Moreese Bickham
Encyclopedia
Moreese Bickham, born June 6, 1917, is currently the oldest living American whose death penalty conviction was vacated or modified by the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia
. The 1972 Furman decision abolished the death penalty in certain circumstances.
and Louisiana
. He served in the United States Navy
in World War II
, stationed at Pearl Harbor
.
In 1958, he lived in Mandeville, Louisiana
, a town north of New Orleans. According to trial transcripts, at around 11 pm on the evening of July 12, 1958, Bickham had an argument with two sheriff's deputies in a bar called "Buck's Place" in Mandeville. At approximately 11 PM the deputies Gus Gill, 68, and Jake Galloway, 74, drove Bickham's girlfriend home. The deputies wore street clothes, and many in the community reported that they believed the two deputies were associated with the Ku Klux Klan
, something not unusual for law enforcement personnel in a small rural town in Louisiana.
Later that night, the two officers arrived at Mr. Bickham's home on Villerey Street in Mandeville. The deputies approached Mr. Bickham's front door, and fired at Mr. Bickham, striking him in the stomach. Mr. Bickham returned fire with a shotgun. Mr. Bickham was arrested several hours at Baton Rouge Hospital. He was quickly convicted of two counts of first degree murder (premeditated homicide) and sentenced to death.
For fourteen years, Mr. Bickham avoided execution, winning seven stays of execution. He lived on death row in the Angola State Penitentiary, in solitary confinement 23 hours per day.
. Mr. Bickham was at that time released into the general prison population.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he worked in a variety of capacities at Angola. He assisted in the visitors' center, maintained a garden in the prison cemetery, learned leather-making, and he became ordained as a minister in the Methodist faith. In 1989, independent radio documentarian David Isay interviewed Mr. Bickham in a documentary on long-timers at Angola, entitled "Tossing Away the Keys".
As part of the legal strategy, the attorney organized a national letter-writing campaign. Because local sentiment made a full pardon out of the question, Alcamo took the position that Bickham's sentence should be commuted, or reduced, to a specific term of 75 years. This would make it possible to seek a parole date or a specific release date based on Louisiana's "good time statute," which allows a reduction in sentence in cases of good behavior.
Through 1994, working from a corporate law office in Manhattan, Alcamo focused public attention on the case, arranging radio programming on public radio stations in New York City
and Chicago
. Finally, in January 1995, Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards
granted the request for a sentence reduction to 75 years. The attorney requested an immediate parole hearing. Despite the passage of 37 years, the parole hearing drew massive news coverage and local protests. In April 1995, Bickham's request for parole was refused by the Louisiana State Parole Board.
Alcamo then negotiated with the prison warden, Burl Cain, to obtain Bickham's prison record. He argued that Bickham's prison record was sufficiently exemplary that under the Louisiana "good time" law, Bickham would be eligible for a sentence reduction of one day for each day of good behavior.
The prison warden, Burl Cain, certified as to Bickham's good behavior during his 37 years of incarceration. Under the "good time statute", Bickham could theoretically be releasable as a free man after serving a term of 37.5 years. Once the prison record was certified by Angola State Penitentiary, Alcamo reasoned, the release would be non-discretionary.
The Louisiana Department of Corrections agreed with the analysis, and at 12:01 a.m. on January 10, 1996, Alcamo and journalist David Isay escorted Bickham from the prison, as a free man, not subject to parole.
and is an active participant in the movement to abolish capital punishment
in the United States. Isay is the creator of StoryCorps, a national enterprise to record oral histories. Alcamo is an investment banker in New York.
In 2001, Edwin Edwards, the Louisiana Governor who commuted Bickham's sentence, was convicted of racketeering and currently is serving a ten year prison sentence.
Mr. Bickham is the subject of two contemporary songs: "Half a Life Away," by Stiff Little Fingers, a moving ballad that misstates certain facts of Mr. Bickham's case: http://www.actionext.com/names_s/stiff_little_fingers_lyrics/half_a_life_away.html and "Rosebush Inside" by Sean Hayes (musician)
Listen at http://www.myspace.com/rattlesnakecharm
Mr. Bickham's case has been chronicled in numerous national media, including the New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1996/01/14/1996-01-14_he_savors_freedom_after_38_y.html
and the Seattle Times. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960331&slug=2321824
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...
. The 1972 Furman decision abolished the death penalty in certain circumstances.
Trial and death sentence
Born in 1917, the grandson of slaves, Moreese Bickham lived most of his life in MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. He served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, stationed at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
.
In 1958, he lived in Mandeville, Louisiana
Mandeville, Louisiana
Mandeville is a city in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,421 in 2008. Mandeville is located on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, south of Interstate 12. It is across the lake from the city of New Orleans and its southshore suburbs...
, a town north of New Orleans. According to trial transcripts, at around 11 pm on the evening of July 12, 1958, Bickham had an argument with two sheriff's deputies in a bar called "Buck's Place" in Mandeville. At approximately 11 PM the deputies Gus Gill, 68, and Jake Galloway, 74, drove Bickham's girlfriend home. The deputies wore street clothes, and many in the community reported that they believed the two deputies were associated with the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, something not unusual for law enforcement personnel in a small rural town in Louisiana.
Later that night, the two officers arrived at Mr. Bickham's home on Villerey Street in Mandeville. The deputies approached Mr. Bickham's front door, and fired at Mr. Bickham, striking him in the stomach. Mr. Bickham returned fire with a shotgun. Mr. Bickham was arrested several hours at Baton Rouge Hospital. He was quickly convicted of two counts of first degree murder (premeditated homicide) and sentenced to death.
For fourteen years, Mr. Bickham avoided execution, winning seven stays of execution. He lived on death row in the Angola State Penitentiary, in solitary confinement 23 hours per day.
Commutation to life without parole, after Furman v. Georgia
In 1972, after the U.S. Supreme Court determined that death sentences applied in certain ways were unconstitutional, the State of Louisiana converted Bickham's sentence to life without paroleLife imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
. Mr. Bickham was at that time released into the general prison population.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he worked in a variety of capacities at Angola. He assisted in the visitors' center, maintained a garden in the prison cemetery, learned leather-making, and he became ordained as a minister in the Methodist faith. In 1989, independent radio documentarian David Isay interviewed Mr. Bickham in a documentary on long-timers at Angola, entitled "Tossing Away the Keys".
Negotiations, sentence reduction and release
Five years later, in 1994, New York corporate attorney Michael Alcamo accepted Bickham's case pro bono. Working with 35 year-old trial transcripts, Alcamo investigated the circumstances of the conviction, and presented evidence to Louisiana authorities that Bickham's arrest, conviction and sentence had been improper. He argued that the circumstances indicated that Bickham should have been charged with the lesser offense of manslaughter, which carried a maximum term of 25 years. As a secondary position, he sought a commutation of the sentence from life without parole to 75 years.As part of the legal strategy, the attorney organized a national letter-writing campaign. Because local sentiment made a full pardon out of the question, Alcamo took the position that Bickham's sentence should be commuted, or reduced, to a specific term of 75 years. This would make it possible to seek a parole date or a specific release date based on Louisiana's "good time statute," which allows a reduction in sentence in cases of good behavior.
Through 1994, working from a corporate law office in Manhattan, Alcamo focused public attention on the case, arranging radio programming on public radio stations in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Finally, in January 1995, Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards
Edwin Edwards
Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...
granted the request for a sentence reduction to 75 years. The attorney requested an immediate parole hearing. Despite the passage of 37 years, the parole hearing drew massive news coverage and local protests. In April 1995, Bickham's request for parole was refused by the Louisiana State Parole Board.
Alcamo then negotiated with the prison warden, Burl Cain, to obtain Bickham's prison record. He argued that Bickham's prison record was sufficiently exemplary that under the Louisiana "good time" law, Bickham would be eligible for a sentence reduction of one day for each day of good behavior.
The prison warden, Burl Cain, certified as to Bickham's good behavior during his 37 years of incarceration. Under the "good time statute", Bickham could theoretically be releasable as a free man after serving a term of 37.5 years. Once the prison record was certified by Angola State Penitentiary, Alcamo reasoned, the release would be non-discretionary.
The Louisiana Department of Corrections agreed with the analysis, and at 12:01 a.m. on January 10, 1996, Alcamo and journalist David Isay escorted Bickham from the prison, as a free man, not subject to parole.
Present
Now in his 90s, Bickham resides in OregonOregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and is an active participant in the movement to abolish capital punishment
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...
in the United States. Isay is the creator of StoryCorps, a national enterprise to record oral histories. Alcamo is an investment banker in New York.
In 2001, Edwin Edwards, the Louisiana Governor who commuted Bickham's sentence, was convicted of racketeering and currently is serving a ten year prison sentence.
Mr. Bickham is the subject of two contemporary songs: "Half a Life Away," by Stiff Little Fingers, a moving ballad that misstates certain facts of Mr. Bickham's case: http://www.actionext.com/names_s/stiff_little_fingers_lyrics/half_a_life_away.html and "Rosebush Inside" by Sean Hayes (musician)
Sean Hayes (musician)
Sean Padrick Hayes is an American singer-songwriter.Hayes is a native of New York City, but raised in North Carolina. He began playing traditional American and Irish music with a band called the Boys of Bluehill...
Listen at http://www.myspace.com/rattlesnakecharm
Mr. Bickham's case has been chronicled in numerous national media, including the New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1996/01/14/1996-01-14_he_savors_freedom_after_38_y.html
and the Seattle Times. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960331&slug=2321824