High court: States must allow prayer, touch in executions
The Supreme Court said Thursday that states must accommodate the wishes of death row inmates who want to have their pastors pray aloud and even touch them during their executions.
Death Penalty
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Firing-squad executions get the green light in South Carolina
South Carolina has given the green light to firing-squad executions, a method codified into state law last year after a decadelong pause in carrying out death sentences because of the state’s inability to procure lethal injection drugs.
High court reimposes Boston Marathon bomber’s death sentence
The Supreme Court has reinstated the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Justices take certified questions, rule Gary death row inmate didn’t ‘properly’ file PCR petition
A Gary man sentenced to death did not “properly file” a post-conviction petition in 2016, and an Indiana Supreme Court order in 2017 to file the deficient PCR petition did not render it proper, the Supreme Court has ruled in response to certified questions from a federal judge.
Grand jury indicts suspect in Terre Haute officer’s slaying
A federal grand jury indicted an Indiana man Wednesday on charges that would make him eligible for the death penalty if he’s convicted in the fatal shooting of a Terre Haute police detective and FBI task force officer.
Report: 11 executions in 2021 mark three-decade low
States and the federal government carried out 11 executions this year, the fewest since 1988, as support for the death penalty has continued to decline.
Marion County prosecutor drops death penalty for man accused of murdering Southport police officer
The Indianapolis man accused of killing a Southport police officer is no longer facing the death penalty after the Marion Superior Court accepted an agreement Friday reached by defense attorneys and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, which dropped the potential for capital punishment in exchange for a bench trial that could result in the defendant being sentenced to life in prison.
High court skeptical of Texas death row inmate prayer demand
Conservative Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism Tuesday about a Texas death row inmate’s demand that his pastor be allowed to pray out loud and touch him during his execution.
Oklahoma executes inmate who dies vomiting and convulsing
Oklahoma administered the death penalty Thursday on a man who convulsed and vomited as he was executed for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker, ending a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its execution methods.
Alabama man put to death for 1991 killing of woman
An Alabama man who avoided execution in February was put to death Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request for a stay by his lawyers, who had argued the execution should be blocked on grounds that he had an intellectual disability.
Nikolas Cruz pleads guilty to 2018 Parkland school massacre
Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering 17 people during a rampage at his former high school in Parkland, Florida, leaving a jury to decide whether he will be executed for one of the nation’s deadliest school shootings.
Attorney: Cruz to plead guilty to Parkland school massacre
The gunman who killed 14 students and three staff members at a Parkland, Florida, high school will plead guilty to their murders, his attorneys said Friday, bringing some closure to a South Florida community more than three years after an attack that sparked a nationwide movement for gun control.
Hearing set abruptly in 2018 Florida school massacre case
A last-minute court hearing is set Friday in Florida for Nikolas Cruz, the man police said has confessed to the 2018 massacre of 17 people at a suburban high school.
Dylann Roof’s request to reconsider recusal is denied
Dylann Roof’s chances for a new appellate hearing continue to dwindle, with a court refusing to reconsider recusing itself from his appeal over his death sentence and conviction in the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation.
Justices seem set to revive marathon bomber’s death sentence
The Supreme Court sounded ready Wednesday to reinstate the death penalty for convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Court denies Dylann Roof’s request for new appellate hearing
Dylann Roof has lost the next phase of his appeal, with a federal court turning down his request for a new hearing to challenge his death sentence and conviction in the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation.
Dylann Roof seeks rehearing on church shooting conviction
Dylann Roof has filed the next step in his federal appeal, challenging a court’s confirmation of his conviction and death sentence for the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation.
Charleston church shooter’s death sentence upheld
A federal appeals court Wednesday upheld Dylann Roof’s conviction and death sentence for the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation, saying the legal record cannot even capture the “full horror” of what he did.
Man charged with murder in 2 killings outside Indiana plant
A man suspected of fatally shooting a woman and her granddaughter outside a central Indiana automotive seating plant where all three worked was formally charged with murder Friday, and prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if he’s convicted.
DOC: Indiana lethal injection drugs long expired
A lawsuit that sought information about the drugs Indiana plans to use in lethal injections and that motivated the Legislature to use a late-night session to keep the veil of secrecy intact has come to a close, with the state paying more than $800,000 in legal fees and disclosing that its supply of lethal injection drugs has long been expired.