Death Penalty

The death penalty is very much in play in the Boston bomber case, even though Massachusetts is one of more than a dozen states without capital punishment. The surviving bombing suspect, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was charged today, not under state law, but under federal law for using a weapon of mass destruction and for malicious destruction of property resulting in death. The Justice Department said that, if convicted, Tsarnaev could face the federal death penalty. Although such executions are rare, there are 59 people on federal death row. The final decision to seek the ultimate penalty belongs to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, as was explained by Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, following Tsarnaev's capture Friday night.

KABONI SAVAGE, the convicted drug dealer facing the death penalty if also convicted of committing or ordering 12 murders, on Monday was portrayed by his attorneys and girlfriend as a good-natured man - even while threatening the girlfriend. It was the first day of the defense team's presentation of its case to the jury after federal prosecutors rested last week, capping 2 1/2 months of testimony. "We got a bond for life. I'd kill you before I let you go," Savage, 38, who is serving 30 years in federal prison for drug conspiracy, reportedly told Crystal Copeland during a phone call recorded by authorities.

Chester County District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan announced Thursday that his office would seek the death penalty against Shakeem L. Carter in the Feb. 12 slaying of Kevin Allen Jr., 17, in a North Coventry Township apartment. Carter, 20, of Norristown, was arrested Feb. 27 and charged with murder, abuse of corpse, robbery of $350, arson, and related offenses. The District Attorney's Office said Allen was stabbed 20 times in the head, back and neck, and his throat was slit and his body was set on fire.

WHENEVER the death penalty is debated, you are sure to hear opponents talking about the horrible possibility of an innocent person being killed. While I'd quibble with their numbers (there have been relatively few documented instances of wrongful executions), I'd agree that there is nothing more horrific, unjust or inhuman than a guiltless individual being forced to have his life taken from him. That reason alone should motivate each state legislature to seek a moratorium where it appears that the system doesn't afford the necessary levels of due process and equal access to competent legal representation.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - For James Holmes, "justice is death," prosecutors said Monday in announcing that they will seek his execution if he is convicted in the Colorado movie theater attack that killed 12 people. The decision - disclosed in court just days after prosecutors publicly rejected Holmes' offer to plead guilty if they took the death penalty off the table - elevated the already-sensational case to a new level and could cause it to drag on for years. "It's my determination and my intention that in this case, for James Eagan Holmes, justice is death," District Attorney George Brauchler said, adding that he had discussed the case with 60 people who lost relatives in the July 20 shooting rampage by a gunman in a gas mask and body armor during a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie.

DENVER - Prosecutors in the Colorado theater massacre case have rejected an offer from suspect James Holmes to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, saying the proposal can't be considered genuine because the defense has repeatedly refused to give them information needed to evaluate it. No plea agreement exists, prosecutors said in a scathing court document Thursday, and one "is extremely unlikely based on the present information available...

DOVER, Del. - The Delaware Senate narrowly approved a bill Tuesday repealing the death penalty. The 11-10 vote came after lengthy and sometimes emotional debate from lawmakers on both sides. Before debating, senators voted overwhelmingly to remove a provision to spare the lives of 17 killers on death row, a point of contention for some lawmakers. The measure, opposed by Attorney General Beau Biden, now goes to the House. Gov. Jack Markell has refused to say whether he favors it.  

Monday had the lowest high - 39 degrees - in more than a month, and the next two days could see overnight lows flirt with freezing in Philadelphia. But by Friday, it should begin to feel more like spring. Sunday and Monday could even see 60 - a mark hit only twice so far this dreary, snow-spattered month. Amazingly, this year's high of 68 happened Jan. 30. No wonder an Ohio prosecutor indicted Punxsutawney Phil for fraud , threatening to seek the death penalty. The groundhog was wrong again, predicting an early spring.

It's no secret that Punxsutawney Phil is a shadowy underworld figure. And yet it now looks like the dirty rat-cousin could burrow his way out of a possible death sentence in Ohio. A supposed higher-up in the Gobbler's Knob mob has stepped forward to be the fall (or winter and still-not-spring) guy. Police in Maryland, however, have yet to withdraw their "Suspect Wanted for Fraud" proclamation. Being a famous groundhog in Pennsylvania isn't such a warm and fuzzy deal anymore.

The pragmatic case that Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley made in getting his state to join the growing number repealing the death penalty should also appeal to Gov. Corbett and his Republican colleagues in Harrisburg. "Capital punishment is expensive, and the overwhelming evidence tells us that it does not work as a deterrent," O'Malley said after the Maryland General Assembly's vote last week to repeal capital punishment. It became the sixth state in recent years to scrap executions, following the progressive example of New Jersey by instead providing life sentences without the possibility of parole in capital cases.