Ruling allows for execution of the lone woman on death row
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court has cleared the way for the only woman on federal death row to be executed before President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20.
The ruling, handed down late Friday by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, concluded that a lower court judge erred when he vacated Lisa Montgomery’s execution date in an order late last month.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss had ruled the Justice Department unlawfully rescheduled Montgomery’s execution and he vacated an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons scheduling her death for Jan. 12.
Montgomery had been scheduled to be put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, in December, but Moss delayed the execution after her attorneys contracted coronavirus visiting their client and asked him to extend the time to file a clemency petition.
Moss concluded that under his order the Bureau of Prisons could not even reschedule Montgomery’s execution until at least Jan. 1. But the appeals panel disagreed.
Meaghan VerGow, an attorney for Montgomery, said her legal team would ask for the full appeals court to review the case and said Montgomery should not be executed on Jan. 12.
Montgomery was convicted of killing 23-yearold Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the northwest Missouri town of Skidmore in December 2004. She then cut the baby girl from the womb with a kitchen knife, authorities said. Montgomery attempted to pass the girl off as her own, prosecutors said.
Montgomery’s lawyers have argued that their client suffers from serious mental illnesses. Biden opposes the death penalty and his spokesman, TJ Ducklo, has said he would work to end its use. But Biden has not said whether he will halt federal executions after he takes office.
India tests vaccine delivery:
India tested its COVID19 vaccine delivery system with a nationwide trial Saturday, as it prepares to roll out an inoculation program to stem the coronavirus pandemic.
The trial included data entry into an online platform for monitoring vaccine delivery, along with testing of cold storage and transportation arrangements for the vaccine, the health ministry said in a statement.
The massive exercise was followed by India’s drug regulator recommending the emergency-use approval of two vaccines for COVID-19 — one developed by Oxford University and U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca, and another by the Indian manufacturer Bharat Biotech.
B o t h va c c i n e s wi l l now have to wait for final approval from the Indian regulator.
India ranks second in the world with more than 10.3 million confirmed coronavirus infections.
Statehood vow by PR governor:
Pedro Pierluisi vowed to achieve statehood for Puerto Rico and fight against poverty, corruption and COVID-19 after he was sworn in Saturday as the U.S. territory’s new governor.
Pierluisi, a Democrat who previously served as Puerto Rico’s representa
tive in Congress for eight years, also promised to prioritize education, lift the government out of bankruptcy and alleviate a deep economic crisis as leader of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.
“I have listened to our people and acknowledged the needs for better governance,” he said in a bilingual speech with a strong conciliatory tone.
Saturday’s ceremony marked the end of a chaotic four-year period in which Puerto Rico had three governors, including Pierluisi briefly after former Gov. Ricardo Rossello stepped down last year following huge street protests.
Pierluisi, 61, inherits a stagnant economy, a divided legislature, a billion-dollar public debt restructuring and a politically fractured U.S. territory hit hard by the pandemic as it still struggles to recover from hurricanes and earthquakes.
Charges after NYE vandal
ism: Seven people are facing felony charges after at least two federal buildings in Philadelphia were vandalized on New Year’s Eve and the discovery of what police said were Molotov cocktails and other suspicious devices.
Officers reported spotting about 50 people, all in black, around 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the historic U.S. Customs House, police said. And a man was seen throwing a brick through the windows of a federal building and courthouse shortly before 9 p.m., police said.
Damage to the federal building was estimated at $3,000. Anti-police and anti-prison graffiti were scrawled on walls, a sheriff ’s van was defaced and several windows were broken, police said.
Yemen missile attack aftermath:
Yemen’s prime minister said Saturday that a missile attack on the airport in Aden was meant “to eliminate” the country’s new
government as it arrived in the key southern city — an assault he blamed on Iranbacked rebels.
Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed spoke to The Associated Press in an interview conducted at his office in the Mashiq Palace in Aden. It was the leader’s first interview with international media after he survived Wednesday’s attack that killed at least 25 people and wounded 110 others.
“It’s a major terrorist attack that was meant to eliminate the government,” the premier said. “It was a message against peace and stability in Yemen.”
Saeed repeated his government’s accusations that Yemen’s Houthi rebels were responsible for the missile attack on the airport and a drone assault on the palace, shortly after the premier and his Cabinet were transferred there.
Norway landslide toll rises: The death toll rose to four in
Norway on Saturday following a landslide in the southern community of Ask this week, according to police.
Emergency services recovered a fourth body in an area in which two others had been found throughout the day, as police announced in a news conference late on Saturday.
The landslide tore into Ask early on Wednesday. At least 10 people reported injuries and nine houses collapsed in the town, located about 24 miles northeast of Oslo. About 1,000 people had to be taken to safety.
Alkvist earlier said there are many people still missing and that there is still hope that they will be found alive.
On Friday, before any of the bodies were found, the official count of the missing stood at 10, including two children.
Norwegian police have pledged not to scale down the search even though a rescue team from Sweden has already returned home.