Publications & Testimony

A state judge in Arkansas has thrown further doubt on whether the upcoming execution of Frank Williams will be carried out on September 9 because the state did not follow proper procedures in adopting its lethal injection protocol. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox barred the Arkansas Department of Correction from using the protocol in its execution of Frank Williams, Jr. because the new execution procedures should have been subject to public comment before implementation. Chief Deputy…

California prosecutors and defense attorneys recently agreed that Calvin Coleman, Jr., a man sentenced to death for murder in 1980, is mentally retarded and therefore exempt from capital punishment. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 decision that declared execution of mentally retarded individuals unconstitutional (Atkins v. Virginia), California modified its laws in 2005 to conform to the ruling. Coleman is the first person about whom both the prosecution and the defense agreed that he met…

Executions resumed in the U.S. on May 6 following the Supreme Court’s decision on lethal injections on April 16. There have been 20 executions in 4 months, with 4 months of the year remaining. Pertinent statistics follow: Geography 100% in the South 40% in Texas Race of those executed White 40% Black 45% Hispanic 15% Race of victims in underlying murder White 57% Black 32% Hispanic 7% Asian 4% Method of execution 19 by lethal injection 1 by electrocuton Commutations 4 in 2008, including 3…

Ronald Carlson wanted vengeance when his sister was murdered in 1983 in Texas. But when he witnessed the execution in 1998 of the person who committed the murder he changed his mind. In a recent op-ed in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Carlson said he had no opinion on capital punishment before his sister’s death and remembers feeling hatred and “would have killed those responsible with my own hands if given the opportunity.” But he later discovered that, “Watching the execution left me with…

The defense attorneys for death row inmate Charles Hood in Texas have filed a civil lawsuit that would require retired Judge Verla Sue Holland and former district attorney Tom O’Connell, Jr. to testify under oath whether they were having an intimate affair while both were participating in the capital trial of Mr. Hood. The underlying claim is “that Judge Holland or Tom O’Connell deprived Charles Hood of his constitutional rights by not revealing this romantic relationship prior to his capital…

A compelling narrative of the legal and political fight to end the death penalty in France has just been released in an English translation. Abolition: One Man’s Battle Against the Death Penalty is authored by Robert Badinter, probably the single person most responsible for abolishing the death penalty in France. He begins his story in 1972 when one of his clients was guillotined in a case he felt was unjust. Upon dedicating his career to abolishing the death penalty, he agreed to represent any…

A new radio program, Execution Watch, is providing live coverage and commentary on days that Texas executes a death row inmate. Each show will air live starting at 6 pm Central Daylight Time at http://www.kpft.org or http://executionwatch.org with a wide variety of special guests and host Ray Hill. The programming is available through the Internet. On its upcoming broadcast, the show will cover issues related to the case of Jeffrey Wood, who is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 21. Wood was…

The Texas Forensic Science Commission will review the case of Cameron Todd Willingham (pictured) as its first case in its investigation of forensic misconduct allegations. Willingham was executed in 2004 in Texas for three deaths that occurred in 1991 from a fire in his home. The State Fire Marshal’s office had originally ruled that the blaze was an arson started by an accelerant. But the Innocence Project of Cardozo Law School in New York submitted a 2006 report by five nationally known fire…