June 9


MARYLAND:

Convicted killer Oken denied stay of execution----Death row inmate
scheduled to die next week for 1987 murder; Attorneys vow to continue
challenge of state's use of lethal injection


Maryland's Court of Appeals today turned down convicted killer Steven
Oken's appeal that his execution should be delayed to allow him to pursue
his legal challenge to Maryland's lethal injection method.

Oken can appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oken's lead attorney, Fred Warren Bennett, told the judges in arguments
made yesterday that his client has raised "serious" and "thorny" issues
and should be given time to litigate them.

But Maryland Assistant Attorney General Ann N. Bosse asked the court then
not to interfere with Oken's current death warrant -- his third since
being convicted and sentenced in 1991 -- and told the judges that Oken's
lawsuits and appeals now constitute an "abusive delay."

The vote by the Court of Appeals, Maryland's highest court, was 6-1, with
Judge C.J. Bell dissenting.

After yesterday's hearing, Fred A. Romano, whose sister, Dawn Marie
Garvin, was killed by Oken in 1987, said Oken "needs to die," adding:
"It's been 17 years."

Last week, a Baltimore County Circuit judge dismissed Oken's lawsuit
against the state Division of Correction that claimed the three-drug
lethal injection process is akin to torture and therefore
unconstitutional. The judge also declined to consider Oken's motion
contending that the state's execution procedure violates Maryland law.

Bennett's appeals of both decisions on behalf of his client became the
basis of the stay of execution request that Oken made June 1 to the Court
of Appeals.

Steven Oken, now 42, also was convicted of murdering his
sister-in-law,Patricia A. Hirt, in Maryland and motel clerk Lori Ward in
Maine.

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

Cardinals press Ehrlich to spare Oken from death -- Letter urges life
without parole sentence for man convicted of murdering 3


Cardinals William Keeler and Theodore McCarrick asked Gov. Robert L.
Ehrlich Jr. in a letter today to spare triple convicted murderer and
rapist Steven Oken from the death penalty.

The cardinals and Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli, of Wilmington, Del., asked
the governor to commute Oken's sentence to life in prison without parole.

"What is to be gained by taking the life -- even of a terrible murderer
like that? There's nothing to be gained," McCarrick, the archbishop of
Washington, said in a telephone interview.

The Roman Catholic Church has long opposed capital punishment.

Keeler, the archbishop of Baltimore, said developed societies no longer
need the death penalty because they can protect themselves from violent
criminals through other means, such as life in prison without parole.

"We understand and sympathize enormously with the families, but we want to
say that taking a life for a life is not the answer," Keeler said.

Saltarelli said the church objected to the death penalty on pastoral and
moral grounds.

"We oppose the death penalty -- not only for what it does to those who are
guilty of terrible crimes as this man, Steven Oken -- but for what it does
to all of us by offering an illusion that we can defend life by taking
life," Saltarelli said.

Keeler, McCarrick and Saltarelli spoke during a break at the Maryland
Catholic Conference in Washington where they met to discuss church issues
in Maryland.

Ehrlich, who supports the death penalty, "is monitoring the current court
proceedings and has the ultimate issue under full and objective
consideration," his legal counsel, Jervis Finney, said today.

"The governor from the very beginning initiated a new policy of fair and
objective consideration of all requests for pardon, commutation and
clemency brought before him," Finney said.

Oken was sentenced to die for the rape and murder of Dawn Marie Garvin in
Baltimore County in 1987. He also was convicted of murdering two other
women in Maryland and Portland, Maine. Oken's execution has been scheduled
for next week.

His attorney, Fred Warren Bennett, is asking the state's highest court to
delay Oken's execution so he would have time to challenge the state's use
of lethal injections to carry out death sentences.

The request alleges that "due to the insufficiency of the execution
protocols and training of execution team members, the killing of Steven
Oken will amount to little more than torture." Oken's lawyers allege that
the state's method of execution, which uses three separate drugs, inflicts
unnecessary pain and suffering.

State officials say they are satisfied that the use of lethal injections
provides a humane and painless method of execution.

(source for both: Associated Press)

All I can say is this just plain sucks....:(

softie

MARYLAND:

Court refuses to delay Oken execution----State's highest panel votes 6-1
against convicted killer; Lawyers 'gravely disappointed'


The state's highest court refused Wednesday to delay convicted killer
Steven Oken's execution, which could take place as early as Monday.

Oken, sentenced to death 13 years ago for the rape and murder of a White
Marsh woman, appears to have few options in his effort to avoid being put
to death by lethal injection.

He can request relief from the U.S. Supreme Court, which his lawyers said
they plan to do Thursday. On at least 3 other occasions, the Supreme Court
has refused to consider Oken's appeals.

He also is seeking clemency from Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. The governor
has said he supports capital punishment.

Michael E. Lawlor, a lawyer for Oken, said Wednesday night that he and his
colleagues "are gravely disappointed" with the decision by the Maryland
Court of Appeals.

"When you get this close, every time you put forth meritorious arguments
that get rejected, it's a serious blow," Lawlor said. "We're running real
short on time."

He said that because the court ruled against Oken's appeals in addition to
denying his request for a stay of execution, Oken's lawyers likely cannot
make their case in lower federal courts.

Baltimore County State's Attorney Sandra A. O'Conner, whose office
prosecuted Oken, said, "There are always legal hurdles, but I believe we
have moved forward."

If Oken is put to death by lethal injection next week, it will be the
first execution in Maryland in 6 years and the 1st since the release of a
University of Maryland study questioning whether the state applies the
death penalty fairly.

With Chief Judge Robert M. Bell dissenting, the Court of Appeals ruled 6-1
Wednesday that lower courts had not erred in:

Ordering that a lawsuit in which Oken contends that Maryland's lethal
injection procedure is akin to torture be heard in Baltimore County,
rather than in Baltimore, where it was filed.

Dismissing that lawsuit.

And declining to hear a separate motion that the state execution process
violates Maryland law.

"... [T]here is no merit in those appeals," the majority wrote.

Bell, in his dissent, wrote that the state's lethal injection procedure,
which uses 3 chemicals, violates Maryland law, which specifies the use of
2 drugs.

"Because I conclude that it ... is violative of the statute, I dissent,"
Bell wrote.

Twice in years past, the Court of Appeals has granted Oken's requests to
delay his execution.

Scott S. Oakley, an assistant attorney general representing the state in
the case, said he was pleased with the ruling, adding: Maryland's method
of execution complies with state statutes and Constitutional principles.

Oken, 42, was sentenced to death in 1991 for the rape and murder of Dawn
Marie Garvin, a White Marsh newlywed. He also was convicted of sexually
assaulting and shooting to death Patricia Hirt, his wife's sister, and
Lori Ward, a motel clerk in Maine. His execution is scheduled for next
week.

Garvin's brother, Fred A. Romano, said Wednesday, "Every time we get a
victory like this, it gets us one step closer to closing the book on
Steven Oken."

Also Wednesday, Cardinal William H. Keeler, joined by Washington's
cardinal and the bishop in Wilmington, Del., signed a letter urging
Ehrlich to issue clemency to Oken.

"To fight violence with violence is not a good idea," Keeler said
Wednesday. Ehrlich also received letter from Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo,
the Apostolic Nuncio, who wrote in the name of Pope John Paul II asking
for Oken not to be executed.

Jervis S. Finney, lawyer to the governor, said Ehrlich has received
briefings on Oken's case and would likely be briefed again before making a
decision.

"As governor, he gives each such clemency matter before him full and
objective consideration, taking into account everything," Finney said.

(source: Baltimore Sun)