Death penalty ordered for killer of two in Harbor Gateway - latimes.com

Death penalty ordered for killer of two in Harbor Gateway - latimes.com: "Los Angeles jury ordered the death penalty Monday for a 22-year-old Latino gang member convicted in the hate-crime killing of a 14-year-old black girl and the stabbing death of a potential witness in the Harbor Gateway area.

Jonathan Fajardo, who was 18 at the time of the killings, nonchalantly looked around the courtroom as the verdict was read. The jury found that he should receive death for his first-degree murder convictions for the slayings of Cheryl Green and Christopher Ash.

Fajardo was eligible for the death penalty because the jury accepted special circumstance allegations including multiple murder, killing a witness, committing a hate crime based on race and committing the crime for a gang. Fajardo was a member of the 204th Street gang, which prosecutors said intimidated and attacked African Americans in Harbor Gateway."

Read more...

The Associated Press: Three decades on, Calif. family awaits execution

The Associated Press: Three decades on, Calif. family awaits execution: "Albert Greenwood Brown was convicted in 1982 for Susan's murder and sentenced to death.
Though Susan's killing on Oct. 28, 1980, sparked a flurry of media attention in Riverside, a sprawling inland city about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, much of the publicity around the case has focused on Brown and his exhaustive legal maneuvers to avoid the death penalty.
But a series of letters and messages her relatives recently sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pleading with him not to grant clemency provide a glimpse into the family's anguish. Susan's younger brother James Jordan, who was 7 at the time, described how he was standing next to his mother when Brown called.
'I remember her pleading with him and the look of terror on her face,' James Jordan wrote.
Susan's mother and two of her three siblings have written to Schwarzenegger expressing anger over the length of the process.
After decades of appeals and reversals, the courts ultimately upheld Brown's death sentence and he was scheduled for execution Wednesday, though it was pushed back until Thursday to allow his defense team time to file more motions.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel said Tuesday that he halted the Thursday execution because he didn't have enough time 'to render a reasoned decision and permit adequate appellate review.'"

Read more...

Alfredo R. Prieto, convicted of three murders and suspected of four othersVa. makes third try at seeking death for convicted killer

Va. makes third try at seeking death for convicted killer: "Virginia's third attempt to impose the death penalty on Alfredo R. Prieto, convicted of three murders and suspected of four others, began Tuesday in Fairfax County, with Prieto's defense team apparently abandoning its claim that he is mentally retarded and therefore ineligible for capital punishment.
Prieto, 44, faces a death sentence in California for the 1990 rape and shooting of a 15-year-old girl. His appeals have lasted 18 years with no end in sight, so when he was linked by DNA to a 1988 double homicide near Reston, Fairfax prosecutors decided to extradite him and try to complete his legal process in Virginia."

Read more...

Death row inmate to get new trial | montgomeryadvertiser.com | Montgomery Advertiser

Death row inmate to get new trial | montgomeryadvertiser.com | Montgomery Advertiser: "Jodey Wayne Waldrop, who has been under a death sentence nearly three years, was granted a new trial by a state appeals court in March and the Alabama Supreme Court recently declined to hear the state's appeal.A date for his retrial in the killing of Jodey Jo 'Chance' Waldrop has not been set.Prosecutors contend the boy was shaken by his father so violently that it caused brain damage that led to his death. Waldrop testified that he dropped his son while lighting a cigarette.The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Circuit Court Judge Terry Dempsey should have instructed jurors not to consider testimony about Waldrop having been convicted of assault in Mississippi.Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing was notified during the weekend that the Alabama Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal."

Read more...

Death penalty reversed for Egyptian tycoon - The Boston Globe

Death penalty reversed for Egyptian tycoon - The Boston Globe: "Egyptian real estate tycoon accused of hiring a hit man to kill his pop-star lover was spared the death penalty yesterday after a retrial changed his original sentence to 15 years in prison.
The reduced sentence of Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a prominent member of Egypt’s ruling party, for the brutal murder of a Lebanese singer is likely to spark new accusations of political influence. Moustafa, the builder behind the luxury suburbs for the rich that now ring impoverished Cairo, was close to the powerful son of Egypt’s president and has come to symbolize the close bond between businessmen and politicians.
The judge convicted Moustafa for conspiracy to murder the 30-year-old Suzanne Tamim and gave him 15 years in prison. The timing of the verdict came as a surprise because there had been no indication the retrial was ending and the defense still had more witnesses."

Read more...

Bombay high court admits Ajmal Kasab's appeal against death sentence - Mumbai - DNA

Bombay high court admits Ajmal Kasab's appeal against death sentence - Mumbai - DNA: "Bombay high court on Wednesday admitted the appeal filed by Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 22, against his conviction and the death sentence handed out to him for his role in the 26/11 terror attacks.
Saying that “substantial ground was made out,” justice Ranjana Desai and justice RV More condoned the delay in filing the appeal. The court said the appeal filed by Kasab will be heard along with the confirmation of his death sentence, referred to the high court by the trial court.
However, the question is whether the arguments in the case will be opened by the prosecution or the defence. The court will hear the case on a day-to-day basis, October 18 onwards. Kasab will follow both proceedings through video conferencing from Arthur Road jail.
Kasab’s advocate Amin Solkar told the court that Kasab’s conviction and death sentence should stay suspended until the high court confirms them."

Read more...

Pete Doherty charged with cocaine possession | Music | guardian.co.uk

Pete Doherty charged with cocaine possession | Music | guardian.co.uk: "Pete Doherty has been charged with cocaine possession following an inquiry into the 24 January death of Robyn Whitehead. Whitehead, a filmmaker who was making a documentary about Doherty, died of a drug overdose at a flat in Hackney.
Doherty was one of three men arrested yesterday in relation to an offence allegedly committed 'between 21 and 25 January', according to the Metropolitan police. Musician Peter 'Wolfman' Wolfe, 42, was charged with the supply and possession of cocaine, while Alan Wass, singer for the Lipstick Melodies, was charged with possession. All are free on bail pending an 18 October court date.
The Libertines' former frontman was first questioned in March about Whitehead's death. Whitehead, 27, had been working on Road to Albion, a film about Doherty, Babyshambles and the Libertines."

Read more...

Man facing death penalty linked to more murders

Man facing death penalty linked to more murders: "DNA evidence has linked a convicted murderer facing a possible death sentence in Virginia to two more killings in California committed 20 years ago.
The new evidence from a pair of unsolved killings in 1990 in Riverside County means that Alfredo Prieto has been now been linked to six killings and four rapes in Virginia and California between 1988 and 1990.
Jury selection is under way for a new sentencing trial in Fairfax County. Two juries have convicted Prieto and one sentenced him to death, but the Supreme Court of Virginia ordered a new sentencing because it said a verdict form was unclear.
Prieto was already on death row in California when he was extradited to Virginia in 2006 to stand trial on the rationale that Virginia was more likely to carry out a death sentence."

Read more...

Iranian-Canadian blogger may face death penalty

Iranian-Canadian blogger may face death penalty: "Derakhshan, often nicknamed the Iranian 'blogfather,' has been in an Iranian prison since he was arrested when he returned to that country on Nov. 1, 2008.
The charges against him include 'collaborating with enemy states, creating propaganda against the Islamic regime, insulting religious sanctity and creating propaganda for anti-revolutionary groups,' the organizations said in a statement.
His trial began three months ago. 'We know the Iranian government listens to outside voices -and it's vital that they hear our voices now,' CJFE president Arnold Amber said.
'The proposed sentence is a travesty. Action must be taken right away, because in Iran there is not necessarily a lengthy period before executions can be carried out."

Read more...