News Update: Hill/Muhammad Execution

From: Mark Elliott,
Spokesperson, FADP - Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
c/p (727) 215-9646
Fax (727) 397-6245
mark@fadp.org

Friends,

Important news about the ClarenceHill/Razzaq Muhammad execution.

The vigil at Raiford last night was attended by over 50 concerned Floridians from diverse religious, ethnic and racial backgrounds…united in their opposition to the Death Penalty. A bus from the Orlando Diocese brought several dozen folks, picking them up at cities across mid-Florida. There were local vigils held around the state.

Read More

Clarence E Hill/Bro. Razzaq Muhammad in his own words

Friends,
I just received this letter from Christine McDonald. (Note - What happens in Florida’s execution chamber is hidden from view by curtains, until all is ready. In the chamber are usually two prison guards and a prison official. An FDLE agent is present nearby as an observer, but is not allowed to take notes or make a report. No records are kept and no photos taken. Florida does not allow family members or friends of the condemned prisoner in the execution chamber theater seats - usually, only original victim’s family members and witnesses from the press. A buffet is served.

Mark

Clarence E Hill/Bro. Razzaq Muhammad in his own words:

“Yes, they strapped me down to their cross and they put the killing needles in my
arms and blood had run all down on the floor when they had to take them out nearly
two hours later. They kept me strapped to this cross from 5:30 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. I
was in so much pain the whole time and they walked all around me, looking at me
strapped down and in pain and they were all dressed in their Sunday best clothes and
they all came to witness a killing. I saw all of them watching me and talking, but no
one were there to help me, only to see me killed. They are not human beings because no human being could stand to kill a man or watch a man being killed in this way.
And one of them was a woman who I have seen and have talked to many times. She
help to strap me to this cross to kill me. But Almighty Allah said No this will not be
done. And freed me from their evil and gave me the needed strength to get up and
walk out of there with my head held high. No human being can do this to another and go home and eat dinner with their family.
I was in great pain the whole time, but I did not cry out for their help. I gave
praise to Allah my creator and my only words for the two long painful hours was:
“Ashhadu Allaa Illaaha Illallaah. Ashhadu Anna Muhammadur Rasoolullah.”
Meaning {I bear witness there is no God but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is
the Messenger of Allah.} Those are my only words.”
Clarence E Hill/Bro. Razzaq Muhammad

Add your voice of protest

The National Coalition Against the Death Penalty will send a letter in your name. Go to their website (www.ncadp.org), click on the name of Clarence Hill under “Imminent Executions,” and follow the instructions.

Review of the physical Florida Death Row

Visit Dale S Ricinella’s website [under Other Organizations] and read his discription of the living conditions in Florida’s Death Row.

Florida lawmakers need to pass the DNA testing bill …

Tallahassee Democrat

published May 1, 2006

Justice, senators?
Pass the DNA testing bill Read More

A matter of law and death

A matter of law and death
A St. Petersburg Times Editorial
Published April 10, 2006

As much as Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature would like to provide death row inmates with representation on the cheap, Florida courts are nobly standing in the way. The latest ruling by a circuit court in Leon County rejects an attempt by lawmakers to punish lawyers who provide their clients with legal assistance beyond a set number of compensated hours. It is a victory for due process and the proper administration of justice.

If this state has learned anything through the multiple exonerations of prisoners through DNA evidence, it is that the criminal justice system is fallible. Providing additional due process before taking a prisoner’s life helps ensure that the right person was convicted and the procedure was fair.

But for years the governor has tried to find ways to handicap the attorneys who do post-conviction death penalty appeals. He and Republican lawmakers have been frustrated by the success rate of the state offices of Capital Collateral Regional Counsel in suspending executions and getting death sentences set aside due to faulty process.

In 2003, Bush engineered the closure of one of the three highly specialized CCRC offices, replacing it with a list of private lawyers who generally had little experience handling death row appeals. The attorneys who signed up to be on the registry had to promise to limit their representation to 840 compensated hours. It was a figure that didn’t come close to the number of hours that an average death penalty case requires, which was closer to 3,000. The idea was to provide a lawyer, but not a very good one. Last year, Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero described the legal work of the registry lawyers as “the worst lawyering I’ve seen.”

The cap on fees was a clear attempt to keep attorneys from providing their clients with the full defense they are entitled to and was soon abrogated by the Florida Supreme Court. But not to be outmaneuvered, the Legislature came right back and adjusted the law to bar any attorney who requested fees above the stated maximums from remaining on the state registry. Late last month, Leon Circuit Judge Terry Lewis set aside that provision, too.

There is no reason for the state to appeal this latest ruling. Florida courts are not going to allow the Legislature to direct attorneys to violate their professional responsibilities toward their clients.

Experience has demonstrated that post-conviction death penalty work is most effectively handled by lawyers who specialize in the practice. To its credit, the Legislature is considering legislation (H.B. 325, C.S./S.B. 360) to substantially raise the minimum standards for all registry attorneys. Still, the CCRC model serves justice and Florida’s court system best. The state should reopen the office that was closed.