Death Penalty News

For at least a month, police say, Nicole Lester had been searching on her cellphone for ways to kill someone. “How do you break a neck?” she typed into Google. And, she later asked: “Where is the best place to hit a person with an ax?” Officers allege that they found the questions when reviewing Lester’s browser history.  Toward the end of the list, they report, the searches started to be specifically about children. Looking up a medical diagram of a child’s chest and ribs. Studying cases in other states where kids were murdered. Asking if it was easier to kill a toddler than an adult. Then — on Dec. 31 — 1 day after her last query, police say Lester stabbed to death her 4-year-old daughter. Based on that preliminary evidence and accounts from officers, prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against Lester. She faces 1 felony count for aggravated murder — which means she could face the death penalty. Police were first called to Lester’s house near 4500 W. Lo...

UK citizens are at risk of the death penalty in the US – or of being sent to Guantanamo Bay – under a fast-track data-sharing deal struck by Priti Patel, a parliamentary inquiry is warning. The home secretary also comes under fire for keeping the details of the agreement reached with Washington under wraps when it was announced as a breakthrough last month. The deal will give police and intelligence agencies speedy access to electronic communications sent by terrorists, serious crime gangs and white-collar criminals. But the investigation, by a House of Lords committee, has poured scorn on a claim that the UK will be able to contain “credible assurances” that extradited suspects will not be put to death. It also strongly criticises the “asymmetric” nature of the arrangement – which will give the US far greater powers to target UK citizens than vice-versa. Robin Hodgson, a Conservative peer and former MP, told The Independent: “What does that mean? What is a credi...

Microsoft Corp.’s Skype has vanished from Apple Inc. and Android smartphone app stores in China, becoming the latest victim in Beijing’s sweeping internet clampdown. The internet phone and video service was no longer available on Apple’s iOS or on popular local Android stores such as Xiaomi Corp.’s, though it still functioned as of Wednesday. The Ministry of Public Security notified Apple that a number of voice-over-internet-protocol apps didn’t comply with local law and the U.S. company subsequently removed them, a spokeswoman for the iPhone maker said. Those apps, which enable voice calls among other things, remain in place elsewhere. It’s unclear why Skype, which has operated for years in China despite making little headway against more popular services like WeChat, was targeted. Under Xi Jinping, the Communist Party has tightened controls over online content and taken aim at messaging services in particular, requiring users to register their real names and threatening ac...

Concerned that a borderless, global Internet could weaken their political control. A Chinese technology regulator has announced a 14-month campaign to root out services that allow people in the country to circumvent the government's internet censorship. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says it forbids the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) or leased lines that allow users and businesses to access blocked overseas websites without permission. The ministry said Sunday it also will inspect and "clean up" the market of internet service providers. Numerous foreign and domestic companies in China use VPNs to conduct business, and private citizens often use the technology to access banned websites such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. China's government has waged a long-running campaign to deter VPN use, blocking access to VPNs and regularly disrupting the channels. Consolidating its ability to censor the Internet China is ...

Seth Penalver Seth Penalver dropped to the floor and wept into his chair when a Florida jury declared him not guilty in the shooting deaths of three people during a 1994 home invasion. After 3 trials and 18 years in prison - including 13 on death row - a Broward County jury in 2012 found Penalver not guilty of capital murder in the 1994 slayings of Casmir Sucharski, 48, Marie Rogers, 25, and Sharon Anderson, 25. Little did he know about the struggles that lay ahead. His release from prison marked a new chapter, one that's been filled with ups and downs, given his prolonged absence from society. Despite his acquittal, he says he struggles to find work because of his background, which includes 2 prior nonviolent felonies. "You Google my name and it lights up the screen. I'm 20 years minus a resume, so it's hard," he said. Experts say Penalver's struggles with reintegration are typical for death row exonerees or people found to be wrongly con...