Death Penalty News

Beginning April 15, 2020, two television series — one a new program from Netflix and the other new episodes of a returning series from CNN — will highlight stories of wrongful convictions, including some death-penalty cases. The new Netflix documentary series, The Innocence Files , will debut on April 15, with its first episode featuring the case of Texas death-row exoneree Alfred DeWayne Brown.  The fifth season of CNN’s series, Death Row Stories , will premiere on April 19 with an episode that will tell the story of Ohio death-row prisoner Tyrone Noling, who has maintained his innocence throughout the nearly 30 years he has spent on death row. The Innocence Files The Innocence Files will spend nine episodes exploring eight wrongful convictions through the themes of junk science, false eyewitness testimony, and prosecutorial misconduct. It features the work of the Innocence Project, tracing 8 stories of people exonerated with the help of the organization. A tea...

It seems straight out of a Bollywood film, but is scripted in Florida: an innocent man incarcerated on charges of a double murder ordered by a drug cartel, with the police, justice system all cooperating to mask the real culprits and ensure that their complicity is never discovered. That convicted man, Krishna 'Kris' Maharaj, a British citizen of Indian origin originally from Trinidad and Tobago, who once was a famous exporter, a self-made multi-millionaire who dined and wined with royalty, had luxury cars and 100 race horses that competed against thoroughbreds held by Queen Elizabeth II - he was the second biggest racehorse owner in the UK then, and planned to spend his winters in America, is now a pauper; has been in a Florida jail - the South Florida Reception Center - for the last 27 years, having escaped a death penalty judgment. He is now 75 years old. Maharaj's riveting story was the 1st case explored by CNN's original series "Death Row Stories...

"Death Row Stories" is a new 8-part series premiering on March 9 on CNN that will examine actual death penalty cases.  The show is produced by Robert Redford and narrated by Dead Man Walking star Susan Sarandon.  Redford said, "This series is about the search for justice and truth, we are pleased to ... tell these important stories and give a voice to these cases."  Prior to the premiere, CNN is offering interested parties an opportunity for a preview and the ability to participate in a Google Hangout featuring a discussion by the producers and law professors John Blume of Cornell and Robert Blecker of New York Law School. The Google Hangout will be held March 5 at 6 pm EST and is open to the public, but an RSVP is required. Source: Death Penalty Information Center , Feb. 22, 2014

Ronnie Lee Gardner's date with the firing squad has spurred a group of people opposed to the death penalty to no longer remain silent. Utahns for Alternatives to the Death Penalty organized as a judge signed Gardner's death warrant in April. It includes 9 religious denominations, a couple of organizations and more than 160 individuals who've registered at the coalition's website. The group opposes the death penalty, contending it is expensive, ineffective, arbitrary and discriminatory. Furthermore, it fails to meet the needs of victims' families, risks being imposed on innocent people and conflicts with religious beliefs. "We oppose capital punishment not just for what it does to those guilty of horrible crimes, but for how it affects society," says Bishop John C. Wester, of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, a founding member of the group. Coalition members are calling for a moratorium on further executions in Utah while an independent commission...