ACLU Present Reasons and Arguments Stay of Execution for Serial Killer

[las47032]

ROCKVILLE -- Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut argued Friday that serial killer Michael Ross could suffer "excruciating pain" during his execution by lethal injection Jan. 26, and asked a federal judge to stay the execution and hold hearings on the process the state plans to use.

"I believe what's really at stake here is the humanity of everyone in this room and the humanity of the state of Connecticut," attorney Annette Lamoreaux, legal director for the ACLU of Connecticut, argued to U.S. District Judge Christopher F. Droney.

Amid the torrent of court activity generated by the upcoming execution, Friday's hearing was unique. It was a federal hearing held in a state courtroom to permit Ross to observe and participate from Osborn Correctional Institution via a closed-circuit television link permanently installed in the basement courtroom of Superior Court in Rockville.

Ross, 45, has expressed his wish not to return to court unless ordered to do so. He thanked Droney Friday for accommodating him.

Though Friday's hearing involves the first challenge in a federal court in Connecticut to the imminent execution, the arguments hinged on the same issue underlying various court actions filed by Ross' former public defenders: Is Ross mentally competent to waive further appeals and opt for execution?

The local ACLU lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ross' father, Dan Ross, as "next friend" to his son. It claims Michael Ross is mentally incompetent, due to an array of documented mental disorders. Lamoreaux claims that by "volunteering" to be executed, Ross is endangering his own health, "as it amounts to state-assisted suicide."

Ross last week was found to be mentally competent to control his legal affairs by Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford in New London.

Ross, appearing on five monitors throughout the courtroom, was adamant he did not want the lawsuit to proceed.

"This lawsuit came as a complete surprise to me," Ross said. "I don't need anyone filing anything on my behalf.

"I believe you should dismiss the case," Ross told Droney. "They do not have standing" to bring the lawsuit.

Ross, a Cornell University graduate, is well-versed on death penalty case law and recent controversies concerning the lethal combination of drugs used in the execution process.

The first drug administered is a barbiturate, sodium thiopental, used to sedate the condemned killer. The next is pancuronium bromide, a paralyzing agent that renders the inmate unable to cry out, flinch or breathe. It is followed by a caustic agent, potassium chloride, which stops the inmate's heart.

Lamoreaux argued there is increasing evidence that the dose of the barbiturate routinely used in lethal injections is insufficient, and that the convict suffers excruciating pain as the potassium chloride courses through the veins toward the heart, but cannot express that pain because of the total paralysis produced by the pancuronium bromide.

Before the proceeding began, while the monitors were being turned on and tested, Ross quipped, "When do I start screaming in pain?"

Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Harry Weller argued that even the ACLU's expert, anesthesiologist Mark Heath, acknowledged that if the drugs were administered properly, Ross would die a humane death. Weller also emphasized there is no evidence to suggest Ross is incompetent.

"The claim here is that if someone decides to accept execution, they must be incompetent," Weller said. "I think that's the theory that's driven all this litigation."

The state Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection as a means of execution in the case of Daniel Webb of Hartford, also on death row.

Ross' attorney, T.R. Paulding, said Ross would agree with the ACLU lawyers that they raise some good questions about the lethal injection process.

"He would agree it's not a bad issue, that it's a pretty interesting issue and maybe it should be litigated, but he has chosen not to," Paulding said. "This is not a generic issue being raised for the good of society. It is being raised through the mechanism of Michael Ross, and he doesn't seek to litigate it."

Droney is expected to rule early next week. If he decides Dan Ross does not have standing to intervene on his son's behalf, he likely will not delve into the lethal injection issues.

Ross was sentenced to death for the kidnappings and murders of four eastern Connecticut young women, including 14-year-old best friends Leslie Shelley and April Brunais on Easter Day 1984.

As Edwin and Lera Shelley left the courtroom after Friday's two-hour hearing, Ed Shelley muttered, "Oh, God. Oh, Jesus." But he said he believes Droney will rule against the ACLU.

"Michael did a better job today than the civil liberties union did. I think he impressed the judge," Shelley said. "Eighteen days and counting.

"It doesn't matter to me personally if he suffers," Shelley said. "I can't imagine what my daughter's pain was. If his is 10 times that, he deserves it."

Paulding, outside the courthouse, reiterated that Ross remains committed to his course, but is angry and frustrated at those who seek to intervene against his will.

"He's been fed up with the process for a while," Paulding said. "He wants closure. The way the process is evolving, there may never be closure until 2 a.m. Jan. 26" - the time of the scheduled execution.

The ACLU is asking a judge for a reprieve from putting a condemned person to death on the account lethal injection might be too painful! How about a firing squad. He won’t feel anything!

And what about the victims Michael Ross murdered? Where is the hue and cry the pain and anguish they suffered?

Source:
ACLU Argues For A Stay
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/hc-rosscclu0108.artjan08b,0,212979.story

[SherryGrace]

Stories like this amaze me. He doesn't want to fight his sentence therefore he must be insane. No. Maybe he just recognizes that he needs to die for what he did.

Part of me says to leave him alone and let his last 18 days be in peace and reflection. Then I think about what turmoil those girls' last minutes were like and I say screw him. I'd be okay with it if they keep him agitated until the end.

Wow. He might feel 2 minutes of pain. Hmmmm. Interesting argument to put forth on behalf of a man who admits to murdering 8 girls/women.