FEATURED POST

Indonesia | 14 years on death row: Timeline of Mary Jane Veloso’s ordeal and fight for justice

Image
MANILA, Philippines — The case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking, has spanned over a decade and remains one of the most high-profile legal battles involving an overseas Filipino worker. Veloso was arrested on April 25, 2010, at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was sentenced to death in October – just six months after her arrest. Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld the penalty in May 2011.

Florida executes Elmer Carroll

Elmer Carroll
ORLANDO (CBS Miami/AP) — A man convicted of raping and strangling a 10-year-old girl was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Starke, Wednesday. He was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m.

56-year-old Elmer Carroll’s last chance at a reprieve was before the U.S. Supreme Court. His attorney filed the petition saying Carroll should have been considered mentally ill at the time of the murder.

Attorneys tried for more than two decades to appeal the death sentence, but were not successful.

“As far as I’m concerned, he was mentally ill at the time of the offense,” said Carroll’s attorney, Michael Reiter. “He has had mental illness all of his life.”

Prosecutors disagreed and several courts have upheld Carroll’s competency to stand trial and be put to death.

“Carroll does not meet, much less even allege, he meets either the definition of, or, factual requirements to be considered sufficiently mentally ill to bar his execution,” Assistant Attorney General Scott Browne wrote in a motion filed last month.

In November 1990, Carroll was indicted on a count of first-degree murder and sexual battery for the rape and murder of 10-year-old Christine McGowan, who lived with her family next door to a halfway house for homeless men where Carroll was staying, in the Orlando suburb of Apopka.

Carroll’s lawyers argued that he was unable to assist in his defense. They employed the insanity defense at his trial, during which they and prosecutors presented conflicting testimony from psychiatrists about Carroll’s mental competency.

Two experts hired to evaluate him found that he wasn’t competent to stand trial, and one concluded that Carroll was psychotic, schizophrenic, delusional, incoherent and withdrawn. Carroll was committed to a psychiatric unit at a local hospital for several days. Subsequently, after hearing from other experts, a judge found him competent to stand trial.

In 2002, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to execute mentally disabled individuals, Carroll requested another hearing, claiming he was borderline mentally disabled and suffered brain damage. His attorneys argued the U.S. Supreme Court ruling should extend to mental illness.

Carroll was served bacon and eggs for his last meal at 10 a.m., which included a whole sliced tomato, a fruit salad with strawberries, papaya, peaches, pineapple and tropical fruit, an avocado and a can of Carnation milk.

Carroll had two visitors Wednesday morning, a mitigation specialist and a Catholic priest. No family visited.

Source: CBS Radio, May 29, 2013

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

USA | The execution I witnessed haunts me. Biden, clear death row before Trump returns: Opinion

Oklahoma panel rejects man’s plea for mercy, paves the way for final US execution of 2024

Indonesia | Filipino woman on Indonesia death row recalls a stunning last minute reprieve and ‘miracle’ transfer

'Bali Nine' drug ring prisoners fly home to Australia as free men

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

Indonesian President to grant amnesty to select prisoners while considering expediting execution of drug convicts

Filipina on Indonesia death row says planned transfer 'miracle'

Indiana | Pastor speaks out against upcoming execution of Joseph Corcoran

Texas | Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for 2 Venezuelan men accused of killing Texas girl