Military to Seek DP for Fort Hood Murderer:  Sandra Jontz of Stars and Stripes reports that Military prosecutors plan to ask for the death penalty if Major Nidal Malik Hasan is convicted of murdering 13, during the November 5, 2009 shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.  As the story notes military death sentences are rarely carried out.  There are currently six condemned murderers on death row in Fort Leavenworth but the military has not executed a death sentenced murderer since 1961.  One of the oldest cases, Dwight Loving, is presently before the Supreme Court, No. 09-989, after denial of "extraordinary relief in the nature of a writ of habeas corpus" by the CAAF.

Arkansas Execution Stayed:  The Arkansas Supreme Court has stayed the execution of condemned murderer Stacy Eugene Johnson, according to this story from the Associated Press.  Johnson was sentenced to die for the 1993 murder of Carol Jean Heath.  The 2000 Supreme Court decision affirming the conviction and sentence describes how Johnson stripped, beat, strangled and slit his victim's throat, while her 6-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son hid in a closet.  Johnson is one of four Arkansas murderers who filed a lawsuit claiming that the state's lethal injection protocol was improperly established by the Department of Corrections rather than the state legislature.