Texas man executed because Court would not stay open past 5pm to hear his appeal

[shance]

Just when you thought you'd seen the worst of mankind in action, I read this......


A Texas death-row inmate was executed after a local court refused to stay open an extra 20 minutes to hear an appeal.

At 10am on September 25, the US Supreme Court announced it would review in early 2008 an appeal by two Kentucky death row inmates challenging the legality of the lethal injection.

The same day, Michael Richard, 48, was due to receive the deadly cocktail at 6pm in southern Texas for the rape and murder of a woman in 1986.

His attorneys said they rushed to draft an appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest court for criminal cases.

At 4.50pm, the lawyers called the court to ask it to remain open 20 more minutes after they were stalled by a computer malfunction.

"We close at five,'' was the response from the court clerk, a quote widely reported by local media.

In a last-ditch effort, Richard's attorneys took their case to the Supreme Court, which remains open for executions.

The legal move delayed the execution by a few hours, but since the convict did not file his appeal with a local court first, his arguments were not accepted in Washington.

The execution went ahead that evening and Richard was declared dead at 8.23pm.

No other death row inmate has been executed since then.

The court's behaviour angered a leading Texas daily newspaper, the Dallas Morning News, which expressed outrage in an editorial entitled "We Closed at 5".

"Hastening the death of a man, even a bad one, because office personnel couldn't be bothered to bend bureaucratic procedure was a breathtakingly petty act and evinced a relish for death that makes the blood of decent people run cold,'' the newspaper said.

On Tuesday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution to convicted murderer Heliberto Chi, 28, a sign that it might step back while the US Supreme Court weighs the constitutionality of lethal injection.

So far this year, 40 of the 41 people executed in the United States have been killed by lethal injection, with one choosing the electric chair.

Most of the executions have taken place in Texas, which has put to death more than 400 people since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the country in 1976.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22528997-5003402,00.html

[PretzelWarrior]

1. boo hoo. a rapist/murderer finally had to pay the ultimate price

for his crime and the system wasn't clogged with one more appeal. I'm sorry...but when a case is open and shut very clearly murder there are times I wish the judge would whip out a revolver from under his robes and hasten judgement right then and there.

no wonder we Democrats get labeled with coddling killers.

[SeattleGirl]

2. Ouch!

I don't coddle killers, but I also don't believe in the death penalty.

Difference of opinion here.

[Bluebear]

3. "Boo hoo" - yes, George.

[PretzelWarrior]

5. sorry. I realize I have stumbled against orthodoxy

but I'm a registered Democrat who happens to believe there are cases where the death penalty is the only just punishment for ones so heinous that they kill in cold blood and break down the very civilization we take for granted.

[Bluebear]

7. Did this convict claim innocence? Was he waiting for the Innocence Project & DNA tests?

Do you know any of those things about this case? Do they matter to you?

[PretzelWarrior]

8. nope. he had confessed to killing her long ago

and aside from raping and killing her he stole her TVs to sell so he could buy cocaine. He failed the test of what it means to be a human in our civilization. THere is no need for us to hold him in suspended animation forever at the state's expense.

THe only appeals had to do with the court case to decide whether certain lethal injections are "cruel and unusual punishment".

[Bluebear]

9. "a relish for death that makes the blood of decent people run cold,"

Sorry, but I am with the Dallas newspaper on that, but rock on, we just disagree.

[Vektor]

12. I totally agree.

I'd be happy to see the death penalty for all rapists, whether or not a murder even occurred.

But yeah, execute a rapist/murderer? No tears shed here.

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. 'He failed the test of what it means to be a human in our civilization.'

Who made up this test? You? Or 12 people who think like you?

[Ms. Toad]

31. Actually, yes.

People who do not believe the death penalty is acceptable are routinely excluded from juries. People who would execute every rapist or murderer are not. The juries are, therefore, stacked for death. That is one of the many problems with the use of the death penalty.

[Oeditpus Rex]

33. Good point — but

might not those who are anti-death penalty also be excused, depending on... well, a lot of things, including which attorney is more skilled at voir dire?

I'm not arguing, just wondering.

[Ms. Toad]

34. the anti-death penalty people are excused by design

Given equally skilled attorneys, the jury will be death weighted. Anti-death penalty potential jurors may be excluded for cause (an unlimited number of jurors can be excluded for cause, and being anti-death penalty is a "valid" for cause challenge according to the Supreme Court). It is not permissible to exclude pro-death penalty jurors for cause, they must be excluded by peremptory challenge (and each side gets a fixed number of peremptory challenges).

The process is called being "death qualified." Here's a link: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4625
The 1986 cases are: Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510 (1968), and in Lockhart v. McCree, 476 U.S. 162 (1986)

[Oeditpus Rex]

36. That's good to know

But quite troubling.

Thanks for the info. :hi:

[Tesha]

20. So exactly how much pain must such a convict suffer...

So exactly how much pain must such a convict suffer before
you feel like they've paid the correct price?

Seriously: How much pain?

Tesha

[Th1onein]

21. Sorry, but I'm a registered Democrat......

and this is not a matter of "orthodoxy." As a Dem, I don't believe in gun control or abortion, but I am not cheering about the death of a fellow human being. And, it is beyond the pale for a court to have such a cavalier attitude about a life, and the cruelty of the manner of their death. It ain't about "orthodoxy;" it's about simple human decency. Ours, not his.

[Ariana Celeste]

4. eww.

:eyes:

So in order to not be viewed as 'coddling killers,' we should.... kill people. Okay.

We kill people, who kill people, to show people that killing is wrong. That's disgusting, it's barbaric, and I can't support it. Ever. For any crime.

[alfredo]

37. Being locked in a cage for the rest of their lives is far better than

cutting short his/her suffering. It's the easy way out. Sitting in a cage knowing you will never walk the streets free, never feel human touch, never again see a woman's face, and never hear a kind word is punishment enough.

[Mythsaje]

6. I don't trust any group to be able to decide

whether someone is deserving of life or death. Particularly the so-called "justice" system of Texas.

[Nutmegger]

11. Proud killer coddler here!

:eyes::eyes:




Oh brother...




:eyes::eyes:

[TreasonousBastard]

14. Perhaps you hadn't noticed...

that he had an IQ of 64, recognized by the court, and that 70 is pretty much the cutoff for retardation.

Although the Supreme Court has already said we don't execute the retarded here, the prosecutor managed to get the shrink who tested him to recant his initial testimony and say that while he still had a 64 IQ, he wasn't really retarded.

Even if this wasn't the case, it's a bit callous to let anyone die for any reason simply because we want to go home on time.

We get labelled for codling killers because we follow the law, or try to. And it's always by bloodthirsty avengers who confuse death and destruction with justice.

[Swamp Rat]

18. Good luck!

:hi:

[Tesha]

19. Remind us of this post if you're ever involved in legal proceedings as a defendant. (NT)

[Toots]

23. How very Progressive of you

You leave me speachless..

[mark414]

32. whoot! nothing solves bloodlust like more bloodlust

[ulysses]

35. well THAT was nauseating...

[DemGa]

10. Barbaric...nt

[sam sarrha]

15. in TX a judge will lose their 5 figure income if they even agree to hear a PD appeal

[sam sarrha]

16. no one understands this.... "The Death Penalty" has never been proven to be an actual penalty", it

has been proven to be a blood sacrifice by politicians to the electorate for votes, how many times have you heard a politician say he will kill prisoners in custody if elected.??

however there is no scientific proof the death penalty is actually a penalty, it has been proven that it is NOT a Deterrent to capital crime or any crime, it actually results in more murder, because criminals will kill witnesses.

the prisoner will simply accept Jesus and be escorted to heaven by the christians favorite super hero before the body is cold.

the reasoning for the death penalty is an Apriori opinion.. and unsubstantiated belief.. or based on religion. making it not only obscene but illegal. it is unusual to do something that goes against a mountain of facts.. because it gets someone votes or gives a christian a hard-on

[shance]

24. Insightful Sam. Thank you.

n/t

[razzleberry]

17. foolish, to wait till the last 10 minutes

to file something he probably (or should have)
wrote three days ago.

[JerseygirlCT]

22. I hope all those bureaucratic jerks come to realize they are

now murderers. There's something to live with.

[MrCoffee]

25. what monumental fuck-ups these attorneys are

who doesn't have the final appeal ready to go? i've never handled a DP case before, but for cryin' out loud...seems like you'd kind of know when the execution is scheduled, and prepare a little bit.

it's not like it would have added hundreds of pages, or even words, to base your stay request on the SCOTUS review.

[tammywammy]

27. That's what I was thinking

How were those attorneys not prepared? I mean it's not like the death penalty is rare in Texas.

[WolverineDG]

29. It was ready

but they had computer problems. See the article below.

dg

[WinkyDink]

26. This convict may well have been executed eventually, but it is STILL true that this response by a

clerk was bureaucracy at its Soviet worst.

That said: since when do lawyers in such a significant case NOT GO IN PERSON to the court-house? Or have MORE THAN ONE computer (like a lap-top back-up)? Or demand to speak to a HIGHER UP?

[WolverineDG]

28. One of the justices told the office to close

The other justices, anticipating that a stay would be filed, remained in the office until 7 or on call, in case one was filed & they were needed to make a ruling. Unfortunately for them, a cold-blooded bitch had already told the clerk's office to close & not to give any extensions, later claiming she didn't know the attorneys were having computer problems. Furthermore, the clerk's office refused to accept a filing by email, which would have saved the 20 minutes or so it would have taken to print out the pleadings.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA100507.01B.execution.32b3b7e.html


dg

[dembotoz]

30. wouldn't you know it would be texas

one of the main reasons I loathe the death penalty is the reality that all justice is not created equal. Texas has a long history of minimal at best justice.(not that my state is heaven on earth)
Don't trust the court system and i really don't trust the texas court system.

and a 64 iq is more than enough for texas--look who they had for gov.