mlyonsd
05-12-2005, 08:19 AM
Courts Hear Arguments in Conn. Execution
Thursday, May 12, 2005
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HARTFORD, Conn. — As federal and state judges heard arguments Wednesday on last-minute attempts to prevent New England's first execution in 45 years, serial killer Michael Ross (search (javascript:siteSearch('Michael Ross');)) told those same courts he is ready to die.
During a state Supreme Court (search (javascript:siteSearch('Supreme Court');)) hearing, Ross' attorney read an affidavit in which Ross said he does not "authorize, endorse, concur in or approve of any legal pleadings or petitions" filed on his behalf to stop the execution scheduled for 2 a.m. Friday.
The court then rejected an appeal from Ross' sister, Donna Dunham (search (javascript:siteSearch('Donna Dunham');)), who was seeking status to act on her brother's behalf.
Two appeals were filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday to block the execution: one by Dunham's attorney and the other by an attorney representing Ross' father.
The latter appeal, filed by Antonio Ponvert III, claimed that Ross' execution amounts to state-assisted suicide and would have such a negative effect on suicidal prisoners that a "suicide contagion" would result among the state's inmates.
"These prisoners will try to kill themselves in the hours, days and weeks following Michael's death," the suit states.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal dismissed the notion the execution amounted to a state-assisted suicide because Ross decided to forgo his appeals. He vowed to fight the suit.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney (search (javascript:siteSearch('Christopher Droney');)) did not indicate when he would rule on either suit but said he was keeping the federal courthouse open until late Wednesday.
Ponvert also sent a letter to Gov. M. Jodi Rell, asking her to stop the execution and order an investigation into whether the execution procedure has legal or ethical problems.
Rell's spokesman, Dennis Schain, said the governor had no plans to stop the execution.
Ross, 45, was sentenced to death for murdering four young women in eastern Connecticut in the early 1980s and has confessed to four other murders in Connecticut and New York.
Last year, he decided to end his appeals and accept his death sentence. He was hours away from being put to death in January, when his attorney, under pressure from a federal judge, asked for a new hearing to examine his competency.
A Superior Court judge again found him competent after a hearing last month, and the state Supreme Court earlier this week upheld that ruling.
Dunham's attorney, Diane Polan, had argued that Ross has been coerced into deciding to die by his own narcissism and the harsh conditions of living on death row.
"Saying he is competent is not the same as saying he's capable," Polan said.
Polan opted not to appeal the state Supreme Court ruling, but did bring an almost identical federal lawsuit before Droney on Wednesday afternoon.
The state's high court also has rejected requests by Ross' father and the state's public defenders to intervene and file appeals against Ross' wishes.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
http://www.foxnews.com/images/service_ap_36.gif
HARTFORD, Conn. — As federal and state judges heard arguments Wednesday on last-minute attempts to prevent New England's first execution in 45 years, serial killer Michael Ross (search (javascript:siteSearch('Michael Ross');)) told those same courts he is ready to die.
During a state Supreme Court (search (javascript:siteSearch('Supreme Court');)) hearing, Ross' attorney read an affidavit in which Ross said he does not "authorize, endorse, concur in or approve of any legal pleadings or petitions" filed on his behalf to stop the execution scheduled for 2 a.m. Friday.
The court then rejected an appeal from Ross' sister, Donna Dunham (search (javascript:siteSearch('Donna Dunham');)), who was seeking status to act on her brother's behalf.
Two appeals were filed in U.S. District Court Wednesday to block the execution: one by Dunham's attorney and the other by an attorney representing Ross' father.
The latter appeal, filed by Antonio Ponvert III, claimed that Ross' execution amounts to state-assisted suicide and would have such a negative effect on suicidal prisoners that a "suicide contagion" would result among the state's inmates.
"These prisoners will try to kill themselves in the hours, days and weeks following Michael's death," the suit states.
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal dismissed the notion the execution amounted to a state-assisted suicide because Ross decided to forgo his appeals. He vowed to fight the suit.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney (search (javascript:siteSearch('Christopher Droney');)) did not indicate when he would rule on either suit but said he was keeping the federal courthouse open until late Wednesday.
Ponvert also sent a letter to Gov. M. Jodi Rell, asking her to stop the execution and order an investigation into whether the execution procedure has legal or ethical problems.
Rell's spokesman, Dennis Schain, said the governor had no plans to stop the execution.
Ross, 45, was sentenced to death for murdering four young women in eastern Connecticut in the early 1980s and has confessed to four other murders in Connecticut and New York.
Last year, he decided to end his appeals and accept his death sentence. He was hours away from being put to death in January, when his attorney, under pressure from a federal judge, asked for a new hearing to examine his competency.
A Superior Court judge again found him competent after a hearing last month, and the state Supreme Court earlier this week upheld that ruling.
Dunham's attorney, Diane Polan, had argued that Ross has been coerced into deciding to die by his own narcissism and the harsh conditions of living on death row.
"Saying he is competent is not the same as saying he's capable," Polan said.
Polan opted not to appeal the state Supreme Court ruling, but did bring an almost identical federal lawsuit before Droney on Wednesday afternoon.
The state's high court also has rejected requests by Ross' father and the state's public defenders to intervene and file appeals against Ross' wishes.