 |
The day before Arizona's Board of Executive
Clemency had reviewed Karl LaGrand's final appeal, Governor Hull declared
that she would reject any recommendation for a reprieve.
[33] In
Walter's case, she awaited the Board's final recommendation on execution
day before announcing her decision.
At the hearing "LaGrand apologized for his crime. 'First of all, I want to say I'm sorry,'
he said, fighting back tears.
'Second of all, I know the other side now. I haven't had any
loved ones in my life but Karl, so I understand what it is to lose
a loved one now." He also told board members he was ready
to die for his crimes."
[34] On a 2-1 vote, the Board asked
the Governor to delay the execution for 60 days to allow the ICJ
an opportunity to review Germany's claims. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer both telephoned Governor Hull
asking her to stop the execution. Instead, the Governor announced her belief that LaGrand had enjoyed
all the rights to which he was entitled--the same afforded to U.S.
nationals. "In the interests of justice
and with the victims in mind, I have decided to allow the execution
to go forward," she announced, noting a duty to uphold
state law. She professed
respect for Germany's law, expressed hope that the German public
would respect Arizona law, and did not anticipate any problem for
the state's image abroad. |
LaGrand rejected the state's offer of lethal injection, choosing a more painful death as a protest against capital punishment. In a final statement he said: "To all of you here today, I forgive you and I hope I can be forgiven in my next life." He was pronounced dead 18-minutes after cyanide pellets were dropped in distilled water and sulfuric acid under his chair. A witness reported that LaGrand coughed a few times "Then his head dropped, but the body continued its contortions." [35] Germany's Justice Minister Herta Daubler-Gmelin declared: "This is barbaric and unworthy of a state based on the rule of law." [36] Ken Hartsock Jr. and Dawn Lopez felt the execution was justly deserved and long overdue.
Answer Self Assessment Questions IV. Numbers 17-21
