Paul Rhoades is set to be put to death by lethal injection
The US state of Idaho should prevent its 1st execution in 17 years, Amnesty International has urged ahead of tomorrow's planned execution of a death row prisoner.
Paul Rhoades, 54, is due to be put to death by lethal injection on Friday, in what would be Idaho's 1st execution since 1994, and only its 2nd in more than half a century.
"The execution of Paul Rhoades looms at a time when many in the USA are questioning the death penalty and when a clear majority of countries have turned against judicial killing," said Rob Freer, Amnesty International's USA researcher.
Paul Rhoades has been on death row for nearly a quarter of a century. He was arrested on 25 March 1987 and charged with three separate murders committed over the previous month. He was sentenced to death a year later.
The Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole has refused to hold a clemency hearing for Paul Rhoades.
He had sought the hearing and a commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
His petition stated: "Over the past 24 years, I learned that repentance is the only positive way to express my guilt and remorse. For me, repentance means finding ways to make amends for my actions, even if those efforts seem inconsequential in comparison to the crimes I committed--I try to make amends by helping others move from anger toward reconciliation."
A number of Rhoades' fellow inmates submitted letters in support of clemency saying he had changed their lives by persuading them to turn away from violence or by helping them in other ways.
"The death penalty rejects any notion of reconciliation or rehabilitation, labelling the condemned prisoner as an object to be toyed with and discarded. This is a punishment that offers no constructive solutions to violent crime,” said Rob Freer.
Lawyers for Paul Rhoades are challenging Idaho’s lethal injection procedures, including the selection and training of the execution team. On Monday, a federal judge refused to issue a stay of execution. The issue is now before the US Court of Appeals.
Paul Rhoades’ childhood was marked by physical, psychological and emotional abuse. In 2006, a psychologist described his as "a damaged human being with little opportunity to be a healthy adult”.
The judges who imposed the death sentences on Rhoades did not have the full picture about his background and severe addiction to the drug methamphetamine.
Rhoades' victims were school teacher Susan Michelbacher and convenience store clerks Stacy Baldwin and Nolan Haddon.
He received 2 death sentences for the murders of Stacy Baldwin and Susan Michelbacher, and life imprisonment for the murder of Nolan Haddon.
There are 14 people under sentence of death in Idaho. The last execution, of Keith Wells in 1994, was the first in the state since 1957. Keith Wells had given up appeals against his death sentence.
There have been 42 executions in the USA this year and 1,276 since judicial killing resumed there in 1977.
Source: Amnesty International, November 17, 2011
The Final Hours of Paul Ezra Rhoades
Prior to scheduled execution death row inmate meets with spiritual advisers and family
Sometime Wednesday, a medical team will take a needle and prick the arm of an individual inside the F Block of the Idaho Maximum Security Institute. No, it's not the premature execution of Paul Ezra Rhoades, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Friday morning. Instead an Idaho Department of Correction staff member will be pretending to be Rhoades as the men and women who will carry out Friday's execution go through one of the final rehearsals before Friday.
"We are going through the entire process, word-by-word, minute-by-minute,"? IDOC Director Brent Reinke told Citydesk. "We run all the way through it and debrief, and then we run through it again and debrief."
In one of his final interviews before Friday's planned execution Reinke told Citydesk that Rhoades has had regular visits from 4 individuals.
"His spiritual adviser has been seeing him on a regular basis," said Reinke. "His attorney has been regularly meeting with him, and his mother and sister have visited him every day since last Thursday."
On Thursday, Rhoades' personal belongings will be taken and inventoried and apart from his clothes, Rhoades will be allowed only one religious item.
"He's been spending a lot of time with the Bible and an additional book, which is scripture-based," said Reinke. "He's concerned about when his last visits will be from his spiritual adviser and his mother and sister. I expect that his attorney will be spending a good part of Thursday night with him."
Rhoades' last meal will not be out of the ordinary.
"I think he was concerned about setting some kind of precedence with his last meal, so he's opted to have what the rest of the prisoner population will be eating," said Reinke. "We'll probably put some ice cream on the tray for him. That's a bit unusual, but we know that he likes strawberry ice cream. During the night, we'll offer him a final snack, some crackers and cheese, to help settle his stomach."
Rhoades will also be offered a sedative a couple of times through Thursday night and early Friday.
Source: Boise Weekly, November 15, 2011
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