Indiana judge stays federal execution as death penalty fight proceeds in court
An Indiana federal inmate who was scheduled to be put to death this week received a stay of the death penalty days before his execution date.
Death Penalty
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Supreme Court keeps federal executions on hold
The US Supreme Court on Friday blocked the Trump administration from restarting federal executions this week after a 16-year break. Executions had been scheduled to resume today at the federal prison in Terre Haute.
US seeks high court permission to resume federal executions
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday for permission to begin executing federal inmates as soon as next week. The Justice Department said in a filing late Monday that lower courts were wrong to put the executions on hold.
Defense attorneys feud over who represents death penalty defendant in officer’s shooting
Defense attorneys representing Jason Brown, an Indianapolis man facing the death penalty for allegedly killing a police officer, are feuding with his appointed counsel, raising the question again of when a defendant’s right to counsel ends.
DOJ would take halted executions to high court
Attorney General William Barr told The Associated Press on Thursday that he would take the Trump administration’s bid to restart federal executions after a 16-year hiatus to the Supreme Court if necessary. Barr’s comments came hours after a district court judge temporarily blocked the administration’s plans to start executions next month.
Federal death row inmate denied stay of execution
A man sentenced to die by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute was denied a stay of execution in federal court Wednesday, narrowing his remaining appeals and potentially setting the stage for his execution scheduled next month to proceed.
Indiana’s Catholic bishops want renewed execution freeze
Indiana’s Roman Catholic bishops are calling for a renewed moratorium on executions at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute.
Southern District finds ‘immediate need’ to remove, amend death penalty rule
The Indiana Southern District Court determined there was an immediate need to delete Local Criminal Rule 6-1 – Petitions Under 28 U.S.C. Section 2254 or 2255 in Cases Involving a Sentence of Capital Punishment, according to a Monday notice. In response, the rule was replaced with the adoption of Local Criminal Rule 38-2 – Cases Challenging the Conviction and/or Sentence Where a Sentence of Death Has Been Imposed.
Jury selection begins for Clark County man accused of murder, cannibalism
Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a southern Indiana man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and eating parts of her body nearly five years ago. Prosecutors say Joseph Oberhansley, 38, broke into the Jeffersonville home of his 46-year-old ex-girlfriend, Tammy Jo Blanton, in September 2014, and then raped her, fatally stabbed her and ate parts of her body.
Indiana DOC doesn’t have the drugs to kill death row inmates
The Indiana Department of Correction has confirmed the state doesn’t have the necessary drugs to execute any of the eight men who are on death row.
7th Circuit rules against inmate’s FOIA requests in triple-murder
A Southern District Court judge’s order that the federal government disclose personal information stemming from a triple murder it had previously refused to turn over has been reversed. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found that public interest does not support the information’s disclosure, simultaneously affirming that certain documents were protected by an exception of the Freedom of Information Act.
Resuming executions: As DOJ reinstates capital punishment, Southern District unsure what’s next
With federal death row in its jurisdiction, the Southern Indiana District Court is preparing but does not know what to expect as the U.S. Department of Justice moves forward with the resumption of executions after nearly two decades.
Over objection, court appoints public defenders to death penalty case
The Indianapolis man facing a possible death penalty for allegedly killing a Southport police officer is scheduled to appear in court Friday with a new legal team, including the former dean of Valparaiso University Law School.
Five federal death row inmates face executions beginning this year
After the Justice Department announced Thursday that it will resume executing death row prisoners for the first time in nearly two decades, five inmates are facing potential execution dates at the high-security U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute.
Justice Department will execute inmates for first time since 2003
The Justice Department said Thursday that it will carry out executions of federal death row inmates for the first time since 2003.
New sentencing set for Baer in 2004 double slaying
A man convicted of killing a central Indiana woman and her 4-year-old daughter faces resentencing next month after federal courts threw out his death sentence.
Indiana death row inmate denied SCOTUS appeal of sentence
An Indiana death row inmate whose request for a new sentencing hearing split the Indiana Supreme Court and drew a 40-page dissent from Chief Justice Loretta Rush has failed to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case.
Man with intellectual disability freed from death sentence
An Arkansas man sentenced to death for murdering a teenage girl in Texas 25 years ago has been granted his petition for habeas corpus after a federal judge determined him to be ineligible for the death penalty due to his intellectual disability. The man will be resentenced in Texas.
Judge: DOC must pay $538K in ‘egregious’ death penalty records case
The Indiana Department of Correction’s refusal to disclose to the public information concerning the means it would use to execute a condemned criminal will cost taxpayers more than a half-million dollars in attorney fees, a judge has ruled.
Man withdraws effort challenging conviction in officer’s death
A man who was sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally shooting a Gary police officer in 2014 has withdrawn his effort to challenge his conviction.