In August 1982 Ronald Allen Smith, originally from Wetaskiwin, was hitchhiking through Montana with a fellow Canadian. Picked up by two men, they captured and murdered their benefactors. Smith accepted the blame for the two killings, his expressed rationale being that he wanted to experience the feeling of killing someone. Since early in 1983 Smith has been waiting to experience the feeling of someone killing him. He first welcomed the prospect of suffering execution, then hastily changed his mind and for 29 years has been fighting it.
Ten years ago I saw Smith momentarily during a visit to Montana's death row, which I mentioned in a column published on June 12, 2002. I was part of a group that stood by the control station looking up into the condemned men's tier. Smith came out of his cell, looked directly towards us for a few seconds despite the dim lighting of our area, then quickly ducked back out of sight.
Smith's execution is now up to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, who is quoted as being troubled by one aspect of the case – Smith's accomplice accepted a plea bargain and has been back in Canada following parole in 1998. Schweitzer may be waiting until the last moments of his gubernatorial tenure next January before making a decision. If the governor does not commute Smith's sentence before leaving office, it is not clear to me whether he must necessarily order Smith's execution, or can if he prefers do a Pontius Pilate and hand the issue over to his successor. If Smith's execution goes ahead he will be the second person I have seen in the flesh who went on to suffer judicial death.
In 1959 seven members of a family were wiped out in Stettler. The eldest son of the father was quickly arrested. He went through two trials. The second took place in Edmonton in late June 1960, and being done with school I went down to the courthouse to take in a bit of the high profile case. My main memory is how uncomfortable Robert Raymond Cook looked in the prisoner's dock wearing a white sports coat, with an unaccustomed shirt and tie tight around his neck. Cook went to the gallows later that year, the last man hanged in Alberta. Two decades later I encountered four men who had been involved with Cook. I only discussed him with one, who said he had no doubt of Cook's guilt. For that matter, nor did I.
A few months before Cook's trial I attended a workshop which left me a lifelong opponent of the death penalty for ethical and practical considerations. Despite my being opposed to execution, Cook's death did not upset me – nor would Smith's if the governor does not commute, though I would prefer that he opt for mercy. I find that the horrific details in a great many capital cases leave me immune to a sense of outrage over the perpetrator's legally-imposed death.
In 1976, when the United States was emerging from its moratorium on executions, I wrote to Marcel Lambert, then the member of parliament for Edmonton West, about the debate which had just brought about abolition in Canada. Mr. Lambert was a death penalty proponent.
I concluded my remarks by commenting that everything that could be said on the issue had been said. I received back a courteous letter from Mr. Lambert agreeing that the question of capital punishment had been thoroughly aired, and that really now it was just a matter of making one's choice. I think that remains the case today.
David Haas occasionally comments on legal issues.
