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| 4/3 |
| 2006/2/21-23 [Reference/Law/Court, Politics/Domestic/Crime] UID:41945 Activity:low |
2/21 Michael Morales, convicted of brutally murdering a 17-year-old
A-student who had sung in church choir and who was working part-time to
earn money for college, has had his execution indefinitely postponed.
FYI, his sentencing judge formally recommended commutation from death
to life-in-prison w/o parole last month, after it was found that the
prosecution's star witness had lied about a Morales making a
confession.
\_ Uhm, yeahhh.....
http://tinyurl.com/l2yua (reuters)
\_ "Killer's Execution is Postponed Indefinitely"
http://csua.org/u/f1l (latimes.com)
Original post implied it was postponed because of the trial
judge recommendation. This was incorrect. Delay is for
review of execution procedures, hearing scheduled May 1. -op
\_"The sworn statements of six jurors supporting the clemency bid
and another statement from a prosecution witness recanting her
testimony were proved to be forgeries by the prosecuting team."
Dude, Ken Starr is fucking tool.
\_ Yeah, but even so, the trial judge supports commutation
to life w/o possibility of parole because of the star witness
to life w/o possibility of parole because the star witness
lied.
\_ But didn't he also claim to have "turned his life around" and
"sought forgiveness"? Doesn't that imply he, at least after his
initial trial, was admitting guilt?
\_ I think there is no doubt he did it, but I also think that there
is a question whether the jury would have went with death w/o
the star witness. I think that's why the trial judge said
what he said. |
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| tinyurl.com/l2yua -> today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-02-22T002139Z_01_N21385017_RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-EXECUTION.xml&archived=False MORE By Carolyn Abate SAN QUENTIN, California (Reuters) - A US court approved the execution of a California man on Tuesday after prison authorities delayed it for at least 15 hours because two court-appointed anesthesiologists walked off the job over ethical concerns. Michael Morales, whose attorney recruited former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to back his bid for clemency, was now scheduled to die at 7:30 pm PST (0330 GMT on Wednesday) for the 1981 rape and murder of an 17-year-old girl, said San Quentin State prison spokesman Lt. The delay in the execution happened after the doctors refused to be present to give the court-required certification that Morales, 46, was in fact unconscious before a lethal injection was given, thus minimizing the pain. "While we contemplated a positive role that might enable us to verify a humane execution protocol for Mr Morales, what is being asked of us now is ethically unacceptable," the doctors said in a statement read by Crittendon. APPEAL PLANNED Without the doctors present, the state sought court approval to execute Morales with a single dose of sodium pentothal instead of a combination of drugs. A US District Court approved that plan and authorities were discussing it as well as other options, according to Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Lawyers for Morales said they would appeal the District Court's decision to the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Defense attorneys claimed last week that the use of the lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment, barred by the Constitution. This prompted a judge to order prison officials to either alter the composition of the lethal chemicals used or make medical experts available to ensure that no unnecessary pain was inflicted during the execution. US District Judge Jeremy Fogel had expressed concern that two of the three chemicals used in California, which should kill within a minute, sometimes took several minutes before stopping the condemned person's heart. The state then agreed to provide an anesthesiologist to attend the execution. |
| csua.org/u/f1l -> www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-morales22feb22,0,704779.story Large Text Size Large Text Size Change text size Killer's Execution Is Postponed Indefinitely By Louis Sahagun and Tim Reiterman SAN QUENTIN -- Death row inmate Michael Morales' execution was postponed this afternoon until at least May, after prison officials said they were unable to put the defendant to death under a new court-ordered lethal injection procedure. The execution had first been delayed just after midnight after doctors pulled out, citing ethical concerns. US District Judge Jeremy Fogel then said prison officials could proceed without the doctors, but would have to execute Morales with an overdose of sedatives, rather than the usual three-chemical lethal injection "cocktail," which had been challenged as excessively painful. The judge also ordered that a licensed technician deliver the dose from the execution chamber; the cocktail had usually been administered by an "unseen hand" through an extended intravenous tube leading into another room. Dane Gillette late today told the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which was considering Morales' appeal of the new procedures, that his office would be unable to comply with the conditions. Fogel will hold an evidentiary hearing on the new protocol, now scheduled for May 1 Warden Steven Ornoski had announced early this morning that the prison intended to carry out the execution with an unprecedented single dose of sodium pentothal, a lethal barbiturate, rather than the standard three-chemical potion. Fogel's latest order apparently required use of two of the three chemicals. Injecting Morales with five grams of barbiturates was expected to lengthen the execution from the usual 11 minutes to as long as 45 minutes. A week ago, Fogel responded to defense claims that lethal injection violated a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by offering three options: A lethal injection of only barbiturates; having an anesthesiologist on hand to ensure Morales was unconscious when the standard three-chemical injection was administered; State corrections officials chose the second option, and had two doctors ready to proceed with the execution as planned at 12:01 this morning. After serious differences of opinion with the anesthesiologists, Ornoski asked his staff to stand down on the execution at about 2 am The doctors' withdrawal came at the end of hasty legal maneuvering in US District Court, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court. But it was the language in an opinion rendered Monday by the appellate court that had the court-ordered anesthesiologists in mutiny. The doctors' concerns hinged on the ethics of returning an inmate to consciousness in the event of a botched lethal injection. Doctors said the ruling raised serious questions about the possibility of having to intervene in the execution "if any evidence of either pain or a return to consciousness arose." In a statement to the warden, the doctors said, "Any such intervention would be medically unethical. As a result, we have withdrawn from participation in this current process.... The death warrant for Morales expires at 12:01 am Wednesday. After the first delay, the family members of the victim left San Quentin and were "trying to gather themselves," prison spokesman Vernell Crittendon said. The anticipated execution at San Quentin State Prison followed a last-minute clemency campaign fraught with controversy and highly unusual legal twists and turns. |
| latimes.com -> www.latimes.com/ Private Rocket Nears Space By Peter Pae Craft designed by Burt Rutan goes where no private craft has gone before in bid for prize. US Military Lawyers Felt 'Shut Out' of Prison Policy By Ken Silverstein They said civilian political lawyers were deciding how prisoners could be questioned. Governor Opts to Put Off the Pain By Peter Nicholas ANALYSIS: Schwarzenegger's revised plan avoids deep cuts in spending and includes no new taxes. An Editor's Hollywood Ties Pay Off By Claudia Eller, Michael Cieply and Josh Getlin Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter strikes business deals with some people his magazine covers. Tough Outing for Nomo By Ben Bolch He gives up six runs and walks three in shortest outing of the season as Dodgers fall to Cubs, 7-3. US Military Lawyers Felt 'Shut Out' of Prison Policy By Ken Silverstein They said civilian political lawyers were deciding how prisoners could be questioned. Awed, one and all, deep below ground By Vani Rangachar A family visits Carlsbad Caverns National Park to witness what millions of years and sulfuric acid can do. Setting a Modern standard By Cara Mullio and Jennifer M Volland An architect of Case Study Houses, Edward Killingsworth used many of the same principles in his own home -- light, glass, an emphasis on indoor-outdoor living. |