Thread: Execution Tonight in Mississippi

From Reuters --

(Reuters) - A Mississippi man convicted of murdering two people during convenience store robberies was executed on Wednesday by lethal injection, becoming the first person to be put to death in the state this year, a corrections official said.

Edwin Hart Turner, whose lawyers had argued suffered from a serious mental illness, was executed for the 1995 killings after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last-minute stay. Turner, 38, had no final words before his death.

Court records show that Turner and an accomplice who later received a life sentence were drinking beer and smoking marijuana in Carroll County in December 1995, when they decided to rob convenience stores. Two people were killed.

After the murders, the two men shared $400 in stolen cash, ate cinnamon rolls and shrimp, and went to sleep at Turner's home.

Turner's attorney, Jim Craig of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, had argued that important information relating to Turner's mental health wasn't presented during his trial, and that Turner had a "long and extensive" history of mental illness.

U.S. District Court Judge Carlton W. Reeves had on Monday ordered the execution postponed until at least February 20 to allow attorneys to argue whether the state had improperly kept him from getting a psychiatric evaluation.

But the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the stay by a vote of 2-1, and a last minute appeal to the Supreme Court failed to halt the execution.

Relatives of the two men killed in the robberies, Eddie Brooks and Everett Curry, witnessed the execution.

"This evening, after 16 years, we feel that justice, although delayed, has finally been served for the horrendous crime done to our family," Roy Curry, Everett Curry's brother, said in a statement on behalf of his family.

"This awful person brutally murdered a beloved husband, father and brother. The hurt and pain are just as real to us now as on that day 16 years ago."

For his last meal, Turner requested a medium-rare porterhouse steak, fried shrimp with cocktail sauce, two slices of Texas toast, a side salad with Russian dressing, a pack of Twizzlers candy, and sweet tea, according to the Department of Corrections.

Richard Bourke, director of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, said the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans overstretched its authority in overturning the temporary restraining order.

"Two judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals have announced a new rule granting themselves the power that Congress did not intend for them to have," Bourke said in a statement. "This is the worst kind of judicial activism."

Governor Phil Bryant said Turner's case didn't warrant clemency.

"After reviewing the facts associated with Mr. Edwin Hart Turner's case, I have decided not to grant clemency for his violent acts," Bryant said in a statement. "Mr. Turner has been convicted by a jury of his peers and I see no reason to delay this execution."

After the 1995 killings, police investigators suspected Turner's involvement in the crimes after witnesses said one of the perpetrators wore a towel around his head. Turner regularly wore a towel on his head to hide a facial disfigurement that resulted from a suicide attempt.

After police discovered guns used in the crimes and a hockey mask, accomplice Paul M. Stewart confessed and received two consecutive life sentences. He testified against Turner in court.

Edwin Turner was reported to have been suffering from bipolar disorder and was taking Prozac at the time of the murders. Although he may have had a screw or two loose, the fact remains that he was sane enough to know what he was doing was wrong - hence tonight's execution.

If he was mentally ill, I don't think he could be held accountable for his actions. The mentally ill should never be executed.

Generally I am only in favor of executing the very worst criminals, where there is no doubt that they deserve a punishment ten times worse.

But I do not have much of a problem when an adult that has purposefully killed two or more people is given the death penalty.

Originally Posted by Makedde

The mentally ill should never be executed.

I would not only say that they should be executed, but also that the very severely mentally retarded should be euthenized !

They just cost too much on society.

He was sane enough to kill two people,he's sane enough to die for it.Don't know why this is even a question.

Originally Posted by Makedde

If he was mentally ill, I don't think he could be held accountable for his actions. The mentally ill should never be executed.

Personally I think you need to be mentally ill to Murder someone.

Likely that man would have been less disgruntled if he had had access to a good cosmetic dental surgeon...

Originally Posted by Makedde

If he was mentally ill, I don't think he could be held accountable for his actions. The mentally ill should never be executed.

According to the "experts" most of us are "mentally ill". If I have a sexual fetish involving high-heeled shoes would that disqualify me if I killed during an armed robbery?

And, what a defsnse attorney says is meaningless. They're paid to lie. They're never put under oath and held accountable like normal people. As for experts, they're the only ones allowed to testify, and not be held accountable, for loony opinions.

Rational enough to plan a robbery. Rational enough to kill. Rational enough to pay the bill in full.

Originally Posted by Makedde

If he was mentally ill, I don't think he could be held accountable for his actions. The mentally ill should never be executed.

The whole point of the DP is (or at least should be) to protect society from such violence.

Use of the DP should be weighed upon the need to protect society from the offender versus the offender's potential for rehabilitation Thus, not all murderers should be automatic candidates for the DP as many can be successfully rehabilitated.

On the other hand, those who cannot be rehabilitated, such as the criminally insane, should certainly be executed. If they kill someone, such an inmate or C.O., while serving out a life sentence, the blood is on our hands.

No shortage of lethal drugs in that state then?

Did the curtains open without incident?

Were the tickets free or did they come at a premium?