Death Penalty News

Children of family members who have been sentenced to death or executed are among the most hidden trauma victims of capital punishment. To help address their unique mental health needs, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), an organization dedicated “to rais[ing] the standard of care and improv[ing] access to services for traumatized children, their families and communities throughout the United States,” has released a new treatment resource that offers guidance to professionals who work with children affected by the death penalty. The mental health guide, Children Who Are Impacted by a Family Member’s Death Sentence or Execution: Information for Mental Health Professionals , was produced in association with Clinical & Support Options Inc. and the Texas After Violence Project and was released in December 2021. It provides assistance to mental health investigators and providers in identifying issues faced by children whose parent or other family member are on death ro...

A Kuwaiti court on 6 July 2021 sentenced a man to death after convicting him of the kidnap and murder of a mother of two, a crime that shocked the emirate. The brutal killing of Farah Hamzah Akbar, 32, whose body was dumped outside a hospital on April 20 after she was snatched in broad daylight, sparked protests and calls for justice. “The verdict hit the nail on the head, and we hope it is backed and implemented so the family can rest,” the Akbar family lawyer, Abdulmohsen al-Qattan, told AFP. He added that the case will now be referred to the court of appeal for review. The man, who had persisted in stalking Akbar despite several complaints to authorities, dragged her from a car during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Akbar had previously filed two harassment complaints against the man who had proposed to her although she was already married. He had been arrested but was released on bail. The interior ministry said at the time of the murder that Akbar had been stabbed in the chest. ...

NEWS (7/17/20) — Arizona: Former Maricopa County homicide prosecutor Juan Martinez, who has repeatedly been cited for misconduct in death-penalty prosecutions, has been disbarred.  Martinez consented to the action by the State Bar of Arizona, avoiding a public hearing on multiple charges of sexually harassing female co-workers in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.  The disbarment trial was also expected to include evidence that, during the high-profile capital murder trial of Jodi Arias, Martinez leaked information to a blogger with whom he was having a sexual relationship and then lied to investigators about their relationship. Martinez’s disbarment comes less than three months after the Arizona Supreme Court had reprimanded him on findings of prosecutorial misconduct in five different capital cases.  Martinez is one of at least six prosecutors who have been named prosecutor of the year by the Arizona Prosecuting Attorneys Advisory Committee whom...