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No special treatment for killer who works at Governor's Mansion, Beebe says Thursday, Apr 19, 2007 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A convicted murderer who has been recommended by the state Parole Board for executive clemency will receive no special consideration for working as a trusty at the Governor's Mansion, Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday. The board recommended Monday that Beebe grant clemency to Danny Edward Verdict, 56, who was convicted in November 1992 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in the February 1992 fatal shooting of his ex-wife, Marcella Kelley. Verdict does maintenance work at the Governor's Mansion, according to state Department of Correction spokeswoman Dina Tyler. "Maintenance people do things like change lights, fix leaks if they have a leaky faucet, those kinds of things," she said. Beebe said he may have met Verdict at the mansion - "I do know someone there with that first name," he said - but he said that fact will not affect his clemency decision one way or the other. "We will not punish somebody because they happen to be a trusty and we will not reward them or give them special treatment. Everybody gets treated the same," the governor said. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee was criticized by some who claimed, among other things, his clemency decisions favored inmates who worked at the Governor's Mansion, an allegation Huckabee denied. Asked if having to make a decision about granting clemency to a person who works at the mansion puts him in a difficult position, Beebe said he did not believe that was necessarily the case. "If the press is fair, and if people look at it objectively, and if you don't give preference to nor punish people because they happen to be a trusty at the mansion, then I think people will support that," he said. Putting prison trusties to work at the mansion saves tax dollars, Beebe said. "The taxpayers get a good deal out of those people working at the mansion," he said. "And I assume they want them to, so that they don't have to pay for people to keep the yards up and do all the things that those people do." Huckabee also was criticized for refusing to disclose his reasons for granting clemency, a practice he changed in 2004 when he began releasing forms giving limited explanations for his decisions. Beebe said Wednesday he will disclose reasons for any decisions he makes to grant clemency. The prosecution at Verdict's trial said Verdict shot Kelley five times in the back during an argument at her Jonesboro home. According to news reports at the time, Verdict testified he "snapped" after his former wife bragged about having sex with other men and women. On his application for clemency, Verdict wrote, "I loved Marcella and never meant to hurt her." He also wrote, "I would like to re-enter society and become a productive citizen." The couple married in June 1989 and divorced in June 1992, according to Verdict's application. Verdict also wrote on the application that he was convicted of attempted larceny and attempted burglary in Michigan in 1971 and sentenced to five years in prison. The Parole Board's recommendation will go to Beebe's desk after a 30-day public notification period. |
