Prosecutor Argument. The South Carolina Supreme Court has overturned the murder conviction of a man found guilty of killing his estranged wife. The Court ruled that the prosecutor's closing argument, which urged jurors to identify with the victim, encouraged them to "abandon their impartiality" as reported in a story by Rick Brundrett of McClatchy Newspapers. The Court's decision is available here.

Ohio Execution. Darrell Ferguson, "a man who said he worshipped Satan and enjoyed killing three people, stabbing and beating them and stomping on them with steel-toed boots, was executed Tuesday," reports the AP.

Chutzpah. Antoine Yates sued the City of New York because the police entered his apartment without a warrant. It seems Mr. Yates went to the hospital three days after being bitten by his pet tiger. The police went in under the emergency exception (see, e.g., Brigham City v. Stuart) to remove the tiger and an alligator. U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein dismissed the lawsuit, describing it with the Yiddish term for audacity. The AP story is here.

Night Stalker. Maura Dolan reports on the Night Stalker affirmance in the L.A. Times.

More on Injection. Henry Weinstein has this article in the L.A. Times on lethal injection in Oklahoma.