"Oregon death row inmate fighting reprieve," is the AP report, via the Las Vegas Sun.
An Oregon death row inmate and the state's governor are at the center of an unusual legal battle _ the governor has granted the twice-convicted murderer a reprieve, even though the inmate did not ask for it and does not want it.
Gov. John Kitzhaber blocked Gary Haugen's scheduled execution last fall, saying no executions would be carried out on his watch.
Haugen has sought to reject the governor's clemency. He's voluntarily waived legal appeals that could delay his execution for years and has fought to speed his punishment in protest of a criminal justice system that he says is broken.
Their dispute was heard in court on Tuesday.
Oregon voters reinstated the death penalty in 1984, and the state has executed two people since then. Both occurred while Kitzhaber served as governor between 1995 and 2003. Both inmates had volunteered for execution, waiving their appeals.
After Kitzhaber was again elected in 2010, he announced he wouldn't allow any more executions while he was in office, saying he was haunted by the previous two. The governor has said he has no sympathy for Haugen but opposes capital punishment and believes Oregon's death penalty laws are "compromised and inequitable."
Haugen's attorney argued in court on Tuesday that Kitzhaber's reprieve places an "onerous condition" on the death row inmate because it leaves Haugen in the dark about whether he will ever be granted his wish to be executed, since a different governor could take a different position.
"It could be a day, could be seven years," Harrison Latto said of the reprieve. "During that indefinite period of time, they're saying, `sit tight and we'll tell you at the end of that period whether you'll be executed or not."
And:
Kitzhaber's attorney, Tim Sylwester, said Haugen can only decline the reprieve if it comes with strings attached. He cited the case of a man who refused to admit guilt as a condition of a commuted sentence. In Haugen's case, Sylwester said no such conditions apply.
"He has a death sentence he can't challenge," Sylwester said. "Right now (with the reprieve) you're serving a life sentence, it's unconditional . so you can't refuse it."
The Oregonian reports, "Gary Haugen reprieve challenge: Judge appears receptive to death row inmate's argument." It's by Helen Jung.
Gov. John Kitzhaber faces some obstacles in proving that his reprieve of Gary Haugen's planned execution is legally valid based on past Oregon Supreme Court cases, a judge said Tuesday.
Senior Judge Timothy Alexander quizzed a state attorney about the governor's argument that Haugen doesn't have to accept the reprieve for it to be effective.
Haugen, who has waived his appeals and volunteered for execution, is pushing for his execution to go forward.
Haugen's attorney, Harrison Latto, argued that in past cases before the state's highest court, Oregon has adopted an 1833 U.S. Supreme Court interpretation authored by Chief Justice John Marshall that suggests inmates must agree to pardons and similar acts for them to take effect.The judge seemed receptive to the argument and asked if state Assistant Attorney General Tim Sylwester could point to any decisions showing that the Oregon Supreme Court had adopted an alternative view. Sylwester said he couldn't, noting the rarity of cases when someone rejects a pardon or reprieve.
"If the Oregon Supreme Court is still in favor of Justice Marshall's acceptance theory, then you've got a problem on (the governor's) side of the case," Alexander said.
Sylwester argued that past court decisions show pardon recipients must accept clemency only if it comes with conditions placed on them. The reprieve in Haugen's case doesn't carry any such conditions, he said. He also has maintained that the governor's power to grant reprieves has no constitutional limits and that the Circuit Court lacks authority to review the reasons for the reprieve.
"Haugen renews bid to reinstate death warrant," by Peter Wong in the Salem Statesman Journal.
Although he was barred Tuesday from speaking on his own behalf, Gary Haugen renewed his bid to reinstate his death warrant and reject a reprieve issued by Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Judge Timothy Alexander asked lawyers for Haugen and Kitzhaber to submit additional written arguments on one point relating to a 1957 decision of the Oregon Supreme Court that did not get considered earlier. He set no date for a decision, which he acknowledged likely is to be appealed.
When his lawyer requested that Haugen be allowed to make a statement at the end of an hourlong proceeding in Marion County Circuit Court, Alexander said no.
“This is a legal argument,” said Alexander, a senior judge from Washington County assigned to the case, who denied the request by Harrison Latto of Portland.
And:
Although there are 36 men and one woman on Oregon’s death row as of mid-2011, Haugen is the only one who has waived appeals.Haugen was within two weeks of his execution date when Kitzhaber issued a reprieve Nov. 22.
Earlier coverage from Oregon begins at the link.
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