Jose Angel Moreno should be dead already.
He's a death row inmate in Texas, of all places, which means he's lucky he wasn't taken out and shot before his appeal even came up. This is not a dig at Texas-- this is a dig at how Texas State Government views the death penalty. And the fact that 23 years have passed since Moreno committed a murder-kidnapping and Moreno still hasn't been put to death is either a miracle or a travesty of justice, depending on which side you're on...
Anderson Cooper's 360 blog has a diary entry from Moreno in which he talks about the moments leading up to his own execution:
When your final visit is
almost up, the warden (Hirsch) comes to pick you up. From that point
on, every officer that has any dealings with you is a sergeant or
higher, mostly lieutenants and captains. When you come out of the
visiting room, there is a lot of freeworld people there. I didn’t
recognize any, except the wardens. From there, you are escorted to a
cage where you are searched thoroughly (you know, lift your feet and
wiggle your toes, bend over and spread your ass-cheeks, then with the
same hands stick your fingers in your mouth and pull your mouth open so
they can check your other cheeks!) and given all brand-new clothing and
cloth shoes.
The last thing Warden
Hirsch says to me is, “Thanks for being a man about all this.”
Now, getting back to the death
chamber. Once they get you out of the van and walk you the few feet to
the holding area right next to the death chamber, they lock the door
and repeat the process of removing the leg irons, belts, handcuffs and
hog chain. They strip you right there in front of them (no cage
necessary because there’s about 12 built or big rank all around you — a
major or two, captains, and lieutenants). After they search you and
dress you in their brand-new clothing, they allow you to walk over to
the finger-printing booth (two sets of prints) and walk to their
holding cell.
You know those huge 10-gallon
containers they bring our juice/tea to the pods? Well, there’s three of
them on the table. One with coffee, one tea, and I think one of juice.
Then there’s milk cartons chilling on ice and a BIG silver platter with
all sorts of sweets on it: cookies, buns, rolls, pastries, etc.
When the warden shows up, I
think he is there to gauge how you are going to behave. He starts off
by telling you what is going to happen. At 3 o’clock they will let you
walk out of your cell and walk to the next cell where you will be
behind a screen so you can visit with your spiritual advisor. The
spiritual advisor visit lasts about an hour. Then, at 4, they will
bring your last meal.
...you won’t see him no more until
6, when he comes to get you. He will say, “It’s time.” At that point,
you will walk out of the cell and directly through that door (you can
see it from the cell, it’s only about 10-15 feet), that’s the execution
chamber. You will then be placed on the gurney and strapped down. Then
two medically trained personnel will stand on each side and inject a
catheter into each arm. Then he (warden) will stand behind your head
and ask you if you have a last statement. He will give you about two
minutes but is flexible, depending on what you are saying. He has two
rules: 1) No profanity or cussing, and 2) It must be in English.
Then he tells you that if you
get a stay, the chaplain will come inform you. Finally, he asks if you
have any questions. It is at this time you are supposed to ask him to
use the telephone and smoke cigarettes as per the instructions you will
receive from the chaplain the day before. He tells you that the
chaplain will provide the cigarettes and that you can call as many
people as you want but the person must be in the continental U.S., and
all phone calls will stop at 5.
So the warden leaves and I get
right on the phone. I get some very sweet tea, a milk, and wait for him
to light me a cigarette. The first person I talk to on the phone is my
oldest (longest-lasting) friend, Linda. But I wasn’t doing much talking
because I was trying to choke down my sobbing. (Sobbing is
uncontrollable crying). It was at this point that it all made sense to
me and I was more scared than I’ve ever been in my whole life.
Of course, since you're reading the journal entry, you know Moreno must've received a visit from the chaplain and that the chaplain let him know the execution had been stayed. Sure enough, as of this writing, Moreno lives in the only civilized country on earth that allows capital punishment.
Via CNN.
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