May 25 INDIANA----execution State executes killer who wanted to donate liver----Gregory Scott Johnson is 3rd inmate Indiana has put to death this year. [Next execution---Michael A. Lambert could be the next inmate on Indiana's death row to face execution. Lambert, 34, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 22 for the December 1990 killing of Muncie police officer Gregg Winters. Lambert was being taken to the Delaware County Jail in Winters' police car when the officer was shot 5 times.] Gregory Scott Johnson was executed by lethal injection at 12:28 a.m. today at the Indiana State Prison for stomping 82-year-old Ruby Hutslar to death in 1985. Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Mitch Daniels rejected Johnson's plea for time to determine if he could donate part of his liver to his ailing sister. Later, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Johnson's final appeal. Johnson's final words, according to prison officials, were: "Everyone has been professional." After the execution, a handwritten statement from Johnson was distributed. In it, he expressed hope that his sister would survive even without his liver. "There are those who claim that Debi will have a new liver three weeks after being placed on the list. I'll be watching from above and expect her to be recuperating at that time," he wrote. But he was critical of the Indiana Parole Board for refusing to believe he sincerely wanted to help his sister, that he could have changed in 20 years. The board, he wrote, violated the Indiana Constitution, which states the penal code is "founded on the principles of reformation, and not of vindictive justice." He then thanked others for their prayers. "I'll see you on the other side," he wrote. Johnson's view of the penal system was not shared by the great niece of his victim. Judy Woodard, Union City, said early today that her great-aunt now can rest in peace. "It's been a long time. I'm so glad it's over," she said. "Justice has been done." About 20 protesters had gathered outside the prison several hours before the execution for a candlelight vigil. "Deep inside, there are spiritual values in all people," Marti Pizzini, Michigan City, said at the vigil. "We are on the side of right, and we will prevail." Unlike at some past executions, there were no pro-death penalty demonstrators at the prison. There was, however, the usual anti-execution gathering outside the governor's residence, at 46th and Meridian streets, though it attracted fewer people than the previous execution. "There is only one logical reason for the death penalty, and that's vengeance. We're better than that," said Bonnie Johnson, 62, a retired French teacher from Franklin. Almost 12 hours before Johnson was scheduled to die, Daniels denied a final plea for mercy. Johnson hoped his liver could help his sister Debra Otis. But Daniels said he had found no reasonable grounds to spare Johnson's life. "If his proposal had turned out to create a clear, demonstrated medical advantage to his sister, I might well have considered a brief postponement to seek a way to fulfill the request," Daniels said in a written statement. "The advice of medical experts, including Debra Otis' own specialist, was definitive that she should not pursue a procedure with Mr. Johnson as donor, but rather will be better served by accepting transplanted organs through the conventional process." Johnson was convicted in 1986 of felony murder for stomping Hutslar to death inside her Anderson home and then burning it down. Tuesday, after meeting with his attorneys, he spent several hours with 2 spiritual advisers until about 10 p.m., when he was moved to a holding cell where he watched television, alone, waiting to be moved to the execution chamber, said Java Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction. Johnson selected 5 witnesses for his execution; prison officials would not identify them. He had eaten his traditional last meal Monday, joined by his attorneys, said Barry Nothstine, a prison spokesman. Johnson is the 3rd inmate in Indiana executed this year, the most in one year in the state since 1949. In a 1-page letter to Daniels on Tuesday, Drs. A. Joseph Tector and Dr. Hwan Y. Yoo, both of Clarian Health Partners in Indianapolis, stated that "quite apart from any legal, ethical or other questions, Gregory Scott Johnson is not a medically appropriate organ donor for his sister, Debra Otis." Tector is Clarian's organ transplant director, and Yoo is Otis' specialist. Tector said Daniels asked him to summarize his and Yoo's views. The governor's request came in a roughly 15-minute phone call Friday, which Tector took between liver transplants. Tector said Daniels' primary concern was that executing Johnson on time not put his sister in harm's way. The physicians assured Daniels that Johnson's execution would not jeopardize her health, Tector said. In their letter, the physicians stated Johnson was an unsuitable donor due to his exposure to hepatitis B, his obesity and unspecified "hereditary factors." It would have been possible to use only part of Johnson's liver so he could be kept alive for execution later, but such transplants are not preferable, the doctors said. Otis is in poor health in an Anderson nursing home. She is likely to need a full liver and kidney from a donor found through regular transplant channels, the physicians concluded. Given her blood type and condition, they said, she is likely to be given preferential treatment on the transplant list. "By way of a hypothetical example," the physicians noted, "had Ms. Otis joined the waiting list last Wednesday (May 18), there would already have been 2 opportunities to perform the needed transplant." The physicians also stated they did not want to jeopardize the Clarian Transplant Center's compliance with guidelines set by the United Network for Organ Sharing, which has "a clear position against allowing condemned prisoners to donate organs." Tector said Clarian's transplant center, one of the nation's largest, also has done no split-liver procedures in the past four years, because such procedures are frowned upon for adult patients. Tector said Otis would be eligible to join the transplant list after she recovers from a broken back and an infection. Otis, 48, appeared this week on NBC's "Today" show and other programs as experts discussed the propriety of harvesting organs from a condemned killer. The Indiana Supreme Court denied Johnson's last state appeal Friday. The Indiana Parole Board on Friday recommended against allowing the transplant and another request for clemency. Johnson claimed the Madison County prosecutor had concealed evidence and noted his case had not been given a full legal review because of a mistake by his lawyer. Attorney Michelle F. Kraus filed his federal appeal a day late, prompting his case to be rejected in August 2004. An unsuccessful round of federal appeals likely would have kept Johnson alive for several more years. Johnson becomes the 14th condemned inmate to be put to death overall in Indiana, since the state resumed capital punishment in 1981. Johnson becomes the 26 condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 970th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Indianapolis Star and Rick Halperin) OHIO----new execution date State court sets execution date for long-serving inmate The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday set a Sept. 20 execution date for one of the state's longest-serving death row inmates, a man who maintains he's innocent of the murder of a postal worker. John Spirko was sentenced to die for the 1982 murder of Elgin postmistress Betty Jane Mottinger, but says he didn't do it. Spirko claims the state's case against him was weakened when death penalty charges against his co-defendant were dropped last year. He also says prosecutors withheld key evidence and presented a false case. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Spirko's appeal in March. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Spirko's conviction and death sentence. An important element of the Van Wert County prosecutor's case was a witness who recognized co-defendant Delaney Gibson, a friend of Spirko, near the Elgin post office the day that Mottinger disappeared. No physical evidence tied Spirko to the murder. He was convicted of the killing based largely on his statements to police and the testimony of the eyewitness who had seen Gibson near the post office. Prosecutors had alleged that Spirko participated in the kidnapping and killing of Mottinger along with Gibson. In an appeal, Spirko's lawyers argued that Gibson could not have kidnapped Mottinger because he was 8 hours away in Asheville, N.C., the night before the woman disappeared. The Van Wert County prosecutor dismissed charges against Gibson on May 17, 2004, the same day the 6th Circuit upheld Spirko's death sentence. ON THE NET----Ohio Supreme Court: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/ (source: Associated Press) PENNSYLVANIA----new execution dates PA Governor Rendell Signs Execution Warrants Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed warrants for the execution by lethal injection of Darrick Hall of Chester County and Zachary Wilson of Philadelphia County. Hall's execution is scheduled for Tuesday, July 19 and Wilson's for Thursday, July 21. In October 1994, Hall was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die for senselessly murdering Laundromat manager Donald Johnson during a robbery. Hall was formally sentenced on November 7, 1994. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his death sentence on September 17, 1997. A warrant was first issued in this case on January 8, 1998, but the execution was stayed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court pending resolution of Hall's petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. The Court denied certiorari on April 20, 1998, thus the stay was lifted. A second warrant was issued on May 18, 1998, but the execution was stayed by the Court of Common Pleas pending resolution of Hall's post-conviction relief petition. The lower court denied that petition on October 19, 2000. On April 29, 2005, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the denial of post- conviction relief, thereby lifting the stay. Hall, 34, is an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford. In January 1988, Wilson was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1981 shooting of Jamie Lamb in a Philadelphia bar, in revenge for Lamb's killing of a relative of Wilson's. Wilson was formally sentenced on January 25, 1988. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed his death sentence on November 9, 1994. A warrant was first issued in this case on June 1, 1995, but the execution was stayed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court pending resolution of Wilson's petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. On October 2, 1995, the United States Supreme Court denied the certiorari, thereby lifting the stay. A second warrant was issued on November 28, 1995, but the execution was stayed by the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County. On March 11, 1996, Wilson filed a post-conviction relief petition, which the lower court denied on May 6, 1998. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the denial of post- conviction relief on November 19, 2004, following which the court transmitted the record to the Governor. Wilson, 49, is an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford. Governor Rendell has now signed 37 death warrants. (source: Office of the Governor)
