nighthawk_75253
05-07-2002, 11:00 AM
From: "Mozes V Curiel" <mozescur@c...>
Date: Sun May 5, 2002 5:58 pm
Subject: Executions in Texas Up Sharply After Lull
ADVERTISEMENT
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National
The New York Times
May 5, 2002
Executions in Texas Up Sharply After Lull
By JIM YARDLEY
HOUSTON, May 4 ? After a sharp
decline in executions last year, Texas
appears likely to become the nation's death
penalty capital again. This month alone,
seven of its prisoners are to be put to death,
a number that would have been eight except
that the United States Supreme Court
granted one a late reprieve on Wednesday.
Texas has accounted for 10 of the 23
executions carried out across the country
this year, and in addition to the seven set for
May, seven more are scheduled through
July. "It suggests it's going to be a pretty busy year as far as executions in
Texas," said Larry Fitzgerald, spokesman for the state's Department of
Criminal Justice.
The increase follows a decline to 17 Texas executions last year (when
Oklahoma had the most, 18) from a record 40 in 2000.
The explanation for this year's increase is the same as that given for last
year's decrease: the rhythms of the appeals process. In particular, the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, stayed a handful
of cases last year as it considered whether inmates had a right to competent
counsel during their habeas corpus appeals.
Ruling on the issue this year, the court concluded that while Texas law
provided prisoners a right to a lawyer for habeas corpus appeals, that
provision did not bestow a right to competent counsel. With that avenue of
appeal blocked, some executions that were stayed last year have now been
rescheduled.
The most recent execution was on Tuesday, when Rodolfo Hernandez, 52,
was put to death by lethal injection for his role in a robbery and murder.
The next night, Curtis Moore, 34, was only three hours from execution when
the Supreme Court granted him a reprieve. His lawyers had argued that he
was mentally retarded and that his case could be influenced by a pending one
from Virginia in which the justices are expected to reconsider the
constitutionality of executing retarded offenders.
Dianne Clements, president of Justice for All, a victims' group that supports
capital punishment, said the increasing number of executions reflected "the
mechanics of the death penalty as it plods along."
"This is the system at its best or worst," Ms. Clements said, "depending on
how you view it. This is just the process."
She said the rescheduling of delayed executions would help salve victims'
families.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a
group critical of capital punishment, noted that the number of executions
nationally, and the number of death sentences, had declined for the last two
years. He attributed this to several factors, among them that more states now
offer life without parole as a sentencing option while others have recently
prohibited the execution of retarded offenders. He said 10 states have
government-appointed commissions examining the fairness of their death
penalty systems.
Such changes, Mr. Dieter said, have come slower in Texas, which since
restoring capital punishment in 1982 has carried out 265 executions, more
than any other state. Texas has enacted significant legislation to improve legal
representation of poor defendants, including those in capital cases, as well as
a law providing access to DNA testing. But Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a bill
prohibiting execution of the retarded, and life without parole is not permitted
as a sentencing option.
The case expected to attract the most attention this month is that of
Napoleon Beazley, who is to be put to death on May 28. His execution,
stayed last August by the Court of Criminal Appeals, was one of those
rescheduled after the court ruled on appellate lawyer competency. Mr.
Beazley was sentenced to death for shooting the father of a federal judge in a
carjacking.
His case has attracted international notice, and not only because three
Supreme Court justices, faced with an appeal that preceded the state court's
stay, were led to disqualify themselves, given their ties to the victim's son.
Mr. Beazley, who was 17 at the time of the murder, has won support from
those opposing execution of offenders who commit their crimes before
turning 18.
His lawyers are arguing that his execution should be stayed again, on the
ground that the arguments before the Supreme Court on retardation apply as
well to the constitutionality of executing offenders under 18.
Date: Sun May 5, 2002 5:58 pm
Subject: Executions in Texas Up Sharply After Lull
ADVERTISEMENT
<http://us.a1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/a/1-/flash/egroups/kwickpick_040802.gif>
National
The New York Times
May 5, 2002
Executions in Texas Up Sharply After Lull
By JIM YARDLEY
HOUSTON, May 4 ? After a sharp
decline in executions last year, Texas
appears likely to become the nation's death
penalty capital again. This month alone,
seven of its prisoners are to be put to death,
a number that would have been eight except
that the United States Supreme Court
granted one a late reprieve on Wednesday.
Texas has accounted for 10 of the 23
executions carried out across the country
this year, and in addition to the seven set for
May, seven more are scheduled through
July. "It suggests it's going to be a pretty busy year as far as executions in
Texas," said Larry Fitzgerald, spokesman for the state's Department of
Criminal Justice.
The increase follows a decline to 17 Texas executions last year (when
Oklahoma had the most, 18) from a record 40 in 2000.
The explanation for this year's increase is the same as that given for last
year's decrease: the rhythms of the appeals process. In particular, the Texas
Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court, stayed a handful
of cases last year as it considered whether inmates had a right to competent
counsel during their habeas corpus appeals.
Ruling on the issue this year, the court concluded that while Texas law
provided prisoners a right to a lawyer for habeas corpus appeals, that
provision did not bestow a right to competent counsel. With that avenue of
appeal blocked, some executions that were stayed last year have now been
rescheduled.
The most recent execution was on Tuesday, when Rodolfo Hernandez, 52,
was put to death by lethal injection for his role in a robbery and murder.
The next night, Curtis Moore, 34, was only three hours from execution when
the Supreme Court granted him a reprieve. His lawyers had argued that he
was mentally retarded and that his case could be influenced by a pending one
from Virginia in which the justices are expected to reconsider the
constitutionality of executing retarded offenders.
Dianne Clements, president of Justice for All, a victims' group that supports
capital punishment, said the increasing number of executions reflected "the
mechanics of the death penalty as it plods along."
"This is the system at its best or worst," Ms. Clements said, "depending on
how you view it. This is just the process."
She said the rescheduling of delayed executions would help salve victims'
families.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a
group critical of capital punishment, noted that the number of executions
nationally, and the number of death sentences, had declined for the last two
years. He attributed this to several factors, among them that more states now
offer life without parole as a sentencing option while others have recently
prohibited the execution of retarded offenders. He said 10 states have
government-appointed commissions examining the fairness of their death
penalty systems.
Such changes, Mr. Dieter said, have come slower in Texas, which since
restoring capital punishment in 1982 has carried out 265 executions, more
than any other state. Texas has enacted significant legislation to improve legal
representation of poor defendants, including those in capital cases, as well as
a law providing access to DNA testing. But Gov. Rick Perry vetoed a bill
prohibiting execution of the retarded, and life without parole is not permitted
as a sentencing option.
The case expected to attract the most attention this month is that of
Napoleon Beazley, who is to be put to death on May 28. His execution,
stayed last August by the Court of Criminal Appeals, was one of those
rescheduled after the court ruled on appellate lawyer competency. Mr.
Beazley was sentenced to death for shooting the father of a federal judge in a
carjacking.
His case has attracted international notice, and not only because three
Supreme Court justices, faced with an appeal that preceded the state court's
stay, were led to disqualify themselves, given their ties to the victim's son.
Mr. Beazley, who was 17 at the time of the murder, has won support from
those opposing execution of offenders who commit their crimes before
turning 18.
His lawyers are arguing that his execution should be stayed again, on the
ground that the arguments before the Supreme Court on retardation apply as
well to the constitutionality of executing offenders under 18.