Matt Mangino's new book, published in softcover by McFarland, a publisher of academic and nonfiction works, contains a detailed account of the murders, trials, appeals, and drama behind every execution that took place in 2010. The book includes gripping narratives of 63 murders, countless appeals and stays of execution, two suicide attempts, 41 last meals, 33 final statements, and 46 executions in states that include Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, and Missouri.
The Executioner's Toll, 2010 is a unique, skillfully written, tightly organized, and thoroughly researched collection of fascinating cases featuring an extremely important and controversial subject in American life.
Mangino, a former prosecutor and an active columnist and blogger, is not only a criminal justice expert, he is a talented nonfiction author. His new book is highly recommended.
To read more Click Here
Monday, May 26, 2014
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Book: The Executioner's Toll, 2010 by Matthew T. Mangino
The Executioner's Toll, 2010
The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States
Matthew T. Mangino
Legal Executions of 2010 is a meticulous examination of every execution (and the details surrounding the execution) carried out in a single year—and a thought-provoking exploration into the minds of 46 killers as each plays the role of predator, quarry and condemned. The unsettling narratives begin with a murder on May 26, 1993, and end with an execution on December 16, 2010. The book chronicles 63 murders, 44 trials, countless appeals, two suicide attempts, 41 last meals, 33 final statements and 46 executions. Executions are rare in the United States. This book presents the compelling stories behind each of them, accounts often neglected in the mainstream media. Every person facing the executioner has a story, every killing is as unique as it is devastating. The death penalty remains in 32 states. Thinking about capital punishment is more than a philosophical debate about good and bad, right and wrong, or "just desserts." The death penalty is about human beings and the impact of their conduct against and with one another.
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Sunday, June 16, 2013
Matthew T. Mangino: Kennedy assassin claims Manchurian defense
Matthew T. Mangino
GateHouse News Service
June 14, 2013
This month marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. His senseless and tragic death came about on the evening of June 5, 1968, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Moments before entering the hotel kitchen, Kennedy had given a victory speech after winning the important California Democratic primary for president of the United States.
Kennedy was being ushered through the hotel kitchen by a group of campaign volunteers. The kitchen was crammed with supporters and well-wishers. Suddenly, Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a young man angered over Kennedy’s pro-Israeli position in the Middle East.
Less than five years earlier, Kennedy’s brother, President John F. Kennedy, was struck down by an assassin’s bullet, and only two months earlier civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was slain in Memphis, Tenn., by an assassin.
Sirhan was convicted ten months later and within a week of his conviction he was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 after the California Supreme Court vacated all pending death sentences.
Sirhan remains in a California prison and has been denied parole 14 times, most recently in 2011. However, his lawyers have come up with a new plan for his release that reads like the plot of a Hollywood movie.
Although Sirhan’s conviction occurred more than four decades ago, he has asked the court to review his conviction through a Writ of Habeas Corpus. His direct appeal rights have long been exhausted, but habeas corpus remains a viable option.
Appeals are used to correct errors that occurred before or during trial based on evidence found on the court record. A Writ of Habeas Corpus asks the court to consider “new” evidence that the trial judge might not have heard.
In 2008, Sirhan’s lawyers hired memory expert Daniel Brown, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. Brown was described by Sirhan’s lawyers as "one of the world's foremost experts in hypno programming."
Brown interviewed Sirhan for 60 hours over a three-year period. Sirhan now remembers that when he fired his shots in the hotel kitchen he believed he was at a gun range and shooting at circular targets, reported CNN.
Sirhan’s lawyers believe he was programmed to cause a distraction in the kitchen, allowing a second gunman to secretly shoot Kennedy from behind. Lawyers say that Professor Brown believes a mysterious young woman in a polka dot dress lured Sirhan into the kitchen as part of the alleged mind control plot.
The conspiracy claim is bolstered somewhat by an analysis of a recently uncovered tape recording of the shooting. The recording is the only known soundtrack of the assassination and it reveals at least 13 shot sounds over a period of less than six seconds. This appears to contravene the theory at trial that eight shots were fired by Sirhan.
Sirhan’s claims of hypno programming and assassination might make for an action-packed Hollywood thriller — if it hadn’t already been written, produced and premiered more than 50 years ago. "The Manchurian Candidate" released by MGM in 1962 starred Frank Sinatra and portrayed a supposed war hero who was brainwashed into becoming an unwitting assassin.
At times, truth is stranger than fiction. In the case of Sirhan Sirhan, fiction is being used to cobble together a cockamamie claim that is beyond strange and just downright fantastic.
Unfortunately, Sirhan’s claim can’t be completely written off — especially not in California. The Twinkie defense worked for Dan White after he assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978.
Thirty-five years later, can the Manchurian defense work for Sirhan Sirhan?
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly and George and the former district attorney for Lawrence County, Pa. You can read his blog at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewTMangino.
GateHouse News Service
June 14, 2013
This month marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. His senseless and tragic death came about on the evening of June 5, 1968, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
Moments before entering the hotel kitchen, Kennedy had given a victory speech after winning the important California Democratic primary for president of the United States.
Kennedy was being ushered through the hotel kitchen by a group of campaign volunteers. The kitchen was crammed with supporters and well-wishers. Suddenly, Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a young man angered over Kennedy’s pro-Israeli position in the Middle East.
Less than five years earlier, Kennedy’s brother, President John F. Kennedy, was struck down by an assassin’s bullet, and only two months earlier civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was slain in Memphis, Tenn., by an assassin.
Sirhan was convicted ten months later and within a week of his conviction he was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 after the California Supreme Court vacated all pending death sentences.
Sirhan remains in a California prison and has been denied parole 14 times, most recently in 2011. However, his lawyers have come up with a new plan for his release that reads like the plot of a Hollywood movie.
Although Sirhan’s conviction occurred more than four decades ago, he has asked the court to review his conviction through a Writ of Habeas Corpus. His direct appeal rights have long been exhausted, but habeas corpus remains a viable option.
Appeals are used to correct errors that occurred before or during trial based on evidence found on the court record. A Writ of Habeas Corpus asks the court to consider “new” evidence that the trial judge might not have heard.
In 2008, Sirhan’s lawyers hired memory expert Daniel Brown, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. Brown was described by Sirhan’s lawyers as "one of the world's foremost experts in hypno programming."
Brown interviewed Sirhan for 60 hours over a three-year period. Sirhan now remembers that when he fired his shots in the hotel kitchen he believed he was at a gun range and shooting at circular targets, reported CNN.
Sirhan’s lawyers believe he was programmed to cause a distraction in the kitchen, allowing a second gunman to secretly shoot Kennedy from behind. Lawyers say that Professor Brown believes a mysterious young woman in a polka dot dress lured Sirhan into the kitchen as part of the alleged mind control plot.
The conspiracy claim is bolstered somewhat by an analysis of a recently uncovered tape recording of the shooting. The recording is the only known soundtrack of the assassination and it reveals at least 13 shot sounds over a period of less than six seconds. This appears to contravene the theory at trial that eight shots were fired by Sirhan.
Sirhan’s claims of hypno programming and assassination might make for an action-packed Hollywood thriller — if it hadn’t already been written, produced and premiered more than 50 years ago. "The Manchurian Candidate" released by MGM in 1962 starred Frank Sinatra and portrayed a supposed war hero who was brainwashed into becoming an unwitting assassin.
At times, truth is stranger than fiction. In the case of Sirhan Sirhan, fiction is being used to cobble together a cockamamie claim that is beyond strange and just downright fantastic.
Unfortunately, Sirhan’s claim can’t be completely written off — especially not in California. The Twinkie defense worked for Dan White after he assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978.
Thirty-five years later, can the Manchurian defense work for Sirhan Sirhan?
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly and George and the former district attorney for Lawrence County, Pa. You can read his blog at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewTMangino.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Mangino Launches Weekly Syndicated Column with GateHouse News Service
I am very pleased to announce my new weekly column syndicated by GateHouse News Service. GateHouse serves 79 daily papers, 257 weeklies and 405 websites coast to coast.
Matthew T. Mangino: Crime and punishment - there is more to the story
GateHouse News Service
March 1, 2013
Fifteen years ago when I was elected district attorney of Lawrence County, Pa., I had just turned 35 and knew everything there was to know about seeking justice, protecting the public and locking away bad guys.
Today, things are not so obvious. Two terms as district attorney, six years on the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole and two years at the University of Pennsylvania have taught me that there is a story behind every crime, every new law, every court decision and every piece of academic research.
Each week I hope to share those stories with you along with the insight that comes with more than 25 years as a criminal justice practitioner.
There are no easy answers and, at times, there is no single answer, but the issues of crime and punishment are significant enough to merit critical exploration and objective explanations.
The U.S. incarcerates more people for longer periods of time than any other nation on earth. There are 2.3 million men and women in prisons nationwide, with one in 32 American adults under some sort of correctional supervision.
Today, about 17 states are involved in justice reinvestment strategies. States as diverse as Kansas, West Virginia and Connecticut have joined with the Council of State Governments to map out individualized strategies to reduce the number of people in state prison. The savings will be distributed for initiatives in policing, drug treatment and community supervision.
These ideas were born out of necessity not enlightenment. Policymakers have come to the realization that mass incarceration is a drain on state budgets.
Finances are also driving the death penalty debate. Capital punishment is lawful in 33 states—five fewer than just a few years ago. State-sponsored death has long been attacked as brutal and unfairly administered. Today, the death penalty is attacked as being too costly.
Opponents of the death penalty point to endless and costly appeals; the increased expense of housing offenders on death row; and the financial hardship of defending challenges to every facet of execution including the origin of the execution drugs, the contents of the final meal, and even the obesity of the condemned.
The death penalty is also under scrutiny for a series of recent DNA exonerations.
According to the Innocence Project, there have been 18 men freed from death row as a result of DNA analysis. Jurors are much less likely to sentence a killer to death if they believe innocent men have been sent to their death. Last year marked the second lowest number of death sentences since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
The death penalty is not the only staple of the criminal justice system that has taken a hit as a result of DNA.
DNA has also uncovered wrongful convictions that were originally based on bite mark analysis; hair and fiber analysis; handwriting and even fingerprint analysis. Eyewitness identification, often the only evidence available to police, is being aggressively challenged.
Some experts suggest that such evidence is prone to error. Poor viewing conditions, limited time and fear all play a role in possible misidentification.
Regardless of your opinion of the criminal justice system, crime will continue. For every person on death row, there are one or more victims of murder. For every eyewitness identification there is a corresponding crime. For every trial, regardless of evidence, there is a victim who has been harmed.
Rather than continuing the unbridled and sometimes spurious attacks on the criminal justice system, society would do well to demand an honest dialogue that focuses on fairness, justice and accountability. I hope to contribute to that dialogue each week through this column.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly and George and the former district attorney for Lawrence County, Pa. You can read his blog at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewTMangino.
Friday, June 15, 2012
The Cautionary Instruction: The economy’s impact on crime has yet to play out
Matthew T. Mangino
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Ipso Facto
June 15, 2012
Many experts predicted that a sour economy would usher in an increase in crime. Yet the recession did not result in out-of-work, law abiding citizens desperately resorting to crime to make ends meet. Crime continued to fall.
However, the economy’s impact on crime has not yet played itself out. State and local governments are still in decline -- government budgets have been adjusted with policing, corrections and the courts taking a hit.
The effect of the economic downturn on law enforcement agencies may be felt for years to come, or worse, permanently. The permanence of this change will be driven not just by the economy, but by the realization that it is no longer feasible for local government officials to allocate a significant portion of the general fund budgets for public safety.
More than 50 percent of police departments nationwide have reported personnel layoffs. Communities across the country are beginning to feel it. No more so than in New Jersey.
Police layoffs in Newark, which took effect December 1, 2010, seemed to have had an immediate effect on arrests. Between January and June of 2011, police recorded nearly 4,000 fewer arrests than they did during the same period in 2010.
The Economic Policy Institute reported there is more to cost-cutting than meets the eye. Cuts to the police force of five high-crime cities in New Jersey, including Newark, actually cost 12.9 times more than the budgetary savings of eliminating the officers, when the cost of rising crime was factored into the equation. Public safety cuts are not only dangerous, they’re bad business.
The reality of fewer policing resources has caused police departments to re-evaluate priorities. Although, cash strapped departments have pledged that emergency response will not be diminished -- there will inevitably be a change in the way police departments handle non-emergencies. The response time, if there is a response, for crimes like burglary, theft and vandalism -- quality of life crimes -- will be impacted.
That might not seem like a big deal, but New York City, the shining example of crime control, began their crusade against crime in the early 1990s by following James Q. Wilson’s Broken Windows theory. Wilson suggested vigorously cracking down on nuisance crimes and violent crime rates will drop. In 1990 there were 2,245 murders in NYC -- in 2011 there were 515.
The new economic reality may limit resource-driven crime control efforts like NYC’s, and that portends disaster. Professor James Alan Fox recently sounded the alarm. From July through December 2011 several crime categories showed an increase, including a 1.9 percent increase in murder.
Fox wrote in the Boston Globe, "Whatever the final data show, it would seem that the long-term downturn in crime has slowed, and may even have bottomed out … If we fail to invest sufficiently in crime prevention and crime control -- both personnel and programs, we may someday look back at 2011 and consider them the 'good old days.' "
Visit Matt Mangino
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Ipso Facto
June 15, 2012
Many experts predicted that a sour economy would usher in an increase in crime. Yet the recession did not result in out-of-work, law abiding citizens desperately resorting to crime to make ends meet. Crime continued to fall.
However, the economy’s impact on crime has not yet played itself out. State and local governments are still in decline -- government budgets have been adjusted with policing, corrections and the courts taking a hit.
The effect of the economic downturn on law enforcement agencies may be felt for years to come, or worse, permanently. The permanence of this change will be driven not just by the economy, but by the realization that it is no longer feasible for local government officials to allocate a significant portion of the general fund budgets for public safety.
More than 50 percent of police departments nationwide have reported personnel layoffs. Communities across the country are beginning to feel it. No more so than in New Jersey.
Police layoffs in Newark, which took effect December 1, 2010, seemed to have had an immediate effect on arrests. Between January and June of 2011, police recorded nearly 4,000 fewer arrests than they did during the same period in 2010.
The Economic Policy Institute reported there is more to cost-cutting than meets the eye. Cuts to the police force of five high-crime cities in New Jersey, including Newark, actually cost 12.9 times more than the budgetary savings of eliminating the officers, when the cost of rising crime was factored into the equation. Public safety cuts are not only dangerous, they’re bad business.
The reality of fewer policing resources has caused police departments to re-evaluate priorities. Although, cash strapped departments have pledged that emergency response will not be diminished -- there will inevitably be a change in the way police departments handle non-emergencies. The response time, if there is a response, for crimes like burglary, theft and vandalism -- quality of life crimes -- will be impacted.
That might not seem like a big deal, but New York City, the shining example of crime control, began their crusade against crime in the early 1990s by following James Q. Wilson’s Broken Windows theory. Wilson suggested vigorously cracking down on nuisance crimes and violent crime rates will drop. In 1990 there were 2,245 murders in NYC -- in 2011 there were 515.
The new economic reality may limit resource-driven crime control efforts like NYC’s, and that portends disaster. Professor James Alan Fox recently sounded the alarm. From July through December 2011 several crime categories showed an increase, including a 1.9 percent increase in murder.
Fox wrote in the Boston Globe, "Whatever the final data show, it would seem that the long-term downturn in crime has slowed, and may even have bottomed out … If we fail to invest sufficiently in crime prevention and crime control -- both personnel and programs, we may someday look back at 2011 and consider them the 'good old days.' "
Visit Matt Mangino
Friday, May 4, 2012
The Cautionary Instruction: Using the medical model in the criminal justice realm
Matthew T. Mangino
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Ipso Facto
May 4, 2012
Anyone who has had a recent medical procedure knows that insurance companies are tightening the purse strings. Insurers are not paying for needless, unproven procedures -- treatment not supported by medical research.
The criminal justice system is experiencing the same phenomenon. The government controls the purse strings. Tough economic times are prompting a new look at spending priorities at all government levels, and scientific evidence of a program’s success or failure may play a part in whether it survives a budget cut.
The difference between medicine and criminal justice is that medical practitioners know what works -- criminal justice practitioners don’t.
A doctor in Georgia will treat the symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), or heart attack, with the same general protocol as doctors in Oregon or Kansas. The current protocol for treating patients with AMI is either pharmacological (clot-dissolving therapy) or mechanical (coronary angioplasty).
Criminal justice is different. Although criminal justice practitioners boast of using evidence-based practices there are no standard best practices accepted by all criminal justice practitioners.
A review of efforts across the nation to deal with prison overcrowding is instructive:
Pennsylvania plans on reducing inmates and costs by weeding out inefficiencies. The Department of Corrections suggests that slow processing keeps about 1,900 inmates per year in prison when they could safely be released on parole. Better processing alone could save nearly $61 million a year.
New Hampshire is considering privatizing its prison system. The state's prison population climbed 31 percent between 2000 and 2010 despite a stable crime rate. Half of that increase was attributed to inmates who leave prison and return for a parole violation or a new offense.
California has gone through an unprecedented realignment of its prison system shifting responsibility for a significant number of prisoners from state prisons to local county jails. This realignment has also shifted responsibility from the courts to the sheriff to release individuals who are in jail on bond pretrial, a significant portion of the county jail population.
Mississippi is testing a global-positioning device that costs about $13 a day per convict to keep tabs on individuals — far less than the $41.74 cost to house and feed a prisoner. Elderly and terminally ill inmates are being released to their families, or hospices, saving nearly $5 million.
Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, and Rhode Island have reduced or eliminated jail or prison time for parole and probation violations, opting instead for stricter supervision and alternative sentences like community service.
Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas have attempted to reduce recidivism by stronger emphasis on reentry planning that is tailored to meet individuals' needs.
Florida and South Carolina have created alternative sentencing options for low-level, low-risk offenders, such as probation instead of jail time.
Tennessee and Virginia have removed minimum sentencing requirements for certain drug-related violations.
Above are 16 different approaches to the same problem. Why can’t prison wardens and corrections officials agree on a best practice to reduce prison crowding? Imagine a different treatment protocol in every state for AMI.
Visit Matt Mangino
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Ipso Facto
May 4, 2012
Anyone who has had a recent medical procedure knows that insurance companies are tightening the purse strings. Insurers are not paying for needless, unproven procedures -- treatment not supported by medical research.
The criminal justice system is experiencing the same phenomenon. The government controls the purse strings. Tough economic times are prompting a new look at spending priorities at all government levels, and scientific evidence of a program’s success or failure may play a part in whether it survives a budget cut.
The difference between medicine and criminal justice is that medical practitioners know what works -- criminal justice practitioners don’t.
A doctor in Georgia will treat the symptoms of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), or heart attack, with the same general protocol as doctors in Oregon or Kansas. The current protocol for treating patients with AMI is either pharmacological (clot-dissolving therapy) or mechanical (coronary angioplasty).
Criminal justice is different. Although criminal justice practitioners boast of using evidence-based practices there are no standard best practices accepted by all criminal justice practitioners.
A review of efforts across the nation to deal with prison overcrowding is instructive:
Pennsylvania plans on reducing inmates and costs by weeding out inefficiencies. The Department of Corrections suggests that slow processing keeps about 1,900 inmates per year in prison when they could safely be released on parole. Better processing alone could save nearly $61 million a year.
New Hampshire is considering privatizing its prison system. The state's prison population climbed 31 percent between 2000 and 2010 despite a stable crime rate. Half of that increase was attributed to inmates who leave prison and return for a parole violation or a new offense.
California has gone through an unprecedented realignment of its prison system shifting responsibility for a significant number of prisoners from state prisons to local county jails. This realignment has also shifted responsibility from the courts to the sheriff to release individuals who are in jail on bond pretrial, a significant portion of the county jail population.
Mississippi is testing a global-positioning device that costs about $13 a day per convict to keep tabs on individuals — far less than the $41.74 cost to house and feed a prisoner. Elderly and terminally ill inmates are being released to their families, or hospices, saving nearly $5 million.
Alabama, Colorado, Kentucky, and Rhode Island have reduced or eliminated jail or prison time for parole and probation violations, opting instead for stricter supervision and alternative sentences like community service.
Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas have attempted to reduce recidivism by stronger emphasis on reentry planning that is tailored to meet individuals' needs.
Florida and South Carolina have created alternative sentencing options for low-level, low-risk offenders, such as probation instead of jail time.
Tennessee and Virginia have removed minimum sentencing requirements for certain drug-related violations.
Above are 16 different approaches to the same problem. Why can’t prison wardens and corrections officials agree on a best practice to reduce prison crowding? Imagine a different treatment protocol in every state for AMI.
Visit Matt Mangino
Sunday, April 29, 2012
mattmangino.com reaches 1,000 post milestone
'Texas executes man for 'execution' style killing' at mattmangino.com was the sites 1,000th post. The first post was an op-ed written my Matt Mangino for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer on November 9, 2009. Between the those two posts the site included 57 blogs, The Cautionary Instruction, for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette legal page Ipso Facto, 28 articles written for the Pennsylvania Law Weekly and 27 columns written for the Youngstown Vindicator.
Mattmangino.com has chronicled every execution in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The site has offered the occasional book review and has extensively explored crime, prison overcrowding, sex offender legislation, evidence-based practices, police procedures, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Castle Doctrine, the Constitution and much, much more.
Mattmangino.com often utilizes the news of the day to point out certain oddities, absurdities and inconsistencies in the criminal justice system. The site strives to provide some insight into the workings or failings of the system through the musings of a former prosecutor.
Mattmangino.com has chronicled every execution in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The site has offered the occasional book review and has extensively explored crime, prison overcrowding, sex offender legislation, evidence-based practices, police procedures, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Castle Doctrine, the Constitution and much, much more.
Mattmangino.com often utilizes the news of the day to point out certain oddities, absurdities and inconsistencies in the criminal justice system. The site strives to provide some insight into the workings or failings of the system through the musings of a former prosecutor.
Congratulations mattmangino.com!
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