Teen-age killer is focus of Texas death row debate

Associated Press

LIVINGSTON, Texas — Napoleon Beazley seems oblivious to the tumult he is causing outside the concrete walls and razor-wire fences of Texas’ death row.

Prosecutors are eager to see him executed for the murder of a federal judge’s father, while death penalty opponents decry the punishment for a man who was a juvenile at the time of the killing. The case has drawn international attention, yet Beazley is calm about what he expects to be a short future.

"This is a crime, a mistake on my part," he said. "It’s something I’m very sorry for. You reach the point where you say, ‘Man, I wish I had a second chance to make right the things I’ve done wrong, to fix the stuff I’ve started.’ But you don’t have that second chance."

Beazley readily admits that when he was 17, he and two companions stalked John and Bobbie Luttig and ambushed the couple on the driveway of their Tyler home to steal a 10-year-old Mercedes Benz.

He shot at both, hitting John Luttig, 63, in the head but missing Luttig’s wife, who fell and feigned death as Beazley pumped a second .45-caliber slug into her husband.

Beazley, now 25, is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the slaying.

Several factors distinguish Beazley from Texas’ other 450-plus condemned killers and the 269 who have preceded him to the nation’s busiest death chamber: his age at the time of the murder, the absence of previous convictions, a sterling school record, good family background and legal connections of his victim to the nation’s highest court.

Beazley’s death would make him the 19th U.S. prisoner to die since 1976 for a murder committed by a killer younger than 18. He would be the 11th in Texas.

Numerous organizations, including the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and Amnesty International, argue that he was a juvenile offender.

"The federal government doesn’t allow the execution of juveniles," lawyer David Botsford said in an appeal that was turned down Friday by the Supreme Court. "Texas is one of few states that’s done it and the majority of states do not allow it. This is an issue that needs to be resolved nationwide."

The appeal also addressed John Luttig’s tie to the Supreme Court. Justices Clarence Thomas, David Souter and Antonin Scalia recused themselves because Luttig’s son, Michael Luttig, was a judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., and has advised or worked as a clerk for the justices.

Last summer, the remaining justices voted 3-3 to go forward with the punishment. Supreme Court rules say a tie means the request for a reprieve is denied. But about four hours before the execution time, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals considered legal questions raised by his attorneys and the execution was stayed. That court lifted its order last month.

The Supreme Court has ruled in previous cases a defendant’s rights were not violated when the death sentence was imposed on a murder convict who was at least 16 at the time of the offense.

In Beazley’s case, thousands of signatures were collected, primarily overseas, on petitions urging the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to spare his life. The American Bar Association joined clergy from around the world protesting.

"I am astounded that Texas and a few other states in the United States take children from their families and execute," said Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

Eighteen state representatives and Beazley’s trial judge, Cynthia Kent, have urged Rick Gov. Perry to commute Beazley’s death sentence to life in prison, the punishment given to his companions the night of the murder. The Pardons and Parole Board will submit its recommendation to Perry hours before Beazley’s scheduled injection, and Perry will announced his decision then.

Kent has said she has a "principled objection" to executing a youthful offender, though she added that she was "very bound by the constraints of the law."

District Attorney Jack Skeen describes the Luttig killing as "horrific … premeditated and predatory."

"I am still convinced the death sentence is the appropriate punishment for this crime," Skeen said. "I would make the same decision today."