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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.

Texas | 'A misleading instruction made me vote for the death penalty': Opinion

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When I served on Brent Brewer’s jury in 2009, I believed in doing my civic duty to decide the case impartially. After I heard all the evidence, I was convinced that Brent did not act with premeditation and did not intend to kill the victim. It seemed to me that he was trying to steal a truck and things simply got out of hand, with a tragic outcome. I also did not believe that Brent would be dangerous in prison. For these reasons, I felt a life sentence was warranted. At least one of my fellow jurors agreed.

But because of a deeply misleading aspect of Texas law, we were not told that if any one juror voted for life, that would be Brent’s sentence. The way the jury instructions read, it seemed like at least 10 people had to agree on a life sentence.

Believing — incorrectly — that my vote was meaningless, I acquiesced in the majority’s death penalty verdict. I cried when it was read in court. I was haunted afterwards.

Brent is scheduled to be executed in Texas on Nov. 9. His death sentence did not result from a fair and valid jury decision, and his execution would be a travesty.

When appellate courts review jury decisions, they often say that jurors are presumed to follow the instructions given by the trial court. I know about that principle because I now have degrees in criminal justice. I only have those degrees because when I was a juror in Brent’s death penalty trial, I did not understand the instructions I was given.

While Brent was still in the county jail after trial, I wrote him a letter. He wrote back, and we began a correspondence that blossomed into a friendship. With Brent’s encouragement, I decided to channel my confusion and anger over his death sentence into action. I earned my paralegal certificate, my associate’s degree, and my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. That is how I came to understand that so-called legal presumptions shield reviewing courts from looking at what really happened to produce a jury verdict, and from fixing serious flaws.

Source: houstonchronicle.com, Michele Douglas, November 3, 2023. Michele Douglas lives in Texas. She served as a juror in the 2009 capital murder trial of Brent Brewer.


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Location: Texas, USA
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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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