Execution

June 4, 2007 -- JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Governor Matt Blunt today issued the following statement on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Missouri's death penalty may be enforced.    » read more »

05/15/2007 -- In response to deficiencies in California’s lethal injection protocol identified by Federal Judge Jeremy Fogel in December 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the statement below. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation today submitted a report and revised protocol to address the deficiencies in the lethal injection process to ensure that the protocol and its implementation is constitutional.    » read more »

May 9, 2007 -- AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott offers the following information about Charles Edward Smith, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 16, 2007. Smith was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Pecos County deputy Sheriff Tim Hudson.

FACTS OF THE CRIME    » read more »

April 25, 2007 -- HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed warrants for the execution by lethal injection of James E. Frey Jr. of Northumberland County, Wayne Cordell Mitchell of Allegheny County, and Ernest R. Wholaver Jr. of Dauphin County.

Frey, 48, was convicted of first-degree murder for the January 2004 death of his estranged wife. He was formally sentenced to death on Feb. 22, 2005.

The state Supreme Court affirmed Frey’s sentence on Aug. 22, 2006. His petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari was denied on Jan. 22, 2007.    » read more »

Team of Tennessee Legal Experts Lists Many Problems in State Capital Crime System

NASHVILLE, April 23, 2007 — A team of Tennessee legal experts, working under the auspices of the American Bar Association Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project, today cited problems in the state's use of capital punishment that range from excessive caseloads and inadequate standards for defense counsel to racial disparities and inadequate review of death row inmates’ claims of actual innocence.    » read more »

04/20/2007 -- California Governor Schwarzenegger issued the following statement today after directing CDCR Secretary Jim Tilton to stop construction of a new lethal injection facility at San Quentin State Prison:

“I have directed the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to stop construction of this project. My staff has briefed the Legislature and will work cooperatively with them as we address the court’s concerns on lethal injection in California.”    » read more »