Man Sentenced to Death in Killing of Texas Family
A California man who drove to Texas in 2014 and murdered a husband and wife and four of their children in their suburban Houston home was sentenced to death by a jury Friday.
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Emotional Testimony Caps Penalty Phase in Capital Murder Trial
During an emotional testimony on Thursday, the 16-year-old son of convicted murderer Michael Gargiulo asked a Los Angeles jury not to send his father to death row.
Read morePenalty Phase Kicks Off in Trial of ‘Hollywood Ripper’
Family members testified Monday about the effects the brutal killings of two women had on their lives during the penalty phase in the capital murder trial of Michael Gargiulo.
Read moreSupreme Court Won’t Intervene Over West Virginia Justices
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will leave in place a court decision that derailed the impeachment trials of three West Virginia Supreme Court justices accused of corruption.
Read moreNews Outlets Sue Virginia for Full Access to Executions
A Virginia newspaper and a handful of national and international outlets filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s prison system demanding public access to the full execution process, claiming current policy allows much of the proceedings to be blocked by a curtain.
Read moreDeath-Row Inmates Challenge Post-Conviction Rules
Death-row inmates are ill served by the way states approve attorneys for post-conviction defense teams, 11 Arizona prisoners and the state’s Office of the Federal Public Defender claimed Monday in suing the Department of Justice.
Read moreSuspect in El Paso Massacre Charged With Capital Murder
A grand jury in Texas delivered a capital murder indictment Thursday against the suspect in last month’s deadly mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart.
Read moreSerial Killer Who Menaced Gay Community Set for Execution
A serial killer who preyed on older gay men faces the death penalty Thursday night after failing to secure a stay of execution from the 11th Circuit on the basis of mental disability.
Read more‘Hollywood Ripper’ Found Sane by LA Jury
A Los Angeles jury on Thursday found the so-called “Hollywood Ripper” – convicted a week ago in the murders of two women and the attempted murder of a third last decade – was sane at the time of the crimes, making him eligible for the death penalty.
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House Democrats to Probe Trump Revival of Death Penalty
The Trump administration’s decision to resume federal executions, and to use a single drug with a history of problems to carry them out, prompted the launch of an investigation Wednesday by House Democrats.
Read moreFrance Urged to Try Nationals on Iraq Death Row
A United Nations human rights expert on Monday called on the French government to repatriate and try seven French nationals sentenced to death on terror charges in Iraq.
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Federal Executions Brought Back After 16-Year Limbo
Federal inmates on death row will be executed for the first time since 2003, Attorney General William Barr announced Thursday, championing the return to capital punishment as a way to bring “justice to victims of the most horrific crimes.”
Read moreIndia Wins Battle Against Rival Pakistan in Top UN Court
In a major victory for India, the International Court of Justice on Wednesday blocked the execution of a former Indian navy officer sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on espionage charges.
Read moreNew Mexico Supreme Court Vacates Two Remaining Death Sentences
A divided New Mexico Supreme Court Friday set aside the death sentences of the last two men awaiting execution in the state, ruling that the penalties were disproportionate in comparison to sentences in similar murder cases.
Read moreSupremes Shelve Tribal-Recognition Spat Spurred by Oklahoma Murder
Closing out the term with one case still undecided, the Supreme Court said Thursday it will hold new arguments on a death-row inmate’s bid to legally reclassify a large swath of eastern Oklahoma as a Native American reservation.
Read moreArkansas Judge Asks to Be Put Back on Death-Penalty Cases
An Arkansas judge whose participation in a 2017 anti-death penalty rally led to his lifetime ban from hearing capital-punishment cases is asking the state Supreme Court to restore his ability to hear cases involving the death penalty.
Read moreFormer Student Guilty in Slaying of Visiting Chinese Scholar
Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before returning a guilty verdict Monday at the federal death-penalty trial of a former University of Illinois doctoral student who killed a visiting scholar from China after abducting her at a bus stop as she headed to sign an off-campus apartment lease.
Read moreACLU Calls LA County DA Out Over Pursuit of Death Penalty
A report released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union blasted Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, finding she has only secured death penalty convictions against people of color since taking office in 2012.
Read moreJury Sentences Father to Death for Killing His 5 Children
A South Carolina father who killed his five children with his own hands, then drove around with their bodies for nine days was sentenced to death Thursday.
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