STARKE — The Vatican is calling for mercy for a man scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening for killing a young Florida wildlife officer 25 years ago.
But even the pope doesn't argue that Martin Edward Grossman is innocent.
Grossman, 45, who shot and killed Margaret "Peggy'' Park, 26, on Dec. 13, 1984, "has repented and is now a changed person, having become a man of faith,'' wrote Archbishop Fernando Filoni on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI. He asked for "whatever steps may be possible to save the life of Mr. Grossman.''
Filoni wrote the letter at the behest of the chief rabbi of Israel, Shear-Yashuv Cohen.
Activists against the death penalty took up Grossman's case, including several Jewish organizations that pleaded for clemency, asking Gov. Charlie Crist to commute his sentence to life in prison.
Amnesty International said it had "serious questions about the quality of his legal representation and compelling mental health evidence that was never presented to a jury."
More than 26,000 people signed an online petition asking that Grossman's life be spared. Nobel prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel also weighed in on his behalf.
Rabbis from groups including the Rabbinical Council of America, the Aleph Institute and the National Council of Young Israel wrote to Crist on Feb. 9 asking him to spare Grossman's life because he "has shown profound remorse and regret" for the officer's murder.
"He acted under the influence of drugs and alcohol. His fatal shooting of Ms. Parks was not an act of premeditation but of panic," the letter said. "He has transformed himself from a deeply troubled teenager into a gentle and simple man, a proud practitioner of his faith and a humble servant of God."
A spokesman for the governor said that by Friday night the office had received more than 9,443 e-mails and more than 7,849 phone calls about the Grossman case.
Source: tampabay.com, Feb. 16, 2010
US Jews rush to stay execution
Execution of FL death row inmate "long overdue," says victim’s mother.
NEW YORK – A coalition of Orthodox Jewish groups is appealing for clemency on behalf of a Jewish inmate on Florida’s death row who is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday night.
Martin Grossman (left) was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a Florida wildlife officer in 1984, when the officer found Grossman, then 19, and a 17-year-old friend shooting a stolen handgun inside a nature preserve. But, arguing that Grossman’s crime was not premeditated, and committed while Grossman was mentally impaired and on drugs, the Jewish groups are asking for a 60-day reprieve, in order to prepare another appeal and explore legal options.
“He has conducted himself as a model prisoner since his incarceration some 25 years ago and has shown profound remorse and regret for his actions,” the groups, including the National Council of Young Israel, Agudath Israel of America and the Orthodox Union, said in a statement. Grossman, they argued, should “be permitted to serve his debt to society by serving the rest of his life in prison.”
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger, citing “new evidence,” also wrote to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, according to a letter publicized by Yeshiva World News.
“I am convinced that there is sufficient cause to at least delay this execution until all evidence and legal arguments are presented,” hewrote.
With Grossman sitting on death row for decades, the groups sprung into action on January 12, when Crist signed Grossman’s death warrant.
Source: The Jerusalem Post, Feb. 16, 2010
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