SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chair

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M-Quigley
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SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chair

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed Friday.

Richard Bernard Moore, 57, is the also first state prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead.
Moore is one of 35 men on South Carolina’s death row. The state last scheduled an execution for Moore in 2020, which was then delayed after prison officials said they couldn’t obtain lethal injection drugs.

Corrections Department Director Bryan Stirling reiterated in an affidavit last week that the agency still couldn’t obtain the drugs because manufacturers and compounding pharmacies contacted by the state refused to help.
South Carolina’s corrections agency said last month that it finished developing protocols for firing squad executions and completed $53,600 in renovations on the death chamber in Columbia, installing a metal chair with restraints that faces a wall with a rectangular opening 15 feet (4.6 meters) away. In the case of a firing squad execution, three volunteer prison workers will train their rifles on the condemned prisoner’s heart.
During Moore’s 2001 trial, prosecutors said Moore entered the store looking for money to support his cocaine habit and got into a dispute with Mahoney, who drew a pistol that Moore wrestled away from him.

Mahoney pulled a second gun, and a gunfight ensued. Mahoney shot Moore in the arm, and Moore shot Mahoney in the chest. Prosecutors said Moore left a trail of blood through the store as he looked for cash, stepping twice over Mahoney.

At the time, Moore claimed that he acted in self-defense after Mahoney drew the first gun.

Moore’s supporters have argued that his crime doesn’t rise to the level of a death penalty offense. His appeals lawyers have said that because Moore didn’t bring a gun into store, he couldn’t have intended to kill someone when he walked in.
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

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Side note: I've read that some states would use five shooters, but only two or three would be given live ammo, the others blanks. Idea being they won't know if they'd fired one of the fatal shots. Wouldn't any experienced shooters be able to tell the difference?
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EricTheBald
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

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Yes, but it's one of the ways we lie to ourselves so that we can live with ourselves.
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

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Will this be counted as a firearm death in national statistics?
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

Post by M-Quigley »

Javelin Man wrote:Will this be counted as a firearm death in national statistics?
According to one firearms death tracking site I saw once, it might. I read a tracking site once that said it counted all deaths by a firearm, even ones ruled self defense or done by police because "they had families and were humans too." It's been a while since I read that so I hadn't been keeping up with that site and just now tried to search for it and couldn't find it, or it was one of the sites I did find and they changed it.
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

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M-Quigley wrote:
Javelin Man wrote:Will this be counted as a firearm death in national statistics?
According to one firearms death tracking site I saw once, it might. I read a tracking site once that said it counted all deaths by a firearm, even ones ruled self defense or done by police because "they had families and were humans too." It's been a while since I read that so I hadn't been keeping up with that site and just now tried to search for it and couldn't find it, or it was one of the sites I did find and they changed it.
I bet that site is watching Ukraine carefully.
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

Post by Sevens »

M-Quigley wrote:
During Moore’s 2001 trial, prosecutors said Moore entered the store looking for money to support his cocaine habit and got into a dispute with Mahoney, who drew a pistol that Moore wrestled away from him.

Mahoney pulled a second gun, and a gunfight ensued. Mahoney shot Moore in the arm, and Moore shot Mahoney in the chest. Prosecutors said Moore left a trail of blood through the store as he looked for cash, stepping twice over Mahoney.

At the time, Moore claimed that he acted in self-defense after Mahoney drew the first gun.

Moore’s supporters have argued that his crime doesn’t rise to the level of a death penalty offense. His appeals lawyers have said that because Moore didn’t bring a gun into store, he couldn’t have intended to kill someone when he walked in.
This is only a very short recap and I am a million miles from a lawyer, but this doesn't even sound like First Degree Murder. My knee-jerk reaction is that I could google up 20 guys more deserving of a death sentence and I could do it in three minutes.

But what the hell do I know anyway. Gonna be a messy affair for someone to clean up. Do they situate the guest of honor in to a large kiddie pool to collect the juices?!
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

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Brian D. wrote:Side note: I've read that some states would use five shooters, but only two or three would be given live ammo, the others blanks. Idea being they won't know if they'd fired one of the fatal shots. Wouldn't any experienced shooters be able to tell the difference?
The scary part is that there are individuals out there who would either volunteer (or) would follow orders to do the shooting. As for me, I wouldn't want that job. Come to think of it, I have a problem with the State having the power to execute Citizens. JMHO, of course.
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

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513resident wrote:
Brian D. wrote: The scary part is that there are individuals out there who would either volunteer (or) would follow orders to do the shooting. As for me, I wouldn't want that job. Come to think of it, I have a problem with the State having the power to execute Citizens. JMHO, of course.
I understand and respect your point of view. Having dealt with the aftermath of one particularly gruesome violent homicide scene, and a couple others almost as bad, I hope you understand me not fully agreeing with you.
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513resident
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

Post by 513resident »

Brian D. wrote:
513resident wrote:
Brian D. wrote: The scary part is that there are individuals out there who would either volunteer (or) would follow orders to do the shooting. As for me, I wouldn't want that job. Come to think of it, I have a problem with the State having the power to execute Citizens. JMHO, of course.
I understand and respect your point of view. Having dealt with the aftermath of one particularly gruesome violent homicide scene, and a couple others almost as bad, I hope you understand me not fully agreeing with you.
Oh, I get it. But remember what I said about the State - especially the current Leftist radical regime in power until further notice - having the power to murder people. And consider that, on a global scale, the USA is not in the best of company when it comes to countries who still retain the death penalty. China, Iran, North Korea...most Middle Eastern Islamic ruled nations...the usual suspects. Even those evil Russians have offically abolished the death penalty in their country.
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

Post by schmieg »

513resident wrote:
Brian D. wrote:
513resident wrote:
I understand and respect your point of view. Having dealt with the aftermath of one particularly gruesome violent homicide scene, and a couple others almost as bad, I hope you understand me not fully agreeing with you.
Oh, I get it. But remember what I said about the State - especially the current Leftist radical regime in power until further notice - having the power to murder people. And consider that, on a global scale, the USA is not in the best of company when it comes to countries who still retain the death penalty. China, Iran, North Korea...most Middle Eastern Islamic ruled nations...the usual suspects. Even those evil Russians have offically abolished the death penalty in their country.
The Russians only abolished it for crimes that don't offend Putin, the party or the GRU.
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513resident
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Re: SC death row inmate chooses firing squad instead of chai

Post by 513resident »

schmieg wrote:The Russians only abolished it for crimes that don't offend Putin, the party or the GRU.
Very true. And I suspect that, even if we abolish the death penalty in the US, there will still be "The Clinton Body Count" racking up numbers. :roll:
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