The lawyer who early this morning delayed the execution of Michael Bruce Ross, the convicted serial killer who was scheduled to be the first person put to death in Connecticut in 45 years, acted hours after a conference call in which a federal judge criticized his handling of the case.
The lawyer, T. R. Paulding, drove to the prison in Somers, Conn., where Mr. Ross was waiting to die, and announced that "a question has been raised about a conflict of interest" that touched on his continued representation of Mr. Ross.
He did not explain what the conflict was, saying only, "I feel it is imperative to address this before his execution can proceed."
By then, the United States Supreme Court had already turned down two last-minute moves to postpone the execution of Mr. Ross, a former life insurance salesman who would be the 74th inmate to die since Connecticut adopted capital punishment in 1893. Several dozen candle-carrying protesters marched along the road outside the prison where Mr. Ross had spent the day in a small cell next to the death chamber.
State officials said they would postpone the lethal injection until 9 p.m. Monday. The death warrant for Mr. Ross is not valid after midnight Monday.
Connecticut's state attorney general suggested today that Mr. Paulding's conflict could mean that Mr. Ross no longer had a lawyer and that without a lawyer, he could not be put to death.
The above is from The New York Times. Thanks to How Appealing, I found a link to this transcript of the extraordinary "conference call in which a federal judge criticized [Mr. Ross' lawyer's] handling of the case," which lead to the delay. I strongly recommend that you read this transcript. It's one of the most compelling things I've read since reading Gideon's Trumpet in law school.
The federal Judge who brought about the conference call is the Hon. Robert N. Chatigny, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, and the attorney he criticized is T.R. Paulding. God bless both of them for their respective roles in this terrible process. You really should read the transcript of the call. It's extraordinary.
UPDATE: Conn. again delays serial killer execution. The execution will now be postponed until at least March while the condemned's attorney attempts to prove that he is competent to waive his own appeals.
UPDATE2: WTNH.com in Conn. asks: "Who is Judge Chatigny?" This little bio says that Judge Chatigny, on the bench since 1994, is widely respected and universally seen as fair. But one quoted lawyer said: "What [is] offensive about what Judge Chatigny did is there was no issue before him to decide, so he created one."
UPDATE3: Republican leaders want congressional probe of judge. (from the AP via Newsday.com)