August 27, 2001

Killer Says Lawyer Drank Heavily

RALEIGH, N.C.  -- A killer set to be put to death this week is seeking clemency, arguing that his lawyer was drinking 12 shots of rum a day during the trial.

Ronald Wayne Frye, 42, is scheduled to be executed Friday for the 1993 slaying of his landlord, Ralph Childress, who was stabbed repeatedly with a pair of scissors and robbed of $5,000.

His lawyers will argue at a closed clemency hearing Tuesday that attorney Thomas Portwood had a drinking problem that hindered his ability to handle Frye's case.

Portwood's co-counsel, Ted F. Cummings III, filed an affidavit saying he knew Portwood drank heavily. And Portwood admitted in an affidavit for another case that he drank 12 shots a day at the time.

 The state Supreme Court rejected an appeal last week.

 DNA testing linked Frye to blood found on Childress' mattress and linked Childress to blood on Frye's jacket, prosecutor Jason Parker said.

 ``He deserves it,'' Parker said. ``They're trying to say one of his lawyers was drunk. I sat in court with him for three weeks and never smelled a drop.''

 Cummings said vital defense information was omitted by Portwood, who was responsible for the penalty phase of Frye's trial. He said Portwood failed to present evidence that Frye was beaten daily as a child by his surrogate father and had a problem with substance abuse as early as age 10. 

Portwood hired a psychologist to testify about what Frye told him about the beatings and substance abuse, without calling other witnesses to back up the testimony.

In a prison interview Monday, Frye said he killed Childress for money, but drugs and alcohol contributed to the killing, and he remembers very little of it.

 Frye said he never noticed the smell or effects of alcohol on Portwood, but he said the two didn't talk much. Prosecutors said little evidence was presented to argue against a death sentence because Frye didn't want his family involved in the case. But appeals lawyer Bill Massengale said the same background information was easily available in public records.

The North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers sent Gov. Mike Easley a letter supporting clemency. ``We find the defense attorney's performance to be far below the minimum standards in a capital case,'' wrote Burton Craige, president of the academy.

Lawyers sent Easley a photograph of Frye when he was 8, showing bullwhip marks on his body. The photo was taken by police and later used in a class on child abuse, but Frye's jury was not shown the picture.

A Missouri man was executed in April despite his contention that his lawyer was drinking heavily, ill and overworked during trial and did not provide an adequate defense.