Oct. 17 OKLAHOMA: Journey toward justice----Former Ada resident pens novel of false rape, murder conviction and exoneration Years of therapy and patience eased the emotional trauma Dennis Fritz experienced during his 11-year stint in prison. But the memories, particularly the moments just prior to his wrongful arrest and charge for an Ada waitress' murder and a rape he didn't commit, remain. Life in Hominy's medium-security, Connor's Correctional Facility, wasn't peachy. But the transition from a regular life centered around his young daughter, Elizabeth, following his wife's 1982 murder, to being handed a wrongful life sentence, naturally, took its toll on Fritz. "It was a living hell. Just a living hell, but that time was hardest on my daughter, Elizabeth. I did not allow her to visit me during my time in the penitentiary," he said during a recent visit to Norman, promoting his book, "Journey Toward Justice." Novelist John Grisham recently released a book detailing the case of Ronnie Williamson, Fritz's friend, who was also charged with the waitress' murder and sentenced to execution. "The prison years were very difficult. Extremely harsh. There were a lot of things that I've seen that really woke me up," Fritz said. "I witnessed a couple of murders and heard of many, many others, for instance. It was a place that you could never truly relax in. It was always very dangerous. Extremely dangerous." Even after his 1999 exoneration, paranoia of police and a fear of crowds haunted him, as did the realization that right here in America, an innocent man can indeed be found guilty. "After I got out, I had to deal with a lot of post traumatic stress," Fritz said. "So many things were different -- like hotel keys were not made of metal anymore, gas pumps were changed, so many little things... It was a very stressful 3 to 4 years following my release. I just felt so alienated. Like I wasn't a part of society." While in prison, Fritz, a former middle school science teacher, turned into a self-styled lawyer. "I lived, breathed, walked, talked and dreamed about my freedom, and bringing back my case through my own endeavors," he said. After several appeals to the case were denied, Fritz contacted the Innocence Project, a legal organization dedicated to providing legal counsel, and in Fritz's case, DNA testing. Though police claimed hair evidence from the Ada murder scene had been analyzed and matched Fritz and his friend, Ronnie Williamson, numerous outside DNA tests sought by Norman lawyer, Mark Barrett, of the Innocence Project, revealed otherwise. The real killer, Barrett said, was the very same man who had worked with overzealous prosecutors to convict Fritz and Williamson of the murder. Fritz and Williamson were exonerated and released April 15, 1999. In 2001, they filed a civil suit against several parties involved in their conviction and settled for an undisclosed sum of money. To this day, Fritz said the prosecutors and district attorney in Ada have yet to apologize for their erroneous convictions. "From the moment he was released on, starting in the courtroom, at the time, Dennis has been speaking out," Barrett said. "All of us have just started talking about the case. It's been a project of his, in a way, and his job since he's been out, has been to enlighten people about what happened and to change things so it doesn't happen to more people." Working as an advocate for the Innocent Project and writing a book, recently released, Fritz said has "all been a part of the healing." Currently, Fritz is touring 35 cities, including Norman and Ada, promoting "Journey Toward Justice" and speaking on behalf of the Innocence Project. When he's not pursuing such endeavors, he spends his time in Kansas City, Mo. where he lives with his mother, gardens and "tries to have a somewhat normal life." (source: The Norman Transcript) ******************** Grisham: 'I hope this book makes people think' John Grisham's latest book, "The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town," has the usual touches fans have come to expect from the master of the legal thriller: suspense, shock, even a wrongful conviction and near-execution. But this time, the tale is true. In his first nonfiction book, Grisham tackles the story of Ron Williamson, a former baseball player who was wrongfully convicted of murder in Ada, Oklahoma, and came within five days of being executed before he was finally acquitted -- after 9 years on death row. (Watch Grisham address: "How could this happen?" -- 4:03 ) "The story was all there," Grisham said in an interview with The Associated Press. "All I had to do was put it together." Grisham read Williamson's obituary in The New York Times on December 9, 2004, and he knew he wanted to write the story. He got on the phone with Williamson's sisters and the deal was done in about three hours. "I was struck by just the compelling nature of the story -- it had small town, it was about a trial gone wrong, prosecution not right, man who was mentally ill and a good baseball player." Grisham hates research and he was in uncomfortable territory, wading through boxes of documents and materials from the family, mental health records, trial transcripts, depositions, fourth grade report cards. He traveled around with a recorder for 18 months, interviewing lawyers, judges and Williamson's co-defendant, Dennis Fritz, carefully transcribing the quotes. "When I write fiction, it takes a lot to get me out of the seat to check anything," Grisham said. "I hate to stop the writing to go check a fact, to go find a city, to go to a hotel -- I'll just make stuff up." But with "The Innocent Man," published by Doubleday, he was dogged about getting his facts straight, especially because some of the people in the book are still alive, and because the prosecution botched the case so badly, many individuals aren't portrayed in good light. "Many of those people bought that book today, and they're reading the book now, and what I don't want people to do is say, 'Well, here's a mistake.' " Williamson and Fritz were convicted in the slaying of Debra Sue Carter, who was sexually molested and strangled in 1982 in Ada, Oklahoma. Fritz got a life sentence. Williamson spent nine years on death row, at one time coming within 5 days of execution before a stay was ordered. In April 1999, an Ada judge noted that DNA tests of semen and hair samples did not genetically match Fritz or Williamson and he dismissed the charges. Glen Gore, the man last seen with Carter, and who helped convict Williamson and Fritz, was eventually convicted in her death, with the help of DNA evidence. Barry Scheck, a lawyer who founded the Innocence Project -- a legal group that uses DNA to exonerate convicts -- and represented Fritz, said he hopes Grisham's book will put more focus on the problem of wrongful conviction for people who may not be familiar with such cases. "Having a writer of his ability and reach getting a story like this will turn the heads of most Americans," Scheck said. "Hopefully, they will learn that there are solutions, there are ways to make these problems better." The story made Grisham -- who is against the death penalty -- want to get out of his seat and practice law again, although he's not headed back to the courtroom anytime soon. "I'm not a crusader," he said. "I don't stick to just one issue, I tend to write about it, then leave it. But I hope this book makes people think about the justice system." Working with characters he could not control was often difficult for Grisham, especially as he got to know Williamson, who died of cancer. A former baseball player in the minor leagues, Williamson was often selfish, a serious drinker and eventually diagnosed with bipolar disease. His behavior often made women uncomfortable. "About halfway through, I realized my hero was not likable, and that could never happen in fiction, because you control the story," Grisham said. "I was pretty nervous about the reader. But by the time you get to the trial, you're sympathetic." Bookseller: Grisham 'a sure bet' The story haunts Grisham, who hasn't been back in court since 1996 when he represented the family of a railroad brakeman killed when he was pinned between two cars. (Grisham won the case, earning his clients a jury award of $683,500 -- the biggest verdict of his career.) He'd much prefer to be at his Charlottsville, Virginia, home writing or with his wife, Renee, who trains horses. The couple's son, 22-year-old Ty, just started law school at the University of Mississippi, his father's alma mater, and their daughter, Shea, 20, is in college. Born in Arkansas and raised throughout the South, Grisham was a small-town lawyer and state legislator in Southaven, Mississippi, when he decided in the early 1980s to wake at dawn every morning to write a novel about a racially charged rape and murder trial. Published by a small press in 1989, "A Time to Kill" sold just 5,000 copies. Then came "The Firm," which sold 1 million copies in 1991 and made Grisham a star. Now, a standard first printing for a Grisham hardcover is an astronomical 2.8 million copies, Doubleday said. Each Grisham book is a best seller -- even a non-courtroom novel such as "Skipping Christmas," and even those no longer among his favorites, such as "The Client," which he calls "bloated" and too long. "The Innocent Man," which came out Tuesday, is shaping up to the same kind of success, said Bob Wietrak, vice president for merchandising for Barnes & Noble, Inc. "When we don't have a John Grisham book out we're disappointed, because we count on the sales of his book as well as bringing customers into our stores," he said. "He's a sure bet." Wietrak said Grisham's success is because of his storytelling talents. Grisham said he has a knack for pacing and suspense that readers really enjoy, and has a very simple, chronological style that people can follow without much work. He is methodical about his writing, publishing a book every year. He usually writes for 6 months, but "The Innocent Man" took 18 months, and he's eager to get back to fiction writing. "I enjoyed almost all of it, even the research," he said. "It'll be a long time before I do nonfiction again. I can't wait to get back to the novels." (source: Associated Press) WISCONSIN: Death penalty vote up in the air At one time, Kristi Holck of Rome leaned toward supporting the death penalty. Then she saw the movie "Dead Man Walking," a 1995 movie with Sean Penn as a convicted criminal on death row for a double murder. "The best portrayal of both sides of the issue was best present by that movie," Holck, 42, said. She said the movie "blurred (the issue) for me a little more." On Nov. 7, voters will have an opportunity to decide if a person who has been convicted of multiple 1st-degree, vicious and intentional homicide, supported by DNA evidence, should receive the death penalty. The death penalty in Wisconsin has been banned since 1853. It is one of only 12 states that do not have it, and David Dickmann thinks it should stay that way. Dickmann, first assistant, state public defender, has several reasons why he thinks, as stated, the referendum should not be passed. "What the referendum ties to is if there is DNA at the crime scene," Dickmann said. But, DNA isn't always possible or positive, he said. In the case of domestic homicide, DNA would be at the scene because the people involved lived together. The death penalty would also be more costly than life in prison without parole, which is estimated to cost about $500,000, Dickmann said. The death penalty could cost the state -- and taxpayers -- between $1 million and $3 million, Dickmann said. "Attorney fees are just incredibly high, and those generally come out of the public coffers," Dickmann said. More staff usually is needed with a death penalty inmate, which also drives the cost up. Dickmann also has concerns that a Madison-based attorney would decide what the charges would be in regard to the death penalty, not a local attorney. Holck isn't sure which way she would vote on the referendum, stating her position as "a little bit on the fence." "I'm uncomfortable with us having the right to take away (the criminal's) life, too," she said. But that doesn't mean she would necessarily vote for the referendum. "I'm not sure," she said. "I have to think about it." ************* Abolishment in state followed 1851 execution On Aug. 21, 1851, John McCaffary struggled to take his last breath in Kenosha. He was hanged, convicted of killing his wife. McCaffary was the only man to be executed under Wisconsin death's penalty, according the Wisconsin Historical Society Web site. Just before midnight on July 22, 1850, McCaffary murdered his wife, drowning her in 15 to 20 inches of water in a hogshead that had been placed in the ground as a cistern. The trial was held May 23, 1851. The jury's verdict read, "Guilty of Willful Murder." His sentence? "Be confined a close prisoner in the common jail of this county until the time appointed by the Governor of this State by his warrant, for your execution, and that at that time, you be hung by the neck until you be dead." Almost 3months later, McCaffary's death, described on the Web site as "the gruesome hanging" was witnessed by between 2,000 and 3,000 people. Before the hood was placed over his head, McCaffary had a message of remorse: "I was the cause of the death of my wife, and I hope my fate will be a warning to you all. I forgive all my enemies. I forgive all the witnesses against me." The rope went around his neck and the noose was pulled. According to the site, he struggled for 5 minutes. 3 minutes later, his pulse slowed slightly. 10 minutes later, he was declared dead. Christopher Latham Sholes, a member of the state senate in 1849 and editor of the Kenosha Telegraph, led the campaign to abolish the death penalty. "We do not complain that the law has been enforced," he wrote in an editorial the day after the execution. "We complain that the law exists .... Let another system of punishment be adopted and other means used to reform the criminal." Sholes was elected to the State Assembly in fall 1852. In the spring of 1853, he spoke for an hour and a half against capital punishment before that body approved its abolition. On July 12, 1853, after the Senate also had voted to abolish executions, Governor Leonard Farwell signed the bill into law, formally ending the death penalty in Wisconsin. (source for both: Wisconsin Rapids Tribune) FLORIDA----impending execution Inmate cancels interview on eve of his execution Condemned murderer Arthur Rutherford has canceled an interview he'd initially scheduled for today before his Wednesday execution. Also on Monday, his lawyers filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to consider arguments rejected by the Florida Supreme Court last week. Rutherford has another appeal pending before the highest court, asking it to send an earlier appeal - the one that got him a stay of execution back in January - back down to federal district court to be heard. Linda McDermott, one of Rutherford's attorneys, sent a letter to Florida Department of Corrections officials saying that, after consulting with her client, he wanted to cancel the interview with reporters scheduled for today. ''It sounds to me like there was some misunderstanding,'' McDermott said. Rutherford ''indicated that he did not want to meet with the press (today). I know he's got family visits all day today. He kind of wants to focus on that.'' Rutherford is set to be executed for the 1985 murder of Stella Salamon in her Milton home. The 63-year-old woman was beaten, strangled and drowned. Rutherford was found guilty in 2 jury trials. He has maintained his innocence. Carolyn Snurkowski, assistant deputy attorney general for the state, said the state's response to Rutherford's appeal would likely be filed Monday evening. With Rutherford's latest appeal, Snurkowski said the state's arguments would be bolstered by the opinion of the Florida Supreme Court that rejected Rutherford's petition. Rutherford argued that the state's system of applying the death sentence is arbitrary, and thus unconstitutional. He also offers affidavits from 2nd-hand sources that a woman who testified in Rutherford's trials has admitted to committing the crime. Snurkowski said the state would argue that the petitions contain no new information that wasn't available to the defense earlier, and thus are barred as a basis for appeal. She said she does not expect a response from the U.S. Supreme Court on either still-pending appeal until Wednesday. In January, Rutherford was strapped onto a gurney with intravenous tubes inserted and ready to deliver the drugs that would have killed him. Then, the U.S. Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution that spared his life. That appeal was denied earlier this month by the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. (source: Tallahassee Democrat) ******************** SERRANO SENTENCING----In Florida, Death Penalty Takes a Majority Since 1995, 8 condemned murderers in Polk County have gone to death row after jurors recommended the death penalty. This week, a jury of 7 women and 5 men will debate whether convicted murderer Nelson Serrano, 68, should join them. But even as the Serrano jury deliberates a recommendation of life imprisonment without parole or death by lethal injection, a debate rages across the state about the way jurors handle death penalty cases. As it stands now, 12 jurors must reach a unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of first-degree murder. But in a separate proceeding, called the penalty phase of the trial, jurors need only a simple majority, or 7 votes, to recommend the death penalty. A recent report by the American Bar Association criticized Florida's death penalty process, particularly the majority vote issue. The panel said jury death penalty recommendations should be unanimous. The Florida Supreme Court has voiced support for a unanimous vote as well and urged legislators to change the law during the 2005 session, but lawmakers rejected the idea. "The bottom line is that Florida is now the only state in the country that allows the death penalty to be imposed . . . by a mere majority vote . . ." Justice Raoul Cantero wrote. But not everyone agrees that a change is necessary. Tenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Jerry Hill said the existing system has enough safeguards to ensure that convicted murderers receive a fair sentence. Hill said the state is limited to 15 reasons for imposing a death sentence, including premeditation, excessive cruelty and murder of a police officer or child. Defense lawyers can present testimony on a broad scope. "The only thing that limits the defense is their imagination," he said. "The system is already weighted in their favor with the unanimous verdict. What more advantage do they need? I think it's a level playing field already. This system works. "I think there's no reason to tamper with this unless we're willing to concede that we no longer want the death penalty." Public Defender J. Marion Moorman, whose office handles many death penalty cases in Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, said he doesn't see it that way. "I think it should be unanimous, absolutely," he said. In Florida, he said, prospective jurors on a death penalty case must agree during jury selection that they're willing to impose the death penalty if circumstances warrant. If they don't, they can't qualify to serve as a juror, Moorman said. "Because of that, they are more prone to find guilt," he said. "So, since we start out with people who are more amenable to the state's position, I think the verdict should be unanimous." Retired defense lawyer Michael Minerva, who served on the eight-member Florida Death Penalty Assessment Team for the ABA, said the death penalty is supposed to be reserved for the worst of the worst cases, and he questions whether that's being done under the present system. "A unanimous vote would serve as a safeguard against imposing the death penalty in cases where not everyone who heard the case is convinced," he said Monday. "It should be a difficult standard. When the death penalty has resulted from a simple majority vote, you have to have questions about the appropriateness of that." State Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, said the issue came before House committees, but nothing came of it. State records show that the House Justice Council has addressed the issue, but it never became a proposed bill. Ross, who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, said he's anticipating more discussion on the death penalty when the Legislature reconvenes in the spring. "I'd have to review the issue more closely before offering an opinion on it," he said. Since 1996, Polk juries have recommended the death penalty against 8 convicted murderers who ultimately went to death row. In 3 cases -- Eddie W. Davis, Mark A. Poole and Harold A. Blake -- jurors came back with a unanimous recommendation for death. For the other 5, the votes ranged from 7-5 to 10-2. In a 9th case, defendant Tavares Wright waived a jury recommendation, taking his case straight to Circuit Judge Dick Prince, who handed down a death sentence. Judges do not have to follow the jury's recommendation, but are supposed to give it great weight. Prince was among 8 judges to hand down a death sentences since 1995. Circuit Judge J. Dale Durrance is the only judge to sentence 2 convicted murderers to death, both in 2005. Serrano was found guilty Wednesday night. The penalty phase begins today. If the jury recommends that Serrano should die for killing 4 people at the Erie Manufacturing offices in Bartow 9 years ago, and Polk Circuit Judge Susan Roberts follows that recommendation, it will mark her 2nd death penalty in as many years. In July 2005, she sentenced Thomas Woodel, 36, to death for the 1996 stabbing deaths of an elderly couple in northeast Polk County. It marked the 2nd time Woodel received the death penalty for the same crime. Circuit Judge Robert Pyle first sentenced him to death in 1998, after a jury recommendation of 7-5, and the Florida Supreme Court overturned the sentence. The high court said Pyle's sentencing order failed to adequately evaluate each circumstance that favored life imprisonment. The case was sent back to Polk for resentencing, and a new jury recommended death by a 7-5 vote. Roberts followed that recommendation and imposed a death sentence. (source: The Lakeland Ledger) TENNESSEE----impending execution Convicted Killer Chooses Electric Chair For years, our NewsChannel 5 investigations have raised questions about whether Tennessee's electric chair will work. Still, one death row inmate is just days away from execution. And, in an exclusive interview, Donnie Johnson says the electric chair is the way he'll go. Johnson is set to be executed in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Oct. 25th. "I have felt and still do feel strongly moved that I should not go over there and let the state quietly put me to sleep in the middle of the night -- all sanitary and nice and neat," Johnson tells NewsChannel 5's chief investigative reporter, Phil Williams. Johnson would become the 1st person executed in Tennessee's electric chair in almost a half a century. "I was sentenced to the electric chair by a jury," he says. More than 20 years ago, Johnson was convicted for suffocating his wife Connie to death by stuffing a garbage bag in her mouth. Johnson blamed the murder on the co-worker who testified against him, but admitted he helped dispose of her body. It's for that crime that he is now set to die. "Death is death. I don't care what you say. And on the death certificate, it won't say 'justice has been served.' It will say 'death by homicide' because they are killing me." A few years back, Tennessee lawmakers made lethal injection the preferred method of execution, but left the final decision to the inmate. Last month, Johnson checked the box waiving his right to lethal injection -- instead choosing to be executed by electrocution. "I just feel strongly that I should go over there and let them fully experience what they're really doing. They are taking a human life," Johnson says. "Even if it's a horrific execution?" Williams asks. "Isn't that really what they want." In fact, the man who designed the current electric chair has told "NewsChannel 5 Investigates" that -- because of modifications made by the state to his chair -- if Tennessee ever pushes the button, the result could be a botched execution. "The equipment as presently configured will torture an executee that's put in the chair," Fred Leuchter told Williams. Williams asks Johnson, "If you are executed, is there a part of you that hopes that maybe it is horrific?" "No, no," he replies. "I'm not seeking to go over there and endure torture or pain or anything -- not at all." But Johnson says lethal injection may not be as humane as everyone believes because it paralyzes the inmate and disguises the fact that he may be awake as his body slowly shuts down. "So what is more horrendous to burn for a short period of time -- or to lay there while your organs shut down and you suffocate for 4 or 5 or 6 minutes or whatever? Who can really say which is more horrendous?" Johnson -- who's had a radio ministry on Nashville's WNAH Christian radio for 15 years -- says he's trusting his faith that his choice of the electric chair is the right choice for him to make. "Maybe this will be a horrendous thing -- but I'm hoping that maybe in some way that it will move a few more people to realize how hideous a thing that we are doing in this state." Johnson's lawyers have filed a lawsuit, challenging how the electric chair and lethal injection are administered in Tennessee. But, if that fails, Johnson says that he will not let them file any last-minute appeals challenging his right to make this decision. His only other pending appeals involve an argument over the fact that his alleged accomplice got off scot-free -- he didn't have to serve a day. But, so far, that argument hasn't convinced the courts that he shouldn't be executed. (source: NewsChannel5)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----OKLA., WIS., FLA., TENN.
Rick Halperin Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:39:46 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
