[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide
October 16 SOUTH KOREA: Letters from inmates on death rowAn overview of why South Korea needs to abolish capital punishment Letters written on death row were given to the Hankyoreh by Lee Sang-hyeok, the attorney who set up the Council for the Abolishment of Capital Punishment in South Korea in 1989. For more than 2 decades, from Mar. 1994 until this past July, Lee received 63 handwritten letters running for more than 200 pages that record the fear of death, guilt for crimes committed and remorse for family members left behind. "Even the most heinous of criminals should be given a chance to sincerely repent for their crimes and apologize to their victims," said Lee while showing the letters. Lee's correspondence with Kim Jin-tae, 52, offers insight into the life of inmates on death row. Kim Jin-tae was a death-row inmate until his death sentence was commuted to life behind bars by a special amnesty on the last day of 2002. During the decade between 1993 and 2002, he wore a red name badge on his chest and spent each day waiting for death. In 1992, Kim was arrested by the police on charges of killing his father and abandoning his body, and he was sentenced to death the following year. That happened when he was 27 years old. When Kim's father drank, he habitually resorted to violence. After getting married at the age of 18, Kim's mother endured this violence for nearly 30 years. On the day of the incident, his father had been drinking heavily, as usual. His intoxicated father struck his mother in the head with a blunt object, knocking her out. Seeing this drove Kim out of his mind. He shot his father with a shotgun and dumped his body in the Han River. Arrested on charges of patricide, Kim said that he meekly confessed his crime to the police. This resulted in his incarceration and induction into death row at the Seoul Detention Center, where he has been doing time for 26 years now. Kim went behind bars in his 20s and is now in his 50s. While on death row, Kim was referred to as a "maximum-sentence prisoner" rather than a "death row prisoner." The meaning is the same, as the term means a prisoner receiving the maximum sentence. The term "death row prisoner" is not often used in prison. The words "death penalty" exacerbate the inmates' fear. Referring to death row prisoners as "maximum prisoners" is normal practice in prisons. Every passing day a step closer to death Of course, use of the term "maximum-sentence prisoner" does not make the death penalty any less of a reality. While in prison, death row prisoners are constantly close to death. Every day could be their last. While most prisoners hope for the days to go by quickly, death row prisoners see each passing day as one step closer to death. "We death row prisoners can't really be said to be serving sentences. I suppose it's like getting bonus life," Kim wrote on Mar. 17, 1997. "You could say that while people serving time get closer to their release as time passes, for us it means the day of our death is drawing nearer. It's been 6 years since I was put on death row. I came in as a 27-year-old, and now I'm 32." Since every day is a "bonus," it is not considered strange that execution day eventually will arrive. This does not erase the fear of death, however. The life of a death row prisoner is one of constant uncertainty. Prisoners start at even the smallest noises. Every guard's footstep, every prisoner number that is called is a nerve-racking moment that could signal their ushering to the execution chamber. That sense of day-to-day anxiety for prisoners was apparent in a 2009 piece Kim wrote from prison about his experience on death row. Its title was "Waiting in a Cold Prison Cell for the Death Penalty System to Kill Itself." "The shoes of the approaching prison guard echoing as he strode through the corridor were like the ticking of a time bomb, the sound of the angel of death drawing near. When they finally called out a prisoner's number for a visit, chapel, or trip to the infirmary, cold sweat would stream down my spine and my heart would drop through my stomach. I would confront this fear of death several times a day.” (Dec. 3, 2009) Kim could still vividly remember one moment when he seemed to be staring death in the face. It happened on Dec. 30, 1997, during his 6th year of imprisonment. That morning, he woke up earlier than he ever had before. "Human beings are spiritual animals, and I just had a sense," he explained on why that morning in particular seemed so chilling to him. From the moment his eyes opened, Kim felt that this was to be the day. He took a cold shower early in the morning. With his head now cleared, he wrote a final message and silently prayed. After some time of praying and waiting, a guard called out his prisoner number. "4088, Kim Jin-tae. Visit." Thinking his time had finally come, Kim said a final goodbye to the "brothers"
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, VA., ALA., OHIO, TENN., ARIZ., NEV., WASH.
October 16 TEXAS: Judge to set death date for Coble A judge has called a hearing to set an execution date for convicted triple murderer Billie Wayne Coble. Judge Matt Johnson of Waco's 54th State District Court has set the hearing for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 days after the U.S. Supreme court rejected Coble’s appeal of his conviction in the 1989 deaths of his brother-in-law, Waco Sgt. Bobby Vicha, and Vicha's parents, Robert and Zelda Vicha, at their homes in Axtell. By statute, Johnson must set the execution date at least 91 days after Wednesday's hearing. Johnson will coordinate the date for Coble's execution, which will be carried out at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, with prison administrators and the Texas Attorney General's Office. Johnson signed a warrant Monday to have Coble returned to Waco for Wednesday's hearing. Coble, 70, one of the oldest on Texas' death row, has been on death row since 1990, when he first was convicted in the Vichas' deaths. He won a new punishment trial in 2007 when the 5th U.S.Circuit Court of Appeals ruled questions asked of jurors to return the death penalty were unconstitutional. He was sentenced to death again following a punishment retrial 10 years ago. Trial evidence showed Coble was upset over the failure of his 3rd marriage. After killing Karen Vicha's brother and parents, Coble kidnapped his estranged wife and threatened to rape and kill her. Coble was arrested after he and Karen Vicha were injured after a high-speed chase with police in Bosque County. J.R. Vicha, a Waco attorney and former McLennan County prosecutor, was 11 at the time of the slayings. Coble tied him up, along with 2 cousins, and fled with his wife. "I want to thank Judge Johnson for getting this done so quickly," Vicha said Monday. "I hope he sets the date as soon as possible after the 91 days so we can get this done." Coble's attorney, A. Richard Ellis of Mill Valley, California, did not return a phone message Monday. (source: Waco Tribune-Herald) *** Inmate convicted of capital murder in death of Abilene corrections officer An inmate has been found guilty of capital murder in the death of an Abilene corrections officer. The jury found Dillion Gage Compton guilty after deliberating for less than 3 hours. Compton killed Marianne Johnson in July 2016 at the French Robertson Unit. The punishment phase, which starts tomorrow at 10 a.m., will determine whether he will face the death penalty. (source: KTXS news) VIRGINIA: Who will be the last person executed by Virginia? On Oct. 11, the Washington state Supreme Court unanimously struck down that state's death penalty statute as unconstitutional ["State's high court rejects death penalty," national digest, Oct. 12]. The court wrote: "The death penalty is invalid because it is imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner. While this particular case provides an opportunity to specifically address racial disproportionality, the underlying issues that underpin our holding are rooted in the arbitrary manner in which the death penalty is generally administered." Washington becomes the 20th state to end capital punishment. 10 more states have not put anyone to death in the past decade. Unfortunately, Virginia is among the few remaining states that still carry out executions - 3 in the past 5 years. However, no Virginia jury has sentenced an offender to death since 2011. There are only 3 men remaining on Virginia's death row. Who will be the last person executed by the commonwealth? It is long past time that Virginia ends what the unanimous Washington Supreme Court called "an arbitrary and racially biased" punishment. Michael E. Stone, Richmond (source: The writer is executive director of Virginians for Alternatives to the Death PenaltyLetter to the Editor, Washington Post) ALABAMA: Death penalty switched to life in prison for Alabama man who killed 4 children A Bayou La Batre man who was given the death penalty after throwing his 4 children off a bridge in 2008 had his sentenced reduced Monday to life without a parole after 2 independent psychologists said that his IQ did not meet the state minimum to be executed. Lam Luong, 38, who born in Vietnam before moving to the United States as a teenager, was present in court when the new sentence was handed down. District Attorney Ashley Rich, who was visibly shaken while reading a press release at Government Plaza late Monday afternoon, said that "no one deserves the death penalty more" than Lam Luong. "Our hands are tied," she added, while citing state and federal laws that prohibit executing a person with an IQ of lower than 70 points. To do so would be considered cruel and unusual punishment, as outlined in the 8th Amendment. DA Rich said that no member of the legal profession that interacted with Luong during his initial trial in April 2009 believed he
