[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----ALA., LA., OHIO, KY., MO., OKLA., USA

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 25



ALABAMA:

Federal judge again rules man competent to stand trial in 2007 Bessemer bank 
robbery and teller deaths


A man charged in the 2007 shooting deaths of 2 tellers during a Bessemer bank 
robbery is competent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The trial of William Merriweather Jr., who could face the death penalty if 
convicted, has been delayed more than 7 years as he was evaluated by federal 
prison doctors and his defense attorneys argued he was incompetent to stand 
trial. The delays have frustrated families of the 2 tellers and 2 other tellers 
who were wounded.

U.S. District Judge David Proctor had ruled in February 2013 that Merriweather 
was competent to stand trial. The judge set a trial date, which was then 
delayed twice as Merriweather's attorneys argued that previously undisclosed 
nurses notes from his mental evaluation at a federal prison plus a doctors' new 
concerns deserved new look at competency.

Proctor held a second competency hearing this summer, a decision he explained 
in Friday's ruling. "In light of the belated disclosure of the nurses' notes, 
(federal prison) Dr. (Christine) Pietz's concerns about Merriweather's mental 
state, and the fact that this is a capital case, the court found that a 
supplemental hearing was warranted," he stated.

On Friday the judge issued his 124-page ruling denying defense attorney's 
renewed quest to have Merriweather ruled incompetent.

Proctor denied the request, stating: "The record makes it clear that 
Merriweather has a comprehensive understanding of the criminal trial 
proceedings: he understands the charges against him; he has the ability to 
discuss his various options with his lawyers; he can consider options available 
to him; and he suffers no memory impairment that would make him unable to 
assist in his defense."

A new trial date will be set, Proctor stated in a Friday order.

Merriweather ruling

Merriweather is charged with 1 count of killing during the commission of a bank 
robbery and 2 counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence related to 
the May 14, 2007 bank robbery.

According to prosecutors, Merriweather was wearing a green baseball-style cap, 
white shirt, tie, and slacks and shoes partially wrapped in electrical tape, 
when he walked into the Wachovia Bank branch on Ninth Avenue in Bessemer.

Minutes later, Merriweather walked out of the bank with $11,255 cash and the 
bank manager in tow as a hostage. Inside, bank tellers Eva Lovelady Hudson and 
Sheila McWaine Prevo lay dead and two others, Anita Gordon, Latoya Shaniece 
Freeman, were seriously wounded.

Merriweather didn't make it out of the parking lot after being wounded by a 
sheriff's deputy.

(source: al.com)






LOUISIANA:

Jefferson Parish sheriff asks federal judge to toss out former death row 
inmate's lawsuit


The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has asked a federal judge to dismiss a 
lawsuit filed by Damon Thibodeaux, the former Marrero resident who accuses the 
detectives of violating his constitutional rights by coercing his false 
confession that landed him on Louisiana's death row.

Thibodeaux, 40, who now lives in Minnesota, spent 15 years under threat of 
execution for his 1st-degree murder conviction in the death of Crystal 
Champagne. The 14-year-old Westwego girl was strangled with a wire and severely 
beaten during an attempted rape along the Mississippi River batture in Bridge 
City on July 19, 1996.

Thibodeaux confessed to Sheriff's Office detectives after a 9-hour 
interrogation that culminated with his 4:20 a.m., statement on July 21, 1996, 
to then-Sgt. Dennis Thornton. Then 22 and a river boat deck hand, Thibodeaux 
said that Champagne, his cousin, wanted to have sex with him and that he drove 
her to the river. During the sex, she said it hurt, and she fought back before 
he strangled with his hands and finishing her off using a wire he retrieved 
from his car.

"Did it make you mad that she was still moving?" Thornton asked. "I would say 
that I got scared, so I killed her," Thibodeaux responded.

Primary evidence

That confession was the primary evidence the Sheriff's Office obtained in 
leading to Thibodeaux's conviction and death sentence in 1997. Thibodeaux 
recanted three days after he gave it and asserted his innocence ever since. The 
Louisiana Supreme Court rejected the coerced confession argument in affirming 
his conviction and death sentence.

But following a 5-year investigation with Innocence Project attorneys that 
began in 2007, Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick Jr., concluded 
he could not have confidence in the confession and volunteered to have 
Thibodeaux's conviction vacated.

Thibodeaux was released from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on 
Sept. 28, 2012. Last year, he sued Sheriff Newell Normand, 6 detectives and the 
Sheriff's Office's insurer in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. His attorneys 
assert he was intellectually vulnerable and that detectives violated several of 
his constitutional rights in forcing and tricking him to falsely confess.

Thibodeaux seeks unspecified monetary damages. The case is pending before Judge 
Jay Zainey.

'He was there'

Despite Connick's stance, the Sheriff's Office is standing by its investigation 
and detectives. In fact, the Sheriff's Office does not concede that Thibodeaux 
was not somehow involved with the crime.

During the 1997 trial, Thibodeaux's attorneys argued the confession was 
coerced. They said nothing about it being false, Sheriff's office attorney 
Danny Martiny wrote in his request last month to have the lawsuit dismissed.

During a deposition he gave July 22 in the federal case, Thibodeaux "admits 
that this 'false confession' notion was the brainchild of his post-conviction 
capital defense attorney and came about only as a last resort after the 
Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed his conviction," Martiny wrote. "This is 
precisely because his confession is not false."

Thibodeaux's deposition testimony contradicts his long-held claims that the 
detectives fed him details that he "parroted" back in his confession, such as 
where and how she was killed, Martiny says. Yet, according to the Sheriff's 
Office, he accurately described those details in his 1996 confession.

"Most telling, if not chilling, is that (Thibodeaux) was not 'fed' the 
information concerning the ligature used to strangle Crystal; rather, 
(Thibodeaux) was able to accurately state that she was strangled with a wire 
because there was a wire 'in [his] car,'" Martiny wrote.

"No one 'fed' (Thibodeaux) the fact that the ligature was wrapped twice around 
Crystal's neck and the knot tied on the left side and yet (Thibodeaux) 
described it perfectly," the sheriff's attorney wrote. "The only conclusion to 
draw is the obvious one; (Thibodeaux) knew all of these things because he was 
there."

Conflicting views

In an Aug. 5 affidavit he provided to the Sheriff's Office, Connick said he 
concluded following a lengthy investigation that Thibodeaux's confession is 
"unreliable." But he said he does not blame the Sheriff's Office.

"I am of the opinion that Thibodeaux was not illegally coerced or mistreated 
during his interrogation on July 20-21, 1996, and that the statements he made 
were freely and voluntarily given," Connick said in the affidavit. "Be that as 
it may, I concluded that without his confession, the conviction of Thibodeaux 
could not stand and that, therefore, in the interest of justice, it should be 
vacated."

He said his decision "was based upon my assessment of the state's ability to 
prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the offense charged."

The conflict among Jefferson Parish's law enforcement officials appears to 
underlie the state's ongoing opposition to Thibodeaux's attempts to get money 
through Louisiana's wrongful conviction compensation fund. He says he's 
entitled to the maximum $250,000 the state pays to wrongfully convicted people.

Attorney General James "Buddy" Caldwell's office, which responds to all 
compensation requests, has argued in state court in Jefferson Parish that 
Thibodeaux must prove he is "factually innocent." Otherwise, the assistant 
attorneys general argue, Thibodeaux is not entitled to compensation.

Thibodeaux's attorneys, Herbert Lawson and Sarah Johnson, argue that Connick 
and a state court judge would not have set a guilty man free. They say 
Thibodeaux is entitled to compensation. That request is pending in the 24th 
Judicial District Court.

Confession obtained illegally

Those attorneys also filed the federal lawsuit. They have not filed their 
response to the Sheriffs Office's request to have the lawsuit dismissed.

In Thibodeaux's lawsuit, the attorneys say the Sheriff's Office knew details in 
his confession did not match the crime scene. As such, the detectives should 
have known the confession was false, his attorneys say.

During the investigation that began in 2007 and culminated with Thibodeaux's 
release from prison, attorneys established that the confession was obtained 
through "means that were unconstitutional and illegal."

They point out that there's no physical evidence that links Thibodeaux to the 
crime, and that experts have concluded that Champagne had not had sex on the 
day she died. That evidence, they say, debunks Thibodeaux's confession that he 
not only had intercourse with her before killing her, but that he ejaculated, 
too. No evidence of semen was found at the scene. A detective speculated that 
maggots might have eaten it.

Martiny, the sheriff's attorney who also is a state senator, argues that the 
detectives who obtained Thibodeaux's confession followed proper procedure. 
While he was under questioning, Champagne's battered and mostly nude body was 
discovered on a concrete slab beside the river under the Huey P. Long Bridge. 
Detectives continued interrogating Thibodeaux in what had become a murder 
investigation.

'If I gave them something'

In his July 22 deposition, Thibodeaux denies detectives fed him certain 
details. But he said he felt threatened because he would not give the deputies 
what they wanted: A confession. "I was not allowed to sleep," he testified "I 
was not allowed to eat. I was not allowed to leave."

And so said he he lied to the detectives. He said he made up a story about 
having a dream about a black man raping and killing a young girl next to the 
river. Walter Gorman, then a major who has since retired, "made it pretty clear 
that I'm, if I didn't (give) him what he wanted, something was going to 
happen," Thibodeaux testified. Gorman "sat next to me, put his arm around my 
chair and called me a son of a bitch," Thibodeaux testified.

He says the detectives tricked him, saying they had "compelling evidence" 
proving that he raped and killed the teenager, when, in fact, there was no such 
evidence other than his false confession.

He was told he flunked a polygraph, he testified. He was told the media would 
not be sympathetic toward him, and that inmates in jail aren't kind to people 
who rape and kill children, he said.

He said Thornton told him that if he did not confess, he'd get the death 
penalty. And, Thibodeaux testified, the detective described to him how 
executions are carried out: "They lay you on a table, stick a needle in your, 
and they give you 3 drugs. One numbs, you, the other one paralyzes you, and the 
other one stops your organs."

He said he confessed. "I thought if I gave them something they'd let me go," 
Thibodeaux testified.

(source: The Times-Picayune)






OHIO:

Prison reform on Green agenda


Anita Rios says running as a 3rd-party candidate for governor comes with a 
freedom not available to her mainstream rivals.

The 60-year-old Green Party candidate from Toledo is using that freedom to do 
some unconventional things, such as standing up for Siddique Abdullah Hasan and 
other inmates convicted for their roles in the deadly 1993 Lucasville prison 
riot.

Hasan, sentenced to death as one of the Lucasville 5, will participate by 
telephone from death row in a campaign event with Rios in Cleveland today, 
focusing on Ohio's criminal-justice system and what the Greens believe are 
inherent problems with the death penalty.

Of the Lucasville 5, Rios said, "The trial failed to prove beyond a reasonable 
doubt their guilt. I think that's absolutely a fact." She praises Hasan and the 
others for showing leadership in quelling a potentially even more violent 
situation.

The 11-day rebellion was the longest deadly prison riot in U.S. history, 
leaving 10 people dead, including a prison guard.

(source: Associated Press)






KENTUCKY:

Officer quits over destroyed items in slaying


A federal judge is weighing whether to dismiss murder charges against 2 men 
accused of killing a federal informant after a Kentucky state trooper 
mishandled and destroyed evidence. The trooper has since resigned after 
admitting he didn't have authorization to dispose of the evidence.

U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar has scheduled a hearing on Nov. 3 in Lexington 
to review the actions of former detective Jeff Senters.

The hearing comes in the case of Jimmy D. Benge and Gerald Lee Sizemore. 
Prosecutors are weighing whether to seek a death sentence for the men if they 
are convicted of conspiring to kill Eli "Big Eli" Marcum in December 2012.

Prosecutors say the pair killed Marcum in Clay County because he gave 
information to federal investigators about a drug pipeline from Florida.

----

Believing authorities already had the knife used to kill a federal informant, 
Kentucky State Police Detective Jeff Senters threw out a different knife and a 
burned phone cable found near the stabbed and torched body of Eli "Big Eli" 
Marcum. No one witnessed the disposal of the items, and no one authorized it.

Senters' actions prompted the former Trooper of the Year to resign and drew the 
attention of a federal judge, who is considering dismissing charges against 
three men in a possible death penalty case because potentially exculpatory 
evidence isn't available for testing.

U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar scheduled a Nov. 3 hearing to review Senters' 
actions and determine if the case should be dismissed.

Records obtained by The Associated Press detail how Senters helped gather 
evidence on a rural ATV trail in southern Kentucky, where he found a knife and 
a yellow cord near Marcum's remains in December 2012. The records also show, 
and Senters said, he returned to a witness a cellphone used by Marcum the day 
of his death without checking the calls made on it, violating state police 
policy that would require keeping it until the case was over.

2 men, Jimmy D. Benge and Gerald Lee Sizemore, face a possible death sentence 
if convicted on federal charges of conspiring to kill Marcum because he gave 
the Drug Enforcement Administration information about a pill pipeline running 
from Florida to Clay County in the drug-riddled Appalachian area of Kentucky. A 
3rd man, Vernon "Red" Delph, pleaded guilty on Oct. 17 to his role in the death 
and helping dispose of Marcum's remains.

Benge is charged with paying Sizemore an undisclosed sum to kill Marcum. 
Senters, the state trooper, resigned Aug. 16. His phone number could not be 
found and he did not respond to two letters mailed to his address seeking 
comment.

Marcum went missing in early December 2012. As part of a plea agreement, Delph 
told prosecutors that Sizemore stabbed and choked Marcum before the 2 men took 
the body to a rural area and lit it on fire. After family members found 
Marcum's remains along a dirt road in rural Clay County on Dec. 8, police 
recovered items at the scene, including a small knife a 1/4-mile from the 
remains and a partially burnt telephone cord 1 yard from Marcum's head.

At an evidentiary hearing in federal court in Lexington in July before he 
resigned, Senters said the knife and cord were tossed out because they didn't 
appear to have any connection to Marcum's slaying and he consulted with both 
the Clay County coroner and the state police DNA analyst before destroying the 
items on Oct. 1, 2013. Senters said the knife used to kill Marcum appeared to 
be larger given Marcum's 6-inch puncture wound and the blade found at the scene 
was small.

"And once I called about the cord and what the lab had told me, no, I didn't 
think that the knife, nor the cord, were valuable - or was valuable in this 
case," Senters said.

In Kentucky, it is a felony to destroy evidence that may be used at trial 
without a judge's order. At the time Senters destroyed the knife and cord, a 
Clay County judge had also issued an order requiring the preservation of any 
evidence in a state case brought against Delph.

Defense attorney Kent Wicker said the destroyed evidence could have been used 
for DNA testing and fingerprinting to explore whether anyone else may have been 
involved in Marcum's death. Wicker said the phone could have shown who Marcum 
spoke with in the hours before his disappearance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Parman wrote in court briefs that the items were 
of little to no evidentiary value and their disposal shouldn't impact the 
outcome of the case.

In an interview in February, a defense investigator asked Kentucky Medical 
Examiner Dr. John Hunsaker whether, in his opinion, one of 4 knives, including 
the one Senters identified as the murder weapon, was used to kill Marcum. 
Hunsaker answered "no."

Senters said he didn't know agency policy on getting rid of items collected at 
a crime scene and thus didn't intend to destroy potentially exculpatory 
evidence.

(source: Associated Press)






MISSOURI----impending execution

Mark Christeson's Oct. 29th execution scheduled despite grave errors by his 
former attorneys and severe mental impairment; Activists to hold 11 vigils 
around the state


Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is asking Governor Nixon to 
halt the upcoming scheduled execution of Mark Christeson because his federally 
appointed counsel abandoned him - missing a key filing deadline that forfeited 
federal review of his case - and then deceived him about the status of his 
case.

Further, MADP is concerned about Christeson's mental competency. Christeson's 
cognitive struggles are documented from his earliest days in school and include 
consistent placement in special education, IQ tests in the mid-80's and school 
achievement tests in the 1st to 3rd percentile. His intellectual impairment no 
doubt contributed to his inability to protect his rights.

Christeson was convicted of the rape and murder of Susan Brouk and her 2 
children, Adrian and Kyle. MADP deplores the crimes he is convicted of and the 
senseless loss of life they represent. We mourn with the family of the victims 
and remember them in thought and prayer at 11 vigils around the state.

Christeson's childhood was marked by violence and sexual abuse in his family 
home. At age 11 he was removed from his mother's custody and placed in the 
foster care of his cousin. The family compound on which he lived was notorious 
for violent fights, drug trafficking, extreme poverty and incest - including 
sexual abuse of Mark by the man the state entrusted to care for him. Numerous 
times Christeson attempted to flee his troubled surroundings by running away.

"Mark's case is a tragic story on all sides. Our conscience is shocked by his 
violent acts and the senseless loss of life. But a further look reveals 
Christeson had been a victim his entire life - surrounded by violence, scarred 
by sexual abuse and too mentally impaired to understand how he might get out of 
that life" said Rita Linhardt, Chair of the Board for Missourians for 
Alternatives to the Death Penalty. "As a society, we failed to protect Mark in 
his most vulnerable years. Now society wants to fail Christeson again by 
exacting the ultimate revenge on him. This is not justice for anyone."

Missourians will gather around the state for eleven vigils to remember victims 
of violence and urge the state to not commit another act of violence in their 
names.

(source: Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty)


OKLAHOMA:

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals postpones all Oklahoma executions----The 
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has granted the state's request to postpone 
all 3 scheduled state executions. The stays push each date back 60 days, 
putting 2 in January and a 3rd in February.


All 3 of the state's scheduled executions have been stayed until 2015, the 
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals decided Friday.

In an Oct. 13 motion, Attorney General Scott Pruitt asked the court to push the 
executions of Charles Frederick Warner and Richard Eugene Glossip to January in 
order to give the state Corrections Department time to implement new execution 
protocol and secure the necessary drugs and medical staff. The motion also 
asked for a 3rd execution, that of John Marion Grant, to be postponed until 
February.

The court decision places Warner's execution Jan. 15, Glossip's on Jan. 29, and 
Grant's on Feb. 19.

Despite an earlier confirmation from Corrections Department employees that they 
were prepared to proceed with the executions - the earliest of which was 
scheduled to take place Nov. 13 - department Director Robert Patton has praised 
the move.

In a news release issued when the Attorney General's office asked for the stay, 
Patton said: "While we continue to work diligently to meet the mandates of the 
training required in the protocol, we feel we should not rush the training."

State Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie declined to comment on the 
status of any training execution staff are undergoing or whether the state has 
successfully acquired the necessary drugs and medical staff.

Warner originally was scheduled for lethal injection April 29, the same night 
as Clayton Derrell Lockett. Warner's execution was stayed by Gov. Mary Fallin 
after problems occurred during Lockett's execution, which lasted 43 minutes and 
garnered international attention.

After Lockett's execution, Fallin ordered the state Public Safety Department to 
conduct an investigation. The report from that investigation, released in 
September, found a lack of proper training and back-up planning created a 
recipe for disaster. The lethal cocktail administered to Lockett collected in 
muscle tissue in his groin, largely due to an improperly placed IV in his 
femoral vein.

Guided by the state's investigation, the Corrections Department revised its 
execution protocol, adding contingency plans and training for staff. Some 
members of the execution team now are required to recieve several weeks of 
training leading up to each lethal injection, and additional medical equipment 
to assist in the placement and integrity of the IV and drug lines were added to 
the execution room.

In September, a federal judge questioned whether the state could implement the 
new protocol and training in time for the executions of Warner and Glossip.

"The steps that need to be taken can hardly be completed by (Nov. 13)," U.S. 
District Judge Stephen Friot said at the time.

Friot made the comment during a hearing for a case where 21 death row inmates 
are seeking to stop the state from executing them in the same manner as 
Lockett. Dale Baich, 1 of the attorneys representing the inmates, said in an 
emailed statement the postponements will give them the time necessary to 
properly litigate the case.

"This process will take time, and it is entirely appropriate that the state has 
proposed to reschedule the execution dates while more information is gathered 
and improvements to Oklahoma's lethal injection system can be made, in an open 
atmosphere with public oversight," Baich wrote.

Renovations also were made to the state's death chamber in McAlester, by 
widening the "chemical room," where executioners administer the drugs, and 
reducing the number of seats for media witnesses from 12 to 5.

In a separate court action, the Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday set another 
execution date.

The court ordered Benjamin Robert Cole Sr. to be put to death March 5.

Cole was convicted in 2004 of 1st-degree murder for the death of his 
9-month-old daughter, Brianna Cole.

Claremore police said Cole was playing video games and was distracted by 
Brianna's crying. Cole flipped the infant over by her legs, tearing her aorta.

(source: The Oklahoman)

*******************************

Court allows Oklahoma to delay executions due to lack of drugs


An Oklahoma court accepted a motion from the state on Friday to delay 3 planned 
executions so prison authorities can obtain a fresh batch of lethal injection 
drugs and implement new protocols drawn up after a troubled execution this 
year.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals rescheduled the executions of death row 
inmates Charles Warner, Richard Glossip and John Grant, which were planned for 
this year. They were delayed by about 2 months each.

In September, Oklahoma said it would put in place new execution protocols after 
a doctor and a paramedic failed nearly a dozen times to place an IV during the 
April execution of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett.

His execution was halted about 15 minutes after it started due to the IV 
problems, which caused lethal injection drugs to leak into the death chamber. 
Lockett, who witnesses said was twisting in pain on the gurney, eventually died 
from drugs that has been absorbed into his tissue.

"Given that the torturous execution of Clayton Lockett followed a rush to 
execute, Oklahoma officials must now take all necessary steps and precautions 
to ensure that they will be capable of completing a lethal injection execution 
in a humane and legal manner before any executions may proceed," said Madeline 
Cohen, an attorney for Warner.

(source: Reuters)

**********************

Oklahoma death row inmate denied clemency


A state board voted unanimously on Friday not to recommend sparing the life of 
a former Oklahoma City motel manager who is scheduled to die for the 1997 
beating death of the motel's owner.

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted against recommending the governor 
grant clemency for 51-year-old Richard Glossip, who spoke to the board via a 
video link from death row at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Glossip was convicted of 1st-degree murder in the death of Barry Alan Van 
Treese of Lawton at a west Oklahoma City motel. A co-defendant confessed to 
beating Van Treese, but said he did so at Glossip's direction.

Glossip has maintained his innocence and his attorneys argue that he's been a 
model prisoner for 17 years.

"There's no question that my client never killed anybody," said Glossip's 
attorney, Mark Henricksen. "He's been a good prisoner, and his life has value. 
That's why we're asking for clemency."

Glossip had been scheduled to die by lethal injection on Nov. 20, but the 
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday reset the execution dates of 
Glossip and two other death row inmates after the state said it needed more 
time to secure the necessary drugs and train the execution team on new 
protocols.

The court reset Glossip's execution date for Jan. 29. Charles Warner's 
execution was set for Jan. 15, and John Marion Grant's execution was moved to 
Feb. 9.

Oklahoma has not carried out an execution since the April 29 lethal injection 
of Clayton Lockett, who writhed and moaned on the gurney before being declared 
dead 43 minutes after the procedure began. His problematic execution prompted 
state officials to renovate the death chamber, install new medical equipment 
and develop new execution protocols.

Glossip is among 21 death row inmates who have sued the state seeking to block 
their executions, arguing that by tinkering with the lethal injection 
chemicals, the state is experimenting on death row inmates and violating the 
U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

(source: Associated Press)






USA:

Lethal injections under ethical, legal scrutiny at UR symposium


Panelists at a University of Richmond Law Review symposium Friday criticized 
lethal injection as a flawed and sometimes inhumane death penalty method 
plagued by transparency issues.

They discussed how the frequently used 3-drug combination for lethal injection 
paralyzes the muscles so those being put to death can't express pain they feel 
when the drugs are administered improperly.

Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology at Emory University School of 
Medicine, explained that drugs are not made for killing, and that effective 
drugs are made through testing and patient feedback.

"The dead inmates can't complain ... there's no verification process," said 
Zivot, explaining why lethal injection will always be a flawed method for 
capital punishment.

He said medicine and doctors need to be removed from the death penalty. "I am 
not an expert in killing," he said.

Currently, 32 states, including Virginia, have the death penalty, according to 
the Death Penalty Information Center. Lethal injection is the primary method of 
execution in every state.

Other panelists echoed Zivot's concerns about lethal injection. The panelists 
all raised the issue of a lack of government transparency in the lethal 
injection process.

Eric Berger, a professor at the University of Nebraska College of Law, said 
many states withhold information about the lethal injection process, which he 
argued infringes on the inmates' Eighth Amendment right to legally fight 
against "cruel and unusual punishment."

"Secrecy is proven to be a successful litigation strategy," Berger said.

Panelist Deborah W. Denno, a law professor at Fordham University's School of 
Law, said she believes death by firing squad is more humane than lethal 
injection. Berger suggested that supporters of the death penalty support lethal 
injection because it appears to be a bloodless and humane method. Zivot echoed 
that argument.

"The cruelty of it all has been hidden from you, but I assure you the cruelty 
is there," Zivot said.

The event at the University of Richmond also included discussions about the 
politics and future of the death penalty. Among the panelists was Frank Green, 
a reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, who has witnessed about a dozen 
executions as a media representative. Former Virginia Attorney General Mark L. 
Earley said his perspective on criminal justice changed from punitive to 
rehabilitative after working with prisoners as the president of the Prison 
Fellowship. As a state senator, Earley said he fought for tougher sentencing, 
abolishing parole and lowering the age of juveniles who are tried as adults. 
Now, he supports diverting nonviolent offenders and people with drug problems 
to rehabilitation programs. "I see the 2nd half of my life as correcting what I 
did with the 1st half of my life," said Earley, a panelist for Friday's 
discussion on the politics of the death penalty.

He said many prisoners he met in crowded prisons had mental health or substance 
abuse problems. He recalled one visit in western Michigan, when he saw a whole 
wing of the prison dedicated to heavily medicated prisoners with visible mental 
health problems. He said he thought at the time, "This is not the place for 
them."

(source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)