Nov. 9 TEXAS----execution Convicted serial rapist executed for killing teacher In Huntsville, a convicted serial rapist was executed tonight for the strangling and attempted rape of a suburban Houston elementary school teacher 12 years ago. His voice choked with emotion, Charles Daniel Thacker expressed love to his family and friends and apologized. "I am sorry for the things I have done," he said. "I know God will forgive me." Thacker asked the two spiritual advisers who were his witnesses to keep track of his daughter for him. "I will miss you guys. I love you," he said. As the drugs began flowing, he said that he would "get to see Mom." One of the needles was in his left hand and another on his right arm. He asked his witnesses to tell his attorney that "they couldn't find a vein on my arm." The issue of injection procedures was in his appeals that were rejected by the Supreme Court about 30 minutes before his execution. He gasped several times as the drugs took effect and was pronounced dead at 6:32 p.m., 9 minutes later. Thacker argued he was innocent of the death of Karen Gail Crawford, 26, who was attacked outside her apartment in Tomball in northwest Harris County. At the time of the April 1993 offense, Thacker had been out of prison about eight months after serving less than 4 years of 2 12-year sentences for robbery and sexual assault. After a Harris County jury convicted him of capital murder, the same jurors condemned him after hearing from at least a half dozen victims who testified how he raped or attempted to sexually assault them. Thacker's relatives testified he had been molested as a child by his mother's boyfriend and underwent counseling. Appeals attorneys tried unsuccessfully to delay his punishment, contending new DNA testing should be performed on evidence and challenging the execution procedures and the questions asked of jurors who decided Thacker should die. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles this week refused to commute his sentence to life in prison and refused a request to delay the punishment for 120 days. Thacker, 37, a native of Lorain County, Ohio, declined to be interviewed in the weeks leading up to his execution, but on a Web site where death row inmates seek pen pals acknowledged he was in the area when Crawford was attacked "up to no good with 2 other guys looking for stuff to steal and sell." There was no evidence of others involved. Thacker's truck was found in the apartment complex parking lot, and witnesses reported seeing him loitering in the area. On his Web site, Thacker suggested Crawford accidentally died because of CPR efforts. The second-grade teacher was surprised from behind while at a community mailbox at her apartment complex and was dragged into a restroom. A search began when a passer-by spotted a key dangling from Crawford's open mailbox and her car was nearby with her dog inside. A maintenance worker found the women's restroom nearby locked but was surprised to hear a male voice from inside. When the door opened, the worker was blasted with pepper spray from the fleeing man, whom he later identified as Thacker. Other residents who chased the man as he ran into a wooded area also said it was Thacker. Crawford was found unconscious inside the restroom. Police using tracking dogs found Thacker hiding in a yard. Authorities found a hair belonging to the victim in Thacker's underwear, Thacker wanted the DNA testing to support his claim he was not involved in Crawford's death. An autopsy showed Crawford had been choked or was held in a hammerlock, leading to her death 2 days later. The women who testified he raped or tried to rape them ranged in age from 13 to 64. "I remember he was a particularly dangerous guy," recalled Joe Owmby, a Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Thacker. "You get the feeling that sometimes when you have violent robbers something went wrong in a capital murder. "But with him, you didn't get the feeling something went wrong, that he just hadn't gotten up the nerve to kill anyone yet. He was stalking these women and he was going to kill." Thacker becomes the 17th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 353rd overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. 2 more condemned killers face execution in the state next week and another is on the schedule for December; at least 6 already are set for early next year. Thacker becomes the 114th condemned inmate to be put to death since Rick Perry became Governor in 2001. Thacker becomes the 49th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 993rd overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (sources: Associated Press) ************************ Judge limits visits to condemned killer----Tighter security comes as a lawyer suggests staffing shortfalls played a role in the escape Condemned killer Charles Victor Thompson will be barred from contact with the outside world, except to meet with his lawyer, until he is returned to Texas' death row, a Harris County judge ordered Tuesday. He also will be subject to stricter security while in Harris County, including a 2-deputy escort when he leaves his cell and strip searches when he is returned to it, a sheriff's spokesman said. The heightened security measures were announced the same day a local Fraternal Order of Police lawyer suggested inadequate staffing may have played a role in Thompson's escape last week. "They are so shorthanded. They claim they're not, but who's kidding who?" said attorney Richard Cobb, who said he has been asked for advice by several of the county sheriff's deputies being investigated as part of the probe into Thompson's escape. Sheriff's officials have denied staffing levels played a role in Thompson's escape, blaming it on human errors. Thompson, who has spent six years on death row, walked out of the Harris County Jail at 1200 Baker Thursday after changing into civilian clothes and bluffing his way past guards by claiming to be an investigator with the Texas Attorney General's Office. The inmate was in the county's custody for a resentencing ordered by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. On Oct. 28, a Harris County jury reaffirmed Thompson's death sentence on his capital murder conviction in the 1998 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Dennise Hayslip, 39, of Tomball, and her new boyfriend, Darren Cain, 30, of Spring. A drunken Thompson was recaptured outside a Shreveport, La., liquor store Sunday night. He was returned to the Harris County Jail on Monday night. Tuesday morning, he went before state District Judge Mike Anderson for a probable-cause hearing on the escape charge. Wearing an orange county jail jumpsuit, Thompson stood with his legs shackled and his hands cuffed behind his back. The hearing lasted less than 2 minutes. Anderson ordered Thompson be prohibited from receiving mail, using the telephone or having visitors outside of his attorney of record. Escape under investigation The Harris County Sheriff's Office still is investigating Thompson's escape from the Baker facility. According to department spokesmen, Thompson was left in an attorney-visitation room where he slipped from handcuffs and changed into civilian clothes. Shortly afterward, he was able to walk out of the jail by telling deputies he was with the Attorney General's Office. Thompson flashed an identification badge later discovered to be his state prison ID with the word "offender" taped over, investigators said. Cobb said some deputies questioned in the investigation have turned to him for advice about writing official letters to their superiors. Cobb said he was told that on the day he escaped, no deputy was available to leave his post to escort Thompson to the attorney-visitation room. It was not until a shift change at 2 p.m. that a deputy who had been relieved was free to walk the inmate to the visitor's room just before leaving for the day, Cobb said. The lawyer who met with Thompson, James Rytting, has said that after the meeting, he told guards he was "done with Thompson," a signal that the prisoner was ready to be returned to his cell. Instead, Thompson put his escape plan into action. Lt. John Martin, a spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office, dismissed any notion that inadequate staffing led to Thompson's escape. "We have a number of procedures that simply weren't followed," he said. Sheriff's staffing at the jail has been an issue for almost 2 years. In July, the state decertified the county's jail system a 2nd time because of inmate crowding. The Texas Commission on Jail Standards reported as many as 1,900 inmates were crowded into cells and forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor. At the same time, 2 floors at the Baker jail sat empty because there were not enough guards. Thompson is being held at a jail facility at 701 N. San Jacinto. Heightened security Whenever Thompson is removed from his cell, the captain of the facility will be notified and at least 2 deputies will escort him wherever he goes in the facility, Martin said. Anytime Thompson is outside his cell, he will wear leg irons, a waist chain and handcuffs, Martin said. "I think he should immediately recognize the futility of future escape attempts," said Martin. "He will be much more scrutinized. This will not happen again." Harris County Judge Robert Eckels said Tuesday that he not think Thompson's escape was a sign of laxity at the jail. "The escape itself was inexcusable, but the response was appropriate. It's a black eye for the county," Eckels said. "If I saw a pattern, I'd be more concerned." To improve security, he said, the jail should begin installing security cameras that can record. "We're moving toward that at all our facilities. ... I believe it is important that we do that," Eckels said. (source: Houston Chronicle) NEW YORK: Wrong, Mr. Spitzer He has good ideas for fighting terrorism, but seeking a death penalty law isn't one of them The latest advocate for reinstating the death penalty is none other than the state's top lawyer and a very shrewd politician in his own right. What's so puzzling about Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's call for capital punishment for terrorists is that he, of all people, ought to know what comes of these misguided quests to rewrite otherwise adequate laws. Mr. Spitzer's proposal also might detract attention from his other very appealing plans to make the state better equipped to fight terrorism. "It's not being alarmist -- just realistic -- to say that New York can do more to protect its citizens," Mr. Spitzer said in a speech last week to the Association of Fire Districts of New York. But how realistic is Mr. Spitzer, who happens to be the leading candidate for governor next year, to think that the death penalty falls into the realm of what's politically possible in New York? Recent history is helpful here. Governor Pataki took office in 1995 and had the death penalty back on the books within months. Of course, no one was executed under that law. Instead the state's highest court struck down several of the law's provisions early on and left it effectively unconstitutional in another ruling a year ago. Subsequent efforts to revive the death penalty, taken up by people much further to the political right than Mr. Spitzer, haven't gotten especially far. Just what would it take to write a death penalty law specifically aimed at terrorists that could pass muster at the Court of Appeals? Remember, too, that there's already a federal death penalty law that has been enforced against terrorists. In the same speech last week, though, Mr. Spitzer had some very practical and creative ideas for making New York less vulnerable to a terrorist attack. It's especially encouraging to know that he's inclined to share more information with the public, rather than use the threat of a possible attack as an excuse for eroding freedom of information laws. "We should err on the side of disclosure," Mr. Spitzer said in a welcome argument about the value of engaging the public with specific information about terrorists threats. That starts with more sharing of information about security and disaster planning for specific events with the first responders -- firefighters and paramedics in particular -- who can pass it on to the general public. It requires, as Mr. Spitzer proposes, a clear chain of command -- from federal to state to local government officials. Mr. Spitzer's other proposals include better cooperation with other states and Canadian provinces and between public safety officials in various police and fire departments. All of them, unlike a death penalty for terrorists, would be easy enough to implement. (source: Editorial, Albany Times-Union) FLORIDA: Man charged in Gainesville mobile home shooting ruled incompetent A Gainesville man charged with killing 2 people at a mobile home park and shooting 3 others has been ruled incompetent to stand trial. Circuit Judge Toby S. Monaco made the ruling during a competency hearing Tuesday for Eldrick Devan Simon, 27, according to the State Attorney's Office. Simon will be treated at a state hospital until he is competent to stand trial, said Spencer Mann, spokesman for the state attorney's office. He is charged with 2 counts of 1st-degree murder, 7 counts of attempted 1st-degree murder and charges of attempted 1st-degree arson, shooting into a building and aggravated assault. Chief Assistant Public Defender Johnny Kearns said Simon had been evaluated by a psychiatrist and a psychologist, and it was determined that he met the criteria for being incompetent. Kearns said Simon could be deemed competent in the future. Simon said he went on a shooting spree July 14 at the Candlelight Estates Mobile Home Park to get revenge on neighbors he claimed had victimized him, police said. Robert Thomas, 48, and Donald Mitchell, 39, died. Corey Taylor, 20, Gerrell Floyd, 23, and Rebecca Floyd, 20, also were shot but survived. Investigators said Simon told them he would have shot at more people but authorities arrived too quickly. Assistant State Attorney Tim Browning said the state disagrees with the ruling, but will continue pursuing the case once he is able to stand trial. "The most effective way to resolve the issue of (Simon's) competence and get this case back before a jury," Browning said, "is for (Simon) to be placed in a state hospital, evaluated and treated to eliminate competency as an issue." (source: Associated Press) OHIO: Execution can wait for DNA test If John Spirko should be killed by the state of Ohio, delaying his death another 2 months will matter little. Spirko got a temporary reprieve from Gov. Bob Taft this week, a prudent decision by the governor. It came at the request of Attorney General Jim Petro, who seeks DNA testing in connection with Spirko's conviction. DNA testing could determine whether any of Spirko's genetic material - in a bit of skin or hair, for instance - could be linked to the physical evidence of the crime. Spirko would have died next Tuesday by lethal injection for the 1982 killing of Betty Jane Mottinger, the postmistress of Elgin, in northwest Ohio. He was convicted on the basis of witness' statements and his own comments to investigators. No physical evidence linked him to the crime. Certainty is absolutely essential when it comes to imposing the death penalty in Ohio. (source: Editorial, Canton Repository) USA: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Wednesday, November 9, 2005 CONTACT: Brenda Bowser Soder----(202) 289-2275, bbso...@deathpenaltyinfo.org U.S. Death Penalty Continues Steady Decline as 1000th Execution Approaches Public Opinion, Executions, Death Sentences Drop as Public Skepticism Rises Before the end of this year, the U.S. is likely to conduct the 1000th execution since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. However, this impending milestone occurs at a time when the country is sharply moving away from the use of the death penalty. The number of death sentences, the size of death row, the number of executions, and public support have all declined in recent years. The 1000th execution is a significant event in the nation's 30-year experiment with capital punishment, but it is not indicative of an expanding or strongly-endorsed use of capital punishment," said Richard Dieter, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). "To the contrary, there is a wealth of evidence that the country is pulling back from the death penalty." DPIC reports that the national trend away from the death penalty is evidenced by a 50% decline in the annual number of death sentences since the late 1990's. In addition, executions are down by 40% since 1999, and the size of death row has also decreased every year since 2001. According to the latest Gallup Poll, 64% of Americans support the death penalty, a sharp decline from the 80% support registered in 1994. Since capital punishment was reinstated the vast majority of all executions have taken place in the South, and only a handful of states within that region are responsible for most executions. Just 3 states - Texas (352), Virginia (94), and Oklahoma (79) - have accounted for more than 1/2 of the nation's total executions. Most states have not carried out an execution during the past year. Beyond geographic isolation, more than 80% of the people executed in the U.S. were sentenced to die for murders involving white victims, despite the fact that less than 50% of all murder victims are white. As noted in DPIC's latest report, Blind Justice: Juries Deciding Life and Death With Only Half the Truth, jurors in capital cases have become skeptical about the fairness and accuracy of the death penalty. More than 120 innocent people have been freed from death row during the past three decades, and the systemic problems revealed through their wrongful convictions have played a role in a turn toward more life sentences. Kathleen Hawk Norman, a juror in the trial of Dan Bright, who was later exonerated, stated, "I don't think many jurors feel comfortable playing Russian Roulette with people's lives. Jurors are recognizing that life in prison is perhaps the only responsible way to vote." Similar concerns about the death penalty have also prompted some state legislators to halt executions or abandon the death penalty altogether. For example, a moratorium on executions remains in place in Illinois and New Jersey, and lawmakers in New York decided to drop the death penalty after a series of public hearings revealed public skepticism about the fairness of the punishment. Lawmakers in a number of other states -- most recently, California and North Carolina -- have appointed commissions to review state death penalty laws. DPIC has a number of resources available as the 1000th execution approaches. There have been 992 executions since the death penalty was reinstated, and the 1000th execution is currently scheduled to take place at the end of November, though ongoing legal developments could change the schedule. A list of scheduled executions for November and December 2005 may be found at the end of this press release. Updates to this list may be found on DPIC's Web site at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=190. More general execution information may be found at http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=414&scid=8. DPIC's latest report, Blind Justice, is available from DPIC's homepage: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. In addition, a 4-page fact sheet containing detailed information about the U.S. death penalty is attached for your review. To obtain more information or to arrange an interview with DPIC's Executive Director, please contact Brenda Bowser Soder at (202) 289-2275 or bbso...@deathpenaltyinfo.org The Death Penalty Information Center is a non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital punishment. The Center was founded in 1991 and prepares in-depth reports, issues press releases, conducts briefings for journalists, and serves as a resource to those working on this issue. (source: DPIC) ********************** U.S. says no death penalty in new Guantanamo cases The United States will not seek the death penalty against any of the 5 Guantanamo Bay prisoners charged this week, including a Canadian teenager accused of tossing a grenade that killed an American medic in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The charges announced on Monday against Canadian Omar Ahmed Khadr, Saudis Ghassan Abdullah al-Sharbi and Jabran Said bin al-Qahtani, Algerian Sufyian Barhoumi and Ethiopian Binyam Ahmed Muhammed brought to nine the number of foreign terrorism suspects at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, formally accused of crimes. "None of the five will be referred as capital cases," said Air Force Maj. Jane Boomer, a Pentagon spokeswoman. The United States also did not seek the death penalty against any of the first four Guantanamo prisoners who were charged. Boomer did not explain the reasoning behind the decision not to seek the death penalty in any of the cases. She said the process involved recommendations from military prosecutors and Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hemingway, legal adviser in the trial process, and a final decision by John Altenburg, a retired Army major general overseeing the trial process. The nine cases are scheduled to be decided by a panel of military officers, called a commission, in the first such U.S. war crimes trials since World War Two. Human rights activists and military defense lawyers have criticized the commission rules, saying they favor prosecutors, allow evidence obtained through torture and hearsay and permit no independent judicial review. The United States holds about 500 prisoners at Guantanamo, with only 9 charged. Human rights groups and others have criticized Washington for the indefinite detentions at Guantanamo and denial of legal rights. The United States has defended its treatment of the detainees and has asserted the legal right to hold them "in perpetuity." MURDER CHARGE Khadr, a Canadian citizen who recently turned 19, was 15 when he was sent to Guantanamo. He is charged with murder in the killing of a U.S. soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, with a grenade near Khost, Afghanistan. His lawyers have asserted he has been abused in U.S. custody and that his capture and detention at age 15 violated American responsibilities under accords regarding treatment of young people during war. The other 4 detainees were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, attacks on innocent civilians, destruction of property and terrorism. The charges were announced on Monday just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court said it would decide whether President George W. Bush possessed the power to create the military tribunals to put Guantanamo prisoners on trial for war crimes. The case marks an important test of the Bush administration's policy in the war on terrorism. The 4 men previously charged were: Australian David Hicks, Yemenis Salim Ahmed Hamdan and Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul, and Sudanese Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi. Those cases have been on hold because of a federal court ruling last year, although the Pentagon moved in September to revive the proceedings in the Hicks case and scheduled a hearing for Nov. 18. (source: Reuters) *********************** Rush to misjudgment In recent years, states have found that capital punishment is prone to disturbingly frequent errors, and they have become more careful about imposing it. But the U.S. House of Representatives sees no need for caution. It recently approved a major expansion of the death penalty without so much as a committee hearing or a floor debate. The change was tacked on to a bill reauthorizing the USA Patriot Act, which was enacted shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in an effort to strengthen federal powers for fighting terrorism. That bill is important enough and certainly controversial enough to deserve consideration entirely on its own. But Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) saw it as a convenient vehicle for his pet cause, which is increasing the use of capital punishment, and the House agreed. His amendment would triple the number of terrorism crimes that are punishable by execution, to 61 from 20. How much that will affect the plans of people who employ suicide bombers is hard to measure. He also wants to make it easier for federal prosecutors to obtain death sentences, through three notable changes. Under the new list of eligible offenses, executions could be carried out on defendants who didn't kill anyone or intend for anyone to be killed--a drastic departure from current practice. Human Rights Watch says, "An individual could be sentenced to death for providing financial support to an organization whose members caused the death of another, even if this individual did not know or in any way intend that the members engage in acts of violence." A 2nd change would allow trials with fewer than 12 jurors if the court says there is "good cause"--without the consent of the defendant and his lawyers. Another revision would come into play when a jury cannot reach unanimous agreement on a sentence. Currently, if a jury deadlocks on whether to impose death, the automatic result is a sentence of life without parole. Under the House bill, though, the prosecutor would have the option of convening an entirely new jury and trying to get it to agree to put the defendant to death. If that jury also deadlocks, the prosecutor could try again, and again. There is something unfair about giving the government the chance to keep requesting death until it gets the answer it wants. But it may prove futile, since the evidence that fails to persuade jurors who have already convicted the defendant is not likely to convince a new set of jurors. Most times, after all, juries in federal capital cases balk at imposing the ultimate penalty: From 2001 to 2005, only 18 of 63 such juries approved death sentences. All the government is likely to get from impaneling new juries is more refusals--at much greater expense in money and prosecutors' time. When the Senate passed its version of the Patriot Act bill, it left out all this extraneous stuff. So the issue is now in the lap of the House-Senate conference committee trying to resolve differences between the 2 versions. If changes like these are needed, which is highly doubtful, they ought to be able to withstand the careful examination of their merits that the House refused to provide. That leaves it up to the Senate to head off this rush to misjudgment. (source: Editorial, Chicago Tribune) ****************** WE in the Big House PMWE: Womens Entertainment will debut two prison-related specials Tuesday, Jan. 10. Women on Death Row, a 2-hour special that explores the lives and circumstances surrounding 5 female death-row inmates, will debut at 8 p.m. (EST). It will be followed at 10 p.m. by Other Side of the Cell, a one-hour special that provides viewers with a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of females working in prisons. "We want to provide our viewers with innovative and engaging shows that offer insight into the sometimes-unexpected lives of women," WE executive vice president and general manager Kim Martin said in a prepared statement. "Women on Death Row and Other Side of the Cell are further examples of our commitment to increase original offerings and position WE as the television destination for women." (source: Multichannel News) INDIANA: Inmate appeals case after 19 years Paula Renee Cooper, a former death row inmate who is serving a 60-year sentence for the 1985 stabbing death of 78-year-old Bible teacher Ruth E. Pelke of Gary, has filed an appeal 19 years after she pleaded guilty to the slaying. Cooper, 36, was 15 when she and two other Gary girls gained entry to Pelkes Glen Park home under the pretense of being interested in a Bible study. While a 4th girl served as lookout, Cooper stabbed Pelke 33 times, then the other teens joined her in robbing the woman of about $10 and stealing her 1977 Plymouth. Originally given the death penalty in July 1986, Coopers case was appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court, which overturned the sentence. Then-Lake Superior Court Judge Richard Conroy commuted her sentence to 60 years in prison in August 1989. Cooper, who is housed at the Rockville Correctional Facility, is representing herself in the appeal filed in June, after dismissing her court-appointed public defender, Kelly A. Kelly. Cooper has alleged her state and federal constitutional rights were violated by the state Supreme Court and the trial court. She also has alleged her attorneys were ineffective during the penalty and resentencing portions of the case. Cooper also plans to argue she was a minor at the time and acted under strong provocation when the murder was committed and lacked the mental ability to identify what was morally wrong. Coopers appeal also alleges she has been denied applicable credit time for good behavior and earned credit. She listed a number of courses she has taken, including GED classes, anger management, alcohol chemical treatment, parenting, youthful group offenders, drafting and adult children of alcoholic parents sessions. In 2001, Cooper earned a bachelors degree in humanities from Martin University while incarcerated at the Indiana Womens Prison in Indianapolis. Her earliest possible release date is Dec. 21, 2014. In opposing the appeal, Deputy Prosecutor Judith Massa said in court filings that Cooper has "unreasonably delayed the filing of the petition, waiting almost 19 years after her sentencing date to file her petition. The state is prejudiced by that delay, witnesses may now be unavailable or living outside the jurisdiction of this court and memories have faded." A hearing is scheduled on Cooper's new appeal in Lake Superior Court on Nov. 17. Cooper gained international attention after Lake Superior Court Judge James Kimbrough sentenced her to death for Pelke's murder. Pope John Paul II asked the state to spare her life. At the time, Cooper was the youngest female on Death Row in the country. Her accomplices, April Beverly, Karen Corder and Denise Thomas, received sentences of 25 to 60 years. As a result of the Cooper case, 16 became the minimum age an offender could receive a death sentence in Indiana under a law which went into effect in 1987. (source: Post-Tribune) NORTH CAROLINA: Judge issues stay as clock ticks on N.C. execution Convicted killer Steven Van McHone won a stay of execution Wednesday, a victory tempered by his move later in the day to the section of the state's Central Prison where death-row inmates await their executions - a reminder that a higher court could overturn the ruling anytime. The state had planned to put McHone to death at 2 a.m. Friday, and could return to that schedule should prosecutors win a planned appeal of the stay issued by Surry County Superior Court Judge Anderson Cromer. Cromer ordered the execution stopped to allow a paramedic who treated victim Mildred Adams, McHone's mother, to testify about her patient's dying statement. Then the courts could decide whether to grant McHone a new sentencing hearing, he said. Paramedic Teresa Durham said in an affidavit that Adams told her that McHone, 35, didn't mean to fatally shoot her or her husband, Wesley Adams Sr., both 52. The state Supreme Court would hear the appeal. State prosecutors plan to file the appeal no later than Thursday morning, Cromer said in court. "It's great we have a justice system where everything can be heard and we're grateful for this moment," said McHone's half sister Tina Walker, a daughter of Mildred and Wesley Adams Sr. who has pleaded with the governor to spare McHone's life. McHone's half brother is also working to win a new sentence for McHone. He has said his mother told him by phone on the day of the slayings in 1990 that McHone was drunk. Their conversation came shortly before the shootings, and his statement was never presented to the trial jury. "This evidence was not previously known and not reasonably available to him," the defense motion for a stay said. "To execute Mr. McHone without considering this newly discovered evidence would be a gross miscarriage of justice." Defense lawyers Ken Rose and Cynthia Adcock argued that the statements might have persuaded a jury not to vote for a death sentence. The defense doesn't deny that McHone committed the crimes. Wendy Adams, the wife of Wesley Adams Jr., said in a telephone interview Wednesday that despite the defense argument, Mildred Adams might not feel the same way had she known that McHone killed her husband and threatened Wendy and Wesley Jr. "There were two different weapons," she said. "He was disarmed of the first weapon. He got another one and extra ammunition. This is not a person who wasn't thinking clearly." Prosecutors also argued that Mildred Adams' statement wouldn't have swayed the jury. But Cromer decided that while the dying statement wouldn't have influenced the jury's verdict, it "tends to support mitigating factors" that a jury could consider when deciding McHone's punishment. The judge denied a defense claim that McHone had the brain of a child at the time of the crime. He said that defense allows a court to bar the death penalty only if the suspect was less than 18 years old at the time of the crime. McHone was 20. The state Department of Correction has named official witnesses for the execution: Adams family members Wesley Adams Jr. and his wife, Wendy; Mildred Adams' niece and nephew, Sara Riddle and Ivan Johnson; as well as Jimmy Inman, a retired Surry County deputy sheriff; and Ron Perry, a retired SBI agent. Media witnesses are: Angela Schmoll of the Mount Airy News, David Ingram of the Winston-Salem Journal and Estes Thompson of The Associated Press. (source: Associated Press)
