Death penalty

September 19, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Michael Wayne Richard, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Richard was convicted and sentenced to death for the capital murder of Marguerite Dixon during a burglary of her Houston-area home in 1986.

FACTS OF THE CRIME    » read more »

September 19, 2007 -- (MONTGOMERY)— "LaSamuel Gamble has been convicted of murdering three people in cold blood. District Attorney Robby Owens sounded the retreat of common sense and justice when he testified to free this monster from Death Row where a Shelby County jury had sent him ten years ago. Owens says he was compelled to do so. He is wrong – wrong on the facts, wrong on the law, and wrong on his duty. Whether 30 DAs or 42 DAs call for me to do so, I will never turn my back on Alabama's victims or desecrate the graves of those who Gamble murdered.    » read more »

09/14/2007 -- Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen today commuted the death sentence of Michael Joe Boyd (also known as Mika’eel Abdullah Abdus-Samad) to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole citing grossly inadequate legal representation received by Boyd during his post conviction hearing and procedural limitations.

On March 10, 1988 Michael Joe Boyd was convicted of murder in the first degree in the perpetration of a robbery and was sentenced to death for this conviction.    » read more »

September 12, 2007 -- (MONTGOMERY) — Alabama Attorney General Troy King has notified Shelby County District Attorney Robbie Owens that he is using his statutory authority to superintend—taking over from the District Attorney—the case of convicted murderer LaSamuel Gamble.    » read more »

September 4, 2007 -- (Lincoln, NE) Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning today commented on the death penalty case of child killer Raymond Mata of Scottsbluff. Oral arguments were presented to the Nebraska Supreme Court today.

“Today the State argued that electrocution does not violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the 8th Amendment,” said Bruning. “We asked the court to uphold the Nebraska Legislature's chosen method of execution and allow justice to move forward.”    » read more »

Association Outlines Serious Concerns with Department of Justice Plan to Certify State Capital Systems

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Aug. 30, 2007--The American Bar Association is taking issue with proposed regulations to implement a statute that offers states a drastically streamlined habeas corpus review in death penalty cases in exchange for improvements in their post-conviction defense process. In comments filed Aug. 25 with the Department of Justice, the ABA said the proposed rule ignores key parts of the authorizing legislation and fails to follow what Congress outlined.    » read more »

August 31, 2007 -- COLUMBUS ~ After thorough consideration and close discussions with the victim’s family, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers will forego any further appeals to a recent federal court ruling overturning the conviction of Scotsman Kenneth Richey for the 1986 arson death of 2-year old Cynthia Collins.

The Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions and Capital Crimes sections have agreed to assist with Putman County in retrying the case in accordance with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals most recent decision.    » read more »

Aug. 30, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Governor Rick Perry today commuted the death sentence of Kenneth Eugene Foster of San Antonio to life imprisonment after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (TBPP) recommended such action.    » read more »

August 29, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Tony Roach, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 5, 2007.

Roach was sentenced to die for the burglary-related murder of Ronnie Dawn Hewitt in Amarillo.

FACTS OF THE CRIME    » read more »

August 23, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Kenneth Foster, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Thursday, August 30, 2007.

Foster was sentenced to death for the 1996 attempted robbery and murder of Michael LaHood, Jr. in San Antonio.

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On the night of August 14, 1996, Kenneth Foster and three other men rode around San Antonio, looking for someone to rob. The four men committed four robberies and split the proceeds from each encounter.    » read more »

August 22, 2007 -- FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher today signed a death warrant for Ralph Baze, Jr. The warrant sets an execution date of Sept. 25.

In December 1993, Baze was convicted of the 1992 murders of Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe.    » read more »

August 21, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about DaRoyce Lamont Mosley, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 28, 2007.

On October 28, 1995, Mosley was found guilty of the 1994 capital murder of Patricia Colter and was sentenced to death. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows.

FACTS OF THE CRIME    » read more »

Aug. 21, 2007 -- “230 years ago, our forefathers fought a war to throw off the yoke of a European monarch and gain the freedom of self-determination.

Texans long ago decided that the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens.

While we respect our friends in Europe, welcome their investment in our state and appreciate their interest in our laws, Texans are doing just fine governing Texas.”

Source: Texas Governors office

August 21, 2007 -- FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Office of Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher announced today that Governor Fletcher intends to sign a death warrant for Ralph Baze, Jr. on Wednesday. The warrant affirms the finding of an impartial jury and the decisions of the Rowan County Circuit Court, the Kentucky Supreme Court and various federal courts.

In December 1993, Baze was convicted of the 1992 murders of Powell County Sheriff Steve Bennett and Deputy Arthur Briscoe. The substantive appeals of the case are exhausted and the execution is no longer stayed.    » read more »

August 17, 2007 -- Jefferson City, Mo. — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today upheld the conviction and death sentence of methamphetamine dealer John Middleton, who murdered a fellow meth dealer in Harrison County, Missouri in 1995. Middleton also is under two additional death sentences for killing two other people in Mercer County who he believed to be informants. The office of Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon represents the state in defending Middleton’s conviction and sentence.    » read more »