Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 20, 2006 15:24:26 GMT -5
Saved from execution once, killer is facing death again
A condemned killer who got a last-second reprieve before he was to be
executed earlier this year is scheduled to die by lethal injection today.
Clarence Hill, the condemned cop-killer who won a last-second reprieve
while strapped to his death gurney earlier this year, is again set to die,
this time at 6 tonight at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Saying lethal injection is cruelly painful, Hill has appealed his case
again to the U.S. Supreme Court, which stopped his execution in January
just before the prison staff was to inject him with a lethal 3-drug
thingytail.
The court ruled unanimously in June that Hill had the right to file a
civil rights action against the state's method of lethal injection, and
sent the case back to lower courts to hear his argument. But a federal
court in Gainesville and an appeals court have ruled against him -- and
Gov. Jeb Bush said it's time for Hill to die.
''Mr. Hill has had ample time to go through the process to the point
where, at least I believe, there's a mockery made of the judicial
system,'' Bush said. "It was cruel and unusual what he did. He was
convicted by a jury of his peers. And it's gone on and on and on and on.
My first thought is for the families of the victims of these crimes.''
But Hill's attorney, Todd Doss, said Hill could suffer pain if he has not
been properly anesthetized with Pentothal Sodium before 2 other drugs that
stop the heart -- pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride -- are
administered.
LEGAL STANDARDS
Hill's scheduled execution comes just days after the American Bar
Association released an exhaustive 403-page report that said Florida --
which leads the nation in exonerations from Death Row, with 22 since 1973
-- complies with only eight of 93 ABA legal standards. The ABA takes no
position on the death penalty itself, but called for a moratorium on
executions in 1997 so that legal questions could be worked out.
Of the 11 recommendations the ABA report's experts made this time: make
Florida juries, like those in the 37 other death-penalty states, recommend
executions by a unanimous vote, instead of by a simple majority. The
Florida Supreme Court suggested the change, but the Republican-controlled
Legislature killed it this year, with many lawmakers expressing concerns
that it was a ''soft on crime'' approach.
Bush had expressed similar sentiments, but seemed to reverse himself
Tuesday when he said the matter should be considered.
''When the Supreme Court sends a signal like that, it should not be just
cast aside, because ultimately they will have some say in how the death
penalty works,'' said Bush, who ordered a review of Florida's
death-penalty system after Hill won his appeal in January.
The governor wouldn't comment on specifics of the ABA report, which he
said his office is still reviewing. But Bush did call for a speedier
execution system, which the ABA did not recommend.
''I believe the death-penalty process here is protected, correctly so, by
an appeals process that is extensive. It can go on for more than 10 years.
For a lot of people, that's denial of justice. And if there is any
revamping, I would like to see it far quicker,'' Bush said.
The report specifically called for qualified lawyers for capital-case
defendants; a ban on executions of the mentally disabled; the creation of
uniform statewide standards to decide who is charged with a capital crime;
and a commission to study Florida's wrongful convictions to prevent the
execution of the innocent.
Also, it noted racial disparities in the justice system. ''It appears that
those convicted of killing white victims are far more likely to receive a
death sentence and be executed than those convicted of killing nonwhite
victims,'' it said.
1982 ROBBERY
Hill is black. Stephen Taylor, the Pensacola police officer he killed, was
white.
In October 1982, Hill and an accomplice, Cliff Jackson, robbed a savings
and loan in Pensacola. Police arrived during the robbery and were trying
to handcuff Jackson when Hill shot 2 police officers, killing Taylor and
wounding Officer Larry Bailly.
Bailly managed to shoot Hill several times. Hill was captured shortly
after.
The ABA report didn't concern itself with the specific matter Hill has
raised on appeal: the possible pain from the heart-stopper mixed with a
diluted dose of anesthetic. Most doctors refuse to perform the
lethal-injection procedure, saying it violates their professional oath to
do no harm.
Though experts say the amount of anesthetic Hill will get is enough to
knock out a horse, a person without a medical degree could perform the
procedure and fail to stick the intravenous tube in correctly, or
improperly mix the fatal thingytail, Dr. Nik Gravenstein, chairman of the
University of Florida College of Medicine's anesthesia department, told
The Associated Press.
''There are myriad opportunities for errors,'' he said.
(source: Miami Herald)
A condemned killer who got a last-second reprieve before he was to be
executed earlier this year is scheduled to die by lethal injection today.
Clarence Hill, the condemned cop-killer who won a last-second reprieve
while strapped to his death gurney earlier this year, is again set to die,
this time at 6 tonight at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Saying lethal injection is cruelly painful, Hill has appealed his case
again to the U.S. Supreme Court, which stopped his execution in January
just before the prison staff was to inject him with a lethal 3-drug
thingytail.
The court ruled unanimously in June that Hill had the right to file a
civil rights action against the state's method of lethal injection, and
sent the case back to lower courts to hear his argument. But a federal
court in Gainesville and an appeals court have ruled against him -- and
Gov. Jeb Bush said it's time for Hill to die.
''Mr. Hill has had ample time to go through the process to the point
where, at least I believe, there's a mockery made of the judicial
system,'' Bush said. "It was cruel and unusual what he did. He was
convicted by a jury of his peers. And it's gone on and on and on and on.
My first thought is for the families of the victims of these crimes.''
But Hill's attorney, Todd Doss, said Hill could suffer pain if he has not
been properly anesthetized with Pentothal Sodium before 2 other drugs that
stop the heart -- pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride -- are
administered.
LEGAL STANDARDS
Hill's scheduled execution comes just days after the American Bar
Association released an exhaustive 403-page report that said Florida --
which leads the nation in exonerations from Death Row, with 22 since 1973
-- complies with only eight of 93 ABA legal standards. The ABA takes no
position on the death penalty itself, but called for a moratorium on
executions in 1997 so that legal questions could be worked out.
Of the 11 recommendations the ABA report's experts made this time: make
Florida juries, like those in the 37 other death-penalty states, recommend
executions by a unanimous vote, instead of by a simple majority. The
Florida Supreme Court suggested the change, but the Republican-controlled
Legislature killed it this year, with many lawmakers expressing concerns
that it was a ''soft on crime'' approach.
Bush had expressed similar sentiments, but seemed to reverse himself
Tuesday when he said the matter should be considered.
''When the Supreme Court sends a signal like that, it should not be just
cast aside, because ultimately they will have some say in how the death
penalty works,'' said Bush, who ordered a review of Florida's
death-penalty system after Hill won his appeal in January.
The governor wouldn't comment on specifics of the ABA report, which he
said his office is still reviewing. But Bush did call for a speedier
execution system, which the ABA did not recommend.
''I believe the death-penalty process here is protected, correctly so, by
an appeals process that is extensive. It can go on for more than 10 years.
For a lot of people, that's denial of justice. And if there is any
revamping, I would like to see it far quicker,'' Bush said.
The report specifically called for qualified lawyers for capital-case
defendants; a ban on executions of the mentally disabled; the creation of
uniform statewide standards to decide who is charged with a capital crime;
and a commission to study Florida's wrongful convictions to prevent the
execution of the innocent.
Also, it noted racial disparities in the justice system. ''It appears that
those convicted of killing white victims are far more likely to receive a
death sentence and be executed than those convicted of killing nonwhite
victims,'' it said.
1982 ROBBERY
Hill is black. Stephen Taylor, the Pensacola police officer he killed, was
white.
In October 1982, Hill and an accomplice, Cliff Jackson, robbed a savings
and loan in Pensacola. Police arrived during the robbery and were trying
to handcuff Jackson when Hill shot 2 police officers, killing Taylor and
wounding Officer Larry Bailly.
Bailly managed to shoot Hill several times. Hill was captured shortly
after.
The ABA report didn't concern itself with the specific matter Hill has
raised on appeal: the possible pain from the heart-stopper mixed with a
diluted dose of anesthetic. Most doctors refuse to perform the
lethal-injection procedure, saying it violates their professional oath to
do no harm.
Though experts say the amount of anesthetic Hill will get is enough to
knock out a horse, a person without a medical degree could perform the
procedure and fail to stick the intravenous tube in correctly, or
improperly mix the fatal thingytail, Dr. Nik Gravenstein, chairman of the
University of Florida College of Medicine's anesthesia department, told
The Associated Press.
''There are myriad opportunities for errors,'' he said.
(source: Miami Herald)