Death Penalty News

(Texas Scorecard) – Oscar Rosales, an illegal alien with a violent record across two countries, will face the death penalty for gunning down a Harris County deputy. Rosales, a Salvadoran national living in Texas illegally, was found guilty of murdering Precinct 5 Constable Deputy Cpl. Charles Galloway in a January 2022 shooting. Rosales claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, alleging he believed the officer’s vehicle was occupied by cartel-affiliated strip club bouncers from a location he had visited earlier that night.

Turki al-Jasser's execution draws global outrage over the kingdom's harsh crackdown on dissent The national flag of Saudi Arabia. Human rights groups and press freedom advocates have criticised Saudi Arabia's execution of an imprisoned journalist over the weekend, the latest in a flurry of death sentences enacted in the kingdom. Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser was executed on June 14, authorities said. He was arrested in 2018 and tried for terrorism, treason and endangering national security.

Tom Félix has gone on trial in northern Malaysia, charged with drug possession and trafficking which could carry the death penalty if he is found guilty. Félix, 34, a former executive of French waste management firm Veolia, was arrested in early August 2023 on the island resort of Langkawi, where he was hoping to open a restaurant. Police found several hundred grams of cannabis in a common area of the house he shared with his Malaysian business partner, who was also arrested.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate is seeking clemency from Gov. Tate Reeves. On Monday, attorneys for Richard Gerald Jordan filed the petition, asking the governor to commute his sentence to life in prison without parole. Jordan’s attorneys are also requesting a 15-minute in-person or virtual interview with the state’s top elected leader. “It is the long-standing practice of the Office of the Governor in Mississippi to allow a 15 to 20-minute meeting with a death-sentenced inmate’s representatives,” Frank Rosenblatt, a representative for Jordan wrote.

The execution is the third in recent weeks related to the conducting of espionage on behalf of Israel. Iran has executed a man who was found guilty of spying for Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, the semi-official Fars news agency and the Iranian Student News Agency reported on Monday, identifying the man as Esmail Fekri. Fekri was killed by hanging this morning, according to ISNA, after originally being arrested in December.

Saudi Arabia has executed journalist Turki Al-Jasser after seven years in prison, following accusations of terrorism and treason, which activists say were related to his critical social media posts about the royal family. Human rights groups have condemned the execution, citing it as part of the kingdom’s crackdown on free speech. A prominent Saudi journalist, Turki Al-Jasser, has been executed after spending seven years in prison, The Associated Press reported, citing the Saudi Press Agency. Activists cited by the AP argued that the charges against him were politically motivated, primarily tied to his social media activity.

Michael Bell, 54, is scheduled to die by lethal injection July 15 for the mistaken-revenge killing of two people outside of Jacksonville bar in 1993. Michael Bernard Bell, who was convicted for the 1993 murder of a man and woman in Jacksonville, has been scheduled for execution under the eighth death warrant signed this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Bell, 54, is set to die by lethal injection July 15 at Florida State Prison near the city of Starke, according to the warrant, signed Friday. He was found guilty in 1995 and sentenced to death for the murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith.

Revolutionary Guard issues statement warning that any 'exchange of information', including news reports, seen as benefiting Israel will be punished with the maximum penalty - a death sentence. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence organisation has issued a grim warning that “cooperation with the Mossad will result in the maximum legal punishment”, effectively issuing a death penalty for communications seen as favouring Israel’s attacks on Iran. In a statement shared on social media Telegram earlier today the Revolutionary Guards cited articles 6, 7, 8, and 10 of the “Law on Combating Hostile Actions of the Zionist Regime”.

South Carolina executes a man serving death sentences in 2 separate murders Washington (AFP) – A South Carolina man convicted of a 2005 double murder was put to death by lethal injection on Friday, the fourth execution in the United States this week. Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:34 pm (2234 GMT) at the state prison in Columbia, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement. Stanko had a choice between his method of execution -- firing squad, electric chair or lethal injection. He chose lethal injection. The execution began after a 3 1/2 minute final statement where Stanko apologized to his victims and asked not to be judged by the worst day of his life. Witnesses could hear prison officials asking for the first dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital which was different from previous executions. Stanko appeared to be saying words, turned toward the families of the victims and then let out several quick breaths as his lips quivered. Stanko app...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man sent to death row twice for separate murders is scheduled to die Friday by lethal injection in the state’s sixth execution in nine months. Stephen Stanko, 57, is being killed for shooting a friend and then cleaning out his bank account in Horry County in 2005. Hours earlier Stanko killed his live-in girlfriend, strangling her as he raped her teenage daughter in the woman’s home in neighboring Georgetown County. He slit the teen’s throat but she survived. Stanko also ended up on death row for that crime.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 12, 2025: Alireza Heidarzadeh, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Maragheh Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Maragheh Prison on 8 June 2025. His identity has been established 29-year-old Alireza Heidarzadeh who was arrested four years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. An informed source told IHRNGO: “Alireza was arrested for the murder of his cousin (paternal uncle’s son). They got into a fight over a girl they both liked and the victim hit his head on the street curb during the fight. He died from a cerebral haemorrhage. The family of his uncle refused to forgo execution.”

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 13, 2025: Amid escalating tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel, Iran’s authorities have intensified the issuance, confirmation and implementation of death sentences against individuals accused of spying for Israel in recent months. Following the execution of Mohsen Langarneshin on 30 April and Pedram Madani on 28 May, at least ten other men named in this report are at risk of execution on the same charges. Highlighting the due process and fair trial violations and the use of torture and other ill-treatment to extract self-incriminating confessions in the cases, Iran Human Rights considers them to be politically motivated, and urges the international community to act to halt the Islamic Republic’s execution machine.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 12, 2025: Five men including three Kurdish minorities were executed in a group hanging in Ghezel Hesar Prison, Karaj. Massoud Naseri, Sajad Moradi Motlagh, Ardeshir Soltan Abadi, Hamed Hassani and Hatam Saeedi were all on death row for drug-related offences. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, five men were hanged in Ghezel Hesar Prison on 11 June 2025. Sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases, their identities have been established as:

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma executed a man Thursday whose transfer to state custody was expedited by the Trump administration. John Fitzgerald Hanson, 61, received a three-drug lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was pronounced dead at 10:11 a.m., prison officials said. Hanson was sentenced to die after he was convicted of carjacking, kidnapping and killing a Tulsa woman in 1999. “Peace to everyone,” Hanson said while strapped to a gurney inside the prison’s death chamber.

When a lawyer makes a mis­take, who suf­fers the con­se­quences? The ​“agency prin­ci­ple” says the client does, under the ratio­nale that clients choose their lawyers and autho­rize their actions. But courts uni­ver­sal­ly apply this prin­ci­ple to all attor­ney-client rela­tion­ships, includ­ing when indi­gent, iso­lat­ed death-sen­tenced pris­on­ers are appoint­ed attor­neys by the state, with lit­tle or no means of con­trol­ling their lawyers’ actions.  Many com­men­ta­tors have not­ed the prob­lems apply­ing this the­o­ry to those on death row. Building on work by Professor Eric M. Freedman and Paul Sessa, DPI recent­ly doc­u­ment­ed cas­es where attor­neys missed fil­ing dead­lines, result­ing in courts dis­miss­ing fed­er­al appeals for over six­ty men.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 11, 2025: State media reported the execution of “Woman, Life, Freedom” protester, Mojahed Kourkour in Ahvaz Central Prison. Condemning his execution in the strongest terms, Iran Human Rights once again warns of hundreds others being hanged in the coming weeks if the Islamic Republic’s actions are not met with appropriate reaction by the international community.

An Oklahoma appeals court on Wednesday ordered a stay of execution to be lifted for a man on death row, clearing the way for him to receive a lethal injection for killing a Tulsa woman in 1999.  John Fitzgerald Hanson, 61, has been scheduled to be put to death Thursday, but a district court judge temporarily halted the execution this week after Hanson’s attorneys argued he didn’t receive a fair clemency hearing before the state’s Pardon and Parole Board. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ordered that temporary stay of execution be lifted.

When the 3 executioners fired their high-powered rifles at him, Mikal Mahdi, who was sentenced to death for the execution-style murder of an Orangeburg police officer, yelled. Over the next 80 seconds he moaned twice more before drawing his final, gasping breath.  Protocol required the executioners to aim for Mahdi’s heart. But despite 3 shots, an autopsy revealed only partial damage to his heart and just 2 bullet entry wounds. This is proof, say lawyers for a man facing execution Friday, that only 2 bullets were fired and both missed their mark. 

The DOJ computer expert is also charged with obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. Trial and investigation still ongoing  A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) IT worker, Justin Anthony Banta, 38, was arrested in Parker/Tarrant County, Texas, and charged with capital murder for allegedly administering an abortion pill, called “Plan C,” to his pregnant girlfriend by secretly mixing it into her coffee.

A man has been executed in Iran, three years after he was arrested during the nationwide anti-government protests in 2022, the judiciary says. Mojahed Kourkouri, also known as Abbas Kourkouri, was sentenced to death after being convicted of armed attacks and membership of a "rebellion group", according to the judiciary's Mizan news agency. He was accused of killing seven people, including nine-year-old Kian Pirfalak, during protests in the city of Izeh. Kian's family said he was killed by security forces, but authorities maintained that a "rioter" shot him.