Judge orders execution of Oregon death row inmate

A Marion County judge has authorized the Aug. 16 execution of Oregon death row inmate Gary Haugen, clearing the way for the first execution in this state in 14 years.

Haugen, 49, essentially volunteered to die by lethal injection, waiving all further appeals of his death sentence.

Barring a change of heart, he will be the first Oregon inmate put to death since double-killer Harry Moore of Salem was executed in 1997.

After 30 years in prison, Haugen said he doesn’t want to languish on death row or “rub elbows” with certain other condemned killers he despises.

“The bottom line is, I feel like a dinosaur in a world that is evolving around me,” he said.

Judge Joseph Guimond issued Haugen’s death warrant after a sometimes-contentious court hearing on Wednesday in which Haugen dumped his 2 attorneys and blasted their attempts to delay his execution.

Haugen, 49, described his decision to drop all his appeals as a self-sacrifice, intended to rivet attention on “the farce” of taxpayer dollars spent on death row and to protest the “hypocricy” of the justice system.

While more than 30 killers await execution on death row at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Haugen complained that there are serial killers — “mutants,” he called them — serving life sentences within the general inmate population at the same prison.

“I am willing to sacrifice myself, fall on my sword, if you will” to protest such inequities, he said.

Haugen and another inmate, Jason Brumwell, landed on death row in 2007, when both were convicted of killing a third inmate at the state penitentiary in Salem.

At a joint trial in Marion County Circuit Court, Haugen and Brumwell were convicted by a jury for the 2003 slaying of inmate David Polin.

Polin suffered a crushed skull and 84 stab wounds.

Prosecutors maintained that Haugen and Brumwell killed Polin because they mistakenly believed he snitched to prison officials about their use of drugs.

At the time of Polin’s murder, Haugen was in prison for the 1981 murder of his ex-girlfriend’s mother in Portland.

During sometimes-testy court proceedings on Wednesday, Haugen fired his court-appointed attorneys, Andy Simrin and Keith Goody. He complained that they had been acting against his wishes by filing legal motions and taking other steps to delay his execution.

“This is my time to choose,” Haugen said. He added: “They’re trying to take that away from me, your honor, and it’s damaging my spirit."

At Haugen’s behest, Simrin and Goody were formally removed as his attorneys. Haugen now represents himself in all legal matters.

In another unusual development, Haugen came to the defense of the judge who signed his death warrant.

Haugen heaped praise on Guimond after Simrin and Goody filed a motion on Tuesday seeking to recuse, or remove, the judge from the death warrant case. The motion was denied by Judge Thomas Hart, and Guimond then entered the courtroom to preside over the death warrant hearing.

Source: Statesman Journal, May 18, 2011

_________________________

Use the tags below or the search engine at the top of this page to find updates, older or related articles on this Website.

Comments

Florida | After nearly 50 years on death row, Tommy Zeigler seeks final chance at freedom

The Winter Garden Police chief was at a party on Christmas Eve 1975 when he received a phone call from his friend Tommy Zeigler, the owner of a furniture store on Dillard Street. “I’ve been shot, please hurry,” Zeigler told the chief as he struggled for breath. When police arrived at the store, Zeigler, 30, managed to unlock the door and then collapsed “with a gaping bullet hole through his lower abdomen,” court records show. In the store, detectives found a gruesome, bloody crime scene and several guns. Four other people — Zeigler’s wife, his in-laws and a laborer — lay dead.

Singapore executes three drug mules over two days

Singapore hanged three people for drug offences last week, bringing the total number of executions to 17 this year - the highest since 2003. These come a week before a constitutional challenge against the death penalty for drug offences is due to be heard. Singapore has some of the world's harshest anti-drug laws, which it says are a necessary deterrent to drug crime, a major issue elsewhere in South East Asia. Anyone convicted of trafficking - which includes selling, giving, transporting or administering - more than 15g of diamorphine, 30g of cocaine, 250g of methamphetamine and 500g of cannabis in Singapore will be handed the death sentence.

Afghanistan | Two Sons Of Executed Man Also Face Death Penalty, Says Taliban

The Taliban governor’s spokesperson in Khost said on Tuesday that two sons of a man executed earlier that day have also been sentenced to death. Their executions, he said, have been postponed because the heir of the victims is not currently in Afghanistan. Mostaghfer Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, also released details of the charges against the man executed on Tuesday, identified as Mangal. He said Mangal was accused of killing members of a family.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers carry out public execution in sports stadium

The man had been convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including children, and was executed by one of their relatives, according to police. Afghanistan's Taliban authorities carried out the public execution of a man on Tuesday convicted of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year. Tens of thousands of people attended the execution at a sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost, which the Supreme Court said was the eleventh since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Louisiana death row inmate freed after nearly 30 years as overturned conviction upends case

A Louisiana man who spent nearly 30 years on death row walked out of prison Wednesday after a judge overturned his conviction and granted him bail. Jimmie Duncan, now in his 60s, was sentenced to death in 1998 for the alleged rape and drowning of his girlfriend’s 23-month-old daughter, Haley Oliveaux — a case long clouded by disputed forensic testimony. His release comes months after a state judge ruled that the evidence prosecutors used to secure the conviction was unreliable and rooted in discredited bite-mark analysis.

Vietnam | Woman sentenced to death for poisoning 4 family members with cyanide

A woman in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam was sentenced to death on Thursday for killing family members including two young children in a series of cyanide poisonings that shocked her community. The Dong Nai People's Court found 39-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong Bich guilty of murder and of illegally possessing and using toxic chemicals. Judges described her actions as "cold-blooded, inhumane and calculated," saying Bich exploited the trust of her victims and "destroyed every ethical bond within her family."

Burkina Faso to bring back death penalty

Burkina Faso's military rulers will bring back the death penalty, which was abolished in 2018, the country's Council of Ministers announced on Thursday. "This draft penal code reinstates the death penalty for a number of offences, including high treason, acts of terrorism, acts of espionage, among others," stated the information service of the Burkinabe government. Burkina Faso last carried out an execution in 1988.

Iran carries out public hanging of "double-rapist"

Iran on Tuesday publicly executed a man after convicting him of raping two women in the northern province of Semnan. The execution was carried out in the town of Bastam after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict, the judiciary's official outlet Mizan Online reported. Mizan cited the head of the provincial judiciary, Mohammad Akbari, as saying the ruling had been 'confirmed and enforced after precise review by the Supreme Court'. The provincial authority said the man had 'deceived two women and committed rape by force and coercion', adding that he used 'intimidation and threats' to instil fear of reputational harm in the victims.

Utah | Ralph Menzies dies on death row less than 3 months after his execution was called off

Judge was set to consider arguments in December about Menzies’ mental fitness Ralph Menzies, who spent more than 3 decades on Utah’s death row for the 1986 murder of Maurine Hunsaker, has died. Menzies, 67, died of “presumed natural causes at a local hospital” Wednesday afternoon, according to the Utah Department of Corrections. Matt Hunsaker, Maurine Hunsaker’s son, said Menzies’ death “was a complete surprise.” “First off, I’d say that I’m numb. And second off, I would say, grateful,” Hunsaker told Utah News Dispatch. “I’m grateful that my family does not have to endure this for the holidays.”

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog