moominmuppet

Access this story and related links online:
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=19580

The Florida Supreme Court yesterday rejected three attorneys' request to block the execution of Paul Hill, who has been sentenced to death for the murder of a Pensacola, Fla., abortion provider and clinic escort, the Miami Herald reports (Clark, Miami Herald, 8/28). Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) last month signed the death warrant for Hill, who in 1994 shot and killed Dr. John Bayard Britton and his bodyguard, James Barrett, and injured Britton's wife, June. Hill dropped his death penalty appeals soon after he was sentenced to the death penalty and has said that he believes his death would lead to an increase in violence against abortion providers and therefore would prevent future abortions (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 8/22). In the appeal filed on Tuesday, attorneys Michael Mello, a professor at Vermont Law School; Roger Frechette of New Haven, Conn.; and antiabortion advocate Michael Hirsh of Kennesaw, Ga., argued that Hill cannot be executed until he has served the two life sentences handed down by a federal court for the same convictions. Mello said, "If words mean anything at all, consecutive means consecutive," adding that the state sentencing order says that Hill will serve his death sentence "consecutive to" the federal sentences, according to the Herald (Clark, Miami Herald, 8/27). The state Supreme Court unanimously rejected the appeal as "unauthorized," saying that the attorneys -- all of whom formerly represented Hill -- could not file an appeal on Hill's behalf without Hill's permission (Miami Herald, 8/28). According to the court, the attorneys would have to demonstrate why Hill cannot "seek relief on his own" before an appeal could be filed, according to the AP/Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Chief Justice Harry Anstead said that he would have rejected the appeal on its merits even if it had been authorized (AP/Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 8/27).

Execution Likely To Go On

One of the attorneys who filed the appeal said that future appeals on Hill's behalf are unlikely, the Herald reports. Mello said, "There comes a point in capital litigation when the better part of valor is to stop and let the person prepare to die" (Miami Herald, 8/28). Hill's execution is scheduled for Sept. 3, and Bush has "vowed" to carry it out as planned, according to the Herald. On Tuesday, Bush said, "In my mind [Hill] is a murderer, not a martyr. He brutally murdered two people in premeditated fashion. He admits his guilt and his appeals have been waived. He, I believe, should be executed and that's what is going to happen" (Miami Herald, 8/27).

Earlier Developments

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty on Aug. 15 sent a letter to Bush asking him to commute Hill's death sentence, saying that Hill's execution could lead to an increase in violence against abortion providers.

In the FADP letter, Director Abraham Bonowitz wrote, "By exterminating Paul Hill, the State of Florida will play into [Hill's] hands by making him a martyr." In addition, Pensacola Circuit Judge Frank Bell, who sentenced Hill to death, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist (R), Corrections Secretary James Crosby and Prison Warden Joseph Thompson have each received letters from an unknown source protesting Hill's execution and including death threats and bullets. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the United State Postal Service are investigating the letters.

If executed, Hill will be the first antiabortion advocate to be put to death for an antiabortion-related homicide (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 8/22).

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/nation/6640259.htm
http://www.prolifeinfo.com/nat83.html (an article from a pro-life site that repudiates Hill, and talks about the concern of additional violence)

Some links about Clayton Lee Waagner (now imprisoned):
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/waagner.htm
http://www.choice.org/waagner.html
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=8411
http://www.armyofgod.com/Claytonsmessage.html (Clayton's actual threat message)