Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 17:33:26 GMT -5
Holton gets execution reprieve----High court upholds judges' stay; killer
files own last-minute petition
A Shelbyville, Tenn., man narrowly escaped being put to death early this
morning because a federal appeals court wants to know whether he was
mentally competent when he refused to participate in appealing his case.
The execution of Daryl Keith Holton was called off Monday night after the
U.S. Supreme Court decided to keep in place a stay of execution. That stay
was issued by three judges at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
earlier Monday.
"He was at peace with whatever happened tonight" is what he told his
spiritual adviser, said Dorinda Carter, spokeswoman for the state
Department of Correction.
But Holton himself appeared to change his stand on being executed. He had
refused for the past two years to help defense lawyers appeal his case,
giving the impression that he wanted to die, but at the last minute
Monday, he filed his own petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his
execution. State attorneys said it was a ploy.
Defense lawyers said Holton, 44, suffers from depression that dates to
high school, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.
He has been on death row since 1999 for the rifle slaying of his 3 young
sons and a stepdaughter. He told authorities he was angry over visitation
and custody arrangements with his ex-wife.
Heightening the attention around his scheduled execution, Holton chose to
die by electric chair rather than the state's preferred method of lethal
injection.
That stirred concern from the maker of the never-used chair and others
whether it would work properly. Gov. Phil Bredesen said Monday that prison
officials had assured him that the device would work as planned.
In the petition Holton penned with the help of Kelly Gleason, an assistant
state post-conviction defender, he raised the claim that he was denied a
fair trial because of ineffective lawyers. The petition was filed and
signed by Holton, who plans to represent himself.
Lawyers for the state attorney general's office, who are working to get
Holton executed, said in court filings that his last-minute signature on
the paperwork was an intentional and calculated maneuver, intended to drag
out the process and delay his date with the electric chair.
Separately, his attorneys won him a stay with the appeal they pursued
without his help. Still pressing for execution, the state of Tennessee
appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that Holton's petition was not
properly before the court, nor was it filed in time but was denied.
Carter said Holton, who had been on death watch, did not request a special
last meal and instead ate, for what he believed could be a last meal, what
other inmates at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution dined on.
Anti-death penalty advocates had planned an afternoon rally and
prison-side vigil for Holton, but called those off once the federal stay
was issued.
"The state's contention that a man with clear mental illness is mentally
competent to make legal decisions demonstrates how poorly our legal system
understands the way mental illness affects the human mind," said Alex
Wiesendanger, associate director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish
State Killing.
"We should be providing treatment for people with mental illness, not
executing them."
At his murder trial in Bedford County, Holton's lawyers argued that he was
insane when he lined up his children and shot them in the Shelbyville
garage where he worked and slept.
Media reports and court documents give conflicting ages for the 4, but put
them between 13 and 4.
Holton shot the children after he took them to McDonald's and to an arcade
during a visitation with him.
He and his ex-wife had gone through bitter divorce and custody battles. He
had custody at one point, and then the children lived with her.
After he shot the kids, Holton went to the Shelbyville Police Department
and reported a "homicide times four." He told authorities that the
children had been taken away and given back enough.
The fact that he has refused to sign the paperwork that would keep his
appeals going is more of a sign of his mental illness, his lawyers
contend.
Most death-row inmates fight and continue their appeals, but Tennessee has
seen a recent spate of condemned prisoners who refuse to sign their
paperwork.
Paul Dennis Reid, who killed 7 people in a series of robberies at
fast-food restaurants, won a reprieve from his scheduled June 28 execution
despite not signing his documents. A federal court judge ordered a stay so
Reid could have a hearing to determine if he was competent to make the
appeals.
Death-row inmate Stephen Hugueley, who killed his mother and 2 people in
prison, refused to sign his paperwork, saying he wanted to die. He had
been slated to be executed in August. But Hugueley changed his mind and
signed the paperwork because he said prison officials wouldn't let him
have a contact visit with his daughter, where he would sit in the same
room and hug her.
(source: Tennessean)
files own last-minute petition
A Shelbyville, Tenn., man narrowly escaped being put to death early this
morning because a federal appeals court wants to know whether he was
mentally competent when he refused to participate in appealing his case.
The execution of Daryl Keith Holton was called off Monday night after the
U.S. Supreme Court decided to keep in place a stay of execution. That stay
was issued by three judges at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
earlier Monday.
"He was at peace with whatever happened tonight" is what he told his
spiritual adviser, said Dorinda Carter, spokeswoman for the state
Department of Correction.
But Holton himself appeared to change his stand on being executed. He had
refused for the past two years to help defense lawyers appeal his case,
giving the impression that he wanted to die, but at the last minute
Monday, he filed his own petition to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his
execution. State attorneys said it was a ploy.
Defense lawyers said Holton, 44, suffers from depression that dates to
high school, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.
He has been on death row since 1999 for the rifle slaying of his 3 young
sons and a stepdaughter. He told authorities he was angry over visitation
and custody arrangements with his ex-wife.
Heightening the attention around his scheduled execution, Holton chose to
die by electric chair rather than the state's preferred method of lethal
injection.
That stirred concern from the maker of the never-used chair and others
whether it would work properly. Gov. Phil Bredesen said Monday that prison
officials had assured him that the device would work as planned.
In the petition Holton penned with the help of Kelly Gleason, an assistant
state post-conviction defender, he raised the claim that he was denied a
fair trial because of ineffective lawyers. The petition was filed and
signed by Holton, who plans to represent himself.
Lawyers for the state attorney general's office, who are working to get
Holton executed, said in court filings that his last-minute signature on
the paperwork was an intentional and calculated maneuver, intended to drag
out the process and delay his date with the electric chair.
Separately, his attorneys won him a stay with the appeal they pursued
without his help. Still pressing for execution, the state of Tennessee
appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that Holton's petition was not
properly before the court, nor was it filed in time but was denied.
Carter said Holton, who had been on death watch, did not request a special
last meal and instead ate, for what he believed could be a last meal, what
other inmates at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution dined on.
Anti-death penalty advocates had planned an afternoon rally and
prison-side vigil for Holton, but called those off once the federal stay
was issued.
"The state's contention that a man with clear mental illness is mentally
competent to make legal decisions demonstrates how poorly our legal system
understands the way mental illness affects the human mind," said Alex
Wiesendanger, associate director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish
State Killing.
"We should be providing treatment for people with mental illness, not
executing them."
At his murder trial in Bedford County, Holton's lawyers argued that he was
insane when he lined up his children and shot them in the Shelbyville
garage where he worked and slept.
Media reports and court documents give conflicting ages for the 4, but put
them between 13 and 4.
Holton shot the children after he took them to McDonald's and to an arcade
during a visitation with him.
He and his ex-wife had gone through bitter divorce and custody battles. He
had custody at one point, and then the children lived with her.
After he shot the kids, Holton went to the Shelbyville Police Department
and reported a "homicide times four." He told authorities that the
children had been taken away and given back enough.
The fact that he has refused to sign the paperwork that would keep his
appeals going is more of a sign of his mental illness, his lawyers
contend.
Most death-row inmates fight and continue their appeals, but Tennessee has
seen a recent spate of condemned prisoners who refuse to sign their
paperwork.
Paul Dennis Reid, who killed 7 people in a series of robberies at
fast-food restaurants, won a reprieve from his scheduled June 28 execution
despite not signing his documents. A federal court judge ordered a stay so
Reid could have a hearing to determine if he was competent to make the
appeals.
Death-row inmate Stephen Hugueley, who killed his mother and 2 people in
prison, refused to sign his paperwork, saying he wanted to die. He had
been slated to be executed in August. But Hugueley changed his mind and
signed the paperwork because he said prison officials wouldn't let him
have a contact visit with his daughter, where he would sit in the same
room and hug her.
(source: Tennessean)