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First Third Of 2024 In Saudi Arabia: Executions Rise By 189% And Portend Another Bloody Year. At Least 71 Currently Facing Execution.

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Since the beginning of 2024 until the end of April, the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 55 individuals. This figure constitutes a 189% increase compared to the executions in the first third of 2023, which witnessed 19 executions. The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views these numbers as a clear indication of the Saudi government's continued approach towards executing and issuing death sentences, and that the promises made in recent years have become elusive.

Nevada Supreme Court reverses death row conviction

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Jury box
CARSON CITY — The Nevada Supreme Court has reversed the conviction and sentence of death row inmate Julius Bradford.

Bradford’s attorney, Lisa Rasmussen, argued before the court in September that errors in the jury selection process warranted reversal of his conviction and sentence.

The court agreed, finding “structural error,” in the jury selection process, according to a ruling released Tuesday. The case now goes back to Clark County District Court, where another trial is expected.

“I’m very pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision,” Rasmussen said. “I think it was the right decision. There were clearly errors that occurred.”

In 2012 Bradford was convicted and sentenced to death by a Las Vegas District Court jury for the murder of Anthony Limongello, 40, in Las Vegas on May 5, 2003. 

Bradford was charged in 2008 and the case went to trial in 2012.

Rasmussen had raised several issues with Bradford’s conviction and sentence, including the way some potential minority jurors were excluded from the trial. Specifically, she argued that two potential jurors, one Hispanic and the other African American, were dismissed before District Judge Doug Smith held a required hearing on the reasons for their dismissal.

The state’s high court previously ruled in another case that the so-called “Batson” challenges must be considered first to ensure there are race-neutral reasons for the dismissal of the potential jurors.

In its ruling, the court noted that prosecutors do not dispute that the defense counsel attempted to make two Batson objections and were not permitted to be heard until after the potential jurors were dismissed.

A date for a new trial has not been set. The Clark County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The motive for the killing of Limongello was robbery. He was kidnapped, robbed and shot in the head.

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ben Botkin, October 25, 2017


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
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First Third Of 2024 In Saudi Arabia: Executions Rise By 189% And Portend Another Bloody Year. At Least 71 Currently Facing Execution.

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Since the beginning of 2024 until the end of April, the Ministry of Interior in Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 55 individuals. This figure constitutes a 189% increase compared to the executions in the first third of 2023, which witnessed 19 executions. The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views these numbers as a clear indication of the Saudi government's continued approach towards executing and issuing death sentences, and that the promises made in recent years have become elusive.
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