Florida death sentence elicits outrage in Spain
Donna Evleth
Bush, part of the Coalition. And of course, Jeb Bush is governor of
Florida. But the Spanish still don't like the death penalty. This is the
third Spanish death row prisoner, and Spain seems to have had some success
with the other two.
Donna Evleth
__________
MIRAMAR MURDER----Florida death sentence elicits outrage in Spain
Spaniards have raised $150,000 to pay for the Death Row appeal of Pablo
Ibar, who was convicted of a 1994 triple murder in Miramar.
When George W. Bush traveled oversees for his 1st major diplomatic mission
2 years ago, Spaniards held vigils in the streets for 3 men on Florida's
death row.
This year, Gov. Jeb Bush had a similar experience in Spain. The regional
premier of Madrid interrupted an economics discussion to plead the case of
one of those men, Pablo Ibar, convicted in a notorious 1994 triple murder
in Miramar.
As Ibar's case reaches the Florida Supreme Court next month, eight Spanish
senators will visit Ibar on death row and then watch his lawyer argue in
Tallahassee.
Spanish citizens have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for
Florida death row defenses, including $150,000 for Ibar's appeal. Florida
has become the focus of their passionate opposition to the death penalty.
"We had the death penalty during the Franco regime and probably, there is
something in the back of our heads that the death penalty was used as an
instrument," said Javier Vallaure, the consul general of Spain in Coral
Gables. Francisco Franco Bahamonde, an authoritarian general, ruled Spain
for 36 years after seizing power in a civil war.
Vallaure recites dates and times and significant events in all 3 Florida
cases. He has been to death row, near Starke, many times.
He holds up 3 fingers as he explains how many Spaniards were on Florida's
death row when he took his post in 2000.
The only other Spaniard facing execution at the time lived in Yemen and
his was delayed after intervention from Spain's King Juan Carlos.
One of the Florida men, Joaquin Jose Martinez, has since been freed and
returned to Spain.
The 2nd, elderly Broward convict Julio Mora, who killed Clarence Rudolph
and pregnant attorney Karen Starr Marx during a 1994 court deposition, had
his sentence reduced to life.
The fervor of Spanish opposition, and the whole of Europe, is in stark
contrast to the American point of view -- where politicians often consider
opposition to capital punishment a career-killer. The European Union won't
grant membership to countries that execute prisoners.
"It's considered an accomplishment of a higher degree of civilization,"
said Joaquin Roy, a Barcelona native who directs the University of Miami's
European Union Center. "Europe went through too much anguish and war and
revenge."
Joaquin Martinez, the accused killer of a pair of 26-year-old Tampa
lovers, Doug Lawson and Sherrie McCoy, was the 1st Spaniard to face
execution anywhere, since Franco died in 1975 and Spain abolished the
death penalty. Martinez's case drew donations and constant front-page
attention in Spain.
Then something remarkable happened. Miami lawyer Peter Raben won Martinez
a new trial in the Supreme Court in 2000 and then won an acquittal from a
jury in 2001. Raben was flown to Madrid by a top-rated news program. He
had bodyguards and autograph-seekers. He addressed Congress.
"I fly back to Miami and I'm persona non grata," he joked.
Richard J
> This time it's not France or Germany, it's Spain, a good ally of George
> Bush, part of the Coalition. And of course, Jeb Bush is governor of
> Florida. But the Spanish still don't like the death penalty. This is the
> third Spanish death row prisoner, and Spain seems to have had some success
> with the other two.
>
> Donna Evleth
I think the United States Air Force should be given the responsibility
of returning this murderer to his native land. Preferably out of the
back of a C-141 at the altitude of 30,000 feet with no parachute.
Teflon