No one should be judged by their darkest moment
By KATHLEEN ELLIS

His name on the list took me by surprise. I used to know his dad, a
member of my church in Waco. We had long conversations about his son,
Granville Riddle, who was on Texas' death row.

As the appeals process went on, it seemed quite possible that his
sentence could be reduced or even overturned. But Granville Riddle's
name is on the execution list for Jan. 30. His time is running out.

Since those conversations in Waco I have learned more about capital
punishment. For example, the death penalty is unfairly applied. It
depends mainly on where the crime took place and the quality of
court-appointed legal counsel. Without adequate resources for defense,
even innocent men and women too often face the ultimate punishment. The
old saying is true: those without the capital get the punishment.

One thing is clear. Death row inmates are almost universally poor.
Virtually all of them have been defended by overworked attorneys who
have limited resources. More than once these defendants have been
represented by sleeping lawyers. Far too often they have been
represented by unprepared, unqualified lawyers, many of whom have been
disciplined by the State Bar of Texas.

The cost to taxpayers for a capital murder trial, appeals, and execution
is extremely high. In 1992, The Dallas Morning News found that the cost
to Texas taxpayers averages $2.3 million per case for a capital trial
and its appeals. By comparison, the cost of housing an inmate in a
single-cell, maximum-security unit for life is approximately $750,000.

We know that both opponents and supporters of capital punishment find
basic arguments in their readings of scripture. For example, the book of
Genesis tells us that Cain killed his brother Abel, but the Lord did not
take Cain's life. Instead, Cain was banished to a life separated from
the Lord and his community, a fugitive and a wanderer for the rest of
his days. Yet "the LORD put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon
him would kill him."

This kind of banishment in ancient days cannot be our answer, but
questions remain. Faith communities almost without exception oppose
capital punishment in their official statements. As a result, more and
more members in the pews are asking these questions within their hearts
and among their neighbors.

The only time Jesus was consulted by the death penalty, he refused to
cast the first stone. What, then, shall we do?

How can we most faithfully uphold reverence for human life and also
uphold safety through basic legal and moral standards? Too often we do
an extremely poor job of intervention in high-risk situations: young
people who live on the margin of society without a safety net. Education
continues to face cutbacks while prisons multiply.

For these and many other reasons, The Bryan-College Station Eagle
editorial staff has endorsed a moratorium against execution while a blue
ribbon panel studies every step in the legal process.

No one should be judged entirely by the worst thing he has ever done.
Granville Riddle killed a man after a drunken barroom brawl when he was
19. But he is also an artist whose oil paintings are remarkable. And
remembering those conversations with his father, I know that Granville
is more than the worst thing he ever did.

. The Rev. Kathleen Ellis is a Unitarian Universalist minister based in
Austin.

Source: The Bryan-College Eagle

Burglar executed for 1988 burglary-slaying

Delivering his final statement in French and English, a burglar who
authorities said began his career while in elementary school was
executed today for fatally bludgeoning an Amarillo man with a tire iron
during a home burglary.

"I love all of you," Granville Riddle said, speaking first in French and
then in English. "I have no grudges against anyone and I would like to
say to the world I have always been a nice person.

"I've never been mean-hearted or cruel. I wish everybody well."

With his Swiss prison bride sobbing and murmuring in French as she
watched through a window nearby, Riddle said, "Je t'aime." He then
gasped and let out a long breath as the drugs began to take effect.

He was pronounced dead nine minutes later at 6:17 p.m.

Riddle, 32, didn't deny his involvement in the Oct. 9, 1988, beating
death of Ronnie Bennett, 39, but contended he hit Bennett more than a
dozen times in self-defense.

Riddle was the sixth person to be executed in Texas this year and the
third this week. Two more are scheduled for next week.

"I'm just a normal small town boy," Riddle, who declined to speak with
reporters in the week's preceding his execution, said on an Internet Web
site devoted to prisoners seeking pen pals. "I am caring and I am
considerate."

His record disputed that.

"He's been a problem for law enforcement since he got old enough to even
think about being a problem for law enforcement," said Randall Sims, an
assistant district attorney in Potter County who indicated Riddle's
first burglary was at age 8. "That's not good old country boys. That's
prison material."

Besides numerous burglaries, including a church, school and a restaurant
where his mother worked, he had arrests for drug possession and auto
theft. In April 1988, he was sent to prison after getting a seven-year
term for burglary but was paroled after just 2 1/2 months during a time
when Texas was experiencing a prison bed shortage.

In November 1988, the then 19-year-old was indicted for capital murder
for killing Bennett.
"It was one of the bloodiest crime scenes I've ever seen in 20 years,"
said Sims, who prosecuted the case. "The (victim's) skull looked like a
volleyball that was a sponge, just holes everywhere."

Before arriving at death row, Riddle, from Stinnett, tried escaping from
the county jail numerous times -- succeeding once for three days. He
also attempted to electrify his cell door with wires from his radio and
television and was involved in several fights with other inmates.
Evidence at his trial showed Riddle and a friend drove to Bennett's
home. He gave conflicting statements, saying he broke in by prying open
a screen with the tire iron and later saying he found a door unlocked
and went in that way. Evidence showed a kitchen window had been pried open.

Riddle testified Bennett, who he knew and who he described as drunk,
made a sexual advance that angered him, so he responded by hitting the
man some 15 times with the tire iron. But evidence showed Bennett at the
time of the attack had a blood-alcohol level of 0.29, enough to render
him unconscious.

The friend, Brad Bybee, who was waiting outside, testified Riddle called
him in, pointed out some items he could steal, then swung the lug wrench
-- blunt end first -- at Bennett's head, leaving it buried in the dead
man's skull.

Bybee reacted in horror and fled. Riddle panicked, grabbed the victim's
wallet and drove off in the victim's truck, which was found burned the
next day in a ravine near Borger, about 40 miles to the northeast. Bybee
was picked up by police and fingered Riddle, who was arrested five days
later.

Source: AP

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