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I think this SOB should get what he's asking for. Lethal injection is just too good for him though.
He set his van on fire with his two year old still strapped inside and then the little pussy jumped out.
Posted on Thu, May. 30, 2002
S.C. killer asks to be executed
By RICK BRUNDRETT
Staff Writer
In a letter two years ago, Michael Passaro first asked the state's highest court to let him die for murdering his 2-year-old daughter in Myrtle Beach.
On Wednesday, the Death Row inmate took the unusual step of making his request in person before the S.C. Supreme Court.
Standing before the five justices under heavy guard, Passaro, who was sentenced to death in 2000, repeated his call to waive all appeals, ensuring his execution.
"As I said earlier, death or life (in prison) are both death sentences," Passaro said. "The state has given me a punishment, and I accept it."
If the high court grants Passaro's request, he could be executed as early as this year, prosecutors say. The current average stay for the state's 72 Death Row inmates is about 6½ years, according to the most recent S.C. Department of Corrections study.
Passaro, who is serving his death sentence at Lieber Correctional Institution in Dorchester County, told the justices he "can't live like this any longer."
Passaro's case is unusual because he pleaded guilty realizing he could only be resentenced on appeal, and that he couldn't receive anything less than life.
Under current state law, defendants convicted of capital murder face only two sentencing options: death or life in prison without parole.
As customary, the Supreme Court made no immediate ruling after Wednesday's oral arguments. The court is under no deadline to issue a decision.
Passaro told the justices he accepts "full responsibility for the mistake I made." But he didn't mention specifics of the crimes he pleaded guilty to in August 2000.
Passaro was charged with setting his van on fire - with his 2-year-old daughter, Maggie, strapped inside - at his estranged wife's condominium in Myrtle Beach in November 1998. Passaro planned on killing himself but jumped out after setting the fire, investigators said.
The girl died in the blaze. Passaro was severely burned.
Passaro left behind a suicide note in which he said he hoped his estranged wife, Karen, wouldn't later commit suicide, wishing her to "live in pain for the rest of her life." In court Wednesday, Passaro said, "I wish I could take that back, but I can't."
The Supreme Court rarely hears from capital murder defendants in person when considering appeals. Before Passaro made his statement, the justices questioned him at length about his desire to waive his appeals and his competency to make that decision.
"Do you wish this court to affirm your death sentence?" Chief Justice Jean Toal asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Passaro calmly replied.
Passaro first told the Supreme Court in a letter in September 2000 - a month after he pleaded guilty to murder and arson, and was sentenced to death - that he wanted to have "all appeals dropped on my behalf."
In another death penalty case, the Supreme Court in 1994 ruled that capital murder defendants can waive their appeals if the court determines they are competent, and their decision was "knowing and voluntary."
That case, however, was different from Passaro's in that the defendant hadn't pleaded guilty.
Passaro's lawyer, Joseph Savitz, told the justices Wednesday that despite Passaro's apparent desire for a speedy execution, his case deserves a formal review.
"Capital defendants are not entitled to execution on demand," said Savitz, deputy chief attorney at the S.C. Office of Appellate Defense.
In legal briefs, Savitz said executing Passaro without meaningful appellate review would amount to "little more than government-assisted suicide."
But Donald Zelenka, an assistant deputy S.C. attorney general, told the justices Wednesday that Passaro's request to waive his appeals was thoroughly reviewed in a lower court hearing. He noted that Circuit Court Judge H. Dean Hall last year found Passaro to be competent, based on the opinions of two psychiatrists who examined Passaro.
He set his van on fire with his two year old still strapped inside and then the little pussy jumped out.
Posted on Thu, May. 30, 2002
S.C. killer asks to be executed
By RICK BRUNDRETT
Staff Writer
In a letter two years ago, Michael Passaro first asked the state's highest court to let him die for murdering his 2-year-old daughter in Myrtle Beach.
On Wednesday, the Death Row inmate took the unusual step of making his request in person before the S.C. Supreme Court.
Standing before the five justices under heavy guard, Passaro, who was sentenced to death in 2000, repeated his call to waive all appeals, ensuring his execution.
"As I said earlier, death or life (in prison) are both death sentences," Passaro said. "The state has given me a punishment, and I accept it."
If the high court grants Passaro's request, he could be executed as early as this year, prosecutors say. The current average stay for the state's 72 Death Row inmates is about 6½ years, according to the most recent S.C. Department of Corrections study.
Passaro, who is serving his death sentence at Lieber Correctional Institution in Dorchester County, told the justices he "can't live like this any longer."
Passaro's case is unusual because he pleaded guilty realizing he could only be resentenced on appeal, and that he couldn't receive anything less than life.
Under current state law, defendants convicted of capital murder face only two sentencing options: death or life in prison without parole.
As customary, the Supreme Court made no immediate ruling after Wednesday's oral arguments. The court is under no deadline to issue a decision.
Passaro told the justices he accepts "full responsibility for the mistake I made." But he didn't mention specifics of the crimes he pleaded guilty to in August 2000.
Passaro was charged with setting his van on fire - with his 2-year-old daughter, Maggie, strapped inside - at his estranged wife's condominium in Myrtle Beach in November 1998. Passaro planned on killing himself but jumped out after setting the fire, investigators said.
The girl died in the blaze. Passaro was severely burned.
Passaro left behind a suicide note in which he said he hoped his estranged wife, Karen, wouldn't later commit suicide, wishing her to "live in pain for the rest of her life." In court Wednesday, Passaro said, "I wish I could take that back, but I can't."
The Supreme Court rarely hears from capital murder defendants in person when considering appeals. Before Passaro made his statement, the justices questioned him at length about his desire to waive his appeals and his competency to make that decision.
"Do you wish this court to affirm your death sentence?" Chief Justice Jean Toal asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Passaro calmly replied.
Passaro first told the Supreme Court in a letter in September 2000 - a month after he pleaded guilty to murder and arson, and was sentenced to death - that he wanted to have "all appeals dropped on my behalf."
In another death penalty case, the Supreme Court in 1994 ruled that capital murder defendants can waive their appeals if the court determines they are competent, and their decision was "knowing and voluntary."
That case, however, was different from Passaro's in that the defendant hadn't pleaded guilty.
Passaro's lawyer, Joseph Savitz, told the justices Wednesday that despite Passaro's apparent desire for a speedy execution, his case deserves a formal review.
"Capital defendants are not entitled to execution on demand," said Savitz, deputy chief attorney at the S.C. Office of Appellate Defense.
In legal briefs, Savitz said executing Passaro without meaningful appellate review would amount to "little more than government-assisted suicide."
But Donald Zelenka, an assistant deputy S.C. attorney general, told the justices Wednesday that Passaro's request to waive his appeals was thoroughly reviewed in a lower court hearing. He noted that Circuit Court Judge H. Dean Hall last year found Passaro to be competent, based on the opinions of two psychiatrists who examined Passaro.
