Sunday October 21, 2007 5:31 AM

By MARK SHERMAN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Stop executions for a while and perhaps they can be stopped forever. That calculation has been part of the strategy of capital punishment opponents for decades.

The Supreme Court-inspired slowdown in executions offers the first nationwide opportunity in 20-plus years to test whether the absence of regularly scheduled executions will lead some states to abandon the death penalty and change public attitudes about capital punishment.

A total of 99 countries voted for a suspension of capital punishment worldwide, while 52 voted against and 33 abstained.

Although the vote is not legally binding, human rights groups say it is a significant demonstration of worldwide opinion.

Some 130 countries have already outlawed the practice.

A hearing in which attorneys for convicted US murderer Charles Dean Hood will raise conflict of interest concerns involving the judge that sentenced him to death has been scheduled for two days after Hood is to be executed, one of his attorneys said.

Hood's attorneys have asked the court "to move up the hearing date as evidence gathered from it could serve as a basis for a clemency application," Greg Wiercioch, with the Texas Defender Service, said in a statement.

Hood, 39, was sentenced to died in 1990 for the 1989 murder of his boss and his boss's girlfriend.

Hood's fingerprints were found at the crime scene, and Hood was arrested driving the car that belonged to the victims.

He also had some of their jewels, credit cards and clothing.

Texas Judge Verla Sue Holland sentenced Hood to death - but according to information that surfaced in June, Ms Holland at the time was having a romantic relationship with Thomas O'Connell, the prosecutor handling the case.

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Gus: no love lost here... The death penalty is still abhorrent.

Washington prison doctor quits over death penalty

The top doctor in the Washington Department of Corrections has resigned, saying the use of medical staff to prepare for an execution is unethical.

By Adam Wilson

The Olympian

The state Department of Corrections' top medical officer has resigned, saying that the use of staff members to prepare for an execution is unethical.

Dr. Marc Stern, who lives in Olympia, said the American Medical Association and Society of Correctional Physicians oppose physician involvement in executions, "and they say physicians should not supervise somebody who is involved in executions."

"The only way out we found was for me to recuse myself, and the only way I could recuse myself was to resign," he said.

Citing Cost, States Consider Halting Death Penalty

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — When Gov. Martin O’Malley appeared before the Maryland Senate last week, he made an unconventional argument that is becoming increasingly popular in cash-strapped states: abolish the death penalty to cut costs.

Mr. O’Malley, a Democrat and a Roman Catholic who has cited religious opposition to the death penalty in the past, is now arguing that capital cases cost three times as much as homicide cases where the death penalty is not sought. “And we can’t afford that,” he said, “when there are better and cheaper ways to reduce crime.”

Lawmakers in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and New Hampshire have made the same argument in recent months as they push bills seeking to repeal the death penalty, and experts say such bills have a good chance of passing in Maryland, Montana and New Mexico.

A prominent judge in Texas has gone on trial accused of refusing to let lawyers for a convicted murderer on death row lodge a last-minute appeal.

Sharon Keller is charged with professional misconduct.

The prisoner, Michael Wayne Richard, was put to death hours after she allegedly shut the court, despite being told an appeal was imminent.

Half of all executions in the US last year were in Texas where critics have dubbed Judge Keller "Sharon Killer".

She is known for her tough stance on the death penalty.

Just hours before his scheduled execution in September 2007, lawyers for Richard tried to lodge an appeal with Judge Keller, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Their efforts were delayed by computer glitches and when they phoned the court to request extra time, they say they were told court closes at 5pm.

Richard, convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a woman 20 years ago, was put to death by lethal injection some three hours later. He became the 26th person to be executed in Texas that year.

'Confusion'

His lawyers allege that Judge Keller deliberately ordered the courthouse to close at 5pm, knowing a last-minute appeal was imminent.

The execution of a prisoner in the US state of Ohio has been delayed for a week after jail officials had problems finding the condemned man's veins.

The execution team struggled for two hours to locate veins of convicted murderer and rapist Romell Broom to inject lethal chemicals via IV tubes.

Broom's lawyer demanded the procedure be stopped, describing it as "cruel".

The week-long reprieve for Broom, aged 53, was later ordered by Ohio Governor Ted Strickland.

It is the first time that an Ohio governor has issued a similar last-minute reprieve since the state resumed executions in 1999.

Ohio has executed 32 inmates since then. Several executions were delayed for at least an hour because officials had failed to properly attach IV (intravenous) tubes for the lethal injection.

Romell Broom has been sentenced to die for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Tryna Middleton in 1984.

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The death penalty is abohrent... The US should wake up...

Even in Texas they are having their doubts. The state that executes more people than any other by far – it will account for half the prisoners sent to the death chamber in the US this year – is seeing its once rock-solid faith in capital punishment shaken by overturned convictions, judicial scandals and growing evidence that at least one innocent man has been executed.

The growth of DNA forensic evidence has seen nearly 140 death row convictions overturned across the US, prompting abolition and moratoriums in other states that Texas has so far resisted.

But the public mood is swinging in the conservative state, which often seems to have an Old Testament view of justice. A former governor, Mark White – previously a strong supporter of the death penalty – has joined those calling for a reconsideration of capital punishment because of the risk of executing an innocent person.

The number of death sentences passed by juries in Texas has fallen sharply in recent years, reflecting a retreat from capital punishment in many parts of America after DNA evidence led to the release of scores of condemned prisoners.

The number of death sentences passed annually in the US has dropped by about 60% in the past decade, to around 100.

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The death penalty is abohrent... The US should wake up...

Russia's ban on the death penalty will remain when a current legal suspension expires on 1 January, the country's Constitutional Court has ruled.

It said the use of the death penalty was now impossible because Russia had signed international deals banning it.

Russian announced the moratorium in 1996 when it joined the Council of Europe, although it retains capital punishment in its criminal code.

Opinion polls suggest that a majority of Russians back the death penalty.

One recent survey showed that two-thirds of Russians backed the measure.

It said that one in four was against it, mainly because of the possibility that judges would make mistakes.

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The death penalty is abohrent... The US should wake up...

From Unleashed

"Such an ambiguous position on the death penalty by the Australian Government risks undermining Australia's standing on the issue. If Australia recognises that the imposition of the death penalty is a violation of international human rights, then this position must be argued and applied in all circumstances, not selectively applied only to Australian citizens abroad."

The death penalty is abohrent... The US should lead the way. Australia should not be ambiguous...

A Liberal senator has used the permanent abolition of the death penalty in Australia to call for Indonesia to spare the lives of members of the Bali Nine, saying the use of capital punishment is not reflective of a civilised society.

The federal parliament today passed laws that ensure the death penalty can never be reintroduced by any state or territory in Australia.

Both sides of politics supported the move, which is seen as largely symbolic.

But ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries used the development to call on the Indonesian government to waive the application of the death penalty in the case of the Bali Nine.

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Gus: Congratulations! Australia is now a death penalty free country forever... May we mention the USA in the same breath as Indonesia...

Death penalty use to be reconsidered

China is said to be reconsidering its executions policy in light of international dismay at the draconian range of offences for which the death penalty is used.
According to the South Weekend newspaper, the country's highest legislative body is considering amending the law next month to place strict limits on use of the penalty.

There are currently 68 crimes in China that can result in execution, including credit card fraud and bigamy. The body is expected to consider whether the elderly should face the ultimate penalty. A legal scholar quoted in the article says the practice has damaged China's image.

China does not publish execution statistics, but human rights groups say it executes thousands of people every year. However, the government claims the number has dropped in recent years.

It is a tribute to one of the 20th century's most renowned protests: a mural facing the railway tracks in Newtown showing two black medallists giving a defiant raised-fist salute at the 1968 Olympics, and the Australian athlete Peter Norman who stood proudly beside them.

A fight is now on to save the mural as the state government considers demolishing the house it is painted on, and its neighbours, to build a rail tunnel.

Last night the City of Sydney endorsed a motion by Labor councillor Meredith Burgmann to have the mural, known as ''Three Proud People'', placed on the local heritage register. Cr Burgmann said she hoped the mural, and the terraces, could be saved. ''It's certainly an iconic part of Newtown,'' she said.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/last-stand-for-newtowns-three-proud-people-20100726-10smr.html