Anti-death penalty groups plan vigil

The Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty is planning a candlelight vigil to protest the Friday night execution of Lawrence Colwell Jr.

It will begin at 7 p.m. outside the entrance to the Nevada State Prison on East Fifth Street. Colwell, 35, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 9 p.m. unless he decides to pursue his appeals in federal court.

The coalition includes members of several faith communities and groups dedicated to human rights and civil liberties.

"Even though Mr. Colwell has decided to give up his available appeals, we believe that it is wrong for the state of Nevada to kill him," said Nancy Hart representing Amnesty International. "We deeply sympathize with all those who have lost relatives or friends due to violent crime. However, killing is not the solution to violence and does nothing to promote true healing."

Colwell decided not to pursue further appeals at the federal court level even though U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben told him he would halt the execution so those appeals could go forward at any time before the actual lethal injection. He instructed state officials to make sure Colwell could make that request at any point in the process - even the last minute in the execution chamber.

"Even those who support capital punishment must agree that we should never execute anyone until all valid legal claims have been reviewed by a court of law," said Hart.

Colwell asked for and received a death sentence for strangling tourist Frank Rosenstock, 76, in 1994 in Las Vegas.

Many in the group said they were troubled by Colwell's decision to commit what they called "state-assisted suicide."

"In this state, the death penalty is only used when the prisoner is volunteering to be executed," said Abe Bonowitz, director of Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

"That's not the way it should be. Real punishment would be not to let them have the cowardly way out," he said.

All but one of the nine inmates executed in Nevada since 1979 cleared the way for their executions by voluntarily surrendering their rights to appeal. Nevada's last execution was held in April 2001 when Sebastian Bridges refused to stop his execution.

In a press conference in Las Vegas, the group also read the names of the victims killed by those who have been executed.

"We remember the victims, but not with more killing," Bonowitz said. "We are for accountability. We believe victims' families are entitled to see the person who killed their loved one locked up - and throw away the key."

Bill Pelke, director of Journey of Hope, a victims rights organization opposed to the death penalty, said healing does not come when a killer is executed.

"I didn't need to see someone die to have that healing," said Pelke, whose grandmother was murdered in 1985. "It's simply continuing the cycle of violence. Violent acts are never going to lead to peace and healing and justice."

Contact Geoff Dornan at nevadaappeal@sbcglobal.net or at 687-8750. The Associated Press contributed to this article.