Kim Kardashian is being sued for incorrectly identifying a New York man as a Texas man on death row.
The reality star’s attorney chalked it up as a “simple mistake,” but the pending lawsuit claims the harm was real.
Kardashian shared a social media post with her 358 million followers to bring attention to the case of Ivan Cantu, a death row inmate who was convicted of murdering his cousin and his cousin&#8217;s fiancée in 2000. He was sentenced to death after being found guilty in 2001 and was executed on February 28, 2024. 
However, according to NBC News, the celeb erroneously <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kim-kardashian-sued-mistakenly-iding-new-york-man-texas-death-row-inma-rcna193443">used</a> an image of a man with the same name currently living in Westchester, New York.  
The original post shows a black-and-white photo of the wrong Cantu with the text, &#8220;The State will execute Ivan Cantu in 2 days. Please sign the petition to demand that Colin County DA Greg Willis request to withdraw the execution date.&#8221; Below the caption was a link to a moveon.org petition.
A civil complaint alleging “hatred, contempt, and/or ridicule” was filed Thursday with the Los Angeles Superior Court.
&#8220;Kardashian published and disseminated false information about Cantu that was clearly untrue, erroneous, unfounded, shocking, scandalous, degrading, disgraceful, and/or shameful,&#8221; it says, claiming that Cantu has since experienced emotional damage, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and &#8220;loss of reputation.&#8221;
He is suing for libel, slander, emotional distress, and invasion of privacy, representing him in a false light and negligence, the outlet noted, and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Cantu’s lawyer, Greg Sobo, issued a statement blaming social media for causing harm to his client. 
&#8220;For too long, we have seen social media cause devastating injuries to innocent victims,&#8221; the attorney said in a statement, per <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/02/24/kim-kardashian-sued-ivan-cantu-texas-execution/80050638007/">USA Today</a>. &#8220;Social media is too often abused to bully the innocent, incite harm, and injure our communities. Just like those who cause physical harm should be held accountable, those who cause injuries to innocent victims through social media must also be held responsible.&#8221;
“This litigation will demonstrate that Mr Cantu is a very private family man with two daughters,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;At the time Kim Kardashian defamed his reputation, he was grieving a very private family loss.&#8221;
&#8220;As a result of the Kardashian abuse, Mr. Cantu’s privacy was destroyed at a most critical and sensitive time, and he has suffered very real trauma that will last a lifetime,&#8221; Sobo added, mentioning they had reached out to the celebrity’s team before filing the lawsuit.
&#8220;The image was taken down almost immediately once the error was discovered,&#8221; Kardashian’s attorney Michael Rhodes said in a statement. He said he would prefer to settle out of court but would defend his client at trial if necessary.

Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian Sued By NY Man She Incorrectly Identified As Death Row Inmate

Courts

Death Row

Lawsuit

U.S.

Two men sitting on death row refuse to sign the paperwork that would have their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment, which President Joe Biden ordered. The two men filed emergency motions to block their commutations, as they said such an action would deprive them of efforts to prove their innocence.
Shannon Agofsky, 53, and Len Davis, 60, are sitting on death row at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
&#8220;To commute his sentence now, while the defendant has active litigation in court, is to strip him of the protection of heightened scrutiny. This constitutes an undue burden, and leaves the defendant in a position of fundamental unfairness, which would decimate his pending appellate procedures,” Agofsky&#8217;s motion states, according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-death-row-inmates-reject-bidens-commutation-life-sentences-rcna186235" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>.
Davis “has always maintained that having a death sentence would draw attention to the overwhelming misconduct” allegedly taken by the Justice Department, his motion states.
On October 6, 1989, Agofsky, then 18 years old, and his brother Joseph, 23,  kidnapped Oklahoma bank president Dan Short from his home in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas, “Short was then gagged and tied up with duct tape, bound to a chair, weighed down with a concrete block and chain hoist, and thrown off Cowskin Bridge into Grand Lake. Officials said Short was still alive when he went into the lake,” FourStatesHomePage <a href="https://www.fourstateshomepage.com/news/shannon-agofskys-death-sentenced-commuted/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>. The brothers received life sentences; Joseph died in a North Carolina prison in 2013. Shannon Agrofsky was later given a death sentence for the 2004 stomping death of an inmate at the federal prison in Beaumont, Texas.
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Davis, a former New Orleans police officer, was convicted of orchestrating the murder of Kim Groves, a mother of three children, who had filed a complaint against him that said he had beaten up a teenager. A fellow officer informed Davis of Groves’ complaint against him, which she filed with Internal Affairs. “FBI tapes, obtained after Davis allegedly was hired as a muscleman in a bogus drug ring run by undercover federal agents, showed Davis exultant after Hardy told him Groves was dead,” NOLA <a href="https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_72b8b9a4-059a-5b2c-8ee5-252c398925d1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“A <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/274/480/">1927 </a><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/274/480/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Sup</a><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/274/480/">r</a><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/274/480/">eme Court r</a><a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/274/480/">uling</a>, for example, maintains that a president has the power to grant reprieves and pardons, and &#8216;the convict&#8217;s consent is not required,&#8217;” NBC News reported.
The Office of the Independent Police Monitor in New Orleans stated that Biden’s commutation of Davis&#8217; death sentence is “a painful reminder that justice is not always served as it should be. In this action, President Biden showed more mercy for Davis than this corrupt officer ever showed for Kim Groves, her children and family, and the people of New Orleans.”

U.S.-WASHINGTON, D.C.-BIDEN-JAPAN-NIPPON STEEL-U.S. STEEL-LAWSUIT

2 Death Row Inmates Reject Biden’s Commutation Of Their Sentences

Commutation

Death sentence

Executive

Joe Biden

Politics

On Tuesday, his last day in office, North Carolina Democrat Governor Roy Cooper, emulating President Joe Biden, commuted the sentences of 15 men on death row to life imprisonment.
Cooper was succeeded by Democrat Josh Stein on Wednesday. Last week, President Joe Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of 40 inmates on federal death row.
“These reviews are among the most difficult decisions a Governor can make and the death penalty is the most severe sentence that the state can impose,” Cooper said in a <a href="https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/12/31/governor-cooper-takes-capital-clemency-actions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “After thorough review, reflection, and prayer, I concluded that the death sentence imposed on these 15 people should be commuted, while ensuring they will spend the rest of their lives in prison.”
“Before today’s commutations, North Carolina had 136 offenders on death row and the Governor’s Clemency Office received petitions for clemency from 89 of them. The Governor’s Office carefully reviewed, researched, and considered these 89 petitions for commutations, which included the 15 that were granted today,” the statement concluded.
Cooper listed factors that influenced his decision, including:
<ul style="font-weight: 400;">
<li>Facts and circumstances of the crime</li>
<li>Whether a murder was particularly heinous and cruel</li>
<li>Input from prosecutors in the county of conviction</li>
<li>Input from family members of victims</li>
<li>Defendant’s criminal history</li>
<li>Defendant’s conduct and activity in prison</li>
<li>Mental and intellectual capacity of the defendant at the time of the crime</li>
<li>Credible claims of innocence</li>
<li>The potential influence of race, such as the race of the defendant and victim, composition of the jury pool and the final jury, and evidence and testimony offered at trial</li>
<li>Sentences received by co-defendants</li>
<li>Whether plea agreements for a lesser sentence were offered prior to trial</li>
<li>Age of defendant at the time of the crime</li>
<li>Current age, health, and mental capacity of the defendant</li>
<li>Adequacy of legal representation at trial and on appeal</li>
<li>Laws governing capital punishment at the time of conviction</li>
<li>Juror actions and statements</li>
</ul>
“State Department of Adult Correction records list 13 of the 15 receiving clemency as Black,” NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/31/g-s1-40663/north-carolina-governor-roy-cooper-commutes-death-row-sentences" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>.

ABC News Hosts Second Presidential Debate

NC Dem Governor Commutes 15 Death Sentences On Last Day In Office

Crime

Death Penalty

North Carolina

Roy Cooper

President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joe Biden</a> commuted the death sentences of dozens of convicted killers on Monday, including a man who murdered a police officer and a man who kidnapped and murdered a 12-year-old girl.
Just two days before Christmas, Biden announced that he would be commuting the death sentences of 37 out of 40 prisoners on death row, each of who had been sentenced to death over a violent crime. The only people on death row excluded from the mass commutation were the Boston Marathon bomber, the Tree of Life Synagogue Shooter, and the man who murdered nine people at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. 
“I’ve dedicated my career to reducing violent crime and ensuring a fair and effective justice system,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/23/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-federal-death-row-commutations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a>. &#8220;Today, I am commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 individuals on federal death row to life sentences without the possibility of parole. These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my Administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.&#8221;
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” he added. 
One of those whose death sentence was commuted was Thomas Sanders, who was <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/neworleans/news/press-releases/jury-imposes-death-sentence-on-a-las-vegas-man-for-kidnapping-and-murdering-a-12-year-old-girl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> in 2014 of kidnapping and murdering 12-year-old Lexis Roberts. Sanders kidnapped Roberts after he shot her mother in the head. He held Roberts captive for several days before he shot her four times, cut her throat, and hid her body in the woods. 
Another one of those whose sentence was commuted was <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2013/10/22/court-upholds-cop-killer-s/23840867007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cop-killer</a> Daryl Lawrence. Lawrence murdered 33-year-old Ohio police officer Bryan Hurst during a bank robbery in Columbus in 2005. 
Others included a man who murdered two people in a carjacking, a man who murdered a postal worker, and multiple men who murdered fellow prisoners. 
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The latest move comes after Biden announced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-announces-mass-commutations-after-criticism-over-hunter-pardon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earlier this mont</a>h that he was commuting sentences for around 1,500 people. His commutations come as he has taken a number of other last minute policy decisions which will undermine the Trump administration. He is also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-biden-races-to-sell-off-border-wall-parts-before-trump-takes-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">racing</a> to sell off border wall materials and move them away from the southern border and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-look-to-hire-up-to-1200-new-dei-bureaucrats-before-trump-takes-office" target="_blank" rel="noopener">looking</a> to hire up to 1,200 employees to work in diversity, equity, and inclusion positions.

President Biden Speaks To The Department Of Labor

Biden Commutes Sentences Of Dozens Of Murderers Two Days Before Christmas

kidnapping

Murder

Violent Crime

On August 11, 1998, a lifelong criminal named Marcellus Williams was looking for a house to rob in a gated community in University City, Missouri.
By that point, Williams already had several prior criminal convictions, including for robbery and burglary. He shouldn&#8217;t have been on the streets at all, but apparently a judge let him out of jail so that he could commit more crimes and victimize more people. And that&#8217;s exactly why he was in University City on August 11.
When Marcellus Williams knocked on the door of a home owned by a 42-year-old journalist named Felicia Gayle, no one answered. So Williams broke a window and let himself in. After he noticed that someone on the second floor was taking a shower, Williams went downstairs to the kitchen, grabbed a butcher knife, and waited. When Gayle emerged from the shower, Marcellus Williams stabbed her 43 times, including seven separate fatal wounds. He then stole Gayle&#8217;s purse and her husband&#8217;s laptop before leaving the house to pick up his girlfriend.
Immediately, his girlfriend noticed something was wrong. Williams&#8217; shirt was bloody. His neck was scratched. Inexplicably, there was also a new laptop in his car. The next day, Williams&#8217; girlfriend noticed a purse in the trunk that contained Felicia Gayle&#8217;s identification card. When she confronted Williams about this, he admitted that he had just murdered a woman. He threatened to kill his girlfriend if she went to the police.
Then, a few months later, Williams was incarcerated for an unrelated crime. (This is the theme in his life, after all; he&#8217;s constantly in prison because he&#8217;s constantly committing serious crimes). In this particular instance, when Williams was in jail, promptly bragged to another inmate that he had murdered Felicia Gayle, and provided non-public information about the killing. When that inmate got out of jail, he went to the police department and told them what he had heard. During their investigation, detectives spoke to Williams&#8217; girlfriend, who confirmed that he had confessed to the murder. The police also found several items belonging to the victim in the Buick that Williams was driving, as well as the stolen laptop belonging to the victim&#8217;s husband.
On these <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/missouri/supreme-court/2003/sc-83934-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">facts</a>, Williams was convicted by a jury and sentenced to death. On appeal, Williams&#8217; attorneys raised several objections, most of which were technical in nature. But there were a couple of claims that related to his guilt or innocence. Specifically, Williams said that the jury should have been given the opportunity to determine that he was a mere accomplice to the murders, as opposed to the actual killer. That&#8217;s because, according to the defense, &#8220;several unidentified hairs and shoe prints were found at the murder scene.&#8221; Additionally, Williams&#8217; girlfriend was supposedly &#8220;seen with a laptop computer&#8221; after Williams was incarcerated.
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But these arguments weren&#8217;t convincing to the Supreme Court of Missouri. For one thing, there was evidence showing that &#8220;several workmen&#8221; and &#8220;hundreds of guests&#8221; had been inside the home in the months prior to the murder, so you&#8217;d expect to have some unidentified shoe prints and hairs lying around. Additionally, Williams told both his girlfriend and the inmate that he was alone when he committed the murders. And finally, there was no evidence that Williams&#8217; girlfriend possessed the same laptop computer that was stolen from the murder scene. She just had a laptop — any laptop.
If you tune into any mainstream media coverage of the Williams case, you won&#8217;t hear any of the details I just outlined — all of which are undisputed, and come directly from the Supreme Court of Missouri. You won&#8217;t hear news anchors recount all of the ways in which it&#8217;s clear that Marcellus Williams is extremely guilty of murder. Instead, you&#8217;ll find emotional segments like this one, which just aired on CNN:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Marcellus Williams" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vzpdwJaT7vE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Putting aside the melodrama for a moment — If we&#8217;re being honest, that segment is a little surprising. It&#8217;s your last meal, and you can request anything you want — and you choose tater tots instead of curly fries? Unfortunately, the rest of the CNN segment doesn&#8217;t explain this questionable decision, as confusing as it obviously is. Instead, the anchor focuses on reinforcing the current BLM narrative that Marcellus Williams&#8217; execution was unjust. To that end, she talks about how &#8220;prosecutors&#8221; and &#8220;the victim&#8217;s family&#8221; didn&#8217;t want to see Williams killed. She implies he might even be innocent. And she barely even mentions the woman who was brutally stabbed 43 times in her own kitchen, or the mountain of damning evidence in the case.
Let&#8217;s take both of those claims in turn. First of all, the &#8220;prosecutor&#8221; that the CNN anchor is referring to is a &#8220;restorative justice&#8221; activist named Wesley Bell. Bell was not the original prosecutor on the case, which was tried more than 20 years ago. He parachuted in at the last moment, in defiance of the state&#8217;s attorney general, to try to delay Williams&#8217; execution. Earlier this year, Bell claimed in court filings that DNA evidence might exonerate Williams.
Specifically, there was supposedly unknown DNA on the murder weapon. 
But that claim fell apart in recent weeks. According to the Missouri judicial branch, attorneys, “received a report indicating the DNA on the murder weapon belonged to an assistant prosecuting attorney and an investigator who had handled the murder weapon without gloves prior to trial.&#8221; So there was no unknown DNA on the murder weapon after all.
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This month, a court in Missouri <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H_8gEp_1LgUzEsUAEEXg1643UJw88rja/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">looked into</a> what exactly happened with the handling of this murder weapon. They determined that, back in 2001, it was normal practice for detectives in St. Louis to handle evidence, without wearing gloves, after the crime lab had processed the item and determined there was no useful DNA or fingerprint evidence on it. And in this case, because the killer wore gloves, there was no usable evidence on the knife. So the detective and the prosecutor repeatedly handled the knife, as part of trial preparation. Nothing about that, in any way, suggests that the knife was &#8220;tampered with,&#8221; or that there might have been another killer. So the court upheld the conviction.
As the state attorney general put it: 
<blockquote>One of the defense’s own experts previously testified he could not rule out the possibility that Williams’s DNA was also on the knife. He could only testify to the fact that enough actors had handled the knife throughout the legal process that others’ DNA was present.</blockquote>
That attorney general emphasized that the other available evidence was very clear: 
<blockquote>The victim’s personal items were found in Williams’s car after the murder. A witness testified that Williams had sold the victim’s laptop to him. Williams confessed to his girlfriend and an inmate in the St. Louis City Jail, and William’s girlfriend saw him dispose of the bloody clothes worn during the murder.</blockquote>
This is overwhelming evidence, obviously. And if you read between the lines, even this new prosecutor concedes that. In recent court filings — and in his interview with CNN — the prosecutor didn&#8217;t even claim that Williams was necessarily innocent. Instead, he pointed to alleged defects in how the trial was conducted, including jury selection. Here&#8217;s part of the prosecutors&#8217; interview with CNN:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Why The Speedy Execution" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GbTyrNhfJpQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
It&#8217;s an incredible moment. They&#8217;re both claiming that Marcellus Williams was executed too hastily — more than 25 years after he killed a woman in her own kitchen. That&#8217;s too fast, apparently. We just need another 25 years to really investigate this case, and see if we can find some new information. Maybe some new witnesses will turn up. Maybe we&#8217;ll find new surveillance footage. Who knows? Apparently the point is, even after you&#8217;re convicted, you get 50 more years to prove you&#8217;re really innocent. At least, that&#8217;s what you get if BLM and the corporate press think they can turn you into a martyr. If you&#8217;re a white guy on death row, then no one really cares. You’ll notice that the only condemned criminals anyone ever cries over are black. Plenty of white guys get put to death, too, but they never become a trendy cause for the media and activists. I wonder why?
The other argument that they&#8217;re using is that people connected to the victim supposedly don&#8217;t want this man to be executed. Again, this isn&#8217;t a claim that&#8217;s related to whether Williams killed someone or not. It&#8217;s an argument about what the family wants. But if you look closer into this claim, it falls apart as well. Here&#8217;s part of a letter written last month by Laura Friedman, who&#8217;s now married to the victim&#8217;s former husband:
<blockquote>After 26 years of competing court filings, secret commissions, TV news alerts and front-page headlines, my husband&#8217;s personal pain is once again the subject of public discussion and debate. &#8230; This is now the fifth time this family tragedy has been revisited, relitigated and reappeared in the press. We are exhausted and exasperated. &#8230; Whether the death penalty is deserved in a case like this is a matter for debate. Williams&#8217; guilt is not.</blockquote>
Notice what&#8217;s actually going on here. Laura Friedman emphatically says that Marcellus Williams is guilty. The media just ignores that part. She also says that she just wants this case to be over, so that the family can get some closure. They&#8217;re clearly tired of how activists have dragged this case out for more than 25 years. The media ignores that part, too. Instead, the story from the mainstream media is that the family and loved ones close to the victim supposedly don&#8217;t want the death penalty.
These are the lies that are underpinning the latest attempt by race hustlers to manufacture another George Floyd scenario. 
For example, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSqu9YNOEPM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Henry Rogers</a>, a.k.a. Ibram X. Kendi, <a href="https://x.com/ibramxk/status/1838769254553837758" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>:
<blockquote>Tonight, Missouri lynched Marcellus Williams. DNA evidence proved he was innocent. It didn’t matter. Because the United States is a serial killer of Black people.&#8221; For her part, Cori Bush — who just lost her primary to Wesley Bell — also <a href="https://x.com/RepCori/status/1838740528734638565" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Williams &#8220;innocent&#8221; and said his death was &#8220;depraved.</blockquote>
The NAACP had a similar <a href="https://x.com/NAACP/status/1838718578465378620" target="_blank" rel="noopener">message</a>:
<blockquote>Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man. Governor Parson had the responsibility to save this innocent life, and he didn’t. The NAACP was founded in 1909 in response to the barbaric lynching of Black people in America — we were founded exactly because of people like Governor Parson who perpetuate violence against innocent Black people.</blockquote>
There are a lot more statements like this, from every BLM activist and race hustler you&#8217;d expect. Mainstream media organizations are saying much the same thing. They&#8217;re claiming that there&#8217;s no difference between executing a man convicted of a brutal homicide — and who clearly did commit that brutal homicide — and lynching a random black person who&#8217;s done nothing wrong. If these people had any degree of intelligence or integrity whatsoever, they&#8217;d recognize how degrading that is to black people who haven&#8217;t committed any crimes. They&#8217;re being equated with a career felon who killed a woman for no reason.
The only lesson we can draw from this is that the NAACP, Henry Rogers, and corporate media don&#8217;t believe that black people should get the death penalty when they murder a white person. They probably don&#8217;t think any punishment is appropriate, frankly, based on how they&#8217;re lying about the death of Felicia Gayle. We are witnessing crass race hatred spilling out into the open.
We all know that, if Marcellus Williams were white, or if his victim had been black, then there wouldn&#8217;t be any outrage whatsoever. This is the clearest imaginable example of a manufactured racial narrative, and of course it&#8217;s happening in an election year.
And it&#8217;s riling up all the lunatics you&#8217;d expect. In one post that has hundreds of thousands of views on X, an activist <a href="https://x.com/mrgnbrmll/status/1838659426716410063" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>: 
<blockquote>The murder of Marcellus Williams is connected to the murder of the people of Palestine and the people in Haiti and the people in Lebanon and the people in &#8230; Let your grief move you to see this as part of one state approved project.</blockquote>
Yes, Marcellus Williams is &#8220;connected&#8221; to the &#8220;people of Palestine&#8221; and the &#8220;people of Haiti and Lebanon.&#8221; As deranged as this post is, it does have a shred of honesty in it. The truth is that no one campaigning on behalf of Williams actually thinks he&#8217;s innocent. If a woman is brutally murdered and you confess to the crime to multiple people, giving them details that you wouldn’t have known unless you’d been there — and you are found with the victim’s property in your car — then you’re guilty. Period. It is basically impossible to even conceive of a scenario where all of that could happen and yet you’d still be innocent. That’s because Williams is guilty. He did it. He brutally butchered an innocent woman. He deserves to die for what he did. It’s that simple.
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But none of the activists really care about the facts of his case, or even about Williams himself. These, after all, are not empathetic people. These are not people who value human life. Millions of human children have been killed by abortion in this country and these people not only don’t care about that, but celebrate it. They apparently feel infinitely more sympathy for a convicted murderer who stabbed a woman 40 times than they do for 60 million dead children combined. How could anyone’s heart be that twisted? How could their sympathies be so wildly, psychotically misdirected? Well, because they actually have no sympathy at all for anyone. It’s all a show. It’s an act.
This is about a much larger effort to undermine and ultimately destroy the rule of law in the United States. And this effort is being undertaken by people who care far more about Haiti and Lebanon than they care about this country. That&#8217;s why they&#8217;re trivializing the murder of this young white journalist in Missouri. It&#8217;s why they&#8217;re mocking her family and pretending her killer is innocent. Only the most dysfunctional hellholes on the planet have explicit, distinct standards of justice depending on the skin color of the assailant and the skin color of the victim. And after this surreal and delusional effort to absolve Marcellus Williams, it&#8217;s clear that we&#8217;re much closer to becoming one of those hellholes than we might like to admit.

MixCollage-26-Sep-2024-04-01-PM-1534

This Man Confessed To His Brutal Crimes … And They Still Call Him ‘Innocent’

This Man Confessed To His Brutal Crimes ... And They Still Call Him 'Innocent'

Anti-Racism

Blacks

Ibram X. Kendi

Matt Walsh

Missouri

Opinion

Racism

A man on Missouri’s death row who killed his cousin and her husband 18 years ago was executed on Tuesday.
Brian Dorsey, 52, apologized to his family for his crimes just before he was put to death, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/04/09/us-news/brian-dorsey-executed-18-years-after-killing-cousin-her-husband/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“To all of the family and loved ones I share with Sarah and to all of the surviving family and loved ones of Ben, I am totally, deeply, overwhelmingly sorry,” he wrote, according to the outlet. “Words cannot hold the just weight of my guilt and shame. I still love you. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I am sorry I hurt them and you.”
Dorsey was sentenced to lethal injection in 2006 after he was convicted of murdering his cousin, Sarah, and her husband, Ben Bonnie, just before Christmas. The killings left the couple’s four-year-old daughter without parents.
Dorsey had asked the Bonnies for money after claiming two drug dealers were demanding he pay his debts, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/brian-dorsey-missouri-execution-rcna147113" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The couple brought Dorsey back to their home on December 23, 2006, to let him stay over, but he grabbed their shotgun and killed them both.
Their young daughter was home but wasn’t harmed.
Dorsey pleaded guilty to the murders but a jury was brought in for sentencing, resulting in the death penalty. The jury found seven aggravating factors that led to its recommendation of death, including the fact that Dorsey sexually assaulted Sarah’s body after shooting her. After the murders, Dorsey stole several items from the home to pay off his drug debt, the Post reported.
Sometime later, Sarah’s parents stopped by the home to check on the couple, who had only been married for one year. In the home, they found the couple’s little girl sitting on the couch watching TV. She told her grandparents that her mother “won’t wake up.”
Dorsey turned himself in three days after the murders.
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Dorsey previously apologized for his crimes, NBC reported, saying he had been in a drug-induced psychosis at the time. He appealed his sentence but was denied two appeals by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prison officials also wrote to Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, to spare Dorsey’s life, calling him a “model inmate” and explaining how he cut the warden’s hair after being allowed to work as a barber. Parson denied the request.
The Missouri Department of Corrections <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/missouri-death-row-inmate-killed-cousin-husband-2006-executed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News that Dorsey died quickly after he was lethally injected. He was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m. on April 9, 2024.

Death Chamber

Missouri Death Row Inmate Executed 18 Years After He Killed Cousin And Her Husband

An Alabama man convicted of first-degree murder became the first death row inmate to be executed via nitrogen gas on Thursday.
Kenneth Eugene Smith, who killed Elizabeth Sennett in 1988 in a murder-for-hire plot, was declared dead at 8:25 p.m. Thursday after a mask was put over his face which pumped nitrogen gas into his body, the Montgomery Advertiser <a href="https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/alabama/2024/01/25/four-minutes-of-convulsions-kenneth-smith-executed-with-nitrogen-gas/72358038007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey confirmed the execution shortly after Smith, 58, was declared dead.
&#8220;After more than 30 years and attempt after attempt to game the system, Mr. Smith has answered for his horrendous crimes,&#8221; Ivey said. “The execution was lawfully carried out by nitrogen hypoxia, the method previously requested by Mr. Smith as an alternative to lethal injection.&#8221;
“I pray that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss,” Ivey added, <a href="https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2024/01/alabama-to-execute-kenneth-smith-with-untested-nitrogen-gas-tonight.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to AL.com.
Smith was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to death for his role in the murder-for-hire plot that targeted Sennett, the wife of a Church of Christ minister. According to evidence established at trial, Charles Sennett hired Billy Gray Williams to kill his wife, and Williams paid Smith, along with a man named John Forrest Parker, $1,000 to carry out the murder.
Smith and Williams drove to the Sennetts’ home when Elizabeth was there alone and attacked her with &#8220;their fists and other objects such as a poker, walking cane, fireplace tongs,&#8221; and a knife, according to documents from the trial, WVMT 13 <a href="https://www.wvtm13.com/article/gas-alabama-execution-nitrogen-kenneth-smith-murder/46448728#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The murder investigation immediately focused on Charles Sennett as a suspect, and he killed himself just a week after his wife’s slaying.
Parker, Smith’s accomplice in the murder-for-hire, was executed by lethal injection in 2010, and Williams, who was sentenced to life without parole, died in prison in 2020. Smith <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2022/11/alabama-prepares-to-execute-man-for-1988-murder-for-hire-of-pastors-wife.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survived</a> the first attempt to execute him in November of 2022 after prison officials failed to access his veins to start an intravenous line for the lethal injection. After the botched execution attempt, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Smith’s lawyers who requested that he should be allowed to die by nitrogen hypoxia, according to AL.com.
Smith <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/us/kenneth-smith-nitrogen-gas-execution-alabama/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appealed</a> to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday, requesting a halt to his execution, but the high court denied both attempts. The convicted murderer’s last meal was steak, hashbrowns, and eggs.
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Following Smith’s execution, his spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeff Hood, said he was disturbed by Smith’s death via nitrogen gas after witnessing other executions that used lethal injections.
“Lethal injection is preferable every single day,” Hood said, adding, “What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for his life.”
“Kenny Smith was by no means a perfect person,” said Hood. “We have got to make sure that this never, ever, happens again.”
Sennett’s son Mike said that while Smith’s execution won’t bring his mother back, his “evil deeds” had been paid for.
“Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett got her justice tonight,” he said.

Lethal Injection Room at Huntsville

Alabama Murderer Becomes First To Be Executed With Nitrogen Gas

Alabama

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/missouri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Missouri</a> has executed a trans-identifying male inmate for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, nearly two decades after the killing.
The state on Tuesday evening executed Amber McLaughlin, formerly Scott McLaughlin, 49, who was convicted in 2006 of stalking, repeatedly raping, and fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend three years earlier.
McLaughlin died by lethal injection at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
JUST IN: Missouri has carried out the execution of Amber McLaughlin on Tuesday. She was the first openly transgender woman executed in the U.S. <a href="https://t.co/ZpQTXojfRH">https://t.co/ZpQTXojfRH</a> <a href="https://t.co/EQWdHjtYGS">pic.twitter.com/EQWdHjtYGS</a>
&mdash; FOX4 News Kansas City (@fox4kc) <a href="https://twitter.com/fox4kc/status/1610447478389612551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
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His death is thought to be the first execution of an openly trans-identifying male in U.S. history. There were no court appeals pending in McLaughlin&#8217;s case, according to his attorney, Larry Komp.
Hours before his death, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, denied McLaughlin&#8217;s clemency request.
“McLaughlin terrorized Ms. Guenther in the final years of her life, but we hope her family and loved ones may finally have some peace,” Parson <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/01/03/first-us-trans-inmate-execute-missouri-death-amber-mclaughlin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement after the execution.
Before he murdered her, McLaughlin was arrested for burglarizing the home of his ex-girlfriend, Beverly Guenther, 45. She got a restraining order against him.
Nevertheless, McLaughlin repeatedly stalked Guenther&#8217;s suburban St. Louis office, sometimes even hiding inside the building, court documents state. Police officers sometimes escorted Guenther to her car after work.
On the day of the murder, McLaughlin waited for Guenther outside her office and attacked her with a steak knife. He repeatedly stabbed and raped her before dumping her body near the Mississippi River in St. Louis.
Neighbors called the police when Guenther did not return home that night. Police went to her office and found a broken knife handle near her car along with a trail of blood. The next day, McLaughlin led police to where he had dumped her body near the Mississippi River.
About three years ago while in prison awaiting execution, McLaughlin began identifying and presenting as female, dressing in women&#8217;s clothes and wearing makeup. However, he never received hormone treatments, <a href="https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/missouri-executes-convicted-murderer-amber-mclaughlin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to his attorney. He continued to be housed in a men&#8217;s prison, the Potosi Correctional Center south of St. Louis.
Up to the day of his death, McLaughlin had allies <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-amber-mclaughlin-in-missouri" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pushing</a> for his execution to be stopped. Allies <a href="https://twitter.com/_breeeeen_/status/1609768529355489287?cxt=HHwWjoCyrdr8hdcsAAAA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he requested that supporters wear pink lipstick or nail polish in solidarity.
A clemency petition signed by several thousand people cited evidence it says the jury never heard, including abuse McLaughlin suffered as a child and his severe depression and multiple suicide attempts. A foster parent rubbed feces in McLaughlin&#8217;s face as a toddler, and his adoptive father used a stun gun on him, the petition claimed.
Meanwhile, some on social media called for remembering the victim of McLaughlin&#8217;s crime and rejected the idea that he is actually a woman.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeverlyGuenther?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BeverlyGuenther</a> was the only woman present when she was stalked, raped, tortured and murdered by a MAN named Scott Mclaughlin
 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SayHerName?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SayHerName</a> <a href="https://t.co/C859JpWUgG">pic.twitter.com/C859JpWUgG</a>
&mdash; Katie Saurus🌹🦕🇺🇦 (@LeaningLeft46) <a href="https://twitter.com/LeaningLeft46/status/1610741111152050197?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
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McLaughlin was sentenced to death by a trial judge after a jury convicted him but deadlocked on his sentence. Missouri and Indiana are the <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/missouri-inmate-would-be-first-openly-transgender-person-executed-in-nation/article_80bbb35b-34f0-5281-861c-224e7a99f47d.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only states</a> that allow a judge to override a jury that fails to agree on a sentence.
In 2016, a federal judge vacated the death sentence and a court ordered a new sentencing hearing for McLaughlin. In 2021 though, McLaughlin&#8217;s death sentence was effectively restored by a federal appeals court.
Guenther’s family <a href="https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/missouri-executes-convicted-murderer-amber-mclaughlin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> they were glad the governor rejected McLaughlin&#8217;s clemency request and that they felt McLaughlin had to be held accountable for taking their loved one&#8217;s life.
McLaughlin&#8217;s death was Missouri&#8217;s third execution in nine months, a significant increase for the state over the last several years.

Prisoners on Texas Death Row

Missouri Executes Transgender Inmate For 2003 Murder Of Ex-Girlfriend

Gender

Transgender

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/alabama">Alabama</a> Deputy Attorney General told a federal judge Monday that the state could “very likely” carry out a never-before-used execution method called nitrogen hypoxia on a death row inmate later this month.
The Birmingham News <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2022/09/alabama-says-nitrogen-hypoxia-could-be-used-for-execution-next-week.html">reports</a> Deputy A.G. James Houts said during a hearing in his statement to U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. that the method could be available for the execution of Alan Eugene Miller, 57, who is currently scheduled on Sept. 22 for lethal injection at Holman Prison.
Authorities convicted Miller of capital murder and sentenced him to death after killing three men during a shooting rampage at two separate businesses in Shelby County in August 1999.
The Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alabama-executions-d6a34c1f02881948b298f2ad3e1898c3">reports</a> that evidence showed Miller shot and killed Lee Holdbrooks and Scott Yancy at one business and then drove to another location, where he killed Terry Jarvis. Testimony detailed that Miller believed the men spread rumors about him, including that he lived a homosexual lifestyle.
In 2018, Alabama lawmakers passed a bill that authorized execution by nitrogen hypoxia, which replaces oxygen with nitrogen resulting in death. Inmates at the time were given a timeframe to choose whether or not they wanted the alternative method to lethal injection, which has been the state’s protocol for approximately 20 years. Lawmakers approved the bill after it became increasingly difficult to obtain the deadly substances used in the procedure.
However, Miller argues authorities possibly mishandled his request form, which has sparked confusion in the courtroom about whether or not he would receive the new method.
Miller said he remembers receiving a form to choose the execution method because he thought it was like receiving nitrous oxide used by dentists.
“I didn’t want to be stabbed with needles and stuff,” Miller said, according to The Birmingham News. “I didn’t want to be executed at all, but I didn’t want to be stabbed with needles.”
He said he returned the form with the new method selected to the prison staff.
“I yelled back, ‘I want it notarized and copied,’” Miller said.
The 57-year-old inmate argued that authorities never returned a copy and alleged prison staff lost his paperwork.
Houts said there was no evidence that Miller had submitted such paperwork with the request.
Houts said although the protocol has not been finalized, it exists and stated the final decision would be left up to Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner John Hamm.
Mara Klebaner, the death row inmate’s lawyer, said that Hout’s office asked if Miller would renounce his claims regarding the execution-style while simultaneously seeking out a mask to fit Miller for his death sentence.
Kelbaner also said Miller’s legal team would need more information about the nitrogen hypoxia before agreeing to allow the state to test it out on Miller.
Nitrogen hypoxia has been approved in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.
The State of Alabama has executed 72 people on death row since <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions/executions-overview/executions-by-state-and-year">1976</a>, one of the highest per capita execution rates in the nation.

Prisoner XL

Alabama ‘Very Likely’ To Carry Out Untested Execution Method

Alabama 'Very Likely' To Carry Out Never-Used Execution Method

Death by firing squad and electric chair execution violate the South Carolina Constitution, a state judge <a class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://publicindex.sccourts.org/Richland/PublicIndex/PIImageDisplay.aspx?ctagency=40002&amp;doctype=D&amp;docid=1662496626801-246&amp;HKey=905471478050481171159067977773103567010647576711157475798478911310210112179659850113994799827852" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> Tuesday.
Circuit Court Judge Jocelyn Newman ruled that the style of executions inflicted cruel and unusual punishment, which nullified a state law passed last year that forced death row inmates to pick one of the two methods, with electrocution as the default procedure.
&#8220;In 2021, South Carolina turned back the clock and became the only state in the country in which a person may be forced into the electric chair if he refuses to elect how he will die,&#8221; Newman wrote. &#8220;In doing so, the General Assembly ignored advances in scientific research and evolving standards of humanity and decency.&#8221;
The 39-page opinion comes after four death row inmates sued the South Carolina Department of Corrections, the department&#8217;s director Bryan Stirling, and Governor Henry McMaster over the execution methods. The plaintiffs, all convicted of at least one murder and sentenced to death between 1997 and 2002, claim that the state&#8217;s procedures for terminating death row inmates are unconstitutional.
Inmates further noted that the state law officials restarted last year was &#8220;retroactive&#8221; and violated their due process rights, which rendered their right to decide between the execution methods.
Newman concluded her opinion after listening to medical experts during a four-day trial last month at the Richland County courthouse. The judge noted that such execution methods don&#8217;t provide enough scientific evidence to result in instant death or cause an inmate to experience pain for up to 15 seconds if the methods are botched.
The judge called high-voltage deaths unconstitutional due to the lack of evidence that it terminates a life instantly.
During electrocution, inmates are first shocked with 2,000 volts using copper electrodes attached to the right leg and head, which allows the current to run through the inmate for 4.5 seconds. Then, authorities pump another two electric currents of 1,000 volts for eight seconds and 120 volts for two minutes into the inmate&#8217;s body.
Newman said the experience could cause &#8220;intolerable pain and suffering from electrical burns, thermal heating, oxygen deprivation, muscle tetany, and the experience of high-voltage electrocution.&#8221;
South Carolina has used the same wooden chair with leather straps to execute 284 inmates since 1912. The state began using lethal injection in 1995.
Concerning firing squads, Newman said that the method reverts the state to a &#8220;historic method of execution that has never been used&#8221; in South Carolina or most other states in the Union. Newman detailed in her opinion why the firing squad style of execution poses an unusual punishment.
Authorities strap hooded inmates to a backless metal chair until they are completely restrained. Then, a physician places an &#8220;aiming point&#8221; over the inmate&#8217;s heart where a three-member team armed with rifles containing .308 Winchester 110-grain TAP urban ammunition fires up to three volleys of bullets from 15 feet away.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/07/south-carolina-firing-squad-electric-chair/">reports</a> that electrocution is allowed as an alternative in Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee; inmates can select it in Florida and Kentucky. While Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah are the only other states that allow execution by firing squad.
While attorneys for the death row inmates applauded the results and would further review the court order, Newman said the defendants would likely appeal the decision.
The State <a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article264724319.html">reports</a> that Chrysti Shain, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said Tuesday they would &#8220;assess the order and determine the next step.&#8221;
Governor Henry McMaster told reporters Wednesday his office plans to appeal Newman&#8217;s ruling.
&#8220;There have been a lot of cases in the U.S. Supreme Court as well — it&#8217;s been explained by the justices a number of times,&#8221; McMaster said. &#8220;The question is not the method but the procedure to get to the method.&#8221;
“Our Legislature and others have done a good job in fashioning the best we can do for these sentences,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I think that our South Carolina law is constitutional.”

Electric chair in the dark room, 3D rendering

Electric Chair, Firing Squad Executions Ruled Unconstitutional In South Carolina

Constitution

Firings

South Carolina

Texas&#8217;s highest criminal court on Monday halted the execution of a woman convicted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter. 
Melissa Lucio, a mother of 14, was convicted of murder in the 2007 death of her daughter Mariah and was set to be executed on Wednesday. The state’s highest criminal court put a halt to those plans and ordered a trial court to review new evidence. 
“State&#8217;s highest criminal court halts, with 2 days to spare, execution of Melissa Lucio, orders trial court to review new evidence that supporters say establishes her innocence,” Austin American-Statesman reporter Chuck Lindell said on Monday. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: State&#39;s highest criminal court halts, with 2 days to spare, execution of Melissa Lucio, orders trial court to review new evidence that supporters say establishes her innocence. &quot;I thank God for my life,&quot; Lucio says in statement issued by her lawyers. <a href="https://t.co/IPr8EJ8slt">pic.twitter.com/IPr8EJ8slt</a>
&mdash; Chuck Lindell (@chucklindell) <a href="https://twitter.com/chucklindell/status/1518650753610661889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2022</a></blockquote>
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In a statement after the criminal court&#8217;s decision, Lucio said she thanks God “for her life,” writing, “I have always trusted in Him. I am grateful the Court has given me a chance to live and prove my innocence.”
The new evidence the Texas court wants the lower court to examine suggests her daughter&#8217;s injuries could have come &#8220;as a result of a fall down a staircase, including a blow to the head,” Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/melissa-lucio-execution-what-to-know">reported</a>. 
Even though Lucio confessed to killing her child, her lawyers believe it was “an unreliable and coerced confession,” and jurors were led to a wrong conclusion based on “unscientific and false evidence.”
Prosecutors say the new evidence does not clear Lucio, maintaining she abused her daughter and ultimately killed her. According to autopsy reports, Mariah died after suffering head trauma, bruising, and a neglected broken arm that could only have been caused by abuse.
Lucio also has a history of drug abuse and lost custody of some of her children at times, prosecutors noted. 
Lucio’s attorneys and supporters say Mariah died from an accidental fall down the stairs. “She and several family members maintain that Mariah’s death was a tragic accident precipitated by injuries the young girl sustained two days prior to her death when she fell down a rickety flight of stairs outside their run-down apartment,” the Houston Chronicle <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Melissa-Lucio-gets-stay-of-execution-2-days-17124605.php">reported</a>.
Nearly half of the <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/04/25/melissa-lucio-death-row-texas-daughter-death-case/7439186001/">jurors</a> who sentenced Lucio to death 14 years ago have also come out to request her execution be stopped. 
Lucio’s defense has accused Armando Villalobos, the prosecuting attorney at the time of her conviction, of using the case to boost his political clout and help him win re-election. Villalobos was convicted of a bribery scheme and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2014 for “offering favorable prosecutorial decisions,” per the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/melissa-lucio-texas-execution-what-we-know-898a415a539fee4e668332bb04993da2">Associated Press</a>. The case was unrelated. 
The new evidence can now be reviewed by a lower court that will look into Lucio&#8217;s claim that the findings clear her of murder.
“Mariah is in my heart today,” Lucio said after her execution was halted. “I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren. I will use my time to help bring them to Christ. I am deeply grateful to everyone who prayed for me and spoke out on my behalf.”

Huntsville Texas USA Death Chamber

High-Profile Execution Halted For Mother Convicted Of Murdering 2-Year-Old Daughter

Texas

On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the death sentence for the surviving Boston Marathon bomber must be reimposed after a federal appeals court voided it.
NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-reimposes-death-sentence-boston-marathon-bomber-rcna18450">reported</a> that &#8220;the 6-3 decision rejected defense claims that the judge at [the bomber&#8217;s] 2015 trial improperly restricted the questioning of prospective jurors and was wrong to exclude evidence of a separate crime two years before the bombing.&#8221;
In 2013, two brothers — immigrants from Chechnya turned Islamic extremist radicals — detonated a homemade bomb at the finish line of the Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts. The blast killed three and injured hundreds more.
The Boston Marathon occurs each year, typically on the state holiday Patriots&#8217; Day, and is attended by thousands of people, many from around the world. The attack shocked the state and the nation, and led to a manhunt throughout Boston&#8217;s suburbs.
During that search, one brother was struck by a bullet and pronounced dead at a local hospital. The surviving brother attempted to flee, hiding in a boat in a backyard in Watertown, Massachusetts, before authorities located and arrested him.
After being found guilty and sentenced to death, the bomber&#8217;s attorney argued that while he did act as an accomplice, &#8220;he was easily manipulated by his brother, who they called the mastermind,&#8221; NBC News reported. The bomber&#8217;s legal counsel also argued the judge in the original case acted improperly in several ways:
<blockquote>
A three-judge panel of the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-court-overturns-death-sentence-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-boston-marathon-bomber-n1235528" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit </a>ordered a new sentencing hearing, ruling unanimously that U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. failed to allow enough questioning of potential jurors about how closely they followed extensive news coverage of the bombings.
The appeals court also said the judge should have allowed [the bomber&#8217;s] lawyers to bring up a 2011 <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/father-slain-man-linked-boston-bombing-suspect-maintains-sons-innocence-flna6c10058914" target="_blank" rel="noopener">triple homicide </a>in the Boston suburb of Waltham that investigators suspected was committed by [the elder bomber]. The defense wanted to use the earlier crime to show that the younger [bomber] was dominated by his violent older brother and therefore was less responsible for the bombings, because of his influence. 
</blockquote>
Yet, the Justice Department under both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden argued that the death sentence was appropriate and that the earlier evidence purportedly showing a pattern of violent abuse from the older brother should be inadmissible.
&#8220;The Justice Department said the evidence of who committed the Waltham killings was unreliable,&#8221; NBC News reported. &#8220;[The older bomber] and another man suspected of having been at the crime scene were both dead by the time of the bombing trial, so there was no way to know for certain what happened.
Likewise, the DOJ &#8220;argued that holding a new sentencing hearing would further traumatize the Boston community,&#8221; according to NBC. Attorney General Merrick Garland has placed a moratorium on executions but did not apply that order in this case.
Now, [the bomber] will sit on death row at a Colorado maximum-security prison.

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