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September 15, 2003
Bit ghoulish, I know
But my first reaction upon hearing of the death of Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon was wondering how this would effect the Darnell Williams case. According to an article in the Northwest Indiana News:
Mary Dieter, the governor's spokesman, said she expects [Lt. Gov. Joe] Kernan will have to make a decision on the clemency case of Darnell Williams, whose death sentence for the 1986 slaying of a Gary couple was delayed for DNA testing by O'Bannon."Governor Kernan doesn't have to do anything overt because the Supreme Court won't set a date without his order," Dieter said.
Another piece in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette adds:
Williams' 60-day reprieve will be up the middle of this month, and the state is still awaiting DNA results in the murder case.
Fortunately (and I'll explain this in a bit):
Kernan declined to speculate on a time frame for how long he would take the role of acting governor. He also said the experience would not change his decision against running for governor next year.
I figure if he's not running, he doesn't have to worry about an opponent charging him with being soft on crime for allowing the testing to go forward, or commuting Williams' sentence.
It's equally ghoulish to think that political considerations would play a role in whether or not someone dies, but from what I've seen that's how our system works.
Posted by Aaron at September 15, 2003 08:58 AM
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