Convicted in the 1989 murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer, Troy Davis presented affidavits of seven of the nine witnesses at his trial who have since recanted their testimony. Davis never received a new trial and was unjustly executed this week. more ›

In a court filing yesterday, the State of California (Jerry Brown's office to be exact) said they had obtained a fresh supply of twelve grams of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental with a 2014 expiration date — enough to execute four inmates. You may recall the halted execution of last week of Albert Greenwood Brown due to a lack of supply of the lethal injection drug. more ›

Albert Greenwood Brown had yet another stay of execution handed to him, this time care of the California Supreme Court. The Chronicle reports: "The justices unanimously denied the state's request to allow new procedures for lethal injections at San Quentin State Prison to take effect by 7 p.m. Thursday, two hours before the 56-year-old inmate is scheduled to die for the 1980 rape and murder of a 15-year-old Riverside girl." more ›

U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel has cleared the way for California's first execution since 2006 "after the state revised its lethal injection procedures." Albert Greenwood Brown, convicted of raping and murdering a 15-year-old Riverside girl in 1980, will be the unlucky recipient in today's ruling, which cited the state's "'extensive efforts to address the court's concerns' that the previous lethal injection procedure was unconstitutional." What's more, Brown will also be the first inmate to test drive San Quinten's new execution chamber. Next week's execution, if pro-death penalty folks have taught us anything, will deter all murders and all rapes from happening again, ever. [KTVU] more ›

At midnight last night, the U.S. executed convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner by firing squad in Utah. This execution was most notable for two things: Gardner's decision to die by firing squad (inmates can choose between a hail of gun fire or the more popular lethal injection), and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's use of Twitter to recount the details. more ›

Timecapsule: January 7, 1898 more ›