Backlash Ensues Before Execution Of Maryland Man

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Lawyers and officials are pushing back against the death sentence of a Marylander. Laurel man Dustin John Higgs is slated for execution on Jan. 15, 2021, but some say the penalty is unjust.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons recently scheduled the capital punishments of five inmates, including Higgs. These executions will come weeks before President Donald Trump (R) leaves office on Jan. 20, 2021. If all five take place, the Trump administration will have executed 13 people since July.

That would be the most executions cleared by a president since 1896. Grover Cleveland's White House put 14 convicts to death that year, the non-partisan Death Penalty Information Center told the Associated Press. The Trump camp is the first in 17 years to order a federal execution.

"Donald Trump continues to shatter moral and legal norms during the final weeks of his presidency," Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement, urging the president to switch the death sentences to life sentences.

Though rare on the national level, the death penalty is still common in some states. Local governments have ordered all but 11 of the 1,527 executions since 1977.

Maryland has imposed five death sentences since then, with the most recent coming in 2005. The state outlawed executions in 2013.

Higgs is still eligible for the death penalty because his case was handled in federal courts, where capital punishment is still legal. Death sentences are also permitted in 25 states.

Governors paused executions in another three states, but the laws remain unchanged in that trio. That means a future governor could overturn those rulings.

"Death is irrevocable, and the risk of executing an innocent person is far too high," Frosh said, citing the 172 innocent people released from death row since 1973.

Higgs' lawyer, Shawn Nolan, maintains that his client is innocent. He points to differing sentences between Higgs and his friend, Willis Mark Haynes.

The Department of Justice accused both men of involvement in a 1996 triple murder in the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge. Prosecutors said Higgs ordered Haynes to shoot the female victims. Haynes complied and pulled the trigger, an incident report added.

The DOJ identified the victims as:

• Tamika Black, 19
• Tanji Jackson, 21
• Mishann Chinn, 23

Higgs got a death sentence; Haynes did not. The friend was sentenced to life in prison plus 45 years.

"Dustin Higgs did not kill anyone and should not be executed," Nolan wrote to Patch, mentioning that Higgs had a troubled childhood that was not adequately presented to the jury. "It would be arbitrary and inequitable to punish Mr. Higgs more severely than the person who committed the murders."

The attorney added that Higgs is still a dedicated father to his son, born shortly after his arrest.

"Despite the tragedy and hardship of his early life, he has been a model prisoner and is an active parent who is essential to the well-being of his son," Nolan said, claiming the evidence supported a life sentence, not an execution.

About 54 percent of Americans favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder, the non-partisan Pew Research Center reports. That is up five percentage points from 2016, a year that saw the lowest support for capital punishment in four decades. Opposition to executions sits at 39 percent.

Opinions on death sentences correlate with a person's party. More than three-quarters of Republicans favor the penalty in murder trials, compared to one-third of Democrats and half of independents.

U.S. Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press that he plans to schedule more executions before leaving office. He suggested that President-Elect Joe Biden (D) should continue that trend.

"I think the way to stop the death penalty is to repeal the death penalty," Barr said in the interview. "But if you ask juries to impose and juries impose it, then it should be carried out."

Biden opposes capital punishment. He instead favors life sentences without the chance of parole.

This is a reversal from his stance as a senator. In 1994, Congress expanded the role of federal executions with the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. Biden voted for the legislation, contradicting his current beliefs.

"Because we cannot ensure we get death penalty cases right every time, Biden will work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level," the president-elect's campaign website states.

A federal jury found Higgs guilty of the following crimes:

• Three counts of first-degree premeditated murder
• Three counts of first-degree felony murder
• Three counts of kidnapping resulting in death

In 2000, a judge gave Higgs nine death sentences, the DOJ noted. The courts upheld Higgs' conviction in an appeal nearly 17 years ago. His other challenges failed almost eight years ago.

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RELATED:

• Execution Scheduled For MD Man Accused Of Triple Murder: DOJ

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