News
1. Acquittal in Puerto Rico Death Penalty Case
2. Illinois Death Penalty Reforms
3. Joseph Amrine Released From Prison
4. Stay of Execution Granted to Darnell Williams
Upcoming Executions:
New Resources:
1. ""Dollars and Sentences: Legislators' View on Prisons, Punishment, and the Budget Crisis,"" published by the Vera Institute.
2. ""The Exclusion of Child Offenders from the Death Penalty Under General International Law,"" published by Amnesty International.
Special Announcement:
The information you will find here (death penalty news, new resources, and upcoming executions) is also an e-Newsletter that is sent out bi-weekly. If you would like to subscribe to Death Penalty Update, please e-mail Josh Noble at jnoble@dcaclu.org and type into the subject line: Subscribe: Death Penalty Update.
News:
Acquittal in Puerto Rico Death Penalty Case (July 31, 2003)
In a case that could have resulted in the imposition of a death sentence, a federal jury in San Juan, Puerto Rico found two men not guilty of kidnapping and killing a local businessman. The U.S. was pushing Puerto Rican officials to put to death the two alleged ringleaders in the kidnap-ransom plot that ended in murder. The outcome of the trial has allowed the debate over the imposition of capital punishment to be averted, for the time being. The last person executed in Puerto Rico was a farm worker who beheaded his boss with a machete; he was hung in 1927 for his crime. Two years later, Puerto Rico's legislature abolished the death penalty, and the 1952 Constitution, which defined Puerto Rico's status as a self-governing commonwealth associate with the United States, reiterated and unconditionally opposed the death penalty. The possible outcome of a death sentence in this trial gave rise to a grassroots protest movement mobilizing against the death penalty. Local lawyers and political officials also argued that the federal prosecutors' relentless push to impose the death penalty in Puerto Rico violated its constitutional ban on capital punishment and infringed of the island's autonomy. However, a federal appeals court in Boston recently held that the federal death penalty does apply in Puerto Rico. Opinion polls have consistently shown that a large majority of the population in Puerto Rico strongly opposes capital punishment.
To read facts about the death penalty in Puerto Rico, please visit Death Penalty Information Center's new resource:
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=11&did=670.
Illinois Governor Vetoes Portion of Death Penalty Reform Legislation (July 30, 2003)
Governor Blagojevich vetoed a portion of legislation designed to prevent
errors in death penalty cases because he disagreed with a section providing
sanctions for perjury by individual police officers. The partial veto sends the
matter back to the General Assembly, who is expected to override the veto
this fall. Among the key provisions, the death penalty legislation would allow
judges who disagree with juries who impose the death sentence to write dissent
s that can be considered during appeals; allow the Supreme Court to overturn
death sentences it deems "fundamentally unjust;" allow judges to reject the
state's intention to seek the death penalty if its evidence rests solely on the
testimony of a single eyewitness, accomplice, or police informant; guarantee that
defendants get copies of all evidence investigators turn up that is favorable
to them; require juries to consider whether a defendant was previously
emotionally or physically abused; prohibit the execution of the mentally
retarded; and make it easier for defendants to get a hearing after they are
convicted, if new evidence is discovered. A commission established by
then-Governor George Ryan, who earlier this year suspended all executions
in Illinois and cleared out death row, recommended many of the reforms.
Illinois has exonerated 17 death row inmates who had been wrongfully
convicted.
To read an article by the Chicago Tribune, please visit:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-030729deathpenalty,0,126575.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Joseph Amrine Released From Prison (July 28, 2003)
After spending 18 extra years in prison, Joseph Amrine was released from prison and cleared of all charges after prosecutors decided that there was not enough evidence to retry him. Amrine was initially supposed to be released on June 16; however, four days before his scheduled release prosecutors filed new murder charges in order to have possible blood samples tested from the clothing he was wearing the day of the murder. Amrine was sentenced to death for murdering fellow inmate in 1986; a conviction that was largely based on circumstantial and conflicting evidence. Since the trial, the three men who testified against Amrine have recanted their stories, and there is no longer any evidence linking him to the murder. In addition, a corrections officer that witnessed the murder testified that Amrine was not responsible for the death of the inmate. Amrine, who has been in prison for 26 years, would have been released from prison in 1992 on an unrelated charge. Amrine has become the 111th person exonerated from death row in the United States since the reinstatement of the death penalty.
In an unrelated case, Nicholas Yarris of Pennsylvania may also been exonerated in the near future. Defense attorneys claim that new DNA evidence proves that Yarris is not responsible for the murder and rape of Linda Mae Craig. Attorneys contend that Yarris was convicted based on blood evidence that has now been proven unreliable. If Yarris is released from prison and cleared of charges, he will become the nation's 112th exonerated death row inmate and 10th inmate exonerated in 2003.
To read CNN's article, please visit:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/07/29/conviction.overturned.ap/index.html.
Stay of Execution Granted to Darnell Williams (July 28, 2003)
Indiana Governor O'Bannon has granted a 60-day reprieve to Darnell Williams for additional DNA testing after a state parole board recommended testing the evidence used to send the convicted killer to death row. There is compelling evidence that could prove Williams was not responsible for the 1987 murders of John and Henrietta Rease. Williams was outside the Rease's home when they were killed during an attempted robbery. Although Williams was found to have bloodstains on his shorts, the blood was never identified as either of the victims. DNA testing techniques that were not available at the time of his trial could positively identify whom the blood on his shorts came from. Newly discovered information from the state's blood expert, which was not provided to the prosecutor or defense attorney at the time of the trial, suggests that the blood on Williams' shorts may not be from the victims. Williams had gained support for DNA testing from unlikely areas, including the prosecutors that tried him and some of the jurors who convicted him.
To read an article from Indiana's Courier-Journal, please visit:
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2003/07/29in/met-front-row0729-4089.html
For additional news, please visit http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org.
Upcoming Executions:
- 8/1 Darnell Williams (IN) 60-DAY STAY
- 8/6 Curtis Moore (TX) STAY
- 8/6 Jose Rivera (TX) STAY
- 8/7 Rickey Lewis (TX) STAY
- 8/7 Tommy Fortenberry (AL) TAKE ACTION
- 8/20 Mark Robertson (TX) TAKE ACTION
- 8/22 Quentin Jones (NC) TAKE ACTION
For execution updates and action alerts, please visit http://www.ncadp.org.
New Resources:
- A new study by the Vera Institute, ""Dollars and Sentences: Legislators' View on Prisons, Punishment, and the Budget Crisis."" This report on a roundtable discussion among a diverse, bipartisan group of elected officials reveals how some states are managing to save money and improve results by paying increased attention to rehabilitation and prevention. To read the report, please visit: http://www.vera.org/publications/publications_5.asp?publication_id=204.
- Amnesty International has released a new report titled, ""The Exclusion of Child Offenders From the Death Penalty Under General International Law."" The report examines the evidence supporting the conclusion that the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders is prohibited by international law. To read the report, please visit: http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT500042003?open&of=ENG-392.
