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Oken
May Be First Execution in Ehrlich Administration
By
SARAH HOYE and JUSTIN PALK
Capital
News Service—ANNAPOLIS
A death
warrant will be signed by the end of today for Steven Oken,
his defense lawyer said Tuesday, making him the first Maryland
man to face execution during new Gov. Robert Ehrlich's term.
Baltimore
County Circuit Judge John G. Turnbull II is expected to sign
Oken's death warrant by the end of business today after a
request from prosecutor Anne Bropts, said Mike Lawlor, an
associate with Fred Bennett, lead counsel for Oken.
The death
warrant signals an end to a death penalty moratorium imposed
by former Gov. Parris N. Glendening in May 2002. Glendening
issued an executive order for a stay of execution for death
row inmate Wesley E. Baker pending review of the results from
a University of Maryland study on racial and geographical
disparities in the application of the death penalty.
As a result
of the stay of execution, death sentences were not up for
review by Glendening before the study was finished.
The study
was released Jan. 7 and it found racial and geographic bias
in the application of the ultimate penalty.
Unlike
Glendening, Ehrlich, who took office last week, has consistently
said he would lift any ban on executions - which, technically,
applies only to Baker because a stay of execution requires
an executive action to overturn. Once a death warrant is signed,
Ehrlich has the obligation to review it. He could allow the
sentence to proceed, commute the sentence or issue a stay.
Leaving the State House Tuesday, Ehrlich declined to discuss
the case saying he would "talk about [Oken] tomorrow."
Oken,
convicted in 1991 in Baltimore County Circuit Court for the
1987 murder of Dawn Marie Garvin, could be put to death by
lethal injection during the week of March 17, 2003, according
to Bennett. Bennett confirmed a death warrant was requested
and said, "We have additional motions that we'll be filing."
"I received
a call from the judge today . . . that the state had filed
a motion for the warrant and the real question was timing"
of the execution date, Bennett said.
Bennett
had asked for the maximum amount of time allowed before the
execution to prepare his motions. He plans to raise issues
related to the university study showing disparities, as well
as a constitutional challenge against the death penalty.
Turnbull
could not be reached for comment.
"The system
is broken, " said Delegate Salima S. Marriott, D-Baltimore,
a leading General Assembly death penalty opponent and sponsor
of legislation to reinstitute the moratorium.
"I am
basically a firm supporter of the moratorium because with
the study in front of us we know there is a systemic problem,"
Marriott said. "No one should be executed until we have taken
every measure to remove the bias that currently exists. This
is an unfortunate situation."
"I'm always
concerned, and now I'm particularly concerned. The General
Assembly needs to have an opportunity to review the study,"
she added.
Fred and
Vicki Romano, of Harford, founders of the Maryland Coalition
for State Executions, are glad the wait is over.
"I hope
he enjoys his ride to hell. I hope it burns. I am ecstatic,"
said Romano, the brother of Oken's victim. "My quest does
not end here. I am here for the victim's families. This brings
justice for my sister but my mission isn't over."
"I am
so happy. [The Romano] family has been through so much. And
I am glad that this is finally over," said Vicki Romano. "[Oken]
did it and he should pay the consequences. Maybe now the Oken
family will feel the pain that the Romano family has felt,"
she added.
1/21/03
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