INDIANAPOLIS — Attorneys for Joseph Corcoran are turning to federal court to try to save him from the death penalty. The Fort Wayne man is scheduled to die by lethal injection before sunrise on Wednesday, Dec. 18. His attorneys claim he is seriously mentally ill and unable to understand the severity of his crimes.
Indiana's last execution happened on Dec. 11, 2009. Matthew Wrinkles died by lethal injection for killing his estranged wife, her brother and a sister-in-law in Evansville in 1994.
Eight men currently sit on Indiana's death row. But there have been no executions for 15 years because the Indiana Department of Correction could not acquire the drugs needed for lethal injection. That changed in June, when DOC found a supplier.
"I want to know where the Department of Correction got the drugs from,” said Eric Koselke, an Indianapolis attorney who has represented more than 30 defendants in state and federal death penalty cases since 1985. “And then, I want to know what the cocktail is that they were actually using, and does it meet Eighth Amendment standards for violating cruel and usual punishment."
Corcoran killed four men in Fort Wayne in 1997, including his brother and future brother-in-law. His attorneys argue that he is mentally ill and should not be executed.
"There's no reason we have to execute Mr. Corcoran, or quite frankly anybody on death row,” Koselke said. “Society can be kept safe from them. Instead, we're spending millions of dollars to try and execute people. Very few people are being executed, and the money could be better spent elsewhere. I'm personally very demoralized. I didn't know whether we would ever have another execution or not, quite frankly. But the fact we are, I spent my whole career, going on 40 years this coming June, basically fighting the death penalty, believing it's wrong."
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in three pending cases in central Indiana:
- Carl Boards II is charged with shooting and killing Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz.
- Orlando Mitchell is charged with killing Marion County Deputy John Durm.
- Dalonny Rodgers is charged with the murders of two men and shooting two more outside a Plainfield motel.
"They turn the defendant into almost hero status,” Koselke said. “I don't know if hero is the right word, but infamous. They become very famous, newsworthy. They're on TV, radio, newspaper all the time. And these are people that nobody even knew who they were, for the most part, until the death penalty is filed. And then, they become somewhat of a star.”
After the execution of Corcoran, Indiana's attorney general will ask for an execution date for Benjamin Ritchie. He shot and killed Beech Grove Police Ofc. Bill Toney in 2000.
Capital punishment began in Indiana in 1897. Since then, 92 men have been executed — 19 of those were by lethal injection after the state passed a new law in 1995 designating it as the only legal method of execution.
The death penalty sparks debate among Hoosiers. Last month, protestors gathered at the Indiana Statehouse to call for an end to the death penalty ahead of Corcoran's execution. On Thursday, Dec. 12, faith leaders from across the state will gather at the Statehouse to deliver a letter calling for Gov. Eric Holcomb to halt executions.