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Tag: florida execution

  • Inmate IQ Scores: A Factor In Executions?

    Executions in the United States are becoming increasingly controversial. While accusations of cruelty and racism play a major part in opposing capital punishment, some also feel that special attention must be paid to sentencing mental ill or handicapped individuals.

    One man is claiming that the state of Florida should not be able to put him to death because an intellectual disability.

    Death row inmate Freddy Lee Hall states that he is mentally handicapped, having been declared so since childhood. He allegedly has an IQ of 71. In the state of Florida, one needs to possess an IQ of 70 or better to be subject to the death penalty.

    Hall argues that he likely falls within the five point “margin of error” than many psychiatrists claim exists for tested IQs, making it possible he falls below the minimum IQ number. His lawyer Seth Waxman adds that the courts simply cannot ignore the margin of error; an attempt to put him to death under such circumstances would violate Hall’s constitutional rights.

    Hall also raises the question of whether or not an IQ test alone is enough to accuratrly determine one’s level mental deficiency.

    Hall was convicted for the rape and murder of a pregnant woman and has been in jail awaiting his execution for 35 years, roughly five years longer than the anticipated maximum in Florida.

    Should his appeal fail, he will likely be executed shortly thereafter.

    Allen Windsor, a lawyer representing Florida, counters Hall’s claim by saying Hall meet’s the state’s IQ minimum. According to him, because things have been done a certain way in the state for years, there’s no need to consider changing them. Apparently, tradition takes precedent over a need to revisit a possible violation of the Constitution.

    Windsor also cites the burden of evidence that the state successfully met in proving that Hall was guilty of his crime.

    There is no doubt that the evidence proved guilt, however the issue is not whether or not Hall is guilty of a crime; it is whether or not he meets reasonable requirements that would allow the state of Florida to put him to death.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Florida Execution: Juan Carlos Chavez Is Dead

    Juan Carlos Chavez was executed in Florida on Wednesday night for a crime he committed 18 years ago. Chavez remained silent as he approached the death chamber. The execution was delayed two hours due to a reconsideration appeal to the Supreme Court for a request for stay, which was denied. Chavez was found guilty of kidnapping, sexual battery, and the murder of a young boy.

    On September 11, 1995, 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce went missing. The child’s disappearance sparked  an investigation across South Florida that spanned months. Police finally caught up with Chavez, who confessed to abducting, raping, and killing Ryce.

    Three months after the boy’s abduction, Chavez’s landlady found evidence in a trailer where Chavez was staying. She discovered Ryce’s bag and her own revolver, which Chavez has stolen from her home and used as the murder weapon. Police interrogated Chavez, which led to his confession. Chavez then led the police to the location of Ryce’s remains, which were placed in planters and sealed with concrete.

    Since the murder, Ryce’s parents have focused their attention on turning the death of their son into something positive. They started a foundation geared towards implementing stronger rulings and procedures when it comes to missing child cases. The foundation has also contributed canines to assist officers when looking for children who are missing.

    Hours before the execution, a spiritual advisor visited Chavez who was reported to appear calm. His last meal consisted of French fries, a ribeye steak, strawberry ice cream, mango juice, and a fruit cup.

    At 8:02 p.m. on Wednesday, Chavez lay on the gurney in the death chamber awaiting his execution with his ankles and wrists strapped and a sheet covering his body. Chavez refused to make a final statement. The drugs were then injected into his arms, and he was dead within a few minutes. The corrections official announced Chavez’s official time of death at 8:17 p.m.

    Execution press conference

    Image via YouTube

  • Florida Execution Reignites Death Penalty Debate

    The Florida execution of a confessed murderer yesterday has again caused tempers to flare on both sides of the death penalty debate.

    In fact, a last minute, last resort appeal was made on behalf of the confessed murderer, Juan Carlos Chavez, by his lawyers, but was unsuccessful.

    The accused confessed to the 1995 rape, murder, and dismemberment of 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce.

    The young boy was kidnapped from his school bus and led at gunpoint to Chavez’s trailer. Chavez then raped the young boy and shot him when he tried to escape. Chavez panicked, and proceeded to cut the boy’s body into several small pieces and hid the pieces in cement planters. All this happened while his parents and search parties were combing the area in desperation to find Jimmy.

    Some say that the death penalty is wrong, no exception. Others say that people like this deserve to die. They say that monsters like this should not even be given the slightest glimmer of hope that they will ever be free to hurt anyone again.

    One person who believes the latter is Jimmy’s brother, Ted Ryce, who attended the execution of his brother’s killer, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

    “Many people have asked why I decided to come today. I did not come today to celebrate Juan Carlos’s execution…. Many people did not believe that Juan Carlos Chavez should be put to death for his horrible crime of raping and murdering my brother Jimmy Ryce. I believe this comes from a place of weakness, not strength. It comes from not being able to face the atrociousness of some men’s actions and punish them on a level commensurate with their crime.”

    He added, “But we must be strong. We must do what it takes to send a clear message to other child predators that if they go after children, if they kill children, that they will die at the executioner’s hands. Today will bring no closure for my family. As my father has stated, ‘Closure does not exist,’ but the justice served this day after a painful 19 years will end the chapter on this part of our life and now we look forward to moving on.”

    What do you think about the death penalty for murderers like Juan Carlos Chavez? Do you think people who rape and murder children should be allowed to live, or should they be killed so that there is no chance of them ever being a danger to society again?

    Image via YouTube