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268:, would later declare that the jury selection in Darden's case was improper and violated his constitutional rights. Additionally, according to trial records, the prosecutor in Darden's trial, C. Ray McDaniel, made racially charged remarks, including repeatedly calling Darden an "animal" that needed to be "chained up" and expressing a desire to see Darden "sitting here with no face, blown away by a shotgun."
297:, but they identified him in court, although Turman's wife had difficulty identifying Darden and Phillip Arnold described the killer as being larger than Darden was. Darden's lawyers did not challenge the eyewitnesses at the trial. A woman named Christine Bass claimed that Darden had been at her house during the time that the murder was committed, from 4:00 to 5:30
378:. The execution was planned to be a double execution, and he and Spenkelink would have been the first inmates in the United States since 1967 to have been put to death without forgoing all appeals and volunteering for execution. However, at the time that the warrant was signed, Darden still had multiple appeals pending. As a result, 14
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facility. After being discharged, Darden had trouble finding work and was eventually rearrested for cashing a bad check. He received a 4-year sentence in prison for the bad check. Until the murder in 1973, Darden was repeatedly in and out of prison for a variety of crimes, including assault, forgery,
219:
who was also born in Greene County. Darden's mother was 15 years old at the time of his birth, and two years after he was born, she died while giving birth to another child. Because of his family's poverty, Darden could not attend school regularly and instead worked in the farms, eventually dropping
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Darden was arrested later that day for a traffic violation. While he was in jail for the traffic violation, investigators tied Darden to the murder of Turman as well as a string of similar robberies and assaults in the area. Subsequently, Darden was charged with murder and robbery.
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had spent on death row prior to their execution. He was also notable for the number of protests and amount of controversy and attention that his case attracted worldwide, as well as the unusually large number of death warrants that he lived through prior to his execution.
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p.m., saying that Darden had needed to use her phone to call for help. Darden's defense attorneys never called her to testify. Additionally, years after the trial, the victim's minister gave an affidavit claiming that he was called to the crime scene and arrived at
343:, who called Darden's death sentence "another example that injustice is still alive and well and that equal opportunity is still denied black Americans even in death." Two months before his execution, Darden appeared on an episode of
252:. During the robbery, James Carl Turman and his 16-year-old neighbor Phillip Arnold were shot. Arnold survived the shooting, but Turman died. The robber also attempted to rape Turman's wife prior to shooting and murdering Turman.
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at his trial, which took place in
January 1974. The state had intentionally excluded black people from serving on the jury, a practice that was later declared unconstitutional in 1986, and a U.S. Supreme Court Justice,
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23, 1974, Willie Darden was convicted of the murder and robbery of James Carl Turman. The jury recommended the death penalty, and he was sentenced to death. He was received on death row at the
Florida State Prison on
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p.m., which meant that the crime would have happened prior to the time that the police said it had. Both the victim's minister and Bass gave affidavits that would have helped Darden with constructing his alibi.
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years, longer than any other condemned inmate in the United States at the time. He had also lived through six separate death warrants, including the one that scheduled his execution for May
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When Darden was a teenager, he started breaking the law, starting after he was caught stealing from a mailbox. Upon his first violation of the law at the age of 16, Darden was sent to a
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six hours before he was scheduled to be electrocuted. Overall, six times, Darden received stays of execution prior to the scheduled execution. However, newly elected
Florida governor
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339:(who started a petition that gathered 10,000 signatures from people in the Netherlands who were opposed to Darden's execution), and the Reverend
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on June 1, 1933. His family lived in poverty as Darden grew up. His father was an auto-mechanic, and his great-grandfather had been a
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rejected his request for a stay of execution that evening, they later agreed to grant Darden a petition for writ of
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between his death sentence and his execution, which, at the time, was longer than the time any other inmate in the
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417:
signed Darden's seventh death warrant in early 1988. This warrant would eventually lead to Darden's execution.
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for murder during the course of a robbery. Darden's case was notable because of the 14 years that he spent on
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from prison while serving 20 years in a
Florida prison for attempting to rape a 70-year-old woman in 1968.
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23, he received a federal stay of execution. Spenkelink would go on to be executed two days later, on May
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During Darden's time on death row, hundreds of people worldwide protested his death sentence, including
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signed Darden's first death warrant. Darden had his first execution date set for
Wednesday, May
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all identified Darden as the murderer. None of them were ever asked to identify Darden in a
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23, 1979. Another death warrant scheduled Darden's execution for
September
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theft, and attempted rape. At the time of the murder, Darden was on
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p.m., there was a robbery of a Carl's
Furniture Store, located in
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African
American man convicted and executed in the U.S. for murder
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At the time of his execution, Darden had been on death row for 14
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Among the Lowest of the Dead: The
Culture of Capital Punishment
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Last Rights: Thirteen Fatal
Encounters with the State's Justice
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8, 1973, at a time police estimated to be between 6:00 and 6:30
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186:(June 1, 1933 – March 15, 1988) was an American man who was
500:. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. p. 246.
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hours before Darden was scheduled to be executed on May
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23, 1979, on the same day as fellow death row inmate
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424:on March 15, 1988. He was pronounced dead at 7:12
220:out of school after completing the eighth grade.
440:used Darden's photo on the cover of their album
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710:People executed by Florida by electric chair
282:Turman's wife, Phillip Arnold, and another
680:20th-century executions of American people
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715:People from Greene County, North Carolina
569:"Willie Jasper Darden, Jr. Case Summary"
420:Willie Darden was executed in Florida's
259:Darden, who was black, had an all-white
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461:Capital punishment in the United States
705:People convicted of murder by Florida
542:from the original on January 19, 2018
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720:20th-century African-American people
695:Executed people from North Carolina
690:American people executed for murder
675:20th-century executions by Florida
526:Moline, Michael (March 15, 1988).
466:List of people executed in Florida
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670:1973 murders in the United States
601:Florida Department of Corrections
323:Death row, appeals, and execution
38:Florida Department of Corrections
700:Executed African-American people
335:, the human rights organization
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597:"Execution List: 1976-Present"
496:Ingle, Rev. Joseph B. (2008).
1:
632:. New York, NY: Times Books.
456:Capital punishment in Florida
405:2, 1985, and even though the
213:Greene County, North Carolina
66:Greene County, North Carolina
432:Citations in popular culture
271:Three witnesses to Turman's
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624:Von Drehle, David (1995).
366:In 1979, Florida governor
211:Willie Darden was born in
101:Execution by electrocution
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528:"Willie Darden Executed"
310:Nevertheless, on January
184:Willie Jasper Darden Jr.
52:Willie Jasper Darden Jr.
685:American male criminals
436:The Italian rock band
337:Amnesty International
165:James Carl Turman, 54
85:Florida State Prison
331:, Soviet dissident
137:First degree murder
97:Cause of death
407:U.S. Supreme Court
353:and an episode of
225:juvenile detention
639:978-0-472-03123-8
507:978-1-4027-5449-4
329:Pope John Paul II
250:Lakeland, Florida
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604:. Retrieved
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544:. Retrieved
532:UPI Archives
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415:Bob Martinez
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79:(1988-03-15)
62:June 1, 1933
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665:1988 deaths
660:1933 births
606:January 12,
578:January 20,
546:January 19,
654:Categories
472:References
411:certiorari
390:25, 1979.
368:Bob Graham
319:29, 1974.
207:Early life
58:1933-06-01
446:in 1988.
443:Litfiba 3
356:West 57th
196:death row
540:Archived
450:See also
284:neighbor
230:furlough
188:executed
117:Children
111:Executed
438:Litfiba
315:January
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192:Florida
162:Victims
157:Details
141:Robbery
41:mugshot
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91:, U.S.
68:, U.S.
428:a.m.
346:20/20
217:slave
151:Death
634:ISBN
608:2019
580:2018
548:2018
502:ISBN
302:5:55
261:jury
170:Date
74:Died
48:Born
536:UPI
361:CBS
359:on
351:ABC
349:on
190:in
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288:—
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56:(
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