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

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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.

Ohio: Robert Seman jumps to his death at courthouse

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Robert Seman
Robert Seman
Robert Seman has thrown himself off the fourth floor of the Mahoning County Courthouse and is dead.

Seman had a status hearing in his death penalty case and threw himself off the balcony onto the floor of the rotunda.

A Vindicator reporter witnessed the jump.

“He must have made his mind up.” That's how Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene reacted after Robert Seman jumped to his death from the fourth floor of the county courthouse Monday morning.

According to Greene, deputies were in the process of escorting Seman to a holding cell at the time.

“It seemed like he was in good spirits. He was talking about the future of his trial and he just decided to jump,” said Greene.

Seman was dressed in civilian clothes and not wearing restraints due to rules covering defendants appearing in court, according to Greene.

Seman faced the death penalty if convicted of the March 30, 2015, deaths of Corinne Gump, 10, and her grandparents, William and Judith Schmidt, in an arson at their Powers Way home the day Seman was to go on trial for raping the girl.

Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa, lead prosecutor on the case, said that she thinks "it's telling" that Seman leaped to his death instead of taking his chances at trial.

Cantalamessa said she is surprised because Seman had proclaimed his innocence and there was no mention of any problems by his attorneys.

She said she was looking forward to trying the case because the evidence was strong and that the case just about fits every specification for the death penalty.

Jury orientation in Seman's capital murder trial was to begin April 12 in Portage County Common Pleas Court.

The trial of Seman, 48, of Green, was being moved to Portage County after attempts to pick a jury in September and January in Mahoning County were unsuccessful because of pretrial publicity.

The bodies of 10-year-old Corrine Gump and those of her grandparents, Bill and Judy Schmidt, were found in their burning home on Powers Way in Youngstown on March 30, 2015.

The fire was later ruled arson and Seman was charged with murder.

Sources: Youngstown Vindicator, wfmj.com, April 10, 2017

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