Publications & Testimony

The parents and three children of Louisiana murder victim Kim Groves have asked the federal government to forgo seeking the death penalty for co-defendants Paul Hardy and Len Davis. In a letter to prosecutors, the Groves family urged U.S attorneys to halt proceedings that might lead to death sentences in rehearings for both defendants. “Executing these two men will not bring Kim Groves back to life. It will not ease the deep sorrow and loss that her family has and will continue to experience…

Even though the state of Virginia admits that the question of Daryl Atkins’ mental retardation is a “close case,” it is still pursuing a lengthy jury trial to ensure his execution. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia in 2002 that those with mental retardation must be excluded from the death penalty, but they issued no opinion with regard to Mr. Atkins’ mental status. As the trial in Virginia began this week, Atkins’ mother and former teachers testified about his long-term…

A North Carolina Superior Court judge orderd a new trial for death row inmate Rex Penland following DNA testing that discredited the state’s case. Penland was convicted of a rape and murder 11 years ago, but DNA testing at the time of his trial was inconclusive. More recent testing was favorable to Penland and did not place him at the scene of the crime. Penland was convicted largely on the basis of testimony from his two nephews who were also involved in the crime. Ken Rose, one of the…

A recent Philadelphia Inquirer editorial criticized the proposed “Streamlined Procedures Act,” federal legislation that would deny or sharply restrict the reach of federal judges in hearing habeas-corpus claims from those on death row. Noting that the measure would increase the possibility of executing an innocent person, the editorial stated: Amid Washington lawmakers’ latest drive to further restrict the appeals of (capital) defendants, they need to recognize what could be at risk with their…

The federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988 with a limited statute for murders in the course of a drug conspiracy. It was expanded to 60 offenses in 1994 and included crimes such as carjacking and drive-by shootings if a death results. During the Clinton administration, no one from a non-death penalty state was sentenced to death. Since 2000, there have been at least 5 individuals in non-death states who have received death sentences: 2 in Iowa (Dustin Honken and Angela Johnson), 1 in…

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney recently testified that the proposed “foolproof” death penalty statute he hopes will bring capital punishment back to the state does not eliminate the possibility that an innocent person could be executed. Romney acknowledged to members of the joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee that the proposed law cannot protect the state against the potential for human error, stating, “A 100 percent guarantee? I don’t think there’s such a thing in life. Except…

More than a decade after juvenile offender Martin Soto Fong and two other men were tried and sentenced to death in Arizona, questions about Fong’s guilt linger and are underscored by the fact that he is the only one of the three men to remain convicted of the crime. The prosecutor who won their convictions, Kenneth Peasley, was disbarred last year for intentionally eliciting false testimony to win capital murder convictions in the re-trials of Soto’s co-defendants, Christopher McCrimmon and…

The Reverend Carroll Pickett, former chaplain on death row in Texas: Ninety-five times, I personally walked a man who was sentenced to die to the death chamber in Texas. From the very first person executed by lethal injection, through 16 years of walking those eight steps from the holding cell in the death house to the impeccably clean gurney in the death chamber, I led a man — some were older, some convicted in their teens, some mentally ill, some very hardened by life and, I fully know, some…

A variety of legal experts and national organizations have expressed strong concerns about a bill introduced in Congress that would greatly limit federal review of death penalty cases. The American Bar Association called for rejection of the legislation: S. 1088 should not be enacted. Its primary effect would be to insure that the federal courts did not hear compelling claims – including claims of actual innocence. Any possible gain in speed would be offset by the certain loss of justice. As…