Free Republic

Alaskan malamute Sunny’s reprieve from a death sentence may be short-lived, as the Board of Selectmen last night decided to appeal the court’s decision to spare his life. After going into executive session, selectmen announced in open session that they will appeal the decision made Friday in Leominster District Court to overturn the board’s Dec. 8 decision to kill the year-old dog.“We will be appealing the decision on the dog hearing,” said Selectman Raymond A. Dennehy III.Sunny’s owner, Leo J. Montagna, said he was shocked to hear about the selectmen’s decision when he was contacted by phone last night. Sunny...

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...