Execution Date Set for Indiana Inmate David Woods

This past week, the Indiana Supreme Court set an execution date of May 4 for David Leon Woods. Woods was sentenced in March of 1985 for the lethal stabbing of Juan Placenia, his 77 year old neighbor in Garrett, Indiana. Woods was 19 years old at the time of the murder and has now been on death row for 22 years. Woods has filed a motion to join a suit begun by Norman Timberlake which challenges the legitimacy and legality of lethal injection. Woods' attorney, William Van Der Pol, Jr. "...contends the Supreme Court erred..." regarding Wood's eligibility for death, citing mental retardation as a reason for Woods' exemption.

ND ASK will be organizing a vigil to be held at Michigan City the night of the execution as well as demonstration in South Bend and petitions to suspend the use of the death penalty in Indiana, citing fundamental errors in the process.