The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publishes an OpEd, "The weight of child abuse: Should a killer's horrific childhood matter in deciding his fate?" It's by Frank P. Cervone, director of the Philadelphia-based Support Center for Child Advocates. Here's beginning of this must-read:
Throughout his childhood, Terry Williams, now 46, suffered unspeakable physical and sexual abuse. In 1984, soon after turning 18, Williams killed Amos Norwood, a 56-year-old Philadelphia man who had been sexually abusing him for five years and had raped him the night before the murder.
Following Williams' conviction, as it considered his sentence, the jury heard of another murder Williams had committed. The jury sentenced him to death. Yet neither the lawyers who represented Williams nor the jury knew that both men whom Williams killed had been abusing him. Terry Williams had not said a word. Now he faces execution in Pennsylvania on Oct. 3 and all of that history is being revisited.
The state Board of Pardons voted 3-2 in favor of clemency on Monday but a unanimous vote is needed to send a clemency recommendation to the governor. That likely leaves Williams' fate in the hands of Gov. Tom Corbett, although a Common Pleas judge has agreed to hear testimony Thursday about the claims of sexual abuse.
Victims of child sexual abuse face a monumental crossroad in the decision to disclose their abuse. Some get help, heal their emotional wounds and get on with their lives. Others don't tell their story, sometimes for months, years or ever. Later, they might hurt themselves or others. When we come upon them, we are left with questions: Why didn't they tell? Should we believe them? Should they get a "pass" or "discount" for the harm done to them and subsequent dysfunctions and behaviors? How should they be held accountable?
Trauma experts are now demonstrating convincingly that exposure to violence in childhood can create lasting psychological damage and even physiological changes to the brain as it develops. Subsequent experiences of depression, inability to trust, health problems and even acts of aggression and violence can all find root in early childhood experiences. Notions of personal responsibility and accountability get turned around. The trauma-focused question shifts from "what did you do?" to "what happened to you?"
"Latest clemency appeal cites prosecutor's inaccurate information," is Joseph A. Slobodzian's continuing coverage in today's Philadelphia Inquirer.
Lawyers for condemned Philadelphia killer Terrance Williams have asked the state Board of Pardons to reconsider Williams' petition for clemency, citing purportedly inaccurate information a prosecutor gave the board Monday at the hearing.
Though the board voted, 3-2, for clemency for Williams, 46, who is scheduled for execution Oct. 3, a unanimous vote was needed for the nonbinding recommendation to be sent to Gov. Corbett.
In a letter to the board Tuesday, Williams' lawyers asked for reconsideration because of how Assistant District Attorney Thomas Dolgenos answered a question from board member Harris Gubernick.
Gubernick asked about the validity of Williams' claim that the prosecutor in Williams' 1986 trial had promised to help his admitted accomplice, Marc Draper, get parole if he testified against Williams.
Dolgenos "stated that the federal courts had heard and rejected that allegation," wrote defense attorney Shawn Nolan. "That is simply false."
Gubernick and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley voted against clemency. But because no board member stated a reason for his vote, there was no way of knowing whether Dolgenos' answer had an impact.
And:
The prosecutor's alleged promise to Draper and Draper's new statement on the 1984 killing are to be the subjects of a hearing Thursday on a motion to stay execution before Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.
Public Radio WITF-FM posts, "Task force to review PA's death penalty law," by Tim Lambert and Radio Pennsylvania.
As Pennsylvania moves closer to its first execution since 1999, a state Senate task force is studying the death penalty law.The panel is conducting a comprehensive review of capital punishment in Pennsylvania -- mere weeks before the scheduled October third execution of convicted murderer Terrance Williams.
Democratic Senator Daylin Leach of Montgomery County serves on the bipartisan task force. He says it's asking Governor Corbett for a temporary moratorium on executions until the report is complete."We feel that if we're going to be carrying out such an expensive and irrevocable government program as this, then we need to make sure that, A, we're doing it right, B, we're doing it fairly and C, the taxpayers are getting their money's worth for what they spend," he says.
Earlier coverage of Terry Williams' case begins at the link. Advocates for Terry Williams have posted an online petition calling for clemency.
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