2 20 60 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/8ee509b6b058ffa5ad54aa01cd95f17c.jpg 5dafb906475d652eb6d02e2b0e3ebdaa Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 7 (AP) — On the eve of his execution date in November 1984, Gary Alvord was interviewed by three psychiatrists who asked him about his understanding of of how and why he was to die in the electric chair. The doctors reported their findings to Gov. Bob Graham. He decided Mr. Alvord did not understand the impending punishment, so the inmate was sent to a state mental institution. This month, in a separate capital punishment case, the United States Supreme Court is to hear arguments on whether the Constitution protects the mentally incompetent from execution and whether Florida's method of determining competence is proper. The Florida law says that if the inmate "understands the nature of the death penalty and why it is to be imposed on him" he can be executed. A 'Narrow and Precise' Issue "That's a very, very narrow and precise thing," said Dr. David Taubel, director of mental health for the State Department of Corrections. "If a person knows he is going to be executed because he killed a person, he fits the definition of competence in the law." Opponents say the law improperly leaves the decision to the Governor, in this case one who has ordered more than 100 execution, 13 of which have been carried out. Dick Burr, a public defender, said: "We believe the decision of competence should be made by a judge, not by the Governor. The Governor of this state is too pro-death. The decision should be decided by a neutral judicial process." Another Man Awaits Outcome Mr. Burr had raised the competency question on behalf of Alvin Ford, another death row inmate. His is the case the Supreme Court is scheduled to review. Mr. Ford's lawyers say that since he entered prison 11 years ago for the 1974 killing of a Fort Lauderdale police officer he has gone insane and is "flamboyantly schizophrenic." The state maintains that Mr. Ford is mentally competent to be executed. Also awaiting the court's ruling will be Aubrey Dennis Adams Jr., who was determined fit to be executed by a panel of psychiatrists who examined him March 6. His attorneys say the inmate has amnesia and does not remember the day in January 1978 that an 8-year-old Ocala girl was strangled, the death for which he was convicted. Dr. Ernest Miller, one of the psychiatrists who examined Mr. Adams, said competency should be decided in a court setting "and stand the test of adversarial proceedings." "Let the psychiatrists defend their reasoning," said Dr. Miller, of University Hospital in Jacksonville. In a recent interview, Governor Graham said the issue was whether the inmate understood what the punishment was while execution was imminent. "It's not a question of guilt or innocence," he added. Dr. George Barnard, a University of Florida psychiatrist who participated in one panel considering competence and vows never to do it again, said that no clear standards governed what the psychiatrists should do and how they should report and that a more detailed examination was needed. In Mr. Adam's case the psychiatrists asked him if he knew why they were examining him, if he understood the execution process, his feelings about his family, what he remembered about the day of the crime, what his trial defense was and what he had for lunch the day before, said Michael Radelet, a sociologist at the University of Florida. "They didn't gather enough information or the right information," said Mr. Radelet, who sat in on the interview. Mike Mello, who helped defend Mr. Adams, questioned how three psychiatrists could rule that he was competent to die in the hour they spent with him in what he called a "circus environment." They psychiatrists reported to the Governor's office. Governor Graham determined that Mr. Adams could die the next morning. The execution was stayed by the Supreme Court. Mr. Mello, who researched the competency issue in the Adams and Ford cases, sail all that defense attorneys wanted was "a fair determination of competency." Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Steele, Andrew Notes Additional information regarding your item. This content will not be viewable in the Public View. The duplication of 'of' in the first paragraph is present in the original, as is the omission of a comma between 'was' and 'and' in the 17th paragraph. "They psychiatrists" is "The psychiatrists" in original text- James Stewart Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Florida Challenged on Determining Sanity of Condemned Inmates Description An account of the resource Determining whether a person is competent to be executed should be left to judges and not governors. Psychiatrists have no real guidelines for examining the competence of a death row inmate. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The New York Times Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-04-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Jacksonville, FL Subject The topic of the resource Ford, Alvin E. (Alvin Earle), 1937- Prisoners--Mental health services. United States. Supreme Court. Alvin Ford Aubrey Dennis Adams Jr. Bob Graham David Taubel Dick Burr Ernest Miller Florida Fort Lauderdale Gary Alvord George Barnard Jacksonville Michael Radelet Mike Mello Ocala Supreme Court University of Florida https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/571ea5a9632db8c671036f98f3cafd88.jpg e2e3b117e416239dad60eb91290d7471 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document David Livingston Funchess, a decorated Viet Nam war veteran, died in Florida's electric chair Tuesday afternoon after Gov. Bob Graham refused him executive clemency and the U.S. Supreme Court denied him a stay of execution. Funchess had originally been scheduled to die at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning but a panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta granted him a five-hour stay so the High Court would have time to rule on the case. The Supreme Court delayed the execution another five hours but voted 7-2 to reject the appeal. Following a two-minute surge of 2,000 volts, Funchess, 39, was pronounced dead at 5[:]11 p.m. He is the 15th man to die in the state's electric chair since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 and the first Viet Nam veteran to be executed in the nation. When asked by prison officials if he wanted to make a last statement to the press, Funchess said "No." Defense attorneys argued the ex-Marine suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder-a recently recognized war-induced mental illness-at the time he was convicted for two 1974 Jacksonville bar murders. In their court appeals and request for executive clemency from the governon, they said PTSD was never mentioned during Funchess' 1975 trial or sentencing. "This man came back from Viet Nam in real bad shape," said Tom Fischer, a member of Veterans for Peace who spent one year in Viet Nam. "That was never considered in court. We're protesting the fact that he was executed without considering that. To ignore it is to ignore him as a human being." Fischer and 30 others gathered for a second time at the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial across from the Old Capitol on Monroe Street for a vigil following the execution Tuesday afternoon. The group had protested the execution earlier at a noon vigil. Fischer told reporters that if the governor or other politicians who were present at the dedication of the war monument last November had respect for those who fought in Viet Nam, they would have reconsidered Funchess' case. "Not long ago, when this (the memorial) was built, Gov. Graham and other politicians stood here and said that it was time to separate the warriors from the war," said Fischer, adding Graham had reneded on that statement by not considering Funchess' Viet Name experiences. "I don't consider Graham a friend of Viet Nam vets." Despite appeals from defense attorneys, Graham refused executive clemency to Funchess Monday. The governor's legal advisor Art Weidinger said the effects of PTSD on the former soldier had already been presented to Graham at his first clemency hearing in 1982. "He (Graham) didn't believe PTSD was a factor in considering clemency," Weidinger said Tuesday. He said Graham feels Funchess' case has been litigated fully in the courts. But Michael Mello, a lawyer for Capital Collateral Review--a state-funded agency that represents indigent Death Row inmates--said the issue at hand was that PTSD had not been presented as mitigating evidence to the jury that tried Funchess for murder in 1975. He said PTSD had not even been recognized as a genuine illness back then, but regardless of that, Funchess' trial lawyers should have included his 1967 tour of Viet Nam as part of the evidence. "That's where it (the evidence) counted," said Mello. "Once you've already been convicted, there's a real inertia to commute the death sentence to life in prison. David's trial lawyer could have done more--the jury could have been told he was a decorated war hero, they could have been told about his childhood. All of that would've been incredible mitigating evidence to the jury even though PTSD had not been diagnosed," Mello said. According to court affidavits, Funchess never committed a crime before going to Viet Name. But he returned from Southeast Asia a drastically changed man. At the late afternoon vigil, people looked at their watches. it was 5:20. "It must be over by now," one woman told another. Others held each other and wept. Still others stared at the color photograph of Funchess in his Marine uniform placed atop a basket of flowers. The group formed a circle in between the two huge granite columns that for the war monument. Rev. Jim Hardison, a coordinator of the death penalty project for Florida IMPACT--an interfaith lobby group for social justice issues--said he was angered not by capital punishment per se but by the way the state administers it. "Again we've taken a poor, penniless, minority person who was mentally ill and executed him," Hardison said. Other present said they felt compelled to speak. "We're really appalled by your callous indifference toward David Funchess," said Linda Reynolds, Director of the Florida Clearinghouse on Criminal Justice, referring to the governor. "Viet Nam veterans will not forget what you've done today.["] "David Funchess was killed twice by society," Reynolds said. "Once in Viet Nam and once today." A United Press International story was used to compile this report. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) Vol. 73, No. 148 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Daniel, Michael Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Florida kills Viet Nam vet in electric chair Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Basu, Moni Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Florida Flambeau Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-04-22 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Tallahassee, Florida Description An account of the resource David Funchess was the first U.S. Vietnam Vet to be executed by a state. Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource jpg capital punishment Vietnam veterans https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/5b03081c77576e986379a740eb8e19cc.jpg 75420f5b5334936911d250f3cf0cf3a9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Stewart, James Text Any textual data included in the document The Florida Flambeau is published by the Florida Flambeau Foundation, Inc., an independent, non-profit corporation which is solely responsible for the contents of the paper. Florida Flambeau Foundation, Inc., Newsroom, 505 S. Woodward Avenue, phone 681-6695; Mailing address, P.O. Box 20287, Tallahassee, Florida, 32316. Eileen M. Drennen.............Editor Moni Basu..........Editor Designate Joe Pankowski, Jr....Sports Editor Rodney Campbell..Ast. Sports Ed. J.L. Branch..............Arts Editor B.G. Dilworth...Asst. Arts Editor Deborah Thomas..............Photo Editor Staff: Kathy Armistead, Pete Butler, John Dixon, G. Alan Fineout, Linda Hall, Ted Hardin, Steve Johnson, John Lowndes, Jack McCarthy, Mia Lucas, Mike Odgen, Bill Otersen, D.K. Roberts, Jeffrey Romance, Barrington Salmon, Mark Stevens, Mark Sullivan, Maria Telli, Don Watz, Nancy Wonder, Linda Young Words can come back to haunt you. Listen to Gov. Bob Graham at the dedication of the Viet Nam War Memorial in Nov. 11, 1985. He mourns the 386,000 Floridians who gave their lives in service to their country during the Viet Nam War, and recognizes how the experience "marked" the lives of those who didn't lose their lives there: "Today we take a giant step in the healing process. . . We say to all who served, welcome home—and we express our heart-felt gratitude for your bravery and spirit of sacrifice. . . We who live in freedom salute you, as we commemorate those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Your actions speak more eloquently than our words, even a decade or more later...Many have fought to overcome the physical as well as the spiritual effects of that conflict. The contributions the Viet Nam veterans are making today is powerful testimony to their character, and to their talent." Listen to Graham defending his decision to ignore the last wish of an ex-Marine—one of those Florida veterans he's so proud of. The vet is the first ever to face the electric chair in America, and is compelling evidence of how the war and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder turned him into a broken heroin addict, sending him ever downward, until he kills two people in a Jacksonville bar and winds up on Death Row. Listen to Graham tell the man, as he told us at the dedication ceremony last year, that time has opened the eyes of the American public to the ultimate sacrifice he and all veterans made for us, and how anxious we are to try and pay them back: Sure, PTSD is a problem—but he had his chance at raising the issue before the court already, and there is no reason to bring it up again. But, David Livingston Funchess' claims of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder were never heard by the jury that convicted him of murder. His friends and family from Jacksonville, who saw him come back from the war a stranger, were never given the opportunity to tell the court what they knew. No one cared then; no one cares now. Least of all the man who claimed to honor this veteran, but turned a deaf ear to his last request on this earth. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Graham's gratitude Description An account of the resource An article about Florida Gov. Bob Graham's speech at the dedication of the Vietnam memorial and how Graham ignored the last wishes of David Livingston Funchess, a veteran convicted to the electric chair. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1983-04-23 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida, United States Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Florida Flambeau Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Subject The topic of the resource Post-traumatic stress disorder Graham, Bob 1936- Veterans--Vietnam Death Row electric chair Florida Florida veterans Vietnam veterans https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/39a98655ad64cee8e1af83df1ffbaf1b.jpg 15be4435ae982b9aa6ab4e49c2044e16 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [image - Supreme Court political cartoon drawing] Some people say the composition of the Supreme Court defies political labels. But those who oppose the death penalty are not among that number, and a recent decision that allows prosecutors to exclude capital punishment abolitionists is confirmation that the justices are primarily a conservative lot. The court’s decisions and its logic are riddled with contradictions. Justice Thurgood Marshall, the only Black member on the court and the most consistent, said the death penalty ruling gives “the prosecution license to empanel a jury” to virtually insure a guilty verdict. Marshall was joined by Justices William Brennan and John Paul Stevens in dissenting from the 6-3 majority decision. “Because I believe that such a blatant disregard for the rights of a capital defendant offends logic, fairness and the Constitution, I dissent,” Marshall wrote. He added that “the court upholds a practice that allows the state a special advantage in those prosecutions where the charges are the most serious and the possible punishments the most severe.” On April 30, one week earlier, the court handed down three important decisions regarding criminal prosecution. In one instance, which has been praised as a step forward by civil rights organizations, the justices rightly ruled that prosecutors cannot exclude Blacks from juries on the basis of race. The decision limits the use of peremptory challenges, which in the past could not be questioned. Now a minority defendant may object to such a challenge, and the prosecutor has the burden of convincing the judge that the challenge is not racially motivated. Though Marshall agreed that the ruling is a “historic step toward eliminating the shameful practice of racial discrimination in the selection of juries, it did not go far enough.” Once challenged, contended Marshall, “any prosecutor can easily assert . . . neutral reasons for striking a juror, and trial courts are ill-equipped to second-guess those reasons.” It is well known that district attorneys have abused peremptory challenges to stack juries, so that Black defendants are usually judged by all-white panels. “The misuse of peremptories has become the standard method for excluding Blacks from jury service,” said Steve Ralston of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “The problem is nationwide in scope,” he added. But, as Marshall pointed out, the ruling should have been stronger. Instead, the decision exemplifies the half-hearted fairness that represents the best we can expect from the current majority. On the other hand, while the court is open to some long overdue concessions in the racially biased structure of the trial system, there is a deeply ingrained hostility against death-row prisoners. “Most disturbing,” says Mike Mello of Florida’s Capital Collateral Representatives, “was the tone of the ruling and the cavalier way the court approached the situation. It was another example of the court’s unwillingness to consider any systematic assault on the death penalty,” concludes Mello, who is an attorney for many of the state’s 200 prisoners on death row. At one time a trial judge could exclude anyone who happened to express the mildest reservation concerning the death penalty. But in 1968 the court ruled that only those who refused to vote for a death sentence were to be excluded—not from participating in the trial, only in the process of passing sentence. Now, any prospective juror who is against the death penalty can be barred from a capital case. “It is outrageous,” declared Henry Schwartzchild, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project. Mello said the decision forces attorneys for death-row prisoners into mainly “rearguard challenges.” “We are forced to avoid anything,” Mello told the Guardian, “that raises general issues and simply deal on a case-by-case basis.” As a consequence, most of the 1750 prisoners currently on death row have lost virtually all grounds for appealing their sentences. And that means the rate of executions will pick up sharply. In addition, we can expect a lot more convictions with death sentences, as prosecutors are given a freer hand to pick jurors predisposed to that outcome. That’s not justice—that’s lynch law. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Magazine Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Reschke, Daniel Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Lynch law justice Subject The topic of the resource Lynch law Capital punishment--United States--Periodicals Jury selection--United States Description An account of the resource A magazine article that discusses the United States Supreme Court's decision on attorneys' usage of peremptory challenges for minority jurors when the defendant is also a minority. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Guardian (New York) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-05-14 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant United States Henry Schwartzchild John Paul Stevens Mike Mello Steve Ralston Thurgood Marshall William Brennan https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/06f2fa2b432616ee6ad541404e3c18b2.jpg 4f2c05017db6a82b877eedfe2a6bb8de Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [[Chair-image]] ‘The death penalty is a fact of life, if that isn’t an oxymoron’: North Carolina chair Lawyers go to the Supreme Court with what may be the final broad test of capital punishment When Gara LaMarche moved to Texas to become the new head of the state Civil Liberties Union, he felt a duty to participate in protests outside the capitol building on the night of executions. Two years later LaMarche and his colleagues don’t bother, allowing condemned killers to go to their deaths without benefit of public protest. “It’s the rare human being who can muster the same level of outrage for the 16th execution as for the first,” he says. “The death penalty is a fact of life, if that isn’t an oxymoron. It doesn’t mean that people don’t care—it’s that you have to focus your energies where they make a difference.” Those energies this week will be focused on the U.S. Supreme Court. Once again, carrying the hopes and fears of 1,788 inmates on the nation’s death rows, lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund will petition the court to strike down the death penalty, this time on grounds it is racially biased. The appeal promises to be the final skirmish of a long, rear-guard legal battle. “This is the last case that has the potential of clearing death row and getting rid of the death penalty,” says Mike Mello, a Florida defense lawyer. For 10 years foes of capital punishment have crafted sweeping appeals to the high court that, if successful, would have undermined dozens of death sentences. But just as regularly the court has rebuffed them, turning back ingenious claims that capital sentences were imposed in a disproportionate manner or that juries were tilted toward conviction by the elimination of potential jurors who expressed doubts about the death penalty. The cases before the court rest on the findings of researchers that killers of whites were much more likely to be condemned than killers of blacks. In a study of 2,484 Georgia homicides between 1973 and 1979, University of Iowa law Prof. David Baldus initially found that killers of whites were 11 times more likely to receive the death sentence. Determined to settle any doubts about the disparity, Baldus took another look at his piles of trial transcripts, appellate briefs, prison files, parole-board records, police reports and other documents. He reanalyzed his numbers to eliminate the statistical impact of cases with aggravating circumstances, such as those in which the murderers had long criminal records or had committed especially heinous deeds. And Baldus still concluded that killers of whites were more than four times more likely to get the death sentence than killers of blacks. Nationwide, 1,713 of the death-row inmates—about 96 percent—were killers of whites; 1,051 are themselves white. Lawyers for Warren McCleskey, a black man who killed a white police officer during a furniture-store robbery in Atlanta, used the Baldus study to appeal his sentence. But one federal court found the study flawed and another held that even if accurate it was not sufficiently compelling to eliminate other explanations for the disparate treatment of the murder defendant. On appeal to the high court, McCleskey’s lawyers will argue that the numbers are so convincing that state prosecutors should be required to explain the apparent disparities. Indeed, McCleskey’s defense lawyer, John Charles Boger, will argue that he wants the numbers treated as they are in other cases where a statistical inference is deemed sufficient for a finding of bias. “Evidence that would amply suffice if the stakes were a job promotion or the selection of a jury should not be disregarded when the stakes are life and death,” Boger says. Mary Beth Westmoreland, Georgia assistant attorney general, contends that the studies are unsound and inadequate. “There are simply too many unique factors relevant to each individual case to allow statistics to be an effective tool in providing intentional discrimination,” she argues. Georgia clearly is the favorite going into the hearing; several justices have been impatient and unsympathetic in recent years with the pace of executions. A companion case from Florida raises a related issue: does a condemned inmate have an automatic right to a hearing on claims of racial discrimination? A study of sentences in eight states, including Florida and Georgia, had shown a pattern similar to that which Baldus found. “The discrimination we found is based on the race of the victim, and it is a remarkably stable and consistent phenomenon,” explains Stanford law Prof. Samuel R. Gross. Winning on the hearing issue would give capital-punishment foes another delaying tactic, but one without much substantive bite if they lose the McCleskey appeal: attorneys would have to show overt acts of racial discrimination by prosecutors or jurors, something that is close to impossible. While the legal issues boil, execution has become a routine matter in a handful of states. “The executions are now back [in the newspapers] with the obituaries, which is where they belong,” says Texas prosecutor Cappy Eads, chairman of the National District Attorneys Association. “There’s less tendency to glamorize the executed defendant and more of a feeling that he got what he deserved.” And the pace is quickening; eight executions already this year in Texas and three others in Florida. But no state can keep up with the fresh supply of condemned inmates, 31 each in Florida and Texas since January, nearly all of whom, if they can find lawyers, will resist in the courts the trip down the Last Mile. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Magazine Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Kacoyanis, Leah Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Death Row: Last Skirmish Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McDaniel, Ann Pedersen, Daniel Prout, Linda Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Newsweek Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-10-20 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Washington Houston Miami Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment--America Description An account of the resource A magazine article that discusses capital punishment in America and how lawyers are trying to get rid of it. capital punishment death penalty defense lawyer Gara LaMarche Mike Mello Warren McCleskey https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/1e88ba54e92ebceed38552667be7e580.jpg 4875f5318751eeeebb812c482336507a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Florida Courts Delayed by Controversy Over Death Penalty Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-11-23 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 .jpg Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Death Penalty Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Marbin, Carol Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant The jurisdiction of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Description An account of the resource . Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Palm Beach Post Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document For eight years the small crossroads town of Lake City has focused its outrage toward Starke, the prison town where Theodore Bundy awaits Florida's electric chair for the brutal murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Diane Leach. But Tuesday, Lake City turned its anger to Atlanta, where a three judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted the execution of Bundy, scheduled for that day. Lake City--and indeed, much of Florida, was still stinging from an 11th-hour stay granted Bundy by the Atlanta appeals court in July for his conviction in the murders of two Chi Omega sorority sisters at Florida State University. "I'm very hard pressed to explain to the average person on the street how our system can allow situations such as this," said State Attorney Jerry Blair, who prosecuted Bundy in the Leach slaying. "We've got some judicial activists there, and they are certainly perceived to have a bias toward death penalty cases, and the public is getting very frustrated." The 18 judges who sit on the 11th Circuit bench, which hears federal appeals from Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, have withstood much greater pressure--including a petition drive seeking the ouster of three of its members. In October, the House Judiciary Committee declined to recommend the impeachment of 11th Circuit Judges Frank Johnson, Thomas Clark and R. Lanier Anderson. The committee decided for the first time that federal judges could not be impeached on the basis of an unpopular judicial decision. The decision granted a new trial to two men sentenced to die in Georgia's electric chair for killing [end page] [start page] six members of the Alday family in Seminole County. It so outraged rural South Georgia that 100,000 people signed petitions seeking the impeachment of Johnson, Clark, and Anderson. Mike Mello is a defense attornry who has represented both Bundy and Nollie Lee Martin, convicted in the 1977 rapw and murder of a Boynton Beach convenience store clerk. Mello says he fears that outrage may have a "chilling effect" on the appeals court's independence. "That's the very reason why federal judges are appointed for life," Mello said. "The purpose is to remove the business of judging--especially judging emotionally laden, intense cases--from the political fray." Since the administration of Gov. Ruben Askew, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has issued 25 stays of execution for Florida death row inmates, compared to 18 stays from state circuit judges, 30 from the Florida Supreme Court, 54 by federal district court judges, eight from the U.S. Supreme C ourt and three from Gov. Bob Graham. The 25 stays are not a high proportion. Still, the appeals court's last minute stay of execution for Bundy--a former law student once accused of as many as 36 murders--prompted some people in the governors office to refer to the appeals court as a kind of bottleneck, slowing the process toward execution. "It's not kind of a bottleneck; it is a bottleneck," said Art Wiedinger, general counsel to Graham. Wiedinger suggested the Atlanta-based appeals court --and most of the federal court system--practices a kind of "legal fly-specking" that obscures the more important question of guilt or innocence in capital cases. "Most of the issues raised don't go to the search for truth or whether the person did it," Wiedinger said. "I'm not saying these are not important cases that need to be reviewed. But they are automatically reviwed by the Florida Supreme Court, and they don't need three or four or five reviews, which is the way we are now going." Graham said last week: "One thing that distinguishes a capital case from all other cases is that the accused has a strong interest in delay. "If one is serving 20 years for armed robbery, yu've got an incentive to want to expedite your appeal, because, if you're successful, you may get out of jail or get a new trial. In capital cases, people don't want to have finality because, if the finality is against them, they are going to be executed." Graham said the system must be changed, or "the whole process is going to be jammed." But Professor Steven Winter of the University of Miami Law School blames politicians, not judges, for the logjam of federal death appeals. Borrowing a metaphor from death penalty advocates, Winter argued that Graham has created the bottleneck himself by attempting to force more capital cases into the federal court pipeline than it was designed to handle. Graham signs as many as four death warrants every month. "There's a real question concerning the extent to which the system in Florida is affected by political concerns," Winter said. Three judges from the 11th Circuit expressed the same concern last month when--during oral arguments--they accused the Florida Attorney General's office of playing politics in its handling of Ted Bundy's Chi Omega murder case. In response, Attorney General Jim Smith charged that the three judges "verbally abused" Assistant Attorney General Gregory Costas and asked Chief Justice William Rehnquist to investigate the Oct. 23 incident. "These reported remarks were unwarranted and a significant departure from judicial impartiality," Smith charged in an Oct. 30 letter to Rehnquist. "I am especially at the court's hinting that, somehow, the state's position was more political than legal." Citing the incident, Blair, the Lake City prosecutor, suggested judges in the 11th Circuit have used their bench as a soapbox from which to fight capital punishment. "Unfortunately, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has a well-deserved reputation as a bastion of liberalism populated by people who have a philosophical disagreement with capital punishment and who use their public forum in court to promote their views on capital punishment," Blair said. "They are perceived in the eyes of many as frustrating the will of the people and, really, frustrating the criminal justice system." Criticism of the 11th Circuit's political philosophy dates back more than 20 years, before the circuit was even created. In 1981, the old 5th Circuit Court of Appeals--which included most of the Deep South--was split in half, with Florida, Georgia and Alabama joining the new 11th Circuit. Frank Johnson, who has sat on eight panels that granted stays to Florida death row inmates, cut his teeth judicially while a U.S. District Court judge in Montgomery Ala. Alabama Gov. George Wallace feuded bitterly with Johnson over his efforts to desegregate Alabama's public schools. Circuit Judge Elbert Tuttle, now on senior status, was one of a four member bloc of the old 5th Circuit--chronicled in former Circuit Judge Jack Bass's book Unlikely Heroes--who regularly challenged the Deep South's most well-rooted traditions, paticularly segregation. Tuttle and Johnson, who is a former U.S. Attorney, are considered by death penalty advocates and opponents to be members of a core of 11th Circuit Court judges with reservations about capital punishment. Still, many of the 11th Circuit's written opinions display not so much distaste for the death sentence as a desire that the ultimate penalty be administered fairly, Mello believes. Circuit Judge Joseph Hatchett, for instance, dissented from a decision not to hear the appeal of John Eldon Smith, condemned for the execution-style murder of a Bibb County, Ga., couple. Hatchett argued it was unfair for Smith to die when his wife, Rebecca, was given a life sentence for the same crime. Called the "death court" by Mello, the 11th Circuit hears more appeals from condemned inmates than any other--almost a third of the nation's total. "The 11th Circuit is an excruciatingly painful position because of the number of death cases it has to deal withcompared to any other circuit," said Bruce Winick, University of Miami Law School professor. "Judges in the 11th Circuit feel it in their bones, because these are the hardest cases." Some members of the legal system--including Graham, Smith, Blair and Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers--support legislation that would set a two-year limit on habeas corpus petitions, thus allowing death row inmates two years after they are sentenced to appeal in federal court. "The federal courts, in effect, have been called upon to make virtually unrestricted review of state court convictions," Bowers said. "As long as that is the case, there will be an interminable delay in ultimately resolving death penalty cases." [image - Frank Johnson] [image - Elbert Tuttle] [image caption - Appeals court judges Framk Johnson (left) and Elbert Tuttle.] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Enos, Dan Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 'Death court' creates bottleneck of execution appeals, critics say Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Subject The topic of the resource Bundy, Theodore 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Capital punishment Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Description An account of the resource A newspaper account of the frustration felt by death penalty advocates at the slow appeals process, which they felt played into death row inmates motivation to extend their lives using drawn out appeals. The focus is on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which handled a disproportionately high number of death penalty appeals. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-11-23 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Palm Beach Post 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals death penalty Elbert Tuttle Frank Johnson Kimberly Diane Leach Mike Mello stay of execution Ted Bundy Theodore Bundy https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/794fc2742e7652bd644a81dc0fcb6412.jpg 01c6071e292438cd12e3e49c73231b84 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document A U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday inspired a former death-case lawyer to blast Florida’s court system for decisions he thinks probably cost several lives. Mike Mello was an assistant public defender in West Palm Beach when he tried, in federal appeals court, to overturn James Ernest Hitchcock’s death sentence. Mello now lives in Washington, D.C. The appeal argued that Hitchcock’s 1977 sentence was imposed unfairly because the judge interpreted Florida statutes – as many judges apparently did – as meaning that judges and juries deciding on the death penalty could consider only the specific list of mitigating circumstances spelled out in Florida law. Such limiting of possible leniency-inspiring factors is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, as it did in a similar U.S. Supreme Court decision in a 1978 Ohio case. The 1978 ruling changed the sentencing rules in Florida, too. Mello said those sentenced to death in Florida before then have had no luck getting their sentences reviewed – until now. Hitchcock, sentenced to death in 1977, had his appeal rejected by Florida’s supreme court despite the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court decision. But on Wednesday, Hitchcock won a new sentencing hearing in a 9-0 vote of the nation’s highest court. The decision was a spark of good news for death-penalty opponents in Florida on the day when a more sweeping U.S. Supreme Court decision was made in favor of death-penalty backers. But Mello said the Hitchcock decision not only gives Hitchcock a chance at a life sentence with a 25-year mandatory, it also gives hope to a number of other long-time Florida Death Row veterans. Florida’s Attorneys General’s office has a more conservative opinion, but Mello said, “The case will affect two dozen or so cases in Florida. Basically, every Florida death sentence approved prior to summer of ’78 has this issue in it.” Several other possible cases may have become moot in the most final way possible – by the executions of the potential appellants, he said. Mello lapsed from his restrained, professional tone when he said, “Almost every one of these people who’ve been executed has had the same damn issue. You’ve got a dozen dead people who were tried during the same period, and some had the same errors. “That’s what’s wrong with the death penalty,” Mello said. “If you happen to be still alive when the big decision comes out, then you get a new trial. If your case was a little too early, tough.” Carolyn Snurnowski, director of criminal appeals for Florida’s Attorney General’s office, said she could not agree that many of those executed in Florida in recent years would have been entitled to new sentencings. But Snurnowski did agree the Hitchcock decision will mean her office will have to handle a flurry of appeals, “just as all U.S. Supreme Court decisions do,” she said. “We’ll live with it.” She would not speculate about how many of those appeals might succeed. Mello said the ruling would not lead to new trials or dropped charges – just to new sentence hearings in which more mitigating circumstances would be presented and considered. “This isn’t going to put anyone back on the street,” Mello said. “The only question is life or death.” Hitchcock was convicted of strangling his 13-year-old stepdaughter in Orange County in 1976 when he was 20. Almost four years ago he received a stay of execution the day before his scheduled death by electrocution. At his trial, his defense lawyer asked the judge and jury to consider Hitchcock’s age, lack of significant criminal history, poor upbringing, potential for rehabilitation and his voluntary surrender to police. “Look at the overall picture,” the defense argued at the sentencing, according to Mello. But the trial judge who imposed the death sentence referred in jury instructions, and in his own execution order, only to Florida’s list of mitigating factors. The list included age and prior record – but none of the other considerations that the defense argued were relevant. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Walker, Woodie Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Second ruling, had it come earlier, may have saved some inmates, ex-public defender says Subject The topic of the resource Death penalty Supreme Court--United States Description An account of the resource An article about a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed Florida courts to consider additional mitigating circumstances in death penalty cases. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lyons, Tom Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Gainesville Sun Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-04-23 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida death penalty Florida death penalty Florida death penalty sentencing rules Florida Death Row Florida Supreme Court Mike Mello U.S. Supreme Court https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/224480f62d56f5fc96230d320016dcf2.jpg 42f3b1ac17fa930b605e1a279f45ef42 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/85d2cf1352f81834b2c7ff20d8b08fee.jpg 810a54f615ba27aca8883eb2eb3e333d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Magazine Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Burrows, Courtney Text Any textual data included in the document The U.S. Supreme Court rejects a key challenge to capital punishment. In Illinois last week, 105 inmates sat on death row, only one facing a likely execution before 1989. In California, 171 killers waited to walk the Last Mile, but only one is close to going to the gas chamber this year. In Florida, the nation’s largest colony of the condemned held 268; none had a set appointment to die. And even in Texas, where capital punishment has been used most often recently, 250 convicted murderers were just marking time in their cells: the state averages but one execution a month. After 11 years of work, lawyers, courts, and killers have managed to create a system of capital punishment that satisfies no one. Proponents write stern statutes, win convictions and then watch the expanding gridlock on death row. Abolitionists anguish over public opinion and unyielding laws yet succeed in blocking most executions because of flaws in the state’s case or procedures. Families of victims have neither peace nor vengeance; killers, no certain punishment; justice, no resolution. This erratic system appears certain to continue staggering on for at least a few more years despite a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last week. By a 5-4 vote, the justices rejected a challenge by condemned killer Warren McCleskey to Georgia’s death-penalty practices. McClesky, a black man who killed a white cop, based his claim on a statistical finding that in Georgia, killers of whites were four times more likely to be sentenced to die than killers of blacks. The argument had broad implications: three quarters of the 1,874 inmates on death rows nationally killed whites, so a decision for McCleskey could have arguable barred most executions for the rest of the decade. Writing for the majority, Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. concluded that McCleskey’s numbers alone did not prove enough to validate Georgia’s death penalty. While acknowledging that the statistics “indicate a discrepancy that appears to correlate with race,” McCleskey had no clear evidence that he was a victim of racial bias. “Apparent disparities in sentencing are an inevitable part of our criminal justice system,” Powell wrote. “Despite these imperfections our consistent rule has been that constitutional guarantees are met” with procedural “safeguards” that make trials “as fair as possible.” Tired of the pleas to strike down the death penalty, Powell pointedly invited opponents to bring their statistical arguments to the state legislatures-and not judges. The dissenting opinions by four justices- William J. Brennan Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Harry A. Blackmun and John Paul Stevens- were significant for two reasons. First, there was the expected debate with the majority over the case itself, with the dissenters insisting that McCleskey’s evidence was stronger than the court had required in other cases. “Surely,” declared Brennan, “we should not be willing to take a person’s life if the chance that his death sentence was irrationally imposed is more likely than not.” Blood bath: Second, and symbolically important, the four justices held that the capital-punishment system appeared impermissibly stained by racial bias. The process, concluded Brennan, “reflects a devaluation of the lives of black persons.” That’s an unusually powerful statement, and one that could echo in later cases. The decision but McCleskey and a handful of other inmates-mostly in Texas-in immediate peril. An execution date for McCleskey may be set within the next month, with a few others to follow. “Everybody was really waiting for this case,” says a Georgia Department of Corrections spokesman, John Siler. “We even had one stay of execution for a white guy with a white victim.” But if the wait is over, neither side is predicting an imminent blood bath. Instead, most experts predict a gradual increase in executions-one much slower than the population explosion on death row-and a shift in the legal fight from broad challenges like McCleskey’s to case-by-case combat. More pleas: On the same day as the McCleskey decision, the justices themselves showed they were open to minimalist approach. In a Florida case, they unanimously ruled that a trail judge had improperly prevented killer James Ernest Hitchcock from pleading “mitigating circumstances” to the jury. There was no question of Hitchcock’s guilt. He was sentenced 11 years ago, but now he will wait for a new sentencing hearing in front of a jury and, even if he loses, he will be entitled to another round of appeals. Two dozen other death-row inmates will piggyback on Hitchcock’s success and will likely ask for new hearings as well. But that victory came too late for Ronald Straight. Lawyer Michael Mello, who spent several years in Florida specializing in death-penalty cases, last year tried to postpone Straight’s execution by arguing a claim similar to Hitchcock’s. Mello lost. “I had an awful time getting to sleep last night thinking about Ronald Straight,” Mello said last week. “It’s exactly what’s wrong with the death penalty.” Straight could have won a hearing under last week’s ruling. “Now he’s dead.” The increased emphasis on individual appeals will put more pressure on one of the weakest links in the system: the shortage of lawyers to handle the appeals. Their efforts are not frivolous foot dragging; according to Columbia University law professor Jack Greenberg, a leader of the anti-death-penalty movement, courts reversed about 45 percent of the death sentences they reviewed between 1982 and 1985. Many of those cases were handled by legal-aid or volunteer lawyers. But the burden is considerable: a survey by Boston lawyer Bob Spangenberg found that a lawyer devotes 2,000 hours and spends $30,000 out of pocket on an average appeal. Groups like the American Bar Association are trying to attract new recruits and encourage states to support such appellate work. And courts are beginning to worry about the quality of the lawyers handling death-row appeals. A federal appeals panel in Florida and a federal trial judge in Virginia have sharply criticized the haphazard quality of the volunteer systems. On capital punishment, no problem ever seems to be fully addressed. Already, strategists are looking for ways to differentiate their appeals from McCleskey’s. In a Utah case, for instance, lawyer Timothy Ford wants to present evidence of discrimination based on the defendants race rather than that of the victim, since blacks and Hispanics make up a disproportionate percent of the population on death row (chart). And in California, lawyers are discussing whether a McCleskey-style case might work as a state constitutional claim, a long shot given the appointments to the bench by conservative Gov. George Deukmejian. “Surely there will be other issues, some we have not dreamed of,” says Steve White, California’s chief assistant attorney general. In the meantime, a flawed system will continue to blunder along. Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gridlock on Death Row Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Newsweek Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-05-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Subject The topic of the resource Death row Supreme Court decisions--2000 Capital punishment--Cases Description An account of the resource This Newsweek article uses the failed death row appeal of Warren McClesky by the Supreme Court to bring up complicated issues surrounding capital punishment. Writers argue that the Supreme Court and most in the legal system admit there is racial bias involved when giving someone the death penalty. Even when people are on death row, they rarely are killed immediately or at all. The writers argue that amending the death penalty involves a complex case-by-case process that faces challenges of racial discrimination and lack of appeal lawyers. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McDaniel, Ann Calonius, Erik Raine, George Smith, Vern Murr, Andrew Shapiro, Daniel Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant United States appeal lawyers appeals capital punishment Death Row Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. lawyers McCleskey Michael Mello racial bias racial discrimnation Supreme Court https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/bfdb33f31ed83161eb3ebfbf5828de0e.jpg a8f0043d951e2474b95a8a6ebaafdbc9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document It’s not often that a U.S. congressman chooses a lawyer who has made a career of keeping mobsters out of jail. But that’s what Rep. Mario Biaggi of New York did when he recently hired Barry Ivan Slotnick to defend him on charges that he peddled influence for favors. No one could blame Biaggi. In March Slotnick and his former law partner Bruce Cutler stunned prosecutors by persuading a jury that alleged Mafia kingpin John gotti and six codefendants were innocent of federal racketeering charges. In 26 years of defending mob biggies, drug dealers, youth gangs and assorted unsavories, Slotnick has won jury acquittals for an astounding 95 percent of his clients. This week he faces yet another challenge when he tries to convince a jury that “subway vigilante” Bernhard Goetz is just a decent, law-abiding citizen. In New York’s most celebrated criminal case since David (Son of Sam) Berkowitz was put away for mass murder, Slotnick will argue that Goetz acted in self-defense when he shot four black men he thought were about to mug him on a subway two years ago. Slotnick’s first major break came in 1968 when he successfully blocked federal efforts to prosecute Mafia don Joseph Colombo. Since then, federal prosecutors have gained a grudging respect for the bearded Bronx native. They concede he has kept enough distance from his clients to remain credible to a jury, even while gaining the reputation as one of organized crime’s favorite outside counsels. Slotnick cringes at the tag. He prefers to describe his practice in constitutional terms. “Keeping government in check,” he says, “is the most important thing I do.” Outstretched arms: Nevertheless, over the years he has a had a very close personal relationships with the Colombo family. Slotnick was on the Brooklyn don’s upstate New York farm when his son took his first steps toward Colombo’s outstretched arms. In 1971 he was only inches away when Colombo was gunned down at an Italian-American rally. Recently he represented the patriarch’s son—Anthony Colombo—who eventually pleaded guilty to racketeering charges. Slotnick’s remarkable acquittal rate isn’t due to excessive plea bargaining; he takes the majority of his cases to trial. And he does do more than defend alleged mobsters. His clients have included Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the the militant Jewish Defense League; the head of a Chinese youth gang charged with murder; a corporate president accused of smuggling cocaine, and a Queens Sunday-scchool teacher who gained brief fame as the first woman to win one of the many paternity suits filed against Las Vegas crooner Engelbert Humperdinck. Slotnick once even saved a German shepherd from being destroyed when a woman who claimed she had been bitten was unable to pick the dog out in a lineup. Slotnick’s supporters say his success stems from an innovative courtroom style—The American Lawyer magazine said he pursued “ingenious strategies in impossible situations” when it selected him criminal-defense lawyer of the year in 1981. That year he defended to Hasidic Jews charged with the attempted murder of a black teenager by filling the courtroom with Hasidim in traditional black garb and placing the two defendants among them. When no witness could pick out the defendants, a jury that included seven blacks but no Jews acquitted his clients. In another case, Slotnick defended a man charged with bribery by arguing that he was guilty of grand larceny instead. When prosecutors sought to retry his client, Slotnick successfully cited the constitutional protection against double jeopardy that prevents defendants from being tried twice for a similar offense. Hung jury? In preparing for the Goetz trial, Slotnick has once again stepped out on a legal limb. Recently he drew a judge’s ire when he obliquely reminded 18 prospective jurors that it was in their power to ignore jury instructions. “If you find that the prosecution has proved the case beyond a doubt, and if the judge instructs you that you must convict on that basis, would you feel obligated to do so?” he asked. With that, Slotnick raised the so-called “nullification issue” in which a jury, acting as the “conscience of the community,” can vote for acquittal despite the evidence. The judge warned the jurors that such a strategy would cause “utter chaos” by “overthrowing the rule of la” and increasing the chances of a hung jury. With few facts in dispute in the case, Slotnick may have no other choice. He will defend Goetz, in part, by appealing to the jury’s innate sense that a climate of fear exists in New York City—an atmosphere that could justify Goetz’s action in the minds of ordinary citizens. He hopes to convince the jury that Goetz was just a “decent citizen fighting back, desperately seeking self-protection and retribution against a violent crime.” Despite his growing notoriety, Slotnick has yet to achieve what he wants most—acceptance in New York’s clubby legal fraternity that looks askance at attorneys who defend mobsters. “Barry wants nothing more than to be seen as an Edward Bennett Williams type,” says a top federal law-enforcement official. “Yet as hard as he tries with a Bernie Goetz or a Marrio Biaggi, the bottom line is that the bulk of his practice is Mafia.” A few legal experts are beginning to show respect for the complexities of defending members of organized crime. Still, Slotnick will have a tough time winning over what may be his toughest jury yet—his peers in the legal community. [image - Person dressed in suit sitting in chair.] [image caption - A don, a dog and a Sunday-school teacher: Hoping for respect] Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Magazine Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Chase, Suzanne Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slotnick for the Defense Subject The topic of the resource Slotnick, Barry, 1939- Goetz, Bernhard Hugo, 1947- Criminal defense attorneys Description An account of the resource An article about Bary Slotnick, defender of the subway vigilante. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McKillop, Peter Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Newsweek Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1987-05-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant New York, NY Barry Slotnick Bernie Goetz New York City https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/f919ba6a2953f8e6b62a767d0120421a.jpg ae265b6ed02ba00aa6bf1239fffec601 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Mistake Nearly Cost A Life" Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Neely Tucker Description An account of the resource Joseph Green Brown alias "Shabaka," a wrongly convicted rapist and murder on death row for 14 years, released in 1987, now struggles to enjoy his freedom while he lives in a society that he believes is a failed justice system that has prejudice towards minorities. Lawyer Michael A. Mello chimes in on the types of struggles Shabaka faces as a free man and praises his advocacy of the repeal of the death penalty throughout the country. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Florida Today Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available History 298. University of Mary Washington Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpeg Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Washington D.C. Subject The topic of the resource Criminal defense lawyers Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/f8d9516f18b88674adc067adfa54db5d.jpg f5bbe5c29cbb81802963c232ff9ab7af Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Mistake Nearly Cost A Life" Subject The topic of the resource Criminal defense lawyers Description An account of the resource Joseph Green Brown alias "Shabaka," a wrongly convicted rapist and murder on death row for 14 years, released in 1987, now struggles to enjoy his freedom while he lives in a society that he believes is a failed justice system that has prejudice towards minorities. Lawyer Michael A. Mello chimes in on the types of struggles Shabaka faces as a free man and praises his advocacy of the repeal of the death penalty throughout the country. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Neely Tucker Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Florida Today Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available History 298. University of Mary Washington Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 jpeg Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Washington D.C. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Jah, Ethan Text Any textual data included in the document [image - Joseph Green Brown] [image caption - Death row victor: Joseph Green Brown, also known as Shabaka, spent 13 years on Florida's death row for a crime he did not commit.] He walks the streets of the nation’s capital, white jacket loosely slung across his muscular shoulders, the image of a free man in a free country. Joseph Green Brown – call him by his Swahili name, Shabaka – bypasses the stately townhouses, the men and women in their greatcoats bustling against the winter chill. He doesn’t talk much. He watches a lot. On the street, he’s content to move unnoticed in the crowd. He jogs across the street and ducks into a café-bar for lunch. No one gives him a second glance. That’s fine. People tend to feel nervous when they know Shabaka’s past. For 13 years, thate state of Florida called this soft-spoken, philosophical man a rapist, robber and a killer. Prosecutors wouldn’t have wanted him ordering a hot sandwich and a beer in this nice, upscale luncheonette. Prosecutors wanted him dead. The governor signed his death warrant. Prison guards measured him for a funeral suit. Shabaka had 15 hours to live when an appeal finally netted a stay. Those execution attempts ended just nine months ago when Florida, in a startling announcement, said it had the wrong man. The state’s key witness recanted his testimony and the case against Shabaka collapsed. His conviction was overturned. At first, it was hard for him to step back into the spotlight and speak out against a death penalty system he believes in blatantly racist, immoral and illegal. But in a growing number of public appearances – he’s set to speak at colleges in Alabama, New York, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, and possibly at Harvard – his language is growing stronger, his town more forceful. “In slavery days, I’m what the old field hands would call an ‘indignant nigger,’” he said. “That was a slave they were going to have to beat today, tonight, tomorrow and the next week to keep in line. I’m not going to be quiet. I want to be the person law enforcement agencies call an embarrassment.” Combined with a study in the Stanford Law Review documenting more than 350 oher unjust death sentences this century – 23 resulting in executions – Shabaka hopes to shake up the system that convicted him and dozens of other innocent, impoverished minorities. He was tagged with the July 7, 1973 rape, robbery and murder of a Tampa children’s store owner. Police were still looking for clues in that crime when, miles away and hours [end page] [start page] later, two men broke into a local hotel room. They robbed a couple of jewelry and a few hundred dollars. At gunpoint, the woman was forced to disrobe. One of her assailants started to touch her, suddenly stopped, turned and f;ed/ Joseph “Shabaka” Green Brown, a former Black Panther member, flagged down a police car the next day. He had committed the Holiday Inn robbery, he said. Overcome with guilt, he wanted to turn himself in. It was his first criminal offense. But Brown’s accomplice in the hotel robbery, Ronald Floyd, was not at all pleased with being accused of the crime. Three and a half months later, in a plea bargain deal, he told police Brown was the killer in the earlier robbery. A judge and jury agreed, and they ordered brown electrocuted at the state penitentiary in Starke. From 1974 to March 5, 1987, prosecutors tried. When Floyd finally recanted, Brown was immediately set free. But because he wasn’t in a state facility, he didn’t qualify for rehabilitation programs, the state-granted suit and $100. Instead, he was ushered to the jail-front sidewalk eight minutes after the conviction was overturned. He had a cardboard box of legal papers under his arm and three quarters in his pocket. He was 23 when he flagged down the Tampa police officer. He was now a 37-year-old man. He had sout out Watergate, the “me” generation, disco, Iranian hostages, yuppies and Ronald Reagan. He had no friends, no family in the state, no idea of where the nearest phone booth was or the foggiest idea of how he was going to eat that night. Freedom has not proven to be an easy walk. As he braces himself for his first winter outside prison, he sits at the restaurant, saying he feels more like an exile in a strange and hostile land rather than the free man he embodies when he walks the streets about which he once only dreamed. “I feel lost a lot, kind of disconnected,” he said softly. “One day I was lying in bed, and it really hit me. I thought about them all on the row. … The closest friend I have is still on death row in Florida. And here I am, able to walk around outside and hear the birds, feel the warmth of the sun, watch people walking by on the street, hold a woman or pick up a little baby. I just can’t forget the guys I left behind. Nobody owns Shabaka. But I can’t feel free as long as they’re killing people.” But when he’s not making speeches, life is still a troubling thing for Shabaka. The talks, sporadic and spread out, are the only form of income he can muster. Though he said he’s applied at more than 50 positions – from rolling pizza dough to construction – no offers have been made. It’s barely enough to pay the rent for his corner room in another family’s house. His conscience stalks him. He remembers the woman in the motel room, the terror in her eye. The talks are personal therapy, but he hopes to work with poor teen-agers, giving them a reason to believe. “We’re always drilling it into kids to get and education, to get ahead,” he said. “But nobody tells that to the poor little child down on the wrong side of the block. Let’s say that kid grows up, commits a robbery, rape or worst of all, murder. And people sit back so pious and ask ‘Why? Why such a senseless, stupid act?’ My response is ‘Why not?’ Why should that child value your life or property, when no one ever treated them with any respect, or taught them they were an individual with a life worth living?” Michael Mello, a Washington lawyer who has helped with Shabaka’s readjustment, doesn’t think he’ll ever be the free man who fits into the crowd. “I’m not sure he’ll ever feel comfortable living his own life,” Mello said. “He knows he was just loucky to get out. He has a very strong sense of mission to help those guys back on death row. When hhe tells you he’s not going to let people forget them, he’s not kidding. You’re going to hear a lot from him. He’s like that line in a Joan Baez song, ‘Saviors are a nuisance to live with at home.’ I think that’s going to be America’s feeling for Shabaka.” Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mistake Nearly Cost A Life Subject The topic of the resource Criminal defense lawyers Description An account of the resource Joseph Green Brown alias "Shabaka," a wrongly convicted rapist and murder on death row for 14 years, released in 1987, now struggles to enjoy his freedom while he lives in a society that he believes is a failed justice system that has prejudice towards minorities. Lawyer Michael A. Mello chimes in on the types of struggles Shabaka faces as a free man and praises his advocacy of the repeal of the death penalty throughout the country. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tucker, Neely Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Florida Today Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Washington D.C. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ecb3e4206a206ec6691686041f5d5c6d.jpg 93d57f16684fb90860baed8db58fb00d https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/a7048b74d1a27cea2070b3dae4c4be5e.jpg af89533815566d073a7e373eef47ab19 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/5768f5b9a65e75714244615ea798d467.jpg 6c66fe2d2cf8b763a271ab81d086ea2e https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4e0c8af954f45da279ca1a311223dc95.jpg 99b513973fdaf033be0fd504624c4727 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) 37/209 Text Any textual data included in the document Serial killer Ted Bundy learned late on the night before his execution last month that the U.S. Supreme Court had denied his last-minute appeal for a stay of execution. The phone message came from the Barnard home of Michael Mello, an assistant professor of law at Vermont Law School. Mello, a nationally recognized specialist in death-row cases, advised Bundy's lead counsel during a frantic effort to save the murderer's life in the days leading up to his execution. Mello has been either one of the main lawyers or advised other lawyers or advised other lawyers on some 125 capital punishment cases. He is arguing two death-row cases this month before a federal appeals court in Atlanta. He had been advising Bundy's attorneys in a peripheral manner for several years until the Friday before Bundy's death on Jan. 24. Then he became centrally involved. Mello never met Bundy. He did, however, pass messages to him. On the Sunday before Bundy's death, for example, the serial killer asked Mello through a paralegal what he should do about his confessions. Bundy had been meeting with detectives from four states and had so far told them he had murdered 23 young women since the mid-1970s. Mello's message to Bundy: "Shut the (expletive) up." Bundy's wife later told Mello that when she heard the message it was one of the few times she smiled during the final week of her husband's life. An interview with Mello in his law school office last week provided a glimpse into the 11th-hour legal maneuverings to stop Bundy's execution and into the world of death row. Mello's views on capital punishment have appeared everywhere from "The New York Times" to the "Washington Post" to "The Wall Street Journal". He also has appeared on the television program "Nightline". His attitude on the death penalty can be easily summed up: He absolutely and totally opposes it. Mello said that Bundy's question to him about confessions two days before he was electrocuted put him in a quandary. "On the one hand, if he wanted to make it right with God and confess, who am I to say, "Don't". And as a citizen I liked the fact that the confessions were closing investigations and giving the families a sense of closure, too, so they could move on with their lives. "On the other hand, I was also convinced that his confessions were devastating to his legal case, and were absolutely sabotaging his defense. They were offensive because it looked like he was trading on the bodies of his victims to save his own life. "That's what did it," he said, "Judges are human." Bundy would likely be alive today if it wasn't for those confessions, Mello believes. Regarding his blunt advice to Bundy that Sunday, he said: "I thought the time had passed for subtlety and sugar-coating. When you're passing messages to people of questionable mental capacity, you have to be clear and direct." Mello, who teaches criminal law and criminal procedure at Vermont Law School, first became involved in death-row cases while a law clerk with a federal appeals court judge in Birmingham, Ala., after graduating from law school. "I became my judge's 'death clerk.' I did all the death penalty cases that came through the office. That's where I became aware and then outraged about what was going on, particularly in Florida." What was going on, Mello says, was that there were minors on death row, along with mentally retarded and mentally ill people. These people are not just legally mentally incompetent, he said, "but crazy the way my mother thinks of as crazy - people who talk to spaceships." "I learned that there were a lot of innocent people on death row, and just in general that the legal system that decides who dies is lousy. It's class-based and racist. I learned that most people on death row are there because they had bad lawyers." There are nearly 2,200 people on death row nationwide. Florida alone has about 320 death-row inmates. And so Mello turned down an offer to work in the corporate law department at the prestigious national law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore and headed to Florida. His first job was as an assistant public defender representing death-row inmates. Then in the fall of 1985 the Florida Legislature created a state agency to represent all indigent inmates on Florida's death-row. The idea, Mello says bitterly, "was if we give them lawyers we can kill them faster." It had just the opposite effect, however. Mello, who joined the agency at its outset, said the agency attorneys "shot down executions left and right." When he started work for the state. Mello immediately encountered the Bundy case, but the agency decided to farm it out to a private law firm from another state. Among other reasons, the five lawyers were already tremendously overburdened, representing 150 death-row inmates. "You could have three lawyers working full-time on Bundy with an unlimited budget and still not do the complexity of that case and that man justice," Mello said. The Bundy case, which actually was two cases proceeding on two different appellate track in different courts, was taken over by the Washington law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. (Llyod Cutler was chief counsel for President Jimmy Carter.) Mello then left the Florida state agency to work as a litigation attorney to work as a litigation attorney for Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Meanwhile, James Coleman, one of Wilmer's partners and an acquaintance of Mello's, had become Bundy's lead counsel. When Florida Gov. Bob Martinez signed a death warrant for Bundy on Jan. 17, scheduling his death by electric chair seven days later, Coleman headed down to Florida to get appeals started, and he and Mello began a series of telephone discussions. "On the Friday evening before the execution, Jim and I were on the phone together and he had the trail transcript in front of him, and we saw an issue that had gotten stays in half a dozen cases before Bundy, and, as it happened, two after him. "In the course of the conversation we realized for the first time that Bundy's case had this critical issue in it - an issue I had helped to develop in other Florida cases." Bundy had received death sentences for murdering 12-year-old Kimberly Leach in Florida 11 years ago and for the killings of two Florida State University sorority sisters just three weeks before that. The critical issue was this: In the Leach trial the jury had been told "that sentencing isn't on your shoulders - it's merely a recommendation - when in fact, a recommendation of life carries great weight in Florida," Mello said. Though a jury only advises a judge in capital cases on what it thinks is a proper sentence, the U.S. it is not on their shoulders, and so it goes to the judge. He then refers back to the jury - therefore neither judge nor jury has that awesome responsibility of deciding if an individual deserves to die. It's a very human emotion to not want to take on that responsibility. "This isn't a legal technicality. This is a real big deal. This is exactly why so many people end up on death row who shouldn't be. And why so many stays are granted on this very issue." Mello, working out of his office at the law school, dictated a short statement of the issue to be put in federal court papers that would be filed the next morning, which was a Saturday. The court papers filed that morning challenged the constitutionality of the death sentence. At noon the federal District Court denied the petition, and at 6 p.m. the federal Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta unanimously affirmed the District Court's denial. "I was thunderstruck that we were in and out of the Court of Appeals already," Mello said. On Sunday he and Coleman went through the Leach trial transcript and realized how powerful the issue was, stronger than those that had gotten stays in a half a dozen cases up until then. They gathered all the relevant information together and on Monday, the day before the scheduled execution, Coleman filed an application for a stay of execution at the U.S. Supreme Court. He also filed applications for stays at the trial court and the Florida Supreme Court. "On Monday we waited and waited. The day got later. The state court litigation wasn't concluded until 6 p.m., and we immediately took it up to the U.S. Supreme Court." Coleman and another lawyer went to the prison where Bundy was being held to visit with him for what might have been the last time. Mello was left to deal with the Supreme Court - which he did by telephone from his home in Barnard. It mainly involved checking in periodically that night to see if the justices had reached a decision and when the decision would be released. "While I was waiting for the court, I took a couple of calls from people who told me about the increasing the line and came back and told me we had lost by one vote. Five to four. And the four were on the issue that we had not identified until that Friday." Mello called the prison so Bundy could be told of the decision - and then he poured himself "a nice stiff glass of Wild Turkey." Mello, who was not paid for working on the Bundy case, asked how he felt when he heard of the court's decision. "Sick. Flattened. Guilty, because I hadn't identified the issue earlier. Real angry that somebody was going to be executed for what were mistakes by his lawyers." Mello says he goes back and forth on that way of thinking. "This has not been a great day," he said earlier last week. "So today I blame myself." He said he doesn't blame Coleman. If not the death penalty for a man like Bundy, who was a suspect in as many as 36 sex murders across the country, then what? What do you do with the Ted Bundys of the world, Mello was asked. Life imprisonment? "Yeah, life in prison. Incarceration," Mello said. "The important thing is to keep them away from us as long as they're still dangerous. "The question is: What do we get out of killing the Ted Bundys? What we got was a spectacle that should make all civilized people pause. What happened outside that prison made people cringe all over the world." The unfairness of how the death penalty is applied is so overwhelming, Mello said, that he has never had to confront the moral issue it presents. "But if push comes to shove, I'd probably have to say that I am opposed" on moral grounds. Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Conger, Jeffrey Notes Additional information regarding your item. This content will not be viewable in the Public View. Features one picture of Michael Mello. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Professor worked on final Bundy appeals Description An account of the resource Michael Mello gave advice to Ted Bundy and his legal counsel. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Heil, Andrea Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Valley News Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-02-13 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 4 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Connecticut Subject The topic of the resource Bundy, Ted Capital punishment Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Bob Martinez Coleman Death Row execution Florida Michael Mello Ted Bundy U.S. Supreme Court https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/836a05af9d889ad3cda1e094096d3b6c.jpg 50b772d92effeeb86a669ec505d05bf9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Your article on attorneys representing death row inmates ("The Last Defense" by John Greenya in the November/December 1987 issue) is typical of the sentiment of our liberal legal establishment. The nine-page article makes no mention of the agony endured by survivors of murdered family or friends, nor, in the specific cases cited, to the evidence that persuaded the jurors to convict. But why should trivial considerations like murder victims and prosecutorial evidence be dis- cussed in an article seeking to convince its readers that the real victims are the con-demned murderers themselves. Attorney Mello, in gleefully explaining how he saved one Steve Booker from the electric chair, neglected to share with the readers just why Mr. Booker is on death row. Presumably, he wasn't condemned for jaywalking. Although not familiar with the Booker case, I do know something about the murder committed by Mello's late client, Ronnie Straight. Consequently, I found Mello's talk of Straight's "altruism" to be rather puzzling. Straight was con-victed of the beating and stabbing death of a furniture store owner who had declined to hire him. Hardly the deed of an altruist. Mr. Mello proudly states that he was a pallbearer at Straight's funeral after Straight's execution. I would wager that in his zeal to save Straight, he forgot about a sympathy card for the store owner's family. David Kendall's assertion that "the system is skewed against" death penalty lawyers is absurd. Last summer the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Booth v. Mary-land (No. 86-5020), that a man convicted of capital murder in the stabbing deaths of an elderly Baltimore couple could introduce any and all witnesses of his choice to testify on his behalf as to why he should not be sentenced to death. However, the victims' surviving family members could neither ut-ter nor write one word about how the murders affected them. I agree with Mr. Kendall—the system is skewed, but certain-ly not against condemned killers. John Booth's death sentence was overturned. The plethora of mitigating factors con-sidered at a capital sentencing, coupled with federal decisions like Booth v. Maryland, demonstrates that the system is skewed in favor of death row inmates. Finally, two points concerning the author's research. He writes that the District of Columbia has the death penalty. This is absolutely false. Washington, D.C., does not have the death penalty and hasn't had it for a long time. The author also refers to the Washington Post as "generally pro-death." The Washington Post is on record, and has been for as long as I can remember, as being totally opposed to capital punishment in all cases. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Letters: Death penalty law Subject The topic of the resource Mello, Michael Description An account of the resource A letter to the editor of The Washington Lawyer in response to an article titled "The Last Defense" by John Greenya which critiqued the stance of the article in relation to criminal justice, specifically referring death penalty cases. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wallace, Scott M. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Washington Lawyer Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource January/February 1988 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1987-1988 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/d0cebe52e1aa7c657c1440831af060f7.jpg 63075d7e9c466603b4da75e4d5ff3f42 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Miguel Richardson bears little resemblance to the securities brokers and corporate raiders that Steven Rosenfeld, a partner in Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has always represented. Mr. Richardson, convicted of the murders of two Holiday Inn security guars in San Antonio, has been on death row in Texas since 1982. "From the point of view of a typical corporate attorney this is an entirely different clientele," Mr. Rosenfeld said. "This sort of population is not the most popular in society and there is certain reservation about doing this sort of work in the minds of a lot of people. But it's hard to pick a group of people who needs help more but have less access to it." To an uncommon extent, many of the nation's most prestigious corporate law firms are volunteering for duty in a difficult area of criminal: capital punishment. Some, like Paul, Weiss, have represented death row inmates before but are doing so more often. Many others, especially in the South and West are taking on such cases for the first time. Represented All the Way The movement is a response to an acute shortage of criminal lawyers for capital appeals. While the defendants have a constitutional right to legal representation at trial and through at least one appeal, there is no constitutional right to a lawyer through the long process of appealing a death sentence all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Many states have mechanisms to provide representation for death row appeals, but there are not enough defense lawyers to go around, according to prosecutors, prisoner rights organizations and many judges. The entry of leading, corporate law firms into death row appeals has brought complaints from some prosecutors who are annoyed by the delays and long legal briefs that the civil litigators have brought to this criminal matter. But the influx of sharp new minds is also welcomed in the Have taken capital cases since last October. While most of the participating corporate lawyers have little or no experience in the field, experts say training and resources and often the sheer love of challenge, more than compensates. Yale Kamisar, a leading constitutional scholar at the University of Michigan law school, said inexperience in death penalty appeals could even be an advantage in opening the way to novel approaches. "People in private law firms coming insights experienced criminal lawyers would not," Professor Kamisar said. "A civil lawyer who takes a capital case is more likely to get fired up and think of every conceivable argument he can make." Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Big firms offer death row defense Subject The topic of the resource Death Row Defense Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New York Times Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 8, 1988 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Michigan Description An account of the resource Big law firms offer lawyers to defend people on death row https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/e6569123c9d6ae959df8c19a53c878f4.jpg a7d828c725c2ffd5de6022449efc3c67 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/8004526b1d6c81f08f712bb3ef0c928f.jpg 3b4a81450b5ba81ae80b710f8efc04cb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper article Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) Vol. 27 Issue No. 117 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Hall, Jennafer Text Any textual data included in the document [[Image]] Death Row inmate Paul Edward Magill: ‘I’ve been here for 11 years almost and more people have gotten off Death Row than have been executed – many more.’ [[end page]] Since Paul Edward Magill was sentenced to death in 1977, his lawyers have been trying to prevent him from becoming the first person in 34 years to be executed in Florida for a crime committed while a juvenile. The Florida Supreme Court twice reviewed his case, once in 1980 and again 1983. Both times Magill, who committed first-degree murder when he was 17, came out the loser. By the time he was 26, the governor had signed two death warrants against Magill, who was convicted of robbing, kidnapping, raping and murdering a store clerk in Marion County. His lawyers, however, haven’t let up, inundating appellate courts with an avalanche of briefs and pleadings in an effort to keep him out of Florida’s electric chair. Two weeks ago, they succeeded. On May 5, a Marion county jury overturned Magill’s death sentence and recommended life. The following day, the judge, William T Swingert, approved the recommendation and signed an order sentencing Magill to life, which carries a mandatory 25-year minimum term in Florida. According to one of his attorneys, Michael A. Mello, an assistant professor at Vermont Law School, who along with Clearwater lawyer Patrick D. Doherty defended Magill, he could be eligible for parole in 13 years, having already served 12 years in prison. Magill’s age at the time of the killing played no part in his life sentence. Although the U.S. Supreme Court in November heard a case, William Wayne Thompson v. State of Oklahoma, on the constitutionality of executing juveniles convicted of capital crimes, it has yet to rule. Sentencing ‘prejudice’ Instead, Magill’s resentencing was prompted by a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals of the 11th Circuit. In 1987, the federal appeals court held that Magill’s sentencing proceeding was prejudiced by his trial lawyer’s ineffectiveness during the penalty phase of the first trial and by the jury’s failure to consider mitigating circumstances. The 11th Circuit found that the jury in Magill’s first trial was limited to consideration of five factors enumerated in the Florida Statutes. But the U.S. Supreme Court concluded in a 1987 case, Hitchcock v. Dugger, that the Constitution precludes imposing the death penalty where “… the advisory jury was instructed not to consider, evidence of non-statutory circumstances.” The 11th Circuit, therefore, remanded the case for a new trial on Magill’s sentence. During the new sentencing phase, the defense put on Magill’s family, three psychologists and a criminologist. Magill also took the stand. This time, only four of the 12 jurors voted for the death penalty. To recommend death, seven of the 12 must vote for it. Mello says that the outcome proves that when a jury is allowed to hear all the factors that mitigate defendant’s criminal behavior, the result is significantly different. “It shows that Hitchcock error really matters. It’s not just a technicality. It’s the difference between life and death.” “The theme of the defense was that this was an impulsive act done by a kid,” Mello said. “But he was a screwed-up kid who was not only chronologically a minor, but in terms of emotions was much younger than this stage can be – and Paul entered adolescence emotionally impaired. A psychologist who testified at the trial and had examined him when he was 12, likened Paul to a car with defective brakes rolling down a hill. He said that at age 12 Paul was troubled and predicted that it would only be compounded when Paul entered adolescence.” Magill had been arrested twice for indecent exposure by the time he was 15, and for shoplifting at 16. He frequently ran away from home and, according to his mother’s testimony at the first trial, tried to slash his wrists when his father wouldn’t buy him a motorcycle. Mello said evidence that the jury previously had been precluded from acting upon made a difference. The jury was allowed to hear how remorseful Magill felt and heard evidence establishing that he acted impulsively. “When Paul was testifying at the first trial, his lawyer asked him about remorse,” Mello said. “The prosecutor objected that remorse wasn’t in the statute as a mitigating factor. The court sustained the objection and told the jury not to consider remorse because remorse wasn’t listed in the statute.” Mello noted that the first jury was allowed to hear evidence about his impulsive actions but they weren’t allowed to give it independent weight. “The problem was that the jury was instructed that they could only consider that kind of evidence insofar as that evidence was probative of the two statutory mental or emotional distress,” he said. “Eight out of 12 members of the jury bought the argument that he was distraught the argument that he was doing,” said John C. Moore, Ocala State attorney and one of the prosecutors in the case. “We were basically left with an old case. The defense spent a lot of time and money on the case. We don’t agree with the verdict, but we’ve got to live with it.” Last December, Magill told The Review that he didn’t expect to die. “I’ve been here for 11 years almost and more people have gotten off Death Row than have been executed – many more,” Magill said. “And that’s going to continue until eventually I think it’s going to be abolished.” He said he had come to understand himself better, but he didn’t understand why he had been on Death Row for so long. “There have been times when I’ve been in depressed moods wondering what’s taking so long. I’m really grateful for the opportunity because the time here has been a rebuilding process for me. It’s taught me a great deal and I think I needed to be forced to sit down and learn.” Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Appeals ruling key to death sentence: Inmate leaves Death Row for life term Subject The topic of the resource Housen, Christine Magill, Paul E. Florida. Supreme Court. Mello, Michael A. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Housen, Christine Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Broward Review Newspaper Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-05-16 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida Description An account of the resource Paul Edward Magill was sentenced to death for crimes he committed as a juvenile. He went through many trials with many appeals. He is now withstanding the last trial to determine his fate. Magill stated that more people had gotten off Death Row than had been executed and that he should be allowed life. Christine Housen Death Row Florida Supreme Court Michael A. Mello Paul Edward Magill The Broward Review https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/7f030f83ba04faaf213746b89f90d0e2.jpg 5c67be9d69f1c17bb7778bb69e9941fe Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available History 298, University of Mary Washington Language A language of the resource English Title A name given to the resource Delays On Death Row: Booker Appeals Frustrate Lawyer https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/1a76b91ba8ade2d5e5e2390881be825b.jpg ec2c8f951ce45f3979ec6ac91cbc9ec7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Gainesville-In the office of First Assistant State Attorney Ken Herbert is a file called "The Lady and the Beast." The file sits with other papers and photographs in one drawer of a black, metal filing cabinet devoted to a murder committed almost 11 years ago. The "lady" was a 94-year-old Lorine Demoss Harman, a Gainesville widow. The "Beast" is a Stephen Todd Booker, now 35, a death row inmate at Florida State Prison. He is scheduled to be executed Sept. 20 for the murder, but has an appeal pending before federal district court in Tallahassee. Inmate Freddie Lee Hall is also scheduled to be electrocuted on that date. Herbert used "The Lady and the Beast" title to outline the tragic differences between Harman and Booker. On Nov. 9 1977, the 170-pound Booker raped, beat, stabbed and killed the 90-pound Harman in her apartment. Booker, a drifter, had broken into Harman's apartment and was ransacking it when Harman returned home. The differences extend even after Harman's death. Alone, Harman probably only had minutes to fight desperately for her life. With several lawyers, Booker has had years to fight for his life through an exhaustive series of appeals that continued this week. In his latest appeal, argued before federal district Judge Maurice Paul in Tallahassee on Monday, Booker's attorneys said his death sentence was unconstitutional because the jury wasn't allowed to consider some mitigating evidence such as Booker's history of psychological problems and drug addiction. Paul has yet to rule on the appeal, but one of Booker's attorneys said he expects Booker will survive his fourth death warrant and his death sentence will be overturned. Attorney Michael Mello, a professor at Vermont Law School, said the 1987 Supreme Court decision Hitchcock v. Dugger will work in Booker's favor. That decision, delivered by Justice Antonin Scalia for a unanimous court, overturned a death sentence for inmate James Hitchcock, who was convicted of murdering his step niece. The court ruled his death sentence was unconstitutional because some mitigating evidence, such as Hitchcock's family background, was not considered by the jury. Mello said the Booker jury was also limited in the mitigating evidence it could consider during the 1978 trial. For Herbert, who prosecuted the case, the 10 years of appeals represented an abuse of the judicial system. Booker already has appealed his death sentence unsuccessfully on several different issue in several different courtrooms. For Booker's attorney, the appeals are the only salvation for a system they say is flawed. In addition to Mello, Booker is represented by two attorneys based in Washington, D.C. "If the death penalty is a deterrent, then most people would argue it's got to follow soon after the crime, so a message is brought forth," said Herbert in a recent interview. "At this point, I don't know how many people in Gainesville remember this case." Herbert certainly does. Every time a death warrant has been signed for Booker and every time Booker has appealed, Herbert has been notified. His files on the crime are extensive, and throughout these papers, Herbert's anger with the viciousness of the crime is apparent. Harman was stabbed nine times in her chest and received four cuts in the struggle with Booker. He left two knives embedded in her body, one in her neck and one in her chest. Before her death, she was raped. Thus far, Booker's attorney have not questioned their client's guilt in the crime. The arguments have focused on whether the proceedings in court were constitutional. Mello disputed Herbert's contention that the appeals process is being abused. "It seems to me that the system is working precisely the way it should," Mello said. "What Ken Herbert is really saying is that Booker should have been executed earlier, even though signing his death warrant was unconstitutional. That strikes me as a misguided view." But so far, Booker and his attorneys have been unable to prove the unconstitutional claim. The Florida Supreme Court, along with various circuit courts and even the U.S. Supreme court, have refused to throw out Booker's three other death warrants. Booker has survived them because those warrants have expired during earlier appeals. Herbert said he is not opposed to Booker's right to appeal, but he said the judicial system is taking too long to reach a conclusion. Almost 11 years after Harman was stabbed to death, the fate of her killer is still undermined. "People have a right to some finality in their judgments," Herbert said. "There needs to be a better process." Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Serfis, Malin Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Booker appeals frustrate lawyer Description An account of the resource A newspaper article about Todd Booker. Booker murdered a 94 year old woman and claimed that his death sentence was unconstitutional. Booker was helped by lawyers to push his death sentence. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Loughlin, Sean Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Gainesville Sun Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-09-14 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG Language A language of the resource English https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/dc13fe1e8db50c04db4756ccd50871ac.jpg 2076543b566d08a67007f78bb8e89c54 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Tallahassee- The death sentence for Stephen Todd Booker, convicted of beating, raping, and fatally stabbing a 94- year- old Gainesville widow in 1977, was overturned Friday by a federal judge who said not all mitigating evidence was considered by the jury. The state of Florida immediately filed an appeal with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Booker, 35, was four days away from execution when Judge Maurice Paul of the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee issued his opinion, vacating the death sentence and ordering a new sentencing hearing for him. Booker, an inmate at Florida State Prison in Starke, was on his fourth death warrant. This is the first time he has won a new hearing. The ruling has no effect on Booker’s murder conviction, only the sentencing. Earlier this week, one of Booker’s attorneys, Michael Mello, a professor at Vermont Law School, predicted that Paul would overturn the sentence based on a 1987 Supreme Court decision, Hitchcock v. Dugger, that stated all mitigating evidence must be heard by juries in capital cases. Booker’s attorneys argued that some mitigating evidence, such as his family background, mental instability and a history of alcohol and drug problems, were not considered by the jury. Judge Paul agreed. “What the court is saying is there was a Hitchcock violation,” said Carolyn Snurkowski, assistant attorney general for the state. Part of Paul’s opinion read: “This court is cautious about speculating on the effects of errors in capital sentencing proceedings, especially in light of the discretion given to the sentencer.” Snurkowski said the state will argue there is no need for a new sentencing hearing and Booker should be executed. “The argument is: Just because this error may have occurred,… it’s not such a fundamental error that would require a resentencing proceeding,” Snurkowski said. One of Booker’s attorneys said Booker would prevail despite the state’s appeal. “The state is going to do what the state is going to do,” said James Coleman, a Washington-based attorney. “(But) I think if anyone were to look at this thing objectively, I don’t think there’s any reason for a death sentence.” Coleman said Booker would probably receive a life sentence after a new sentencing hearing. “He’s never denied it,” Coleman said of the murder. “His defense has not been innocence. It’s been a question of whether the court should have sentenced him to death.” Booker killed Lorine Demoss Harman during a savage attack in her apartment, beating her, raping her, stabbing her nine times and leaving two knives plunged in her body. A jury convicted Booker of murder in 1978 and he was sentenced to die. Coleman described Booker as “remorseful” for his crime. Coleman said he spoke with Booker after learning of the decision. “He was surprised, but very happy,” Coleman said. Booker was surprised, Coleman said, because he has failed to win any of his earlier appeals. His first death warrant was signed in 1982. Another inmate also was scheduled for electrocution on Tuesday, but the Florida Supreme Court this week issued a stay for Freddie Lee Hall. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Staneart, Kellyn Student Editor of the Digital Item Dickinson, Terra Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Booker death sentence reversed: the state immediately appealed the ruling to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Description An account of the resource The death sentence of Stephen Todd Booker was overturned because the jury did not look at all mitigating evidence. Booker was before convicted of beating, raping, and stabbing a 94 year old woman. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Loughlin, Sean Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Gainesville Sun Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-09-17 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Gainesville, FL Atlanta, GA appeals capital punishment Death sentence Florida Death Row Florida Supreme Court murder rape https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/8ce33990e5095ed89ed471ed05ba28ba.jpg a45dba2557d045bbcf8b7179e21fbe56 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Killer Escapes Execution Again 11 Years After Execution Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Associated Press Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Palm Beach Post Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-09-19 Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Escapes execution Description An account of the resource The 90-pound, 94 year old widow was raped, beaten and stabbed to death in minutes. Nearly eleven years later, her convicted assailant’s battle for life continues as his lawyers keep winning delays in court. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Palm Beach, Fl Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document GAINESVILLE- the 90-pound, 94 year old widow was raped, beaten and stabbed to death in minutes. Nearly eleven years later, her convicted assailant’s battle for life continues as his lawyers keep winning delays in court. Stephen Todd Booker, now 35, appears likely to survive his fourth death warrant in the case. U.S. District Judge Maurice Paul on Friday stayed Booker's scheduled Tuesday execution. The state is appealing Paul's stay. On Nov. 9, 1977 Booker raped, beat and stabbed Lorine Demoss Harmon of Gainesville. Booker, a drifter, had broken into Harman's apartment and was ransacking it when she returned home. Booker left two knives embedded in her body, one in her neck and one in her chest. Booker's attorney said his sentence was unconstitutional because the jury wasn't allowed to consider some mitigating evidence such as Booker's history of psychological problems. For Assistant State Attorney Ken Herbert, who prosecuted the case, the 10 years of appeals represent an abuse of the system. "If the death penalty is a detergent, then most people would argue it's got to follow soon after the crime," Herbert said. "The system is working precisely the way it should," said Michael Mello, one of Booker's attorneys. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Killer escapes execution again 11 years after widow's murder Subject The topic of the resource Executions (Administrative law) Description An account of the resource The 90-pound, 94 year old widow was raped, beaten and stabbed to death in minutes. Nearly eleven years later, her convicted assailant’s battle for life continues as his lawyers keep winning delays in court. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Associated Press Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Palm Beach Post Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988-09-19 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpg Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Palm Beach, FL https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4eab6c645cd6562557edb557cec0fcb8.jpg c4cc5afef1c4f4fa079b7d14604157fe https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/68cfd85680009c501f08a4e3de977f05.jpg 9c537b12ad92e643dda3f0f047e6c503 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper article Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) Vol. 113, No. 120 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Sundberg, Eric Text Any textual data included in the document STARKE — Even though Florida already appoints lawyers to defend Death Row asking that the U.S. Supreme Court not make the practice mandatory. On Monday, the high court agreed to hear a Virginia case in which that states is appealing a federal circuit court ruling requiring the state to provide attorneys for indigent inmates on death row who are appealing their convictions. The case involves Joseph M. Giarratano, who was convicted and sentenced in 1979 for murdering a woman and raping and murdering her 15-year old daughter. His conviction and sentence were upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court in 1980. He is one of nearly 40 inmates on death row. A district judge ruled that Virginia was not giving inmates meaningful access to the courts and ordered the state to appoint personal lawyers for individual inmates, rather than have inmates rely on law libraries or on a small group of lawyers to represent a number of prisoners simultaneously. In the Florida case of Gideon vs. Wainwright, the high court recognized the right of the indigent to have legal representation supplied by the state at the trial level. So far, that right has not been extended to appeals. Defendant Clarence Earl Gideon was documented in a book written by Athony Lewis, a columnist for The New York Times. The book was the basis of a movie where the role of Gideon was played by Henry Fonda. Florida’s support of Virginia’s position is detailed in a 13-page brief the state’s attorney general filed with the Supreme Court last month. The state of Georgia filed a separate brief with the other states. In the amicus curiae — commonly called a “fiend of the court” brief — the state of Florida maintains death row inmates have no constitutional right to attorneys on appeals. The position has bewildered the director of the Office of Capital Collateral Representative, the Florida state agency that represents most of the state’s 290 death row inmates on appeals. Director Larry Spalding said there is an inconsistency with the states having such an agency and then questioning the state’s constitutional obligation to death row inmates. Of the states that filed briefs on Virginia’s behalf, Florida is the only one with an agency that provides attorneys to death row inmates on appeal. “The state of Florida does not have a unified position before the U.S. Supreme Court,” Spalding said. “I am giving serious consideration to CCR filing an amicus brief on behalf of Giarrantano in support of a constitutional right.” Asked why death row inmates should be entitled to attorneys on appeals when such a principles does not apply to other convicts, Spalding replied: “Because there’s a difference between sitting in jail and being put in an electric chair.” The state’s attorney general office disputed the notion of inconsistency or the suggestion that the brief is an effort to dismantle the agency. Gov. Bob Martinez has been an outspoken critic of the Office of Capital Collateral Representative, having called for several investigations of the office. A specially appointed commission recently found no evidence of unethical conduct, but a criminal investigation continues. Carolyn Snurkowski, an assistant attorney general for the state, said establishing a new constitutional right for inmates could complicate an appeals process that already takes years. Specifically, Snurkowski said, if death row inmates have a constitutional right to legal representation, they could then question the competency of their lawyers on further appeals. “Can they come back and challenge the assistance” is the question concerning the state, Snurkowski said. Mark Menser, another assistant attorney general, said the Supreme Court has never set such a right for death row inmates in federal courts. “It should be left up to the states,” Menser said. “The federal government can’t impose a duty on the states it doesn’t impose on itself.” Snurkowski would not speculate how the court’s ruling, which is not expected until next year, would affect the Florida agency. But the brief, written by Menser, contains one passage where the state worries about “the creation of new grounds for collateral attack (such as ineffective collateral counsel) or the creation of new ‘due process’ rights.” “Florida will have to give serious consideration to abandoning the project,” the brief read. Rep. Everett Kelly, D-Tavares, chairman of the House Committee on Corrections, Probation and Parole Committee, said if the Supreme Court rules against recognizing a constitutional right for inmates, the legislature would have to consider the future of the agency. “If we don’t have to do it, why do it?” Kelly said. “I’m just not sure I would require legal counsel for them (death row inmates), most especially if they’re able to afford lawyers.” Michael Mello, a professor at the Vermont Law School, has written about the availability of attorneys for death row inmates. “It’s desperate,” he said. “There are people less than two weeks away from being executed who don’t have attorneys. The crisis that led to the creation of CCR in Florida is a crisis being replicated throughout the country.” But Jon Peck, press secretary for the governor, said Florida’s response to the crisis in 1985 was voluntary — and that is the key. “There are times when you do something, but you don’t want it mandated,” Peck said. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource State joins death row suit Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Loughlin, Sean Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Gainesville Sun Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1988/11/3 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Gainesville, Florida. Description An account of the resource The article discusses Florida joining the lawsuit against the federal government to stop the federal government from mandating the appointment of lawyers to death row inmates for appeals. The article also accounts for the different opinions of state officials and agencies on the suit and fractured stance on the state's role in the suit. Subject The topic of the resource Death row Death row inmates Due process of law amicus curiae appeals Bob Martinez Carolyn Snurkowski Circuit court Constitutional court Death Row due process Earl Gideon Everett Kelly Federal Florida Gainesville Sun Giarratano Gideon vs. Wainwright Henry Fonda John Peck Larry Spalding Mark Menser Michael Mello State suit Supreme U.S. Virginia https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/03c551bb5b75ad8c73713d9d94a89dd1.jpg 5493d1f878d21519e97dd88f46f8b2bb https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/f9771f1da401b8c0b874a2dd2ad4eecf.jpg edc7037e3a4b45ba0903d2dbc40935a5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Even as Ted Bundy spent much of the weekend confessing to unsolved murders, lawyers trying to keep him from the electric chair grew more hopeful that they can win a last-minute stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court. The reason for their optimism: a new, yet-to-be-aired issue for appeal that centers on whether a judge said the right things to a jury almost a decade ago when Bundy was on trial for killing 12-year-old Kimberly Leach in Lake City. Bundy, who is schedules to be executed Tuesday for the murder of Miss Leach, reportedly confessed over the weekend to killing at least nine young women. Those confessions stopped for a time Sunday, however, as the appeal that will be submitted this morning to the U.S. Supreme Court took shape. Additionally, Bundy called off an interview with reporters scheduled for today at noon. The issue that has surfaced—somewhat technical in nature—has to do with whether the judge overseeing the Leach trial conveyed to jurors how important their opinion would be to him when he decided Bundy’s sentence. Though a jury only advises a judge in capital cases on what it thinks is a proper sentence, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that death sentences can be thrown out on appeal if jurors have been led to believe their role isn’t significant. In the Leach trial, says at least one of the lawyers trying to keep Bundy alive, that’s exactly what happened. Michael Mello, a Vermont law professor who has been offering advice to Bundy’s team of lawyers in Florida, said Sunday that a review of the trial transcript shows that Judge Wallace M. Jopling repeatedly told jurors they would be making a “recommendation only” on the question of life or death and that “the judge has the final say.” Because of such comments, Mello said, there has been a growing hope among Bundy’s lawyers that Bundy could get a stay. “I’m optimistic,” Mello said. “This claim is shaping into a very powerful claim.” Gary Printy, a Florida assistant attorney general who has worked on the Bundy case, said he didn’t think Bundy would get very far with the appeal. “I wouldn’t hold my breath for Ted,” he said. However, Mello pointed out that the court has stayed two executions in Florida because of questions similar to the ones Bundy will attempt to raise today. The background of the appeal is this: In 1985, in a case called Caldwell vs. Mississippi, the Supreme Court ruled that convicted murderer Bobby Caldwell, who had been sentenced to death, was entitled to a new sentencing hearing because the judge and prosecutor had told jurors their decision on life or death would be “automatically reviewable.” The danger of such comments, the Supreme Court said in its opinion, is that the jury could “minimize the importance of its role.” Elaborating, the court went on to say, “Even when a sentencing jury is unconvinced that death is the appropriate punishment, it might nevertheless wish to ‘send a message’ of extreme disapproval for the defendant’s acts. This desire might make the jury receptive to the prosecutor’s assurance that it can err (in recommending death) because the error can be corrected on appeal. A defendant might then be executed, although no sentence had ever determined that death was the appropriate sentence.” Since the court’s decision was issued in June 1985, several Florida death row inmates have received stays of execution on the basis of what are known as “Caldwell claims,” and one inmate whose claim failed has been executed. One of the inmates who got a stay, Aubrey Adams, was on his third death warrant when the Supreme Court stopped his execution about 12 hours before he was to die in 1986. Te court, which heard arguments in Adams’ case in November, is expected to decide soon whether jurors were adversely affected when the judge said to them: “The final decision as to what punishment shall be imposed rests solely upon the judge of this court.” “That’s what jurors were told in the Leach trial, and it is one reason Bundy’s lawyers are hopeful. As late as Friday afternoon, the lawyers were anything but hopeful. Some were already wrestling with the notion that Bundy likely would be executed. Over the weekend, Mello said, lawyers who undertook the task of reading a transcript of the Leach trial found instance after instance of what they interpret as improper statements to jurors from both the judge and prosecutors. In one instance, Mello said, a prosecutor asked the juror who would later be foreman, “Do you understand that the judge would have ultimate responsibility?” In another instance, Mello said, a juror asked if she would be deciding whether Bundy would be sentenced to death, and Jopling replied, “No, ma’am. The jury renders and advisory opinion…the judge has the final say so.” In a third instance, according to Mello, Jopling told jurors, “The law places the awesome burden on the judge to decide the final penalty.” “It’s the combination,” Mello said, explaining why such statements might be important nine years after the conclusion of the Leach trial. “It’s the totality of the contents.” Asked whether in light of Bundy’s reported confessions such an appeal was making a mockery of the legal system, Mello said no. “When (jurors) aren’t told about their role, there’s a greater likelihood the jury will come back and recommend death. That’s the constitutional evil. That’s what the Caldwell decision is all about,” Mello said. “You may not think it’s a big deal, but the U.S. Supreme Court in Caldwell said it’s a very big deal. “Maybe we’ll get blown out of the Supreme Court on this, but the Supreme Court knows the issue, and Bundy’s got the issue.” Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Article Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Wilson, Ian Scott Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Last-minute strategy aims for Bundy stay Description An account of the resource Mello argues that there is a good case for a potential stay of execution for Bundy. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Finkel, David Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived St. Petersburg Times Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-01-23 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida Subject The topic of the resource Serial murderers Supreme Court Bundy, Ted https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/58cf1ec9925b62d6faadecae8daa30bb.jpg 991d50f6138a32deca9e0bc13850dd66 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bundy is set to die at 7 a.m. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Morgan, Lucy, Nickens, Tim and Lavin, Chris Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 jpg Language A language of the resource English https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/a2b12937409139891d7b670554389ade.jpg 6bc0be2cbbffa9361b6d8ed5b84c586c Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Scovell, Madison Text Any textual data included in the document Ted Bundy, one of the most hated men in America, prepared early this morning to die in Florida’s electric chair. Late Monday night, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 not to give Bundy a stay of execution’, frustrating lawyers who had tried every appeal they could think of in a variety of state and federal courts. “There’s no question he left a trail of horror, destroyed families,” Gov. Bob Martinez said earlier in the day. “For all that reason and more, he deserves that rendezvous tomorrow morning with the electric chair.” The execution is set for 7 a.m. “He does not want to die. He is going through a lot of agony tonight,” said James Dobson, a religious broadcaster who was one of the last people to visit Bundy. Death penalty opponents, who usually state protests against executions, were noticeable quiet this time, recognizing the particular enmity that Bundy’s name inspires. Dozens of reporters from across the country gathered in this prison town to mark the execution. Forty miles up the road, in the town where Bundy kidnapped and killed 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, many residents were waiting for Bundy’s time to run out. “Closure, that’s what we’re looking for,” said Melinda Moses, a teacher at Lake City Junior High School, where the little girl was abducted. “We want it over with, and yes, we want him dead.” Legal maneuvers The U.S. Supreme Court’s vote came at 10:30 p.m. “This is the end of the road,” said Michael Mello, a lawyer who has been helping in Bundy’s final defense. “We came one vote shy.” The decision capped a frantic day of legal maneuvers and counter moves. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, two Florida courts had turned Bundy down. The issue before them was the same one that the Supreme Court rejected: that the judge presiding in the Leach case had improperly instructed jurors before they recommended that Bundy be sentenced to death. Bundy’s attorneys also appeared to be trying one other tack: that the years on death row had made Bundy insane. Martinez prepared for that possibility by dispatching a a three-member psychiatric team to Florida State Prison to examine Bundy if the need arose. If Bundy’s attorneys did try to claim Bundy was insane, it would be up to Martinez to decide whether to stay the execution. That prospect seemed unlikely. “In the case of Ted Bundy, he had it coming,” Martinez said after the Supreme Court ruling. “We know of no reason why he should have any stay or clemency…. We have every intention of carrying out the death penalty.” Preparations One of the last people to meet with Bundy was James Dobson, president of a family-oriented Christian ministry in California. Dobson taped an interview with Bundy on Monday afternoon. Although he will not release the tapes until after the execution, Dobson disclosed some of the contents Monday night. Dobson said that Bundy admitted killing many young women and blamed pornography for his crimes. “It became an obsession with him,” Dobson said. While Bundy was a teen-ager, he sought pornography that was increasingly violent and explicit, said Dobson, who was a member of a federal commission on pornography. As he was nearing 20, Dobson continued, Bundy started thinking about killing women, and after a year or two started following through on his urges. “He expressed great regret and remorse for what he had done,” Dobson said. Bundy also was scheduled to meet a final time with his lawyers and friends John and Marsha Tanner. Tanner is Volusia County State Attorney and active in a prison ministry. Bundy had no special requests for his last meal so prison officials were planning to give him steak, eggs and hash browns. It was to be served at 4:30 in the morning, and Bundy was to get only a spoon, the sole utensil allowed prisoners who are awaiting execution. At 6 this morning prison officials were to shave Bundy’s head and right leg, for the electrical connections, and let him take a shower. He was to put on a shirt and dark trousers; the trousers match a coat that is retained for burial. Most of his personal possessions have been stored. After the execution, they will be turned over to someone Bundy had chosen. At the end of the Leach trial, Bundy married a longtime friend named Carol Boone. Later, she had a daughter, and Bundy was said to be the father. Now a resident of Washington, neither Ms. Boone nor the girl were in Florida as the execution drew near. Convicted of three murders in Florida, Bundy spent much of the last few days confessing that he killed many more women in western states. In all, Bundy now admits at least 20 murders, investigators said. “I think he was born to kill,” said Washington state investigator Robert Keppel as he left the prison Monday. “He was just totally consumed with murder all the time. He really didn’t have time to hold a job or go to school.” Keppel, who has followed the Bundy murders since 1974, says Bundy has confessed to more murders than had previously been attributed to him. He has admitted killing 11 young women in Washington, three more than investigators have included in the list of so-called “Ted murders,” said Keppel. One of the Seattle area murders took place in May 1973, a year before the other deaths that Seattle officials have long attributed to Bundy. “He could describe things in detail,” Keppel said. “It was almost like he was just there.” Bundy found a place to dump a body in Washington and kept returning again and again with new bodies, aware each time that the police had not found the others. Bundy’s mother, Louise, who lives in Tacoma, Wash., with his stepfather, John Bundy, said the confessions were unexpected “because we have staunchly believed - and I guess we still do until we hear what he really said - that he was not guilty of any of those crimes.” “But if this is true, if Ted did do these things, and if indeed he is substantiating it with facts that he really did those things… it’s the most devastating news of our lives… “I agonize for the parents of those girls,” she said. “We have girls of our own, who are very dear to us…. Oh, it’s so terrible. I just can’t understand.” Murder victim’s hometown In Lake City, Kimberly Leach’s hometown, people appeared tired – tired of the delays in the execution and tired of having been forced to relive the 12-year-old’s murder with the signing of each death warrant. “We’ve never forgotten,” said longtime Mayor Gerald Witt. “When he’s gone there’ll be a lot of people shaking hands, exchanging high-fives and all that because they finally killed the bastard.” Down the road from that mayor’s office, junior high school Principal Robert Simmons says that today’s students, who never knew Kimberly, have been educated in a school still “paranoid” about safety. Students still are organized into a buddy system. “If you see a student alone on this campus, teachers are angry,” Simmons said. Security officers patrol the grounds, and any time a student is absent, school officials call parents immediately to determine the student’s whereabouts. Parents, too, have kept up their guard, even some who did not live here when Kimberly died. “You hear about it enough,” said Candy Palmer, who stopped to pick up her seventh-grade son Danny Monday afternoon.” Most people are very attentive about getting here on time to pick up their kids. I know I am.” Across the road from the prison, television and newspaper reporters from around the nation gathered in a former cow pasture reserved for the news media at each execution. At the last execution, there were only a few reporters. Monday, there were more than 100. There were motors homes filled with electronic gear, and at least 14 satellite discs beamed the story to distant audiences. At one point Monday, the weight of 25 microphones taped to a makeshift lectern toppled the whole thing and sent television crews scrambling. Along the state road that runs past the prison, a Jacksonville man working out of his car sold shirts that featured a drawing of Bundy strapped to the electric chair and the slogan “Bundy’s Last Charge.” The shirts cost $10 each. And two entrepreneurs, who would identify themselves only as Randy and Rick, were selling electric-chair lapel pins for $3 apiece. Student Editor of the Digital Item Williams, Megan Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bundy is set to die at 7 a.m. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Morgan, Lucy Nickens, Tim Lavin, Chris Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Bundy, Ted Death penalty Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived St. Petersburg Times Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989-01-24 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Florida death penalty Ted Bundy