Jerry White (criminal)
Encyclopedia
Jerry White was executed
by electric chair
by the state of Florida
in 1995 for the murder of James Melson, a shopper in a grocery that Mr. White robbed in Orange County in 1981. Mr. Melson was shot in the back of the head.
In 1999, the state of Florida heard a petition
from Thomas Harrison Provenzano
, another Death Row
inmate, that argued that the electric chair was a cruel and unusual punishment
. During the proceedings, Michael Minerva, who had witnessed White's execution, said that "White's body stiffened and was thrust upward and backward to the back of the electric chair" after the current had been switched on to the chair. He also said that he heard air moving through White's lips and throat, though he could not tell whether the air was going in or out.
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
by electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
by the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
in 1995 for the murder of James Melson, a shopper in a grocery that Mr. White robbed in Orange County in 1981. Mr. Melson was shot in the back of the head.
In 1999, the state of Florida heard a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
from Thomas Harrison Provenzano
Thomas Harrison Provenzano
Thomas Harrison Provenzano was a convicted murderer executed by means of lethal injection by the state of Florida...
, another Death Row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
inmate, that argued that the electric chair was a 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...
. During the proceedings, Michael Minerva, who had witnessed White's execution, said that "White's body stiffened and was thrust upward and backward to the back of the electric chair" after the current had been switched on to the chair. He also said that he heard air moving through White's lips and throat, though he could not tell whether the air was going in or out.
See also
- List of individuals executed in Florida
- 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...