3 20 256 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/e7da01c8b81b0683584aa3442210a6bd.jpg 47bc3a00e57c5aca82a62662361025f9 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/12eaa3d1cc3dbf9ac1785acc1cceafcd.jpg aa103e5ca6186728d224e9bdd9d969e5 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/d25eb17789286307070891ccf96401f4.jpg 23bd598accdc014eb74ecd34fef8f77f https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/925b6e4f30feb7ae52523f60a9723fa9.jpg 936211b0001771cc3ceaff33d1002b3c 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 4 Text Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) vol. 136, issue 229 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. Weber, Sophie Text Any textual data included in the document [Newspaper Title] Rutland H [Subheading] Vol. 136-No. 229 Rutland, Vermont Copyright Monday Morning, September 23, 1996 [Article Title] Cantini Case Highlights Board Action [Start column] MANCHESTER-Lawyer Gerald Cantini has hired many attorneys over the last few years-to handle his divorce, to defend him in malpractice suits, and now, to represent him in a pending professional misconduct investigation. But Cantini’s relationship with two lawyers who chaired the state panel that oversees legal ethics in Vermont has raised questions about whether the board failed to act promptly in a pair of disciplinary cases brought against him. J. Eric Anderson, who chaired the conduct panel from 1989 to 1993, waited nine months before finally blowing the whistle in 1994 on Cantini for allegedly cheating clients, according to former members of their staff. Cantini and Anderson shared an office at the time and Anderson was Cantini’s lawyer in a divorce. Deborah Banse, the lawyer who succeeded Anderson as head of the conduct board, signed a letter, meanwhile, dismissing a unrelated complaint against Cantini while also representing him. Anderson’s hesitancy to move against Cantini, and the appearance of conflict of interest on Banse’s part, may add fuel to the debate over the conduct of the Professional Conduct Board, the 15-member panel that polices lawyers in Vermont. Lawyers who have defended clients before the board have questioned recently whether the disciplinary process itself has adhered to the highest standards of ethics and fairness. Responding to some of these concerns, the Vermont Bar Association named a committee last week to review the lawyer disciplinary process. [Section Title] Possible Conflicts The Cantini case raises questions about lax enforcement and delayed investigation of misconduct allegations because of his ties to former chairs. Anderson, Banse and Cantini all practice in Manchester. The information about their cases comes from conduct board documents, affidavits filed with the board, Bennington County court files, depositions taken in connection with a malpractice lawsuit, and interviews with the principals. Both Cantini and his attorney, Peter Hall of Rutland, declined to comment last week. Cantini has been the target of five malpractice suits in recent years and two complaints to the conduct board, a 15-member panel that enforces the state lawyer disciplinary code. The first complaint dates back to 1989, when Dorset resident Katherine Graf accused Cantini of conflict of interest because he allegedly drafted a defective contract while representing both Graf and a building contractor she had hired. But this complaint-involving a serious allegation of ethical violations- languished at the board for years. Finally, in 1994, conduct board chair Banse wrote a letter dismissing the complaint, citing the length of time that had passed and the difficulty in finding witnesses. Banse said in her letter, however, that the panel had warned Cantini to “familiarize himself fully” with the profession’s conflict of interest standards. Banse said in an interview that she removed herself from all conduct board matters involving Cantini. She said she signed the letter because “it was my job.” [Bottom of page] See Page 9: Case [End page] [Start page] [Section title] Divorce Dispute [Start paragraph] But Banse was drawn into the next misconduct complaint filed against Cantini because of her work for him in his fiercely contested divorce case unfolding in 1994 in Bennington Superior Court. On the day after she wrote the letter dismissing the conflict of interest complaint, Banse appeared in Bennington Family Court on Cantini’s behalf. The conduct board chairwoman was fighting a motion for contempt brought by Cantini’s ex-wife in an alimony dispute. Cantini testified that both his health and deteriorating legal practice made it impossible to meet his obligations. He claimed to have earned only $15,000 in the first six months of the year, according to court records. But Cantini’s legal assistant, Judi Michel, said in an interview that Cantini was paid more than $15,000 for out-of-pocket expenses alone. In an affidavit filed with the conduct board, Michel said Anderson -- then a member of the conduct board and Cantini’s office-mate – returned to the office that day and referred to Cantini as “a master of deception.” Anderson was present in court as a spectator, according to Michel. As for Cantini, when he came back from the courtroom “he told me he cried in front of Judge (Richard) Norton and Norton ‘fell for it,’ ” Michel wrote. Norton denied the motion for contempt on the grounds that Cantini could not afford to pay alimony, according to court records. [section title] Early Warnings [start paragraph] Despite Cantini’s testimony, both Anderson and lawyer Robert Hartwell, who also shared offices with Cantini, did not report him, Michel said. Then in August 1994, Michel sat down with Anderson and Hartwell and reviewed the office’s trust account ledger, Cantini’s billings and other evidence she had compiled, according to the affidavit. “I told Eric (Anderson), ‘If you don’t report Gerry … I’m going to do it,’ “Michel said in an interview. “This is after being after him since Thanksgiving of ’93 to August of ’94. He (Anderson) didn’t want to get involved.” Bookkeeper Jan Kelley recalled in an interview that she met with Anderson around November 1993 and told him about Cantini’s orders “not to record income” and “to put certain bills through the office account that were really personal.” “I thought he should do something,” Kelley said of Anderson. “I didn’t think what was being asked of me was proper conduct. And I didn’t believe as a bookkeeper I should be doing what was asked of me.” Kelley also contends that she raised questions earlier about $5,000 that appeared to be missing from a client’s trust account. Anderson acknowledged in an interview that he did not act immediately when staff members came to him in 1993 with ledger sheets showing Cantini had allegedly dipped into a trust account. Although they shared an office, Anderson has denied legal claims that he was Cantini’s partner. But the allegations against Cantini did not gain momentum until he took the witness stand on the alimony issue and allegedly misled the judge, according to Michel. Anderson cited Cantini’s courtroom testimony in the complaint he filed with the conduct board, nine months after the staff members first came to him. Anderson, in his letter to the conduct board outlining his allegations, called attention to the fact that Deborah Banse, the conduct board chair, was also Cantini’s lawyer. The complaint accuses Cantini of taking money from the trust account, charging excessive fees and then hiding his income to avoid paying alimony. “I think its important that you know that Deborah Banse is representing Gerry in connection with his ex-wife’s efforts to collect alimony,” Anderson wrote to Shelley Hill, who prosecutes cases before the conduct board. “I hope that this matter will be discussed with Deborah and that you and/or Deborah will feel free to talk to me about this matter at any time.” Michel, the former legal assistant and office manager, said Anderson only files the complaint after she threatened to. And she said the conduct board bungled its initial investigation and has dragged its feet since then. Michel said in an interview that former conduct board investigator Anne Buttimer served Cantini with a subpoena in October 1994. “She wasn’t out that door a half hour and Gerry (Cantini) is pulling out filed to take out,” Michel said. Michel said she called the conduct board in a panic, urging them to protect the documents that would incriminate Cantini. “They’re supposed to be the policing agency. I’m a secretary,” said Michel. “Why am I calling them up to secure the records?” According to bookkeeper Kelley, the subpoena was served nearly a year after she and Michel first approached Anderson with their concerns about Cantini. But Anderson said he wanted to be convinced of the allegations. “I wanted to be sure myself of what the people on the staff were saying,” Anderson said. “This is nothing I did lightly. When other lawyers are faced with having to report another lawyer, it’s not done lightly.” [End page] [Start page] [section title] Banse’s role Anderson represented Cantini in Cantin’s divorce before Banse took that job. He said last week that he told Banse of his concerns about Cantini’s conduct around the time he filed the complaint. “I said she needed to consider that she stop representing him,” Anderson said. Banse was asked in an interview why, when she was the chairwoman of the Professional Conduct Board, she did not drop Cantini as her client after he had been accused of misconduct. “I was never told the substance of any complaint,” she said. But Michel confirmed Anderson’s version of the story, saying she and Banse discussed the allegations of misconduct in full. Court documents show that Cantini replaced Banse with another attorney six months after Anderson filed the complaint with the conduct board. By the time the board formally opened the second investigation against Cantini in July, Banse had finished her term as a member, Banse, however, was chair of the conduct board in 1994 when she signed the letter dismissing the conflict of interest complaint against Cantini. Banse’s letter of June 1994 did not mention that Cantini had been her client since February of that year. In the letter dismissing the complaint, Banse said the case was old and that the board had difficulty in finding witnesses. Conduct board records show, however, that cases equally old were resolved by either a private admonition or public reprimand. Anderson did not fault Banse for writing the letter dismissing the Graf complaint while she represented Cantini. “Those kinds of letters are completely ministerial. It could have been a secretary signing it. … I’m sure Deborah Banse had nothing to do with the decision” to dismiss the complaint, he said. But professor Michael Mello, who teaches constitutional law and legal ethics at Vermont Law School, said that Banse should not have signed the letter dismissing the Cantini complaint if she was also his lawyer. “As a technical matter I think she clearly should not have signed the letter,” said Mello. “Someone else in the chain of command can come forward and do it. The biggest problem it seems to me is that it creates an appearance of impropriety.” [section title] Praise for Banse The current chairman of the Professional Conduct Board, Middlebury lawyer Robert Keiner, said in an interview that Banse was “highly respected” as chairwoman of the conduct panel. But without commenting on the specifics of the Cantini case, Keiner said a conduct board chair should probably not sign a letter dismissing a misconduct complaint against a client. “I’m not sure under the circumstances you’ve spelled out that the code necessarily mandates that. But in order to avoid exactly what we’re going through now, apparently, it might have been more prudent at the time to simply … step aside and let the vice chair deal with it or let the entire board deal with it,” Keiner said. Although emphasizing he was not commenting on any specific case, Keiner said the code of professional conduct also requires lawyers to report allegations of attorney misconduct, as long as the information was not acquired through the attorney-client relationship. No public records are kept of the board’s votes when they dismiss a complaint. The board rules say that misconduct complaints that do not lead to formal charges are secret. Wendy Collins, a lawyer who serves as counsel to the Professional Conduct Board, said she could not comment on questions about Banse because of the confidentiality issue. [section title] Other Cases Cantin’s attorney, Peter Hall, cited the conduct board’s confidentiality requirements when declining to comment last week. “I’m not aware of any public complaint against Gerald Cantini, nor have I seen anything purporting to be issued by the Professional Conduct Board in this matter,” he said. “My understanding under the rules that govern the PCB is all such complaints are in fact confidential, and should not be, and as a result won’t be, the subject of any public discussion by me on behalf of my client. Although the conduct board warned Cantini in June1994 to “familiarize himself fully” with the profession’s standards on conflict of interest, he has been sued twice over that issue since. In September 1994, the former owners of the Arlington Inn filed a [new page] Mello, the law school professor, questioned whether the proceedings should be secret. Even frivolous complaints should be public, he said. “I think the whole thing should be open. If someone files a frivolous lawsuit there are ways to deal with that. It’s unfortunate frivolous complaints might be filed against a lawyer. It’s unfortunate frivolous malpractice cases are brought against doctors. That doesn’t mean we keep them secret,” he said. Anderson said that regardless of what the conduct board’s critics think, “the board members work very hard at this job. They take it very seriously. I think they are, at least when I was on the board, fair-minded.” Anderson served on the conduct board from 1984 to 1993. He was chairman during the last four years of his tenure, presiding over the board while the Graf complaint was pending. Anderson said he could not recall being involved in any conduct board case concerning Cantini. [End page] [new page; start paragraph] lawsuit in Bennington Superior Court claiming that Cantini failed to disclose a conflict when he helped them buy the property. Robert and Sandra Ellis paid nearly $1.5 million for the inn in 1991 and then lost it through foreclosure. They argue that Cantini should have told them he was connected to the real estate firm that represented the seller of the property. In the most recent malpractice case, Ernest Salo or Winhall contends that he was duped in 1992 by Cantini and his own brother intro signing a quit-claim deed rather that a mortgage deed on his house. Cantini is alleged to have represented both brothers. The lawsuit was filed in May. Two other malpractice lawsuits against Cantini were recently settled out of court for undisclosed sums. Cantini settled with the parents of a Manchester youth who was convicted of molesting two minors. The Vermont Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1992, ruling that Cantini provided “ineffective” counsel. Cantini also settled with Cheryl Bentsen, who sued him for allegedly mishandling her divorce. Bentsen’s attorney, Deborah Bucknam, told the court that she would prove that Cantini failed to keep track of time he billed Bentsen for. Bucknam also said she would show that Cantini failed to adequately represent Bentsen because he was embroiled in his own divorce. Bucknam told the court that there would be “extensive testimony” that Cantini took “extraordinary, including illegal, steps to avoid alimony payments” in his own divorce case. [End page] 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 Cantini Case Highlights Board Action Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Crabtree, Peter Dillon, John 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 1996-09-23 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Crabtree, Peter and John Dillon. “Cantini Case Highlights Board Action.” Rutland H, September 9, 1996. Description An account of the resource Lawyer Gerald Cantini has been sued and gone to court many times because of his divorce, malpractice suits, and in multiple investigations. He has had multiple lawyers defending him during his trials but they tend to quit due to his difficult nature. 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 4 JPGs 300 DPI Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Rutland, VT Subject The topic of the resource Divorce Malpractice--United States https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/8fc571872b7d99e3ecde2a025d607162.jpg 60ae4cc7268439ed2bc59100a07ca2d0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document "We're a hang 'em high state," attorney Jim Green says. And the Palm Beach County lawyer is not alone in his assessment. Florida has been dubbed the nation's capital punishment capital because of its high number of executions-13, more than any other state since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1977. <br /><br />It is not just the executions that trouble Green, who is well-known for his advocacy of controversial causes. It is a provision of Florida law that allows judges to override jury recommendations for life in capital punishment cases. Green and many others, including the Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Florida Bar Association, want the law changed. They don't want judges to be able to throw out a jury's recommendation of life imprisonment and order a defendant to his or her death. <br /><br />Death cases are automatically reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court, and nearly four-fifths of the decisions to override the jury's recommendation of a life sentence have been reversed on appeal. But those who favor restrictions on the judge's right to override don't find this fact comforting. The American Civil Liberties Union, of which attorney Green is a state board member, says the current system is inefficient and expensive, not to mention "highly questionable." <br /><br />"If there can be any justification for capital punishment, it's retribution," Green says. Empirically, there is no conventional data that capital punishment acts as a deterrent. The only arguable justification in light of this is retribution. The death penalty reflects community outrage. Our system of justice placed the determination of community outrage in the hands of juries as opposed to judges.<br /><br />[image - Carolyn Susman]<br /><br />"And 93 percent of judges are white males. It seems somewhat anomalous for us to allow juries which tend to reflect a fair cross-section of the community to be overriden by a judicial system that is overwhelmingly white male." <br /><br />A bill has been filed again this year by Rep. James Burke (D-Miami) that would make a recommendation of life imprisonment binding [on the] court. Last year, the bill made it out [of] two of three Senate committees. Supporters hope that, with the backing of the Florida Bar Association this year, it will do better. <br /><br />Only three states in the nation-Florida, Alabama, and Indiana-give judges the right to override jury recommendations of life in death penalty cases. "Florida is the only state that employs the override frequently, despite the fact the Florida juries are among the most death-prone," wrote Michael Mello, in an article in the Florida State University Law Review last spring. <br /><br />Mello was on the staff of the Palm Beach County public defender's office until October, when he joined a newly formed group in Tallahassee that was created by the Legislature to ensure that inmates on death row get representation when they need it. <br /><br />So far, there is only one case in Florida where a jury override has resulted in death: Ernest Dobbert. In 1984, Dobbert was executed, despite the fact the jury had voted 10-2 for life imprisonment. Mello says two other cases, which also were overrides, are nearing the end of their appeals and a third defendant, sentenced to death the same way, "is at very serious risk." <br /><br />Palm Beach County Chief Assistant Public Defender Craig Barnard can recall only one case here where a judge overrode a jury's recommendation of life, and Barnard has been with the public defender's office since 1974. The case was that of Jackson Burch, who was found guilty in 1973 of the murder of an 18-year-old Palm Beach Junior College student, Pamela Curry. The jury override became law in 1972. <br /><br />Circuit Judge Vaughn Rudnick's decision to sentence Burch to death was reversed by the state Supreme Court in 1977. <br /><br />"This county seems fairly rational when it comes to juries and the ultimate sanction," Barnard, who specializes in death-row cases, said. <br /><br />Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Marvin Mounts Jr. employed an override in the Michael Nelson case in 1982 to sentence Nelson to life in prison, instead of death, for the murder of his wife Linda. But even though he has never used an override to reverse a recommendation for life in prison, Mounts has doubts about whether the override when life is recommended should be removed.<br /><br />"Anytime you do anything inflexible, the first case that comes along should be the exception. I've been working with juries 26, 27 years. You usually weed out the bigots in the selection process. You get good people who are conscientious and really care. But I think the Supreme Court has been good on riding herd on the imposition of the death penalty."<br /><br />[end page]<br /><br />A bill has been filed again this year by Rep. James Burke (D-Miami) that would make a recommendation of life imprisonment binding on the court.<br /><br />[image - James Burke]<br /><br />[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. Dinger, Francesca 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 Capital-Case Judges' Override Powers Trouble Lawyer Subject The topic of the resource Criminal law--Florida Description An account of the resource Attorney Jim Green supports a bill filed by Rep. James Burke that would overturn Florida's law which allows judges to issue death sentences against juries' recommendations. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Susman, Carolyn Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Palm Beach Post Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-02-16 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 capital punishment death penalty Florida https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/fd1b1badc4a0fc48d720fc2c9c62453b.jpg 269f6951f51410b4cce205efc518713d https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/4b8f7fadd91c920e02cd431d39fb16be.jpg 732655f90b0a243b3d7d041cd9e2a279 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 1, 1976-1979 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. Garcia, Lauren Text Any textual data included in the document Carmichael urges au..to to push 'people's revolution <br />By Karen L. Scrivo <br /><br />While 300 students occupied the Kent State University administration building Wednesday night, across campus national black activist Stokely Carmichael advocated a "people's revolution." <br /><br />Speaking to about 1,000 persons at the Student Center Ballroom, a fiery Carmichael damned capitalism and predicted the inevitability of socialism in America. "Socialism is an economic system whose motive is not progress, but to serve humanity," Carmichael shouted.<br /><br />The material manifestation of socialism, Carmichael pointed out, is that the people own the means of production. <br /><br />"When you're talking about revolution, you're talking about changes," he said, "and everything is changing all the time." <br /><br />The goal of socialism, as Carmichael sees it, is to achieve equality for all. "Capitalism is powerful, but it is no match for the people," Carmichael intoned. <br /><br />Drawing on the revolutionary lives of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Carmichael said the revolutionary process could be repeated. <br /><br />Peace is impossible under capitalism, he said. "Capitalism reinforces the animal instincts of human beings and encourages the strong to devour the weak.<br /><br />"Any conscious man or woman, who is strong, has a responsibility to help the weak become strong," Carmichael said. <br /><br />He charged that capitalism utilized the negative aspects of Christianity to sell the message that human beings are basically evil and incapable of transforming themselves. <br /><br />"Men and women are capable of being greedy, but they are also capable of being altruistic," Carmichael said. <br /><br />Speaking about the student movement in the 1960's, he said that the 'enemy,' which he called the capitalists, sought to disperse the energies of the movement. <br /><br />"The FBI destroyed the movement by sending students down different paths like drugs, back to nature and mysticism," he said. <br /><br />He advocated an African revolution movement within the U.S. black population. Tying them to their roots in the African continent, Carmichael said. "Only when Africa is free, will we be free. On the backs of Africans, capitalism has existed and sustained itself. <br /><br />Stokely Carmichael, nationally known black activist, came to the student sit-in in Rockwell Hall Wednesday night after his scheduled speech to about 1,000 in the Student Center Ballroom. Carmichael told the students "to keep the fires burning to help the struggling masses of humanity." Carmichael spoke to the sit-in crowd only about five minutes before leaving. His talk was sponsored by the KSU Student Caucus, the student government, which...student money to pay...by Ernie Mastroianni. 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 Carmichael Urges Audience to Push 'People's' Revolution Subject The topic of the resource Socialism and Society Capitalism--United States--History Description An account of the resource A newspaper article about black activist Stokely Carmichael who started a "people's revolution". Carmichael spoke to 1,000 people at Kent State University saying that capitalism is going away and that socialism is coming to America. He saw socialism as the means of gaining equality for everyone. He said that under capitalism, peace could not occur. He spoke about the student movement of the 1960s saying that capitalists wanted to disperse the movement's energies. The FBI ended the movement by making students turn to drugs and mysticism. He also said that when Africa is free that America will be free. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Scrivo, Karen L. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Newspaper 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 1960s Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Kent, OH Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPG 300 dpi Capitalism Kent State University Socialism https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/15e1242fa6cf5695a3e840123cd9eb9d.jpg d9a898249d6ca9d061c4332f3aac0111 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/59751eb600c440c496a2af70064daf4e.jpg 232962e2db48cdf964eccb9d383a44a1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document What Congress now deems "reasonable" may soon prove impossible for state police. <br /><br />Confusion within law enforcement and gun dealerships about the scope and implementation of the Brady law can be traced to language that may ultimately have to be defined by the federal courts. <br /><br />With fewer than 70 days until the law goes into effect, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) have yet to issue a coherent policy for state police to make the mandated background checks on handgun purchasers. <br /><br />At issue for police and gun dealers is a phrase that appears to only vaguely define the extent of authorities' responsibilities. <br /><br />The Brady law requires that police "shall make a reasonable effort to ascertain within five business days" whether a potential handgun purchaser has a felony in his criminal history, is a fugitive from justice, is "an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance," is an illegal alien, has been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, has renounced U.S. citizenship, or has "been adjudicated a mental defective or been committed to a mental institution. <br /><br />Although these restrictions have existed in federal law since 1968, police have never been called upon to verify them. Each is reason enough to prohibit the transfer of a handgun. <br /><br />"Reasonableness" is a word that often finds its way into legislation and just as often signifies a compromise. "It allows all sides to claim political victory," said Michael Mello, a professor of criminal law and procedures at Vermont Law School in South Royalton. <br /><br />"That's a loophole big enough to drive a truck through," said Mello. <br /><br />Whatever victories and whatever party affiliation of the victors, some question remains about a law that might not have the legal teeth or procedural muscle to curb violent crime. <br /><br />For instance, although most state police forces remain, or are in the process of constructing, computer files of criminal histories, how can they check for an "unlawful user" of controlled substances without a criminal conviction recording the abuse? <br /><br />In order to satisfy the other background demands, will the police be given access to military and immigration records? No definitive answers have yet come from Washington.<br /><br />"In some of the categories, there may be categories where nothing can be reasonably done. Drugs are not easy to check. The ATF will have to put out regulations on how to do that," said one congressional aide who is attached to the House Judiciary Committee. The aide declined to be identified, but said that he had been present at and involved in the process of drafting the law. <br /><br />"The (Brady) law is a political compromise, and I imagine that the 'reasonable' Brady clause factored into that decision," said the aide. <br /><br />He said it was his impression that framing legislators such as Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, and Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., wanted to mandate a criminal records check and to encourage the checking of other conditions where possible. <br /><br />But a legislative aide from Sen. Metzenbaum's office, speaking about the ambiguities of the bill's language, said he wasn't sure how the bill would be fulfilled. <br /><br />"The ATF may or may not clear that up. If the ATF doesn't, the courts will," said the aide, who also spoke on the conditions of anonymity. <br /><br />Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice have been equally reticent about announcing a federal plan that would help guide state law enforcement agencies through the law. They said that such a plan is currently under review. When pressed for a date of release, they said the plan would be presented "in the near future." <br /><br />Traditional opponents of gun control have been quick to finger the source of the law's confusion. <br /><br />"Since there's no standard definition of 'reasonable,' the Brady Bill has no effect. You'll have the waiting period in some cases, but there's no obligation for a records check. The law is unenforceable," said Joseph Phillips, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association (NRA) in Washington. <br /><br />Phillips said the NRA was confident the law would be struck down - at least partially - once tested in court because there are no penalties for police departments that fail to make the background checks. He also said that Congress' efforts were misplaced, and that the system would be better served by a procedure for an instant background check. <br /><br />Semantics aside, the debate has done little to make the law's application any clearer. <br /><br />Col. Robert Horton, director of the Vermont State Police, the agency that will oversee the mandated check of criminal records, doesn't see how his force can fully comply with the law.<br /><br />"It's an extreme amount of work, and we just don't have the personnel or resources. There is no database that combines all those files," said Horton. <br /><br />The result in Vermont will probably be a passing of responsibility to municipal police forces. Horton said that local police will likely recognize potential purchasers and are therefore in a better position to judge who is fit to own handguns. <br /><br />Horton acknowledges that casual information cannot satisfy the Brady law's background stipulations, but he said he is resigned to do what he can to make the law work. <br /><br />"A lot of those things just got tacked onto the bill to please everybody. It's hard to put a value on it. It may not be cost-effective, but if (the law) saves one life, it's probably worth it," he said. 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) Volume 42: Number 185 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Fanning, Neal 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 Carrying Out Grady Bill Could Be Troublesome Subject The topic of the resource Gun control--United States Description An account of the resource Concerns arise about vagueness with gun control bill supposed to tighten background checks. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pearce, Jeremy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Valley News Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1993-12-23 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 300 dpi 2 JPGs Language A language of the resource English Background Checks Federal Legislation Gun Control https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/fd8003073e343572ea4b0d371566318d.jpg d36aade3add45618376dd5bb9d236e88 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/84bf395ca77754b3345da5e8e029c5d4.jpg a42455caea2fd025bd17caad2784381c 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 4 Text Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Vol. No./Issue No. Volume and issue number for the newspaper (if available) vol. 68, issue 5 Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Friedrich, Alex Text Any textual data included in the document [first page] [heading] Case shows changing role of governors in death appeals By John D. McKinnon Herald Legal Correspondent [start of the first column] TALLAHASSEE -- Joe Spaziano, scheduled to die this month in Florida's electric chair, is a wrongly-convicted man, his attorney argues, a mistake the state wants to bury. But What's just as bad, his lawyer says, is the way Florida officials are going about it: By using secret evidence to justify Spaziano's execution, they're burying the whole case. "A constitutional abomination," gripes Michael Mello, Spaziano's volunteer lawyer. Without intending to, state officials also have thrust the Spa- [end of the first column] [start of the second column] How should inmates' belated claims of innocence be handled? [text] ziano case into the middle of one of the hottest debates in death penalty law. The question is this: As more and more condemned inmates raise belated and frequently bogus claims of innocence, how should the system handle them? In particular, as judges make it [start of the third column] harder for inmates to raise such claims in court, how should governors still have unchecked powers in matters of life and death, like kings of old? Or should governors be forced to hear the prisoners' pleas all over again? In Florida, the question came up when Gov. Lawton Chiles signed a new death warrant for Spaziano based on the results of a confidential investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Chiles asked for the investigation after the key [end of the third column] PLEASE SEE SPAZIANO, 10A [heading] Critics question use of 'secret' evidence to justify execution SPAZIANO, FROM 1A [start of the first column] witness in Spaziano's trial 20 years ago recanted his testimony. Spaziano, an Outlaws motorcycle gang member, was convicted in 1975 of murdering an 18-year-old Orlando woman, Laura Harberts. But the key witness at trial, Tony DiLisio, said in June that he wasn't shown Harberts' body by Spaziano as he had testified, but was manipulated by police and a government-hired hypnotist. According to summaries of the FDLE investigation, the agency has located people who said they recalled hearing statements over the years that implicated Spaziano. None of the witnesses have been identified, none of their statements have been disclosed. Few, if any, of the statements appear to be admissible in court because they're hearsay. Those that might be admissible come from a former biker who's in a federal witness protection program -- just the sort of witness that juries often disbelieve. The state's Public Records Law specifically allows clemency records to be kept secret and Chiles says he intends to keep the names and statements in the investigation confidential. Some of the witnesses were promised anonymity, out of fear of the Outlaws, officials say. That hasn't been enough to satisfy some death penalty critics. "It seems as if there's something that he's hiding," said Kica Matos, research director for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Capital Punishment Project. "It sure ain't fair," said William T. Geimer, a Washington and Lee University law professor and nationally recognized death penalty expert. Maybe. But is it legal? Based on the courts' traditional approach to the death penalty experts say, the answer would appear to be: Yes. "The problem is that the courts -- the federal courts and the Supreme Court especially -- have always been extremely reluctant to say anything to governors about how to conduct their business at the end of a death-penalty case," says Hugo Adam Bedau, a Tufts University professor. That tradition is under growing pressure, experts say, as condemned inmates raise more and more claims of innocence, and federal judges are finding more and more ways to avoid hearing them. Such claims have been multiplying as wily death-penalty appeal lawyers shift their focus from attacking capital-punishment laws to attacking the facts of their clients' cases. And innocence claims have a [end of the first column] [start of the second column] big advantage, appeals lawyers have found: After 10 or 15 years, even solid murder cases become vulnerable to assault. Evidence corrodes or breaks down. Police lose their files. A surprising number of people turn up who are able or willing to take the rap -- for instance, other inmates who are suffering from terminal illness or who've died. That has happened more than once in recent years, to the enormous frustration of officials like Chiles. "The [death penalty lawyers] are good," Chiles said in a recent interview with the Herald editorial board. "They have something in every one of these cases." While Florida's Supreme Court has remained relatively [end of the second column] [start of the third column] open to new claims of innocence, many other judges -- especially federal judges -- are getting fed up. "They've become convinced that all the innocence issues anyone raises are fraudulent," says Bruce Ledewitz, a Duquesne University law professor and a noted capital punishment opponent. The problem is, Ledewitz argues, the federal courts "haven't yet come up with any system that winnow out the good claims from the bad ones. They've just decided to execute everyone." The federal courts' resistance to innocence claims crystalized in a case called Herrera vs. Collins, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1993. In the Herrera case, the high court [end of the third column] [start of the fourth column] decided that federal courts didn't have to hear most belated claims of innocence in old capital cases because that's what state governors were for. And that's created the latest legal issue for Spaziano. "The Herrera decision blesses governors as a part of the capital punishment process," explains Geimer, the Washington and Lee University professor. "So if they are now going to be a part of the process, the next question is, are there going to be rules? Can you have a secret investigation?" Contends Daniel T. Kobil, a law professor at Capital University in Ohio: "It seems to me that if the governor's clemency power is to serve as a failsafe in our constitutional system, it has to be administered in a fundamentally [end of the fourth column] [start of the fifth column] fair way. This one-sided, secretive procedure the Florida governor is engaging in seems to me to fall far short of that." Spaziano's lawyer, Vermont law professor Mello, is making exactly that argument to the state Supreme Court in seeking to se the report. "He doesn't have any right to look at it," replies Dexter Douglass, the governor's general counsel. "The governor's not a court." Mello is a former West Palm Beach public defender. [end of article] 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 Case shows changing role of governors in death appeals Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource McKinnon, John D. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived McKinnon, John D. "Case shows changing role of governors in death appeals." The Miami Herald, September 2, 1995, A1. Language A language of the resource English 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 1995-09-02 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 Tallahassee, FL Description An account of the resource As a result of the 1993 U.S. Supreme Court case, Herrera vs. Collins, state governors became the designated figures to acknowledge the most belated claims of innocence in old capital cases. However, after Tony DiLisio recanted his previous testimony, which incriminated Joe Spaziano, Gov. Lawton Chiles signed a new death warrant for Spaziano based on evidence gathered from a confidential investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. By using secret evidence to reinforce Spaziano’s execution, death-penalty critics believe Chiles’ actions to be unconstitutional. Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Spaziano, Joe 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/917d59c726b94e4798461c6cc91f740d.jpg 0eabf3ec51e2a2d8e90b9e12c5fa8fd0 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/bc0139667d16e63126729e181ea7bb18.jpg 517bbd902c0db8925221a92199e71bfe 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 Chiles spared Florida from a capital crime <br /><br />Until Gov. Chiles intervened Thursday, Joseph Spaziano was going to be executed for murder in 11 days, even though:<br /> <ul> <li>Key evidence was based on a discredited theory of hypnosis.</li> <li>He was sentenced to death by a judge who overrode the jury's recommendation of life in prison.</li> <li>The jury doubted his guilt.</li> <li>He couldn't be charged with the crime today.</li> </ul> The case has elements to bother the fiercest advocates of capital punishment. If the O.J. Simpson trial shows that prominent defendants get better treatment, the Spaziano case shows how easy it can be to convict and condemn disreputable citizens. Execution in error can't help but undermine support for the death penalty. But the track was greased for this error until Spaziano's former attorney and&nbsp;<em>The Miami Herald</em> started shouting.<br /><br />Spaziano was president of a motorcycle gang in Orlando when Laura Lynn Harberts disappeared from her apartment in 1973. Sixteen days later, her body was found in a Seminole County garbage dump. The body was so badly decomposed that the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death. Although police began with a different suspect, they turned to Spaziano after Tony Dilisio, then 18, told them that two years earlier, when Mr. Dilisio was eager to join the gang, Spaziano had said something about the murder. Mr. Dilisio also said he had been drinking and using LSD and marijuana and couldn't remember what Spaziano had said.<br /><br />After two sessions with a hypnotist, though, Mr. Dilisio was able to "recall" graphic, incriminating comments by Spaziano. The prosecutor told the judge in open court that without Mr. Dilisio's testimony, "we'd have absolutely no case here whatsoever." In his closing argument, he told the jurors that if they didn't believe Mr. Dilisio, they had to vote for acquittal.<br /><br />The jurors were not told Mr. Dilisio had been hypnotized. The same hypnotist, Joe McCawley, had earlier helped an eyewitness "remember" evidence that helped send Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee to Death Row for 12 years. They were pardoned in 1975, after someone else confessed to the murder for which they had been convicted.<br /><br />When Spaziano was tried in 1978, Florida allowed hypnotically assisted evidence. People under hypnosis are highly responsive to suggestions, which is why hypnotism helps some people diet or quit smoking. They are less alert to the difference between fact and fiction. For those reasons, Florida joined most other states in barring&nbsp;<span>hypnotically assisted testimony--in 1985. In Mr. Dilisio's case, he had been using hallucinogens during the period he was "recalling." So if Mr. McCawley did find a "real" memory to recall, it may have been only a recalled hallucination.<br /><br /></span>After ruling hypnotic testimony inadmissible in another case, the Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal to reverse Spaziano's conviction. Michael Mello, Spaziano's appeals attorney who is now a law professor in Vermont, blames "a legal technicality, the idiotic retroactivity doctrine." It holds, in effect, that evidence that can't be trusted today was reliable yesterday.<br /><br />Spaziano has been to the Florida Supreme Court four times and the U.S. Supreme Court twice, losing all six times. Those are the "endless appeals" proponents of capital punishment complain about. But in none of these appeals--not one--was Spaziano's guilt considered. A guilty verdict can't be appealed without new evidence, and in Spaziano's case there is none. But under the logic, if not the law, of the Supreme Court's 1985 decision, there wasn't any&nbsp;<em>old&nbsp;</em>evidence, either.<br /><br />If high courts had no reason to doubt Spaziano's guilt, the original jury did. Jurors twice reported they were deadlocked. Twice Judge Robert McGregor gave them the "dynamite charge," telling them they had a "duty" to reach a verdict. They finally found him guilty, then quickly recommended a life sentence. Mr. Mello has an affidavit from one juror saying the sentence was a trade-off because of "our doubts about whether Mr. Spaziano was guilty of the crime as charged."<br /><br />According to Florida law, guilt is beyond a reasonable doubt, and doubt is not a basis for mitigating punishment. Judge McGregor overrode the jury and sentenced Spaziano to death. He knew, and the jury didn't, that Spaziano already was serving a life sentence for rape. Florida is one of only four states where judges are allowed to override a jury's recommendation.<br /><br />Gov. Chiles signed Spaziano's latest death warrant, and Spaziano's countdown began until Gov. Chiles was persuaded to look back. He stopped the execution to review the case further. For a pardon, he would need three Cabinet members to join him. In any case, Spaziano still has five years to go on his 25-year minimum sentence from the rape case. He says he is innocent of the rape, too, and Mr. Mello is inclined to agree. That can be sorted out later.<br /><br />Spaziano has waited on Death Row since 1978. Someone with authority finally noticed there is no case against him, no evidence that he committed the murder he would have died for.<br /><br />[photograph caption]: Joseph Spaziano in 1976: He was scheduled to die June 27. 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. Trommer, Elise 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 spared Florida from a capital crime Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Chiles Spared Florida From a Capital Crime." The Palm Beach Post (Palm Beach, FL), June 16, 1995, p. 16a. 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 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 Palm Beach, FL Description An account of the resource Governor Chiles stops the planned execution of Joseph Spaziano for murder in order to review his court sentence. Little evidence has been found that holds gravitas in the case, which could spare Spaziano from the death penalty. Subject The topic of the resource Murder & crime Capital punishment. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/f8889d230da45841a73dde31bf4f7e8c.jpg 4a1448bbd379546caf4a9423ffb66b28 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/d255c3eea990dde14f753930836d3f22.jpg dd4d12ef1fffd6db2b03cfdc616c1a6d 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 — With a crucial witness recanting his testimony, Gov. Lawton Chiles has called off this month's execution of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano. Spaziano was condemned for the 1973 murder of Orlando nurse Laura Lynn Harberts, whose sexually mutilated body was found in a trash dump near Altamonte Springs. He has spent 20 years on death row and was scheduled to die in the electric chair June 27. But Tony Dilisio, a key witness, told Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents this week that he was manipulated by investigators and his testimony was untrue. Diliso was hypnotize to help him recall details. Hypnotically enhanced testimony has since been banned in Florida as unreliable. Now Chiles wants to ponder whether Spaziano's sentence should be carried out. Spaziano's fourth death warrant will expire June 30. After FDLE's review, Chiles has several courses of action: He can choose to let Spaziano remain on death row indefinitely, he can sign a fifth death warrant or he can try to convince three members of the Cabinet to join him in pardoning Spazino or commuting his death sentence to life in prison. The governor's general counsel, Dexter Douglass, said Chiles decided to delay the execution based on an article in the Miami Herald and editorials in the St. Petersburg Times that "raised doubt in the minds of the people of Florida." Those reports appeared after several Florida newspapers, including the Times, published an impassioned essay by Spaziano's former attorney, who wrote that he felt his client was innocent. "It has been brought to our attention through the press that allegations and statements that we've read that this man may be innocent," Douglass said. John Currie of the governor's Citizen's Services Office said his staff fielded 148 calls this week on the Spaziano case — 130 callers urging Chiles to grant clemency and 18 encouraging the governor to let the execution go ahead. Michael Minerva, head of the state office that represents many death row inmates, said he was relived to get word of the stay. "I hope it's because there's substantial doubt about the guild, but I don't know," Minerva said, "But for now the execution has been stayed indefinitely. "Those are the terms of his order." Douglass, the governor's general counsel, would not reveal what other evidence investigators expect to gather during the review. Attorneys for Spaziano are exploring the controversial issue of repressed memories because Dilisio's testimony was said to be plucked from his memory by hypnosis. The ban on hypnotically enhanced testimony in criminal trials came after the Spaziano trial and is not retroactive. A;though it is rare for governors to delay scheduled executions, Chiles has done it before. In January 1993, he rescinded the fourth death warrant for Larry Joe Johnson four days before Johnson's scheduled execution. The governor's pause was prompted by a Florida Supreme Court opinion in which three of the justices wrote that they denied Johnson's appeal with their hands tied by procedural law. Johnson, a Vietnam veteran, suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome. His lawyers argued he was suffering from side effects from medicine at the time he killed a service-station attendant with a shotgun. Chiles' temporary stay didn't save Johnson. The governor signed a new death warrant, and Johnson was executed in May 1993. The same thing could happen with Spaziano. — Information from Times staff writer Gregory Enns, the Orlando Sentinel and Associated Press was used in 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. Kolodny, Jacob 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 stays Spaziano execution Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Knight-Ridder Newspapers 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. 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 Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Description An account of the resource Newspaper report from 1995 on the staying of the execution of alleged murder John Spaziano by Florida Governor Lawton Chiles after a witness recanted his testimony due to it being acquired through hypnotic assistance, which had been banned after the conclusion of the trial. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 2 JPGS 300 DPI 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/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/58d42ff4b4de2878d2cbe3356569c5fb.jpg 6324877d4d0d57fec02941fa8df698de 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 Coddling the Unabomber Subject The topic of the resource Kaczynski, Theodore John, 1942- Death row Description An account of the resource Vermont Law Professor Michael Mello advocates for the privacy of Ted Kaczynski, more commonly known as: The Unabomber. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Herald Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Herald. "Coddling the Unabomber." Hist 297, accessed April 12, 2022. https://umw.history.org. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1997-12-11 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 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 Randolph, VT 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 5 Text Text Any textual data included in the document The Herald - Under the American justice system, even the most unpopular criminal suspect deserves an advocate besides his mother. Still, it’s hard to sympathize with the campaign of a Vermont Law School professor to coddle the Unabomber by forbidding the jury a chance to look at his explicit diaries. VLS professor Michael Mello has made a bit of a name for himself in death penalty cases, having guided about 70 death-row prisoners in Florida through last-minute maneuvering designed to save their lives. Now Mello has involved himself in the defense of Ted Kaczynski, who allegedly spread a swath of death and destruction-by-mail for decades, signing his messages with the “Unabomber” tag. An important part of the prosecution’s evidence is said to be a series of journals in which Kaczynski describes as many as 16 crimes in detail. The journals were confiscated from the cabin in which Kaczynski was living the life of a recluse when arrested. Prof. Mello does not think that the journals should be admitted in evidence. In support of that position, he offers that he, too, keeps a diary, which he considers “an extension of my own mind and my own soul and my own heart,” he told the Free Press. It sounds so nice and warm and fuzzy. But in the Unabomber’s case, the mind, soul, and heart were crazily warped and extremely dangerous to society. If he was careless enough to write it all up in journals, and leave them lying around, then so much the worse for him. Mello thinks that admitting diaries into evidence is akin to requiring Kaczinski to testify against himself, which is forbidden by the Fifth Amendment. But that important amendment was written so that the police could not torture “confessions” out of suspects. It wasn’t intended to tenderly protect the minds, souls and hearts of mass murderers. Sticking up for the Unabomber in this case is more likely to foster cynicism about defendants’ rights than it is to advance them. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Newspaper Student Editor of the Digital Item Van Doren, Jamie Contributor of the Digital Item Person submitting the digital item to the collection. Garner, Neonya 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 Coddling the Unabomber Subject The topic of the resource Death row Kaczynski, Theodore John Description An account of the resource Vermont Law Professor Michael Mello advocates for the privacy of Ted Kaczynski, more commonly known as: The Unabomber. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource The Herald Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Coddling the Unabomber." The Herald, December 11, 1997. 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 1997-12-11 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 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Randolph, VT Death Row Michael Mello Unabomber https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/0114402b747b1a1097d749b98a7528d7.jpg 45020fa78462623784cfe51d9890fe65 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document CHELSEA – A judge is drawing fire because she ruled that a man charged with rape could be released from jail only if he agreed not to possess or view pornography. Civil liberties advocates said they were troubled by Judge Mary Miles Teachout’s ruling. “It’s a first for me,” said Vermont Law School Professor Michael A. Mello. Teachout decided that David C. Green could be released on bail while awaiting trial but only on the condition that he stay away from pornography. Green, 22, is accused of repeatedly raping his wife, who had told him he wanted a divorce, on Oct. 21. “He told me that earlier in the day he had rented a movie and had masturbated while watching the movie,” Green’s wife wrote in an affidavit submitted to police. Neither the affidavit nor other police records indicated the content of the movie. Green of Lebanon, N.H., was arrested and charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault and one of kidnapping. He is being held in the Southeast Regional Correctional Facility in Woodstock, unable to make bail. Critics of the release conditions Teachout set questioned whether the judge should be linking the alleged crime with a movie. “Take it out of the realm of sex,” suggested Vermont American Civil Liberties Union executive director Leslie Williams. “What if you rob a bank after watching a movie about robbing a bank? It’s assuming a connection that I’m not sure is justified.” Mello, who teaches criminal law, said judges had the right to impose a number of release conditions as long as they can be “rationally related to the offense” and do not violate the constitution. “I think it’s unconstitutional,” Mello said of Teachout’s order. David Putter, chairman of the Vermont ACLU’s legal panel, said the problem with the order was that it was essentially unenforceable because it’s so broad. Vermont has no legal definition of pornography, he said. “The state can’t prohibit speech unless it clearly defines the prohibited speech and that speech falls within a lawful definition of obscenity,” Putter said. “If (Teachout) has not specified what particular guidelines govern, then the order would be a violation not only of the First Amendment but of the Vermont Constitution as well.” Mello said Teachout’s order involved the “suppression of ideas… it infringes on the marketplace of ideas. It has a potentially chilling effect.” That is what sets apart from typical conditions of release, such as prohibiting drinking alcohol or barring contact with certain people, he said. Williams, who is not a lawyer, said the argument could be put in simpler terms. “This is unreasonable,” she said. “To forbid someone to read something or look at something is going a little too far.” [Pull quote]: “What if you rob a bank after watching a movie about robbing a bank? It’s assuming a connection that I’m not sure is justified.” 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. Bales, Jack 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 Conditions of Release: Don't Watch Pornographic Movies Subject The topic of the resource Pornography--Law and legislation American Civil Liberties Union Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived "Conditions of Release: Don't Watch Pornographic Movies ,” Rutland (VT) Daily Herald , November 30, 1993. 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 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 1993-11-30 Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource After a man views a pornographic movie, he rapes his wife and is charged with sexual assault. A judge rules that he can be released on bail only if he agrees not to possess or watch pornography. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Lebanon, NH First Amendment 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/8de208caae20e4da1fbaed0d266f6a8f.jpg 6a59a6c260da125f25ca425d7cfcb5d7 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 1, 1976-1979 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. Kramer, Patricia Text Any textual data included in the document <p>There seems to have arisen some controversy over the specifics involved when a case deals with both aspects of Honor and Judicial Violations. Should such a case come before Honor, Judicial, or both and in what order? If the case comes before both courts of student action, does this indeed constitute double jeopardy? Does a policy need to be formed to cover all cases that fall in this category, or should each case continue to be decided on its individual merit? This article will attempt to deal with these considerations in terms of the alleged Honor Violation of Lying in conjunction with alleged Judicial Violations.</p> <p>If a student is confronted with an alleged judicial violation, the accused is assumed innocent of that charge until proven guilty by the judicial court. Additionally the accused has the right to state his or her innocence to that judicial charge in one of several ways: by pleading the 5^th amendment in the right to remain silent or in pleading guilty to the offense as charged, and tailoring the case to fit the plea. However, under the present system, an accused student may compound a problem, expanding it to involve an Honor Offense as well. But only in a specific sense. For example, the accuser questions the accused in relation to a specific part of the offense that he or she was visual witness to , and the accused denies the fact. A misrepresentation of the truth is no less a misrepresentation becuase it is about a Judicial Offense. Granted, the lie would not have been an issue if a Judicial Offense had not come into play. There exists, however, a very real difference between maintaining one’s innocence through an impulsive lie to cover for one’s actions.</p> <p>A direct lie to cover for one’s action is in our System, by precedence, taken to Honor. The reasoning behind this has been based in what has seemed fairest to the accused in terms of both Honor and Judicial. First, Honor deals with the lie, deciding on guilt or innocence and then hands down one of three penalties: No Dismissal, suspension, or Absolute Dismissal. These decisions are made only on direct evidence presented to the Council surrounding the lie itself. Then, if the case further warrants Judicial proceedings it will go to Judicial for a decision and Judicial penalty based only on the Judicial Violation charges. The Honor Council’s decision will not be known to, nor will it figure in the voting Judicial Council’s decisions.</p> <p>Precedence in such cases has taken into consideration the power of the Honor Council’s decision and realm of penalty: that the Council can directly dismiss a student from the college. It seems ludicrous to think that a student should be subject to first one trial, receive a fine or extra desk duty; then to a second, and in the second trial face the possibility of Absolute Dismissal.</p> <p>It is equally ludicrous to consider as a logical extension that since we may be charged with lying with the Judicial case, that if we plead “not guilty” is merely a formal courtroom procedure around which to build one’s case. An accused may plead “not guilty” even in the face of  “obvious” guilt if: 1) the accused believes that he or she is not guilty, or 2) if the accused is not willing to face the specific charges as they stand. Once a verdict and penalty are handed down by any judicial body (unless an appeal process is completed to the contrary) the decision stands, and the accused assumes (in effect, becomes) the decision of the court.</p> <p>Another aspect to consider is that of double jeopardy. Because a case may come before both Honor and Judicial Councils, does this constitute double jeopardy? By definition of the two separate entities, it does not. Again, Honor will deal only with that which clearly falls under its jurisdiction. No case will be accepted that is not clearly within the realm. Neither our Honor System, nor our Judicial System claim to be qualified to deal with decisions in a real court of law, nor their penalties. In the particular type of case which we are concerned with here, there is no doubt that either body is dealing with “criminals.”</p> <p>It appears that due to the delicate nature of each individual case, especially those that fall under this discussion, it is necessary to continue to decide the effect of Honor upon each case depending on circumstance. There are always fine line cases that will be difficult to classify. When such a case occurs it may be best to bypass the Honor Council. But, when a case is clear cut, and deals with lying and a Judicial Offense, both effects of the total violation must be handled separately.</p> <p>With proper discretion, it is possible to avoid such conflicts. If the accuser uses thought and tact in addressing a potential accused, there should exist no set up for the probability of an Honor Violation. Inform a student that you are considering Judicial procedure—don’t provide them the unfortunate opportunity to react to a pointed question of accusation with a lie to cover for their actions.</p> <p> </p> 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 Counter Point Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Innis, Beth 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 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 68A Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA Description An account of the resource Honor Council President, Beth Innis, wrote an article discussing Honor Violations, Judicial Violations, and double jeopardy. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Innis, Beth. "Counter Point". The Bullet (VA) Subject The topic of the resource Student newspapers and periodicals Beth Innis honor code Honor Council judicial offense Michael A. Mello The Bullet University of Mary Washington university policy https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/d0050e03fd91b3530287b15401e2e5aa.jpg 52677029bdafccec8fe5f73ef0356a2f 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 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document [Page header] B-2 ** The Times-Union, Jacksonville, Saturday, September 9, 1995 [End Page Header] [Article Title] Court denies stay for Spaziano By Jackie Hallifax Associated Press [End Article Title] [Column One] TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court refused yesterday to stay the execution of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano but ordered a lower court to hold a hearing within a week into his claims of innocence. In an unsigned opinion, the justices agreed a trial judge should consider the recent recantation of a key prosecution witness who said he lied during Spaziano's trial nearly 20 years ago. But the state's high court split 4-3 in its refusal to delay the execution. [End Column One] [Column Two] Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to die in Flordia's electric chair Spet. 21 for the August 1973 murder-mutilation of Laura Lynn Harberts, 18, of Orlando. Herberts body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump. The key witness at Spaziano's trial was Anthony DiLisio, who recanted his testimony earlier this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano's fourth death warrant. However, after an investigation by the Flordia Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by DiLisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month. [End Column Two] [Column Three] Richard Martell, who oversees the state lawyers who defend death sentences, said he was still studying the decision. Micheal Mello, the Vermont law professor who represents Spaziano, did not respond to a request for reaction. Dexter Douglass, Chiles' general counsel, said a week should be sufficient for a lower court to hold a hearing. "There's plenty of time for this hearing," he said. "there's plenty of time for it to come back up to the Supreme Court." The trial court will decide if the recanted testimony is credible and substantial enough to probably change the verdict, according to the majority opinion. [End Column Three] 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. Shinkle, Timothy 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 Court denies stay for Spaziano Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jackie Hallifax Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Times-Union 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 1995-09-09 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 Description An account of the resource This article reviews the Flordia Supreme Court's 4-3 split when deciding to stay Joseph Spaziano's death sentence after a key witness recanted their statement from twenty years ago. Subject The topic of the resource Capital Punishment Spaziano, Joseph Chiles, Lawton Herberts, Laura DiLisio, Anthony Florida. Supreme Court 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 Jacksonville, FL https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/0c7745f1b36406e41441ac9aef9131c0.jpg adf345c2c338b4d76b74efe90903a218 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/1f9c2d0044559bc97d6a134564364629.jpg 3aff514163449f12014babed2d969283 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 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document <p>[start of page one]<br /><br />[header]<br />Despite the lack of paperwork, some justices seem to favor caution in the case, but has been under various appeals for the last 20 years and which the state wants to conclude. <br /><br />[title]<br />Court Faces a Quandary on Spaziano <br /><br />[start of the first column]<br />TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s Supreme Court appears torn over the plight of Joseph ”Crazy Joe” Spaziano, facing execution in 13 days for murder he claims he didn't commit.<br /><br />It's clear from a heated debate at the court Thursday that justices are torn over a lack of proper paperwork and last-minute pleadings in the case. <br /><br />They are torn to buy the news that the central figure in Spaziano’s 1976<br />[end of the first column]<br /><br />[start of the second]<br />[image]Spaziano<br /><br />[start of the second column]<br />conviction for the killing of 18 year old Laura Harberts says he lied when he tied Spaziano to the murder.<br /><br />Despite the lack of paperwork, some justices seem to favor caution and the case, which has been under various appeals for the last 20 years and which the state wants to conclude. <br /><br />“Remember, the U.S. Supreme Court has said death is different,” Justice Gerald Cogan said Thursday.<br /><br />Incredulously, Cogan ass Estates prosecutor:<br /><br />”It's up to us? As a court? 'To say, ‘We're sorry, Mr. Spaziano, you cannot get any relief fromus, despite the fact that there may be evidence out there that you should get a new trial? It's tough, Mr. Spaziano, we're going to electrocute you because of all the stuff should have been done before?'“ <br /><br />It's unknown when, or how the court will rule on Spaziano’s plea to<br />[end of the second column]<br /><br />[start of the third column]<br />postpone an execution scheduled for Sept. 21 at Florida State Prison near Starke. This is Spaziano’s fifth appointment with electric chair since 1985. <br /><strong><br />Witness Recants</strong> <br />Spaziano’s lawyer, working without pay and without benefit of hiring investigators, is asking for time and money. He wants to show that he witnessed Tony DiLisio was lying in 1975 when he testified that Spa- <br />[end of third column]<br /><br />[start of the second page]<br />[Image with caption]</p> <p>In court: Chief Justice Stephen Grimes, left, and Justice Leander Shaw Jr. have conference.<br /><br />[start of the fourth column]<br />&nbsp;ziano, a member of The Outlaws motorcycle gang, let him to a wooded site and showed him the body of Harberts and another unidentified woman.<br /><br />This year, DiLisio told the herald that he invented the tail and lied on the stand. Spaziano never showed him anybody's, says DiLisio. <br /><br />The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and an inquiry prompted by DiLisio's recantation, concluded that DiLisio told his original story to so many people at the time that he was voicing the truth and lying today. On the strength of this report, which has not been made public, Governor Lawton Chiles ordered Spaziano’s execution. <br /><br />The Supreme Court, particularly senior Justice bin Overton and Justice Harry Lee Anstead, expressed concern that Spaziano’s attorney, Michael Mello, had it included an affidavit from DiLisio that he has recanted his testimony. <br /><br />DiLisio said Thursday that he's ready to sign an affidavit. <br /><br />”We can put it on the fax machine to them right now if they want,” he said. ”What's the big deal?” <br /><br />DiLisio's attorney, Kelly McGraw, said Mello ask for the affidavit earlier this summer. ”He <br />[end of the fourth column]<br /><br />[start of the fifth column]<br /><br />[image] Associated Press<br />[caption] Appeal for time; Michael Mello. attorney for Joseph Spaziano makes his case.<br /><br />[text resumes]<br />asked me to do it, we meant to do it, we just didn't get around to it,” she said.”We have no problem in doing one.” <br /><strong><br />‘Out of Claims’</strong> <br />Margene Roper, Assistant Attorney General, argued that Spaziano faced his last legal chance in the governor's examination of the case. <br /><br />”For the past 20 years Joseph Spaziano has had fly-specking<br />[end of the fifth column]<br /><br />[start of the sixth column]&nbsp;<br />review from all the courts,” she said.”Mr Spaziano is out of claims.” <br /><br />Justice Overton counted the times the court has reviewed Spaziano's death sentence - eight - and complained that Mello didn't come in January after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review it an execution appeared imminent. <br /><br />Overton added angrily:”you have not filed in this record anything that says, quotation I swear quotation. . . An oath by DiLisio.” <br /><br />Mello said he lives in Vermont, and that DiLisio in Pensacola, and that DiLisio is ”difficult to deal with." <br /><br />“If I messed up and not filing. . . In January, please don't take that out on my client,” Mello said.<br /><br />Justice Leander Shaw sounded sympathetic toward Mello’s argument.<br /><br />”He is out of resources,” Shaw said of Spaziano, ”he has no investigator.” <br /><br />Imagine this were you, days away from death, shot told the prosecutor :”why shouldn't he be given a continuance, to see if he can get an investigator for one thing? <br /><br />“I'll grant you,” Kogan agreed that Spaziano’s appeal should already have been filed.<br /><br />”But we are to tell him that, with all that information out there, we're going to let your execution procedure becaU.S.e the attorney didn't file the right motion?”<br /><br /><em>Herald staff writer Lori Rozsa contributed to this report.</em></p> 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. Williams, Megan 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 Court faces a quandary on Spaziano Subject The topic of the resource Capital punishment Spaziano, Joseph Description An account of the resource The Florida Supreme Court appeals torn over Joseph Spaziano's appeal to prevent his execution for a murder he claims he did not commit. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Silva, Mark Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The Hearald 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 1995-09-08 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 300 dpi 2 JPGs 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 https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/947dd70c6d9b991d58d605de8a8ed09f.jpg 973e8e3fad62451a946bffb7d88c8fbb https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/540d35160035eecc47f7e1f22ddec544.jpg 164311b72d0b7e50e15358041221889e https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/b415b0ed37076ab6eb0e059ca71e8816.jpg c01404625591ceca5823f6de35f53d5b 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 4 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. Roszell, William Text Any textual data included in the document <div> <div>[start of the first page] </div> <div></div> [Text above title]</div> <div>HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. SPAZIANO</div> <div></div> <div>[Title]</div> <div>Court Gives ‘Crazy Joe’ 11th-Hour Reprieve</div> <div></div> <div>[subtext below title]</div> <div>A lawyer makes his case in the press, convincing hard-bitten editors of the client’s innocence.</div> <div></div> <div>BY LINDA GIBSON</div> <div>SPECIAL TO THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL</div> <div></div> <div>[start of the first column] </div> <div></div> <div>CONDEMNED PRISONER Joseph Spaziano gambled that the press could keep the state from executing him. So far, he’s won. On Sept. 12, his 50th birthday, the Florida Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution and ordered a lower court hearing to be scheduled by Nov. 15. He was to have been electrocuted Sept. 21. </div> <div></div> <div>His pro bono attorney, Vermont Law School Prof. Michael Mello, bet Mr. Spaziano’s life on resourceful reporters and eloquent editorials. Sparked by a column Professor Mello wrote for the Miami Herald, the newspaper interviewed the main witness against Mr. Spaziano. The witness told reporter Lori Rozsa that he’d been a drug-addled delinquent teenager who had concocted his story at the prodding of investigators during hypnosis sessions. Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles issued a stay of execution 12 days before the inmate’s June 27 date with Old Sparky. But on Aug. 24, the governor reversed himself and issued a fifth death warrant based on the confidential statements of newly found witnesses whom he has refused to identify publicly.</div> <div></div> <div>The odds that Mr. Spaziano would beat this lat-<br /> <div>[end of the first column] </div> <div></div> <br /> <div>[start of the second column] </div> <div>est warrant were as slim as the evidence that put him on death row 19 years ago.</div> </div> <div></div> <div>In 1975, police charged “Crazy Joe” Spaziano, a member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang in Orlando, with the 1973 rape-torture slaying of 18-year-old hospital clerk Laura Lynn Harberts. Her remains were found in a rural garbage dump along with those of another still-unidentified victim. The prosecution’s sole evidence was the testimony of Anthony DiLisio, who said Crazy Joe took him to the dump to view the corpses and described how he had tortured the girls by showing them pieces of their bodies that he had sliced off. State v. Spaziano, 393 So.2d 1119 (Fla. Sup. Ct. 1981).</div> <div></div> <div>Sensational though it was, even prosecutor Claude Van Hook acknowledged Mr. DiLisio’s testimony was the state’s total case against Mr. Spaziano. “If you don’t believe Tony DiLisio,” he told the jury at the 1975 trial, “then find this defendant not guilty in five minutes.”</div> <div></div> <div>Jurors deadlocked twice in six hours. Finally, they came back with a guilty verdict but recommended life in prison. Seminole County Circuit Court Judge Robert McGregor overruled them and sentenced Mr. Spaziano to death. Jurors didn’t know, the judge told reporters later, that the defendant had a previous conviction for rape.</div> <div></div> <div></div> <div><strong>Harbored a Grudge</strong></div> <div></div> <div>They also didn’t know, however, that Mr. DiLisio’s testimony had been elicited by hypnosis sessions with a practitioner whose work in other cases had been questioned. In 1985, Florida banned testimony based on hypnosis as unreliable but failed to make the ban retroactive. Mr. DiLisio also had made heavy use of hallucinogenic drugs as a teenage and <br /> <div>[end of the second column] </div> <div></div> <br /> <div>[start of the third column] </div> <div>had harbored a grudge against Mr. Spaziano over the latter’s relationship with his stepmother, defense lawyers say.</div> </div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Professor Mello and other attorneys raised these points during years of stay applications and briefs.<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“None of that made the slightest difference,” he said, citing rules that prohibit state and federal courts from reviewing evidence that wasn’t raised at trial. “Because of all this, no court has ever ruled on the merits of Mr. Spaziano’s evidence demonstrating his innocence.”<br /><br /></div> <div>By the spring of this year, every legal recourse had been exhausted. With a fourth death warrant sign had been exhausted. With a fourth death warrant sign and an execution date set, Professor Mello gave up the law and sought help from a highly reluctant source Miami Herald editor Gene Miller.<br /><br /></div> <div>“People thought I’d lost my mind. The Herald is an extremely conservative institution,” said Professor Mello. “They’re in favor of the death penalty. But I figured if I could convince the Herald, I could convince anyone with an open mind.”</div> <div></div> <div>[End the first page]</div> <div><br />[Start the second page]</div> <div><br />[small text on the right side of the image]</div> <div>AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS</div> <div><br />[Text below image]</div> <div>Turned 50: The stay came on Joseph Spaziano’s birthday.</div> <div><br /><br /></div> <div>[text in box]</div> <div><strong>CASE AT A GLANCE</strong></div> <div>Venue: Florida Supreme Court</div> <div>CONDEMNED PRISONER: Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano</div> <div>DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Prog. Michael Mello of Vermont Law School</div> <div>SUMMARY: Mr. Spaziano, scheduled for execution Sept. 21, was given another reprieve when the Florida Supreme Court ordered a hearing into the recantation of the main witness against him. The witness told a reporter that he had concocted his testimony at the prodding of investigators.</div> <div>[End second image]</div> <div><br />[Start the third page]</div> <div><br />[Start the first column]</div> <div>Mr. Miller’s skepticism as a reporter is legendary. In 1976, he won a second Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the case of Wilbert Lee and Freddie Pitts. They’d spent years on Florida’s death row for a murder that hadn’t committed, until someone else confessed. After Mr. Millers 1875 book “Invitation to a Lynching,” he was deluged with requests from inmates and attorneys who wanted him to look at their cases, too. He said he never expected to see another one like Pitts and Lee.</div> <div></div> <div><strong>Read Transcripts</strong></div> <div>But Mr. Miller agreed to take a phone call from Professor Mello after the lawyer enlisted the aid of a friend who approached Mr. Miller’s daughter. The editor agreed to read a chapter about the Spaziano case in a book Professor Mello was writing on death row representation. Then Mr. Miller asked to see the trail transcript, police reports and tapes of Mr. DiLisio’s hypnosis sessions. On Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, Mr. Miller dropped it all off with another legendary skeptic, investigator Warren Holmes of Holmes Polygraph Services Inc., in Miami.<br /><br /></div> <div>Mr. Holmes has worked with the Herald for 30 years. He’s participated in such cases as the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and President Kennedy and is known for his work on the Pitts and Lee case. <br /><br /></div> <div>He wasn’t happy about Mr. Miller dumping a load of papers on him just before a holiday weekend, but he expected to spend no more than half an hour on them before concluding that Mr. Spaziano was guilty. More than 10 hours later, however, the investigator called Professor Mello. “He told me that he had reviewed between 1,200 and 1,400 transcripts in his time, and he had thought that three men were innocent: Pitts, Lee and Joesph Spaziano,” said Professor Mello.<br /><br /></div> <div>Mr. Holmes next went to the Herald: “I told them there was something radically wrong with the case.”</div> <div>Mention in the records of hypnotist Joe B. McCawley set off bells. Mr. McCawley had helped convict Messrs. Pitts and Lee through a dramatic, but suspect “hypnosis” session of a witness conducted right in the courtroom. Psychologists and psychiatrists have viewed Mr. McCawley’s sessions with Mr. DiLiso with skepticism.<br /><br /></div> <div>“We found the hypnotist is a guy with a very checkered record,” said Herald state desk editor John Pancake. “The key thing you can see looking at the file was [Spaziano] was convicted on hypnotically enhanced testimony. That’s no longer admissible.”<br /><br /></div> <div>Mr. McCawley now is director of the Ethical Hypnosis Training Center in Orlando. Reacting to comments about his work in the case, he said “I would expect that. Ignorance breeds a lot of contempt.”<br /><br /></div> <div></div> <div><strong>Wrote Column</strong></div> <div></div> <div>But before the paper would act, it insisted that Professor Mello write an article about the case. Editors also dictated that the lawyer had to mention within the first few paragraphs that his 70 clients on death row, Mr. Spaziano was the only one he thought was innocent. Professor Mello resisted until the paper delivered an ultimatum: no column, no Herald investigation.<br />[end of the first column]<br /><br />[Start of the second column]</div> <div>Professor Mello capitulated. Mr. Miller edited the column and then took an extraordinary step. Instead of treating the story competitively, he arranged to have it run simultaneously June 4 in the Herald, the St. Petersburg Times and the Orlando Sentinel. He also called syndicated columnists James J. Kilpatrick, who responded with a column published June 8 calling on Governor Chiles to issue clemency.</div> <div><br />Meanwhile, Herald reporter Ms. Rozsa found Mr. Dilisio, now a sober, 38-year-old part-time preacher, in Pensacola. On her third attempt to talk to him, he let her in and spilled his guts.</div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>He didn’t remember Crazy Joe taking him to the dump. <br /><br />He didn’t remember the hypnosis, the trail and his testimony. “How do I know what I said back then was reliable? Especially if it came out under hypnosis,” he said. Mr. DiLisio’s recantation, published June 11, fell like a bomb on the seemingly unalterable course of events that follow the signing of a death warrant. Said Mr. Pancake. “We were really stunned.”</div> <div><br />The Herald followed up with a June 13 editorial calling on Governor Chiles to halt the execution. On the 14th, it published a detailed article by Associate Editor Tony Proscio that included excerpts from Mr. DiLisio’s hypnosis sessions. “I’m not crusading to save the life of this one guy,” Mr. Proscio said. “This is about procedure, justice and the integrity of the death penalty.”<br /><br /></div> <div>On June 15, Governor Chiles issued a stay and ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate. In addition to interviewing Mr. DiLision, agents found new witnesses who claimed Mr. DiLisio had talked about viewing the bodies even before he was hypnotized and others who said Mr. Spaziano had admitted the killings to them. Agents promised them confidentially because they feared retaliation from the Outlaws. On that basis, and with the help of a recently passed and little-known exemption from Florida’s tough public records laws, the governor sealed the report and issued a fifth death warrant.<br /><br /></div> <div>While reporters try to get hold of the secret report, Professor Mello and public defense lawyers here are arguing over who will represent Crazy Joe for what might be his final hearing.<br /><br /></div> <div>What happens, he’s decided not to take his client’s case back into federal court, a most unusual tactic that dismays his associates. “What we must do is maximize the pressure on Chiles,” he said. “That means, getting access to the report and it’s underlying materials and exposing them as the product of a whitewash with a foreordained conclusion.<br /><br /></div> <div>“During my 12 years as a capital post-conviction litigator, I swore I would never try any of my cases in the media. Now, I swear I will never try one in court.”</div> <div><br />[End of article]</div> 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 Court gives 'Crazy Joe' 11th-hour reprieve Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gibson, Linda Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived The National Law Journal Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 3 JPGs 300 DPI Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1995-09-25 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Miami, FL Subject The topic of the resource Spaziano, Joe Death row inmates--Florida--Case studies. Description An account of the resource “Crazy Joe” Spaziano receives a last-minute stay of execution on his 50th birthday September 25, 1995. In 1975 police charged Joe Spaziano with the 1973 rape-torture slaying of 18-year-old hospital clerk Laura Lynn Harberts. Jurors found Spaziano guilty of all charges but recommended life in prison however, Judge Robert McGregor overruled their ruling and sentenced Mr. Spaziano to death citing a previous rape conviction. Professor Mello and other attorneys raised questions about the case and challenged the ruling in court winning multiple stays of execution. "Crazy Joe" Spaziano death penalty Death sentence Florida Death Row Joe Spaziano Michael A. Mello Michael Allen Mello Michael Mello https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/e5aaa56964a24ee4c657192bcb37aac5.jpg dabcc563148ac53e6e1c049b4a2a298a https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/2952d4f5cd491d3281d02dd1316d0299.jpg 7b025e2bf814cdf5c10de13c78263cec 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 4 Text Text Any textual data included in the document <div>[start of page 1]</div> <div>[header] </div> <div>Florida Supreme Court </div> <div>Court hears Spaziano's death appeal</div> <div></div> <div>[subheading] </div> <div>An attorney for convicted murder Joseph Spaziano says his client deserves a chance to prove his innocence.</div> <div></div> <div>[start of the first column]</div> <div>An attorney for Joseph “Crazy Joe” Spaziano asked the state Supreme Court for a chance to prove his client is not guilty of the murder that is sending him to the electric chair in two weeks. </div> <div></div> <div>A lawyer for the state, however, urged the justices not to stay on Spaziano’s execution on “mere speculation.”</div> <div></div> <div>After hearing oral arguments Thursday, Florida’s high court will make a decision at its own discretion; Spaziano, 49, is scheduled to be executed Sept. 21 for the murder and mutilation of an Orlando woman 22 years ago. </div> <div></div> <div>During the hour-long hearing, justices and lawyers had exchanges about testimony at a trial held nearly 20 years ago, about judicial procedure, about the role of the state’s high court in reviewing capital cases. </div> <div></div> <div>“The proceeding before us has taken a rather free form,” Justice Harry Lee Anstead told Spaziano attorney Michael Mello. “This is the way you have approached this case before the court and it’s obviously causing us considerable difficulty.” </div> <div></div> <div>Mello, a Vermont law professor, has filed hundreds of pages of pleadings before Florida’s high court, but he began his presenta-</div> <div>[end of the first column]</div> <div></div> <div>[start of the second column]<br /><br />[image]</div> <div>[Capition]<br /><strong>Spaziano </strong></div> <div>He is scheduled to be executed Sept. 21 for the murder and mutilation of an Orlando woman 22 years<br /><br /></div> <div>[text resumes]</div> <div>tion by telling justices that all the issues were secondary because his client did not kill Laura Harberts. The 18-year-old hospital clerk’s body was found in an Altamonte Springs dump in August 1973.<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“I believe that if I had an opportunity to prove Mr. Spaziano’s innocence before a jury, he would be acquitted,” Mello said. “All I’m asking for… is a star of execution and the provision of resources.”</div> <div></div> <div><strong>Witness’s recantation not enough for Chiles</strong></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> <br /></span>Anthony Dilisio, a key prosecution witness in Spaziano’s trial, recanted his testimony earlier this year, prompting Gov. Lawton Chiles to suspend Spaziano’s fourth death warrant. <br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>However, after an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into the recent comments by Dilisio, Chiles said he had no doubts about the case and signed a fifth death warrant last month.<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Mello questioned the reliability of the FDLE investigation, which the governor has refused to release, as “supersecret information that supposedly reliable witnesses supposedly told FDLE that supposedly correctly reported to the governor.”<br />[end of the second column]<br /><br />[start of the third column]<br /><br /> <div>[image] Mark Foley/ The Assoicated Press<br /><br /></div> <div>[Capition]<br />"I believe that if I had an opportunity to prove Mr. Spaziano's innocence before a jury, he would be acquitted," attorney Michael Mello said.<br /><br /></div> [text resumes]<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>But Instead questioned the strength of Mello’s appeal before Florida’s high court. <br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>If Mello had filed the proper motion in trial court, he would have been required to meet two tests, Instead said. The first test is whether the recanted testimony was substantial enough to undercut Spaziano’s conviction; the second is whether the issue should have been raised earlier. </div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> <br /></span>Instead asked Mello if he could have jumped through “those two ordinary hoops.”<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“I can’t imagine new evidence more substantial than a disavowal of the critical testimony by the wit-<br />[end of the third column]<br /><br />[start of second page] <br /><br />[start of the fourth column]<br />ness,” Mello answered. <br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Justice Ben Overton then interrupted the attorney, asking why he had not presented an affidavit from Dilisio recanting his testimony.<br /> </div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“You have not filed in this record anything that says ‘I swear’, an oath by Dilisio,” Overton said.<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Justice Gerald Kogan did most of the questioning of Margene Roper, an assistant attorney general who presented the state’s case.<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Roper began by arguing that Spaziano had exhausted all his legal claims and was turning to Florida’s high court with issues that properly belonged before a trial court or the governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Clemency Board. </div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></div> <div><strong>Attorney: Spaziano shouldn’t die over procedural matters<br /><br /></strong></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Kogan asks how the justices, regardless of the procedural problems, could ignore the issue of Dilisio’s recantation. <br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“Apparently there is an allegation out there- and a strong one that the prime witness against the defendant in this particular case has recanted his testimony,” Kogan said.<br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“Do we sit back and say ‘OK… It’s tough, Mr. Spaziano, we’re going to electrocute you because all these things should have been done before’?” Kogan asked. <br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>Roper replied the case should be seen by another court, disputed that Division had recanted his trial testimony in the FDLE interview and argued he hadn’t recanted his sworn testimony in pre-trial depositions. <br /><br /></div> <div><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>“It takes more than speculation after 20 years of litigation and fly-specking review by court upon court to stay an execution,” she said. <br />[end of the fourth]<br /><br />[end article]</div> 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 Court hears Spaziano's death appeal Subject The topic of the resource capital punishment Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hallifax, Jackie Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Tallahasse Democrat Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. Language A language of the resource English Description An account of the resource Michael Mello, Joseph Spaziano's attorney believes Spaziano deserves a chance to prove his innocence. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 300 dpi 2 JPGs https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/51d2b6abad1d9c34bfb93e226f15c85c.jpg 86e21058760a8fe3bae0a811e3e52747 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 Court Refuses to Grant Delay in Execution Subject The topic of the resource Adams, Aubrey Dennis Jr. Thornley, Trisa Gail Supreme Court cases Description An account of the resource Associated Press article about an attempt to delay the execution of Aubrey Dennis Adams Jr., who was convicted of the murder of Trisa Gale Thornley. Mike Mellow was the defense attorney for Adams, and wanted to get the execution delayed in order to appeal the guilty verdict on the grounds that the jury was biased. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Associated Press Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Unknown Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available History 298 at the University of Mary Washington Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource n.d. 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 jpeg Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 101 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 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 2, 1983-1994 Text Text Any textual data included in the document The United States Supreme Court refused to grant a delay in the execution of Aubrey Dennis Adams last week. Adams stands convicted of killing eight year old Trisa Gail Thornley in 1978. It is said that Adams was acquainted with the young girl's family, and was responsible for making an "obscene" phone call to her family after kidnapping and killing her. Thornley was found dead in a wooded area on March 15, 1978. Adams' attorneys are filing for an appeal on the grounds that they believe the jury was not picked properly, and was biased as an effect. 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. Moncure-Williams, Mackie 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 Court Refuses to Grant Delay in Execution Subject The topic of the resource Adams, Aubry Dennis Jr. Thornley, Trisa Gail Supreme Court Cases Description An account of the resource This source is about a man named Aubry Dennis Adams, who was given the death penalty after being convicted of murder. Mike Mello was his defense attorney, and was attempting to get Adam's case reheard on the grounds that the jury was biased. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Moncure-Williams, Mackie 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 2016-03-18 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 1 JPG Language A language of the resource English Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 101 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Washington D.C Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source. https://hist299.umwhistory.org/files/original/f6fca6e40a636d77df1880b47fce6371.jpg 5acb29d8b7602f5b6a3d95af987f7434 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 1, 1976-1979 Text Text Any textual data included in the document Criticism Should Lead to Action <br /><br />It is at time asserted that the Bullet does not meet the needs and wishes of the MWC student. Because of this latent dissastification with our school paper, I find it necessary to investigate the basis of criticism from which these complaints arise and attempt to alleviate as many conflicts as possible. <br /><br />The main problem the BULLET faces in correcting mistakes and misunderstandings is in isolating specific areas of incompetence. Granted, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors occur, and will continue to occur. Similarly, the type of inaccuracy can also e observed in the WASHINGTON POST and THE FREE LANCE STAR. Please keep in mind that the reporters for these national papers devote 24 hours a day to the maintenance and perfection of their work, while the BULLET must place classes and a variety of other matters before the upkeep of the newspaper. <br /><br />Secondly, it must be noted tat the quality of the paper is contingent upon the excellence of the staff and Editorial Board. The criticism towards the BULLET must stem from certain MWC student's ideas of perfection. We would certainly find it encouraging to have more staff members, especially those of you who not only strive for perfection, but believe it can be attained. <br /><br />While I initially felt uneasiness concerning the new pamphlet PROMETHEUS, I have concluded that criticism and discontent channeled into another form of media is healthy and effective. It is easy to appreciate those who lend constructive criticism, as well as take action to eliminate their cause for discontent. <br /><br />When asked specifically what could be done to improve the BULLET, our critics shrug and reply something obtuse such as : "oh, just general stuff." We seek concrete criticism. We enjoy receiving letters to the editor. What we dislike is confusing displays of inept reasoning regarding the future of this year's BULLET. Complaints that have no basis or apathetic suggestions which would be impossible to implement are quite frustrating. As a freshman, I frequently criticized the BULLET, but it was not until I began participating in the decision making that I realized how genuinely unjustified I was in complaining of matters which I knew nothing about and did nothing about. <br /><br />If you desire change, it is necessary to do something more than merely expect it to occur. It is only after you offer precise suggestion and more importantly, action that you will experience the benefits of knowing that you have contributed to improvement; public reaction will be your gratification. P.A.R. 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 Criticism Should Lead to Action Subject The topic of the resource College Student Newspapers and Periodicals Description An account of the resource This is a newspaper article written in response to criticisms of the MWC Newspaper "The Bullet". Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Peter, Susan Kay Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Newspaper Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1977-10-18 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 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available HIST 298, University of Mary Washington Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Fredericksburg, VA