Georgia prisoner asks parole board to ‘bestow mercy’ hours before execution

Globe and Mail ^ | March 2, 2015 | AP

[rickmichaels]

The only woman on Georgia’s death row asked a state board to “bestow mercy” and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a delay, with hours left before her execution Monday for her husband’s murder.

Earlier Monday, a federal appeals court in Atlanta rejected her lawyers’ request to halt her execution on the grounds that Georgia’s lethal injection procedures aren’t transparent enough to allow a legal challenge.

[JRios1968]

[WayneS]

The most important witness the board did not hear from is Kathy Seabolt, who served as her warden for six years. Seabolt could testify that former parole board chair James Donald promised Gissendaner would receive clemency, her lawyers wrote.

Each time the topic came up in conversations between Donald and Seabolt, “Donald reiterated his statement that Ms. Gissendaner did not need to worry about clemency as it was a foregone conclusion,” they wrote.

Unfortunately for the condemned woman, James Donald was never in a position in which he had the authority to promise clemency. He might just as well have promised her a visit from the Easter Bunny.

[WayneS]

Gissendaner’s lawyers also urged the board to consider that before trial, she had been offered the same plea deal as Owen – life in prison with an agreement not to seek parole for 25 years.

Oops. I guess she should have taken the deal.

[doug from upland]

[cincinnati65]

So where was the "mercy" when he was beat in the head with a nightstick and stabbed multiple times in the back and neck? Oh, that's right. She was getting gasoline so they could burn his car. "Mercy", indeed.

If you were really a "changed person" then you would realize that you deserve to die for what you did.

[Beowulf9]

They ‘just wanted a place to hang out’ and had no idea they were not allowed to dig a tunnel under a public park.

Who were they? Dumb and dumber?

[Beowulf9]

Sorry, wrong column.

Proceed with the execution...

[Mr. Lucky]

Yeah, but she’s a widow. Hopefully the court will take that into consideration.

[stephenjohnbanker]

NO works for me.

[Vigilanteman]

Proper mercy would be a couple of hymns sung before the trap door is sprung and sufficient slack in the rope to snap her neck.

[Gamecock]

It is the State’s job to dispense justice.

If she wants mercy she needs to look to God.

[RedMDer]

FReepers, Let's GIT_R_DONE!

Less than $4.5k to go!!

[LeonardFMason]

Dear Kelly,

I’ll get back to you on Friday.

Sincerely,

[vpintheak]

You may be a “changed person” but you still have to pay fro what you have done.
Simple cause and effect. If there is a real change, then God will decide.

[slouper]

They did.