Fry his [filtered word]!!! Been on death row for 18 years, but let's commute his sentence on heresay evidence attributed to a dead man! Again, put his [filtered word] to sleep!
ATLANTA --- A condemned man's lawyers urged a parole board Friday to commute his death sentence, saying his previous attorney deliberately put up a flimsy defense 18 years ago because he was "infected by racism."
Curtis Osborne, who faces execution Wednesday for two 1990 murders, claims his attorney didn't tell him that a life sentence plea was on the table.
While last-minute defenses are common in capital cases, Mr. Osborne's arguments are putting an extraordinary amount of pressure on the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which last week commuted a death sentence for the first time since 2004.
The board said late Friday it would not issue its decision on Mr. Osborne's case until Monday at the earliest.
Political luminaries, including former President Carter and U.S. Rep. John Lewis have urged the board to commute the sentence, as have former Attorney General Griffin Bell and an ex-chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.
Mr. Osborne, who is black, was sentenced to death for the August 1990 fatal shooting of Linda Lisa Seaborne and Arthur Jones.
His new lawyers say the defense attorney, Johnny Mostiler, didn't put up an adequate defense because he was racist.
They also contend Mr. Mostiler, who is white, told another client that Mr. Osborne deserved the death penalty and referred to him by a racial slur.
"The system is broken," said Bill Hoffmann, an attorney for Mr. Osborne. "Any time racism infects it, in any point of entry, a system is going to be broken."
Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Scott Ballard dismissed the claims against Mr. Mostiler, who died in 2000.
"He was an outstanding criminal defense lawyer who handled many capital defense cases and always did so very aggressively," Mr. Ballard said. "To say he was a racist and that it affected his representation is outlandish."
Former state Chief Justice Norman Fletcher showed up during the board's closed-door session to urge them to commute Mr. Osborne's sentence.
"I've never done it before and I don't contemplate doing it again, but the extraordinary nature of the case has drawn me in," said Mr. Fletcher, who took part in two decisions to turn down Mr. Osborne's appeals.
Comments
Fry his [filtered word]!!! Been on death row for 18 years, but let's commute his sentence on heresay evidence attributed to a dead man! Again, put his [filtered word] to sleep!
I don't believe I hear the victims side as to these charges of racism...Why do I not hear them? They are dead dead....That is all that can be said about this matter...This man has been living on the taxpayers dime all these years while they are 6 feet under and now you, Mr. Osborne, cry racism....Give it a rest...All I can think of at the time of their deaths these victims looked at you and cried "Don"t" but you killed them anyway...May God have mercy on your soul....
The new attorneys are fabricating straws to grasp and unfortunately they are racial ones. It's very sad to see allegations such as these levied against a dead man who cannot defend himself. Bill Hoffman and associates should be ashamed of themselves for using tactics like this.
Place him in a cell for the rest of his life and force him to watch re-runs of Regis and Kelley all day long. He wouldn't last long.
LOL jack - that WOULD be a fate worse than death!
wow. so because he is black and the attorney was white, hearsay evidence alleging racism can overturn a death sentence? fascinating. the fact that john lewis and carter want him spared is of no consequence; those idiots probably think o.j. is innocent.
So a defense attorney cannot have an low opinion of his client
who he knew was guilty of murdering two people and who now is not claiming he is innocent, but only that his attorney did not respect him.
And this is his case for the parole board to intervene and commute his sentence?
If the parole board buys this, they are a joke.
I agree with Fletcher! And to show the world that Fletcher really means what he says he is going to return all of his retirement income from the state. That will really "prove" that he means what he says!
And if you believe that, I do have some water front land to sell you!
the question is whether or not he killed 2 people, if he did then tough he deserves the death penalty. he was not worried about racism when he killed 2 people.
No more than I think Robert Blake or Phil Spector is.
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