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.
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
U.S.: Ex-police Officer Michael Slager sentenced to 20 years for shooting Walter Scott
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Published
A former South Carolina police officer has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting an unarmed African-American motorist.
Michael Slager committed second-degree murder when he shot Walter Scott, 50, in the back as he fled arrest after a traffic stop, a judge ruled.
"I forgive you," relatives of Scott told Slager, 36, in court, as they spoke about the death's impact on them.
A bystander recorded mobile phone video of the April 2015 shooting.
Experts say that without a video of the shooting, the former officer probably would not have been fired from the force nor have faced murder charges.
Judge David Norton told the court that Slager, who is white, had "lived a spotless life" before the shooting.
"Regardless, this is a tragedy that shouldn't have happened," he added.
Lawyers for Slager had argued in court that he opened fire on Scott because he thought he had taken his police-issued stun gun during their scuffle.
The case ended in a mistrial in 2016, and rather than face another jury, the former North Charleston officer pleaded guilty in May to a federal charge of violating the victim's civil rights.
In Thursday's sentencing, the judge ruled that Slager had acted with malice and "willful intent to provide false testimony".
The judge also had the option of sentencing him for a lesser crime of voluntary manslaughter, which would have carried a sentence of 12 to 15 years.
The dead man's mother, Judy Scott, told Slager in court on Thursday that she forgave him.
She said she hoped he would repent and allow Jesus into his heart.
Scott's brother, Anthony, said it had taken him a long time to overcome his depression and forgive Slager.
"I'm not angry at you, Michael," he told Slager. "I pray for you."
Members of the family thanked onlooker Feidin Santana for filming the encounter.
The City of North Charleston paid a $6.5m (£4.8m) settlement to the Scotts.
Slager told the court on Thursday: "I wish this never would have happened.
"I wish I could go back and change events, but I can't and I am very sorry for that."
Slager chased Scott after pulling him over for a broken brake light.
Scott, who was wanted for unpaid child support, fled the vehicle, police dashcam footage shows.
A bystander's video captured Scott breaking free from Slager's grasp and running directly away from him, with his back to the officer.
Slager draws his pistol and fires from about 15ft (4.5m) away, hitting Scott five times.
The death took place amid US media scrutiny of police treatment of African Americans, and provoked protests by the Black Lives Matter movement.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement: "Officers who violate anyone's rights also violate their oaths of honour.
"And they tarnish the names of the vast majority of officers, who do incredible work."
⚑ | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com.
Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE!
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Saudi Arabia executes man for murdering Otaibah tribe woman RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has executed a native citizen. The Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia has announced that the execution of a man named Basil Bin Suhail has been carried out. Basil was executed for killing a woman by hitting her with a car.
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.
The Alabama Supreme Court has authorized the execution of a man convicted of killing a delivery driver who stopped at an ATM. Justices granted the Alabama attorney general's request to authorize an execution date for Keith Edmund Gavin. Governor Kay Ivey will set the day of the execution, which will be carried out by lethal injection.
After the deadly terrorist attack at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, some Russian politicians are debating trying the suspects to Belarus, which still has death penalty. But it's not that simple. The terror attack on Moscow's Crocus City Hall has ignited debate about the reintroduction of the death sentence in Russia. Given that 140 people died and more than 500 were wounded at the concert hall on March 22, 2024, emotions are running high.
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.
9 prisoners of drug charges executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chabahar and GhezelHesar According to the Iranian Human Rights Society website, on Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 9 prisoners including, Baloch and Kurdish drug suspects were executed in the central prisons of Kerman, Chah bahar, and GhezelHesar.
Machilakath Abdul Rahim, who killed a Saudi teenager in a 2006 accident, now looks set to be freed after friends and celebrities back his release An Indian national convicted of killing the Saudi teenager he was paid to drive has escaped execution in the kingdom after Indians around the globe raised nearly $4 million to save him.
Neelam sentenced to death for burying toddler alive after kidnapping her, in a rare and heinous crime. The court found her guilty of murder and destruction of evidence, causing outrage in society. LUDHIANA: Over two years after the brutal murder of a toddler, the woman who killed her was sentenced to death by a local court. The convict had buried her neighbour’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter alive.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - An Alabama House committee rejected a bill that would have impacted sentences for dozens of death row inmates. The proposal would have required courts to resentence people sentenced to death by a judge who overrode a jury’s recommendation of life in prison. That practice was outlawed in 2017. Representative Chris England passionately argued it should be retroactively applied for more than 30 death row inmates who were sentenced to death over a jury’s recommendation.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa granted clemency to more than 4,000 prisoners, including some who were on death row, in an independence day amnesty on Thursday. Zimbabwe marked 44 years of independence from colonial rule, which ended in 1980 after a bloody bush war. The country’s name was changed from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.