The lead Justice Department and federal law enforcement writer for The Associated Press, MikeBalsamo1, watched two executions in one week and gives a first person account of the experience.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Daniel Lewis Lee, a condemned man and convicted murderer, was asked if he wanted to make a final statement from the execution chamber, with its institutional green-tiled walls and plate-glass interior window, moments before he too would die.“You’re killing an innocent man,” Lee said, looking directly at me.
But there would be a long wait as his legal appeals made their way to the Supreme Court. Along with other reporters, I was lodged inside a former bowling alley that was now a prison staff training center. It was guarded by heavily armed prison officers. We were all wearing blue surgical masks. Our temperatures were taken.
But then came another delay. Officials told us to grab dinner, so we did, then returned to the prison and waited. By midnight, all of us left again for our hotels nearby. We were all uncomfortable. A reporter next to me scribbled “legal issue?” on his notepad and gestured to me. “I guess so,” I replied.
There he was. His arms were strapped down and a light blue sheet covered most of his body. I was annoyed with one of the reporters who was moving around vying for a better view. Of a man’s death. It bothered me somehow, even though we were all there.“This is the marshal inside the execution chamber,” he said. Washington headquarters was on the other end. The marshal asked if there were any legal impediments that would prohibit the execution.
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