Publications & Testimony

Dennis O’Neill had been an assistant warden at Florida State Prison for two years and warden at Union Correctional Institution for 7 years, both death row prisons. He eventually left the correctional system and became an Episcopal priest. He was assigned back to the town of Starke, Florida, where death row inmates reside. As a correctional officer, he had been involved in more than a dozen executions over 14 years, but now O’Neill opposes the death penalty. “For years, I told myself it was the…

There is growing concern among national mental health and legal organizations regarding inmates on death row who are severely mentally ill. Many of these inmates had been exhibiting clear signs of mental illness at the time of their crimes, and some, like Scott Panetti in Texas and Guy LeGrande in North Carolina, were allowed to represent themselves at trial, despite their bizarre behavior. Mr. Panetti, who was hospitalized 14 times for mental problems prior to his trial, represented himself in…

The Kentucky Supreme Court rejected claims by death row inmates that the state’s lethal injection process risks wanton and excruciating pain in violation of the ban on cruel and unusal punishments. The Court upheld a 2005 lower court ruling similarly rejecting the claims of inmates Ralph Baze and Thomas C. Bowling. In its unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court held: “Conflicting medical testimony prevents us from stating categorically that a prisoner feels no pain. But the prohibition is against…

The last execution scheduled for 2006 involves a Florida inmate, Angel Nieves-Diaz, who defended himself at his trial and needed an interpreter because he did not speak English. Diaz, a native of Puerto Rico, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1986 for a murder in connection with a robbery of a bar in Miami in 1979. Diaz’s execution is scheduled for December 13 and would be the 4^th execution in Florida this year, the most executions in that state in 6 years. In addition to his claims that…

The annual number of death sentences in Texas has declined from 40 in fiscal year 1996 to 14 in 2006, a drop of 65%, according to the State Office of Court Administration. Last year there were 15 new death sentences. This decrease is in line with the national decline in death sentences, which dropped from about 300 per year in the 1990s to 125 in 2005. The drop in Texas was particularly marked in Harris County (Houston), which produced the most death sentences of any county in Texas and the…

Mark Urban, chairman of the Governor’s Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities, has requested that North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley fully consider death row inmate Guy LeGrande’s request for clemency. LeGrande (pictured), who is scheduled for execution on December 1, has been diagnosed as psychotic and delusional. “Mr. LeGrande was allowed to represent himself even though he believed near the time of his trial that Oprah Winfrey and Dan Rather were speaking to him personally through…

U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg, who has been overseeing the challenge to Maryland’s lethal injection process filed by death row inmate Vernon Evans, has stated that he might direct state corrections officials to “test the recruitment waters” in search of doctors or highly trained nurses to participate in state executions before he rules on whether to require the medical professionals’ involvement. The judge has held extensive hearings over nine days with national experts testifying about…

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rebuffed President Bush’s order that Texas courts review the cases of Mexican foreign nationals who were sentenced to death without the benefit of their rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Writing for the court, Judge Michael Keasler, stated: “We hold that the President has exceeded his constitutional authority by intruding into the independent powers of the judiciary.” Judge Sharon Keller concurred, writing: “this unprecedented…

Prosecutors in Utah have stated that the sentencing option of life without parole has been very helpful in giving jurors and family members of victims a viable alternative to the death penalty. Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom noted that life without parole is often a better option to present to jurors: “It’s a tool for juries as well as prosecutors and defense attorneys, too,” Yocom said. “It’s an alternative to avoid asking a jury of 12 people to make that decision,” to impose…

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld California’s death penalty law in a 5 – 4 decision on Nov. 13 in Ayers v. Belmontes. The majority held that the state’s law allowed the jury to consider all appropriate mitigating evidence. The decision reversed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9^th Circuit, which had overturned Belmontes death sentence. The dissent, consisting of Justices Stephens, Breyer, Ginsburg and Souter, however, disagreed, contending that the jury would have to disregard the judge’s…