Georgia: Rejection. Execution.

Former president Jimmy Carter, former US Attorney General Griffin Bell, and Norman Fletcher, the ex-chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court all supported clemency for Curtis Osborne, but the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied the request on Monday and Osborne was executed Wednesday night.

Osborne's original attorney hired no psychiatrist to evaluate his client's mental state or history, even though a court-ordered sanity evaluation had found “indications of depression, paranoia and suicidal ideation.” There was no investigation of evidence that Osborne was the victim of childhood abuse. It is also claimed that he was never informed of a possible plea bargain. In 2000, a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder, signed an affidavit saying Osborne's attorney said he would not spending much money defending Osborne because “that little nigger deserves the chair.”

Kate Randall observes:

The Death Penalty Information Center estimates that 44 prisoners with mental retardation have been executed since the 1976 reinstatement of the death penalty. These latest executions show that the high court’s 2002 ruling is not a clear barrier to sending such condemned prisoners to their deaths.

See story here.

Georgia: Moral Turpitude. It just depends ...

The State Constitution reads:

Anyone convicted of a felony involving moral turpitude cannot vote until they complete their sentence and pay all associated fees and fines.

The Secretary of State's Office interprets the above passage to refer to all felonies. As a result, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, over 280,000 felons in Georgia are "disenfranchised." Nancy Abudu, staff counsel for the ACLU Voting Rights Project also notes: "Given disparities in race and class, the population it affects the most is also the population that is also disparately impacted by criminal justice." The premise is based on the estimate that about half of the 280,000 felons are African-American.

So, the ACLU and other groups are calling on the State to produce a more specific list of felonies which are meant to be encompassed by the constitutional language. After all, the language does seem to single out certain types of felonies, not all felonies. The Florida-Times Union notes:

Lawmakers in other states, such as Alabama and Alaska, have defined which specific offenses are crimes of moral turpitude ... Courts have defined the term moral turpitude as acts of baseness, vileness or depravity in a person's duty to society. But the term has found a perplexing place in the political world, and its application to crimes has stirred debate in a number of states ... In Georgia, a solid definition for crimes of moral turpitude has eluded the Attorney General's Office for decades.

In 1983, the State Attorney General admitted that the State could not come up with a specific working definition of "moral turpitude" and guessed that any such definition might be linked to current (and constantly changing) public opinion. He then suggested that the Board broadly define "moral turpitude" and consider all felonies crimes of moral turpitude for purposes of granting clemency and restoring civil rights to felons. The result?

The state automatically restores voting rights for felons after they complete their sentence, parole or probation. Felons must apply to restore other rights, such as holding political office and owning a firearm. Nearly 8,100 convicts were discharged from parole in fiscal 2007, though some may have been moved to probation and did not have their voting rights automatically restored, said Scheree Lipscomb, spokeswoman for the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board granted pardons for 372 inmates and restored the civil rights of 211 convicts.

See story here.

Georgia: Former President Supports Clemency Bid

The Atlanta Journal Constitution is featuring an interesting article on Curtis Osborne who was convicted of double murder and is scheduled to be executed on June 4. Osborne's lawyers contend that his defense attorney (now dead) was "racially prejudiced." As a result, a "paltry defense" was presented and Osborne was not told of an offer to exchange a guilty plea for a life sentence. A federal appeals court has rejected a request for a new trial based on such claims. Now, the State parole board will hear a request for clemency, just a few days after it commuted the death sentence of Samuel David Crowe to life in prison. Attorneys will introduce the board to two former clients of the dead attorney who will say that they heard him use racial slurs.

The Constitution also reports

Former President Jimmy Carter, former deputy U.S. Attorney General Larry Thompson and former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher are sending letters to the board, requesting clemency for Osborne ...

Fletcher, says he remembers the defense attorney's "ineptness" and "shortcomings," but District Attorney Scott Ballard opposes clemency. A psychiatrist, George Woods, says that, if experts had been hired, a history of mental illness and "chemical dependency" in Osborne's family would have been given much-deserved attention. See story here.

Georgia: Last-Minute Commutation of Sentence!

Three hours before the state was about to execute Samuel David Crowe, the 5-member Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles commuted his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of yet, the Board has not provided an official justification or explanation for its decision. It is reported, however, that Crowe "takes full responsibility for his crime and experiences profound remorse." See article here.

Georgia: One Last Hearing?

The state Board of Pardons and Paroles is set to hear an appeal for clemency on Thursday from lawyers representing Samuel David Crowe, a convicted murderer. As it happens, Thursday is also the day that Crowe is scheduled to be executed. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Crowe's appeal for a stay on Tuesday as his lawyers challenged the way Georgia administers the three-drug "cocktail" for lethal injection. A stay of execution is also being sought in the Georgia Supreme Court.

Georgia: Rejection

CNN reports (here) that Georgia's Parole and Pardon Board has denied William Earl Lynd's request for clemency. If executed tomorrow evening, Lynd (who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 1988) would become the first person executed in the United States in more than seven months. Meanwhile, his lawyers have begun "a round of last-minute appeals."

Georgia: A Pardon Revisited

In August 2005, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles granted a pardon to Lena Baker. The Board believed Baker should have been charged with voluntary manslaughter instead of first-degree murder. The twist was that Baker had been denied clemency once before, back in 1945, and went on to became the only woman ever executed in Georgia's electric chair. Her final words were, " "What I done, I did in self-defense. I have nothing against anyone ... I am ready to meet my God." Actress Tichina Arnold is now playing Baker in "The Lena Baker Story," a featured film at the Atlanta Film Festival. See story here and here.

Georgia: Request

Amnesty International USA is protesting the 4-3 decision of the Georgia Supreme Court to deny a new trial for Troy Anthony Davis, who was convicted of the murder of a Savannah police officer in 1991. Davis has been on "death row" for 16 years, long enough for 60,000 people to sign a petition on his behalf. It is argued that he was convicted solely on the basis of witness testimony and that seven of nine non-police witnesses have recanted or changed their testimony. Amnesty International also claims the case featured a questionable police investigation, a lack of funding to ensure adequate defense and thwarted attempts to present new evidence in the case. The human rights organization is now calling for the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles to commute Davis' sentence. See story here.

Georgia: Pardon? or No Pardon?

Pastor Onslow D. Ross (aka "Chief Apostle") of the Reaching Souls Cathedral of Praise Apostolic Church (Macon) is looking at the possibility of more than 60 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines after being found guilty on 54 (of 56) counts related to the misuse of a $389,000 insurance check. A church musician says the federal government "is grossly attacking a pastor from the same religion as the one on which this country was founded." While a jury found problems with Ross's purchases of clothing for himself and church officials, luxury cars and electronic equipment, another church member says, "If you don't deal with mega ministry-minded people, you won't understand what we do." Ross's attorney also complained about the fact that, at trial, the government had the tendency to dwell on the pastor's criminal history, which included prison time for forgery, drug possession and credit card fraud. The church musician also claims that Ross was "fully pardoned," but the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles had no record of a clemency warrant for the minister. See full story here and here.