Kenneth Young: For juveniles in prison, life sentence can mean no parole.
Bill to help young inmates get parole is killed in Legislature
By Meg Laughlin, Times Staff Writer In Print: Saturday, April 25, 2009
When a corrections officer escorted Kenneth Young to a phone recently, the 24-year-old lifer could barely contain his excitement.
He was expecting good news about a bill called "the Second Chance Act for Children in Prison" which offered a glimmer of hope to him and a handful of other inmates, who had been sentenced as children.
He knew the bill was successfully winding its way through the state House and Senate, and thought that one of the Florida State University law school students who worked on the bill was calling to tell him that it had passed, and he might eventually be considered for release.
But the news was bad.
FSU law school student Chantel Cooper told him, instead, that "a person in the House refused to let people vote on it and the bill died."
"How can that be?" asked Young.
"A committee chairman can do that," said Cooper.
Almost a minute passed before Young spoke. "Is it over for me?" he asked.
"Maybe, but I hope not," said Cooper.
At 14, Kenneth Young accompanied a man in his mid 20s on a string of armed robberies of hotels in Tampa and St. Petersburg. The man held a gun on desk clerks while Young disabled security cameras and grabbed the cash. No shots were fired, and Young never held a weapon. He got life without parole anyway.
Now, nine years later, even the judge who sentenced Young says he wishes he could take back the sentence. If Young's prison record has been good, said J. Rogers Padgett, he'd support parole consideration for him. Turns out Young has been a model prisoner, which is why the FSU law school team chose him to be the poster child for the bill.
A US man has become the longest-serving prisoner to be freed after DNA evidence proved he was innocent of the crime he was convicted of three decades ago.
James Bain spent 35 years in jail after being found guilty of kidnapping and raping a nine-year-old boy in 1974.
On his release from prison in Florida on Thursday, he told the BBC he was not angry and his faith had helped him.
He has always maintained his innocence, but was only allowed a review of his case following an appeal.
During his final court hearing signalling his release, Mr Bain wore a T-shirt with the words "Not Guilty" on it.
The 54-year-old, who was jailed at the age of 19, told the BBC's World Today programme that he felt very emotional and "extremely great".
'In God's hands'
He said his first duty upon his release was to see his mother.
"I felt so good but because of her [my mother's] health I had to go to the house. She never gave up, the same as [me]."
He said the support of his family and his religious faith had helped him get through his ordeal.
" He walked out of the courthouse, a free man, a free man in America " Seth Miller
"[It] just was the right time for God to release me from this. I just had to be very patient for that... I cannot feel angry. I put all that in God's hands," he said.
After leaving Polk County courthouse, Mr Bain said he hoped to return to school and he was looking forward to eating fried turkey and drinking Dr Pepper.
The Innocence Project of Florida helped co-ordinate Mr Bain's release. It says that he was imprisoned for far longer than any of the other 246 inmates exonerated by DNA evidence across the US.
Mr Bain was freed after filing several petitions asking for his case to be reviewed and DNA tests to be carried out.
Most of these were thrown out but following an order by a judge, test results which came in last week showed Mr Bain was innocent.
He had been convicted mainly on the strength of the victim identifying him out of a line-up, although tests available at the time did not definitely link him to the crime, the Associated Press reported.
Mr Bain said he had been watching television with his twin sister when the crime occurred.
Innocence Project of Project lawyer Seth Miller told the World Today: "He walked out of the courthouse, a free man, a free man in America.
"And the family's excited to have Jamie back with them and this is the first day of the rest of his life and we're excited to be able to share it with him."
Last year Florida passed a law that means Mr Bain is entitled to $1.75m (£1.08m) for the time he spent in jail while innocent.
Mehmet Goren: Honour killing: father convicted of murder of Tulay Goren + Mother Breaks Silence
Honour killing: father convicted of murder of Tulay Goren
Mehmet Goren, the father of 15-year-old Muslim schoolgirl Tulay Goren, has been convicted of her murder and sentenced to serve a minimum of 22 years for the family "honour killing" in London.
Tulay, who had come to Britain from the Kurdish region of Turkey, was drugged, tortured and then killed by her father Mehmet Goren, over her relationship with an older man of whom Mehment Goren and his relations did not approve.
Although Tulay's body has never been found, her father Mehmet Goren, 49, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey after a 10-week trial.
He was cleared of conspiracy to murder Halil Unal, Tulay's former boyfriend who survived being attacked with an axe by Mehmet, two weeks after the schoolgirl vanished.
Mehmen Goren's older brother Ali and younger brother Cuma were each cleared of charges of murder and conspiracy to murder.
Joseph Edward Duncan III: Can't plead guilty if he represents himself
This detestable man should have been removed permanently from the planet long ago
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State law: Duncan can't plead guilty if he represents himself
City News Service • December 3, 2009
INDIO — A convicted child killer said Wednesday he does "not deny the allegations" that he kidnapped and killed a Beaumont boy, nevertheless a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Under California law, Joseph Edward Duncan III cannot enter a guilty plea because he is representing himself against first-degree murder and other charges stemming from the 1997 slaying of 10-year-old Anthony Martinez.
In a potential death penalty case, a defendant must be represented by an attorney and have that lawyer's consent to enter a guilty plea.
Duncan, who is accused of snatching the boy from an alley in Beaumont and dumping his body in the Coachella Valley, appeared in court Wednesday and waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which is held to determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.
Since Duncan waived his right to the hearing, he was immediately arraigned, but Duncan told Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Downing he wanted to speak.
"I do not deny the allegations," Duncan said. "For the record, I just want to say that."
Downing said he could not allow Duncan to admit anything in court without waivers and other stipulations.
"I understand," Duncan told the judge.
Downing entered a not guilty plea on Duncan's behalf and set a Sept. 1 trial date.
Duncan agreed to the date, but indicated he might need up to two years to prepare for trial.
Duncan, 46, was found competent to stand trial and represent himself in August by a jury.
He has already been sentenced to death for the kidnapping, molestation and murder of a 9-year-old boy in Idaho.
He was linked to the Indio case during questioning in Idaho.
Andrew Conley: Andrew Conley, 17, charged with murder in the death of his brother, Conner Conley, 10, in Rising Sun., Ind.
Ind. teen charged, his parents grieve slain son
By DEANNA MARTIN and LISA CORNWELL, Associated Press Writers Deanna Martin And Lisa Cornwell, Associated Press Writers Sat Dec 5, 4:18 am ET
RISING SUN, Ind. – Showing no emotion and with his parents a few blocks from the courthouse, an Indiana teenager pleaded not guilty to killing his 10-year-old brother. His mother and father were greeting mourners who came to pay respects to their slain younger son.
Andrew Conley, 17, was charged as an adult in Ohio Circuit Court with murdering his brother, Conner Conley, a decision that the boys' parents supported, said Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Aaron Negangard. In front of a few of his friends, the teen answered only basic questions during Friday's hearing. His attorney, Gary Sorge, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf, and left the courthouse without talking to reporters.
Nearby, the boys' parents, Shawn and Bridget Conley, greeted a steady stream of friends and well-wishers who came to a viewing of Connor's body at the Markland Funeral Home. The fifth-grader was dressed in a dark suit and lay in an open casket.
The boy's killing has left residents of this small Ohio River town 90 miles southeast of Indianapolis shaken and confused.
According to prosecutors, Andrew Conley, told investigators he strangled Conner while they were wrestling at their home Sunday, then drove his body to a park and dumped it. They say he said he did it to satisfy his craving to kill.
Townspeople described Andrew on Friday as "nice," "normal," and "polite." A relative of the family, Debbie Snyder, said the Conleys were a "strong" and "balanced" family.
And school officials said the brothers were good students and had many friends. Andrew got As and Bs, was a member of the Spanish club and had no record of disciplinary problems.
The Conleys withdrew Andrew from school on Nov. 16, 12 days before Conner's body was found near a city park, Rising Sun-Ohio County Community Schools Superintendent Stephen Patz said Friday. He declined to say why, and the parents have not talked to the media.
Prosecutors, in an affidavit, said Andrew Conley showed no remorse when he entered the police station Sunday and announced that he had killed his brother. They said he described how he choked his younger brother, saying he strangled the boy to satisfy a craving like a hungry person eating a hamburger.
They also said Conley told investigators that killing his brother made him feel like the fictional television serial killer "Dexter," and that he had cut himself in the past.
Dr. Lisa Boesky, a San Diego child psychologist and expert on teen and child behavior, said the boy's alleged self-mutilation indicated he may have been suffering from depression or anxiety, or experiencing overwhelming emotions such as rage.
Boesky said teens who kill nearly always have deep, underlying problems and that it was unlikely the television show influenced Conley's actions.
"It's rarely something that happens overnight," she said. "This is not caused by a television show or a fight with their parents. This is typically indicative of a serious disturbance. And clearly in cases like this, it indicates that something is seriously wrong."
A white cross stood Friday at the site in the park near where Connor's body was found with the messages "In loving memory of" and "classmates of Conner 2009."
Connor's great-uncle, Al Snyder, attended the visitation Friday and described the boy as outgoing, artistic and articulate.
"He could carry on a conversation better than most adults I know," Snyder, 48, of Camden, N.Y., told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Pastor Jim Jenkins of the First Baptist Church of Rising Sun is among the clergy helping counsel students and staff at the two schools. He said the case has been especially hard on Conner's fifth-grade classmates.
"You've got a class of 20 children and all of a sudden one of them is not there and they've been murdered and their face is all over TV and the story is all over the radio," he said.
Patz, the school superintendent, said it was impossible to make sense of the crime.
"Everyone is just trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together and they aren't fitting," Patz said. "They may never fit."
Associated Press Writer Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this story.
Robert Riggan: Colorado/Felony Murder, Life Without Parole
Robert Riggan was sentenced to life without possibility of parole by a panel of judges in Colorado, USA in April 1999 for felony murder.
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Robert Riggan escapes death against his will..
A panel of 3 judges Friday unanimously rejected the death penalty for a killer who had begged to die rather than spend his life in prison.
The case was the 1st test of a new law that puts the death penalty decision in the hands of judges instead of juries. The decision denies opponents the opportunity to challenge the new death penalty proceedings.
The key factor cited by the judges was the jury's failure to convict Robert Riggan, 39, on the charge of first-degree murder after deliberation in the death of 22-year-old Anita Paley.
The jury deadlocked on that charge, but convicted him of 1st-degree murder while committing or fleeing from felony sexual assault.
"Just as we must have tremendous respect for a jury's verdict of guilt or non-guilt, we must have respect for the fact that the jury that heard the evidence in this case was divided and deadlocked on this enormously critical issue," the judges said in an opinion read by presiding Jefferson County District Judge Frank Plaut.
Paley, a Capitol Hill prostitute, died of a severe brain injury and her vagina was slashed with a knife after she went to the mountains with Riggan May 16, 1997. Riggan sped away in his van after a passing motorist saw him dragging her body near a cabin above Black Hawk.
"A civilized society should not and cannot take the life of a human being, even one who commits an especially heinous, cruel and depraved offense, if a jury could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the individual in fact administered the fatal injury," the judges said.
Plaut read the 12-page decision of the panel in a packed courtroom Friday morning as Riggan sat quietly and his defense team clasped their hands and bowed their heads, tensely awaiting the decision.
District Judges R. Brooke Jackson of Jefferson County and Jack Smith of Arapahoe County joined in the unanimous decision.
Riggan shook his head after he learned his life had been spared. He made a rambling 15-minute statement to the judges in which he again proclaimed his innocence. Riggan contends Paley was suicidal and fatally injured herself when she jumped from his van.
"I'm relieved," said defense attorney Dennis Hartley. "It was a thoughtful decision. I didn't expect anything less. It was a correct decision under the circumstances of this case."
Riggan maintained his innocence and restated his desire to die dkuring a telephone interview after the hearing. "Life in prison is very rough," he said. "People don't realize it, but once you're there for a while, people would rather die."
Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas said he accepted the decision, but believes Riggan deserved the death penalty.
"I think we did the appropriate thing in this case," he said. "Under these kinds of circumstances, I would do it again."
The decision rejecting the death penalty means that a Supreme Court challenge of the state's new law must wait for another case.
Most likely that will come in the Brandy Duvall murder case, in which Danny Martinez and Francisco Martinez both face death penalty sentencing hearings in Jefferson County within the next few weeks.
Although prosecutors failed to prove that Riggan committed intentional felony murder, the judges said, they proved that Riggan committed his offense in an "especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner."
The judges cited the 3-inch knife wound to Paley's vagina that resulted in massive blood loss.
"After inflicting the wound, Mr. Riggan attempted to hide her body and left her to die, lying in a pool of blood resulting both from the vaginal injury and the head injury. The panel finds this conduct to be disgusting and outrageous."
Defense attorneys proved mitigating factors, including Riggan's minor criminal history, his diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder and the deplorable conditions of his upbringing, the judges said.
"Mr. Riggan's upbringing and, in particular, the lack of emotional attention and support from his parents, are nothing short of tragic," the judges said. "Regrettably, this was a family plagued by incest, sexual abuse, squalor, poverty and emotional neglect of Mr. Riggan and his siblings."
But the judges said that doesn't mitigate or excuse the depravity of his crime. Still, the jury's deadlock on the intentional first-degree murder charge convinced the panel that his life should be spared.
The deadlock may mean that one or more jurors didn't believe Riggan caused Paley's fatal head injury, the judges said. It could mean that at least one juror believed Riggan's claim that she was suicidal and jumped from his van. The judges concluded that trial evidence could leave reasonable doubt.
"A sentence of death cannot be imposed based upon possibilities or scenarios," the judges said. If the jury couldn't agree on what Riggan did, the judges concluded, a death sentence would be inappropriate and contrary to legislative intent and Supreme Court precedent.
Steven Green: US soldier gets life for rape and murder of Iraqi girl.
A US army soldier has received five consecutive life sentences for his role in the rape and murder of an Iraqi teenager and the slaying of three of her family members.
By Our Foreign Staff Published: 10:03PM BST 04 Sep 2009
Barring a successful appeal or presidential pardon, 24-year-old Steven Green will not be eligible for release from prison.
Judge Thomas Russell handed down the sentence on Friday in a federal court in western Kentucky after a jury convicted Green in May of conspiracy, rape and multiple counts of murder for the deaths of the al-Janabi family on March 12, 2006, at their rural home outside Mahmoudiya, Iraq, about 20 miles south of Baghdad.
The jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision about whether or not Green should get a death sentence, automatically making Green's sentence life in prison.
He was considered the ringleader of a group of five soldiers who plotted the crime over whiskey and a game of cards at a traffic check point in Mahmudiyah.
Three other soldiers were given life sentences for the attack by military courts but will be eligible for parole in 10 years. A fourth was sentenced to 27 months in jail for acting as a lookout.
Green was tried in a civilian court after being discharged from the army due to a "personality disorder" before his role in the crime came to light.
Green made a rambling statement to the court and told prosecutors he had only been doing what he was told by the group's highest ranking soldier, Paul Cortez.
"Y'all can act like I'm a psychopath or a sexual predator or whatever," he said. "But if I had never gone to Iraq I would never have got caught up in anything like this."
Cortez and another solider testified that Green took Janabi's parents and sister into another room and shot them while two of the other soldiers raped her. Then Green took his turn with the sobbing girl before putting a pillow on her face and shooting her dead.
The soldiers set the house on fire by tossing a lighter onto a Kerosine-soaked blanket covering her naked body. Then they went back to their checkpoint about 200 meters away and grilled chicken wings.
Green, having left the military, soon confessed to a sergeant investigating the atrocity.
But the involvement of US soldiers did not come to light until a few months later when stress counsellors talked to the squad after an incident in which two soldiers were abducted at a checkpoint and later brutally murdered.
Michael Hernandez: Mentally ill teenager to be tried as an adult
THE CASE OF MICHAEL HERNANDEZ Mentally ill teenager to be tried as an adult
Michael Hernandez at his competency hearing
Child advocates call for flexible juvenile justice system By Noaki Schwartz Sun-Sentinel Posted February 8 2004
As authorities contemplate charging as an adult a 14-year-old boy accused of killing a classmate, the debate over how Florida handles juveniles charged with capital crimes is once again moving to center stage.
It hasn't been off stage that long. Last week's incident, in which a Southwood Middle School student confessed to repeatedly stabbing his friend Jaime Gough in a bathroom, follows a recent successful campaign to free Lionel Tate, who became the poster child for Florida's juvenile justice laws when he was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 13 for killing a 6-year-old.
A judge threw out his 2001 conviction and Tate, now 17, was freed Jan. 29 and will spend 10 years on probation under a plea deal. Violation of the terms of his deal could send him back to prison. Another 13-year-old, Nathaniel Brazill, tried as an adult in 2001 for killing his middle school teacher in Lake Worth, is serving a 28-year sentence.
Miami-Dade prosecutors are seeking a grand jury indictment to try the Southwood eighth-grader in adult court. A conviction could result in a life sentence. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not naming the suspect because of his age.
"I would hope that Lionel's case has shown the world we shouldn't stick our children in jail for the rest of their lives without parole," said Richard Rosenbaum, Tate's appellate attorney.
Some states use "blended sentencing," allowing young offenders to be confined in the juvenile system until they reach age 21 and then transferred to an adult prison system if the courts think it is necessary.
Child welfare advocates say children who commit horrible crimes should not be treated or punished as adults because they think, act and perceive the world differently than adults. And, most of all, there is a possibility they can be salvaged.
"I don't think it's appropriate to send children that young into the adult system because studies show they are less competent, and they are rehabilitatable," said Stephen Harper, a veteran public defender who once headed the juvenile division in Miami-Dade County. "There should not be just this instant reaction of grand jury, adult court, end of story."
If the Southwood student is sentenced as a juvenile, he could be free by age 21, Harper said. If the teen is convicted of first-degree murder as an adult, he could be in prison the rest of his life.
As Harper put it: "If they charge him with first, the options are there aren't any options."
In the wake of Tate's release, almost everyone involved in the case, including the victim's family, agreed Florida's justice system should be reformed to give judges more discretion in sentencing juveniles who are charged as adults.
Ed Griffith, a spokesman for Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, said she has lobbied the state Legislature unsuccessfully to pass a measure that would allow blended sentencing.
SEEKING OPTIONS
Prosecutors take into account factors such as the juvenile's record, the seriousness of the crime and the child's age when deciding whether to charge juveniles as adults.
Blended sentences, Griffith said, would "ensure that those juveniles whose crimes merit extensive supervision are able to receive it so that the community is safe."
Griffith also noted that juvenile crime has gone down in recent years.
"Getting tough on juveniles who needed tougher sentences has certainly had an impact on the level of crime committed by juveniles and young adults," he said.
State Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale, has introduced a bill that would allow children under 16 who have been convicted of a capital crime to become eligible for parole if they have never previously been convicted of a felony. Under his bill, the child would have to be imprisoned as a juvenile offender for eight years and only then be considered for parole.
"The problem is that people are treating children as short adults, and they're not," Geller said. "If they still believe in the tooth fairy, it's inappropriate to sentence them to life in prison.
"I'm not willing to accept that you're going to put 11- and 12- and 13-year-olds in prison for the rest of your life for one act."
But Geller expects significant opposition in Tallahassee.
"No member of the Florida Legislature has ever been defeated for re-election or election to a higher post because they're seen as too tough on crime," Geller said. "You only lose because you're seen as too soft on crime."
Geller said the bill does not guarantee juveniles convicted of murder would automatically be released after eight years, only that they would get a second chance.
"We're not talking about gang bangers here," Geller said. "We're talking about kids who have not previously done anything wrong. Then it makes them eligible for parole after eight years. You do away with the mandatory minimum and with keeping them in prison for the rest of their lives.
"We're not letting anyone out of prison," he said. "We're just giving them a chance at redemption."
Sen. Walter "Skip" Campbell, D-Tamarac, last year tried unsuccessfully to introduce similar legislation.
"The purpose of the penal system is to punish, but I believe it's also to rehabilitate," Campbell said. "If we don't allow the rehabilitation side to be pursued, then we're really not a true, honest society."
COMPREHENDING CRIME
Many are reluctant to compare last week's killing to Tate's case.
Tate maintains he accidentally killed his friend Tiffany Eunick in 1999, while playing with her. In the Southwood Middle School case, police say the 14-year-old confessed that he had planned the murder, and a knife and bloodied latex glove were discovered in his backpack.
"People will compare him to Tate because you have a young defendant," said Brian Tannenbaum, a Miami criminal defense attorney. "But the means and methods are very different. This is not rough play that turned into a death.
"I think there's no question that he will be treated as an adult."
Before confessing to the crime, police said, the boy waived his rights to be questioned with an attorney present. Psychologist Helen Orvaschel says a teenager may not fully understand the ramifications of such decisions.
"At 14, it is difficult to conceive of long-term consequences. Long-term at 14 is this week or this month," said Orvaschel, a professor at Nova Southeastern's Center for Psychological Studies. "To be able to truly waive one's rights, I don't know if he comprehended the moment."
Staff Writer Diana Marrero and Miami Bureau Chief David Cázares contributed to this report.
The parents of a 14-year-old Miami-Dade County boy accused of killing his best friend in a school bathroom have hired the attorney who won Lionel Tate's release from prison.
Tate, who was sentenced to life at age 13 for killing a 6-year-old, walked free in late January after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
His attorney, Richard Rosenbaum of Fort Lauderdale, confirmed on Tuesday he has been hired to represent Michael Hernandez, who is charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 3 slaying of Jaime Gough.
Rosenbaum filed a notice of appearance in court on Tuesday and entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client, whom the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is naming because he is being tried as an adult.
"I'm representing him and looking forward to doing the best job we can do on this case," Rosenbaum said.
Hernandez's parents, Jesus and Kathy Hernandez, decided to hire Rosenbaum after a Miami-Dade County judge denied their request for a public defender on the grounds they have too many assets.
"If he files a notice of appearance then I guess that is for sure and for certain that he is the attorney at this point," Assistant Public Defender Tamara Gray said.
Staff Writer Paula McMahon contributed to this report.
Judge: Miami-Dade teen can stand trial for murdering classmate
By Ihosvani Rodriguez Miami Bureau Posted December 9 2004
Fatal slashing in a Miami middle school restroom
Michael Hernandez is mentally ill, but the 14-year-old is competent to stand trial on charges he killed an eighth-grade classmate earlier this year, a Miami-Dade County judge ruled on Wednesday.
The highly awaited ruling by Circuit Court Judge Henry Leyte-Vidal clears the way for prosecutors to pursue first-degree murder charges in the stabbing death of Jaime Gough, 14, at Southwood Middle School.
Authorities say Hernandez confessed to stabbing his friend more than 40 times inside a school bathroom stall on Feb. 3.
Last month, a New York psychology professor hired by the teen's attorney testified Hernandez is a delusional schizophrenic who has no concept of the judicial system or the seriousness of the charges.
Prosecutors, however, countered with two experts who said Hernandez has obsessive-compulsive disorder, a mental illness that shouldn't stop the teen from going to trial.
The judge considered his decision for more than a week before issuing a two-page order on Wednesday. "The court finds based on review of the file and the testimony of the witnesses ... that the Defendant has a mental illness," Leyte-Vidal wrote. "However, the mental illness does not impact on the Defendant's competency to proceed with trial."
The judge did not indicate what mental illness he thinks Hernandez suffers. To reach his decision, the judge had to determine whether Hernandez meets a number of legal factors including understanding the potential penalties he faces and having the ability to testify relevantly if he chooses.
Had the judge ruled differently, Hernandez would have been institutionalized until deemed competent.
"It's a sad day in American jurisprudence when someone orders a severely psychotic teenager to go to trial," said defense attorney Richard Rosenbaum, who is contemplating presenting an insanity defense.
However, he did find solace in Leyte-Vidal's acknowledgement that Hernandez is mentally ill.
"I think people are starting to realize that he truly has serious mental problems and that it's not make-believe," Rosenbaum said.
Prosecutors did not return calls seeking comments.
If convicted, Hernandez could receive life in prison. A trial date has not been set.
Ihosvani Rodriguez can be reached at ijrodriguez@ sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5005.
Anthony Keith Johnson: Executed by lethal injection in Alabama 12th Dec 2002
State executes inmate by lethal injection
12th December 2002
By Todd Kleffman Montgomery Advertiser
ATMORE -- Alabama used its new method of death Thursday afternoon with the lethal injection execution of Anthony Keith Johnson at Atmore's Holman Correctional Facility.
Johnson, 46, was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m. after receiving a series of injections that first knocked him out and then stilled his heart.
Prison Commissioner Mike Haley said the execution went "very smoothly."
Witnesses estimated Johnson stopped breathing within five minutes after the first injection was administered.
"His stomach kind of heaved a few times after they gave him the drugs. Otherwise, it was just like he went to sleep," said Garry Mitchell, an Associated Press reporter who watched the execution.
The execution was carried out as scheduled after both the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Don Siegelman refused to issue a last-minute stay. Many considered Johnson's death sentence questionable because he did not kill anyone and the judge that sentenced him to death overrode a jury's recommendation of life in prison.
"An immense injustice has been done because of a lack of integrity of our leaders in high places,"said Thomas Elder, Johnson's pastor who witnessed Johnson's death on behalf of his family.
Johnson was convicted of capital murder in the 1984 shooting death of Kenneth Cantrell of Hartselle, in Morgan County in north Alabama.
Cantrell, who ran a jewelry business from his home, was involved in a gunbattle with three men during an attempted robbery. Cantrell was shot five times. Cantrell fired six shots at the robbers, including one that hit Johnson in the back. Johnson was arrested after he showed up at nearby Decatur General Hospital seeking treatment for the wound.
The two other men involved in the robbery were never charged.
"The thing that is heartbreaking about this is that the people involved in this have not been prosecuted -- even though they know who they are and have known who they are for six or seven years," said Elder, pastor of Oak Ridge-Basham United Methodist Church in Hartselle. Along with members of Johnson's family, Morgan County investigators had asked Siegelman to stay the execution.
Elder said Johnson was calm in the days leading up to his death, all the way to the moment he was strapped to the gurney, providing comfort to the many family members and friends who visited.
"Keith made it much easier for us. He reassured us," Elder said. "He was not concerned about Keith. He was concerned about his family."
Johnson had turned to Christianity while in prison, Haley said.
"He was actively involved with prison ministries and they believed he had a geniune spiritual conversion," Haley said.
Johnson was dressed in a white, standard-issue prison uniform and white tennis shoes when he was strapped into the gurney. He exchanged the sign language hand gesture for "I Love You" toward Elder as the death process was started, said Alicia Smith, a reporter for Huntsville television station ABC-31 who was selected to witness the execution.
A prison chaplain knelt beside Johnson as the first chemical was injected and the two seemed to be exchanging prayers, Smith said.
"Keith seemed to be mumbling something and then he just stopped," Smith said. "About five minutes later, you could see death coming over him. The color was gone. It did not seem like he suffered. It seemed like he died in a prayer."
Johnson first received sodium pentothal and then Pavulon to render him unconscious. Finally, a dose of potassium chloride was injected to stop his heart.
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12/13/02State executes first by injection
KIM CHANDLER News staff writer
ATMORE .... Anthony Keith Johnson, 46, was put to death at 6 p.m. Thursday night, becoming Alabama's first Death Row inmate to be executed by lethal injection. Johnson was executed for his role in the 1984 slaying of Hartselle jeweler Kenneth Cantrell during a robbery attempt. Cantrell was killed in his home after being shot five times in an exchange of gunfire with men who came to his home under the guise of buying gold.
Johnson, strapped to a gray gurney with his arms outstretched and held in place by black straps and orange buckles, was executed in a clinical looking chamber at Holman Correctional Facility. Just before the drugs were administered at 6 p.m., Johnson made the hand sign for "I love you" in the direction of a friend and family pastor, his witnesses. His final statement was to acknowledge his friends and family. "They know I love them," Johnson said. The prison chaplain knelt at the side of the gurney and prayed while Johnson nodded and appeared to mouth words in unison with the prayer until becoming still.
The Alabama Legislature changed Alabama's primary form of execution to lethal injection.
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ALABAMA:
Johnson executed by lethal injection
With a few deep breaths shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, Anthony Keith Johnson became the first Alabama inmate to die by lethal injection. Johnson, 46, was convicted of capital murder in the 1984 killing of a Hartselle jeweler, who was shot when robbers entered his home. Authorities said Johnson was not the triggerman but was injured by the victim in an exchange of gunfire.
A Morgan County jury convicted Johnson in 1985, recommending he spend life in prison without parole. A judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced Johnson to die in the electric chair. Others who took part in the robbery have never been charged, according to Johnson's pastor, who witnessed the execution.
"This is an immense injustice," said the Rev. Thomas Elder, pastor of Oak Ridge and Basham United Methodist Churches in Hartselle.
Elder said he did not excuse Johnson for his role in the crime, but "what happened after is the most wrong." He warned that those who were involved in the crime, as well as the officials who allowed the execution to move forward, would face judgment themselves one day.
Prison officials said Johnson had remained hopeful most of the day Thursday that an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and another to Gov. Don Siegelman asking for a reprieve would at least postpone the execution, but both appeals turned down by 4:45 p.m.
5 media witnesses watched the lethal injection. Elder and Johnson's friend, George Dudley, also witnessed the execution.
At 5:53 p.m., corrections officers opened the curtain to the execution chamber where Johnson lay strapped to the gurney, intravenous lines already in place in each arm. He waved at witnesses and smiled.
Warden Grantt Culliver read the death warrant and asked Johnson if he understood. He said, "It's clear enough, I guess."
When Culliver asked if Johnson had a last statement, Johnson said only that he wanted to tell his friends and family he loved them, "but they know I love them."
Johnson smiled at Elder and Dudley, raising his left hand, forefinger, little finger and thumb extended in the sign language gesture for "I love you."
He lay with this head elevated, and at 5:58 closed his eyes, praying along with the prison chaplain. At 6 p.m., his breathing slowed, he shook his head slightly and moved his jaw as his body went limp. His abdomen constricted several times, and by 6:01 there was no further movement. At 6:05, the color drained from his face. He lay motionless for nearly 20 minutes before the curtain was closed.
Physicians placed the time of death at 6:27 p.m.
Culliver said the process took a few minutes longer than anticipated, but the prison staff took care to avoid problems.
In July, Alabama legislators switched the state's primary means of execution from electrocution in a chair nicknamed "Yellow Mama" to lethal injection. Besides Nebraska, Alabama was the only state left in the country that still used electrocution as its primary method of execution.
Johnson was the 1st to be executed in Holman's remodeled death chamber. "Johnson said he had turned his life over to Christ; he was prepared for whatever happened," Culliver said.
Lynda Lyon Block, 54, was executed on May 10. She was the last person to die in the state's electric chair when that method of execution was the only one called for by Alabama law.
Officials said there are 285 inmates on Alabama's death row.
Executed by the state of Alabama on 10th May 2002.
Lynda Lyon and I corresponded for 7 years before she was sent to the electric chair ( Alabama's infamous 'Yellow Mama' )
I believe that the Governor of Alabama was fulfilling his intention to kill a woman as the last victim of the chair before it became redundant on July 1st 2002.
Lynda wrote the Governor asking for a reprieve (extra time) but he chose to state that she asked for clemency/mercy. There is a radical difference between the meaning of these two words.
All telephone contact was cut off to and from her a few days prior to her execution and even her husband, George Sibley, was not allowed to call or fax her. He was transferred away from Holman prison where he was incarcerated on death row and to where she was taken to be killed in the electric chair and so they never got to say goodbye. She was denied a TV interview but eventually after pressure was applied, she was allowed a telephone interview with WSFA TV.
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From The Poem "Song Of Myself" by Walt Whitman.. (Words sent to me by one of Colorado's "most dangerous" inmates..) ...I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles.
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood.
Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you. ###
Both these people, Keith and Lynda, were Believers, as I am, and so I know I will meet them in the next phase.
