Vernon Lee Evans (born October 11, 1949)[1] is a contract killer convicted for murdering two witnesses scheduled to testify against the leader of a drug gang. In 1984, he was convicted and sentenced to death together with drug kingpin Anthony Grandison for the 1983 murders of Susan Kennedy and David Scott Piechowicz. David Piechowicz and his wife Cheryl (Susan Kennedy's sister) had been scheduled to testify against Grandison at trial on federal drug charges.[2]
Vernon Lee Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 11, 1949 |
| Conviction(s) | Murder x 2 |
| Criminal penalty | Death (May 1984) Commuted to life without parole (December 31, 2014) |
| Details | |
| Victims | David Scott Piechowicz Susan Kennedy |
| Date | April 28, 1983 |
| Imprisoned at | North Branch Correctional Institution |
The case was intensely discussed in the political debate about eliminating the death penalty in Maryland.[3]
Conviction and sentencing
editEvans' death sentence was overturned on appeal in 1991. The following year, a new jury again sentenced him to die.[4] In 1994, the new sentence was upheld on direct appeal to the Maryland Court of Appeals, and in 1997 a petition for post-conviction relief was denied. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denied Evans' federal habeas corpus petition in 1999, and in 2000 that decision was upheld by the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.[citation needed]
Since then, Evans has filed motions for a new trial and to correct an illegal sentence. Those, however, have been denied as well. He was scheduled for execution in February 2006, but his execution was suspended. All executions in Maryland were placed on hold until the state drafted and approved new execution procedures.[citation needed]
The status of Evans' death sentence became unclear (along with that of four other convicted murderers, including Grandison) when the Maryland House of Delegates voted in 2013 to abolish the death penalty.[5]
On December 31, 2014, Evans' death sentence was one of four commuted to life without parole by outgoing governor Martin O'Malley.[6][7][8]
Evans was 65 when his sentence was commuted, and the eldest of the four remaining death row inmates.[9][10][11]
Anti death penalty activism
editConcern that anti death penalty activists would protest Evans' execution violently, Maryland State Police carried out undercover surveillance of anti death penalty activists for fourteen months. The operation was ended when it came to light; Governor Martin O'Malley called it an "infring(ment) on citizens' rights to free speech or public assembly."[12][13]
While on death row, anti death penalty activists enabled Evans to write an advice blog designed, according to the Chicago Tribune as "the leading edge of a strategy by death penalty opponents to use new technologies" by making the public see criminals sentenced to death as "human beings with lives beyond the crimes they are accused of."[14][15][16][17][18] In his blog, Evans claimed not to have committed the murder.[14]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Maryland DOC Inmate Locator". dpscs.state.md.us. Archived from the original on December 26, 2020.
- ^ "DP Victory in Maryland - Vernon Evans Wins Stay of Execution!". The AP. Retrieved 2006-02-06.
- ^ Wagner, John (8 April 2013). "5 inmates on death row are at issue". Washington Post. ProQuest 1324365374.
- ^ Levine, Susan (19 June 2004). "A Shorter Line on Death Row; Pr. George's Man May Be Months From Execution Date". Washington Post. ProQuest 409627652.
- ^ "End of death penalty leaves five in limbo". The Guardian. 22 March 2013. ProQuest 1319797560.
- ^ Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley Commutes Four Death Sentences
- ^ Bradner, Eric (December 31, 2014). "O'Malley commutes Maryland's last four death sentences". CNN. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ Blinder, Alan (December 31, 2014). "Life Sentences for Last Four Facing Death in Maryland". New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ "Anthony Grandison (Maryland DOC Inmate Locator)". dpscs.state.md.us. Archived from the original on December 26, 2020.
- ^ "Heath William Burch (Maryland DOC Inmate Locator)". dpscs.state.md.us. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020.
- ^ "Jody Miles (Maryland DOC Inmate Locator)". dpscs.state.md.us. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020.
- ^ Rein, Lisa (26 July 2008). "Anticipated Death Penalty Protests Prompted Spying; Md. Police Chief Says Surveillance Showed Poor Judgment". Washington Post. ProQuest 410227954.
- ^ Dechter, Gadi (2 October 2008). "SURVEILLANCE WAS 'MISGUIDED': STATE POLICE SUPERINTENDENT TO ADOPT ALL RECOMMENDATIONS IN 93-PAGE REPORT". Baltimore Sun. ProQuest 406212753.
- ^ a b Rich, Eric (29 January 2006). "Via blog, man on Death Row gives advice". Chicago Tribune. ProQuest 420420620.
- ^ McMenamin, Jennifer (27 January 2006). "Answers sent from death row ; Evans' blog gives a glimpse of his life". Baltimore Sun. ProQuest 406673143.
- ^ Borger, Julian (28 January 2006). "Death row blogger describes last days of condemned man". The Guardian. ProQuest 246395804.
- ^ "Deathrow inmate blogs in last days". UPI. 27 January 2006. ProQuest 467783295.
- ^ Johnson, Andre (2013). Urban God Talk: Constructing a Hip Hop Spirituality. Lexington Books. p. 98. ISBN 978-0739168301.