Talk:Ricky Ray Rector

Untitled
Things that I'd like added-
 * A 2nd source confirmation of the Police officer/Doorman killed and/or their names
 * A 2nd source confirmation that he turned the gun on himself soon after their deaths
 * A good picture of Rector

Any other suggestions? Zenosparadox 03:49, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

More background details
My mother was married to Rector during this time and had children by him. Until this day, many of our family's questions about the attempted arrest and execution are still un-answered.

-Step-Son

Incorrect name?
I have seen this name published as RickEy Ray Rector (see, for example, Kozinski, Alex. “Tinkering with Death.”  In Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment?  The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case, edited by Hugo Adam Bedau and Paul G. Cassell.  Oxford: Oxford University Press: 43). Thoughts? --Katwmn6 22:38, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Correcting Innacuracies
There are a number of innacuracies in the article that I have corrected, using Marhsall Frady's articel from The New Yorker as a reference. The inaccuracies include:

--That Rector killed Criswell and Officer Martin while robbing a convenience store. This is incorrect. Rector kille Criswell in an altercation at a dance hall. He shot Officer Martin three days later, after originally agreeing to surrender to Martin.

--That Clinton returned to AK to view the execution. This is partially correct--Clinton did interrupt his presidential campaign to return to AK, but he did not view the execution. He merely wanted to be on hand to field any last minute requests for clemency. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moroveus (talk • contribs) 05:57, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

NPOV
The language and wording of this article, especially the summary paragraph, present opinions and speculation about the subject of the article without sources. While it was contested that he was unfit to stand trial or understand the concept of death, that was the point of view of the defense, and should not be presented as 100% fact. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.76.137.201 (talk) 07:06, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

AK is Alaska AR is Arkansas — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.200.252.49 (talk) 22:27, 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Possibly plagarized
Entire sections of this article appear at the following location: http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/1/24/105451/284 from the context and scope of the linked article it seems like this article is a mixture of opinion and copy paste. I am going to hold off on a NFD in hopes that the article can undergo cleanup, and under the assumption that when verifiable sources are found and used that the subject will meet Wikipedias notability guidelines. As/of right now this article fails to meet any of the notability guidelines, but I believe that is more from lack of research than anything else. 72.76.137.201 (talk) 07:32, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
 * You mean the section that starts "According to Wikipedia"? Um, it seems like they've copied us. -- Kendrick7talk 18:27, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Citation request regarding suicide attempt
There is a previously cited and linked Justia publication of the appellate decision. It also specifically refers to the Ford test which requires that a defendant know what an execution is, and why he or she is being executed.

Since Rector put aside his pecan pie from is last meal, to save it for the next day's breakfast, he clearly did not understand that he was being executed, that it was going to be the end of his life. He also actively participated with the executioners in the incredibly long process of finding a vein to administer the lethal drugs.

This is from the appellate decision that allowed the execution to proceed.

On March 22, 1981, Ricky Ray Rector shot and killed Arthur Criswell and wounded two others at a Conway, Arkansas restaurant. On March 24, 1981, Officer Bob Martin of the Conway Police Department went to the home of petitioner's mother in search of petitioner, as he was the prime suspect in the murder. While the officer was talking with Mrs. Rector, petitioner entered the back of the house, proceeded into the living room, and fatally shot Officer Martin. Moments later petitioner unsuccessfully attempted suicide by shooting himself in the forehead.2 He was taken to a hospital where his gunshot wound was cleaned and surgically closed.


 * 2 The trauma to petitioner's head resulted in the severance of about three inches of the left frontal pole. This is commonly referred to in medical terms as a frontal lobotomy

The Ford majority found that the eighth amendment prevented the execution of "one whose mental illness prevents him from comprehending the reasons for the penalty or its implications." Ford, supra, 477 U.S. at 417, 106 S.Ct. at 2606. Similarly, in his concurring opinion, Justice Powell stated: "I would hold that the Eighth Amendment forbids the execution only of those who are unaware of the punishment they are about to suffer and why they are to suffer it." Id. at 422, 106 S.Ct. at 2608. In the Missouri case of Smith v. Armontrout, 857 F.2d 1228, 1230 (8th Cir.1988), this court cited to Ford: "Under [Ford ], it would be a violation of the Eighth Amendment to execute someone who lacks capacity to understand the nature and purpose of the punishment about to be imposed on him." Therefore, according to Ford, we must examine two factors in assessing petitioner's competency to be executed: (1) whether petitioner understands that he is to be punished by execution; and (2) whether petitioner understands why he is being punished. An examination of the record leads us to believe that petitioner is competent to be executed under these standards.

Rector clearly did not understand that the execution process would be the end of his life. The federal examiners, upon whose opinion the judge relied, were clearly wrong. Activist (talk) 18:24, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Last Meal - Basis for removal of citation request
I've found extensive, apparently independent citations about the specifics of that last meal, including what other components it contained (i.e., fried chicken, cherry Kool-Aid, etc.), citations that he told  a  correctional officer that he wanted to save the pecan pie "for later," and for that purpose he put it on his cell's windowsill as he was being taken away for execution. It would appear that Hitchens covered that in depth and he was a determinately thorough researcher, though his book is not on line. I also found the dissents by Justice Thurgood Marshall in the case, including his 1991 opinion that cert should in fact granted and why he believed Justice Powell to be wrong. In my long search, I did not find a single mention anywhere that disputed the contention that the pie situation actually occurred and that it in fact was prima facie evidence that he was not competent to understand that he was being put to death. I've consequently removed the request for another citation. Activist (talk) 19:18, 9 December 2013 (UTC)