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
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2008DelawareDEATH PENALTY
USA - Delaware. Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady sentenced Shannon M. Johnson to death
USA - Delaware. Superior Court Judge M. Jane Brady sentenced Shannon M. Johnson to death
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2008TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Gene Hathorn has asked for his body to be turned into fish food and fed to goldfish
USA - Texas. Gene Hathorn has asked for his body to be turned into fish food and fed to goldfish
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2008IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
a total of 52 inmates of prisons on Nusakambangan island, off the Cilacap coast in Indonesia
a total of 52 inmates of prisons on Nusakambangan island, off the Cilacap coast in Indonesia
- SEPTEMBER 1, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
a Chinese court sentenced a 28-year-old man to death for killing six policemen
a Chinese court sentenced a 28-year-old man to death for killing six policemen
- AUGUST 29, 2008IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIA. MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR DRUG PEDDLING
in only the second case of its kind in Ahmedabad state, a man was sentenced to death by a Nadiad
- AUGUST 29, 2008IndiaDEATH PENALTY
a man in India was sentenced to death by a court for murdering a woman
a man in India was sentenced to death by a court for murdering a woman
- AUGUST 28, 2008Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTY
activists accused the government of Sierra Leone of failing...
activists accused the government of Sierra Leone of failing...
- AUGUST 28, 2008FloridaDEATH PENALTY
USA - Florida. A Flagler County jury voted 9-3 to recommend that Cornelius Baker be executed
USA - Florida. A Flagler County jury voted 9-3 to recommend that Cornelius Baker be executed
- AUGUST 27, 2008IdahoDEATH PENALTY
USA - Idaho. Joseph Edward Duncan III has been sentenced to death
USA - Idaho. Joseph Edward Duncan III has been sentenced to death
- AUGUST 27, 2008VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court in Vietnam sentenced two people to death for buying and selling nearly 1.7 kilograms of heroin in 2005.
- AUGUST 27, 2008CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. A Los Angeles jury today voted for the death penalty for Timothy Joseph McGhee
USA - California. A Los Angeles jury today voted for the death penalty for Timothy Joseph McGhee
- AUGUST 26, 2008BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
BOTSWANA MURDER TRIAL SEES DEATH SENTENCE
a Botswana court sentenced one local to execution and two South African men to 18 years imprisonment each for the murder of a businesswoman seven years ago, court documents said
- AUGUST 23, 2008NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA: MAN WITH 80 WIVES SENTENCED TO DEATH
an Islamic body in Nigeria issued a death sentence on a man who married 80 women when Islam allows a maximum of four, the Guardian newspaper reported.
- AUGUST 22, 2008MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR UNEMPLOYED MAN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER
the Malaysian High Court sentenced an unemployed man who was found guilty of killing a food trader 11 years ago to death.
- AUGUST 22, 2008CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - California. Michael Lamb, a white supremacist gang member, was sentenced to death
USA - California. Michael Lamb, a white supremacist gang member, was sentenced to death
- AUGUST 20, 2008BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: TWO TO WALK GALLOWS IN BAGERHAT, GAZIPUR
two men were sentenced to death in separate cases by two courts in Bagerhat and Gazipur districts in Bangladesh
- AUGUST 20, 2008SudanDEATH PENALTY
SUDAN CONDEMNS 12 DARFUR REBELS TO DEATH
a Sudanese court sentenced to death 12 alleged Darfur rebels, bringing to 50 the number condemned to hang over an attack on Khartoum and defying criticism from Amnesty International.
- AUGUST 20, 2008IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ. FORMER MINISTER SENTENCED TO DEATH
a former Iraqi cabinet minister was sentenced to death for ordering
- AUGUST 19, 2008BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: 7 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERS
a special court in Narsingdi district in Bangladesh handed down death sentences to seven people for the murder of six people of a family.
- AUGUST 19, 2008IranDEATH PENALTY
IRANIAN FACES HANGING FOR MURDER COMMITTED AS MINOR
Kargozaran newspaper said that Iran’s judiciary has approved the death sentence for a young man who committed murder as a minor.
- AUGUST 19, 2008PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: MAN AWARDED DEATH FOR KILLING HIS UNCLE
a judge at the District and Sessions Court in Mithi, Tharparkar district in Pakistan, awarded the death sentence to a man for killing his uncle in February 2007.
- AUGUST 18, 2008JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
JAMAICA: 25 YO MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DOUBLE MURDER
twenty five year old August Town fisherman Junior 'Simple' Campbell of Jamaica was sentenced to death for the murder of a couple within his volatile St Andrew community three years ago.
- AUGUST 17, 2008SudanDEATH PENALTY
SUDAN CONDEMNS LEADING DARFUR REBEL TO DEATH
a Sudanese court sentenced a top Darfur rebel and seven others to death, bringing to 38 the number condemned to hang over an unprecedented attack on Khartoum that killed more than 222 people
- AUGUST 15, 2008ChadDEATH PENALTY
EXILED FORMER PRESIDENT GETS DEATH SENTENCE IN CHAD
a Chadian criminal court condemned exiled former president Hissene Habre to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, judicial officials said.
- AUGUST 15, 2008BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
BOTSWANA. KEGANNE SENTENCED TO DEATH
in Botswana, Benson Keganne was sentenced to death by Lobatse High Court Judge David Newman for the murder of a Pitsane woman, Gloria Mahowe, in 2001.
- AUGUST 15, 2008Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: 52 ESCAPE DEATH ROW
fifty-two people in Trinidad & Tobago convicted of murder had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment after Justice Nolan Bereaux at the Port-of-Spain High Court ruled in favour of a Constitutional motion brought by the prisoners, that they be
- AUGUST 14, 2008ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: SHANGHAI OFFICIAL GETS DEATH SENTENCE FOR BRIBERY
a former land use official in Shanghai, China, was sentenced to death in an investigation into bribe-taking in return for real estate approvals.
- AUGUST 13, 2008BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH: MAN AWARDED DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING WIFE IN BHOLA
a court in Bangladesh sentenced a man to death and also fined him Tk 25,000 for killing his wife two years ago.
- AUGUST 13, 2008CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
USA - A San Bernardino jury recommended the death penalty for Luis Alonzo Mendoza and Lorenzo Inez Arias
USA - A San Bernardino jury recommended the death penalty for Luis Alonzo Mendoza and Lorenzo Inez Arias
- AUGUST 12, 2008IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: KURDISH STUDENT SENTENCED TO DEATH
an Iranian court sentenced to death a Kurdish student, Habibollah Latifi, his lawyer Nemat Ahmadi announced.