Arizona clemency board rejects Frank Atwood’s request for mercy
The Arizona Board of Executive Clemency voted unanimously on Tuesday to disclaim Frank Atwood’s request for commutation of sentence, reprieve or pardon.
The clemency listening to was carried out at Eyman jail advanced in Florence, Arizona, simply over two weeks earlier than Atwood is scheduled to be executed on June 8. He was sentenced in 1987 for the kidnapping and homicide of an 8-year-old lady in Pima County, Vicki Lynne Hoskinson.
Board Chair Mina Mendez stated when confronted with a request for clemency from a dying row prisoner, she asks herself if there was any miscarriage of justice within the case.
“Based on my review of the entirety of the record, I found that the evidence considered by the jury to be overwhelming evidence of Mr. Atwood’s guilt,” she stated. “Mr. Atwood is not innocent — not by any stretch of the imagination.”
‘The final line of protection’
Atwood’s authorized staff spent a number of hours Tuesday morning making an attempt to poke holes within the proof offered at his jury trial, in addition to presenting new proof that they stated proved his innocence.
“You are the last line of defense,” Atwood lawyer David Lane advised the board members. “You are the fail-safe. You can consider things the federal courts could not.”
Lane stated that whereas nothing Atwood’s staff would current was meant to be disrespectful of the sufferer’s household, they aimed to show his innocence.
“Typically, I understand remorse is a very serious concern for all of you,” Lane stated to the board. “That’s not going to happen here because Mr. Atwood is innocent. He cannot express remorse for an act he did not commit.”
Attorney Sam Kooistra contested the sequence of occasions offered by the state at Atwood’s trial, saying it was inconceivable for Atwood to have accomplished the crimes within the time that was alleged.
“The timeline isn’t credible,” Kooistra said. “It just doesn’t add up.”
Kooistra advised the board there was zero forensic proof inserting the sufferer in Atwood’s automotive. “You would expect to see a hair, a print, some evidence somewhere in the car,” Kooistra stated. “But that car was searched from top to bottom and there was never any trace of evidence that she had been in the car.”
Kooistra called into question other physical evidence like supposed paint from Hoskinson’s bike that was found on Atwood’s car. He cast doubt on eyewitness testimony and put forth a theory that Hoskinson was actually abducted by a Tucson woman known to frequent the area of the crime.
But attorney Nick Klingerman, representing the state, called Atwood’s legal claims “hole.” He told the board that the trial court heard much of the evidence presented at the clemency hearing and chose to reject it.
A ‘complete transformation of life’
Several members of Atwood’s Greek Orthodox church spoke at length about how he had transformed his life to become a devout and practicing Christian.
Michael Johnson, known as Father Philaret in the church, talked of his long history or correspondence and visitations with Atwood, who he said had become a true friend.
He said Atwood has likely read more religious texts than he had and described the poetry and hand-drawn icons of the Greek Orthodox religion that Atwood had sent him.
Atwood’s spiritual adviser, Father Paisios, said he was certain that Atwood had experienced a “full transformation of life,” and that such a conversion can’t be feigned.
Paisios stated the authenticity of Atwood’s religion was to a level that he had not seen amongst a whole bunch of others who had come to him. He stated Atwood “unfailingly followed my instructions” and kept to a daily routine of prayer.
When asked by the board, Paisios said Atwood had never confessed to the murder of Hoskinson. “I’m experienced when someone is lying or trying to hide something,” he stated.
Many of the members of Atwood’s congregation were able to attend the clemency hearing after the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona filed a complaint against the clemency board over the limited seating capacity that was initially proposed.
The ACLU of AZ said if members of Atwood’s congregation were refused admittance to the open meeting, “they are going to be denied their proper to meaningfully take heed to the meeting’s deliberations and scrutinize an appointed authorities physique.”
In response to the complaint, the Department of Corrections moved the hearing to accommodate additional seating and provided an overflow room for the church members.
Atwood’s wife, Rachel Atwood, also spoke in support of her husband.
She said they had met through letter writing when she reached out to him after his trial. “I kept thinking, this guy does not know God,” she stated. “Maybe I should write to him.”
Rachel Atwood told the board how she led Frank back to the church, and how he would eventually lead her to join the Greek Orthodox Church.
The two grew close and would eventually marry. Rachel Atwood said she would take Frank Atwood’s letters and type them up, helping him publish several books about his life.
“I ask the board to see the man I have loved for 35 years,” she pleaded.
Despite the testimony from his supporters, the Board of Clemency members said they did not believe Atwood had changed at all.
“I don’t see a transformed person,” said board member Michael Johnson, “and I don’t see any reason to grant any type of clemency at this time.”
Johnson said he believed Atwood was guilty and that he had not taken responsibility for his actions. He discussed how Atwood had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting a child before the conviction for Hoskinson’s murder, and had “made no effort to change his lifestyle when he was out.”
Atwood’s attorneys advised the board that Atwood had achieved instructional levels whereas in jail, however Johnson stated that work did not atone for his crimes.
“He’s a pedophile,” Johnson stated, “and he’s done nothing to correct the situation he was involved in.”
Atwood himself spoke for a few minutes at the end of the day, maintaining his innocence, and telling the victim’s family that he hoped his execution would bring them peace.
‘Almost four decades to get to this point’
Mendez cited testimony from Hoskinson’s family, who she said had been significantly impacted by the murder. She said the board had received “a whole bunch and a whole bunch” of letters in support of the victim’s family, including letters from classmates of Hoskinson who reported the trauma had changed their lives from an early age.
The majority of public comments supporting Atwood were mainly focused on opposition to the death penalty, according to Mendez, which she said was a matter for the legislative branch of government.
Alternative sought: Atwood requests execution using nitrogen gas instead of cyanide
In Arizona, Board of Executive Clemency members are appointed by the governor. Board members review cases and hold hearings to decide whether to make recommendations to the governor, who can then take their advice or ignore it.
Board member Louis Quinonez said Atwood displayed a pattern of sexual violence from an early age. “He had lifelong self-control issues,” Quinonez stated, “and recurring instances of disorderly conduct all the way through 2021” while he was in prison.
“The nature of the offenses clearly rises to the level of capital punishment,” Quinonez said.
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Board member Sal Freni said when a detective was interviewing Atwood and asked him if he felt he was responsible for the crimes, Atwood responded that he had calculated his potential sentencing if he were convicted of killing Hoskinson.
“It’s not a confession,” Freni said, “but it’s certainly not a denial.”
Debbie Carlson, Hoskinson’s mother, said she felt Vicki’s presence in the room at the Eyman prison complex.
“I have felt her all day,” she said. “I felt her before I even left our home this morning. I feel her now as she knows we are here taking final justice for her.”
Through tears, Carlson told the board about the impact her daughter’s murder had on her family, which she called “essentially the most horrific day of our lives.”
“It’s been an extended journey,” she said to the board. “The trial took two and half years to get to, and it took virtually 4 a long time to get up to now.”
While Carlson said Atwood’s execution would not bring her closure, it would at least mark the end of a long and painful legal process, which she believed would bring her and her family some relief.
“It will finish this inmate from harassing our household, submitting frivolous appeals, and finish him making a mockery of our felony justice system,” Carlson said. “It will finish that black cloud that hangs over our heads.”
Appeals court hears arguments
Meanwhile, one of Atwood’s attorneys urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also on Tuesday to let the defense team make new arguments to overturn his death sentence.
Atwood’s legal team wants to make three new arguments: that the aggravating factor making the crime eligible for the death penalty was invalidly applied; that authorities failed to turn over evidence that might have helped Atwood’s defense; and that the recently discovered evidence supports the theory that Hoskinson was killed by a woman.
Specifically, Atwood’s lawyers say last summer they discovered an FBI memo describing an anonymous caller claiming to have seen Hoskinson in a vehicle not associated with Atwood, but which could be linked to the woman.
Laura Chiasson, an Arizona assistant attorney general, argued that Atwood’s lawyers did not meet the criteria to present new evidence in federal court.
The appeals court hasn’t yet made a decision on the request.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Have a information tip on Arizona prisons? Reach the reporter at [email protected] or at 812-243-5582. Follow him on Twitter @JimmyJenkins.
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