Publications & Testimony

Terry Lyn Short is scheduled to be executed on June 17 in Oklahoma. He was convicted of causing a fire that killed Ken Yamamoto in 1995. A key witness against Short at trial was a jailhouse informant who testified in return for leniency on charges that he was facing. Defense counsel at trial sought to present testimony of a third inmate in the same cell who was prepared to refute everything that the jailhouse informant had said. However, the trial judge refused to let this witness testify, and…

Prof. John Blume of Cornell University Law School has compiled the cases in which an inmate’s death sentence was reduced because of a finding of mental retardation. His research revealed 83 such reversals since 2002. In Atkins v. Virginia (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional to apply the death penalty to defendants with mental retardation. The Court did not, however, establish a definition for mental retardation or determine the procedures for proving a claim of…

U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks in Texas has ruled Scott Panetti mentally competent enough to be executed. Panetti’s earlier path to execution was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard his appeal in 2007 (Panetti v. Quarterman). The Court held that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had used too narrow a standard in deciding whether Panetti had an understanding of why he was to be executed. The Court also held that Texas had not given Panetti an adequate hearing to…

The highly acclaimed film At the Death House Door premieres on the Independent Film Channel on May 29, 2008. This documentary provides a unique perspective into the people who participate in executions in Huntsville, Texas. Viewers experience what it means to work on death row through the eyes of Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain and presided over 95 executions (including the world’s first lethal injection). Following each execution, Pastor Pickett recorded…

On June 4, Georgia has scheduled the execution of Curtis Osborne. (UPDATE: Osborne was executed on June 4.) Osborne’s own defense lawyer at trial was racially biased against him and failed to do the most basic investigation that might have saved his client’s life. The attorney repeatedly referred to Osborne with a racial epithet, saying, “that little n____r deserves the chair.” At the time of the murder that sent Osborne to death row, he was suffering from mental problems and his family had a…

Based on statements from the District Attorney’s office, it appears that Texas wrongly convicted Michael Blair and sentenced him to death in 1994 for the sexual assault and murder of 7‑year-old Ashley Estell. The case led to the passage of “Ashley’s Laws” to increase punishments for such offenses. Collin County District Attorney John Roach announced that new DNA tests show no physical evidence linking Blair to the crime. The only forensic evidence that pointed to Blair for the kidnap-murder was…

The Georgia Pardons and Parole Board commuted Samuel Crowe’s death sentence to life without parole just two and a half hours before his scheduled execution on May 22, 2008. The five-member Board’s statement said, “After careful and exhaustive consideration of the request, the board voted to grant clemency.” The Board had heard from several people who knew Crowe, including pastors and a former corrections officer, who said, “I felt like if they released him that morning he would never get in any…

In a potential death penalty case in Houston, Texas, a jury sentenced Juan Quintero to life without parole on May 20 for the murder of a police officer. One juror, Tiffany Moore, described her experience as very emotional, “I was torn up. I was crying… .I still feel we came to the right decision,” she said. “We could never bring Rodney back. I feel very sad for the family, losing a loved one.” Moore added that the sentencing phase was more difficult for the jury than the guilt-innocence…

A federal judge in Delaware extended a stay on all executions in the state on May 15, 2008, pending an evidentiary hearing scheduled for June. One execution in Delaware was stayed by the same judge, District Court Judge Sue L. Robinson (pictured), in May 2006, pending a determination of the constitutionality of the state’s use of lethal injection. In 2007, the impact of the eventual ruling in that case was extended to all of the state’s death row inmates. The stay of execution was prompted by a…