Alabama Inmate Seeks Death Penalty, Cites ‘An Eye For An Eye’ | EUROtoday

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A person on Alabama’s dying row desires his execution to go ahead this week, saying he believes in an “eye for an eye.”

“The reason I dropped my appeals is I am guilty of murder,” James Osgood advised The Associated Press in an phone interview from jail. “I’m a firm believer in, like I said in court, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I took a life so mine was forfeited. I don’t believe in sitting here and wasting everybody’s time and everybody’s money.”

Osgood, 55, is scheduled to obtain a deadly injection Thursday at his south Alabama jail. He’s certainly one of solely a small variety of inmates on U.S. dying rows to desert their authorized challenges. He additionally mentioned he doesn’t need opponents of the dying penalty protesting beneath his title.

Osgood was condemned to die for the 2010 killing of Tracy Lynn Brown in Chilton County. Prosecutors mentioned Osgood reduce her throat after he and his girlfriend sexually assaulted her. Osgood advised the AP that he desires to apologize — to Brown’s household, and to his personal — however he realizes the phrases are insufficient.

“I would like to say to the victim’s family, I apologize, Osgood said. “I’m not going to ask their forgiveness because I know they can’t give it.”

Osgood mentioned he doesn’t use Brown’s title when discussing the homicide as a result of he doesn’t really feel he has the appropriate to take action.

“I regret taking her from them. I regret cutting her life short,” he mentioned. “I regret that I took one of God’s children. And I regret the pain and suffering that I caused, not only for the victim and her family but to mine,” Osgood mentioned.

Brown’s kinfolk supported the dying sentence at trial. The AP was unable to achieve member of Brown’s household for remark.

Osgood is certainly one of two prisoners — together with Moises Sandoval Mendoza in Texas — scheduled to die this week amid a slight uptick within the tempo of U.S. executions.

“I don’t want protesting for me. There is no need. I asked for this. If you want to protest against executions, that’s fine, just don’t use my name as your platform,” he mentioned.

Brown was discovered useless in her house on Oct. 23, 2010, after her employer grew to become involved when she didn’t present up for work. She had been stabbed and her throat was reduce, prosecutors mentioned.

After Osgood was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to dying, an appeals courtroom threw out the sentence, ruling {that a} choose gave improper directions to jurors. But as a brand new sentencing listening to started, Osgood requested for one more dying sentence.

“I knew they were going to come back with death. I didn’t want her family and my family to relive all that, just for the same thing. Why put them through that?”

Osgood has struggled to clarify what he did. He mentioned he had been ingesting for 36 to 48 hours earlier than the crime, however he mentioned alcohol was to not blame for what he did. Asked what he would say to younger folks, Osgood mentioned it could be don’t do something to somebody they wouldn’t need carried out to themselves.

Osgood ended up spending greater than a decade on dying row. He determined early on that he would let his appeals go for 10 years, however now not. He additionally wished to discover being a bone marrow donor for his sister, however then she selected different remedies, and Osgood figured the jail wouldn’t permit him to donate anyway. He dropped his appeals final summer time, and requested for an execution date.

“I know longer feel as if I’m even existing. I’m tired. I want to complete my sentence,” Osgood wrote to his legal professional.

Osgood mentioned he thinks extra dying row inmates are fascinated about dropping their appeals, as a result of life with out parole is scarier than dying.

“The scary thing is having to stay here. Look what the world is coming to,” Osgood mentioned.