Nov. 15 USA: Less resort to execution A dozen states executed 59 people last year. Texas led with 23 executions, followed by Ohio's seven, Oklahoma's 6, Virginia's 5 and the Carolinas' four each. Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Nevada each had 2 executions, and Arkansas and Maryland one apiece. Now, six fewer executions isn't a slam dunk for death penalty opponents, but they can celebrate that America's death row population has declined for four consecutive years. They can cheer that the 125 people sentenced to death in 2004 was the fewest in 32 years. And they can cheer that, given the option, more juries in capital cases are choosing life without parole rather than the death sentence. In fact, 37 of the 38 states with the death penalty allow the alternative sentence. And opponents of the death penalty may take credit that this reluctance comes largely as a result of their successes in winning the exonerations of more than a few prisioners whom DNA testing showed had been wrongly convicted. Death penalty opponents also have done a good job educating the public on how the death penalty is unfairly meted out to the poor, who end up drawing the ultimate penalty because they are inadequately represented, and sometimes woefully so, especially in comparison to the resources available to the authorities prosecuting them. Last year alone, 107 death row inmates, for various reasons, had their sentences commuted or overturned. This is progress. And there can be more if it becomes generally accepted that, though harsher punishment may, in fact, deter some crime, it's improved educational and economic opportunity that will really make us safer from crime in our homes, in our schools and on our streets. (source: Courier-Journal) MARYLAND: Maryland Lowest on Short List of States Using Death Penalty Maryland's lethal injection of Steven Oken was one of 59 executions carried out in 2004 by just 12 of the 38 states with a death penalty on the books, according to a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics report released today. Last year saw 6 fewer executions overall than 2003, the lowest number since 1996 when 45 prisoners were put to death. The spectrum of state executions ranged from 1 each in Maryland and Arkansas to 23 in Texas. Ohio followed Texas, but not closely, putting seven inmates to death. It was followed by Oklahoma, 6; Virginia, 5; North Carolina and South Carolina, 4 each; and Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Nevada, 2 each. The report comes as the state is poised to execute the 2nd inmate under Gov. Robert Ehrlich's administration. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972, but the practice was reinstated in 1976 after revisions. Since 1977, 944 inmates have been executed by 32 states, and the death penalty has been a source of passionate controversy throughout the country, the report said. Maryland reinstated capital punishment in 1978, but in 2002 Gov. Parris Glendening put a moratorium on the death penalty. One of Ehrlich's first moves after taking office in 2003 was to lift the moratorium, despite a University of Maryland study, released just weeks before, which demonstrated Maryland's death penalty was biased racially and geographically. That paved the way for Oken's execution for the 1987 rape and murder of 20-year-old newlywed Dawn Marie Garvin of White Marsh. He was also convicted of killing another Maryland woman and a Maine woman during the same spree. Oken was the 4th inmate to be executed in Maryland since 1978. The study, commissioned by Glendening during the moratorium, showed that Baltimore County courts, where Oken, who is white, was tried, were turning out death sentences at a much higher rate than other jurisdictions and were far more likely to ensure that those sentences were not later withdrawn. The study also found that black killers with white victims are more likely to receive the death penalty than others who commit similar murders, and their sentences are more likely to stick. At the end of 2004, Maryland's death row was home to nine prisoners awaiting execution -- 3 white and the rest black. The study fueled controversy, with many opponents arguing that executions should be suspended until it could be ensured that the state's death penalty is unbiased. Others said calls for continuing the moratorium were just early steps toward abolishing capital punishment in Maryland. Ehrlich's response was to continue with executions. However, he assigned Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, a Catholic and acknowledged opponent of the death penalty, to follow up on the report's findings. "This report demonstrates the necessity for a closer look at how we handle these cases," Steele told The Washington Post in January 2003. Steele continues to tell reporters that he is examining the issue, but otherwise has refused to comment. His silence has left many wondering what is actually being done and riled those who hoped Steele would work as an opponent to Ehrlich's pro-death penalty stance. That stance may be a determining factor in how many death row inmates are executed during Ehrlich's tenure as governor. Capital News Service in 2002 reviewed all of the executions carried out in the almost 80-year history of Maryland's death penalty and found that the personal beliefs of the governor play a major role in how many prisoners are put to death. The state has officially executed 84 people, but some governors have been sparing in their use of capital punishment, while others have put numerous inmates to death. With the controversy over capital punishment in Maryland still unresolved, Ehrlich signed a death warrant Nov. 3 making way for the lethal injection of Wesley Eugene Baker, a black man convicted of the 1991 murder of Jane Tyson, a white grandmother. Baker shot Tyson in front of her two young grandchildren as he robbed her in the parking lot of a Baltimore County shopping mall. Lawyers for Baker tried to appeal his conviction based on the University of Maryland study, but in October the state's highest court rejected the claim that his sentence was based on any racial or geographic bias. The state scheduled Baker's execution for sometime during the week of Dec. 5. State law does not allow officials to release the specific date and time of an execution in advance. (source: Capital News Service, Nov. 11) NORTH CAROLINA: N.C. father's effort to forgive one killer tied him to another A friendship forged between condemned murderer Steven Van McHone and the father whose 8-year-old daughter was hung from a tree by a different killer ended when McHone was executed last week.Tom Fewel, whose child was abducted and killed while on the way to her Chapel Hill school 20 years ago, witnessed McHone's death by lethal injection. Now, Fewel is mourning a man who helped him better understand how to forgive his own child's killer. "I know something about grief," Fewel, 59, said Friday. "I know I will deal with this better as time goes on. But right now, I'm just very sad."Fewel and McHone were improbable friends drawn together by death and its aftermath. McHone had shot to death his mother and stepfather in 1990 in Surry County. Fewel's daughter, Jean Kar-Har, was killed in January 1985 in a death that shocked Chapel Hill. A professor found Jean hanged from a tree at a nearby biological reserve. An orphan from Hong Kong, the girl had lived with Fewel and his wife, Joy Wood, for about a year, and the couple was in the process of adopting her. Fewel and his wife oppose the death penalty and had asked the jury to spare the life of George Richard Fisher for the attempted rape, kidnapping and murder of their daughter. Fisher, 56, is serving a life sentence. "Even though Joy and I did not want Jean's killer to receive the death penalty, that doesn't mean I had forgiven him," Fewel said. 10 years later, Fewel was still struggling to forgive Fisher, which he felt was separating him from God. He attended a talk by a fellow member of Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in Chapel Hill on her experience visiting and writing to a death row inmate. Afterward, the group People of Faith Against the Death Penalty passed around letters from inmates seeking pen pals. Fewel remembers that McHone's letter was well-written. Fewel began to write to McHone. Within a few months, Fewel was visiting death row at Central Prison in Raleigh. The two men would talk about the murders, the grief, forgiveness. They also talked about art, books and Tar Heels basketball. Fewel said he saw McHone's remorse and his acceptance of responsibility grow over the years. Early on, Fewel said McHone would say, "When my crime was committed." Eventually, that changed to the admission, "When I killed my parents." Observing that progression helped Fewel better understand forgiveness, which for him means to release his anger and hate over his daughter's murder. Despite pleas by Fewel and others, Gov. Mike Easley refused last week to commute McHone's sentence to life in prison without parole. Several relatives said they lived in fear of McHone even with him behind bars and wanted his sentence carried out. In a letter Oct. 27 to Easley, Fewel wrote, "Through our conversations, I've learned lessons about grief and guilt that I can apply to how I deal with Jean's murder. I have come to believe that forgiveness may be as simple, and as difficult, as praying that the peace of God will be with her murderer." (source: News Observer) OHIO: Inmate wife hard life, Spirko says----Husband on death row in 1982 slaying If a woman were to tell Tracy Spirko, "I'm in love with my prison pen pal," Spirko would not hesitate to respond. "I would tell them to run like hell," she said. Spirko, who is married to condemned inmate John Spirko, said most women are not ready for a relationship with an inmate, which she describes as an "emotional roller coaster." Despite her feelings, Spirko, 41, married the 59-year-old death row inmate at the Mansfield Correctional Institution 10 months ago. John Spirko, convicted of felonious assault, kidnapping and aggravated murder, had been scheduled to die by lethal injection on Nov. 15 for the 1982 killing of Postmaster Betty Jane Mottinger in Elgin in northwest Ohio. Last week, Gov. Bob Taft signed a two-month reprieve for Spirko, giving him until Jan. 19 to work on proving his claims of innocence. Tracy, who lives in Lake Milton, west of Youngstown, said she met him in 2003 while writing to a prison pen pal. John Spirko responded instead of the letter's original recipient. From the beginning of their conversations, Spirko told her he was innocent. "OK, yeah, well you're all innocent," Tracy recalled thinking. She changed her mind after doing some research. Tracy also said throughout their correspondence she repeatedly thought, "If you want a pen pal, great. But if you are asking me for money, forget it." He never did ask for money, but did ask for her hand. "He kept telling me he was going to marry me," she said. At first, she thought the idea was crazy, but "at some point, we became one person." When asked why she married someone on death row, she said, "Why do you marry anybody? 'Cause you love them." Getting married wasn't easy. The couple was turned down by at least 75 lawyers asked to file court paperwork on John Spirko's behalf before they decided to do a marriage by proxy, where someone stands in for the absent party. (source: Dayton Daily News) ********************* Death Row Scot hit by new delay Death row Scot Kenny Richey has again had a decision on his case postponed. A decision on whether to overturn the appeal which quashed his original conviction has now been put off 6 times. Richey, who was brought up in Edinburgh, was told yesterday that the US Supreme Court will not make a ruling on his case for at least another fortnight. Richey, 41, has remained locked up at the Mansfield Correctional Institution, Ohio, since his conviction for the murder of 2-year-old Cynthia Collins was overturned in January. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he should be released or retried within 90 days but, since then this deadline has been repeatedly held up by appeals from the state of Ohio. The latest of these, an appeal against the original ruling which quashed Richey's conviction, has been before the Supreme Court for more than a month. They have now delayed a decision on the matter 6 times, and yesterday stated that a decision will not be made until the court returns on November 28. Richey has been on Death Row since 1987 for murdering Cynthia by setting fire to an apartment in Ohio. Despite strong evidence he did not start the fire which killed her, Putnam Prosecutor Gary Lammers has said he will attempt to retry Kenny's case if the Supreme Court do not overturn the appeal. Fiance Karen Richey, who adopted Kenny's name after they became engaged, has again appealed for funds to help the long-running campaign to free him. (source: Edinburgh Evening News) ******************** Spirko lawyers drop suit after Petro turns over DNA evidence Attorneys for death-row inmate John Spirko yesterday dropped a federal lawsuit against the state to force DNA testing of evidence from the murder of a rural Van Wert County postmaster 23 years ago. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo, was largely rendered moot when Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro voluntarily turned the evidence over to the state's laboratory and asked Gov. Bob Taft to postpone Spirko's execution, initially set for today. Mr. Taft granted a reprieve until Jan. 19. Spirko was convicted in the 1982 kidnapping and stabbing of Betty Jane (Janie) Mottinger, postmaster in the village of Elgin, about 100 miles south of Toledo. No physical evidence tied Spirko to the crime at trial. He was convicted largely upon information he gave a postal inspector that the prosecution says could only have come from someone at the scene, and by eyewitness testimony placing him and his former Kentucky cellmate, Delaney Gibson, outside the post office that morning Although Gibson was never tried for the crime, the state has always maintained Spirko didn't act alone. Spirko's attorneys hope the testing might tie someone else to the crime scene. (source: Toledo Blade) ARIZONA: Prosecutors no longer seeking death penalty in triple slaying Prosecutors in Tucson are no longer seeking the death sentence against 1 of 2 men convicted in a triple slaying at a restaurant. Pima County attorneys cited years of appellate review in filing his motion to withdraw the death penalty yesterday in the case involving Kajornsak "Tom" Prasertphong. He along with Christopher "Bo" Huerstel (HUR'-stehl) were accused of fatally shooting 3 Pizza Hut employees during a January, 1999 robbery attempt. Both were convicted during a September, 2003 trial. The teens were both sentenced to death for 2 of the slayings and to life without the possibility of parole for the other death. The U-S Supreme Court later ruled that jurors, and not judges, must render sentences in death penalty cases. That made it necessary to convene a new jury to resentence Prasertphong in 2 of the deaths. (source: Associated Press)
