home

Judge Tosses Federal Death Sentence

U.S. District District Court Judge Malcolm Muir has thrown out the death sentence of David Paul Hammer, who was convicted of strangling a cell mate.

U.S. District Judge Malcolm Muir ruled that prosecutors should have disclosed to David Paul Hammer's lawyers the existence of four interviews that may have supported Hammer's claim that he used rope made from bed sheets for bondage sex. The interviews could have led the jury to conclude that Hammer did not engage in substantial planning before he killed bank robber Andrew Marti at Allenwood Federal Penitentiary in 1996, the judge said.

The article doesn't mention that David Paul Hammer claimed that while on death row in Terre Haute, Timothy McVeigh told him that Terry Nichols refused to help build the bomb that blew up the Oklahoma City federal building. The judge ruled, over the Government's objection, that Hammer could testify as a defense witness at Terry Nichols' state trial. Hammer attempted suicide after McVeigh's execution by mainlining insulin.

Hammer co-authored a book with another death row inmate about what McVeigh allegedly told him, titled "Secrets Worth Dying For." It is described as containing "details of being on death row with Oklahoma City Bomber Timothy James McVeigh and revelations about others involved in the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City." McVeigh disputed Hammer's allegations.

McVeigh, in a letter to a former defense investigator days before his execution in 2001, disputed Hammer's credibility and called Hammer's book a "scam," writing that he limited communication with Hammer because "I know he's a big, fat rat."

< FISA Warrants Increased Steadily Since 9/11 | Where's Fitzmas? >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort:
    Re: Judge Tosses Federal Death Sentence (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Tue Dec 27, 2005 at 07:21:44 PM EST
    Sounds like those guys needed to use a safety word.

    Re: Judge Tosses Federal Death Sentence (none / 0) (#2)
    by Johnny on Wed Dec 28, 2005 at 11:50:57 AM EST
    Why is Malcolm Muir soft on crime?