Supreme Court allows Alabama to execute 83-year-old inmate

 

Death row inmate and convicted pipe bomb killer Walter Moody, scheduled to be executed at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, U.S. on April 19, 2018, is seen in this undated Alabama Department of Corrections photo. Alabama Department of Corrections/Handout via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday denied last-minute appeals to spare the life of an 83-year-old convicted killer, clearing the path for Alabama's execution of a man who would be the oldest inmate put to death in the modern era of U.S. capital punishment.

 

The execution of Walter Moody had been scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT (2300 GMT) at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore but was delayed as the court considered the appeals.

 

The Death Penalty Information Center, which monitors U.S. capital punishment, said the oldest inmate put to death since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976 was 77-year-old John Nixon in Mississippi in December 2005.

 

There have been seven executions this year in the United States.

 

Moody was convicted of mailing a bomb in 1989 that killed U.S. Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance, 58, and another explosive that killed Georgia civil rights attorney Robert Robinson.

 

Prosecutors have said Moody sent the bomb to the judge in anger over a 1972 bomb conviction that Moody felt derailed his career, and sent the other to the civil rights lawyer to confuse investigators.

 

Lawyers for Moody asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to spare Moody's life based on his transfer from the federal court system to Alabama's.

 

The court did not offer details on why it denied the appeals.

 

Moody first received seven life sentences in a U.S. district court in 1991 for the deadly bombings. Alabama later indicted him on capital murder charges and his trial began in the state in 1996, court records showed.

 

Moody's lawyer argued the transfer to an Alabama prison was illegal and he should first serve his federal sentence.

 

Lawyers for Alabama responded that the federal government consented to the transfer and the state had the right to implement the death penalty handed out by an Alabama court.

 

Although it has not been an issue in Moody's last-minute appeals, age and poor health were major factors in a botched execution in Alabama earlier this year when the state tried to put to death Doyle Hamm, 61, who had terminal cancer and severely compromised veins.

 

The execution was called off while Hamm, who survived the ordeal, was on a death chamber gurney and medical staff could not place a line for the lethal injection.

 

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Additional reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-20

Better late than never.

 

Alabama executes inmate, 83, oldest in modern U.S. history

By David Beasley

 

Death row inmate and convicted pipe bomb killer Walter Moody, scheduled to be executed at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, U.S. on April 19, 2018, is seen in this undated Alabama Department of Corrections photo. Alabama Department of Corrections/Handout via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - Alabama on Thursday executed an 83-year-old man convicted of a deadly 1989 serial bombing spree, making him the oldest known person put to death in the modern era of U.S. capital punishment.

 

Walter Moody was put to death by lethal injection at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore and gave no final statement, prison officials said. It was the eighth execution this year in the United States.

 

Moody replaced John Nixon, who was 77 when put to death in December 2005 in Mississippi, as the oldest person executed since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which monitors U.S. capital punishment.

 

Moody was convicted of mailing a bomb in 1989 that killed U.S. Circuit Court Judge Robert Vance, 58, and another that killed Georgia civil rights attorney Robert Robinson.

 

Prosecutors have said Moody sent the bomb to the judge in anger over a 1972 bomb conviction that Moody felt derailed his career and sent another to the civil rights lawyer to confuse investigators.

 

Prosecutors have said Moody sent the bomb to the judge in anger over a 1972 bomb conviction that Moody felt derailed his career and sent another to the civil rights lawyer to confuse investigators.

 

Moody, who has spent more than 20 years on death row, has maintained his innocence and the execution was delayed as the U.S. Supreme Court considered last-minute appeals to spare his life, which the court rejected.

 

Age and poor health were major factors in a botched execution in Alabama earlier this year when the state tried to put to death Doyle Hamm, 61, who had terminal cancer and severely compromised veins.

 

The execution was called off while Hamm was on a death chamber gurney and medical staff could not place a line for the lethal injection.

 

Lawyers for Hamm called on the state not to try to execute him again and reached a settlement with Alabama in March that legal sources said would keep him out of the death chamber.

 

Moody's execution highlighted ageing U.S. death row populations that have led states to put to death 10 inmates age 70 or older since 2006, including Moody. Prior to that, there had been none in the modern era of U.S. executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

 

More than 40 percent of U.S. death row inmates are 50 years of age or older, according to the center.

 

(Reporting and writing by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Additional reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta; Editing by Peter Cooney, Sandra Maler and Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-20

1 hour ago, Ahab said:

Better late than never.

 

I love China. The guilty person stands in front of a Judge who sentences the person to death, someone comes up behind the condemned and puts a flat board down his jacket or shirt with the sentence on it and out back they go to be killed. No sitting on taxpayers money for years on end. I lived in China and watched it happen. Love them.

1 minute ago, taipan1949 said:

I love China. The guilty person stands in front of a Judge who sentences the person to death, someone comes up behind the condemned and puts a flat board down his jacket or shirt with the sentence on it and out back they go to be killed. No sitting on taxpayers money for years on end. I lived in China and watched it happen. Love them.

 

 

Do you enjoy executions?

 

2 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

 

 

Do you enjoy executions?

 

Love to see the guilty dead and not being looked after by working people's tax money.

4 minutes ago, taipan1949 said:

Love to see the guilty dead and not being looked after by working people's tax money.

 

 

Let's see, was it Lenny Bruce who said he favored execution because "how else are you gonna teach em"?

 

1 hour ago, taipan1949 said:

I love China. The guilty person stands in front of a Judge who sentences the person to death, someone comes up behind the condemned and puts a flat board down his jacket or shirt with the sentence on it and out back they go to be killed. No sitting on taxpayers money for years on end. I lived in China and watched it happen. Love them.

You love China because they don't give a person a chance to overturn what might have been a wrongful verdict. Says a lot about you and none of it is good.

1 hour ago, taipan1949 said:

Love to see the guilty dead and not being looked after by working people's tax money.

China has a conviction rate of 99.9%.

 

"Of the 1.16 million people put on trial last year [2014], Chinese courts returned a guilty verdict for all but 825 of them. You did the math right: That’s a 99.93 percent conviction rate."

 

Those Chinese cops and the Chinese legal process must be leading the world in terms of efficiency and accuracy, or there are a lot of innocent people being found guilty.  Maybe the following, from the above article, offers some insight:

 

"... in 2011 ... a Henan Province farmer named Zhao Zuohai was released from prison after serving 11 years because the woman he was convicted of murdering was actually very much alive and living at home."

1 hour ago, taipan1949 said:

Love to see the guilty dead and not being looked after by working people's tax money.

I'd vote for you...

Moody should have been executed twenty years ago. I am from Alabama and I remember this case well. The corrupt appeals system has kept this scum alive longer than any murderer should be allowed. Justice will be served when he is lethally injected.

37 minutes ago, Becker said:

You love China because they don't give a person a chance to overturn what might have been a wrongful verdict. Says a lot about you and none of it is good.

It's a numbers game, like in war, there will always be civilian casualties, no major lose for the main cause, the show must go on.

3 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

It's a numbers game, like in war, there will always be civilian casualties, no major lose for the main cause, the show must go on.

Don't worry - if they ever put you or one of your loved ones against the wall for a crime that you or they didn't commit, not everyone will find it funny or shrug their shoulders and say 'karma's a bitch'. There are those of us who still believe in basic human rights, even though some might be tempted, in your case, to shrug and say 'karma's a bitch'.

1 minute ago, RuamRudy said:

Don't worry - if they ever put you or one of your loved ones against the wall for a crime that you or they didn't commit, not everyone will find it funny or shrug their shoulders and say 'karma's a bitch'. There are those of us who still believe in basic human rights, even though some might be tempted, in your case, to shrug and say 'karma's a bitch'.

Human rights, tell that to the millions around the world that are currently suffering, like I said, its a numbers game

Moody's appeals were based on technicalities, not on some question about guilt. I . have no mercy for bombers regardless of their racist reasons. Moody should die and I pray it's painful for him.

1 minute ago, 4MyEgo said:

Human rights, tell that to the millions around the world that are currently suffering, like I said, its a numbers game

What is a numbers game? What is 'it' which justifies the tolerance of weak, corrupt justice systems penalising and killing innocent people?

Justice has no expiry date.

1 minute ago, RuamRudy said:

What is a numbers game? What is 'it' which justifies the tolerance of weak, corrupt justice systems penalising and killing innocent people?

Again, Moody's guilt was never in doubt. His appeals were based on technicalities. 

9 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Human rights, tell that to the millions around the world that are currently suffering, like I said, its a numbers game

How is no rights of appeal a numbers game?

 

PS. I'm starting to think I might be debating with a drunk person.

3 minutes ago, Becker said:

How is no rights of appeal a numbers game?

 

PS. I'm starting to think I might be debating with a drunk person.

Read all my replies before your next drink, cheers...

29 minutes ago, Malcolm Street said:

The corrupt appeals system has kept this scum alive longer than any murderer should be allowed. 

 

9 minutes ago, Malcolm Street said:

Moody's appeals were based on technicalities, not on some question about guilt. I .

I agree with you that this man should have been executed a long time ago, but lets be clear, the prolonged appeals process in the US is only done for one purpose normally, and that is so blood sucking lawyers can milk as much money out of the situation  as possible.

8 minutes ago, Andaman Al said:

Justice has no expiry date.

I hope you are correct, but the way I see many people act I remain unconvinced! 

Jesus! I didn't know Judge Napolitano was on death row. 

 

the article recalls the story of a cancer terminally ill inmate who was put to death ( botched execution..)  Sad and sick system...  Furthermore i am always hesitant to judge what is the correct sentence for anyone. It must be so hard to decide when you are a judge or a jury member.. so when you are totally uninformed of the case ( really informed i mean, not a 20 lines article..) one should not cry "kill him! kill him."  

Are they allowed to execute a 72 year old?

2 minutes ago, simon59 said:

the article recalls the story of a cancer terminally ill inmate who was put to death ( botched execution..)  Sad and sick system...  Furthermore i am always hesitant to judge what is the correct sentence for anyone. It must be so hard to decide when you are a judge or a jury member.. so when you are totally uninformed of the case ( really informed i mean, not a 20 lines article..) one should not cry "kill him! kill him."  

You would cry "kill him kill him" if he raped your daughter then cut her to pieces.

 

These days the old saying of "get off your soap box, " or ".......your pedestal" should be replaced with "get out of your armchair" or "get from behind your keyboard".

 

If a murderer gets cancer,  why would you have sympathy? He is nothing more than still a murderer but with cancer. It does not change what he did and the victims need closure in that the due punishment must be dished out. For these people you can find sympathy in the dictionary, somewhere between s**t and syphilis - and that is more sympathy than they showed their victims.

30 years of death row expenses to the state and checks out at 83. Seems like he got the last laugh.

The Doctor wants to see if he can find a vein on this guy after his last botched attempt.

Who's the oldest ?

8 hours ago, Ahab said:

Better late than never.

 

YES, Well done,as they used to say when they was using the electric back when.

 

If the proof and charges are 100% flawless, with absolutely no place for doubt regarding the guilt of the culprit.....well then the law was just applied.

 

On the other hand, the death penalty does not seem to serve as deterrence. It would be more of a lex talionis dogma, aimed to apease the families of the victim.

 

One could also doubt that the death penalty costs tax payers less, as the legal costs to the public criminal justice system when death penalty is involved, with the trials, the appeals, the appointed lawyer(s), the specific penetentiary facilities for death row inmates who wait sometimes for years....all this definately costs much more then a regular inmate serving long term or a life sentence....