News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on July 17, 2020.

Last week the News Roundup noted that the U.S. Department of Justice was set to resume executions of death row inmates following a 17-year hiatus.  After the Supreme Court lifted injunctions issued by lower federal court judges, two executions were carried out at a prison in Indiana this week.  A third is scheduled for today.  Keep reading for more on this story and other news. Federal Executions.  In noting the complexity and controversy surrounding the death penalty, last week’s News Roundup recounted some of the circumstances surrounding the murder conviction of Daniel Lewis Lee, who was executed on Tuesday after a one day delay caused by litigation of the injunction noted in the lead.  The victims’ family in Lee’s case, along with the lead prosecutor and the presiding judge, had expressed their view that Lee should not be executed. In contrast, a family member of the murder victim of the second person executed this week, Wesley Ira Purkey, said that justice had been served by Purkey’s execution on Thursday.  In 1998, Purkey kidnapped and murdered 16-year-old Jennifer Long.  In a statement to reporters, Jennifer’s father William Long said that the execution had “been a long time coming” and was an appropriate punishment for Purkey’s crime, adding that he expected that there never would be closure for him after the loss of his daughter. NC-9.  The News & Observer reports that Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman announced this week that she will not file criminal charges against former congressional candidate Mark [...]