Posted on 01/17/2006 12:47:30 PM PST by SmithL
San Quentin, Calif. (AP) --
In the end, California's oldest condemned inmate wasn't as feeble and frail as his attorneys portrayed him in their efforts to spare his life.
With the help of four large correctional officers, Clarence Ray Allen shuffled from his wheelchair to a gurney inside San Quentin State Prison's death chamber early Tuesday morning, a day after his 76th birthday.
Though legally blind, Allen raised his head to search among execution witnesses for relatives he had invited.
"Hoka hey, it's a good day to die," Allen said in a nod to his Choctaw Indian heritage minutes before he died. "Thank you very much, I love you all. Goodbye."
Anticipating a possible replay of his September heart attack, Allen had asked prison authorities to let him die if he went into cardiac arrest before his execution, a request prison officials said they would not honor.
"At no point are we not going to value the sanctity of life," said prison spokesman Vernell Crittendon. "We would resuscitate him."
Crittendon explained that executions are scheduled for one minute after midnight because the death warrant is only valid for that day, giving authorities time to treat an inmate's ailments, then kill the prisoner without having to seek another order.
In Allen's case, his heart was strong to the end, forcing doctors to administer a second shot of potassium chloride to stop it.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I had to carry my dog to put her to sleep and she was never as evil as this piece of work.
He lucked out getting so many years of life that he took from others.
Lead, in the form of a bullet works faster!
I'm pretty sure physcians are prohibited by professional ethics from participating in the execution of the condemned.
They may be standing by to pronounce, but not to kill.
"Hoka hey, it's a good day to die," Allen said in a nod to his Choctaw Indian heritage minutes before he died. "
Isn't that a line from the Outlaw Josie Wales?
That's just plain Orwellian.
Probably. They can still kill innocent people on a whim, though (e.g., abortion).
Quite funny, in a rather odd way.
Believe it's the war cry of the Lakota - from way before Josey Wales.
That's just plain stupid.
Where was Jesse and Al and hollyweird and...?
"I'm pretty sure physcians are prohibited by professional ethics from participating in the execution of the condemned."
Not as stupid as someone claiming that he is too sick to be executed.
Well, in the end, Allen proved he really was a sorry, manipulative POS.
Good riddance.
Sounds like he was a tough ole booger.
Should have used lead. A third of an ounce delivered at supersonic speed will kill anyone.
Why are there more executions than normal in California recently?
I don't think the doctors did it, I believe it was the guards.
Send his family a bill for the extra chemicals. And next time, just use Sani-Flush.
Can the attorneys br brought up on charges for lying to the court about the health of the Client?
It would appear they stepped out of bounds and are afoul of the law governing the behavior of lawyers at court.
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