In a move his staff said was unscripted and unexpected, Gov. Paul Patton
said yesterday he would spare the life of Kevin Stanford, who was
convicted and sentenced to death for the 1981 slaying of gas-station
attendant BaerbelPoore in southwestern Jefferson County.
Asked by a reporter if he planned to commute any death sentences, Patton
said he will act to "correct an injustice " the sentencing of a juvenile
to death and cited Stanford's case. "That is a case ... where the justice
system perpetuated an injustice, " the governor said.
Stanford, now 39, was 17 when he and a co-defendant took turns raping and
sodomizing Poore before Stanford shot her to death.
He was later sentenced to death, and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused
to
set aside his sentence, despite worldwide pleas for a ban on the execution
of juvenile offenders.
Patton's statement about Stanford came during a news conference he called
yesterday to announce the pardons of his chief of staff and three others
accused of campaign-finance violations in the 1995 governor's race.
Stanford's family members reacted with glee to the news.
"Praise Jesus this is a gift from God, " said Karen Stanford, a cousin,
who like Stanford, is 39 years old. His mother, Barbara Boller, said, "I
am just trying to catch my breath."
Stanford's co-counsel, Margaret O'Donnell, said: "Of course we are very
relieved. We are also extremely grateful to G ov ernor Patton for the
mercy he has shown toward Kevin Stanford and the leading role which
Kentucky, through his action, has now taken in telling the rest of the
nation that it is unconstitutional to execute juveniles."
But Poore's sister, Mona Mills, said the governor's decision made her ill.
"Gov ernor Patton is perverted, corrupt and as evil as Kevin Stanford,"
Mills said. "It is obvious he did this to draw attention away from the
pardons. I hope Kevin Stanford moves in next door to him. "
Patton said he would decide later the terms of Stanford's commutation
whether it will be to life without parole, which would guarantee he never
will be released from prison, or to a lesser sentence that might make him
eligible for parole.
Patton's general counsel, Denis Fleming Jr., said in an interview that
politics played no part in the decision. Fleming noted that the governor
has long held and publicly stated his view that it is "fundamentally
unjust" to execute someone who committed a crime as a juvenile.
"I don't think his political fortunes or misfortunes have any bearing on
his very firm belief that the death penalty is wrong for juvenile
offenses" because they lack the mental capacity to make appropriate
judgments, Fleming said.
A spokesman for Attorney General Ben Chandler, Brian Wright, said the
office had "consistently opposed clemency in this case ... and our
position has not changed."
Stanford's clemency petition, filed by his attorneys last September, had
bitterly divided advocates and foes of the death penalty and triggered
a
vigorous lobbying campaign on both sides, including from the Catholic
church, which opposed Stanford's execution.
Nine state lawmakers, including four from Jefferson County, asked Patton
to spare Stanford's life, and the Rev. Kevin Cosby, senior pastor of St.
Stephen Baptist Church, Louisville's largest black church, testified for
Stanford on a video supporting clemency.
Responding yesterday to Patton's announcement, the Rev. Patrick Delahanty,
a policy analyst and prisoner advocate for the Catholic Conference of
Kentucky, said: "This is fantastic. If you are going to have a death
penalty, at least you should not impose it on children."
Jo Ann Phillips, executive director of Kentuckians Voice for Crime
Victims, said the announcement wasn't unexpected, given Patton's prior
support for unsuccessful legislation to abolish the death penalty for
juveniles. However, she said victims-rights advocates still held out hope
the decision would go the other way.
She noted that even if Patton commutes Stanford's sentence to life or life
without parole for 25 years, it is unlikely he'll ever be freed. "If the
Parole Board looks at the crime, he never will be released."
On Jan. 7, 1981, Stanford and co-defendant, David Buchanan, who is serving
a life sentence, tortured and sexually abused Poore for 45 minutes at the
Cheker Oil Co. station at 4501 Cane Road Road. Then Stanford drove her
a
few blocks away, shot her twice in the head and face, and returned to the
station, where he stole 400 cartons of cigarettes, lighters and $143 in
cash.
Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel last year said, "If there ever has
been a poster boy for a heinous crime that deserved the death penalty,
"
Stanford is it.
In their petition for clemency, however, Stanford's lawyers and other
supporters said he was a victim of horrible abuse and neglect as a child,
and that he had turned himself around in 20 years on death row.
Stanford could not be reached for comment.
Patton mentioned Stanford only after he was asked about him by a reporter.
"You will note I have not sent an execution date for Mr. Stanford, "
Patton said. "He's certainly one of the people that I would correct an
injustice for. There may be others."
The nine legislators who asked Patton to grant Stanford clemency included
House Majority Leader Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, the Democratic
candidate for attorney general. In a Nov. 6 letter, the legislators cited
a "national and international consensus against executing juvenile
offenders" and a poll that showed most Kentuckians support a sentence
other than death for juveniles who kill.
The other legislators who signed the letter were Sen. David Karem and
Reps. Mary Lou Marzian, Reginald Meeks and Jim Wayne, all of Louisville;
Reps. John Adams, Hopkinsville; Joe Barrows, Versailles; Robin Webb,
Grayson; and Susan Westrom, Lexington.
"Kevin Stanford did horrible things, and he should be locked up forever,"
Marzian said at the time. "But what good does killing him do? It doesn't
bring Baerbel back."
(source: Courier-Journal) Patton commutes killer's sentence----Death
Row inmate was 17 when he
murdered woman
Gov. Paul Patton says he won't sign a death warrant for Kevin Stanford,
a
man who was 17 when he sodomized, kidnapped and fatally shot a 20-year-old
Louisville gas station attendant.
Stanford's case has been debated nationally for more than two decades,
evoking the passions of both those advocating his execution and those who
contend the mind of a child is not the mind of a man.
It was in deciding Stanford's case in 1989 that the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled states have the right to execute people who committed crimes when
they were 16 or 17 years old.
Patton's decision marks the 1st time since he became governor that he has
refused to sign an execution order for a death row inmate, said Chris
Kellogg, a spokesman for the governor.
Patton said he would commute Stanford's sentence because of his age at
the
time of his crime. "That was a case, in my opinion, where the justice
system perpetuated an injustice," Patton said. "He certainly is one of
those people I would correct an injustice for."
Patton said he is not sure whether he will reduce Stanford's sentence to
life without the possibility of parole or to something less serious.
Patton announced his decision about Stanford in a news conference in which
he pardoned his chief of staff Andrew "Skipper" Martin and 3 others
accused of breaking campaign finance laws in 1995.
Stanford, 39, was sent to Kentucky's death row 20 years ago for murdering
Baerbel Poore, the mother of a 10-month-old.
Poore's sister, Mona Mills of Louisville, said last night that she thought
Patton's commutation was politically motivated.
"Shocked and sick to my stomach was my 1st response," Mills said. "The
only reason that he commuted the sentence of Kevin Stanford was that he
commuted the sentence of 'Skipper' Martin and the other Democratic thugs,
and this was an attempt to pull the spotlight away from them."
Attorney General Ben Chandler had requested that Patton sign the death
warrant.
Chandler's spokesman, Brian Wright, said last night, "We have consistently
opposed clemency in this case. We filed a response with the governor's
office in November opposing a request for clemency, and our position has
not changed."
Stanford was 17 years, 4 months old on Jan. 7, 1981, when his 18-year-old
friend, David Buchanan, wanted him to help rob a Louisville service
station. Another youth, Troy Johnson, 15, went with them. Stanford was
under the influence of whiskey, marijuana and the drug mescaline.
Johnson carried his brother's gun.
At the station, Stanford looked for money while Buchanan took the victim
into the station's bathroom and sexually assaulted her. When Stanford came
into the bathroom, he joined in the assault.
They drove Poore to a remote area and allowed her to smoke acigarette.
Then Stanford shot her twice in the head at close range. They returned
to
the gas station, ransacked it and took 2 gallons of gas, $140 and 30
cartons of cigarettes.
Buchanan was sentenced to life for murder and to 65 years for rape, sodomy
and robbery. Johnson testified for the prosecution and received 9 months
in juvenile detention.
Court records say Stanford later told a jail officer, "I had to shoot her.
The bitch lives next door to me, and she would recognize me."
Margaret O'Donnell, his attorney, has contended Stanford never said that
and never bragged about the murder.
Stanford's clemency plea in 2002 revealed that at age 5, a baby sitter
forced Stanford to have sex with a young female cousin. The sexual abuse
continued by older neighborhood boys, an adult transvestite and others,
according to the plea.
O'Donnell has said Stanford, now a father, accepts full responsibility
for
the crime and the hurt he caused Poore's family.
Since entering prison, Stanford has earned his GED and an associate's
degree in business management and liberal arts.
Last night, O'Donnell said she probably wouldn't talk to Stanford until
today.
"We're very relieved," she said. "We feel that the governor has made the
right decision."
Kentucky has executed 2 inmates since capital punishment was reinstated
in
1976.
In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider banning executions
of
people like Stanford who committed their crimes as a juvenile.
The Kentucky General Assembly has sidestepped the issue.
The CCADP offers free webpages to over 500 Death Row Prisoners
Contact us for more information.
"The Eyes Of The World Are Watching Now" This page was
last updated June 20, 2003
Canadian
Coalition Against the Death Penalty This page is maintained
and updated by Dave Parkinson and Tracy Lamourie in Toronto, Canada
