Michael A. Mello Papers, Series 1 News Clippings, Binder 3, 1995

Connecticut’s Death Penalty Bills Open the Door to More Executions By Kirk Johnson Hartford, April 7 – The State of Connecticut has put six murderers on death row in recent years under a penal code with roots in the harsh doctrines of the 1630’s.…

To the Editor:
According to Edwin Vaile's satirical letter (Forum,
April 5) , Donella Meadows' recent column observed that
"criminals" might actually be human beings as well--
an insight lost on the likes of scholars who prefer car-
toonish…

To the Editor,

Michael Mello, professor at Vermont Law School, wrote about the “absurd humanity” of convicts on death row in Florida (Forum, April 16). He does not seek to justify the “hideous crimes” of his Florida clients. He asks readers…

Your "Kill the Lawyers" editorial, along with the daily televised antics of O.J. Simpson's all-star cast of defense lawyers, reveals much of what is wrong with the legal profession today. F. Lee Bailey's cynical playing of the race card suggests that…

To the lawyers defending him, Raleigh Porter sometimes seems like a ghost already, Porter, who's scheduled to be executed Wednesday, would not face the electric chair if his appeals were being considered today, they say.

But Porter doesn't live in…

A reporter once found Public Defender Bob Jagger pacing his office floor as nervously as if he were the defendant about to go on trial. I asked Jagger why he was so anxious, since it was hardly his first murder case.

“But this guy is innocent,”…

On June 27 Florida intoned to execute Joseph "crazy Joe" Spaziano for a murder that he probably did not commit.

The facts and the chronology are nit much in dispute. On or about Aug. 6, 1973, someone brutally murdered Laura Lynn Harberts of…

Miami, June 16- The imminent execution of the killer they call “Crazy Joe” Spaziano, sentenced to death 20 years ago based on the testimony of a hypnotized witness, was halted by Gov. Lawton Chiles (D) this week after the crucial witness claimed he…

State investigators on Friday postponed a polygraph examination of the key witness in a 22-year-old murder case so they could more carefully review the case file.

Next week, a lie-detection expert with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement…

A death penalty mistake

On June 27, Joseph Robert Spaziano is scheduled to die in Florida’s electric chair.

A powerful case can be made for why he shouldn’t.

Spaziano, as his former attorney describes him, is no boy scout. He was a member of…

Time is running out
Gov. Lawton Chiles should ask himself this question: Does he really want to send Joseph Spaziano to his death knowing that there are serious doubts about the man's guilt?

It's not enough to suggest, as Chiles has done, that…

The raid by federal investigators on Cavendish lawyer William A. Hunter’s home and office has raised troubling questions for many in the state’s legal community about the sanctity of their offices and how much they are expected to know about the…

TALLAHASSEE — With a crucial witness recanting his testimony, Gov. Lawton Chiles has called off this month's execution of Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano.

Spaziano was condemned for the 1973 murder of Orlando nurse Laura Lynn Harberts, whose sexually…

Chiles spared Florida from a capital crime Until Gov. Chiles intervened Thursday, Joseph Spaziano was going to be executed for murder in 11 days, even though: Key evidence was based on a discredited theory of hypnosis. He was sentenced to death…

[image - Anthony Dilisio][image caption - Anthony Dilisio was 16 when he testified against Joseph 'Crazy Joe' Spaziano. His testimony helped send Spaziano to death row. Dilisio said he's no longer sure what he saw 20 years ago.][end page][start…

Gov. Lawton Chiles was right to stay the execution of Joseph Robert Spaziano. The convicted murderer may actually be a victim of unreliable testimony, inept legal representation and questionable police work.

Spaziano, 49, had been scheduled to die…

TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Supreme Court has put on hold "Crazy Joe" Spaziano's latest appeal to overturn his death sentence until Gov. Lawton Chiles decides whether the convicted killer should be granted clemency.

In an order Thursday, the court…

Tallahassee --- Satisfied with a confidential investigation into one of Florida’s longest-run-ing death row cases, Gov. Law-ton Chiles on Thursday signed a new death warrant for “Crazy Joe” Spaziano. The protracted, 20-year trek to Old Sparky was…

A Vermont lawyer whose newspaper essay helped win a stay of execution for convicted killer Joseph Spaziano is back on the case, objecting to plans to give the key witness a lie-detector test.

Michael Mello, who represented Spaziano for a decade…

TALLAHASSEE— A state lawyer says he can’t find anything wrong with the testimony of a man that proved vital in convicting a former motorcycle outlaw who tortured and murdered an 18-year-old woman 22 years ago.

Gov. Lawton Chiles on Thursday…