May 12
CONNECTICUT----impending execution//volunteer
Final Hours To Include Prayer, Protocol
Michael Ross has already rehearsed the final hours of his life. As he
nears another execution date early Friday, those who know the 45-year-old
serial killer say he will probably try to maintain his routine in the 24
hours leading up to his lethal injection at Osborn Correctional
Institution.
He is likely to follow his general daily pattern and rise early for prayer
and meditation, said his lawyer, T.R. Paulding. That dedication to prayer
will probably continue at the end of his day, as well.
Ross' conversion to the Catholic faith while in prison was profound, said
the Rev. John Giuliani, who has known Ross for more than 7 years, has
ministered to him and will be a witness at his execution.
"He accepts the execution as just," Giuliani said. "But from the very
beginning of my acquaintance of Michael he has always been very consistent
in saying that he really wants the family of the victims to find some
degree of peace in his death. ... In the last few years, he, himself, has
been exhausted and he looks forward to the peace that will come with his
death because he believes profoundly that he will be embraced by God, who
will forgive him and has forgiven him."
Giuliani says he opposes capital punishment but supports Ross in his
decision to die. He plans to be with Ross from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.just
before the lethal injection scheduled for 2:01 a.m. Friday. Giuliani said
he will be joined by another Catholic priest, the Rev. John Gilmartin from
Long Island. The discussion in the hours before the execution will likely
turn to applicable scriptures, such as the 17th chapter of John's gospel,
which highlights Jesus' last discourse with his disciples before he dies,
Giuliani said.
"I will certainly thank Michael for his witness to the power of faith that
enables him to embrace his destiny," Giuliani said. "Some people would
call it fate. I think fate is not the right word here. Destiny is
something we intentionally embrace. Fate is more dark. ... He's embracing
this event in his life and it becomes his destiny even as Jesus embraced
the cross. ... So too, Michael will be liberated and he will find whatever
fullness we imagine our lives to take through our dying."
Ross will probably confess his sins and at 12:30 a.m. will be given the
sacrament of anointing the sick, commonly referred to as last rites,
Giuliani said.
As the last day unfolds, it will be orchestrated to precisely written
rules set out by the state Department of Correction. The agency's capital
punishment protocol leaves some things to the warden's discretion. For
instance, beginning within 4 days of the execution date the warden may
authorize daily visits from Ross' family, friends and spiritual advisers.
A spokesman for the correction department would only say the agency is
prepared for Friday's execution.
The protocol also says "reasonable efforts may be made to provide a last
meal of the inmate's choosing," but that's at the discretion of the
warden. Robert Nave, a death penalty opponent who used to visit Ross, said
Ross had indicated he didn't want a last meal because he didn't want to
give the public more reason to hate him.
"He decided that a long time ago," Nave said. "He hates that people hate
him. He's killing himself to escape that."
According to the protocol, at least 24 hours before the execution, Ross
will be moved to a holding cell. Paulding describes the holding cell as
just a few cells away from Ross' current cell at Osborn. The holding cell
is covered with plexiglass and he is unable to touch visitors, Paulding
said. Ross hopes to see his girlfriend, Susan Powers, for as long as
possible on the last day, Paulding said.
Preparation costs for Ross' previous scheduled execution in January give
some indication of the costs involved. As of Feb. 10, the correction
department spent nearly $290,000 on execution preparations, with about
$238,084 in personnel costs, mostly overtime. Other costs included $5,200
for food provided for those working during the execution, $2,817 for
medical supplies; $18,229 for safety and security; $9,637 for rentals and
$12,802 for travel and training.
State police, who primarily offer additional security around the facility
during the execution, spent about $17,000 on overtime.
A half-hour before Ross' execution, the protocol states that his visits
will conclude and the execution team will be directed to escort him from
the holding cell to the execution chamber. Ross will be connected to a
heart monitor and intravenous lines will be inserted into both of his arms
- one that will act as a primary line and another as an alternate. The
warden will accompany the executioner to the "anteroom," where the
equipment used to carry out the lethal injection is housed.
Witnesses will be escorted to the observatory room 20 minutes before the
execution. The warden will make a final inspection of all inmate
restraints and inspect the intravenous system, along with a staff member
"qualified to the satisfaction of a licensed and practicing physician."
At 2:01 a.m., or shortly afterward, the lethal injection process begins.
Giuliani, who visited Ross about 2 weeks ago, offered a glimpse into Ross'
mood. He was "incredibly peaceful and gentle," Giuliani said. "He had gone
through all those procedures of the competency examinations and he was
greatly relieved it was over. We just talked very gently and peacefully."
Paulding said Ross hopes for calm as he nears execution.
"I know his hope is he may have at least a few days before the execution
where he's not wondering what's happening in the court," Paulding said. He
wants "time to get himself mentally and emotionally prepared without
wondering if someone is going to stay the execution."
(source: Hartford Courant)
******************
Connecticut's Fateful Path
Barring last-minute legal complications, convicted serial killer Michael
Ross will be executed by lethal injection a couple of hours after midnight
tonight.
It will be the 1st execution in New England in nearly half a century -
putting Connecticut on a path out of step with much of the world and even
the nation, where public opinion is slowly shifting and juries
increasingly are reluctant to impose capital punishment.
Understandably, there is little public sympathy for Mr. Ross, a twisted
psychopath who admitted killing eight girls and young women and has been
on death row for nearly 2 decades. Even some people who oppose capital
punishment favor it in this case.
Mr. Ross will be led to the death chamber because he has abandoned all
appeals and, in effect, has volunteered to die. But should such a
momentous decision be his to make? Will Connecticut effectively be pushed
into a legal corner, where it executes only prisoners who abandon their
appeals? Another death row inmate, Sedrick Cobb, recently announced that
he, too, wants to die.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the General Assembly have reaffirmed their support
for capital punishment in the belief that they are in sync with majority
opinion. Poll results, however, show a preference among Connecticut
residents for life imprisonment without possibility of parole over the
death penalty.
Nationally, dozens of people have been freed from death row because of
wrongful convictions. Jurors also are aware of the arbitrary application
of the penalty. As a result, death sentences declined last year to the
lowest level since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in
1976.
When the state Supreme Court ruled this week that Mr. Ross was competent
to abandon his appeals, Justice Flemming L. Norcott Jr. issued a stinging
rebuke to his colleagues, asking, "Has our thirst for this ultimate
penalty now been slaked, or do we, the people of Connecticut, continue
down this increasingly lonesome road?"
Some politicians assumed that they could appear tough on crime by
embracing the death penalty - believing that Connecticut would never
actually execute anyone.
We now know that their assumption was wrong. The execution of Mr. Ross
should spur lawmakers to take another look at a discredited penalty, which
one day likely will be declared "cruel and unusual" punishment barred by
the U.S. Constitution.
(source: Editorial, Hartford Courant)
