Local attorney caused brief delay in Rhodes' execution

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

A Mountain Home attorney kept convicted triple-murderer Paul Ezra Rhodes alive for an extra hour last Thursday, after Terry Ratliff, the Elmore County Public Defender, filed a last-minute motion to stay Rhode's execution.

For Ratliff, it was purely a matter of procedure, to make sure all the rules had been followed. "The death penalty is qualitatively different than any other penalty," Ratliff noted.

"After all the media attention (Wednesday night), I thought I'd look at the law. If we, as a nation, believe we have the right to kill people, then it should be done by the book."

For the full story, pick up a copy of the Mountain Home News or click on this link to subscribe to the newspaper's online edition.

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-- Posted by Geoff Schroeder on Wed, Nov 23, 2011, at 12:28 PM
Thank goodness there are still lawyers in Idaho who want to double check that the law is being followed to the letter, even if many think only of money saved by putting defendants to death as quickly as possible to save money, regardless of respect for life of both the unborn and those sentenced to death.

-- Posted by secularmonk on Thu, Nov 24, 2011, at 10:49 PM

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