May 4
FLORIDA:
Legal Luminaries Join Amici in Death Sentence Case
With 2 days to go until the Florida Supreme Court hears arguments in Hurst v.
Florida, a coalition of legal luminaries is weighing in to urge the justices to
turn all pre-Hurst death sentences into life sentences.
The group, featuring Rosemary Barkett - now a judge on the Iran-U.S. Claims
Tribunal in The Hague - also includes former Florida Supreme Court chief
justices Gerald Kogan and Harry Lee Anstead, former American Bar Association
presidents Martha Barnett and Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte, and former Florida
Bar president Henry Coxe.
Barkett was chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court and a member of the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit before her 2013 appointment to the
international tribunal. D'Alemberte also served as president of Florida State
University and dean of its law school.
The group joins 3 organizations that filed the same amicus brief 2 months ago:
Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Florida Capital Resource
Center and Florida Center for Capital Representation.
"By asking the court to focus on the plain words of the statute and not
legislative history, these legal super heavyweights are urging the court to
bring an end to the death penalty in Florida, at least in its current statutory
form," said GrayRobinson partner Joel Hirschhorn in Miami, a former president
of the FACDL.
The timing is critical. On Thursday, the high court will consider the
resentencing issue for Timothy Hurst and 2 other death row inmates, Thomas
Bevel and Terence Oliver.
Florida has almost 400 inmates awaiting execution. What the justices decide
could affect hundreds of condemned prisoners whose sentences were thrown into
question by the U.S. Supreme Court's Jan. 12 decision in the Hurst case.
The Supreme Court held that Florida's sentencing procedure in capital cases is
unconstitutional because it doesn't require jurors to make all findings of fact
necessary to impose the death penalty. In an 8-1 decision, the court removed
judges from the equation but provided no guidance on an acceptable alternative
or whether the ruling should be applied retroactively.
The office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has identified 43 inmates who
could qualify for resentencing under Hurst because their cases were unresolved
at the time it was decided. But Bondi opposes retroactive application to all
death row convicts.
The amicus brief filed Tuesday argues Florida law requires that all 396 death
row inmates must be resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of
parole.
It relies on Florida Statutes Section 775.082(2), which states that if the
Florida Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court holds a capital felony
unconstitutional, the trial judge "shall sentence such person to life
imprisonment."
"Because the unambiguous plain language of section 775.082(2) produces a
reasonable, non-absurd result, the court need not consider the statute's
legislative history," the brief states, citing longstanding rules of statutory
construction.
The brief was signed by Robert Josefsberg of Podhurst Orseck in Miami, Karen
Gottlieb of the Florida Center for Capital Representation at Florida
International University College of Law in Miami, Robert Kerrigan of Kerrigan,
Estess, Rankin, McLeod & Thompson in Pensacola and Gainesville attorney Sonya
Rudenstine.
(source: dailybusinessreview.com)
*************
Former Palm Beach County jurists urge court to convert death sentences to life
A pair of former Palm Beach County jurists are among those filing a brief
Tuesday urging the Florida Supreme Court to order that life sentences be
imposed on almost 400 inmates awaiting execution.
Former state Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead, who served on the Fourth
District Court of Appeal, and Rosemary Barkett, formerly a county circuit judge
who also served as a state justice, were among a handful of leading lawyers
calling for the change.
Justices on Thursday will hear arguments about death row inmate Timothy Lee
Hurst, whose sentence was ruled unconstitutional in January by the U.S. Supreme
Court.
The high court ruled Hurst's right to a trial by jury was violated because a
judge ordered his capital sentence after the panel voted only 7-5 in favor of
the death penalty after he was convicted of killing a co-worker at a Pensacola
restaurant in 1998.
Gov. Rick Scott recently signed into law a possible fix approved by state
lawmakers, that requires at least 10 jurors to agree for a death sentence to be
imposed.
No executions have been carried out in Florida since the high court's January
ruling.
But Barkett, Anstead - joined by former Justice Gerald Kogan and 2 former
American Bar Association presidents - say all 389 inmates now on death row
should have their capital sentences converted to life in prison, because of the
federal ruling.
()source: Palm Beach Post)
****************
Commute all death sentences, lawyers argue
Arguing that state law requires it, a who's who of prominent attorneys urged
the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday to commute the death sentences of the
state's nearly 400 condemned inmates to life in prison.
The cadre of attorneys, including former Florida Supreme Court justices and
associations focused on capital punishment, filed a friend-of-the-court brief
on Tuesday, two days before the court is slated to hear arguments in a key case
that overturned the state's death-penalty sentencing structure and resulted in
an overhaul of the sentencing law.
The case involves Timothy Lee Hurst, who was sentenced to death for the 1998
killing of a fast-food worker in Pensacola. Hurst was the plaintiff in a legal
challenge that led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in January that Florida's
death-penalty sentencing system was unconstitutional because it gave too much
power to judges, instead of juries.
State lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott hurriedly overhauled the system during this
year's legislative session in an attempt to resolve the constitutional issues.
But the Florida Supreme Court, which will hear arguments Thursday in the Hurst
case, is grappling with whether the U.S. Supreme Court decision should apply
retroactively to the 390 inmates on death row.
Lawyers for death row inmates, including Hurst, contend that the prisoners
received death sentences under what was an unconstitutional process. Lawyers
for the state argue the court should consider the effect of the Hurst ruling on
a case-by-case basis and have identified fewer than four dozen cases in which
the Hurst ruling could apply.
In the 33-page brief filed Tuesday, the high-profile lawyers argued that a
state law crafted in 1972 requires that all of the current death sentences be
commuted to life imprisonment without parole. That law came in anticipation of
a ruling in a case known as Furman v. Georgia that resulted in a nationwide
moratorium on the death penalty.
The law provides that "in the event the death penalty in a capital felony is
held to be unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court or the United States
Supreme Court," the court having jurisdiction over a person previously
sentenced to death "shall sentence such person to life imprisonment."
Lawyers signing onto Tuesday's brief included former Florida Supreme Court
justices Harry Lee Anstead, Gerald Kogan and Rosemary Barkett; former American
Bar Association presidents Martha Barnett and Sandy D'Alemberte, who also
served as president of Florida State University; former Florida Bar Association
President Hank Coxe; the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers;
Florida Capital Resource Center; and the Florida Center for Capital
Representation at Florida International University.
In Tuesday's brief, the lawyers advised the Florida justices to repeat what the
court did following the Furman decision, when the death sentences of 100
inmates were reduced to life imprisonment without parole.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Hurst case, the Florida Supreme
Court has heard arguments touching on the impact of the ruling in a slew of
death penalty cases and has indefinitely postponed 2 scheduled executions.
(source: Orlando Sentinel)
**************
Jury recommends 3rd trip to death row for Daytona sword killer James Guzman
A jury voted 11 to 1 on Tuesday to recommend death for the 3rd time for James
Guzman, who used a sword to hack and slice a man in a 1991 Daytona Beach
killing.
James "Chico" Guzman was found guilty last week of 1st-degree murder and
robbery with a deadly weapon for killing David Colvin, a 48-year-old
businessman from Norfolk, Virginia, on Aug. 10, 1991, at what was then the
Imperial Motor Lodge on South Ridgewood Avenue.
The jury's death recommendation is the 1st in the 7th Circuit since the U.S.
Supreme Court overturned Florida's death sentencing process in January, ruling
that judges had too much power in the decision of whether to impose death or
not. Since then the state has hurriedly approved a new death sentencing
process, although the jury instructions for the new method have yet to be
approved by the state Supreme Court.
It is the 3rd time that Guzman has been sentenced to death for killing Colvin.
The previous 2 convictions and sentences have been overturned on appeal.
Guzman, 52, showed no reaction and looked straight ahead as a clerk read the
death recommendation. The final decision will be up to Circuit Judge Terence
Perkins, who will hand down the sentence at a hearing to be set at the S. James
Foxman Justice Center. Perkins could also sentence Guzman to life in prison
with no possibility of parole for 25 years.
The jury of 8 men and 4 women deliberated about 4 1/2 hours last week before
reaching their guilty verdicts. They took about an hour on Tuesday to recommend
death.
Guzman is the first case in the 7th Circuit, covering Volusia, Flagler, Putnam
and St. Johns counties, in which prosecutors sought the death penalty since the
U.S. Supreme Court's decision in January.
The new death sentencing process has some key differences. Now jurors must
unanimously find and specifically identify at least one aggravator justifying
the death penalty. They must also check a box indicating they unanimously found
each aggravator, something that increases the egregious nature of the crime. If
the jurors do not unanimously find at least one aggravator then the person
cannot be sentenced to death. Before jurors did not have to say which
aggravator they found or check a box on a jury form indicating the aggravator.
Another key change is that at least 10 jurors must recommend death for a judge
to be able to impose death. Previously only 7 jurors needed to recommend death.
A judge could previously override a jury's recommendation for life, even though
that had not happened in a while. Now, a judge cannot override a life
recommendation.
Guzman's defense attorneys, Junior Barrett and Randall Richardson, objected to
the entire jury instructions since they have not been approved by the Florida
Supreme Court.
Barrett and Richardson said there are other issues, such as whether the U.S.
Supreme Court's decision overturning the death sentence for Timonthy Hurst, who
killed a woman in Pensacola, is retroactive to other death penalty cases,
including Guzman's.
And just on Tuesday, a group of prominent attorneys including former state
Supreme Court justices and former presidents of the American Bar Association,
asked the Florida Supreme Court to reduce the death sentences of the 390
inmates on death row to life in prison. The attorneys are arguing that Florida
Statutes 775.082(2) requires that if the death penalty is held unconstitutional
by the U.S. Supreme Court then death sentences must be reduced to life in
prison. The state Supreme Court will hear arguments on Thursday in the Hurst
case.
Guzman's attorneys said he had been under the influence of drugs and asked the
jury for mercy. The prosecution presented four aggravators calling for death
for Guzman.
The jury unanimously agreed on the aggravators presented by prosecutor Ed
Davis: Guzman killed Colvin during a robbery, Guzman killed him to avoid
prosecution by eliminating a witness, the killing was especially heinous,
atrocious and cruel since Guzman hacked and sliced him with a sword. Davis said
the 4th aggravator was that Guzman had murdered before.
That prompted several jurors to write on their legal pads. Guzman sat looking
straight ahead between his 2 defense attorneys as he had done most of the
morning.
Guzman had served only 9 years of a 30-year sentence for killing a woman in
Miami when he was released from prison in April 1991 and made his way to
Daytona Beach, where four months later he killed Colvin, a businessman with a
drinking problem who had separated from his wife.
On Tuesday, retired Miami-Dade Police homicide detective Charles Hebding
testified that he investigate the case in 1982 when Guzman kidnapped 2 women
and shot 1 of them to death on Jan. 23, 1982. He drove them to a remote part of
northwest Miami-Dade County. He stopped on a dark road and had the women sit on
a canal bank in the beam of the car's headlights. Guzman then put the gun's
muzzle to the head of 1 of the women and shot her dead. But the other woman
managed to escape.
Hebding testified Guzman told police that he had been aiming the gun at 1 woman
and when 1 of them grabbed the gun causing it to go off, Hebding said.
Less than 10 years later, Guzman killed again.
Colvin's wife, Robin Colvin, has attended all 3 trials.
"Justice was served," she said.
(source: news-journalonline.com)
ALABAMA----impending execution
Judge rules that Alabama death row inmate is competent to be executed May 12
An Alabama circuit court judge has denied a request to suspend the May 12
execution date of Vernon Madison, who has been on the state's death row for 31
years.
Madison was convicted in September 1985 and sentenced to death in Mobile County
in the April 18, 1985, slaying of police Officer Julius Schulte, who was
responding to a domestic disturbance call. Madison was on parole at the time.
At a competency hearing April 14, testimony was offered by Dr. Karl Kirkland, a
court-appointed clinical and forensic psychologist; Dr. John Goff, a
psychologist hired by Madison's attorneys; and Carter Davenport, the warden at
W.C. Holman Correctional Facility.
Madison's attorneys argued that several strokes had caused such significant
mental decline that he no longer understood why the state intended to execute
him. His attorneys from the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative are
seeking a stay of execution.
Julius SchulteCorporal Julius Schulte was a 22-year veteran of the Mobile
Police Department when he was shot and killed April 18, 1985, while responding
to a domestic violence call.
Madison had a stroke in May 2015 and another in January of this year, causing
memory loss and slurred speech, making it difficult for him to move and
rendering him legally blind.
Goff testified that, consequently, he has retrograde amnesia and dementia, and
his IQ has declined significantly to 72 from previous scores.
The state attorney general's office argues that, based on the testimony of both
Goff and Kirkland, Madison does understand why the state is moving to execute
him. They say the testimony shows that Madison does not suffer from psychosis
or delusions, and no mental illness or defect would cause him to lack an
understanding of reality.
Mobile County Circuit Judge Robert Smith issued a ruling Friday saying that,
based on the testimony and arguments, Madison and his attorneys have not proven
that he is not competent to be executed.
Smith wrote in the order that Madison has a rational understanding that "he is
going to be executed because of the murder he committed and... that the state
is seeking retribution and that he will die when he is executed."
The judge noted that, during the competency hearing, Madison did not testify,
and it was "difficult to tell" if he was following the testimony. Smith wrote
that he appeared physically ill, confined to a wheelchair and wearing a neck
brace.
Madison, who has been on death row since Nov. 12, 1985, is one of Alabama's
longest-serving death row inmates.
He had 3 trials, the last one in 1994. State appellate courts twice had sent
the case back to Mobile County, once for a violation based on race-based jury
selection and once based on improper testimony for an expert witness for the
prosecution.
Over the years since, he has filed numerous state and federal appeals that have
been denied, including denials by the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S.
Supreme Court to review the case.
The Alabama Supreme Court in January issued an order setting May 12 as the date
for execution. Madison was one of three death row inmates for which the Alabama
Attorney General's Office had requested the court in February to set execution
dates.
The inmates are being held on death row at Holman Correctional Facility at
Atmore where the executions take place.
(source: al.com)
******************
Death sentence in Pelham police officer murder could be overturned----Jury
votes 10-2 in favor of death penalty
The death sentence against a man convicted of gunning down a Pelham police
officer is in jeopardy.
A jury found Bart Johnson guilty in 2011 of shooting Officer Philip Davis
during a traffic stop on Interstate 65 in 2009.
The jury voted 10-2 in favor of the death penalty, and the judge followed that
recommendation and sentenced Johnson to die.
The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated that sentence, following its ruling in a
Florida case in which it found the state's death penalty sentencing process
unconstitutional.
Like Florida, Alabama does not require a unanimous jury decision to recommend
death, and a judge can overturn a jury's recommendation of life without parole
and sentence a defendant to die.
The Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals must now revisit Johnson's case, and he
may no longer be facing death by lethal injection.
Pelham police released a statement on the development: "The men and women of
the Pelham Police Department are disappointed in this ruling but we understand
the legal system."
Defense attorney Richard Jaffe worked in the attorney general's office when it
wrote the law setting up the current capital murder sentencing system.
He said the law was likely designed to give judges the power to overturn a
jury's recommendation of the death penalty, but since then it is the judge who
often goes against the jury's decision for life in prison and sends a defendant
to death row.
"That's going to go first. And ultimately the death penalty will be struck down
in Alabama and across the country. It's just a matter of time," Jaffe said.
He believes that the Supreme Court's directive could force many people sitting
on Alabama's death row to be resentenced.
"It could affect any time a judge has overridden a jury's decision from life to
death," Jaffe said.
(source: WVTM news)
*************
Sylacauga man charged with capital murder in infant's death
A Sylacauga man has been charged with capital murder in the death of an infant.
Andre Lashown Stone, 29, was indicted by a Talladega grand jury and was charged
with capital murder on April 29.
Stone was already in the Talladega County Jail on unrelated charges. He is
being held without bond.
Sylacauga police responded to a call on February 26, 2015 on Miranda Lane,
involving a 4-month old. A news release did not state the nature of the call,
but the child later died at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham.
If convicted, Stone faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Sylacauga Police
Department Investigations Division at (256) 401-2464 or you may report
anonymously to the Sylacauga Police Department Tip Line at (256) 249-4716.
(source: WBRC news)
OHIO:
Ohio failing murder victims' families
[Melinda Dawson chairs the board of directors of Ohioans to Stop Executions.
She lives in Louisville, Ohio.]
On a Sunday morning in 1998, I woke up to a horrific nightmare. Police in
tactical gear raided our home. My mother, Judith Johnson, had been raped and
brutally murdered. My 6-year-old niece had also been attacked and left for
dead. By God's grace she survived the attack, and somehow suggested the
attacker was her Uncle Clarence, my husband.
In the days that followed, I was denied any information about what was
happening. My mother had been murdered, and my husband was a suspect even
though I knew it could not have been him. I was in a fog. I needed someone to
explain what was happening and to help me negotiate the system. Instead, I
received nothing. My sons and I were left to fend for ourselves. Our home was
considered a crime scene and we were not permitted to enter, even to get our
shoes.
In Ohio, most crime victim assistance is provided by people employed by the
county prosecutor. After learning that I was advocating Clarence's innocence, I
was cut off.
During the 3-week trial, no one sat with me outside the courtroom. I had no
money for food, parking or travel expenses. These are real needs that murder
victim families have. Because we did not agree with the approach of the
prosecutor, we became "bad victims," unworthy of assistance.
Clarence served 7 1/2 years of a life sentence before he was released in 2005,
fully exonerated after I conducted the investigation the authorities refused to
do. DNA had exposed the true killer, who was sentenced to life in prison in
2008. I'm satisfied because we got the real killer, but after witnessing how
willing some prosecutors are to risk executing the wrong person, I refuse to
support the death sentence for him or anyone. He is being held accountable, and
society is protected from him for the rest of his life.
I'm sharing my story now because Ohio has an opportunity to evaluate the needs
of homicide survivors and the services available to them. Unfortunately, the
Joint Committee on Victim Services established for this task is not conducting
a thorough analysis of the agencies that provide services to crime victims, nor
is it effectively seeking the input of Ohio victim survivors.
Researchers at Ohio State University offered assistance in conducting a
thorough analysis when it became clear that there were no plans to effectively
do so. This offer was initially met with great enthusiasm by Sen. Bill Coley,
who chairs the committee, but the committee was unable to cover expenses
estimated at less than $30,000. When I testified before the committee April 13,
I expressed deep concern that the opportunity to understand better how to
improve crime victim services is being missed.
I wonder if the greater interest of committee members is in their 2nd
responsibility - to sort out how Ohio will resume executions. It seems some
think that executions are what murder victim families need in order to heal.
This is a myth. If the death penalty is a "service" for victims' families in
order to help them heal, then the state is denying that service to the vast
majority of us. There have been thousands of murders in Ohio since we have had
a death penalty, but only 53 executions. About 15 % of Ohio homicides are
possible death cases, and fewer than 3 % of killers who could be executed
actually get executed.
Think about the harm being done to Ohio murder victim family members who are
told they will feel better after we execute the killer. Their healing process
is put on hold. Without a death sentence, healing begins when the trial is
over. With a death sentence, it's a long and painful waiting game that
sometimes never ends.
The Joint Committee on Victims Services meets again at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the
South Hearing Room of the Ohio Senate. I urge Ohio homicide survivors to be
there to demand a thorough analysis of the real needs of murder victims'
families, and the actual services available. Only then can legislators do
better for the families.
(source: cincinnati.com)
******************
Closing arguments expected in Cleveland slayings trial
Closing arguments are expected Wednesday in the trial of a Cleveland man
accused of killing 3 women and hiding their bodies in garbage bags.
38-year-old Michael Madison could face the death penalty if he's convicted on
murder charges.
Madison was arrested in July 2013, shortly after the bodies were found near the
East Cleveland apartment building where he lived.
During the trial that began last month, prosecutors played a recording of
statements that Madison made after his arrest.
He told police during an interrogation that he strangled 2 of the women during
fits of rage.
His defense attorney hasn't disputed that Madison killed the women. But he says
Madison didn't plan the killings and that they happened during spontaneous
bursts of violence.
(source: Associated Press)
KENTUCKY:
Former Kentucky pastor charged in triple murder due in court
A former Kentucky pastor accused of killing 3 people is due in court Tuesday
afternoon.
Kenneth Keith is charged with the murders of Michael and Angela Hockensmith,
and Daniel Smith.
They were killed in 2013 inside the Hockensmith's pawn shop in Danville.
A judge is now deciding if a conversation Keith had with a pastor after the
murders will be allowed as evidence.
Keith admitted he was upset about his business relationship with the
Hockensmiths, but he maintained his innocence.
He could face the death penalty if convicted.
(source: WLKY news)
MISSOURI----impending execution
Forrest remorseless in face of impending execution
Earl Mitchell Forrest II is due for execution by lethal injection May 11 for
the meth-fueled 2002 murder spree which claimed the lives of Michael Wells,
Harriett "Tottie" Smith and Dent County Deputy Sheriff JoAnn Barnes.
The incident is 1 of the darkest chapters of Dent County's history, and Forrest
in every way embodies the unleashed demons which still haunt our community.
In a 2013 interview with A&E's The Killer Speaks, Forrest spoke brazenly of the
incident. He declared he was a fallen kingpin, and Smith was ultimately to
blame for the triple homicide. Forrest claimed Smith didn't hold up her end of
a drug deal in which he would connect her with a meth supplier in exchange for
a riding lawnmower. Smith never delivered on the promise. That betrayal,
Forrest says, is what led him to get drunk the morning of Dec. 9, 2002, drive
to her home and gun her down in cold blood.
Wells was also killed at Smith's residence, for no other reason than being in
the wrong place at the wrong time. Forrest then left with the meth and injected
it back at his place on Dent County Road 2313. After shooting up, Forrest
killed Barnes when she arrived on scene with Sheriff Bob Wofford to investigate
the 2 murders. Wofford was shot but not fatally injured in the ensuing gunfire.
Forrest was apprehended after being shot twice during the ensuing standoff with
authorities and has been incarcerated ever since.
Many people believe Forrest doesn't deserve any more attention than he's
already gotten. He was selfish in his substance abuse and greedy in his
dealing. At the height of the meth epidemic he conspired to import pounds of
the drug. Worst of all he was reckless with violence, and willing to kill if it
meant protecting his macho image.
Every story has an end, and the burden of ending this dark tale has fallen on
those sharing this moment in time. The Salem News went to speak with Forrest in
April to find out whether his years on death row had blunted the brazenness of
his tone, and if the looming specter of death had changed his soul.
----
Earl Forrest, 66, was interviewed deep within the Potosi Correctional Center,
past three separate security check points. Forrest remained shackled throughout
the conversation. He walked into the visitors room hobbled with a cane. His
eyes were sunken. His arms pockmarked and purple with lentigo. He was already
dying with heart disease.
"Hey, look, it's done, you know, I'm just being honest, it's done, and I never
saw the point in beating myself up over it," Forrest said when asked if he now
had any remorse for the killings.
He went on to say he still blames Smith for the murders.
"She knew what the deal was," he said. "I was really mad about having to go
over and do that. I'm still mad about it. She knew better."
The killing was about more than not getting his end of a deal, Forrest said.
"It wasn't even about a lawnmower, it was about that fact that I felt she was
disrespecting me in the worst way, you know, to get something from me and
think, ehh, he ain't going to do nothing," Forrest said. "I got fed up with
being pissed. It's like I turned 50 years old, and she decided I was a punk."
As to the motive for killing Wells, Forrest said it was "because he was there."
Barnes was shot because she "wore a badge and was paid to carry a gun."
Forrest spoke at length about his life and gave insight into how it came to its
impending demise. He began dealing drugs in high school when he wanted to be
the popular renegade. By his early 20s, he'd graduated to selling speed and
meth up and down the West Coast.
"I sold drugs for a lot of years, the money is really good and you're your own
boss," Forrest said. "It fit me. It put me around the kind of people I liked to
be around."
The violence of the drug war never fazed him.
"It always seemed to work," Forrest said. "The people who do this kind of
business, they know what time it is."
The black market's violence came to define Forrest's life and identity. His
allegiance to the felon's code, and vain loyalty to a macho image, mixed with
the gall and gore of substance abuse to unleash the rash of death which erupted
13 years ago.
"I just got too hung up with being in the fast lane, the girls, the money. It
just seemed like that's where I belonged," Forrest said. "Those who know me,
they understand, people from the old times, they get it, why this happened. She
owed me, and she didn't do what she was supposed to do. Selling marijuana and
LSD, that fuels a completely different person than meth. You're supposed to do
what you say."
When asked if killing Smith to uphold this outlaw code was worth sacrificing
his own life, Forrest said, "I guess so, I don't know."
He also said he thought execution was an appropriate punishment for his crime.
"For the time and place, yeah, I guess so. I'm not going to say the death
penalty is wrong because I'm not in a position to judge."
Forrest said he's accepted that he'll soon no longer be living.
"It gets closer and closer every day. I think I'm good with it," Forrest said.
"That date (May 11) pops up all the time in my head. I've accepted it. As a
matter of fact from the day I woke up in the hospital, I knew I screwed up, and
what was going to happen, and I pretty much accepted it then."
Forrest said he doesn't know what his last words will be and doesn't care what
people will think of him after he's gone.
"They've already come to the conclusions they want, and probably most of them
are right," Forrest said.
When asked if he felt there was anything that could be learned from his
execution, Forrest said, "don't let your kids do drugs."
----
For more than 13 years Forrest has awaited execution behind concrete walls. On
May 11, he will be transferred for the last time to the Eastern Reception,
Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. The end will come in its
execution chamber when a needle, not unlike the many others he???s used in his
life, will be inserted into the same veins from which he once mainlined meth.
Forrest lived his life wanting to be called a kingpin and getting respect for
his tough attitude to the world. His goal was for others to label him "a
badass," and he was willing to kill to uphold that persona. If there is any
hope to be found with this story's end it's in not fulfilling this desire of
his. Forrest must be recognized for what he truly was, a punk, too simple and
too stupid to know right from wrong. As long as our society embraces the
spectacle of violence, and spotlights its purveyors as worthy of awe, Forrest
and people like him will continue to haunt fringes of our community, taking the
lives of people guilty of nothing more than desperation, being at the wrong
place or trying to protect their neighbors.
(source: thesalemnewsonline.com)
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