Governor rejects Indiana Death Row inmate’s request for clemency
By Mary Ann Wyand
On May 24, Gov. Mitch Daniels denied Indiana Death Row inmate Gregory Scott Johnson’s clemency petition.
As The Criterion went to press, Johnson was scheduled to be executed by chemical injection at 12:01 a.m. on May 25 at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Ind.
He was convicted of murdering Ruby Hutslar, an 82-year-old Anderson, Ind., resident, and setting her house on fire on June 23, 1985, following a burglary at her home when he was 20 years old.
Johnson had asked the governor to commute his capital sentence to life in prison without parole or to postpone his execution until a later date so he could donate a portion of his liver to his sister, Deborah Otis of Anderson, Ind., who suffers from a nonalcoholic type of cirrhosis of the liver and needs a transplant.
During a May 20 hearing at the Indiana Government Center in Indianapolis, the Indiana Parole Board voted 4-0 to recommend that Gov. Daniels not grant clemency for Johnson.
Last week, the Indiana Supreme Court also denied Johnson’s request for a stay of execution.
In a press release, Gov. Daniels said that, “after his own independent study and review, he found no grounds to second-guess years of court rulings or to reject the recommendation of the parole board.”
The governor acknowledged that Johnson had requested a temporary stay of execution so he could undergo medical tests to determine if he is a compatible liver donor for his sister.
“In view of the family relationship, I accepted the sincerity of Mr. Johnson’s motivation in making this offer,” Gov. Daniels said. “If his proposal had turned out to create a clear, demonstrated medical advantage to his sister, I might well have considered a brief postponement to seek a way to fulfill the request. But ultimately, I was not faced with that decision.
“The advice of medical experts, including Debra Otis’ own specialist, was definitive that she should not pursue a procedure with Mr. Johnson as donor,” the governor said, “but rather will be better served by accepting transplanted organs through the conventional process.”
Johnson’s mother, Alice Newman of Anderson, Ind., said before the parole board hearing that her son’s execution would be very hard on her daughter.
“I’m hoping that they will give him clemency,” Newman said, “but if they don’t that they will grant him his last wish to help his sister with his liver. It’s the only positive thing he can do. They have no idea what an organ donation means to people. My husband had a kidney transplant two and a half years ago.”
Newman said her son had offered to help him with a kidney at that time.
Johnson joined the Catholic Church four years ago while incarcerated on Death Row. Newman, who is a member of the United Church of Christ, said she takes comfort in the fact that her son has grown closer to God.
“It gives me better peace of mind to know that he’s ready for the Lord,” she said. “He says he’s ready. If that’s what they want to do, he’s ready. But I’m not ready. A mother would never be ready. Mothers are supposed to die before their children.”
Newman said “no one knows the pain that a mother goes through when something like this happens” to her child.
“Sometimes I feel like it’s more of a punishment for the mother than it is for the one they have convicted,” she said. “I love my children just as much as any other mother loves her children. I don’t feel that my son would have ever done anything like this had he not been under the influence of drugs.”
Newman said she doesn’t think people should be executed for crimes.
“I don’t know how they get closure from another person being executed,” she said about members of the victim’s family, who had urged the parole board to proceed with the execution.
“It doesn’t bring back their loved one,” Newman said. “To me, it’s more about anger from them and [the desire for] revenge than closure.”
Newman said she plans to stay at home when her son is executed and to spend his final hours praying for him. †
