Death Row Killer Asks to Die; His Lawyers Argue Against It

Marco Allen Chapman, a 30-year-old out-of work construction worker, pleaded guilty in December 2004 to murdering two children, trying to kill a third, and raping and trying to kill the children’s mother. He waived his right to trial by jury and pleaded with the judge overseeing his case to sentence him to death. The judge said he couldn’t see any legal reason why he should deny Chapman’s request for execution, so that was the sentence he passed.

On Thursday, Chapman’s attorneys argued before the Kentucky Supreme Court that Chapman’s death wish shouldn’t be allowed because the judge who passed sentence did not seek out evidence that could have mitigated Chapman’s sentence. Mitigating evidence is usually presented by defense attorneys to portray an accused person in a more positive light. But since Chapman plead guilty and waived his right to a defense, the judge did not have any mitigating evidence to consider, and Chapman’s court-appointed lawyers say that the judge should have sought such evidence.

"There is no case, whether it's this case or any other horrible case you can imagine, that is so awful that you don't have to take that second step," said Donna L. Boyce, one of Chapman's attorneys. "There is no mandatory death sentence."

Chapman’s crime was a particularly horrible one, even if mitigating evidence had been presented to the judge. In 2002, he killed 7-year-old Chelbi Sharon and her 6-year-old brother, Cody Sharon, stabbing 10-year-old Courtney Sharon, and then raping and trying to kill the children’s mother, Carolyn Marksberry. Police said that Chapman committed the attacks because Marksberry had told his girlfriend that she should stop seeing him, and he was angry.

In considering the attorneys’ protest of Chapman’s request to hasten his execution, Chief Justice Joseph Lambert said that because Chapman waived his right to present mitigating evidence, the judge who sentenced him to death was well within his rights to do so. "If you have a trial judge, who, by virtue of being denied mitigation evidence ... was he denied the very evidence that he needed to make that ultimate decision?" Lambert asked.

Assistant Attorney General David Smith told the court that Chapman had undergone several psychiatric evaluations and has been found to be mentally competent. "There's nothing at all inappropriate about a defendant saying, 'Judge I want this particular sentence,' and a judge going along with it," Smith said.

Prosecutors tried to convince the court that the death sentence is legal. Chapman’s attorneys say that their client is attempting to use the court system to "commit suicide by court." The court is reviewing the case.