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USA | The execution I witnessed haunts me. Biden, clear death row before Trump returns: Opinion

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Under Trump, there were 13 executions in his last six months as president. Biden must clear death row now to stop that and what Albert Camus described as the most cold-blooded premeditated murder. On Jan. 14, 2021, I stood in a small chamber in the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, while the federal government carried out an execution. Relegated to a spot 6 feet away from the gurney, I prayed with Corey Johnson, the “Gentle Giant” as he was known on death row.  He was one of the last of 13 people executed under then-President Donald Trump, who carried out an unprecedented killing spree during the final six months of his presidency.

Georgia Death Row Inmates' Last Words: Apologies, Thanks, Defiance

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Georgia's death chamber
Georgia's death chamber
Georgia inmate J.W. Ledford Jr. used his final moments to quote from the movie "Cool Hand Luke" and toss out an insult.

"What we have here is a failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So that's why we have here what we have here today. I am not the failure. You are the failure to communicate," Ledford said just after 1 a.m. on May 17, before a lethal dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital began to flow into his veins.

"You can kiss my white trash ass," he added. "I'm just shaking the bush boss, let's do it."

It was one of the more unusual statements made by a Georgia death row inmate in the final moments. Strapped to a gurney that's tilted toward the witness seats, condemned inmates are given two minutes to make a last statement.

Many apologize to the families of their victims or thank their own families, friends and lawyers for support. Others insist they are innocent or rail against the justice system that put them there.

Georgia is the rare state that makes audio recordings of condemned inmates' final statements in the execution chamber.

The Associated Press obtained copies of those recordings (transcripts and audio) through an open records request. Some inmates chose not to make a final statement in the execution chamber.

Kelly Gissendaner, who was the only woman on Georgia's death row when she was executed in September 2015, sobbed through apologies to the family of her husband, Douglas Gissendaner, whom she had conspired to have her lover kill. Then she sang "Amazing Grace" as the lethal drug flowed, though the microphones had already been turned off by then.

Troy Davis, who inspired rallies and vigils in multiple countries after his guilt was questioned, maintained his innocence until the end, insisting from the gurney in September 2011 that he did not kill off-duty Savannah police Officer Mark MacPhail.

Source: The Associated Press, May 24, 2017

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