death row

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Indiana Preps for an Execution After 15-Year Pause

Joseph Corcoran's execution is scheduled for Wednesday

(Newser) - Indiana officials are preparing to execute the state's first death row inmate in 15 years, a man who was convicted a quarter-century ago of killing his brother and three other men, the AP reports. Joseph Corcoran, 49, has been on Indiana's death row since 1999. If he is...

Pressure on Biden to Commute All Federal Death Sentences

Some fear the 40 inmates on federal death row risk hanging under Trump

(Newser) - No president has ever issued a mass commutation of federal death sentences, but that's exactly what advocates are asking of President Biden in his final days in office. Several letters asking Biden to commute the sentences of all 40 people on federal death row to life in prison without...

After 2-Year Pause, Executions Will Resume in Arizona

State plans to seek execution warrant for Aaron Brian Gunches

(Newser) - Executions will resume in Arizona following a two-year pause, the state's top prosecutor says. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement sent to the Associated Press on Wednesday that she will soon seek an execution warrant for Aaron Brian Gunches, who is on death row after being...

Alabama Prisoner Curses, Gives Middle Finger Before Execution

Carey Dale Grayson became the 3rd person put to death in the US using nitrogen gas

(Newser) - An Alabama man convicted in the 1994 killing of a hitchhiker cursed at the prison warden and made obscene gestures with his hands shortly before he was put to death Thursday evening in the nation's third execution using nitrogen gas, the AP reports. Carey Dale Grayson, 50, was executed...

Judge's Antisemitism Gives Death Row Inmate New Trial

Texas panel calls former Judge Vickers Cunningham biased against Jewish inmate

(Newser) - A Texas appeals court ordered a new trial Wednesday for a Jewish man on death row because of antisemitic bias by the judge who presided over his case, per the AP . By a vote of 6-3, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered that Randy Halprin's conviction be overturned...

Serial Killer's Execution Halted Yet Again

Judge issues temporary stay for Thomas Eugene Creech, on death row since 1981

(Newser) - A federal judge has temporarily halted the planned execution of an Idaho man on death row whose first lethal injection attempt was botched earlier this year, per the AP . Thomas Eugene Creech was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 13—roughly nine months after the state first...

Last-Minute Twists Delay Execution in Shaken Baby Case

Robert Roberson's execution was originally scheduled for Thursday night

(Newser) - The controversial execution of a Texas man convicted in a so-called " shaken baby syndrome " murder case was delayed with 90 minutes to spare before his scheduled lethal injection early Thursday night, though the eventual twists and turns into the case extended late into the evening. Robert Roberson has...

Glossip Has Unusual Ally in SCOTUS Fight

Both he and Oklahoma are pushing for new trial, citing prosecutorial misconduct

(Newser) - Glossip v. Oklahoma, a highly watched case before the Supreme Court, isn't quite what its name suggests. Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip is pushing for a new trial, arguing the one that resulted in his murder conviction and death sentence was rife with errors. But Oklahoma is of...

Country's 2nd Nitrogen Gas Execution Goes Forward

Alan Eugene Miller is put to death in Alabama

(Newser) - Alabama used nitrogen gas Thursday to execute a man convicted of killing three people in back-to-back workplace shootings, the second time the method that has generated debate about its humaneness has been used in the country, the AP reports. Alan Eugene Miller, 59, was pronounced dead at 6:38pm local...

Man Who's Been on Death Row the Longest Gets a Retrial
Boxer on Death Row for
Half a Century Goes Free
UPDATED
Sep 26, 2024 2:00 AM CDT

Boxer on Death Row for Half a Century Goes Free

Iwao Hakamada was sentenced to death in 1968 but long claimed confession was forced

(Newser) - An 88-year-old former Japanese boxer was on Thursday acquitted of the 1966 murders of his boss and the boss's family, reversing his wrongful conviction and bringing to an end a long legal saga, the AP reports. Iwao Hakamada spent 48 years imprisoned before he was released in 2014, when...

Texas Executes Man Who Killed 3-Month-Old Son

Travis Mullis waived his right to appeal death sentence

(Newser) - A Texas man who had waived his right to appeal his death sentence received a lethal injection Tuesday evening for killing his 3-month-old son more than 16 years ago, one of five executions scheduled within a week's time in the US. Travis Mullis, 38, was pronounced dead at 7:...

5 Inmates Scheduled to Die in a 7-Day Span

If all goes through, it would be the highest in the US in 20 years

(Newser) - Death row inmates in five states are scheduled to be put to death in the span of one week, an unusually high number of executions that defies a yearslong trend. If carried out as planned, the executions in Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas will mark the first time...

Witness Now Says Inmate to Be Executed Is Innocent

Co-defendant says Freddie Owens wasn't shooter in 1997 murder, which South Carolina's Supreme Court rejects

(Newser) - Earlier this month, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for Freddie Owens and kept him on the docket to be the first individual executed in the state in 13 years. This week, attorneys for the 46-year-old Owens, sentenced to death for the 1997 murder of a convenience...

John Grisham on Man 30 Days From Execution: There Was No Murder
Dozens Beg Texas
Not to Execute 'Innocent' Man
the rundown
Sep 18, 2024 12:00 AM CDT

Dozens Beg Texas Not to Execute 'Innocent' Man

More on the 'shaken baby syndrome' conviction of Robert Roberson

(Newser) - Despite much controversy , Robert Roberson is still scheduled to be executed in Texas on October 17 for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002—but support is coalescing around him. Roberson was convicted of killing the toddler via the now-widely-discredited "shaken baby syndrome," but...

Death Row Inmate Says He Doesn't Want 'Invasive Autopsy'
Death Row Inmate Who
Sued Over His Autopsy Wins
UPDATED
Jul 15, 2024 9:45 AM CDT

Death Row Inmate Who Sued Over His Autopsy Wins

Alabama still plans to execute devout Muslim Keith Gavin, but won't carry out post-mortem procedure

(Newser) - Alabama will break with protocol and not perform an autopsy on a death row inmate who sued the state, saying the procedure would violate his Islamic beliefs. Keith Gavin, to be executed this week, sought a court order to block an autopsy, saying it would violate a tenant of Islam...

After 'Years of Effort,' Indiana's Death Penalty May Resume

Officials finally get hands on pentobarbital for lethal injections, though it's not clear from where

(Newser) - The state of Indiana hasn't put someone to death in 15 years, but that streak is soon about to be broken. GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb announced on Wednesday that he and fellow Republican Todd Rokita, the state's attorney general, are seeking to execute 49-year-old Joseph Corcoran, with Rokita...

Texas Executes Prisoner Who Murdered His Dealer's Girlfriend

Ramiro Gonzales' appeal for clemency was denied

(Newser) - Ramiro Gonzales, the Texas death row inmate who once made headlines with his desire to donate a kidney before his death, was executed in the state Wednesday. Gonzales, 41, sexually assaulted and murdered 18-year-old Bridget Townsend, the girlfriend of his drug dealer, in 2001. His attorneys and other supporters had...

Alabama Sets Date for 2nd Execution by Nitrogen Gas

Alan Eugene Miller is suing to block the execution, now scheduled for September

(Newser) - Alabama death row inmate Alan Eugene Miller is now scheduled to become the second person in the US executed by nitrogen gas, reports CBS News . Gov. Kay Ivey set the date for Sept. 26, per the AP . The governor's action comes a week after the Alabama Supreme Court authorized...

Prosecutors Hid Evidence in Convicting Mom of Murder

Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio, convicted of killing her toddler, could now go free

(Newser) - The judge who presided over Melissa Lucio's 2008 murder trial following the death of her 2-year-old daughter now says the conviction should be thrown out. State District Judge Arturo Nelson recommended on Friday that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturn Lucio's conviction and death sentence, in response...

With Hours Left, SCOTUS Rejects Inmate's Appeals
Missouri Executes
Brian Dorsey
UPDATED
Apr 9, 2024 6:47 PM CDT

Missouri Executes Brian Dorsey

SCOTUS rejected 2 appeals

(Newser) - This story has been updated with news of Dorsey's execution. Missouri inmate Brian Dorsey was executed Tuesday evening after the US Supreme Court declined to intervene. The court turned down two appeals by Dorsey's lawyers, one arguing that their client did not have proper legal representation by his...

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