“On July 24, 1991, Virginia executioners botched their job on Albert Clozza, causing his eye balls to pop right out of his head. Blood flowed out of Clozza's eye sockets down onto his chest, and technicians had to give four hard jolts before he finally died.
“After a two-minute jolt of electricity, Alpha Otis Stephens was still breathing in Georgia's electric chair on December 12, 1987. Technicians waited six full minutes for the body to cool so they could examine the man and determine he needed another shock. During this period the alive and struggling Stephens took 23 breaths.
“On April 22, 1983, in Alabama, sparks and flames shot out of the leg of John Evans. An electrode then burst from the strap holding it in place and caught fire. Smoke emerged from under his hood. Two doctors entered the death chamber and found Evans to still be alive. State authorities tried again, but he wouldn't die. More smoke and the smell of burning flesh came from the doomed man's leg. Technicians flipped the switch a third time, and finally killed him. The whole job took 14 minutes, and left Evans's body charred and smoldering.”
By contrast, I would cite this story lead from today’s NY Times:
“With a call for mercy from the parents of the gay student he beat and left for dead on a prairie fence, Aaron J. McKinney was spared the death penalty Thursday in a courtroom in Laramie, Wyo.
“‘I would like nothing better than to see you die, McKinney,’ the dead man's father, Dennis Shepard, said in a long and impassioned statement in which he called his son, Matthew, ‘my hero’ for his courage in enduring slights and discrimination. ‘However, this is the time to begin the healing process, to show mercy to someone who refused to show any mercy.’”
Among his other comments, Dennis Shepard said: “Mr. McKinney, I'm going to grant you life, as hard as it is for me to do so, because of Matthew. Every time you celebrate Christmas, a birthday or the Fourth of July, remember that Matthew isn't. Every time that you wake up in that prison cell, remember that you had the opportunity and the ability to stop your actions that night. Every time that you see your cell mate, remember that you had a choice and now you are living that choice.”
Carl
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