Arkansas Executes First Person In More Than a Decade

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Arkansas late Thursday night carried out the state’s first execution in more than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a last-minute series of orders, rejected requests by a death-row inmate to stay his lethal injection.
The execution followed a wave of criticism and tumult in Arkansas, which had set an unprecedented scheduled of executions, plans that were imperiled by a series of court orders halting at least some of the eight lethal injections originally set for April.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...me-executions-is-blocked-by-new-court-orders/

Ledell Lee, 51, was executed. He was convicted of killing Debra Reese in her home in 1995. He was convicted of beating her to death.

I know talking about the death penalty can bring up some strong emotions but what do you think about Arkansas planning 8 executions basically in a row?

Ledell Lee wanted some DNA testing done on evidence. I have no idea what evidence nor do I know what evidence convicted him. However, if there is ever any evidence that can be tested for DNA that will prove someone is innocent I think it is irresponsible if we do not test it. IMO of course
 
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In a hearing this afternoon before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright, attorneys for death row inmate Ledell Lee argued that they should be allowed to locate crime scene evidence collected in 1993, including a single hair and a Converse shoe with a pinhead-sized spot of human blood on it, for modern DNA testing. They hope testing can prove that the African-American hair found at the crime scene belongs to someone other than Lee, and that the speck of blood found on Lee's shoe does not belong to the victim in the case.

http://m.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/...-collected-in-1993-as-part-of-innocence-claim

.........

Lee has been called a super predator by prosecutors. After being charged with the murder of Reese, he became a suspect in other crimes. Lee was convicted for the rape of two Jacksonville women and was accused of the murder and rape of 22-year-old Christine Lewis.

In November 1989, Lewis was abducted from her home where she was later raped, strangled, and eventually killed. Her body was later found at an abandoned home inside a closet. That trial ended in a hung jury. When Lee received the death sentence for Reese’s murder, prosecutors decided not to pursue retrying him for the alleged murder of Lewis.

http://www.thv11.com/mb/news/local/ledell-lee-24-years-later/432531346
 
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ar-supreme-court/1322909.html

Andy Gomez lived across the street from the victim, and was also home on the morning in question.   While looking out his front window, he saw a man standing at the front door of the victim's residence.   He watched the man grab the screen door and “make a B-line inside just real fast.”   Approximately twenty minutes later, the man exited Debra's residence.   According to Gomez, the man made rapid-head movements, as if he was checking to see if he was being watched.   Suspicious, Gomez got in his car to follow the man.   He caught up with him on a nearby street, where he observed the man talking to a female with spirals or braids in her hair.

Debra's body was discovered in her bedroom at approximately 1:38 p.m. that same date.   Three one hundred dollar bills that Debra's father, Stephen Williams, had given to her were missing from her wallet.   This money had been part of a larger stack of crisp new bills Williams received in sequential order from the Arkansas Federal Credit Union.   At Lee's trial, the State offered evidence that, at 1:53 p.m. on the day of the murder, Lee paid a debt at the Rent-A-Center with a one-hundred dollar bill.   Of the three one-hundred dollar bills that the Rent-A-Center received on February 9, one of the bills bore a serial number that was two bills away from one of the bills that the victim's father had turned over to police.
 
I'm neither pro nor anti death penalty.

Have been reading about this lineup of executions all week and Arkansas looks very inept to me. Why wait until your supply of required drugs is about to expire then rush to 'get 'er done'? Why weren't the executions carried out prior to this in a timely fashion? Who was sitting around doing nothing on this?

Lee's lawyers don't look any more qualified - why wasn't the DNA tested years ago? Clearly that it not evidence that convicted him.

It sounds like a few people are suddenly pushing everyone involved into a frenzy of activity over this - not the way to do it. Too many innocent people end up in jail - to execute an innocent person, unthinkable. Plan better or don't do it. Jmo.
 
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ar-supreme-court/1322909.html

Andy Gomez lived across the street from the victim, and was also home on the morning in question.   While looking out his front window, he saw a man standing at the front door of the victim's residence.   He watched the man grab the screen door and “make a B-line inside just real fast.”   Approximately twenty minutes later, the man exited Debra's residence.   According to Gomez, the man made rapid-head movements, as if he was checking to see if he was being watched.   Suspicious, Gomez got in his car to follow the man.   He caught up with him on a nearby street, where he observed the man talking to a female with spirals or braids in her hair.

Debra's body was discovered in her bedroom at approximately 1:38 p.m. that same date.   Three one hundred dollar bills that Debra's father, Stephen Williams, had given to her were missing from her wallet.   This money had been part of a larger stack of crisp new bills Williams received in sequential order from the Arkansas Federal Credit Union.   At Lee's trial, the State offered evidence that, at 1:53 p.m. on the day of the murder, Lee paid a debt at the Rent-A-Center with a one-hundred dollar bill.   Of the three one-hundred dollar bills that the Rent-A-Center received on February 9, one of the bills bore a serial number that was two bills away from one of the bills that the victim's father had turned over to police.

BBM - I find that impossible to believe.
 
They need to go ahead with Don Davis execution, He murdered my friend Katie's Mother back in the 90s and She has been thru more than you can imagine every time they move forward there is a stay and you can see the pain even in her FB posts , I'm not usually pro DP , except this one and a few select cases :)
 
BBM - I find that impossible to believe.

Snipped from same link.

Glenda Pruitt lived at 128 Galloway Circle on the date in question.   A man she had seen four or five times and knew as “Skip” walked up her street.   Glenda, who wore her hair in long braids, had a short conversation with Skip as he passed by her house.   McCullough, Gomez, and Pruitt identified Lee in a photographic lineup as the man they had seen in the victim's neighborhood on the morning of her murder.
 
I doubt Arkansas can get through 8 executions in a row. Oklahoma couldn't even get through 2 in one night because they botched the first one.

Another thing to think about is the effect this has on all the people involved in the executions, including the media. A journalist here in Tulsa stated that it is somewhat traumatizing to sit and watch someone be put to death and to report the details. She wasn't so much complaining, but was stating that it takes a toll on the prison staff, the doctor present, the executioner, etc. and it was her position that doing 8 in a row would be too much for everyone to handle. I tend to agree with her. Mistakes happen, too like they did in Oklahoma and things don't go as planned.

This is not to say that these executions should not happen. I don't know anything about these cases. I'm saying 8 in a row is a bit much.
 
Snipped from same link.

Glenda Pruitt lived at 128 Galloway Circle on the date in question.   A man she had seen four or five times and knew as “Skip” walked up her street.   Glenda, who wore her hair in long braids, had a short conversation with Skip as he passed by her house.   McCullough, Gomez, and Pruitt identified Lee in a photographic lineup as the man they had seen in the victim's neighborhood on the morning of her murder.

I don't know if Lee was guilty or not - eyewitness testimony is pretty unreliable.

From the same link -

Regarding the other two offenses, the State offered testimony of the two victims as well as testimony from an FBI agent who testified that the probability of the rapist being someone other than Lee was one in one billion in one of the cases, and one in eighty billion in the other.   In light of this evidence, the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Lee had committed these offenses.   As such, Lee cannot demonstrate that he was prejudiced by the absence of an in camera hearing.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ar-supreme-court/1322909.html

Does that mean there was a DNA profile for Lee from another case? How else can one state a billion or 80 billion chance of a perp being someone else?

If there was a profile - it wasn't used in the case Lee was executed for? Wasn't she sexually assaulted as well?
 
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Does that mean there was a DNA profile for Lee from another case? How else can one state a billion or 80 billion chance of a perp being someone else?

I've had my DNA sequenced several times due to an interest in ancestry, Different tests go down to different resolution, ie different level of detail. My first tests put me in groups of tested a few dozen individuals, and projected, a few hundred thousand. My most recent was tested down to totally unique and projected unique as well. That totally unique though is actually 10 to the minus 13 (one in ten trillion?).
 
I've had my DNA sequenced several times due to an interest in ancestry, Different tests go down to different resolution, ie different level of detail. My first tests put me in groups of tested a few dozen individuals, and projected, a few hundred thousand. My most recent was tested down to totally unique and projected unique as well. That totally unique though is actually 10 to the minus 13 (one in ten trillion?).

Yes - the only time I have read/heard of one using the term 'one in thousands, billion, trillions' is in relation to DNA profiles.

Lee was asking for DNA testing since his conviction - seems it did not come up at trial. Questioning if there was any evidence collected to test. Find it hard to believe there wasn't anything to test - regardless of what the outcome would be.

Lee was arrested the same day - his clothing should have been covered in the victims blood. He apparently stopped and talked to a 'witness' right after the murder - he should have been covered in blood. The 'witness' that 'followed' him should have seen him covered in blood. No mention of that.
 
I can't imagine not having the DNA testing done first and for that matter why it takes so freaking long?

In ending a human beings life I would think everyone involved would want to be sure, especially since DNA testing has come along way.
 
Can't help but question if the right guy was executed for DR's murder.
 
Can't help but question if the right guy was executed for DR's murder.

And I also can't help but wonder if rushing to execute people because of an expiring drug without exhausting all evidence is prudent.
 
I am fairly liberal on most things, however, I am a somewhat cautious supporter of the death penalty. I know there are a lot of problems with it, especially as it is applied to the poor and people of color, but some people are just so evil. However, what Arkansas is doing screams politics.
 
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Look, the guy was convicted a decade ago. Never understood the last minute appeals, you knew your date for sometime. Desperation appeals at this point with little validity.
 
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I have absolutely no sympathy for brutal, cold-blooded killers. He brutally murdered an innocent woman who most likely begged for her life before being raped and murdered. No mercy was given to her. The only fault I have is that it took way too long before this monster was put to death.

Sent from my HTCD100LVWPP using Tapatalk
 
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Ledell Lee, 51, was executed. He was convicted of killing Debra Reese in her home in 1995. He was convicted of beating her to death.

I know talking about the death penalty can bring up some strong emotions but what do you think about Arkansas planning 8 executions basically in a row?

Ledell Lee wanted some DNA testing done on evidence. I have no idea what evidence nor do I know what evidence convicted him. However, if there is ever any evidence that can be tested for DNA that will prove someone is innocent I think it is irresponsible if we do not test it. IMO of course
What do I think about planning eight executions in a row? These murderers have lived twenty plus years longer than they allowed their victims. I say "What took so long?"

Sent from my HTCD100LVWPP using Tapatalk
 
What do I think about planning eight executions in a row? These murderers have lived twenty plus years longer than they allowed their victims. I say "What took so long?"

Sent from my HTCD100LVWPP using Tapatalk

More than likely our justice system. I don't pretend to know the law but I would think appeals and new testing etc takes time especially for someone already convicted.
 

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