URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
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7853
Further information on UA: 73/12 (5 March 2012)
Issue Date: 23 May 2012
Country: USA
Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have
received the original UA
when issued on 5 March 2012. Thanks!
CLEMENCY DECISION GOES TO MONTANA GOVERNOR
The Montana parole board has voted against clemency for Ronald Smith, a
Canadian man on the state's
death row for a double murder committed 30 years ago. This vote is not binding
on the Governor of
Montana, who can still commute the death sentence.
In a letter to Governor Brian Schweitzer on 21 May, the Board of Pardons and
Parole advised that,
following a clemency hearing on 2 May, the Board had voted against recommending
clemency for Ronald
Smith. The letter said that "justice is best served for the majority of
citizens of the State of
Montana" by such a recommendation.
Ronald Smith and Rodney Munro were charged with the capital murder of Harvey
Madman Jr. and Thomas
Running Rabbit Jr., two Native American men shot dead on 4 August 1982. Ronald
Munro accepted a plea
bargain, pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping, was sentenced to 60 years in
prison, and was
released in 1998. The prosecutor offered Ronald Smith a similar deal – if he
pled guilty to murder
he would not face the death penalty but be sentenced to life imprisonment and
be eligible for
release in some 17 years. He rejected the deal, pled guilty to capital murder,
refused to present
mitigating evidence, and asked for the death penalty, which the judge handed
down in March 1983.
Within weeks, Ronald Smith changed his mind, stating that he had been severely
depressed when he
made the plea but that he now wanted to live. In 1984 the judge affirmed the
sentence, but this was
overturned in 1990. Ronald Smith was re-sentenced to death in 1992, this was in
turn reversed, and
he was again sentenced to death in 1995. It is this death sentence, and the
1983 conviction, that
has survived on appeal.
In 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ronald Smith's trial lawyer
had "failed to
investigate the facts of the crime, failed to investigate Smith's mental state
at the time of the
crime, and failed to discuss possible defenses before Smith pled guilty".
However, it ruled that
Ronald Smith had not proved that his lawyer's failings harmed him. One of the
three federal judges
dissented, arguing that "it is hard to escape the fact that we would not be
here if Smith had not
succumbed to his semi-suicidal thoughts and instead accepted the plea bargain",
and that with
effective representation there was a "reasonable probability" he would have
made a different
decision.
Ronald Smith was aged 24 in 1982 and is now 54. The Ninth Circuit noted the
extensive evidence of
his reform, model conduct in prison, and deep remorse, but said that such
issues were for
consideration by the executive clemency authorities. At its hearing on 2 May,
the parole board was
presented with such evidence, through a range of witnesses (see overleaf).
Ronald Smith also
testified, telling the victims' families that he was "horrendously sorry" for
his crime and
apologizing to them for the "the pain and suffering I've put you through."
Please write immediately, in English or your own language:
- Acknowledging the seriousness of the crime and expressing sympathy for the
victims' families;
- Noting the extensive evidence of Ronald Smith's remorse, reform and exemplary
prison conduct;
- Urging Governor Schweitzer to grant clemency to Ronald Smith.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 4 JULY 2012 TO:
Governor Brian Schweitzer
Office of the Governor, Montana State Capitol Bldg., PO Box 200801, Helena, MT
59620-0801, USA
Fax: 011 1 406 444 5529
Email: http://governor.mt.gov/contact/commentsform.asp (requires US postal
address)
Salutation: Dear Governor
Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if sending appeals after the
above date.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Under the administrative rules of the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole,
clemency may be
recommended where the petitioner "has demonstrated an extended period of exemplary
performance." At
the hearing on 2 May, the board members heard testimony from numerous witnesses
regarding Ronald
Smith's exemplary conduct on death row and his deep remorse. Witnesses
supporting clemency included
retired prison officials, a clinical psychologist, a Catholic priest and prison
educator, a former
probation officer and members of the Smith family (since being on death row,
Smith has established
and maintained strong relationships with his family, including with his own
daughter and his two
grandchildren). The psychologist said that Ronald Smith "has demonstrated
significant change in
attitude, thoughts and behavior. He is what would be considered a model
prisoner in the modern
setting". He said that prison guards who had close contact with Smith described
him as respectful
and cooperative. This was echoed by a former FBI agent who had worked with the
Montana law
enforcement authorities and who had conducted a number of interviews with
prison officials. The
latter, he said, had "uniformly described [Smith] as a model inmate, respectful and
respected". A
retired prison officer said that, based on his experience with Ronald Smith
over 22 years, if it was
up to him, he would commute the death sentence not to life without parole, but
with the possibility
of parole.
Another criterion for executive clemency established by the Board of Pardons
and Parole is that
"extraordinary mitigating or extenuating circumstances exist." According to
Ronald Smith's lawyers,
his childhood was marked by physical abuse at the hands of his father and
mother, and he grew up in
an environment of alcoholism. Ronald Smith himself began drinking around the
age of 11. He came into
conflict with the law as a child, and from the age of 16 was held in an adult
facility with adult
offenders.
In its 2010 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals noted that extensive
psychological testing
of Ronald Smith had concluded that, at the time of the crime, he was "suffering
from or under the
influence of extreme emotional disturbance." The psychologist who testified at
his 1995
re-sentencing hearing stated that "I've never seen a case that I have worked on
in 15 years in a
capital case of anyone making this much . . . impressive change in real,
significant . . .
rehabilitation." The Court of Appeals noted that "by all accounts, Smith has
reformed his life", but
concluded that consideration of this issue was beyond its jurisdiction, adding:
"Clemency claims are
committed to the wisdom of the executive branch."
In its 2010 decision, the Ninth Circuit found that Smith's trial lawyer "did
not ensure that Smith
fully understood the alternative courses of action available to him". It continued:
"Although
Smith's lawyer was on notice that Smith had been a habitual drug user and that
he wanted to die –
both facts that might have developed into mitigating circumstances with the
right investigation –
Smith's lawyer conceded that he did not discuss with Smith 'anything that would
have operated as a
viable defense". In her dissent from the ruling that Ronald Smith had not been
prejudiced by his
lawyer's failures, Judge Betty Fletcher noted that this attorney, who had never
worked on a death
penalty case before, had provided "pitifully little assistance" and an
"alarmingly poor
performance". Judge Fletcher pointed to evidence that Ronald Smith's decision
to plead guilty had
been the product of severe depression, and had followed months of solitary
confinement in harsh
conditions in pre-trial custody and death threats against him from other
inmates because of his
crime. The record, Judge Fletcher argued, "clearly demonstrates that, once
Smith told [his lawyer]
that he wanted to plead guilty and seek the death penalty, [the lawyer] gave up on
him". Given the
evidence that Ronald Smith had been drinking heavily on and before the day of
the murders as well as
consuming large amounts of LSD, in addition to evidence of emotional
disturbance, Judge Fletcher
argued that there had been possible defenses open to him.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, unconditionally.
There have been 1,295
executions in the USA since 1977, including three in Montana, most recently in
August 2006. There
have been 18 executions in the USA in 2012.
Name: Ronald Smith (m)
Issue(s): Death penalty
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and
defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact
information and stop action
date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: u...@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/uan
Phone: 202.509.8193
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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