1 20 37 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/7c9325745e4cffe09632b159506dec88.jpg e12e6a49f2e5d700b214da95a966a810 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/d05cc4b677e03a540904a5bf46932274.jpg 61b9c21d4ed04364b3129acfc9ef3d3a 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 3, 1995 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. Berry, Rebecca Text Any textual data included in the document Tallahassee --- Satisfied with a confidential investigation into one of Florida’s longest-run-ing death row cases, Gov. Law-ton Chiles on Thursday signed a new death warrant for “Crazy Joe” Spaziano.     The protracted, 20-year trek to Old Sparky was sidetracked two months ago when the main wit-ness in the case recanted his testi-mony. Chiles ordered investiga-tors to look anew at the murder of Laura Harberts, an 18-year-old Orlando hospital clerk whose skeleton was found in a rural dump.       Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents interviewed the witness – who said he lied when he testified that Spaziano had shown him the woman’s remains – and at least eight oth-ers who did not testify in the trail but not say they have knowledge in the case.       Their names may never be released; all were promised ano-nymity by investigators.      “This exhaustive review removes any doubt in my mind about this case,” Chiles said. He is the third Florida governor to sign a death warrant in the case.      “I can honestly say they’re put-ting him to death through lies,” said Tony Dilisio, the witness whose original testimony tied Spaziano to Harbert’s body.      “What I said back then was all made up, fabricated.”      FDLE investigators told the governor: <ul> <li>New witness – including former motorcycle gang mem-bers and inmate who shared a cell with Spaziano – say Spa-ziano bragged of killing Harberts.</li> <li>Chicago police believe that Spaziano killed a fellow Outlaw and his wife after he had told them about the murder while drunk.</li> <li>An unidentified man told agents that he saw Spaziano and another man hauling something “the same shape and size of a human body wrapped in fabric” into a wooded area about the time of the Harberts disappear-ance.</li> <li>Before the trail, Dilisio told people other than the police about Spaziano showing him the</li> </ul> (PLEASE SEE ‘CRAZY JOE’, 16A) [Additional title on second page]: Recanted testimony fails to changed governor’s mind He signs new death warrant for ‘Crazy Joe’ (‘CRAZY JOE’, FROM 1A) bodies.     Dilisio said Thursday that he remembers telling many of his friends when he was a teenager about Spaziano and seeing bodies. “But it was all lies. It made me feel cool,” Dilisio said. “I remember bragging. It made me feel important. The more I told the story, the more believable it got.” Teen volunteers information Harberts disappear Aug. 5, 1973. Her remains were found there weeks later in an Altamonte Springs dump, lying atop another skelton that was never ideti-fied.       The case went unsolved – the medical examiner was never able to even determine a cause of death – until Tony Dilisio, then a 16-year-old drug user in juve-nile detention center, told police he had heard Spaziano brag about the slaying.      His recollections were vague so police hypnotized him to get details.     Spaziano was a biker he admired, Dilisio told them. One day, after drinking beer and tak-ing some LSD, he was taken to the dump by Spaziano, who dis-played two mutilated bodies.     Dilisio was a powerful witness in the case. The prosecutor in the case, Claude Van Hook, has said that Dilisio was not only the state’s “pathologist in this case,” but that also, without him, “we wouldn’t have case.”       Spaziano was convicted and the jury recommend life in prison. The judge instead sen-tenced Spaziano to death, citing the brutality of the crime from Dilisio’s account.       Witness recants      But two months ago, Dilisio told The Herald that his testi-mony at Spaziano’s 1976 murder trial was untrue. He said police coerced him to make the false statements. The promised to spring him from detention and drop breaking and entering charges if he cooperated.       He said Spaziano never took him to the dump, and never bragged about murdering the women. It was the police, he said that took him there, to jog his memory.       “I never saw any bodies,” Dili-sio repeated Thursday. “It just didn’t happen.”      The FDLE interviewed Dilisio June 13. He told him he was eager to please the police back then and told them what he thought they wanted to hear.      In their report, FDLE investi-gators called Dilisio’s recantation was rambling and contradictory. Report is secret       Mike Mello, Spaziano’s attor-ney, said he is trying to get the report, he names of the wit-nesses and investigator’s notes from the state.      “The reason they don’t want me to see the identity of these super secret witnesses is they have something to hide,” Mello said.      Mello said without the names, he has no way of questioning the people accusing Spaziano of murder. He also said Chiles and the FDLE are discounting Dili-sio’s recantation because what he is saying today is “inconvenient for the state.”       Dilisio has offered to take a lie detector test but FDLE investiga-tors haven’t replied.      “I guess they don’t want to hear what I have to say. I doesn’t fit in with their story,” Dilisio said.      Chiles said Spaziano has had enough chances.       “Joseph Spaziano has received due process,” Chilies said, “and justice demands that he now face the consequences for the crimes he has committed.” [Pull Quote]: ‘Joseph Spaziano has received due process, and justice demands that he now face the consequence for the crimes he has committed.” GOV. LAWTON CHILES [Pull Quote]: ‘But it was all lies. It made me feel cool. I remember bragging. It made me feel important. The more I told the story, the more believable it got.” TONY DILISIO, witness who recanted testimony against Spaziano [Photograph; Photograph Caption]: MULTIPLE APPEALS REJECTED: Joseph Spaziano 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 'Crazy Joe' is guilty, must die, Chiles says Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Florida Department of Law Enforcement Description An account of the resource One of 'Crazy Joe' friends says he was and was not lying to the cops and his testimony was a big part of putting Spaziano away. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rozsa, Lori Silva, Mark Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Miami Herald 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 1995-08-25 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 Tallahassee, FL https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/46ff4a2cd70db9fac5f78384c2f2da79.jpg 6b027397998f570031e4988fcab04e6f 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 Raid Raises Questions about Law Privileges Subject The topic of the resource Police Raids Criminal Defense Lawyer Description An account of the resource The article discusses the raid of a criminal defense lawyer named William A. Hunter. The raid secured his records and files. The raid was due to federal investigators suspecting Hunter of helping his client launder money. The article discusses the problems with assuming criminal defense lawyers know where their clients income comes from. It also discusses how these raids raise questions on client confidentiality. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anderson, Liz Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Anderson, Liz. "Raid Raises Questions about Law Privileges." Rutland Herald (Rutland, VT), Jun. 15, 1995. 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 1995-06-15 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 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Raid of criminal defense lawyer Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Rutland, Vermont https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/0b30dc1310043e9df1f04851728ef4cd.jpg 37b0cca63228ea6d6f25cc63810bbe5d 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document The raid by federal investigators on Cavendish lawyer William A. Hunter’s home and office has raised troubling questions for many in the state’s legal community about the sanctity of their offices and how much they are expected to know about the clients they serve. Hunter, 41, is the subject of a federal investigation into whether he helped a client in Windsor launder money through a corporation set up to purchase and renovate real estate. Federal investigators raided Hunter’s home and basement office at 3 a.m. Friday, seizing files on three clients as well as Hunter’s computer equipment. Vermont Law School Professor Michael Mello, who teaches constitutional law and legal ethics, said he believed it was the first raid of its kind in Vermont. The emergency raid was authorized by the U.S. Magistrate Jerome J. Niedermeier after an investigator expressed concerns that Hunter might destroy evidence of criminal activity if alerted to the arrests on Thursday of Hunter’s client and the client’s sister. Hunter has said that equipment seized contains electronic files on many other clients as well as on those subject to the investigation. He said his office was “crippled” without it. Hunter has not been charged in the case and denies any knowledge of any illegal activities on the part Of his client, Frank H. Sargent Jr. Sargent, 26, has pleaded innocent to a federal indictment charging him with cocaine distribution. He is free on an unsecured bond. Hunter said Wednesday he had plans to meet with federal prosecutors some time in the next week and had hired Rutland lawyer Peter Hall to represent him. “As a lawyer I would never advise anyone to deal with an agency that has identified them as a suspect on their own,” he said. U.S. Attorney Charles Tetzlaff said he would not comment on any aspect of the case “as a matter of policy.” [new title: confidentiality concerns] Although lawyers claim a confidentiality when dealing with their clients, there are exceptions under which that confidentiality can be broken. One exception, used in the Hunter search, is if investigators can establish to a judge that they have cause to believe the lawyer’s files contain evidence of an ongoing planned crime. Many lawyers contacted objected to the timing and what they saw as the invasiveness of the raid. Several expressed concern that federal investigators made a claim that Hunter might destroy the files. Several lawyers consulted said a troubling issue in Hunter’s case is the seizure of his computer files and the issues that raises about the confidential relationship between lawyer and a client. A federal prosecutor unaffiliated with the Vermont office participated in the search to advise the investigators on matters concerning private attorney-client files and is charged with reviewing the seized files before delivering them to the Vermont federal prosecutors handling the case. Agents who searched Hunter’s home are under court orders not to disclose anything they saw in Hunter’s confidential files. The same orders will apply to FBI computer analysts charged with reviewing Hunter’s computer system. The search warrant executed at Hunter’s home provides extensive descriptions of how the computer files and equipment are to be handled by agents. It provides for its return within a “reasonable time,” but sets no deadline. David Putter, co-chair of the legal panel for state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said searches have become more complicated by the computer age because it may not be easy to immediately tell which files are pertinent to an investigation and which are not. He said in that vein, the search warrant for Hunter’s office didn’t satisfy him that enough steps were being taken to protect information on clients unrelated to the government’s investigation. Putter said the presence of another federal attorney reviewing the files from Hunter’s office did not provide enough of an independent review for his satisfaction. Vermont defender General Robert Appel said the Hunter case and the seizure of his files may “cause clients to pause before revealing confidences in the future, which in my mind undermines the attorney-client relationship.” Mello agreed. “If my client thinks the feds are going to be able to bust into my home and rifle through my files, then I think that reduces significantly the amount of confidence that my client will place in me when I tell her this is just between you and I,” he said. Mello said the Hunter case had already changed the way he dealt with records in his own home. “I now look at everything in my files and wonder how it will look if it is seized by federal agents,” he said. Putter said that he was also concerned about whether any files were seized pertaining to Vermont Law Week, a weekly review and summary of state supreme Court decisions published by Hunter’s first amendment rights by interfering with his right to publish, he said. Hunter said the files were on seized computers, but said he might be able to publish an issue by early next week if federal prosecutors would give him a copy of his mailing list. He declined to address any First Amendment concerns. [new title: Raids Increasing] Raids on law offices are increasing nationwide and are of growing concern to defense lawyers, according to Frank Jackson, a Dallas defense lawyer who serves as the co-chair of a lawyer assistance committee for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “All too often government entities target lawyers as being involved in criminal activities when the lawyer is actually just performing perfectly legal services and comporting themselves in the highest tradition of the bat,” Jackson said. He said clients often keep their lawyers in the dark about their criminal activities and a lawyer may take steps for a client “he deems rather innocuous that in hindsight can be considered criminal involvement by government authorities, and they raid these offices in hopes of confirming their suspicions.” Jackson said such raids threaten the public perception that lawyers’ offices are sanctuaries and have made lawyers frightened of talking on controversial cases. In particular, government prosecutors seem to focus in on lawyers who have been involved with drug cases, Jackson said. In some cases, he said, the government has succeeded in recovering payments made to lawyers by clients using drug money. Jackson said defense lawyers nationwide would likely “have to draw the line and test the power of government” in these situations. [new title: A ’Dicey Issue’] Lawyers also said the Hunter case raised the issue of how much a lawyer is expected to know about the sources of a client’s income. Putter noted that “attorneys don’t generally sit down and ask a client what their source of income is, where they got they money.” Mello said the question of how much a lawyer is expected to know about a client and the client’s finances is an “extremely dicey issue” that he debates with students in his ethics class. He theorized that in the present climate, lawyers are becoming more averse to risk and are more likely to raise such questions with their clients. Jackson maintained that lawyers shouldn’t feel responsible for investigating the finances of their clients. “I would day that if you’re a substantial criminal practitioner you have suspicions of everyone who walks through the door,” Jackson said. “If they walk through to hire you for a criminal citation, you assume they didn’t light a candle at vesper services last Sunday. If we were to assume the money came from criminal activity we would all have to lock our doors right now.” [end page] 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. 135/No. 143 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Riley, Charles 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 Raid raises questions about law privileges Subject The topic of the resource Police Raids Criminal Defense Lawyers Description An account of the resource The article discusses the raid of a criminal defense lawyer named William A. Hunter. The raid secured his records and files. The raid was due to federal investigators suspecting Hunter of helping his client launder money. The article discusses the problems with assuming criminal defense lawyers know where their clients income comes from. It also discusses how these raids raise questions on client confidentiality. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Anderson, Liz Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Anderson, Liz. "Raid Raises Questions about Law Privileges." Rutland Herald (Rutland, VT), Jun. 15, 1995. 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 1995-06-15 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 Rutland, VT https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/af978903ba3814b14038dc08185d5deb.jpg ab5560e78a1613bfe3877accdd8d362e 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document TALLAHASSEE - Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano, convicted of the torture-murder of an 18-year-old Orlando woman and the rape of another, has asked to be set free because the main evidence against him is being questioned. Spaziano's attorney asked Gov. Lawton Chiles for a clemency hearing, saying a key witness in the 21-year-old case now doubts his own hypnosis-enhanced testimony. Chiles stayed the execution two weeks ago after newspapers reported that Anthony Dilisio doubts whether his testimony at the 1976 trial was true. Chiles ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Dilisio's claims. What began as an interview with the Pensacola man has expanded into a full-scale investigation involving dozens of witnesses. The challenge facing Chiles is which Diliso to believe - the drugged-out would-be biker who testified at age 18 that Spaziano showed him Laura Harberts' mutiliated body, or the 37-year-old lay minister who says he can't remember his drug-using days and doubts Spaziano is a killer. Michael Mello, who represents Spaziano, said on Wednesday that the Cabinet should free Spaziano because Dilisio was the strongest element in the two cases. Chiles or any other member of the Cabinet - the attorney general, secretary of state and commissioners of education, insurance and agriculture - could call a clemency hearing. The governor, with tree members of the Cabinet, could commute Spaziano's sentence, pardon him or uphold the sentence. Spaziano last requested clemency in March, but was refused a hearing. In preparing that request, Spaziano's state-appointed attorneys interviewed Dilisio, but he told them he could shed no new light on the case. 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. Schmidt, Heidi 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 requests clemency hearing 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 1 JPG 300 dpi Language A language of the resource English Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Dilisio, Anthony Clemency Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Associated Press Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Associated Press, "Killer requests clemency hearing" Description An account of the resource Joe Spaziano is seeking clemency after the key witness in the trial doubts his testimony was accurate. Another investigation into the case 21 years later has been authorized by the Governor of Florida. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997 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 Anthony Dilisio Clemency Florida Joe Spaziano Lawton Chiles Michael Mello murder newspaper stay of execution witness https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/bf3973aa4bcbdae112f27b984c158075.jpg 8dea838a50aa6fbca2c878a857ba8e53 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [[Start Page]] TALLAHASSEE-- An agency that finds volunteer lawyers to handle appeals for inmates on death row is closing its doors in anticipation of losing its $1.5 million in federal funding. Tallahassee-based Volunteer Laywers' Post-Conviction Defenders Organization, which recently handled the unsuccessful appeal of Bernard Bolander, has been laying off staff and trying to find attorneys to take over the 50 cases on its books before losing its doors Sept. 30, Matthew Lawrey, the center's co-director said Tuesday. All but eight of the agency's original 23 staff members have been laid off as the center set about implementing a directive from the Administrative Office of the Federal Courts to begin an orderly shutdown. The office formerly called the Resource Center, is one of 20 such centers being shutdown across the nation. Earlier this summer, the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee eliminated the $20 million in funding for the centers that handled the appeals of about half of the nation's 3,000 death row inmates. In a letter to attorney Mike Mello, who represents death row inmate Joe Spaziano, agency co-director Jennifer Greenberg wrote the group will be unable to help in assisting with Spaziano's appeal or with the investigation of issues in his case. Spaziano is scheduled to die Sept. 21. Unlike some other states-- such as Texas -- Florida has a state agency, the Office of Capital Collateral Representative, which also handles death row inmates' appeals. Mike Minerva, head of CCR, said he doesn't yet know how the closing of the lawyers' organization will affect his caseload. "It may leave some clients without counsel," Minerva said. His office said it would be able to handle most of the cases, if it receives additional funding. Some cases, he said, such as those of co-defendants, have to be handled by someone else, to avoid conflict-of-interest problems. Right now, CCR is handling appeals for about half of Florida's 350 death row inmates. [[End Page]] 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. Huber, Amanda 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 Agency that helps inmates on death row to close doors 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 1995-08-30 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 Death row Description An account of the resource In Tallahassee Florida an agency is being shut down that helps inmates on death row. The agency is losing its federal funding and cannot keep its doors open for inmates. Another agency in Florida is going to attempt to take over the caseload. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Associated Press Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 DPI 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, FL Florida Death Row https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/57d2021c5fc3f66f18bd96fda50be466.jpg 1c0501f5d843d6cd398d8cbdad45a81a https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/41b4f1a825dde81ea086493806645d39.jpg b690447292c8949178aff58412dbe686 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ef6587ffa22d3ebc1a990a8143a8c8e9.jpg a0b8281ccf33e6ff5a708d9015646460 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [image - Anthony Dilisio] [image caption - Anthony Dilisio was 16 when he testified against Joseph 'Crazy Joe' Spaziano. His testimony helped send Spaziano to death row. Dilisio said he's no longer sure what he saw 20 years ago.] [end page] [start page] A Pensacola man who recanted 20-year-old testimony that put a man on death row said that he's been overwhelmed in the past week by media and criminal investigators intent on hearing his story. But Anthony Dilisio, an upholsterer and car restorer who's lived here for seven years, said he doesn't feel responsible for the conviction of Joseph Spaziano. Nor does he feel guilty because Spaziano spent two decades in prison waiting to be executed for the murder of an Orlando woman, Laura Lynn Harberts, 18. "I did what I felt was right, this was a life-and-death situation," said Dilisio, 37, a born-again Christian who was 16 when he testified against Spaziano. "I was a child, I've put my childish ways behind me." Gov. Lawton Chiles last week stayed Spaziano's execution, scheduled for Tuesday, after viewing a videotape of the recantation. Dilisio said Thursday: "I don't know if Joe Spaziano is guilty or innocent. One thing I do know is there was a young child manipulated." The case has captured national attention because Spaziano, 51, has been on death row longer than all but eight of Florida's more than 350 condemned. Also, Dilisio implicated Spaziano while under hypnosis -- a practice since out- See RECANTED, back of section [end page] [start page] lawed in Florida because experts believe it's too easy for police to suggest things to hypnotized witnesses. The Florida Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that hypnosis-induced testimony could no longer be used in court cases. Dilisio said that since authorities learned that he wasn't sure of what he saw in 1973, he's the one who's been under scrutiny. "It's almost like they're investigating me,” he said in an interview Thursday. He’s learned that investigators have interviewed his entire family since his claims were first made public June 11. When police approached Dilisio about the slaying, he was in a juvenile detention center. He had been friends with Spaziano, known as “Crazy Joe,” who headed the Orlando chapter of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, and told police that Spaziano bragged to him of the killing. After his court testimony, Dilisio fled to California. He moved to Pensacola in 1988 and has lived in a one-story brick bungalow at the dead-end of a street on the north side for at least four years Friendly handyman Neighbors describe Dilisio, who they call Tony, as the street’s friendly handyman. He fixes their cars, uses his riding mower to cut grass for those who need help and is always ready for small talk. No one had any idea he’d been mixed up in a murder case. “I can’t say anything negative about him,” said neighbor Brenda Qualls, who, like Dilisio, attends Brownsville Assembly of God. “He’s such a nice person, friendly, if you need help with something he’ll be glad to help you.” Most on the street like watching his progress as he restores classic cars, which line his well-tended front lawn. No bodies In his murder trial testimony in Orlando, Dilisio said Spaziano took him to a dump and showed him two bodies. One was identified as Harberts, a medical technician. The other was so decomposed it couldn’t be identified. Now, “Anthony can’t remember everything,” said Kelly McGraw, one of his Pensacola attorneys, “But he does remember he didn’t see the bodies.” Last week agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement videotaped an interview with a Miami Herald reporter. Local FDLE officials would not comment. Tallahassee officials could not be reached Thursday. Dilisio’s lawyers say they don’t know what will happen next, legally. Neither does Spaziano’s attorney, Michael Mello of White River Junction, Vt. Without Dilisio, “the state had no case against my client,” Mello said in a telephone interview. Dilisio, clearly a man feeling pressured, underwent a barrage of media interviews Thursday – including one with ABC News. During an interview in his lawyer’s office, his voice quavered and he deflected most personal questions. He wouldn’t sit down. “All I want to do is let justice prevail,” he said. “I’m taking one of these,” he said, picking up a pack of cigarettes from a desk in his lawyer’s office. He swears he’s quit smoking, but he took a few drags, then gave the cigarette away. Born again Dilisio, a born-again Christian for the past 15 years, said he first wrestled with guilt about his earlier testimony – “I thought I did something wrong.” But now he said, God is guiding him, and led a Miami Herald reporter to his doorstep. It was a while talking to the reporter, Lori Rozsa, three weeks ago that he realized he didn’t really remember seeing what he testified to decades before. “I just kept feeling like it was the Holy Spirit,” he said. Thursday he was afraid the media would mock him. “Here’s trash that waited 20 years to come forward,” he said, sneering. “It took a lot of courage to stand up.” Spaziano’s lawyer is bitter. “This is my last capital case. What kind of a lawyer am I?,” Mello said. “I’ve been defending this innocent man for 11 years and it took the Miami Herald to stay the execution.” ---------------------------------------------------------- News Journal reporter Winnie Hu contributed to this report. 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. Tolbert, Carson 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 Pensacolian halts man's execution Subject The topic of the resource Pensacola (Fla.). Police Department Hypnotism Law and legislation Description An account of the resource Anthony Dilisio, a car upholsterer and restorer, recanted a twenty year old testimony made on May 13, 1975 that placed Joseph Spaziano on death row for the murders of two people in 1976. At the time of the testimony, Dilisio, then a sixteen year old, was under the influence of hypnotism administered by the Pensacola Police Department. Hypnotism has since been made illegal due to the chances of hypnotic suggestion by those in control of the process. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Barnes, Brad Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Pensacolian halts man's execution," News Journal, Brad Barnes Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 3 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 Pensacola, FL Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996 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/6c0592c73db8dee6f00712275d0d563b.jpg 2c031e0106e7cd4d88fd2ce60b52c7a3 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 Gov. Chiles Halts Execution After Witness Recants Description An account of the resource Witness comes forward and claims the Florida Police feed him information while under hypnosis. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Booth, William Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Washington Post Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-06-16 Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Mello_76 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant FL Subject The topic of the resource Death penalty Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Washington 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 3, 1995 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. Cusumano, Laura Text Any textual data included in the document Miami, June 16- The imminent execution of the killer they call “Crazy Joe” Spaziano, sentenced to death 20 years ago based on the testimony of a hypnotized witness, was halted by Gov. Lawton Chiles (D) this week after the crucial witness claimed he made up his testimony. The governor’s decision highlights the lingering legacy of cases in which “repressed memories” were unearthed by hypnotist and psychologist – a practice that is now widely criticized as too fallible to be used in courtrooms. The case, too has fueled debate over the death sentence. Joseph Spaziano’s case has been reviewed and upheld by the Florida Supreme Court and twice by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Stalled execution of Spaziano, who was convicted in 1975 of mutilating and murdering a young hospital worker two years earlier, has generated tremendous controversy because Spaziano was found guilty based largely on testimony of one man who – two decades later – claims that police and investigators “refreshed his drug-addled teenage memory with hypnosis and essentially planted details of a Spaziano confession in his mind. Tony Dilisio, now 37 and a self-described born-again Christian, told investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement this week that his testimony years ago was essentially fabricated. [image - Joe Spaziano] [image caption - Florida governor will review the case of Joseph 'Crazy Joe' Spaziano.] The videotape of his session with FDLE officers was shown to Chiles and his attorneys. Chiles on Thursday halted the execution scheduled for June 27, and asked for further investigation. The governor has not granted clemency and Spaziano could eventually face the Electric chair for his murder of Laura Lyn Harberts. At Spaziano’s trial Dilisio, then a troubled teenager with a history of LSD and marijuana abuse, told the court that “Crazy Joe” of the Orlando Outlaws biker gang took him to a dump and pointed out the decomposing bodies of two women. “That’s my styles,” Spaziano boasted, according to Diliso’s testimony, pointing at of the women, her breast mutilated. But in an interview with the Miami Herald, Dilisio said: “I remember going there, but not with Joe Spaziano… The police took me.” He asked: “How do I know what I said back then was reliable? Especially if it came out under hypnosis.” Guided by hypnotist Joseph McCawley in 1975, Dilisio fingered Spaziano and later was the prosecution’s star witness. During a second session of hypnosis, McCawley said: “There are certain things bothering you in your subconscious mind. And you’re going to let these come out. You’re kind of purging your system.” When Dilisio remembered only one body at the dump, the hypnotist asked: “Is there another body, with this body that you’re looking [at]? Think this out. It will be easier later, Tony, much easier.” Testimony recounting so-called repressed memories generated by hypnosis has largely been discredited in recent years. The Florida Supreme Court ruled after Spaziano’s conviction that hypnotically induced testimony should be banned from criminal trials, but the ruling did not apply to earlier cases such as Spanziano’s. Spanziano’s attorneys have sought support from experts who decry the practice. In one letter to Spaziano’s lawyers, a trio of scholars, including Richard Ofshe, a University of California sociologist, write: “Mr. Diliso’s testimony was utterly worthless, at best, and more likely dangerously mistaken.” The campaign to save Spaziano from the electric chair was initiated by his attorney, Michael Mello, now a professor at Vermont Law School. In editorial page articles that ran in several Florida newspapers, Mello wrote, “Mr. Spaziano is, I believe in my bone marrow, innocent. This fact makes him unique among my death row clients. When I was a Florida public defender, my caseload was 35 condemned men; in all, I have been closely involved in about 70.” Mello wrote that Spaziano’s jury recommended against the death penalty, mostly because of nagging doubts about his guilt. Yet because Spaziano was a drug abuser and member of the Outlaws biker gang, jurors did not want to see him on the loose. The judge disregarded the recommendation and ordered death. According to Mello, “Crazy Joe” got his nickname for good cause. “You see, Mr. Spaziano is crazy, That’s the truth. It’s a truth that shames and humiliates himself in his eyes.” Spaziano suffered a severe head injury after being run over by an automobile in 1966. At the trial, he had trouble recalling day-to-day details of what he did in 1973. After Chiles and his investigators review the case, they can take several actions, ranging from signing a fifth death warrant to pardoning Spaziano. Even if Spaziano is pardoned for killing of Harberts, he would continue to serve a life sentence for an unrelated rape and mutilation of a 16-year-old girl. 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 Gov. Chiles Halts Execution After Witness Recants Subject The topic of the resource Death penalty Description An account of the resource Witness claims Florida police planted story in his head using hypnosis. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Booth, William Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Washington 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 1995-06-16 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 "Crazy Joe" Spaziano Florida Supreme Court Gov. Lawton Chiles Joseph Spaziano Laura Lyn Harberts Michael A. Mello Richard Ofshe Tony Dilisio US Supreme Court https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/dc4d9fc66feca1995a9c20f94381fb16.jpg 57e45c4526f7f38873d11d829ba730f9 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document A reporter once found Public Defender Bob Jagger pacing his office floor as nervously as if he were the defendant about to go on trial. I asked Jagger why he was so anxious, since it was hardly his first murder case. “But this guy is innocent,” he said. “I'm afraid of making some mistake that will get him killed.” Fortunately for them not, the jury thought the man innocent too. I have written about many other criminal cases over the ensuing 30 years. What strikes me now is how very few other defense attorneys have proclaimed their clients’ innocence with such moral certitude as Jagger voiced that day. Almost always, they turned out to be right. So I urge you today to read Michael Mello’s heartfelt account, beginning one page 1D of this section, of his efforts, futile so far, to save Joseph “Crazy Jow” Spaziano from Florida’s electric chair, where he is now scheduled to die in just 23 days. It brings to mind how someone once described law as the “bastard offspring to justice.” In that instance, it was to decry mercy for guilty men. In this, the courts are using the law as an excuse to avoid facing the only question that can verify the justice or injustice of Spaziano’s execution: Was he proved guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt, of murdering Lynn Harberts? He was not. It doesn't matter that he was a biker, an outcast, a card-carrying Outlaw, or even that he also is a convicted rapist. What does matter to us all, if we do not want outrage perpetrated in the name of us all, is whether he is guilty of this murder. Even the jury had doubts, voting 9 to 3 for a life sentence instead of death. But though there is now impressive evidence that Spaziano’s trial was unfair and his conviction unjust, the courts have relied on procedural pretexts- technicalities, if you will- to refuse to let him present any of it to a new jury. The state’s entire case depended not he shaky testimony of a 16-year-old boy whose memory has been “refreshed” by hypnosis, at the hands of an arguably unqualified hypnosis who asked leading questions for the police. (The same hypnotist contributed to the infamous murder convictions of Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee, whom Gov. Reunion Askew eventually pardoned because he doubted their guilt.) The Florida Supreme Court no longer allows testimony induced by hypnosis. But where this was “harmless error” in multiple murder Ted Bundy’s case, the courts are content to let it be fatal error in Spaziano’s. There is also evidence that police withheld evidence pointing to the possible guilt of another man. Other men have been set free from death row for that. Not Spaziano. What out to be an unceasing search for truth has becom a morbid game of “Gotcha!” What is even more troubling is that Gov. Lawton Chiles, a man of conscience, has shut his mind and heart to the issue of Spaziano’s possible innocence. Our tradition acknowledges that the justice system can miscarry. This is one of the reasons for the power of executive clemency. Florida’s governor must share with his elected Cabinet, at least three of whose sex members must approve his recommendation for clemency. But though governors and Cabinets of the past weren't afraid to grant life sentences in similar cases, there haven't been any commutations for Florida’s death row since the third year of Bob Graham's first year, 14 years ago. Chiles wouldn't even give Spaziano a hearing. “It's one of the more frustrating experiences I've ever had,” says Tom Horkan, the longtime lobbyist (now retired) for the Florida Catholic Conference, who had signed Spaziano’s clemency petition “… He (Chiles) just has a flat-out attitude to the effect that it's up to the courts and it's not up to him.” Horkan said he had presented the governor’s office with Chief Justice William Rehnquist’s description of clemency as “’the fail-safe’ in out criminal justice system.” It was no use. In the 1993 case Horkan cited, the Supreme Court had ruled 6-3 that the Constitution does not bar states from executing people who may be innocent. But if governors like Chiles won't step in either, there is not fail-safe at all. “Everybody denies responsibility,” Horkan complains bitterly. “He (Chiles) says its up to the courts, the courts say it's up to the executive.” W. Dexter Douglass, the governor’s general counsel, argues that Spaziano has a hearing before Graham signed his first death warrant 10 years ago. “Hasn't anything changed,” says Douglass. Indeed, some things have changed. No one really thought that warrant would be carried out. It was assumed the courts would block it, as they did. But Spaziano did not get a new trial either. And of course, neither Chiles nor any of the present six Cabinet members sat in on the 1985 hearing. You would think they would be willing to hear Spaziano’s case for themselves if his blood had to be on their hands. At last count, there were 350 other people on death row, most of them guilty as hell. Aren't those enough, Governor? 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 Closing the door on innocence Subject The topic of the resource Death penalty Description An account of the resource News article covering Mello's continued defense of Joseph Spaziano 23 days before his execution is carried out. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dyckman, Martin 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 1995-06-04 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG 300 dpi 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 Language A language of the resource English death penalty Gov. Lawton Chiles Joseph Spaziano Michael A. Mello Ted Bundy US Supreme Court https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/9527903e1c8978ce8a0f59344070a78c.jpg fdc007b3ce6410d831d2416bf842f801 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [handwritten] Sunday- Aug. 27 [handwritten] St. Pete Times A man may die under cover of secrecy Martin Dyckman If Joe Spaziano had a fair trial, so did the Salem witches. For 302 years, no other American has been put to death on the unsupported testimony of an addled teenager. The state’s only witness now insists he lied under the influence of police pressure, hypnosis and possibly drugs at Spaziano’s murder trial 20 years ago. Yet the governor has ordered Spaziano’s electrocution to proceed Sept. 21. I do not understand how Lawton Chiles, a decent and considerate man, can be so certain. Even the jurors weren’t. They recommended life. Because this killing will be done in our names, we had all better pray that Spaziano really is the man who raped and butchered Laura Lynn Harberts, an Orlando hospital clerk, and left her body at a trash dump. But even if he is, there are serious implications that will outlive him. It will be the first time in memory that someone went to his death on the strength of secret evidence. Secret evidence! Even the Salem witches were condemned entirely in public. The governor has a Florida Department of Law Enforcement Report supposedly showing that the key witness, Tony DiLisio, was telling the truth then (and not now) when he testified that Spaziano took him to the dump and boastfully showed him the corpses of Harberts and another woman who was never identified. The FDLE’s new witnesses have never been heard or cross-examined in any court, however. They never will be, if the governor has his way, because the FDLE promised them confidentiality. It is claimed they are afraid of Spaziano’s former associates in the Outlaws motorcycle gang. This may be true. Still, courts have ways of putting witnesses on the stand without jeopardizing them. For example, one of the governor’s secret witnesses is said to be another former Outlaw already in the federal government’s witness protection program as an FBI informant. He says - according to the governor’s news release - that Spaziano had admitted to him before standing trial that he had killed the two women and had showed their bodies to a young man who he feared would betray him. Very interesting. For all we know, it could have been this witness himself who killed the women. The governor’s secret witnesses also supposedly include friends and family members who assert that the police and their lay hypnotist didn’t manipulate DiLisio and that he told the story he now denies before the hypnosis, before the trial, and for 20 years since. That too maybe true. But that governor’s secret evidence also includes the FDLE’s videotape of a June 14 interview with DiLisio in which he insists in forceful terms that what he says NOW is the truth. Such conflicts belong in open court rather than a secret file – especially when a life is at stake. I haven’t seen the tape. I do have what purports to be a transcript, sent by Spaziano’s attorney, Michael Mello, who has filed his bootleg copy of the tape with the Florida Supreme Court under seal. In the transcript, DiLisio says of the crucial visit to the dump that “The cops brought me there. I had never been there in my life until they brought me there.” Did Spaziano ever take him? “No, never.” Had he ever told the police anything before being hypnotized? “No, all the facts that I had I got from them to be able to read them back to them.” Throughout the transcript, the FDLE’s crack agent repeatedly refers to Spaziano as “Foranzo,” ”Sporanzo,” or “Spilanzo,” until DiLisio eventually corrects him. Could that be one of the reasons the governor doesn’t want the file made public? What else did the FDLE get wrong? And what has happened to the nation’s best open-government laws? Relying on a 1993 revision that caught the media lobby napping, Chiles invokes a total exemption for any record having to do with executive clemency. How convenient. Clemency happens to be one of the black holes of American jurisprudence. The Supreme Court won’t touch it. For all the courts care, the governor could go to Doak Campbell stadium at halftime and let the crowd decide Spaziano’s fate with thumbs up or thumbs down, Roman style. The governor’s spokesman, Ron Sachs, tried to persuade me it’s not a secret report because the governor and his staff have reviewed it “thoroughly.” Indeed. Much as we all love and respect Lawton Chiles, secrecy is a petri dish for corruption as well as for honest miscarriages of justice. Under such cover, a less trustworthy administration easily could sell pardons. It happened in Tennessee under Ray Blanton. Only the Florida Supreme Court, it appears, can now interrupt this fatal farce. Though the court no longer allows hypnotically induced testimony in criminal trials, it has refused to reopen Spaziano’s case on the grounds that his lawyers raised the issue too late. The state would argue that DiLisio’s recantation also comes too late. But, God help us all, what if he is telling the truth? Martin Dyckman is associate editor of the St. Petersburg Times. 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 A man may die under cover of secrecy Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Capital punishment Description An account of the resource Joe Spaziano's execution is still likely to occur even though the only witness recanted his testimony. Most of the evidence that Governor Lawton Chiles has to condemn Spaziano has not been made publicly available or brought to court. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Dyckman, Martin Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Dyckman, Martin. "A man may die under cover of secrecy." St. Petersburg Times. 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 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 St. Petersburg, FL Evidence Joe Spaziano https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/0be3e32dc6a9d6814437f358d6df468b.jpg 99856a149382d94854b68c39279bddfd https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/8ef11cd3c33ed5a28133c6f34f4fb56d.jpg c3051289f1e5750061d4c3d0bcac89e2 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Prosecutors in the Jeffrey Allen murder case lowered the charges to second-degree murder this week because of concern about proving premeditation in the trial that starts Monday. White River Junction District Court Judge Shireen Avis Fisher granted a motion from Windsor County State’s Attorney Patricia Zimmerman to amend the charge against Allen from first-degree to second-degree murder. Allen has admitted shooting his girlfriend’s ex-husband in a Bridgewater mobile home last Christmas Eve, but maintains it was in self-defense, his lawyer says. Second-degree murder “is easier to prove. Premeditation is not an element for second-degree cases,” Zimmerman said Friday. “That’s the only reason.” “They obviously didn’t think they had a prayer of convincing a jury on premeditation. There’s no other reason that I can think of,” said Michael Mello, a constitutional lawyer and criminal law professor at Vermont Law School. “They should not have indicted on first-degree murder to begin with.” Jeffrey Allen was arrested at the Daly Hollow Road trailer he shared with Marjorie Allen shortly after the early morning shotgun shooting of Richard Allen, 58, of Epsom, N.H. The two men are not related. Richard Allen allegedly broke into the trailer and punched Jeffrey Allen in the face after finding him in bed with Marjorie Allen, according to a state police affidavit. Jeffrey Allen then secluded himself for five hours in the trailer bedroom while Richard Allen talked to his ex-wife in the kitchen. She divorced her husband in 1992 after a violent and abusive marriage, according to court documents. Jeffrey Allen told police he believed the other man was drinking beer through the night and Richard Allen had yelled insults at him in a threatening manner. Shortly after 5 a.m., Richard Allen allegedly walked down the trailer hallway, opened the door to the bedroom, and was shot in the chest, police said. “There’s no question that Jeffrey Allen fired the weapon. We continue to maintain that he did so in self-defense, and that it was a fully justifiable shooting,” said Matthew Levine, Allen’s defense attorney. Mello, who said he was “loathe to criticize” Zimmerman, said the lesser charges “indicates that she’s pretty nervous about her case. And she should be. This is one of the strongest claims of self-defense that I have seen in a dog’s age.” He also said that the original first-degree murder indictment may have been an effort by Zimmerman to encourage a plea bargain by Allen. “One possibility, and prosecutors do this all the time in death cases, is they prosecute high in hopes that getting a first-degree murder indictment will strong-arm the defendant into a plea bargain,” Mello said. “If that was her aim in this case, it obviously didn’t work.” “I guess the difficulty I have is Mike Mello knows nothing about the case. I don’t see bringing first-degree murder charges an inducing a plea agreement,” Zimmerman responded. “The reality is you always know more about a case after you file charges (and hear from the defense) rather than before you file charges.” Zimmerman, who is expected to rely on the testimony of Marjorie Allen as a key part of her prosecution, said, “It’s the state’s burden to prove that it wasn’t self-defense.” Levine declined to reveal whether Jeffrey Allen would take the witness stand. “He won’t necessarily have to call the defendant,” Mello said. “What’s critical is that Mr. Levine be able to persuade the jury that the defendant subjectively believed that he was in imminent danger by the victim, and that that belief was reasonable.” And that will depend on the circumstances of the case, other lawyers agree. “Maybe the guy was terrified. Maybe he wasn’t. And if he was terrified, did have a reason to be terrified?" asked Harry Black, a defense attorney in White River Junction. “If Charles Manson is coming after me with a knife, I have a lot more reason to be scared than someone who I know is a reasonable person and can be talked out of it. I’d have a lot more justification in shooting Charlie.” Jury selection starts Monday morning, and the trial is expected to last less than two weeks. Allen faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted of the new charges. 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. Brokaw, Marianne 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 Murder charge reduced in Allen case 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 Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Murder Mello, Michael Description An account of the resource Charges against Jeffrey Allen in the shooting death of Richard Allen have been reduced from first-degree to second-degree murder. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gregg, John Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-8-12 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant White River Junction, VT Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Gregg, John. "Murder charges reduced in Allen case," Rutland Daily Herald, August 12, 1995, morning addition. capital punishment Jeffrey Allen Michael Mello murder umw https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/afdd6ae7dde34478d4e55907efef8cfa.jpg ba7d2e9f4bd39064bab52bab732a838c https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/482feeecb838205c3104cb539b1ea4b0.jpg be10d9d54df35adf06a2665d6a7ef9ca 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document TALLAHASSEE - Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano, convicted of the torture-murder of an Orlando woman and the rape of another, asked Florida's Cabinet Wednesday to set him free. Spaziano's lawyer faxed a request for a clemency hearing to Gov. Lawton Chiles, arguing that a key witness in the 2-decade-old cases now doubts his own hypnosis-enhanced testimony. The request comes the same week that Spaziano had been scheduled to die for the murder of 18-year old hospital clerk Laura Harberts. Chiles stayed the execution two weeks ago, after newspaper reported that Anthony Dilisio now doubts whether his testimony at the 1976 trial was true. Chiles ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Dilisio's claims. What began as an interview with the Pensacola man has expanded into a full-scale investigation involving dozens of witnesses. A report is scheduled to be released next week, but sources said Chiles could be briefed as soon as Friday. The Challenge facing Chiles is which Dilisio to believe - the would-be biker who testified at age 18 that Spaziano showed him Harberts' mutilated body, or the 37-year-old lay minister with a history of substance abuse who says he can't remember the body and doubts Spaziano is a killer. Dilisio also was an important witness tying Spaziano to the 1974 rape, for which the Outlaws motorcycle club member is serving a life sentence. Dilisio testified in a 1975 trials that Spaziano bragged about raping the 16-year-old Orange County girl, slashing neck and eyes, choking her and leaving her for dead in woods. "I don't want to remember any of this," he told The Orlando Sentinel. "It was through the grace of God that this memory has been crased from my mind." Michael Mello, who represents Spaziano, said Wednesday that Chiles and the Cabinet should free Spaziano because Dilisio was the strongest element in the two cases. A spokeswoman in the governor's general counsel office said there would be no comment until the hearing request is reviewed. FDLE investigators and Chiles' advisers have said previously, however, that Dilisio stopped short of recanting when questioned by investigators recently. Spaziano last requested clemency in March, but officials refused to grant a hearing. In preparing that request, Spaziano's state-appointed attorneys interviewed Dilisio, but he told them he could shed no new light on the case. Four months later, Dilisio said the hypnosis police used to coax memories from him was "witchcraft that poisoned a young, impression able teen-ager's mind." But one officer who helped build the cases against Spaziano disputes the claim. Court files show Dilisio told rape investigators on Oct. 10. 1974 - seven months before he was hypnotized - that Spaziano took him to where he had left mutilated bodies. Retired Altamonte Springs police investigator James Martindale said Spaziano already was a suspect in the Orange County rape case when Seminole County detectives began looking at links to Harberts' killing and the dumping of her body at an Altamonte Springs dump. He remembers Dilisio as a scared teen who seemed to know more about the crimes than he let on. Martindale said he thinks Dilisio pretended that detectives had to draw the information out of him. "It was a game to him," Martindale said, "The hypnosis, in my opinion, did not solve the case. He [Dilisio] was just covering his tail." A transcript of a May 13, 1975, interview - Dilisio's last interview before hypnosis - shows he told investigators Spaziano had bragged about the Outlaws gang-raping hitchhikers he had picked up. He said Spaziano told him he killed the women, cut off their breasts and dumped them in an orange grove. When investigators pressed Dilisio, he said he could not remember and agreed to be hypnotized. "I never did," Dilisio said after being asked if he was involved in the killings, "That's why I'm saying, 'I go under hypnosis and you find out what I used to know that I don't know now.'" Dilisio said that's week that he did not remember the interview and would not read the transcript, which his lawyer has reviewed. "I believe the Lord didn't want me to read the transcript," Dilisio said. "That's not who I am now." Dilisio said he was a troubled teen with a terrible home life, including a bad relationship with his father and stepmother. The detectives were nice to him and he wanted to please them. "They treated me like I was special," Dilisio said. Mello also hopes to raise problems with the rape case. Prosecutors had little physical evidence, such as the knife or sperm. Their case relied heavily on Dilisio and the victim, whose testimony was troublesome. She had lied, first claiming Spaziano and another man kidnapped her at knifepoint. Later she said she willingly went into their vehicle to smoke marijuana. She also failed at first to identify Spaziano in a police lineup. First she told investigators she wasn't sure then said she really did recognize her attacker but was afraid to identify him. She told detectives she could never forget his "evil" eyes but never mentioned that her attacker had tattoos. Despite the troubles, the victim told jurors at the trial that she was absolutely sure Spaziano was the attacker. To this day, the woman, who lost vision in one eye, is positive Spaziano raped her. Chiles or a member of the Cabinet - the attorney general, secretary of state and commissioners of education, insurance and agriculture - could schedule a clemency hearing. The Cabinet could uphold the death sentence, commute it to life or pardon Spaziano all together. Spaziano has had six appeals of his murder case rejected by the state Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. Appeals in the rape case have also been rejected. Debbie Salamone, Sharon McBreen, Beth Taylor and Christopher Quinn of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Murray, Daryl 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 Spaziano asks Chiles, Cabinet for clemency hearing Subject The topic of the resource Torture murder and rape case Spaziano, Joe Chiles, Lawton, 1930-1998 Description An account of the resource Joe Spaziano was convicted of torture murder of an Orlando woman and raping another. But he was freed by a Florida Cabinet. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Griffin, Michael Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived “Spaziano asks Chiles, Cabinet for clemency hearing,” HIST298, accessed February 8, 2017, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/items/show/180. 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 1995-06-29 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 Orlando, FL Chiles Dilisio Florida hypnosis murder Orlando Woman Outlaws rape Spaziano https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/57864f6eef015ae70aee39be6d4408fa.jpg 75c7a50af141a9718863751efeb4bab9 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Clearwater - Rather than prolong their client's stay on death row with legal appeals, the attorneys for Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano want him declared innocent and pardoned by the governor. "We have made the decision that after 20 years of being in the courts, Mr. Spaziano's best chance of justice lies with the governor," said Pat Doherty, one of Spaziano's attorneys. Doherty and Spaziano's other attorney, Mike Mello, sent a letter to Gov. Lawton Chiles this week informing him of their decision to file a petition for clemency. In the petition, they will ask Chiles to pardon Spaziano, Doherty said. Spaziano was schedules to die June 27 for the 1973 murder of Orlando nurse Laura Lynn Harberts. But Tony Dilisio, a key witness against Spaziano, told Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents that he was manipulated by investigators and his testimony was false. On June 15, Chiles called off the execution indefinitely. Dilisio has said he will sign the clemency petition, Doherty said. Chiles spokesman Ron Sachs said he did not know if the letter had been received. If it had, it would be sent to the governor's lawyers for review. Sachs described clemency as an act of mercy "approved sparingly, if at all, in capital cases." Normally, with a stay of execution, the attorneys would be scrambling to appeal the case. Doherty said he and Mello feel it would take a long time to prepare a new case to go before the court. At any time, Spaziano's execution could be rescheduled, and the case might not be ready. Many of the witnesses necessary to a new case are out of the country and it would take months, even years before a hearing could be set, Doherty said. "The problem is the courts have had 20 years to set aside this case and they have chosen not to do so," Doherty said. Besides, Doherty said, at this stage, the courts would be reviewing the case for technical violations in earlier trials. The merits of the case itself would not be discussed and so the courts cannot give Spaziano what his lawyers say he deserves, vindication. "We want him to walk," Doherty said. " He never committed this crime." The attorneys realize the strategy is risky. Chiles has granted stays of execution in the past, only to resign the death order later. 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. Guidon, John 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 Spaziano to take case to governor instead of courts Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Henry, Kaylois 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 1995-06-24 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 Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Description An account of the resource Spaziano's lawyers want him to be declared innocent and pardoned by Governor Chiles. One of the key witnesses for Spaziano's original case admitted he lied in his original witness testimony. Clemency Joe Spaziano Mike Mello Tony Dilisio https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/77b19c9ffd6609db8c41760f5d9130a8.jpg 37a80ed11aa32623a1a68c18187af198 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/387002369995ce855318045cf856c8d4.jpg a367fe50b367050c35e784e6fd7baf34 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Connecticut’s Death Penalty Bills Open the Door to More Executions By Kirk Johnson Hartford, April 7 – The State of Connecticut has put six murderers on death row in recent years under a penal code with roots in the harsh doctrines of the 1630’s. But, there has not been an actual execution here since the closing days of the Eisenhower Administration. Now a package of bills – approved by both the State House and Senate and nearing Gov. John G. Rowland’s enthusiastic signature – would make it significantly easier for juries to impose the death penalty and the state to carry it out. The new Connecticut law would streamline and shorten the appeals process and broaden the list of crimes that could result in the forfeit of a life. "We had a death penalty in name only," said State Representative Dale Radcliff, a Republican attorney from Trumbill who helped rewrite the law. "What we did was remove the hypocrisy. This makes the penalty a workable statute." Some legal experts flatly predict, in fact, that the long unofficial moratorium on executions in the Northeast – the last one anywhere between Pennsylvania and Maine occurred in 1963 – could very likely be broken here. "Connecticut is going to be the first leak in the dam," said Randall Coyne, a professor of law at the University of Oklahoma and the author of a state-by-state comparison of death penalty legislation. Experts like Professor Coyne said that although New York State's recent reinstatement of the death penalty has received most of the national attention, Connecticut's tinkering goes further toward making punishment by death a reality. In New York, for example, juries will weigh aggravating factors like the brutality or cruelty of the crime against mitigating factors in the defendants background, like an abusive, tortured childhood. The panel may then decide, after that calculus, that the death penalty is not justified in any event. In Connecticut, the new law would allow no discretion. If aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors, the die is cast and the sentence is death. If the mitigating factors outweigh or equal the aggravating factors, a second iron-clad choice is required, 60 years to life in prison. The threshold for weighting the factors will also be lower here. In New York, juries must find that the aggravating factors tiling toward a death sentence substantially outweigh mitigating factors. In Connecticut, an amendment with moderating language similar to New Tork's was defeated, so that even a slight prepoderance of factors working against the defendant could mean a death sentence. The new law would relieve the Connecticut Supreme Court, which must review all death sentences, of a burdensome and time-consuming survey designed to make sure that the defendant's sentence was not disproportionate to sentences for other similar crimes. Both New York and New Jersey, which reinstituted its death penalty in 1982, require proportion studies to insure that a death sentence was not dictated by passions or other factors peculiar to the defendant's case. Referring to Connecticut's old death penalty law, Michael Mello, a professor of law at Vermont Law School, and the author of two books on capital punishment, said, "Connecticut had what I would call one of the most careful and reliable capital statutes in the country – they made the decision that we want to err on the side of mercy rather than risk executing innocent people." The new code, Professor Mello said, "will most Connecticut into the national mainstream, and particularly in the mainstream of the death belt states of the old Confederacy, where the death penalty is now and has been historically much more of a reality and a presence than it has been in the Northeast." Connecticut's Chief State's Attornery, John M. Bailey, agreed that there will be more death sentences, and he also believes that Connecticut will be the first in the region to carry out an execution. But he said that safeguards remain in place that will still make capital trials more scrupulous than in southern states. In states like Florida or Texas, Mr. Bailey said, nearly any murder can qualify for consideration as a death penalty case. Connecticut has a preliminary threshold for capital felonies, like limiting the option to crimes like multiple murder, murder during a sex crime, or the murder of a police or corrections officer. The new law would also add another category to the list of possible death penalty cases, the murder of someone under age 16. It would substitute death by lethal chemical injection for the electric chair, which state prison officials have said would have needed $500,000 of refurbishing work. "We still don't have an easy death penalty," Mr Bailey said. However, he added, using the phrase that most supporters of the bill habitually repeat, the new code, unlike the old one, will be "workable." " The old law was drawn to make sure that even though we had a death penalty law, no one in fact would ever face the death penalty," he said. But even the most enthusiastic supporters of the new law concede that years of legal review and court challenges lie ahead. And some also say they feat it may be fraught with Constitutional problems. Citing one example, Senator George C. Jepsen, the former Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said that the combination of adding a new category of capital felony – the murder of a child – and at the same time eliminating the Supreme Court's proportionality yest for measuring one case against all others with similar circumstances make appeals based on "arbitrary or capricious," sentencing harder to combat. "We might put 10 people on death row in the next seven to eight years and have the whole thing thrown out," said Mr. Jepson, who voted for the bills, and who said he will do so again when the package makes one last appearance before the Senate, probably this week, for approval of a final technical change in wording. Mr. Jepson said he doesn't believe Connecticut will go crazy executing people, partly because in the end, the process will still be left in the hands of jurors who can find reasons not to vote for death. One jury decided against a death sentence in a case several years ago for example, because the defendant's good behavior in prison was considered a mitigating factor. Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Hiser, Kristopher 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 Connecticut's Death Penalty Bills Open the Door to More Executions Subject The topic of the resource Connecticut. Capital punishment--United States. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Johnson, Kirk Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource Article in the New York Times describing the passage of new death penalty statues in Connecticut. After years of technically having a death penalty that could not be implemented in practice, Connecticut is about to have a "workable" death penalty. In the article, legal experts describe the danger of such a law while legislators in favor of its passage make comments in attempt to alleviate such concerns. 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 1995-04-10 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 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 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived New York Times Aggravating circumstances Connecticut Connecticut death penalty Dale Radcliff Death belt Florida death penalty George C. Jepsen John M. Bailey Mitigating circumstances New York death penalty New Jersey death penalty Randall Coyne Southern death penalty Texas death penalty Trumbull https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/c9d1053373f7f88a1d0b8cef293451b7.jpg f4f8d341dffb1d5290db2567c109bcfd 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 The case of the hypnotized witness 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 3, 1995 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. Kintz, Amber Text Any textual data included in the document Since 1978, 34 men convicted of homicide have been killed in Florida’s electric chair, a.k.a. “Old Sparky.” The 35th was to have been Joseph Spaziano, on death row for 19 years for the 1973 murder of Laura Harbets, a young hospital worker whose body was found in a Seminole County dump. In the 1975 trial, the jury, which was twice deadlocked but ordered to push on, recommended for a life sentence for the former president of the Orlando Outlaws Motorcycle Brotherhood. Florida is among the states allowing judges, in their robed wisdom and knowing they must run for reelection, to override sentencing juries. This one ordered death. In late May, Gov. Lawton Chiles issued a death warrant for Spaziano’s execution on June 27. On June 16, following an unprecedented outflow of editorial’s in the state’s major newspapers calling for either clemency or a new trial because of the flimsiness of the state’s case, Chiles granted a temporary stay of execution. Like previous chief executives of Florida—the state is second to Texas in the number of executions—Chiles does not hesitate to sign death warrants. He is not alone in his belief. Congress, the Supreme Court and Bill Clinton are now a united chorus for quickening the pace of executions. The president, calling appellate delays “ridiculous” and “interminable,” agrees with Republican death penalty champions that one appeal is plenty. The Spaziano case starkly counters this voguish faith in hurried justice. Twenty years were needed for doubts about Spaziano’s guilt to filter up to a governor and persuade him to pause and consider the defendant’s persistent claim of innocence. Among the glaring dubieties, the major one involves the fingering testimony of the state’s key witness, Tony Dilisio, a 16-year-old LSD and pot user when the crime occurred. When first questioned he offered only vague and uncorroborated accounts of what Spaziano allegedly said in general about murdering people. To jog the youth’s memory—no physical evidence was found to connect Spaziano to the crime—police interrogators called upon a hypnotist. Thus entranced, Dilisio now “remembered” that Spaziano had taken him to the dump to show him the victim’s body and brag of killing her. The jury was not told by Spaziano’s lawyer that the recollection of the dump site was induced by hypnosis. Florida now thinks better of allowing this sort of quackery into courtrooms. It was outlawed—though not retroactively—in 1985. Dilisio, now 37, agrees. Located by Miami Herald investigative reporters last month, he stated: “Surely they’re not going to let Spaziano go to the chair, to have his blood shed, on what a confused and scared kid said.” Dilisio added that he “could very well have been brainwashed. . . . With hypnosis, they plant things in your head.” The case turned on that planting. The prosecutor told the court, “If we can’t get in the testimony of Tony Dilisio, we’d have absolutely no case whatsoever.” As in nearly all death penalty cases involving questionable procedures and sketchy evidence, it was a lawyer of relentless energy who argued for Spaziano’s innocence. Michael Mello, a professor of Vermont Law School, author of two dozen law review articles on capital punishment, and one of a handful of specialists in post-conviction homicide law, is a former Florida public defender who has represented some 70 condemned men. Mello has practiced long enough to know that review courts, including the Supreme Court trade in questions of procedure and rarely on evidentiary issues of guilt or innocence. They are part of an increasingly busy assembly line, with death rows packed with nearly 3,000 people. Mello is an experienced professional skilled in unearthing evidence that persuades skeptics. This case, so riddled with questionable tactics, and based on one person’s sketchy testimony, prompts him to say: “I’m convinced Spaziano is innocent. I have never encountered a murder conviction that smells so rotten at its core.” Of his role in gaining the governor’s attention, Mello, who has worked pro bono on the case, is modest: “The execution was stayed because of the Miami Herald’s old-fashioned gumshoe reporting. It tracked down Dilisio and for the first time in 20 years he talked. It was not any defense lawyer or judge who stopped this execution. The Herald saved the legal system from itself.” True, so far. Spaziano could still get the chair. His hope for freedom is to be decided this month by the Florida Board of Executive Clemency, consisting of the governor and his Cabinet. One of its seven members is the attorney general, whose office is hellbent to see Spaziano killed. In a July 27 motion, it smear Michael Mello as “unethical” for having successfully publicized the case: He “lathered up the media to accomplish exactly what he wanted.” That’s quite a claim. It’s about as credible as the original—and now disavowed—testimony of the hypnotized teenage druggie. 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 The case of the hypnotized witness Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McCarthy, Colman 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 1995-08-05 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, D.C. Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Hypnotism Chiles, Lawton, 1930-1998 Spaziano, Joe Mello, Michael Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "The Case of the Hypnotized Witness,” The Washington Post, August 5, 1995. McCarthy, Colman Description An account of the resource The article discusses the swiftness that the judicial system prefers the capital punishment system operate. Joseph Spaziano's case received a large amount of publicity and another appeal due to the vague testimony offered by a witness who had been hypnotized to "remember" what he had seen. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ec860cc8d367d2d39601af5117f97989.jpg 2ec3987385b27c49403992f236348ebc https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/ec3685ae537c9d95e39a2773d0ce91c6.jpg a387af6dcf48eca164815bb2a4f1a24c 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document To the lawyers defending him, Raleigh Porter sometimes seems like a ghost already, Porter, who's scheduled to be executed Wednesday, would not face the electric chair if his appeals were being considered today, they say. But Porter doesn't live in the present - not the legal present, anyway. Instead, he inhabits another legal world, one that has been dead and buried for a decade. Soon enough, unless the courts intervene, Porter will finally be put to rest, just like the old rules and standards that determined his fate. Even then, though, Raleigh Porter's case - and the problems it symbolizes - are likely to keep haunting the courts. Convicted in 1978 of strangling two Port Charlotte retirees, Porter seemed to be a good candidate to be spared the electric chair: At his sentencing [[end page]] [[start page]] hearing, he won a recommendation of life in prison from the jury. BY most accounts, it was one of Porter's lawyers who pulled it off. In his closing argument, attorney Robert Jacobs read a description of an electric-chair execution: "The executioner threw the switch. My father smashed into his straps as if hit by a train. He snapped back and forth, cracking like a whip. The leather straps groaned and creaked. Smoke rose from my father's head. . . . When the current was turned off my father's rigid body suddenly slumped in the chair, and it perhaps occurred to the witnesses that what they had taken for the shuddering spasmic movements of his life for God know how many seconds was instead a portrait of electric current, normally invisible, moving through a field of resistance." [[end page]] [[start page]] As it turned out, this was fiction - and not entirely accurate fiction - from a novel, E.L. Doctorow's The book of Daniel. But it may have worked. Something did. The jury voted unanimously for life. The judge in the case, Richard M. Stanley of Naples, wasn't so sympathetic. And unbeknown to Porter's lawyers, he'd already decided that Porter should die. "The court is aware that a death by electrocution is not a pretty sight, but then neither were the pictures of the bodies of the old married couple," Stanley intoned a few days later. "The totality of the circumstances dictate the death penalty be imposed." In looking back on the sentence, Stanley says: "I thought about that old man and old woman, married over 50 years...and then one had to watch the other being strangled." Evolving policies Even before the judge pronounced Porter's fate, the state Supreme Court had decided that jury recommendations would be followed when there was any plausible reason for doing so. But when it comes to the modern death penalty, it's often hard to know just what the law is, or what it means. For two to three years in the mid-1980s, for example, the state Supreme Court seemed to change its mind concerning cases where the judge overrides the jury. It let stand a number of death sentences where the jury had recommended life. No one knows why. So when Porter appealed his case in 1985, the Supreme Court upheld Judge Stanley's death sentence, even though attorneys could offer several reasons for the jury's life recommendation, including his age and demeanor on the stand. "Porter [was] just singularly unlucky in the time frame when [[end page]] [[start page]] [[Death penalty backer: Judge Richard M. Stanley - image]] his appeal came up," says Michael Mello, a Vermont Law School professor and an expert on Florida's death sentence. "It really was during the only window during its history when the justices seemed to have lost their interest in closely monitoring jury overrides. . . . And hence Raleigh Porter's death warrant." 1972 high court ruling For the death penalty - especially the death penalty - it wasn't supposed to be so confused, so convoluted. But sometimes it seems the harder judges and lawyers try to get the death penalty right, the more they get it wrong. The problems date from the early 1970s. Concerned that the death penalty had been applied disproportionately against minorities, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 struck down death penalty laws across America, demanding that states find a system that would be more rational, more standardized, more uniform. To lawyers and legislators, that could only mean one thing - reining in the traditional discretion of juries. Juries had been responsible for doling out death for years, with only their consciences as their guide. Now, the process would be guided by judges armed with complex new legal formulas. In the vanguard, Florida would be the first state to try to meet the new standards. Like a lot of first tries, it was far from perfect. In particular, Florida officials couldn't quite decide whether the U.S. Supreme Court just wanted more rules for jurors to follow, or whether the high court wanted jurors cut out altogether [[end page]] [[start page]] So lawmakers reached an awkward, yet well-intended compromise: Jurors would stay in, but they would get less authority. They would make a recommendation. But the final decision would be made by the trial judge. The legal architects thought this had a big advantage: Florida believed that death sentences would become more rational [[end page]] [[start page]] because judges - unlike juries - could apply specific standards to each case in written orders, and appeals courts could follow their thinking and review sentences in detail. It didn't work out that way. Intricacies upon intricacies The new system with its formulas turned out to be incredibly complex, requiring juries and judges to consider many factors - violent criminal record and motive, for example. Because of the complexities, appeals judges found themselves tinkering at one point. Finally they decreed that Florid'as whole system was too complex. They declared that henceforth jury sentencing recommendations in death cases would be upheld unless "virtually not reasonable person" could agree with it. What's more, every time the appeals courts made a change in the law, they created a new appeal issue for every Death Row inmate who had already gone through. In a legal setting that demanded NASA-quality tolerances, executions become more difficult to accomplish that a space shuttle launch - and almost as expensive. Even so, there are still bugs in the system. Perhaps because judges have become so painfully aware of the delays they've fostered, they sometimes haven't been as careful about retrofitting the changes they keep making - as Raleigh Porter is finding out. Some state Supreme Court justices have even said that they would not decided cases like Porter's the same way today as they did in the mid-1980s. The Florida courts "have been pretty reluctant to revisit a lot of cases," says Mello, the Vermont Law School professor. In many cases, "they've bent over backward to come up with whatever artifice they could" to avoid overturning old death sentences, he says. [[end page]] [[start page]] 'Law of the case' Among the reasons courts have used have been a doctrine called "the law of the case," which means that issues decided in the first appeal - such as the jury override in the Porter case - usually can't be revisited in later appeals. Why the difference in treatment of some cases versus others? "I've really tried to ponder what explains the difference, and I haven't come up with any explanation other than randomness," Mello says. "It's just a crap shoot." Meanwhile, judges have tinkered with Raleigh Porter's case for 17 years. Today, the Florida Supreme Court will hear the last appeals scheduled in the case. But Judge Stanley, the man who sent Porter to Death Row 17 years ago, has no doubts about the death penalty. He remembers [[end page]] [[start page]] a debate with foes of capital punishment: "They said to me, 'Judge, suppose that they passed a law that said the man who passes the death sentence has to flip they switch on the electric chair?' I said to them. 'Well, I will go along with that as long as they allow me, right after I pronounce the sentence, to reach down by my left leg and come up with my pistol and shoot 'em right between the eyes." John D. Mckinnon, who holds a law degree from the University of North Carolina, covers legal affairs in The Herald's Tallahassee bureau. Tomorrow: Redemption on Death Row. [[On Trial: Raleigh Porter was convicted in Moore Haven, Fla. - image]] [['81 police mugshot: Porter - image]] 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) The Herald from Tuesday, March 28, 1995. 7A Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Blake, Amy 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 Shifts in law come too late to aid killer of Florida couple Subject The topic of the resource Death Penalty Description An account of the resource The issue of Raleigh Porter's death sentence by electric chair could have been avoided due to newer laws in Florida courts. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McKinnon, John D. Pancake, John Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Herald 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 1995-03-28 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 Florida electric chair Florida death penalty juries Life sentence Michael Mello Raleigh Porter U.S. Supreme Court https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/86bc344cabc05589b38027186ae86b66.jpg c116f6a7090dba168f2f3670557fcbc9 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document A defense lawyer plans to challenge the secret state investigation that led Gov. Lawton Chiles to sign a new death warrant last week for “Crazy Joe” Spaziano. The basic problem with the secret report, said law professor Michael Mello, representing the condemned man: It’s the only part of the state’s case against Spaziano that’s still intact. At the very least, Spaziano should be allowed to read it and challenge it before it’s used as a justification to kill him, Mello said Monday. Replied Deputy Attorney Gen-eral Pete Antonacci: “We’re defending the governor. We think the governor acted prop-erly, and we think the warrant is viable and should be carried out.” The latest twists in the long case began two months ago, when the key trial witness against Spa-ziano recanted his testimony. At the trial, a teenaged Anthony Dilisio testified that Spaziano took him to a rural trash dump to show off the remains of murdered hospital clerk Laura Harberts. But Dilisio apparently didn’t recall details of the gruesome scene until he had been questioned extensively by police and hypnotized twice. Now, he says the memory was fabricated and his testimony was coached by investigators. In the wake of the revelations, Chiles postponed Spaziano’s exe-cution and ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to examine the case. Last week, Chiles signed another death war-rant for September after FDLE agents reported that several peo-ple--who were promised confi-dentiality by the state--recalled hearing statement that impli-cated Spaziano around the time of the murder. Mello said he’ll add the chal-lenge to his pending appeal before the state Supreme Court. But Mello says he’s not planning to pursue further appeals in the fed-eral district court if the current petition is rejected. 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. Payne, Shannon 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 'Crazy Joe' defense to dispute secret probe Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McKinnon, John D. 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 1995-08-29 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 Woodland Park, NJ Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Description An account of the resource On Tuesday August 29, 1995, "Crazy Joe" Spaziano's defense lawyer Michael Mello challenges death warrant. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived McKinnon, John D. "'Crazy Joe' defense to dispute secret probe." The Herald (Woodland Park, New Jersey), August 29, 1995. "Crazy Joe" Spaziano capital punishment death penalty defense lawyer Michael A. Mello https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/7bd974781af3a5fab57655df9b2b0e19.jpg 105d64f78911b4da8284f53e480cf049 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document To the Editor: According to Edwin Vaile's satirical letter (Forum, April 5) , Donella Meadows' recent column observed that "criminals" might actually be human beings as well-- an insight lost on the likes of scholars who prefer car- toonish views of "them." Folks such as Ms. Meadows actually let their opinions be influenced by conducting their own field research-- i.e., actually meeting, getting to know and (gasp!) perhaps even coming to like and respect the shared humanity of people whom society would prefer to write off as alien species and forget about. I have been a fan of Ms. Meadows' writing for years, and she recently granted me permission to use one of her past pieces in my forthcoming book on capital pun- ishment. But I missed this column, and I am grateful to Mr. Vaile for bringing it to my attention. Full disclosure: For the past 12 years, I have worked as an attorney on behalf of Florida death row inmates. Over that period, I have come to know a fair number of people who the Sunshine State is trying to kill-- along with the families and loved ones who were victims for my clients' crimes. The only generalization I can make about the killers I have known is that no generalizations really work. They're surprisingly random slice of American culture, with one only clear unifying characteristic being that virtually all of them came from backgrounds of extreme poverty and family dysfunction. Not that that explains away or justifies their hideous crimes (except for the surprising--to my mind, at least -- number who are factually innocent of the crimes for which they are to condemned to die,i.e., they didn't do it, period). And as often as not, they are ashamed of their backgrounds and reluctant to let me raise their histories as legal issues, even when raising such claims might well get them off death row. They'd rather die in the electric chair than to let their lawyers tell the world about how they were raped by their parents or about how their family lived in tar-paper shanties and subsisted on dog food. The fact is that prisoners are more like us normal peo- ple than we often want to admit or acknowledge. Some- times they are too recognizable for out comfort. "Ted" Bundy, for instance, remains our culture's leading metaphor for incomprehensible evil and horror, even half a decade after his execution. If you were to meet Bundy in your local bar, you'd never know he has confessed to many, many murders. You'd think he was just like you, and for the most part you'd be right. That's the scariest part: not that he's so different from us, but rather that he's so similar. As we are similar to him. There is no "us" and "them." We're all part of "us" MICHAEL MELLO Professor of Law Vermont Law School South Royalton 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. Brooks, Anna 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 Yes, Inmates Are Human Beings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mello, Michael Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Mello, Michael. “Yes, Inmates are Human Beings”. Valley News, April16, 1995. 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 1995-04-16 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 West Lebanon, New Hampshire attorney capital punishment Florida Death Row Individual Rights Inmate appeals law school Letter to the Editor Michael A. Mello New Hampshire newspaper Ted Bundy Vermont https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/29dff63ea4bf031528d23136d9fdff69.jpg 337b98eaf72f25d6baf7ad2c1be510aa 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Your "Kill the Lawyers" editorial, along with the daily televised antics of O.J. Simpson's all-star cast of defense lawyers, reveals much of what is wrong with the legal profession today. F. Lee Bailey's cynical playing of the race card suggests that the public's distrust of lawyers flows not from the fact that people don't understand what lawyers do, but rather that the public does understand. David von Drehle's recent book. "Among the Lowest of the Dead: The Culture of Death Row," provides a useful antidote to the public's revulsion with the culture of lawyers. Von Drehle explores Florida's recent experiences with capital punishment, and he does so by focusing on the people- lawyers, mostly, but by no means exclusively-who work within the reality of capital punishment as a legal and political system of deciding who dies, The book focuses on one character who was at the center of Florida's attempts in recent years to make executions a reality. Craig Bernard, who spent his entire legal career working on behalf of Florida's condemned population, was the architect and driving force behind the loosely affiliated group of lawyers who demanded that Flordia keep its promises of fairness to those whom the state was trying so hard to annihilate. Mr. Barnard did this work as a public defender, working for the lawyerly equivalent of sub-minimum wage; he always worked in self-imposed obscurity, insisting that others- including myself, during the two years I served as a public defender under Mr. Barnard-recuvebe the credit for victories for which he was really the person responsible. Significantly, Mr. Barnard's job was not, as you quoted Swift, to prove that "white is black and black is white, according to how they are paid." Rather, he always taught that our job, as lawyers for death row, was to fill out the full picture of the person whom the state wanted to kill, a portrait the seldom emerges at capital trails in the southern jurisdictions that comprise the Death Belt. It was all about situating the crime- and the criminal- in context.Mr. Barnard's aim was to tell the prisoner's whole story, in the hopes that such a full view would make it less easy to reduce his clients to one hideous crime they committed in one day of their lives (except for the ones who were innocent). Whenever I hear people trashing lawyers, I think about Craig Barnard. With the publication of Von Drehle's book, I hope that others will as well. Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. 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 "A Lawyer Who Served Life" Subject The topic of the resource Lawyers Description An account of the resource A newspaper article from the "Rutland Daily Herald" by Michael Mello. It is four paragraphs long. It discusses the public's view of lawyers and why they are not trusted Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mello, Michael Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Mellow, Michael. “A Lawyer Who Served Life.” Rutland Daily Herald, April 5, 1976. 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 1976-03-05 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 300 dpi 1 JPG Language A language of the resource English https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/e1e73fb6f70ae1c1efef46a0137c9125.jpg 3c4a32f78c43d01ad0696ad3a21399e0 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Tallahassee- The Key witness against a motorcycle gang member sentenced to death in a 1973 murder case joined the condemned man Wednesday in asking Gov. Lawton Chiles for clemency. However, attorneys for Joseph Spaziano are losing hope that a Florida Department of Law Enforcement review of the police investigation and trial will convince Chiles to spare the 49-year-old member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Brotherhood. "If Joe sees the end of July, I'll be surprised," said Spaziano's attorney, Michael Mello, a University of Vermont Law professor. "I don't have any faith in the courts anymore in this case and it's really difficult for me to say that." Chiles indefinitely stayed Spaziano's execution and ordered the FDLE investigation earlier this month after the prosecution's star witness, Anthony Dilisio, came forward to dispute his original testimony in the case. Spaziano, nicknamed "Crazy Joe," was convicted of murdering and mutilating Orlando hospital aide Laura Lynn Harberts and leaving her body in a trash dump near Altamonte Springs in 1973. He was sent to death row in 1976 almost entirely based on the testimony of Dilisio, who at the time was an 18-year-old abuser of illegal hallucinogens and who first remembered Spaziano boasting of the murder while under hypnosis by police. Testimony induced by hypnosis no longer is allowed as evidence in Florida courts. The jury in the case, which recommended against the death penalty, was not told Dilisio was hypnotized. Dilisio, 37, now says he doesn't remember Spaziano taking him to the garbage dump and bragging "Man, that's my style," while viewing the mutilated bodies of two women. "Anthony just feels that he has to do what's right and that he was just manipulated by the police and he never saw any bodies," said Dilisio's attorney, Kelly McGraw of Pensacola. Spaziano's attorneys have long asserted that Dilisio was coaxed into "remembering" Spaziano taking him to view the bodies and believe their client was convicted only because of his membership in a motorcycle gang. In fact, Dilisio, a lay preacher who works in Pensacola restoring classic automobiles, now says he only vaguely remembers the trial or anything before his 21st birthday. McGraw said Dilisio told FDLE agents in a videotaped interview that the first time he saw the bodies at the dump was when police officers - not Spaziano - took him there. "I find that to be a recantation," McGraw said. Mello sent Chiles a nearly 200-page plea for clemency Wednesday, including Dilisio as one of the parties requesting clemency. However, Mello and McGraw questioned whether FDLE investigators would probe the methods used to convict Spaziano or simply try to discredit Dilisio's new testimony. "The investigation is beginning to smell more like a whitewash," Mello wrote to Chiles. Dexter Douglass, Chiles' chief legal counsel could not be reached for comment Wednesday and other attorneys for the governor said they could not comment on the clemency request. A spokesman for the FDLE also declined comment on Spaziano's case. Dilisio has agreed to submit to a lie detector test to prove his claims, a test FDLE initially requested but never performed after Dilisio agreed, McGraw said. Mello said he would not be surprised if Chiles signs Spaziano's fifth death warrant Friday after FDLE submits its report. Three previous warrants were stayed as the case worked its way through the legal system. A fourth, scheduled to be carried out June 27, was stayed after Dilisio cam forward. [Picture of Joseph Spaziano: Joseph Spaziano, shown here in 1976, was convicted in the 1973 death of a hospital aide.] 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. Thiessen, Annika 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 Clemency sought in death case Subject The topic of the resource Clemency Death penalty Description An account of the resource The article discusses a plea for clemency in the death sentence of a motorcycle gang member after the key witness for the prosecution recanted their testimony. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Metz, Kevin Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Tampa Tribune 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 1995-06-29 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 Tampa, FL Clemency death penalty https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b623fe5db2841f38685de43925d176a1.jpg f5161ae193c29a973f0e8c8cb04feae5 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/c145c27ad65e883e9ccc708f4297cb4b.jpg 092597efba95011f958f2d5922db532b 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document These cutouts from the Tampa Tribune reports the order from governor Lawton Chiles of Tallahassee to execute "Crazy" Joe Spaziano after new evidence from unknown witnesses turned up in the case. Chiles, from the new evidence reported is quoted as being certain that the murders were of Spazianos doing. Spaziano had till this point appealed to the courts a total of 16 times, all of these appeals eventually being rejected. The evidence did not settle well with Spazianos attorney, Michael Mello as he believed the evidence was fraudulent. The case had garnered national attention and Mello had managed to take it to the Florida Supreme Court after many outlets spoke out against the prospect of execution. 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. Helms, Brendan 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 Chiles orders execution of killer Subject The topic of the resource Chiles, Lawton Spaziano, Joe Description An account of the resource Governor Chiles orders the execution of Joe Spaziano after new evidence from witnesses is presented. Spaziano's attorney, Michael Mello, is reported as believing this information from the witnesses is fraudulent. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Metz, Kevin Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Tampa Tribune 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 1995-08-25 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 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/e5c88028caa10544cafb60bedb3af005.jpg 9df7c369870ad5f8a7eb504960a8acbc 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 3, 1995 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Tallahassee -- Citing lack of money and time, the lawyer for condemned killer Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano has asked The Florida Bar whether he should remove himself from the case. In a letter to the Florida Supreme Court, Michael Mello said his job as a law professor and his inability to hire full-time secretaries. researchers or investigators may hinder his ability to represent Spaziano. Also Tuesday, the governor's legal counsel said he may release part of a Florida Department of Law Enforcement report that Gov. Lawton Chiles cited to justify signing Spaziano's fifth death warrant last week. The former motorcycle gang member is scheduled to be executed Sept. 21 for the 1973 murder and mutilation of Laura Lynn Harberts, an 18-year-old Orlando hospital clerk. Her body was dumped in rural Seminole County, near Altamonte Springs. General Counsel Dexter Douglass said he had no objection to releasing an edited report of the FDLE findings "if we can be assured that this would not expose these witnesses to harm." Any version released would have witnesses' naems removed, he said. Chiles' spokesman Ron Sachs said the governor is wary of releasing the report in any form but would consult with Douglass. The Orlando Sentinel, The Miami Herald and The St. Petersburg Times have asked for the report, in which several witnesses corroborate the original testimony of a key witness against Spaziano who recently changed his story. Chiles ordered the report kept secret as part of a clemency request filed by Mello. Douglass said another piece of the Spaziano inquiry -- a videotaped interview made this summer with witness Anthony Dilisio, who says 1976 trial testimony was manufactured by police Please see SPAZIANO, C-4 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. Cary, Colton 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 Spaziano's lawyer wants off case Subject The topic of the resource Law Description An account of the resource Lawyer for Joseph Spaziano, Michael Mello, asks The Florida Bar if he should remain on the case. Due to lack of time and money, Mello finds this case hindered. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Michael Griffin Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Orlando Sentinel 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 1995-08-30 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 Joe Spaziano Law Michael A. Mello