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Thread: Steven Frederick Spears - Georgia Execution - November 16, 2016

  1. #31
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Georgia inmate forgoes appeals ahead of execution for 2001 murder

    A Georgia man scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for the 2001 choking death of his ex-girlfriend is not pursuing appeals and refuses to discuss his legal options, his lawyer said in an interview.

    Steven Spears, 54, could halt his lethal injection if he decided to file state and federal appeals still available to him, according to his lawyer, Allyn Stockton.

    But the death row inmate has not communicated with Stockton in about a year and refused to accept the last letter Stockton sent him in prison, leading the lawyer to believe his client has lost the will to live.

    "That's the only way I can think of this," Stockton said.

    The execution is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET (0000 GMT) at the state prison in Jackson, about 50 miles (80 km) south of Atlanta.

    If carried out, Spears would be the 18th person put to death this year in the United States and the eighth in Georgia, the most of any state, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

    Spears told police he killed Sherri Holland, 34, because he suspected she was dating someone else, according to court records.

    He said he hid in her son's bedroom until the early hours of Aug. 25, 2001, and then attacked Holland, binding her hands and feet with duct tape while he choked her.

    "Last thing she said was she loved me," Spears told police. "Swear to God, that's the last thing she said. Last words came out of her mouth."

    Spears, who was arrested after hiding out in the woods for 10 days, also said "If I had to do it again, I’d do it," according to the court synopsis.

    He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2007. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence in 2015 after an automatic appeal.

    On Tuesday, Spears' lawyer asked Georgia's pardons and paroles board to stop the execution, arguing the inmate possesses "some good human qualities" including kindness and intelligence.

    Spears' ex-wife, Gwen Thompson, said in a court petition on Monday that mental illness rather than rational decision-making had caused Spears to abandon his appeals.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-us...-idUSKBN13B1DV

  2. #32
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Court dismisses ex-wife’s petition to stop Steven Spears’ execution

    A Butts County judge has dismissed a petition brought by the third ex-wife of Steven Spears, writing the condemned man was competent and capable of making a decision not to appeal his death sentence, which is scheduled to be carried out at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

    Spears has said since he murdered his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, in 2001 that he wanted the death sentence. In an interview with a psychiatrist on Tuesday, Spears explained that his decision was rational, and he didn’t have a death wish.

    “Would you want to live in six by nine cell?” Spears said in an interview with a psychiatrist hired by the state, according to court filings. “That’s not living. … Everything I do, I’ve got to get permission to do.

    “I don’t want to live like I’m living. It’s like a cancer eating me up every day,” Spears said according to the psychiatrist’s report.

    Other than an automatic appeal that was filed after his conviction, Spears has refused to let lawyers challenge his sentence. Even at trial, he would not authorize his lawyers to present evidence that might have pushed his Lumpkin County jury to vote for a life sentence rather than death.

    The “next friend” petition was brought by Spears third ex-wife, Gwen Thompson, and the Georgia Resource Center, which represents Death Row inmates in their appeals. Georgia law says such a petition can be brought by someone “who has a significant relationship” with a person sentenced to death who refuses to appeal.

    Also on Tuesday, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles heard from Holland’s family and from Spears’ attorney and lawyers from the Federal Defender Program, which also represents Death Row inmates in their appeals. Spears did not authorize that a clemency petition be filed so those advocating for mercy just met with the board to plea for mercy, or at the very least, time to try to persuade Spears to appeal.

    The Board has not announced its decision.

    Spears has never denied he murdered Holland, a 34-year-old single mother, several months after their relationship of three years ended.

    He hid in a bedroom closet at her Dahlonega home for about four hours, until she was asleep. And during the early morning hours of Aug. 25, 2001, he choked her unconscious, wrapped duct tape around her face, placed a plastic bag over her head and secured it with more tape.

    After hiding in the woods for 10 days, a Lumpkin County deputy spotted him walking to town to surrender.

    Spears confessed immediately.

    If Spears is executed, he will be the eighth person Georgia has put to death by lethal injection this year, more than any other state in 2016 and more than any other year in Georgia since 1957, when 16 people were executed.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/local/court-...qL5ldVa9CB9jO/
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

  3. #33
    Senior Member Frequent Poster Alfred's Avatar
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    Parole Board declines to stop Steven Spears’ execution

    The State Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to stop Steven Spears’ execution just a few hours after a Butts County judge has dismissed a petition brought by the condmned man’s third ex-wife to stop the lethal injection planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday.

    The Parole Board, as is its habit, does not explain the reason for its decision nor does it release how each of the five members voted.

    Spears has said since he murdered his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, in 2001 that he wanted the death sentence. In an interview with a psychiatrist on Tuesday, Spears explained that his decision was rational, and he didn’t have a death wish.

    “Would you want to live in six by nine cell?” Spears said in an interview with a psychiatrist hired by the state, according to court filings. “That’s not living. … Everything I do, I’ve got to get permission to do.

    “I don’t want to live like I’m living. It’s like a cancer eating me up every day,” Spears said according to the psychiatrist’s report.

    It was the lawyer who filed the petition for Spears’ ex-wife, Gwen Thompson, who asked that it be dismissed but he told Spears in a hearing Wednesday morning that lawyers would be standing by at the truck stop across the road from the prison should he change his mind.

    Other than an automatic appeal that was filed after his conviction, Spears has refused to let lawyers challenge his sentence. Even at trial, he would not authorize his lawyers to present evidence that might have pushed his Lumpkin County jury to vote for a life sentence rather than death.

    The “next friend” petition was brought by Thompson and the Georgia Resource Center, which represents Death Row inmates in their appeals. Georgia law says such a petition can be brought by someone “who has a significant relationship” with a person sentenced to death who refuses to appeal.

    Also on Tuesday, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles heard from Holland’s family and from Spears’ attorney and lawyers from the Federal Defender Program, which also represents Death Row inmates in their appeals. Spears did not authorize that a clemency petition be filed so those advocating for mercy just met with the board to plea for mercy, or at the very least, time to try to persuade Spears to appeal.

    The Board delayed its decision until after a ruling from the judge who presides in the same county where Death Row is located, Butts.

    Spears has never denied he murdered Holland, a 34-year-old single mother, several months after their relationship of three years ended.

    He hid in a bedroom closet at her Dahlonega home for about four hours, until she was asleep. And during the early morning hours of Aug. 25, 2001, he choked her unconscious, wrapped duct tape around her face, placed a plastic bag over her head and secured it with more tape.

    After hiding in the woods for 10 days, a Lumpkin County deputy spotted him walking to town to surrender.

    Spears confessed immediately.

    If Spears is executed, he will be the eighth person Georgia has put to death by lethal injection this year, more than any other state in 2016 and more than any other year in Georgia since 1957, when 16 people were executed.

    http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local...teven-s/ns8t9/

  4. #34
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Georgia executes Steven Spears for 2001 murder

    Steven Spears, who never fought his death sentence, died by lethal injection Wednesday night, becoming the eighth person Georgia has put to death this year.

    He was pronounced dead at 7:30 p.m., executed for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Sherri Holland, in 2001.

    The 54-year-old inmates’s path to the death chamber was unusual.

    He refused to appeal, so his third ex-wife, Gwen Thompson, tried to stop it, claiming he was not competent to make such a decision. But in a court hearing a little more than 10 hours before his lethal injection, the lawyer who filed the petition for Thompson dropped it because their mental health expert, psychologist Robert Shaffer, interviewed Spears on Tuesday evening and determined he was competent.

    Also, just after noon on Wednesday, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to stop the execution. Spears had not asked for clemency, but his attorney and others had gone before the parole board on Tuesday, asking the board to call it off.

    Spears said consistently in the years after he murdered Sherri Holland that he wanted the death sentence. In an interview with a psychiatrist on Tuesday, Spears explained that his decision was rational, and he didn’t have a death wish.

    Spears told psychiatrist Matthew Norman, who was hired by the state: “Would you want to live in a 6-by-9 cell? That’s not living. … Everything I do, I’ve got to get permission to do.

    "I don’t want to live like I’m living. It’s like a cancer eating me up every day,” Spears said, according to the psychiatrist’s report.

    Other than an automatic appeal that was filed after his conviction, Spears steadfastly refused to let lawyers challenge his sentence. Even at trial, he would not authorize his lawyers to present evidence that might have persuaded the Lumpkin County jury to vote for a life sentence.

    Spears also never denied that he murdered Holland, a 34-year-old single mother, after their three-year relationship ended.

    He hid in a bedroom closet at her Dahlonega home for about four hours until she was asleep. And during the early morning hours of Aug. 25, 2001, he choked her unconscious, wrapped duct tape around her face, placed a plastic bag over her head and secured it with more tape.

    After hiding in the woods for 10 days, a Lumpkin County deputy spotted him walking to town to surrender.

    Spears confessed immediately.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/local/georgi...qL5ldVa9CB9jO/
    Don't ask questions, just consume product and then get excited for next products.

    "They will hurt you. They will hurt your grandma, these people. The root cause of this is there's no discipline in the homes, they don't go to school, you know, they live off the government, no personal accountability, and they just beat people up for no reason, and it's disgusting." - Former Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters

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