Death Row and Movies

Life in prison is an everyday occurance for those who sit and wait behind bars. Yet not all their stories can be told, some movies have brought this way of life to the big screen. This allows millions of people to view the heartbreak that comes along with it.

Dead Man Walking (1995)

Tim Robbins' movie about a convicted murderer on Death Row and the nun who befriends him addresses a controversial issue with an intensely personal look at the people involved in one such case. Through the portrayal of finely drawn characters and their interactions as the days, hours, and minutes tick down to the condemned man's execution, powerful emotions are unleashed. While Matthew Poncelet and Sister Prejean desperately try to gain a stay of execution from the governor or the courts, scenes are intercut from the brutal crime, gradually revealing the truth about the events that transpired. In addition to her temporal help, the nun also tries to reach out spiritually and assist as a guide to salvation.

The Green Mile (1999)

Paul Edgecomb is a slightly cynical veteran prison guard on Death row in the 1930's. His faith, and sanity, deteriorated by watching men live and die, Edgecomb is about to have a complete turn around in attitude. Enter John Coffey, He's eight feet tall. He has hands the size of waffle irons. He's been accused of the murder of two children... and he's afraid to sleep in a cell without a night-light. And Edgecomb, as well as the other prison guards - Brutus, a sympathetic guard, and Percy, a stuck up, perverse, and violent person, are in for a strange experience that involves intelligent mice, brutal executions, and the revelation about Coffey's innocence and his true identity.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The movie begins with Andy Dufresne being wrongly convicted, despite persistent pleas of innocence, for the murder of his wife and her lover. He is sent to the fictitious Shawshank Prison, to serve his sentence. At the prison he befriends Red (Morgan Freeman), and several other prisoners (including Brooks Hatlen, played by James Whitmore). His pre-prison, professional life as a banker, and his knowledge of accouting and income taxes earns him the trust of the captain of the guard, Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), and eventually, the warden (Bob Gunton). However, Dufresne brings a sense of civility to his prison life through his hobby of working with rocks, treating others with civility, and continually defying authorities through simple acts of decency. In the end, it is revealed that Dufresne created a tunnel out of the prison, and escapes to Mexico.

The Chamber (1996)

Having survived the hatred and bigotry that was his Klansman grandfather's only legacy, young attorney Adam Hall seeks at the last minute to appeal the old man's death sentence for the murder of two small Jewish boys 30 years before. Only four weeks before Sam Cayhall is to be executed, Adam meets his grandfather for the first time in the Mississippi prison which has held him since the crime. The meeting is predictably tense when the educated, young Mr. "Hall" confronts his venom-spewing elder, Mr. "Cayhall," about the murders. The next day, headlines run proclaiming Adam the grandson who has come to the state to save his grandfather, the infamous Ku Klux Klan bomber. While the old man's life lies in the balance, Adam's motivation in fighting this battle becomes clear as the story unfolds.

True Crime (1999)

A recovering alcoholic, womanizing reporter (Clint Eastwood), who can't stay out of trouble with his bosses (mostly because he is sleeping with their wives), inherits a human interest story about a prisoner (Isaiah Washington), who is sentenced to die at midnight for the murder of a pregnant woman who owed him $96. However, the reporter immediately figures out that the key witness lied about what he saw and believes the prisoner is innocent. He then sets out to prove his belief in the final 12 hours of the prisoner's life. James Woods appears as Eastwood's Editor-in-Chief and the only man who still believes in his talents. Denis Leary is Eastwood's direct editor, who wants him fired for his direct belligerence and teh fact that he slept with Leary's wife.

(all information and pictures courtsey of imdb.com)

Botched Executions

Although lethal injection is the most 'humane' way to execute death row inmates a number of times it has shown to be problamatic and inmates have suffered long deaths.

March 13, 1985. Texas. Stephen Peter Morin. Lethal Injection. Because of Morin's history of drug abuse, the execution technicians were forced to probe both of Morin's arms and one of his legs with needles for nearly 45 minutes before they found a suitable vein.

August 20, 1986. Texas. Randy Woolls. Lethal Injection. A drug addict, Woolls helped the execution technicians find a useable vein for the execution.

January 24, 1992. Arkansas. Rickey Ray Rector. Lethal Injection. It took medical staff more than 50 minutes to find a suitable vein in Rector's arm. Witnesses were kept behind a drawn curtain and not permitted to view this scene, but reported hearing Rector's eight loud moans throughout the process.

March 10, 1992. Oklahoma. Robyn Lee Parks. Lethal Injection. Parks had a violent reaction to the drugs used in the lethal injection. Two minutes after the drugs were dispensed, the muscles in his jaw, neck, and abdomen began to react spasmodically for approximately 45 seconds. Parks continued to gasp and violently gag until death came, some eleven minutes after the drugs were first administered.

May 7, 1992. Texas. Justin Lee May. Lethal Injection. May had an unusually violent reaction to the lethal drugs. According to one reporter who witnessed the execution, May "gasped, coughed and reared against his heavy leather restraints, coughing once again before his body froze ..."

May 10, 1994. Illinois. John Wayne Gacy. Lethal Injection. After the execution began, the lethal chemicals unexpectedly solidified, clogging the IV tube that lead into Gacy's arm, and prohibiting any further passage. Blinds covering the window through which witnesses observed the execution were drawn, and the execution team replaced the clogged tube with a new one. Ten minutes later, the blinds were then reopened and the execution process resumed. It took 18 minutes to complete.

January 23, 1996. Virginia. Richard Townes, Jr. Lethal Injection. This execution was delayed for 22 minutes while medical personnel struggled to find a vein large enough for the needle. After unsuccessful attempts to insert the needle through the arms, the needle was finally inserted through the top of Mr. Townes's right foot.

May 8, 1997. Oklahoma. Scott Dawn Carpenter. Lethal Injection. Carpenter was pronounced dead some 11 minutes after the lethal injection was administered. As the drugs took effect, Carpenter began to gasp and shake. "This was followed by a guttural sound, multiple spasms and gasping for air" until his body stopped moving, three minutes later.

June 13, 1997. South Carolina. Michael Eugene Elkins. Lethal Injection. Because Elkins's body had become swollen from liver and spleen problems, it took nearly an hour to find a suitable vein for the insertion of the catheter. Elkins tried to assist the executioners, asking "Should I lean my head down a little bit?" as they probed for a vein. After numerous failures, a usable vein was finally found in Elkins's neck.

June 8, 2000. Florida. Bennie Demps. Lethal Injection. It took execution technicians 33 minutes to find suitable veins for the execution. "They butchered me back there," said Demps in his final statement. "I was in a lot of pain. They cut me in the groin; they cut me in the leg. I was bleeding profusely. This is not an execution, it is murder." The executioners had no unusual problems finding one vein, but because Florida protocol requires a second alternate intravenous drip, they continued to work to insert another needle, finally abandoning the effort after their prolonged failures.

June 28, 2000. Missouri. Bert Leroy Hunter. Lethal Injection. Hunter had an unusual reaction to the lethal drugs, repeatedly coughing and gasping for air before he lapsed into unconsciousness. An attorney who witnessed the execution reported that Hunter had "violent convulsions. His head and chest jerked rapidly upward as far as the gurney restraints would allow, and then he fell quickly down upon the gurney. His body convulsed back and forth like this repeatedly. ... He suffered a violent and agonizing death.

Quotes to Think About

"The death penalty is no more effective a deterrent than life imprisonment..It is also evident that the burden of capital punishment falls upon the poor, the ignorant and the underprivileged members of society" - Thurgood Marshall, United States Supreme Court Justice

"Forgiving violence does not mean condoning violence. There are only two alternatives to forgiving violence: revenge or adopting an attitude of never ending bitterness and anger. For too long we have treated violence with violence, and that's why it never ends." - Corretta Scott King

"An eye for an eye makes the world blind" - Mahatma Gandhi

"Make your way to death row and speak with the tragic victims of criminality. As they prepare to make their pathetic walk to the electric chair, their hopeless cry is that society will not forgive. Capital punishment is society's final assertion that it will not forgive" - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The goverment tries to instill hatred, distrust and indifference in the public through the media. Very often, most people do not even think about the lonely and completely abandoned persons behind bars..we are sort of like; out of sight, out of mind. Truthfully, we are real people with hopes, fears and feelings. Yes, most of us have made grave mistakes and some are guilty..However, contrary to what the establishment would have the public believe, some of us are actually innocent! The bottom-line is, we all are human beings." - James Heard, death row inmate of San Quentin

Featured Prison- San Quentin

San Quentin is California's oldest prison dating back to July 1852. It lies just north of San Francisco and is surrounded by the San Francisco Bay. San Quentin is the only prison in California that houses death row inmate and puts them to death. Currently there are 669 inmates on death row. A few famous inmates are still being housed at San Quentin.

Mikhail Markhasev, convicted of killing Ennis Cosby, son of Bill Cosby

Vincent Brothers, convicted and sentenced to death in the shooting and stabbing of five family members

Jarvis Jay Masters, convicted and sentenced to death for participating in the murder of prison guard Hal Burchfield

Charles Ng, serial killer who tortured and murdered 11 people

Scott Peterson, convicted murderer of his wife Lacy and their unborn son, Conner

Some previous famous inmates:

Robert Alton Harris, first person executed in San Quentin's gas chamber

George Jackson, member of Black Panther Party, sentenced to death in 1971

Jang In-hwan, assassinated former American diplomat Durham Stevens

Charles Manson, leader of Manson family, transferred 

Sirhan Sirhan, assassin of Robert F. Kennedy, transferred

Stanley 'Tookie" Williams, leader of Crips gang, executed in 2005

Killing the Innocent

This is a very powerful video about death row inmates and their innocence. The video shows clips from the popular television show Prison Break, in which two brothers are in prison. One who is wrongfully accused of killing the vice presidents brother and the other purposely got sent to prison in order to try and break his brother out. Lincoln, an innocent man, is set to die after being set up for the murder. All the evidence is erased and a judge orders for his death sentence. 

(video compliments of YouTube user minhgurluver)

Innocence on Death Row

Since 1973, 127 people have been released and exonerated from death row based on new findings of innocence.  As of February 2008, there are 3,263 inmates sitting on death row awaiting execution. Many experts say there are a number of reasons why mistakes occur during capital cases:

- pressure to solve cases

- lack of eyewitness testimony

- heightened publicity

- limited resources

- death qualified jurors (meaning they would impose the death penalty)

- heinousness of case

Unfortunately many inmates who remain on death row are still trying to prove their innocence. Yet most people do not understand the appeal process. An inmate cannot appeal simply because he/she feels the verdict was wrong, it must be an error in the process of the case. Also, in many states their is a time limit on when an inmate can appeal his/her case if new evidence comes to light.

Along with the 127 people exonerated since 1973, an additional 11 people have been released, yet not exonerated fro, death row due to probable innocence.

With all these innocent inmates, why still have the death penalty in place? One can be easily release from prison if the conviction is overturned. Yet no one can be brought back to life after being executed if evidence proves innocence. 

Some inmates have been in partnership with the Innocence Project, trying to plead their case. The Innocence Project fights to exonerate innocent inmates through post-conviction DNA testing. Every year, the Innocence Project gets over 2,400 requests from inmates. From there they investigate cases and choose which can have DNA testing which can possibly prove innocence.