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Thread: Ronald Allen Smith - Montana Death Row

  1. #71
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    U.S. in ’waning days of the death penalty:’ Lawyer of Canadian man on death row

    Canadian Press

    A lawyer for a Canadian on death row in Montana believes it’s only a matter of time before the death penalty in much of the United States is abolished and his client will be free to return home.

    Ronald Smith, 60, is originally from Red Deer and has been on death row since 1983 for fatally shooting Harvey Madman Jr. and Thomas Running Rabbit while he was high on LSD and alcohol near East Glacier, Mont.

    He originally asked for and was sentenced to death, but later changed his mind and has been fighting execution ever since. He has had a number of execution dates set and overturned.

    “I think we’re in the waning days of the death penalty in the United States,” said Ron Waterman, a senior counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union who has represented Smith since 2008.

    “Last year, I think we’ve only had 20-some executions and those are really isolated to only three or four states, and only three or four counties in those states.

    “Most of the United States has moved beyond this and there comes a time where the courts are going to say this is in fact cruel and unusual punishment.”

    Lethal injection has been the sole method of execution in Montana since 1997. It is the only state that specifies the death penalty must be accomplished by an “ultra-fast-acting” barbiturate.

    Executions in Montana have been on hold since 2008 when the civil liberties union filed legal action that argued that the sedative pentobarbital, which was being proposed by the state as a replacement for the previously used sodium pentothal, could lead to an “excruciating and terrifying” death.

    District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock sided with the civil liberties group and rejected an appeal by the state of Montana.

    Sherlock has now sanctioned the state over its year-long delay in complying with a court order to turn over documents that could reveal if there was manipulation of an expert witness.

    The group questioned whether the testimony of Roswell Evans was manipulated at trial to bolster the state’s unsuccessful claim that pentobarbital was suitable for executions.

    “We’ve got some emails and we’re now looking at those and trying to ascertain what else is there,” Waterman said. “They’re going to make us unpack this whole thing piece by piece, so they’re not going to go easily.

    “I don’t know that it’s going to have any direct or immediate impact on the case itself.”

    Waterman said it is more a case over legal fees and whether Montana acted in a vexatious manner.

    As for Smith’s future, Waterman doesn’t see the current ban on executions in Montana changing any time soon. It would require a new statute being introduced and adopted by both sides of the legislature and would have to be signed by the governor.

    “They didn’t change the statute during the last legislative session, so the next time up is 2019. I’m not hearing anybody really being that keen about changing (it).”

    The Canadian government officially intervened on Smith’s behalf last year when it asked Gov. Steve Bullock to grant him clemency.

    “My hope would be ultimately that we can find clemency for Ron so that he can move back to Canada,” Waterman said.

    “If the death penalty is abolished, he would be eligible to be moved right away.”

    http://calgarysun.com/news/provincia...n-on-death-row

  2. #72
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Editorial: Ronald Smith doesn't deserve mercy

    The Calgary Sun

    Clemency for Ronald Smith?

    Let’s not.

    The 60-year-old double killer has been on death row in Montana since 1983.

    We shed no tears over that.

    But it’s come to light the Canadian government reached out to Montana Gov. Steve Bullock last year and sought clemency for the former Red Deer resident.

    A letter, written by former foreign minister Stephane Dion, says Smith’s original counsel was severely lacking and suggests he has since reformed his life as a model prisoner in Montana State Prison.

    Well, at least he has a life to reform.

    The same can’t be said for the two young men whose lives were snuffed out by Smith and his running mate, Rodney Munro, on Aug. 4, 1982.

    Harvey Madman Jr. and Thomas Running Rabbit were shown no quarter by the drug-and-alcohol-fuelled duo after their encounter on a Montana road.

    Munro, who took a plea bargain on lesser charges, was returned to Canada and freed in 1998 after serving 15 years.

    Smith shouldered much of the blame for the murders in court and asked to be executed after pleading guilty.

    He even rejected a plea bargain that would have given him life in prison.

    Smith soon changed his mind about the death penalty and has spent decades fighting to stay alive, although Montana hasn’t actually executed anyone since 2008 when its chosen method was challenged in court.

    This certainly isn’t the first time Ottawa has been involved in the Smith case.

    The Federal Court pushed the then-Tory government to seek clemency in 2012.

    It did so, reluctantly, and without much passion, as would be expected given its “tough on crime” position.

    While we understand the Canadian government must support its citizens abroad and monitor their cases for miscarriages of justice, etc., we also believe in the law.

    You don’t get a free pass because you broke the law in another country.

    Ronald Smith made a choice on that August day and he has not disputed his guilt.

    While it could be said he was cavalier about the consequences when he sought the death penalty, it’s not for us to question Montana’s legal system.

    We simply don’t want him back.

    At one of Smith’s many hearings, Thomas Running Rabbit’s son said: “The decisions he made, he has to pay for. He had no mercy for my father.”

    And Ronald Smith deserves no mercy now.

    http://calgarysun.com/opinion/editor...-deserve-mercy
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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  3. #73
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Fate of Canadian man on death row in Montana remains uncertain amid proposed law

    The fate of a Canadian man who has been on death row in Montana for 38 years could become more tenuous as the state gets closer to removing obstacles that prevent it from resuming executions.

    Ronald Smith, 63, is originally from Red Deer, Alberta, and has been on death row since 1983, a year after he and another man, high on LSD and alcohol near East Glacier, Montana, shot and killed two young Indigenous cousins.

    Montana specifies that the death penalty must be accomplished by an “ultra-fast-acting” barbiturate. A district court judge stayed executions more than a decade ago after ruling that the proposed use of pentobarbital didn’t meet requirements.

    But a bill that would allow Montana to use any “intravenous injection in a lethal quality” has passed in the House of Representatives and is to be voted on this week by the senate.

    Smith’s daughter, who was six when her father went to prison, is trying not to worry.

    “This is more than revenge. This is just now inhumane. This is torture. There needs to be a decision one way or the other.”

    Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have argued against the proposed legislation.

    “(It’s) really the worst-case scenario for abolition advocates. It made it through the house, but we’re working our tails off to stop this thing in the senate,” said Sam Forstag, the union’s legislative program manager.

    “I’m incredibly worried and I know all of the other abolition advocates are as well. A bill like this functionally would restore the death penalty after a years-long moratorium.”

    Rep. Ed Stafman, a Democrat, had sponsored a bill calling for the death penalty to be abolished but it was defeated. He described support for the death penalty in Montana as “miles wide and inches deep.”

    He also said the Republicans have a majority in the senate, so the new legislation may have the support it needs to become law.

    Not all Republicans are in favour of the death penalty, he noted, so he’s crossing his fingers.

    “I’m not optimistic, but I’m hopeful.”

    Ron Waterman, a civil liberties union lawyer who worked on Smith’s case, said even if the new protocol is adopted, nothing would happen right away.

    “This will only bring the case to the point where the various rulings by the court could be appealed,” Waterman said.

    “Given the numerous issues which are appealable by Smith’s attorneys, the case likely will take years to resolve.”

    The Montana Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, has been lobbying to have the death penalty abolished.

    “This legislation moves us one step closer to restarting executions in Montana … a significant step closer. And we think that’s a terrible thing,” said executive director Matt Brower.

    He said his group will work behind the scenes to try to convince senate members to vote against the new legislation.

    Blackburn said her father was devastated when the outgoing Democratic governor failed to commute his sentence late last year, despite the backing of religious and social groups, as well as a new request from the Canadian government.

    When Smith was first charged with murder, he refused a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for life. He later pleaded guilty and asked for the death penalty, then changed his mind and said he wanted to live.

    Five execution dates have been set over the years. Each has been overturned.

    Smith and Rodney Munro admitted to marching Harvey Mad Man, 23, and Thomas Running Rabbit, 20, into the woods by a highway in 1982. They shot them in the head with a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle.

    Court heard that Smith and Munro wanted to steal the victims’ car. Smith also said at the time that he wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.

    Blackburn said her father is not that man anymore.

    “He took something so horrific and has been trying his darndest to turn everything around. He’s sober, he went to school. He said he would want to work with troubled kids if he ever got out,” she said.

    “He’s trying, even if it’s from afar. He just wants to be able to do something good now.”

    https://globalnews.ca/news/7738689/c...-proposed-law/
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  4. #74
    Administrator Aaron's Avatar
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    Well it wouldn't have been drawn out if it wasn't for kleptocrats striking down protocols over such a picayune issue as the definition of "ultra fast acting." What just satisfies the District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock standard of "ultra fast acting?"

    Even more ludicrous in light of the fact that South Dakota courts rightly tossed the virtually identical argument from Charles Rhines.

    On a third note, why does his moronic lawyer think Smith will be free to return home if capital punishment is abolished? Life in prison exists as a legal penalty, until the coddlers focus their misguided sympathy for criminals against that as well.
    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

  5. #75
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Canadian on death row says execution may be 'preferable' to endless prison time

    CALGARY -- Ronald Smith sounds tired.

    Despite good news last month, when a bill to resume executions in Montana was unexpectedly defeated, the Canadian on death row in that state is in a sombre mood.

    Smith, originally from Red Deer, Alta., has been facing capital punishment since 1983 for killing two young Montana men in 1982.

    "I thought we were screwed," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press from Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, Mont.

    "I didn't think there was a chance in hell that this wouldn't be approved. Once my daughter found out, I explained to her which road we were going down and what the probable outcomes were going to be. I was that sure that it was over."

    All executions have been stayed in Montana since 2015 because the state requires the use of an ultra-fast-acting barbiturate, which is no longer available. There hasn't been an execution in Montana since 2006.

    Montana's house of representatives passed a bill in February that would have amended protocol to include any substance in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death. But the senate voted it down 26-24.

    The execution issue is likely to arise again in two years when the state legislature reconvenes.

    "Obviously, I'm happy about it, but at the same time it keeps running through the back of my head, 'Oh crap. I'm stuck sitting around here again," Smith sighed.

    "A lot of people look at it and say, 'Well at least you're alive,' but I'm really not. I'm just sitting around like a bump on a log is all I'm doing, and after almost 40 years of this, anything is preferable."

    Smith, 63, rephrased his response when asked if he would prefer to be executed.

    "Well, maybe not preferable, but I wouldn't be bothered by it. As soon as I heard what was going on, I accepted it. I went, 'OK, cool. I don't have to deal with this crap anymore."

    "I was worried about my family because they were going to take it hard. Personally, I don't care. I've hit that point where I've done enough of this. If they're (legislators) not going to cut me a break, than go ahead and do away with me."

    Smith and Rodney Munro, both high on LSD and alcohol, shot and killed two Indigenous cousins near East Glacier, Mont., in 1982. They admitted to marching Harvey Mad Man, 23, and Thomas Running Rabbit, 20, into the woods by a highway. They shot each man in the head with a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle.

    Court heard that Smith and Munro wanted to steal the victims' car. Smith also said at the time that he wanted to know what it was like to kill someone.

    He was initially offered a plea deal that would have taken the death penalty off the table, but he rejected it. He pleaded guilty and asked to be put to death, but later changed his mind. He has had five execution dates set over the years. Each has been overturned.

    The victims' families have continued to push for Smith to be executed.

    Munro took the plea bargain, was eventually transferred to a prison in Canada, and has been free since 1998.

    "He's been out 23 years and doing well and I wish him all the very best. Had I taken that plea deal, then I'd have been out a long time ago. It's hard not to have that in the back of your mind on a pretty regular basis."

    Smith said he's content with paying for his crimes, but would like to be transferred to a prison in Canada, where he has a daughter, two sisters, grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

    "I'm getting pretty much what I deserve for the crime I committed," he said. "If I was in a position where I could see my family on a constant basis, then leave me locked up. I don't care.

    “It is what it is. I committed the crime."

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.ct...1_5418664.html
    Last edited by Moh; 05-10-2021 at 02:27 AM. Reason: Spacing
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