The Town -Talk

LOUISIANA: Ex-guard: Death Row inmates 'have no remorse'

"They have no remorse," Joseph Daigrepont says in describing his experiences guarding death row inmates.

Daigrepont of Tioga has twice worked at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. His 2nd tour included working on death row and at "Camp J."

Camp J is the satellite prison where inmates are sent for punishment for disciplinary violations. It's even more restrictive than death row, and death row inmates are sent there for problem behavior just like other inmates.

Between death row and Camp J, Daigrepont got a full dose of the worst the prison has to offer. The experience did not leave him feeling compassionate towards those on death row.

"They ought to die the next day," Daigrepont said.

"They have no remorse for what they've done. ... They don't care about anybody or anything."

The former prison guard's attitude towards death row inmates is different from that of lawyers representing them.

In interviews with The Town Talk, the lawyers talked of coming to see the inmates as something more than just being murderers.

But by legal definition murderers are what they are, and Daigrepont said it's something many are willing to be again, if given the chance.

Daigrepont said he played high school football with, and against, some of the inmates now on Death Row or serving life imprisonment.

But even inmates he had known on the outside let him know they would not hesitate to kill him, Daigrepont said.

The inmates told him they would willingly cut his throat for a pack of cigarettes or anything else they wanted, he said.

Their attitude is they can get away with it because they can't be punished any more than they already are being punished, Daigrepont said.

"They just don't care about anything. ... The answer is always, 'I don't care,'" he said.

The one threat that prison officials have over Death Row inmates is sending them to Camp J.

Prison spokeswoman Cathy Fontenot said because there are limits on what inmates are allowed to do, the privileges they do enjoy take on special significance.

So death row inmates "actually have a lot more to lose" than people realize by causing problems.

"TV privileges and smoking privileges are tremendous" to them, Fontenot said.

There are 2 different areas of the penitentiary housing inmates sentenced to die.

One is death row, which is where the inmates are normally housed.

The other place is known, accurately if somewhat graphically, as "the death house." It is where inmates are executed.

The death house building includes a small row of cells, the execution chamber and a room where families of victims can view the execution. It also has a small lobby with chairs and soft drink machines.

On days when an execution is not scheduled, inmates are allowed to display woodcrafts and other items for sale in the death house lobby.

Fontenot said most inmates are not moved from death row to the death house until the day of execution, although some are moved earlier.

Death Row inmates have many of the same privileges as other inmates, except their movement is highly restricted, Fontenot said.

death row inmates stay in their cells 23 hours a day. They have 1 hour to shower, exercise and do recreational activities.

They do have television on the tier and are allowed to keep personal items in their cells, Fontenot said.

Like other inmates, those on death row can participate in religious and educational activities, Fontenot said.

But because of the limits on those inmates' movement, those activities have to be brought to Death Row rather than allowing the inmates to participate with the rest of the prison population, Fontenot said.

Of the 92 people now on Death Row in Louisiana, all but one is a man. The woman, a former New Orleans police officer, is being held at the women's prison in St. Gabriel, Fontenot said.

Louisiana has only executed 1 woman, and that was in the early 1940s, Fontenot said.

In his 1st job at the penitentiary, Daigrepont worked with the main prison population. He also worked in the daytime.

The second time around Daigrepont got the worst of both worlds: a nighttime job that included Death Row and Camp J.

Once the lights are shut off at night, the tier is lit only by a blue light bulb that remains on for safety reasons, Daigrepont said. He said the tier is dim, the cells dark and the inhabitants savage.

"Night shift is totally different," Daigrepont said. "It's another world. It's like a bunch of wild animals come alive."

Daigrepont said that's especially true of death row and Camp J.

"Those guys sound like the monkeys in the Alexandria zoo at night," Daigrepont said. "They're screaming, throwing stuff."

**************************

Death penalty has strong support in Cenla

Most people in central Louisiana seem to support the death penalty and want to see executions carried out much more rapidly than they are now.

About 40 people responded to The Town Talk's request for comments about the death penalty, and the overwhelming majority favor capital punishment for those convicted in first-degree murder cases.

Not only was support for executions overwhelming -- many callers voiced frustration at how long the process takes.

O.D. West of Oakdale could have been speaking for the majority when he said, "I'm for it 100 percent, and they should make it a lot swifter."

West was one of 3 callers who said they are "100 %" in favor of executions. Most of the others, although not voicing their opinion in percentages, appeared to fully support capital punishment.

Several callers saw executions not only as justified, but also as cheaper for the state than life in prison.

"I've always been for the death penalty. ... We don't want them back on the street," said Jim Harris, co-owner of Hill-Harris.

Harris pointed to a recent case of taxpayers paying for an inmate's medical treatment as something he finds "ridiculous."

"As a taxpayer, I don't like to feed them and house them and buy them a new liver," Harris said.

Ransom White, 64, of Alexandria has mixed feelings. He holds basically anti-death penalty views, but favors the death penalty under specific circumstances.

"God is a just God. He wouldn't go for all this 'eye for an eye,'" White said. "If someone takes a life, you can't bring that person back. I know (then-Gov. George W.) Bush went crazy with it" in Texas.

"... But, I guess it can depend on what the person does," White said. "Taking a small child's life, like 2 or 3 (years old), I can see executing someone for that."

Lindsay Vocke, 18, of Pineville, a Louisiana State University at Alexandria student, said the death penalty is justified in certain cases.

Vocke, a public relations major and journalism minor, pointed to the case of Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people by bombing the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

"People who kill babies should be killed. Terrorists should be killed," Vocke said. "It's justice. Like Tim McVeigh. He took all those lives. He had no right."

"... If it's just someone planning a cold-blooded murder, or 'I'll kill you because you took my boyfriend,' I believe in it," she said of the death penalty.

Some residents not only said death is justified in 1st-degree murder cases, they also think it's the only way to guarantee a murderer won't be released to prey on society again.

"When an individual has gone to the point in their reasoning or emotion they take the life of another, then they must be removed from that society," Wayne Taylor said in an e-mail to The Town Talk.

"That person's ability to kill again requires that the society must protect the innocent person's life that would be killed next time," Taylor wrote.

"In the case of 1st-degree murder, the best way to protect the innocent life is to 'totally' remove the guilty aggressor from society."

Taylor also wrote that capital punishment "definitely is not society being 'lowered' to the killer's level; it is society doing the 'difficult' thing for the good of the innocent. ... The 'lowest' thing society can do is allow the aggressor to take the life of its innocent individuals."

Taylor added, "I don't look at capital punishment as a deterrent, though it could be to some."

Keith Bennett of Simpson thinks it is a deterrent.

"I do support the death penalty, and contrary to popular belief, I do think that it is a deterrent to crime," Bennett said in an e-mail.

Bennett added, "I think people stay on Death Row too long" before they are executed.

Mary Ann Mahfouz of Alexandria agreed. She said she supports capital punishment, "especially when people kill children and babies."

Mahfouz has no patience for inmates spending years on death row appealing their convictions.

"I think they should be executed within a month ... of being sentenced," Mahfouz said.

Robert W. Thornhill put it differently, but generally agreed with Mahfouz.

"I agree wholeheartedly that we should continue with (capital punishment)," Thornhill said.

"Once you are found guilty of this crime and admit to this crime by telling that you've done it, you should not have any waiting time. Go ahead and let the penalty slap them."

Al Beck of Bunkie said he supports capital punishment when there is no question that the defendant committed the crime.

"I'm definitely in favor of it where it's beyond reasonable doubt that the person is guilty," Beck said.

Kenneth Campbell, 32, of Pineville favors execution for those who commit extremely violent crimes, such as acts of terrorism or abusing children.

"If it's really violent, or it's just needless violence, like somebody just killing people for no reason, I agree," Campbell said. "Sexual offenders against children, I agree with that, too."

Jake Williamson, 35, of Hineston said, "If you put a fellow in jail for life, you have to pay for it. Why should we pay all this money for him?"

He added, "Put him to death, and get it over with. If you take somebody's life, they should do the same to you."

Williamson voiced resentment over what he said some co-workers who have been imprisoned have told him after their release.

"They get decent food, a roof over their head, TV, all paid for," Williamson said. "When they get out, they'll tell you, 'it ain't that bad.'

"Some of them say they want to go back."

One caller expressed concerns about the death penalty, saying it's not uncommon for the innocent to be falsely accused.

"Many times those accused are innocent and evidence is withheld," said Brenda Dozier.

Larry Breaux of Mansura supports life imprisonment instead of execution for capital offenders.

"I'm against people imposing the death penalty on other people," Breaux said. "Whenever we start killing people we're doing the same thing. ... That's not what Jesus Christ teaches."

Breaux added, "You gain more from compassion than revenge."

Breaux's opinion was shared by Elmer O'Con of Natchitoches, who said, "2 wrongs don't make a right."

"The Bible tells you don't take what you can't give back. ... Taking a life, you're taking something you can't give back."

"I do believe in (serving) life, natural life in prison as long as he or she lives. ... They should serve the rest of their born days," O'Con said.

Sheral Marshall, 41, of Alexandria said she objects to the death penalty for religious reasons.

"I don't think we should have the right to take someone's life," Marshall said. "Besides, it's the easy way out. I think they would suffer more in jail."

Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the strongest opinions came from the victims or families of victims of violent crime.

"I'm for (capital punishment),' said Sue Jarrell of Pineville, a shooting victim. "The only thing I'm against is keeping them in jail as long as they do. They ought to convict them, have one appeal, and if they don't win that, fry them."

The way things are done now, "all we are doing is feeding those sorry outfits," Jarrell said. She said the appeal should be completed and the execution carried out "within the 1st year of the trial."

Jarrell was shot in Natchitoches while attending the Christmas Festival in 1994. She said she happened to be in the line of fire when a drug deal went bad.

"A victim's time is never up," Jarrell said. "I serve a sentence every day."

3 of the callers were friends or relatives of 4 people slain in a home in the Poland community in 1996.

Darrell Robinson was convicted of murder in that case last year and sentenced to die by lethal injection. Robinson's appeal is expected to begin later this year in the Louisiana Supreme Court.

"I believe in the death penalty," said Susan Peart, who a relative by marriage of the Poland victims and also a neighbor.

"We've had members of our family murdered, and we want to see it (the death penalty) carried through," Peart said.

Peart said she realizes Robinson's appeals are expected to take years.

His execution "is still worth it," Peart said. "I wish it (would happen) sooner."

"There's no remorse (by Robinson), none whatsoever," Peart said. "Maybe when they are sticking the lethal injection needle in, he might have a little taste of the fear and panic" he caused the victims, she added.

To Annette DeLoach, also a relative of the Poland victims, it's pretty simple.

"I am definitely for capital punishment," DeLoach said. "The Bible says, 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.'"

A 3rd caller, who asked for privacy reasons that only her initials of MP be used, described herself as a friend of the Poland victims.

Although admitting the threat of capital punishment didn't stop Robinson, MP said execution does act as a deterrent in some circumstances.

As an example, MP said, the threat of execution may deter someone who is committing a robbery and thinking of killing the victim to leave no witness.

"There has to be a deterrent to people killing people," MP said. "There just has to be a deterrent to capital offenses."

As pointed out by some of the other callers, MP felt the one guarantee that a Death Row inmate will never return to society is to execute him. She doubts that life imprisonment really means that, saying a man who was convicted for raping one of her neighbors was sentenced to life, but was later released after the victim died.

MP also resented how long it takes for an execution to be carried out.

"Once they're found guilty, I'm against them sitting there for years and years. ... When a sentence is given it needs to be meted out," MP said.

Because of her close relationship with the Poland victims, MP remains bitter toward Robinson.

Seeing Robinson convicted and sentenced "hasn't changed my feelings or my bitterness at his taking these innocent people's lives. ... There's no ending to it till he's put to death," MP said. "Then hopefully I will feel like justice will be done.

"I will never feel at peace till he is put to death. I begrudge every bit of food he has been given."

*******************

LC educator: death penalty more accepted in South

Southern states are more likely to enforce the death penalty because it is more ingrained in the culture, a Louisiana College educator says.

The death penalty "is something the judicial system requires right now, because of how society is," said Bill Shaw, associate professor of criminal law at Louisiana College.

"The way our society is, we couldn't get along without it. It's a minor, but very necessary part of our judicial system."

Shaw said "very few" executions are held in Louisiana, only one occurring in 2001. The state has performed 26 executions since 1976, when the Supreme Court allowed reinstatement of the death penalty in the Gregg v. Georgia case. That ranks Louisiana 6th in total executions since 1976.

Texas has executed 246 during that time span. Texas also owns the record for most executions in one year, 98 in 1999.

There are 35 states that have the death penalty, but some have rarely or never used it.

Connecticut, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Mexico and South Dakota have not used the death penalty since 1976. Colorado, Tennessee and Wyoming have executed only 1 person each.

***** my note ***** New Mexico has executed one condemned prisoner, late last year.

The disparity can be traced to differences in regional and cultural differences, Shaw said.

"We're much quicker to execute people in the South," Shaw said.

"It's the nature of our culture. There's always been more violent crime down here. It goes back to the people who settled the area. It's the culture they came from."

Still, Shaw pointed out, there are about 2 million inmates in the country, including roughly 30,000 in the state. Given that context, one execution is minimal, he said.

Louisiana is part of the Bible Belt, but there are varied opinions on the death penalty even among religious leaders.

Catholic Bishop Sam Jacobs opposes the death penalty, although he declined to elaborate why.

The Rev. Philip Robertson, pastor of Philadelphia Baptist Church in Deville, quoted Scripture to support his pro-death penalty stance.

"When Jesus was brought before Pilate, he acknowledged that Pilate had been given his authority by God," Robertson said. "Had Jesus wanted to say the death penalty was wrong, this would have been the perfect opportunity."

Furthermore, he said, Romans 13:4 states that the Apostle Paul advocated the death penalty.

"Paul said the responsibility of government was in protecting its people, and in so doing, had the right to use the death penalty."

Robertson added that only in cases in which the guilt of the convicted is proven without a doubt would Robertson favor execution.

"Some say (execution) is not a deterrent," he said. "But you can't keep a number on how many people didn't commit these acts because they thought, 'I may get the death penalty if I do this.' Common sense tells me it is a deterrent."

Shaw said that the death penalty debate stirs mixed emotions in people.

He cited a national poll conducted during the Timothy McVeigh trial. The poll revealed that while 65 % of Americans supported the death penalty, 81 % wanted McVeigh executed.

McVeigh was executed last June for the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people. He was the 1st inmate executed by the U.S. government in 38 years.

"There are people who are against the death penalty, except in certain cases," Shaw said. "Part of it is that we react to events in this country. We are media and event-driven.

"... If bin Laden was brought back here, and there was no death penalty, lots of people would want it. People would be upset, even violent."

************

Typical Death Row inmate: poor, ignorant, abused

Many of them have more in common than just their death row address.

Although there are exceptions, as a group the men on death row tend to come from poor families, are poorly educated and quite often suffered some type of physical, emotional or sexual abuse as a child.

Many of them have criminal records dating back to when they were juveniles.

Quite a few suffer from limited intelligence, outright retardation or have some other type of mental defect.

"The vast majority are extremely poor," said defense attorney Michael Small, who has handled a number of death-penalty cases.

"Very often they're from broken families, and very often the families were psychologically or physically abusive," Small said.

"Homes where there was abuse is very prevalent."

Defense attorney Phyllis Mann gave a similar description of capital murder defendants.

"You hardly ever get a client that didn't do some juvenile (jail) time," Mann said. "On average, most of them have mental defects of one form or another.

Mann said almost all of the death row inmates were abused in some form, although she added the abuse doesn't always come from a parent. Child abuse is "just a horrible thing that has life-long effects," Mann said.

In theory, although it doesn't always work that way, a trial jury is aware of the murder defendant's background before deciding whether he deserves executions.

One of the unknowns in this world is why death row inmates tend to come from similar circumstances, while millions of other people from the same circumstances do not turn out to be killers.

Although the circumstances of each case is different, capital murder trials follow a pretty set routine.

There are 2 phases to the trial. The 1st is privately called the "guilt phase" by attorneys on both sides. It's an appropriate name.

For a number of reasons, prosecutors generally do not push for the death penalty in weak cases. So usually, if the case actually proceeds to trial, "the (prosecution's) evidence is strong and very often overwhelming," Small said.

In cases where the prosecution's evidence is really strong, the primary goal for the defense becomes to keep the client from being executed.

Under those circumstances, many attorneys, although not necessarily their clients, consider it at least a partial victory if the defendant is convicted only of a lesser homicide.

In determining guilt or innocence, the jury usually has 4 choices: 1st-degree murder, 2nd-degree murder, manslaughter or innocent.

The verdict must be unanimous among the 12 jurors.

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Manslaughter carries up to 40 years in prison.

If a defendant is convicted on either of those charges, the trial judge hands down the sentence.

But if the jury finds the defendant guilty of 1st-degree murder, the jury must determine the punishment. The trial then enters what the attorneys call the "penalty phase."

The jury must choose between death by lethal injection or life imprisonment without parole. If the jurors cannot reach a unanimous decision, by law the trial judge must sentence the defendant to life imprisonment without parole.

Because it's a two-phase trial, defendants who are indigent, and that's most of them, are now appointed 2 defense attorneys. Generally, one attorney concentrates on the "guilt" phase, while the other one concentrates on the "penalty" phase.

Because of the nature of the crimes, the defendant is often portrayed by the prosecution as some kind of monster during the 1st phase of the trial. That's especially true in closing arguments, where the prosecution is trying to persuade the jury to convict on 1st-degree murder rather than a lesser homicide.

During the sentencing phase, the defense usually tries to "humanize" the defendant. Basically, the defense tries to shift the jury's focus to what happened to the defendant during his lifetime.

It is at that stage of the trial that the jury learns about the defendant's background.

It is also at that point in the trial where it is common for the defendant's parents "to beg a jury not to kill their son," Mann said.

The parents "recognize something went terrible wrong, but they still love them," Mann said.

When the pleas for mercy fail to convince the jury to return a life sentence, the parents "feel like it is their fault" their son will be executed, Mann said.

But the prosecution also has a counter to those pleas. For a number of years Louisiana law has allowed what is called "victim impact" testimony.

That means the victim's relatives can testify to the jury about the impact the murder has had on their family.