Follow-up on trusting Gonzo with the death penalty
Previously, I blogged about the new provisions in the revised Patriot Act which give the attorney general the power to put executions on the fast track. We're supposed to trust Alberto Gonzales with the responsibility of deciding when to short-circuit the legal process in favor of expediency.
TruthOut has posted an interview with Paul Charlton, former US Attorney for Arizona, in which he articulates his concerns on the subject:
Paul Charlton, former US attorney for Arizona, told Truthout on Tuesday that a new law authorizing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to fast-track executions is ill-conceived because it gives power to an official who has little regard for capital punishment cases. Charlton was fired last year for refusing Justice Department orders to seek the death penalty in a drug-related murder case.
"In my own personal experience with the AG, and having watched his testimony regarding my dealings with him, I know that the AG reflects little on the issue of the death penalty," Charlton said in an interview on Tuesday. "What gives me to pause is not the need for the law, but that the individual who will be deciding if the states merit such a change will be the attorney general."
To illustrate his point, Charlton recounts the specific case which may have led to his politicized firing by that same attorney general. It was a drug-related murder case in which the body has never been recovered. The Justice Department, and specifically the attorney general, wanted the man convicted in the case to receive the death penalty, but Charlton thought the death penalty was inappropriate in that case, due to the lack of forensic evidence and the lack of a body. When ordered to pursue the death penalty, he balked:
"The lack of forensic evidence, the quality of the evidence means you should not seek the death penalty," Charlton said. "The first I heard that my recommendation had been ignored was when I received a letter from the attorney general, and they use this very euphemistic term: They say you're now 'authorized' to seek the death penalty, which in reality is an 'order' to seek the death penalty. I contacted the office of the attorney general, the office of the deputy attorney general [Paul McNulty] ... to try to reverse that decision and I was unsuccessful in the end."
Charlton said his office knew where the body was located and requested the DOJ spend $500,000 to $1 million to recover the body from a landfill which would have either strengthened the prosecution's case, and therefore provided the DNA evidence to justify his pursuit of to death penalty, or, it would have determined that the suspect wasn't responsible for the murder. Charlton said the DOJ denied his request. The victim's body remains buried in a landfill in Arizona.
The former federal prosecutor, now in private practice in Phoenix working on Native American issues, said he had "a memorable conversation" with McNulty's Chief of Staff Michael Elston who told Charlton that McNulty and Gonzales spent a "significant amount of time" discussing Charlton's concerns about executing the defendant - about five to ten minutes - before ordering Charlton should seek the death penalty.
Charlton is unsure whether his termination was due to his refusal to seek the death penalty in this case, or due to the fact that he was pursuing corruption charges against Republican officials at the same time. In either case, five to ten minutes gives a whole new meaning to "fast track" authority.
Remember: the firings of the US Attorneys were not political, the death penalty is never wrongly applied, and Alberto Gonzales should be trusted. That's the Bush Administration's message, loud and clear.