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
- MAY 28, 2010FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. A jury sentenced Doug Matthews to death
USA - Florida. A jury sentenced Doug Matthews to death
- MAY 28, 2010PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. A jury sentenced Maurice Patterson to death
USA - Pennsylvania. A jury sentenced Maurice Patterson to death
- MAY 28, 2010WashingtonDEATH PENALTY
USA - Washington. Judge Gregory Canova formally imposed the death penalty on Conner Schierman.
USA - Washington. Judge Gregory Canova formally imposed the death penalty on Conner Schierman.
- MAY 27, 2010TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Blaine Keith Milam to death
USA - Texas. A jury sentenced Blaine Keith Milam to death
- MAY 26, 2010KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: DEATH PENALTY FOR A WOMAN WHO KILLED 57 PEOPLE
The Kuwaiti appeals court confirmed a death sentence against a woman convicted
MAY 26, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: TIBETAN GETS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR RIOTS
the Lhasa Intermediate People’s Court in China sentenced Tibetan Sonam Tsering
- MAY 25, 2010FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. A jury sentenced Richard T. Robards to death
USA - Florida. A jury sentenced Richard T. Robards to death
- MAY 24, 2010ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Arizona. A jury sentenced Steven John Parker to death
USA - Arizona. A jury sentenced Steven John Parker to death
- MAY 22, 2010PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: DEATH FOR FIVE FOR KIDNAPPING
a Pakistani anti-terrorism court sentenced Ikram Shah
- MAY 21, 2010North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
USA - North Carolina. A jury sentenced Michael Ryan to death
USA - North Carolina. A jury sentenced Michael Ryan to death
- MAY 20, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA OFFICIAL GETS SUSPENDED DEATH SENTENCE FOR GRAFT
a former top official at China's commerce ministry was given a suspended death sentence for graft including taking bribes from electronics giant GOME, state media said.
MAY 20, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: SENTENCE FOR RAPE-MURDER COMMUTED
in a landmark judgment, the Gauhati High Court in India commuted the death sentence
- MAY 19, 2010Congo - KinshasaDEATH PENALTY
DRC: REBELS GET DEATH SENTENCES FOR MBANDAKA ATTACK
eleven militia members were sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for
- MAY 18, 2010YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN COURT SENTENCES SIX SOMALI PIRATES TO DEATH
a Yemeni court sentenced six Somali pirates to death for hijacking a Yemeni oil tanker that departed from Al-Mukalla port and killing two cabin crew on April 26, 2009.
MAY 18, 2010IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 62 AL QAEDA MEN GET DEATH SENTENCE
an Iraqi court awarded death sentence to 62 people linked to
MAY 18, 2010Palestinian TerritoriesDEATH PENALTYGAZA: HAMAS 'EXECUTES THREE FOR MURDER'
the Palestinian movement Hamas executed three men convicted of murder in its Gaza enclave, the interior ministry said in a statement.
- MAY 16, 2010United Arab EmiratesDEATH PENALTY
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: SIX FREED AFTER BANGLADESH PAYS BLOOD MONEY
six Bangladeshi workers sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates three years ago returned home after the Bangladeshi government paid blood money to secure their release.
MAY 16, 2010IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: STUDENT’S DEATH SENTENCE FOR THROWING ROCKS REVERSED
in Iran, Tehran’s Prosecutor General, Abbas Jaafari Dowlatabadi, announced that the death sentence
- MAY 15, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTY
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA FOR SCHOOL ATTACK
a court in eastern China sentenced unemployed man Xu Yuyuan to death for knifing 29 children and three adults with a meat cleaver at a kindergarten at Zhongxin nursery school in Taixing city on April 29, 2010.
- MAY 14, 2010BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: 2 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
at a court in Grodno, Belarus, judge Pyotr Bandyk sentenced Aleg Gryshkautsou (29) and Andrei Burdyka (28), to death for the October murder of two women and a man during an armed robbery.
- MAY 12, 2010IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER
in Pune, India, Additional Sessions judge U S Thakare sentenced Sandesh, alias Sainath Kailash Abhang...
- MAY 12, 2010PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Pennsylvania. Judge Joseph Augello has ruled that George Banks is incompetent and therefore cannot be executed
USA - Pennsylvania. Judge Joseph Augello has ruled that George Banks is incompetent and therefore cannot be executed
MAY 12, 2010ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: TWO DRUG DEALERS SENTENCED TO DEATH
Two drug traffickers have been sentenced to death for dealing large amounts of crystal methamphetamine, or "ice", in east China's Zhejiang Province, sources with the local court said.
MAY 12, 2010MalaysiaDEATH PENALTYMALAYSIA: CONTRACTOR TO HANG FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Malaysian High Court judge Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy sentenced freelance contractor Cheah
- MAY 12, 2010CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. A jury has recommended the death penalty for Aaron Dunn
USA - California. A jury has recommended the death penalty for Aaron Dunn
- MAY 11, 2010OhioDEATH PENALTY
USA - Ohio. A jury has sentenced Charles Cunningham to death
USA - Ohio. A jury has sentenced Charles Cunningham to death
- MAY 10, 2010OregonDEATH PENALTY
USA - Oregon. A jury sentenced Mike Spencer Washington Jr., to death.
USA - Oregon. A jury sentenced Mike Spencer Washington Jr., to death.
- MAY 7, 2010MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: COURT SENTENCES FOUR TO HANG FOR MURDER OF INDIAN NATIONAL
judicial commissioner Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid of the Malaysian sessions court sentenced four men to hang for the murder of an Indian national.
- MAY 7, 2010UgandaDEATH PENALTY
TWO YOUTHS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN UGANDA
Justice Caroline Atima Okello of the High Court, sitting in Apac district, Uganda, sentenced Moses Otim, 23, to death for the armed robbery and murder of Alex Ongom on October, 1, 2005.
- MAY 7, 2010JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Aandre Reid, alias 'Chadwick Gordon', was sentenced to death by High Court Justice Gloria Smith in Jamaica for robbing, raping and murdering two women.