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[midge]

What is the average length of time a person stays on death row? My person has asked that no stay of execution be given. He is on suicide watch, so I know they would check on him every 15 minutes, but for how long?

Thanks in advance for any help you may give.
Midge

[dhparker]

Welcome, Midge.  I'm sorry I don't have an answer to your question, but just wanted to reassure you that one will come.  Sometimes things are a little slow here on weekends.  In the meantime, you might go to the welcome wagon thread and introduce yourself.  Glad to have you here.

Donna

[Lee Lofland]

Hi Midge. The average length of time an inmate speands in death row befroe execution is just over ten years. Interestingly, in California the time spent is about twenty years.

FYI:

From the Bureau of Justice Stats

Forty-two people were executed in the U.S. in 2006

Of persons under sentence of death in 2006:
   -- 1,802 were white
   -- 1,352 were black
   -- 28 were American Indian
   -- 35 were Asian
   -- 11 were of unknown race.


Fifty-four women were under a sentence of death at yearend 2006.


The 358 Hispanic inmates under sentence of death at yearend 2006 accounted for 11% of inmates with a known ethnicity.


Among inmates under sentence of death and with available criminal histories at yearend 2006:
-- nearly 2 in 3 had a prior felony conviction
-- 1 in 12 had a prior homicide conviction.


Among persons for whom arrest information was available, the average age at time of arrest was 28; 1 in 9 inmates were age 19 or younger at the time of arrest.


At year end 2006, the youngest inmate under sentence of death was 20; the oldest was 91.

[Angie]

Hi Midge,

I've never worked in the prison system, so I'm not sure about the suicide watch thing. I can tell you that in residential treatment centers and psychiatric hospitals, suicide watch is in effect until the person is deemed no longer being a threat to themselves. That assessment is usually performed by a psychiatrist, though many therapists are trained to do the assessments, too.

Angie

[midge]

You all are wonderful. I really didn't expect to hear back from anyone so soon.

My person will probably hang himself rather then spent that much time behind bars, cause he is not liking the way he is being treated. The guards are twisting his handcuffs when he is taken to the shower, and banging his head against the walls and such. They are also messing with his food. He is a nasty child molesting serial killer and is used to getting away with murder - literally.

I really appreciate the responses. You are helping me make my story more believable.

Thanks again.
Midge

[Lee Lofland]

I'm sorry, Midge, I didn't see the second part of your question.

Virginia's Greensville Correctional Center is the home to the death chamber where executions are carried out. The actual death row is in another facility, Sussex I, which is about an hour or so away.  The condemned inmates are transferred from the Sussex facility to the GCC when they're within a couple of weeks of their execution date. If they're on a suicide watch they're placed in a cell with a glass front where they're watched constantly, 24 hours a day. In fact, the suicide watch cell is directly in front of an officer's station. Cameras also monitor the inmate's activities. Suicide would be nearly impossible in this situation.

When the inmate is within a day or two of his execution date he's moved to the suicide watch cell, anyway. This cell is closer to the actual death chamber. Makes it easier to make the walk. I've witnessed an execution in this prison, and I've attended several others. It's an eerie place to be.

[midge]

Would they keep someone on suicide watch for months? In my story this guy really is a sorry case. He believes he can not be stopped, and now he is stopped he is ready to die. But if he is on death row for a long period of time, his mental condition deteriorates. Should I get that indept on him?



Midge

[Lee Lofland]

They'd probably just keep him on suicide watch status meaning they'd take everthing from him and check on him every fifteen minutes like you'd written earlier.

[JIM DOHERTY]

Midge,

Re your comment below:

But if he is on death row for a long period of time, his mental condition deteriorates. Should I get that indept on him?

If he was that mentally unstable, there's a possibility that his mental illness, in an of itself, might delay the execution.  People are supposed to be in their right minds when they're executed so that they can understand the nature of what's happening and prepare themselves.

A California cop-killer named Erwin Walker (his case was fictionalized in the 1947 film noir He Walked by Night and the Dragnet novel Case No. 561), seemed to go progressively nuts as his execution date drew nearer, and, consequently, his execution was postponed until he was able to be brought back to his right mind.

Miraculously, once executions were declared unconstitutional in Calfornia, he recovered, and was eventually released.

I didn't find it the least bit suspicious.