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Arkansas Supreme Court Decision Allows New DNA Testing in Case of the ​“West Memphis Three,” Convicted of Killing Three Children in 1993

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On April 18, 2024, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided 4-3 to reverse a 2022 lower court decision and allow genetic testing of crime scene evidence from the 1993 killing of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis. The three men convicted in 1994 for the killings were released in 2011 after taking an Alford plea, in which they maintained their innocence but plead guilty to the crime, in exchange for 18 years’ time served and 10 years of a suspended sentence. 

Oregon: Brown to maintain death penalty moratorium while in office

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Oregon Governor Kate Brown
Oregon Governor Kate Brown
The governor plans to continue a state moratorium on capital punishment as long as she remains in office, a spokesman said Monday morning.

"Gov. Kate Brown has made clear her personal opposition to the death penalty and support of the current moratorium on Oregon executions," spokesman Bryan Hockaday told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Former Gov. John Kitzaber announced the moratorium two weeks before the scheduled execution in 2011 of Gary Haugen, who at the time sought to speed his execution. 

After Brown took over in February 2015, she said she would continue the stoppage of public executions until further study.

"Gov. Brown directed her General Counsel to conduct a review of the policy and practical implications of Oregon's capital punishment law," Hockaday said. "Though no executions are imminent, Gov. Brown will continue the death penalty moratorium, because after thoroughly researching the issues, serious concerns remain about the constitutionality and workability of Oregon's capital punishment law."

Hockaday declined to release any study or records related to how the governor made her decision.

Oregon's death row has 34 prisoners in its system, all of whom stay in their cells 23 hours a day.

Source: The Oregonian, October 17, 2016

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Location: Oregon, USA
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