| |||||||||||||
|
Kyle Arnold 2004-02-05 Juan Roberto Melendez Colon recounted his story of life with almost no hope on death row to a crowd of law students yesterday at William H. Gates Hall. The law school classroom was packed beyond capacity for a presentation by anti-death-penalty activists, including Colon, who spent nearly 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Colon was accompanied by Abe Bonowitz, an anti-capital-punishment activist, and Bill Pelke, relative of a murder victim. Bonowitz urged law students, many of whom were sitting on the floor for lack of room, to consider the harm that the death penalty inflicts, not just to those convicted, but also to taxpayers. "I used to think it was cheaper to put them to death instead of just throwing away the key," said Bonowitz. "But it is actually much cheaper to just throw away the key." Colon, wearing a red "Stop Execution Now" T-shirt recounted his wrongful conviction and 17-year, eight-month and one-day death-row sentence in a Florida prison and highlighted the presentation's events. "At the time of the trial I spoke very little English, and most of them were swear words," said Colon. Colon, a native of Puerto Rico and a proud migrant farm worker, said he was not given a translator for his trial and did not understand much of it. He was charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and sentenced to death. He said his attorney pleaded for a life term, but Colon said that he encountered a dilemma. "There was only one problem; Jeb Bush was governor," said Colon. "The Bushes love killing. "Things were so bad that many of the inmates were killing themselves," said Colon. "I even considered hanging myself. I didn't want to give [the state] the pleasure of killing me." Colon said after several appeal attempts, he was finally freed when the actual killer was found. According to Colon, capital punishment is an unfair practice from a human-rights and a judicial aspect. "In a rural areas, counties can't afford to pursue the death penalty," said Colon. "A person's life shouldn't depend on what county they go to trial in." Pelke, whose grandmother was murdered in 1986, was an unusual companion touring with Colon against capital punishment. His grandmother was murdered by four teenage girls. One, Paula Cooper, 15, was sentenced to death. "After the sentencing, the reporters asked me how I felt, and I told them that I thought the judge did the right thing," said Pelke. "But,it wouldn't bring my grandmother back." Bonowitz, who used to adamantly support the philosophies behind the death penalty, is now convinced capital punishment does not give anyone justice. "I believed in eye for an eye," said Bonowitz. "I was the type of person to say 'I'll pull the switch." "It's for people like [Colon] that we are touring," said Bonowitz. |
| |||||||||||
