First let me say I have some issues with the way the death penalty is applied in the first place. This isn't about stopping the death penalty, more about some of the ******** that surrounds our justice system now.
Quote:
With the execution scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, defense lawyers requested a stay from the federal judge who last week ordered San Quentin State Prison to have an anesthesiologist on hand to minimize Michael Angelo Morales' pain as he was put to death by lethal injection. A second anesthesiologist was retained as a backup.
Give me a figgin break. It's an execution! Lethal injection takes about 10 minutes, and then it's over. IF he for some odd reason becomes conscious during that 10 minutes, what pain he feels won't last long. It's not like they are killing him by hacking of body parts till he dies.
Quote:
The anesthesiologists issued a statement through the prison saying they were concerned requirements outlined by Fogel and an appeals court could force them to intervene in the execution if Morales woke up or appeared to be in pain.
"Any such intervention would clearly be medically unethical," said the doctors, who have not been identified. "As a result, we have withdrawn from participation in this current process."
"Any such intervention would clearly be medically unethical," said the doctors, who have not been identified. "As a result, we have withdrawn from participation in this current process."
Good. They shouldn't have been involved in an execution anyway.
Quote:
The prison has until one minute before midnight on Tuesday to execute Morales. After that, the "death warrant" expires and officials would have to go back to the trial judge who imposed the death sentence in 1983 for another warrant.
Seeking another warrant could prove difficult for the state, however, since the original sentencing judge, Charles McGrath, joined Morales this month in asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for clemency. McGrath said he no longer believed the credibility of a jailhouse informant whose testimony helped land Morales on death row.
Seeking another warrant could prove difficult for the state, however, since the original sentencing judge, Charles McGrath, joined Morales this month in asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for clemency. McGrath said he no longer believed the credibility of a jailhouse informant whose testimony helped land Morales on death row.
OK, so the original trial judge now feels the execution should go through because he no loger feels the information that moved him to issue the death sentence is credible.
Quote:
Judge McGrath asked the governor to spare Morales based on the unreliability of the informant who said Morales boasted about killing Winchell in Spanish, a language he doesn't speak.
I would have thought this would be enough for an appeal. The informant claiming the defendant bragged in a language that he doesn't speak would tend to make me think the informant was at best erroneous, at worst a liar.
We will see what happens in the next 8 hours.