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| Court: Florida Death Row Inmate Has Right to Choose Death |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/10/2002 |
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A death row inmate who killed an 11-year-old girl and later killed two fellow prisoners should be allowed to exercise his 'right of self-determination' and abandon his appeals, a federal appeals court has ruled. Rigoberto Sanchez Velasco was sentenced to die for strangling and raping his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter in 1986. He later killed two fellow inmates and has been fighting to drop his appeals for more than seven years. The state office assigned to handle death appeals filed one against Sanchez's wishes. The 11th U.S. District Court of Appeals in Atlanta found no reason to overturn an order throwing out the defender's unwanted appeal. 'As a death row inmate, Sanchez Velasco does not have many choices left,' the decision said. 'One choice the law does give him is whether to fight the death sentence he is under.' Calls for comment from attorneys on both sides were not immediately returned. Based on evidence from Sanchez's trial and appeals, the court concluded he is mentally competent and can make his own choice. In arguing against pursuing a federal appeal, Sanchez told the judge: 'I hate people. I don't like them. I want to kill people. You understand?' Sanchez was part of the boatlift from Mariel, Cuba, in 1980 and was sent to jail for a 1982 burglary and grand theft in Broward County. The state Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that Sanchez could refuse a lawyer and drop his appeals and cited at least 10 psychological evaluations declaring him competent. |
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