Photos Richard Oslund, murder suspect U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft More from MPR Text of Sen. Feingold's letter to Attorney General Ashcroft (07/03/2003) Resources 2000 Survey of Federal Death Penalty system For information opposing the death penalty For infomation supporting the death penalty For information about the Innocence Protection Act Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

	E-mail this page			Print this page

Minnesota could get death penalty case
by Elizabeth Stawicki, Minnesota Public Radio
July 3, 2003

Richard Oslund is expected to stand trial in the fall for the murder of a Brink's armored courier driver in Minnesota. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft may decide to pursue the death penalty -- the first such case in the state in 100 years. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Department of Corrections)

Death penalty opponents say U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft is seeking capitol punishment in jurisdictions that have historically opposed the death penalty. Minnesota hasn't had a death penalty case in nearly 100 years. But some attorneys say Minnesota could be the next in line for a federal death penalty case.

St. Paul, Minn. — In May, a federal grand jury indicted Richard Oslund on charges he robbed and murdered William Strelow, a Brink's armored courier, outside a Bloomington Target store. Because that robbery affected how currency moves across state lines, it's a federal rather than state crime. For Oslund, that could mean the difference between life and death, if he's convicted.

While Minnesota has banned executions, the federal government has not. The person who makes the final decision on whether to seek the death penalty in federal cases is U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

Some death penalty opponents question whether Ashcroft is applying the death penalty fairly -- whether he's using it based on the facts of individual cases or geography.

	U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft

National death penalty defense expert Sandra Babcock believes Ashcroft is acting in response to a 2000 Justice Department study which showed capital punishment cases were concentrated in a few areas of the country, and those executed were more often minorities.

Babcock says Ashcroft had two options -- reduce the number of death penalty cases in the areas where it was used most frequently.

"The other response, which appears the strategy of the Ashcroft Justice Department has taken, was to increase the frequency with which prosecutors sought the federal death penalty in states that had historically not had a great number of federal prosecutions," Babcock says.

In addition, Babcock says, the Justice Department under John Ashcroft began monitoring federal plea bargains that reduced sentences from death to life in prison.

"The Justice Department has in some cases overruled those plea bargains, and has ordered prosecutors to proceed to trial and seek the death penalty and renege on those previous plea offers," Babcock says.

The people involved in the death penalty review process at Main Justice have the benefit of seeing the landscape of these cases nationwide, thereby ensuring consistency in U.S. Attorney Districts across the country. We believe the process is designed to do exactly what Congress intended: guarantee the fair implementation of the death penalty. - U.S. Justice Department statement

The U.S. Justice Department would not agree to an interview for this story, but did release this statement:

"The death penalty is the law of the land, provided for as the ultimate punishment for heinous crimes, and the Attorney General is committed to the fair implementation of justice. The people involved in the death penalty review process at Main Justice have the benefit of seeing the landscape of these cases nationwide, thereby ensuring consistency in U.S. Attorney Districts across the country. We believe the process is designed to do exactly what Congress intended: guarantee the fair implementation of the death penalty."

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., share Babcock's concerns. In March, they wrote an open letter to Ashcroft that raised the same issues. Feingold's and Leahy's offices say they received no response.

The office of Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said Coleman is definitely against the death penalty but did not respond to requests for an interview. Sen. Mark Dayton would not give Minnesota Public Radio his position on the death penalty or comment for this story after repeated calls.

Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass. is concerned that too many innocent people are on death row. He, along with several other lawmakers including Sen. Leahy are pushing for the Innocence Protection Act.

Under that bill, prisoners facing federal execution would have guaranteed access to DNA testing. It would also provide grants to better train prosecutors, defense counsel, and judges in handling capital cases.

"The reality is that infrequently, but too often, mistakes are made. And in the cases involving the ultimate sanction, every possible effort has to be made to search for the truth -- that really is the essence of our system," Delahunt says.

The family of Brink's driver William Strelow declined to comment for this story, saying they don't want to jeopardize Oslund's trial. But in the past, family members have said they support the death penalty.

Pat Teer understands the Strelow family's loss better than most. Her son Mark, a Texas state trooper, was killed in 1976. Teer supports Aschroft's use of the death penalty as long as the person executed is the person who actually committed the crime.

Infrequently, but too often, mistakes are made. And in the cases involving the ultimate sanction, every possible effort has to be made to search for the truth -- that really is the essence of our system. - U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass.

In her son's case, she says there was never any question that Billy George Hughes shot and killed her 26-year-old son, a husband and father of a three-year-old daughter. Until Hughes was executed, Teer always worried Hughes would go free.

"I don't have the stress. I don't have the nightmares anymore, the nightmares stopped. I can just direct more of my time to my grandkids -- playing with them and having fun with them. It's a lot less worry," Teer says.

Teer says the public doesn't understand how families of homicide victims suffer every time the murderer is in the news -- be it a trial, appeal, or in Hughes' case, his celebrity status while on death row.

Hughes earned degrees, lobbied and drew cartoons for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He even received the Louisiana SPCA's Great Humanitarian award in 1982.

"The reason that I paid so much attention, and went to court proceedings and everything, is because Mark couldn't be there. And since he couldn't be there, I wanted to be there for him. That's the reason I witnessed the execution, because that was the last person that saw my son alive," Teer says.

The Death Penalty Information Center says Ashcroft has, in half the time, already surpassed former Attorney General Janet Reno's record of going the extra step and overruling local prosecutors in ordering executions in states historically opposed to executions. Richard Oslund's murder trial will likely begin in the fall.

News Headlines

Related Subjects