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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Boston Marathon bombing case to be back in federal court in December

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The case of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be back in federal court in Boston next month.

US District Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. has scheduled a hearing for Dec. 1 on several motions filed after Tsarnaev was sentenced to death in June.

One of the motions is a request by prosecutors to order Tsarnaev to pay restitution to his victims, a largely symbolic gesture given Tsarnaev's lack of assets. Prosecutors have not disclosed the amount they are seeking, but it is expected to be in the millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, Tsarnaev's lawyers have asked the judge to extend attorney-client privileges they had with Tsarnaev while he was on trial. Tsarnaev is now being held under tight security measures, and his lawyers argue that tighter restrictions proposed by the US Department of Justice would interfere with attorney client privileges that any prisoner is entitled to, such as the ability to examine work documents with his lawyers.

O'Toole has also agreed to hear arguments on Tsarnaev's motion for a new trial. Such a motion is typical in any criminal case - Tsarnaev's lawyers continue to argue that his trial should have been moved outside of Boston - but O'Toole has agreed to hear arguments solely related to a recent Supreme Court decision that may have redefined some of the charges Tsarnaev was convicted of.

In a June decision, the Supreme Court struck down certain provisions of a law that called for tougher penalties for the use of a firearm or explosive in a crime of violence, finding that the law is too broad and constitutionally vague. Tsarnaev's lawyers argue that the decision applies to 15 of the charges of which Tsarnaev was convicted. Though Tsarnaev was sentenced to death on separate charges, his lawyers argue that the jury could have been influenced by the 15 charges that were affected by the Supreme Court decision.

It was not immediately clear if Tsarnaev will attend the Dec. 1 hearing.

Tsarnaev, 22, admitted his role in the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed 3 people and injured more than 260, the fatal shooting of an MIT police officer, and a firefight with police in Watertown. His lawyers argued that Tsarnaev did not deserve the death penalty because he was influenced by his older brother, who was killed during the confrontation in Watertown.

Tsarnaev is being held at the federal supermax prison in Colorado while he appeals his death sentence.

Source: Boston Globe, November 14, 2015

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Location: Boston, MA, USA
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