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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.

Utah: Funds authorized for defense of Ogden couple in death penalty case

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Brenda Emile, 23, and Miller Costello, 26
OGDEN — Weber County commissioners have agreed to continue covering the cost of public defenders for two Ogden parents charged with murdering their toddler in a potential death penalty case.

The county's three-member commission unanimously approved new contracts for the attorneys at its Tuesday meeting, but not without some reluctance.

"This is frustrating," said Commissioner Jim Harvey. "People in the community make horrible decisions each county taxpayer, their property tax, has to pay for, because of state code. That bothers me."

A judge early in the case decided Brenda Emile, 23, and Miller Costello, 26, could not afford to hire lawyers and appointed them public defenders. State law requires the county to foot the bill.

RELATED: Utah to seek death penalty for parents charged with killing daughter, covering her in makeup

But Weber's existing contracts with defense attorneys do not cover death penalty cases, because of the vast amounts of time and work they can take, so a new deal was needed, deputy Weber County attorney Bryan Baron told the board.

The contracts provided by the county show a lead attorney for each parent will receive $170 per hour, and a second attorney will make $140 an hour. Attorney fees for each defendant are capped at $100,000, or $70,000 if prosecutors decide before a trial to no longer pursue a death penalty.

Baron said the total cost of the case is a "shot in the dark." But he reviewed the cost of defense in nine other capital cases in Utah and found they cost an average of $220,000 apiece, he said.

Weber County officials previously decided not to contribute to a statewide defense fund that helps local government covers such costs because of the price tag, Baron said Tuesday, but he didn't know the exact fee.

RELATED: Utah parents could face death penalty in death of their 3-year-old daughter

The new contracts will help inform the commission's decision when it next considers whether to buy into a state indigent defense fund, but no immediate decision has been made, Harvey said Wednesday.

Prosecutors have said they would seek the death penalty if the couple accused of beating, burning and not feeding their daughter Angelina is convicted of a charge of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony. 

The pair has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court in Ogden Aug. 13

Source: Deseret News, Annie Knox, August 8, 2018


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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
Location: Utah, USA
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