Pro Death Penalty Information - Scheduled Executions

Federal officials try to block Texas execution to allow review of case

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:22:31 -0600

Fourteen years and numerous judicial reviews have passed since José Medellin was sentenced to die after confessing to the brutal gang rape and murder of two teenage girls in Houston.

US Supreme Court urged to revisit death penalty for child rape

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:21:04 -0600

WASHINGTON (AFP) The US Justice Department has appealed to nation's highest court to re-hear a major death penalty case involving sentencing for child rapists, saying the ruling was made without all the facts.

Execution by Military Is Approved by President

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:19:52 -0600

WASHINGTON President Bush on Monday approved the first execution by the military since 1961, upholding the death penalty of an Army private convicted of a series of rapes and murders more than two decades ago.

Federal judge upholds Missouri execution procedure

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:41:14 -0600

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Missouri's lethal-injection procedure is not cruel or unusual punishment, possibly ending a series of lawsuits that kept the state's death chamber closed for nearly three years.

The ruling was issued by U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. in Kansas City.

Missouri corrections officials said Tuesday they were preparing to end the life of John Middleton on July 30 as originally scheduled.

The death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:37:49 -0600

SHERMAN, Texas A death row inmate condemned for a 1983 quadruple slaying got at least another two-week reprieve Thursday when a judge postponed deciding whether old evidence will undergo DNA testing not available nearly a quarter-century ago.

Lester Leroy Bower Jr. must now wait until at least Aug. 1 before knowing whether testing will be done on items collected in a Grayson County airplane hangar where four men were shot execution-style.

Ga. death row inmate appeals to US Supreme Court

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:32:10 -0600

WASHINGTON - A Georgia man convicted of killing a police officer is asking the Supreme Court to grant him a hearing based on witnesses who recanted their testimony and others who say another man confessed to the crime.

Troy Davis, on death row for gunning down a Savannah police officer in 1989, says evidence of his innocence is strong enough to prevent the state from executing him before a judge hears from the witnesses.

Lawyers: Ark. execution method 'dangerous'

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:24:03 -0600

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Lawyers for four Arkansas death-row inmates say "botched" executions show that the state's lethal injection method remains dangerous and inadequate.

Bishop appeals to two courts to stop execution

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:21:19 -0600

GREENVILLE - Dale Leo Bishop, scheduled for execution July 23 for his role in a Saltillo murder, says two recent developments in his appeals for a stay deserve the U.S. District Court's attention.

In documents filed Thursday, Bishop alleges the misconduct of his first state appeals lawyer and his own mental illness have put him facing lethal injection.

Convicted Cop Killer Moves Closer To Execution

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:19:03 -0600

HOUSTON (AP) - An appeals court has denied a third retrial for a former University of Texas honors student condemned for killing an Austin policeman.

Investigators say David Lee Powell killed Officer Ralph Albanedo with an automatic assault rifle 30 years ago.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week upheld his conviction and death sentence -- rejecting defense claims that Powell's rights had been violated.

Albanedo had stopped a car driven by Powell's girlfriend near downtown Austin for not having a rear license tag. Evidence shows that Powell, who was a passenger, opened fire on Albanedo and killed him.

Powell, at the time of the shooting, was wanted for misdemeanor theft and for passing more than 100 bad checks in Austin. Investigators say his drug use led him to become paranoid.

source: http://www.cbs7kosa.com/news/details.asp?ID=7166

Texas Turns Aside Pressure on Execution of 5 Mexicans

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:14:43 -0600

HOUSTON Despite pleas from the White House and the State Department, as well as an international court order to review their cases, Texas will execute five Mexicans on death row, a spokeswoman for the governor said Thursday.

The first of the executions that of José Ernesto Medellín, 33, convicted in the 1993 rape and murder of two teenage girls here is scheduled for Aug. 5.