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Corbett signs another death warrant, though PA hasn't executed anyone since '99
Terrance Williams, the Philly man who was convicted of killing two people in 1984, just joined 202 other people on Pennsylvania's execution list — a list that only seems to grow, as Gov. Corbett keeps signing execution warrants (just like Ed Rendell did before him). No one has actually been executed in the state since 1999 — and then it was an inmate who had waived his rights to appeal. The last involuntary execution in Pennsylvania was in 1962.
Corbett signs another death warrant, though PA hasn't executed anyone since '99
Terrance Williams, the Philly man who was convicted of killing two people in 1984, just joined 202 other people on Pennsylvania's execution list — a list that only seems to grow, as Gov. Corbett keeps signing execution warrants (just like Ed Rendell did before him). No one has actually been executed in the state since 1999 — and then it was an inmate who had waived his rights to appeal. The last involuntary execution in Pennsylvania was in 1962.
Whether capital punishment can be considered a deterrent to crime, especially when it is never deployed, is of course a longstanding topic of debate. And as the Inquirer has reported over and over, the poor quality of defense counsel in capital cases in Philadelphia in many cases often leads to tragic missteps — and opens the door for appeals. Meanwhile, death row accommodations for a couple hundred have cost the state more than $27 million since 1999, or $10,000 more per inmate above the state's average per-inmate cost, according to the Morning Call.
In the case of Williams — whose execution date was set for Oct. 3, 2012 — attorney Shawn Nolan has issued a statement saying the jury didn't get the full story. Says Nolan, Assistant Chief, Capital Habeas Unit, Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania:
“Most Pennsylvanians would agree that the death penalty is the punishment for the worst of the worst offenders, not for traumatized victims of sexual abuse who strike back at their abusers. Terry Williams’ story is one of horrific childhood sexual and physical abuse. A victim of sexual abuse since the age of 6, Terry was preyed on repeatedly by older males throughout his childhood. Born into poverty, with a violently abusive mother and no father, Terry was vulnerable and victimized by a series of predators. Deeply traumatized from the sexual and physical abuse, at the ages of 17 and 18, Terry killed two of those predators. Terry is profoundly remorseful for these crimes.
“Unfortunately, the jury at Terry’s capital trial didn’t hear about his abusive childhood or that the two men he killed were two of his abusers. Also, jurors mistakenly believed that if they sentenced Terry to life in prison he would be eligible for parole. Several jurors now say they would have voted for life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of death if they had known this important information.
"Terry’s case is unique, and Terry is deserving of mercy. We hope that those with the power to prevent this injustice will agree that Terry’s death sentence should be commuted to life without the possibility of parole.”
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