Death Penalty

Michael Fitzpatrick, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), issued a statement lauding the publication of Amnesty International's report, USA: The execution of mentally ill offenders.

From NAMI:

Amnesty International’s report today on people with serious mental illnesses and the death penalty represents a compelling step forward in making the case that profound injustice exists at the most painful intersection of the mental healthcare and criminal justice systems in America.

NAMI opposes the death penalty for people with serious mental illnesses. The law has not kept pace with modern science. The criminal justice system is ill-suited to address biologically-based brain disorders that create illogical, confused patterns of thought.

We thank NAMI for commending the report and featuring it on their website.

Click here to read the statement.

Robert Lee Nance has been given a new trial by the South Carolina Supreme Court after it ruled that his original attorney hadn't provided a competent defense at his first trial. His attorney was taking prescription drugs during the trial, while suffering from pneumonia and alcoholism. His co-counsel had only been practicing law for 18 months.

From the Associated Press:

The state's highest court overturned Robert Lee Nance's conviction because his lawyer was heavily medicated during trial, called just three witnesses and didn't even plead for his client's life during sentencing.

"We find it most compelling that in the present case counsel abandoned his role as defense counsel and in fact helped to bolster the case against his client," Chief Justice Jean Toal wrote in the unanimous decision Monday.

For more see "SC Supreme Court grants death row inmate new trial" 

Amnesty International's new report, USA: the Execution of Mentally Ill Offenders, details the continued execution of mentally ill prisoners in the USA. Since the USA reinstituted the Death Penalty in 1977, over 1,000 people have been executed. Dozens of them have suffered from severe mental illness. As a minimum first step towards the complete abolition of the death penalty, the USA should stop executing those with serious mental illness.

For more information see The Execution of the Mentally Ill

In a 323 page report, the American Bar Association argued that Georgia's administration of the Death Penalty is flawed and urged that the state stop all executions until the procedure is fixed. The report was prepared by a panel of 10 prominent experts on Georgia law.

From the United Press International:

The American Bar Association says Georgia's administration of the death penalty is flawed, and executions should be stopped until the procedure is rectified.

Georgia is the only state in the country that doesn't guarantee lawyers to death row inmates at a critical stage of their appeals, a 323-page ABA report to be published Monday says.

The report says Georgia makes it tougher for capital defendants to avoid execution than any other state, and has the toughest standard in the United States for a defendant to prove he or she is mentally retarded. Georgia and 25 other states prohibit the execution of a prisoner with mental retardation.

For more see "ABA urges Georgia to halt executions"

The UN Council on Human Rights urged Saudi Arabia on Friday to end the execution of individuals whose crimes were committed before age 18.  Human Rights Watch reports that there are 126 juvenile offenders on the country's death row, some for crimes committed as early as age 13.

From Reuters:

"Sentencing children to death disregards everything children's rights were meant to protect," said Lois Whitman, director of the Children's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. "The Saudi government should immediately commute all death sentences imposed on children." "Sentencing children to death disregards everything children's rights were meant to protect," said Lois Whitman, director of the Children's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch. "The Saudi government should immediately commute all death sentences imposed on children."

Since 2000, only five countries in the world are known to have executed juveniles: China, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iran, Pakistan, and the United States.  The United States abolished the execution of juvenile offenders in 2005.

See: Saudi Arabia: Follow U.N. Call to End Juvenile Death Penalty.  For more information from Amnesty International on the world-wide execution of juveniles see: Stop Child Executions!

On January 27th a US District Court heard testimony that executing Vernon Evans Jr. by lethal injection may amount to "cruel and unusual punishment".  Two doctors testified that Evans' veins are in poor shape after years of intervenous heroin use.  Because of this damage, it is likely that a surgerical procedure will be necessary to establish a line to a major artery. 

From the Baltimore Sun:

"That procedure, Scalea testified, can only be completed by a specially trained physician. Such a doctor is not part of Maryland's "execution team."

Risks of the procedure include puncturing a lung, lacerating the vein or inadvertently inserting the catheter into an adjoining artery -- mistakes that could cause "catastrophic complications," according to Dr. Mark Heath, a Columbia University Medical Center anesthesiologist who testified for Evans.

With the lethal chemicals forced into his veins, the fluid would be diverted to smaller veins, risking their rupture and the incomplete circulation of the anesthesia, Scalea testified.  "If Vernon Evans is not properly anesthetized, he is at risk of great pain when the potassium chloride is later injected," Scalea said of the drug used to stop the heart. Because the second drug administered paralyzes breathing and voluntary muscles, "no one will be able to notice it because he is not able to make any kind of sign or signal."

Evans's lawyers are also asking for a complete stay of execution until the Supreme Court rules on the appeal of Clarence Hill, whose execution was stayed in Florida after he was strapped onto the gurney.  Hill's appeal questioned use of the three drug cocktail used in the lethal injection process, claiming that it is "cruel and unusual punishment".

For more on Evans's appeal, see: "Lethal injection debated"

Judge Charles McGrath oversaw the conviction and sentencing of Michael Morales in California for the 1981 rape and murder of a teenage girl.  Over twenty years later he is joining in the clemency appeal to Governor Schwarzenegger.  Further information in the case has shown that the star witness for the prosecution, a jailhouse snitch named Bruce Samuelson, likely lied on the stand.

From the Los Angeles Times:

"Samuelson explained away Morales' willingness to talk by saying the two men spoke in Spanish. A later investigation by the state attorney general, however, showed that Morales, a fourth-generation Californian, doesn't speak Spanish, [Judge] McGrath said.

The false testimony not only persuaded judge and jury that the killing was egregious, but effectively canceled out Morales' claim that he felt deep remorse for the crime, McGrath said.

Executing Morales, 46, under the circumstances would be "a grievous and freakish injustice," McGrath concluded."

The clemency request, co-prepared by Kenneth Starr, will ask that Morales be spared from his February 21, 2006 execution date.  If it goes forward, this would be the third execution in as many months for the state of California.

See: "Judge requests clemency for a killer he condemned"

Marvin Bieghler was pronounced dead at 2:17 a.m. EST after receiving a lethal injection.  Bieghler's lawyers filed a last minute appeal questioning the constitutionality of lethal injection, similar to the successful appeal filed on behalf of Clarence Hill in Florida (see entry below).  The Supreme Court overturned a federal appeals court's earlier decision to stay the execution based on this appeal, thereby clearing the way for the execution to move forward.

Bieghler was convicted of the 1981 slayings of a married couple, Tommy and Kimberly Miller, who were expecting a child.  After a 30 minute delay awaiting the Supreme Court's decision, Bieghler's last words were reportedly, "Let's get this over with."

See article at cnn.com: Indiana executes inmate for 1981 slayings

Marion Dudley was pronounced dead at 6:16 PM CST last night. Dudley proclaimed his innocence throughout his trial and incarceration. He was accused of shooting six, four of them fatally in June of 1992.

From the Associated Press:

When asked by a warden if he had any final statement, Marion Dudley did not respond, kept his eyes closed and never turned his head toward witnesses in the chamber, which included one of his survivors and relatives of one of the people killed.

Eight minutes later at 6:16 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead.

Dudley is the first person put to death in Texas this year, but more than a dozen executions are scheduled in Texas in the first five months of the year.

For more see "First Texas inmate put to death this year"

An hour after the scheduled execution time, the Supreme Court granted a stay for a Florida man, Clarence Hill, in order to review his last minute appeals.  Hill's attorneys filed an appeal arguing that Hill is mentally retarded, and a seperate appeal claiming that the drugs used in lethal injection constitute "cruel and unusual punishment".  Studies have shown that the three drugs used by Florida for lethal injection may cause a painful death.  Justice Kennedy cited the latter appeal as the reason for the stay.

See: "High court steps in, blocks FL execution"

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) voted yesterday against confirming the nomination of Judge Alito to the Supreme Court.  While Feingold broke from the Democrats to vote for the confirmation of Judge Roberts, a statement released yesterday cites multiple reservations, including Alito's handling of death penalty cases, that led to Feingold's vote.

In his statement to the Judiciary Committee Chairman, Feingold wrote:

"To be blunt, Mr. Chairman, I found Judge Alito’s answers to questions about the death penalty to be chilling...I was particularly troubled by his refusal to say that an individual who went through a procedurally perfect trial, but was later proven innocent, had a constitutional right not to be executed. The Constitution states that no one in this country will be deprived of life without due process of law. It is hard to even imagine how any process that would allow the execution of someone who is known to be innocent could satisfy that requirement of our Bill of Rights...

Judge Alito’s record and response suggest that he analyzes death penalty appeals as a series of procedural hurdles that inmates must overcome, rather than as a critical backstop to prevent grave miscarriages of justice."

The full statement is published on Senator Feingold's website.  Follow this link to the Statement of Senator Russ Feingold

Juan Covington is likely to spend the rest of his life in jail and avoid the death penalty, says defense attorney Chuck Peruto Jr. Covington is charged with three murders as well as another shooting. His attorney claims that he lacks moral understanding because he suffers from a mental illness and shouldn’t face the death penalty.

From CBS 3 Philadelphia:

it is safe to say the cases won't go to trial:

"It's a recognition by the district attorney's office that this man, after interviewing, is seriously deranged and may not know what he did is wrong.

"I am not saying he is insane in the legal sense, but it's the situation where we might want to hospitalize him and just remove him from society permanently rather than give him the death penalty."

Covington claims that he did society a favor by killing because he can see the devil where others cannot.

For more see: "Covington May Avoid Death Penalty"

Elton McLaughlin was removed from death row earlier this month after US district court Judge Terrence Boyle ruled that an IQ test administered to McLaughlin in 1960's was valid. McLaughlin scored a 70 on that test, which qualifies him as mentally retarded and not morally culpable, following the 2002 ruling of Atkins v Virginia.

From the Associated Press:

The state's lawyers had argued that the IQ test couldn't be used as proof that McLaughlin was mentally retarded because it wasn't properly administered.

In June 2003, Bladen County Superior Court Judge James F. Ammons Jr. sided with the state.
Boyle disagreed and ordered that McLaughlin's death sentences be vacated and that he serve the rest of his life in prison. Prosecutors haven't decided whether to appeal.

"It is absolutely a correct ruling based on both the law and the evidence," said one of McLaughlin's lawyer, Jonathan E. Broun with the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in Durham. "Elton McLaughlin was the type of defendant that both Atkins and the North Carolina statute are supposed to protect."

 For more see: "Federal judge orders N.C. man removed from death row"

The US military has updated its technical policies and procedures concerning the implementation of death sentences in the armed forces.   There is speculation that this update is in preparation for the first military execution in the US since 1955.  There are currently six men on military death row. 

See: "US Military issues new execution regulations"

In 1982 Alan Crotzer received 130 years for the raping of a 38 year-old woman and a 12 year-old girl.  After spending 24 years in a Florida prison, DNA evidence cleared Mr. Crotzer and he was released from prison on Monday.

From Reuters:

"Crotzer, who is black, was convicted by an all-white jury that took only one hour to reach its verdict, according to Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, a local advocacy group.

In a statement it quoted Sam Roberts, a member of Crotzer's volunteer legal defense team, as saying he was a victim of a flawed justice system.

"The system completely failed Alan Crotzer. When you know that an innocent man is spending his life in prison, you've got no choice but to do everything you can and enlist help from anyone who will listen," Roberts said."

See: "Florida man freed by DNA after decades in prison"

Based on an independent investigation into the alleged mishandling of crime evidence in the Houston Police Laboratory, a pro-death penalty paper published an editorial arguing for a moratorium on executions in Texas.

From the San Antonio Express-News:

"The disturbing facts coming out of an independent investigation into cases handled by the Houston Police Department lab beg for a temporary suspension of executions, at least until all cases the lab handled are reviewed.

In a report issued this month, an independent investigator stated the Houston Police Department crime lab failed to report evidence that might have helped criminal defendants and found errors in almost one-third of the cases reviewed, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Among the cases in which the investigator found problems are three involving death row inmates. That is deeply disturbing."

Texas has two executions scheduled for January alone.

See: "State should place executions on hold"

Clarence Hill is scheduled to be executed tomorrow by the state of Florida for the 1982 murder of a police officer, Stephen Alan Taylor, in the course of a robbery.  There is evidence that Hill was not the mastermind of the robbery and that he was under the influence of cocaine at the time of the crime.  For more information on the case or to take action, follow the link below!

Take Action: NCADP Online Action

According to Seattle's Post-Intelligencer:

[Democratic Assemblyman Paul] Koretz' bill [calling for a two-year moratorium on carrying out the death penalty] needed to advance this week to be considered by the full Legislature. With more than eight months left in the session, the idea could be brought back in a new bill for reconsideration this year, and Koretz said he is considering that option.

See "Calif. death penalty moratorium stalled."

Jaime Elizalde is scheduled to be executed in Texas on January 31, 2006. He was sentenced to death in 1994 for the murders of two men. No physical evidence links him to the crimes, and key evidence against him has been called into question. His execution was originally set for November 2, 2005.

Take Action: Stop the execution of Jamie Elizalde in Texas or Learn more about this issue

Perrie Simpson was executed at 2 AM this morning in Raleigh, NC.  Outside of the prison, 15 demonstraters were arrested for trespassing while attempting to approach the prison doors.  Those arrested cited strong religious beliefs and moral objections to capital punishment.

Demonstrators in North Carolina also were arrested for trespassing while protesting the December execution of Kenneth Boyd, the 1,000 person to be executed since 1976.  All charges in that case were later dropped.

Julius Murphy’s execution, scheduled for today, the 19th of January, was stayed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday. Murphy’s lawyer, Kevin Dunn, argued in a new appeal that his client was borderline mentally retarded.                

From the Associated Press:

Condemned Texas inmate Julius Murphy won a reprieve Wednesday, a day before he was to be executed for the robbery and fatal shooting of a man in Texarkana 8 years ago.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted the scheduled punishment and remanded the case to the trial court in Bowie County, said Kevin Dunn, Murphy's lawyer, said.

"We're eager to litigate it," Dunn said.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to review Murphy's case. In new appeals this week, Dunn raised claims that Murphy, who never got beyond the eighth grade, was borderline mentally retarded. The Supreme Court has ruled that mentally retarded people may not be executed.

See “Appeals court halts execution set for Thursday”

In the weeks leading up to the execution of Vernon Lee Evans, former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening continues to argue for reinstating the moratorium he imposed in 2002. All executions were halted in May of 2002 pending a University of Maryland study which addressed issues of racial and geographic disparities in the implementation of the death penalty. Glendening expressed disappointment that executions have resumed despite the study’s findings.

From the Baltimore Sun:

"At some point, I have no doubt, our state will come together more as a civil community and demand that these issues be addressed," he said yesterday in an hour long interview in Annapolis. "It would be nice if it was sooner rather than later because people will be sentenced and people will be executed under what has proven itself to be a discriminatory process."

The study found specifically that black defendants who killed whites were the most likely statistically to be given the death penalty. The study also determined that crimes tried in Baltimore County were the most likely to result in capital punishment. Vernon Evans is an African-American convicted of the murder of two white victims in Baltimore County.

For more see: "Glendening says state still needs moratorium"

Azam Ghareh Shiran was sentenced to death in April 2002 for being an accomplice in the murder of her husband, who had allegedly forced her into prostitution.  She could now be executed at any time, possibly within days. The Head of the Judiciary has the power to order a stay of execution.

From the Washington Post:

[...]death penalty opponents have noted that although Coleman was guilty, more than 170 prisoners have been exonerated by DNA tests in recent years. Some of them were on death row. In December, Warner ordered a broad examination of samples in old cases after two men who had been wrongly convicted of rape were exonerated by DNA tests. The governor quietly allowed the Coleman tests about the same time.

Ira Robbins, an American University law professor, said perhaps the most important contribution of Coleman's case is that it may help persuade officials across the country to seek DNA tests in other post-conviction or post-execution cases.

See "DNA Tests May Signal Shift in Death Penalty Debate."

Boalt Hall Death Penalty Clinic director asks "What if, instead of more executions, Californians awoke tomorrow to find that capital punishment was gone and could not be resurrected?":

Some prosecutors, jurors and family members of victims would no doubt be frustrated and angry. But there also would be relief on the part of prosecutors who have had second thoughts about the fairness and reliability of the outcomes they pursued. There certainly would be relief on the part of jurors who have learned facts about the defendant that were never presented at trial — facts that would have changed their sentencing verdict. And victims' family members who either did not want the defendant put to death or who discovered that the prospect of an execution did not abate their grief or make any more sense of their loss would share in that sense of relief.

So, what if the death penalty were finally abolished?

See "The death penalty doesn't pay."

Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA, released the following statement after new DNA tests definitively linked Roger Keith Coleman to the death of Wanda McCoy in Virginia:

Governor Mark Warner demonstrated tremendous courage by recognizing that states, courts, and juries can make mistakes.  When and if they do, public officials have a responsibility to seek out the truth and erase any doubts that might tarnish the credibility of our judicial system.  The death penalty, which is not synonymous with justice, is riddled with potentially fatal flaws. 

Despite the outcome of these tests, the antiquated practice of state-sanctioned executions should be abolished based on its appalling record of human error, prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias, mistakes made by crime labs and unreliable witness testimony.  These failures played a role in sending 122 men to death row over the last 33 years who were ultimately freed based on wrongful convictions--men who would, in all likelihood, have shared Coleman's fate had exculpatory evidence been discovered too late to save them.

For more information please visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish

Today Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), released the following statement as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Paul Gregory House, the first death row inmate to bring DNA evidence before the court as proof of innocence:

The fact that DNA evidence tested long after Paul Gregory House's trial casts shadows of doubt on his actual guilt or innocence is further evidence that the death penalty system is plagued by widespread flaws. To date, 122 wrongfully convicted inmates have been released from death row in the United States. It is chilling that in our current system, innocence is not a good enough reason to be spared the death penalty. Cases such as this one should give us pause about a system in which there is such callous disregard for human life. It starkly demonstrates the central reason why the death penalty should be abolished immediately.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

The state Supreme Court turned down an appeal Tuesday by condemned inmate Clarence Ray Allen, who argued that his scheduled execution next week would be cruel and unusual because of his advanced age and health problems.

See "Death Row's oldest inmate loses appeal Argument was that execution would be cruel and unusual."