GENDER Male - 8
United States Military Death Row Roster
1. Kenneth Parker (B)
2. Wade L. Walker (B)
3. Jessie Quintanilla (A)
4. James T. Murphy (B)*
5. Ronald Gray (B)
6. Dwight J. Loving (B)
7. William Kreutzer (W)*
8. Hasan Akbar (B)
*Awaiting re-trial or re-sentencing. (Source: NAACP Legal Defense Fund)

Number of Executions
135 people have been executed by the Army since 1916 (Source: National Law Journal, 4/5/99)
Date of last military execution
On April 13, 1961, U.S. Army Private John A. Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder. (R. Serrano, "Last Soldier to Die at Levenworth Hanged in an April Storm," Los Angeles Times, 7/12/94). Minimum Age to Receive the Death Penalty
18 years
Death Row Location
U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas Method of Execution
Lethal Injection
Date the Death Penalty Was Reenacted after Furman
In 1983, the Armed Forces Court of Appeals held in U.S. v. Matthews, 16 M.J. 354, that military capital sentencing procedures were unconstitutional for failing to require a finding of individualized aggravating circumstances. In 1984, the death penalty was reinstated when President Ronald Reagan signed an executive order adopting detailed rules for capital courts-martial. Among the rules was a list of 11 aggravating factors that qualify defendants for death sentences.
Life Without Parole
A recent amendment to the Uniform Code of Military Justice offers a new alternative to the death penalty. For crimes that occurred on or after November 17, 1997, a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is now possible. Prior to this legislation, those servicemembers serving a life sentence would be eligible for parole after serving 10 years.
Clemency Process
The President has the power to commute a death sentence and no servicemember can be executed unless the President personally confirms the death penalty.
Capital Offenses
The Uniform Code of Military Justice provides the death penalty as a possible punishment for 15 offenses, many of which must occur during a time of war. All 7 men on the military's death row were convicted of premeditated murder or felony murder. Who Decides Sentence
In a military capital case, the convening authority -- a high ranking commanding officer who decides to bring the case to a court martial -- decides if the death penalty will be sought. Once decided, the convening authority picks those servicemembers who will serve as panel members/jurors. One requirement for the panel is that if the accused so chooses, at least 1/3 of the panel must consist of enlisted personnel. The only other requirement of a panel is that it consist of at least five members. Therefore, the number of panelists in a military death penalty case can vary from case to case. Although no state provides for a panel of less than 12 jurors in a capital case, military appellate courts have rejected challenges to capital court-martialed panels with fewer than 12 members. (see, e.g., United States v. Curtins, 32 M.J. 252 (C.M.A.), cert denied, 502 U.S. 952 (1991)).

(Unless otherwise noted, source: D. Sullivan, "A Matter of Life and Death: Examining the Military Death Penalty's Fairness," The Federal Lawyer, June 1998)

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"A Matter of Life and Death: Examining the Military Death Penalty's Fairness" by Dwight Sullivan (The Federal Lawyer, June 1998) (reprinted with permssion of author)

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 15 offenses can be punishable by death, though many of these crimes -- such as desertion or disobeying a superior commissioned officer's orders -- carry the death penalty only in time of war.

The "convening authority" -- a high-ranking commanding officer who decides to bring the case to trial -- chooses whether the government will seek a death sentence. If the case is referred capitally, the defendant cannot choose a bench [judge only] trial; rather, the case must be tried before a panel of at least five military members. The Uniform Code of Military Justice also precludes the defendant in a capital case from pleading guilty. Thus, every military death penalty case is resolved by trial before a panel of servicemembers.

A death penalty will be imposed only if the panel members reach unanimous agreement on four separate points. First, a military defendant cannot be sentenced to death absent a unanimous conviction of a death-eligible offense.... If the panel returns a unanimous conviction, the case then enters the sentencing phase.... The case's outcome will depend upon the [panel] members' resolution of three issues. First, they must determine whether the government has proven a specified aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt.... Most of these aggravating factors -- such as killing more than one person or being the triggerman in a felony murder -- are similar to those found in civilian capital punishment schemes. Other factors -- such as committing an offense with the intent to avoid hazardous duty or knowingly endangering a mission -- are unique to the military.

[The panel] must then weigh all of the aggravating evidence in the case against any evidence in extenuation and mitigation. A death penalty may not be imposed unless the members unanimously conclude that the aggravating circumstances substantially outweigh the mitigating circumstances.

Finally, even if every member agrees upon the existence of an aggravating factor and concludes that the evidence in aggravation outweighs the extenuating and mitigating evidence, any member is still free to choose a sentence other than death. Thus, members must unanimously conclude that death is an appropriate sentence.

When a death sentence is imposed, the record is initially reviewed by the convening authority, who has the power to reduce sentences and to set aside guilty findings.... The convening authority can reduce the sentence, but cannot increase it. And this review is no mere rubberstamp. Several years ago, a Marine Corps general commuted an adjudged death sentence to imprisonment for life. If the convening authority approves the death sentence, the condemned servicemember will be moved to military death row....

The record of trial then goes before one of the military justice system's four intermediate appellate courts: the Army, Navy-Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals.... If the Court of Criminal Appeals affirms a death sentence, the case then goes before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, as the Court of Military Appeals was renamed in 1994. The Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is a five-member Article 1 court that sits atop the military justice system. Its judges are civilians appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate to serve 15-year terms.

[If the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces affirms the sentence], the case is eligible for Supreme Court review. The Supreme Court's certiorari jurisdiction over military justice cases... was enacted in 1983.... When the Supreme Court affirms [the sentence] or denies certiorari in a military capital case, the death sentence is then reviewed by the executive branch. If the President approves the death sentence, the condemned servicemember can seek habeas relief from the Article III judiciary. If the habeas petition is ultimately denied, the condemned servicemember will be led from death row down a flight of stairs to the USDB's death chamber. There he will be strapped to a gurney and executed by lethal injection.

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There is racial disparity on the military's death row. Of those on the military death row today, five are African-American, one is a Pacific Islander, and only one is Caucasian. Whereas nationwide, about half of the 3,600 death row inmates are members of a minority, the military has an 86 percent minority death row population.

According to Dwight Sullivan (see above), "While the number of servicemembers under death sentence is fairly small, the racial disparity in military death penalty cases has been distressingly persistent. During World War II, African-Americans accounted for less than 10 percent of the Army. Yet, of the 70 soldiers executed in Europe during the war, 55 [79%] were African-American. After President Truman ordered an end to the armed forces' segregation in 1948, this racial disparity actually increased. The military carried out 12 executions from 1954 until the most recent one in 1961. Eleven of the 12 executed servicemembers were African-American."

"The death sentences adjudged since 1961 have continued to fall disproportionately on minority servicemembers. In 1983, when the Court of Military Appeals issued its Matthews opinion invalidating the military death penalty, seven servicemembers were on death row. Five were African-American, one was Latino, and one was Caucasian."

In addition to the racial disparity among death row inmates, there is also racial disparity among victims. Each time an African American has been sent to the military's death row, the case has involved a white victim. (R. Serrano, "A Grim Life on Military Death Row," Los Angeles Times, 7/12/94). For more information about racial disparities, see DPIC's Race and the Death Penalty page.

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Military Death Sentence Vacated
An Army Court of Criminal Appeals has vacated the death sentence of William Kreutzer, a Fort Bragg soldier who was sent to the military’s death row for killing a fellow soldier and wounding others in 1995. The Court cited a number of grounds for the ruling that opens the door for rehearings on some charges and the sentence. For example, Kreutzer’s attorneys failed to adequately explain the significance of their client’s mental health problems for the panel that determined his guilt and sentence. In the ruling, Col. James S. Currie noted, “Appellant’s trial can be summed up in one sentence: Three defense counsel who lacked the ability and experience to defend this capital case were further hampered by the military judge’s erroneous decision to deny them necessary expert assistance, thereby rendering the contested findings and the sentence unreliable.” Court documents revealed that Kreutzer had considered suicide at age 16 and “fantasized out loud” about killing fellow soldiers after they teased him and played practical jokes on him. The Appeals Court criticized the trial judge for refusing to grant a defense request for a “mitigation specialist,” who could explain how Kreutzer’s mental health problems contributed to his actions. See Military Death Penalty. See also Representation.

Pentagon List Gives Names of 169 Military Members Who Were Executed
A list containing the names of 169 members of the U.S. military who were executed between 1942 and 1961 was recently discovered at the Pentagon. The list also contains a few dozen additional cases where persons were sentenced to death, but not executed, and the names of 7 German prisoners of war who were executed. The 1961 execution of Pvt. John Bennett, who was hung after convictions for rape and attempted murder, was the military's last execution. The ledger also includes the name of Pvt. Eddie Slovik, who is the only member of the U.S. military to be executed for desertion since the Civil War. The list was discovered by accident by Pentagon employees and was made public as the military prepares to try accused terrorists currently held at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The death penalty is a possible sentence in such military tribunals. (Associated Press, December 12, 2003)

I know it is an old article but it is quite interesting.

Servicemen on Death Row; 6 Killers Await as Military Justice Crawls

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NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Sunday, June 24, 2001

Servicemen on Death Row; 6 killers await as military justice crawls

By THOMAS M. DeFRANK
Daily News Washington Bureau Chief

It's called the special housing unit at a place known as The Castle. But for the six soldiers on the military's Death Row at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., life is no fairy tale.

Despite intense public and media interest in Timothy McVeigh's execution, little attention has been paid to the six condemned soldiers incarcerated within the pale yellow-and-white walls of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks.

One of those convicted murderers is in the last stages of a 12-year appeals process that may end with the first execution by the armed forces in more than 40 years.

Before Army Pvt. Dwight Loving of Rochester can be put to death, however, President Bush and the Supreme Court must affirm his sentence — a process that could take another three years.

The case has languished at Army headquarters since December 1998, when the Supreme Court declined to hear Loving's appeal of his conviction for murdering two cab drivers near Fort Hood, Tex.

Experts Predict More Delays

A senior Army legal official confirmed that the case now awaits a decision by Army Secretary Thomas White. Because of various procedural issues, that decision isn't imminent, he added, and outside legal experts predicted it will be several months before the case goes to Bush.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the commander-in-chief must personally approve all death sentences. There's little doubt that will happen — as governor of Texas, he signed 151 death warrants, commuting only a single sentence.

The six current inmates on Fort Leavenworth's Death Row are enlisted men in their mid-30s — three soldiers and three Marines. Four are black, one Asian-American and one white.

Ronald Gray has been there more than 13 years. The newest member is Jesse Quintanilla, a Marine from Guam who arrived in January 1998.

Critics charge that military death verdicts are seriously flawed, especially because soldiers can be sentenced to death by a jury of as few as five other soldiers — not the 12 jurors required by the federal government and all 38 states with a death penalty.

"On a day-to-day basis, the military justice system is very fair, but it has its peculiarities," says Dwight Sullivan of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and a former Marine Corps lawyer. "And those peculiarities really come to the forefront in death-penalty cases."

Since the last military execution, the method of death has changed twice. Army Private John Bennett, convicted of the 1955 rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl, was hanged at Fort Leavenworth in 1961.

The electric chair that replaced the gallows was never used and was recently donated to the Army's military police museum in Missouri. Lethal injection is now the prescribed method. Leavenworth's basement "special processing unit" is virtually identical to the death chamber where McVeigh met his fate in Terre Haute, Ind.

Even if Bush signs his death warrant, Loving can appeal to federal courts and, ultimately, to the Supreme Court again. That could easily take three years. President Dwight Eisenhower signed Bennett's death warrant in 1958, for example, but he wasn't executed until John F. Kennedy was President.

The last presidential death-penalty action was in 1963, when Kennedy commuted to life imprisonment the sentence of a Navy enlisted man convicted of murdering an officer. In 1997, President Bill Clinton added life without parole as an alternative to the death penalty — a sentence currently being served by four soldiers.

Sentences Commuted to Life

Though military executions have become increasingly rare, an estimated 465 soldiers have been executed since the Civil War, most for desertion in wartime and mutiny.

In 1983, a military appeals court ruled the military death penalty unconstitutional because sentencing guidelines didn't require a finding of "aggravating circumstances."

As a result, the seven inmates then on Leavenworth's Death Row had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. One has been denied parole every year since and is still at The Castle. The other six were scattered to federal prisons.

A year later, President Ronald Reagan reinstated the death penalty with an executive order setting out clear sentencing guidelines. By 1988, Leavenworth's Death Row began receiving new occupants.

Critics charge that the military's capital-punishment system is even more flawed than its civilian counterpart. African-American soldiers are sentenced to death in far greater numbers than whites. Moreover, the same senior officer who has already decided that a crime will be tried as a capital case also picks the jurors. And critics say inexperienced military death-penalty defense attorneys often provide inadequate counsel.

The system's defenders reply that military personnel have more appellate options than other death-sentence felons — including both military and civilian courts and two separate appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Back to Military Death Penalty page

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