Death sentences
Archive theme
A death sentence is not the same thing as an execution: years can pass between the two, and the sentence may be overturned on appeal, commuted, or never carried out. Counting them separately measures two different things: how far a state resorts to capital punishment, and how far it actually applies it.
This page collects the news on death sentences handed down around the world, on the later stages of appeal, and on the sentences upheld or overturned. Executions have a page of their own.
Latest news
- MARCH 2, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: CONVICTS ON DEATH ROW NOT TO BE KEPT IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT: HC
from now, convicts facing the death penalty and confined in various jails of Punjab, Haryana and UT, Chandigarh in India must not be kept in solitary confinement.
- FEBRUARY 28, 2011PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE, FINE
in Pakistan, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sohail Ikram sentenced Muhammad Shabbir to death and fined him Rs 100,000 for stabbing Muhammad Ashraf to death over a minor domestic dispute on August 1, 2009.
- FEBRUARY 28, 2011KenyaDEATH PENALTY
KENYA: RUIRU TRADER TO HANG FOR KILLING HUSBAND
businesswoman Ann Wambui was sentenced to death by Kenyan High Court judge Jessi Lessit for stabbing her husband Joseph Kahari to death in a domestic quarrel on June 22, 2006, at Gitabaya village in Ruiru.
- FEBRUARY 28, 2011PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. U.S. District Judge C. Darnell Jones II has set aside the death sentence and 1st-degree murder conviction of Frank Chester, 42, white
USA - Pennsylvania. U.S. District Judge C. Darnell Jones II has set aside the death sentence and 1st-degree murder conviction of Frank Chester, 42, white
- FEBRUARY 28, 2011ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. A Maricopa County jury sentenced Johnathan Ian Burns, 29, white, to death
USA - Arizona. A Maricopa County jury sentenced Johnathan Ian Burns, 29, white, to death
- FEBRUARY 27, 2011PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: DEATH SENTENCE
in Attock, Pakistan, Additional district and sessions Judge of Fatehjang sentenced Mumraiz Khan to death and fined him Rs200,000 in a murder case.
- FEBRUARY 25, 2011OhioDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ohio. A 3-judge panel has sentenced Denny Obermiller, 29, white, to death
USA - Ohio. A 3-judge panel has sentenced Denny Obermiller, 29, white, to death
- FEBRUARY 24, 2011OregonDEATH PENALTY
USA - Oregon. A jury sentenced Angela McAnulty, 42, white, to death
USA - Oregon. A jury sentenced Angela McAnulty, 42, white, to death
- FEBRUARY 23, 2011ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND: 4 POLICEMEN GET DEATH SENTENCE
the Thai Criminal Court sentenced four policemen to death on drug trafficking charges.
- FEBRUARY 23, 2011DelawareDEATH PENALTY
USA - Delaware. A jury sentenced Derrick Powell, 24, black, to death
USA - Delaware. A jury sentenced Derrick Powell, 24, black, to death
- FEBRUARY 22, 2011ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. A jury sentenced Shawna Forde, 43, white, to death
USA - Arizona. A jury sentenced Shawna Forde, 43, white, to death
FEBRUARY 20, 2011YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: SEVEN SENTENCED TO DEATH
Judge Abdu al-Awadhi of the Specialised Penal Court in Yemen's Hadramout province
- FEBRUARY 18, 2011IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF CHILD IN JAMSHEDPUR
in Jamshedpur, India, Additional district and sessions judge BK Sinha sentenced Sanjay...
- FEBRUARY 18, 2011North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
USA - North Carolina. Judge Orlando Hudson commuted Isaac Jackson Stroud's death sentence, replacing it with a life sentence
USA - North Carolina. Judge Orlando Hudson commuted Isaac Jackson Stroud's death sentence, replacing it with a life sentence
- FEBRUARY 18, 2011FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Polk County jury recommended death for Leon Davis, 33.
USA - Florida. Polk County jury recommended death for Leon Davis, 33.
FEBRUARY 18, 2011LebanonDEATH PENALTYLEBANON: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SPYING FOR ISRAEL
a Lebanese military court convicted a man of spying for Israel and sentenced
- FEBRUARY 17, 2011UtahDEATH PENALTY
USA - Utah. The Senate passed bill HB202 that would speed the process for appealing death sentences
USA - Utah. The Senate passed bill HB202 that would speed the process for appealing death sentences
- FEBRUARY 17, 2011AlabamaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Alabama. Judge Rusty Johnston today sentenced Michael Woolf, 32, white, to death
USA - Alabama. Judge Rusty Johnston today sentenced Michael Woolf, 32, white, to death
- FEBRUARY 17, 2011FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. Judge Nickolas Geeker sentenced Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 36, to death twice
USA - Florida. Judge Nickolas Geeker sentenced Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr., 36, to death twice
- FEBRUARY 15, 2011United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: MAN TO BE EXECUTED FOR MURDER
the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, sentenced a man identified
- FEBRUARY 15, 2011PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: TWO AWARDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER
in Pakistan, Jameel Ahmed Ch sentenced Muhammad Ashraf and Nasir Mehmood to death and fined them rupees one lakh each for murdering taxi driver Waheed Ahmed by electrocution
FEBRUARY 15, 2011BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: SUPREME COURT CONFIRMS DEATH SENTENCE
“I am deeply disappointed and concerned by the decision taken on Friday (February
- FEBRUARY 14, 2011GambiaDEATH PENALTY
GAMBIA: SEPTUAGENARIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERING WIFE
Sheriff Abba Hydara, 71, from Bakallar Village in the Upper Niumi District of The
- FEBRUARY 11, 2011PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: DEATH FOR THREE IN RAPE, MURDER
in Pakistan, Additional District and Sessions Judge Sardar Tahir sentenced Khalid, Khurrum and Khushbakht to death for the murder and rape of a seven-year-old girl, Asia, in Saidpur in 2006. The court also sentenced them to life imprisonment and fined the
- FEBRUARY 10, 2011NevadaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Nevada. Ronnie Milligan, who sat on death row for 30 years, has been granted parole
USA - Nevada. Ronnie Milligan, who sat on death row for 30 years, has been granted parole
- FEBRUARY 10, 2011TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
TAIWAN: TOP COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH
Chen Ruei-chin was sentenced to death by the Taiwanese supreme court for the death of three adults and three children from 1983 to 2003, two of whom were his former wives and three were children born to his first wife.
- FEBRUARY 10, 2011FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Montana. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-5 in favor of SB 185 replacing the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole
USA - Montana. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 7-5 in favor of SB 185 replacing the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole
- FEBRUARY 9, 2011St. LuciaDEATH PENALTY
ST LUCIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING POLICEMAN
in St Lucia, High Court Judge Kenneth Benjamin sentenced Michel ‘Bage’ Joseph
- FEBRUARY 8, 2011EgyptDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: TEENAGE AWAITS 'DEATH OR LIFE' IN SAUDI
an Egyptian boy who was sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for murdering a girl hopes the victim’s family might pardon him. In 2004, Ahmed was arrested by police in the eastern town of Dammam for stabbing the three-year-old Egyptian girl, Walaa, 30 times.
- FEBRUARY 3, 2011United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. A jury voted to recommend that Brandon Rolle, 26, black, be executed
USA - Florida. A jury voted to recommend that Brandon Rolle, 26, black, be executed