Finally-24 Years Later-Convicted cop killer executed

[Tater]

Convicted cop killer executed



Ron Word | The Associated Press
Posted September 20, 2006, 6:30 PM EDT

STARKE -- A convicted killer who had argued that Florida's use of lethal injections amounted to cruel and unusual punishment was put to death by lethal injection Wednesday night after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly denied him another stay.

Clarence Hill, 48, was executed for the 1982 murder of a Pensacola police officer in a savings and loan robbery.

Hill, 48, of Mobile, Ala., was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m., never getting a hearing on the merits of his contention that the chemicals used in Florida's lethal injection procedure caused extreme pain and were unconstitutional.

He did not reply when asked if he had a last statement, staring straight at the ceiling. He was wearing a white hat, and his head was strapped down, unlike some other executions.

After the injection, he blinked his eyes a couple times, his chest heaved and his mouth drooped. The physicians, wearing blue hoods and dark goggles, checked his vital signs at 6:11 p.m., and pronounced him dead a minute later.

Hill, who had shot Officer Stephen Taylor from behind, received visits Tuesday from defense attorney D. Todd Doss, a death row advocate and the inmate's wife, Serena Mangano, of Modino, Italy, who married him in June in a no-contact wedding at Florida State Prison in Starke. Mangano visited him again Wednesday.

He did not order a special final meal and refused to eat the prison meal of tacos, beans and a salad Wednesday morning, said Robbie Cunningham, a Department of Corrections spokesman.

In January, Hill was strapped to a gurney and his arms with hooked up with IV tubes before the Supreme Court stepped in and stopped his execution. In June, in a 9-0 vote, the high court ruled that Hill could mount a challenge to the chemicals under a civil rights motion.

However, a district court in Tallahassee and an appeals court in Atlanta, refused to hear those challenges, ruling that Hill should have filed earlier and accused him of trying to delay the process. An appeal was again filed with the Supreme Court, but this time it did not intercede.

Hill had argued that the three chemicals used in Florida executions and by many other states -- sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride -- can cause excruciating pain. The first drug is a painkiller. The second one paralyzes the inmate and the third causes a fatal heart attack.

The state contended Hill waited too long to appeal, saying he should have raised his objections when the state switched from the electric chair in 2000. Doss claims he could not have raised the issue until Hill's death warrant was first signed in November.

Hill was the 61st inmate to die in Florida since the state resumed the death penalty in 1979. He was the first inmate to be executed this year.

Jack Taylor, the brother of the slain police officer, witnessed the execution.

On Oct. 19, 1982, Hill and a friend, Cliff Jackson, had driven from Mobile to Pensacola in a stolen car to rob the Freedom Federal Savings Bank.

When an alarm went off, Hill ran out the back door and Jackson fled out the front door. Taylor and his partner arrested Jackson and were attempting to handcuff him when Hill approached them from behind and began shooting. Taylor died in the shootout, and partner Larry Bailly was wounded. Hill was shot five times and was caught a short time later. Jackson was given a life sentence.

Hill was convicted of first-degree murder and, in May 1983, sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing hearing in October 1985 and in April 1986, Hill was again sentenced to death.

The U.S. Supreme Court also halted the execution of another Florida inmate, Arthur Rutherford, who also sought to challenge the lethal injection procedure. Rutherford, too, had been scheduled to die in January. He was convicted for the 1985 drowning and asphyxiation of 63-year-old Stella Salamon at her Milton home. His execution has not been rescheduled.

[citcop]

Funny how they challenge the execution as cruel and unusual when their victims had no chance to question their fate. :mad:

[christrue]

when their victims had no chance to question their fate. :mad:

I Quite Agree! :mad:

[marinepilot]

Funny how they challenge the execution as cruel and unusual when their victims had no chance to question their fate. :mad:

+1 Rep sent.

I'm glad this guy is finally gone. As I'm currently seeking employment with the Pensacola Police Department, I can only be happy that this murderer has been put out of my adopted home-towns' misery.

[CTUCop]

When I first saw the title, I was kind of hoping it referred to Mumia Abu-Jamal. :mad:

But, it's still good.

[RO56]

When I first saw the title, I was kind of hoping it referred to Mumia Abu-Jamal. :mad:

But, it's still good.

It's ALWAYS good when a cop-killer is executed.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court, which halted Hill's execution in January after he was strapped to a gurney awaiting lethal injection, voted 5-4 to deny another stay. Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens voted to grant the stay, the court said in a two-sentence order

Go figure ... :rolleyes:

[JD45]

Funny how they challenge the execution as cruel and unusual when their victims had no chance to question their fate. :mad:

I'm all for an eye for an eye. The slain officers family should have been handed their choice of firearms and had the guy turn around and let the family open up on him. That way he can feel almost exactly what that officer did.

[CTUCop]

It's ALWAYS good when a cop-killer is executed.

Absolutely!

[cg1979]

As a current Pensacola Police officer, I can tell you that we are all satisfied that that chapter is finally closed on Clarence Hill. Many who are still here, say that it was the worst day of their lives. Stephen Taylor's family deserved better than to have to wait 24 years for that animal to be put down.

Marinepilot, hang in there. It can be a long road to get in to the cadet program, trust me on that. I too was number one on the eligibility list, and from the time I took my polygraph to the time I started as a cadet was three months. Hope to be welcoming you onboard soon.

[Taxx]

Convicted cop killer executed



Ron Word | The Associated Press
Posted September 20, 2006, 6:30 PM EDT


Hill had argued that the three chemicals used in Florida executions and by many other states -- sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride -- can cause excruciating pain. The first drug is a painkiller. The second one paralyzes the inmate and the third causes a fatal heart attack.

So what's the painkiller for?

[mavriktu]

It sickens me to think of how many members on this board are 24 years old or less! Think about all that you have gone through in that time and this POS was getting 3 squares,medical,dental,clothing (albeit a jumpsuit),library,gym etc. etc..The appeal process is needed,but lets not get stupid with it.:mad:

[L.E. Psych]

Funny how they challenge the execution as cruel and unusual when their victims had no chance to question their fate. :mad:

I have to absolutely agree with all of you. It always makes me sick to hear and read when a person on death row challenges their sentence based upon the "cruel and unusual" amendment. The abuse of the Criminal Justice System and the waste of tax-payer dollars are further exploits of these criminals. Their victims and the families have experienced the epitome of cruel and unusual punishment and have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives. The families cannot go and appeal the death of their loved one, the victim can never be brought back. I just wish the killers on death row would be able to be executed more expediently than they are, especially if they have killed a law enforcement officer. But there is now one less cop killer breathing so that works for me.

[marinepilot]

Marinepilot, hang in there. It can be a long road to get in to the cadet program, trust me on that. I too was number one on the eligibility list, and from the time I took my polygraph to the time I started as a cadet was three months. Hope to be welcoming you onboard soon.

CG, thanks for the words of advice and support! I'm not holding my breath to get into the Cadet program, although I am already in the academy! :D

Check your PM's.

marinepilot