Signing the bill to repeal the death penalty in New Mexico was "the most difficult decision of my political life" Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday shortly after 6 p.m.
"Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do
not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently
operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who
dies for their crime," Richardson said. "If the state is going to
undertake this awesome responsibility, the system to impose this
ultimate penalty must be perfect and can never be wrong."
Richardson, once a strong supporter of capital punishment, did not
finally decide to sign House Bill 285 until after a visit to the state
penitentiary south of Santa Fe.
There he saw the "death house," in which child killer Terry Clark was lethally injected in November 2001.
There he saw and made eye contact with Farmington killer Robert Fry, one of two inmates awaiting execution in New Mexico.
There he saw Michael Astorga, awaiting trial in the death of a
Bernalillo County deputy. Richardson once said Astorga deserved to be
executed.
"I wanted to see what life imprisonment without parole might be,"
the governor told reporters at the bill signing. "I wanted to see these
Level 6 cells. I wanted to see the death chamber. I asked questions
about the humanity of the death chamber. I wanted to talk to the
corrections officers."
The corrections officers, Richardson said, all told him that capital punishment was a deterrent to crime inside the prison.
But after seeing the cells where death row inmates are housed,
Richardson said, "I came to the conclusion that those cells may be
worse than death."
Thus he said he believes that life in prison without parole — which
in HB285 replaces the death penalty as the ultimate punishment in New
Mexico — is a "just punishment."
But Richardson said he's still wrestling with whether he's for or
against the death penalty — and whether he made the correct decision.
He said he wouldn't commute the sentences of the two death-row
inmates — Fry and Timothy Allen. The appeals process for the two still
have not played out and their executions are years away, lawyers have
said.
Allen of Bloomfield was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder,
rape and kidnapping. Fry of Farmington was convicted in 2002 of two
counts of first-degree murder; two counts of kidnapping; one count of
rape; two counts of tampering with evidence; and a count of attempted
robbery with a deadly weapon.
Before his prison visit, Richardson went to Mass, he said. Sitting
beside him at the table where he signed the bill was Bishop Ricardo
Ramirez of Las Cruces. (Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe was out
of the country, Ramirez said.)
"Life without parole renders the prisoner harmless to society,"
Ramirez said, "and that is part of what our teachings tell us we should
strive for — protection for society and respect for all life."
Those whose lives have been personally touched by capital
punishment had different reactions when interviewed Wednesday after
Richardson signed the repeal.
Colleen Gore — mother of the 9-year-old Artesia girl, Dena Lynn
Gore, who was murdered in 1986 by Clark — said in a telephone interview
she believes Richardson was grandstanding by signing the repeal. "I
think he just wants to make a name for himself like Anaya," she said,
referring to former Gov. Toney Anaya, who made national headlines in
1986 when he commuted the sentences of all five men who were on death
row at the time.
Gore said she met with Richardson on Monday to urge him to veto the bill. "He acted like he was listening to me," she said.
Gore said before Clark went to trial, prosecutors gave her family
the choice whether to pursue the death penalty. "This bill takes away
choice for the families," she said.
Richardson at the bill-signing talked about his meeting with Gore
as well as the family of Bernalillo County Deputy Sheriff James McGrane
Jr., who allegedly was killed by Astorga.
"I say to them, I hope I made the right the decision," the governor
said. "I assure them that (life in prison without parole) is a very
severe punishment."
But one former inmate in the state prison applauded Richardson's action.
Ron Keine was one of four members of the Vagos motorcycle gang who
were convicted in 1974 for murdering William Velten. He and his friends
were on death row for nearly two years before the real killer
confessed. Keine is the last of the four Vagos alive.
Contacted at his Michigan home Wednesday, Keine said, "I'm very
happy. This is a long time coming. Better late than never. It's about
time that the policies of New Mexico catch up with the modern world."
But Keine warned that pro-death-penalty forces may try to bring
back capital punishment in years to come. "I hope the (New Mexico
Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty) doesn't let down its guard. Two
years ago they tried to bring it back in Wisconsin."
Earlier on Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who is running for
governor in 2010, released a statement urging Richardson to sign the
bill. "But we must do everything in our power to bring justice to those
convicted of murder," Denish said. "Therefore, I support replacing the
death penalty with a sentence of life in prison with no chance of
parole. If you've committed murder, you will be behind bars the rest of
your life, no exceptions. I will continue working with our police
officers and prosecutors and with victims' families to make sure
justice is served."
Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.———
