Death Penalty News

The Court said that the investigation was tainted and flawed, based on conjectures and surmises. The Supreme Court recently acquitted a man sentenced to the death penalty for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl for lack of evidence [Ramkirat Munilal Goud v. State of Maharashtra]. The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta noted that the entire case was built on circumstantial evidence, requiring the prosecution to establish an unbroken chain of facts leading to only one conclusion: the guilt of the accused. However, the Court observed that the evidence presented was unreliable, inconsistent and marked by significant procedural lapses.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee is set to execute the first inmate under its new death penalty protocol next week, and some critics argue the new protocol is worse than before. “There are several changes that they’ve made that I’m not sure why. The guys aren’t sure why. Words that I heard on Monday night are, ‘it’s just evil,'” Dan Mann, who visits inmates on death row, said. Tennessee was previously using a three-drug lethal injection series until 2022, when Gov. Bill Lee ordered the TN Dept. of Correction (TDOC) to create a new protocol following an independent report revealing the state wasn’t following the old one.

Florida executes suspected serial killer once eyed for possible link to the OJ Simpson case  A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the 1990s was executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman found dead in a Tampa motel room.  Glen Rogers, 62, received a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke and was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., authorities said. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of 2 he had met at a bar.

This will be the first time Creuzot has pursued capital punishment since taking office in 2019. Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot confirmed to The Dallas Morning News on Wednesday morning that his office will seek the death penalty against Texas Seven escapee Randy Halprin. This will be the first time Creuzot has pursued capital punishment since taking office in 2019. He has opted not to seek death in other high-profile cases, like accused serial killer Billy Chemirmir, Yaser Said, who fatally shot his two teenage daughters and went on the run for more than a decade, or Nestor Hernandez, who murdered two hospital workers at Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

El Paso County taxpayers paid almost $4 million for the defense and $1.9 million for the prosecution of the man who gunned down 23 people and wounded 22 others at an El Paso Walmart in 2019, county records show. More than $2 million of that went to experts hired since 2019 by the defense team representing Patrick Crusius, now 26, who pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon last month after District Attorney James Montoya decided not to seek the death penalty . The gunman, who said he attacked the Cielo Vista Walmart in August 2019 to stop “the Hispanic invasion of Texas,” was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

The Islamic Republic's officials executed a man on Tuesday for a murder committed when he was 16 years old. Mohammad Reza Sabzi was hanged on May 13 in Malayer Central Prison. Sabzi, from Aliabad in Hamadan province, had been convicted of killing a friend named Reza during a fight. Sources say the stabbing happened unintentionally during the altercation. Despite his age at the time, Sabzi received a death sentence that was carried out four years later. Iranian authorities have not officially announced the execution.

A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the 1990s is facing execution for a murder STARKE, Fla. -- A suspected serial killer once scrutinized for a possible link to the O.J. Simpson case that riveted the nation in the mid-1990s is scheduled to be executed Thursday in Florida for the murder of a woman in a Tampa motel room. Glen Rogers, 62, is set to receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, barring a last-day reprieve. He was convicted in Florida of the 1995 murder of Tina Marie Cribbs, a 34-year-old mother of two he had met at a bar.

The Indiana Parole Board rejected a clemency plea from Benjamin Ritchie, recommending that Gov. Mike Braun allow the death row inmate’s May 20 execution to proceed as scheduled. Ritchie, who fatally shot Beech Grove law enforcement officer William Toney during a police pursuit on Sept. 29, 2000, had petitioned the board to commute his death sentence to life without parole. In a letter dated Tuesday, board chairwoman Gwen Horth said the five-member panel had reviewed Ritchie’s application, including “a vast amount of testimony and evidence” regarding his recent diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD), as well as his history of childhood abuse and neglect, and his conduct while incarcerated.

A Texas man sentenced to death row with the help of “hypnotized” witness testimony is asking a Dallas County judge not to set his execution date as his attorneys try to prove he was wrongfully convicted with junk science. The move from Charles Don Flores’ attorneys comes in response to the Texas Attorney General’s Office request that a Dallas judge set an execution date for Flores in a letter Monday. Tomee Heining, chief of the AG’s Criminal Appeals Division, offered several dates in November as available for Flores’ execution.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 14, 2025: Moshir Osmanzadeh, a Kurdish man on death row for murder, was executed in Urmia Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Urmia (Darya) Central Prison on 14 May 2025. His identity has been established as Moshir Osmanzadeh, a 51-year-old Kurdish man from Urmia. He was arrested four years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

OSAKA—The Osaka District Court on May 14 dismissed a case seeking a total of 16.5 million yen ($112,230) in state compensation for three lawyers who represented a death row inmate executed while his retrial request was active.  In filing the lawsuit, the three claimed that the rights of their defense were violated and they suffered emotional distress due to the death of their client, a former yakuza member, during the request period. While the court said in its ruling that "careful consideration is required," it concluded that "the constant repetition of requests for retrial will make execution virtually impossible on a permanent basis."

After claims were made by executed inmate Mikal Madhi's lawyers, lawmakers are looking for answers. COLUMBIA, S.C. — An upstate lawmaker is calling for an investigation into South Carolina's most recent death penalty case. Mikal Mahdi was executed by firing squad last month, the second time in the state's history. Rep. Neal Collins (R) - Pickens County, was one of two lawmakers who sent a letter to state leaders, urging them to look into the firing squad method. He says there is no way to investigate the deaths afterward.

LOS ANGELES — A California judge on Tuesday resentenced Erik and Lyle Menendez, making the siblings eligible for parole in the shotgun killings of their parents more than three decades ago. The ruling from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic came after months of delays, opposition from Los Angeles County's new top prosecutor and a series of witnesses who testified during a sometimes emotional hearing Tuesday that Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, had changed for the better and are now "different men," as a cousin, Anamaria Baralt, put it.

"The stuff that nightmares are made on." Reader discretion advised. A 45-year-old woman in Arkansas who lured a pregnant victim into an ambush and cut out her fetus in a botched scheme to “claim” the child as her own will face the death penalty after the state’s highest court rejected an appeal in which her lawyers argued that her upcoming state murder trial was barred by double jeopardy. The Arkansas Supreme Court last week denied the appeal of Amber Waterman, holding that her federal kidnapping convictions did not prohibit the state from pursuing murder charges against her for the 2022 slayings of 33-year-old Ashley Bush and her unborn daughter, whom she had named Valkyrie Grace Willis.

Death row inmates can now choose whether to die by firing squad, lethal injection, or the electric chair, according to current state law. May 13, 2025 - Lawyers who represent the recently executed Mikal Mahdi are alleging that the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) “botched” their client’s firing squad execution, which caused him to scream out in pain and remain conscious for nearly one minute until he eventually died. RELATED |  South Carolina: Autopsy shows man executed by firing squad suffered for an extended period of time before dying because shooters missed his heart Mahdi, who was convicted of murdering a police officer and a convenience store worker, died on April 11 at age 42 in South Carolina’s second firing squad execution in the state’s history, both of which occurred this year just five weeks apart.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); May 12, 2025: Rasoul Rezayi, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Yasuj Central Prison. With Ashraf Shahbazi’s previously reported hanging, two people were executed at the prison that day. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Yasuj Central Prison on 7 May 2025. His identity has been established as Rasoul Rezayi who was arrested four years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court.

Death penalty will soon be an option for prosecutors in some lewd conduct cases involving children younger than 12 years old Earlier this year, Idaho legislators passed a bill to allow some cases of lewd conduct with child under age 12 with aggravating circumstances to be punishable by death, despite knowing the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled a similar law unconstitutional. The bill did not allocate any additional money for the Idaho State Public Defender’s Office. Instead, the fiscal note says the office will have additional expenditures should a defendant be assigned a public defender by the court.