Florida death penalty system ruled illegal
WASHINGTON – Florida’s unique system for sentencing people to death is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to judges – and not enough to juries – to decide capital sentences, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
The 8-1 ruling said that the state’s sentencing procedure is flawed because juries play only an advisory role in recommending death while the judge can reach a different decision.
‘Affluenza’ mom released on bond
FORT WORTH, Texas – The mother of a fugitive teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck was released from a Texas jail on Tuesday, a day after a judge sharply reduced her $1 million bond for allegedly helping her son flee to Mexico.
Tonya Couch declined to speak with reporters when she was released from the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth. She posted the $75,000 bond and was ordered to wear an electronic ankle GPS monitor and remain at the home of another son, 29-year-old Steven McWilliams, except for appointments with her doctor and lawyer.
Foreigners targeted in Istanbul bombing
ISTANBUL – A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday, killing 10 foreigners – most of them German tourists – and wounding 15 other people in the latest in a string of attacks by the Islamic extremists targeting Westerners.
The blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque and a former Byzantine church in the city’s storied Sultanahmet district, was the first by the Islamic State to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although IS militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country.
Associated Press
