Clarence Ray Allen
Encyclopedia
Clarence Ray Allen was an American
murderer who was executed by lethal injection
at San Quentin State Prison
in California
for the murders of three people. At age 76 in 2006, he became the second-oldest inmate to be executed in the United States since 1976, after John B. Nixon
of Mississippi
who was executed in December 2005 at age 77. His execution was the most recent one to take place in California.
Pro-death penalty activists cite Allen's actions as a reason to support capital punishment in the United States. He was already serving a life sentence for one murder when he was convicted of organizing the killing of three more people.
While in prison, Allen claimed Choctaw
heritage. He also claimed to be deaf, blind and severely disabled, requiring a wheelchair for mobility. He did not know any sign language
to communicate with hearing people. During his execution, he was able to walk from his wheelchair to the death podium unassisted. In addition, he appeared to be looking straight at his family prior to receiving the first dose of drugs during his lethal injection procedure. Allen had a confirmed advanced case of type 2 diabetes
, and he suffered a perhaps related heart attack
on September 2, 2005. His lawyers declared that "he presents absolutely no danger at this point, as incapacitated as he is. There's no legitimate state purpose served by executing him. It would be gratuitous punishment." They argued that his execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment
and requested that he be granted clemency by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
, which was subsequently refused.
of Fran’s Market, a Fresno
area supermarket
, owned by Ray and Fran Schletewitz, whom Allen had known for years. The plot involved Roger Allen, Clarence Ray Allen’s son, Carl Mayfield, Ed Savala and Charles Jones. Mayfield and Jones worked for Clarence Ray Allen in his security guard business as well as part of a burglary enterprise allegedly operated by Allen. As part of the burglary plot against Fran’s Market, he arranged for someone to steal a set of door and alarm keys from the market owner's son, Bryon Schletewitz, age 19, while Schletewitz was swimming in Allen's pool. Allen then arranged a date between Schletewitz and Mary Sue Kitts (his son Roger’s girlfriend) for the evening, during which time the burglary took place. The burglary netted $500 in cash and $10,000 in money orders from the store's safe. Following the commission of the burglary, Kitts told Bryon Schletewitz that Allen had committed the crime, which she knew as she had helped Allen cash money order
s that had been stolen from the store.
Schletewitz confronted Roger Allen, informing him that he had been told of the crime by Kitts, and Roger Allen admitted the crime. When Roger Allen told his father Clarence of Bryon’s accusation, Clarence Allen stated that they (Schletewitz and Kitts) would have to be “dealt with.” He enlisted three employees of his security firm, Charles Jones, Carl Mayfield, and Lee Furrow. According to an opinion filed on May 6, 2004 in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals:
Allen then ordered the murder of Kitts by Lee Furrow. After an unsuccessful attempt to poison her with cyanide
capsules, Allen called Furrow to learn if he had killed Kitts. Furrow told Allen he was in the process of strangling her and Allen replied, “do it.” After killing Kitts, Furrow threw her body into the Friant-Kern Canal
. The body has never been found.
to murder the various witnesses who had testified against him, including Bryon Schletewitz. Allen intended to obtain a new trial, where there would be no witnesses to testify to his acts.
After Hamilton was paroled from Folsom Prison, he carried out Allen’s orders. On Sept. 5, 1980, Hamilton and his girlfriend, Connie Barbo, went to Fran’s Market, west of Fresno, California. Bryon Schletewitz, the son of the market’s owner, worked at the market. There, Hamilton murdered Schletewitz and fellow employees Josephine Rocha, 17, and Douglas White, 18, with a sawed-off shotgun
and wounded two other people, Joe Rios and Jack Abbott. Hamilton shot Schletewitz at near point-blank range in the forehead and then killed Rocha and White after forcing them to lie on the floor of the store. Rios, also an employee of the market, was shot as well but raised his arm as Hamilton fired on him and this action undoubtedly saved his life. The other wounded survivor, Abbott, was a neighbor who heard the shotgun blasts, came to the market to investigate, and was also shot by Hamilton. Abbott returned fire and wounded Hamilton, who escaped from the scene.
Five days after the events at Fran’s Market, Hamilton was arrested while attempting to rob a liquor store. On his person was found a “hit list” with the names and addresses of the witnesses who testified against Allen at the Kitts trial, including the name of Schletewitz.
filed charges against Allen and prosecuted the trial in Glenn County, California
, due to a change of venue. The trial lasted 23 days, and 58 witnesses were called to testify. Ultimately, the jury convicted Allen of triple murder
and conspiracy to murder eight witnesses.
As special circumstances making Allen eligible for the death penalty, the jury also found that Allen had previously been convicted of murder, had committed multiple murder, and had murdered witnesses in retaliation for their prior testimony and to prevent future testimony. During a seven-day penalty phase, the Attorney General introduced evidence of Allen’s career orchestrating violent robberies in the Central Valley, including ten violent crimes and six prior felony convictions. The jury returned a unanimous verdict of death, and the Glenn County Superior Court sentenced Allen on November 22, 1980.
In 1987, the California Supreme Court affirmed Allen’s death sentence. Associate Justice
Joseph Grodin’s opinion referred to Allen’s crimes as “sordid events” with an “extraordinarily massive amount” of aggravating evidence. In a dissenting opinion, California Supreme Court Justice Broussard stated that the prosecutor influenced the jury by telling them that "if you conclude that aggravating evidence outweighs the mitigating evidence
, you shall return a death sentence," while the law does not mandate a death sentence in such a situation. According to Justice Broussard, this led to a lack of freedom for the jury to make a "normative decision."
In 2005, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
found that Allen’s trial counsel had been inadequate, and the evidence against him was largely the testimony of Allen’s several accomplices, who painted him as the mastermind who forced them by threats and scare tactics to commit robberies and murders. However the court denied rehearing in Allen’s case. In her opinion for the panel, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw concluded:
Deputy California Attorney General
Ward Campbell stated in an interview:
On January 13, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant Allen clemency, stating that "his conduct did not result from youth or inexperience, but instead resulted from the hardened and calculating decisions of a mature man." Schwarzenegger also cited a poem in which Allen glorified his actions, where Allen wrote, "We rob and steal and for those who squeal are usually found dying or dead."
On January 15, 2006, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Allen's claim that executing an aged or infirm person was cruel and unusual punishment, observing that his mental acuity was unimpaired and that he had been fifty years of age when he arranged the murders from prison. Judge Kim Wardlaw writing for the panel of judges Susan Graber, Richard Clifton, and herself:
The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case, albeit over the dissent of Justice Stephen Breyer
, who stated: "I believe that in the circumstances he raises a significant question as to whether his execution would constitute 'cruel and unusual punishment.'"
on January 17, 2006, at California's San Quentin State Prison
. He became the second-oldest inmate to be executed in the United States since 1976 (John B. Nixon
of Mississippi was executed in 2005 at age 77). Allen was assisted in the death chamber by four correctional officers, though a media observer stated that he was clearly moving under his own power. To the surprise of everyone present, the warden indicated that he needed an additional injection of the lethal potassium in order to stop his surprisingly healthy heart. Allen wrote in his final statement, which was read immediately following the execution, "My last words will be 'It's a good day to die. Thank you very much. I love you all. Goodbye.'"
Allen died with an eagle feather on his chest. He was wearing a medicine bag around his neck, and a beaded headband. He was visited shortly before the execution by two Native American spiritual advisers.
Allen died at 12:38 a.m. Approximately 250 death penalty opponents gathered for a candlelight vigil outside the walls of San Quentin. His last meal consisted of Buffalo steak and frybread
(both are traditional Native American dishes) as well as a bucket of KFC
white-meat-only chicken, sugar-free pecan pie, sugar-free walnut ice cream, and whole milk. The ice-cream was left out to thaw for one hour, which Allen turned into a milkshake by hand.
Prison guards familiar with Clarence Ray Allen stated that he often walked without assistance and was also able to read his mail.http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/17/MNG37GOHD715.DTL
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
murderer who was executed by lethal injection
Lethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
at San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for the murders of three people. At age 76 in 2006, he became the second-oldest inmate to be executed in the United States since 1976, after John B. Nixon
John B. Nixon
John B. Nixon, Sr. was a convicted murderer. He was convicted of the January 22, 1985 murder-for-hire of Virginia Tucker in Rankin County, Mississippi. Born in the Midnight community of Humphreys County, Mississippi, he was executed in 2005 by the U.S...
of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
who was executed in December 2005 at age 77. His execution was the most recent one to take place in California.
Pro-death penalty activists cite Allen's actions as a reason to support capital punishment in the United States. He was already serving a life sentence for one murder when he was convicted of organizing the killing of three more people.
While in prison, Allen claimed Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
heritage. He also claimed to be deaf, blind and severely disabled, requiring a wheelchair for mobility. He did not know any sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
to communicate with hearing people. During his execution, he was able to walk from his wheelchair to the death podium unassisted. In addition, he appeared to be looking straight at his family prior to receiving the first dose of drugs during his lethal injection procedure. Allen had a confirmed advanced case of type 2 diabetes
Diabetes mellitus type 2
Diabetes mellitus type 2formerly non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetesis a metabolic disorder that is characterized by high blood glucose in the context of insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency. Diabetes is often initially managed by increasing exercise and...
, and he suffered a perhaps related heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on September 2, 2005. His lawyers declared that "he presents absolutely no danger at this point, as incapacitated as he is. There's no legitimate state purpose served by executing him. It would be gratuitous punishment." They argued that his execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person...
and requested that he be granted clemency by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, which was subsequently refused.
Murder of Mary Sue Kitts
In 1974, Allen plotted the burglaryBurglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
of Fran’s Market, a Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
area supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
, owned by Ray and Fran Schletewitz, whom Allen had known for years. The plot involved Roger Allen, Clarence Ray Allen’s son, Carl Mayfield, Ed Savala and Charles Jones. Mayfield and Jones worked for Clarence Ray Allen in his security guard business as well as part of a burglary enterprise allegedly operated by Allen. As part of the burglary plot against Fran’s Market, he arranged for someone to steal a set of door and alarm keys from the market owner's son, Bryon Schletewitz, age 19, while Schletewitz was swimming in Allen's pool. Allen then arranged a date between Schletewitz and Mary Sue Kitts (his son Roger’s girlfriend) for the evening, during which time the burglary took place. The burglary netted $500 in cash and $10,000 in money orders from the store's safe. Following the commission of the burglary, Kitts told Bryon Schletewitz that Allen had committed the crime, which she knew as she had helped Allen cash money order
Money order
A money order is a payment order for a pre-specified amount of money. Because it is required that the funds be prepaid for the amount shown on it, it is a more trusted method of payment than a cheque.-History of money orders:...
s that had been stolen from the store.
Schletewitz confronted Roger Allen, informing him that he had been told of the crime by Kitts, and Roger Allen admitted the crime. When Roger Allen told his father Clarence of Bryon’s accusation, Clarence Allen stated that they (Schletewitz and Kitts) would have to be “dealt with.” He enlisted three employees of his security firm, Charles Jones, Carl Mayfield, and Lee Furrow. According to an opinion filed on May 6, 2004 in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals:
- Allen called a meeting at his house and told Jones, Mayfield, and Furrow that Kitts had been talking too much and should be killed. Allen called for a vote on the issue of Kitts’s execution. The vote was unanimous because those present feared what would happen if they did not go along with Allen's plan. Allen had previously told his criminal accomplices that he would kill snitches and that he had friends and connections to do the job for him even if he were in prison. He had also referred to himself as a Mafia hitman and stated that the “secret witness program” was useless because a good lawyer could always discover an informant's name and address. Allen kept a newspaper article about the murder of a man and woman in Nevada, and claimed he had “blown them in half” with a shotgun.
Allen then ordered the murder of Kitts by Lee Furrow. After an unsuccessful attempt to poison her with cyanide
Cyanide
A cyanide is a chemical compound that contains the cyano group, -C≡N, which consists of a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom. Cyanides most commonly refer to salts of the anion CN−. Most cyanides are highly toxic....
capsules, Allen called Furrow to learn if he had killed Kitts. Furrow told Allen he was in the process of strangling her and Allen replied, “do it.” After killing Kitts, Furrow threw her body into the Friant-Kern Canal
Friant-Kern Canal
The Friant-Kern Canal is a Central Valley Project aqueduct managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in Central California to convey water to augment irrigation capacity in Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties....
. The body has never been found.
Trial and conviction for burglary and murder
In 1978, Allen was tried and convicted for the burglary, the subsequent murder of Kitts, and the conspiracy to murder Kitts. For these crimes, Allen was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.Execution at Fran's Market
While in Folsom Prison, Allen conspired with fellow inmate Billy Ray HamiltonBilly Ray Hamilton
Billy Ray Hamilton was an American convicted murderer who conspired with Clarence Ray Allen to murder eight witnesses to a crime committed by Allen in 1974. Hamilton met Allen in Folsom Prison in 1979. Allen befriended Hamilton and allegedly offered to pay him $25,000 to carry out the murders...
to murder the various witnesses who had testified against him, including Bryon Schletewitz. Allen intended to obtain a new trial, where there would be no witnesses to testify to his acts.
After Hamilton was paroled from Folsom Prison, he carried out Allen’s orders. On Sept. 5, 1980, Hamilton and his girlfriend, Connie Barbo, went to Fran’s Market, west of Fresno, California. Bryon Schletewitz, the son of the market’s owner, worked at the market. There, Hamilton murdered Schletewitz and fellow employees Josephine Rocha, 17, and Douglas White, 18, with a sawed-off shotgun
Sawed-off shotgun
A sawed-off shotgun also called a sawn-off shotgun and a short-barreled shotgun , is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel and often a shorter or absent stock....
and wounded two other people, Joe Rios and Jack Abbott. Hamilton shot Schletewitz at near point-blank range in the forehead and then killed Rocha and White after forcing them to lie on the floor of the store. Rios, also an employee of the market, was shot as well but raised his arm as Hamilton fired on him and this action undoubtedly saved his life. The other wounded survivor, Abbott, was a neighbor who heard the shotgun blasts, came to the market to investigate, and was also shot by Hamilton. Abbott returned fire and wounded Hamilton, who escaped from the scene.
Five days after the events at Fran’s Market, Hamilton was arrested while attempting to rob a liquor store. On his person was found a “hit list” with the names and addresses of the witnesses who testified against Allen at the Kitts trial, including the name of Schletewitz.
Legal proceedings
In 1980, the California Attorney GeneralCalifornia Attorney General
The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
filed charges against Allen and prosecuted the trial in Glenn County, California
Glenn County, California
Glenn County is in the California Central Valley. As of 2010, it had a population of 28,122. The county seat is the city of Willows.-History:Glenn County was formed in 1891 from parts of Colusa County. It was named for Dr. Hugh J...
, due to a change of venue. The trial lasted 23 days, and 58 witnesses were called to testify. Ultimately, the jury convicted Allen of triple murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and conspiracy to murder eight witnesses.
As special circumstances making Allen eligible for the death penalty, the jury also found that Allen had previously been convicted of murder, had committed multiple murder, and had murdered witnesses in retaliation for their prior testimony and to prevent future testimony. During a seven-day penalty phase, the Attorney General introduced evidence of Allen’s career orchestrating violent robberies in the Central Valley, including ten violent crimes and six prior felony convictions. The jury returned a unanimous verdict of death, and the Glenn County Superior Court sentenced Allen on November 22, 1980.
In 1987, the California Supreme Court affirmed Allen’s death sentence. Associate Justice
Associate Justice
Associate Justice or Associate Judge is the title for a member of a judicial panel who is not the Chief Justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the United States Supreme Court and some state supreme courts, and for some other courts in Commonwealth...
Joseph Grodin’s opinion referred to Allen’s crimes as “sordid events” with an “extraordinarily massive amount” of aggravating evidence. In a dissenting opinion, California Supreme Court Justice Broussard stated that the prosecutor influenced the jury by telling them that "if you conclude that aggravating evidence outweighs the mitigating evidence
Mitigating factor
A mitigating factor, in law, is any information or evidence presented to the court regarding the defendant or the circumstances of the crime that might result in reduced charges or a lesser sentence.-Death penalty in the United States:...
, you shall return a death sentence," while the law does not mandate a death sentence in such a situation. According to Justice Broussard, this led to a lack of freedom for the jury to make a "normative decision."
In 2005, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
found that Allen’s trial counsel had been inadequate, and the evidence against him was largely the testimony of Allen’s several accomplices, who painted him as the mastermind who forced them by threats and scare tactics to commit robberies and murders. However the court denied rehearing in Allen’s case. In her opinion for the panel, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw concluded:
- Evidence of Allen's guilt is overwhelming. Given the nature of his crimes, sentencing him to another life term would achieve none of the traditional purposes underlying punishment. Allen continues to pose a threat to society, indeed to those very persons who testified against him in the Fran's Market triple-murder trial here at issue, and has proven that he is beyond rehabilitation. He has shown himself more than capable of arranging murders from behind bars. If the death penalty is to serve any purpose at all, it is to prevent the very sort of murderous conduct for which Allen was convicted.
Deputy California Attorney General
California Attorney General
The California Attorney General is the State Attorney General of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" The Attorney General carries out the responsibilities of the office through the California Department of Justice.The...
Ward Campbell stated in an interview:
- Well, Mr. Allen has cited his age, the length of time on death row, claims about innocence, errors at his trial. We found and told the governor we found all those reasons to be unpersuasive given the nature of his crime, which was in fact a direct attack on the criminal justice system perpetrated by a man for whom society thought — for whom society thought was safe. They thought they were safe from him because he was behind bars and yet he continued to perpetrate these types of crimes and none of the factors that they cite now overshadow or outbalance those reasons for now executing the judgment of the people of the State of California.
On January 13, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to grant Allen clemency, stating that "his conduct did not result from youth or inexperience, but instead resulted from the hardened and calculating decisions of a mature man." Schwarzenegger also cited a poem in which Allen glorified his actions, where Allen wrote, "We rob and steal and for those who squeal are usually found dying or dead."
On January 15, 2006, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Allen's claim that executing an aged or infirm person was cruel and unusual punishment, observing that his mental acuity was unimpaired and that he had been fifty years of age when he arranged the murders from prison. Judge Kim Wardlaw writing for the panel of judges Susan Graber, Richard Clifton, and herself:
- His age and experience only sharpened his ability to coldly calculate the execution of the crime. Nothing about his current ailments reduces his culpability and thus they do not lessen the retributive or deterrent purposes of the death penalty.
The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case, albeit over the dissent of Justice Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
, who stated: "I believe that in the circumstances he raises a significant question as to whether his execution would constitute 'cruel and unusual punishment.'"
Execution
Allen was executed by lethal injectionLethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
on January 17, 2006, at California's San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
. He became the second-oldest inmate to be executed in the United States since 1976 (John B. Nixon
John B. Nixon
John B. Nixon, Sr. was a convicted murderer. He was convicted of the January 22, 1985 murder-for-hire of Virginia Tucker in Rankin County, Mississippi. Born in the Midnight community of Humphreys County, Mississippi, he was executed in 2005 by the U.S...
of Mississippi was executed in 2005 at age 77). Allen was assisted in the death chamber by four correctional officers, though a media observer stated that he was clearly moving under his own power. To the surprise of everyone present, the warden indicated that he needed an additional injection of the lethal potassium in order to stop his surprisingly healthy heart. Allen wrote in his final statement, which was read immediately following the execution, "My last words will be 'It's a good day to die. Thank you very much. I love you all. Goodbye.'"
Allen died with an eagle feather on his chest. He was wearing a medicine bag around his neck, and a beaded headband. He was visited shortly before the execution by two Native American spiritual advisers.
Allen died at 12:38 a.m. Approximately 250 death penalty opponents gathered for a candlelight vigil outside the walls of San Quentin. His last meal consisted of Buffalo steak and frybread
Frybread
Frybread is a Native American food found throughout the United States. Frybread is a flat dough fried or deep-fried in oil, shortening, or lard. The dough is generally leavened by yeast or baking powder....
(both are traditional Native American dishes) as well as a bucket of KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
white-meat-only chicken, sugar-free pecan pie, sugar-free walnut ice cream, and whole milk. The ice-cream was left out to thaw for one hour, which Allen turned into a milkshake by hand.
Prison guards familiar with Clarence Ray Allen stated that he often walked without assistance and was also able to read his mail.http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/17/MNG37GOHD715.DTL
See also
- Capital punishment debateCapital punishment debateThe use of capital punishment, frequently known as the death penalty, is highly controversial.-Retribution:Supporters of the death penalty argued that death penalty is morally justified when applied in murder especially with aggravating elements such as multiple homicide, child murder, torture...
- Capital punishment in CaliforniaCapital punishment in CaliforniaCapital punishment is a legal form of punishment in the U.S. state of California. The first recorded execution in the area that is now California took place on April 11, 1878 when four Native Americans were shot in San Diego County for conspiracy to commit murder. These were the first of 709...
- Capital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
- John David DutyJohn David DutyJohn David Duty was an American who was executed in Oklahoma for first-degree murder. According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, he is the first person in the United States to have been put to death with pentobarbital...
External links
- The People v. Clarence Ray Allen (42 C3d 1222) – California Supreme Court (Dec. 31, 1986)
- Clarence Allen at The Malefactor's Register
- Clarence Ray Allen at the Clark County, IndianaClark County, IndianaClark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana, located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. At the 2010 Census, the population was 110,232. The county seat is Jeffersonville. Clarksville is also a major city in the county...
Prosecutor's Office