The Sad Death of Shep Wilson
18.06.08
We are sad to relate that on Thursday, June 12, 2008, Shep Wilson Jr., 50, died at Donaldson prison near Birmingham, Alabama. He had been ill, and suffered from the habitually inadequate medical care of U.S. prisons.
Reprieve Director Clive Stafford Smith represented Shep for some years after his 1986 death sentence was reversed on appeal on November 30, 1990. His case is remarkable for the fact that he waited longer than any person in U.S. judicial history for a retrial – and never received one.
From the date of the reversal – November 30, 1990 – to the date of his death was 17 years, 6 months and 12 days, a total of six thousand four hundred and six days of detention without a retrial. This puts the Labour government’s 42-day plans somewhat in the shade. All that time, he was held on death row, although he was theoretically presumed innocent of any crime.
Shep’s sorry story reflects yet another chapter in the bizarre history of the U.S. death penalty process.
Shep leaves behind two sons and six brothers and sisters.
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