Amnesty International USA322 Eighth AvenueNew York, FEBRUARY 11, 1998 CONTACTS: ROGER RATHMAN (212) 633-4208 LURMA

RACKLEY (202) 675-8575 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA URGES OHIO NOT TO TAKE RETROGRADE STEP BY CONDUCTING FIRST EXECUTION SINCE 1963
Ohio set to engage in state-assisted suicideNew York - Amnesty International USA today urged Ohio to reconsider its scheduled execution of Wilfred Berry and called on Governor George Voenovich to grant clemency.Wilfred Berry, 33, is scheduled to be executed in Ohio on March 3, 1998. He was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of Charles Mitroff. Berry has withdrawn his legal appeals and consented to his execution. Berry's execution would be the first in Ohio since 1963. Berry's co-defendant received a life sentence, however Berry requested that he be sentenced to death and refused to cooperate with his lawyers during the trial.Amnesty International is extremely concerned at the precedent Berry's execution would set in Ohio. Berry's case has not been adjudicated by the judicial system as warranting a death sentence. It would appear that his sentence is a result of the state of Ohio complying with his long-term wish to die, thereby making it a case of state-assisted suicide.Previous prison records show that Berry has an extremely abusive childhood during which he was severely beaten by his mother and sexually assaulted. Both his parents suffered from mental problems - his father was diagnosed as schizophrenic. Berry has made 11 suicide attempts, the first when he was only 11-years-old. At 14 he was committed to an institution for the severely emotionally disturbed where he was diagnosed as suffering from severe schizophrenia but received no further treatment upon release. At the age of 19 he was sentenced to six years imprisonment for car theft in Texas. While in prison he was raped by another inmate and attempted suicide. Prison doctors diagnosed Berry as suffering form chronic undifferentiated delusional schizophrenia. While on death row, Berry has conducted a letter-writing campaign to be executed.In December 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court found that Berry was mentally competent to waive his legal appeals. When asked about the mental evaluation, Berry indicated his desire to be found competent, stating: "I've been studying up. I know I can pass. I know what they look for. All I'm going to say is I did it and I should die."Ohio's Attorney General, Betty Montgomery, has supported legislation that would make assisted suicide illegal in the state. However, she has aggressively defended Berry's right to waive his appeals and be executed, stating: "If a volunteer wished to have the death penalty, we will concur in that.""I can't believe that Ohio would execute such a severely impaired person, let alone be complicit in his suicide," said Sam Jordan, AIUSA's Director of the Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, Mr. Jordan continued, "This is as draconian as it gets in the death business. When will Ohio and other states begin to allow its citizens to know that there are sentencing alternatives?"

It would seem that with this second just execution since the Governor's little indiscretion with the pope a while back, Missouri has redeemed itself to the world! http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/execution990310.html This just execution of a particularly vicious in-prison murderer means that not only the streets of Missouri but the prisons of Missouri also will be a little safer this evening just as Hell will be a little bit fuller. God Bless America and the Show-me State! Amen. Yours in the glory that is our Lord Jesus Christ, Don

LOCATION: Potosi Correctional Center, Potosi, 12:05am CDT, 1:05am EDT METHOD: Injection CRIME: Roy Roberts, 46, was executed for the murder of a prison guard at the Mobley Center for Men during a riot in 1983. Roberts had a long criminal record including tampering, felony theft, drug possession and armed robbery. LAST MEAL: Declined. Was given a sedative because he was agitated. LAST WORDS: "You're killing an innocent man and you all can kiss my ass."

LOCATION: Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, 9:07pm EDT METHOD: Injection CRIME: George Quesinberry, 37, was executed for the robbery and murder of Thomas Haynes, 63, in 1989. Haynes was shot in the back at point blank range. Quesinberry then smashed in Haynes' skull with the gun. LAST MEAL: Pizza with bell peppers, mushrooms, onions and extra cheese. Fried chicken breast cut in half, cheeseburger with two pieces of cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, onion and tomato, large plate of unsalted french fries, chocolate pudding. LAST WORDS: "I just want my familt to know I loved them and to the victim's family, I'm sorry for what I've done." NUMBERS: 62nd person executed in Virginia since 1982. First of seven set to be executed in the state over the next two months.

RETENTIONIST
(Countries which retain and use the death penalty for ordinary crimes)* Country AFGHANISTAN INDIA ALGERIA INDONESIA ANTIGUA AND IRAN BARBUDA IRAQ ARMENIA JAMAICA AZERBAYDZHAN JAPAN BAHAMAS JORDAN BAHRAIN KAZAKSTAN BANGLADESH KENYA BARBADOS KOREA (Democratic People's BELARUS Republic)[North Korea] BELIZE KOREA (Republic)[South Korea] BENIN KUWAIT BOSNIAKYRGYZSTAN HERZEGOVINA LAOS BOTSWANA LATVIA BULGARIA LEBANON BURKINA FASO LESOTHO BURUNDI LIBERIA CAMEROON LIBYA CHAD LITHUANIA CHILE MALAWI CHINA (People's MALAYSIA Republic) MAURITANIA COMOROS MONGOLIA CONGO (Democratic MOROCCO Republic of) MYANMAR CUBA NIGERIA DOMINICA OMAN EGYPT PAKISTAN EQUATORIAL GUINEA POLAND QATAR ERITREA ESTONIA ETHIOPIA GABON GEORGIA GHANA GUATEMALA GUINEA RUSSIAN FEDERATION SAINT CHRISTOPHER AND NEVIS SAINT LUCIA SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES SAUDI ARABIA SIERRA LEONE SINGAPORE SOMALIA SUDAN SWAZILAND SYRIA TADZHIKISTAN TAIWAN (Republic of China) TANZANIA THAILAND TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TUNISIA TURKMENISTAN UGANDA UKRAINE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UZBEKISTAN VIET NAM YEMEN YUGOSLAVIA (Federal Republic of) ZAMBIA ZIMBABWE

GUYANA

Internet-site listing all the links dealing with the death penalty: www.derechos.org/dp/