FEATURED POST

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

Published
Image
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. 

Malaysia: Contractor escapes gallows thanks to trial judge’s misstep

Published
Noose
The Federal Court, in finding that a trial judge had acted as prosecutor and asked a prosecution witness incriminating questions, reduces murder charge and sentences contractor to 20 years’ in jail.

PUTRAJAYA: A contractor who stabbed to death his relative after a drinking session today escaped the death penalty due to a misstep by the trial judge.

The Federal Court instead sentenced Paul Lagang anak Malip to 20 years’ after finding him guilty of killing, without intention, Morris Asang Yahya.

“We are substituting the charge from murder to culpable homicide due to the manner the trial was conducted,” said Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum, who chaired the five-man bench.

He said the conviction for murder was “unsafe”.

Malanjum, in the course of the proceeding, said the trial judge had played the role of prosecutor.

Another member of the bench, Jeffrey Tan Kok Hwa, remarked that the judge had crossed the line by asking incriminating questions to eye-witness, Robin Bapi.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo, appearing for Paul, told the bench the trial judge did not allow him to cross-examine Robin to determine his veracity and reliability as a prosecution witness.

Gobind said the judge had also observed that Robin, being from the Kenyah community in Sarawak, needed an interpreter but this was not made available.

“As a result, material part of his evidence, especially on the stabbing incident was incomprehensible,” he said.

The lawyer said the bench should either send the case back for retrial or reduce the charge.

Paul, 30 committed the offence at No 24A-2, Jalan Utama 2/1, Taman Puchong Utama, in Bukit Puchong, between 9.30pm and 10.30pm on Aug 13, 2013.

Government lawyer K Mangai urged the court to impose a jail term ranging between 20 and 25 years.

Source: Free Malaysia Today, V Anbalagan, November 21, 2017


⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.

Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!



"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Putrajaya, Malaysia
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

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

Published
Image
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. 
Read more

Utah requests execution of death row inmate

Published
Image
SALT LAKE CITY — The state of Utah requested on Tuesday that a man who’s been on death row for almost 25 years be executed. Taberon Honie was convicted of the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother in 1999. In the death warrant application, the state’s lawyers said Honie used up his appeals and there is no longer any legal reason to stop Honie’s execution.
Read more

Alabama SC approves second nitrogen gas execution

Published
Image
The Alabama Supreme Court has authorized the execution of a second inmate by nitrogen gas, months after the state became the first state to put a person to death with the previously untested method. Justices granted Attorney General Steve Marshall’s request for an execution date for Alan Eugene Miller, who survived a 2022 lethal injection attempt.
Read more

Cuba Maintains Capital Punishment to "Deter and Intimidate"

Published
Image
Aware that only the use of terror and force keeps it in power, the Cuban regime makes it clear that if necessary, it will not hesitate to kill. HAVANA TIMES – Inflation, misery, the lack of medicine, and power outages, which were the triggers for previous demonstrations, are worsening daily in Cuba. Given the possibility that these protests may occur again, the regime has threatened the death penalty for those who participate in demonstrations considered “illegal.”
Read more

North Texas jury sentences killer to death penalty for shooting Burleson woman, cop

Published
Image
A jury of 12 Johnson County residents voted Thursday to send 31-year-old Jerry Elders to death row for the murder of Robin Waddell, agreeing with prosecutors who requested the death penalty. The defense argued for life in prison without parole, saying Thursday morning that Elders’ actions came after a lifetime of drug addiction and going in and out of jails and prisons, being kicked out of his family home as a teenager and not receiving support from family members.
Read more

Four More Prisoners Executed in Iran

Published
Image
Authorities of the Islamic Republic executed four more prisoners over the weekend as death penalties continue to rise in the country. The Iran Human Rights Organization reported that three inmates were executed on April 27 in Tabriz Prison for drug-related offenses. The inmates were identified as Amir Moharrami, 36, Davoud Namyari, 33, and Sohrab Hokmabad. 
Read more