Capital punishment in Maryland

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Capital punishment is a legal form of judicial punishment in the U.S. state of Maryland. It has been in use in the state since June 20, 1638, when two men were hanged for piracy in St. Mary's County. A total of 309 people were executed by a variety of methods from 1638 to June 9, 1961, the last execution before Furman v. Georgia. Since that time, five people have been executed.

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[edit] History

Up until the second half the 20th century, most executions were by hanging. The exceptions were a soldier shot for desertion, two slaves hung in chains, and one female slave who was burned at the stake. All hangings were performed in public in the county where the offence took place.

In 1809 the Maryland legislature enacted laws that provided for murder in varying degrees. The mandatory punishment for first-degree murder was given as death. New laws came into force in 1908 which allowed the sentencing judge discretion, giving the option of life imprisonment. Then in 1916, the jury was given the option of deciding if they wished to impose the death penalty during their deliberations. They could now return a sentence of guilty "without capital punishment."

This changed under new state laws in 1922, which required all hangings to be executed at the State Penitentiary. It was designed to get rid of "the curious mobs that frequent hangings taking place in the counties of this State, and who attempt to make public affairs of the same." 75 men were hanged on the Penitentiary gallows. Of these, 12 hangings were double hangings and on two occasions triple hangings took place. The first indoor hanging in the state, would come before this time though, with an execution on January 3, 1913 in the Baltimore City Jail, which only had invited guests present.

There is one known instance of a botched execution. On January 30, 1930, Jack Johnson stood on the trapdoor after being convicted of a double murder. But as he fell through, the rope snapped and he fell to the ground below. He was left badly injured and carried to the top of the gallows on a stretcher. There, a new rope was placed around his neck and he was hanged, supported by a stretcher.

The Maryland government decided in 1955 to change the method of execution in lethal gas in the gas chamber. A total of four men were executed in this fashion. The first was on June 28, 1957.

After the Furman v. Georgia decision from the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that death penalty statutes were unconstitutionally arbitrary in their application, the Maryland legislature removed all arbitrariness by making death the mandatory punishment for first-degree murder once again. Such laws were found by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional in Woodson v. North Carolina. As such, Maryland took the route of Georgia and other states and introduced bifurcated trials, where the jury first decided guilt and then punishment.

Further laws changes in 1987 and 1989 excluded juveniles and the mentally retarded from execution.

In 1993, the method was changed to lethal injection. The first execution with this method in the state, was also the first execution in over 30 years. John Thanos was put to death on May 16, 1994.

Governor Parris N. Glendening (D) halted executions in Maryland by executive order on May 9, 2002, while a state-ordered University of Maryland, College Park study of capital punishment is conducted. The study eventually concluded that there are racial and geographic disparities in the application of the death penalty in the state, but the subsequent governor, Robert Ehrlich (R), ended the moratorium and resumed executions in 2004 nonetheless. However, on December 19, 2006, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that state executions would be suspended until the manual that spells out the protocol for lethal injections is reviewed by a legislative panel. The state's Department of Corrections had adopted the manual without having a public hearing or submitting it before a committee. Legislative review of the protocol is required before approval under state law.

Unlike most states, Maryland does not offer the condemned a special last meal; instead the prisoner receives whatever food the general prison population is served the day of their death.

[edit] Current legislation

On first degree murder is a capital offense in the state of Maryland. Maryland Code Criminal Law § 2-201 defines murder in the first degree as:

Under Maryland Code Criminal Law § 2-303, the sentence of death is imposed:

"…by intravenous administration of a lethal quantity of an ultrashort-acting barbiturate or other similar drug in combination with a chemical paralytic agent."

For offenses committed before March 25, 1994, the condemned is given the option of the gas chamber or lethal injection.

[edit] Post-Gregg executions

A total of 5 individuals convicted of murder have been executed by the state of Maryland since 1976. All were executed by lethal injection.

Executed person Date of execution Victim(s) Under Governor
1 John Thanos 16 May 1994 Billy Winebrenner, Gregory Allen Taylor, and Melody Pistorio. William Donald Schaefer
2 Flint Gregory Hunt 2 July 1997 Vincent Adolfo. Parris Glendening
3 Tyrone X. Gilliam 16 November 1998 Christine Doerfler. Parris Glendening
4 Steven Oken 17 June 2004 Dawn Marie Garvin. Robert Ehrlich
5 Wesley Baker 5 December 2005 Jane Tyson. Robert Ehrlich

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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