New Mexico Death Row: Stanley Bedford kidnapped and murdered Odis and Doris Newman in March of 2005. Today the jury will meet once again to decide Bedford’s fate, a phase that will take roughly a week. Bedford was convicted of two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, and unspecified charges relating to the crime. If the death penalty is imposed on Bedford, he will become New Mexico’s third death row inmate, alongside Timothy Allen and Robert Ray Fry. As reported by the Clovis News Journal, the last inmate sentenced to death spent 14 years on appeals before being executed in 2001. That was the first execution in the state in 45 years. The Freedom Newspaper in the Portales News-Tribune has this mug shot of Stanley Bedford.

Earlier this week in another case, a judge had accepted the strained argument that New Mexico's death penalty is unconstitutional because jurors sometimes conclude that a crime warrants death during the guilt phase. According to this AP story, the DA in the case decided to forgo the death penalty in that case rather than appeal. Setting this ruling straight will have to wait for another case. Perhaps Bedford will make the argument on appeal.

2nd Execution in Texas this Week: Gilberto Reyes is scheduled to die by lethal injection this evening, bringing the state's total for the year to 17 (following last night’s execution). Reyes kidnapped, raped, and strangled his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Yvette Barraz in March of 1998 in Texas. According to a brief story by KCBD Channel 11 News, Reyes was charged with aggravated assault for chasing and firing a gun at Barraz a month prior to her murder. More information on this murderer is on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice website.

Another Insanity Defense: Clifford Anthony Davis, 19, murdered his mother and grandfather in November 2005. He was charged with one count of abuse of a dead human body, two counts of robbery and one count of grand theft of a firearm. The State of Florida is seeking the death penalty and Davis’ attorneys are planning an insanity defense for the confessed killer as reported by The Herald Tribune. John Martin of the Washington Post wrote a piece back in 1998 titled The Insanity Defense: A Closer Look that poses some interesting and still relevant questions regarding the insanity defense.

The New York Senate yesterday "approved legislation to reinstate New York’s death penalty in all cases of first-degree murder," reports the Elmira Star-Gazette. The Senate had previously passed cop-killer-only legislation. The bill is probably DOA in the Assembly, where anti-justice forces remain in control.