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Execution Debate Rages On

Aired January 07, 2004 - 15:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Arkansas, the state carried out its first execution of the year, but the debate will clearly outlive the condemned killer at its center. Charles Singleton spent most of his life in prison. And a Supreme Court ruling that allowed prison officials to forcibly medicate him may have saved his mental health and cost him his life.
CNN's Brian Cabell explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Convicted murderer Charles Singleton was insane without his medication, according to doctors, but sane when he took it. Tuesday night, authorities say, he was medicated, sane, and eligible for execution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lethal injection was administered at 8:02 p.m.

CABELL: Four minutes later, Singleton, who'd been on death row for 24 years, was dead. His final words written in a cryptic note included this: "The blind think I'm playing a game. They deny me, refusing me existence. But everybody takes the place of another. You have taught me what you want done. And I will not let you down."

In 1979, he killed a woman grocer, was convicted, and sent to death row. His mind deteriorated over the years, though. Only medication made him rational.

Still, his attorney said, Singleton should not have been put to death.

JEFF ROSENZWEIG, ATTORNEY FOR SINGLETON: What happened here is a -- will be seen as a shameful mark on the state of Arkansas, because we're talking about the execution of someone who was clearly mentally ill.

CABELL: Singleton's attorney conceded, he seemed sane and at peace just before his death. In fact, in an interview last week, Singleton seemed to welcome leaving this world.

CHARLES SINGLETON, CONVICTED MURDERER: I've been tormented, persecuted and manipulated and terrorized.

CABELL: Witnesses say Singleton went to his death quietly.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Varner, Arkansas. (END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 7, 2004 - 15:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Arkansas, the state carried out its first execution of the year, but the debate will clearly outlive the condemned killer at its center. Charles Singleton spent most of his life in prison. And a Supreme Court ruling that allowed prison officials to forcibly medicate him may have saved his mental health and cost him his life.
CNN's Brian Cabell explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Convicted murderer Charles Singleton was insane without his medication, according to doctors, but sane when he took it. Tuesday night, authorities say, he was medicated, sane, and eligible for execution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lethal injection was administered at 8:02 p.m.

CABELL: Four minutes later, Singleton, who'd been on death row for 24 years, was dead. His final words written in a cryptic note included this: "The blind think I'm playing a game. They deny me, refusing me existence. But everybody takes the place of another. You have taught me what you want done. And I will not let you down."

In 1979, he killed a woman grocer, was convicted, and sent to death row. His mind deteriorated over the years, though. Only medication made him rational.

Still, his attorney said, Singleton should not have been put to death.

JEFF ROSENZWEIG, ATTORNEY FOR SINGLETON: What happened here is a -- will be seen as a shameful mark on the state of Arkansas, because we're talking about the execution of someone who was clearly mentally ill.

CABELL: Singleton's attorney conceded, he seemed sane and at peace just before his death. In fact, in an interview last week, Singleton seemed to welcome leaving this world.

CHARLES SINGLETON, CONVICTED MURDERER: I've been tormented, persecuted and manipulated and terrorized.

CABELL: Witnesses say Singleton went to his death quietly.

Brian Cabell, CNN, Varner, Arkansas. (END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com