The Impending Execution of Jesse Joe Hernandez

Jesse Hernandez sits on death row awaiting execution by the people of Texas on 28 March. He was convicted of killing an 10-month-old boy by striking him in the head with a flashlight. I provide a summary of the case by excerpting from the adverse appellate decision in Hernandez v. Quarterman (2008). I have substituted Hernandez' name for each instance of "appellate" in the decision. I have removed the legal citations.

The evidence at trial showed that at the time Karlos and Melodi were assaulted, Misty Leverett, [ten-month-old] Karlos, and [four-year-old] Melodi, were living with Hernandez, his wife Mary Rojas, their young son, Joshua, and Gilbert Gomez. On the day of the assaults, Leverett went to work and left the children in the care of Hernandez and Rojas. Rojas testified that after Leverett left for work around noon, she stayed home with the children while Hernandez and Gomez left to run errands. When Hernandez and Gomez returned about two hours later, Rojas left for her sister-in-law's house and was gone approximately thirty to forty-five minutes. Rojas testified that when she got home, she heard Hernandez screaming at Joshua. She picked him up and took him to the room she shared with Hernandez. Rojas asked where Karlos and Melodi were, and Hernandez replied that they were sleeping in the next room. Rojas then went into her room and relaxed with Joshua. Later, when she heard Hernandez preparing a bottle, she told Hernandez she was going to go into the room where Karlos and Melodi where sleeping. Hernandez instructed Rojas not to enter the room for fear she would wake them up. Despite having seen blood stains on Hernandez's shirt, Rojas waited until Leverett got home from work to check on the children. 

Levertt testified that when she arrived home, she went into the dark room she shared with the children and found Melodi complaining that her head hurt. Rojas and Leverett took Melodi out into the kitchen and saw that her head was swollen with "red splotches. Alarmed, Leverett decided to take Melodi to the hospital. After they left, Rojas checked on Karlos and noticed his lips were swollen. She determined Karlos was badly hurt and took Karlos and Joshua down the street to her sister-in-law's house to call an ambulance. 

When Leverett and Melodi arrived at the hospital, hospital workers asked Leverett if she had any other children. When she replied that she did, the hospital workers instructed her to return home and get her son immediately. Leverett testified that when she returned home, Hernandez was alone and he told her that Karlos was at his sister's house. Leverett asked Hernandez to take her there but he refused. Moments later, police arrived and informed Leverett that Karlos had been rushed to Children's Hospital by ambulance. 

In addition to this evidence, Hernandez stated in his voluntary written statement that he was babysitting Melodi and Karlos and "they were being very bad by crying a lot for nothing." Hernandez continued that he "just exploded and hit them with the back of my hand not realizing I was hurting them[.]" ... 

When police began investigating the assault on Karlos, they went to Hernandez's home where he and his wife had been babysitting Misty Leverett's ten-month-old son, Karlos, and Karlos' four-year-old sister Melodi. They discovered that Hernandez had some outstanding warrants, arrested him, and transported him to the police station. While there, Detective Warren Breedlove spoke with Hernandez to obtain some general information and inquire about the injuries to the children. At a pre-trial hearing regarding the voluntariness of Hernandez's written statement, Breedlove testified that Hernandez was not a suspect at that time so he was not informed of his Miranda rights. Hernandez gave an affidavit denying any knowledge of what happened to Karlos and Melodi and was later transported to the county jail. After police spoke with Karlos' doctor and with Melodi, Hernandez became a suspect in the assaults. Breedlove met with Hernandez, read him his Miranda warnings and began an interview. Over approximately an hour and a half, Hernandez repeatedly admitted and then denied striking the children. Breedlove asked Hernandez about a flashlight found at the scene and Hernandez admitted he may have hit Karlos with the flashlight. 

Detective Lesher took over the interview after Hernandez became upset with Breedlove....Lesher asked Hernandez to make a written, voluntary statement. After speaking with his wife and using the restroom, Hernandez agreed. In his statement, Hernandez admitted hitting Karlos and Melodi because they cried for no reason, because he was upset over recently losing his grandmother, and because he had a bad day with his wife. He added that he was sorry for hitting them. There was nothing in Hernandez's written statement about hitting Karlos with a flashlight.

I oppose the execution of any person who is factually innocent of the crime for which he is to die, or has a reasonable chance of being factually innocent. In other cases, take no position on the propriety of the execution. In the case of Jesse Joe Hernandez of Texas, I stand mute.

The Impending Execution of William Mitchell

William Gerald Mitchell sits on death row awaiting execution by the people of Mississippi on 22 March. I present a summary of his case by excerpting from the adverse appellate decision in Mitchell v. State (2001). The paragraph numbering is in the original.

4. The last time that Patty Milliken was seen alive was at the conclusion of her shift at 8:00 p.m., November 21, 1995, at the Majik Mart on Popps Ferry Road in Biloxi, Mississippi. She told her co-worker, James Leland Hartley, that she was going outside to smoke and talk to William Gerald Mitchell and that she would return shortly. Before following Mitchell outside, she telephoned her son, telling him she would be home in approximately fifteen minutes. She also left her keys in the safe to initiate a 10-minute time-released unlock and her purse and other personal items on the counter. Patty Milliken's body was found the following morning under a bridge. She had been beaten, strangled, sexually assaulted, crushed by being driven over, and mutilated. 

5. The record shows that on November 21, 1995, Hartley saw Mitchell enter the store three separate times to visit Milliken while she was working her shift. Hartley overheard Milliken refer to Mitchell by the name of "Jerry." At the end of Milliken's shift that evening, around 8:00 p.m., Milliken and Hartley realized that they had forgotten to document the amount of cash they had placed in the safe that night. Milliken opened the safe and telephoned her son that she would be home in fifteen minutes. At approximately 8:05 p.m. Milliken decided to walk out of the store with Mitchell and told Hartley that "she'd be outside smoking a cigarette if [Hartley] needed her and that she'd be right back." 

6. Milliken left her keys in the lock on the safe, cigarettes and lighter on one counter, and her purse on another counter. Hartley testified that it was odd for Milliken to go outside to smoke because employees were authorized to smoke inside the store. Ten minutes after Milliken had gone outside, Hartley walked outside to ask her a question, but she was not there. Her belongings were still inside the store, and her car remained in the parking lot. Hartley telephoned Milliken's home and learned that she had not been in contact with her family. When Milliken had still not returned by 10:00 p.m., Hartley telephoned the police. 

7. When the police arrived, Hartley gave them Milliken's purse and showed them where she had written Jerry's phone number. The police cross-referenced the telephone number to a physical address, and proceeded to 323 Croesus Street. The police arrived at the residence at approximately midnight. 

8. Officers Matory and Doucet went to the front door, and Officer McKaig "was on the right side of the house approaching the rear." McKaig saw Mitchell, and Mitchell asked, "Who's that?" McKaig identified himself as a police officer and explained that he wanted to speak to him. Mitchell ran, and a pursuit on foot followed. 

9. Captain Anderson responded to assist with the foot pursuit. Captain Patterson, arriving to assist with the foot pursuit, spoke with Booker Gatlin, Mitchell's grandfather and owner of the residence on Croesus Street. Gatlin indicated that "Jerry" was William Gerald Mitchell, and that he drove a blue Grand Am. 

10. When the foot pursuit proved unsuccessful, the Biloxi Police Department issued a be-on-the-lookout ("BOLO") for Mitchell and his vehicle. Shortly thereafter, an officer spotted Mitchell getting gas at a Shell station located on U.S. Highway 90. When Mitchell noticed the police car, he threw down the gas nozzle he was using and sped away in his vehicle. Patrolman Sonnier took part in the pursuit of Mitchell. That evening he had a television camera crew riding with him, and they were able to film most of the pursuit. Sonnier testified that Mitchell was the driver of the vehicle and that Curtis Pearson was his passenger. The high-speed chase ended in Mitchell being arrested for various traffic violations. Mitchell's passenger, Pearson, testified that, during the chase, Mitchell stated 2-3 times that he "got that bitch." 

11. Officer Heard of the Biloxi Police Department discovered the mutilated, almost naked body of Patty Milliken under the Popps Ferry Bridge at 7:14 a.m. the following morning. Officer Robert Burriss arrived at the scene at approximately 7:30 a.m., and worked the scene until 2:00 p.m. Burriss testified that he found Milliken's body on its back. She had part of a shirt sleeve around her right arm and part of her bra around her left arm, with only a pair of white socks clothing her body. Her body was bruised and scraped, and her head was "burst open" with the brains "spilling out of the skull, scattered about on the yard, and there (sic) was also some of the brain matter stuck on her back." 

12. There were "numerous" tire tracks "back and forth all over that area;" tracks that were similar to the ones found on Milliken's body. Testing would ultimately show that the tire casts from the area matched three of the four tires on Mitchell's car with regard to tread design, size and "overall width." 

13. Later that day, pursuant to a search warrant, Burriss also collected evidence from Mitchell's car. Burriss made a diagram of the car indicating where he found "various pieces of blood and hair on the automobile." Burriss found hair and blood on the passenger door; blood underneath the fender and body of the car, as well as on the catalytic converter; and blood spatters in three of the wheel wells. Milliken's broken lower dentures were also found in Mitchell's car. 

14. After Mitchell's arrest for traffic violations, he was taken to the Biloxi Police Department. Mitchell was initially interviewed by Sergeant Torbert and Investigator Thompson. Later, Officers Newman and Peterson interviewed Mitchell at 1:07 p.m. on November 22, 1995, the same day Milliken's body was found. At the time of this second interview, Mitchell had not 198*198 been arrested or charged with murder, but was in custody for the traffic violations. Mitchell said that he was the only one to use his vehicle that night. Mitchell claimed that Milliken was alive when he left her, though he did admit that he had hit her hard enough in the nose that "blood just flew everywhere." A redacted version of Mitchell's second interview was admitted during the trial. The tape was edited and redacted at the point before Mitchell made any statement that he killed or was responsible for the death of Milliken. 

15. After Mitchell's second interview, Mitchell was booked on the charge of murder and transported to the Harrison County Jail. Prior to his transfer, a suspect rape kit was performed on Mitchell at the Biloxi Regional Medical Center. Later, search warrants were secured and executed on Mitchell, Mitchell's car, and Mitchell's residence at 323 Croesus Street in Biloxi. 

16. Dr. Paul McGarry performed the autopsy on Milliken's body. According to McGarry, Milliken was strangled, beaten, sexually assaulted, and repeatedly run over by a vehicle. McGarry stated that the damage to Milliken's larynx cartilages and hemorrhagic airway proved that she had been strangled. There were also semicircular marks from her attacker's fingernails on her neck. She was beaten to the point that her lower denture was broken and expelled. Her face was swollen and purple which "would evidence that hard blows had been delivered to the head." Analysis of the genital area displayed "the kind of injuries that are produced by stretching and tearing of the delicate lining of the vagina" which McGarry "interpreted as forceful penetration enough to damage the tissue and tear and rub off surfaces of the tissue, to stretch the opening. The anus was even more so damaged." McGarry confirmed that Milliken's sexual injuries occurred while she was still alive. 

17. McGarry also testified to finding five tire tracks across the victim's body. According to McGarry, Milliken apparently lived long enough to experience the crushing injuries that ruptured her kidney, liver, and spleen; broke almost every rib; broke her spine; broke her collarbone; and, tore open her lungs and heart vessels. Milliken was killed when her "brain [was] blown out by crushing and squashed out." The brain was expelled up to four feet from an opening at the top of her head measuring eight inches in diameter. 

18. At the time of Milliken's savage murder, Mitchell had been paroled for approximately eleven months from a sentence of life in prison for murder.

I oppose executions in which there is a possibility the person to be executed is factually innocent. Otherwise, I stand mute with respect to the propriety of the execution.

In the case of William Gerald Mitchell, I stand mute.

The Impending Execution of Larry Puckett

Larry Puckett sits on death row awaiting execution by the people of Missouri on 20 March. Though he claims he is innocent and the victim's husband is guilty, his protestations are muffled by the overwhelming evidence against him. I present that evidence by excerpting extensively from the adverse appellate decision of Larry Matthew Puckett v. State of Mississippi. The paragraph numbers are in the original.

1. Larry Matthew Puckett was indicted during the January 1996 term of the Circuit Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, for the capital murder of Rhonda Hatten Griffis on October 14, 1995, while engaged in the commission of the crime of sexual battery ...  

3. On October 14, 1995, shortly before 5:00 p.m., Mrs. Rhonda Hatten Griffis, age 28, was found lying in a large pool of blood next to the couch in the living room of her home on 198 Sunrise Road, Petal, Mississippi. Mrs. Griffis was found wearing a t-shirt, and the only clothing on the lower part of her body was around her left foot. She had several gashes on the back of her head. There were other injuries to Mrs. Griffis' head, back, and chest, including a deep laceration and three to four hesitation marks to the neck. She was also bleeding from her vagina. She had several defensive wounds on her hands, arms, and elbows. Mrs. Griffis died as a result of the injuries; the cause of death was cranial cerebral trauma, secondary to blunt force trauma. A wooden stick or club covered with blood was recovered outside the residence.

4. Rhonda's mother, Nancy Hatten, lived next door, roughly 150-175 feet from the Griffis' trailer. On the day of the murder, Mrs. Hatten helped Rhonda's boys, Justin, age 7, and Jeffrey, age 5, put up Halloween decorations in the yard. Rhonda was not feeling well that day, suffering from a headache and bad sinus problems. Later that afternoon, Mrs. Hatten was in her front yard when she heard a "scream and a thud" come from the Griffis' trailer. Mrs. Hatten then ran home and telephoned the trailer. The phone rang four or five times, but there was no answer. Mrs. Hatten hung up and dialed again, but there was still no answer. She then immediately went to the trailer. 

5. As Mrs. Hatten neared the trailer, she saw David Griffis, Rhonda's husband, and their two boys driving up to the trailer. David had been hauling pine straw all day and was returning with his last load. A blue truck was parked in the vacant lot beside the residence. Nancy entered the trailer door at the kitchen/dining room area and called for Rhonda but there was no answer. Puckett came from the hallway into the kitchen/dining area and raised a club back and started towards Nancy. As Nancy backed away from Puckett, Jeffrey entered the house followed closely by David. Justin was still outside. Nancy then took the children, ran to her house, locked the boys in the bathroom, and called 911. This 911 call was received by the 911 system at 5:01:15 p.m. and answered by the 911 operator at 5:01:20 p.m. At 5:01:41 p.m., Nancy was placed on hold, as 911 received a call from the Griffis' trailer. Mrs. Hatten identified State's Exhibit Number 3 as the club that Puckett had in his hand in the trailer. 

6. The Griffis family knew Puckett because he was once employed by David Griffis. While Puckett was employed by David, the employees would gather at the Griffis' house before leaving for work. 

7. Jeffrey Griffis testified that when he entered the home, he saw Puckett with a club in his hand and holding on to Mrs. Hatten's shirt. David Griffis testified that when he entered the home, he saw Mrs. Hatten with Puckett standing in front of her with the club in his hand raised over his head. David indicated that Puckett was wearing army-type coveralls. The club had blood and a white substance on it. David asked Puckett what he was doing in his house and Puckett said he had hit a deer on the road and came to get David's help and to use the telephone. David called out for Rhonda but no one answered. However, Puckett told David that Rhonda was down at her mother's house. David asked Puckett about the blood on the club and Puckett indicated that it was blood from the deer. David then dialed 911 from a portable phone that was laying on the counter beside him. This 911 call was received by the 911 system at 5:01:27 p.m. and answered by the 911 operator at 5:01:41 p.m. This (David's) call was terminated at 5:04:42 p.m. At some point, David and Puckett struggled and David got the club from Puckett. David tried to keep Puckett in the trailer until the police arrived. However, Puckett took off running towards the door. As Puckett was running for the door, David swung the club and hit Puckett on the shoulder. Then, as Puckett ran out the door, David threw the club at him. Dr. Michael West testified at trial that the club, State's Exhibit 3, was consistent with the wound pattern found on Puckett's back. 

8. Once Puckett exited the trailer, David entered the living room and reached for his pistol that was usually on a gun cabinet just to the left of the living room door. However, the pistol was not there. David did not see Rhonda's body lying in the living room at this time. David then ran into the bedroom to retrieve a rifle from the bedroom closet. The bedroom door is straight ahead as you turn towards the cabinet. As David exited the bedroom and re-entered the living room, he then saw Rhonda laying on the floor. He saw that Rhonda was injured and dialed 911 again to inform the police. David's second 911 call was received by the 911 system at 5:05:01 p.m. and was answered by the 911 operator at 5:05:07 p.m. This call was terminated at 5:11:45 p.m. The time between the end of David's first 911 call and the beginning of his second 911 call was 18 seconds. Sheriff's deputies and paramedics arrived within minutes. 

9. Before David fired Puckett, David considered him to be a decent employee and even wrote a letter of recommendation for Puckett to become an Eagle Scout. Another former employer of Puckett's, Ray Watkins, testified that shortly before Rhonda's murder, a maul handle was broken at his work site. Watkins had the maul handle for several years, between seven (7) and ten (10) years, and believed the maul handle to be State's Exhibit No. 3. Watkins also testified that he had seen the handle in Puckett's truck on several occasions. 

10. Puckett was seen around 3:30 p.m. the afternoon of the murder at the same house from which David Griffis was collecting pine straw. Puckett's blue 4-wheel drive truck was also seen passing the Griffis' residence at approximately 4:41 p.m. 

11. Puckett's truck was recovered the next night in a wooded area in Perry County. On October 16, 1995, Puckett was apprehended near his mother's home in Perry County. At the time of his arrest, Puckett nervously commented to his mother that "[t]his is a lot of law enforcement for somebody who just committed a burglary." A duffle bag containing various items including a pair of coveralls was recovered from Puckett at the time of his arrest. 

12. Puckett did not deny being in the trailer at the time of the murder, but testified that he witnessed David Griffis murder his wife. He indicated that he had originally planned only to burglarize the house in order to find money to pay his truck note. He stated that the idea to burglarize the house just popped into his head at the time he went by the Griffis' house. Puckett testified that he parked his truck in a vacant lot beside the Griffis' trailer and put his coveralls on. Puckett saw Rhonda's car at the trailer, but proceeded to the door anyway and knocked. Puckett said that Rhonda let him in and they began to talk. Puckett said that he saw the stick lying on the living room floor. He stated that he and Rhonda began kissing and he then began acting out his sexual fantasy of undressing a woman while he remained fully clothed. He said that Rhonda then saw her mother approaching the trailer, grabbed her clothes and ran into the bedroom, and told Puckett to get rid of her mother. Puckett said he ran into the dining room area and had picked up the stick and decided to scare Mrs. Hatten away with the club. Puckett further stated that after Mrs. Hatten fled with the children, David accused Rhonda of sleeping with Puckett and began hitting her with the stick that David took from Puckett. After beating his wife, David struggled to keep Puckett in the trailer, but Puckett was able to escape while David was calling 911. At trial, Puckett indicated the whole incident took four or five minutes. Puckett said he hid in the woods for two days because he was afraid of David. 

13. Puckett indicated that State's Exhibit No. 3 was not the same maul handle which he had obtained from a former employer, Ray Watkins. He testified instead that he had destroyed that maul handle while he was working for Mark Hicks, by making a torch out of it to burn off some trash. ... 

106. Puckett maintains there was insufficient evidence presented for a reasonable hypothetical jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and points to the following deficiencies in support of his argument: (1) no seminal fluid was identified from the sexual assault kit; (2) hair samples recovered at the victim's residence failed to match the defendant's; (3) no seminal fluid was recovered from a sample of carpet taken from the victim's residence; (4) testing of the coveralls worn while in the victim's residence revealed only the presence of several stains from deer blood and one stain which could be identified only as human protein, but not as a specific body fluid; and (5) the State failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the stick admitted into evidence ... was in fact the murder weapon. ... 

107. We first address Puckett's contention that the State's case was fatally flawed because no seminal fluid was found either from the sexual assault kit or from testing of the carpet in the victim's residence. The State's case in regards to sexual assault was based upon the fact that sexual penetration with a wooden club had occurred without the victim's consent. The fact that no seminal fluid was detected is not a fatal defect since one would not logically expect seminal fluid to naturally result from sexual assault perpetrated by a wooden club. 

108. Puckett's next contention that hair samples taken from the victim's residence is also not fatally defective to the State's case. The State's case did not rely on the presence of hair samples in the victim's residence in order to establish the fact that Puckett was in the residence at the time of the murder. Puckett's presence in the victim's residence on the day of the murder was established by several eye-witnesses, Nancy Hatten, David Griffis and Jeffrey Griffis. Additionally, Puckett himself testified not only that he was in the victim's residence on the day of the murder, but that he was in fact present during the commission of the murder. Consequently, hair samples were not necessary to establish Puckett's presence in the victim's trailer. 

109. Puckett's contention that testing of his coveralls failed to establish the presence of human blood. The testimony was that some human protein was found but that it was not a sufficient amount to establish the type of human protein. So it was not conclusively established that there was or was not human blood on the coveralls. Additionally, David Griffis testified that Puckett was wearing zip-up coveralls on the day of the murder, but the coveralls tested were button-up coveralls. Accordingly, the jury could have inferred that the coveralls tested were not the coveralls that Puckett wore to the victim's house on the day of the murder. 

110. Puckett's final contention that the State failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the stick admitted into evidence as State's Exhibit No. 3 was in fact the murder weapon is the most incredible argument of all. Puckett himself testified that he witnessed David Griffis beat Rhonda Griffis with the stick that was admitted into evidence as State's Exhibit No. 3. Therefore, in order for the jury to believe that State's Exhibit No. 3 was not the murder weapon, Puckett is urging the jury and this Court to totally disregard his own testimony. 

111. On the other hand, the State points to the following facts which they contend provide more than sufficient evidence of Puckett's guilty verdict: (1) Puckett was fired from his job by David Griffis; (2) Puckett was seen at the scene by Nancy Hatten, David Griffis, and Jeffrey Griffis; (3) Puckett admitted holding the stick and attempting to scare away Nancy Hatten; (4) there was blood on the club he held; (5) Nancy heard a scream from the trailer before David even returned home; (6) Puckett claimed he witnessed the murder and that David Griffis was the individual who brutally beat to death Rhonda Griffis with State's Exhibit No. 3. The State maintains that Puckett's story was incredible and "[t]he jury clearly believed the circumstantial evidence and the testimony of David Griffis and Nancy Hatten." ... 

112. A review of the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, along with all inferences tending to support the verdict, reveals that there is more than enough evidence to support a guilty verdict. Although not specifically addressed by the State, this Court should find the inconsistency in Puckett's allegation that David killed Rhonda within a four or five minute time period while the physical evidence establishing that David's second 911 call was placed 18 seconds after his first 911 call was terminated, especially convincing of Puckett's guilt. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.

I object to the execution of people who are factually innocent or have some reasonable chance of being factually innocent. With respect the propriety of executing Larry Puckett, I stand mute.

The Impending Execution of Briley Piper

Briley Piper sits on death row awaiting execution by the people of South Dakota.  I provide a summary of his case by excerpting from the adverse appellate court decision in State v. Piper (2006).

Briley Piper pleaded guilty to felony murder, kidnapping, robbery in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, and grand theft. After waiving his right to a jury trial and sentencing by jury, the circuit court sentenced Piper to death by lethal injection on the murder charge. ... 

On March 12-13, 2000, Piper and two others, Elijah Page and Darrell Hoadley, kidnapped and killed Chester Allan Poage so that they could steal property from the home Poage lived in with his mother and sister in Spearfish, South Dakota. 

Piper, Page and Hoadley, all of whom were friends with each other and with Poage, met up with Poage at approximately 8:00 p.m. on March 12, 2000. Piper had informed another friend, Nathan Whartman, that Poage would give him a ride to the Job Corps facilities. Poage complied with the request for the ride, and he, along with Piper, Page and Hoadley, picked Whartman up and dropped Whartman off at Job Corps. The remaining four then went to Poage's house and played PlayStation games. While there, Piper, Page and Hoadley convinced Poage to leave his house, and the four left in Poage's 1997 Chevrolet Blazer. All four ended up at the house in which Piper, Page and Hoadley had been staying. 

Once there, Page exposed a .22 caliber pistol, which he had stolen from Poage's mother's room at the Poage residence, and ordered Poage to get on the floor. Once Poage was on the floor, Piper kicked him in the face, knocking him unconscious. While Poage was unconscious, he was tied up with a cord and sat upright in a chair. After he regained consciousness, Piper laid a tire iron across his feet to prevent him from moving, while Page made him drink a mixture containing crushed pills, beer and hydrochloric acid. During this time, Poage begged for an explanation as to why his alleged friends were doing this. In response, Page hit him in the face and told him to "shut up." While Piper and Page discussed their plan to kill Poage, which included slitting the victim's throat, Poage pleaded for his life and offered to give them everything he owned in exchange for his release. At this point, Page asked Poage for the personal identification number for his ATM card, and Poage gave it to him. 

Next, the group escorted Poage to his own vehicle, placed him in the back seat and threatened his life if he attempted to escape. Piper got in the driver's seat. The group stopped at a gas station, and then Piper drove the group to Higgins Gulch in the Black Hills, a wooded area about seven miles away from the house where Piper, Page, and Hoadley had been staying. Upon arriving at Higgins Gulch, the group forced Poage out of his vehicle into twelve-inch deep snow. Poage was forced by Piper and Page to take off all of his clothes, except his tank-top style undershirt, shoes, and socks in temperatures of about twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit. The three young men then took Poage's wallet. 

Thereafter, the three tried holding Poage down and covering him up with snow. Poage was then escorted to an icy creek, just over fifty feet from the road they had driven on to reach the gulch. Page and Piper admitted kicking him numerous times in various parts of his body and head. At one point in the attack, Poage did try to escape, but upon Piper's urging, Page recaptured him and continued to beat his near-naked body in the freezing temperatures. Poage was also made to lie in the icy creek water for a lengthy period of time. Piper later stated he had kicked Poage at the gulch a couple of times in the body and a couple of times in the head. Throughout the beatings, Piper laughed and said things like "Ohh... like that would suck" and "Ah, that's got to hurt."

At one point, Poage asked to be let into his vehicle to warm himself. The record indicates that Poage said he preferred to bleed to death in the warmth rather than freeze to death in the cold. Piper agreed to grant his request, so long as he washed the blood off of his body in the creek. After rinsing in the icy waters, Piper refused to let him warm himself in the vehicle. Instead, they continued beating and taunting Poage. 

Next, Poage was dragged back into the creek, where Piper and the others attempted to drown the victim. The co-defendants' stories diverge somewhat on the final fate of Poage. One witness stated that Piper admitted standing on Poage's neck to help Hoadley drown him, then Piper stabbed him twice or more — once by the ear and then under the chin. Piper's brief contends he did not participate in the drowning attempts or stabbings, but instead that he went back to Poage's vehicle. After the drowning attempts, stabbings, beatings and stoning, Poage was still moving. According to Piper, Hoadley threw the final rock that killed Poage, but at that point Piper was not there to personally witness this act. Both Page and Hoadley admitted they jointly dropped large rocks on Poage's head, actions which they believed finally killed him. Approximately four hours after the three kidnapped Poage, and about three hours after the beatings began at the gulch, Poage was left for dead in the creek. 

Piper drove the three away from the secluded area in Poage's vehicle, and they proceeded to discuss how they would divide Poage's property. They went to Poage's house and stole numerous items. The group then drove to Hannibal, Missouri, together. There, they visited Piper's sister, but upon her refusal to let them stay, they headed back to South Dakota. The group returned to Rapid City, South Dakota, using Poage's ATM card for cash and pawning some of Poage's property throughout the trip. Eventually, the three went their own ways. Piper ultimately ended up in his home state of Alaska. 

On April 22, 2000, over a month after the three left Poage for dead, a woman who owned land near Higgins Gulch spotted what was later determined to be Poage's remains in the creek. His body was found, clad in a sleeveless t-shirt, socks and shoes. Donald Habbe, a forensic pathologist from the Clinical Laboratory in Rapid City, performed an autopsy on the body. Habbe discovered numerous head injuries and stab wounds. Some examples of the head injuries inflicted included: stab wound to the jugular vein, another stab wound through the skull, and a complex, spider-web shaped skull fracture that measured five inches. Habbe determined the cause of death was the "stab wounds and the blunt force injury to the head." 

After the body was discovered, Piper became a suspect. Law enforcement from South Dakota tracked him down in Alaska, questioned him and arrested him for first degree murder. While still in Alaska, he gave a detailed statement describing Poage's murder and his participation in it to South Dakota law enforcement. He was subsequently extradited to South Dakota. Piper was then jailed in Lawrence County, South Dakota. He later pleaded guilty to, and was convicted of, first degree felony murder; kidnapping; robbery in the first degree; burglary in the first degree; and grand theft. A sentencing hearing began on January 17, 2001, and lasted for three days. At the hearing, the State argued for the death sentence, and Piper argued against imposing such a sentence. After argument, the circuit court ruled that the death penalty would be imposed for the first degree murder conviction. Thereafter, co-defendant Page also pleaded guilty to the same charges, and after an extensive sentencing hearing, he was also sentenced to death by the same judge. Hoadley then stood trial in front of a jury on the same charges. He was found guilty of the same charges but the jury sentenced him to life in prison. Thereafter, Piper appealed to this Court. We remanded Piper's case to the circuit court for an intra-case proportionality review after a jury sentenced co-defendant Hoadley to life imprisonment.

Since there is no doubt that Briley Piper participated in the crimes that led to the death of Chester Allan Poage, I stand mute relative to the propriety of his execution.

While Stemple Died

I went for a walk this afternoon. Writing is too sedentary and I need to walk. While the people of Oklahoma put Timothy Shaun Stemple to death, I was walking.

The sky was more noticeably blue today. The eucalyptus trees were seemingly taller and more stately than usual. The diffracted red from the hummingbird's breast made the tiny creature barely visible high in a still leafless tree.

As we humanely injected poison into Stemple's vein, I listened to Glenn Frey sing "I've Got Mine."

I more fully appreciated being alive. I suspect I won't miss it when my time comes, but it sure feels now as if I will.

I offer my condolences to everyone who has lost so much in this case. I realize that condolences can provide only minuscule comfort at best. As I was walking though, I decided I could perhaps do something more than offer condolences. I could keep trying to make a case that we have a problem with wrongful convictions.

Maybe someday that will help someone in need.