Post by CCADP on Apr 16, 2006 14:47:30 GMT -5
Hearing for killer taps pain, memories: Clark facing death for 1984 murder.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 The Blade
Byline: Jim Provance
Apr. 12--COLUMBUS - Shortly before Jan. 13, 1984, Mary Ellen Manning wrote the message "I love you" to her husband, David, on the bathroom mirror. He added "forever." Later, she added, "and a day." Always wanting the last word, he added, "plus one." The message, "I love you forever and a day plus one," was waiting for her on the night she returned to her home after learning her 23-year-old husband of two years had been shot to death during a Toledo gas station robbery.
"Forever didn't last long enough," she tearfully told the Ohio Parole Board yesterday as she urged the panel to recommend that Gov. Bob Taft not intervene in the May 2 execution of Joseph Lewis Clark, the man who confessed to shooting her husband. Clark did not attend the hearing. He will learn the board's decision on Monday. "He's a different person now," his Akron attorney, George C. Pappas, told the board. "He's 57 years old, laid back, soft-spoken, not aggressive. He's not a threat to anybody. He's a different person than he was 22 years ago." Mr. Pappas painted a picture of an emotionally stunted man with "dull normal" intelligence who turned to crime to feed a drug habit that began during his teen years. He said Clark is genuinely remorseful, evidenced by a failed suicide attempt by hanging shortly after his arrest. "He couldn't control himself," Mr. Pappas said. "All he wanted was to get money. He didn't want to hurt anybody. All he wanted was drugs." The state, however, painted a picture of a man whose girlfriend, the mother of his three children, prostituted herself to finance both their drug habits. He launched a nine-day crime spree after his girlfriend was arrested, cutting off his income, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Maher said. One board member, Peter Davis, questioned why Clark's legal team didn't place greater emphasis on a 1996 psychological report that stated Clark suffers from organic brain syndrome. A Chicago psychologist, the only one to diagnose the brain damage, wrote that it would have predated Clark's final spree.
Although the issue was raised unsuccessfully at lower court levels during the appeals process, no attempt was made to take an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A tearful Domonique Stalworth, Clark's daughter-in-law, made a last-minute decision to testify before the board, despite the fact that Clark had asked his family not to attend. She said "Lewis" is truly apologetic and has the support of his family, despite what he's done. At one point, she turned toward the Mannings and the family of Donald Burt Harris, who was killed by Clark during a similar robbery a day earlier. Clark was sentenced to life in prison for the Harris murder. "Right now we're preparing for a funeral," she said. "It's one of the most difficult things we've ever had to do in our lives. We knew it was coming. Now we know how they feel."
Mary Ellen (Manning) Gordon, now living in Florida, struggled to hold back tears during Mrs. Stalworth's testimony. The two women greeted each other after the hearing. "We're all victims of Joseph Clark," Mrs. Gordon said later. Also attending the hearing was Robert Roloff, Clark's last victim who survived two gunshot wounds during a robbery at a bank ATM. That robbery ultimately led to Clark's arrest. "These victims and families have waited 22 long, painful years for justice," Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates told the board. "Please see that justice is not thwarted but is meted out under the law." Although they were not permitted to testify, the Harris family says it will experience some sense of justice if Clark is executed. "He chose to do what he did," said Donald's sister, Carrie Harris. "That's what it all boils down to. He chose to do what he did." Barring Mr. Taft's intervention, Clark would become the 21st person - and the first from Lucas County - to be executed since Ohio resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1999. Of the 23 clemency cases that have reached his desk, he has commuted one death sentence to life in prison without parole and has delayed another while modern DNA testing is conducted.
Contact Jim Provance at:
jprovance@theblade.com
or 614-221-0496.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 The Blade
Byline: Jim Provance
Apr. 12--COLUMBUS - Shortly before Jan. 13, 1984, Mary Ellen Manning wrote the message "I love you" to her husband, David, on the bathroom mirror. He added "forever." Later, she added, "and a day." Always wanting the last word, he added, "plus one." The message, "I love you forever and a day plus one," was waiting for her on the night she returned to her home after learning her 23-year-old husband of two years had been shot to death during a Toledo gas station robbery.
"Forever didn't last long enough," she tearfully told the Ohio Parole Board yesterday as she urged the panel to recommend that Gov. Bob Taft not intervene in the May 2 execution of Joseph Lewis Clark, the man who confessed to shooting her husband. Clark did not attend the hearing. He will learn the board's decision on Monday. "He's a different person now," his Akron attorney, George C. Pappas, told the board. "He's 57 years old, laid back, soft-spoken, not aggressive. He's not a threat to anybody. He's a different person than he was 22 years ago." Mr. Pappas painted a picture of an emotionally stunted man with "dull normal" intelligence who turned to crime to feed a drug habit that began during his teen years. He said Clark is genuinely remorseful, evidenced by a failed suicide attempt by hanging shortly after his arrest. "He couldn't control himself," Mr. Pappas said. "All he wanted was to get money. He didn't want to hurt anybody. All he wanted was drugs." The state, however, painted a picture of a man whose girlfriend, the mother of his three children, prostituted herself to finance both their drug habits. He launched a nine-day crime spree after his girlfriend was arrested, cutting off his income, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Maher said. One board member, Peter Davis, questioned why Clark's legal team didn't place greater emphasis on a 1996 psychological report that stated Clark suffers from organic brain syndrome. A Chicago psychologist, the only one to diagnose the brain damage, wrote that it would have predated Clark's final spree.
Although the issue was raised unsuccessfully at lower court levels during the appeals process, no attempt was made to take an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A tearful Domonique Stalworth, Clark's daughter-in-law, made a last-minute decision to testify before the board, despite the fact that Clark had asked his family not to attend. She said "Lewis" is truly apologetic and has the support of his family, despite what he's done. At one point, she turned toward the Mannings and the family of Donald Burt Harris, who was killed by Clark during a similar robbery a day earlier. Clark was sentenced to life in prison for the Harris murder. "Right now we're preparing for a funeral," she said. "It's one of the most difficult things we've ever had to do in our lives. We knew it was coming. Now we know how they feel."
Mary Ellen (Manning) Gordon, now living in Florida, struggled to hold back tears during Mrs. Stalworth's testimony. The two women greeted each other after the hearing. "We're all victims of Joseph Clark," Mrs. Gordon said later. Also attending the hearing was Robert Roloff, Clark's last victim who survived two gunshot wounds during a robbery at a bank ATM. That robbery ultimately led to Clark's arrest. "These victims and families have waited 22 long, painful years for justice," Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates told the board. "Please see that justice is not thwarted but is meted out under the law." Although they were not permitted to testify, the Harris family says it will experience some sense of justice if Clark is executed. "He chose to do what he did," said Donald's sister, Carrie Harris. "That's what it all boils down to. He chose to do what he did." Barring Mr. Taft's intervention, Clark would become the 21st person - and the first from Lucas County - to be executed since Ohio resumed carrying out the death penalty in 1999. Of the 23 clemency cases that have reached his desk, he has commuted one death sentence to life in prison without parole and has delayed another while modern DNA testing is conducted.
Contact Jim Provance at:
jprovance@theblade.com
or 614-221-0496.
Copyright (c) 2006, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.