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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.

Texas | Judge recommends new trial for Clinton Young

Published
29 April 2021

On Wednesday April 21, the closing arguments in Clinton’s case took place on Zoom and were live broadcasted on YouTube. 

At the end of the hearing, the judge said that he would recommend a new trial, and yesterday he filed that recommendation! This recommendation will now be sent to the Court of Criminal Appeals who will make the final decision. 

This is a major step towards justice! 

We will have to wait for the CCA’s decision, but we are very grateful and happy about this outcome.

Why a new trial?


The prosecutor who worked on Clinton Young’s trial, Ralph Petty, was secretly working as a paid law clerk for two judges who presided over Clinton’s case. 

In his capacity as a law clerk, Petty drafted rulings and advisory memos for the judges that were used for the judges’ orders and rulings in Clinton’s case. 

To learn more, read this USA Today article.

January hearing


The hearing in January involved fact-finding around the issue of District Judge Hyde paying Mr. Ralph Petty as a ‘de facto law clerk’ to perform work on Clinton’s trial and post-conviction proceedings while Petty was also appearing as a prosecutor for the State throughout Clinton’s trial and post-conviction proceedings (starting in 2001 and onward). 

Want to know everything that happened during Clinton’s evidentiary hearing in January? Read our full report here.

Full order


You can now read the order of the trial judge, recommending to the CCA that Clinton should receive a new trial, on our website.

Source: clintonyoungfoundation.com-for-clinton-young, Staff, April 29, 2021


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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: Texas, USA
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