Those condemning and defending the execution of Troy Davis took to Twitter last night (#troydavis) to vent their grievances. One user, however, kept quiet. @CorrectHealth, the account owned by the company of the same name, has only updated regarding the services the company provides: healthcare to patients in correctional facilities. more ›

The man who was previously found guilty and sentenced to death for the 2003 murder of two undercover police officers in Staten Island has a new defense strategy to avoid the death penalty during his "penalty phase" retrial next year. The lawyer for Ronnell Wilson called him "mentally incompetent" during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court, and argued that he may not be eligible for the death penalty as a result. more ›

Yesterday, a jury sentenced Steven Hayes to death for his role in the brutal 2007 home invasion-turned-triple murder of a mother and two daughters in Cheshire, Connecticut. Jennifer Hawke-Petit was strangled to death while daughters Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17, died when Hayes and partner in crime Joshua Komisarjevsky, burned down the home. Dr. William Petit, who was beaten nearly to death with a baseball bat and bound, managed to escape and survived the tragedy. He said yesterday, "This is a verdict for justice... was really thinking of the tremendous loss … I was sad for the loss we have all suffered." more ›

Steven Hayes, the ex-con who was found guilty of killing a Connecticut mother and her two daughters (as well as beating her husband), was sentenced to death. The Courant reports, "The jury"—made up of seven women and five men—"sentenced Hayes to death on all six possible death-penalty counts: killing [Jennifer Hawke-Petit and Michaela and Hayley [Petit] in the course of a single action; killing a child under the age of 16; killing Hawke-Petit in the course of a kidnapping; killing Hayley in the course of a kidnapping; killing Michaela in the course of a kidnapping; and killing Hawke-Petit in the course of a sexual assault." more ›

Attorneys made their final arguments yesterday in the death-penalty phase of the trial of Steven Hayes, who was convicted earlier this month for the brutal 2007 home invasion and murder of a Connecticut family. Hayes' lawyer Thomas Ullmann told jurors, "This is a human being. You may not like him, you may hate him, you may despise what he did in this case, but he's not a rabid dog that needs to be put down." more ›

If you're an alternate juror on a case involving one of Connecticut's most horrifying crimes—the murder and sexual assault of a woman and her two daughters, plus the near fatal beating of the woman's husband, in their home—why pass up to the opportunity to see if the bailiff wants to go out on a date? Even though she's supposed to be considering whether Steven Hayes, who was convicted of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Michaela Petit, and Hayley Petit, deserves the death penalty, an unnamed juror sent this note—written on a napkin—"Sunday 5:00 pm Side Street Grill / Hamden"—meant for the court marshal but intercepted for the judge to see. more ›

The trial of Steven Hayes, who was found guilty on 16 of 17 counts related to the home invasion, torture and murder of a Connecticut doctor's family, has entered the death-penalty phase this week. His lawyers revealed today that Hayes has a "persistent desire to kill himself," and has attempted to do so several times before and after the July 2007 triple murder. more ›

Defense lawyers for Steven Hayes, who was found guilty on 16 of 17 counts related to the brutal home invasion and murder of a Connecticut doctor's family, were hoping to save their client from the death penalty by arguing that the cost of imposing and carrying out a death sentence would far exceed the cost of a life sentence. They received a blow to their argument today, when the Judge in the case ruled that the cost will not be allowed to be used as a mitigating factor: "A jury in the penalty phase of a capital case is charged with the task of using reasoned moral judgment, not counting dollars and cents," Judge Jon C. Blue wrote in his decision. more ›

Lawyers for Steven Hayes, the man who was found guilty earlier this week in relation to the brutal 2007 home invasion and murder of a Connecticut doctor's family, laid out the unusual argument they plan to use to save their client from the death penalty in court papers filed yesterday: it's too expensive. more ›

After a day and a half of deliberations, a jury found Steven Hayes guilty on 16 of 17 counts related to the 2007 home invasion of a Connecticut family that led to the deaths of a mother and her two teen daughters. Hayes will face the death penalty; the Courant reports, "The verdicts set the stage for a penalty phase in which jurors will decide whether Hayes lives or dies. That phase will begin Oct. 18." The survivor, Dr. William Petit, who has been lobbying for the death penalty, said, "We did our best to keep our faith in God that justice would be served." more ›

Three years ago, Ronnell Wilson was sentenced to death for the 2003 murders of undercover police officers, Detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews. Now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has overturned the death penalty, ruling "that prosecutors violated Ronell Wilson's constitutional rights by attacking his claims of remorse during the penalty phase of his trial." more ›

A federal judge has suggested to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that a mobster not face the death penalty because it's, well, pricey. Judge Nicholas Garaufis noted how Bonnano crime family figure Vincent Basciano (aka Vinny Gorgeous) had already cost taxpayers $3 million for various fees, "The possibility of a death sentence ensures that these costs will grow substantially." more ›

One of the confessed masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks, along with four other killers, may be flown from Guantanamo Bay to face death penalty trials in the Big Apple. Yes, we're talking about ex-Al Qaeda "military commander" Khalid Shaikh Mohammed—who admitted last year to being a terrorist "to the bone", said he wished to be a martyr and even played critic to a courtroom sketch artist's drawing of him. more ›

In the opening of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, the narrative voice of Esther Greenwood notes that "It was the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs." The NY Times recently looked back to that summer, in light of Morton Sobell confessing last week he and Julius Rosenberg were in the spy game. Julius and Ethel's sons, Robert and Michael, say they have no reason to doubt "Morty." The Times adds "whatever atomic bomb information their father passed to the Russians was, at best, superfluous; the case was riddled with prosecutorial and judicial misconduct; their mother was convicted on flimsy evidence to place leverage on her husband; and neither deserved the death penalty." more ›

The badly injured survivor of the incident where a garbage truck ran onto a Midtown sidewalk, killing a vacationing British couple, figures his New York instinct to bypass slow-moving tourists ultimately saved his life. Hollis resident Abayomi Henderson told the Daily News he had just finished working out at a nearby gym when he saw Jacqueline Timmins and Andrew Hardie (pictured) on West 35th St. near 6th Ave. Tuesday night. more ›

The announcement that six detainees in Guantanamo would be charged and tried for the September 11, 2001 attacks was welcomed by a number of parties, including the families of people who died on September 11. However, some would like to see a trial in New York and not in Gitmo. more ›

The Pentagon has charged six men accused of planning the September 11, 2001 attacks and will seek the death penalty (the Pentagon's terse press release was titled "Defense Department Seeks Death Penalty for Six Guantanamo Bay Detainees"). These would be "the first trials under the terrorism-era military tribunal system." more ›

The city has been crowing about this year's low murder rate since last week, when officials announced it was likely to be under 500 murders. Currently, the murder rate is 492 as of Sunday night (we're not sure if that number includes the three men killed in Brooklyn); this year's murder rate would be the lowest since 1963, the first year with reliable data and a year that saw 548 killings. more ›

In Following the Equator, Mark Twain wrote:

“In America the ice-storm is an event. And it is not an event which one is careless about. When it comes, the news flies from room to room in the house, there are bangings on the doors, and shoutings, ‘The ice-storm! the ice-storm!’ and even the laziest sleepers throw off the covers and join the rush for the windows.”

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke today, giving a speech and sort of answers some of questions posed by Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and School of International and Public Affairs Dean John Coatsworth. We're sure video and transcripts will come shortly, but in the meant time, The Bwog, New York, and City Room have been liveblogging the speech. Here's a sample of questions posed, via the City Room:

In response to a question about the treatment of homosexuals in Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad was initially evasive, instead talking about the death penalty, which, he pointed out, exists in the United States: “People who violate the laws by using guns, creating insecurity selling guns, distributing guns at a high level are sentenced to execution in Iran. Very few of these punishments are carried out in the public eye.” more ›

In late November 2005, police officer Dillon Stewart and his partner, Paul Lipka, stopped a 1990 Infiniti for a traffic violation (driving with dealer plates) in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. One of the men inside fired five bullets into the unmarked police car (Stewart and Lipka were uniformed), and Stewart (pictured) and Lipka proceeded to chase the car. But then Stewart realized that he had been shot -- the bullet had missed his bulletproof vest by a quarter of an inch and hit his heart. more ›

In May of 2000, five employees of a Wendy's in Flushing were killed in the basement, while two others were injured. John Taylor and Craig Godineaux were arrested and charged with the murders. While Godineaux pleaded guilty to the crimes and is serving a life sentence without parole, Taylor, a former Wendy's employee, was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2002. more ›

Yesterday, the three men charged with first-degree murder of police officer Russel Timoshenko all pleaded not guilty in Brooklyn court. However, Dexter Bostick, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, who were also charged with a number of other crimes related to the July 9 traffic stop shooting, did not ask for bail. The Post and Daily News had the varying statements the men gave investigators:

Woods, 29, told detectives "I ain't going to jail for something I didn't do. I didn't shoot no cops, I was only driving. Fat boy [Bostic] was in the passenger seat and that faggot Roger [Ellis] was behind me." more ›

One of the saddest images from yesterday were the parents of slain police officer Russel Timoshenko, weeping at Brooklyn criminal court after the arraignment of the three men accused of Timoshenko's murder. The suspects, Dexter Bostic, Robert Ellis, and Lee Woods, were arraigned last week on charges including attempted murder. It is believed that Bostic, firing from the front passenger seat, shot 23-year-old Timoshenko in the face and neck during a July 9 traffic stop (Ellis allegedly fired at police officer Herman Yan; Woods was the driver). Timoshenko had been on life support since the shooting and was declared dead on Saturday. more ›

Twenty-three-year-old police officer Russel Timoshenko died yesterday at King County Hospital, five days after being shot twice in the face during a Monday traffic stop in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Doctors took him off life support after finding he had no brain activity yesterday afternoon. KCH director of trauma service and surgical critical care, Dr. Robert Kurtz, was visibly upset as he reported Timoshenko's death. From Newsday:

Kurtz, who choked up, said the case "affected us emotionally as well as professionally." more ›

Today, Dexter Bostick and Robert Ellis will be arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on charges related to the Monday shooting of two police officers during a traffic stop. Bostick and Ellis had fled NYC after the shooting, only to be captured days later in Pennsylvania. Yesterday, they were extradited from Pennsylvania, and lines of police officers watched them as they were escorted to and from the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn. Police officers are expected to appear at the courthouse also, in another display of solidarity with injured officers Herman Yan and Russel Timoshenko; Timoshenko continues to be in critical condition at Kings County Hospital after being shot twice in the face. more ›

"People create because they feel what everyone else is thinking." In 1964, Tommy Trantino was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of two New Jersey police officers. In 1971, the death penalty was over turned and Trantino was sentenced to life in prison. During that time, Trantino wrote to Leonard Weinglass, the lawyer who defended the Chicago Seven, which included social and political activist Abbie Hoffman. Through Hoffman, Trantino's letters were seen by an editor at Bantam, who commissioned him to write Lock the Lock, a collection of poetry, drawings, and autobiographical stories detailing Trantino's youth, the events that led to his incarceration, and the harrowing experiences he'd witnessed in prison. The book was praised by the likes of Howard Zinn and Henry Miller. more ›