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Hello from Terre Haute, IN, where the Trump administration plans to execute 49-year-old Orlando Hall tonight. There is a stay currently in place, which I only found out about upon arriving at the media center a little while ago. Of course, this could change.
By now there are several familiar faces at the FCC Terre Haute Training Center, from the BOP official who lets us in to park, to the lady taking temperatures, to the spokesperson who gives the brief media orientation. These are the vans that take press witnesses to the prison.
Ordinarily BOP staffers provide little to no information to press about the status of appeals, etc. But we have been told there is “activity in the courts” and that it could be a long night. As far as the DOJ is concerned, the execution will happen, it is just a matter of when.
See Rob's thread for information on the stay of execution currently in place. https://twitter.com/RDunhamDPIC/status/1329542225051652100
Here's my story on Orlando Hall. It's an awful case in many ways. Crime was horrific: the abduction, repeated rape, & murder of a 16 year-old Lisa René in 1994. Hall & a man named Bruce Webster both got death. But Webster's sentence was vacated last year. https://theintercept.com/2020/11/18/death-penalty-execution-orlando-hall/
We have been told René's family is here and will issue a written statement to media after the execution. Presumably some one is witnessing on behalf of the family, but can't say for sure. I was unable to reach any relatives for my story.
There are big red flags in Hall's case, not the least of which is that he was tried by an all-white jury. One of the prosecutors, Paul Macaluso, formerly of the Dallas DA's office, had a record of deliberately excluding Black jurors. (Although he has denied it, including to me.)
Another one is all-too common: the failure of Hall's trial attorneys to do the kind of painstaking investigation required to provide mitigating evidence at sentencing. Like so many who end up on death row, his early life was marked by poverty, trauma, abuse, and neglect.
Many dismiss this kind of history, but it is has huge consequences for people's development, especially when one is raised amid extreme violence. In this case it's also clear that at least one juror craved more info that might've helped explain why Hall went down the path he did.
You can read my story for more on this. But it is one element of the case I found telling & sad. Years after she voted for death, the jury foreperson wrote to Hall under a pseudonym to learn more about him. They wrote for awhile, but she stopped because it got too overwhelming.
At the Dollar General across from the prison, anti-death penalty activists are holding their protest and vigil. It’s getting cold and dark and they are looking at a long night.
Here is the briefing schedule in the case. I feel sorry for the witnesses, particularly those reporters who have already done this several times. One local reporter has witnessed every execution since July. This will be her 8th. https://twitter.com/deathpenaltyrep/status/1329560853121626113
After hanging out for while at the Dollar General, activists have dispersed for the time being. Media witnesses were let go & told to report back at 8:30pm. We don't expect to know more until well after that. In July, the first 2 executions did not happen until the next morning.
I didn't apply to witness. I've been rejected when I have. The BOP hasn't explained how they select media witnesses. But Covid makes me relieved not to be chosen. Like lawyers who've been told they can't bring their own N95s, BOP won't let media witnesses bring their own masks.
On a lighter note, Covid also means I’ve been avoiding hotels/other people. Which means I’m becoming a bit of an expert on Terre Haute’s Airbnbs. (I mean, not to brag.) This one is peak Indiana, if you ask me.
Update from a media witness: https://twitter.com/tribstarlisa/status/1329621309370863617
At the Dollar General, just saw the vans pull into the penitentiary.
Update from another media witness https://twitter.com/georgehale/status/1329625623086690310
To be clear, there is still litigation pending before the courts. Follow @RDunhamDPIC for updates. Of course, have previously seen DOJ & BOP pushing forward without regard for legal process. In the meantime, witnesses wait in vans. https://twitter.com/RDunhamDPIC/status/1329626535658139648
Looks like the execution will move forward. Not unexpected. We've seen a version of this over & over. Men facing execution have come to dread temporary stays. Their nightmare is what happened to Daniel Lee, who waited 4 hours while strapped to the gurney before he was killed.
A guy who knows Hall on death row has been describing what it's like to have their last conversations. In one of his last emails, he said Hall had recently written his obituary w/the help of a loved one. "He'd found it strange speaking and writing about himself in the past tense"
Hall has a large family, who has been coming to see him for weeks. Some are here in Terre Haute tonight, but he reportedly did not want immediate family to witness. As I've said before, loved ones of the condemned are not allowed at the media center. Only victims' families are.
Yesterday, Hall sent a final group email: "I want to Thank ALL of you for your humanity, although our government has said I don't deserve your compassion and that your reverence for my life and others' in my position is misplaced, your presence...has proven them wrong once again"
"...I have truly been humbled by your altruism and ...commitment to abolishing the death penalty, to you spreading love, Mercy, Love, and the power of redemption. Just as important, is you're calling for it what it is, Government sanctioned murder, nothing more and nothing less."
Tonight I'm thinking of Bill Pelke, who would have been here to bear witness. He flew from Alaska to protest each execution since July. His mantra was: "The answer is love and compassion for all of humanity." He lived that message until the day he died. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/bill-pelke-anti-death-penalty-activist-with-passion-forged-in-grief-dies-at-73/2020/11/17/7ad67f26-280d-11eb-9b14-ad872157ebc9_story.html
