Dale Baich, a federal public defender who represents death-row prisoners, wrote a response to a letter to the editor by County Attorney Bill Montgomery. Montgomery, who in turn was responding to a column previously mentioned in this blog, claimed that the inmates had earned their death sentences. Baich disagreed:
What the county attorney fails to mention is that the equally if not more culpable co-defendants of Richard Stokley, Daniel Cook and Robert Towery were offered plea deals and have been released from prison. Thomas Kemp’s equally culpable co-defendant received a life sentence. Both Samuel Lopez and Robert Moorman were severely mentally impaired. Moorman was described by experts as having the mind of a 12-year-old child.
To read the entire letter, please click here.