Billy Slagle

(Article from February 2, 2007)

How the death penalty really works

Death-penalty trials are intense. The ideal of our justice system--that impartial jurors will be presented facts by skilled advocates under civilized rules of evidence and come to a reasoned judgment--is put to a searing test. A capital case (and I've covered many in my career) is a visceral struggle, a matter of blood and sorrow, fear and pity, rage and mercy. I've felt at times covering death-penalty trials that I'm witnessing something that reaches deep into the human past, long before our country was imagined. Something almost tribal, something even pre-rational.

I say this not to make a point either for or against the death penalty. I am merely trying to describe what in my experience as a reporter really happens in a courtroom where a life is at stake, because another life has been savagely taken. As the debate over capital punishment continues in America, it is worth taking a steady look at how this thing really works, at the deep emotions unleashed in death penalty cases, and what they mean for the operation of our justice system.

Billy Slagle killed Mari Anne Pope. There is no doubt about that. It happened in 1987--almost twenty years ago now--in the pre-dawn hours of a summer morning in West Cleveland. Slagle, 19, wanted money for his next day's drinking. He was stoned on marijuana. Mari Anne Pope was babysitting a neighbor's two children, and when Slagle broke in to the house, she and the children awakened. The little ones escaped, but not before seeing Slagle on top of Mari Anne Pope in her bedroom. She was praying, her rosary in hand. Billy Slagle stabbed her 17 times with a sewing scissors. He was arrested on the scene, covered in blood, and confessed. Mari Anne Pope died a few hours later. Her broken rosary was found on the floor, a few feet from her bed.

Mari Anne Pope was one of 20,096 people murdered in the United States in 1987. By any reckoning, her killing was vicious. Billy Slagle was tried, convicted, and condemned to death. The question the courts have now been grappling with for two decades is: Was the jury's decision to put Billy Slagle to death reached in a manner consistent with our ideals of justice? Was it a reasoned judgment or a gut reaction? Was it a verdict under law or a paroxysm of emotion?

Today, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected Slagle's appeal for another hearing in his case. You can read the court's order by clicking here. You can read the court's original decision in the case by clicking here.

The issue that has bedeviled this case for twenty years is the conduct of the prosecutor. It was a high-profile trial; the community was shocked by the crime, many people justifiably seething with anger. The state was seeking the death penalty, and the prosecutor was determined to secure it.

During the course of the trial, the prosecutor told jurors that Slagle (an American Indian) "...and his kind...represent some of the greatest threats against community and civilization as we know it;" that Slagle "had crawled out of a hole;'" that Slagle (who took the stand) "had the nerve to tell you "I pray, I pray;'" that Mari Anne Pope "was ready to meet God, and Billy was ready to send her to meet Him;" and that Slagle "has no conscience" and his life "has been one big lie." When Slagle was on the witness stand, the prosecutor asked him, "You don't like prayers, do you Billy?"

So far, our courts have decided that the prosecutor's conduct in this trial was either proper under the law, or that it did not affect the case in any serious way. This may be just; it may be unjust. I take no position here.

But what I want to draw your attention to is the issue of raw, primal emotion in the case--and in our system. The reason we have jury trials and not blood feuds or vendettas is that we believe a group of citizens, fairly informed, can reach a reasoned judgment about what happened in a case, and what should be done about it. It might not be a perfect system, but it is a noble one. That hope defines us. It separates us from gangs, savages and lynch mobs. It is a very great ideal.

It is an ideal that is very hard--perhaps impossible--to see at work in a death-penalty case like Billy Slagle's, or in many others. Instead, we have a crying contest, a competition to see which side can break the jurors' hearts harder--either the prosecution with its portrayal of Mari Anne Pope as a devout Christian killed with bloodthirsty fury, or the defense and its portrayal of Slagle as an abused, alcoholic teenager. Why should those issues--and the emotions they trigger--matter? Would the case have turned out differently if Mari Anne Pope had been a drug addict? A hooker? Slagle's girlfriend? Would there have been a different verdict if Slagle had been a devout Christian struggling with alcohol addiction? If he'd shot her instead of knifed her?

We are beyond the realm of reason here, it seems to me. We are dealing with our most primitive emotions--fear, rage, pity, hatred, sorrow. But this is how the death penalty really works--the only way it could really work, given the stakes involved.

Do you think such a system is just?

To access links within original article;
blogs.abcnews.com/terrymoran/law/

Killer faces death after Ohio execution delay

His attorneys want the procedure postponed because of continuing concerns about the
policies.
Slagle's attorneys planned to ask for mercy for Slagle before the Ohio Parole Board Wednesday.

More;
www.abc6onyourside.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.oh/2e34e15d-www.abc6onyourside.com.shtml

Ohio killer faces death after execution delay

An Ohio man condemned to die for fatally stabbing his neighbor 24 years ago could be the next inmate put to death after state executions were paused.

Billy Slagle received the death sentence for stabbing Mari Anne Pope 17 times in her Cleveland home after a 1986 break-in. Earlier this summer, a judge's criticism of Ohio's death penalty policies delayed executions scheduled for July and August, but the state has now updated its rules in response.

Slagle's attorneys are asking the judge to delay Slagle's execution on the same grounds: The state doesn't follow its own rules when putting people to death.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost planned a hearing on Slagle's arguments Sept. 13, a week before his scheduled Sept. 20 execution.

On Wednesday, Slagle's attorney asked the Ohio Parole Board to recommend that Slagle be spared. Federal public defender Joe Wilhelm argued that mercy is justified because Slagle was only 18 when he committed the crime and was a chronic alcoholic with a chaotic upbringing who experienced a blackout the night of the killing and has no memory of it.

Since going to prison and being away from alcohol and drugs, Slagle has been a model inmate, Wilhelm said in a filing with the parole board.

"Billy suffered from the stunting effects of drugs and alcohol when he committed his crime," Wilhelm said. "He had no clue as to why he killed Mari Anne."

Wilhelm also argues that Slagle, an American Indian of Chippewa heritage, suffered from a genetic predisposition to alcoholism that has been linked to Native Americans.

The state argues the jury and numerous appeals court judges have reviewed Slagle's case and upheld his conviction and death sentence. Slagle was aware enough to admit targeting Pope for burglary because he knew she lived alone and stopped the attack to hide in a closet when a police officer shone a flashlight through a window, the office of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William Mason said in its filing with the parole board.

"Other than repackaging and rehashing the same failed claims for lenience, Slagle offers no reason why this board should reach a different conclusion," the filing said.

Gov. John Kasich will have the final say.

Frost's July ruling on the state's execution procedures took a harsh view of how Ohio carries out the death penalty.

"It is the policy of the State of Ohio that the state follows its written execution protocol, except when it does not," Frost wrote. "This is nonsense."

Frost said the state fails to document the preparation of its lethal drugs and fails to always check an inmate's veins to see if the prisoner can receive an intravenous injection.

The judge also said the state doesn't always have the required two members of the medical team present and doesn't control who participates in an execution.

The prisons department calls changes announced last week a "comprehensive rewriting" of state execution policy.

The new rules will require post-execution reviews of all lethal injections and a physical evaluation of the condemned person's veins three weeks prior to execution.

The policy says the new procedures are to be "strictly followed" and the warden or prisons director must be notified of any reasons for deviation, with any variations requiring the director's approval.

www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20110825/NEWS01/108250353/Ohio-killer-faces-death-after-execution-delay

Billy Slagle never wanted to be an alcoholic, not in his wildest dreams was that a goal in life. He was born an addict with a mother that used and abused drugs and alcohol, born into a family of addicts and suffered withdrawal when he was born. No wonder he turned to what he had experienced in the womb, he was in a black out, a drug induced coma that fateful morning and never intended to commit murder. The tragic and untimely, violent death of Mari Anne Pope at the hands of Billy can never really be understood but for his part he did the crime so he is doing the time, he has repented and will live with that murder the rest of his life, but is it necessary to give his life? The amount of good he can do for so many other addicts is immeasurable, he can help so many alive. Billy deserves to be set free, the law will not allow that at present so lets save his life.

(Spelling corrections made by admin.)

Ohio Parole Board says Cleveland death row inmate's life should not be spared

Confessed killer Billy Slagle, who stabbed a neighbor on Cleveland's West Side in 1987, should not be granted clemency to avoid the death penalty, the Ohio Parole Board said today.

In a unanimous vote, the eight-member board recommended that Republican Gov. John Kasich deny Slagle's clemency request.

Slagle, 42, is scheduled to die on Sept. 20 in the execution chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

In his interview with the Parole Board, Slagle said he was sorry for his crime. Yet he could not explain his violent actions because he said he is normally a shy, non-confrontational person. He asked for mercy because he said his execution would not achieve anything.

More;
www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/09/ohio_parole_board_says_clevela.html

Ohio governor delays third execution

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has delayed by nearly two years the Sept. 20 execution of a man sentenced to die for stabbing a Cleveland woman to death in 1986.

Friday's postponement of Billy Slagle's execution is the third time in the past two months a condemned Ohio killer has received a temporary reprieve.

The reprieve issued by Kasich and reviewed by The Associated Press says the execution has been delayed until August 2013.

The announcement came as a federal judge is considering Slagle's argument that Ohio's death penalty procedures are haphazard and followed inconsistently.

Slagle received the death sentence for stabbing neighbor Mari Anne Pope to death during a burglary.

www.middletownjournal.com/news/ohio-news/apnewsbreak-ohio-governor-delays-third-execution-1244800.html

Prosecutor McGinty asks Ohio Parole Board to commute Billy Slagle's death sentence in 1987 murder

www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/07/timothy_mcginty_asks_ohio_paro.html

Prosecutors and defense attorneys pitch mercy for condemned Ohio man who stabbed woman

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys asked the Ohio Parole Board on Monday to spare a condemned killer who stabbed a neighbor 17 times, making a rare joint appeal for mercy based on the inmate's youth at the time of his killing and his history of drug and alcohol abuse.

A divided board ruled against clemency two years ago for Billy Slagle, but that was before the election of new Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty and a change in his office's approach to capital punishment.

More;http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/5b5b8b49409241b18d06f88b8acb9306/US-Death-Penalty-Prosecutor

www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/billy-slagle-attorneys-plea-for-life_n_3560369.html

Editorial; Then and now
www.ohio.com/editorial/then-and-now-1.412237

Parole board recommends against clemency for murderer, despite urgings of Cuyahoga prosecutor

The Ohio Parole Board today recommended against clemency for convicted murderer Billy Slagle, despite urging by the prosecutor in the county where he was tried.

By vote of 6-4, the board urged clemency be denied. His execution is now scheduled for Aug. 7.

More;
www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2013/07/parole_board_recommends_agains.html

Kasich won't spare Cleveland killer from execution

Gov. John Kasich today rejected clemency for a condemned Cleveland killer who stabbed his victim 17 times, overruling a rare plea for mercy from the prosecutor overseeing his case and support from nearly half of a board that previously voted unanimously against the inmate.

More;
www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/07/24/kasich-denies-clemency-for-killer.html

A Step Closer To Killing Billy Slagle

gamso-forthedefense.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-step-closer-to-killing-billy-slagle.html

Circle of Violence Unbroken
Ohio set to execute Billy Slagle this week despite a prosecutor’s request for clemency

www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-28277-circle_of_violence_u.html

Ohio killer set for execution found hanged in cell

usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/04/19862827-ohio-killer-set-for-execution-found-hanged-in-cell