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Texas Should Not Have Executed Robert Pruett

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Update: Robert Pruett was executed by lethal injection on Thursday.
Robert Pruett is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas Thursday. He has never had a chance to live outside a prison as an adult. Taking his life is a senseless wrong that shows how badly the justice system fails juveniles.
Mr. Pruett was 15 years old when he last saw the outside world, after being arrested as an accomplice to a murder committed by his own father. Now 38, having been convicted of a murder while incarcerated, he will be put to death. At a time when the Supreme Court has begun to recognize excessive punishments for juveniles as unjust, Mr. Pruett’s case shows how young lives can be destroyed by a justice system that refuses to give second chances.
Mr. Pruett’s father, Sam Pruett, spent much of Mr. Pruett’s early childhood in prison. Mr. Pruett and his three siblings were raised in various trailer parks by his mother, who he has said used drugs heavily and often struggled to feed the children. Wh…
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Indonesian court sentences 4 drug smugglers to death

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Meth bust by Indonesian police (file photo)
Meth bust by Indonesian police (file photo)
The Medan District Court on Wednesday decided on capital punishment for 4 Indonesians convicted of smuggling 270 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine from Malaysia to North Sumatra.

The 4 defendants are businessmen Ayau and Daud, alias Athiam, from Bengkalis, Riau, Lukmansyah, a security guard in Dumai, Riau, and Jimmy Syahputra, a resident of Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.

The panel of judges found that they violated the Narcotics Law, which carries a maximum penalty of death for traffickers.

"The defendants are proven to have conspired to traffic narcotics. With all the evidence, the judges rejected their defence and ordered the death penalty," said presiding judge Asmar while reading out the verdict on Wednesday night.

In October, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), along with the Dumai Customs Office, foiled the smuggling in Medan, North Sumatra.

Almost 300 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, were packaged in 45 boxes.

The value of the substance is estimated to be Rp 500 billion, with the average price of meth in Indonesia Rp 2 billion per kilogram.

Indonesia is currently one of the main markets for meth trafficking in Asia. A number of smuggling attempts in large amounts have been successfully foiled by the authorities.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has implemented a tough drug policy by ordering executions of drug traffickers since he took office in 2014.

The government is currently preparing for a 3rd round of executions of 18 inmates, despite condemnation from human rights activists.

Asmar said the syndicate transported the meth from China to Malaysia and finally to Medan, North Sumatra.

Daud first met a person, identified as Lau Lai alias Aan alias Jecky who is still at large, at the CK Malaka Hotel in Malaysia in August.

They later plotted to smuggle the drugs to Medan. Lau Lai asked Daud to find a receiver and a warehouse to keep the meth in Medan.

Daud later contacted Ayau and Irwan Toni, also still at large, to find the meth storage place in Medan.

Daud also contacted Jimmy and transferred Rp 55 million to the latter's account to purchase a car to unload and transport the large amount of meth from Dumai port, Riau, to Medan.

The court also revealed that in September Irwan contacted Lukmansyah to tell him that the meth packages were on their way to Medan. It was at this time that the information was leaked to the custom officials in Dumai.

The meth arrived at Dumai in October and was initially to be kept in a water tank at the Jade Square warehouse complex on Jl. Yos Sudarso, Medan.

Authorities raided the warehouse a day after the meth arrived and arrested Jimmy and seized the meth packages.

The lawyer of the 4 defendants, Nurwadi Aco, said he would appeal the verdict.

"Several facts are still in dispute," he said after the trial.

Source: The Jakarta Post, June 23, 2016

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Location: Indonesia

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Texas: Montgomery County DA asks governor to stay Anthony Shore's execution

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The Montgomery County District Attorney has asked Gov. Greg Abbott to halt the execution this evening of a notorious Harris County serial killer who launched a last-minute scheme to confess to another death row inmate's crime, officials said Wednesday.
"Tourniquet Killer" Anthony Shore is set to die by lethal injection, but Brett Ligon, top prosecutor in Montgomery County wants a stay because Shore's death will cloud up the pending execution of another man on death row. 
Ligon wrote the governor this week explaining that Shore planned to confess to a slaying for which his fellow death row inmate Larry Swearingen was sentenced to death. 
Tom Berg, first assistant to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said he thought the Montgomery County DA's letter requesting a stay went out earlier this week.
"They've got their own death penalty case and supposedly there was some idea that Shore was going to claim he killed the person the other person killed and t…
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Texas court halts execution to review claims that co-defendant lied at trial

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The execution of Clinton Young, convicted in a 2001 Midland-area murder, was stopped by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The courts will look into claims that Young's co-defendant lied in his testimony against Young.
The execution of a man who insists he was framed in a 2001 murder was halted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday, 1 week before he was set to die.
The court sent the case of Clinton Young back to trial court to look into claims that Young's co-defendant, a main witness for the state at trial, lied in his testimony. 
Young's lawyers claim four jailhouse witnesses have sworn they heard the co-defendant, David Page, brag about killing Samuel Petrey and blaming it on Young.
"I'm very grateful to the Criminal Court of Appeals for granting this stay and for giving me a chance to prove my innocence in court," Young told his attorneys on the phone, according to a statement.
In November 2001, Young and Page, ages 18 and 20, took part i…
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Texas Should Not Have Executed Robert Pruett

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Image
Update: Robert Pruett was executed by lethal injection on Thursday.
Robert Pruett is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas Thursday. He has never had a chance to live outside a prison as an adult. Taking his life is a senseless wrong that shows how badly the justice system fails juveniles.
Mr. Pruett was 15 years old when he last saw the outside world, after being arrested as an accomplice to a murder committed by his own father. Now 38, having been convicted of a murder while incarcerated, he will be put to death. At a time when the Supreme Court has begun to recognize excessive punishments for juveniles as unjust, Mr. Pruett’s case shows how young lives can be destroyed by a justice system that refuses to give second chances.
Mr. Pruett’s father, Sam Pruett, spent much of Mr. Pruett’s early childhood in prison. Mr. Pruett and his three siblings were raised in various trailer parks by his mother, who he has said used drugs heavily and often struggled to feed the children. Wh…
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Alabama executes Torrey Twane McNabb

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Following last-minute court challenges, Alabama carried the execution Thursday evening of Torrey Twane McNabb, convicted of killing Montgomery police officer Anderson Gordon in 1997.
McNabb's attorneys filed appeals in the case throughout Thursday to halt the execution that was set for 6 p.m. at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. the last stay was lifted between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. McNabb's official time of death was 9:38 p.m.
Gordon's family issued a statement after the execution.
"Over 20 years ago we lost a companion, a father a brother and a friend who only wanted to make a difference in his community. Brother, who we affectionately called him, worked to make a difference in his community until his life was taken from him," the statement read in part. "Though this has been a difficult day for the Gordon family, we also continue to pray for the family of Torrey McNabb."
McNabb's final words were as follows:
"Mom, sis, look at my ey…
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Texas: Houston Man Condemned in Family Murder Plot Loses High Court Appeal

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The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to consider an appeal by a suburban Houston man on Texas death row for arranging the killings of his mother and brother in 2003.
HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court refused Tuesday to consider an appeal from a suburban Houston man on Texas death row who arranged the killings of his mother and brother in 2003 so he could collect a $1 million inheritance.
Attorneys for 37-year-old Thomas "Bart" Whitaker went to the high court after losing a federal court appeal earlier this year. He claims his trial lawyers were deficient and that Fort Bend County prosecutors engaged in misconduct by improperly referring to discussion of a plea deal that never was reached.
According to court records, Whitaker offered to take responsibility for the killings and accept life sentences but his attorneys said prosecutors rejected it because it contained no expression of remorse for the shooting deaths of his mother, Patricia Whitaker, 51, and his brother, Kevin,…
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Iran: Young man has hand judicially amputated over jewelry theft

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NCRI - Iranian attorney general in the Khorasan Razavi province , Gholam Ali Sadeghi, announced the hand-amputation of a person charged with theft, Sadeghi stated: this man had stolen jewelry six years ago, when he was 25 years old in Mashad.
The state run Khorasan press agency reported on October 12 that, according to Sadeghi, the court ruling was hand amputation for the 25 years old youth, and 10 years imprisonment and 74 lashes for his younger brother who was 22 years old.
He added: right after fulfilling the primary procedures of executing the ruling for M. N (initials of the name of convicted youth), in presence of the officials and physicians his hand was amputated.

Sadeghi claimed that to provide security the judiciary has a firm position vis-a-vis the thieves who steal people's belongings.
It is notable that on September 22 the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in a statement called on all international human rights authorities and organizations, i…
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Hours before execution, Tourniquet Killer granted 90-day stay at DA's request

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CONROE, Texas (KTRK) -- Hours before his planned execution, convicted serial killer Anthony Allen Shore was granted a 90-day stay by a Harris County judge,
District attorneys in both Harris and Montgomery counties requested the stay amid Shore's claim that another death row inmate tried to persuade him to confess to a murder he did not commit.
Shore, also known as the Tourniquet Killer, said that fellow inmate Larry Ray Swearingen convinced him to take responsibility for the murder of Melissa Trotter after they became friends in prison.
Swearingen is set to be executed for Trotter's 1998 murder in four weeks. He has repeatedly asserted his innocence.
Prosecutors said Shore had planned to follow through with the plan -- which could have potentially set the stage for Swearingen to be exonerated -- until just before Shore's scheduled execution date, Oct. 18.
Over the summer, investigators conducted a search of Shore's cell as part of an inquiry into his mental health. In…
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Pakistan's angel of death

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Kala Shah Kaku, Pakistan - Malak al-Maut (the angel of death) was once, it is said by Islamic theologists, one of God's favoured angels; a loyal servant who was entrusted with separating people's souls from their bodies, when their time came.
To the righteous, it is said, the angel of death appears in a friendly form, a companion come to ease one's passage to the other side.
For those who have sinned, however, the angel appears as a terrifying beast, a demon come to wreak divine judgment and wrench their souls away to eternal damnation.
For most prisoners on Pakistan's death row, he appears as Sabir Masih.
A family legacy
Since 2006, Masih has been one of three executioners in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, the capital of Punjab, the country's most populous province. Although he says that he does not keep track, he claims to have hanged more than 250 people since he started work.
Masih comes from a family of executioners. His father, Sadiq, hanged prisoner…
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The Execution Dock in London was used for more than 400 years to execute pirates, smugglers & mutineers

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Even though the Execution Dock in London is long gone, the gallows are still maintained to this very day on the Thames foreshore by the Prospect of Whitby public house.
The Execution dock was used for 400 years up until 1830. 
It was used to execute all seagoing criminals, including pirates, mutineers, and smugglers. 
The dock was nothing more than scaffolding used for hangings and was located beside the shoreline of the River Thames at Wapping.
The British Admiralty oversaw all crimes committed on the water, and also doled out the sentences to the criminals. The dock was used as a symbol for their jurisdiction; it was placed just beyond the low-tide mark in the river.
You could not outrun the long arm of the law, they did not care if you committed the crimes in their waters or abroad; you would be brought back to London and tried by the High Court of the Admiralty.
They doled out Capital Punishment to acts of mutiny that resulted in death, for murder on the sea and very specific viol…
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Why Indonesia Delays Execution of Death Row Convicts

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Executing death row inmates is currently not a top priority as Indonesia faces the urgency of solving economic, political and social gap issues.
Jakarta, GIVnews.com – A total of 153 convicted death row inmates are yet to be executed in Indonesia, facing undetermined execution timeline. Even Attorney General M Prasetyo could not tell when these convicts people will go to the gallows.
Is an execution delay good or bad? Regardless, some in the public had repetitively questioned such long execution delay faced by these prisoners. On the other hand, human rights groups had ceaselessly sought support from the international community for the abolishment of capital punishment in Indonesia while the government had adamantly defended its use of the death penalty.
Prasetyo said on Wednesday, “On the delay of their execution, I also cannot explain about it now. I can only say that there are still so many problems currently faced by this nation, which should be given a priority. So many things,” …
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