USA, GIUDICE RINVIA ESECUZIONE IN CONNECTICUT

NEW YORK, 24 GEN - Un giudice federale e' intervenuto in Connecticut per rinviare a una data da stabilire l'esecuzione di Michael Ross, un serial killer che doveva morire nella notte tra domani e mercoledi', in quella che doveva essere la prima esecuzione in uno Stato del New England in 45 anni.

Il giudice Robert Chatigny ha accolto le richieste dei difensori d'ufficio di Ross - licenziati mesi fa dall'imputato - che vogliono una valutazione accurata sulle sue condizioni mentali.

Il detenuto ha scelto volontariamente di morire e si oppone a nuovi appelli che ostacolino la sua esecuzione, ma il giudice intende capire se le sue condizioni mentali siano tali da poter lasciare solo a lui la scelta.

(di Marco Bardazzi).

 NEW YORK, 24 GEN - L'ora di Michael Ross non e' ancora arrivata. Il serial killer del Connecticut che ha scelto di accelerare l'iter della propria esecuzione e di diventare cosi' la prima persona giustiziata in New England in 45 anni, si e' visto sbarrare la strada da un giudice federale, che intende capire quali siano le condizioni mentali con le quali l'uomo ha preso la decisione di farsi uccidere.

L'intervento del giudice Robert Chatigny, chiamato in causa dai difensori licenziati nei mesi scorsi da Ross, ha fermato il conto alla rovescia all'Osborn Correction Institution a Somers, in Connecticut, dove il detenuto doveva morire alle 2:01 locali nella notte tra martedi' e mercoledi' (le 8:01 di mercoledi' in Italia). ''E' inevitabile per me ordinare di fermare l'esecuzione - ha detto il giudice - fino a quando non siamo giunti a conclusioni chiare'' sulle condizioni mentali di Ross.

Gli avvocati della difesa pubblica che lo assistevano, prima che il serial killer decidesse di bloccare gli appelli, hanno sostenuto la necessita' di accurati accertamenti psichiatrici prima di permettere a Ross di procedere con la sua scelta.

L'intervento del giudice e' stato una sorpresa per le organizzazioni che si erano mobilitate per fermare l'esecuzione,considerato il panorama che fa da sfondo al caso Ross. Dal governatore dello stato, la repubblicana M.Jodl Rell, ai legislatori di entrambi i partiti e all'opinione pubblica locale, nessuno sembrava voler interrompere l'iter verso l'iniezione letale, visto soprattutto il profilo del personaggio. Il serial killer quarantacinquenne e' reo confesso di aver ucciso otto ragazze negli anni Ottanta, in quasi tutti i casi violentandole in modo brutale prima di strangolarle o accoltellarle.

''Se si pensa a cosa a fatto di quelle otto giovani vite - ha detto Edwin Shelley, il padre di una delle vittime, la quattordicenne Leslie Shelley - e' difficile provare una qualsiasi solidarieta' per un uomo del genere. Non mi importa come morira', a condizione che muoia''.

Ross lo scorso autunno ha sospeso i propri appelli legali e ha scelto di morire volontariamente. Una serie di organizzazioni contro la pena di morte e gruppi religiosi hanno dato vita ad appelli in suo nome per fermare l'esecuzione. Ma oltre il 70% degli abitanti del Connecticut, secondo i sondaggi, non hanno niente in contrario all'esecuzione.

Susan Bysiewicz, il segretario di Stato democratico e una delle candidate a sfidare la Rell nel 2006 per il posto di governatrice, pur essendo contraria alla pena di morte ha spiegato di sentirsi disarmata di fronte al caso Ross: ''La gente ha ancora memorie dolorose per quello che ha fatto - ha spiegato - e certo non si tratta di un caso esemplare sul quale combattere una battaglia contro la pena capitale''.

Le organizzazioni contro la pena di morte stavano gia' preparando una vasta veglia di preghiera all'esterno del carcere per la notte tra martedi' e mercoledi', valutando l'effetto che l'eventuale esecuzione avrebbe sulle tradizioni del New England.

Mettere a morte un uomo negli stati del nord-est degli Usa e' un evento ancora piu' raro di quello avvenuto pochi giorni fa in California, dove e' stata eseguita la prima esecuzione da quando e' governatore Arnold Schwarzenegger e solo l'11ma da quando la pena capitale e' stata reintrodotta nello stato negli anni Settanta.

Il Connecticut e' uno dei pochi stati dell'area nord-orientale del paese, insieme a New Hampshire e New York, a prevedere la pena capitale (il Massachusetts sta pensando di introdurla), ma nessuno e' mai stato giustiziato negli ultimi 45 anni: quella di Ross sarebbe peraltro la prima esecuzione con

iniezione letale nel New England, dove l'ultimo condannato nel 1960 fu ucciso sulla sedia elettrica.

Connecticut Now

CONNECTICUT---Stay of execution  - Ross Execution Postponed

The execution of serial killer Michael Ross, 45, likely will not take place as scheduled at 2:01 a.m. Wednesday, given a federal judge's decision to hold his own hearing on whether Ross is competent to forgo further appeals and "volunteer" to be executed.

Chief U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny said this afternoon he will issue a stay of the execution.

"I don't know why people need to proceed under the excruciating schedule of the pending execution," he said.

Chatigny heard arguments from attorney Hubert Santos, who is assisting the state's public defenders in their efforts to have Ross declared mentally incompetent to forgo appeals still open to him and opt for execution. Santos said New London Superior Court Judge Patrick Clifford and the state Supreme Court did not consider the psychiatric effects that 20 years of high-security imprisonment may have had on Ross' wish to proceed to his execution.

Chatigny was critical of the state judges' cursory treatment of the issue, and said "conditions of confinement that are extremely controversial" warrant review. Although Santos asked for 30 days to prepare, Chatigny said he would like to hear immediately from Dr. Stuart Grassian, a psychiatrist who has done extensive research on the psychological effects of death row confinement.

Members of the Office of the Chief Public Defender, and the private counsel who joined them in court Monday, were clearly elated and relieved by Chatigny's decision. They said they intend to call at least eight witnesses for the hearing. They also have asked for extra time so that Grassian has a chance to tour Connecticut's death row at Northern Correctional Institution, and to meet with Ross.

"After going through numerous court hearings, where our motives and actions were criticized, finally our position is being vindicated," said Chief Public Defender Gerard Smyth. "There is a legitimate basis for contending Ross is mentally incompetent that has not been reviewed by the courts at all.

"There should be no rush to resolve all these serious and important issues so the execution can go forward on Jan. 26," Smyth said.

The public defenders, who represented Ross for 17 of the 20 years he has been in custody, sought unsuccessfully to intervene last month in a competency hearing in New London Superior Court. They also submitted more than 150 pages of documents to the state Supreme Court in an effort to get Ross' mental state more closely assessed. Ross indicated in October that he wanted to forgo all further appeals and proceed to his execution, which had been scheduled for Wednesday at 2:01 a.m.

Ross was given the opportunity to participate in today's hearing in federal court by video closed circuit video relay from Osborn Correctional Institution, where the execution was scheduled to take place, but he declined.

His lawyer, T. R. Paulding, said Ross prefered to stick with his busy schedule of visitors, in the event that the execution does take place Wednesday, rather than get involved in the legal fray.

"I'm upset for him," Paulding said. "I'm upset for Michael. I'm very worried about him."

There is the possibility that state prosecutors could appeal Chatigny's ruling to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, but as of noon, when the court reconvened, they still were considering what strategy they would employ.

Grassian began testifying shortly after noon. In a document submitted to the state Supreme Court earlier this month, Grassian, had noted: "It is this desperate need to regain control which underlies an inmate's decision to volunteer [for execution] by waiving his appeals and dismissing his attorneys. The post-conviction appeal process in capital cases is inherently grueling -- a roller coaster of hope and despair, and often of utter helplessness."

Ross, 45, has admitted killing eight women in Connecticut and New York during the 1980s and raping most of his victims. He was sentenced to death in 1987 and again in 2000 for the murders of four of those women in eastern Connecticut. His scheduled execution would be the 1st in New England since 1960.

The public defenders have said all along that they felt their best chance of halting the execution of their former client lay in the federal courts, and specifically the 2nd Circuit, which has never passed judgment on the constitutionality of Connecticut's death penalty scheme.

The appeals court has not had an occasion to do so since the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the resumption of executions in 1976. The federal appellate judges in New York -- removed from the emotionally-charged landscape in Connecticut -- may find it more palatable to issue a stay of the execution.

This is the potential legal challenge that Ross himself has said he most feared.

Chatigny had told Smyth to be prepared to call witnesses to support his claim that Ross is mentally incompetent, despite all other rulings and assertions to the contrary.

Another federal judge, U.S. District Judge Christopher F. Droney, dismissed a challenge to the lethal injection process on Jan. 10, filed on behalf of Ross' father -- Dan Ross -- because he deemed Ross was mentally competent to make his own decisions and no one should be permitted to intervene in a contrary manner.

Paulding has said that Ross has been concerned for quite a while that those acting in opposition to his stated wishes to be executed would reach the 2nd Circuit.

"This has been his concern right along," Paulding said.

Paulding also said the swirl of litigation has been unsettling to Ross, at a time when he is "trying to prepare himself mentally and emotionally" for his execution.