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| Death Row Inmate Requests Date |
| By The Gazette |
| Published: 12/19/2005 |
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A Wyoming man on death row for the last 18 years for murdering three members of a family at a Billings motel told a District Court judge last week that he is ready to die. “I have no hopes, no dreams,” David Dawson told Judge Gregory Todd. “All I have is 20 years preparing to be executed. Enough is enough. There has to be an end.” Dawson appeared by video from the Montana State Prison during a hearing to consider his request to stop all appeals and set an execution date. Dawson was convicted at trial and sentenced to death for the 1986 murders of an 11-year-old boy and the boy's parents. Dawson appeared calm and spoke clearly while answering questions from Todd, who said he will rule later on several requests filed by Dawson. Several attorneys also participated at the hearing, including the two court-appointed lawyers whom Dawson said he wants removed from his case. Todd spent about an hour asking Dawson to articulate why he wants to drop his appeals and have an execution date set. Dawson said he has always wanted his appeals to move quickly, but the attorneys representing him have ignored his request. “It's just my belief that a defense attorney should be willing to defend a client up until that client doesn't want or need them any more,” Dawson told the judge. Todd held the hearing after the Montana Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that a district judge should determine whether Dawson's request to drop his appeals is made “knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently.” Dawson is representing himself, but Todd previously appointed attorney Edmund Sheehy to act as standby counsel to advise Dawson. Todd described the case as “literally, a matter of life or death.” He asked Dawson if he knew what would happen if his legal motions were granted. “I would fully expect that an execution date would be set and eventually carried out,” Dawson responded. Last week, Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom granted similar motions by Dawson to end his appeals in federal court and remove his attorneys from the case. William Hooks, one of the attorneys, said last week that he has not decided whether to take Shanstrom's ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Hooks and Washington state attorney Kathryn Ross have represented Dawson in his appeals at both the federal and state courts. Ross participated at the hearing held last week by teleconference. After the hearing, Hooks said attorneys have an ethical obligation to represent their clients. He declined to elaborate, saying he could not disclose the content of any conversations he has had with Dawson. |
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