Post by MXB on May 25, 2007 6:04:25 GMT -5
Arizona conducted its first execution in seven years, after
administering a lethal injection to Robert Comer.
Comer was convicted in a 1987 crime spree in which he killed a fellow camper at Apache Lake east of Phoenix. Additionall y, he was also convicted of repeatedly, brutally raping a female camper the same night, in front of her boyfriend. Robert Comer was termed the most dangerous man in the Arizona prison system.
Comer is the first inmate to be put to death in Arizona since Donald Miller was executed November 8, 2000, for participating in
the murder of an 18-year-old woman.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused a stay of execution Monday, May 14, 2007, for convicted murderer Comer, who died by lethal injection Tuesday. [May 22]
A stay of execution filed by Attorney Denise Young was denied last week.
Kent Cattani, chief counsel in the capital litigation section of the
Attorney General's Office, filed a response to the high court on Friday, May 18, 2007, arguing that Young did not have the standing to request the stay of execution. "Robert Charles Comer was found competent and voluntarily waived all further legal
proceedings, " Cattani wrote to the court.
In 2000, Comer began requesting to be put to death, saying he owed it to his victims, himself and society. Much of his fight was spent proving he was competent to make that decision.
"An eye for an eye," Comer once said in court. "I mean, I ended a whole bunch of innocent people's lives and changed their lives forever. Even though they're still alive, their lives are destroyed. I owe that to them. I owe it to myself, man. I was totally wrong."
No other pending actions in court Monday afternoon could delay Comer's execution.
Comer's cell on death row in Florence measured 7 feet by 11.5 feet. An expert psychiatrist commented it was one of the most physically isolating places he'd ever seen.
Robert C.Comer, 50, stated from the start he wanted to die as soon as possible. His attorneys, however, argued he was not qualified to make that decision. Lawyers convinced the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that prison conditions were part of the reason Comer embraced death after years of fighting it.
Attempts to stop his execution had been fought by death-row inmate Comer for years.