Executions Overview

Execution Volunteers

Last Updated October 24, 2024

The following is a list of execution “volunteers” — those individuals who waived at least part of their ordinary appeals or who terminated proceedings that would have entitled them to additional process prior to their execution. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 through to the date below, at least 165 defendants have been volunteers — approximately ten percent of all executions.

Volunteers have had an outsized impact on executions across the nation. Utah death-row prisoner Gary Gilmore waived his appeal rights and on January 17, 1977 became the first person to be executed in the United States following the Supreme Court’s 1976 ruling in Gregg v. Georgia upholding the constitutionality of capital punishment. Four of the first five prisoners executed after Gregg were volunteers, and volunteers were the first to be executed in 15 states and by the federal government.¹ In four states — Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania — the only prisoners executed have been volunteers.

Mississippi executed David Cox on November 17, 2021, marking the sixth time a state has restarted executions after a pause of at least five years by acceding to the wishes of a volunteer. Executions of volunteers ended execution pauses of 5 years and 6 years in South Dakota, 7 years in Louisiana, 9 years in Kentucky, and more than 20 years in Nebraska.

In 2018, Scott Dozier was permitted to waive his appeals and attempted to force Nevada to put him to death. He would have been the first execution in the state in more than 12 years. However, his execution was halted when a state court barred the Nevada Department of Corrections from using drugs obtained in “bad faith” and “by subterfuge”, and he subsequently hanged himself in prison.

^1.Volunteers were the first individuals executed in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Washington and by the federal government.

Defendant	Year of Execution	State	Source of Volunteer Status*
Derrick Dearman	2024	AL	“[H]e gave up his appeals earlier this year. ’I am willingly giving all that I can possibly give to try and repay a small portion of my debt to society for the terrible things that I have done,’ Dearman said in a statement released […] by his spiritual advisor.” (Ivana Hrynkiw, AL.com, October 17, 2024)
Travis Mullis	2024	TX	“A Texas man who had waived his right to appeal his death sentence received a lethal injection Tuesday evening…He added that while he ‘took the legal steps to expedite to include assisted suicide, I don’t regret this decision, to legally expedite this process.’” (Juan A. Lozano and Michael Graczyk, Texas man who waived his right to appeal death sentence is executed for killing infant son, AP, September 24, 2024)
James Barnes	2023	FL	“Barnes moved to discharge his lawyers, waive all appeals and future motions, and proceed with his execution.” (Jean Gonzalez, Death row prisoner waives appeals, execution to happen Aug. 3, The Florida Catholic, July 13, 2023)
David Cox	2021	MS	“Cox wrote to the chief justice of Mississippi Supreme Court in August 2018 saying he wanted to fire his lawyers, relinquish all appeals and have the state Supreme Court set his execution date. In the ruling Thursday, justices wrote that in November 2018, Cox filed court papers saying ‘I am worthy of death’ and asking to be executed.” (Emily Wagster Pettus, Mississippi sets date for state’s 1st execution since 2012, Associated Press, November 17, 2021)
Justen Hall	2019	TX	“Hall stated he was competent to represent himself … [and] asked courts to waive his appeals and schedule an execution date. ‘I do not like the person I have become, and I need to be put down like the rabid dog that I am,’ he wrote to a trial judge on Oct. 6, 2016.” (Davis Rich, Texas executes Justen Hall for murder of woman in El Paso, Texas Tribune, November 6, 2019.)
Rodney Berget	2018	SD	“Berget sent a letter to Judge Douglas Hoffman in August 2016. It said that he wanted to drop his appeals.” (Liliana Segura, RODNEY BERGET SAYS HE WANTS TO DIE. SOUTH DAKOTA PLANS TO KILL HIM. BUT EXPERTS SAY HIS EXECUTION WOULD VIOLATE THE LAW., The Intercept, October 28, 2018.)
Carey Dean Moore	2018	NE	“‘Yes, I have decided to stop fighting in the Supreme Courts; in fact I stopped this years ago. As to why, that is personal,’ [Moore] wrote in answer to a series of questions.” (Joe Duggan, Nebraska is moving closer to its 1st lethal injection, but timing is up to court, Omaha World-Herald, April 30, 2018.)
Michael Eggers	2018	AL	“In 2016, the inmate said he wished to expedite his execution date and fired his attorneys from the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Montgomery.” (Ivana Hrynkiw, Michael Eggers executed Thursday for slaying of Talladega woman in 2000, AL.com, March 15, 2018.)
Steven Spears	2016	GA	“Other than an automatic appeal that was filed after his conviction, Spears steadfastly refused to let lawyers challenge his sentence. Even at trial, he would not authorize his lawyers to present evidence that might have persuaded the Lumpkin County jury to vote for a life sentence.” (R. Cook, Georgia executes Steven Spears for 2001 murder, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Nov. 16, 2016.)
Barney Fuller	2016	TX	“Barney Fuller Jr., 58, had asked that all his appeals be dropped to expedite his death sentence.” (Associated Press, Texas killer Barney Fuller Jr., who asked to be executed, is put to death, Oct. 6, 2016.)
Daniel Lopez	2015	TX	“Lopez, who also wrote letters to a federal judge and pleaded for his execution to move forward, said last week from death row that a Supreme Court reprieve would be “disappointing.”
Jerry Martin	2013	TX	“A senior district judge granted Martin’s request to waive his right to appeal his conviction in June.” (C. Stark, Man executed for TDCJ officer’s death, The Huntsville Item, Dec. 3, 2013.)
Andrew Lackey	2013	AL	“(Lackey) had previously dropped his appeals and court records show he did nothing recently to try to block the execution from being carried out.”
Robert Gleason	2013	VA	“Gleason already is serving a life sentence for killing another man. He fired his lawyers last month — they were trying to work out a deal to keep him from getting the death penalty — so he could plead guilty to capital murder. He’s vowed not to appeal his sentence if the judge sentences him to death.”
Eric Robert	2012	SD	“He pleaded guilty to Johnson’s slaying and asked to be sentenced to death, telling a judge last October that he would otherwise kill again. He never appealed his sentence and even tried to bypass a mandatory state review in hopes of expediting his death.”
Shannon Johnson	2012	DE	“Ever since Johnson was found guilty in 2008 of the murder of Cameron Hamlin, he has told any attorney, court or jury that would listen to hurry up and put him to death.”
Christopher Johnson	2011	AL	“After he was sentenced to death, he refused to pursue appeals in his case, and filed court papers in May saying he didn’t want anyone to go to court on his behalf.”
Jeffrey Motts	2011	SC	“Motts abandoned all his appeals and volunteered for the death chamber.”
Gerald Bordelon	2010	LA	“The most recently Louisiana has put someone to death was Gerald Bordelon in 2010, after he waived his right to legal appeals and fast-tracked his own killing.” (Julie O’Donoghue, Louisiana spent $7.7 million on death penalty defense. It hasn’t executed anyone in 13 years., Louisiana Illuminator, March 21, 2023)
Danielle Simpson	2009	TX	“‘If I can’t be free - Kill Me.!!’ the Texas death row prisoner demanded in a rambling and sometimes incoherent handwritten plea earlier this year. […] The court granted the convicted murderer his wish.” (Chris McGreal, Texas death row man claims inmates’ numbered days are form of torture, The Guardian, November 15, 2009)
Jack Trawick	2009	AL	“No legal efforts made to stop his execution.” Asked Circuit Judge to be sentenced to death.
David Martinez	2009	TX	“Martinez won permission from the courts to stop appeals attempting to spare his life”
Marco Allen Chapman	2008	KY	“Resisted all appeals to stop his execution […] fought to fire his attorney to clear the way.”
Michael Rodriguez	2008	TX	“Mr. Rodriguez had asked that there be no further appeals in his case.” (Steve Thompson, Texas Seven member Michael Anthony Rodriguez executed, Dallas Morning News, August 14, 2008)
David Mark Hill	2008	SC	“Convicted in 1996; asked South Carolina to drop his appeals.” The court approved.
Daryl Holton	2007	TN	Execution was delayed by a 90-day moratorium, but “for the most part, Holton refused to file appeals.”
Elijah Page	2007	SD	“Gave up appeals and asked Judge to be sentenced to death.”
Christopher Newton	2007	OH	“Insisted on the death penalty and made no attempt to appeal […]Newton wanted to die.”
Robert Charles Comer	2007	AZ	“Fought for seven years to drop his appeals and be allowed to die […]fought since 2000 to prove competency.”
Christopher Swift	2007	TX	“Spurned all appeals; according to attorney “Receiving the death penalty is what he wanted form day one.”
David Dawson	2006	MT	In 2004, “Dawson fired his attorneys and asked to die, fighting all appeals on his behalf.” State District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock rejected all appeals noting that Dawson had specifically asked them all to be dropped.
Darrell Ferguson	2006	OH	“He asked for the death penalty and chose not to pursue appeals, which could have delayed his execution for years.”
Robert Anderson	2006	TX	Anderson had “asked that no new appeals be filed to block his execution.” (Michael Graczyk, “Killer of 5-year-old in Texas executed,” Associated Press, July 20, 2006)
William Downs	2006	SC	“Downs, who did not pursue any appeals, pleaded guilty to the crimes in 2002. Before he was sentenced to death, Downs told Circuit Judge Casey Manning he deserved to die.”
Rocky Barton	2006	OH	“Barton has been on death row for less than three years […] he is the fifth volunteer to waive his rights to appeal.”
Daryl Mack	2006	NV	“Mack had said in court statements that he’d rather be executed than spend the rest of his life locked up on death row […] he is the 11th condemned prisoner in the state to voluntarily give up available appeals.”
Arthur Hastings Wise	2005	SC	“Wise never disputed his guilt and refused to let witnesses testify for him […] he then dropped his appeals and asked the state to execute him.”
Herman Ashworth	2005	OH	“Ashworth became the fourth death row inmate in Ohio since 1999 to drop his appeals to speed his death sentence […] he refused to try any appeals.”
Kevin Conner	2005	IN	“Connor had wanted no protests, no efforts to save his life, and told Gov. Mitch Daniels that “killing a person is far more honest and humane than imposed repression under the guise of justice in the penal system.”
Alexander Martinez	2005	TX	“As the execution date loomed, Martinez instructed his defense attorney, Houston lawyer, Pat McCann, no to file any appeals to delay his death.”
Michael Ross	2005	CT	“Michael Ross sought death despite having years of appeals still available to him. Though Ross was adamant that he be allowed to give up his appeals, he had to persuade several judges that he was competent to do so.
Mario Centobie	2005	AL	“Puzone, a federal public defender, tried to get a court order blocking the execution. A final appeal was denied Thursday by the Supreme Court. Centobie opposed Puzone’s efforts, saying he was sane but preferred death over life in prison.
Glen Ocha	2005	FL	“Ocha would not let a public defender present evidence to avoid execution. After the state Supreme Court affirmed his conviction in 2002, Ocha filed a motion to drop his appeals and dismiss his lawyers.
James Porter	2005	TX	Porter “spurned appeals and voluntarily went to the Texas death chamber […] Porter never wavered from his desire to die.”
Charles Roache	2004	NC	“After one mandatory appeal, Roache gave up years’ worth of further possible appeals and told the to go ahead and kill him. He said it was to show his remorse and try to make up for his crimes.”
Peter Miniel	2004	TX	“Minel exhausted his appeals in the 1990s. Officials with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles said that Miniel had not sought a reprieve.”
David Kevin Hocker	2004	AL	“Hocker, a mentally ill 33-year-old, refused to fight his 1998 capital murder conviction. Hocker’s death marks the first time someone has been executed by the state without Alabama Supreme Court reviewing the case, but Hocker resisted attorneys’ efforts to save his life.
James Hudson	2004	VA	“Hudson never challenged his death sentence and refused to let his lawyers file appeals. Hudson pleaded guilty to capital murder.”
Terry Jess Dennis	2004	NV	‘Dennis was a volunteer, meaning an inmate sentenced to death who refused to try to appeal his case. He told court officials at one hearing: “Death is preferable to another 15-20 years in prison.”
Scott Mink	2004	OH	“After pleading guilty to charges of aggravated murder in 2001, Mink asked a three-judge panel in Montgomery County to sentence him to death.” He later appealed, but the Ohio Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.
Stephen Vrabel	2004	OH	“Vrabel, who confessed to the killings, voluntarily dropped appeals on his two murder convictions to speed his execution […] The Ohio Supreme Court upheld Vrabel’s death sentence by a 4-3 vote.”
John Blackwelder	2004	FL	“After his death sentence was affirmed by the Supreme Court last year, Blackwelder waived his appeals and made no secret of his desire to die.”
Lawrence Colwell Jr.	2004	NV	“Colwell said he wanted no more appeals […] refusing to seek a stay from a federal judge who said he would stop the execution if Cowell asked.”
Ynobe Matthews	2004	TX	“Matthews, who had been on death row since June 2001, waived appeals and asked that his execution be carried out.”
John Clayton Smith	2003	MO	“His push to halt appeals of his sentence dated to at least mid-2001 […] Smith waived his appeals and said he had wanted to die.”
Larry Hayes	2003	TX	“Hayes expedited his execution by waiving his appeals […] Hayes said he did not want to appeal his case because he wanted to atone for his crime.”
Paul Hill	2003	FL	“Since losing his automatic appeals, Hill has not fought his execution, and insisted on death.”
Harold McElmurry	2003	OK	“McElmurry’s decision not to seek additional appeals made it easier for the [victim’s family] to grant McElmurry’s request for forgiveness.” (Rob Jenkins, Killer of elderly couple executed, Tulsa World, July 29, 2003)
Newton Slawson	2003	FL	“After eight years on death row, Slawson asked to end his legal appeals, telling a judge, “there simply comes a time when death is a release, not a punishment.”
Aileen Wuornos	2002	FL	“Wournos dropped all appeals”
Rigoberto Sanchez-Velasco	2002	FL	“”Velasco, 43, had been declrred competent to make that decision [drop his appeals] and was sentenced to death following a psychiatric evaluation.”
Michael Passaro	2002	SC	“The 40-year old inmate could have stopped his execution any time because he has never appealed his sentence […] Passaro personally appeared before the State Supreme Court, asking them to let him go to his death without a judge ever reviewing the case.”
Earl Alexander Frederick, Sr.	2002	OK	“Fredrick told the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office he wanted to waive appeals to his sentence.”
Lynda Lyon Block	2002	AL	“Block declined to pursue final appeals late Thursday, claiming the courts were corrupt and lacked jurisdiction in her case.”
Daniel Zirkle	2002	VA	“Zirkle did not appeal his sentence […] and asked for the death sentence at both his trials. He also refused to let his attorneys present mitigating evidence.”
James Earl Patterson	2002	VA	“Patterson asked his lawyers not to appeal or request clemency, pleading guilt and asking to be sentenced to death.”
Terry Clark	2001	NM	“Clark, who decided in March to end his appeals, changed his mind more than once about whether he wanted to die. Against the wishes of his lawyers, who argued that he was incompetent and mentally ill, Clark asked a judge to go ahead with his execution.”
James Elledge	2001	WA	“Elledge took no legal steps to prevent his execution and had told his lawyer not to put on a defense during the penalty phase of his trial.”
Timothy McVeigh	2001	FED	“McVeigh’s lawyers confirmed he wished not to pursue any more appeals and wished to die.” (McVeigh Gives Up Appeal, ABC, June 6, 2001)
Clay King Smith	2001	AR	“Smith said he wouldn’t appeal his sentence because it would bring more torment to the families of his five victims. Smith had not filed any appeals with the federal court and did not ask Gov. Mike Huckabee for clemency.”
Sebastian Bridges	2001	NV	“Bridges had declined to appeal his death sentences through the courts. No attempt was made to seek a pardon because Bridges did not want to spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Ronald Fluke	2001	OK	“Over the objections of public defenders, the former safety consultant was deemed mentally competent to plead guilty and not fight his death sentence.”
Robert Lee Massie	2001	CA	“Massie, who had spent 21 years seeking to overturn his convictions, formally dropped his appeals last year to protest what he called the snail’s pace of the California death penalty system.”
Gerald Bivins	2001	IN	“Bivins declined to exhaust his appeals, saying he was tired of prison life and frustrated.” The Governor refused to intervene because Bivins had abandoned his appeals.
Thomas Akers	2001	VA	“An appeal filed by his lawyers—over Akers’ objections—was rejected by the US Supreme Court. His lawyers contended that Akers, who is retarded, was suicidal, mentally ill and incompetent.”
Floyd Medlock	2001	OK	“Medlock turned himself in and later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Medlock did not request a clemency hearing and filed no emergency appeals to try and stop his execution.”
Donald Jay Miller	2000	AZ	Circuit Judge Reinhardt’s Opinion: “Don Miller is what is known in the death penalty trade as ‘a volunteer’. He has stated that he wishes to be executed.”
Edward Castro	2000	FL	“An inmate who dropped all his legal appeals and fired his state-hired lawyers was executed by lethal injection Thursday.” (Double killer executed at Florida State Prison, AP, December 8, 2000)
Dan Hauser	2000	FL	“Hauser confessed to the killing and provided prosecutors with gruesome details. Throughout his appeal, Hauser repeatedly asked state officials to carry out his death sentence.”
Bert Hunter	2000	MO	“Eleven years after he waived his right to a trial and told the court he wanted to die, convicted killer Bert Hunter was executed early today. […] ‘It’s time for this nightmare to be over, as far as I’m concerned.’” (Man executed for two murders, AP, June 28, 2000)
Pernell Ford	2000	AL	“Ford dropped his appeals and fired his defense attorney LaJuana Davis in 1997. A federal appeals court ruled that Ford was competent to drop his appeals and fire his attorney.”
Richard Foster	2000	TX	“On April 14, 2000, the Fifth Circuit granted Foster permission to withdraw his appeal.” (Texas Attorney General Media Advisory, Richard Donald Foster Scheduled to be Executed, May 23, 2000)
Christina Riggs	2000	AR	“At her 19998 trial, Ms. Riggs asked jurors to sentence her to death. Initially, Ms. Riggs pursued appeal of her death sentence, but she soon withdrew it.”
James Hampton	2000	MO	“Hampton did not seek clemency from Gov. Mel Carnahan […] refusing for years to appeal his case amid claims that a gunshot wound had affected his judgment.”
Robert Atworth	1999	TX	“Atworth had asked that no appeals be made on his behalf and that he be executed. My Atworth wrote the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, saying he wanted to waive all appeals.”
Joseph Parsons	1999	UT	After twelve years on death row “Parsons demanded that appeals of his death sentence be dropped.”
Richard Wayne Smith	1999	TX	“Smith dropped all appeals to his conviction for Bay town murder of Karen Birky, allowing the state to execute him instead of waiting to die from advancing hepatitis C.”
Alan Willett	1999	AR	“Willett waived his court appeals and asked that his execution be carried out.”
Gary Heidnick	1999	PA	“Heidnik had declined to pursue any appeals since he was sentenced in 1988. His lawyers pressed appeals in federal court contending that it was illegal to execute him because he was not mentally competent.”
Charles Tuttle	1999	TX	“Tuttle refused to allow his attorneys to file appeals on his behalf.”
Edward Lee Harper	1999	KY	“Harper wanted to be execute rather than face life in prison for the shooting deaths of his parents. He told a judge that he wanted to drop further appeals and fire his court-appointed lawyers.
Aaron Foust	1999	TX	“Foust demanded that no legal appeals be filed on his behalf, clearing the way for his execution.”
Eric Payne	1999	VA	“Payne was apparently one of just two Virginia men in modern times not to fight the death sentences with appeals.”
Alavro Calambro	1999	NV	“Calambro refused to file his own appeal.”
James Rich	1999	NC	“Rich pleaded guilty to stabbing Paul Gwyn at the Eastern Correctional Institution in 1994. Rich fired appeals lawyers and asked to be executed, and represented himself at trial.
Wilford Berry	1999	OH	“Mr. Berry campaigned for the sentence […] because he insisted that the sentence not be appealed.”
Jeremy Sagastegui	1998	WA	“Sagastegui acted as his own lawyer, never presented a defense, never introduced any witnesses on his behalf. He pleaded guilty and waived his right to appeal.” The Supreme Court held that he was competent to waive his rights.
Roderick Abeyta	1998	NV	“Abeyta had written to a judge to say he wanted to be executed. Abeyta chose to proceed with his execution rather than fight his sentence in the courts.”
Stephen Wood	1998	OK	“Wood chose to waive his remaining appeals. At his competency hearing, Wood told a judge he had long supported the death penalty.”
Clifford Boggess	1998	TX	“He had been on death row for 11 years and decided not to make any final appeals against his death sentence.” (Amnesty International, The illusion of control: “Consensual” executions, the impending death of Timothy McVeigh, and the brutalizing futility of capital punishment [2001])
Steven Thompson	1998	AL	“Thompson plans no last-minute appeals or requests for clemency.” (Court sets May 8 execution date in 1984 rape, slaying, AP, March 28, 1998)
Arthur Martin Ross	1998	AZ	“Ross had legal options available but didn’t use them, saying he was tired of living on death row and would rather die.”
Michael Long	1998	OK	“Long was executed after waiving his remaining appeals.”
Steven Renfro	1998	TX	“After a jury convicted him of capital murder, he ended his trial by telling jurors he should be put to death. The former laborer asked that no appeals be filed on his behalf.”
Ricky Lee Sanderson	1998	NC	“Sanderson, who went through three sentencing hearings, asked in 1992 that appeals be dropped so his execution could proceed.”
Robert Smith	1998	IN	“Smith turned down a plea for a 50-year sentence, eschewed all appeals and was granted with his wish to die but the Indiana Supreme Court. Smith had dismissed his state-appointed attorneys.”
Lloyd Wayne Hampton	1998	IL	“Hampton turned aside all appeals on his behalf and said he wanted to die rather than spend more time in prison.”
Gary Lee Davis	1997	CO	“Davis sabotaged his own defense and shortcut the appeals process, preferring lethal injection to a life spent in solitary confinement.” (Alan Prendergast, Gary Lee Davis: Colorado’s last volunteer for the death penalty, Westword, September 21, 2012)
John Cockrum	1997	TX	“In the first of many letters to the court, the applicant requested that his application be withdrawn, that he be permitted to dismiss his attorneys, and that the death penalty be imposed swiftly.” (In re Cockrum, 867 F. Supp. 484 (E.D. Tex. 1994)
Benjamin Stone	1997	TX	“Refused legal help and refused to have any appeals filed on his behalf” after a 17-month death row stay.
Michael Eugene Elkins	1997	SC	“The condemned inmate waived his court appeals. His lawyer, Kevin Bell, said the once slightly built Elkins had swollen from spleen and liver problems and was uncomfortable in prison.”
Harry Charles Moore	1997	OR	“Moore threatened to sue anyone who tried to stop his execution, even petitioning the Oregon Supreme Court to drop his automatic appeal.”
Scott Dawn Carpenter	1997	OK	“Carpenter pleaded no contest and waived his right to appeal saying that he did not want to spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Richard Brimage Junior	1997	TX	“Brimage wrote to a judge in Texas that he deserved to die, waiving all remaining appeals.”
Doyle Cecil Lucas	1996	SC	“Lucas gave up appeals to hasten his execution and chose to die by injection instead of the electric chair.
Larry Lonchar	1996	GA	“He dropped his appeal when the 1996 Legislature adjourned without changing the state’s method of execution.” (Lonchar dies in electric chair, AP, November 14, 1996)
Joe Gonzales	1996	TX	“Gonzales waived all appeals as he waited to die, spending less than 10 months on death row.”
Douglas Franklin Wright	1996	OR	“To the lat, Wright refused to appeal the death sentence he was given for killing three homeless men.”
Michael Torrence	1996	SC	“Torrence had petitioned the state Supreme Court since 1994 to let him drop his appeals.”
Daren Lee Bolton	1996	AZ	“The route to the death chamber for Bolton was quicker than most because he shunned some of the appeals that death-row inmates are entitled. Bolton said he would rather die than spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
Robert South	1996	SC	“South halted his appeals, saying he did not want to spend more years in prison.”
James Clark Jr.	1996	DE	“Clark pleaded guilty rather than stand trial for the shooting deaths […] and refused to file appeals, saying repeatedly that he wanted to die as soon as possible.”
Leo Jenkins	1996	TX	“Jenkins, who worked as a mechanic, has ordered all appeals to be stopped and is volunteering for death.”
John Albert Taylor	1996	UT	“Taylor, a condemned child killer who abandoned his appeals became the nation’s first convict in 19 years to be executed by firing squad.”
Esequel Banda	1995	TX	“Banda fired his attorney and refused to file appeals after the Texas Court of Criminal appeals rejected his final plea for a new trial.”
Mickey Wayne Davidson	1995	VA	“Davidson had long waived off legal attempts to prolong his life. He wavered once, three days before a 1993 execution, launching a round of court proceedings.” He finally disavowed any further appeals, saying he deserved to die.
Phillip Lee Ingle	1995	NC	“Mr. Ingle, who had said he wanted to die, stopped his appeals ‘so that the victims’ families can maybe find some peace to put an end to what has happened. A Superior Court judge demoed a request for a stay by Mr. Ingle’s sister.”
Leon Moser	1995	PA	“Moser who had said he wanted to die and refused to appeal his case. The United States Supreme Court reversed a stay by a lower to determine Moser’s competency.”
Keith Zettlemoyer	1995	PA	“Frustrated with prison life, Zattlemoyer had written to prosecutors asking to stop his appeals.”
Thomas Grasso	1995	OK	“The state Court of Criminal Appeals permitted Grasso to waive his rights to appeal his conviction and death sentence.”
Nelson Shelton	1995	DE	“Shelton refused to appeal his sentence, and last month told Superior Court that he wished to waiver the 90-day waiting period for executions.”
George Lott	1994	TX	“Lott refused any attempts to appeal his case or get any stays of executions.”
John Thanos	1994	MD	“Thanos cut short the usually years long appeals process by firing his state public defenders in 1993 […] he has repeatedly scorned efforts by both federal and state public defenders to block his execution.”
Richard Lee Beavers	1994	TX	“Beavers asked that no appeals be filed in his behalf. Beavers said he would rather be put to death than have layers telling lies in court on his behalf.”
Keith Wells	1994	ID	“The United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed against Mr. Wells’ wishes, contending that Mr. Wells was incompetent and therefore not capable of deciding whether to appeal his conviction.”
Anthony Cook	1993	TX	“”While on death row, My. Cook said in a letter to authorities, he had a religious conversion and wanted his punishment carried out.”
Michael Durocher	1993	FL	“”Durocher went to his death after the United States Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected two appeals that had been filed over his objections.”
David Mason	1993	CA	“Mason decided not to appeal his sentence to the federal courts after it was upheld by the California Supreme Court. Appeals were filed against Mr. Mason’s wishes by a layer he had dismissed.”
Andrew Chabrol	1993	VA	“Chabrol lost his automatic review before the Virginia Supreme Court and chose not to pursue further appeals.”
John George Brewer	1993	AZ	“Mr. Brewer had admitted to beating and strangling his 23-year old fiancée, who was 22 weeks pregnant. He contended that he deserved to be put to death.”
James Allen Red Dog	1993	DE	“Red Dog refused to appeal his sentence because he contended that doing so would violate his warrior’s code.”
Westley Allan Dodd	1993	WA	“Dodd vowed that he would sue anyone who sought to save him […] Mr. Dodd has waived all appeals and chosen to be die by hanging.”
Steven B. Pennell	1992	DE	“He was sentenced to death after pleading no contest to the multiple murders after representing himself in court.” Pernell waived his right to appeal, and the Supreme Court rejected his wife’s attempt to secure a stay.
Charles Walker	1990	IL	“Last week, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that Walker was mentally competent to waive further appeals and set a fourth, and apparently final, execution date.” (No Regrets and No Appeals, Chicago Tribune, January 24, 1988)
James Smith	1990	TX	“Smith said he wanted to die because ‘do-gooders’ already have robbed him of the time in the next world.”
Ronald Gene Simmons	1990	AR	“Mr. Simmons said he would not appeal the verdict or the sentence and asked that no interfere with its being carried out.”
Thomas Baal	1990	NV	“Baal opposed his parents’ legal efforts to keep him alive, adding that ‘I want to have this execution over with so I can pay my debt.’” The US Supreme Court overturned a stay on the execution based on mental competency.
Leonard Marvin Laws	1990	MO	“Executed for participating in the robbery and shotgun slayings of an elderly couple.”
Jerome Butler*	1990	TX	“Butler refused to appeal his death sentence and said ‘I just want to get it over with.’” Prosecutors and judges were prepared to halt the execution if Butler had asked for a stay.
Gerald Smith	1990	MO	“Gerald Smith asked that his death sentenced be carried out, and had no last words.”
Sean Patrick Flanagan	1989	NV	“Flanagan, of Dowagiac, Mich., had refused to make any appeals to stay his execution.” (Cy Ryan, Former male prostitute executed for killing two men, UPI, June 23, 1989)
William Paul Thompson	1989	NV	“A multiple killer and career criminal who asked to ‘die with dignity’ was executed early today for killing a drifter.” (AP, Murderer is Executed in Nevada, The New York Times, 1989)
Arthur Bishop	1988	UT	“A former Eagle Scout who sought his own execution for the sex-related murders of five boys was put to death today by injection.” (AP, Slayer of Five Boys Is Executed in Utah By Injection of Drugs, The New York Times, June 11, 1988)
Robert Streetman	1988	TX	“He said in the past that he had been ready to die since the day he arrived on death row in 1983. Last week he apparently changed his mind, and the Capital Punishment Clinic at the University of Texas Law School took over his case. On Wednesday he changed his mind again, asking to be executed.” (AP, Texas Burglar Who Shot a Woman to Death for Her $1 Is Executed, The New York Times, January 8, 1988)
Elisio Moreno	1987	TX	“Mr. Moreno spurned all efforts by others to try and save his life […]He told the judge who had sentenced him that he wanted no appeals.”
Ramon Hernandez	1987	TX	“Mr. Hernandez did not want to be represented by attorneys because he thought he would lose his right to represent himself.” Mr. Hernandez also turned down an offer of help from State District Judge Peter Peca, who offered him a stay of the execution.
Jeffrey Allen Barney	1986	TX	“Executed for the rape and murder of Ruby Mae Longsworth” volunteered to face his sentence of death.
Carroll Cole	1985	NV	“Cole, who admitted to killing 13 people over the years, has said he will not appeal the execution, and insisted that prolonging his life would be a waste of tax dollars.”
William Vandiver	1985	IN	“Prison officials said there was no indication that Vandiver would reconsider his choice of death in the electric chair instead of years of appeals on death row.”
Charles Rumbaugh	1985	TX	“Rumbaugh ordered his attorneys not to pursue any appeals that could get him a third stay of execution.”
Stephen Peter Morin	1985	TX	“Mr. Morin, once one of the FBI’s 10 most wanted criminals and sentenced to die in two states, had asked lawyers not to appeal.”
Frank Coppola	1982	VA	“Coppola, frustrated by the lengthy appeals process, had repeatedly demanded to be executed ever since he fired his lawyers and elected to withdraw all legal appeals.”
Steven Judy	1981	IN	“Judy, who resisted appeals and went willingly to his death, said he preferred death to life in prison.”
Jesse Bishop	1979	NV	“Bishop opposed appeals to higher courts, charging that stays of execution would only cause him and his family more agony.”
Gary Gilmore	1977	UT	“In November 1976, Gary Gilmore withdrew his rights of appeal from Utah’s legal system and requested that the courts enforce his death sentence as soon as possible.”

*News articles are on file with the Death Penalty Information Center

For more information, see John Blume, Killing the Willing: ‘Volunteers,’ Suicide and Competency, 103 Michigan Law Review 9 (2005).