Execution To Be First Since Penalty Upheld
Supreme Court Ruled Death Penalty Constitutional In April; Convicted Killer Scheduled For Execution In Ga.
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This undated prison photo released by the Georgia Department of Corrections shows convicted murderer William Earl Lynd. (AP)
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Court Restores Death Penalty
The Supreme Court ruled that death by lethal injection does not qualify as torture, ending a seven-month moratorium on executions in 10 states. Wyatt Andrews reports.
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Court Upholds Lethal Injection
"Only On The Web": Reporting outside the Supreme Court, CBS News' Wyatt Andrews breaks down the justices' decision to uphold Kentucky's use of lethal injection executions.
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Lynd still had an appeal pending before the Georgia Supreme Court seeking to stay his execution, which was scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. It was unclear when the state's top court would act on that request.
He was convicted of fatally shooting his live-in girlfriend, Ginger Moore, two days before Christmas in 1988. His lawyer asked both the Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles for a 90-day stay of execution, and a commutation of his sentence.
Attorney Tom Dunn has argued that medical testimony presented at Lynd's 1990 trial was unreliable and the jury that sentenced him to death never learned of a possible mitigating factor: He had been sexually molested by neighbors at age 8.
Dunn made his case to the parole board behind closed doors for about two hours Monday. He declined to comment after the hearing. Prosecutors were expected to make their case Monday afternoon, and the board's decision was expected by the end of the day.
If the courts do not intervene, Lynd's execution would be the first since the U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld Kentucky's lethal injection protocol, clearing the way for executions to resume in the roughly three dozen states that use that method.
Fourteen other executions are scheduled in the next six months across America. But as CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann reports, more states are reconsidering capital punishment, and reaching very different conclusions.
Wrongful convictions are one reason why lawmakers in five states are seriously debating repealing capital punishment. But five other states have moved in a very different direction -- passing laws that expanded death row to execute people convicted of a crime other than murder.
Prosecutors at Lynd's trial said Moore suffered a slow agonizing death, regaining consciousness twice after successive gunshot wounds to the head at the home she and Lynd shared in Berrien County, in south Georgia. The medical examiner testified that Moore was still alive when Lynd stuffed her into the trunk of her car and took a drive. Lynd confessed to authorities that when he heard her thumping around in the trunk, he opened it and fired the final lethal shot.
The allegation that Lynd kidnapped Moore before she died was an essential "aggravating" circumstance that made him eligible for the death penalty. It also helped prosecutors show the slaying was premeditated.
But Lynd's lawyers argue the medical examiner who did Moore's autopsy was not a physician and was wrong in asserting that she would have been able to regain consciousness after the second shot.
A doctor hired by the defense to examine the evidence found that Moore did not survive the second gunshot wound and was already dead when she was placed in the trunk, making Lynd innocent of the kidnapping charge. The original medical examiner, Warren Tillman, now agrees it is unlikely she was alive when placed in the car, according to Dunn's legal filing.
Dunn said Lynd and Moore had consumed Valium, alcohol and marijuana and were in a heated argument over a trip to Florida when he shot her.
"This crime was hot blooded and without premeditation," reads Dunn's application to the parole board. "Tragic - yes. Cold blooded - no."
Meanwhile, a Mexican-born Texas prisoner whose death sentence set off an international dispute and a U.S. Supreme Court rebuke of the White House, also received an execution date Monday.
Texas State District Judge Caprice Cosper set the Aug. 5 lethal injection for 33-year-old Jose Medellin for his participation in the gang rape and strangulation deaths of two teenage girls 15 years ago in Houston when they stumbled upon a gang initiation rite.
The Supreme Court in March refused to hear Medellin's appeal, saying President Bush overstepped his authority by ordering Texas to reopen his case and the cases of 50 other Mexican nationals condemned for murders in the U.S. Texas refused to comply.
Medellin is among 14 native Mexicans on death row in Texas. Mexico has no death penalty and sued the United States in the world court in 2003. Mexico and other opponents of capital punishment have sought to use the world court to fight for foreigners facing execution in the U.S.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 122 CommentsWe''ll teach YOU not to kill people! (OK, now lets kill this guy.)
This is the single biggest reason the death penalty is morally wrong. I am willing to a make a few exceptions - believe me I would not cry if Bin Laden were executed.
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 03:31 PM
The death penalty would only be effective if there wasn''t such a gun violence and vengeance mentality so prominent in the American psyche. As it is, they will kill this guy and 7 more will come along and become just as deserving. However, we also have the tremendous risk of actually killing someone innocent, due to the hurry up and judge ''em mentality of prosecutors and juries, none of whom are much interested in evidence to the contrary.
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:01 PM : May 05, 2008
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well if you are so ''morally inclined'' why dont you set up a ''death row'' fund where bleeding heart liberals can donate thier money fot upkeep...
oh yeah here is another expemtion.."if it is your love one that got gutted"
By using DNA, they have released several people that spent years behind bars professing they were innocent. These tests should be mandatory for everyone before for any crime involving another person that DNA would be involved for any reason.
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:21 PM : May 05, 2008
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see the difference between you and i...a murderer should be spared and a fetus should be killed..
a murdere wrote his destiny..a bleeding heart moron like you wrote a fetus'' demise
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:26 PM : May 05, 2008
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im a christian????????????????????????
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:28 PM : May 05, 2008
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I am not a christian but I am an american tax payer and a citizen WHO IS SICK AND TIRED of paying up the arse for these murderers..THEY undermine our laws and society..AND YOU SIR...is promoting THIS injustice to society so you can sleep better at night..I am sure your attitude towards the matter WOULD CHANGE when this issue gets close and personal.
I would not wish harm to any of your relatives and loved ones..ITS NOT THIER FAULT THEY ARE RELATED AND INTERACT with a misguided nitwit
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:29 PM : May 05, 2008
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wow..you are a moron..
since we are in the mode of stereotpying..you must be some halfbreed homosexual who gets guilty about his/her lifestyle everything you hear "christian"
Several states have undertaken scientific studies to determine the costs. They all find that death costs more than life.
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:36 PM : May 05, 2008
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it cost more BECAUSE OF blood sucking lawyers and morons like you who..
honestly..why are you so concerned about saving these peices of sh*t??
religion bothers you?? why?? makes you feel guilty??
dont tell me you care...athiests normally dont give a sh*t about anything
obsession with religion. Are you sure you''re an atheist? I think you have doubts.
Posted by fibonacci_
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Oh you did? How so?
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:38 PM : May 05, 2008
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*I love these "i can **** father than you" contests*
oh yeah I am a 23 year old straight american with Irish decent who lives in california..San Jose to be more specific..I am 210 lbs with 5% bodyfat..I have a 9 inch member and i can fu ck for 3 hours straight..
see how easy I made that up..so germany you said..
obsession with religion. Are you sure you''''re an atheist? I think you have doubts.
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Posted by robstrck at 04:42 PM : May 05, 2008
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this guy''s definition of athiest is "attacking religion" in oppose to "not believing in religion"..
it usually takes a bunch of these misguided wannabies to really fu ck the true essence of athiesm
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Posted by obamawhama at 04:46 PM
Yeah, I wouldn''t stereotype you as a Christian, at all.
jackie0428 at 04:49 PM : May 05, 2008
Little naive American Jackie. In fact, no one who has been executed in the USA has been proven to be innocent after. I do find it astounding that you think that 1 in 20 is "OK" to murder even if they did not do it.
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:47 PM : May 05, 2008
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if you do not like religion..FINE!! it your effing right to like it or not..BUT YOU ARE NOT IN THE RIGHT place to discuss that..this is about implementing the law..
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:54 PM : May 05, 2008
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gotta love these bleeding heart liberals..they love this country so much that WOULD GO FAR AND OVER TO HATE IT..
stay in germany..
Posted by obamawhama
Right on, I understand that.
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 04:54 PM : May 05, 2008
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dont forget..arrogant..self loathing..cocky and prentious
Exections in 2007:
China 470+
Iran 317
Saudi Arabia 143
Pakistan 135
USA 42
Iraq 33
We are like a Middle Eastern country. Most Americans believe in a Middle Eastern religion.
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