FEATURED POST

Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

Published
Image
Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

Bahamas: Child molester, killer sentenced to death

Published
KOFHE Goodman has today been sentenced to hang for the murder of Marco Archer.

Goodman sat in the prisoner's dock in the Supreme Court hearing crouched forward with his hands on his chin. He made no verbal reaction when the death penalty sentence was handed down.

Justice Bernard Turner said: "This case is a clear and compelling case for the ultimate sentence of death, to satisfy the requirements of due punishment for the murder of this child and to protect this society from any further predatory conduct by this convict at any time in the future.

"Kofhe Edwardo Ferguson Goodman, I hereby sentence you to suffer death in the manner authorised by law."

Marco's mother Tryphemia Meadows told The Tribune afterwards that the sentence wouldn't bring back her son, but at least Goodman 'won't be able to hurt anymore little boys.'

Goodman, 39, stood trial between April 17 and August 2 in connection with the murder of Marco Archer. He was found guilty despite pleading not guilty to the murder charge he faced.

Between September 23 and September 28, 2011, Goodman killed 11-year-old Marco Archer, of Brougham Street.

A death sentence, life imprisonment, and a 15-year prison term were the punishments Justice Bernard Turner was asked by counsel to consider in the sentencing.

Justice Turner said today the case for death was a compelling one - it warranted 'the ultimate sentence of death' - having taken into account the circumstances of the case and Goodman's criminal history - which had revealed his former victims of buggery and attempted murder were around the same age as Marco Archer.

Justice Turner signed the ruling sentencing Goodman to the death penalty and court was adjourned.

Goodman’s attorney, Geoffrey Farquharson, indicated the intent to appeal conviction and sentence.

He asked the court to direct the Superintendent of Prisons to maintain his client's remand status pending the appeal application, rather than hold Goodman as a 'condemned man.'

Justice Turner said he would consider the application.

Source: Tribune 242, October 30, 2013
Related content:

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

Published
Image
Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.
Read more

Japan | Death-row inmates' lawsuit targeting same-day notifications of executions dismissed

Published
Image
The Osaka District Court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by death row inmates that claimed same-day notifications of executions violate the Constitution — the first ruling of its kind. The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against the government in hopes of sparking a wider discussion on the rights of death row prisoners. They also sought ¥22 million in compensation and plan to appeal to a higher court.
Read more

Texas | State district judge recommends overturning Melissa Lucio’s death sentence

Published
Image
In a rare joint statement, the district attorney and the defense agreed that prosecutors withheld evidence that could point to a Rio Grande Valley woman’s innocence in the death of her toddler. A district judge who previously presided over a woman’s capital murder case recommended last week that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturn Melissa Lucio's 2008 conviction after a district attorney’s office admitted that prosecutors withheld evidence from her defense.
Read more

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Arizona death penalty case that could redefine historic precedent

Published
Image
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments centering on an Arizona death row prisoner that could set new precedent to determining ineffective assistance of counsel.  A Mohave County Superior Court jury convicted Danny Lee Jones for the 1992 murders of Robert Weaver and his daughter Tisha, as well as the attempted murder of Weaver’s grandmother. A judge sentenced Jones to death for the two murders.
Read more

Iran | Probable Child Offender and Child Bride, Husband Executed for Drug Charges

Published
Image
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 15 2024: Marjan Hajizadeh and Esmail Hassaniani, a couple sentenced to death for drug-related charges in a joint case, were executed in Zanjan Central Prison.  Marjan is reported to have been 16 at the time of arrest, which IHRNGO is working to confirm. If verified, she will be the first child offender executed for drug charges since 2014. She was also a child bride forced into marriage.
Read more

Bill Moves Forward to Prevent Use of Nitrogen Gas Asphyxiation in Louisiana Executions

Published
Image
There’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430. When Louisiana legislators approved the use of nitrogen gas asphyxiation as an execution method during a second special legislative session in February, the move attracted national attention; not the least because it has only been used in the U.S. once. That’s when Alabama executed convicted killer Kenneth Eugene Smith on January 25th of this year. Now there’s an effort underway, in the current legislative session in Baton Rouge, to reverse course on the controversial execution method with Senate Bill 430.
Read more