Death Penalty News

Albuquerque man charged with death of Uber driver Seliky Sanchez faces a mandatory life sentence or the death penalty ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An 18-year-old man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from a carjacking and kidnapping that resulted in the death of an Uber driver.  On Aug. 7, Sheliky Sanchez of Albuquerque was picked up at his residence on Estrella Brillante Street NW just after 3 a.m. by an Uber ride driven by Joseph Andrus, an Albuquerque Police Department news release said.

As case nears start of penalty phase, defense team asks for certain evidence to be excluded FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The judge in the Parkland shooting case denied several defense arguments where attorneys ask to declare the death penalty unconstitutional. Broward County Judge Elizabeth Scherer agreed with a state argument that the court did not have authority to overrule the Supreme Court on the issue. On Feb. 14, 2018, Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. In October, Cruz pled guilty to killing 17 people in the shooting. By having Cruz plead guilty, the gunman’s defense team is hoping he may avoid the death penalty and instead be sentenced to 17 life sentences in prison. Also, as the case nears the start of the penalty phase, Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz’s defense team asked the judge to exclude evidence related to two search warrants; one related to a Pompano Beach home he once resided in and another to the cell phone used on the day...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Lebanese court sentenced an Uber driver to death on Friday for the murder of British embassy worker Rebecca Dykes in December 2017, state news agency NNA said. The driver, Tariq Houshieh, confessed to raping and strangling 30-year-old Dykes, who worked at the embassy in Lebanon for Britain’s Department for International Development. The British embassy said it hoped the court’s decision would “provide a degree of closure” for those close to Dykes.  “Becky was much loved and is deeply missed,” it said in a statement. Lebanese judges routinely call for death sentences in cases of murder.  But the country has an unofficial moratorium and has not carried out an execution since 2004, according to the monitoring group Human Rights Watch. “While we welcome the guilty verdict, the UK government continues to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances,” the embassy statement said. The verdict was handed down by the Mount Lebanon cri...