Will the death penalty get an overhaul?
McALESTER, Okla. – Oklahoma’s last execution went so badly that the state tried to cancel it before it was over. With the inmate writhing while the lethal drugs seeped into his body, his executioners drew the viewing gallery curtains, concealing what the warden later described as “a bloody mess.”
The botched execution of Clayton Lockett in April and other troubling ones this year in Arizona and Ohio gave capital punishment opponents a flicker of hope that areas of the country that most enthusiastically support the death penalty might have a change of heart. They didn’t.
Although Gov. Mary Fallin suspended further executions, so Lockett’s death and Oklahoma’s methods could be reviewed, the state held what amounted to a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its overhauled death chamber only months later and is scheduled to resume killing inmates in mid-January. And rather than causing states to question whether capital punishment is just or worth the risk of subjecting someone to a potentially agonizing death, the prolonged executions and problems states have had securing lethal injection drugs have led them to explore new, old and more efficient ways of killing, including gassing inmates.
NYC officer mourned; officers turn on mayor
NEW YORK – Thousands of police officers from across the nation packed a church and spilled onto streets Saturday to honor Officer Rafael Ramos as a devoted family man, aspiring chaplain and hero, though an air of unrest surrounding his ambush shooting was not completely pushed aside.
While mourners inside the church applauded politely as Mayor Bill de Blasio spoke, hundreds of officers outside turned their backs on him in a show of disrespect for what they see as his support for anti-police protesters.”
Tensions were evident when officers turned away from giant screens showing de Blasio, who has been harshly criticized by New York Police Department union officials as a contributor to a climate of mistrust that preceded the killings of Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu.
The killings of two unarmed blacks by white police officers in Missouri and New York this summer touched off protests and a national debate over police conduct that intensified after grand juries refused to indict the officers.
Tensions escalated further after two New York City police officers were killed a week ago by a man who suggested in online posts that their deaths were in retaliation for the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York City. The gunman committed suicide.
Ariz. officer, suspect killed in shootout
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – A 24-year-old police officer and a suspect died after a shootout Saturday afternoon.
Officer Tyler Stewart, 24, died at Flagstaff Medical Center after he was shot in a domestic-violence case, Flagstaff police said.
Stewart was looking for the suspect about 1:30 p.m. in the 800 block of West Clay Street when a man identified as Robert W. Smith, 28, of Prescott, fired several shots at the officer, police said. The suspect then shot himself dead, police said.
Stewart was taken to Flagstaff Medical Center in critical condition and then later died.
Stewart had worked at the department for less than a year, police said. He was a graduate of Boulder Creek High School in Anthem, Arizona, and Concordia College in California.
“It is heartbreaking to lose one of our officers,” Mayor Jerry Nabours said.
Insurers accused of flood fraud
NEW YORK – When Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast, flood insurance companies working for the Federal Emergency Management Agency dispatched an army of structural engineers to do some detective work.
Their assignment: Find out how much damage to policyholders’ homes was caused by surging seawater and how much predated the storm.
Now, two years later, lawyers representing about 1,500 homeowners are trying to prove that some engineering firms hired to inspect the damage issued bogus reports to give skeptical insurers ammunition to deny claims.
Broken foundations, the lawyers say, falsely were blamed on poor construction or long-term settling of the soil. Cracked and warped walls were written off as being because of old age.
So far, there’s been little proof available publicly. Some engineers who worked the coast after the storm say a lot of homeowners simply were unaware of long-standing but hidden problems exposed by the storm.
Associated Press
