Capital punishment in Arkansas
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment
is legal in the U.S. state
of Arkansas
. Since 1820, a total of 504 individuals have been executed. According to the Arkansas Department of Correction, as of December 22, 2008, a total of 40 men were under a sentence of death in the state.
. Four guerillas
were shot
on 29 July 1864.
On 25 July 1902 seven men were hanged, the most executions in one day in the state.
Almost all executions were for crimes that involved murder. A number of people were also executed for rape
and there was one execution for espionage
, 17 year old alleged Confederate spy David O. Dodd, hanged by Union soldiers on 8 January 1864.
In 1913 the method used was changed to the electric chair
. The electric chair was constructed from the wood that had previously made up the state gallows
. This electric chair would be used for all electrocutions up until 1964. Four more people were hanged in the state — one in 1913, two in 1914 and one in 1930.
The last execution in the state before Furman v. Georgia
, , was that of Charles Fields on 24 January 1964 for rape. New capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas and came into force on 23 March 1973. The first execution would not come until 18 June 1990 when John Swindler
was electrocuted. His was the first and only execution so far on the new electric chair constructed by the state in the 1970s.
According to Michael L. Radelet of the University of Colorado
there have been two instances of executions that did not go to plan in Arkansas since Furman. On 24 January 1992 the execution of Ricky Ray Rector
was delayed by 50 minutes after the medical staff were unable to find a suitable vein in his arm. The curtain over the witness area was not drawn, and witnesses heard Rector moan loudly eight times. State officials attributed the difficulties to his size and use of antipsychotic medication. The execution of Christina Marie Riggs
faced similar delays on May 2, 2000, when staff were unable to locate a vein in her elbow. They eventually found one in her wrist.
There have been at least two death penalty volunteers in Arkansas: Ronald Gene Simmons
and Christina Marie Riggs
.
. Under state law:
If the person was sentenced before that date, they have the choice of the electric chair or lethal injection. However, since no inmates are eligible for that method, the electric chair has all but been retired for use in volunteers to be used.
If lethal injection
is ever ruled unconstitutional, the electric chair
can be used for all death sentences.
Clemency rests with the governor of Arkansas, who receives a non-binding report from the Arkansas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Executions in Arkansas are currently performed at the Cummins Unit
.
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
Juveniles can be tried as adults at the age of 14 for capitol murder.
.
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
is legal in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. Since 1820, a total of 504 individuals have been executed. According to the Arkansas Department of Correction, as of December 22, 2008, a total of 40 men were under a sentence of death in the state.
History
All but four executions carried out before 1913 were by hangingHanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. Four guerillas
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
were shot
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
on 29 July 1864.
On 25 July 1902 seven men were hanged, the most executions in one day in the state.
Almost all executions were for crimes that involved murder. A number of people were also executed for rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and there was one execution for espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, 17 year old alleged Confederate spy David O. Dodd, hanged by Union soldiers on 8 January 1864.
In 1913 the method used was changed to the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
. The electric chair was constructed from the wood that had previously made up the state gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
. This electric chair would be used for all electrocutions up until 1964. Four more people were hanged in the state — one in 1913, two in 1914 and one in 1930.
The last execution in the state before Furman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...
, , was that of Charles Fields on 24 January 1964 for rape. New capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas and came into force on 23 March 1973. The first execution would not come until 18 June 1990 when John Swindler
John Edward Swindler
John Edward Swindler was executed at the age of 46 by the State of Arkansas for the September 24, 1976 murder of Patrolman Randy Basnett, age 30.-The murder:...
was electrocuted. His was the first and only execution so far on the new electric chair constructed by the state in the 1970s.
According to Michael L. Radelet of the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
there have been two instances of executions that did not go to plan in Arkansas since Furman. On 24 January 1992 the execution of Ricky Ray Rector
Ricky Ray Rector
Ricky Ray Rector was executed for the 1981 murder of police officer Robert Martin in Conway, Arkansas....
was delayed by 50 minutes after the medical staff were unable to find a suitable vein in his arm. The curtain over the witness area was not drawn, and witnesses heard Rector moan loudly eight times. State officials attributed the difficulties to his size and use of antipsychotic medication. The execution of Christina Marie Riggs
Christina Marie Riggs
Christina Marie Riggs was a murderer executed in Arkansas by lethal injection. She was convicted of the November 4, 1997, murder of her two preschool-aged children, Justin and Shelby Alexis Riggs, in their beds at the family's Sherwood, Arkansas, home...
faced similar delays on May 2, 2000, when staff were unable to locate a vein in her elbow. They eventually found one in her wrist.
There have been at least two death penalty volunteers in Arkansas: Ronald Gene Simmons
Ronald Gene Simmons
Ronald Gene Simmons, Sr. was a retired United States Air Force master sergeant who killed 16 people over a weeklong period in 1987. Fourteen of the victims were members of his family, including a daughter he had sexually abused and the child he had fathered with her...
and Christina Marie Riggs
Christina Marie Riggs
Christina Marie Riggs was a murderer executed in Arkansas by lethal injection. She was convicted of the November 4, 1997, murder of her two preschool-aged children, Justin and Shelby Alexis Riggs, in their beds at the family's Sherwood, Arkansas, home...
.
Method
For all people sentenced after 4 July 1983, the method used is the lethal injectionLethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
. Under state law:
- "The punishment of death is to be administered by a continuous intravenous injection of a lethal quantity of an ultra-short-acting barbiturate in combination with a chemical paralytic agent…"
If the person was sentenced before that date, they have the choice of the electric chair or lethal injection. However, since no inmates are eligible for that method, the electric chair has all but been retired for use in volunteers to be used.
If lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
is ever ruled unconstitutional, the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
can be used for all death sentences.
Clemency rests with the governor of Arkansas, who receives a non-binding report from the Arkansas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Executions in Arkansas are currently performed at the Cummins Unit
Cummins Unit
The Cummins Unit is an Arkansas Department of Correction prison in unincorporated Lincoln County, Arkansas, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 65, near Grady, Gould, and Varner, south of Pine Bluff, and southeast of Little Rock.This prison farm is a correctional facility...
.
As in any other state, people who are under 18 at the time of commission of the capital crime or mentally retarded are constitutionally precluded from being executed.
Juveniles can be tried as adults at the age of 14 for capitol murder.
Capital offenses
- murder while committing or attempting to commit arsonArsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, terrorismTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
, rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, kidnappingKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
, carjackingCarjackingCarjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
, robberyRobberyRobbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
, burglaryBurglaryBurglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
, a felonyFelonyA felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances ActUniform Controlled Substances ActThe Uniform Controlled Substances Act was drafted by the United States Department of Justice in 1969 and promulgated by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws while the federal Controlled Substances Act was being drafted. Modeled after the federal Act, the uniform act...
, involving an actual delivery of a controlled substanceControlled Substances ActThe Controlled Substances Act was enacted into law by the Congress of the United States as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. The CSA is the federal U.S. drug policy under which the manufacture, importation, possession, use and distribution of certain...
, or first degree escapeFugitiveA fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from private slavery, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals... - premeditated murder of an on-duty law enforcement officerPoliceThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, jailer, prison official, firefighterFirefighterFirefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
, judgeJudgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
or other court official, probationProbationProbation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
officer, paroleParoleParole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
officer, any military personnelSoldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, or teacherTeacherA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
or school employee - premeditated murder
- premeditated murder of any holder of any public officePublic administrationPublic Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
or candidate for public office - premeditated murder while in prison
- contract killingContract killingContract killing is a form of murder, in which one party hires another party to kill a target individual or group of people. It involves an illegal agreement between two parties in which one party agrees to kill the target in exchange for consideration, monetary, or otherwise. The hiring party may...
- murder of a person under the age of 14
- Death resulting from discharging a firearmFirearmA firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
at a vehicle, conveyance, or a residential or commercial occupiable structure that is knowingly occupied - Treason (defined solely as levying war against the state or adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort)
List of individuals executed since Furman
All of the following individuals have been executed for murder since the Furman decision. All but John Swindler were executed by lethal injection. Swindler's execution was on the electric chairElectric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
.
| # | Executed person | Race | Age | Sex | Date of execution |
Victim(s) | Under Governor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Edward Swindler John Edward Swindler John Edward Swindler was executed at the age of 46 by the State of Arkansas for the September 24, 1976 murder of Patrolman Randy Basnett, age 30.-The murder:... * |
White | 46 | M | 18-Jun-1990 | Randy Basnett | Bill Clinton Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation... |
| 2 | Ronald Gene Simmons Ronald Gene Simmons Ronald Gene Simmons, Sr. was a retired United States Air Force master sergeant who killed 16 people over a weeklong period in 1987. Fourteen of the victims were members of his family, including a daughter he had sexually abused and the child he had fathered with her... |
White | 49 | M | 25-Jun-1990 | Rebecca Simmons, Gene Simmons, Barbara Simmons, Loretta Simmons, Eddy Simmons, Marianne Simmons, Becky Simmons, Renata Simmons, Billy Simmons, Trae Simmons, Sheila McNulty, Dennis McNulty, Michael McNulty, Sylvia Simmons, Kathy Kendrick, and James D. Chaffin. | Bill Clinton |
| 3 | Ricky Ray Rector Ricky Ray Rector Ricky Ray Rector was executed for the 1981 murder of police officer Robert Martin in Conway, Arkansas.... |
Black | 40 | M | 24-Jan-1992 | Robert Martin | Bill Clinton |
| 4 | Steven Douglas Hill | White | 25 | M | 07-May-1992 | Robert Klein | Bill Clinton |
| 5 | Edward Charles Pickens | Black | 39 | M | 11-May-1994 | Wesley Noble | Jim Guy Tucker Jim Guy Tucker James "Jim" Guy Tucker, Jr. is an Arkansas political figure. He served as the 43rd Governor of Arkansas, the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, Arkansas Attorney General, and U.S. Representative... |
| 6 | Jonas Hoten Whitmore | White | 50 | M | 11-May-1994 | Essie Mae Black | Jim Guy Tucker |
| 7 | Hoyt Franklin Clines | White | 37 | M | 03-Aug-1994 | Don Lehman | Jim Guy Tucker |
| 8 | Darryl V. Richley Darryl Richley Darryl V. Richley was executed at the age of 45 for the March 25, 1981 murder of Don Lehman. Hoyt Clines and James William Holmes were also executed on the same day for the murder of Lehman.-The murder:... |
White | 43 | M | 03-Aug-1994 | ||
| 9 | James William Holmes | White | 37 | M | 03-Aug-1994 | ||
| 10 | Richard Wayne Snell | White | 64 | M | 19-Apr-1995 | William Stumpp | Jim Guy Tucker |
| 11 | Barry Lee Fairchild Barry Lee Fairchild Barry Lee Fairchild was an American convicted kidnapper, rapist, and murderer.-Case:... |
Black | 41 | M | 31-Aug-1995 | Marjorie Mason | Jim Guy Tucker |
| 12 | William Frank Parker | White | 41 | M | 08-Aug-1996 | James Warren and Sandra Warren | Mike Huckabee Mike Huckabee Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won... |
| 13 | Paul Ruiz | Latino | 49 | M | 08-Jan-1997 | Marvin Richie and Opal James | Mike Huckabee |
| 14 | Earl Van Denton | White | 47 | M | 08-Jan-1997 | ||
| 15 | Kirt Douglas Wainwright | Black | 30 | M | 08-Jan-1997 | Barbara Smith | Mike Huckabee |
| 16 | Eugene Wallace Perry | White | 53 | M | 06-Aug-1997 | Kenneth Staton and Suzanne Staton-Ware | Mike Huckabee |
| 17 | Wilburn A. Henderson | White | 56 | M | 08-Jul-1998 | Willa Dean O'Neal | Mike Huckabee |
| 18 | Johnie Michael Cox | White | 42 | M | 16-Feb-1999 | Marie Sullens, Margaret Brown, and Billy Brown | Mike Huckabee |
| 19 | Marion Albert Pruett Marion Albert Pruett Marion Albert Pruett was an American spree killer.-Witness Protection :... |
White | 49 | M | 12-Apr-1999 | Bobbie Jean Robertson | Mike Huckabee |
| 20 | Mark Edward Gardner Mark Gardner (murderer) Mark Edward Gardner, was a murderer executed at the age of 43 by lethal injection by the State of Arkansas. He was convicted of the December 12, 1985 murders of Joe and Martha Joyce, as well as the rape and murder of their daughter, Sara Joyce McCurdy, in Sebastian County, Arkansas.Alan Willett... |
White | 43 | M | 08-Sep-1999 | Joe Joyce, Martha Joyce, and Sara McCurdy | Mike Huckabee |
| 21 | Alan Willett Alan Willett Alan Willett was executed at age 43 for the 1993 murders of his 13-year-old son, Eric, and his mentally retarded brother, Roger Willett in Johnson County, Arkansas... |
White | 52 | M | 08-Sep-1999 | Eric Willett and Roger Willett | Mike Huckabee |
| 22 | Christina Marie Riggs Christina Marie Riggs Christina Marie Riggs was a murderer executed in Arkansas by lethal injection. She was convicted of the November 4, 1997, murder of her two preschool-aged children, Justin and Shelby Alexis Riggs, in their beds at the family's Sherwood, Arkansas, home... |
White | 28 | 02-May-2000 | Justin Riggs and Shelby Alexis Riggs | Mike Huckabee | |
| 23 | David Dewayne Johnson David Dewayne Johnson David DeWayne Johnson was a murderer executed for the September 2, 1989 murder of Leon Brown, 67, in Little Rock, Arkansas.-The murder:... |
Black | 37 | M | 19-Dec-2000 | Leon Brown | Mike Huckabee |
| 24 | Clay King Smith Clay King Smith Clay King Smith was executed by the State of Arkansas for the March 25, 1998 murders of Misty Erwin , Shelley Sorg , Sean Sorg , Taylor Sorg , and Samantha Rhodes at his home near Pine Bluff, Arkansas.... |
White | 30 | M | 08-May-2001 | Misty Erwin, Shelley Sorg, Sean Sorg, Taylor Sorg, and Samantha Rhodes | Mike Huckabee |
| 25 | Riley Dobi Noel Riley Dobi Noel Riley Dobi Noel was a murderer executed for the June 5, 1995 murder of Marcell Young, 17, Malak Hussian, 10, and Mustafa Hussian, 12 – all siblings – in Varner, Arkansas.-The Murder:... |
Black | 31 | M | 09-Jul-2003 | Marcell Young, Malak Hussian, and Mustafa Hussian | Mike Huckabee |
| 26 | Charles Laverne Singleton Charles Laverne Singleton Charles Laverne Singleton was a convicted murderer who lived on death row in Arkansas longer than any other state inmate. He was executed by the State in 2004 for the June 1, 1979 murder of Hamburg store owner Mary Lou York.-The murder:Mary Lou York, was attacked in York’s Grocery Store, of which... |
Black | 44 | M | 06-Jan-2004 | Mary Lou York | Mike Huckabee |
| 27 | Eric Randall Nance Eric Nance Eric Randall Nance was an American man who was convicted of murder in the state of Arkansas. While on death row, the former heating and air conditioning technician obtained his high school equivalency certificate and penned multiple poems, one of which was set to music and recorded by the Celtic... |
White | 45 | M | 28-Nov-2005 | Julie Heath | Mike Huckabee |