Jan. 24
FLORIDA----imminent execution
Robber who killed Pensacola officer in 1982 set for execution
Clarence Hill, who murdered a Pensacola police officer 23 years ago, moved
closer to his scheduled execution today as a federal court rejected one of
his final appeals.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta turned down two motions
filed on behalf of Hill, 48, but an additional appeal was pending before
the U.S. Supreme Court, said Carolyn Snurkowski, a death appeals attorney
for Attorney General Charlie Crist. Hill lost his appeal to the state
Supreme Court last week.
"This is kind of like waiting for a jury to return a verdict," said D.
Todd Doss, Hill's defense attorney.
Hill was scheduled to die at Florida State Prison for the Oct. 19, 1982,
slaying of Pensacola police Officer Stephen Taylor, 26, and the wounding
of his partner, Larry Bailly, when they responded to a silent alarm of a
bank robbery at Freedom Federal Savings Bank.
Gov. Jeb Bush said signing Hill's death warrant was "not an easy thing to
do.
"But he was convicted by a jury of his peers," Bush said. "He's had every
chance to appeal, and he's exhausted all of his appeals, and it's time for
the completion of his sentence."
Hill received farewell visits from a friend, Serena Mangano of Modena,
Italy and a spiritual adviser on Tuesday. On Monday, his sisters Alice
McMillian, Elena Hill, Shantell Hill, all of Mobile, Ala. and a brother,
Roger Hill, also of Mobile, as well as his attorney, visited.
Hill did not request a final meal, and refused the late-morning meal
served to other inmates at Florida State Prison -- glazed ham, fruit
glaze, greens, black-eyed peas, coleslaw, bread, a cookie and tea --
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Debbie Buchanan said Tuesday.
Hill's appeals contended the 3 chemicals used in Florida's lethal
injection method of execution is cruel and unusual punishment because it
causes pain.
Hill claimed the he should not be executed since he is mentally retarded.
But that argument was rejected by the state Supreme Court, which noted
that a mental evaluation of Hill showed he was mildly retarded and his IQ
was 16 points higher than the standard of 70 or below.
Hill would be the 61st inmate executed in Florida since 1976, when
executions resumed after a 12-year moratorium, and the 257th since 1924,
when the state took that duty from individual counties.
Hill survived a death warrant signed in 1989 by Gov. Bob Martinez. He is 1
of about 3 dozen inmates still alive after having previous warrants signed
more than a decade ago.
Hill, who has converted to Islam and taken the name Razzaq Muhammad, says
on a Web site, www.survivingthesystem.com, that he and his friend, Cliff
Jackson, both of Mobile, Ala., were high on marijuana, cocaine and beer
when they decided to steal a car and drive to Pensacola and hold up the
bank.
The officers stopped Jackson as he ran outside the bank. Hill came up
behind Taylor and shot him in the back from close range, killing him. He
also shot Taylor's partner, Officer Bailly, who returned fire, hitting
Hill several times. Jackson was shot by another officer as he tried to
flee. All 3 survived.
Taylor's 1st cousin, Gary Mace, planned to watch the execution with
Taylor's brother, Jack Taylor Jr., and Taylor's sister, Linda Knouse. Two
other sisters will be unable to attend, Mace said.
"It is something we have to carry through for Steve," Mace said Monday. "I
have forgiven Mr. Hill for what he had done, but God is the one who has to
judge. I do feel compassion for his family. It is 2 families brought
together by tragedy."
Taylor's partner, Bailly, through the Pensacola Police Department, refused
to comment on the execution.
On a Web site, Hill claimed he does not remember shooting the officers.
"I didn't see anyone get shot at any time," he wrote. "I'm pleased my
friend is alive, and very sorry for the police officer who died and the
one who was shot. I am not saying I am all innocent. I know I did a lot of
things wrong that day which I am not proud of, and I wish I could begin
October 19th, 1982 all over again. I would spend it with Allah with the
love and knowledge I have today."
Florida's execution procedure is patterned after the process used by other
states using lethal injection. Strapped to a gurney, inmates are given 3
drugs. The 1st deadens the pain, followed by injections to paralyze the
body and the 3rd to cause a fatal heart attack.
An anonymous executioner is paid $150 in cash for administering the lethal
dosage.
Hill's accomplice, Jackson, was sentenced to life in prison.
Hill's execution is 1 of 2 scheduled this month, after the state executed
only one inmate in 2005. Arthur D. Rutherford, who is scheduled to die on
Jan. 31, also challenged the state's use of the execution drugs.
Rutherford, 56, killed 63-year-old Stella Salamon at her home in Santa
Rosa County in 1985. Rutherford had done some repair work for the woman,
whose body was found submerged in her bathtub, where she had been drowned
or asphyxiated.
(source: Orlando Sentinel)
