Friday, February 21, 2003 11:36 AM CST
Small group protests death penalty during Mertz trial
BY ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
CHARLESTON -- Anthony B. Mertz could become the first person sentenced to death since former Gov. George Ryan emptied death row in January.
With that in mind, anti-death penalty protesters standing Thursday morning outside the courthouse said they want to spare all convicts from death row, not just Mertz.
Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and the Newman Catholic Church have organized a series of protests this week on the south side of the courthouse. Jurors are dropped off there by bus each morning after being picked up at a parking lot.
Charmaine Owens, one of five protesters at the scene Thursday, said Mertz committed a horrible crime, but executing him or other convicted murderers will not erase the damage they have done.
"We don't believe the death penalty will make anything better," Owens said.
A jury convicted Mertz of first-degree murder and other offenses last week for strangling Eastern Illinois University student Shannon McNamara, and slashing her body in her apartment at 1125 Fourth St., Charleston, on June 12, 2001.
Protester Mike Ochs said a woman drove by Thursday morning and asked if he and the others have any compassion for McNamara's family, then left before he had a chance to respond.
Ochs said he would like to tell the woman he thinks Mertz is guilty, but does not want him to be killed. Ochs said he favors using a life sentence with no parole to keep Mertz from ever again walking the streets.
Jeremy Hill carried a sign stating, "It's not wrong to execute a murderer," to show that not everyone in Coles County agrees with the anti-death penalty protesters. No death penalty supporters joined the protests Thursday.
Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty, said her organization has not played any role thus far in the protests, but is reaching out to the protesters.
Bohman said she is not aware of any other ongoing death penalty hearings in Illinois, so Mertz could become the first person sentenced to death since Ryan granted clemency to all 167 death row inmates.
"I do think this case is closer than any other," Bohman said.
David Anderson, assistant executive director of the Illinois State Bar Association, said reports from the Illinois Appellate Defense Department also indicate Mertz could be the first person to occupy the recently emptied death row.
Anderson said the association does not have a position for or against the death penalty, but would like to see most of the reforms Ryan's capital punishment commission implemented before another execution is allowed.
Those reforms include establishing a commission to consider prosecutors' decisions to seek the death penalty, and reducing the death penalty eligibility factors from 20 to five, he said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com
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Karen Hill, Pikeville KY wrote on Jun 2, 2007 6:15 PM: