Death Penalty News

WILMINGTON, Del. — More than three decades after Jermaine “Marlow” Wright was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in a case with no physical evidence tying him to the crime and evidence favorable to his defense withheld by prosecutors, a Delaware court has issued him a Certificate of Innocence and ordered his 1992 murder conviction expunged. The Death Penalty Information Center identified Wright as the 203rd person exonerated from death row in the United States since 1973 and the second person exonerated from Delaware’s death row. Superior Court Judge Calvin Scott issued the order July 23, according to the organization.

When people think about capital punishment, their attention is usually fixed on its two most visible moments, when a death sentence is handed down and an execution is conducted. But behind the scenes, many other moving parts must be in place for the death penalty system to function. Among the most important of them is the protocol that lays out the steps that must be followed when the state puts someone to death. If the protocol is sloppy or deficient, it will likely lead to problems in carrying out death sentences. Not surprisingly, problems with execution protocols are especially likely to arise when a state adopts a new execution method.

The public execution of two protesters in Isfahan has renewed calls for the German city of Freiburg to end its 25-year twinning with the Iranian city, with activists arguing the partnership lends legitimacy to a state punishing dissent with the death penalty. The demands follow the executions of Amirhossein Safari and Abolfazl Sepahi in Isfahan's Alikhani Square in late July. Witnesses reported clashes between security forces and people who gathered to protest the hangings. Freiburg, a university city in southwestern Germany, is the only municipality in the country to maintain a formal partnership with an Iranian city. Iranian activists have long argued that the arrangement, established in 2000, legitimizes the Islamic Republic despite its human rights record.

A Tennessee death row inmate and his chosen spiritual advisor have filed a federal lawsuit against the Tennessee Department of Correction, alleging state prison policies violate their religious rights by preventing a private confession before execution.  The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, does not challenge Tennessee’s authority to carry out executions. Instead, it asks whether condemned inmates have a constitutional and federally protected right to privately practice their faith before the state carries out a death sentence.  John Michael Bane has spent decades on Tennessee’s death row after a Shelby County jury convicted him of 1st-degree felony murder in the 1988 robbery and killing of 60-year-old Royce Frazier.

A Florida judge denied a request from a convicted serial killer to speak in court as she sentenced him to death on Tuesday.  A jury convicted Demorris Hunter, 60, of 1st-degree murder and theft in the death of Theresa Ann Green, 38, who was strangled and left in the trunk of her car.  “Demorris Andy Hunter, you have not only forfeited your right to dwell among us as a free man, but by your actions and under the law of the State of Florida, you have forfeited your right to live, as well,” Judge Lisa Munyon said as she handed down the sentence Tuesday morning. 

A Tarrant County judge has denied Tanner Horner’s request for a new trial after he was sentenced to death for the 2022 murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand.  Judge George Gallagher declined to sign an order granting Horner’s motion, which automatically resulted in the request being denied.  Horner’s attorneys argued that extensive media coverage surrounding the case affected potential witnesses and prevented him from receiving a fair trial. The defense claimed the publicity caused key witnesses to refuse to testify. 

Angered by a wave of early-morning executions of protesters and political prisoners, some Iranian social media users have directed their anger at Islam and the morning call to prayer, prompting an IRGC-linked campaign demanding their prosecution. As executions have accelerated in recent weeks, some Iranian social media users have increasingly portrayed the pre-dawn adhan as a reminder of hangings rather than the beginning of the day’s religious observances. The adhan is the Islamic call summoning Muslims to the five daily prayers.

Iranian authorities executed Omid Behzad, a Kurdish university student from Urmia, and Pouria Safvat, a Turkish prisoner, at Urmia Central Prison after the two were arrested during Iran’s 40-day war on charges of “spying for Israel (Mossad),” according to new information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. Their bodies have not been returned to their families. The executions were carried out at dawn on August 3, 2026, at Urmia Central Prison . Omid Behzad’s execution was carried out despite the fact that Iran’s Supreme Court had overturned his death sentence on August 1, 2026.

Iranian authorities secretly executed at least five prisoners, including three Afghan nationals and one Baloch prisoner, at Taybad Central Prison in Razavi Khorasan province. According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out at dawn on July 29, 2026. The three Afghan nationals were identified as Mullah Rabie Abdulmohammadi, 56, from Sheberghan; Sakhi Abdulmohammadi, 24, Rabie’s nephew, also from Sheberghan; and Qaed Nasiri, 27, from Kunduz. The authorities also executed Mozaffar Minapour, a 37-year-old prisoner from Taybad, and Nader Abil, a 40-year-old Baloch prisoner.

Tennessee’s execution protocol is medically unethical and should be revamped before further executions occur, nearly 40 health care professionals said in a letter to Gov. Bill Lee. Like the coalition of faith leaders who asked for a moratorium on executions earlier this month, the physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals who signed the July 28 letter said they were motivated to speak up after the gruesome and botched execution of Tony Carruthers in May. Carruthers spent 90 minutes bleeding and writhing in agony as an attending physician made repeated unsuccessful attempts to insert an IV into the inmate’s chest after being unable to find useable veins in the arms, legs, and feet. Lee granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve after the ordeal.

Iranian authorities executed two prisoners, Mohammad Davoudi from Taybad and Sina Bahrami from Naqadeh, at Semnan and Urmia prisons. They had been sentenced to death in separate cases on drug-related and murder charges. According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Mohammad Davoudi, a 42-year-old married man from Taybad in Razavi Khorasan province, was executed at Semnan Prison in the early hours of Saturday, August 1, 2026. He was denied a final visit with his family, who were not notified in advance of the execution.

Iranian authorities executed at least 67 prisoners, including nine political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, during July 2026. Compared with the same period last year, the number of executions fell by at least 29, representing a 30 percent decrease. Hengaw documented at least 96 executions in Iranian prisons during July 2025. The Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights has verified the identities of all 67 prisoners executed in Iranian prisons during the month. Among those executed were two women. Setayesh Mohammadipour, from Jahrom, was executed in Shiraz Prison on drug-related charges, while Azam Gerami, from Yasuj, was executed in Yasuj Prison after being convicted of “premeditated murder.”

The third murder trial for former death row inmate Richard Glossip has been reset to December. Glossip, 63, remains free on a $500,000 bond that was posted in May with help from celebrity Kim Kardashian. Glossip is accused of paying to have his boss, Barry Van Treese, an Oklahoma City motel owner, beaten to death in 1997 to keep from being fired for embezzlement. He was the motel's manager. He has always maintained his innocence.

Rights groups have warned that more teenagers arrested during Iran's January uprising face imminent execution, saying authorities have intensified the use of death sentences against minors as part of a broader execution campaign. In a joint statement on Saturday, the organizations Defenders of Children's Rights in Iran and the Center for Justice for Children said they were deeply concerned that authorities could soon execute 18-year-old Shervin Bagherian from Isfahan.

Iran secretly executes Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat on espionage charges Iranian authorities have secretly executed Omid Behzad and Pouria Safvat, two prisoners who were arrested during the 40-day war and sentenced to death on charges of “spying for Israel (Mossad).” According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out secretly at dawn on August 3, 2026. Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan News Agency confirmed the executions but did not disclose where the sentences were carried out.

Iranian authorities executed 20-year-old protester Arvin Kheirkhah at Shahroud prison on Saturday morning, according to information obtained by Iran International, amid concerns that several other detainees could also face execution. Kheirkhah was arrested during the January protests and sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court on charges including moharebeh , or “waging war against God.” He was transferred to solitary confinement on Wednesday ahead of the execution. His family gathered outside Shahroud prison on Friday night in an attempt to stop the sentence from being carried out. According to information received by Iran International, Kheirkhah told his family in a final conversation: “Don’t let them forget me. We stood up for the liberation of our homeland. Don’t let the path we chose be silenced.”

Iranian authorities have executed Ezzat Kazemzadeh, a 33-year-old athlete from Gorgan, at Gorgan Central Prison following his conviction for "premeditated murder." According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Kazemzadeh was executed at dawn on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, after being sentenced to death ( qisas ) by the Islamic Republic's judiciary. Kazemzadeh had been imprisoned for the past four years after being arrested in connection with a street altercation stemming from what was described as an "honor-related" dispute. He was subsequently sentenced to qisas (retribution in kind). 

AUSTIN, Texas — Nearly three decades after Rodney Reed was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Stacey Stites, prosecutors and law enforcement officials are urging Texas’ highest criminal court to fully examine new evidence they argue raises serious questions about his conviction before the state carries out an irreversible punishment. Fair and Just Prosecution, joined by the Law Enforcement Action Partnership and 29 current and former prosecutors and law enforcement officials, filed an amicus brief urging the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to fully review new evidence in Reed’s death penalty case, according to an FJP press release.

JAKARTA, Aug 1 — A Malaysian pilot could face the death penalty after being charged with smuggling more than 70,000 ecstasy pills into Indonesia. The 39-year-old man, identified only by the initials MSO, was detained on Wednesday at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport shortly after arriving from Kuala Lumpur. Customs officers found 14 packages containing more than 70,000 ecstasy pills in his luggage, as well as four grammes of methamphetamine (meth), believed to be for personal use, in his wallet.