March 10 INDIANA: Wallace Execution A man who spent nearly a quarter century on Indiana's death row was executed early Thursday for murdering an Evansville family of 4 in 1980. Donald Ray Wallace, 47, died by chemical injection at 12:23 a.m. CST at the Indiana State Prison. Wallace was convicted in 1982 of killing Theresa Gilligan, her husband, Patrick, and their children, Lisa, 5, and Gregory, 4, during a robbery at their home. "I hope everyone can find peace with this," Wallace said in a final statement, according to Java Ahmed, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Correction. Wallace had declined to seek clemency from Gov. Mitch Daniels after exhausting his appeals. Wallace spent much of the morning and afternoon Wednesday with two unidentified visitors. And although Wallace had selected spiritual advisers, he chose not to visit with them, spending the rest of the day alone, Ahmed said. "He's just been resting and relaxing and watching some TV," he said. Barry Nothstine, spokesman for the prison, said under the agreement between the state and Wallace to avoid an autopsy, Wallace agreed to signal the nine witnesses right before being injected to say he had not been mistreated at the prison. Prison officials conduct autopsies on executed prisoners so claims cannot be made that the prisoner was abused or died of something other than chemical injection. Diana Harrington of Louisville, the sister of Theresa Gilligan, said it was time for Wallace to receive his court-ordered punishment. "Sometimes there are crimes out there that are so horrible that it demands the punishment that the court applied," she said. During a 40-minute prayer service Wednesday evening in Evansville at the same church where the Gilligans were married, the priest who notified the Harringtons of the killings recited the rosary. Later Wednesday, about 2 dozen people took part in a protest outside the prison where the temperature hovered around 20 degrees. They started by lighting candles and speaking out against the death penalty and then marched in front of the prison carrying signs reading, "Thou shalt not kill" and "Dark ages Indiana tonight." About 10 p.m. CST three off-duty Indianapolis police officers showed up to support the death penalty. Mark Hamner said they made the drive to show that there are people who support state executions. "The death penalty is definitely justified in this case," he said. "There are cases without question that deserve the death penalty." The officers set up a table about 50 feet away from the protesters, pulled out a portable grill and started cooking hamburgers. (source: The Henderson Gleaner) *************************** Death penalty foe says own daughter was a victim Though he was protesting the execution of Donald Ray Wallace Jr. on Wednesday night, Bob Dhoore's thoughts were on another victim of a different crime exactly nine years earlier. Dhoore said his 27-year-old daughter, Michelle "Shelley" Dhoore, was killed by a drunken driver in South Bend on March 9, 1996. "I never forget the date and I never forget my last moments with her," said Dhoore, 64. But out of his own grief and anguish, Dhoore said he found healing in being able to forgive the perpetrator. "Through the grace of God, I immediately forgave that man, that drunk driver," he said. He urged people in Evansville to find forgiveness for Wallace. "That's what I would urge the people of Evansville to do, to forgive this man for the horrible thing he has done," Dhoore said. "I can almost bet this man's death will bring no peace to anyone in Evansville." Dhoore was the first to concede that he knew little about the case and didn't know the victims or Wallace. But he grew misty-eyed in discussing the fact that 25 years ago, Theresa and Patrick Gilligan and their two young children, Lisa and Gregory, were shot and killed in their home by Wallace. Dhoore said that in South Bend, he participates in prayer ceremonies for homicide victims. But Wednesday night, he drove to Michigan City, to the Indiana State Prison, to demonstrate against capital punishment. Dhoore contended that society is safe with Wallace incarcerated. "It's not necessary that we kill him," the retired factory worker said. Dhoore was among about 28 people who gathered in frigid temperatures in the prison parking lot, many of them from the Duneland Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Holding candles, the protesters huddled against the cold outside the brown, fortresslike prison, as a train whistle was heard in the distance. The protesters signed a petition, lit candles, prayed and marched in a circle outside the prison. Some were toting signs such as "Murder Is Always a Crime" and "Thou Shalt Not Kill." Beverly Miller, a demonstrator from Michigan City, read aloud a statement from one of the witnesses to Wallace's execution, a woman whom she wouldn't name. "She says we are losing a wonderful man who is spending his time learning to be a much better person," Miller told the group. Observing the execution was the last act of friendship the witness could show Wallace, she said. "Please all of you, keep his family, his friends and, of course, the victims' family in your prayers," Miller told demonstrators. Miller, there on behalf of a group called Love Over Vengeance with Empathy, said she had attended protests at every execution since 1994, when Gregory Resnover became the last condemned prisoner in Indiana to die by electrocution. (Resnover's gruesome execution prompted lawmakers to replace the electric chair with lethal injection in 1995.) About 10 p.m., three off-duty Indianapolis police officers showed up to support the death penalty. Mark Hamner said they made the drive to show that there are people who support state executions. "The death penalty is definitely justified in this case," he said. "There are cases without question that deserve the death penalty." The officers set up a table about 50 feet away from the protesters, pulled out a portable grill and started cooking hamburgers. (source: Courier-Press) NORTH CAROLINA----impending execution Death Penalty Appeal Denied William Powell was sentenced to death in 1993 for the killing of a convenience store clerk. Lawyers for a man scheduled to die Friday morning for a 1991 killing in Cleveland County hope that US Supreme Court will stay their client's execution. Wednesday, the state Supreme Court denied an appeal from attorneys for William Dillard Powell. Powell's attorneys argue that his life should be spared because his crime wouldn't get the death penalty in nearly 40 other states. Powell was sentenced to death in 1993 for killing Shelby convenience store clerk Mary Gladden as he tried to rob her for drug money. His lawyers say Powell was high on cocaine and beat Gladden to death in a panic because she fought back. Powell's lawyers want his sentence reduced to life in prison, saying the case does not warrant a death sentence by today's standards. (source: WFMY News) ******************************* Gell stresses need for execution moratorium About 2 dozen people turned out Wednesday night in Tarboro to hear about Alan Gell's call for a 2-year moratorium on the death penalty in North Carolina. Gell spent 9 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, including more than 4 years on death row. He was granted a new trial after an appeals lawyer discovered that prosecutors withheld evidence of Gell's innocence. "I'm not here to make excuses for the state," said Gell, who was acquitted of murder in 2004 for a 1995 homicide. "I know why the state didn't do the right thing. They did it for the public - to keep the public from knowing that system is not clean running like they think it is. "I agree with them - we do need to know that the system works. But we don't need to hide the problems." On Wednesday, several community |eaders joined Gell at the Edgecombe County Administration Building to support his demand that North Carolina halt executions until studies can be done to determine that the system works fairly and justly. "We're here to draw attention to the death penalty and to draw attention to what we can do as individuals," said Melvin Muhammad, of African-American Men Enhancing Neighborhoods, one of the event sponsors. "We can tell our local and state representatives that a moratorium would be good for anybody and everybody. "If an innocent person is executed, that's a crime committed by the state you live in." Event organizers, which also included the Carolina Justice Policy Center, Dancy Communications, Muhammad Mosque 79 and the Tarboro branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, were expecting Daryl Hunt, who also made headlines in 2004 when DNA evidence cleared him of a murder for which he spent 18 years in prison. But Hunt canceled at the last minute because of the flu. Gell spent much of the night talking about 2 women who claimed Gell killed Allen Ray Jenkins in 1995 in Bertie County. He talked about the prosecutors who ultimately were issued warnings for their roles in hiding statements from 17 witnesses who said they saw the victim alive while Gell was in jail charged with another crime. He discussed audiotapes in the prosecutors' files that detailed the purported 2 eyewitnesses talking about framing Gell. And he talked about having hope throughout the entire process that he would be acquitted in his 1st trial, and then losing all hope when he was convicted. "In the sentencing phase, I refused to help my attorneys," he said. "I told them that if I spend the rest of my life in prison for something I didn't do, it's no different than being sentenced to death row for something I didn't do. "Being found guilty, that hurt more than getting the death penalty." Gell also discussed his disappointment in his appeals lawyers until attorney Mary Pollard finally asked to see the prosecutors' files, which ultimately led to a new trial. Since his release from prison in February 2004, Gell has spent much of his time counseling young people against drugs and speaking at events to decry capital punishment. He attends many of these meetings with Charmaine Fuller, assistant director of the Carolina Justice Policy Center. "We're not trying to abolish the death penalty in North Carolina - we know there are plenty of people in North Carolina who still want the death penalty," she said. "We want a temporary 2-year halt for the state to study what's going right and what's going wrong. "Apparently, there are flaws in the system, so don't let anyone tell you that you don't need a moratorium to do a study. That's a bluff and an insult, and you shouldn't take that." Tarboro Town Councilman Roland Clark said he supports a moratorium, but he also believes in capital punishment. "If they kill someone, they should pay the price," he said. "But something needs to be done so innocent people are not sent to death row." Gell said that in recent months, the state has made strides in revamping the justice system by implementing open-file discovery in capital cases and raising the standards of death penalty defense lawyers. "But one thing I'm disappointed that they haven't done is try to help those who have already been affected by this system that's been running bad," he said. "But not all prosecutors and lawyers in the system are bad. There are a lot of prosecutors who do their job and don't cheat to win." (source: Rocky Mount Telegram) FLORIDA: DEATH ROW LAWYERS The head of the House Justice Council said Wednesday he wants to know what the state Supreme Court has done to make sure death row inmates are properly represented. Florida has 367 people on death row. For the most part they are represented by lawyers who are employed by the state and work for 1 of 2 regional agencies. But the state also has a registry of private attorneys who handle cases in the northern part of the state and when there's a conflict of interest elsewhere. There are 140 attorneys on the registry; 80 have cases. The state Supreme Court has recently criticized the performance of some of the registry attorneys to the Commission on Capital Cases, an oversight board that monitors capital appeals. In testimony to the House panel, some prosecutors defended the performance of the registry attorneys. State Rep. Bruce Kyle, a Fort Myers Republican chairing the council, said he was considering sending a letter back to the Supreme Court to ask what steps it has taken. (source: News-Journal) **************************** Lake County man to face possible death penalty in deputy slaying Prosecutors filed court documents seeking the death penalty for a man accused of fatally shooting a Lake County sheriff's deputy during an ambush. State Attorney Brad King filed a notice March 2 stating that he intends to pursue a death sentence if Jason Wheeler is convicted of 1st-degree murder of a law enforcement officer. Deputy Wayne Koester was killed and Deputies Bill Crotty and Tom McKane were wounded in a Feb. 9 ambush near the Lake County town of Paisley. They were responding to a domestic violence call from Wheeler's girlfriend. Wheeler was wounded when captured and is paralyzed from the waist down. He is currently under 24-hour police guard at a rehabilitation facility in Leesburg. Wheeler, 29, also faces 2 counts of attempted first-degree murder of an officer and 2 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm on an officer. Those charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. (source: Associated Press)
