March 17 USA: Mohawk: The death penalty is really problematic Not long ago, headlines reverberated with the story of Stanley "Tookie" Williams' death sentence and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's denial of clemency and his statement about why clemency was denied. Williams was a founder of the Crips, a street gang with a notorious history of violence, and had been convicted of several murders. Schwarzenegger's rejection of Williams' appeal for clemency, leading to Williams' execution, is not surprising. No governor of California has granted clemency since 1967. The public attitude seems to be that if someone commits a crime, if it's enough of a crime to deserve death, they die. The debate over capital punishment in America has been stuck in neutral for a long time. There are those who would not support capital punishment under any circumstances; and some, even in the courts, who would kill prisoners who might be innocent. That's a pretty good range of opinion. Williams was an unusual case. He was a former gang leader accused of multiple killings who wrote children's books while on death row. Not many do that, but does it provide a reason to extend clemency? The issue was not about putting him on the street here, but simply commuting the death sentence and keeping Williams behind bars, not killing him. Texts that talk about crime and punishment describe the various punishments and reflections on whether society places any value on the life of the accused. Accordingly, some are minor criminals who don't even deserve incarceration; some are more serious criminals; some deserve life sentences, some death. The death sentence is society's ultimate judgment on the absence of value to society in the life of a miscreant. Such people (and there have been a number of them) have no redeeming qualities, have not achieved any redemption. Some people in the criminal justice system will be returned to society and can be rehabilitated. At least, that was the proposal some decades ago: that rehabilitated people would be returned to society ready to resume their place. But the worst were too dangerous to return to society, and society wants to extract what can only be described as revenge. The issue around capital punishment revolves around ideas about redemption, rehabilitation and revenge. Other considerations, including compassion or a sense of the level of civilization one inhabits, have been off the table and I won't address them here. The other major issue, the fact that a significant number of people who have been convicted of very serious crimes later turned out to be innocent, hasn't been widely embraced in the argument thus far, although that could change. I have a problem with the death penalty as a way of resolving the revenge issue. This culture is immersed in stories of revenge, one of the major themes of fiction in the culture since the time of Shakespeare, at least. Under the revenge theory, Williams was killed because he killed others. An eye for an eye, as per an ancient story about that. I'm not on board on this, but for other reasons. It has to do with the nature of death. Go to any palliative care facility, and you will meet people who are innocent, who have spent their lives in service to their families and communities; in short, good people. And these people often suffer from life-ending conditions, including cancers or degenerative disease like diabetes, and many others. And they are often in pain and dying slow, miserable deaths. The federal government at this time is waging a campaign against pain management for these innocent people, threatening and even prosecuting doctors who prescribe pain medications for terminal patients who, without that medication, will suffer to the end. The thinking seems to be that prescribing pain medication could be abused and, even in cases where intended abuse is largely unproven, federal authorities are persecuting doctors who do pain management. I'm talking about pain management for the innocent. Meanwhile, the march to the execution chamber is on full press. The presumed guilty - society's monsters - are subjected to painless, drug-induced death. The culture's elders and unfortunate victims of disease are meanwhile condemned to painful, torturous death at the hands of some malady or another. They are the truly innocent and they do the most suffering. People put to death by the state miss this experience, but I would hope we can change things so innocent people miss it, too. At the present time, at least the absence of compassion is spread around equally, if you think that a virtue. When you factor in the possibility that some of those who are condemned are likely innocent, and that society seems curiously unwilling, mostly, to prosecute people who aggressively seek convictions knowing that the rights of the accused have been abused, we have a pattern that leaves me unwilling to support the death penalty. Prosecutors who are dishonest, who do not present evidence they know might support the defense, are not only unethical, they are criminal and they do a great disservice to the justice system. The damage is so great that, like technicians who fudge scientific evidence, prosecutors who do this - a likely minority - should face civil and criminal liabilities. Society should reconsider its thinking about this issue. Williams probably did enough things to raise his value to society from zero to some value deserving of clemency from death. Treated thusly, he might have spent the rest of his life behind bars (assuming he was guilty) and died a natural death behind prison walls. He, or someone else, might have been proven innocent, which is truly moot if one is dead when the proof arrives. And Williams or any other who might gain the life skills might have done more things beneficial to society before dying. For the worst, living a sterile existence for decades without hope is indeed a very powerful punishment, even bordering on torture. It is more powerful than wheeling them to a chemical death, the kind that sounds too compassionate to our drug enforcement people of the moment for the benefit of people in the palliative care institutions. I don't get the thinking here. (source:John C. Mohawk, Ph.D., columnist for Indian Country Today, is an associate professor of American studies and director of Indigenous studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo) ************** Capital Punishment is Still Pro-Life "Kill them all, let God sort them out." That was the saying displayed defiantly on the T-shirt of the ex-Marine I was working with. Obviously, that is well beyond an extreme position in terms of respect for the sanctity of life. However, objections have been raised, originating from both the secular and religious camps, which go to the opposite extreme in an attempt to repudiate the death penalty for even the most extreme cases. Many secularists would appeal to the use of the "cruel and unusual punishment" clause of the Constitution, as an argument against capital punishment. Their world view often brandishes what British philosopher Mary Midgley dubs, "the Escalator Myth," in regards to the assumed progressive direction of human discourse. This idea is best embodied in a ruling by the late Chief Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, who said that the meaning of "cruel and unusual" punishment in the Constitution is in a state of flux. According, the definition reflects the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society. That is taking quite a bit for granted. Likewise, many Christians, in endeavoring to maintain a consistently pro-life position, have taken a perspective that is equally unbiblical and fundamentally false. While I respect their intent to preserve life, the idea that the state never has the right to take the life of another person, is theologically, constitutionally and historically flawed. A big problem arises from the misuse of the commandment in Exodus, "Thou shall not kill." Virtually every modern translation of the Bible, renders "murder" in place of "kill," to better reflect the meaning of the original Hebrew text. Furthermore, executions by the state, killing in legitimate warfare, accidental deaths and appropriate self-defense, are not considered to be murder. Genesis 9:6 ought to have gone far in settling the matter. "He who sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed." This illustrates several principles. First it provides that God has indeed delegated authority to human institutional authorities to take the life of another. According to Romans chapter 13, the state has the authority and duty to use the sword of wrath against the evil doer. So execution is the duty of the state, but only God has the right to determine eternal rewards or punishments. Many sincere religious folks confuse the jurisdictions of the temporal and eternal domains. They might argue that Christ repudiated capital punishment with his command to forgive others. Forgiveness is an act of charity between two or more parties; the one who in some way was offended, and the offending party. Grace and forgiveness come from the individual and from the church. The function of the state is to execute remedial justice. While a court may show leniency due to some extenuating circumstances, they have no general obligation to set aside the punishment of one who is found guilty. Thus, the true understanding of church/state separation, embodies the grace versus justice dichotomy. It is consistent with biblical teaching, that one could be forgiven by a victim or their family, and be forgiven by God, yet suffer punishment from the state in this life as consequence for their transgression. That could and should include capital punishment when necessary. A perfect example is the thief who hung on the cross next to Christ. He repented and received assurance of his eternal state from Christ (I say to you this day thou shall be with me in paradise). However, this act of contrition didn't save his physical life. The thief, in fact, admitted that he was getting what he deserved in suffering his death sentence. Sometimes the claim is made that capital punishment is not forgiving or compassionate. It is very compassionate to the "would be" victims, that often become statistical tragedies due to the will of lenient courts. How is capital punishment any less forgiving then putting someone behind bars for life? People frequently claim that capital punishment has no effective deterrence quality, as though that should be the only objective of criminal punishment. The execution of a murderer provides, however, that such a malefactor will never kill anyone again--the ultimate deterrent. Capital punishment is pro-life because it defends the right of the innocent by mandating the life of the guilty offender be taken. Those against capital punishment for the sake of consistency, while sincere, are simply misguided in their theological or philosophical perspective and principle. (source: Bob Meyer, National Ledger) FLORIDA: Victim's mom witness as murder trial begins----Her son by the suspect was beaten and shaken to death and her daughter gravely injured. That violent day in 2003 began much like any other in the tiny Westside apartment Kristie Gergely shared with her boyfriend, Bubba, and her 3 young children in Jacksonville. By the time it was over, the couple's 4-month-old son had been beaten and shaken to death, Gergely's 16-month-old daughter was in grave condition in a hospital and Bubba had disappeared in a stolen car with a flare gun and her 5-year-old boy. 2 days later, Anthony "Bubba" Oyibo shot himself in the mouth with the flare gun as police surrounded a vacant Vero Beach house where he was hiding. They arrested him on a Jacksonville warrant charging murder, kidnapping, child abuse, carjacking, burglary and attempted armed robbery. Gergely is a pivotal witness scheduled to testify today at Oyibo's 1st-degree murder trial, which began Thursday after 3 days of jury selection. Assistant State Attorney Mose Floyd told jurors Gergely will testify that she lived in fear of Oyibo, fled the apartment after he hit her in the head with a log and that she returned with police to find the lifeless body of their infant son, Jacob, and her battered daughter, Anayah. But Hank Coxe, Oyibo's court-appointed attorney, said evidence will show parts of Gergely's story don't add up and that she once threatened to "cut this baby out of me" when pregnant with Jacob. As for 5-year-old Deven, Coxe noted that Oyibo delivered the boy to relatives in Vero Beach. They immediately notified authorities. "He is hanging on to Deven to get him to safety," Coxe said. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Oyibo, 23, after plea negotiations fell through last week. The trial is expected to last 2 weeks. According to Floyd, Oyibo was angry May 6, 2003, because the children woke him up and Gergely hadn't fixed anything for him to eat. "This case is all about control and authority," Floyd said. "This defendant insisted that he and he alone dictated what went on in that ... apartment." Floyd said Oyibo locked Gergely in the bathroom and returned a few minutes later holding Anayah by her shirt. When he closed the door, she said she heard two loud thumps. Then Oyibo returned to tell her Anayah was bleeding and it was Deven's fault. He wouldn't let her tend to Anayah, Floyd said. But a few minutes later, he took Gergely out of the bathroom, shared a cigarette with her, then ordered her to get on her knees, Floyd told the jury. Oyibo attempted to strangle her with an electrical cord, and when she resisted, he hit her on the head with a log, Floyd said. She managed to get away, and as she ran out the front door, Oyibo yelled, "'Don't put our business in the street. I'll kill you,'" the prosecutor said. Gergely called 911 twice, and police arrived 10 minutes later. Inside they found Jacob dead on a mattress with whiplash and blunt trauma injuries all over his head and neck. Anayah was in her crib, covered with a blanket and lying in a pool of blood. She was bleeding from the mouth, and police noticed her blood and impressions in the walls, like someone had slammed her head against the wall. An emergency helicopter flew her to Shands Jacksonville, where she survived. Coxe said the impressions on the wall were more consistent with someone of Gergely's height than Oyibo's. Meanwhile, a neighbor told police she saw Oyibo dragging Deven through the apartment complex to a boat yard next door. Floyd said they hid in a boat until dark, stole its flare gun, then attempted to flee in a customer's truck. When that didn't work, Oyibo used the gun to torch the truck and forcibly stole a car from a woman who had come to the boat yard to meet her boyfriend, Floyd said. >From there, Oyibo drove to Vero Beach, where he left Deven with his brother's girlfriend and found an abandoned house to hide in, Floyd said. Oyibo has been ill since his arrest from injuries he suffered when he shot himself with the flare gun. Floyd said his mouth and throat were charred black. Thursday, Oyibo vomited in the courtroom just before the lawyers' opening statements. (source: Florida Times-Union) ***************** Suspect's Lawyer Challenges Death Penalty In Deltona Mass Murder Case Late Friday morning, a judge heard more arguments ahead of a mass murder trial in Volusia County. A lawyer for the men accused of murdering 6 people in a Deltona house in August 2004 tried to challenge whether the defendants should face the death penalty. There was more housekeeping Friday, as the judge clears the way for the trial that is just weeks away. Surprisingly, Friday morning, the most heated discussion was not about the 6 people who were killed, but rather a dog. The attorney for Michael Salas tried to separate his client from the other defendants when it comes to the charge of cruelty to animals. Among the 6 human bodies that were found in the Deltona home in August 2004 was also the body of a dog that was beaten to death. Salas' lawyer said the other defendants testified that they killed the dog, Salas. The lawyer believes testimony about cruelty to animals could sway a jury, even in a case where 6 people were killed. "Some jurors, I've had the experience, value animal life over human life, if you hear them talk," said Jeff Dees, Salas' attorney. The state said Salas was in on the planning, he was in on the murders and he should be held accountable for the dead dog. The state also reminded the defense the case is really about human beings. "I find it hard to believe that Mr. Salas is going to be overtly prejudiced by the death of a dog, when there are 6 dead human beings that we are dealing with in this case," said assistant state attorney Sean Daly. The judge decided he would not separate the charge for Salas. He also struck down 8 of the defense's motions saying the death penalty is unconstitutional and chided defense attorneys for not providing their witness list to the state with only 3 weeks until the trial. April 10 is the big day. Before then, possibly next week, the defense will move to throw out the testimony of Robert Cannon. He's the 4th suspect and has already pleaded and made a full confession. (source: WFTV News) CONNECTICUT: DNA Turns Cold Case Of all the cold cases on Det. Bill Werle's desk, the death of young Cherie Morrisette was the oldest and most troubling. Werle, of the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office in Florida, and himself a father, could not forget the 11-year-old Jacksonville girl who was found dead in December 1996, floating in the chilly St. Johns River. He would periodically flip through the thick, black binder and request that the Florida forensic laboratory retest small samples of semen taken from Cherie's body and her panties. In December 2005, after a new sample had been submitted because of better technology, a national DNA database matched it with the genetic makeup of Robert Shelton Mitchell, a registered sex offender living in New Britain. Werle was in Connecticut Thursday as Mitchell, 43, was arraigned in Superior Court in New Britain as a fugitive from justice in connection with the case. Mitchell will be returned to Florida, where he will be formally charged with 1st-degree murder and capital sexual battery, more than 9 years after Cherie's death. Werle and his partner, Det. Tim Burres, along with New Britain police arrived Wednesday at Mitchell's apartment, where he had been living with his brother since being released from a Connecticut prison in 2004. Mitchell had served a year and a half for improper sexual contact with a minor in Windsor Locks in 2002. Now Mitchell could face the death penalty in the Florida case. On Thursday, authorities in Connecticut and Florida held press conferences announcing the arrest in the decade-old case to point out the importance of nationwide DNA databases that catalog known sex offenders and felons. "The message this case brings," said New Britain State's Attorney Scott Murphy, "is if you commit a crime no matter where it was or how long ago it was, you should not rest easy because the police and the forensics people do not give up." Mitchell, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound construction worker, had his arms shackled across his chest during his arraignment. Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford set bail at $5 million. Mitchell waived extradition to Florida, which will speed up his return. Officials from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office in St. Augustine say Mitchell has confessed to raping Cherie, whose cause of death was drowning. They declined to comment on the evidence for the murder charge, but said Mitchell showed little remorse at the time of the confession. "This little girl was a victim of this guy, of his sexual needs," Werle said. After Werle and Burres were notified that there was a possible match in Connecticut, scientists from the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory in Meriden retested Mitchell's profile. Then DNA scientists there retested DNA samples sent by Florida to confirm their samples. Meanwhile, the detectives researched Mitchell's past and learned that he had been in Florida working in the area where Cherie disappeared in 1996. Before the DNA hit, all leads had been exhausted in the case, said Werle, an eight-year police veteran who inherited Cherie's case a few years ago. "We're always involved in cold cases, but none that have been this old," he said. "It did kind of go cold." Michael Bourke, a lead criminalist at the state laboratory, said newer technology allowed scientists to test a much smaller sample and then generate a profile. The sample taken had been emerged in water for six days, but the river was chilly in December and the semen was preserved, authorities said. "These people are the silent heroes," said renowned forensic scientist Henry C. Lee, director emeritus of the Connecticut laboratory. "This shows an example of teamwork." Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who also attended the press conference held at the Colchester state police barracks, said Mitchell's arrest shows how important it was to enact the law in 1995 that required all convicted sex offenders to provide DNA samples. She said it also shows why sex offenders, particularly those who prey on young children, should receive the harshest sentences. "This gives us hope that more and more of the cold cases we are hearing about will be solved," Rell said, adding that she advocates passing a new law that would require mandatory sentences of 25 years for certain offenders. The New Britain neighborhood where Mitchell had been living is full of families with children. Neighbors said he lived with his brother on the top floor of 8 Kelsey St., upstairs from a family with young children. He would often sit on the stoop and intently watch people come and go, neighbors said, making those who knew his criminal history uncomfortable. Some neighbors said they had instructed their children to stay away from him and to immediately call for help if he approached. Others were unaware of his history. They said he seemed like a nice man who would spend time outside during the summer with friends and families from the neighborhood. In 2003, Mitchell was convicted of third-degree assault against his wife, Ann Mitchell. It is unclear whether they are still married. He also was convicted in 2003 of improper sexual contact with a person younger than 16. The victim was a relative, said Windsor Locks police Capt. Chester DeGray. Mitchell received a total effective sentence of six years in prison, suspended after 1 years, followed by 25 years of probation. Police in Connecticut and Florida said they would be investigating whether Mitchell had committed any other crimes since 1996, when Cherie was reported missing from her apartment in Jacksonville. Her mother, Elizabeth Walters, had gone to a line-dancing class on Dec. 2, 1996, leaving Cherie at home with her 12-year-old sister. The two argued over a video and Cherie ran away about 7:30 p.m. She returned briefly to retrieve her coat, and was never seen alive by her family again. Walters, of Jacksonville, who attended a press conference Thursday at the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, said she has spent 10 years wondering who killed her daughter, according to news reports. She told reporters she would watch cold case and forensic shows and hold out hope that one day the killer would be found. She said she has had many nightmares about her daughter's death, including one in which Cherie is fighting someone on top of a bridge and she can't get there in time to save her. "She was my little cuddle bug," Walters said. Courant Staff Writers Dan Goren, Hilda Muoz, and Monica Polanco contributed to this story. (source: Hartford Courant) ILLINOIS: Is the death penalty dead in Illinois? As Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine sees it, the people of Illinois have a simple choice: Either lift the death penalty moratorium or abolish state executions altogether. "It is wrong to have the death penalty on the books, to have it there in theory, but for it to have no presence in reality," Devine said during a recent speech to members of the Union League Club of Chicago. "I will follow the law, but at the same time the legislature has to decide whether we're going to have a death penalty or not." It has been 6 years since former Gov. George Ryan suspended executions and created a commission to reform the capital punishment system in Illinois. The death penalty still exists, however, and 7 men have been sentenced to die. Meanwhile, the legislature has yet to come up with a revised law incorporating suggested capital punishment reforms that will please Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Only the governor has the authority to lift the moratorium. So the winner of next November's gubernatorial election could determine whether the moratorium remains in place or is lifted. 3 gubernatorial candidates, Republicans Judy Baar Topinka, Jim Oberweis and Bill Brady feel the moratorium should be voided. Devine would also like to see it lifted. He recently authorized his assistants to seek the death penalty for convicted murderer and rapist Paul Runge. For Devine, Runge is "the face of the death penalty." In Feburary a Cook County jury found Runge, 36, guilty of raping and murdering a North West Side woman and her 11-year-old daughter. After binding them with duct tape and raping them, Runge slit their throats and set their bodies on fire. If a criminal court judge approves the sentence, Runge will become the 8th man to sit on death row since Ryan commuted 167 death sentences in 2003. Critics say before any of the condemmed men is placed on the lethal injection table at Pontiac Correctional Center, the state's death penalty process must be thoroughly overhauled. Anti death penalty advocates point out that 13 death row inmates were wrongfully convicted in Illinois. They say there are some unresolved questions on why some convicted murderers are sentenced to die while others are spared. They note, for example, that those who kill white victims are more likely to be executed. "The system is still incredibly arbitrary,' said Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Candidates split on issue As Tuesdays gubernatorial primary election approaches, Republican candidates Topinka, Brady and Oberweis are campaigning on a promise to immediately lift the moratorium. "Gov. [Rod] Blagojevich has not lifted the moratorium, nor has he indicated what, if any, additional reforms he wants," Topinka, the current Illinois State Treasurer, wrote in an e-mail response to Medill News Service. "With many of the legislature's reforms in place, I believe it's time to lift the moratorium." Gerardo Cardenas, Blagojevich's press secretary, said the governor will not lift the moratorium until death penalty reforms are proven successful. "Gov. Blagojevich supports the death penalty in some cases, and he's not going to lift the moratorium until we have a clear sense that there are reforms in the criminal justice system in which no innocent person would be sent to death row or would be executed," Cardenas said. Brady, who is currently an Illinois Representative (R-44th), said Ryan abused his governing powers when he imposed the moratorium in 2000. "The governor ought to handle death penalty situations in a case-by-case basis in order to uphold the law of Illinois," Brady said. "I support the death penalty in limited circumstances, and I think it's incumbent upon the governor to make sure that innocent people are not put to death. We don't need a moratorium to do it for us." Oberweis, a dairy owner, has a personal interest in the death penalty debate. If elected, he would immediately lift the moratorium. In 1993 his sister-in-law was shot to death in her home. The shooter was sentenced to die but was one of the death row inmates whose sentence was commuted by Ryan. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole. "With reforms put in place so far and with DNA evidence, the chances of an innocent person being put to death are non-existent,' said Oberweis. The remaining primary candidates, Republican Ron Gidwitz and Democrat Edwin Eisendrath, both said reforms need to take effect before there can be any discussion about permanently removing the moratorium. Fixing the system Following his January 2000 decision to halt all executions in the state, Ryan created the Illinois Commission on Capital Punishment. The commission's members, who include state's attorneys, public defenders, judges and the best-selling legal novelist Scott Turow, were appointed to evaluate a broken capital punishment process. In 2002, the commission released a report that contained 85 recommendations for reform. The report concluded that wrongful convictions often resulted from cases that lacked solid physical evidence, or hinged on the uncorroborated testimony of so-called "jailhouse snitches," inmates who stood to gain by implicating others in crimes. In response to the report, the General Assembly passed the Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee Act in 2003, which created a panel to oversee that reforms were made in the criminal justice system. The committee will release its final annual report in 2008. Committee Chairman and former U.S. Attorney Tom Sullivan said the General Assembly approved only one-third of the recommendations. They include electronically recording all police interrogations in homicide cases, holding a pretrial hearing to determine if an inmate's testimony is reliable in court and not seeking the death penalty when a defendant's conviction is based on the testimony of only one witness. But the legislature refused to pass all recommendations. Sullivan said he is "upset" that state politicians cherry-picked the reforms they wanted to enact. "You can't just pick and choose which reforms you want to use at your pleasure," Sullivan said. "The committee recommended 85 reforms and I believe that most of them, if not all, should be implemented in order to help fix the death penalty process in Illinois." The rejected reforms included forming a statewide panel to review death sentences, creating an independent DNA crime lab and reducing the number of death penalty eligibility requirements from 21 to 5. "Since the reform process is not complete, that alone is a reason to continue a moratorium on execution," Bohman said. Although the commission found no evidence that a suspect's race determined whether he lives or dies, a convicted murderer is more likely to receive a death sentence if his victims are white. "Which is perhaps more insidious, to say that because I'm a middle-class white person, it's more important that my death needs to be avenged," Bohman said. Fear tactics After a jury on February 27, recommended the death penalty for Runge, Devine held a press conference lauding the jury's decision. But Bohman criticized Devine for using Runge's case to rally support for lifting the moratorium. "Devine is trying to play a whole emotion-driven game," Bohman said. "He's used these heinous murders committed by Runge, which appeals to the public's sense of fear. But it's imperative that reforms to the death penalty continue without an appeal to emotion in order to circumvent future wrongful convictions." Devine said Runge's crimes were the perfect examples of when prosecutors should seek the death penalty. "What other case are we supposed to use?" Devine said. "All of these cases are heinous. Don't say that someone is trying to skew the debate because they use Paul Runge as an example." Runge has also been charged with the rapes and murders of five other women between 1995 and 1997 in Cook and DuPage Counties. Evidence of each of these crimes was presented during the death penalty hearing. Bernie Murray, the assistant state's attorney who prosecuted Runge, said he and his colleagues evaluated every aspect of Runge's alleged crimes to determine whether or not to seek the death penalty. After completing a six-year investigation into the murders, Murray said he was sure that Runge was the prototype for a death penalty candidate. "Paul Runge has redefined the death penalty in Cook County," Murray said. "It's our opinion that the moratorium be lifted now because in 7-to-10 years, when the appeals process is over, we want to know that Runge faces the sentence that a jury of his peers chose for him." But if the moratorium continues, Runge's death sentence will unofficially turn into a life sentence. For Ramon Rivera, the father of Yolanda Gutierrez , who, along with her daughter Jessica Muniz, was brutally murdered, there will be no satisfaction until he is put to death. "I am not a hateful person, but I hope he burns in hell for what he did to my daughter and granddaughter," Rivera said. "There will never be complete closure, but until I see him strapped to that gurney with a needle in his arm, I won't be satisfied." Runge's death sentence will not be official until Judge Joseph Kazmierski signs the order for it on March 28. Because the case involved a death penalty sentencing, it will be automatically appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. Regardless of whether Kazmierski signs the order or not, Runge will not be put to death anytime soon because the moratorium is in place. The outcome of November's gubernatorial election could decide whether Runge faces a lethal injected or sits in a cell for the rest of his life. "I'm not saying that Paul [Runge] is innocent of his crimes, a jury has already been convinced that he's not," said Woody Jordan, Runge's attorney. "But the fact remains, in my opinion, that death may not be the appropriate sentence here. It is our duty to make sure justice is properly carried out, and the moratorium helps us do that." (source: Seth Goldstein and Andrew Harmon, for the Medill News Service)
