Pennsylvania Death Row Inmate Seeks Clemency
By Steve Eder
- AP via Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
- Terrance Williams
A convicted murderer slated to be put to death in Pennsylvania next month has petitioned a state board for clemency, saying that he was physically and mentally abused as a child by the men he killed.
If Pennsylvania officials reject his appeal, filed Thursday, Terrance “Terry” Williams, would be the first person to be executed in the commonwealth since the death penalty was reinstituted in the 1970s, aside from three prisoners who voluntarily accepted the death penalty, his advocates say.
Mr. Williams’ case is coming to a head at a time when the death penalty and processes used to conduct lethal injections are under fire in several U.S. states. California voters in November will decide the fate of the state’s death penalty law, and several states have had trouble obtaining the drugs in executions.
According to Mr. Williams’ petition, the jury in his case was never told at trial that he had been sexually abused by the two men he later killed.
Mr. Williams’ bid for clemency has the support of Mamie Norwood, the widow of a man he killed in 1984, according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Ms. Norwood wrote she has forgiven Mr. Williams and that his execution would go against her faith, the article said.
Some 22 former prosecutors and judges, 34 law professors, 40 mental health professionals and a number of faith leaders have also backed his clemency efforts, according to his legal team.
Separately, another issue in his petition is whether jurors were unaware that another of their choices, a life sentence, would have meant life in prison without the possibility of parole.
No comments:
Post a Comment