[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MISSOURI

[Rick Halperin]

Feb. 1



MISSOURI:

Death Penalty Decisions


Back in 1989, Michael Taylor kidnapped a Kansas City area girl from her
own front yard.

He later raped and murdered the girl.

Taylor's execution was scheduled to happen 2 years ago.

90 minutes before Taylor's scheduled execution, a Court of Appeals ruled
Missouri's method of execution was cruel and unusual punishment.

The state of Missouri favors the death penalty, but it has been more than
two years since an execution has been carried out.

"We don't take a position for or against the death penalty," said Larry
Crawford, Missouri's Corrections Director. "Most of the executions are
done in three to five minutes. It's a fairly swift process."

He says Missouri's method of execution is a small part of a much bigger
issue.

"This is more about the folks that are opposed globally to the death
penalty than it is actually about the process," said Crawford. "It's more
about whether or not we should have the execution and since they can't
overturn that legislatively, they're trying to do that some way through
the courts."

Rep. Bill Deeken favors the death penalty but says we need to know for
sure we have the right man.

"I'm looking at a moratorium to try to save the right person from not
being put to death," said Deeken.

At the request of the Catholic Church, Deeken hopes Taylor and Missouri's
44 other death row inmates are DNA tested to prove their guilt.

Even though Deeken is pushing the moratorium at the Capitol, he doesn't
support the cruel and unusual punishment theory.

"He didn't stop and think about how he killed the person before, so I
don't know why we're being cruel an unusual to anybody. Maybe I'm wrong on
that. I don't want to say an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but
the thing of it is, that person did something drastically bad," said
Deeken.

Crawford points out that of the 66 inmates executed since 1989, Missouri
has never executed an innocent man.

He also defends criticism that Missouri's execution team is improperly
trained.

"It's not really a medical procedure that gets lost in the debate," said
Crawford. "This carries out under the law. Taking a life where a medical
procedure is normally to enhance or save someone's life, they're two
different things."

Michael Taylor's life is waiting for a decision that goes well beyond the
state of Missouri.

Whether you are for or against the death penalty, there are some facts to
know.

The Corrections Director says it costs more to execute an inmate then to
keep that person in prison for life because of the high cost of the
appeals process. Lawyers make more money than prison guards. One guard can
watch several prisoners, but one death row inmate can use several lawyers
for several years - at taxpayer's expense.

Missouri and several other states are keeping an eye on a Kentucky case to
see if the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the issue of cruel an unusual
punishment.

(source: KOMU News)