Death Penalty Forum Summary

By Erika Pearson and Nancy Flores with editions and augmentations by Inge Casey

The Arizona Death Penalty Forum hosted its third annual conference with death penalty experts who provided perspectives on different aspects of capital punishment.

One of the experts was the Honorable Michael Ryan, Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. He provided insight on the actual death penalty process. Justice Ryan said that death penalty cases are the most complicated and lengthy trials, and can last up to 18 years, including 11 to 12 years of appeals in the federal court system. One reason these cases take so long is because the accused are reluctant to open up to their defense attorneys. The fact that judges are rotated every 2 years also contributes since the new judge has to spend a lot of time learning what went on before. Ryan further discussed the lack of attorneys for post -conviction defense. Currently there are 15 such cases pending in Arizona. He admitted that the hardest part of his office is to sign the death warrant just before the actual execution.

A panel next gave different interesting perspectives of both sides of the death penalty issue. The debate focused on the question whether the death penalty is a deterrent and if the death penalty provides closure for the families of victims.

Timothy La Sota argued that the death penalty is a deterrent. He said, “the threat of death does stop some people. I don't think it will deter everyone but I do think it will deter some.”

The Honorable Rudolph Gerber argued the opposite side. He said the scientific methodology of studies that support the death penalty as a deterrent are fundamentally flawed. Gerber further argued Arizona should not mirror the actions of a murderer by murdering them. Specifically, he disputed the fact that our current capital punishment has any deterrent effect. For those of us who are confused and bored by the current statistical debate about the deterrent value of executions, Gerber reminded us that Beccaria in a 1764 treatise laid out the following criteria for punishment as a deterrent. The punishment must be swift, certain, proportionate, and public. He contended that our current system of capital punishment does not meet any of these criteria.

Bill Montgomery stated that the death penalty provides closure for the families of victims. He admitted that families affected by violent crimes rarely find closure but they do feel a balance of justice restored.

Opposing Montgomery was Eleanor Eisenberg, who said that the families of victims have rights to be heard. She also said that victims' families should not use the state of Arizona to exact vengeance. She pointed out that emotional impact statements have been rejected until rather recently

On the next panel, John Johnson and Andrew Sowards gave first hand accounts of witnessing an execution. Johnson had applied to be one of the 15 required state witnesses. He said that the execution he witnessed was a “good” execution, meaning nothing went wrong or that nothing special happened. The actual execution seemed like several hours to him but was in reality only a few minutes. Still, he was and is emotionally very affected by it.

Sowards said that his experience generally matched Johnson's, although he was there as a witness invited by Don Miller, the convicted murderer and as such kept away from other witnesses. He stated that his experience felt very ordinary. He said, “I was struck more by the absence of emotion that I felt.”

After lunch, Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, gave an update on national news about the death penalty. Rust-Tierney was excited to tell participants about the 128th person to be exonerated and released from death row in North Carolina. She was also eager to inform participants about the success of the repeal of the death penalty in New Jersey.

 

 

An interesting international perspective on Mexico's policies was provided by Honorable Carlos Flores Vizcarra and Christopher Dupont. Vizcarra, the consul general of the Consulado General de Mexico, said that although no one has been executed in Mexico since 1961, the death penalty was not formally abolished until 2005. The change was made because of Mexico's respect for human life. Vizcarra further said that Mexico will extradite Mexican nationals to the USA for trial only if the US promises not to seek the death penalty.

Dupont, staff attorney for the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program, said his organization is seeking the proper representation of Mexican nationals in U.S. courts.

Following the international perspective, Matthew Lowen, the program coordinator for the Criminal Justice Program of the American Friends Service Committee, told us about of solitary confinement, where all death row prisoners are held. Lowen said prisoners in solitary confinement spend 23 plus hours a day in their cells, which are approximately the size of a bathroom. They receive about 3 hours of “yard” time a week in a wall-enclosed outdoor space. Lowen said solitary confinement can aggravate and cause suicidal tendencies, hallucinations, violent outbursts, and uncontrollable rage, particularly in prisoners with a history of mental illness. “Solitary confinement creates and compounds mental health issues,” Lowen said.

American Friends Service Committee Program Director Caroline Isaacs discussed her organization's plan to combat this problem. Isaacs said they have opened up a dialogue with the Department of Corrections and they are recommending changes. Their recommendations include a separate mental health ward, mental health evaluation prior to solitary confinement, and training prison guards about mental health issues.

 

Anne Chapman ended the forum with a unique insight into the defense of Zacarias Moussaoui trail. Chapman discussed the difficulties of working with the terrorist, who was captured before he could participate in the Sept. 11 attacks. She said the defense attorneys were not allowed to share some evidence with Moussaoui. They were also not able to sit with him because it agitated him so much. Even after Moussaoui testified that he wished Sept. 11 would happen everyday, the jury decided against the death penalty, said Chapman. This verdict was reached because based on mitigating factors, primarily Moussaoui's unstable childhood.

The Arizona Death Penalty Forum recognizes that the United States is alone among Western nations in its continued use of executions or government sanctioned killings. It is a goal of AzDPF to return the United States to the standards of civilized nations and human rights by eliminating the barbaric practice of executions.