Posted on 10/06/2004 8:29:46 AM PDT by Born Conservative
Gov. Rendell signs death warrant, but attorney for the mass murderer plans action.
HARRISBURG - Gov. Ed Rendell on Tuesday signed a death warrant for mass murderer George Banks. But further appeals by his defense attorneys make it unlikely the execution will go off as scheduled on Dec. 2, one of the attorneys said.
Basil Russin, chief public defender for Luzerne County, said there are a number of legal issues the defense team plans to present. He declined to identify them, but said the case most likely will go back to Luzerne County court.
The death warrant comes four months after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Banks' death sentences for the shooting rampage on Sept. 15, 1982, that killed 13 people, including five of his own children. The sentences had been overturned by the federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which cited problems with the jury instructions at Banks' 1983 trial.
In a 5-4 decision issued June 24, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling, clearing the way for the signing of the death warrant.
Typically, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling ends a case. But new appeals can be filed in criminal cases if attorneys find issues that have not been argued through appeal, said Banks' lead attorney, Al Flora.
Death warrants were issued for Banks in 1996 and 1999, but both were stayed.
Anna Matz, 70, mother of two of the adult victims and grandmother to three of the children killed, was ecstatic when told the latest death warrant had been signed. "Believe me, nothing will make me happier than to know that man is going to die. It's not nice for me to say, but he took my grandchildren and my two daughters from me."
Robert Gillespie, the district attorney who prosecuted Banks, said he's hopeful any new appeals will be dismissed quickly.
"With the number of trips this case has taken to the Supreme Court, I can't imagine anyone being anxious to sustain any further appeals," Gillespie said. "If there is not going to be any finality to the death penalty the death penalty serves no purpose."
Gillespie said he gives Rendell credit for signing the Banks warrant, especially because Rendell's wife, Marjorie, a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, sat on the panel that overturned Banks' death sentence in a 2003 ruling.
Nina Tinari, a spokesperson for Rendell, said the Banks decision came down before he took office. Marjorie Rendell has since recused herself from hearing death penalty cases while the governor is in office.
Banks' death warrant was one of two signed by Rendell on Tuesday. The other was for Robert Grant Champney of Schuylkill County, who was convicted in 1999 of killing a man in a murder-for-hire scheme arranged by the man's wife. Champney's execution is scheduled for Nov. 30.
The Associated Press Contributed to this story
Here is the background on his crime: http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/banks/index_1.html?sect=8
It's been a while since any death row inmate has been executed in PA. I doubt that there even will be any in the near future.
A cold-front is coming through, but I don't see h*ll freezing over!
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