August 13
USA:
A Study of Exonerations in the U.S.
Newly published research examining 340 exonerations in the United States
between 1989 and 2003 found that a significant number of those who were
wrongly convicted had been sentenced to death. Researchers note that this
finding appears to reflect two patterns: capital defendants are more
likely to be convicted in error, and false convictions are more likely to
be detected when defendants are on death row.
The paper, authored by Professor Samuel Gross of the University of
Michigan Law School along with other assistants, reveals clear patterns
associated with false convictions. The leading cause of wrongful
convictions is perjury, including perjury by police officers, by jailhouse
snitches, by the real killers, and by supposed participants and
eyewitnesses to the crime who knew the innocent defedants in advance. The
research revealed that false confessions, especially among vulnerable
defendants such as juvenile offenders and those with mental retardation,
also played a large role in murder convictions that led to exoneration.
Almost all of the juvenile exonerees who falsely confessed were African
American, and 90% of all exonerated juvenile defendants were African
American or Hispanic.
Based on their review of these exonerations, the paper notes that "any
plausible guess at the total number of miscarraiges of justice in American
in the last fifteen years must run to the thousands, perhaps tens of
thousands, in felony cases alone." ("Exonerations in the United States,
1989 through 2003," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 95, No.
2, 2005). See Innocence.
(source : Death Penalty Information Center)
OHIO:
Madrigal arraigned for new trial
The story of the shooting death in 1996 of 18-year-old Misty Fisher during
the robbery of a KFC restaurant in South Toledo shocked and angered the
community.
Ms. Fisher, a high school senior who was working as an assistant manager
to earn money for college, was shot in the back of the head because she
couldn't open a safe fast enough to suit the robber. She died on the way
to the hospital.
Now, nearly 9 years after he was sentenced to death for the murder of the
Oregon teenager, Jamie Madrigal is going on trial for the crime again in
Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
In June, a federal appellate court affirmed the decision of U.S. District
Court Judge James S. Gwin in Akron that the jury in Madrigal's 1996 trial
should not have heard statements that a co-defendant gave to police.
Days after being moved from a cell on death row at the Mansfield
Correctional Institution to the Lucas County jail, Madrigal, 32, was
arraigned yesterday in common pleas court.
Madrigal did not enter a plea to charges of aggravated murder and
aggravated robbery. He told Judge Gary Cook that his family was attempting
to hire a private attorney to represent him in the new trial.
Judge Cook stressed to Madrigal the urgency of obtaining counsel, either
privately or court-appointed, to satisfy the order of the U.S. 6th Circuit
Court of Appeals judges to try the case before mid-January.
Judge Cook set bond at $1.5 million and continued the arraignment to
Tuesday.
In the new trial, prosecutors will not be allowed to introduce into
evidence the statements given to police by Chris Cathcart, who confessed
to being the get-away driver in the April 12, 1996, robbery.
Cathcart, then 23, told police he waited in a car while Madrigal entered
the KFC, and that Madrigal returned with $300 that he took from the cash
register and safe. But Cathcart invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege and
refused to testify at Madrigal's trial, forcing prosecutors to submit the
statement that he gave to police several days after the murder.
The Ohio Supreme Court said the admission of Cathcart's statements
violated Madrigal's rights to cross-examine his accusers, but decided the
issue was harmless and upheld the conviction.
But the federal appellate court in Cincinnati disagreed with the state's
highest court on the impact the statement may have had on jurors, and said
the statement was integral to the prosecutions' case.
Cathcart, who along with Madrigal was a former employee of the KFC
restaurant, later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and involuntary
manslaughter.
He is serving a 10 to 28-year sentence in the Lima Correctional
Institution.
Prosecutor Julia Bates disputed the federal appellate court's ruling that
the statement played a vital role in convicting Madrigal.
"I don't see any problem in overcoming not having the statement. I feel
confident that the prosecutors in my office will convict Madrigal again,"
said Mrs. Bates, who was one of the assistant prosecutors handling the
case in 1996.
"I am not concerned about the evidence even though the federal court has
grave concerns about the quality of evidence," she said.
In addition to Cathcart's confession, the jury heard the testimony of 5
witnesses, including 2 customers who identified Madrigal's red Buick with
distinctive hubcaps in the parking lot at the KFC.
Mrs. Bates also pointed to the trial in which 12 jurors found Madrigal
guilty of the crimes, and that their decision was scrutinized and upheld
by 9 justices on the Ohio Supreme Court, reviewed by a 3-judge state
appellate panel, and again by the state Supreme Court.
Dean Mandross, an assistant prosecutor who also was involved in the case
in 1996, said the witnesses at the first trial will be approached to
testify again. If they are not available, the transcripts would be made
available to the jury.
"Unless there has been a substantial change in the nature of available
evidence, we are going forward with this capital case," he said.
(source: Toledo Blade)
**********************
Juries pick life, no parole over death sentences -- In Franklin County,
capital punishment is becoming rare
Franklin County jurors have spared the lives of 14 killers since 2003, the
last year a jury recommended a death penalty.
4 candidates for death row have been spared this year because jurors
couldn't reach a unanimous decision after convicting them of aggravated
murder.
The most recent case was that of Vernon Spence, who orchestrated a robbery
in a University District house and shot 3 young people in the back of the
head, execution-style, after they were tied up.
During the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney David DeVillers told jurors, "If
this case is not deserving of the ultimate punishment, can you conceive of
a case that does?"
On July 23, after 3 days of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of
life without parole.
The other cases this year:
- Demetrius Wilson shot to death 2 men drinking beer outside a Cleveland
Avenue apartment complex and was seen running away with a gun in his hand.
He is serving 51 years to life in prison.
- Jamel Curtis shot and killed a carryout owner during a robbery and took
part in the robbery and murder of a gun-store owner 18 days later. Jurors
gave him life without parole for the 1st killing. For the 2nd, they
convicted him of a murder charge that didn't subject him to the death
penalty.
- Charles Garrison fatally shot a man sitting on a couch and killed a dog
in a drug-house takeover after bursting through the door yelling, "SWAT."
He is serving 28 years to life.
2 death-penalty cases are under way this week in Common Pleas Court.
Kristoffer T. Morris is on trial in the killing of Clifford Shortridge Jr.
and Russell Bonner in July 2004. Toby D. Wilcox is on trial in the killing
of Habu Westbrook and 1-month-old Alamar John-William Wright in May 2003.
Since 1996, juries have been able to choose a sentence of life without
parole. That, say prosecutors and defense lawyers, is a major reason for
the decline in death sentences: It's easier to slam a prison door than
send a person to die.
Of the 38 states with capital punishment, only New Mexico does not offer
life without parole as an alternative. Texas added that option this year
after leading the country in executions during the past 5 years.
Across the country, executions dropped 40 percent last year and death
sentences continued a five-year decline, says the Death Penalty
Information Center, a nonprofit watchdog group in Washington.
Ohio put to death 438 people before a U.S. Supreme Court decision halted
executions in 1972. Since 1981, when the death penalty was reinstated,
Ohio has executed 16 people; 194 men and 1 woman are on death row.
Franklin County jurors have sent 18 men to death row since 1981. 13
remain.
William Wickline, who killed Christopher Lerch and strangled Lerch's wife,
Peggy Ann, in 1982, was executed last year, as was John Glenn Roe, who
choked and shot Donette Crawford in 1984.
Jerry Hessler, who shot and killed 4 people in 1995, died of a heart
attack in 2003. Carl Haight's sentence for splitting a man's head with a
sledgehammer in 1991 was thrown out when his conviction was overturned. In
a plea agreement, he was then sentenced to 36 years to life in prison. Lee
Seiber's death sentence was commuted by then-Gov. Richard F. Celeste in
1991. Seiber shot a man in the back in a bar.
The Associated Press recently reported wide disparities among counties in
imposing death sentences. That prompted state Rep. Shirley A. Smith, a
Cleveland Democrat, to call for a statewide review to determine whether
the penalty is applied fairly.
Sister Alice Gerdeman, a Roman Catholic nun from Cincinnati who, with
Ohioans to Stop Executions, would prefer to see the death penalty
eliminated.
"It doesn't save money, it's not a deterrent, and it puts too much power
into the hands of one organization, and the state itself should not have
that power," Gerdeman said. "In general, I don't think we should be giving
up on people."
She said 105 civil-rights and religious groups, including the League of
Women Voters, have asked Gov. Bob Taft to issue a moratorium on
executions, which has happened in Illinois and New Jersey. Those states
are reviewing their laws and considering alternatives. Taft has declined.
Joe Edwards, a Columbus defense lawyer who has handled the appeals of 3
men on death row, said mitigation experts and defense investigators have
learned what buttons to push with jurors to avoid a death sentence.
"Life without parole is the biggest reason I see in a decline in (death)
verdicts," Edwards said. He said the sentence allows jurors to feel
confident that the killer will be locked away.
At the same time, many jurors are "really well-educated or middle class,
and they see most capital defendants are so different from them, they find
it more difficult to sentence to death," he said.
Despite the overall downward trend in death sentences, Franklin County
jurors handed out more in 2002 and 2003 than any other Ohio county,
sending 4 men to death row in 5 cases.
James T. Conway is the latest man to receive the death sentence in
Franklin County - his 2nd such sentence. He was sentenced to death row in
February 2003 for killing a bystander outside a North Side strip club. He
was sentenced to death again in September 2003 for killing a witness to an
earlier crime.
Most of Franklin County's recent death sentences have been reserved for
cases of multiple murders or murders to silence witnesses, several defense
lawyers said. Both of those circumstances existed in the Spence trial, but
while 8 jurors favored death, 3 wanted life without parole and 1 was
undecided.
The Spence sentence left Clermont County Prosecutor Donald W. White to
conclude that southern Ohio is different from Columbus. White,
president-elect of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said
Clermont County has had 5 death penalty cases in his 17 years as
prosecutor and "Every one we've taken to a jury, we've gotten the death
penalty."
Prosecutors know the odds for a death sentence here.
"I think we are in a county that is very educated, and too many people
intellectually don't believe in the death penalty," said Sue Ann Reulbach,
a senior Franklin County prosecutor.
"Some truly believe life without parole is the best option. It means your
hell lasts until you die."
In Reulbach's most recent capital case, Marcus White was sentenced Tuesday
to 26 years to life in prison for murdering his mother-in-law and wounding
his estranged wife. White shot both women in the face, but jurors
disregarded Reulbach's plea for death.
Rick Ketcham, a former Franklin County prosecutor turned defense lawyer,
said prosecutors routinely seek a deathpenalty indictment in any murder
case that fits the deathpenalty criteria. But many, such as a drug dealer
killed in a crack house, "in our experience, are not death-penalty
material in a jury's eyes."
Prosecutors frequently negotiate pleas on behalf of victims or when their
cases are weak. Of the 20 capital cases in the 1st half of this year,
prosecutors reduced charges or dropped death specifications in 13.
County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien has asked lawmakers to give prosecutors more
than the current 10-day limit between the arrest and indictment, to give
investigators more time to determine whether the death penalty is
appropriate.
On average in Ohio, inmates are on death row for 15 years before they are
executed.
Patricia Keaton, mother of Peggy Ann Lerch, said all she wanted for the 20
years Wickline was on death row was closure. "I never cared much for an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," she said. "But when something
like this happens, that's what you want."
(source: Columbus Dispatch)
*************************************
Anderson could face death penalty in case----Man accused of robbing,
killing 71-year-old, setting to home
John David Anderson walked into the Lawrence County Municipal Courtroom on
Friday with a blank face - attending what was scheduled to be his
preliminary hearing for a potential death penalty case.
Anderson is accused of killing 71-year-old Arthur Boyer, who was a
resident of the Deering area. Lawrence County law enforcement officers say
Boyer was killed in his home, which then was burned. It is now alleged
that Anderson may have been in the process of a robbery that concluded
with Boyer being murdered. These felonies, if proven, could be grounds for
the death penalty.
Anderson appeared before Judge Donald Capper briefly, just before it was
decided that the municipal court no longer had jurisdiction because an
indictment had been issued from the grand jury.
"We're satisfied that the grand jury did the right thing," said prosecutor
J.B. Collier, who presented the death penalty case to the grand jury.
In the state of Ohio, the death penalty can only be considered if another
felony crime is committed in addition to murder, said Charles Knight, who
is a qualified attorney for death penalty cases. West Virginia does not
have capital punishment.
"(The prosecutor) must also be able to prove that he committed arson or
robbed the home," said Knight, who was sitting in for Andersons original
attorney, Mark McCowen, who was working on another case. "My client has
never mentioned either to me."
Anderson's 8-count indictment includes 2 felony charges - aggravated
robbery and aggravated murder.
Anderson is expected to be arraigned on Monday or Tuesday by the Common
Plea Courts.
(source: Herald Dispatch)
**********************
Editorial's errors on Spirko need corrected----Facts in death row inmate's
case prove his guilt
Re the Aug. 5 editorial ("Petro wrong to push execution") about death row
inmate John Spirko:
Contrary to that editorial, there has been no rush to judgment in this
case.
In all death penalty cases, I believe there should be "super" due process
and am satisfied that Spirko's case has received sufficient judicial
review to ensure that his conviction and sentence are fair.
During the last 21 years, this case has been reviewed by the Ohio
appellate courts, the U.S. District Court in Toledo and the Sixth Circuit
Court of Appeals, and all made the same conclusion - that Spirko was
justly convicted and sentenced.
Despite Spirko's claims, the trial record reveals that his trial lawyers
were fully aware of the Delaney Gibson facts. His trial attorneys were
provided the names and addresses of witnesses who claimed Gibson was in
North Carolina the day before Betty Jane Mottinger's brutal murder and
also were told that these witnesses claimed to have pictures of Gibson
taken that weekend.
Spirko had 3 investigators who worked with his attorneys at trial. It is
likely they did not present any additional information about Delaney
Gibson at trial because Spirko himself testified under oath that Gibson
was in Ohio and that Gibson, his former cellmate and convicted murderer,
killed Mottinger.
Was he lying then or is he lying now?
The fact is Spirko never repudiated that testimony.
But now, Spirko chooses to highlight the sole investigator who thinks
Delaney Gibson may not have been involved, although he has no evidence to
support this claim. This person was not the lead investigator, as Spirko
claims.
There was a task force assembled of more than 40 investigators. This
investigator was one of those 40. In fact, he didn't even interview the
witnesses who identified Spirko and Gibson at the crime scene.
Most important, even though Spirko has raised nothing new in 21 years, my
office agreed to allow Spirko's lawyers to conduct discovery and depose
witnesses. For nearly eight weeks this year, from May 6 to June 30, I
provided staff to conduct discovery and depose witnesses, traveling from
Angola, Ind., to Tampa, Fla., deposing 9 witnesses - all chosen by
Spirko's attorneys.
Suspiciously absent from Spirko's deposition request was Delaney Gibson.
Despite a total of 47 hours of depositions and 1,697 pages of sworn
testimony, the result was that not a single witness believed that Spirko
was innocent. No additional evidence that would preclude Gibson's
participation was uncovered.
John Spirko is not innocent. His most recent pleading before U.S. District
Judge James R. Carr is not a claim of innocence. Instead, Spirko is just
now highlighting the opinion of this one investigator as warranting a stay
of his execution.
Spirko wants to cherry-pick part of an investigator's opinion - that
Delaney Gibson may not have been his co-conspirator in the abduction and
murder. But he hides from the foundation of this investigator's opinion:
that John Spirko, along with an accomplice, committed the abduction and
murder of Betty Jane Mottinger, and that Spirko may not have done this
with his former cell mate and convicted murderer Delaney Gibson.
The majority of the judges in the federal court - just like every one of
Spirko's new witnesses - are firmly convinced of his guilt.
Spirko, in his continuing pattern of self-serving deception, has just told
the Ohio Parole Board that he was also wrongly convicted for the July 3,
1969, murder of 73-year-old Myra Ashcroft of Kentucky - a crime to which
he confessed and was convicted.
The facts of this case are important and should be correctly reported and
accurately reflected in any editorials and stories. Again, I strongly
believe in "super" due process and that every avenue of appeal should
appropriately be explored in capital cases.
However, the Dayton Daily News editorial made factual errors that should
be corrected.
(source: Editorial; Jim Petro is Ohio attorney general; Dayton Daily News)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Death sentence is tossed----Man convicted in 2 murder cases wasn't
well-defended in '97 slaying, judge rules
Melvin Jay Hardy, who has spent more than 6 years on North Carolina's
death row for the 1997 murder of his boss, Hardee's restaurant manager
Andrew Ray, may get to live.
Superior Court Judge Richard Doughton on Friday overturned the 28-year-old
killer's death sentence and ordered a new sentencing hearing.
Doughton ruled that defense lawyers Harold Bender and Sharon Jumper didn't
adequately defend Hardy during the capital murder trial.
"I find that the lawyers didn't do what they were supposed to do ...," the
judge said. "I have to do what I think is right. And this is what I think
is right."
Moments after learning that Hardy may live, Ray's widow, Elichia, hugged
the parents of her husband's killer. She wouldn't talk about the judge's
ruling as she left the courtroom.
"It's OK," said Annette Hall, Andrew Ray's sister. "I put my trust in God.
Whatever happens, we'll be pleased with it."
Myrtle Hardy smiled upon learning her son might not be executed. As she
left the courtroom, she said: "We're happy. It's not over. But we thank
God."
Melvin Hardy Sr. didn't want to talk. "It's been an ordeal for both
families," he said.
Melvin Jay Hardy of Charlotte was sentenced to death in December 1998 for
the murder of Andrew Ray during a late-night robbery at the Hardee's near
Cotswold Mall where he worked.
It was the second time in 6 months that Hardy had been convicted of
1st-degree murder.
Hardy was convicted in June 1998 of murdering 16-year-old Kedrin Bradley
at Reedy Creek Park, apparently because the teenager owed him drug money.
He beat her with tree limbs and strangled her with a bandanna.
The jury spared his life, sentencing him to life in prison for the 1995
murder.
Hardy was out of jail on bond awaiting trial in Bradley's slaying when he
murdered Ray, a 41-year-old retired Army sergeant and father of four. He
was accused of ordering the restaurant manager to his knees, then shooting
him in the face with a shotgun.
Hardy's new lawyer, Henderson Hill, sought to overturn the death sentence
by persuading the judge that his client's trial lawyers were ineffective.
The defense lawyers, Hill told the judge, didn't present evidence during
the trial that Hardy had suffered a brain injury at age 4 when he struck
his head on the windshield in a wreck.
Hill also criticized Bender and Jumper for not presenting evidence of
Hardy's troubled history throughout his schooling and his mental health.
In overturning the death sentence, Doughton noted that jurors might not
have called for Hardy's execution had they known about the brain injury.
After the ruling, Hill said the case was difficult because of "the
devastation visited upon" the Ray and Bradley families.
"The Hardy family and the Charlotte community share the pain and loss of
those two families," the defense lawyer said. "The community was entitled,
by way of a trial, to receive the best understanding of how such senseless
violence was possible.
"Unfortunately, the defense lawyers failed in their obligation to
investigate and to present relevant evidence of Mr. Hardy's brain injury.
Justice, respect for the burdens our jurors carry, the community's sense
of due process, and fairness to Mr. Hardy require what the court ordered
today: a sentencing hearing that gives jurors the complete picture."
Jumper told the Observer on Friday she's glad Doughton saw problems with
Hardy's defense and that Hardy will get another sentencing hearing. "We
simply didn't have a coordinated defense strategy," she said.
Jumper praised Doughton for making a tough decision.
"It's not easy for a judge to overturn a death sentence," she said. "Jay
will now get a fair trial. Everybody is entitled to that."
(source: Charlotte Observer)
TENNESSEE:
Death sentence talk stuns Jennifer Hyatte
If Jennifer Hyatte stopped during her flight to Ohio this week to read a
paper or watch the news, she would have seen her face on front pages and
television screens.
Authorities had accused her of murder. With a nationwide manhunt for her
and her husband, she must have known she was in a world of trouble.
She switched cars, dyed her hair and lied to a cabbie about her travels.
Still, when Common Pleas Court Judge Jennifer Brunner told her on Friday
she could get the death penalty if convicted in Tennessee, she slumped
back in her chair.
Her court-appointed lawyer, John Sproat, when asked afterward if she'd
been aware of the death penalty risk, said, "I don't think so - probably
not."
Hyatte, 31, and her husband, George Hyatte, 34, will stay in an Ohio jail
for at least another month as they fight extradition to Tennessee, where
they face 1st-degree murder charges in Tuesday morning's shooting death of
correction officer Wayne "Cotton" Morgan, 56, in Kingston.
Brunner set a Sept. 8 hearing date. In the meantime, Gov. Phil Bredesen
must issue a warrant to Ohio Gov. Bob Taft for the couple's interstate
transfer. Ohio authorities can hold the Hyattes for up to 90 days, and
it's up to Tennessee officials to prove to an Ohio judge's satisfaction
that the Hyattes are, indeed, the people wanted by authorities in
connection with Morgan's slaying.
During a trip to Wartburg for Morgan's funeral three hours after the
hearings, Bredesen did not comment on the Hyattes' 1st court appearance
since being arrested at a Columbus motel Wednesday night.
After the back-to-back hearings, which together lasted less than 15
minutes, the former prison nurse and her career criminal husband went back
to the Franklin County jail. Brunner refused them bail.
5 deputies escorted Jennifer Hyatte into the courtroom at 10:27 a.m. She
limped from the gunshot wound she sustained in her left leg during
Tuesday's gun battle at the Roane County Courthouse. She wore green pants
and a tan smock.
A mother of 3 who doesn't have a criminal record, Hyatte appeared dazed,
her wide eyes shifting from the judge to the journalists sitting in the
jury box. Shackled around her waist and ankles, she held her cuffed hands
before her chest in an attitude of prayer.
After Brunner explained the extradition process, Jennifer Hyatte talked
briefly with her lawyer before returning to her cell.
A few minutes later, the deputies returned with George Hyatte. A slightly
built man with a history of sometimes-violent escapes, he, too, was
shackled at the waist and ankles. He wore 2 sets of handcuffs and
complained about the discomfort when he entered.
At first, the agitated Hyatte argued with his attorney, public defender
Robert Essex, and told Brunner he wanted to waive his right to an
extradition hearing.
"I don't want to leave without her," he said. "I don't want to. I don't
want to."
However, upon learning from his lawyer that his wife had opted to fight
extradition, he changed his mind.
"Whatever my wife did, that's what I want to do," he said.
Brunner said the in-court exchange added an unusual twist to the already
rare decision to fight extradition.
"That's the 1st time in 4 1/2 years I've seen a dialogue on extradition
between an attorney and his client in the courtroom," Brunner said
afterward.
Authorities allege Jennifer Hyatte shot Morgan as the 28-year veteran
prison guard and a partner were escorting her husband out of the Roane
County Courthouse following a hearing on an aggravated burglary charge.
According to a complaint filed by the lead investigator in Roane County
General Sessions Court, George Hyatte yelled at the defendant to shoot
Morgan. She did, Kingston Police Department Investigator Randy Heidle
wrote, before exchanging shots with the other correction officer, Larry
Harris.
Though wounded in the gunfight, Jennifer Hyatte allegedly drove her
husband to a nearby Subway sandwich shop, where they abandoned her Ford
Explorer in favor of a gold Chevrolet minivan reported stolen from one of
her patients in Hendersonville, Tenn.
About four hours later they stopped at a Lowe's in the Cincinnati suburb
of Florence, Ky., where they bought a hacksaw, apparently to cut off his
shackles. They rented a room in the Econo Lodge about a mile away in the
adjacent town of Erlanger.
After spending the night in Erlanger, the couple took a $185 cab ride to
Columbus, where they checked into America's Best Value Inn. Once settled
in, they ordered Mexican food and smoked Marlboros.
Meanwhile, authorities in Kentucky had found the gold minivan and the cab
driver had reported his unusual passengers, who told him they had wrecked
their car while going to an Amway convention, to police.
A hastily formed task force of U.S. marshals and Columbus Police
Department SWAT team members converged on the motel. Deputy U.S. Marshal
Nikki Ralston phoned room 236B and convinced a weary Jennifer Hyatte to
surrender.
Once in custody, she told Ralston she thought the justice system was
unfair and didn't want more time added to her husband's already lengthy
sentence.
George Hyatte, who gave up immediately after she did, has served two years
of a 35-year sentence for aggravated assault and aggravated burglary.
Minutes before his escape in Kingston he had pleaded guilty to another
burglary.
Ralston said Jennifer Hyatte was "very apologetic" during their
conversation before a trip to the hospital for treatment of the gunshot
wound.
"She didn't want anybody to get hurt," Ralston said. "She just wanted to
be with him."
The Hyattes' flight captivated a nation for a few days and left its mark
on communities in 3 states.
In Wartburg, a family buried a husband and father. Law enforcement
officers from as far away as Canada paid their respects to a fallen
brother.
The television trucks are gone from Kingston, and people again are going
to the courthouse to renew their license tags and pay property taxes.
At the Econo Lodge in Erlanger, the only place the Hyattes spent an entire
night together since George Hyatte went back to prison in 2003, the staff
on Friday cleaned up room 111.
The Hyattes left behind 4 bags of chips, 3 cans of Pepsi, 2 packs of
cherry turnovers and a box of Buffalo chicken wings.
On one of the beds sat a good-as-new teddy bear, about 3 feet tall with
shaggy, cinnamon fur and a plaid bow around its neck. It looks like just
the kind of present someone would give a sweetheart at a county fair in a
more innocent time.
(source: Knoxville News Sentinel)
