeks after a jury convicted a single mother of murdering her 4-year-old son, then burning her house down to destroy the evidence, the same 12 people recommended she be sentenced to death. A judge accepted the jury's verdict and sentenced the 30-year-old mother to be executed by lethal injection Jan. 10, 2007. Diar stood sobbing after the verdict was read and spoke for the first time during the proceedings. "I didn't kill my son," Diar said. "I'm sorry that you people feel that way. I can't feel remorse for something I didn't do." The jury reached...

Talabani won't sign Saddam death sentence Sun Aug 28, 2:56 PM ET AFP/IST-HO/File Photo: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in remarks that he would not sign a death sentence against his ousted predecessor Saddam Hussein even if it costs him his job. "Once his (Saddam's) interrogation is over, he will go before a tribunal," Talabani told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel in an interview. Should a death sentence be issued against the former dictator, "I will not sign it," he said. "I am a man of principles. I cannot forego my principles for the sake of my post. If there is...

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The first executions in Iraq since the ousting of Saddam Hussein will take place within days, Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said -- in what could be an ominous sign for the jailed former dictator. "The president (Jalal Talabani) has signed three death sentences and the next few days will see the first executions in Kut," 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Baghdad, Jaafari told reporters on Tuesday. Three members of the Al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Sunna were sentenced to death in May, a verdict later approved by the Supreme Council for Justice, the highest judicial authority in Iraq....

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — A man who got angry with his wife because she wanted to cuddle after sex when what he really wanted to do was watch sports on television was sentenced to death for killing her with a claw hammer. Christopher Offord (search), 30, was sentenced Wednesday by Circuit Judge Dedee Costello (search), who said the brutality of the crime outweighed any mental problems Offord may have had. "The defendant struck his wife approximately 70 individual blows after spending a happy interlude with her," the judge said. "Her desire to cuddle after sex does not justify the extremely...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — A man who got angry with his wife because she wanted to cuddle after sex when what he really wanted to do was watch sports on television was sentenced to death for killing her with a claw hammer. Christopher Offord, 30, was sentenced Wednesday by Circuit Judge Dedee Costello, who said the brutality of the crime outweighed any mental problems Offord may have had. "The defendant struck his wife approximately 70 individual blows after spending a happy interlude with her,'' the judge said. "Her desire to cuddle after sex does not justify the extremely violent, brutal...

YORKTOWN, Va. -- Is Daryl Atkins mentally retarded? That question will be the sole focus of a trial set to begin this week, and the answer will determine whether he lives or dies. Atkins, 27, is the Virginia inmate whose case led the U.S. Supreme Court three years ago to bar execution of the mentally retarded as unconstitutionally cruel. Yet he has remained on death row for the 1996 robbery and murder of an Air Force enlisted man. While the high court's ruling protected the severely mentally retarded, it provided little guidance for the far greater number of inmates, like...

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A judge Friday formally sentenced to death the man who kidnapped and murdered 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in a case that led to the expansion of abduction alerts on electronic billboards along state freeways. ``You're a disgrace to the human race,'' the girl's mother, Erin Runnion, tearily told Alejandro Avila in court. ``... Everything in me wants to hurt you in every possible way.'' A jury convicted the 30-year-old former factory worker in April and voted for the death penalty in May. Judge William R. Froeberg endorsed the recommendation. Avila snatched the kicking and screaming girl as...

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A judge on Friday formally sentenced to death the man who kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered 5-year-old Samantha Runnion (search) in 2002 — a case that led to the expansion of child abduction alerts on electronic billboards along California's freeways. A jury convicted former factory worker Alejandro Avila (search), 30, in April and voted for the death penalty in May. On Friday, Superior Court Judge William R. Froeberg endorsed the jury's recommendation. "You shall suffer the death penalty," the judge told Avila, who looked away.

Reprints By KATIE ZEZIMA Published: July 15, 2005 BOSTON, July 14 - A federal jury in Burlington, Vt., recommended on Thursday that a man convicted of kidnapping and killing a supermarket employee be sentenced to death in Vermont's first capital trial in nearly 50 years.... Vermont abolished the death penalty in 1987, but the federal government took jurisdiction of the case because the crime involved crossing state lines. In 2001, prosecutors brokered a deal in which Mr. Fell would be sentenced to life in prison without parole, but Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected it. The case struck a nerve in...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The state Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for a woman who orchestrated the murders of her ex-husband and a hit man who expressed remorse about his role in the killing. The state's highest court on Monday rejected arguments by Mary Ellen Samuels that numerous errors were made in the trial that led to her July 1994 conviction of two counts of first-degree murder, solicitation of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to death in September 1994. Robert Samuels was found dead on Dec. 8, 1988 from a gunshot wound to the head....