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Robert Conklin
Georgia
July 12, 2005
7:00 PM EST
The state of Georgia is scheduled to execute 44-year-old Robert Dale Conklin, a white man, July 12th for the March 28, 1984 stabbing death of 28-year-old George Grant Crooks in FultonCounty. Conklin, who was 24 years old at the time of the crime, maintains that he stabbed Crooks, a white man with whom Conklin was in a relationship, as an act of self defense.
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Conklin’s claim that his attorney was unable to provide effective assistance of counsel due to the fact that he was given insufficient time and resources to prepare for trial.
Conklin’s attorney, Thomas Chason was given a mere 37 days to prepare for a trial which involved highly technical medical evidence, troubled mental history, and unusual legal issues. Chason requested a short continuance to allow for more preparation but was denied. The state relied heavily on expert medical witnesses in order to establish the aggravating evidence required by the state of Georgia to sentence Conklin to death. Chason was able to find a medical expert who would unequivocally counter the state’s crucial forensic evidence. However, Conklin, who is indigent, was denied even the most scarce of resources to hire this expert witnesses.The Eleventh Circuit acknowledged that the resources granted to Conklin were likely insufficient. “We are unable to understand why a trial judge would refuse to grant a short continuance and afford a first-degree murder defendant $2,500 of available state funds to hire an expert crucial to his defense.” However, the court went on to say they could not maintain that the “trial, as a whole, was fundamentally unfair and outside of the bounds of the Constitution.” Circuit Judge Rosemary Barkett dissented from this decision. She concluded, “In light of the complexity of this case, the severe limitations on time and resources imposed by the trial court made it impossible for Conklin to receive adequate assistance.” Barkett maintained that in this situation, 37 days of preparation time “hardly satisfies minimum constitutional standards.” She went on to express her concern that Conklin’s attorney did not present any mitigating evidence at the sentencing phase of the trial. Additionally, Judge Barkett stated that there was also no direct evidence to counter Conklin’s claim that he acted in self defense. Conklin was also unable to have appropriate psychological experts testify that he suffered from a history of mental illness. Again, he was not granted the resources in which to offer this testimony to the court.
In addition to suffering from mental health issues, Conklin also endured a horrific childhood.
Please take a moment to write the state of Georgia requesting that Conklin be granted clemency.
