Judge sets 2024 trial date for man charged in fatal shooting of Richmond police officer
A judge has set a 2024 trial date for a man charged in the killing of an eastern Indiana police officer who was shot during a traffic stop last year.
Death Penalty
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Indiana jail inmate charged with murder in Marion Co. deputy’s strangulation death
A jail inmate accused of killing a sheriff’s deputy in Indianapolis during an escape attempt while he was being moved in a van was charged Thursday with murder, and prosecutors said they are seeking the death penalty against him.
Gunman who killed 11 people in Pittsburgh synagogue found eligible for the death penalty
The gunman who killed 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury announced Thursday, setting the stage for further evidence and testimony on whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison.
Texas gunman in Walmart shooting gets 90 consecutive life sentences, may still face death penalty
A white gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack on Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in a Texas border city was sentenced Friday to 90 consecutive life sentences but could still face more punishment, including the death penalty.
Prosecutors seek death penalty against man accused of slaying 4 University of Idaho students
Prosecutors say they are seeking the death penalty against a man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death late last year.
Judge allows suspect in Indianapolis officer’s fatal shooting to seek insanity defense
A man charged with fatally shooting an Indianapolis police officer when she responded to a domestic violence call in 2020 will be allowed to seek insanity as a defense as he tries to avoid the death penalty.
US Supreme Court sides with Alabama inmate who seeks to die by nitrogen hypoxia
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with an Alabama death row inmate who had his lethal injection called off at the last minute in November and argues he should be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia when he is ultimately executed.
Officials move inmate stuck on US death row for years
Prison officials this week moved a former drug dealer convicted of killing a 16-year-old Texas girl off federal death row to serve a life sentence in another prison amid criticism that he should have been moved years ago,
Man pleads guilty to killing 2 outside Frankfort factory
A man charged with killing a former girlfriend and her grandmother outside an Indiana factory in 2021 has pleaded guilty in a deal that takes a possible death penalty off the table, authorities said.
Inmate stuck on US death row despite vacated death sentence
When the U.S. prisons director visited the penitentiary in Terre Haute, this past week, she stopped by the federal death row where Bruce Webster is in a solitary, 12-by-7-foot cell, 23 hours a day. Webster’s not supposed to be there.
New book profiles Paula Cooper death penalty case; author hosts Q&A
A story of a teen girl sentenced to death garnered international headlines and, after extensive interviews and research, is now being told through a new book, “Seventy Times Seven.”
Why are firing squads for US executions being debated?
The image of gunmen in a row firing in unison into the chest of a condemned prisoner may conjure up a bygone, less enlightened era. But the idea of using firing squads is making a comeback.
What’s the status of the US death penalty?
The first federal capital case tried under President Joe Biden ended with a split among jurors that means the life of an Islamic extremist who killed eight people in a New York City will be spared. It came at a rare federal death penalty trial in a state without the death penalty.
SCOTUS rules for Arizona inmate in death penalty case
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled Wednesday for a man on Arizona’s death row who wants a new sentencing hearing because jurors in his case were wrongly told that the only way to ensure he would never walk free was to sentence him to death.
Florida could end unanimous jury requirement for executions
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers proposed legislation making it easier to send convicts to death row by eliminating a unanimous jury requirement in capital punishment sentencing.
EXPLAINER: Biden inaction, mixed signals on death penalty
President Joe Biden campaigned on a pledge to work toward abolishing federal capital punishment but has taken no major steps to that end.
US Supreme Court won’t hear appeals from ‘Wichita massacre’
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear the appeals of two brothers who were sentenced to death for four fatal shootings on a Kansas soccer field in December 2000 known as “the Wichita massacre.”
Suspect in killing of Richmond police officer seeks to represent himself
A man facing a death penalty charge in the fatal shooting of an Indiana police officer has asked a judge to represent himself, and his appointed attorney wants to withdraw from the case.
Buffalo gunman pleads guilty in racist supermarket massacre
The white gunman who massacred 10 Black shoppers and workers at a Buffalo supermarket pleaded guilty Monday to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges, guaranteeing he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Death sentence sought for man accused of killing Richmond officer
A prosecutor wants the death penalty for a man charged with killing a Richmond police officer.